I JUST NOTICED SOMETHING WHEN I WAS BROWSING THROUGH THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS: I ACCIDENTALLY WROTE MARCO AS LYLE AND YMIR'S SURNAME AS COOPER IN A CHAPTER OR TWO. I APOLOGIZE FOR THIS, EVERYONE! IT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE SO MANY STORIES, IN YOUR HEAD, YOU MIX UP THE NAMES OF THE CHARACTERS! PLEASE BEAR WITH ME!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN SNK! AND I'M SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR THE PETRA BASHING IN THIS CHAPTER - IT'S PERSONAL TASTE, OF COURSE, AND NOT DONE TO OFFEND THE OFFICIAL PETRA RAL, JUST FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORY.


The short trip back to the office couldn't have been more awkward. Marco felt very self-conscious, knowing that the lovely blondette had caught them goofing around like they used to when they were kids. He and Jean were supposed to be the cool, collected officers, respectable and reliable enough to make her feel safe – so that she would let herself be handled by their capable hands. For the mission, of course!

At least, she would get to see said reliability when they fully discussed their plan to deliver justice as soon as they reached the office. Or so he thought…


Turns out, his team was up to the usual… shenanigans. Whenever they discussed plans on how to use whatever they had at their disposal in order to catch criminals, they argued like a brood of chickens trying to play Dungeons and Dragons.

What made it even worse today was the fact that the "thing" at their disposal, the hidden ace up their sleeves, as Chief Erwin said in a tone that made Marco bristle, was the angel-faced woman who looked at the freckled man like he could solve all of her problems. The Chief intended to use her as bait to lure her husband out – weren't they supposed to put her into a witness protection program?! To protect her?!

Instead, they were putting her in danger – again. Using her for benefits other than her own – AGAIN! She deserved better!

And no one seemed bothered by it, which irked him even more. In fact, Eren was currently negotiating on how to finish the bastard, as if they already had him in their custody!

"And then we kill him!", the obnoxious, loud man yelled, punching his own hand in a way that made Michelle flinch.

Thankfully, the Captain seemed as reluctant as Marco was to feel happy about the situation, and his ever-perceptive eyes instantly noticed the subtle woman's movement. He twitched, relaxing only a bit after Krista – who had noticed as well, bless her – had hugged the other blondette's shoulders, and then turned to growl at his prodigy "Not so fast, you dumb fuck. First, we need to reel him in - "

"And then, WE KILL HIM!", Eren interrupted the short man, making most members of the group wince and step back cautiously, seeing as how Ackerman was now openly sending him death glares. Still, the poor guy was so into his own violent little world, he had no idea! Instead, he kept on rambling "WITH A KNIFE!"

The room was covered in silence as everyone stared at him incredulously – save for his partner, that is. Marco was about to comment on his childish stubbornness, but Reiner beat him to the punch. "Stabbing?", he yawned, bored out of his mind, and started scratching his ear nonchalantly. "That's so out of this season, man – I vote for something flashier and classier. All those in favor say 'Aye'."

"Are you all out of your minds?!", a voice Marco recognized – a little too late – as his own brought everyone's attention on him. He momentarily flinched at his own tone, but steeled himself and glared at them. "We're talking about sacrificing a witness here, and all you care about is the way we'll execute a potential mafia boss – who, may I remind you, is the abusive husband of said witness!"

He stopped his rant, panting and feeling his cheeks warm. Everyone was now looking at him, shocked by the outburst of one of the most mild-mannered people they knew. The only one who didn't bat an eyelash was Jean. Michelle herself was looking at him with tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, and for a moment he freaked out for yelling near her when it obviously brought back bad memories.

Captain Ackerman cleared his throat and regained his composure the fastest – as expected of him. "Bodt, no one said it will be easy. Sacrifices must be made for the greater good. That being said, I gave my word to Mrs. Delgado that we'll protect her, and I intend to keep it. But she also agreed to be a part of this willingly, so I'd suggest you do not raise your voice again without thinking, or Colleen will have to deliver your parts to your son. Capiche?"

Marco shyly nodded, and Armin chose that moment to get back to business. "We thought of keeping her close for safety", he explained, holding up a tablet and showing everyone what Marco assumed was the plan in stages – until his eyes fell on the screen and a whole new feeling of understanding rushed through him. The tech continued, unfazed "However, that would seem too suspicious. So, we chose our safehouse in Manchester, instead. It's far enough that he won't think to look for her there."

"It could work", Sasha nodded, her eyes narrowing as she exchanged a mischievous look with Connie. "What about protection?"

"None", Levi's tone was harsh, causing Michelle to flinch again. "That way she won't attract attention – it's hard enough to this subtly with her looks."

"Well, yes, if you are into this sort of thing, Captain Levi", a voice purred from the doorway, making them all turn to see the newcomer.

Everyone narrowed their eyes at the blondette with the cunning gaze. She was a pretty thing, neatly dressed in her uniform and standing in just the right way – not too straight, not too slouchy. At first glance, Petra Ral was a nice woman, but behind the warm smile, a true snake was always ready to strike. Especially when it came to the B-Unit – her obsession with their Captain had her living under the impression that, if she ever succeeded in disbanding the team, she would finally have her dream come true: be the beloved-by-all Mrs. Levi Ackerman. Which was ridiculous, really.

Petra strode in with confidence, casting a withering glare towards Michelle, as if the other blondette had declared her undying love for the Captain and was planning to elope with him. She smiled at the clearly uncomfortable team. "Oh, don't let me interrupt your planning", she cooed at them in the most patronizing way possible. "I just came here to deliver some paperwork."

"Don't you have subordinates for that?", Levi narrowed his eyes as he accepted the stack from her, making sure not to touch her.

She giggle "Oh, Captain Levi, and miss the opportunity to come see you?". She turned her back to half of them while doing so, giving Sasha the opening to mimic the act of vomiting from all the sugar in her tone. The sniper stopped abruptly, though, as Connie snickered at the display, causing the cunning female to turn her focus back on them. She appeared confused at their poker faces, like she was expecting to catch them on the act. Pouting, she flipped her hair "Anyway, I'd like to stay and chat, but some of us have real work to do instead of chasing phantoms. Toodles!"

She exited the office, as Levi announced loudly "Alright, back to work, shitty brats!"

They scrambled to sit at their respective seats, and soon the only sound that was heard was the tapping of their keyboards. They weren't talking, and they were sitting stiffly, which would have been normal for a police unit, if, fifteen minutes later, Annie, whose desk was the closest to the door, hadn't gotten up to look out at the hallway.

"She's gone", she declared, and everyone relaxed instantly.

Marco clicked away the solitaire window he had opened, and turned to Armin, who was beaming next to a very confused Michelle. "OK, so, she heard the fake plan and all, like you wanted her to. Will it work, though?"

"We have no idea", Levi replied, getting out of his office again. "But for years there has been no progress on the Delgado matter. Just when we get close to him, he slips away. And the fucker even mocks us about it! That can only mean one thing: there's a mole. And I hate moles."

"You hate everything, Captain", Connie grinned.

The short man gave him a cold glare, and Armin went on to explain further "That's why I showed you all the message on the screen."

"Ral at the door, go along with it", Jean nodded as he repeated. "You think Petra Ral is our mole?"

"I don't think so", Armin frowned. "But she hates the unit enough to blab about what she heard us say, possibly to laugh about it with her coworkers behind our backs – and that's what we need. For this useless gossip to spread, and the mole to follow the lead we will give them."

The geek paused his monologue, sipping from his mug. For some weird reason, he didn't seem happy about his obvious despite small victory over the blondette officer. Then, he simply said "I don't like her. She hates coffee."

Everyone gaped at him. That's what his problem was?!

"Shit!", Connie cringed. "I knew there was something wrong with this chick…"

Ymir gave him an unimpressed look "What clued you in? The insane urge to drive us all out of the Department, or the obsession she has with Captain Ackerman? The woman's name is Petra, for fuck's sake, that's not a name you give to your baby unless you know that she's gonna grow up to become a stalking bitch or something."

The bald spotter shrugged "Yeah, all those – but mainly the coffee thing. Think she might have had a taste of the Mighty Boogeyman and is just stalking the Captain for more?"

At this, they deadpanned and stared at him. What. The. Fuck?

The only one who didn't seem fazed was the Captain himself. "I'm so glad you shared your parental wisdom with us, Fritz,", he told Ymir, not even raising his eyes from the paper he was studying, "seeing as you've never dealt with kids and all that…". He turned to head back to his office, but stopped, and stated nonchalantly "And, Springer? I would never sleep with a psychopathic moron, so don't go around saying that stuff out loud, the visual is enough to give me nightmares. Also, call my dick any other weird-ass names like that one more time, I'll make sure yours never sees Blouse's privates ever again."

As he crossed his door, he gave the final order "Now get your asses to work – for real this time. We've got a mafia boss to lure in."


PREVIEW:

"Dude, you're blushing..."

"So are you! Eyes off my prize and head out of the gutter, woman."