It had been dark for a long time.
Lying on his side on the hard, cold floor, Alex swallowed as he rubbed his arms, trying to get himself to stop shivering. It wasn't easy; wherever he was, it was meant to be cold. He stared in the direction of the now empty plate which he had stumbled into when he had woken up. Despite the footprint in the sandwich he had made, he had devoured the food in a flash, and now was spending his time wishing the dish would magically refill.
Giving what was both a moan and a howl, he slammed his hand against the wall and dragged his nails against it, relishing in the feeling, however painful it was. He had fucked up. He had fucked up so bad, and now he was paying for it. He didn't know how many hours he had been locked away in complete darkness, but it was more than enough time for him to curse himself in every way possible for letting it come to this. He thought to each and every person who had been in their hideaway who was no dead because of what he had done. In all honesty, he didn't think he had any tears more to cry.
His mind was just starting to drift to the possibility of suicide and how it could be achieved with his very limited means when the heavy clanking of what must have been the door gave him cause to jump. A latch was pulled back and the very heavy metal barrier swung open, temporarily blinding him as light poured into his makeshift cell.
"I hope you haven't been awake too long."
Blinking and squinting, he brought his eyes up to see a woman standing in the doorway, her shadow cast over him. All he could make out of her was a black silhouette, but a quick flash on what must have been her glasses told him immediately who this was. His voice cracked over its period of nonuse.
"Long enough."
He wished he could see her face as she leaned against the doorframe, appearing as nonchalant as ever.
"You know why you're here?"
Bowing his head, Alex fretted over the answer before realizing that his response definitely didn't matter.
"Because I stole from you."
"Wrong."
He blinked.
"What?"
"You're here because you got sloppy. You were caught."
Not replying, he knew now that she was just here to play with him. She waited several long, echoing seconds before sighing.
"I'm in a conundrum, Alex."
He still refused to look at her as she continued.
"I don't know what to do with you. I ordered that you were to be brought back here, but I don't know what to do with you know… we got all of your associates, we found the money you took, and all of your product has been seized. So… at this point, I just don't… "
"Kill me then."
She stopped and he could feel her eyes boring into him.
"Pardon?"
"So fucking kill me."
"Is that what you want?"
Suddenly, he was furious. Rolling onto his hands and knees, he glared at her.
"What does it fucking matter?! All I had is gone! It's over, there's nothing left for me, why the fuck are you playing with me like this?! You enjoy it, you twisted bitch?! Just end it, for fuck's sake!"
Panting, he allowed his gaze to drop to the ground, where he fell to, praying that his disrespect would be enough for her to end him. But instead, he heard her pace across the distance between him before she reached down and took his chin, bringing him up to meet her eyes.
"I don't think I will. There may be use for you yet… "
And he saw the look in her eyes and he knew then, that whatever she had in mind for him, made death quite the preferable option.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Cursing the ineptitude of her underlings under her breath, Annie marched down the hall to Hange's office, folder tucked under her arm. She should have been up there twenty minutes ago, but someone was going to have to whip the people in charge of filing into place; Annie was done waiting on something that should have done yesterday.
Hell, maybe I'll give them a talking to myself.
She knew she was more feared than anything around the compound and she liked it that way. If she could use that power to get some more productivity out of the rats downstairs, perhaps she'd better.
"Hange, c'mon, this is bullshit, how the fuck can you just let this slide… "
She could hear Sasha's furious rantings well before she had reached the door to the office and gave a sigh, tossing a streak of her hair aside. It wasn't difficult to guess what the brunette was up in arms about, and it was twice as foolish to assume that she wouldn't be pissed as hell after finding out.
Swinging the door open, she gave the room a quick glance around to get a grasp on the situation. As expected, Sasha was leaning over Hange's desk, fists clenched and looking to be in both states of ire and disbelief. Ilse was behind her, looking subdued as though she had come to terms with whatever the argument was focused on. Mikasa was leaning against the right wall, looking almost bored with her arms crossed and eyes down. To the left stood both Ymir and Krista, very close to each other and both looking at least mildly angry, if not to the extent of their friend. Striding through them, Annie cut through the conversation with a sigh, dropping the folder on her boss's desk.
"Numbers for last month."
She noticed that despite looking somewhat tired, Hange looked to be in oddly fine spirits.
"Thank you, Annie."
The blonde paced backwards and closed the door, leaning against it. Her entrance had halted whatever heated debate had preceded her, and while she wasn't particulalrly in the mood to continue it, she did want to be in the loop.
"Eight percent?"
Hange nodded slowly.
"Eight percent."
Sasha turned away, digging her teeth into her lower lip and looking very much like she wanted to break something.
"Fucking BULLSHIT… "
Leaning back with a sigh of her own, Hange watched the brunette pace within the limited space she was provided.
"Sash, you knew this was coming, we all knew. We had plenty of time to be ready… "
"How can you just let him DO that… "
"Right now, it's something we can't fight. He still holds us at an edge, we're lucky he's not asking for more… "
Shaking her head and cracking her knuckles violently, Sasha turned back forward.
"Just let me take him out, for shit's sake, it would be so easy… "
"No."
Anger bit into Hange's response and she finally looked up with an air of aggression.
"It would be easy, but then we have the following shitstorm to deal with. And I am NOT losing anyone else."
Despite the months that had passed, Annie watched regret for her words flash on Hange's face as she risked a glance at Mikasa who still hadn't looked up. Sasha caught the hint and swallowed down whatever fight was left in her and opted to stand to the side, arms crossed. As tension slowly hissed from the room, Ymir took a step forward.
"Hey, Hange?"
The woman glanced at her.
"Yeah?"
For a moment, it looked like Ymir might throw up. Then, she seemed to come to some sort of internal conclusion.
"We should probably hit the road… you know if there's nothing more you want us to take care of… "
Blinking in realization, Hange shook her head and waved at them.
"I apologize, I completely forgot."
She smiled.
"Go ahead, good luck."
Ymir smiled back, looking frozen in place, until Krista looped an arm around hers and dragged her out of the room. Pausing only for a moment to furrow her brow in confusion, Annie then looked back ahead.
"Wednesday, yes?"
Hange responded without looking at her, eyes still on the door where two of her best had left through.
"Yes, be in by noon, that should give us plenty of time."
With the air of finality, Sasha marched out of the office without another word, Ilse looking after her with concern. Mikasa followed shortly thereafter, looking unflinchingly bored. Annie cast one final look Hange's way and, seeing her deep in thought still, she too left the room. As she made to head downstairs, she was stopped as Ilse appeared by her shoulder.
"Hey Annie?"
The blonde stopped and looked back; seeing the look of hesitation and worry on her friend's face, she imagined this was no trifling matter.
"What's up?"
Ilse glanced behind her and ahead of her, up and down the hall, while rocking on her heels.
"I… so here's the thing… I… I don't really want to ask this of anybody, but… personally, I'd do it, but… under the circumstances… "
"Ilse."
Annie took her by the arm and leaned her gently against the wall, trying to push away some of her own natural menace.
"What's wrong."
Meeting her eyes, Ilse paused a moment before giving a tremendously deep sigh and lowering her head.
"It's Sash. She's been acting… funny these past few weeks. Hell, months. She takes off after work and I don't know where she goes. I ask her about it and she asks me to stay out of it and to not worry. I want to respect what she wants, but… she's just not herself."
"I've noticed."
Ilse was now looking oddly eager.
"So… would you maybe… you don't need to today, but… maybe sometime, give her a tail? Just to make sure she's okay… "
Initially, Annie was almost amused at the prospect she was being asked about. Then, she saw the real worry in Ilse's eyes and the sincerity of the request hit her.
Imagine if it was…
"Yeah. Yeah, of course."
Breathing a sigh of relief as though the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders, Ilse broke into a smile.
"Thanks, Annie. I owe you one."
Giving her a nod, the blonde waited for her friend to walk down the hall opposite before disappearing around a corner. She then leaned against the wall in silence awhile, contemplating how to go about what she had been asked.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
It was close to dark when he got home.
She heard the front door open and close as she allowed herself to be wrapped in mindless ecstasy. He must have known what was happening in the other room, for he slipped into the room and undressed slowly, watching with a conserved air of excitement.
It never came close to what she had once had, but it distracted her just enough and gave her just enough release to keep coming back. Whether or not they knew it, they went along with it, no judgement passed her way. It felt good, of that there was no denying. Though she wondered for a moment of what he would say if he saw them.
Next to the window, he finally stripped completely and two became three, their sensual desires satisfied over and over.
Something has to change.
The thought came on unbidden and she tossed it to the side as she climbed on top. She had no desire to be second guessing herself right now, in one of the few escapes from reality she was allowed day to day.
Don't forget… don't forget that she…
In a single burst of anger, she forced herself on him, ignoring the surprise in his gaze as she took control. Behind her, the other's hands felt up her body and she leaned back into him, allowing his tongue to work magic against her neck. She needed this right now.
And foolishly, she realized she wanted it to last forever.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Krista walked alongside Ymir in silence until they were outside and in their car. Grunting slightly, as now, they very act of climbing into a vehicle was a tad arduous, she breathed out and looked over at Ymir who was staring at the steering wheel, looking still as a statue. Frowning, she reached over and gave her girlfriend a slight touch on the arm.
"Hey, Ymir?"
She received no feedback, and, moments before she tried again, she recoiled as Ymir suddenly began slamming the dash with a fist, in unison with her swears.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!"
Keeping her mouth tightly clenched and remaining as still as she could, Krista watched closely as Ymir finally relented and sighed herself resting her forehead on the wheel.
"Krista, baby, we have to tell her at some point."
Realizing what this was about, the blonde smiled sadly and nodded.
"We will."
"When?"
For this, she had no real answer.
"When we need to."
Ymir shook her head.
"We can't just keep blowing this off. We owe her that much, at least to tell her why what's happening is happening. She'll understand, she has to… "
Reaching out, Krista took her hand.
"Let's not worry about that right now. We have more than enough to worry about right now."
Ymir straightened and looked back to her with apologetic eyes.
"You're right. I'm sorry, that was selfish."
Krista smiled again.
"No, it wasn't."
Smiling back, Ymir looked forward as she started the vehicle and started their drive to the hospital. And though she really didn't want to, Krista couldn't help but notice the sadness that remained in her girlfriend's eyes.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Hundreds of miles from where Ymir and Krista drove, waiting with bated breath for good news, a small rural house sat peacefully against a wide plain of dust and dirt.
It had been there for decades, passed down as many residences in that area were. It had seen its fair share of hardships and good fortune and couldn't pass off the look of being in slight need of repair, but it suited the house.
Well after the sun dipped below the horizon, three men entered the house. They had planned to enter one way or another, but the door was unlocked and they passed the threshold with relative silence. When they found the house's single present occupant, the following argument was long and with all range of pitched voices. Words were said, curses were exchanged, and threats were not so veiled. Eventually, the tension split for the most inexperienced of the invaders and a single gunshot rang out through the house. Despite its shaken intentions, the accuracy was strong and the house's owner fell without a word. Cursing their companion, the two men dragged him out of the house and escaped into the darkness.
An hour or so later, a young woman returned from her shift slightly later than she preferred. Annoyed, but nonetheless, thrilled to be home, she entered the same house, not noticing how the front door had been ajar. After calling out to no response, several times, she made her way upstairs and, upon seeing what had been left, her legs gave way and she gave a tortured scream at what her eyes saw.
Minutes later, in a fleeting moment of agony and grief, she made a promise. It was a promise made in the darkest depths of her sorrow and one that would, though she could never have foreseen it, change so much more than what she ever could have wanted.