Chapter 27: Stohess

Your POV:

'I was walking through the corridors of Laurie's residence looking for him. Where is he? He is usually always in his office at this time. I need to talk to him about some information on Lord Reiss.

I hear some raised voices as I walk down one of the halls, one of them definitely sounds like Laurie. As I get closer to the voices, I see a guard out front. If I had any doubts about the voice belonging to Laurie, I am 100% sure he is there now.

I've seen this particular guard around a lot, and his face always goes red when I talk to him. So, it should be easy getting rid of him.

"Tom! Hey! It's so weird for me to run into you, I was just thinking of you actually!" I give him my best fake Peitho smile, causing his face and neck to go completely red.

"H-hey P-Peitho," He stuttered as I smiled at him, "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Laurie, is he in there?" I try to move closer to the door, but he blocks my path.

"Sorry, I can't let you in there, he has a meeting with someone very important."

"Oh, no problem," I try my best to maintain my flirtatious smile, "I'll wait out here like a good girl. Oh, actually it's fortunate I ran into you. I was looking for Laurie because I heard some girls talking about a stranger lurking around the dorms. I was just thinking if I can't find Laurie, I should get you! That's why I was thinking of you, you're the only guard I trust that can go and find this person and make him pay."

Tom puffed out his chest a little bit at my words, "You know you can always count on me, Peitho. I'll look into this right away."

"Thank you so much, Tom!" I say happily as I rise up on the tips of my toes to plant a kiss on his lips. He was so surprised his entire body froze, "Don't worry, Tom. I'll stay out here and be a good girl watching the door while you go check out the situation. But don't take too long, I'll eagerly await your return."

I bite my lower lip seductively as he gives me a dazed smile and runs in the direction of the girl's dorms. Too easy. I slowly open the door a crack so I can listen to the voices within the room a little more clearly.

"I can't get you anymore spinal fluid, Harvey," I hear the unmistakable annoyed voice of Laurie, "We didn't pay you to ask questions, just work with what we give you, and do what you're told!"

"I understand, Lawrence," I hear another male voice I didn't recognize, "But I can only experiment on so many samples with one vial! What do you want from me? I can't make synthetic spinal fluid, it wouldn't work for what you're asking me to do."

I lean in a little closer because the voices seem to get quieter and quieter, until I can only hear muffled words that I can't quite make out. Even though I can't understand what they are saying, I can feel my body react to what they are saying.

I feel my eyebrows raise and my eyes grow wider and wider. I feel myself smile as my heart beats faster and faster in excitement. What is going on? What am I hearing?

Without warning the door opens and Laurie is standing right in front of me, "You!" He snarls at me, "What the fuck are you doing here? Eavesdropping Peitho? Really?! Where is Tom?! You are both in for it now, bitch."

He picks me up and throws me onto his shoulder with ease and carried me further and further into the dungeons bellow, "If you want to know so badly, Peitho," I can hear the evil smile in his voice, "I'll show you."'

...

I wake up coughing, gasping and covered in sweat. 'It was just a memory and a dream' I tell myself quietly, 'you're not there anymore, you're safe'. I was trying to calm my heart beat back to normal. That was a new memory, I guess it was triggered by hearing Harvey's name several times yesterday. This is even more confirmation that I have to dig deeper into Harvey Banning when I go to the party.

What kind of experiments could he have been doing? Who's spinal fluid? What was he doing with spinal fluid?

No use in trying to figure out now, might as well get up and shower before breakfast.

It was recommended we wear civilian clothes so we don't stand out while we wait for the female titan to make her move.

There are not going to be too many scouts in Stohess for this operation, they wanted to keep the mission as quiet as possible. It is believed by Erwin that there is a good chance there are others in the scouts that could be working with the female titan. It is also looking increasingly likely that it could be someone from Eren's 104th cadet group.

There is only a small group of trusted soldiers that will be going to Stohess. I'll be a fair distance from the location of where they plan on luring the female titan. They have some stronger soldiers farther away to keep track of her if she bolts in any direction and try to slow her down while others catch up.

Jean is supposed to rendezvous with me at a pre-determined location after he is done being a stand in for Eren, in the group that is heading towards the capital.

After I'm finished showering and changing, I head to the Mess Hall for breakfast. On my way in, I run into Reiner, "Hey, (y/n)!" He greets me cheerfully, "It's so nice to see you out of that cast. Aren't people with a broken leg supposed to stay in a cast a little longer though? Will you be okay?"

"I'm a quick healer." I shrug at him. It's true, even when being tortured by Laurie or his customers, I heal faster than most other people.

Reiner follows me and sits across from me when I pick a vacant table. I don't mind, I haven't seen him very much, so it'll be nice to chat with him.

"I thought a bunch of you were supposed to leave on a mission with Mike, Nanaba and Gelgar." I comment casually as I pick at my breakfast.

"I think we were, yeah," He replies, "But plans changed a little bit, so we are staying here for now. Why are you in casual clothes today?"

I look down at my (f/c) long sleeved shirt and black pants, "I'm still kind of in recovery," I answer him, "I'm not back to full soldier status, so I have the next few days off from regular duties."

"Oh yeah?" Reiner laughs, "That must frustrate you, you must be going a little stir crazy. What are your plans for today?"

"I have to do some shopping," I lie, "I received an invitation to this event in Orvud District in a little less than a week, so I need a new dress."

"They must miss seeing your face around wall Sina," Reiner comments, "Do you need any help?" His cheeks started going red when he asked that.

"That's sweet of you," I smile at him, "But I'll be fine thank you, shopping for a dress is a process no man should have to endure."

We continue to chat casually as we finish our breakfast. I finish before him since he was doing most of the talking. "Great catching up with you, Reiner," I say as I get up to leave, "I'll see you later!"

He waves at me as I exit the Mess Hall and make my way to the stables to get ready to leave. Most of us have to leave earlier than the other's since we need to be there before the convoy heads towards the capital.

I saddle up and head toward my position in Stohess. When I make it there, I wait patiently to see what will happen next. It's anybody's guess at this point, will this 'Annie' girl actually follow Armin, Mikasa and Eren into the underground passage? Hell, we don't know if she will even leave her post to talk to Armin. There are no guarantees here, but I trust Armin knows the right things to say to her in order to convince her.

About an hour later I look out from the alleyway and see Erwin's convoy move into position, making their way toward the gate for the capital. I see the military police line the way. I should probably gear up now and get on the roof, so I have a better view. I grab my gear off my horse and untie him; I don't want him tied down in case things get ugly.

After I'm strapped to my ODM gear, I release the anchors so I can get up onto the roof. I feel uneasy, not in anticipation on what may happen with the female titan. My senses were screaming warning signals at me, it felt like hidden eyes were on me.

I feel like I can hear heavy breathing not far from me. I stand still and try to pay attention to what was happening in front of me. It appears the convoy has stopped, probably by the MPs.

I can still feel eyes on me, so I bend down and fiddle with my belts as if I were adjusting them. But secretly I was moving my throwing knife from my thigh to conceal it on my hip and covered by my shirt. It's better to have it there, easier for me to get to quickly.

"Drop your blades, bitch." I hear a deep voice from behind me. Nice to see that my instincts are still working nicely.

I turn around to look at the man, he was tall and muscular with a bald head. Judging by his pale complexion he must be from the underground. It's not just his pigment though, people from the underground have a certain look about them that is hard to define, plus they give off a certain vibe.

I notice an oddly shaped tattoo on his temple, from my distance away from him I can see a dagger with something dripping off of it. I think I recognize that tattoo, they belong to a certain gang in the underground. I was surprised to note that I didn't see any visible scars on him. A lot of men in the underground gangs show off their scars as a way to show they are seasoned fighters and make them look more intimidating.

"I said drop your blades!" He growls at me as he points a gun at me. I sigh and let go of my blades, mind racing, trying to figure out what I should do.

"Remember me?" He asks me as he steps closer to me.

I gasp, "Daddy?!" I joke.

Bad idea, he knocked me straight off my feet sending me toppling face up on the roof tiles, "Bitch, your father is the ultimate reason why I even agreed to come here."

He grabs me by the collar of my shirt and pulls me closer to his face, "Now answer my question, (l/n). Do you remember me?"

"You know, I'll bet your buddies from the underground would say your lack of scars makes you a pussy," I smile at him, "But I think it's perfectly acceptable for a man to be a dainty little flower."

He slams me back down on the roof with a growl, "You're definitely your father's daughter. Screw the bonus for getting you back alive. Squeezing the life out of that smug face of your's is worth more to me than any amount of money."

"Hey, if that's your kink I don't judge." I chuckle at him.

He slammed me back against the roof tiles and brought his boot down on my throat, slowly trying to crush it. He's smiling darkly down at me, watching me gasp for air.

"I've waited so long for this," He laughs, "You deserve every bit of what comes to you. Your father took my daughter away from me, and as they say, an eye for an eye, a daughter for a daughter."

I don't think that's the actual saying, but whatever, I'll let him have his moment.

He was too distracted by watching the pained expressions on my face, that he didn't see my hand go for the knife I had just relocated before he attacked.

I plunge my knife right into his leg that was stepping down on my throat, he screamed in surprise and anger. I kick him off me and get up quickly. I charge into him, knocking him off balance and onto his back, I perch myself on top of him and smile down at him.

"You should really stop smoking you know, it's not good for your lungs. I could hear your heavy breathing long before you pulled your gun out."

"You fucking -," He gasped when I interrupted him by burying my knife into his gut. I didn't want to kill him, but he tried to kill me first, and I can't have him sticking around.

"Woo," I wipe sweat from my face, "That was good for me, was it good for you?"

I pull my knife back out and kick him off the roof. I notice a small vial fall out of one of his pockets before he rolled off the roof. I thought it looked familiar, so I grabbed it before it fell off with him.

It was a small vial, only about 2 inches long. I examine the dark liquid that's inside of it. Hmmm, this could be useful, better hang onto it just in case.

As I put the vial in my pocket, I hear what sounds like an explosion followed by cracking of lightning. I whip my head up to see what was going on. I've seen Eren transform, I know what that is. But is it Eren or the female titan?

Plans have changed, I have to go help anyway I can, the MPs know we are all here now, no need for subtlety.

As I deploy my anchors from building to building, I notice I'm being followed again. I turn my head from left to right to get my bearings. I see 3 people following me with ODM gear. They are definitely not scouts or MPs. I note that their heads are shaved like the other man, must be in the same gang. I guess there was more people from the underground following me.

No point in trying to figure out how they knew I would be here, there will be time for that later. If I head straight for where the titan appeared, I would probably lose them with everyone else around. But if I did that, others may get hurt or get killed in the crossfire, or they may be mistaken for me.

"Damnit." I mumble to myself; I change course and head to the right instead of straight. I kick up my speed and maneuver through buildings, alleyways and side streets. They are bigger and slower than me and can't keep up with my speed. But there is three of them and they are keeping track of me expertly.

I was going to grab my first attackers' gun, but I had to move when I heard the bang and saw the lightning. It's not safe to let them get too close... I could separate the individual blades that make up the swords on my ODM gear. I have really good aim when it comes to throwing knives.

I don't want to kill them unless I have to, if I could just aim at limbs, I should be able to slow them down or make them give up. I just have to make it more trouble than it's worth to chase me.

I make a sharp right turn into a building when I see an open window. It was just large enough for me to fit through, but too small for the men to fit through easily.

1 or 2 may come into the building, but at least one will stay outside to watch the exterior for me. I duck into a room quietly, taking my blades apart and slip them into the belts of my gear.

After I'm well equipped, I move around silently, trying to find the men that entered the building after me. A couple minutes go by of searching and I finally see them. I sneak up behind them and throw two of my blades. 1 hits a guy behind his knee, the other embeds itself deep into the other guy's forearm.

They both yell in surprise and pain, the guy with one of the blades in the back of his knee collapses to the floor. But the other man whips around and comes barreling towards me, his own knife in hand.

I throw another blade at him, this one sticking into his shoulder, "I don't want to kill you," I warn him, raising another one of my blades, "But I will if you continue to come after me."

He grunts in pain as he stares at the blade sticking out of his shoulder, "Nice try, bitch. But we've been offered a lot of money for you, you're not escaping this time."

I sigh and throw another blade into his knee, stopping him in his tracks. He finally toppled onto the floor, and I walk around him toward the other guy, "Don't follow me, and I'll let you live."

"You can't run from this, (l/n)," He growled as he looked up at me, "You've had this coming for a long time."

"It's my father you hate, not me. I didn't ask to be his daughter, in fact I'm not happy about being his daughter, I just am." I grumble at him, "I can't choose my parents anymore than anyone else can."

"Doesn't matter, we were ordered here to do one thing and that's what we're going to do. The fact that you are Seth's daughter just makes everything even sweeter." He says as he slowly gets to his feet, getting ready to charge at me.

"This message has been brought to you by the Underground Society of Obedient Bitches. For donations, we accept hugs, pats on the back, kisses and being told we're good little boys!" I mock him as I back up toward a wall of large windows facing the street, three stories up.

He is so focused on me he doesn't even see what I'm planning. He charges toward me like an idiot and gets ready to throw his full weight into me, but I dodge him easily. He goes crashing through the window and onto the street below. Stupid.

But at least this is the distraction I need to get away from the guy outside who will be investigating the sound of something crashing through a window. I quickly run to a different side of the building and silently open a window and make my escape.

I look around and I don't see anyone following me anymore, so I start to make my way over to where I had seen the results of a titan transformation.

But I veer off course again when I hear more men with ODM gear coming up behind me. I groan in frustration and start weaving my way through tight alleyways again.

I hear the wind of an arrow shoot just inches from the side of my right ear. I grab a few of my blades from my belt and turn my body around, "Hey!" I yell at them, "You should be more careful! That could have killed me!"

I duck as another arrow flies my way and throw a few of my blades. There are 4 men this time, also bald like the last ones, probably with the same tattoos too. None of my blades make contact with any of them. Shit, I'm running out of blades.

I stop abruptly and bring myself closer to the ground. The men fly over me, and I was able to hit one of them in the back with my blade. He came crashing down onto the street below with me, as the others try and slow down to change directions towards me again.

The guy I hit had a bow and a couple arrows, perfect. I quickly relieve him of his bow and the arrows he had left. As the other men were getting closer, they continued shooting arrows at me and missing. I shoot one of my arrows, and it hits one of them right in the heart, and he also falls to the ground.

I don't have time to take aim again at another one, so I take off again. I look behind me to see where they are but I can only see 1 of them behind me now. Shit, where did the other one go? I look behind me again and see the man is slowing down now, what is he doing?

When I look back in front of me, there is the other guy. I crash into him and both of us fall to the street below. We both hit hard and fall away from each other. He seemed to hit harder than me, he was still trying to get up when I rush over to him and sit on his back.

He was laying on his stomach, and I was easily able to wrap my arms around his neck, slowly cutting off his airway.

"(Y/n)?"

I raise my head to look at my surroundings as I hear my name being called. I look up to see a bunch of MP soldiers that seemed to be walking down the road with a handcuffed Erwin Smith. But it wasn't Erwin who said my name, it was Nile Dok.

"Nile!" I smile up at him while still strangling the underground stranger, "Long time no see!" I say nonchalantly. The man under me tries to grab me with the hand that isn't trying to get my arms off his neck. I free my left arm and grab my last arrow to jam it into his hand.

He yelps in pain and I tighten my hold around his neck even more until he passes out. At least I don't have to kill him, knocking him out works for me. Everyone around me seemed to be in shock, including Erwin.

"So, how have you been, Nile?" I ask him cheerfully as I stand up from the unconscious man and walk towards him, "How's Marie? Oh, and the kids? They must be getting big now, huh? Can I borrow that?"

I point at his gun and he doesn't do anything to stop me from taking it. I grab it and aim toward the alleyway I had just come from. Sure enough, the other guy that was following me came speeding through on his ODM gear.

I take aim and shoot at his hand; he'll have trouble getting away with ODM gear with only one working hand. The gun had quite a kick to it, I thought maybe it knocked my shoulder out of place, but it was just sore.

I throw it back to Nile who caught it with ease. I make my way over to a stunned Erwin, "It seems some men from the underground knew I would be here and have been chasing me. So, I haven't been able to help my fellow soldiers, my apologies for that."

"You're bleeding," Erwin sighs at me, "Why does it seem like you are always bleeding after I leave you unattended?"

"... I like to play rough, what can I say?" I raise my hand to just above my left eye where there was a cut, probably from when I fell with the man, "Surface wound," I shrug, "It's nothing to worry about. I'll head over that way now and see if I can help."

He nods at me and before I deploy my ODM anchors I turn to him one more time, "Be brave, Erwin! I will never forget you! I'll be sure to write to you while you're locked up!" I joke.

I hear Erwin chuckle as I take off and go to join the battle that must be taking place by now. It's not long however until I hear another loud bang accompanied by another pillar of lightning as another titan transforms.

Shit, I have to get over there. As I'm making my way over, I take note that there is another person on ODM gear following me. This one seems faster though, I better be more careful. I continue in a straight line for a little while then quickly duck down into a narrow alleyway and wait for my pursuer.

I wait until I see the person's anchors attach to one of the buildings closest to me. I quickly deploy my anchors and throw myself into the person. We fall onto a nearby roof and I land right on top of him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I recognize that voice all too well, it was Levi.

I gasp playfully, "Levi," I cover my ears, "No swearing! My virgin ears can't take it!"

"What are you attacking me for?" He grumbles at me.

"I thought you were someone from the underground chasing after me again. I mean, I wasn't wrong... Technically you are originally from the underground ."

"Where have you been? Jean came to get me when he went to your post and you weren't there. Nor were you around the female titan. We didn't know what happened to you."

"I was being chased." I reply quickly.

"Alright, get off me now, brat."

"Actually, I kind of enjoy the view, think I'll stay."

I laugh as he glares up at me and I roll off of him and sit next to him, "So, what has been going on? I've been pretty busy dealing with a gang from the underground that has been trying to capture or kill me."

Levi gives me a worried look, "Why? How?"

I shrug, "It's safe to assume Laurie is somehow behind this. They wouldn't have found me on their own after all. If they had, they would have come for me a while ago."

"How did he know you would be here?"

"I don't know, but come on, we should go."

As we are getting ready to depart, Jean comes flying out of nowhere and sees us on the roof, "(y/n)! You're okay!" Jean throws his arms around me and pulls me into a hug.

"When I went to the spot we were supposed to meet at, all I saw was blood and a dead body. I didn't know if you were hurt too."

"I'm fine, Jean," I giggle, "I just ran into a little bit of trouble, nothing I couldn't handle."

I can see Levi glare at Jean as he pulls him off of me, "We can talk about this later, let's go."

We take off and finally make our way over to where we assume the titans are, judging by all the debris we see as we get closer.

It was insane, buildings were knocked over, people crushed under piles of rubble and civilians walking around in a state of shock. I wanted to go down and help, but I'm a soldier, the priority is the mission and that means Eren and the Female titan are more important right now.

By the time we show up, Eren has the female titan on the ground, "DON'T EREN!" I hear some people scream at him as Eren seems like he is getting ready to devour the exposed girl within the female titan's body.

He seemed to pause for a moment over the girl's body, "What is he doing?" I hear Hange mumble to herself.

Then we felt a huge gust of wind coming from Eren and the female titan's body. It almost seemed like Eren was starting to fuse with the female titan.

I can feel myself start to panic as Eren struggles to get away from the female titan. But it seems whatever she is using to hold Eren in place is really strong.

Unsure of what to do, I see Mikasa trying to head towards Eren. I speed over to her and hold her back as Levi makes his way over to Eren to cut him out of his titan form.

We watch as the girl in the female titan body encases herself within what looks almost like crystal. When the air is clear and calm again, I let go of Mikasa so she can head over to Eren.

Hange comes over to me and hands me some cloth, "You're bleeding, as usual." She gives me a small smile as I thank her, "It's nothing, I ran into some trouble, but it's fine now."

"It's unfortunate we don't have a lot to show for our efforts." She sighed as she looks over at the girl entombed in that weird material.

"Are you kidding?" I stare at her, "You caught her! We have the female titan. It's not in the way we would like, but no matter what way we look at it, it's still a step forward."

She laughs, "Where do you get your optimism from?"

I shrug, "I was never really optimistic before becoming a scout," I admit to her, "But it's something right? At least we have her."

Hange turns to some other soldiers, "Come on, let's get her down underground."

I walk towards Armin, Mikasa and Eren to see how they are doing. Eren is still knocked out and Mikasa looks like she's about to cry. I really admire how much she cares for Eren, it's really sweet.

"Damnit Annie!" I hear Jean yell as he continuously tries to stab through the hard material that Annie is encased in. Now that I have a better look at it, it looks like the armour she generated when she was protecting her nap on the expedition.

"Get out of there! You owe us some answers!" His blades have broken off at this point, but he continues to hit it regardless. It's got to be hard for everyone who was friends with her and trained with her.

"Jean," I grab onto his shoulder, "Come on, this isn't going to help, and we still have a job to do."

He slowly lowers the hand that was pounding against the crystal-like tomb and follows me. I head over to where the MPs, Erwin and Levi are. I salute Erwin, "Permission to help recover any wounded, sir?"

Erwin nods at me, "Be careful, (y/n). Take Levi with you too, I don't want any more men from the underground attacking you."

"I think I've demonstrated quite clearly that I can handle myself." I smile smugly at him.

"I'm going with you, brat," Levi nudges me, "No complaints, let's go."

"When you make it back to HQ, wait in my office for me, (y/n). I want you to explain what happened to you." Erwin says to me as I turn to walk away.

I nod at him and walk away with Levi. Jean followed us too, wanting to make himself useful in some way.

Walking around on the street made my stomach churn. I could see a lot of blood around the buildings, victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time as the unthinkable happens around them.

"Be on the look out for anymore people from a gang underground," I say to the 2 men, "They are bald with daggers tattooed on their temples." I turn to Jean to address him directly, "If you see any of them, let Levi or I know. Don't engage them in hand to hand combat."

"Come on, (y/n)," Jean lets out a frustrated groan, "I can handle some thugs from the underground."

"You're used to fighting titans and sparing with friends and colleagues," I remind him, "Fighting hand to hand with people from the underground is even more dangerous. They have no honour and will do whatever they can to kill you, especially if it means doing something sneaky."

Jean just nods at me and we continue to look for survivors.

I can see what Hange was saying, was this all really worth it? So many people just gone, lives ruined and for what? Even more questions with very few answers.

But I can't think like that, it will drive me crazy. The mission may not have gone the way we all hoped it would, but that doesn't mean it was a complete failure.

We can see a few people walking around clearly in shock by what they were seeing. They are residents of Wall Sina, I doubt they ever thought it was even possible for them to see a titan.

We try to help who we can, and I try to comfort as many people as I can. But how can you comfort anyone in this situation?

I see a little girl stumbling around looking for her mother and father. I walk over to her to see if I can help her in anyway.

"Hi sweetie," I greet her gently, "Are you okay? Are your parents around here somewhere?"

She looks up at me with tears streaming down her face as she nods at me. I can see blood dripping from a wound on the side of her head. "Levi," I call to him, "Can you take her to the MP medics? Jean and I will try and find her parents."

I half expect him to argue, but he nods at me and picks the little girl up and hurried back in the direction we came from.

I see a man wearing a hat, standing by the remains of a large house, so I head over to him to make sure he is okay. Who knows? Maybe if we're lucky he is the father of that little girl. "Excuse me, sir," I gently put my hand on his arm, "Do you need medical attention?"

Without warning the man turns around and he's on me in seconds. His hat falls off and I see he has a shaved head and a familiar dagger tattoo on his temple.

I'm able to react fast enough to slip just far enough from him and grab my knife. "(Y/n)!" I hear Jean shout as he rushes towards me. "Jean! Stay back! Don't get involved!" I yell back at him.

The man grabs a knife of his own and starts trying to get closer to me, he must not be very good at throwing. I smirk at him as I continue staying just out of his striking range, frustrating him more and more.

"Have you been skipping knife throwing classes? Because that would really come in handy for you right now." I smirk at him.

"Shut up, bitch," He snarls, "I'm here for one reason."

"Ah, tired of living?" I giggle.

"Hope your feet are still as quick as your wit," He smiles darkly at me, "I'm not letting you go this time, still have that nice scar I gave you on your arm?"

Oh, now that I get a better look at him, I do recognize him. He is definitely the one that gave me that ugly scar on my left bicep. But I was able to wiggle out of his grasp and get away before he could do worse.

I'm about to throw my knife at his leg, but Jean comes up behind him and tries to immobilize him.

"Jean! What are you thinking?! I told you not to let them get within striking range!"

He only grunts in response as the man struggles to turn around to deal with Jean. The man swipes at Jean but misses the first couple times. Jean tackles him to the ground, and the man grazes Jean with his knife on his arm, drawing blood.

"Jean!" I gasp as I rush to help him. I slice at the man's hand that was holding the knife. He drops it and I kick it away from him.

Levi arrives back from delivering the girl to the medics and pulls Jean off the man. An MP officer wasn't too far away, he ran over to us when he finally noticed the struggle. He grabbed the man from the underground and cuffed him so he couldn't fight back anymore.

I quickly examine Jean's cut on his arm, "Calm down," He smiles at me, "He just nicked me, I won't even need stitches."

I give him a smack to the side of his head, "Ow! What the hell?"

"I told you! You're not used to dealing with people in the underground, so you shouldn't be getting involved in the fight!"

"He was after you, I saw an opportunity to help you and I took it!" He argued.

"I had it under control," I retort, "I was backing away so I could stay away from his knife, so I have time to grab mine and aim it so I could throw it at him."

"Everything okay over here?" We turn our heads to see Erwin walking up to us, MPs must have let him go.

"Yes," I sigh, "Everything is fine.

"Good," He narrows his eyes at Jean and I, "We should be heading back now, I want all of you in my office when we get back."

"What happened to helping the injured?" I ask him, "Don't we have any kind of obligation to help clean up the mess we made?"

"The MPs can handle it, and there will be scouts that are staying behind to help, let's go."

Erwin left no room for argument, so we get ready to head back to HQ. Eren is still passed out, so they have him in a carriage.

I was able to find my horse in the area of where I left him. I hop on him and head back to HQ with the others.

On my way back, I try to figure out how a gang from the underground found out that I was with the scouts. Also that I was in Stohess on this particular day.

There was only a small group of people who even knew about the mission today, and I trust all of the people who did know with my life. I told Celeste and Ben to avoid going into Stohess, but I didn't tell them about our mission or anything.

Could there be a spy for Laurie in the scouts? There hasn't been any new recruits since I joined, so that doesn't seem to likely. Unless someone who already worked with Laurie was here before I even came here... But then how did they find out about the Stohess operation?

Too many unanswered questions that I have no idea how I'm going to solve.

When we get back to HQ Eren is sent to the hospital wing to rest, while the rest of us head to Erwin's office. Hange is still in Stohess, so in the meeting there is only Erwin, Levi, Jean, Mikasa, Armin, a couple other soldiers that helped capture the female titan, and I.

I listen to them quietly about what happened from their perspective. But I'm finding it hard to concentrate at the moment. I keep worrying about Jean, is he really okay? He may have problems later, but by then will it be too late? I can't follow him around everywhere waiting for something to happen. I have to do something to make sure the knife that grazed him wasn't poisoned.

It is just a small graze, it may take a while for the poison to take affect... But was it even poisoned to begin with? I should do something, I need to figure this out or he could be in big trouble.

Armin and Mikasa finish answering Erwin's questions about their perspective during the battle and why it took so long for Eren to transform into his titan form. After he was finished questioning them, he dismissed them. I didn't even realize Erwin was calling my name until Levi snapped his fingers in front of my face, "Hey! Brat! Quit day dreaming and pay attention."

I shake my head and give them an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I'm just worried about Jean."

I look over at him and see his face go red. Oh! I have an idea! Time to get the blood pumping, if he was poisoned the affects should surface faster if his heart beats faster and the poison in his blood travels faster. It's worth a try anyway.

"I mean, I appreciate what you did for me, Jean," I say as I stand up from my chair and walk around the table where he is sitting, "But what would I have done if something worse were to happen to you? Bad boy!"

His face goes even redder, if that's possible, and can't look me in the eye. I sit myself down on his lap and wrap my arms around his neck, "Thank you for caring so much for me, Jean. I really appreciate it." I whisper into his ear making him shiver.

I grab his injured arm and gently raise it so I can get a better look at it, "Does it hurt?" I ask him sweetly.

"N-n-no," He stutters, "I feel f-fine."

I place the palm of his hand on my cheek and nuzzle into it, "I'm glad, you were so brave." I lock in his gaze with my (e/c) eyes and slowly lean in to give him a kiss on his cheek.

He starts gasping for air, eyes wide in surprise and panic. His hand immediately scratched at his throat, not understanding why he was having so much trouble breathing all of a sudden.

"Just as I suspected," I smirk at him triumphantly, "I warned you not to get involved with people from the underground, Jean. They fight dirty by poisoning their blades. That way they only have to cut you a little in order to kill you."

I stand up from his lap and hand him the vial I took from the first man who attacked me, "Here, drink this and you'll be fine."

Jean quickly takes the stopper off and drinks the dark liquid down. The effect is almost instantaneous, he is breathing normally again and looks up at my smug face, "How did you know?"

"You noticed the tattoo on the guy's temple, yes? It's a dagger with liquid dripping from it. That particular gang is proud of the fact that they dip their knives and arrowheads in poison. There is only one antidote, it's very expensive and even harder to come by. I didn't want to just give it to you right away just in case that man's blade wasn't poisoned. The best way to figure out fast is to get the blood flowing faster, you'll see the effects of the poison sooner." I wink at his blushing face.

"Come on, Levi," I turn to look at his angry glaring eyes, "You should know this, don't you?"

I notice that Levi and Erwin are both glaring at Jean and I, "What? I did what I had to, don't glower at me like that; it's not like I stripped for him or anything."

"It's just ironic," Erwin sighs, "That you yourself have a hard time following orders too. You really have no right to scold Jean for doing exactly what you do."

"Oops," I snort with laughter, "Damn, you're right."

Erwin dismisses everyone except for me, Levi was the last to leave, shooting a suspicious glare at Erwin before he leaves.

"Any theories as to how that gang found out you were going to be in Stohess today?" Erwin asks me, resting his chin on one of his hands.

"I don't know," I answer honestly, "The only thing I can really think of is that maybe Laurie does have someone in the scouts that reports to him. Though that does seem unlikely with all the precautions that were taken when planning the mission in Stohess."

"Did you tell anyone about the mission?" He looks at me seriously.

"Not exactly, I told Peter, my brother Ben and Celeste to avoid going to Stohess today. I didn't say anything about the scouts being on a mission or anything like that."

"How much do you trust Dr. Thompson?"

My eyes widen in surprise, "I trust Peter with my life, he risked everything to get me away from Laurie. Celeste is like a sister to me, she would never do anything to hurt me and neither would Ben." I say firmly to Erwin.

"Even so," He sighs, "Be more careful, (y/n). We can't lose you now."

"You're right," I smile, "I'm the comic relief of this place, you need me for morale."

He smiles back at me, "True, you're dismissed, (l/n)."

I make my way towards the door but pause just as I reach out for it, "You are going to Banning's party, right?"

"I am." He replies.

"Want me to find you a nice date?" I laugh nervously, face going red a little bit. Come on, (y/n), what are you doing now?

"That won't be necessary, the person I was planning on inviting is already going."

"No he isn't," I joke, "Levi didn't get invited, you can still ask him!"

"Funny." He smirks at me.

"See you later, sir!" I wave at him as I finally leave his office.

Author's POV

"None! Not one of your men caught her or killed her? How is that even possible, Kenny?!" Lawrence yelled at Kenny as he pounded his fist on his desk.

"What can I say," Kenny smirks and shrugs, "She's a slippery one. Plus, I had my men all over Stohess, we didn't have any information on where exactly she would be. If we sent up some kind of signal when we found her, other scouts would have been alerted and would have gotten involved. And they weren't all there, some of them were sent to the scouts HQ in case she was left there with less protection."

"That's no excuse! What the fuck do I pay you for, Ackerman?! You haven't even given me anything useful on Rod Reiss for months! Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't have you killed right now!" Lawrence was shaking with anger now.

Kenny smiles darkly at him, "Because you need me far more than I need you. How else will you get more of your little subjects for your experiments? Try and kill me if you want, I'm not one of your dogs you can dispose of." Without saying anything else, Kenny walked right out of Lawrence's office.

Fuck!" Lawrence cursed, throwing things off of his desk around the room. He hated the fact that you won against him again.

'Celeste isn't enough to get her', he thinks to himself, 'I'm going to have to figure something else out'.

He paces around his office trying to think of another way to get to you. He pauses, 'What about Peter Thompson? I'm sure there is something I can do to use Peter against her, I'm sure they have gotten rather close with each other since she joined the scouts'.

Lawrence doesn't have any proof, but he has had a feeling Peter helped you in some way to help you escape. And if he truly does believe that to be true, his next move is to split the two of you apart. It will take some digging, but he is determined to bring you down anyway he can.