A.N: Like I promised, Nikolo finally gets a chance to rest a bit, but I gave no such a promise about Sasha, so…

Chapter 51

Sasha watches as Jonas argues about who knows what, she wasn't really listening, with Mr. Berger, a merchant that she still referred to as Mr. Snob in her head. She looks around and sees that everyone else is ignoring them; Eric is talking with Timothy, the same man who had been the first to accept the pair of Marleyans in to their group when she brought them over. Samuel's helping a few other guys to unbox things, clearly no longer seeing the need for babysitting the pair of Marleyans every second. Even when Jonas raises his voice, like he does just now, Eric and Samuel pause only briefly to look at him before returning to what they were doing.

She can't help but call it process; two months ago, when they started this, she and Samuel were constantly on edge, afraid that either the merchants or the Marleyans, well, to be fair, mostly Jonas, would say something that would cause the other to get physical, but now no one seemed to have such a worry. Yes, Jonas was still being an ass and so were some of the merchants, but now it was far less hostile than back then. Friendly bickering even, she might dare to say. This was working; they were getting along!

…Well, a little group of their people and two Marleyans were; she hadn't seen much progress with the others. Of course, they might have started to warm up to someone else who they spent more time with, and Sasha genuinely hoped so. She doubted that'd be the case with Horst though; he was as hostile as ever. So much so that she still hadn't gotten up to confirming if he really was Grior's brother. She hadn't asked Jonas or Eric so far because she had wanted to ask Horst personally, but maybe it was time to give up on that.

With that in mind, once it was time for lunch, she pretty much dragged Jonas to a table with her and Samuel. Eric followed them too, making her wonder if it was out of curiosity or wanting to keep Jonas in line. Or both.

"What the hell!?" Jonas hisses through his teeth as Sasha pushes him down on a bench "This is kidnapping!"

"This really might not look that good in some people's eyes" Eric agrees as he sits down next to Jonas, nervously eyeing the Eldian soldiers around them who are eyeing him right back, some more subtle than the others. Fortunately, none of them seem exactly hostile, at least not in Sasha's eyes. Maybe the still a little nervous Marleyan with her saw it differently, though.

"I hate to say it, but I'm with Eric on this one" Samuel, the only one still standing, says "Really, this is pushing it. If you wanted to eat at the same table so badly, you could've at least picked one from the middle of the hall instead of one in a corner of the Eldian side of the hall."

Right, Sasha winces, she could've, should've, done that. Well, too late now.

"It's fine; no one's come after us yet, and when you two get back safely, everyone who saw will know it's safe" she reasons. This was one of the defenses she'd come up with against their protests "Samuel, you sit down, too. You're attracting attention!"

"I'm attracting attention? It's those two that everyone's looking at" the man says, but sits down anyway, next to Sasha "So, why did you do this?"

"Eh, no reason, really. Wanted to hang out?" she says, getting three identical unimpressed stares as a reply "Okay, for the most part. I also wanted to ask something."

With everyone's gaze on him, Jonas raises an eyebrow, asking: "And it couldn't wait until tomorrow or at least the evening? Or you couldn't ask me earlier today?"

She laughs sheepishly.

"Er, spontaneous decision?"

They are not impressed, she can tell. Jonas sighs.

"Why do I even expect you to make sense?" he asks, obviously giving up on the matter as he starts munching on his bread.

"I tend to wonder that, too" Samuel says, hissing in pain when Sasha elbows him. Eric has enough sense to keep quiet, but she can see from his face that he agrees with them.

"Well, since we're already sitting here, out with it" Jonas says "And it better be something you need me for and couldn't have just asked from Samuel."

Sasha huffs.

"C'mon, do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"Yes, I do" Jonas answers without hesitation. Sasha glares. Were it just the four of them here, she'd let him have it, but with the whole place full of people… well, she'll have to do it later.

"It's about Horst" she starts, and doesn't miss the glances Eric and Jonas give each other. She's also fully aware of Samuel's gaze on her, now.

Jonas sighs, asking: "What did he do?"

"Nothing, nothing" Sasha assures, wanting to fix the misunderstanding before it could really even occur "I was just wondering… how much do you know about his brother?"

She's watching Jonas, but she doesn't miss the way Eric tenses, then averts his gaze. Sasha frowns in confusion. Was the subject just making him uncomfortable, or did he know something that he doesn't want her to know?

"…Not much" Jonas says after thinking it over a little "Met him a few times. Normal guy, a lot like his brother. Decent company as long as you don't mention or aren't near any Eldians. And like I told you earlier, he was stuck here as a prisoner of war."

"You told them that!?" Eric hisses, getting some wary glances from the nearby tables, but Samuel motions the people to mind their own business.

"Thought it'd be better in the long run, to keep them from saying anything insensitive. And to keep Horst from catching them off guard with it" Jonas answers with a shrug. He addresses Sasha: "If you want to know something in particular, ask Eric. They're in the same unit."

Eric glares daggers at Jonas, but he just picks up his spoon, clearly done with his part of the conversation. Sasha hesitates, but since it could be even more awkward to ask later, her curiosity wins: "So… can I ask something about him? Just one detail?"

"…Well, I guess asking won't do any harm" Eric replies unsurely, the "but I might not answer" goes unsaid, but is clearly hanging in the air.

"Is his name Grior, by any chance?" Sasha asks, and Jonas choking on his soup feels like an answer enough. She knew it!

Eric stares at her, mouth agape, before getting himself together.

"…Guess it's not that surprising that you would've met him, but how'd you know it was him in particular? Is the resemblance really that big? I mean, they do look alike a lot, but to notice that you would've actually had to see Grior more than just pass him by… right?"

"I saw him pretty often, actually" Sasha shrugs "He had to work in a certain restaurant, and I was a regular there."

"Restau- ah" Eric interrupts himself, clearly thinking of something. He looks conflicted. Sasha glances at Jonas, but he's just staring at his bowl, like trying to make sure he won't look at any of them. She supposes he wouldn't be of any help.

"Can I ask something rather… bad?" Eric asks, finally having come to some conclusion. Sasha doesn't like the sound of it, but nods anyway "I know that the ones working at the restaurants poisoned wine with the Beast Titan's spinal fluid. If you were a regular customer, how come you weren't affected? Or were you among the lucky few who were out of range when it was… you know?"

Ah, that. Sasha hadn't known these two knew about it. Honestly, she'd wondered about it herself a few times, too; she had wondered why Grior hadn't poisoned her. Sure, there could have been a few times when he tried and Nikolo stopped him, but if the guy had really wanted her gone, she was sure he would've found a chance to poison her. From what she'd heard, Yelena had told them to leave the Levi squad out of it due to Eren's request, but with how often she snuck in to the restaurant, Grior could've claimed that she poisoned herself by accident. Why hadn't he done that?

"I'm not really sure" Sasha says "Maybe I just got lucky?"

Jonas snorts at that, and Sasha expects him to throw some more or less insulting comment, but when he says nothing, she frowns, asking: "What?"

"Nothing" he says quickly, too quickly. He wasn't the type to hold an insult in, so what was it about?

"That would've been some really major luck" Eric comments "Are you sure they weren't working with someone from your side, someone who told them to leave you alone?"

So, it occurred to them. She didn't mention Eren because him knowing about the tainted wine wasn't a widely known fact, she doubted that even Samuel didn't know, and the info couldn't be allowed to spread around, not even among Marleyans.

"…I can't answer that" is what she settles on saying. It might have been wiser to pretend she didn't know anything, but she didn't want things between them to get awkward or even hostile just because she decided to lie. She just hopes that the look Samuel's now giving her doesn't mean she's in trouble with him.

"Fair enough; military secrets and all" Eric says, putting his hands up as a sign that he wasn't going to pry. He gives Sasha a wry smile "But of course I had to try to fish for some info."

"You what!?" Sasha gapes at the man, who is still smiling but somehow manages to look apologetic at the same time.

"You mean you didn't notice?" Samuel asks, muttering under his breath that he probably shouldn't be surprised. Then he turns to Eric, saying: "And I don't get why you admitted that without even being accused of it."

Eric blinks. Twice. Then, he shrugs.

"Should I have hidden it?" he asks "We're all soldiers; it's a given we'll try to get information from the other side if we can. And while I wouldn't admit it like that in front of just anyone here, I think I'm talking for both of us when I say that we've concluded you two to be the type of people who wouldn't try to silence us even if you accidentally let something classified slip."

Sasha hadn't considered it a given, but maybe she should have, for he did have a point. But that was irrelevant. The relevant part was Eric's obvious trust in them, which seemed to go to higher levels than she had thought. She smiles widely.

"Silence no, but you can expect some blackmail attempts from me if Sasha says too much" Samuel says with a grin. Sasha elbows him in the stomach for that. Hard. But she doesn't miss the laughter of the other two as she does.

XXXXX

"You're starting look so much better"

Despite not having looked in to a mirror much lately, Nikolo didn't doubt his mother's words for a second. While he was still getting drugged, Dr. Becker still used syringes to confirm he didn't get rid of anything he was supposed to take, it wasn't as much as it was before. Or perhaps it was a different, not as bad drug. He wasn't sure, but the point was that he was now mostly aware of his surroundings even when drugged and could also move, though it was sluggish.

"I'm starting to do better"

Physically, at least. His mind was a mess. On one hand, he now had a good chance of actually getting out, but on the other, the guilt of the things he had yet to do but had promised to do was eating him up. Of course, he was planning to minimize any damage they'd try to make him do, but he was sure he couldn't get away with doing nothing at all.

Judging from the smile on her face, his mother likes his answer. And as long as his mother approves, his sister seems to, too. It might be horrible of him, but Nikolo was rather convinced that Bianka was there only to make sure he didn't upset their mother any further. Not that he could really blame her; there was nothing she could do for him no matter how often she'd visit, but she was able to act as emotional support for their mother. It was only natural that she did, as much as she could with her own family taking up her time.

And now that he thought of them, he realized he hadn't seen the kids in a long time. How old were they again? He couldn't remember, and he really hoped it was just because of the drugs. Dominik was already in school, that much he remembered, and he was pretty sure that little Nikolo wasn't old enough for it yet… or was he?

"How are the kids doing?" he asks his sister. He couldn't straight out ask her to remind him how old they were, neither her or their mother needed to know how out of it he was, but asking that was safe. His sister looked surprised by the question, but she does answer: "The boys are doing fine" she pauses, but then adds "…Dominik keeps asking when you'll get better. Nikolo too, though I think he's just mimicking his older brother."

Nikolo was touched, though it might've been better for the children if they didn't miss him. What had they even been told? That he had an accident at work and had to be hospitalized because of it? If they had been told that he was sick, how much details had they gotten? Were they old enough to understand the concept of sickness of mind?

"Adele's growing stomach tends to get most of their attention these days though; the boys are excited about their cousin" his mother adds, and Nikolo blinks. Adele's what?

"Adele's pregnant?" he asks. Ulrich hadn't mentioned anything about becoming a father… or at least, Nikolo didn't recall him doing so, but maybe he had just been too out of it? What else had he missed?

"Oh my, your brother didn't tell you?" his mother asks, now looking a bit worried. Bianka is clearly surprised too, which convinces Nikolo that he had simply missed the information "He probably did, and I was just too out of it to register it. Sorry."

"Ah yes, you haven't been in the best of conditions" his mother says "We must be tiring you out now, too. Should we leave?"

Nikolo considers it. He is tired, due to the drugs, but still, and it was clear that his mother and sister would both be cautious of what they'd say around him to not upset him in any way, so having a conversation about anything important was impossible. But he missed them.

"No, it's okay" he decides, leaning against the wall. He's been sitting upright on his bed the whole time, but it's time to give himself some slack "Stay. And maybe talk about… I don't know, anything? How's grandfather? How's Victor doing? I might zone out while you talk, but I'd like to know."

That worked. His mother started talking, first about Victor's law studies, and visibly relaxed the more she told. She sat back down on the desk chair as she did, the only chair in the room, perhaps Nikolo should ask for one more, and Bianka leaned against the desk, realizing that they weren't leaving any time soon. Not that she seemed to mind; as long as their mother was happy, she was happy… or well, happy enough to not bother him. And that was all he needed right now.

As happy as Nikolo himself was to hear that his little brother was doing great, about how Ulrich and Adele were trying to decide the name of the baby, about how well the family business was doing and so on, he soon felt his eyelids drooping closed against his will. Well, he thought as he stopped fighting it, it's not like he hadn't said he might not hear it all. A quick nap wouldn't hurt.

XXXXX

The day hadn't been all that tiring, the physically hardest days for someone stationed at the harbor being the ones a little before and after ships arrived, but despite that, Sasha was glad when the day's work was finally done and she could finally go lie down. There had been a bit of an incident when few Garrison soldiers, Daz among them surprisingly, had gotten in to an argument with a pair of Marleyan soldiers. Low ranked ones, fortunately, and no superior of theirs in sight, so Sasha hadn't worried about stepping on any toes when she marched to interfere. Apparently, the pair of young Marleyans had simply been a bit too mouthy and let their distaste show openly, which had eventually made one of the Garrison members snap something not too kind back. Sasha could understand the desire to do that, but really, all of the three Garrison soldiers had to be at least a decade older than either of the two Marleyans, so in her opinion, they should've acted smart and had more self-restraint. And she let them know that, right there on the spot in front of the Marleyans. That made Daz and his friends not too happy with her, she could tell, but all in all she didn't regret her decision, for the other two had clearly found it amusing and got a good laugh out of it. Their sudden good mood was what kept the situation from escalating from there, she was sure, and even when she dared to point out to them that they could use a bit kinder wording while on the island, they just laughed it off with "sure sure." While Sasha would've preferred an apology or at least some kind of assurance of them behaving better from now on, having solved the situation with the soldiers from the outside in good mood and the soldiers from their side rather pissed at her, she'd need to apologize to them later, she supposed, she couldn't complain. Things could've gotten a lot worse.

Unfortunately for her sleep schedule, she found someone standing in front of the barracks, clearly waiting for someone. The lighting is dim, but the white uniform stands out; a Marleyan. For a moment, she fears something's wrong and the soldier's there to cause trouble, but then she mentally scolds herself for it. She was supposed to be the optimistic one! Furthermore, as she gets closer, she realizes she knows who it is.

"Jonas? What are you doing here?" she asks. She supposes there's a chance that he was actually waiting for Samuel and got the wrong place, or small chance that he was there for Jean or someone else, but she concluded that he was most likely waiting for her.

"Something stupid, probably" he says with a sigh "But there's something I think you have to know, even if I'll get in trouble for this later."

Alright, so that didn't sound good. Should she tell him to go back? The conflict must've shown on her face since he says: "Not the Threatens My Life -kind of trouble, but more like someone, and possibly also you, won't talk to me after I tell you this -kind of trouble."

That didn't sound good either, but now Sasha definitely wanted to know what it was about. As she was sure that whatever this talk was going to be about, it was better to be kept between the two of them, she told him to follow.

They walked rather far under the starry night sky, to the edge of where unofficial Marleyan territory, an area mostly occupied by the Mareyan soldiers even though it was still of course on Eldia's soil, began. Sasha considered herself to be a rather reasonable person, but just in case whatever Jonas would tell her would be bad, she wanted him to have a possibility for a quick retreat. Sometimes she had quite a temper, or so she'd been told. Plus, it would help keeping Jonas from chickening out.

Leaning against a dark storage building, Sasha took a deep breath, telling herself that she was and would remain calm. Whatever Jonas had to say, it couldn't be that bad. He was just being overdramatic, or worried too much about some little thing. Hopefully.

"Alright, out with it. I promise not to interrupt before you're done" she says, hoping that if she manages to hold on to that promise, she'll have time to think things through and won't overreact to whatever Jonas has to say.

The fact that the man standing in front of her was unusually jittery didn't help to calm her nerves.

"Right, good. Well, here goes. So, I haven't been completely honest with you. In fact, I've told you a direct lie, one that you're gonna be mad for. Remember that time you asked me what the name of my partner at work was? Back when I was here for the first time, during the storm?"

"…Yeah?" Sasha confirms after throwing the words around in her head for a while. She vaguely remembers such a conversation, it was about the letter Jonas always had if she remembered correctly, but she couldn't come up with what this could possibly have to do with anything.

"I lied back then. I don't even remember what alias I gave, but that wasn't his real name. That guy's name is actually Nikolo."

Sasha blinks, her face going slack once she actually processes what he'd said. Nikolo. Jonas had been working with Nikolo. Why had he lied when she asked? Also, didn't he say that his partner was booted out of military and now in a hospital? Just what had happened to him?!

Fear grasps at Sasha's heart, and she clenches her jaw shut and swallows even though her mouth is dry. The palms of her hands are getting sweaty, but she squeezes them in to fists and presses her mouth in to a thin line. She had so many questions and she wanted to demand for answers, but she had promised not to interrupt, so she wouldn't. She needed to hold herself together and hear the rest of it. Jonas had warned her that this would be something she didn't want to hear, and that added to her anxiety but surely, surely Nikolo had to be alright, right?

"Continue" she managed to let out when the Marleyan no longer spoke, simply watching her, looking a bit weary. She didn't blame him; she probably looked quite angry. And she was angry. Why couldn't Jonas just have told her the truth earlier? If he had, maybe she could've passed on some message, one that might've been able to help Nikolo somehow, however unlikely that was.

"Yeah so, I knew he'd been to here, as one of the war prisoners and all that, and it was actually him who dared me to come here the first time. He would've come himself, too, but he was forbidden from doing so by the higher ups; apparently, it could've been too much for him."

Sasha was glad to hear Nikolo had tried to come back, and glad to know that it hadn't failed due to something going horribly wrong. The more Jonas spoke, the more she wanted to ask questions, but she held herself back to hear more. He told her about the letter Nikolo had written, about why he'd hesitated to give it to her at the beginning and the completely different reason he'd hesitated later, and how it had burned down in the fire, that accident making a decision for Jonas. The man mentioned how he'd later figured out that Nikolo had made the letter so rude on purpose in case someone else read it too, and while Sasha had figured that out herself, deep down hearing someone confirm what she thought put her more at ease. He told her about his talk with Nikolo, about how he'd confirmed the man's true thoughts about Paradis. Hearing these things filled Sasha with warmth, and she found herself smiling as Jonas continued his tale.

Until he got to a certain night when everything went wrong.

He didn't have much details, but what he did know was that Nikolo had gotten in to a lot of trouble for defending Eldians, and even more so after attacking an officer who'd killed one of them, so much so that he was declared crazy and ended up in a mental hospital. He told her that he'd asked Nikolo if the guy wanted him to get a word to her, but the man had said no.

"He was probably too ashamed or didn't want to risk getting you in to his trouble… or both" Jonas adds quickly when Sasha's face falls "What I'm sure of is that despite everything, he's not regretting defending those guys. He's… a good guy."

Sasha knew that, had known for years already, but she had to admit that she hadn't expected him to go that far. While she was glad that he had defended her fellow Eldians, knowing that it had cost him his career and future, probably caused trouble with his friends and family, she couldn't help but wonder if it had been worth it. Was it okay for his life to be ruined just because he fruitlessly defended the rights of others? Had it been fruitless?

"Did he at least make a difference? Did he manage to help someone, or did they all die?"

"Last I heard, one of the Eldians involved was still on the run. From what I gathered from a guy who's worked with both Nikolo and I, that particular one is a friend of his, as was one of the ones who died. I don't know if him managing to slip away had anything to do with Nikolo, though" Jonas shrugs, looking apologetic. Sasha takes a deep breath, squishing down the small part of her that was mad that Jonas didn't tell her the truth from the start. What was done was done, and him not trusting her at the beginning was more than understandable. And even if she'd known, what could've she done? Nothing, absolutely nothing. And she still couldn't, other than have faith. At least now she knew Nikolo hadn't stayed away on purpose.

At that thought, tears pricked at her eyes. She had doubted him. All this time he'd done all he could to keep his promise, yet she'd doubted him.

"Wha-? Hey hey, don't start crying now; Samuel's gonna kill me, assuming someone else doesn't find out first- "Jonas' panicked rant got cut off as he came just a bit too close, near enough for Sasha to throw her hands around his neck. He froze, but it didn't take him long to hug Sasha back as she cried on to his shoulder.

After she calmed down, Sasha's first thought was the realization of having stained Jonas' jacket. She hoped no one would notice or question him about it.

"Sorry" she says as she pulls away, wiping off the rest of her tears "I just got a little overwhelmed."

"All's good, and uh… I'm sure Nikolo's gonna be fine, eventually. I mean, he did manage to survive here for nine years, so he's kinda tough."

Sasha blinks, taking in the uncomfortable expression on the Marleyan's face. She'd never seen him this awkward before, and while he usually talked a lot, he didn't blabber like this normally. It was actually kind of funny, and if it weren't for the emotional toll his revelation had taken on her, she would definitely be making fun of him by now.

"No, wait, don't take it badly. I didn't mean to be insulting by that; I know you're fine, Samuel's fine, and I suppose Kirstein and Captain Grumpy are okay too, and some others as well most likely, but the fact is that many here hate us Marleyans, so Nikolo surviving for nine years is an achievement in that sense, right?" Sasha watched on, stunned by Jonas' rambling, but the man was edged on by her silence "I mean, of course he had you protecting him, or so I'd think, and you probably had some other people help too, so I guess it's no wonder he survived, but he's got even more connections back at Marley, so he'll no doubt be- "

Sasha couldn't help herself; she started to laugh, and when Jonas noticed, he cut himself off midsentence. Sasha knew she should assure him that everything was fine, the look on his face was too stunned to be left without an explanation, but she had trouble stopping.

"Sorry, that was rude" she says when she finally manages to stop laughing, and she doesn't miss the way Jonas visibly relaxed. Had he thought she'd finally lost her sanity or something?

"Does this mean you're not too mad at me?" he gets the courage to ask, and Sasha thinks about it for a moment. Was she angry? …Yes, a little. Not really about him not telling her that Nikolo had ended up in a hospital; that had been Nikolo's idea, but she was a little angry that he hadn't told the truth about the letter after they became friends. Not the "I'm going to avoid you and especially talking to you" -kind of angry, but more like the "I'm going to take revenge by pranking you or otherwise embarrassing you later" -kind of mad.

"Not too mad, yeah" she admitted, and she could tell from the slight frown on Jonas' face that he knew there was something hidden there. No matter; she was like a pro at this. Even if he kept his guard up, she'd get him sooner or later one way or other. Maybe she could even convince Samuel to help her, or maybe she could take a leap of faith and try to get Eric involved? After all, what better way was there to bond with friends than pranking your other friends together?

"You're already planning how to make me regret not telling you sooner, aren't you?" Jonas asks, and Sasha blinks in surprise. She hadn't realized he could read her so well, that he knew her so well, but it was… nice. All her close friends could tell with a single glance when she was up to no good, or so Jean had claimed, so she supposed Jonas was well on his way to that list.

"May~be" she said, laughing at Jonas' scowl.

She could've left it all at that. She could've said good night and they both could've gone their separate ways, but after what she had just heard, she knew she'd lay awake in her bed thinking about Nikolo if she headed to her room now. So instead, she asked Jonas to tell her something about him, about what they'd done together, anything at all. He agreed, though it was with a condition that she'd wouldn't tell Nikolo that he revealed some embarrassing stuff without giving him a warning in advance. She laughed, agreeing to it.

And they talked, Jonas convincing Sasha to share some tales of her own. Not that it was a hard task by any means; she was eager to talk about Nikolo again with someone who wouldn't judge or doubt. She told Jonas about the times she'd snuck in to the restaurant kitchen to get food, about the few times she'd taken Nikolo hunting, about that one time she'd convinced him to help her pull a major prank on Connie. Jonas told her about how he'd gotten Nikolo to admit the truth about his time on the island, about their work in the interment zone and how Nikolo defended the local Eldians.

Sasha was aware of the passing of time, of hours, but she chose to not let it bother her. She had work in the morning, they both did, but it's not like they were in the front lines; they could work just fine missing one night's worth of solid sleep. Or perhaps they could convince Samuel and Eric, who'd they have work with in the morning, to let them play hooky until lunch. And if Jean or even the captain caught them at it… well, totally worth it.

A couple of hours before dawn, or so Sasha thought, she caught a sight of something odd a little bit away from them.

"…Should anyone be walking around at this time?" she asked in a lower voice than she'd talked in earlier. Jonas, catching this, was immediately on alert as he looked behind himself, noticing the same silhouette of a person in the light of a lantern that they were carrying.

"Unless it's a patrol, no, but they shouldn't be walking around here. Not from our side, at least" he replies just as quietly, and a moment from then, they can both tell that the person is a Marleyan, or at the very least, dressed in one of their uniforms, its white color standing out in the dark.

Realizing that the person was headed their way, Jonas got off from the spot he'd sat down on hours ago and as Sasha followed suit, he motioned her to follow as they both pressed their backs against the storage building's wall, hoping not to be noticed. Sasha knew that getting caught wouldn't be too bad for her; it's not like she was trespassing or anything, and her hanging out with a Marleyan was nothing new, but for Jonas, it was probably another matter entirely. It went without saying that she didn't want to get him in to trouble.

The person came really close, but it didn't seem that he, Sasha could tell the gender from the silhouette now, had noticed them. Instead, his aim seemed to have been the storehouse they were leaning against from the start. Sasha bit her lip, wondering if this was something to worry about. The person might have been a night guard that had been asked to fetch something, or someone who'd forgotten to do something during the day and came to do it now, but just in case, she'd need to mention this to Jean or Hanji.

"Something's off" Jonas whispers once the person's gone inside, getting Sasha to look at him. The sun wasn't rising yet, and the nearest electric light didn't reach them, so it was hard to see, but she could imagine the worried look he must have been making "We're under specific orders to not come this close to the edge of our territory at night, especially alone. I think that whoever that was is probably up to no good."

Sasha's stomach churned; that was bad news. She voiced her doubts of the person being someone who'd just forgotten to handle something they were supposed to, but her suggestion sounded weak even to her own ears. Jonas agreed that it was a possibility, but they both knew that they couldn't just assume that to be the case and ignore what they'd seen.

Before Sasha could decide if she should follow the person or go wake Jean up, Jonas was already on the move, making the decision for her. She couldn't let him do this alone, so she followed him in to the storage building. In the beginning, they had no choice but to move very slowly, feeling around with their hands to not to walk in to anything, the crates and barrels in the place by no means in a neat order. Maybe the person who walked in before them had been supposed to tidy the place up earlier, yet had forgotten and had now come to do his job? It'd make sense, and the realization made Sasha relax slightly. Perhaps there was nothing to worry about after all.

She was about to voice this out to Jonas, she could still see him walking ahead of her, but kept her mouth shut when she realized there was light coming from the back of the building, and that there was too much of it for it to be from just one lantern.

Jonas rounded a corner first, and when Sasha came around it too, she quickly hid behind the crate opposite from Jonas' hiding place, but she wasn't sure if the man noticed as his eyes were focused on his fellow Marleyan hiding behind a barrel ahead of them. His lantern was already turned off, but the light coming from even further ahead made identifying him now possible. It was Horst.

The bad feeling crashed back in to Sasha's stomach, her earlier theory flying out the window. She didn't know the man that well, but she had a feeling he wasn't the type to forget his tasks. And if he was, he certainly wasn't the type to try to fix it alone in a place like this in the middle of the night. He'd be too wary, and as the final nail to the coffin, had that been what he was here for, he wouldn't be hiding. And what was he hiding from? From who? There was light, so there was someone here besides the three of them. At least two of them, Sasha was sure, for she heard voices.

"…And we're all set?" a voice she knew she'd heard somewhere, but couldn't place a face for, asked. She knew the man wasn't one of the scouts working at the harbor, but he was still probably one of theirs. Someone from the Garrison or the Military Police… or perhaps a merchant?

"Everything's ready; all that's left is waiting for the right time… assuming you still want to do this? We can always figure out a new plan if you change your mind. It's not too late to back down."

"I am prepared. Are the two of you hesitating to do your part? Have you even decided on which of you will do it?"

Sasha didn't know what "it" was, and while it sounded bad, her mind was whirling around something else entirely. She had recognized the second voice immediately, hearing it again and again day after day.

Samuel.

Cold sweat dripped down Sasha's back. She wanted to believe that this was a misunderstanding, that he and whoever he was with were just planning some prank or perhaps a surprise party or something, anything that was innocent, but the circumstances spoke against it. If nothing shady was going on, why meet up in the middle of the night? And why meet up so close to the Marleyan settlement? The only logical conclusion to that was that whatever they we up to, it had to have something to do with the Marleyans.

She turns to look at Jonas in his hiding place, staring at Horst's back. Perhaps he sensed Sasha's eyes on him, for he turns his head to face her not long after. They stare at each other for a moment, and the calculating look tells her that he's wondering if she knows what this is about. Fortunately, he seems to settle on that she doesn't as he motions her to stay quiet, to not move and to listen more. Sasha nods.

She hadn't listened as carefully while focusing on Jonas, but she'd heard enough to recognize the third voice. It was Daz, she was sure of it, but she still couldn't place the third one.

"We'll do this tonight, then. Now" the first man said, and Sasha still couldn't place a name and a face to the voice. If she did, she might have the guts to get out of her hiding place and go ask the three of them directly what this was all about, but now that she didn't know, it felt like too big a risk. But if they were planning on doing something now, did she really have a choice?

"No-now?" Daz stuttered, and while it was impossible to see him from here, especially his face, Sasha could easily imagine what it looked like. He was nervous, hesitant. Whatever it was that they were supposed to do, he was getting cold feet. That was good; perhaps his hesitation would spread to the others and they'd push back their plan at least for a night or two. That way, Sasha would have a chance to tell Jean and Hanji.

"Yes, now. I'm prepared. But if you can't do your part, I'm sure Samuel will be willing to swap places with you, or to handle both jobs if needed. Isn't that right, Samuel?"

There was a short silence, and Sasha already got to hope that Samuel would take Daz's side, but there was no such luck.

"I don't mind handling both jobs, if necessary, but I don't think switching roles around is a good idea. No offence, Daz, but you get nervous too easily. If you got all jittery too soon, you could give us away. I need to be the one to find the body, regardless of which of us kills him."

Sasha was torn between getting in a few big breaths to calm herself down and keeping herself from even breathing to not give herself away. All she could do was to direct a panicked look at Jonas, who was looking back at her with equally wide eyes. Clearly, he had no plan for the moment, either.

"N-no, I can handle my part! J-just a quick slice on the throat and then I can leave and pretend I know nothing when the body's found, right?"

"Exactly. Samuel's the one with the hard part, having to lead people here without getting them suspicious and find the body together. And act like he knows nothing, of course."

Who? Who did they plan to kill!? Sasha had no idea, aside from being sure that it had to be one of the Marleyan soldiers. They needed to be warned!

"Your sacrifice may not be known by Eldia, but we'll make sure to remember it until the very second we part from this world."

Sasha's just about to reach out a hand and signal for Jonas to leave, to go warn his comrades, when a loud thump distracts her. Head turning back to the front, she can see Horst having fallen to his behind, clearly shocked by something. She has no time to even wonder if the others had heard before she hears Samuel questioning the source of the sound out loud, and then footsteps. Trading one fast panicked look with Jonas, they both back away a couple of steps, losing the sight of Horst, but also eliminating the chance of having themselves spotted right away.

They could hear the shouts; Horst had been spotted. From the sounds of it, it seemed that he'd tried to run, but failed quickly, before he could even get past their hiding place. There were sounds of struggle, and soon it sounded like someone, most likely Horst, had been slammed to the ground.

"This is no good, no good, there weren't supposed to be any eyewitnesses! Now what do we do!? The whole plan's off!"

"…We have to change it. It won't go quite as intended, but it's not like we have any other choice but to kill him now, too."

Samuel's words reaching her ears, Sasha knew she couldn't let it happen. From the looks of it, Jonas made the same decision, but she hastily motioned for him to stay hidden, hoping that he'd follow that order before moving out of her hiding place.

"Wait!" was the first thing she thought to yell out as she walked in to everyone's line of sight. Samuel, having been startled by her appearance, had his gun pointed at her, but fortunately, he hadn't been startled enough to pull the trigger. Horst was getting up to a sitting position at the man's feet, a hand holding his bleeding temple. That injury needed to be checked, but what really worried Sasha was the sight of Daz behind Samuel, with a bloody knife in his hand. And where was the third man she had heard?

"Sasha!? What the hell are you- I almost shot you!" Samuel shouts, lowering his gun. Not putting it away, Sasha notes, just lowering it "What are you doing here?"

"I uh, couldn't sleep, so I… went for a walk? Yeah, and then I saw the light of a lantern and kind of followed Horst in here out of curiosity?"

Samuel stares at her blankly, and Sasha feels like he doesn't believe her.

"That sounds fishy!" it's Daz who points it out, but Samuel nods.

"The second part sounds like it could be the truth, but you wouldn't come for a simple walk in to this direction. What were you really here for?"

Of course, Samuel didn't fall for it. Sasha bites her lip, wondering if she should just point out that she didn't need to tell him as he wasn't her superior, but one look at the gun in his hand makes her reconsider. It's not like she suspected he'd shoot her if she didn't answer, but the fact that he didn't let go of the gun proved how on edge he was. Letting a nervous man, a soldier or not, hold a gun wasn't always the safest idea.

She glances at Horst, still on the ground, eyes darting between her and Samuel, or the gun to be more specific, looking like he was trying to decide on his next move. She hoped he wouldn't come to a decision anytime soon; if he tried anything, Samuel might panic and shoot him.

Sasha almost glances behind her, but manages to reach enough common sense just in time not to. She can't check if Jonas left to get back up or not, but in case he hadn't, she mustn't make his presence known. She was sure it'd complicate things even more.

Taking a deep breath, she decides to try a half truth: "Alright, so I was chatting with Jonas, way too near the Marleyan settlement for it to be a good idea, I know, but you can nag at me for that later. We lost the track of time, and I was finally on my way back when I realized that someone else- "at this she points at Horst "-was out and about too at this hour, and I got curious. And here we are, though I don't really get what's going on. What are you guys doing?"

Throwing a question of her own back at them might keep them from catching the lie, as they had to decide what to tell her. Of course, Sasha was hoping to get the truth, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't.

"It's confidential; we can't tell you."

"Why not? Do you have orders not to tell anyone anything?"

"…Yes"

Samuel had hesitated before he said that, Sasha could tell. Did that mean he was lying and they were acting on their own? It was possible, but the other option was that someone high up had given them an order to do something and he had first considered lying, but decided to go with the truth after all. She couldn't tell which it was, and Samuel's stoic face wasn't helping. Neither was Daz's nervous one; he always got like that when something went wrong, and he'd yet to calm down from finding her and Horst, so there was no change to his expression when Samuel spoke.

"Sasha, just trust me and pretend you didn't see anything. Go get some sleep while you still can, and if someone spots you coming, don't mention us and just confess you went to see Jonas. He'll back you up, and no one gets in trouble. I promise I'll explain everything when the time is right." Samuel's offer was a little tempting, but there were three problems with it: one, Jonas could still be in the building, and she'd have to be here to make sure things didn't get out of control if he got spotted. Two, he was telling her to leave, but he said nothing about Horst. While she didn't want to believe that those two were seriously considering silencing a witness, that's what it started to look like. She couldn't let that happen. And problem three, she still didn't know whose blood was dripping from Daz's knife, but since the third man of the group still hadn't shown himself, she had a guess. It didn't make any sense for them to hurt someone who sounded like their ally, but it seemed like they had done that. Why?

As she thought this over, she noticed that Horst had started moving away from Samuel, subtly moving himself while still in sitting position. At first, she though that he planned to get some distance between them before bolting, and she wasn't about to rat him out, but then she noticed an abandoned gun lying next to one of the crates. It wasn't the kind they used, or at least it looked different, so it probably belonged to one of the Marleyans, probably Horst himself. And he was getting closer to it little by little.

That was not good.

Trusting that Samuel was calm enough to not shoot her for sudden movement, Sasha dove for the gun, getting it just before Horst, who had clearly realized her intentions as he stopped being subtle and slid across the floor, did. It was a close call though; had she realized what was going on just a few seconds later, Horst would've been close enough to get the gun first.

"Don't move!" Samuel barks, and for a moment, Sasha thinks he's talking to her, but soon sees that the gun is pointed at Horst, as is her friend's attention. It was a relief, but the way Samuel now had his gun pointed directly at Horst was not.

"Let's not do anything we'd regret later, okay?" she tries, holding her own hands up, the gun she'd picked up still in her right one "Samuel, put the gun down."

"I can't; he's seen and heard too much"

"I probably heard as much as he did, though I didn't see what you guys are up to" Sasha counters, narrowing her eyes "Did I hear too much, too?"

She's trying to get under Samuel's skin by saying this, but a small part of her fears that she did hear too much. Thankfully, Samuel winces when he hears that.

"We trained to be soldiers together. You saved my life. We've worked together. I know I can trust you, and now I need you to trust me. Walk away, and pretend you didn't see anything. This is for Eldia's future; this will help us all."

Sasha wondered if the conflicted feelings she had were similar to whatever Eren had been feeling when he'd considered the option of using the rumbling. He had trusted his friends in the end though, much to their delight, so should she do the same? But even if she did just walk out, Jonas wouldn't, that much she was sure of.

"Alright, I'll trust you" she made up her mind "I'll leave, but I'll take Horst with me."

There was no way she could leave him here with those two, not when they'd outright said that they'd kill him. She needed to get him out; that should be her top priority now instead of finding out what was going on. And if she got Horst out, she could probably convince him to not tell his comrades to charge in here with guns in hand.

"No, he can't leave" Samuel said, his gun still pointed at Horst, but now his finger had moved to the trigger "For the last time, Sasha: go."

Fixing her own grip on her weapon, Sasha asks: "What if I don't? What will you do about that?"

She expected him to start trying to tell her to leave again, but instead, the gun in Samuel's hand moved slowly but steadily to point towards her instead. Sasha's eyes widened, not having expected him to do that. However, with the situation as it was, she was more and more aware of the fact that she too had a gun. Her reflexes were better than Samuel's, as was her aim, so if she could surprise him with a warning shot, then maybe-

"Don't move" Samuel said, and this time it was directed at her "Daz, cut his throat open."

"What? But what about- "

"No time to think about that; we need to improvise" Samuel cut him off harshly "Do it now."

Sasha felt all color drain from her face, and she wasn't the only one. Horst tried to get up, but Samuel kicked him, pointing the gun at him again.

"Don't move!" he yelled, and Daz came forward with the knife in hand, passing Samuel. The gun was no longer pointed at Sasha, and she realized that this was her chance, possibly her only one.

For a soldier less experienced, it might've been impossible, but Sasha had killed people during the rebellion and the attack on Marley. She'd fought her former comrades Reiner and Bertolt. And thus, she was able to aim her gun properly and, without a moment of hesitation, pulled the trigger in order to shoot Daz in the hand in order to get him to drop the gun. And yet, there was no sound of gunshot.

The gun had jammed.

"Wha- you actually tried to shoot me!" Daz accused, pointing at her, his task momentarily forgotten. Samuel, judging from the wide-eyed look on his face, was equally shocked.

"Really, Sasha? You'd shoot at your friend to protect a Marleyan soldier? And this jerk of all people!?"

It wasn't exactly like that, Sasha knew. While she didn't wish any harm for Horst, she wouldn't really hurt her friends for his sake, either. But this was bigger than that, bigger than the four of them. By keeping her friends from harming Horst, she might be able to keep the situation from escalating to an all-out war. And by doing that, she protected her friends. But it was not the time to explain it to them; they weren't in the state of mind to listen.

As Samuel pointed the gun at her, Sasha made her decision. Betting it all on him not having the guts to shoot at a comrade, she tossed the gun aside and, using their surprise to her advantage, ran forward towards the trio.

Panic clear on his face, Samuel pointed his gun at her again, but as she had guessed, he couldn't bring himself to shoot. When she reached him, she grabbed his hands, trying to wrestle the gun out of Samuel's grip, but he held on tight. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Horst getting up and taking the chance to rush out. That was good, but Daz was right at his heel, the knife still in hand. Alarmed, Sasha tried harder in her panicked frenzy, but Samuel was stronger. She couldn't get him to undo his grip, and he'd just added another hand. She couldn't stop him from moving the gun, and to her horror, she soon realized that it was once more pointed at now fleeing Horst. Seeing Samuel's finger on the trigger, she realized she couldn't stop him from firing a shot, so all she could hope to do was to mess with Samuel's aim.

She let go and pushed him with all her strength just before he fired, the shot running through the silent night.

A.N: Cliffhanger? Cliffhanger.