Hey there. I'm back with another chapter of HSF. Thanks for the feedback arrios18. It feels good to know that the chapters flowed nicely. Anyways, I don't think I've got much to say other than. Enjoy the chapter.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
"Is it dinner already?" Junior asked as he sat up from his bed, stretching as his body adjusted to being awake after a short nap. He glanced at a nearby window and could tell that it was dark on the outside. Deciding that it probably really was dinner time, he scooted towards the edge and hopped off the bed, landing on his feet with a thud, wincing as he felt the shock in his feet.
He then crouched to look under his bunk and then pulled out his boots when he caught sight of them. He then took a seat on the bed below his so as to put on his boots. His bunkmate wouldn't mind. Eren was a chill guy—well most of the time.
After his quest to put on his boots, it was time to perhaps find someone to go to dinner with, but when he looked around the dorm, there was practically no one in there to go with.
"I guess I'll go it alone," he sighed before making his way out the door, through the quiet halls and to the outside of the dorms.
When he stepped outside of the building, the quiet atmosphere had changed as it turned out there was human life on the outside. He looked around and saw some of the remaining soldiers chatting and walking under the evening skies where snow was slowly falling to the ground.
When the cold air blew in his direction, Junior's first instinct was to pull his jacket closely around his torso, however that didn't really do much as the tiny jackets could only do so much to keep someone warm.
Deciding to brave it out, Junior stepped out of the building and began to make his way towards the cafeteria.
As he walked, he looked around. The base, along with the rest of the city was having repairs done to it ever since the titans attacked. To think it had only been a few days ago when the titans attacked and, yet, the city of Fort Rose was already getting right back on its feet. At this point, the Commander had allowed the soldiers sometime to recover from their injuries while he, alongside the Garrison Commander Pixis, went on to advance their plans to retake Fort Maria—at least that was what Hange told him anyway.
"Come on dad, you promised!" he turned when he heard a familiar voice.
"Can't a man change his mind?" Miche responded while looking down at his daughter.
"Not when it's a promise dad," she responded before glancing to the side and noticing Junior watching. "Hey Junior, could you come here a minute?" she asked, waving at him.
"Uh sure!" he responded before walking towards the two Zachariuses.
"Junior, long time not see," Miche responded, reaching out a hand to him, "Good to see you again."
"Good to see you again uncle…" Junior started, reaching out to shake his hand, but ended up being pulled into a side hug by the giant man, "Miche…"
"What, you thought that just because you're seventeen now, you were too old to be hugging your uncle?"
"…No," he responded, "though I'd appreciate it if you let me have some room to breathe."
Miche only smirked before releasing him from the hug and ruffling his hair, "I can say you've gotten a bit taller since we last saw each other. Guess your old man must've kept it to himself."
"I guess so."
Miche then looked back at Mackenzie and then back at Junior, "hey Junior, maybe you'll be able to convince Mack over here not to join the Scouts. Trust me, I tried, but she's not changing her mind."
"You wanted to join the Scouts?" Junior asked, looking down the blonde girl, something he remembered not being able to do. Just over a year ago, before all the titans showed up, they were looking at each other at eye-level much like with Irene, but here he was, slightly tilting his head to look down at her. Miche was right.
I really have gotten taller, haven't I?
"Yeah."
"Why? Don't those things freak the hell out of you?" Junior asked, surprised by the fact that she was interested in risking her life like that. So far, she was the only other person he had met—other than Irene—who was so enthusiastic about fighting those damn things. They were huge and carnivorous, towering over every other life form on the food chain. Like why on earth would anyone do that, "I mean… those guys are like the size of buildings. You could die."
"Junior, over fifty people had died during that battle alone. I'm well aware that I could die," Mackenzie responded before crossing her arms, "besides, if you've survived this long then I'm pretty sure I could do that too," she said with a smirk.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Junior asked, also crossing his arms as he took a step closer to her. If Junior hadn't been focused on sizing her up, he would've noticed the light shade of pink her face had just turned as she looked up at him.
"Ugh, back off," Mackenzie said, shoving him backwards a bit, "you still smell."
"And you're still rough," Junior said, regaining his stability before looking at her, amused and curious to know why on earth she looked so flustered all of a sudden. Their little interaction sort of reminded him of when they were still in New Sina Town. They were family friends so they were almost always at each other's houses. Playing with toys when they were younger before they grew into playing videogames and sometimes sports together.
It was the sound of Miche chuckling that shifted their attention from each other to the giant man. The man had a rather suspicious smirk on his face and Junior had a feeling he knew what was going through the man's mind right now.
"…Hey dad…" Mackenzie started, giving him a suspicious look, "what's with that laughing? I don't think any of us said any jokes."
"You kids are just getting me excited is all," he said before bringing a hand to stroke his goatee and looking down at Junior, "so Junior, when are you going to hook up with Mack over here and give me grandkids?"
"Dad, seriously!" Mackenzie shouted, her face becoming a brighter shade of red before her father burst out laughing. "Dad it's not funny!" she whined before Miche pulled her into a hug, much to her protest.
Junior watched in amusement at the scene in front of him. He was just as surprised as Mackenzie was at Miche's sudden question, but then… he wasn't so surprised. For as long as he had known, Miche's sense of humour was as weird as his father's, so it wasn't exactly surprising that he would pull something like that.
Another thing that seemed to amuse Junior was how Mackenzie was getting so flustered. It was just a joke after all. Well, uncle Miche wanted an answer and he was going to give to him.
"First of all, uncle Miche. Mack and I are basically kids ourselves, so in no way can you be expecting grandkids from either of us," Junior started, "secondly, Mack is basically my little sister so dating her would kinda be like me dating Marie which is, honestly… kinda weird."
"Oh is that so?" Miche raised an eyebrow before looking back down at his daughter and then back a Junior, "because I highly doubt Mack feels the same way."
"Leave it dad." Mackenzie said, escaping his hug before standing straight, "it's true anyway. Junior's like my brother so dating him would be weird."
"Whatever you say, Mack," Miche sighed in defeat.
"Now, back to the main topic on discussion," Mackenzie started, a determined look on her face, "Dad, I'm still going to ask again. Can I join the Scouts with you?"
"I don't get it, Mack," Miche started, now wearing a more serious facial expression, "you're already a Garrison soldier. Why would you want to be a Scout?"
"Dad, all the Garrisons do is sit around drinking and playing games all day," she explained, "I need some action like you guys. You guys get to fight the titans. The same damn things that forced us into this fort in the first place. We were trained in the use of ODM Gear because we're supposed to be fighting titans right? Well that's what I wanna do and I'm sure of it because I took down three that day they attacked."
You took down three?
Junior felt a mixture of two emotions. One of them was shock at the fact that Mackenzie had actually taken out a good number of titans for someone that wasn't a Scout, and as much as he hated to believe it, the other emotion he felt was pretty close to Jealousy because well… she'd taken down two more than him, an actual Scout. Well, Mackenzie had always been more on the physical side than he was.
"Mack…" Miche started, looking down at her contemplatively before raising his wrist to look at the wristwatch that rested there for a bit and then back at Mackenzie, "Alright Mack. I have to go talk to Commander Erwin for a bit so you can go hang out with Junior over. I'll let you know when I'm done so we can go home."
"But dad I…" she started but stopped once her father patted her head and walked off. She then looked back at Junior, "so where were you off to?"
"Oh right," Junior started, remembering that he was actually on his way to the cafeteria for dinner, and now he was probably really late, "I was headed to the cafeteria for dinner."
"Well then, guess I'll be joining you."
"Cool," he nodded before turning, "follow me."
With that, the two began to make their way to the cafeteria. Their walk was actually a bit quiet. Only the sound of their boots crunching on the ground alongside the noise made by the Scouts that were on the outside.
Junior looked beside him and noticed the sort of annoyed look the girl wore, probably from having been denied the chance to join the Scouts. He was wondering now. What was it that made some people so interested in joining the Scouts? After the first expedition, he had expected people to have already quit and settle down in the fort, especially now that even more people had died.
Yet, when he looked around, everyone was still there. He hadn't heard of a single person approaching the higher ups to resign from their positions. They all seemed to be keeping it together. Whenever he asked himself why he was doing this, he'd always answer that he felt it would get him close to his father again. Though it seemed to be extremely slow, there was progress.
He wanted to be a Scout because he had a goal in mind. And that was probably what kept the other scouts in it. They, too probably had their own goals that they wanted to achieve. It led him to wonder now. He looked back at Mackenzie. What was her reason for wanting to be a Scout?
"Hey Mack," he started, catching her attention, "why do you really want to join the Scouts anyway?"
"Why do I really want to join the Scouts, huh?" she asked herself, bringing her hand to rest under her chin as she looked ahead contemplatively, "… I don't know really. I guess it's just because I want to do more."
"You want to do more?"
"I mean… I want to be able to do more," she said, turning to look at him and clicking her tongue when she noticed his still confused face, "I mean. I spent an entire year training to fight titans, so I want to fight them. I want to do more than just sit around town. Sure we don't just sit all the time, we're like cops, but then, I want to something even more than that. I want to fight titans."
"So basically, you just want to join the scouts because you're bored?' he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"…Well…" she started, pausing for a moment before exhaling, the vapour forming from her nostrils, "I suppose so."
"Mack, come on. Those are man eating monsters," Junior started, "you can't possibly want to join us just because you're bored. This isn't some game you know. People's lives are at stake. You may be feeling confident because you killed three of them, but that's probably because they were frozen in place. If they were moving like they usually did, you may not have even tolerated the idea of joining."
Junior didn't know what came over him, but he was glad it did, because Mackenzie seemed to be thinking about it.
It was after what seemed like a minute that Mackenzie answered, "You sound just like dad," she sighed before continuing, "…and that's because you're probably right. Okay, I'll try my best and think about it tonight. Happy?"
"Yeah," Junior nodded, smirking down at her defeated looking expression.
"Don't you go getting all smug just now," she responded, before playfully punching his arm, "I've still probably killed more titans than you have anyway."
Mackenzie was a thrill seeker, that much Junior knew. So, being the big brother he is, he sometimes had to be the one to keep her in check whenever she seemed to be getting way too in over her head. She wasn't easy to sway, but… she was better than the twins, so that was good enough for him.
Away from all of this, he still hadn't eaten and he was pretty sure that if he didn't get any warm food in his system, he was probably going to freeze to death at night.
"Hey Junior, are you headed to dinner?" he heard one of the other soldiers call.
"Yeah, what's up?" he asked looking back at the soldier.
"You gotta hurry up. The cooks are about to clear up!"
"Shit…" he muttered before grabbing the blonde's hand. he then looked back at the soldier, "thanks!" he said before dragging Mackenzie with him. Right now, the only thing on his mind was getting something to eat, and he was going to have to get it soon, "come on, Mack."
After a brief run to the cafeteria, Junior found that the cooks had, indeed, taken the food away. However, his little group of friends, along with a few others ,happened to have saved him something to eat.
"You were really hungry huh?" Mackenzie amusedly asked from beside him.
"You have no idea," Junior responded, putting a chunk of bread in his mouth.
"But dude, you don't have to eat like that. There's no one chasing you," another soldier said from across him.
"Sorry Alex, but…" Junior started, but stopped when he had to swallow "you had no idea, just how hungry I was."
"I still don't think that's an excuse for one person to be eating like a pack of wolves," Mackenzie answered him.
"Yeah," another soldier answered before chuckling, "dude, the way you're eating makes Doug looks like he's fit to dine with the queen," he laughed, "isn't that right Irene… Irene?"
Junior, along with everyone else at the table, turned to focus on Irene and Doug, who had been unusually quiet at the table, wearing undiscernible facial expressions.
"Daz, I think you may have offended them,' Alex said, keeping his eyes on the two.
"No way. Doug never gets offended like this," Daz shook his head before looking back at the two, "come on guys, what's going on with you. Problems in the bedroom? What's wrong? it's not going up?"
"Cut it out Daz," Junior started, staring at the grey-haired boy, and then back at his friends, "I think it's serious."
"Relax guys," Irene finally responded, "there's nothing wrong with me," she said before glancing at Doug, "and I doubt there's anything wrong with him either."
"Mhm." Doug nodded.
"If there's nothing wrong with you, then what's with all this quietness?" Daz asked.
"Probably just exhaustion," Irene responded, "it was a brutal fight after all."
"Irene, we all went through that brutal fight, but I don't see anyone else looking like you guys," Alex countered.
"Well, we're different,' Irene answered, "you obviously can't expect…"
As Junior watched Irene explain, he couldn't help but doubt it. Her being exhausted was reasonable as she probably dealt with a lot more than the average Scout. Aside from using large amounts of energy flying around, she probably also dealt with hearing the titans' voices as she killed them. The fight must've left her both physically and emotionally exhausted and being questioned by the likes of Daz and Alex must've been adding onto whatever she was feeling.
But that didn't really explain Doug, though. From the way he had come to know him, Junior was surprised to see Doug so silent all of a sudden. Even if he were tired, he would've still been goofing off with Daz or constantly asking Junior if was going to finish his food. Seeing him so silent was just... unnatural. There had to be more to it for him. He could ask him tonight.
"Okay Irene," Daz said as he stood up. he then looked at Alex, "come on dude. We've gotta get back to the dorms before dad flips out again."
"Oh right," Alex nodded as he also got up. He then looked back at everyone, "see you guys at training tomorrow and…" he then looked in Irene and Doug's direction, "I hope you guys start feeling better soon."
"Thanks," they both responded before the boys walked off.
Hardly had they left the room when they heard a gruff voice call out. "Hey Mack!"
The remaining soldiers turned to find Miche standing next to the Commander by the door. They all then turned to Mackenzie, who looked just about as shocked as all of them.
"Crap, am I in trouble?" Mackenzie asked the Scouts at the table, who all shrugged at her in response.
"I don't know, but considering the Commander's with him," Junior started, "it must be pretty serious."
"Gosh, now I'm nervous," she said.
"Come on Mack, we don't have all day!"
"Coming!" she squeaked as she got up, the girl looked so nervous it was somewhat ridiculous.
"Hey Mackenzie," Irene called out to her before she left, prompting the blonde to look at her, "make sure to make eye contact when he speaks to you."
"Thanks man," she said before walking over to the two men.
"Uhm guys," Doug said as soon as Mackenzie had left, "I've gotta be somewhere else too."
"Oh, where could you possibly go when it's so cold?" Irene asked, giving him a concerned look
"Oh, Annie wanted to talk to me about something," he responded before getting up. he then looked at Irene, "have a goodnight alright," he said before bending over and giving her a kiss on her forehead. He then looked back at Junior, "goodnight man."
"…Goodnight," he responded before Doug walked out of the Cafeteria room. He then looked back at Irene and saw her still looking rather off. He felt the need to talk to her and now that they were alone, he felt it wold be a good opportunity, "Hey Irene. I know it's more than just exhaustion that's bothering you, so could you tell me what's really wrong with you?"
"Levi, I'm exhausted. There's nothing more than that," she responded, trying to offer him that assuring Smith-style smile as she drummed her fingers on the table, but her attempts were futile as Junior could see otherwise from the look in her eyes.
Junior sighed, "Irene, come on. By now you can't possibly expect to fool me so easily." He then reached his hands across the table so as to take hers in his, "you're stressed out and I, along with the other guys, could see that clearly. I know you may not like when people try to force things out of you, but I'm your friend. I don't like seeing you like this, so please…" he said as her blue eyes were locked with his own, "just tell me what's wrong so I can help you."
Junior couldn't tell what was more surprising. The fact that he was bold enough to grab hold of Irene's hand, or the fact that he was speaking to her so easily without messing up. He, along with probably every other person he knew, would've never expected him to ever do this, yet here he was, doing it. He then found himself remembering the conversation he had with his mother the night of the attack.
"Making Mistakes is what helps us grow and from what I've seen, you've already grown from that mistake you made"
Junior smiled, not only to give Irene extra assurance, but because he was appreciating the things his mother did for him. A few days ago, he was going to end up dying because he thought the only way to help out Irene was to take down the titan, but because of his mother, here he was, offering to be there for her, to comfort her, to help her out of what appeared to be a state of emotional strain. She was an amazing friend to him, and he was sure as hell going to be an amazing friend to her too.
He watched as Irene took a deep breath, "Okay fine," she said, "I'll talk.'
"Good," Junior said, letting go of her hands and sitting straight in the bench, "I'm all e-"
"Not here though," she cut him off as she looked around, "I don't think this is a good place to discuss this, if you know what I mean.
Oh…
Junior's eyes widened in realisation. Of course that was what was bothering her so much. When he came to think about it, those titans did stop moving on their own, and he should've probably already had an idea that she could've been involved. Well, she wanted to talk somewhere private so they had to find a place.
"Does the flagpole sound good?"
Junior's previous demeanour faltered as soon as it came at the mention of the flagpole. That was the spot where most soldiers—the couples—had their private conversations. Be it a confession or something similar, that's where it happened—at their previous fort anyway. He didn't know why there of all places but that was what it was.
He then rubbed his hand against the back of his neck as he tried to find the right response, "…Irene. I don't think… the flagpole… I mean…"
"You're scared we'll look like a couple?" Irene snorted as she raised an eyebrow at him, "well that's the point, actually."
"Huh?"
"Levi, the conversation we're about to have is one I'd rather no one heard," she explained, "If we talk from the flagpole, anyone who passes by will just think we're flirting or something so they won't get suspicious or anything. Plus, it's literally snowing outside so I doubt there will be too many people outside. It's actually a very convenient spot."
Smart.
Junior was amused. Even when she was clearly stressed out, she could quickly figure things out so quickly. Well, she was a Smith anyway. He then rose from his seat, "let's go then."
"Alright."
The ground beneath his shoes made crunching sounds as Doug walked out of the cafeteria. He kept his eyes peeled, occasionally glancing around in order to spot Annie, Reiner or Bertholdt. The former had told him to meet hier after dinner so he wasn't going to let himself be late, like when he was in the club. However, the only thing that was in his way was once again, she hadn't told him where to meet up.
If that woman gives me another stink eye I swear I'm flipping her off.
Doug sighed. In truth, he would never do something like that to Annie. Simply because he felt he had no right to, and because those looks sometimes scared the living daylights out of him. If she were to glare at him, his real response would be to shut up and seek refuge behind one of the guys. For a woman he easily towered over, she sure made him feel smaller than even the Captain.
The Captain.
Doug bristled at the thought of the Captain. That man was… something he had never seen before that was for sure. He was just… something else. If there was one person that terrified him even more than Annie, it was him. Right now, he wasn't going to be anywhere but on the man's good side.
"Doug!"
He looked around the moment his name was called and his eyes landed on Reiner who, like last time, was probably looking for him. Only this time, he wasn't surrounded by several clubbers, but was right next to the Scouts' Common Room.
Whoa, are we really doing this?
Doug couldn't help but get a bit excited as he approached Reiner. Had Annie finally agreed to hang out for once, possibly play a game of pool or something. He hadn't been able to have fun with her for years and yet here he was probably going to have a night where he didn't receive a stink eye. Deciding to keep his excitement inside, he decided to first ask Reiner to confirm his suspicions.
"Hey Reiner," Doug greeted, reaching out his hand to the older man for a handshake.
"Hey Doug," he responded, shaking his hand. He then looked Doug up and down, "where's your gear?"
"My gear?" Doug asked before looking closely at Reiner only to realise that he was wearing his gear. His excitement fell as soon as it had risen.
So much for hanging out.
"Yes, your gear," he nodded, "didn't Annie tell you?"
Doug then clicked his tongue in frustration before speaking, "she never fucking tells me anything," he scoffed, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I don't understand what's so hard about giving a guy a heads up. You know what I mean?"
Reiner shook his head amusedly before speaking, "Doug, just go get your gear and you'll find me here waiting. Then I can take you to the where everyone else is meeting."
"Alright."
"So wait, you wanna marry her?" Bertholdt asked Reiner as they walked along the large walls of Fort Rose.
"Yeah… I mean. Just look at her. She's beautiful, kind, gentle," he responded, "I've honestly never seen anyone like that back home."
"Reiner, you aren't even dating or anything," Bertholdt pointed out, looking at his friend with an expression that showed concern, "you can't just propose to her like that. Plus, she's already married."
"I get that we're not dating or anything, but Bert. She's just too nice to let go of," Reiner responded, "besides, I'm pretty sure she'd pick me over Eren. Just take a look at him and then at me."
What the hell? Did he just say that?
Doug looked back at the two men with an amused look, catching their attention.
"What're you looking at, Doug?" Reiner asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"…Oh don't mind me," he smirked, "I'm just wondering what Historia would see in a walking steroid, is all," he said before quickly dodging Reiner's playful punch while chuckling.
"Next time, you won't be so lucky, you little bastard."
"Ima just mind my own business now," Doug dismissed himself before looking back ahead of him where Annie quietly walked, her hands stuffed in her jumper pockets.
After somehow deciding that he wanted to talk to her, Doug quickened his pace up until he was walking right beside her. He looked down beside him and noticed that she hadn't even acknowledged him, as usual. He then turned to look ahead as well.
He let his eyes do a bit of wandering and he found himself staring down at the city below. There were many lights on as the city was looking quite alive despite the fact that there were titans all over the place not so long ago.
Still, it was a beautiful sight from way up there, the falling snow just gave it that 'Christmassy' vibe and there was no denying the fact that it brought several memories into Doug's mind, "the city looks really nice, doesn't it?" he asked, but got no response as Annie just kept on walking.
However, he continued to talk as the memories gave him a warm feeling on the inside, "I remember the times when we were back in the woods and we'd go to the cliff and look at the fireworks during Liberio's Fireworks displays. I really miss those times damn," he said, smiling at the city. He then looked down beside him and noticed that Annie wore much softer expression, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear as she probably remembered the times too.
She's smiling.
Doug's smile grew bigger. It had been a while since he last saw Annie smile around him, and he had to admit that it felt great. He was extremely close to reaching out to her, but he decided against it as he knew he was getting way in over his head and didn't want to screw things up. As long as she was at least smiling around him, that was enough.
He then looked back down at the city to admire it once again, "I wonder what Desmond is up to?"
He heard a gasp coming from beside him and when he looked, he found Annie had stopped lost her previous calmer demeanour. She looked completely tense now.
Ah shit I screwed up.
Doug had entered a state of complete panic as he wondered what he would do. Their little moment of peace had just been replaced with complete tension and Doug could sense a lot of it. Right now, he was wondering what he had do…
Oh…
"Annie look, I-I'm sorry," he tried to apologize, "I didn't know that you were still upset about Des-"
"Shut up," she muttered.
"...huh?" he asked, having not heard what she had said.
"I said, shut up!" she raised her voice as she shot him a glare, immediately freezing Doug in his place. She then sighed before regaining her usual bland expression, "Douglas, I don't have any time for any of your explanations so you can keep them to yourself," she said before glancing ahead, where what looked like a campfire could be seen not too far from where they stood, "We're about to get there so I'm going to tell you to shut up here and shut up even while we're there. You should only open your mouth when you're spoken to. Is that clear?"
Doug gulped, "yes ma'am," he nodded before Annie proceeded to go ahead of him. For a moment, he felt like the old Annie was back with him, but now, she had just gone back to wherever she went in the first place.
The walk to the campfire had been silent, minus the constant chatter between Bertholdt and Reiner. Doug had decided to keep on watching the city as he walked. At least that was still nice to look at.
The group came to a stop once they arrived at the campsite where a man he had never seen before sat.
Everyone stood behind Annie, quietly looking at the Campsite where the shirtless, blonde man sat at the fire, boiling something in the can while he poked the fire.
"Aren't you all going to join me," the man said, his eyeglasses reflecting the light from the fire.
All the guys looked at Annie, whose only response was to take a step forward, prompting the men to follow suit and join him at the campsite.
The next few moments were rather silent except for the sounds of the fire crackling as well as the sound of the food in the can cooking. There was just silence when it came to the people, an awkward silence. Only stares between the man and Annie and co.
Growl… the sound of Doug's stomach rumbling forced everyone to look at him.
Shit.
"Sorry," Doug apologized, his face having turned a bright of pink from the embarrassment. He could feel the glare Annie gave him even without looking at her and the blank stare that the man was giving him wasn't making things any easier.
I've screwed up again, haven't I?
"So, I assume you know why I called you here," the man was the one to break the awkward silence.
"…no?" Doug unconsciously responded before remembering what Annie had told him.
"I see,' the man responded, keeping his eyes on Doug, "well, this leads me to ask you, Douglas. Do you have any idea who I am?"
Doug's eyes widened. Who was this guy and how on earth did he know who he was? He had never met the guy so he wondered how he knew him. Doug snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Annie nudge him with her elbow, reminding him that he had been prompted to speak.
"Um no sir," he shook his head, "I don't know who you are."
The man nodded at the response before reaching over to his face and adjusting the pair of glasses he wore on his face. He then cleared his throat, "Douglas, my name is Zeke. Zeke Jaeger."
Thee Zeke Jaeger? Like War Chief Zeke Jaeger? Whoa.
"…F-For real?" Doug asked as realisation dawned upon him. This was the guy he had been hearing about from Reiner and the others. The famed War Chief Zeke Jaeger. The one he had heard several stories about from other kids when he was younger. This same guy also happened to have been sent by Marley to complete their job. He was right there, in front of him. They had never met until just now.
"Why yes, I am, indeed, Zeke," he nodded before continuing, "do you know why I'm here?"
"Because we haven't yet completed the mission."
"Because you failed," Zeke responded before looking at everyone, "all of you failed. Capturing some child has seriously taken you over a year. All of you, Marley's Warrior Unit, were entrusted by the Marleyan government and those buffoons at that Fort to do the simple job of an extraction and here you are having failed, embarrassing not only your country, but me as a Captain."
He then shifted his attention to Reiner, "Tell me, why is it that you have failed to carry out such a simple task."
"The thing is…" he started, "we wanted to carry out this extraction discreetly. The only problem is that the target is the Commander's daughter and not just some regular soldier, so her randomly disappearing wouldn't go unnoticed. The Commander would probably order some sort of inspection of the entire base and probably one of us may end up being discovered.
"Either way, you could easily escape the area considering your skillsets," Zeke continued before looking at the two men, "Reiner, Bertholdt. I highly doubt a few soldiers would be able to take down Marley's strongest warriors, especially when you're in a state of battle," he said before looking at the city beyond them, "Though, I understand your reasoning and I do agree that being discreet about it is a sound strategy."
"There is one thing I would like to talk about though," he started before looking at Doug, "Douglas, when I summoned those titans a few days ago, I saw you. You were approaching what I assume was the target when you were taken down by some soldier. How is it even possible that a warrior, in their combat form, could be defeated by a mere human being? I would like to know the answer to that."
"Oh…" Doug said before shuddering when the memories came to his mind. It was something he was trying his best to forget about and being forced to talk about it now, wasn't doing him any good, "Well… I don't really know."
"You don't know?"
"No, I know," he clarified, "I just don't know how it happened. That man. He was just so fast; I couldn't keep up with him. When I tried to harden my skin, he beat me to it. He was like a blur, flying all over the place and I didn't even know where he was most of the time. All I knew I that one moment I'm on my feet, the next one I'm on the ground. He was just too much."
"So you're telling me that there's a soldier that brought you to your knees simply because he was too fast?" Zeke asked, "that doesn't make any sense. What kind of no-"
"He's an Ackerman,' Annie cut him off.
"An Ackerman?" Zeke repeated, looking somewhat amused, "I thought they were all extinct."
"We did too, until we found some here in Paradis," Annie answered.
"Some, you say?" he asked, to which the blonde nodded, "this gives me something else to think of," Zeke said before rubbing his hands against his hairy arms, probably as a response to the cold, "you see, I was told to eliminate all of you once I found you here before I took the target back with me, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Believe it or not, I see you as more than just the military's pawns."
After saying this, he scooted the brick he was seated on closer to the fire and started to warm himself, seemingly unbothered by the stares he was receiving. Why he wasn't wearing a shirt in the first place, Doug had no clue, but he wasn't going to question the war chief of all people.
"Because of that, my plan, initially was to just allow you all to complete the mission as I waited so we could return home together. However, I then realised that you would just end up getting killed by the government either way because you had failed to carry out their orders properly so that ruled of the idea," he continued, "so, then I thought that I would complete the task myself and let you all just run off and become official refugees of Paradis, but then I highly doubt that would be of any of your tastes to abandon your homes like that. Especially you, Annie." He said the last part glancing at the woman.
"So what's you big plan now?" Annie was the one to ask.
"You see, having an Ackerman in the ranks of Marley's Military would be extremely beneficial," he responded, "so, my idea is simply. I allow you all to carry out your orders when it comes to returning the target, as well as taking an Ackerman with you as a form of plea for leniency. Not only will the officials be satisfied with the completion of your task, but also pleased when they find out how valuable the other person you will have brought them is."
"The Ackermans that we've found are fully grown adults. There's no way they'd just sit back and let us kidnap them without putting a fight, an extremely difficult one at that," Annie responded.
"Hold on Annie," Doug started, having not heard the whispers of warning being made by Reiner and Bertholdt beside him. "Mr and Mrs. Ackerman have kids, don't they?" He asked, recalling that there were, in fact, Ackerman children. He flinched when he noticed the hard glare Annie threw at him. What did he do this time?
Did I do something wrong?
"Children huh?" Zeke asked before nodding, "that would make things easier then. Children would be much easier to mould into Warriors and I highly doubt they would put up as much a fight as the adults. So capturing them wouldn't be of much difficulty. The only real work would probably come in with capturing the Commander's daughter. I'm thinking we have to do some serious planning when it comes to taking her."
In spite of all this planning, Doug was confused. What was it about Ackermans that was so special? From what he'd seen, Junior was nothing special, but then… there were his parents. Could it be because they're Ackermans that they're like that? "Um War Chief," Doug started, catching the man's attention, "why is it that Ackermans are so important to Marley?"
"Oh, let me explain," he started, but was cut off when a deep voice called out of nowhere.
"War chief!" the voice called and when they turned to look, they found a black-haired titan with an unusually large snout, standing on all fours with a large saddle on its back.
"What is it?" Zeke asked.
"Officers are currently on their way to the Fort. They must have been made aware of the fact that the target currently resides here. They aren't too far away."
"Thank you Pieck," he responded before looking back at the other Warriors, "discussing all of these things has made me forget about one of the most important things of all." After saying this, he shifted his focus to Doug, "Douglas, I assume that you-"
"No, he's not ready," Annie was the one to respond for him. The tone she used wasn't like any of her usual ones. This one sounded rather defensive, or rather, protective.
"If that's the case then, I suggest that he get ready as soon as possible," he said, shifting his focus to Annie, "you see. Very soon things are going to be come rather complicated."
"Okay, we're here," Junior said as they had arrived at a somewhat secluded area not too far from the base.
All that was there was a large flag pole from which the Wings of Freedom flag gently waved with the wind. A few feet away from the flag was a small bench, which the two walked over to and sat on.
"Levi, it's literally snowing out here," Irene started as she rubbed her hands together, "are you sure that little jacket is keeping you warm enough."
"Yes, I'm good actually," he said confidently, regardless of the fact that he freezing and was pretty sure he was starting to lose feeling in his fingers. "Hey, we came out here to talk about what's been bothering you," he said as he also started to rub his hands together, "I think you can start."
"Right, of course," Irene nodded before getting silent al of a sudden. From the expression she wore on her face, Junior could tell that she was trying to find the best way to put it.
"Take your time," Junior started, "I'll be here as long as you need me."
Irene gave him a brief smile before sighing, the vapour forming with the exhale. She then opened her mouth to speak, "Levi, I'm sure you remember how we were able to beat the titans right?"
"Yeah," Junior nodded, recalling the events that had occurred on that date, "the titans just stopped and the Commander ordered everyone to just go kill them," he explained before a realisation struck him, "And you probably had something to do with it, huh?" he asked to which she nodded.
Well, it wasn't necessarily something that was a surprise as it explained why the titans acted the way they did. Now he was even more curious to find out what it was that was bothering her about it, "Is that why you're so bothered?"
"Yeah," she nodded, "You know, when the titans started attacking the people in the centre, I was running low on gas, and on blades. I had literally nothing to fight with and when I looked around, there were so many people just dying all over the place and I was just there watching it all happen…"
Junior stayed silent as she explained her experience of the time. From the look she wore on her face and the way her voice had slowly started to waver with each breath she took, he could tell that her experience wasn't one she wanted to talk about, and her speaking about it must've been difficult. However, from what he knew, talking about it could actually help her now than when she just kept it to herself.
"And you know, I was so conflicted. One part of me wanted to just fight with the Scouts, but I had no weapons to use, so my mind immediately went to my powers. The majority of my being was just yelling at me to just take control of everything and just tell them to stop." She started, shifting her gaze to her palms and keeping her eyes stuck on them. She then closed her eyes, gently clenching her fists together, "then the other part of me… the other part."
"Was scared of using your powers because you didn't want people finding out," Junior completed for her, watching as she nodded, "Irene… why is this stressing you out so much?"
"Levi, when my parents divorced, I felt like my entire world fell apart. I could never see my parents happy together again and that hurt me really, really badly. All I started to feel then was confused, unsure, unhappy and worst of all, I felt alone," she explained, keeping her gaze away from him as she appeared to be struggling to keep it together, "even when I started to stay with my mom, step-dad, and step –sisters, I felt completely alone. No matter how much time I spent around them, I just felt like I didn't fit in. My mom was happy with that man and his kids and I started to feel left out. I was just unhappy."
"Mhm," Junior hummed, urging her to continue as he processed the information.
"So then, I thought. Maybe if I went to stay with my dad…. I-I would feel happier again. It would just be me…and him, and it would be okay. And it was… okay. I went to stay with him at Fort Maria and it was nice. I felt happier. We would go out together and eat together, go have fun together. The only thing I didn't like was that I had to leave my old school and come to St. Sina's, but otherwise… it was all good," she said as a small smile crept onto her face.
You were at St. Sina's?
Junior was tempted to ask but decided against it. Right now probably wouldn't be the best time to ask about that. Aside from all that, she was smiling now and Junior had to admit that she looked really cute.
"Then… the titans showed up and all the drama led to the formation of the Scouts and when I joined the Scouts, I got to meet so many awesome people and make some great friends like you and Doug—and even people like Alex and Daz… and I started to feel even happier. I felt like there was a group of people I could feel a part of, like people I belong around."
"I see," Junior nodded as he continued to listen to her, "not to be rude or anything… I hear you, but you still haven't answered my question," he started, before leaning towards her as he propped his elbows onto his knees, "why are you stressed."
"Levi, you guys—the Scouts mean so much to me. You're pretty much like family, and I don't want to have to lose you guys and start feeling alone again."
"Why do you think you'll lose us?"
"Levi, in case you've forgotten, I can speak to titans. The same things took us away from our homes, killed so many people, the same things we all have dedicated ourselves to fighting," she explained, "if-or when people find out that it was me that got the titans to stop, that I can talk to titans. They're most likely going to start seeing me differently and possibly even be afraid of me because… I can speak to those damn things. Heck, they may even start seeing me as some sort of threat or something," she continued, "I don't want that, Levi. I don't want to become some outcast because of all of this bullshit that idiot had to get me into. I don't want to have to end up feeling alone again."
Oh…
Junior found himself feeling bad for the blonde. Feeling outcast wasn't anything pleasant and judging by how much Irene had been through, it was something she absolutely dreaded. In all this, all he felt was the need to help her, to make her feel better. So, he had to put his feelings aside and be there as a friend.
"You know Irene, I know exactly how you feel," he started, prompting her to look at him. Her eyes had turned rather puffy and her breathing and seemed to have gotten rather slow. She must've been holding back her tears. Still that wasn't the time to keep on looking at her, he was supposed to be helping her.
"Yeah, you see… when I started Junior high, I was that nerd that that liked to LARP and spend hours beyond hours on videogames, and that kind of guy definitely wasn't the most popular guy," he continued, remembering how things were back when he was in the early stages of being a teenager, "…so I didn't have many—any friends… well I had Mack, but she's a family friend and I'm talking about just regular friends. Yeah, I didn't have any of those. You know, it really sucked because everyone seemed to be making friends and then I was just there. So I decided to join the football team."
"Yeah..."
With an exhale Junior continued, "When I joined the team, a lot of guys suddenly wanted to be friends with me because—not to brag or anything—I was pretty good. So I was thrilled when so many people wanted to hang out with me. Obviously, being the thirteen-year-old I was, I wasn't able to see that they were all fake so I just went on with it."
He remembered it all so clearly. The way people that had never even batted an eye at him at first all of a sudden wanted to be tight with him. He was young and in need of friends, so all of them looked like legit friends to him.
"So I became kinda popular and I liked it," he continued, "At that point, I was having a lot of fun, hanging out with some of the cool kids. Then, one time I met some guys LARPing in the park and me…" he said, pointing at himself, "with all my nerdiness went over and join them and believe me when I say that that was the most fun I had ever had. Even more fun than playing football and I spent hours with those guys. Little did I know that that was the end for my popular streak."
"So, some guys apparently saw me LARPing and made some huge deal about it, and man… the way all my so called 'friends' just started ghosting me was ridiculous. It was like I never even existed at all. I felt like an idiot," he continued, "and when I went home and told my parents, my dad hit me with a big fat 'I told you so' while my mom just talked to me and told me there were probably much better people for me than those people at school and…" he said, smiling at the thought, "she was right. One time when I sat at my usual spot during lunch, these two guys just walked up to me and joined me. From then on, stuff happened and we became best friends."
Junior then looked back at the blonde, "now Irene, I told you this story because I wanted to let you know that whether or not the entire Survey Corps starts to give you shit because of who you are, you should always remember there are people that care about you no matter what. I care about you, Doug cares about you, your dad cares about you and I'm pretty sure there are others that really care about you. It doesn't matter how much people hate you because it's nothing compared to the love that those that care about you will give you."
Irene's face seemed much happier now, and Junior felt pretty good to have lightened her mood again. Now that he had made her feel better, there was another question on his mind, "Irene, do you have any idea if people saw you use your powers?"
"Well… I honestly don't know," she shrugged, "everyone seemed to be busy with trying to survive so i doubt anyone even noticed."
A smile crept onto Junior's face as he looked at her amusedly, "Irene, so you're telling me that no one probably even saw what happened?" he asked, to which she nodded, "so there's nothing to worry about. Calm down, Irene. You're okay."
After saying this, Irene also found herself smiling, her face going a light shade of pink as she probably realised that she had been overthinking and panicking for pretty much no reason. She then raised her eyes to meet junior's and immediately Junior felt his face heating up.
Now that she was smiling again, Junior found himself staring at her. It was night time and she looked beautiful under the evening lights. He just found himself taking in her appearance. However, at this point, it wasn't appropriate for him to let his feelings come to play. He had just helped his friend feel better and he didn't want to ruin the mood or anything like that.
"Levi, thank you," Irene started, shifting her gaze to the ground below for a moment before looking back into his eyes again, "you're a good friend."
"Well, you're welcome Irene. I really care about you and I'm willing to do whatever I can to see you…" he said, but stopped when she leaned in and pulled him into a hug. Slowly, as though trying to avoid making a mistake, Junior returned the hug and brought his arms around her.
Junior closed his eyes as he processed the situation.
Irene just hugged him. It wasn't like they had never hugged before, but those were all those friendly hugs where he would still turn into a blushing mess. This hug,however, felt different. He could tell that it wasn't exactly romantic, which was expected because they were friends...but then... the hug wasn't just a friendly one either.
Regardless of the type of hug, Junior couldn't help but notice that this interaction gave him a rather pleasant feeling. Just a year ago, Junior was that guy who wouldn't be able to do much,but watch as Irene cried, feeling like an idiot for not doing what to do and feeling like a loser when Doug did it right.
Yet, here he was giving Irene advice, giving her comfort,. He was doing what the previous Junior couldn't do... he was growing, maturing from that immature boy and into someone different, someone better.
Even in their current position, Junior kept his cool. His mind wasn't wandering into ridiculous fantasies or overreacting. The only thing on his mind at the moment was the fact that Irene was feeling better, that she wasn't feeling stressed out and afraid anymore.
He acknowledged that he definitely wasn't some overpowered badass like he thought his parents were. He knew that he was just a kid. A smart, but plain old kid. Regardless of this, he wasn't going to let that hold him back. He may not be able to protect Irene from titans, but he was sure as hell going to protect her in whatever way he could. Irene was his friend and he was sure as hell going to be the best friend he could possibly be.
After feeling three successive pats on his back, Junior pulled away and the two then sat on the bench again.
"It's getting colder," Irene said as she rubbed her hands together, "we should head back to the dorms."
"Yeah, that's fine," Junior nodded before standing up, Irene right after him and they started to walk back to the dorms.
"So Irene," Junior started, trying to start up conversation as they walked back.
"Yeah," she asked, looking over at him.
"You said you were at St. Sina's right?"
"Yeah," she nodded, "why?"
"Actually, I was there too," he said before asking' "were you in the class of 2021?"
"Yeah."
"Whoa really?" Junior found himself surprised. If she was going to graduate the same year that he was then how the hell hadn't he ever seen her, "How come I never saw you?"
"Well, because I wasn't too fond of the place, I had a tendency to skip school quite a bit," she admitted, somewhat looking a bit embarrassed, "and I wasn't doing any AP classes, which you most likely took. That was probably why."
"Which I most likely took?" Junior quirked an eyebrow, "what makes you assume that?"
"Levi, you're a huge nerd… geek… no you're both. You're like a nerdy Geek," she responded, "and you can't deny that you were probably the best in all your classes.
"…Well, I won't deny that I am among the best in all my classes, but in math it was my friend Adam," he explained, wearing a rather proud expression, "that guy… that guy was a freaking boss whenever it came to math. He sometimes made me feel like an idiot when he just cracks a problem I busted my brain trying to solve. And you know the ridiculous thing," Junior chuckled, the feeling of nostalgia hitting him when he thought of his friend, "that guy acted like a complete idiot most of the time, and you would never guess he was smart, plus he always used to hit on Mack whenever she came over the times he was around."
"Sounds like an interesting guy. I'd like to meet him some time," Irene responded before giving him a rather suspicious look, "so… Levi, why don't you tell me a bit about you and Mackenzie."
"What about me and Mack?" he asked, wondering what on earth she could be talking about."
"Come on Levi, I'm sure you know that she's clearly into you?"
"Mack, into me?' he asked in disbelief before shaking his head, "no, that's impossible."
"Impossible?" Irene asked in disbelief, "are you kidding me, Levi? Haven't you ever noticed how flustered she gets around you?"
That's why she was blushing so much.
Well that was news. He hadn't really ever thought of it like that. He just thought it was just her body reacting to the cold or something, "well, I guess it makes sense now," he started, "I've just never thought of Mack as someone I could be romantic with, you know. We've grown up together and I've always seen her as this little brother slash sister to me. We sometimes bathed together when we were little and we had tonnes of sleepovers. We were so casual with each other that I guess I've never seen her in that light."
"Brother slash sister huh?" Irene asked before shaking her head as she had probably come up with something to argue with. Why was she interested in this? "Okay, so you're telling me that there's never been a point that you've felt some kind of... I dunno...interest in her?"
"What the hell Irene?" he snorted before deciding to answer his question, "okay, even though Mack has always been that girl I grew up with, I'll tell you I may have checked her out sometimes," he admitted while turning his voice a higher octave at the last part. It was true, when they were little, there were almost zero boundaries between them, yet once they started hitting puberty, he started noticing her a little more than usual and suddenly, playful wrestling started to become really awkward. Despite this, he just brushed it off and moved on with life. He then grew curious, "why are you so interested anyway?"
"It may or may not be because I think you two would make a cute couple," she responded, keeping a rather straight face.
"Cute couple eh?" he asked, feeling amused at the idea though it still didn't seem feasible to him. He then remembered the earlier conversation he had with Mackenzie and Miche, "you know, her dad likes to joke about that. He even likes to talk about us giving him grandkids."
"Oh… that must've been embarrassing for poor Mackenzie," Irene chuckled.
"Hey, don't get cocky. Your dad did the exact same thing."
Irene's eyes widened, "you can't be serious right now," she gasped.
Junior found himself laughing at Irene's reaction, "Okay, chill. Not exactly the whole grandkids thing," he said as he tried to catch his breath, "it was more like..." he started before clearing his throat ad trying to emulate the Commander, "you're a responsible young man. I think you're the right person for her."
"Why does that man have to be so extra..." she groaned.
Junior started laughing even harder.
"Stop laughing, you jerk," she playfully nudged him as she also found herself laughing. They continued to laugh at each other before getting into other topics of conversation until they found themselves at the area that separated the male dorms and the female dorms.
"So… what next, sleep?" Junior asked as they stopped at their point of separation.
"Definitely," she nodded, "you know these past days have been tough. Other than that other issue, the Captain called for a squad meeting the day after and grilled all of us because Doug and Annie went MIA during the battle and your mom and I apparently didn't know how to use our gas properly. After that, he's punished us to clean the cafeteria after lunch for the whole week."
"Ooh… after lunch. Damn. So wait, did you meeting go something like this?" he asked before clearing his throat and crossing his arms, and then wearing a more serious expression, "Tch, what I saw yesterday was pathetic. Leonhart and Meyer over here must've thought taking a shit in the heat of battle was a good idea while you two negligent halfwits clearly didn't know what you were doing on the battlefield," Junior said in a much deeper voice while keeping a straight face.
"You know what, I don't give a shit about any explanations because I'm mad and you fucked up, so your asses are going to clean the cafeteria for the whole week, and I don't expect any of you to bitch about it. Clear?"
"Oh my gosh that was so good," Irene clapped with an amused look on her face, "you were close, really close, but that wasn't exactly it."
"Really, what I miss?"
"The insults were a little more creative, and the meeting was a little longer than that," she explained, "otherwise you were good."
"Okay, okay. I'll take that," he nodded before bringing a hand to cover his mouth as he yawned, "well Irene, it was fun talking."
"Yeah, it was fun talking to you too," she nodded as she equally yawned, "have a goodnight."
"You too."
"Freeze!" a voice called out, followed by the bright light shining upon them, forcing the two teens to freeze in place and when they followed the sound of the voice, their eyes lande d on several people all dressed in what appeared to be white militaristic suits.
The people approached the two and stopped when they were surrounded, all of them aiming at them with assault rifles.
"Irene," Junior called out, before reaching out to her, "get behind me."
Without much hesitation, the blonde slowly did so as they kept their eyes on the people that had shown up.
"Military Police," Junior heard Irene whisper behind him and when he took a closer look at the people, he took notice of the unicorn Emblem on their jackets.
What on earth are the Military Police doing here?
The Military Police were the main force working inside of Fort Sina. What were they doing in Fort Rose? Well, Junior didn't have the interest to try and figure out why. All he was interested in was keeping Irene safe.
"Step away from the suspect!" One of the men shouted from the group.
"N-No!" Junior quickly responded.
"No?" the soldier repeated in disbelief before regaining a serious expression, "listen kid. That person you're protecting is wanted by government of Fort Sina! We're not here to play games. We're here to carry out important business so step away from the suspect, now!"
"No way. You're saying that she's wanted by the government of Fort Sina, but news flash; this is Fort Rose, and the appropriate authorities around here are the Garrisons," Junior spoke, his sudden boldness took him by surprise but he wasn't going to lose his composure, not while Irene was still in danger, "so if this was really legit, they'd have been the ones to approach us instead."
"What the…" the soldier looked shocked again before glaring, "look kid. In case you didn't know, what you're doing is the equivalent to resisting arrest, so if you continue to act this way…" he continued, "we will be obligated to shoot!"
Junior flinched but kept a brave face, "S-Shoot me for resisting arrest? That doesn't make any sense as she has not committed any cognisable offence for which you can perform any arrest whatsoever," he responded.
The man's eyebrow twitched before he spoke, "tch! That's it, kid we warned you," the man shouted before looking at the other soldiers, "on three, you shoot! Don't worry about the girl, she'll be fine, just make sure the boy's down."
"Sir!" they responded before raising their guns.
"3!"
"Levi, I don't think this is a good idea," Irene said from behind him, "just step away before it's too late."
"No, Irene," he shook his head, "as far as I'm concerned, these guys don't have any right to do what they're doing."
"2!"
"They're going to shoot you."
"I don't care," he responded, "I'm keeping you safe."
"1!"
"Levi, move or you'll die!"
Junior didn't move. He wasn't going to go anywhere as long as Irene was in danger. He knew he was being stupid for risking his life like this again, and he was probably going to get into some deep shit with his parents once they found out-hopefully through conveniently strolling into this little scene and saving their asses.
"I gave you your chance kid but you made your decision!" the man said before readying his rifle, "Fi-"
"Hold your fire!"
Yes!
All the soldiers froze when the voice was heard. A few of them started separating as though to make way for someone until the soldiers in the front separated and a man stepped out from the crowd.
"No…" Junior heard Irene gasp from behind him and immediately, he started wondering what could've bothered her.
The man seemed to be of higher rank than the other soldiers as the white suit he wore appeared less meant for combat and seemed to have more decorative items such as gold epaulettes, a sash and a couple of badges, and he also wore a cap on his head. When it came to the man's physical appearance, he was tall, had black hair with a bit of facial hair on his face, and was slightly tanned.
There was something about the man that made both Junior, and Irene feel threatened. Junior couldn't tell if it fact that this man could probably order them to be killed at any moment, or the way the light shining behind him created some sort of shadow in front of him, giving him a more intimidating appearance.
The man kept his eyes on the two of them, particularly Irene, and Junior found himself getting uneasy.
After a moment of silence, the man opened his mouth, "Irene, it's been a while, hasn't it?"
Junior took a step aside when he felt Irene nudge him a bit, and allowed her to walk and stand beside him. Judging by the poker face she now wore, he could tell that she was feeling courageous and chose to give her room.
"What do you want, Nile?"
I swear this chapter was only supposed to go as far a 6K words and I really don't know how on earth it ended up getting so long. Well, either ways, it's done and I'd like to thank you all for reading this incredibly long chapter and reaching this far in the story.
I hope you enjoyed seeing Junior finally comforting Irene and even getting the balls to stand tall in the face of death—in this case, the Military Police. Also, I won't forget about the scene with Doug and the warriors. Creating and exploring the mystery that is Doug and Annie's relationship is something I enjoy and I hope ya'll do too.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter as a whole and I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it. So please feel free to drop a review and pour out your feelings. I'm here to listen to ya'll.
Also, I bet you're wondering where our favourite married couple is and if you're like me, you probably missed them too. Well, don't worry. You'll see them in the near future so stay tuned.
Ah well, I think I've said enough for one A/N so… Ima conclude by saying see you soon and don't forget to review