Soldiers ran through the streets, looking through houses and stores with guns at the ready. The orders had come by messenger birds only recently, but the military had sprung into action with a fervour. Scouts turning traitor? The murder of two of their highest military officials? Multiple dead MP's and civilians at the Scouts hands as they fled Mitras? This was something that could not be abided.
Despite the disbelief that they felt, anger had made believers out of them all, and the Garrison moved through the district of Stohess in tandem with the Military Police. The MPs were taking command, utilising the Garrison as their extra manpower, and they were out for blood. Complaints about brutality and beatings had been swept aside and hesitation overruled.
For Marco, musket in hand as he and his team moved through the street on patrol, the situation felt like a waking nightmare. He'd only met Commander Dok briefly and didn't know him enough to mourn the man. He knew he should feel hatred and rage over the man's murder, but he was in too much disbelief to actually comprehend it. Commander Erwin and the scouts had turned traitor? It was unbelievable. He quite literally, did not believe it.
Yet despite this, he and his team had been forced into the role he despised the most, the bootheel of the government as it pressed on the necks of the citizens. In the cadets, he'd believed them a necessity, that sometimes it had taken a firm hand to maintain the order. That the Military Police served a purpose that they did not enjoy, that it had been a necessary evil.
He'd come to find out quickly that they did enjoy it. That their job had oh so often not been necessary, or that others did understand and respected them. As he watched a pair of MPs drag a man from his home and beat him, their faces plastered with sneers as they looked down on him and his crying wife, Marco felt he'd made a mistake.
He had done good, in spite of the efforts of the more corrupt side of the MPs. He knew he had helped people, saved lives even, but every day it seemed more and more to be the exception than the rule.
"This is bullshit." Marlo muttered as he watched the scene, hands gripped tight in anger.
"Better keep that talk to yourself," Hitch warned from his side, "I don't think anyone's in the talking mood today. You say the wrong thing and it won't be a bloody nose they give you this time, they'll blow your brains out in the street as a traitor."
Marlo gulped and looked away in shame, one hand touching his black eye in memory of the last time he'd gotten on the wrong side of the MPs. Marco knew he should probably rebuke Hitch, but he found it hard to disagree with her. Slacker as she may have been, she wasn't stupid, and she saw the Military Police for what they were.
It was something he wished he could have said about himself.
"Let's keep moving, next street." Marco ordered. With Annie's slot still not having been replaced and all hands on deck, Team Bolt was only three men strong as they headed down one of the side streets. Well… two men and one woman.
"You don't exactly seem very enthusiastic today Marco. What's wrong, MP dirty work not what you expected when you signed up?" Hitch bit out the words with the same lazy tone she always did, but there was more venom in it today. He could tell she wasn't happy about the days events either.
"Call it naivete, but I wasn't exactly planning to be a thug during my time here."
"Yeah well I was planning to enjoy my time off work, but between the questions about Annie and a fucking breach in the wall, that didn't really work out did it?" Hitch blew a strand of hair from her face in a huff. As she calmed down, she began to look confused about something and eyed him. "Naivete… where did you learn a word like that? You spend your time off reading the dictionary or something?"
He rolled his eyes as they walked. "Unlike you, when I spend my time off it's not with drunks at the bar. Sometimes sober people can teach you new words."
"Pfft. At least I get laid at the bar, I don't see you getting any. Besides, drunk people teach me lots of new words, they just happen to be swear words."
"I don't think you need to learn any new swears Hitch." Marlo cut in.
"Fuck off Marlo."
Marco laughed, relishing in the sounds of his comrades bickering. It was good to have a sense of normalcy after all they had been through. Even after their questioning had been temporarily deferred during the breach and they'd been eventually cleared of all charges, there had been a constant series of different treatments by the other MPs. Sudden extra duties doing the maintenance of the rifles, inventory checks again and again, all mindless and monotonous tasks as some kind of punishment.
He'd expected more fractures in his team as a result, but they'd held strong and stayed together. Hitch had been the most likely to fight Marco more often, but she had fell in line well enough. Being one of the closest to Annie had hurt her a surprising amount, and the punishments from the others had only pushed her closer to her team. Marlo had been similar, his desire to change the system already hurt had pushed him further into only trusting his teammates.
Marco had made it a point after the accusations to sit them all down, to make it clear to everyone that none of them deserved any blame for what happened. If anyone needed anything in their team, they would all be there for each other, especially him. Marco didn't exactly have much in the way of money, he hadn't been in the MPs long enough to bank much, and despite the MPs being paid the best they were still military, which meant wages weren't exactly stellar.
However military accommodation and a quiet social life meant that his expenses were low, and he'd saved up enough that he was more than willing to lend it wherever he needed to. He was an official team leader now, and that came with responsibilities to support his soldiers, but more than that it also came with a desire to keep them safe. He'd played team leader many times in the cadets, he didn't doubt that it had been noted many times that he was quite the natural at it, but that had been temporary assignments. This was permanent, or supposed to be, and he'd become fairly protective over his team and their little quirks.
The rest of his team might not be coming back, he wouldn't be surprised if they'd taken the opportunity to request transfers, but Hitch and Marlo were still his. A cynic and an optimist, they made a good balance to keep his head on straight, and he would do all he could to return the favour.
Marlo and Hitch had still been bickering in the background, Marco having naturally tuned them out as they continued their patrol, when Marco actually noticed something of interest. On one of the buildings someone had graffitied the number 104 and the cadet symbol. It was crude, and by all accounts nonsensical, but something about it drew his attention. He found himself wandering towards it idly, inspecting it curiously.
"104th Cadets?" Marlo asked, the two of them having noticed how he'd wandered off from them.
"Strange choice for graffiti. Usually it's something along the lines of 'fuck the King'." Hitch agreed, looking around a little paranoid. "What are you thinking Marco?"
"I'm thinking it's here for a reason."
"Good instincts." A voice came from nearby, and a man stepped out from the nearby building showing he'd been listening in.
They didn't recognise him as Commander Erwin instantly, but it was close to. He'd been a sight they'd all seen during the recruiting process, and his portrait had been hung up in enough places to recognise him in spite of the lack of military uniform.
Besides, who else would be sleuthing around in the shadows trying to catch their attention.
Marlo and Hitch froze, hands gripping their guns as they looked to Marco for an order. They had their orders to arrest Erwin on sight, and if the man was shot none would complain about it, but it was also well known that Erwin was a dangerous man, even if he hadn't recently also been accredited with the deaths of several MPs.
"Marco… what's the plan here?" Hitch asked, her voice showing a very uncharacteristic hesitance to it.
"I'm not sure. What's the plan here Erwin?"
"If you'll let me, I'd just like to talk." He held his hands out to show he was unarmed, not that it calmed them down at all. "You're Marco Bolt from the 104th cadets, correct? You trained with several of my finest soldiers, they trust you."
"I knew them. I also knew Annie, was she one of your finest as well?" Even saying Annie's name hurt for Marco to do, but he needed to see Erwin's reaction to it. The man absolutely would have known she'd been one of his teammates, and he needed to see what the man would say about it. To his surprise, Erwin simply looked at him with an almost confused curiosity.
"You think me a traitor, trying to kill humanity?"
"That's the word going around at the moment." His hand gripped his gun tighter in reflex.
"But is that what you believe?"
He was being tested, that was obvious. The correct answer was also obvious, as it seemed Erwin was looking for a reason to trust him. But did he want to help Erwin? He didn't fully believe that Erwin would so randomly murder two commanding officers, but he also didn't believe that nothing had happened. Whatever was going on was dangerous, and Marco had to ask himself whether he truly wanted to stick his career and life on the line for the chance to maybe do the right thing?
"I have my doubts."
He could feel Hitch and Marlo eying him warily, concerned over what he seemed to be suggesting. Erwin however smiled. It was not a grin of victory, but it seemed satisfaction, as though he'd been proven right about something.
"I came here from Mitras because Nile told me your name, told me to find you as you could be trusted. I trusted Nile, trust his instincts, seems he was right about yours as well. I'm not asking you to immediately trust me."
"Then what are you asking!?" Hitch butted in, angrily and rude but Marco could see she was nervous, worried about whatever the man had planned. She openly aimed her musket at him, Marlo doing the same in support of her.
He held up his hands in mock surrender, his relaxed nature had them only further on edge. He shifted his weight slightly as he looked past them, eying the street they had deviated from. No other MPs were in sight, but if they continued arguing and waiting in the open, eventually they would have company that would make any decisions for them.
"If you believe that I am innocent, or that there is at least more to the situation than you have been told, then all I ask is somewhere to explain ourselves." He dropped his surrendering hands, eyes locking on his with a serious gaze. "I cannot overstate the importance of what you do here. The future of our nation is at risk unless you do what is right. Trust in what you know to be true, do not choose to be blinded by your orders or your fears."
Marco eyed him warily, knowing that Hitch and Marlo were both looking to him for orders. Their guns shook nervously in their arms, but they held their aim as he thought through what he was being asked. There was risk to it, it could cost him and his team their lives. But he knew what his instincts told him, and he knew where the faith of those he trusted lay. His friends trusted Erwin with their lives, and Marco did not trust the orders that had been sent to him.
Slowly, he reached out and lowered the rifles of his comrades.
"If we're going to speak, it can't be here."
"I know, another patrol is coming." Erwin stepped back into the building he'd come from.
Marco and the others looked at him in confusion as he hid away before the sounds of footsteps came from the street behind them. Marco saw them moving in the distance, a team of six MPs that held their muskets and had eyes peeled. They spotted him, and he signalled an all clear as they moved on.
"What the hell are we doing Marco!?" Hitch hissed to him, keeping her voice low so neither the passing patrol nor Erwin heard them.
"Trust me, we'll be okay." He took the lead in walking towards the doorway, seeing Erwin waiting inside what turned out to be a closed clothing store. He motioned for the others to follow as he stepped inside, spotting two other Scouts in guard positions, the only one he recognised being Captain Levi.
"How did you know about the coming patrol?" He asked warily, Hitch and Marlo following inside anxiously as they saw more company waiting for them.
"A little secret thanks to our shared friend Gohan." Erwin answered. "It's how we managed to avoid the patrols here. There are lots of people in this district, but military stand out amongst them. Being careful as we move helps avoid any interested parties."
"And what about me? You came looking for me specifically, how did you find where we were or even what we looked like?"
"Military Police security is terrible." Answered Captain Levi for Erwin. "I broke into the local headquarters and found your file. Your sketch, your patrol routes, then we just needed something to grab your attention."
Having been a thief from the underground, Levi had been the natural choice to move through the headquarters and find what they had needed. Sensing people as they moved around kept Levi away from most prying eyes, and the one's that saw him were too distracted to take notice of him long enough to recognise him.
Getting back, moving though the district to follow Marco's patrol route and try to leave a reasonably subtle message had been a little more difficult. He left out the fact that Marco and his team had actually already passed them once before, their little graffiti being too small and calling out to him hadn't been an option with so many around.
"We can't stay here forever." Erwin changed the subject to bring their focus back to him. "So I'll tell you what you most want to know. We didn't kill Commander Dok or Premier Zachly, a coup has been launched with the intent to frame the Scout division. The intent was to kill us in Mitras as well, however we have managed to elude them for now."
"For now, being the key point." Eld interrupted, choosing not to introduce himself at the present time. "And not without cost. Three of our own are dead, and we can't elude the patrols forever."
"We need somewhere to lay low. If you have any more questions then we can answer them there, but right now is too dangerous to stay here."
"If we're really doing this then I haven't got anywhere to put them." Hitch spoke up. "I sleep in the women's barracks and I'm not involving my family in this."
Marlo awkwardly nodded in agreement. "I know something fishy is going on here Marco, but I can't my family at risk either. Besides, my accommodation is in the barracks like you."
It was fair of them to say, and Marco didn't begrudge either of them for it. His own family was far off in Wall Rose, and even if the barracks had been an option he couldn't stay with the three Scouts wherever he left them. He needed to be present and report for any duties and new orders as they came in.
There was only one person he could think of that would help him, and they did owe him after all.
"I need to call in a favour, but I have somewhere for you to go."
Erwin nodded in appreciation. "You have my unending gratitude. Lead the way as if you were on patrol, we can follow in secret from a distance. Should the worst happen, you'll be able to claim you had no idea we were there."
Marco nodded his thanks as well. It was a kind gesture, an acknowledgement that they were putting their lives on the line on the belief that Erwin was telling them the truth of some kind. It helped put him at ease as he led Marlo and Hitch out of the doorway, and they continued to walk as if on a standard patrol.
"Marco, are you sure about this? I mean, are you really sure?" Hitch whispered to him as they walked, her hands still gripping the weapon tightly. "If this all goes to shit then we'll… I don't want to die."
"You won't Hitch," he promised, "neither of you will. After we reach the location to leave them, I'll take all further actions. You can have complete deniability if things go wrong."
"I don't think that'll be enough." Marlo admitted, knowing that they might be charged with treason by association regardless after what had happened with Annie. "I hope you're right about this."
"Don't worry, everything will be alright." Marco promised it, knowing that it was truly beyond his knowledge how this would all go. But as team leader, he had the responsibility to tell them what they needed to hear.
He risked a glance behind them, seeing the three men leave the store and fan outwards, Captain Levi breaking away while the other scout stayed with Commander Erwin. Bags in their hands as moved, likely with spare clothes to change disguise with.
"We'll be okay." He repeated, hoping they believed as he did that he was right. That this would not be a mistake, that maybe in the end they would actually make a difference.
The doorway was open, the marks of blood and violence left plain to see as they arrived. Eren's breath stopped and Mikasa was hyperventilating as they looked at their wrecked home, neither their mother nor Hannes anywhere in sight.
"MOM!" Eren sprinted inside, searching desperately despite how small and open their house was.
Mikasa almost fell down entirely, Gohan catching her as her knees gave way and she took rapid and shallow breaths. "It's happening… it's happening again."
Nightmares of her home, the day when her father had opened the door and been murdered. The death of her mother, her kidnapping, what those men had planned for her… Now she was back again, back in the room as she felt another family be taken away from her.
"Mikasa. MIKASA!" Gohan shook her, snapping her attention back to him. "We'll find them. It'll be okay."
A foolish promise. He knew what she had been through, and he knew as much as any of them did. Carla and Hannes were gone, only blood remaining in the room. They had no reason to believe they were okay. But it was Gohan, and Gohan was sure they would be, he believed it wholeheartedly.
"Okay…" Her voice was soft, a shell of its former self but it was enough. He helped her with standing, then the two of them moved inside the house together.
Outside, the others who had come with them were in shock. Dina didn't know what to do, whether to offer to help or stay back in silence. Armin held a hand to his mouth in horror, pleading in his mind that his eyes were wrong, that he wasn't seeing what had happened. Historia clutched Ymir's hand tightly, and she squeezed back in silent support.
The others had returned to the primary Scout headquarters to hand in a report to Mike Zacharius about what they had discovered, leaving the small group of them to return to see Carla and Hannes for dinner. It had been a chance to spend some precious time together, to have questions answered but most of all to be whole again after so much time spent in combat and world-shattering revelations.
Now it was but a nightmare.
"I found this!" Eren exclaimed, holding up a piece of paper in his hands as his wild eyes fixed on Mikasa and Gohan. The note was a simple one, yet no less horrifying.
'Come find me when you are ready. I am the one who stands out in this town.'
It was vague, yet instantly obvious on what they wanted. Gohan stepped away, shutting his eyes as he focused his Ki senses and stretched out. He had been relaxed when they'd arrived, too tired and distracted to notice the lack of energy coming from the house. Now that he was focusing, he felt anywhere and everywhere for a sign of Mrs Jaeger or Hannes.
He felt nothing, but one signature that felt familiar to him. Horrifyingly so.
Without the years of experience that Gohan had, others like Mikasa didn't have the almost muscle memory to categorise everyone's energy signature. No doubt Mikasa would be able to find it, but not recognise them like Gohan did.
Kuno, the MP from the interior that Gohan had trained alongside the Scouts and the Garrison soldiers before the first expedition.
A man who Gohan had taught, made stronger and more powerful, and who had struck at his friends' mother. He felt his knees go weak and he dropped onto one of the seats in horror.
"Gohan!?" Eren looked at him scared, worried something else had gone terribly wrong.
"I found the person who wrote the note. It's Kuno, the MP from the headquarters."
They recognised the name quickly, and fear turned into rage. Hot and blinding anger filled Eren as he clenched his fists.
"That son of a bitch." His voice growled, to angry to properly speak after the betrayal. "I'll kill him. I'll rip his fucking guts out!"
"Where is he!?" Mikasa grabbed Gohan by the shoulders and shook him for an answer.
'This is my fault.' The words spiralled through his mind, it felt like he was drowning in the realisation of what had happened. 'I trained him, I made him strong. This is my fault.'
"GOHAN!"
Mikasa shook him harder, snapping his focus onto her.
"Far side of Trost, merchants' quarter near storage. Probably in a warehouse. I don't sense Mrs Jaeger or Hannes."
Eren was already moving out the door, Mikasa and Gohan moving swiftly after him.
"We need to go now!" Eren shouted. He was raising his Ki, either in anger or preparation for a fight. His training had been little compared to the others, but it would be enough to make quick time across the city. When he got close enough, he'd be able to sense the man as well.
"What's happening!?" Armin was already moving to join them despite his lack of training.
"Kuno left a note to meet him at the other end of the town, he took my mother. I'm getting her back!"
"We'll come with you!"
"No." Mikasa was the one who spoke up, surprising the others as she put her hand out to Armin's chest, stopping him from joining them. "Get word to Mike and the rest of the scouts. This is more than just a kidnapping…"
Armin paled, his hands shaking anxiously. Much of his fear came from the same place as Eren, Mikasa, and Gohan. Mrs Jaeger had been like a replacement mother for him in her support following the fall of Shiganshina. The knowledge of what might have happened was terrifying for him.
"I can help you! Please, I want to save Mrs Jaeger too!"
"Armin." Gohan spoke up, putting his hand on Armin's shoulders but not looking at the boy. His eyes were locked far away in the distance, his mind a whirling mess of blame and fear. "We need your help, but not like this. We need you to go to the Scouts and warn them, something is wrong."
The trio leapt up onto the roof of a nearby building and took off a moment later, leaving Armin down below with Dina, Ymir, and Historia.
"He's right Armin, we need to move." Historia had already begun to move back up the street. They would head back to the Garrison headquarters and retrieve their mounts, then head straight off towards the Scout headquarters.
Ymir followed her girlfriend without a word, but Dina paused to gently move Armin in the right direction. "Come on young man, we need to go."
He let her push him down the street, and they both moved to run and catch up with the others.
Gohan sensed them as they left, wishing them luck in their task. His mind was still terribly distracted as they flew from rooftop to rooftop, making quick speed without burning through energy. Kuno would probably be able to sense them soon, that was another move that Gohan had taught them.
He was too distraught to focus on the betrayal, the knife that they had plunged in his back, only feeling the terror of knowing that he had helped to cause this. The potential murder of a good woman and a good man, the mother of his friends. Whatever happened to them would be his fault. His responsibility to protect them.
As they neared the warehouse and all three of them could sense the man inside, Gohan made a vow that he would find them, that he would keep them safe.
The three of them blasted through the warehouse door without hesitation, seeing the MP waiting casually for them in a chair sat alone in the centre of the room. He was still wearing his Military Police uniform, whatever he had planned he'd wanted to seem as though it were official business.
That was not a good sign.
"WHERE'S MY MOTHER!?" Eren roared, fists clenched to the point of steaming as his body repaired the little wounds he inflicted upon himself.
Kuno simply laughed, standing up without a care in the world and flashing a sly grin. "If you want to see that mother of yours again kid, I'd keep that tone in check."
Eren snarled but did nothing more, Mikasa being the only one to move as she circled around, naturally taking up a flanking position. Kuno eyed her but was not worried in the slightest. He held the cards, and as far as they knew there wasn't a damn thing they could do to him if they wanted what he'd taken.
"You betrayed us." Gohan accused. "You betrayed all of us. You took my teachings and used them to hurt innocent people."
"I work for the crown, as I always have and always will." Kuno actually snarled at Gohan, defensive over the accusation. "What I do, I do for the good of our nation, and if you want those innocent people to remain alive and only hurt, you're going to learn to do the same."
To do what they were told by those in charge then, so that seemed to be what this was about. It snapped in place quickly for Gohan, his rampant insubordination due to his unbending morality made him a threat to those who hoarded power. Throw in his strength over everyone else and he was clearly something that needed to be controlled.
"We can get what we need to know." Hissed Mikasa, her eyes glaring evilly at the man. "He's only one of two who were taught, we'll beat it out of him and go save them before anything can happen."
"Oh please," Kuno rolled his eyes, "I've had training for that exact situation. And besides, you've got two issues with that plan." He held up his middle finger at her. "Number one, there's a lot more than just the two of us now. We put that training to good use. And two," he held up a second middle finger, "Gohan ain't the kind of good boy who would let that happen."
He turned his attention back to Gohan, only for Kuno to almost do a double take. Gohan's fearful expression was gone, in its place was one of only pure coldness. "You're wrong Kuno. You don't know even a shred of the skills I haven't taught you. And you really don't know how angry I can be."
Kuno snarled, anger flooding his body as he jabbed a finger towards him. "Now you listen here, I'm going to tell you what happens next. You're going to do-"
Gohan's fist drove Kuno through the back of the warehouse and into a brick wall on the far side. Faint groans and the energy he sensed told Gohan that he was still alive. Which was good, because he was about to teach the man how much of a mistake he had made.