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Fight for Humanity ;; shyone and flux

F

fluxarmageddon

Star
Joined
Jan 4, 2016
Simple days had turned into an eternity when spent outside of the high walls that kept the man-eating giants out. A young girl had been traveling from Stohess to the wide world beyond everything she had ever known, mainly out of personal curiosity but yet she had to have a reason to justify her trip… and she needed protection and resources. Shena Kerrigan would have hoped that safety would be in numbers but as the attack on Shiganshina and from her own experiences thus far, it wasn’t true. Over half of her excursion group had been consumed already and they had little supplies to get them back to the walls. She had thought that they were done for if not for the fact that a strange thing happened a couple days ago where a large group of pursuing titans turned away from them much to their surprise. The horses had been strained but no one had been lost that day… but one individual had been gained, a strange man that had been wandering seemingly aimlessly there. It was difficult to make sense of where he had come from or what he was doing out there but they had faced too much tragedy to not be hopeful in bringing him back as a fellow survivor.

And as if miracles existed, this day, they had finally seen the looming walls in the distance. Dirty and worn, some injured, had hurried themselves to reach the walls all the more quickly as the walls drew closer and got taller when they turned their horses into a gallop. Shena focused her light blue eyes to the entrance to the walls and to humanity once more, a relief washing over her… but only some apprehension also in the back of her mind. What was she supposed to say when they came back? Were they going to be imprisoned for something taboo? Doubtless, the one who had hired her and her group for this mission would want to cover their tracks as quickly as possible (and they hadn’t even returned with what the man wanted in the first place). No, they were very lucky to be alive. Maybe prison would be better than wandering without direction outside.

Still, she did want the titans to be purged from the world and for humanity to live outside the walls. They deserved it. If there were other circumstances, she would go back… if there was a chance she could come back with more than half the numbers they had left with. Shena briefly looked over to their new addition as shouts were overhead from those watching the land from on top of the walls about people approaching. At least they weren’t manning the canons. She pursed her lips together and the grip on the reigns to her horse tightened slightly. “I don’t know how long you have been out here… but I hope you’re glad to be back.” She had tried to talk to him every so often. After all, she knew what it was like to feel like the odd man out at times. That was something she kept to herself, though. Soon, the entrance was opened and their group was let through. Members of the Garrison greeted them warily. Shena’s shoulders lowered, relaxing slightly. Home.

---

Mikasa Ackerman had joined the Survey Corps with her adoptive brother Eren in hopes of protecting him from the dangers that he would face, that would most likely get him killed if she had not been there. Certainly, even with her joining their ranks, the attack on Trost had been tragic for all that she had trained with. She had thought that she would have lost Eren if not for the fact that… it had been like some strange dream and yet it had not been a dream. No one could explain Eren’s ability to transform into a titan as he did but she could only keep a watchful eye on him as the Military Police waited for just one excuse to execute him. They were under the command of Captain Levi, at least. He was a capable man. They would journey to the outside world soon enough but for now, they were attempting to put to bed what happened at Trost, to pick up what pieces they could and somehow preserve what little had remained in the area as it had more hope than Shiganshina once had when it fell.

It had been a slow day besides the fact that she had been hearing rumors about these peculiar groups of people that were paid to go outside the walls and retrieve oddities from the outside world. Mikasa did not see the appeal and thought that it would be ridiculous to go out there unprepared to fight. Even with the proper training, they saw that they still had a long way to go before they could push back against the titans. Humanity was always on the defense. Today, Mikasa walked along the roads, looking around. She had thought that she had heard that Armin and Eren were somewhere around here with the others. Mikasa had went to retrieve some rations for dinner that evening. That was until suddenly there was a commotion.

The dark-haired girl stopped in her tracks, turning around and facing Wall Rose. She narrowed her eyes and took off towards the entrance to the wall as well as she began to register in her mind that whoever was watching above had said something about actual people approaching. That couldn’t be possible though, right? By the time she had arrived, members of the Garrison were already there and she stood behind the rows of cadets and watched as the small group drug themselves inside. She didn’t recognize any of them… nor did they look uniformed. They really were just normal people, were they? More strange things. Unsightly things. Mikasa didn’t quite know how to react to it except for to stare at the scene. Certainly, the MPs would have things to say to them if they were from within here. But that was only the beginning. Somehow, these people had been able to go out of the walls and come back alive. She looked up to where the walls ended. Had they attracted titans?
 
Laying there in the back of the cart the people had put him in, Charles had remained quiet for most of their journey. The man just stared up at the sun like he was transfixed on something in the sky every now and then reaching out towards that big yellow ball with his hand as though he could seize right down into his grasp. What had happened to him before these people found him was only a blur of pain and misery, hunger and bloodlust, something that ended suddenly and brought about a new type of suffering. One that was unlike anything else he had experienced before, but at the same time there was a sense of freedom in it. He was no longer a mindless beast that much he had deduced while killing the Titans that constantly attacked him during the day. Yes… he had been one of those beings, but was now something else entirely. At the same time, his skills in fighting those creatures only grew, since apparently he could become one at any time and then return to his human form. He had scars all over his hands and arms to show the trial and error process that he had gone through to figure this out.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone’s voice next to him, and he turned to look, noticing that girl riding on her horse next to the cart. He remember her has having been the first person to approach him, and the first to help him. Shena was her name if he remembered correctly. Charles had to admit that he was glad at least one of the people in her group had been so tolerant. A few of the men who were obviously other leaders in the expedition didn’t want him to come back with them, but this Shena had taken personal responsibility for him and for that she had his gratitude. It was then he noticed what she was talking about when she meant… “being back.”. It was the wall… oh if there was one thing in the back of his mind he remember from his time as a beast, it was a hate for this wall, a hate that he couldn’t quite understand, and a hate that he no longer felt. Sitting up and putting his head in his hand he turned to regard Shena with a poker face like look of resolution,

”Yes well to tell you truth Shena I don’t really remember. After I lost my group, time itself seemed to just become a blur as I spent most of my time dodging Titans. If you guys hadn’t found me when you did, I might have been done for given that I was out of supplies and running low on energy. Thank you though for bringing me back here, I just hope that I haven’t caused you too much trouble. Some of the other people in your group didn’t seem too happy to see me and I hope that you having to take responsibility for me doesn’t cause you to many problems.” Charles scratched the back of his head as he looked at the girl the convoy was passing into the inside of the wall as they spoke and the large gate closing behind them. The sound of it hitting the ground rang out with a bit of finality, almost like a prisoner being thrown into a cell.

---

People going outside the walls beside the walls besides the Survey Corps, why did he feel like he was the last one to hear about these things? Armin had informed him about these expeditions recently, the other having read about them becoming frequent amount the most desperate of the lower class. Paid for by greedy companies who cared only for what was brought back, and gave little commission to those had to risk the dangers of a journey outside the walls unprotected. A commotion started up around one of the gate’s to Wall Rose, followed by the entrance of a group of strange ragged people. They could have been mistaken for a group form the Survey Corps had they been wearing military uniforms. Their downtrodden faces at having seen so many of their comrades die for just paltry sums of money and just a chance to step outside humanities gilded cage. Eren Jaeger slipped through the crowds heading in the direction of the entrance to the wall in order to watch the group of civilian’s as they paraded down the street with their heads hung low. The sight fueled that rage within him whenever he saw the destruction the Titan’s wrought, bringing forth his desire to purge them all from this world so they wouldn’t have to ever fear those monsters again.

Looking through the crowd that was when he first noticed Mikasa standing there in the distant. The other had gone off to get them rations to eat that night, and came back it seemed with the most impeccable timing. His adopted sister always seemed to feel that he needed someone to watch over him much too both his annoyance, but secretly to his appreciation. Armin had some other business to take care of and such was Eren reason for becoming separated from him, despite the fact they were all going to eat their rations together. Even though he had some idea of what was going on as he pushed through the crowd that didn’t stop the obvious questions which came from his mouth as he came up next to Mikasa,

“Hey Mikasa what is going on? Armin told me about some people who have been going outside the walls without military support recently. Are these really supposed to be them? I guess it is a good thing that the events at Trost doesn’t have everyone so scared of the Titans that they won’t confront them in some manner.” Even if these people were going out without military support, the very act of stepping outside of Wall Rose could be considered an act of defiance against the man eating giants. Still Eren couldn’t help, but wonder if this waste of human lives was really the right way to go about it. It was sad, but if these people really wanted to help and venture outside at the same time, then they should have joined the Survey Corps. Then again not everyone could make it through basic training either…
 
Mikasa looked at Eren as she found him approaching her from the rows of people who spectated. “I don’t think that it would stop those safe inside the walls from asking others to go out,” she admitted honestly as she watched the group head more inside their village. There were only a few people there and how they had managed to survive, she didn’t know how was possible. “Eren, I don’t think that they had the intention of confronting the titans.” That much would have been obvious if they knew the true intentions of their expedition. Something so small as bringing back anything different from the world within the walls had a high price that was tragically easy to pay when enduring the wrath of the giants.

She scanned the faces of the members of the group. They were all dirty and some were injured. A man had a broken arm that had been made into a makeshift cast. Though the status of these people varied, their faces all looked the same. They had finally seen how this world could really be, past the façade of life within the walls. Something had caught her eye, though, that made her speak up once more. “Eren, look.” She nodded her head in the direction of the back of the group. A pair were conversing, one on a horse and the other within a cart. The girl looked tired but less like she had been through absolute Hell. Judging by the jacket she wore, Mikasa could conclude why. She wore the wings of freedom. The oriental girl tried to recall if she remembered seeing her at all during training… though Mikasa had been more focused on her own endeavors and making sure Eren didn’t fail. “Who are they?”

---

Shena listened to Charles speak carefully before drawing her horse to a halt. “…I didn’t want there to be anymore death than what I couldn’t prevent. But don’t thank me just yet, okay? We might have a few issues given that…” as if nothing could be more coincidental, Captain Levi Ackerman and Erwin Smith approached. Mikasa, who was an onlooker in the back and had gone unnoticed by the group members, was silently wondering why either of them did not seem displeased by the girl’s demeanor as she slipped from her horse. She was a meeker individual whose actions were often too careful to those she did not know. Even in the presence of her superiors, she still was cautious as she approached them. Whatever she said could not be heard by the onlookers. The only thing she could do for Charles was to explain the situation and tell them that he meant no harm.

Even so, Erwin nodded at her and walked around her to the back of the cart where he looked Charles up and down in the state that he was in before addressing him. “I am Commander Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps. I have plenty of things that I need to know from you but in a more private place. Can you walk?”

In the meantime, Levi turned away from the scene and together, he and Shena walked past the audience until the Captain’s eyes landed on Mikasa and Eren. Shena looked from Levi to the pair, wondering what was going to happen now. “Good timing, brat,” Levi told Eren which made Mikasa’s gaze narrow a little more. “This is Corporal Shena Kerrigan. She has been assisting with recovery missions for some time now with those interested in the outside world.” As stupid as he might have believed it to be, sending untrained people outside was a guaranteed suicide mission. But at least it hadn’t been a complete loss with her returning with some interesting resources that needed further studying. “It seems she brought back someone who has been lingering outside the walls somehow. We need to escort him back for questioning. A bit of help would be good if things go to shit.”
 
”Given that what Shena? Did you do something wrong?” As almost if answering his question Charles noticed out of the corner of his eyes were two men approaching. Both were wearing the same uniform that Shena did and wearing on their hips the same devices, which he had seen the woman use to kill a Titan that had been following the group back to the wall. The only thing that Charles could assume was that these men were her superiors among one of the human’s military groups. Any memories he had of them didn’t discriminate on who the groups were, only that they all wore those little devices that allowed them to fight Titans. Taking a glance in the direction of Wall Rose, the man wondered for a second if he had time to make a break for it. If his Titan form could get him over that wall in time before these people could react… however he sensed a killing intent from among the group of humans. Like the feeling that pray had when an apex predator was near, his eyes coming to land on the stoic dark haired man next to blond hair male, and in his mind all Charles saw was a monster who was bigger, faster, stronger and more powerful than anything he had seen. It put any ideas of escape out of his mind… for the moment.

As Commander Erwin walked around to where Charles was sitting the man was fishing around behind some boxes that had been lying next to him, and pulled out a dirty old black top hat. Dusting it off the man daintily placed it on his head and then gave his slightly ruined suit jacket the same dusting down. Wanting to look presentable for anyone who saw him, it was obvious that Charles had managed to scavenge half of his outfit from an abandon home of the nobility out past Wall Rose. Wearing an old top hat, suit jacket, combined with a frilled white undershirt, it didn’t exactly match the dull green style pants he wore with black combat boots to match. His long black hair though ended up covering most of his face as he stared back at Erwin giving the man a once over himself. Charles had to admit he didn’t like the line of conversation that this was leading to, but he had a feeling that he had no choice in the matter,

”Yes I can walk, it was simply that your Corporal Shena was kind enough to let me ride in the back of the cart and recover from my time in the wilderness. As for any questions you have Commander Erwin… I will be most happy to answer them.” Playfully the man leapt from the back of the cart and landed on his feet in front of the other male. Adjusting his top hat slightly before pointing his thumb over his in the direction that Levi had Shena had gone, the other hand slipped into his pocket, ”Am I supposed to follow after her or is there somewhere else you wish to take me, I do hope I haven’t caused too much trouble for the young lady. It seemed like she went through a lot of trouble to bring me inside these walls, and I don’t just mean keeping the Titans away from us either.”

---

“Well that is true, but if what Armin told me is correct then these people are some of the poorest of the poor. So their journey into the outside world beyond the walls is probably just an act of desperation for other reasons beyond the more noble ones that we in the Survey Corps might take up.” His words were obviously a bit higher browed than was usual for Eren and probably paraphrased from something he heard Armin say. “Beside I didn’t exactly mean that these people planned on fighting the Titans. I all meant was that it is good to see some people don’t fear them so easily.” Given the status of the group, and the expression on their faces, all it took was one look to tell that any such lack of fear had been burned into their hearts. So much so that even the desperation of hunger was unlikely to attract them to undertake such an endeavor again. It took a bit of a prompt by Mikasa for him to notice the woman at the back of the group wearing a dirty Survey Corps uniform talking to someone in a cart. “I don’t really know I have never seen her before…”

His voice trailed off when he noticed a very recognizable pair approaching the cart, and he growled a little to himself in annoyance. Just the sight of Captain Levi had the blows from his trial stinging like it was only yesterday. To be honest it had been only a week ago that they allowed him even the tiniest bit of freedom so that he could spend time with Mikasa and Armin whenever he wanted. Now it seemed that the Captain wanted to bother him for something else, hadn’t he done enough to prove himself by this point? Having to bite back his tongue whenever Levi called him a ‘brat’ Eren simply took the insult as his eyes went from Shena to Levi and back again. Normally the young man was never one to shirk his duties, but he had just gotten some leave to be out on his own, and now he had to go back to the base again… to escort a man in a funny hat? On the outside though Eren played the role of a good solider and simply saluted the Captain with his fist over his heart. Saying nothing at first he would wait until Captain Levi left them before turning to the Corporal,

“So Corporal Shena, what is it you would have us do with the prisoner? Is he to be taken back to headquarters or is there somewhere else they want him to be questioned at?” Eren didn’t really see what was so important about someone who had foolishly decided to wonder around by themselves for a long period of time outside the wall. It was one thing to actually go out there with a purpose. It was another to just… well he didn’t know what this man’s motivations could have been.
 
Mikasa fell into a contemplative silence as Levi looked from either of them and continued. “Mikasa, I want you to take to the back with the Commander in case he needs any help.” Mikasa furrowed her brow at that. She didn’t like the idea of being away from Eren, especially now when she had many questions in her head that she was not sure where to start. However, she needed to obey to keep the peace for now. She gave the salute and looked briefly over to Eren before she walked towards the back of the cart.

Erwin didn’t change in his expression as the newcomer seemed willing to comply. “Corporal Shena isn’t in any trouble. But it depends on you how this is going to go.” He gave a pause. “You understand why we are so careful with those that just come from the outside like you did.” He gave Mikasa a nod before looking back to Charles. “We’ll head back to our headquarters for now and then we’ll see about getting the appropriate people in who would want to hear from you.” Erwin turned away and yelling up ahead, the cart jolted forward before beginning to move down the street and away from the crowds who had come to see what the group was.

Mikasa regarded the man at first as being… strange. The outfit he had donned was really out of place even for the normal people inside the walls who were not from the military. The suit was worn and obviously either very old or he had been through enough wilderness that the suit showed it. Erwin had distanced himself from the pair a small ways because Mikasa had always been regarded as a more than competent private, solidifying that belief after the attack on Trost. “You…” she began slowly, considering her words carefully, looking him up and down before managing to continue. “You were out there for a while. How did you survive?” It was the number one question she had on her mind. Even if he was going to be asked this again by the higher ups, she personally wanted to know. “Is this group all who originally went outside?” She raised her head a little.

---

Shena waited until Levi turned around to join the commander again. Looking over to Eren, she gave a strained smile. “I suppose headquarters would be our best bet. That and the fact that I doubt they want to get the MPs involved so soon… The MPs are always so nosey. Let’s just… follow Commander Erwin’s directions,” she sighed a little. Maybe she was acting a bit cranky from the lack of sleep for the last few days though. Ever since things had went to Hell on the outside, the members of group had looked to her for their preservation until they got back. She hardly had time to rest. It was her duty and personal desire to bring back as many alive as she could.

She slowly slipped from her horse and guided it by holding the reigns as they began to walk. Shena didn’t really know who Eren was and so she didn’t regard him at a distance for now like many others would. Ever since it had been discovered that he could shift into a titan, many officers didn’t want much to do with him in. She hadn’t been there personally to fight back but she had been up to date on what was going on. Her job was to ensure that whoever the heck was dumb enough to get paid to go outside unarmed would make it back. It was a senseless, even thankless often, job but someone had to do it. Shena didn’t want people to die because they were so desperate to live comfortably just in the walls enough so that they would brave titans for just a bit of money.

“If you don’t mind, you can skip the formalities with me. I still kind of get weirded out when people refer to me as Corporal,” she tried to make a bit more of a light conversation. “And I’m sorry if you were doing something else today. I didn’t know if we were going to make it back this time,” Shena knew that the military owned their lives basically now and they had to obey command no matter what the situation but still it could be annoying when you were doing something else before that… especially on a day off, which Shena wasn’t sure was the case here or not. “I think I could sleep for four days straight at this point and still feel tired…” she ran a hand loosely through her bangs before looking over at him once more. “You know my name. What’s yours?”
 
The words that Commander Erwin spoke to him put him on edge, though he was careful not to give away how he really felt on the outside. A knowing smile crossed his face for a moment as though acknowledging the “threat” Erwin had sent his way. So things were going to go either the easy way, or the hard way. Charles could respect that, as he could respect the need for these people to be so paranoid. The best thing for him to do was to comply with whatever they asked of him, while keeping them as ignorant as possible of how weary he was truly being. In every moment he had to have an escape route, and the last thing he planned to let them do was to put him in restraints. ”I guess I can’t blame you for being too careful Commander Erwin, but thank you for not taking it out on Shena. The dearie was really a lifesaver back there…” He giggled playfully and ran his hand through his long bangs as he regarded the new girl approaching from over his shoulder. Before turning his attention back to Erwin adding curiously, but almost ominously depending on how one took it,

”Oh and what exactly is it that they want to hear from me, I do hope that you don’t plan to keep locked up indefinitely. Then again, aren’t we all locked up indefinitely these days.” Not even giving Erwin time to respond the male tipped his hat to the other and began to follow after the cart. Walking at a pace which would bring him right next to the girl who had been assigned to help guard him, Charles wasn’t stupid and he got that she was probably supposed to get from him any information that she could before they made it to the headquarters of the Survey Corps. Looking her up and down, he noticed that she wore the same uniform as Shena, but her rank insignia was for someone of a lower rank. Leaning his head in towards her without saying anything the man simply began to poke at the leather straps that ran over her chest that made up the harness to the strange device he had seen Shena wearing, and then also preceded to poke at the side of the 3DMG closest to him. Before pulling back and thoughtfully tapping his chin, Charles spoke in a manner that was half to himself and half to his new escort,

”So all of your military uses a device like this? Seem like an effective weapon to equalize things in your war with… For a moment the man realized he might be saying too much. His words made him seem like even more of an outsider than he already was and gave away too much information in the process and that was the last thing that he wanted to do to. Whenever the girl finally decided to speak, Charles gave her playful grin and moved around so that he was walking backwards in front of her. Adjusting his top hat so he could see Mikasa better, ”Luck, skill, and well more luck… probably mostly luck involved considering all those giants running around trying to eat me. I don’t really think it would be fair to say that all of the survival skills in the world would have done me much good if I didn’t simply keep getting lucky, but then again… I did have a horse for a while, and I did hold up in an old mansion for good bit as well. So to be honest maybe some skill was involved as well, but I have to admit my mind is a little fuzzy on some of the details, but I am sure I was out there for this long.”

Charles then slowly began to count forward with his fingers until he reached the number ten, and curiously asked Mikasa, ”This is ten right? Yeah ten years I believe. As for these people, I can’t really give you an honest answer. I didn’t leave with them so you would have to ask Shena that information, but from the way they acted I kind of got the impression they took some heavy losses. Oh and by the way, you never told me your name. My is Charles… Charles Castex.”

---

“Alright then, the sooner we get our guest back to headquarters the better. I am sure you are right about the MPs, given they would curious to know why the Commander himself is so interested in group of civilian just getting back from a “suicide run”. Because the moment they get involved is the moment it will be harder to get anything for ourselves out of the man. Plus I am sure you are looking forward to a rest mam.” Unlike Captain Levi, Shena seemed to be a lot nicer person. At least that was Eren’s first impression of her as he came into step next to her whenever she slipped off her horse. He looked her over a few times, and then back to the stranger a few times as he was just as curious as the others how anyone managed to survive outside the wall for so long. Yes the Survey Corps went out on missions, but those were done on horses that allowed them to keep ahead of the Titans. The question was how had this man stayed alive without any training or a horse to keep him moving quickly for that matter.

“Corporal Shena, did the stranger say anything to you about himself? Where exactly did you find someone wondering around outside the walls, I mean he doesn’t even look like he is completely right in the head to be honest.” Eren tapped his head as he finished the last part of his sentence, thinking to himself as he looked back at the stranger, but had his attention drawn back to Shena at her request. It was one which he noticed was quite common among members of the Survey Corps, “Sure mam, I mean Shena, if that is what you want me to call you. To be honest I have noticed that things are more relaxed around you guys in the Corps, well at least among the ranks of the non-commissioned officers anyway…”

Her words cut him off as he realized what he had sounded like, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment Eren was kind of glad Mikasa had not within ear shot to hear him make a bit of an ass out of himself. “No it is nothing you did Shena, I know you and these people have been through a lot out there. It was simply that this was my first day free from Captain Levi’s watchful gaze in a while and to be honest me, Mikasa and Armin were going to spend it just relaxing. I am sure we can do that later, since orders are orders after all, but this does make things easier on you since we are heading back to headquarters so maybe you will get a chance to sleep for a little bit.” He seemed a little caught off guard whenever she didn’t know his name. After the incident at Trost he assumed most people in the Survey Corps would know him. It did worry him slightly how she might react, but he knew that worrying about this with every introduction was going to get tiresome. It was as Mikasa said, “either they were a brain dead idiot would dislike him for no reason, or they weren’t.” So with a sigh he reached out his hand to shake hers in greeting he said, “Eren Jaeger, and yes before you ask… the same one from Trost.”
 
This guy was simply odd. As he pulled at the straps that kept the 3DMG gear attached to her body, Mikasa smacked his hand away and gave him a look of warning that she was not to be touched. She didn’t even know him so the gesture was rude. Luck was definitely the right answer to how he had survived in such bad shape but she wasn’t certain that she believed him when he said that he had been outside the walls for ten years. How was that even possible? She didn’t know if she liked the idea of having him around so close to the Survey Corps, but they were the team most suited to cut down a challenge should it arise.

“Don’t make light of the situation. Each time they go out, more dead are either brought back or left behind because of the titans…” She slowly told him as they walked. How could he have acted so nonchalant when if what he said was true, he had been out there a lot longer than anyone else had and had survived to see what the giants could do? Well, she supposed she should be happy that she was assigned to stick with him rather than Eren or else he would be getting a very hot earful. “The higher ups are really going to want to talk to you, so be very careful what you say.” She paused. “They would have killed someone close to me if it hadn’t been for Captain Levi…” though she hadn’t appreciated the fact that he had beat the crap out of Eren to prove a point.

And then he asked her named. “Mikasa. Mikasa Ackerman,” she nodded. Continuing on the road in silence for a few more minutes, she eventually spoke up again. “What were you doing out there? You’re not with the Survey Corps and you said you weren’t a part of the group that went out. So… why? And for so long. It would have been terrifying.”

---

“You’re stating the obvious,” Shena agreed as she listened to him talk. The MPs really didn’t know much about what went on with the outside world and so they had a tendency to try and strike down anything that came from it, or with it. The Survery Corps and them had been disagreeing since the dawn of time, it seemed. She titled her head curiously as he introduced himself as Eren. Of course, she was not ignorant. She knew about the person that could shift into a titan and what happened in Trost. Still, she shook his hand after looking down to it. “That was a pretty selfless thing you did back in Trost.” She briefly looked back to Charles and Mikasa before lowering her voice briefly. "I will let you know when we get inside." She didn't want rumors started about the sort of things she had found outside and that included their new oddity.

It was all that she would say on the matter unless he pried more as they walked. She didn’t flinch away or anything, merely walking along as if everything was normal despite being dirty and exhausted. “I’m the only one just about dumb enough to do what I did, I suppose. I’ve been assigned to watch over the groups that want to go out for whatever employers they have to go and recover things from the outside for profit or study. It’s shady but they’d all die if they didn’t have someone trained to hold back the titans.” She frowned slightly. “And I guess everyone deserves to see what’s out there if they really want to. You can’t change peoples’ minds about it being taboo if you don’t show them what they’re missing.”

They were approaching the headquarters now, the building just in sight. “Plus… It’s kind of sad to see people who are in the position who would risk it just for enough money to eat…” She trailed off slightly before she realized that she might have been talking too much. She waved a hand dismissively and gave a nervous smile. “A-anyway! When do you think you guys are going to head out finally?”
 
Wagging his hand in a show of pain, Charles gave Mikasa the look of a guilty puppy that had just been caught doing something wrong. In a way his reaction added credence to his claim that he had been in the world outside the walls for so long, in the fact that he seemed slightly confused by what some might consider simple manners. Even though he knew that his story sounded like it couldn’t possibly be true, the man had a few pieces of evidence that he could give which would at least give credence to his ability to have survived out there for that long. The only problem was that so much of his time out there was just a blur, but at least the parts that were not could be stretched a little so it seemed like they took up more time than they actually did. It was also his time outside the walls that brought about his seemly cold and nonchalant attitude towards the people who had been killed by the Titans. Those who had been eaten were corpses by this point, and only made for good Titan bait if one wanted to survive. It was the living that mattered, and all those that lived were now back inside the wall,

”The dead are the dead Mikasa. Corpses are Corpses. They chose their path and knew the risk, and at least their bodies could serve to distract the Titans while they gorged down, and allow some people to get away. I even had a few situations like that myself, were I was no help to someone in a Titans clutches, but their death bought me time to hide. Yes I have seen what they can do, but that is just the way things are for the moment, a cold and harsh reality my friend, and until humanity is able to do something to change it… we just have to do our best to carry on for those that have died.” He gave a rueful smile to the woman which was faked in some measure because it was hard for Charles to empathize with the humans. He was not one after all and had probably eaten some before he became like he was now. It was why his logic was so cold and based on survival and the ending of his little monologue might have been a little cheesy at best, and somewhat similar to something Eren might have said.

”Alright now you are the second person to say something like that, the other being the nice lady who saved me… Corporal Shena I believe. Who exactly are these higher ups and why do they want to talk to me so badly? You guys make it sound like I have done something wrong all I did was come in from the outside of the wall. Doesn’t everyone want to come in front the outside to escape the Titans? I mean you make it sound like I am a criminal on trial here Mikasa. I am curious if that is the case… do be honest with me now…” A playful Cheshire cat like grin passed over his face as he skipped backwards a few steps, showing a hidden level of high agility as he caught the back lip of the carriage and sat down on it. On leg hung down while the other was pulled up close to his body so Charles could both rest his head on his knee and wrap his hands gingerly around ankle… purposefully keeping them nice and close to his combat knife. Depending on what kind of answer he got from Mikasa, he would have to be ready for anything,

And in a way her question fell under the category of ‘anything’, because he knew that the Commander had to be close enough to hear his answer. Plus if it wasn’t convincing then there was a chance that Mikasa herself might react as well, but he controlled his instinct to clutch his blade and reveal its existence. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Charles quickly formed a story in his head that was a mixture of truth and fiction and shouldn’t conflict with what he had already said, ”I am going to be honest and tell you what I told Shena, that most of it is a blur. You know like the details of when I was younger… though what I can remember is crossing through an abandon city along a wall much like that one, but its gates were broken. I also spent a lot of time hiding in caves, but most of my time was spent in an abandon mansion which as long as I hid in its wine cellar during the day and scavenged for food at night… then I was fine. Maybe I got out there in a similar group as those people when I was child, but my parents were killed… and well the fact I survived passed that was what I call luck. When I was younger yeah I am sure I was scared of the Titans, but to be honest I don’t remember those times anymore either. You just become numb to the carnage and the fear after a while. I am sure some of your senior Survey Corps members could agree.” He knew the story was an unlikely one, but it was the best he could do, and luckily the arrival at the Survey Corps Headquarters gave him something to change the subject with as the man hopped down off the cart. Forgetting completely the probable lesson that he had learned only moments before the man slipped up next to Mikasa and put his arm her over shoulder and playfully pulled her close.

There was no harm meant by it, and by the look in his eyes he was more focused on looking the base up and down rather than messing with Mikasa. However his lack of social graces did show as he pointed to the place and turned to ask her, giving an accidental little squeeze, ”Wow so this is the place you guys get to stay in? Seems like a small fort/mansion, and is quite a bit nicer than my home I told you about that I hid in for most of my time outside the walls…”

---

“I may be, but it doesn’t help humanity as a whole and so why they keep on doing it is beyond me. If anything at least they didn’t get what they wanted out of me after Trost. Because I am sure my execution would have been the last thing they had in mind for me.” Eren wasn’t the smartest among his friends, but he wasn’t so stupid as to not get that the MPs had a hidden agenda, and served a hidden power within the walls. He himself preferred that his Titan transformation abilities served the Survey Corps and therefore humanity directly in their fight against the Titans. This was why her attitude towards who he was and the fact she shook his hand without the usual distancing that some people gave him was refreshing. Enough to put a slight relax to his shoulders and a smile on his face as he shook her hand and nodded softly, “Thank you Shena that means a lot to me… really.” Normally he wasn’t the type to be like that, but he was starting to learn to really appreciate potential supporters in his new family that the Survey Corps gave him. Looking back at the same time she did, it worried Eren slightly about having Mikasa back there with the man. With his voice lowered he asked,

“What exactly do you mean Shena? Is there something about him that you have not already said? That is my sister back there escorting him and if there is any danger that I need to know about I would like to hear about it before it causes trouble. If you worried about what I will do I promise I won’t cause any problems, I just want to know so I can be on guard.” He kept his voice low so as not to allow anyone, but Shena to hear him… and Eren’s tone made it clear that he was simply looking out for his sister’s safety. The young man hoped that his superior would say more on the subject, but he did find himself slight irked about her own comments about herself. Reaching out he would give her a friendly pat on the back, getting some of that dust off in the process as he winked playfully, “Hey do you really think I wouldn’t join you if I could. They keep me on a figurative leash to Captain Levi so much these days that there would be no way the higher ups would let me join in those missions even if it would save lives. Heck maybe if less people died then more people would want to go… more people would want to do something to fight and rid the world of the Titans.”

The smile on his face and the bravado with which he spoke showed that Eren was trying to put a smile back on Shena’s face. He understood how she felt about the entire business, especially the fact that rich people were playing on the hunger of the poor just to get them to go out there and in turn make themselves richer. He had no doubt some of the things that were brought back only would end up hanging on the wall of some rich man’s mansion. Oh the mouths that could be feed with such wealth… the anger of his thoughts burned in his eyes. He had to do what he could to calm himself as the headquarters came into sight and Shena was bringing up more on the topic, he himself could only say, “Yeah, but don’t you just wish that someone could force those at the top to see what suffering they are putting these people through with their own eyes. Hell if anything maybe they would lose somethings to the Titan’s as well.” It was a sadistic statement, and look in Eren’s eyes reflected this, but given the world they lived in… such people like the ones he spoke of probably deserved it for being so selfish.

This look was wiped away by the nervous smile on Shena’s face, and her dismissive hand gesture. Eren wondered if he might have scared her slightly and that was not what he wanted. However what she said alleviated his fears, and brought up the possibility of a fourth member of their party when he, Mikasa, and Armin ate something… and heck she was a higher rank so maybe she could get a small slice of meat for them to share. “I guess right after Erwin dismisses me and Mikasa from guard duty. Our friend Armin is probably looking for us right now and so we would go find him first. If you want to come along I am sure the others won’t mind…” His voice trailed off as he noticed out of the corner of his eye, that strange man with his arm wrapped around Mikasa, and being the hothead he was… it set Eren off without even a thought to professionalism. “Just what the hell do you think that you are doing, get your hands off her. This isn’t some silly game where you can just constantly play around you know…” Eren quickly stepped to Charles, growling at him in anger while the older man just turned his regard to private with a Cheshire Cat like grin…

”Does someone want to play? Oh dear me… Mikasa help me I do think I am under attack.” Playfully he hid himself behind the young woman’s back and then peeked out at Eren laughing in amusement. His hands rested on Mikasa's hips, and he spoke over her shoulder... oh to say that the poor boy didn't know any better at that point would be an understatement.
 
Mikasa could feel her blood beginning to boil as if he passed off the dead as nothing but titan food for those who wished to survive longer than their fallen comrades. However, even as she clenched her fists tightly at her sides and bit her lower lip to restrain the urge to reprimand him for it, she knew that he was speaking the harsh truth. She looked away from Charles as she tried to piece her thoughts together but then he shifted the conversation to his background, which she attempted to tune into, to absorb what information she could just in case he might slip in a few extra details from what he had told to corporal once their stories were compared. That was if they ever got to that point. The higher ups had been so burdened by allowing Eren to stay in the Survey Corps that they might not have the patience to hear this man out. Someone from the outside that they did not know… She thought he was a bit ignorant to not think that he would have to defend himself but perhaps ten years was a long enough time to lose knowledge of how things were ran here.

She shook her head before their group stopped at the doors to their headquarters and she looked back to him. “They are going to be more concerned about what you plan to do now, that is. I don’t think there has been a case where there has been anyone new coming from the outside… Even if you might think that there are people out there that would want to get away from the titans, there hasn’t been a case that I have known where this is true. And we have had… trouble dealing with the military police already.” She doubted that the story about Eren would appeal to him, though if she only knew the truth behind what Charles was. She continued with her lips set to a thin line afterwards. “There has been great upset and so it’s difficult to trust anyone right now. Titans have broken down Wall Maria and made an attack on Trost. We are trying to pick up the pieces.”

And then… he put his arm around her much to her displeasure but Eren was quick to rear his head at that. Looking between the two, she knew that it would be a disaster if they were to make too much of a scene here right before walking into headquarters. “Eren, calm down,” she warned before raising both her hands and giving Charles a rather stern push away from her form. In less than a second, she had turned on her heels towards Charles and she was raising one of her hands and striking it across his face hard, before looking him in the eyes. Frowning, she spoke to him, “You’re a stranger and that could have been perceived as an attack on me, you know. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

---

Shena listened to him curiously. Although this world was very twisted, he seemed persistent in ridding the world of the titans… and probably hoping for some sort of justice for those that used it to their advantage. “I don’t think I would hope for anyone to become titan food, but I do think there is a special kind of suffering awaiting those that use others as their pawns to gain something from the world they won’t dare step foot in.” She gave a nervous smirk and tilt of her head as they approached the double doors to the headquarters. “I’m sure you will be on the outside soon enough.” She briefly looked back to Mikasa and Charles who seemed to be talking to one another. The dark haired woman didn’t seem too pleased by the look on her face with how it was going, but Shena assumed it might be because of the way he spoke. She had observed from the time she had spent with him that he knew little to nothing about life inside the walls, which made her think that his far-fetched story might be all the more honest. But meet and act like that to the wrong sort of personality and Shena knew it could be trouble.

“Well…” she began uncertainly as she tried to recollect what she had learned as she turned back to Eren. “He told me that he had been on the outside for… years. I could hardly believe it but he seems to not know much about the armies or what goes on here. Not only that but while we were travelling… I noticed that his hands are rather scruffed up. They have marks all on them but I never asked about it. Perhaps some accident but why just his hands? Why not his legs or at least on his face as well?” She hadn’t wanted to ask Charles in order to seem that he was being suspicious of him before they got him inside but it had still made her wonder about it.

And then like some switch had been flicked on, Eren went around her to head back to the pair in a fit of anger. Shena frowned and concern dripped into her voice, “Wait- what’s wrong?!” And then she turned around and saw that Charles was leaning himself up against Mikasa as if they were close friends. Her light blue eyes narrowed back to them before she followed after him and she cringed as Eren asked what they were doing. Mikasa seemed to at least have some sort of grip on the situation. Still, she felt somewhat responsible since she had decided to bring him along with her group.

“Ch-Charles, can you take it easy for a second? Some of these people not be so open-minded to the fact that you’re here and no one knows who you are or where you came from…” She looked around, seeing a few other officers stepping away from the group with eyes focused on the situation just in case it went south. She gritted her teeth together and Mikasa, seeing the look in her eyes, had the feeling that this could be dangerous if it continued.

Mikasa placed a hand on one of her hips. “You shouldn’t be smiling like that,” she spoke to Charles seriously. “And I’m not going to defend you from my brother… Remember you’re the stranger here so people are going to be watching you.” And her, which she didn’t feel would be a good thing.

Shena frowned slightly. “…That is true. Charles, be careful what you do from now on. And how you say things, just in case. You’re going to meet a lot of emotional people with a lot of influence here soon so you need to keep that in mind.” Well, technically it was the truth. People in higher power could make important decisions and so they did whether or not their intentions were good or bad. They could only do so much to ensure that he wouldn’t be killed on the spot by whatever council saw to him after the Survey Corps questioned him, because that much was inevitable. She pressed her thumb and index finger on her temples, hand stretching over the plane of her face in a face palm as she sighed. Her exhaustion just double, she felt. That was when the doors opened and Erwin walked back over to the group, seeming a bit wary himself from what had just happened.

“Follow me,” he ordered. Levi, who had been standing behind the taller and blonde male, looked briefly over to Eren without saying a word and going inside. Mikasa really hoped that this outburst wouldn’t affect any of them in the long run, though she really did not know how to wrap her head around Charles just yet.
 
If was that Charles noticed her anger or simply didn’t care, either way the man didn’t react to it as he was more concerned with watching all around him for all available escape routes. Something told him that he wouldn’t be able to stay among these people much longer given they had plans to keep him incarcerated in a system that was scared of outsiders. He also knew that the deeper he was drug into that system then the harder it would be to get out. Even with that monster of a man nearby… he was still willing to take the risk if he had to. The area did lack in tall trees, and from what he had seen of Shena’s maneuver gear… a lack of tall things would limit their ability to utilize the gear to chase him quickly. So an escape on horseback might be best… with that in mind he found his thoughts interrupted whenever they reached headquarters and Mikasa spoke to him again, ”To be honest you make it sound like I shouldn’t trust you guys either. Given what you are saying I can expect to looked at as an oddity given I am outsider and so in the worst case scenario these military police might even make me disappear.” One the last word he waved his hands in front of his face with a playful laugh, before she mentioned something about a wall that was attacked,

”Maybe that was the place where I came through on my way here, you know this whole experience might be just as education for me as it for you guys. I just hope I don’t end up paying the price for simply asking Shena for her help. Even if I did come from the outside and what you say is true about the horrible attack that humanity has suffered, that still doesn’t make it right to punish me for something I didn’t do. I wasn’t involved with it after all, and so blaming me doesn’t bring back the dead.” It was after he had said this that he had put his arm around her, surprised a bit at how long it took the girl to react, but in a way he had wished she hadn’t. Human closeness after all was one of the things that he was curious to experience and it was part of the reason he seemed a little clingy. In fact he was about to use his ten years of being in the wild as an excuse when suddenly he felt the sting of Mikasa’s hand across his face. Charles wasn’t exactly ready for the blow and admittedly had to catch himself slightly…

His hand rubbing across the cheek which stung from the hit, the male looked up at Mikasa with a guilty look on his face. The jolly creature that was there before had been replaced with something which actually seemed like it had come from an experience outside the walls for 10 years. Those eyes were tried and worn out, desperate for human contact, and maybe even a slightly bit confused in some way, ”Forgive me Mikasa, it has just been so long… I couldn’t even remember what it felt like to be close to someone. Surviving those younger years of my life with no human affection, scared and alone… I guess I just got a little carried away whenever I held you in my arms like that. However I don’t think you have to worry about me getting killed.” Then strangely enough something about Charles change as though his whole aura or body language gave off the killing intent of a predator as he leaned in and whispered to Mikasa,

”Because the only person whom sparks a remote bit of fear in me among you people here, is that monster over there you call Captain Levi. As for the rest, you are just a bunch of adorable sheep to this old wolf.” Then in an instant it seemed like the man’s threaten nature was gone as he walked in the direction of the headquarters with an eye on a horse which was positioned just right for him to make his getaway… whenever the moment was right.

---

The outsider as Shena described him seemed like a curious piece of work to Eren, though there were a few details that stuck out to him. His claim that he had survived out there for so long seemed very suspicious, and made the young man wonder how the outside could have pulled it off. In fact doing so and knowing so little about what went on in the walls made things even worse. Rubbing his chin there was another detail that Shena was giving him that Eren felt was even more important to this story than the stranger’s ability to survive. It was the wounds on his hands, something about the wounds on his hands seemed so familiar that he felt like he should be able to grasp why this detail was important. The reason was on the tip of his tongue and he probably could have gotten figured out in an instant had Armin been here, but his friend wasn’t and just before he began to look down at his own hands and had a lightbulb moment… the actions between Charles and Mikasa distracted him prompting him to react.

”Fine Mikasa, but if he lays his hands on you again, then so help me… and don’t think hiding behind her like that now is going to get you anywhere.” It was almost as if the stranger was just trying to push his buttons as he whispered something in Mikasa’s ear and walked right by Eren with a flirtatious wave back at the angry young man. Taking a deep breath the male tried to calm down, but was finding it hard to given how Charles was acting over the situation, “They are right you know Charles, things have been getting tense around here lately and frankly you have chosen the worse time to show up. I get that you may have had it rough at the hands of the Titans, but we all have and so that doesn’t give you a reason to act the way you are.” That was all he was going to say on the matter as he walked over to were Mikasa was standing so that he could put himself in between in her and the stranger slightly.

Charles was looking from Shena, to Mikasa, and then to Eren… and then back to Mikasa. In a way he felt surrounded like a cornered animal. His own social naivety had led to some of his trouble, but he had thought he could trust Shena to take care of him. It seemed that he was wrong about this. Sighing softly the man pushed his hair back out of his face and made a slight step in the general direction of the horse. Thinking about possibly going along with what they wanted him to do still, but when those doors opened and Erwin stepped out… with that… predator of a man Levi beside him. That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back on what one could call Charles more animalistic instincts. With another slight step towards the unattended horse, the man replied firmly to the Commander, ”No, I don’t think I will be going anywhere with you. I have done no crime and will not be put in chains. I am no monster, at least not anymore that much I know.”

With those words swiftly pulled a trench knife out that had been hidden in his boot and all in the same flowing movement he cut the leather that kept the horse tied up and landed on its back as he took off. His face cringing at the pain of landing too hard on his groin, the male kicked at the animals sides making it charge off as Charles tried to do what he could to put some distance between himself and the humans… the last thing he wanted was to hurt someone when he transformed. It was those words that gave Eren the mental spark which he had lacked only moments before. Causing him to look down at his hands and remembering the words that Shena said, as well as those Charles had spoken to the Commander. He had an idea now what the man was up to... he had an idea why he was trying to get away on that horse... and better yet he had an idea what Charles really was and how he had survived for so long outside the wall. Turning to Mikasa and Shena with a stunned look on his face he said, "Guys... I think he is like me. That man he is like me. He is trying to get away so that he has a chance to turn into a Titan." Wait, but did that mean that this man was possibly the Armored Titan... or the Colossal Titan? Having gotten inside the wall and was now looking for a chance to break it open from a different route?
 
Mikasa found herself leaning somewhat away as the man had leaned in to whisper in her ear. She didn’t understand… was it meant to be a threat or was it one of his peculiar quirks that came with being stuck outside for so long? She felt the corners of her lips twitching once in recognition, warning or not. When their superiors wandered out of the headquarters, it seemed the mood made an even more drastic change as Charles inched closer and closer to the horse. Turning around so that she was facing the foreigner, she could not try hard enough to keep the man from stealing the horse and taking off on horseback, as clumsy as the action might have been. Levi was already looking in the direction that he had taken off in, readying his gear and taking into the air after him. Even if they did have their gear ready to propel them forward and around at higher places, there weren’t many that their hooks could latch onto and not much area that they could use to run along and catch up to him. The horse was faster than human feet.

Mikasa was skilled, though. “We need to stop him,” she said in certainty as she heard what Eren said. This was bad. She too propelled herself forward and up into the air, the gear latching onto a nearby building and swinging past it quickly to go to the next. At this rate, it would take a lot of gas out of the canisters along her hips to get her going at a good enough speed to keep up with Charles but she was willing to risk it. She just needed to strike at the first moment possible so that she didn’t waste her supplies. “Damn…” she cursed under her breath as she kept her dark eyes on Charles but his figure and the horses’ were getting away from her. At this rate…

Briefly looking around her, she noticed that others had followed. The Corporal, Shena, had followed as well, thinking that she might be able to do some damage repair with the already unsteady relationships they held. Mikasa noticed the girl stumble, however and in the next moment, Shena went falling along the wall of a building she had tried to get to. Mikasa’s eyes widened and she redirected her intentions toward catching her before she slammed against the ground below. Drawing close, she wrapped both of her arms tightly around her, hitting the wall next to them quite hard in the side. The pain racked her hip and her leg as th4e canister dug into her clothes and skin. That hurt, but she was able to clasp onto Shena and keep her from falling down. Unhooking from the side of the building, she landed heavily with the weight of the extra girl with her and slipped her down to the pavement as softly as she was able.

Mikasa quickly surveyed the girl, trying to see if it was anything that she really needed to be concerned with immediately before concluding that she had just passed out. Mikasa took to the air again and looked around the rooftops, trying to see where Charles might have gone off to because she had lost sight of him in the time that it took to retrieve Shena. She realized that perhaps this all had been overwhelming for him… but he made a worse image of himself for running.

---

Shena didn’t know how to handle all of this at once. Mikasa had gone and slapped Charles for reasons she had missed from talking with Eren. “Charles, it’s not like that. If you have nothing to hide then-“ But he was already commandeering the horse at that point. She cursed her quieter tone of voice when speaking to anyone in the world as he rode away, most likely toward the walls again to make an escape. She thought it would be like him because he knew the outlands better than any of them all and wouldn’t have repercussions about returning. “Stop!” She shouted after him, but her voice didn’t reach him by that point when he was turning the corner and out of sight. She jumped slightly as the sound of the gas being expelled filled her ears and Mikasa was taking off after Charles, Levi quickly following suit.

This was a bad idea but she felt slightly responsible as she also followed them. The canisters she had were less than half full from her previous journey and so it wouldn’t take much to run them out. But she hadn’t thought that Charles would be a titan shifter or else she thought he would have stayed away from her group… unless he wanted inside for a reason. And that really made her feel sick to her stomach. What if she brought in someone who wanted to kill them?

Shena felt worse as she landed on the edge of one building and proceeded to leap to the next. Truly, she was in a race to try and get to Charles first to explain why they were being so cautious and perhaps in a way that did not seem that they were already condemning him. “Ngh…” However, as she landed on the next building, her feet began to feel like heavy weights. All at once, her head was swimming and the exhaustion that she had been fending off for the past few days slammed into her. Suddenly she could not keep her footing. Her legs went over the edge of the building and though she attempted to hook onto the wall of the next building to keep going, mind repeating over and over ‘you need to be steady, you need to be steady’, it just didn’t happen.

She found herself blacking out and in the next moment that she was aware, she was on the ground. Shena groaned and sat up, sitting on her knees. She lifted a hand and pressed it to her forehead to brush away messy strands of her brunette bangs away. She still felt like the world was spinning but at least she hadn’t cracked her head open on the pavement. She would have to thank Mikasa for that. It just felt like this wasn’t going well at all. “This is my fault,” she sighed in dismay before she tried standing up, leaning her form against the wall in order to steady herself as she got up.
 
Charles could hardly hear the words of Shena or anyone calling to him. He was simply scared… instinct told him that he had to run in order to survive just like it did beyond the walls whenever one wanted to escape the Titan’s wrath. Urging the horse which he rode forward with every snap of the harness, the male peeked behind himself for just a second to see who was in tow. Sure enough it was just the man that he thought would be the closest behind. What surprised him was that neither Shena and Mikasa where in view at all. Had the two not even come after him? Had they been unable to keep up? Or worse did their sudden attempt to chase him end up causing one of them a serious injury? Despite his actions up until that point, the one that he wanted to happen the least was that last one. He had to get ahead of that man, not because he couldn’t fight him, but because he didn’t want him to get hurt when he transformed. Though Charles had the feeling that he would need even the surprise of his transformation in order to stand a chance again this Captain Levi…. Damn it all…

”Hey you… I am about do something that is going to cause a large blast wave… get back if you don’t want to die!!!” His words where yelled out at the Captain about five seconds before Charles pulled out his trench knife and cut across the top of his hand creating a deep wound. Within seconds the area around him was covered with large blast wave of heat that spread out like a bubble. His warning had been heeded unknowingly to Charles at that time, by Captain Levi who had heard what Eren said before leaving the base to go after the outsider. While he found it strange and foolish of the man to give away the element of surprise like that, it gave Levi the time he needed to spin and turn his gas and hooks backwards to try and start reversing direction. Being hit by only the tail end of the explosion and coming to land with a skidding turn on his feet in the road way. Reloading his broken swords, the man hooked up into a nearby tree and waited to see what would come from Charles Titan form.

Suddenly out of no were and moving with a quick speed the entire tree just under Levi’s branch disappeared as a large form skidded across the ground behind it. The Captain reacted instantly, sending his hook up towards the giant’s shoulder only to have it grabbed as he almost reached his goal. Even though as the now visible and ghostly white Titan’s hand tried to hang onto Levi’s steel cable, the Captain spun through the air slicing up the beast hand and freeing its grip. Still the slack meant he would need another place to hook into and so activating his air he shot around Charles back, noting out of the corner of his eye a hardened cover over the nape of the neck. By this point even Charles was realizing how truly fast his enemy was, but he had a trump card that Levi couldn’t predict. Suddenly his good hand swung up and cut across the fleshy stitches covering his mouth, and it opened to reveal a mouth full of jagged sharp teeth. From which a piercing scream came, one that would shatter the ear drums and stun the systems of most who heard it, including Titans. Given Levi’s range… the Captain had no choice, but to cover his ears, and that allowed Charles to catch him halfway in his wide open jaws.

While the mouth hold was gentle enough not to harm the human, it ended up blocking the sound. Levi who was in the heat of battle didn’t hesitate to ram one of his swords through one of Charles eyes. However the Titan didn’t let go, and after hardening his good hand with long claws he pulled Levi from his mouth and used his pinky to cut away and toss down to the ground the Captain’s 3DMG. A voice came from his mouth that was shaky and disjointed as he stared at Levi in his hand hold, ”I knew you were the only apex predator here who could take on this mad dog. Oh and what have we here another pup you guys have trained to be just like me.” Levi of course said nothing…

---

Eren had jump on and speed off instantly on the first horse that had been offered to him by Erwin. The Commander also gave him permission to his Titan form, if and only if what he thought about the outsider turned out to be true. To be honest Eren hoped that this wasn’t the case, because there was a chance this person could be something they had never seen before. That would mean that the Captain would be alone against it, and as powerful as Levi was… Eren wondered how strong a more experienced person who could shift into a Titan would be. Levi’s threats about being able to kill him easily made sense given his inexperience, but what about something with a bit more fighting skill? Plus this situation, it seemed like it gave the stranger the advantage after a nice long restful cart ride. All of these thoughts only made the private speed up that much more, as he looked back behind him hoping that Mikasa and the others would follow. Backup would be nice right now, as well as maybe a way to end this peacefully, but he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Charles if he had to.

Off in the distance he saw what he had been dreading, the tale tail sign of someone shifting into a Titan. The same large explosion that others said he himself had shown whenever he had shifted. The only question now was, what was Charles purpose, and they could only hope it was for self-defense… and that the Captain would be ok on his own. Every second that it took getting to the battlefield made Eren grow more anxious until he couldn’t take it anymore, leaping from his horse the young man ran forward a bit before biting hard into his hand and then suddenly his entire form changed as well. Eren’s roared out as he Titanzed in a way to challenge and attract Charles attention, and at the same time to let his allies know that he had transformed, meaning the stranger was indeed a Titan as they had thought. Running forward it didn’t take long for him to catch up to the sense of the fight, and what he found stopped him in his tracks as he saw the Captain in the other man’s grip. One of Charles hands cut to pieces and an eye gouged out showed Levi had given as good as he got, but in the end the outsider had managed to capture humanities strongest solider.

Taking a step forward he then saw Charles put a thumb behind Levi’s head and gently squeeze causing the other to grit his teeth and try not to verbalize the pain. Charles broken voice spoke to Eren and anyone who had caught up, ”His life is in my hands… I don’t want to kill… Never wanted to hurt anyone… Scared… Run like I did on outside… Fight like on outside… Now I will talk unlike on outside… But I will kill him and as many of you as I can before you put me in chains… You called those on your jacket the ‘Wings of Freedom’ Shena… prove it to me… don’t lock me up… please don’t hurt… I am not your enemy… nor a threat.” Pausing he let a smoky breath slip out of his mouth and almost in a gesture of good faith, Charles knelled down and placed Levi on his feet. Letting the man go, as he continued, ”If it must be so… then I can make your enemy… my enemy as well… wouldn’t that make us friends Commander Erwin?” With those words Charles crouched down, and placed his good hand on the ground, and stared at everyone who had gathered. Should he desire he could still try to do his frog like pounce and slam headfirst into Eren’s gut and take a big chuck out with his teeth. However he was mostly regarding Shena and Mikasa as though asking them for help in some manner…
 
Mikasa was quick to catchup to the rest of the pursuers as the blast caught her off guard and she swung along a wall, pressing her feet flat and firmly against it and watching from a distance at first before approaching. So, what Eren had assumed was right all along and this situation had just gotten a lot more dangerous. Other officers in the Scouting Legion had paused in their tasks to look on in awe and fright as the ghost titan made his debut, lashing out to Levi and capturing him scarily easily. Mikasa went to the nearest rooftop to the pair and looked on in a steadied, unwavering gaze. Her body tensed, not knowing in the moment what to do. If they were to try and latch onto the titan’s skin and propel towards him, then he might squash Levi effortlessly. But… he had let him down. What was he doing? What was the purpose of all this? It looked to the young girl as if it were a ploy at trying to defend himself, playing the only cards he could.

And then she realized that if it had been her in this position, she would have probably done the same thing. Charles was a titan shifter traveling inside the walls and about to go into a snake pit that he did not know how things would turn out once the MPs got there. Her darkened eyes softened slightly. She walked over to the edge of the rooftop nearest to the titan and looked up to the form, trying to focus on Charles and nothing else. At that time, Shena had arrived delayed. She wasn’t faring well, slumping over in her standing position as her entire body felt like a very large weight.

“Shena is not doing so well, Charles. We want this to go over as smoothly as possible for your sake too. But to do that, you need to come in and tell us what happened to you, what you can remember about the outside.” Mikasa tried to explain calmly. She did not know if she was trying his patience for a straight answer or not but Charles needed to calm down before he leveled their headquarters. Worse…he could hurt Eren in titan form or not. “We are all working towards the same thing if that’s what you mean… Eren is with us and he is fine. You could be too.”

---

Shena had stayed on the ground for quite some time and then gathered herself back up. She knew that she would not serve any sort of useful purpose just staying in place regardless of her own health. It had been a few days since she had gotten a decent night’s sleep and had ate very little in order to give the others in her group more rations. Going on such low energy, she knew that her body was starting to protest her keeping it up now and she would need to lie down soon unless she wished to pass out. However, right now was not the time to concern herself with her own well-being as the smoke and dust cleared and a pair of titans towered over all the trees and buildings. “Ah…” she mumbled under her breath before she set forth into the air once more and ran along the few building’s rooftops to head toward the scene. When she arrived, she landed rather clumsily on the flat surface of the roof that Mikasa stood upon. The short distance had taken a lot out of her though and she swore under her breath as she lurched forward, her legs shaking slightly as she stood there without her blades in hand. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to fight in her position.

“I…” she took in a deep breath and tried to straighten herself, forcing herself to project her voice out so that the titan shifter could hear her. “I’ll try my best to make sure you don’t end up in a cage. It was a lot to take in at first. I’m sorry…” Mikasa saw the girl wavering a bit and so she stepped over to her, placing her hands on her shoulders to keep her up still while they attempted to bring Charles into a more peaceful state of mind. It was then that Commander Erwin, who had arrived right after Mikasa nearby, spoke up.

“We will do what we can toensure your safety if you’re willing to work with us. Is being inside the walls something that you want? Or is it something else?” Compromises must be made in order to get anywhere. If there was something Charles wanted… which certainly they thought so or else he would not have been willing to come this far inside the walls… then they had to make sure he got something out of it if he wished for them to work together.

Mikasa narrowed her gaze at that. She briefly recalled what Charles had said to her when she had been talking one-on-one with him. Human affection, something close to people who had been like him… but not like him seeing as what he truly was. Pursing her lips together, she clenched a fist at her side. What a lonely life. Even as she had been in her tragedies, she had had Eren and his family to take her in and raise her. She had a home but with Charles, she was not sure if he had the luxury. And ten years without any human contact, she was beginning to understand why he would be skiddish, unable to understand how things worked here in civilization. She didn’t say a word about this, though. She didn’t want to make him feel vulnerable when already he was feeling so.

Shena was watching closely although it was difficult to keep her attention focused. “Mm…- ah, thank you,” she whispered to Mikasa as she assisted in keeping her steady. She would probably need some help in getting down to the ground and inside at this rate which made her feel all the more helpless. She hated to be a burden on the others like this and sometimes she could not help it as the changing seasons took their toll on her. But this was an unexpected turn of events that she found herself despising. She could not fight or even gather her voice to negotiate and ensure Charles that he would be okay. She had pushed herself too much and could only feel a tight grip in her chest, hoping that the excitement would not escalate any further.
 
Looking around at the people who continued to gather, Charles eyes scanned over the group of men and women as his worries had lessened slightly. Given he had taken the teeth from the mouth of the biggest predator here, then even with the other Titan Shifter… he felt confident in his skills in fighting the young man. One thing he had been careful to note was Eren’s rank, and low and behold the other was quite new to this group called the Survey Corps. This meant that he was probably a novice at using his Titan powers, well maybe that was something he could offer these people. Charles was thinking of every avenue of getting out of this situation alive, including staying, but to stay he would have to contribute and he needed to figure out what he could give besides just the power of his Titan Form. Sighing softly his good eye turned to Mikasa as he focus all of his hardening on the nape of his neck to avoid a surprise attack. She seemed like she genuinely wanted to help him and the mention of Shena being sick bothered him slightly, and so risking everything he crawled towards the girl on all fours, and slowly reached out with one finger and petted the tops of both Shena’s and Mikasa’s head.

”You two have been the kindest people I have… ever known in my life… Shena brought me here and protected me from the other people… you Mikasa seem to believe in me even now. You two are good people… and I know Shena you wouldn’t allow me to end up in a cage.” The large Titan smiled as it showed tenderness the best it could by the way it petted the two, and then looked over its shoulder before looking back at them again. Charles realized that they were the only two he could trust absolutely in this moment and so if he was truly going to show he meant no harm. He would need their protection in order to give him a place to speak from. Extending an open hand he would indicate for the pair to climb into his palm. Even going so far as to help Shena with the act because she was so weak before turning around and moving back to his previous position before putting the two down and stepping slightly back in his kneeled position…

Suddenly without any warning a blast of steam came out of the Ghost Titan and its massive body fell to the side, turning into a giant skeleton. From this, stepped a half-naked Charles wearing on his pants and combat boots, the man letting out a long breath as he dusted off his top hat and grinned at everyone. Before jumping down and walking up behind Mikasa and Shena, the male throwing his trench knife to the side to show he was unarmed, but now that his secret was out and given the scars on his arms… it was obvious that he could still transform like Eren typically did. Plus one had to ask what was the mans endurance level? Could he turn into the Ghost Titan again so soon? Running his hand through his hair before putting his hat back on, he said ”Alright Erwin you want to talk, then I am willing to talk. Now believe me I am not stupid, I know that the man I just beat was your best… call it animal instincts. As for your boy up there, might I offer him some advice to armor up his fist if he is able to.”

Purposefully the male was showing that he could help Eren out with his Titan form as a method of helping these people, beyond any information that he could provide on the outside world. Continuing on he moved closer to Shena as he thought for a second about what he himself wanted since they seemed so dead set on giving him something. Then he remembered what had attracted him inside the wall in first place… it was the stories that Shena told about the Survey Corps and how the group was like one giant family. Something that he himself had never had before, people to be close to, and without warning he hugged the woman, from behind just like he had Mikasa. It was gentle and supportive even as his head rested on her shoulder, ”What I want Commander is simple, I want a family. I want what Corporal Shena here told me you guys have here in the Survey Corps. Let me join and help so I can be a part of this large close knit group of people and help out… please… if you let me… I promise I will die before I let anyone here get harmed.” The man said it so nonchalantly that he seemed like he truly believed he could do that, and as he said it he shifted over to Mikasa taking hold of her again, but this time he seemed more like he was trying to hide behind her. He felt strangely weak after all… maybe from all the events that had happened up until now and was hoping that the woman might protect him.

---

As for Eren, he didn’t exactly feel safe shifting from his Titan form after the events at Trost and knowing what he could potentially do. If this man had subdued Captain Levi, then maybe it would be best that the force of himself as a Titan would be the best thing to have around to keep the other Titan in check. Just like though it seemed his sister and Shena were able to calm the beast as it were… a funny sight to be honest, but one that made him highly nervous when he saw the two women stepping onto the creatures hand. Luckily they didn’t stay there long and were on the ground in front of him, as the stranger shifted back to normal. Even now though, Eren knew… what if Charles could do that again on a whim. For once he was thinking with his head and not being irrational. He did have to resist taking a step forward when the man again cuddled himself up to Mikasa, but he knew his sister could handle herself. He would wait till Mikasa gave him the all clear before shifting back into a human, however he did find the request of the man to be strange, but not entirely uncommon.

His promise also to protect everyone was something that he could understand, but Eren wondered how far Charles was willing to go to keep that promise. Also did the man consider humans outside of the Survey Corps to be in his family. The last thing they needed was the MPs to be threatened by the stranger because they made another threat against him.
 
The two women stood upon the rooftop and listened to Charles as he could actually verbalize what he wanted to. The two females looked at one another and then back to the hand that was extended to them. It was a moment’s hesitation before they carefully stepped inside and was lowered to the ground. The flesh of his palm was very hot, like a humid summer’s day with no cloud coverage. The heat and steamed made Shena’s head feel all the more heavy and Mikasa offered her a hand as they stepped off the edge of the hand to the pavement below. The two, together, looked on as Charles escaped his titan shell and Shena forced herself off of Mikasa’s figure so that she and Chester were in close proximity by themselves and… the hug happened.

Mikasa had not expected Charles to cling to her so firmly. She doubted that she could pry his fingers or arms off of her without doing it by force. She was in no position to do so, however. Charles’ expression… the way he acted he seemed so desperate for what he had said he wanted that it sounded real. Hesitating slightly, she placed a hand on one of his shoulders. The other hand went to the back of his head, tangling into the puffy and long strands of black beneath the hat as best she could as a comforting gesture in his time of vulnerability. She gave the shoulder a light squeeze. The Survey Corps, although military and wanting the best for humanity in expanding their borders, they were the outcasts that people believed they were wasting their tax money on. People who wished to go to their deaths as quick as possible. She knew the feeling that came with following Eren to ensure he lived but she would not have it any other way. She had made some friends here.

Erwin watched the scene with careful eyes in order to make sure that Charles did not do anything irrational or hasty in order to ensure his safety, or to compromise the safety of his cadets. When it appeared that he did not wish to do any harm to Mikasa, he stepped forward once and looked Charles square in the eyes with his lips set into a thin line, that expression always stoic. “You can stay with us if you… provide assistance in teaching Eren more about hardening, fighting as a titan… other things.” He proposed this without Eren’s consent because he had not much say in this case. Eren was useful but only so much. Charles knew how to harden the nape of his neck and so it gave way to Erwin thinking that he knew quite a bit more about being a titan shifter than Jaeger did. Mikasa also thought it was a fair compromise.

“Stand up, now,” Mikasa told Charles quietly as she pulled away slowly, turning around to face him while placing her hands onto both of his shoulders. “Ig you really mean what you say, you could start out by answering our questions about how life on the outside has been… what you were doing there for so long.” She paused before looking at him in the face as well. “It is what we do in these cases. You understand as the outside… is unforgiving and cruel. We will help you if you help us.” Her dark eyes flickered over to Eren’s tighten form carefully, looking over Charles shoulder to her adoptive brother. She gave a curt nod to indicate that things would be alright.

---

Shena had been careful and pacing her movements the entire time as she was lowered to the ground. She was actually grateful for it as another dizzy spell almost caught her off guard and she wobbled away from Mikasa as the man transformed back into human form and approached. She had once felt that she was in the position to help Charles the most but given her health dipping out, she realized it might not be so. The brunette could only watch as Mikasa he;d onto the shifter and Erwin assured that they would have a deal so long as no one betrayed the other. Her eyelashes lowered as she thought how terrible it must have been to have lived on the outside for so long. She was responsible for going to the outside, figuratively alone as she was the only one with military experience under her belt more often than not in her mission groups. She had lost many a night’s sleep even when she was home at headquarters, trying to sleep through the visions in her head of all the things she had seen. She wasn’t sure if it would be the same for Charles if he had been alone but… she remembered most of the faces of the people who were destroyed thanks to the titans.

Her mind heavy with her sudden recollection and the period of events that had befallen them all, she finally could not stand on her own two legs as the lungs in her body constricted tightly, causing her to struggle in breathing for a moment. Shena gave a small wheeze as she knelt forward and fell to her knees, bowing her head low. A hand went to her chest where her heart pounded fast. How could she be so useless in a time like this?

She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. Turning her head, she saw Levi standing over her, looking down at her with a hint of concern in those cold eyes. Levi did have a heart… though at sometimes it could be doubtful to those who did not know him well. “We need to get you to a medical examiner,” he simple stated. Shena shook her head and raised the hand from her chest into the air to wave it off.

“Th-there’s no need for something like that. I just need some rest,” Shena assured the Captain, though she made no move to push herself off from the ground just yet. Levi took his hands from her and stood close to her just in case she changed her mind as she attempted to trick her brain into thinking that everything would be fine. It was simple exhaustion, after all. A shower and a bed did sound lovely and hopefully the issue with Charles was finally resolved enough that she could take some time to rest. She was awfully stubborn with her health and was unaware that a fever was slowly coming on.
 
The reaction that Mikasa gave to his hug, was not what he had expected at all. Supportive… protective… affectionate… her hand running through his hair set off all kind of pleasant feelings within him as he cooed softly. That noise though began to turn into something else, as Charles buried his face into the woman’s shoulder. She was just a slight bit taller than him, but not by much, his face nuzzled into her and soon a wet stain would be able to be felt on her uniform. It source was something that the male was so desperately trying to suppress, an overwhelming sense of emotion that he could hardly keep it bottled up. It was leaking its way out in that of both tears of joy and sorrow and frankly he could not explain either of them. As the moments past Charles found that he couldn’t hold it back any longer and what had started off as a simple stream of tears, became a good cry that was probably needed by the man who was in a sense finally home after suffering so much, ”Mikasa… oh Mikasa… please don’t leave me… not now that I am home.”

He said those words through his tears for a very specific reason, because he felt that he wouldn’t be able to say anything else until he had some time to calm down. With that he broke out crying like a small child. Sinking to his knees, with his arms around her waist the male buried his head in Mikasa’s stomach, any idea of why doing so might be a bit awkward was completely foreign to him as he clung to her. At first he didn’t even acknowledge Erwin so much as hear a word the man said, but when Mikasa spoke to him or made a gesture that he needed to returned to his feet. The Charles would wipe his and do so slowly, nodding at the Commander, but the entire time keeping close to Mikasa, ”That is acceptable Commander, and what I intended in the first place. I do ask that we try to keep my own Titan shifting abilities as secret as we can… if that is even possible anymore.” Sighing softly he ran a hand through his hair as Mikasa moved around from her position behind him to stand in front of him... he looked her in the eye tiredly and up at Eren whenever she looked over her shoulder at the other shifter.

”I will try, but if it is aright with you guys. May I request some time to rest and recover from everything that has happened to day? It has been awhile since I have eaten and Titanizing really can take it out of you sometimes.” Charles regarded Mikasa as he tried to force out a chuckle, but only ended up crying a bit more as he stepped back forward to take hold of her whimpering, ”Sorry for being such a big baby… it is all just so overwhelming… is there anywhere I can go to get some rest… and be alone. No not alone. Will you stay with me Mikasa, I know that is probably an odd request given the way I have seen your reactions before to such things, but it would make me feel better to have you around.” To be honest anyone would be better than no one, but Charles had become rather fond of Mikasa in the short time that he had gotten to know her. Even more so than the other woman Shena, whom at this point didn’t look to be doing so good… the man even going so far as to whisper to Miskasa worriedly, ”I am kind of worried about Shena… she looks sick and has been that way ever since we got back.”

---

At Mikasa’s indication of the de-escalation of the situation Eren slipped out of his Titanized form. The hot steam blasted out around him as like Charles his massive body feel to the side, and turned into a skeleton as he pulled himself from the neck. Taking a moment to collect himself as he noticed the stranger clinging to his sister and crying like a young child. To be honest he didn’t really understand it, but he was sure that Mikasa could take care of it. Given that the stranger seemed harmless now there wasn’t any need for the strength of his Titan abilities. He decided to let the other male have his moment and not act as his usual protective self towards Mikasa, when suddenly he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the Corporal whom they had ridden there with seemed kind of sick. Jumping down from the useless form of his Titan body Eren yelled, “Hey Shena are you ok? Shena…”

By the time he reached her Captain Levi was already on the scene and standing over the woman. He himself crouched down and channeling his friends during those moments when he himself tried to be as stubborn as she was acting now the male put his hands on her shoulders and said, “Shena mam you are not fine. I know you have been at it for days out there before getting here. Look I promise that my sister Mikasa can handle Charles, but you need to make sure to look after your own help. Come on I will take you back to HQ myself and we can get you looked at and you at as well as allow you to have a good rest. Come on… I won’t take no for an answer.” Levi’s eyes narrowed at the last part of the sentence given how insubordinate the tone sounded to a superior. However he did nothing to stop Eren’s endeavor to get the woman to head back to HQ. She did medical attention, or at the least bed rest combined with a nice hot meal. Whenever Shena would finally agree then Eren would show what he had meant by he would help her out.

Suddenly reaching down so that his arm went up under one of hers and around her back, the male held her waist and allowed her to put maximum amount of weight on him while he made it easier to walk. Just as though he was carrying a wounded comrade back from battle, taking her over to a nearby horse he would help her get up on before asking, “Alright Shena are you ready to go back to headquarters or is there anything else you want to take care of here?” Eren at this point looked to Commander Erwin who gave him a nod as he got up on the horse, and Levi himself got up on another given he had already promised to keep Eren in his sights. Now it was the matter of giving someone else the same task for Charles and so Erwin looked to Mikasa and said “Mikasa, I would like to assign you to watch over our new guest given he seems to trust you more than anyone at this point if that is ok with you.” While the last line didn’t truly sound like Mikasa could reject the offer, Erwin didn’t want to force what seem to be a person who was in a rather clingy emotional state onto someone if they were truly bothered by this.
 
Mikasa was taken aback by the unknown man’s sudden clinginess, much more as well that it had been directed towards her. Mikasa would not say that she was that much of an affectionate individual much less to someone she did not know who had become a titan and talked in that form. She continued to be wary of his motives even as he sunk to his knees and cried against her like a kicked puppy starving for attention. Her gray eyes flickered over to Eren as he assisted Shena upright once more and pursed her lips together into a tight, thin line. So much was happening and so quickly. Charles had not made a move to harm her, though and so Mikasa allowed him to have a good cry while not shifting away until he was able to attempt to get his bearings again.

Turning towards her commander, she listened to his request and wrinkled her nose. Mikasa still did not know how she felt about Charles and did not like the idea about being alone with him, but someone needed to monitor the titan shifter while the higher ups figured out how to move forward. Perhaps Charles would continue to act peacefully if she was that person. She gave the salute and then turned to face Charles again, giving him a curt nod. As for the corporal… “Well, given that she has been out traveling with you for more than a few days, anyone would have over-exerted themselves. We all need the rest.” Especially after all of this, she needed some time to wrap her head around all that had happened.

She gave a one shoulder shrug and then motioned Charles to follow her, trailing after Eren at a short distance as they began to make the trek back to headquarters once more. A peculiar sense of déjà vu overcame her as they approached the doors, opening them to the extensive inside with multiple floors tucked away in the structure. She supposed now that Erwin and Levi were speaking to each other, she would be responsible for placing Charles somewhere. Mikasa thought about this carefully before speaking up again, “It really is a precaution. Even Eren stays down there… but we’re going to head downstairs to the dungeon. We’ll keep your door open,” she assured as she headed toward the appropriate stairs. She waited at the top of them for him to join her before starting the descent.

Most of the journey was spent in a heavy silence as they reached the cooler lower level. A row of cells resided there along with a row of a few benches for visitors to sit and speak with whoever was locked up. They passed by a made up cell with a bed and nightstand, lamp on top of it and burning a faint and glowing light. It was Eren’s lodgings, and then they made their way to another cell with a bed also inside of its unit. She waved a hand to it and then took her place on the bench. “ I will sit out here… if you need a moment of privacy, I could head back to the bottom of the steps.” She shifted her legs slightly before setting her hands against the bench to either side of her and leaning back, relaxing her shoulders finally. She shut her eyes and gave the bridge of her nose a pinch. “Do you remember… where you were born?” She decided to ask some questions as Charles got settled in. Perhaps it would take his mind off of his emotional state a bit more and it would benefit them to know if he had come from the inside of the walls or really originated from the outside. Maybe it would help them understand where the other intelligent titans came from.

---

Shena never liked to be waited on ever since she had been very small. With an overbearing mother, she hated it when people worried over her for no reason, although it was obvious that she did need some help in getting to a place where she could rest easy. She made a small noise as he hooked her arm around his neck and hoisted her up, refraining from rolling her eyes at him for acting like he was some big hero for saving the damsel in distress. She supposed that she could appreciate the gesture, though. “I suppose I am sorry for being in the way,” she mumbled under her breath as they began to make their way back toward headquarters. “There is nothing useful that I could do here, it would seem…”

It was often difficult for her to function in this sort of state, but she at least tried to keep her head from lulling to the side or against Eren’s back, or from falling off the horse. She was thankful that it didn’t take too long to get back to headquarters and obediently, she waited until Eren was off of the horse before using him as a support so she would not stumble off of the horse. “Thank you,” she calmly mentioned as they headed through the doors. Shena really did feel guilty about making a spectacle of herself even if Charles had been the one to shift into a titan in view of everyone in the survey corps in their group currently. Shena looked around briefly before point a finger up the steps. “Towards the dormitories, if you will?” Her voice was often meek in general but there was a crack to her tone that suggested that she continued to feel so weak.

She gave a small smile as they eventually conquered the stairs and made their way to the girls’ dormitories. No one else was in there as it was still the middle of the day but the site of the rows of bunks was one for sore eyes. “I never thought I would see bed again…” Shena always had a rough time sleeping on the cold Earth even in a sleeping roll. Without so much as trying to clean up, she reached up and let her head down for the first time in a week almost from the mission. The chestnut locks fell as close as to her waist in loose waves, though dirty. Even as she was dirty, Shena didn’t care as she plopped down onto the nearest bed onto her stomach, giving a deep sigh of relief. Almost forgetting that Eren was there with her, she paused before shifting her head to the side and looking back at him. “…I didn’t know that he could shift into a titan. I didn’t mean to bring anything dangerous here. I-I thought…” she trailed off, not having the energy to think so deeply about this right now. Still, she did feel she had brought this problem on them even if she hadn’t known.
 
Charles was more than appreciative for what Mikasa did as the young woman let him cling to her and cry out his worries, fears, and trepidation about the future. It had just been such a shock to his system that he needed the release and what she gave him was just what the doctor ordered. The man seemed to come around rather quickly, but remained rather quite on their walk back to headquarters. Even when Mikasa explained what was going on with Shena, Charles simply nodded his head and pulled his top hat down over his eyes slightly in a rather embarrassed manner. The main reason for this was the fact that the poor dear only now realized he had been so clingy to Mikasa all without having a shirt on his back. It was less that it embarrassed him and more that he worried how bad it would make him come across in the girls mind… did she care at all… or where his thoughts on the matter pointless. Sighing he kept his eyes on the ground only looking up again when Mikasa spoke up, her use of the word ‘dungeon’ for a moment put him in a ‘flight or fight mode’, but luckily for all involved the male chose neither.

”As long as it makes you and your people more comfortable I can agree to those terms, especially if the door is left open. I do ask though that if these are also Eren’s quarters, that for now the youngling doesn’t question me much on my shifting abilities. I will teach him my own way when your Commander affords me a place to do so, and not before. Anything you want to know about them I will tell you Mikasa if you can keep a secret… I promise I have good reasons for what I do. The less people know about what I can do the better I can protect you and the rest of the Survey Corps with my abilities. Given that I will not hesitate to kill any other person who can shift into a Titan like myself or Eren. Believe me they are not humanities friends, or at least I don’t think they are… well anyway you have to beat me to them because I will kill them to protect you guys.” His words showed a basic knowledge of what had happened to humanity in the wake of the Titan attacks, as well as what could have been deduced about the two abnormal Titans who caused the attacks given the coordinated nature of them as well as the similar way in which they disappeared like Eren’s Titan body did. He talked about this as they walked along to the entrance of the dungeon, never really giving Mikasa much time to reply so she could simply think about what he had to say for the moment.

Whenever he went quite Charles began to look at Mikasa as though expecting her to say something about his comments, but seemed disappointed whenever she remained silent. Hoping that the young women would bring up the subject again later the male began to whistle as he followed along, cheerfully stepping into his cell. Doing so only because of Mikasa’s offer to stay and sit with him if he wanted. The male spoke up curiously asking her, ”Is it possible for me to come out there and sit with you Mikasa? I am sure you will have to leave eventually, to go take care of your own duties and so I was just wondering if I could sit out there next to you during the time you are around. Unless that makes you uncomfortable then maybe you could come in my cell or something. I just don’t want you to fear me given that I promised to treat you guys like family, and I mean to take care of you guys the same way as well.” Laughing nervously Charles scratched the back of his head before looking at the ground and slipping his hat off, climbing into the bed and laying back to stare at the ceiling his answer to her question was rather quick…

”To be honest Mikasa I have no clue. I have very few memories of my early life, beyond constant pain, hunger, torture, screaming that pounded hard in my head. However even more than that was a constant bloodlust… now that is the most vibrate memory of all, especially given how when I think of that bloodlust… how it felt like such a pointless emotion you know. Sorry I can’t give any more than that. However what I can say is that I woke up one day looking like I do now outside a wall with a hole in its gates and ever since then I have been dodging Titans just to try and go deeper inside of the wall as well as live my life without anyone bothering me that was until Shena and them found me. Really they only found me because I saved them from a group of Titans trying to chase them. I slaughtered the beast like the animals they were, because they were trying to harm the beings that looked like me. At least I think humans are beings like me… tell me Mikasa… do you think I am human?” He sat up with a concerned look in his eyes and stared over at the young woman, in a way hoping that he could get the answer that he sought from her.

---

In a way Eren was glad that Shena was willing to be cooperative with him, instead of being stubborn about the whole thing. Yes he had to admit he understood the feeling, but at the moment the woman was in no condition to argue with him on the matter. To admit it truthfully the male didn’t feel like a hero saving a damsel in distress, but instead was simply a member of the Survey Corps helping out one of his comrades. Letting a smile spread over his face he shook his head at her words, in all fairness he had caused quite a bit of trouble himself over the past few weeks. At least Charles wasn’t the first Titan shifter that had shown its face… no that honor sadly landed on him. Given the way that the stranger attached himself to Mikasa like a little puppy dog, well there was a good chance that Shena had won them a new powerful ally. Certainly something to be proud of, “You are not in the way Shena. Think of all you have accomplished here even while tried out from your mission. A potential new ally and more information on the Titan shifters like myself. Plus he seems to trust you just like he does my sister if that means anything.”

Eren hoped that his words were helping to cheer up Shena as the horse heading in the direction back to HQ. Given her condition the male was keeping a close eye on her to make sure she didn’t fall off the back of the horse or end up hurting herself during the ride. Luckily though things seemed to go alright and he gently slipped off the horse so as not to knock her off the saddle and then helped her off and continued the journey inside, “Oh your welcome, I mean given what you have been through being there for you as a fellow member of the Survey Corps is the least I can do.” Alright so that was a little cheesy, but it was how Eren saw things. Following her directions he lead the woman towards the dorms, chuckling lightly at her joke as he could understand the feeling after the events at Trost. After making sure that she had a bed to lay on Eren was about to give the other some peace and quiet, but caught that look in her eye and so sat on the bed next to hers given he suspected she wanted to talk.

Sighing softly he scratched the back of his head as he thought about what to say, before looking up at her, “To be honest Shena I don’t really think you did the wrong thing. You could never have predicted what he was, and so you were only trying to do the right thing by saving another humans life. No one could have known, and to have left him out there with the Titans would have made you just as bad as the giants we seek to kill in many ways. It was your desire to save that man that is truly one of the things that makes you human… oh gee now I am starting to sound smart like Armin. Anyway beside you shouldn’t worry about it now. What is done is done, and he seems to be harmless especially with my sister tugging at his leash. Plus it will be nice to have someone around to teach me about my Titan abilities, and even better if he does want to join the Survey Corps… well… then given his performance today… you can’t argue with the usefulness of something else as strong as Captain Levi around.” To be honest he was quite sure the Captain could kill him in his Titan form, given the fact that the man had already said he would if he went rogue, but this newcomer… well… he had already proven himself a match for the Captains speed at least when he wasn’t caught off guard.
 
Mikasa was a bit concerned as he mentioned recalling instances of experiencing bloodlust. It was not a sentiment that she shared with him unless it came to protecting her loved ones. Even then, she tried to plan her attacks carefully. She knew nothing about this titan shifter and he certainly wasn’t like Eren in nature at all. She didn’t know how to react to him now besides listening to what he could recall and try to think of other questions that might elicit information for the Corporal about the outside world. She sat back in her seat with her hands on her knees and looked at him with a steady gaze, never wavering even as he asked his question that balanced his humanity on her judging scale. She leaned forward, looking him up and down with scrutiny in her eyes before she decided to answer him honestly.

“You are clearly not a human. But it would be as if I am saying that my brother, Eren, was never a human to begin with. It is up to you and how you act that determines whether or not you classify as a human.” In this world, she supposed that the line between monster and human were blurring quickly especially as the concept of a titan shifter came about. Mikasa didn’t know how to fully grasp it but because of how Eren was and what he would go through, she thrust herself at the forefront of it all. She didn’t know what to tell Charles… and she couldn’t very well tell him all that was going on, not yet, at least. They still needed to feel each other out.

For a long time after that, she sat in a heavy silence before shifting and getting up from her seat. She turned to him and tried to seem more relaxed although her guard was up at all times. “I can go get you some water. Is there anything else? Food?” She decided to offer if they would be there for a long time, waiting. It was her responsibility to ensure that Charles felt comfortable enough to not go bolting again and she had concluded that at least attempting to treat him more like an actual individual and less like an oddity would be a good start.

---

Shena did feel better that he would give some form of justification to what she did, even if it were just his words. Nodding slowly, she looked down to the bed before and gave a tiredless sigh. “I guess you are right. But I honestly don’t know if he would be willing to fully cooperate. Maybe I should have explained how things have been a bit better- but I was very busy making sure who I could bring back remained alive. Even that always seems to fail.” Even though she had seen gratuitous amounts of life lost, she still seemed to have a softer look in her eyes. She hadn’t lost that certain appeal to humanity just yet. She crossed her legs and leaned back in a sitting position on the bed, pursing her lips together. What now, was the major question.

Looking over to Eren, she supposed she could be asking him a lot of things as well. It wasn’t every day that you were allowed to be around the so-called instrument to humanity or whatever it was… Even so, people did really hold him at arm’s length it seemed. Shena didn’t truly understand why as it seemed he was just a normal guy to her. Perhaps she was too naïve.

“Hey- er, you don’t have to stick around if you don’t want to. It was just nice for a little while to have someone actually come around and linger a bit for once,” she ran a hand loosely through her brunette hair, biting the inside of her cheek slightly. “I would figure that people are annoyed that I push myself so much despite having a pretty terrible body to live in. But I don’t mean to seem like I want attention or anything. I don’t… But I figured I should at least die doing something that might help us all in some way. And I suppose they were desperate for Scouting Legion members enough that they let me come on board.” Shena chuckled dryly. That notion seemed to somewhat upset her by the change in her expression but she was speaking the truth. Wearing the Wings of Freedom was like an emblem of death. You willed your life away for a lost cause supposedly.

“But thank you for getting me back here, anyway. I guess I have to recover… I’m sure they will want me to come about and meet with them and Charles again. I hate the political side of these things…” She grumbled.
 
”How you act is how people determine if you are human or not behind these walls of yours? Such a strange concept considering I have been attacked and taken prisoner, both hostile actions by any reasonable stretch. Does that mean that man who attacked me wasn’t human? He certainly fought like a beast… even you have those eyes Mikasa. I am sure that there are also plenty of humans who run around this place feeding off others like beast… no… like Titans… strange it makes me wonder how we are so different? At least a Titan has the excuse of not being able to help itself.” To be honest Mikasa did have a point that he was probably not what one would classify has human if all the semantics where dropped. However he would have to gain some semblance of humanity if he was to live within these walls, and helping this group which Shena was a part of was probably the best way to go. Sighing softly Charles did his best to finally just relax, letting any sign of animalistic tension slip away to put the woman watching him at ease.

”Only if you want to go get something for yourself Mikasa, because to tell you the truth I will be putting off eating until later. It has been a long time since I had any company to eat with and so I find the idea to be very distracting to be honest. Plus I wouldn’t want to be tempted to steal your food in the middle of my meal. If you do go, stop by your Commanders office and let him know that you have succeeded in gaining my loyalty if that was your overall goal my dear…” The young man playfully smirked as he laid back on the bed again, looking up at the ceiling muttering to himself, but loud enough were Mikasa could hear, ”It is funny, I have had to watch, and I had an idea what was going on. Maybe I could have stopped it, maybe so many humans would not have died, but I couldn’t bring myself to show what I was. I would have been just another enemy in such a moment as that…”

His words implied he had watched what had happened at Trost, but had been able to do nothing for obvious reasons. Eren had the support of the Military, in that they allowed him to intervene because he was one of their own. If it had been a stranger like Charles, then the results would have been obvious. He would have simply ended being labeled as another threating Abnormal Titan within their midst, ”If you have any other though, then please… I am all ears, but be specific in what you want to know or I can’t give you the answers that you seek or the ‘Survey Corps’ seeks.”

--

“Then how did you do anything wrong? You couldn’t predict the future about if he would cooperate or not, but you were smart enough to use him to help you save as many people as possible in a spur of the moment decision. As for what happened with the Capitan, no one saw that coming, so chalk that up the same thing. It wasn’t that you failed, it was simply that you saved as many people as you could with what you had on hand… and well… to be honest things happened because of what you did which no one could have seen coming.” Eren hoped that he wasn’t making things worse for Shena, but he was certainly doing his best to try and make things better. “Look at the silver lining though, I wouldn’t call what happened today a failure. No one died, and this guy did use the phrase ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’, so I don’t think we have to worry about him not cooperating with us given how much information he has already given us. So just focus on what you have done today Shena when it comes to bringing another Titan-Shifter onto our side. If you want me to go I can, and we can see each other more at the next major meeting with Charles. He is going to need your help if he is going to have anyone defending him…”
 
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