Pain searing though him, Joe crashed hard onto the matted floor for the fifth time in the last minute. Standing over him, Annie stared down, looking fairly bored.

"Props for trying something else, but that was pretty weak."

Growling, he forced himself to all fours.

"I though you said that you'd be teaching me how to fight; all I've learned so far is that you can slam my ass seven hundred different ways."

She turned away as he stood, looking mildly annoyed,

"Again."

Flattening his lips in anger, he launched himself forward.

Just get ahold of her, she's not as big as you, use that…

He reached out and tried to grab at her after swinging wildly towards her head. As though he had telegraphed his move, she sidestepped and, placing a hand on his chest, smashed a kick into his ankles and slammed him to the ground. Stepping away, she tilted her head,

"Again."

Barely getting on his feet, he was met with a ferocious hit to his gut, followed by a kick that felt like it shattered his pelvis. He rolled to the ground, gasping.

"Again."

When he remained mostly immobile on the ground, her hand found the back of this neck and he was pulled to his feet. He had a split second to turn and meet her eyes before a swipe of her leg staggered him and a fist to his left cheek sent him down again. Annie gave what could have been a sigh as she repeated herself,

"Again."

Desperately, he scrambled up, trying to both speak and haul in breath at the same time,

"If I could just have a fucking second, how am I supposed to… "

It barely seemed she moved; in an instant, she closed the distance between them and tackled him. His back once again hit the mat and Joe found her face extremely close to his. There was a dark frustration behind her eyes though she spoke coolly,

"Anyone who wants you dead is not going to give you 'a fucking second'. So neither will I."

Slipping swiftly off him, she stepped away, twisting her arm,

"Though I think we can go ahead and take another step."

She looked back to him and gestured as he came wobbling to his feet,

"Show me what you learned."

He had only a second to look confused and sputter out some meaningless gibberish before she came at him, swinging a wild fist towards his head. Getting as far as remembering how she had caught his wrist and sent him to the ground when he had tried the same move, he found himself no quicker than that as she walloped him in the temple. Somehow, he managed not to fall and instead used the momentum of her hit to slip away. Through his ringing ear, he heard her say,

"Fairly certain that's not what I did."

Shaking his head angrily and knowing now what she expected, he straightened and readied himself. Giving him the same limited time, she moved swiftly at him feigning a right hook and then throwing a sharp punch at his kidney. He recognized his own move, but found himself only able to counter not block; her hit met its mark painfully and as he growled in pain, he caught her arm and swept a kick at her legs. Feeling elation as he met his mark, the happiness quickly morphed to dull disappointment as her legs didn't budge. Wasting no time, she drove her elbow into his chest, putting him back on the ground. Not looking remotely fazed, she walked away,

"Kick wasn't nearly low enough… though you at least tried replicating that time."

Managing to roll into a crouch, he looked up at her; she was looking back the way a mother looked at a child who was trying to jam a circle block into the triangle hole.

"Though I assume now you can figure out what I was trying to do."

He nodded while swallowing his pain the best he could,

"Make me watch your moves. Replicate by experience rather than a straight visual."

Leaning against a table, she crossed her arms,

"Right. You attacked me with a fairly aggressive and predictable set of moves that you'd expect from any inexperienced thug off the street."

Joe managed a wheezy chuckle,

"You calling me a thug?"

"I'm calling you inexperienced."

Closing his eyes, he shrugged,

"Fair enough."

He winced as he rotated his shoulder, feeling a stab of pain. As though she had teleported, Annie was quickly behind him, holding his upper arm and his shoulder, moving them around,

"How'd finals go?"

Surprised at her sudden show of interest, he replied without thinking,

"Well enough, I'd say, though there's really no way of knowing until… "

She wrenched at his arm swiftly and he howled as he felt a searing pop and then a strange evaporation of his pain. As she released him, he gasped and moved his arm; feeling no pain, he glanced at her in amazement,

"Thanks… I think."

"I always tell her she still has a job as a chiropractor."

They both looked to the door to see Mikasa leaning against the doorframe, looking gently amused. Annie gave a mild snort,

"God, would that be boring."

Grimacing, Joe made it quickly to his feet,

"Did you see… ?"

For a moment, a soft smile played at her face. Then, the familiar hard look returned,

"Just finished talking to Hange."

Straightening, he looked attentively at her as Annie shifted her weight. Roughly a week had passed since their prisoner had given the name of the man who had ordered the hits against Ymir and Ilse. And since that day, Joe had known of the likely heavy discussions that had taken place regarding the next best course of action. Krista had half-hysterically demanded they find this Levi's compound and wreck the place, but Hange insisted they needed some time to debate a proper course of action. Now, it appeared one had arrived.

Eagerly, he stepped forward,

"What's the plan?"

Slowly, she walked in, and sat on the table, lacing her fingers,

"She didn't get to think of one. Apparently Levi himself reached out and asked if we would entertain the idea of a meeting."

He blinked before sputtering with outrage,

"Does he think we're that stupid?! We wander into his goddamn lair and he cuts us to pieces?!"

Mikasa raised a hand, cutting him off,

"Firstly, he hasn't a clue we know what we know. We took all the bodies; there was no reason to suspect we left any alive. You simply don't try and take prisoners when you're the sudden victim of a hit."

He very slightly relaxed,

"Secondly, meetings between businesses aren't unheard of, though they're fairly uncommon. I've… "

She gestured to Annie,

"We've been to two. We set up the pretense of a high school reunion or an office party or some such bullshit. So if there's some out-of-the-blue intrusion, we have a cover so there's no one getting suspicious. Then we have the meeting through whatever facade we've decided on."

"What are the meetings for?"

"Disputes over territory, customers, that sort of thing."

"What's our setup for this one then?"

"Well… we've been requested to a high-end dinner to discuss another deal over the border."

Joe's mind worked furiously for a moment.

"Wait… this is the guy that got us setup for the deal… "

"… where you idiotically ran out and almost got yourself killed, yes."

"Okay, not letting me live that down… "

Mikasa turned to leave,

"I should hope I don't. Hange wants to talk in the meeting room in twenty."

As she walked out of the room, Annie called after her,

"Mika."

She stopped, though she didn't turn and Joe felt a rush of déjà vu.

"They were the ones to setup that deal… you think they were the ones that rang the cops on us?"

Silence rang for several seconds before she got a response,

"Let's make sure we find out."

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

Lying haphazardly on the long wooden table, Ymir looked up as the door swung open and Mikasa strode through.

"There's one. Did you find our boxing buddies?"

She received only a nod in return though she was pleased at the curtness. The injuries to Mikasa's had rendered her partly inactive for a few days, but her recovery had been swift. Her old sharp and no-nonsense self being back was all the more a sign she was doing better.

Ymir's gaze returned to the door as it opened again and Annie and Joe walked through, the latter of them looking considerably worn. From her seat, Krista smiled at them as they entered as Ilse whistled,

"I must know who that handsome devil is."

Joe gave her a finger as he stumped by; Sasha tried to trip him and half-succeeded as he nearly fell into Ymir, who caught him by the chest and pushed him heavily into a seat,

"Slow down there, you're gonna hurt somebody."

Krista looked disapprovingly at Annie,

"I thought you said you were going to go easy on him."

The blonde shrugged in return, cold eyes looking forward,

"I did."

Ilse laughed and leaned forward to swat Joe on the shoulder and he winced, saying nothing,

"First day with Annie's always the hardest."

He frowned at her,

"That was my fourth."

She turned back forward, smiling,

"Pretend then."

He opened his mouth, looking ready to snap something, when Hange fairly kicked the door open as she swept in, her old look of excitement notably present.

"Alright, sit, sit, good, good… Ymir, off the table, we have got a good bit to talk about."

Doing as ordered, Ymir slid into a seat next to Krista where she lay her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"By now, I assume word of our requested meeting has traveled far enough that I don't have to introduce the subject."

Receiving nods, Hange quickly continued as Krista opened her mouth angrily.

"The motive behind his request is intriguing to say the least. Motive aside, however, I think this is an opportunity we need to take."

Taking a seat of her own, she looked around seriously, though there was no hiding the furor she clearly was holding in,

"The meeting, I've been informed will be held under the screen of a high-class dinner slash reception sort of thing at one of the penthouse floors in that five star hotel on third street.. Very fancy, very good food, and all expenses paid by our dear friend Levi."

"Yeah, so we're more inclined to waltz in and get blown to smithereens."

Ymir tossed a glance to Joseph who looked annoyed and angry and therefore unable to contain his outburst. After he finished speaking, however, he looked embarrassed and fixed his gaze on the ground. Hange looked at him with appreciation,

"Joseph makes an excellent point. While we don't know the real reason Levi is wanting to talk face-to-face, whether it be to warn us personally of his wishes, actually conduct a business deal, or, as you suggest, blow us to smithereens, we would have to assume that open hostility is likely."

She leaned back,

"Now while requesting a no guns meeting or an arbitrating party would certainly raise some eyebrows on his end, I've ensured that we will both be meeting with fifteen people on either side. And everyone I include besides ourselves will be fully warned that it will be a meeting where much could go wrong."

Popping her knuckles, she waved a hand in a dismissive fashion,

"I've also ensured that the morning before the meeting, three people from each of our respective sides will go and scope the place before it's set up for the dinner to ensure no foul play is done behind the scenes."

She paused, looking around to let the information sink in. Ymir looked to Krista who didn't look like she now had anything to add or interject with, but there was still an angry glow behind her eyes. When no one spoke, Hange sighed,

"Now, all this aside, I haven't accepted his offer."

Ymir's eyes snapped forward and she furrowed her brow in confusion. Clearly sensing the bewilderment in the room, their boss quickly corrected herself,

"Yet."

Drumming her fingers on the table, she said with what could have been a tinge of regret,

"This isn't my decision to make. This will likely be dangerous, we can't know what he's planning and… "

She cut herself off, looking down,

"I'd say I've put you all in well enough danger."

An uncomfortable silence followed as everyone took her words in, though, deep down, Ymir found herself wondering if she had meant them. Finally, Ilse inhaled deeply,

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I think there's some figuring out to be done, and this seems the way to do it."

Ymir quickly shook herself free of her thoughts as she sat up,

"Same. Whether it's us talking or… "

She put up a finger gun and snapped it up,

"I think I may have to go with the second option regardless."

Smiling, she felt Krista tense up as the blonde nodded aggressively. Sasha looked over,

"I'd be a bit of a shithead if I let my friends go into that and I hung back."

Ilse nodded,

"Super shithead."

Mikasa and Annie met eyes and they both looked forward, the consent clear in their eyes. Looking around at all of them, a smile began growing on Hange's face; looking past Sasha, she asked,

"Joseph? You still look like you're convinced we're walking into a death trap."

Looking behind her, Ymir saw Joseph now sitting forward with his forearms resting on his knees, still staring at the ground. As he heard his name, he glanced up, looking faintly perplexed, but there was a fierce energy in his eyes,

"I mean, I think we are. The whole thing stinks. But… "

He sighed heavily and relaxed his whole body, sitting back,

"I'll be damned if I'm not walking into it with the rest of you."

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

Walking down the hall, Mikasa felt a strange bubbling in her gut she identified as anxiety. Joseph had been right; this was almost surely some sort of trap.

But…

She looked around at her six friends as they walked alongside her, chatting avidly about the new information that had just been imparted upon them.

There isn't anyone else I'd rather face it with.

"Fancy… better dig into the closet then."

Sasha looked half-giddy with the prospect of going through her clothes,

"If someone is going to try and put a bullet in me, I need to make sure I look stunning when they do."

Ymir snorted,

"Real glad you'll be using this opportunity to play dress up. Wasting all day prepping for high school dances, right Ilse?"

Giving her friend a punch, Ymir looked over when she wasn't met with instant agreement. She then rolled her eyes as she saw Ilse looking uncomfortably away,

"Fuck me I forgot, you liked getting in monkey suits too."

"Shut up."

Throwing an arm around her distressed looking friend, Ymir smiled,

"Don't worry, we're all allowed guilty pleasures. Hey Annie!"

From the front of the group, the blonde didn't look back, which was the surest sign she was listening,

"You like getting all nice and pretty too, don't you?"

In a cold tone, she responded,

"Can't see how that matters."

Ymir's smile grew,

"No, I don't imagine you can. Well, you, Sash, Krista, and Ilse can spend all day and all day posing in front of a mirror and me, Joseph, and Mika will go see a movie or some such shit."

She adopted a thoughtful look,

"Speaking of… Joseph!"

From the back, he looked up quickly,

"What?"

"You got some nice clothes?"

He looked back down,

"I don't know what that means."

Ymir laughed as Ilse looked back,

"Like nice clothes jackass. Stuff you'd wear to a wedding or something similar."

"Ohhhhh, yea okay."

There was a pause as she looked at him with raised eyebrows,

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Ymir was joined by Sasha in laughing as Ilse turned back forward,

"Jesus fuck… "

As he replied, Joseph smiled, though Mikasa thought it looked very half-hearted,

"Don't worry, I'll find something acceptable."

"Acceptable, shit. Sash, we should take him out to get some clothes."

The brunette smirked at the look of displeasure that crossed Joseph's face,

"I'm game."

The group stepped out of the building and into the humid summer air. To the west, blue skies could be seen, but over them now hovered thick grey clouds that threatened rain at any given moment. Offering words of farewell, they all started moving off towards their separate vehicles. As she unlocked her own, Mikasa felt, more than saw, Annie come up beside her,

"You're still coming over right?"

"Yep."

"Good."

The blonde looked like she very much wanted to say something else, but instead turned abruptly and walked back to her car. Looking around, Mikasa saw Joseph looking down at his phone as his hand rested on his motorcycle. In a flash decision, she walked over to him. He turned as she came up and looked mildly surprised. Sliding his phone into his pocket, he gave the same half-hearted smile she had just seen,

"Don't worry, I can manage finding something to where."

She smiled at his defensiveness,

"I'm sure you can."

Feeling hesitation at what she wanted to say, she heard them come out regardless,

"You don't have to come."

He looked back at her as the roar of Sasha's engine faded down the dirt road. There was now a tinge of aggression behind his eyes,

"Why do you say that?"

"It's obvious you think this is a bad idea. If you want to hang back… "

"You don't think I'm able?"

"I didn't say that."

Looking her up and down, he turned slowly away,

"Appreciate your concern, but I really don't think you need to be worried about me."

She could feel him putting up walls and she spoke quickly before her chance was lost,

"I do worry about you."

Surprised by the corniness of her own words, it still had the desired effect; he looked back to her, eyes softening as rain began to lightly fall.

"Thanks."

She put a hand on his upper arm,

"Don't go because you feel it's your responsibility. Go because... it's what you want."

Eyes going to the ground, he spoke softly,

"Well... I do want it."

Nodding slowly, she tossed her hair habitually,

"Okay."

Looking back to her, he smiled sheepishly,

"I'd better go, you… "

It looked as though he almost wouldn't have the guts to say it; really, it was cute in a bumbling sort of way,

".. you remember what happened the last time we were alone in the rain."

She raised an eyebrow.

As if I'll ever forget.

"Sure do."

Turning, she walked away, laughing inwardly at the look of disappointment that shone on his face. As she reached her car door, he called after her,

"Do you regret it?"

She looked back to meet his gaze. He was watching her intently, an almost desperate look in his eyes; she found no reason to lie.

"I don't think so."

As his eyes widened and a smile played at the edges of his mouth, she climbed into her car, smiling herself.

Clearly he doesn't.