Rogue

The breeze crept through the window as the curtains danced with it. The sweet smell of the summer rain filled the air. Lana was woken up to the quiet rain hitting the open window and nothing more. It was quiet start to her day.

She got out of her bed and approached the window down to the courtyard below. There wasn't a single person out in the rain as puddles had already formed on the cobblestone. She gently closed the window and proceeded to get ready for the day.

It was just like nothing had changed from before. She put on a pair of black pants and a white collared shirt. As she looked in the mirror while getting dressed she couldn't help but to examine herself. She looked tired with dark circles and bags under her eyes. Her hair didn't hold the same shine it once had. Her smile was gone from her face as it showed small wrinkles around her eyes. She wondered to herself, "When did I get this old", as she threw her hair back into a messy bun with strands dangling down her face unlike her usual braid. She put on her new vertical maneuvering straps and chest plate and proceeded to put on her new black boots to go with them. Last but not least was her black ceremonial jacket and hat that was sitting on the rack. She threw the jacket on the dresser and placed the hat on her head. The visor part of her hat was enough to conceal her face if needed. In a dresser drawer were several small knives in a holster. She clipped the holster to her leg allowing the jacket to conceal them when needed.

Lana removed one of the knives from the holster and walked to the nearby mirror. She stared at her reflection once more and held the knife up. Her stare was hollow. She had felt no feeling, she couldn't even crack a smile if she tried. This morning was unlike the others, this morning is when things had really sunken in and hit her. With a small breath to give her some focus, she grabbed the jacket and flipped it to the large emblem on the back of it. Without hesitation she began removing the emblem stitch by stitch without ruining the jacket itself.

A knock came from the door.

"Hey Lana are you in there?" came Connie's voice. "Hey Lana! The Commander is wondering why you didn't report in this morning….Lana?"

Lana ignored Connie's calls to her as she continued to remove each stitch of the Survey Corps emblem. Connie began to try to open the door, but Lana had left it locked. She didn't want anyone to come closer to her. She realized that the other day when she spoke with most of the old squad. She didn't know who to believe and what to believe. She didn't want to risk rekindling the connections that were once there. She wanted to distance herself as much as possible.

She held the knife to her face after removing all of the Survey Corps badges, "I don't want their blood on my hands," she said as she finally showed signs of remorse on her face.

Lana was to go rogue. She believed it was best not to get too close to anyone around her for her safety and for theirs. She wasn't even sure at this point who to consider an enemy or a friend. The only person she felt like she could truly trust is her own husband, and even then he is considered a lone wolf.

Lana opened the window out into the rain. She grabbed a hold of the window sill and slowly began to shimmy herself along the ledge to a tree that was nearby. At this point she didn't want to take the same risks she used to and possibly break bones. She slowly shuffled to the tree with her arm guiding her along the wall. Once at the tree, Lana reached out for a branch but the slick ledge caused her leather boot to slip. She lost her balance and desperately tried to get the branch. Her fingers just barely reached but wasn't quite enough for her to gain a grasp at it. She fell down to the ground below and braced herself.

As she landed she was in a slight amount of pain but it wasn't quite the same amount of pain she thought she would feel. When she opened her eyes she saw a tall stature standing before her. They had dark eyes that were surprised to see Lana there. Underneath Lana came a sounds, it was then that Lana had realized that she had landed on Floch.

She quickly got up off of him and helped him up from the ground. He was soaked from landing in a puddle as he tried to shake it off of him.

"What were you doing," asked the taller figure. It was then that Lana was able to get a better look at them. They were the one on the ship with the rest of the group. If Lana recalled, Yeleana was their name.

Lana then realized that she needed to come up with a good explanation. She began to stammer, "I…I was trying to get out of the morning duties."

"That sounds pretty juvenile for someone of your experience," Yeleana replied bringing their hands behind their back.

"I'm sure it may seem that way, but have you really completed any morning duties with Commander Hange before? Now that is a real nightmare," she tried to carry on her lie.

"Mmmm, I'm sure."

"Anyways, we all have places to be," Lana tried to leave but was stopped by a firm hand.

"Aren't you the one from the ship? I've dealt with a few of the Survey Corps soldiers but you, you were not one that I recognized that night. Come with us, I'd like to have a little chat with you," they replied grabbing Lana's shoulder and turning her in the direction that they were heading.

Yeleana remained expressionless as Lana went with them. She had no idea who this person was or what they were capable of. She just decided that it was best to play along for the time being.

They walked right back inside and down one of the halls. When they reached a room, inside were a few chairs and a table. There was a desk set aside against the wall and a window with the curtains drawn.

"Please, have a seat. I'm sorry, where are my manners. My name is Yeleana and you are?"

"Weismann, Alannah Weismann," she responded taking a seat across from them with her back to Floch.

"Weismann, how interesting. I thought the lot of you perished," they said as the other soldiers they were with took up spots in the room and proceeded to act as guards.

There was a distinct shutter that went up Lana's spine at the words that they said. She continued to hold her ground. "In dark times things can happen. People can die, but then people can live."

"You're not from Paradis are you?" Lana questioned.

They laughed, "No, no, no. I am of Marleyan blood. But you aren't from Paradis either are you?"

Tension began to build up in the room.

"I was wondering why you were able to bounce back so quickly after seeing all of those gunshot wounds. I mean what else would explain it? But to really be able to say that I have one of the original titans here before me is incredible."

Lana began to pick up on the ques that was going on as she became more and more on alert. She felt uncomfortable as Yeleana became more and more unsettling to her.

"Now tell me, why did you remove your badges? That's the ceremonial coat you were wearing the other day at the funeral was it not? Now why would someone do that if they were so dead set on being a part of this war?"

It was then that Lana began to realize that Yeleana knew too much already on Lana. A complete stranger became a dangerous person in the matter of seconds through a mere set of words. Lana made small glances around the room to see that the others were fixated on her. They held onto guns and were positioned in a way that would allow them to quickly move and fire.

"Everyone makes it seems like I had a choice." Lana began to laugh. "Honey, I have laughed at death right in the face more times than I can count."

Lana quickly threw the table up at Yeleana taking the chance. It was like slow motion to her as she grabbed her chair and whipped it at one of the guards at the door. She used that same momentum to elbow Floch in the face. She ducked down and charged at the one closest to the window. Without any hesitation she ran at full force into them and through the window. Glass shattered all around as Lana held onto her hat and braced herself in a roll. She rolled off of the soldier who was now unconscious and made a run for it.

Yeleana leaned out through the broken glass with a dropped jaw. With a great yell, "You're on the wrong side!"

The words echoed as Lana continued to sprint as far away as her breath could take her. She knew that she had made the right decision to not trust them, however she was right back at the start. She had no idea where Levi was nor did she have a way to reach out to him. She decided it was best to try and make her way out of town. It wasn't much of a choice to make, but it was at least a start.

She reached a stable house and calmly approached an older gentleman.

"I would like to purchase a horse for travel," she requested.

The man looked her up and down and scoffed. "Not for the likes of you, get lost."

"I don't think you understand my good sir," she said calmly leaning in. Her eyes locked onto his as she was unwavering on her request and kept a firm ground. "I am not asking you to sell me a horse. I am telling you to sell a horse."

Slight fear began to show in the man's eyes as he nodded and agreed with her.

The man continued the transaction as she began to collect money from her pouch to give to him.

"Lana?" a voice called out stopping her in her tracks.

She turned over her shoulder to see Cecil and Clyde nearby.

"Why can't anything be easy," she groaned.

"Sis, what are you doing?" Cecil asked.

"I'm buying a horse what does it look like I'm doing."

"Ouch so cold. Hey, listen about what I had asked earlier. My offer still stands. I still want you to come back with us to Rhea. I want to challenge the throne and do it right, no blood. But I want you to be there with me as a Weismann."

She quickly turned around and began to say sternly, "I'm an Ackerman Cecil. The years we could have shared together as brother and sister was taken away from us. Things aren't just going to reverse themselves. Things aren't just going to carry on like nothing happened."

"But we can at least look forward to the years we could have?"

Lana took in a deep breath in and out to calm herself down from frustration. She calmly spoke, "Cecil I know you want to make amends for everything. But things aren't just going to happen at the snap of a finger. I care about you and Clyde, I really do. But I have work that needs to be done. I have a family of my own that I need to tend to. Once all of this blows over, then maybe I will come to Rhea and see you all. But for now," she turned and grabbed a piece of scrap paper from the man's desk. She wrote down an address on the paper and handed it to Cecil. "This is the address to my house. My kids are probably out of there now with Robin and Sebastian. Stay there for as long as you need, just don't trash the place. I want to be able to have a place to come home to."

Cecil grabbed the piece of paper, "Alannah, as long as we, your family, remain alive you will always have a home somewhere to return to." Cecil gave Lana a hug goodbye, "There is just one last thing I want to give you just in case we don't see each other for a while."

Before pulling away, Cecil had grabbed Lana's temples and closed his eyes. His fingers began to vibrate as energy began to fill her. It was uncomfortable as it came with a strange sensation within her nerves. Blood began to drip out of Cecil's nose as the sensation began to be heard in Lana's ears. She couldn't control her body and began to twitch as she grabbed onto Cecil's arms. The feeling was unbearable throughout her whole body as she wanted to scream. Spectators began to take notice of the ordeal. At the peak of the moment, Cecil had opened his eyes as they revealed no color or pupil. In that moment, Lana had a snap feeling in her body. The experience dropped both of them down to the ground with Lana heavily breathing to catch her breath and sweat dripping down her face. Clyde caught Cecil and held on to him not knowing what to do as others tried to help.

Lana was petrified as sweat dripped down her face. She was overwhelmed with something she didn't even know was possible. Memories had flooded her brain. Memories of her life that were kept locked in the safe that Cecil had created. Every single interaction that she and Cecil had shared. Including the memories of Cecil living with her and the Doctor that took care of her. There were memories of Cecil protecting her, Cecil playing with her, Cecil feeding her and much more. He had been around her life more than she had realized but after every encounter he had used his powers to remove those memories.

Lana didn't know how to feel, whether it was rage or sorrow. She was angry that Cecil had locked all of the memories away from her, and yet she was upset that she could never remember him on her own. She couldn't fathom what Cecil experienced every time he had to go through with it.

"Go…."Cecil stammered, "JUST GO!"

Lana watched as Cecil whipped away the blood from his nose as Clyde was trying to console him. Lana without any hesitations grabbed the horse and got on. She rode as quickly as she could to the gate without looking back. Lana couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened. She didn't really understand it, but the more she thought on it, the more it physically hurt her head.

Once Lana reached the gate she was greeted by an unfortunate familiar sight. Standing not far away from the entrance lurking in the shadows was Hange. They peered at her through their glasses and remained unfazed at the sight of Lana. Lana calmly trotted the horse over to the gate to ask permission to be let out. Hange stepped in front of the horse.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" They chimed in a sarcastic tone.

"Get out of my way Hange," Lana proclaimed as the gates were beginning to open.

Hange threw a small bag up to Lana still keeping the same expression on their face.

"Get out of my sight," they said with a slight snarl prompting Lana to take off.

Lana couldn't help but think about how much more badly the day could get. She rode out into the open far enough from the gate and decided to peer inside the bag.

Hange was always someone that Lana respected and once she saw the contents of the bag, she continued to show that sign of respect. The display Hange had shown earlier was a complete act. Inside the bag was a small bag of tea leaves, the kind that Levi enjoys. There was Lana's favorite pastry as well as some badges. The badges that were inside were something that Lana didn't quite expect to see. They were badges that represented a soldier's status within the faction. They were usually kept on the sleeve of the Survey Corps Jackets or along the collar depending on positions. Now that they bore the new uniform, the badges were typically on the sleeve of the left arm as well as the on the collar of the ceremonial jacket. The badges that Hange had given her had signified a promotion within the ranks. Even after coming back to the Survey Crops, Lana was ranked as a standard messenger. In fact she was Levi's messenger for his squad. But now, she herself was classified as a Captain. Although Hange could imagine that she couldn't do much with her status as a soldier, it would at least allow Lana to obtain some perks by displaying the badge. It was almost as if Hange knew beforehand that Lana was going to go Rogue.

Lana couldn't help but to chuckle at the thought as she gently put them on the inside of her jacket collar to keep them hidden. She wondered what was really going on in her Commanders head. After all these years, she still couldn't quite make sense of them, but regardless there was something about them that Lana highly respected.

As evening was drawing near, Lana was now pressed with a different problem. She had no idea where Levi was, nor how to reach him. She began riding out into the middle of the nowhere in the hopes that she would be able to come across something.

"Come on Lana, there has to be something. You just have to find something that may help you locate him. Anything at all," she began to say to herself in desperation.

It was a couple of hours of riding before Lana stopped. She got off the horse and stretched to try and clear her thoughts. She took in a deep breath and let it out to calm her nerves. Now was the time to come up with a concrete plan, because what she was doing before was not working. It was in that moment she remember something. During the fight with Marley she was able to pick up traces of Keith in the heat of battle. Almost as if he was calling out to her. She remembered hearing him yell in the fight and that directed her as to where he was. She wasn't quite sure how it happened, but she knew that if she tried hard enough she could force it to happen.

Where she had stopped was a large boulder. She climbed on top of it and gazed out at the disappearing horizon. She sat down and decided to clear her thoughts in a meditative state. She concentrated on Levi and only him. The sound of his voice, the touch of his skin, the smell, the movements, everything she could think of that was him. She sat there for what felt like an hour before catching something. A sound rang through her ears, it was high pitched and very quick. Whatever it was, it was coming from the left side of her. Without hesitation she climbed onto the horse and began to ride. After a while she would concentrate while riding to pick the sound up again. Every time she paused she could hear the sound ringing through her head. Eventually it became clearer to her. The sound was small bells. No matter what they were, she kept following the direction that they were leading her.

Night began to fall as the sounds of bells began to be accompanied by the sound of a voice. When the voice became clear, she knew that she was heading in the right direction. Eventually, a campsite came into view as she hurried the horse to sprint faster. Once she got close enough the sound of a bell was no longer ringing in her head, but actually through her ears.

"It's about time you showed up," came Levi's voice.