Carla Jaeger was doing the washing. It wasn't a very exciting thing to be doing, but it needed to be done, and she needed to do it. She didn't enjoy it, and it took an awful long time considering that her family consisted of only three people, but she supposed that was down to the fact Eren would change his shirt three times a day and Grisha couldn't eat anything without spilling it down himself. She sighed as she sorted through colours and materials and rolled her eyes when the doorbell went, ringing loud with urgency. Her knees clicked as she got up from the floor of the bathroom, which she'd been kneeling on, and she struggled to navigate her way through the isle of clothing she'd created, chewing her lip with slight frustration. And here she'd thought getting Eren and Armin out of the house meant there would be no more distractions.

Even from halfway down the stairs, she could tell that the person at the door was a young child, due to their reflection in the glass. She brushed her hands on her skirt, frowning. Her socked feet made very little sound on the wooden floor, and she pulled open the door with a false smile, only to be shocked to see a frightened looking Mikasa. "Eren's already out-" she began, only to be interrupted by a hurried gush of words from Mikasa, the only of which she could actually understand being, "Eren".

"I'm sorry?" she asked, confused. "Mikasa could you say that again but... but slower and clearer?"

Mikasa nodded. "Yeah, okay, yeah. Eren and Marco were in a tree and Eren got stuck and I said I'd get him down but Marco was like "No Mikasa I'll get him down" and then Marco fell and now he's crying and Eren's still stuck and it's because Jean wouldn't do his stupid dare because he's a weenie and Marco's a weenie and Eren's a weenie and you need to come right now because otherwise they will probably die."

Carla chuckled. "Mikasa I don't think anyone's going to die."

"But he's screaming!"

"Who's screaming again?"

"Marco."

"Right. And Eren's the one stuck in the tree?"

"Yes, and you have to come now-"

"Mikasa, I'm still a bit confused, and I'm a little bit to busy to play with you right now-"

"Mrs Jaeger, it's not a game! Eren really is stuck and Marco really is hurt and his arm doesn't look right!"

"Oh." It took Carla a few moments to really process and understand the story, and once she did, her stomach churned with her failure to make sense of Mikasa's babble prior to it. She checked she had her phone and then followed Mikasa to the park, quickly dialing in Mrs Bodt's number and alerting her to the fact her son had fallen.

It wasn't until she actually got to the park that she realised it was a tad more than a fall.

"I'm going to have to call you back," she said, "and call an ambulance, I think."

"Why?" Marco's mother asked. "What's happened? Is Marco okay?"

"I think his arm's broken... I'm not sure though..."

"His arm's broken! Oh Jesus Christ, I knew we shouldn't let him out, I just knew it. Damn I... Carla, thank you for calling, I'll... I'll be there in a second. Please take care of him for me, please?"

Carla was about to reassure her that she'd take good care of Marco until either his parents or an ambulance or anyone came to his assistance, but it was then she noticed Eren. "Oh, Christ," she said instead. "I'm really going to have to call you back..."

Gritting her teeth, Carla took in the screaming boy in the tree, the sobbing boy she'd knelt down to care for, the angrily glaring girl stood beside her, the short blond yelling into the tree and the boy repeatedly saying, "Mrs Jaeger is he okay? Is he okay, Mrs Jaeger? Mrs Jaeger? Is he okay?"

It was going to be a long day.

author's note: i was going to upload this the same time i uploaded the last chapter but my family wanted to watch now you see me which was a hella good film and probably the reason that when i went to finish this chapter it came out kind of weird because im still kind of like "woah hot dang that film was good"

speaking of good films pacific rim is out on dvd and im going to buy it because dang that was incredible