A/N: Review answers!

To review AkatsukiRaven92: That would be awesome! I've never had any fanart made for any of my fanfics! x D Thanks! : D

To my most faithful reviewer 9haharharley1: I do to tbh! : ' ) Oh well, I don't know if we'll be having a threesome here, I don't Eren's too shy for that. But who knows, I might just change my mind in future chapters! : D

To Guest reviewer of the 9th of February 21:37: a shipping what? It's just b*** in your review, I think the profanity filter might have kicked in! x D

To Guest reviewer Rawrforandall: That review made me laugh! Thank you! x D

To reviewer Kunougi Haruka: Who knows? ; D

To Guest reviewer Shane: You'll get a bit more than just knocking from Levi in the next Chapter or two, though perhaps he won't be knocking exactly who you would have expected him to knock out. x D

To Guest reviewer veraaurelis: Here's your update! Hope that's soon enough for you! : D

Okay guyz, I know it's short, but there's more to come in Chapter 5. Don't expect the chapters to all be the same length though. My average Chapter length is normally over 6,000 words, but since this is a fic I'm doing in a much more relaxed and informal spirit, they won't be that long. Chapter 2 here is the longest so far here, and only because of that ma-fucking-ssive sex scene with Levi and Eren. x D

Have a good read! :D

~Tenshi

Chapter 4: A Price Willingly Paid

"Armin, have you see Eren since training?" said Mikasa as they settled at their table for dinner.

"No, but he told me he was going for a nap outside. He'll be back soon enough anyway; I can't see him missing dinner, especially since he missed yesterday's already." Armin shrugged and looked up at his black-haired friend. "By the way, did you ever get to ask him what had happened yesterday?"

Mikasa shook her head and picked up her fork. "No. I never got to talk to him today; he was too busy getting beaten up by Jean this afternoon during training for me to approach him."

Armin nodded absently at that, and started to stuff food into his mouth as he spoke. "Shame here," he said, spitting food onto the table. Mikasa made a face, but he didn't seem to notice. "I 'ever got shoo ashk 'im any'ing. I'ch like 'ee wash avoi'ing me or shome'ing."

Mikasa glared at him. "Armin, don't speak with your mouth full. It's disgusting."

The blonde boy paused and swallowed his mouthful. He smiled sheepishly up at her. "Sorry."

"Cadet Arlert, were you speaking with your mouth full?"

Armin froze. His fork clattered onto his plate, and it resounded loudly in the suddenly silent canteen. Everybody was staring at the two figures behind the blond. Armin shot to a standing position from his bench and whirled around, standing ram rod straight in front of the Corporal and the Major Hanji.

"Hai, Sir! I'm sorry, Sir! Do you want me to clean up, Sir!"

Levi looked at him. "Was that a question, Cadet Arlert?"

The trainee gulped and flicked a nervous glance down at Jean, sitting at a table behind Hanji and Levi. "Yes, Sir!"

Levi leant into his face. "Then make it sound like one."

"Ah- Yes, Sir! I'm sorry, Sir!"

Hanji popped her head over the Corporal's shoulder, which wasn't very hard to do considering that she was a good 4 inches taller than him. "Relax, Armin. We're just looking for Eren."

Behind Armin, Mikasa stood, the bench rattling against the floor noisily. "Eren?"

"Do you have something to say, Cadet Ackerman?"

"Sir, he told us he was going outside for a nap. This was hours ago, around two o'clock after training this afternoon. We expected him to be back before dinner. In fact, I was just telling myself that I was going to go out and look for him if he didn't join us by the end of the hour. I-"

"Cadet Ackerman, you are talking to your direct superior," Levi snapped. He stalked around Armin and the end of the table, coming to a stop directly before Mikasa who had turned to face him as he neared her. He leant into her face, and to her credit, Mikasa didn't flinch away. "Do you have something to say?" he said again, his eyes flashing dangerously.

The black-haired girl's eyes widened as she stared into Levi's gleaming eyes just below hers. The smaller man somehow managed to look intimidating even when his nose only just reached her chin. Then she raised her head, clapped her heels together and drew her fists to her back and chest, her eyes focused on some point on the faraway wall just above the Corporal's head as she spoke loud and clear.

"Corporal Levi, I ask for your permission to help look for my comrade, the Cadet Jaeger. If you will allow it, I will begin searching immediately. Sir."

The room held its breath. Slowly, Levi straightened, a new approval in his eyes as he kept his gaze on Mikasa's straight face. He turned on his heels, and as he stomped across the room, every pair of eyes followed him – all but Sasha Blouse's, who was eating away as per usual. It was possible that she hadn't even noticed the commotion. Scanning the room, the Corporal's eyes fell on her and stayed there. Beside her, a nervous Connie Springer elbowed her in the ribs. It took him a few tries, but finally she looked up, swallowing a mouthful of mash with a near-comical bob of her head as she lifted her eyes in what looked like a painful and surprised effort of will. She saw Levi looking straight at her from across the room, and she swallowed again, though there was nothing left but spit in her mouth to swallow. She stared back at him stupidly.

"Sasha," Connie hissed at her, keeping his eyes desperately glued to his plate. "Don't just stare at him!" he whispered furiously.

The brunette turned to him. "What?"

"Cadets Blouse and Springer!" Levi snapped suddenly. "Up here, now!"

Sasha's eyes bulged at that, and Connie groaned, banging his forehead against his table and only narrowly avoiding his plate. Jean snickered nearer to Armin and Mikasa's table, and Levi swivelled around to stare at him. "Cadet Kirstein! What do you think you're laughing at? Get up and join your two comrades why don't you? Arlert and Ackerman, you will be leading the search party for Eren Jaeger. The party consists of Cadets Kirstein, Blouse and Springer. Cadet Ackerman, are you satisfied?" He didn't want for the girl's answer, ignoring Jean's loud groan of protest, and instead turned to face the rest of the Cadets, who were staring at the unfolding scene with growing interest. Quite a few of them were moaning about how Jaeger managed to create trouble for them even when he wasn't there. "Recon Corps! I have important news! There has been a break in! The Titans are getting closer to our quarters here by the second! They are a relatively large horde, thirty to fifty according to our scouts, and it is possible that the Cadet Jaeger is in danger. Dinner is over immediately. My next orders take effect immediately. All of you, save for the designated search party, are to go and put on your 3D Manoeuver Gears. Among yourselves, you will decide who is to go where. I trust your judgement with this mission. Do not disappoint me. If our compound's limits were to be violated, we would be forced into a hasty retreat beyond Wall Rose. Eren Jaeger would have to be handed over to the Military Police for custody. That is unacceptable. Do I make myself clear? The success of this mission relies on all of our shoulders. The Major Hanji will stay here to supervise your efforts and guide you in the right direction, but essentially this will be a test to both your fighting skills and your strategic skills." The Corporal's eyes focused on Armin, now standing in front of him with the other four. "I trust that the loss of Cadet Arlert for this particular mission will force you to find a worthy replacement. Am I clear?"

"Hai, Sir!" the room erupted, and in a one movement everyone stood up and filed out of the canteen, shouting out for each other and issuing orders to whomever was willing to listen to them. Levi sighed, and waved Hanji away toward them. Hopefully she'd be able to reason them all before them managed too much damage.

There was a commotion around the door, and the Cadets rushing out the door wavered before parting, letting someone through their tightly packed ranks before closing after the entering figure. The six of them turned to the door, and Levi stepped forward when a soldier, his clothes torn and his face slashed in various places, blood oozing from the shallow but numerous cuts. The wounded soldier collapsed right into the Corporal's arms, panting wildly and obviously unable to stay upright.

"Scout Kruger reporting from duty, Sir," the soldier gasped, not leaving any of them enough time to say a word. "We've sighted Jaeger, but Lorst and Giuliani fell on the way back! They have met their fates as soldiers and have – have fulfilled their duty-"

"Scout Kruger!" Levi snapped, hauling the boy against his chest, mindless of the blood seeping into his own clothes from the other boy. "Do not exhaust yourself. Can you tell me where Eren Jaeger was last seen?"

The Scout nodded eagerly, and gasped out, "Just outside the second arc, Sir. As a Titan. The other Titans – they're chasing him outwards. Myself and the others – we reasoned that Jaeger was trying to lead them away from the fort."

Levi swore and closed his eyes briefly before looking down at the bloody boy before him. He glanced up and around. "Cadet Kirstein, accompany Scout Kruger here to the infirmary. Please ask Cadet Lenz to come with you and to remain in the infirmary to help Ymir there. She's going to need all the help she can get soon enough."

"Yes Sir!"

Jean stepped forward, took the Scout's arms from Levi's grip, and slipped his shoulder under the shorter boy's armpit, hauling him and leading him out of the now cleared doorway. They watched him go, and Levi turned to the rest of them.

"What's the third arc?" Sasha blurted out suddenly. She blushed when she realized that she'd just spoken without her superior's consent, and Connie glared at her and elbowed her in the ribs again.

Levi narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you have something to say, Cadet Blouse?"

Her eyes widened. She didn't speak. Beside her, Armin raised a hand, an out of place reminder of his days as a Cadet in the City. Levi nodded for him to speak, amused by his scholarly politeness.

"Corporal Levi, what is the third arc?"

"Follow me," the older man said, and went for the door. "I'll explain as we walk. This property, as you already know, was once the main stronghold of the first Recon Corps. However, the Corps were forced to move into the city in order to better protect their growing membership at the time. The Titans' territory was growing steadily at the time, and it was feared that they would eventually be trapped here if they did not move on. One of the defence mechanisms of the place is the five scouting arcs surrounding it. All of the Scouts and Lookouts are trained to recognise the signs of each arc – notches in the trees, craters – things that might look natural to anybody other than the Scouts. The first arc is set a mile out of the castle, the second a mile out from the first, and so on, until the fifth, which is set two miles out from the fourth. This is the area watched and monitored by the Scouts. It is thanks to them, and them only, that we are aware of the Titans' attack on the perimeter. If not for the Scouts and the arcs, we would only have known that we were being attacked once the Titans had reached us. By then, it would have been too late."

He paused, and even then, the silence was broken now and then by the sounds of people shouting, running, and by the familiar zip of 3D Manoeuver Gears kicking into action all around them. "Mikasa, Armin, Connie, Sasha," he said softly, and his use of their first name surprised them all. "I am entrusting you with the future of humanity. Without Eren's powers…" The Corporal sighed, appearing suddenly tired and somehow older, his head downcast and his eyes closed as he walked. "Without Eren, it is possible that humanity's last hope will have faded with him." He turned to them suddenly, his eyes newly hard and determined as he looked at them one by one before settling his gaze on Mikasa. "Do you understand? I am entrusting you with our lives. All of our lives – not just Eren Jaeger's. Can I trust you? Can I trust you to cooperate with one another? To work towards this one goal of saving the Titan shifter? I did not just pick you because you had misbehaved," and he looked at Sasha as he said this. "I picked you because all five of you – Jean, too – are part of humanity's strongest soldiers. I picked you because you are close to Jaeger, and because you have more reason than anyone else to want to save him – perhaps at the risk of your own lives. That is the necessity. I will follow you, and clear the path where I can. I, too, will be willing to put my life on the line to save Eren Jaeger. Just as Eren, in his Titan form, is risking his own life, against my direct orders, to lead the most of the Titans away from us. Can I trust you to do the same? Can I trust that you will – that you are willing to pay the same price as Petra, Gunther, Eld, Oluo, in order to protect Eren Jaeger? Cadets of the Recon Corps, answer me! Can I trust you?!"

"Hai!"

A/N: **evil sniggers** Now now, I'm fairly sure none of you were expecting THAT! ; D The clue was in the fact that Eren wasn't regenerating any more. That was too good of an opportunity for the Titans to miss! None of you saw any of this coming, or if you did, you didn't leave a review, so LEAVE REVIEWS GUYS! They're really important for me, although I'm actually happy right now because Chapter 3 got the most reviews of the three chapters, 9 last time I counted, as opposed to 6 for Chapter 1 and 7 for Chapter 2. : D Thank you everyone! *_* 3

Now, Chapter 4. Lots of action, though not of the kind we saw in Chapter 2. I know some of you are going to hate me, but I didn't want this to be a strictly sex-based fic. Sorry! x D But I do hope that at least some of you will be happy with this development. : P I'm looking forward to your responses! : D

Oh, and don't forget to visit the pole on my profile to vote for Burning as your favourite of my fanfics if it is! :D And maybe take a look at my other ones too? : 3 *_* x )

~Tenshi