BLOODSPORT

Episode 38 [II]

Rhea jolted awake in the middle of the night, clutching her chest and trying to slow her rapid breathing. She felt breathless from the vivid nightmare that had interrupted her sleep. Her heart raced to the point she heard its beat in her head. Covering her ears and curling herself into a tight ball, Rhea tried to calm herself down. She tried to remind herself that it wasn't real, it was only a nightmare.

She felt something move beside her, which caused her to jerk off the bed in a panic. "Woah! Woah!" Jean whispered, holding his hands up in surrender. "Bodt, what's wrong?"

Rhea found it hard to speak as her lips trembled in fear. In the darkness Jean didn't appear to be Jean. She couldn't stop picturing Bertholdt in the light of the room. There was an edge of fright to her voice, "stay... stay back."

"Rhea, it's me." His voice was low and steady as he spoke.

Rhea pushed Jean away, maneuvering around the bed and heading out of the room. She wiped at her runny nose as she locked the door to her bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed. She had been having some form of nightmares ever since Bertholdt and Reiner betrayed her, but it was never that extreme before. The fact that she saw Bertholdt's face in Jean frightened her even more. She questioned whether it was the fact that she had previously been attracted to Jean and her feelings towards Bertholdt messed with her head. Or maybe it was due to the fact that she hadn't been physically close with anyone since Bertholdt that made her feel scared?

Whatever it was, Rhea didn't like the feeling at all. The rest of the night, she remained upright in her bed, staring out at the night sky until the sun rose.

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"I want it dead," Connie stated as Rhea slowly walked into the kitchen of the Headquarters. Everyone's gaze met her own as she wrapped her coat around her. "Come on, it's time to change lookouts."

Connie and Mikasa left the room. "Hey, Eren. Have you seen Kirstein?"

"He should be coming in any second. He and Sasha were the last lookouts."

Rhea nodded and headed out the door. She had to explain to Jean that it wasn't his fault for last night. She had her own demons to deal with, and until then she couldn't truly be the person she was before everything that happened on Wall Rose.

As she went to open the door, it swung open by Sasha and the others. Rhea managed to take a step back before the wooden frame hit her. "Hange and the others are back! We're meeting in the main room. Oh my gods - Rhea?!" She stepped out from behind the door. "I didn't see you there! Did I hit you?"

Rhea waved her hand in dismissal, "no no, you're good. Wait? Hange and Captain Levi are back?"

Jean strode through the door, "yeah so we all better meet in the main room quickly." He hung his coat on the handle and left Rhea and Sasha in the hall without a second look.

"Come on," Rhea said as she followed Jean into the room where everyone resided.

"Now, what's this about?" Captain Levi asked.

"I'm sorry. Pastor Nick..." Hange tried to explain. "He was murdered." Sasha let out a low gasp at the news. "Today." Hange continued, "in the Trost barracks."

Everyone sat down at the table listening to Hange tell exactly what happened to the Pastor. "I figured the Church would want to get their hands on Nick when they learned he was cooperating with the Scouts. That's why I hid his identity and had him stay in the barracks. I never imagined they would use soldiers to kill him. This was my fault. I should have been more careful."

Captain Levi took a sip from his tea, "how many nails was the good pastor missing?"

"Uh?" Hange looked up to her comrade. "I only caught a glimpse of him, but all the nail beds I saw were empty."

Rhea grimaced at the thought. One would have been enough to get any information from someone. No one would want to be repeatedly tortured. "People who talk, talk after one." Captain Levi stated, affirming Rhea's thoughts. "If they don't, ripping off more won't make a difference. I'm impressed. I didn't think highly of Pastor Nick. but whatever his faults, he stuck by his beliefs until the end. Which means... they have no idea what we know about the Reiss family."

Rhea eyed Historia up and down. "We've got a target on our backs."

A Scout with bright red hair burst through the door with a message from Commander Erwin. "Get your gear, now! We're leaving. Make it look like we were never here."

Rhea left for her room, beginning to stuff her bag with all her necessities. Grabbing all her clothes and tossing them into her pouch, she took one last look around the room to see if she missed anything. "The drawing!" she shrieked, struggling to locate the image Jean drew for her. Finally, her eyes landed on the parchment which she folded nicely into her pocket and ran out the door and onto her horse alongside the others.

"That was close." Connie commented, now peering down from the hilltop at Headquarters in the distance. "What if they had caught us? Would they rip our nails off?"

"Listen up," Captain Levi voiced. "The government passed down some new orders. There's been a freeze on all Scout activity outside the wall."

"What does that mean for us?" Rhea asked, concerned for her and her friends.

"It means that we're supposed to hand over Eren and Historia."

"Captain," the red head said, "I didn't have time to tell you but some MPs came after the Commander just before I left."

"What? Like he's some kind of criminal?" Hange questioned, appalled by the entire scenario.

"They're bringing this fight out into the open. No more working from the shadows," Captain Levi stated.

"But why exactly are they after Eren and Historia for?" Hange inquired looking at the group of teenagers. "They don't want them dead. So what are they planning?"

"Who knows?" Captain Levi uttered. "But they want these two and they're not being subtle about it. Which makes lingering here dangerous. We'll move Eren and Historia to Trost. Heading toward the interior would be worse. With Trost in a panic, it should be easy to slip in, unnoticed. And if things go all to hell," he opened his cloak revealing his gear, "we can use these in the city."

"That's true," Armin added.

Captain Levi turned to face Rhea, "how's your leg, kid? Think you can perform on your ODM gear?"

"Without a doubt, sir," Rhea remarked.

"Good. We don't know the identity of our enemy yet. I have an idea of how we can change that."

"Okay. Moblit and I will inform Commander Erwin, the rest of my squad is yours, Levi." Just before Hange could get on her horse, Eren stopped her.

"I remembered a conversation between Ymir and Bertholdt." Rhea's entire body stiffened at the mere mention of his name. She still hadn't talked to anyone about him or Reiner for that matter. Nor did anyone ask. It was a sensitive subject after Hange had endlessly grilled her about her relationship with Bertholdt. The thought of never having an explanation as to why he had used her, still hurt Rhea. The not knowing of it all drove her insane, which was the real reason as to why she was having vivid nightmares every so often.

She felt an arm wrap around her waist. Slowly she peered up at Jean whose eyes remained forward as he pulled her closer to his side. He had always been there to comfort her, after Marco's death and now. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she sighed feeling a sense of security in his arms. Jean's arms and not Bertholdt's.

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