Author's Note: Armin kicks ass. I love him.

Warning: Graphic Depictions of violence. Proceed with caution (just in case idek).

"Go to hell."

There's only laughter as they slowly make their way inside. My eyes locking onto their forms immediately. The space that Armin lives in is not very large, considering he lives on his own. I notice that two of them hover by the entrance.

I feel an elbow dig into my side and I give a grunt in response. Armin is grabbing at a black piercing in his ear, another going to the silver chain around his neck.

He murmurs lowly in my direction. "I've got the vamps, think you can handle the other guy?"

I swallow hard as I remember my last encounter. What keeps me from panicking is the knowledge of having Armin by my side. I roll my shoulders, my form shuddering. Yes, this was different from the last time. I'm not weighed down my exhaustion. I am not alone.

"Yeah, I got him."

I can feel Armin smirk by my side. "Good luck."

I crack my neck, bounce from foot to foot, and send a feral grin to the creature across from me. "You too." Then I'm launching myself at almost the same time that thing does.

I feel my claws extending, my teeth elongating as I sail through the air. I crash into him with swinging arms and snapping jaws. Yes, things were definitely different this time around.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the blurred movements of the vamps as they make their way towards Armin. I almost laugh at their stupidity.

Armin's lips are moving rapidly, the metal he's gripping glowing softly. Just as one goes to grab at him, he stills in midair, eyes wide. I can see the faint outline of Sasha, an arm sinking into the vamps chest. The other vamp is slowly circling, guard up, footsteps cautious.

Sasha is glowing now, her own expression one of maniacal glee. She's sinking further inside and the vamp is now thrashing wildly, his skin turning a sickening purple.

I land on the opposite side of the building, muscles tense and ready to attack. I only hear Sasha's laughter and an excited, "Look, Connie!" before there's a strangled scream followed by disgustingly loud splats hitting the walls.

There's more laughter, an "Aw that's gross! A-man, its my turn now!", and then I'm once again flying through the air.

There's a flash of something and a sudden sting to my cheek. I eye the nasty looking blade in my opponent's hand as I rub an arm to my face. I feel the wound begin to close so I bring my arms up and send a challenging smile at him.

Bleeding red eyes, framed by rotting gray skin narrow. He comes at me again with a snarl, blade swinging. I twist on my heel in a spinning duck, bring my palms out as I rise out of my dodge and sink my claws into his chest before pushing him away with as much force as I can muster.

I send him flying into a bookshelf, papers flying everywhere.

From Armin's direction I can hear him yell out a breathless, "Watch out for my shit, Eren, or I swear to God!"

I barely get a chuckle out before I'm swinging my body into a back-flip as the ex-vamp jumps at me from above, blade digging into the floor. He uses the handle to bring himself up and swing a booted foot, faster than I can track. I feel my head swim as it connects with the side of my head, sending me crashing over a table.

I kick the table in his direction, but he's already moving. Instinct has me rolling out of the way, pushing myself up with greater force than I intended. It turns out to be a good thing as I see the flash of silver just miss my chest.

I suck in a breath and will myself to move faster, always faster. I twist myself in the opposite direction of his swing and bring the back of fist slamming into his cheek. He gives a grunt and he stumbles. Ignoring the blood trickling down the side of my face, I take the opportunity.

I drop down once more into a low crouch, put as much power as possible into my legs and arms, and thrust up with enough force to stab my extended claws into his belly and out through his back.

There's a gush of black blood and then he's howling and snarling as he rips himself away from me.

"You fucking bitch, I'll get you for that."

I fling the blood on my arms off me, almost gagging at the smell. "I'd like to see you try."

Away towards the other end of the small living space, I see Armin beginning to sweat, blue eyes moving rapidly. I see one of the two vamps still fighting wheezing, the female trying to take swipes at him. Anytime the attacking vamp went for him, there was a glow from the piercing in his ear and a transparent blue shield went up.

Armin had many ghosts at his disposal, each one used for different things. His shield was one of his most active ghosts, which he used for defense more often than not. If you looked closely, the shield was the ghost of a woman with short, blond hair and glasses. Expression fierce as she stood before every blow at lightning speed with her arms crossed and glowing bright.

Armin was eying the battered vamp, blue eyes calculating. Then his lips were moving once more, chanting commands as both Connie and Sasha flew at him. The vamp screamed as they disappeared inside.

"Last time, Sasha, we got this!"

"Let's goooo!"

The vamp is suddenly very still, eyes disappearing as they rolled back. Then he blurred, knocking into the other vamp. The female is then snarling at her partner, telling him to get a hold of himself. Armin is muttering furiously now as the two vampires begin to attack each other.

I feel worry begin to creep into me for the first time since the fight began. I don't know where the other strigoi is and the anxiety is making my stomach churn. I don't know how much longer Armin can keep up the fight. Using his otherworldly familiars for battle took a large toll on him. The energy he was giving them could only last as long as he had enough to give them.

The ex-vamp notices my distraction and hurdles toward me too fast for me to follow. A cry rips itself from me the blade sinks in-between my lower ribs. In a desperate move, I grab at the creature, claws digging into his shoulders. Before I can give myself time to think, I let out a roar and bite into the throat in front of me. The blade is sinking further and I let my fangs follow its examples until I'm ripping the thick, disgusting flesh right off.

Pained screaming is filling the room and those disgusting hands are suddenly in my hair, ripping at the scalp violently. With wild determination, I go in again and take the bloodied flesh between my teeth once more. Then again, and again.

There's a wet, gurgling noise before I drop the now limp creature with a hollow thud. I'm shaking and I'm scared. Not because of what I'd done, but because I had enjoyed it. I can only imagine my expression just now.

"Now this is the kind of fight I've been looking for."

I whip my head in the direction of the voice and I'm met with a fist slamming into my nose. I feel something give.

"Can't really expect much from those amateurs, right?"

My eyes widen as I take in the remaining strigoi. There was something different about this one. While her skin was just as decayed looking, her eyes were much darker, a ring of black in a sea of blood. A feeling of dread shudders through me.

She is in front of me now, kneeling before my fallen form, a sadistic smile curling her lips. "How about I give you a real fight?"

Then her hand is grabbing at my head and I'm suddenly flying through the air. I hit a wall and the air leaves my lungs with a whoosh. Stars dance in my vision. I'm not given time to lift even a finger from my crumpled position before my ankle is grabbed. I hit a shelf. I don't register Armin's horrified shout of my name.

"What happened to that blood-lust?"

Pain.

"Done already?"

Agony.

I can't breathe, I can't feel anything. There's the tap of heels.

"How disappointing."

I feel myself being lifted up, but its not through with any physical hold. I crack open my eyes and attempt to blink away the blood. She has a hind lifted, her head cocked to the side.

"Not to worry. We'll test every bit of your abilities. See how far you can be pushed. I wonder if you'll remember then." There's a pause. "Now," her other arm swings out and I hear Armin let out a yelp as his back hits a wall, "time to go, Eren."

I'm thrown over her shoulder and I don't have enough fight left in me to try and get away. I can't scream or cry. This can't be all I have. I know it isn't. I can feel a power within me, just out of reach. Its dark and sinister. Am I desperate enough to call it, to embrace it?

As I battle with myself, I don't notice that the creature has barely taken one step toward the door. I can feel her body shake with laughter.

"Well, well, well. I never thought I would see you again."

A deep voice answers her. "I could say the same to you."

"How long has it been, Smith? Two, three hundred years?"

I feel the presence of others now, both outside and in. "Just about."

"As you can see, I'm a little busy right now, so would you mind stepping out of the way?" Her voice drops dangerously. "Wouldn't want to lose any more subordinates, now would you?"

"That won't happen."

The creature clicks her tongue. She drops me and I groan. "There is a larger number this time around." I can hear her step towards Smith. "Tell you what. I'll let you keep Eren this time around. However," there's sounds of blurred movements and shouts of surprise, "only half the people here are going home alive tonight."

For the next ten minutes there are cries, objects breaking, and the horrible thud of bodies hitting the floor. Then there is silence. With the last of my strength, I shift. My clothes rips as my body grows, fur sprouting and bones cracking. I stay that way for a few seconds and shift back. My wounds are still bad but at least now they've stopped blending, going through the slow process of mending. I drop back to the floor.

"Eren, can you hear me?"

I feel arms slide around behind me and lift me up into a sitting position. I grunt in reply.

"We're going to be taking you to head quarters now."

I shake my head weakly. "A-Armin?"

I just know he's furrowing his brow, considering it. "We'll bring him along."

I croak out a, "good" and attempt to climb to my feet, only to immediately fall to my knees. Smith slides his arm up higher as support and helps me walk on shaky legs to the vans waiting outside.

I breath in the cool night air and have never been more happy to see the stars. The feeling is a familiar one.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Hey Eren, how're you feeling?"

My eyes meet sunlight and I close them with a hiss. There's an apology and the blinds are closed.

"Armin?"

"Yeah, they said to keep an eye on you, just in case." The bed I'm laying on dips as Armin makes himself comfortable by my knees. "Although I don't really see what you could've done. You've been out cold for the past couple of hours."

I sit up and grimace at the dry taste in my mouth. "What's today?"

There is a little hum. "Wednesday, almost four in the afternoon."

Shit, two more days until the full moon. I can feel its heat simmer through me and I hold back the shudder. This really wasn't the time.

"Why are we in my apartment?"

Armin laughs at that. "Well, after you were patched up, Smith said something about not needing to waste more resources than necessary and had us brought here."

I snort and bring a hand to my bandaged head. "Yeah, that sounds about right. I guess its also safe to assume that he's placed people outside?"

"Right-o, wolf boy!" Connie's voice rings out from somewhere above me. I crane my neck up and wince slightly. Everything may be a little better, but I still felt like a giant bruise.

"I had them look around after I woke up."

I finally bring my gaze to Armin. He looks way worn out. His hair is a loose and a little unkempt, dark circles under his eyes, and a little pale. He pushed himself more than I thought.

He notices the frown on my face and gives me a smile. "I'm alright, only a little tired. Could use something to eat. After that, I should look like myself again."

I sigh. "You're only human, Armin."

He lifts a hand. "Don't even go there Eren. I know that as well as you do, but I wasn't going to let that stop me."

He meets my eyes, those blue eyes swirling with the emotion he must have felt. Determination, fear, desperation, and fierce loyalty. The chastising words die in my mouth and I instead give him an apologetic smile.

"Thank you."

The bright smile returns to his face. "At least we made it out, right?" He pats my leg and stands, stretching his arms over his head. "Want anything to eat?"

My stomach answers for me with a loud rumble. Armin only laughs and makes his way out the door.

"Are you sure you're ok, Eren?" I'm met with translucent brown eyes and puffed out cheeks.

"Yeah, I'm more worried about Armin though. You sure guys didn't take too much out of him?"

Sasha puts a finger to her chin. "Mmm not as much as we could have. Armin had been storing up energy in our links after all." I think back to the necklace and earring. "Any longer though and he would've been in danger."

"Yeah! It was a good thing your friends showed up when they did, otherwise we would have been in trouble."

I look at Connie. "What happened?"

The duo exchange looks before the Connie speaks up. "While we had those two vamps occupied, that scary lady started tossing you around. Next thing we know, A-man is on the floor."

Sasha floats through Connie to speak. "Before those two vamps could get themselves together, they were suddenly taken down and a bunch of people had shown up."

Connie is a little quieter when he takes his turn speaking. "That lady was crazy strong, she took down at least a third of them before that blond guy did something that had her running off. Even then, I think she ran on purpose."

Armin walks in just then, a tray of drinks and sandwiches in hand.

I lift an eyebrow. "We have one of those?"

"If I know more about your kitchen than you do when I've only been here twice before, then there's a problem."

I shrug to keep the embarrassment off my face. "You know me."

"One of these days my eyes are going to roll themselves right out of my head Eren, and you're gonna be the one responsible for catching them."

My laughter turns into pained groans as I clutch at my belly. Looks like I needed more time to heal.

Its not until the tray is empty and back in the kitchen that I decide to question Armin.

"Had you met strigoi before tonight?"

He shakes his head. "I know of them and some stuff about them, but actually seeing them was much different."

A corner of my mouth turns down as I think back. "This last one was strange, she wasn't like the other two I had fought before."

Armin is quiet for a moment but when he opens his mouth, its not his voice that answers.

"That's because she isn't like the others. She is much, much stronger."

My eyes meet dark silver just outside my open window. I choked sound leaves my throat.

"Her name is Hanji."

Author's Note: Please let me know if I'm doing alright. Don't be an asshole tho cuz no one likes that.