Chapter Eight

Levi remained seated at the table, one leg crossed over the other, as he studied Erwin who had now wandered to stare out of his office window. Though the commander's back was turned, Levi could read the tension and indecision from the lines in his muscles. The foreign rookie had only been there for over a week and the scouts were about to undergo one of their riskiest missions yet. With Erwin already being under investigation after their most recent failure, to say the least Altenbach's presence didn't make things any easier.

Levi already knew what his commander was mulling over. Still he decided to voice what had been wracking in Erwin's head for the past few hours.

"So is the rookie going on the Stohess mission or not?"

Once it was nearly midnight and all the cadets were asleep, Adeline tip-toed as quietly as she could down the steps of her bunk ladder. She thought she was doing pretty well at that until she saw her bunkmate stir right as her foot touched the ground. Fortunately, it was them readjusting for comfort, never fully awakening. With the little courage she had left, she silently scurried across the room and to the door that led to the hall.

The nexus of corridors certainly looked different at night, though she was able to find her way to the courtyard soon enough. True to his word, the solid blonde man was waiting for her leaning on a bench. Once he came into her view her movements suddenly became less sure. She continued to proceed, but only with the utmost caution. Reiner couldn't stop a smug grin from creeping onto his face.

"There aren't any landmines out here Lin. You can relax," he easily quipped with a chuckle. His seemingly lightheartedness did nothing to ease her tension.

Still from a relatively safe distance, she spoke. "What do you want, Reiner?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you," he quickly replied. "When did you get here? Most importantly, why are you here at all?"

Instead of feeding into his intimidation attempt, in a move he hadn't seen coming, she decided to field for some answers herself. "You know what kind of things I've been hearing?" She began with a steady voice and continued without waiting for an answer. "Things about when Wall Maria fell. How there was a colossal Titan to give the first blow and then…" she could feel her voice start to shake, but pressed on. "Then an armored Titan," she let the words linger like an accusation, "finished the job."

"Job's not finished," Reiner carelessly, spitefully murmured.

"What?!"

"We've been standing here, running our mouths, but you still haven't answered either of my questions." It was obvious he was becoming agitated with his loss of control of the situation.

"Okay Reiner. A) I got here about a couple of weeks ago. And why am I here?" She gave a bitter, dry chuckle. "Well that answer depends on if I can trust you or not."

Unexpectedly, Reiner seemed to relax a bit and smirked. "Still the ever-hard ass negotiator I see."

"Still a plain pain in the ass for you then I suppose," she bit back, not completely harshly.

"Come on Lin, we had some good times," he inauspiciously lulled as he stepped closer, "and we have always been on the same side."

Now passed her anxiety she took a step in his direction as well. "That's yet to be seen, isn't it?" Her response was firm and just short of venomous. "I answered your question, now answer mine."

As they were just a few feet apart now he aimed a searing glare down in her direction. "You know I'm an open book." He told the ironic lie and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"Are-" she unintentionally stopped herself as though she'd lost her voice in attempting to speak the question. Suddenly visions from when they were children began to briefly dance in the front of her mind and she was ashamed to admit; she faltered. She needed an answer, but whatever he said after would finish the deterioration of the friendship they had before.

Finally, she continued. "Are you the Armored Titan?"

If she would have blinked, she'd have missed how quickly he seemed to involuntarily tense up. Nearly in the same instant he relaxed his shoulders and an unreadable smirk stretched across his lips. "Who's asking?"

It was indirect though still all, but a confession. It was at that moment that Adeline realized she was grasping on to the echo of their previous connection. Unfortunately, it seemed that they were entirely different people in this epoch of their lives. Unlike Reiner, by the end of their conversation she would make it very clear where she stood.

"I am asking, Braun," she coldly replied. "Because if I find the Armored, I will take him down." Adeline was cautious not to reveal that she now knew for a fact it was him as the last thing she needed was another obstacle at the moment.

Closing the distance between them, he cupped her chin, and directed her to look straight into his eyes. Anyone else would have missed the hidden spite in his next words. But not her. Very evenly he said, "Good luck finding him."

He brushed past her on his way to the dormitories chewing on what he now knew. He was angry with himself more than anything that he let himself hope. Let himself perceive Adeline's arrival as anything other than yet another cruel joke. A part of him hoped that an ally appearing out of thin air was a sign that he was on the right path if for nothing else, to lessen the incessant glitching in his brain. She wasn't an ally though, was she. It was true; he couldn't glean much about the extent of her overall knowledge. What was clear was the little she did know was entirely too much. Suddenly he was wondering what Bertholdt and Annie would say when he gave them this update…

As the girl in question gathered herself and headed in her own direction she came to her own inferences. Counting off her thoughts she started with one: she couldn't trust Reiner regardless of what her former self might have seen for them before. Two: it was pertinent that her suspicions were shared with the commander, but just as significant was when. And how. Three: she hoped on a dream that everyone would still be lights out when she slunk back into her bunk.