Here is the latest chapter. I hope you guys enjoy!

Saph's PoV

With Wall Maria lost, the human population had to resort to some drastic measures in order to ensure its survival. Thousands of people were forced to leave the safety of the Walls to try and fight the Titans with no prior training nor weapons. The severe massacre was due to the government being unable to feed everyone. It was either sacrifice them or have riots take over due to food shortages, the choice seemed clear and easy to the obese merchants sitting in their oak desks all day.

It seemed as if everyone had lost someone that day. Protests and cries echoed for days through the headquarters. Erwin had let the Survey Corps have a few days off so we could spend time with our loved ones. That left the people with nobody a bunch of free time. Mostly, that meant helping with the influx of new recruits wanting to join from the Garrison.

Months had blurred together as the Survey Corps frantically made new arrangements. The walls breaking had led to an increase of people joining, yet there was upsetting rumors that due to the Survey Corps going outside to kill Titans, they finally retaliated. It was an upsetting thought that was conjured up by the damn wall cult. To make things worse, our once proud commander had broken down with humanity on the brink of complete destruction. Erwin Smith was the new leader of the small section of the military. No squad member has taken over his position, and whispers of who it might be were flooding the barracks constantly.

"Would you ever want to be the squad leader?" Hanji asked me as we ate our meal.

I stared at the spoonful of dark liquid as it sloshed off of the utensil. "Not really. I wouldn't be nearly as good of a squad leader like you Hanji."

"Aren't you sweet! Isn't she sweet, Levi?"

The man raised his eyebrows at me in disbelief as he sipped his tea. Setting the cup down, he continued to munch on the bread without commenting. Hanji inclined her head to look at Mike and Ruby to see if they agreed with her sentiment. Ruby continued nurse her alcoholic drink, and Mike seemed unfazed by the piercing eyes boring on him.

"Do you think you'll be the next squad leader, Ruby?" I asked to break the silence. She did seem to be a likely candidate since her and Hanji were from the same group of trainees. If the psychotic Hanji could become one, why not her?

Ruby set her mug down in a calm manner. "I'm better at receiving orders than being the one to issue them."

"You would become one if Erwin asked you! Wouldn't you?" Hanji shouted louder than necessary.

A faint hint of red blossomed on the usual stern face of the woman as she glared at Hanji.

Not wanting to see a fight break out between them, I stood up. "I'm going to head out to town to grab a few things," I announced.

"Good. I needed someone to run to the store to grab some things for me," a deep voice rumbled out of nowhere.

In a flash, I' had turned around with my fingers itching to grab the knife in my boot. My ears hadn't caught Erwin's approaching footsteps at all. With my posture straightening, I stood steadfast while giving the salute. "Yes, sir!"

"I want you to take someone with you since there are multiple items. Levi?" The man's calculating blue eyes never strayed from me. A tremor ran through my heart while I gave a hard stare. Did he know that I wasn't exactly going to the store? Not a hint of what he could be up to was revealed to me. He was impossible to read, so I could just guess that he had something up his sleeve.

A shove in the back was what sent me stumbling towards the exit. "Come on. I wanna get back in time to clean my sheets before I go to bed."

An excuse not to have Levi come with me didn't come to my mind fast enough. Levi and I were already out of the door before my protest was even allowed to die. All that came out was a long exhale that showed up into the dark night. The chilly air sent me shoving my hands into my deep pockets. It didn't matter, shivers crawled over my body.

"Hell has frozen over, and you want to shop."

I snorted at his sarcasm. Seems like I won't be able to get rid of having someone tagging along when they were extremely unwanted. Especially with where I was going. "Just because you were ordered to come doesn't mean you have to act like a loyal dog."

A foot shot out, hooking around my ankle. Stumbling, I struggled to make sure I wouldn't fall flat on my face. After a few shaky steps, I got stabilized by leaning on a building.

"Don't call me a dog."

"Then don't act like one. Go off and buy all the cleaning supplies to your hearts content."

My attempts to get Levi to away from me seemed to be backfiring. I was beginning to get skeptical glances. While the guy just came up to my shoulder, they were quite intimidating. "What are you planning to do?"

"There is no need to be so suspicious to me!" I protested before beginning to head towards my destination. At least the store was close to the house I needed to reach. Levi wouldn't think I was going the wrong way. "I'm not planning to do anything. There is just someone I need to see before we go get the supplies Erwin requested of us."

"..."

Sighing, I stared at my feet. Levi knew about the situation with my brother, but it wasn't something I felt like talking about with him. If anyone had the power to expose this vulnerability, it was him. Something warm wrapped itself around my wrist. Nothing prepared me for the gentle touch of rough fingers carefully touching my pulse. Tripped and then comforted by the same person, I was caught off guard.

"Is it about your brother?"

Inhaling sharply, I yanked my arm away from him. "I didn't think you were listening when I told you about it."

"After having a knife thrown at me, I had to hear that reason for that idiotic move by you." Levi snorted in derision. "Guess that answers my question.

Huffing, I began to fast walk as I tried to leave Levi and my growing concern behind. Though I had saved his life, I still didn't know if Levi would try to hurt Suzu if he ever found him. Mockery was the most common form of his communication, so I didn't know if Levi wanted to invoke his revenge plan still or not.

Without picking up the pace at all, he stayed right behind me. "You're not sleeping with a guy for information again?"

That statement put images that I had been avoiding to the forefront of my mind. Growing up in an environment where murder and rape was common, I hadn't suspected that the disgusting act would affect me as much as it had. "No. Hopefully, I will never have to do it again either."

"Then I don't see why you're throwing a hissy fit about me tagging along. Just make your business quick."

Revulsion hadn't risen me when Levi had touched me compared to the man. Of course the man was scum of the human race and had no physical appeal. Wait. Did that mean I thought Levi had physical appeal? No. Anyone would be nicer to look at than that overweight, slimy, smelly old man who was just plain ugly. It wouldn't have been much more bearable if he had been attractive, and if he had been more decent, then I doubt he would have needed to blackmail me to sleep with him. Then again, he did say that he was more attracted to me due to other things besides my features and body. Most people weren't attracted to ugliness, so he would have to have a weird taste to be interested otherwise. So caught up in my thoughts, I almost missed the home if it wasn't for Levi catching my attention.

"Moron, you're walking the wrong way."

"Hm?" I paused. On the crossroad, I had turned left while Levi had begun to move right. "Wait. The house is right here," I said, pointing at a very average house a few steps away. "How about you buy the stuff at the store while I do my business."

Instead of doing what I had suggested, Levi walked straight up to the house and knocked on the door. "Let's get this over with."

"It'll be faster if you-"

"Stop being ungrateful and just get over here!" He barked out.

As if responding to his order, the door swung open. "Why are you yelling young man?"

"He's with me, Brutus," I calmly replied as I stepped forward next to my peer.

Brutus gave Levi the evil eye, his squished face betraying not a hint of concern for this uninvited visitor. He seemed to be twice Levi's height, but I knew Levi could easily take him down if necessary.

Unimpressed, Levi tilted his chin up to meet the hard gaze. "Are you going to let us in or are you just going to keep staring?"

"Didn't know I said you could bring friends to this exchange, Saph."

Clicking my tongue, I shouldered my way past him and into the frigid house. "You have already gotten what you wanted. This is your turn to pay up, and I get to do what I want with the information. Even let other people have it for free if I so desire."

A barren living room greeted me once I made my way in. I knew Brutus preferred to move around due to his lifestyle, but it was still weird to have the place seem almost abandoned. Nothing like the messy, overstuffed headquarters I lived in. There might have been a fire going, but that didn't stop a chill from creeping into my skin.

"What new information do you have on my brother?"

"It's not much actually," Brutus says as he sat on the couch, "all I know is that he is still alive."

A huge sigh of relief made my body sag. That was the news I most needed at the moment. Opening my eyes, I caught a surprised glance from Levi. While his eyebrows were raised slightly, there wasn't a hint of malice on his fine features. Guess me seeing genuinely care about someone's well being would be odd.

"There has also certainly been in a shift in his movements. It seems that something has happened that I don't know about yet."

Usually, the urge to chuck something at his head would be coming upon me, but I just wasn't feeling it. My biggest concern had been about Suzu's safety. I might not have been any closer to finding him, but at least I knew he was alive. I straightened my shoulders. "If that is all, I have some other business to attend to."

Brutus walked to the two of us our of the house, ever wary of our movements. His mustache twitched as he seemed to contemplate telling me something.

I was ready to wait patiently, but Levi seemed to be in a hurry. "If you're going to say something, don't make us wait in the cold for you to make up your mind."

"You have quite a callous friend here, Saph. He has none of that feigned politeness you use to manipulate people." Brutus was neither lecturing nor showing animosity with his words. They were just the neutral comments of an outsider. "Okay then boy, I'll say it, though it won't do you any good at the moment. A girl who is the illegitimate daughter of the patriarch of the Reiss family has started military training. She is a tiny blonde thing, that you can't miss. I would usually tell you to consider having her as a hostage to get your brother back, but Kenny wouldn't care who dies."

"Thanks for the info," I replied. The reminder that Suzu could die any day wasn't a welcomed one. Turning around, I reburied my hands into my pockets as I began to walk towards the store.

Levi was silent the entire time, prompting me to be the one to talk to make the purchase for the items. It wasn't rare for him to not say a word, but I felt as if he was contemplating a lot. That in itself was scary. He wasn't the type of person to think really hard about anything in general. Farlan had always been the one to do the mental activities since he was the smartest of the whole group. Or family. The word felt strange swirling in my thoughts, but there wasn't anything else to describe the trio I had stumbled upon oh so long ago. Was that what Levi was thinking about? His own lost family?

It was an idea that saddened me more than I would like to admit. Nothing cut deeper than the thought of never seeing Suzu ever again. Pain seemed to course along each fiber until it left me breathless at the mere use of my imagination towards such a horrific future. To force the agony back, a sentence that I hadn't fully recognized flew out of my mouth.

"You'll like him."

My conviction cut through the stillness of the night to pierce right into Levi's ears. He seemed to jerk at the mere loudness of the declaration. "If he's like you then I won't."

"Suzu isn't similar to me at all. He is better."

"Was."

My chin inclines downwards at I try to catch his expression. "Hmm?"

"He was better. You don't know about now. It has been almost five years right?"

"That doesn't matter!" I shouted. "Once I get him back you'll see!"

Levi's lip curled in a snarl while he faced me. "Why are you even in the Survey Corps? Wouldn't be easier if you just left to go find him?"

My body stiffened as I slowed down to a complete stop. His words weren't the weapons they had once been, forged out of hate to chase me away. It was now a harsh reproval. A scolding from someone who knew you didn't know the answer to their question when you should. Why hadn't I left? Since coming up here, I had made enough money and connections to be able to leave the Survey Corps with little problem. It wouldn't be to difficult to evade their clutches as they tried to throw me back into the Underground. It would be a lie to say I stayed because it was an easier life than living in the shadows. Fighting Titans didn't lead to having a carefree lifestyle.

My vision locked onto Levi's face as he frowned at me. A similar feeling as to what had happened on top of the wall before we made a run for it welled up inside. The need to grab onto something sturdy had taken over like an instinct. Before I knew it, I was reaching out for Levi's sleeve.

He flinched back. His whole body jumping away like I was trying to attack him. My arm stayed in the air for a second, frozen as realization crept upon me. Grey eyes had widened considerably as they took me in. Levi wasn't looking at me as if an animal cornered, but like the person who was approaching said animal. With such wariness it made me revert back to the present.

The limb drooped back to my side, and I was glad that Levi wasn't good at reading people. It was hard to choke back the desperation that had risen up to paint itself all over me. Bitterness rang clearly in my tone, "the threat of dying would be the same if I left. Here, I get a warm bed and decent food. It's easier for me than you since I don't care like the rest of you when a comrade dies."

An arm shot out to press itself against my throat, shoving me back against the wall until I was gasping for breath. Fury raged inside Levi as he pressed down harder until my legs had bent enough for me to be below him. "You don't belong in the Survey Corps if you care only about your own life."

"That doesn't mean I'm not a good soldier," I whimpered out, clawing at his unmoving arm.

Pressure that was being applied neither lessened nor increased as he spat out, "I would rather have the shittiest soldier watching my back than someone who wouldn't give a damn if I died."

"Didn't I save you while risking myself?"

Air filled my lungs right when I was released. Gasping, I tentatively held my throat as I glared at the man who had backed away from me. My knees clanked together as I shakily stood up. Levi was beginning to head out again after he had grabbed the objects I had dropped. Brushing off the dirt with a handkerchief, he inspected each one with care.

I was about to ask what had made him stop when I realized that it wasn't just the three of us anymore. Erwin stood there with a lamp in his hand. The light flickered causing shadows to dance across his stern face.

"We're back," I weakly announced. My eyes noted the buildings behind the imposing figure. I hadn't realized we were so close to the headquarters. Had people heard our fight? Did Erwin know what I had said about not caring when a comrade dies? A shiver crawled over my spine at what my imagination conjured up with Erwin's retaliation.

Ignoring my fearful tone, Erwin nodded in our direction. "I want both of you to come to my office at once."