"Martha!", Sheila's voice was a comforting sound after what had happened earlier. Amy and her were waiting for us by the gate, and quickly took us to a house so that we could rest for a bit and talk privately.
"I see the trip had its ups and downs…", Amy noted, pointing at my swelling cheek.
"Nothing special.", the captain cut off the conversation bluntly. "We should get going."
"We should rest for now, sir.", Reiner said, "Look at your hand, it looks broken."
"Shut up, shitty brat. Don't speak out of term."
"I don't mean to sound disrespectful Mr. Ackerman, but you do look exhausted.", Sheila interrupted.
"Shei's right, Levi. Let's stay here until nightfall, we haven't even eaten anything proper since we left the castle.", he glanced at me and after a second sighed.
"Very well. We can stay.", much to my and Reiner's liking, we had a couple of hours to burn.
"There's food in the kitchen, hot water in the tub and a bed if you want to take a nap before leaving.", Amy smiled, walking towards me. "Martha, we've missed you so much, why didn't you come visit us before?"
"Yeah, why?", Sheila whined, pulling me into a hug alongside Amy.
"Well, you guys didn't come see me either, did you?", I feigned a hurt expression but a smile soon replaced it. Even though my face was still tender and a bit swollen, seeing them made me happy beyond words.
"Okay, fair enough. Let's get that face treated.", Amy, pulled me into the bathroom. "You too, Mr. Ackerman, come here."
"Uhm, the captain doesn't really like being touched…", I tried to warn, but to no avail. Moments later, us four were crammed inside the small bathroom, with the girls tending to our wounds. Reiner leaned against the door frame with a slight grin, seeing Levi's covert uncomfortable expression.
"What happened to you? You're not the type to let yourself get hit, Martha…", Shei mumbled, checking for lost teeth.
"Wahll, ah dhidn't—Shhei, lhet gho—", I pulled her hand away from my jaw. "Ouch, that fucking hurts. I'm not missing any teeth. We ran into some outlaws on the road."
"Oh… I see. And what happened to you, Mr. Ackerman? This hand is pretty smushed.", Amy, asked, kneeling by the captain, massaging an ointment with a minty smell into his bruised skin.
"A horse. Got it stuck in the reins. Popped out of place."
"Well, all patched up.", she smiled, after wrapping it up with a clean bandage.
"Thanks guys, you're the best. How did you get this house? It looks pretty nice."
"Well, Sheila here has some... connections.", Amy teased, shit-eating grin plastered over her face.
"AMY! You b-", she halted, suddenly aware of the captain eying them both. "That's private business. Not of anyone's concern."
"Shei has new guy! He's a total womanizer, though.", the other girl blurted and, seeing her face redden up, I couldn't stifle a hearty laugh. Levi remained expressionless as ever, observing the scene in silence. It was weird, having him next to them, who'd been part of my childhood.
"I swear to the King, Amy, I'm going to murder you...", Sheila muttered in a controlled low growl.
"Good for you, Sheila. I'll look forward to hear more of this in the future.", I smiled softly. It was heartwarming that they were starting to settle down and finding people they loved to spend their life together. It also stung to feel like that had once been taken away from me but for a moment, I allowed myself to feel happy for my friends and not sorry for myself. She seemed surprised at my words, stopping her nagging at Amy.
"Thanks, Martha. He's really sweet, don't listen to what this whore says. Anyway, you guys probably want to rest alone and discuss whatever plans you have for hereafter, we should leave you to it."
"Oh, I completely forgot but, the gear you'll be needing is still in the main building, since we didn't know how many of you would be coming exactly. You can come with us and get it, if you want.", Amy offered.
"Depends on what the captain wants to do.", a nod of approval came from him after.
"You brats go. Take Braun with you as well.", and so, we were off.
~~~ at the outlaw blockade~~~
It wasn't long before she caught up to where the party of three had previously been. The men seemed pretty shaken up for their size, with some having severe injuries or still being unconscious.
"I can't say I'm surprised... But I severely dislike wasting my money..", she scoffed nonchalantly, walking amongst them, searching for the leader. "Where's that useless motherfucker? I paid for them to be caught, yet I come here to find this!", she half-yelled, looking around at the men.
"And who the fuck are 'ya?", one of them spat. "Lookin' for trouble, missy?"
"Oh please. Spare me.", she rolled her eyes, continuing the walk until she saw the sprawled man. "There you are, you fucking cunt...", she mumbled, only to see his bloodshot eyes and bruised neck. Pushing his side with a boot, a smile spread wide across scarred lips. "Well, what a lovely site..."
As she crouched down to examine the dark purple wound, she noticed something like an imprint on the skin. Hm... boot, most likely. Who'd killed him? Levi, humanity's strongest? The blonde kid? Or Martha? while she pondered on the possibilities, something in her peripheral vision distracted her.
"You there.", she stared right at a thin boy, no more than 14, cowering behind one of the wheels of the wagon. "Did you see what happened?"
At first, he said nothing, trembling and whimpering like a scared dog, holding his knees. A stain in his old trousers gave away the fact that he'd pissed himself like a slimy brat. Walking up to him, the woman kneeled in front of the wheel, extending a hand with a faint smile.
"Come on, no need to be afraid. Those guys are long gone. You're safe.", she kept repeating, goading him out of his hiding place.
"T-t-they killed him...", he mumbled, slowly leaving the safe spot under the wagon and crawling like a newborn deer before lowering his head to throw up whatever he had in his stomach. The woman patiently waited for him to gain some composure before asking again.
"Who did it?"
"Uhm... it was a.. a woman..", he finally said.
"Really...?", she had to stop herself from grinning at that piece of wonderful information. "Does it make you angry?"
"What...?", he whimpered, looking at her now standing up figure.
"That woman, killing your father in such a gruesome way. Doesn't it anger you?"
"I-I don't know...", he cried again, lips pursing to hold back sobs.
"Don't you want to know who she is? Do the same to her? Avenge your father?"
"N-no..", the slight glint in her eye vanished as her grin turned into a scoff.
"Worthless brat...", she spat. "I thought at least one of you idiots might be useful but I guess I was mistaken. Keep on being a coward and you'll die a shameful death just like your daddy...", she mocked, turning to leave.
"My dad... wasn't a coward!", the kid yelled, lashing out and throwing a punch at her, which she easily dodged, pulling his arm and lifting his stomach so that he'd fall on his back.
"Pff... too easy, kid. Come at me when you have a couple more years of training on your back and then I'll manage to have some fun.", he flinched when she lifted her foot over his head, threatening to smash his face with it. "Nah, I'm just joking. You know, I may seem like I enjoy killing but it's not like that. Consider this a life lesson.", and, leaving the boy shaking on the floor, she began to walk down the road. "Oh, and another thing. Just in case you wanted to know, the bitch's name is Martha."
She didn't need to ask where they were going. Not that the kid would've known anyway, for that matter. But, considering the road choice and the attire that had on when they'd left, it was safe to assume that they had some sort of business in Wall Sina or any town near the outskirts. She would want to know this, specially if that meant they had a chance of grabbing both Levi and Martha. The Corps would be severely wounded if those two disappeared.
"Pitty they didn't have a horse back there...", she sighed, rubbing the nape of her neck tiredly. Her 3-d gear was practically out of gas and the only means of getting there was on foot. She'd have to arrange something in the next village, or risk losing track of the party, even more when they had almost half a day of advance.
~~~Wall Sina~~~
"Hey, Martha, you sure you can carry that?", Sheila asked me, reaching to take one of the boxes from my hands.
"I'm perfectly fine. You know, I do much heavier work at the Corps, right?"
"Yeah, your point being...?", Amy raised an eyebrow.
"Totes, Ames. It's not like you're hurt or anything, Martha. Yeah, don't give me that look, I saw you wince when I 'accidentally' pushed on your side."
"Whatever..", I rolled my eyes, our return journey to the house starting slowly. A couple of hours had passed and nightfall drew near, so we had to hurry back to meet the captain. "Hey, has anyone seen Reiner?"
"The kid? No, I thought he was out here waiting...", Sheila answered.
"I thought I saw him inside, carrying some boxes...", Amy discorded.
"We have to find him. He can't be wandering around on his own.", if the captain knew I'd let him loose, he'd murder me, for sure.
"You guy go then, I can take the gear to the house.", Shei offered.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I can borrow Paulo's cart. Don't worry, just go find the kid. I'm sure your commander will get pretty ticked off if you get back without him."
"Ticked off is an understatement, he'd most likely want my head on a stick.", taking up her offer, me and Amy went around searching for Reiner.
Passing through winding streets, looking in alleyways, asking people, the lot; no one seemed to have seen a tall boy with blonde hair and a strong build.
"It's like he turned invisible or something...", Amy noted, when we met up again in front of the military police's main building.
"Well... let's take a look back inside then... What harm can it do, right?"
"Yeah...", as we entered and swept through floors, I heard a familiar whisper. Just around a corner, the shadow eerily similar to... "Reiner!", I called, seeing the figure yelp from the scare.
"Martha! Hi!", he tried to cover up his weird expression.
"Yeah right? Fancy meeting you here! Who are you talking to?", before the other person could escape, I walked up closer and turned the corner, seeing a small blonde girl with blue eyes. "Oh hi there."
"Hello."
"So... Reiner, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?", the whole situation felt far too awkward and strange for my liking. Clearly, we had interrupted something.
"..Oh, of course! Martha, this is my childhood friend Annie Leonhardt. Annie this is lieutenant Martha Krieger."
"Pleasure to meet an old friend of Reiner's.", I nodded.
"Likewise."
"Anyways, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Reiner here has some business to attend. Let's go.", I waited for him to turn around and start walking, letting us three pass the hallway and leave the main building before saying anything. "What the hell were you thinking, Braun?!", just the thought of him having the audacity to leave like that without warning anyone was enough to make my blood boil.
"I can explain...", he tried to appease me but there was no excuse.
"We are on a mission, not on a fucking field trip, do you understand?!"
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to trail off like that. But it'd been so long since I last saw Annie that I couldn't help my-"
"Oh, shut up. The well being of the Corps is above all else. What if you got captured by enemies? It's high time you start acting more like an adult, Reiner Braun. This is your one and only warning. Just try and pull off another stunt like that.", inhaling deeply to calm my thumping heart, I looked at Amy who'd been silent the whole time, listening. Did she think I was being to severe with him? Or too soft? Instead, she simply nodded in a comforting way, showing that she agreed. Lately, it'd become hard to know whether I was reacting too strongly to certain situations... I'd have to try and slowly regain my balance somehow.
Reaching the house, Levi and Sheila were inspecting the gear and I sent Reiner to get us something to eat. Sitting down on the bed, my lids felt heavy but I didn't know if there was enough time for a quick nap. A loud crash came from the kitchen and instinctively I jumped off the bed and ran to see what had happened.
Reiner had merely slipped in a fallen fork and let the bowl containing the bread and fruit shatter onto the floor. Levi came in slowly as well, ordering the boy to clean up the mess and requesting my presence in the living room.
"Your friends gave us enough gas to last us for about three days-"
"Sorry it's not more but even we have supply limits when is comes to things like this.", Amy apologized.
"Don't worry, you helped us more than enough already.", I smiled.
"Proceeding, there is a house in there that we can use, it's probably half falling apart but it will do."
"How did you guys get us a house in there as well?", what kind of connections did they even have down there?...
"It wasn't us.", Sheila noted.
"The house is mine. It's the old house I lived in. I still have the key. It's going to be a quick operation in and out. No more than two days and a half.", the captain continued.
"What about the horses? Can they stay up here?", I asked the girls.
"Of course. We'll get them to the military stables. They'll be safe."
"Thank you. Seriously, you have no idea how much you're helping.", it was so kind hearted of them. I suppose that's what friends are for but still, they had really outdone my expectations.
"Don't mention it, Martha."
"I owe you guys, big time."
"You sure do, girl.", Amy chuckled. "Well, it's been fun but we should get going back to our stations. Here's the note you need to show the guards at the Underground's entrance in order to get in and out.", she left a small letter sealed with lacquer and, with a tight hug they both left the house.
"Your friends sure are something else, Martha.", Reiner noted.
"When in private, you'll be addressing me as 'mam' or 'lieutenant', Braun.", I spat, the accident of early still fresh in my memory.
"I'm sorry, mam...", he mumbled, slumping down on the floor and checking his 3-d gear. Out of the corner of my eye, Levi nodded, as if telling me to meet him in the bedroom.
"What's the matter, sir?"
"What was that back there? Didn't take you for the power hungry type.", maybe I'd been a bit too harsh to Reiner...
"I'm sorry, sir... It's just that Reiner wandered off alone without telling me and-"
"He wandered off... Braun!", the man yelled. The boy was then punished with the task of cleaning the whole house and future task of cleaning the Underground house. Plus one hundred laps when we got back.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, my eyes closed on their own, forehead leaning into my palm. No matter how much I tried to stop myself from thinking, the sight of the outlaw leader on the ground, mouth gaping in terror and glazed eyes... it made my insides turn. I mean... it should've made me feel like that but... back then I'd enjoyed doing that to him, despite having multiple opportunities to stop and spare him but I just wanted him to die and couldn't stop myself. What made my insides churn was the fact that I'd want to do that to a person, another human like me. Killing titans was one thing but... killing humans.. it was barbaric.
"Oy, what's the matter with you?", Levi asked, sitting on a chair on the corner of the room.
"Nothing, sir... I'm just a bit tired..."
"I need you at one hundred percent down there." I need you. Those words hit me at the pit of my stomach, before the rest of the sentence soothed that initial shock wave. Of course he needed me to be focused but it's not like he needed me. "There's still sometime left, you should use it to restore your energy. Take the bed and rest up. I'll wake you before we leave."
"Thank you, sir.", he left me alone in the room and I laid over the covers, drifting into a calm sleep in a matter of seconds.