Because Of You

Chapter 34

Trost wasn't in the panic that they had initially expected, bunting was littered around the city of festivities - rather than rebuilding, they were celebrating. Carmen wasn't truly familiar with the concept, the only celebration she could remember was a disaster. Petra's surprise party wasn't great to deliver to a trained killer.

It seemed as though many of her comrades were in a similar situation, all of them looked at the city in awe. As always, Sasha's eyes lingered on the food stalls, Carmen would have offered to buy her something if they weren't in danger.

"Do you remember the plan?" Levi asked his squad, who each nodded. Though, Armin and Jean looked far more nervous than the rest, each wearing their designated wigs to appear as the targets. "Carmen?" He asked the woman, and her eyes refocused on the captain. It was clear she was distracted.

"People have been watching us since we entered Trost." She informed, despite not knowing where the wandering eyes originated from.

"So they knew we would come here from the beginning?" He wondered, trying to discretely observe his surroundings.

"Looks like it." She nodded. Levi didn't seem too surprised, it just meant they had to stay on guard. If anything, it meant their plan was more likely to succeed.

"Good, looks like we might just discover who's behind this."

He was far too optimistic for her liking, but she imagined that he was putting on an act to ease her nerves, it was clear he was more of a realist anyways. The assassin simple hummed, not agreeing or disagreeing with his assumption.

"And the dolls?" She asked him, guessing that he had forgotten about their imminent threat.

"We haven't seen any so far." Carmen scoffed at his words - it was impossible to see one until she was holding a knife against your throat. She knew how to find one, knew the characteristics. So far, she had taken note of three people in the crowd who may be dolls. It was nerve wracking.

Their plan didn't take long to be set in motion, Carmen looked behind her, eyeing a wagon that was slightly speeding and absent of anything festive. It didn't match the atmosphere around them, which could only mean one thing.

"Get down!" She yelled, acting as though the lowlifes were a threat. Everyone ducked on her command, allowing Jean and Armin to be taken.

"Arm... I mean, Krista and Eren, those bastards took them." Sasha fixed her brief mistake, but the kidnappers paid it no mind, as though they weren't even acknowledging the remaining threat of the scouts.

"This can't be right." Carmen whispered to Levi, something was off, she could tell.

"Agreed." Levi nodded, it was clear that the kidnappers were amateurs. "We need to keep pushing forward, the plan is still in motion until said otherwise."

"Yes sir." Mikasa was first to agree, and the scouts moved to the skies in their ODM gear, each discreetly following the wagon. So far, the plan seemed to be working, despite the strangeness around it. However, Carmen couldn't question Levi's better judgement, she was given orders and she had to follow them. Besides, she trusted him to make the right calls.

When they reached a warehouse, everyone landed on the roof and observed through windows. No one was guarding the area, and no one seemed to even be alert. "Levi, they can't be the ones ordered to capture Eren and Historia. All that money and they hire these idiots? It's absurd." Carmen spoke in a hushed tone, not as though it even mattered, the kidnappers were too stupid to fight back.

"I agree." He replied. "I'm going to check on Eren and Historia, see if everything's still going smoothly on that end. You're in charge here, I trust whatever decisions you make." The blonde was too focused on the order, that she almost failed to comprehend his statement. But when she was about to question it, he had vanished, soaring to check on the others.