Chapter 4. Black Mountain Side

A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for their support on this story! It's definitely fueling the creative spirit! Since you all have been incredibly patient with my tardy updates, here is TWO chapters for you to (hopefully) enjoy. Nice and long, too. As always, comments are appreciated! ;)

There were many things Hanji Zoe understood quite well. Blood, for starters.

Blood was messy, yes, and bodies smelled. But there were answers in blood, in a body; Everything had a purpose, a cause and effect, and if one could look past the assault certain substances brought to the senses, answers could be easily found and analyzed.

She wasn't so dogged in her pursuit for knowledge—nor so analytical—that she found herself estranged from sentiment, however. In fact, she often wondered if she felt things too keenly. But knowing that these emotions, fickle and ephemeral as they may be, were the corollary of one's circumstances made them easier to wrangle. Made them easier to understand.

Science made sense, after all, numbers made sense. All of these stimuli were problems and equations that made up a formula. Formulas could be understood.

Hanji Zoe could not, however, understand this.

A child. Who could do this to a child? There was no formula for this, no equation. A problem, certainly, but one she had no answer for.

"Can you estimate a time of death?" Erwin's voice betrayed no emotion, but she knew it was only a pretense; He understood the formula as well.

"Recent," she said with a deep inhale. Steady, now. "Maybe four hours ago?"

She heard Armin swear under his breath, his blue eyes taking in the small body before them before shutting tightly, mouth set in a tight line. Eren stood beside his friend, watching grimly as Rubie inspected the child's cold body with trained hands.

The red-haired girl had proven her skill multiple times over, and Hanji had been forced long ago to overlook the initial prejudice she'd held about the more "traditional" approach to medicine when she'd witnessed the girl work; She may have been an honest country girl with no formal training, and certainly no military experience whatsoever, but she was more than adept at treating wounds and addressing the human anatomy. She was more than competent, and Hanji could see why Eren had taken a shine to her.

After concluding her cursory examination of the dead boy's body, Hanji sighed heavily and folded her arms, mind reeling with unsolved questions and so many emotions. A dense silence settled among the group as they regarded the corpse before them.

The boy couldn't have been much older than nine, though his bones were alarmingly delicate, and he'd obviously been malnourished. Mottled bruises and angry-red lacerations stood out in stark relief against his ashen-pale flesh, and rope burns were visible upon his small wrists and ankles.

Who ever had kidnapped him had obviously kept him tied up for long periods of time, judging by the scarred flesh under the fresh wounds, but the question that roared the loudest for Hanji was whether he'd managed to escape from his captors or if they'd decided to dump him. Probably the latter.

Yes, she couldn't comprehend this. War made more sense than this. War was the byproduct of humanity and its greed; Violence was a problem humanity had created long ago, one which had since developed its own formula and solutions. A cycle of causes and effects throughout history. Yet, so often children were the casualties.

"I just don't understand," Rubie breathed, voicing Hanji's own thoughts. "He was just a boy." The end of her words became a small whisper as emotion threatened to overtake her voice.

"For now we need to sort out the who instead of the why," Erwin cut in, face unreadable. He turned to Hanji then, staring down at her with those intensely blue eyes and opened his mouth to say something. Whether it was a question or command Hanji would never know, for at that moment Moblit burst through the door of her study as violently as if a horde of Titans were hot on his heels.

"Commander!" he screeched, not even bothering to form a salute as he stumbled through the doorway, gesturing faster than his winded words could follow. "Lieutenant Ackerman—she—the mission—!"

"Moblit! Slow down!" Hanji grasped the man by his shoulders firmly in an attempt to calm him, but he only whipped back around to face the door he'd just barreled through. Hanji's words died on her tongue as Efran stumbled into the room carrying an unconscious Mikasa.

She only froze for a moment, taking in the horrific sight of the Lieutenant's bleeding body, limp in the tattooed man's massive arms, before she was knocking papers and random objects off of the nearby table, not caring as they tumbled and crashed onto the floor.

Eren wasted no time in assisting Efran in lifting the unconscious girl onto the cleared surface, her body small and almost childlike in their arms. He hastily removed his jacket and bundled it up, placing it under the girl's dark head like a pillow.

The room was suddenly alive with noise; Erwin was shouting commands left and right, and someone sprinted out of the room on an order—probably Armin—but Hanji paid the distractions no mind as she focused instead on the injured girl before her.

She was in bad shape. Hanji looked up at the man who'd carried her in, and he answered her unspoken question without hesitation.

"An explosion. Knocked her out. Those Redeemer fuckers had fucking explosives. We barely got out of there." His voice was steady, but she could see the alarm in his eyes. He wasn't exactly in good condition, either, and he looked nearly dead on his feet from exhaustion.

She looked back down at Mikasa's battered form. An explosion? There was more to it than that, obviously; She had multiple injuries, some of them appearing like they were sustained in an altercation, but the explosion explained the mild charing on her clothes and hair.

"This arm is broken," she announced, maneuvering Mikasa's damaged limb with careful hands. "I'll need to set it so it'll heal properly. Rubie, help me."

The red-head didn't need to be prompted twice, her arms already full of gauze and other medical implements. Eren stumbled away from the table, half in shock but also to give the two women room to work.

"Start from the beginning." Erwin demanded, turning from the unconscious soldier to round on Efran. The man nodded gravely but didn't balk under the commander's gaze.

"Wait!" Eren, silent until now, nearly shouted the word. "Where is Captain Levi?"

The room suddenly became very still and very grim, and Hanji felt a chilling squeeze in her gut as intuition crept along her spine. Her head snapped up to look at Efran, and she could see Erwin in her periphery do the same. And fuck she already knew the answer.

The alarm was back in the tattooed man's face, and the squeeze in her gut tightened painfully. Closing his eyes as if he couldn't bear to see their faces, he simply shook his head.

"I'm so sorry."

•••

Tracking had never been her strong suit. She wasn't bad at it, but she definitely didn't hold a candle to someone like Sasha. Her father had been excellent at it and had shown her the basics when she was a child. Needless to say, the skill hadn't been exercised much after his death; Grisha Jaeger was a competent man, but a doctor didn't have much use for tracking or other hunting skills, and she'd always been better at killing Titans than finding them.

Mikasa really wished she'd paid more attention to this area of her training.

Tracking a kidnapper through the filthy streets of the Underground didn't seem too complicated in theory, but streets were much different from forests and dirt paths. Tracking a kidnapper while being chased yourself definitely didn't make it any easier.

She weaved through stalls and bounded over crates, hearing the curse of a vendor or the gasp of a passerby as she tore through the square. She wondered where Levi was but didn't dare slow her pace to look around for him.

They hadn't wasted any more time at the Black Dog; Efran's trail was still fresh, and neither of them fancied explaining the scene to the Military Police, who would undoubtedly have a field day giving two Survey Corps members—undercover, though they were—ultimate hell.

Levi was much better at following tracks than she. And he was also fast. It was a different kind of speed than what he exhibited in the air cutting down Titans with his gear. Mikasa, admittedly, struggled to imagine a man like Levi ever living in a place like the Underground. Sure, he could be surly and coarse, but his inherent nature seemed too refined for the squabble of these streets.

But then he'd started running. The movements of someone who'd had a lifetime of experience doing it.

It was quite remarkable to witness, actually, the way he leaped over obstacles and used his environment to his advantage. Mikasa's limbs were long—made for endurance and lengthy movements—whereas Levi's strong, compact body was perfect for zipping around tight corners and quick bursts of speed. It seemed natural, like he'd done this before many times, and it wasn't long before he'd completely outpaced her.

Neither of them altered their pace at the separation—their objective was the same, and Mikasa hoped her captain's agility would get him to Efran and the girl sooner.

Still, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of bitterness about being stuck fleeing a bunch of thugs. She couldn't remember exactly when she first realized she was being followed—perhaps upon first entering this bustling marketplace—but they definitely weren't MP. She'd gone from being the cat in the chase to the fleeing mouse, and she didn't like it one bit.

She threw a glance behind her after narrowly dodging a cart, gasping when she saw how close her pursuers were. Two men. Definitely not MP. She needed to lose them, and running blindly through the open plaza was doing her no favors.

Mikasa pivoted abruptly to her right and made for the pathway bisecting two houses, narrowly avoiding a devastating collision with a crouching beggar in the process. She could hear the men behind her shouting after her but didn't chance another look at them.

The blood that soaked her tunic and pants had now dried, making the fabric stiff and awkward to run in. The man's death had been brutal—no more gruesome than the Titan's she'd killed, but his blood didn't evaporate like theirs, sticking to her skin like a grim reminder of what she'd just done.

The rapid pound of her feet echoed against the sides of the brick buildings as she rounded the side of another house, weaving and cutting through the maze of dilapidated buildings until her legs and lungs were burning for respite.

One more corner. Just one more corner and I'll lose them.

The cobblestone beneath her feet became abruptly more uneven as she finally broke free from the warren of houses and burst onto a deserted backstreet. She hesitated for a brief second, looking to either side of the darkened street in desperation before choosing to head left. The sound of her pursuers' feet ricocheted through the labyrinth she'd just emerged from, sending a flare of adrenaline through her gut. Hide.

The backstreet was gloomy and ripe with shadows. Mikasa tried to soften her footfalls without sacrificing her speed, all while looking frantically for somewhere—anywhere—to hide.

She spun into a shadowed alley just as she heard the clamor of the men emerging onto the open street. She slunk deeper into the gloom, for once more afraid of what was lurking outside the shadows. Her heart sunk as she took in her hideout. A deadend. She had trapped herself.

"Where did she go?"

"How would I know? I lost her on that turn back there."

Mikasa listened to their gruff voices and clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her breath as her lungs heaved for air.

"You go left and I'll go right?" There wasn't a response, so the other man must have agreed to the suggestion.

The sound of their running feet echoed over the cobblestone once more, one pair getting audibly closer to her position in the alley. There was nowhere else to run, and resuming the chase back onto the street seemed like suicide. Breath somewhat wrangled, Mikasa removed her hand and steeled herself for a fight, lamenting her lack of weapon and wishing she'd held onto that garrotte. Please don't turn here, please don't turn here…

She hugged the cold brick wall of the alleyway and waited like a tensed cat as the man's racing feet neared...and passed. She allowed herself a shaky exhale as she listened to the sound of his boots decrease in volume. She would need to wait it out a little bit before leaving the alley, but the anxious need to get away gripped her heart—he would most definitely check the alleyway on his second pass. Maybe if she could get to the rooftop—

Suddenly there was a hand on her mouth and a strong arm encircling her waist, hauling her back further into the shadows. She recovered quickly from the shock of the ambush and began throwing her elbows back in an attempt to catch her assailant in the kidneys or ribs. Mikasa couldn't remember the last time she'd been this taken by surprise in a fight. She hadn't seen anything but brick and gloom in this dead end alley, so where had they come from?

The hand—a man's, without a doubt—that covered her mouth moved to cross over her body, effectively clamping her arms firmly to her sides. The scrape of teeth grazed her ear, the beginning hiss of words, but she didn't wait for his twisted utterance, throwing her head back swiftly to connect with his nose.

A crunch, a groan, and his arms were off her. She stumbled forward at the loss of support before quickly turning around to face her attacker. She barely had time to make out his shape in the dark of the alley before he was surging forward again.

"Mikas—arrgh, fuck!"

She realized her mistake too late, her knee having connected with his groin and effectively buckling him.

"Captain?" she hissed, eyes wide with horror.

Her sight was now more adjusted to the gloom of their surroundings, and she saw the dagger-grey gleam of his eyes as he glared at her through messy black fringe. The sound of running feet jolted her attention away from Levi's pained gaze and to the opening of the alley where the second man raced past. Like his companion, he paid the alleyway no mind.

She waited until she couldn't hear him anymore before muttering breathlessly, "are you ok?" She lowered herself to her knees so she could be level with Levi in his downed position. He scoffed bitterly, spitting blood off to the side.

"I think you broke my nose, brat," he mumbled bitterly, sounding congested due to the injury. "And rendered me sterile."

Defensiveness overrode the guilt flaring in her chest. Overlooking any sense of propriety, she grabbed his chin roughly with her thumb and index. "Well, sorry for defending myself because I thought you were trying to kidnap me." She tilted his face slightly to inspect his nose. "And it's not broken, you child."

He wrenched his chin away from her fingers and hauled himself to his feet, stumbling slightly as he stood. He halted abruptly with a hiss and pressed a palm against his crotch tenderly. He cursed under his breath, face turned down in pain.

"Fuck, Ackerman. I was trying to save your ass." He rolled his shoulder then, shaking off the residual tremors of pain that bloomed from below his belt. "And you're too fucking fast for me to get a word in. I thought you saw me back there." He gestured vaguely to the shadowed back wall of the alley.

"How the hell did you find me?" she demanded, genuinely dumbfounded how he'd showed up here of all places.

He turned his eyes heavenward and pinched the bridge of his nose, and she didn't know if he was quelling the blood flow or his temper. "Actually, I was here first," he finally answered, tone pettish. Seeing her baffled expression, he scoffed and added, "I was a goddamned street-rat, Ackerman. I know my fair share of dark corners."

Mikasa looked away from him then as she rose to her feet, listening for shouting men or pounding feet but heard only crickets. The anger and adrenaline had subsided now, but the guilt remained...and something else. Shame. It wasn't the first time he'd been hurt because of her.

"I…I'm sorry." The words felt odd on her mouth.

He turned halfway as if contemplating something, but she couldn't see his face well enough in this light to tell what it was. Then he sighed and his shoulders deflated slightly. She felt her own exhaustion suddenly surround her. The day had been hard, but the fight and chase had zapped the last of their energy.

"Let's move. We're sitting ducks here." Levi turned from her and made his way to the edge of the dark alleyway, pausing to look around the empty street before cautiously stepping out.

Mikasa followed without a word, keeping in silent step with him, stopping when he did. His nose had stopped bleeding, thankfully, but he still brushed at it occasionally. The mess probably bothered him more than the injury itself, she figured. Still, as much as she wanted to maintain her irritation with him for sneaking up on her, she couldn't quell the guilt simmering in her gut.

She didn't have any idea where he was leading her, but he seemed to know where he was going; He hugged the shadows of the old buildings like a cat, his strides purposeful and calculated. It truly was something to see him move in stealth like this, not that she'd ever voice that opinion. Mikasa prided herself on her silent tread—it came more naturally than tracking.

But Levi was in a league of his own. Or, rather, perhaps he was just in his element.

I was a goddamned street-rat.

He'd sounded so unaffected when he'd said that—almost blasé. And, really, with his speech and his manner, it was entirely too easy to forget about his humble beginnings.

Another wave of guilt surged through Mikasa for even having those thoughts. Even to her own mind she sounded like one of those bigoted wall-wailers that preached on the gleaming streets of Mitras. It wasn't like she'd expected someone from the Underground to be…barbaric…but…

But maybe Levi's conflicting disposition spoke for itself. After all, she knew all too well what it was like to wear a mask. To feel the need to compensate.

"The hell happened to you?"

Efran's coarse baritone had her wheeling around to face the shadows, hand reaching for the knife at her belt that wasn't there.

Efran gestured at his own nose with a circular motion. Levi only glared at Mikasa. The tattooed man inhaled deeply like he was preparing for one of his large belly-laughs, but only threw his head back and chortled quietly. "Well, I certainly hope that isn't all your blood." He gestured to the reddish-brown stain covering the front of her clothes.

Levi looked at Mikasa then, his expression indiscernible as he took in the mess of her, and she tried not to fidget under his scrutiny. He finally turned away entirely, mumbling something like, "insufferable woman," and "broke my damn nose."

"It's not broken," Mikasa snapped, eyeing her captain as he prodded at his face gingerly.

Efran regarded the two with a chuckle, shaking his head slightly. "Well, glad you found us alright, lovely lass." He gave Mikasa a warm smile. She suddenly felt confused by his choice of words.

Levi scoffed. "I found her," he mumbled, sending a sideways glance to Mikasa. "Obviously."

Oh.

Anger and embarrassment surged in her chest. So he had found Efran already, and she'd been running around like a damn idiot being chased by a bunch of goons. And to top it all off, he'd come back for her like she was some damsel and he was the good ol' savior going out of his way to rescue her. The fucking midget dared to give her that look.

She wanted to come back with some witty retort, but she was too overcome with rage to do anything other than stand there, fists at her sides, and turn a deep shade of crimson. Luckily, Efran had her back.

"You mean you let the lady run around this godforsaken city with a bunch of imbeciles tailing her?" She couldn't tell if his tone was genuine or mocking, but he turned to her with a wink and added, "no offense, lovely lass, because I know you're more than capable, and I greatly appreciate the diversion, but…" he trailed off and looked back at Levi, expression reproving.

Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance and made another swipe at his nose, the blood now dried. He pushed past them without another word, disappearing around the side of a darkened establishment. Efran gave Mikasa a quick grin before following the short captain.

"Efran," she called softly as she followed the two men. He didn't turn to acknowledge her, but a large hand reached around and grasped her arm gently, pulling her in stride beside him.

"You didn't miss much, lovely," he whispered, his breath brushing the fringe against her temple as he kept his voice low. "I had a good start on the kid and managed to follow them here."

They came up along the side of another quiet building where Levi waited, his back to them as he regarded something ahead. The buildings had become more nondescript in this part of the city, and some of them clearly were abandoned. Squalid as the central metropolis might be, this was something else. The outskirts of a slum.

Looking up, Mikasa realized the wall they hugged belonged not to an establishment, but the rocky mass of the Underground itself. This truly was the edge of town. The smell of peat was strong here—earthy, and warm, but a welcomed change from the acrid stench of the inner city.

The surrounding buildings thinned out significantly at this edge point, and a wide clearing stretched before them, barren.

And in the distance, carved from the wall of the Underground itself, was a large cave.

Mikasa realized she had never really seen a cave before. Maybe a den in the forest or the burrow of a large animal, but this was truly a cave—all jagged rock and gaping earth. It was like a giant Titan mouth, poised and waiting for its prey to wander right on in.

And there, just at what could have passed as the teeth, were Dennard and the man.

"He's been here this whole time. I can't tell what he's working on." Efran pointed at the man crouched before some sort of bag. Dennard sat a few feet from him, and even from this distance Mikasa could tell her hands were bound. "I was observing them when your Captain here showed up all heroic and the like." He sent Levi another disapproving glare. "Then I found out you two'd split up and he'd left all the hard work to the lady."

Levi made another sound of frustration. "You said yourself she's plenty competent."

"Indeed, but that's no reason to not be a gentleman."

"I went back, didn't I?" Levi groused.

"It's fine," Mikasa cut in, eager to end the bickering and return to the task at hand. "He's distracted like this. We should go now and get the girl," she said with a jerk of her head toward the yawning cavern in the distance.

"That's what we should do, is it, Cadet?" Levi drawled, sarcasm dripping from his tone. He cocked his head at her—an expression she'd come to recognize as the one he wore when he was looking to argue.

Oh, fuck you. "Lieutenant, and yes, I do."

Levi's head turned so slowly, it would have been comical had it not been for the fearsome gleam in his eyes. His mouth tightened into a firm line, and she half expected him to smack her upside the head like she'd seen him do to insubordinate recruits.

"Look around, Lieutenant," he muttered darkly, "this area is shaped like a fucking crucible. We walk in there and we'll be completely exposed."

"There are three of us and one of him!"

Efran held up a placating hand between them, dark brows furrowed into a stern crease. "Mom, Dad, can we save the marital strife for later?" Both Ackermans turned their angry gazes to the tattooed man, but he held his ground. "The lass has a point, Levi. I'll grab the kid and get her out, you two take care of him."

Efran was right—they were wasting time fighting like children. Mikasa felt a pang of shame for the second time that day. She wouldn't apologize, however; For whatever reason, her captain possessed all the means to push her buttons. And she his. Once more she was left questioning why Erwin had ever put them on this mission together in the first place.

Levi sighed heavily and looked back across the clearing, gray eyes once more flitting wildly in thought. Finally, almost begrudgingly, he nodded, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows as if he were preparing for a fight.

"Alright. You get the kid. Mikasa, you're with me."