Whoooaaaa, loved those reviews guys! I loved the details about what you liked, what you were anticipating, your questions you had. I loved all of them. Thank you so much!

So, this chapter was incredibly long, but I kind of had to split it up. I just kept writing and writing, and I'm still not done with it. I didn't want to have you all waiting a fucking eternity because my motivation is constantly fleeting. This chap is a doozy. Less sexual tension, more conflict and plot. If that's not your jam, that's okay! In order to get to the actual sexy good stuff, we gotta shift through this. You all know I like a good slow burn, feel shitty story.

So, let's get crackin'!

Wait a minute

Let me finish

I know you don't care, but can you listen

I came committed, guess I overdid it

Wore my heart out on a chain

Around my neck, but now it's missin'…

Ares had been dressed and waiting for Snarky to release her from her cage. Although she had no real concept of time in the gothic dungeon, she still had her internal clock. No longer did he wait for five minutes while she got dressed, when he arrived, she was already waiting for him in front of the bars to be let out. She felt like a fucking animal, but she understood the precaution. God forbid she actually got a decent bed upstairs. Whatever would they do if she was actually treated like one of them and not a prisoner? Because that's what she felt like.

A prisoner.

Of course, this was all her idea, her plan. It was by her own fruition that she was stuck with them. She had decided to let herself get captured by Erwin, sure, but it didn't settle the sour taste in her mouth. She just thought that, by now, she would've gained their trust. She had risked her own life, saved other people's lives. The whole stunt with Oluo should've at least granted her some sort of clemency, but here she was—still waiting for her master to let her out of her kennel.

She wanted to vomit.

Ares suddenly felt the soft vibrations of his entrance and the light thumps of his footsteps, signaling his arrival. She clutched the bars in her hands and pressed her body against them, letting her face slightly poke though. She tried not to look so desperate, but the longer she was with these people, the more impatient she got. It was like they were chipping away at all the old habits that had been cemented into her from childhood. She didn't necessarily like it, but it did help her feel a little less….what was the word? She guessed there wasn't really one to describe what she was.

She just wasn't like them.

She recalled her conversation with Erwin the night before when they discussed it.

…

"I saw what happened with Muller at dinner."

Ares cocked her head slightly at his comment, "Yes…" She trailed. Was he asking her something?

"You handled it well, I think," He nodded at her. Praise? She liked it.

"Thank you," She responded softly. What? Did he expect her to kill him in front of everyone just for speaking out against her?

"I see a lot of the soldiers are getting more comfortable with you here. That's a good thing."

She shrugged, "Yeah."

Simple one-word answers. Erwin raised a brow at her.

"Do you disagree?"

Ares sighed, thinking about her next words. How could she explain her conflict to him? How could she explain that she didn't necessarily feel all that much better about the situation?

"They weren't all like that. Like him," Ares murmured.

"What do you mean?"

Ares swallowed. Should she show honesty? Should she explain the reason why she didn't feel good, or should she grant Erwin the same mercy she granted anyone else that thought she might have some semblance of humanity? Focusing her eyes back to him, he waited patiently for her response. He was always so patient with her. He was always so understanding. She could never tell him anything that would scare him away. Erwin was one of kind. He wasn't judgmental or easily rattled. She always felt so comfortable with him. She trusted him. So, she felt that she at least owed him some kind of honesty. Who cared if she looked like a monster in the end? Erwin had already proven himself to her. He was trustworthy.

"They weren't all so bad, like him. Don't get me wrong, many of them were pretty shitty, a lot of them, actually. But there were also okay people. Decent people. People that didn't do anything particularly cruel or terrible, but were just," She furrowed her brows in thought and sighed, "Unlucky. In the wrong place at the wrong time," She shrugged.

She sighed, thinking about all the unlucky bastards that had happened to cross her path on a hard day, and felt a surge of guilt. As ridiculous as it sounded, it was hard to deal with the consequences of her actions sometimes. She could never feel in the moment, always allowing her beast to take away her conscious and clarity. And her beast had always done that well. Given her a passage of ignorance towards consequences.

This was okay when she was younger. It was almost merciful. But as she grew older and began to hate herself and her monster within, she found that she spent most of her nights suffocating in shame. Because she could only use The Man as an excuse for so long. She could only blame Him and all the other despicable soldiers for so long before she ran out of excuses. She couldn't stay ignorant to her destruction forever.

Eventually, there was no excuse for her mindless cruelty.

She thought back to all her kills that weren't warranted. That she did just because her monster was hungry for bloodshed. Erwin was quiet, which only encouraged her to keep going.

"I'm no saint, Erwin," She whispered, "I've done so many terrible things it'd make your head spin. And I've had to come to accept myself for what I am," She took calm and even breaths as she spoke, "I'm not good—not really. I'm all," She stopped as she tried to figure out the words, "Messed up inside. Now, you seem like a decent man. Someone who has dreams and desires to do fantastic things. Most people do. And while all you good people are sitting around, dreaming about fantastic things, I'm trying not to think about how delicious your blood might taste on my mouth."

Now, anyone else would've immediately tried to run away from her. If she had told anyone else that she struggled with trying not to kill them on a daily basis, they might scream and hide. They would show some sort of fear towards her. But Erwin didn't do that. He didn't act like regular people. Instead, his eyes dilated, and he stood up to pour two glasses of bourbon. When he was finished, he handed her one and sighed.

When he sat down, they both drowned it and he grabbed the bottle again, pouring the both of them another.

"If you're trying to get me drunk, it's going to take a lot more than this," Ares smiled at him.

Erwin smirked, "I'm sure it would."

"You scared of me?" She asked him after a moment, afraid of his response.

However, Ares didn't understand that Erwin, who had spent most of his life fighting bloodthirsty giants, had lost his reservations for fear long ago. That, although she was the most fearsome creature he had ever come across, he didn't get scared. People who were afraid, had something to lose. He had already lost everything but his dreams. And who cared about dreams when you were dead?

"No, I'm not scared of you. Besides, I trust your self-restraint," He said, taking another sip. Ares thought that that might've been the stupidest thing that has ever left his mouth.

"Why?" She asked him.

"My father did," He shrugged.

"I killed him," Ares whispered.

"And did his blood taste good on your mouth?" Erwin asked her.

"I never tried it. Never wanted to," Ares replied. She could never. She loved him, and the thought of his blood coating her mouth made her sick.

"That's good enough for me," Erwin said with a solemn expression.

…

As Snarky got to her bars, he met her gaze with lazy, dead eyes. He paused, watching her press her body against the bars, and scoffed.

"Careful, I can practically see your tail wagging," He said. A couple months ago, the comment would've sent her ablaze, but she had become so used to his abrasive comments and caustic stares that he hardly ever pissed her off as often. Of course, he had also had her actually training with the rest of the squad now. No more were the long days of her scrubbing floors and passing around paperwork, she finally felt useful.

Of course, he probably didn't irritate her as often anymore because she found that she loved how much he hated her. In the beginning of their relationship, she was quick to thinking of different ways she wanted to kill him. But as the months passed, she grew accustomed to his harsh demeanor and found that he wanted to kill her just as much. This sparked something in her. Something dark and twisted. Now she craved him. She craved his icy glares and acerbic mouth. She craved his disdain for her. It was exquisite. How could she not see before—how delicious he tasted?

If she wanted to talk, she might've responded with a sarcastic comment like, 'Woof', but she held her tongue. Instead, she pushed her face through the bars as far as she could and pretended like she was going to lick him, which only furthered his disgust with her. She smiled triumphantly and rattled the bars slightly as if to say, 'Come on, let me out'. Levi rolled his eyes and opened her door for her. The second he did, Ares walked out and ran up the stairs, waiting for him at the top like a puppy. She knew she couldn't go far without supervision or permission. She wondered when Erwin would let her off her leash and give her an actual room. She felt that she had earned it by now.

As they both made their way through the building, her and Levi saw a bunch of people running past them in panic. She raised her eyebrow and tried to look around at other soldiers to see if she could catch them saying anything about it. She turned to Snarky, who had followed the group with his gaze, but kept an emotionless expression. He turned his attention back to her and squinted, "Follow me."

She trailed after the man, leaving a distance between them, always a distance. As they made their way to the training grounds, she saw a bunch of people gathered around someone. Suddenly, Ares felt her stomach drop, which meant nothing good. One thing about that shit they used to shoot them up with, it made them more intuitive. She had an unbelievable sixth sense that was used on an everyday basis. So, when she and Snarky finally made their way to the crowd, the soldiers immediately backing away from her, she wasn't surprised to find the dead body of the man who had spoken out against her yesterday. Ares kept her face expressionless. What would shock do to help her situation? Because she was in a situation. A fucked up one.

The man's mouth was open, along with his green empty eyes. His lackluster body was contorted and lifeless. His neck sported a beautiful, scabrous gash, messy and sullied with blood. The perpetrator did a decent job with their framing. Only a person with exceptional knowledge of her work and a keen eye would be able to tell the difference. While she devoted herself to a clean, precise practice of slitting a throat, this person's was a little bit sloppy. The cut was jagged and slightly crooked. The line wasn't straight. It looked too rough. The boy must've struggled during his murder.

Ares' victims never struggled. They never had the time to.

Someone was trying to frame her. It was so easy to do, too. She couldn't imagine that the Survey Corp had been burdened with murder before, and now, all of sudden she shows up and the soldier that yelled at her was dead. It would only make sense that she did it. Besides, the people here were so quick to judge because they were so easily fooled and influenced by things happening around them. She didn't think anyone would use their actual brains. Her only hope was that the higher ups would consider all of the facts and possibilities.

It didn't make sense for her kill somebody while she was with them. Why would she? She had given herself up—for what? To kill a simple man who told her he didn't like her? To kill just one person? If she was going to go around murdering people, wouldn't she have taken down more, like the dead eyed captain? Or even Erwin?

She had saved someone's life. She had risked hers, put hers on the line, for someone else. Why would she kill someone after doing that?

Ares wasn't nearly as messy as this person. Her victims' necks didn't exhibit such carelessness. The man's cut looked brutal, painful. He most likely suffered heavily during the attack. She wanted to scoff. Amateur.

By looking at how coagulated the man's neck was, she could tell the attack had to have happened a couple of hours after dinner. She was up talking with Erwin until at least 12am, so she had an alibi.

She had gathered these thoughts in less than three seconds, but while she was trying to deduce who would attempt to frame her, she quickly noticed the frightened and heated stares she was receiving from the soldiers around her. Even Snarky was looking at her with a calculating expression. She knew what they were thinking, she wasn't daft. So, she returned his glare with a lazy stare of her own, blinking at him like she was unconcerned. It was best not to show any reaction. If she acted surprised, they wouldn't believe her. If she claimed innocence, they wouldn't believe her. It was best to stay expressionless. Empty.

Suddenly, she saw Hange and Erwin push through some soldiers. The wild haired woman quickly got to her knees to investigate the body. She knew there was no point in trying to resuscitate him, he was too far gone. Ares watched as Hange carefully inspected his neck solemnly before bringing her attention to Erwin. He met her stare briefly before kneeling next to Hange, "What happened?"

Hange sighed, "He definitely died from the laceration. He must have been dead for a while too; his blood is heavily clotted."

"Can you determine what time?" He asked her. Smart. Had she mentioned that he was smart?

"With time. I'll have to take some samples and investigate his body; it'll take me a couple days."

Erwin nodded once before quickly standing up and looking amongst his subordinates, "Everyone make their way to the dining hall. We'll handle this. I will let you know when we find out more information on this terrible matter."

The soldiers slowly began to disperse. Ares took the initiative to walk in front of Snarky on their way there. There was no way she would risk being out of his sight today, not ever, not until her name was cleared.

…

No one had spoken to Ares. No one had even glanced her way besides Eld and Oluo. She had anticipated this, of course, but that didn't mean that it didn't bother her. She had been trying to eat her food regularly, as if unaffected by the news of the boy's murder. She was trying to act as normal as possible. But her teammates were idiots and cowards. They couldn't even grant her the benefit of the doubt.

She turned to Eld, but he didn't meet her gaze, instead, focusing on staring straight ahead. She could taste his disappointment and his fear of her. When she brought her hands up to sign to him that she didn't do it, he only stared at her, and turned away. He was rejecting her.

Ares expected it from everyone else, but she didn't expect that from him. Suddenly, she was filled with a hot anger that she quickly decided to ignore. He didn't deserve her anger. He didn't deserve any of her feelings. She had been open with him, told him things she didn't tell others, but he denied her anyways.

Figures.

She should've known better. It wasn't like it wasn't to be expected. Men were simple creatures.

She saw everyone turn their heads towards Erwin and she quickly followed suit to catch his speech.

"-know that everyone is shaken by the events of this morning. Jonas Muller was a fine soldier who cared about his comrades and worked hard. He will be deeply missed. His murder was a tragedy and I would like to let all of you know that we will work to the fullest extent to find his killer and deliver justice. Until then, I will be personally questioning all of you about your whereabouts of last night. If anyone has any knowledge on these matters, and wishes to inform me, it would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime, I will be administering earlier curfews and I would like to stress the importance of not walking by yourself around the grounds. Thank you," Erwin finished.

He didn't look at Ares during his speech, but he did glance at her as he sat back down. She needed to talk to him. If anyone would understand, it would be him. Ares wanted to know what he was thinking. What was going to happen to her? Would she be put on a shorter leash? She was already sleeping in the dungeons, couldn't take a fucking piss without supervision, and she wasn't allowed to carry her blades with her. How much worse could it get?

…

"Are you serious?!" She slammed her fists on his desk in anger, "Prime suspect?!"

"Yes," He simply said back.

"I didn't do anything! Why would I?! Erwin use your fucking brain! It doesn't make any sense! I was with you for most of the night!"

"I don't know of your whereabouts after I walked you to your sleeping quarters and I'm very much aware that you sneak out in the middle of the night to see your horse."

Ares was livid, sputtering, "Wha-That doesn't even-You know what? Yeah! So, what? I sneak out to play with my fucking horse. That doesn't mean that I would murder a man just because he doesn't like me! What is this? Grade school?!"

"I think you might be unfamiliar with the practices of grade school," He said seriously.

She ran her hand over her face exasperatedly, "You know me. You know I don't do things like that."

"You mean kill people?" He said smartly. He had her there. She could already see him thinking back to their conversation yesterday. The words that she told him in confidence because, at the time, she trusted him.

"Not people like that," She stressed. She didn't know what she could call these people, these people that she wouldn't kill. Because Ares could kill anyone. But she wouldn't kill people who put their lives on the line for others for the good of humanity. She didn't really have a word for them.

Martyrs? Was that the word?

No, that didn't make any sense.

Heroes didn't either, though.

"I only know what you tell me, and frankly, trusting the word of a convicted serial killer is looking more and more to be a little unwise, considering I have a dead man on my grounds only months after your arrival. Was he just unlucky? In the wrong place at the wrong time?" He said, spitting his words back at her. Ares couldn't even react. She was too shocked. She told him that in confidence.

"I didn't tell you that so you could throw it back in my face. I told you that because I trusted you and I thought you trusted me," Ares seethed.

"Looks like we were both wrong," Erwin glared at her.

Ares fell back into her chair, licking and biting at her lips in frustration, "So that's it? You don't trust me?"

He was quiet, refusing to answer her question and it was in this moment that Ares had learned a terrible lesson. She had once again put her faith in someone, and they had let her down.

She continued, "You'd let them take me? Innocent and blameless?"

"If I find evidence that points to you, yes."

"Evidence that poin-" Ares ran her hands through her hair in frustration. She couldn't even repeat the words. She was so unbelievably angry with him, "They framed me! They literally could not have made it seem more obvious that I did it!"

"Regardless, I need to think about the safety and wellbeing of my soldiers."

She was hurt. Here she was, putting all of her marbles in one bag for a person she trusted, she believed in, and look how the world treated her for it.

"I'm your soldier! Me!" She stood up angrily, pointing her finger at herself, "I gave you my service. I gave you my word, my dedication! I gave up everything for you. I told you my secrets and showed you irrefutable evidence of my innocence, and you would sit there and fuck me like this?!"

He didn't even flinch at her outburst, calmly breathing in and out, "When Hange returns with her reports of her investigation, we can decide what to do. Until then, you will not be participating in any drills or exercises until your innocence is proven."

She wanted to scream, but instead reciprocated his tranquility and sat back down robotically, "And what am I to do during this time? Stay locked up in my cage all day?" She asked dark and sarcastically.

"As a suspect, you cannot be trusted to be out with the other soldiers. They fear you."

She scoffed at his words, wetting her lips in agitation, "I thought everyone was a suspect. Will Levi be stuck in a cage as well?"

"Levi has proven his loyalty tenfold."

Ares' breathing was erratic as she nodded sarcastically, "Of course. So just me then?"

"I will have Mike, Levi, and myself rotate between taking you out to the dining hall and getting breaks in between-"

She stood up abruptly before he could even finish his sentence, her chair knocking over in her anger. She turned her head away from him in disgust, her throat incredibly tight. She hated him. Now, she was stuck here, put in a precarious position and forced to deal with consequences that were not hers to begin with. She was just so sick of all of them and their nauseating bullshit, especially his bullshit. She couldn't believe that he was treating her this way. After all the months she had spent talking with him, opening up to him, and he was throwing her to the wolves without a second thought—as if she didn't even matter. As if everything she told him about her past didn't matter.

What was the point of believing in somebody if they were just going to let you down? What was the point of any of it? She had put all her cards on the table, and he bluffed her. She soon felt the beginnings of a person walking up to his closed door and she shook with rage. She wanted to hurt him, just like he hurt her. She wanted to say something, anything that would just completely tear him apart. She wanted to make him feel like she did in that moment. So, before the person could get all the way to the door to hear her speak, she turned back around, took a deep breath, and said it.

"Your father was wrong about you," She said calmly. He looked slightly confused at her words, "You're not smart, you're not brave, you're a fucking idiot. And I'm the bigger idiot for believing in either of you for a second," She hissed out the word, "I'm happy he's dead now, so he can't see how pathetic you turned out to be."

She said it emotionlessly. She would hate for him to think that her words were clouded by emotions. She wanted him to know that she meant what she said. She wanted him to feel sad and aching. Of course, she would regret it all later, her monster didn't block away her pain or guilt anymore. But in that moment, she felt undeniable loathing.

She got what she wanted, too. Only a few people who could read faces as well as she could would be able to see the tiny, miniscule differences in his expression—as well as he tried to hide them. The dilation of his pupils, the slight downturn of the corner of his mouth. The virtually undetectable furrow of his brows. How his shoulders stiffened almost automatically. Even the slight tightening of his fists. She saw it all and she was satisfied, because she knew that Erwin didn't show pain. He didn't let people get to him, but she did, and she was proud of it.

She couldn't hear the knock, but she knew that the person was at the door. Erwin kept an even stare at her while telling them to come in. It was Mike. Ares wasn't quite familiar with his footsteps yet. They were 'loud' and a little dragged, as if he took his time. He seemed like the type. Serious, but laid back when he wanted to be. She hoped she could get him to walk her back to her cage. She didn't want to be within ten feet of the blonde commander. He had lost her respect.

Ares could tell that Mike was aware of the hostility between them, that he could taste it in the air—or in his case—smell it. She could tell because she saw his nose twitch in that way it usually did. She imagined that they both looked absolutely livid with each other, both of them holding the other's heated gaze. Mike closed the door behind him, and Ares saw his Adam's apple move, he was clearing his throat.

"Did you need something?" Erwin asked, breaking the silence between them. Ares still had her eyes trained on him.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about somethin', but it can wait if you're busy," He looked between them.

"We were just finishing up. In fact, could you escort Red to her sleeping quarters? You can come back here when you're finished, and we can speak then."

Ares glared at him. She hated him.

"Sure," Mike said, walking to the door and holding it open for her. She didn't move for a second, continuing to glare at the commander. Eventually, she moved her feet and walked out of his office. Mike was quiet as he walked her to her dungeon. She didn't expect him to talk to her. She didn't usually see him speak much, but his silence was definitely due to her circumstances and not his usual quiet mannerisms. Any other time, she might've appreciated it. She really did hate having to pay such close attention to people when they spoke to her, but in this moment, she wanted the distraction. She didn't want to think about Erwin or any of it.

She didn't want to think about how his words, his treatment of her, had actually hurt her feelings. She didn't get hurt feelings. She was raised better than that. But here she was, upset with a man she had known for more than a year now, and she was hurt. She thought she had found a friend in him. She figured it was because she saw something in him. She saw a determination for truth and justice like his father. She thought he saw her for who she was and actually liked her for it, despite all of her faults.

Ares couldn't deny that she had heavily valued his friendship over the time that they had been together. She had trusted him, and he didn't even give her the benefit of the doubt. He didn't care about her. He just wanted a good soldier that followed orders and laid down their lives for him. What else was she but a pawn in his elaborate chess game?

To her, Erwin was just like Him, The Man. And she hated herself for even allowing herself to think otherwise. But she had been clouded. She had been influenced by the virtuous memories of his late father that she ignored the signs—but she could now see that she had been played. That none of it made a difference. That despite her evidence, despite her honesty, she was nothing to him. A means to an end. She wanted to scream. How could she be so gullible? How could she let the childhood memories of a dead man influence her decision to see past his son's faults?

Maybe it was because she had thought that he could see past hers.

Eventually, they had made it to her cage. The place that would serve as her prison cell for a murder she did not commit. She silently strode in, keeping her head down, refusing to sit on the uncomfortable bed and preferring to stand. She didn't understand why she was constantly pushed in positions like this. Why she was constantly dealt the worst of cards and forced to settle with them with no say so in the matter. She wondered what she had done in a past life to deserve the one she had now. She must've been absolutely terrible, bloodthirsty, and treacherous, and now she was suffering for it all.

Or maybe it had nothing to do with her past life, but instead, her current one. Maybe she was being punished for all those unlucky bastards that had happened to cross her path. The sins she had no excuse for.

She was vaguely aware that Mike had not walked away. Curious, she turned to him with a dead expression.

"I don't think you did it," He said casually. Ares resisted raising a brow, she didn't have the energy.

He continued, "You're a smart woman and I don't think you gave yourself up to kill one man for calling you out. Besides," He sighed, "I've studied your work before, and his injury didn't match up with your previous victims."

Ares blinked at him; she didn't feel like playing games with anyone. So, instead of giving him any kind of bodily response, she sat on her bed and proceeded to chain herself up. She didn't want to be blamed for another dead soldier. Best to make sure she covered all her bases.

"You know, you don't have to do that," Mike told her, nodding to her chains. She ignored him and turned around so she wouldn't have to see him say anything else. She was over everyone here. She just wanted to sit in her solitude and contemplate her escape from the retched place.