What was that?... Martha waking up all of a sudden and hugging him? Him? Levi paced back and forth, far from the tent enough so that she couldn't hear his thoughtful footsteps from where she was sleeping.

He'd felt rather surprised with the need that transpired from her hug, how much she nuzzled his waist, so much, that he felt almost tempted to complete the embrace. However, she was probably just shaken up from her nightmare and did that in the spur of the moment. They had more important issues at hand.

A couple of minutes had passed since then and Martha seemed to be sleeping soundly once again so Levi sat by the slowly dying fire, its heat slightly uncomfortable. The rain was much less intense now than previously, so he took the oportunity to walk along the river bank and wash his face thoroughly. They had yet to decide what to do about the cadets' future activities and the sun was coming up in no time so Levi kept a pensive expression while looking at the tree line that sorrounded the main camp, scouring for threats.

From what he'd seen of Martha's fight with the unknown woman, she seemed to have made a cut deep enough that it would make it hard for the intruder to attack or even use 3-D gear in the following days. Despite this, they'd still have to cancel some activities like the team death match the lieutenant had planned for the cadets.

One thing they couldn't just ignore was the wild boar running loose. Levi, however, wasn't too worried about it, since Eld or even Petra could easily handle a creature like that without his help.

Soon after, the sun rose and, before he could return to the tent to check on Martha, he saw her cross the river to get to the main camp. Although she winced from time to time, she didn't seem like she was in a lot of pain, even when half of her back and chest where completely wrapped in ligatures. Seeing her looking rather normal, Levi decided to do a quick sweep of the neighbouring area, just in case he found something useful.

"Martha, how are you?", Petra asked, almost running towards me to greet me with a concerned look.

"I'm fine...", a smile flourished on my lips, altough I was rather embarassed about what had happened the night before. "I can even walk and everything. Not that you'll be seeing me carrying heavy stuff around so soon, my ribs wouldn't bear it."

"No problem, we'll help.", Eld walked up being the short brunette, carrying some logs for the firepits. "I think it's best if you stay in the camp today.", he added.

"I don't know.. it depends on what the captain needs me to do.", looking around, my eyes searched for his attentive and cold stare but did not find it anywhere.

The cadets began to emerge from their tents, noticing Eld's presence rather quickly. When asked about it, I gave them the least information I could so they wouldn't get distracted or too worried. If they were too busy trying to catch an itruder, they could get distracted and make stupid errors that could lead to serious accidents and injuries. I merely told them to pay attention and be cautious when in recon, calling Eld, Petra or captain Levi's attention when they noticed something weird.

"Are you coming with us as well, lieutenant?", Jean asked, nibbling on some bread.

"No, I'll stay here looking after the camp. They'll go instead and corporal Levi as well.", I answered.

"T-the l-lance corporal?", Arlert almost passed out, stuttering in fear just thinking about the man.

"Exactly. Now hurry, you have a lot to do today", the reply left my lips in a rushed way. I must've strained my muscles while talking to them because a sharp sting came up from my wounded ribs and the air was pushed out of my lungs, making me wince and freeze for a couple of seconds. One of my hands rested on Eld's shoulder, who was the nearest person around and I clenched my jaw, trying to suppress a whimper, as I inhaled slowly.

"Martha...?", his eyes followed my expressions, noticing my furrowed brow and contorted face. "Shouldn't you lay go rest a bit more?"

"N-no.", my teeth almost vibrated with the force being put upon them. "It's nothing.", letting him go, I went towards my tent, walking slowly and dreading each footstep. Maybe getting out of bed wasn't such a good idea afterall...

Inside, my stuff wasn't very messed up although the vague idea that she'd entered a tent near this area was stuck inside my head. It didn't make sense that it'd been one of the cadets', since none of them had said or done anything. What this my tent had then that was so special...? Unless.. she got inside the wrong one.

Walking around it, whose tents were these next to mine? Armin... Reiner.. Sasha.. I kept walking in a circle, checking who they belonged to. ...Eren.. wait; Eren? It was perfectly plausible that she had tried to get inside Eren's tent.

It was even understandable how she could've mistaken mine for his since none of the possible hideouts she could've adopted to spy on him without being discovered were close enough to get a clear view. Our tents were simply too near the center of the camp. So she was trying to get Eren...? Well, with the the wound I'd made on her leg, she probably wouldn't try anything anytime soon.

But that face... so.. vaguely familiar... Who was it? My memory had no record of someone with such a deep and burnt looking scar.. not even the slightest idea of who might it be.

"Lieutenant?", Eren appeared in front of me.

"Hm? What?"

"Are you feeling well? Petra asked me to check on you."

"Yes, yes. I'm perfectly fine.", I replied, dismissing the issue with a hand gesture. "I'm tough, I can handle it.", he smiled at my remark, visibly relieved.

"The intruder showed up yesterday, didn't he?"

"What..? But where you awake at the time, Jaeger?"

"No, not me. If I was...-" he began to growl.

"Then who was?", my question interrupted his increasingly maniac stare. Honestly, standing next to him when he wore that insane expression, it sort of scared me. Who knows what weird crazy shit he might try to pull off...

"Armin, mam. He said he heard you and lance corporal Levi running throught the tents and then screaming.", the brunette replied. That Arlert boy... he was something else, very attentive indeed and he wasn't stupid, maybe he'd seen something.

"Fetch him for me, Eren.", I requested him. He nodded in return and left to talk to the blonde boy.

Looking around, my eyes scouted the tree line, watching over our surroundings. My gaze caught Jaeger in the distance, talking to Armin, who looked anxious with something. Reluctantly, he began walking toward me.

"You wanted to see me, mam?", his mouse like voice made me almost pity him, sweat droplets forming around his temples and dampening the hair.

"Yes, Arlert. Firstly, are you alright? You look a little pale...", he sounded rather surprised by my question but he shook his head firmly.

"No, no mam. I'm fine"

"Is it because of captain Levi? He isn't as bad as he seems...-", a cold shiver ran up my spine as I felt piercing stone eyes fixed on me. Slowly, my gaze deviated to the right and, out the corner of my eye, I saw the corporal with his harsh stare fixed on us. Fucking hell, that man is everywhere... such an intimidating gaze. "Anyways, Eren told me you heard the intruder yesterday. You didn't see them by any chance, did you?"

He went silent for a moment, lowering his head to avoid my eyes. That made me realise that, for a kid like him, it had probably been somewhat scary to be in a situation like that. If he didn't know anything, there was no point in pushing for more.

"Ham... Lieutenant.. did someone stay back to watch over the camp?", he asked suddenly.

"No, why?...", his expression seemed to whiten even more. "What is it, Armin?"

"It.. I.. after you left, I heard someone walking around near my tent...", someone? so what, everything we thought was incorrect and there wasn't just one intruder but... two? when had the other one even gotten there in the first place?

"Hm.. I see.. Well, thank you for your help. Dismissed, Arlert, you can go now.", my brow furrowed deeply as me legs seemed to pace on their own back and forth. If someone had been there after we'd left, it was a very bad sign; how could we have let it slide like that? Looking in the captain's direction, I patiently waited for him to turn my way and when he did so, my troubled expression conveyed what my voice was about to tell him.

"What's wrong?", he asked as he drew near me. Although the memory of that embarassing moment was still engraved in the back of my head and probably would be for the days to come, the creeping fear of what might've happened after we'd taken off the night before overwhelmed the other feeling almost entirely.

Staring closely at Levi, his hair seemed shorter, revealing a fresh undercut. He'd probably cut his hair sometime while I was still asleep. Should I mention last night? Maybe it's best if I don't... atleast not right now, although an apology is definitely needed since captain hates being touched by people. Okay, Martha, you thoughts are as scattered as a teenager's, focus now, please.

"Corporal", the words fell from my lips softly, as my eyes trailed away from him and landed on the cadets who gathered around their horses. Come to think of it.. why didn't the intruder steal a horse?

"So...?"

"Sorry, sir. I was distracted by a thought. Anyway, cadet Arlert told me he heard footsteps near his tent after we'd left to chase the intruder. I thought that maybe-"

"What do you mean?", he interrupted, silently growling.

"He believes someone else was awake at the time of the chase, sir. What should we do?"

"Ask them.", before I even managed to form another sentence, Levi was already walking with heavy steps towards the kids. "Listen up you shitty brats, which one of you was awake last night after hours?"

A deep sigh escaped from my lips. Sometimes, the captain's upfront approach was a bit too harsh and straight foward and simply not the best choice. Most likely, even if it had been one of the cadets, now they would be too scared to come forth and tell the truth.

As expected, no one answered, all of the seeming surprised at the question except Armin, Eren and, as usual Mikasa. But, despite the captain not taking the more subtle approaches, he was pretty good at almost sniffing out the liars from a group of people and he tried to do so here, pacing next to them, staring intently at their half inquisitive, half intimidated faces.

"Eh, go on and do whatever shit you have to do today, get out of my sight.", he came back towards me. "Is wasn't any of them."

"Then we're dealing with two intruders...", I murmured. The corporal walked over to Eld and Petra, and afterwards he disappeared amongst the trees. The others talked to the cadets and Eld came to meet me.

" Martha, start packing up.", he said, the kids jumping off their horses and beginning to undo their tents.

"We're leaving right? Dealing with two intruders without back up is impossible.", I stated.

"And you're like that as well. The captain doesn't want to risk it. We're leaving tonight. Also, stay here; Petra, the kids and I are going to take care of the wild boar."

"I'm staying here with the captain?", even though it made some sense, why would the strongest man there choose to stay in the camp when he could easily kill the animal in seconds. Furthermore, I simply couldn't get over the fact of how close I'd been to him the night before, it made me feel like a kid again, the horror.

"He wants to do a few rounds to look for a trail left by the intruders or something but after he'll come meet you. You're not exactly fit to be left on your own right now.."

"Oh please.", a scoff came out before I could suppress it, rolling my eyes at the same time. "I'm fine."

In a fluid motion, Eld moved behind me, pressing his fingers lightly on an area on my back, where the ribs met the spine. It was like a shock from one of Hange's weird machines and my body jolted on its own, a pained expression adorning my face, which I tried to hide from him.

"Yeah, you're fine...", he chuckled in his deep voice. "Come on, don't strain too much.", my gaze was met with a smile from him while he walked over to join Petra and the kids.

Resignation was my only choice apparently. The sum of everything that had happened since the past week up to now had left my body in a weakened state. Maybe Erwin was right and I should've taken a leave, even if it was just a few days. At least to let things cool down a bit or something..

Well, now it was a bit too late to think of that, wasn't it? Since I indeed was here, alive, I might as well keep ushing forward, fulfilling my oath to humanity.

-FLASHBACK-

Ray and I had just finished the second lesson of martial arts she'd agreed to teach me and, truth be told, I was dead tired from all the beating she'd given me. Laying on the ground with a loud thump where my back touched the floor, breath hitching and a hand covering my closed eyes, heavy sweats drops crept all over my body.

She walked around me to reach the metal grid where she burned some weird stuff called 'incense'. It took me a while to get used to its medicinal pungent smell as the white smoke filled up the house but, after living there for long enough, I'd grown to rather enjoy that intoxicating mist.

When asked why she burned it, Ray always answered that it reminded her of home in the Underground District, when she still lived with Feng. I always tried to talk about her past there, always wanting to learn more about her, but she quicky changed the subject and told me to 'mind my own business'. Oh well, what more could I do, right? It's not like I could force her to speak about it.

"So, you're still gonna do that extra shift today?", she asked, towering above my limp body.

"I have to...", a sigh escaped my lips. "Things don't pay for themselves, right?"

"You bet..", she agreed. "I'm gonna go take a bath, don't let the boiler go cold, 'kay?"

"Ugh, fine...", I mewled, uncovering my eyes and slowly getting up to look at the blazing furnace that was the old boiler on the kitchen corner. Another sigh was heard as I picked up a thick log and threw it inside the fire.

-

"So..", her voice called me, coming from the old metal bathtub. "Now that I'm teaching you, you will compete, right?"

"Yeah, sure...", I walked closer to the bathroom door, leaning against the frame, sliding until I was seated. "What choice do I have, right?"

"None, if you want to learn how to fight.", she laughed, her eyes closed and her face tilting slightly upwards. "See, we needed someone to challenge Mathias and it being you, just makes it better."

"Why though..?"

"Well.. same regiment... he beat you in the top 10.. rivalry and all...", she joked.

"But it's not like that."

"Sure but reality doesn't matter. Money matters. The greater the competition, the more they bet and they all think you guys have some big kind of lovers rivalry or something."

"What... lovers rivalry, oh please, we're not even that close but,... if you say so...", I sighed, a hand resting on my forehead. "Listen Ray, why don't you end this? If they find you out-"

"'You'? Are you forgetting that you're in this as well?", she interrupted.

"No, I'm not involved in it... I don't even run any bets!"

"Yeah, you might not, but you're always there hanging to help the guys who almost get fucked up."

"Well, that's just because someone, not gonna name anyone, has decided that the semi permanent location they're gonna use to do illegal shit was gonna be right next to my section! I can't simply let other people die around me, can I?"

"Eh..", she shrugged. "I'd let them die."

"What, are you serious?", as I asked this, she turned to look at me, her head resting on the tub's side rim and a wet arm hanging out, water drops wetting the floor. "I'm not going to risk my life for some random person, no way."

"That's so sel-"

"Selfish? Maybe, but where I come from, it's eat or be eaten and I spent years sharpening my fangs."

"Honestly, Ray...", I mumbled, slowly rising and sighing. "The people I call my friends..."

"Am I not good company..?", she laughed playfully. "You can always pay triple of what you do now and go live in the barracks or go back to your mommy and daddy, begging to return home..", it was a joke but it slightly stung my pride nonetheless.

"Oh, shut up.", my cold hand ruffled her tied up hair. "Sure as hell, I'm not gonna go begging my dad for nothing."

"Come on, don't get all worked up..", the issue was dropped as I gestured for her to leave it be and got out of the bathroom, walking to where my uniform was airing. My second shift was the night one and I had to get ready soon enough. "Well, since you're gonna see Mathias today, tell him, don't forget!", Ray shouted from the tub.

"'Kay", was my answer, whilst I was changing.

Ever since I'd been kicked out of the house, Ray had invited me to live with her, on the condition that we'd split whatever was needed such as food, etc. That, combined with mom's money problems, had forced me to work more, in order to be able to afford living.

Initially, mom had asked for my help, but soon regretted her request, probably thinking that supporting a family was a load too heavy for a girl like me to handle. However, whenever I went to visit her - when she was home alone - it was pretty clear how much effort she put in to stretch leftovers over the week as much as she could, since the food money was increasingly shorter.

I'd still leave half of my weekly pay on the table, refusing to talk about it when she asked if it'd been me.

-

A few hours had gone by since I'd left Ray's house and reached the top of Wall Maria. Mat was already there, by our assigned cannon, scrubbing the rusty metal down with a hard brush.

"Hey there.", a smile curled the edges of my lips as I approached him.

"Look at her..", he laughed. "So, ready for the competition? Ray told me you'd be the challenger this time."

"Eh...", I shrugged. "She basically made me.. Not that I have big plans to win.. By the way, it was called off for now."

"Why?"

"Apparently, Strauss has heard a few rumours and has his eyes on us. She doesn't want to risk it."

"Hm.. well fuck. I really needed the money...", his hand rested on the back of his neck, scratching.

"What's wrong?", his expression left me slightly worried. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course, don't mind.", he smiled immediately, trying to change the subject.

"Mat, we're friends, you know you can ask me for help, right?"

"Sure, but let's get to cleaning already. You worry too much...", he sighed.

Soon, it was night time and the sun was replaced by the dim light of torches, which hanged from each section's divider. Mat and I were almost alone, only two more people being in our area, since no one wanted to do the night shift. Even the commonly assigned personnel for those hours didn't show up.

"Oy.", a male's voice brought me back from a trance. Lifting up my chin which rested heavily on my hand, I look back and up, seeing a tall blonde guy looking at me. "You don't have an extra bar of soap you can lend me by any chance, do 'ya?", he asked. Although the light that illuminated him was dull, his closes seemed to be soaking wet, dripping on the stone floor.

"Hm.. what happened to yours?", I replied, getting up. Even standing, he was still quite taller than me.

"An... accident...", he scratched his neck, looking sort of embarassed. Turning to our water bucket, I searched for our soap bar and picked it up, holding it in my hand while once more I turned to face the guy.

"You can use this one. But I want it back."

"Of course! I'm Nathan, by the way.", he smiled widely. "And you are?"

"Martha. You're not a regular on this side of the wall, are you? I'd never seen your face here..", the last part was more of a musing than and actual question, as I turned the corner to walk up to his section. A few guys were there wringing ou their clothes over the edge and, as soon as I noticed it, I turned my back, a bit flustered. "I'm very sorry, I didn't know you weren't wearing anything!"

"Eh, don't mind. These guys love being half naked.", Nathan laughed. "'Fellas, our neighbour, miss Martha just saved us from a month of hard labour!", he cheered.

"What..? But I only lent you soap..."

"Yeah, but Strauss is a motherfucker with these kinds of things and if he got here and saw dirty cannon, he'd make us do pushups until we died.", one of them replied.

"You can look now Martha, they're decent... looking.", the blonde guy said. "Can't do much about their awful faces though...", the last bit made me chuckle slightly as I faced them.

"Shut your trap, you're not that good looking either!", another guy complained.

"Anyways, Strauss is like a demon to us so we owe you big time."

"Please, really, it was nothing special... Although.. I don't really get why he's like that to you.. he doesn't even care about how ours look.", the man didn't even look at us when he roamed around our area.

"This bitch's brother", one of them pointed at Nathan, "is in the Survey Corps. And Strauss got all pissy cause he was scared of joining."

"And now he takes it out on us...", another noted.

"Hm.. I see.. well, I'll get back to my post.", I said. "One thing... what happened to your soap bar..?"

"Oh... well...", once again the blonde one looked embarassed.

"Dumbfuck Nathaniel here...", one of the guys began telling me "thought it was a good idea to try and balance himself on top of one of the cannons with the fucking bucket!"

I couldn't stifle a laugh. Now it was clear why they were all soaking wet and the soap was missing; it probably had slipped off the edge or something.

"I get it now. Well, it was nice meeting you, see you next time.", turning around the corner, I sat next to Mat, who'd fallen asleep against the cold metal. "Mat... wake up...", my soft voice whispered.

"Huhh...", he grumbled, furrowing his brow with eyes still closed.

"Wake up.", straightening his back, he stretched, covering his yawn with a hand.

"What happened?"

"Some random guys asked for soap; they seemed nice. You look really tired, what's wrong?"

"Ah, nothing... I've just been doing some extra shifts in the market.."

"Listen, let me help you, it won't cause any trouble.. If you keep on going like this, you'll end up hurting yourself...", I sighed.

"Thanks Martha.. You're a great friend. But really, I'm fine."

"Well, suit yourself...", if he didn't want my help, I wasn't going to force him, whatever.. shrugging at his lie, I got up, walking towards the edge of the Wall and sat, contemplating the moon's reflection on the flowing river in the distance.

If it weren't for the titans... I'd have liked to go outside; to see the infinitude of space out there. To be immersed in it. Up where I was, looking out and then back at Shiganshina, inside the walls, confined, like a caged animal.. everything seemed rather... small, even though it didn't seem that way when I was down there, walking through the streets.

But who was I fooling? Going outside was impossible, the only option being the Survey Corps and that was too dangerous. 'Risking their lives for humanity'? Was it even worth it? Ironically.. I said the same to Ray earlier, how could she be so egoistical and here I was doing the exact same. Not that it would change my thoughts on the matter. Going outside the walls was too much; I could handle only watching the outside from the safety of my perch.

-

When our shift ended, Mat went ahead without me, since he was in a hurry for something he didn't want to tell me. Nathan came to thank me again, handing me the slightly smaller bar, which I stored inside the empty bucket along with the brush.

"It was nothing, honestly. It's not worth so much praise; I mean, come on, it's soap."

"Well, thanks anyways.", he smiled.

"Go get her, wolf!", one of his friends yelled at us, making my face heat up. What the hell did he mean 'go get her'..?

"Sorry about that...", he scratched his neck awkwardly. "They're a bunch of pricks."

"Right..., I'm going home. I'll see you around.", I smiled, waving as I began to walk to the elevator that got down to the ground.

"Do you want company? I'm actually going home as well.", he offered. Well, why not? I shrugged, moving my head so that he'd follow.

"Sure."

"So, what's a girl like you doing on the Wall at this hour?", he asked, walking next to me. "New recruits don't usually have the night shifts.", we walked slowly, making our way through the somewhat crowded hallways of the Garrison's building.

"Extra shifts; extra money.", was my reply. Like I'd tell my life's story just like that, right?... "What about you?"

"As I said earlier... Strauss hates me.."

"Is it really all there is? Sounds a bit petty to me.. I mean, he's a grown man..."

"Well, I have no idea.. maybe he's jealous, I don't know.. I'd be jealous of this pretty face as well, if my wife slept around with younger men...", his fingers laced behind his head as we left the building.

"No way... How do you know that?", it was stronger than me. Garrison gossip was the absolute best.

"It's a rumor that's been hanging around...", he replied, jumping up to a stone ledge.

"Oh..", I rolled my eyes at him, even though my face wasn't being lit by any light and he wouldn't be able to see me. "Then it might be just that; a rumor... Well, my house is that way, I'll be going now. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure was mine." he smiled, winking at me. A scoff left my lips as he did so and I walked the rest of the way, only looking back to check where he'd gone to. As I did that, he noticed and waved at me, walking back to the Garrison's building. He probably slept in the barracks or something.

-END FLASHBACK-

"Hoy, Krieger, why are you spacing out again? Wake up, you shitty brat, we have shit to do.", it was Levi's voice calling me.