Having lost everything to the titans, you find yourself alienated when you wake up alone, in a city you didn't recognize. Deprived of a sense of purpose, you join the Military in hopes of reclaiming what's left of your home, Shiganshina. But is home...
She's interrupted by the loud thuds of a titan running. It had to have been a shifter or an abnormal, as Pure Titans weren't that active at night. The two of you head up to the watchtower for a better view and you see the Armored Titan running towards the breach in the outer wall. You notice two people on his shoulder.
"It's Reiner! Looks like they're running away." Annie says. "That must be Bertolt on his shoulder, but I can't really make out who the other one is."
You take a closer look using a spyglass to check if it was Eren. "It's Ymir! What's she doing there? Do you think she's the Founding Titan you were looking for?" you ask Annie.
She answers, "No, I'm sure Eren has it. My memory is still a bit fuzzy, but I saw brief flashes of the paths converging on him while you were cutting me out of the nape in Stohess. That could only mean... Ymir must be the one that ate Marcel."
"Who's Marcel?" You ask.
"We had a fourth teammate; he was a warrior just like us and had the Jaw Titan." Annie explains how he died protecting Reiner while they were on the way to Wall Maria. She then points at the Armored Titan and asks, "Should we go after them?"
"Are you absolutely sure that Eren has the Founding Titan?" You ask her, as you couldn't risk Marley getting hold of it.
"Yes, I'm positive. I believe Eren has both the Founding Titan and the ninth titan." She explains how Marley had seven out of the nine titans and how Eren's base from was likely the missing Attack Titan.
"Alright then, we'll let them go. If Ymir really is a titan, we won't stand a chance against all three of them. Besides, we can't risk revealing your position, can we?" You tell Annie.
"What do you mean?" She asks.
You explain, "I doubt Commander Erwin would've disclosed the information about our escape, so as far as they should know, you were either captured or killed in Stohess. Let's keep it that way for now."
"Are you sure about letting them take Ymir?" Annie asks.
"Normally I would want to save her, but take a closer look. It looks like she's going willingly for some reason since she's not restrained or anything. Also... I don't want to risk Marley finding out about your betrayal because they might punish your father for it." You explain.
Annie's pleasantly surprised by your concern for her father's safety and complies with your suggestion.
❋❋❋
You spend the next few days cleaning the HQ as Annie needed time to recover her stamina before she could patch the walls. It was convenient, as the place definitely needed some sprucing up. It was full of dust from being abandoned for five years and you couldn't stand it. Captain Levi's OCD must have rubbed off on you while you worked together.
"Are you constipated or something? Of course it's important. You'll be eaten by rats before the titans get to you!" You recall a line the Captain said when you questioned him about the importance of cleaning.
You dust off the furniture, making sure you didn't miss a spot. You give the extra attention to cleaning the underside of the tables as you recall how Captain Levi would often criticize people for leaving it out.
You couldn't help but imagine what it must have been like for Eren and the others being in his squad. You got to take it easy, as Captain Hange was always occupied with her research, although it came with its own complications.
Once you finish dusting off the first floor, you head upstairs while Annie stayed behind in the hall to mop the floor. She was surprisingly enthusiastic about cleaning, probably because it was a welcome break from all the non-stop violence she's been part of from the expedition to the incident at Stohess.
You slowly make your way up till you get to the watchtower. You sweep the floor and take out the mess of cobwebs that you nearly walked into last night. As you move on to dust off the window, you recall watching Reiner, Bertolt and Ymir escape.
You think about what might've happened after you left, for Reiner and Bertolt to give away their identities like that. It was likely that Armin or the Commander narrowed it down to them.
"Was that what the records of refugees from Wall Maria were for?" you ask yourself as you realize that the Commander must've used them to trace their connection to Annie. You felt slightly guilty as you helped Hange compile them. Although you couldn't afford them succeeding either so you had mixed feelings about it.
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After thinking about their escape for a while, you realize how they had to have been going back to Marley. "Wait... isn't that what Annie wanted? She could've seen her father if she had just gone back with them, right?" You think to yourself.
It didn't occur to you back then as you were distracted by them, but you realize how Annie watched them go and decided to stay with you instead. In fact, she was even willing to help you stop them if it was necessary.
Having realized that, you walk up to her and ask, "Hey Annie... when you saw Reiner, Bertolt and Ymir escape, did it occur to you that you could've gone home with them too?"
"You told me you'd come up with a better way, right?" Annie answers without thinking twice and continues mopping the floor.
You're taken aback as you realize how much trust she's put in your promise. You determine yourself that there was absolutely no excuse now; there's no way you could disappoint her after all that.
"Yeah, I did... I promise... I'll make that happen no matter what." You struggled to hold back your tears as it was the first time someone had put that much faith in you.
