It was late in the evening. All was quiet and there were minimal people walking around at the hour. Keith was sitting at a desk one again grimacing at the paperwork that was before him. It was almost as if nothing had changed for him. Even though he had a higher power and influence within the brigade, things seemed to be just the same. Almost as if none of the events that had happened, happened.
A newspaper sat on his desk with the heading, "New Rise for the Survey Corps". It was no surprise that the Survey Corps had gained popularity. After all the things that they had gone through, they deserved the type of attention that they were getting. Commander Erwin Smith became the new face of hope along with his notable soldiers such as Captain Levi and the shifter Eren.
Although the Survey Corps were deemed a more popular faction, they were still relatively small. After the events against the Military Police Brigade's Anti-Personnel Squad, their numbers had decrease substantially. They had taken many loses from the battle along with the low numbers from traveling within titan territory.
The popularity was a blessing in disguise for them. Along with the increase in hope and determination in them, they gained more interest from surrounding factions. Those from the Garrison and the Military Police Brigade were putting in their requests to transfer into the Survey Corps. The flooding requests meant more and more paper work for Keith to review. Keith sat staring at what almost seemed like endless pages of transfer requests from their faction when a knock came from his office door.
"Enter," he called out to them.
A small nervous women walked into the room with a piece of paper in her hands. She quietly walked in and placed the paper on his desk.
"Not another one," Keith whined at the sight of the document.
"No sir, I…I'm not transferring like the others. I…want to resign. I want to be able to work with my father."
Keith grabbed a hold of the piece a paper and saw the name written on the top of the page.
"Doctor Anna Tulp… from the medical division. Wait Tulp? You're Isaac's daughter aren't you?"
She nodded.
"How have I not met you before? I'm a good friend of your father's."
"Well, I was never stationed within the city. I was always stationed within Wall Maria until the wall fell. Then they pushed me to Wall Rose."
"I see. So you want to be working with you father?"
"Yes, It seems he has taken on an assistant and I want to be there working alongside him to eventually take over his practical examinations. I'd rather it stay within the family sir."
"Wait, you're referring to Xander."
"You know him?"
"I grew up with Xander, so to speak. Trust me Xander is a great guy. He won't do anything that would harm your father's work. However, if this is what you want…" he let out a sigh, "Then I accept you resignation."
"Thank you sir," she bowed and began to walk out of the room.
"Anna!" He called out to her, "Just know that what you're getting yourself into is…well a much different environment than what you'd find around here."
With the recent changes in Keith's life, he made sure that he told Isaac the truth about his origin. For the sake of his son, he wanted to make sure that they were able to keep their identities hidden the best of their capabilities.
Robin had been making frequent visits with Sebastian to see Isaac. This allowed Isaac to conduct studies on a half breed such as Sebastian. Keith would occasionally go in himself to be examined without any hassles and to further his research. A request from the Survey Corps was given him to develop a method of extraction for spinal fluid. Lana would undergo the occasional procedure for the research he was conducting.
During medical examination time for all soldiers, Keith was granted permission to visit Isaac and turn in what he was able to report. Granted the report was manipulated a little bit to indicate Keith's identity was as a normal human. How Keith was able to get by without Isaac around still astounded him. He was able to control his healing rate to the very tee to keep his secret hidden from others. There was no telling what would happen if there were others who knew of what he was.
With Anna getting more involved with her father's practices, there was a small level of uncertainty there. At this point Xander was well aware of Keith's abilities, but he had nothing to say on the matter. He himself, knew that there was something different about Keith. Even when Xander found out, he didn't question anything. He accepted it right away and made it seem like nothing was different at the time.
Keith returned home after a long day in the office. Sebastian and Robin were both asleep by the time he had arrived. A small plate of food was left on the table for him. With a smile he quickly ate the food and proceeded to clean the plate once he was done.
With all of the requests coming in, Keith wondered what would happen if he himself put in a request to join the Survey Corps. The more he thought about it the more he was tempted. He wouldn't be sitting at a desk and he wouldn't have to do patrolling. He wouldn't have to deal with petty crimes anymore. However, the only thing that was preventing him from joining was his ties to the city.
As he gazed out the window, the moonlight shone into his face. He began to question himself and the choices he has made. He looked down the hall where their bedroom was. He wondered where he would be if things were to have ended differently. He looked over at a calendar that was placed up on the wall. Tomorrow was the anniversary of his parent's death.
A solemn expression came over his face at the reminder of what the day was. He turned to a bookshelf and reached for the very top where he kept the gun his father had passed down to him. A thin layer of dust lined the box after being placed there when the uprising ended.
Keith wiped off some of the dust with his hand and opened the box. The gun sat inside the box, never once used since he had received it all those years ago. He wondered what old McGill was up to. The Crovus Clan emblem engraved into the handle of the gun was a reminder of the mark on his shoulder. Keith held onto his shoulder firmly grasping at his shirt.
"Daddy?" came Sebastian's groggy voice.
Keith was quick to close the box and tuck it onto the counter behind him.
"Seb, what are you doing up?"
"I'm thirsty."
With a small smile, Keith grabbed Sebastian a glass of water and sent him off to bed. The small child was a reminder of the decisions that he had made. He knew that he had to have done something right to be able to have a loving son and wife like he does now. There was no telling what would have happened all those years ago if he had taken a different path.
The following morning Keith woke up to the bright and early sun peeking through the window. The bed was empty and the house was quiet. Keith reached for his glasses and changed into his uniform. He approached the kitchen table and was welcomed to the aroma of the food that was prepared.
"Morning, are you ready for the examinations today?" came Robin's voice from the table.
Sebastian was eagerly eating at the breakfast that was prepared as Keith sat down in between them. Robin was reading the latest paper with the new headline "Can the Survey Corps do it".
"Right I completely forgot about that. Yeah, I do have a meeting with the Queen later this afternoon in regards to the development plans she wants to implement."
"Look at you being all official," Robin stated peering over from the paper.
"All in a day's work."
The three of them finished their meal and proceed to Isaac's house. Standing in the doorway was Xander as he was heading out to gather some more supplies.
"Sorry, I won't be there with you guys today," he proclaimed as he hurried down the street.
Keith smiled and turned to walk inside. There he met with a familiar face.
"CAPTAIN!" she shrieked.
"Anna, it's…ah…good to see you again."
"Anna?" Robin whispered towards Keith still holding onto Sebastian.
"One of the medical officers," Keith whispered back.
"You're… the special case that dad was talking about?"
"I warned you about what you were walking into, didn't I, Doctor."
"ABERDEENS!" shouted Isaac as he made his way into the room. "Now Anna, I need you to remain calm alright." Anna sharply turned to him in confusion. "Keith my boy, come, come. We'll get through with you first. I presume you have much needed work that you need to get to. Come right this way," Isaac proclaimed guiding Keith into the patient room.
Anna wasn't far behind as she was eyeing Keith up and down. She was trying to pin point why exactly he was considered a special case.
Keith removed his uniform as Isaac proceed to go through with the physical examination. Anna's eyes were glued to him as she was fixated on the mark on his shoulder. It was unheard of for anyone within the walls to have a tattoo.
"Captain," she cracked, "What's that?" she pointed at his shoulder with her pencil.
"This old thing. It's a mark of my past, so to speak."
Sure enough the Crovus Clan mark had grown smaller as he had gotten bigger, but the mark remained all the same. He turned to allow Isaac to examine his back as Anna made a note of the strange mark on his shoulder.
"Alright it appears we have everything we need for the physical examine. All…" Anna began to say.
"No we don't my dear. There is still more that we need to be sure of."
"I'm sorry? We've checked everything, I don't think there is anything else we need to cover. We followed the proper procedure."
"Anna dear, remember the Aberdeen's are a special case. Please brace yourself," Isaac stated as he pulled out a scalpel.
"Here it comes, my favorite part," Keith said with sarcasm.
Anna was horrified at the idea of what Isaac was about to do. She came close to stopping him, but Keith's attitude prompted her to remain still. Keith calmly raised his arms outwards at his side as he prepared himself for the cut. Isaac dug deeply into his Keith's chest and moved down to his belly button causing Keith to wince in pain. Blood spilled from the cut as Anna's jaw dropped. Keith opened his eyes and made sure that they made eye contact once the pain subsided. He gave her a small wink as steam rose from the fresh wound.
Anna dropped her clipboard and pencil as the wound began to heal at an incredible rapid rate. In the matter of minutes the wound was completely healed.
"Th…the…..th…WHAT!" She shouted.
"Alright it seems like your healing is normal, nothing has changed since your last examination. You concentrated solely on the wounds I presume?"
Keith replied with a smile, "As always."
"Excellent, now let's see your bones."
Keith held out his arm in front of him and tensed up. Bones sprouted out of his skin with quickly tearing his flesh. Isaac carefully examined the bone's thickness and strength as Anna remained still in awe.
"Good, good. It seems that your ability to produce them has increased and the healing around the bone is just as good as the cut. Have you been practicing?"
"Every now and again when I'm alone," Keith replied.
"Excellent now form the armor."
The bones reshaped themselves into plates on his arm as Isaac once again examined their durability. Lastly Keith was asked to do a full body transformation. The skin of his body began to melt at the intense heat he was giving off. Isaac calmly opened the window to allow the steam out of the room as Anna continued to remain still. The skin melted and ripped as muscles began to grow substantially. Keith made eye contact with Anna as he saw the fear in her eyes.
"Outstanding, every time. You're hair remains but your skin melts. I wonder why that is," Isaac said writing down notes onto the clipboard he had picked up. "Alright I think we have enough. Take your time and recover."
Keith sat down on the bed and began recreate the new skin as his muscles decreased in size back to normal.
"You're one of them," Anna stammered. "This whole time, you were one of them and you knew!" she got louder. "YOU COULD HAVE HELPED THEM. LIVES COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED IF YOU ONLY DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT!"
"Anna!" Isaac shouted.
"HOW COULD YOU!"
"If you were in my shoes what would you do? If you knew that you could be suspected as a traitor right off the bat. Would you put your family at risk?" Keith replied calmly as the skin reappeared around his face.
Anna didn't know how to respond and looked away from his gaze.
"Incredible, even though your skin melts off your mark appears every time it grows back," Isaac continued handing Keith his glasses.
Anna was quiet during the rest of the procedure. She didn't make any further eye contact with Keith and kept to her papers.
As Keith was buttoning his shirt, Isaac handed him the documents he would present to the medical examiner of the Military Police Brigade. He began to walk out of the room but paused in front of Anna.
"Don't get me wrong, there was a part of me that wanted to help. There is a part of me that still does. But the Survey Corps can manage without me. They have proven themselves thus far. I'm needed here with my family. When the time is right, then maybe, just maybe I will reveal my secret to everyone. But for now, what you've seen here today must remain here. Do I make myself clear?"
"Oh before you go, could you do me a small favor," Keith turned back to see Isaac's wrinkled face light up. "Well it would be safe to assume that the Survey Corps has some information in regards to Lana and the Eren boy. I was wondering if it would be possible to review some of these papers. From a scientific perspective of course. I only want to compare your data with that which they have obtained themselves. You are all very fascinating beings. I want to see the things they've collected when Lana first joined up until now and the Eren boy is on a different league of his own."
"I'll see what I can pull up but I can't make any promises."
"Yes of course!"
Later that afternoon, Keith put in the request to Commander Erwin to have a copy of the documents of Lana and Eren for Isaac. He was hopeful that with their newly established relationship between the two factions that there would be no problems getting access. He felt that it was a return for giving them access to the technology that they had.
Keith approached the large royal building and was greeted by those within his squad. They calmly saluted at his arrival as he returned the salute. He removed his black leathered gloves and placed them within his black official trench coat as he made his way inside. There were a few workers present maintaining the vast estate.
"Captain Aberdeen," came an angelic voice from the stairwell.
Standing up high was a young girl. She had to have been in her early teens. Her bright blue eyes gazed into his as her golden hair was tied back to reveal her face. She dawned a beautiful and yet simple gown with a valiant necklace upon her neck. She was quick to walk down the stairs to greet Keith. He knelt down and bowed his head at the queen in respect.
"My lady," he replied to her greeting.
"We have much to discuss, please come," she proclaimed grabbing a hold of his shoulders and helping him stand.
He was surprised by her gesture as pulled himself away from her. Her sweet face revealed a smile to show that she was eager for what she had planned. She brought him upstairs to a study room where documents were scattered all over her desk.
"I take it you have been busy my Lady."
"Please, we've been over this, Historia is just fine when there is no one else around. We are going to be working often with one another, no formalities are necessary. As long as I may call you Keith."
"But of course, Historia," Keith replied with a smile.
Historia continued to show Keith the new plans that she wanted to start up. One of them being housing for those who were underprivileged. She wanted to help pull those from the Underground out and allow them to try and work hard to gain a better life for themselves. She felt that no one deserved to live the life that many were living there. She devised a plan to reserve a lot of land for housing. Once these homes were built people would move in. However, she didn't want to stop there. She wanted to provide them with everything that they needed. She wanted to give them resources for them to survive off of, as well as the means of receiving a proper education and the potential of getting jobs.
"My…Historia, you do have to take into consideration of the people in the main city. Our resources are already stretched so thin. It's going to be hard to come up with enough resources to provide for these people. Besides, they aren't recognized as true citizens either."
"These people are already living within the walls. They are the same people who are already living within the city. It's not like we are adding more people, it's going to be the same amount of people. I don't see any problem in that."
Keith didn't have much else to say. He didn't want to argue with the queen, however he knew that she was correct. These people were already living within the walls, it was just the matter of giving them a little more than what they were used to, to give them a better chance of survival. Keith proceeded to calculate what numbers he was able to gather and the two worked out a new resource supply plan. Those within the Military Police Brigade were about to become his enemy when they would find out about the cut they were about to receive. The food was all there, but the balance at which it was distributed was not equal. With this new plan, the resources would be distributed a little bit more even. He dreaded the idea of presenting the work to Nile for approval.
The two worked for hours until night had begun to fall. It was clear to Keith that Historia was going to be a prominent queen. She wanted nothing more than to help her people survive and prosper. He had high hopes for her as a ruler even though she was as young as she was. He already underestimated her once.
"So we have the blueprints drawn for the housing units, and the school, as well as the storage house and more. The lot has been selected. I will draw up the notice and the proper payment will be made to the owner. The distribution of resources has been planned out," Historia stated going through her papers.
"The guys back in the barracks are going to hate me, but let's face it. These people need it more than we do. As long as we get something to eat, we'll be fine," Keith said with a bit of a laugh and took a swig of his whisky.
"And if my memory is correct, the Survey Corps has their pact with the Reeves Company, so they should be fine. And no changes were made to the Garrison. That leaves the rest to be distributed among the people."
"Right," Keith said putting his glass down.
"Everything seems to be in order. The only problem I see now is getting all of this done."
"Hey, I have an idea, and it could be a shot in the dark."
"Go on."
"But, what if we contact the Survey Corps. I mean I'm sure that they could use a bit of a break from their normal duties, or at least some of them."
"That's a great idea!" Historia shouted. "Even better, why don't we ask Captain Levi as a consultant on the proposition?"
"Levi, why him?" Keith was struck by her selection.
"I remember hearing something. Lance Corporal Levi wasn't always a soldier. If I remember correctly, he was bribed into joining the military by Commander Erwin before he was a commander."
"No way. So wait…does that mean…" Keith thought about it for a moment. He briefly remembered that Captain Levi was named Levi Ackerman. Bearing the same last name to Kenny, he wondered if there was a relation. However, he shook off the idea as it didn't matter to anyone anymore. "Never mind, so why again?"
"I think Levi used to live in the Underground. If anyone knows anything about the Underground it would be him. So I believe that asking for his thoughts and opinions on all of this may actually be beneficial to the entire plan. With him helping us he can ensure that things would actually help the people coming from the Underground."
"That's an excellent idea!" Keith proclaimed. "Man, the Survey Corps are full of different kinds of people huh."
"What do you mean?" Historia stared at him with her blue eyes.
"Well you were part of the Survey Corps for one. Then there is Captain Levi with his background. You have Eren Yeager the shifter. The two traitors were in the Corps. Not to mention Lana. Plus you have the Commander who is a prominent leader. And then there is Hange who believe me has done some incredible research. The list goes on."
"Yeah," she replied quietly staring at the table.
"You miss them don't you?"
She quickly shot up to meet his gaze. Her eyes began to water at the thought of her comrades. She only nodded in response. Keith stared at the girl as her presence was a reminder of her kind heart.
"I'm sure that they miss you too. It seems to me that you were all really close with one another."
She nodded once more. "I didn't want to get close to any of them, but I couldn't help myself."
"It's funny, you sound an awful lot like Lana. She was like that when I first met her."
The two continued to talk to each other for the remainder of the night as each one reminisced on a memory. There was laughter and tears, smiles and more. Keith had developed an extreme fondness to the girl. He understood why everyone liked her so much and he was thankful to have her as his queen. He was looking forward to working on the further development of her dreamed kingdom.
Keith made sure to make contact with the Survey Corps. He requested for Levi to come for a visitation with the Queen for his thoughts and opinions on her development plan. He was eager to see what was going to be in store. He kept his chin up high knowing that what he was doing was right. He also received a harsh lecture from the Commander about the cutbacks. In the end, Nile faced the fact that it was for the good of the people.
After several meetings with Levi, the development was underway. It was quick and efficient but the housing was built. All that was left was the arrangement of the supplies to be brought to the site. Historia requested for Squad Levi to be the ones in charge of transporting the resources. It was a good time for her to catch up with her friends and to be in the action herself.
Meanwhile, Keith had made the final arrangements with Lana to bring in those from the circus as help for the development plan. There were a few who would be in charge of maintaining the housing structures and those who would conduct classes for the orphans that were brought in. This allowed the circus members to have homes of their own rather than the tents. It also gave them a new base of operations further cutting their last ties with Nina.
Things were going will within the walls. There was no fighting, there was no severe troubles. There was only the normal day to day activities. Keith over saw the latest documents that were on his desk after he had come off of patrol. Things didn't seem out of the ordinary. He had finally filed the last of the transfer papers from those within the Military Police Brigade to the Survey Corps. Although, he was jealous that he had lost some strong soldiers, he was glad that they were going to a place that needed them the most.
Among the papers was a document with the Survey Corps emblem. It was directed to the Commander but had ended up on his desk instead. With Nile currently being out on duty, Keith opened the letter to examine it himself.
Inside was a letter from Commander Erwin Smith. It was the explanation of the latest plans that they were going to go through. Over the last few weeks the Survey Corps had sent out soldiers beyond Wall Rose at night. Due to the inactivity of titans at this time, they were able to reconstruct a path leading straight to Shiganshina. Using the crystal formations found within the Reiss chapel, they were able to use them as a form of light to allow them to work.
Keith was amazed at the hard work that they had undergone. Inside was also information regards to their next step. After reading the last of the letter, Keith abruptly got up from his chair and ran out the door. He wanted to find the Commander as soon as possible to bring him the news. He bolted down the halls with immense speed pushing past the soldiers that blocked his path. He pushed the front doors open and ran out into the courtyard where he found Nile Doc.
"SIR!" he shouted as he approached him. "An urgent letter from Commander Smith," he stated handing him the letter. "They're going to go to Shiganshina. He claims that they have means to reclaim the wall."
"Impossible," Nile proclaimed grabbing the letter from his hands.
"I don't know what is planned, but judging by what he wrote, he along with everyone else are positive that they will succeed."
"There is no way."
"Sir, I have all reasons to believe that this time it will happen. The work and all of the efforts that they have put into this shows how determined they are to succeed. There is no way that they would fail this time. I believe in them. And do you know what this means when they succeed."
"We'd get Wall Maria back."
"Which also means we'd get all of that land, which means that all of these problems we are having will be diminished drastically."
"I sure damn hope you and the lunatic Smith are right about this."
"That's all we can do sir, is put our hope in the Survey Corps," Keith proclaimed.
On the day of their departure into Wall Maria, Keith made sure that he would see them off. He traveled to the gate within Wall Rose along with Robin, Lucas, Felix, and everyone else. They stood down below as they saw them getting ready to face what was before them. The plan was for them to travel at night to reduce their risk of running into a titan.
With the sun going down, they stood on top of the wall creating silhouettes. Their Wings of Freedom barely visible from that height, but there nonetheless, representing the hope and desire to be free from this madness that encased the people within the walls. They were the hope, the last hope. The people began to cheer as their heroes took in their final moments within Wall Rose. They were amazed by the faith of the people below. Commander Erwin held his sword up high and gave out a valiant yell as those who were by his side followed his lead. The strength and the power that was in the area was over whelming. Keith and the others shouted and cheered for the Survey Corps. He believed in them and at that moment that's all that mattered.