The Commander's Wife

6: Scout Regiment Base

[Revised: April 27, 2021. It's not completely necessary to reread this chapter if you've already read the unrevised version because I didn't change anything about the story, however, I would recommend it because it's much more detailed and just overall better. Thanks for reading and sorry for the inconvenience.]

The loud thudding against the wooden door disturbs my peaceful sleep, the most peaceful sleep I had gotten in what felt like a long time. The sound makes me abruptly sit up, pulling the sheets up over my chest, until I realize it's just knocking. I look over only to find that our bed is empty and that there's only a subtle outline of where Erwin had slept. He must have been awake for a while before me. 

I can hear the door slowly creak open, undoubtedly Erwin's attempt to keep the room quiet for me. I smile to myself before focusing to listen in on the conversation.

"What's happened?" I hear Erwin's voice ask. The question and the tone itself make me curl up into myself, as my heart starts to race. His voice was urgent as if only the look of the scout's face revealed that a crisis must be happening at this very moment. 

"The captured titans have been killed. Just before dawn. Section Commander Hange–" I hear a scout's voice try to explain through panting as if they sprinted all the way from where the titans were kept. My mind starts to wander to Hange, how devastated they must be right now about losing their prized experiments. But another thing nags at my mind, the fact that someone went through the trouble of killing the titans although they were already captured and restrained. Didn't they realize they were only hurting the Scout Regiment by destroying our only means of learning more about the titans?

"I'll be on my way immediately," Erwin answers the scout and shuts the door, not bothering to be quiet now in his urgency. He walks back into our room, fully dressed in perfect uniform, his lips pressed into a tight, concerned line. He stands for a moment, studying my face, and I realize he had expected me to still be asleep and would have tried to sneak away to deal with the issue while I slept.

"You already heard," he says, a statement rather than a question. I nod my head nervously, starting to get up and wrap the sheet around my body. His eyes linger on my body for a moment, before nodding in response. He turns to leave.

"W- wait," I say, slightly stumbling on the sheet as I try to get dressed, "I want to come with you," I say and he puts on his stern face, a slight furrowing of his eyebrows, the face he makes when he wants me to listen without argument. I steel myself and prepare myself to be stubborn.

"No, you need to stay here," he says but I continue to the dresser as if he hadn't said a word. I dig through the dresser, pushing aside dresses and skirts as I try to find something quick to wear, and I hear him sigh. 

"I wasn't asking," I reply, taking a quick look towards him after I pick out something suitable to wear. I copy his cross expression, to show him that I'm set on going with him and he fights back a grin. 

"Someone with military-grade weapons killed the titans and were able to escape or blend back into our ranks which could only mean a killer is somewhere here. What will you do if the killer is revealed and tries to attack?" he asks and I scoff as I pull a simple dress over my head. 

"Are you trying to scare me, Erwin?" I ask accusingly and he betrays a small smile, "Well, it won't work. It's impossible for me to be afraid when I'm with you. After all, the killer killed titans, I'm not a titan so I have nothing to worry about." 

I try to reach behind my back to tie the strings of my dress but they remain slightly out of my grasp. Knowing my stubbornness to ask for help in the middle of arguments, Erwin steps forward without me asking, and gently lifts the fabric strings from their place. He teasingly drags his fingers across my back as he sets the string in place, and pulls it tight. I feel my skin flush pink at the contact but keep my face straight, so he won't see how easily his touch affected me.