November, 1944

The sun had not yet risen when they arrived back in Dachau; the stars above were shrouded by grey clouds, but despite the darkness, the birds were awake and singing in the nearby trees which signalled that it was no longer night. It was a gloomy morning, the three of them were absolutely exhausted and looked it—Annie had deep set dark rings beneath her eyes, Reiner's stubble was already growing back and Historia looked like an orphan they'd picked up off the street. The time read 0:4:55 according to the soldier's wristwatch and being winter, the sun didn't usually rise until just before seven o'clock in the morning.

Two hours was surely enough time, wasn't it? Reiner seemed to think so, but Annie was sceptical. It had already been four and a half hours since the plan had commenced and although the blonde woman considered it advantageous that Reiner was so easy to coax, in honesty, she had relied on him being that way. The point was she would have liked to have had more time before dawn; primarily because there were fewer guards on watch while everyone slept and Annie knew this for a fact. What's more, escaping with prisoners in broad daylight would be extremely difficult to pull off. Time was of the essence and both Reiner and Historia were fully aware of this, given that the girl spent the last two hours drumming it into their minds.

The burly soldier switched off the engine and Annie discarded her overcoat in the backseat of the car before stepping out and closing the door gently behind her, "Reiner, you know where to meet me. If I am unable to reach Armin for whatever reason, please take it upon yourself to get him out…by any means necessary."

The blond man gave Annie a stiff nod and had started to walk away when a small hand reached out and grabbed hold of his sleeve,

It was Historia and her face was deadly serious, "If you don't bring Ymir back, just know that I will." she spoke sharply. The petite girl then removed the coat he had given her earlier and held it out expectantly, however, her face softened before she added in a far more delicate tone, "Danke sehr, Herr Braun."

Reiner froze as a vacant expression drifted over his face and Historia's beautiful features filled with a smile for the first time in what seemed like an eternity—realistically speaking, since Ymir had been taken away. The brawny man was conscious of the fact that she was not only thanking him for giving up his coat, but for putting himself at risk by agreeing to help save the tall freckled woman whom she obviously held close to heart. However, there had been something so desperate, almost frighteningly so, about the look on her face when she had delivered that line about taking matters into her own hands if he were to fail. That being said, Historia's expression wasn't quite able to rival the daunting looks Annie was capable of. Needless to say, several awkward moments passed by before Reiner took the coat from her and swiftly slotted his arms into the sleeves; the young man hastily fastened the buttons and patted down his chest and torso to remove any creases, before he acknowledged the girl with a simple salute. His golden eyes then flitted back to Annie and they held each other's gaze for second or two before he headed off towards the building where the uniforms and other supplies were stored.

It was then when Annie motioned for Historia to follow her and the two walked to the Leonhart residence; in all, it was about a ten minute walk away. The house was far too large for only two people and had recently been gated with a three hundred metre high metal fence. This would have proved to be highly problematic if not for the fact that the back gate hadn't been locked, which provided Annie with both means of escape and access. The taller of the two blondes stated they would enter through a window at the rear of the house and Historia wordlessly complied. But before making their way to the back, Annie made sure to creep around the anterior. When she saw that there weren't any fresh footprints in the snow, she was content to go on but bore in mind that the snow both worked to and against her advantage.

It turned out that the window she had jumped out of earlier had blown open further and by this point, the blonde was fairly confident that her father had not been back to the house. The guard was presumably still slumped over the kitchen table out like a light and Annie mentally scoffed at the absurdity of it all,

The German army is supposedly the most competent in the world and this guy isn't even capable of keeping an eye on a teenage girl.

Without another thought, the nimble girl climbed in through the window. Historia followed directly behind, her tiny frame making the process pretty much effortless. Once inside, the girls silently made their way down the corridor and tiptoed past the sleeping guard, who as Annie had guessed, was still hunched over the breakfast table. Annie guided the blonde up the dark staircase, tentative of each step to avoid the creaks and squeaks.

"Stay in bed and rest if you can." she spoke in a hushed tone once they had entered the bedroom, "Don't worry about the guard, he'll be too drunk to tell us apart."

"What about your father?" Historia whispered back.

"He hasn't so much as looked at me in weeks."

"I see."

There was a slight pause and silence fell upon the room, but Annie wasn't about to linger, "Thank you for agreeing to do this, Historia." She spoke up, her voice still quiet as ever, "If my father believes I am still locked up in here, it will buy us a lot of time."

"I only wish I could have been of more use…"

Annie simply shook her head, dismissing the comment. "If anything goes wrong, don't hesitate to get yourself out." She carried on, "You have my word when I say we won't leave you behind."

Historia nodded and just as Annie was about to leave, the smaller girl whispered her name and uttered, "I really hope what you said was true, about Ymir being okay, that is."

Annie felt a pang in her heart but kept up her mask, her crystal like eyes briefly met with Historia's and then trailed down to her brown shoes,

"And, Annie," the girl's voice was barely above a whisper and two pairs of blue eyes met once more, "Remember that what I said to Herr Braun still stands."

"Do what you need to do." Annie responded in a low voice, before she swiftly turned on her heels and exited the room, disappearing into the darkness of the hallway.


Reiner stepped out of the storage room with a large sack flung over his shoulder and considered himself lucky that he hadn't bumped into anyone while rummaging through the supplies. After all, it would have seemed strange to even the densest of soldiers. Fetching the uniforms was the more straightforward part of the plan, though. There had to have been more than thirty barracks at the prison and the soldier couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, amongst many other things. The confidence he had previously felt had dissipated; a part of him couldn't help but wonder why the hell he'd agreed to do any of this, considering all the trouble he'd been through trying to capture the teens in the first place. Yes, Annie was pregnant with the Arlert's child, but, in all honesty, what did that have to do with him?

I spent weeks searching for these convicts with Bertolt under the orders of Kommandant Leonhart and now I'm going out of my way to rescue them. It hardly makes any sense, if at all. To top it off, I accused Annie of being a traitor and now look at me. I'm nothing but a hypocrite.

The blond shook off the feeling and continued on, leaving a trail of large footprints behind, spoiling the sheet of untouched snow. He spared a glance at his wristwatch and it read a quarter past five; by this point it was likely Annie was already on her way to Armin, and with that in mind, Reiner's march picked up pace. When he reached the solemn looking building, the blond knew there wasn't much point in being quiet. If anything, that would only arouse suspicion and waste time. So, the burly soldier stormed in on the silent sleeping quarters and without any hesitation barked at the top of his lungs,

"EREN JÄGER!"

One inmate almost fell from a cramped bunk after the abrupt awakening. Another boy jumped out of bed suddenly as if ready to start work, while the rest of the prisoners seemed dazed, disorientated and confused as they rubbed at their eyes. That being said, none of them were surprised by the sudden intrusion, the guards often did as they pleased. Reiner could smell the fear emanating from them and wrinkled his nose slightly, when he realised that Eren was not there, he turned his back on them and left swiftly, but not before ordering the young man who had hopped out of bed to get back in it.

The role of the soldier had once again taken hold.

It went like this over and over, until beads of nervous sweat trailed down past his temple and his voice grew hoarse from repetitively yelling the inmate's name. And then finally, a thin boy stepped forward and the soldier's golden eyes locked with the deep, fiery ones of the young man. Green and blue whirled together to create a unique turquoise and a mix of emotions flared, fierce and intense. Reiner recognised those eyes instantly. Eren scowled, recognising the blond man a second later as the bastard who was in cahoots with Annie, the man who had captured him and his friends and landed him here to die. After recalling the scuffle back at the cottage, the blond was surprised Eren hadn't opened his mouth; it was apparent he had learnt his lesson, undoubtedly the hard way.

Reiner let out an audible sigh and took a step closer. All eyes were on the two men as the brawny man approached the teen and placed a firm hand on his shoulder,

"I didn't think I'd see your ugly face again. What do you want with me?" Eren snarled.

The blond's face twitched at the remark, it was evident that the boy had clearly not learnt anything after all, or maybe he no longer cared. "If you want to live, I'd shut my mouth if I were you." Reiner retorted. He pushed the boy forward, his gloved hand still clamped down on the boy's shoulder.

The atmosphere changed drastically at that point and dread filled the air, the prisoners assumed the kid had done something wrong and was about to receive punishment; they didn't expect to see him again. No soul dared make a sound as they watched the boy being led out of the barracks with a grimace fixed on his gaunt face.

Once they had exited the building, the blond dumped the sack he'd been carrying on the ground,

"Get into these and hurry."

Eren looked to the hessian sack and stared at it, after about a second or two he piped up with a perplexed look plastered across his face, "You what?"

"We don't have the time for this." The blond man sounded exasperated, "Armin and Mikasa are waiting for you." he figured playing that card would work and it did, because the boy's eyes widened and his mouth fell agape, a fraction of a second later he was stripping down and replacing the stripes with an SS uniform, topped off with a hat to cover his shaved head. It was loose, but it'd do.

Eren was in a daze. The tips of his fingers tingled as adrenaline rushed through his veins; his vision a blur, unable to focus on the bleak surroundings as he floated behind the sturdy man towards the female side of the camp. His heart rattled against his chest like a bird in a cage and a part of him couldn't quite believe what was going on. For once in his life, he was stunned into silence.

He agreed to obey the orders Reiner had dished out before entering, about being quiet and to stand behind him, but once he stepped inside the sleeping quarters, it seemed his feet had a mind of their own. He was instantly drawn to her; the soldier needn't have called out her name, needn't have woken anyone up. Eren simply followed the red string of fate that had bound them together that night in Munich.

Mikasa shot up out of bed in pure disbelief, "E-Eren?"

The boy placed a trembling finger over his cracked lips, "Ssh", the corners of his mouth then curved up into a small smile. At that moment, Mikasa realised what was going on and without hesitating, turned to the woman beside her and shook her out of her slumber. Apparently she hadn't heard Reiner nor was affected by the flashlight he was carrying.

Groggy and irritated, Ymir rubbed at her eyes, "Why'd you wake me? What time is it?" she grumbled, but was alarmed when she noticed two SS guards.

"Wake up Ymir. We need to get out of here, now." The Asian girl breathed, only causing more confusion.

Ymir sat up and her vision came into focus; under the bright light emitting from the torch, she discerned two familiar faces: first Reiner Braun and then Eren. She didn't need to be asked a second time and practically jumped out of the bed. Some of the women stirred due to the light, but most of them slept, unaware of the events unfolding around them.

The blond soldier tossed them both a uniform and gave a slow, stiff nod of the head; Eren was then pulled away so that they could change and the two men waited outside the barracks. Ymir clambered into the clothes, while the darker haired girl forced her limbs into the garments swiftly yet gracefully. A minute or so later, the women joined the boys outside.

Mikasa immediately flung herself into Eren's arms with a force that almost knocked him off of his feet. The boy returned the embrace and held her tight; he soon found tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill. The girl had already started whimpering, but the sound was muffled as she cried into the boy's neck. Reiner allowed them to have a moment, but no more. It wasn't daybreak and the grounds were still dark, but it didn't mean they were safe.

"You've only gone and done it," Ymir cracked a smile at Reiner, who remained stone-faced, "I knew you'd have a change of heart." She adjusted the hat on her head in a self-assured manner, despite everything.

"We need to get away from here." Reiner diverted the conversation to more important matters.

"Where's Armin?" Eren interrupted and looked to the soldier. A serious look swept across his face, his brows furrowed forming a V shape.

"Annie." Mikasa deduced before Reiner had the chance to reply.

"Fraulein Annie is on her way to Arlert's cell as we speak." He confirmed.

"Bring me to him." Eren demanded, his demeanour unwavering.

"I can't do that." was Reiner's curt response, immediately igniting a flame within the boy.

Mikasa placed a light hand on top of Eren's shoulder; her touch alone seemed to calm him down, "Eren, we are in no position to argue right now."

The brunet's temper melted away as reason washed over him. He knew he had to put his faith in Annie Leonhart whether he liked it or not. While he didn't trust her as a person, he did trust her love for Armin. He'd seen them together; there was simply no denying it. Reiner, on the other hand was a different kettle of fish. The teen couldn't help but wonder why the hell the brawny soldier had had a change of heart. He'd gone against orders, got them out and provided them with uniforms; it didn't appear to be a trap, his actions seemed sincere…but…

"Follow my lead." Reiner ordered, derailing Eren's train of thought. Mikasa began to follow and the boy was right behind. However, the freckled woman wasn't quite satisfied. She latched onto Reiner's arm and leaned forward so that her face was merely centimetres from his, "You busted us out and that's great, but aren't you forgetting about someone?" her voice was low, "The girl you left behind? I know you did it on purpose, don't even think about denying it," she continued, closer, and her breath tickled the soldier's cheek.

Reiner swatted her away, "Historia is well." he stated, "In fact she's here—"

An incredulous look spread across the woman's face and her hold on the man's arm tightened almost painfully, "You brought her here!? What are you, insane!?"

"Maybe I am."

Ymir raised an eyebrow and loosened her hold on his arm; the blond soldier walked on ahead and she watched his back for several moments before joining him.

Perhaps a little bit of crazy is just what we need, she thought.


Annie knew that the cells for 'special prisoners' were in the bunker, not that she'd ever been down there. Reiner had explained that Armin had been put there pretty much upon arrival and that's where he had stayed. It was a harsh punishment, which typically involved leaving the prisoners in total and utter darkness for long periods of time, or having them stand for hours on end, from what she had heard. It was quite possibly worse than the labour the other inmates were subjected to. The thought of Armin being down there all this time filled her with remorse, so much so that she was completely consumed by it. The girl would never be able to forgive herself for what her actions had put the boy through, but, she had vowed to do everything in her power to try and put things right.

Perhaps by now Reiner had reached the others, and, as she made her way down into the bunker she found herself clinging to a shred of hope she hadn't thought she possessed. The world was shit after all, and she wasn't anticipating a happy ending. But, if there was a way of freeing Armin from this hell, then, and only then, there was a chance for her redemption.

The sound of the young woman's heels clacking against the tiled floor echoed throughout the maze of corridors. She hadn't passed any guards so far, but she was certain there would be some up ahead and if she was wrong, she'd probably laugh. An amalgamation of emotions welled up in her chest as she got deeper and closer to where Armin was being kept; she was afraid, but her mask was impeccable, as usual.

Annie finally arrived at the cells but was separated from them by a steel gate; she gave it a push but the chain around the latch simply rattled against the metal as she shook it. Evidently, it was locked, and she didn't have the key. "Dammit," Annie murmured and peered through the bars. Her eyes followed the long narrow path, thick wooden doors on each side. It was grim and dimly lit, but she could clearly see the figure of a guard sitting at the end, his head stooped down towards his chest, snoozing on the job.

The blonde cleared her throat, "Attention!"

The guard's head shot up at once and he rose from his seat, as he approached her Annie moved a strand of ashen hair from her face and inhaled a deep breath. This was it.

"Yes?" he sounded somewhat irritated, as if she had awakened him from a sweet dream. When the man was halfway down the aisle and the young woman came into view, he realised with horror just who he was talking to. "Helferin Leonhart. My apologies." At that, he clicked his heels and saluted her.

"Enough with the formalities," she spoke coolly, "I'm under direct orders from Kommandant Leonhart. Open this gate."

The guard gave her a nod and began rummaging in his pocket; he didn't dare question her, believing that the kommandant himself was involved. Several moments later he produced the key and slotted it into the lock. Annie already had her hands on gate, her fingers wrapped tightly around the bars. The second the gate was unbolted, she drove it into the guard with all the force she could muster with the intention of knocking him out then and there.

He fell backwards and cupped his bleeding nose, "Argh!" Unfortunately it hadn't done the trick, "What do you think you're doing!?" he exclaimed as he brought himself to his feet. Splotches of blood dropped to the ground and a sigh escaped Annie's lips.

Looks like I'm going to have to do this the hard way.

With one swift kick, the guard was knocked off his feet and hit the ground with a thump. Annie smiled to herself, thinking that her father's lessons had come back to bite him. The blonde moved her head, gracefully letting her hair fall back into place and then neatened out her skirt; her breathing may have been slightly heavier than normal, but she quickly managed to compose herself. The blonde then bent down to rummage through the guard's jacket pockets for the rest of the keys and patted him down in search for his weapon.

When Annie found what she was looking for, she stepped over his body with poise, as not to touch him. She wondered if the little kerfuffle had stirred any guards nearby, but apparently, nobody had heard a thing.

There was now nothing standing in her way, and knowing this, she took a step forward and called out his name,

"Armin?"