"Wh-What the heck?!" stuttered Niccolo, hands raised, walking backward.
Still pointing the gun to his head, Floch got into the room, followed by a few more rebel soldiers carrying rifles, ready to fire. Everyone who was already inside the room was completely stunned and gathered around Hange. Armin and Lara clung even tighter in their embrace as if they both wanted to protect the other. Niccolo also went into Sasha's arms.
"Floch?!" exclaimed Hange, standing up immediately.
"I'm glad you're here, Commander Hange," he replied, with an enigmatic look. "You certainly know where Zeke is. I want you to get us there."
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Hange, opening her arms, "We have no intention of going against you!"
"We rejected your proposal," replied Floch, impassively. "We won't negotiate with the Armed Forces."
Hange frowned, feeling tense. Everyone behind her stiffened nervously.
"And why is that?" asked Hange, gritting her teeth.
"It's Eren's decision," replied Floch. "Commander Pixis would never leave the fate of the island in our hands. He's certainly hatching some plan to take the Founding Titan from Eren while we're on the move."
"Don't you think you're being paranoid?" Lara dared to ask. "Or is that what your comrades in the Garrison Division said?"
Floch took a good look at Lara and then at Armin (who were still embracing each other), from head to toe with an expression of disgust. He then gave a very sarcastic smile.
"Squad Leader Lara. I mean," Floch faked a cough, "Captain Lara. First, congratulations on your engagement. Second, do I look like I'm still your subordinate? Will I be forced to prove to you that this is not the case? Or will you and your mother come with us? We know very well that you both know where Zeke is."
Floch looked at some of his companions, who cocked their weapons, making everyone feel their bodies tremble. Lara looked at him with scorn.
"Damn it!" exclaimed Jean, through gritted teeth. "How did they know we were here?"
Niccolo then caught everyone's attention by exclaiming:
"Chris?!" he turned to the waiter who had talked to him earlier, astonished. "It can't be! Are you working for Yelena?!"
"Niccolo..." replied Chris, impassively, "you ended up getting too close to the Eldians," he looked at Sasha, who grimaced at him, "I knew this day would come. I was right not to show you how to reach them."
"Floch!" exclaimed Hange, stepping forward, "Listen to me! We can't waste time fighting among ourselves! They served wine with Zeke's spinal fluid to Paradis soldiers! This whole time, Zeke was manipulating us!
"So what?!" replied Floch, with a strange smile, "Are you talking about the idiots of the Military Police? They'll still be idiots, only bigger. Can we go?" He turned his back, walking around the room, "Tie them up, now!"
Then, rebel soldiers tied up Hange, Lara, Armin, Mikasa, Onyankopon, Connie, Jean, Sasha, and Niccolo, making them all form a large circle, with Floch in the middle. Some pointed their rifles at them. Everyone moaned in indignation, and at one point, Hange raised her voice:
"Hang on, Floch! We never mentioned the Military Police!"
"It cannot be..." Lara widened her eyes, with a grimace of pain, as they tightened the ropes in her hands behind her back. "You knew everything all along!"
Then, to everyone's desperation, Floch turned to Lara, slowly, with a completely maniacal smile, putting his index finger in front of his mouth.
"Please, be quiet inside the restaurant," said Floch, now walking slowly towards Lara. He had such an insane expression on his face, that she cringed when Floch leaned in front of her. Their faces were very close now and Lara could smell his sour breath. Swallowing hard, she noticed that Floch was looking at her lips with great interest, which sent a chill through her entire body. Lara desperately sought her fiancé's eyes, who was on the other side of the large room.
Armin, who was not any ignorant, realized that Floch was closer than acceptable to a committed young lady, and his blood began to boil. Floch noticed that the couple were gazing at each other and, with a bold smile, kept looking from one to the other. He then chuckled.
"You know, Armin..." said Floch, rubbing his chin, "I honestly didn't expect Lara to be foolish enough to stay with a guy whose days are numbered."
Armin, who was a little bent over because a rebel soldier was holding him tightly from behind, felt his body tremble. His expression slowly got darker, becoming more and more fierce. Floch laughed again and turned to Lara.
To everyone's surprise, even to Floch's companions, he grabbed Lara's neck. He could feel the rapid pulse of her veins in his hand. Floch then began to inspect Lara's face thoroughly, and, to her complete terror, he began to run his hand over her neck and face in a totally vulgar manner. Lara felt her stomach churn in repulsion.
Hange looked at that scene with the purest perplexity, feeling her whole body shake. Her belly was hurting a lot at that moment, and the baby kicked as if it was protesting what was happening to its sister. All of Lara's friends were also pale and wide-eyed as they witnessed that.
Armin never imagined feeling such anger in his entire life. For a second, he thought his heart was going to explode.
"TAKE YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER, RIGHT NOW!" he shouted, his chest rising and falling quickly, breathing nervously. His expression was one of extreme fury.
BANG!
A shot was heard. It came from Floch's gun.
Complete silence.
"ARMIN!!!" screamed Lara, leaning forward, tears welling up in her eyes, completely pale.
He was crouched on the floor, grimacing in pain, looking down at his left thigh, which now had a big bullet hole. The rebel soldier behind him forced him to stand up again. Lara glared at Floch. Hange looked at her son-in-law, shaking all over and feeling a sharp pang of pain in her belly. Jean and Connie even tried to free themselves, but some soldiers pointed their rifles at their heads. Mikasa looked at her friend, completely stunned. Only everyone's anxious breaths could be heard.
"Armin, Armin..." said Floch, walking in the middle of the circle, "You're so selfish. You have to learn to share!" He turned back to Lara.
"You bastar--" she began, gritting her teeth.
"Oh, come on!" Floch clicked his tongue and chuckled sarcastically. "Why all this drama?! Isn't Armin a Titan? He'll regenerate soon." Floch then grabbed Lara's face with one hand, "I'll tell you something, Armin..." he looked impassive at her, who glared at him with total disgust, "You must remember the times where I made fun of you because of that love between you two. But I confess... I think what I had was really some envy, you know..."
Despite expressing a lot of pain, Armin still had a furious look on his face. Floch then brought his mouth close to Lara's ear, who felt a shiver down her spine.
"You still have time to change, Captain," he said, with a malicious expression. "Come to the winners' side. I can satisfy any desire or pleasure you have. What do you say, huh? Just imagine, an Ackerman on our team, even if it's a fake one..."
Even though Floch said that right very close to Lara, because of the nervous silence they were all in, it was very easy for anyone to hear his words. Now Armin thought his heart would explode, such fury he felt. Lara's other friends opened their mouths in utter indignance. Hange felt like throwing up. Even some of Floch's companions made a certain gross expression, especially the women.
Silence.
Everyone watched Lara close her eyes and take a deep breath.
Then, she burst out laughing.
Floch released her and stared at her, confused, narrowing his eyes. Lara leaned over and continued to laugh uncontrollably. When she recovered herself, she raised her eyes, facing Floch with a very daring smile.
"Oh, my dear Floch," said Lara, with her chin up, looking at him from above, "The only thing I desire and that would give me pleasure right now, would be to see my foot shoved into that worm mouth of yours. But since that would require an excessive effort on my part, I'm glad to only kick your balls!"
Before Floch could answer her, he felt a sharp pain in the area between his legs and leaned forward, holding his private part and moaning.
"THIS IS ALL YOU'LL EVER GET FROM ME!" Lara exclaimed at the top of her lungs, with a disgusted expression, practically spitting on him. "I hope you're satisfied now, you moron! Pay close attention to what I'm gonna tell you! You're right! I may not be Captain Levi's legitimate daughter, but I. AM. AN. ACKERMAN! I dare you to lay a finger on me again!"
Still moaning and leaning over, Floch raised his eyes to Lara. Now, he was the one who was furious. His face was almost the same color as his red hair. Suddenly, ignoring his pain, he pointed his gun at Lara's head.
"That's what you deserve, you bitch!" he exclaimed through clenched teeth.
Lara kept a steady expression, her chest rising and falling. They glared at each other for a few seconds and then, slowly, Floch had a bold smile on his face again.
"On second thought..." he said, running his free hand on his chin, "I think that's not enough for you."
Then, Floch pointed the gun at Hange's belly and cocked it.
In the same instant, Hange turned completely white and thought she was going to pass out again. She felt her head hurt a lot. Everyone, even Floch's companions, held their breath. Lara didn't feel the floor under her feet anymore as she saw that gun pointed at the middle of her mother's belly. Her entire body felt a chill and her eyes watered. Armin's jaw trembled and he felt his heart race wildly.
"H-Hey, Floch!" one of the rebel soldiers called, "Dude, you're going too far! We came here just to arrest them! We need the Commander and the Captain to take us to Zeke!"
"Be quiet!" Floch practically barked.
He looked from Hange to Lara, the two of them with their eyes showing the most complete desperation. Floch gave a cheeky little smile.
Suddenly, his expression changed to fear as he heard an imposing voice coming from behind him:
"Enough."
Everyone looked towards the door and got a big shock to see that the owner of that voice was none other than Eren. Mikasa became particularly whiter than she already was. Armin held his breath.
"Floch. Put the gun down," ordered Eren, his face expressionless.
"B-B-But..." stuttered Floch, looking from Eren to the girls.
"I SAID: PUT THE GUN DOWN!" exclaimed Eren, making everyone in the room cringe.
Floch obeyed and nodded, head down, moving to a corner with the other soldiers.
Everything was in complete silence.
"Eren..." said Mikasa, leaning towards him, who ignored her.
"Take Commander Hange and Captain Lara," ordered Eren. "They'll lead us to Zeke."
Reluctantly, Hange and Lara were led outside. Armin looked at them desperately, still held tight.
"Eren!" he exclaimed, "Wait, please!"
Once more, Eren ignored it.
"Take Armin and Mikasa to a room," he said, "I wanna talk to them alone. As for the others, take them all to Shiganshina."
Everything turned into complete chaos and shouting. As the rebel soldiers struggled to drag them out of the room, Jean and Connie tried to free themselves, Sasha and Niccolo tried to stay close, and Onyankopon was still stunned by the whole situation. A little reluctantly, Mikasa ended up letting herself be led into the other room. With everyone now in the big lobby of the restaurant, some waiters stared at that commotion, perplexed and not understanding a thing.
Armin tried to free himself from the soldier who was holding him. The bullet hole in his leg was already letting out steam, but he still limped a little.
"Eren!" he called him, "Please! Don't hurt Lara or Hange!"
Eren looked at him sideways, impassively.
"Armin!" exclaimed Lara, squirming as a soldier pushed her toward the restaurant's exit. Hange was beside her, grimacing in pain, gritting her teeth. She was very red.
In one quick movement, Armin managed to free himself from the soldier and ran towards the girls. Some aimed their rifles at him but saw that he simply dropped to his knees in front of Lara and Hange, his hands tied behind his back. For just a couple of seconds, the heads of the three of them were very close together and Armin whispered, his voice choked-up:
"I'll find you! I promise!"
Hange felt a strong pang of pain in her belly and the baby was moving a lot. Lara had tears streaming down her cheeks and she could only nod before the soldier behind her tugged her hard. Floch passed by the three of them, expressionless, and headed outside.
"Armin!" whispered Lara, "I love you!"
"I love you too!" he whispered back, this time with a soldier forcing him to his feet with violence.
The last thing Lara saw was her fiance's desperate gaze, and then the restaurant door closed behind her.
Hange and Lara were now completely alone in the hands of Floch and the Jaëgerists.
Thank you so much for reading! ♥ How will Hange and Lara deal with Floch, especially with Hange's difficult condition? 😭 Stay tuned for the next chapter! 🔥