"So, Eren! We're seriously counting on you, okay?"

The scene kept replaying in Eren's mind as he sat outside, waiting for one of Levi's squad members to lead him back to basement for the night. He wasn't sure what was more haunting: the message itself, or the pure fear that was etched into Jean's face as he spoke.

"Eren…" A gruff voice said from behind. Eren stood up and spun around, instinctively bringing himself into a salute. Much to his surprise, instead seeing the stern face of one of his superiors, he found himself looking at Reiner and Bertolt, the former of whom was holding out a mug.

"Reiner?" Eren asked, "What are you doing out here?"

Reiner gave Eren a pointed stare, "You've been out here for a while, just sitting there. It doesn't take a genius to know that something's the matter." He replied, "And drop the salute, you've been here longer than I have." He added with a smirk, causing Eren to look down and realize he still had a fist over his heart.

"Sorry about that," Eren said, "I'm used to getting slapped upside the head when I don't salute." Reiner gave him a pointed look. "Yeah, I just needed some time alone to think…"

"It's what Jean said." Reiner stated, already knowing the cause of his young friend's troubles. He held the handle of the mug out to Eren, "Drink this, it'll relax you." Eren took the cup and nodded, taking a sip.

"So what do you guys want?" Eren questioned, "Jean was right, I'm pretty sure everyone knows that. I almost killed Mikasa, and I can't even remember." He hung his head down in shame, looking deep into the drink he was holding. Reiner looked over to Bertolt and nodded.

"Eren…" Bertolt began, "What if we had a way to help you control your titan form?" At that, Eren shot his head up.

"Wha- how?!" Eren asked, "What do you guys even know about this?"

"Reiner and I? Where we come from, Titan Shifting is a skill among warriors." He explained, "Most children in the homeland are taught to control this ability, at least to a basic level. The real prodigies are sent off and abroad to train and serve our people."

"So… Are you saying-" Eren began, only to be cut off by Reiner.

"Me, Bertolt and Annie are trained in this art." Reiner told him, "This wasn't an easy decision, not by a long shot. It should go without saying that you don't let anyone know about this. Not Jean, not Armin, not even Mikasa." He took a breath before continuing, "We will teach you how to control your abilities, we will help you seal the gate to Shiganshina. But, we need something in return."

Eren was still processing all of the information being given to him. He had known these two for three years now, and he's now learning that they've been holding this huge secret the whole time.

"Why are you just now telling me?!" He demanded, "We've been friends for years, and you never thought 'Hey! We should probably tell Eren and the others that we can turn into monsters!'"

Reiner looked at him pointedly, "Would it make a difference? Think about all that talk you made about how you wanted to kill every last titan. Why would we risk our asses just so we could put ourselves out in your crosshair?" He asked, "Besides, we didn't know you were a Titan Shifter until the fight at Trost. Which brings us to another question: how long have you known about your ability?"

Eren took a moment to think, "To be honest, I didn't even know what happened until after, when I was being charged with 'Treason against mankind.' It's all a blur, like a dream…"

Reiner nodded in understanding, "So I'm right to assume you didn't know how to shift until after it happened?" Eren nodded weakly, making Reiner put a hand to his chin. "This makes no sense, by this point in life you would have had to have transformed at least once, or at the very least know of your powers."

By this point Bertolt butted in, "Eren, we still need to know if you're willing to help us if we help you. I know you're confused, and you may not trust us, but we're still your friends."

Eren looked at Bertolt. While he was hardly any good at reading emotions, Eren could see the sincerity in his friend's words. After a while he spoke, "What do I have to do?"

Reiner smiled briefly, glad that things turned out favorably. He eventually smoothed his face, "We'll talk about that once we've got you accustomed to titan shifting. It all depends on how things turn out. Not to mention we need Annie to be involved with your training and our mission."

"Thank you, Reiner, Bertolt." He said, before pausing for a moment. "But, wait… How are you guys going to be able to train me without the others finding out about you three? And for that matter, how is Annie going to be able to train me if she's a member of the military police?"

"At night we'll go over the theories with you. We can assume that the Survey Corps wants you to understand how to use your skills so you can plug up the hole in Wall Maria without any accidents, so they'll probably be getting you to hone your skills." Reiner elaborated, "As for Annie, we managed to convince her to join the Survey Corps, but considering none of the top ten from our squad had opted for the military police, she's been getting some trouble from the higher ups."

Eren was about to ask how they convinced her to come along, but was stopped by a yawn. Bertolt chuckled and patted him on the back, "Come on, Eren. Get some rest."

As the three walked back to the castle, Reiner gave Eren a serious look. "Remember, Eren. What we've told you is between us. Nobody can know. If anyone asks, we were helping you get over what Jean said."

"Got it, Reiner." Eren responded, making his way down into the basement. Once he was out of earshot, Reiner and Bertolt exchanged looks.

"Are we sure we should trust him?" Bertolt asked, uncertainty in his voice.

"Even if he's not the one we're after, we owe it to help him control himself. You and I both know what they will do to him if they decide he's not worth their trouble." Reiner replied. Bertolt bit his lip, but conceded to Reiner's point.

Eren woke up to a heavy object being dropped on his chest. As he heaved from the weight of the object blinked his eyes open, he saw Levi staring at him with a bored expression on the other side of the room. Looking to his chest, he saw a crate, leaking what appeared to be sand.

"Alright, sleeping beauty. Get up." Levi said.

"What… Is this?" Eren managed to force out as he pushed the crate off his stomach.

"Sand. Maybe a few rocks." Levi replied matter-of-factly. "I'd say I'm not your babysitter, but the court ruling unfortunately says otherwise. So get up before I sic Hange on you."

Eren muttered darkly under his breath, trying to move the crate without spilling its contents over himself and the basement. Once he got out of bed, Levi climbed up the stairs, leaving Eren to get dressed.

A few minutes later, Eren walked into the dining hall, where several more tables had been laid out for the new members of the Survey Corps. Looking around, he saw Reiner and Bertolt sitting with Mikasa and Armin, all four of whom had their eyes trained on Eren. Making his way over, he sat down next to Reiner, across from Armin.

"You feeling better, Eren?" Reiner asked, "I made sure to scrap some extra for you. I'm honestly surprised you made it to breakfast."

"Much better now." Eren replied, "So what are you guys doing today?"

"We're going to be running through some basic scout training before the next mission." Armin explained, "I heard that Squad Leader Hange was going to run some more tests with you."

"What's the point of running tests on him?" Reiner asked, "We know he can turn into a titan willingly, he can grow back limbs, and wreck more shit than Annie when it's that time of the month." As Reiner finished his comment, Armin looked over to respond, only to seize up as absolute and unbridled horror grew on his face. Mikasa visibly paled as she tracked Armin's eyes, her mouth gaping wide as she looked over Reiner's shoulder. Bertolt and Eren exchanged looks, briefly turning to Reiner's confused expression before looking around.

Annie was standing behind Reiner, holding a plate of steaming eggs, staring into the back of Reiner's head with a terrifying intensity. By this point all eyes in the room were trained on their table, wondering what was about to unfold. Bertolt placed one hand on Reiner, using the other to symbol a silent prayer for his friend. Seeing this motion, Reiner slowly turned to Eren, knowing what was behind him, but hoping to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. For the first time in their three years of knowing each other, Eren saw a glimpse of fear in Reiner's normally strong-willed face.

"Eren?" He asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Yeah?" Eren replied, eyes darting between Reiner and Annie, the latter of whom was placing her plate on a nearby table before walking back to her previous position.

"Am I going to die?" As soon as the words left his mouth, a small hand grabbed his collar, violently tearing him from his seat and throwing him backwards. Before he hit the ground, Annie spun around and delivered a swift kick, launching him further backwards. Upon landing, Reiner rolled over, either unable or unwilling to stand. Annie walked back to the table she had placed her food on, causing the inhabitants to lean away as she picked up her plate. Her fury slowly dissipating with every passing second, she seated herself right next to Eren, who was fighting the urge to scoot away.

"A-Annie?" Armin stuttered, "What're you doing here?" To this, Annie merely pointed to the patch over her breast, the Wings of Freedom clearly embroidered on her uniform. As he looked at the patch, he noticed there were bits of torn cloth still clinging onto her jacket.

"Did you… Quit the Military Police?" He questioned, to which Annie nodded.

"As it turns out, the only real assignments we get there are to push around civilians and other members of the military. Not that they didn't try to get me to stay. With almost the entirety of our division's top ten joining the Survey Corps, they had to try and keep their quota." She deadpanned, pausing to take a bite from her eggs, "I probably wouldn't be here if Shadis didn't weigh into the debate."

Eren raised an eyebrow. "Shadis was there?"

Annie gave him a deadpan stare, "The last member of the southern division's top ten is quitting the Military Police to join the Survey Corps? Of course he was there, Eren. He was arguing that my enlisting in the MP 'was a waste of potential', and that if my transfer didn't get accepted, he'd ensure that they'd never get any new members from his division."

"Really?" Armin replied, "I never thought the Commandant would do something like that."

Mikasa took her turn to speak, "Remember, Armin, Shadis was the old Commander of the Survey Corps before Commander Erwin. It would make sense that he'd want his best to enlist in the branch."

Annie shrugged, "The how doesn't really matter. I'm here." She then turned to Eren for a moment, looking like she was about to say something, a brief spark of interest showing in her blue eyes. Sighing and shaking her head, she went back to eating her food.

Before Eren could get back to eating his food, he felt himself get grabbed from behind, causing him to jump up out of his seat. Turning around, he saw Hange staring at him with excitement and determination.

"Alright Eren, are you ready for the tests today?" She asked, pulling him close to her face. The others at the table leaned away from the scene taking place, each looking at Hange with varying degrees of confusion.

Eren gulped, still disturbed by her giddiness towards titans, "Um… I guess?" Before he could say anything else, he found himself getting dragged out of the room by the mad woman. As they left the room, the four left at the table continued staring at the doorway the two had exited through.

"I just don't understand what's taking him so long" Mikasa muttered, "They've been working since the morning, so why aren't they finished?"

"Well we don't know what they had planned, or what would happen to Eren. He could be out of it or hurt." Armin replied, instantly regretted bringing up that possibility, as she immediately shot up, anger and worry in her eyes.

"You've just got a way with words, Armin." Annie deadpanned as she made her way to the table. Shortly after Reiner and Bertolt made their way over, the former steering clear from Annie when he sat down.

"So, where's Eren?" Reiner asked, picking a seat next to Armin and across from Bertolt.

"I'm not sure." Armin told him, "But he'll probably be here soon." He then tried to change the subject, "So Annie, did you get things settled with the commander?"

Annie blinked for a moment.

"Well, Ms. Leonharte, your record speaks for yourself. I'm sure we'll make great use of you." Commander Erwin said, placing down her file and holding out his hand, "Transferring to our branch, from the Military Police no less… You have my upmost respect."

Annie would've given an empty 'thank you' towards her new commander, were she not getting heavily disturbed by the man behind her thoroughly sniff her. Apparently, Erwin finally noticed her poorly masked discomfort and confusion, and let out a chuckle.

"That's Mike Zacharias, one of my best squad leaders." He told her, "This is just a part of how he acquaints himself with new people." He pauses, "Though I seldom see him smell somebody with as much… Investment as he has now." As if that was his cue, he finished smelling her, nodding with a pleasant smile and hum.

She shrugged, "About what you'd expect."

The group idly chatted for a few minutes before Eren finally entered the room, clearly weary from the tests that had been ran on him. Once he seated himself down between Bertolt and Annie, he let his head hit the table.

"So, long day, big guns?" Reiner chortled, standing up and walking away from their table "I'll get you some stew." Eren merely groaned in response, not bothering to lift his head from the table.

"So?" Armin asked, "How were the tests?"

"At first it was easy, they just had me try to do basic motions and activities." Eren explained, looking up at his friend, "Then they checked how fast I can regenerate different injuries. At the end, they tried decapitating me, and I panicked when everything went black. Apparently I almost killed Levi after they cut my head off, and by that point I wound up ejecting myself from the titan, so they called it quits for the day." Eren heard a snort, and turned to see Mikasa with a vindictive smile on her face.

"Serves him right for what he did at the trial…" She said, before muttering darkly under her breath.

Reiner came back shortly after, placing a large bowl and spoon in front of Eren, "Come on, eat up. Being a beast is tiring work." After seeing Mikasa shooting a hateful look, he held up his arms, "I mean that in a good way!"

Eren grabbed the spoon and began eating his meal, albeit extremely awkwardly. Annie was the first to notice what was wrong, and immediately pointed it out.

"Eren, you're right handed." She stated simply.

"Oh, uh…" He trailed off, concern showing on his face.

"Show me your hand." She demanded. Hesitantly, Eren lifted up his right arm, which unlike his left was completely covered by the sleeve. Annie yanked the arm down, out of view from the others, and slowly rolled up the sleeve. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw a slightly steaming stump, but she quickly smoothed her face and rolled the sleeve back over the stump. "Well that explains why you can't use it."

Mikasa immediately shot up, only to be pulled down by Reiner, who looked over to Annie. "He just hurt his hand." She lied, partly calming down Mikasa. As Eren moved to pick up the spoon again, Annie grabbed it before him, getting a spoonful of the meal. Seeing the growing blush on his face, Annie's look hardened as she shoved the spoon in his mouth. "Don't get any ideas, Titanboy." She told him, "Reiner and I need to talk to you, and I'm not waiting till the stroke of midnight because you can't move a spoon properly."

Before Eren could protest or take the spoon back, Annie gave him another spoonful of food, this time slightly less forced. Deciding there was no point in fighting, he turned the rest of his body to face towards Annie.

"Connie," Jean whispered, nudging his friend, "Look."

"What?" Connie replied, turning around, seeing Jean pointing towards the other side of the room. Looking over, he saw Annie holding a spoon in Eren's mouth. "Is she-"

"Don't gawk right at them, dammit!" Jean told him, spinning Connie back around. "And don't talk so loud!"

"Sorry, sorry." Connie replied. Seeing Jean's face he lowered his voice, "Was she spoon-feeding him?"

"Looks like it," Jean muttered, "Not to mention earlier she was holding his hand under the table."

"Maybe I'm just stupid, but I never knew they had a thing…"

"No, that's just it." Jean muttered, "I never noticed anything either. Heck, I never saw them actually interact outside of training."

"So what, are you gonna tease Eren now?" Connie asked, earning a smack on the back of the head.

"Of course not, you idiot!" He cursed, "That's retarded for several reasons. One, Annie was able to drop Reiner twice. I'm not a suicidal bastard like Yeager. Two, Eren can turn into a titan at will. He could probably transform and pile-drive me during a mission and claim it as collateral. And most importantly, three, Eren could convince Mikasa to never go out with me if I said anything."

"Still, gotta give him credit. I didn't even realize she was into anybody." Connie said, taking a sip of water, "Maybe he could give you a few pointers."

Jean snorted, taking another glance as Eren and his friends walked out of the room, Annie clearly trying to wedge herself between Eren and Mikasa.

After dinner, Eren led Reiner and Annie down to the basement cell which had been refurbished into his room. Once they knew they were alone, Reiner seated himself and Annie on a bench across from Eren, who opted to sit on the ground.

"So, before we get started, what happened to your hand that made you hide it from everyone?" Reiner asked.

Not seeing any harm in showing them now, Eren pulled down his sleeve, revealing the stump, which had slowly grown since he showed Annie. Reiner walked over to Eren and kneeled down, grasping the arm in his hand.

"How did you get this?" He asked, shaking the arm slightly for emphasis.

"When they were doing the tests, they uh… They cut of my titan's head and I sort of panicked. After that, I don't remember what happened. I apparently partially came out, but I was still stuck to the titan…" He trailed off, "They missed when they were cutting my right arm free."

Reiner nodded, "I suppose this gives us a starting place." He then stood up and began pacing around, looking for the right words. After a while he stopped and seated himself with Annie again. "As you've already noticed, as a titan-shifter you have the ability to regenerate like a titan. Usually when you're in your titan form injuries to your body heal themselves almost instantly, but this gets slowed when you're outside of it because you can't draw the same energy that a titan does to regenerate your body." He paused for a second, "However, you can speed up the healing process by focusing your strength on the wound. I really can't explain things more simply than that."

Eren stared blankly at Reiner for a few moments before looking down at his hand. He shut his eyes, focusing on where his hand should be, trying to force it into existence. After a minute of straining he heard a sigh, followed by a cold hand grabbing his arm. Opening his eyes, he saw Annie grasping onto his damaged arm, pressing her thumb below the stump with a finger pressing into the top. Eren held back a scream at the pain he felt in the flesh her finger was touching.

"Focus on the pain, Eren." She said sternly, "Forget about any other ache or pain in your body, just think about how much your arm hurts and where it's hurting." With every word he felt her finger pushing harder into his arm, causing the pain to increase.

Annie continued to look Eren dead in the eye, finger still pressing down on his injury. Eren felt a sudden spike of pain radiate in his whole arm, causing him to yank it away from her grasp.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Eren demanded, growing steadily more pissed off at his new 'teacher'. Reiner was currently staring at the two of them with an indifferent expression, while Annie was looking at him with a strange look. She almost looks… Proud?

"Maybe you should look at your hand before you get mad at me." She said, brushing her bangs back. Confused, Eren looked down at his arm, immediately being greeted by a fully regenerated palm, a thumb, and two fingers, with two more digits steaming and slowly, but surely forming. He looked back and forth between his hand and Annie, who currently had a small smirk at his shock and awe.

"Now finish the job." Reiner stated, leaning back against the wall, "Let the fingers that need to regenerate take priority in your mind. Those are the only two injuries that exist in your body."

Eren looked down and focused on the two digits, forcing all of his willpower into getting them to grow back. The steam coming from the digits grew thicker and bigger as glowing strands enveloped the air above them, forming bones, muscles, and skin. As the steam settled, he flexed his fingers, moving them against one another in awe.

"Congratulations, Eren." Reiner said, "You've taken the first step into becoming a true warrior."