(A/n) I'm sorry for such a delay, I'll work harder in updating frequently. Thank you all for reading.
Much to our surprise, the place we were meant to rob that day was all but closed. Apparently, it'd been turned into a bathhouse. We didn't get too close at first, thinking about how to adapt the plan to the current circumstances. It actually made things so much easier. They weren't checking anyone that entered and there were so many people that no one would notice us, if we didn't call for attention.
As arranged, we went in at separate times, the captain and I eying Reiner from across the mixed bath so that he'd put the plan in motion. Levi had already scouted the place quietly inside, finding the room that likely had the vault in it.
"Hey! What the fuck!", Reiner yelled, bumping into a random man getting out of the water. "Watch where the hell you're going, old man!"
"Who do you think you are?! I'll teach you brat to not disrespect your seniors!", the man yelled, pulling his fist back to throw a punch at the kid.
"I'd like to see you try, old rag!", the blond laughed, easily dodging. It wasn't too long before several guards came to separate them and, with Reiner purposefully resisting, more came to help throw him out.
That was when the real work began. Sneaking past the unguarded door, Levi and I entered the chief's main office. The second it took to open the door and get inside, my heart was pounding immensely, fearing an ambush inside. Luckily, no one was there.
"Is this it?", I asked, looking around and failing to see anything of interest.
"Yes, I'm sure. Look there.", he pointed at a large box that seemed like a clothes or archive desk at first but, upon looking closely, revealed itself to be a safe box, closed by a lock.
"It's locked... Shit. Where would he keep the key?"
"On himself. He'd never leave it anywhere someone could steal it.", the captain answered, searching the desk for something while I examined the lock.
"Then how are we going to do this? We've come all this way...", I was feeling disheartened. We couldn't carry the safe outside without being seen and we didn't have a key. The captain walked over and kneeled beside me.
"Go check if someone comes. I'll pick the lock."
"You know how to?"
"I've lived in the Underground for over ten years. If I didn't, I'd been dead a long time ago.", he answered, falling quiet and focusing on picking the large lock with a few pieces of metal. Meanwhile, I kept a close eye on the outside, to check if any guards came to check on the office. Being found there with our hands on the safe would be the end for both of us, specially in our state. I heard footsteps just outside, but through the key hole, there was no one walking near. The stillness in the air suffocated me, anticipating any movement coming from the knob but none came and eventually the man walking through the hallway completed his round and left.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I looked quickly at Levi, asking how much longer would it be, since we were definitely running out of time before the guards returned from chasing Reiner. He was instructed to do everything in his power – without getting himself killed or maimed – to disturb and draw the guards out of their stations. Soon he'd run out of ideas and they would most likely stop going after him and head back.
Footsteps echoed again in the hallway and this time, the man was coming forward, towards the door, already stretching out his hand for the knob. There wasn't enough time to tell the captain what was happening, my mouth was completely mute and I dragged him brutally out of where he was and under the desk with me, covering both our mouths with sweaty palms. Not a moment later, the door swung open and the footsteps entered the room, circling it, probably looking around.
For a second, I panicked, thinking Levi had left the lock picks inside the lock and felt my heart beat even faster and louder, so much so, that I could swear it almost echoed inside the room. This was, however just my imagination of course and it slowed a bit, when the captain, probably feeling my pulse pressed against his lips, lifted up the utensils so that I could rest easy.
The footsteps started closing in and the man stood just one step away from where we were hiding, under the desk, cramped up between the wooden panels and the small chair. If he decided to sit down, he'd find us and it would be over, unless we subdued him fast enough. He mumbled some things I couldn't understand, such was the state of my pulse deafening me with loud thumps.
He decided that it was time to leave since all was in order and closed the door behind him, leaving us free to breathe, which I noticed I hadn't been doing for a while now. Letting go of the captain's face, my hand was now covered in warm spit and he scoffed, annoyed at me.
"You could've warned me instead of doing that.", he spat as he cleaned his mouth with a sleeve and got back to work.
"I'm sorry, sir. There wasn't enough time.", to which he simply hmmed back, completely focused again. It wasn't long before he'd managed to pick the lock and, despite there not being an immense amount of money, it was a fairly good amount. Certainly not as much as we needed but... not a bad start. Now, there was only the problem with the guard immediately on the other side of the door. The room only had that one entrance, with no windows or anything, being only illuminated by a large oil lamp diffuser on the ceiling. Although Levi refused to admit it, I was more than certain that he was still pretty beaten up so he couldn't fight the huge guard outside. Our only option would be to knock him out quickly inside the room and then escape with money stuffed down our clothes.
The captain closed everything back up after taking the money and I prepared to take down the beast. We knocked over a large paperweight, so that the man would hear something inside the room and get in. He did so and, as he entered, the captain closed the door behind him and, as he turned to see the other man, I caught hold of his neck with my leg and arm by jumping and crawling up his back and, twisting tightly, he collapsed on the floor, completely out.
"I'd never seen that used outside the Underground District, where'd you learn it?", Levi asked, helping me drag the body out of sight.
"Sir, I'd love to answer but right now I just reeeeally want to get out...", was my answer and, before you know it, we'd gotten out. It'd been a success.
Outside, Reiner was instructed to wait at Montagne's house for us, so that we could leave immediately after the heist. As planned – for once – he was there, already completely packed and ready.
"How'd it go?", he asked.
"According to plan.", I replied, relieved that he hadn't sustained any serious injuries. "Did they beat you up?"
"Huh... A bit.", he laughed, "But I'm tough, I can take it."
"Great. Let's leave then.", I urged everyone. Thanking Montagne and apologizing profusely for the inconvenience, we left her place and rushed toward the entrance to the surface.
"I can't believe we're finally out.", Reiner sighed, smiling. "How I've missed the sunlight."
"You can say that again...", I sighed as well, relieved that it was over. The mission had been a success in spite of everything that had happened.
"We still have to get back to the Corps' Headquarters. Don't be too happy just yet.", Levi remembered, turning our smiles into serious frowns way too quickly.
"We're a day early, I believe... I should contact Amy and Sheila to get our things back.", I thought out loud, thinking about what would be our moves from there on.
"The captain should rest for a bit; he still looks pretty injured.", Reiner noted, and my eyes turned to see Levi's figure and were startled by how white he appeared.
"Sir, are you okay? You seem sick."
"I'm fine. Stop-", he had stop and lean against the wall, clenching his stomach, before throwing up what we had eaten for breakfast and lunch so far. Seeing that, made my own guts churn but he seemed to be suffering a bit.
"Sir?", Reiner asked, dropping his things and aiding the captain back on his feet. "You must've caught something while you were weak from the injuries...". The captain... sick? Oh no... No way. "Mam, you should help the captain, I can carry the bags.", the blond offered but I simply couldn't. Touching Levi while he was sick... I knew it was bad and despicable of me most likely but I just couldn't, every fiber of my being urged me to not even get close to him. For now, the man was silent, almost dozing off walking slowly as we made out way to the safe house.
Even with my own injuries, I insisted on carrying the bags myself, so that I was excused from helping Levi, however much of a bad person that made me. We stopped for half an hour and while Levi and Reiner rested sitting on a few steps near the Military Police's headquarters, I went inside to search for Amy and Sheila, so that they could open the house for us again.
We got there about fifteen minutes later, the girls excusing themselves for a while to get us some food and clean medical supplies, seeing the miserable state we were in. Levi threw up again and was put in bed rest with a glass of sugary water by his bedside, so that his upset stomach would calm a bit. He also had a low fever, something that was fairly common paired with that sort of thing and so, gathering all my strength, I went there to pressed cold water towels to his forehead. He was sleeping peacefully at the time and, even though it was bad that he was sick, I couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that he was forced to rest for a while, not having a chance to avoid it.
Then, I remembered. My hand on his mouth, completely covered in spit and instantly, I had to run to the bathroom and scrub the skin so hard that it was pulsating in protest. I didn't care if it even drew blood, for all it mattered it was the left one. However much I scraped it with soap, it was still there, still felt like it was contaminated and it was impossible to remove. I prayed I wouldn't get sick as well.
"So... how long are you going to wash your hands for...?", a voice came from inside Levi's room.
"What...? Oh, sorry sir. Did I bother you?"
"I didn't know you had a phobia of sick people...", he commented.
"Well... I- Yeah...", I sighed, feeling ashamed of myself. It was such an awful weakness of mine, to be so crippled by those intrusive thoughts, I swore I'd try to control them before but it was nearly impossible to get a hold of once they started pouring in.
"I'm not judging you, don't give me that sad dog look, it doesn't suit you. I'm not exactly an example my self.", he scoffed at himself. "A neat freak..."
"You must be feeling pretty gross yourself, sir. I could call Reiner to help you, if you can't take a bath-"
"Don't. Just don't talk about it.", clearly he was uncomfortable himself with his own uncleanness so it would be best to not mention it. I thought about something to change the subject and sat on a chair, on the far end of the room.
"You wanted to know where I learned that move, right?"
"Yes, that's right. I've never seen it done outside the Underground except by people who came from down there. You said you'd never been down there before; were you lying?"
"No, but the person who taught me came from there. She was Feng's daughter, the previous owner of that place that we robbed."
"Feng had a daughter...? I think I remember her vaguely... But wait, is this the-"
"I firmly believe it's her that's been sabotaging us these past weeks. Ray's her name."
"Ray... I knew her. Back when she was a small brat.", he replied, seemingly remembering something.
"Really?"
"She was this quiet kid, very shy and afraid of everything."
"No way, sir. The Ray I knew wasn't at all like that.", thinking back at my memories of her, the good ones was nostalgic. I couldn't believe she was alive...
"Well, she used to be, at least. Feng was an old merchant I had very few exchanges with but, whenever I went there, she was always hiding behind him. Never once talked to me."
"You have to admit, sir. You're pretty scary sometimes. Specially if we're talking about a small child here."
"I was never good with children, they're too troublesome..." he trailed off.
"So, how are you feeling now? A bit better?"
"I suppose. It was nothing, really."
"You should rest some more, I'll let you sleep and if you need anything, all you have to do is call out and either Reiner or myself will come to help you. Just focus on getting better, please."
"This is all unnecessary bullshit, Martha, I'm getting out.", he tried to get up but I gently pushed his shoulder down again.
"You need rest. Your lack of rest was what put you in this bed in the first place, sir. Now, with all due respect, lay down and stay there until you stop spilling your guts out and don't have a fever anymore.", while it was said in a calm voice, I felt a little angered and it came out between gritted teeth. How could he be so careless with himself, he'd only be a nuisance later on if he didn't heal properly. Needless to say that, after he laid back down again, I had to go wash my hands once more, already feeling the sting of the soap touching the irritated skin. He was asleep by the time I left the bathroom.
There were still a few hours of daylight left and I didn't want to be idle at home so, requesting that Reiner tended to the captain while I was out, I headed to the bookshop that's caught my eye when we first arrived.
Saying it was modest was an understatement, it was nearly falling apart, with nearly no shelves remaining completely horizontal and a few books were already being chewed by mice. The owner was an elderly woman, very nice and kind that seemed overwhelmed with the amount of work she had. Adding to the usual weathering of age, she also had bony arms and fingers and with every step it seemed like she'd fall apart from shaking so much.
"I don't get a lot of visitors anymore, dear. You're a sight for sore eyes.", she smiled showing a couple of teeth. "Looking for something special?"
"I was wondering... Do you have a book by the title 'Icarus'?"
"I'll check...", she ran through the shelves and found it, handing it to me. The book was in perfect condition, completely new. It was nothing compared to the old one in the captain's office, it had a hard spine engraved in silver letters, the leather was so smooth there was no way I could describe it.
"Wow... it's beautiful... I'm betting it's worth a fortune..."
"Not that much. I'll make a special price for you.", the lady offered but, even after the 'special price', it was still way too expensive for me to afford. So, I proposed working to help her with the shop in exchange for the book.
After returning to the house, I checked the captain's room, to see if he was resting and was glad that he looked soundly asleep.
"How is he, Reiner?", I asked, entering the kitchen, where the boy was munching on some bread.
"Tried to get up at least twice, had to help him back onto the bed. Never seen someone who hated resting as much as the cap."
"Well, he's asleep now, thanks for taking care of him.", there was a moment of silence between us before the blond spoke again.
"Your friends were here earlier, mam. They wanted to know how the mission went but I didn't know what I could tell them.", as he talked, I thought about starting to make dinner, since there wasn't anything else to do.
"You didn't tell them anything right? You did well."
"Hum.. you want help mam? I-"
"Don't worry. You should rest as well. I can make dinner for us on my own, Reiner.", I turned a bit toward him and was glad to see him with his usual confident demeanor. He didn't seem at all phased by the last couple of days. "I'm serious, take the time to nap for a while, if you feel like it. We're safe here.", he nodded, saying he understood, but that he would rather do something instead of sleeping the whole afternoon. That said, he offered to chop some potatoes, while I seasoned some meat the girls had brought earlier and together we spent a quiet few hours, just chatting about casual topics.
"You understand you cannot mention what happened to any of the other cadets, right?"
"Yes, I thought as much."
"You all seem very close, it's great that you can trust each other so much. Keeps you alive longer, you know?"
"Well, I wouldn't say that... but I guess we are a tight bunch. Some of them are still a bit shaken up, knowing that Eren is a titan and all."
"That must've been quite a shock for you. Given his hate toward all titans..."
"Yeah, it was, but, it's still Eren. Some people never doubted him, though."
"You mean cadet Ackerman? Those two are nearly inseparable."
"You can say that again.", he chuckled, cracking his back and letting out a pleased groan. "How are you, mam?"
"What do you mean? I'm well, of course."
"You were hurt pretty badly down there too. Shouldn't you be resting?"
"I'm much better, Reiner, don't worry about me. Now, if you could take this to the captain, I'd appreciate it.", the conversation was interrupted, as I passed a tray with some water from the stew and small pieces of meat in it, so that the captain would eat something.