The Runaway

The Backstory & Part 1

This story is written in third person and it is a reader insert. y/n stands for "your name," and l/n stands for "last name." Also this is a spin off of the original plot line of Attack on Titan. I'll repeat, if you do not like story build up and some plot then this fanfic isn't for you.

~The Backstory~
Your name is y/n and you are a part of The Special Ops force in the Marleyan military. You come from a middle class Marleyan family growing up with a baby sister, mother and father. There never really were any problems growing up. A little teasing here and there from other kids, but that was normal for everyone. And being born Marleyan was a blessing because if you were Eldian, you would be belittled by society. As a child you never really thought about it, though. But by the age of 12, your father started training you to join the military for when you got older. You wanted nothing more than your fathers approval, but your mother couldn't stand seeing you training to be a part of the military. She had little respect for the Marleyan military, but she never admitted why. This is where the problems start happening.
Almost every night your mother and father would argue about your future. One day it got too much and your mother packed up and left with your baby sister. She was scared that if she stayed home with your baby sister, your baby sister would have the same outcome as you. This occurred when you were 14 years old. You were forced to stay home with your father. Mother said, "You're already too far gone." After that, it was back to training. By the age of 18, you signed up for the military. It was basically your whole life. You had no friends or anything. You were still human, though. You cared for others and strived to be the best you. In the Training Corps, though, you weren't the top of your class. You were part of the 254th year class. Your rank came out to be rank 9 in the top 10 classmates when you graduated the class. You had just barely made it in the top 10. You were always more of a thinker than a fighter. When your father heard of this, he kicked you out and called you weak and pathetic and that you were no child of his. You forgave him though. He was still your father no matter what.
You moved into the barracks with some other comrades. By the age of 23 you were accepted into the Special Ops Force. This branch of the military was meant to keep order within Marley and to eliminate all threats to Marley whether it be other regions in the world or people within Marley itself. You never really made friends with any of your comrades. The most you've ever talked to any of them was maybe once or twice. It didn't ever concern you, though. This is where the story starts. You are now 24 years old.
~End of Backstory~

You sighed. You were given the task to bring paperwork to Commander Magath. He was a scary man. You've only met him once. It was at a conference and you had to deliver one of the other Commanders in charge paperwork. You had knocked on the door and entered while Commander Magath was speaking. He had stopped when you entered and gave you such a cold, dark stare that made you shiver. You quickly left after that. Although it wasn't much, it was still enough for you to dread ever meeting the man. Around the force, you were made out to be the "dog" of the place. This meant that if someone had something to do, but were too lazy to do it, they would give you the task to do it for them. This time it was delivering these papers to the Commander. The person giving you this task was named Luis Hicks. He had graduated with you back in the 254th year Training Corp and was ranked 6th place in the top 10 which was higher than your rank. He's your typical annoying, lazy, scumbag dude that has a look on his face that screams, "If you got a problem with me, I don't care." The only time you've ever spoken to him is when he gets you to do his work. Most of the time it's just delivering things or writing reports for him. Doing work never bothered you, though. It cleared your mind a lot.
    Magath's office door now. You stiffened even more as you got closer and closer to the door. You really didn't want to meet the guy. You've heard so many rumors about him that terrified you. And then there it was. Commander Magath's office right in front of you. In your head, you thought it was so stupid for you to be acting like this. "Man up," you thought to yourself. Finally you reached for the door and gave two knocks loud enough to hear.
    "Come in," you heard from the other side. You opened the door and there he was sitting at his desk. His posture was so straight and he had a pen in his hand, looking up at whoever was entering his office. It looked like he was already doing some paperwork before you had come in.
    "Soldier y/n l/n from the Special Ops, sir. I was asked to deliver these papers to you," you said with a stiff salute. The commander looked down to see the papers in your hand and then looked back up.
    "Very well," he said, "Put them on that stand over there." He then pointed to the black stand on the side of his office.
    His voice was very stirn and monotone just like the last time you met him. You slipped the papers onto the stand and noticed that the paper on top had big red letters stamped onto the front saying "CONFIDENTIAL." He gave you permission to leave and that was it.
    On your way back to the working quarters, you were caught in your thoughts. It wasn't any sad thoughts. You were just daydreaming about little nothings. Your thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of footsteps clacking on the floor. They were fast and getting closer to you. You looked up and saw a tall blonde figure running towards you. The figure was about to run into you at this point. "Out of the way," you heard the figure say to you. You quickly moved out of the way to avoid the person. You couldn't quite see their face or much of anything for that matter. All you saw was that this person was very tall maybe about 6'6 or 6'7 and they had short, blonde hair with their bangs covering their eyes. They were in a military uniform just like you.    
    As the tall person disappeared into the hallway, you turned back around to go back to quarters where you worked. You didn't quite know if the person was a male or female because their body looked like that of a man's body, but their voice sounded slightly feminin. You didn't want to think too much about it, so you just went on about your day. There was more work for you to do anyways.
    In the Marleyan military, you never encountered many girls. You, personally, were always more fond of females. There was maybe one or two that graduated in your class with you back in the Training Corps days. One of them, you remembered her name. Her name was Kiyana Glover. She had long brown hair and she always wore it in a bun even outside of the Corp. The both of you talked a few times back then. She was a sweet, yet strong girl. She always stood for what she believed in. She was known for being sympathetic towards eldian lives despite what everyone says. Her being nice was what made it easy for you to talk to her. Today was apparently her first day in the Special Ops.
    When you made it back you saw her sitting at a table drinking something. Maybe it was coffee because it was about 10:15 am. You decided whether or not to talk to her because she looked lonely with something on her mind. The last thing you wanted to be was the typical loner that sits quietly anyway. You liked being outgoing, but there were rarely ever opportunities to do so. The next thing you knew, you were walking up to her. You got a closer look of the cup she was drinking out of and it was indeed coffee. The closer you got the more you smelt the coffee. Coffee was one of your favorite scents so you didn't mind. It made you think about how it was back then when mother was still around. Every morning you woke up, went to the kitchen and she would be sitting there with a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper.
    "Hey there. Kiyana, right? Do you mind if I have a seat and chat?" She looked up in confusion for a second, but then recognized you. It has been over 3 years since the two of you have talked.
    "Oh, y/n! It's you! It's been a few years since we have seen each other,"  Kiyana said. You smiled and blushed lightly.
    "Go ahead and take a seat. It'll be nice to catch up," she said with a sweet smile. You sat down on the bench that was next to the table. Kiyana was sitting on the opposite side facing you.
    "So i heard today is your first day on the force," You said. You examined her face. She seemed to look subtly upset after saying those words. Your face straightened up.
    She finally opened her mouth, but hesitated for a second. "Yeah..." she sighed. "You know, I spent so long trying to get in. I just kept getting rejected. It was all because of the rank given to me when I graduated."
     Back then, she had been ranked 35 in the whole class. The 254th year class had about 56 people over all. You looked down at your hands. They were on the table. "I'm sorry about that." You looked back up at her and her face was back to normal. Joyish and glowing.
    "It's fine! I'm here now so that's good. Anyway, how has it been here at the force? I'm a complete newbie compared to you," she asked.
    You laughed nervously. "It's been okay, just pretty busy, but not much else. Things have been calm lately." You decided not to tell her about the whole, "force's dog," thing. It felt belittling to you. And if you told her she probably would've made a big deal about it and yelled at everyone who used me to do their work.
    "Ah, so no one wanting to betray Marley or anything?" she joked and giggled.
    You just shook your head and smiled. The both of you kept chatting for a bit after. You both talked about things like things outside of work and living situations. 25 minutes had gone by before you said your goodbyes. You had completely forgotten about the piles of work you had. You still had to write reports on the city's activeness. and there was still a meeting to go to. You had no idea what the meeting was for, but you were told to go by one of your superiors. In your whole time of being in the Special Ops you have only had to go to 3 meetings. They weren't that important. Just discussing research and other newbie stuff like how this place runs. You didn't have too high of hopes for this meeting.
    You always thought it would be fun if you ever got to do actual work involving Special Ops stuff. But since you joined, there never was any work like that for you. Everyday was just reports, delivering stuff to superiors and more training. Training happens every four times a week because you all have to keep in shape. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Today was Thursday so today you don't have training.
    Almost 4 hours later you have been steadily working on your reports. Suddenly you hear a loud bang. You looked over to where the sound was coming from and it was the door that leads to the conference area. It had been slammed open by one of your superiors. You could tell he was your superior by the armband tied onto his arm. The conference area was mainly used by the commanders. The man standing in the doorway was a man you have never seen around before. He was a bit on the chubby side and had balding spots. He was in a Marleyan uniform that fit tightly around his stomach just waiting to burst open.
    "Everyone! This is an emergency call! All the soldiers and sergeants need to meet in Conference Room 401 this instant to see Commander Magath," he called to everyone in the room.
    Everyone quickly got up from their seats that sat behind a desk with paperwork on almost all of them. You got up to follow the man and everyone else.
    When everyone flowed into the big room, they all sat down. There was a big table made of polished wood and around it was about over 30 chairs for all of us to be seated. Commander Magath was at the front of the room standing there as if he were a statue. Your heart was already beating faster than normal out of nervousness. Your whole time of being here, which was about a year and a half, not once has there been an emergency meeting like this. You and everyone else sat there waiting impatiently for the Commander to speak about the situation.
    "Before I begin, I would like to inform you all that this information I am about to give to you all is extremely confidential and is to be kept away from the public," he finally spoke. He looked around to everyone and examined all of your faces. "Now, let us get into business. There is a traitor in Marley. Not just Marley, but this military force specifically."
    Commander Magath's face was blank despite the situation. You looked around to see everyone elses faces and you heard some whispering.
    You thought to yourself, "There's no way someone would betray us. Especially a person in the military, right?"
    Someone said out loud, "This is absurd. Why would a member of the Special Ops betray Marley? What could they even be planning? Do you even have any idea who it could be? How could you let this hap-" He was cut off by Magath raising his voice to him.
    "No one said you could talk, soldier," he said with a loud, but calm voice. Everyone looked over to Magath. His eyes were wide open, but his face was just blank. The stare he was giving to the disobedient man was terrifying and it was enough to send shivers down my spine. That look was enough to kill. I don't blame the Commander, though. The man was questioning Magath's authority and being flat out annoying for not letting the Commander speak.
    "If you speak like that to me again I can and I will execute you with my own hands. This goes to everyone, aswell. In this state of betrayal, rules are becoming more strict because we don't know how many traitors there might be. Now, to continue," he said, finally taking his death stare off the insubordinate man. "We, including your superiors, weren't planning to tell you all of this situation because we did not wish to raise suspicion upon each other and your comrades and the other reason is because we just do not have enough evidence to pinpoint who the traitor is. They could be any one of us or they could already be long gone."
    You thought to yourself, "If the traitor was amongst us then why would Commander Magath tell us this? Wouldn't the traitor just know that we were onto them? What is the Commanders plan?" You knew the Commander well, despite only meeting him once. The commander was a smart man. He always knew things most of the other commanders could never even think to understand. There had to be a reason for him telling this to all of us. "Just how much do you know Commander," you thought to yourself over and over again.
    Commander Magath started to speak again, "What we do know right now is that some documents have been stolen. These documents consist of reports about past incidents regarding Marleyan officials getting corrupted by unknown information causing them to attack Marley from the inside out. Although these events were in the past, we still very well have to keep it under control. We cannot risk history to repeat itself.  If you have any information regarding who this theft may be, go see any superior and report it. We have suspicions that they may be a threat to Marley and its people. This threat needs to be eliminated immediately."
    Everyone was shocked. There had been a traitor and a threat to Marley. And even worse, they were enrolled in the military so it really could be any one of us. But what's more is that they now have knowledge of information kept away from the public. They must have been a high rank to have access to documents like that.
    "You may all leave now," Commander Magath said.
    As people started to leave you heard many whispers. Many people were shocked. You were confused. You had so many questions that just couldn't be answered right now.
    After the meeting, they started calling soldiers like you in for questioning. You were sent back to your desk and you continued to work. "What a long fucking day this is," you thought. "First I had to do work for others because their lazy asses can't do it themselves, then someone almost ran into me, and then..."  Your thoughts trailed off for a minute. "Wait..." You started to realize. That person running earlier today. Could they have been... the theft? You tried to remember if they had anything that looked like papers or documents in their hands or maybe a bag. "Damn it all," you said under your breath. You couldn't remember anything. Is that even worth reporting that to the commander? Maybe they were running from or to something.
    You thought about it for a little bit until finally deciding to tell the Commander. It wouldn't hurt after all. "Better safe than sorry," you thought. You remove yourself from your seat and proceed to walk toward the hallway that the Commander's office is located. This is the second time in one day that you have to talk to him. "Why me," you kept repeating in your head. You knocked at the office door.
   Instead of hearing that same, "Come in," you heard footsteps approaching the door. The footsteps were so heavy they made your body vibrate. The Commander opened the door. Before, you had never noticed how tall he was. This was also the first time you got to see his facial features up close. He had wrinkles due to age, a thin beard surrounding the outside of his mouth and he had short, thin black hair. His eyes were very light colored to your surprise.
    "Oh. Soldier y/n." He looks around behind you. "Come, take a seat," he said calmly. You went inside as he moved over to the side of the door to allow you to enter.
    "Thank you, sir," you said to him as you entered. You made your way over to a seat that sat right in front of his desk and then you sat down. This was one of the least comfortable chairs you have ever sat in for the entirety of your life.
    "I'm glad he cares about the comfort of his subordinates," you thought to yourself, rolling your eyes. You heard the Commanders footsteps retreating back to his desk behind you. You quickly straightened up, shaming yourself for thinking that. You thought for sure he would murder you if he heard you say that outloud.
    He sat down at his desk and looked directly at you. "So what is it? I believe this is our second time meeting, y/n," he said. He crossed his arms and laid back in his chair waiting for a response.
    "Sir," you began. "I believe I may have important information regarding the theft." You sat up straight and spoke strongly. When the Commander heard you, his ears perked up. He leaned closer and put his hands crossed on the desk.
    "Go on. Spit it out." He was beginning to get impatient. You were trying to gather your thoughts and come up with the words.
    "Sir, on my way back to the working quarters, after dropping papers off at your office, there was a tall blonde person running from the end of the hallway. Sadly, I was not able to remember if the person had any bags or documents on them, but I can describe their appearance." You took a breath. When you acknowledged his face, you saw the look on his face that said, "keep going."
    "I could not recognize if the person was male or female, but they had short blonde hair with bangs that covered their eyes. They were tall, aswell. Maybe 6'7. They were wearing a full Marleyan uniform and I had never seen them around." You thought to yourself after saying that, "Have I really never seen them before?" That person would definitely stand out in a crowd so it felt impossible for you to have never seen them.
   Commander Magath held up his thumb and rested it on his chin. He let out a slight, "hmm." He opened his mouth, "Thank you for reporting this, y/n. The other commanders and I will be sure to look more into this.
    The Commander released you and you nodded and saluted. After that you left and went back down the hall.
    By now it was 9:00 pm. You figured it was time to go back to the barracks.You yawned in exhaustion and sighed after. Today wasn't supposed to be as busy as it was. It was still hard to believe that there might be a traitor to Marley and that you might've encountered them.
   You made it to the barracks and walked down the dorm halls. Each door was someone's room. Some people had roommates and some people lived alone. You were lucky enough to live alone. Although you like to be outgoing, you hated having to share a room with someone. Back in the Training Corps, you had the most terrible roommate. You never learned or bothered to learn her name. She would throw clothes on your side of the room and was just overall a messy and rude person. You shivered in disgust thinking about the time back then. When you took the left turn down the hall to find your room, you saw bags by the door. "What in the hell-" you whispered under your breath.

Thank you guys for reading! I'm sorry that the chapters may be a bit long for you guys!