Mistake

Annie's POV

"Armin?" I questioned

"Sorry, but is it okay if we uh talk about something?" asked Armin

I didn't know what to say but I sighed and let him in.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" I asked

"It's about Eren." said Armin

"It's been a year since we last talked about him." I said, "You've been meeting me quite often."

"I uhh just wanted to talk." said Armin

He seemed flustered and I was sincerely confused.

"Armin, you're not..." I whispered

"Not what?" asked Armin

He looked at me and his cheeks were slightly pink.

'What the heck.'

"About Eren, I just think that I can't seem to let go of him." said Armin, "Did you?"

"No, there's still love for him in my heart." I replied, "You want anything?"

"No, it's fine." said Armin

Armin sighed and took a seat at the dinner table.

"Annie, I wanted to talk to you about this for a long time but I didn't know how to say it." said Armin

"Talk to me about what?" I asked as I took a seat on the other side of the table.

"I saw Bertholdt's memories, how you weren't really loyal to Marley and how Bertholdt saw you." said Armin, "I understand how you must have felt during your warrior mission to recapture the founding titan."

I looked at Armin and raised an eyebrow.

"It was all understandable, how you had to kill all those people. I didn't understand why you were so distant with us back during training camp but I understand now." said Armin

I felt some kind of weird throbbing in my heart, like a stress free feeling.

"You wanted someone to understand you." said Armin

"You're not wrong." I replied

"Eren understood you." said Armin, "But now that he's gone, you feel like you're back to stage one."

I began playing with my fingers.

"I want to help you get rid of the feeling of loneliness." said Armin

My eyes slightly widened but went back to their normal size.

"Armin, you're a good person." I said, "Thank you."

"Mom!"

I gasped and jerked up when Ashley and Joshua came barging into the house through the front door. Ashley and Brooks saw Armin and their smiles slowly disappeared.

"Sir?" questioned Ashley

"Oh hey you two, I didn't expect you two to be here." said Armin

"Yea, we got a break." said Ashely but she eyes me and she looked really confused.

"I'm glad you two made it back home safely." I said

But Brooks looked disappointed so he just grabbed his stuff and went upstairs without saying anything.

"I'll get going." said Armin

"Okay, and thanks." I replied

Armin smiled before leaving.

"Mom?" questioned Ashley

"Yes? Are you okay? The trip must have been hard for-"

"Mom, what was that?" asked Ashley

"He wanted to talk about Eren." I said

"No he was not."

I turned and Brooks came down the stairs looking a bit agitated.

"What were you two really doing?" asked Brooks

"What are you trying to say?" I asked

"Aren't Bertholdt's memories fucking up Armin's memories?" asked Brooks

"Brooks watch your language." I said

"No don't tell me to watch anything when clearly you never watched over us!" yelled Brooks

My eyes widened and I felt my head spin.

"Brooks!" yelled Ashley, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Are you seriously going to pretend that dad never existed and go to-"

"Your father is fucking dead!" I yelled

Brooks' eyes widened and I felt tears rush out of my eyes.

"Yes it's my fucking fault that your father died but how much more are you going to go keep reminding me about it huh?!" I yelled, "I failed not just as a wife but as a mother but I don't want to run away from that."

"So you're just going to forget about dad?" asked Brooks

"I'm not saying I'm going to forget about him, I'm saying that I won't let it hurt me anymore." I replied

I wiped my tears and rubbed my eyes.

"I'm sorry, both of you, for not protecting your dad when I should have. And I'm sorry for using your dad's death as an excuse to exclude you from my life." I said

Brooks looked calm and looked like he had some sympathy.

"I'm sorry." I apologized

I took a seat on the couch and Ashley and Brooks awkwardly began to put their belongings away.

"I heard about the nuke." I said, "Are you two okay?"

"We weren't part of the raid but Keegan was." replied Ashley

My eyes widened in shock.

"He was the only survivor." said Ashley, "But he's in Sentinel now."

I sighed in relief.

"I'm glad." I whispered

Keegan's POV

"You have your first mission." said Kraken

'Yes, this is my calling.'

"We found out how the Taliban got the nuke." said Kraken

"Who?" asked Reaper

"A man named Michail Antonov, he's a dealer who has a huge private army." said Kraken, "He's in Russia so we're going to go stealth."

"Do we kill him on sight?" asked Reaper

"Is that a question?" I asked, "Of course we kill him."

"No, our orders are to bring him in alive." said Kraken

"What why? Because of him he killed over 130,000 people and he deserves to die." I said

"We follow command, I want to kill him too but we need to know how he got the nukes." said Kraken, "We only have the clear to kill him if we get intel without using him."

I was in shock, why are we not killing someone who killed over 130,000 people. He deserves death, immediate death he doesn't deserve to step on the earth.

"Let's get ready to leave." said Kraken

I nodded and we began to gear up.

"Remember, do not do anything without my permission. Even if you have permission do not take the shot if you think you can't." said Kraken, "Stay behind me and stick close. The mission is our responsibility but you two are my responsibility."

"Yes sergeant." Reaper and I replied

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day

Keegan's POV

"Easy now..." whispered Kraken

He stabbed the hostile in the neck and threw his body into a ditch.

"The entrance is down there." said Kraken as he pointed down the cliff.

"They're making nukes inside a mountain?" I questioned

"We don't know." said Kraken

We attached hooks into the ground and hooked ourselves onto some ropes.

"I'll go first." said Kraken

He jumped off the cliff and stopped and began to slowly walk down. Reaper and I did the same and we were walking on the side of the cliff.

"Three guards, I'll take the middle. You two pick one." said Kraken

I went to the left guard while Reaper took the right. I pulled out my knife and quietly and slowly walked down.

"Now." whispered Kraken

I jumped off and pounced on the guard, covering his mouth and stabbing his heart. He squirmed around for a while until he stopped moving. I got off of him and dragged his body into some bushes on the side.

"Military gear, who are we dealing with?" asked Reaper

"I've never seen this kind of gear or style. It might just be some advanced mercenary group." said Kraken

"HCLI?" I questioned

"Possibly." replied Kraken, "Let's go."

We didn't have invisibility cloaks so we had to be really careful and stick to the shadows.

We entered the cave and in front of Kraken was a mercenary looking at CCTV cameras in a bunch of small outdated tv screens.

"Large group heading our way." whispered Kraken

We quickly hid behind a few boxes and watched as a group of mercenaries passed by. They were talking in Russian and they looked like they were in a hurry.

Once they passed we moved out of cover and Kraken pulled out a small throwing knife and threw it at the guard looking at the screens. He quickly hides the body and we keep moving deep into the cave.

"Shhh, there's a group of mercenaries who look like they're having fun." said Kraken, "Nice and fast, move to the other side."

Kraken went first and in less than a second he jumped and rolled on the ground without making a noise. He hid behind a rock and he signaled Reaper to come next. She did the same thing, quiet and elegant. I went next so I did the same thing but mine made a noise getting some of the mercenaries' attention.

The mercenaries turned off the tv and began to grab their guns. I was getting worried and anxious about the whole situation. Kraken signaled us to stay quiet and not move. The mercenaries slowly approached our position and my heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to burst.

But then I heard shouting and the group of mercenaries all started barking and yelling at each other and they ran out the other way. I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed my heart.

"They found the bodies, let's go." said Kraken

We continued to go through the cave until we got to this opening where there was a plastic strip curtain door. We walked through it and my eyes widened when I saw multiple large boxes stacked on top of each other. My visors scanned the insides and it contained missiles of every kind but most of them were cluster missiles.

"Cluster missiles, banned in the US military except for us." said Kraken, "How did they make it?"

I saw a computer to the side but just as I was about to open it Reaper stopped me.

"Look, a piece of hair on the computer." said Reaper

"So?" I questioned

"Do you not remember the basics? Some people put a piece of hair on parts of objects. If the hair is removed they know someone touched it." said Reaper

"Oh." I simply replied, a bit disappointed at myself.

"Good find, let's just scan it." said Kraken, "Reaper, cover our six."

He used his hologram watch and began scanning the computer.

"Done, mission's over. Let's go." said Kraken

"What about Michail?" I asked

"We haven't seen him so let's leave." said Kraken

"But-"

"Sergeant." called out Reaper

I began hearing distant voices getting louder.

"Hide." said Kraken

I quickly hid behind a box before a group of mercenaries entered this place. I used my visor to start translating what they were saying.

"Are you sure no one is here?" asked a mercenary

"I'm sure, no one was caught in our cameras." replied another

"Good find out who infiltrated our cave and killed them. We cannot allow anyone to know about us." said the first mercenary

"But sir, they're going to be on our ass after the nuke in Afghanistan." said a third mercenary

"I know, but they won't find us. We're well hidden and there's no possible way for them to find us." said the second man

I peeked over the box and I saw a man who stood out from the rest. I scanned his face and he was Michail Antonov.

"Don't do anything." whispered Kraken through my headset

But I had other ideas, the target was right in front of me so I pulled out my knife and got ready to throw it at him.

"Scarecrow, don't do it." whispered Kraken, "That's an order."

"He's right in front of us. I'm not letting this opportunity go to waste." I whispered back

"Scarecrow don't-"

I got up and threw the knife at Michail but I missed and it hit a mercenary instead.

'Oh shit.'

Reaper and Scarecrow begin firing at the mercenaries but Michail was able to run out of the room.

"Scarecrow I told you to stand down!" yelled Kraken

"Fuck." I groaned

But then the loud speaker turned on and someone was shouting through it.

"Oh fuck, they're coming for us." said Kraken, "Follow my fucking orders next time."