You can't run forever.

"You."

Your heart stopped.

Him. It was him.

It had been almost five years since you'd seen him. You could remember that day as clearly as if it were yesterday. That was the day that changed everything.

It was a hot day in the Undercity. You were just about to steal dinner for you and Amelia when her voice rang out across the market.

"[Name], he saw you! Run, run!"

You turned and fled, but the officer she had been alerted to was close in pursuit. While you were trying to squeeze through an alley and escape from him, he caught the satchel of supplies strapped to your back. You were captured.

"Aww... what bright eyes. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a [eye color]."

"Where did you get this, thief?"

He was interested in your ring. You were about as trapped as you'd ever been. But Amelia was there. Amelia was always there. She dropped a rock on him from above, knocking him unconscious. You escaped, but lost your supply satchel.

She was killed above ground by another Military Policeman the very next day while trying to find you new supplies.

You watched it happen.

You slit the officer's throat.

You thought you had finally been freed of your past.

Oh, how wrong you were.

Pale, thin lips peeled back into an ominous smirk. "Long time, no see, little thief. I could never forget those eyes. Especially with that same look of fear."

"Asshole," Eren snarled, beginning to move towards him. He stopped dead in his tracks when a gun he didn't notice before clicked and was aimed right at his forehead.

"I wouldn't, boy."

"Don't!" you yelled in panic.

The officer looked at you and laughed, lazily rotating the gun so it was facing you now.

"Don't you fucking dare," Eren hissed, angrier than you'd ever seen him.

You wanted to run but you couldn't force your muscles to move. It felt like your clothing, wet with the rain, was so heavy that you might just sink into the ground if you stood still for too long. You couldn't believe this was happening. You couldn't. You stared at him like a spooked deer, hearing his words, seeing the gun, but not registering.

"I told them that other girl wasn't the one. That she was your accomplice. She was too young to be you. That you had the Fritz family insignia on your thieving little finger," he snarled. "They told me I was crazy, that I took that 'falling brick' a little too hard. Almost lost my job over it," he said, taking a step in your direction. "I always did think it was strange how that officer was killed after the girl had been shot in the stomach. How bloody footsteps led away from the scene!" he yelled hoarsely. "Kinda hard to manage killing someone with those kinds of injuries and then going for a walk and finally keeling over where you began. Or shooting someone with a slit throat. I told them, there was another. I told them there was an accomplice. But she looked so much like you, no one would listen to me."

Your heart jumped back to life all in the space of a second when you noticed the crazed look in the officer's eyes, and you started to back away slowly.

"No," was all you could manage to say.

"I see you still have the ring, little thief. Or... should I call you 'murderer'?" he sneered, voice lowering dangerously, stepping closer, gun still aimed.

You shook your head, fear rising in your throat. "No!"

You felt the wetness on your cheeks and wondered if it was tears or rain.

This can't be happening...

"[Name]?"

You had nearly forgotten he was there. Your head snapped in Eren's direction as he stepped protectively in front of you. He stared the officer down, a mixed look of confusion and anger marring his face, his hair hanging in front of his eyes in the rain.

He couldn't find out... not like this.

"Eren, please go..." you pleaded weakly.

"Oh, so that's your name, murderer? How pretty," cooed the officer, also remembering boy's presence. "Stay, boy. Let me tell you a story about your little killer here," he offered with a sickening cackle.

Eren's face contorted into a look of rage. "Shut the fuck up, pig."

"Yeah, she's a feisty one. Stealing priceless heirlooms and slitting the throats of grown men before her fifteenth year."

Eren's eyes widened slightly and he looked at you over his shoulder.

You looked at him despairingly, desperately trying to make him understand. "He shot her," you choked out, trying to explain. You couldn't find the words.

"Shot who?" Eren asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"She was a thief!" the officer bellowed from behind Eren, stepping closer still.

"She was a starving, little girl!" you shot back, finally tearing your gaze from Eren's green one.

"She was a criminal! You are a criminal! You're going to get what's coming to you, just like that little bitch got what was coming to her."

You froze, only for a split second. Your panic drained away like water and you felt your entire being fill with pure, unbridled rage. You were on him before he could even shoot his gun. It clattered harmlessly to the ground and skidded into a dark corner.

"How dare you! You fucking - bastard!" you screamed, swinging your fists at him repeatedly. You vaguely noticed his jaw appeared significantly more crooked now, and blood streamed from his mouth and nose. You didn't care. You kept going, fueled by five years of repressed emotion.

You were going to kill him.

You wanted to kill him.

You felt hands wrap around your biceps and lift you up off the policeman. In your anger, you turned and threw a punch at your new assailant.

You felt, more than saw, Eren's eyebrow burst open upon impact and begin to bleed.

You immediately halted your attack and Eren's arms dropped to his sides in shock, one hand reaching up to touch his recently bloodied brow.

You looked from Eren's face to the man on the ground. The officer was no longer recognizable, and you couldn't tell if he was still alive, although you were sure he was. His face had been beaten to a bloody, swollen pulp, but nothing looked fatal.

Tears still flowed uncontrollably down your face and you looked down. Your hands stung in pain and were stained red. Whose blood it was, you didn't know nor care.

What have I done? you though miserably. You had surrounded yourself in blood and violence just hours before you were finally going to be free from it. Now, you thought, you were going to drown in it.

"...[Name]." Eren's voice was gentle, and he reached out a hand to you. "[Name]. It's okay."

It's okay?

It's not okay.

It will never be.

Why is this happening now?

Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was a habit from years and years of growing up in the slums. You weren't sure what your official excuse was. All you knew was that you were afraid. You fled before Eren even knew what was happening.

Eren watched you go with a look of fear on his face.

"What the hell is she doing?" he yelled, turning around in place, looking over the mess you had made of the officer. The man groaned weakly, and Eren kicked him in the ribs once in his anger. He retrieved his gun and tucked it away in his belt so that the asshole wouldn't be able to crawl off and find it himself.

He wanted to run off right now and find you himself, but he knew that you were one of the fastest runners in the Corps and he wouldn't stand a chance alone. He ran out the alley and down the main road in the direction they had initially been headed. After a few minutes of running, he caught up to the rest of the group.

"Mikasa! Armin! Guys!"

They all stopped and turned in place, looking at Eren in surprise.

Mikasa spoke first as Eren finally reached them. "Eren? Where have you been? What happened to your face? Where's [Name]?"

Eren looked up from resting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "She's in trouble. She took off. We need to find her."

Reiner looked shocked. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't fucking know!" he yelled exasperatedly. Reiner looked taken aback, but Eren figured he could apologize later. "We don't have time. We need to find her."

"Where did she leave from?" Armin asked.

Eren debated lying and leading them to a different place than the one with the unconscious policeman. But he was more worried about finding you than from keeping that a secret.

"Follow me."

He jogged back the way he came with the other soldiers in tow. When they arrived at the gory mess that was the officer, several of them gasped. Reiner let out a quiet 'damn'.

"She went that way," Eren said, crumpling against the wall to catch his breath once more.

"Jean, you grew up in Trost, right?" Armin asked. Jean nodded. "Alright, then, you can go ahead and circle around all the main roads back to this point. Marco, go with him."

The two of them nodded, Marco looking at Eren nervously. While Armin was assigning roles to the other soldiers, Marco came up to him nervously. Eren never even looked up, head in his hands.

"Did she ever tell you?"

Eren looked up from his spot on the ground to glare at the freckled boy. "Tell me what?"

Marco sat down next to him, back against the wall. "She's not from Jinae."

Eren scoffed. "Yeah, I gathered that much."

Marco was silent for a moment. "During the first year of training, I noticed that she couldn't read," he explained. "I didn't understand how someone her age didn't know. When I asked her about it, she told me she grew up in the Underground District and the only way for her to get into the Military was to say she was from someplace else. They don't allow people from the Underground into the Military."

Eren looked up in shock. "She lived in the Underground District?"

Marco nodded sadly. "All her life." He thought for a second. "I shouldn't have said anything, but it might help you find her. Just... when you do, be kind. She had a hard childhood, and... well, it's not my place to tell you."

Eren scowled. "Tell me what?"

Marco shook his head. "I can't, Eren, I'm sorry. She will tell you, when she's ready. For right now, though, you need to find her."

"We need to find her, you mean?"

"Oh, I doubt she'll let herself be found my anyone but you," Marco said with a kind smile, squeezing Eren's shoulder before departing with Jean.

It feels strange to be wearing shoes.

That thought, above all others, was the one foremost in your mind as your ran through Trost District. You didn't know where you were going, or why you were going there. All you knew was that you had to get away, at all costs.

How familiar. Just like when I was a kid. Except, now I'm wearing shoes.

That silly thought may have made you laugh on another day, but you felt now like you would never be able to laugh again.

Your feet pounded through the darkened streets, and it had begun to rain again. Water splashed up around you, and you were soaked to the skin. You hoped absentmindedly that you wouldn't get sick.

You scolded yourself once again for such a dumb thought. Would it really matter now if you got sick?

Your life was over anyway.

He knew. Eren knew, the whole military was about to know. That policeman, if he was even still alive, would be sure to have you arrested. Everything you worked for... everything you lived for. Gone in a second.

But you saved that girl. You couldn't bring yourself to regret that. You'd known girls who had been at the mercy of the MP. It destroyed some of them.

You'd be able to live with that thought, at least.

With that thought, you kept running.

It wasn't long before you finally collapsed from exhaustion.

You weren't sure how long it had been since you left Eren. A few hours. It must have been almost morning by now.

You finally slowed your pace and collapsed next to a pile of junk in some forgotten back alley.

The rain pounded down upon your body, washing away the last of the dried blood on your knuckles.

You heaved in a breath, catching up on air that you had been lacking the last several hours. You turned your head up to the sky, feeling the droplets hit your face and slide into your clothes. You let your head fall back down.

Just keep moving and you won't have to think about it... just keep moving...

As you began to stand up, you saw it.

You could feel your heart sink and you fell back onto your heels. A figure stood at the end of the alley where you were.

The figure stood tall enough that it could be any man without being distinct. He was breathing heavily, clearly having pursued you. Slowly, he collected himself and started your way.

You would have hid further into the trash if it was at all possible. Even if it was, the man had clearly seen you and you had nowhere left to go. Nothing to do, but to wait.

Then, in a flash of lightning, you saw them.

Green eyes.

You weren't sure whether to feel relief or more panic. Eren was here, and now he knew what you were. Thief, killer. You could hardly expect him to be as understanding as Marco, especially considering you'd hidden your past from him for three years. Three years that had meant everything to you.

What would he say?

What would he do?

Finally, Eren stood not six feet from where you were huddled. You tentatively stood up, legs shaking with fear and exhaustion and observed him cautiously. Blood had been smeared and partially dried on the side of his face and forehead, but most of it had been washed away. He was still breathing very heavily. But what bothered you most was his face.

You had never seen Eren so...

You didn't know.

Eren stomped over to your position at the wall, grabbing your shoulder and pushing you up against the brick roughly. He was furious. He didn't think he'd ever been so furious in his life.

He had told himself he would listen to Marco and be kind and understanding. But as soon as he saw you, as soon as he could stop worrying about whether or not you were still alive, his concern was replaced with anger and frustration.

How could you be so stupid?

How could you have run away like that? You could have been killed, or captured, or frozen to death in this godforsaken rain... and why didn't you trust him? After all this time, why did you still not trust him?

He wanted to hit you, or scream at you, or turn around and walk away and never look back again.

But Eren knew... he would never be able to do any of those things.

So he did the next logical thing. He grabbed your face and yanked you towards him and kissed you as passionately as he could.