Disclaimer: I do not own Attack On Titan or anything related to it...

Chapter 5

Time seemed to move awfully slow for Hitch. From the moment she saw the gun pointed at her to the moment she heard the gunshot, she completely froze.

Her life seemed to flash before her. The only thought that came to her at that moment was of her mum. "Who's going to take care of her?" she thought to herself.

As she waited the for the cold sweet embrace of death, she suddenly found herself falling to the floor and landing on her shoulder as she was shoved away by someone. As she got up and got her bearing right, she saw one of the military police hit Elvis at the back of the head with the butt of his rifle.

" ARMIN!" Eren yelled as he saw his friend lying on his back with a bullet wound on his left lower chest. Eren frantically rushed to Armin and kneeled down to check on him.

"C'mon Armin, you have to hang on just a little bit longer." Eren yelled, close to tears as he put his hands on Armin's chest to apply pressure on the wound.

"If I'm going down, I'm at least giving one of the assholes a ticket to the grave." Elvis cackled to the outraged look on Eren's face.

Eren quickly stood up and dashed towards Elvis but was blocked by one of the officers. "Listen scout, this is a matter for the military po-" he said while reaching his arm out to stop Eren from approaching but he couldn't finish as Eren grabbed his hand and flipped him on his back. "Hey! What are you trying to do!" the other officer yelled only to be met with a kick to his balls. He held his family jewels in excruciating pain as some of the men watching the scene unfold held theirs in tandem as they felt a small pang of phantom pain while watching a fellow man rolling on the floor in tears.

Eren grabbed Elvis by the collar of his shirt and punched him in the face. Blinded by his anger, Eren delivered blow after blow to Elvis leaving him bloody. The entire bar was silent except for the squelching sounds coming from the impact of Eren's fist to Elvis' blood stained face.

"You bastard, I'll kill you!" Eren yelled as he continued pummeling Elvis.

"You... don't... have the...guts... to do it." Elvis wheezed out as he coughed up some blood and spit out a couple of his teeth.

Eren angrily looked at him while taking in deep breaths and seething in rage. Suddenly, the red titan marks appeared under his eyes and golden electricity cackled. Some of the occupants quickly and swiftly ran out of the bar in fear of their lives upon seeing the lightning emanating from Eren.

As for Elvis, he had never believed in gods or anything. But as he looked at the young man that had just beaten him to a bloody pulp, he could only tremble as he felt an overwhelming presence of fear wash over him. The only thought that came into his mind was that he was going to die at the hands of this... this... ' this devil'.

As for Eren, in his anger he could only hear his heartbeat as blood rushed to his ears. As he looked at the waste of space that was Elvis, he didn't care what happened. He didn't take notice of the golden lightning nor his surroundings. He only had one clear goal in mind, and that was to kill him.

He could feel the power flooding his veins, inching him closer and closer to transforming. Consequences be damned. He wanted to see the look of despair on his foe's face as he squeezed the life out of him in his Titan's iron grip. All he needed to do was give in... but a voice stopped him.

"EREN STOP" Armin shouted.

Eren turned around to the sight of Armin being helped up by Hitch. He let Elvis go and took a step towards them but was interrupted by the sound of a rifle being cocked. He turned around to see that he had two rifles pointed at him.

"Don't even a move a muscle." one of the police panicked as a cold sweat ran down his forehead.

"Just take him away,." Hitch instructed her fellow officers as she helped Armin to a chair.

"What, you ain't coming?" one of them asked her as they reluctantly lowered their guns and picked Elvis up. "I'll come by later. First I have to take care of things here." she replied.

"Sure thing Hitch" he said as they dragged Elvis' semi-conscious body outside to the carriage.

"OK everyone, the bad guys are gone. You can go back to doing whatever it is you were doing." shouted out to the bar.

The customers and maids started putting up the chairs and fixing the tables while stealing subtle glances to Eren, Armin and Hitch.

"Uhmm, excuse me miss, but can I get another drink." one of the customers told a waitress. "His thumb fell in mine." he added while raising a short glass of beer with a thumb in it while pointing at Eren.

"I'll get that fixed right away." she told as she gingerly took the glass from him and headed to the kitchen.

"Armin, are you okay?" Eren worriedly asked him while staring at his chest.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I guess my healing kicked in." he answered with a dry chuckle.

"Just because you can heal doesn't make you immortal. You could have died dammit." Eren scolded him.

"I could ask you the same question." Armin retorted. "What exactly were you thinking picking a fight with that gang. You can't just rush into a fight without thinking."

"What did you want me to do? Sit back and watch as that asshole forced himself on that waitress?" Eren angrily asked. "They were nothing but bullies. And I don't care if the odds are against me, if someones sees that it's okay for them to treat a person like a piece of meat, I will fight them." he passionately added.

"That's the point Eren, you constantly rush into danger without thinking about your safety and most of the times you make it out purely on luck because someone saves you. Sooner or later, you luck will run out." Armin angrily told him.

"I never asked for you to fight my battles." Eren yelled at him.

"We fight to protect you." Armin yelled back as he stood up.

"I can protect myself." Eren yelled at him.

"Why can't you stop being stubborn and understand that we protect each other." Armin said through gritted teeth. "We protect you to because we care about you and you getting hurt would break us... especially Mikasa." he added.

As they argued back and forth, they didn't take notice that everyone was staring. "OK everyone keep moving, there's nothing to see here." Hitch shouted to the disgruntled crowd as some of the bar maids had started scrubbing the floors to clean off the bloodstains.

Hitch turned towards Eren and Armin and started laughing at them. "Has anyone ever told you two that you argue like an old married couple." she teased them as she laughed at the bashful and annoyed looks of Armin and Eren were giving her.

"Cheer up. You just helped take down a notorious gang and it's leader." she told them. " Plus you might have helped secure me a promotion." she added with a grin but was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

They turned around to see the bartender. He wore a loose white shirt and some fitting brown trousers. He had balding head and a bushy moustache on his face and looked to be in his mid-fifties. "Hello." he greeted them. "I just wanted to come by and thank you for getting rid of Elvis and his gang and most of all for standing up for my daughter when I couldn't." he added gratefully.

"You're welcome sir." Armin told him while giving him a small smile.

"I just hope he doesn't come back." he said in a tired tone.

"Don't worry. With his crimes, I'm sure the queen will probably have him executed." Hitch told him. "And if someone tries to give you trouble, don't be afraid to report it to our station." she added.

"I tried to ma'am. When he first showed up at my bar and started causing trouble and harassing my girls, I went to the military police but they did nothing." he told them. " And when he found out that I tried talking to the police, he threatened to defile my daughter in front of me." he added with a sob.

"There are some of us that actually care about the law." Hitch told him as she softly put her hand on his shoulder. "We want to make the military police a regiment that the people can come to in their time of need. It will take some time, but we'll be there to protect you from those who would harm you." she added.

"Thank you." Ken told her as he wiped his tears with a pocket handkerchief. "As a show of gratitude, I'd like to offer you meals on the house for today and drinks for you three for as long as I'm in business." he told them.

"I don't know about these two, but I'd be honoured by your gracious offer. I'll have mine to go please" she thanked him as Eren and Armin gave him an appreciative nod to the offer.

"Well, your meals will be brought to you shortly." he told them and gave them a small bow then left them.

They got back to their seats and each filled a glass of water that had just been put by one of the waitresses. Eren and Armin quickly gulped theirs down while Hitch took small sips. "So Armin, is your gunshot wound okay?" Hitch asked as pointed at his chest.

"It's almost fully healed." he answered as he touched his steaming wound.

"Thank goodness. I almost thought you were dead." she said while letting out a heavy sigh.

"He's lucky the bullet missed his heart." Eren said. "Even with our titan healing ability, I doubt we could survive a bullet to the heart or head." he added.

"You really know how to lighten up the mood." she sarcastically told Eren with a frown on her face.

"Eren's right, I got lucky this time." Armin said with a small smile.

"I'm grateful that you saved me, but I gotta ask, why did you even push me out of the way" she asked.

Armin looked down at his glass with a confused look. " I honestly don't know. I guess my body moved on it's own accord." he answered.

"Well, you still saved my life, and for that I've got to say thank you." Hitch thanked him which he responded with a nod a soft smile on his face.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but your orders are ready." a waitress said as he handed Hitch her order. "It's steamed potatoes and roasted chicken." she told her.

"Damn, if you guys prepare your meals this fast I'll have to put in a good word for you at the office." she told her.

"We just wanted to show our gratitude for taking care of those assholes the best way we know how; by having your food fast and ready." the waitress said.

"And your gratitude has been noted. And it definitely smells good." Hitch said as she caught a whiff of her order.

"We aim to please ma'am." she told her with a smile.

As Hitch was complimenting the waitress, Armin looked at Eren and whispered, "Am I the only one whose seeing a bit of Sasha in her?".

"I was about to ask the same thing." Eren whispered back.

They watched as the waitress left and Hitch turned to them. "Well, I gotta go. I really hope we get to meet again under better circumstances." she told them.

"Us too." Armin said with a soft chuckle.

"Hope you have a good day." she waved them goodbye as she left.

"You too Hitch." Armin smiled as he and Eren waved back.

"Guess she's competent as a military police." Eren said as he drank from his glass.

"I guess so." Armin said.

They sat in silence as the atmosphere in the restaurant started to pick up. They didn't wait for long as their meals were brought to them by the same waitress that served them in the beginning.

"Oh, it's you again." Eren said as she set their meals down.

"Yeah. I just wanted to say thank you for helping us out. You have no idea how long Elvis and his gang have been hurting my father's business." she told them.

Armin looked at her and asked, "Wait, Ken's your father?"

"Yeah." she answered. "I just fear that he'll come back and hurt my father." she said close to tears.

"Don't worry miss, he won't be coming back." Eren told her.

"You can call me Lydia." she told them with a smile.

"Well Lydia, he won't be coming back here ever again. I'll see to it personally that he doesn't set foot in your father's restaurant." Eren told her.

"Thank you very much. Enjoy your meals." she thanked them and left with a smile on her face.

"Well, let's eat. I'm starving." Eren said as he dug into his food. They ate their meal in silence so as to quell their hungry stomachs.

"So Eren, what was it you were going to tell me before we were interrupted?" Armin slyly asked while they were halfway in their meal.

"I was hoping you wouldn't bring it up." Eren groaned as he swallowed.

"It's one of the reasons that I wanted to talk to you." Armin told him. "What's been troubling you?" he asked.

Eren put his cutlery down and gave a heavy sigh. It's not that he didn't want to tell Armin, it' just that he didn't know how to break it out. So he resorted to just ripping the band aid off quickly. He took in a long deep breath of air and let it out. "Mikasa told me that she loved me." he blurted out.

He looked at Armin to gauge his reaction but he couldn't quite read his face. Armin only looked at him and gave a small chuckle. "It's about time." he smiled. "Honestly Eren, if this is what's been troubling you, I don't know what to say." he added as he drank some water.

"And Historia proposed to me." Eren quickly added. Unfortunately Armin did not expect such a revelation that he spat the water and started violently coughing. Some of the customers sitting near their table looked at them as Eren worriedly stood up to check on him but Armin raised his hand to show he was okay.

"What did you just say?" Armin asked after getting himself together.

"Mikasa told me she loved me." Eren answered in a low tone.

"The second part." Armin clarified.

"That Historia proposed to me." Eren slowly answered him.

Armin looked at Eren with wide eyes and asked; "How? Better yet, why"

Eren sighed out loud. " She said that some of the nobles are pressuring her to marry them but they only want power and don't care about her."

"But why did she want you?" he asked while his mouth was agape.

"Well she said that she wants to marry someone that she knows and cares about." Eren answered while playing with his food.

"And how do you feel about it?" Armin asked.

Eren let out another heavy sigh. "I do care about her but I honestly don't know how to navigate this situation." he answered as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Wait...does Mikasa know about this?" Armin gasped.

"That's the thing Mikasa confessed her feelings towards me after Historia proposed." he answered.

"What are your feelings towards Mikasa?" Armin asked him.

Eren ran his hand across his face and said, "I guess a small part of me always knew that Mikasa loved me but the thing is I don't want to hurt either of their feelings. They are very dear to me."

They both returned back to their meals deep in thought. Both trying to come up with a solution to this unique problem.

After a while, Armin voiced out his thoughts. "I think that you should get them in the same room and come clean and talk this out."

"But how do I do it? If I choose one, the other will get hurt." Eren said in a defeated tone.

"I guess that's something you have to do on your own. But I think that in the end, they'll understand." Armin told him.

"I guess so." Eren said wondering how he would breach this topic to both Mikasa and Historia while in the same room. His only worry was that they didn't end up trying to kill each other.

They finished their meals and Lydia came to collect the dishes, telling them to come back soon. As they left, Eren turned to Armin and thanked him for lunch and the talk. "I've got to some errands to run. What about you?" Eren asked.

"I was actually heading to Stohess. I'm going to see someone." Armin answered.

"Just promise not to tell anyone about what we talked about. I'll tell the others when I'm ready." Eren told him.

"Don't worry Eren, no one's going to find out about this. Just try to talk to them." he told him.

"That's easier said than done." Eren muttered to himself.

"You won't know their decisions until you talk to them." Armin told him as he walked away. "I'll see you back at HQ." he added as he waved goodbye to him.

"How exactly am I supposed to choose between two people who love me?" Eren asked himself as he walked away.

As for Armin, he was glad that he got to spend some time with Eren despite what transpired at the bar. He never would have thought that what had been troubling Eren these past few days would be girl trouble. "You won't believe what I'm gonna tell you Annie." Armin said to himself with a smile.

Well that's another chapter done. Hope you like it. As always, don't forget to follow and favorite and hopefully I'll be able to update soon. Bye.