Title: Lost and Found
Rating: T for violence, gore, language and lengthy descriptions of mutilated corpses in later chapters.
Summary: A missing person. A desperate plea. The secrets that should've stayed secret. Annie just wished that it had been like any other Wednesday morning. Detective AU. Rated T for violence and language.
I do not own these characters or Shingeki no Kyojin.
Annie woke up to the loud blaring of her alarm clock, and with a disdainful look, she ripped the clock out of the socket and dropped it onto the floor with a loud crash.
"Fuck." She mumbled.
.
"Are you serious, Sasha? That was my bloody breakfast!" Jean complained, as Sasha gleefully feasted on a bagel.
"Go get one from the store down the road." She replied, her mouth full with food. Jean wrinkled his nose in disgust at the prospect. She kicked the table and span around her swivel chair, before stopping with an unsettled look on her face.
"Never doing that again."
"Oi, oi, Annie'll be here any minute." Connie said, plucking the bagel out of Sasha's hands and finishing it off as Sasha and Jean watched in horror. "You know how she gets in the mornings."
Connie made a face. "What shitty bagel was that?"
"Awww, poor midget." Ymir called out with false sympathy. She strode lazily into the office, a brown paper bag in hand. "At least, I'll have Krista's famous waffles."
Sasha's audibly gasped, Jean eyed the brown bag, warily and Connie's jaw dropped open. Sasha flew out of her chair, sending it flying into Jean and tried to snatch at the bag but with no avail. Ymir held it tauntingly over her head, a devilish grin spreading across her face.
Desperate, Sasha collapsed to the floor and pleaded with Ymir.
"Christ, Sasha," Annie grumbled, appearing in the doorway with a stack of files. "Krista will make you a dozen if you ask."
"Right," Sasha scrambled off the floor and dusted off her pants. "Sorry."
"Filing?" Connie asked. She shook her head.
"A case?" Ymir demanded. A glimmer of hope shone through the young officers' eyes. Maybe an end to the boring days was near.
"Nope. We have to archive all of these-" Annie slammed the tall pile of files onto Jean's table, causing him to yelp in surprise. "-and more in alphabetical order."
Everyone in the room groaned.
"At least give us a mugging!" Connie exclaimed, clearly frustrated.
"That's a bit morbid, midget." Ymir said, leaning against her desk which was behind Jean's.
"You can't talk."
"Ha."
Jean pulled a handful of files off the pile and flips open a random one.
"Missing Person. 2010..." Jean shook his head in disbelief. "And the Brigade hasn't done anything?"
Ymir leaned over Jean and read the case.
"Oh, yeah, her. They did search parties, and everything. Poor girl, she was only twenty, fresh outta college. Probably dead. Probably not. No one knows." Ymir said, offhandedly.
"You act like it didn't matter."
"Chances are she ran off. Can't blame her. This 'city'-" She made quotation marks with her fingers. "-is pretty boring."
"Maria isn't THAT bad." Sasha called out from across the office.
"Everyone, just shut up and start working." Annie said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She flicked open the packet next the coffee kettle, only to find crumbs.
"Did you bastards eat ALL the doughnuts?"
"They were bagels. And Sasha ate the last one." Connie said. Sasha froze in her seat as she felt Annie's cold gaze on her head.
"How many more files are coming in, Annie?" Ymir asked. She shrugged.
"About two hundred. Hitch and Marlowe are bringing them in." She responded.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jean said in disbelief.
Annie entered her office, which was separated from her team's main area and shut the door. She set her coffee down on her cluttered desk, and swept a few scrap pieces of paper and wrappers into a waste paper basket. It was the best she could do. Annie plonked down into her chair and stared at her monitor screen for a good few minutes.
"Oi, Leonhardt." Hitch's muffled voice said. Annie huffed and got up, her chair creaking as her weight left. She opened the door and folded her arms.
"What?"
"What a rude greeting," She said. "I just wanted to give you your files."
Annie sighed and hefted up the pile of files and turned to close the door.
"Y'know, Annie, you should go out more." Hitch told her, raising an eyebrow. "You spend all of your time in this office."
"So?" Hitch laughed and shook her head.
"Later." She waved and left the office with Marlowe. Annie kicked the door shut and put the files on the floor. She sat on the ground, cross-legged and pulled the first file off the pile.
MISSING
Denise Herons
Age sixty-one
Last seen 13:47 07/11/96
5"9, dark brown skin, short white hair, thin dark eyes.
MISSIN
Tara O'Brien
Age thirty-seven
Last seen 21:30 02/05/12
5"11, pale freckled skin, long red hair, almond shaped light brown eyes.
MISSING
Petra Ral
Age twenty-one
Last seen 18:56 01/09/15
5"2, pale skin, blonde hair, round blue eyes.
MISSING
William Anderson
Age thirty-eight
Last seen 28/02/89
6"4, olive skin, dark brown hair, thin light brown eyes.
Names and dates blended together. Pictures of smiling faces blurred. Annie sorted through her pile relatively quickly but still had a few more to go when the phone rang. She reached up and grabbed it, pressing the phone to her ear.
"DI Leonhardt speaking. Really? Okay, I'll be down in a minute. Thanks, Mina." She put the phone back on the receiver and got up, stretching her arms and legs. She cast her glance over to her now cold coffee and wrinkled her nose. She completely forgot about it. Annie sighed and exited her office.
"What is it?" Ymir asked her, a bored expression on her face and a file open to a smiling photo of a young woman.
"Frieda Reiss. Huh."
"They gave up after two months." Ymir dismissed the missing mayor's daughter with a wave of her hand, "Now, answer my question."
"Mina said there was some guy saying that his friend was missing."
"Ooh. Goodie." Annie gave her a glance. "I mean, shit... Let's hope he doesn't end up in this pile of misery." Ymir put a hand to her forehead and pretended to swoon. She rolled her eyes at Ymir's antics.
"Did we get a case?" Connie asked, eagerly.
"Didn't your mother tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?" Ymir said. He glared at her and went back to archiving. She got up from her chair.
"Let's go see if this guy is worth our time."
.
Annie and Ymir entered the room where a man sat, watching them carefully with his golden eyes.
"Hello, I'm DI Annie Leonhardt and this is DS Ymir Lenz." She greeted. The man stood up, and like almost everyone she met, towered over her.
He stuck out his hand and said, "My name is Eren Jaeger."
Annie and Ymir shook his hand and took their seats.
"So," Ymir began, "We hear you think your friend is missing."
"I don't think he's missing, I know he's missing." Eren said, firmly.
"How, might I ask?" Annie asked him, resting her arms folded on the table.
"He was late for work this morning."
"That's-that's it?"
"Look, I know it sounds crazy but this isn't like Armin."
"Uh-huh."
"He's normally the one to be there ten minutes before anything happens. I went to his flat and he didn't answer when I rung the bell. If he isn't at work, he's at home or at the library. And the library is under reconstruction."
"Maybe he's sick. Maybe he got laid." Ymir suggested.
"Maybe he's missing." Eren fired back.
"Are you normally this worrisome?" Annie asked him. He shook his head.
"Not usually. But I can tell he's missing. I can feel it."
"You're wasting police time because of a gut feeling?" Ymir raised an eyebrow. Eren turned pink, probably embarrassed.
"But you're detectives. Aren't you?"
"What's your point?" Annie propped her head up on her hand.
"My point is," He struggled to find the words, "my point is that there has only been about ten muggings and three burglaries in the past four months. There have been two hundred and thirty-four missing person cases in the past thirty years and seventy-five percent of them are just people running off-"
"Did your research did you?" Ymir muttered under her breath. Eren ignored her.
"-You're probably just doing pointless work that can be done by regular officers. Chances are you're just archiving files and tidying up the system. You're excited by the chance of having something to do because there is nothing do. You're bored. So by that logic, I'm not wasting your time."
Ymir and Annie shared a look.
"We'll check out your friend's flat. If it's nothing, then you get fined, if it is, we'll open case. Are we clear?" Annie told him.
"Yes. You are." Eren replied. She smirked and got out of her chair.
"What's your friend's address?" Ymir asked.
"Number seven, Seaview apartments on Langdon street."
"Bit ironic. The sea is on the opposite side of the city."
"I suppose it is..." Eren replied.
.
Annie switched off the ignition, and turned around to Eren.
"This it?" He nodded and got out of the car. Ymir peered out of the window.
"Nice place." She stated. The building was three stories tall, white with blue waves on the bottom of the building. The roof was shingled and had blue trim running around it. There were exposed hallways and plants spilled over boxes that kept them contained and washing was hung out to dry on the balconies. Ymir was right. It was a nice place. Annie got out of the car and stamped her foot to get feeling back in it. Clouds hung over the sky like it was holding in a large heavy sigh.
"Looks like it might rain." Annie said. Ymir opened the door and got out and looked at the sky.
"Never can tell with England." She said, walking over to Eren. Annie joined them and looked at what Eren was looking at.
"It's Armin's bike."
"See? He's not missing, probably just overslept." Ymir said, causally. Annie furrowed her brow and looked at the red bike. It was on it's side, like someone was in a hurry. She crouched down and tucked her hair behind her ears and looked closer. She lifted it up, only to see jagged scratches along the body.
"Did Armin ever get in a crash?" She asked Eren.
"Never. The bike was a gift from his Grandad. He's dead now. Lung cancer." She gently set the bike down and got up, dusting off her pants.
"Annie? What is it?" Ymir inquired.
"I don't know. Something seems off." She shrugged and walked towards the entrance of the complex. Eren jogged up behind her and waited as she buzzed Armin.
"Armin? It's DI Leonhardt, can you buzz me in, please?"
No response.
"Armin?"
"I'll ask Eld to buzz us in. He's nice enough." Eren suggested. He shuffled over and pressed the button under Armin's.
"Eld? Mrs. Jinn? Do you mind buzzing us in?"
"Eren! Haven't heard from you in a while! Eld's not home but sure, I can buzz you in."
"Thanks, Christina." The door unlocked and Eren opened it.
"After you." He said, gesturing to the doorway.
.
Annie slammed the heel of her palm into Armin's door.
"Armin? Are you there?"
No response.
"Yo, Eren, is Armin a deep sleeper?" Ymir asked him, folding her arms. He shook his head.
"He's definitely a light-sleeper." Annie tried again but to no avail. She exhaled, frustrated, and tried the handle.
"Does Armin usually lock his doors?" Annie opened the door, a loud creak echoing through the hallway. She flipped on the light, only to reveal a scene of disaster.
"Fuck." Ymir said. Annie couldn't agree more.
A/N Bit of a separation issue. Fixed.