Hey, hey, hey. Sorry about taking so long with the chapter. Took a while but here we go! Thanks for reading!
"Jesus Christ, Leonhardt, what the shit."
Annie's eyes fluttered open at the sound of an exasperated but amused voice. At first her vision was hazy but slowly the room came into focus. She stared at a ceiling, a white ceiling with a rather dainty chandelier. She turned her head towards the voice, eyes narrowing.
It was Jean, standing in the doorway, a tray of food and a silver key in his hands. His lips were pursed in a sigh but there was this amusement to his gaze. She internally moaned. Great. Great. This was exactly what she wanted to wake up to in the morning.
"Fuck off, Kirstein," she moaned, returning her gaze to the ceiling. "I'm sleeping, it's not that big of a deal."
Jean laughed, though he kept it quiet for some reason. "I can see that. It's just who you're sleeping with..." He trailed off, the hint of a smirk to his smile.
Annie blinked several times, eyes sliding to him and back to the ceiling. What? What was this? Sleeping with someone? Slowly, the memories of what had happened last night crept back to her. Her eyes widened. Mikasa. No way. No fucking way? She looked beside her, hardly daring to believe it.
True to the point, Mikasa lay to her right, the dark haired woman still sleeping peacefully. She was curled to Annie's side, one hand softly gripping her own. She was so soft... Her dark hair curved around her face, framing her features beautifully. It was like a mesmerising dream come true.
Annie's stomach did a backflip. Holy crap. Mikasa. Mikasa was sleeping in the same bed as her. She almost died on the spot. They hadn't done anything past holding hands but still... This was quite a development from the last time.
Jean was still looking at her in awe, a cocky grin still etched on his lips. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Answer. She had to answer him. Get whatever stupid thing that was in his mind out of it.
"Whatever," she grumbled. Best. Response. Ever. "What are you doing here?"
"I... Well Reiner told me to give the prisoner some food so I took the spare key," Jean started, glancing at the stuff in his hands. "Naturally we assumed you'd sleep somewhere else but... Hmph. Guess not."
Annie sighed and covered her eyes with her arm. She did not want to deal with this right now. Just get him out of the room. She could sort him out later. "Leave it here for when she wakes up. Or be a good boy and leave it on the nightstand."
Jean made an impatient noise. "I'm not your slave, Annie."
"Yeah but you're in my room so get out," Annie retorted with a cold sniff. "I'm not a morning person."
Jean muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously "no shit Sherlock" which she pointedly ignored. Whatever. It was her room. Or Mikasa's. Whatever. He still had no right to just barge in whenever he felt like it.
She heard him move and thought he was coming deeper into the room. But he left, closing the door with a click behind him. His footsteps were heard on the wooden landing outside and slowly faded away as he left, descending down the stairs.
Annie let out a sigh once he was gone. Well that was great. Fucking great. Now Jean probably thought things were developing between her and Mikasa. It was true she guessed but that wasn't something she needed the others knowing.
"Is he going to be a problem?" Mikasa's voice came from her left, still doused with sleep but definitely awake. Annie's eyes flickered to her. So the woman had been awake during the whole thing.
"Hopefully not," Annie sighed, jaws stretching in a yawn. "But if Reiner thinks anything is happening between us, God knows what'll happen."
She rolled over to face Mikasa. The woman was right next to her so her face was just inches from hers. Their eyes met and Mikasa smiled. Annie's heart skipped a beat. Her smile, oh it was beautiful. Fresh and wonderful.
"Is anything happening between us?" Mikasa breathed.
Annie didn't know how to answer that. What had that been last night? That stupid fucking night. They'd talked, they'd bonded, developed. As much as a pair could in a single night anyway. And then.. The hand holding... That...
Mikasa was still holding her hand, fingers curled easily around her own. She hadn't seemed to have let go since she's taken it up last night. Her hand was warm and slightly bigger than Annie's but it just seemed so right. So right to feel in her own.
Annie sighed, pushing her thoughts away. "I don't know yet. Things are complicated. Reiner's fucking angry, we technically kidnapped you and Levi the short wonder is going to be after our asses the moment he's allowed out. It's not easy."
Mikasa smiled slightly, exhaling through her nose. "I'd assumed as much. We can't be anything. Not now." She winked and raised their joined hands. "Then consider it a promise. A promise for what will come." She kissed the back of her hand.
Annie stared at her with wonder, heart jumping in her chest. How could she be okay with this? With her? Or more importantly, in this situation? It just didn't make any sense. She didn't understand. Then she realised she was still staring at Mikasa without anything.
Annie coughed and rolled back, releasing Mikasa's hand. Her skin still tingled from the feeling of her lip. She sat up, flushing. "Right. Um.., I should go downstairs."
Mikasa sat up next to her, not seeming offended. "And I?"
Annie cast a look back at her. "Should stay here. Obviously the prisoner shouldn't be wandering around. Simple enough. That's why Jean brought food, I'm guessing."
Mikasa leaned back against the pillows, kicking her feet out in relaxation. From this angle, it gave Annie a good view of her toned stomach. Which she ignored, obviously. "Breakfast in bed, I'm impressed, Annie. Most kidnappers certainly aren't this courteous."
Annie stood up, stretching her arms towards the ceiling. "We obviously haven't been in this game long. We don't know shit about taking care of captives."
Mikasa laughed, a tinkling noise that warmed her heart. "I'm not complaining though."
Annie went to the door and found Jean hadn't locked it on his way out. Idiot. They'd a prisoner in this room. Regardless of the fact she was in there, he should have locked the door. "Horse-face left food for you next to the door," she called back to Mikasa. "I'll be back later."
Mikasa was still sitting on the bed, watching her as she left. "See you then, I guess?"
Annie made a noise of agreement and ducked out of the room as fast as she could. Even she knew that there was a red blush staining her cheeks. Goddammit. What sort of person was Mikasa that she could make her get so flustered?
Annie Leonhardt wasn't someone that was flustered easily. She was cold and bored, unforgiving and generally unapproachable by the public. This stupid blushing idiot was not her. But how could Mikasa reduce her to such a foolish mess?
It was exciting to say the least. A new discovery, a new experience. She was intrigued yet it was humiliating at the same time. Mikasa didn't seem at all worried or confused. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted. How to spur a reaction out of Annie with just a flirty smirk.
She exhaled. Right whatever. That didn't matter right now.
She made her way down the stairs, heart weary in her chest. This was not something she wanted to have to deal with this early in the morning. A glance at her watch told her it was only half seven in the morning. She was never this early.
Ugh. Reiner and Bertolt were probably back from their late night cool down drive. Which meant she'd have to deal with them. More like deal with Reiner. Bertolt was too quiet to count as a problem. Hopefully by now Reiner would have calmed down.
She hovered in front of the door leading to the kitchen. Somehow, it had become their unofficial headquarters of the house. It made her nervous for some reason. The others were probably all in there, talking, discussing. Because they all knew what was going on.
Taking a deep breath she pushed it open and stepped in.
Inside, yes. They were all there. Reiner was sitting at the kitchen table, talking to Ymir who stood across from him. Bertolt was hovering at his shoulder, a hand on his arm. Ymir seemed to be the angry one this time, hands making aggressive movements.
Jean leaned against the wall behind Reiner, seeming to observe the threesome from a safe distance. He obviously had no intention of getting involved. He was smarter than he looked, stupid horse-bastard. She'd need to keep an eye on him.
"-can't just fucking leave!" Reiner snapped, shaking his head. "This is more than just a little problem! It-!..." He trailed off when Annie stepped into the room. They all went quiet, eyes shifting to her.
Annie swallowed her uncomfortableness and closed the door behind her. When she looked back around, Jean was staring at her from across the room. His eyes were unreadable, mouth a thin line on his long face.
"Annie," Reiner said.
Annie looked over at him, grimacing. Here it came. He didn't look angry, if anything a little worried. She shifted her shoulders to face him. She was ready for whatever he needed to say, be it negative or positive.
Reiner lifted his chin, clearing his throat. "Em.. Annie, I'd um.. Like to apologise for what I did yesterday. I was angry and you didn't deserve the blame. I'm really sorry about that."
His words were sincere, she could tell by the way he was looking at her. The fury in his eyes was gone, replaced a concerned emotion. It was touching, she'd admit. That her friend was still on her side despite what had happened.
Annie pulled a chair from the table and sat down. All eyes were on her, watching her every movement. They were all waiting, breaths being held, to see how she reacted. She sniffed. She didn't mind either way.
"Whatever," she shrugged, carelessly kicking her legs up. "The screw up was partly my fault so it's an understandable reaction."
"Regardless," Reiner said, shoulders shaking like he did when he was passionate about something. "I hurt you and I feel bad about it. I shouldn't have let my anger get the better of me."
Annie waved away his words with her hand. "It's fine, Rei. I'm okay." She twisted the collar to show that where he'd grabbed didn't hurt at all. However, underneath her clothes she was sure there were a bunch of bruises mapping their way across her body. But he didn't need to know that.
Reiner looked reluctant to drop it so easily but after a look he nodded in agreement. Annie was relieved. She didn't do apologies so well. How was she supposed to react to them? She didn't really know, had never known. She'd always just nodded and smiled.
"That out of the way, what are we going to do now?" Jean's voice piped up from the wall.
He voiced what they all were thinking. What would they do? Would could they do? Their situation was dire, she knew that much. But what they could actually do was a whole other subject.
Reiner let out a sigh. "We failed in our mission and screwed up big time. For now, we're staying put until further notice. The Titans will contact us when they've adjusted their plans and I think they're sending someone later."
Annie frowned. "The Titans?"
"We never told Annie the plan," Bertolt said softly. His hand gently ran its way up and down Reiner's muscular arm in a soothing manner, his long fingers perfect for the job.
Reiner pressed a hand to his head, eyes closing in frustration. "Goddammit. I thought we could just leave it alone. That it would be fine. That we didn't need to drag her into this."
Annie was very intrigued. What was this? Were they finally going to spill what the whole thing was about? She hoped so. Being in dark wasn't fun at all. Especially when everyone else knew exactly what was going on.
"I don't really have the authority to tell you what's going on but I'll tell you one thing," Reiner sighed. "That robbery wasn't a little thing. It was huge, very important. We weren't taking money or any crap like that. No. We were looking for information."
"Information? About what?"
Reiner shook his head, lips pulling back into a grimace. "I can't say more than that without permission."
"Permission? From "the Titans", I assume?"
Reiner nodded but didn't say anything else. Annie figured that was all she was getting out of them. The others had the same dissatisfied expressions on their faces. Did they want to tell her? She didn't know, couldn't tell. But that made it all the more interesting.
Now this was exciting. Sure Jean had said stuff before that piqued her interest but now getting a solid name? This was something she could build on. Her mind was the knot, trying to figure out what they could possible be after. Information? On what? On who? What could be their true goal?
"Right. Well we'll see how that turns out," she shrugged, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind. "Now about food? And Levi? Is he up our asses yet?"
Jean walked across to her, dropping a plate of pizza in front of her. It was mildly warm, obviously cooled down from when it had been heated. Annie looked up at him, an eyebrow arched in question.
"Microwave pizza's all we got now," he shrugged. "Saved you a plate."
Annie accepted it with a little curve of her nose. Pizza itself was one thing but microwaved? Ugh. Not pleasant at all. But still. If it was the only thing they had, it would have to do. She was far from satisfied but it wasn't the worst thing she'd eaten before.
"As for Levi," Reiner sighed. "We haven't got word of anything yet but he's definitely coming after us. It's only a matter of time."
Annie took a bite from her pizza and sighed. As assumed, things were not going so well. She wondered if they were on the news yet. What headshot would they use for her? That's the real question. She smirked slightly to herself.
"That's enough, you're dodging me, Reiner," Ymir growled.
Annie sat back in her chair, tearing a chunk from her pizza. Tensions was rising again from the tall girl as she anxiously drummed her fingers against the table. Ymir was a nervous soul but a fighter. Hmm.
Reiner sighed and turned his gaze back to her. "Look Ymir. You can't leave. We can't let you."
"Why?! I'm not your prisoner!"
Reiner didn't seem angry or in anyway aggressive which was impressive for him. "For your safety. We don't know what Levi and the Survey Corps are up to. If they catch you, your whole life is doomed."
Ymir's face was still crinkled but it seemed to soften slightly. The tall girl was still pissed but she could see the logic in his reasoning. Annie watched her with mild interest. Didn't matter what she wanted. They were in stuck in it together 'till the end.
Suddenly the sound of a car engine could be heard along with the crunching of gravel from wheel of a machine. A car was pulling into the driveway. Annie looked towards the window, spotting a slim black car making it way towards them. The glass was tinted but she could just glimpse a dark suited figure.
Reiner stood up, swallowing hard. Bertolt was at his arm, a hand tight to his wrist. Both of them seemed nervous, movements stiff and rigid. Annie arched an eyebrow. They knew who it was and did not seemed very happy to see them arriving.
"What? What is it?" she demanded.
Reiner exhaled, moving out from behind the table. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, scrunching his nose. "The boss."
Annie leapt to her feet, immediately intrigued. The boss was here? In flesh and truth? She grinned. Finally, she'd get to meet the big guy behind all this. She'd been waiting for this. She started walking for the front door.
Reiner started to protest but then dropped it quickly. Good. Because he wouldn't have been able to stop her either way. She trudged out into the hallway, leaning against the stairway with a casual air.
Multiple sets of feet were walking towards them. The door swung open, letting the morning light flood into the hallway. In walked two men, bodyguards from the size of them. Dark suits and heavy handguns at their waists. Annie made a note if that.
Then in came the "boss", an air of arrogance and power radiating off him. The swagger in his step, the way he puffed his chest out, it all just oozed arrogance. Annie's skin prickled.
He wasn't as tall as Reiner or Bert but he was still towering over her, her small statue not giving her much to rival. His shoulders were broad and his body seemed well toned, arms swelling with muscles beneath his checkered shirt. He had shaggy blond hair with a full face beard and glasses perched upon his nose. His eyes were instantly drawn to her.
He lowered his thin framed glasses to look at her properly, eyes narrowed. "Annie Leonhardt I assume. Oh Reiner has informed me about you, all right," he smirked coolly. A muscle in her jaw jumped. "My name's Zeke but they all call me the Beast."