I couldn't tell how long I was out. Faint chatter slowly stirred me from my unconsciousness. The voices sounded familiar, though I couldn't make out who they belonged to. Soreness was apparent at the back of my head. I could feel my body vibrating and bouncing with no real rhythm. Was I moving? The voices started to sound more clear with each passing second. I felt a groan leave my throat and I found the strength to pry open an eye for just a second.
The night sky was above me. Clouds slowly trudging through the starry black beyond. I could feel a breeze on my face now, but my body was covered with a blanket. More sounds came to me as I stirred into consciousness. Horse hooves prancing on the ground. Am I on a wagon?
"H-hey! She's waking up!" I heard a voice call. Eren?
"Emily! Hun!" Another familiar voice called for me... Hange?
My body felt incredibly weak. Another groan escaped me as I tried to find my voice, but darkness came to me again.
———
Consciousness came to me. This time a little more clearly. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself in a dimly lit room. White sheets were draped over my body. The bed I was laying in felt oddly firm and uncomfortable. I immediately noticed how light my body felt. Most of my scout uniform was gone. My jacket and straps were gone... leaving me only with my white pants and black long sleeved shirt.
My vision was starting to clear up and I was able to see more of my surroundings. I was in an infirmary. I groaned, trying to sit up from my bed when I suddenly felt a hand press onto my shoulder, guiding me back down.
"You shouldn't move," a calm voice spoke. I turned my head to my left to see Levi sitting in a chair beside the bed I had been laid in.
"What happened?" I managed to ask, blinking a few times.
"One of those MP pigs got spooked and knocked you to your ass when you tried to play hero," he sat back, crossing his arms over his chest, "You're lucky you weren't arrested along with Erwin."
"Is Erwin-?"
"He's fine."
"And... The Female Titan...?"
Levi closed his eyes, crossing his arms a little tighter across his chest. I could see a slight underbite forming on him as his chin pushed forward. "She's in custody, if that's what you want to know."
"You don't seem too happy about it,"
"I'm not," he said dryly.
"I don't understand-"
"I'll explain later. Right now there are more important things at hand," his voice was still calm, despite appearing annoyed.
I let it go, laying my head back down to look up at the ceiling, going over the events in my head. So many questions to ask. I carefully tried to pick one.
"Where are we?" I murmured.
"Ehrmich District."
"Ehrmich? How long was I out? Why bring me here?"
Must explain why I heard voices and was moving. I was in a wagon... I heard Levi took a deep breath before he began, realizing he wasn't going to get out of being questioned.
"We brought you here with us because I wanted to make sure you were alright-"
He took several minutes explaining to me everything that happened in Stohess and what we recently discovered. I had been unconscious for the better part of a day. Erwin was arrested for the act of Treason but was soon set free and the Scouts were exonerated. The Female Titan had used the same hardening ability we saw on the expedition to encase her human form, protecting herself completely from any of our weapons. She was now being kept underground in the Scouts' custody. Hange was able to collect a piece of the hardening fragment and has a hypothesis about the walls being made from Titans. Hange had taken custody of a pastor, a member of The Order of the Walls, for questioning about the legitimacy of her theory. The biggest piece of information was that Titans had somehow breached through Wall Rose, and several troops were now scaling the walls for the source of the breach. They departed Ehrmich several hours earlier.
I laid in shock for several minutes, trying to digest all the information.
"Why are you here?" I turned to him.
"I said I would stay to make sure you woke up," He said, his head hung low. I glanced at him up and down, examining his face and posture. I felt a blush form on my cheeks. He stayed for me?
"How are you feeling?" his voice was soft.
"I'm fine, I guess?" I responded, pushing myself to sit up, "Guess I just needed to rest."
I peered at the window ahead of my bed to see a pink sky forming. "What time is it?" I asked.
"Morning." Levi responded, now looking at the same window, "Do you feel up to moving?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Good. We need to return to Trost. Erwin is waiting," He said, standing up from his seat.
"I - uh- okay." I said as I watched him exit the room to notify the nurse I was awake.
---
"Only one horse...?" I asked Levi, who was slowly walking towards me outside of the infirmary with a horse in tow. He still harbored the tiniest of limps which he tried to hide.
"It's the only one available," he said, gently petting the horse's snout.
I stared blankly at him and blushed, realizing we're going to be riding back to Trost together on one horse. I wasn't sure why I was feeling so nervous around Levi. We had slept together but we hadn't been alone since. Neither of us has yet to acknowledge it and our relationship, for lack of a better word, wasn't quite clear. Was it just a fling or is there something more? I knew I definitely had some feelings for him... but his were unknown.
"Oi, brat. You coming or are you going to continue staring off?" his voice interrupted my train of thought. I didn't notice he already climbed onto the horse and was reaching his hand for mine.
I nodded and accepted his invitation, taking his hand and hoisting myself up onto the horse. His strong hand guided me to the front of him as I sat down. My cheeks were burning as I felt my rear press against his groin, my back against his chest. He slid a hand around my waist, resting it against my lower abdomen and pressed me against him more.
"Stay close," he whispered in my ear.
I nodded, feeling his breath against my ear which sent a shiver down my spine. The horse started to gallop through Ehrmich at Levi's command. The morning sun was rising high above us and the sky was a bright blue with several white clouds. I couldn't help but stare into the sky, savoring the moment as I felt the breeze against my skin. Momentary peace.
Soon, we found ourselves outside of the district. The horse picked up speed, running through the open field to avoid any sight of Titans.
"What's the plan when we get back to Trost?" I turned my head slightly to look at Levi. His eyes were focused ahead of us, holding onto the reins with his free hand, still holding me tightly at the waist with the other.
"Wait for the official report from the scaling mission, then it'll be up to Erwin," he answered, nudging his chin upward, "Shouldn't be much longer until we get to Trost."
I turned my head back to look at the now appearing wall ahead of us in the distance. A small smile formed on my face. I could feel him adjust his hand on my abdomen slightly. Swallowing a little gulp, I placed a hand over his, letting my thumb give the back of his hand gentle affectionate strokes. For a brief moment, I felt him pull himself closer to my neck below my ear. His lips barely brushed against my skin at my hairline. Goosebumps formed on my arms in response and my breath hitched.
I tried my best to push down the arousal that was starting to take over me. Our bodies were pressed together, bouncing as the horse continued to stride towards our destination. I removed my hand from his, placing them back on the pummel for support.
We continued to ride in silence until eventually making it to Trost.
---
Arriving at Trost headquarters gave me a very eerie feeling. While the Scouts were officially stationed in Trost, it had another definition of "home" for me as I grew up not too far from HQ. I usually try to avoid my childhood home as much as possible.
Levi pulled the horse to a stop in front of the Scout stables and gently helped me off the horse. He quietly handed the reins off to a cadet who was managing the stables before turning to me, guiding me with his hand on my back briefly as we walked to where we saw several military members congregating into multiple groups.
I could faintly make out some of the conversations they were having amongst themselves as we walked by. They mostly looked to be Military Police members, based on the horse emblems on their cloaks. Three soldiers in particular caught my eye with their chatter.
"Can you believe it? Send us out on a pointless mission and there weren't even any Titans!" One soldier scoffed.
"And they made it seem like it was some big emergency," another added, "It's like they just brought us here to sit on our asses."
"Hey, Levi!" One of them called out, drawing mine and Levi's attention. An older MP with greying hair was pointing directly at Levi with a smile etched on his face.
"Where the hell you hiding all the Titans?"
Levi stopped in his tracks, staring directly at the man, "What's the problem? In a hurry to be eaten alive?" he sneered.
"So sorry we couldn't make that happen for you today. Plenty of opportunities for that beyond the wall, if that's what you're looking for," his eyes lowered and his voice was dripping in sarcasm, "Lots of Scouting Expeditions. I'd be more than happy for the help. We could all fight Titans together."
I lowered my head to fight back a smile. A small huff of a laugh escaped me. For as long as I could remember, MP's and Scouts had always butt heads. The Scout Regiment was always mocked for going beyond the walls while Scouts' frequently looked down on MP's for being too cowardly to fight Titans. MP egos were usually a problem, too. They put themselves on a pedestal and would go out of their way to make other military members feel inferior. Disgusting behavior, really.
"Eh, well," the soldier laughed nervously, "we still have our work here in the interior-"
"The Advance Squad is back!" a soldier cried out, running towards where we were standing. He was a young man with short, black hair. The rose emblem on his jacket indicated he was a Garrison soldier. His attention was at one of the MP's before us, "Tell Commander Pyxis!"
"Tch..." Levi clicked his tongue and continued to walk in our original direction. I glanced between the three MP's and turned to follow Levi, not saying a word.
"Damn MP's. Cowardly bastards," Levi spat.
"You know they're ignorant, entitled pricks. Just ignore them," I said, crossing my arms. I felt a little out of place not being in uniform. Levi still wore the same black suit he did back in Stohess. He stopped in front of the barracks building and leaned his back against a beam. I stopped in front of him, turning to face him.
"You know, um... about the other night," I spoke, scratching one of my arms and looking down.
"Yes?" He said.
"Well, I-"
"Levi! Emily!" I heard Erwin call for us. He flew down near us with his ODM gear, striding his way by my side.
"Erwin!" I said, mainly in shock. Last I saw him, he was in handcuffs.
"Emily, glad to see you. You took quite the hit!" He smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah. If I remember correctly: I gave quite a hit, too," I smiled back.
"Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say we're glad to have you back," he patted my shoulder once more before changing his demeanor, "The advance squad is back. We need to hear the report."
He glanced over to Levi and nodded. Levi nodded back, kicking himself up from the wall to follow Erwin. I followed closely behind.
As we walked up to a large group of military members, I immediately recognized a fellow Scout member. Jean, the boy who acted as Eren's decoy, was completely dressed in uniform, looking concerned. He spotted us and came jogging our way.
"Commander Erwin! Captain Levi! And, uh..." he trailed off. I saw a blush form on his cheeks when he looked at me.
"Emily. Emily Meyer," I smiled.
"Right. Emily. It's nice to officially meet you," he smiled, grabbing my hand and leaving a kiss on it. A bold move.
"Uh, yes. Jean, was it?" I asked, taking my hand back from his grip. He nodded in response.
"Get moving, brats," Levi huffed.
Everyone had gathered around two soldiers from advance squad. General Pyxis was with them, speaking to them about the recent mission. They had revealed that there was no breach in the wall and no Titans to be found. Erwin had gently pushed soldiers to the side to make room for us to get to the center of the gathering.
"That's not all, sir! We ran into Section Commander Hange's group as well! Several members of the 104th cadet corps were with them, without gear and...and..." a frightened soldier clung to his canteen, visibly shaken.
"And what? Spit it out, son," General Pyxis urged him.
"This is going to sound crazy but... three of them were Titans!" His eyes widened and his voice cracked.
My eyes widened at his statement. So, the suspicions were true? Was one of the three Titans Eren? Erwin spent the next several moments interrogating the man, asking if they knew who turned into a Titan, what happened after they turned into a Titan, and more. My immediate thoughts went to Hange and her squad. I hadn't seen her in days and I'm worried about her safety.
Erwin turned to us with a nod before starting to walk away from the group. Levi and I both followed, sneaking away before anyone noticed our absence.
"I'm going to meet up with Hange and the others. No doubt there were more spies who are after Eren," Erwin began.
"I'm coming with you!" I blurted out.
"No, Emily. You took a hit to the head. You need to stay and rest."
"I'm fine! Besides, I'm part of squad Hange. I should be there!" I insisted.
"As of this morning you are not," Erwin corrected me. I stopped in my tracks, looking at him in disbelief.
"I'll go over details of your new position when I return. For now, you and Levi need to focus on recovery."
Part of me wanted to keep arguing about why I needed to join him, partly because I didn't want to stay in Trost. I would only be reminded of Petra should I return to the barracks. The other part of me knew he was right. I could only muster a small nod before lowering my head in defeat.
"Tch. Don't get yourself killed out there," Levi nonchalantly said to Erwin.
"Don't plan on it," Erwin smirked, "I'll be taking several of our troops. You two hold down the fort here."
I couldn't say anything. I pursed my lips, glaring daggers to the side of me at nothing in particular.
I just hoped and prayed that Hange and the others were safe.
~~~~~~~~
Y'all wanna see my version of Emily?
This is who is in my mind as I write. 🤫