Bender
It was early morning when they resurfaced within Stohess. Neither scout had slept since before the mission the previous day, and though Levi seemed as alert as usual, Winnigan couldn’t help but droop her head in exhaustion.
“We’re stopping here,” Levi decided, grabbing the reins from Winnigan’s loose grasp and steering from behind. “There’s lodging near the MP barracks here. No point in letting you pass out and fall off the horse on our journey back.”
Winnigan nodded, but did not reply. She allowed Levi to go on ahead, opting to lean against Dot’s neck for support. Emotions of the last twenty-four hours had consumed her mind and drained the very last of her energy. She didn’t notice when they arrived at a hotel, or even notice that MP soldiers offered a hand in hitching their steed and helping them both off of the saddle. Winnigan just simply complied, sliding into the grasp of a very familiar blonde.
“Annie?” She asked sluggishly. Sure enough, the girl whom Winnigan held dearly up until their tumultuous separation was guiding her inside the hotel.
“Don’t get too excited,” Annie chided in her typical monotonous tone. Though, a saddened glimmer in her eye suggested slight humor. Winnigan rubbed her eyes, willing herself to wake properly.
“Annie,” she exclaimed, finally returning the embrace Annie had initiated. “Oh my god, so much has happened.” Winnigan squeezed Annie tightly, to which Annie gasped and dropped her arms to her sides.
“I am so sorry,” Winnigan apologized, holding Annie at arms length to get a good look at her. Not much had changed; she still kept her hair in a tight bun, still held a resting scowl, and her ice blue eyes still captivated her. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. “I hate that we got separated on bad terms. I am so, so sorry.”
As Levi limped to the front room to book lodgings, Annie shrugged. “I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard,” she offered, though her face betrayed a devastated demeanor. “I didn’t want you to get hurt. You would’ve been safe here, with me.”
“So many people died yesterday,” Winnigan breathed, to which Annie nodded.
“I heard.”
Captain Levi had secured bedroom keys, and cleared his throat between the two. “Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but there are two single beds calling Morgan and I’s names and I’d rather not stand on this bum leg longer than I have to.”
With that, he turned on his good heel and started hobbling down the hallway on the first floor. Annie and Winnigan glanced at each other one last time, before Annie surprised Winnigan with another embrace. “The bar here in this tavern,” Annie said, motioning to a bar in the corner of the room. “A lot of the MP’s frequent it since it’s so close to our grounds. We’ll be here later tonight… if you’d like to join.”
Winnigan nodded gratefully. “Hopefully we’ll still be here, I’d love to. Please excuse me, Annie, I need to make sure the Captain actually made it to the room.” With that, she turned in pursuit of her comrade. “Captain!” She hollered after him.
Annie lingered in the lobby for a moment longer, allowing herself to release a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Winnigan was safe and miraculously uninjured. She had the gods to thank for that.
…
The room was spacious, yet modest enough for a hotel so close to the royal capital. Two twin beds were separated by a single night stand, where Levi’s personal belongings were already set meticulously on the left side. The captain himself, however, was nowhere to be seen. Running water could be heard from the adjoining bathroom, where he undoubtedly was trying to wash away the last twenty four hours. Winnigan shut the bedroom door behind her, causing the running water to stop abruptly.
“Is that you, Morgan?” Levi’s muffled voice asked behind the bathroom door.
“Yes, Captain,” Winnigan responded, plopping herself onto her bed. The bathroom door creaked open slightly, Levi’s head poking out. He was miraculously dry for someone who was just in the shower.
“I know I told you to stop perving on me in the shower,” he said, the tips of his ears tinged red. “But I have Titan and Underground germs all over me, and I can’t get into this shower with this damn leg.”
Winnigan gulped, her face flushing red. “What are you needing help with?” She asked nervously.
Levi scoffed. “Get your head out of the gutter. I can’t take this splint off, so I need you to help keep me upright.” Winnigan didn’t respond, her mouth slightly agape. “Cadet, all I need you to do is let me hold onto your arm through the shower curtain. You won’t see anything.” He hesitated, before adding: “Nothing you haven’t already seen.”
“Captain!” Winnigan exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth. She was sure she had turned blood red at this point. “You and I both know I didn’t know you were going to be in there.”
Levi’s head bobbed side to side, as though weighing his options. “Perhaps, doesn’t change the fact I still caught your eyes on me. Now, get over it, I’ve only got so much strength in this one leg. I can’t keep standing in this doorway forever.” He pushed off the doorway, back into the shower, and Winnigan hesitantly followed suit. Luckily, he was already behind the curtain. Levi’s arm burst from the curtain, outstretched expectantly. When she grabbed hold, he braced against her and the water was turned back on. The absurdity of the situation made Winnigan giggle through the delirium of sleep deprivation.
“If you breathe a word of this to the others, I’ll end you,” Levi said gruffly through the curtain.
After a few minutes, the faucet turned off with a squeak. Winnigan passed a towel and some clothes through the curtain that had been left folded on the countertop. A series of grunting ensued, followed by a small crashing sound and a string of curses.
“Everything okay?” Winnigan asked hesitantly. The curtain was thrown open and Levi hobbled forward, fully clothed, towel draped over his shoulder.
“I’m fine, Morgan,” he said gruffly, limping heavily towards the bedroom. “Take a shower. You need sleep but I don’t want to smell you for the next few hours.”
When Winnigan peered into the shower, she found the small bottles of soap strewn around. She concluded that to be the crashing sound, and that Levi must have dropped them but had been unable to pick them up himself. She smirked at the thought, placing them back in their rightful places.
Feeling like death walking, with aching bones and sore muscles, Winnigan allowed herself to relax in the hot water. That’s when the mental fortitude finally broke free. Her shoulders and chest heaved as she leaned against the shower wall for support as the last twenty-four hours set in. She had watched dozens of scouts die on her very first mission outside of the walls. She encountered a titan shifter who ended lives without a second thought. She watched Levi’s entire squad get loaded up into a cart and then discarded like trash. Not to mention the whiplash of having to see her father in the Underground of all places. Her parents were now separated, and the difficult truth that the reason her beloved brother had been so hated just for loving another man was hard to swallow.
Love was such a basic concept, something that should come easy and be celebrated as such. Had Winnigan known about Pietro, had her parents been honest, maybe things wouldn’t have ended how they did. Then, she shuddered at the thought of telling her parents about her feelings for both men and women. She never assumed it would be an issue, but clearly that was no longer the case.
Did they marry? Winnigan wondered beneath the steady flow of warm water. Do I have a brother-in-law among the scouts? She knew the chances were high, and that her window of opportunity for more answers was closing. She washed quickly, realizing she had packed no other clothes besides a change of undergarments. There was no way she was going to climb into such a clean bed in such a filthy uniform, so she discarded the scout attire on a chair just outside the bathroom door and jumped into her bed, throwing the covers over her.
Winnigan turned to face Levi, who had his back turned in his bed, preparing to ask the loaded question that he clearly knew the answer to. However, the steady rise and fall of his shoulders and soft snore proved her efforts in vain. The man must have finally crashed after the last day’s events, and as Winnigan got comfortable, she wasn’t far behind.
A gentle shake roused Winnigan from her deep slumber. Her eyes fluttered open to find Levi sitting on the edge of her bed, his usual stoic expression softened by the dim evening light filtering through the window.
"Morgan," he said quietly, "it's nearly dusk. If you want to meet your MP friends at that bar, you should get up now."
Winnigan groaned, pulling the blanket up to her chin. "Five more minutes, Captain," she mumbled, earning an exasperated sigh from Levi.
"I've already let you sleep longer than intended," he replied, standing with a slight wince. "Besides, you need to eat something. You haven't had a proper meal since before the expedition."
The mention of food made Winnigan's stomach growl traitorously. She sat up, keeping the blanket wrapped around her shoulders, suddenly very aware that she was only in her undergarments. Levi seemed to notice her predicament.
"I had your uniform cleaned while you were sleeping," he said, gesturing to her neatly folded clothes on the chair. "The innkeeper's wife was kind enough to handle it." He turned his back to give her privacy, hobbling towards the door. "I'll wait in the hall. Don't take too long getting ready."
The sudden kindness from Captain Levi was a shocking relief from the Captain Levi who had ran her into the ground leading up to the expedition. To be fair, his work had paid off. Their training was undoubtedly the reason she was still alive after facing the female titan.
Sliding out of bed with a stretch, Winnigan quickly slid into her uniform and joined Levi in the hallway. He leaned against the wall, his injured leg outstretched. He didn’t look up when she approached, but they made their trek to the lobby in a comfortable silence.
“We’ll eat, you can socialize, then I’d like to head back to HQ,” Levi ordered eventually, breaking the silence between the two. The rambunctious chatter from the MPs at the bar grew closer, and in moments Winnigan had already located Annie.
“You won’t socialize?” Winnigan asked slyly.
Levi scoffed. “Tch. Please, you should know by now that I would never.” Winnigan raised a brow, playfully pouting in his direction. “I’ll wait back in the room after I’ve eaten.”
“You’re no fun,” Winnigan sighed. However, she didn’t press him further. He’d been through so much in the past day, losing people actually close to him, and Winnigan was shocked he was holding it together in the first place. His expression was stoic as ever, though she knew that had to be a defense. There was no way he was just ‘okay’ after all that had happened. She watched from across the bar as he ordered a plate of food, sat down, and put his head in his hands.
“Anyone ever tell you staring is rude?” A monotonous yet playful female voice asked, Annie so close behind her that Winnigan could feel her breath. She whipped around, grinning to see Annie’s typical stern expression. In her hands, two shot glasses of whiskey were ready to go. “I know I don’t drink, but I think your surprise visit calls for celebration.”
Winnigan accepted the glass with a smirk, downing it immediately, Annie following suit. She hissed at the burning sensation, even though she secretly loved it. She’d drank enough of the stuff over the years to stomach the burn without water to chase it.
“Is that cinnamon?” Winnigan teased, knowing fully well that Annie had chosen the drink on purpose. Annie, who had been gulping down a glass of water, raised a pointed finger to indicate that she would speak in a moment. Setting both glasses down harshly on the bar-top, Annie actually laughed. “I didn’t know liquor got to your head that quick,” Winnigan mused.
Annie motioned to the bartender for another round. “I’m more of a beer girl,” she said simply.
“Oh, you should see her with vodka!” A voice exclaimed. Turning over her shoulder, Winnigan saw a young woman with light brown waves and honey-colored eyes. “My loser roommate had to be actually carried back to our room.”
“Hitch,” Annie introduced. “Winnigan.”
“A woman of many words,” Hitch teased. “Do you go by Winnie?”
“Not really—”
Annie downed another shot, handing another glass to Winnigan who didn’t hesitate to do the same. Throwing an arm around Winnigan’s shoulder, Annie pulled her close. “She hates it, so of course she’s Winnie.”
Maybe it was the whiskey with no water, but Winnigan could have sworn it was opposite day. Her dad wanted to be in her life, Levi was kind, and Annie was affectionate. If only it were like this every day. Winnigan waved down the bartender, ordering more shots for herself. Ought to make the best of it.
Winnigan stopped counting shots at number five, opting to hand the bartender a wad of cash and instructing to stop serving her once she ran out of funds. Just for the fun of it, she bought Annie a beer, whose typically sour eyes lit up with joy. She glanced over across the room to where Levi was eating, finding him already working on reports. Every now and then, he’d glance over, scrutinizing the scene in the way only Captain Levi could.
“You’d think Annie’s a goody-two-shoes with how little she gets out, but no,” Hitch slurred, wrapping an arm around both women’s shoulders. “She skipped out on duties yesterday to go meet with a boy.”
“What? Who?” Winnigan asked incredulously.
Annie cleared her throat, a sudden wave of sobriety hitting her. “Hitch, not now,” she gritted.
“That beefcake, Reiner,” Hitch teased. “You know him! He’s a scout!”
The world danced around Winnigan’s vision as she downed another drink. “Impossible,” she mumbled, tripping over her syllables. She pointed a finger in the air, as if guiding herself through her words. “He was on the mission yesterday.”
Annie coughed again, sipping some water. “I figured that out and decided to hit the town instead,” she explained. She ordered another beer. “I’ll just have to see him another time. And,” she added. “That makes us uneven now, Hitch. I’m not solving any more mysteries for you until you can actually cover for me.”
Winnigan raised a brow. “Mysteries?”
Hitch giggled. “We’d been passing around some missing persons case for a couple days now. Carly Streit-something, it was a total cold case. Annie had it solved by the end of the day. She’s so talented.” Hitch started rambling about other MP’s and their qualities, and Annie grabbed Winnigan’s arm and led her away. The room swam around her, the alcohol taking control.
“It’s noisy in here,” Winnigan whined. “I wanna go outside.” She wiggled a brow at Annie playfully, who smirked in return.
“Oh, yeah? You want us to go outside all by ourselves? Where no one can see us?”
Winnigan downed the last of her whiskey before practically falling out the front door. Annie grabbed her arm, pulling her around the corner of the building, where not a second later, their lips collided.
It was messy, it was hasty, it was hot. Annie grabbed Winnigan’s collar and shoved her into the bricks with a need so thick, the air was full of it. Winnigan’s hands roamed Annie desperately, her drunk mind undecided on where she should place her hands, eventually settled on her hips. One of Annie’s hands held Winnigan’s face with lust-filled strength, the other placed on the brick wall over Winnigan’s head. They broke apart for a moment, a trail of saliva connected between their lips. Annie wiped her mouth hastily, looking Winnigan over, who was flushed and gasping for air. “You want this?” She asked simply. Winnigan nodded, and Annie dove back in.
Their tongues danced together in a heated frenzy, hands exploring with desperate need. The cool night air did nothing to quell the fire burning between them, and Winnigan's head spun from both the alcohol and Annie's intoxicating presence. When Annie’s tongue grazed Winnigan’s teeth, it suddenly became a fight for dominance, much like their spars back in training. Winnigan wrapped her arms around Annie’s neck, spinning her around and pinning her to the bricks instead.
“Winnie,” Annie moaned into Winnigan’s mouth, gripping her intensely before taking control once again.
The taste of cinnamon whiskey on Annie's tongue made Winnigan's head spin even more, their bodies pressed together in the dark alley. Time seemed to stop as they lost themselves in each other, until a distant sound of footsteps and voices from around the corner forced them to break apart. Annie quickly straightened her uniform, her usual stoic expression returning despite her flushed cheeks.
“Walls. I came to find you since you hadn’t touched your food yet,” he groaned, leaning against the wall for support. He rubbed his leg, wincing. “We need to go before Commander Erwin sends a search party.” He nodded to Annie, seething. “Leonhart, you have my gratitude for getting my soldier off-task.”
“My apologies, Captain Levi,” Annie attempted to sound professional, but her voice cracked. She turned to Winnigan, who was clearly still intoxicated despite the sobering moment. “Let’s get you inside.”
Levi hobbled back to the table, seated himself, grumbling to himself as he waited expectantly for Winnigan to finally sit at her plate. Annie guided Winnigan to her seat, patting her back awkwardly. “I should go before I cause more trouble,” she muttered, before nodding to Levi. “Captain.”
“Leonhart,” he nodded back, holding a deep stare. He cocked his head to the door. “You said you were leaving?”
“Right.”
Annie patted Winnigan’s back once more, turning to leave with the other Military Police wordlessly. Levi still had yet to speak to her since going back inside, opting to motion to her plate instead. Winnigan, obliviously drunk, grinned at him before digging into the cold plate of mashed potatoes and roasted chicken he had ordered for her earlier.
Levi watched her eat in silence, his expression unreadable as ever. The alcohol made her movements clumsy, and she nearly knocked over her water glass twice. When she finally finished her meal, she looked up to find him still staring at her with that same intense gaze.
“You’re lucky the bartender is going to help us get onto the horse,” he finally stated, giving her a quick once-over with his steel grey eyes. “Because I wouldn’t trust you to help me walk in your sorry state.”
“Sorry…” Winnigan repeated the word, knowing she definitely needed to apologize for something, even if she hadn’t figured out what yet.
“The bartender owes it to you anyway,” Levi continued, pointedly avoiding her attempt at an apology. “For not cutting you off sooner. I was too wrapped up in my reports, though I will argue in my defense that you as a soldier should know to hold your composure…” His eyes lingered on Winnigan, who looked dazed as she attempted to sip from her water glass and missed her mouth entirely. He sighed. “But, it’s been an extremely long two days for us both. I imagine surviving your first expedition before having a confrontation with your family in the Underground of all places calls for a drink. I certainly cannot judge.”
His eyes fell to the table, where Winnigan’s hands trembled slightly. Still, she did not speak. He, in turn, continued his monologue, which he wasn’t entirely sure she could even understand. “There’s many ways to cope in this line of work. I choose not to regret the decisions that were made. You can’t change the past,” he thought of Petra’s corpse flying off of the cart. “But you can appreciate what you managed to save. We kept Eren from capture, we proved there was another titan shifter, and you made it out unscathed. We can be grateful for that. And, with no regrets, we can better understand the choices we will need to make in the future. You, on the other hand… if drinking and women help you cope, so be it.”
Winnigan's head bobbed slightly as she processed his words, her intoxicated mind struggling to follow his meaning. She managed a small nod, though her glazed eyes betrayed her lack of comprehension. The silence stretched between them as Levi gathered their belongings, preparing for what would surely be an interesting journey back to headquarters.
This time, Winnigan took the rear end of the saddle. Levi didn’t trust her with the reins, and he certainly didn’t trust that she could keep herself upright. As he used his good leg to kick Dot into a trot, Winnigan garbled nonsense from behind.
“If you retch down my back,” Levi warned. “You’ll be running laps until you drop dead.”
In response, Winnigan wrapped her arms tightly around Levi’s torso, cheek pressed between his shoulder blades. She made the occasional sound of discomfort, but stayed mostly quiet to Levi’s relief. His leg throbbed, his head pounded, and he wished more than anything to be back in his own chambers at base. The few hours of sleep he was afforded at the inn was helpful, but nothing to sneeze at in comparison to the rest Winnigan received.
He had awoken to her snores, which was an easy feat seeing that Levi slept lightly, but he was convinced she could have raised the dead with such racket. Longing for just another moment’s rest, he had buried his head into his pillow, but to no avail. He then attempted to cut the noise from it’s source by tossing the pillow at her face with lightning speed, but even that proved in vain. Levi finally accepted his fate, using the extra time he had to take her uniform to be cleaned. As he made his way towards the door, hobbling with record-breaking slowness, he glanced back over to the sleeping soldier. Her mouth hung wide open, a trail of drool gravitating onto the mattress. She must have thrashed about in her sleep, because her limbs were sprawled across the bed, the blanket tangled around her ankles. Her undergarments were exposed, showcasing a chest that heaved deeply with each ear-shattering snore.
While he found himself chuckling at the cacophony before him, he couldn’t help but feel a flush of embarrassment for catching himself staring while she was in such a vulnerable disposition. Sighing, he set down the soiled uniform and limped to the edge of the bed, untangling the sheets, and lightly covering her up once more.
The all-too-familiar snore vibrated into Levi’s back. He sighed in relief, realizing that she wouldn’t be vomiting up whiskey and chicken any time soon. As a precaution to keep her from sliding off the horse in her sleep, he gently tucked her wrists into the leather straps of his uniform, binding them together securely.
“When I’m back on this damn leg and you’re not hungover,” he said, knowing she couldn’t hear him. “We are running drills until the sun comes up. That’s the only way you’re going to live this down.”
…
Winnigan awoke to the sounds of soldiers yelling. She blinked slowly, realizing they had already traversed back to base. The sun was just below the tree line, rising into the dawn of the second day since the expedition. Someone was asking if Winnigan was injured, to which Captain Levi dismissed with a wave: “If you count drunk to the point of incapacitation, yes.”
Someone helped the two off of Dot, where Winnigan’s head spun as her feet hit the ground. The drunkenness was wearing off, but the hangover was just beginning. She raised her chin to look at the soldiers around her, which was a terrible idea. The world swam in her vision, the rising sunlight blinding her, and she doubled over to regurgitate the remains of the previous night’s festivities… onto Captain Levi’s feet. His boot and his splint were immediately soiled. She braced for the impact of his anger, but was met only with a sigh.
“And here, I thought I was safe.”
He hobbled off without another word. The other soldiers, of which Winnigan identified as Connie and Jean, led her inside.
Connie and Jean helped Winnigan to their shared quarters, their footsteps echoing through the stone corridors of the barracks. Her head throbbed with each step, and the morning light streaming through the windows felt like daggers in her eyes. She could hear the whispers and snickers of other soldiers as they passed, no doubt already spreading rumors about her night with the Military Police.
"You really did it this time," Jean muttered, adjusting his grip on her arm as she stumbled. "Getting drunk with Annie Leonhart of all people. And in front of the Captain, too."
So news travels fast. "Shut up, Jean," Winnigan groaned, pressing her palm against her forehead. "I don't need a lecture right now."
"Hey, at least you made it back in one piece," Connie chimed in, trying to lighten the mood. "Though I bet Captain Levi's going to make you wish you hadn't once you're sobered up."
They reached the door, and Winnigan fumbled with the handle before practically falling inside.
"Get some rest," Jean advised, his tone softening slightly. "You're going to need it. Word is you and Armin are needed for a meeting to discuss what happened on the expedition."
Winnigan collapsed onto her bed, not bothering to remove her boots. The events of the past few days swirled in her mind – the expedition, the titans, her father, Annie's lips against hers in that dark alley. It all felt like a fever dream.
"Water and bread are by your bed," Connie called out as they left, closing the door behind them. "Try not to die before the meeting!"
In the silence of her room, Winnigan pressed her face into her pillow, trying to block out the world. Her stomach churned with regret – not just from the alcohol, but from everything. She'd let her guard down, shown weakness, and worst of all, she'd embarrassed herself in front of Captain Levi. Again.
As sleep began to claim her, she made a silent promise to herself: no more distractions, no more mistakes. She had to be better, stronger, more focused. The fate of humanity depended on soldiers who could keep their composure, and she was determined to be one of them – hangover be damned.
Armin awoke her hours later, urging her to drink water and eat before attending their meeting. The attendees were nearly the same as before: Winnigan and Armin, Commander Erwin, Captain Levi, as well as section commanders Miche and Hange. Additionally, section commander Nanaba was here to sit in and provide her insight as well. The objective: narrow down suspects for the Female Titan.
Winnigan approached the mirrors in the bathhouse, where many of her comrades lounged in the giant tub. She waved absentmindedly as she passed, mentally compiling the data she had accrued over the past several days. A few things were certain: this shifter was likely female, had to be military personnel, and would somehow benefit from Eren being gone. That immediately indicated the Garrison regiment, seeing how quickly they wanted to dispose of Eren, but the hypocrisy of the idea proved otherwise. Why would they use a titan to dispose of another titan?
“As you know,” Commander Erwin began, as soon as the door had been locked and the soldiers were seated. “This last expedition had many facets to it. While our attempt to map a route to Shiganshina failed, we succeeded in proving there are more titan shifters within our ranks. These shifters, unlike Eren, are traitors, intending to destroy what the military has built.”
“You could probably blame the same freak for the breach in Wall Maria in the first place,” Captain Levi muttered, fidgeting with the handle of his cane. Erwin nodded, taking a rolled parchment and unrolling it across the table. It contained hundreds of names, some of which had been crossed out.
He gestured to the parchment grandly. “This, soldiers, is the most recent census of soldiers across all three regiments of the military. Hange?”
In response, Hange dramatically heaved a large stack of files onto the table, landing with a thud that sent motes of dust flying in the air. Armin sneezed, and Levi sneered, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping down the area in front of him. “And this,” they said with glee, spreading the files before them. “This is all of the females, since I believe we’ve all come to the conclusion.”
Armin inspected the long parchment, running a finger across a name that had been crossed out. “The strike through the names mean they’re deceased?” He asked quietly. Erwin nodded curtly.
“We haven’t had the time to remove the deceased females from our files, so we will be cross-referencing as we go. This will be a tedious task, but between all of us, I believe—”
“I suspect Annie Leonhart,” Armin squeaked, face contorted in disbelief at his own words. “I didn’t want to believe it, but it makes sense.”
Winnigan gasped before she could even think to compose herself, earning a confused stare from the other soldiers in the war room. Armin held eye contact with her for a moment, scrutinizing her, before continuing: “Section Commander Hange had all ODM gear inspected after the deaths of Sawney and Beane. When I saw Annie, I realized the gear she presented was not her own.”
Levi scoffed. “Not her own? And whose was it?”
Armin gulped. “Marco Bott, sir.”
Hange trailed their finger down a column of the census, pausing at a name stricken from the list. “Deceased,” they stated.
Armin cleared his throat, clearly choked up with emotion. “I could have told you that, Section Commander,” though his words were harsh, they came from a place of sincerity. “He was in our squadron,” he motioned between Winnigan and himself for emphasis. “And died in Trost.”
Winnigan put her head in her hands, sighing loudly. “Jean was the one who found him. His ODM gear was never recovered. He had been stranded without it.”
Erwin nodded thoughtfully, motioning for Hange to write down the information. “And you say that this missing gear is what Annie Leonhart presented at the inspection? You know this, how?”
“I got geared up with him every day for training, sir,” he reported dutifully. “He wasn’t the most graceful flier, either, sir. His gear had dents and scrapes that any of our friends could have recognized.”
Hange pulled another notebook from their pocket, flipping through the pages wildly. “Annie Leonhart presented damaged gear, but it was not the gear used to kill Sawney and Beane,” Hange confirmed. “We will have to send someone to inspect her gear personally, in Stohess. Impromptu gear check that she cannot prepare for.”
Section Commander Nanaba, who had been quiet up until this point, pulled Annie’s file from the stack. Winnigan’s heart raced, thinking about the night prior. Annie showed no sign of regret, no ounce of guilt. Could she really do this?
“Well I’ll be,” Nanaba sighed, pulling Annie’s portrait from the file and slid it to the center of the table. The soldiers leaned in for a better view.
“Looks just like the Female Titan,” Miche nodded.
Armin touched the portrait softly, expression downcast. “The Female Titan pulled back my hood,” he admitted. “She had every opportunity to kill me, but spared me after seeing my face.”
“Me too,” Winnigan said softly, hands clutching her sternum in a vain attempt to slow her racing heartbeat. “She spared me as well, but didn’t hesitate to kill the other members on my squad.”
Miche shook his head in disdain. “Sure, she looks like the titan, like I said, but we’re basing this conclusion off of looks and some banged up gear? This wouldn’t hold up in court.”
Erwin sighed, rolling up the census. “Section Commander Miche is right. We need something else.”
Levi spoke up for the first time in ages, eyes trained on Winnigan. “Winnie,” he said gruffly. “You and Leonhart got pretty close last night,” Winnigan shot him a look. He raised his hands in defense. “I’m not accusing you of anything, I just want to know if she told you anything that could be of use.”
Winnigan racked her brain, a difficult task with the pounding headache she had had since the previous night. Her memories were hazy. She remembered drinks, giggling, their encounter outside… and Levi’s interruption. Then, a conversation with Hitch came to mind.
“Actually,” Winnigan said thoughtfully, chest burning at the thought of throwing Annie under the bus. However, Annie had already made herself look guilty on her own. There was no harm in sharing the truth, especially if it ended up keeping more people from dying by the Female Titan’s hands. “Her roommate said that she had to cover for Annie skipping duties the day of the expedition,” Winnigan sighed at the admission, pinching the bridge of her nose to alleviate the tension growing in her face and neck. “Because she planned to visit Reiner.”
Reiner. Annie. Her friends.
“They’re from the same village,” Armin added. “But Reiner knew about this expedition long before it took place. It wouldn’t make sense for the two of them to make plans during that.”
Erwin raised a brow, glancing between Winnigan and Armin. “Do you suggest Reiner may be a part of this conspiracy?”
Winnigan shook her head furiously, despite having written his name down amidst suspects days prior. “Annie’s mention of him is the only possible evidence of his involvement. She might have just used him as an excuse, since they’re childhood friends.”
Armin nodded pensively, brows furrowed as he searched for words. “That might be true, because the Female Titan did attack Reiner, he was just able to cut himself free from her grasp.” He hesitated, closing his eyes. “But, after he got free, she changed direction. Almost as though he had told her something. Maybe about where Eren was placed?”
“That’s just speculation,” Winnigan pointed, to which Armin shrugged.
“Just going off what we have to work with.”
Erwin cleared his throat, calling the soldiers back to attention. “It’s safe to say that Annie is a suspect in this affair,” he announced. “We will keep Reiner Braun under a watchful eye, but I do not find him to be a suspect at this time.”
“So what do we do?” Winnigan asked, a twinge of desperation in her voice. She had just reconciled with Annie, even progressed the boundaries of their relationship. Winnigan wasn’t ready to lose that.
Erwin grinned, giving a knowing look to the section commanders. “I’m glad you asked, Morgan. You see, the government isn’t very happy to learn that Eren transformed during our last expedition. They’ve court marshalled us to bring him in to be apprehended by the Garrison by the end of this weekend.”
“No!” Armin exclaimed. “You can’t let them take him!”
“I have no intention of doing so, Artlet,” Erwin reassured, a glint of kindness in his eyes. “But the Garrison doesn’t know that. Neither do the Military Police. I propose an idea that can confirm Leonhart’s identity as the Female Titan in a way that not only exposes her, but protects Eren in the process.”
“And… what is that?” Levi asked, unamused.
“We set a trap that the Female Titan is unable to escape,” Erwin drawled, a maniacal smile comparable to Hange’s painting his face. “And we set this plan in motion at sunrise.”