Risk: Chapter Twenty-Two

At what point did Rose arrive at Hange's home? She groaned, her head killing her from all the crying she did yesterday; how embarrassing. Pushing herself up, she moved out of bed and went to the wardrobe, pulling out the first skirt and dress shirt she saw, not caring if they matched, before heading to the showers. Washing herself up and dressing, she went to find Hange.

She knew in a few days it would be Historia's coronation, and the whole nation was preparing for it. The Scouts especially, considering that she was helping them the most.

"Hello, sleepy-head," Hange chirped from their desk in their office.

"Oh, don't call me that," Rose said, rubbing at her eyes then reaching around to start braiding her hair.

"Why don't you ever keep your hair down?" Hange offered. "You know, I think a certain Captain likes it that way."

Rose stopped mid-braid. "Wait, really?"

He never really seemed to care one way or another how her hair looked, at least as far as Rose could tell. But he was also sometimes hard to read.

"I… don't feel like wearing it up anyway," she muttered, unbraiding her dirty blond hair, allowing it to hang down below her waist like it normally did. "What's on the docket for today?"

"Paperwork." Hange lifted said papers for emphasis. "Why don't you see if Levi needs help."

"I hate doing chores. And the last time I did, I got kidnapped."

"I think you'll be okay this time."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Rose quipped, leaving to get a horse.

During her time here, they had slowly started to teach her how to ride a horse by herself. She hadn't exactly mastered it, but she could get from A to B without any issues – for the most part. She didn't like to do more than a trot if she was by herself – when she was with the others and they were doing full runs, she would prefer to ride with someone else. She just wasn't quite at that level yet.

When she arrived at the new Squad Levi headquarters, Rose hitched her horse, petting her nose and feeding it a little grass by hand before leaving her to eat on her own. Apparently, her name was Lacy, which seemed fitting enough. A cute name for a cute horse.

"Hey, it's Rose!" called Connie from the building. Some of the other Privates said hello to her as they continued their work, and she waved to them as she moved around them to find Levi.

"So Hange sent you here to put you to work, huh?"

"More or less," she answered with a grimace.

"You seem so thrilled about that."

"I just love dusting tables and mopping floors, Levi," she said sarcastically, giving him a knowing look.

He moved from around his desk to stand before her, a hand in his pocket. "Why don't you join me while I go through town? I have some errands to run."

"Does that mean I get to… run full speed on my horse?"

"That's the spirit," he said flatly, leading the way back outside.

This sounded like it might be a disaster.


It actually wasn't as bad as Rose believed it to be.

She honestly believed Levi would be a haggler or something, but he took things at the price the merchants gave him, but not without closely observing the product. He was especially picky about food, but with rations being a golden resource here, Rose didn't blame him.

"Is that heavy?" he asked, looking at the basket in her hands.

"Nope, not at all," she said. It was a little bit, but nothing she couldn't handle.

"Good, you could build up you strength, anyway."

Then why ask?

They had made their way halfway through the market when suddenly that weird, feather-light feeling from when she'd been held hostage brushed lightly against the recesses of her brain. It surprised her so much, she nearly tripped over her own feet.

"Hey—what is wrong with you?" Levi demanded, noticing the change in her expression, no doubt.

"Uh… It's hard to explain. It's a… twin thing."

"Oh, yeah. That's how we found you guys a few days ago at the old Reiss estate," Levi informed her. "Your weird twin telepathy thing." Then, leaning a little closer to her as if he could see it, he asked, "Is it happening now?"

"Yeah," she answered, her voice hushed. "But it was like… urgent. Like a warning." She glanced around her, then found an alley nearby. "There, let's go there for a second." She led the way to the alleyway, hiding within its shaded darkness, leaning against a wall and setting the basket down as if that would help her focus more. "Is it… Is it the Military Police again, Lily?" She closed her eyes, honing in on the feeling of her sister on her brain.

Urgent brushing.

"What did she say?" Levi asked, rushing her a bit.

"She's saying yes. Are they there?"

Light brushing.

"She's saying no. So they have to be after me." She picked up the basket, facing Levi. "We have to get out of here before –"

"There you are." The voice practically boomed against the walls of the alley, demanding attention.

Both turned to face it, noticing that it was a commanding officer of the Military Police.

"Time traveler, if you know what's good for you and your sister, you'll follow me."

Levi raised an arm, as if to protect her from whatever harm was about to come her way. "There's no reason for her to come with you. She didn't break any laws."

"The laws of science, for one," he countered. "Now come with me, both of you. I'm not going to ask again." Beneath his MP cloak, he pulled out a gun, and Rose's heart began to beat a million miles a minute.

"Levi, don't." She grabbed hold of his arm, lowering it. "Let's go. I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

"Rosemary –"

"Please?"

There was always something in her plea, she could tell, that pulled at him, as he always did what she asked when she said it.

"Come on, now."

So, they followed.


"I got her," said the commanding officer, stepping aside to show that he did, in fact, apprehend his target. "You owe me."

"You're right, I do," said another MP, pulling out a small sack of coins and tossing it the officer. The officer instantly opened it, revealing that it was a lot of gold. "You can go now, your job is done.

He did just that, leaving Levi and Rose alone with whoever this happened to be.

"I needed your sister too," drawled the man before them, "but I think I can do what I need to do without her."

"And what exactly is that?" Levi demanded, stepping forward.

"Oh, Captain Levi. It's so nice to see you." The man smiled, but it didn't reach his dark eyes. "I'm sure you don't recognize me. Captain Nathan?"

"Nope, never heard of you."

"Too bad, we trained together after you got dragged from the Underground." Nathan shrugged, chuckling. "Oh, those were the days. You were quite impressive back then. And you'd moved up in the ranks quite quickly, I see. As did I, as you can see." Nathan gestured to himself, waving up and down his body, as if that revealed anything. "At any rate, I hear that our little time traveler lives in a time where there are no titans. And I'd love to see what that's like."

"That's what this is about?"

"Why, yes. Why else would I want her here?" Then he faced Rose, cheeky smile never leaving his face. "What do you say, Rosie? You want to take me to your world?"

"In your dreams," Rose answered, shaking her head. "And don't call me that."

Only one person was allowed to call her that – and she'd unfortunately left this Earth.

"Oh, we don't like nicknames? That's too bad. I thought we could become close friends. Even closer still. Unless… you're already spoken for?" To which he glanced over at Levi.

Rose's cheeks warmed at those words, and she didn't dare look over at her companion.

"Oh, so that's how it is. I see. I don't want to interfere with true love, then," Nathan said with a humorless laugh. "At any rate, we should get this ritual started."

"I'm not doing this," Rose said, taking a step back.

"Oh, but you are." Nathan moved forward, each step looming and haunting. "You have learned how to control it, haven't you?"

"No," she answered earnestly, gaze never leaving his.

"That's too bad. Looks like I'm going to have to force it out of you." Suddenly, Nathan's hand pulled from behind his back, pressing something against Rose's side, causing electric hot lightning to shock through her entire body.

How did he access to a damn taser?

She screamed out in pain, dropping the basket in her hand, its contents rolling all over the floor and she joined them, holding the area in which the taser-like thing had been.

"You like this? I made it myself. I heard it's something that you have where you're from, isn't that right?"

"Rosemary—" Levi bent down to assist her, arms on either side of her to help her back up. "Are you alright? Are you badly hurt?"

"Ah, caring for your love, how sweet," Nathan said with a short laugh. "But it appears that little shock didn't work. Do I need to turn it up a notch?"

"It doesn't work like that. It comes and goes as I'm needed," she said through gritted teeth, daring to bring her blue gaze to meet his.

"Well, how about I give you another shock, and hopefully it'll need you then, huh?"

"Don't—" Levi stood up, ready to fight, it appeared, but then something came flying past him and straight into Nathan's shoulder, causing the other man to fall back.

It was an arrow.

"You're done here," called Sasha from behind them.

The rest of the Squad filed in, weapons at the ready. The few MPs that were guarding the area moved from their perches to also start fighting.

"If you don't want this to get ugly and get back to the Queen," Jean warned, gun at the ready, "I suggest you hold your fire and let us all go."

By the looks on their faces, it appeared Jean had a point.

"Rose—" someone shouted from behind them. It was Lily, running to be by her sister's side. She, without thinking, reached to grab hold of one of her hands to help Rose to her feet.

It was then that Nathan seemed to find his chance. He lunged at Rose, despite his injury, and pushed the taser into her side, turning it on and shocking her all over again. But this time, Lily would feel that absolute pain, and both girls screamed in agony.

Something seemed to trigger that pull, that familiar white light that she knew. It appeared on the opposite wall of them, and everyone stared in aw at the fact that it wasn't just white light this time, it was a complete portal. A picture formed, and beyond sat Jake on the stairwell, appearing just as surprised to see them as they were to see him.

"Jake, go –" Rose screamed, releasing her hold on Lily and scrambling to her feet.

"No!" yelled Nathan, who was still holding his shoulder, but now was moving toward the portal.

"Jake, get back!" But instead of moving away from the portal, he was stepping ever-closer. "Jake, you idiot, get away!'

"If you think you're going to get through before me, Rosemary, you have another thing coming –"

But it appeared her friends had another thing in mind.

Sasha shot another arrow at Nathan, this time hitting his calf. He fell like a tree, grunting and moaning as he did so.

"Thank you!" Rose said then she glanced back at Levi and Lily, who were staring at her expectantly.

"Rose?" she heard Jake call, and she averted her gaze back to him.

"Jake, please get back –" She pushed forward then, leaping through the portal and wrapping her arms around Jake, both of them tumbling to the ground. She looked behind her again, watching the portal slowly close, the vision of her shocked friends fleeting and then disappearing.

"Rose, what was that?"

"I'll… I'll explain later. Let's just… can we go?"

"Don't you want to stay for the funeral?"

"I've mourned enough," she admitted to him, and she truly had. While everyone here had been here a couple of hours mourning for Bunni, she'd done so for the last couple of days, crying over her friend alongside her sister and her other friends. She'd done enough.

"Alright…" He appeared quizzical, like he really wanted to ask her a million questions, but just started with, "Are you some type of Doctor Who or something?"

At that, Rose couldn't help but laugh. "Or something, Jake."