Notes: Today is Zoey's (known as glitter cordite on here) birthday and I needed to give her something despite being a country apart. So this is for you, Thing 1. I hope you enjoy it at least a little bit. We all know that Jeankasa and horror aren't exactly my forte, but I'll do anything for you, darling. Everyone, wish Zoey a happy birthday!

The Awakening

Heart beating streams of blood into her deafened ears, Mikasa Ackerman wiped her sweaty palms on the rough fabric of her jeans. Grasping at her small handgun, she peered around the corner into the oppressive darkness. Quickly flattening her back against the cold concrete wall, she took two heaving breaths and looked over at her companion.

"How are you doing, Jean?"

Whipping his head in the girl's direction, the tensed man left out a shaky laugh, running trembling fingers through disheveled hair. Squatting down, he leaned over and tightened his shoelaces.

"Yeah, this is nothing." He shot a furtive glance at the pensive woman. "Nothing I haven't handled before, right?"

Refusing to respond— it would only hurt his feelings—, Mikasa checked her gun and then cocked her head, clearly saying to get a move on.

"Don't piss you pants, but we're going to have to head down this hallway."

Kirschtein shot up, eyes widening in apprehension. He stammered out, "O-oh yeah, let's go. We gotta find Eren."

Stepping into the drafty hallway, Mikasa cursed the heels of her boots. Why the hell were they so loud? At this rate, they were going to be eaten before they even caught a glimpse of her brother. Seeing a flickering light ahead, the woman quickly closed the distance and shouldered open the half-hinged door.

Grotesque lines of dried up blood ran across the length of the room. It appeared that someone— severely wounded if this blood was theirs—had been trapped in here for awhile. Narrowed, grey eyes swept over the expanse of the room, looking for a body, and landed on a huge circle of blood in the corner. Taking quick strides towards the puddle Mikasa leaned forward to get a better look.

"Hey, Mikasa, who do you think was in here?" Jean asked from his spot near a broken bookcase. "D'you think maybe E-"

"No." Stiffly straightening her back, the woman turned to her companion and pierced him with a steely glare. "There's no way Eren would allow them to do this. He's around here somewhere, fighting them off. I know it."

Concerned amber eyes followed her movements as she made to exit the putrid room. What was he supposed to say to that? There was no way in hell that her brother was still alive, but he couldn't find it in him to tell her that. Jean didn't think he could stand watching her break down once she realized the truth— Eren was never coming back. He was gone, and Jean would be left to pick up all the pieces.

With an awkward apology on his lips, Jean extended his arm towards the back of Mikasa's head— man, he loved her hair—, but was stopped by a shroud of darkness falling onto the room. The stifling blackness pressed all around his body as he stumbled forward, arms frantically seeking out the warmth of his companion.

"Mikasa, don't move."

Hot, sticky breath slithered down the man's exposed neck, leaving a wet trail of moisture on the pale skin. Whipping around and drawing his fists towards his face, Jean flicked his eyes around the room, trying to find any glimmer of light.

"You wanna fight, you shit? Let's go!"

A firm grasp took hold of his collar and yanked him further into the blank depths of the room. He stumbled along, trying to break his assaulter's grip. Suddenly, he was roughly pushed into a hole in the wall; rolling with the fall, he turned to face his attacker.

"God, Jean, did you really need to thrash around that much?"

The pale light of the moon caught onto the cheekbones of the woman in front of him, illuminating her face in a way that made her seem ethereal. Ebony strands of hair fell upon the pristine white of her skin—yin and yang, good and evil on one surface. Her appearance was a physical representation of her personality; Mikasa was the sweetest, most caring girl to her friends, but when she was seriously pissed off, she took on this feral glint that just screamed danger to anyone in her path. With a gulp, Jean realized that that was the look currently forming on her face.

"I'm just gonna guess that you weren't the one who creepily breathed down my neck just now?"

Turning her focus from the man lying in a pile of broken boards and debris, Mikasa crept to the hole that they had escaped through, grey eyes narrowed in concentration. With a sigh, she quietly moved from her spot near the wall and made her way towards her companion. Stooping down, she extended a slender hand to brush the grey dust out of his hair.

"I'm sorry that I brought you into this mess."

Grabbing the warm—delicate, so delicate—hand resting on his tawny head, he brought it to his lips, and pressed a slight kiss on her fingertips. She quickly withdrew her hand and took one bounding step backward, cold rushing between their bodies.

"We should probably get moving before that thing figures out how we disappeared."

With a heavy heart, Jean pushed himself off the ground and patted the dust off of his navy pants. Why the hell was is so hard for him to get close to her? Every single time he tried to show her how he felt, she'd brush it off and act like it never happened. It was always Eren this, Eren that. She never even paid attention to the guy who really cared for her. The damn girl broke his heart in two on a daily basis.

"Mikasa…"

"Jean, this is not the time to talk about this."

"But—"

"No, we can talk after we get out of this hellhole, okay? I promise."

Taking a step towards the quiet woman, he took hold of the hand hanging by her side and raised it between their faces. Extending his pinky and interlocking it with hers, he pierced her with fiery amber, mouth set in a firm line.

"You better not back out. I don't think I can take a third time."

Curling her small finger around his wider one, Mikasa slightly inclined her head and then quickly severed their physical contact. Face hardening into cold mask, she adjusted her backpack and hastily made for the exit.

Raven and tawny hair blowing back from a gust of icy air, the two squinted into the oppressive dark, wary to take a step further. Suddenly, two eerily green eyes shone at the end of the hallway. A feral breath was released and the alien eyes locked onto the man and woman. A guttural yell escaped from the monster's chest, causing the very air to vibrate from the sound, and then loud crashes were heard, signaling the beast's oncoming attack.

Grabbing the rough hand by her side, Mikasa pivoted on her heels and sprinted away from the monster. With breaths painfully escaping their parted mouths and hands moving in a blur, the two companions jolted through the labyrinth of locked rooms and winding hallways. With every terrified glance back at their pursuer, they lengthened their strides until they were bounding into the darkness.

Blood pounding in his ears, Jean was in a dazed state, his surroundings whizzing by him in a grey haze. Thoughts of escape were bouncing around his hammering head, far too cluttered and hectic to be comprehensible. Well, this was it. They were going to be murdered by some freaky ass monster that no one knew about. Their deaths wouldn't even be shared in hushed voices around a fire. They were going to die in this godforsaken place with no hope and no acknowledgment. They were alone. With that despairing thought, Jean felt his knees give out and he tumbled to the floor, knocking into Mikasa and causing her to go down as well.

Mikasa—focused and ready and so unlike Jean— anticipating her fall, rolled off her shoulder and into a crouch. Slipping her hand down to the holster at her hip, she hurriedly drew her gun and aimed at the glowing emerald eyes. She let out two deafening shots straight into the skull of the monster, causing it to reel over with a roaring crash.

Thick fog streamed out of the colossal body, filling up the room and blinding Mikasa and Jean. Swiping her hand in front of her face, Ackerman tried to clear the air so that she could examine their attacker. Slowly, the smoke dissipated and a human form could be seen protruding from the monster's carcass.

Taking hesitant steps, the raven-haired girl drew closer to the corpse until it was in full view. With a shaking gasp, she discarded her gun with a clatter and sprung forwards to catch the body falling from the beast's bones. Mikasa felt burning tears threatening to spill as she clenched her eyes shut, refusing them passage. However, her form began to shake with sobs until she was wailing, her tears breaking free like a deluge and cascading down her face.

Confused beyond belief, Jean stepped through the last tendrils of smoke to see the woman desperately clinging to an unconscious man. Head lolling to the side, his face was revealed, showing the marked face. What the hell? Was Eren the monster the whole time? But that didn't make sense. He couldn't be the monster…there was no way…

As Jean watched Mikasa bury her head into her brother's chest, he was distracted by a flicker of light. Intently peering into the adjacent room, his blood ran cold when he was met by the icy glare of another monster. Looks like they weren't getting out of this so easily.