Dangerous Territory

He Wanted to See You

Jean paced back and forth through his room. He had thought Eren would return, and Levi would manage to get him to change his mind about staying in Metz so that they could free Annie, Carly, and the others; then all of them could leave together. If they traveled together, their odds of making it to Switzerland and to freedom would be much higher.

He had packed anything important or sentimental, having decided it was time to leave the German Army and the war behind. He had maps, a compass, food for the road, a canteen of water, and warm women's clothing that Annie could wear, especially since she was dragged away wearing nothing.

However, night fell, and Eren did not return. Jean had gone over to Eren's room twice; he even asked some of the other officers and the hotel manager. No one had seen Eren since he left that afternoon.

Surely, he and Levi had not already gone ahead to the fort to free the girls! Maybe he misheard, and he was supposed to meet both of them at the French Resistance hiding area. He checked a map of the city again, memorizing multiple routes to the bookstore, just in case he met up with roadblocks. He looked at his watch and cursed.

Sure, he still had a few hours until midnight, but where was Eren?

His biggest fear was that something bad had happened. He could not do this alone. As much as Jean hated it, this time he had to rely on others for help.

In the midst of his pacing, a heavy hand pounded on the door. He stomped over, fuming with fraught emotions.

"I swear, Jäger, you are the most irresponsible son of a..."

He threw the door open and jolted at seeing, not the brown-haired first lieutenant, but a tall and brawny blond who forced even a tall man like Jean to look up.

"Reiner! What are you doing here?"

He asked sternly, "Were you waiting for Jäger?"

"Sort of. We were planning to go out tonight," he said, hoping to sound jovial, like they were going out for an evening of drinking, not planning to break into an internment camp.

Reiner stepped in and motioned for Jean to close the door. Already, Jean could see the grim look on Reiner's face with his squarish jaw was clenched. His SS uniform was wet from the rain outside, and on one shoulder sagged a black bag.

Jean shut the door and sighed. "That idiot got in trouble again, didn't he?"

Rather than answer, Reiner made a thorough sweep of the room, checking under lamp shades, feeling above the light fixture, kneeling down to examine under the bed, and opening Jean's closet to check every shelf.

"If you tell me what you're looking for, it'll go quicker. I have nothing to hide." Although he said that, Jean's foot shifted the packed bag under his desk.

Reiner closed the closet and turned toward the scraping noise. He stomped over, yanked out the bag, and opened it before Jean had a chance to protest. He saw the change of women's clothes on the top.

"Nothing to hide, huh? Unpack that, and make it look like the women's clothes were left here by accident."

"Why?"

"Because your room will be inspected before the end of the night. Unless you're planning to leave right now, you need to prepare yourself."

Jean's eyes narrowed. "What happened?"

Not waiting for him, Reiner took the bag and turned it upside down onto Jean's bed.

"Hey!"

He took one heeled shoe and placed it sideways under the bed, and the other he set slightly to the side of the closet, where it looked like it could be out of sight. He then took the dress and carried it over to be draped by the toilet sink.