NORMAL-

The man slowed his strides over to the girl as he realised she had stopped moving. Her limbs were twisted uncomfortably and even when he lifted her by the collar, he realised she wasn't reacting. Her body was much heavier than it had been all day. He dropped her callously and jabbed her in the side so that she rolled onto her back. He booted her once again to make sure she wasn't conscious, then knelt by her side and checked her breathing.

"Still kickin' then." He grunted, impressed. It wasn't often he had to deal with women- especially not young girls. She was only a few years his junior. He was used to getting information out of middle-aged men who were dealing in nasty business. The man didn't feel this was just- his sense of evil flat-lined around her. Although he knew just how much of a nuisance her father had been to the MP, he decided that this was the toughest job he'd had in a long time. Usually, he felt compelled to serve justice to those drug dealers, rebels and spies. This just felt... wrong.

But a job was a job and if he was a man with a conscience, he wouldn't have lasted long in this business.

He heard the door unlock and open, watching as the girl's brother appeared again.

"Sir, she's unconscious." He said, feeling like he was stating the obvious slightly. What he wanted to say was 'stop interrupting and get out'.

"She needs to be kept alive. You understand that, don't you?"

"Yeah, well. She'll be fine when she wakes up. Just give her time."

"What about that wound on her arm? What if it gets infected?"
"Then she loses an arm." The man shrugged. He didn't trust this man. After all, he was her brother. This either meant he was a twisted, heartless man, or someone who couldn't be trusted. He might turn tail and bust her out of there at any minute. Either way, he wasn't to be trusted.

"The scouting legion have had people on our trail all day. So far, they haven't found this place but they've been unusually close."

"Well about that," the torturer began, moving to one of his tables and lifting up the remains of a bandage. "When I took this sling off her, bits and pieces were missing everywhere. And her shirt's missing a few buttons." Luca kept staring at Lena's body, showing no expression.

"It was a bit of a fight getting her here." He commented. "She might have lost a few along the way."
"I don't think so. I think she's left a trail." Luca's eyes suddenly shot wide open. "You sure she was unconscious when you transported her?" Luca didn't respond, possibilities flying around his head.

"If that's the case, the legion will be onto us pretty soon." He muttered, for once looking anxious. "I'll report this to the boss." He swiftly span around and strode out of the room.

"Much good that'd be." The man muttered under his breath, returning to the girl's body and prodding it. "Did'ya hear that? Your prince charming is coming on his white steed. That doesn't mean I can't teach you the meaning of pain before he arrives, though."

LENA-

I came around the the feeling of running water across my forehead. My stomach was cramped, turning in on itself and contorting as it groaned in hunger. My mouth was drier than ever. A glass of water right now would be like a drop of heaven. I felt completely out of it. I opened my eyes slowly, seeing a figure hunched over me.

"You thirsty yet?" He asked, halting the flow of water he'd been allowing to flow onto my skin. I reached out for the cup but he just moved his arm away. "I take that as a yes." He grasped my cheeks again and I knew exactly what he was going to do. My body felt too broken to react as he dropped water onto my forehead. Painfully, I reached out again for the water but he moved it away. My face scrunched up like I was about to cry, but I knew I didn't have enough moisture to form tears. I whimpered and tried to turn my face away. He held me tightly and continued to drip the liquid onto my forehead.

"I can't-" I coughed as my voice came out quiet and husky. "I don't know anything."

"Tell me about your father."

"He was a good man! A farmer and that's all he did." I was confused. At this point, I would probably tell him everything about my father- his birth date, favourite shirt... But I just couldn't recall anything of value to anybody. "Luca knows it too." I tried to roll onto my side but a burst of pain shot into my ribs. I coughed frantically, scraping air through my throat into my lungs.
"Luca tried to find your father's papers for years, but your father was too secretive. Even in front of his own children."

"Then why should I know?" I complained in frustration. Why were they doing this to me?

"Because Luca claims you saw something." The man said, knowing that he had just crushed me internally. Luca had ratted me out. Luca had lied. Why, Luca? Why did you lie to them?

"And you believe him?" I croaked. He shrugged in reply, clearly uncaring either way.
"My boss believes him and that's all I need to know."

Suddenly, a black haze descended into my vision and I felt myself drifting away from reality. I struggled to stay awake, hearing the man calling me-

"Oi, stay awake." He said, prodding my side. The black blanket thickened and didn't pass. The man became further and further away from me. "Oi?!"

LEVI-

We had been notified that the search squad had found what they expected to be the building Lena was kept in. It was a run down barn in the middle of fields. As far as the eye could see, grass plains panned out from either side of it, save for the line of trees on one side signifying the start of a large forest. Intel told us that there was an underground basement to this barn that the farmer had once used for illegal purposes. Ever since the military police had arrested the owner, the barn had remained empty. Myself and Hanji were currently mapping out our plan on paper.

"She'll be in the basement." Hanji quickly affirmed. "The barn has two ways of getting inside- the front door and the escape hatch."

"Where does the escape hatch lead?" I asked.

"My guess would be directly into the basement. It'll be a narrow passageway somewhere around the back. We gathered the reports of the siege and it states that the owner first escaped through this hatch and was later caught in town."

"So we send Shadow in here?"

"No, that's what they're expecting. We send Light in here, posing as the main attack force. Then, once the fight has commenced, we send Shadow in the main door which should have an entrance somewhere to the basement."
"What about traps?"
"They won't set any." Hanji was certain. "The passageway is too narrow and they need to be able to get out at any time. Plus, they have no idea when we're coming. It's too impractical."

"Then what's their plan?" I asked, unsure on what kind of benefit the MP could get out of using an old barn.

"A simple rat trap. They lure you, Levi, into the place where Lena is kept and then pull some kind of trick. Maybe tear gas or something. They want you, so getting in will be the easy part. Getting out is more difficult."

"Then won't Shadow be trapped?"

"They will have someone guarding Lena, so that if anyone other than you try to get her, he can take them down until they get that chance to capture you."

We continued debating, planning and casting around ideas until it became night time and it was time to gather everyone together.

"We move out in three hours." I said to the group we'd gathered and briefed. "This will all be over in five hours time. There is no option for failure."

"Yes sir!"

…

LENA-

Dad's study room was something that fascinated me. It always had. Father didn't allow us to go in there, and even mother wasn't allowed to set foot in to clean. I sat outside his door once more, peering on my stomach under the gap between the wooden frame and the floor. I couldn't hear anything and all I saw was a line of light where dad had lit a candle. Quickly becoming bored, I knocked on the door and called out.

"Dad?" He didn't reply. I rapped again louder, hearing the door rattle on its hinges. "Dad?" Curiosity overwhelmed me and I tried the handle. To my great surprise and even greater excitement, it was open. Pushing the door back and peering into the darkened room, I saw Dad sprawled over his desk. He had clearly fallen asleep whilst working. I scuttled over to him and took the opportunity to look around. There wasn't much to see- just piles of papers and books stacked high from floor to ceiling. Dad was clearly working hard on something. I stood on my tip toes to read the papers he had been writing.

'The Wallists', 'Wall Religion', 'Titans'...

"Boring." I pouted. "Why is Dad looking at something so boring?"

"Lena!" Someone hissed from the doorway. "Come out before Dad sees you!" I looked over to Luca and beamed.

"Luca-!"

"Shh!" He interrupted. Dad stirred but did not wake. I glanced around the room one final time, before hopping back outside skipping to Luca's side.

"Don't you want to see too?" I asked Luca, who shut the door behind us as quietly as possible. Luca didn't reply.

…

The dream faded away and I became aware of a tingling sensation across my side. I realised that the whole of one side of my body had turned to ice from the freezing cold stones I was laid on. Wearily, I forced my eyes open and took a deep, shaky breath. Taking in my surroundings, I guessed I was alone again. I didn't have the energy to move. My throat burned. My stomached ached. My chest hurt. My wrist throbbed. My heart ached.

"I want to go home." I muttered, miserably. All of a sudden, I became aware of voices outside. I tuned into the anxious tones and commanding shouts echoing from behind the door.

"They're here! Get ready!"

"Levi and his team have been spotted!"

"You there, get yourself over to the front squad!"

"Yessir!"

"Why aren't you with the girl?!"
"I'm just on my way back, sir."

I jolted at the voice I recognised and fear welled up inside of me. There was enough terror racing through my blood to flood Sina as I heard the door click open again. Squeezing my eyes shut, I focussed on controlling my breathing. He'd leave me alone as long as I played dead.

"The mighty Levi has arrived to save your sorry ass." I felt my breath hitch. Levi. Levi was here. "Ahh, so you are awake. Just so you know, it won't be long until he's captured and goes through exactly what you've been subjected to until now."

"Don't... touch him." I commanded with false bravado. I felt his presence behind me, looming ominously like a ghost.

"Be a good girl and play bait, will you? Ahh," he pulled on my shirt so that I rolled onto my back. I caught his gaze with mine. "You look far too healthy for me to let Levi see you."

"Levi's strong." I swallowed, feeling my throat swell against the dry ball lodged within it. I coughed, still trying to glare back at him with my new-found hope. If Levi had come for me, I'd be fine.

"He is. But we know his weakness." The man laughed, tugging on my cheek and allowing his nails to scape my skin. "Do you?"

I knew it. I knew it ridiculously well.

…

KURT-

"Light squad have entered the secret door and have commenced the counter attack." Hanji reported, panting as she came to a halt from her run. We hid in the ferns within the forest surrounding the right side of the barn, ducking low. "In a few minutes, get across to the front entrance and find Lena as soon as possible. I'll be in the tree line over there so that I can see both entrances. If you come across Luca or one of the MP spies, capture them. That prioritises over Lena."

I scoffed internally and knew that Hanji was aware as much as I was that both teams would choose Lena over anything else. We had to follow orders and pretend that Lena was a side task, but in reality our only objective was to make her safe again. Well, I suppose I could only definitely state that for half of the group- myself, Levi and Guthrie included. Maybe Stein also. On the other hand, Armin and Mikasa barely knew Lena and they'd been through so much already that their hearts must be made of concrete. I couldn't be sure that they'd support us in finding her if the opportunity to capture Luca arose.

One thing was for certain though: we weren't leaving here without her.

I cast my eyes over to Guthrie, who hadn't been calm since he'd found out the news. He sat chewing his thumb, just dying to race in there. He wasn't acting objectively and that worried me. As skilled as he was, he was rash as hell. When I first met him, I thought he was just trying to play the hero; I thought he wanted to be that prince riding in to danger to save everyone. But as I got to know him, I realised that it was his conscience - not his ego - that made him act like he did. He was so soft emotionally that I think if he ever had to make the decision to sacrifice someone for victory, he'd have a heart attack and die himself before he'd figure out what to do.

He looked over sharply and nodded at me. In all this time I'd been worrying, the signal had been given. Hanji tapped me on the back as I prepared to run.

"Break a leg." She smiled.

"Go!" Mikasa hissed, breaking out of the tree line first. Guthrie reacted like his feet had been set alight, sprinting straight after her. Armin, Jean and I set off behind them. I dashed as quickly as possible, constantly darting my eyes around for danger. The run from safety through no man's land kick started the adrenaline within my system. I hadn't felt his scared since the last expedition. Ava's face appeared in my head, smiling. Save her, Kurt. Her face said. You couldn't save me, could you?

I cursed.

The instant we burst through the barn doors, Mikasa had taken out the two on guard before they even had a chance to scream. Even though we weren't fighting titans, I felt bare without my 3DMG. We had each been given knives and a gun. Our instructions were only to kill if someone inhibited our mission, but I wouldn't be able to pull the trigger if I wanted to.

It didn't take long before we found the hatch into the basement and raced down the steps. I was shocked at how large the basement was- it seemed more like the underground passageways we'd been through with Levi. In fact, my intuition suggested that it was previously part of that underground network... Maybe it still was, or maybe it had become detached at some point.

"Concentrate, Kurt!" Guthrie yelled. "You're doing that thing again!" Ahh, I was. Whenever I was stressed, I found myself over-thinking things.

"I'm fine!" I shouted back. Once again, Mikasa struck down two guards who ran towards us down the corridor. One of them got back up and made a swing for her, but she quickly knocked him backwards and continued running. We raced on behind her. It appeared as though they had been stationed in twos, so we could suggest that there would be two people with Lena.

"Kurt!" Guthrie shouted again.

"Shut up I'm fine! Stop worrying!" I gritted my teeth.

"Don't hold us back." Mikasa called from the front. I rolled my eyes.

"No ma'am."

"Two doors on either side!" Armin interrupted, and indeed there was four doors ahead of us just before a turn in the corridor. "Me and Mikasa will get the first left. Kurt and Guthrie the first right. Jean hold off in the corridor."

We all shouted back affirmative and Guthrie reached our door before I did. He tried to door handle, which opened easily and Guthrie dived inside. I followed swiftly after, but as expected, Lena wasn't there. It was simply a store cupboard. I gulped and a bead of sweat ran down my face as I spotted the torture equipment stacked casually on shelves. Branders, pliers and all sorts of blood stained equipment- I had no time to waste though. We charged back into the corridor and tried the second door, which also opened easily. Again, nothing of importance was in there. Looking across to Armin who had just come out of the opposite doors, he shook his head.

"Mikasa!" Jean bellowed, withdrawing his knife as two sets of footsteps echoed towards us.
"In here!" Armin hissed back, dragging Jean and Mikasa into the room they had just searched. Guthrie leapt after them, but I stepped backwards into the door closest to me. We both closed the doors and listened intently as the footsteps pounded ever closer. I hope to God that they don't come here. I prayed knowing that alone, I didn't stand a chance. I heard the men kick open a door and the sound of Mikasa's fighting calls sliced across the hallway.

They'd found them. More footsteps appeared and I heard Armin shout desperately "Mikasa and Guthrie, take those three! I'll get the others with Jean!"

"Be careful, Armin!" Mikasa yelled back. I cracked open the door just enough to see through. Across the corridor, flashes of skin whipped back and forth as my team fought with what looked like five intruders. The corridor was clear. I took the opportunity and ran.

Along the way, I kicked open door after door. There was no sign of Lena. I felt terrified alone, but running seemed to drain the panic from my limbs. Eventually, I reached a locked door and blasted the lock with my gun. The door swung open on it's hinges and I stepped recklessly inside.

"I've been waiting-... What? It's not Levi." Someone turned to face me, holding something limp in a vice-like grip. It's legs dangled from the floor and blood dripped from an open wound somewhere. I aimed my gun at him and he laughed. "You won't fire when I've got her life in my hands, would you?" He smiled, sadistically. I finally looked at the face of what he was holding.

And I felt my stomach lurch.

"L... Lena?" I gasped, taking in her beaten body. She had been battered so much her face was almost unrecognisable. I searched her figure desperately for a sign of life, but her eyes were closed and if she was even breathing, it was so faint that her chest barely moved.

"Didn't recognise her, huh? Well, that's my handy work. Now, run and get Levi for me or I'll slit her throat and put her out of her misery." I lowered the gun and shook.

"Lena?" I called louder, hoping for some sort of response. Still nothing. I had to do something. I suddenly remembered something. "Like FUCK I'd let you do that!" I charged forward as his eyebrows rose in surprise. He expected some type of physical attack, dropping Lena so that he had both hands to take me out. His eyes widened as I stopped just metres from him and raised the gun at his head. It wasn't the gun from earlier. It was a special scouting legion colour smoke grenade. And the smoke was now heading straight for his face.

Once he'd been knocked backwards, I wasted no time in scooping Lena up and running out of the door. I stopped only to pull her onto my back so that I was grasping her wrists. I felt something warm leak across my fingers and realised I had grasped and re-opened a wound on her wrist. But I didn't stop running. I had no idea where my team had gone, frantically sprinting back out of the basement and across the field to the trees. I looked back momentarily, seeing the man I'd knocked out charging after me with a streak of fresh blood coursing down his cheek.

"SHIT!" I yelled, trying to will my legs to move faster. I was surprised I was even breathing enough to be awake as I drew in sharp breaths in panic. I dove into the trees and made a split second decision. Dropping Lena into the ferns I turned back to face him and whipped out my gun. He caught up quickly and stopped in front of me.

"You want to tango, boy?" He asked, grinning. "I know your type. You won't pull that trigger."

"You're not having Lena!" I bellowed back, hoping that if I shouted louder, the waver in my voice would be covered up.

"You know, I didn't expect Erwin to send out two groups. You caught us off guard with that gamble."

"GET BACK!" I threatened, finger caressing the trigger like a security blanket.

"If you run now, I won't kill you." He tried to bargain with me.

"Fuck you!"

"Well, can't say I didn't warn you." He smiled.

AN: Variety of POVs in this, including Kurt for a change ooh~! Sorry for the late update! Hope you enjoy it :D