Brianne turns over in her bed, wide awake late in the night. She feels herself losing to her dreams, ghostly figures of Erwin haunting her imagination. Brianne is 2 months pregnant with no baby bump growing yet. She honestly doesn't know who the father of her baby is: Niles Dok or Erwin Smith. Over the past 2 months, Niles and Brianne have been getting closer together on a friend and emotional level while Erwin and Brianne have also tried to reconnect. Niles hasn't been able to keep away from Brianne ever since the MP's annual ball. He knows Brianne is still in love with Erwin, but he doesn't care. Niles is determined to make Brianne fall in love with him, so he's been spending as much time as he could with her. Erwin and Brianne, however, haven't been spending much time, yet the times they do spend together are heartfelt and painful. There's too much pain in Brianne's heart for her to get over all of it easily and quickly, even with Erwin trying his best to help her. But their times spent together have stopped the moment Brianne told Erwin about her pregnancy and infidelity.
Erwin and Brianne sit across one another at the kitchen table in Erwin's home. He tries to soak in the information that Brianne is pregnant again with what he believes is his child. He's overcome with joy, knowing that this must be a sign that he and Brianne will have a second chance. Brianne can see Erwin is thinking this, and she knows she needs to be honest with him before he gets ahead of himself.
Brianne: Before anything else, Erwin...I need you to know something.
Erwin: What is it?
Erwin can see Brianne is uncomfortable with what she's going to say. He knows it's going to be some kind of bad news, and he tries to prepare himself for whatever it could be.
Brianne: (deep breath) This baby...it might not be yours.
Erwin: (pauses) ...what?
Brianne is quiet, not wanting to confess more but she knows she needs to. It's the only fair thing to do for Erwin.
Brianne: Before we spent the night together after the ball, I slept with someone else...(weakly) It was Niles.
Erwin's mouth drops, and he is in complete shock. His body feels numb, unable to believe his best friend would sleep with his lover. Erwin just can't believe it, but he knows it must be true. The way she is looking down at her hands, unable to make eye contact with Erwin, convinces him that what Brianne is saying is true.
Brianne: (teary) I'm sorry, Erwin. I...(sniffles) I didn't ever think we'd spend the night again...and with Niles, it was...(pauses) I'm sorry.
Erwin can't speak, and he feels disgust in his stomach. He turns away from Brianne, and she prepares herself for the worst knowing full well she deserves it. There is a delusional hope within Brianne for Erwin to forgive her of her infidelity, that he'll somehow be able to hold her again, kiss her and love her again as if she was never unfaithful.
Erwin: You should leave, now.
Brianne is quiet, and her heart sinks down to the pit of her stomach.
Erwin: (furious and bangs his fist on the table) Now! Get out!
Brianne jumps from his sudden anger, and she walks over to the front door. She glances back at Erwin, and he's fuming in his chair with his hands covering his face. Brianne walks out in tears trying to be calm after knowing this must be the end of her and Erwin.
Brianne feels herself unraveling from her painful memories. It stings her knowing that she and Erwin ended on such a bad note, and she understands that her relationship with Erwin is beyond repair. There's just too much pain between the two, and some things are better left ended rather than continuing to drag it through the bad and ugly. But it doesn't mean Brianne has stopped loving Erwin. Erwin is on Brianne's mind all the time, and she sometimes even loses track of the time just thinking about him and what he's doing, how he's doing. Brianne knows she should've seen the water rising, and now she's in too deep drowning because of her mistake.
Brianne looks around her dark dorm room with all the other girls fast asleep. She quietly gets out of bed and sits at the window sill looking out at the empty night sky. Brianne can't believe that in just a few hours, she's going to be married to Niles. She had informed Niles of her pregnancy, but she didn't mention anything about sleeping with Erwin to him, the possibility that this child growing inside of her might belong to Niles or Erwin. Brianne had accepted Niles' wedding proposal half-heartedly, and now she's afraid and nervous because of her imminent wedding day.
Brianne wishes she never accepted Niles' wedding proposal, but she felt so out of place, alone, and distraught because of Erwin's animosity that she just said yes to him. She knows Niles is a good man and could be a good husband, but she doesn't want to find out the latter part. Ever since her first year in Military training, she's known firmly who her husband should be. But that man has been hurt too much by Brianne, and he's done his fair-share of giving pain to her. It seems as if the two are beyond the point of reconciliation at this point...
Erwin quietly gets out of his bed, and he glances at Michelle still fast asleep in his bed. He decides to walk over to Cap's Pub, a place he's been spending quite some time because of Levi's recommendation. Erwin notices Levi isn't there, which is unusual, but he knows Levi is getting ready for Brianne's wedding today. Erwin's mood immediately turns sour at the thought of Brianne and her imminent wedding to his best friend.
Erwin spends the morning drinking and thinking up of formations the Survey Corps can use outside the Walls to alleviate their death rates at the hands of the beastly titans. But he can't think straight for a long time knowing that today is Brianne's wedding. Erwin sits there frustrated and depressed, and he feels tears forming in his eyes just thinking about Brianne in her wedding gown walking down the aisle to Niles. Niles had originally asked Erwin to be his best man not realizing the truth about Brianne's pregnancy, and Erwin refused to accept. Erwin never elaborated the reason why for his refusal, merely stating that he was making a conscious decision not to go. Niles didn't pester him about it, knowing that it must have had to do with watching his lover being married off to his best friend.
Erwin sits there wishing bad things on Niles' and Brianne's marriage. He wishes them a very unhappy marriage filled with fights and many pain. Even when Erwin had found out about Brianne's infidelity and second pregnancy, he used to casually talk to himself as if Brianne was there listening to his every word. He would talk about what formations are beneficial and costly to the Corps, whether having a stronger left/right flank or a stronger front/back flank is better. But ever since Niles told him about his marriage to Brianne, Erwin had tried to completely cut off all ties with Brianne. He tried his best to stop thinking about her and to stop pretending as if she's there with him.
Ever since Erwin found out about Niles' and Brianne's marriage, every night leading up to today has been restless for him. He wishes that even now Brianne will leave Niles to be with him. Erwin wishes that Brianne won't take Niles' hand in marriage because he knows deep in his heart that he and Brianne still belong together. Even through all the pain they both went and are going through, Erwin knows that he and Brianne are meant to be, that they are a couple brought together by fate. Erwin can hear the wedding song starting to play in his head even with the gang arguing loudly with one another, and he can see Brianne glowing like an angel about to walk down the aisle to her future husband. The mere thought of this brings tears once again to Erwin's eyes, making him realize that now it is too late to have wishful thinking about him and Brianne. It's too late for him and Brianne to have another chance at it, and he accepts that fact. Erwin knows it's going to be unbearably hard for him to move on, but it's something he needs to do now before he wastes his life waiting for someone who won't ever return to him.
Niles is in the palace's ballroom where his and Brianne's wedding is going to take place. He's dressed in his nice wedding tuxedo, and all his friends and family are there. His squad members are congratulating Niles on being the first to marry out of all of them, and Niles is happy unknowing of Brianne's true feelings. Brianne is in a room near the ballroom, and she stares at her eye-popping wedding gown. She doesn't have the will to put it on, and she just continues staring at the gown. After staring at her dress for hours, she comes to the realization that she can't go through with the wedding. Brianne doesn't love Niles, and she knows she needs to leave now before anyone comes looking for her. Brianne runs out of the palace without informing anyone as if running for her dear life...
Brianne arrives at Erwin's home, and she bangs on his door. There is no answer, and she has a feeling Erwin isn't home. Brianne thinks of another place to go for sanctuary: Cap's Pub. She slowly makes her way over to Cap's Pub to spend some time with the gang. When she enters, she sees Erwin there sitting and drinking with a large piece of paper and a pencil. The gang greets Brianne, and Erwin looks up hearing her name. He's shocked to see Brianne standing there looking right at him with a relieved smile. Brianne walks to Erwin with tears in her eyes, and he quickly stands up still staring at Brianne. The gang watches it all like a movie.
Brianne: (smiles, tears up) I couldn't go through with it...I couldn't marry him...
Erwin steps forth, and he wants to reach out to touch Brianne. He thinks he's in a bad dream, and he thinks Brianne isn't really here, that this isn't happening. Cap's Pub shakes as if there is a small earthquake, and everyone stays still for a moment. The shaking stops, and all the glasses stop rattling.
Erwin: Was that a sign for us?
Brianne grins and shrugs cutely, melting Erwin's heart. Erwin smiles and the two embrace tightly both in tears. They're both so relieved to be together again, and they hope in their hearts that this will be the last time they say goodbye to one another, that they will live a happy life together no matter what kind of adversity pushes them down.
Kim: Wait, wait, so let me get this straight, you're not gonna go through with the wedding?
Brianne and Erwin look at the gang staring at the two, and they still hold one another tightly in an embrace.
Brianne: No, I'm not.
Keith: Goddamn it, Bri. We all chipped in and got you a wedding gift.
Mike: Yeah, we felt bad we couldn't go to the wedding cus we had to watch the bar, so we got you this.
Mike brings out a huge bottle of wine with a ribbon messily taped to it. Brianne smiles at at the gang, thankful for an ugly-wrapped gift.
Brianne: Thanks guys, but you didn't need to get me anything.
Mike: Yeah, well too late for that.
Levi comes running in, completely out of breath. He's relieved to find Brianne there after running around trying to look for her.
Levi: (before anyone can talk) The palace was bombed!
Brianne: What?!
Levi: People are dead, and a lot more are injured. You need to come with me now, kid, and help us sort out this mess.
Brianne immediately takes a step forward but stops. She looks back at Erwin, and he nods still holding onto her.
Erwin: I'll be here. Go do what you have to do.
Brianne nods, and she heads out with Levi. They run back to the palace at top speed, and Brianne is shocked to see an entire section of the palace in complete ruins. She's surprised that the palace is still standing even with that huge chunk in rubble. Brianne and Levi run over and see many MP soldiers helping everyone who is injured or dead. The soldiers are taking the injured people to the nearest hospital, while the other soldiers put the dead bodies in a line for future identification while things get sorted out. She counts 36 dead bodies, and she doesn't bother counting how many are injured because there's just too much of them. Brianne spots Chase and Curtis carrying Tony who is critically injured from the bombing. She runs over to them, and she can see Tony is unconscious and bleeding tremendously in the face.
Brianne: (concerned) Is he alive?
Curtis: He's barely breathing.
Brianne: What about the rest of our squad?
Chase: (short pause) Missy is dead. Tony and Missy sat closest to the impact.
Brianne lets Curtis and Chase take Tony to the hospital, and she immediately spots Chloe standing around looking at all the casualties with such shock and horror. Brianne runs off to Chloe.
Brianne: Chloe, what happened?
Chloe: (still in a state of shock) I don't know...everyone was coming in to the ballroom for your wedding and...and then it just exploded...the bomb went off and...and people died...(tearing up) so many people died, Brianne...
Brianne: Alright, Chloe, I need you to pull yourself together. I need your help, alright?
Chloe: M-My help?
Brianne notices Chloe is still staring at the line of dead bodies increasing by number.
Brianne: Chloe, look at me. I need you to look at me, Chloe.
Chloe just keeps staring at the dead bodies, and Brianne forces Chloe to look at her by using her hands to move Chloe's face. Chloe looks directly into Brianne's eyes, and she's confused at how Brianne is unfazed by such a horrible crime scene. She doesn't understand how Brianne is holding it all together and taking the lead, but she knows she should listen to Brianne because she knows what to do.
Chloe: Y-Yeah...yeah...what do you need me to do?
Brianne: I need you to gather our squad, as much of them as you can find. Tony, Missy, Curtis, and Chase are gone. But I need everyone else right now.
Chloe: Yeah, yeah, I'll go get them right now.
Chloe runs off to find the rest of Brianne's year's squad members, and in 5 minutes Chloe is back with Edgar Stiles, Tina May, Miles Press, Nadia Yasso, Cherrie Walker, Larry Mosser, Sean Hill, Janis Silver, Lana Walsh, Charlie Glay, Porter Cole, Katy Morgan, Audrey Lanes, and Wayne Potter.
Brianne: Alright, I need us to put our heads together. Who would bomb the palace and why? Why this section?
Cherrie: It seems as if they targeted the ballroom.
Larry: If they were after the King, they would've gone to the Western section of the palace.
Porter: (to Brianne) Do you think they were targeting you?
Brianne: Who would want to target me?
Nadia: People you've put away, the surviving criminals out there. I'm sure they're still pissed that you sent their bosses to jail.
Lana: So you're saying this is about revenge?
Audrey: Look, we don't know anything yet. All we know is that they targeted the ballroom, and these people are after something.
Brianne: Audrey's right. Everyone, put in your tact ear and remain in constant communication.
Tina: What are you going to do?
Brianne: If these people are targeting me, I need to warn someone to keep them safe.
Before Brianne can leave, Niles spots her and shouts for her. He runs to her and is relieved to see Brianne is fine.
Niles: I'm so glad you're alright, Brianne.
Brianne: (in a hurry) I can't talk right now Niles.
Niles: Where are you going?
Brianne: On a lead.
Niles: I'll go with you-
Brianne: No, you need to be here and make sure everyone who's injured gets to the hospital. We need to clean this mess as fast as we can to get to the bottom of who is behind this attack.
Brianne immediately runs off towards Cap's Pub, and she quickly hides behind a wall when she notices 3 men standing in front of the pub's door. Brianne hears a gunshot from inside, and she notices the 3 men are not surprised by it. She knows the bombers must be inside Cap's Pub holding the gang and Erwin hostage, and she needs to find a way to sneak in before anyone gets hurt or killed.
Brianne: (speaks into tactical ear-piece) Easy Company, do you copy?
Squad: (all at once) Copy.
Brianne: There are 3 suspicious men outside of Cap's Pub, and I heard a gunshot from the inside. Stand by for my orders to come with artillery.
Squad: Copy that.
Brianne walks a block away, and she climbs up the rooftop. She makes her way towards Cap's Pub by roof, and she opens the vent to the inside of Cap's Pub. Brianne quietly climbs in and she sees 4 men with their shotguns. They have torn apart through Cap's Pub while having gathered the gang together in the center of the room. She notices Erwin isn't there with the gang, so he must be in hiding.
Man 1: (points his shotgun at the gang) Where the hell is Erwin Smith?!
George: We told you, we don't know!
Man 1: If you don't bring him, I will shoot you in the face.
Brianne speaks into her tactical ear-piece.
Brianne: (whispers) Easy Company, do you copy?
Squad: (all at once) Copy.
Brianne: Come to Cap's Pub with artillery. There are an additional 4 men inside the bar, all armed. They're looking for Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps. We need to take these people in and interrogate them about today's bombing. We need at least one of them alive.
Squad: Copy that.
Brianne sees one of the men bringing out Erwin from the back office, and they push Erwin to the rest of the gang. Brianne slowly takes out her handgun, and the people below can hear the safety being turned off. They all look up and notice the vents, and the 4 men point their shotguns at the vents.
Man 1: Come out! Come out or we'll shoot him!
The man then points his shotgun at Erwin's back.
Brianne: Don't shoot! I'm coming out.
Brianne kicks the vent door down, and she slowly falls through to the ground. The man smirks as if he recognizes Brianne.
Man 1: Give me your gun.
Brianne puts her gun on the ground and kicks it to him. The man then takes Brianne's gun in his hands and observes it. Brianne is the only one within the Wall to own a handgun, a gun Robin Queen specially requested be made for her on her 13th birthday. It was a prototype that was seen as unfit and problematic due to its small size and weak projecting bullet power.
Man 1: What kind of gun is this?
Brianne doesn't answer. The man smirks at Brianne and hangs the handgun around his belt to keep it.
Man 1: You are Number One of the 85th Trainee Squad. I recognize you.
Brianne: Who are you?
Man 1: A man who holds your lover's life in his hands.
The man points his shotgun back to Erwin's back.
Brianne: What do you want?
Man 1: (smirks) Just a moment of everyone's time.