AN: Warning this fic contains major Shingeki no Kyojin manga spoilers. With that out of the way, I would just like to say that this is my first fic in this fandom. I wrote this to be Bertholdt x Annie but you can take it as just friendship too I guess. Anyways, enjoy.
Bertholdt could do nothing but stare at what was in front of him. There, entrapped in a bluish colored crystal, was Annie. She looked more peaceful than he had ever thought would be possible for her. It definitely wasn't what he had expected. He was prepared for the worst. Going by what Armin had said Annie was supposed to have been tortured.
He now realized that the younger Survey Corps member had been bluffing.
He placed his hand on the smooth surface encasing the girl that he had harbored feelings for, for the longest time. Soon he felt a large hand pat his shoulder reassuringly. He turned to face Reiner.
"Don't worry; we'll get her out of there." Reiner rapped against the gem to test its hardness. "How do we want to go about this?"
Bertholdt ran his hand over the exterior again. "Do you think heat will melt it?"
"Maybe, but I don't see where we would be able to get enough for such a feat." He glanced over at his best friend and saw a gleam in his eyes. "Bertholdt! You can't transform here! The military will see!"
"How else are we going to rescue her?"
"I'll do it. My armored body should be able to break the crystal."
"We'll still be noticed no matter who transforms. Besides, you could hurt her if you accidently ram through the crystal and straight into her."
Reiner gave a sigh of resignation and backed away, ready for the energy that would be released.
Bertholdt took out a small pocketknife and opened the palm of his left hand. This would be the easiest transformation he had ever done. His goal was the clearest he had ever had: Save Annie Leonhart.
Without any more thought he quickly drew the blade across his palm. He could feel his body being surrounded by muscles. He could hear the ceiling break making room for his colossal self to stand. Within seconds military personnel were running around and shouting orders; one was even crying and screaming about how the Colossal Titan had crushed their friend. Any other time, Bertholdt would've felt guilty, but he couldn't afford that now.
He leaned down and carefully took the crystal from the wirings that were holding it in place and enclosed it in his giant hands. He took a deep breath and let the pressurized steam be released from his body. He simply sat there until he could feel the crystal growing smaller. He stopped the heat from coming and opened up his hand. Annie was fine. Unconscious, but she wasn't harmed in any way.
Even though Bertholdt's titan form couldn't show any form of emotion, his real body had a relieved grin on his face. He was so caught up with making sure he got Annie out of the crystal that he didn't even notice a Military Police member coming at his nape, poised to strike.
"Bertholdt, get out!" Reiner yelled. Doing as he was told, Bertholdt made his body dissolve forcing the soldier to fall to the ground due to the lack of things to latch onto. "Hop on!"
Bertholdt knew what he meant even before Reiner had bit down on his own thumb, transforming into the Armored Titan. Reiner bent down and let his friend on who was carrying Annie bridal-style in front of him. She did make it harder for him to reach Reiner's shoulder, but he could never leave her behind.
As soon as the two were on Reiner's shoulder, the titan began to run as fast as he could while dodging soldiers. Though the Military Police were the best in their training regiments, many of them had never even seen battle, giving Reiner the advantage.
"Hey, Annie?" Bertholdt gently shook her. "Annie? Annie, wake up. You're safe now."
The girl slowly began to open her eyes and squinted up at him. "Ber…tholdt?"
"Yeah, it's me." Bertholdt couldn't help the tears of joy from building up behind his eyes.
"How…?" She began to sit up so he put her down. "I trapped myself in my crystal. How did you get me out?" There was a hint of irritation in her voice, but for the most part she was relieved.
"Are you forgetting that I'm a titan shifter too?" He tilted his head to the side and gave a small smile.
"…No" She sat there for a minute and then her eyes opened in realization. "Wait, you blew your cover for me? How stupid are you?!"
"Sorry to break it to you, but we were found out a while ago." Reiner turned a sharp corner and the pair tried to keep their balance and not fall off. "We should be getting close to Wall Sina."
Just as Bertholdt had predicted, they soon reached the wall. Reiner came out of his titan form. "Annie, it's good to have you back, but we can't chat right now. You're going to have to let Bertholdt carry you. You okay with that?"
"Whatever, let's just go." Annie said as she got on Bertholdt's back. The two guys then shot their hooks into the wall and scaled it. The trio kept going, sometimes stopping in town to restock their gas supplies and eventually finding Annie a 3D Maneuver Gear of her own.
"Where are we even going?" Annie finally asked.
Bertholdt turned to her and answered. "Home."