"This is the part of our job I'll just never get used to." Jean sagged both from physical and emotional exhaustion. It figured that the job of loading corpses went to the new blood in the Scouts. Perhaps it was a way of training them, getting them used to what the cost of each expedition would be. But Jean reckoned it was much simpler than that. Nobody wanted the task of looking at so many of their dead friends and comrades.
"You're not alone in that."
Armin was helping him with this cart, stacking each corpse carefully so as to not pull off the blankets that were wrapped around their bodies. Most still had splotches of blood that had seeped through, others were smaller, where only limbs or pieces could be recovered.
"Seems like death's just… everywhere. All I can think about is how it'll end, which one of us is next and whether it'll be me."
How many close calls had he had now? How many brushes with death? When they had finally regrouped outside of the forest, he had looked around to see how many of his friends had made it, and was frankly shocked to see they all had. The advantage of being new and not placed in the dangerous positions he supposed. Well, except for Gohan…
"Try not to obsess over it. Only thing that train of thought is good for is breaking your nerve, believe me." Armin remembered his time in Trost, where he'd practically fallen apart from the stress and fear. It shamed him at the time, and even more so now. It was no way for a soldier to behave. "Push it out of your mind."
There was little Jean could say to that. "I suppose you're right." What else could they do after all? This was their life. Not just now, but even before, they just hadn't known it. "No, I know you're right." He bent down and grabbed the ankles of another body. "Still, I suppose I can find comfort in all of this." Jean looked over at one of the wagons where a group of soldiers all stood, blades drawn and bodies tense. "At least this wasn't all in vain."
Sasha and Mina stood by the horses, feeding one of them from a bucket and letting them get their energy back. "So who do you think it was?"
Sasha didn't need to ask with any specifics, it was all any of them were thinking about. The news that the Female Titan had been defeated, and the shifter captured had spread like wildfire despite some of the officers attempting to keep it hush hush. Whatever plans they'd had for a secret release of information had been shot in an instant.
"I don't know. But whoever it is, death is too good for them." Mina let out an uncharacteristic growl. Sasha knew her as a relatively gentle and kind person, but whoever she was had changed upon hearing what happened with Gohan. She didn't blame her, Sasha felt the same rush of anger and despair that Mina had. Both girls felt the same about the boy, that was well known to the rest of their comrades and to each other. Except where Sasha had managed to say thank you, and express some form of her affection, Mina hadn't.
Sasha gently touched her lips at the memory. She didn't know if Gohan would ever feel the same way she did, or even if her feelings towards him were truly more than an admittedly long-standing crush. But she knew what she felt now. Rage.
"I spoke to Officer Zoe earlier." Sasha changed the subject deftly to divert the shorter girls anger somewhat. "He's stable, and he's resting, but we won't be able to see him until after we get back base."
Mina didn't hide her disappointment, even if she did understand. She would just have to wait a little longer, then she could hopefully put some of her worries to rest.
Bertholdt paced over to Reiner, having spotted him chatting with Christa and Ymir.
"Reiner, would you quit hitting on my Christa. I already told you to back off." As usual, Ymir had wrapped her arms around the short blonde and was holding her close. Either ignorant of the girls blush or fully welcoming it.
"Hey hey, easy. I was just coming to make sure she was okay is all."
He held up his hands placatingly, though nobody believed him for a second. Christa was about as popular amongst the boys as Reiner was amongst the girls, though sadly for him Christa didn't seem to be one of them.
"Hey Reiner, can I talk to you for a second?"
Bertholdt took his chance to butt in before the situation turned even more awkward.
"Hey Bert, what's up? You look a little nervous there. Well, even more so than usual."
Reiner hadn't taken Bertholdt's hint that he'd wanted to have a private conversation away from the two and seemed content to wait by them. He bit back a growl of frustration and continued on.
"I was just a little worried is all. We're all standing out in the open, Gohan is hurt, and the Special Operations Squad all seems pretty tired. What if some Titans attack?"
Reiner laughed it off. "Since when did you become such a scaredy-cat? We'll be fine, there's still plenty of Scouts to keep us safe if something comes. Besides, I think we'll be returning home soon, then we can get that Titan shifter and squeeze every drop of information out of her." He motioned over to the wrapped and bound form of Annie, who was still unconscious and heavily guarded.
His heart burned at knowing she was like that, laying there so vulnerable and hurt, yet unable to do anything. Not unless he and Reiner were to act now anyway, and save Annie from the torture that would await her. The uncertainty he felt had clearly been let slip, as Ymir eyed him warily before Reiner turned to look back at him and noticed. The big man slapped a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Come on Bert, we're soldiers, show some backbone."
Shit. Reiner was deep into one of his episodes. Reluctantly, he nodded and moved on. He couldn't risk acting without Reiner's support, and he couldn't risk Reiner not being focused. So he would have to wait.
"Almost done sir, we estimate about three to be unrecoverable. All were members of the right flank during the Female Titans initial attack."
Commander Erwin stood listening to another report as the troops made their final preparations to move out. The Scouts had successfully regrouped, and even managed to retrieve all their casualties from the forest, the number of dead surprisingly low thanks to Wagners' actions. He would have to make sure she got that medal when they returned.
"Not even an arm or a leg?"
Not many were happy to receive such a thing, and far too many were lost in grief to show any kind of gratitude. But for some, it was still enough to have something to bury. To have the idea that their loved one was at peace, and not left to the Titans' land.
"Sadly, the spotters didn't have much time to attempt recovery before withdrawing further into the formation. There may be a chance to attempt recovery on our way back, but honestly sir, I think it may be best for the families if we didn't bring back what was left behind."
A fair statement. Sometimes it was best not to know how they had died, to imagine that it had been quick, and as painless as possible. It was a luxury that few among the Scout regiments fallen had received.
"We'll put them down as missing in action." He agreed.
"Sir." The man acknowledged. "Also sir, our spotters have reported no sign of Titans leaving the forest. It looks like the clean-up was more effective than we had initially thought."
That was putting it lightly. Between the efforts of the Special Operations Squad, and the various veteran teams which had been located in the forest, large numbers of Titans had been slain with minimal casualties, especially thanks to the Ki sensing abilities of Gunther and Petra, who had led various teams around the forest in seek and destroy missions. The rest being kept back to assist with guarding their prize.
Although Gohan had been in and out of consciousness, both Eren and Mikasa had been able to privately identify the shifter as Annie Leonhart, a comrade from the 104th. It seemed that Hange's suspicion that they would attempt to enter in part of the confusion of the fall of Wall Maria was correct. However, neither the previously known Armoured or Colossal Titan had shown, and were still out in the open.
It was likely they were also members of the 104th, which left them all in a dangerous position. Out in Titan territory, with potentially two enemy Titan shifters in their midst, and with word out about their captured comrade… the opportunity for an ambush was high. They would have to fall back to Wall Rose quickly.
Even worse, there was the chance that there were more Titan shifters out there, as the Female Titan had been an unknown before this expedition. Yes, they were vulnerable alright.
"Inform the squads, we'll begin to move out. Captain Levi, you and your team are stick close with the enemy shifter as we travel back. Keep her unconscious if she wakes up."
"With pleasure." Levi moved on, signalling his team to fall in line. The man was still as professional as usual, but the anger he was keeping under wraps was fairly plain to see. Perhaps it was the loss of his comrades, the injuries that Son had sustained, the traitor to humanity confirmed before them, or perhaps a mix of all three. Either way, Levi was going to be able to get his chance at revenge.
He'd already spoken with Hange about their plans for Miss Leonhart, her interrogation planned to commence almost as soon as they were back. Perhaps a kinder man would have felt sorry for her. He, did not.
Gohan woke up briefly on the ride back to Karanese, a bump sending a sharp spike of pain through his body. He tried to move, only to find a hand quickly pushing him back down.
"Woah, easy there." The voice belonged to someone he didn't recognise, and as Gohan barely managed to open his eyes the face he saw was a stranger as well. "Sorry about the bumps, but not much we can do about that."
"What… where are we…"
Each breath hurt to take, and each word was a thousand times worse. Thankfully, another voice picked up on his questions.
"We're on our way back to Karanese." It was Hange's familiarly cheerful voice. "Prisoner in tow, and non-stop straight to base. We'll get our capture nice and comfortable, and get some help for you too, don't you worry."
Annie…
Part of him still couldn't believe it, but he wasn't going to try and trick himself to deny what he had seen. She had killed innocent people, and tried to stop the Scout regiment from reclaiming Wall Maria. There wasn't any explanation she could give that would exonerate her, but he wanted to know what she would have to say for herself.
He heard the bang of a flare being fired, and could see the trail out of his peripheral vision. He once again tried to lean up, only to have Hange place her hand on him this time.
"What's going on?"
"Titans on the flank, nothing we can't handle. You just keep laying back and get your rest okay?"
She placed a hand on his cheek, almost motherly in her comfort. He didn't truly rest until he heard the sounds of ODM gear being activated, a few Ki blasts being fired, then heard the crash of falling Titans, their foul Ki dying off with them.
Then just like that, he drifted off again.
Eren was silent as they returned to Wall Rose. He had hardly spoken to anyone as they rode back, outside of the occasional acknowledgement of orders. His emotions were in turmoil, and he couldn't even speak with anyone about it lest the identity of the Female Titan be shared.
Annie…
How could she? To kill her comrades, to betray humanity? Why?
She'd always been quiet, and stubborn, but he would never have thought of her as some kind of killer. There had always been parts of her that had shone through, even when she'd tried to hide them. The way she chuckled at some jokes, or the actual thrill of excitement she got when training with Gohan in martial arts. She was not heartless, he knew that. So why had she done what she did?
He would have to find out later, as they came to Wall Rose and watched the gate open. Some of the garrison soldiers had leapt from the wall in order to either deal with or ward off any Titans nearby, most having already been dealt with thanks to the advance warnings from their flares.
"All squads are to proceed through Karanes district, and continue travel through to the castle! No civilians are to approach the centre wagon as we move through the district!"
One of the officers bellowed out as the formation formed up into a column. There was a distinctly visible gap around the centre wagon, where only some of the veterans were allowed close.
As they began to enter Karanes however, they were forced to slow to a halt. The garrison had cleared the street, but the chances of a civilian jumping out were still too high to allow much more than walking pace. Many of the Scouts were thankful for the opportunity to rest their bodies after the gallop back.
"How come they're all back so early?"
"Probably took a bunch of losses again. More taxes gone to waste."
"It looks about the same from when they left actually."
"Yeah, some of them almost look happy."
"HEY! DID YOU KICK SOME TITAN ASS!?"
The locals continued their mutterings amongst themselves, while some shouted out questions. The Scouts didn't answer, but some cheered back in response, which helped raise the crowd's mood. While it might not have outwardly seemed like a successful expedition, a feeling of victory was still present in a lot of the soldiers. Comrades had been lost, but they'd made a big step forward.
"Jaeger." Eren snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed Captain Levi ride up next to him. "Good work today. You performed well, and trusted in the team. Keep it up, and you'll make us all proud."
He was almost speechless at the praise, only having chance to stumble out a thank you as Levi moved on, riding forward to catch up with Erwin and the others.
"He's right." Agreed Mikasa, her horse trotting just behind his. "You did great today, well done Eren."
It was sincere, as she always was, and Eren was thankful that he was looking forwards so that she couldn't see the small blush on his face.
"He should have said the same about you too. You fought well against An-… the Female Titan."
She noticed his slip, but didn't comment, instead shaking her head in disagreement. "No, I broke formation, I should have stayed with the squad."
"You wanted to make sure Gohan was ok. I can't blame you for that, I'm just thankful he's still alive." Eren noticed out of the corner of his eye a man break through the crowd and approach them. For a second, he felt his hand move to his swords, tense at the sight. Until he noticed the way the man was looking amongst the crowd, and before his eyes lit up as he quickly moved over to one of them.
"Petra!"
"Dad?"
Truthfully, the man didn't bear much resemblance to his daughter. His face showing a surprising amount of wrinkles for his age, and his hair much duller than his daughters'. It was however, clear in the way he looked at her, and the way she quickly grew embarrassed as he unashamedly reached out to give her the best hug he could while she was on her horse.
"I'm glad I caught you dear, I wanted to ask you about the letter you sent to us? I know you said you wanted to devote your life to Captain Levi, but I've said before you are just too young to be getting married."
"DAD!"
She was blushing hard, and laughter erupted from Gunther next to her.
"You better make sure Oluo or the Captain doesn't hear that. Besides, I thought you had a thing for-"
She slapped a hand over Gunther's mouth. "DAD! That's not what I meant and you know it!"
He bellowed with laughter as he watched his daughters face shine bright red, almost matching her hair. "Hahaha, well tell me then, who is this other person you seem to have a crush on then? Is it that Gohan fellow that you wrote about? I hear he's pretty popular, even has his own fan-club."
The man was right about that, Eren could still see some of the locals who had their white headwraps on looking around the crowd nervously as they failed to spot him. Eventually one of them managed to point him out in the back of a wagon, bandages on full display. The wails of anguish could almost have been comical if it wasn't his friend they were crying over.
He tuned out Petra's conversation with her father, something which was closer to her yelling at him than a chat. It brought back a lot of painful emotions for him, and suddenly he was missing his own family. It had been quite some time since he had been able to see his mother outside of the brief and stressful trial visit, and years since his father had disappeared. It was part of why he felt such a well of emotions bubble up from inside of him when he saw the familiar face of Hannes appear from the crowd.
"Hey you guys, good to see you both back in one piece."
"Hannes!" Both Eren and Mikasa greeted the older man with excitement, Eren actually surprised at how happy he was to see the man.
"What are you doing here?" Continued on Eren. "I thought you were in trouble, how'd you manage to get over here?"
The man waved their concerns away with a sly smile. "Ah the brass didn't like my choices that day, but I still have plenty of friends in the regiment. Just a small favour to get someone to let me swing by. Sorry I couldn't come see you off in the morning, I arrived not long after you guys left. Speaking of though, you all seem back pretty quick, how did it go?"
The two of them looked down briefly, their moods visibly dropping. "The expedition went well but…" Mikasa answered. "Gohan is hurt, pretty badly."
The man grimaced. Though he wasn't as close to the boy as he was to the others, he still cared greatly for the young man. Both out of gratitude for saving Carla's life, and simple caring over someone so young being hurt. Being in the garrison, he'd enjoyed a great many years of peace before the walls fell, only to have his circle of friends devastated by the fall of Wall Maria, and again during the attack on Trost. He'd suffered a lot during those times, thankful to be able to share his pain with comrades and Carla, and hated that children would be going through the same as him.
"You guys are going back to the Scout headquarters right? I'll see if I can swing by later, I know your mum will want to hear more. I'll let her know you're both okay though, she's been asking about you both every chance she gets. Make sure you write more too, she worries!" He had to pick up his voice as the formation continued on, and he ended up getting stuck in the crowd trying to walk alongside them.
"We will! Give mum our love!" Eren called back to him.
"Thank you Hannes!" Mikasa called back with genuine appreciation. The man was about as close to a father figure she had anymore, and while he had been a distant figure before Shiganshina, it was thanks to him that she, Eren, and Carla had been able to have a reasonable place to stay. She suspected he'd also pulled some kind of strings to avoid Carla being sent out during the mission to reclaim Wall Maria, as so many other disabled people had.
He'd also taken the time to teach both her and Eren whatever he could during the few years before they had joined the scouts. The man wasn't well educated by any means, but he'd been able to help them with studies on occasion, or even just help them with some more worldly learnings at least. He'd helped keep them educated, with books that they would read together with Armin. He'd helped to get them some work, so they could keep themselves fed and clothed. He'd done, so much for them.
Perhaps part of it was guilt, for not being able to save his mothers legs in time, or for moving as if he would abandon her, but he had done so much.
It brought a smile to Erens' face when he thought about it all, and it was with that smile that he noticed two children in the crowd, the same he'd seen when they left. They had reminded him of himself, when he would watch the scouts leave Shiganshina and feel such pride. Back then, the smiles and proud faces he'd seen had been hollow, desperate. Now, he looked back at those children and smiled proudly, flashing them a thumbs up.
They gasped excitedly, and inside he felt such a well of emotions threatening to burst up. They had achieved another true victory against the Titans. It was only a matter of time before they managed to drive them out, and set humanity free once again.
Mina's horse trotted along in silence. She had no words to describe how she felt in the moment as she followed along with the rest of the formation, the crowd around her noisy yet indecipherable. Some cheered, others asked questions, while a few still booed and complained, in spite of the happy faces on so many scouts. They'd taken casualties, but they'd accomplished something, and that kept spirits high.
As for herself, she supposed she mainly felt relief. It still felt unreal however, as if she wasn't actually back in the walls yet, and that any second now she could be grabbed by a Titan from her blind spot. When a shadow appeared from behind her, and a hand laid itself on her shoulder, she let out a squeal of terror.
"Woah, easy." Connie raised his hands in surrender as she rounded on him, panic swiftly followed by fury as she looked at him. "I just wanted to check you were okay. I heard you were hurt."
He pointed to her headwraps and she gently touched them, mildly self-conscious and embarrassed of them. "When we regrouped before leaving, one of the medics checked me over. They say I should be fine but I'll get checked again when we arrive back at base."
He nodded, and the two were left in silence save for the noise of the crowd. It was Connie who decided to speak next, opening his mouth and hesitating, before finally continuing on.
"It doesn't feel real, does it?"
"Huh?"
"To be back inside. To be… safe."
So he knew what it was like too. She supposed she wasn't surprised. Despite the fallout of their fight, they had been friends before and had thought alike more than once. She looked out amongst the crowd, searching for her own parents.
"It doesn't feel real. I can't believe I ever once felt safe inside the walls, like it was all a distant problem I never had to worry about." She looked down, hiding the tear that came to her eye. "I can't believe I decided to go out to them."
"Do you regret it?"
She looked up into the crowd again, this time finally catching sight of her parents, both staring out terrified, the two of them almost breaking down when they finally saw her safe. She wasn't just out there for herself, or to prove herself to her crush. It was also for them, to try and keep her parents safe, and so many other families as well.
"No, I don't regret it."
"Sir, full casualty reports have been compiled, letters to the families are being drafted and will be ready for your signing tonight."
Erwin nodded in acknowledgement of the officer as he walked through the halls of the castle. It was routine, and so he didn't need to be given any further details, nor return them as he noted the officer move on. Erwin himself would be extremely busy tonight compiling his reports to Zachary, as well as both Dot and Nile. Then there was the review of material losses, the casualty reports themselves, any specialised training that would be required for specific casualties, the reports on Jaeger's performance, plus a million other smaller items. And yet, he felt none of the usual weariness from it as he strolled into his office, Mike Zacharias following in his stead and closing the door behind him.
"Quite an interesting day today, wouldn't you say so sir?" Mike remained standing as Erwin moved and crashed down into his chair, the slight smile on his face in contrast to how tired his body was.
"A very interesting day indeed." He opened one of his cupboard and pulled out a bottle and two glasses. "Care for a drink?"
The man raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but nodded and took a seat on the other side of his desk. "I don't think I've ever seen you drink after a mission Erwin."
Erwin nodded as he poured out the drink, a very expensive one from inside Wall Sina that had sat idle in his cupboard for a very long time. "It was a gift from Keith, when I was made commander of the corps. He told me it had been a gift that Dot had given him a few years before Shiganshina, and that when one day we achieved our first real victory I could drink it."
He finished his glass and began pouring the one for Mike. "I think today just might be that day. With Miss Leonhart in custody, we can finally start getting some answers to it all."
He finished pouring the drink, the expensive amber liquid sitting so tempting inside of the glasses. He only had two, which had been provided with the bottle at the time, having almost never thought he would live to use them. He took his glass and pushed Mike's over to him.
"Are you sure that we're not getting ahead of ourselves sir? We still have to make her talk."
Mike was right, as he usually was. The man didn't so regularly hold Erwin's ear for nothing. "I have confidence that won't be a problem. Hange was quite eager to get started on our guest."
Mike chuckled darkly. "I could almost feel bad for that girl. Almost."
He took a drink, and Erwin followed after a moment. He grimaced as he drank it. Unlike Mike and many others, Erwin was not much of a drinker, particularly of hard spirits. It burned, and was not particularly enjoyable, but still he loved it. It tasted like victory.
"Hange will be with her all night, perhaps even longer if she has the energy. Then I think she'll be trading off with Levi, both will be quite eager to learn what she has to say."
Mike frowned as he looked at his glass, swirling the liquid around in thought. "What do you think will happen if she doesn't tell us anything?"
It was certainly a possibility. They knew nothing about who Annie worked for, aside from a likely connection to the Armoured and Colossal Titans. Their motivation, their true number, all were mysteries that their interrogation would have to solve.
"If she says nothing, then we have other plans. Execution, setting a trap for her comrades… I'm sure the military police would be happy at getting their chance to dissect her." He had received no end to the number of requests from sections of the nobility or the church to hand over Eren Jaeger for study. At the very least, his report would be able to detail his critical role in the capture of the Female Titan and finally put an end to questions about the boy's loyalty.
"In the meantime, I'll draft some requests for the Garrison and Military Police to search her belongings. I doubt we will find anything of value, but perhaps we can find some clues there, learn of any associates she was making and if there was a larger scheme in the works. She joined the Military Police, not a convenient position for breaching the walls."
"Do you think she might have been planning an attack on the King?"
It was certainly a possibility, but there were too many options for what she could have had planned. "I don't know. Tomorrow will be a fresh start, then we'll see what our information can suggest."
When Annie woke, the first thing she noticed was the severe amount of pain her body was in. She had overexerted herself to a ridiculous extent during her fight with Gohan, and had it not been for her healing, she potentially would have killed herself from the strain alone. The second thing she noticed, was that she was entirely unable to move.
Opening her eyes she saw the reason why. Numerous chains and cuffs held her limbs in place as she awoke strapped to a chair, everything from her fingers to her head was locked rigidly in place. The feeling alone sent enough of a panic down her spine that she began to reflexively struggle, her breathing rapid as she tried to calm down. She heard movement and froze, looking out of a cell door at a guard with his back to her.
She thought about trying to attack him somehow, to begin making her attempt at freedom, only to have that dashed as she watched a woman stroll casually to her cell door.
"Hello my darling, are you sitting comfortably?"
The voice sent chills through her, not in the least because of just how cheerful she sounded. She recognised her as one of the senior Scouts, the one who had been overseeing the experimentation on the two Titans captured in Trost before Annie had slain them. The woman's eyes roamed over Annie like she was studying her, not the person herself but like one would look at a toy they were about to take apart.
"I do hope you're comfy, you aren't going to be moving anywhere for quite some time." The door swung open and she stepped inside, Annie trying to sink further back into her chair but unable to even so much as fidget. "You know, you killed a lot of people I knew today."
Annie said nothing, almost praying for the silence to protect her as she stepped closer, a vicious gleam in her eye.
"Before we get started, I want to give you a chance." She pulled up a chair to sit in front of her, the wooden legs scraping and echoing loudly throughout her tiny damp cell. "If you answer every one of my questions truthfully, this will go a lot better for you."
Annie said nothing, eyes fixed on the lady before her with fear.
"I thought not." She smiled wide, before ever so gently reached out and tapped at one of Annie's fingers. The blonde-haired girl froze, flinching at the gentle yet horrific brush of her fingertips. "Something I wanted to test with Eren was the extent to which he could heal. Whether he could regrow fingernails." Her fingertips brushed the nail of Annie's index finger. "Or fingers themselves?" Her hands moved up and stroked Annie's finger. "Or perhaps more? Again, and again."
She leaned in, noses almost touching as she gazed directly into her eyes. "And what else I wonder? Eyelids, eyes, lips, the skin from your flesh?" Her finger reached up and delicately stroked Annie's cheek. The girls breath caught, the Scout lady's own moist and heaving breathing hitting Annie's face.
"Or, you can answer my questions."
Annie kept quiet. She thought about answering, she truly did. She was terrified, fearful of what was to come from this maniac. She was no stranger to pain, but this would be different. A level of agony she had never experienced and would never recover from.
"I'll take your silence as a no. Good…" The woman leaned back and moved back to the cell door, reaching out a hand as a bag of tools was passed to her. "I was hoping it would come to this."
She set the bag on a side table, the loud and repeated clangs hinting at a number of items hidden away inside. She reached in and pulled out one in particular, a set of pliers that she gave a few test clicks of before turning to Annie and smiling.
"My name is Hange, and we're about to get to know each other very well."