Y/N's Pov
"That was close..." Connie murmurs, staring down at our little cabin now being ransacked.
"Much too close," I agree, shuddering softly.
We're all standing atop a hill in the distance under the cover of night, bags of supplies on our backs and guns in our hands. I watch as the men search our cabin, which we'd evacuated in a rush under Erwin's instructions. It's been a few weeks since the mission outside the walls, where I encountered the Beast Titan.
And things have gone to shit.
"What would have happened to us if we had stayed one more night in there...?" Connie wonders.
"Captain, are those interior MPS?" Armin asks.
"Beats me, I can't imagine they'd directly act all the way out here but they didn't take me too seriously either..." he says, striding away. "Hurry to the rendezvous point," he orders.
And with that we all hurry away, clustered together and guns out, creeping in the dead of night.
~~~
We're strolling through Trost District, weaving our way in and out of the crowds, Levi leading the way. For some reason, being out here in the open makes my skin prickle. All that time hiding out has left me feeling exposed out here. I keep my head down and my ears peeled for anything of use.
"Hey," a voice calls in our direction. "Aren't you Levi?"
My head snaps up, hand going to the weapon stashed in my waistband, but its just a civilian.
"Hm?" Levi says, expression characteristically blank.
"It is!"
"I've seen him before, too!"
"That's Levi, Humanity's Strongest Soldier!!"
"Hey, he's small!"
"Hah! I've only ever seen him on a horse."
I shoot an irritated look in the direction of the last two comments and then sidle a fraction closer to Levi. Soon the men are surrounding us. The man who initiated the conversation at the front, staring down at Levi.
"You're in the way," Levi says, and I wince at his blunt manner.
"Come one , Captain. Hear us out! We humble folk just want a few words with you. We lost out on a lot of work because of that evacuation plan you soldiers made all that noise about."
"Sir," I cut in. "We're sorry for what you're going through but we really need to get going."
They all ignore me and I bristle, feeling Levi and the rest of my squad do the same.
"It's not just us," the man continues. "People don't come to the towns by the wall like this anymore because of all the uncertainty. Our income's gone, and we can't eat-"
"And I'm sorry about that," I try again. "But-"
"The Garrison ran off somewhere," he interrupts, and I clench my fists, sucking on a tooth. "And crowds of thieves came in to take their place. But taxes are high as ever, what are we supposed to do? Why'd things turn out like this? Why do the Titans keep attacking? I think I know why."
"Sir-"
"It's because you in the survey corps aren't working hard enough! I've always blamed myself if I don't make money in business. I work and get nothing in return all the time. But its not the same for people like you, is it? You laze around, get nothing done, and you still get to eat-"
I can't take it anymore. I chuckle softly and this, of all things, garners a reaction from the men. "Laze about, is that what you said?" I say quietly, looking him dead in the eyes. "Well if that's what you really think then why don't you tell that to the people who lost their son, daughter, sister, brother, friend, who lost someone they loved and cared about, that they died doing nothing. That they were lazy and got nothing done."
I took a step forward and the men take a step back, swallowing nervously.
"If you think its so easy, then why don't you do it? We have to watch our friends, our comrades, get eaten just so that we can have a chance to get back what was taken from us. What was taken from you. So you can be safe and have more land and business than you would know what to do with."
I step back again and roll up my shirt a fraction to expose the nasty scar on my midriff, the result of my fight with Titans a few weeks earlier. The men blanch, faces going white and sickly. "But you're right," I say coolly. "I got this from doing nothing."
There's stunned silence and the men look appropriately uncomfortable, if a little scared.
Levi and I hear the hooves at the same time. "Watch out!" we warn together, pushing the civilians out of the way just in time as a carriage comes charging past. The men inside grab who they think are Krista and Eren and speed away.
"ARMI- uh, I mean, KRISTA AND EREN!" Sasha cries and I resist the urge to roll my eyes at her slip of the tongue. "THEY'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED AGAIN!"
~~~
I'm crouched atop the roof of the warehouse that 'Krista' and 'Eren' - aka Armin and Jean - have been taken to. I'm watching in disgust and anger as one of the kidnappers fondles poor Armin. It takes everything in me to not break through the window right now and slice the man's head right off.
When I can't take it anymore I turn away, rejoining Levi on the other rooftop with Mikasa.
"How's everything going inside?" he asks.
I grimace, too pissed off and disgusted to speak.
"If we wait much longer they'll see through Armin's disguise," Mikasa answers. "He's getting pawed at."
"I see..."
I turn to him. "How's your leg?" I nod to the ankle he'd injured previously. "Any better?"
He puts a hand on it. "I can move well enough," he reassures. I study him for a moment. He has his thinking expression on, something's bothering him. I'm about to ask when he says, "Now then, did you notice? These kidnappers are obviously rank amateurs. Why wouldn't they use professionals for a job like this?"
I frown, thinking it over.
Levi stands. "You can handle the rest on your own. I'm going to make my way to Eren, come and meet up with me when you're down taking out the trash."
We nod and I watch him leave for a couple of moments before turning back to Mikasa. "Let's go."
Quietly, we sneak into the warehouse. There are four guards already in there. Mikasa and I sneak up on two, grabbing them from behind and holding them in a choke until they pass out. The other two come round to investigate when they hear the faint sounds of struggle. We just step out from behind the stack of boxes and clock them on the back of the head. They crumple to the floor with a groan.
Footsteps sound outside and we all creep into position.
The door swings open.
"...Do you want to mess everything up again, you damned fool?" a low voice growls.
"I apologise," a second voice says.
"Hold up on your report. Honestly this is our last chance."
Three men walk into the room, and I tense, legs poised and ready to spring into action. The tallest one pauses. "Where's the guards...?"
"Come on," the man in the middle says. "For situations like this we need to start by stripping our captives."
Just as he says this, Mikasa leaps out from her hiding place and drives her knee into the face of one of the thugs with enough force to dislocate his jaw. At the same time, I jump out and grab the second thug, hand around his throat and throwing him to the ground.
Then I turn and attack the third man, jumping up and swinging my leg into his head. The man flies back, crashing into another stack. I'm on him again, punching him hard across the jaw as he tries to stand up. And then, for Armin and Jean, and women everywhere, I kick him in the crotch. The man howls.
"Teach you to try strip your captives you disgusting ass," I mutter.
Jean hurries over and ties him with a spare piece of rope. I turn around, everyone's looking at me, and then at the thug who is doubled over in agony. I shrug. "I'm a feminist.
Levi's Pov
I land on the rooftop over looking the street where the cart carrying the real Eren and Krista is driving.
Nifa turns to look at me. "Capatin."
"Well?"
"The road's crowded but I've seen nothing unusual," Nifa reports. "It's not far from Commander Pyxis's from here so I think we're good but how's the body double mission going?"
"A success," I murmur.
Nifa frowns. "You don't seem very pleased about that."
"I'm not..."
Something's wrong, I think. Military Police can't be behind this, they're too careful of their reputation to use amateurs. This is more like... They'd know the wagon would be followed, support team wouldn't be far behind..."
"Captain," Nifa interupts my train of thought. "Wagon's almost on the move again."
"Nifa," I say. "Have you heard of Kenny the Ripper?"
"That mass murderer in the Capital? The one who slit the throats of over a 100 MPS? Of course, but I always thought he was just an urban legend."
Hm, legend. Yeah right. "The stories are all true," I tell her, still watching the wagon's progress. "He's no legend. I lived with him, back when I was a kid."
"Huh? Yeah, very funny, sir," Nifa chuckles nervously. "This isn't really the time to be making jokes."
I shift my position slightly, flexing my fingers. That's right. He wouldn't care about using amateurs. The team would trail the wagon from both rear angles. They'd choose a spot high up, somewhere with a clear like of sight...
Then it dawns on me.
I hear a sound behind me. "NIFA!" I warn, whirling around and ducking. Two gun shots ring through the air. One barely misses me, knocking a chip off the chimney. But the other hits Nifa. Blood sprays everywhere and Nifa crumples in heap onto the roof. I hide behind the chimney, weapons ready.
I can't stop staring at Nifa's bloody, lifeless body.
Another gunshot fills the air.
Somewhere down below a woman screams.
"Long time, Levi," an all too familiar voice says. I clench my fists, trying to keep my breathing steady. Footsteps clank across the roof. "Still wondering if you'd grown some," he says. I can hear him reloading his weapons, the clang of metal as its discarded and reattached.
And then all at once, dozens of his people appear on the rooftops around. Hooks from ODM gear attach themselves into the chimney and then he's sliding along the rooftop and flipping over it.
It's like in slow motion as he appears in front of me, guns point at my face. "Woohoo! Nope, don't look like you've changed at all boy!"
I draw my swords, anger coursing through my veins. I roar, "KENNY!!"
A/N
So here is where we start following the season 3 storyline, more or less.
Also I know this chapter isn't the greatest but I'm currently away visiting family so I haven't had much time.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading!
- R