Violets (Mikannie)

26 - Return (of the lack of "R" words)

My mum doesn't have Netflix but I'm staying with my dad and he does so I've seen exactly two (2) episodes of Stranger Things. It's good and I like the set design/costuming.
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The car pulled up in the underground carpark of Donovan Tech's main building, and Hanji gave them a run down on the plan.

"Chances are, they're being held in the basement," she said. She opened the car's glovebox and took out a folded piece of paper, and handed it to Armin. "This is a map of the building. I spent a lot of time making this, so don't lose it."

"Thank you," Armin said, taking the map. "I won't."

He opened it up, surprised at how big it was when it was fully unfolded. Mikasa looked over his shoulder.

"That's the basement level there, isn't it?" She asked, pointing to a section of the map that had BASEMENT? scrolled next to it.

"Yep," Hanji said. "Now, Ivan and Reiner will stay here in the car and keep a look out. When the three of us enter the building, we will split up on the basement floor and look for Eren and/or Annie. If either of you find one of them, send me a text with a lock emoji."

"What if our phone doesn't have emojis on it?" Armin asked.

"Does your phone not have emojis on it?" Hanji asked, for clarification. 

"No, it does."

"Then don't worry about it." 

After a moment of silent contemplation, they got out of the car. "Look after Reiner," Hanji told Ivan. He nodded.

"Stay safe," Ivan said.

"Good luck," Reiner said, rolling down his window and leaning out of it. He held out his hand, and stuck it out for a handshake. Mikasa glared at the hand, but Armin shook it. 

"We'll save her," Mikasa said. 

"Thank you." Reiner smiled at them weakly. 

With that, the three of them walked away from the car, and towards the end. 

--

They decided it was safer to take the stairs than the lift. It was quicker, too, because they didn't have to wait. 

"How many more flights of stairs are there?" Armin asked, out of breath. He wasn't exactly an athlete.

"Maybe, like, two or three," Hanji replied. 

"If you want, I can carry you," Mikasa said. It was probably meant to be sarcastic, but it came out sounding serious. 

"No, I'll be fine," Armin said, still out of breath. He kind of wanted to take her up on that offer, even though she wasn't really meaning it. 

But he soldiered through, and soon enough the stairs ended. There was only one door at the base of the stairs, and the fluorescent bulb flickered overhead. The door was sealed shut. Hanji walked up to it and pulled out a key card, and ran the key card through the lock. It 'beep'ed, and swung open. 

Beyond the door was a badly lit corridor. Armin could see that it split further along, connecting to another corridor. Along the sides were steel doors. 

"Alright," Hanji said. "I have only one key card, and the doors probably need a card to open, so I guess we won't split up after all."

"That's good," Mikasa said. "Do we just open each door one by one and hope we find them?"

"Unless any of us has a better idea, yes," Hanji told them. Mikasa nodded and walked straight up to one of the doors. Hanji tossed her the card, and she opened it. The room inside had steel walls and floor as well, and in the center was what looked like a dentist's chair. 

The other rooms were all the same. Empty, some with the chair, some just storage closets. They weren't sure how long they were down there, but it felt like an eternity.

They stood outside one particular door, and unlocked it. This one was not like the other rooms, because there was someone strapped to the chair. Someone beaten and bloody and brunet.

And Mikasa was at his side in a flash, taking the straps off him and holding his hand.

"Eren, listen, I'm here, it's okay, baby," she said softly. She heard him make some sort of pained moan, and she cupped his face. With his now free hand, he reached and put his hand on top of hers. She grabbed it and smiled at him.

"We're going to get you out of here," Armin said, undoing the straps that kept his legs tied to the chair. With his other hand, Eren held his hand, and smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry," he said, quietly, his voice hoarse. "I didn't mean to tell her."

"It's not your fault. You were being tortured," Hanji said. She came to his side as well. "I'm sorry for putting you into this mess."

Armin finally finished taking the bonds off, and Hanji and Mikasa picked Eren up, one arm draped over each shoulder.

"Are we going to bring him back to the car?" Armin asked them.

"No," Mikasa said, sharply. "We're going to bring Annie back as well."

Eren murmured something that sounded like a question.

"Yeah, Donovan Tech got to her," Armin told him. "But we've already broken in, so we're going to rescue her as well as you, then maybe tell the police."

"What, and risk having Annie get taken into government custody and get tested on, possibly be eaten provided that the government has any of the serum, which we know they do?" Mikasa asked sarcastically. Hanji beamed at her with pride.

"Then we'll protect her," Armin said, swiping the key card and checking the next room, which was empty. So was the next, and the ones after that. Then, finally, they opened a door to reveal Annie, tied to a chair. Mikasa dropped Eren's arm and ran to her side, untying the bonds the same way she had with Eren.

"You came," Annie said, smiling in disbelief. When her hands were free, she grabbed the sides of Mikasa's face and kissed her. Mikasa tucked some stray pieces of hair behind Annie's ears.

"You're bleeding," Mikasa commented. Annie frowned at her. She looked surprised.

"I am?" 

Mikasa was going to speak further, but the clicking of a gun distracted her. She turned around to see a woman standing in the doorway, two armed guards flanking her. She had a smug grin on her face. The guards had their guns aimed towards the five of them.

"Come, now, don't act so surprised," the woman said. "You knew we knew you were coming. Your little bird sung quite loudly when we put him under pressure."

They looked to Eren, who had a faraway look of guilt on his face.