AUTHOR'S NOTE

Please consider this story a dry run for a fic I will be writing later on,

Which will be much longer

And much more graphic.

(Rated M)

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This story should be out in a week or two at most!

Thank you for taking the time out to read my work!

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This was originally going to be a oneshot, though I've decided to break it up into two long parts.

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WARNING: DARK THEMES AHEAD.

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Stalwart

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The last thing Erwin remembered was walking her home after the meeting, he always did. Ever since Rico Brzenska had become the commander of the Garrison Regiment, they had grown much closer as he taught her the ropes, the political know how, and who to trust. She was quick to learn this, as well as just about anything, she would be a pillar of humanity's strength and hope one day.

That particular meeting, they, along with the Commander of the Military Police and the Commander In Chief, had been discussing Operation Firestone. The entire operation was top secret, however, it had been known to bite the asses of people of military importance, so it was necessary that she know the details. Essentially, the head of a criminal gang, drug runner, rapist and murderer, had been captured after feeling to the safety of the underground. His name was Christian Hoover. The people on the surface held no authority of those below, but given the threat, all forces of the military had united to secure his capture. Many people had died in the process, but a force of true evil had been removed from that world that day. He was now in prison, under heavy guard, in one of the 'bait towns' surrounding wall Sina, specifically Yalkell, the western district. He would rot away there for the rest of his days, while being relentlessly tortured for the names of those he worked with.

Rico was particularly on edge after this meeting. She hated hearing of the monsters within the walls. She threw up after hearing about how he beheaded an entire family, simply because their father wouldn't work for him. Before doing so, he tortured them, particularly the wife and youngest daughter. The murders that the military had committed in order to secure his capture had been absolutely necessary, they needed to make sure that Rico understood that. Sure enough, after story after story, Rico had asked them to stop, saying that she had had enough. She would have nightmares for weeks. Erwin hated seeing her so shaken, but they had gotten their point across.

When they had arrived at her home, Rico made him tea, as she usually did, and set a record to play. It had been one of his favourite songs, So ist es Immer, and they had enjoyed the tea together, talking casually about the events of the day. Of course, she had seemed more distracted than usual, but he didn't blame her. She would need to get her mind off of the atrocities that he had told her.

After that, it became fuzzy. He remembered hearing a knock at the door, and watching Rico get up and answer it. After that… it wasn't clear. He did know that they had been alone in the house, so someone must have snuck in when they didn't realise it. Because he now had a throbbing bump on the back of his skull, which had probably been what knocked him out.

He woke up to find the two of them in a cell, chained to the walls by both hands, and an ankle, propped up with their backs on the wall. Rico was on the opposite end of the room, bleeding from her temple, and clearly unconscious. There was only one door in or out of the room, and that was to his left, but there was no visible handle, meaning it had to be opened and locked from the outside. Definitely a dungeon. He couldn't help but notice smears of blood on the door, likely from where others had tried to claw their way out, before being killed or collapsing from exhaustion. How long had they been in there? The blood on Rico's face was fresh… So likely not very long.

"Hng…" He heard her groan in pain. She would likely be delirious from a wound like that. "Where…?" She opened her eyes, trying to get a grasp on her surroundings. Her vision was blurry, whoever had taken them had taken her glasses, she could make them out on the floor in front of her. When she tried to reach out and grab them, she realised that her hands were bound. "Erwin?" She asked, seeing the blonde on the other side of the room, squinting to try and make out some more detail. The blood getting into her eye wasn't making it any easier.

"It's me." He responded, seeing that she was squinting. Her vision must be worse than he realised. "Do you remember anything?" He whispered, just in case there was someone on the other end of the door listening to them.

She shook her head for a moment, before a thought came to mind. "The man on the other side had a tattoo… I remember getting a glance at it." She couldn't remember where it was placed, through description of the marking itself was on the tip of her tongue, "It was… A rose. A burning rose!"

Erwin was about to inform her that they were in deep trouble, as that was the mark of Hoover's gang, when a man stepped in, "The symbol of the Freedom Hunters." The man said. He was dressed in black from head to toe, the rose on his shoulder, where his left sleeve cut off, but not his right, which ran all the way to his wrist. His hair was blonde, somewhere in between Rico and Erwin's shades, and his blue eyes sent chills down Erwin's body. They were completely soulless, they eyes of the killer. "And one of you is going to describe operation Firestone to me, in great detail." He squatted down in the middle of the room, resting his forearms on his knees, "I don't care which one of you it is, but if you don't one of you dies, then the other." He lit a cigar, studying their faces. "Give the girl her glasses back." He said, and another man scurried to put the glasses on her face, only to be bitten by the new commander, who cursed at her and slapped her. "Hey!" He got up and pulled the other man off of her, "I didn't say to hit them yet." Feisty. He eyed Rico, who glared back at him. "She reminds me of my ex wife."

"How's that?" Rico spat up at him. She knew what top secret meant, and she wasn't going to say anything. She knew Erwin wasn't going to either. Plus, this guy looked like a tool. She hated tools. He had probably taken control of the gang after the previous leader was taken down, only to find that it was too much of a hassle, and instead of backing down, he was going to get the other guy back.

"She kept kicking until I slit her throat." He knelt in front of her, grabbing her chin, "I would imagine you're quite the screamer." Yes, he would kill her first. Or threaten to. That was the easiest way to break a man. Commander Smith was the real powerhouse here. He was the one who had arrested Hoover, he knew that much. "Name's Kort. We'll get along if you play nice." He patted her cheek before standing up to face Erwin, "Now, why don't you talk. The sooner you do, the sooner I can let you go."

"We'll be hanged as traitors to the crown. There's no point in us walking out of here." Erwin said, being a realist. He looked to Rico, she was putting on a brave face, better than anyone he knew, but she was going to die here. She had to realise that. I'm sorry that this is how it ends.

Erwin don't you dare give up. I'll get us out of this, I swear. She yelled when Kort grabbed Erwin's face, and slammed his skull against the brick. "Erwin!" She couldn't help but yell, seeing the fresh blood on the wall. He was still breathing, but he would be in great pain. "Stop it. He's not going to tell you. So you should just kill us now." She met the man's eyes, trying to keep hers off of Erwin. "He better not, or I would kill him myself when we got out of here." Please, Erwin.

"Oh? So you don't know?" How curious, they were both commanders, so they both should know. But that look in her eye said otherwise, "I don't believe it."

"I'm new, I haven't been read into all of their programs yet. Especially their meaningless ones that are done and over. If you had waited one more week, perhaps I might have." She was not going to tell them anything, not after what Erwin had said the man had done. Those poor girls… No. No one would ever suffer like them again. If that meant that she had to die here, if that meant that they both had to die here, so be it.

"Oh?" He approached her, grabbing her chin again in a quick thrust, "You're lying." She had to know! Otherwise there was no point in taking the both of them! Worst case scenario, they could hold both of them hostage. In fact, that was probably their best best at this point, especially if they weren't going to talk. But every human had a breaking point. He grabbed his knife, cutting off a chunk of her hair, and passing it to the other man. "Tie that up, it's proof of life. You got any kids sweetheart?"

"No, but I got a snake that looks just like you." This earned her another hard slap, nearly knocking a tooth out. This is nothing. This is nothing compared to what they went through. She pictured one of the victims in her mind. For them, she wasn't going to give in, "Do you honestly think that two people who have fought and won against the titans are scared of your sniveling group of prepubescent boys?" She could make out Erwin's form out of her peripheral vision, he was losing consciousness. He probably wasn't lucid enough to talk anymore.

He shook his head, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "No, but I think you're scared of death. That's why you've survived this long." He patted her shoulder, getting up. "Tell the boys to have their fun with her while I try to negotiate with the MPs." It was likely that the military police knew that they had them, they just didn't know where they would be keeping them. Now there was only to see who was worth more to the government, two commanders, or one crime leader?

Rico's eyes widened when she realised what he meant, "Erwin, don't you dare say a word!" She cried out as one of the men gagged her. She closed her eyes, praying for it all to end quickly. She tried to kick them, but she was overpowered, out numbered, and bound.

Erwin started to wake sometime later to hear Rico crying. She wasn't wailing, her sobs were quiet and fearful. He had never heard her cry before. "Rico?" he watched her freeze at the sound of her voice, wiping tears from her eyes with her shoulders. "Rico… Are you alright?"

She nodded, trying to compose herself. Trying to erase what had just happened to her from her mind. Trying to find any reason for why it was necessary. "He left. Said something about the MPs, I don't remember." It did sound like he was coming back though, "Are you alright? You… You really worried me." Her wrists were bleeding from where she struggled against the chains, and her bound ankle was twisted in an awful direction, and was definitely broken. She wanted to tell him that she had a plan, but she couldn't risk the man stationed outside the door hearing it.

"Please, Rico… I'm fine." He looked at her terribly concerned. She was really beaten up, "What did they do to you?" He asked, she was a mess! "Did they…?" He watched her slowly nod, completely humiliated, "Oh Rico, I'm so sorry…" She shook her head, telling him to not apologise, that it wasn't his fault. "How long have I been out?" He decided to change the subject, he felt dizzy and dehydrated.

"A day, maybe two." There weren't any windows, so it was hard to tell time. It did feel like an eternity. "They've given us water, but not much. We could last a day, maybe another after that." She looked to Erwin, "I don't want to die. Erwin." Not yet, she had to keep fighting! She had never given in before, she had never given into the titans, so she sure as hell was not going to give in now. "If they hadn't made contact with the military police before, they surely have by now. They're likely trying to decide how much our lives are worth."

"Not enough to let Hoover go." Erwin said, seeing a glint in her eye. She hadn't given up yet, why? He had known from the moment that they were thrown in here that it was over. There was no reasoning with these people, they weren't sane. She had a plan. But what could they do? They were both bound! They couldn't tell them where Hoover was, and even if they told a lie, there was no way they they were going to just let them go. They would kill them anyway.

"Good news." Kort said as he entered the room, "They're not going to take you back. So you die here. But hey, at least it ends, right?" He looked between the two, "Sleeping beauty's awake, anything you want to tell me?"

"Yeah." He said, looking at Rico, defeated, "Go to hell." If she hadn't given up, neither could he. She had thought of a plan. It meant that this wasn't hopeless, that they had a way out. "I'm not saying a word. Especially after what you did to her. You're sick."

Kort nodded, a smirk on his face. "You really will keep kicking until the end here then." He took a step back towards the door, "Have fun then. You've got maybe… fortyeight hours to spend together? Then it's certainly over. One of you with have the pleasure of staring at the other's corpse for a few hours." He stepped out of the door frame. They were a lost cause. He needed someone lower on the foodchain, less prepared to give their heart for humanity.

Rico waited a few minutes, listening to the footsteps leave. "Hey Erwin?" She nudged her glasses off of her face, holding them with her knees, starting to chew the plastic ends off. "Thanks for believing in me." If this was the end, she was going to do her best.

He nodded, seeing that spark in her eyes, "What's the plan?" Why was she chewing apart her own glasses? He needed to do whatever he could to help, he needed to figure out how to get that door open.

"I'm going to pick these locks… With my mouth." She said with a smile, she could make out the confusion on his face, she could feel it. "Yeah, that's it. That's my master plan. Once I got my arms, I was gonna work on my ankle, and then crawl over there and get yours off. Can you pick locks?" He shook his head, and she sighed in disappointment, "Well, just hang on, I'll get there." She bent one of the arms of her glasses, that would be the one she held the tension with. She bent the other arm back and forth until he came off completely, and bent that into a rake. In theory, she could use her chin to keep the tension, while she worked the rake with her mouth. "If it doesn't work… I always thought you were cute. If we get out of this, let's go to that restaurant in Stohess that the King likes. The one with the edible flowers."

"Deal." Erwin said with a smile, watching her get to work. He couldn't help but wonder where she had learned that skill, perhaps there was more to her past than her background check suggested. "I've always thought that you were quite charming." He saw her smile, she couldn't talk while she worked, as she was using her mouth for other things. What a remarkable talent, to be able to pick locks with one's mouth!

Two hours later, Rico was to the point of exhaustion. It was all over her face, but she kept going. The most difficult part was keeping the tension right while raking back and forth. There were five pins in the lock. She knew the order in which they had to be pushed now. She wiggled the rake some more, and pop! The lock on her right wrist came off! "Fuck yes!" She cheered, laughing happily. Erwin looked up at the sound, eyes going wide. She had actually pulled it off! He laughed too, and they sat there for a moment, celebrating her small victory. "I'll do it, I swear." She smiled at him, tears of glee in her eyes, "Do you have a plan for the door?"

He nodded, crying a little bit as well. She had been through so much more than him during this whole ordeal, and seeing her refusal to give up gave him strength. "It's about as crazy as picking a lock with your mouth." He grinned, ah, what a story they were going to have to tell when they got out. "I'm going to use my belt buckle, stick it out of the peephole at the top of the door, and somehow get it to hook on the handle on the other side." He paused for a moment to stare at her face, "If it's round, then I will use the textured part of the belt to get a better grip on it, I might need yours for the extra length."

She took a deep breath, breathing in the stale, musty air of their environment. She felt so alive. "I can't walk. My ankle is completely messed up." She motioned towards it, rolling her wrist in circles to try and get feeling in it back. "You may have to carry me out."

"I'll carry you over the doorframe." He smiled at her, and she blushed. Perhaps it was the fact that he had been cooped up with her for this time, and was going to make it out of this hell with her, but certain blissful thoughts were popping into his head.

"I didn't know you were such a flirt." She smiled, getting back to work. This time, she had a much easier job, as she was now able to hold the tension stick with her mouth, and the rake with her fingers. As such, this lock popped open in a matter of minutes! After another such celebration, she got to work on her ankle, "I can't believe it, Erwin!" She laughed some more. She would never sit here and die like a dog! In a matter of seconds, thanks to practiced ease, she had that one open as well. "Oh my god!" She cried, crawling over to him.

He watched her, wonder in his eyes, laughing as well, "Oh my god." She collapsed on his chest, clutching onto his shirt, "We're not out yet." He would embrace her, but alas, his hands were still bound. From this distance, he could make out all of the bruises and marks on her body. He watched her get up with renewed vigor, and start working on his chains as well, leaning over him.

As soon as she got his off, he pulled her into an embrace. She kissed him, grabbing at his face, desperate for positive human attention. He ran his fingers through her hair, noting on section that was thinner than the others, that was where they had cut at her hair. Their tongues mingled with eachother's, both gasping for air whenever they could.

Rico was the first to pull away, looking into his eyes. She couldn't make out much detail, but she knew what she saw there, Hope. "As soon as we get medical attention, I'm nailing you to my bed." She huffed lustfully, burying her face into his neck for a moment.

"And I can't wait." he smiled, shifting so that she was against the wall, making sure she was comfortable, before tearing off the bottom section of her white jeans to get a better look at her ankle. It was terribly contused, there was no way it wasn't broken. "You're going to need a doctor for this." It was all purple. Purple and black, with speckles of yellow towards the perimeter of the bruise. This type of wound was caused by an area of the body being smashed. One of those bastards had stomped down on her ankle to shut her up and keep her from struggling. "Does it hurt?"

"It did. It went numb after a few hours of me screaming." She laughed nervously, that was probably a bad sign. "But that doesn't matter right now. Get the door." she patted his head, wanting to kiss him again, "Your lips are bruising." She smiled, pressing her fingers to her own, which were swollen. He's a great kisser.

"That they are." He kissed her cheek, taking of his belt and hers so that he could work on the door. He couldn't see the knob through the peephole, so he would have to do this by feeling it. "Good news, it's not a ball. A regular hook knob." Unfortunately, the hook made the angle that he would have to get his belt buckle around a little harder. But if Rico could pick a lock with only her mouth, than he could do this.

He kept managing to get it on the hook, only for the belt buckle to slip off as he started to pull. He tried a dozen different positions, it just wasn't happening. "Rico, do you had a hair thing? One of those pins." He asked, kneeling in front of her and watching her take a bobby pin out of her hair. "Thanks." He used it to attach the two belts, getting up slowly. "Don't worry."

"Who said I was worried?" She smiled, feeling dizzy. "How's your head?" He had been hit against the wall pretty hard. She was surprised that he was able to stand, although his hands were shaking. "Don't push yourself for too long, I could try." Though she probably wasn't tall enough to see through the peephole. And she couldn't even stand with her leg in this condition. They needed to get water soon.

"To be honest, I'm extremely lightheaded." It was part of the reason that he was moving so slowly. He felt like he would fall over if he moved too quickly. "Though I'll be fine." He could barely see, his vision kept fading in and out, and getting very dark. Hopefully this would resolve itself soon. It was making opening this door even harder than it already was. He threaded the belts through the hole, snaking them around the knob on his first attempt. He had gotten pretty good at that motion. "You're going to need new glasses."

"No shit." She laughed, running her fingers over the lenses, they were very scratched up from rubbing up against the metal chains. She sighed, feeling a wound in her gut. She had been stabbed there. She was thankful that they didn't hurt Erwin too much. They couldn't get an unconscious man to talk, and everyone knew how stubborn he was. Though even with all of his powers of observation, he hadn't noticed the blood on her shirt. He had been hit pretty hard. "Erwin, take a break."

He shook his head, cursing as the loop slipped off again. "I almost got it." He glanced around the room, looking for anything that could help them once they got out. There was nothing. "We need to figure out where we are. Then we can see about getting to the nearest place to get help." He just hoped they weren't in the middle of nowhere inside wall Rose. That would suck. "And we need to get water, and medical attention for your leg." He had to take care of her, she was torn up. "Great first week as Commander, right?"

She laughed, nodding, "Yeah, hell of a first week." She tucked her matted and bloody hair behind her ear, "I can't wait to see what's in store for week two."

"Mostly parties actually. Now that you've been indoctrinated through some form of physical torture, it's all easy from here." He smiled, looking at her, "If only, right?" She nodded, smiling up at him and he got back to work, aring a small click. "Ah!" He pulled it towards him until he could fit his fingers through the crack, swinging the door open, "Finally. Got it." He sat down for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts, "We need a plan."

"Head to the nearest Garrison base. I know where they all are." She said, looking at the open door, feeling the draft that was now entering the room.

"That's assuming that we're close to the wall." He said, thinking out loud, though she shook her head, "What?"

"Um… The garrison has bases everywhere. Including places where we're not technically supposed to have bases." Every commander before her had broken that one, tiny little rule. "Sometimes we're too drunk to walk all the way back home." She joked, trying to make light of the situation. "You can't tell anyone. It's a secret."

"Great. You're breaking the rules too." He sighed, looking at the roof, before getting up to pick her up, wrapping one of her arms around her shoulder. He wouldn't be able to carry all of her weight feeling like this, they would both just end up getting hurt. "Don't we all though."

"Didn't you once hold a man hostage because he was blocking your expedition funds?" She took her first hazy step, being unsure if she could handle it, though determined to try. He legs felt weak and shaky, but she managed to do it, "Or was it blackmail?"

"Blackmail, and it worked." He smiled, thinking about it, "What can I say, I was young and dangerous. Well, one of those still applies." He was well aware that both the Garrison and the Military Police had sayings about him. Either about how he had a stick up his ass, or that one should never mess with him, unless they wanted to be skinned alive. "If you think I'm bad, you should see Hanji. She's terrifying when she's mad."

"She's terrifying when she's happy." She looked around, trying to figure out where to go, when she heard footsteps. "Erwin, hide." She whispered, her heart already racing. They couldn't fight someone in their state! She gripped at her glasses, feeling the sharpened metal. She would just have to stab them. Erwin scuttled to the nearest wall, back against the stone.

They were relieved when the footsteps turned and headed off in another direction, completely bypassing them. "We have to be careful. We don't know how to get out of here, we can't risk getting lost-" He looked to the emblem to his right, imbedded in the stone, shaking when he saw it, "In the name of Wall Maria…"

"We're fucked." Rico said, starting to cry. "They've holed up in the maintenance tunnels of wall Maria…" She kicked the wall, cursing the heavens. "Fuck." Just how did they get out here, and how would they get out?