HEre we go! Sorry about last week, I was on a trip.

ROBYN POV

We pulled up to the base that Kenny and Levi had agreed on, my movement still restricted to only breathing and blinking. But as Levi had requested, I'd stopped trying to break free, and so my nose had stopped bleeding. The wagon stopped. Levi held me steady and the rest of them got out. Jean was still bleeding, but it sounded like Mikasa had it under control. At least, that was the impression they were giving me. Eren knelt beside me and looked between me and Levi, then focused on Kenny, green eyes burning with hatred. Just don't get yourself killed, kid. Please. Kenny is a loose canon, more than ever. I doubt any of us could know what to expect from him, not even Levi.

Kenny blew smoke at Eren. "Got something to say, Shifter freak?"

"Release her." Eren snapped. "Or you planning on making us carry her inside?"

"Easy does it, freak." Kenny chuckled and looked at me, the strings twinging at the mere sight of that gaze. "Get into that base, move to the nearest chair inside, stay quiet."

I moved. My body sat up, moved to the edge of the wagon and stood. Side burning, vision swimming, body wavering, I hobbled towards the front door. A chair sat just inside. I toppled into it, landing boneless and panting. My body fizzed. Nothing was my own choice, no will, no control, nothing. I had run so hard for so long, only to become tangled in a web all the same. What an idiot. Why had I run in the first place if all I was going to do was end up here, being used as a means of controlling my loved ones? Mum. You always said you hoped I'd fly high. I'm sorry. Guess I failed. Harder than any of us could have imagined.

LEVI POV

As she moved, it was so smooth, eerily so. Like she really was being moved on the ends of strings, invisible to the human eye. Her own eyes, usually so bright, remained dull. Be that the fatigue, the strain or simply her going numb, he couldn't tell. And he didn't dare ask. Her side had stopped bleeding at least, he had managed to do some basic bandaging on the road. Ackerman would look after her once she had stabilised Kirschtein, with the help of Springer no doubt. It would be best to keep them as much out of Kenny's warpath as possible. Not that Levi knew how to do that for himself, or Jaeger. First, they had to find out what the hell Kenny's end game was. Some distance from the cloaks, that had been the initial demand, and as far as Levi knew, this safehouse was still unknown to anyone. Even the MPs who were basically on the Scouts side those days. With any luck, that also meant the White Cloaks didn't know about it either. Erwin had been careful, but had even he been careful enough?

They moved inside, Jaeger staying close, eyes not leaving Kenny until they stepped into the house and found Robyn slumped on the nearest stool. Sweat coated her skin, breaths were quick, thin, and she was barely holding herself upright in the chair. Levi nodded to Jaeger and the boy went to her, pushing her gently back against the wall, checking her pulse and dabbing her forehead. She was ill. That much was clear. Like when the serums were used, and when her healing had kicked in after the Female Titan attack. Was her body reacting in the same way? Rejecting the control like some kind of virus?

"Release the control, Kenny." Levi closed the door and kept his eyes on the old bastard as much as he could. Every wheeze, whimper or choke from Robyn's direction made Levi lose more grip on his nerve. Like every noise might be her last. As if any moment silence would win.

Kenny took his hat off and hung it from the nearest hook. "And why would I do that, boy?"

"We're here, safe for now, and she's clearly ill because of all this shit. You haven't seen the toll their crap takes on her body, she'll be dead by dawn if you keep it in place."

"She's just fak–"

"She can't be." Levi snarled. "You have control, remember?"

Kenny took a last draw on his cigar and stamped it out by the door. "Sanshi, how you feeling? And no lies?"

"Can't. Breathe. Fever. S-So… Tired. Like I'll p-puke." She choked on every word, them being dragged out of her in place of 'oh nothing to worry about!' or whatever other placation she would have normally said.

Kenny curled his lip. "Some rest might sort it out, huh?"

Levi gritted his teeth. "I'll hear you out, I swear."

"Your word ain't shit to me, runt. Go on Sanshi, sleep until you hear me say your name."

She was out. Jaeger caught her in time, her body limp in his hold, head lolling back before he cradled her carefully and looked to Levi for instruction. Captain. That was what Levi had to be in that moment. Not a man losing his mind, fearing those hazel eyes might never open again.

He cleared his throat. "Take her upstairs and keep an eye on her. Cold presses on her head will be a good idea and… And have Ackerman look at her wound. It'll need stitches and cleaning at least."

"Yes, sir." Jaeger scooped Robyn up and headed upstairs, murmuring to her as he went, sounding every bit the scared kid he looked. Not that Levi was judging that fear. It was a shitty situation, and Robyn was at the heart of it, shackled without chains.

As soon as they were alone, Levi turned to Kenny and gestured to the seats in the kitchen. "We'll have to check her in a few hours, if her condition is worse, you'll have to remove the control. That or your bargaining chip is long gone."

"So cold towards your missus." Kenny laughed, walking ahead and perching on a nearby stool. "Or is this the famous Captain coming into play? You getting that mask on for me, boy?"

"Right now, I just need to know what it'll take for you to release her." Levi stood on the other side of the counter, partially due to not wishing to be anywhere near the man, partially to avoid him noticing how hard Levi was shivering. "Come on, what're your demands?"

"I want the same damn thing you do, idiot." Kenny leaned on the counter. "Freedom."

"Ironic considering you've tied a noose round Robyn's neck."

"Her father did that. Not me. I just happen to have picked up the rope." Kenny waved a hand. "Look, consider me evil if you must. Blame me for all your oh-so-terrible troubles, but I'm in the same fuckin' boat here, boy. I want out. My plans went up in smoke, or steam I guess, and now I just want outta here. Out of this mess and out of their bloodied web. It's too shitty even for me."

"Kenny the Ripper considers the White Cloaks too bloodied? Shit. They must be doing some bad shi–"

"Sassing aside, asshat, you gonna help me? Or do I need to start getting that little lady to hurt someone? Or herself?"

Levi tensed but did his best to maintain the mask. "What 'help' is it you need?"

"You'll be pleased about this next bit. In order to explain that, I gotta give you some insight into these White Cloak shits. Dunno what you and the Sanshi rat recall from your time with them, but these guys aren't fuckin' around. They're old school nuts."

"Never a good sign when you're suggesting someone is nuts. Alright, I'll bite. In what way?"

Kenny's smile curdled into something sour. "They want the Titans to stick around. They want us all stuck behind these walls, scrambling in the dark for scraps. Thinks it makes them immortal or some shit."

Levi braced against the counter. It went with what they had theorised so far from the journals, the endless cycle of Human to Titan and then back again. As soon as someone died, they came back as one or the other. On and on. A form of immortality, but not exactly an ideal one.

"So, Robyn's part in this?"

"Y'know how there's those different kinds of Titans? The ones like that Jaeger boy that can turn back and forth?"

"Shifters, yes. But Robyn can't–"

"Maybe she can, maybe she can't, ain't the point. She can 'command' them. Like that Royal one was meant to, the one the kids Doctor Dad stole from the Reiss's."

"The Founding…" Levi glanced towards the stairs. Vincent had tried to make another Founding Titan? He shook his head. "But she's under your control… Oh shit."

Kenny clicked his fingers. "And now he gets it. If she can control Titans, shifters and all sorts, then whoever can control her has the winning hand. That's why they wanted her phrasing or her dead. They don't want that control in the wrong people's hands, which they consider anybody but themselves."

Levi took a moment. It was clear to see, Robyn chained somewhere, dragged out every now and then to enact some command, to ensure the masses were kept in their cages. To punish anyone that spoke out. To perhaps even lead an attack on Marley. Who knew. The White Cloaks would have their plans, their ambitions. No doubt they wanted as much of the world as possible under their thumb, that way there was less room to wriggle. Less room to think for yourself. And Robyn would be chained to all of it, dragged out like some pet.

"But the process is going to kill her." Levi sighed. "Don't they see that? Her body rejects it all, Vincent didn't successfully do it. Whoever he was originally doing it for…"

Vincent came from the same place as Dr Jaeger had. He came from Marley.

Levi gritted his teeth. "Vincent did this for the Marleans originally, didn't he?"

"Why originally, boy?"

Kenny had always asked questions like that when Levi had been a child; knowing the answer himself, but wanting to ensure that Levi did too.

Levi swallowed hard. "Because he must have been found out here, be that by the royals or the Cloaks. Must have been the cloaks, if they even knew about the potential for this."

"He were workin' so many sides even I lost track. Came for Marley, sure. Stayed for the Royals, who just wanted another option as a backup. And then… Well I reckon it was the mother that got the cloaks involved."

Levi jolted. "Her mother? Why?"

Kenny shrugged. "Desperation, I reckon. So scared of her own hubby she reached out to anyone that might lend an ear, she had no idea what they really were I reckon. But she were scared. And she went and alerted the sick fuckos to her kids potential ability. Said so herself… She might've saved the kid or doomed her."

"She spoke to you about it?" Levi raised a brow. "Why?"

"I can be a friendly shoulder to lean on when required. And it's a good way to get info."

"So you played her. Sick fuck."

"Oi." Kenny smacked his hand off the counter. "We're workin' together here, boy. Sure, I got your lady on my strings, but I'm only usin' that as insurance. Can you fuckin' blame me?" He breathed hard and glanced behind his shoulder to the windows. "I used to be as well connected as the fuckin' King himself, and now I'm scramblin' in the gutter all over again. My family's gone, and all I got left is your sketchy ass. I'm makin' do here."

"Alright, so with that context applied, what do you expect from me?"

"Where's your most remote hideout? Get me as far as that and I'll be outta your hair."

Levi looked him over. Kenny was truly intending to simply disappear? To vanish? It didn't add up with the man desperately clinging to any semblance of power he could find, but then again, that image of a man came before the White Cloaks. Came before whatever the cloaks had done to him since taking him from the Crystal Cavern.

Common ground lay between them for the first time in years.

Levi looked down for a moment. "They break you down?"

At first Kenny tensed, the sharp intake of breath, the gritting of teeth, the paling of knuckles. But then he must have taken in Levi's tone, his countenance. It wasn't judgement. It was understanding. They had been powerhouses in the Underground, they had both made their way up top and enjoyed some power in the sunshine, and then they just wanted to live. And the Cloaks had broken them back, into the small things they had been in the underbelly of the world. Worse than that, because they had also taken their motivation, their strength, their identity.

Kenny cleared his throat. "Reckon you could call it that, yeah."

"Alright, we'll get you out. But I have one condition."

"Huh? What, along with the phrasing I assume?"

Levi met his gaze head on and glared. "You stay the fuck out of my life. I don't care what you're offered, or what scheme falls into your lap, what grandiose shit clambers back into that thick skull of yours. You stay away. Got it? It is not worthwhile, to come back. Whatever shred I have of familial connection to you is dissolved once you leave, got it? Next time I kill on sight."

"You really can't let go of a grudge can y–"

"It's not about you abandoning me, or even working with the corrupt shitheads that made me an outlaw all over again. No. It's this. Right here, right now. This is what broke any hope I had of being near you and not wanting to throttle your damned neck."

Kenny blinked and looked towards the stairs. He almost smirked. But then he stopped and looked back to Levi. What did he see? A man finally having found something to fight for beyond his own life? A man that had found something that Kenny never had? Someone to love. Genuinely. Unconditionally. Wholly. Maybe. Or Kenny's mind simply couldn't perceive any of that, and he likely saw Levi as weak. It didn't matter. As long as he saw the sincerity in Levi's words. They were done. Finished.

Levi continued. "It's you taking hold of the crap Vincent fucking Sanshi left behind and using it on her. Just to get what you want. It's that old man, your current actions. Not old ones. This. Right now. We're done."

Kenny's eyes darted back to the stairs. "You got it that bad, huh?"

"Fuck you, what if I do?"

"Heh, fair." Kenny scraped his hair back and traced along his scarring for a moment. WHat was going through his sick mind? Regrets? Jealousy? Pity? He nodded slowly. "Gotta say, I never saw that one comin'. Alright. You got my word, and whatever else you need for confirmation. I'm gone. Nothin' but a bad memory."

"Swear on your sister, my mother."

Kenny blinked.

Levi straightened his stance. "I was half-dead in a corner, but I knew you cared for her. You would have taken one look and left otherwise. But no, you stayed, you sat by her corpse and you spoke to her like old friends. You cared about her. Maybe only about her. I dunno. But swear on her and then I do too, we will not attack you. Just release her, give us the phrase, we get you out, then we say goodbye."

ROBYN POV

It's still raining. Why am I out here scrubbing the path? My hands hurt. Is that blood? Why am I still scrubbing? Oh yeah, because it feels good, because it's what he told me to do, it's what I'm meant to be doing. Right. Keep going.

"Stop this, Vincent!" Mum's voice peeled out of the house and she came running, covering me as best she could with a blanket. "She's been out here for hours, you've made your damned point!"

She tugged at my hands, trying to free the scrub brush from them. I tried holding on, but I was weak against her, and the blood made it all so slippy. Panic. It gripped me tighter than she ever could and I scrambled for the brush. No! Don't make me disobey! There could be nothing worse! I screamed, begged, pleaded. She wavered, staring at me with those big watery eyes, handing back to the brush and letting me get back to work. I sighed and swallowed my sobs. That's better.

"V-Vince what have you done to our little girl?"

"Finally got one part of this shitshow to work, that's what, woman." He snarled from the doorway, bottle still in his hand from his celebration. "Look at her, workin' away like a little trooper. Finally useful, isn't she?"

"She's a child, you–"

"She's the key. Without that this is all fucked. How many times?" He grunted and walked away, leaving us in the rain. Mum stayed with me, pleading, begging, but unable to stop the cleaning. Because of course not. Why would I stop? It felt so good to obey.

As it started to get dark, she just stroked my hair and mumbled one of my old lullabies. But when the brush broke and I gave a panicked whimper, slapping at the path with my bare hands instead, she held me close. She ignored my wriggling, my wailing.

She shushed me. "Listen to me Robyn, please. Please. You have to break this, you have to come back. You're not his toy, not his thing. You're my little girl, my daughter, my little love." She held tighter. "You're my little bird."

I shivered. My whimpering lessened.

She went tense. "Little Bird?" She looked down and put her hand to my feverish cheek. "Little Bird look at me." And I did, my wriggling had slowed to barely twitches and the cries no longer fell from my lips. Where was I? Why were we in the rain? She smiled down at me, tears mixing with the rain. "Did it work? Little Bird, did I finally do something right?"

"M-Mum?"

"Sleep sweetheart, I'll get you cleaned up. You'll be okay. You'll be okay my Little Bird…"

I drifted, not knowing what she meant.

I would be okay…?

How?

Aaand there we go, thanks for reading! Cya next time