Another friday another update!

ROBYN POV

It was so sunny today. Mother would get the sheets all dry in a few hours if things stayed like that, and then she could spend the evening with me and John instead of doing laundry. I held up the pegs for her, watching how the white linen drifted in the breeze, making her simple dress look like a gown for a couple of seconds each time. It made me laugh. And that made her smile.

But then a hand clasped my wrist and tugged me away. No more sunshine. Back to the basement. More work to be done. Lay on the table, be quiet, the usual steps took place before the pain set in. Scrape. Slice. Peel. On and on, hissing at me as I whimpered, or as my teeth clenched against cries. Eventually the rage broke through and his hand slammed against the table before he stormed away and slammed the door behind him. Quiet. Lonely. Dark.

I lay there in the gloom, listening to my own breathing. Were we done for the day? Could I slip out of the restraints and find Mother and John? My nails picked at the splintered table. No. Stay still. He could come back.

"Why won't this fucking work?" He bellowed, kicking the door open again and storming down the steps. "What is it I'm missing? Other than a decent test subject that is. They're not going to take another failure dammit, I came to this wretched place to fix things, to make it right with those bastards at home. But I can't do that if your damn body won't behave!"

Something else was injected. The room swam, my scream ripped out of me before I could stop it, every new wound he had given me that day and every other that had long healed and scarred, burned. Like they were being branded.

"Change dammit! Blow this whole house away if you have to but just fucking do it." He slapped me, punched my ribs, made new cuts at random. But nothing else happened. Other than me bleeding and whimpering. "Useless. Every damn time, it's so useless!"

"Stop. P-Please."

Mother?

I blinked and looked towards the stairs, hearing them creak softly as she descended. She never came down. Never. It only made things worse. For her and for me. Why now? I had been too loud, I had cried too hard. Damn it.

"Get out. This is my work, my purpose, get out you stupid bitc–"

"She's endured enough for the day. Please. The neighbours are going to hear her if you keep going. Do you want that? Then the Garrison will be called." She sniffed, hugging herself tightly.

He went very still. His nails scraped against the tabletop and he straightened, eyes burning against the faint light from the fireplace.

"You're questioning me?"

"I'm asking you to let her heal and rest. Begging. If that's what you want."

"I have to do this. For all of us. If I don't? It's never going to stop, don't you fucking see that? This maddening cycle is going to keep going, those beasts will keep appearing beyond the walls and believe it or not they'll send someone worse than me."

"I d-don't know who they are. You never tell me. So no, I don't believe it, because at this point, I have no r-reason to."

"Mum." I snivelled. "Just go. I'll be quiet–"

"That's not my point, Little Bird. It's enough. All of it."

I closed my eyes. His steps pounded to the stairs, and the dance began again. A slap. A strike. A wail from my mother's lips and a snarl from my father. On and on. Ricocheting from one place to another, a new bruise for every sound of contact. Damn my body for not doing as he wanted. Change? Change to what? Whatever it was, I wanted to do it. Because then this might end, then she might get away at last. I peeked and wished I hadn't, blood trickled from her lip, bruising sealed one of her eyes shut, and her whole frame trembled.

He gripped her collar. "If I don't figure out how to replicate that fucking power, they're just going to bring hell to your doorsteps, don't you get that? You and the rest of this place's vermin. You'll be wiped out in mere moments."

"You never make sense." She sobbed, weakly trying to pry his grip free.

"It'll make sense when the walls start fucking crumbling."

LEVI POV

Sasha helped Mikasa clean Robyn up, and they bound her leg where a bullet wound had also occurred at some point. It seemed fresh. But why? She had been bound, gagged, helpless. Why shoot her? He had wanted to do it himself; but between his hands shaking from rage, and being needed to lead while Hanji recovered, he couldn't. Once again, he just had to watch. As they laid her on the bottom of the wagon, next to Hanji, Robyn didn't stir at all. No sign of her being alive other than the quick and shallow movements of her chest. Whatever that stuff was that Reiss had injected her with, her body had refused to give in. So Levi just had to hope that now it wouldn't give up.

"Is she alright?" Historia asked as she was asked to sit in the wagon as well.

Levi swallowed the want to tell her to fuck off. "She's breathing."

"I'm so sorry." Historia hung her head. "I didn't realise how crazy he was, how mad the whole situation would become. And Robyn she… She just refused to give into their shit."

"One of her strengths, one of many." Levi rode close by, refusing to move far from where Robyn lay.

"Even when they injected her, she just made me think for myself. Demanded I choose for me. I… How does anyone become that genuinely kind?"

"You go through an awful lot of shit." Levi felt no need to dress it up for the girl. Robyn had been forged that way, no two ways about it. Beaten, bruised and bloody, but she still found a way to make people smile. It was just how she worked. "Be sure to tell her how grateful you are when she wakes up. Doesn't hear that enough."

"I-I will."

"Good."

All they had to do now was make sure Robyn woke up to hear it.

That and stop the monstrous form of Reiss's Titan destroying the town of Orvud…

ROBYN POV

It was quiet in the house. Mother napped upstairs with John and the light of the day had begun to dip below the walls, casting pinks and purples across the sky. Beautiful. And still no sound from the basement. Father had been down there for three days since Mother stood up to him. Since he spoke of crumbling walls and hell. It made no sense to me, but I knew something had changed. Mother had taken me and John to the market, we had eaten down by the river, we had laughed and played. On one hand, it had been one of the best days. On the other, it felt like she was trying to make the best of things before something truly terrible occurred.

So I had to try and go fix it.

I had to try.

Clasping one of the many brown liquid filled bottles Father poured himself drinks from, I approached the basement door. It hadn't opened since he flung me and Mother out of there the other day. His steps hadn't thundered. His voice hadn't bellowed. It had been as if he had died. So in all honesty, it had been pretty great. But it wouldn't last. He was down there, and all too able to climb the stairs eventually. So I had to go find out what I could do. Sunshine filled days or not, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to my Mother.

The door creaked. Dust, damp and staleness met my nose from the gloom, but I heard nothing beyond his soft breathing. Like he was asleep. I doubted he would be though, it wasn't steady enough. I descended the stairs, clinging to the bannister until my foot met the cold stone flooring.

A sigh sounded from his bench. "Why're you here, rat?"

"W-Wondered if you'd want a drink, sir."

"Hm. Guess that's not totally useless of you. Bring it here." He yawned and a class dragged along the countertop. I followed the noise and held the bottle out. He took it, his dust covered fingers brushing mine for a moment. "I have to do it, y'know? If I don't, it's only going to get worse. But if I can? If I can get that fucking phrase to work, get your stupid little body to change like it's supposed to be able to, with that filthy blood of yours, I could save so many damned lives…"

He wasn't talking to me. Not really.

He took a long gulp. "That includes your mother, you realise, rat? Saving her. And the boy. If only you'd co-operate."

Save mother? From what? All she needed saving from, as far as I knew, was him. A response wasn't wanted, I knew that, and yet my voice sneaked out.

"I'm trying."

And he gripped my throat. "No. You're not. You're wriggling, whining and snivelling. The last thing you're doing rat, is trying."

"B-But I–"

"You will obey. Whether you like it or not."

LEVI POV

She was still asleep. He paced the room again, hands clasped tight behind his back, head slightly hung, lips pressed tight. Heat coursed through her veins one moment, and in the next, she was like fresh snow. Jolts ran through her limbs every so often. Her lips pressed tight, muttered in panicked whispers or lay slightly ajar, panting in shallow gasps. And her eyes, they only flickered with restlessness or rolled back as another swathe of agony or fever smothered her. And all he could do was watch.

"C'mon Robyn… Wake up. Just fucking wake up." He breathed, it hitching at the end as he considered it was very close to what he had heard Robyn begging of that Isla girl on the field. As she attempted to resuscitate a torso missing all limbs and head. But this was different. Robyn wasn't beyond saving. Was she?

He stared at her small frame.

No. She was there, she was breathing, and even if her heart was a little erratic, it was still beating. Still fighting. No, it wasn't the same at all. There was still hope that she would wake up, open those beautiful eyes and smile at him. She had to. He stopped by the window and put his head against the glass.

They had so much to celebrate, such a victory over the corrupted crap that had been containing them all this time. But also so much to prepare for. Maybe. Unless Kenny had been talking shit as usual.

Levi turned and perched on the window sill, eyes glued to Robyn's still frame, her small body pale and growing weaker each day.

After the cavern, scrambling in the dark, chasing after the monstrous figure of Rod Reiss, everything was in chaos. Levi assumed Kenny had died. He feared Robyn would die any second. And yet, he had to focus on the fight ahead. His mind had been scattered from that moment, until they got to the other side with a new Queen and a whole new perspective on their world. Not only was there some kind of serum to turn people into Shifters, there were people that knew about the world beyond the walls. Main problem being most of them seemed to be locked away in Eren's non-royal memories. Or perhaps Robyn's.

After Orvud, the Scouts had taken a moment to breathe. A triumphant moment. Not only were they vindicated of their supposed crimes, but they were deeply allied with the new queen. So Levi took the time to go investigate the cavern site. He had to see Kenny's body with his own eyes. Without that, he wouldn't believe it. Beyond that, he had to do something. Hanji was recovering nicely, as was Jaeger, but Robyn's condition had not changed and he could only be idle for so long. The others, Erwin included, told him to rest, but he couldn't stand it. So he made for the cavern and explored with a squad.

Eventually, one of them found Kenny. Still alive. Just.

Such news lit something within Levi's chest; a strange mixture of dread as well as hope. Kenny was on the brink of death. Perhaps at last Levi could ask that all-important question. To find out if Kenny was truly just his 'uncle', or something more. It was unclear to even Levi which way he hoped the conversation would go, but he couldn't deny the slight thrill he felt at seeing Kenny brought so low. As a child, Levi had seen him as unstoppable. A force like the rocky walls of the Underground city. Since being grown, he had known he could contend with Kenny. But now? A small shiver of superiority hinted at the back of his mind.

Now, the old man sat slumped against a tree, gasping, barely clinging onto life. A small case next to his bloodied hand. The whole conversation was a mess of potential lies and the strange perspective of a man half dead. And the case. A complete dose of the serum. So much power within a small syringe and vial. Presumably that was something similar to what Robyn had been injected with, what her body had refused to give into. Somehow.

But then Levi finally got his question out, it having been burning his tongue since finding Kenny by the tree. "Who were you to my mother?"

Kenny's eyes shone for a moment, and he coughed hard, blood splattering against Levi's cheek but he didn't even flinch. There wasn't time.

Kenny smirked. "Her big brother, you idiot."

"I–"

Kenny shoved the syringe bearing case against Levi's chest, with all the power within it to turn someone into a pure Titan. "One last thing, boy…"

"What is it?"

"That girl of yours, I meant it when I said she w-was trouble."

Levi wrinkled his nose. "That's got fuck all to do with y–"

"Turns out her Daddy wasn't so f-fuckin' useless after all."

Levi knelt closer. "What do you mean?"

"S-Sanshi's were always meant to be the royal's p-puppets…" He coughed and wheezed, blood trickling down his stubbled chin. "He just took it to new levels."

"Meaning what? Spit it out you shit." Levi grabbed his collar. "Before you croak, do one decent thing and tell me."

"Control. They gonna have control over her like you've never known."

Control? Over Robyn?

A smirk pulled on Levi's lips. "Bullshit. If there's one thing Robyn won't be, it's control–"

"She won't have a fuckin' choice!" Kenny roared, pulling on Levi's cloak and bringing him so close the blood and old cigars filled Levi's nose with their stench. The old man looked wild. "Y'got no idea. If they find that fuckin' phrasing you're gonna be fucked. You'll all be–"

Whoosh.

The sound of wires came from above and Levi broke from the old man's grip, trying to get a read on who was approaching, but they moved too fast. Some kind of smoke bomb blasted him back a few feet, and in the few seconds it took him to lunge forward to get hold of Kenny, the old git was gone. The wires swished away and all Levi could see from the smokey mist was a white cloak fading into the forest.

"Fuck you!" He bellowed, leaning on the tree as his lungs burned against the smoke.

And despite searching, despite there having been scouts nearby, there was no sign of where Kenny or the White Cloaked figure had gone. And so he returned to the main group with only half a story and the syringe. It was progress, but not as much as he'd hoped. And now possible a whole new headache. Kenny had been doing digging since seeing him in the Underground, and he had found something about Vincent's work. Something about controlling Robyn. It made no sense to Levi, but the fire in Kenny's eyes had been on a whole new level.

He had been telling the truth.

All Levi had to do was figure out what the hell that meant.

He sighed, back in the present of that small room, waiting for hazel eyes to open. Not that any of it mattered if she never woke again. He ran his hands through his hair and focused on the sound of her breathing. She would be all right. The world owed him that much, surely? He snorted. She'd have laughed at him for that. The world didn't owe them a damn thing.

ROBYN POV

Ow. My head.

I blinked and stared up at a beamed ceiling, morning sunlight streaming in from a large window where drapes gently shifted against a breeze. Not the crystal cavern. And apparently, I wasn't dead. Somehow. That serum had ripped through my body like fire, and it had felt like it would burn me from the inside out. Instead, here I was, lying in a clean room recovering. What had happened since I was out? How long had I been out? I sat up slowly, blankets puddling at my hips, a thin set of pyjamas over my frame. Enough time for me to be changed and bathed at the very least. I sipped some water that had been left by my table, noting the book with the wine label for a bookmark – Levi had visited then. He was well enough to be by my side at least. He wasn't dead.

I swung my legs out and carefully stood, finding myself wobbly but not too weak thankfully. I pulled on the nearby robe and went to the window, surprised to find myself in Trost. It had been a good few days then. I pulled my hair back and braided it against my shoulder. Time to find someone and tell them what I had recalled. There was no way of knowing how useful it would be or not, but at least it was information. Considering my most recent role as the damsel in distress, some information was the least I could deliver.

Following the smell of breakfast, my stomach gave a low gurgle. The sounds of conversation bubbled from along the corridor, and as I approached I could make out Levi's voice, Hanjis and Jeans. A few others were mixed in as well, but at least they didn't sound mournful. Perhaps we hadn't lost too many?

The door swung open and their eyes met mine.

I gave a wave and made for the table, my steps a little uneven. "Morning, everyone."

"I told you so." Levi muttered, getting up to help me across the room and ease me into a seat beside him and Hanji. "I told them I should have been eating in that room."

"It's fine." I chuckled. "Not like I needed constant supervision anyway. Though I uh… How long was I out?"

"A few days." Levi poured me some fresh tea and pushed some toast towards me. "You were in and out of fevers for most of it, but you seem fairly lucid now."

I sipped and dipped my head. "Sorry if I was babbling."

He shook his head. "More just looking distressed, that's all."

"Is everyone else all right? What happened with Reiss? Is Historia okay?"

Jean smirked. "Yeah you could say that. Christa–Sorry, Historia has been crowned Queen."

I blinked. "Holy shit…"

"Yeah, still feels weird to even say."

"Mm, I'll bet. I missed some pretty big days then I guess. What about her father? Can't say I recall much after he stuck me with that needle."

Levi shuddered beside me. "The bastard took the serum himself and turned into a monstrous form of a colossal. Made for Orvud, nearly crushed the whole town, but we brought him down and Historia dealt the killing blow."

I nodded and slowly chewed my toast. So much had happened while I lay there and napped like some lady of the manor. Damn. Still, I guess it wasn't exactly my fault. I didn't ask to be targeted. Then again, I did go ahead and let myself get grabbed in–

Levi nudged me. "Stop overthinking it. We're just glad to see you on the road to recovery."

"Absolutely." Hanji smiled, some bandaging peeking beyond her collar.

I reached and pulled her shirt aside slightly. "You guys hit some trouble during Orvud? Or on the way to the cavern?"

"The cavern got pretty intense." Hanji blushed and pulled the shirt back into place. "I ended up on the wrong end of someone's gear hook, that's all."

I flinched. "Fuck. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be silly. We went in there for you, Eren and Historia. And any of you would have done the same for us. We had to get you back, kiddo. I wasn't about to let some other noble shithead use you. Not like Vincent did." She winked. "I need my drinking pal for one thing, and my Levi buffer."

"Guess I just wish I hadn't been quite so helpless in that cave. Couldn't wriggle free though. Damn sadists." I put a hand to my leg where Kenny's bullet had sunk in as they tried to make me change. It tingled. "Is Kenny alive?"

Levi snorted. "I assume so. Had him in my sights, was getting some information out of him when some cloaked assholes swooped in and took him. So either he's been silenced by their shady asses, or he's recuperating. I assume the latter as it's more of a pain in the ass." He sipped his tea, the shadows under his eyes telling a detailed tale of a lack of sleep since the mission. I'd been worrying him, hadn't I? Damn it.

"So kiddo…" Hanji had some parchment ready to go. "Don't suppose you managed to recall any new information while you were out?"

"I dunno how useful it'll be, but yeah." I swallowed hard and stared into my tea for a moment. "The bastard knew."

Levi refilled my tea. "Vincent? He knew what?"

"Yeah, Vincent. He knew about the breach." My voice cracked. "I think… Wherever they came from, he did too. The Colossal, Armoured and Female Titans. I think he knew they would come, he… He spoke like he did. Like he had to prove something to whoever might send them. Presumably he failed… and so they sent those three instead…"

Shit. It was all so messed up. Not only had Vincent tormented me and my mother for years, but he had known about the potential danger and not bothered to warn anyone. He left the people of the walls entirely alone in their fight. Bastard. In fact, I needed a better word. Beyond that, I couldn't ignore the fact that if my body had worked the way he wanted it to, perhaps Maria would have never fallen. The walls never breached. Eren would still have his mother. Shit.

My tears brewed, trying to focus on one horrible detail at a time. "He fucking knew."

Hanji scribbled. "All right, that's… Well, shit that's a lot. Rather confirms our suspicions on them having come from some kind of other settlement. No idea where it would be but still."

"Yeah and… And it seemed like he was trying to get me to shift. Whether into a shifter version or a mindless Titan, I dunno. But that was the intention. And he kept talking about breaking a cycle or something." I shook my head, the memories already so befuddled. Why couldn't I just fucking remember? It would help so much. It might even give us an advantage. "Damn, it's all so fuzzy now. Ugh!"

I slammed my hand against the table top and made a fist.

Levi put a hand on my arm. "It's already useful, don't–"

"But what else don't I remember?"

He kept his face impassive.

I sniffed and closed my eyes. "Images, flashes of what happened that I'd forgotten about… What else is hidden in this fucking head of mine?"

"I don't know." He sighed. "But regardless, we'll figure it out."

"Just feels like we have less and less time for that though." I sipped my water, but the shivering was set deep by that point. "As great as it is to have Historia on the throne and the government off our asses, there's still the question of the basement, of the beast titan. Shit. And there could be answers in Vincent's work. In this fucking useless head of mi–"

"Hey!"

I flinched as Jean yelled, looking up to find his face enraged.

He continued to glare. "Look I know we've been through the god damn ringer lately, and it sucks, but this isn't gonna help. Right now we don't need self-loathing Robyn, right now we need the woman who came to the training camp with the truth on her sleeve for us to learn from. We need the woman who managed to keep on living after facing the Female Titan. We need you to pull your head out of your ass."

I blinked. Somehow Jean looked taller than before.

Hanji smiled softly. "Perhaps worded a little harshly, but Jean is correct. I understand being annoyed with yourself, Robyn, I do the same thing when my research hits dead ends and such. But right now, we have to stay together. And that means accepting our failings or weaknesses and working together to beat them, okay?"

I nodded and looked down at my tea. Thoroughly scolded.

The room went quiet, and as I allowed my tea and mind to settle, the ripples lessening with each quiet moment, I recalled something else…

A muttering. A spark. A rush of steamy air.

I put a hand to my head and gritted my teeth as the pain threatened behind my eyes.

Levi put a hand on my shoulder. "Robyn?"

He came over and shoved the dish up to my face.

It stank. I blinked. The dish was now full, the flesh overflowing inside, far beyond the size of my thumb, more like half my torso… He undid the straps and took my hand, pressing it to the flesh. It felt weird. Like wax. And it was warm. Too warm. Like it had a fever of some kind. It was sort of see-through as well, the firelight dancing through it, highlighting patterns that kind of looked like veins on a leaf…

I swallowed hard. "I think… I think I…"

"Don't you see? It's all possible. My entire plan can work, if you would just let it, you damned Paradis rat."

"Paradee." I sipped my tea and blinked as the memory once again slipped to oblivion.

"Paradee?" Hanji repeated, scribbling. "What's that?"

"No idea… But Vincent called me a Paradee rat. R-Right after he… I think he…" I shivered and sipped my tea again, feeling Levi's hold on my shoulder tighten. "He took some skin from my back and did something to it. There was a… a flash of light. Like when Eren t-transforms. And then…"

Like wax. Sort of see-through. Veins on a leaf.

Hanji leaned in. "And then?"

"I think he made my flesh transform when it was separate from me…" I set down my tea, hands going slack against the table, Levi kept me steady. "Said something about my s-spinal chord getting in the way… How… How can that be? Can I turn?"

Levi looked to Hanji and then back to me. "Your injuries from the Female Titan attack would have triggered it."

"Maybe." I clenched my hands till the nails bit my palms. "Unless he built in something to prevent that, or my body automatically did? It… It felt like my body was refusing to change when Reiss injected me."

"Refusing?" Hanji stopped scribbling. "How?"

"Dunno… But that was what it seemed like. As if my body was just saying 'no' over and over."

"Well shit…" Jean snorted. "I should yell at you more often."

I chucked a piece of bread at him. "Shush… Though I suppose technically you're not wrong."

Bloody hell… Just what the hell did any of this mean?

Hope you enjoyed ^-^ Cya next friday!