Eren Fan: Thank you, I like what I have in store for later chapters and I hope you won't be disappointed.


A few days after the shootout, the sky suddenly seems less blue. Yes, it was early in the morning and the sun was up, the forecast had called for clear skies, but that didn't stop the first drop of snow from raining down on them. It wasn't too much snow but enough for people to wear jackets and hoodies to keep warm.

As they lower the casket of Sasha Braus into the ground, Arthur and Lisa Braus give the casket one final touch, saying goodbye to their daughter. Sasha's little sister, Kaya, on the other hand, holds on to the casket, not wanting it to be buried before her father puts his hand on hers and gently pulls it away. The casket finally touches down in its final resting place as the Braus family walks off to the side, internally saying goodbye to Sasha one last time.

Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Annie stand off to the side, wearing all-black suits for the snowy weather while keeping to the mood of the funeral.

"I can only say sorry so many times, Mr. Braus," Eren says, "and it still wouldn't be enough. I should've foreseen this. Had I foreseen this, I could've saved Sasha's life."

"You did the best you could," Arthur tells him. "It isn't your fault."

"If I had been quicker, faster, more-"

"Eren." Arthur grabs his shoulder. "It is not your fault. I know you feel at fault it isn't your fault. The man who killed my daughter, it is his fault."

"It is." He looks at him, tears springing from his green eyes. "I swear to you this, Mr. Braus, I'm going to find those responsible. I will avenge Sasha."

Arthur tilts his head. "Please, Eren, I wish that you do not do this."

"But sir, the man who killed your daughter-"

"I'm upset that Sasha is dead. Devastated. I wish I could bring her back but I can't. Eren, you can't bring her back either. Killing those responsible won't bring Sasha back. Just like killing the soldiers who killed your parents won't bring them back. I don't want you to live with vengeance on your mind."

"Please do," Kaya says, holding her father's hand. She looks up at Eren, tears fresh in her eyes. "Whoever killed Sasha, I want you to find them and I want you to kill them. Please, Eren, please, I need you to do it for me. For us."

"I will," Eren vows. "I'll find everyone responsible for Sasha and I will kill them. Every last one of them."

"I hope you find peace, Eren," Lisa says finally, "please, for Sasha's sake, for the loveable girl that she was, find peace. Don't let yourself get caught in revenge. Please, please do it for Sasha's sake."

Arthur puts on his fedora. "Thank you for attending this funeral, Eren. Mikasa. Armin and Annie."

"We're there for you," Mikasa says, "we always will be, Mr. and Mrs. Braus." She looks to the girl. "You too, Kaya."

The Braus family bids them farewell before heading to their car, where they sit for a few minutes before driving off just as the funeral guys go to work to bury the grave.

Armin puts his hands in his pocket. "Eren. I want you to know that we arrested the guy who killed Sasha. He's in a holding cell right now, awaiting trial. He's going to be charged with murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. I'll see to it that he never sees the outside of a prison cell. I'll make sure he goes to the worst kind of prison. The worst of the worst and never gets out."

"Thank you," Mikasa says on Eren's behalf. "That's all we want."

"Maybe you do." Eren turns to them. "Weren't we talking about how corrupt the police force is the other day? How lazy and incompetent the police are? This guy who killed Sasha, if he's part of a crime family with status in the area and on good terms with the police, then he's going to be out in a few days. Sasha's murderer is going to get away scot-free."

"I'll make sure he doesn't; I promise."

Annie looks over. "I'll find evidence. Irrefutable evidence."

"What difference does it make if the police and judge are just going to ignore it?" Eren demands. "The police like their power and want to hold onto it. You've seen it firsthand, right? Didn't you say something about you two being the only decent guys on the force?"

"There are other decent guys but... they are few and far between," Armin admits.

"Just watch," Eren tells him, "in a few days, hell, maybe today, Sasha's killer is going to be out of jail, the whole thing dropped. Just watch." He turns and heads to his car.

"Eren." Mikasa follows after him, pausing ten feet away to turn to Armin and Annie. "I'll talk some sense into him."

Armin chuckles. "Knowing Eren, your words will probably just ricochet off his big head."

"I've been told my words cut deeper than a knife and knives are my specialty."

Eren climbs in his car, resting his hands on the wheel as Mikasa climbs in the passenger seat.

"Eren-"

"It's like Mom and Dad all over again." Eren clutches the wheels. "It's like when I tried to help them but... those goddamn Titan soldiers." He looks at her. "Isn't it the same thing with your parents?"

Mikasa flinches. "It is."

Eren reaches out and strokes her scarf. "No matter what, I'll always be there to wrap this scarf around you. I'll wrap this scarf around you until the end of time." He takes his hand back. "Potato girl didn't deserve to die. She was the best girl anyone could know and she became collateral damage." He starts the car. "You don't get to kill my parents and get away with it; that's why I joined the Survey Corps and enlisted in the Scout Regiment. Nobody gets to kill your parents and get away with it, Mikasa; that's why I tracked them down." He grips the wheel once more, his knuckles turning white. "You don't get to kill Sasha and get away with it, Lou Meade."

Mikasa looks at him. "You know who he is?"

"I found the bullet casing; it belonged to a sniper rifle, preferably, a H&K PSG1. The casing had the gunshop's insignia on it; only one man bought a rifle from me that day - Lou Meade. He said he was using it to go hunting."

"You know his name?"

"And his address." He smiles. "Thanks to the background check of his, I know his address."

"What are you going to do, Eren? Are you..."

Eren looks at her. "I am, Mikasa, I am."

"This isn't the Survey Corps anymore; you're not on the battlefield, Eren. You can't just go around killing people. These are gangsters and mobsters, not Titan soldiers."

"What difference does it make? If they're going to let Lou Meade out of jail, then they'll let me out if it conveniences them."

"Eren..."

"Just watch, just watch them release that little punk. If they do, it's going to be one of the few times on earth I won't want to say 'I told you so'."

"Armin is smart; he'll make sure nothing happens."

"Armin is the smartest but there's only so much he can do. Do you remember our drill sergeant's description of him: 'built like a daffodil'."

"He is."

Eren shifts gears and drives off.

"Eren, if Armin somehow finds a way to keep Lou Meade in jail, will you let this go?"

Eren laughs. "Yes, Mikasa. If Armin finds a way to keep Lou Meade behind bars where he belongs... I won't break into prison to kill him."

"Or anyone else," Mikasa adds. "None of the crime families that he's tied to, even the ones that were there with him when he killed Sasha."

Eren laughs again. "I promise."

"I need you to mean it, Eren."

"Or what? You're going to snitch on me like you did when we were kids? You going to break your promise again?"

"Uhh, if memory serves correctly, I never promised you I wouldn't tell your mother that you wanted to join the scouts. But I did promise your mother that I would protect you and I kept that promise."

"Yeah, I guess you have."

"And will you follow through on your promise to leave everyone alone?"

Eren looks at her before turning back to the road. I want nothing more than for everyone involved in Sasha's death to suffer a slow, brutal, horrible, agonizing death. Doesn't Mikasa realize that as long as these gangs are still present in the area, there will be more collateral damage sooner or later? Why can't these people understand that I'm fighting for everyone's freedom? I will kill everyone involved in Sasha's death and I'll kill all crime families and gangs in the area and I'll make it so that everyone is free.

As they pull to a red light, Eren turns to Mikasa.

"I will follow through on my promise."

Lou Meade, I sincerely hope you try something because I want nothing more than to kill you and every single criminal in this neighborhood. Every. Last. One.


The Stratmann Residence

Lighting a zippo, Wald Richter lights his cigarette before taking a deep drag. Closing his eyes, he lets out a puff of smoke, sighing heavily. "Mr. Stratmann, whatever you do, I sincerely hope you don't discontinue the distribution of these cigarettes."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Mr. Richter." Elliot Stramann lets out a puff of smoke himself. "But let's not discuss business now."

"But this is a business dinner, sir, right?"

"Dinner first, business tomorrow."

Wald checks his watch. "Maybe it's my eyes but isn't two o'clock too early for dinner?" He gives a half-shrug. "Eh, I guess it doesn't matter. If anything, you just saved my chefs from cooking dinner for me, and for that, I thank you."

"It's the least I can do."The men eat in silence, the only sound in the room being the clinking of their eating utensils against the silverware. Wald grabs his wine bottle and takes a sniff. Red wine, not good. He puts the glass down before turning back to his meal.

When they reach the end of their course, a butler comes in wearing a suit with a rotary phone in the tray of his hands. "Mr. Richter, phone call for you."

Wald picks up the phone. "Hello?"

"Ahh, Wald Richter, so nice to hear your voice again."

Wald groans. "What did Lou do this time?"

"He went hunting with his friends, hunting for another criminal or something. He took a shot at him when he was using some poor girl as a hostage at a McDonald's."

"Of all the places to go shooting, it is at a McDonald's? I swear - the balls on this kid. Any casualties?"

"Don't know, don't care, didn't bother asking."

"How much is it going to cost to get him out, officer?"

"Four hundred gold coins."

Wald chuckles. "That's not going to happen."

"I had to sabotage evidence because I know how much you care for your men. If we charged him with murder, then there would be no bail but what we are charging him with is illegal possession of a weapon. But we can make that record go bye-bye for four hundred gold coins."

"One hundred gold coins."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's not going to cut it, Mr. Richter. I put my life on the line to get him the best deal; surely I deserve a big reward for your friend."

"One fifty; you have too many coins in your cache, people will get suspicious. I've seen your pay stub; you don't earn anywhere close to four hundred gold coins."

"Three-fifty."

Walt taps his finger against the arm of his chair. "Playing hardball, huh, officer? Okay, then, I'll play hardball. One-seventy-five."

"Insulting low. My offer remains."

"Do you trust the people you work with? Are there any idealists that you work with? Surely, there must be somebody in the office you hate so much that you want dead."

"A couple of towheads but I can deal with that later."

"Two hundred gold coins."

The officer laughs. "Not going to happen. Three-fifty."

"Two hundred gold coins, I'll put a hit out on these idealists, and I'll throw in a pack of coderoin. Just for you and not your colleagues."

"Two hundred gold coins, two nuisances dead, and a bag of coderoin all for me."

"A small bag."

"A small bag." The officer sighs loudly over the phone. "You got yourself a deal. Fuck me over and I'll have every cop in the district on your ass."

Wald laughs. "I'm sure you will, officer, I'm sure you will." He hangs up. "Lou, you piece of shit, what the fuck have you done now?"


The Jaeger Apartment

Standing in front of the mirror in his bathroom, shirtless, Eren looks at his reflection. Tilting his head, he gazes at his green eyes like they were relics from the past. Without thinking, he bites his hand. There is a brief shimmer in his eyes as his heart drops to his stomach. Putting his hand down, he swallows the small volume of blood on his tongue and watches steam rise from his bite mark, closing his wound, and making his skin smooth again.

They released that punk.

Leaning on the granite sink, he continues to gaze upon himself.

Well, Mikasa, Armin, I know I said I didn't want to say 'I told you so' but I'm actually glad Lou is out because it means I get to kill him.

"Eren." Mikasa walks into the bathroom. Wearing her pajamas, she notices his abs and turns away. "Are you ready for bed?"

"I am." He sighs heavily, pulling away from the mirror.

Mikasa sniffs the air. "I smell steam. Either you went to a sauna or..." She brings her hand to her mouth and pretends to bite.

Eren scoffs. "Your sense of smell must be off, Mikasa. But if you must know, I went to the steam room at our gym."

"If you say so." She grabs his hand. "Come on; let's go to bed and we'll talk to Armin tomorrow."

Eren follows her out of the room, internally growling.

A few hours later, when Mikasa is fast asleep in bed, Eren pulls himself out, still shirtless, and heads over to his chest. He opens the chest with the speed of a snail as he grabs his Attack Titan mask along with several holsters, mostly for pistols. Heading over to his closet, he pulls several articles of clothing out and dresses himself.

His choice of clothing: a black jacket fitting for this mild snowy weather, a black t-shirt, a pair of cargo pants with many pockets, combat boots, combat gloves, and most importantly, his Attack Titan mask.

Looking over the mask, he smiles. Hello, old friend.

He puts the mask on, pulling it down to let his hair jut out at the top and allow his parted bangs to hang.

He hides the holsters inside his jacket and leaves it unzipped.

Heading back to his chest, he pulls out three pistols and holsters them before grabbing ammo and tucking them away in his pockets; he'll load the magazines later.

Very quietly, he puts the chest away and closes his closet door, careful not to make a noise to disturb sleeping beauty Mikasa's slumber.


Lou Meade's apartment

Sitting on the couch with his feet up on the furniture, Lou Meade sinks into the cushions, soaking in the air of freedom.

"Man, I never knew being free tasted so good." There are about five others in the room with him, people he didn't bother to learn the names of. One is blonde, two are twins, another has red hair, and the final one has a beard covering most of his face like a gorilla.

"You caused a lot of damage out there, Lou," the gorilla warns him, "too many witnesses, too many casualties. There could've been collateral damage not even our money could've paid for."

"So what?" Lou shrugs. "We got the traitor so what difference does it make."

"The traitor is still alive and in a jail cell. If he's talking, our operations are over."

"Don't worry; I'm sure our boys in the joint will get him. Don't worry."

Lou lives in an apartment big enough for four people but these five guys with him were not his best friends. He wouldn't even consider them acquaintances; they were just his bodyguards, nothing more, nothing less. And occasional teammates.

Switching on the TV, the news continues to report on the story of a shooting outside a McDonald's resulting in one girl dying. It's been four days and people are still complaining about it?

"Jesus Christ." Lou sits up. "Isn't there anything better on the news?"

The gorilla thug turns off the TV. "I'm going outside for a smoke."

The thug exits the apartment and heads outside to the balcony.

Eren is lucky that the balcony is on the first floor otherwise, he never would've been able to hide behind the balcony on the outside of the apartment just barely out of the gorilla thug's line of sight.