"Do you think that it's all right if I stay here for the night?"

The doctor had finished his work, and once Reiner paid him, he went on his way back to Shiganshina and his family.

Annie had first been surprised that the blond hung around for a while longer after having fulfilled his promise, but then remembered that he didn't have anywhere to go, either. This was by far one of the better deals if he wanted to sleep away from the cold tonight, not having to pay for a room that wouldn't be in much better condition than this one anyway.

"Guess so. It's Isabel's place, but I doubt she'll mind. She won't be back until tomorrow morning at least. Just stay close, I don't know what she'll do to you if she caught you alone anywhere in here."

He obviously remembered the vacant stare the red head had had when looking at him, and he nodded, visibly shivering as he did. Turning her back on him, Annie made her way into the unseen depths of the tiny, crass apartment to retrieve bedding and cushions. Once back, she shoved an armful into Reiner's fumbling grasp, and set herself up, leaning against the foot of the couch, by Bertholdt's head. She wanted to make sure that he caught sight of her as soon as he woke, so that he didn't freak out over the new place (he seemed like the kind of person to do that sort of thing). Reiner, after hesitating for a second, followed suit, sitting near the feverish boy's feet, keeping a safe distance between him and the short blonde he secretly feared. She quirked an eyebrow in his direction, but didn't comment.

Even though the place was not heated, it was a great improvement on her previous sleeping arrangements. She snuggled as deeply as possible into the thick quilt she had pulled off her acquaintance's bed, relishing in her own body heat that was reflected back towards her from the material.

She had always been a light sleeper, for some reason that may not have been unrelated to her father. She would spend long evenings haunted by insomnia, laying spread-eagled and wide-eyed in bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling, sometimes getting up to smoke, just to break the monotony of it all. But here, she felt herself dropping off, despite the cold and the fact that there was a stranger in the room, one that had a knife, her knife at that. Blaming it on the long and horrifyingly emotional content of this day, she succumbed, renouncing a battle that wouldn't bring on anything good if she did win it, either way.

For the second time in two days, she was awoken by something way too heavy falling on top of her, the difference being that this one pile of "snow" was bony, squawked an apology as soon as they did, and quickly retreated after having crushed both her and Reiner, who had slumped so that his head was nearly resting in her lap during the night. She got up nonetheless, deciding that now that everyone was awake, she might as well clear the confusion that the two boys were subjected to, fumbling in the dark in an unknown place.

She got to the corner of the room where she knew there was a light switch, and flicked it, shielding her eyes against the sudden blinding neon that engulfed the whole room. The sounds of movement stopped for a second, to be replaced with the ones of groaning at the scorching of pupils. Thanks to her previous precaution, Annie recovered from the onslaught quicker than the two others did, and was therefore greeted with the very strange sight of Bertholdt, who had a leg hooked behind the back of the couch, while the rest of his body twisted awkwardly upside-down, spilling off the sofa and onto the floor. Reiner's eyes were the next to adjust, and a mildly bewildered expression crossed his face as he regarded the antics of the taller boy. He was trying to right himself, but he had somehow become stuck in his current position, and was weakly trying to lift his upper half back onto the dislodged cushions. Annie was about to end his suffering and give him a hand up, but, surprisingly, before she could take a step back towards the centre of the room, Reiner got to his feet and pulled Bertholdt up by the armpits so that he was sitting up more comfortably, no longer falling to the floor.

"W-what, wait where am I? Who are you? Annie?"

His eyes had focused onto the shorter blonde, a sheen of sweat on his forehead and a slightly panicked look on his features. He had a hand pressed against the adhesive bandage on the side of his neck, and his eyes would sometimes flick nervously to Reiner, probably not reassured much despite the latter's easy-going smile.

She took a step closer to him, raising a soothing hand, which he cringed away from. Getting the message, she let it fall by her side instead, but still advanced with assurance towards him.

"Bertl, you had a fever and I had to bring you here. This is Reiner, he offered to pay the doctor for you," she said, gesturing to the blond, who stuck out a hand for him to shake. He hesitantly did so, observing the other wearily.

"How do you feel?" he asked, voice calm and steady. Bertholdt melted, the voice soothing him enough to make him smile timidly.

"F-fine. Um, thank you."

"You're welcome. Hey, you known, you're pretty tough for a skinny lad."

The "skinny lad" blushed and pulled away his hand, burying deeper into the blanket he had been sleeping under. They were quiet for a moment, before Bertholdt spoke through the layers of fabric, voice slightly muffled.

"Where are we?"

Annie perched on the sofa's arm, bringing her legs up and hugging them close to her body. Reiner sat on the couch, minding Bertholdt's feet.

"At a…"

She was halfway through her sentence when she was suddenly interrupted by a loud banging at the door. The three of them jumped to their feet immediately, Bertholdt and Annie both hyperaware of their surroundings, whilst Reiner just looked at them dumbly, following suit.

"The Military Police are here to arrest Annabel Fiona Leonhart, on the charges of assault and murder!"

Both the boys looked at her, and she murmured back tersely: "My pimp. He tried to sell me to his perverted douche of a brother. We need to get out of here, now."

Quickly and quietly, she grabbed her suitcase by the handle and started moving towards the rooms she had visited the night before in search of blankets. Bertholdt followed close on her tail, whilst a very pale Reiner closed the march.

They walked down a hallway, which stopped in a dead end.

"What's the meaning of this?" Reiner hissed, furious at the confusing situation.

He was answered with a glare, before Annie dropped to her knees and started pulling the floorboards up. They came loose in one large square, a few having been nailed together to form some kind of trapdoor. She dropped the suitcase in the hole thus formed, before going through it herself. It wasn't as deep as it first looked, because the boys could still see the top of her blond head from where she had landed.

"You waiting for hell to freeze over or what? Hurry up and get your arses down here if you don't want to be caught!"

Bertholdt complied first, lowering himself slowly into the small cellar, then bending down to disappear somewhere off to the side. Reiner looked at them, unsure, but he made his mind up when he heard the front door being broken down and the heavy stomp of military-issue boots on the creaky floorboards.

He tried dropping down, but he had forgotten to take his shoulder-bag off first. Panicking, he heard the shouts of the MPs, as he struggled with the stuck item that kept him from joining the others in the security of the dark.

"Just, go!" he whispered, panicking and pushing away Bertholdt, who was trying to untangle him from the leather strap holding him back. He felt a slight touch on his chest that he didn't take notice of in the immediate, focused as he was with trying to keep the taller boy from putting himself into the dangerous light, which would mean his arrest and possible death.

Suddenly, he fell the half foot or so to the beaten earth ground, and in the last glimmer of light that shone through before the trapdoor was closed by Bertholdt, he saw Annie, a gold halo of mussed hair around her head, and in her hand the knife he had confiscated off her the day before.

She had pickpocketed her knife back as subtly as if it were a breath of air doing so.

For a few minutes, they remained quiet, while they listened to the pounding boots right overhead, holding their breaths high in their lungs, trying to quieten the beating of their hearts. Finally, when she decided that the MPs were far enough away from them so as not to be suspicious of their presence, Annie caught hold of someone's sleeve in the darkness, and tugged gently on it. Her eyes were slowly getting used to the pitch black, and she could faintly distinguish the silhouette of her second companion. The one she was guiding (she couldn't make out who it was yet) understood and pulled the other by the wrist so that he followed as well.

She didn't have to move far to find what she was looking for. The metal plate made a teeth-grittingly loud noise when her foot accidentally collided with its side, and one of the boys hissed in fear. She ignored it, and as she had done many times before, moved the heavy plate to one side to reveal the darkness beneath. It was deeper than the one where they resided, in the weird cellar-like space beneath the row of houses, but she wasn't daunted by it in the slightest. Once they were down there, they would be safe.

She dropped the suitcase down the gaping hole, not caring in the slightest for its contents. Then, she pulled a little more firmly on the sleeve she was holding, bringing the person to whom it belonged closer.

"Climb down," she whispered, gesturing to the hole and pointing at the faint glint of the ladder, just about visible in the half-dark. He hesitated a little before moving towards it, confirming the fact that this was Reiner rather than Bertholdt. She had that boy wrapped around her finger since she met him, and she knew that at least while they were still in danger, he would listen to her every order attentively. Reiner was a little more reticent, more independent, but he still did as he was told. Somehow, she had turned into the leader of this little group, probably due to her experience and her natural authority. She wasn't going to take advantage of it though, she 'loved' them too much for that.

The blonde was the last to climb down the rusty old ladder, pulling the heavy cover back above her, making as little noise as she could. About halfway down, she was hit with the heavy stench of raw sewage, but it didn't bother her that much, really. From the number of times she had been down here, she had had enough time to get used to it. She was a little surprised when a light was switched on at the bottom, but that mystery was solved when she joined Reiner and Bertholdt on the wide concrete walkway next to the sluggish stream, the former holding a torch, searching through his bag.

"Found them! They might be a little small, but at least you won't have to walk barefoot anymore."

"I'm not sure… are you sure you don't mind?"

"I prefer to not have to carry you if you get ill again. Here, take this as well. It's kind of chilly here."

Annie watched the interaction between the two boys, Reiner handing a pair of red trainers and a blue sweater with a low neckline, and Bertholdt accepting them, an embarrassed blush on his face visible even in the low light. She smiled. It may not last long, but she was happy to see that they were getting on well.

They turned to her when she walked towards them, heading for the suitcase that they had pulled over to a drier spot than the one where it had landed. Reiner was right, it was cold here, and she still hadn't changed out of her light outfit. She was stopped by the boys' stare before she could get any closer though.

"What?" she snapped.

They looked at each other, seeming surprised at their synchronisation, before directing both their pairs of eyes back at her.

"We need to talk."

Electricity has been around for about three hundred years to this day. The great sea-bound power stations provide the whole Land of the Kingdom with all the power needed, and it is one of the most convenient inventions to have ever blessed our people. Before its discovery, gas or candles were used as a light source when needed, but were both likely to set fire to their environment, and killed more than they saved. Electricity serves not only the purpose of lighting, but also allowed the invention of many other useful artefacts, such as the mobile telephoning device and the refrigerating closet.

-Of the Great Inventions of the Last Thousand Years, Peaure

The second name is totally made up, I just thought that Annie would make for a good Fiona (a "Shrek" Fiona though).