"No matter our age, we are all called to go to the rescue."

~Mervyn B. Arnold

-Levi's POV-

Eyebrows had assured me that the location that he had given us was the correct one, and while I had learned to put my trust in the blonde bastard years ago, after this stunt he pulled with Emmryn, I found myself pissed at him and only trusting his word because I had no other option. After I had stormed Eyebrows's office, the members of Squad Levi had insisted on being let into the loop and assisting with the rescue mission.

"Fine. Glad to know there are those in the Survey Corps that would actually risk themselves for their comrade," I responded, taking a very vague jab at the commander. While that wasn't my usual method of doing things, I didn't really want to damage the squad's trust in their commander right before an expedition. That would be a recipe for disaster.

As we prepared for the rescue mission, I looked at a letter that Emmryn had written me when she was first sent away to the Training Corps. She didn't know it, but I had kept it in my uniform pocket ever since. It was a reminder that I still had someone I loved that was depending on me to come back alive from each expedition. And now, it was serving as a reminder that I had someone to protect, and since her piece of shit older brother wouldn't help me, I would protect her myself.

I had decided to leave behind Eld and Gunther since Eyebrows had informed me that I could not bring my full squad, and while that only served to piss me off even more, I understood his reasoning. A lot of cadets would freak if the entire special operations squad left HQ so shortly before an expedition. Erwin also needed to stay behind as to "avoid suspicion" whatever the hell that meant. We were chasing down a bastard that kidnapped people and forced them into prostitution. Us going after the bastard was anything but suspicious; however, the Survey Corps would probably go into chaos without Eyebrows there as much I hate to admit it.

"Captain… Is Em going to be okay? Who would ever go after her?" the titan brat questioned loudly as we rode towards the address in the Stohess district inside of Wall Sina. I cut my eyes back in a slight glare at the brunette at his use of Emmryn's nickname.

"I don't know, brat. She may already be dead," I answered back in my usual uninterested tone though saying the words out loud felt like a punch to the gut. Emmryn Ackerman, you'd better not fucking die on me. The last thing I needed right now for the people I was responsible for to see me lose my cool anymore than they already had.

"How can you say that so casually?!" the brat yelled in shock and anger, "She's your wife! Doesn't she mean anything to you?!" At that question, it took all of my willpower from turning around and breaking the brat's jaw. I didn't plan on responding because I had a sneaking suspicion the anger would cause me to yell and possibly break any composure I was managing to maintain. As it were, at the moment, that composure was hanging by a very thin thread. Fortunately, I had brought the two more outspoken members of my squad.

"What the hell did you say, greenhorn?!" Oluo snapped angrily at the brunette, "Of course the captain cares for Emmryn! He's had a soft spot for that ginger since she showed up at the HQ over 3 years ago. Don't talk about things you know nothing about, you little shit!" I let myself smirk a bit at that, though no one could see me. Who would've guessed that after the bad blood between those two that Oluo Bozado would be the first person to jump to Emmryn's defense? I guess all those times she took his punishments and stopped me from pushing harder punishments onto the younger soldier actually paid off. Damn Smiths and their uncanny knack for getting their way.

"What he's trying to say, Eren, is that just because the captain isn't as expressive with his feelings doesn't mean that he doesn't care for Emmryn. You can't just say those things to people without thinking," Petra tried to smooth the whole thing over while still supporting me and Emmryn. I was thankful for the two other squad members I had brought along for this mission. I looked at the location Eyebrows had given me.

"All of you, look alive. We are coming up on the location Eyebrows believes these bastards may have taken her to," I called out, interrupting the conversation and was fairly unsurprised when we came to a stop in front of an abandoned looking shack of a building.

"Quite an eyesore for such a nice city in Wall Sina. It's a wonder it hasn't been knocked down yet," Petra commented in confusion, but I barely heard her as the metallic stench of blood became more overpowering as we got closer to the door. I immediately put my hand on the pistol that I had brought just in case as I motioned for the others to stay quiet before quietly opening the door. The sight that reached me made my heart almost stop.

The sunlight streamed through the cracks in the boarded windows revealing a gruesome scene. There in a large pool of blood was a lifeless man, laying facedown, bleeding profusely from his back, and in front of him, slumped over clutching what appeared to be a badly bleeding wound in her own abdomen, was Emmryn. Her breathing seemed to be weak, and in seconds, I was at her side, kneeling in the blood, for once not giving a shit about how dirty I was getting.

Being careful not to jostle her wound as much as I could, I took the dark copper haired woman into my arms. To my surprise, her eyes fluttered open weakly, her blue eye and white eye both appearing glassy. As they met my steel gray ones, she gave a faint smile.

"I-it's over, Levi… He's… dead… I-I'm finally… free…" she managed to say weakly between breaths causing my stomach to churn as I pressed my forehead to hers, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Don't you dare stop fighting, Emmryn. Do you hear me?! Don't you fucking give up now!" I ordered harshly, thankful my voice didn't break; however, before she could reply, she went limp and I panicked, "Emmryn?... Em?! Wake up dammit! I gave you an order… Don't you dare fucking die on me, Emmryn Ackerman! Petra and Oluo, I need you to ride ahead to the nearest doctor and tell them we have a patient in need of immediate attention! Tell them I'll handle any fucking fees they want to charge, but she needs medical attention NOW!" Both of them didn't bother with a salute, and instead, yelled "yes sir!" as they were running back to their horses.

"Sir?" the brat came up to me hesitantly as I stood up, cradling Emmryn close to my chest, "I-I'm sorry for what I said earlier…" I glared at him before clicking my tongue in irritation.

"I don't give a shit what you think about me or my feelings towards my wife. Emmryn is the only one whose opinion on that matters to me," I responded before walking towards where the doctor was, knowing that I could not ride with Emmryn as she was, "Now, Jaeger, you take my horse and follow us. If you were paying attention, then you know that my wife is dying and I don't have the time or patience to deal with any other shit right now."

Without another word, we made it to the doctor in less than 5 minutes. Emmryn's breathing was now so faint that I could only really be certain that she was by the very faint rise and fall of her chest. I would kill whatever bastard did this to her, but first, I needed her to be okay. When we got to the doctor, he immediately began working on her. He was able to remove the bullet from her stomach, and her breathing settled at that point. After that, he was able to stop the bleeding, and she seemed to relax. The whole time, I held her hand between mine, holding her pale hand to my lips, refusing to let go of her or take my eyes off of what the doctor was doing. Within a couple of hours, the doctor had finished patching her up and injected her with a pain reliever and a sedative to keep her from waking up for a bit.

After that, we were given permission to take her back to HQ to rest there, telling us that whether she survives or not at this point is up to her. Not wanting to jostle her on horseback the whole way back to HQ, I bought a carriage for us to take back to HQ. I didn't trust anyone to stay with Emmryn except me, and I didn't want her to wake up without me there if I could help it. So I opted for riding with her in the carriage and having Oluo hook our two horses to the carriage and drive it. As we made our way to HQ, I found myself running my fingers through Emmryn's greasy and knotted hair and looking for any hint that she would wake up.

"Goddammit, Emmryn… I told you you're not allowed to fucking die on me. You have to wake up," I muttered in a rare moment of emotional expression as I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Damn woman had better not give up after surviving so much other shit. We are all each others' got in this hell hole of a world.

Song: Tear in My Heart by twenty one pilots

A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter. I really wanted to get a chapter out soon and the next chapter should be much longer. I hope you all are still enjoying this story :) I'm debating stopping this story after the arc with the female titan and starting a second book for this story because it's getting pretty long in terms of chapters. (I know there are much longer ones out there but still.) It would be a nice chance for a fresh start for me (at least mentally) since I feel like my writing style and stuff has changed a lot since starting this book. Please let me know what you all think. Please note: the story will continue. I'm just trying to decide if it should be as a separate book or a continuation of this one. :) Thank you for all of your support and such for this book :) 3 Always, Taeha