Full Circle Theory-CH2 .:SNK Fanfic:.

Chapter 2: Alive

Erwin Smith had been informed of a suspicious woman lurking outside of the Walls in Karanese. She had been brought in with no struggle whatsoever and she had been questioned. The information she had provided was quite intriguing, for the name she stated and her appearance matched that of a soldier Erwin had once gotten the chance to meet. Her name was Erika Engel, a young woman in her 20s. The interesting part was the one where the Erika Engel he had met was killed, crushed by a building, in the Shinganshina breach five years ago. She was a recently graduated soldier with one expedition on her shoulders as well as the assisted kills of eight titans. She had proven herself capable of surviving outside the walls in those 8 kills as well as he ability to actually keep up with Levi. Apart from Hanji, Erika was the only one who could keep a close watch on the Corporal's moves and assist if needed be as well as provide cover. She wasn't a prodigy, but she still was a remarkable soldier. During the breach though, her clumsy self led her to not notice a titan in time and in the process of making up for her mistake she had saved Levi and his squad at the moment by bringing down a whole building over a titan as well as herself.

Erwin sighed thinking about how much that one blew off on the Corporal, it wasn't everyday an 18 year old kid brought down a damned building on her to possibly save lives. Levi was pissed at her for dying like that, but admitted he knew she might die in some ridiculous way like that. She was the type to get killed over cake, Levi had told Erwin, she was remembered like that if anything.

The Commander sat by his desk going through some papers as he thought of the soldier when knocks were heard on the door.

"Come in" He spoke setting his papers aside and looking towards the door waiting for the person knocking to come in.

A red haired man from the Stationary Guard came in with a young woman coming in behind him. She was Levi's height and looked like a street marauder with her messy dirty blond hair and tattered, worn down pants and shirt.

"Commander…Erwin?" She asked as she looked at him with big green eyes full of surprise and joy. She stood up straight immediately and pounded her chest with her right fist just over her heart. "Engel Erika reposting home, sir!"

Erwin took a moment to take in what was going on in front of him. It was impossible that the woman in front of him was who she claimed to be, yet he knew it really was her. Those big green eyes of her didn't lie, it was part of who she was. Her eyes never lied and neither did the fact of her being there.

"Engel…how did you…report soldier, how are you here right now?"

Erika oogled Erwin with serious eyes, she mumbled a bit as if searching for words and then continued on to answering the Commander's question.

"Sir… I'd be more than… happy, to answer all your questions regarding my status since… Shinganshina but I must ask you something… first if I may be so bold" She spoke looking for words, it seemed as if she hadn't spoken to a human being for a long time and it was difficult for her to string words together in a sentence accordingly.

Erwin nodded at her request, curious to know more about the dead girl in front of him, and signaled her to voice her question.

"Is he… Is Lance Corporal Lehv-e alive sir?"

"Engel? Erika Engel?!" Levi stared at her as if he had seen an actual ghost. He had seen this woman die before his eyes, he saw her get crushed. "You're alive? Is it really you? Of course it's you, who else has that moronic face of yours in this world. What the hell?!"

Erika grinned at Levi's monologue and dried the tears that had sneaked out of her eyes in the last few seconds.

"I am glad… to see you well Corporal" Levi raised a brow at her slow way of speaking, and she just looked down and did her best to avoid eye contact. "I'm happy… you recognized me. Commander Smith… felt like he needed your confirmation though…"

"No kidding you moron, you're supposed to be deader than my faith in the military police. Mind explaining what in the hell is going on here? I saw you die, you died. You got crushed by a piece of building the size of a small titan." The older man hadn't the slightest idea of what was going on. He could barely cope with the fact that there were titans inside the wall and now a woman that was supposed to be dead had come back from the grave, a grave that lay in Shinganshina to finish up. For more that he tried to find a way to make this a coincidence, he just couldn't. Titan shifters had appeared to take Eren, and now a clumsy dead girl came up after five years? No way in hell that was just coincidence.

"I'll explain this, right away, sir" She spoke faster than before, she was attempting to calm Levi down, she knew something was obviously wrong with her being here besides the normal amount of shock. She got on her feet and saluted, she was ready to do anything to get her Corporal to trust her again. "I'm ready to report"

Levi got on his feet too and called out to Erwin and Eren to come in. The new comers grabbed the chairs by the tea table and settled them on front of the love seat where Erika went to sit on. Levi after thinking it for a few seconds decided to sit beside her, if this woman was the same Erika Engel, she was bound to be worried as hell and the presence of someone beside her was bound to calm her down. She straightened up tense as he sat beside her and all he could think of was that maybe playfully punching her on the shoulder would get her to lighten the fuck up. Erwin cleared his throat as if noticing Levi's intentions and set on to begin the questioning.

"Erika Engel, you were reported dead five years ago during the breach in Shinganshina yet here you are alive and well for what we can see. Would you care explaining your status during the last couple of years in order to clarify our doubts about your allegiance?"

Erika breathed in and out before she started talking as best as she could taking her time to chose her words.

"I remember pushing Corporal Lehv e out of the way, when the titan came for us. I made the thing ram, itself against, the building and trapped it using my 3dm gear…the titan's trashing made the building, collapse on itself as I had predicted and I… it all went dark then. I was sure I was dead… or at least, it seemed that way before I woke up" It was interesting for Levi hearing her talk about her death so carefully. She had been dumb and brought a building on her to kill one dumb 10 meter titan. She could have gotten out alive, but she chose to sacrifice herself to make sure they all escaped. She looked at Erwin straight in the eyes for the next part, this was what they didn't know after all, she wanted them to understand she was being truthful to the max.

"I was in my tattered uniform, my 3dm gear was broken laid aside with a bag with a bow and arrows beside it. I was in an abandoned house…in Shinganshina. I thought that maybe I had blacked out at some point and that maybe someone else was around but… as I went outside… I realized the place looked as if it had been months, no less than a year, since the breach…that was impossible… right…? Because then… that would mean I had been, unconscious for that long."

"Engel that's absurd, unless you are some sort of mutation or monster you couldn't have possible survived a year unconscious in Shinganshina" Erwin reasoned trying to see how much more the girl knew about her own situation. She nodded wearing a sad smile.

"I thought I might just be one sir" She took another deep breath and gulped. "I wanted to go home, to the scouting legion and I thought of heading north to Wall Rose. I thought I could someday find an expedition and then I'd go home… but as you have come to know… I didn't find my way until… recently. I traveled slow, wary of titans and careful not to be much of a nuisance when I hunted…ummm" She looked at Levi uncomfortably and her eyes showed off how exasperated she was because of what she was going to say next. She face Erwin newly her face screaming how frightened she and she bit on her lower lip fiddling with her fingers all the while.

"I faced titans… in my first two encounters… I managed to outrun them somehow… I've gotten real fast … but on the third one… I remember going for the nape of his neck with my worn out blades and getting my leg chomped off when I missed my target."

The room was filled with harsh tension, Levi looked at Erika as if he wasn't sure whether he should bash her skull in or if he should trust she wasn't bad while Erwin looks at her as if he was planning something. Eren on his side stared at her with intense eyes, he was deciding, like Levi, if he should finish her off or wait it out. Erika had both her legs, it was more than obvious that if she had gotten her leg chomped off she had regenerated that limb.

"I bled a lot… and knowing well what missing a leg meant in the outside… I fell asleep waiting for my death… but I woke up the next day with all my limbs and a freshly killed rabbit on my lap."

"You're a titan shifter" Eren said, his words dripping acid and burning her with accusations.

The young woman looked away miserable, she didn't know what a titan shifter was but for the tone she knew it was something that people hated.

The woman in front of them was not human.

"It happened many other times with my other limbs, and every time I'd fall asleep and wake up like new the next day" She continued not willing to leave anything behind. She wanted them to trust her, she couldn't leave anything significant behind.

"Engel I believe another question is in order at this point. Tell us, what do you believe?" Erwin spoke up knowing full well that Erika was as reliable as Eren. He'd known that much of the soldier.

Erika looked at Erwin again with bright eyes. She was happy that he knew she meant no harm.

"I-I'm not sure sir, I could be a monster, un-killable to a point… I could be an enemy." She took a pause and then wore the same pair of determined eyes Eren had worn to convince Levi he wasn't an enemy. "If I am a monster then I'll be Heichou's weapon… I'll be humanity's weapon!"
"That's the spirit Miss Erika" Eren finally spoke as he now looked at the young woman with caring eyes.

"Well that's all I needed to hear," Levi followed up standing up from the love seat and looking at Erwin with sharp eyes. "The fact she's a titan shifter is still foggy… we should deem her a MIA that came back home. You are to stay with Eren in the dungeons for the time being until we are sure you are a titan shifter"

Erika stood up and saluted still wearing her determined expression.

"Sir yes Sir!"

"She needs good rest and some proper food right? Eren, take her to your cell and make sure your new roommate is comfortable" Erwin stood up himself followed by Eren who looked more than happy to not be alone down in the dungeons.

"I'll go get the food," Levi actually offered, against all possible character profiles of him. "Sweet bread and honeyed sausages correct?"

Erika grimaced and drooled a little before she nodded enthusiastically at the mention of her two favorite foods.

Eren noticed the change in character by the Corporal's side and decided to ask, curious, Erwin.

"Corporal sure knows her well… who is she?"

Erwin chuckled at his inquiry and went on to answer it.

"That girl is the absolute worst soldier Levi has ever had as a subordinate, she was so terrible Levi knew she was going to die stupidly before he went and helped kill 8 titans on her first expedition."