A Warrior (Once a Soldier)
A friend (Aevi) of mine, gifted me with another fic of Reiner and Kristina. I feel like I am being spoiled. I hope I can return the favor one day.
This story was penned by Andrew Anderson and his website is: https://ibelieveinahappilyeverafter.com
The action scene, the action scene~
Title: A Warrior (Once A Soldier)
Author: ibelieveinahappilyeverafter | Andrew Anderson
Fandom: Attack On Titan
Relationship: Reiner Braun/Kristina Qual (OC)
Word Count: 2,213
Summary: Kristina has once again managed to stay late. This time, however, she has the bad luck to run not into Reiner Braun the Warrior, but into Reiner Braun, the soldier of the 104th.
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Unable to help herself from signing the last of her paperwork with a gentle flourish,
Kristina leaned back in her chair and sighed. It had taken her the better part of the day to catch up on all her paperwork for the Warrior program, but thankfully she had
managed to get it done.
Pushing herself away from her desk and standing up with a light stretch (and a lot of
cracks that told her she needed to up her personal exercise regime), Kristina paused as she looked around her office, the hallway that led out into the building, and then at her window. The ‘better part of the day’ had turned into late evening, which certainly
explained why it had been so peacefully quiet as she worked.
Sighing and gathering up all her paperwork before sliding it into her desk, Kristina
paused and then muttered a quiet, “Damn.” She had promised to meet Reiner in his
office so they could discuss a couple of war strategies before presenting them to
Commander Magath.
Finishing tidying up what she could, Kristina was quick to slip her outer jacket back on before leaving her office and locking the door behind her. She wasn’t sure if she hoped that Reiner had waited for her or if he had gone home like he no doubt should have hours ago. (The selfish part of her, of course, hoped that he would be there waiting for her with one of those soft smiles of his.)
Pushing that selfish part of her down, at least for the moment, Kristina quickened her
pace until she was in front of his office door and then… paused. She couldn’t explain
it, couldn’t even put it into words if she wanted, but something suddenly felt wrong.
Cautious, she looked around the halls. It was as quiet and empty as it had been a
moment ago.
Tensing herself, Kristina lifted up her hand and formed a loose fist (ready to either throw a punch or catch one) before knocking on the door.
“Reiner? It’s Officer Qual. You wanted to meet and discuss strategies?”
There was the very faint sound of movement behind the door, but no answer. That
certainly narrowed down her choices on what to do next. There was definitely someone in there, but now the question was if it was Reiner or if it was someone hiding in his office when they weren’t supposed to be. Either way, it meant something was wrong.
Cautiously, and hopeful that everything was actually just fine, she knocked on the door one more time. When no answer came except more faint movement, Kristina took a breath and opened the door.
She was immediately dodging a fist.
Stumbling a few steps back before she regained her footing, Kristina silently cursed
herself for slacking off on her training once again before she was lashing out with her
own hit, leg coming up with enough force to hopefully knock down whoever had
attacked.
When the faint pain hit, she focused to see that an arm had blocked her hit and the
eyes of Reiner Braun were glaring into her own. She didn’t get the luxury of staring in
shock or gasping, instead immediately moving when he lunged forward for another
attack of his own.
She had been trained too hard to waste her breath on trying to ask him what was
happening or what he was doing. No. The goal was to pin him and then ask him what
the hell he thought he was doing.
“Marleyan scum! Where have you taken me!” Alright, she supposed they were talking, then-
Kristina’s arms ached as she managed to stop him in his tracks for just a moment, long enough to see a swirl of confusion and blankness in his gaze as he looked at her.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
“Who are you?” Kristina asked, breathless as they separated and Reiner looked at her
with contempt. “State your name!”
“I am Reiner Braun of the 104th, soldier of the Survey Corps and of Paradis!” Soldier.
He thought himself a soldier.
Before she was even aware of it she was already moving, throwing herself at Reiner
and ramming into his center of balance with enough force to have him falling backwards. She heard his cursing and swearing, but paid it no mind as she kept with
the momentum, both of them hitting the ground with enough force to make her bones ache.
A burst of adrenaline as he jerked under her was the only reason she found enough
strength in her to pin him to the ground by his wrists, straddling his waist in an attempt to not let him get back up.
“Reiner Braun of the 104th is dead!” She winced as her words echoed through the
halls, silently grateful that the building seemed empty. Her words were, at the very
least, enough to give the man under her pause. “You are not that man. You are Reiner
Braun, a Warrior of Marley!”
There was something so painful in his eyes, Kristina silently thought to herself. It was
as if he was inches from a death that would never be granted to him. The confusion
had cleared, though, and there was a clarity to his eyes that had her releasing him and sliding off of him so she could sit on her knees a few inches away. Reiner slowly sat himself up, that clarity turning to something tortured as he looked at her.
“You are a Warrior,” she repeated, voice quieter than before, enough that she was
half-certain he couldn’t even hear her. “You are not one of those devils from Paradis-”
“They weren’t devils.” The words seemed to burst out of him. They were quiet, still, and soft in a way, but they were at the same time frantic. As if they had been burning in his chest and never said. “They weren’t- Paradis, the people there- They were just people. They were just people.”
Kristina swallowed, unable to find it within herself to say anything as those eyes looked at her. When paired with the bitter smile he now had, his expression was half-crazed as he ran a hand through short, shorn hair. “Soldier? Warrior? No, I’m nothing but a monster. Do you know how many I killed? How many innocent people I killed? If anyone’s the devil-!”
Silence fell between them, but Kristina could hear the unspoken I am! that lingered in
the air between them.
Finally, Reiner’s gaze dropped from her and Kristina felt like she could breathe again.
Whether it was from her relief that he seemed to be back to himself or her guilt that she had been unable to say anything, she couldn’t know. (She had an idea of which was to blame, though. She was well aware that they were all human. All of them just people.)
“Office Qual.” Reiner spoke up in that flat, empty tone, any trace of emotion once there wiped away. “I will accept whatever punishment you bestow upon me for my actions on this day.”
And she could punish him. She was well within her right, seeing as he had attacked her with obvious attempt to harm. Hell, she should be telling Commander Magath about what just transpired. Moreso now that it was clear he had some form of mental
instability which could bring harm to future missions he partook in. Instead…
Instead Kristina sat up on her knees, leaned forward, and wrapped her arms around
Reiner in a soft embrace. “It’s okay,” she whispered softly, remembering a young boy
smiling at her and an offered piece of candy. “Everything is alright, Reiner.”
It was faint, but she felt the man in her arms shift, a hand slowly and hesitantly landing on her back. Kirstina didn’t even try to stop her smile or the way her voice softened even further. “I know, Reiner. I know that the people of that island aren’t devils.” Everything around her went still before there was something between a shiver and a jerk, Kristina having a rough idea of what was happening when she heard the wet gasp of breath.
“How could I not know? Aren’t all of us human?” Of all people, she should know best
that there truly was no difference between them. She had read the reports, seen the
stories, was in love with one, and heard the first hand accounts. It was a truth that they — her people — didn’t want anyone to know or understand. “I know that they aren’t devils.” Taking a soft breath, she shook her head.
“I believe you,” she finished with a whisper, smiling faintly as she heard another hitched breath and felt Reiner wrap his arm around her in return and pull her closer. She felt his head rested against her shoulder, a drop of something warm and wet hitting her skin that she pretended to not notice.
“I believe you, Reiner.”
Slowly, after what felt like hours of the two of them curled up on the floor, Kristina
finally began to move. Their fight, short as it was, had left her tired and faintly sore, and sitting on the floor for so long had certainly done her knees no favors.
Reiner was still silent, gaze locked onto the floor. Kristina didn’t force him to look at
her, but she did pull on his arm and force him to his feet. “Come on,” she said softly,
leading him into his office. “The building should be empty, by now, but that’s no reason to sit in the middle of the hallway.”
She heard a soft sound, something that could have almost been a laugh if it were any
louder. She decided she would take what she was given and go from there, which
meant pretending it really was a laugh and Reiner was no longer in danger of having a
mental breakdown.
Still, she made sure to be careful as she gently steered him towards his desk chair,
sitting him down before looking around the room. It was neat and tidied perfectly, far
more than her office ever was, but that just meant it was easy to check and see if there was anything on his desk, any paperwork he had been told to do, that triggered… whatever that had all been.
“It’s not the first time,” Reiner spoke softly, startling Kristina and making her snap his
gaze to him. She wasn’t certain if he had managed to know what she was thinking, but it answered some of her questions. “It… happens, sometimes. The haze. It’s as if I’m torn between two lives and in the moment I’m… never sure which is the real one.”
“But you seemed to come out of it quickly enough,” Kristina pointed out as she took a seat in one of the chairs sat in front of the desk. Somehow, with the desk between
them, it felt far more professional and cold than she would have liked it to. (It felt
lonely.) “Has this ever happened around people?”
“Once or twice. Only when I was in Paradis and only when I was with my team. The
people who knew me as a Warrior. It’s rarer, these days, and usually only happens
when I’m alone.” There was more he wasn’t saying — obviously there was more, but,
still. He had said enough for Kristina to be reassured that this was something that likely no one else would see, and it was only bad luck that Kristina had discovered what was happening. “Officer Qual, please believe me that I never would hurt you on purpose, I-”
“I know,” Kristina cut him off, proud that her voice was softer and warmer than she
once would have made it. “You’re kind, Reiner Braun. That’s why this is a problem, isn’t it? You’re kind, but that means the guilt hurts all the worse.” The desperate look she was given begged that she truly understand. “Alright, then.”
Filled with that warmth and softness that she didn’t dare push away, not yet, Kristina
leaned forward and wrapped one of Reiner’s hands up between her own. His skin was
cold and clammy, something that made Kristina squeeze all the harder. “I suppose that if I ever see you like that again, then I’ll just have to pull you out of it. As many times as necessary.”
There were no words to describe the look in his eye and it would almost be a disservice to say it was something as simple as gratitude. The wet sheen told her more than enough, however.
“Thank you.” His voice was a whisper, but his hands were steady when he brought up
his other to return her hold. The way he ducked his head and rested his forehead
against their clasped hands was the thing to finally make her feel that damning warmth in her cheeks. She couldn’t find it within herself to be too upset, though.
“Thank you, Kristina.”
“Of course. No matter what, everything will eventually be okay.” She didn’t know if that was true, and she knew it likely never would be, but it didn’t stop her from letting
herself believe (if only for a minute) that everything really would be okay.
It couldn’t hurt to hope, after all.
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