The sounds of combat floated out from the forest as I sat in the wagon, my heart pounding. Suddenly, the sound of a Titan roar reached my ears, but this one was different than Annie's. Where had I heard it before? Then it hit me. Eren.
The sounds of combat grew louder and louder, but I knew Annie would be strong enough to take him on. She had to be. The crash of falling trees and the shouts of the Survey Corps members reached my ears. I bit my lip to keep myself from crying out. There was one last roar, and then everything went quiet. The only sound that remained was the loud thumps of giant footsteps, Annie's or Eren's I didn't know. My heart was in my throat, and then I saw commander Erwin and the rest of Levi's team retreat from the forest, Eren with them. They looked crestfallen, and a smile spread over my face. Annie had gotten away.
The procession back to the Walls was generally somber, save for me of course. I was ecstatic that Annie had escaped, yet I was a bit upset that our mission had failed. We had failed to retrieve Eren. This would make it a lot harder to complete our ultimate goal, but it wasn't impossible.
As we reentered the Walls, we were greeted by cheers that slowly melted into distraught cries and gasps of astonishment. I scanned the crowd and caught sight of a blonde girl standing a bit away from the crowd in plain clothes, her hair down and covering half of her face. Her face was impassive. She suddenly caught my eye and smiled a little, lifting her hair away from her face briefly. I would recognize those gorgeous blue eyes anywhere. Annie. She was well disguised. She had gotten back with impeccable speed, and I silently praised her for that.
The wagons rumbled to a halt, and I was suddenly grabbed from behind. My arms were pinned behind my back, and I was yanked from the wagon and to the floor. I gritted my teeth as I landed on my fractured leg.
"What the hell were you doing outside the walls?" A voice hissed in my ear. Captain Levi…
I refused to answer, and I stared up at him defiantly. I received a hard kick to the stomach for my rudeness.
"I asked you a question", Levi said calmly, "now please answer it." By now a small crowd has gathered around me and Levi, and I felt my cheeks grow hot. The fear of being recognized returned, and I lowered my head a little so my red hair covered part of my face. I spotted Annie standing a bit away, observing, and I wondered if I could still communicate with her in her human form using Titan language.
"Annie", I thought, concentrating hard. I saw her give a little start, and her captivating blue eyes locked with mine.
"Hey", her voice echoed in my head. It had worked.
"What do I tell him?" I said to her, and she closed her eyes for a second.
"Tell him you were captured", she said at last, "it may not work, but they can't prove anything."
I slowly looked up at Levi, careful to keep my hair in my face, and willed myself to cry. I had always been a good actress. I could feel my eyes filling with tears, and I smiled discreetly. I locked eyes with Levi, the tears spilling over.
"It was horrible", I said shakily, "that...that Titan, it...it had me in its grasp...I couldn't escape...I thought I would die..." I heard some people in the crowd gasp and murmur sympathetically.
"Would it really be so bad to be in my grasp?" Annie's voice echoed playfully in my head. "I thought you liked it when I held you." A deep blush spread over my cheeks, and it took all I had not to smile.
"Are you trying to get us caught?" I replied teasingly, "don't distract me."
Levi's expression didn't change. He yanked me to my feet, and I winced as my weight was put on my leg.
"We'll hold you for questioning", Levi stated, and he dragged me away. We were flanked by two Military Police soldiers, both of them casting me curious glances as we walked. As we passed the Survey Corps, they looked up at me in confusion, and Armin stared at me wide-eyed.
I was put in a cell under constant guard. Levi peered in through the bars at me, disgust evident on his face.
"I don't believe your story for a second", he said, "and I will get the truth out of you. Until then, you will stay here."
I glared daggers at the back of his head as he left, leaving me with the guards. They ignored me, so I decided to inspect the lock to decide if there was any way to escape. To my dismay, I discovered that the lock was impossible to open without a key, and I wouldn't even bother trying to break the chain. I retreated back to the dingy bed in the middle of the room and sat down. Our plan was falling apart right in front of our eyes, and there was nothing I could do to fix it. My hopes of clearing my family name and getting revenge on my step-father were dwindling. I could only hope that Annie had a plan to get me out of here.
"Annie", I thought, and I listened for a while, but I received no answer. I tried again an hour later, but still nothing. Eventually, I just gave up and curled up on the bed, drifting into a fitful sleep.
