FicWad

Eren awoke early on the day before the capture of the Female Titan was to take place, long before the majority of his comrades were awake. The minutes ticked by as he lay still, staring up at the dark ceiling. This was it. One more day till judgment fell. He sat up upon the ragged mattress.

It was now or never.

So he got up and dressed in near total-darkness, not wanting to waste whatever time he had allotted himself.

In half an hour, he was at the dock. He paid with the coins he'd brought, and boarded the ship as quickly and surreptitiously as possible. The deck was occupied by a few civilians, and that meager number was growing steadily.

Eren glanced around at them nervously. Thankfully, they did not return his gaze; in truth, they paid him very little mind. Would their indifference change if they were aware of who and what he was?

To his great relief, however, no one approached him, and the ferry was soon churning its way through the waters of Karanese without delay.

Eren found it was hard to remain at ease; his mind wandered often and he kept losing interest in favor of a sense of supreme anxiety. He dared not look over at the other passengers for fear of revealing this. Think, he told himself furiously. You need to come up with a plan!

But planning was laughable. What was he going to say to her? How, for that matter, was he supposed to find her in the midst of a sprawling city? Yes, he knew where the Military Police HQ was, but when one took into account the variety of odd jobs such a notoriously lax organization might devise, it was significantly more challenging to pin down what its members would be doing.

His best chance, then, would be to start with the main streets. If that did not yield results...well, he thought flatly, he could always ask around. Though he figured that most common citizens of Stohess were likely to remain impartial to the queries of some boy wandering the streets, and the MPs even more so. Faced with these innumerable odds, Eren felt his resolve falter for the first time that morning.

But he pushed the doubt from his mind. He would find her. He had to find her, to warn her of what was coming and make a plan.

With this in mind, he glanced upwards. Clouds lay heavily across the sky, and the sun was a dim blot of illumination among them.

With a forced note of optimism, he reassured himself that he was making good time.

In a few hours the boat docked, and Eren disembarked along with the other passengers. As he looked around in the hope of spotting one of the Military Police, he noticed for the first time a lone figure amidst the departing crowd, small, clad in simple, dull robes. It was nearly impossible to tell if it was a man or woman, boy or girl. As he watched, the mysterious person looked up, and met his eyes. Before he could ascertain the identity of this figure, his concentration was broken by a shove to the back from one of the more impatient passengers. He felt a cold chill run down his spine and hastily began weaving in and out of the crowd, ignoring their exclamations of protest, now focused solely on putting adequate distance between himself and this unsettling character.

The sensation of being watched gradually dissipated. When he looked again, the person was gone. Had he simply imagined the figure to be following him?

Eren shook it off. Whatever the case was, he needed to locate Annie, sooner than later.

She saw him first. She was very much disinclined to acknowledge him with anything more than a glower before turning back to her post without so much as a second glance his way. He began to make his way over to her. Her reaction was immediate; she did a disbelieving double-take before she turned and stormed off in the direction of one of the many side streets despite her fellow MP's curious exclamation. Feeling just as nervous as he was relieved, he followed her.

The alleyway was narrow and grimy, but indistinct enough for there to be little danger of drawing unnecessary attention. When they were halfway down, Annie stopped abruptly and wheeled around to face him.

"What are you doing here?"

He answered. "I came to talk." This did not seem to impress her.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint," she retorted, "but I've nothing to say to you. Good day."

"Wait!" He shot forward and grabbed her forearm, and she froze. Knowing he only had a few seconds to clarify his actions before she did something unfortunate, he quickly moved to face her, took hold of her shoulders and hissed: "Listen to me, Annie. You're in danger."

She remained cold and derisive.

"Is that so?"

He ignored this.

"The Scouts think you're the Female Titan."

That wiped the derision off her face, if only for a moment. She swiftly reaffirmed her mask of indifference.

"They don't know where I've gone off to," He said quickly. "but the operation, the plan to capture you – it's tomorrow."

She regarded him with a certain skepticism to which he had long since grown accustomed.

"Why are you telling me this?"

His response was unflinching. "I trust you." A smirk curled her lips.

"How can you be so sure I am trustworthy?"

"Well, you were never the best liar." She would not meet his eyes. Growing uneasy, he glanced back down the alley, but they were still quite alone. Reassured, he leant down to her, voice lowered to a whisper. "If all else fails, I suppose they'll hand me over to the Military Police." She remained unaffected by his words until he spoke again. "If the Regiment can provide proof that I'm not a threat to mankind, they might reconsider." Her face drained of what little color it possessed.

"Proof?" Eren nodded, taken aback by this uncharacteristic display of hesitation.

"What's the matter?" He asked quietly.

Annie shook her head. "It's nothing." He raised an eyebrow, and she added, "Nothing either of us can prevent." The statement was vague, even by her standards. "We're betraying the very people we once swore our allegiance to, you know. What's your excuse?"

There was no hesitation.

"I love you."

Annie was quiet for a long moment. Then she blinked, looked away at some distant corner of the alley, but not before he caught the brightness in her eyes. "You're a damn fool, then." Her voice quavered slightly.

He shrugged. "You don't sound very convinced."

Annie swore under her breath. "...Shut up. You're ruining the moment."

Apparently, that was as close to an acceptance as he would get. He leant down, tentatively kissed her. Her lips were chapped and surprisingly warm beneath his. Yet she did not respond. Concerned, he broke off.

"Annie—" She grabbed his face and kissed him roughly before he could finish the inquiry.

"Whatever happens" —her fingers played restlessly with the collar of his jacket, entertaining the idea without actually going through the motion— "promise me you won't do anything stupid." He muttered an agreement, but she gripped his shoulders, and he pulled back. For a moment they regarded each other.

"Your word, Eren."

"Yes." His tone was solemn.

She glanced down the alley as he had done, but they remained undisturbed, and she murmured: "Then we've got a few minutes."

And now he grinned.

The ensuing kiss was ardent and feverish and altogether rapturous. They tried unfastening buttons, stopped the contact only because the clasps on her uniform proved to be a touch more difficult than predicted. When this was taken care of, he pressed her back against the grimy brick. Then her arms were around his shoulders, her legs hooked around his waist and he drew her close to him. Her fingers passed through his hair, then curled in the fabric of his shirt when their hips collided.

They were frantic in their contact and clumsy, yes, but they were alive. Here, in this desolate side street, mere meters away from the rest of the city and its inhabitants, there was hope, if only fragile in its existence. They knew what was to come, but now was not the time to dwell on what would be. This temporary reprieve was all he could offer her.

As she trembled between him and the wall, he noted the flush blooming across her cheeks, her neck and shoulders, lower still, the pink tinge a stark contrast to her fairer complexion. She was not looking directly at him. The back of her head rested against the brick, tilted downwards. Her hair fanned out beneath her, displaced from its usual tie. Gold smeared with black. Her breath was uneven, lips parted slightly, pale eyes hazy and lidded. He slowed, focusing on this and how her gasps caught in her throat between strokes.

The change in tempo was what drew her attention. She looked up at him then, slowly, as if on the cusp of recognizing something wondrous. When she spoke, her voice was hushed and raspy — and his name was an entreatment on her lips. He was more than happy to oblige her.
It was over too soon. Annie slumped back against the wall and he fell to her, face buried in the crook of her neck, forearms splayed on either side of her head to keep from crushing her, breath rough and erratic against her skin. He felt her clutch at the back of his shirt in turn.

The distant bustle of the people of Stohess was lost to a euphoric hum that left him breathless and lightheaded. Her arms slid from around his neck. Gingerly, he let her down. Annie shivered weakly as her feet touched solid ground again. Seeing this, Eren moved to embrace her. Time had not quite frozen over, but it had slowed in the presence of this tentative discovery.

"You should go." She said quietly. "Don't want to keep them waiting." He released her partially, taking in her disheveled appearance and wondering, vaguely, how he must look watching her do up the buttons on her shirt.

"What about you?"

She replied without pause. "I'll manage." He was quiet for another moment, then:

"Annie?"

She looked up at him. There were a number of things Eren wanted to say to her — be careful, do you have a plan, what are you going to do when we're all outside Wall Sina?

Unsure of how to properly articulate this, he took hold of her shoulders and pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. Then he was off, down the alley towards the street.

As he ran, he fumbled hastily in a last ditch effort to try and appear less suspicious before he reached the street, though he doubted it would make much difference.

The sun was high above the sky, a glaring white stain among the clouds.

It was getting later.

The journey back to port was nothing short of hellish. Every face that turned in his general direction sent a new shot of paranoia through him. His pace quickened. He had never been this terrified of regular citizens in his life.

His fear only intensified as he became aware of the garnered attention of curious onlookers. Seized by a new burst of panic, he broke into a run. He did not care what his behavior looked like anymore; he had to return to Karanese as soon as possible.

As the port came into sight, he slowed. What would he do when he returned? He had been gone for hours; the Scouts had to know by now that he was missing.

What would they think? Did they know where he'd been? In a futile resistance against the guilt gnawing at his insides, Eren prayed they didn't.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

He made it back near evening.

Jean, Mikasa, Armin, and a few other Scouts were gathered around one of the tables in the mess hall, deep in conversation. Thankfully, they had not seen him. He was about to try and sneak past them when he heard something that made him pause.

"I don't know where the Captain is."

Captain Levi was missing? He hadn't noticed. Then again, he hadn't exactly lingered around the premises to verify this.

Eren was halfway across the room when he was accosted.

"And where the hell have you been?" Jean snapped. He stopped mid-stride. The group's eyes were all trained on him, curious to see what he would do. "The plan's tomorrow. I'd have thought even an idiot like you might think to take some caution."

In response, and to everyone's surprise, Eren turned to them all and grinned broadly. Feeling immensely satisfied at the look of total indignation on the other boy's face, he turned and practically skipped the rest of the way down the hall.

He heard Jean's scoff before he left, then the irritable statement:

"Do I look like I know what's wrong with him? Because I don't."

He arrived at the basement in lighthearted silence. The instant he set foot into the room, he felt relief wash over him. He was back. He had done what needed to be done. He walked over to the bed with the purpose to lie down for a while when something caught his attention. A figure moved out of the corner of his eye. Startled, he spun around to face the intruder, only to realize he was staring down his own reflection.

His chest gave an odd lurch as he took in the appearance of the fellow on the opposite side of the mirror. Thoroughly unkempt, clothes and skin smudged with dirt, hair tousled.
Another observation, previously trivial, now hit him: where was Captain Levi? He was usually close at hand, always lurking round the corridors. But as he gave it more thought, the reality of the Captain's absence became all the more frightening. Why had he been missing?

Maybe the Captain was off today.

But that was highly unlikely. Levi was more apt to remain nearby, especially with the mission closing in on all of them tomorrow.

Had Levi been the mysterious figure on the ferry? If so, did that mean they knew? Had he endangered Annie as a result of this?

Or was he just being paranoid?

After all, what reason would Captain Levi have to be in Stohess?
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Guilt ate at him all through the night, and by that next morning, the elation that had possessed him was gone. He had no way to prove this suspicion with words or facts, but he knew innately that he had been found out. That was the very worst of it. Listless and terrified, he could not bring himself to converse with any of the other Scouts. They observed his uncharacteristic silence through their own disquiet. Despite the lack of eye contact between them, he was aware of Mikasa's gaze fixed on the back of his head. Oftentimes it would waver, but soon she was back to studying him once more. Armin would join her occasionally, but his attention was not as easily focused.

As one of the officials notified the hall that it was time to head out, he rose quickly, grateful for an excuse to get away from her and the rest of the Scouts for a little while.
The group formed a modest escort party ― after all, the horses could only take them so far. At the designated checkpoint ― an old, abandoned storage shed ― they quietly loaded him into the back of one of the many, tiny carriages lying around. It was stuffy and cramped, completely dark save for a few beams of sunlight that filtered in through the crevices in the covered windows. A scruffy and bespectacled man across from him handed him a spare cloak, and Eren took it from him wordlessly.

He slipped it around his shoulders and sat back in the dark, wondering where his friends were. It was most likely that they were awaiting his arrival.

And where was Annie? Had the others already tried to convince her? Would she even go along with the plan, now that she was armed with knowledge?

When the carriage halted abruptly, the man saw him out with a nod. Eren sprung from the compartment into the blazing sun, screwed up his eyes against the light and hurried over to where the three were already waiting for him. He offered Mikasa and Armin a nervous sort of half-grin before he turned his eyes on the miscellaneous people ahead of them; he didn't trust himself to look at Annie. When he did so, it was only to follow along as she and Armin held a quiet conversation regarding strategy.

Then they were there, at the entrance to the Under City. Eren followed the other two down into the mouth of the tunnel. As they descended, he wondered if the plan actually was going to work.

Something told him it wouldn't. What would the two of them be, then? Traitors. Or were they already guilty of treason?

Armin stopped, and looked back. Annie had not moved from the top of the stairs and stood there, still, watching the three of them with a cold, disturbing sort of confidence.
And within the timeframe of that ensuing conversation, the plan ― both plans ― quickly fell apart.

He couldn't bring himself to comprehend the scene unfolding before him, at first. This had to be a joke; a sick, twisted joke. Yet the stalemate dragged on, and slowly, it dawned on him that the whole situation had escalated far beyond anyone's control. The question of whether he could or couldn't convince her was insignificant.

There was still a chance to avoid the entire catastrophe altogether. He had formulated the beginnings of such an idea while upon the boat, trapped with his thoughts for company, and he'd meant to bring it up, he really had, but they both got caught up in the moment, and any suggestion to mention said plan was quickly sidelined.

Eren wanted to shout at her to run, to simply join them in the tunnel while she still had a chance, tell her that there was no need to go along with whatever plan she had obviously formulated in the time between their meeting and the present. But he already knew she wasn't going to heed his words, unvoiced or otherwise.

They both knew that the city was seconds away from turmoil. He had brought the very definition of Hell into the heart of Stohess, and the rest of them would pay for his unthinkable crime with the blood of hundreds of innocent civilians.

You don't have to do this, he thought desperately, beseechingly, trying to communicate in silence all he could not say. You don't have to do any of this, just come down here!
He was dimly aware of many small things around them; the twitch in Mikasa's wrist as her grip tightened on the hilt of her blade, concealed, for the moment, beneath her cloak; the total horror with which Armin regarded him as this shift in alliances finally dawned upon him; the sharp, near-imperceptible look of warning Annie cast him.

After all, he was trapped by his own agreement.

Promise me you won't do anything stupid.

Her request had been deceptively simple at the time.

And then it all came together in pandemonium. It was all a blur, really. Armin's hand shot up with a frantic movement as he fired the flare gun.

Shouts echoed among the group of Scouts as they rushed in to contain the target. Annie turned, and they had her. Eren made to move forward on some incongruous impulse and Mikasa flung her arm out in anticipation of his intentions.

The four stared each other down. He tried one last time to persuade her with silent imploration.

You don't have to do this.

For a fraction of a second, he saw something that might have been hesitance flit across her eyes, and in that instant her whole body seemed to falter incrementally. The emotion was easily overlooked in the midst of the chaos, but it was there in wake of his final, despondent request.

Then indecision gave way to anguish veiled in newfound resolve, and Annie flexed her hand. There was a distinctive, metallic sound and something small on her finger flashed in the sun. Before he could understand what was happening Mikasa grabbed him roughly by the back of the collar and dragged Armin and him down into the tunnel despite his protests.

They could not have made it sooner; the force of the explosion behind them sent a handful of men flying after them, colliding with the adjacent wall in a mess of indiscernible gore.
Mikasa compelled him to stand by pulling him to his feet. The three of them sprinted down the tunnel, away from the skinless hand that aimed to seize them. Events seemed to be occurring in a haze. He was aware that he was running, aware of Armin and Mikasa beside him, but unable to concentrate fully on their words. The monstrous hand could not follow them, so it scratched at the walls as they kept on running.

The capture had failed. And so, it seemed, had his efforts.

He was drawn back to the present by the sound of Armin's voice.

"You know what to do, right? Transform and help us capture her?"

Eren nodded slowly, hating himself for having the audacity to agree when he had already doomed them all.

He could spot a couple members of Team Three standing about restlessly, but as they approached, they sprang to attention.

"Hey! What's happening?"

"The plan failed! Move to Plan—"

But Armin never got to reveal the rest of his plan to them, because that was when the two soldiers were crushed underfoot. The Female Titan raised its foot from the tunnel, leaving a gaping hole in its wake.

The remains of Team Three lay underneath the debris. A thought finally occurred to him.

"We...we need to help them." Eren mumbled. Mikasa gripped his shoulder.

"Stay back." She scowled up at the opening. "What is she doing? Does she not care if Eren dies?"

While Armin explained the logic behind Annie's actions, Eren continued to reflect on the Hell he had unleashed upon Stohess. Surrounded by the dead and dying, spurred onwards by the muffled screams and distant tremors, the uncertainty and the iniquity eating him alive, he spoke.

"I'll transform. Like I did with the cannons in Trost."

Armin and Mikasa looked to him with uncertainty, and he did not waver.

"Come here." They gathered round him. He brought his hand to his mouth, pale but steady. "Hold on!"

Teeth punctured flesh, muscle and nerves and came to a stop with a horrible crunch. He felt the bone splinter beneath his jaws.

The other two braced themselves, expecting the burning heat and terrible sounds that signified his transformation into a Titan.

Instead, there was a ringing silence.

Blood rushed to fill his mouth, warm and coppery. He gasped in surprise, choked, drew his hand back in shock. There was no steam rising from his wounds.

Not now, please, not now—!

He had never realized just how much it hurt. It was a raw sort of pain, and he clenched his hands until his knuckles were white and his nails pierced his palms, but still it licked at him. Overwhelmed with physical and psychological agony, Eren sank to his knees. His cry of frustration, of sorrow and tribulation, was what broke the spell. He heard Armin's voice, quiet and tentative.

"You can't transform if you don't have a concrete goal, right? Try again — keep the image in your mind!"

"I am!" Eren protested, voice cracking with effort.

"Are you, really?" Mikasa knelt down beside him, and as he looked at her it was uncomfortably clear that she knew better. Eren looked away to continue gnawing desperately at his hand. "...Don't tell me you think you just imagined Annie to be the Female Titan!? Think about what you just saw! She was the one who killed our squadmates!"

"Shut up!" He snapped. "I'm doing it!"

Fear had compelled him to act. But he couldn't do it.

He did not want to recall what had taken place days ago in the forest. He did not want to remember the fate that had befallen Petra, Oluo, Gunther and Eld. His desire to remember the meeting two days ago was scarcer still. The assembled Scouts had watched him with everything ranging from confusion to tired pity to unease on their faces as he had tried, hopelessly, to defend her.

"What will we do if it's not Annie?"

"Then she'll be clear of suspicion."

"Well, I would feel bad for her in that case. ...But if we don't do anything, you'll just end up a scapegoat for the ones in power, Eren."

"...You know it's true, don't you? So—" Mikasa gripped his shoulder "—doesn't that mean you have to fight her?" He wrenched himself from her grasp and continued to gnaw fruitlessly at his knuckles. She went on coolly. "Or are there some sort of special feelings that are holding you back?"

He stopped, looked at her with a cold anger.

What does it matter to you?

A combination of dismay and utter incredulity showed on her features.

"I have a plan." Armin used a blade to indicate his endeavor, motioning towards at opposite ends of the tunnel. "Mikasa and I will run down this passageway to each entrance. Annie will have to choose to deal with one of us." He looked at Eren. "While that happens, you have to get out of here! The soldiers will deal with her somehow."

"What!? One of you is going to die!" Eren protested.

"And all three of us are dead if we stay here. Mikasa, get in position!"

Mikasa released his arm.

Before Armin left, he spoke to him. Two words registered through the haze.

Good luck.

And then he was running, too. Eren called out to Mikasa, begged her to tell him for what cause they were fighting. She stopped as Armin had, turned to him. But she was devoid of any pity as she spoke.

What else can we do? This world is a cruel place.

This wasn't what he wanted.

They were already running, and he was still here, on his knees in desperate defiance to the truth that could not—would not be evaded.

Mikasa was right about this, he knew. Armin had wished him well.

How could they say these things? They knew.

But they had faith in him. He deserved none of it, and yet still they were with him. They clung to whatever fragile belief they held for him.

He must fight for their sakes.

He could not fight her—but what choice did he have? What choice did any of them have, for that matter? Armin and Mikasa had decided what they would fight for. Annie had. Why couldn't he do the same?

The situation was not appropriate to fall in love with the enemy, not when there were hundreds counting on him.

A loud rumbling sound broke him from his frenzied thoughts.

The tunnel was nearing total collapse.

He did not look at Armin — he couldn't see him, anyways — so he turned to Mikasa, instead. She detected his attention and looked back at him. There was nothing overt in her expression. No resentment, no bitterness. Just expectancy. She nodded before turning to the hole in the tunnel.

Her message was clear.

As he looked down at himself, he realized something. They had never ordered him to kill her, only to capture her. He would do this, for the Scouts and the citizens of Stohess, but for her sake more than anything, because it was the only way he could think to save her. So Eren raised his eyes to the ceiling, and brought his bleeding hand to his mouth.
And his objective was clear.

I have to stop you, Annie.

The darkness was abated.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Eren was struck by how acutely aware he was of everything around him, conscious of the screams of the dying and the deafening crack of stone as he burst through, destroying the foundation. He wondered if Armin and Mikasa had made it out alive.

He could see the ruins of the street already, the browns and blacks and spattered crimson blooming with a violent intensity behind his vision. He watched as the Female Titan it raised its hands to the back of its neck, the flesh already hardened over with that crystalline substance in anticipation of an attack.

But he was ready. He knew how to fight in situations like this — they had all been taught well at the Academy — and of course, Annie had given him more than a few helpful pointers.
So he leapt at her, prepared to use techniques he really hadn't given much thought until now. (He thought, inexplicably, of Reiner's talks about becoming real soldiers.) But she anticipated this, and, keeping one hand firmly upon her nape, struck out in kind, and he was quickly pushing forward with everything he had. There was no time to think. It was all he could do to respond in time to her blows; the only thought he could muster was that she had definitely been holding back during their days as cadets. One string of particularly violent attacks ended when she slammed him against one of the buildings, leaving him momentarily dazed and open — she could stop him right in his tracks if she wished. He braced himself for the killing blow.

But it didn't come.

It was a bluff. By the time he realized this, she had already taken off, disappearing down the street. He rushed to tail her. This proved to be less difficult than he imagined; she ducked into streets and under the small figures of the Regiment that zoomed around her, yet all the while she ran at his pace. They flitted in and out of his vision, always from the sides and around buildings, like a scant flock of green-clad birds. She turned around another street and slowed to a halt.

Noticing this, he took advantage of her pause, buckled down and tore towards her.
She turned just as he got under her and finally struck a blow that sent her flying into one of the more extravagant structures. A cacophony of voices screamed over the din of the destruction. When the dust settled, the Female Titan froze, looked down at something he couldn't see, then drew itself to its feet and took off running again.

The Scouts closed in again, but the Female Titan swung its arm into one of the buildings, sending a shower of debris raining down upon them as they scattered for cover.

Second after this, a tiny figure flew past its head and a shower of blood erupted across the Titan's face.

Mikasa!?

He had no time to verify his guess. They approached a more open space and she wheeled around mid-step in preparation to face him. Her hand flew out and she dug her fingers into a nearby building, skidding to a halt. His own Titan gave a roar and he drove its hands into the ground to stop his process.

They stared each other down. For the first time during the chase through Stohess, he could think.

And so he observed her. She raised her arms, assumed her traditional stance. A series of cracks sounded as her left leg crystallized.

Was she waiting for him to make the first move? That was fine. He crouched, and advanced. She moved to join him.

Just like old times, then?

He jumped up and she retaliated immediately with a kick that went clean through his leg. He regained his balance with difficulty, pushed himself off of one of the buildings and kept advancing.

And something changed in her whole stance. She was easing up, right in the middle of the battle. She threw two punches when she should have three, fell back when she easily could have sent him hurtling into a building or broken every bone in his Titan's body, or kicked his head off again.

In fact, as she wound up and he saw her leg encased in the same blue crystal, he knew that was what she intended to do.

But it also offered him an opening. And he brought his jaws down at the right moment.

What are you fighting for? What could possibly be worth all this death and destruction!?

He would not let go. She brought her fist down hard on his Titan's skull and he felt the impact run through the shell.

"Cut her off! NOW!"

She was panicking, raining a desperate string of blows on his head, still to little avail. He heard her Titan emit a scream of frustration. She took hold of his face and dug hardened fingers into his jaws, like an animal caught in a trap.

Prying her wounded leg free of him, she turned and ran.

Get up.

His shell would not obey.

Get up, damn it!

Eren rose with agonizing slowness, staggered to his feet. His Titan's leg was still healing, but stable enough to support him if he didn't put too much pressure on it. The distant cries of the others alerted him. He broke into a run, a haphazard plan already forming in his mind.

The Female Titan was scaling the wall. As he watched, it lost its grip upon the surface of Wall Sina and toppled backwards. Now she was falling.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Seconds became minutes, hours, days, weeks, years as Annie continued to fall, until the Female Titan hit the ground with a sickening CRACK!

Now she lay, broken and bloodied. There was little time now. He leant down, took hold of the back of its neck in his mouth and tore away the skin as carefully as he dared. The triumphant cries of the Regiment were little more than white noise to his ears. There was a burst of steam as he freed himself. The note of achievement in the voices around him quickly turned to confusion as he ripped himself from his disintegrating body. A new surge of adrenaline stirred him to action.

Eren burst free with a strangled yell and a spray of blood. Almost immediately he regretted this haste; his skin was already raw beneath his blood-slicked clothing, and the steam from their Titans was excruciating. Through the pain, the thought re-formed in his mind: get to Annie.

He stumbled down to the edge of his Titan's body and jumped. He landed on two feet, collapsed briefly on all fours. His body protested as he scrambled across the disintegrating form of her Titan to where the steam became thickest. Without hesitation, he plunged both arms into the nape, suppressing a scream as he came into contact with the burning flesh.

She was alive. Covered in blood and slime and angry pink patches, but breathing. As he dragged her from the bleeding nape, Annie snapped to consciousness with a violent gasp. Eyes wide, she scanned the hazy outline of their surroundings before she focused on him.

"What are you doing?" She began, but he hugged her tightly, momentarily driving protest from her lungs.

"I'm going to help you." Eren muttered. Annie drew back, taking in his bloody form.

"You can't―"

"I'll think of something."

Annie made a small, mirthless noise. "We're surrounded, in case you haven't noticed." He glanced back, and saw the steam had all but dissipated. More than a dozen Scouts encircled them. He recognized Jean, Armin, and Hange among the faces in the crowd. Mikasa was not among them.

There was a universal horror upon each of their faces. And slowly, he recalled that he was not just a traitor to the King, but now a traitor to his friends and everything he had once fought for as far as the rest of the world was concerned. What would the Regiment do to them? To her?

Something sank, icy-cold in the pit of his stomach.

"Eren."

Her voice was distant to his ears as fear pounded in his chest.

"Eren. Look at me." With a tremendous effort, he did so. Annie moved close, close enough that he wondered for a brief moment if she was going to kiss him. Then her lips were at his jaw, and he could hear her breathing shallowly at his ear. "I'm going to try something." She whispered. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." As she moved back, her eyes flickered from his face to the group of Scouts waiting for them.

"You need to go, Eren."

"I won't leave you like this." He muttered fiercely, gripping her hand for added emphasis.
A faint smile graced her blood-soaked features. He felt her hand squeeze his.

"I'll be alright." She said quietly.

Her grip slackened, and it was with utmost reluctance he let her go.

To his horror and shock, she grabbed the front of his shirt and shoved him, hard. He hit the ground, shouted: "Ann—"

But the rest of his words were lost in another explosion of light and energy, not orange, but blue. Tiny blue crystals snaked out from the carcass, moving past him; The Scouts reaffirmed his shock with cries of their own as the miniature crystals spread like fire.

He wheeled about. An enormous crystalline structure stood in the aftermath of the explosion.

He forced himself to stand, staggering towards it.

"No—"

They were closing in now.

"Hey." He looked up. Captain Levi stood there. His lips moved, but he couldn't discern what words he spoke. The roar of the explosion still rang inside his head, and as his adrenaline was fading, sleep threatened to overtake him.

Overcome with the familiar exhaustion, with horror, with shock, and grief and a hundred other emotions he was too tired to name, Eren allowed the darkness to claim him.

When he woke again, an indeterminable amount of time had passed. He was staring up at a wooden ceiling. A faint breeze brushed over his skin. He bolted upright and immediately a wave of dizziness overtook him.

"Don't push yourself." A thin hand gripped his shoulder and gently pushed him back.
Mikasa? Sounds were muted.

"...Is she still in the crystal?"

No one answered him. He sat up on the bed, slowly this time.

"You'd think that after all we did to get her back, we'd have something to show for our efforts." Jean said.

"It's humbling how far she's willing to go to keep secrets." said Armin quietly.
Jean grunted. "More like infuriating."

There was a pause.

"Why did you do it, Eren?" The other two looked to Armin, who did not seem fazed by their attention as he went on, quietly and coolly. "You let her go."

There was no need to state who she was.

What was he supposed to tell them? The truth? I wanted to help her. Yes, they would surely embrace such an appalling concept. He stared fixedly at his hands and struggled to come up with an explanation that would not completely shake their faith in him.

"Do what? The hell are you on about?" Jean snapped, looking uncertainly from him to Armin. Armin closed the book on his lap with a soft thump.

"Armin Arlert?" They looked up. A few men stood in the doorway. Armin raised a hand. "And Jean Kirstein. They've called you down for questioning." Armin glanced at Jean.

"Of course, sir." The two boys followed the group out. Jean lingered for a second by the entryway, then followed.

Mikasa watched them go until Eren spoke again.

"I remember how it felt, Mikasa. The nothingness. And I..." He trailed off, unsure whether or not it would be appropriate to reveal the next part. "...I remember how I wanted to stay that way. Forever."

He felt the discomfort in her gaze.

"I'm fine now, though." He reassured her. "Nothing to worry about."

A long, heavy silence fell. Mikasa bowed her head, took his free hand in both of her own.

He noticed she was trembling.

"...I'm glad you're alright." Her voice was quiet, slightly muffled.

He let her hold his hand in silence, until he drifted back into unconsciousness.