Cornered

Reunion 2

"Where are you hurt?" he asked. Bertholt sat down and started removing his boots, then pulled up the legs of his pants to show the still healing bruises on his shins. They were faint but there was still a bit of a bluish tinge to the skin. Reiner looked over the bruises glad that they were almost healed. Then he looked up into Bertholt's eyes. "And what happened to your chest?" Bertholt's eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you...?" Bertholt trailed off and Reiner didn't bother to answer. Instead Bertholt sighed and pulled up the hem of his shirt to expose his bruised ribs. These were deeper and not as far along in the healing process. Reiner's brow lowered as he examined the bruising. They had been sharp blows, not likely from a fist, or if they were it had been a very small fist. They were both surprised when someone stopped beside them.

"What happened?" Jean asked. "Did you get in a fight with Captain Levi?" Bertholt lowered his head and pulled his shirt down before reaching for his pant legs.

"It's nothing," he mumbled. Jean opened his mouth like he was about to argue but Reiner glared him into silence. Jean closed his mouth then shrugged and walked away. Reiner waited until he was a good distance away before returning his attention to Bertholt.

"Did Mikasa do that to you?" Bertholt's surprised eyes raised and that was all the confirmation that Reiner would have needed. Bertholt looked to the side.

"Yes," he said confirming what Reiner had guessed.

"Has she done anything else?" Reiner asked.

"She hasn't hurt me. In fact I think she's been doing her best to help me. I'm not sure why. Maybe she feels bad about what happened."

"And what did happen?" Bertholt shook his head.

"It doesn't matter now. It happened." Reiner didn't agree. He stood and started walking through the camp looking for Mikasa. He found her preparing to go on first watch.

"We need to talk." He said, gesturing for her to follow him. She didn't comment as she walked after him away from everyone else. Reiner stared at Mikasa.

"What happened to Bertholt?" Mikasa tried to meet his eyes but she had to look away. "Well?"

"Aren't you going to ask Levi?" Mikasa challenged.

"No. I'm asking you because I trusted you to take care of Bertholt like I expect you would want me to take care of Eren. So what happened to Bertholt?"

"Why do you want to know? So you can punish me?"

"No. It's Captain Levi's job to do that not mine. I want to understand what happened to my friend while I was gone, and why he's so afraid of you now." Mikasa looked surprised. She lowered her gaze and was silent for a long time. Reiner folded his arms and waited.

"It...I..." Mikasa fell silent again clearly trying to find a way to phrase what had happened. "I thought Eren was in danger. Bertholt tried to hold me back and stop me from acting so I...I took him down." She cautiously raised her eyes to see that Reiner's expression had darkened but he wasn't glowering at her.

"I see," he said simply. "Then what happened?"

"Captain Levi ordered me to help Bertholt get better, so I've been trying my best." Reiner nodded. Then he unfolded his arms and turned to leave.

"Aren't you going to hurt me back?" Mikasa said. Reiner stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"What would that accomplish?"

"You would be able to get even with me for hurting Bertholt."

"Mikasa, that wouldn't help anything. It wouldn't help Bertholt, it wouldn't make me feel any better, and it certainly wouldn't help our chances of accomplishing this mission. No, I'm not going to hurt you." Mikasa stared at him as Reiner turned around again and left. Reiner understood what she had done; he probably would have done the same if he thought someone was trying to hurt one of his friends. Bertholt looked up at him as he came back and sat down on his sleeping bag. Reiner decided he didn't blame Mikasa for what had happened although he didn't like it. He turned to look at Bertholt.

"So, will you ever forgive her?" Bertholt was surprised by the question.

"I...I don't know. I don't hate her for what happened; it-it just frightened me." Reiner nodded.

"You will not be effective in combat if you're afraid of one of your allies." Bertholt nodded.

"I know." Reiner waited for him to say more but he didn't. Reiner sighed and started removing his boots so he could sleep. He hoped he would feel better when he woke up. Bertholt hadn't replaced his so he slid his feet into his sleeping bag and did his best to make himself comfortable against a nearby tree. Reiner resolved to take Bertholt's shift on watch as well as his own before he drifted into sleep. Reiner was awakened by Jean for second watch and got up rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm tired too. At least we're all back together." Jean whispered. Reiner nodded. He noticed that Mikasa was also on their shift to watch. He nodded to her and she looked briefly surprised before she nodded back. The watch passed pretty normally. Reiner did his best to keep awake, moving around a bit at his post and avoiding leaning against things. He was surprised when he realized Jean should have relieved him by then. He waited a few moments more before going towards the direction Jean was supposed to be in. He looked all around and glanced quickly up when his eye caught something.

Jean was up in a tree, one of the few around. He must have shifted causing the moonlight to glint off one of his hardened steel blades. Reiner stopped underneath the tree. Watching as Jean stared to the east back the direction they had come. Reiner knew in a few days they would cross the north road they had taken when laying a false trail. Curious he used his own gear to join Jean in the tree. Jean spared only a glance to see who it was then returned his attention to the east.

"What's going on?" Reiner whispered once he was close enough. Jean pointed and Reiner turned his gaze to the plain in front of them. He didn't need Jean to clarify what he was pointing at. At the edge of their vision was a faint glow, like an earthbound star, a red and orange star with a rising column of smoke.

"Campfire?" Reiner asked. Jean nodded.

"I thought so too. Mikasa went to go check it out. I'm watching for her to come back." Reiner looked across the plain. There was too much open space for Mikasa to have used her gear.

"Did she take a horse?" Jean nodded.

"How long has she been gone?" Jean shrugged. "I'm not sure." Reiner didn't press him further. Time was difficult to tell sometimes on watch, and even more so if you were waiting for something or someone. Reiner looked up at the moon trying to gauge the current time so they could keep track. Jean shifted forward suddenly.