Chapter 12

The next day had come, and Rolf got up early in the morning as usual, stretching and with a larger grin on his face than normal. Looking around, he saw the rest of his squad beginning to do the same as well, having already gotten used to waking up at such early hours thanks to Rolf.

Still, Rolf seemed to just hum to himself as the group managed to get ready and head down for their usual "assignments". Rolf, however, seemed to just be grinning as well as they headed down and waited in a line for their commander to arrive.

"Alright cadets, seems you got a request from your fearless leader here..." He said looking over towards Rolf, while also eliciting sharpened breaths from everyone else, worried to hear what he'd gotten them into now. "...to be transferred to Calaneth District for the day. Not sure why you did, but hey there's some guys there who'll be happy to get a day in the interior, so why not?" He said casually, before shrugging. "Alright, you're dismis-" He started then looked over everyone, and his bored expression barely shifted.

"Hey, you're down one." He said, which caused Rolf to look down the line. Immediately he noticed that sure enough one of them was missing. Annie.

"Ah, yeah Annie claimed that she was feeling sick, said it was probably something she ate last night." Hitch spoke up quickly to cover for her.

The officer narrowed his eyes, almost seemed like he was going to say something, but thought better of it. "Right, right sure...just get this done today, and I'll see you all tomorrow." He said and turned around to start walking off. "Dismissed."

After that, the group circled Rolf, who had been given the new assignment, grinning as he saw them. "Alright Rolf, what gives? Why'd you assign us there?" Boris asked, with the rest giving various questions questions to the same effect.

"Rolf knows this seems odd, but Rolf could not help it. His former pupils from the youthful days of practice in the military formats are to be leaving on a treacherous quest today, so he thought to help us all out with a different task and allow us to wish our final lucks on them!" Rolf said with a grin, but on seeing that no one else made a move, Rolf breathed a soft sigh. "...Rolf is also canceling today's training." He said, which caused the rest of the squad to smile and breath out a sigh of relief.

"Wow Rolf, two days in a row where we don't have to practice? Seems you're starting to go soft on us, like the rest of these MPs, huh?" Hitch teased, elbowing him in the side.

"Soft? No, Rolf's hearty and meat-filled diet is preventing Rolf from going the way of his great-nana's posterior!" Rolf said, and as he walked by the now disgusted Hitch, he grinned. "Onwards! Rolf's friend's will be leaving soon, and Rolf must grab some last gifts he had made!" Rolf said with a grin.

As the group made their way to the district, they found the Scouts had already been lined up. They sat on their horses, wearing their green ponchos and preparing for the Titans to finish being lured away. As they approached, Rolf was looking into the crowd and grinned as he saw who he was looking for. Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Reiner, Bertholdt, and everyone else from the 104th. Still holding his massive grin, Rolf made his way to where they were.

Waving at them, Rolf ran over to the lines. "Couldn't head out on your very first mission without seeing the Son of a Shepherd off, could you, you hornless rams?" Rolf said as they looked at him, Eren grinning as he saw him.

"Rolf! You really came all the way from the interior to see us?" Eren said with a relieved smile.

"Of course! Rolf couldn't spend all his time lazing around while working on the hens scared to lay an egg into filling their nests when his first fold where marching into the wolf's teeth, yes?" He said, before Armin spoke up.

"I don't really know what you mean, but it is nice that you came to see us off." He said, as Rolf grinned and reached up to smack a hand on Eren's thigh.

"Oh, before Rolf forgets..." He said, reaching into a bag he'd been carrying. "Rolf made sure to give you all good luck offerings, preparations for a warrior fit of the homeland!" He said and pulled out the...offerings.

"A necklace made from the skin of day-old processed sausage, filled with the shavings of pickled herring mixed with a dash of beet skin." Rolf said with a smile as he lifted up the foul-smelling offering and placed it over Eren's head. Eren's eyes widened as he had to cover his mouth to not risk insulting Rolf, then he forced a smile.

"Ah Rolf it's...lovely?" He asked, as Rolf grinned and passed one to Armin who was nearby.

"Please, pass the rest to our companions in the 104th!" Rolf said beaming. "The homeland's warrior spirits will protect the fight against the tall giants with the consistency of a rotting sea slug for sure!" Rolf said greatly.

Despite the...rather disgusting and confusing gift, Eren could see the earnest look Rolf had and he nodded. "Yeah? I will, and Rolf really this means a lot." He said, just as earnestly...even if he was rather uncomfortable having this...thing around his neck.

"Of course! After all, if hot-headed Titan-boy will be charging off against Titans, surely Eren will need it." Rolf eased and nudged his arm, before backing off as he heard a shout ahead.

"Everyone prepare! The titans have been diverted away and we'll be moving soon!" He shouted, as the bells on top began to ring.

Rolf began to back off, looking over to everyone as they readied. He threw his fist into the air. "Rolf wishes you all the luck of a well polished beat! May the humble potato's wrath be unlocked in you all as the beasts are wrought their well deserved justice!" He shouted, the only one in the nearby crowd to be shouting good luck wishes. This was noticed by the Scouts, especially the former 104th Trainees.

Rolf continued to shout these messages of encouragement to them as the horses rushed passed, the gate now open and the 57th Expedition began.

After waving off his friends on their mission, Rolf met back up with his squad, and they began to do their job. However, as they did so, Rolf noticed people staring at him and whispering.

It was at lunch when the group were sitting at a makeshift table, eating some bread when Rolf asked about it.

"Rolf notices that many of the wipper walkers gawking at the Son of a Shepherd. Can any of you explain to him why they are muttering in revery?" Rolf asked them, before Boris finished his drink and nodded.

"Sure. They're recognizing you. The Human Titan who saved Trost District." He said and chuckled as he leaned back, taking a bite.

"What? Rolf did no such thing, Rolf was merely doing his duty to aid the people." Rolf shook his head.

"I dunno, I was listening in a bit too." Hitch said and shrugged. "Seems according to them you got Eren back under control and helped guide the rock into place."

"Hmm?" Rolf asked, with his mouth full as he ate.

"Yeah, the rumors are rather crazy...although I find it kind of funny." Marlowe spoke up as he looked at the crowd, noting some people who were looking their way...particularly Rolf. "They're almost all only talking about you this way. Any mention of Eren is only in regards to you "taming" him. And well...at least based on what you told us about the victory, it was Eren who did most of the heavy lifting."

"What is so humorous about false dillying between sheep wives?" Rolf asked, not finding it very funny.

"...Ah, he just finds it interesting is all." Boris said, as he leaned back. "Still, the fear we hear about Eren in the interior and the praise you get...kind of funny I suppose."

Before the conversation could come up some more, Rolf heard a voice call out as well, another familiar one.

"Well Rolf, now you're here again huh? Honestly, already prefer you to the normal MPs in this district."

Looking up, Rolf gave a grin. "Ah, Mina-girl!" He said and got up, as sure enough his other close friend was here.

"Lemme guess, you were here to see the scouts off, huh?" She asked him. "It was nice seeing them all again, really, and...well I hope they come back just fine." She said, before looking over to the rest of Rolf's squad.

"Ah, so these are your squadmates you told me all about? Me and mine are on a break as well, and I thought I heard rumors of the "Human Titan" being here."

Rolf was very eager to introduce her to his squad, albeit she had to be told that Annie wasn't feeling too well.

"Well it's been nice seeing you all and meeting you, really. And I'll say, Rolf, I should be free in a few days if you and Annie wanna catch up again." She said and started to walk off.

Hitch, as she saw her walk off, shrugged. "Nice girl, kinda surprised someone who's that nice actually survived this long in the military." She said then gave a teasing grin to Rolf. "And I can see why you'd wanna catch up with her later."

"Yes? Rolf's close friends with Mina-girl, as is Annie. Rolf thinks back in training, she was the only one friends with she-of-a-thousand-badger-claws. Why? Why does this seem so laughable to Hitch?"

Hitch looked at Rolf for a bit before sighing and shaking her head. "You know what, never mind..."

The day had gone on very different from how things normally went in the interior. Their patrols took a bit longer, and unlike in the interior they had to do their job more regularly, talking to people about problems, settling disputes. Fortunately nothing more serious than a light thievery attempt happened, but having to deal with a lot more things meant that their normally quick and light assignment stretched on all day.

So, the sky was starting to redden from the falling sun, when something surprising happened. The bell began to ring, signaling the opening of the gate.

"Huh? Why's the gate opening already?" Marlowe asked as the squad had turned to face it.

"It can't be the scouts can it? They only left this morning." Boris questioned.

Rolf, meanwhile, definitely felt something was deeply wrong deep in his udder.

Following their unofficial leader, the squad made its way to the gate as it began to open...and were almost horrified by what they saw.

It was the scouts, back far earlier than normal. And in far fewer numbers than usual. Many were bandaged and had long, shamed and fearful looks in their eyes. They were looking down and away from everyone. And Rolf couldn't blame them as he heard people shouting and berating them, or otherwise quietly dismissing and mocking the scouts.

Quickly, Rolf began to look through the numbers for familiar faces, and to his relief he was able to spot everyone he knew as they came past him. But the relief was very short-lived as he saw the looks in their eyes.

Something...something terrible had happened. Rolf was standing still, his normally optimistic eyes wide as he saw the look of utter defeat in their eyes.

"...Rolf? Are you okay?" Marlowe asked him, resting a hand on his shoulder as Rolf stayed still, before slowly nodding.

"...Rolf is fine." Was all he said, that speaking volumes to everyone, even Hitch keeping back from saying something.

"Come on. Sun's setting, we should start to make our way back home. I'm sure we'll hear about what happened when we get back." Hitch said, as everyone began to slowly make their way away from their crowd. Rolf stood still for a bit longer, before following himself.

The next few days, news had been slow to trickle in, and the rookies got even less news. The only news they got was stuff that they more or less already knew about, that the mission had been called off early because it was a colossal disaster and the massive loss of life, even by the standards of the Survey Corp.

Rolf had taken the news pretty hard, by comparison to anything that his squad had seen him. And he wasn't alone. When they'd gotten back, Rolf had gone to Annie. As he explained everything to her, while she tried to keep her normal, stone faced façade up, several in the squad could tell it was unsettling to her.

The only reason that Rolf was able to mostly act himself was because his friends had fortunately made it out, alive and okay.

That had been the case, when late one night Rolf had been awakened by someone tapping on his shoulder. Groaning as he slowly woke up, Rolf's eyes jolted as he woke up to see who was in his room, tapping on his shoulder.

It was Armin.

"...Cue-headed-blonde-boy, what is the mean-" He started before Armin quickly covered Rolf's mouth with his hand motioning his other to have Rolf keep quiet. Motioning to the window, Rolf slowly nodded.

The two quickly slipped out of the window and down to the grounds.

"Armin-boy, what is the meaning of this confounding late night excursion?" Rolf whispered while confused.

"Rolf, there's something important we need to talk about, but we need to do it somewhere private. The mission outside of the walls was a failure and many people died because of a traitor on these walls." Armin whispered back. "Rolf...the government is going to kill Eren!"

This had gotten the young man's attention, and the two quietly rushed off to a small warehouse, one Rolf assured they could talk in peace.

"Alright...thank you for this Rolf. You are the only one in the MPs that we know of that we can trust, and we're going to need your help."

"Oh? Anything for Rolf's great camaraderie trio of varying degrees of levelness." Rolf nodded. "Still, Rolf does not see why Armin did not also grab Annie-girl. Surely she would also be of great discussion given the sympathies for our partners she would give." Rolf said, causing Armin to give him a rather...uncomfortable look.

"I'll...get to why we didn't ask her." Armin said, then took a slow breath. "What happened outside of those walls...another Titan came for us. Not one of the normal Titans, or even an abnormal Titan. It was a female Titan, one like Eren." He then gave Rolf the darkest look the son of a shepherd had seen from the small boy. "She was a human who can turn into a Titan."

Rolf let what he was said sink in. Rolf had seen the terrible power Eren could unleash when he'd changed, physically felt it when he tried to restrain Eren after he'd gone feral. All of that power, all of it targeting people on purpose…

"Ah...Rolf understands. So now it is Rolf is to aid in capturing this wolf who parades herself around wearing the wool of a rooster, is that so? Well, Rolf is eager to help!" He said, before Armin nodded.

"Indeed. But this needs to stay between us, you cannot tell anyone else. We cannot risk tipping off the rest of the Military Police, or the Female Titan herself."

"Of course, Rolf agrees. However...Rolf is still confused on one aspect. Should not she-with-the-devil's-tongue not be informed about this? Surely Annie can also be trusted." Rolf asked, causing Armin to look down.

"That's...just it. See, we believe we know who the Female Titan is. We only have circumstantial evidence, I admit, but I find it compelling and we don't have a lot of time. And Rolf...that suspect is Annie."

After waiting for a minute, Rolf suddenly broke out laughing. "Oh hoh, Armin-boy! Rolf sees now how much of a kidder you are! Ah, Rolf for a minute expected you to pull a fast one on him, but he sees now you are trying to boost Rolf's morale." But as Rolf kept laughing it slowly died out as Armin's expression only hardened.

"Rolf, I'm sorry. I wish I was kidding, that this was all some prank. Maybe I'm wrong, and I desperately hope I am...but from everything we've seen I'm serious. I believe that Annie is the Female Titan, the same one who slaughtered our unit and who defeated us."

Rolf sat there, his amusement all drained from his face. "...Are you thick in the head?!" Rolf suddenly shouted, glaring at Armin as he quickly stood up. "Why should Rolf believe any of this, huh?! Rolf and Annie have worked together for this whole time, Rolf sees nothing but a loyal soldier in her eyes behind the hatred of a hungry sow!" He gripped his hands tightly and leaned over, glaring in Armin's eyes. "What is this "evidence" that has been collected to condemn her?"

Armin took a breath, not flinching much when Rolf had quickly gotten louder, before looking up. "The evidence we have are several fold. One...Mikasa noticed it looked like her. And before you get mad, more evidence includes how she spared my life, and that she reacted when I used Eren's "suicidal maniac" nickname. Three...the day that those Titans we had captured were killed, and all of our gear was inspected? Annie...didn't hand in her own gear, she handed in Marco's." He took a breath. "And finally, when Eren had confronted her in one on one combat, as far as he remembers, it was nearly identical to Annie's fighting style." Armin finished.

Every sound point was a physical blow, each one causing Rolf to visibly deflate, refusing to look Armin in the eyes. After it was all said and done, Rolf didn't say a word. What felt like minutes went by before Rolf slowly swallowed and looked up.

"Rolf, I have one more question, maybe something that could help us out with this. I noticed on the day we were leaving, when you came by to wish us luck with your squad...I saw that Annie wasn't with you. And she was in your barracks when I came to get you. Where was she that day?"

Rolf didn't answer, everything that had been said and the already understood realization of what his answer might mean causing his throat to dry out. Soon he spoke up.

"Annie...was feeling sick, and couldn't work. Rolf never saw her all day." He slowly admitted, and Armin himself looked like that was what he didn't want Rolf to say.

"I...was hoping you would be her alibi." Armin admitted.

"Rolf will help you." Rolf quickly and suddenly said, but only clenched his hands tighter. "However, he is only doing this to prove her innocence." Rolf said. "Rolf still doesn't believe for an instant that Annie is one of those beasts."

The next day came quickly, something Rolf wasn't so keen on. He had barely gotten any sleep after returning to his bed after his conversation with Armin last night.

He'd been told of the plan, to lure Annie away during the procession to an abandoned underground route that used to be an attempt at an underground city. There, even if Annie were to transform, the crowded and claustrophobic area would make her capture easy.

If she can even transform. Rolf thought bitterly as he sat up, rubbing his very sleepy eyes. Yawning, he stretched and got up, walking to go get ready for the day. Soon he passed Annie, and he looked down at her.

"Rolf swears, Annie. Rolf will prove your innocence. Rolf will keep you safe." He said softly as he looked down at her still sleeping. Taking a breath, Rolf moved on and began get ready. After walking down the stairs, he waited for the rest of his squad, deep in thought. His mind refused to settle on what he'd been told yesterday.

At the same time, he stubbornly refused to listen. He knew Annie, he had gotten close to Annie. Deep down, he knew that she cared and that she listened. Armin himself wasn't even too sure, assuming that's what circumstantial meant.

Speaking of, Annie was the last one down. She'd been sleeping in late, recently. Ever since she'd been sick, she got up later. Their training sessions had been on the back-burner lately, dropping the morning jog and only 3DM gear training was done after their patrols were finished.

But he didn't have time to think about that, saluting as their officer came in. He explained to them what Rolf already knew was gonna happen. Eren and the scouts were to be escorted in by the Military Police in Stohess. Rolf and his squad were to be on the sidelines following in 3DM gear, if something were to happen. With that said, they were dismissed so he could make it to his card game.

When the group had made it out, Hitch stretched as they walked out. "Finally, we get to use our gear for an actual assignment, not just practice." She said as they started to make their way towards the barges to get to Stohess. That's when they stopped and noticed a familiar sight. Two familiar MPs who were chatting with a merchant...with crates labeled for the Military Police. Glaring, Marlowe immediately recognized it.

"Can you believe this? How many times are they going to keep this up?!" He said infuriated as Boris shook his head.

"They'll keep doing it as long as our superiors keep letting them. I'm sure this isn't the first time they've done it since we last caught them either." He said sadly, before Marlowe began to storm over towards the group. "Well, guess we'll have to do this again. Come on."

As the merchant handed over a bag of coins to the soldier, he smirked looking at the merchant, before a loud voice interrupted them.

"Hey! That's government property! It is illegal to sell that! And I know you know that." He glared as the soldiers turned...and their eyes widened.

"Oh come on, why are you kids here?!" He shouted, instinctively grabbing his musket.

"Now I don't think you want to do that...you know how this goes, don't you?" Marlowe said and glared, not showing a hint of fear or nerves, not even unshouldering his own musket. "How about you save us both time, and yourself some bruises, and just go away. And hope that we don't catch you again."

As they looked at Marlowe, the two looked between each other...and they saw behind him the rest of the squad. Boris crossing his arm, Hitch sneering condescendingly at them, the rest of the squad not backing down.

"...You pests. Someday your precious little Human Titan isn't going to be around to back you up." He said and tossed the bag of coins towards the confused merchant. Only for Hitch's hand to fly up and catch it mid-air.

"Well would you look at this? I'd say this is a good amount to pay off your fine for even attempting to buy smuggled goods." Hitch said, bouncing the bag, before looking at them. "Oh...and I'd not complain about this. After all, charges for smuggling tend to come at a much greater cost." She said, adding a hint of menace in the last bit of what she said.

"Wha-hey! If you're gonna take the supplies then I better be getting my money back!" He angrily snarled, even as Hitch just casually strutted off with the bag. "Where do you think you're going, get the he-" He started before Rolf walked by, picking up a crate of the heavy supplies with just one hand. Then the other. Then he casually tossed the crate on top of the first one. The merchant suddenly found himself speechless as the squad walked off.

"We can probably take this on the barge with us and get it to the quartermaster when we get our Maneuver gear." Marlowe added as they went to their barge.

"Heh, gotta say, I like having Rolf around. Did you see the look on those wimps' faces when we came by?" Hitch asked, chuckling some more as she bounced the bag. "Besides, looks like we got a little celebration for us when we finish up."

As the barge sailed to Stohess District and the squad was outfitted, their job began...especially Rolf's. He'd been much quieter during the exchange, letting everyone else handle it. He'd stood back with Annie, and couldn't help keeping an eye on her. In his mind he was telling himself that there was no way Annie was a traitor. He knew it deep in his heart, and every time he looked at her, he only saw someone who deep down cared about these people, and who everyone else cared about.

But as much as he liked to claim he had no doubts, that he'd believe her to the end...his mind didn't want to listen. He also had trusted Armin, their years in training together had been a lot of fun, and he'd gotten close to Armin. He reminded Rolf of a certain other wimpy, smart-in-the-head boy he knew, and if there was one thing he was, it was trustworthy.

"Hey come on Rolf, let's go!" He heard Marlowe say as he looked up. They'd been standing on the streets, waiting for the carriage to come, saluting as they did. Now that it passed they were to move up, and Rolf had been so deep in thought he'd missed it.

As he started to run forward, however, that's when he came across Annie, who was standing still. "Annie-girl? Why have you frozen like the cow's udder in the dead of night?" He asked and walked over.

"Rolf, perfect I'm glad to see you too. You could help us." Came Armin's voice. Rolf looked to see him standing in an alleyway, and it took all of Rolf's effort to look confused at why Armin was there. He wandered off and Annie and Rolf followed, Annie looking very surprised by this.

Once they'd gotten around the corner, Armin began to explain to the two the plan that Rolf had already been told as the cover. The two were needed to get them through the various checkpoints and out of Stohess in order to get Eren somewhere free. And the two would be of great help.

"Why of course Rolf will be willing to help out the hot-headed one in his our of need! And surely Annie will be of great help, yes she of a-heart-of-caring-yet-nettles?" Rolf asked, leaning over and looking down at her.

Annie, however, didn't move. She looked between the two and shook her head. "Why should I help? Rolf here is stupid enough to try, so you don't really need me. Why need two people?" She asked coldly.

"Well, because if there are two of you with us, it gives us more legitimacy. Gives us a better chance, especially since you're both rookies." Armin tried to argue.

"...Do I really look like that good of a person to you?" She asked simply, starting to turn around. As she did, Rolf immediately grabbed her shoulder.

"Now is not the time for your back and forth cold-as-a-stone attitude Annie! The churned butter is about to demonize, and the life of our friend is going to be quailed!" He said quickly, his hand slightly squeezing.

"Rolf, even if I had any idea what exactly you meant by that-"

"Annie, Rolf knows you. He sees deep in your heart and Rolf knows it even if you do not." He said slowly, looking down at her. "Rolf knows you are a good person."

After a minute of hearing that, she slowly unshouldered her musket and rested it on the side of the alley. "Fine, I'll help."

As Rolf set his own musket aside, he looked and noticed that Annie put on a silver ring on her index finger. Which was odd, Rolf had never seen her wear any kind of ring, let alone one like that.

After meeting up with Mikasa and Eren, the five of them wandered down a specific street, now one that was empty. Rolf kept walking straight and tried to not look off to the sides, knowing that there were soldiers hiding behind the buildings and ready to move in should things go wrong. But he had to keep walking straight and staring ahead, making sure to act like he didn't see anything odd about the surrounding area.

Soon they arrived at the tunnels, where they could go down. Rolf felt his heart begin to race as they got closer. They'd walk down these stairs, Annie would prove her innocence, and then they could go on. Rolf would stop thinking these terrible thoughts about someone he cares about, and he could help Eren in an actually productive way.

They arrived at the stairs and started to go down. Rolf kept his eyes down as they did, and they took a few steps, with Armin explaining the tunnels lead to the outer gates. As soon as he finished, Rolf nearly felt his heart stop when Eren stopped and looked back.

"Annie..." He said and Rolf had to look back. Sure enough...she was standing at the top. She hadn't budged at all. "What, are you afraid of the dark and tight spaces?" Eren asked, trying to make it a joke.

"So what? So what if I am?" She asked softly.

"Come now, Annie girl. When we did battle with those nincompoops in the alley, that was certainly small in the maneuverable area and the sun was blocked a bit. We can go." He said and cut her off, his desperation showing slightly.

"You don't know what it's like to be a normal girl, crippled with fear." She said, still cold and monotone like before, but without any sense of fear in her voice. Although...something was there. "Not a suicidal maniac, nor a freakish Human Titan like you." She said and Rolf felt his hands tighten. "Above ground I'll help you out, but I won't go underground, or the deal's off."

"Annie-girl, get down here!" Rolf suddenly shouted in desperation. "We need to both go, yes? Help out Eren-boy and his frothing butter at the licks of the tyrannical doers who would carve him like Nano at meal times!" Rolf said, shouting now, desperate to get her down there.

"Shut up, or someone will hear us!" Mikasa suddenly hissed.

"Oh I wouldn't be worried about that, Mikasa." Annie quipped. "For some reason, it seems that this place has been completely deserted." Her words pierced into the group like a knife. The secret was all but out now, and she had clearly noticed for a while now.

"That hurts me. It really does." Annie said, her voice now wavering slightly, her eyes in particular moving and locking on Rolf's. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't trust me."

Rolf could sense Armin's hand shaking...holding the signal gun as well. Rolf shook his head. "Rolf always trusted you Annie! Rolf said so to anyone else, and Rolf always will!" His own voice started to shake he noticed, but he had to try.

"Yet here you are, down there and looking up to me with that look. And next to everyone else...eh Armin?" She questioned him.

"..Annie. What were you doing with Marco's gear?" Armin asked, all pretenses now gone. "I recognized it, I used to help with maintenance. It had all the same dents and marks on it. So...I know you used it." He said in an accusatory way.

Annie then looked back towards Rolf, before looking down and away. "Yes. I found it and took it."

"Then those two Titans we had taken capture...it was you that killed them!" He said louder, more concerned now.

"No one knows." She deflected. In Rolf's head this fed into his denial, the sheer battle in his mind being the only thing keeping him silent now...that, and the look in her eyes. One of betrayal...and regret. "But if you knew this back then, why wait until now?"

"Because even now it's hard!" Armin admitted, looking down. "I didn't want to believe it, so I stayed quite. But then, out in the field...the fact that you didn't kill me, then and there, that's the moment..." He said, his voice getting weaker and more strained.

The wind began to pick up, for a moment that was the only noise there was. Silence and tension rapidly growing as Annie chose her next words.

"Yes. We're here 'cause I let you live." She admitted, and Rolf felt his heart shatter. His knees began to shake as he stared up at her. Her voice began to waver even further. "Of course, I didn't imagine you'd end up cornering me like this...make allies with my own..." She paused and started to speak in an almost inaudible whisper. "Why...why didn't I do anything then?"

Eren started to beg her to confess to some kind of prank, that she could come down and prove her innocence and even Armin began to beg, but even the part inside of Rolf desperate to hold onto the illusion of her innocence kept him here, from joining him. His eyes stayed on her's as she kept looking away, refusing to make eye contact.

That's when he heard a heavy stomp and Mikasa stormed up, drawing her blade. Without thinking, Rolf immediately reached out and grabbed Mikasa by the shoulder, shoving her to the wall with a slight gasp, a small crack forming on the wall behind him from his own fist.

"Rolf, what are you-" Mikasa started, but even Rolf was shocked at what he had done. He stared at her, his own eyes wide, and unsure of what to do, but before anyone else could move, they heard a small sound coming from up the stairs. At first, it seemed like a quiet laugh and maybe that's what it was, but as it got louder it was clearly something else.

Sobbing.

Looking up, Rolf saw as she turned to them, her eyes glistening a bit as she tried to fight back the tears they'd produce. She eventually calmed down and spoke up.

"Rolf...I'm sorry that you had been mistaken about me. You'd always been a stupid idiot..." She said softly, then turned to Armin. "And it seems for now you've won your bet. But for cornering me here, like this, I have no choice but to gamble myself." She quickly raised her finger up to her mouth, and Armin panicked and reflexively raised his arm and fired the flare. It shot right above her, distracting Annie for a moment, which was all it'd taken. Running out from nearby hiding places were members of the Survey Corp disguised as citizens. They quickly grabbed ahold of her and even managed to get a gag around her mouth.

That's when Rolf and Mikasa both saw the ring. She flicked it and a sharp needle came from it, and they both knew what that meant. Mikasa quickly grabbed Armin and Eren, while Rolf started to charge up towards her.

"Annie, no!" Rolf started, but it was too late. With one solemn, final look at Rolf, she flicked her finger across the ring, drawing blood. The world seemed to slow down as Rolf was within inches of her, staring directly into her eyes as the lightning began to crash down towards them. It struck them all, sending everyone in the area flying, Rolf included into a building.

As she slowly stood up, Annie felt the muscle and skin of her Titan body form around her. She looked down at the now destroyed tunnel entrance, seeing the bodies and remains of her would-be captors. But most importantly, she saw her target. However as she began to reach down, suddenly something slammed into her face.

Stumbling back, she barely got a moment to process what happened when she felt a pain slash across her leg, then another strong blow slammed into her face. Looking around, she could barely see the moving form of someone with their maneuver gear. As it flew at her face, she was barely able to see that it was Rolf, who brought his fist back and slammed it into her face, sending her stumbling back against a building.

He kicked off her and swung around, multiple times digging his blades into her legs, arms, face, anywhere he could, not relenting and not slowing down. His fists were also used as he stared up into her and kept slamming them in, knocking her back.

After he had dealt another blow, he leaped down and fired his hooks deep into her skin and zoomed in close to her. But this time, Annie saw him coming and reached her hand out as he came, causing him to slam into her palm, where she held him.

That's when she stared down at him. He looked so different from anything she'd ever seen from him in all of their time together. His face was distorted in a furious scowl, his teeth showing as he brought his hands up and slammed them down on her hand, furiously slamming down, with no skill or depth, just pure anger. However, that's not all she saw on his face, she saw something else as well.

Tears.

A constant, pouring stream of tears poured down his face as he yelled and screamed at her, not in any words she could understand as he pummeled down fruitlessly in her grasp. She couldn't help but pause at the sight, Rolf not looking to see what expression she wore. She slowly began to close her hand, Rolf not seeing as he lashed out at the one he had once cared for.

Rolf thought back to all the times they'd spent together. How she'd helped him with combat, how he'd stood by her side as their one source of familiarity. Their fight against the MPs, her help in turning his squad from another lazy group to people he was proud to be friends with. How they had trusted each other, cared for each other. And now how all of that had been a lie.

With his anger so consumed and unfocused, and given how she held him, squeezing him would be trivial. She had done it before, she only needed to do it to him now. Her hands slowly closed, but then stopped. Her hand began to shake, as if she was struggling with it, as if she couldn't do it.

Finally she looked away and threw Rolf into a nearby building. She turned from the son of a shepherd, leaving him behind to do her duty.

AN:

Another long time, another post. Not sure if this is the longest hiatus yet (certainly not longer than my other fic...which I do plan to continue to any fans, by the way) for this fic, but it's a long one. I really, really hope it was worth it, as this is obviously an important bit, and my longest chapter yet. I had so much thought into the final reveal, probably mentally imagening it and playing it out for around a year and a half at least. But well, looking at my notes...this is when things start to get really interesting.