A/N: i haven't watched the first season of aot in forever so i'm sorry for the factual inaccuracies!
***
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It had been a few days (or weeks, time seemed to have no weigh here) since your conversation with Petra and Hanji. The unease about Eren had mostly disappeared, especially since all Eren wanted to do was use his power for good. But the mere possibility that other people could have powers like Eren was worrying you, especially due to the fact that they might not be as willing to use their powers for the greater good. The worry had made it's way into your subconscious, nightmares after nightmares haunting your slumber over other people, bent on the destruction of your world.
You woke up from a nightmare, a new one this time, in which something was chasing you. You can't remember what it was, but all you knew was that it wanted you dead, and it wouldn't stop until it reached its goal. Panting and disoriented, you felt your head. Despite your shivering, you felt warm to the touch. A sudden bout of dizziness struck you.
Shit. You were sick. And on expedition day.
***
"Y/N, you look terrible," Petra said. A crease appeared between her eyebrows. "You really shouldn't go on the expedition today."
"I'm fine," you croak, shivering violently. Your body temperature fluctuated between hot and cold at the drop of a hat, and this tea was unfortunately not doing much to soothe your flaming throat. "I'll be fine. We still have a few hours and a lot of tea."
Hanji frowned. "I don't think we can fix this with just tea, Y/N. You look seriously ill."
"Besides, Levi's probably going to get pissed if you drink all his tea," Petra nodded.
"Well, I need it more than Levi anyways! He's always so touchy about his stupid tea and his stupid cleaning. Honestly, he should probably be drinking milk instead o. Maybe that would help that runt grow taller—Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
"Who's this runt you're referring to?" Captain Levi asks, from right behind you.
"Oh—"
"You look like shit." Levi interrupts. "Are you sick or something? You should see a doctor."
"No!" You exclaim, and immediately break into a coughing fit.
"Right."
"I'm fine sir. Honest."
He regards you coldly. "You're obviously not well." The cold look in his eyes melted ever so slightly and he sighed. "I'll have to put you on surveillance. I can't have you doing a half-assed job in the vanguard."
"Sir, that's really not—" You stop mid-sentence at the sight of a dual glare from both Hanji and Petra. "Nevermind, thank you captain," you mumble.
Levi walks away without a response.
***
The leaves rustled gently around you. Bird chirps occasionally penetrated the silence, and golden sunlight streamed through the branches like honey. Despite having written it off as boring and useless, surveillance in the forest was beginning to grow on you. The hardest thing about your duty right now was fighting the urge to lay down in a patch of sunlight and nap. There were none of the usual abnormals lumbering through the tall trees and nobody was to enter the forest, at least not yet. You let out a shuddering cough and adjust your position in the tree. Your scratchy throat had mostly subsided, only to be replaced by a pounding headache. The desire to sleep was overwhelming, but you knew could never forgive yourself if something happened to your comrades in your slumber. You fought off the drowsiness and adjusted yourself again.
The sound of a flare gun echoed around you You zip up to the higher branches to get a better look. Red. Just a titan sighting. Some time passes before a flurry of yellow smoke arises in the air. Shit. Looks like the right flank has been defeated. You glance at the flare gun hanging from your waist and pray you won't have to use it. More time passes, and the bird chirps begin to cease. The silence is unsettling. Then a black flare pops up in the distance. Your stomach drops. An abnormal breaking through the ranks? Your fingers curl tightly on your blades.
You can begin to see troops coming towards you through the leaves, a much lesser number than you started with. Too far to understand what is happening, you observe as what looks the central column, the one you were supposed to be in, heads in. You wonder what the other scouts on surveillance are doing. Scattered far throughout the forest, they were too far to convene with. You debated whether to rejoin your squad and support, but a sharp pang of pain in your forehead and a possible lecture from Levi convinced you otherwise. You decide to check around for titans since a squad entered but a peculiar smashing sound stops you from sprinting off. Gripping your blade, you drop through more the layers of branches to see what was happening below. The horses sound much closer now, but you can't see them yet.
"Shit. What abnormal is making that much noise?"
Then you see it: roughly 15 meters tall, with a blond mop of hair and a distinct feminine build. The Female Titan. She was chasing a squad—your squad—through the trees. Helplessly, you watch as she brutally kills two attacking soldiers. Your squad is getting closer and despite your head, you decide to drop down with them.
"Levi!" you cry. For some peculiar reason, they haven't switched to ODM gear yet.
The captain glances at you for a moment. "Get back up there now, Y/N. It's an order. I don't want one of my best dying from a half-assed mistake they made because they caught a cold."
You begin to protest, but the Female Titan was nearing and you could hear the cracks of branches and screams of soldiers.
"Do not engage with that titan under any circumstances. Kill all the others," he yelled, as you sped back up into the safe cover of the branches.
You sped away from your original spot, trying to locate the other scouts and other titans. There were a few small five meter titans that you make short work of. Suddenly, the crashing you hear stops, as a cry from Erwin sounds. You hurry as fast as your pounding head will allow you towards the noises.
***
The female titan is immobilized, with harpoons shot into her from every direction. Several soldiers are gathered at the base, and you join Petra there.
"We've got her?" you ask stupidly. Levi was right: this cold was getting to your head.
"I believe we do." Petra looks grimly at the titan, its blonde hair obscuring any view possible of the face.
"I wonder who's inside the nape of that thing. I mean it's intelligent right? The way it killed those soldiers. . ."
"It's got to be. She didn't try to eat them at all. She just took them out."
You catch a glimpse of the titans eye and a chill runs down your spine.
