A/N: !|WARNING|MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD|!
So I made this au based off the theory that the amputee guy we see Falco help in chapter 94 is, in fact, Eren. Of course I brought Annie into the picture by having her not crystallize herself so that she could actually be of use. Just pretend Pieck came and saved Annie from a dark dungeon while Levi and Zeke were duking it out in Shigansina. Pieck is said to be the 2nd fastest titan anyway. I also wholeheartedly believe that had Annie not crystallized herself and had actually been rescued, she would have been the one to have the rank of vice commander instead of Reiner.
Anyway's this 'one-shot', is gonna be cut into three parts, cuz' it is long af. 10,300 words. -_-'
Now, get READY for some BITTER ANGST
Fathers PT. I
I
He could never miss a face like hers, even if was covered in the blood of their enemies. She stood on the edge of the trench, blonde tresses whipping like cords in the wind. Slain Eldian and Enemy soldiers littered the pathway that divided the war. Marley Commanders, warrior children and medics; all of them raced, wove around each other, bumped shoulders, tended to wounds, inhaled the stale air of death, and gun powder.
"It's the female! Make way for her, Move your asses!" A harsh command from his unit's Lieutenant had his feet automatically propel forward, following the tone of the Marleyan man, several other soldiers jogged behind.
She gave them no warning, but simply slit her wrist, and was gone in an explosion of steam and dust. He shielded his eyes from the rocks that flew into his vision, and in the mid of boiling mist, he saw her kneel, both enlarged skinless hands on the opposite end of the trench, and then, she leapt over to enemy lines, and took off, spreading the debris behind her without a care for her comrades.
She was, after all, the third fastest titan shifter, and she was merciless. An angel of death, of destruction; she dodged the spray of bullets that rained upon her. Their enemies, distracted by both the jaw and armored titan failed to react quick enough to the female's counter attack. She charged into the fortresses walls, shoulder first, stones, iron and men all crumbled to her feet.
On three ends, Fort Slava was surrounded, neither the colossal nor beast titan's absence could hinder the Marley's military strength, however the losses were great, far more than he'd ever known, fighting on his own island, and against titans no less.
"Over here, Krueger! Hold this spot!" His leader, Lieutenant Humbolt dragged him by the shoulder, pushed him down into a rocky terrain that acted as a barrier, the men behind slid after him, their fire arms poised above the rocks, the pebbles beneath their boots bounced in time to the armored titan's heavy foot falls that approached from the far end of the trench.
"Do you guys hear somethin'…?" A chubby boy whom everyone referred to as Squeak, covered head to toe in dirt, quaked in fear. "Like…a train?"
All men remained silent, ears perked, and heads swiveling left and right. Krueger did hear it. The blaring horn, a warning. It was faint, but nearing at a rapid speed.
"Don't matter, they won't get to us in time, prepare for infiltration of the Artillery base, with the female on our side, we don't need to worry about any more casualties." Lieutenant Humbolt shoved a rope into Squeak's arms, and pushed him to the side, "You climb up there first, since you're the biggest."
The boy, not much older than fifteen yelped at the Lieutenant's forcefulness, but he did as he was told. Scrambling up the jutted rocks on shaky hands, eventually making it to the very top; Squeak unraveled the rope into the depths of the Trench, Humbolt than nudged Krueger forward, "Now get your asses up there, move!"
Krueger's hands reached for the rope, he hauled himself up, trying to balance his feet on the rocks to relieve Squeak of the weight. The walls of the trench tremored as he climbed, he thought of what would come of the Marley winning this war; halfway up, and one hand on top of solid ground, a flare shot up into the cloudy skies, blinding his sight with white light. He didn't know who let go first, Squeak, Or himself. But he went tumbling down the sharp rocks of the Trench, landing heavily onto a fellow soldier.
Their Lieutenant screamed, "CANNON FIRE! OUT THE OF WAY! SCATTER!" Krueger rolled off the man, peering through the smoke to his far left, he saw an unconscious Squeak. Though he knew he shouldn't give a damn for these men, he stood on wobbly legs, and took off, high on adrenaline.
Lieutenant Humbolt shouts of profanities were drowned by the explosions; Krueger scooped up the kid, tossing Squeak over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, but his legs could only get them so far before a typhoon of earth and flames struck his back, flinging them like rag dolls into walls of the trench, the fire scorched his skin, the air pressure crushed his bones, he threw himself over Squeak's body. He thought he'd die there, but it wasn't death he was afraid of.
The blast had only knocked him out cold. In his unconsciousness, Krueger saw the ocean, he heard the waves crashing onto the shore, he felt the soft sand beneath his bare feet, the farewells of his friends drifted into his ears; the best moments of his life played behind his mind's eye. Only in his dreams did he ever truly feel free.
And then, he awoke, with a ringing in his left ear, the taste of the sea on his tongue, and the scent of charred flesh in his nostrils. His body felt lighter than before. "Keith!" The boy Squeak, kneeled by his side, worried, a gash on his forehead bled profusely, but all Squeak could do was blink away the blood.
Krueger had his back to the trench wall, his head lolled forward, faint from the explosion, fatigued of risking his own damn life; risking his cover being blown. The once bright viridian of his eyes turned dull. Dead. He found himself staring at the stump of what would have been his right leg, residue smoke from cannon fire hid the wispy steam bellowing from the severed end. He squeezed his eyes shut, his skull felt as if it'd been split open like a fruit then glued back together.
"Others?" Krueger rasped. Squeak frowned, shook his head solemnly. "All our men were caught in the blasts, our Lieutenant is gone, but the flare that went off… that was a sign of truce. We finally took Fort Slava. It's the end."
While Krueger feigned the expression of terror, of grief, of bliss; his mind was already preparing for phase three of the grand plan. After three years of fighting for the Marley, three years since he'd seen his friends, his family. He would finally infiltrate the Mainland, the true home of his father, Grisha Jaeger.
II
Upon arriving in the Mainland, Krueger tailed Reiner Braun, the holder of the armored titan, terrorist of Paradi Island, and, his former friend. Disguised as a handicapped veteran, he followed Reiner onto the train that took the withered soldiers home. He followed Reiner all the way into the gates of his late father's birthplace, Liberio, a prison turned home to many of the pure Eldians. He chased Reiner's shadow, soaking in whatever information he could, until he could follow no longer. The families, and lovers of every soldier, and child warrior blocked his sight, with one last glare at the tall blond man, he turned away.
Intermingling with the other shell-shocked victims of war that were being herded into a line, away from the families, the cheers, and celebrations. Away from happiness.
He hadn't seen Squeak since the he left the battlefield. He hadn't even seen his own brother, after being informed that the beast titan was indeed involved in the war, but in an airstrike on the coastline. Zeke was a perceptive man, so Krueger was relieved to be kept hidden from him for so long.
Then there was Annie Leonhardt, holder of the female titan, he hadn't seen her since she jumped across that trench. He wondered where he could find a woman of her status in this Internment, and if she even lived in this section of Eldia.
"C'mon, this way!" Koslow, a Marley Commander bellowed to the injured soldiers in line, "Ugh, can't you even walk straight?"
At the corner of his eye, Krueger noticed a young boy with snow white hair walk up to Koslow. "Are those injured soldiers Mister Koslow?" He asked, Krueger immediately recognized him as one of Reiner's underlings. The boy who was in competition to inherit the armored titan, Falco Grice.
"Outta' my way brat," Koslow sighed impatiently, "These are Eldians who suffered psychological trauma, they don't have families, they're gonna' be treated at this hospital." He waved a hand to the elongated building at their left.
Falco appeared intrigued, "We have people like that too?!"
Koslow smirked, "Seems like you end up this way if you spend to long digging trenches on the front lines, it's all those bullets going by and bombs going off like fwoo—KABOOM!" Koslow's booming voice caused the mind broken soldiers to drop down flat on their bellies, hands over their head as if a bomber plane were flying right over them, one man screamed and fell back into Krueger, knocking the crutch from his hand. They went tumbling into the others, who all crashed into one another like dominos.
Koslow cackled at the mess he purposely made. "C'mon Koslow, knock it off!" Another Marleyan soldier tutted, but he to, had a cocky grin plastered on his face. Falco watched the commotion happen with a straight face, then he turned to his family behind, "I'll catch up with you guys!" He waved at them, "Go home without me!"
Falco ran to the nearest whimpering soldier, kneeling to pat him reassuringly on the back. "Are you okay?" The man jolted in response, Falco frowned. "Please calm down…" He turned from the wailing man to Krueger, who was sprawled haphazardly on the ground. Goosebumps pricked at the amputee's skin, Krueger felt another pair of eyes watching him, and it wasn't the kid's.
"Your band is on the wrong arm." Falco pointed out as he stood, walking near Krueger to kneel by the veteran's side, Krueger remained silent, still as a living statue. Falco gently took him by the arm, loosening the Eldian band, switching sides so he could tie it around the right arm. All the while murmuring comforting words to the older man, "It's okay, I'm sure it'll get better… you don't have to fight any longer."
Once the band was tied tight around the correct arm, Falco patted him on the shoulder, "Everything will be alright from now on."
Krueger almost believed the boy. But then, he heard her voice among the noise of screaming soldiers.
"Falco." It was her. The cause of his paranoia. He never felt so naked than he did now. Krueger bowed his head, allowing a curtain of his hair to fall over his eye not wrapped by bandages. He wasn't religious, but he did silently pray to any false god that he had grown to be unrecognizable to the Vice Commander of the Marley warriors, Annie Leonhardt.
"Oh! Miss Leonhardt!" Falco shot up, saluting the female warrior, cheeks tinged a rosy hue. "I didn't know you were here!"
Annie folded her arms, raising a blonde brow, through his outgrown fringes, Krueger saw that her hair was loose, and long, a river of platinum silk falling over her shoulders, kept in place by a pin in the back of her head; he hadn't noticed this change on the battlefield, but then again, his mind had been preoccupied on other things, like staying alive, and not being found out as a spy of Paradi Island.
She wore the standard Eldian warrior uniform for women; the skirt ended right above her knees, her dark heels were shinier than marble stone. The band on her arm was a distinct color than his own, and the kid Falco's. it was red and silver. A mark of her status, but still, just a pet for the Marley to use.
"Well, my home is here, what're you doing here," She scanned the area of wailing soldiers. "Just what happened here?"
Falco rubbed nervously at his elbow, "These are the soldiers from the frontlines, they suffered from trauma, Commander Koslow screamed at them, made them all scared half to death, I just wanted to help them."
He could feel the chill as her cold crystalline eyes landed on him, of course she would spot him, the damned kid was standing right next to him! Krueger neither said a word, nor moved an inch, just settled his gaze to the ground, paralyzed under her icy stare.
Falco noticing Annie's attention piped, "Oh! I was just helping him fix his band, he had it on the wrong arm."
Shut the fuck up, kid. Krueger gritted his teeth, the nape of his neck became damp with sweat. He swallowed inaudibly when he heard heels clacking on stone, and then a pair of pale lithe legs stood in front of him, he held his breath.
"Is that so?"
He clenched his jaw tight. Falco peered at Annie, head cocked to the side, wondering why the amputee man had suddenly captured her interest.
A catcall whistle broke the trance of the three.
"Well, well, well! If it isn't the monstrous beauty herself!" Koslow swaggered up to the stoic blonde, a cheesy grin overtaking his ugly features. "Lady Leonhardt, heard ya' decimated the artillery base on the front lines!" He clapped a hand on her shoulder, Annie shrugged him off carelessly. Krueger felt himself breathe again as he was relieved of her cold eyes; they now glared at the Commander who waggled his eyebrows appreciatively at her attire.
"You Killed so many of em'!"
Annie turned from him, now fully facing Koslow. "I was simply acting as a decoy for the Armored and Jaw titan, I tried to avoid that many casualties."
With Koslow as a distraction, Krueger lifted himself up on his good leg, though struggled to do so, A small body came to his side, and slung his arm over their shoulder.
"Here, I'll help you up." Falco grunted, the albino was too small and light for Krueger, so he kneeled awkwardly, willing his weight on one leg, stumbling a couple of times, until he managed to stand, but lean himself heavily on the boy.
"Miss Leonhardt!" Falco staggered a bit, "Miss Leonhardt, the crutch please!"
Krueger's heart skipped two beats as Annie swiveled back to them, she was so close to his face, though her attention was still preoccupied with Koslow, she bent down to retrieve the crutch, handing it to Falco without a glance to him, or Krueger, flicking strands of blonde over her shoulder.
"Enemies aren't casualties," Koslow shrugged, pretending his eyes had been elsewhere instead of the Vice Commander's rear as she turned to him again, arms folded. "The more dead, the merrier, we're better off without them trying to steal our resources anyway."
Falco stuck the crutch under his arm, righting Krueger to balance on the wood. Krueger only half-listened to the conversation between the Marley commander and Annie. Resources. They meant oil, the rare fossil fuels of ancient animals that roamed the entire world a long time ago. Their precious, precious fuel. What made Marley a dominant nation was their unlimited access to this fuel, and of course, the power of the titans.
"Koslow!" A fellow Marleyan Commander hollered from the threshold of the hospital. "What the hell is the hold up?! Where's the damn line?!" He banged his fist on the wood panel, startling a poor soldier.
But… relying on only the five titan shifters, after losing both the colossal and founding titan, had weakened their military strength, they lost more men, more women and children than Krueger could count in this four-year war. Eighty-five percent of their brigades were made up of Eldian men, seven percent Eldian women, excluding the female shifters.
He'd only been part of the war for three years, while thirty-seven destroyers had been sent to Paradi in those four years. None returned. But he did. And he will finish what his father had started.
"Hold your fuckin' horses!" Koslow sneered at the man, he turned to Annie, giving her a mock bow. "I'll leave ya' be, for now, Miss Leonhardt." With a wink, he left, smacking Krueger's arm as he walked by while hissing, "Oi! Get the hell back in line!" Koslow nudged another soldier in fetal position with his boot, "get up ya' lazy bums! Get back in line or you'll all be homeless!"
Annie barely paid the Commander any mind, brushing his advances off, in fact, she was enamored with the scruffy Amputee who towered over little Falco. Krueger noticed once Koslow snapped him from his daydreaming. Her attention had discreetly been on him the whole time.
Strange. He kept his head low, but he did meet her familiar eyes that begged for his. They were just as chillingly blue as he remembered, so distant, underlined with curiosity, with caution. But it was strange, because he did not feel suffocated by them as he expected. Everything else around him became white noise, irrelevant except for the dangerous beauty who was stripping him down to his bare soul, with only her eyes.
She had to know. She had to know it was him.
Yet, she did nothing to jeopardize his life, nor his mission. She just stood there silently, and then with a nod to Falco—"Falco, let's get back to Reiner and the others."—Annie turned her back to the man, and was gone with the little warrior boy into the throng of Eldian families. Krueger watched her go, a tiny—pitiful—voice in the far recesses of his mind whispered to him. She spared you, because she still cares for you.
It was Eren who told that voice to fuck off.
III
The hospital was a more of a ward for the mentally or physically incapable; a safe place for the veterans who could no longer function in the real world for they all had lost something in that war, something that was key to who they once were. Be it a limb, or their sanity, or a keepsake. None of them had ties to any of the families within Liberio, they may as well have been walking ghosts.
Krueger was now one of them. He sat upon an old cot bed while an Eldian nurse tended to his bandages, the nurse was an old graying woman whose yellow eyes were sharp as a hawk's. She tightened the gauze around his head to keep the cotton against his eye in place.
An ugly inflamed scar ran jagged from his brow line to his cheek bone after a piece of shrapnel from the blast had cut the skin of his right eye. He knew he could've secretly healed it back in the battlefield, but he figured it played well to his disguise either way. He hadn't really planned for losing a leg, unfortunately. But the perks of being a handicapped veteran did well to benefit him on his venture, especially on obtaining information from the warriors.
The old woman, Ruth was her name, muttered something under her breath, tilting his head this way and that, then she carefully knotted the gauze, and cut the longer pieces that dangled. She huffed as she pulled back, dropping the scissors onto the metal tray by his bedside
"Ya' could use a haircut, boy, it's free." She nodded over to the other side of the ward where a Marleyan man was enthusiastically hacking away the dirty blond curls of a young soldier—Krueger's jaw dropped. "Squeak?"
"Eh?" Ruth crinkled her nose, "I've taken your blood sample and piss already, so ya' good to go for examination."
Too distracted with the appearance of his fellow comrade, Krueger failed to remember that he hadn't done the examination yet. He never gave a blood sample, or pissed in a cup as the doctors would order. He had just hobbled in, before being whisked away by this wiry old woman.
Could it be she was the one in cahoots with the Eldians of Paradi? He knew he wasn't the first spy on the mainland, there had been others before, others who lived in Eldia, who still served the dead restorationist movement, but the Marley too, had eyes and ears on every corner, and every Eldian spy had been silenced. But, maybe one did survive after all.
"Are you…" Words caught in his throat as a Marleyan officer marched pass, Ruth raised a brow, stone-faced, giving nothing away. "Hm?"
"… Nothing. Would you mind if I have some pain killers, my head is killing me." He would keep his mouth shut, if she were on his side, or a double agent of the Marley's, the best thing to do, was to ride along with the flow. All that mattered was the vital information he stored away. There would come a time when the truth would be revealed, for that he was certain.
"Sure thing, I could only give you four per day though."
Krueger nodded. Just as Ruth left him, Squeak picked up on his presence from the other side. The younger soldier jumped up in surprise, making the Marleyan barber drop his trimmer, and in turn curse at the boy, but Squeak was too excited to even care. "Keith!" He bounded over to the amputee, a wide grin on his round face.
"Keith! Holy goddess, it is you! I almost didn't recognize you. You look like shit." He laughed almost relieved, Krueger got a better look at him, now that his skin was scrubbed clean of dirt, he could see that Squeak had freckles, little brown dots covered the expanse of his cheeks and nose, his dirt blonde hair was short now, courtesy of the grumbling barber.
"It's nice to see you too, Squeak." Krueger tried to immolate the glee his partner extruded but fell short, only managing a half smile.
"Man, those jackasses back in the field, y'know everyone is calling me that now! My voice isn't even that high!" Squeak shook his head, "My real name is Simon, Simon Wolfe," he held out his hand, "It's so good to see a familiar face 'round here, y'know when I first checked in two days ago, I thought I was gonna' be the only one from our unit..."
"At least we're still breathing," Krueger gave him a firm handshake, "that still counts as a victory also."
"Yeah." Squeak—Simon, was quiet for a minute, he sat down at the vacant cot across from Krueger's. Scratching at the bandages wrapped around his forehead.
"So, have you had your examination yet?"
"Passed it just fine. Nothing to severe," Krueger shrugged, "just a minor concussion, a damaged eye, and a limp."
Simon gawked, "You've got no leg, my friend, I'd say that's pretty fucking severe!" They both chuckled quietly, more of an airy laugh to fill the ward, the only noise in there were the sounds of stomping boots, hollering veterans without treatment, and nurses speaking consecutively.
"And," Simon cleared his throat, "I—uh, never really got to thank you. Properly I mean, if it weren't for you, my body would've been painted all over that damn trench." he shuddered at the mere thought, "So thank you, for coming back for me."
Krueger shrugged again, "it's what soldiers do."
Simon smiled, though a bit melancholier than before. "So, have you got a place to stay at?"
Krueger looked around, answering with a blatant, "Here?"
"Are you serious?!" Simon gaped at him, "No way you're staying here! This place is mostly for the mind broken, really, you won't be able to sleep well with them thrashing and moaning in their sheets."
Simon leaned back on his forearms, craning his neck to gaze at the ceiling above, piquing Krueger's curiosity to also look up, but there was nothing.
"Uh," Simon bit his lip, "Shit—ah, how about you come with me?"
"I thought you had no family?"
"I don't, not anymore." Simon rubbed at his chin, there was small cut there that'd begun to scab over. "But I do farm work for another veteran on the east of Liberio, his name's Oliver. He lets me stay in one of his spare rooms since he lives in a villa, and his daughter is hardly ever home, so it's just him."
Krueger mulled over the idea. Staying in another place would be in his best interest, there were far too many Marleyan officers surrounding the ward, not to mention curfews.
"I don't know if I could be much help with farming." He told Simon truthfully.
Simon swatted his hand as if batting a fly, "Eh, we'll figure something out, he's a very generous man, he served for years in the military, I'm sure he'd understand." He leaned forward on the cot than, pointing a finger to the ceiling. "There's only one thing he is fiercely protective of, and that's his daughter, so don't get any ideas if you see her, she's hardly ever home anyway."
The older soldier snorted, "What if she's the one who gets ideas?"
"Assuming she's into handicapped veterans, you could use a shave too, y'know, women these days don't like all that scruff."
"I'd look younger than you without, trust me." Krueger chuckled.
Simon and he continued to share a couple of jests, even some back stories, though Krueger had to make up a fib here, and there. He felt, somewhat relaxed, finally talking with another instead of brooding in silence. It was fresh, and new. He craved social interaction just as the next person.
Then Ruth came strolling in with his pain killers in one hand, and Eren was reminded than, not to get too comfortable.