A/N: In light of the Chapter 88 spoilers- here's the first chapter of me slowly killing my fave.

Update 03/13/17: So recently, with chapter 90 and 91 (Year 851), there had been a 9 month, and three year time-skip, apparently? (CALLED IT) However that would make around four years of Annie being imprisoned. If she still is imprisoned that is. Anyway, I've tweaked the story a bit and added the new information. So to avoid confusion, Annie has a year left to live, meaning she had taken the serum when she was five years old, Eren has four years left to live, and Armin has nine. Annie wakes up the start of January of Year 854, and is moved underground in February. March is where the fun begins. That's all, Enjoy the story!

A New Beginning

They told her that she'd been asleep for four years. That she encased her body in pure solid crystal; nearly impenetrable to any of their technology. She managed to prolong her fate, she remained untouchable—that was, until the 58th expedition outside of the wall, the myriad of epiphanies that followed.

The Survey Corp had not only brought back information about the world beyond the walls, but also a plethora of new methods to destroy her last resort against them. The 58th expedition, where revelations occurred, and then the race to prepare for an imminent war against the Marley was the most important goal for humanity left within the walls.

But the toll on lives it took to get that point.

That journey back from Shigansina had left the remaining Survey Corp members withered, and shell shocked. Arriving at the gates of Wall Rose without their former Commander and nearly a quarter of what had been a battalion– had even the bystanders who ridiculed them bow their heads in grief. Their numbers had dwindled down to an estimate of nine, would have been less if the newly appointed Commander didn't give the order for body searches. Turned out few had survived, but were severely handicapped.

Zoe Hange was one to believe that the dead should always be buried alongside their hopes and dreams; She had said so to those who survived, with a look of repentance on her bloodied face. Now Hange—A senior commander four years later, face hardened by the tragedies of war, stood before Annie Leonhardt's prison, tall, and calculative.

An aura of authority wrapped tight around the older woman– she still had that maniacal glint in her good eye too, that only served to make Annie shudder each time it swept over her small huddled form.

In her crystal, time didn't seem to touch Annie. In fact, she didn't appear no less different than from when she had served under the Military Police so long ago. She was still sixteen, three missed birthdays later. Still with a rabid rabbit heart, and itchy fingers wishing to curl around the throats of her captors. Still with that deep yearning for a place called home.

From the moment she blinked away the icy specs that clung to her lashes, her first thought had been, where was her father?

And, if he was okay? Was she too late? Had everyone else failed, as well?

Did they finally capture the coordinate? Did they track down Reiss Heir? Where was Bertolt and Reiner?

All these unanswered questions crammed into her head altogether, probing her brain, over lapping each other, until for the first few days she was conscious, all she did was ask them questions—and it drove them crazy. She didn't care to whom she asked, she didn't care for descriptive details. Annie just wanted straight forward answers, she wanted to know the how, the what, the when's. She wanted to know who was dead and who was not. She wanted an absolution.

The one who spared her all the answers she wanted, without even an ounce of malice, was none other than Armin Arlert. Seeing him again gave her a brief callback to Stohess, his scheme played by her own foolhardiness.

Listening to him retell the events that happened from when she had crystallized herself to where they were now—it seemed all to surreal to her. Like a story book being read with few missing pages, the missing pages being herself. She wondered briefly if their plans would've gone right, the way they were supposed to, had she chosen to be compromised by the Survey Corp.

Annie had been silent for the remainder of Armin's run-through; and then she was silent afterwards too.

Why could she have said, really. Your friends made the absolute worst decision? Bertolt is dead, because of you?

You were dead, because of Bertolt?

I'm sorry for all the trouble we've caused?

Do you know how much trouble you've caused us?

That was just the tip of the iceberg for her, there was so much more hidden beneath. Annie couldn't fathom it all. Couldn't really process what the very core problem of the whole situation was, and this astounded her, because Annie had always been able to deduce anything.

Armin told her the Marley had not raided in these four years she'd been dormant. So what the hell was holding them—an entire far more advanced nation—up?

As it turned out, neither could Armin, even with that genius mind of his. Annie figured he was lying to her. All he could spare were vague plans the Survey Corp were conjuring to cross the sea over to Marley territory. But what could she do with that information? Bertolt was dead, Reiner was gone. So she just swallowed it all up, and carried forth. It had been day four when Armin came to deliver her the late news, and the not-so-latenews. It had been day six when Eren Jaeger strode into her dungeon cell, embracing the air of a worn diplomat rather than a soldier, his cape swishing behind him with each step.

He had come alone.

It was the first time she had seen him since, well, since Stohess. It surprised her, she hadn't expected him to arrive so early. In fact, she hadn't expected him to visit her at all. She could have sworn he had declared hatred for her when they fought as titans- he practically oozed blood lust, and screamed rage at the top of his lungs when they battled.

Though, maybe that had just been the impulsive of his titan talking, because when Eren peered at her through the bars of her cell. She saw a blank slate, a vacant thousand-yard stare, slumped shoulders, and untamed hair. She couldn't recognize him as the daredevil boy she once knew. The boy she'd grown to know, and had become used to. His eyes weren't the same bright zeal green of a proud youth– his eye's now, they were darker, foreboding. Empty. Like a mist shrouding an endless forest of evergreens, she could get lost in them easily.

How she wished he could have yelled at her—gotten angry to the point of veins popping out of his neck. Maybe even throw in some profanities her way, call her a liar, a traitor, a murderer. Be alive.

But he hadn't done any of that. He just stared, and she stared right back, until she couldn't anymore.

When she turned away from him, as far as the chains latched around her ankles would let her, he spoke to her.

"Just wanted to see you again." He murmured, gruff but soft. Then he stepped close to the bars of her cell, so close, that Annie saw the purplish hue under his tired eyes, the sparse facial hair that speckled his chin. He tapped his knuckles lightly against the rusted metal, and he said, "Welcome back." Then he turned on the heels of his boots, and walked out.

She hadn't seen him since.

It was day twenty-six now, and Annie had another one of her clinical appointments with the ever-so-graceful Commander Hange. Captain Levi– or rather the guard dog that followed the Commander everywhere she went– stood right by her side, old-age beginning to show itself around his eyes, but the rest of his face had remained the same. Permanent scowl and all.

"We're escorting you to my office today." Hange informed her, one hand on her hip, while the other held up a torch.

Annie quirked an eyebrow, not saying a thing. That was kind of her deal.

The Commander continued, "It has come to our concerns that you may not exactly have much time left in this world, In fact, I've estimated you have about year before your body begins to show signs of deterioration."

Levi released a sharp small huff– was that supposed to be a laugh?

"We've have gotten much insight from the information you've provided us– which had been just slightly outdated," Hange held up a finger, "Though that's understandable because you were stuck in a rock for four years and there was no possible way that you could have digested any new information, unless—"

"Get to the damn point." Levi quipped, gently nudging Hange's hip with his elbow.

"Right!" Hange snapped her fingers, rubbing them together like she had just formed a devious plan. Annie feared for the worst. "We'll no longer be doing our daily experimentations from this day on, and so forth. I've canceled the scheduled checkups as well, and the blood sampling." Hange waved her hand carelessly, "And—ah," She put a finger to her chin, deep in thought. Levi gave a phenomenal eye roll, before finishing off her sentence.

"You'll be granted immunity, but only within the Survey Corp Base. Anywhere else, you're to be restrained and escorted by a guard." The Captain folded his arms, a bitter frown tugging at his lips. It was apparent he had fought relentlessly against the proposal of allowing her freedom.

Annie blinked—once—twice—had she heard correctly? Her eyes drifted to the Captain who regarded her with a pitiless stare, and then back to the Commander, who smiled at her like she had just captured live titans and were naming them all over again.

As always, Annie had questions. She knew what the catch was—her imminent death looming over her head like a storm cloud—but she figured they'd let her slowly rot away in the dungeons, and then eventually perform an autopsy on her corpse too see what made her tick. Maybe stuff her full of cotton, and sell her to a taxidermist.

Annie thought the worst of scenarios while she sat idly in that dark cell for days—she would have never guessed that they'd be so merciful.

"What do you want from me?" She asked, firm and uncertain, because everything came with a price.

At that the Commander's smile morphed into an all-out grin, her pearly teeth glinted in the light of the torch she held up, shadows danced across one half of her face while the other half glowed in a soft orange. Annie swallowed despite herself—veering back further into the darkness of the cell.

"Why, I'm glad you asked." Hange handed the torch over to Levi—who took it without sparing her a glance, she swiftly glided to the cell gate, rummaging around the pockets of her cloak, she let out a little 'Ah-ha!' as she brought to light a cluster of skeleton keys, all bunched together on a rusty old key ring.

Annie observed the older woman unlock the cell gate—her shoulders hunched together like a scared animal ready to flee at any given moment, a knee-jerk response due to the harsh treatment she endured by the Commander's own hands. Hange strode into the cell, Levi following right behind, his dark eyes burned a hole into Annie's forehead—daring her to just try something.

Annie looked away while the Commander knelt by her side, body stiffening from their proximity—it's when she heard a clink, and felt her arms grow incredibility slack, that she fully faced the Commander, a word just about to leave her lips but the Commander beat her to it.

"I told you," She said, now unlocking the cuffs shackled around Annie's ankles, "That you're going to be escorted to my office."

Annie swallowed again, rather loudly—another tick of hers.

"What do you want?"

But only silence met as her answer, she pressed on, "Is it my power? Do you want my power? Is that it?"

Hange's unsettling smile dropped, she squatted to see at eye level with Annie, her one amber eye flickering like dense flames, she rested her arms on her knees as she locked gazes with the former Female Titan. Hange toyed absently with the key ring—twirling it around her fore finger—Annie watched as all the keys flew in a repeating circle, one by one.

The sizzle and crackle of the torch Levi held resonated in the almost bare dungeon cell—Annie could hardly see what was going on behind those spectacles the Commander wore—what kind of crazy would she be serving up today?

"What about you?" Hange asked, Annie narrowed suspicious blue eyes at her.

"What do you want, Annie Leonhardt?"

Said girl gawked in disbelief, what kind of reverse psychology was this woman playing at?

"What I want?" Annie repeated, a harsh whisper that held so much more feeling than she let on.

"What do you wish for?"

"Is this some kind of charity?" Annie spat, snarling at them both, "Showing me mercy now that you're already aware I'm expiring?"

She couldn't stop herself there— "I don't want your pity, and I don't want to owe your people anything more, or anything less!" She glared, a fast dying malevolence driving her soul to speak—but unbeknownst to her, her eyes were becoming glassy, rimmed in red—and they told the truth.

"If you're going to feed me to one of your shifter dogs, I'd rather you do it quickly, before I spoil." Annie sneered.

Behind Hange, Levi shuffled quickly to come by his Commander's side, but Hange held a placating hand out, stopping him. "I'm not pitying you, believe me when I tell you that, you're the last person I'd ever feel sorry for." Hange stood, tossing the keys into the air and catching them again with ease, she motioned with her head to the cell gate, looking down at Annie with that same calculative gaze, although her mouth was pursed in thought.

"I had wanted to wait it out, then toss your corpse in an ice box for dissection, and yes, perhaps even offer you as a snack to our titan shifters." Hange clicked her tongue, "But former team mates of yours highly disagreed with that plan, they fought tooth and nail for this arrangement with the others, and I wanted to respect their wishes."

Hange sauntered out of the cell, though Levi stayed behind inside the prison, he was Annie's only trusted guard, after all. Annie battled his glare, but his was far more effective, she turned to see Hange swivel around, nearly half-way out the heavily barricaded door.

"I want to know what your final wishes are now, Annie, so let's not waste any more time." She said, and then she was gone, descending up the thousands of steps that led to the surface. Annie wasn't given a moment's notice before Levi kicked at her leg not to lightly, his face haggard, but still furious because when he looked at her, all he saw was the monster that inhabited her. That she-devil that slaughtered his beloved squad.

"Get up."

She did. Trailing in front of him on wobbly legs, Annie stood in front of the cell gate, unsure of herself, frightened, but shamefully… delighted? Where did that come from? Levi came up from behind and shoved her arm, made her stagger somewhat.

She caught herself, tossing an icy glare over her shoulder. Captain Levi wasn't at all a tall man, only standing a measly three inches above her—but Annie knew height wasn't a mandatory factor when it came to power.

"You want to know what I wish for?" Annie licked the dryness off her lips—Levi seemed disgusted by the action, he nudged her again with his free arm.

"No. Keep walking."

Annie sighed, following that same path as the Commander, she descended up the elongated steps, leaving the filth ridden cell behind. Levi shadowed her constantly, pushed her when she walked to slow, she felt out of breath when they came to a curve in the endless stairway. Annie's legs trembled, they felt about ready to give out—had this been her four years ago, she would've never shown this much weakness in front of her enemies.

But just like Eren, she too, had become battered, and wrung from war.

"I wish I could go home." She mumbled, halfway to the surface of Castle Yggdrasil.

Behind her Levi scoffed, "You better wish for a bath or something, because that ain't happening."

District Utopia—as Annie found out where the Survey Corp had been keeping her this entire time—was one of the few Districts that contained vast underground passages, and the secret tunnels all eventually led to the Subterranean civilization directly under the Capitol City, Mitras, where the young Queen reigned. She'd traveled down these passages once, tailing a tall lanky man in black whom she suspected was a close friend of the former king's. That encounter certainly hadn't gone well.

It didn't surprise Annie either, that the Survey Corp would use these secret passages for transportation—especially given the fact that their own Captain knew these tunnels like the back of his hand, being that he was born and raised in the underground.

It was no wonder why he had such a crude way of speaking, vermin only bred more vermin. That aside—when Annie said she wished to go back home, she meant her actual home—the one miles across the sea, secluded within the Ghettos the Marley retained. She had been thoroughly deliberate with the Commander on her final wish.

But, of course, there were limitations as to what she could ask for, and what could be done for her. Annie was a public enemy—and in fact, nobody but the Queen, and most Survey Corp members knew of her crystal being breached.

Her very existence had been forgotten by many of the population in Sina—her identity, that was. Hardly anyone, let alone what had been left of the Military Police, remembered an Annie Leonhardt ever living among them—What they did remember, however, was the blonde-haired titan that had trampled through their homes, causing destruction and chaos in its path.

The Survey Corp had intentionally wanted to keep it that way. Annie had no qualms with that arrangement—the less people who wanted to have her beheaded, the better. Though, this secrecy conflicted with the Commanders proposition; she instructed Annie to write a list of twenty wishes, only to have nearly half them crossed out, or simply ignored in favor of one the Commander's own offers.

"Ah—so you want a sparring partner, for exercising, yeah?" Annie recalled the way Hange flexed her fingers, the sound of her popping knuckles made the Captain cringe horribly, "Well, we are kind of short on staff, right now, but I'd be happy to oblige you—or maybe, Levi?"

Annie turned them all down, outright neglecting to discuss anything the Commander put on the table. At the end, they did come to a hard bargain, and Annie came to terms that some miracles just couldn't happen.

She bitterly accepted what could be given to her, she compromised, but she was still infuriated all to hell about the outcome. Twenty wishes, and only five could be done in her favor.

I wish to go home.

Annie's final, and only true wish. The very essence that was keeping her on her own two feet—trumped, and thrown in the bin. Flat-out disregarded, and deemed impossible. They did give her an ultimatum—to call an abandoned cabin in the heart of the Subterranean City her new home—that, or reside forever inside Yggdrasil as a prisoner with limited parole. She took the bait, what else could she do? Godspeed to her father, wherever he was.

I wish for an order of protection against various Survey Corp soldiers.

Despite her existence being invisible to the majority, word still broke out in the Survey Corp, even soldiers tend to gossip, the Commander had to have known that would occur, which was why she had told only four of her men. Then four became six—and six became sixteen, soon entire squadrons were aware that the Female Titan was back and breathing. Annie wasn't naive, Hange had chosen Levi to be her only guard, not just because he was capable, but certain peoples grudges ran deep, certain people couldn't be trusted. Annie just wanted to able to live without someone trying to cut her nape open for once.

I wish for better food.

The grub they fed her was bland, tasteless porridge, with a side of harder than stone bread, and lukewarm water from a flask. Annie wasn't picky, but she had standards, and she could use some meat in her diet.

I wish to be pardoned for my crimes.

Captain Levi had glowered at her menacingly from beside Hange, while the older woman recited her wish aloud. But Annie had an arsenal up her sleeve—the strongest being the whole her knocking on death's door in about a year to rebut anything they could use against her—Yes, Annie was aware she was basically a terrorist, and yes, asking to be excused for murdering countless of their own soldiers was the most outrageous thing she could attempt.

But she had given them all the information they had ever wanted to know about the Marley, Old Eldia, the titan serums—hell, even the living conditions of the Eldians'. Just about everything they could squeeze out of her; even her own ability to shift would soon be passed on. What else use could they have of her here? Besides the Commander's grotesque experiments, that were pointless, and proved nothing other than the fact that the Survey Corp leader was an absolute nutcase.

Annie won—because in the end, she really was just a dying girl, and they had no choice but to grant her her dying wishes. Levi's glaring had increased ten-fold after that.

I wish for my freedom.

Easier said than done, but passable. Not without a few adjustments by the Commander herself, of course.

"It's going to go like this," Hange told her, while hunching forward on her desk, fingers laced together. "I, the Commander of the Survey Corp, will hereby pardon you, Annie Leonhardt, of your crimes, your treason will be overlooked on the Queen's behalf, and I will grant you the protection against my fellow soldiers— "

"Most."

"Most of my fellow soldiers, as well as provide you with the food and shelter you desire."

Annie hadn't commented on the desiring part but oh—she wished she could have. What she desired was to go back from where she came from. Hange might've noticed Annie's hostility towards her, the harsh way the girl swallowed and averted her eyes might've given it away. But if she did, the Commander only cocked her head to the side curiously—hadn't pressed any further.

"And," Hange did snap her attention to Levi, who had remained silent behind them, arms folded, leaning against the door—he cocked an eyebrow, though Hange's facial expression remained rigid, before focusing on Annie again. "I will allow you to live in peaceful solitude, underground, without any surveillance or disturbance from the Survey Corp." Hange clicked her tongue. "Only if you agree on the terms I will now issue."

Annie locked gazes with the Commander. Of course, she figured that this would happen. Freedom wasn't free for her anymore. It was Give and Take now. Annie didn't meander from the topic, she just leaned back into her seat, hands folded in her lap.

"What's your proposition?"

"Propositions." The Commander corrected, adjusted her spectacles further up her nose. "I have only three. The first will be that your power will no longer belong to you, it will belong to the Survey Corp, as such, you are prohibited from shifting."

Annie only stared, half- perplexed. "What if I'm attacked, stabbed or provoked, and I shift on impulse?"

Hange chuckled, the was sound low and discerning, she shook her head, smiling. "Annie, you and I both know you have far more control than that. And even if that were the case, it is still against the protocol, your existence will no longer be a secret, and we'd have no choice but to exterminate you."

"That'll make things easier for me." Levi grunted in the background. Annie tuned him out, she tongued the inside of her cheek. It was true—she had outstanding control over her titan ability, but it would take a considerable amount of effort to live normally, like an actual human being, like she wasn't someone who held the power of a fifteen-meter giant in her. But it wouldn't be the worst of things she'd been put through.

"I'll no longer shift for as long as I live," Annie sighed tiredly—yeah, she didn't have much time left to live, and being reminded of that constantly was really giving her a headache. "I fully surrender my power to the Survey Corp."

Hange clapped her hands together, smiled triumphantly. "Awesome! On to the next." She cleared her throat, resting her hands back together on the desk. "You are banned from ever leaving the underground. Should you disobey, and go to the surface, you will be immediately apprehended—and yes. Exterminated after." Hange added before Annie could question her on that prospect.

Annie's face twisted into one of confusion—a retort just at the tip of her tongue, but Hange was quick to continue. The Commander sure did love to run her mouth.

"The reason why I applied this condition, is because the people of the Subterranean City have never seen your face, let alone even hear of the Female Titan. But on the surface, no matter how invisible you seem to be, even if you change your hair, there will always be one or two people who will recognize you, be it your face, voice, body shape. Etcetera." Hange made a motion with her hand. Annie got the point.

"So, you want me to stay underground until the day I die."

"Yes."

"And, I won't ever be able to see the sky again." Annie scratched absentmindedly at her arm.

"No, you will not."

"Alright, fine. I agree."

Hange's brows shot up to her forehead. "Is that so? Just like that?"

"I was never really a fan of the sun in the first place." Annie shrugged.

Behind her, she heard the Captain snicker quietly, but then conceal it in a rough cough. Annie was a perceptive girl, she knew the real reason why the Commander would forbid her from ever going to the surface, and provide her a home, but only in the underground. Annie was a formidable foe—or had been. Hange was just taking precaution, and she was right to do so.

The Commander rested against her plush chair, stretching her arms high, high above her head, until a pop came—Levi made a disgusted noise. She sighed contently, dropping her arms onto the desk. Hange was never one to sit still, and doing so every single day was putting a strain on her bones. "Okay then, now for my final term. Well, this is going to be more of a suggestion, if anything."

Annie cocked a blonde eyebrow. Levi shuffled to stand up straight.

"I forbid—no, I would advise that you no longer engage in lewd activities with anyone, as doing so would only heighten the possibility of you getting pregnant, and that would, in fact be a danger not only to you, but to us, and the outcome that comes from it."

Annie wanted to laugh. She had never wanted to laugh more than she did right at that moment. Even if her face betrayed nothing but a quiver at the corner of lips, she bit at her finger nails to stave off the urge too. Shrugged again, tucked a locket of blonde hair behind her ear.

"So, you want me to swear off sex?"

"It would be a wise thing to do." The Commander reassured, "You see if you were to copulate with someone, then the power you hold will be transferred to your offspring. I'd rather have the power switch randomly to someone within the walls, than have to raise a baby shifter."

"I ain't taking care of nobody's kids." Levi rumbled, "Especially the brat of a bloody titan shifter."

Annie pretended not to hear that. Though she was still a virgin, she never had her first kiss, or even held hands with someone of the opposite sex. Sure, she had used to play the coquettish, frail maiden from time to time—it was one way of getting what she wanted without having to bruise her fists—or simply just because she liked to fuck with people's heads. Namely Eren Jaeger's—Wait.

Why did he have to pop into her head right there, when they were talking about sex, and pregnancy? And warding off intimacy in general? She could already see his cloudy green gaze, the down-turned corners of his lips, and tousled chest-nut hair.

Annie loudly exhaled, cleared her thoughts. Erased them. Tucked some away for later use. Hange observed her the whole time. "I'll do it. I won't have sexual relations with anyone."

The Commander made an endearing sound in her throat, then she opened a small drawer under her desk, and took out a quill, an ink jar, and a parchment. Placing all three items in front of Annie. The Parchment was already written with the declaration made by Hange, passed by the Queen herself, and signed in the Commander's own chicken scrawl, all that was left was the tiny little space just after Hange's name. Underlined, and with an x on one side.

A Terms of Agreement, of a sort. Annie felt her head throb with the beginnings of a migraine. She took the quill, dipped it in the ink, and pledged herself to another shitty life.

Another month had gone by—and soon enough, Annie found herself standing in front of an old, worn down looking cabin. Miles and miles beneath the royal Capitol, nestled between an underground farmhouse, and in the middle of fucking nowhere. Only a stream of sunlight beamed brightly from a breech in the terrain above. Right onto the nearly bare roof.

"Suck it up, Princess."

Annie cringed, and Captain Levi came strolling to her side in his civvies. A crate of produce in his arms. A portion of what would be her new diet. She suspected the food would get her by for another couple of months before she had to find another source.

Levi turned to her, then to the abandoned home. "You got off easy, you know. If it were me…" he trailed off, shook his head, dropped the crate at her feet without a care of damaging the goods inside it.

Annie gave it a glance, then to Levi who stared at her in that callous way of his.

"You should get a weapon."

Annie blinked. "Huh?"

"The undergrounds aren't safe. Not even for a girl of your status."

"You don't know me."

"I know you think you're hot shit, and listen to me Princess," Levi folded his arms, narrowing gray-blue eyes her way. "I wouldn't disregard your neighbors either. Don't believe that just because you know how to throw a punch, your all fine and dandy."

Annie blew tendrils of blonde from her face, looking at him from under her lashes which she batted flirtatiously. "Oh yeah? Are going to protect a small, frail girl like me than, Captain?"

Levi snorted, slightly amused but disgusted nonetheless. He shook his head. "Piss off little girl."