Okay, so there wasn't much Mikannie in this chapter but all fics require a certain amount of build up. Ah well, I hope you enjoy! Please review, thanks ^-^
Annie sat in the back of the van, staring hollowly at the ground. She couldn't believe what had happened. They'd been caught. The Survey Corps, the police force in their area, had caught them so easily. What the hell? How could they have? They'd planned everything carefully and calculated the risks. There was no way that could have happened.
She looked up, eyeing each of her companions to try and see how they were taking this.
Jean sat up at the front of the van, his hands clenched firmly on the steering wheel. He didn't move or look back at them, save the slight twist of his hands to turn a corner. His eyes were fixed on the road, unmoving from it. His jaw occasionally twitched slightly. He was absolutely terrified but trying to keep it under control.
Ymir sat bunched up in the corner opposite Annie, her long fingers frantically swiping across the screen of her iPhone. She was texting someone. Probably trying to contract that Krista girl she'd been talking about in the closet. She didn't look up, not even when the van hit a pothole.
Bertolt was sitting on a wooden box, staring at the ground, his eyes wide and hollow. He was expressionless and, like Jean, he wasn't moving. The taller man was even paler than usual, his breath short and shallow as he breathed in frantically.
But when she looked over at Reiner, she saw only pure fury in his eyes. He glared at her, a thick vein in his neck pulsing with every beat of his heart. She shrank beneath his gaze and could only look at him for a few seconds. She had to look away, ashamed.
Of course, he was angry with her. It was her fault they'd been caught and the mission had been compromised. She'd gotten distracted by Mikasa and had let her guard down for a few minutes. That one, little slip up had cost them so dearly. The police had gotten in and now, they knew what they looked like, knew their identities. Her face was going to be hunted forever until they caught her. She'd never be able to escape this life now.
Mikasa stared at her too, the dark haired girl's neck tightly clenched in Reiner's arms. She, wisely, didn't move because if she did, it was likely that Reiner would snap her neck there and then. Or he'd shoot her in the head. Reiner was angry and an angry Reiner was not something to be missed with. He'd fucking murder you.
Annie couldn't hold her gaze either, but not because she was feeling guilty. Instead, her insides boiled with anger. She felt so betrayed and her heart ached. It was rare that Annie ever felt something for another person. It was even rarer that that person seemed to return the feelings. She'd thought Mikasa actually had an interest in her but the fact that she'd played on her feelings and taken advantage of Annie, it hurt so much.
The van roared down the roads, Jean determined to get far away from the place as fast as possible. She didn't blame him. From what she'd heard about Jean, that man actually had a life outside of the messed up group. Ymir did too but she didn't know anything about her. Jean apparently had a boyfriend called Marco and they were 'deeply in love'. Jean was now a fugitive and the chance of them ending up together was decreasing by the second.
They all drove in silence except for the frequent beeps from Ymir's phone. No one wanted to talk, it wasn't the time for small talk or foolish banter. Annie didn't know where they were going but she didn't care. She just wanted to go home and curl up in her bed. But that would be so foolish. That would be the first place the police would look.
Eventually, they pulled up by a massive mansion, coloured white and clean. It looked as though it hasn't been in use for a long time. The gravel crunched under the wheel as the van curled to a stop. Jean turned the engine off and pulled the key out. No one moved to get out or anything. They all just sat there.
"Well, what now?"
Mikasa's voice broke through the silence, her words sounding bored and drawling. Everyone turned and looked back at her. Even Ymir looked up from her phone. Mikasa didn't look put off, only glared back with her lips curling slightly.
As though Mikasa's words had been a jolt of electricity, Reiner was suddenly spurred into action. He jumped up from his position on the floor, yanking Mikasa up with him.
"Out!" he yelled. "Out and into the house now!"
Annie was the first up, shoving open the back doors to the van. Reiner's rage was terrifying even for someone like her. Bertolt, someone who knew well enough what he was like, was close behind her.
Annie's feet hit the gravel, a soft crunch beneath her boots. She quickly started walking towards the house, eyes scanning. She hadn't been here before. The door was unlocked, the key still in the lock. She guessed it was like that incase of emergencies like this. Still, it was kinda stupid to leave the house unlocked like that. Anyone could just stroll in and nick stuff or burn the whole place down.
The house was coloured white inside. Like everything was white. White walls, white doors, white chairs, everything. The house was legit all white. A layer of dust covered everything. Their movements stirred it up, sending her and Bertolt into a spur of coughing. They moved further into the house until Annie found the kitchen.
She ripped a sheet of one of the kitchen chairs, white again, and sat down heavily. Her gun clinked against the wood and she pulled it out of her jeans. What was she doing here, in this house, with a gun? What on Earth had she gotten herself into? She stared at the flare gun, blue eyes shining. She should never have agreed to do this. Reiner was just so persuasive and he made it sound like it would be easy and fun. But by hell it wasn't.
Jean entered the kitchen, his horse face cold and sad. Ymir entered next and then an incredibly angry Reiner. Reiner shoved Mikasa into Ymir, who caught the girl with only mild surprise. Mikasa didn't struggle, only leaned casually against the taller girl. Reiner stormed over to her.
Before Annie could speak, Reiner grabbed her by the collar of her hoodie and slammed her into the wall. Annie let out a cry of pain as she hit the plaster with a force enough to break a table. Damn, she'd have bruises for weeks. Reiner was all up in her face, his nose about an inch away from her own. His nostrils flared, his breath hitting her own and she stared up at him, fear suddenly flowing through her veins.
"What the fuck do you think you were doing, Annie?!" he snarled. "What the fuck?! Have you any idea how fucking important that was?! You cost us that mission and now we're all gonna be hunted down by that fucking squirt, Levi!"
He slammed her into the wall again but this time, she didn't cry out. She was frozen.
"Reiner!"
Bertolt grabbed Reiner by the shoulder and the tall guy looked him in the eye. The two lovers stared each other in the eye, an unspoken conversation passing between them. All the while, Annie could barely breath, she was that terrified. Slowly, Reiner's grasp slacked on her hoodie and she slipped to the ground. Annie's feet hit the ground but she didn't stand. She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground.
"We'll sort you out later, Leonhardt," he growled, turning away from her. "But first things first. This chick here. What we gonna do about her?"
Everyone's gaze turned to Ymir and Mikasa. Ymir was just staring down at the shorter girl, eyes wide with confusion. Mikasa wasn't being restrained or anything, just leaning back against Ymir's body as though they were best friends or something. She folded her arms, looking super chill and as though she didn't care what was going on.
But when everyone's eyes fell on her, Mikasa shifted uncomfortably, straightening up. Ymir took a small step away from her, eyes wary and hands ready for anything that might come at her.
"Well, let's talk logic here," Jean said, calmly.
It was the first time he'd spoken since the beginning of the mission and he sounded so calm that it startled everyone. Annie curled into a tighter ball, refusing to meet Mikasa's questioning gaze.
"Now, currently, this girl is a hostage," Jean continued. "So we have three options and we can only choose one. Number one; kill her. She's a liability, will probably attempt to escape and she's already seen our safe house. If she gets out, we're all screwed. For safety matters, generally. Number two; contain her. Basically, I mean keep her here as a prisoner-like hostage. Captain Levi won't kill us if we have her life in our hands. He cares to much about his niece, cousin, whatever. And finally, number three; release her. Now this is the only one I'm against, the others I'm perfectly chill with. It basically means letting her go. If we let her go, she'll just scamper off to the Survey Corps and we'll get caught. Bad idea."
There was a stunned silence after his long speech on 'What to do when you have a hostage'. He should write a book or something, that would be amusing. Annie stared at Jean, surprised by his words. He'd been so silent, so secretly panicked that she'd assumed he was freaking out and traumatised. But here he was being all cold and calculated with his strategy and options and stuff it was so weird.
"So option one or option two is what you're saying?" Reiner asked, finally breaking the silence.
Jean nodded. "That's right. They're the logical approaches."
Reiner nodded impressively, turning about to look them all in the eye. Annie shrank beneath his gaze, curling up even more. She wasn't ready to face his wrath yet. He wasn't kind when he was angry. "Okay. I say we put it to a vote. I personally, want option one but whichever comes out top will be what we'll do."
Everyone nodded.
"Okay option one, raise your hands."
Reiner raised his hand confidently, watching the others for their reaction. To Annie's surprise, none of the others raised their hands. Usually, they all followed Reiner and did what he said. He was the boss so he knew best. Ymir gazed at the floor, shaking her head gently. Jean shrugged, even having the nerve to flash them a cocky grin. Bertolt touched his boyfriend's hand lightly.
"We're not killers, Rei," he said softly. "We don't want to be either."
Reiner shook him off, obviously not in the mood for Bertolt's kind words.
"Doesn't matter, not now," he stated gruffly. "Option two, hands up."
This time Annie raised her hand. She might have mixed feelings about Mikasa but she wasn't going to just kill her in cold blood. That wasn't what she'd signed up for, none of this was. Ymir raised her hand, finally raising her head to look at them. She looked calm once again. Damn, everyone in this group was so odd and so queer. Like literally. They were all so gay and able to hide their emotions so well. They were all meant to be, she thought bitterly.
Bertolt raised his hand and reached out with his other one to touch Reiner. Reiner angrily shrugged him off and Bertolt withdrew his hand, smiling sadly. Jean didn't choose either side and it didn't matter. Even if he choose Reiner's side, majority rules and Mikasa would be contained.
"Okay, fine," Reiner grumbled. "We'll lock her up somewhere for a while."
Mikasa arched an eyebrow, having stayed silent the whole way through the debate/conversation thing. Reiner grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her out of the kitchen. Once he was gone, everyone seemed to breath easier. Annie, herself, felt so much safer and that sliced at her heart. Reiner was her best friend and here she was absolutely terrified of him. Some friend she was.
Bertolt stared after Reiner, his expression sad and wistful. Things weren't going so well for the boys' relationship as far as she could see. Bertolt was being pushed away even though he was just trying to help the aggressive man.
Ymir immediately yanked her phone out of her pocket, quickly starting to type again. Annie frowned at her. What was this new thing about her texting all the time? Sure, Krystal or whatever her name was, would like to know what's going on but this was too extensive.
Jean, however, strode over to her, glaring down at her. He might look calm on the outside but his eyes were clearly terrified and a little crazy. She could see that now that they were so close to her own.
"What were you thinking, Leonhardt?" he said, voice calm but barbed with anger. "You're new to this group and you couldn't possibly understand what you've gotten yourself into. I don't care about you but damn, Annie, you're fucking screwed. Reiner and the others will eat you alive."
Annie didn't understand. Sure, she'd messed up the mission, they'd established that. Why was she so screwed? Reiner was furious with her but like it wasn't as extreme as Jean was making it out to be. And who were these 'others' he'd mentioned? Bertolt and Ymir? No, that didn't make sense. They weren't going to fuck her over, they weren't like that.
Jean turned away and walked back across the kitchen, making me for the fridge. White again, what was this house and white? She wrapped her arms tightly around her legs, hugging them to her chest. Dammit, she was supposed to be better than this. She was Annie Leonhardt, the cold and bitter unsociable bitch that didn't talk. She wasn't afraid of people or anything.
Well, actually she was terrified of so much but she never let that show. That was a rule that she'd promised and kept to herself. 'Never let them see your fear'. So far, it had helped her in life.
The kitchen door opened with a bang and they all jumped. Reiner stomped into the kitchen, his muscular arms practically bulging from within his t-shirt.
"Leonhardt," he growled. "You're in charge of that Ackerman bitch. Consider this part of your punishment for fucking up. She's not to leave that room, you understand? Nowhere, there's an ensuite going off the room so you should be okay. But if she fucking gets out, I'll rip you limb from limb."
Annie hopped up of the floor, nodding quickly. He stepped aside and she was out of kitchen door in a shot, leaving the texting Ymir and carrot-eating Jean behind. She heard Bertolt move towards his boyfriend, trying to calm his anger. But Reiner wasn't in such a mood. She quickly moved on.
She was out of the main corridor that they'd entered when first coming into the building. Only then did she realise that she didn't know where he'd locked Mikasa up. And there was absolutely no way that she was going back in there again. She'd just have to look and deduce it out.
She'd think about it the way Jean did. Okay. If Reiner was thinking right, he'd have locked her somewhere upstairs where it would be harder to get out. The windows had a higher drop from which you'd probably shatter an ankle and if she tried to come through the house, they'd notice before she managed to get to the door.
So upstairs was where she was going to check first. The stairs were close to the front door, packed along the side of the main hall. White who'd and white carpet. Seriously, this place needed a redesign with less white. Possible red would be a nice colour.
The second storey held nothing but bedrooms and a few others; like exercise, computers etc. No Mikasa to be found. She hurried along up the next flight of stairs. The house was a three storey building with an attic as far as she could see. Mikasa had to be up here somewhere.
The third door she tried was locked. Bingo, one Mikasa found. Now for the key. It wasn't in the lock and she didn't have one on her. Dammit. What was Reiner playing at? He couldn't possibly have expected her to get in without a key. Was he trying to humiliate her? No, there had to be one around here. That would make more sense.
After a few minutes of searching, she found the key hidden beneath a carpet. She inserted it into the lock and twisted. Sure enough, the lock opened with a click. But she lingered outside for a bit. She didn't want to look Mikasa in the face, it hurt too much.
She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The room was a bedroom, a lot fancier than the ones downstairs. And it thankful, wasn't coloured all white. It had a variety of colours and if warmed her heart to see that. The white was annoying.
Mikasa sat at the end of the bed, hands stretched above her head and handcuffed to the wooden frame. She still looked absolutely gorgeous, a little bored though. Annie paused to stare at her, taking in everything about this scene. Dark eyes, dark windswept hair and pale skin glinting in the sunlight. Her red scarf hung loosely about her neck, her arms raised above her head. Admittedly, there was something quite sexily kinky about what was going on here. She could imagine having Mikasa in chains to do what she wanted. Jesus, what a night that would be.
"Are you just going to stare at me, Annie?"
Annie jumped, suddenly being sparked into life. She shook her head, quickly chasing away those strange, dirty thoughts. Now's not the time Annie, she thought. Focus.
"No," she said coldly. "Not at all. I'm here because Reiner told me that I've to take care of you."
"Well, there's no need for that," Mikasa shrugged, carelessly and Annie's eyes narrowed. "I don't need your help, I never need help from anyone. Certainly not anyone helping Reiner anyway."
"You're a downright bitch, you know that? Reiner's a good guy, don't you dare insult him," Annie shot back. "He's a good person."
"He's not what you think he-"
"You know what, fuck you, Mikasa," Annie snapped, cutting her off. "Don't go talking shit about my best friend. I know him better than you ever will. Fuck you."
"Excuse me, you're the one that fucking kidnapped me!" Mikasa shot back. "I think I should be the angry one, the one giving out!"
Annie lunged forward, hands grabbing the girl by the front of her top. She roughly lifted her up to her face, blue eyes full of a desperate hate. "How fucking dare you?! You were toying with me, Mikasa! You were playing on my feelings and using them against me! Fuck the mission, I couldn't care less about that! It was the fact that I actually thought you had an interest me! That I was stupid enough to believe you! Fuck you."
Mikasa stared up at her, shock evident in her expression. "I-"
Annie dropped her, taking a step back. Her heart clenched and twisted in her chest but she didn't let it show. She couldn't let it show. "You played me like a God damn instrument," she whispered. "You hurt me."
"I'm sorry, Annie," Mikasa said softly. "It wasn't meant to be like that."
Annie turned around, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Nothing ever turns out the way we plan it. That's life, we just have to deal with it." And with that, she left the room, tears running freely down her face.