"This coat smells like ass..." I complained in a whisper, squatting in the damp grass between Levi and Armin.
"That's the least of our concerns, (Y/N)..." The blond replied with a sigh, eyes glued to the building we had only left a few moments ago.

It was now swarming with interior police. We had barely escaped, and now we sat back, letting the gravity of the situation sink in. Our horses were down there. Most of our supplies. The ashes of Erwin's warning.

"We need to hurry to the rendezvous point. Lucky the moon is out tonight." Levi backed down the hill a little before standing up, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. I was the first to follow, but I kept my distance, still rattled about the little moment we had shared before Hange had interrupted.

Jean fell into step beside me, but I didn't dare glance over. Of course, things just had to get awkward right before a shitstorm struck.
"You okay..?" After a while, he piped up, but I still kept my eyes facing forward.
"Why wouldn't I be?" It had been a stupid question, and I really didn't want to get into any form of talk, big or small.

"Well, we're fugitives now..." He murmured, the light crunch of his footsteps matching mine perfectly.
"Beats the alternative." I shrugged, tapping my fingers against the barrel of my own rifle. Sasha skipped forward a few steps to flank my other side, peering over at me curiously.
"What's the alternative..?"

"The gallows." Sure, it was dark, but it was the truth. Knowing that there was a chance Erwin could die any day now, if he hadn't already, had been eating at me. I knew I had to shake my fears and try to lighten up, but it was easier said than done. I wasn't even sure I was over the shock of the last chaotic events.

Night turned to day slower than any of us would have liked, and we eventually found ourselves in the Trost district, which was now back to some semblance of normal. Our lives, however, were quite the opposite. We knew who they were really after, so we had a plan in place. That plan involved Jean dressing up as Eren. Again. This time, however, Armin joined him in drag.

"Levi..?" A man called out to us as we passed by, and I could see the captain's shoulders tense.

"It is! I've seen him before, too! Levi, humanity's strongest soldier!"

"Wow, he's small!"

"I've only ever seen him on a horse! Hah!"

I puffed out a pitying sigh as the people continued to voice their insulting opinions, standing back with the rest of the squad to wait and see what he would do.
"You're in the way." His voice sounded calm, but we all knew better. A calm Levi far surpassed the terror of a titan.

The townsfolk began to explain their woes, about how they were starving and suffering thanks to being near the wall, and how nobody dared visit. How it was our fault, for not working hard enough. They were closing in around us, and I ended up packed tight between the disguised Armin and Jean.

"What're you even doing here, anyway? Shopping? Out for a stroll, women in tow..?" When I felt a hand reach from behind me and brush against my cheek, my immediate response was to flinch into Jean, grabbing onto the sleeve of his loose-fitting coat.

"Hey, watch out!" I didn't really focus on what Levi was saying, all because of that damn hand against my skin, but it didn't really matter. When the horse and carriage tore through the crowd, Jean hurled me out of the way, but I still managed to see him get snatched up.

The crowd was startled and scattered, and I immediately raced after Levi, who took off in a flash. The others followed suit, but this time I made sure to stay as close as possible.
"I still don't get how you knew this would happen..!" I muttered, launching myself across to the same building as the ravonet. "I get that we need those two, but do you really think Jean and Armin can pass?! God, and you tell me that I take too many risks!"

Grunting as he used the roof as a stepping stone, Levi seemed to wait for me to catch up properly before he moved to the next.
"Eren and Historia are the only two people they see as indispensable. It was obvious they'd whisk them away."

It wasn't much of an answer, but I knew it was the best I was going to get, so I just followed him, making sure the others could keep up. It wasn't all too difficult to track the carriage, and we eventually came to an industrial building, settling ourselves in formation upon the rooftops.

As Mikasa checked to see if she could see inside, I crouched beside Levi, worry eating away at me. It was only a matter of time before they were found out, and if that happened, neither of them would be spared.

"How's your leg..?" I hadn't been oblivious. He was obviously favouring it, which had me concerned for him, too. If Levi was out, we all were.
"It's moving pretty well. It's not bad..." He replied, giving his knee a slight rub. Mikasa returned, crouching down beside me as she leaned to address our captain.

"There's one guard in there. I say we take him out and wait to jump whoever comes next. If we don't move now, we could lose." She was right, both Levi and I knew it, though I wanted to hear it from him.
"Alright. Mikasa, go grab Sasha. We'll enter and deal with them. (Y/N), you and Connie will stand lookout."

Like hell.

"No, I'm coming wi-"
"Your senses are sharp. Most people look with just their eyes, but you use everything you have. You'd catch what others would miss." Had that been a compliment, or a cheap trick to make me follow an order? Either way, I knew he wasn't wrong. Living outside of the walls, avoiding titans and humans, I could see the logic.
"Fine. Do what you have to." Clicking my tongue, I launched off to join Connie on the main rooftop.

It was an easy enough operation. As expected, we got Jean and Armin back, but I kind of lost track of things from there. I was simply along for the ride, existing up until I realised that, at some point, with the help of Dimo Reeves, the man who had orchestrated the abduction, we had taken an important hostage.

Now, I sat in a stone room, absently toying with a pebble to keep my mind off of the screaming. Was torture really necessary? Sannes had information, sure, but it was too much in my opinion. Unsettling.
"You okay?" I stiffened when Jean crouched down in front of me, tilting his head to try and catch my eyes.

"Again, why wouldn't I be..?" Averting my gaze, I shifted awkwardly when he chose to sit down beside me, uninvited.
"I don't know...I'm just..." He trailed off with a sigh, leaning his head back against the wall. "I..I'm sorry about the other day...I didn't mean t-"

"Don't." Lifting my hand up to stop him, I made sure everybody else was distracted before continuing. "You did nothing wrong. I'm just...not ready for anything like that..." I wasn't sure if I ever would be, with him, Levi, or anybody else who came along.

"S..so you don't hate me..?" It was strange for Jean to be so open about being nervous. It was always obvious, but he rarely didn't try to cover it up.
"No more than usual..." I replied, finally glancing over at him and offering him a slight smile.

No way could I hate him...

"Just...focus on all of this crap first, okay? Keep a level head..." Coming from me, it was hypocritical advice, but it was all I had. We had always worn death marks, ever since we joined the Survey Corps, but now they were almost glowing. The danger we were in was severe.

"Yeah...alright..." Jean replied quietly, still watching me closely. I didn't hate it, but at the same time, it felt wrong. It felt like a betrayal, even though I had nothing to feel bad about. "You haven't slept for a while, have you..?"

My top caught upon the rough texture of the wall as I shifted, the urge to yawn coming at the worst possible time.
"I get enough to function." I lied, knowing full well that I had barely had four hours in the past three days.

Seeing through me, Jean shifted a little closer, patting his shoulder as he looked over towards the others, who were deep in conversation.
"W..well...you could lean on me if you wanna rest...I mean, totally platonic, of course..."

He was so obvious, but the sentiment was sweet. I would have been lying if I had said it didn't look inviting.
"Jean..." I was going to give him a stern warning, but I decided against it. It wasn't his fault I was confused, and I wanted to at least maintain our friendship.

Sighing in defeat, I scooted a little closer and rested my head against his shoulder. He had to sink lower so I could reach properly, but he voiced no complaints. The screaming began again, and I closed my eyes, tuning it out as best I could.

"Don't think about it...Just get some sleep and we can deal with things in the morning..." Jean murmured, pulling his legs up closer to his chest. He was comfortable, I'd give him that. I just wasn't sure what else to think about him, or Levi, for that matter.

I just need to keep my head in the game. No getting distracted. When I let myself relax...someone I love always dies...

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***Well, that was trash.

I'm so sorry for not updating this for like a year! Other fandoms stole my attention, and paired with life and writer's block, it sucked.

Anyway, I'll do my best to update this more often! Thanks for sticking around!

Next Time: Scruff***