Here is another chapter lovelies. All of your wonderful reviews always makes me feel like I'm the one that's flying high; not the characters with their gear in full swing. *tears up grossly* Thank you for that wonderful feeling.

I apologize for the tardy updates since I was into another fandom lately, my inspiration dropping to new lows during such intervals; but it was brought back up by your support and the recent implementations of the manga chapters I've seen. Very interesting developments indeed!

Anyway, read on people, and yes you will see in future updates more of Eren and the others.


~000~

Annie was a very hard person to surprise.

After killing that weakling nine-meter monster of an aberant, she had expected a smooth transition into the next phase of their plan, seeing how Armin managed to keep these people safe until she turned up. That was a surprise alone considering how weak the boy was, and yet he had been able to play his part wonderfully until he had been confronted by that freak Titan. She had tried to not let the chilling fear of what happened to him dissuade her from the priority objective at hand. Getting the perimeter cleared, she hurried back to the boy as fast as she could sprint, having not forgotten even for a second that he was too weak to carry out all of his own plan. When she saw that angry nine-meter charging right at those people with Armin standing as their bulwark, Annie felt like she could not have been fast enough to stop it:

That is until she witnessed Armin freaking Arlert saving one of those people. She's seen a lot of crazy things considering her position as a warrior, but that had to be one of the strangest.

Not bad Arlert. Not bad at all.

Stepping towards the inert body, she felt her heart thundering at a rate that filled her ears with its thumping resonance as she bent over. Mutely, she noted Armin's face was all shades of deathly pale and blood creeped out through his teeth and nose. The overwhelming tang of death surrounded him in a great curtain that nearly left the warrior girl frozen in place.

The people he had been guiding were now surrounding them and whispering incoherently under their breath, glancing at each other helplessly as they expressed a thought or two. Figuring that they were taking too long to decide on whatever they had been murmuring, she scooped up the boy as gingerly as possible and stepped over towards the Garrison HQ door. Ignoring the now gawking onlookers, she placed Armin in front of the door and emerged from the Titan's dying flesh thereafter. Sliding down its shoulder, she hopped over to the boy and weighed her options as she watched for any signs of animation on his chilly visage.

"Auntie! There was a lady inside the Titan thing!"

The little brat Armin had risked himself earlier to save shouted louder than anyone would have liked; especially Annie. She had never been partial to children and likely never will. Her attitude made it nearly impossible for her to get along with people her own age as it is, let alone little kids.

Annie however didn't care to hear whatever they said next though; she was too busy occupying herself with the boy's deteriating health. She didn't wait another second to try and open the door, crashing her foot against the metallic barrier in front of her in a mad attempt to barge in. That's when she realized that the endeavor was fruitless since it was built with the purpose of keeping Titans at bay.

How so very stupid of her to waste any time in trying.

Contorting her features into a grimace she recalled her manuevering gear still strapped to her and noted that she was going to have to jump inside through one of the windows and head back down to unlock the door. It was their best bet considering that no one else had decided to answer the desperate knocking. Just as she placed her hands over the trigger guards of her equipment her eyes wandered back down to the boy sitting prone against the cracked wall in front of her. She realized that the blood-flow on his waist was now flowing hotly and strongly once more. The blood stains were always a reminder of his murky mortality, and seeing it all over him in such a great quantity left her still with a breathless fear that crackled like shattering ice over her nerve endings.

If only I didn't leave our provisions behind on the wall... How stupid a girl can I be?

Turning towards the people behind her and observing them, she gauged whether or not they would even bother to help the lad who had risked both life and limb to save their worthless carcasses. Apparently still too nervous and wary of Annie and her powers, they lingered far enough away from the pair so that the girl couldn't even attempt to strike out at them if she so dared desired. That was fine with her since Armin's alternate plan with them suited her selfish ways just as well. As far as she was concerned, she didn't care.

Annie didn't linger there in front of the door for long at all; she was inside the HQ a swift moment later. She almost hoped that the other shifter wouldn't come after seeing her initial transformation, mentally berrating herself for the treacherous thoughts. She should be fucking elated to see him, yet she was not. The Beast Titan was an ally to her cause considering her freedom, but was it for the purposes she believed? It was always hard to guess since the fellow shifter was a calculated killer with not the slightest shred of care for the human race. If anything, he was outright malicious at times.

In his presense, she had always felt her own weakness come to bubble at dangerously high levels. He was more powerful than she and Reiner's Titan forms combined. Moreover, the mission was more important and yet here she was, acting like he was the enemy to all she knew and stood for and she was following her captive's plan on removing the thing. Being around Armin for so long had done her no favors apparently. Her loyalties were seemingly muddled no thanks in part to that smart-ass, but she was all the wiser than letting that runt get into her head further.

It would be her death if she were to defy it anymore.

Shaking her somewhat pounding skull at the intruding doubts, she scrubbed at her dried orbs, not noticing sooner that the stinking air outside had robbed them of their moisture. Despite this, she began to examine what was around her within the immediate vicinity next: Her intention now was to head down to the first floor so she could admit the other survivors.

Suddenly, her thoughts blurred again, her mouth thinning considerably. Why should she even bother with those cowardly riff-raff? She could just leave Armin and those people out there if she wanted and just take the boat at the docks. She could be in Shiganshina in less than a day and she wasn't obligated to assist the former further. He was her prisoner after-all, and she could just leave his dead weight behind, right?

Annie pursed her lip again when another more sensible thought hit her: She recalled why she needed the ass alive and it was to help her find Eren's house sooner rather than later so she could return home far more quickly. It had been her intention from the start of this whole escapade. All those troubles they've been through together woud be wasted if she didn't stick to it.

The familiar ache of hotness that used to be her teeth-grinding frustration for the boy had somewhat faded to a rippling throb these days, and it made assisting Armin a bit more bearable. She could have gone off on her own but there was a chance of not being able to find the Jaeger residence for the next long while; maybe months or so. Shiganshina was a small district but it was crowded in terms of housing. Building foundation was oddly close knit and the debris among other things would complicate the search. She was somewhat hard-pressed for time after-all and it didn't help that she was an impatient person.

Sighing slightly, she navigated the elevated room and headed towards the stairs leading to next floor, her gear clinking loudly and heavily against her. She swiped away some of the sweaty build-up of her throes as she descended, the stony building having retained some of the town's roiling heat. Making it onto the ground floor, she paused in front of the reinforced door barring her from the next phase of their plan. Lifting her hand to unlock it she jiggled the convoluted mechanisms for a bit and furrowed her brow at the odds and ends of the locks, a little surprised by the resiliance of them. She was about to lose her patience again with this stupid thing when she noticed the holes by the knob that made her spit fire and acid next: She needed a fucking key in order to get the damn thing to budge.

You've got to be FUCKING me! A KEY of all god-damned things!

Annie bared her teeth and groaned as she banged her head against the faintly warmed door, not knowing until a series noises finally alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone.

"Having trouble there letting in the smaller Titans, freak?"

The tell-tale click of half-a-dozen loaded rifles made Annie freeze, her face turned away from the opposing individuals standing on the other side of the room. She managed to glimpse them over her shoulder if only slightly, her icy stare unseen by the peons:

An almost middle-aged Garrison soldier was found standing in the doorway some several meters from her, his stone-colored flinty eyes bulbous and over-bright in the unerring darkness of the room. He had seemingly come out of nowhere, fully armed and standing with a shaking team of five others right beside him. His edged baritone had sounded sure, but the man himself did not have the looks to match the brittle steel in his voice. His rifle shook too much and his finger was resting on the trigger with a tighter squeeze than Annie was comfortable with.

Pfft. I don't have the time to deal with the likes of them; I have to get Armin in here. Now.

Annie lifted her head and kept facing the iron obstacle her hand rested on, not at all intimidated by the obviously frightened interlopers. She enquired with an flat inflection, "There are civilians outside and an injured scout from the regiment; all needing some medical care and a place to hide. The town square is clear enough for me to admit them."

"Hell no! Don't even try to fool us with that crock of shit," the squad leader rasped threateningly. "We saw you stomping in over here in that Titan body of yours, and we plan on ending you here!"

"Then," she went on. "-You must have seen me arrive with an ailing boy in my hands as well as a small group of bystanders trailing behind. I did not come here alone."

"You're right; we saw that you didn't come alone," interjected the shivering captain. "Because we saw those human-skinned freaks traisping the place and turning the denizens into Titans just a while ago! The lot of ya all working together to kill us all! You're only here to assure the job gets done."

...Did I hear that right? There's others here too?

Somehow, the girl figured that this was the case; the Beast Titan having come from an opposing direction than which she and Armin had arrived from initially. It certainly betrayed the possibility that there was other shifters out here too, but she hasn't seen any trace of them throughout her stay here. Where they were though was debatable, and if they've seen her taking out the Titans here than this will surely pose a problem for her in the nearest future.

Especially if they relay that message to the Ape in question. Her future, her goals, everything would be dashed against all that she has fought and killed for.

Suddenly frightened of the possibility, she forced herself to wear her typical mask of calm, if not bored contempt. She had to keep her hands from shaking as she inched them to where the trembling men could see them and placed them behind her sticky scalp. Turning to face the cowering dogs in painful slowness, Annie measured her palpitating heart and breathed out slowly, letting the frightening thoughts go for the moment. She could see that a couple of them looked a bit surprised by her gesture but moved no less to readjust their arms so they were aiming at her head and still-thumping heart.

I'll have to be gentle and ease the answers out of them later. They're blinded with selective fear right now and perfectly incapable of seeing those people standing in plain sight outside.

"I'll say this again," she entreated in a lighter manner. She did not have the patience for this but she had a job to do; there was innocents to be saved and a clock to adhere too; and shifters to find apparently. "I'm trying to help you all out here; please let me do my job and allow me to admit those people standing outside. We don't have long before more Titans show and you'll be completely on your own in terms of defense."

"LIAR!" The captain bellowed. "Now you're deceiving us with sugared poisen!"

"I say we shoot her," a shorter and more thick-set person stated.

This looked bad, but Annie had always credited herself for being a clever girl. Suddenly an idea popped into her head; her eyebrows relaxing against her brow just a bit at the thought of what she was going to say.

"Your bullets won't garentee a kill on the first shots," she cautiously added.

"I'm willing to take my chances," the scowling captain growled.

Annie purposedly made herself look meek and small, even going through the motions of placing a tiny hand over her heart and contorting her angular features into a frightened appearance. "And besides- even if I let the Titans in, they'll be more interested in eating the first person they see, right? They'll just grab me before they even glimpse you."

Their silence was enough encouragement to go on.

"-See, Titans flounder about and inanely grab the first person they can reach. With me here, you could run and secure the door behind you before they even see you. Considering this, why would I let the damned things in if I knew they were going to eat me? Titans are known for attacking shifters too if you recall the Trost plan a few months ago."

The men turned towards their squad leader in deliberation.

"This said," She lowered her hands and kept them where the uncertain soldiers can see them. "Why not take your chances and allow me to open the door? Its not like your weapons will kill me before they induce an unfortunate transformation. The resulting blast may or may not kill you, and it won't be quickly may I add."

"I'm willing to make that gamble," uttered the trembling captain. His voice got more brittle as he went on, "You're like one of their own! They'll simply pass you and gun it for us."

"Sir!" One of other squad spoke out. "We don't know that for sure... The incident with the Titan kid a while back should have proven how unpredictable the-"

A sharp CRACK silenced the man before he can even finish. All but Annie jumped at the sudden lash from the frightened leader now glaring down at his whimpering subordinate. Whatever bravado he may have had before when he was pointing his weapon at Annie had seemingly been false as he howled pathetically, "You be quiet! We're not taking anymore chances with these infernal pretenders wandering about these hallowed walls!" He leveled it back at the shifter as he ranted on, "And you! I'm done listening to your accursed lies! Its time we put you freaks to extinction-!"

The next attack had the warrior girl almost gaping as the taller man standing next to the first smashed his gun's heavy stock into his superior's sweaty skull. The captain fell and produced a dull whump upon hitting the floor. His second-in-command scowled at him with an unsure but solid gleam flitting about his hazel gaze while lowering his own weapon.

Annie could only blankly stare as he seemed to measure what he just did and turned to face the girl with a thin pursed lip. She clamped her jaw shut and caught a ring of keys that had been tossed at her. She stared up at the Garrison soldier and locked eyes with him briefly before he almost whispered, "Open the door."

"...How can you be sure I'm not a liar?" She couldn't help asking.

He breathed out his next reply after a tiny silence, "That's just it; I'm not sure. All I know is that my head's clearer then our Captain's as he is right now: Clear enough to understand your words and remember that day and what we learned from it. Your words funnily enough made more sense to me then his commands ever did the whole ordeal."

Annie tilted her head at him in question.

"-See, he's been out of it since the first titans appeared just outside the district. His orders meant we abandon the civilians to the beasts as they appeared inside the area while we try to take to the walls and boats-" His words trailed off for a few short seconds before he finished with, "-A futile attempt at escape that sabotaged both the people's escape routes and what we stood for. He's willing to betray and sacrifice so many of us in order to live. We lost many of our own trying to evacuate while following his orders and now here we stand."

He bent down and helped his comrade up who was holding his head and moaning, "...We're at a loss. I guess I'm saying I'd like to take my chances with your words after what we've been through. Nothing makes sense anymore."

Annie weighed those words and turned around, feeling the eyes of the weary men watching her every move. She placed the keys where they needed to be and disengaged the locks, finally pulling the obscenely heavy door open.

She then said while in utter disbelief of her own words, "We'll get out of here; just you watch."

That remark had left the men behind her a little more than confused at her true underlying nature. Their dumbfounded expressions were not seen by the warrior girl but she can certainly detect their shared confusion. A lacking in understanding in the methods of shifters was common; even Annie herself debated the fragile 'trust' between she and her equals.

The Beast Titan had been strange enough, let alone herself.

Irrelevant thoughts aside, Annie in the moments following was witnessed bending over the scrawny form of an under-sized boy she had dragged into the fort, much to the surprise of everyone in the room. All of the surviving denizenry had been let in as well, prompting for even more pairs of numerous, cautious eyes to observe her dedicated treatment in the boy. She was aware of this of course, very much sure of the fact that these people perceived her a threat despite what she has done for them, but the opinions of sheep didn't matter to the predator as the saying goes.

Armin meanwhile was shivering on occasion, his face horrendously gray with death and his remaining, visible eye socket sullen with sickness. His colorless lips quivered and a fresh coat of sweat that had plastered over him while she had been distracted. His fingertips were like ice, and his chest barely rose at all. Armin's pale skin had been hot and fevered before, but now held a clammy quality that left Annie fighting her uneasiness about his debilitated condition.

The Second-in-Command who had surrendered the keys earlier approached her and handed her a box with the medical surplus she desperately needed. He stood over the pair and wrinkled his oddly-long nose, watching Armin with a chilled ease that betrayed his doubts regarding the boy's survival. Peering into Annie's face, he asked, "Are you really going to help him? He won't last much longer; he's already fallen into a blood fever while he had been outside."

The shifter scowled deeply, but not from animosity. She knew what the blood fever was; as a little girl she recalled the dangers of those being so seriously hurt that certain people fell into an unconscious stupor before they passed away. Not all do, but some. It left one as Armin is now, and gave almost no chance of recovery but Annie had to try. She couldn't complete her goals without his precision and expertise in strategy. She needed Armin to help her complete her long-term goals in Shiganshina as well as what they needed to do here.

She moved a loose tangle of hair from her face and narrowed her eyes, "He's vital to our cause. His resourcefulness has been noted even by the scout's superiors. He is necessary, and that's what makes his life worth saving."

I sound like a damn well-trained pawn. Armin's more valuable than that.

...In what way though?

The preceding sentence had the girl shaking her head again as she aided the boy, the man next to her watching in pensive and respectful silence. He was reserved and smart, this Annie surmised, but she also wondered as to his abrupt change in loyalty to his superior. She was always suspicious of fluttery changes in strangers, no matter their reasons.

The process of medication still took awhile, and Annie still had to wake Armin up before he slipped away into soundless oblivion while resting. She knew how tired he was; Annie was just as exhausted, having only snatches of sleep within the last twenty-four hours. It was too dangerous to leave the boy as he is though, no matter how much rest he needed.

Annie was unaware of the change in her expression as she patted the prisoner's cheek, shaking him slightly as well. Her face was a gloomy mask of almost undisguised concern that caught the man's eye next to her. He watched Annie's attempts in waking the scout and noted her strange demeanor that was not consistent with that of an terrible enemy. If anything, she was for all of her power more like a friend to the boy than captor nor foe.

Whoever she was though, it didn't matter as long as they got out of here. That was all that really mattered to him.


~000~

Armin heard a voice more clearly this time, instead of comparing it to hearing it through a wall of thundering water like he had the last few minutes.

Or hours. He couldn't tell how long.

The boy tensed as wakeful sobriety pierced through his inane pain-drugged rest. The crusty grit of his exhaustion as well as a fresh bead of smeared blood sealed his remaining eye shut, leaving him to think he lost that too. After a minute of reclaiming his calm and counting breaths, he weakly rubbed at it and winced, trying to peer up into face of the enigmatic figure leaning over him:

It was Annie again, to which he wasn't surprised. He wasn't gonna lie when he'd say he was saddened that it wasn't Mikasa he was seeing.

Annie was meanwhile looking over him with an alien emotion painting her face. It startled him initially, seeing how it was something she normally didn't wear. Her expression was nearly always neutral or bored even when she was upset, but this wasn't the case now. Her lacking in sureness in a normally flat voice told the boy what she was really feeling, besides the somewhat obvious display of stress on her. It made him feel like he committed a crime for making her feel so worried.

Internally though, he had somehow knew that it had been her instead of Mikasa he'd been hearing in his last few minutes of sleep all along. However, he had not been sensible enough until now to comprehend it. It didn't seem to make sense at first, but he finally realized the alien sensation that bubbled up as he watched her through a weary and unfocused gaze. It puzzled him and made him squirm a bit at first, but he came to grips with it quickly upon acceptance.

He was happy to see her, like seriously relieved in a tangible way. Seeing her there and wearing her vulnerability on her sleeve made him feel just a bit more important to her than he ever could have guessed. It was comparable to the sense of kinship he had whenever he sat with Eren and the aforementioned girl, the kind that made him feel like he can live to fight another day.

And to think, this was Annie he was talking about. He almost wanted to laugh at the thought.

"Get up, Armin. I can't let you die yet," she said, knelt beside him with a hand now resting on her leg.

The soldier still puzzled at her change in disposition before questioning where in Maria's name he was. Nonetheless, a slight twitch in the lip betrayed his smile as he received her, clearly glad to see neither harm nor anger at the forefront of her features like he originally anticipated. Standing within arm's reach of him, Annie gave him a lingering once-over that compelled her to reach toward his middle without knowing it. She paused halfway in realization, thinning her mouth as she stared at his waist and the blood encrusted ruin of fabric covering his body that was meant to be his clothes. Her brows pulled toward the center in a familiar frown as she evaluated his condition.

"Armin, are you in any more pain than usual?" she asked in faint voice, trying not to look so worried. Her crystaline eyes however were indeed treacherous as he read her expression.

Armin blinked in a slow and dazed manner before giving himself a mild look but he didn't seem quite unsettled by it in the least. This made Annie worry at her lip slightly while she waited for his delayed reaction to his infirmities. He noticed that he was wearing newer bandages and his only truly dirty articles were his shirt and pants. With a sigh at the observation, he also saw his gear lying nearby that Annie had removed when she tended to him.

Yet again, she busied herself with my sake. Dammit all.

"Annie," he gasped, sounding way too calm for for his own good. That without fail had filled her and even himself with some fluttering dread. He wasn't at all unsettled with another one of his close brushes with Death's icy hands, slowly wrapping its tendrils around his throat.

"It's no worse than before," he fibbed. He was still in roaring agony despite his level words. His heart felt like it was stuttering over its own beat for some reason, and his physical state seemed to be declining more and more. "-I'm fine now though, really... You don't need to concern yourself with me anymore."

"Bullshit," Annie scathingly replied, her signature glare returning. Staring down at his greasy face, which was completely laden with soot and grime as well, she went on with, "You're such a pain in the ass. You're sitting in literally head-to-toe in mostly your own blood and you say you're fine? Bull. Freaking. Shit."

Armin narrowed his eye at her and was about to say something that was obviously meant to quell the matter until his attempt to prop himself up on his arms brought his head crashing back down onto the floor. His fractured arm had given in once again, leading to a horrid series of flashing lights to flicker into his blurred vision. Annie of course sighed heavily as if resigned, and then she proceeded to sit him up against the wall behind him with a steady hand.

An unexpected movement caught Armin's wavering focus back onto the present, his brain numbly registering that there was a shifting something next to Annie: A Garrison soldier no less, crouched beside her with his hazel eyes clever but guarded. He didn't seem any older than mid-twenties, but his face suggested a mind-set exceeding that age by twice. He was thin and lanky not unlike Bertholdt as well, if anything gangly. If all else, he wasn't too dissimilar to Ian Dietrich; another deceased face that fazed out of his recollection of people long gone.

"Oy," He grunted with a surprisingly accented voice. "What the heck is going on here? Aren't you part of the Scouting regiment, boy?"

"...Uh... Yes, I am," he trailed off airily, shocked at seeing a living person here at all. Seeing anyone alive these days was a little bit strange to him, being so used to seeing corpses and their offal for so long. "Eh, what is is that you need to know?"

The garrison grunt wrinkled his brow and tightened both his expression and tone, his belief in Armin's reply clearly skeptical. He said with a puckered lip, "Your shifting friend said we can survive this damned attack with what you have in mind. Is that true? Can we get out of here?"

The boy nodded at first until he analyzed the second inquiry and shook his head, making him feel sick in the process. His gut clenched at the absence of hunger and his throat felt unforgivably dry. Annie aided the boy in sitting up just enough for Armin to slouch against the wall further and level his bleary stare back at the Garrison man in front of him. That was when he noticed that both the man and people in the room were watching them, every single set of watery eyes flickering between he and the girl next to him. Armin felt something akin to embarrassment when he noticed the whole room was observing their banter.

"...Uh, I see you managed to get everyone in the headquarters, Annie. Well done."

"Yep," the girl replied dryly.

"Hey! Eyes on me, kid."

Armin tried to let his apprehension go as he returned his attention to the soldier watching them.

"Ignore them," went on the man. "I'm the one you should be talking too; name's Melandus by the way. I am currently leading the squad behind me," he indicated over his shoulder. "-I need to know why escaping from here won't work."

Armin considered the newly named individual's words and nodded, not realizing that he was doing it until the older soldier raised a critical eyebrow. "Oh, I ah... No, we can't leave sir. Its not possible at this point."

"Why in Rose's name not?"

Annie answered for Armin, whose breath had grown short and labored again. "-That's because of the Titan threat in the interior. Trost is on its own now, with the exception of the other districts being zoned off. Have you not noticed that?"

Melandus bit out a swear and contorted his face into a dark mask, looking away briefly as he measured Annie's statement. "Yeah, we have for your information. But with all the shit that's going down do you really think we wouldn't ask if there isn't an ulterior way of escaping?"

The Scout held up his hand and gave the grim man an understanding expression, taking in a deep, shuddering breath so to give himself some energy to speak. "There is no need to leave Trost if we can work this out. Annie's already secured the place and I'm pretty sure that you have some equipment handy, right?"

"Yeah, we do," Melandus blinked impassively but his clever eyes betrayed his racing mind. "The Reeves' company gave us our last shipment just days before the Titan invasion in Rose. It came by boat from Sina."

"This is madness! We need to be escaping; not holding the fort!" One of the other men interrupted. "Trost is finished now as we know it! We should have left when we had the chance!"

"There IS no escape," Annie growled lowly, terrifying the frightened underling. She repeated once again that night, "Don't you get it? The Titans have pretty much screwd us all the instant the Beast appeared in Stohess some week or so ago. Sina's barely holding together at this point itself; do you honestly think that the people in the next wall will let you in even if you made it there? They'll just cast you out like they did in 846!"

The plan to 'recapture' Wall Maria. I remember that.

The boy shook his head at Annie's words, knowing full well that Historia would permit the refugees to enter, but that was besides the point. He forced out his sudden and gloomy recollection of his departing grandfather upon sensing a heavy spike in the argument that was sure to break their stability. He shuffled his arms a bit and regained everyone's attention.

"That's why we..." He sputtered from a rising cough that brought the crashing wave of copper on his tongue, clearing his throat with a great heave that made his ribs spike with renewed pain. "We... we have to jointly combine our efforts into fortifying Trost so that it can never fall under Titan control again... Ah... Annie has already disposed of the aberrants outside with her Titan's scream; leaving the place void of threat. Haven't any of you noticed the absence of Titans that should be banging at your doors?"

This left Melandus and the others to pause and glance at each other.

Armin smirked and nodded in an 'I thought so' manner before turning to Annie and saying "Help me up" suddenly, making the girl hesitate for a second. She debated the welfare of his health and ability to stand upright, but if he fell back on his ass she wouldn't be to blame. So she complied, although she had Armin slump against herself heavily like a deadened weight. Annie pulled the boy's good arm around herself and leaned him more on the wall as well, not letting go despite his weak protest. Armin's sweaty form had him sticking to her but she pretended to not notice this disgusting development. After a moment of awkward shuffling and a blatant attempt at ignoring his bleeding infirmities, the two returned their attention to the people in the room.

"We," Armin wheezed out with some emphasis, suddenly noticing the alarming amount of soldiers looking to him for guidance. He hadn't noted it before due to his pulsing migraine, but now the over-crowded room seemed much more confining. He lost his words for a moment and tried with some hesitation on his part, "-We have to set up a series of cables in key locations around the district and port. They'll have to be out of sight so they can function like trip lines."

"How will setting up Titan-net cables work at all?" Another soldier spat heatedly. "And seriously? Trip lines?"

"The Titans, if they were to reappear at all will fall over them, giving you all, inexperienced or not, a chance at their nape," Armin puffed. "And besides, I also have another ulterior use for them near the port."

"Huh? What for?" Melandus folded his arms in consideration of the statement.

Annie nudged Armin in the ribs with her shoulder gingerly, getting his attention again briefly. She peered past his dirty fringe and said, "Arlert, one of these men pointed out earlier that there were shifters somewhere. Something about pretenders and the earlier attack on this place."

"Did they now?" The Scout raised his only visible brow at this. He added as an afterthought, "I kinda figured as much with where the Beast Titan was going..."

Before they could elaborate, a low-toned moan went up between the now puzzled soldiers. Turning their attention onto the floor, Melandus, Annie and a confused Armin took in the sight of the formally unconscious captain stirring. To be honest, Armin hadn't even noticed the guy sitting there in a crumpled heap the whole time he had been awake.

"Tcch," Melandus cursed again and crossed over to where the man lie. He gave the captain a kick and hissed, "I see I haven't hit him hard enough if he's getting up now. Wonder if I should throw him into a locked closet and forget about him?"

Annie had a neutral expression plastered onto her face but her voice suggested something else much more malevolent. With a dark mirth she offered, "How about using him as bait in the future? Your captain should be happy to offer his life to his people."

"Guys," Armin sighed. "Focus."

The Second-in-Command sniffed contemptuously and curled his bottom lip with distaste. "Alright boyo. What do you suggest we do with him?"

"I don't even know. What did he do exactly?"

Annie gave Armin another side-longs glance as the captain began to shake off his stupor and sit up. She replied stiffly, "He left the people to die simply put. Those caved-in tunnels we saw are his fault when he tried to get out of here."

Ah. Now I see what's going on here. The lady earlier told me that the military deserted this place and it seems like he's the reason why.

"Well," Armin smirked something dreadful; in a way that curled Annie's nerve. "His treachery is punishable by death according to law, but I'm sure he can make up for it with what we have to do."

The former squad leader glanced up as soon as he heard those words, taking in the sight of the boy and the strange titan-shifting girl he leaned on for physical support. Appalled by the thought of what the boy may have in mind, he gritted his teeth and shivered. He shot out his arm in a mad attempt to reach for his rifle but it was callously kicked away from him by his traitorous subordinate. Once again, the man got kicked in the ribs and suddenly sat on by Melandus, who seemed to smile at his new wriggling seat.

"Yep. This will do," he mused as he glanced back up at Armin. "Captain Martinez says he'll be happy to help. Just tell us what we need to do to finish securing the district."

The newly-named Martinez harrumphed at the scout, "I'm not going back out there! What makes you think I'd do something stupid like that?"

Annie released the boy then; crackling her knuckles threateningly behind Armin and taking a step forward while flashing the menace behind her normally bored gaze. All the men flinched and shook terrifically with the exception of Melandus, who almost laughed but stifled it. The former legionnaire smiled something so artificial and scarcely sane that it made the cowardly soldiers feel like their blood crystallized.

"-I'll be sure to keep her off of you if you comply," he added with a deadly calm while emphasizing Annie's importance. Next, he waved his hand behind him dismissively as he warned them in a strangely blithe manner, "However, you'll have to grow a pair of balls and do as I say exactly if you want to live so badly. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee your safety."

"O-okay... okay! We get it! Just promise that y-you'll keep her away from us!" cried out the former captain.

He gave them another twisted and ugly sneer that was sure to finish unnerving them as he said, "I swear it," for the second time that night.