HOLY SHIT I CROSSED THE 100k MARK. (Actual story-words, not authorial notes)
Anyway. Look at this fucking chapter: 3,400 words. What even. I have a proofreader now so hopefully there will be fewer spelling and grammar goofs from now on.
Short words about my proofreader: he's actually my ex and he goes by jmd. He's not an ereri shipper but I sucked him in and hey, maybe you'll ship it at some point dude. It's cool though, we lose our shit over erejean together. It's good times.
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[Time: 14:47]
"So what did you find last night?" The demand was out of Mikasa's mouth before the door had closed behind them. She craned her neck to look around the room. "Hawk isn't here again?"
"He didn't get back until after four in the morning and we still had to go over his report." Erwin gave them an apologetic smile. "He'll be here later this afternoon."
"We're going to be here that long?" Sasha looked surprised.
"The information that Hawk was able to give us in addition to what we were able to piece together this morning puts us in a place where we can finally act and move forward." A look of relief passed across Mikasa's face, Sasha's gaze snapped up to look at the rest of the Survey Corps and Krista elbowed Ymir to get her to look up and give her full attention to what was going on. When he had their attention, Erwin continued. "That means that we need to bring you up to speed and go over plans."
"So we don't get any input on how things are going to go down?" Krista was watching the three of them intently.
"I think you'll agree with our plan, but you're welcome to voice any objections or suggestions."
"Well then." Mikasa adjusted her scarf, "bring us up to speed."
"Okay, so Hawk covered a lot of ground last night. A lot of it wasn't even on the informal maps that I made with Armin." Hanji moved over to a large map that had been pinned to the wall. "Hawk didn't find much of anything above ground when he was there, but he ended up stumbling onto something a bit interesting. The GPS signal emitted by Eren's phone was nonexistent and then we got a faint blip the other day. We think it's because of where he was being kept – probably underground – and that as they were moving them they must have hit an area where Eren's phone was able to briefly catch a signal. Hawk said that he started in the more northern area of the tunnels and worked his way south. He didn't catch a signal at any of the junctions or access points until he got to the southern area. We looked into it and discovered that there's a cell tower near the southern area. That's probably why you can actually get reception at some of the junctions and access points."
"Okay, so we think that Eren and Marco are being kept somewhere in the southern region of our search area. Why wouldn't we have a signal before then? They had to drive through the city to get there and Mikasa said that Armin lost Eren's phone signal almost immediately." Sasha was chewing at her thumb and looking down. "I just don't get it. They didn't go underground right there so what happened? Why did the signal drop off until yesterday? Am I the only person here who thinks that's really suspicious?"
"When Nifa spoke with Hanji the other day, she told us that she was able to get assigned to the team that was processing it. Apparently the entire interior of the van was lined with some sort of heavy potentially lead-based paint. It could easily weaken or block the signal." Erwin waited until Sasha looked up at him and nodded before he continued. "Given that, we think that Eren and Marco were kept in the van for an extended period and then moved directly underground in the palisades. A lot of the older factory and warehouse buildings there have underground loading docks. The new search area that we ended up defining has a number of them and we will be able to narrow it down even further when we look at how many of those buildings sit over the existing tunnel network. If the kidnappers were transporting them from one location to another via the tunnels there are only a couple of places that they could have passed through where Eren's phone would have happened to catch a signal for a fraction of a second."
"You know where they are?" Ymir's eyes darted between the three members of the Survey Corps.
"We've narrowed it down considerably."
"Are we going to just sit here then? Or are you going to tell us?" Mikasa's tone was sharp. She pulled her scarf up further over her face, glaring over the top of it.
"Nose made us some very late lunch. Hawk should be here by the time we're done eating." Hanji's voice was upbeat and they met Mikasa's glare with a smile.
"And why are we waiting for him?"
"Because it's easier to go over it once with everyone so that we're all on the same page." Erwin's face was impassive.
"Isn't he on your team? Shouldn't he know all of this already?"
"He's been asleep while we've made the final adjustments to the plan. He shouldn't be much longer."
Their meal was an awkward affair. The current level of tension was something that the Survey Corps was very familiar with and they each had their own way of handling things; Hanji would go on about their research and everyone would half-listen, Mike would lean back and observe, Erwin would withdraw into his own mind to plan another six steps ahead, Levi would glare at a cup of tea and occasionally make an off-color joke apropos of nothing. It wasn't a mindset or a situation or a mood which Mikasa, Sasha, Krista and Ymir were familiar with and so the entire atmosphere weighed down on them. When Hanji finally fell silent the weight became tension and it wound tighter and tighter as time passed. When there was finally the rattle of the door handle they all flinched.
The door opened to reveal Levi giving them all a bland (and tired) look.
"Ah, Hawk you're early." Erwin gave him a faint smile.
"Couldn't fucking sleep. My neighbor left her damn television on full volume and left. Or she can sleep through that racket in which case she can go fuck herself because I'm exhausted." Noticing the somewhat horrified looks on Sasha and Mikasa's faces, Hanji jumped in.
"Nothing a little caffeine can't fix though!"
"Yeah. Another cup or two of tea and I'll be fine." The skeptical look on Mikasa's face indicated her disbelief, but she didn't voice her doubts as Levi walked towards the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea.
"Is he really going to be okay?" Mikasa was looking somewhat nervously at Hanji.
"He doesn't sleep much. You're just seeing an uncaffeinated Hawk right now." When Hanji walked away to grab something from the table Mikasa still looked doubtful. They settled back at the table and continued to pick at food until Levi had finished his first cup of tea.
[Time: 16:03]
"Alright, now that everybody is here and caffeinated…" Erwin nodded towards Levi who simply rolled his eyes and stared down into his third cup of tea as Erwin continued. "I'm going to go over our plans for tonight. As I said earlier, if you have any objections or suggestions feel free to voice them, but we may not incorporate them."
"Which is your way of telling us to piss off." Ymir was giving him an annoyed look.
"Shut it and fucking listen first." Levi's tone had her looking slightly taken aback.
"As I was saying. Hawk was able to gather information that allowed the rest of us to take the day to chase down as much as possible. From that we've formulated a plan that we believe will cover all of our bases." Erwin paused and waited until he was certain that he had everyone's attention. "Hawk found a four-way junction in the tunnels. Three of those tunnels head off to different areas within the southern part of our search area in the palisades. Narrowing it down to the buildings that have access to those tunnels was somewhat more difficult, but Nose was able to cover a great deal of the area after it was narrowed down. Unfortunately, we were not able to pinpoint a single location. We could leave it until we know exactly where to go, but given that we received that signal roughly twenty-four hours ago I don't think it's a particularly good idea to delay things any longer."
"How big is the search area now?" Sasha was looking intently at Erwin's face, looking for a sign.
"Three buildings."
"That's it?" Mikasa's voice was surprised and she stared at the four of them. "Only three… but there's a catch, isn't there?"
"They are each off of a separate one of those tunnels. If we have any hope of rescuing Eren and Marco we'll need to split up and hit all three locations at roughly the same time."
"That leaves us spread pretty thin, doesn't it?" Krista sounded skeptical and Ymir frowned at her before turning to speak.
"How are we splitting up then?" Ymir's tone was sharp.
"I'm not sure whether or not you're going to be happy about this…" Hanji trailed off before sighing and continuing. "Hawk and I are going directly to one of the locations. There's a closer access point on the other end of the tunnel. Commander and Nose will take one of the tunnels off of the junction and the four of you will take the other."
"WHAT?!" Everyone flinched as Mikasa yelled and stood up. "So you go in pairs and all four of us go together? What the hell? We need four people but you get to pair off? Do you think we're incompetent?"
"Nobody said that." Hanji kept their voice gentle. "The four of you are used to working together and you only recently got cleared to resume hero work. And no offense to Hunter, but regardless of how skilled she is with a bow it is difficult to use one in a space as small as these tunnels. As is, we're spreading ourselves thin so that you don't have to. All of these locations are equally likely to have both Eren and Marco there and…"
"You're young and you have a lot to live for." Mike's voice was quiet, but the silence the followed was deafening.
[Time: 23:19]
"Your friends are waiting outside of the palisades, correct?" Mike was going over a check list while he drove.
"Yes." Mikasa's answer was immediate.
"And they will be ready to move immediately after one of our groups contacts them? Yes?"
"Connie and Jean want to get Eren and Marco back just as much as the rest of us."
"Good." There was an awkward pause after Mike finished.
"So where is everyone else?" Krista's brow was furrowed slightly in confusion. "I know that we're short on seats but how is everyone getting into position?"
"Well, Commander can fly… And as we mentioned, the building that Dr. Scientist and Hawk are taking is more accessible via an entrance on the other end of the tunnel. We won't be seeing them again until this whole thing is over. They're waiting for our say-so before they head into the tunnels themselves."
"So were meeting Commander and then splitting up from there?" Sasha met Mike's eyes in the rearview mirror, waiting for his confirmation.
"Yes, Commander will help Red Scarf clear the debris from the entrance of your tunnel and then we'll split off from there."
They fell into silence for the remainder of the drive. Hanji had been able to get a hold of an old and beat up car that they were then able to perform a few quick modifications to on short notice rather than use another vehicle that would stand out in the palisades. Mike eventually parked at the end of a side alley and got out, motioning for the four of them to follow his lead. They didn't have far to walk before Erwin came into view. He didn't bother with social niceties and began speaking immediately.
"Your friends are in position?"
"Yes." Mikasa's tone was exasperated. Mike hid a tiny smile behind his hand.
"I'm glad that they agreed to be a part of our extraction team. Normally we would simply have Moblit or Nifa, but there are far too many of us involved in this mission."
"I think they were glad that they could help in some way." Erwin nodded at Mikasa and gestured towards a hatch in the ground.
"This is an entrance to the tunnel network. Once we're in, it's only about twenty feet to the junction that Levi was at last night. We're going to be dropping into the exact tunnel that he came through. Once we get to the junction there will be four tunnels. One of those is the one that Levi came through and the one that we'll be entering through. Another is the tunnel that Dr. Scientist and Hawk will be entering further into the system and the final two are the ones that our two teams we will be taking." Erwin opened the hatch and motioned for everyone to go down the ladder that was now revealed. He waited for everyone to go ahead of him before he followed. When they were all standing at the base of the ladder they began to walk the short distance to the junction. Arriving there, Erwin began to speak again. "The one to our right is the one that you four will be taking. We believe that there's a chance that the kidnappers are the ones who pulled down all of the stone around the entrance in an effort to block it. Mikasa, I think it will be fastest if we both do this?"
Mikasa gave him a curt nod before she stepped forward to help Erwin clear away the debris blocking the entrance to the tunnel. Together they were able to clear it of the large chunks of stone and concrete in fifteen minutes. When they finished Erwin gave Mikasa a brief smile which she returned before Mike stepped forward holding two radios.
"We've already set these to the same frequency. We'll turn it on and test it out to make sure we're all set." He flipped both of the radios on and handed one over to Sasha and the other to Erwin.
"This is Commander. Come in." His voice came out of the radio that Sasha was holding and was followed shortly by Hanji's voice emanating from both radios.
"Short 'n Sweet copies!" Levi's 'fuck off' was audible in the background. "Does the 104th copy? Over."
"104th?" Sasha was giving the radio a puzzled look. "Um… the 104th copies, over."
"Reading you five! Shot 'n Sweet, out!"
"104th?" Sasha turned to Erwin and Mike in confusion.
"All of you live around 104th St." Mike gave the four of them a somewhat apologetic look. "Dr. Scientist decided to give you a shorthand name so they didn't have to list off all of your names. Sorry."
"You know, I kinda like it." Krista had a thoughtful look on her face and Mikasa, Sasha and Ymir nodded silently in agreement. "We aren't the team the way that the four of you are, but we work together and we cover for each other."
Sasha picked up the radio again.
"The 104th reads Short 'n Sweet loud and clear. Over."
"Short 'n Sweet copies! Out!" A staticky click followed Hanji's words, but another voice came from the radio almost immediately.
"We are not fucking Short 'n Sweet. Out."
Sasha was stuffing her fist into her mouth trying to muffle the sound of her giggling but quickly became serious again after a moment. Erwin had a mildly exasperated expression on his face when he looked back at them.
"Don't worry, they're taking this perfectly seriously it's just Dr. Scientist trying to keep the mood light. Now then, I believe we mentioned earlier that there is no signal in the tunnels proper. You won't be able to contact any of us until you surface at your location." He paused and waited for them to signal that they understood. "And you remember the plan?"
"In and out as fast as possible. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary. Focus on getting Eren and Marco out, not on getting revenge." Mikasa's tone was robotic as she repeated Erwin's instructions from earlier in the day. Erwin gave her a short nod before holding his radio up again.
"This is Commander. Operation Retrieval is a go. Over."
"The 104th copies. Out."
"Short 'n Sweet copies. Out."
As soon as radios were stowed, everyone went into motion. Ymir began to stretch with her back elongating and bowing down while her limbs stretched and razor-sharp claws began to extend from her fingertips. When her transformation was complete her face was truly unrecognizable; a mouth of fangs twisted into a snarl. Sasha nocked an arrow on her bow and held it to her side at the ready while Mikasa pulled her scarf up further. Krista straightened her tiara with her free hand as she tightened her grip on her scepter. Their faces were grim as they turned to look at Mike and Erwin.
The six of them nodded at each other before doing an about face and going in opposite directions, flashlight beams bouncing along tunnel walls.
[Time: 23:39]
Erwin and Mike were only fifty yards down the tunnel when they came to a metal ladder leading upwards. Erwin mounted it and began the short climb to the top. As he pushed aside the grating he was met by the faces of Hanji, Levi and Nanaba.
[Time: 04:36]
It was almost dawn when Levi got back from the palisades looking like hell and smelling like death. He didn't bother to try and stop the door from slamming behind him, causing the other three members of the Survey Corps and Nanaba to sit up sharply at the noise.
"Wow. You didn't even take your shoes off before coming in here?" Nanaba's eyes widened slightly.
"Cut the shit. We have three possible locations and we can't spread ourselves that thin."
"Mike and I are going to do a quick drive through the palisades. See what we can find. Hanji overlaid some satellite images on the areas we've narrowed it down to so we're going to check those out." Nanaba looked over at Erwin. "You're really going to talk to your MP contacts? If you let too much drop then we might have some unpleasant company."
"Don't worry about it. I have it under control."
"Now then, we've been able to eliminate the partially collapsed tunnel already. It leads out to a building that was demolished and cleared away recently. We've all agreed…" Hanji paused and their eyes flicked between the rest of the group. "We've all agreed that we're going to send the 104th that way."
The four of them were looking somewhat tensely at Levi as he stood in the middle of the room. He was looking down slightly and his arms were crossed around his chest. His arms pulled imperceptibly tighter around his body before he lifted up his head to look at them.
"Do you expect me to disagree?"
[Time: 23:43]
Nanaba stuck out a hand to help pull Erwin up and Mike followed just far enough the upper half of his body was above ground while his lower half remained hidden.
"Did everything go alright?" Nanaba searched Erwin's face for confirmation.
"Yes, I helped them to clear the debris. They're on their way now. The worst that they should run into is a few rats."
"When they figure it out they're going to be pissed." Levi gave all of them a pointed look.
"And they'll also be alive and unharmed." Nanaba fixed Levi with an intense glare.
"I never said I disagreed."
"Alright." Erwin spoke up slightly to get their attention. "Nanaba is going to join Mike in the tunnels. Hanji and I will continue on the streets on foot and Levi will follow on the rooftops. Mike and Nanaba, I want every inch of the basement and sub-basement searched. Hanji and I will work from the first floor to the second and Levi will work his way down from the fourth to the third. Whoever finds Eren and Marco first withdraws immediately and radios Moblit for an extraction. Everyone else continues according to plan. We need to find that lab."