⚠︎︎Lay here and die⚠︎︎
☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎
Within hours of getting into the walls you and Eren were called to the capital. And as annoyed as you were you had to talk to Armin about a suspicion that you had before you could even think of obeying any orders the MP's would give you. But it's not like you would anyway. Once you'd confirmed your suspicions with Armin you'd stormed into Erwin's office and told him everything. You being a quivering Armin's shield when the younger blond wanted to add something in.
After that you went to the cafeteria as Erwin instructed you to where Eren and Levi were waiting fir both you and Erwin. You weren't in there too long. Erwin coming in with Armin, Mikasa, and Jean in tow.
The seven of you sat down at the table with Erwin passing out a plan to each of you, in the center of the table he splayed out a map of Wall Sina. The, the meeting was started.
"The day after tomorrow, we'll be passing through Stohess District en route to the capital. That's when we'll strike. It'll be out first and only chance to do so. Once we've set foot in the interior, the government will assume custody of both Eren and Y/N and the scouts' authority to continue operations will be limited." Erwin pauses as if to let the weight of the words he just said sink in "Thus, unless we wish to concede defeat... we must flush out the enemy now." Erwin begins to point at different places on the map "So here's what we do. While in Stohess we use Eren as bait, luring the target into this underground passage. The deeper the better. Get her well beneath street level. That done she should be easily immobilized, even in titan form. If she transforms before reaching the tunnel, well, at that point she'll be your responsibility, Eren."
"Right. So we know she'll be in Stohess? There's no chance she'll bolt before we get there?" Eren ask.
"No. She won't risk going AWOL." Erwin insist.
"Wait, you mean she's--"
Erwin picks up where Eren stopped "Armin and Y/N identified her. She's an MP, likely responsible for the deaths of Hange's test subjects. And a fellow trainee in the 104th Cadet Corps."
"Wha--? You can't be serious." Eren seems to be the only one in obvious denial to the fact, it's obvious Eren doesn't want to believe it from his reaction, although it seems like a everyone else in the room has resigned themselves to the fact, whether it was their first time hearing it or not. "I trained with her?"
"I'm sorry, but yes. She's one of us."
"No. It can't be."
You stare at Eren, a little tired of his denial when you know for sure who it is. "It's Annie." You speak up staring right into Eren's eyes. "Annie Leonhart is a fucking traitor."
"You..." Eren stares at you in disbelief, stunned that you could believe such a thing "You think it's Annie? Where is-- Where's you evidence? Tell me!"
You avert your eyes at that "That's the thing," you murmur, your eyebrows furrowing "I don't have any. I just listened to my instincts."
"Then--"
You cut Eren off again "But where I come from instincts are everything and i've come to find out that more often than not that my instincts are correct. But," You shrug "If you want actual evidence Armin has it." And just like that he turns to Armin looking for answers.
Armin stares at the table as he talks, not wanting to look Eren in the eye "Obviously the female titan knew what you looked like before she attacked. Plus she reacted to your "Suicidal Maniac" nickname, something only our classmates would know. But the biggest reason I suspect her is that I have strong reason to believe she's the one that killed Sawney and Beane."
"You're kinda goin' out on a limb there." (Eren)
"Killing two titans at once requires a precision ODM strike." Armin presses on "It only makes sense that the killer would've used the gear they were most familiar with."
"But there was that whole equipment inspection. Annie's totally checked out." (Eren)
"Except, the gear she presented. Well it-- It wasn't hers. It was Marco's."
"Huh? What's Marco got to do with this?"
"It's unclear."
"Maybe you need to get your eyes checked--"
"Eren," Armin's voice was stern but there was a pleading edge to it too. "I know what I saw, and the fact is--"
"Okay, we get it." Levi interrupts most likely just as fed up with how overdramatic Eren made finding out who the traitor is. "Do you have anything else on her? Any sort of concrete evidence?"
"Nothing, sir." Armin murmurs.
"Blonde hair and blue eyes." You speak up "Other than the fact that the female titan was rapidly gaining on us the first thought I had when I looked at the female titan was that she was familiar. That could go for something, can't it?"
Hands slam on the table and an angry Eren is standing up now "Really?! What the hell is wrong with you!? What kind of evidence is that?!"
"So basically, we're basically, we're going after her without proof." Levi says.
"You're kidding me, right? This is insane! What if it's not her? What if she's not the monster you all say she is?"
"If it's not her, then she'll be cleared. End of story." Mikasa voices out.
"No one wants to condemn her prematurely, least of all me but-- Either we make a move on circumstantial evidence, or we sit back and let the central government condemn you and Y/N." (Armin)
"Do you even hear yourselves? We're talking about Annie!" Eren yells out.
"Eren," You look up and meet eyes with Eren a cold fury in your eyes that makes him shiver "Don't tell me that this conversation isn't ringing any bells. You fought hand to hand against the female titan. Was there anything about her techniques that seemed familiar? Dig deep." You stand up, an aura of finality surrounding you as you want to end the conversation, "It's Annie. You know it is."
***
Staring boredly out of the carriage escorting you and Jean through the seats of Sina You twirl a hunting knife you... found from not too long ago.
"So... are you going to listen to the commanders orders?"
You look to Jean a small smirk coming over your face as you eye the knife, faintly you notice the carriage has stopped "That all depends on nice the MP's decide to be to me."
"How can you kill the MP's so easily?"
You look up at Jean as a identical pair of twins girls flash in your mind both with h/c hair but with orange eyes. You clench the hilt of the knife "Revenge."
Jean nods and leans back in his seat "Would... would you've killed me?"
"Your full of questions today, huh Jean?"
"Would you have?"
You let out a sigh as you think about his question. "No. Probably not." Liar
It's quiet for a few seconds "I see."
The two of you fall into a comfortable silence until a flash of lighting goes across the sky. Your eyes widen as you shoot up from your seat "Shit."
"We gotta go!"
"Right." Jean takes the lead as he steps out of the carriage first and you don't hesitate to follow him, you trust Jean.
"Who told you to move, Yeager?" You step out of the carriage to see an MP attempting to stop Jean.
Jean reveals himself not caring about what the MP's would want due to the plan having already starting "How 'bout this damn wig said I could, moron?" Jean throws the wig as he steps out of the MP's grasp. "Call me Yeager again and it's your ass, you got that? Let's go Y/N!"
As you comes into the MP's sight he audibly gasp as he takes a step back "Got anything to say to me?" You ask, a teasing lilt in your voice as you inspect the knife, an obvious threat. The MP shakes his head and you take a step towards him "Use your words."
"N-No."
You hum, "That's what I thought." You turn around and catch up to Jean, the two of you going towards Erwin and Levi.
"Commander! What's the plan?" Jean ask, you put on your survey corps cloak as you await your orders.
"Ask squad four for equipment."
"Sir!"
"I like the brass balls, but try not to swing 'em so hard they get you killed."
Jean turns to Levi and nods "Sir."
"And Y/N," You stop as you were just about to walk away "Give me the knife." You pout as you hand it over, Levi may be injured but you know better.
You and Jean run off, completely ignoring Nile's bewildered calls. The two of you head further into the city and run against the panicking citizens yelling for help and their obvious cries of a titan. Jean looks to the roofs seeing the MP's just standing there "Useless MP bastards." You smile a little, "Can't believe there was a time I'd have given my left arm to be one of 'em. I don't know what the hell I was ever thinkin'."
"Well, look at you Jean." The two of you use your gear as you near where the entrance to the abandoned underground project is. "I call this character development."
"I'm just seeing what you'd already told me. It's no big--" You and Jean stop your banter as you see the ruins and a panicked blond among them.
"Shit, Armin!"
You and Jean land quickly, both of you running towards Armin "What the hell's going on?" Jean ask.
"Help me! He's stuck in here!"
Your eyes widen seeing exactly who the "he" was. "Eren..."
"Why didn't he just turn into a titan?"
Armin answers Jean's question without missing a beat "He couldn't transform! I-- I think there's something holding him back from being able to take on Annie!"
Your eyes narrow as you regard Eren's battered form. "What."
"We'll worry about that when he's safe," Armin pushes a rock from off of Eren "Just help me get him out!"
"He couldn't do it?" Jean's eyes widen in horror before narrowing almost immediately angrily he stalks over to Eren "That's it! Enough of your bullshit, Eren! Did I or did I not tell you this day would eventually come? Look at yourself! Our fates in your hands. We're out there putting our lives on the line, and this is all we can expect from out last best hope? Is this what Marco--" You flinch back at the mention of the freckled male but your eyes soften as Jean's voice cracks "What he-- Damn it!"
A rock crashes into a nearby building and you all just barley manage to get out of the way before debris rains down on the three of you. Armin begins crawling towards Eren, who's condition has worsened due to being struck with debris, before Jean stops him "Leave him! We can't do anything until we take care of her!"
Jean runs off after that but you watch as Armin begins to talk to Eren "Listen. I said something to Jean recently. To rise above monsters, we have to abandon our humanity. What we fight, we become. Fire with fire. Look at her, Annie can do it. I don't know why, but there it is. Simple. You have to match her heartlessness to win!" And Armin too runs off. But Still Eren does not move.
You growl as you stalk towards Eren's lethargic body, "You wanna fuckin' pep talk from all of us? Well fine. Here's my fuckin' advice. Get the hell up! Everyone in the Levi squad, everyone in the 57th recon mission didn't risk their lives or, hell, die for you to be lying here lookin' like you wanna give up on life! So get the fuck up before I make you." You put your boot on Eren's face as you glare down at him "I'm sick and tired of you acting like this. No one here is putting our asses on the line for you to just lie here." You remove your boot and crouch down, looking into his hazy green eyes "In fact, if you're just going to lie here being useless." You stand up with an annoyed sigh, turning to walk away "Just die here instead."