It was strange spending so much time with Levi without thinking of his inevitable death. Looking back at it, maybe Carmen was grateful she'd let him live over the years. Currently, her original mission seemed out of the question. They certainly weren't friends, however they were far from just strangers who were suspicious of one another.

"What's going to become of me now?" The assassin questioned. The hard part was over; confessing. But now, she had to place her fate in the hands of the people she was ordered to kill, she just hoped she'd been right to trust them enough to explain the key details, even if there were still mysteries that she'd prefer not to reveal.

"We'll wait for the scouts to come back, when they do, we'll let Erwin know everything. He should know what to do."

How could she forget about the Commander- a man who probably knew everything before she did. He asked her a few questions before, and he implied a few things too. She wouldn't be surprised if he already knew everything. Nevertheless, Carmen was going to comply, it had already been decided after all.

"Sure." She replied without much enthusiasm, though Levi expected her to act this way. Emotion was a rarity for the woman before him. "That's if he makes it back alive."

Now, she was eying him with her siren eyes. It was as though she knew something he didn't, challenging him. But that wasn't the case. "Why do you say that?" He inquired.

"He's always been the type to make a gamble. Not to mention that Eren's out there too. If Eren's in trouble, there's no doubt he'll put his own life on the line." She theorised.

"Your observational, though, that's required for your job." His words jabbed at her, but it was deserved, right?

"I'd prefer if you didn't refer to it as a job." Carmen said dully.

"Hm." The captain quietly hummed, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable, yet being to stubborn to upright apologise to the woman. "We'll head to the barracks for now, we aren't much help just wandering around. Not to mention, as soon as the breach is found, countless citizens will be in need of housing. Best get there fast." Carmen nodded, heading back to find her horse, Bowie.

When mounted upon it, the two rode the horse to the nearest barracks, despite Levi insisting he could find a spare horse, which he couldn't. But Carmen didn't mind, neither did Bowie, who'd previously bitten all of her friends who tried to stroke him. But it was expected, after all, Levi's horse was similar to hers.

"How's your leg by the way?" She asked in an attempt at small talk, which she figured was best to ease the tension between the two.

"Fine enough?" He replied. "Your wound? Have you been redressing it?"

"Not in a while. It'll likely leave another scar to my collection." She joked, but when Levi didn't show any response, she'd figured she'd confirm it. "A joke."

"It wasn't funny."

Carmen tilted her head, that wasn't the usual reaction. Usually her friends either laughed or shook their heads in amusement. Could it be, she wasn't actually funny? "Are you sure?" She questioned. "I've been told I've gotten better at my jokes."

"If that's better, I'd rather not think about what they sounded like before you joined the scouts." Levi scoffed, not showing much sympathy towards the fact she grew up without interaction, she was still new to it all.

"Says you." She retorted. "Your jokes consists of the words 'shit' 'ass' and 'crap'. Seriously, do you have anything better to offer?"

"It's still better than the shit you say." He replied casually, receiving an unknown eye roll from the assassin holding the reigns of the horse.

"Yeah, yeah." She brushed off and continued to travel.

.
.
.

Eventually, the two located the nearest scouting base which was further away from wall Rose. There were many scouts there, the injured were present in swarms while nurses hovered around them, seeing if help was needed. To all the scouts, the nurses seemed annoying. They'd survived far worse than a few broken bones yet the nurses seemed to be treating them as though they were made of glass.

"Captain Levi, sir." A nurse approached the two newcomers. "Can we assist you in any way?" She asked gazing at them, but their neutral expressions made the nurse wonder if they were injured at all.

"Not me." Levi shut down and pushed Carmen forwards a little. "She was impaled a week or so ago, I think she needs her bandages changed and her stitches checked out."

Slightly betrayed, Carmen looked at the happy smile displayed on the nurse's face - she seemed awfully happy for someone who was about to see a fatal injury. The blonde didn't trust it one bit. Maybe it was because she was raised not to trust anyone but the king. Or possibly because she'd never had anyone dress her wounds or offer help before she joined the scouts. However, one thing was certain, a liar always knew how to detect a fellow liar.

"Wonderful, I'll get you your own room since there's mostly just men around here and we can see to your injury. Yeah?" The nurse offered as she turned and looked around, ignoring the suspicion Carmen was visibly displaying.

"Actually, I redressed them before I arrived here." Carmen began to lie effortlessly. "The nurse seeing me said I was healing well and I respect her so I'm not going to let an amateur dirty her work." The nurse looked shaken by the retaliation and simply looked towards the captain who rolled his eyes an ignored the situation. Carmen wasn't his responsibility and as much as he needed her alive, he didn't want to force her into anything that might turn her against him.

"Come on Carmen." The nurse tried again. "You can never be too safe. Besides, I'm a newcomer here, helping you out will help me gain a bunch of respect." She smiled wider, it was almost sickeningly sweet.

Instantly, Carmen noticed her slip up. Not once, did any of the scouts mention her name, despite being a skilled scout, she wasn't as widely recognised as Levi - meaning it was unlikely that the nurse had heard it by word of mouth. It was clear from the beginning, this woman was a liar, a fraud, and thus a threat. Carmen had been taught exactly how to eliminate threats.

"Fine." She reluctantly agreed, shooting Levi a glare for forcing her into the situation. Though, she knew he had her best interests at heart. "Let's make this quick, I don't like to wait." And with that, Carmen shoved past the nurse, as she caught up and showed Carmen to her room.

"Okay, just take a seat." The nurse instructed and pointed at the bed before turning her back and preparing her equipment. "I'm going to inject something to numb the pain, being stabbed is bound to cause heaps of pain."

Just as the woman turned around to meet with Carmen, she felt a hand around her mouth and a sharp, cold, metallic blade against her neck. Her act was over, she'd been caught by the doll. Now, there was no escape. Rumours used to flood the training centre, echoes of Carmen's name along with numbers - so many numbers - she could only assume it was a kill count.

"Listen and listen well." Carmen pushed the blade closer. "Who the fuck sent you?" She questioned, knowing she wasn't permitted to actually kill the woman because of her deal with Levi. So instead, it was her intent to silence her, maybe paralyse or potentially kill her at a later date.

"What are you talking about?" The nurse questioned frantically, her breaths heavy and heart racing.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, doll." Carmen pushed the blade closer to her neck, enough to draw slight blood from the liar before her. "Tell me, what exactly was in that injection you were planning to give me? Perhaps poison?'" She guessed while the woman was now visibly shaking.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to I-"

"Bullshit." The better assassin cut her off.

"It was a mission, you know what happens if I fail, please don't let them do that to me." The nurse begged. For once, Carmen could sympathise. She only failed once, but when she did, she received so many of her scars, not all were physical. "Please just let me kill you, I promise I'll make it quick. Please!"

So they knew she was alive, and still kicking. It was obvious they'd strike now, knowing that her work with the scouts had caused deaths in the interior. What did that mean for her? Was she destined to die? Live in fear of this happening again and again? Or what if they went for Levi instead? She wouldn't put it past them.

"Unfortunately, I won't allow that." Carmen said calmly as she put her hand back against the nurses mouth, blocking her screams as she dug her blade into her back, hitting the nerve needed to provoke paralysis. The nurse instantly fell the the ground and Carmen took her abrupt leave, stealing the injection to examine its contents.

"Levi, we need to leave."

——————

Authors note :

I know, I have a problem when it comes to randomly making new fics when I've got so many on-going. But, most of the time I fail to update because I can't find time to watch the anime, which is why I have a new one that doesn't follow the story line.

Preview of 'JEALOUS GIRL' in which humanities strongest must become the mentor of Erwin's new project - Levi.

ESME HARRISON WAS PERFECT. Her name alone sent a wave of admiration through the veins of anyone who knew her. But then again, who wouldn't know her? She was Humanities Strongest, after all.

Her accomplishments were made known all throughout the walls, sometimes, they'd even be muttered below them, too.

She was the youngest in history to graduate cadet training, only staying for a six months before the commandants ran out of skills to teach. She was the quickest person to join the special operations squad, serving under Squad Leader Erwin Smith. She was the youngest and fastest person to become a squad leader, which then quickly turned Lieutenant. And last of all she was the earliest, most trusted and admired, Captain Harrison of the Scouts.

But now, her achievements were being challenged, almost overtaken. Now, someone was catching up. Now, she felt threatened.

But most of all, she was jealous.