Alright- I know it's been, like, a week, and I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner- it's finals week and I'm doing my absolute best, so thank you all for being so patient with me!

MAILBAG

SomethingMoreQ, Chapter 15

Oh no! I see where this is going! If Miksa goes with Levi, she'll be a terriost, and Hange and Armin...
Alright, so I liked the split point of views, very useful and a great way to show urgency. I could practically feel the tension! When Eren imagined himself getting executed, that almost made me cry! I have one teensy little request, so microscopic...please make them chapters longer! I practically inflate with joy when there's a chapter, and deflate when it's done. I understand how hard it is to write it all down in words, especially
when you have it all planned in your head! And it's hard to get longs chapters in. *hugs you* thanks!

Thank you. I've been doing the best I can with the chapters- I'm sorry if this one isn't long enough for you, but I did my absolute best to update it tonight. I really wanted this to show Eren's way of dealing with adversity, and how he copes with this new situation. Anyways, thanks for the reviews and encouragement! I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

DarkNutDestroyer, Chapter 15

Awesome! A new chapter! I see things are going into motion as the story and the manga/anime joined. An unstable Eren is locked up in a prison and I'm very curious of what is going to happen. However, I hope you will continue to focus on Eren's inner turmoil and that it won't follow exactly the same events of canon. Anyway, I still LOVE THIS story so keep up the good work!

Oh no- this is going the way I want it to, not cannon. You folks definitely do influence my decisions, though :P

As you can see here, this chapter is mostly Eren-centric, dealing with how he's coping with his current situation. Enjoy! :)

FeminineFerocious, Chapter 15

It's great that you updated, I like that you're adding a little more drama to it. I thought it was kinda funny that Levi was starting to lose his cool since he rarely does. It'd be fun to see him and the scouting legion try to bust him out guns blazing, (tonight there's gonna be a jail break) xD But it will still be interesting if they take him to court again.

Please update soon!

Hope my updating time was reasonable here! Like I said- college, holidays, teenager issues- I'm trying to keep my life together, but hey, you guys and your reviews motivate me, so thanks!

Levi's losing his cool was a bit of my own invention- I figured, this kid, this kid he's helped through all this pain and begun to care for (as a friend or lover, take your pick), jsut got ripped away from him in the middle of the night. This kid tried to kill himself a few weeks ago, and is suddenly torn away from everything. Levi's going to be losing his shit trying to get him back, losing his mind with worry, because he cares for his squad- Eren especially, since he's spent so much time with the boy.

As we see last chapter- they're going to try the legal route first. If all else fails- the Levi squad, Mikasa, and Armin will committ an act of high treason to extract him.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

He woke up when the door of his cell was jerked open, the metal creaking.

"Damn him, does the monster even need to eat?" someone was muttering.

Eren placed his hands on the earthen floor, lifting his head and blinking wearily, surveying the person bearlily.

The soldier- he recognized the MP's crest- froze when he saw the feared titan shifter was, in fact, awake and looking at him. He hurriedly dropped the tray he was carrying, scrambling outside the door and fumbling with his keys, struggling to lock the door.

His eyes were wide- Eren was surprised he could inspire such fear for a moment. Did the man honestly think he was going to attack him?

The man succeeded in getting the key into the keyhole, and with a metallic click, the door was sealed again.

"T-thank you." Eren croaked, voice barely audible due to the dryness in his throat.

The man stepped back, still surprised and fearful. Eren, still shackled as he was, dragged himself over to the tray, chains clanking as he grabbed the mug of water and took a sip.

"Thanks." he repeated, hoping the MP would hear him this time. The man nodded, looking a bit shell-shocked, before he was turning and fairly running away.

Eren was too preoccupied with the tray to really care for the moment.

He'd been given a hunk of hard bread and a mug of water. Considering how hungry he was, it was a feast, and he savored every sip of the water before he started tearing into the bread. He saved a few sips of water in the mug- as much as he wanted to drink it all now, he had a feeling he might not get more for awhile. Better to ration it until he was given more.

With his hunger and thirst fought back for the time being, he took stock of the situation he was in. He'd gotten over the shock of being taken- the hours he'd spent in the wagon had given him time to cry himself into exhaustion and nearly drown in self-loathing.

Levi leaned against the desk, sighing as he thumbed through the journal, candlelight glowing on his face. Eren had had a particularly bad day- his journal had pages of horrible things written, and Levi thumbed through them idly.

"Why do you do this to yourself?"

"I told you- I can't control it."

"No, you can't. But these thoughts- the self-loathing- you don't have to indulge them. you say that you got this way because people kept calling you a monster. Why do you believe everything they tell you?"

"I… I don't know. I guess I've just always been that way…."

"Well stop it. You take everything those morons say to heart, see it as truth- you start to believe it and you destroy yourself. Someday, you're going to realize that only the opinions of the people you care about matter. So why let the people who don't matter destroy you?" Levi queried, looking down at the boy, eyebrows raised.

Eren grit his teeth, resting his head in his hands. "I… don't… know. I need a enemy, I need something to hate- I hate the titans, but they realized I was a shifter, after they called me a monster- I guess I started to hate myself instead."

"Don't hate yourself for being called monster. Hate the ones that call you that."

Eren sat back, remembering one of the many conversations he'd had with Levi in the evening and smiling slightly.

He was anxious- ice water was running through his veins, and in all honesty, he had a feeling he was going to be executed soon. At least- that was what the people who thought him a monster were planning.

He looked at the mug he'd been given. It was ceramic, hewn of low-quality materials- he could probably shatter it and use the sharp pieces to cut himself.

But for once, he didn't have the desire to bleed. He couldn't find it within him to hate himself due to the words of others.

What would Levi think, when he comes to get me, if he found I'd done that?

There was a nagging voice in the back of his head, saying they'd never come, they didn't care for him- but he didn't let it drown out the voice of reason. He knew what it was- it was the voice of the people who hated him- he refused to allow their opinions to dictate his actions.

They were going to try and come up with an excuse to execute him, he was sure. If they found him hurting himself, they'd claim he was insane, and that his unstableness demanded he be destroyed. He wasn't going to give the bastards the ammunition.

Not to mention he didn't want to hurt himself. He didn't want to disappoint Levi, Mikasa and Armin. And it'd be plain stupid to do it here- he didn't have the materials to properly care for his wounds here, and it'd be pointless to die awaiting trial due to infected, self-inflicted wounds.

Still, he was on edge. He hated the prospect of simply sitting in the cell in the dark, musty underground air, unable to do anything. It made him anxious and fidgety, but he consoled himself quietly, refusing to give in.

the Scouting Legion would come for him soon, he had no doubt. If not because of Levi's insistence, because of his shifting abilities- but they were going to come for him. It was only a matter of when.

I hope you get here soon.

Levi was silent as he sat beside Erwin in the wagon, simply staring at the road ahead of them. They were still two day's ride out from the Capital- Eren had likely already arrived, due to the King's outpost. Wagons were furnished with fresh horses at every outpost to allow swift, if not bumpy, travel.

"You seem tense." Erwin remarked idly, ice blue eyes surveying his friend quizzically.

"I'm responsible for the boy they plan on killing. Yes, I am tense." Levi retorted through grit teeth, snapping the reins, urging the horses faster.

"You're worried he'll kill himself."

"I'm worried what they'll drive him to. They want him dead- they were anything but kind to him last time."

Erwin nodded slowly, before he was clearing his throat. "I assume you've figured this out already, but this trial will be anything but fair. They have the scales tipped already- public fear and the wall cult screaming for his death, they'll do anything they can to skew this trial. You know there's a very small chance we'll be able to free him legally."

Levi's grip on the reins tightened along with his jaw, and he continued staring straight ahead. "I will bring him back by whatever means necessary."

BREAK

Hours passed. Eren realized with dull sadness that he probably wouldn't be given any more rations for the day. He stayed in the brightest back corner of the cell, studying the world outside the cell with bemused interest. It seemed like he was the only one being held here, which made sense, since they thought he was a threat.

He was certain it was night, despite the lack of light, as he began to grow drowsy. He was dozing in and out when he heard a door slamming in the distance.

He frowned, starting awake and blinking owlishly, wondering if the sound was simply his mind playing tricks on him.

Rowdy laughter sounded a moment later, assuring him it was not, infact, a figment of his imagination. He looked up, surprised. In the flickering torchlight, four figures of MPs, eyes glassy with drink and alight with the scent of prey, grinned down at him like a serpent staring at a small rodent.

"Here he is- the famed titan shifter!" he fumbled with his keys haplessly, grinning as Eren looked at him beneath his bangs, curious. His keys scraped the metal, but it took him several moments to summon up the coordination to open the lock. He smiled before striding into the cell, allowing the cell door to fall shut behind him, his equally buzzed friends behind him.

"Let's see if you're as tough as they say you are, freak."

Eren was already on his feet, falling into a shaky fighting stance- he might've been weak from poor treatment and hunger, but if these men were intent on beating him, he refused to take it lying down.

His fight right hook connected with the man's jaw, sending him stumbling, but they were on him like flies on a corpse. He held his own for a mere minute or two before finally slumping, shaking, unable to keep up the rigorous fight.

The man he'd hit originally laughed. Two of the bastards were on either arm, holding the weak boy up while one kept guard and the other began to beat the living shit out of him.

He couldn't breathe- his ribs were on fire, his head jerked backwards from the force of the blows, and he began to choke on his blood that dripped from his nose down his throat, hacking and sputtering.

It was all he could do the remain conscious as they rotated, taking turns hitting or holding him up.

Fear rushed through his body like adrenalin, but he'd hit exhaustion. Physically fighting was no longer an option- restrained, beaten, the only hope he had was to swallow his pride and beg. He let his eyes fall closed, the only sound the blows landing against his own flesh- he'd sooner die than beg.

He'd felt every blow- with each increasingly more painful hit, he was dragged from his formerly defiant stance towards one of unconsciousness. As he gasped and choked from the force of every blow, blood dripping from his face as the blows continued to rain down, he felt fear blossom in his chest- genuine, primal fear- rattle him. Chained to a pole in the courtroom, the only option he had was to beg…. He stared up at the man, bloodied, beaten, green eyes still burning with defiance. The man could kill him if he wanted- but he would never beg.

Despite the pain he was in, Eren Jaeger gave a smile that doubled as a grimace. Levi had done worse than these bastards had, in that courtroom. That man who'd nearly knocked him out in front of everyone… the man who'd later become his best friend….

Laughter bubbled up in his throat, frantic, hacking laughter he choked out around mouthfuls of his own blood. Glassy eyes wide, he stared down the man who was currently pummeling him to a pulp, grinning all the while.

"You...think...that… hurts?" he hacked out between gasps for air and laughter, crimson pouring from his mouth and dribbling down his chin. "I've had worse done to me…. You won't break me…." more frantic laughter bubbled out, highlighting the words.

The man's eyes widened with both fear and surprise, before he handed one more solid blow that knocked Eren from the hands of his captors. He crumpled to the earthen floor- the MP who'd been beating him was backing towards the cell door, looking thoroughly unnerved. He mumbled something to his comrades, who were quickly following his lead, heading for the cell door….

The words were garbled static in his ears, unintelligible, like the crashing of ocean waves.

The lock clicked back into place as his cell door was closed. He realized he still hadn't stopped laughing when his already painful chest constricted, informing him that breathing was necessary.

He slumped over, battered but not conquered, catching his breath.

"Is that… all you… bastards got?" he rasped out, grinning like a maniac. He had the trump card- he'd been through hell before. This was nothing compared to the torture his own mind had put him through.

That was his last thought before unconsciousness finally claimed him.