Chapter Text
A haggard breath escapes your lips as you stabilize yourself, looking towards the direction the others left, hand on a tree. But you quickly lose balance, an absence of your right leg causing that. A scream of frustration left your lips, completely out of character for yourself. After the events that had left you there you found yourself grasping at straws to even comprehend how you were going to save yourself. You had managed to kill all the titans in the area though you’re mangled up and worse for wear.
You were going to die there, bleeding out as there was no other Titan within the area to end your suffering that quickly. You found yourself more frustrated that you had nothing holding you back now but you couldn’t get to the others, you would die from blood loss before you even made your way back. Adrenaline was coursing through you so it didn’t hurt as much as you thought it should, but you knew that was also a bad sign.
Pushing yourself up, you attempted to stand using the tree but almost found yourself falling again. What had stopped you was a hand quickly reaching out and grabbing the back of your uniform. Turning around you found yourself face to face with Bertholdt and Reiner.
“You guys—!?”
“We can’t let you die here, you’ve done so much for the two of us. Way more then you needed too” Bertholdt speaks to you awkwardly, a warm tone used to try and comfort you. But you knew what he was referring to as there was an effort when you all were training to get close to that trio. To try and get close to everyone in all honesty as you found it easier to live with allies though you had preferred that trio in the end. You didn’t respond to him though, as you still cared for the two men despite the betrayal because of all the aforementioned effort put in.
They had killed thousands, but from them you had often heard the two men mention about going home as their sole goal or Annie make off hand comments about being a warrior. Cogs had turned in your head and you realized they’re likely following orders just as any soldier would. Someone had forced them to do this and you didn’t really have anyone else to help you out. Even relying on those that had done bad could keep you safe in the long run. Maybe it was the blood loss that made you make this choice.
“You guys are bad” Your murmur fell on deaf ears, the words contrasting your thoughts. You felt conflicted, looking at the two. They killed your parents. You were an orphan because of them yet still. You yearned to trust the two men, and deep in you it was clear you could. They had changed overtime from what you had known of them. Coughing, blood spills from your lips as you look upon the two worried men.
However because of the blood loss you found yourself woozy, and you collapsed into Reiner’s arms.
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Walking up you found yourself in a room on the floor, bleary eyed you recognized both Bertholdt and Reiner. Bertholdt notices that you had awakened, so he makes his way to you and kneels down.
“You’ll be going back to our hometown to get proper care, alright? They’ll help you more than anyone here could. Zeke stopped the bleeding but he’s not a professional” He speaks to you calmly again, trying to make sure you don’t freak out.
“So we’re saving a paradis scout just because she was kind?” Zeke asks the two men, not even directing the question your way.
“Take a closer look at her, she’s the one of the only ones that could keep up with you despite not being a shifter or an Ackerman” Reiner informed him, eyeing you unlike Zeke. He cared for you quite more than you would want to admit, as you had practically gone above and beyond to help both him and Bertholdt along with the others. Zeke just stared at you before sighing.
“They’ll only take her as a war prisoner, I’ll vouch for that but you two have to vouch for anything else” Zeke tells the two before walking away, leaving the three alone.
You let your eyes trace wearily over Bertholdt before looking at Reiner who was standing a bit away.
Seeing his face now reminded you of the armored titan you had vowed to kill, yet he had decided to save you. The one that had killed your parents gave you such mercy. It irked you, maybe the messy state you were in because of blood loss as this emotional bipolar-ness was uncommon to yourself, but with little to no energy had at your disposal your only weapon against him was your words.
“You killed my parents.” You told the blonde, causing the man beside you to gasp. Reiner however stayed silent.
“I wanted to kill the armored titan for what he did, and before seeing you again I can admit that was still there. However I don’t want to kill you. Please just, please just tell me your guys true backstory so I don’t feel absolutely insane for suddenly losing my wish”
It was almost scary for the two to see the regaled soldier known for her leadership and skills so pathetic, but they could understand. In the clutches of people that aren’t the greatest, with only one leg, yet you’re being cared for by them. It’s completely contradictory and Reiner honestly expected a louder reaction from you at this information.
But the two do tell her about the land outside of the walls.
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The two told you almost everything that they could tell you, and you could clearly see that releasing all that information was almost therapeutic for the two of them. A weight you had always noticed on their shoulders seemingly got a bit less heavy.
“There’s a plane coming to take you back to Marley, and you’ll be viewed as a prisoner of war. However we’ve made note to tell them about setting you up with prosthetics. They’ve agreed to that, but you’ll just be watched for two years” Reiner tells you and you just slowly nod, looking over the two’s faces again. You just still can’t believe everything too, there still is pent up anger about your parents death but these two were just fulfilling orders. And you’ve killed quite a lot of people too then, with the knowledge now that titans were originally humans. You felt nauseous at the thought but with nothing in your stomach there was nothing to more or less come up.
“How’d they agree to take me alive?” You ask the two of them.
“You’ll give them information. They don’t expect you to be a threat, but we had to push to get discussion on making a prosthetic leg for you because of your history. Giving them information will make it easier, they’re just scared of us Eldians.”
“Do you two, fully believe what Marley is asking you to do is right?” You asks the two next, testing the waters significantly with that question, watching as the seventeen year olds freeze up. You knew they went into this believing that, but their mortification now likely was because they did develop a fondness for the “island devils”.
“It is for the best” Reiner utters before he and Bertholdt both stand, having sat down to talk with you face to face.
“Why save me then?”
“You’re exceptional” Reiner tells you before he and Bertholdt leave the room. You find your gaze fixated at the exit, unable to move so you can’t ask them anymore, so you tightly grasps your shirt in frustration. Your breathing quickens as emotions stew in you, causing you to shake ever so slightly. A tendency you would find yourself devolving more or less later
The two men were raised young in this military force and told their heritage was of the worst, so they had this skewed perspective of them and their fellow Eldians. But you could tell with glances at them recently that the whole image was losing credibility, they both were breaking the view of Eldians that the mental manipulation built up but still couldn’t accept that. Despite your frustrations towards the Armored Titan, Reiner wasn’t the Armored Titan, he was Reiner. You had to help him, and Bertholdt too. It was the leadership part of your personality screaming at her, you had to make sure everyone you cared about and valued were okay.
Which included those two.
The feelings of betrayal were still there, quite strongly, but you didn’t have anything you could do.
***
A female Marleyan soldier closer to your height helped you onboard the plane with loud disgust, groaning about it as she helped you hobble along.
“We’re really taking a weak Paradis demon back to Marley?”
“She’s got a kill count in the hundreds, she’s valuable. Close with the higher ups in the military over there too” Zeke chortled, keeping watch of your departure as the two other men couldn’t do so. Once the two got on board the soldier pushed your arm off her shoulder causing you to fall back into a seat. After glancing over at the soldiers you just shuts your eyes, hoping to fall asleep.
You were able too, and you slept for quite some time until a rough push brought you back into reality quickly. Looking up still with bleary eyes you see the same female soldier offering her a hand to tug you up, which you takes, slinging an arm around the soldier’s shoulder to be able to walk with her.
Stepping out into the outside, your mouth opens in awe as you look around what you’ll later learn is a ship port. Every sight, every smell, and quite a lot of sounds were something you hadn’t experienced before. Hearing it from Reiner and Bertholdt was different than seeing it yourself as they traversed through the city.
This was gonna be your home, you got to continue living and it was a completely different environment from within the walls.
***
Months later, you had received your new prosthetic so you were now walking unassisted around town. It wasn’t spread that you was from the fabled paradis island, as the Marleyan military wasn’t happy with the idea of their people learning that the people of paradis could be like them. It was honestly laughable to you but you stayed silent, seeing how people processed information. It could honestly cause an uproar if people learned of your origin.
Instead a story spread that you’re an Eldian soldier that got stranded and attacked by a paradis demon that Reiner and Bertholdt saved out of their own goodness.
You were actually with Reiner’s mother at the moment, Karina, walking with her back to the Braun household. You were there to eat with the woman, as the woman grew an interest in you after hearing that her son saved you. A Marleyan soldier did walk with the two as well, being your watcher at that moment. Karina didn’t question it, wanting to be as much of a rule follower as she could.
Another soldier however runs up to the two of them, eyes wide with haggard breathing. You stare at the man, adjusting the band around your arm as she acknowledges he’s staring straight at you.
“Come with me, they’re back.”
***
With a slight hobble you walk into the room that Reiner was in, acknowledging that he was alone.
“Bertholdt? Where is he?” You ask him.
“Dead. They turned Armin into a Titan and he ate Bertholdt, the Colossal Titan is now in the hands of Paradis”
Instead of saying anything you walk to him with some difficulty and throws her arms around him. Your hands grip the fabrics of his shirt as you hug him tighter. Uncharacteristic but you knew how bad loss could be and seeing how the soldiers were raised it was clear they were close. Reiner was probably hurting immeasurably. Yet she was also close to the man that they had both lost so she felt her eyes growing wet.
He hugs you back. Tears roll down your face but you knows how he is, so you try to focus on him. Reiner’s alternative persona was breaking, the weak man he always was, was exposed to you.