Chapter 27: Levi

One time.

Two times.

Three times.

I assume I should have been dead already... I assume I should feel some kind of pain biting at me... There is none. The guy holding me in place seems to let go of his grip and I assume that's because I'm done for. It should have been that way in any case. It's not. He completely lets go of me and I hear a big 'Badum' sound behind me... I really can stand back up, but my knees give out on me the moment I pull myself off the countertop with no one to pull my weight up. I fall and I notice the guy fell to the ground right behind me... Eyes and mouth wide open. His shirt is covered in blood... which is mostly his. He was shot. I close my eyes an instant to pull myself back together. I'm alive. I am fucking alive. I don't know what's going on, but I'm not dead yet.

I turn around. There has to be someone there... the person who shot this guy with no second thought. I hear them moving until they're right by my side, crouching down.

''Is Mikasa here?''

Fuck. I can't even manage to answer the simple question. I shake my head. That's the only thing I can manage when I look at him... looking so gentle even though there's a gun in his hands.

''Where is she?''

That's a question I really need to answer... I know why he's asking. He's just making sure that she is safe... that we don't need to put her somewhere safe before going after Eren. Yeah, I know. I know we'll go after Eren the moment I'm back on my feet. I can't stay on my knees forever while Eren is taken somewhere... and probably thinking I am dead. I don't know what he'll do. I can't let him think that. I can't let him go through that again... my death and their stupid experiments. I should have listened to Armin Arlet's advice and kept Eren safe and hidden... I shouldn't have talked to him. Fuck!

So, I sigh, closing my eyes one last time... and, when I open them back up again, I pull myself up and I turn to him as he's standing back up himself.

''She's with her mother. She's safe.''

''We need to get out of here... before the police come here,'' he says, and that's when I realize there is no coming back now. There is no coming back to this apartment. There is no coming back to whatever I had. There was a gunshot in my apartment. They will find dead bodies in my apartment. How the fuck am I going to explain this? How am I going to get back to my life with Mikasa... and Eren.

We're out of the apartment in a flash. I follow him to his car. I walk behind him and I notice his every move... as if I'm wondering if this is actually him. I still can't believe he shot them, but then again... I don't really know him. I never really did. Erwin knew him better than me. Erwin knew the boy had potential... The potential to be a leader like Erwin himself, willing to take risks and to sacrifice to move forward.

I bury my hands in my pockets and I play absently with the only thing I took with me: a piece of paper that used to be on the fridge. I keep it safe; that last thing is our place to go to, I guess... to return to, because I won't return to the apartment and I realize I'm really making my farewell to my apartment as it becomes smaller and smaller on the other side of the window of the car. It's the last time I'll ever see it... probably, and I turn around to welcome the sight of the surprising boy sitting right next to me. Let's move on to the next topic, Armin Arlet:

''We need to get Eren out of there.''

-X-

We don't have time for this and his plan is bullshit. I don't know what to think anymore... This plan of his doesn't make any sense and I'm really not sure what to think of him at this point. He tells me of some stupid plan and I think he's naive, yet I see the gun he left on the counter to tend to my wounds and... No. Armin Arlet isn't naive. He is serious and more reliable than me considering I'm getting patched up after a fight where I didn't even fight back. I just stood there. I took it. I didn't even know what the fuck happened. It just happened... and it was pretty lame. I'm irritated about it. I wish I could have done something... anything. Fuck. I was so useless. I don't even know what I'll be able to do to help Eren and to get him out of there, but I need to do something. Anything.

''There is no way this will work.'' I tell him again, and again. He's done explaining. It's my turn now to tell him how this stupid plan of his... can barely be called a plan. He makes it sound easy, way too easy. ''They probably know I'm still in the picture by now... so, they'll probably expect me to come take Eren back. We can't just walk in like that.''

And he smiles.

Armin Arlet smiles back at me like he knows something I don't... and he goes: ''Who said we would walk in?''

Wait... What? ''If you say running, I'm slaughtering you,'' I warn him. I am not playing this smart ass game in your apartment. I'm not in the mood for this bullshit. Eren is gone. My head is throbbing and the pain killers aren't exactly helping. I saw a bottle of pills from the pharmacy with Eren's name on the prescription... and this shower gel in the corner of the shower is definitely Eren's. I don't know. I never thought I'd get in this apartment. In Armin's apartment. In the place they hung out and... stuff. This whole fucking thing is annoying me to no end... it gives me a sense of urgency in getting Eren back. It makes me restless.

At least, running isn't what Armin Arlet says when he stands back up. Oh no. He says:

''Flying.''

-X-

''What the fuck do you mean... flying?'' I repeat without getting any answer. Still. Armin Arlet leads me further into his apartment and I keep noticing more and more of Eren's stuff even though I don't want to see it: some of his clothes all folded in an open box with some of his stupid accessories, a message written on a board in the kitchen signed Eren... all this, to lead me into the bedroom... the fucking bedroom with a double bed smaller than my queen bed. The fucking bedroom where Eren slept at times and I realize I miss my bedroom... my bedroom and my bed occupied with his body. I miss it. I want to go back. Fuck. I don't want to go back to before I met him at that baseball match... but, I want to get back to that point when Hanji didn't know.

I can't.

For now, I can just watch as Armin Arlet searches through his wardrobe and pulls stuff out of it... and I'm thinking how far away did he put whatever he is searching for, but I know why the moment I see him pull a big box out of the closet and he shows me the contents.

He didn't want Eren to see this.

-X-

Oh no. I can't believe this. I just fucking can't believe this. This is crazy. I must be crazy. The straps all around my body feel like they belong there. The weight on my hips feels familiar. The handles in my hands are comfortable. From the feeling of the wind on my face, in my hair... and the sight I see from this place high above, to the tightness of the gear on my limbs... It feels right. All of it. Sure, it's a city below my feet as I stand on the edge of one of the tallest buildings of Montreal, but it's still the sight of a city from high above. It's not really different from the sight of the city from high above on the gear or the walls years ago. It's the same... yet, it's not.

''Are you sure this is working?'' I ask while I test every strap again for the tenth time and go over the whole home-made 3DMG gear... again.

''Yes... I made it myself and I tried them.''

Armin made this. Armin is intelligent. Armin is a genius. It's probably working fine. It feels the same. It looks the same... without swords, but still the same. I know how to make this work. I can make it work... and we'll get an advantage with this, I know, but I'm not Batman and he's not Robin. I'm not scared of heights, but this is kind of crazy when I look down at the street below my feet... and it hits me, I'm close to the edge. Dangerously close.

...because, I'm not scared.

I do not freak out when he asks if I'm ready and gets in position next to me... ready to jump. More than anything, I'm excited... incredibly excited. I can't wait to feel my feet off the ground and the wind in my hair... I won't forget that feeling. That nostalgic feeling. I didn't realize I missed it until I shifted my weight on my feet and launched the hook... Pulled forward... Pulled in the air... I remember how I missed it.

I remember how good I am at this... and how I can fight with this.

-X-

It's a shame I can't wander in town with it because the feeling is great... and I never get bored of it.

-X-

With the first hook thrown correctly, the glass breaks... I can't be sure what level this is, but we're pretty high in the sky. With the second hook, I pull myself in the building and Armin follows behind me. Of course, the alarm goes off. Of course, the glass shatters and I have to protect myself with my arms. I check on Armin the moment our feet touch the ground... and then, on me... and Fuck! I realize; I smiled. I fucking smiled when I was up in the air.

And, when I look at Armin, I realize there's a little smile on his lips too.

''I missed that feeling,'' says Armin, and it's one of the rare times where I agree with him.

Me too.

''We're not done, yet.''

Not nearly done. He knows. I know. We reach the middle of the building, the open area, when we get to see security walking toward us, to the stairs... and some, to the elevator... the one elevator leading to Eren. I really don't know where I get all my courage from, but I climb on the glass fence like I don't even know fear anymore and I jump. I just jump.

-X-

When Armin Arlet sees the Titans, he stands close to the glass between him and... them. His big blue eyes shine with a far cry of Eren's shine when he fights Titans and gets pumped up. I feel like even though I had told him... even though he knew and prepared this whole thing, it still surprises him. Hell, he made this whole thing possible. He got into the building and we did surprise everyone when we jumped down from one of the upper floors right into the main elevator. They tried to stop us, of course, but the gear saved our asses... and I found myself some fighting spirit with all the familiarity all over my body. I knocked a few of the men out using my gear to move myself around them. It was my element... I felt confident with the gear.

I owe Armin Arlet a lot.

''There are a lot more than I thought...'' whispers the blonde and I nod. Yes. There are a lot. I feel like there are even more than the last time I was in here... and I'm just hoping she didn't manage to break Annie out of her shell and make more Titans with her strength. I fucking hope not, but I warn Armin anyway.

''Annie could be awake somewhere else too.''

''Not that I know... but it is a possibility, indeed.''

There's a little pause after that where I see his eyes scan the area and I keep quiet, as to not bother him. I feel like he knows exactly where everything is... and I don't, so I let him look over everything in his mind to prepare the best course of action. The next step of his plan. I'm not one to follow blindly, but I guess I can trust Armin Arlet on this one... like I trusted Erwin Smith years ago when he was the commander.

However, when Armin Arlet speaks again... a chill runs up my spine.

''We'll use the Titans to create a commotion...''

I ask the question even though I'm already assuming what he wants to do... as if, I don't know. As if I hope it's not what I think it is. ''How?''

''We'll free them.''

And it makes sense, really. The security will be busy fighting the Titans and we'll have it a lot easier as we get Eren out of here. It'll give us time and more freedom... But I am reminded of the walls and of humanity hiding behind them like some kind of animal in a cage... ready to be eaten.