I hope you all have enjoyed chapter 1 =) it was quite a pill to write and excuse me for some stupid mistakes. When I re-read the whole thing I thought. FUCK! But hey =) it's hand-made hahaha what do you expect.

Luckily I was nearly done writing this chapter by the time I posted the first. I'm happy that some of you guys enjoy the fic, I will keep on writing it, but honestly I think the time in-between chapters could be a long wait. I want the chapters to at least contain 7K words, so I can shine light on more characters than just one.

Thank you for your kind reviews, follows and favourite(s) =) you make me happy to write.

I own nothing! But the story ofc. Enjoy, chapter number 2!

The Antiquities Acquisitions Business

Chapter Two

Levi ran his hand through his hair and rested at the start of his undercut. The sight before him wasn't pretty and it was certainly not what he had expected. Hanji had made it sound like it was something small, just a bomb was what he had in mind, but that to his dismay was not the case.

When he arrived there were some airport security guards, police officers, and staff of the maintenance crew outside. When Levi showed his ID briefly, flipping it out and in quickly, they reported what they'd seen, however, he still had to see it with his own two eyes. They reported eighteen victims; all of them deceased. They counted seventeen men and one woman. The strangest thing was, all the men were armed, and not just slightly, but with real proper stuff, and the woman had been unarmed and the only one with ID on her. She appeared to be a doctor; Dr Mina Carolina. She was well known in the province.

A blond woman walked up to him, she was quite short and had a serious look on her face. Her hair was tied back in a bun and long bangs covered the outer parts of her cheeks. She had piercing blue eyes that barely held emotion.

'My name is Annie Leonhardt, I am the head of the International Security Department. Please allow me to accompany you inside, I know the building inside out and of course the locations of the…' she searched for a proper word. 'Murders.' She decided as she pushed her hands in her black pants pockets. Further more she wore a black blouse with a bulletproof vest, with on the back "Airport Security" in white capital letters. Her uniform contained several golden symbols, stating her rank as head officer and the combat boots she wore added to her though look. She wasn't one to mess with.

Levi nodded, accepting her offer. 'Show me the way.' He followed her as she started walking into the building. When they were inside Levi asked her what the others outside would be doing.

'They will stand guard and secure this building, but for now they are quite shaken, none of them have ever seen something like this before and are quite scared. They are going to have to enter the premises eventually, to check the security cameras or what is left of them anyways. Old buildings often have lacking machinery.'

They walked all the way upstairs. 'We are going to the third floor first. It gets worse the closer we get to ground level, I think it started here and escalated the closer someone got to escaping.'

'Sounds reasonable.' Levi agreed. 'So I take it the bombing was on the ground floor.'

'First.' Annie corrected but nodded at him. 'Here we are.' She pointed ahead with her flashlight. 'Number one.' There was a man clad in black on the floor. His eyes were wide open and it was obvious life had forsaken him. His face looked bashed up, blood had blacked and covered half of his face like a mask.

'Number one?'

Annie nodded. 'Two to six are inside.' She pointed at the door not far from them.

'I thought you said things escalated as we got closer to ground level.'

She turned and smiled at him. 'I wasn't talking about an increase in the number of victims per floor, Special Agent Levi.' She shook her head and scoffed. 'I was talking about the way they were murdered. You'll be surprised to see what kind of explosion took place. I myself was quite impressed at the sight. It's not something often used and certainly not everyone is familiar with it. I believe the suspect was in great peril and had to do something extreme to make it out alive.' She took a short pause, scratched at her slight hooked nose and continued when Levi didn't respond. 'I think you'll be quite interested in one of the victims.'

'The doctor?' he earned a simple nod, answering his question. 'How so?'

'You'll see it when we get there. First, in here.' They walked inside the dark room. Annie handed Levi a flashlight, he thanked her and switched it on.

'Three were shot, one stabbed, and the other one came to his end by hand to hand combat.' She remarked when they were standing in the midst of the dead.

'I'm guessing the suspect shot the first few and was overrun and thought of other ways to dispose of them.'

'So are my assumptions.' Annie crossed her arms over her chest, still holding the flashlight somehow.

'Hm, take me to that doctor.'

'I'll show you the site of the explosion first. It's not far apart. It says something about the personality of the person we're dealing with.'

They made their way to the first floor. The first thing Levi noticed was the smell of burned flesh. The stench was almost unbearable and nearly made him gag.

'Here.' She offered him a white piece of cloth, when he took it she pulled out another one and bound it over her mouth and nose against the awful smell.

'To the cafeteria.' She said dryly and walked ahead, motioning him to follow. When they turned around a corner, Levi could already see the damage. He saw four men, or at least, what was left of them, each burned, eaten by the flames. The walls were blackened by fire and the doorway was blown out completely by the blast.

Annie led him into a small kitchen. Scatted across the room were bricks, wood splinters, metal shards, and thick layers of ash.

'Look around and what do you think is missing?' She asked him. Levi's silver eyes darted around the room, scanning his surrounding thoroughly.

'If I don't take into account the fact that this place has been abandoned for a while, I'd say the refrigerator…' he walked around a bit. 'What did you use for the cooking pit?' he asked but already knew the answer.

'Gas.' She confirmed his thought.

'You say he or she made a bomb of a fridge and a gas tank?'

She nodded. 'As I said, quite something eh?'

'This person knew he was being shot at, so knew it could be used as a trigger to set of the bomb.' He sounded almost exited. 'However there's a change it couldn't have worked, if for instance the men in the hallway back there…' he gestured at the hall '… stood too far away.'

'Yes, that's true. This kind of trap requires a spark, which only occurs when the shooters were near. It was a gamble.'

'Quite a dangerous one.'

'That's why I assumed that person was desperate.'

'Interesting.' He took out his phone and turned to the blond officer. 'Do you mind if I take some pictures for further investigation. I know someone at headquarters that is going to love this.'

'Be my guest, special agent.' She motioned a go-ahead and waited just outside the kitchen until he was done. 'Ready so soon?' she asked when he emerged after what seemed two minutes. When he nodded she said; 'Alright, up to the doctor.'

Levi was left mystified when he gazed upon the lifeless body of the female doctor. It was obvious what had been the cause of her death but that wasn't what intrigued him. He'd never seen something like this before. On each of the victim's eyes lay a coin.

'This is Dr. Mina Carolina. She works northwest from here near the coast. We still have to notify her family. As to why she was here, no idea.'

Levi studied Annie while he handed her the white cloth. She seemed like an honest woman. 'What about these coins?' Levi asked. 'Is this the work of a serial killer?'

'Could be, as I said, I have no idea what brought Dr. Carolina here. Could be anything, but I do know, that those coins are a token of respect and care. Some of my friends once told me that in ancient Greece, and I am sure they mentioned other's too, that if one passed away their souls travelled to the underworld, and in order to pass some kind of river, they needed to pay the ferryman. Otherwise they'd become wondering spirits or get swept along in the river. Something like that.' she pulled up her shoulder at the last sentence.

'As payment?' it all sounded crazy to Levi. Back in Europe he was mostly sent on missions as a hit man, to take out drug lords, scum that ran businesses underground, and people alike. He'd never seen anyone of them putting coins on their victim's eyes. Weird people. Was he dealing with a mentally disturbed person, a psychopath perhaps?

'As payment.' She confirmed. 'I know it sounds weird, but some people are made to stand out.' His thoughts went straight back to the brat in his 'I love Malaysia' shirt. He was quite something and defiantly not like the others. He narrowed his eyes. Maybe he should give the kid a call. Eren, the boy with those captivating emerald eyes. "I'm sure I'll see you again" he'd said, maybe it was true.

'I believe that somehow…' Levi started. '…The bomber was connected to Ms Carolina and possibly was the one to do this.' He meant the coins by that. 'She was held captive by these men.'

'Or protected.' Annie said.

'No, look at her wrists.' There were red marks around her wrists; her hands had been bound. 'She was shot during their escape and the bomber could not do anything but leaving her.' he turned to Annie, who remained expressionless.

'Interesting.' She simply said without sounded astonished. 'You think these men were out to kill her instead of protecting her? So they might be the killers?'

'You mean to say you think she was murdered by the bomber?' he asked.

'Could well be the case.'

'I will send someone with lab experience, bodies and such. She can take a look at the bullets of all the victims. If we can identify the bullet, we can identify the weapon and possibly the shooter. It almost never occurs both partied posses the exact same fire arms.'

She hummed in agreement.

'I'll inform you about her arrival later.'

She nodded at that. 'Sure.'

They walked outside into the sun. Levi handed her flashlight back.

'Now if I may excuse myself. I have some phone calls to make.' The blond haired woman said.

It was Levi's turn to nod. 'You're excused. We'll keep in touch.' He handed her his card and he turned towards the airport again. He had to call Hanji and inform her of her flight to Malaysia. She'd be thrilled to be back in the field again, and quite frankly if he had to have a partner, she was the best one could wish for. But first things first, he was on holiday, he needed to relax after countless of missions in the heart of London. He didn't want the cold, he didn't want the busy people running around the streets, and he didn't want his tiny apartment in Notting Hill. He wanted everything London couldn't offer and quite frankly he'd no idea what that something was.

Stealing a cab didn't seem to come without some troubles. First the cabdriver was a lot tougher than first anticipated. Armin of course was no help at all, which meant Eren had to do everything by himself and fighting off a cabby in such a confined place was not a jolly task. When Eren wanted to kick the man from the back seat, the cabby took a sharp turn, making Eren smash his front mirror to pieces with his indestructible All Stars. The large man took hold of his leg with one hand and left Eren trashing his captive leg like he was possessed by a demon. 'Ahh!' Eren yelled in frustration. 'Let go!' and with that he lifted his other leg so he lay on his back on the backseat of a cab on a rather crowded road, and tried to kick the man yet again; to people passing by he looked like a giant unhappy baby. This time he succeeded and the happy coloured car swayed to the left, resulting in a lot of angry drivers honking at them. Woopsy.

When the cabby threw his hands back on the wheel he saved their lives by avoiding getting hit by a bus.

'Thank you.' Eren said politely before he kicked him again, this time with such force he K.O.'ed the poor dude, and as of that moment, both Eren and Armin never again forgot it wasn't such a bright idea to knock a cabby out while both in the backseat, because they both discovered that moment, that a car couldn't drive itself. Fuck logic! Eren thought when he saw the cabby's head loll from side to side.

'Oh, Armin.' Eren said dryly. 'I think we have a problem.' His lips stood in a thin line.

'Hm.' the blond knew what Eren talked about.

And before Eren could say another word, the car darted to a sharp right, leaving the two boys to scream out in fear. Eren climbed into the shotgun seat one way or another and tried to pull the unconscious man from his seat. When he couldn't move the guy he shot Armin a glare. 'Help, please!'

'Ah, yeah. Sorry.' With the help of Armin it still took some time to push the chubby man from the driver's seat into the seat where Eren stood –Somehow, he's very flexible- and they dodged some cars on the opposite lane, because… they were driving on the wrong side of the road; it was that simple.

Eren sighed in relief when he'd finally managed to get into the driver's seat. 'Shit, someone should tell him to lay off the cookies.'

'Or you should hit the gym.' Armin laughed.

'Growing bolder by the second, are you?' Eren grinned, smiling up at the front mirror only to find it broken. Right. Forgot about that.

Eren put Armin and him out of danger by driving on the right side of the street, which was the left. Of course. Eren occasionally forgot this too and nearly got them killed on numerous accounts.

'This isn't Berlin, Eren! Shit, they drive left. Left!'

'I noticed!' he yelled back! 'You're not helpi- AH!' because Eren took a sharp turn the cabby slumped against him, squashing him against the door. He lost grip over the wheel and nearly hit an old woman crossing the street, who threw her walking stick at their car, hitting it in the back window. It cracked, Eren thought she was a demon after that.

'FUCK!' Armin. Get. Him. Off!' the man's head bumped Eren in the face. 'AH!'

Armin tried not to laugh; it all seemed so ridiculous. Leave it to them to steal a cab. Who would have guessed this would happen? He thought only weird stuff like this happened in those B-ranked movies, maybe even C-ranked, but with Eren you never knew what could happen.

Armin pushed the guy off Eren, with Eren's help of course, and of course it included some violent swinging of the car.

'You're a horrible driver.' Armin confirmed looking stupefied at his friend's driving skills, or the sheer lack off.

'Yeah, you should have seen my driving lessons back in Germany. My poor instructor never wanted to see me again. All nine in fact.' He laughed. 'Bastards.'

'But you did pass eventually.' Armin patted Eren on his shoulder from the backseat.

'…' Eren remained silent.

'…You did, right?'

'I do have my license, if that's what you mean?' Eren said innocently with big eyes and all.

'No. I mean you have seven passports of which only one is real, what's it gonna take for a hundred driver's licenses? Did you, or did you not pass your driving… everything? Exam? Theory? Did you even pass theory.'

'Theory. Yes! I must sit in the car. I must have a key. I must do something in order to drive… oh, and I shouldn't hit anything/one, and if I do, drive away fast.'

Armin slapped his hand against his forehead. 'Oh my god, Eren! You're hopeless!'

'If it makes you feel better, I only failed eleven times.'

'It doesn't'

'Okay.'

'Next time I drive.' Armin offered with a red forehead.

'And also knock out the dude, I wanna sit back and watch too once.'

Before Armin could muster up a comeback his phone rang, well, a phone rang, considering the fact Armin and Eren both had the same ringtone. Neat.

'Is that yours?' Armin asked.

'Mine? No, who'd wanna call me, I'm an asshole.'

'True.' And it was true again; it was Armin's phone. 'You are an ass.' He said and showed Eren his phone.

'Oh, feel popular.' Eren teased from behind the wheel. 'I'm driving without a license.'

He accepted the call, ignoring Eren. 'Hello? This is Armin.' He punched Eren in the shoulder when he saw him dramatically playback'ing his sentence.

'Hello? Hello? This is Armin.' Eren sang with one hand up near his ear, with his index finger and pinkie sticking out, like a phone. He scrolled down the window and stuck out his 'phone'-arm. 'You get it?' he continued. 'Arm in.' he pulled his arm inside 'Arm out!' and he stuck it out again nearly slapping a motorcyclist from his bike and couldn't help but laugh, even though he knew about the dangers.

Armin shook his head. He didn't know how he could survive this idiot any longer, how had he all these years?

'What?' Armin sounded worried at something someone said over the phone.

'Hey I'm making a joke here, pay attention. Oh, who is it?'

'Annie.' Armin quickly answered. 'I'll put her on speaker.'

'Oh, okay. I'll shut up for now.' Whatever it was, Annie meant business. And business meant seriousness. Well, most of the time.

Annie grabbed her phone shortly after Levi had left. She'd walked around the old terminal towards a black jeep and stepped inside. She scrolled through her address book and selected the number she needed. The phone rang shortly.

'Hello? This is Armin.' A boy on the other side of the line said and she heard someone in the background talking, she figured it was Eren.

'Armin, this is Annie. I have some bad news.'

'What?' he sounded rather worried, his voice nearly squeaked and she was sure it was a few good tones higher than usual.

'I tried to cover for you guys but the security had informed some kind of special agent. I took a stroll with the guy and he's good, really good. He assumed the bomber, Eren was connected with the death of Mina, thinking they knew each other and she died when they tried to escape. He's flying someone over to research the bodies.'

'… Oh, shit.'

'Eren should have never used something that explodes at an Airport. He's completely insane.' She heard Eren wail at that comment and assumed she was on speaker. 'Yes, Eren, you should have known better. You know there is only so much I can do. Reckless behaviour attracts unwanted attention. I warned you before.'

'Thank you Annie for telling us.' Armin sounded sincere. 'Be careful, if an agency is taking over the crime scene, something like the Feds, they are going to discover you don't work there. You got to disappear Annie. I'm sorry for asking you to take care of this.' He sounded sorry all right. Sometimes she wondered why someone like him got dragged into situations like this, but then again, he was friends with Eren.

'It's all right. I can take care of myself, and I owed you one Armin. Eren!' she raised her voice. 'If you ever bring Armin into some sick shit by this, I'm going to kick your ass so hard, you're never gonna sit again.'

'Woooow!' Eren shouted, he sounded distant, like he was far from the microphone of the phone. 'Cruel!'

'Armin, you need to find other friends.' Annie suggested.

'Hey, I can hear you!' Eren barked offended.

'Don't do anything stupid.' She said, but knowing Eren, that was impossible.

'Like stealing a cab?' Eren laughed.

She wasn't sure if he was joking. 'Armin. Please tell me he's kidding.'

'Umm… w-well…' The boy stuttered. 'We d-didn't have money… and-'

'For crying out loud! Are you two out of your right minds?'

'I am!' she heard Eren shout. 'Oh shit we gotta run, I mean drive!' she heard police sirens in the background and tires screeching. They were in trouble all right.

'Guys!' she shouted through her phone.

'I'm sorry Annie. We have to go! I'll call you later okay?' And the line went dead after Armin's last sentence. Leaving her cursing at her phone and at the beeps that singled the line was dead, but she knew there was nothing more she could do. She started her car and left the airport behind her as fast as she could.

On the road she dialled another number.

'Berthold.' She said as the other picked up. 'I need a favour.'

'Tell me what you need.' He said with a kind voice.

'I need two things to disappear; a crime scene at the old terminal of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport and myself.'

'The bombing right?' Berthold had eyes and ears everywhere. 'Consider it done. Go to Kuala Lumpur, meet up with Reiner, he'll take care of you. I'll make sure he'll have a fake ID, cash, and a gun ready for you. As for the Airport, I will send people as of immediate. It will look like nothing ever happened.'

'Thank you. I will wire money to your account by tonight.'

'Pleasure doing business with you Ms Leonhardt.' The call ended after that. no goodbye's no goodluck's. It almost felt like Berthold was a connection, not a friend.

She pulled out the card Levi had given her and her face grimaced. It read; 'Survey Corps' and was paired with a pair of wings, one of the purest white, and the other blue as the sky. On the otherside stood but a number. No name, nothing.

She'd heard of the group before and all those stories she'd heard were not ones she'd like to know. They were a group of world class agents, assasins -you name it they have it- and surveyed the entire planet. If you've heard about some large historical fact, or a sudden end of a war, they were behind it. The CIA, FBI, MI6, all the international high end stuff, belonged to them. It frightend her.

Things didn't look too well for Armin and Eren. It might be that just this time, they'd worked themselves into such deep trouble the boy's would drown.

She pulled out her phone one final time and texted; 'Beware of the Survey Corps.' And pressed send. She hoped Armin would find out a way to stay out of danger.

Levi arrived at his hotel after a short drive. He thanked and paid the cab driver, tipping him generously. During his ride he'd e-mailed Hanji, sending her the pictures, information, and his request – her coming here. She's replied almost instantly saying is all caps; 'YES. THIS IS SO AWSOME!' that was the whole damned e-mail. A few seconds later she'd send him a text message; "Boarding plane in a few hours! Ltr kiddo!" he shrugged at that message. He could so kiss his vacation goodbye. He needed to book her a room, because he knew she'd forget that when she got all excited. Her flight from Heathrow Airport, London would take about fourteen hours if she was lucky. Hanji would have to transfer in Frankfurt, Germany if she took the same flight as him.

'I guess I can officially wave my vacation goodbye.' He groaned as he made for the lobby of the Perdana Kota Bharu Hotel. The lobby clearly stated it was a 5-star hotel, which was good, because Levi never took anything less than the full star rate. It wasn't because he could afford it, because he could easily, and not because he was a spoiled brat and related good quality goods with ridiculously high prices, by he was lightly diagnosed with an OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder, he was a clean freak. He hated beach resorts for the sand. He hated bungalows in the jungle because, bugs. Yes. It was quite bad for a skilled assassin to be a clean freak, but to him it was part of him. Something he learned to live with through time.

The man at the front desk welcomed him with a warm smile. 'Welcome sir, to the Perdana Kota Bharu Hotel. How can I be of service?' and bowed. Now this was nice. He handed the man behind the desk his passport and a printout of his booking.

'I have made a reservation.'

'Good day mister Rivaille.' He said as he scanned his passport and quickly went to work on his computer. After some beeps the man handed him his key card. 'Room 245 is all yours; you will find it on the fourth floor. The elevators are to your right.' He motioned at the golden doors not far from them. 'Do you need assistance with your luggage sir?'

Levi shook his head. 'No, thank you.'

'Have a pleasant stay sir.'

The last victim still occupied his mind as he walked through the classy hallways. He came to a stop at the room 245, his room, and swiped the key card past the electronic door lock. It opened with a heavy click and he pushed the door open wider so he could walk inside. He was met by pleasant cool air, indicating the air-conditioning was on. He ignored the room for now, he'd inspect it later.

He grabbed his laptop and searched for the two coins on the eyes. Sure, Ms Leonhardt had explained it to him, but she didn't know all the details, and it may just be, that those details held a key to the doctor's death. Levi had to keep all options open.

The Internet showed him that it was indeed part of a Greek myth. Hades was the god of the underworld, what the Greeks called the place the souls of the dead transferred to. This place had five rivers, one of them being the river Styx. Dead souls had to cross it once they left the realm of the living and the only way to do so was by Charon's boat, the ferryman. The ancient Greeks put coins on the eyes of their deceased so they could pay the boatman to ensure safe passage, and would not be left behind. If one did not have payment, the souls would wander the banks of the Styx for a hundred years, or be sent to Tartarus.

Superstitious bullshit. Levi sighed as he read through the myths. Even though it seemed all kind off stupid, he took some notes in his leather notebook and closed his eyes.

So this person who'd done this ridicules coin thing knew Dr Carolina and escaped. So would it be safe to assume she knew that person too? This bomber it a nutter. Who believes in this shit? Or is it the thought that counts? Did this person felt some sort of guilt? And was this the best thing he or she could do for her in such a short time? I don't know what Hanji will say about this, but one thing is for sure, she'd always had heart for the occult. It is complete bull, but she's a weirdo herself so I think it matches quite well.

Okay, so about the doctor. He continued his search, taking another direction, named Mina Carolina. He remembered Annie say she lived nearby. He sent Hanji a quick message to see if she could find the address for him and turned his attention towards his computer.

'Let's see what they say about you, miss Mina.' He murmured to himself while he typed in her name in a search engine. He cursed when he couldn't find all he wanted. He'd have to get in touch with Hanji for a full background check, but he was sure she was on it already.

He skimmed through some articles about her profession. She seemed to be some Meteorologist. You can get a PHD in that? he cocked his brow.

'Weather patterns, Weather… bla bla…' he clicked his tongue and tapped his fingers on the wooden desk when he read through hoards of information concerning her job. 'Specialty ancient meteorology.' Now that was unusual.

This was all some vague shit. He knew world history was important, but why research the weather back in the day? It didn't make much sense to him. Why would something like that get her killed? Or was it about something else? Maybe she had picked a fight with the wrong people, but one look at her picture told him she was a decent girl that no way in hell would look for trouble. She looked like the type of girl that would remain invisible through high school, or practically any school. What were you doing there little miss? And why did you get yourself killed? He was distracted by his phone, which vibrated on the table top, buzzing, begging for attention.

He checked the device; it was a message. It was from Hanji and he didn't like what it said one bit.

"Hey vacation's over. Erwin is putting you and me on a mission. See you in 14h."

'God damn it!' He slammed his fists hard on the desk, hearing some of the fragile joints crack. When he stood up, his chair clattered to the ground and he flipped the tiny desk over. He didn't care if he killed his laptop, he didn't care if he wrecked the whole shitty building, no one, and I mean no one, parted Levi and his holidays. He was sure the sound was loud enough to be heard on the hallway and he couldn't careless what people thought of him. He scoffed when he heard some commotion from behind his hotel door. Someone had heard. Well, fuck you too! He thought, glaring daggers at the piece of wood in the distance. He directed his attention back towards his desk. Items were spread over the dark red carpet, his laptop still in one piece, luckily. He rubbed his hand from his face into his black hair in annoyance and he gripped his hand full with locks.

This was the first time in years Levi had vacation. He'd always been in the field for the last five years, he'd always been there for the Corps, but when he needed just two weeks of, just two stinking weeks… he groaned and kicked a lost hotel notebook across the room, where it helplessly fluttered to the ground, but not before losing almost all the pages it contain.

'I hate you Erwin.' He mumbled more to the mess the notebook had left behind than at the man himself, but that didn't mean he didn't hate him at all; Because he did. Almost with all his heart. At the moment. No, maybe always.

'This doesn't look too good.' Armin whined when the streets behind them lit up by police alarm lights.

'Where are we going?' Armin asked.

'Hotel Perdana Kota Bharu. It's not far from here, only 20 – 30 minutes, because we side-tracked. A lot.' By know they'd seen more of the Kota Bharu than they wanted to admit and any second longer in this car would mean one thing; cops. And loads of them by the sound of it.

'Why?' Armin shifted in his seat.

'It's where Mina stayed.'

'But she lives near here. Why'd she have a room?'

'Don't ask me. Maybe she needed some space. Who knows. You know her better than I do.' Eren huffed as he watched traffic signs go by.

'We only started working, or… discussing theories about two weeks ago. She showed me her work and it is truly amazing.'

'You're such a nerd.'

'And… what?' Armin caught on before he continued.

'What?'

'And it shows that meteorology is a very interesting study indeed.'

'Hm.' Eren snorted, still not entirely convinced. The subject of Mina made his humour go downward, and he found himself caught again in a spiral of torment.

Armin sensed that Eren became less responsive, not even throwing nerdy jokes about. The whole event had left him scarred in a way and he was certain it wasn't something Eren deserved. 'Let's just get rid of this car.' They had other things to worry about and he needed an Eren that was in top shape.

'Ah, yeah. Sure.' He still sounded a bit distant but there was that lively spark in his eyes. He steered the car of the main road and into a alley. He pulled to a stop behind some trashcans and looked at Armin. 'We'll have to find some other means of transportation or are you fine with walking? I figure it's still hot as fuck outside, but we'd better get going. We don't want to be seen in this car. Come on.' He got out of the car and just as he wanted to walk away, he turned around, back to the car.

'What are you doing?'

'You said you didn't have any money. Neither have I, I bet he has some.'

'Eren, we already hijacked his car! You can't steel his money too!' he hissed between clenched teeth.

'Oh, yes I can. Watch me.' He found about 365,21 Malaysian Ringgit on the cabby –Yes he took even the bloody 21 cents- which was about 80 Euro's, for Eren still counted in that currency since his previous jobs had been in several of its countries.

'Well, this will certainly help.' He stuffed the money in his jeans pocket. He grabbed the man's mobile phone and took the keys from the ignition.

'What are you going to do with those?' Armin sounded annoyed and surprised, it the mix sounded odd to Eren's ears, especially coming from his blond friend.

'This?' he dangled the phone between his slim fingers, grabbed it in a fist and smashed it onto the concrete. If that wasn't enough the kicked the mobile against the nearest wall, walked over to the remaining wreck and stamped on it with his marvellous All Star. 'So he won't call the cops as soon as he wakes up. Buy's us time.' He had a don't-you-know-that look plastered on his face 'And as for this.' He held up the keys and jingled them around, iron clattered against iron as he did that.

'You're going to burry them in the desert so he won't run us over?'

'No, but that's a damned fine idea, even if it was meant as a disrespectful joke.' He walked to the trunk of the car. 'No I wanna see if he has additional stuff we could use.'

'Oh my god, Eren. You look like a god damned robber!' Armin jumped as he heard the sirens sing their song. They were near and he stood on edge. 'Hurry up!'

Eren opened the trunk and his eyes widened at what he saw. The contents included; a flashlight, a rope, a pocketknife (why that was in the trunk Eren did not know, it was actually something to keep in your boot or something), several plastic bags, duck tape, and a shovel.

'Fuck me.' Eren whispered. 'Dude, this guy was a nutcase.' And than he laughed. He took one of the plastic bags and put the piece of rope, flashlight, and pocketknife inside. 'Too bad we can't take the shovel.' He joked. Armin was at a loss of words. He didn't want to know what a person would do with those lovely items in the back of his car.

'Are you thinking about his sweet hobby, Armin?' Eren smirked when he caught the shocked look on his face.

'You think he's… you know… a kidnapper?'

'I dunno, all I think is it's fucked up to have these things in your trunk when the cops are on your heels. That reminds me. Let's get out of here.' He slapped his hand against Armin shoulder, in a come-on-follow-me kind of way.

When the emerged from behind the junk, and onto the side walk of a busy shopping street Eren studied Armin. 'Aren't you melting in that getup?' he was referring to Armin's long khaki pants, his white blouse and a deep blue spencer. 'You look like one of those schoolboys in Japan or England. Uniform and all.' He laughed as he pulled at Armin's spencer.

'Rude.' Armin freed his spencer by swatting Eren's hand away. 'Yes it's warm yes. But, I never expected all this to happen. I thought after the meeting at the airport, we'd go to a restaurant or my apartment. That means aircon! Instead of all that, I am stuck here in this heat, with you.'

'Sucks to be you then.'

'How far are we from that hotel?' Armin choose to ignore Eren as they walked down the street.

'I have no idea.' Eren admitted. 'But he might.' He ran towards a man dressed in a neat black suit, presuming them man was out on business and knew his way around the city quite well.

'Sir! Can I ask you something?' he asked politely. When the man turned around he appeared to be a native and smiled when he saw the boy's shirt. 'Ah, yeah.' Eren said. Déjà vu. He remembered his reencounter with Levi, a handsome raven-haired man earlier today. Okay, this is not the moment to be drooling over some dude. He asked for directions and the man gladly guided him through the labyrinth that was Kota Bharu. He thanked the man after his explanation and walked back to Armin.

'We're not that far off.' His phone beeped as he said that and he wormed his phone from his pocket, checking the message he'd received. 'It's from Berthold.' He stared at Armin with a slightly nervous look on his face. 'I think he knows we've been talking to Annie.'

Quickly Armin took out his phone as well. 'I don't have a message from him, but I do have one of Annie.' There never was much contact between the tight group of friends, and if there was, it meant trouble, usually money trouble since they all had a shared account. They hadn't heard of Mikasa, Connie, Sasha, Jean, Marco, Reiner, Krista, and Ymir. But they guessed it was only a matter of time before they did. They'd already come in contact with Annie and Berthold in such a short notice already.

It had been a long, long time since they'd last seen each other. It was two years ago when all of them were together. They were known as the Ecuador 11 -the lost children- to the government, but they called themselves the Titans.

When Eren was about seven years old his mother came to pass, his father he'd never known. He lived in Ecuador at the time and was moved to a small church-like-orphanage, where he soon found Armin and Mikasa. Other kids around his age came in too and the family grew to a total of eleven kids. When the owner passed away leaving the kids to fend for them selves at age thirteen, Eren decided that from now on they were family and would stay together. Ever since they have been on the road stealing, deceiving, and bribing for their own sake, and by the age of seventeen they'd build up a vast network of connections. They could get bigger jobs, earn more money, and do the unspeakable. Some of them, such as Armin, studied, and others focussed on getting food, money, weapons, all they needed. Each grew into a special function. But the jobs drew to much attention, unwanted attention. Eyes were on them they didn't want. They started to dive into the antiquities business, as treasure hunters. This helped them get of the grid, but still make money.

However even in that business after a while they became well known and every time they would meet up someone knew and issued an attack on them; at least that's what they thought. Every time more than seven of them were together horrible accidents happened. They had long discussed this matter and it was better they travelled in groups of two or three, but never more. They didn't even dare to stay in touch, afraid of the many ears this cruel world could have. And here they found themselves at number… four.

'What does Annie say?' Eren asked, trying to postpone the message send by Berthold.

'Um. Let me see.' Armin opened the message. 'It only says; "Beware of the Survey Corps." Really. That's all it says.' He said as Eren looked at him confused.

'Beware of the Survey Corps?' he tasted the words on his lips. 'Survey Corps, Survey Corps.' He repeated as if the name should ring a bell. He was sure he'd forgotten about something important. 'Nah… no. I don't think I've heard of it.' He sounded unsure. 'Hm, I'll dig into that later.' He returned his attention towards his own phone. 'Alright, let's get this over with.' Berthold's message was displayed.

Hello,

I know you travel with Armin, so say hi to him for me will you.

I've spoken with Annie about your issues and it will be taken care off.

Meet up with her and Reiner in Kuala Lumper in two days, more details will follow.

We need to get together again.

You know this too.

Berthold

Ps. Say hi to Jean for me.

Eren finished reading the message. 'I don't like this, but Bert must know what he's talking about.' Say hi to Jean? What the fuck does that mean?

'Why does he say, "you know this too?" I don't get it.' Armin scratched the bridge of his nose and his eyes portrait confusion. Eren didn't like it when Armin felt uneasy; it usually paired with really nasty circumstances.

'Hm. I think someone is trying to terminate us like bugs.' He watched Armin trying to formulate some sort of answer, but the blond remained silent. 'We used to think we had more chance staying alive if we parted ways.' He waited till Armin nodded. 'Well, I have been thinking about it for a while now, maybe, just maybe it's better to get the group back together again and we might have a better shot at life. I know fucked up stuff happens when we meet up, but, honestly, we dived into every mystery the world had to offer as a group. We got stuff done. Imagine what we could do if we all worked on this case together. Wouldn't that be great? You, Berthold and Marco were so great at mapping things out, figuring out puzzles and such. Sasha and Connie were amazing with ancient traps, constructions and whatnot. Ymir and Krista knew more about dead languages then the entire Internet. Annie, Reiner, Jean, Mikasa, and me, we… we were unstoppable. Why can't things go back the way they were?'

'I… I don't know, but sometimes, they just can't.' It was a simple and short reply, but right now Eren didn't know if he could handle complicated stuff.

They walked rest of the way in silence; each thinking of their past.

When they walked into the 5-star hotel their eyes grew wide and their lips parted as they walked into a room filled with treasure.

'Hotel's like this should be illegal.' Eren stared around him. He pulled out Mina's key card and studied it, searching for the room number. 'Shit. It's not on here.'

'What? Wait, do you still have the paper?'

'What paper?'

'The one that usually comes with it.'

'Uh, no.'

'Oh.'

'Relax.' Eren said as he walked up to the lobby. 'Hello, good afternoon.' He leaned against the desk while he was greeted back. 'Can you help me? My friend lost her key card, but I forgot her room number. I would like to return it to her.' he winked at Armin who stood behind him.

'Of course, sir. Would you like me to bring it to her?'

'Ah, no that's not necessary, I would like to surprise her myself. She doesn't know we're here you see.'

'Of course.' He held out his hand. 'The card please so I can scan it for the room number.'

'Sure. Here.' He handed the man the card. It took a short moment for the man to find what they were looking for. He eyes Eren and Armin suspiciously; clearly he was well acquainted with Mina. Eren took it she had the room for quite some time; maybe she was a regular here.

'Ah Mina doesn't know we're here.' He quickly said. 'I hope she isn't out.' He laughed stupidly, secretly hoping the man would buy his pathetic acting skills. He did apparently, when he was met with one of the brightest smiles he'd ever seen. He kind of worried he'd go blind. Luckily for Eren, the man's teeth weren't the purest of white. Yeah, you can close your mouth now.

'Room 247.' The man said, still all smiles. 'I haven't seen her leaving today. She's still in the hotel if not in her room.'

'Ah. Thanks.' Eren said as he took back the key card that was handed to him. He waved the man behind the desk goodbye.

'Someone should give you an Oscar.' Armin laughed.

'I should be awarded at least a hundred for that over there.' he eyed Armin. 'I had to look at him and not die.'

'That's… incredibly insensitive of you.'

'Come on. 247. 247. Elevator. 247.' Eren hummed as he searched for the elevators. 'Oh, golden elevators, of course. That's… kitsch.' He pressed one of the matching golden buttons.

'Do you know what floor?' Armin asked.

'Nope, but I'm guessing the highest one, number four.'

'I amazes me how fast you learn about your surroundings.'

'Well. Your surrounds might well one day save your life. Observe. No harms done in observing. You'll just look like you're eying this ridiculous interior.' He said as he slapped his hand against the door of the elevator.

They got on as it arrived and pressed the button leading to the fourth floor. There was typical lounge music playing in the oddly fashioned space. There were mirrors on almost every side including the ceiling. The rest was decorated with wood painted with gold and red. Kitsch how Eren had put it, was just a soft expression. This place was over the top.

They walked in the long empty hallway, over a thick red carpet, which dimmed their footsteps. Eren took careful note of that. This sucks. Hello surprise attacks. He thought sarcastically.

They watched room numbers pass by either side of them. Eren pursed his lips scanning every sign like numbers were scrambled. It made no sense, but he wanted to be sure not to skip her room. This was too important.

'Almost there.' Eren hummed excited when his eyes fell on number 243, the two boys walked on, quickening their steps as they were pushed forward by curiosity.

Eren nearly jumped right out of his skin when there was a loud smashing sound heard in the room beside him. Armin wasn't doing much better, his face had grown incredibly pale and his blue eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

'… The fuck was that?' Eren hissed between his teeth. The crash had seemed to come from room 245. Eren stared at the door 'Fucking nutcase! Antisocial bastard! Gnome on a freaking st-'

'Eren!' Armin pulled his arm. 'Let's go! You're not acting better than the loon from that room. Let's go.' Hey, that rhymes. Way to go Armin. And his attention was elsewhere.

He didn't argue with that and let Armin pull him forward while he still had his eyes glued on the door of 245. He flicked his middle finger up at it as if the person behind it would be immensely offended by his action. And if that didn't? Well, brave Eren decided to stick out his tongue too, very heroic.

'Here it is.' Armin said, pulling Eren out of his insulting tasks. The blond looked at him, waiting for him to open the door. There was a do-not-disturb sign on the doorknob. Eren wondered how long it had been there. Had it ever been removed? Did she leave it there permanently? If so, was she hiding something in this room? Eren scratched the corner of his mouth lazily. But, if she's hiding something here… No, it doesn't make sense, why here? It's not like it's a good hiding place. It's way too public.

'Whatever is behind that door…' Eren's voice slightly trembled.

'Yeah I know…' Armin agreed.

They both tensed up a little when Eren swiped the key card past the slot and they grew impatient when the lock popped open.

'Here we go.' Eren grinned at Armin as he pushed open the heavy door.

As soon as they stepped inside they were met with cool air, not that it wasn't warm on the hall or anything, it was just this room was so much more… cold?

Eren pushed through the first part of the hotel room, there was nothing of importance on the way to the living room, he stepped around the corner and his mouth nearly dropped open.

'Armin…' he gasped. 'You need to see this.'

Note; There will be more about Eren's past in later chapters, since it's quite important for the development of the storyyyy~

I hope you have all enjoyed it! Please review, I like to know how I'm doing and if I should make any alterations or… whateverrrr.