Chapter 52

Despite Daz having reached him and grabbed a hold of his collar, Sasha could see that the shot hadn't hit Horst. For a split second, she felt relief, but it turned to horror once she realized what, who, the bullet did hit. Frozen in the spot together with Samuel, they both watched, wide eyed, as Jonas stumbled a few steps before falling down, blood seeping from his stomach. As she stares at him, she also sees how Daz has stopped in shock as well and how Horst gives one pained look to Jonas before rushing out of sight, likely heading outside, this time with no one trying to stop him, but her brain doesn't really register any of this until much, much later.

Sasha would never know how long she just stood there in shock. It felt like hours, but it had to be a couple of minutes at most, likely not even that. She only snaps out of it when she hears Daz's voice: "What the hell?! How long had he- where did he even come from?!"

Ignoring him, Sasha was already leaping to action before Daz could even close his mouth. Kneeling next to Jonas, ignoring the blood seeping in to the knees of her uniform, she tries his pulse. To her relief it's still there, but he was losing more blood every second. With a quick look at his face, Sasha realizes that Jonas is still conscious, though he doesn't seem to be all there.

"It's gonna be alright, okay? You're gonna be alright!" she says, pressing down on the wound with her bare hands. Not taking her eyes off his face, she calls out: "Bring me gauze, a shirt, anything to stop the bleeding with!"

As Sasha watched the blood seep out from between her fingers, she couldn't stop thinking how this was all her fault. If she hadn't pushed Samuel- no, if she hadn't asked Jonas to stay after he'd said his piece, if they'd both just went to bed, this would never have happened!

Hearing no footsteps or any other signs of movement, Sasha looks up, first at Daz, who's looking at Samuel, likely waiting for orders on what to do, but the man is just staring at her and Jonas. She could see his mouth moving, but she couldn't make out the words. Not that it even mattered right now.

"Damn it, Samuel, move!" she yelled at him, finally snapping the man out of his daze. He takes off his jacket before going over and putting it over Jonas' wound after Sasha moves her hands. Not wanting to waste any second, she puts her hands back and barks: "Quick, go get help!"

"Daz, you go!" Samuel yells at the man who was still standing at the same spot that he'd been at when the shot was fired "With how many crates and barrels there's scattered around here, at least one of them has to have some first aid supplies; I'll try to find some!"

"Are you crazy!? That guy went to get more Marleyans, we need to run before they get here or we'll all die!" Daz yells back, making Samuel freeze right after he opens the first crate "He saw our faces, but he might not know our names. If we can get to Historia before we're restrained for questioning, she can guarantee our safety; she's the queen! But we won't make it if we don't go NOW!"

Sasha was sure Daz wasn't smart enough to come up with an idea like that on the fly; it must've been their back up plan in case things went wrong. Taking her eyes but not her hands off of Jonas, she looks directly at conflicted Samuel and yells: "He's your friend too, isn't he?! Are you just going to leave him to die?!"

Samuel's head whipped back and forth between Sasha and Daz, the panicked look on his face making it clear to them both that he had no idea what to do. Sasha knew that if he chose to leave, she couldn't try to stop him. If he left, Jonas' only hope at making it alive through the night would be Horst bringing back up in time and if he did, the said back up likely wouldn't take too kindly to her being there. But even so, she'd have to stay.

Finally moving, Samuel seemed to have made a decision. To her relief, he was coming over to Sasha, but the fact that he still had no first aid supplies puzzled her. Did he want her to start looking around instead while he tried to stop the bleeding?

She realized that that wasn't the case when he took a hold of her at her elbow, yanking her up and away from Jonas.

"Daz is right; we need to go, it's too dangerous here" Samuel said, managing to pull the stunned woman forward a few meters before she regained her senses and yanked herself free "Sasha- "

"I'm not leaving!" she didn't even bother to look at Samuel as she kneeled back down next to Jonas, who had lost consciousness by now. That was bad "If you want to leave a friend to die, I don't have the means to stop you, but you won't make me do the same!"

She wasn't looking at him anymore, so she didn't know what kind of face Samuel was making, but after Daz told him one more time that they had to go, she heard two pairs of fading steps. They left. Daz she could understand, but Samuel left, too.

Tears prickled at Sasha's eyes, and as she had no hand free to wipe them away, she had no choice but to let them fall down her face. When had things gone so wrong? Why? Everything had been going so well, right? What had caused those two to- to- she didn't even know!

"Help!" she called out, not caring who would hear as long as someone would and would come to her aid "Somebody please help!"

Kneeling there to hold back the blood, watching her friend's face grow paler and paler, Sasha felt a familiar sense of utter uselessness she'd long since buried. The horrified faces of her comrades, their pain filled screams as they got eaten in the battle of Trost haunted her mind. She felt like she could smell their dead flesh, rotting away in the streets of the city after being vomited out by the titans, once more. There was nothing she had been able to do for them, and there was nothing she could do for Jonas now. Was he going to end up as one more body haunting her memories?

"Help!" she tried again; her face stained with tears. Right now, she regretted pushing Samuel. If she hadn't, the bullet would've hit Horst, most likely killed him, but at least Jonas would be okay; surely, she could've convinced Samuel and Daz to leave him alone.

So caught up in her misery, in her desperate attempts to stop the bleeding, Sasha's brain didn't register the shouts from the outside, nor the stomping of the feet that grew closer and closer. Only when someone pulled her arm again, dragging her away from Jonas, she realized that she was no longer alone.

"Let go, I need to stop the blee-!" her protest was cut off by sharp pain in her temple. She crashed down to the floor, feeling dizzy. Her vision got fuzzy, but Sasha managed to see the soldiers in white uniforms gathering around Jonas. She tried to tell them to hurry, but she barely got a word out of her mouth before she felt the pain again and passed out.

XXXXX

"Didn't expect to see you here so early in the morning. Has something happened?" Nikolo asks when Ulrich walks in to his room just a little after eight in the morning. He'd yet to finish eating breakfast even, though to be fair, he'd been in absolutely no hurry with it.

Ulrich frowns, not exactly a new occurrence, before closing the door and walking over to Nikolo's bed, sitting down. The former soldier turns his desk chair to face his brother, the breakfast forgotten, and waits what he has to say. He looked serious, which unnerved the patient, but he told himself that Ulrich could just be here to give him a piece of his mind now that he was lucid again.

"You tell me" His guest finally answered. Nikolo raised a questioning eyebrow, waiting for his brother to specify "Do you remember anything of what you said or did when you were completely out of it?"

That didn't sound good, Nikolo realized. He did remember bits and pieces, some instances better than others, but as he tried to think about it, he couldn't come up with any specific thing that Ulrich could be referring to. He hoped he hadn't said too much about anything.

"…I can remember a little, but even most of that is fuzzy" he admitted "Why, did I say something weird?"

"Weirder than usual, you mean?" Ulrich asks, making Nikolo narrow his eyes. A familiar smirk rises on his brother's face, and while it annoys him as much as ever, it also makes him relax slightly. If Ulrich was messing around as usual, then whatever he was here for probably wasn't that serious. Still, it'd be better to know what he had said than not "Out with it, Ulrich."

"It's been a while already. You were really out of it, not even sitting up and barely able to speak, but you said something about the doctor. Something about not trusting him."

Had he said that? He didn't remember, but it would make sense if he did; it had probably been an attempt to get help. But how should he treat the matter now? Even though he had made a deal with Dr. Becker, having someone in his corner just in case would probably be a good idea. But what if Ulrich snooped around, got caught and ruined Nikolo's chances of getting out? Or more likely, what if he reported whatever he said straight to the doctors, thinking he was delusional?

"Nicky?" Ulrich suddenly questions, brow furrowed as he stared at Nikolo with concern. Knowing that he had no time to think of it more, the man makes a decision: "I don't remember that… not that I'm saying that I didn't say it. If that's what you heard, then I probably said it or something close to it, but I don't remember."

It wasn't a lie, which was probably why Ulrich seemed to believe it so easily. Nikolo considered himself lucky that his brother didn't ask why he thought he would've said something like that. If he had, he probably wouldn't have managed to lie in a believable way.

"Well, maybe you were just so out of it that you muttered things without a meaning" Ulrich shrugs "You're better now, so guess there's no point in thinking about it."

Exactly. Nikolo didn't want to risk his ticket out of here. Relieved, he took a half-eaten apple from his breakfast tray, biting in to it before saying: "Right. Now, rumors say that Adele is pregnant. Care to tell why I didn't hear about that from you?"

Ulrich froze, only for a moment, but he clearly hadn't been expecting that. Then, he sighed.

"Mom told you?" when Nikolo nods, Ulrich lays down on his bed, hands covering his face "Of course she did…"

"And you didn't because…?" Nikolo was genuinely interested in knowing. He'd thought about it a lot after Bianka and their mother left, but had been unable to come up with any other explanation for not knowing than simply having forgotten that Ulrich had told him. But judging from his reaction now, that clearly wasn't the case.

"It was father's idea; he figured you wouldn't want others to rub their happy lives to your face when you are…" Ulrich gestures around with his hands "Well, here. And not in full health. I planned to tell you once I was sure you were better and that the knowledge of things changing outside wouldn't affect your frail mental state negatively, as dad put it. But apparently, he failed to mention this to mom."

"Or more likely, mom just forgot" Nikolo said, sighing "But I'm not that fragile, you know. You can act normally around me."

He would've assumed that to be a given, but clearly, he was mistaken.

"Can we?" Ulrich asks, moving his hands from his face and tilting his head to look at his brother "Are you really saying that seeing how much things had changed, how life had gone on without you, didn't affect you at all? That it didn't play a part in why you eventually ended up here?"

No, it didn't, Nikolo knew that for sure. It was all about how much he had changed, but it's not like he could tell his brother that. He'd tried it before, and that played a part in him ending up here. He had to choose his words carefully. Swallowing, he said: "Well, I don't know. Maybe it did, on some unconscious level, but I highly doubt keeping me in the dark about the lives of my family for even longer is any better."

Ulrich grimaced.

"Fair point. I'll need to bring it up to father" he said, sitting up "It's not like we have any other big news hidden from you, but if you want to hear about our boring family life, I've got time to spare."

Nikolo did. While his mother and sister had shared quite a few things just the day before, he'd drifted off in the middle of it, and Ulrich's view on things was likely different than theirs. And it's not like he had anything to do in here except to think, and his thoughts tended to go in circles. Some distraction would be nice.

"Sure"

XXXXX

When Sasha regained her consciousness, it took her a while to remember what had happened. At first, she wondered why she was sleeping on the ground, but as she tried to get up, she realized that she couldn't move her arms or legs. Frowning, she tried to see what the problem was, but it was too dark all around her; she couldn't see a thing. Was it still very late? But the stars and the moon usually gave off at least some light at this time of the year, and since she felt the ground below her, she should be outside…

A grumble cut off her thoughts. She was hungry. Sighing, she shook her head, trying to clear it. She knew she was forgetting something important… but first things first, why couldn't she move? Trying to move her limps once more, she came to the conclusion that her hands and feet had been tied, the former behind her back. Alarmed, she tried to recall just what was she forgetting. Slowly, the memories came back. Her talk with Jonas. Following Horst in to the storehouse. Hearing Samuel, Daz and… there was someone else too, wasn't there? Yes, there was, but she hadn't seen who it was.

Horst getting caught eavesdropping, she interfered, they argued, Horst fled, Samuel fired a gun and she pushed him, Jonas-

"No…" she let out, horror dawning on her face as she remembered her friend bleeding on the floor, remembered trying to stop the bleeding, remembered Samuel just abandoning them, then… then… nothing? No, she remembered the pain. Someone had hit her, probably a Marleyan. She was pretty sure she'd seen their uniforms before she passed out.

Sasha takes in a deep breath, trying to force herself to calm down. The Marleyans must've helped Jonas, so there was a chance that they managed to save him. The realization filled her with relief, and she smiled. The same knowledge made her even more aware than she was before that she herself was in a bad situation, but she'd pull through. Her body ached a little, but she didn't feel like she had any real injuries.

She takes a few more moments to calm down before starting to wiggle, trying to get in to a sitting position. It takes her a while but eventually, she manages. That's when she notices that it wasn't as dark as she had originally thought; behind her was a small barred window, likely on a door, and very dim light got in from it. She tried to take in her surroundings with its help, and her eyes were better used to the dark now as well, but there was nothing in the small room, most likely a cell, at all. Nothing, nor no one. Did her being alone mean that Daz and Samuel got away in time? Or were they held elsewhere? She didn't know what to feel about either possibility.

In a way, Sasha hoped they'd gotten away. She didn't want her friends to get hurt, but if the Marleyans had caught them, they certainly would. But she also knew that, looking at the bigger picture, it'd be better if they did get caught. It pained her to think that way, but she knew that whatever they were up to had to be stopped.

Maybe they got away from the Marleyans, but got caught by Jean and the others? That'd be the best-case scenario; they'd be treated fairly, but Hanji and the rest would get to the bottom of whatever they'd been planning and then they could fix whatever damage had already been done. Of course, the fact that Samuel shot Jonas would remain, which would weaken the trust between both sides, but if Jonas survived, if he made a full recovery, then maybe everything could be fixed.

Sasha didn't know how long she sat there, lost in her thoughts. Her head still hurt and she was hungry, but she ignored both inconveniences. It's not like she could do anything about them, anyway. At one point, she'd called out to see if there was anyone at the hearing range, and she had thought she'd heard footsteps at one point, but no one had showed up. She supposed that if there was a guard, they were under the orders to not interact with her.

After quite some time, the door finally creaked open, startling Sasha out of her thoughts. The light coming from the doorway, no longer as dim, hurt her eyes, but she forced herself to keep them open. At first, she only saw the silhouettes of three men, but blinking twice cleared her vision, confirming her suspicions of them being Marleyans, the uniforms all telling. She only recognized one of them, and even with him, she couldn't recall a name. It was that particular man that came forward first, the other two flanking him, one of them holding a gun out. It wasn't pointed at her, but when her eyes met those of the man carrying the gun, the message became clear: for even a miniscule reason, it would be.

Sasha knew that she had a habit of saying the wrong thing, and that now was really not the time for that, so she kept quiet, waiting for the high ranked Marleyan to say something first. That would've probably been the best move for anyone anyway; she recalled that this particular one didn't like talking to Eldians.

"I'm surprised to hear no complaints about your treatment" the man pointed out, and Sasha regretted not remembering his name. Hopefully, it would come up without her needing to ask.

"I think that this is unnecessary and that there has been a misunderstanding, but considering the circumstances, it's understandable" Sasha replied. She wanted to ask how Jonas was, but figured that she'd be much likelier to get an answer if she first told them what they wanted to know "I don't know all the details of what happened in that storehouse, but I'll tell you all I can. If you inform commander Hanji of what has happened, she'll surely do her all to get to the bottom of this as well."

"That might not be necessary, for one of your two friends was already very talkative, but I suppose it's for the best to leave no stones unturned, so do tell your own version of what happened." the man said, confirming to Sasha that Samuel and Daz had been caught, the later probably being the one who'd talked. That was good; if they cooperated, whatever punishment they would get likely wouldn't be as bad.

Sasha followed the order. She told him everything that happened that night, only leaving out the details of what exactly she and Jonas had talked about in order to not endanger Nikolo. She thought it a good sign that she wasn't interrupted or asked for a clarification even once, but when she was finished, it was exactly the details she left out that her interrogator hung on, asking for her to specify what exactly did she and Jonas speak about so late in to the night.

"A lot of different things, really. I also asked him about the people who we once had as war prisoners here; I was worried and wanted to know how they were doing. Not that he knows many of them, but he told me of the few he knew." Sasha hoped mentioning that was safe. It should be; it's not like they could single out Nikolo even if they looked in to it and found out Jonas knew him, right?

"A lot of different things, you say. You were very specific with all the other information you shared aside from this. Why is that, I wonder?"

Sasha swallowed. They had a good reason to be suspicious, and they wouldn't be wrong if they claimed she was hiding something, but she couldn't tell them the whole truth, not when Nikolo was already in as much trouble as he was.

"…It was a private talk between friends. Unlike what happened at the storehouse, our conversation is irrelevant to the situation."

Sasha saw the change in the man's face, and she saw the fist coming, but with her limps tied, she couldn't dodge or block. All she could do was grit her teeth as the fist collided with her cheek, almost hard enough to knock her over.

"You dare to suggest that our fallen comrade did something as vile as befriending a devil like you?"

Sasha eye's widened as the man's words sunk in.

Fallen comrade.

Fallen.

"…He didn't make it?" she asks in a low whisper, though the answer was already pretty clear. She just hoped that she'd heard wrong, or perhaps misunderstood, that they used the term "fallen" differently in Marley.

"That's what I said" clearly, the man is annoyed, but Sasha can't bring herself to care or pay attention to it. Jonas was dead. She'd tried to save him, but she had failed. Tears gathered in her eyes, but she was in too much of a shock to keep them from falling.

"You still haven't answered my question" the man says, and Sasha protests through her tears, telling her that she did. That earns her a kick on the head, and her ears ring as she falls to the floor.

"That is not an answer" the man says, but before Sasha can give him a reply, a fourth man appears at the doorway.

"Captain Richter, the commander of the devils demands to speak with you at once. We told her you were busy, but her companion seemed rather aggressive, so we think it'd be better- "

"I'm coming right away; this was a waste of time" Richter interrupts his saluting subordinate. Spitting on Sasha, who winces at the spit hitting her face, he says: "We'll find out the truth, one way or another."

Sasha didn't answer that. She knew that Hanji and whoever was with her, probably either Jean or captain Levi, would do what they could to get her and the others out, but with Jonas dead, she knew the situation was more serious than she originally thought.

After watching the Marleyans walk away and close the door behind themselves, Sasha squeezed her eyes shut, cursing her own actions once more. Why had she pushed Samuel? Why hadn't she stopped Jonas from following Horst? Why had she asked him to stay and talk to her? Why had she led him so far to talk with her instead of having him say his piece right where he found her!? There were so many things, so many little decisions that would've saved her friend's life if she'd just done them a little differently.

"I'm sorry" she sobbed aloud, despite knowing there was no one around to hear her "I'm so, so sorry."

A.N: When things start getting a little easier for Nikolo, they get harder for Sasha. If it was canon I'd complain, but since this is my doing…