Reiner was certain that if he were any less committed to increasing his muscle mass when he was younger, he wouldn't have been able to go on for so long without stopping and resting his aching back. In hindsight, a messenger bag maybe wasn't the best idea for transporting the amount of stuff he had brought along with him. Sure, he was more used to it than any backpack and it had been his loyal companion for years, but he never had to carry it around for such extensive periods of time...

Suddenly, Bertholdt stopped directly in front of him (Reiner was taking up the rear of the group, a little to the side so that everyone could have a little torchlight to see where they were going), making Annie spin around immediately and himself rush forward to his aid.

"C-Can we just stop for a few minutes?"

No complaints were issued, both he and Annie having made an agreement to protect their friend and take care of him until he got better. And indeed, even if it was a little difficult to tell in the harsh electric light, he did look quite pale. Annie nodded, and Bertholdt slumped against the tunnel wall. Reiner watched him regain his breath for a few seconds, before remembering something that made his blood run cold with worry.

"Bertl, did you have time to grab something to eat before we set out?"

He looked confused for a second, apparently questioning the presence of food at all in the place he had spent the night, and slowly shook his head. The blond sent Annie a knowing look, who nodded in response.

"Right, next exit we pass I'm going up to get you some food."

"Reiner's the best person to do this," Annie interrupted before Bertholdt could protest. "He looks fairly respectable when compared to us, and he's got the advantage of not being actively researched. Well, I hope so anyway. Isabel's likely to have ratted on us and given the MPs full description of us. Definitely mine and yours anyway."

Again, Bertholdt looked confused and maybe a little worried, conflict flitting across his face, visibly debating whether it was a good idea to argue Reiner's decision to put himself in the open for him, but probably considering that he was in no position to debate, he let it drop and held on to another detail that bothered him instead.

"Isabel...? Who...? Why would she do that?"

Annie huffed, but not out of annoyance. From her expression they could tell that she was very angry, and for a second Reiner thought that it was directed at Bertholdt, before he realized that her target was more likely Isabel. Or maybe society in general.

"Look, she was caught keeping a murderer safe in her apartment. Knowing the MPs, the 'I wasn't there' excuse probably won't work, and she'll be wanting to cover her arse by collaborating. I can't blame her, even though I have to say that I wouldn't do that if I were in her shoes. Anyway, it means that she has a fairly precise description of all of us, but maybe a little less so of Reiner, because she barely saw him for a few minutes."

Bertholdt sighed, but didn't move, visibly exhausted. "All right. Just… I-it's better if you change your clothes though. At least they m-may not recognize you immediately. And d-don't go up with that huge bag, it'll slow you down if you have to make a quick escape."

"Yeah, he's right. Here, take a jacket."

Reiner hesitated for a second before handing his bag over, not sure that he wanted to give up everything he possessed to these people. Common sense still dictated that they might not be trustworthy, but it only took a second for the strength of the bond he felt with them to dissipate that feeling. He trusted his gut, and it told him that his possessions wouldn't be harmed by them.

The bag was given to Annie, who carefully pulled the strap over her head and knelt down to get to her own suitcase. She pulled out a jacket, one that would have without doubt swamped her, but that Reiner felt to be a tight fit on himself. It would just have to stay open, despite the cold weather.

"Right, I don't know when I'll be back, but if you consider it too long a time, go on without me. And please, take care of that bag for me, even if I don't come back."

"Understood," Bertholdt answered, at the same time as Annie's clipped "You'll be back", more of an order than anything else.

Reiner smiled weakly at them, then hurried on. Time is precious, particularly in these circumstances. The two others started moving again, but more slowly. He had left the flashlight with them and he had instead pulled out a small mp3 player to light his way. The screen's back light didn't illuminate much of the road ahead, but it was enough so that he didn't fall off the edge of the pavement bit he was walking along to fall into the dirty canal that ran the whole length of the passageway to his right. The two other pairs of footsteps quickly faded behind him, the lack of weight on his back allowing him to pick up a more swift pace. Soon, he came across what he had been looking for, the glint of fairly-new metal reflecting the weak light he held out in front of him.

Reiner gave the ladder a shake, trying to determine whether it was well soldered to the wall, before carefully making his way up to the surface. There was a faint light coming from a circular hole in what must be a manhole cover, surprisingly not as far off as Reiner had thought at first when he bashed his head against the heavy metal covering. Once he had recovered from his aching brow, he heaved and pushed the cover effortlessly to one side.

The early afternoon light was blinding, even more so when reflected off the snow drifts that dotted the sides of the courtyard he had come up in and covered the rooftops above completely. Fortunately, it wasn't actually falling at the time and the courtyard was apparently well taken care of, the proof being that he didn't need to push off several pounds of snow along with the weight of the round metal lid he now set down carefully, not dropping it back into the fitted hole completely so that he didn't have to break his fingernails prying it out if he had to make a quick escape at a moment or another. He stood up completely when he was done, looking around, making sure that there wasn't anyone watching him, before walking off.

The blond didn't know the place well, but he walked purposefully as if he had lived in this part of the city since he was a kid. He kept track of every turn he took, always keeping an eye out for landmarks that wouldn't be covered in snow in the event of a storm. Eventually, he came across a street that contained a handful of shops instead of house after bleak house, and there were even a few people walking through it as well, all with thick coats and huddled in expensive woolen scarves. It didn't seem to be too expensive an area though, the small grocery store looking like the place his family used to be able to afford getting things from back when… back when.

An elderly woman walked slowly around a corner, and Reiner braced himself before deciding that it was now or never. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders up to his ears, his scarf covering the entire lower half of his face.

It was something he had never thought he would experience one day, this gut-wrenching terror that he would be found out, arrested, and carted off to some far-away place, a place where he would be denied what was most important to him. He wouldn't be allowed his music, his freedom, to one day see his brother again… and something else. It didn't surprise him that after a few seconds he realised that this something were his new found friends. As sad as anyone else may find it, he accepted fully that these near-strangers were now as fully part of his life as his thrumming musician's soul, and that it would pain him beyond measure to never see them again.

He pushed the door of the shop, a shiver traveling through him at the temperature change. It was warmer in here, not only because of the heating, but also thanks to the shelves of densely packed produce that acted as insulation. His eyes traveled quickly over the aisles, looking for something that would act as a cold yet substantial meal for their little troop, as well as some other long-lasting products so that they didn't have to risk coming out in the open every time they got too hungry to hide.

By the time he got around to the till he felt a little sick, disgusted by the sheer quantity of food that there was available here, and yet knowing that none would go to the countless people who suffered hunger like both Annie and Bertholdt had. When he got there, he balked however when he saw the little girl sitting on the high stool, her eyes unseeing. She must have been about nine, but he could see from her blank expression that she knew too much of this world.

Reiner set his stuff on the counter, where the girl rung him up without a word. Snatching up a spun sugar candy from the side display, he added it to the pile. When she had finished and he had handed her the money, he left the candy on the counter, as if he had forgotten it.

It was only a small act of kindness, but he felt that it was important. He just hoped that she wasn't too broken as to actually put it back on the display rather than taking advantage of the situation and letting her child instincts have her eat the sweet treat that lay before her. His arms full of groceries and his head of thoughts, he nearly collided with the person passing him on the street. The man stepped to the side, and Reiner brushed past, just missing him. Turning around to apologise, he quickly changed his mind when he caught sight of the famous Wings of Freedom adorning the retreating back.

His mind was yet again set whirring, hoping that it the individual he had just passed by was only a soldier on leave rather than part of a whole squad of the most capable class of military that were stationed in the city. As he quickly walked in the opposite direction than the man was going in, he rounded a corner and found himself inexplicably face-to-face with a noticeboard.

The groceries fell in the snow, his grip lessened by shock. There, between the old, faded poster of criminals long-wanted but never arrested, was a face that he recognised instantly. Reiner snapped out of it, looked around furtively, before tearing off the still recent poster and shoving the crumpled paper into his pocket. All the food was picked up, and he found himself next to the manhole thrice as fast as he had been on his trip up. The groceries were dropped directly down the hole, the dull torch light enough for him to know that both his friends were down there waiting for him, and he slid down the ladder, pulling the metal cover as best as he could over him as he did.

Both Bertholdt's and Annie's faces were ashen when he found himself in the circle of light; one was gathering the foodstuff together wordlessly, whilst the other sat in the corner on the suitcase, cradling Reiner's bag in his arms and his drooping eyes showing his exhaustion.

"I found this when I was up there," Reiner said without preamble, shoving the poster in Bertholdt's face. "I thought that Annie was bad enough for hiding stuff from us, but you're being a hell of a lot more hypocritical than I thought if you've got an actual bounty on your head. Annie's murdered someone, and there was nothing for her."

A number of emotions passed on Bertholdt's face in the next minute, become more and more pronounced as time went on. He gasped, opened his mouth to say something, seeming panicked and flustered and sweating so much that it became concerning, before finally it settled in something halfway between mute terror and resignation.

"I… I d-didn't do anything. I-it's j-just… someone w-wants me dead, a-and they've g-got contacts with the h-higher ups."

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously, but Bertholdt had kept eye contact with both Reiner and Annie (who was looking over Reiner's shoulder at the poster) during the short sentence he had managed to utter. Pleading had replaced the fear he had displayed earlier on, something that made Reiner think that maybe even if the explanation seemed patchy, the boy in front of him wasn't lying. He didn't believe that he would be one to commit any sort of crime, or not intentionally at least.

"I'm not sure, Bertl. I was honest with both of you earlier on, so I would like you to be the same here. I know I'm the one who dragged you in the same boat as me here, but I think we'll both appreciate it if there's something else that we didn't take into factor before that."

He finally lowered his gaze, fiddling nervously with the end of the scarf that Reiner had given him earlier on. Torn was too weak a word to describe his body language, his mannerisms in that moment when his face was hidden from sight. Bertholdt's shoulders slumped after a while, and he sighed deeply.

"I-it's my m-mother. She really, r-really hates me. W-well… w-without me, she w-would probably b-be part of the K-King's court. I th-think that she j-just used me r-running away as an excuse t-to finally l-launch a manhunt a-against me…"

"That's pretty fucked up," Annie said I her usual monotone. "At least my dad loved me somewhat. Hey, I dunno about you Reiner, but this story's good enough for me."

Reiner and Bertholdt's gazes crossed again. Again, that pleading expression pushed the blond to think that what he was saying wasn't a lie, but there was more to it there than what met the eye. Well, it was the same thing with Annie, he guessed, so there shouldn't be a reason for which he should have a different approach on Bertholdt. And of course, he trusted him, deeply, and he could see that it was the same for him as well.

"Right, yeah. It seems unlikely to me, but I'll believe you anyway. Bertl, you're safe with us, and whatever you've been through, we'll do our best to not let it happen again. As Annie said, we're all in this boat together, and I think that if we stick together, we'll get through this somehow. Now let's eat, I'm starving."

On that note, they started their meal, munching wordlessly but in a companionable silence, trust and gratefulness making them all relax and be perfectly content with each other's presence.

You can be considered as an adult if one of the following conditions are fulfilled:

You are above the age of eight years old

You have passed a government test of maturity and have been recognised as adult

You have been accepted into one of the three factions of the army (who we remind do not accept people under the age of fourteen) and completed the training program fully

A company has been under your own management for over a year and hasn't been in a precarious financial situation during that period

You have been officially recognised by at least five of the adults of the community as being mature enough to hold responsibility for your actions

-A guide to citizenship in the Land of the Kingdom

The girl's from when Sasha goes back to her home-village and saves her, but not her mom. You know, the one with no hope left in her eyes.

Also, I thought that it was more logical to have 'adults' be people considered as mature rather than based on their age: in the series, all the 104th are between 15 and 18, and they definitely can't be called children anymore. In this AU, I don't think these rules should be changed.