Annie Leonhardt's head was a swirling cyclone of different emotions, and every one of them could be traced back to the plans for the coming days. Her perpetually empty face usually managed to hide it from the people she met, but that did nothing to help her in that moment.
"You're sure you can still go through with it?" her partner asked, as if she had a choice.
She nodded, trying her hardest to compose herself.
"Don't get cold feet, Annie," the boy next to her advised, running a hand through his red hair. "I like you, but I won't hesitate to kill you if you're about to get captured."
"Shut up." Annie was barely breathing at that point, as she was focusing all of her energy on trying to stay sane. "You always have something stupid to say, don't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I do." She heard the familiar sound of David Buu's laughter, and turned to her right. "But you shouldn't get the wrong idea. I'm only this talkative because I like you so much."
"Harambe memes are dead, and Lord Roy killed them," was all Annie could respond with. "Anyway, none of that matters. Our job is simply to trap the Survey Corps between us and Zeke, so that they can't go anywhere. All we really have to do is create a buffer…"
"But why buffer when you can suffer, am I right?" David asked, before proceeding to throw up a little bit in his mouth at the thought of what he had just said.
"Hey, I need to ask you a real question." Annie's statement clearly caught him by surprise.
"What is it?"
"After you broke me out of my crystal, I know I was unconscious for a few hours," she began. "I just need to ask… Did you do anything to me while I was out?"
David's eyes grew wide as he realized what she was asking.
"Who the hell do you think I am?"
"Calm down, I was just wondering." She shook her head and turned away.
"It's a little insulting, don't you think?" he asked, clearly not done with the conversation.
"Why do you care?"
David sighed. "I ask myself that same question every day."
-(Back with Levi's Squad)-
It had been two days since Buffet had woken up, Buffet and Mikasa were now back on their feet and were now with the squad when they left the room.
"Random word." stated Buffet sitting up in his bed, everyone looked over at Bufet confused.
"Chicken." said Connie confused.
"Why did you say chicken?" asked Jean.
"He asked for a random word." stated Connie. At that moment Levi walked into the door, ending whatever the hell just happened.
"I have to go give my report." said Levi. "I'll be back in ten minutes, I except you brats to make an editable breakfast. The supplies you need are in the food court." Levi turned around and walked out the door, the squad noticed he was carrying a stack of papers. The squad walked out the door and made their way to the food court.
"Does anyone know how to cook?" asked Jean as they walked to the food court.
"I thought you did." said Armin.
"Yea, didn't you beat Sasha in that cooking contest once." stated Connie, Buffet's fist clenched at the mention of Sasha.
"My Mom made that food, remember?" said Jean, Buffet's mouth dropped in shock.
"You mean you cheated?!" said Buffet surprised, he kept walking, not taking his eyes of Jean.
"I guess you could say that." said Jean. "Commander Pixis was too drunk to care even if he found out anyways." Buffet still looked at Jean in surprise. Suddenly he felt a strong grip on his shoulder that stopped all of his momentum. His eyes shot forwards to see the door to the food court right in front of him. He saw Mikasa looking at him, holding his shoulder.
"Watch where you're going."said Mikasa simply as she walked into the door. Buffet stood there shocked as everyone walked into the food court.
-(Outside Commander Erwin's office)-
Levi walked towards Erwin's office with the stack of papers in his hands. He hoped everything was correct, he didn't have time to check it over, like Lord Roy because he's been editing all day, and he was already five minutes late. Erwin wouldn't care though. As he got closer to the door, he walked a bit more quietly. Once he got to the door he slowly placed his ear up to the door and listened. Every time before he entered Erwin's office he would listen in on what was going on in there, and it would never fail to crack him up, well on the inside that is. Strangely no one ever caught him, the only people who knew were his old squad. Levi tensed up as he remembered their fate, "So only Petra knows" thought Levi. A member of his squad would always come with him to give his report and would listen in with him before they entered. He didn't bring someone with him anymore, it would never be the same. He decided it was time to listen in to forget this sad memory.
He heard Erwin clear his throat from the other side of the door.
"I've created a monster, cuz nobody wants to see Marshall no more, they want Shady, I'm chopped liver. Well if you want Shady, this is what I'll give ya. A little bit of weed mixed with some hard liquor. Some vodka that'll jumpstart my heart quicker than a shock when I get shocked at the hospital by the doctor when I'm not cooperating, when I'm rockin' the table while he's operating," rapped Erwin from the other side of the door, Levi laughed in his head.
"Erwin this is serious." Levi marked this voice as the rare serious tone of Hanji. "How do you think Levi will react to this?" Levi was surprised to hear his name come up in a conversation, it never did.
He heard Erwin clear his throat again from the other side of the door.
"Fuck this, I'm on Blogspot TV with my fucking hands up-" Erwin's Keemstar reference was cut off, which made Levi mad at Four-Eyes yet again.
"Erwin!" yelled Hanji in an annoyed tone. Erwin sighed
"The way he always does probably, by not reacting. Though this time might be different because it involves-" Erwin was cut of as Levi opened the door, Levi wasn't one to listen in secret when people talked about him. Levi walked to Erwin's desk like he had heard nothing, he set his papers on Erwin's desk and saluted. He dropped his salute and sat in his chair opposite of Hanji's in front of Erwin's desk.
"Erwin, Four-Eyes." said Levi greeting them both.
"Levi." said Hanji, talking in her jolly tone again. Erwin quickly skimmed through Levi's report until his eyes feel onto something.
"I see you have selected Ral as your second in command." said Erwin in a somber tone, this caught Levi by surprise.
"Is there a problem with that? I'd say she's the most qualified." replied Levi.
"It's not that...give him the letter." said Hanji in her pouty tone of voice. Erwin looked at the piece of paper in his hands for a second, then he handed it to Levi. He looked at the letter to see a message written in neat cursive handwriting.
Dear Commander Erwin,
I regret to inform you that my daughter, Petra Ral, has fallen very ill. She requests to see Captain Levi and his squad before her condition becomes any worse, please come when most convenient.
From,
Levi read the letter in shock, Petra couldn't catch a break.
"So what does this have to do with her being second in command?" asked Levi, without changing his tone of voice.
"You're aware she could...she could…" said Hanji, not able to finish her thought.
"She could die." said Erwin finishing it for her, like the straight savage he is. Levi kicked himself mentally for not considering that.
"What makes you say that?" asked Levi, still not changing his tone of voice.
"She's requesting to see you before 'her condition becomes any worse'...that doesn't fill me with much confidence." said Hanji even sadder.
"Plus her body is already in a weakened state, something like an serious illness could kill her." said Erwin in a sad tone. "She's a hell of a soldier too...we need all the good soldiers we can get nowadays."
"Happens to the best of them…" stated Hanji sadly.
"I'll visit her tonight." said Levi calmly, cutting of their train of thought. Levi didn't need to hear all the reasons why she could die, and why she would be a big loss if she died. He saw it how she fought, and he hoped to see it again. He had also seen her after her injury, weak and mentally unstable. He didn't want to hear what he already knew, that was that.
"I don't know if she will ever be the same again…" said Hanji suddenly.
"That's a bit too far." said Levi coldly.
"Think about it!" said Hanji on the brink of tears. "Think about the things she said, the things she tried to do! Her visions, her violent nightmares! When Buffet told me about how she talked about her squad's death...Levi I don't even think I could handle that. I wasn't there when Nifa and the rest of them died but I still lost sleep over it...Levi...I don't know but...she could kill herself…"
"Petra wouldn't do that." said Levi dismissing, the last thing he needed was to be reminded of this possibility. He did doubt his statement which scared him.
"Levi we need to talk about this! We can't ignore this!" screamed Hanji.
"Hanji...the other will hear." said Erwin.
"I…" Hanji started to cry. "Levi….do you remember the things she said?"
"...Yes, I do." answered Levi. He remembered the first day she woke up, she was a different person. The old Petra was starting to come back this wasn't helping it.
"She's so close Levi...she just needs one more thing to throw her off the edge...this may be it." said Hanji in tears. An awkward silence fell between the three as Hanji wiped away her tears. Levi hadn't seen Hanji like this since Harambe and Bantu...no that wasn't their names...Kenneth and Bone?...no...Sawney and Bean, that was their names, since Sawney and Bean died.
"Is Ral still your choice?" asked Erwin, looking at Levi while ending the silence
"Yes."
"And you and your squad will be seeing her…?" asked Erwin.
"After Dinner." replied Levi.
"Ok, I'll clear you from your duties tonight." said Erwin as he crossed something off his agenda.
"You're not freaking out in the slightest?! Petra could die!" screamed Hanji, Levi looked over at Hanji.
"Who said I wasn't." said Levi calmly, but he was freaking out on the inside after hanji reminded him of what could happen.
"You clearly aren't." screamed Hanji, freaking out herself.
"You seem like you're freaking out more than I am." said Levi sarcastically. "Do you wanna see Petra too?" Hanji blinked a couple times, then she looked at Erwin with puppy-dog eyes.
"Can I?" asked Hanji excitedly.
Erwin cleared his throat.
"Good anime afternoon, I'm Dead Diligent here bring you an Attack on Titan video that absolutely no one asked for."
"Erwin!" screamed Hanji annoyed. Erwin sighed as he picked up his pencil again.
"Sorry Moblit." he sighed as he crossed something off his agenda.
"Yahoo!" screamed Hanji.
"Isn't there supposed to be a rainstorm tonight?" asked Erwin.
"How would you know?" asked Hanji, then an idea hit her. "How did you figure that out! I would like to know for sci-" Hanji closed her mouth when Erwin pointed at the black clouds in the distance.
Erwin cleared his throat.
"BOIIIIII IF YOU DON'T!" yelled Erwin. Levi laughed on the inside, Erwin was a clown.
"We can handle rain, Erwin." stated Levi.
"If you insist." said Erwin "Alright that's all I have for today, you two are free to go." Levi and Hanji stood up and saluted, then made their way out of his office.
-(back at the Food Court)-
The group was making great progress on the breakfast, which means they all sat around and did nothing as Jean made the pancakes. Connie was playing drums on the pots and pans as the group watched with enjoyment.
"HAWAII FIVE O DRUM SOLO!" screamed Connie as he hit the pans in a specific order. Since he didn't have a cymbal to hit, he just swung his roller to the side. He ended hitting Jean point blank in the head, knocking him out instantly.
"Jean!" screamed Armin as he got up from his seat and ran over to Jean. Connie kept playing the "drums", not noticing what his roller had hit.
"Jean can you hear me!" screamed Armin. He ran over to Connie and ripped the roller out of his hands. Mikasa and Buffet looked on in horror.
"Connie! Pay attention." yelled Armin, Connie looked over at Jean. Armin and Connie knelled down to help Jean. Buffet suddenly stood up and started to walk towards the trio. Mikasa stood up and tripped on the leg of her chair. Buffet turned around to see Mikasa's body slam into his own and bring the two to the ground. Their heads collided as they hit the ground. Buffet's face became bright red as he looked straight into her eyes. The two then felt a weight on their legs. She started struggling for a second and then looked behind her.
"I'm stuck." said Mikasa, still struggling to get off of Buffet's body. Buffet looked the the direction Mikasa was looking and saw someone he didn't expect to see. He saw Sasha, with her foot placed on a bag of potatoes that was keeping them in this awkward position. Her face was bright red as she laughed.
"...Sasha…?" asked Buffet. Sasha then fell sideways towards the ground and landed next to Buffet. They looked into eachother's eyes.
"Now, you kiss!" said Sasha, still laughing her ass off. Sasha gripped the back of Buffet's head and moved it towards Mikasa's.
"What are you looking at-" started Mikasa, but she was cut off as Buffet's lips pressed against her own lips. Sasha kept them in this position for a few seconds, she let go of Buffet's head right before Mikasa decided to kiss him back. Buffet's head hit the floor and he looked up to see Mikasa, attempting to hide her blush with her scarf. He looked to his side to see Sasha still laughing. Sasha gave Buffet a thumbs up as she faded away. No one saw this kiss happen.
"I-I don't know what that was-" Buffet was cut off as the door opened to reveal a pissed of Captain Levi as he looked at both of the scenes that were happening.
"I'll be back in thirty seconds, I expect an explanation." stated Levi roughly as he slammed the door. Mikasa was finally able to get herself out from under the bag of potatoes, she quickly pulled the potatoes off of Buffet and then helped him up. They looked into eachother's eyes for a few seconds until the door opened to reveal Levi again with the same expression. He stood there for a few seconds.
"I'm waiting." said Levi colding. Armin and Connie walked towards Levi with Jean in their arm's.
"We need to bring him back to the room." stated Armin nervously as he looked at his friend.
Levi pondered the idea for a few seconds. "Fine" he said roughly. Connie and Armin exited with Jean and Levi followed soon after. Buffet started to walk out the room until a strong arm grabbed him and turned him around, he saw Mikasa with a pissed off expression.
"What the hell was that?" asked Mikasa.
"W-What do you me-"
"You know what I mean." said Mikasa roughly.
"I-I don't know what came upon me. I just-" started Buffet.
"Tell me why." said Mikasa more annoyed.
"You won't believe me if I tell you." said Buffet nervously.
"Yes I will, tell me." said Mikasa a bit less angry.
"Well...She appear- look, I know that must have been an...unenjoyable experience for you-" Buffet was cut off again.
"Who said I didn't enjoy it?" said Mikasa. Buffet was shocked when she walked forwards and kissed him again, after a few seconds Buffet kissed back, slamming his body up to her own. After another couple of seconds Mikasa pushed off of Buffet's chest and looked into his eyes. Her face grew bright red, realizing what she just walked passed him quickly and slammed the door behind her. Buffet stood there for a few seconds, dumbfounded at what just happened. He then snapped out of it and walked towards the door, still hard as a rock.