I'm fleeting thoughts on a leash, for the moment, (...); I've been alone in my shit for the longest. Snakes sliding in the street….Mama taught me how to not be like the bodies lying in them

The trap door opened down to a corridor, the group moving slowly along it, dragging their barrels with them. Sasha held her bow at the ready, oil soaked cloth around the tip of an arrow, ready to be lit by the torch they carried to light their way. ARmin and Hanji set them selves into place, waiting for Connie to kick away the door. Connie looked behind himself, waiting for a nod for Hanji, executing his kick in the next moment. Hanji and Armin sent over their barrels, Connie shoving the third down before stepping away to let Levi, Mikasa, and Zoe sprint past.

Armin took the torch from Jean as Zoe passed them, lighting Sasha's arrow, the girl's precision carrying their plans through as the barrel blew up. Zoe put her arm up to block as much heat and light as she could, the ground beneath her feet rumbling before she took to the air, a beat behind Levi and Mikasa.

"THEY'VE BROKEN IN," one of the enemies shouted, heralding a quick follow up of, "SHOOT THEM DOWN!"

Signal flares shot past Zoe, Levi, and Mikasa, smoke filling the air. The more smoke, the more difficult it was for them, moving through the air without guns, to be targeted. It was an easy plan to see through, and there was no remedy to a place that had no feasible way of ventilation, even if the space was as large as it was proving to be.

Huge, naturally formed columns stretched from floor to ceiling of the caverns, and members of the Central MP anti-human squad were dotted on platforms on the pillars, all close to the ceiling. Zoe counted them as best she could as she zipped past them, knowing the others in the air were doing this was well. 32, maybe, 36? More than 30, definitely, or maybe she was overestimating, but overestimation was better than taking the enemy on without greeting their true threat.

"35 of them!" Levi's voice rang clear as he barked his orders, close enough that she could see him. "holding up around the the pillars in front of you, near the ceiling! Resume the strategy! All of the enemies; smash them here!"

An unfamiliar, high-pitched voice screamed, "All units, disperse! unite and zero in on them one at a time!"

She allowed herself to drop through the air, twisting around the pillar to catch two of the slower members of the group, just exiting their platform, anchors attached to another pillar. A shot flew by her head before she was in too close for them to recover, cutting their lines, along with a few fingers, before she forced them to the very distant ground, looking down just long enough to examine their remains. Nathan would've agreed with this more brutal method, she went for another one flying through the air, catching him just as he fired an anchor to a gleaming pillar, trying desperately to redirect him self. Her blades flashed, slashing through his soft midriff, hot blood washing over her hand.

Gunshots went off around her, shouts and screams joining periodically, commands desperately given by the Central MP's squad leader often unintelligible. Mikasa whirled past her once, and Zoe had to admire her form, her maneuvers as advanced as most of Jean's, brushing close to Levi's style. She rested briefly halfway up a pillar, eyes on a clump of the anti-human squad members, preoccupied with going after Levi, shouting about the smoke.

The group lined up almost perfectly, and she shot from the pillar, using a liberal amount of gas from the pressurized cannister at her back to bolster her speed. Zoe needed all the speed she could gain to whirl between them like she wanted, without a serious redirection maneuver. To redirect would mean cutting out a good amount of momentum, and she wanted to change directions slightly by pushing off of her targets. She executed her idea with precision, tailoring it perfectly to high standards, then to her own standards.

And she loved this; the destruction of opposition who'd taken agency away from her, how her blades almost sang through the air, playing through the flesh of her targets, watching them drop like stones to the glossy floor of the caverns. nearby movement brought her attention to another two anti-human squad members swinging towards her, jaws locked in that certain way that assured they weren't going to be caught off guard anytime soon by speed. Zoe turned to face them both head on, able to gage the trajectory of most of their shots, trying to get closer so they couldn't reload or really fight, and blocked her slashes with the metal of their guns. She was locked in battle with one of them as the other dropped back to reload, knowing then that she had to move far away from the man to dodge the bullet, and not give him a steady target.

Zoe locked her legs around the thighs of her combatant, hands on his wrists next, weathering a heavy hit to her skull so she could shift him just enough so that the shot his fellow squad member fired off at that second would be absorbed by the large man. Her human shield did absorb damage, but she was still knocked severely off balance, the dead weight she had tightly grasped sending her fast to the ground. She had to wiggle to push him off, and another second was wasted on stabilizing herself before she shot an anchor out. Hanji's cry of pain distracted her next, Zoe turning her head just in time to catch the sight of her falling, clearly wounded.

Her still present enemy's shot was unavoidable,had she been paying attention or not, firing off a new sort of ammo that sent chunks of metal in a wide spray, most of the projectiles only clipping her, but a piece lodged in her shoulder. Zoe struggled through the pain to get further away from the man to launch something of a counter attack.

"NOW! ALL UNITS RETREAT!" the female anti-human squad leader ordered, relieving Zoe of her assailant. "GET AWAY FROM THIS SMOKE, AND THEN REGROUP!"

Levi flashed by her, catching up to her previous attacker, hacking him down quickly as the rest of Levi's squad followed his effort to catch the group. Levi slowed briefly to assign Armin to taking care of Hanji, shouting, "Armin, take care of Hanji! The rest, after the enemy!"

Zoe moved quickly through the air, following the remaining anti-human squad members, blown back as a burst of heat and light ripped through the cavern. Her heart dropped, knowing she could only imagine what was going on there, and that it had to be the worst possible thing to occur. She sped up, staying close behind Mikasa as she caught Historia, pushing the two to the wall, the wind force pressing her hair flat.

"You okay?" Mikasa asked the small blonde, grasping her shoulder to help her keep her position.

"Mikasa?" Historia said, holding her eyes open against the heat, dress pushed up her thighs.

Levi landed close, out on some sort bridge, holding out his hand. "Gimme the keys."

Mikasa handed him the keys to undo Eren's binding, Connie and Jean helping out Levi's effort. Zoe scanned the room as best she could, eyes narrowed to slits, her throbbing head not helping her attempt to gain situational awareness. Cracks in the ceiling were appearing, slowly but surely, the immense, half-formed titan close to them the obvious cause. It was giving off so much heat that she wondered if they'd be burned to crisps.

Connie was at Eren's feet, figuring out the keys on the key ring with as much haste he could muster, Jean and Levi's arms were coiled around Eren's suspended ones, holding him still.

"Hurry up, Connie," Levi said, glaring down at the boy, teeth gritted as he fought to hold his place.

Connie's response was panicked, words blurring together, "Dammit, which one of these keys is it?"

"You listening, shirtless wonder?" Jean addressed Eren. "It's not just the titans we have to deal with! we've got gun-wielding bad guys flying this way, too!"

"Well...most urgently, the roof's going to collapse," with Levi's words, the ceiling dropped a large chunk of it's structure to the floor.

"HURRY!" Jean commanded, nudging Connie with his foot.

Connie found the correct key in that instant, and the chains fell from Eren's person before a falling ceiling piece hit the bridge, the three jolting back from the large rock, dragging Eren with them. Levi, Connie, and Jean came back to the stair well that'd once led to the suspended bridge, all of their eyes on the titan that continued to give off shocking amounts of heat from its overlarge form.

Levi glared at Rod Reiss' warped form as he spoke, "Really, how shitty can this situation get? That thing looks bigger than the colossus titan."

The 'thing' finally shifted, the outlines of a skeleton in it's skin as it began to bring the cavern down, a steady thud echoing. Zoe cringed away from it, forehead on Levi's bicep, knowing that this had to be the place she'd die. She couldn't do anything, couldn't 'kill' the ceiling, all she could do was hope that somebody would do something. Oddly, she looked to Eren, hoping he'd take the initiative, as the only person who could stand against this sheer force.

Eren tossed his head back and groaned, closing his eyes as he spoke,"I'm sorry, everyone. I was useless...I've always been, from the very beginning. I was never humanity's great hope…" Eren's eyes opened, gaze drifting to a small vial on the floor, reading it's label out loud. "Armor?"

"What, now you want to play the tragic hero?" Jean asked from where he was almost glued to the wall, glaring down at Eren next to him, as unamused with Eren's disposition as usual. "You've been able to settle everything on your own before, haven't you?"

"You're being so timid.." Connie said, between Jean and Sasha on one side of Eren. "it's not the first time something like this has happened to you."

Sasha's loud voice reached even Zoe's ears, the roar of the Earth as it collapsed almost deafening, "This isn't exactly something I want to get used to though!"

"It'd be hard enough to escape even if we didn't have to carry Eren and Historia as we flew," Levi said, arm over her stomach now, pressing her harder against the wall.

"The heat from that titan...We'll probably be burned to death if we get any closer," Mikasa said.

"Still, what else can we do but fly through and hope for the best!" Sasha shouted.

Eren's voice was smaller than she'd ever heard it, used to very passionate speeches delivered at a high volume, "No...There's nowhere left to escape…"

"So you just want to wait here and hold hands until we either get crushed or burned to death? Because we're enemies of humanity?" Historia asked, standing next to Eren, taking in his blood coated face.

Levi breathed deep before he spoke, black hair whipped up in the gale, "I'm sorry for always doing this to you, but; Eren, do what you want to do."

Eren ran forward with a wail, the vial breaking in his teeth before the boy transformed, Zoe flinching from the bright flash of light. Levi's hand was clenched in her shirt, holding her closer as to shield her from whatever was coming. She opened one eye to look at him, his lips moving without apparent sound, standing firm with her.

Zoe knew the cavern was destroyed, no doubt taking them down with it, turned away from the action. When death didn't come, and almost all noise halted, she turned around, Levi's grasp on her midriff loosening, taking in the new terrain. Eren's titan form was stilled, various columns blocking the cavern from collapsing down on the group. The rocks the column held back were immense, and she knew she was staring her possible death in the face. She had to wonder if Kenny and the anti-human squad made it out.

"He did it, Zoe. He pulled off the skin hardening thing, shit," Levi said, hand going to his brow. "Fuck, I can't believe it."

"We're alive," she sighed, moving off the wall even if she swayed a bit. "Aren't you going to swing me around in joy?"

"I would, but you hate being spun."

"Good point."

Mikasa and Jean were at ERen's manifest, swinging up to his neck, breaking him out of his titan body soon enough. Levi sent Connie and Sasha up to search for a way out, waving Zoe after him as they scoured the the rocks, touching at the columns Eren had made. Levi's hand rubbed over the back of his head, sliding his hand into his hair, giving a soft 'tsk' before he turned around to her.

"Are you still going to say slightly whenever you say you love me?"

"Maybe."

For a moment, his frown lines vanished, a turning up, speaking once he was finished with expressions, "Fucking ridiculous you were going to be the last thing I thought about, Zoe."

She looked over her shoulder at him, adrenaline rushing from her limbs, leaving them heavy, wanting desperately to relax into his embrace. Right now, that'd be the best feeling ever; heaven, even, if she would chose to be dramatic. Zoe didn't really believe in an afterlife, confronting her own mortality. Her lack of belief in a heaven made her fight a bit harder to stay in this life, where she was sure she'd be close to him.

And maybe if (when) they got back to Wall Maria...if Eren's new power could seal the hole...she might believe in something.

"Captain!" Sasha shouted, from her ceiling spot, apparently done finding a suitable route out with Connie as she said, "we found an exit."

"Well done," Levi said, tipping his head up to watch Sasha descend.

Sometimes, the 3DMG's wire looked so flimsy, just a simple, silver strand suspending you in the air. But it was the only thing she'd depended on for a while, then, and the gear was one of the only constants in her life. She would probably die in one, she assumed.

Sasha dropped to the floor, jogging over to where Jean, Mikasa, and Eren had collected close to her and Levi. "Ah; Eren. You managed to dig out of that!"

"It took some work though, " Jean said, kicking fallen chunks of Eren's hardened titan off to the side.

Sasha sank to her knees with a bow, forehead to the glossy floor. Zoe looked to Levi, confused that a female from one of those woods located clans, the ones who didn't seem to speak her form of language, warping it to suite their own needs, was bowing so formally.. She'd bad some rather bad prejudices against Sasha's people before she'd entered the military, all of them planted by her mother, helped along by her father's tacit agreement.

Sasha spoke from her position on the ground, "Thanks to you, we're safe!" she wiped tears from her eyes as she continued, "But to be honest, when I saw you wail and run in that creepy way, I thought it was the end..that we were all done for… I thought, 'What the hell's that crying wuss doing, come on, pull yourself together'."

"This is.." Eren's eyes wavered from Sasha's form, looking up at his titan body, the pillars he'd made inspiring the same awe in him as it had Zoe.

"It hardened," Levi said. "even after extracting you from that titan, it didn't disappear. That's quite interesting." Levi's facial expression really didn't help anyone believe he was actually interested in the topic at hand,

Eren gave a sharp noise, fixing his attention back on Levi. "where's that bottle? Right! ON the spur of the moment I drank that armor bottle, became a titan, and…"

"We found Rod Reiss' bag, but," Historia held up the stained bag, drooping limply between her small hands. "the inside of the bag, and all the other bottles were just crushed, or the liquid had evaporated. Nothing is left."

"That's…" Eren began, eyes lowering to the floor, hands fisting next to him on the floor.

Levi spoke next, "There might be others somewhere else. After drinking the contents of that bottle...you managed to harden, something you could never do before. Thanks to that, you supported the ceiling that was about to collapse, and protected us from the heat and bedrocks. I don't think you have the knowledge to do something like that, yet you created this building in an instant. It sounds like nonsense, but that wall might've been built the same way too." Levi stepped closer to Eren, stooping to a bent knee. "In other words, with this, we could fill in Wall Maria's hole. Many of our enemies and friends died, we've traveled a long road and we're anything but heroes. However, we still...managed to reach this point."

The group was silent for a moment, leaving Sasha to break it with a small whisper, "By the way...that Titan."

They all knew which Titan she wasn't naming; Rod Reiss. Another shitstorm; she wasn't sure she'd seen the end of the one she'd been in. Zoe wondered when she'd last slept, how long she could go until she crashed, scuffed and sore, the wounds she'd received from earlier only increasing her weariness.

Connie shouted from his perch, nestled in the hole of the cavern's ceiling, "Captain, fast! Come here!"

Levi looked up briefly. "First of all, we must get out." His gaze strayed to Eren, brow lifting as he mumbled, "you really...look like shit."

She smiled to herself, walking at the back of the group with Levi at her side, arm brushing against his. Levi directed the group over the rubble, pairing Eren with Mikasa, filtering the younger members of his squad upwards. Rocks clattered down as they worked to find stable ground, hiking their way as safely as they could up the incline, before they switched to 3D gear, disappearing from view, the night sky barely visible from her vantage point.

"Don't think I didn't notice the blood before, Zoe," Levi murmured, catching her sleeve, halting her progress for a moment.

"It's nothing."

"You look like shit, too."

She was too tired to roll her eyes, sighing instead. "Well, that's not very nice."

Levi leaned close to examine her shoulder, where one of the fragmented bullet shots had lodged in her shoulder. "At least it's not deep. But still, I'm concerned for my soldiers. Shitty four-eyes got hurt, and I don't want to take anymore chances. If you think you can't continue, tell me now."

"I can. Don't treat me differently because-"

"All those wounds you got from Kenny," Levi's monotone broke for an instant around the words 'wounds', and 'Kenny', hands fisting at his sides to match his tone. "they're still not gone, and you carry yourself all wrong when you're hurt, you know. So you've got a lot of extra shit adding to all this."

"I'm fine, I can carry on."

"I know that. I trust you know your limitations, too."

She nodded, and he stepped away to allow her space enough to engage her gear, as Armin pulled Eren up and out of the cavern, Connie following quickly. Zoe reached to Historia, grasping her upper arm tight, helping the small girl navigate her way up the rocks, without the aid of 3DMG. Connie reached for Historia, tugging her up and away from the crater before he offered aid to Zoe, pulling her above ground into the cool night air. When she made to help Levi in the same way, he accepted it for once, instead of batting her hand away.

He brushed at his pant leg for a moment before he stepped up to the group surveying the caved in caverns, a huge stretch of earth utterly demolished. Her eyes grew wide as they played over the huge flaming body, no doubt the cause of the nearby forest fire. Levi examined it out of the corner of his eye as he strode past the group, walking towards the collection of horses and carts Armin had brought over to them.

"Let's follow that Titan. Be careful, people from the Central Brigade might be hiding in the surroundings," Levi said, the group turning away from the rather grand spectacle to follow him and his orders.

Armin spoke quickly, "Captain, if they made it out, I didn't see them."

"Doesn't matter. Kenny Ackerman isn't going to go down that easy," Levi replied, grasping the reins of his mount, holding the reins of another horse's out to Zoe. "And his soldiers wouldn't either."

In less than five minutes, the group was after the Titan's lumbering form, Hanji lying in the cart between them all, Eren and Historia sitting close to her head.

"Uhm, so basically, let's consider the Titan power inside eren to be the 'Primogenitor Titan'. If the 'Primogenitor Titan' is carried by someone not of the Reiss bloodline, it can't exert its true power. How ever, even if people from the Reiss family gain the power of the 'Primogenitor Titan', they become controlled by 'the will of the first king' and mankind cannot be freed from the Titans. Hm...I'm quite fascinated. The First King said that this was true peace? That's really interesting."

Eren spoke next, "In other words, there is still an option left. If I let that Titan eat me, Rod Reiss will return to being human. And it will be possible to have a complete 'Primogenitor Titan' once more."

"but that-!" Mikasa gasped.

"It looks like it," Levi said, and Mikasa looked at him, eyebrows raised in surprise. "After he's returned to being human, if we restrain Rod Reiss and rid him of the first king's brainwashing...if we can succeed in that, then maybe a way to save humanity is within reach. So then, you want to say that you're prepared to do that, right?"

Eren paused before he responded, "yes."

Looks were shared within the group, and Zoe was reminded of Eren's bravery, knew she'd never be able to sacrifice herself in the way he could. And she was less important than he was, in this fight for humanity.

"Eren," Mikasa said, "you can't possibly…"

Historia spoke over Mikasa, "There is one other option. To begin with, there are any number of problems in turning Rod Reiss into the 'Primogenitor Titan'. You speak of ridding the brainwashing, but that happens to be something the Reiss family has been unable to do, despite decades of efforts. Furthermore, you wouldn't be able to resist Rod Reiss' memory manipulation after he gained that power, no matter how much you tried to restrain him. We should think that there are many more unanticipated factors on our end."

"Historia, Zoe was brainwashed, and we managed to reverse that, so maybe the same potion will work," Levi said.

"I don't think so," Hanji croaked, lips pressed tight together, brow furrowed in pain. "I think this brainwashing is stronger than any knock off brand the Central government made. If we hadn't found her, it would've worn off eventually, like it did with her other troops, Nathan and Jay; and even if that mental state wouldn't be sound, with a distorted personality, it's not like the Titan's power."

Levi seemed to mull it over for a moment, nodding at looking to histria again. "Continue."

"On the other hand, now that we've wrested away the 'Primogenitor Titan from its holders, with their twisted sense of peace, this is precisely mankind's greatest opportunity," she said, gesturing to Eren, turning to make eye contact with the boy, hair whipped up in the wind, due to their speed. "that right...your father was trying to save us from the first king. Taking the 'Primogenitor Titan' from my older sister, even killing the children of the Reiss family… he had no choice but to do so."

Eren set a hand to his head, eyes wide in disbelief. "Father…"

Armin chimed in, "That's right! Dr. Jaeger had no choice but to do that, without thinking of anything else!"

"That's right," Mikasa said, "there must be a way to save mankind, even without the blood of the Reiss family. That's why he entrusted Eren with the basement key."

"Basement?" Sasha asked. "Ah, that's it, huh? It must be important!"

Connie agreed softly before Jean spoke, "Our aim of sealing the hole in the way is finally in sight. There must be more than one option."

Levi's eyes flitted over Eren. "You don't look like shit anymore, that's encouraging."

"I'm in with this option as well, but are you okay with it, Historia?" Hanji inquired. "There's no use for him, we just can't let that Titan go strolling about inside the walls, either. With that size, it doesn't seem like he can be restrained either," Hanji was pointing towards the flaming titan body, still misshapen and horrible. "in other words, we'll have no choice but to kill your father."

Historia gazed at the body, eyes flitting to Eren. "eren, I'm sorry. Back then, I was really thinking of becoming a Titan and killing you. That wasn't for the sake of humanity either. I just wanted to believe father wasn't wrong." the small girl paused, curling in upon herself. "I didn't want him to hate me. But now, we must part."

Their little convoy rolled onwards, pace increasing, and she saw the cart horses frothing at the bits in their mouths. As they grew closer to the deformed monster, they were blasted with the familiar heat. She didn't have a clue as to what they were going to do to counteract that part of the puzzle, but they'd come to it when they could. A few men on horseback were riding close to the Titan, the shouted orders garbled, but she could tell who it was; Erwin.

Eren stood up abruptly, shouting, "Hey stop! I'm talking to you! Can't you hear me, you stupid bastard?! Stop right NOW! I'm talking to you, Rod Reiss! You midget geezer!"

Levi looked to her then, and she responded by shrugging slightly, Levi seeming a bit surprised to hear that from Eren. She wasn't. Maybe a bit, but still, this was an inspiringly stupid move, more of a gamble than anything, that Eren would be able to get the Titan's attention.

Hanji popped up to look over the side of the cart, "umm, there doesn't seem to be any response." she glanced over her shoulder to Eren, asking, "Did you you do anything other than scream that other time?"

"that other time...I was trying to…" Eren mused, before he threw a punch towards the deformed variant, calling out, "Stop, Titan!"

"No response," Hanji followed up.

Eren continued to attempt his punch, "stop! STOP!"

She wondered if Eren knew how ridiculous he looked at the moment, deciding to laugh at him later, unable to take him to seriously. Levi noticed Erwin then, nodding towards his Commander.

"Levi," Erwin said in acknowledgement.

"Erwin?" Levi seemed surprised.

"How is everyone?" Erwin asked.

"Only Hanji is injured," Levi answered.

Hanji waved to her Commander, "Oi, Erwin."

"Commander!" Eren responded to the man'd presence as well.

"It doesn't seem too serious," Erwin said, looking over his shoulder at the group, "Well done everyone."

Levi spoke, "Eren's 'cry' isn't working...I have much to report."

"What is that Titan?" Erwin queried.

"It's Rod Reiss," Levi said, "I need your opinion Commander."

| Levi |

Rod Reiss was there at dawn, Orvud District's cannons already pointed towards the monstrosity. Levi and Zoe picked their way over the wall, plans firmly in place, returning the his squad, settled on the wall as well, the group of teens talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Are you sure you want to fight, Zoe?" he asked, gazing out towards the oncoming Titan.

"I do."

"But I know you're tired."

"I am, extremely so, but that doesn't matter, the adrenaline dismisses it easily."

"I'm not in the mood to die for you today."

"That's a fun joke."

"What do you mean?"

"That you'd die for me."

"I'm not joking." The statement made her freeze, and Levi walked on, satisfied with her reaction, "Oi, Historia. You can't join in the battle. You've been ordered to standby in a safe location, haven't you? What do you intend to do?"

"I came to settle my own destiny," she said, surprising him, "To run or fight. You're the one that told me to choose, Captain Levi."

He recalled entirely lifting her from the floor, holding her there as he snapped at her. He'd been stressed, concerned with Zoe's absence. In a way, he regretted his actions, gritting his teeth as he looked at the small blonde, Zoe approaching the group as he stood still.

Finally, he cursed, "Shit, there's no time. Here he comes."

They walked to the edge of the wall, his arms crossed firmly over his chest, Erwin at one shoulder, Zoe at the other, watching the cannons as they fired the first volley.

"So what happened?" Erwin asked, waiting for the Titan to react.

The Titan hardly paused, steam rising from its form. A hand reached, hitting the ground with a dull thud, and the Titan continued forward. Another round of cannon fire from the rows on the ground, an action that also had little to no result on the Titan's oncoming speed.

"It seems the cannons on the ground are even less effective," Erwin stated.

"Of course," Levi said. "Even from the firing angle on the walls, the wall cannons couldn't hit the nape. What's going on with them?"

"This is a motley crew of scrambled soldiers and cannons. Plus, this is the inner land of the north. It cannot compare to the front line of the Garrison in the southern parts of Wall Rose. But at this point, this is certainly the greatest military strength we can muster," Erwin said.

"Yea, I know that all too well. After all our strategy, this time is Just a gamble as well, isn't it? That's what your inspiration all comes down to in the end."

Hanji called out to her Commander, alerting them to her presence(though he'd sensed a vaguely annoying aura approaching), "Erwin! I brought it! All of the remaining explosives, rope, and netting. We still have to prepare it." One of her squad members approached, pushing along an explosive barrel in a cart. "And then 'this'. There's another one on the opposite side as well. Once fired, the triggers will be fixed and it'll wind up, like a three-dimensional maneuvering gear." She looked to Levi. "So what of the canon fire?"

"As effective as a bit of piss," Levi sighed. "So we're really going to use 'this' then?"

Erwin took control again, "alright, Levi, Jean, Sasha, Connie, Zoe; I'll leave the other side to you."

The three teens sounded off, as they jogged away, "Understood!"

Levi cast a look over his shoulder, praying the Commander's gamble would pay off, grateful he'd been allowed to keep Zoe in his radius. When the wind changed, he was blasted by the sudden rush of air, cursing his bad luck. The Titan was too hot to get close to, let alone stand on the wall and be caught off guard like this. Fuck it. He wasn't going to allow any panic to distort his face, watching as the Titan raised itself up, using the wall to pull itself upright, ribs gaping, showing its internal organs.

The people in the district had begun to mill around wildly, shouts and screams ringing out, and the Garrison troops started to scatter, the heat too much for the ones on the wall. Levi looked to the barrel of water, snatching a small bucket from the ground, pouring water over himself, the instant relief rather gratifying.. Zoe followed suit, and the rest of his squad did the same. He stepped towards a high ranking Garrison offer, setting a hand on his shoulder to bring the man's attention to him instead of the frightened citizens of his district.

"The Garrison my step down. We'll handle things from here," he said, a brought flash coming from the other side, and he waited for Erwin's flare.

As soon as he saw the tinted smoke burst in the air, the attack commenced, the things Hanji had built doing their jobs, blasting the Titan's wrists, toppling it over. Erwin shouted Eren's name, and the boy's Titan form sprang at the monster, sack of explosives over his shoulder, following his order to the exact letter; and the Titan's mouth was open, just like Erwin had predicted. His gamble was paying off, and Eren shoved the bundle of barrels into Rod Reiss' mouth.

After a moment, the explosives detonated, a huge amount of light and noise ripping through the air. Erwin's command to finish it off with maneuvering gear reached them, and, with water dripping from his brow, Levi shot into the air, Zoe and Mikasa hardly a second behind him, debris flying through the air; they all used it to their advantage. They couldn't miss this chance, blades slicing through boiling flesh, hardly able to breath due to the heat. Zoe whirled past him, movements as clipped and precise as always. Historia flew in next, and dealt the final blow, knocked to the ground a beat later.

Historia Reiss rose soon enough from her padded landing spot, and Levi turned his attention back to his landing, dropping down onto a red tiled roof, entirely because Zoe was there. She smiled at him, bright as ever, standing to greet him, swaying only slightly.

He beat her to it, saying, "You don't look like shit entirely."

She sighed, rolling her eyes, looking down at groups of citizens, everyone's focus elsewhere at the moment. Of course, people had began to notice him, and Zoe held some renown. Garrison Troops milled around, one of them calling up to him. Levi dismissed him with a wave of his hand, unwilling to involve himself just yet, deciding to slip off the roof. Zoe followed him, falling off the roof instead of slipping, and he caught her before she hit the ground, though he set her upright soon enough, hidden in the shadow the roof cast.

"...You know, I like that you're not dead," she murmured, stopping close enough for her boot to be pressed up against his , chin tucked to her chest, standing next to him,

Zoe pushed her curly wet hair back, clothes clinging to her small frame. Levi turned to look at the side of her face she presented to him, this display of communication, very close to each other without flinching, was new. But he didn't give a shit, allowing his pinky to brush against hers, and she grasped his thumb in one hand for an instant, tugging once.

"Me too."

She gave him a halfhearted smile, pulling him along after her for a second out of the shadows, dropping his thumb after that moment had passed. He fell into step alongside her, a beat behind, feeling more serene than he should've, frown lines clearing up for a minute or so, until he was pulled back into clean up efforts, Zoe by his side, and vice versa. Levi always preferred her working with him, as she'd always done. And, as always, she resisted going to the medical tent that'd been erected 30 minutes ago, insisting that the home made patch up she'd given herself was better than actual bandages and wound flushing.

He stopped by Erwin on the way out, scowling down at the one handed shitty bandit, in all his eyebrow-y glory, "Why the hell are you here?"

"Now, Levi, that's no way to talk to a superi-"

"Cut the shit, how the hell did you get hurt again?"

Erwin cleared his throat, hair still a bit damp. "Clipped by some shrapnel."

Levi couldn't find the words to express his extreme disappointment with his Commandeer, in that the man seemed to be set on ending his life sooner than it should. Because without him, Levi wasn't sure if humanity would win. Maybe Armin, but the kid didn't have that charisma that Erwin did, and it might take him years till he matured; maybe a death, but Levi wasn't prepared to die for him to realize his true strength. The notion was some sort of poetic justice, and no doubt the former idea might work, but still. Eyebrows still had work to do, and if vaguely parental anger might correct the actions of a man he'd known a bit longer than Zoe, then he'd try for that.

The overly smart ones loved to deny their mortality, manifesting in a lack of care for wounds. He saw the same pattern in Zoe, even Hanji, though shitty four-eyes was mostly talk.

"We can't lose you, you know? So don't be shitty, and stop going out of your way to get hurt."

"I'm not exactly going out of my way, Levi," Erwin said, bushy eyebrow lifting.

"Sure. Watch your constipation, Erwin."

Zoe tried to creep out of the tent, wounds half bandaged, but he caught her quickly, her reaction slowed by what he assumed to be exhaustion. She was still energized enough to sigh heavily, plopping down on the nearest cot.

Levi pointed at the two of them, annoyed at having to be a fucking grandparent in this moment. "You two had better stay still. If you leave before Sjeh clears you…"

The effect was instant, Zoe and Erwin straightening with a mutual shiver, statuesque, now, rather than wiggling with impatience. Levi nodded, quite proud of himself, leaving the tent soon after Sjeh appeared, reminding Zoe to find him after she was finished here. The stout woman was already waddling about, snapping at the other medics, Levi's entire squad under the white tent, along with a couple other troops who'd gotten too close to the monster, burns showing through tattered uniforms.

Cut me down, Slice me deep; I dare you. Burn my crown, Spit on my grave; I'll make you. See my face. See my face; I'll haunt you. Deep in the dark, Behind your eyes, I'm on you. Salt of the Earth, Bird of the Heavens; You hear them, All in the hell. The hollowest halls, Don't fear them,

Levi didn't waste anytime to go search the woods, not bothering to sleep, collecting an exhausted Zoe and another soldier to his side, riding fast back out to the wooded area. The area was a desolation, charred trees bent wearily, casting a slim shadow over the remains of grass, blackened earth all that remained in most places. Rubble lay in place of the church, a wide swath of land sunk into the ground, dust billowing around him when a gust swept through the area.

The scent of burnt tree sap hung as a vague suggestion in the air, everything far too still, the birds and animals no doubt chased away by the fire and the monstrous form. Levi held his gun tighter, walking along the edge of a forest that'd been spared from the fires, packed close enough to provide cover to his enemies. He didn't doubt his ability to hold his own, even in a surprise attack, but he could do without, and the area seemed to infect his spirit. It'd been a long time since he was this on edge, but he supposed the latent danger of Kenny Ackerman was enough to bring the effect about.

They swept the area closely, nearing the end of the tree line, Levi's gaze on the trees above him. There'd been no sign of life anywhere, and he let himself breathe, the ominous feeling that'd set in blown away in the next breeze. The top foliage rustled softly with the wind, devoid of any apparent life

When his subordinate cocked his rifle, followed quickly by the same noise from Zoe's, he brought his gaze down; of course the man had made it out. "Kenny," he said, not bringing his gun up when he saw the state of the man.

Kenny opened an eye that wasn't sealed shut, temple smeared with dried blood. "Huh...It's you."

"Your comrades that have fought with you against us have all fallen," Levi said, tone as even as usual, betraying no emotion as he inquired further, "Are you the only one left?"

Kenny was silent, closing his eyes, lips barely forming his words, "...I guess." The man took a shuddering breath, barely moving in his propped up position on a tree.

"Captain...he's.." his soldier spoke softly, the butt of his rifle at his shoulder still, aimed carefully at Kenny, though there was really no need to shoot an already dead animal.

Levi turned to the man and Zoe, pointing at the blonde male. "Return to base and report in.."

"understood," the blonde said, turning on the heel of his boot, walking fast back to base.

When Zoe began to follow, he stopped her, "Zoe, stay."

Kenny's shoulder shook in something like amusement, casting his gaze towards Zoe, standing close to Levi. Kenny looked like shit, limp, blood soaked strands of hair falling into his sallow face. In fact, he almost smell like it at this point.

"Serious burns and you're bleeding out," he murmured, "there's no saving you now."

"you sure?" Kenny asked, opening whatever he had clutched to him, a syringe filled with clear liquid safe in the padding. "I dunno though." Levi's eyes widened, not only at Kenny's resourcefulness, but the idea that he hadn't already taken advantage of the serum. "I took one of these from Rod's bag, because apparently taking one can turn you into a Titan. Maybe I'll become a stupid one...I dunno. But at least...it could keep me alive." Kenny gave a little grunt of amusement, gaze on Zoe now. "Give you enough time to take your revenge, pretty."

"It's Zoe," she responded, hand curling into a tight fist.

"...nice to play pretend for once," Kenny continued, eye sweeping over her frame. "But, never thought he'd allow himself to become so weak, that this is no longer pretend."

Levi was slightly annoyed by the statement, believing wholeheartedly she made him stronger, gave him one more thing to fight for. But here he was, in front of the man who'd taught him to show no emotion, how to fight with full intent to kill as soon as possible and most importantly, be stronger, and better than everyone else in order to survive and prosper. He didn't show any 'weakness', stayed silent to let the man finish.

"Half done kidnapping shit, what is she to you? I'll hear it from you, before..."

Levi replied quickly, "A partner."

"You're still too cold to say shit else, that's more like it. Pretty girl for you to play house with, to me."

"It's not like that."

"Fine. Not as if...I can…if you can really feel that emotion..." Kenny shrugged, shut his eyes, ending the conversation, even though Levi thought he still had something, maybe, to prove to him.

Levi stepped a bit closer, Zoe still hovering over his shoulder. "You probably had a better chance when you were less...messed up. So why didn't you."

"yeah...I wonder...why. Gotta make sure I do it right..or I might turn out like him...some half-baked dumbass."

"There's no way you'll just sit here and wait for your death. C'mon, don't you have any better excuses?"

"yeah, I...don't wanna die, and...I wanted power, but...I see...now I think...I get why...he did something like that."

"Huh?"

"Everyone I saw...was the same. Alcohol...women, or even pretending to be God…" Kenny took a breath before continuing, beads of blood dripping from his goatee, blinking to rid himself of the blood that trickled into his eyes, clumping in his eyelashes. "family, the king, dreams, children, power; they all had something they were drunk on...it was what kept them moving. They were all slaves to something. Even he was." A violent coughing fit shook the man, blood spraying from his mouth, but he still spoke when he caught his breath, asking. "What about you? Being a hero! Getting the girl!?"

Levi lurched forward, grasping the man's shoulder, disregarding the mess of blood, determined to get something out of this man, who'd found him half-dead, on the floor of his dead mother's room. "Kenny...tell me everything you know! why didn't the previous king want mankind to survive?"

Zoe dropped to a crouch beside him, Kenny's words quiet now, "I don't know..but that was why we Ackermans went against the king…"

Kenny's cough sent a splatter of blood on his cheek, Levi's stomach clenching in distaste, but he had to have truth, placing his other hand on the dying man's shoulder. "I was told that I was an Ackerman too; is that true? You...who were you to my mother?"

"Idiot..just her big brother…" Kenny said, laughing low, amusement betrayed by a harder cough.

Levi couldn't help but be floored by the information, betraying his emotions, wetting his dry lips. "Then why...did you leave me back then?"

"I was unfit to be a parent."

With those words, the man slapped the case to his chest, arm strong for a moment, before the man went limp, arm falling to the grass, blood trickling from his mouth. His one open eye was sightless, and Zoe reached for Kenny, maybe to attempt to revive him, though she stopped herself quickly enough. Levi couldn't help but stare at this man, his uncle, his past somewhat clearer now, replaying moments he recalled when he closed his eyes.

Zoe's brief gentle touch at his shoulder brought him back to reality, and he sat back in the grass, looking to her, so afraid to touch him, sleep ringed eyes haunting him. He leaned towards her instead, unsure how to ask for some of the contact he wanted, almost needed.

"You're welcome to comfort me with touches and shit, but I'll tell you right now...it's not that deep," Levi tried to lie, frustrated he'd lost the man with answers, the man who might've brought a bit of closure to his little life. "Shit. Shitty guy, leaving me with this," He joked, half-heartedly as he set the box between his legs. "Fuck it, I can't care right now. What are we going to do with the body?"

"It's all up to you, I'll help you in anyway I can," she murmured, brown eyes muddy with exhaustion; but she was still trying for him.

"I know. Thank you."

She attempted a smile. "Of course."

She smoothed her hand over his shoulder, touching at the blood on his cheek, smearing it in her effort to wipe it away. Zoe frowned, wetting the edge of her cuff with her saliva, and he stopped her, feeling like a small child again. Levi scowled at her, pressing at his cheek with the heel of his hand in a personal effort to rid himself of the mess on his cheek, but his hands were already bloody, and it didn't help.

"Are you trying to mother me, Zoe?" He asked, sighing heavily, trying an idle conversation continue as he considered the dead body in front of him.

Zoe waved his comment away, covering her yawn in her hand. "I couldn't do that even if I tried."

"I don't think I should leave him to the birds, and shit," Levi said, rising slowly to his feet, offering Zoe a hand, "but I don't have a shovel."

"We could go back to the outpost."

"As long as we move quickly."

She took his hand, let him pull her to her feet, holding her hand for the time it took to coax her into a fast walk. Zoe stumbled as they walked, grasping his hand tighter so he wouldn't pull away, using him as a pillar, the mental trauma she'd experienced with her memory alteration no doubt increasing her lethargy exponentially. So he allowed her to hold onto him, leaving her outside the gate of the military outpost as he searched for shovels, returning to her presently, swaying where she stood.

Zoe gave him a sleepy smile, offering to take one of the shovels from him, which he refused, letting her half assed complaints go in one ear and out the other. He caught her hand almost automatically as they made their way back to Kenny, the dead man still where Levi had left him. Levi had almost expected him to be gone, that somehow, Kenny had faked his death, had another syringe with serum in it, saved himself. But he hadn't; the remaining serum was in Levi's inner pocket, hitting his chest with every step he took.

They dug a shallow grave in silence, and Zoe stood back to allow Levi some space so as to shift Kenny into the hole they'd made. Gently, she pushed the loose earth back over the man's lower body, stopping at his waist to look at Levi, standing, straight-backed and unmoving at her side, shovel useless in his hands. He muttered a quick curse under his breath, pushing the remaining dirt over Kenny's torso, muted feelings bubbling up, throwing him through a loop.

He clenched his jaw tight when the job was done, dropping abruptly to a crouch, pressing his face briefly to cupped hands, knowing the slight pain he felt was silly, useless. The man had turned his back on Levi, still young, after coaxing him into a dangerous lifestyle, left him down there, in the dark. It'd been so dark sometimes, so fucking dark, he wondered if life could exist in the underground, hadn't believed in life when he watched his mother wither away. No one had cared; Kenny had come too late to save his sister.

But, before Kenny left, he'd given Levi fighting chance. Levi had been given power, of the most basic sort, starting with food, something he hadn't seen in awhile. He'd been consigned to the same fate as his mother before Kenny had shuffled through the door of her bedroom. To have someone looking after his well being, teaching him how to interact people, a skill formerly foreign to him. Kenny taught him about knives; how to hold the grip tight, and how to disarm a man dim enough to come at him without a similarly firm grip. The 'basics', in the underground, were consistent with an intent to stave off basic fears of dying and starvation.

"My mother's name was Kuchel," Levi said, addressing Zoe without looking at her. "The fat fuck of a pimp called her Olympia, didn't even notice her death, nevermind my presence."

"Mary, was my mother's name," she murmured, two of her fingers resting on his shoulder, "she...was a very proper woman, who belonged to a middle class family, and married a man she thought was below her station. It was a common arguing point."

"Did you love her?"

"Yes, I suppose, in the way you love a family member who you don't...really...I mean, in retrospect, in a couple of ways, she did help me achieve the position I have now. I can't hate her. "

"I think I may have loved her, my mother. I barely have a memories of her, just her name, fleeting images, then her death, when she wouldn't wake."

"I'm sorry, Levi."

"For what?"

"That you mom died, and...I don't know. It's polite to say sorry. "

He gave short noise, reaching for her hand on his shoulder, standing up again. She raised her hand to his hair, plucking at the dark strands before she tried at his bloody cheek again. Levi pulled her hand away from his face gently, grasping the two shovels, moving a good foot away from the grave before he looked to her. Zoe was slow to react, a tired smile pulling at her pretty lips, exhaustion almost palpable.

Levi wanted to tell her, show her, that he loved her all the more for being here with him, that he wasn't 'playing' with her in the slightest. "Are you going to let me carry you back?"

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she protested, "that's dumb, no-no-LEVI!"

He had her on his back, weight easy to manage, as she was lighter than Isabel had ever been, and certainly not as drunk as the girl had been on the number of occasions Levi had carried her on his back. In a series of quick moves, glares, and veiled threats to any officials that tried to get in his way, he got her back to her townhouse within the capital, setting her down on her bed, resisting her pull, and small words of encouragement, asking him to stay with her.

"You need sleep, and I can't stay right now."

"Didn't Hanji call you Captain 'stick in the mud'?" she mumbled, almost inaudible, a sly smile playing over her lips. "Or was it Captain fun sponge?

Levi arched a disapproving eyebrow, sliding the covers neatly over her, pulling her curtains across the one window in her room, dark enough now to sleep comfortably in. He was going to throw legal name change papers in shitty four-eyes' face the next time he heard a new nickname. Hanji was giving Zoe too many ideas.

Here I am
The warrior man
Here I stand
The warrior man
I done tried it all, Tried it all(Hey), Done tried it all; I can't stop this internal bleeding. And my heart is leaking, heart is leaking out; And it hurts