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These kind of fights had become a daily occurrence for most of the scouts. After having reclaimed Wall Maria, blocking both the holes off, they trapped all of the Titans inside the wall, easier to dispatch of them that way. Different scout groups had been sent out on different days to help exterminate the last of them. This day, some of the newer squads had been sent out to kill the beasts in the main area outside the gate, leading from Shiganshina into Maria. This big town had attracted most of the Titans in the area, probably for certain people who had been left behind during the evacuation, hiding in basements or in corners of buildings. But after many arguments between Corporal Arlert and Commander Erwin, he had allowed Armin's own squad to assist the newer ones. Frankly, the newbies were relieved. At least they had some sort of protection.
So that's how Armin, Mikasa, Eren, Jean, Sasha and Connie ended up fighting numerous Titans with the only backup being newbies who were practically sobbing now from exhaustion and terror. They had been fighting for a few hours now, and the soldiers definitely shouldn't have been worn out yet. Other veteran Scouts had fought some groups of Titans for days, and this wasn't even close to the level of seriousness. With the sudden increase in humans concentrated in one area, more Titans had been attracted to that specific area. It seemed as if every Titan in Wall Maria had suddenly gathered there, and that's when Armin suddenly mentally face-palmed, realizing what the Commander had been intent on doing. Attracting all the Titans to that area so they could exterminate them all in that area with traps, using the newer squads as bait. Dammit. And now Armin's squad had been added to that bait.
So, now he found himself slightly exhausted after taking out around 12 Titans. His squad had split up near the beginning of the battle as things had started to spiral out of control. Armin's fatigue seemed to become evident as he felt his arm trembling when he lifted his blade. His body wasn't built for this kind of thing. Sure, he had gained some muscle since joining the military, that was always going to be a given, but his stamina was far inferior to his comrades. Armin didn't have long to rest before a 10 m made it's way over to the roof he was on. He shot to the building behind it, turning around to shoot it's neck before it could have time to react, and that he did, as Titan blood drenched his body, the corpse of the creature falling limp to the floor, steam starting to rise. Armin's breathing was now labored, and he could tell that that was probably the last slightly strong hit he could manage. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears, the Titan blood now evaporating left a small lair of sweat on him from it's heat. Each of his limbs started to tremble, and his breathing became ragged, almost as if he had ripped his lung. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised. And so, it came as no joy to him to see a 14 m making it's way over to him. Armin's eyes widened as he whimpered slightly. He breathed in deeply, calming some of the seizures that shook his body, turning around briskly. Unfortunately, it was too fast for his body to comprehend. His foot slipped on a tile as the ankle gave out and twisted violently causing Armin to breathe in sharply. This was not a moment to wallow in that pain, as he turned to shoot at the closest building behind this Titan, but again found that his luck had just ran out. His gas stuttered and he fell to the ground, nothing there to break his fall, only making waves of pain to wash over his body. He sat, disappointed in himself that his brain had become too foggy to actually remember to check the gas before flying behind the creature. Now he was, to put it plainly, fucked. The Titan's heavy footfalls made the ground shake. Tears finally started to spill out of his eyes. He had tried to be strong, but he just couldn't. He was tired and annoyed at himself, so instead he just gazed up at the sky. Grey, streaked with white. Almost like a grey canvas that a child had thrown white paint onto. It only made Armin's tears fall faster. He wanted to see something blue. He wanted to see the ocean. And even in his last moments, the sky didn't pity him. The sky wasn't the brilliant blue that he imagined the ocean to look like. Instead it was mocking him. It was grey. The footfalls stopped as Armin's blurry vision landed on the twisted face leaning down towards him, a slickly grin with dead black eyes. Perfect. The dullest Titan for the dullest day. This was how he was going to die.
That was until another set of footfalls sounded from the distance. Fast. And these ones Armin recognized all too well. Armin suddenly wiped his eyes, pushing away his hopelessness, and he pushed himself up the wall, accepting the Titan's hand now. He went without fighting, his blades put away. He felt as the dull Titan rose off the ground, lifting Armin up to it's mouth. It's awful cave of a mouth opened, and it's hand went to place Armin in it. But just as he had expected, the footfalls came quicker now, in their direction, and just as he had planned, he witnessed the head of his predator get blown off, and the hand he was in opened, letting him drop into a similar hand, only this one held him with a lot more caution. It was still an uncomfortable position, what with his whole body trapped, with only his head and feet free. The Titan in front of him had fallen to the floor, and Armin's eyes followed it. It tried to push it's headless form up, only to be met with the foot of Armin's holder. Armin had managed to wiggle his arms out of the huge fingers gripping him and he crossed the two limbs on top of these giant fingers, resting his head on them. Armin felt better now. He could breathe. Well, metaphorically. He still kind of felt like he was being suffocated, but that was fine. The Titan holding him lifted and turned him until he met the bright green eyes of his best friend.
Eren had decided to transform about half-way through the battle. They had started fine, great even, but then came the exhaustion. The newer soldiers who weren't used to these fighting conditions, they hadn't even been on a excavation yet, so naturally they were exhausted to the brink of collapse. And that was the problem. Tired soldiers died easier. That was logical. Eren and the elite squad were going fine, but after they split up, he'd taken charge of some newbies, most of whom died only moments after. He had sighed in frustration. He was doing great, he had at least 20 kills, using only his blades. But he knew he had to transform at some point, what with being given clearance to use his ability in battle by Armin, it seemed only logical, after all, it made everyone's lives easier. So he started running towards the group of Titans in front of him.
"Don't get freaked out." He had yelled to the newbies, unaware if they knew about him. This was followed by shouts of confusion.
"Lance Corporal?" He heard a lot of. He then jumped off the building and bit into his hand. Bright yellow lightning followed, which everyone on the battlefield saw, eliciting either sighs of relief or rolls of eyes from his squad-mates at a distance.
"You could've hurried up." Armin stated at the face in front of him, earning a small growl from the Titan along with his eyes widening, which Armin considered to be the equivalent of him raising his eyebrows. Armin then smirked playfully before lightly hitting the finger in front of him.
"OK, now can you put me on your palm, I hurt my ankle and I feel like you're chocking me." He exclaimed, earning another rumble which sounded like an apology as the grip loosened a little and he was carefully maneuvered into the same palm, the fingers curling around him protect fully and he lent against them to examine his ankle. It was slightly purple and he could see a misshapen bone prodding against the skin. He exhaled sharply as he ran his finger over it lightly.
"Yep. It's broken." He said to himself and Eren. He looked up at his giant friend, whose eyes had become distant, as if contemplating something. Armin hit the palm he was in.
"Eren." He said gently as the teal eyes settled on him again.
"Put me on your shoulder, I'll put my grappling hooks into your skin and hold your hair." Armin said, answering Eren's inside debate. The Titan nodded and carefully plucked Armin off his palm with the other hand. He gently rested him on his right shoulder, Armin gripping the giants fingers, ready to squeeze just in case he placed him awkwardly. Armin sat securely on the muscle. Eren stood still as a statue, removing his hand to let his passenger get settled, waiting for confirmation from his friend before moving. Armin shuffled over closer to Eren's neck, slightly resting against it, before shooting the grappling hooks in. The small sting made Eren wince as his shoulder jerked briefly, causing Armin to latch onto a strand of his hair to avoid falling to his doom. Eren growled apologetically again, making Armin shrug, feeling a lot more secure now.
"I'm good." Armin said, yet the Titan was still hesitant to start walking as it side eyed the small boy. Armin knew exactly what he was thinking.
"I'll tell you if it hurts." He stated plainly as the eyes of his friend lit up with confidence.
Armin's grip became tighter on the strand of brown hair he was holding onto as his friend started moving, sending small vibrations through Armin's body. For the moment, he was just walking, not wanting to run with the fragile human on his shoulder. Armin, for the most part, was feeling fine. Sure, the small tremors shook his body slightly, making him wince as his foot bashed against the hard skin, but he tried to keep his complaints quiet. Besides, he felt better up there than on the ground. Armin squinted in dismay when he spotted an 8 m Titan making it's way towards them. Armin scooted a little closer to Eren's neck, grabbing a few more strands of hair in his hands. Eren seemed to have noticed the beast as well, as he glanced worriedly down at the blond. Armin swallowed and clutched tighter to the hair.
"I'll be fine, don't worry." Armin said nervously, making Eren take careful steps towards the Titan. He took a fighting stance, lifting both his fists in front of his face as the other one spotted the human on his shoulder. Eren glanced at him worriedly, before letting out an intimidating roar, trying to make the beast flee. Obviously it didn't work, instead making Armin's ears ring. So instead, Eren's left fist flung forward, keeping his right shoulder as still as possible. The fist took out the Titan's neck, the nape going along with it, and the beats immediately fell to the floor now limp. Armin grinned widely, the pain in his foot bearable now. Eren released a relieved puff of steam from his mouth.
"You know, you've got a nice view up here." Armin said sarcastically, making Eren roll his eyes and gently jerked his shoulder making Armin jump. He grabbed onto another lock of hair as he sighed in relief.
"Jerk." He retorted quietly making Eren release a teasing sort of growl.
"Hey ugly!" A loud abrasive shout came from one of the nearby roofs, making the Titan and the human turn their heads, only to see Connie and Jean standing there. They both raised their eyebrows seeing Armin on Eren's shoulder.
"You having fun there Armin?" Connie asked sarcastically, earning a eye roll from the boy.
"I've broken my foot and I'm out of gas!" Armin yelled back as Connie nodded in understanding before tuning his attention to Eren again.
"OK anyway, we kind of need Titan boy here." He said with a grin. Eren rolled his eyes as he turned his head to face the two. Connie gestured behind him.
"Sasha and a few newbies have been trapped under a building after being attacked in said building." He explained as Eren rolled his eyes and growled lowly. Jean leaned towards Connie.
"You know, he probably can't even understand you." He said mockingly, clearly just teasing said Titan. Eren did not look amused as he brought up one of his big hands and flipped horse-face off, making the other two humans snicker.
"So, you wanna come help?" Connie asked, as Eren nodded. Connie gave a thumbs up.
"Great, follow me then." He said turning around and shooting his gear forwards, closely followed by Jean. Eren followed, his pace faster now that he trusted that Armin was safe. Connie and Jean flew through the sky as Eren overtook them easily, making the two scowl.
"Come on guys pull harder!" One of the newer scouts shouted to the others, as a group of five tried to lift a wooden beam, but to no avail because of the rest of the house pilled on top.
"Leave it. It won't come up." Sasha stated, only a small gap letting her voice travel to the soldiers. She felt the wood on top of her crushing her arm and only inches away from crushing her completely. Blood trickled down her forehead, from the gash in her hairline. In the debris behind her, she heard the small whimpers of the soldiers she took charge of. It was so unexpected. Her and four of the soldiers had holed up in that building to resupply, but a Titan reached in, grabbing one of the soldiers and leaving a hole in the wall. Unfortunately, the building wasn't very stable to begin with, so the extra hole didn't help much, bringing the small structure down on the four soldiers. A few minutes after, Connie, Jean and Mikasa had found them, and had gone off to find more help, while leaving their own squads to help try and lift the beam, and Mikasa to fend off any incoming Titans.
"But Lance Corporal, if we leave it, you'll be crushed in minutes!" The same soldier answered. Sasha dipped her head.
"If you keep trying, we'll still be crushed! It can't be helped!" She yelled back, her voice slightly vibrating around the small hole she was caved up in. She received no answer. Instead, she heard fast Titan footfalls.
"No, no, no, no... Mikasa let one through!" The soldiers yelled as they let the beam go, drawing their blades. Sasha squinted. No, Mikasa couldn't have let one through, she was the best. Sasha's eyes widened as she realized what was happening.
"Soldiers stand down! Let it through!" She yelled as the 'lead' soldier turned around.
"But-" He started to contradict before Sasha cut him off.
"Let him through. No arguments." She yelled sharply. The soldiers stood awkwardly, scared out of their wits as they saw the Titan draw closer. Sasha heard the footfalls and felt the tremors, the Titan getting closer. She looked out the small gap to see the soldiers still standing there, blades still out. Sasha rolled her eyes.
"Let him through and get out of the way!" She yelled making them all look at each other in confusion before they ran to opposites sides, or flew onto the nearest buildings. Sasha finally sighed. She was going to live.
Eren finally reached the crushed building, seeing the soldiers standing around the building fearfully. He examined the situation as did Armin.
"Can't see them. Lean down, let me get a closer look." Armin stated, making the Titan grunt as he leaned down. Armin squinted as he tried to see into the building. He then pushed up off the muscle, and lent onto his friends neck. He pulled out his gear from the Titans skin, the wounds closing immediately. Armin sighed as he couldn't see anything. He then looked up to the frightened soldiers.
"Soldier, situation report." He yelled up to the 'leader'. He snapped out of his shock and zipped down, before running next to Eren's knee, still very weary of the beast.
"Sir!" He yelled up as he saluted. Armin nodded to the debris.
"Any signs of life?" He yelled down as the solider nodded and gestured to the debris.
"Yes, we've been talking to the Lance Corporal through a small gap and she said that the other three seem to be alive." He stated as Armin's eyes widened.
"Through a small gap?" Armin asked, as the soldier nodded. Armin tapped Eren's neck.
"Can you put me down?" He asked as Eren's left hand reached up as he grabbed Armin with two fingers, placing him delicately on the floor, keeping him supported by one finger as he waited for the other soldier to help him. The other soldier ran over and carefully took Armin under the arm, as the Corporal put most of his weight on him.
"Where was this gap?" Armin asked as the soldier gestured to an area and helped Armin over.
"Sasha? Can you hear me?" He asked, looking at the small gap in the debris.
"Yeah. Can you hurry up and get us out?" She yelled making Armin smirk.
"Yeah sure, how many are in there?" He asked.
"Four, including me. Don't know how many are still alive." She answered. Armin pondered for a second.
"I'm not sure we'll be able to get you all out alive, we don't know how stable the structure is." He stated quietly. Just at that moment, they all heard zipping before Jean landed in front of the broken structure and Connie landed on Titan Eren's head.
"See? We got help." Connie stated, a proud smirk on his features. Another zip sounded behind the Titan, and Mikasa landed next to Connie.
"What about the Titans?!" Connie asked as Mikasa rolled her eyes, the other soldiers standing around the building flying off to fight any incoming Titans in Mikasa's place.
"Other soldiers took over for a while." She stated as Eren's eyes lit up hearing who the second person on his head was. Connie rolled his eyes as he jumped off onto the ground.
"Don't wanna get between those two lovebirds." Connie stated at Jeans questioning glare, making Eren release a small puff of steam and Mikasa's cheeks grew red.
"Jesus Christ stop chatting and get me out of here!" Sasha yelled. Armin sighed.
"Ah screw it, just start pulling debris off and if it crushes Sasha then oh well." Jean stated annoyed, making Connie glare at him.
"Honestly, yeah. Do that, but carefully." Armin stated with an air of finality. They all nodded.
Armin nodded over to Jean and Connie.
"Can you guys help me up to the roof?" He asked the two, but instead he felt two fingers wrap around him as Eren stood up. Mikasa jumped on the nearby roof, taking Armin once he was placed gently on the same roof. The two were followed by Jean and Connie, along with the other soldier. Eren knelt back down and started to pick debris off the top. Mikasa looked Armin up and down as she gently helped him to sit.
"What happened to you?" She asked as Armin sighed.
"Broke my foot, Eren showed up, and he carried me here." He explained and Mikasa sighed.
"Basically you used him as an ambulance." She stated with a smirk making Armin nod, his own face sporting a smirk. She then shook her head.
"And how did you end up here?" She asked. Armin tilted his head to the side.
"Those two found us, told us Sasha might be injured and they brought us here." He explained, making Mikasa roll her eyes and she turned her attention to the two members of her squad.
"You guys know that Eren isn't a bloody stretcher right?" Mikasa stated sarcastically, making Jean and Connie look down almost shamefully.
"Yeah, well isn't that all he's good for?" Jean retorted, a smirk gracing his face. Eren sent him a glare, making Jean's skin crawl, because even if that was his still his squad-mate, he was in a 15 m terrifying Titan. As Eren returned to his task, he still lifted his free hand up and prodded Jean's stomach making him stumble and fall over.
"Bitch!" Jean exclaimed, as Eren's two best friends snickered.
"We've got one!" Connie exclaimed as Eren gently scooped a small female scout out of the debris. Her eyes were still shut, but she was breathing slowly. He raised his palm to the roof of the building his friends were on, letting the other soldier rush onto his hand as he recognized the girl.
"Ava!" He yelled, scooping her up and placing her on the roof, feeling around for her heartbeat, seemingly finding it and then hugging her. Eren went back to his job as Connie went over and helped the soldier with Ava.
"You close to her?" Armin asked as the soldier nodded.
"Yeah, we recently started to date." He said, as tears of relief fell down his face. Armin smiled and nodded to the soldier.
"What's your name, soldier?" He asked. The soldier looked up with a smile.
"Jason. Jason Stortz." He stated, as Armin nodded.
"You close to your squad-mates?" He asked again. Jason nodded.
"Yeah. We've all become really close. My best-friend is under that debris." He remarked sadly. Armin's face was graced by a sad smile.
"Don't worry, he'll get them out." Armin said. Jason nodded gravely.
"It'll be fine. You see the Titan there?" Armin asked, gesturing to Eren. Jason nodded as he examined the Titan, his eyes still a little fearful.
"That's my childhood best friend, and her boyfriend." Armin remarked, gesturing to Mikasa. Jason's eyes widened in shock as he looked over at Armin.
"Your friend'll be fine." Mikasa reassured with a smile. Jason nodded.
"Ugly's got another!" Connie yelled again. They all turned their attention to the second figure being placed on the roof, Eren making sure to slightly nudge Connie for his comment. Unfortunately, this one seemed dead. His body was cold, and his stomach didn't rise or fall. Jean pulled him off the Titan's palm. He felt around for the pulse but found none, and he gazed pitifully up at Armin.
"Is that your friend?" He asked, but Jason shook his head.
"No, thankfully. But he was still pretty nice. He's not part of my squad." Jason stated as they all nodded, still sad at the soldiers death. Jean then whistled and pointed to the ground.
"He's got Sasha and the last one!" He yelled as they all turned their heads as Eren finally stood up, Sasha and another boy sitting awake on his palm, Sasha smiling slightly clutching her head in pain, the other boy slightly scared, but alive. Jason got up, and followed Connie onto Eren's hand. Connie immediately pulled Sasha into a hug, Jason doing the same to his friend. They both stepped of the Titan's palm, as Connie finally pulled Sasha into a kiss.
"Guys, hate to break up the moment, but seems like the soldiers let three Titans through." Jean stated looking at the others.
"I can't fight." Sasha said weakly, Armin shaking his head as well.
"Me neither." He stated. Eren glanced down at the humans.
"Guess it's just us four and Titan boy here." Jean stated with a smirk. Mikasa, Connie, Jean and Jason drew there swords. Eren started to sprint towards the three, his fist flying forward and knocking one of them in the chin, making it fly up and land on one of the nearby buildings. Mikasa flew by, slashing the same Titan's neck before it could stand back up. Connie then slashed the second Titans legs, forcing it to fall before Jason sliced open it's nape. Then, Jean just sliced the last ones nape open, killing it immediately. Mikasa landed on Eren's head again.
"You're pretty good Jason." She stated, before jumping onto Eren's shoulder.
"OK, now since you're apparently an ambulance, let's help you get Sasha, Armin and the others back." She stated, making him grunt in disappointment.
"Hey, it's OK, you'll be helping them at least." Mikasa said, gently running her hand across his overly large cheek. He nodded, before she placed a gentle kiss next to his mouth, making a bigger puff of steam exit through his teeth, as he gently grabbed her with his hand, then maneuvered her around til she was standing on his palm, and he brought his tongue out and gently licked her cheek, making her giggle. He then brought her back up to his shoulder where she stood, grabbing a few strands of his hair into her hand for support.
Eren made his way back to the same roof as before, Mikasa jumping off and taking Armin up off the ground. Connie came and helped Sasha up, and Jason came along looked at them all in confusion.
"Eren's going to take the injured back to the infirmary." She stated as said Titan made a small growl that sounded like a sigh and he nodded. He placed his hands on the roof, palms open, Mikasa placing Armin onto the big hand, Connie close behind placing Sasha next to him. Armin patted his giant friends finger as Sasha curled up in pain, leaning against the fingers, trying to get the most heat she could from the Titan. Eren looked down at Armin, who was looking worriedly at Sasha.
"Put me on your shoulder. Sasha needs the space." He stated quietly as Eren nodded, lifting his hand to his shoulder, as Armin moved carefully onto the skin again. Mikasa zipped up to the shoulder, helping Armin onto the muscle. He got into the exact same position as before, grappling hooks in the skin and hands gripping onto his hair. Jason's friend dragged Ava into Eren's other hand, still very wary of the beast. Armin looked down at the two.
"What's your name?" He asked Jason's friend, who looked up at the blond.
"Matthew." He yelled back, making Armin nod.
"Look after her OK? Make sure she doesn't fall off." Armin said with a small smirk making Eren jerk his shoulder again. Matt smiled.
"Yeah of course." He replied. Armin then looked up to see Mikasa standing on Eren's head, before Jean landed next to her. He patted his foot down on his head.
"Come on lets go Titan-boy." He stated with a smirk. Mikasa rolled her eyes, shooting her gear into Eren's head before he tilted his head making Jean stumbled again.
"Bitch!" He exclaimed again. Eren let out a mocking sort of growl, before he started walking. Matthew's right hand gripped onto Eren's index finger, his left holding onto Ava for dear life. Sasha was still curled up in a little ball, she was used to traveling in Eren's hand, and all she wanted was warmth. Armin for his part was still alright, even though his foot hurt like Hell.
The journey was short, as Eren took long strides, Mikasa, Jean, Connie and Jason taking out extra stragglers in their path. Once at the infirmary, the Scouts were still shocked by the appearance of the Titan, and none dared to get close. Connie had landed on the ground and was carrying Sasha over to a stretcher, although she had started to tremble from lack of heat. With one of his hands free, Eren reached up and helped Armin to the ground, Mikasa landing to help him. Finally, Matthew tried to drag Ava off, but he fell, finally suffering from his injuries. Jason saw this and landed to help them both, trying to drag them over.
"Can someone help please?" Jason exclaimed, Jean finally landing to help Matthew. That's when footsteps started up again, Eren rose to see a 15 m Titan, making it's way towards the hospital. Eren ran forwards, creating tremors through the infirmary. His fist swung around taking the Titans head clean off, before he reached down and ripped it's nape off. Eren only turned his head when he heard a familiar voice.
"Alright, someone cut Jeager, the support squads are here." Captain Levi stated as Mikasa then rose to cut out Eren. Once the boy was out, she helped him back over to the infirmary, holding him up, his strength drained from the extended period spent in his Titan. He made his way over to Armin first.
"You OK?" He asked, his voice groggy. Armin nodded.
"Yeah, thanks to you." Armin stated, his face sporting a smile. In the background, he spotted Connie holding Sasha's sleeping hand.
"How's she doing?" Eren asked.
"She's got a bad concussion and a broken arm." He stated sadly. Eren nodded and Mikasa turned his face around to meet hers.
"You did well Eren." She stated running her fingers along the lines in his cheeks, steam starting to rise from them as they closed slowly. She then placed a small peck on his lips, earning a smile from him. Eren then felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a familiar face.
"Hi... uh, Eren was it?" Jason asked nervously. Eren nodded.
"Yeah, and you're Jason." He stated with a smile. Jason nodded as he glanced behind him at Ava sleeping and Matthew getting treatment.
"Um... thanks for helping." He stated nervously, clearly still a little frightened. Eren nodded.
"Of course. How are they doing?" He asked, nodding to the two. Jason smiled.
"Matt's a little shaken with a few broken ribs, and Ava's going to be asleep for a while but she's doing fine." He stated, clearly worried.
"Well, glad they're going to be OK." Eren said with a smile. Jason nodded, smiling and walking back to the two. Mikasa faced him again.
"I'm glad you weren't hurt." Eren said as Mikasa pressed her lips on his, only parting after a few seconds.
"Same to you." She stated with a smile.