Hya. So I uploaded this once but was having a bunch of formatting issues. Fail. Anyway. Here it is again. This is my first major fanfic so yay. Also, it sort of gets to the point more than a bunch of stuff because I assume you understand what moments I'm referring to if you've read the Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin manga. Its a fanfic so I tried to be more fun than professional/technical writer person. Review please! I'd love your guys' feedback. Enjoy!

- M. Dawn

Chapter: Stolen

The gates were opening. The clang of the rising iron bars was beautiful– more beautiful than any kind of music. The people radiated with excitement and curiosity rather than the dull, provincial attitude which they normally displayed.

Eren Jaeger stood front and center at the ascending gate. His life was the epitome of perfection. Every single last titan had been left to decompose in the dust and now the teen soldier was finally free to venture beyond the wall without fear. Absolute joy bloomed in his chest. He would finally see the hot fields of sand and the massive bodies of salty water he'd read about with his best friend Armin. He'd see it all!

Suddenly, Eren felt a warm squeeze on his hand. He turned to see his mother's lovely face with a great, bright smile on it. She was how he remembered her, long dark hair tied in a loose ponytail and skin which smelled of vanilla and scented dish soap. At first Eren was confused. First hand, he'd seen his mother's body in the jaws of a grinning titan. Her corpse had already been so broken before the titan's teeth had come crushing down. Yet here she was. In flawless health. Eren longed to stop and speak to her. He wanted to ask her how she'd survived. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was, apologize for being such a rotten son. But she shook her head. "Don't ruin the moment, sweetie. Think of how happy you are."

Then the gates reached their full height.

Disorientation was the first thing Eren experienced as he awoke from his pleasant dream. He was not in his bed or in his room at the Survey Corp's base. He was somewhere dark and musty, lying on what felt like an old dust-covered mattress or cot. After a moment, he felt the pain. His jaw was definitely broken, his head ached, and his right arm stung. He tried to sit up only to have agony blast through his abdomen. His hands were cuffed behind him and he had some sort of metal collar around his neck which had a long chain that linked to a rung on the floor.

"Oh, Eren. You should have stayed in the dream. You could have remained content."

The words didn't shock him as much as the voice itself did. He definitely hadn't suspected she'd be back this soon. They'd only defeated her a few months ago.

He waited a minute for his jaw to heal with a wisp of steam before saying,

"Annie?! How? You were under maximum security!"

She casually walked into the dim yellow light where he could see her better. She stared at him with her blue eyes.

"That 'security' of yours… obviously wasn't good enough."

After a few moments, Eren found the strength to sit up. "How did you know what I was dreaming about?" he wondered. Had Annie somehow developed a mind-reading titan skill? Now that thought terrified Eren.

"I didn't really. But the drug we gave you stimulates euphoria. Don't worry. It's a weak drug so it would take a few doses to get you addicted. We just needed it to calm you down and keep you passed out for a bit. It's a very useful concoction actually. Ironically, developed by your father."

Eren's head was swimming. It was all too much to absorb. He'd been drugged. His father had been creating drugs… and most of all, it really concerned Eren how Annie kept saying "we."

Annie sat on her knees so that she was eye-level with Eren. It occurred to him how different she looked. Her blonde hair had been hacked shorter so that it imitated the style of her titan form. She'd swapped out her white hoodie and military police uniform for brown form-fitting pants and a black tank top which exposed her toned arms and muscular biceps. Above all other changes, she displayed a very different expression from when Eren had known her… Back in their trainee days. She still looked strikingly serious but she didn't seem as bored. She had a small light in her eyes. Eren wondered what it was. Hunger? Blood-lust? Interest in him?

"How much do you remember?" she asked him. "From two nights ago?"

Eren battled through the fog in his head to remember. He recalled making his way back to room after a long day of experiments with Hanji. The experiments had ranged from painful to downright weird and he'd just wanted to scrape up whatever hours of sleep he could get.

He'd entered cabin to find that the lights were off. This had confused him. He'd sworn he'd left the lights on and Armin, he knew, was studying late at the library so he couldn't have turned them off. Eren made a motion to flip the switch only to have someone attack him from behind. He'd crashed through the darkness and onto the floor. His instincts took control and his right leg had snapped up in a kick. His assailant (who he knew now must have been Annie) let out a feminine "ooof" and collapsed. Eren had come down on her, pinning her to the floorboards. Just as he'd been about to deliver a final blow to the head which would have surely fainted her, she'd rammed her skull into his jaw. It had broken with a loud crack. Eren had recoiled in pain.

"Hurry!" she'd cried.

Eren cursed himself now for not immediately understanding what she'd meant. But seconds later, a second and third guy had appeared. One of them had kicked Eren in the stomach so hard, the air seemed to woosh from his lungs. Out of options, he managed to yell a sloppy-sounding, "INTRUDERS!" with his broken jaw.

Seconds later, he'd felt the jab of a hypodermic needle in his arm. Almost instantaneously, the drug fogged up his mind and grayed his vision. As the fluid flowed through his bloodstream, he'd suddenly felt calm. His knees gave out, he'd fallen into someone's grasp, and he'd drifted into peaceful, happy sleep.

"You kidnapped me from Survey's current base," said Eren. His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Annie leaned back on her palms. "Why do you think? Eren, we couldn't leave you in the Survey Corp– in the hands of ignorantly stubborn bastards like Levi. You are much too valuable to be used by them."

Eren's skin tingled with poker-hot fury. Something about Annie never failed to provoke sensations of titan rage… and friendship. He hated her and at the same time he didn't hate her. He knew that no one would ever make him feel quite the way that Annie Leonhart did.

"Captain Levi has been good to me! He saved me from execution and got me into Survey! He and Commander Erwin and everyone from the 104th see me as more than a beast! You're the one who wants me as a monster, Annie! When did you quit being my friend?! Why did you change your mind?! Or were we ever friends? Was this whole thing just your sick act that I stupidly fell for? Answer me, Annie!"

"I am your friend!"

Annie's reply was shrill and desperate. Eren was shocked to hear tears in her throat.

He'd known her since their trainee days three years ago and had only seen her display emotion once or twice. She grabbed his shoulders forcefully and continued,

"Eren, I don't want to use you. You are more to me than a weapon or a slave. But we will have to manipulate and force you if you continue to be so stubborn. Where did all your fire and ambition go?! Your will to fight?! Did Survey stamp it out of you?"

He wished he could shove her away but his hands were still tightly bound so he pulled backwards instead. Out of her hands.

"You keep saying 'we'," he pointed out. "Does that mean..."

Annie sighed, nodded, and rose to her feet.

"Guys," she called, "come on in."

Because of the lack of sufficient light, Eren couldn't tell where the two men had come from but suddenly they were in the room. They were two people that, like Annie, he knew all too well. People he'd spent his free nights talking to with Armin. He'd live and trained and fought alongside them. They used to be the big brothers he never had.

Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover.

"Hey," said Reiner. "You're awake."

Bitter anger filled Eren so quickly it might as well have been liquid. Of all the horrible people in the room, Reiner was the one Eren hated most. The blonde soldier's lies had been too big. He'd led everyone– Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Marco, Ymir, and most of all Krista– into believing that he was caring and protective. In truth, he was a cold-hearted warrior who wished to end humanity. Reiner had played with their feelings. That was something Eren could not forgive.

Instead of replying to Reiner's greeting, Eren remained silent. So, to break the tension, Bertolt said,

"How are you feeling, Eren? Would you like something to eat? You've been out for nearly twenty-five hours."

Eren shot him a hostile look. "I feel fantastic. Who doesn't love to be violently attacked? And yes, I want to eat the filthy food of someone who's already drugged me."

Bertolt sighed. "I guess I walked into that."

Annie placed a hand on Eren's shoulder. "Calm down. You'll be okay. We're just going to take you to our village. Our leader is very interested in you."

Eren backed away from them, closer to the wall. Suddenly, he felt like some kind of interesting specimen.

"Who's your leader? The monkey titan? I'm not meeting that thing. Forget it."

"You are in no position to declare or demand anything," said Reiner. "Right now you are powerless."

"Unbind my hands and then we'll see how powerless I am," dared Eren.

Reiner shook his head. "I have no intention of allowing you to transform."

"You wouldn't want to do that anyway," cut in Annie. "We're in the catacombs outside Wall Rose, thirty feet underground. Your titan would be immobile."

"At least I could still crush you three to death," muttered Eren.

Ignoring the comment, Reiner turned to Annie and Bertolt. "We should move soon. The Survey Corp will be after us. They'll send Levi and Mikasa.

Bertolt paled and Annie looked away. Eren felt a flush of pride. He was glad to have comrades like Mikasa and Levi.

"This time we kill them."

The words acted like a gunshot. Eren froze and stared at Reiner.

"Mikasa and Levi have stopped us too many times," continued Reiner, "they are obstacles to us. If we get rid of them, it will be easier to keep Eren and accomplish our goals. Actually, we should probably off Armin as well."

"Armin?" asked Annie. "Why? He's no threat. He can't even fight without significant

backup."

"But he's always two steps ahead," remined Reiner. "Without him, Survey would be in the dark. Never able to figure out our plans."

"I… I see your point. But It's still kind of said," said Bertolt with a frown. He looked down as if he'd become interested in counting the smudges of dirt on the floor.

Reiner nodded dutifully. Eren felt sick with anger. His former friend disgusted him. There he stood, like the warrior he saw himself as. His jaw was set and his eyes were focused but Eren didn't see diginity. He saw lies.

"Eren." Reiner was looking at him now. "I'll make their deaths painless if you really wish it. Perhaps… we could even let them live. Their fate depends on you."

The offer was obvious. If Eren did not comply with whatever Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt said, Reiner would torture his friends. Suddenly, a fire sparked within Eren.

"YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD!" he roared. "I'll kill you!"

He lunged forward and kicked Reiner in the shin as hard as he could before the chain on his collar went taut. Eren gasped and fell back for only a moment before surging forward again, this time anticipating and not caring about the pull of the chain. Head-but Reiner in the abdomen, making him topple to the floor. But just as Eren went in for another hit, Reiner reached forward and grabbed his head and forced him onto his back. It retaliation, Eren twisted his neck and clamped his jaws onto Reiner's arm. He felt blood leak into his mouth and tasted it on his tongue.

"Eren!" cried Annie. "Stop! Bertolt, calm him down!"

As Reiner pried him away, Eren saw Bertolt produce a syringe. The Survey Corp soldier gasped and moved to the side, causing the needle to meet thin air. Bertolt stabbed with the syringe again, this time sinking it into Eren's shoulder. He thumbed the top, forcing the drug from the needle and into Eren's veins.

All at once, Eren felt drowsy… and happy. He swayed a little before collapsing face-first onto the mattress. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he recalled that he was in danger but that feeling soon dissolved into bliss as Eren drifted into sleep.

To be continued….