Nest & Wings (Annie Leonhardt x Male Reader)

Chapter 17: Mankind's New Hope

Regardless of everything the soldiers did, despite everything they sacrificed, the plan had failed. You fall down on your knees devastated. You feel a strong and unpleasant sensation in your stomach as you were still harboring the guilt of letting the disaster happen in the first place.

Even though all hope seemed lost, you couldn't give up, not here, not now, not after seeing so many people lay down their lives for everyone to get to this point. You couldn't let their sacrifices be in vain.

You and Armin abandon your stations and run off towards the flare in hopes of finding Eren. The two of you zip through Trost as fast as you could with what little gas you had left, having just made the round trip luring the titans to the wall. As you approached the flare, you see Eren in his titan form sitting against the boulder without moving an inch.

You land on the boulder to take a closer look. As Armin climbs on to Eren to see what was wrong with him, Mikasa arrives.

"Armin! It's dangerous there! Get away!" She asks him to get off Eren. She explains, "Eren isn't in control of that titan. He wouldn't respond even when I spoke to him, so it's pointless for anyone else to try."

"What about the plan?" Armin asks her.

"It failed."Mikasa responds, "We couldn't just leave Eren by himself in a swarm of titans, so everyone's fighting to hold them back. But at this rate... The titans will overwhelm us before long."

Armin goes into desperation mode and starts racking his brain for a way to turn this hopeless situation around.

"I'll get Eren out of here! You two keep the titans away!" Armin says after thinking for a bit and goes on to explain, "Eren came out of the titan's weak point earlier. It's likely connected to the mystery involving the true nature of the titans."

After saying that, he stabs Eren in the nape while keeping away from the center to avoid his human body. He assumed it would be still intact inside the nape as it was where he emerged from both times when he transformed. As soon as he did that, the titan starts moving around, as if it was struck by a sudden jolt of pain.

"Quit being reckless!" Mikasa yells at him.

"If you go out there now, there are lives you can save, right? Leave Eren to me and just go." Armin yells back at her.

You climb onto the roof she was standing on and say, "Don't worry Mikasa, you trust Armin, don't you? Let's go, we'll make sure no one else has to die!"

Mikasa complies and decides to trust Armin with taking care of Eren. At this point, she seemed to have a hint of respect for you, likely as a result of you being the only person so far to give her the taste of defeat; although she was still way ahead of you in overall combat.

❋❋❋

The two of you set off to provide backup to the elite squads. Mikasa heads north to check on Captain Jan's squad while you go south to where Captain Rico's squad supposedly were.

As you zip around the block, you hear a scream and you see a twelve meter class titan about to devour Captain Rico. The rest of her squad were nowhere to be seen as the titan held her near lifeless body over its mouth that was open wide, ready to swallow her whole.

You note that it's too late to save her, as cutting the jaw would not help this time around and she would still fall into its mouth from that angle. As you try to look away, once again, you recall swearing to yourself that you wouldn't let your comrades die at any cost. For the second time in the same day, your own rule forces you into yet another reckless situation.

You risk everything and dive straight into the titan's mouth from the side with a quick burst of pressure from your ODM gear. It used up a lot more gas than you would ideally be willing to expend on a single titan, but at that dire moment where the Captain's life hung by a thread, it was the least you could worry about.

Within a split second, you cut off the tips of the titan's fingers, releasing its grip on Rico and you grab her as the momentum carries you across and out of the titan's mouth from the other side. You land hard on a building nearby. Slightly concussed, you couldn't react in time as the titan turns around to grab the two of you.

Just as all hope seemed lost, Mikasa comes in from behind and slices its nape. As she takes the titan down in a heartbeat, you observe and study her technique closely. You note how she almost always takes them out with a single blow to the nape, faster than the titan could react.

This plays well into your wheelhouse, as agility had always been your strong point. While you process this, you hear the loud thuds of a titan's footsteps in the distance as Eren stands up and starts carrying the boulder.

Noting how you had nearly run out of gas, Captain Rico offers to swap canisters with you, as she didn't have enough strength to continue fighting herself. With that, you and Mikasa rush off to protect Eren as he carried the boulder.

Armin sees the two of you approaching and exclaims, "Eren's in control! He's finally conscious and is trying to fulfill his duty. If we can just escort him to the gate, victory will be ours!"

With Eren regaining control, the tide of the battle shifts in your favor just like that. As the two of you catch up to him, five titans appear from the breach and stood between Eren and the gate. Having run out of gas, Captain Mitabi's squad goes on foot and gets one of the twelve meter class titans to follow them. Jan's squad does the same and distracts the other twelve meter class.

Seeing the two seven meter class titans approaching Eren fast, you and Mikasa go straight for their napes at full speed. With your seasoned agility and analysis of her technique, you were finally able to keep up with Mikasa and you were nearly in sync as you each took down a titan simultaneously.

Eren was now in the home stretch, just a few meters away from the gate and a single fifteen meter class titan stood in his way. As you see Jan and Mitabi squads get eaten in the background, you knew it was now or never. You and Mikasa dive in from either side and take out the last titan together as Eren drops the boulder to seal the breach and recapture Trost.

You could see the tears in Rico's eyes, realizing how all her friends' sacrifices weren't in vain as she fires the yellow flare signaling the Mission's success.