.˜"*°• L I T T L E M O N S T E R •°*"˜.

"You look like shit, by the way," Eren stated, his teal eyes narrowed as he glanced at her sideways.

"At least I have an excuse," Missy scoffed, leaning her head down on the desk. "What's yours?".

A smile threatened the corners of her mouth as she watched Eren scowl down at her. The loud chatter in the meeting room was causing her headache to worsen, and she wanted nothing more than to go back the dorms and curl up in her bed. Eren hadn't been wrong, the dark circles under her eyes and the subtle paleness of her skin was proof of the long night she had endured.

The Coronation celebration had continued till around midnight, meaning Missy hadn't been able to crawl into bed until about 2am. Even then, another nightmare had plagued her. She guessed she had been tossing and turning in her sleep, since she woke up to find Sasha had crawled into the bunk with her, fast asleep and cradling her as she snored softly.

She was pulled from her thoughts as the room fell silent around her, raising her head from the table to see Commander Erwin enter the room and take his own seat, with Levi settling down beside him with a cold look on his face.

"Levi looks happy," Eren grumbled, resting his chin on his upright arm.

Something had clearly agitated the Captain that morning. Missy could easily tell by the way he sat with his back straight and his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes narrowed and dark as stone as they swept the table of Scouts before him.

"I wanted to congratulate you all on the recent mission of taking back Delegade," Erwin began, his authoritative tone carrying throughout the entire room. "The mission was a success, however the comrades we lost in the midst of it all make it impossible to even think about celebrating. Operation clean-up has begun, as most of you know, so we are now on the right track to laying all our fallen friends to rest, as well as getting the people of Delegade back to their homes".

Missy lowered her head to look at the table in front of her, a heavy, steel hand curling around her heart and squeezing at the mention of their fallen comrades. The first day or so after the mission she hadn't been herself. She had felt a mixture of pain and confusion, along with what Levi had described as grief. That was way too many emotions for Missy to handle at one time. She had been better lately, even if the faces of her ex squad mates still plagued her sleep. The grief was still there, shuddering the walls around her heart every time she laid eyes on the empty bunk below hers.

"This, however, is not why I have asked you here today. As Scouts it is our job to take on what lies beyond the walls, eradicating Titans and expanding our maps, in hopes it will lead us to answers, and a solution.," Erwin continued.

Missy studied the way Levi's face hardened, a soft scoff leaving his lips as he turned his face away.

"In three weeks, we will be going on a medium-stay mission outside the walls," Erwin announced, causing a few whispers and light shuffling to commence within the room. "We will be travelling to where our current maps end, before splitting off into squads of two, each group heading in a different direction. We are hoping that by covering this much ground we will not only be able to broaden our maps but discover new things to aid us in our life within these walls. Or in turn, help us to get out of them".

Eren and Missy turned to each other then, a silent look of confusion passing between them as the room broke out into another bout of hushed whispers.

"I understand that this may seem like a strange time to depart for a mission, given everything that has happened within the walls recently," Erwin's voice rose over the chattering Scouts, silencing them once more. "As your Commander, I ask that you put your trust in me. Measures have been put in place in our absence".

Before Erwin disbanded the meeting, Levi stood up and glared around the room before announcing a blunt, "My squad stay here. Everyone else leave".

Eren mumbled a quiet 'good luck' to Missy as the rest of the Scouts got up to leave. Once the door had thudded closed and only the Special Operation's squad remained, Levi spoke again.

"Once we make it to the point where our maps currently end, we will be splitting off to the East with Zero's squad. Thanks to past expeditions it's been made clear to us that Titans approach the walls more from this direction. This is why our squad has been chosen to follow this path. Hange believes it's time we try and figure out why the Titans approach from the East," He paused, standing up from his chair with a loud scrape. "Until the mission, our squad will be training every day to make sure we are fully prepared for what is to come".

"What about Operation clean up?" Oluo asked, his arm resting on the back of the chair beside him.

"We will still be taking part," Levi answered. "Training will commence in the evenings, so it will not affect the clean-up operations".

"Will we be training with Zero's squad?" Eld asked.

"No," Levi replied shortly. "I have enough on my plate making sure you four are up to scratch, I will not be babysitting Zero's brats too".

Missy cocked her head to the side, studying her Captain with an unreadable expression. It seemed the man she had spent the majority of last night with had vanished, replaced with his usual cold exterior.

No, Missy thought, this is different. He's pissed about something.

She knew better than to ask.

"Training starts now," Levi stated bluntly, striding towards the door and holding it wide open with his foot. "Get moving".

Less than ten minutes had passed before Missy found herself in the fields behind HQ, stood up on top of Comanche's saddle. Levi had wanted the squad to work on their transition between riding and ODM gear, but of course this started with being able to even stand up on a saddle. Missy had already managed this once, at the beginning of the last mission, but now that she was not pumped full of raging adrenaline, she found that it wasn't as easy as it had first looked.

She wobbled, bending her knees a fraction to steady herself out. She heard a crash from behind her, and then a loud curse which signaled that one of the guys had fallen.

"Back up, Oluo," Levi sighed irritably, stood on the floor between them all.

Missy's jaw ticked from her clenched teeth, her entire body tense as she focused everything she had onto staying balanced. Her balance in general was fine, but when stood on top of a moving horse? That's an entirely different ball game.

"Relax your body," Levi ordered, his gaze shifting to her. "And stop clenching your teeth".

Missy pressed her lips into a thin line but forced her muscles to relax. After a few moments she managed to straighten her knees without wobbling.

"Good," Levi nodded. "Now tell him to walk".

Missy shot him an exasperated look. "You're funny".

"I'm not trying to be funny," He snapped, folding his arms across his chest. "You've done it once before whilst he was cantering, so you can manage a walk".

"My life was on the line then," Missy shot back.

"You're life is on the line now," Levi stated, glaring up at her. "Move it, brat".

She scowled down at him, but softly ordered Comanche to walk on. The horse took a step forward, and then another, Missy's eyes glued to where her feet remained on the saddle.

"Look up," Levi ordered. "Looking at your feet isn't going to help. Look straight ahead of you".

She obeyed him, raising her head to look at the rolling fields in front of them. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, relaxing her muscles whilst keeping herself up straight. She could do this. She was a Rhydduch after all, so she could do anything she set her mind too. She was physically stronger than everyone here, bar Levi of course, and her senses were off the charts. She could manage balancing on a horse, she knew she could.

"There you go, you've got it," Levi nodded, watching her closely as Comanche walked past him.

His eyebrows furrowed as he heard a yell, and the loud, disgruntled whinny of a horse. He turned his head just in time to witness Oluo fall forwards on his horse, spooking her and causing her to lurch forward.

Straight towards Missy and Comanche.

No one had any time to react as Oluo's horse ran straight into the back of Comanche, causing him to neigh loudly and bolt forwards, resulting in Missy losing her footing completely. She let out a gasp as she began to fall, squeezing her eyes shut as she braced for impact. Instead, she felt two strong arms catch her before she had chance to hit the ground, one hooked under her legs and the other under her lower back. She opened her eyes and met stone grey, his face pulled into a hardened expression.

"Thanks," She whispered, glancing down towards the floor to see that he had caught her way before she had reached the ground. He had to have moved fairly quickly to get to her in that time frame.

He grunted in response, setting her back down on her feet before turning to Oluo, who was still sat on the ground rubbing his head where he had fallen.

"Everyone take five," He muttered, turning on his heel and heading for the fence that surrounded this end of the field.

The squad seemed to let out a simultaneous sigh of relief as Missy stepped forward to offer Oluo a hand. He took it gladly, giving her an apologetic look as she helped pull him up from the ground.

"I'm really sorry Artemis," He sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

"Don't worry about it," Missy shrugged. "Are you alright?".

He nodded with a strained smile. "A little scuffed up, but I bet that fall would've been nothing to you".

Missy thought about his words as she strode over towards the wooden fence, hoisting herself up so that she was sat atop it. Before coming to the Scouts she had never left Turk, and since the village was so small, she had only ever been surrounded by her family. People like her. Even after three years of being surrounded by normal people, it was still strange to her that people got hurt so easily. Her body was more resilient, stronger, and tougher than that of a normal persons. If Levi hadn't have caught her she doubted that the fall would've even left a bruise.

"You're deep in thought," Levi muttered, appearing in front of her with his arms crossed. "I hope all that thinking is about how you're going to stay on your horse".

"If I said yes then would it spare me a lecture?".

Levi rolled his eyes in response, pushing himself up to sit beside her on the fence. They were silent for a few minutes, just watching the horses graze on the damp grass.

"Did it take you long to master it?" She asked, resting her hands on the fence at either side of her.

"No," Levi replied bluntly. "I got it first time".

Missy pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at his boasting. "We can't all be perfect like you, Captain".

"You had it just fine," He retorted. "If that foolish ass hadn't run his horse into you then you would've managed".

A couple more beats of silence.

"Why did Achilles leave this morning?".

Levi's jaw hardened as he continued to stare out at the field before them. He had been waiting to see whether she had noticed her brothers departure early that morning, hoping that she didn't pay attention to such details.

"I don't know".

"You're Erwin's right hand man, of course you know," Missy scoffed, inclining her head to scan his features for any hint of the truth. "His bunk is empty and he was seen leaving by carriage after sun up".

"How do you even know that?" Levi asked breathlessly, tilting his head back to blink at the grey sky.

"Just tell me where he's gone, Levi".

"I can't," He snapped, now glaring at the clouds. "He may be your brother but you don't have authority to demand information like that from me. I'm still your Captain, Artemis. If you're worried then I can assure you that he is perfectly alright".

Missy's hands grasped the wood beneath her, the fence splintering under her touch. "Then who can I ask who will tell me where he's gone?".

"Why do you want to know so bad?".

"Because everything is changing, Levi!" She snapped, crushing the wood beneath her completely. "The gate, the King, losing half our regiment, the mission we've been set at such short notice- never mind the fact that my father seemed awfully chummy with the King at the Coronation party last night!".

Levi turned his head to face her, his eyes flickering from her enraged features then down to the splintered wood now ripping the flesh of her hands apart.

"Everything feels different ever since I graduated the Cadet core. I don't like it," She continued, her anger bubbling back down into a simmer. "Something just doesn't feel right. I don't feel right".

His gaze remained hard as he assessed her once more, before hopping down from the fence. "Your brother is fine, I promise you he is in no danger".

Missy just huffed in annoyance, avoiding his eye completely.

"You can hate me all you want, it makes no difference to me," Levi sighed, his eyes finding her bleeding palms still clenched into the wood of the splintered fence. "But I have orders that I need to uphold- have to uphold".

She remained silent as he took a step towards her, wrapping cold fingers around her wrist and prying her damaged hands from the fence.

"You're completely right," He muttered, pulling her down from her perch and taking a closer look at her hands. "Everything is different. Change is inevitable in this world. Nothing stays the same forever, and in a months time, just as you become accustomed to this change, it will all change again".

Missy just glared at the spot on the grass beside his feet as she let him examine her hands. She wasn't one to lose her temper so easily, but she had been feeling so much recently that it had just all come out in one fell swoop. She was glad in some way that it had been Levi that had taken the brunt of her pent up emotions and not her friends. She knew Levi didn't care in the slightest if she shouted at him.

"If you're finished with your little temper tantrum, I think you and I should take a trip to the medical bay and get your hands patched up," He said, before turning his head back towards the broken fence. "And that's vandalism of Scouts property by the way".

Missy turned her head slightly to look down at her hands. Countless chunky splinters bit into the soft flesh of her palms, drawing blood which now dripped down to her wrists and onto the grass below.

"Fine".

Levi ordered the other four to continue practicing, promising to throw them from the wall if they hadn't made good progress by the time he returned. She trailed behind him as he led her from the field and back into HQ. A temporary medical bay had been set up before the first mission, but now that half of the remaining Scouts would likely be stationed here permanently, they had adapted it into a proper medical ward. Missy walked over the threshold and saw five beds lined up on each side of the room, separated by light grey curtains.

"Is everything okay?" One of the nurses asked, approaching the two.

Levi simply jerked his head towards Artemis who was holding her bleeding hands out in front of her. "I can sort her out, just get me the right stuff".

"Yes Captain," The nurse nodded before scurrying away to grab some supplies.

Missy sat down on the side of one of the beds, her eyes glued to the floor as Levi stood above her with his hands in his pockets. She couldn't help but feel like a scolded child after her little outburst on the field, and just look where it had gotten her.

The nurse returned moments later with a wooden cart, the supplies sat neatly atop it. Levi thanked her with a grumble before rolling his sleeves up to his elbows and pulling a stool forward to sit directly in front of Missy.

She didn't say a word as he picked one of her hands up, taking the sterilized tweezers in his free hand. He plucked out the first splinter, but Missy would be lying if she said she felt a thing.

"Haven't seen you lose your head in quite some time," He mumbled, his focus wholly on her palm. "Hope you feel better after biting my ear off".

"It's not you that i'm angry at," Missy replied, keeping her voice low. "I'm just frustrated. I'm sorry".

The corner of Levi's mouth twitched up in an amused smirk as he plucked another splinter from her hand. "I was hoping I'd get some payback by plucking these out of your hands, but it's not bothering you at all is it?".

She shook her head. "Nope".

He let out an amused grumble. "Sometimes I forget you're just like me".

She rolled her eyes, yet her shoulders relaxed slightly as she felt the tension melt away between them.

"Gunther told me that there are riots in Sina right now," Missy whispered. "I thought maybe that could be why Achilles left".

Levi narrowed his eyes, but didn't tear his attention away from her hands. "There are indeed riots in Sina. I don't know the full detailing of it, but Achilles will possibly be lending a hand with security. That's all I can tell you so don't start asking me a bunch of questions".

"Fine," Missy shrugged. "To answer your question before, it was actually Apollo who told me about him leaving".

"Is that right?".

"He was on patrol this morning so he saw Achilles leave," Missy explained. "He asked me what I knew. Well, if we're being specific, he cornered me after breakfast and threatened to lock me in the supply closet if I didn't tell him. He assumed because I'm in your squad that I would know whatever you knew".

"Typical brat not using that brain of his," Levi muttered, placing the tweezers down and soaking a cloth in the warm water the Nurse had prepared. "I hope you locked him in the supply closet for that".

Missy bit back a wince as he placed the wet cloth on her hand, the sting causing her features to shift slightly. Levi smirked, dabbing the affected area gently.

"There it is," He said with a smug look. "You aren't made of steel after all".