The following passed without incidents, Levi, Reiner and I scouting different areas separately so as to not draw attention to ourselves and before any of us noticed, it was the day of the criminals' arrival.
"Reiner, you better not get too involved, your safety isn't guaranteed. Stay in the vicinity if any of them decides to try anything, you can step in.", I warned. The main plan was that Levi would go alone and the kid and I were backup in case anyone else showed up.
"You brats ready?", the captain asked and with an affirmative nod from us, we all left to our designated spots. Of course, we had our gear just in case; the thugs wouldn't be expecting us so it wouldn't be needed but as a safety net it was perfectly suitable.
While Reiner was stationed further from the main building, to cut off any possible ambushes or reinforcements, I was much closer, in the house right in front of where the scene would take place, looking out through the window while standing in the dark of the abandoned apartment. Levi didn't even bother entering through the front door, using the gear to reach the second story right from the get go.
Of course the exchange of words was completely inaudible from that far away but the thin man sitting behind a desk only seemed intimidated for a minute, all the while Levi stood in front of him with a couple of small knives. We'd decided that taking the long titan killing swords would draw too much attention so each of us was armed with small daggers instead. I was so focused in the room on the other side of the street that I barely heard the rustling coming from behind me before a couple of arms grabbed me, trying to strangle me.
"Who the fu-", I was startled and felt my throat being compressed, quickly trying to release myself from the large man's grip.
"So you're the scum's pet?", the man commented, before I managed to kick him with my heel and swing one of my knives at him. From the other side, Levi's voice echoed for me to get out of there but it was nothing more than a whisper.
While I did manage to get free from the man's grasp, he also caught my hand and stole one of my knives in the process, stabbing the back of my 3d gear, rendering it practically useless. Of course, I only discovered this after jumping out of the window, having one of the cables launch at a nearly wall and the other remain inside the holster.
"Motherfucker-", I braced for impact and released the only cable attached, falling to the ground below and rolling for a few meters to reduce the impact. Good thing I shot myself up with Hange's weird medicine prior to all this, else I would've probably died in that room. Gunshots came from where Levi was and before I started running to where Reiner was stationed, I looked up and saw the captain's slim silhouette gliding out of the window with astonishing ease, like a bird.
My temporary trance was broken by the howls of goons who trampled each other running down the stairs, hoping to catch me and so, I began running, trying to confuse the men who chased us. A couple of them were after Levi, with 3d gear on as well, but it was fairly obvious that at least one of them wasn't very experienced in using it, having trouble keeping up with the captain.
In the meanwhile, Reiner wasn't in his station when I got there and, still being chased after so many blocks was tiring me out, the tangling and twining of the streets increasingly confusing after each turn. If this kept on, I'd get lost and captured for sure. How did they even know I was there?! I thought those were supposed to be lowly thieves! Above me, the captain's gear seemed to be losing gas and fast, he could barely keep proper thrust to propel himself forward. Turning a corner, I thought I'd lost the men enough to catch a breath but immediately I saw Levi colliding with one of the air-borne goons and falling heavily onto the ground.
"Captain!", the scream was involuntary and I ran to the location, were the man was already up and brandishing a knife. "Sir? Are you okay?", he was still on the floor, not moving. Had he hit his head? I couldn't check, the man was a direct threat, he needed to be dealt with first. Fuck, why this now?...
"I'm not gonna hurt him, the boss just wants a little chat...", the large framed man grinned, pacing slowly, looking for an opening. If he called for help, it would be the end... I had to be quick. He lunged toward me and there wasn't much time to think about a course of action so... I ran at him as well, hoping that all my training with titans would be enough to take this giant down.
But he wasn't as skilled as he appeared to be; he was slow and sloppy, used to take on people who didn't know the first thing about proper fighting and so after a few exchanges of blows, I got the upper hand and without a second thought, my blade severed the ligaments necessary for standing upright (Hange's obsession with titan anatomy translated into intense study of human anatomy as well so she nearly had me memorizing things like this). Should I kill him? Was the first thought after I saw him sprawled on the floor, so that he couldn't tell anyone were we'd gone. Before I even noticed, my knife had severed the link between his spine and the rest of the body.
"Captain?", I ran toward him, turning him slightly to see what had happened. He was alive and still breathing. All the adrenaline was making me shake, unable to keep him still while I tried waking him up. "Levi? Come on, I don't know how much longer the medicine will last and I can't find Reiner. Please just wake up.", it's not as if I was worried he would never wake up, I didn't even think about that, I just worried that I, in my state, with broken ribs and with the drug's effect wearing off, wouldn't be able to carry the captain to safety. But he started shuffling a bit and opened his eyes, frowning visibly, unlike his usual detached way.
"Shit...", he held on to his head for a moment, but we had to get going, so I urged him.
"I know, sir, but they'll catch up with us soon enough, is your gear working?", fuck.. with the fall, the metal had crunched up and the pump burst, making it impossible to use. Why the fucking fuck is everything going wrong?! This was supposed to be kind of easy money! "Here, grab on to me, can you even walk?", I helped him get up and held his arm over my shoulders.
"Yeah, I'm fine, shut up.", he darted, grunting, probably with the pain. He was certainly more hurt than he lead on but I didn't have anything to help with; our only hope was to either get to the house, or find Reiner. We managed to drag ourselves to a dark road, between two high buildings and then the effect of the drug passed completely. Every single injury up until then was starting to sting and fuck me if it wasn't making it hard to breathe.
"How are you... sir?", I managed to ask somehow. The captain was sitting up against the wall, head hanging low, in silence.
"-SS fine. Mm okay..", he mumbled. Was he sleepy? Now wasn't really the time to be falling asleep and, gathering up strength that still clung to my body, I got up and got him up as well. Hysterical screams came from around the corner and I prayed that the men weren't in the vicinities. I took off my gear and the captain's since they would give us away and psyched myself up to walk through the street.
"Martha... Martha!", Levi called out, loud enough that I'd wake up from my sleepwalking and stop. "I'm fine, let me go."
"Sorry, sir...", we walked slowly, against the wall, until the turning point. The ending of the street was a red light district. One of the many that lurked in the Underground and the whores and men who were busy in their lustful frenzy didn't seem to notice us. But in the far end, I saw and recognized one of the men that was chasing after me, even with my eyesight starting to blur. It wasn't very hard to notice him and the others, they looked like walking porcelain cabinets, large frame almost darkening the entire narrow street. Snapping my head to the other side, another one of them was coming. We were trapped.
"What?", Levi asked. "You know them?", I could only nod yes, feeling dread fill my thoughts and my pulse racing even more.
"What are we gonna do?", we were still walking amongst couples of half naked men and women but I wasn't even noticing the dirt beneath their fingernails or how poorly the women's makeup was done or even the whole animalistic feeling of the whole thing, only that we were going to get captured.
The captain's grip on my wrist tightened and he pulled me until I was against the cold wall. My eyes could only look between the men scouring the street coming closer and closer; they'd find us. My heart was thumping out of its chest and my shallow breath only sped it up even more, I felt like I was about to collapse. A hand grabbed my chin in place and heard Levi ordering something.
"Look at me, lieutenant.", I obeyed. He was fixed on me, way too close, I could feel his heavy breathing on my face, and, although my face was burning up and my muscles were tingling, aching to flee but unable to do so, I was certain that I looked livid with fear. "Make it convincing."
I didn't understand what he meant at first. Make what convincing? It wasn't until I felt him pull my chin to his face that I even realize what was happening. When our lips met, there was only shock; my eyes were open and the captain was just there and I felt the bruised half bleeding mouth against my own. Then it hit me.. Levi was kissing me. The hand that held my face in place slid quickly behind my head, pulling me further into the kiss. He backed up slightly only to do it again, this time more forcefully, pressing us tighter together.
This felt vaguely familiar; not the kiss, something else, the churn inside my stomach, the sweltering heat that rushed up to my cheeks, just how aware of his touch my whole body was, lighting up at the slightest contact. At this point, it's nothing but a vague memory of sensations. I closed my eyes, heart still pounding, only half aware that there were men looking for us and completely in tune with Levi's motions. His hair was now all tangled between my fingers, my neck had warm bite marks which I didn't really knew how had gotten there. All I cared for during those few seconds was the delightful low grunting roaring in the back of the captain's throat.
We broke off the kiss, avoiding eye contact. I felt like my heart would jump out of my mouth after all that touching. The men had long passed by, leaving us unharmed. Now we had to get home safely and the captain didn't look so good.
"Sir...? I-I think we're clear now.", even my voice was shaking with excitement and nervousness. And fear of course, but things were getting blurrier with time and I was starting to mix up all these feelings. Levi staggered and fell off balance but I managed to pull him up so he wouldn't fall completely. "Sir? Levi...?", he was kneeling on the ground silently, so I squatted down in front of him, trying to urge him to move. I reached out to lift his head and felt a blush rise to my cheeks, seeing the captain's half dazed face, tinted with a slight redness as well.
"M' fine.", he mumbled, frowning, getting up without help but letting me support his arm around my shoulders. "L'sen... we can't go to th.. 'ouse. They'll be th- ere."
He seemed to be struggling to even talk, the pain he was in was probably overwhelming yet he still insisted he was fine.
"Then where should we go?"
"I know someone.", he lead the way, nodding his head when I was supposed to turn corners until we entered a short alley and I knocked on the door he pointed to.
At first, it was silent on the other side but eventually a rustling came from behind the door and a nasal voice yelled out:
"I don't want no word of the Saviour here, you rats! Piss off!"
"We're not preachers!", I pleaded, still hoisting up the captain. He was now appearing to be at his limit, he needed treatment as soon as possible. The door opened and an older looking woman peered down at us, her inquisitive expression turning into concern as she saw Levi.
"Oh my! Mister Ackerman, what happened to you?", she asked, inviting us in and helping me with the man.
"Don't ask.", he replied and after that I was sure he'd passed out.
"You are?", she turned to me, carrying Levi to a bed and laying him down.
"I'm a member of the captain's team.", my leg gave out and I fell off balance, hitting the floor in a not so glamorous fall. "Ugh...", I grunted, sitting on the wooden floor and trying to regain focus.
"You guys seem pretty beaten up. Mind telling me what happened?", she asked, offering a hand to help me get up, which I gladly accepted.
"Well, it's confidential but we ended up being hunted by some men and now we're here...", she nodded, fixing her eyes on my still arm, in which the bandage had already been half torn and was probably oozing some nasty fluid.
"That looks nasty, you should clean it up, girl."
"Oh, yeah... I-"
"I'll help you. You seem pretty battered yourself.", she got up and left the room. Levi was unconscious and I had little to no idea of the extension of his injuries but, in my current state, I'd need help to even check on him so I could only wait for the woman to return.
"Here, all done.", she announced after wrapping up my arm again. "Now, about these bruises on your neck... I have an oint-"
"Bruises? What bruises?", I didn't remember being hit in that area. Seeing my confusion, she pointed at a door just outside our room; the bathroom. Looking at the darkening purple marks around my neck, an uncontrollable blush rose to my cheeks. They were bite marks... from.. the captain. Immediately, I was reminded of the kiss or kisses in the alleyway and quickly washed my face with cold water to try and take the red off my face.
"So, you want ointment for that?", she asked again.
"I'd appreciate that a lot Mrs...?"
"Montagne. And you are?"
"Martha Krieger."
"I'm sorry we have to meet in these circumstances, Martha. Levi here, what happened?", she measured his fever but surely he didn't have any.
"He fell while using 3-d gear."
"Oh. We need to see if he's bleeding inside. Did he cough up blood?"
"I don't think so.", this woman seemed to be familiarized with gear-type injuries. Rather an unusual skill to know in the Underground... How did Levi even know her? I was dying to ask but sharp pain in my rib area prevented me from speaking. "Hmpf...!", I whimpered, trying to hold out a cry, when I inhaled and another gash came through.
"What's the matter? Are you in pain?", I could only nod. "Well, I don't have a lot of things for that but I'll go check, you sit tight.", as if I was able to move... She came back with a weird mix of powders and ointments, it all seemed a bit sketchy but Levi trusted her enough to go there so it would have to be enough for me. "Take off your shirt, does it hurt here?", she grazed a finger on the tender skin in my back and I nodded violently so she'd stop doing it. The pain was getting to the point of making me nauseous. "You're going to feel cold and a slight sting, don't worry.", and then she applied a freezing paste on the area and after a few minutes it was numb.
"Wow, what is that?", it wasn't exactly painkillers, not on Hange's level but it was still pretty damn good.
"Just a home remedy my mom used to make for when we had deep injuries. I can give you some for when you leave. The effect isn't very lasting, although. I guess you can't have it all."
"Yeah.. We have to check the captain for injuries, he seemed to hit his head pretty hard when he fell.", Montagne walked to the bed and unbuttoned Levi's shirt, searching his torso and back for any signs of internal bleeding. This woman looked like the local physician, although still working with rudimentary things, it had been such a strike of luck that the captain knew her... I could hardly believe it.
Then I remembered that someone was missing. Reiner.
"I have to go.", I announced, getting up.
"You can't leave. You're injured.", unlike the other times she spoke to me, her tone was firm.
"I have to find a kid that was with us, we got separated."
"Didn't you say there were men searching for you? I understand you want to get the kid but you can't do anything dead."
"I have to go now, I need to find him before they do. Please, if the captain wakes up, tell him I went searching for Reiner. If I don't come back, I'm probably as good as dead. Thank you so much for taking care of us."
"I owned Mr. Ackerman a favor; I'm just repaying.", oh, so she owed him one.. well, that's settled. But the captain was the least of my priorities at that time; I had to hurry and find Reiner before the medicine's effect wore off.