Mikasa stared at the watch, her mind started racing. How did he know her name? She had never met Eren's father, he had left the family way before. There was no way that he could have told stories about her. The watch! Sasha had been wearing the same one the night of Armin's birthday! Was Jean's girlfriend a member of the Corps? Did she get together with him, only to spy on all of them? If so, then... what role did Jean play in all this? Time seemed to stop. The Mafioso hadn't even once looked at Jean. Jean hadn't moved. Slowly, she turned her head in his direction. He hadn't even drawn his gun. Did... No.

No.

.

The last fireworks exploded in the sky. They had all went up to the rooftop to watch the display. Some neighbors had have the same idea and now everyone was wishing each other a happy New Year. Mikasa scanned the crowd, her gaze stopping briefly at Eren and Armin, who were embracing each other. She got up, there was no reason to stay out here and freeze, waiting for them to stop making out. Time to get back to the apartment. She went to the door to the stairwell and almost fell over someone sitting on the first stair.

"Jean? What are you doing here?" She hadn't noticed him leaving before.

He shrugged. His movement a bit too exaggerated, meaning that he could be drunk. She had never seen him drunk before. "Don't like New Year's," he answered. "Reminds me of some simpler times in the past."

He rarely talked about his past. In fact, it was the first time she had heard him even vaguely mention it on his own. She sat down next to him. "Want to talk about it?"

Jean turned his head to her. There was something in his look she couldn't read. He had never looked at her like that before, it was almost … tender? "You're beautiful," he whispered.

It took her by surprise. "I - You're drunk."

Jean shook his head in response. "I mean it. I feel myself falling for you, and if it weren't for all those reasons, I'd make a move."

"What reasons?", she managed to ask without her voice giving away her nervousness. What was happening? What did he mean? Their situation as roommates? Or that they were colleagues?

Jean stroke over her left cheek. It was a light, tender touch. "Higher reasons, none of us have any influence on." He sighed, defeated.

Then he stood up and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," he mumbled and then started walking down the stairs. She stared after him, frozen on her spot. What did just happen? After a few steps Jean turned back to her. "Please let's not let things get awkward between us, yeah?", his voice back to his normal self.

.

No. Jean couldn't have... He couldn't.

A noise broke through the static, and Mikasa found herself back in the room, hit with reality. The Mafioso was still towering over Armin, still strangling Eren. Her gun was lying in the middle of the room, out of her reach. She saw Jean sprinting for it.

Please, no.

Her head knew what was about to happen, and yet if felt like someone stabbed her right in the heart when Jean didn't point it at the Mafioso.

She had trusted him, thought that they had a bond. She didn't trust many people and she had thought that Jean was one of the few she could. Mikasa looked up to him. He returned her look with a guilty, almost pained expression. And yet, he took a few steps away from her, lifting her gun at her. He had played them. Played her.

/

Levi felt his wristwatch vibrate again. Finally, he thought. The side of his body was burning, and it took him all he got to keep Jeager under control.

"Get the gun," he ordered Kirschtein. Levi couldn't risk Mikasa trying to outmaneuver him, he had no power left for a fight. Losing Jean as the mole was more bearable than putting anyone from the rescue team in danger, by giving her the chance to get to her weapon. The other man immediately ran for it, all too relieved that someone had made a decision for him. Mikasa had frozen is shock, still squatting on the floor. Levi almost felt pity, he knew all too well what it felt like to be betrayed by someone one trusted. The feeling was something he didn't wish upon anyone; let alone some brat whose only mistake was to be nice to the wrong person. But this element of surprise could give them the few much needed seconds to make sure that the situation would turn out in their favor.

Exactly ten seconds after the third signal, the door flew open, three masked people storming into the room with drawn guns. "Drop your weapons!", he recognized Sasha's voice. From the looks of the other two figures, they had to be Reiner and Annie.

"I hope we won't see each other again," Levi said to Eren and, with his last ounce of power, he smashed the policeman's head against the table in front of them, untangling the chain of the handcuffs from underneath Eren's neck. Eren's upper body remained unconscious on the table, while Levi reached for the gun in the holster and then went for the door. Without having to say anything, he saw Sasha grab Jean, to get him out of the room as well, while Reiner and Annie blocked the way, in case that Mikasa would get any stupid ideas. A few meters in front of the door, Berthold was keeping watch.

"This way," Sasha yelled and ran for the door, still dragging Jean by his hand.

Levi felt a stabbing pain with every breath he took, but he tried to ignore it and keep up with a mix between jogging and limping. They were almost out of the building. He had to make it; he had promised Hanji that he'd come home. A silhouette appeared at the doorframe and when they got close enough, he saw that it was Ymir.

"Gunther's in the Jeep," she said, pointing behind her.

When Levi stepped out of the building, he saw that the car was parked almost at the entrance. The engine was running, and the back door was open. A few meters in front of the Jeep was one of the shared cars and behind that Levi recognized Reiner's red polo – of course it had to be here – and two motorcycles.

"Do you have any injuries, Sir?", Historia asked, appearing seemingly out of thin air, with a helmet still on her head.

"It's alright," Levi declined. Gunther would bring him to the hospital anyway, and he needed his team for a last task. "Make sure that everyone gets out of here and then make sure that Dawk won't come after us again. Sasha, bring Jean away from here, his cover is blown," he said. His subordinates nodded. "And thank you for getting me out," he added and then went to the car.

As soon as Levi closed the door, Gunther drove off. If it weren't for the pain in his side, Levi would just let himself fall to the side, but all he could manage was to lean against the seat and rest his head on the backrest. By the feeling of it, he had to have some broken, or at least badly bruised, bones. Fucking Shadis. He'd get him for this.

"Can I borrow your phone for a second?", he asked Gunther.

"Here," the other man said and passed it to the back without taking his eyes of the road. He was already maneuvering a little bit too fast through the city traffic. "Also, the Don said to call him when you get out."

Levi looked at the mobile, the screen was a blurry mess. He closed his left eye, in hope to see clearer that way and went to the messaging app first.

To Hanji: Might be a bit late for dinner. Everything fine, though. L.

Levi looked up from the screen. Tiredness overcame him and with each jog of the car, he felt severe pain down his arm. He had no energy to talk to Erwin now.

"Gunther, can you make the call? I'll just close my eyes for a second."

/