Summary;
Magath yells, Zeke has PTSD, Kramer gets introduced to the Warriors, and few surprises await ;)

A/N; if the spacing is weird for this/the following chapters, I had to copy-paste this off of Ao3 and will do so for the following chapters.

─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

It's the next morning when the shouting starts.

"What do you mean 'I lost him.'?!" The man roars, and Reiner feels Pieck shift beside him. He's never seen Commander Magath angry.

Irritated, absolutely, but angry? No. Because they don't usually lose this badly. Usually, they don't lose at all. And it's this anger and humiliation over loss that's terrifying, maybe equally as much as Squad Leader Hange's psychotic fits of rage. "How can you lose a person, moreover, how can you lose Ackerman?!"

"I..."

Reiner heaves a breath, mostly because the glare the man is emanating seems to relieve the air from his lungs. And he's not even the one being glared at.

"Captain Levi is very," he pauses as if searching for the right word. "elusive Sir. My apologies."

"My apologies? My apologies?! What am I going to do with your apologies? Use them to find Ackerman?! Say a spell and bang, he's suddenly here? He could be dead! Marley's biggest and most profitable asset is dead."

"Could be" he cuts in with a peevish tone. Reiner bites his tongue to keep himself from talking.

Shut up, or you're going to get everyone here killed. Honorary Marleyan or not, no one talks to their superior officer like that-

"He could be dead, and honestly... you were the head of this operation, and you were told to bring him alive, and you failed Zeke."

Zeke simply pauses and drinks from his cup of coffee. He's utterly unfazed by Magath, and honestly, Reiner has no idea who he would pick to win in this situation. Magath is one of the most influential leaders in the Marleyan military, and Zeke's superior, but it seems like Zeke's having a rebellious streak himself nowadays.

He thinks back to their briefing a few hours ago. If only Zeke hadn't lied and been so off in the reports, then when the truth eventually comes out, he'll at least get a milder punishment than if he hadn't exaggerated as much as he had. And the worst part is, now Reiner has to go along with it, and he doesn't even know why Zeke lied so much.

Suddenly, he misses Bertholdt. And Annie. Bertholdt's dead at worst or captured at best, and Annie's unreachable regardless, but at least they would have had some sort of opinion about his situation, other than 'follow Zeke blindly'. He's never outwardly spoken to Pieck, but now might be the time to. They're in the same boat now, after all.

Reiner feels dread pool in his stomach. When Zeke gets found out, he's going get the beating of a lifetime, guaranteed. Lying in official reports was already a crime that had been punished by torture regardless, but it was always in measures, levels. In this case, Zeke was going to the bottom of the pits of hell. Reiner and Pieck might even be along for it. Maybe punishment could come from the Marleyan president, whoever they have in charge now. Forcefully passing on their Titans early might be an option, depending on how bad the fallout is and how long it takes for everyone to find out. The Tybur family head himself could deliver retribution if it ends up being that grave.

But... if he reports Zeke early, then maybe he'd be spared?

If the message fails, though, then Zeke'll have his head for sure. No. Better to play it safe. He was going to die anyway, sooner or later, whether it be in peace or not was fine. As long as he didn't have to go back to that island of devils, it was all going to go fine. Smoothly. He'd lie to his mom, say he's fine, pick a warrior candidate and live the rest of his life in some semblance of peace.

Before unquestionably getting knocked out and eaten by a pure titan, of course. And then he'll go to wherever Annie and Bertholdt would be.

Maybe he'll even get to see Marco.

And then he could apologize for his sins-

Island devil. The pure ones don't beg forgiveness from the demons.

Boom!

The door unexpectedly slams open, startling Reiner from his thoughts. A lone soldier stands in the doorway and performs a sharp salute.

"Military Commander Magath, Sir! I have a message from Dr. Yeager that requires your immediate attention, Sir!" The man pulls out a tidied envelope and holds it out to Magath. Magath glances up at the man.

"Who are you, soldier?" he asks, all traces of anger gone from his voice.

"Captain Kramer Rie, Sir! Erudition Yeager's newly appointed assistant in congruence to his new project, Sir!"

The answer seems to satisfy Magath since he takes the paper from Kramer's hands. It isn't taken easily, though, seeing as Magath shoots Kramer a glance. Kramer stays where he is, arms slapped to his sides, waiting patiently.

Magath rips the paper with a letter opener he produces from his drawer and reads the letter silently. A few moments go by in awkward silence, with Magath shooting Kramer a few glances before he refolds the letter, places it inside the envelope, and hands it back to Kramer.

Kramer leaves and closes the door softly behind him.

Magath sighs, and Reiner senses Pieck tense, almost unnoticeably, beside him. He braces himself as Magath's voice fills the room.

"Congratulations are in order, Yeager. You and your team are not getting demoted." he throws the letter opener negligently onto his desk.

"Levi Ackerman was found yesterday on Marleyan shores by Kramer Rie and Striak Venue."

Reiner glances at Zeke, curious about his reaction.

His teeth are clenched and the cup slips from his fingers. It crashes to the floor and shatters.

"My apologies," Zeke kneels and picks up the cracked pieces of glass. His hair lowers and covers his face.

Reiner spots his expression in one of the shards.

His eyes are wide, his mouth parted. His hands shake negligibly as he picks up the slivers. Even Reiner can spot the way his breath catches through his coat.

Fear.

─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

Hange was, to put it simply, losing her mind, and a variety of reasons were at play.

There were people outside the walls. That was incredible, tremendously really. They weren't alone.

After placing Historia on the throne, the Survey Corps started receiving the crown's full support. That was also fantastic. They had access to so much technology that had been isolated from the world, and Hange couldn't wait to start tinkering.

She was now the commander of the Survey Corps, after Erwin's death. That was slightly less thrilling on its own, seeing as the paperwork that came with the position was a nightmare. But all the documents and certifications were nothing compared to the absolute ache that came with anything related to Levi.

Levi was officially MIA, but everyone knew they just needed to find a body. Levi's supposed disappearance was one of the main factors that were contributing to her unbound anxiety. Eren had claimed that he'd seen him atop wall Maria, before sliding down and landing in front of him. The other Titan and the man that had appeared had started fleeing. Levi had demanded Eren hand over his gas and blades, and he did so.

It was then that he noticed Armin breathing. Eren had begged Levi for the injection, and he'd given it to him reluctantly before running off to fight what was presumably the beast titan. Eren, with the injection in hand, gave Armin the titan serum. He'd eaten Bertholdt a few moments later. Floch had arrived, barely seconds later, with an injured Erwin in tow. The Titan serum was spent, and Reiner had been recently taken by the odd titan and man duo, with Hange only surviving the encounter due to Jean's tackle.

Hange arrived on the roof, with Jean and Mikasa following behind.

Erwin had passed a few moments later, with Hange by his side.

She had been the one to close his eyes and whisper a farewell.

By this point, everyone had regrouped on the roof and transferred to wall maria, just in case. But Levi still hadn't returned. Hange had even fired off a cacophony of flares into the sky. The one sign that he was still alive and fighting was a distant yellow smoke pillar in the wall's outer territory that even Hange managed to spot with her headache and one eye. After that, the battlefield remained unnervingly still.

They have time, so they spend it reloading their gas and blades and checking on the safe horses by the outer gate. She leaves Connie with Armin and Sasha to look after. Hange takes Connie's gas canister with her to fill for him and finds the gas refill station on a wagon. Hange's heart aches when she finds Moblit's steed.

The sun begins to dip past a drifting cloud before Hange decides to send Floch to check on Levi. He leaves and returns about twenty minutes later. His eyes are empty, and his face pale.

"He's gone." he heaves, breathless and on his knees.

Hange's mind goes blank, panic erupting.

"What... what do you mean?" she stares at Floch, and there's no light in his eyes.

"He's gone. There's no sight of him, or that weird titan and beast titan." Hange's heart shatters. Erwin being dead was bad enough, the line of succession leaving her as commander. But now Levi was gone too... he was going to be her right-hand man. Her crutch to get through this, but now...

She plows her anguish to the side, sighs, and gets to her feet. She has... a job.

The least she can do is look for him. She's a Commander now. He's a lost soldier. He's not the man she's known for six years.

She readies her ODM gear and orders everyone else to stay back. If Levi was dead, then she'd have to go alone. He was the last person she expected to die, and everyone else would have their moment with him, but she needed hers.

She swings close to the wall and arrives seconds later. She ignores the fact that she's used up a good amount of her gas, and lands near the fading smoke. She looks up and follows the vanishing trail until she's underneath it.

It's an empty patch of grass at first glance.

And then she looks closer.

There's blood there, by the discarded gas canister.

She kneels and brushes it.

Wet.

It was fresh.

She pulls out a glass vial and syringe. Collecting the blood is simple. After she's done, she inserts it into the vial, shoves a stopper inside and pockets it.

Floch was right. She realizes as she spins slowly, looking for anything else. There's no sign of Levi or anything else.

She kneels down beside the canister, and picks it up, pocketing it alongside the blood. A standard salute is the sendoff she gives him, her throat closing up as she leaves.

As Hange lands on Wall Maria, shaking her head at Eren's inquiries. She changes the subject. They have to find the basement.

So many people died for this.

Her squad.

Mobilt.

Erwin.

Levi.

She's the commander now. The commander of the survey corps, or what's left of them.

She stares at her seven subordinates.

Floch. Armin. Sasha. Connie. Jean. Eren. Mikasa.

They're hers. Her responsibility. Under her jurisdiction. The rest of the survey corps. Her corps. The entire survey corps. The living of the survey corps.

And Hange vows to never let what happened to the scouts happen again.

─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

He's fascinated by this - no, addicted to this.

The fascia and skin in itself are stunning. He's kept a few pieces of future sampling, but it's so extraordinary to see it mend in real-time. He's made a few incisions so far, and they all seem to heal at the same pace. He can't wait to test the blood later.

He signals for Jay, and he appears dutifully with a notepad. "It appears Ackerman's stem cells are responsible for the supernatural healing he possesses. And they all spread out, like a parallel circuit. Observe."

The skin, slowly but surely knits itself back together, at nearly the same time as the other slits. Right. Before. Their. Eyes. It takes a few minutes, but there's no blood clotting, no sign of injury, no sign of irritation period. It's... addictive.

Erudition's suddenly a child again, giddy and experimenting on insects in his basement. The neighbourhood kids are staring in a wide circle around him. Fay's looking over his shoulder, eyes wide with curiosity-

Jay scribbles onto the notepad, and Erudition looks over his shoulder. It's their eighth notation together in the past two hours, and Ackerman's scientific properties never seem to run out.

It makes him want to find more, but there's only so much he can do before he starts toeing the line between safety and caution. The amount of blood inside a person was always variable. Between five and four litres was found when they examined cadavers. Ackerman's already lost almost half a litre of blood, according to the container by the IV pole, and that's not even considering the blood on the floor and soaked in the sponges. Usually, fourteen percent was the accepted amount before things got dicey and ending the operation was favoured. If they were assuming Ackerman had the minimum four litres, then they're really pushing their luck with that one litre he'd taken the other day...

But he was conscious earlier, so he should be fine. Maybe.

And he'd rather like to keep his insects alive, while he can.

"Let's pack up for today." He brings over a sewing cart, pulls out a roll of sutures and threads it through the needle. Jay moves over to the IV pole, turning off the valium, and lowering the succinylcholine.

It was, unfortunately necessary. Erudition doesn't know what he'd do without paralytic agents.

He meticulously sews Ackerman's body back together, placing every suture with more care than a cobbler. This scout, this Ackerman is his. And he needs to make him absolute because he's never botched a job. But first, he needs an assignment, anything from the Marleyan head-ups. Technically, he's not even supposed to be drawing out blood, or doing anything really, seeing as Ackerman belongs to the Marleyan government by this point... but it's addictive.

Erudition scans Ackerman, his face slack, oxygen mask over his face. The ETT that goes down his throat would undoubtedly be rather uncomfortable and painful if he were awake at the moment. The ventilator is muted after being exposed to its constant thrum for so long.

This is how things should be.

He compares this man, to the one he saw earlier.

Unnecessarily guarded, demanding, blunt - curious and angsty, from Jay's report.

He's quiet. Subdued. Peaceful, now. Not at all the devil of Paradis. Just... a man.

Judging from the eye bags, he doesn't sleep or rarely does.

He seems so much... younger when he's asleep. This was supposed to be a little test, but if Ackerman's an insomniac, then he might do this more often if only to get him to sleep more. Sleep was important, and if Ackerman didn't acknowledge that, then it was an issue. Mental? Perhaps? If he was depressed... no. He can't afford that. Ackerman has to be perfect. Maybe this was what Paradis did to its people. To its soldiers. Traumatized them until they can't rest. Horrible.

Erudition sighs and finishes off the last suture. He snips it off and places the roll and needle back onto the cart. He knows the wounds will heal on their own - he's seen the proof for the past two hours, but the risk of infection would spike up if he left the bigger ones unattended.

He glances back at Levi.

Where did this sudden sympathy come from? He didn't know.

But Erudtion was always a man who went along with his mind.

He disinfects and bandages the incisions. Gauze is next, and Jay binds it spectacularly.

He regards Ackerman. His Ackerman, and his insect. His... project.

He clenches his fists.

"Don't worry, Ackerman." Jay glances up at him. "If Marley decides to take you from me, I'll get you back."

"Sir?" Jay speaks up from the desk.

"Jay." Erudtion stares at him. "Ackerman is ours. He's our project."

"Yes, sir." Jay murmurs, slipping through the papers before him.

"And if anyone - Marley, the scouts of Paradis, or otherwise, try to take him from us, we'll ruin them."

Jay looks up at that.

"If you don't mind my meddling, why Sir?" Erudition sighs.

"Don't you see it, Jay? This Ackerman is our responsibility. We need to make him perfect. The best. We can't do that if he's sent off being tortured in some Marleyan dungeon. Or stuck on Paradis. We need to get rid of impurities."

"No... I don't mean that Sir." Jay shifts a stack of reports. "I mean why protect him? His being our responsibility doesn't excuse this. You never speak like this about the others."

Erudition pauses.

"He... is special. All the other ones are replaceable. Ineffective. They are so repetitive that their faces blur in my mind. This one Ackerman. He's a key. And a chest. He holds secrets, and he's the answer to them."

He glances up at Jay.

"I trust you, Jay. There's no other person in the world I would tell this to." He swallows and stares at Ackerman.

"I... I must save my brother from Paradis. And if this is what Paradis does to its people... then I can't let it happen to my brother as well." Jay hums, selecting a sheet of paper and reading it over.

"It says here that according to the Warriors, there's a Yeager on Paradis. Eren Yeager."

"Eren Yeager?" Erudition repeats.

"Yes."

He hums and rips off the gloves. Flecks of blood spray the ground, but he pays them no heed. He hears Jay's protests and promptly ignores them. Unbuttoning his surgical gown and replacing it with a brown coat is easy, and he's by the door when he remembers Jay.

"Clean this up, and get Ackerman to the recovery room."

He's unlocking the door when Jay asks; "Where are you going, Sir?"

Erudition unfastens the lock and toes off his shoe covers. There's blood on his pants, but that'll be fine. He's seeing a select audience.

"To see some Warriors."

He opens the door and exits down the hallway. He hears Jay sigh behind him. He turns the corner, unlocks and leaves out the front door. He doesn't both locking it, Jay'll eventually.

He's hurrying down the steps of the patio when a man appears before him. He glances up, and a smile graces Erudition's face.

The man speaks first.

"Uncle."

Erudition laughs and pulls the man in a hug.

"Why, Zeke. It's amazing of you to drop by!"