"We're WHAT?" I leapt forward, slamming my hands onto the table. The light of the room shifted as the lanterns rattled in their places from the force. Levi rolled his eyes.

"You clearly heard me the first time."

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't." I shot back, falling back into a straight posture and shooting him an incredulous look. "In case you may have forgotten, Shiganshina is on the outer edge of Wall Maria, WHICH we haven't taken back yet."

"Look, it would be ideal if we had Wall Maria back but reality isn't ideal. We need answers and they can be found in Eren's father's basement in Shiganshina. Humantiy is not going to be taking Wall Maria back any time soon. There's just too much area to cover and clear." Levi moved towards the table and sat down eerily calmly. Everyone else in the room remained silent, solemn looks on their faces. I guess no body liked the idea of heading head straight into Titan territory. I gritted my teeth against the facts.

"So we're going to cross a giant, titan-infested area, to a basement which is also in a giant-titan-infested area. Yeah, we're definitely going to get our answers. In the after-life." I scoffed, crossing my arms.

"Do you have a better idea? We've just found out that we're surrounded by a wall of titans, we were harbouring and could still be harbouring human-titans and that titans are popping out of no where!" Levi exploded, tired by my antics, eyes blazing. He matched my annoyed gaze with his own angry stare.

"I'm not going to an expedition where our chances of surviving are basically – wait." I paused as the words sank in. "What do you mean, 'are popping out of no where'?"

At this, the leaders glanced at each other.

"Sorry but it's strictly need-to-know." Hanji murmured, giving me a regretful glance.

I sighed, quickly giving up on that thread. Strictly need-to-know meant strictly between the leaders. Unfortunately, there were still some things exclusively hierarchical in nature. Information, especially.

"Look Rina, the plan is obviously flawed and Erwin hasn't confirmed that the Expedition will go in that direction. It's just a suggestion thrown out there. With all these new developments shoved in our faces, we need answers or we WILL die out." Hanji headed out, pausing at the door. "At least think about it."

"I think we all need a good night's rest or our heads are going to explode." Steve agreed, standing up to stretch. The rest of the Ops squad followed suit, shooting me smiles as I farewelled them out. As expected, Levi didn't move and I stood by the doorway. Waiting, I crossed my eyes and moved my gaze directly onto him.

"I hope you're ready for a late night because you are giving me some answers."

Levi rubbed his temples in slight annoyance, standing up from the table. He moved past me out the door and we both headed down the hallway.

"I think I liked it better when you were in the MP." Finally, he turned towards his private quarters before waving me in when we reached it. I made a face and plopped down onto a chair.

"I'm going to ignore that. If I knew this much shit was going down, I would have never left the Corps." I shook my head, annoyed at myself. "Regardless, having three of the cadets being titan-transformers is quite the shock. I'm still confused to how they got away from you though. This expanded over a few Expeditions, did it?" I relaxed in the seat and began to make myself more comfortable.

Levi paused at the door of his own private bathroom. I guess being a known germaphobe was reason enough not to share the bathrooms like the rest of the corps. He'd never leave it and our cleaning supplies would drain three times as fast.

"Hazura, did you hear me?"

I blinked out of my thoughts and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, continue."

"I said that it's an incredibly long story and I don't want to keep you up. You cover Steve's training group tomorrow morning, or have you forgotten?"

I groaned in frustration. "Levi, you have to catch me up to speed tonight. I'll sleep here if it makes it easier for you!" I rubbed a temple with my right hand, closing my eyes. There was silence.

"It would."

My eyes flew open. I had initially meant that as a joke…but Levi's face did betray his fatigue. My expression softened. With all the training and reinstating me into the Special Ops, Levi must have been running on fumes. I flicked my head towards the door.

"I can come back in an hour?"

My best friend nodded wearily and headed into his own bathroom. "Be my guest."

As promised, I knocked on his door an hour later, fresh from the shower and in casual uniform but with my sleep wear and a new uniform slung over my arm. The door clicked open and I pushed it myself, kicking it closed with my foot. I spotted Levi's back as he retreated towards his bed, his thin shirt highlighting the silhouette of his lean but muscular build. Shaking my head out of that unexpected daydream, I quickly slipped into his bathroom and changed into my sleepwear. Once done,I folded my uniform neatly.

"It began when Titans were spotted within Wall Rose." Levi's voice floated through the wooden door.

I froze with the unexpected beginning.

"Shit." I murmured.

"Shit indeed. The breach surprised us. There had been no upset with the Wall, according to the Garrison, so we had no clue where it had been breached. A small group of them came from the South and so there wasn't any immediate danger. Groups were sent out to locate the wall breach, towards villages to pass on the warning of Titans and to get rid of the incoming one. A small section of the 104th cadets were at an isolated cabin when it happened, and half of that group had been sent out to relay the messages to the townsfolk."

I finally exited the bathroom and moved to get comfortable on the couch, stopping abruptly when Levi gestured casually to his bed. Warily, I inched onto it and leaned against the headboard, tucking my legs under the covers. Levi lay straight on his back by my side, his hands folded on his stomach.

"They got to a village before noticing that it was deserted."

"Maybe-" I began but Levi effectively cut me off.

"Deserted in such a way that the humans had disappeared into thin air. Nothing had been packed, nothing suggested that they were attacked by Titans and the horses were still present so it seemed that the village people didn't run from anything."

I blew out a breath of air. The more facts Levi gave me, the more confused I got.

"Regardless, they continued, stopping at Castle Utgard for the night. Then everything went to shit. Titans attacked the castle and the cadet Ymir revealed herself to be a transformer. Cadet Krista was an alias for Historia, a powerful player in the higher politics of Wall Sina. Hanji-"

"Wait, Historia? The rumoured-"

Levi shot me a look. "Yes, that Historia. Moving on, Hanji and a fair section of the Corps went out to rescue them. They recovered on the closest part of Wall Rose. It was here that cadets Reiner and Berdholt disabled us for the next few hours, as the Colossal Titan and the Armoured Titan."

"Fuck." I breathed, crossing my arms across my chest.

"They took Eren and Ymir. The Corps soon caught up and retrieved Eren, but at a price that I would rather not mention..." At the end of the sentence, Levi's voice had drifted off into a whisper.

Startled, I glanced down and the Corporal had fallen asleep by my side, laid out like a mummy.

I made a face. How could he be comfortable lying that stiff?

Shuffling, I inched my way off the bed and swung my legs over the edge. A warmth suddenly encased my wrist and I glanced down. Levi's hand had shot out and gripped my wrist. With his eyes still closed, his next question pierced the silence.

"How will I know that you won't leave me again?"