Every Single One (Eren X Reader)

012

"Oh, Y/N," Hanji winced as she turned away from her titans. I could tell she was about to give me some terrible news, "We have to go to a hearing for Eren... they want to kill him."

"WHAT??" I shouted, louder than I should've.
"It's okay! I'm positive Levi and Erwin have a plan—we won't let them kill him."
I bit my lip anxiously, "When is it?" Hanji laughed and kicked the dirt nervously.
"Two hours..." she said before we both sprinted away from the beasts toward our barracks.
"Commander, I--"
"Just Hanji!" she reminded me.
"Hanji-- I'm worried we'll get in trouble," I said, adjusting my jacket and hurrying to the door, followed closely by Hanji. She laughed again and put her hand on my shoulder as we started walking to the stables to grab our horses.
"No, Y/N," she smiled, "You're worried about Eren." My face flushed and I shoved her hand off of me playfully. I flung open the stable's door and scrambled to Copper, the chestnut horse that I usually rode. Swinging my leg over the horse, I nodded at Hanji and we departed for the location of Eren's trial.

--

"So you're Eren, huh?" Hanji grinned, pressing her face up against the bars of Eren's cell. I was fuming and trying my best to not rip the spines out of the soldiers guarding him. Who did they think they were, locking Eren up like he was some animal? I knew they had a reason, but their reason certainly wasn't good enough for me. Eren jumped at Hanji's sudden appearance. I made sure he couldn't see me where I stood, hoping not to screw up the situation. "Sorry to keep you waiting. You're about to get out, but you'll have to wear these," I looked up sharply from the shadows as Miche approached Hanji, who was now pulling something out of her pocket. They were handcuffs.
"Commander--" I jumped away from the wall, stepping into the light and hurrying towards the cell. I almost tried to stop her, but she sent me a look that made my blood turn to ice, so I backed off.
"Y/N?" Eren asked, clearly surprised.
"Hey," I said awkwardly, not sure how to react. If I got too excited, I might've ripped off the heads of those bastards keeping my friend locked in a cell. 

The next thing I knew, Eren was handcuffed and we were all headed down the hall to Eren's inquiry. "I'm Hanji Zoe, and a squad leader for the Scouts," Hanji introduced herself. I noticed Miche lean down and smell the back of Eren's neck as the commander introduced him, too. Eren jumped in fear, leaning away from him with a terrified expression across his face. I kept glaring at the ground, still furious they had him locked up. 
"He literally saved our lives," I thought, "and we're--no, those Military Police jerks--are throwing him behind bars? How naive. He could kill us all if he wanted to anyway."
Eren stared in terror as Miche leaned back and smirked, lightening my mood a little. I fell back to keep my pace with his, and tried to make him feel a little better, as he was about to be put on trial with the risk of execution. 
"He did that to me, too when we first met," I muttered, leaning close to his face so he could hear me, "his nose really is great. He can smell titans when they're coming." He managed a nervous smile, opening his mouth to reply when Hanji interrupted us.
"Oh, my bad!" she apologized, stopping us in front of a door, "Too much chit-chat, and now we've arrived!" she seemed as though she didn't particularly care, ticking me off a little. "It's probably better not to get any explanation ahead of time..." Eren gasped as two soldiers grabbed him and pulled him into the room, looking back at us with pleading eyes. I almost tried grabbing him back but knew it'd just get us both in trouble.
"Wait!" he called. I felt terrible for not trying to help him, though there wasn't anything I could do. I just stared back at him, trying not to let my own fear show through, but I don't think it worked, as he just looked more terrified when he met my gaze.
"I'm so sorry," I started before Hanji slammed the doors shut, leaving him with nothing but a nod and a 'good luck.'

--

"As anticipated, concealing your existence has proven impossible," Zachary told Eren as Hanji, Miche, and I entered the military courtroom.
"I mean yes," I thought sarcastically, "probably because he didn't even know it existed, dumbass." I was still furious when Hanji nudged my elbow and shot daggers into me with her eyes. I raised an eyebrow in confusion and slapped my hand over my mouth when I realized I'd muttered what I said under my breath, not just in my head.
"What I will decide today is what force will have custody of you," the judge said, adjusting his glasses as he gazed down at Eren chained to a pole, "The Military Police or the Scout Regiment. Now then," he set down the papers in his hand, "I ask the Military Police for their proposal." I tensed up, angry at the representatives of the regiment who hadn't even spoken yet. I knew they wanted to kill Eren, which disgusted me. They weren't even going to try to help save humanity with this newfound discovery, no, their cowardly asses were going to cut it off immediately. How spineless.
"Yes sir," A man stepped forward on the MPs' side, "I, head of the Military Police regiment, Nile Dawk, will present my proposal."
"You better, you coward," I thought, "Nile Dawk... I have to remember that name..."
"After a thorough investigation of Eren's body," he said, making me choke on the air. 
"I'm sorry," I wanted to scream, "but you did what?"
"... we believe he should be eliminated immediately," he continued. I tried so hard not to show how angry I was, but my body moved on its own and only managed a single step towards Nile before Hanji grabbed my elbow. I knew this was my last warning, so I did what I could to calm down and stepped back. "It's certainly true that his titan powers saved us from a previous evil, but his existence threatens to spark a civil war," it was getting harder to control myself by the second. Mikasa, who was a few rows to my left, also seemed like she was restraining herself from attacking the head of the Military Police. "So we ask him to die for humanity's sake, leaving behind all the information he can." He had a point, but this was Eren we were talking about. His life shouldn't be thrown around so lightly.
"There's no need for that!" a gruff voice shouted. I turned to see a man in a tunic--a Wallist priest yelling and pointing his finger directly at Eren, who also turned to see who was shouting, "He's a pest! He has deceived the walls that embody God's wisdom!"
"God's wisdom my ass," I muttered, breaking away from Hanji and going to stand next to Mikasa, whom I knew wouldn't hold me back if I needed to kill those who tried to kill any of my friends, especially Eren.
"We'll hear the Survey Corp's proposal next," Zachary turned to the other half of the room, where I stood between Mikasa and Rico with Annie and Connie behind us. Armin was to the right of Mikasa shaking slightly.
"I, the 13th commander of the Survey Corps, Erwin Smith, will now present my proposal," Erwin stepped forward, not needing a script to say what he thought was right. I was proud to be a part of the Scouts instead of those lowly Military Police. He explained that Eren would be welcomed as an official member of their forces, making my heart leap, though it quickly sank. Surely the judge wouldn't accept such an offer? Erwin included that they'd use Eren's power to retake Wall Maria, sparking interest in a few of the Military Police soldiers. I almost scoffed, but the room was silent other than Erwin's proposal, so I kept my mouth shut and waited for Erwin to continue.
"That is all."
A sharp tension struck around the room, followed by a few moments of shocked silence.
"That's all?" Zachary asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes, sir," Erwin confirmed.
The crowd broke out in objections.
"Shouldn't we just seal all the gates once and for all?!"
"Shut up, merchant dog!"
"How do we know he can control his power?! He's not humanity's weapon--he'll be our destruction!"

"You sure do talk a lot, pig," a low voice echoed around the room, shutting everyone up. It was Levi. "What proof do you have that the titans will wait patiently while we seal the gates?" he said calmly, "The 'we' you speak of are only those you wish to protect--your 'friends' who help line your pockets. The people who starve because there isn't enough land to sow don't even figure into the thoughts of you pigs."
"W-we just thought that we could survive by sealing the wall gates--" the merchant stammered defensively, playing the victim.
"Silence!" the old priest shouted, shoving himself into the merchant's face, "Impious traitor! Mere humans altering walls that were a gift from God?" he rambled on about the importance of humanity 'not laying a finger' on the walls, and how they were 'sacred.'
"Thanks to them," Armin whispered, "it took years before we could even mount cannons on the walls."
"They have a lot of support and power, which makes them difficult to deal with," Rico nodded in agreement.

A banging sound rang around the room. "Silence," Zachary said, "You may discuss personal philosophies and beliefs elsewhere. Jaeger," I stood up straight now that the courtroom had finally gotten back on track, "Jaeger, I wish to confirm something."
I felt Miksa tense up next to me and clenched my jaw in anticipation.
"Can you continue to serve as a soldier, but using your titan powers to benefit humanity?" My heart dropped. As far as I was aware, Eren didn't have any means of controlling his powers and they only kicked in when it was convenient for his or his friends, not when he felt like it.
"Yes, sir, I can!" Eren called back anxiously.
"Oh?" the judge said skeptically, "But on the reports from Trost say that immediately after transforming into a titan, you swung your fist at Mikasa Ackermann." Eren gasped and snapped his head around to stare at Mikasa in shock. I wasn't surprised she hadn't told him, but I wasn't aware that he didn't remember losing control. Mikasa glared at Rico.
"You want me to lie in a report?" she said angrily, "Hiding the truth won't help humanity."
"I couldn't care less," I thought, "it would barely help humanity, but it sure as hell would help my friend, who I intend to side with no matter what. I'd do the same for Sasha, Armin, Mikasa, Connie--all of them." 
Zachary confirmed that Mikasa was present and asked if it was true that Eren, in titan form, had attacked her. She hesitated and Rico reminded her that lying wouldn't help Eren at all. Mikasa managed a reply. She told the truth--that Eren really had tried to attack her. I wasn't mad at her at all, only at Rico for including such a trivial detail in her report that would end up being catastrophic when it came to Eren's life. Murmurs and gasps spread around the room, making me even angrier.
"But on two previous occasions," Mikasa said, silencing the crowd, "Eren saved my life in his titan form." She explained how Eren had saved her twice, giving the details of each event and saying she would like these facts to be considered when deciding Eren's future. 

"I object."

I spun on my heels, glaring at Nile, who had spoken out. He told the crowd about how the Jaegers had taken Mikasa in; making sure to include the detail that at the age of nine Eren and Mikasa had killed three robbers who were trying to abduct Mikasa. The same, rotten merchant from before spoke out as everyone in the crowd began speaking their worthless opinion on Eren's past.
"She's one too!" That did it for me. I uncrossed my arms and pushed through the crowd to reach him. When I reached him, he stared at me with terror, recognizing me as the girl who stood next to the 'titans' calmly. I gripped his collar and glared at him with my teeth gritted.
"You ugly animal! You're a hell of a lot closer to a titan than any of them will ever be!" I shouted, making the whole courtroom fall silent as they turned to stare at me.
"She must be a titan, too!" another man shouted, "we have to dissect all of them, just to be sure!"
"Wait!" Eren screamed, pulling at his bindings, "I may be a monster, but they have nothing to do with it!" Mikasa stared at everything in horror and disbelief. People continued to shout about us all being titans when Eren screamed even louder. "No!" The room went silent again and the merchant whose collar I still gripped muttered something foul under his breath.
"What was that, shitface?!" I shouted, punching his disgusting nose. I felt it shift and felt a bit of pleasure knowing I'd broken it. I felt something hit the back of my head, but I was already unconscious before I had the chance to realize what happened.