A/N: Here you guys go!

Blood in the Air

Chapter Two:

Parasites

The panic set in immediately. People in every direction started running for the interior gate. In the chaos, Aria slipped away from Hannes, the shadows sighing and humming and urging her on. She was knocked into several times by the uncaring, nearly grabbed by frightened adults on other times. She recovered and dodged both as she continued on. She was exhausted already, her earlier race through the streets leaving her with aching legs and gasping breaths.

I have to make it home, she thought as she forced herself onward, ducking under a broken beam moments before it collapsed. I have to get home… I have to!

"Promise me! Promise me that you'll live!"

Her eyes narrowed, her teeth grit, Aria threw herself down a set of steps, tripping at the end and falling into a harsh roll. Hissing out a breath, she forced herself up on shaky arms, then to her feet.

"I have to promise!" She gasped, beginning her desperate run once again. From the corner of her eye, the Shadows snarled and lashed out at her, and Aria instinctively threw herself to the ground again, rolling out of their way—

And out of the way of the grasping hand of a five-meter Titan.

Aria was already back on her feet when she realized it wasn't a vision, wasn't imaginary. And for a moment, she froze, stock still, eyes huge and breath held as she stared up at the smiling face with it's too-wide smile and too-small eyes under ratty brown hair.

This… this is… A Titan… She thought, mind blank and eyes beginning to ache from lack of blinking. For as long as she remembered, she had seen them in dreams, seen them eating people, sowing destruction wherever they went, and being killed in turn, a never-ending cycle of violence and death and horror. But…

But.

This isn't like in the dreams, Aria thought dazed, trembling as that massive hand once more reached for her.

RUN the shadows roared; Aria choked on a gasp, and obeyed, just as she always did when the shadows grew too loud. She flung herself away from the hand, once more just barely dodging it, the wind following it's passage threw her hair into disarray. Stumbling, more scared than she's ever been outside of a vision, Aria ran for her life.

It wouldn't be the first Titan she dodged on her run, just one of the smallest. A massive foot slammed down beside her, miraculously tossing her out of reach of a grasping hand, flinging her through the air and away from the two Titans that had intercepted her. The Titans, both around eight meters, crashed into one another, too focused on their prey to notice one another, They fell onto a row of houses, crushing them and flinging debris into the air. Aria staggered up to her feet and continued to run, ribs aching, legs cramping on occasion, bleeding from multiple scrapes and cuts, but she couldn't stop.

She rounded the corner of her street, just in time to see Hannes running away from the destroyed ruins of what was once her home, Eren screaming over his shoulder and Mikasa clasped under one arm and…

And Mama pinned, unable to move, as the Smiling Titan from her nightmares approached.

"Mama!" She screamed, frozen on the corner of the street, knowing if she approached the Titan would see her.

"A-Aria!" Her mother cried, shaking her head. "Run away! Run away as fast as you can! Don't come near, okay?! Just go!" She screamed; Aria choked on a sob, hands clamping over her mouth as, with wide eyes, she stared at the approaching Titan. "Run away, sweetheart! Run away and don't look back! You have to! Promise me!" Her Mama shouted desperately. "Promise me that you'll live!" Aria gasped, eyes wide,

Those words… Mama's words…! That.. That means…!

(Blood like rose petals on the wind)

My heart…. It… It hurts so bad, Mama, she thought, tears falling, before she shook her head harshly, hands falling to her sides in white-knuckled fists.

"I PROMISE!" She screamed as the Titan reached for her Mama. "I PROMISE WE LIVE! FOR YEARS AND YEARS! I PROMISE!" she screamed; for a split second, Carla stared at her daughter, her sweet little song, and a shaky, heartbroken smile weakly flitted across her tear covered face. Unheard by Aria, the woman let out a soft sob.

"My brave, brave baby girl," she choked, before a sharp scream tore from her as the Titan grabbed her up.

"Mama!" Aria screamed, staring with huge eyes as the Smiling Titan slowly lifted her struggling mother. "MAMA!"

The Titan bit down.

Blood spatter flew…

…Deadly rose petals on the wind…

The world seemed to freeze around her once again, her wide eyes locked on the Titan as it swallowed what was her Mama, her sweet mama who she scared sometimes without meaning to, who still loved her even though she was broken. Mama…

An arm suddenly clamped around Aria's waist, wrenching her through the air and out of the grasp of a familiar five-meter Titan.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" The Garrison soldier who held her cursed, sweat drenched and terrified but teeth gritted with determination. "Damn it, kid, what the hell did you think you were doing?! Do you want to get eaten, dumbass?!" Aria stared blankly at the rapidly moving ground beneath her, limp in the soldiers hold as he flung them through the air with his ODM gear. His cursing was frequent as he dodged around buildings and Titans alike. Upon reaching the inner gate, however, he didn't wait to throw her summarily into the crowd with another curse before turning and returning to the fray. Aria watched him go, engraving his face into her memory even as trembling, gentle hands pulled her up onto broad shoulders and moved her forward through the crowd. Another unknown soldier accepted her from the stranger who carried her, passing her behind him onto the waiting barge. She's shuffled around, despondent, weeping faces surrounding her, until she finds her bloody, scraped-raw hands being tentatively clasped by Armin, who peered up at her from under his bangs.

"A-Aria?" He asked her softly; Aria blinked slowly at him. "Y-you're hurt…" A sharp tremble went through her, and Aria swallowed. …Her throat hurt from screaming.

"I… I'm okay," she whispered hoarsely. "I… I just…" A tear slid down her cheek as she lifted her head to look at him. "I s-saw Mama… Get eaten," she whispered; Armin's breath hitched, blue eyes wide and horrified. Aria's lips trembled before she tightened them, closing her eyes and taking a slow, shaky breath, before gently squeezing his hands in return. Armin sniffled, eyes watering as he looked up at her. Tentatively, Aria gave him a smile, small and shaky but there. "It's okay, Armin," she told him simply, quietly. "It's okay to be afraid. To be sad and mad and so scared… Because, that's part of being alive." The boys eyes went wide, and Aria looked down at their hands, watching as her weeping cuts stained his hands red.

"…And we're alive," she whispered softly. "We're alive to feel these horrible things and, and that's what matters." Swallowing heavily, Armin nodded shakily.

"E-Eren and Mikasa are over here," he whispered; Aria nodded weakly and let him pull her over. Eren was staring blankly, wide-eyed and in shock, and Mikasa was dull eyed with grief and worry. Slowly, Aria sat between them, folding her hands in her lap.

"A-Aria," Mikasa started softly; the older girl shook her head.

"I saw," she said simply. "I saw our house… And, and Mama and that Smiling Titan…" Mikasa's breath caught and Eren shook at her side. "…I saw…" Silence fell between them for several moments as Mikasa tentatively pressed against Aria's side and Armin did the same thing on Eren's other side.

"I'm going to kill them all," Eren breathed hoarsely, green-blue eyes wide with rage and grief. "All the Titans… I won't stop… Until those disgusting parasites are all exterminated…"

"…Agreed," Aria murmured, shifting one of her bloody hands over to clasp his own. Eren gripped it tightly, neither of them caring about the stinging burn of their wounds.

"I swear it," he choked out, teeth gritted, eyes wide and tears on his cheeks. "I swear it." Aria squeezed his hand and lifted her eyes to stare off towards Shiganshina as they left it behind. For once, the Shadows didn't make her nervous, didn't play visions over her sight and make her shudder or cringe.

"I'll help," she stated simply, quietly, as she stared off into the distance.

I promise, she thought, closing her eyes and letting her head rest against her little brother's shoulder tiredly. I promise Mama…

We'll live.

()()()()()()()

Wall Maria had fallen to the Titans and, in response, the nearly three-hundred thousand refugees that moved into Wall Rose brought with them massive pressure on the already struggling people there. Famine was already a concern before and became a guaranteed fact after the Fall. People were fighting over a single piece of bread, over a place to sleep, over cheap work that at least paid something. The people of Rose were bitter, their Garrison soldiers losing their own rations to try and keep the extra mouths fed.

…If it wasn't for Grandpa Arlert, Aria knew that she, Eren, and Mikasa would have starved to death. As it was, they were struggling, too young to work or join the Military, just extra mouths that had to be fed. Helpless baby birds, screaming with mouths wide open for any scraps they could get.

…Parasites feeding on the rest of humanity.

Eren hated it. It grated against his pride and sense of strength. He already felt weak and useless because of Shiganshina, the idea of being forced to rely on the mercy of others… It made his temper high, made his words sharp and his eyes dark.

…It was why Aria was here, instead of waiting at the tiny home the five of them managed to claim for themselves. The Shadows had whispered directions to her several times in the last few weeks since the Fall, had guided her through more than one situation that had left her with either an extra bit of food, a few extra coins, or getting a small job that saw her with rare treat like fresh fruit or a hot bath, even. Sometimes, however, their mischief simply got her lost or hurt. Once, they had even led her into a brothel where a few of the customers tried to buy her before the Madame had shooed her out with hard eyes and an order to come back when she had her first blood if she wanted to work.

This time, they seemed extra eager, whistling and snickering in her ears as they gamboled around the dirty alleys. She didn't know where they were taking her, she never really knew, but she trusted that they wouldn't lead her towards anything that would see her seriously injured.

It's very windy today, she thought, using a twitching hand to shield her eyes. But it's not going to rain for a while yet… A sudden burst of gleeful laughter from her right had her glancing over, only to find herself being smacked in the face by a hat. Sputtering, she grabbed the cloth, pulling it down to frown into the alley it had come from, only to find it a dead end filled with snickering shadows.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" She murmured, peering down at the black hat in her hands. The Shadows laughed again, and filled her head with the singing tone of blades being unsheathed and the coppery scent of blood. Blinking twice, Aria flinched faintly as the hat in her hands was suddenly drenched in hot, fresh blood…

Everything around her was coated in blood.

Squeezing her eyes shut, lifting the hat to cover her face for a moment, Aria rocked back and forth with her fingers clenching the hat's rim as tightly as possible. After a few moment, her every breath stopped tasting like copper and Aria slowly lowered the hat again to tentatively peer around her.

No blood, no shadows. Just her and the hat in the mouth of a dead end. Crisp wind, blue eyes, the smell of the nearby sewer…

"Okay," she breathed out slowly, peering down at the hat again for a moment. "Where do you belong, then?" A single shadow darted from behind her, lunging up onto a roof. Humming to herself in thought, Aria looked down at the hat briefly before shoving it onto her head and trying to find the best way up onto the roof.

Several minutes and freshly cut palms and knees later, she managed it, panting for breath even as she walked carefully over the tiles. The shadow darted around her before flinging itself down the roof, across the alley, and away.

"W-wait!" She called softly, before giving chase. She slipped several times as the shadow led her on the chase, her bare shins bloody and scraped raw, her shorts giving her no protection at all. Her arms were the same, and the bruises she would no doubt be getting on her shoulders and hips from the falls would no doubt hurt badly later. The longer the chase took, however, the less these wounds hurt and the more alive she felt. The thrill of the chase, of the race, the risk, it made her focus, made the everyday terror and nervousness and flinches disappear. She had a goal, and destination, and as long as she was working towards it, the fear…

It didn't matter.

The shadow ahead of her spiraled rapidly before flinging itself down off the rooftops and into an alley and, without thinking, Aria followed, diving headfirst off the roof and managing to flip herself, landing awkwardly on her feet and then to her knees. Immediately, she stood up, ready to continue following the shadow only… It was gone.

"It's… A dead end," she murmured, confused, as she stared at the wall little over a meter away. She looked up at the roofs again, eyebrows furrowing.

"The hell? Where'd you come from, brat?" A voice chimed up behind her; Aria spun, eyes wide, to find a tall man dressed in black and armor, gruff and grumpy looking with a hand in his hair. A blond woman beside him, dressed similarly, stared at her in disbelief.

And on the ground between Aria and them, a man in a MP uniform lay twitching in his final death throws, throat slit and face-up in a large pool of blood.

…Oh, she thought, staring at the dead body blankly. That… That would explain the blood… On the hat… With the thought, her head jerked up, eyes darting away from the fresh corpse with deliberate nerves.

"Hat man!" She blurted instead, reaching up and gripping the hat on her head.

"Eh?" The gruff man stated, squinting at her. "How the hell did you find that, kid?" Aria blinked, then padded forward when a Shadow crept into her peripheral. She edged past the corpse, toes bare inches from the blood pool as she did, refraining from looking at it… Him. Looking at him.

Being a corpse doesn't make him less human, she scolded herself firmly. You've seen plenty of dead bodies before. They're still human no matter what.

"Here you go, Hat Man!" she declared, plucking the hat from her head and holding it out to him. The blond woman looked amused now, despite the agitated twitches of her fingers, obviously barely refraining from reaching for a weapon. The man plucked his hat from Aria's grip, eying it for a moment before letting out an amused chuckle, dusting it off and putting it on his head.

"I'll be damned, kid," he stated, eying her with stone-dead eyes and an amused smirk. "Thought I'd have to go running around this shit stain of a place tryin' to find this damn thing, after already havin' to run around chasing that dumbass," he nodded towards the dead man behind her before continuing, "and here you come with it in hand. Now, not that I ain't grateful, you understand, but…" Still smiling at her, the man shifted a hand, pulling out a wicked, curled dagger. The light caught the bright silver, making its reflection flash over Aria's face.

"How did a little thing like you know where to find me, hmm?"

()()()()()()

Kenny Ackerman was not a man who made mistakes. He was the one who cleaned up other people's mistakes, usually with a blade or a bullet. It's what he did best, killing people, after all, and it was the closest thing to fun he'd ever had, so he could even say he loved his job, unlike most of the unlucky shits in these godforsaken walls. But, since he was a man who didn't make mistakes, he always made sure that no one could find him outside his squad.

So imagine his surprise when some little street rat comes falling into the alley where he'd just cleaned up some nobles mistake, the body not even done bleeding all over the ground yet. And the little brat barely takes a moment to stare at the body before hopping over to him like some ugly ass puppy to hand him his hat. The same hat the asshole on the ground had managed to knock off his head while fleeing into the shittiest alleys he could find.

He didn't make mistakes, so how the hell did this little shit find them?

Holding his blade, Kenny waited for the kid to answer him, already knowing he'd be leaving two corpses behind when he left but wanting to know so he could make sure it didn't fucking happen again.

"Oh, I followed the shadows!" the brat told him easily, green-gold eyes darting, not like a liar's but more like a skittish mutt. Like the strays acted when someone held food out to them but they knew it would lead to an axe to the head instead of a free meal. "Not that you'll believe me, since no one believes me, but that's okay! The MP have my medical records, too, so everyone knows I have brain damage and suffer from severe hallucinations…" As if on cue, the brat's voice trailed off, eyes going dull and blank and listing off to the side. Kenny watched, brow lifted, as the kid glanced to the side intently before those eyes darted up to his face, like he (she? Fuck if he could tell) was double-checking something. And damn, were the kids hands twitchy as hell.

"Sure, kiddo," he said, eying the kid, who perked up again, fingers fidgeting against their thighs.

"Question!" The brat announced, peering up at Kenny uncertainly. "Um, did, uh, did you already loot him?" They asked, awkwardly gesturing behind them at the corpse. The question had Kenny blinking, surprised, and just… Staring.

What? He thought, staring as the kid ducked their head, fingers fidgeting with their tattered shirt hem.

"It's just, well, I got my baby brother, adopted sister, and adopted brother to look after," the kid mumbled, ears going red. "And Gramps, he, ugh, he's pretty old and, well, he doesn't make much and, um, the MP's make a lot more money… And, well…" The kid shrugged awkwardly. "Dead bodies don't need to eat, y'know?" Kenny stared blankly down at them for a moment.

This brat has balls of steel, he thought, his lieutenant unknowingly repeating the thought as well. Slowly, a sharp smile curled his lips, before he threw his head back with a cackle.

"What the hell, brat!" He laughed. "Kid after my own heart here!" Chuckling, good mood fully-restored, Kenny decided that one corpse would be fine. He'd hunt down the kid's information later, just in case, but for now, he just chuckled, tucking his blade away and reaching over to ruffle the rats nest stuck on the kids head, making the kid duck down sheepishly. "Go for it, brat. Who knows, maybe we'll work together one day if you keep that sort of attitude." Tilting his hat slightly and offering the kid a wink, he turned around to leave.

"Er, Captain," Caven started, her eyes darting from the kid, who was already padding over to the dead body, and back to him.

"Leave it, Caven," he ordered easily, glancing over his shoulder.

"Right," she agreed immediately, padding after him; Kenny paused in the alley mouth.

"Hey, brat!" he called; the kid looked up, bloody hands clutching a heavy purse. "You gotta name?" The kid blinked at him twice, eyes darting to-and-fro like a mouse, before offering him an uncertain smile.

"Aria Jaeger!" she (Huh, so the brat's a girl… Color him surprised) called back, obviously glancing at something beside her, peering at the wall like she was reading something. She lit up again, lifting a hand to wave tiny bloody fingers at them. "Bye Hat Man Kenny! Bye pretty lady Caven!" Startled, the two adults turned fully to look at her again, but the brat was already scrambling up the wall in what had to be the least graceful climb Kenny had ever seen in his life.

"What the hell," he muttered, squinting as the kid stood up on the roof only to almost immediately fall. She then trotted off, happy as a clam with a dead man's pouch of coins and blood literally on her hands. "I've seen blind, dead fish climb better'en that, fuck's sake, brat," he grumbled, rolling his eyes with a snort.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll fall and break her neck without us having to try and find her again," Caven noted, shaking her head with an eye roll, and Kenny snorted.

"Hell, maybe so," he muttered, readjusting his hat as he turned away. "Be a damn shame, though. Funniest little shit I've met in years."

"If you say so, Captain," Caven agreed mildly, and Kenny let himself be pulled into the familiar banter even as he led the way back towards Wall Rose's Interior. He had a date with the MP's records. After all, brats with brain damage that the MP were involved with were surprisingly few and far between.

Most didn't live long enough to be noted, after all.

He made sure of it.

(Kenny Ackerman didn't make mistakes, but he was damned good at cleaning up after others.)

()()()()()()

Aria was pleased with the amount of money she'd managed to get off the dead MP, even if his face was popping out of the Shadows and his blood clung to her skin even after it was washed away. No doubt she'd be dreaming about him tonight, maybe for the next week or so, but… The amount of money hidden in the bloody pouch she'd tucked into her underwear to keep it from being stolen, it was enough to feed the five of them for a few weeks if they used it right!

"I'll give it to Armin," she murmured, carefully hopping down from the roof, wincing at her blood and wound covered shins and arms. "…Eren's gonna be mad," she murmured, grimacing down at herself, shifting slightly, uncomfortable with the bag of money stuck between her legs. Once she hit puberty and grew breasts, she would have a better place to hide her money, but it would do for now. She was just grateful that the blood had already dried on the bad before she realized that carrying an obvious pouch of coins would not do her any kind of good.

Sighing softly, Aria began limping her way towards their home, ready for the scolding she'd no doubt be getting. The shadows to her left morphed into an image of the Hat Man, and she couldn't help but smile slightly. He had been more than willing to kill her, she knew. It had been in his eyes, an easiness when it came to death that spoke of something similar to what her brain did. Mikasa was like that, willing to end anyone who threatened what she deemed as hers. It was strange, seeing it in an adult, but maybe that would be was Mikasa was like in a few years but… Kinder.

Anyways, the Shadows had prompted her, forming pictures of the Garrison soldiers who liked to mock her and giving her the inspiration for her bluntness about her condition. After all, she wasn't a liability if she was insane and the Military could easily provide proof of it. No one would bother even asking her, after all.

(No one believed her, anyways. Only Daddy ever had, and Hannes. Only them… Only them.)

Sighing softly as she arrived home, Aria took a moment to blink the blood away from her vision, grimacing as the sound of choking, gasping breaths of the dying echoed in her ears before she pushed the door open.

"I'm back!" she called as she entered, closing the door behind her. It was time to face the music, after all…

()()()()()

A/N: I adore Kenny, okay, he's the funniest asshole, fight me. Also, Levi totally got his sense of humor and it is hilarious.

Anyways, tell me what you think!