Humanity's Strongest Pair

chapter four; an idea of victory

Levi had liked the way Mikasa's small frame had fit under his.

He'd thought about it more than a few times since he'd made the mistake of holding her. He did it because he was a selfish man, trapped in the cold moment, only wanting to feel that he wasn't alone; even for a fleeting glimpse of a second. He wanted to feel that despite all he had lost, there would still be another person he could hold and help him forget about the pain that weighed heavy in his chest.

But no, he hadn't needed that. He was better off not knowing that another person like her could exist. Another person who's warmth could make him feel like he had more purpose than just to humanity.

Levi sat on the edge of his bed, flipping through the photo album that Petra had put together for him. He'd passed it off as silly at the time, making the young woman blush and look away. Secretary, he had cherished the gift. Sometimes, Levi wished that he had been more honest with his team on how he felt about them. That they weren't just simple comrades, but real friends.

He recalled their drunken nights together, the way Aurou would try to mimic him to impress Petra, and the way she would brush him off as absurd. She would look to Levi with jubilant orbs filled with admiration and respect, and would always flush and smile at his simple actions for her. He stopped on a photo of the group, where they all smiled, save Levi. Even the stern second in command, Erd, flashed a grin for that shot. That day was so vivid in his memory and he hated it. He hated himself for not being there to save them when they died.

It was far too late, however. He had been through it many times before, but it never got any easier. He had numbed himself to his emotions, vowing to never invest that much feeling into anyone again. The only person he had left to care about in that world was Irvin (and maybe Hanji or Eren...)

And then there was Mikasa.

Levi closed the book and tucked it away on his shelf, his mind travelling through so many dark caverns that he could scarcely remember the sun. He should have stayed away. He should have told Ackerman to return to her room; he should never have held her or breathed in her scent, but he did. She was so much like himself; stoic, unforgiving, stubborn, sometimes cruel. And maybe that was why he couldn't get her off his mind.

"This is stupid..." He muttered to himself, rolling over and under the covers of his bed.

Levi was extremely groggy when he walked into the mess hall the next morning. He wore a tired, apathetic face that terrified anyone who dared to look at him. He passed through the tables of younger soldiers until he found the small room that was branched off of the mess hall, where he would find his fellow superior officers. Hanji was sitting with Irvin, chatting frantically at the armless man who appeared annoyed by her banter.

Levi ignored them as he poured himself a cup of coffee, keeping it black, and instantly left the room without a word. Both Hanji and Irvin looked after him quizzically, wondering why he hadn't joined them. Their morning routine was to sit together over coffee, and Levi was a man who stuck to his schedule.

Levi returned to the mess hall, where his hawk like gaze spotted out the table of the five teenagers that he was looking for. They all stared at him with shock as he wordlessly helped himself to their table, landing with a heavy thud. All save one, of course. Mikasa looked at him as if she truly detested him. And he took the spot right next to her, too.

No body said a word as the man casually took a sip of his coffee, before glaring at them all.

"Corporal Levi, sir!" The all saluted simultaneously, subtract Mikasa. Armin had been the only one to notice her sour eyes on the Corporal.

Levi took a sip of his bitter coffee. His eyes stayed focused forward, looking at nothing in particular; until they landed on Mikasa. "Better start preparing, brats." His gaze travelled to the rest of them. "We are leaving in three days. You will all be my squad, and the only members of it."

An ill silence fell upon the group. Their faces turned grim, but Mikasa's attention had reformed severely. "So, Commander Irvin-"

"Yes." Levi cut the girl off as he stood up. "Three days, including today. Which means that tomorrow, there will be two days." Jean glared at him, thinking we're not stupid, asshole. "And Ackerman, we will be meeting as normally scheduled."

"Yes, sir." The girl said darkly, eyes watching his retreating figure. A few moments later, the Corporal was gone, and the group's eyes all fell upon the oriental girl.

"What was that about?" Connie was the first to inquire.

"I don't know what you mean." Mikasa spoke nonchalantly, taking a drink of water.

"What about Commander Irvin? What were you going to ask?" Jean queried, brows furrowed. Mikasa met no ones gaze.

"I spoke to the Commander the other day about our next move. That is all."

"I see..." The others shifted in their seats, sensing a tension in Mikasa's words. No one had forgotten about the rumours of her and the Corporal; they were all curious. They all wanted to ask. The only one certain of her was Armin, who knew that Mikasa's devotion to Eren wouldn't sway so easily.

Then again, Eren was her 'brother'.

The blonde found even himself eyeing the girl with a slight suspicion. What exactly was the consternation between the two?

"Why are you mad at me, Mikasa?" Levi asked through a sigh of exasperation, watching the girl angrily pummel a punching bag.

"Why would I be mad at you, sir?" She asked with unintentional sarcasm, keeping her eyes focused on her fists as they put dents in the sandbag.

Levi scoffed. "That's enough. We're going to practise with the dummies, now."

She stopped abruptly, breathing heavily from the exertion. "Fine." She said, breezing past him.

"You need to stop being so tense with me." He followed after. "It's doing nothing but giving off negative air. I need you to focus."

"Do I seem unfocused to you?" She practically spat. "I've been training even harder today. We do leave in three days, do we not?"

He ignored this statement. "Just keep your head in it. We can't afford to lose you on the field."

"That won't happen." She assured.

The rest of the day blurred together quickly, though in Mikasa's head, it was dragging on. She felt the same way for the next two she spent training. She could not have been any more anxious to just get on with the hunt for Eren. She had already waited far too long, and it was the last hour before they left that seemed to feel like the most eternity.

At dawn, they left the wall on horseback. Mikasa, Armin, Connie, Sasha, Jean and of course, Corporal Levi, who took the lead. The man kicked his horse and sped up ahead of them, his eyes glowering forward. He did not have a good feeling about this. It was a bad idea, he could almost smell it on the grassy wind that tingled his face. It was cool and damp, despite the bright morning sun that beamed upon them. Levi took a moment to glance back at the soldiers who followed him. This was not his squad, and he did not feel confident. Mikasa's skill, he could respect, but she undoubtedly lacked experience. Enough experience for such a mission as this, anyway.

As for the others, Levi didn't really know them. He could see the sheer determination in their eyes, but he knew more than anyone that determination was not enough to take on the titans.

The image of Petra crushed against a tree flashed in his mind.

Levi understood why Irvin saw this mission as a reasonable move, though Levi disagreed with it's practicality. These soldiers were not strong enough for this. They were too young and lacked far too much experience. Could he really help them if he did not know exactly how they fought? Would he? They were not his team. Save Mikasa, he had never fought alongside them as a team. Unlike his squad, they would not be able to move together fluidly, like wasps dancing violently among their prey. He imagined them to be clumsy, like bumblebees attempting to pollinate one small flower.

Mikasa stared at the back of Levi's head for a moment. She had seen the glare he had sent back at herself and the others, and imagined what was going through his head. He doubted their abilities. They weren't good enough to fight with him. He's wrong, she thought. We can do this. I know we can.

The group did not speak for several hours, nor did they encounter any titans. It was when they finally reached the forest of giant trees, that the titan's began to appear. They were far away, but the soldiers could make out their disturbing forms from the distance.

"We can't afford to lose the horses." Levi said. "We go through the forest. Mikasa, Jean and myself will take care of the titans. Connie, Sasha and Armin; you hold our horses."

"Yes, sir!" They said simultaneously.

As they reached for the forest, the grins on the titans faces growing even wider as they saw their prey approach, Levi spoke again. "You all understand the plan, right? We go through the forest. When I say go, Mikasa and Jean, switch to your manuever gear and go to the trees. Sasha, Connie and Armin, you be ready to grab our horses. Do not let them go unless you are put in a position where you absolutely must switch to your gear. Though I'm fairly confident that Jean, Mikasa and myself can fend off these little titans."

"Understood, sir!"

The first few who followed them were of the four and five meter classes. As soon as they were a bit into the forest, Levi gave the signal, and they shot up into the air with their gear. Mikasa was the first to slay a titan, making a point to go after the largest one. Once they had cleared out the first tier, they sped flew through the air and caught up to the horses.

"Corporal Levi?" Jean asked, following closely behind him. "Do you not think it's odd how few titans we've seen?"

"I do." Levi nodded. "I have noticed this since we left."

"I thought for sure that we would meet more once we hit the forest, but there were hardly any." Mikasa added, looking around suspiciously.

"I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong." Said Jean. "But this seems bizarre."

"It is bizarre." Levi wore the same look of suspicion as Mikasa did. Now that he knew that not all titans were mindless beasts, his previous understanding of the creatures held flaws. He recalled the way Annie had screamed, calling all the titans in the area to attack and eat her. It was strange, and he had no explanation for it. At that point, he had no reason to doubt that certain titans had power over other ones. If that were the case, then it could be possible for most of the titans who ran wild were currently in the same location.

That would be bad, he thought. "You two." He turned to Mikasa and Jean, who flew with their gear behind him. "Back to the horses for now. If I give you the signal again, we will form the previous position. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." They said, and followed him back to the horses. After riding for several minutes and no more titan sightings, Levi spoke.

"I have a theory." He announced. "Listen up, and listen well. I have no real evidence to back this up, but we need to be ready for anything that may come. The lack of titan sightings in this area is abnormal. You all, of course, know about what happened with the female titan, Annie, in this forest, correct?"

"Yes, sir." They chanted.

"She was able to scream out and cause all the titans to flock to her, thus eating her body, as though she had commanded them to do so. It's not unreasonable to believe that other titans may have a similar ability to this. What I'm saying is, there is a chance that all the titan's that we aren't running into are grouped together in one place."

The group was silent for a moment, each of the young soldiers gulping nervously.

"So if this does happen to be the case," Levi continued. "then we need to flee immediately. I don't know of much forested area after this. If we run into a massive group of titans in open field, we're dead meat, you got it?" He looked at Mikasa, who shook her head at him. "Something to add, Ackerman?" Her queried in a condescending manner.

"We've already gotten so far. You're saying that even if we travel for two more days after this, and we run into a few titans grouped together, we give up and go home with our tails between our legs?"

The Corporal scoffed. "First of all, we don't have two days. We have tonight and tomorrow. That is it. Second of all, I'm not thinking a few titans. I'm thinking dozens. For all we know, hundreds. I'm not saying I know this is going to happen; it might not at all. My point is that we have to be prepared for the worst case scenario. Do you understand that much?"

Mikasa was silent for several minutes, the heat already making her face red with anger. "What do you mean we have tonight and tomorrow?" She asked through gritted teeth, disregarding the rest of his rude banter.

"Past this forest, there should be a small mountain. At the base of that mountain, we should be able to find a cave to sleep in; a tiny place where titans can not get at us. Did you not think of where we were going to safely sleep, Mikasa? We can't just pitch a few tents in the middle of the field and hope that none of them bother us. We don't have the men, nor resources to set up a camp and place people on guard duty, so what did you expect?"

Armin saw Mikasa grip the reins of her horse even tighter. Her face was scrunched with anger and she bit her lip until it almost bled. "Mikasa, he makes a point." Armin said in a reasonable voice. "I had anticipated that this mission would not last more than a night, as it is too risky to travel at night and a safe place to stay wouldn't be easy to come by. If we can't find Eren, then we're just going to have to go back and rethink this."

Mikasa looked to him, then again to the back of Levi's head. Her glower softened. She knew they were right, but the thought of them finally getting a step closer to Eren, and just giving up like that was something she wasn't sure she could handle. Either way, the girl let it go, silently riding her horse in deep thought of her options.

Along the way through the forest, they did encounter more titans, though still an obscurely small amount. Mikasa killed a number of them single-handedly, as Levi could tell she had some anger to release. He watched as she slayed them with expert skill that reminded him too much of his younger days as a soldier. He was also impressed at Jean's skills; he was not nearly as lacking as the Corporal had previously imagined. He thought that perhaps, he shouldn't underestimate the young soldiers so much.

It was relieving for them to exit the forest, each one completely unharmed. It must have been in the late afternoon. Levi could see the mountain up ahead, still a few hours away. If all went well, his plan for the night would work out too perfectly.

Across the plains, the riders ran into some larger titans than they did in the forest. About ten of them, which Mikasa, Levi and Jean took care of with minimal trouble. It would have been a problem if the titans had not been spread so far away from each other. The longer they travelled, the more that Levi suspected his prediction may have some truth to it.

Levi rode farther than the rest of the group, wanting some peace of mind to collect his thoughts. The five young soldiers rode with less enthusiasm now; it was getting late, and they were hungry.

"So do we know if we're even going in the right direction, anyway?" Connie asked Armin through a yawn.

"Have you not noticed the markings we are following, Connie?" Armin queried, gesturing towards the grass below them. It was torn up in patches; large patches. What was supposed to be a flat plain had been dug up, and occasionally, you could make out the imprint of a very large footprint. This was the way they had originally come; this very spot must have been close to where Commander Irvin had his arm torn off.

"Eh, I suppose I wasn't focusing on that..." He laughed sheepishly. Mikasa, who had been riding alongside them, glanced at the ground as well. She had noticed the nearly indistinguishable footprints long ago. She recalled exactly where they were when Eren was taken away again; they were so close. They almost had him, but the titans won. She gripped her reins and gritted her teeth. They won't be so lucky this time. Bertrolt and Reiner will pay for what they did.

Armin, Connie, Sasha and Jean watched curiously as Mikasa sped up on her horse and caught up to Corporal Levi.

Levi didn't acknowledge her for some time, until she cleared her throat. "What is it, Mikasa?" He answered nonchalantly.

"The sun will set soon. Are we riding throughout some of the night?"

"No. We will be stopping as soon as we reach the mountainside. If we're lucky, with a few minutes of sunlight to spare."

Mikasa bit her tongue. She wanted to demand that they keep riding through the night. With the lack of titans out, perhaps they would have the same luck once the sun was down. But she didn't say anything; it would get her nowhere. Levi had made up his mind.

They tied the horses up in a large cave along the mountain, and a few minute walk away, they found where they would be staying. Naturally, it was a cold, dark and damp cave that provided little to no comfort at all. At least for Mikasa, who doubted she would be able to sleep that night. The others breathed sighs of relief, happy to be able to sit down and eat some bread.

The five teenagers sat in a circle, idly chatting about the day and their hopes for tomorrow. Levi sat away from them, his thoughts drifting in and out of their conversation and to the voices in his head. Both echoed equally as loud.

After a few hours of sitting around, Levi demanded that they get some sleep, mainly because he was tired of listening to them. They made beds from their cloaks, though it didn't help much with the jagged ground they lay upon. Levi stayed awake until he was certain that they were all sleeping, unaware that Mikasa had much the same plan.

It must have been midnight when Mikasa left the cave, taking in the appearance of the bright moon that hung overhead. She could see the stars in a light that was not possible behind the wall, completely undiluted by all lights of the city life. She found herself entranced for a moment, before she quickly snapped back to reality. She had to get to her horse.

Stepping quietly through the wet grass, she took a wary look behind her shoulder. The night was still, only the sound of the wind blowing, the crickets chirping and the soft sound of her own footprints could be heard. It was spectacular, she thought. She imagined if she could travel this far without fear of titans ever again. If they would ever be completely wiped out, and the human race would be free to roam the lands they'd been banished from for far too long.

Mikasa found her way to the horses and softly patted the nose of the one she would take. She stroked his main, and he neighed softly. Mikasa unhooked him from the others, and trotted him away from the cave. She was about to hop on the horses back when the sound of damp grass being crushed against a foot hit her like a brick.

When she turned her head and saw Levi standing with his fists clenched at his sides, her first instinct was to hop on the horse and run. When she went to do so, it was far too late; Levi had already grabbed her body and flung it around, thus hurling her into the dirt. She tried to scramble to her feet, but he jumped on top of her and pinned her down with one hand on her shoulder and his forearm crossing her collar bone. She attempted to struggle, but it was uselss.

"What the hell are you doing, you idiot!?" He practically screamed, but kept his voice low. Too much noise could attrack a nearby titan, and that was the last thing he needed at that moment.

"I'm leaving." She squirmed. "Let me go!"

"Where are you gunna go, huh?" When she was silent and calmed down more, Levi stood up and brushed himself off. Mikasa took her first opportunity to escape the Corporal and continue with her plan, but he grabbed her by her wrist and fling her into the rocky wall. She yelped as he back painfully smashed against it, and Levi pinned her once again by her shoulders.

"Are you done?" He heaved. She bit her lip in anger. "I said, are you done?"

She nodded. "Let me go."

"Absolutely not." He almost laughed. "What the hell are you doing, Ackerman? You think you can go off and save Eren on your own?"

"I can. One person would go even less detected than a small group."

"So, was this your plan all along? Are you really more reckless than I'd previously imagined?"

She looked away. "Just let me go."

"You're staying. Just use your head, Mikasa." He pointed his finger in her face. "You're not invincible, nor are you immortal. You will die, and it better not be under my command, you got that?"

Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes. "I can do it on my own."

"You can't. Can you try to think rationally for a second? What are your chances of survival? You have minimal supplies for both yourself and your horse. You only have so many blades, so much water, so much bread. Not to mention how much gas you have. Sasha is carrying all the supplies. You were just going to leave with nothing and hope for the best because you have what, sheer determination?" He scoffed. "Don't be a damn idiot."

Mikasa was silent for several moments, taking in the Corporal's words. Of course he was right, she knew that. But she couldn't contain herself. With a sigh of defeat, she met his stern gaze. "I'm done now. You can let me go. I'm not going to run."

Hesitantly, he released her from his grip. He watched her with wary eyes, before he walked over to the horse and brought it back to the others.

"Tomorrow is going to be an exhausting day." Levi spoke. "We both need sleep. Let's go."

Mikasa stood outside the cave with solemn eyes staring up at the sky, wondering if Eren could be seeing the same sight.

The morning came a lot faster than Mikasa had anticipated. After her run in with Levi, she had been oddly tired, and was able to fall asleep easily. The same could not be said for the Corporal.

The man wore a pair of gruesome bags under his eyes, even more drastic than normal. He wanted nothing more than a coffee, but that was no option. He was thankful that he even had water, and that it hadn't all been drank by the soldiers. Levi had a bad feeling in his stomach, but that wasn't due to his lack of sleep. His intuition that morning assured him even further that this mission was not going to be a success. However, in Mikasa's eyes, he could see her idea of victory. He was tired of this; for once, he hoped that she was right.

The took off early in the morning and followed the trail for several hours with little titan encounters. Mid day came, and they figured it was safe enough to stop for a small break.

"Come on, let's get moving!" Mikasa shouted to the others.

"Mikasa, it's so hot out..." Sasha panted, drinking from her canteen.

"Yeah, chill out, Mikasa." Said Jean, recieving a menacing glare from the girl.

"We've been resting for ten minutes already. We're wasting-"

Corporal Levi cut her off by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Five more minutes, and then we go." He said, before walking away to his horse. Mikasa watched the man give his horse a carrot and pat her on the side of her head.

A tremor through the ground shook the group, jumping them all to attention. The horses neighed, and Levi was the first to pull out his weapons.

"Something is coming." He said. Way across the field, a figure could be seen what must have been miles away. It was massive, and as it became more visible, the ground shook even more.

"I-it's a titan!" Sasha screamed.

"Stay put." Levi demanded, taking a defensive position. The titan was getting closer at an alarming rate. Before long, they could make out a tall, lean figure; and not just that. Around the ankles of the beast, were several smaller ones. "It's just as I thought..." Levi muttered. "Everybody!" He shouted. "Get on horseback and flee! Now!"

"What!" Mikasa exclaimed, running up to him. "No! Look!" She pointed in the direction of the titan. It was still very far away, but they could make out it's lean, muscular structure and a moppy head of brown hair. "It's Eren!" Mikasa screamed in joy, tears filling her eyes. "It's Eren! Let's go!" She ran for her horse, but Levi was able to grab her by the wrist before she could reach it.

"Stop! Look at his feet, look at all those titans. Even with Eren, we can't fend those off!"

"Let me go!" Mikasa screeched. "He's right there! We can get him!"

"No! We're leaving, now!"

"I'm with Corporal Levi, let's get the hell outta here!" Connie shivered, scrambling to his horse. The others followed his lead and hopped on theirs.

"You five, get out of here." Levi commanded. "Keep on the same route, we'll catch up."

"Sir!" They exclaimed, before galloping away on their horses. Mikasa was still struggling to escape Levi's grip.

"We can get him." She turned to him with tears in her eyes. "Let me go. Let's go!"

"I can do that, Mikasa." He said in a calm manner, before striking the back of her skull, her last hazy image being of Eren's form in the distance.

A/N: HEY GUYS. It has been awhile. I apologize! I had a lot of writers block with this chapter for a long ass time. I definitely wanted to make it perfect considering how many reviewers and readers I have for this. The pressure was AWN. 8) But anyway, I'm still not 100% happy with it BUT I've gone over and edited it a million times too many, and I figured it's been far too long since I've updated. Thank you all SO much for the reviews. Holy crap, I feel terrible that I haven't been able to update for so long. My writers block has mostly gone away, so it definitely won't take me as long to post the next chapter.

ANYWAY I sincerely hope that I did not disappoint with this chapter. Please let me know how you feel about it in a review; if I did poorly, awesome or meh. :^)

Please review!