Morally Grey - Annie Leonhart x Reader

three .

Chapter 3 :     trapped

(Warning: violence, gore, death)

You were most definitely in love with Annie Leonhart.

This revelation you denied with everything you had. Weeks of trying to stay normal around Annie, all while your heart was beating out of your chest and your face would warm and you lost all proper communication abilities.

You could not be in love with your best friend; for the sole reason being that you knew it would scare her off.

You could tell Annie was suspicious about your behaviour, so you chalked it up as nervesand anxiety about graduation and picking a branch, all that was just a few weeks away.

"You're being weird again y/n" Annie would say anytime your system shut down around her. The best you could ever do was chuckle and apologize; but to your great surprise, Annie almost never cared.

You two grow closer by the day: sitting with each other at every meal, paring up together in every exercise, and spending most of your free time hanging out together. A few of your friends (specifically Eren and Mikasa, who did not like Annie at all) were suspicious of your exact relationship with Annie. Marco, your best friend (who also knew about your true feelings and swore to keep them a secret) just didn't want you to get heartbroken. You knew that Annie's own friends, Reiner and Bertholt, did not at all approve of you being so close to Annie. Unsure if it was jealousy or some creepy brotherly protection, but anytime you were hanging out with Annie, they both would shoot you dirty looks, and looks of warning in Annie's direction. You knew they fought about it too, hearing voices in furious whisper and catching Annie saying "I've got it covered" before you announced your presence and the group broke up.

At present, you and the other trainees were getting depbriefed on the outing you would make tomorrow with the Scout Regiment: you were to head to Trost district and observe some Titan activity from the wall.

"You scared?" You ask Marco.

He shrugs his shoulders. "I mean, we won't be in any real danger, so I'm not too worried". His calm demeanour always grounded you in every situation. YOU were worried; what if you messed up and the scouts thought you were weak?

All you really wanted was for the day to be over so you and the other cadets could party before your graduation.

——————

You stood at the top of the wall with the other cadets; the garrison regiment were there as well, giving debriefing about life in the military is like. The scouts had a last minute mission, and could not make it.

It was the day before graduation, before everyone was to select a branch of the military.

The day before you join the real world. The survey corps.

The air and the atmosphere were quiet; too quiet; and you felt this sense of unease roll over your body.

All of the sudden a bright flash of light fills your eyes, and a strong, hot wind blows fast into the air. You covered your face and head as best you could, and when you looked back up, the muscled head of the colossal Titan faced yours. You felt your chest tighten and your throat close in panic. The last time this thing had shown up, your father was killed.

Shouts of panic went up and the shaking of the wall jostled you to your knees, seeing stone blown into the township of Trost. Civilians screamed and ran as Titans made their way into the district, the garrison trying their best to get civilians out into the other side.

The garrison were yelling commands and directing soldiers, Shadis directing the trainees into groups to try and get all the civilians out of the city.

You knew this is the perfect opportunity to do good and help people like you swore you would, so you did your best to keep your knees from shaking in fear, and head down with your assigned group to save the people.

Triggering your gear, you swing down from the wall and connect to the buildings below, swinging between houses and shops. You turn a corner to see a mother and her children trapped by a Titan.

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you swing up and slice it's nape, watching as it's body falls to the ground in a cloud of dust and dirt.

Your very first Titan kill.

The mother grabs her children's hands and gives you a thankful look before running to the other civilians to escape. Feeling the rush of adrenaline from successfully killing your first Titan, you swing up over the roofs and join some of your peers trying to help the people.

Fear and adrenaline coursed through your blood; purely the sustenance keeping you on your feet.

This is what life would be like in the survey corps. Terror. Fear. Horror.

But you had to do it. You had to fight for the good.

———————

The next couple days blurred together in a mess of fear and adrenaline. People littering the streets left and right, Titans running wild.

Eren.

The plan.

At some point, you remember being on top of the wall, shortly after Eren had transformed. You were sitting, hugging your knees to your chest like many of the training cadets were doing. Your eyes raked the figures, looking for your friends. You saw Annie at some point, eyes wide in fear and lightly shaking. You wanted to comfort her, maybe you tried to (you could hardly remember) but she kept her distance from you. You tried to spot Marco but in the chaos you couldn't see him.

You hoped he was okay.

When you got back to duty again to help Eren block the hole, you tried to stick close to your friends.

When the survey corps came back to take Eren, you were forced to separate from them.

And when everything was over and you and the other cadets were tasked with cleaning the streets,

you learned about the brutal death of your best friend.

You cried, you sobbed, and you shook, hearing of the brutal mess that was left of Marco Boldt.

As you and the other cadets stood around the corpse fire, your hands curled into tight fists, cutting little half moons into your palms. You shook, in sadness and anger.

You swore on every god, every angel, anything that might exist out there, that you would do whatever you could in your power to avenge your best friend.

You will get revenge for everyone you lost.

And nothing will ever stop you.

.