As Mina paced anxiously inside her living room, she tried to dwell on what perturbed her the least: the fact that Dust was fifteen minutes late in regards to the time he had put down himself, or because he apparently knew where her house was. On one hand that shouldn't have been too surprising; in a relatively small town like this one, everyone knows everyone was the sort of maxim lived by, but she had never seen him before and she couldn't deny that he frightened her ever so slightly.

And he was late.

"He was probably screwing around, he doesn't give a shit about me or my problems, him and that asshole behind the bar probably set this up like some kind of sick joke, I don't know why in the hell I thought it was a good idea to… "

Her furious ramblings were silenced as the hum of an engine crept into hearing distance. Stopping only a moment to ensure that she wasn't just hearing things, she dashed outside to see a single figure pulling up on a respectable, but ancient looking motorcycle. Climbing off, she saw his face immediately as he didn't seem to be wearing a helmet and she recognized his young, handsome, yet distantly hateful face from the light on her porch. Trying not to appear hasty or anxious, she stepped down the front steps which creaked underfoot, to greet him.

"Hey… Dust."

Unsure if she should call him anything else, she watched his face carefully for a reaction. To her relief, he gave her a small smile and inclined his head.

"Nice to see you again, Ms. Carolina."

She furrowed her brows and smiled back, not sure if she should be charmed or worried.

"Mina is fine."

He nodded.

"As you wish."

Mina followed in his footsteps as he walked up to the house and stopped just before the porch.

"I hope you'll forgive me, my memory is as good as it's ever been, but I'll likely ask several questions that you've already clarified in order to be sure of what I'm knowing."

She nodded along before realizing his back was to her.

"Alright."

"Alright. So you say you weren't home at the time your father passed."

Swallowing, she pushed away the ever-present hurt to be as helpful as she could.

"Yes. As soon as I got home, I heard absolutely nothing, even after calling him. I found him upstairs on the floor. He had fallen off his desk chair and was dead."

"The coroner… ?"

"Put his death at about seven or eight at night."

"Two or three hours before you got home."

"Yes."

He walked up the porch, stopping on the squeaking steps, playing with the pressure under his foot before walking to the door. Hand on the handle, he cast looks to his left and right, towards the flat never-ending horizons beyond her house.

"Any neighbors?"

"None close. Nearest is a mile and a quarter down the road."

"No one had phoned the police?"

"Gunshots are common around these parts, if a little worrying. Cattle to put down, wolves to shoot, party's to be had."

He nodded very slowly before looking back to her.

"May I?"

Surprised by his manners, she gestured with a hand to let himself in. Stepping across the threshold, he looked around briefly.

"Beautiful home."

Taken back again by his politeness, she smiled and allowed herself a moment to give the building its bragging rights.

"Been in the family for four generations. My great-great grandad put it here a long while ago, and it's taken its turn getting fixed up plenty, but we keep it as nice as we can."

He reached out and brushed the smooth wooden walls, murmuring softly.

"I feel it."

She watched him walk slowly around the living room, stopping only to give her a nonverbal look asking permission to touch something, which she granted. She hadn't any idea where he was going with any of what he was doing, but for now, she was going to be patient and bide her time. Eventually, they moved upstairs to where she knew he was headed; Mina waited in the doorway. In a sense, it was rather selfish, but she didn't want to even step foot in that room ever again. As he turned to look at her with mild confusion, he seemed to pick up very quickly on why she didn't enter with him, for which she was grateful when he didn't speak a word about it, instead asking a different question.

"To your knowledge, did your father have any enemies?"

It was a curious question and something that she realized she had never even bothered considering.

"No, I… no, not that I knew of."

"Anything he involved himself in that could have been detrimental to his standing with others? Strict boss? Gambling? Private alcohol production?"

As each of the reasonings seemed more impossible than the last, he looked over with a look of icy suspicion.

"Drugs?"

She had to prevent herself from swelling angrily.

"My father would never involve himself with such… blatant, stupid… "

"Mina, you have to be honest with me."

This sentence flushed fresh anger into her system, but as she opened her mouth to shout, she saw the look in his eyes. It wasn't condescending, a look that believed she was lying. It was just a look that went with what he just said. If he was going to help her, he needed to be able to trust her. Mina swallowed down her anger, and nodded.

"I will be, and I am. To my knowledge, all he ever did for money was work the farm and work on cars."

Dust seemed refreshed at her reply and actually smiled, turning to her father's desk.

"No computer?"

She shook her head.

"No need. He kept everything work related in those files. I was saving up to get a cheap one, but… "

His mind seemed to be already elsewhere as he paced around the room, looking at every nook and cranny. She wished she could get inside his head, into a mind that had put such a reserved, yet intense look into his eyes.

The room seemed terrifically off to him. It was a simple office, little to it beyond the desk, drawers and single closet. But as he carefully examined each of these commodities, the more confused he became.

Some amount of people break into his house and have reason to kill him, yet take nothing. Mina, you seem to recall your father as particularly saintly, but he was hiding something from you, and now, he's hiding it from me…

He vaguely heard her say something about needing to use the bathroom which he waved off without so much as a glance. Rather focused on other details, his mind was racing, but frustration began to set it when minutes of searching yielded him nothing more than what he had already seen. If only he had some inkling as to…

"Well?"

"Nothing, it's not in there."

"Yes it is. Keep looking. You can't leave until you find it."

He loosed a tremendous sigh of exasperation.

"Annie, you can't hide a fucking water bottle in this… "

He kicked a wall angrily.

"… massive fucking room and then not allow me to leave because I can't find the damn thing."

"The only thing wrong with that sentence is that you used the word 'can't' instead of 'can'."

"Annie… "

"I don't care if you rented out the best place in town to take Mikasa to for dinner, you're not leaving until you find it."

Cursing, he spun and marched back into the room, considering flipping a desk in his rage…

Trying to grasp desperately at the memory before he remembered with perfect clarity what the point of the lesson had been. He started at the bookshelf and worked his hands along it, then along the two windows, then the closet, then the desk and…

"There, see? Was that so hard?"

"More than it needed to be."

"Well, remember, that's the way a lot of what we do is."

"So you made me find a water bottle?"

In a move that was most unlike her, Annie had reached up and pinched his cheek.

"You'll get is someday."

… his fingers met what could only have been a button of some kind. With a press, there was a harsh click and the bottom of the desk slid down and opened to a compartment the size of a football. A stupidly triumphant grin slid onto his face as he reached inside and dug around, finding only what felt to be plastic bag. Gently, he withdrew it from its hiding place and allowed his smile to disappear as he saw what it was.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Annie took her turn in the bathroom while cursing herself more than she had ever cursed anyone in her life.

How could I be so fucking stupid…

It was bad enough her friend was clearly still dealing with the ramifications of what had happened, it was a whole different thing when Annie had brought him up, then made a move as if it was just that easy. And even for several seconds, it had seemed like it had been working. Then, the rejection and punishing silence she knew she deserved.

When they had reached the hotel and Mikasa had silently exited the car and go to check them in, Annie had taken several seconds to herself to nearly break her hand punching the dash before following her in. They had quietly walked to their room to find a bathroom and two beds; Mikasa took the one furthest from the door and immediately had made her way to the shower before Annie could manage a word. Not that she would have wanted to.

She stood now in the shower, letting the hot water soak her skin as she pressed her forehead to the wall, eyes closed. She had finished washing minutes ago, but presently couldn't find the dignity to step out and face what she had done.

Who the fuck do you think you are… as if she hasn't had enough to deal with, you go and…

Gritting her teeth, she resisted punching the wall.

It felt so good…

That may have been the worst part about it. Despite years of silently admiring her friend and staving off her infatuation, she had often thought of what it would feel like if only to kiss her. Annie knew it would have been more than amazing, but that… it had done more than feel good. It had felt right. Meaningful. Passionate. She had done everything she was able to make that moment something special, and in a way, it had been. But now…

Now I'm somewhere where I may never be able to recover.

Finally, she jammed the handle down and the water shut off, and she let the water drip down her body for another minute before finally exiting the shower and preparing herself for bed. She very briefly let thoughts of Hange's assignment drift into her head, but it seemed odd how suddenly meaningless their mission had become.

As she left the bathroom, she saw Mikasa already in bed, back facing her. She hadn't expected any more than that, but it still hurt her; only bothering to pull on a pair of underwear, she knocked out the light in the bathroom and climbed into her own bed, sighing in rhythm with the fan inside the air conditioner. The world around her was completely black, no light from the stars or the moon seeped through the window due to what was undoubtedly heavy cloud coverage and she wondered if it was finally going to start snowing. Regardless, of the cold thoughts, the room was warm enough that she felt no need for the blankets and she kicked them back, allowing only the pillow to do its work.

Stupid…

Annie stared at the ceiling she couldn't see for some time, trying to force unwanted images out of her head before finally closing her eyes and attempting to drift off. Even with eyes closed, the memories were still strong. Suppressing an angry growl, she chose instead to think thoughts of desire; they allowed her to feel less guilt, even if they hurt just as much. She thought what Mikasa's skin would feel like, what her lips had tasted like, how it would feel it…

?

It struck her then that she actually could feel something and only then did her brain remind her that within the last five or so seconds, she had heard sounds of movement from across the room. As she opened her eyes, she still could see next to nothing, but there was something rubbing against her thigh; as she reached in a tired haze towards it, she felt a pair of breasts, slightly larger than her own, press against hers, moments before the same lips she had been dreaming of slid against her. Suddenly, she knew fully and completely what was happening and she rose up into her, feeling her head throb as both of their near naked bodies increased in contact. Mikasa's tongue rolled down her neck across her chest and she had no problem giving a humiliatingly submissive moan. There was nowhere she would rather be right now and she decided, as fingers slid at her waist pulling off her panties, that even if this was a dream, she was going to enjoy every second of it.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

As it normally was as the months had dragged on, Krista woke as the hours of night had already begun. By then, she was typically hungry, so she dragged herself to the kitchen as she wondered, with slight twinges of concern, where Ymir was. It wasn't unlike her to take off to the bars with Sasha and Ilse, but she normally would at least leave a note or a text. Krista knew there was likely no reason to be worried, but as was normal, she was anyways. They both worried madly when the other wasn't around, and while Sasha had ensured them that it was adorable and a result of serious love, it was still disconcerting.

From outside, she heard a car door slam and she let relief wash through her as she finished her sandwich. Licking her fingers, she felt a spring in her step as she walked towards the front door.

Thank God…

She shook her head at her concern, laughing briefly at how foolish it was to always assume that something was wrong just because Ymir was out. Reaching towards the handle, she tossed her hair, smiling, completely unaware of the towering wave of rage just on the other side of the door.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

AN: I'll quickly address the lateness of this chapter; what with making the arduous two day trip home and rereading chapters 11-13 which I had already had written out, I realized the story was turning down an extremely dark path that I was uncomfortable heading towards at this time. And so the rewrites began, but now I should be back on a more regular schedule. Apologies for the delay and hope you enjoy nevertheless.