Ymir would have guessed that she would have been the one that would need restraining in a meeting with Kenny; with what he had done, paired with his unbearable attitude, would have had her assuming she would have attempted to kill him long before anyone else in the room. She, however, was merely stunned into silence at what he said as Mikasa threw herself forward. Annie spun and wrapped her arms around her friend's waist, digging her heels into the ground to stop her. Kenny turned to look,

"My goodness, perhaps that's a taller demand than I had thought."

Mikasa snarled as Annie forced her up against the wall.

"You disgusting piece of… !"

Hange stood very quickly.

"You've made your point. We'll deliberate and get back to you."

She spoke with an obvious haste; Kenny rose, looking around with a slight air of confusion and amusement. His eyes locked onto Mikasa as he stepped towards the door. A look of realization dawned on his face.

"Oh, don't tell me you two are humpin', are you?"

When her only response was to spit at him, he gave a brief, shriek of laughter.

"Oh they're humpin', they are!"

And with another savage bark of laughter, he was out the door and gone.

A solid minute passed before Annie deemed it safe to release Mikasa and Ymir felt feeling returning to her fingers. As deep breaths were taken, Ilse looked to Hange, withholding anger.

"Hange… what exactly was that?"

Mikasa had no problem hiding her anger as she stomped to the front of the desk.

"That's why you didn't have him show, isn't it?"

Her fist came down on the desktop.

"ISN'T IT?"

"Mikasa, listen to me… "

"Have him hang back so he doesn't get to hear that all that… "

She jabbed an aggressive finger at the door.

"… that FUCKER wants is him dead?!"

She gave an empty laugh as she spun away.

"Real fuckin' classy. Real… just real goddamn upstanding."

When she looked as though she could get words in, Hange spoke low and calm.

"When he requested this meeting, he asked that Joseph not be here. I did not know the reason."

Mikasa looked disbelieving, but said nothing back, simply stared at the wall, looking furious. Sasha rapped her knuckles on her knees.

"What… what do we do?"

She immediately balked at the sight of the seething look Mikasa shot her and raised her hands.

"I'm not suggesting we… we do what he wants! But… we have to do something! Tell him something, hit him back with something!"

Ilse nodded, still looking like she was still coming to terms with what had just happened.

"Let's bring in Joseph… Levi, maybe as well. Let them know what's happened, as soon as… "

"No."

Ymir heard herself speak for the first time in minutes; eyes turned to her and she met all of them.

"Joseph… he can never know what just transpired in here."

Mikasa took a step forward.

"What?"

Ymir shrugged as though her point was obvious.

"We can't tell him."

Despite the obvious menace on her friend's face, she didn't feel afraid.

"Say that again."

"We can't."

She stared back into Mikasa's raging eyes; she felt surprise at how calmly she spoke.

"C'mon Mika, you know him better than any of us."

Gesturing around, she laughed humorlessly.

"None of us are good people. We've killed, we've stolen, we've broken the law. He's no exception. But… "

She swallowed.

"I think he has the most heart out of any of us. More than once, he's risked everything for our sake. Jumped between Krista and I and a gunman. Broke his roommate's neck when he thought he could rat us out. Even fucking took the attention of twenty armed policemen to let us get away. I… "

Cursing herself for her weakness, she couldn't help herself from looking down.

"I don't doubt that if he knew that him being dead would give us a chance, A CHANCE, for peace with that sick fuck, I don't… I don't think he would hesitate to… "

"Stop."

Mikasa's eyes had closed as she silently accepted the truth of Ymir's words; smiling, the latter spoke.

"Hell Mika, he'd chop off his own hand if he thought it would get you a good night's sleep."

"I know… I know… "

Silence descended on the group as Ymir's words sank in. For a time, they all just thought, did what they could to soothe their racing minds. It didn't take long for a lone, cold voice from the doorway to halt that process.

"So let him."

Ymir spun with the rest to see Levi, leaning against the doorway and looking annoyed. When he saw he had their attention, he stalked into the room.

"Why not let him. Give him the chance to be a martyr. To give himself up to ensure that… "

He only got a few steps into the room and a few words out before Mikasa had thrown him against the leftmost wall; he didn't look surprised as she snarled at him.

"Shut your fucking mouth."

Blinking boringly up at her, he had no trouble keeping her gaze.

"I didn't come to fight."

They stared at each other for several seconds before she released him and stepped back, still eying him with lethal intent. He ignored her and straightened his clothes.

"As far as I see it, two things come about if you tell him. A, he does nothing, out of either cowardice or something else. He then spends the rest of his life feeling guilty and blaming himself if even the slightest negative thing happens to any of you."

He dragged a chair over and dropped into it lazily.

"B, he commits suicide to call off Kenny. He certainly seems the type to do so."

Looking around at the angry glares that met him, he shrugged.

"Or you kill him and that's that."

Mikasa didn't move, but tensed and Annie took her by the lower arm. After a moment, Hange leaned forward slowly, exhaling as she did.

"Not a one of those options is appealing. Every one winds up with a sour ending, no matter how you slice it. But know this… "

Her eyes narrowed.

"No one lays a finger on any of my kids without answering to me. Or… "

She glanced around.

"… frankly, any one of them may handle revenge for me."

He stared back dully for several seconds. Then, unbelievably, he smiled.

"I assumed you'd say that. So I brought a different plan."

Reaching into his jacket, he pulled free a folded piece of paper and threw it onto her desk. Hange picked it up and, unfolding it, gave it a long look-over. She glanced up then, looking suspicious.

"What is this?"

He sat back, still unveiling no emotion, the smile gone from his face.

"Those are the plans of the building where we found to be Kenny's primary manufacturing facility for ecstasy and crack."

The tension in the room altered drastically; Ymir felt her heart rate double as Ilse stepped forward.

"That's… that's where he makes all of his… "

"Perhaps not all, but we've been watching the building for days. Pounds of drugs a day, and they leave just as frequently as they are made."

Sasha now looked like she was trying not to smile.

"What exactly are you giving us this for?"

He stood.

"Gave you what? You found this on your own. You were just now showing it to me."

He slid the chair out of his way and politely stepped towards the door. Without looking back, he said curtly,

"The building is disguised as a power plant and thusly would be very susceptible to explosives. Lot of walls, not a lot of windows. Tomorrow night, they will have one of the two most quiet shift groups, least resistance."

He looked to deliberate something.

"Good luck."

And he was gone.

Ymir felt an excited pulse racing through her chest as she looked around; she could see the same hungry look in the eyes of her friends that she knew was reflected in her own. When no one broke the silence, she did herself.

"So our options are: kill Joseph, do nothing, or blow the hell out of that fucker's supply building."

Snorting quietly, Ilse muttered,

"I only heard one option there."

Sasha's knuckles popped sharply.

"Yeah, me too."

Hange was smiling.

"Meet back here in three hours. I'm going to start working on a plan. No mistakes are going to be made if we go through with this."

Her tone made it obvious that there was nothing to deliberate. As they made to leave, Hange called after.

"Mika."

Ymir stopped in the hallway to listen.

"I'll leave the decision to tell him about this meeting up to you; whether you want to keep it a secret, tell him part of it, or all of it."

Imaging what she thought Mikasa's response would be, Ymir walked swiftly down to her car. She pondered what she would do had she been given the option, and then thought of if Kenny had called for Krista to die. Then, the decision stopped being a decision altogether.

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

Mind still racing as she pulled back into the driveway of her residence, Mikasa shook herself free of her stupor and walked quickly up the front steps. Deep in the back of her mind, she could still hear Kenny's demand and it shot the occasional burst of anger into her veins, but she fought it down.

In all honesty, she didn't know what she would tell him regarding the meeting. On the winning and logical side of the argument, hiding it from him was clearly the best response.

She was surprised to not find him in bed; normally, he would sleep for as long as he was able and she had, on more than once occasion, practically dragged him from the recess of the covers he so loved. She made her way through the small apartment and found the bathroom door closed. She knocked and stepped back as a great deal of commotion followed by a lot of swearing resulted.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm… yeah, totally good. No need to worry."

Well, that's exactly the sort of thing you could say to make me worried, you asshole.

"What are you doing in there?"

"I… nothing, just… you know, bathroom stuff… "

She would have laughed at his unbelievable answer if she hadn't been so suspicious. Leaning against the door, she asked hesitantly.

"Are you masturbating?"

"What?! No, don't be ridiculous!"

Reaching up and grabbing the key that was above the doorframe, she listened to him continuing to babble.

"Don't know why you would think that, totally absurd, just give me like a few seconds and I'll be right out…"

Half expecting to see him standing half naked with porn playing on his phone, she unlocked and forced the door open to a different surprise. Propped on the bedside table from the room was a sewing machine which Joseph was dutifully bent over; the bathroom fan drowned out the buzzing of the machine. He looked surprised, then immediately began spewing apologies and excuses.

"Ah shit, I'm sorry, I wanted it to be a surprise, I know I should have asked your permission, but I wanted to do it without you knowing, at least until it was done, jeez, I'm sorry, just don't… don't be too mad… "

Her eyes moved to the subject of his rambling; it was the scarf Eren had given her all those years ago. After she had moved into high school, she had stopped wearing it, but that hadn't prevented it from being ratty and torn up from all those days of use. Now seeing it though… it was as though she had just gotten it yesterday. It looked flawless, no loose strands, no holes, no uneven threads; she took a step forward and picked it up. Quietly, she heard herself ask,

"You did this?"

He had adopted a very defensive position and his eyes remained deadlocked on the ground.

"Yeah, I took a sewing class in high school as an elective for shits and giggles… and… yeah, I just thought maybe… "

That was all he managed before she swept him up into a tight hug. She said nothing, but there was nothing to be said. In that instant, she decided she would never tell him what Kenny had demanded; Ymir was right. He was too good of a person to be trusted with that information. After several seconds, she stepped back and smiled, dragging her fingers along the fabric of the resewn scarf as affection poured through her. His expression was nothing less than surprised.

"C'mon, let's take that run."

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

When Joe heard the news that the following night they would be hitting one of Kenny's compounds in what could only be described as tactical espionage, he felt a rush of anxiety and excitement that he hadn't felt in some time. Finally, they would be striking back at the son of a bitch, hitting him where it hurt. He and Mikasa had driven to their building shortly after an embarrassing run and she had left him be to speak with Hange behind closed doors. He had been pacing wildly around their own compound ever since until he had come across Annie.

"Hey, you wanna practice for a bit?"

She had barely looked at him.

"Not right now."

"Aw c'mon, what's the matter, scared I might win?"

Rolling her eyes, she had accepted faster than he had expected. He also noticed the strange look she gave him.

"Fine."

And so, for the first time in a while, he was back to be being tossed over her hip like a rag doll. This time, he landed on his side rather than his back; it didn't hurt any less.

"Ow… jeez, you'd think at some point I'd get the hang of this."

"You would think."

He smirked at her jibe, then sprang up and forward. Catching her in the kidney with a hit, he felt surprise that he had landed a blow as she grunted. Then, she grabbed his wrist, twisted and smashed his chest with her elbow, sending him down again. Gasping for air, he rolled over and dug his knees into the mat; it took him several seconds before he found himself able to stand. She was looking at him with the same strange expression. This time, she initiated, closing the distance quickly and driving her knee into his stomach. Growling in pain, he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, then tried reaching under her thigh to throw her to the ground. She anticipated his move and twisted on her heel; falling into a roll, she threw him over her head and he went sprawling. Allowing himself several seconds, he rose painfully, cursing.

"And at some point, I'll stop letting my guard down every time I… "

He trailed off as he saw her; she had her back mostly to him and was holding her pistol. Blinking in bemusement, he straightened.

"What's up?"

She didn't react at all other than to raise the pistol slightly. When she spoke, it sounded very distant.

"I don't know why I have this with me."

Confused, but slightly at ease, he nodded understandingly.

"Yeah sometimes, I'll find myself with mine when I didn't even remember holstering it… "

She laid it on the table and stared at it for several moments; as Joe paced to the side to catch his breath, he saw her eyes. They were shining with tears.

"Whoa, whoa, are you okay?"

Swallowing, she slowly turned her gaze to him.

"I have to be somewhere."

Shifting his footing, he nodded nervously.

"Okay, just… are you sure you're alright? I mean, I wouldn't assume that… "

In an instant, she was in front of him, wrapping him into one of the tightest hugs he had ever received. Then, she turned and walked briskly from the room. He stood there for a very long time, trying to process what had just happened. Almost subconsciously, he felt himself walk from the room and into the hallways, where he wandered with no aim in mind.

What the hell just happened?

So caught up in his thoughts that he was, that he and Ymir almost knocked each other over, crossing paths.

"Oh shit, sorry man… "

"It's fine, should have been watching where I was going."

She looked at him, almost looking worried.

"How you doing?"

He blinked in surprise; Ymir never put much stock in how anyone else felt other than Krista.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you genius."

"I uh… I guess I'm doing alright."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Mind if I walk with you?"

Again, he blinked in surprise.

"No, feel free."

They walked slowly down the hall through a somewhat awkward silence, before Ymir finally burst out.

"Mind if I ask you sort of a weird question?"

Joe laughed.

"I like weird questions."

"This one's pretty weird. So, say Mikasa is about to be put in a lot of danger. You don't know what kind, but you know it'll be bad. Would you sacrifice yourself to prevent that?"

He stared at her.

"Where is this coming from?"

She laughed nervously.

"Just was talking to Krista about… stuff… you know, when you're in the hospital for that long, you run out of stuff to talk about."

Nodding, he looked back forward.

"Well, yeah, of course I would."

In his peripheral, he could see Ymir nodding aggressively,

"Okay, okay, but say this: there's only a fifty percent chance that you dying saves her. Still do it?"

He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Ymir, I would do it if there was a one percent chance."

Stopping, he turned to look at her; she was staring back, now looking almost frightened.

"Seriously, where is this coming from?"

"I… I was just curious, I'm sorry, I'll uh… just go now, sorry about that… "

And before he could no anything more than open his mouth, she was gone. Standing still in the hallway for several seconds, he turned his gaze to the ceiling.

"What… the FUCK… is wrong with everybody?"

Shaking his head, he resumed his pace and found himself by the stairwell that led to the roof. It was ajar curiously and he found himself taking the path up to see who was taking the roof as a place of solace that afternoon. Reaching the top, he looked around as the brilliant sun struck him and he winced, shielding his eyes. On the far side, Sasha leaned up against the barrier that surrounded the area; in a juvenile instance, he crept up silently behind her, intent on giving her a good scare. Then, he sniffed the air and got a good whiff. He laughed and she spun around.

"Wow Sash, hell of a time to get high."

Cursing, she tried pathetically to hide the blunt that was between her fingers behind her; he walked up, shaking his head.

"C'mon, of all the people to judge you, do you really think you need to worry about me?"

She eyed him cautiously as he leaned up next to her.

"Yes."

He laughed.

"Fair enough."

Gesturing, he smiled.

"Gimme a hit and I won't say a word."

Sasha stared at him in surprise.

"Joseph you… don't do drugs, I thought."

"That's true, but I've also never tried."

Returning his smile, she handed it over; he took a drag and immediately coughed. Ignoring her laughs, he shook his head, trying to clear it and handed it back. A strange feeling dragged itself through his mind.

"Jeez, your inexperience show."

"Thanks."

She gave his back a hearty few pats as he issued a few final coughs. Taking a drag of her own, she asked,

"So how's your day going? Mika mentioned you two went for a run."

"Yeah, she uh… she's definitely more of an athlete than I am."

He could see her smiling out of the corner of his eye, sun catching her hair in a spectacular fashion.

"She also mentioned that maybe you couldn't keep your eyes off her."

Pulling himself up in indignation, he gave a blustering reply,

"Alright, when she wears just short shorts and a sports bra, how am I supposed to look at anything else?"

Joe continued firing the question as she laughed.

"How? How exactly?"

He started poking her in the side where he knew she was ticklish.

"Huh? How?"

"Joseph… stop… STOP… "

"Answer. How?"

Giggling madly, she tried squirming away.

"I don't… I don't know, STOP… "

He finally relented, chuckling himself as she gained control of her faculties. As their laughter died away, he stared off towards the horizon, toward the rolling hills that led to the vast plains beyond. He felt a rush of anxiety in his gut that had nothing to do with the mission set for tomorrow night.

"Sasha?"

"What's up man?"

There was a brief pause as he grappled with the question before it spilled out of him; he had to ask.

Do it.

"Is there… is there something going on that I don't know about?"

He had never seen a smile disappear so quickly from someone's face and in that moment, he knew something was wrong.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I asked. What's going on around here that I don't know about?"

"Why… why would you assume that… "

He heard himself start to speak, and found he couldn't stop.

"Something's up! Mikasa's been giving me a shit ton of extra affection, not that I'm complaining mind you… Ymir's asking he weird questions and looking at me funny, laughing awkwardly at stuff that isn't funny… and Annie just came out of nowhere and gave me hug! A HUG! From ANNIE! That doesn't just happen!"

She was staring at him fearfully now as the smell of pot swirled around them and he was now well aware she was hiding something.

"Joseph… I… "

"C'mon Sash, spill it."

As she said nothing, he took a step forward; her eyes were shining with tears. He didn't relent.

"Tell me."

She swallowed.

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

"They were told."

"Yes."

"And I assume you still aren't willing to tell me anything else?"

"Don't know you well enough yet."

"Does knowing I'm risking my job as well as time in prison for talking to you change anything?"

"Did you know I'm doing the same?"

…

…

"Fair enough. "

…

…

"When?"

"Tomorrow night."

"We'll be ready."

"I hope so."