Beyond the Wall

by CodeOperator

Set in the near future, Eren has fulfilled his lifelong goal of defeating the Titans, but this triggers something that will change him forever. Oneshot. Eren x Annie. Rated T for violence and some minor language.

Author's Note: So this is the first fanfiction I'm posting on Fanfic, and in honor of Ereannie week, I figured why not write a quick oneshot about my favorite OTP; Eren Jaeger and Annie Leonhardt. Again, this is a oneshot set in my personal AU. Enjoy guys.

Eren Jaeger watched with a grim satisfaction as the titan fell victim of his unique abilities to control the bodies of the creatures he hated with a burning passion, a passion that after years of fighting had become somewhat diminished. Perhaps he found peace after he ended the titan that murdered his mother, or perhaps it was when Reiner, Bertholdt, and Ymir were apprehended. Whatever the reason may have been, he was at last truly at peace as the titan, the last titan, fell as its legs were broken by its own fists, landing face first in the fertile dirt outside Wall Maria. Eren kept it subdued mentally as he dismounted his horse he had affectionately named Carla and marched deliberately towards the fallen beast. He thought back in time to when he, Mikasa, and Armin had found his basement. In it was what Eren had anticipated and then some. He found a way to make his titan form even more powerful, able to control flames in its body, something he had only noticed when he fought Annie. His mind drifted to the icy girl still in her crystalline coma. How long had it been, eight years? Eren was a solid twenty-three years old, and the newly appointed Captain of the Recon Corps. After he had amplified his titan powers and by extension his own, he had found that his reach over the titans was global, to such a degree that he was able to eradicate titans worldwide with a mere thought. It was draining, however, and it placed Eren in the hospital more times than he cared to remember when he overexerted himself. However, this was it. He paused next to the titan as Mikasa reached his side. He had promoted his sister shortly after his own promotion to the rank of Lieutenant so that she could serve as his right hand in battle, and Armin as well so that he could be his voice of reason in the field. However, the soft-spoken boy had recently been moved to the interior, Wall Sina, so that the entire military could benefit from his unparalleled mind, and not just the Recon Corps.
"Would you like the honors, Eren?" She asked as she drew and offered her swords to him.
He paused, and grasped the handle of one, but only one.
"We carry two blades, don't we Mikasa?"
His reasoning dawned on her quickly, and she pulled her crimson scarf over her face to conceal a small smile on her lips. The two leapt atop the immobile seven-meter class titan and readied their blades at the back of its neck.
"For Marco," Eren began.
"For Mina," Mikasa continued.
"For Hannes."
"For Petra."
"For mom."
Mikasa paused as tears stung her eyes before continuing with a shout.
"For humanity!"
As one, the two raised their blades and brought them down on the titan's single place of vulnerability, a blood spray greeting them as the surrounding soldiers cheered. For the first time in centuries, mankind no longer lived in a cage, no longer controlled, no longer under the reign of the titans. They were free at last.

Eren sighed as he finished up his reports on the day's events, one to Commander Levi for scrutinization by the other high-ranking officers and noblemen, and the other for Major Hanji Zoe so she could further investigate their now fallen foe. Despite the titans now being officially defeated, Zoe insisted to Eren that he continue to submit any new discoveries. Done at last, he set his papers aside, deciding to submit them for review tomorrow. He glanced outside his window, noting the full moon in the otherwise black sky. He glanced downwards from his third story apartment window at Mikasa directing the closing formation, ending with the traditional dismissal and salute of the soldiers' fists placed over their hearts. He leaned back in his simple wooden chair, inherited from Levi. Despite his rank, the man was a minimalist, something Eren was coming to loathe, deciding that he should probably look into upgrading his quarters. Standing slowly he loosened the cravat around his neck and set it on his work desk, noting what a simple thing it was that denoted his rank as Captain. He sat on his bed, reminiscing of the past as he took out several sepia-tone photos he had ordered taken thanks to advances in technology. The first was him, Mikasa, and Armin at their respective promotions. The other was a groupshot of the 104th years after their graduations. Funny thing, Jean never transferred to the interior like he always said he would, "Just after this one mission." He'd become a Sergeant and the head of the newest Special Operations Team, denoted Squad Jean in a similar way to the deceased Squad Levi. Sasha had retired along with Connie after a titan took his legs, and despite having prosthetics ready and waiting, the 3DMG requires all body parts be functioning perfectly at all times due to the delicate and physically demanding operation of it and as such, Eren had with a tear in his eye given Connie an Honorable Discharge, with a personal grant to get the man back on his feet in the civilian world. The two eventually wed, something even Eren had seen a long time coming, and started a bakery, "Potato Girl's Bakery." He still went every other weekend to see how they were doing, and to buy the occasional baked potato for the sake of teasing Sasha, which always caused her to blush and note that there were plenty of other things to buy besides potatoes. After Eren had personally organized Ymir's release from the Military Police, she and Christa had more or less disappeared until Christa retook her rightful place as her to the Reiss family name and fortune after her less than supportive father died. After that it was no secret the two women were together, there was hardly a public event where Ymir wasn't at Christa's side.
The next photo was something Eren had to steel himself to look at, something he never forgot and someone he never stopped waiting for: Annie in her crystal encasing. It reminded him that it was Friday, and that meant he should see her again. Mikasa was strongly against it, never failing to remind him of her past war crimes. The fact that she personally murdered Squad Levi in front of him, that they later found she had cut Marco in two and blamed it on a titan, that she had brought the horde of titans that devoured his and Mikasa's mother. At times, the emotional, younger, suicidal bastard Eren took over, resulting in a shouting match and Eren inevitably losing due to Mikasa's superior composure and logic. Other times, he simply didn't care and went anyway. Tonight was one of those nights. He was barely out his door when Mikasa rounded the corner down the hall.
"I know where you're going, Eren. Don't."
"You know I have to, Mikasa," He said haphazardly as he brushed past her. She turned and remained right on his heels the way down the steps.
"No, no you don't." She grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her.
"Don't you understand, Eren," she growled protectively, "She doesn't care. She doesn't even know you're there and even if she did I sincerely doubt it means anything to her."
Eren roughly whacked her hand from his shoulder and continued down the steps and out the door. He mounted his horse, but Mikasa refused to let him go that quickly, despite the fact that she knew her brother was stubborn enough to go whither she gave her blessing or not.
"Eren, stop!"
This time, he ignored her and rode off towards the castle in which she was encased. It was a long ride, he knew. But in his mind it was more than worth it. Mikasa's shoulders slumped and she once again covered her face with her scarf as she sat down on the cobblestone, this time however she concealed herself out of agony and sadness.
"Mikasa? You okay ma'am?"
She looked up with bloodshot eyes at the soldier who addressed her who stepped into the torchlight, revealing himself to be none other than Sergeant Jean Kirschtein.
"Fine Jean," she said quietly as he rubbed her eyes on her scarf and walked back to the barracks a few blocks down. He caught up to her in no time.
"You don't look fine," he said and for once there was no hidden sarcasm in his voice, he genuinely cared for once.
"Don't push me, Jean," she said coldly as she approached the female barracks entrance.
"Mikasa wait, just tell me-" he began, but was cut off by the door slamming in his face.
Maybe someday, she thought. Maybe someday, Jean, but not today.

By the time Eren arrived at the castle, it was well past midnight. He noted with distaste that the guards were asleep at the gate, something he'd have to take up with the Sergeant of the Guard. Dismounting his horse at the stable, he grabbed a lantern from a post and walked down the hidden flight of stairs to the underground dungeon. Once again, the guards at Annie's solid steel door were asleep, despite being at rather odd positions on the ground. Eren then noticed a detail that made his blood run cold. The guard on the left of the door had a massive bruise on the side of his temple, easily enough to warrant a concussion, and the one on the right had bruises around his neck, looking from his position as if he'd been knocked to the ground and choked out. Eren drew his brand new revolver, designed courtesy of Armin, and violently burst into the room, his breath hitching when he saw that her crystal had shattered into a thousand fragments. He lowered his gun and set down his lantern, running his hand along the remnants of the crystalline prison. The door shut behind him. Eren spun around as fast as humanly possible, raised his revolver, and fired at the shadow at the door. However, the figure was small enough that the shot intended for a target of average size's head hit a few inches above the shadowy intruder. Readjusting for height and cocking the hammer of the revolver back with his thumb, he shouted at the target.
"Into the light where I can see you, now!"
The figure hesitated, but then obliged. Eren's heart stopped when he saw the intruder's identity. It was her.
It was Annie.
He froze as a thousand things ran through his mind at once. Does he charge her? Does he stand back? Does he shoot her? She's back. She's alive. Why did she do it? Where did she come from? All he could do was slowly lower his gun and gape at the sight before him. She really hadn't aged much, looking more like eighteen than twenty-four. Then again, the same could be said for Eren.
"You…" Was all he managed to get out before the revolver dropped from his fingers.
She raised an eyebrow, and Eren mentally kicked himself for not thinking of something to say besides the blatantly obvious.
"Yes, me," she deadpanned as she leaned against the cold stone wall.
"How… why?" He stammered as he struggled to get his jumbled thoughts together.
Annie sighed and gestured towards the chairs next to the desk and bed Eren had mandated kept outside her crystal in case she ever woke up and he wasn't there. Most of the guards thought it pointless, that she would never wake up, but quite frankly nobody cared enough to voice their concerns to him. Eren grunted something unintelligible and moved the two chairs so they could face each other. Thoughts ran through his mind as he sat down a few feet across from her along the lines of: "I need a shave, these chairs could be better, it's too dark in here, it smells down here, she can't possibly enjoy this," but then something snapped in him, and despite whatever he felt for Annie his training and years of service took over. The long-overdue interrogation had begun.
"We'll start small," his voice no longer lost or wavering, "Answer the questions and we can both have a good night. Don't and this is going to get very bad, very fast." A subconscious voice told him that Annie wasn't Bert or Reiner or some other criminal, that he couldn't threaten to torture her like he'd done to others like her. But at the same time, he needed answers that only she could provide, and not all of them left his personal feelings out of it, something Commander Levi would chide him for without hesitation if he ever saw it.
"First of all, do you know what year it is?" This was a fairly simple question to ascertain whether or not she could hear him when he talked to her in her self-induced comatose state.
"853." Her response was cold, emotionless, and to be expected from her at this point.
Eren nodded, thinking of what to ask her next.
"Do you remember anything from your time in your coma?"
"Vaguely. Shapes and shadows, impressions, a few snippets here and there. One constant though, you came here frequently."
Eren nodded again, slightly relieved that she didn't remember much in the way of specifics, some of his worst breakdowns had been in front of her before she woke up.
"Why are you awake? Did you cause it?"
She shook her head.
"Had I been able to control my awakening I'd have left by now. Your guards weren't exactly holding me back. No, this was triggered by something, although by what I don't know. What happened recently that I don't know about?"
"I…" he searched for the right words, "I eradicated the last of the titans. They're dead now, all of them."
Annie sniffed impassively as she examined her nails, seemingly without care to the fact that the titans were in fact destroyed.
"Perhaps I should ask you something Jaeger," she said looking up at the man in front of her, "Where are Bertholdt and Reiner?"
"Bertholdt's in prison, most likely going to death row." At this, Annie looked startled. "Reiner's in a mental ward."
"Why?"
"Guilt. He'd been holding back so much guilt from what he'd done as a child, the people he killed, the lives he destroyed, he warped his memories to match what he wanted. For the longest time in boot camp, he actually thought he was one of us, a human soldier. Now of course he reverted to the old Reiner you remember when the occasion called for it, but it was like he had two people in one mind. I guess after a while those two people met, and he couldn't handle it."
Sadly enough, Annie had seen this coming. Reiner was a soldier, she and Bert were warriors. The fact that Bert was going to death row meant he hadn't cracked, something she supposed she should be satisfied about, but Reiner was a ticking time bomb. She gazed towards Eren's cravat that he had donned before he entered the castle.
"When did that happen?"
"Levi was promoted after Commander Erwin lost his arm to a titan."
"Ah yes," she began, more than a hint of venom in her voice, "Levi, the illustrious sadistic bastard who said he'd cut my limbs from my body just to see if they'd regenerate like a titan's would. The man who said he was having fun when I was suffering."
"To be fair, Annie, you'd just murdered his entire squad and the woman he loved."
She rolled her eyes because she couldn't think of a suitable response fast enough.
"And this Commander Erwin, he retired, I presume?"
"No," Eren began, remembering the details, "Following his confrontation with the Military Police at the Battle of Trost and rather heroic efforts after having his arm traumatically amputated in the first attempt to apprehend Reiner and Bertholdt, he was promoted to general, commander of the southern army in place of Pixis. Pixis died of old age, by the way."
Annie nodded, noting how the pieces fell into place rather naturally.
A silence ensued, the only noise being the occasional drip of a leaking pipe and the crackling of the single torch on the wall. Eren thought of a way to break the silence, and settled on what kept gnawing at him.
"I'd ask why you did it, but I know why."
"Oh do tell," she responded sarcastically.
"You're a soldier, following orders. Although I question the use of child soldiers, I suppose your little society must've had its reasons for sending you to war at eleven. But let me ask you this, Annie. Does it haunt you? Do you think about those you've killed? Does it even remotely bother you?" He leaned in, poison on his tongue, "Is there a single shred of humanity left within you?"
Annie froze, fingernails grinding into the armrests of the chair, her years of pent-up emotion boiling over.
"My humanity?" She seethed. "My humanity was sparing Armin when I should have ended him. My humanity was bothering to teach you how to fight, to get you through boot camp. That's right Jaeger, without me you never would've placed in the top ten and we both know it. My humanity was telling you not to play in the game the powers that be are always playing. My humanity was telling you not to become a statistic! My humanity was letting you get under my skin in the first place!" She shouted in rage. It took mere milliseconds for her to regain her cool composure, leaving Eren unquestionably shocked at her outburst. The most emotion he had previously been able to get out of her was a smile, something only he had been able to elicit form her in their entire three years of training. And although he didn't know it, he had been part of why tears had frozen on her face when she crystalized.
"And you know what, Jaeger?" She continued in a far more controlled tone, "Maybe it does haunt me. Maybe I did dream about it. Maybe it got to me every single time I heard that damn sob-story about your mother being killed in front of you. So yes, Eren, I do have a 'Shred of humanity' left within me. Given how you just committed genocide and wiped out the entire race of titans, can you say the same?"
Eren paused and remembered something he had been told several years ago at the battle of Trost.
"Humanity needed heroes who were willing to throw aside their humanity to fight monsters. If that required genocide on my part, so be it. We've both killed titans, Annie. The only difference is my kill count is higher than yours. On titans, at least."
"You're not going to let that go, are you?"
"And why should I?" Eren suddenly shouted, the noise reverberating throughout the dense underground cavern. "You may not have knocked down any of the walls, Annie, I know that. But the amount of titans that came in Shiganshina that day was more than should've been. Yes, the town was meant to attract titans, but there were hundreds coming in through the hole that day. I've only seen one person bring in an utter horde like that." His accusing emerald eyes pierced through the darkness and into her soul. She couldn't help but notice that they had become rather close in Eren's burst of hostility. He seemingly noticed this and backed off and sat back down, burying his face in his calloused hands. Annie simply observed his turmoil with her arms crossed, doing fairly well to mask her own thoughts she had let burst out mere minutes ago. However, the suicidal bastard then said something that surprised even Annie.
"But I forgive you."
She sharply inhaled and shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
"No you don't. You hate me. We're on opposite sides."
"I did hate you, there's no denying that," He looked up from his hands and stared into her eyes, "But I get it. You're a soldier, you're following orders. Reiner explained a lot to me in the few minutes he was able to pull himself together. Your dad, your community, your upbringing-"
"You know nothing about my upbringing," she deadpanned, but a flash in her eyes told him otherwise.
"I think I do, Annie, more than you think. We were both raised to be soldiers-"
"I was raised to be a warrior," she corrected, "I'm not bound by your morals and your guilt, I'm not supposed to care about the dead."
"Not supposed to," he stated calmly, "But you do. You're not a bad person, Annie. I think you have the potential to do good. Remember Mina? In the short time you knew her, you gave her a friend. You gave me a mentor. At heart Annie, whether you like to admit it or not, you are human. And you know why I came so often to visit you, Annie? I care about you."
She shook her head, biting her lip, and said in a shaky tone, "Maybe in another life, Jaeger, but not this one. We're on opposite sides, it doesn't matter what anyone feels, and we're supposed to kill each other without remorse." She bowed her head in silence and uttered a single phrase, one he had waited years to hear, "I'm sorry, Eren."
A few moments of silence passed in the darkness of the cave. Annie jumped ever so slightly when she heard the click of Eren's revolved, looking up expecting to be staring down the barrel but instead was greeted by the grip of the weapon being held out to her.
"You say we're supposed to kill each other without remorse. I can't do that. If you truly believe that, take this gun and shoot me."
Annie froze at the sight of the gun, hesitantly taking the brass grip of the gun into her hand, feeling the back-heavy weight of the weapon. She shakily raised it to Eren's head, a war waging in her mind. He's the enemy, he's giving you a free pass out of here, kill him! But the other half of her, the human half argued back, he spared you at Trost, he came for you every week, he cares about you!
Eren stared at Annie, waiting for her to make the decision as he stared down the barrel of his own revolver.
"Whatever you choose, Annie," he began, shaking her resolve, "I will always love you."
BANG. The trigger was pulled, the bullet had left the chamber, and the decision was made. A smile tugged at the corner of Eren's lips as he noticed the bullet had landed to the right of his head. Annie was a good shot in boot camp, she had missed point-blank on purpose. She hurled the gun across the room at the remnants of her crystal, shattering the now-weakened stone. She broke down, letting years of guilt, remorse, pain, and loss wash over her in one single moment. Eren stood and took her into his arms, allowing her a shoulder to cry on. For the third time in her life, the third time because of Eren, sobs racked her body. Time passed, how long Eren didn't care. After a while, she spoke in a quiet voice.
"Eren, I want to leave. You say the titans are dead, I want to leave. I don't care where, I just want to leave."
Eren planted a lingering kiss on her forehead.
"Have you ever heard of the ocean, Annie?"

A/N: So there you have it, my first fanfic I'm entitling, Beyond the Wall. And yes, Eren x Annie is my OTP. You may have noticed my second favorite shipping in one line, Levi x Petra because let's be honest, you really just have to ship that or you're quite frankly not human. As for Jean x Mikasa, I'm open to it but it's hardly my OTP, if you guys get where I'm going with that. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed that, please review, fave, whatever you feel like doing, it makes me feel special! Have a nice day, all.