Writer's note: Sorry about the late update. Shit gets in the way sometimes. Hope ya'll enjoy the chapter; I enjoyed writing it.
Saturday 13:00, March 4th… Mikasa's Apartment, The Bronx
Jean watched in fascination when Mikasa bit her lip, a bead of sweat dripping off her face. His eyes followed in fascination as her body moving up and down in a clear rhythm. She let out a forceful breath, and clenched her fists. After a moment of respite, she shook her head to keep her hair out of her eyes and continued.
"Jesus Christ, Mikasa!" Jean said, "Slow down! You're going to hurt yourself!"
Mikasa craned her neck to give Jean a blank look before dropping back into a proper push-up position and resuming her set. Which Jean felt he was intruding on. Not that that ever stopped him the previous times he had interrupted her workouts, but it still made him feel like he had just walked in on a painter in the middle of nude session.
"How many have you done?" Jean asked, sitting himself down on a metal fold out chair beside the kitchenette. Jean had been inside her apartment many times before, and he was the only person, besides Eren, to have a spare key to her place. They used it as a covert meeting place where they could discuss his more secret missions without being overheard by other members. He didn't like keeping secrets from his comrades, but sometimes it was necessary. Especially in Eren's case.
Mikasa huffed and pushed herself up to her feet. She stretched her arms over her head to loosen up before jumping up onto the chin-up bar she had installed in her doorway. Like everything about Mikasa, her apartment screamed practicality. Her living room had been turned into a gym, her refrigerator was full of protein shakes and nonperishable foods, and instead of a wooden dining table she preferred to use a plastic table she could fold away. In Jean's opinion the place looked more like a barracks than a home.
"Don't you ever get tired?" Jean sighed, watching her with a slight hint of exasperation.
"You had a report." Mikasa deadpanned, not bothering to stop her exercises. Whatever. She could do pull-ups and listen to his report at the same time.
"I do. I had a talk with one of the cops you saved." He rested his head on his knuckle, his brown eyes following her movements.
"Why only one?"
"The male's in a coma." Jean waved his hand dismissively, "But his partner agreed to work with us. Well, work with me. I know you'd rather the rest of the gang avoid her."
"The less she knows the better." She said, counting her reps under her breath as she listened, "What's your take on her?"
Jean shrugged, "She's got no one else to turn to and she thinks that the Hundred Fourth could help her get some revenge on the Titans. So she'll help us as long she thinks we're the lesser of two evils."
Mikasa finished and hopped off the bar, wiping away the sweat from her face with a nearby towel, "Do you trust her?"
Jean thought for a moment, his brow furrowed, "I trust that she wants the best for herself and her partner."
"That should've been easy for you to exploit." Mikasa said offhandedly.
"It was." Jean admitted quietly. He knew that Mikasa was just stating a fact and not making a jab at him, but the words still didn't sit right with him. Watching Hitch collapsing in on herself after she had heard that jogger humming and how easily her moods had shifted throughout the encounter... It made him a feel a little bit ashamed of himself.
The woman was traumatized. No telling if she's even capable of taking care of herself right now, and I pushed her into a position that could get her locked up or killed. Fuck, that stings a little.
Mikasa finished toweling herself off and walked over to the plastic fold-out table that served as a dining area. Before she was able to open another folding chair, Jean stood out of his and offered it to her out of habit. His usually cocky smile didn't make an appearance however; he had been on so many dinner dates that offering his chair had become a reflex.
The raven haired lieutenant thanked him with a curt nod before cracking open a water bottle and drinking deeply from it. Jean made himself comfortable by leaning on the counter, his hands in his pockets.
"Have you told Eren about the titan you killed?"
Mikasa shook her head, "I have no intention of doing so."
"May I ask why not?"
"You just did."
Jean snorted, "You know what I mean. Finding a titan a few minutes away from the Freedom sounds like something he should know about, right?"
"I had Sasha search the lot after the cops finished with it. She found an open runoff pipe with the its cover torn off." Mikasa folded her hands in her lap and closed her eyes, obviously winding down from her exertions, "My guess is that it used the sewers as a lair before it got hungry and crawled out to hunt."
Jean flinched at the mention of sewers. He had been unlucky enough to experience claustrophobic tunnels already, he had no desire to do that again. He barely survived the first time.
"And before you ask, yes I looked up the layout of that pipe. It's part of a network that was sealed in the sixties and it doesn't get any closer to us but I'm sending Connie over with some guys to weld it shut just in case."
Thank god. The idea of titans sneaking around under our feet made me a little nervous. That shit's straight out of a Stephen King book.
Mikasa voice became even more serious than usual, "If Eren finds out about that titan…"
"He'd want us to tear about the entire sewer looking for more." Jean finished her thought gravely.
"Or he might go down there himself."
Jean chuckled, the image of Eren pulling some action movie shit in the sewers was darkly amusing to him. He would be just the kind of person to load up on guns and runoff on his personal crusade. Probably be high off his face while he did so too.
"Did you find the client?" Mikasa changed the subject with her usual tactless deadpan, like a computer moving on to the next line of code. Jean looked at her in confusion for a moment before realizing that she was asking about his search for guy that sent them to the warehouse a month ago.
"Other matters took priority for me." His eyes twinkling as smile crept up on his lips, "I was off bribing cops and sleeping with therapists, remember?"
The lieutenant snorted, whether from humor or annoyance, he couldn't tell.
"Finding the client is now our top priority. He knew where to find those Titans, and I for one, am tired of shooting up crack dens looking for clues. We need intel and he has it."
"It would be easier if I had a partner, you know." Jean pointed out.
Mikasa blinked, her only outside indication of surprise, "You got someone in mind?"
"Armin seems like a smart guy." The con-artist's words were delivered with perfect nonchalance, as if the small blond was the obvious choice, "I bet he'd make a great confidence man."
He could tell from the furrowing of Mikasa's brow that she wanted to veto his idea, but instead she spent a quiet moment thinking to herself. Jean hoped that she wouldn't let her desire to protect her friend blind her to his suggestion. Out of all the members of the 104th, Armin fit the mold of a budding con artist perfectly. He was intelligent, thoughtful, and disarming whenever he spoke. Jean knew talent when he saw it, and he saw it when Armin used his influence and cunning to sway Eren's decision during Annie's execu-initiation. If he could convince a homicidal crank fiend to spare the life of the uppity bitch that stole from the gang… then, with the right guidance, he might also be able to pull some real miracles.
"Are you willing to take responsibility for training him?" Mikasa asked as she rose from her seat, standing directly in front of him and calling attention to the tightness of her tank-top and light sheen of sweat that decorated her pale skin.
Fuck she looks good when she's tired. Maybe I should join her set next time; I'm in pretty good shape, I'm sure I can keep up with her.
"Of course I will! Trust me Mikasa, he's gonna have a blast working with me." Jean's cocky smile came back full-force, "I won't even have to do much. That angel face of his is gonna do most of the work for us."
The corner of her lip twitched upward momentarily, and her eyes softened, "It's settled then. But do me a favor and wait a few days before starting, he hasn't fully healed yet."
Jean nodded, still smiling, "No problem. Can't have him puking in the middle of dinner, can we?"
Saturday 14:00, March 4th… 104th Street, The Bronx
Annie rolled her head slowly around her shoulders, wincing as her vertebrae popped loudly from the motion; her muscles feeling stiff and unresponsive to her wishes. Shows her right for staying up so late last night. Nile wasn't expecting her new report until the end of the week anyway.
She leaned back on the wooden door of the Freedom's garage, crossed one leg over the other and shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. Her fists clenched with anticipation, she waited for her new 'coworker' to show.
She hated waiting, especially when it's cold out. Another chilling gust of wind brushed past her, making her bangs flutter wildly. She pulled her leather jacket tighter around her body and considered pulling her sweatshirt's hood up to block the cold. She decided against it, she might doze off if she got too comfortable.
Where is this motherfucker? I've been waiting here for half an hour already.
She'd be lying to herself if she said that she didn't feel a rush of excitement when she woke up this morning. Today was, for lack of a better label, her first real day working for the 104th. She had spent the last few days since her initiation resting off her injuries and waiting around for Jeager to give her an actual assignment, and despite her attempts to counter it, she had started to become bored. Yesterday her boredom came to a head and instead of lounging around the bar watching truckers and day laborers drink themselves into a stupor, she had searched out Mikasa and asked the laconic lieutenant for some work.
Mikasa had been unresponsive to her requests at first. The dark-haired woman treated her with polite contempt, and seemed to be itching for a reason to get physical with her. Annie assumed she held a grudge against her for beating up Jaeger and Arlert, which was extraordinarily unfair in Annie's opinion. It took a few minutes of careful prodding and a mouthful of backhanded remarks before Mikasa finally relented.
"Hey! Annie."
The blonde snapped her piercing gaze to her side, where a tall man with swept back, somewhat spiky brown hair stood. He wore a simple workman's jacket, a pair of ripped blue jeans, and a deep frown on his face. Annie stared at him, waiting for him to introduce himself.
"Mikasa told me that you're gonna be tagging along with me today."
So this was her coworker… Annie nodded in affirmation and stood up to her full height, which still only came up to his ribcage.
"Cool. Let's get going then, we got a ton of shit to do today." He grumbled and turned away from her, walking over to a four door sedan. Annie followed behind him, the excitement squirming in her guts belied by her outwardly disinterested demeanor.
She stayed silent as the two of them drove out of the chain link gates of the Freedom's parking lot. She made herself comfortably in the car, pulling the passenger seat forward so she could see the road. The man driving kept the windows up as he plugged an AUX cord into an old iPod and queued up a playlist. Old school hip-hop filled the car, reminding Annie of another assignment she worked back up in Chicago. That had been an unusually short case. She had worked it for barely a day before the suspect committed four felonies in a single afternoon and rammed a police cruiser.
Hopefully that's not on today's agenda. That would be really annoying if I get locked up on my first day.
"Did Mikasa tell you what you'll be helping me with?" The man asked.
Annie shook her head and looked over at him, prompting him to explain.
"We're gonna be collecting today." He took a right and drove south, his frown never leaving his face, "You ever work a shakedown before, girl?"
"Does ransom count?" Annie replied, that had been strange case too.
The man rocked his hand in a 'so so' gesture before replying, "Eh, not really. But don't get too discouraged, working a shakedown is like riding a bike."
"You only need to learn it once?"
"No, I mean that any fucking idiot can do it." He pulled over in front of a small laundromat and glanced at her after he stepped out of the car, "Just watch what I do."
She nodded and joined him. The two of them walked into the small store, the glass door beeping loudly to announce their presence. Annie surveyed the laundromat through half-lidded eyes, her hands back in their pockets. The place was tiny, holding only about ten wash stations and driers. The walls were painted in an obnoxious shade of what Annie called 'Senile Grandma Green' and the chipped counter was manned by an old Asian man missing most of his teeth. The place was dead, with not a single costumer inside.
"Hello, Mr. Tann." Her coworker called out to the man, "That time of the month again."
The old man withered in his seat, "So soon?"
"Check your calendar, old timer. Now hurry up, I got to pick my kids up at five." The gangster leaned over counter menacingly; Annie stood by and observed coolly.
Huh. A protection racket. A little dated but you can't go wrong with the classics.
Mr. Tann fished around in his pocket for a moment before presenting a crumpled envelope to the gangster. The tall man checked the contents and nodded in satisfaction, "Looks good. See you next month, old timer."
They left the laundromat and climbed back into the car. The man pulled away and drove down the street, "See? Nothing to it."
Annie nodded, "How many people are we shaking down today?"
He scratched the underside of his chin in thought, "Only about twenty or so." He replied, "We're only dealing with blue street clients today."
Her head cocked to the side with interest, "Blue street?"
"Mhmm. Mikasa's big on organization, you see. So we separate our clients into different groups by their collection date and by how big a cut they owe us."
He stopped in front of a red light, glancing behind him for a moment to check traffic, "Today I'm doing blue street clients. Which means that we collect about fifteen percent of their earnings every thirty days."
"Ok…" Annie absorbed the information like a sponge, more than a little impressed with the 104th's system, "Does location matter at all?"
"Nope."
"What other groups are there?" Annie asked, mentally recording every detail for her report.
"We got blue street, yellow street, green street, and red street." The light turned green and they continued on their drive, "Green street clients are like family grocery stores or coffee shops. You know, low risk customers. Nobody really bothers them much and they don't make too much so we don't collect that often from them."
"I'm assuming blue street is a step up from that."
"Not bad. You're smarter than I thought." The man snorted, and Annie couldn't figure out if he was being sarcastic or not, "Blue street clients don't have much risk but they pull in more money, so we collect from them more often."
He glanced at her, a skeptical look on his face, "Can you guess what the yellow street clients are?"
"Clients that make more cash but present a higher risk?"
"Bingo!" The man slapped the dashboard lightheartedly, "We collect a solid thirty percent of their income every fifteen days, so we're talking places like strip clubs and liquor stores. Lots of street punks think those places are easy targets, so we help keep riff-raff out."
"What's red street then?"
The man's mood seemed to sour as soon as she asked that, "That's for clients that tried to fuck with us somehow. You know, like trying to hide money from us or giving us lip. We take most of their cash every week until they paid their due."
Annie blinked, somehow not even a little bit surprised that the 104th had instituted such draconian punishments.
The man pulled over in front of a small deli and parked the car, "Ok girl, you think you got the basics down?"
Annie nodded, "Walk in. Ask politely for the payment, count it and leave."
"You got it." He thought for a moment, "We're at Grecko's so talk to the young guy with a goatee. The take should be two thousand dollars."
"What do I do if they don't pay up?" She asked, silently hoping the answer wasn't 'burn down the deli'.
"Scare the fuck out of them. Rough 'em up a little. Throw their shit around if you have to." He shrugged, "The choice is yours. Just don't go around dropping bodies."
Alright, I can work with that. Extortion and coercion isn't as bad as aggravated arson.
She stepped out of the car and waited for him to join her.
"Any last minute questions?" The man asked, his brown eyes watching her intently.
Something popped into her head, and on a whim she asked, "Yeah, what's your name?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Nack." He let out a bark of laughter, the sound surprisingly vibrant for someone like him, "Now get in there and show me what you leaned."
Annie rolled her shoulders and walked headlong into the deli, her stride quick and a look of glaring impatience frozen across her face. She took a second to take in the place, noting that a few of the tables inside were occupied and that a small line was waiting in front of the counter. She pushed past the people and walked behind the counter, her ice-blue eyes set on a young man with a goatee.
"Hey! Miss, you can't be back h-"
"I'm here to collect." Annie deadpanned, her tone as flat and sharp as a scalpel.
The man's face blanched, his eyes darted back from Annie to Nack, who was leaning against wall.
"C-can this wait a little?" He pleaded, his hands shaking, "I uh…"
"Do you have the money or not?" Annie asked, taking a step closer to him.
"Yeah! Of course! Of course I have the money! Hahaha…" The man's nervous laugh tapered off when Annie's cold look shifted into a full glare, "I mean, I have most of it but I-"
"Is that a no?" She demanded.
"No! Just…"
"Good. Give it to me. Now." She held out her hand, waiting expectantly.
The man desperately glanced around, searching for a friendly face. But the deli patrons knew better than to get involved, each on them had either left immediately or were hunched over their food, chewing silently with their eyes on their meal. Defeated, the man sighed and reached into his pocket and dropped the take into her hand.
Annie tore the envelope open and quietly counted the bills inside as the man stood shaking in front of her.
She finished her count and her glare once again enveloped him, "It's light."
He flinched violently as if she had burned him with a red hot poker, "I-I know but if y-you give me a cha-"
"Open the register."
"W-what?! Nonono, I need that money! I have rent due this week and-" The man began to panic, his words breaking off into incoherent babbling. Annie felt a genuine spark of annoyance inside her as she watched him. She wanted him to shut up, and her more logical side gave her the perfect reason to make him. Annie knew that Nack was watching, she knew that he would report how she handled this to Mikasa and the rest of the gang when they got back. She might as well make sure he gave her a glowing recommendation.
Her hand shot forward before the man could react, he was short for a male so Annie had little difficulty grabbing a handful of his hair and pulling his head down hard enough to make him double over. The man cried out in pain as Annie lead him, painfully gripping him by the roots of his dark hair, to the register. She forced him back to his full height, and for a moment she caught a look of naked fear etched on the man's face.
She kicked out one of his legs, throwing him off balance before grabbing another fistful of hair in her freehand and smashing his face into the register. A sharp clang! reverberated throughout the deli as the man's head hit the machine with his entire weight behind it, his head bouncing off sharply. Blood leaked down the plastic register covering and poured from his nose and mouth, dripping down his tear-stricken face onto the white apron he wore.
He coughed raggedly and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the tiles. On his knees and with her hand still entangled in his hair, he could do nothing to stop Annie pressing his damaged face against the register.
"Open it." She intoned.
He coughed again, one hand groping against the keys. With a load pinging sound the register snapped open, scaring the man as the till slapped lightly against his chest. With a bored shove, Annie released the man from her death grip, making him fall to the floor in a crumpled heap.
She causally counted out the missing amount, a solid five hundred dollars, before pushing the register shut and adding the bills to the take. She glanced down at the stunned man and frowned. He had curled up into a fetal position, his hands wrapped protectively around his face and loud gasping sobs escaping his throat.
For fuck's sake. I didn't even break your nose and you're having a breakdown.
As she took a step forward she heard something crunch under her boot. Her nose wrinkled in disgust when she noticed that she had stepped on one of his teeth.
Oh. That would explain the crying.
Annie wiped the fragments off on a carpet before walking out of the deli, noticing with some satisfaction that Nack followed behind her closely. They sat back down inside his sedan and she handed him the envelope, "So? How'd I do?"
"Not bad, girl. Not bad at all." Nack pocketed the take and let out a gravely chuckle, "You got yourself a bit of mean streak don't ya?"
"Sometimes." Annie shrugged, her face still as impassive as ever and her voice dull with boredom, "Let's go. We still have more clients to get to today."
Saturday ?:?, March 4th... [REDACTED]
There was something to be said about the honesty of animals. Most animals don't have a reason to or the capacity to lie. If a dog likes you, it'll wag its tail. If it doesn't, it'll growl. Simple, easy to understand, blatantly obvious signals that any person could pick up on.
Petra liked that about them. In her family honesty was highly valued, she had grown up with the lesson that honesty was a good thing to have in life, so it cheered her when she saw it in the world around her. Especially in her four-legged and winged friends.
However, too much honesty can be annoying. For example, the pair of vultures flying circles above her head sent a very honest and a very discouraging message.
They think I'm dying. Well jokes on you, I'm not ready to be eaten yet. Come back later.
"They're back." Petra grumbled, her eyes idly following the feathered scavengers, "I wish they'd stop doing that."
"We keep getting their hopes up." A cynical male voice answered her, "Not much to eat around here, I'll bet."
Petra wiggled her shoulders and hips, trying to find a more comfortable position on the hot rocky Texas earth. It wasn't very accommodating to say the least.
"I saw a dead rattlesnake a while ago." She commented, stilling her movements and resting her head on her day-pack, "They could go eat that instead."
"You should have told me. I could've made dinner."
Petra turned her head to the side, partly to keep the sun out of her eyes but mainly to bemusedly look at her companion, "No way do you know how to cook rattlesnake, Levi."
"No way you don't know how to cook rattlesnake. All you have to do is skin it, impale it on a stick, and hold it over a fire for half an hour. Any moron could do it."
"Then why don't we go find one while we wait?" Petra offered, eager to get up and move around for a bit. The two commandos had spent the past few hours laying on their back in a foot-deep ditch, waiting for further information from their scouts. The tiny wall of dirt and rock only slightly hid her from sight and offered little shade to protect her from the blazing sun. Still, she wasn't too worried about being spotted, the only signs of civilization around here were two interstate highways, miles apart. And empty.
"You could teach me." She added hopefully. Levi just continued to lounge, like a lizard basking in the sun.
Unlike his younger teammate, Levi seemed right at home in the arid desert. With the brim of his baseball cap pulled over his eyes and his hands clasped lazily across his chest, the normally vigilant man looked like he had just settled down for a mid afternoon nap. His causal look was completed by his jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt, a far cry from his preferred military fatigues. If it wasn't for the magazine-filled plate carrier* strapped around his torso and the carbine propped up beside him, he almost looked… normal.
Damn, he should wear jeans more often. They look good on him.
Petra winced with embarrassment at the thought and promptly kicked it out of her head. She must have spent too much time staring at the sun. She glanced down at her own clothing, blowing away a stray lock of hair.
During their mission briefing Erwin and Levi had agreed that, since they would be operating during the day, it would be best for the commandos to dress in civilian clothes to avoid suspicion in case they were spotted. Petra herself wore a simple white t-shirt and a pair of slim khaki cargo pants, her own light plate carrier hidden under a blue-and-black flannel overshirt. Her light ginger hair was pulled back into a short ponytail and covered with a faded baseball cap. From a distance she looked like a stereotypical southern woman, although she lacked the accent.
She noticed that Levi hadn't replied to her question, and a glance revealed that he was too busy listening to his radio. Petra felt herself tense up with anticipation. If Levi was getting a broadcast that meant a scout had spotted their target.
"Understood, Crow two. Give me a full description of the target." Levi rose to his feet and nodded to Petra, "Get the bike, we're moving." He ordered.
"On it!" Petra jumped to her feet, scooped up her backpack and weapon in one fluid movement, and ran toward a large patch of cacti roughly twenty meters away. Behind the prickly vegetation lay an all-terrain two-person dirt bike, concealed by some camouflage netting. Petra pulled netting away, pushed the motorcycle onto its wheels, and secured her weapon and pack to the back of the vehicle. Satisfied that her gear was squared away she grabbed the handle bars, slid into the seat, and twisted the ignition. The bike roared to life, bringing a wide grin to Petra's face.
Sand and rocks flew as the wheels tore into the sun-baked earth while the bike found the traction it needed. Petra accelerated past the cacti and rode back to where Levi was listening intently to one their scouts. She came to a stop a few feet away from him, engine humming in eagerness.
Levi cut his broadcast between the scout and slung his weapon across his back before climbing onto the motorcycle behind Petra.
"Head to marker charlie." Was all he managed to say before Petra gunned the engine and sped across the rocky ground. The meters flew by as the dirt bike careened past boulders and over the dried dirt at a healthy 60 miles per hour.
When Longsword had dropped them off hours ago, the squad had separated into three teams. Levi and Petra rode south in case the target tried to switch interstates, Oluo and Eld had set up a vantage point on the highest point they could find for overwatch, and Gunther took the direct path to the predicted interstate to prepare the ambush. Their mission was simple: locate and intercept a semi-truck suspected of smuggling titans into the United States. If they were lucky, the truck would be full of C and D class titans that they could easily dispatch with small arms fire. If they were unlucky then they might have to take on a B-class. Or, god forbid, some of the newer monsters they've been encountering recently: abnormals.
She shifted in her seat, leaning slightly to the side to help guide the dirt bike around a patch of rocks. After about ten minutes of riding her adrenaline had settled into a comfortable burn, her body reacting to the obstacles in their path before she even had time to think about them. The desert wind blew past her and tugged at her clothing and hair, bringing a sense exhilarated peace. She was enjoying herself so much she started losing track of where she was going.
"Ral, slow down." Levi's voice broke the serenity, "There's a ravine ahead."
She brought the bike to stop about 50 meters away from the gorge. She surveyed the area, looking for a way around the obstacle, but the ravine stretched out to either side for miles.
"Tch, just our luck." Levi said, glaring at the gorge as it had personally slighted him, "Shitty ass maps never show the small things."
Petra glanced back at her captain, "What do we do?"
"Go around and hope we find a place to cross the damn thing."
She nodded and prepared to drive, when something caught her eye. A little ways ahead, she spotted a outcropping of rock that stuck out over the ravine. A natural ramp. A glint of excitement appeared in her eyes.
That could be useful. I mean the ravine is only a few meters wide and there's plenty of run-up... I can make that jump.
"Captain, I have an idea on how to cross!" She reported, turning back to give Levi an eager smile.
"You about to grow wings and jump over it or something, Ral?"
Her smile grew into a grin, "Yup!"
Levi stared at her with exasperation in his eyes, "Fuck's sake, Ral. Now's not the time for jokes."
Petra shrugged nonchalantly, and turned back, mentally preparing herself for the jump.
"Captain, hold on to me." She told him, "And lean forward."
"What the fuck are you talk- OH SHIT!"
She gunned it. The motorcycle roared as it charged directly for outcrop. Petra felt hands wrap around her middle, and her stomach did a flip as her captain held onto her for dear life.
The bike flew up the smooth rocks, launching them into the air. For a split second Petra felt a sense of weightlessness as the ravine passed under them. Then gravity kicked in. The front wheel hit the ground first, sending shocks all the way up the metal frame and into her bones. She recovered instantly and accelerated out of the landing, the drive wheel tearing away the stones beneath them.
They were back on track. Petra happily continued riding through the surrounding Texas badlands, feeling more than a little smug.
"That saved us some time, right Captain?" She asked, a note of pride in her voice.
Levi stayed silent, and suddenly Petra remembered whose arms were around her right now. Her heart beat harder and faster; her breathing quickened. As the excitement of the jump faded away she become aware of other little details, like how she could feel Levi's breath tickle the back of her neck and the pressure of his chest against her back.
Now Petra wasn't somebody that shunned physical contact. In fact, out of all the members in her squad, she was by far the most affectionate. From embarrassing Gunther with hugs in the mess hall or slugging Oluo for his off-color and often perverted jokes, she never shied away from expressing herself physically.
But Levi was an exception. He was the only person that she concealed her feelings for. Not because she disliked or feared him, but because she admired him as her captain too much. He was deathlessly loyal, coolly intelligent, and determined beyond belief; his silent strength was the rock that made her team work. His skill and drive gave them the edge to fight against the worst monsters humanity had ever encountered. Even now she found herself pushing her abilities to their limit, trying her best to impress him. Yes, hugging him would be like trying to hug Batman.
So she cleared her throat and as calmly as she could, she said, "Captain? You're plate-carrier is digging into my back…"
It was an outright lie, if anything her own backplate would stop any discomfort, but it was the best she could come up with at such short notice.
Levi withdrew his arms from her, and the comforting assurance of his presence dissipated. A twinge of regret spreading through her.
"Hey, Ral. Next time you feel like practicing for the X-games, do it with Oluo not me." Levi's gruff voice drawled from behind her.
The motorcycle roared as she snaked them down a rough game trail, her focus returning to her, "Sorry, Captain. But I did warn you, you know."
She could almost feel the glare he gave her in response. She swallowed nervously, sure that she just earned herself some KP*.
"I can see the road, marker charlie is nearby." Levi activated his radio, "Crow two, status update. Over."
Petra shifted gears, riding parallel to the interstate. The land was flatter than paper here so she could get some real speed. She leaned into the wind and smiled as the bike reached 70 then 80 miles per hour. She was having so much fun hurtling across the landscape that she was a little let down when she arrived at marker charlie in less than two minutes.
She slowed to a stop, her left leg bracing the bike, and looked around. Besides the interstate right next to her, the only other thing here was an abandoned mobile home that was covered in rust and weeds. Marker charlie had been picked as potential ambush spot for a reason. It was flatter than the surface of a puddle and the only cover for a good 200 meters was the rusted out mobile home.
And said cover was currently host to Gunther, wearing cargo pants and a blue and yellow flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows. The stoic operator waved at them in greeting. Petra smiled and waved back as Levi dismounted from the bike.
"You can hide your bike behind here." Gunther told them, lightly tapping the rusted hunk of metal he was leaning on, "I already stashed my quad."
Petra thanked him and drove the motorcycle around the home, before parking it next to Gunther's camouflaged ATV. She retrieved her weapon, a M4A1 carbine loaded with 5.56x45mm ammunition. She clipped the weapon to her one-point sling before removing her overshirt and tying it around her waist for easier access to the pouches on her body armor.
She finished getting ready and ran back over to Levi and Gunther, where her captain listened intently to his radio. Petra nudged Gunther's arm and asked, "Any news?"
"Yup. Target's on the way. Captain's listening to one of the scouts now." Gunther shifted slightly, cradling his M1014 shotgun in the crook of his elbow, "Sounds like the target doesn't have any escorts, so it looks like we won't need Oluo's support today."
Oh no! Poor Oluo is gonna be heartbroken if he doesn't get to shoot his new gun today...
Petra glanced back at the hills behind her, wondering if she could catch a glint from Oluo's scope. She knew he and Eld were posted up somewhere among the rocks, watching over them in case things went tits-up. Unlike the rest of the team, who had been equipped with light and easy to carry weapons, Oluo had been issued one of the Legion's M107 anti-material rifles. Loaded with black-tipped* 12.7x99mm NATO rounds, the rifle could punch straight through a centimeter of steel from a kilometer away. Oluo immediately fell in love with it and named it 'Olga' after his first girlfriend.
Levi's voice brought her attention back to the task at hand.
"Gunther, is the prep work done?" He asked.
"Yes, Captain. I deployed two strips of traffic spikes on the road and I have some remote explosives set up further down in case the target gets away."
"Good." Levi activated his radio again, "Oi, Blue one. Are you set up?"
Eld and Oluo must be having a great time up there. I wonder if they found any shade…
She couldn't hear Eld's response, her own radio was only short-range, but she could tell by Levi's satisfied nod that their sniper team was ready and willing to put some very big holes into something.
And speaking of that something, Petra's keen eyes spotted a shape moving up the interstate. The shape slowly grew in size until she could make out the cab of the semi-truck and the massive trailer it towed behind it.
She wasn't the only one to notice it. Levi quickly barked orders at them, telling them to get out of sight before the trucker spots them. Petra compiled immediately, and less than ten seconds later the three commandos lay hidden behind the mobile home.
About thirty seconds passed before the dull roar of the semi's engine reached their position. Petra readied her weapon, round in the chamber and the fire-selector set to automatic, with her trigger-finger rested right above the trigger guard. Adrenaline came rushing back to her. Sweat ran down her neck leaving cool streaks on her skin, and an occasional muscle twitched with anticipation for what would inevitably be an explosive few minutes.
The dull rumble of the engine was suddenly overshadowed by a loud violent POP! as the traffic spikes did their job. The truck ground to halt a few meters away, its tires shredded beyond repair.
"Time to earn our keep." Was all Levi had to say before he stepped out of cover, his carbine shouldered and ready to fire. Petra and Gunther were right behind him, their own weapons at the ready.
"Hands where I can see them! NOW!" Gunther shouted, pointing his shotgun right at the slack jawed truck driver's face. The man complied immediately, throwing his hands up while staring at them in absolute disbelief.
Petra knew that Gunther and Levi had the driver covered, so she busied herself with making sure nobody was trying to get out of the trailer it was towing. She advanced carefully, checking every nook for threats. Her hands felt slick as sweat collected inside her fingerless gloves, but her brain was too focused to notice. Something, however, did catch her attention when she passed the space between the cab and the trailer.
Doesn't look like they boobytrapped the rigging or the cab. But why are there so many cables running to the trailer?
Electrical cables hung limply between the cab and the trailer, like strands of colorful spider webs. She knew that these kinds of trucks often needed a few cables in order to power the rear turn signals and other things like that. But what truck needed twenty cables? And what looked like coolant lines?
"Captain!" She called out, keeping an eye on the trailer just in case, "I found something!"
Levi stood beside her a second later, and gave her a questioning look, "What is it?"
She pointed to the mess of plastic and metal, "Whatever's in there is taking up a lot of power."
"That can't be good. That's pro-"
BLAM!
Petra and Levi dropped to a crouch, searching for a threat. Someone had fired a weapon and a big one at that.
Where did that gunfire come from? It's gotta be close by. I didn't see the bullet hit anything or fly past us. It can't have been directed at us, but that means it had to be at-
"Gunther!" Petra shouted, a note of fear in her voice, "Gunther, sound off!"
A moment of silence hung over them before...
"Blue two, sounding off!" Gunther called out. Petra heard someone jump off the cab's built in stepladder. The muscled commando took a few steps to his left, where Levi and Petra could see him through tangle of electrical wires, "All clear. There was a hostile in the back of the cab. Hiding under the bed rack."
"Armed?" Levi asked.
"Handgun. I secured it." Gunther reported, "I got the driver detained too. He's human."
"Good. Let's get over to the trailer and see what's insi-,"
A loud metal screech cut Levi off, as the back door of the trailer was torn off from inside. Petra watched as it flew back with enough force to crash to the asphalt with a thunderous BANG. Steam flowed out in heavy clouds, momentarily obscuring her sight before it dissipated in the hot air.
Petra dropped to one knee and stared down her sights, waiting for a target to present itself. Standing right behind her crouched form, Levi readied his own M4. She wished that Gunther was on their side of the truck, it was always safer to be in a group when titans were involved.
They waited for a moment. Then another. Then another. Then one more after that. Whatever smashed the door off took its damn time in challenging them.
Petra was about to begin circling over to the trailer door when the titans made their move.
The first one to leave its metal enclosure was a delicate looking woman, her naked skin pulled tight over her skeletal body. Her thin arms rose towards the sun as if she could snatch it right from the sky. Her movements were strange, her feet seemed to pull her forward when she walked, each step anchoring her in preparation for the next. She did not notice her killer crouched only a few meters behind her.
Petra's first shot hit the nape with enough force to tear half the flesh off the titan's neck. Her spine folded onto itself, like the stem of a broken flower. Her head swung to and fro off the back of the titan's shoulder, her face a mask of smiling confusion. Steam and blood oozed from the torn flesh for a moment, before the titan collapsed onto the hot asphalt.
"Target down." Petra called out.
A second titan jumped down from inside. This one was taller, maybe able to see over the truck if it had stood up. It slinked along the ground, using all four of its limbs to scuttle toward the commandos. Its face lacked any features save for two giant, bright blue eyes. Membranes covered its nose and mouth like a fleshy mask but Petra could still see its teeth pressed against the flesh.
Petra and Levi fired simultaneously, muzzles flashing as their rounds hit home. The titan spasmed violently as the bullets fragmented through its body, filling its head and torso with lead. It fell twitching to the ground, where they put a few more rounds into its nape to be sure.
"Abnormal eliminated." Levi reported.
Gunther's shotgun discharged and Petra, crouched low enough to see under the trailer, saw another titan corpse drop steaming to the floor. Its head and upper clavicle missing completely.
"Contact neutralized." Gunther shouted.
With a roar of pent up rage, more titans pushed their way out of their steel cage and charged the commandos. They were chaotic, unorganized, and utterly feral in their actions; charging directly into the line of fire without any regard for their own personal safety or chances of success. They screamed and howled as the commandos cut them down with unfeeling efficiency, leaving nothing but a line of steaming corpses evaporating under the hot Texas sun.
Nothing else emerged from the mouth of the trailer but the commandos weren't about to take anymore chances.
"Blue two, regroup with us on the passenger side of truck." Levi called out, his voice still inflectionless even with the extra volume.
"Acknowledged." Gunther called back.
"Red one move back with me, you cover and I'll lead. Let's give our sniper some room to work."
"Understood." Petra replied.
Petra stood and waited for Levi's off hand to grab hold of her plate carrier to guide her steps as she walked backwards, her eyes and weapon trained on the trailer entrance. After walking like this for a few seconds Petra felt his fingers tap twice on her shoulder. She took two more steps and and stopped. Levi removed his hand and Petra dropped back into a crouch.
"Blue two approaching behind you." Gunther told them, as he walked past Levi and crouched down next to Petra. The three of them were now waiting on the hot dirt roughly 6 meters away from the truck. They still couldn't see what was inside the trailer but now nothing would be able to use the truck to sneak up on them at least.
"Blue two, cover us. Red one and I gotta top up." Levi told Gunther. The big man nodded, and Petra took the opportunity to reload her weapon. She pulled the almost-empty magazine from the magwell and stuck it in her back pocket for safekeeping, the mag still had bullets in it after all, then pulled a fresh one from her body armor and firmly slid it into place.
"Locked and loaded."
"Me too. Be ready for some big and angry fucks to jump out of there. They're not gonna like what's about to happen." Levi advised them, Petra heard a cackle of static as he activated his radio again, "Blue one, we suspect that there are more threats inside the trailer. Ask Red two to thin them out. Permission to use silver tips* granted."
They didn't have to wait long before Oluo made good on the order. His first shot tore a quarter-sized hole in the trailer's side. A second after the impact, a faint cracking sound reached Petra's ears, the sound of the anti-material rifle firing a few hundred meters behind her. Another bullet hit, roughly six inches to the left of the first. The third did the same, and so did the others. For half a minute Petra watched as a dotted line, about six feet above the truck's bed, was slowly punched into the side of the trailer.
"Hope he doesn't hit anything useful. The titans might be guarding something valuable." Levi mumbled out loud as he watched the line of bullet holes approach the mouth of the trailer.
"I'm more worried about one of those... rounds setting something off in there." Petra added, pausing for a moment when another bullet hit its mark, its report accompanied by the sharp cry of rending steel, "Those wires are connected to something."
"Tch, if that's the case then cleanup is going to be a bitch. It's almost impossible to get scorch marks off of asphalt."
Finally the last bullet completed the line. Levi's radio hissed loudly, and Petra could just barely hear Eld's report,"Red two has run dry on incendiaries. Permission to take another pass with black tips?"
"Permission denied, Blue one. We'll go inspect the damage; stay on overwatch." Levi clipped his radio back on his armor, and let out a tired breath, "Alright then, let's go see what's behind door number one."
As a team the three commandos approached the doors from the side, each one them tense and ready to fire at a moments notice. Petra noticed that steam-or was that smoke?- leaked out of some of the bullet holes, confirming her suspicions. There were still titans in there, and every second that ticked by only gave them more time to heal from their wounds.
Gunther got there first and pulled himself up inside the trailer, with Petra and Levi following right behind him. The sweet scent of burning flesh threatened to overwhelm them, making Petra gag. Everywhere she looked, she could see burn marks and rapidly steaming blood. Bodies were splayed on the floor, some them lying in mounds while others were propped up by the walls of the trailer. It looked like there was at least two dozen titans packed into this trailer, thankfully the majority of them had been killed by the barrage. She scanned the trailer for threats, and she managed to find one.
Lying on his side, a titan frantically stuffed chunks of his intestines back into the gaping hole that was once his gut. Petra guessed that one of Oluo's rounds had tumbled after penetrating through the trailer, and the titan was unfortunate enough to be standing in its way. She raised her weapon, ready to put the thing down, when the titan let out a wheezing cry.
"Hurts." It gasped, its one good eye shut tightly, "It hurts. Why does it hurt?!"
Curiosity kept her finger from pulling the trigger, caution kept her form moving closer.
"Bullets hurt." Levi called out matter-a-factly, "Did you forget about that little fact?"
The titan's eye creaked open, the orb inside bloodshot and caked with filth, and it glared directly at her. Fleshy lumps covered its face, concealing the rest of its features. Saliva leaked from the titans jaw as it pulled its inflamed lips back in a snarl.
"Hurts." It croaked, "Harvester said I won't hurt anymore."
Harvester? What the fuck?
"You made me hurt! You made him a liar! HE'S NOT A LIAR! NOT A LIAR!" The titan screamed, his voice echoing down the trailer, "LIAR! HURT! LIAR HURT NOT ME!"
The titan's arm shot out, plunging into the metal floor with enough force to shatter its fingernails, sending flakes everywhere. With amazing strength it pulled itself frantically towards them, its bottom half uselessly dragging behind it.
As fast as it crawled, it wasn't faster than a 12 gauge shotgun. Gunther fired three times, pretty much turning the thing to steaming mulch. The body twitched for a few seconds before finally expiring.
"Target down." He said as he fed shells into his shotgun, "Looks like there's more."
As if spurred by the sound of gunfire, some the bodies began to wail and thrash. Each of the titans were broken in some way; many had missing limbs, some were so covered in cancerous growths that they resembled a melted candle, and all of them were covered with horrible burns.
"Those silver-tips did their job." Levi observed, he turned back to the entrance with his radio in his hand, "I'll contact Longsword for pickup. Go ahead and put them out of their misery before they start trying to eat us."
Petra did as she was told, flipping her weapon to semi-automatic before firing into the napes of the crippled titans. Gunther did the same but with less finesse, the boom of his shotgun resembled thunder in such an enclosed space.
After they finished mopping up, Petra reloaded her weapon and flashed a look at Gunther. Neither them were particularly callous individuals but there was something almost… therapeutic about killing titans. Petra chalked it up to putting down a rabid animal. It was hard to have sympathy for something that wanted nothing more than to sink its teeth in you, after all.
"How many you got over there, Gunther?" She asked.
He gave her a thumbs up and a tight-lipped grimace, probably from the smell, "Seven. You?"
She smiled and shifted her weight to one foot, "Five, but I killed four more outside. Plus the Captain and I got an abnormal."
Gunther let out a quiet goodnatured curse, "Damn, I guess drinks are on me tonight."
"Better believe it. Although we can always make Oluo pay for 'em." She glanced around her filthy surroundings, "Most of the ones he hit were still alive after all."
"He got a few." Gunther pointed out.
"We don't have tell him that." Petra said, a conspiratorial look in her eyes.
Gunther snorted in amusement, "No, I guess we don't."
"The fuck are you two laughing about?"
The two commandos jumped as Levi walked over to them. He really didn't make any noise even as he walked even with the floor covered in crunchy bones and garbage.
"Nothing Captain." Petra said, a little bit embarrassed, "Just some banter…"
Levi made a small 'tch' sound and said, "That better mean you cleared the rest of this place."
Gunther nodded, "Of course, Captain."
"Good. Alright, spread out and search the place. Let's see if we can find anything interesting before the lab rats steal all the credit." Levi ordered.
The team spread out and began rummaging through the trailer. Petra had to keep one of her hands over her mouth to keep the smell from making her sick. The trailer was a mess. The floor was caked in dirt and garbage bags full of old food that had been broken open and burned by the incendiary rounds. The titan bodies were beginning to shrink away, their eyes and skin being the first to go up in steam. Petra nearly tripped over human bones multiple times, and she was unsure whether they come from dead titans or unlucky victims.
"Ugh." Petra coughed, "I didn't think anything could smell this bad."
Levi snorted in agreement but stayed silent, Petra glanced over at the captain and noticed that he was busy fiddling with something. She walked over to him and looked over his shoulder. He was holding a red cloth wallet in his hands, and she watched quietly as he went through and pulled out an Arizona ID from it. It showed the picture of an older male, probably in his late 70's, and underneath the picture the ID read 'Roy Greenbell Junior'.
Levi looked up at her, his face impassive as usual, "We should have Mike check this guy out, he might give us a lead."
"Yeah…" Petra sighed and gave the photo one more uncomfortable look before leaving her captain to continue searching through a pile of discarded clothing. Levi and Gunther seemed to have most of the search under control so she decided to check out the very back of the trailer. The floor became more well kept as she approached the back, likely because the titans had been pressed up near the opening when they died. The constant stink of blood and unwashed bodies suddenly disappeared; and Petra shivered as cool air enveloped her. She glanced around, momentarily confused and very uneasy. Then, over the sounds of her teammates shuffling through garbage, she heard a low steady drone coming from the end of the trailer.
Oh… It's just an air conditioner. The cooler air is pushing the stink out of the trailer. Duh.
She relaxed, letting her weapon hang from its sling as she pulled her cap off, undid her ponytail, and shook her hair free. The cool breeze running through her hair felt divine, and for the first time in a while Petra became aware of how dusty she was. She thought about using the baseball cap to knock some of it off but then something occurred to her.
Hold on. Why would the somebody jury-rig an air conditioner back here? It's not like the titans needed it, right?
Honestly she didn't know whether the titans reacted to extreme heat like their human counterparts did. It made sense that they would need someway to cool off given their already extreme body heat, but she knew better than to apply human logic to them. They weren't human, after all.
Maybe it's a comfort thing? Or maybe they were trying to keep their food fresh? Or maybe...
Petra took a few steps forward, keeping her eyes peeled for anything interesting. A few cardboard boxes were stacked to the side. A light kick from Petra told her that the boxes were full. She slung her carbine across her back and kneeled down to begin her search. The first box she looked through was full of nothing but wooden shavings. She moved the box out the way and continued searching. The next one again held shavings.
"Really?" She mumbled, feeling almost insulted. It was painfully obvious that whoever had packed this boxes was trying to hide something among them. Nobody shipped packing material by itself, after all.
Her interest piqued, Petra ravaged the box. She began tossing handfuls of the stuff over her shoulder, covering the floor with shavings. Once she finished searching, she threw the empty cardboard away and started again on another. She'd gotten through two boxes before Levi took note of her behavior.
"Oi. Place not messy enough for you?" He asked sarcastically, scowling when shavings stuck to the blood on his boots.
Looking up at him, Petra reported breathlessly, "These boxes have nothing but wood shavings in them, Captain."
"So? Maybe the titans wanted to build a playground or something."
The honey-eyed commando tittered, recognizing the joking tone hidden behind his rudeness. Levi let the corners of his mouth turn up slightly; it wasn't every day that somebody laughed at his jokes.
Petra shifted over slightly, a subtle invite for him to join her, "Something's hidden here. I can feel it!"
Levi's expression turned questioning, but Petra was already tearing into another box. She had gone through half of the box when Levi crouched down to her and ripped open his own box. They worked in a comfortable quiet, the artificial breeze cooling and relaxing them, while they waited for Longsword to arrive.
The ginger woman scooped out a final handful of shavings then tossed her box away in frustration. She berated herself for once again trying to make a titan's actions fit into human behavior, and now she'd made herself look foolish in front of the Captain too. She huffed and shifted her weight back and waited for him to finish his search.
"Petra..."
She rubbed her hands on her thighs and sighed, "Before you say anything, I genuinely thought something was hidden in these. I mean why else would titans try to air-cool a bunch of packing material!"
"They weren't." Levi deadpanned, "They were probably protecting this."
Petra could barely believe it when Levi pulled out a hard-shell, bright white plastic case from his box. The case was about a foot in length and width, and about half as thick. A piece of masking tape was stuck to the front and the words 'Integer Caro' were written on it with black sharpie.
Levi popped open the clasp and opened the case, revealing a small test tube nestled securely in foam.
"What's that?" Petra asked, leaning close and squinting at the tube. She couldn't really tell what the tube held, thanks to the dim light, but there definitely was a lot of it. "Hold it up to the light please, Captain."
He nodded and pulled out a small flashlight, shining the light directly at it. Petra flinched and let out a moan, "Ugh, that's…"
"...Disgusting." Levi finished for her.
Flesh filled the tube, bright pink and slimy. She could see small bits of skin and ligaments stretch across small parts of the flesh. It strongly resembled the bottom of a human tongue to Petra, a fact which made her own twitch uncomfortably.
Levi's sharp features twisted into a grimace, his teeth grinding against each other in disgust, "Fuck me, there's fucking worms inside this thing!"
She reached out and, with a quick glance to Levi, took hold of the test tube. She could feel it vibrate rhythmically with fingertips as she closed an eye to take a closure look. The tiny black pulsing lines criss-crossing just under the flesh made her stomach churn. Then she noticed something about them.
"Those aren't worms…" Petra whispered, both awestruck and sickened, "They're blood vessels."
The vibrations. They're in a rhythm...
Petra wanted to vomit as the realization stormed into her mind, "Levi…" She blankly held out the test tube back to her Captain, her honey-brown eyes wide with shock.
"What?" He asked, clearly reluctant to handle the vial again.
"I can feel a heartbeat." She told him.
Plate Carrier* - A modular piece of equipment that was developed to replace ballistic vests, plate carriers are becoming the new standard in protective body armor. While the carrier itself does not offer any form protection from gunfire, it does have 'plate pockets' inside of it where a user can secure a ballistic plate. Plate carriers come in many models and brands but can be separated into roughly four classes depending on how many plate pockets they posses, from light carriers (backplate, frontplate) to full carriers (backplate, frontplate, sideplates, crotchplate, neck protector). The main benefit from plate carriers is the amount of options it gives the user, i.g. removing sideplates to increase comfort and mobility or the option to replace a damaged plate on the fly.
KP* - Kitchen Patrol or Kitchen Police is often assigned to junior enlisted personal in the U.S. Military, where they are assigned to work under the kitchen staff and help cook, clean, and dispose of trash. While KP duty is most often handed out on a rotational basis, it is sometimes used as punishment for a minor infraction.
Black Tips* - A slang term for armor-piecing rounds used by the U.S. Military due to the tips of the bullets being painted black for easy identification.
Silver Tips* - A slang term for armor-piecing incendiary rounds used by the U.S. Military due to the tips of the bullets being painted silver for easy identification.
Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or its characters. Nor do I own anything New York City or the state of Texas.
Hi everybody and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter, I realize I'm a good twenty days late but in my defense I'm a lazy motherfucker. Please do drop a review if you feel like it as I love reading and interacting with you guys and gals. I'm also probably gonna upload this fic up on tumblr sometime, just for the hell of it.
CopperCruiser1: Happy Birthday! That chapter was a bit short because that scene was more of a side project than a real chapter. Pretty much I might be throwing up a few of those shorter chapters in between the longer ones, I'm thinking they might offer me a little more freedom to show off the off-stage actors. I'm glad you're enjoying the story, hopefully it won't take two years for me to crank out another chapter, eh?
Wildcate: Eight chapters and a bonus in one sitting?! I'm overjoyed that you enjoyed the fic enough to read it all through! Hope you liked this one!
JasonVUK: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!
CopperCruiser1: Hello again! Time skips are probably gonna happen again but I'm looking forward to showing off some more Connie and Sasha action in the next chapter, maybe with a little bit of Ymir thrown in there as well. Hope this new chapter lives up to expectations!