Authors notes: I'm just going to quietly post this here, don't hurt me!

~0~

Chapter VIII

It was with a heavy stifling silence that surrounded the Castle that afternoon.

There was a palpable atmosphere that lingered in the air, corridors were met with hushed conversations, others in respected contemplative silence. Behind locked doors, understanding was brought to those who were absent, facts were updated, opinions sought after. The normal hustle and bustle of the Castle's occupants were swept under the carpet, and replaced with the events of that morning in a sobering manner.

Most didn't know where they stood, their feelings on the matter surprisingly indecisive and it came at a startling revelation that they were in shock. Currently numb to the memories that lay fresh in their mind. Were they supposed to be excited about this? About a human effectively controlling a Titan? A strong one at that? Or glum due to the fact that only one human could? Should they be suspicious as the boy had broken loose? Some didn't know yet, almost seeking guidance of others who had made up their mind.

However, some did. Some had come to their own conclusions, voicing their opinions driven by their deep stricken fear that lay heavy in their guts,

"This has gone far enough, that boy almost killed a comrade! When is the Commander going to wake up and see this is a waste of time?"

"But the Commander always thinks these things through—"

"—No. He thinks strategy on how to avoid them, he thinks on how to pull the wool over some measly rich men too fat to use their own brains! This is not the same!"

"But Eren-"

"—is a monster, when will you see that?"

It was at that moment that Levi had exited Erwin's office. His eyes zoned in on his comrades that lined the various walls of the corridors, looking lost and without purpose. His ears had also picked up on the choice set of words that had his blood rushing anger through his veins.

The members fell quiet, each head turned to his direction, the silence was as charged as his anger, and he let his fingers slip from the door handle, blinking once slowly, as though to regain himself.

The heels of his boots were the only noise to be heard as he walked strongly through them, heads pivoting to follow his direction. He remained purposeful and eyes trained down the corridor, where the door to his quarters could be seen.

He reached the door and the hinges squeaking open resonated down the corridor, he stepped through, never looking back, and then absolutely slammed the door shut behind him.

If the comrades behind his door winced from the echoing impact, then so be it.

In the privacy of his own room, he allowed himself the rare moment of resting his head against the door and closed his eyes. His shoulders sagged by half an inch and he let out a quiet sigh. It had been a long morning. He had deposited Eren down in his usual room, then swiftly asked for a report on Armin. Mikasa had rode back to the castle beforehand, met halfway by a flock of nursing staff to escort her and Armin back. Armin was swiftly taken from her as she followed them to a room. There he was inspected of his injuries and eventually was left to sleep with tightly bandaged ribs.

Levi recounted the findings in his head. One broken rib and three hairline fractures, multiple bruises, expected recovery time six to eight weeks if ice packs were provided to reduce initial swelling. Twisted ankle, blistered hands, and aching limbs finalized the full report. The nurses had been blunt in their report, to which Levi was grateful. It looked worse than it was, they said, honestly. The pain from breathing would be the worst of it.

Levi allowed his eyes to flutter half open, unfocused and deep in thought. That was not what had him riled up, if he was to be honest with himself. Armin was a strong kid, perhaps not the strongest physically, but when he gave Eren that jittery smile to appease him, Levi knew he was dealing with an intellectually strong kid. No, what had him worried was the unconscious boy under his charge.

That moment had been playing in his head ever since he had to deliver Erwin a full report. What had him concerned, was the faith that they had placed on Levi's shoulders in that brief moment. Levi wasn't a stupid man, he knew his limitations as a human, and this idolisation from his comrades did nothing to quell his shortcomings. They should have used their brains to realise that he had no solution to the unique events of that morning any more than they did.

And yet…

He remembers drawing his horse full speed, calling up to Eren as though he knew his voice would bring Eren to his senses. He didn't understand why it worked, it confused him and he had no intentions of drawing solid conclusions until more experiments went underway. Yet, those titan eyes that looked back at him, incredibly human, incredibly Eren…

He frowned, eyebrows drawing together.

He didn't have time to think on it, as in that moment, a guttural heart-wrenching scream echoed down the corridor, making Levi immediately stand up straight, hand reaching for the door automatically. He yanked it open swiftly just as another scream filled his ears. He widened his eyes as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

Eren had woken.

Suddenly, the quietness of the Castle had broken, like a magical stupor spell had been lifted. The comrades lining the hall looked up the stairwell, to where the screaming was coming from, and loud murmurs broke out amongst them. When they realised Levi had materialized before them once more, they looked back and forth between him and the stairs.

Levi ignored them, pushing quickly through the corridor and heading for the stairs. In no means was he feeling jittery, however he felt his heart rate quicken unnaturally as a particular ear-splitting scream had him taking the stairs two at a time. Other loud voices now filled the air, and it almost sounded like a fight had broken out.

He reached the top of the stairs just in time as the door halfway down the first landing banged on its hinges, two men spilling out, soon followed by a messy brown head on one knee, fingers wrapped either side of the door frame. Levi slowed to a stop as Eren yelled at the top of his lungs, suddenly yanked back into the room by another two pairs of hands, his fingers scratching the wood, struggling to find purchase.

One of the men who had stumbled into view after what Levi could only assume had been shoved out by Eren, regained his balance and raised his foot, he kicked hard into Eren's fingers, grinding at the heel until the boy's voice rose in level, fingers slipping away from its hold.

When he saw Eren's head reappear again, with shoulders straining to push himself out the door, the soldier lost patience and grabbed at Eren's face indelicately, fingernails digging into his forehead. Eren's broken sob and frantic energy had him biting into the palm of the man, making him release him and he surged forward another foot.

He looked desperate, screams unintelligible until one word escaped him,

"Armin-!"

Levi's eyes widened a fraction, in an instant he grasped the situation and understood what was unfolding in front of him. The soldier who was staring at his palm did not grasp the situation, he recovered and grinded his teeth in anger, raising his fist with a wild angered look.

Fingers wrapped round his wrist in insurmountable strength, an iron like vice that had him whipping his head to the side to see his Corporal looking up at him as though he was no longer human. He opened his mouth stupidly, to which the fingers tightened. Grey eyes bored into him until he unfurled his fist, freezing on the spot.

Eren, who was still on hands and knees had quelled his shouting, however he remained making broken noises from the back of his throat, crawling forward and feebly trying to move past them. Levi lifted his foot and placed it between Eren's shoulder blades, pushing down gently yet firmly until Eren no longer moved. Levi had not taken his eyes off the soldier, and the remaining three soldiers had entirely frozen in their actions.

A few tense seconds passed before Levi released the wrist he was holding,

"Does this boy look like a titan to you?" He asked, quietly and entirely focused.

The soldier before him could not quite hold the Corporal's gaze, "No, sir."

"Then what does he look like? A human? Oh no, you see, one of my soldiers would not be striking back at a comrade, so what does he look like?"

"H-he was acting out sir! He went crazy!"

"And lashing out at him would make him see reason?"

"No-,"

In a blink of an eye, Levi had swept a leg at the back of the soldier's knees, making him land in a heavy heap on the floor."

"Did that make you see reason, soldier?"

"Sir-,"

Levi had had enough, he crouched on his hind legs, coming close to the fallen man on the floor,

"Listen here, turdmaggot, I don't remember the Council putting Eren in your charge, the next time you don't come get me will be your last, understood?" he hissed, very close to revealing that he was seething.

The soldier appeared to understand loud and clear at this point, coming to his senses that Humanity's Strongest was looking down at him.

"Yes sir," he muttered.

Levi straightened, quickly dismissing the three soldiers and with a swift look around him, any remaining spectators evacuated the area. He stood on the spot, silently trying to expel his anger and remain back to a certain level of composure and calm.

He felt a hand wrap around his calf strap, fingers hanging loosely and uncertainly. Levi looked down to see Eren, ruffled and spooked. Levi sighed silently through his nose,

"He's alright, Eren."

The fingers tightened around his strap, knuckles pushing into muscle, before releasing again and falling to the floor. It was gratitude, and almost a subconscious motion of relief, Levi assumed.

He bent and grabbed Eren by his arm, pulling the boy up swiftly, where he immediately sagged against him, as though his frantic motions had wiped any energy he had gathered back. His cheek landed on his shoulder, brown hair tickling his ear before Levi wrapped an arm around his waist to support him.

"How bad is it?" Eren whispered out, breath puffing out against Levi's cheek, hairs standing on end from their proximity and the foreign sensation. He furrowed his eyebrow,

"One broken rib is the majority of it, some minor injuries after that. The important fact is he isn't dead, Eren."

The boy seemed to accept that, nodding gently and hair now tickling the underside of his jaw. Levi closed his eyes momentarily, Eren's scent was wafting up his nose and it horrified him to realised he recognised his smell and could identify it as Eren. He pushed his teeth together until he felt his jaw muscles tense, trying to expel the feeling. It was inappropriate.

Instead, he chose to reprimand the boy,

"Tsk, you're a moron for getting out of your bed so soon, it's barely been five hours. I should put you back in there and lock the fucking door."

Eren shifted against him suddenly, as though to protest, "I, I really need to see him-."

Levi rolled his eyes, "I know, Eren."

He swiftly swooped and grabbed at the back of Eren's legs, picking him up in the all too familiar bridal lift. Eren squawked, having not been conscious for any of the previous lifts and gripped the front of Levi's shirt in a fist, other arm clambering around the back of Levi's neck, fingers brushing the fuzzy surface of Levi's undercut.

Levi almost dropped him, feeling much too dignified to be putting up with Eren's squirming and nearly preferring this when the shifter was unconscious. When big green eyes looked at him curiously from a distance that seemed far too close, Levi pulled his head back a little, furthering the contact with the back of his neck into Eren's hand. For once he felt slightly out of his comfort zone, feeling smothered in all directions from a situation he put himself in. Instead, he swallowed the foreign feeling of hot liquid travelling through his veins and decided to clarify to the brunette in his arms.

"We're going to go see Armin."

~0~

Eren had awoken that afternoon as though snapped out of a memory filled with dread. He had bolted upright, the series of the events he had remembered crashing down hard on him in a matter of seconds.

He didn't remember transforming straight away, instead, he had remembered the events backwards, from the moment Levi had called his name and reversing back through time. Armin squeezed between his fists, him having this unnatural instinct not to hurt the tiny life forms under his feet, but to protect himself from the harm they seemed to be directing at him. The running through the fields, the stones of the restricting well crumbling from his torso, the unrelenting anger he felt from being trapped and cornered.

The memories unlocked to him, one at a time, until he could remember them in order, realising with startling clarity all that he had missed when he thought he wasn't 'there'.

Then came the cold sweeping dread, the feeling of sickness in his stomach, as he replayed the sound of cracking ribs again and again, the wobbly smile tiny Armin had given him, the uncontrollable anger surging through him and he struggled to control it. Levi, who had managed to be the only voice he had heard loud and crystal clear, demanding him to keep his calm.

Mikasa, taking tiny fragile Armin from Levi's arms, away from him, Eren, who had caused him harm.

He was out of his bed so quick his bare feet slapped to the floor, he had to see him, nothing was more important, he needed to know Armin was alright, he would never forgive himself.

It was like a chant in his head when a swift wave of vertigo swept through him, his thoughts were all over the place making it hard for him to focus on any one thing, he was panting, gripping his head and trying to orientate himself.

When a hand slapped down on his shoulder and pulled him back, he flinched, someone was restricting him, someone was stopping him from seeing Armin. He flipped, ripping the hand off his shoulder until he was being cajoled by two people, he couldn't focus, he just needed to see Armin, why didn't they understand?

He tried telling them but realised strangely that he was screaming, they were restricting him, he was freaking out, he could tell that now but he couldn't prevent it, soon he was struggling and found himself being pushed and pulled by four men, each shouting at him and he couldn't understand them.

He felt pain in his finger tips and realised he was gripping the doorframe, wood splintering into the pads of his fingers, knuckles suddenly searing in pain as a heeled boot twisted his skin. His thoughts swam out of focus then, until a hand was in his face, he hated feeling restricted, he needed to see Armin, he was desperate.

The bodies stopping yanking and grabbing, then a foot was on his back, but a soothing voice kept him steady. He tried to gather his thoughts back, a familiar feeling of calm swept through him slowly, abating his frantic thoughts by half. He slowed down, breathed in and out until he could take in his surroundings, head slowly, painstakingly slowly returning to reason.

"He's alright, Eren."

Eren blinked and found his fingers buried in Levi's calf, he squeezed testingly, and sagged with relief. Levi had appeared, always Levi, when he needed him. He let his fingers fall to the floor.

When he was safely being carried bridal style down the hall to see Armin, by the man who he continuously felt like he didn't deserve in his life, he let the very brief moment of guilt slide to the side and just basked in the warmth and support of the man who had saved him more times than he could count, or reason for.

~0~

It was dimly lit in the recovery room Armin was placed in. The curtains were drawn, blocking out the whitewash sunshine that tried to push through. It was quiet, nurses long since left to get some rest.

Levi stepped into the room, after having a moment of difficulty fiddling with the door handle with an armful of Eren. He heard the boy's breath stop when his eyes landed on the small frame of his friend.

Armin lay peacefully on the cot, covers revealing only his mop of blonde hair and the tops of his shoulders. His face held a slight grimace, yet his eyes were shut and his quiet breathing filled the room.

Levi felt a palm on his shoulder, and loosened his grip steadily when he realised Eren was struggling to be released from his arms. The brunette clambered down and in a strange gentle but hurried state made his way to the edge of the bed. He froze still, limbs askew and unsure until his knees slowly lowered him to the floor, fingers curling into the sheets and head bowed.

Silence settled heavily over them, Levi remained where he was, two steps into the room and now observer to the boy and his best friend. His face remained passive, as he eyed the huddled figure by the bedside. He should have found this strange, this emotional overplay by what was considered minor injuries, yet he didn't.

Levi's life have been rife with scenes like this, memories of much stronger consequence and emotional turmoil springing to mind, so he was not short of experience or compassion here. He supposed he should have been numb to encounters such as this, but Levi found that his feet felt heavy in his boots, and his eyes glued to the boy with the messy brown hair.

Eren was silent, a startling contrast to the outburst Levi was expecting to return. His cheek now rested atop the warmed sheets, eyes looking up into the sleeping boy's face and fingers crawling under the sheets to curl around his friend's wrist.

The mood in the room shifted, and Levi felt like he had outstayed his welcome. He realised his rank allowed him where he pleased, yet it was how he chose to use his rank that had him turning on the spot, making his way to the door.

This situation was private, this was Eren checking to see if his friend was still living, still breathing and assuring him that his mistakes had not been costly.

This was Eren connecting with the fact that his humanity was still his own. Eren would not be convinced until Armin was awake and could clarify on his own accord that he was safe… and that he forgave him. Levi believed Eren didn't need an audience for that, that sometimes a man deserved forgiveness without prying eyes and ears.

Even though Levi knew Eren didn't need forgiveness, he had done nothing wrong, it was not entirely his conscious doing after all, he knew Eren wouldn't stop until he had apologised.

His foot barely landed over the threshold until he was being called,

"Corporal?"

Levi tilted his chin to the side, alerting Eren he had heard him.

"Could you—uh. Could…" His voice trailed off, not being very loud to begin with.

Silence settled over them once more, apparent that Eren wasn't going to continue. Levi sighed quietly, not out of frustration, but simply to expel the tenseness of the situation.

He turned once more, eyeing the armchair next to the bedside table, in which Eren's ankle brushed against. He made his way over, stepping over Eren's leg and settling down into the plump cushions. He settled his feet on the floor, to which Eren raised his knee to allow him room, then felt the pressure of Eren's calf resting atop his boot.

Here, he felt his shoulders relax, and allowed himself to lay his head back against the chair. Eren wanted his presence, to which Levi wouldn't deny him. He had no further plans for today already having debriefed to Erwin.

With the comfortable light in the room, Levi supposed it wouldn't be too bad to spend his afternoon tucked away out of sight and away from the gossip of his subordinates', for which he had zero energy to yell at.

He didn't know how much time passed, not really, it was hard to keep track with the stillness enveloping them. The window didn't shine as bright and the outline of sunlight around the curtains faded somewhat. Levi had kept quiet, feeling no need to entertain Eren with conversation, if the boy wanted to talk, he would, instead Levi went over his tiresome day and relived the events pulling them apart.

They had learned a considerable amount of data, albeit in undesirable circumstances. It was unfortunate that the well broke allowing Eren's titan to run rampant, however, Levi believed it was for the best. They couldn't truly measure Eren's possibilities if he couldn't even raise an arm. You couldn't see how far a bird can fly if it was trapped in a cage, after all.

He had definitely noticed though, as he exhausted his horse to catch up to the squad that Eren didn't fight back, even when the teams were slicing at his heels. He had grabbed Armin because he was there to grab, and used him as protection.

A titan that size had no intelligence of its own strength, so for Armin to escape with just one broken rib was nothing short of a miracle. It was all evidence that if Eren couldn't consciously control his titan, then he wasn't far off from doing so. He had to be lurking at least subconsciously close to the surface to be able to control grip, at least to some extent.

Levi also noted that for Eren to run into the open fields, where the squads couldn't use the leverage of trees was smart, also using Armin as his own protection. Either they were dealing with an intelligence of a titan they had never encountered before, or Eren could control more than he thought.

The fact that Levi had very much witnessed Eren 'snapping' it together, and then the coils of rage that built up inside him was sign enough that there was a battle going on inside. If Levi had to take a guess, he reasoned that Eren wasn't battling with another subconscious, he was battling with a titan's instincts, a titan's overwhelming nature of rage and pure animalistic behaviour.

He dismissed the idea that Eren was battling with a titan's only goal though, which was to mindlessly eat humans, interestingly enough, Eren's titan didn't seem to have that desire, which, to Levi's mind, was just as well, as dealing with its instincts alone seemed to be a tremendous ordeal on its own.

Levi's eyes drew themselves over Eren's slumped form, he held back a 'tsk' as he took in how this boy had to try to control a titan, a fifteen metre intelligent titan no less, and how little over five hours had passed, he had dragged himself to Armin's room. He should still be asleep at this point, Eren's recovery time was usually between six to seven hours currently, every minute seeming to count in his body's healing process.

Yet here he was, bed head and all, slumped on the floor not daring too drift off. Levi felt a surge of anger then, that this dwindling human race could demand so much from one person, how they grabbed the reigns of Eren's life, taking away his decisions and any idea of freedom he may have clung to.

They had done the same to Levi, yet he reasoned years ago with himself that he could handle it, they slapped a title on him and he was fine with that, he could bear the responsibility and everlasting disappointment, the deaths, the failures. He could be that guy.

So why was he looking at another person who had to share his burden?

He would never voice this to anyone, knowing full well at this point that had it been anyone else, then he may not have cared so much. His eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the back of Eren's head, wondering just when exactly had he started caring more than he knew.

He let out a silent breath, started to bury those ever surfacing thoughts, until they were pretty much pushed out of his head. He closed his eyes, just so he wouldn't have to stare at the back of the brunette's head any longer and tried to get back on focus, wondering how they should next approach the experiments.

"I remember everything, y'know…"

Levi blinked his eyes open, view met just how he left it. Eren hadn't turned his head and Levi had to wonder if he talked at all. He remained silent, ears sensitive.

Eren murmured some more, half lidded eyes unfocused on his best friend,

"I remember, each time I transformed, it all came flooding back to me in reverse… like memories unlocking…"

Levi's eyebrows furrowed further, each time?

"Every catcall Hanji gave me, each squad zipping around my face, the hours in the sun, the well pushing into my arms, Trost, Armin in my grip… the anger… t-there was so much anger, I felt like I was drowning in it."

Levi pulled his head upright, "Yet you didn't, Eren. You controlled it."

The boy scoffed, an unusual sound to Levi's ears, and he lifted his head from the bed, "No, Corporal, you did."

His tone wasn't one of bitterness or accusation, it was one of frustration.

"The first time it was Armin, and this time it was you. I'm just the stupid vessel."

Levi let his words sink in, immediately dismissing them. "You're wrong, Eren."

The sharp loudness of Eren's voice would have been startling, had Levi not been prepared for it, "How am I WRONG?" His voice bounced off the walls, his breath ragged with his emotions. Levi remained undisturbed.

"You're wrong because it isn't Armin that can move your titan, it's you. It isn't me who can make it's arm move, release a grip, bend to one knee, run to the fields… it's you Eren. I don't grow to fifteen metres, you do. I didn't overcome the rage, you did."

Eren's mouth fell open, "But-!"

"Listen, if I demand you to climb atop of a horse and ride it, does that mean I'm controlling you? Does that mean I am riding that horse?"

"No, but,"

"You're right, no. I can command you to, but you can say no Eren. You could choose to do a cartwheel instead, you could choose to run off, to sit down, to throw a punch. I can give direction Eren, I can help you to see clearly, but in the end, the choice is yours. The control is yours."

Eren touched his forehead to the bedsheets once more,

"I don't know if I can control its rage on my own, it's too much, it blinds me from my senses."

Levi leaned over, in a rare moment he would scold himself for later, his fingers buried deep into Eren's hair and ruffled it, big green eyes turned to look at him, lips hanging open just slightly,

"You won't do it alone Eren, you can't get rid of me that easily."

Eren stared at him for a few beats too long, so long in fact that Levi wondered if he had just made a tremendously sporadic mistake. Fingers still slotted into soft ruffled locks, Levi remained neutral faced as he tried to slide his fingers away.

They only got so far however, before a tanned hand wrapped round his wrist, preventing him from withdrawing.

"Okay." Green eyes crinkled slightly at the corner as Eren gave him a small smile. Levi's eye twitched as the awareness of the situation kicked in. What started off as innocent encouragement, had turned quickly out of his control and into dangerous territory. Once again, he thought, this was not how a Corporal acted with his subordinates. Corporals were not supposed to know how soft a subordinate's hair was, or notice how green a subordinate's eyes could be, Corporals were definitely not supposed to be able to note how soft a subordinate's hands were, when they should be covered in callouses…

Corporals should not want more.

A feint clearing of a throat was detected,

"Do you want me to give you two some privacy?"

They both turned to meet the shit eating grin of one Armin Arlert.

Oh fuck me, Levi thought.

~0~

Levi hated this room.

Appearance wise, it suggested nothing out of the ordinary from the rest of the high ranking Corp's rooms, albeit being a little bigger perhaps. It offered a bed tucked to the side, a private bathroom and showering quarters, it boasted a large waxed table, cluttered with correspondence and battle plans. The room itself was rather pleasant to the eye, but it wasn't the furnishings that made Levi on edge, no, it was the knowledge that this room alone accounted for the majority of decisions the Corp's were responsible for.

Like the private box Levi stashed away of his fallen comrade's patches, this room was also a reminder of all the right decisions made, and all the wrong ones.

Levi sat beside Hanji, forgoing the proper salute to Erwin for instead crossing an ankle over his knee and releasing a quiet impatient sigh.

This wasn't a surprise to him, being summoned to Erwin's quarters, it didn't mean he had to enjoy it however.

He was already sick of it, he was only here this morning delivering the full report. Erwin had remained as passive as ever, cool calculating eyes sweeping over them both as they retold the event from every possible angle until he had felt irritable and parched.

Of course, like most great men, Erwin had not rushed to any conclusions, had not let out any outward bursts of any particular emotion. Instead, he hmm'ed and interjected some of his own questions as he absent mindedly scratched his chin.

He had let them go this morning, with a schedule to meet again after he had thought this through.

So here they were, much to Levi's distaste. He felt his bones sag into the chair. It had been quite the trying day. He had found a small amount of respite in the warm glows of Armin's room before the blonde had awoken on a rather delicate scene.

Levi furrowed his brow as he remembered the disgustingly smug grin on the boy's face. He almost groaned to remember how he had withdrawn his fingers from Eren's hair, palm slipping through the boy's finger tips as he hurriedly drew himself to his feet, dismissing himself hastily before the boys could utter a word to him.

The door had closed behind him, and he had trouble trying to compare if being in that room a moment longer was worse than facing a horde of titans with his last burst of gas. In the end he chose preference to the titans, he at least had experience there, he concluded.

Erwin leaned forward, chair creaking slightly enough to draw Levi back to the present. He was studying him, taking in the slight sag to his posture, the slightest lack of composure to his normal form.

He chose not to comment on it, for which Levi supposed he was grateful. Instead, Erwin glanced between them both,

"How is Arlert?"

Levi tsked, "Chirpier than ever."

Erwin smiled as he leaned back in his chair, "hmm that is most good news. I heard his recovery was interrupted." He hadn't asked a question, however Levi knew he was inclined to give a response.

"Yes, the brat woke up and decided to pay a visit."

Erwin chuckled, giving way to his fondness for these new eccentric recruits. He glanced over to Hanji, who was also beaming and jittering with excitement. "Eren also woke up even earlier than expected, that boy is a wonder, honestly!"

Erwin noted her squirming, tapping his pen languidly onto his desk, he decided to indulge her, "and?"

"As he unlocked his memories, we have just opened up endless avenues of research! This is the breakthrough we needed, this was our ticket to more time!" Her hands were making fists in her lap, she was one step away from jumping on Erwin's desks and singing her joy to the world.

The Commander nodded slowly, already having received these facts this morning. It was a breakthrough, no doubt, but that wasn't what had piqued his interested in this whole ordeal. His eyes travelled once more to his stout companion, to the man who had carried the endless tasks he and given him over these long years successfully and the turmoil of them all too. Erwin often wondered how much more he could give this man before he watched him stumble, before he watched him fall , before he no longer watched him get to his feet again. It was no easy thing to ask, but he needed him. Erwin was the brain of the Corps, no doubt about that, but Levi was the backbone.

"Thus far, we had precautions in place for Eren's titan. It is unfortunate that the well is no longer an option."

Levi met his eyes, waiting to hear the Commander's plans.

"Tell me Levi, how did you know Eren would respond to you? This situation would have met an entirely different conclusion had he not responded to you."

Levi shifted his gaze past Erwin to outside the window, "I didn't," he offered seeing no point in trying to understand what had happened, he wasn't the brains here, he was very much aware of that sat in between these two minds.

"I did what felt natural. Eren isn't a monster, whatever form he is in. He is far too stubborn to become one, so I didn't treat him as one." He was concentrating on the trees outside, watching them cast long distorted shadows in the grass.

"I've seen my fair share of monsters Erwin, that boy isn't one."

Erwin sat silent for a moment, drinking in the sights of his appointed Corporal lost to memory. He knew this man had his demons, he could see them battle him on his darkest days. Yes, he agreed, Levi had seen his fair share of nightmares, not all of them came in the form of titans, and definitely not in the form of a boy trapped in one.

He nodded to himself, mind settled on any doubts of continuing he may have had.

"Then all we have to do is make the rest of humanity believe it. Levi, for some reason we have not yet had the option of exploring, he responds to you."

Levi nodded, he couldn't deny that.

Erwin took one last look between Hanji and Levi, then stood up swiftly behind his desk. They both got up to join him, knowing this meeting was drawing to an end. Erwin grabbed the door to see them out,

"Then I think it's time you retire from hiding in the bushes."