Two figures walked at a part of the abandoned city after the attack of the Titans, they were hidden in the black hooded cloth and moved quickly through the alleys, buildings around them were destroyed with blood and holes in some of them. They advanced to one structure at the edges of the city after they evadad from the patrol units in the city to see that everything was fine after the attack. They passed through a side entrance and directly into the abandoned building. They noticed Reiner that was waiting for them there from the beginning, the muscular blond leaning on a wall and occasionally glanced out the window to see that the area is clear.
"Your late", he simply said without moving his eyes from the window.
Bertolt took off his hood first and turned to his friend, "sorry, there were a lot of soldiers who went around and I had to find an excuse and disappear without them asking questions" answered the tall boy.
"I can understand you Bertolt, I also heard that your job went smoothly with the Connie as a leader and you even eliminated some Titans and rescued someone from the police", he finally said with a proud smile. "Glad to see your continueing to improve".
He turned his head to the second hidden character which was to the side of Bertolt and was much shorter than him, "but more importantly, Annie Where the hell have you been?!" He said with a weak voice, after all they still had to be quiet not to reveal them.
Annie lowered her hood, looking directly at Reiner that began to approach her, "I was with one of the other units that were at the edges of the city and I had to be sure not to to get seen..." She said in the same normal and emotionless voice.
Reiner could see she was thinking about something else or she was not completely honest with him and it was obvious she was tired and a little pale for some reseon, but decided to speak his mind about a more important metre. "I understand, and now we have the time and privacy, you want to tell me what it is about you and Mikasa?" He finally asked, causing Annie's eyes focus on him.
Just the thought of Eren's step sister had made her angry. She clearly knew what Reiner spoke of, "I thought you already know I'm trying to be number one from the beginning, and she is always ahad of me" she again used her usual excuse and hoped he would buy it, but her hope was for not.
"I didn't meant that, I meant all the staff with Eren", he finally said, and waited for a response from her, "at that moment that you refused to leave him!, is there's something you're not telling us?".
Her gaze became angry and she progressed until she was standing in front of Reiner, "something I am not telling?, what are you trying to imply?".
Bertolt still watched and had already suspected something , but remained silent and gave his friend withdraw the answers they were looking for from Annie.
"I'm talking about what's going on between you and Eren" he finally dropped the bomb. " In the beginning you began to teach him your fighting style and sometimes even eat with him, not to mention the fact that I do not know where you are all the time.
She frowned, "I do not have to tell you where I am every minute, am I entitled to my privacy and without you on my neck every second" she said for granted and crossed her arms.
"Annie!, your forgeting again I am the one responsible for our mission!, you're supposed to report to me about anything no matter what it is!".
"Maybe you forgot that we were not supposed to attack so soon!" She finally raised her voice in anger. "If You think I'm hiding something then you forget you two attacked without me after we were supposed to do it together!".
"There was a change of plans and if I were trying to call you before, that could result in failure" he said as it was obvious and tern away from her, he hoped she would buy his excuse and just let the issue slide. He could imagine how she would react if she knew thet Bertolt decided to reveal himself to eliminate Eren and break through the wall at the same time.
"Really?" She asked with doubt in her voice, 'What are you playing at Reiner?'. "So what is the status of the job?, what did manege to find out?".
Reiner crossed his hands for a few seconds and closed his eyes, "the headquarters that we tried to reach was guarded better than expected, and even at the time of the attack it was guarded even more than usual", in all honesty he thought it was strange that the commanders sent the new trainees and soldiers with the least experience to fight the Titans and have the most powerful and experienced ones sent to evacuate the citizens 'should it not be the opposite?'.
"And what about Eren, what happened to him after the mission?. I doubt that headquarters would let someone like him to move freely" she said in the most relaxed voice. Even if insaid she was afraid of the fate of her beloved green eyes boy after she left him with the military police.
Reiner took a deep breath and finally exhaled, "I don't know" he graduated in shame.
"You don't know..." She repeated the words.
"It's not something they share with every soldier who has just finished his training, but from what I heard from individual soldiers, the police is holding him and for what I do not know" he finally finished. He knew that Eren is not just someone they can ignore after he revealed his power,"by my estimation they decide what to do with him".
Annie swallowed hard as she realized that she had no way of knowing where or what the condition of Eren until she remembered that Armin was part of the men who planned the operation, 'I can ask Armin, this is my best chance to find him', she thought to herself. "We have to find where he is" she muttered to herself but loud enough for the two to hear.
"Why souled we worry for him?" Bertolt said out of nowhere after he no longer could hold himself and surprised his teammates as he entered the conversation between them.
"No,I agree with Annie" replied Reiner. Eren has become second priority once he revealed that he has the ability to change as us, we will have to make sure that he will remain alive and well" he said and decided they would have to slightly modify their plans.
Annie just nodded positively and turned her back to the two boys and began to walk without a word.
"Hey Annie, where are you going?" Ask Reiner his team-member.
"I was gone too long, it's time to go back before they start asking questions", she said, without turning her head and just covered her self with her hood and left the building.
Bertolt tried to stop the Annie before he felt Reiner's hand that stopped him "Let her go Bertolt, we need to talk".
"T-to talk?, about what?" Ask The tall boy with mild worry as he thought that Reiner would be angry about the fact that he acted alone.
"About Eren of course, and plan on how to deal with him" said the tall blonde and surprised Bertolt.
"D-Deal with him?, but I thought you told Anni-".
"And why do you think I said it to her?, you have seen for yourself how she started acting lately right?. Hell, you even tried to use our mission as an excuse to kill him!" Reiner said as if he knew the real reason all the time and made Bertolt lower his head in shame. "Maybe your reason was not so good, but the end result is what matters now!. We need to eliminate him, or at least be sure that he can not change any more".
'You can be sure I will make the first option more likely' thought Bertolt with a wicked smile as he and Reiner began to wear back the hoods back and return to their positions before anyone noticed they were gone.
"Commander L-Levi" Eren said in fear as he understood who stood before him. The short commander looked at him with careful eyes and didn't say a word, at the corner of his eye he could see Hanji who was crying in the corner and muttered something about evil commanders in charge. And another man that came and stood by Levi.
"How are you feeling Eren?" said the said the tall, blond hair commander that Eren immediately identified as Erwin Smith the 13th commander of the Survey Corps.
'The head of the Survey Corps, Erwin Smith!' Eren thought fearfully. Erwin was taller then Levi and Hanji with blond hair that was combed to side, he was dressed in his uniform and without his equipment. His gaze was serious but not as scary as his lieutenant.
Eren found it difficult to answer for a few seconds and just stared at the two commanders who were in front of him, it's not every day you get to meet two legendary soldiers of humanity. Finally, he got out of his head and finally answered with a voice slightly trembling, "y-yes I am fine".
"Good, we just received permission to talk with you and if you don't mind I wanted to ask you a few questions", said Erwin and received a positive nod from Eren. "First I wanted to know about your encounter with the colossal titan".
Without thinking too much about the question he began to recall the details before he took a deep breath and began to tell them from the beginning. He started from the moment he and his friends cleaned the cenons before they heard the deafening noise that came with steam and smoke and almost killed some of them, and then he described the enormous Titan who was obviously intelligent and destroyed the canons on the wall before he tried to kill him, Connie and Sasha that came to help him before it disappears as soon as it appeared.
The hole time he explained the three looked at him and lisend to his every word, trying to find some kind of hole or something that did not fit with what they already knew. "You forgot to mention your team member Mina Carolina and Samuel that almost lost their lives when the huge Titan appeared" said Erwin.
"Ah!, right!. What about Mina and Samuel?, are they ok?" He asked in a frightened voice with concern and had completely forgotten where he was and with whom he spoke.
Erwin smiled and shook his head positively "they are fine, they were taken beyond the walls wan they were breached".
The Titan shifter sigh with relief when he learned that two of his friends are still alive and well and smiled.
'Clunk!'
The noise shook Eren from his relief as he heard Levi that kicked the bars out of nowhere "We're not finished with the questions you scum, you can feel relaxed afterwards!" He said with a frown.
"Levi!" Erwin said to his lieutenant and immediately silenced Levi that just answered 'cii' in response. "Eren, I wanted you to also tell me what you remember from the first time you've changed" he finally.
Eren began to tell everything he remembered from the moment he and his crew were attacked, and the time he was eaten and lost his arm and thought he was dying. Then finally the moment he felt something from inside him. Every time he told what he remembered he looked at his hand that was cut off and came back as good as new. "And it's the last thing I remember until I woke up in-front of solders that had their weapons pointed at me".
Erwin closed his eyes and just kept quiet while he listened to the explanation of the young trainee who was obviously the reason they took the wall back so quickly.
"Commander Erwin?" Said Eren in fear and made the blond commander open his eyes and look at him quizzically. "What's going to happen to me?".
"Before I answer this", Erwin said, pulling from his pocket the key that belong to Eren.
"T-That key!" said the Titan shifter in fear for the last momento from his fater.
"I know it's yours, and I will return to you soon" he began to say before his gaze changed. "This key opens the basement of your old house, and we believe thats where we will find the secret of the Titans".
'The secret of the Titans?' Eren thought, 'Father, if you I knew from the start wey were you hiding it?'.
"Your father disappeared a few years ago, you have no idea where he's gone to?" Erwin asked but could alrady gesse the anser.
"I-I don't know, I can not remember..." the boy answered in shame and lowered his head.
"amnesia, how convenient..." said Levi. "So what do you want to do now?".
The question surprised Eren as he recalls the day he decided to fight and eliminate as many of the Titans, he took a deep breath before he lifted his head back to Levi that was waiting expectantly for his answer. "To tell you the truth if you were asking me the same question before I would tell you that I want to kill all of them!" He said the last part with a gleam in his eyes and proved his words. "But now I want to live for the people that are important to me and worry that they will be safe!" He concluded by recalling the faces his friends and of course Annie and Mikasa.
Levi came up to the bars with a spark of interested in his eyes, 'ohh?'. "Erwin I'll take responsibility for him, tell that to the tope brass".
"Why the sudden interest Levi?".
"There's something I want to see, the command would not object to my proposal as there is no one better than me, and I could kill him if he is out of control with no problem", Levi finished with a stern gaze and looked directly into the eyes of the boy cowering in fear, "So what do you say brat? Want to join the Survey corps?".
The day after at Headquarters...
Mikasa and Armin sat alone at a large table at the dining room with the other trainees who managed to get out of town and survive the mission to block the wall, people seem to be either afraid or happy and some were just like always. Most trainees sat and talked with their friends or simply ate and were happy to still be alive after the Wall was breached and sealed.
Armin was thinking a lot about what happened during the last few days, about his childhood friend Eren and their current status. They still did not know where Eren disappeared after they left him with Hanji or if he is still alive and well. Mikasa was in a different mood than usual and he could understand why, 'she still blames herself for the disappearance of Eren', the little blond thought.
"He's all right, they will not hurt him after he was just shut the hole in the wall and before they find out as much as they can about him", she muttered to herself for the fifth time today, she was still angry with herself that she thought that Eren will be fine if she left him with Hanji.
"Armin!" Annie's voice and made two turn their heads to her.
Annie approached the two or rather to Armin without even looking to the direction of Mikasa. The dark-haired's eyes focused on Annie that came to the table and stood next to Armin.
"Armin you saw where thay took Eren? I cant find him anywhere after the mission began", the blonde girl said, stressed about the condition Eren.
"No Annie I-" He started to say before Mikasa interrupted him.
"Eren's not here, what do you want with him?" Mikasa asked in a weak, but threatening voice and looked at Annie with a frown.
"That is none of your business" Annie snapped her teeth and returned the same look back.
'It will not end nicely', he thought to himself "M-Mikasa, we all just worried about Eren and are all angry because of this". His words caught the eyes of both girls, "I'm sure he's fine, they probably holding him until he recovers and then they will release him!, you remember he blocked the hole in the wall and helped us to take back the city!, they know he can help humanity", he ended with a little smile to try to calm them down. He knew that the situation with Eren is much more complicated than he said to the two girls, but he still tried to calm them and was delight to see Annie that settled to his side, staring at the table and ignored Mikasa that continued to look at her.
"Annie" said the black-haired girl and surprised the two blonds who looked at her, "I remembered something, Where were you during the mission?".
Annie looked at the dark-haired girl "while the mission?, I was in town with the unit they placed me with", she said as it was obvious and looked away from Mikasa that was still examining her.
"Really?, and I thought you were worried about Eren enough to want to protect him yourself", Mikasa said dismissively, "and you have the courage to say you care!".
Annie was furious, she got up quickly and hit the table with her hands and put her head against Mikasa who did not flinch from the sudden reaction of Annie that made Armin and everyone around them jump.
"Do you have anything to say Annie?" Mikasa said with a menacing look.
"Mikasa Ackerman!, Annie Leonhardt!, Armin Arlert! are you here?!" Shouted a soldier that came into the dining room.
Armin saw the soldier was an adult whom the military police, "y-yes!, we're here!" He said as the soldier began to approach to the direction of the three.
"Headquarters calls the three of you, Follow me!".
Mikasa and Annie were still locked in a battle of looks and would not give up for a second and just ignored the soldier who looked at them angrily.
"Did you heard me!?" He commended but immediately fell silent as the two trainees averted their gaze to him.
"O-Of course we've heard you, right Mikasa? Annie?" Armin said trying to save the poor soldier. "You said that you will lead us there right?" He asked the soldier that seemed glad he turned to him.
"Y-Yes exactly!, Follow me..." he said and turned his back on the three and went to wait for them outside.
Mikasa looked at the soldier that disappeared through the door and then looked away to Annie and without saying a word just left the room when Armin want after her, her gaze to Annie said only one thing, 'we're still not finished'.
Hanji and Mike that smelled Eren reached the ground floor of the building and stood in front of the Great wooden doors that were guarded by four soldiers of the military police with guns, as soon as they noticed the boy one guard moved one step forward and grabbed Eren from the chains that were on his hands and began to pull him over to the doors after His partner was keeping open the doors and went after them.
Eren could see he was led to the military court room that was huge and full of soldiers of all ranks and classes, he could tell his friends were standing side by side behind the soldiers of the police with Mikasa and Annie stood alongside one another and Armin whose head was showing alongside Mikasa. He was happy to see that they were all right after the mission and a little disappointed that they saw him enter the courtroom handcuffed like a monster or a criminal. From across the room he saw Erwin and Levi watching him as he went with the next face without a special expression, Finally his eyes landed on a tell commander that he did not know but guessed he was in charge of the military police and those who see him as a monster to kill.
The two soldiers led him into the hall ended up in an iron stand at the center of the room, the one who held it signaled him to sit on the floor with his back against the post while his partner picked up the top and put the chains of Eren and serving him to not run no matter what.
The position in which he was sitting was not the most comfortable and he tried to move his arms slightly but unsuccessfully, his eyes moved around and landed back on Erwin and Levi that still had not moved.
'Fuu' sounded the tired sigh of the berdad man that was sitting in front of Eren in a much higher position from the boy.
...
"Before we reach a decision on the fate of Eren Jaeger, there is another topic that we need to find out about. Mikasa Ackerman move forward" he ordered in a calm voice.
Mikasa knew there was a chance that they will want to talk to her before they decide about Eren, she moved up and went forward until she reached next to Eren that looked confused and scared.
"I've already told you that she is not related to-" He tried to say before the judge raised his hand and motioned for him to calm down.
"This is not about you, it's about something that happened while the wall was breached" he just said and looked at the black-haired girl as she looked at him directly.
"Ackerman Mikasa, you were part of the unit that was led by Ian Dietrich that was responsible for the evacuation of civilians during the time the Wall was breached. Is that true?".
"That's true" she said in her normal voice without any emotion.
The judge went on to look at the black-haired that was not impressed by him and just went on after a short breath, "So tell me about how the mission was going".
"When the commanders began to organize the units when the wall was breached, commander Ian called me and told me that I was chosen to be part of the elite unit that evacuated the citizens" she simply said.
"Really?" He looked surprised and narrowed his eyes, "It is quite rare to add new trainees to the elite unit without any warning, even if you received the highest marks".
"That's what I thought, but it was not my choice from the start" she said, her voice was a little angry. "We killed the few Titans who made it past and made sure that the citizens were not affected at all until the walls were closed and they marked us to move beyond the walls".
"That's right, and after the mission?" He finally asked, "what did you do?".
"I wanted to get back to the city-limits to-", she began to say before they started to hear the voices all around the hall that interrupted her.
"Quiet!,quiet!" The judge called several times to as silence returned to the hall and he returned his interest to the story of the trainee.
"You were about to go back to the city?" He asked and received a positive nod and asked, "Why?".
"I wanted to help my friends" she said for granted and looked quickly at the form of Eren that was still bound by her side.
"And what did commander Ian said about it?" He asked with interest.
"He objected and said there was no reason I should come back somewhere where we lost contact with and not known what the situation was, and before I could I explain to him why I wanted to come back, we were attacked" She just kept explain what happened without a change on her face.
'Titans' everyone had the same thought.
"It was an abnormal Titan, he was too fast for us to see before he caught the commander and crushed him in his hand", she explained and used her hands to show how the commander met his end. "And I was too late to eliminate the Titan before he has killed Ian".
What the black-haired said sounded suspicious to Annie 'A Titan that was faster than this monster?' Annie thought suspiciously that no matter how fast can be a normal or abnormal Titan, it does not make any sense that one could surprise her and in particular that it was quicker than her.
...
The room was quiet for a few seconds while everyone waited for the judge's decision that close his eyes and thought about the story of Mikasa, " and what did you do after you eliminated the Titan?" He finally asked with a tired face.
"I came to the decision to continue with my original idea and move to the city" said Mikasa.
"So you just left the place?, without saying a word to anyone or worry about the remains of the commander?" He asked with a bit angry voice for the disregard for the chain of command.
"Yes" she said for granted and again silent began to fell as she continued. "I realized that if I try to move the body or to take the time to call someone else I would waste time and gas that might be more useful to help my friends to stay alive".
'I doubt that is the real reason' thought Annie and just kept looking at what is happening with the anticipation of what the judge will say.
"Mmm..." muttered the judge and agreed with Mikasa's words that were very reasonable, "I understand what you're saying and I agree with your judgment, and where did it happened exactly?" He said finally.
Mikasa was silent for a few seconds and narrowed her eyes at the judge, "Where did this happen?".
"We want to bring back his body, we must know where he was killed...".
"His body is next to a Building from the gate where we evacuated the citizens, there should be the remnants of the Titan I finished off" she said, looking directly at the judge who examined her face and her words.
"Fine!" He said and gave her a node "you are dismissed".
The black-haired girl turned around and returned to her place alongside Armin and Annie.
The judge was silent for a few minutes while he went through the evidence and what the accused told him, "for the verdict of Eren Jaeger, we we have decided that he will be under the custody of the Survey Corps!" He said even though other people who preferred to eliminate Eren and analyze his body.
Hanji and Eren sat in a carriage with Levi that set in-front fo them pounding, the short commander just looked out the window without a word and looked bored. Hanji was more than thrilled to sit next to Eren with a strange smile on her face is that was very disturbing. And finally Eren that was very happy he was no longer in chains and got his uniform back. He was still disappointed that he could not talk to his friends before the two officers took him into the carriage and began to move toward the new residence of the Titan shifter.
Eren's eyes shifted from side to side discomfort, he was not used to sitting in a carriage for a start and worse no one said a word. It drove him crazy, 'I have to say something!' He thought, "s-so corporal levi What are you thinking?" He said and made Levi look at him in confusion.
Levi looked at the frightened Eren sitting directly in front of him and looked embarrassed by the question itself, the fact that someone with so much potential and power was just a scared boy amused him, but only a little. "Nothing" he said without looking interested and went to the window of the carriage as they sat quietly as Hanji uttered a few things to herself.