Chpt 8: Stirring Shit

Sasha grits her teeth at the whole situation she's stuck in. It's supposed to be a simple assassination mission; get in, wait, pull the trigger, get out. Clean and swift like it should always be. It must never evolve into a 3 fucking hour game of hide-and-seek, which unfortunately, she finds herself in.

She presses the button on her earpiece and radios her fellow sniper in a ragged whisper, "Long Yellow, you there?"

"What the fuck are you doing?! You're supposed to meet me 2 minutes ago."

"The assholes ambushed me, alright?!"

"Fucking shitheads." She hears Historia cursing naturally as though she was reciting their daily specials. "Where are you now?"

Sasha opens her mouth but quickly shuts it when she hears footsteps approaching. Her rifle is hardly of use in close combat, forcing her to reach into her boots and slip out the dagger given to her, just In case there's an emergency like now.

The footsteps fade away but Sasha's frantic heartbeat will not slow down unless she's returned to base, alive. Her grip on the weapon loosens but she does not let her guard down as she continues to listen for clues to where the enemies are.

"Currently at building Q, fifth floor in stairwell Y."

"Roger that. Stay there and lay low while I call Crazy in."

"Sure. I'll try not to have a party by myself." Sasha mutters sarcastically to herself.

Minutes passed way too slowly for the sniper's liking. Sasha starts to fidget, wondering what's taking so long for back up to come.

Hanji knew something went wrong the moment her phone vibrates in her pocket. She excuses herself from the meeting and exits the room, choosing to take the call in private.

"Potato at building Y, fifth floor in stairwell Q."

"Got it. Head to the rendezvous point first. I'll meet you there." Hanji whispers in a low tone.

She knocks as she open the doors, not really caring for formalities when her girl is in a pinch. "Sorry, guys! Urgent business call. Gotta go now. Will contact you for our next meeting."

Hanji zooms past building and vehicles on her motorbike, totally ignoring traffic rules and speed limit because ain't nobody got time for that when her girl is in trouble. Actually, 'trouble' is an understatement when her life is on the line.

"Damn it!" She grits, pushing her precious bike to the limit until she reaches her destination, slamming on the brakes and grabbing the extra earpiece from the anxious blond.

"Potato, you there?"

No answer comes through but Hanji waits, getting her own weapons ready for the up-coming rescue job. Yet, only silence can be heard even after 30 seconds had passed.

"I'm going in. You stay here and stand-by for further instructions."

"Got it."

Hanji sticks to the walls; becoming one with the shadows is only natural when you're trying to not alert the enemy of your presence. Surprisingly, she found it rather easy to sneak all five stories.

That's weird, she thinks. It's too damn quiet.

She clears the last step and spots the muzzle of Sasha's AK-74M lying on the ground behind a doorless frame.

Sweets for my Sweet only closes on Mondays but Petra makes an exception this time round. With the amount of trouble surrounding them, nobody is able to work with a peace of mind.

Sasha is still in a coma, Krista's shoulder is dislocated, Ymir's on a mission together with Anka. Rico's busy at the agency trying to keep things under control but she can only do so much; after all, who wouldn't want more gossip material that involves the 2 biggest gang in their town.

Her good friend also shared that she almost killed a nosy official because he tried to buy some news from her.

Petra chews her nails while waiting for Hanji to pick her up. There's going to be a downpour soon judging by the looming clouds in the distance and she definitely does not want to get soaked to the bones, not when she has another shoot tomorrow. Nobody wants to look like what the cat dragged in in published pictures.

She feels her phone vibrating in the back pocket of her black skinny jeans. Her fingers makes quick work swiping the screen and Petra curses for the 25th time that day.

"Gee thanks for informing me last min.. Everyone left already. Guess I should bond with the grass and trees here yea?"

"Really sorry Petra baby! I tried but the asshole wants my draft by today! TODAAAAY! I'm gonna rip him a new one I fucking swear…"

"Don't leave me out of the fun. But I'll still kill you when I get back."

"You love me too much to do that ~"

Petra rolls her eyes. As much as she would love to, Petra knows she won't be able to hate Hanji although the her friend tends to push their love to its limits. Halfway through her response, Petra looks up when she hears a vehicle in the distance and becomes wary when it slows down and stops in front of her.

"Ral?"

"Ackerman?"

The 2 models stare down at each other for no other reason than to see who will look away first out of spite. His eyes flicker to her phone – she scream victory in her mind – and raises his brows. "Shitty glasses?"

"Huh?" she looks down at her phone, message not yet finished, "Oh. Yeah. That bitch just told me she can't come and pick me up." Petra huffs at her dilemma; no cab is willing to drive all the way in and she doesn't even know how to give directions considering she slept on the way in on the company bus.

"Need a lift?"

Petra eyes his offer suspiciously, expecting a nah joking enjoy the wilderness bye!any moment now. She can't find a generous bone in him no matter how hard she analyse.

"You're doubting me."

She has the cheek to flush when he exposes her thoughts and splutters, "I-I'm not!"

"Yeah right," he grumbles and repeats when he hears thunder, "so do you need a lift or what?"

"Yes!" She hadn't meant to raise her voice but since young, Petra is never fond of thunderstorms. With the possibility of her stuck alone out here, she's doesn't want to take any chance. Jumping onto the back of his sleek bike, she latches onto his waist by instinct when he speeds off, not giving her the time to change her mind.

"Fuck the weather."

"Fuck the weather indeed."

The rain is pouring down relentlessly with no signs of letting up, obscuring Levi's vision, forcing him to take shelter under the small bridge he remembers passing by in the morning. Both of them are soaked to the bones and praying fervently they do not catch a cold. The feeling of water in their shoes and wet underwear, every move is disgustingly uncomfortable.

Petra's trying to squeeze out whatever water she can from her cherry-pink cardigan when Levi speaks up, voice just loud enough to be heard over the roaring rain. "How's your girls?"

He thought she's ignoring him on purpose – the nerve of her – when she continues to squeeze the damn cloth, and is about to snuff her when he hears her saying softly, "Still surviving, if that's what you're asking."

Levi's slightly disappointed with the lack of luster in her response but he supposes anyone would be when their close friends are lying in the hospital. He's heard about it from Erwin. The mission was both a success and failure. Their sniper eventually managed to bring down their target but counting the damage suffered, it wasn't worth the money cashed in. In fact, the first words out of his mouth was "Good thing they didn't hire us." He has to give credit to Erwin for not batting an eyelash at his words.

The only sound accompanying their silence is the rain hitting cement and thunder, with the occasional vehicles passing by to get to the next town but it all ends when they both sneeze at the same time.

Fuck.

Fuck.

A/N: So sorry for the lack of updates. I couldn't get any good vibes for this AU for quite a while thus the extreme delay. Hope you enjoy this chapter!