Here's a little something I want to contribute to the awesome Attack on Titan fandom.

A 'what if' scenario as some would call it, or maybe a theory of what'll happen. I wanted to write about what if Annie not only escapes her crystal but ends up in a situation where she can freely decide whether or not she wishes to follow up in her bet against Armin. I pray they won't be too ooc for you lovelies out there who love watching the world burn. I'm apologizing for ahead of time if my writing seems odd and my grammar is too wordy at best, but bear with me. I'm out of practice.

On a personal note, I think they're a cute ship; I've seen fanfics where Annie escapes her crystal (pretty common fics) and what she does afterwards, but there's too many flowery out-of-character fics out there that bother me too much.

Important: Some elements were changed for the sake of this fic just so you all know. Revised chapters also have been renamed and yes this story has shortened a bit. The italics is a character's thought process too primarily. I also threw in some ideas that seem to flow with what the story has going for it. I'm not sure if these ideas are canon or not, but I needed something to go by.

Anyway, enjoy. :)

This chapter has been revised again and again and AGAIN... it seems I'm never really happy with it. Feh.

Arc 1: The Wager's Fool

Episode 1: The fall of Rose

~000~

All he could see was darkness at first.

Blood coated his face in great rivulets, its warmth the only way he knew for sure it was blinding him to the world around him. Pain was coursing through his body like a river of electrified spikes and the saturated smells of resin-coated needles wafted in and out of his nose. He had no apparent idea how long he was like that; face-down in the earth of the other, unsafe side of the wall. All he remembered at that second was it hadn't been long enough for him to regain some sense of which way was up and what wasn't right about the world around him.

Groaning where he lay, fisting a clump of shredded grass and gritting his teeth as a familiar metallic copper taste coated his throat. His fingertips seem to numb slightly, save for the index finger on the right. For all he knew, it was probably broken since the searing pain rolling from it was comparable to burning it in a live hearth.

He rolled over onto his side, a roiling pain blooming from his waist the instant he decided he should move. A rattled cough escaped him next, dirt and filth flying away from around his mouth. Eyes still pinched tightly shut, he thought against moving more and remained where he lay, wondering how and when he got out here in the first damn place. His mind was a hazy remembrance of contorted thoughts and split-second images, but the more detailed sounds and sights began to dawn on him.

The Beast Titan...

Armin settled his pulsing head onto his arm, sifting through his memories despite the oncoming concussion. His stomach lurched uncomfortably, a souring taste burning the back of his throat and effectively replacing the metal of his blood. He curled his legs and drew into himself next.

He's responsible for this.

The Beastly one appeared less than hours before within the walls; acting out in a brazen way no one could've dared expect. Even Erwin Smith himself hadn't quite been able to anticipate this. That Titan must've been a familiar of Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie's seeing how it'd gone through the motions of liberating her from the Scouts' hands. It arrived unexpectedly, proceeding to bring with him more than enough Titans to throw everyone into a chaos. It was surmised the lesser giants likely originated from within the walls considering the old evidence of what happened to Connie's village; coupled with the wall itself having no visible breach that can be found.

The gargantuan menace ransacked the populace, his might and intelligence alarming all who engaged him. Many were slain in moments and buildings were leveled, the combined forces of all available branches of the Military ultimately failing. The district of Stohess became the exact image of the fall of Shiganshina and Trost; all within the span of a single day. It wasn't the first time it happened, since Annie's resistance months earlier had reaped the same results, but still.

Earlier on in the prior hours, Armin and the others left the cabin so they could find Eren, having been kidnapped not so long ago as part of Erwin's larger plan. Sadly, the furry interloper made it so that they all ended up in a fight that they couldn't back from. Levi was largely unavailable since he had his own battles, leaving Stohess's 'protection' to the Special Ops Squad and the remainder of the Survey Corps' forces. They're the only true Titan slaying professionals leftover in the Inner wall.

Erwin meanwhile was away on an important excursion somewhere else within Sina's confines, likely detained by the King's forces at the time; still, the enemy's arrival had been too perfect. With no Eren, Smith, or Levi among other elites the fight had quickly taken a turn for the worse. Hanji, Jean, and Armin had to take charge of the rag-tag band of Scouts, while the newly-named Commander Hanji herself worked with Arlert on a plan together to foil the Titans. Sadly, the end result was many uncounted casualties buried beneath the town debris and others still fodder for the Titans: a standing testament to their failed endeavor to protect the city and the fabricated peace that kept the denizens sane.

To the presently injured Armin, the entire disaster stood out in pristine clarity in his slowly-moving thoughts: The Titans, the screams, the tightness and pull of the muscles and the high of the adrenaline. Armin normally kept his mouth shut and acted out the good boy role since his friends were usually rambunctious enough without his input, but he wasn't above cursing. With a mumbled, near incoherent "Shit" comment he tried to push himself into a more upright position. However, his elbow gave and he slipped right back onto his wounded side, a guttural moan lifting the silence around him.

Suddenly, his tiny body convulsed once and he ended up spitting out both blood and bile. Armin cracked open a single eye next, only to realize that he couldn't lift the lid on the other; his right eye remained sealed shut as blood coated it in its entirety. For all he knew, the damage sustained from the previous skirmish may have inevitably blinded him on that side permanently.

...The Titans probably have Stohess under their control right now. That... hairy titan thing didn't manage to take Annie's crystal at least, but what's it all worth now?

He was finished here, whether or not he bled to death or the Titans found him there when the sun rises the following morning. His maneuvering gear was in pieces nearby and out of gas largely anyway. Worse yet, he realized he'd die here as Marco had; alone and unseen by any. The thought terrified him, chilling his nerves and bringing tears to his last eye.

Fighting said salty visitors, he pressed his hand to the open wound on his waist; his thin and shaken fingers doing nothing to staunch it. Armin had mislead the beastly one into releasing Annie's shard when he snagged the opportunity. However, he received the ghastly injury in the process, the 17-meter was no fool. He ultimately tested Armin and his companions in not just a battle of endurance and determination but of wits as well.

Less than a day ago, the newly made Commander Hanji was notified of the break-in at the Stohess MP Headquarters; but the perpetrators weren't anything of what the gaurds there expected: The 3-meter grunt managed to infiltrate both the facility and the containment area where Annie was stored. Presumably under orders issued by the Beast as far as anyone can guess, they behaved strangely enough whilst killing the majority of the gaurds inside and scaring off the others. They came in terrifying numbers rivaling a half dozen. They proceeded to extract Annie's crystal and hulled it over to where that heaping load of gigantine fur can get a hold of it. Apparently, it was all premeditated from the start, further demonstarting the Beast titan's tenacity and intelligence.

The Survey Corps. later chased him down and caught up with the interloper just before he escaped with his prize. Mikasa, Jean, Sasha, and others each in turn were injured in the following battle while many others died. Still, it was Mikasa who bravely enacted Armin's ploy to get the Titan to release his hold on the crystal. A bold team of fellow soldiers underneath Hanji's coordinated leadership tried to net it with some available cables next, Armin distracting the 17-meter threat all the while.

However, the hairy fuck just wouldn't have it: he destroyed what Armin, Hanji, and the others hastily laid out and ended up incidentally tossing the Armin and his catch outside the wall. The remaining soldiers still ensnared by the operation were presumed to be injured, fled, or worse; Hanji being their only means of order if anything else had gone awry. The darkened cover of the night was enough to save Armin and the damaged crystal from the Beast's rage-fueled search at least, but now he was on his own.

Despite it all, something else worse was tacked onto Armin's growing list of problems; Wall Rose's land was now teeming with Titans, signaling one of two possible scenarios:

One was that a district (likely Trost somehow) was breached entirely, but the entrance was blocked off permanantly so that couldn't be right. Two was the Beast could've transformed the denizenry into Titans; probably the latter as far as Armin can surmise. Either way, it didn't matter since he and Annie were both virtually dead meat out here given she doesn't arouse.

Annie's crystal meanwhile had begun to cave almost the instant the over-sized shifter got a hold of it. Her self-imposed means of preservation was crushed by the Beast's grip, her fall afterwards further weakening it. He could've been either careless in how he handled it or had the strength necessary to finally break its seemingly impenetrable defense; maybe both. Armin couldn't guess.

Putting the recollection aside, Armin tried to regulate his erratic breathing but was met with no success as his so-called luck would have it. The only good out of this whole debacle was Annie's crackling shard they've all struggled to get open for months. Still, that beheld no good fortune for the boy. Whatever the case, it wasn't like he could do anything to stop what Annie herself if and when she decides to awaken.

I'm having really shitty luck aren't I?

Armin curled into himself again, his mind descending into a slur of invasive ideas of what his bleak future within hours will look like. His infirmaties worsened as the minutes crawled by. He fought a whimper as his bones creaked like ancient wood, his attempt to rise having ended with him being flat on his face again.

What will become of humanity in only a matter of days, he wondered. And then begged the question of what he can do now was met with no rational answer. His plan to get Annie back from big-and-ugly has ended with him losing blood freely, and couldn't do a damn thing about it unless he had someone to help; and even that seemed unlikely. He had no working maneuvering gear, no grappling equipment, and he couldn't even use the gear weighing in the damage to his body into the equation. He was out of options, and he couldn't fathom as to how he can get out of the situation.

And so the gods finally have their laugh. Are you really satisfied with all of us facing the same bitter, hellish conclusion in all this?

Just then, a horrid, grating noise of popping glass shook the air, ultimately heralding the crystal's demise. Armin peered up through his blood-stained fringe, taking in the sight of the crystal as it transformed into a gelatinous material that stuck to the sleeping girl within. The gel then liquified and dissolved, while some bits and pieces clung to Annie herself. Small, fleshy vein-like tendrils decorated her eye sockets and limbs, not unlike Eren after a stressful transformation. The rest of the disgusting majority slowly melted to expose her to the open air for the first time in... Armin couldn't remember exactly how long, but it was indeed a good healthy while.

It was of no surprise to him to see this happening following the attack and release of Annie's crystal shell, but its untimely collapse still left Armin somewhat unnerved. He can only ponder as to what Annie would do upon attaining her freedom.

Kill me perhaps, given she feels merciful enough to not leave me here to be eaten.

Annie was now free; her nostrils flaring out as she greedily sucked down brisk, humid air. Her relaxed features she'd long wore in her catatonic slumber suddenly and briefly tightened into a pained grimace, her eyes flying open next. The tear-stained orbs were saucer-like and glassy, glistening visibly despite the night-time dark. She gasped heavily and sat up, the motion so sudden it startled Armin enough to make him jerk in surprise. Sitting within the gangrenous mess of her leftover Titan flesh for some few uncounted span of minutes, she tried to catch her breath while puffing loudly enough to suggest her difficulty in breathing. Her large, deer-like eyes were alert, her hand resting over her breast as if to steady her thumping heart. Its only once did she look around she glimpsed Armin sitting in a slowly enlarging pool of dark carmine, freezing up and let her gaping mouth slam tightly shut as if in surprise.

They both didn't know what to make of the situation at first, Armin silently dreading how she'll react to him. Annie made no inclination to move or talk immediately. She seemed to be weighing what and why her assumed enemy was vulnerable like this, her eyes loosing their sheen in the paltry moon light and regaining some of their older ire. To make matters worse, she identified him as the near sole-reason as to why she encased herself in the first place: Her suddenly stark, horrible, distinctive and enraged scowl was proof enough of her anger towards the boy.

Oh boy.

Armin thought fast; if he wanted any positive response from her (for her standards anyway), he'd have to be tactful with his words. He also acknowleged that she'll be more distrustworthy and maybe even violent towards him, but he didn't blame her in the least considering the events of their last meeting. Their 'relationship' had always been delicate since the get-go; Annie and he having barely known one other as it is. Although they'd seen each other on a regular interval throughout the years, it was face-value at best and not much else. At some point they reluctantly knew each other as strangers at worst, acquaintances and allies at best.

Now as things stand, the 'best' way she'd possibly view him as was a begrudging but easy kill. Saying anything to Annie now can determine what will become of the boy within minutes.

No pressure Arlert; its not like she isn't gonna strangle you or anything.

Still, why did I have to end up with ANNIE of all people alone...? I think I'd rather take my chances with Reiner. At least he listens to reason.

Armin worked his mandible while trying to regain the lost moisture in his parched throat, his eye taking in Annie's unmoving form with steady care. He kept his expression neutral, settling more on his forearms and hoping she wouldn't feel inclined to finish what she started all that time ago. Armin fought against the temptation to gag as well, his throat acting like talking was an unfamiliar notion.

He then mumbled in a breathy voice, "Uh... Good to... see you." and was suddenly very ashamed of the greeting; mentally slapping himself for the poor selection of words. Worse yet, he found that his own voice was alien to even himself; so much so that he didn't think it belonged to him at first.

Shit! What the heck was that? What part of "Good to see you" won't piss her off?

Annie shifted in indication of hearing him, the reeking titan mess around her hissing all the while. Her silence was expected but what Armin didn't want surprisingly enough; it meant she was contemplating something horrible.

I don't want to die...

It was a silly and sudden plea, arising from some dark and forgotten corner of Armin's inner mind. He'd never been afraid to die for the glory of humanity at some point, but the instinct to survive was apparent and raw now.

After a pregnant pause crept by that left Armin to believe she'd never move, Annie came down to some sort of conclusion that's probably the only reason why she hasn't reached over to wring his skrawny neck already: She must've evaluated his situation as hopeless and noted how weak he was; not to mention how utterly alone they were. Her expression was lost to the dim nature of their atmosphere but Armin can guess that she's trying to get back some of her old, hostile, cystic persona so she can have the energy to deal with him. She was probably tired too, seeing how crystallizing herself probably robbed her of some of her energy, thankfully.

Annie then guarded herself with some of the same mask as her older self, her mouth a paper-thin slash and her aura far from benign. She wrested herself free from the worse of her mess as well, utterly focused on glaring at him with all her heart and soul. Shoulders squaring rigidly, she scowled and bared her teeth, her fingers curling into trembling fists.

"...YOU."

Her first word to him came out more like a sinful curse; like she was trying to damn and shame and hate Armin for everything he was and stood for. She leaned toward him and pointedly jabbed at him, almost spitting at that, "You hateful, conniving, stupid, fucking worm-eaten bastard. Where in the Hell am I now?"

Hello to you too.

Armin smiled wanly, funnily relieved that she hasn't decided to follow-up on their past 'wager' as a form of greeting; insults were better than physical violence at least. A shudder suddenly snaked its way up his spine and a deep cold gripped his fingertips, chilling his nerves next; his sweat made him feel both clammy and slimy. Its vice was an eerie resemblance of a Titan's hand fisting around him, minus the cascading heat that normally follows. He knew death wasn't that far away by now.

"...Out i-in Rose's open fields," he had no idea where he got the strength to speak but he knew it wouldn't last. "We're here because we were attacked by... well, something rather unpleasant."

Armin said that so calmly that he creeped himself out.

Annie's next expression was not so easily seen but her shuffling shoulders gave him an idea of what she was contemplating. Her voice lessened the amount of threat, but the words were still as pointed as barbs, "Rose? Weren't we in... Stohess?"

"Was," came the short reply. He silently dreaded what she'll do next.

Thankfully, she chose to continue talking, her profile indicating that she was wrinkling her nose. Her flat monotone voice contained no feeling, concern nor relief as she asked, "Are you... actually dying?"

It was a basic question, and one Armin knew he couldn't lie about even if he wanted to. "Seems that way, isn't it?" Armin felt his lip twitch in mock amusement, "I stopped feeling much as it is. Why ask?"

"The blood smell... Its thick."

"Ah."

Armin slumped forward onto his arms, finding a poorly placed humor in her surprisingly relatively neutral reception of him thus so far. His waist throbbed yet again in protest but it didn't seem to largely hurt as much anymore. He wasn't sure if he should be happy about it's sudden disappearance since it meant he'd soon be beyond help, given Annie remotely considered rendering him her aid. Armin's failing senses didn't catch Annie's sideways stare or grim, calculating expression; his vision had been shitty ever since he fell down here.

I guess I shouldn't worry about being eaten after all; I won't live to see the sunrise at this rate.

The next reaction that came from Armin's mouth he knew he could safely chalk up to his failing health, "Does a... dying human smell that badly of death or can you just sense it? Or maybe it's only after they die can you really smell it?"

Annie's reaction had Armin believing that she took his dying commentary as an insult.

Great; another reason to piss her off.

"Why would that matter to you? Worried you'd smell that terribly offensive to my 'Titan-sized' nose?" Her voice held that biting edge that always threw Armin off his guard, although the comment itself was something that was a past reference during their training. Some people like Connie had dared say this much without trying to let Annie hear it, but she did anyway whether its gossip or he was just too oblivious to her presence.

"N-no. I was just-" He stuttered.

A heavy sigh, and then, "...Forget it."

"Huh?"

Her hands crept to her eyes and peeled away some of the dripping residue of her imprisonment. She tried to keep the wobble out of her voice as she began again as if Armin was no longer there; her words a repeat of what she admitted to him so many months ago. Her anger seemed no longer present, as if she was too exhausted to hold onto it, "-I've... failed."

"Uh, I don't understand."

"-In my mission... as a warrior," she shook her head, not hearing him. "You're nearly dead now but it wasn't of my account. I didn't have the resolve to finish you when I had the chance." She hung her head, growing more upset by the minute. "-I didn't back any of my wagers, I haven't succeeded in capturing Eren, and I didn't finish the mission. If I went home now, I'd look even more the fool." Her shoulders slumped as her hand fell back into her lap, resignation breaking the monotone nature of her voice. "I-I... might as well be dead too," she mumbled tightly. "What the ever loving fuck can I do now?"

Angry one second and sad the next; she's not okay right now.

Armin closed his one eye, too tired to keep it open anymore. He blamed his condition for his shortening temper as well as lacking of tact, "What does it matter? Humanity's finished anyway. Feeling sorry for yourself now and getting pity from me won't cut it this time, Annie. You're not the only victem here."

This information and rather blunt retort startled Annie initially. She inclined her head cocked one side of her lip, grumbling in a falsely offended voice, "How cruel of you, Armin. I'm hurt."

"Hmmf. If you're so hurt about it, then flatten me and finish what the Beast started. Finish your wager for all I care."

Despite the cutting, sarcastic words, Armin found that he indeed meant for Annie to follow up in what should've been inevitable. His death was crawling by too slowly; he wanted this suffering to be over now if anything. As afraid of death as he was, being rid of the responsibilities that he had to take every time he stepped seemed nice. The regrets of those he failed, the impossibility of his humbled dream, all of it was too daunting to bear any longer. An infinite cut to black seemed to be an out that didn't seem to be so repugnant with further thought.

Annie meanwhile shook off the stab at her nerves, obviously not taking him seriously despite how genuine the comment was. She mouthed "...Beast?" as if that was the only thing she heard, immediately growing quiet at its mention. Annie considered something else before inquiring further in a faraway voice lacking inflection, "Did you... did you really see the Beast Titan?"

Armin huffed a positive.

Annie digested this insight briefly before saying, "So... There must be Titans in Rose-? Out here?"

"Pretty much," Armin's voice grew more whispery and resentful sounding.

"And do you know about-?"

"Reiner and Bertholdt, yes. The Armored and Colossal titans themselves respectively."

"And Eren is-?"

"-Captured and liable to be eaten for his power, I think. He may be beyond saving now."

"And the others-?"

"Probably losing to the Beast Titan while the rest of us try to usurp the false King, funnily enough. I know what's going on for the most part."

Just hurry it up Annie. What do I have to insult you with before you bother to kill me?

Annie's silhouette seemed to nod in pensive acceptance to Armin's rather sickly concise answers. She contemplated something else for a second before mumbling more to herself, "No... That can't be right... If he's here, then-"

She trailed off mysteriously, as if in pure and genuine disbelief of the Titan's very existence. The silence that followed though was long, Annie trying to mentally recover from the news that rattled her normally stoic composure. She moved her shoulders as if to shake herself free of some tangible weight, shivering slightly as the humid, brisk, and yet chilly air slapped her moistened clothes.

After some extensive pause, she added in her typical monotone, "Do you... have a light at all?" Her tiny body shivered as if to demonstrate her point.

Armin shook his head in answer, realizing too late that that was a mistake; a new headache arrived with a wave of nausea clenching at his mid-section. He let out a hollow gasp and sputtered; Annie stiffening when she heard him spit into the sick-covered grass. Even in the near-total blackness of night she can make out that shudder that wracked his fallen form.

Suddenly she was ridding herself free of the shimmering remnants of her prison, crawling around the area for any sign of Armin's belongings. The cruching sound of crinkling grass was the only way for Armin to divine where she was and what she's doing. Minutes eased by and Armin found it harder and harder to breathe, his hands trembling into weakened fists.

Let's face it; there won't be any sight-seeing beyond the walls for me.

Do I- ...Do we really all have to die in order to be truly set free? Do we not have any freedom in choosing how we die as well-?

Something clicked nearby and several times after, not that Armin can see it; his face was buried into the ground too much to notice. Some other noises, oddly detached and distorted continued to originate from where Annie was last heard. Armin grimly started to count how many breaths he was allowed to take before he could withdraw his last, but he failed to keep count. His mind was fluttering about all over the place and his senses were dulling more.

The only other thing that helped him retain his grip on what little focus he had on left was the following statement that seemed to float up out of nowhere, "...You vexing ass-hole. You're not worth all the trouble I've been through."

Armin cracked his eye again, seeing nothing but blood-painted dirt and grass, "-And you are a remarkably complicated pain in both Humanity's arse as well as my own, Leonhardt."

That was the last thing Annie expected Armin to say: Armin had employed the use of her last name to emphasize a point, but the frustrating shifter was likely to dismiss it anyway. Still, he knew that if he had any lingering doubts that he was dying before they were assuredly gone now when he thought he imagined the sound coming out of her resembling a stifled snort.

A little more stirred awake by the odd noise, he tried to lift his heavy skull off the ground but invited yet another migraine. All the fight he thought he had left in his body was gone. He sealed his eye shut and groaned, barely registering the sigh of flattened grass indicating Annie's approach. He prayed that if she was going to finish him now it'll be quick... and it'll doing him a favor anyway. Armin was always a light-weight in terms of pain tolerance; it wasn't anything like Eren's or his peers.

"Are those going to be your last words to me? No regrets to breathe before you die?" Annie's tone suggested she was almost relishing Armin's discomfort. There's a hint of an obscured threat in its composed, almost-pleasant sounding flatness.

The boy nodded against the ground, not at all in the mood to taunt her anymore. He instead waited for Death's cold hand to deal its last angry blow, completely braced for Annie's wrath. Maybe she'll break his neck in deft fashion, or stick a knife in his ribs in order to finish the job; he couldn't guess. He somewhat welcomed the idea nonetheless since it'd be she carrying out the final deed; he didn't think he'd be so complacent with the idea otherwise... Armin suddenly felt silly for the thought but then again, maybe he did find her a little attractive; dying by her practiced hand wouldn't be so terrible. There are worse ways to die after all.

Wait... hold the fuck up. Since when did I really think Annie to be attractive before? I mean I know she's pretty, I think, but what the hell am I thinking now...?

Must be the blood loss that compelled such a strange view as far as he knew. It couldn't be anything else since under normal circumstances he'd balk at the thought of seeing any of his former allies in such light. Injuries like his did funny things to the mind; it made anything look prettier than it really is, death included.

Finally, her hands descended upon him, tracing along his jugular just below the jawline for some unforeseeable reason. Armin felt his faint heart skip a beat at how incredibly light the touch was; gentleness was alien to Annie and her battle-honed nature, and it was especially surprising to Armin since he was perversely used to being handled so roughly by his foes in the past years. It was a stark surprise but the gesture was nothing at all compared to what she did next:

Armin nearly jumped as pain manifested itself back to where the source of his throes were: her left hand found his largest injury. He was almost convinced that she'd stick a knife in it and rip out what's left to assure a slower death, but she kept the surprises coming:

She instead worked to gingerly lift away some of the fabric nearly glued to his waist, the blood having crusted around the edges and sticking his uniform to his sweaty, crimson-dyed form. Her right hand went to work peeling at the layers of clothing still hugging Armin's sickly cold body. Between his raincoat, traditional soldier uniform and his undershirt there was some patience needed for the job, but then the wound started to bleed anew at the disturbance. She didn't take the clothing off entirely but she moved as fast as she could; cutting and working at the angry wound with a knife she located in his survival pack nearby.

Armin was more than shocked by her next motions: Annie carefully patched the injury with some sterile gauze, his profuse bleeding more the issue at the moment. Said injury was just too large to be treated appropriately right now, and there wasn't enough bandages to go around him a certain number of times; which also involved moving him. She attempted to apply pressure next, but it downright hurt in ways that fired his pain sensors back into life.

Why... W-why is she-?

Holding the patch there, she briefly weighed how to get the wrap around his torso but didn't follow up since that meant moving Armin too much. She merely continued her work while Armin wished she'd just kill him and get it over with; but of course this girl wasn't such a simple mind to anticipate. Her actions beget more questions than answers, and that gnawed at him horrendously. As always, no motivations to this shift in behavior were clear-cut enough to be understood thanks to Annie's more 'ambiguous' nature.

Maybe she was helping him survive because she didn't want to grant Armin the simple passage out of his punishment, willing for him to suffer for his betrayal and scheming. He'd wronged her after all, but he had a reason for that; she was an enemy to Humanity for Maria's sake. What would a normal soldier do otherwise to a traitor besides tell their superiors?

Paranoid thinking aside, Armin was in so much tear-jerking pain that he realized grimly he couldn't stay conscious anymore. He shook violently and garbled both breath and nonsense while vainly trying to push her hand away, but she remained stead-fast in her firm treatment of his infirmities. Her grip on him was never dissuaded nor removed, her cold fingers like ice on his feverish skin. Armin wondered in an wordless way why she'd see fit to his obvious suffering in such a prolonged effort, but the answer was as glaring as daylight to him within his hazy mind. He betrayed her and plotted for her capture, and she in return almost killed him personally and tried to do the same for his comrades. Why should he be so cruelly punished for his dedication to their protection and revival? He was just a pawn to their ambitions, and he was okay with that in some way, but surely Annie didn't fault him for that belief?

Annie, all this pain you go along with... do you really think humans are that unsavable? Or is it really something as simple as hating me...?

Or are you... hiding something more-?

~000~

Annie was every bit as baffled of her own actions as Armin was.

She did her darnest to stop the bleeding, but it was as profuse as Bertholdt's sweating; not that there's anything funny about it really. He sweated a lot.

She'd never thought that she'd be working so hard for somebody else's benefit over her own for once, seeing how she's a selfish person in her own opinion. Still, there's a limit to how much of a self-absorbed stuck-up bitch one can be before being consumed by that festering guise as Reiner had been. Being soft-hearted and social made it inevitable that he'd fall prey to the whole 'soldier boy' routine.

Annie however once believed herself strong enough to resist the lull her so called 'friends' and that Titan's ass Reiner were part of, but it was a useless attempt on her part considering Mina's influence. She'd tried her hand at wearing the ultimate mask of pragmatic boredom and discourage people form talking to her for a reason. Yet here she was, out here in the middle of now infested Titan territory because she let her damnable feelings of wanting to help Armin land her in hot water with the Scouts; resulting in her defeat and consequent crystallization.

Stupid, useless, fickle human feelings.

A small, cold, almost unrecognizable part of Annie thought she and Armin understood each other at one point; meeting eye-to-eye on certain aspects. She respected his courage and academic strengths while he acknowledged her very human concern and physical abilities. They were both objects of war, sculpted by its ragged hands for reasons greater than themselves. Although she was a warrior and he a soldier at heart, they were both pawns to war's superior forces. She and her mission and Armin with his dogged loyalty to his objectives weren't so dissimilar in that essence.

However, that's where the similarities ended. Much to her bitter chagrin, Armin had the courage to carry out his duties so frustratingly well coupled with his sense of purpose that it heralded her downfall later on. He went out of his way to aid the Commander in her exposure and capture, and he didn't think twice to do it once push came to shove. Unlike him, she wasn't willing to die if commanded and she refused such a fate. It defeated the sole purpose of her being here; just so she could get by with survival alone. If it was a direct order from a superior officer or even the Beast Titan himself that told her to die on command, she was pretty she'd say fuck this and bolt.

Sometimes though, she wished she had her current companion's guts. She inwardly admired people like Armin, who actually (unlike her) possessed the conviction. Even if the world strived to crush them, they stood against its will. Resolve, courage, and a willfulness to change how things were were all traits Annie wished she had: Eren, Marlo, that insufferable Erwin Smith, and Arlert here were all examples of people who could get shit done. Most of the aforementioned were unafraid to die for that reason, unlike Annie who performed the dirty act of sabotaging humanity for the selfish, spineless reason of seeing her father again and living. If she couldn't have one thing, why not the other?

Maybe, that was why she couldn't kill Armin all those times. He was unafraid of being somebody she isn't, a person willing to die on command. Armin was the kind of person to say "How high?" to anybody who asked him to jump; while Eren would just thoughtlessly do it funnily enough. Annie however was the kind of ass-hole to try and out-think her way around the command. If the effort wasn't needed, then why do it?

...Tangents aside, that's probably where the fine line is indeed drawn, Armin; one of many to be precise. You're bold even when you're scared to pissing yourself, while I'm a shaken coward no matter what.

I can't stand dark enclosed spaces, death, and unneeded risks; yet I had the audacity to try to fight the entire Scout Brigade and duel Eren all at once? At that point, that's just blind desperation. I lost my chance to capture Jaeger anyway, and get home as a result.

... I'm too afraid of the consequences of living but I don't want to die either. Its... just not a way to live, but I'm stuck with it anyway.

The Walls were doomed to come down on top of their heads the more she thought about it. One would think she'd be happy that the mission was completed and it potentially meant she can go wherever she pleased. Titans in Sina's territory was a job well done right? Annie didn't have to continue this farce anymore, but she still felt like there was something left to do.

Going home now... Should I just go for it or will I be killed before I even get there? Where would I even turn to if my father isn't there somehow-?

Annie fussed with the injury hurriedly, cursing loudly when a knot slipped and she had to start all over. She noted Armin's loss of consciousness too; hurrying her hands and willing for his survival. Trying to wake him up while wrapping the last wound, she noticed his eye was damaged on the right side and cursing again. She then finished tying his waist up and tended to the injury on his face, noting the copious amounts of drying dust-brown blood caking his skin and hair together.

Ugh, its like he fucking bathed in it.

She hadn't forgotten how fragile Armin's stupidly thin body was; he'd always been the laggard in terms of physical endurance and capabilities in their class. If anything, he's always in the clinic more often than others if it wasn't Eren and Jean for fighting or Connie and Sasha for getting into some hare-brained ploys. Thinking back on those times now, it left a vaguely warmed feeling then she was familiar with settle into her stomach, a longing for a simpler time conflicting her.

"What am I thinking-?"

She shook her head, not believing what she was pondering just now. She'd adamantly believed that they'd all remain her enemies, no matter what the situation would be upon her reawakening. Despite all of these ties she thought she cut, here she was, sitting in a great puddle of Armin's blood trying to stay Death's hand, its horrible fist shaking just shy above him as if in hesitation. Her attempt at saving his miserable life was contrary to what she'd sought to do originally. Why was she even saving the life of one little traitor anyway? He sold her out to Smith for a reason!

No... I was the traitor. I never had a place here to begin with, and I still let those people worm into my skin. Besides, Armin's always kept his priorities straightened out since the beginning, unlike me. Reiner, Bertholdt, and I however...

And Marcel...

We could never... ever...

Annie let out a breath she'd been holding, only now becoming aware of the lack of air. Why think about this now? She wasn't a good person; she wasn't kind or sentimental and friendly. She'd never was as far as she was concerned. The shifters just didn't meet the requirements of being human in her opinion, meaning Annie and the others had to alienate and discourage people from associating with them in the first damn place. Yet that had inevitably failed like every damn thing else she'd done.

'I'm glad I can look like such a good person to you.'

...'A good person' to Armin? Why? Why him anyway? Was I not good to the others? For that matter, why should this bother me?

Annie glanced down at Armin's chilled and rounded features, slowly letting it dawn on her that he appeared somewhat differently than she'd originally thought. In the flickering dimness of the tiny crackling flame nearby, his face beheld a more exhausted, somewhat longer and older expression that grown on him during their time spent apart. His discolored cheeks still retained the fullness of his boyhood however, while the rest of his thin body was underfed and chewy at best (to a titan anyway). The sharper contours lining his lower jaw was a justice his pubescent aging was doing for him at least, besides a slight increase in height. His wheat-colored hair was closer to his shoulders, his torso having gained some minute thickness in it befitting the one who fell behind the rest of his peers in terms of growth.

Even in sleep though, his face was contorted with a pain that Annie found oddly out of place on his normally boyish facade. His youthful enthusiasm had all but gone, leaving behind this somewhat aged and nearly broken pawn in its wake; a boy forced to mature into a man in this wretched world. It was a depressing observation, but something she could relate too.

She attempted to turn him over but noticed he was stupidly heavier, straining to carefully move him into the recovery position. Was he stronger at all or did she just weaken in her time spent being catatonic? Its not like she felt all that good herself right now; seeing how she was still feeling the aftermath of that battle in Stohess. It has been a good while since she'd seen him last anyway, but has he really changed in the truest sense or what?

Pfft. Maybe, or maybe not. Who fucking cares?

Annie wrinkled her nose and recalled that she'll largely be unable to transform for another short while; her body still trying to return to its usual metabolic routine. Remembering the danger of her vulnerability, she looked around the overall land surrounding them and deduced the area deserted for the moment. There's some sparsely placed trees that wouldn't suffice for cover, the Wall sitting behind them cracked significantly in large margins, but that was it.

Annie finished settling Armin down and checked for any other unnoticeable injuries; sensitive bones was what she was met with after a little probing. Armin had a fractured set of ribs, broken arm, and a matching broken finger she bent back; which caused the boy to jolt in his stupor but never awaken. Otherwise, he can walk given if he ever wakes up. The real harm had been the blood loss.

Great. The ass-hole who betrayed me will live, given I don't kill him later for being such a dirty bastard.

She sighed and attempted to find any rations in his satchel where she found the knife and striker earlier, the usage of her powers always without fail gave her a dire craving for both food and water; especially the latter. Annie was disappointed when she didn't find food but she did locate the tiniest bit of water leftover in his flask. There was a crack in the side where the majority of the water sluiced through, but there's enough for a couple of mouth fulls for her and Armin each. Taking a gulp was all she permitted herself, capping it off and setting it on its undamaged side and proceeding to vacantly stare at the meager fire writhing away in a hissing grumble. As the thin tendrils whispered into the near-freezing air she shuddered and thought about what to do with herself now that there wasn't anymore immediate action required of her in her mission. She can do whatever she wanted the more she reflected on her position.

Going back to the Walls isn't an option, that she knew for sure. If Humanity isn't extinct in the next days if not hours, she'd be put to death. Staying out here wouldn't help either, given the Titan threat. She weighed the idea of going home and leaving Armin here, but that somewhat defeated her efforts from earlier; not that he doesn't have anywhere to go himself. She felt herself shiver and curl into a more protective ball, playing with the ideas.

Eventually, her thoughts trailed off, leaving her to bite at her lip and letting her emotions run unchecked on her face. Swiping a loose chunk of hair away from her eye she felt some odd bittersweet combination of relief and loneliness in her isolated state. It felt great to just sit and not have to guard her feelings from the world once in a while, but thinking too much made her more depressed and suspectably helpless of her impending situation. She'd been left alone with her thoughts once already while she'd been stuck in crystallized limbo, and now she was tired of thinking at all. Still, some intrusive thoughts had turned her dreams into terrors even wakefulness couldn't chase away utterly. Her regrets even now clung to her in a suffocating hold that refused to yield.

Armin said he knew about Reiner and Bertholdt... I wonder if they're out there or in the walls fighting...? Should I meet them in the forest of large trees? We could all head home if we stick together, but I can hardly stand or trust them as it is; especially that head-case Reiner. Are they even alive? Armin never claimed that they were or weren't. Not to mention we'd have to bypass the next Wall in order to get to Maria's fields...

She glanced over her shoulder at Armin, whose breath was both thin and labored. The creeping cold of the thick night air was clawing its way into his pallored skin and her own by now. There was no blankets available and her uniform was still damp, adding to that Armin's bled-through sweat-soaked clothing. His raincoat was all the warmth they had right now. Annie reached over to where she last placed the cloak and tossed it over Armin so he wouldn't freeze, then she slid closer to the fire and rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself.

I shouldn't have stepped into Armin's plan. Deliberately doing so caused a lot of this to happen didn't it?

Annie knew Armin was trying to spring a trap ever since he first asked of her to help Eren 'escape'; she'd felt his guilt radiating off of him in waves. Not to mention his eyes.

He looked at me like I was a real monster.

...No... Was that fear or regret I saw?

She shook off the idea. Annie and Armin both thought that they knew the other better and placed their bets based off what the opposing was willing to sacrifice, despite their feelings on the whole matter.

The thought made the former trainee snort: that was probably the most risky and more daring part of their game. It held an appeal like a subtly placed challenge that enticed the two to lash out; Armin loved a decent mental challenge and someone like Annie couldn't refuse a good fight given the invite. Reiner's teasing her back in training was proof of that.

The stupid bastard purposely invoked her ire to test the boundaries of her anger then; and although he was decked pretty well afterward, he'd won in essence. He knew she'd fight him and guess what? She fucking did, proving the smug ass-hole right; it was exactly what Armin did too later on, albeit in a more unwanted way. Annie herself anticipated she'd follow along with it but simply knowing about it hadn't saved her. She blundered right into the snare despite her intellect telling her to not take the damn bait; and now look where she is: Wondering whether or not she could go home while contemplating the fate of the instigator sitting right behind her.

Reiner had told her- No, he had warned her that she wasn't cut out to be a soldier. Could he have meant that she was a failing example of a warrior too? Or is it that he was warning her about her pride?

No. Perhaps he was telling me not to take the inclination to fight so literally? I was taught to pick my fights wisely, especially ones I know I can win; but that didn't help with Eren last time. I was taught to treat everyone and everything as my enemy too, and yet...

A picture of a black-haired girl with a parted set of ponytails perkily chattering away like a squirrel on a sugar rush came to mind.

Mina... Would you have hated me if you knew what I really was?

Said girl was always willing to defend Annie whenever someone confronted her, out of her own self-asserted intent at that. Mina was never judgmental; she was kind and patient to a fault and although Annie never wanted anything to do with her originally. She was somebody Annie knew she could trust. Trust was a fragile concept but Mina never once left Annie to doubt that the girl would break what they shared. Sometimes, Mina can even guess when Annie wanted to be left alone, and she assured that no one else would bother her whenever she felt so down. How many people in Annie's life chose to voluntarily fall into a relationship of any sort with her? How many more actually had the nerve to speak to her and be respectful about it? How few were the people Annie had come to know opted to talk so kindly to her?

There were some, but Mina was the only person who can actually answer all of those questions without any hesitation.

Annie only noticed she was crying once her eyesight blurred, her cheeks stinging from the combination of both cold air and hot tears. She was mutely glad that Armin was comatose behind her suddenly; she's didn't want to explain her own damn tears to the guy who stared at her like she was a monster the last time they met. She hastily tried to dab off the unwanted and very visible sign of her sadness next, drawing herself even closer to the dwindling hearth. Her heart had been a shrunken mess for years and yet it now decides to allow sentiment to so agonizingly gnaw at her hateful innards.

Seriously get a grip.

Armin alerted Annie of his shift between pain and minor discomfort and back again nearby, eliciting the warrior to turn and warily regard his state of being. Armin's uncovered eye squeezed tightly and his brow furrowed so deeply it would've put Eren's scowl to shame. His hand fisted his coat and his back lifted off the grass just bit before he settled himself once again and turned his head towards her. He never awoke, but Annie still didn't want him seeing that she was letting her emotions run tear-tracks down her face. Turning away again, she piled more leaf litter into the fire and tossed in whatever sticks she can reach as well.

I need to decide what to do with Armin between now and sunrise. I still have a little while considering the moon's position, but I'll have to make up my mind and do something before then. The big question is what exactly should I do with him and if I can even get home at this rate.

...That is if home isn't a smoking pile of rubble like the Wall's interior.

Annie gazed heavenward and weighed her situation and actions, but didn't think too long before she noted how wonderfully clear the sky was:

It was its own wonder; with no lights from civilization blotting out the fainter stars and smearing the diminutive ones into a non-distinct haze. The ones surrounding the waning moon were unhindered by the crippling halo emanating from it, every bit as lively and bright as their neighbors. The mosaic of blues, violet, deep indigo and inky black were broken by a stupendous swell of milk white slicing right through the middle of the sky. A river of unnamed, unknown, immense celestial bodies flowed through the chalky-colored current in frozen brilliance, their glow distinctive from typical stars.

It left the shifter to wonder if there was other worlds out there not unlike their own, spiraling around their own suns. Still, the floating, largely unseen planetoids drifted silently undetected through the vast cloud belonging to their galaxy, Annie having never seen and appreciate the spectacle before. The term star-struck stood out to her just then, her mind slowly moving back to the lost ripples of time with her fellow trainees. To her, this night seemed to resemble some of the hot summer nights at her old home too, both memories of near and far warming her insides far more than the puny fire in front of her.

She sighed.

Armin... You said we couldn't see so much of the stars while we lived in such huge and sprawling settlements like Trost. It's because of light distortion, right? I just thought you were being a stupid day-dreamer then, with the way you mouth off to Eren and Mikasa, but maybe you were right the whole time. They say those who look up too much lose perspective, but maybe that's wrong.

Then again, you're right about a lot of things, huh?

...I do feel a little better just by looking at them.

What she failed to notice at that moment was that a certain someone has stirred right behind her. She was so focused in what she was watching right now that she didn't perceive the subtle noise of shuffling cloth and heavy breath; the crackling of the fire having concealed it somewhat. Armin moved a lot, but not loudly enough to disturb the girl's thoughts. He noticed what she was doing and smirked, unbeknownst to her.

He then whispered hoarsely, "Beautiful, isn't it Annie?"

Annie spun around so dramatically that she could've sworn she cracked her neck out of place; her hair flinging itself back into her face. What she found when she whip-lashed around was an eye of a deeply saturated cerulean steadily gazing at her own frostier pair in a sagely manner. It was matched in brilliance only by the sky above, but sadly said eye noticed the red-rings surrounding hers, indicative of her tears moments before.

Well, now she was embarrassed.

God dammit.