Why do you have to be such a cocky idiot? I swear, if you live through this, I'm never letting you out of my sight again!

Arthur stood outside the intensive care unit at one of the most accomplished infirmaries in all of Stohess. This building had been his temporary home for almost a week now, ever since he returned with a barely alive Alfred, calling desperate for medical attention. It was true that many in Alfred's unit had lost their lives that day while attempting to complete the Survey Corp's secret mission, Arthur was not about to let them lose another. He had never expected something of that magnitude to occur when he had agreed to be an additional hand in the special operation. It hadn't been his first time outside the walls, despite having climbed so high and deep into the inner city as Military Police, but the prospect of venturing where Titans roamed freely and could attack from any direction was not a comforting one. Although he'd been assured that he would be given a position of "safety" amongst the ranks, the word was relative when nature's only goal was to consume you.

Yet he had found himself saddling up early that morning and tailing a carriage carrying one of the harpoon cannons towards the forest of giant trees. The reason he'd agreed to join was the same reason he had hardly eaten or slept the entire time he'd been at the hospital.

"Corporal Kirkland?"

Arthur's drowsy eyes turned up to the unknown voice, spying a mousey-female nurse, glasses sliding half-way down her nose and curly red locks hiding some of her face.

"Corporal, sir?"

She said again as Arthur didn't answer. Arthur coughed, raising his hand to his face, making a concerted effort to wipe away the lines of worry that had grown thicker with each passing day.

"Sorry, dear, I must have dozed off for a moment there. " he finally answered, standing straighter to turn and give his full attention to her. "Do you have news for me?"

The nurse nodded and held the clipboard up to her face, blocking it from view.

"It seems his condition is stable, and we managed to salvage enough of the nerve endings so the operation should be successful." The nurse's voice rose up from behind her barrier, pausing as she flipped through the pages. "A procedure like this has proven successful in the past, it's true, but only with the will of the patient. This patient….," the woman's words faded.

Arthur hung on every word, seeking any small ray of hope they might have expressed. The glimpse of a smile that had begun to appear rapidly turned into a frown when she refused to continue.

"The patient what? What's Jones done now?"

The nurse lowered the clipboard to push her glasses back to the bridge of her nose, looking back at Arthur apologetically.

"It appears that he's all but given up. Ever since he regained conscious control and motor function, he seems as if he's accepted his fate and won't even try the equipment. Considering how expensive it was for you, Corporal, I'm afraid that you might have made a mistake in choosing him to be the candidate for such a procedure."

If Arthur had held any resentment-or reaction at all- to her words, he showed no signs of it. instead, he lifted a hand to her shoulder, walking past the nurse with a meager 'thanks' before making his way down the hall. The nurse about-faced, calling out for clarification of his intentions, but Arthur ignored her.

He knew the path to the room of Alfred F. Jones instinctively now, as he'd visited it each day throughout the boy's recovery. He'd been the first to see him reawaken, as if he'd come back from the dead. He'd been there when the boy broke down and nearly flew into a fit of rage upon hearing of his condition. He'd been the one to convince Alfred to try the experimental operation in hopes to see the recruit back on his feet again. Now, it was his turn to be there to pull him up by the bootstraps and bring back the fool-hardy hero that seemed to have been devoured along with his leg.

Arthur didn't bother knocking on the door. Pushing it open, his eyes flitted about the room to the hospital bed, unsurprised to see Alfred sitting up and gazing longingly out the window of his second-story accommodations. The boy wasn't wearing his goggles, his hair was a complete mess, and his features were sullen. Still those deep blue eyes and defined features gave him a mysterious, contemplative presence. Alfred didn't acknowledge Arthur's arrival.

"So the nurse paid me a visit."

"Oh yeah?" Alfred's mono-toned response came, blinking slowly.

"She said that you were being uncooperative with the new equipment."

Alfred's hand unconsciously left his lap to drift down to his leg, gripping the sheet that concealed it tightly.

"What kind of game are you playing at, Jones?"

Alfred's gaze shot to Arthur at this point, brows furrowed in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

"You tell me that you're willing to go through with it, that you'll go against all the odds and prove yourself useful to the military despite your 'condition'-as you call it. And here you sit, moping, all but giving up after hours of intense surgery and quite a large chunk of funds from the military's wallet, I might add." Arthur stepped forward, coming to stand just a few paces from the bed now. "I'll ask again," he locked eyes with the boy, "what are you trying to pull, Alfred F. Jones?"

Alfred searched his Corporal's eyes for any sign of sympathy, for any hint of remorse or understanding, but there was none to be found. He gritted his teeth and lowered his head, hiding his eyes beneath his disheveled locks. In a swift, angry motion, he wrenched the sheets off of him, discarding them to the floor on the other side of his bed. Dressed in little more than the typical white hospital frock, the scars that marked the lower half of his body were painfully visible. None, more-so, than the odd circular contraption that had been attached mid-thigh which now acted as the connecting point of his synthetic leg.

Missing appendages were not a new concept to Humanity's forces against the Titan, and many reiterations of prosthetic limbs had been designed over the years to keep militant forces from completely disappearing. This model, however, had only been attempted a few times in the past with some of the military's best fallen warriors. The leg had been sculpted as closely as possible to mirror Alfred's other, the metal constructed of the same, more flexible material the 3MG blade holsters were. The leg's base ran into the attachment grid, where surgeons had meticulously reconnected the salvageable nerve endings. Theoretically, this would allow the owner of the leg to manipulate it as if it were their own, with intensive practice and training.

Theoretically.

"I just can't do it…" Alfred choked out, hands balling into fists as they rested helplessly on his left thigh.

"What are you talking about? From what I've heard, and what I've seen, you've been making great progress! Scores above the rest who have gotten the same procedure. You excel in it just as you do in everything else. Why do you think you can't-?"

"Because it doesn't matter," Alfred interjected, pain in his words, "It doesn't matter how much I try, things will always go wrong. I'll always fail when it comes to being useful, to doing my job, to being what I've sought after all these years."

Alfred's chest rose as he took a sharp breath, words now getting stuck in his throat.

"Every time I try to do something heroic, every time I work for the greater good, protect those that I care about, I fail. I've lost my sight, nearly lost my life, and now I've lost my-" He couldn't spit out last part of his sentence. One hand fell to his side, propping himself up as pressed his sleeve to his face, unable to keep the tears from falling. "What kind of 'Hope for Humanity' can a crippled, blind child be?"

Arthur was torn between wanting to embrace him and slap him across the face. Eventually the Corporal pulled himself down to Alfred's level, kneeling on the floor, and resting his hand on Alfred's. The young man was shaking violently. All of these children had to grow up so fast...He'd been one of those as well, having just finished his training when the Titans made their first attack on Wall Rose. He remembered how it had been, fearing every day that the Titans would reappear again, that all available recruits would be pushed to the front to become fodder. He'd live through the scrutiny of the civilians that saw he and his comrades as nothing but scavengers that fed off the weak before hiding behind their inner walls again. As a member of the Military Police, the 'culling" had been under his jurisdiction as well.

In war there was no difference between child and adult. There were only soldiers.

"Alfred, you've been exceedingly brave. Braver than I or many of the men that make up this excuse of a defense against those beasts. You've exceeded expectations, as all of those that rose from the fall of Wall Rose did. It may be true that you are young, it may be true that you are half-blind and crippled, " Arthur felt Alfred move his hand from beneath his own, the Corporal gripping all the tighter to keep him from doing so, "But you are strong. Strong in will and purpose. You have a kind of determination that I haven't seen in years and that, I will openly admit, has truly reassured me that there just might be a future for Humanity after all."

"There's so much more that you can give, "Arthur started up again after a momentary pause, "And that is why I invested in you. Invested my time and attention, my hope and aspirations, because I believe in you, Alfred. I believe in you and your classmates when you say you'll change the world. I believe enough to leave all that I've gained within the Military Police to ensure that my investment doesn't try to kill himself again. Don't make me regret my decision."

Alfred had drawn his arm away from his face to watch Arthur in slight shock.

"I-I inspired you? But you always spoke of me so badly when I was in training, and even before when I was trying to sneak in to see Eren at the trial you-"

"There are times when a superior officer must act accordingly to what is required of him and times in which authority dictates the actions that are to be undertaken."

"So all those times when you picked on me, you were actually-"

"Let us not delve too much further into this conversation than is deemed necessary, shall we?"

Arthur could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks as Alfred suddenly laughed, now doubt entertained by the uncommon awkward vulnerability his Corporal was showing him. Arthur's was therefore surprised when Alfred clasped his hand about his own, curling his fingers around it for support. The touch resonated the appreciation the young man felt with even just Arthur's presence. Arthur smiled and relaxed his features seeing Alfred's old charismatic grin return.

"I guess, even if i can't be everyone's hero, being a hero to just one is enough sometimes."

It was a difficult road ahead for all of them. Alfred, with new-found motivation to get back on his feet once again, showed impressive speed in the mastery of his new leg. There were days that were harder than others, but with encouragement from daily visitors, including Jean and a rather-light hearted Marco, the challenges didn't seem so bad. While still stationed at Stohess, Arthur relayed to Commander Erwin and the other military officials Alfred's encounter with the Beastly Titan. As a result, Alfred was put on temporary assignment in Trost during his recovery. Arthur moved with him, never straying far from his side having named himself Alfred's official "guardian" until the young man could get back on his own two feet. Alfred's assignment came as a surprise to Matthew, whom couldn't have been happier to see his best friend alive (although not in one piece).

Arthur and Alfred stayed with him and Gilbert in the Stationary Guard quarters, taking on menial tasks as, every week Alfred grew stronger and more confident in his abilities. It was a few weeks after this move that the Survey Corp's witnessed their decimation in route to take back Wall Rose. The capture of the Female Titan and Stohess' destruction followed suit. That was all the evidence Alfred needed to see that it was time to return to action.

"Trying to be everyone's Hero again, Alfred?"

Alfred was busy packing his things when Arthur arrived, the older gentleman standing, arms crossed, against the door frame of their room.

"You know that you don't have to come along. It was your decision to leave the Military Police in the first place."

Arthur looked indignant and scoffed, making his way over to his companion.

"That may be true, but you also know that I'm unfortunately at the mercy of your reckless whims. So to that," Arthur placed his arm over Alfred's shoulder, glancing to him out of the corner of his eye, "I'd say choose wisely."

Alfred cleared his throat but didn't attempt to push Arthur away, having gotten use to the ex-Corporal's more obvious displays of affection.

"You don't regret your decision, do you?"

Arthur seemed to mull this over in his mind for a moment, placing his hand thoughtfully on Alfred's shoulder just above the crest of the Survey Corps-a symbol which they now both wore.

"So far, no."

He caught Alfred's glance out of the corner of his eyes, all joking aside, and pulled him into a quick kiss. Alfred's face burned as the man stepped away.

"Let's hope that you don't give me a reason to."

Alfred, slightly frazzled, clumsily forced his belongings into his knapsack and followed Arthur out, hobbling ever so slightly but never missing a step. Nothing can ever truly clip the Wings of Freedom.

Author's Note: HOGOSH- So this was the biggest project that I've attempted to undertake in writing in a VERY long time...And I appreciate every single person who's been following it since the beginning/any new readers who stumbled upon it thanks to my tumblr/friends. This fic grew into something much more than I expected, included elements that I didn't think I'd ever write/would be associated with this story, but it's here, and it's done, and I'm relieved.

I apologize if this ending seems a bit "fast" or a "cop-out", but I didn't want to dwell too much longer on the battles and relationships between the characters, as with all battle-based story, one chapter just starts to look like the other and it would get too monotonous. But I'm hoping that this ending ALSO leaves a bit of open space for anything that might come in the future/if I want to do more with this universe. The USUK that this fic was originally intended to have is finally here in the last chapter-a bit rushed granted, but eh -/-; What can you do?

Anyway, thank you all again, I hope you enjoyed it, and PLEASE leave a review if you can! I want to know what elements you liked, what I can work on it, and who you want to know more about (aka if you want any side short stories on any of the other characters that WEREN'T focused on in the main fic ;D *coughjeanmarcocough* Thank you thank you thank you, and I hope that you'll stick around for more works in the future!

~Faux