...Uncovering Pt. 2...
The L/n Quartet sprinted through the underground passages as Annie's titan had grabbed at them.
"Damn it, that ring! She must've known we were lying to her since the beginning!" Armin turned to you. "Y/n, you had it! Why did you give it back?!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't know!"
"Blame each other after this!" yelled Mikasa. "We need to figure out what to do next!"
"Plan B! We're moving to Plan B! Eren, she's all yours!"
Squad Three waved you all down at the end of the tunnel. When you almost made it to them, the Female Titan's foot crushed them.
"Does she not care if she kills Eren?! She's practically gambling!" The titan's foot crushed the other side, and then the third path. Armin cursed underneath his breath. "If we use our ODM Gear, she'll swat us like flies. But if we stay here, we'll be crushed in no time!"
"Then I need to transform," said Eren. "I'll shield you guys just like that time with the cannon fire! Come on, get in!" He pulled you all close and bit down into his hand. But nothing happened. He bit again and again, until the blood was gushing out.
You wrenched his hand out of his mouth, having had enough of watching. "Stop pushing it! It's not working!"
"This can't be happening! Why is it happening right now?!" Instead of taking his hand out of yours, he bit down hard into his other hand.
"Bitch!" Now you were playing a game of tug-of-war with his hand in-between his teeth, refusing to let go.
Mikasa crouched down to his level. "Eren. Pull it together. You can't have doubts about her. She transformed into the female titan right in front of us!"
"Listen to Mikasa. You can't ignore the facts! You're not in love with her, are you?"
He looked up at you with this rage that almost took you by surprise. "No, I am not!!"
"Then pull it together!"
"Guys, I have a plan," said Armin, pulling out his blades. "Mikasa will take the opening. I'll take the exit. And Y/n will take the alley. All three of us will go at the same time, and when she inevitably comes for one of us, Eren, you run in any of the other directions!"
You twirled your blades. "Risky, Armin. I like it."
"What?! No, you guys can't!" Ignoring him, the three of you headed in the three opposite directions. "Come back!"
Annie's foot came crashing down on Eren instead. "Fuck!" You swung out into the open. "Armin, go get Eren! Mikasa and I will take her down!"
Mikasa sped at her and got caught in a hand, but she broke free by slicing off Annie's fingers. You sped for her nape and a fist came your way, but having learned your lesson, you dodged it and slashed half her hand off. When she spotted Eren, she charged his way. Mikasa slashed down her arm but was knocked to the ground by the debris of the buildings.
"Mikasa!"
"Go without me!"
Other Scouts moved into battle as well. You swung low to her feet and slashed her ankles, making her stumble. She grabbed a Scout, squeezed him dead, and threw it at you but you dodged out of the way.
Jean came in and went for her nape, but she covered it with a crystallized hand. "The next step! Now!"
"On it!" You swung up until you were right in front of Annie, face-to-face. You used your infamous glare and she kept her eyes right back on you, the two of you having a stare-off. "What's this? You hesitating to kill me? You want to, don't you? Or did Daddy raise a tiny little anti-social bitch who is all bark and no bite?"
She lunged her fist at you but you sped away, taunting her with other insults as she chased after you. Throughout the three years together, you picked up on her weaknesses. She didn't have a lot, but by far, one of the things that ticked her off the most was this man she called her father.
You turned the corner to the set street. "Hange! Now!"
Hundreds of arrows shot out, gouging into her titan's flesh, bringing her down to the ground. A huge net was thrown over her to keep her down. But shortly after, she kicked away all the cannons and broke free.
"Oh, Daddy raised an overtrained fighter after all," you mumbled, swinging after her. Mikasa sped for legs but was kicked away, falling right past you. And finally, a second lightning struck. "About fucking time, Eren!" You turned your course of flight and dove for Mikasa, helping her up to her feet. "You alright?"
"Yeah. Eren finally did it," she said, pointing to Eren's titan already brawling with the Female Titan.
Their fighting led them across the entire city, crashing every building they touched. At one point, Eren's titan was suddenly veined with fire. You and Mikasa met up with Hange and the others. When Annie tried climbing up the wall, Mikasa swung up and slashed her fingers, making her drop back to the ground. As of now, he was completely having the upperhand, ripping her limbs apart. But he was fighting unlike himselfâas if he were an animal.
"He looks kind of hungry, doesn't he?"
"Not the time, Y/n!"
"No, I'm serious! He's fighting like he's going to devour her or something!"
"Y/n has a point," said Levi, landing on the roof. "That idiot is losing control again. I'm on it." He sped off in that direction.
"Captain Levi just praised you," said Jean, wide-eyed.
"What, like it's rare?"
He arched an eyebrow. "Yes, it's rare."
"Huh. It's normal for me though."
Suddenly, a bright blue light flashed and Annie's titan started hardening, merging with Eren's titan. Levi cut him out of the nape just before he could be trapped inside. "Hey, Moral Support! Get over here!"
"Who's Moral Support?" asked Jean.
"Me." You swung your way to the site. He handed you Eren and sped off to Erwin. You laid him on the ground, resting his head on your lap, brushing his hair out of his marked face. Mikasa and Armin landed right after.
"Is he okay?" asked Armin.
"Yeah, I think." You glanced at the crystal-looking egg Annie trapped herself in. "And I hope she isn't." Shut up, you told yourself. You don't mean that one bit.
. * . *
You pushed the door to the hospital room open with your back, your hands busy carrying a tray of food.
Eren instantly sat up from the bed. "Y/n!"
Jean scoffed. "Calm down, Eren. She's not going anywhere." Jean was leaned up against the wall, arms crossed like a pretentious ass. Armin was standing by Eren's bed. Mikasa was sat on the sofa against the wall.
"About time you came back. Watching-him-duty is your job," she said. "Said so by Captain Levi himself."
"I missed him waking up? Damn it, I really wanted to see you thrashing awake like you had just fought a ghost in your dreams again."
"He didn't do that," said Armin. "The wake up was kind of boring. He just opened his eyes and blinked. And then he asked where you were."
"What a let down."
"Can you shut up for once?" asked Eren, half-heartedly glaring at you.
"Do you want your damn food or not?" When he had nothing else to say, you set the tray on his lap and sat on the bench.
"So is Annie still stuck in that thing?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Jean. "You'd think with all the sacrifices we made, everything would've turned out the way we wanted."
"I don't think anyone would've estimated how far she would go to keep her secret," said Armin. "Why'd you let her go, Eren?"
"Yeah, I swear you were about to gobble her up," you said.
"She was crying in her titan. So when I saw her face, I just...couldn't do it."
"What does she have to cry about," you muttered, beating away that tiny, worm-sized feeling of guilt crawling around in your stomach.
An MP stepped into the room. "Armin Arlert and Jean Kirschtein, you two are up first for the debrief."
"Yes sir." The two of them left right after.
"You know, for a minute, it felt kind of good," said Eren. "Letting go in my titan. My mind, my body, everything. Hell, I was even ready to die."
"That's a little fucked up," you said.
"For you? Is it really?"
"For me? No. For you? Only a little. I get it, though. You must've felt free, even if it were just for those few minutes."
"Free...yeah." He took your hand in his. "I'm glad all of you are okay. And that you're not hurt again."
"Stop bringing that up," you grumbled, but feeling unable to tear your eyes away from his bold, teal-ones. Then your heartbeat started speeding up again. You kind of wanted to rip it out and scold it for acting so weird recently, especially around Eren.
"Before you two do something weird, remember I'm in the room too."
"We are not going to do anything weird!" you shouted over your shoulder.
"Yeah, Mikasa. You're always the one making things weird! Starting from that night in the Training Corps when you lied that Y/n and I kissed!"
"If I don't do something 'weird,' then I fear that the two of you will never move forward with whatever you've got there."
"You mean our friendship?" you asked. "How much more forward do you want us to push our friendship? Please let me know so I can do it myself and not have you graciously interrupting us all the time!"
She snorted. "No. You'll figure it out one day. In the meantime, Eren, eat up. Y/n didn't go down and up two flights of stairs for your food to get cold."
Later, after your debrief with the MPs, you were informed that the Scout Regiment had pardoned Eren from the government and was only charged with guarding Annie in that crystal egg-shell of hers. Though they didn't catch her conscious, Eren was now practically considered innocent. Which was more than enough for you.