Distant Echoes

by AlfaVictor

Summary:

Annie wasn’t fast enough, and Armin paid the price. And when she kneeled over his body, wailing, willing him to come back, she closes her eyes… and wakes up in Stohess.
-
Armin is assassinated. Annie gets sent back in time.

Notes:

I would recommend reading the previous works in this series, Absent Plans and Full Hearts, to get some of the previous characterization for these characters.

It’s a time-travel fic. I take some liberties as far as character locations to fulfill the plot, so technically it’s an AU and a time-travel fic.

She hadn’t been fast enough.

Annie knew she was excellent at combat, at violence. She had been molded, sharpened into a capable weapon by her father and Marley. Bones broken and sprained so many times that they had healed harder and stronger at contact points. Skin tough and calloused. Practice and drills had toned her muscles perfectly to execute kicks and strikes, every reaction instinctual and perfect. She was dangerous and lethal with no weapon, just as her father had intended. 

She hadn’t liked the results of her violence, the suffering that it had caused to people she now considered her friends. And after so much violence and suffering, she had achieved her dream of becoming an ordinary person living a peaceful life, well, as peaceful as this world could support.

But she couldn’t deny that violence was a part of who she was. That when she returned to it, everything clicked back into place comfortingly, like how her old hoodie fit on her.

Being an ambassador was not risk-free. They had all known it when they signed up for the job. Whether it be Jaegerists wanting to take revenge on the people who had stopped their idol, Eren Yeager from achieving a glorious Paradisan victory, or the countless grieving radicals who wanted to kill the Eldian scum who had caused so much destruction throughout history, someone was always trying to kill them. And without the presence of her ring and the knowledge it brought that she had the power of a super weapon in her palm, or the comforting weight of ODM gear on her hips, Annie knew that her group, her family, were more vulnerable than ever. 

They had managed. Between the now defunct Warriors of Marley and the most seasoned members the Survey Corps had to offer, they made a formidable group. More than enough to handle small isolated, desperate, almost laughable attempts. But the attempts got more organized and more elaborate, and it would only take one to slip through the cracks.

They were holding negotiations in Paradis with Queen Historia. She would always be Krista to Annie, but Annie made sure to use proper titles to avoid a scandal. Something about trade negotiations with Marley and immigration reforms. Annie had lost interest relatively quickly, returning to her old habits, feeling on edge while watching the crowd. A flash of silver caught her eye, and instinctively she ran forward, smoothly dodging the knife strike, grabbing the arm that held it and snapping it in two. The attacker, a military aged man, maybe five inches taller than her screamed in agony. Scanning again, she saw his companion, beginning to draw a pistol, a Mauser she identified, probably cloned from the Marleyan defectors. She closed the distance before the attacker could fully draw, smacked the pistol out of his hands, and used his weight against him, flipping him onto the ground face first. Absently, she noticed Connie rushing to her side to secure the first attacker, Pieck moving to evacuate the rest of the diplomats, before two shots rang out, thunderous echoes bouncing off the walls of the room. Annie looked over to see the shooter being tackled by members of the royal guard, but the screaming didn’t seem to stop. 

“Armin!” Reiner's shout was tinged with worry. Annie felt a coldness wash over her, fear. Something she hadn’t felt that in a very long time. Running over to the mass of people crowding over to a rapidly expanding pool of blood, her vision narrowed, hearing getting more and more muffled.

Tunnel vision, a voice chided. You’re losing situational awareness . Someone in the crowd around the pool of blood, Jean, Annie absently identified, noticed her, gently pulling others away to clear her a path.

There in the middle of the pool of blood lay Armin. Panic immediately gripped Annie. “Get help!” she commanded, moving closer to try to staunch the bleeding from the wound in his abdomen. Why wasn’t anyone doing anything ? Her movements halted when her eyes tracked away from the abdomen and to Armin’s face. 

His beautiful blue eyes, usually filled with such intelligence and kindness, lay open and blank. His hair, coated in blood, brain, and bits of bone. And on his forehead, where she had placed countless loving kisses before they fell asleep, was an ugly, misshapen hole. Everything stopped for Annie, she could not feel a single sensation other than the wrong, wrong image in front of her. 

He’s dead . The analytical voice that kept her alive in combat pointed out. Probably dead before he even hit the floor.  

“Armin?” Annie pleaded, dropping to her knees, putting her hands on his shoulders as if to shake him awake.

He’s dead, dead people don’t usually respond.

“Armin, please!” tingles ran up of every nerve fiber, this was so very wrong. Annie half picked Armin up, his head lolling backward limply, trying to embrace him as if that would change the current situation. Not you. Never you. Please not you too

Distantly, Annie noticed someone trying to pry her off Armin, someone gently whispering something in her ear. She wailed, something raw and primal. All of her dreams, her wishes, her love, all gone. It should have been me. I should have protected you. I promised Mikasa I would protect you. She gripped tighter, burying her face into her chest, expecting to hear a heartbeat like she had countless times before. Only silence greeted her. She screamed again, mixing with her sobs, not feeling anything except the fire of grief. Screwing her eyes shut, she noticed she was crying. Please please please please please not him. Anyone but him. Any rational thought was beginning to leave her. Please please please please please please please please—

---

Something shifted, pulling from inside her, a bright flash of lightning that she could notice even with her closed eyes. 

Annie opened her eyes, gasping, doubling over, instinctively gripping her knees, heartbeat wildly pounding in her ears. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the blurriness out of her vision. Looking at her feet, she noticed she wasn’t exactly wearing her Ambassador uniform. Is that ODM gear?

“Hey! Are you okay? The carriages are going to be here at any minute!” She looked to her right and saw a soldier wearing a Paradisan uniform, emblazoned with the now defunct military police crest. What? “Sharpen up already!”

Annie unsteadily pulled herself up, looking around. Packed houses, cobblestone streets. Just like Stohess . She warily looked upward, dreading what she was going to see. Walls that towered over her, filled with a terrible secret. She looked down to see what she was wearing. A military police uniform with a rifle slung over her shoulder. Is this real? A dream? A nightmare? Punishment for letting Armin die?

The clattering of the horses warned her, and she instinctively joined the other soldiers in saluting the carriage. Her thoughts were swarming around her head, disjointed. Armin is dead. Armin is dead. Armin is dead because of me. But if I’m here, right now, that means…

Annie hadn’t noticed the carriages moving past her, the rest of the MP corps running to follow. But she did notice her name whispered from one of the many alleyways. “ Annie .”

She froze, swallowing down all the grief that came bubbling back up, helped by the relief she felt. He’s alive here. But what should I do? If I ignore him, will he live? Can I escape? Do I even deserve to see him? But…

Another, more insistent call out. “Annie!” She breathed. She was weak, and the temptation to see him, just once more, alive and breathing still won out. Shakily, Annie began to move toward the voice. Turning the corner, Armin, now about as tall as her, greeted her “Hey. You’re really a part of the Military Police Brigade now, huh.”

A prayer fell from her lips. “Armin.” She tried to take in the sight of him, but he was different. With his bowl cut haircut covered by a raincoat, more boyish features, and an expression that wasn’t the usual adoration that she saw directed at her, rather, a tense, conflicted determination. Right. It wasn’t him. He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t love me. Right now, he’s looking at the Female Titan. Annie tried to push down how utterly alone she suddenly felt.

Distantly, Annie realized she hadn’t responded yet, the silence dragging. Armin seemed to become more nervous, before saying, “I need your help, Annie.”

“Anything,” she easily replied. 

Armin looked a bit taken a back at that answer. “Will you give us a hand in helping Eren escape?”

“Okay,” Annie answered, barely listening. “Lead the way.”  

Armin seemed to stop in surprise, thrown for a loop. Despite the circumstances, Annie had to suppress a teasing laugh. Anyone else probably would have thought Armin was still put together, but she had learned his tells over the years. Armin was very clearly scrambling; things not going the way he was expecting. “Aren’t you going to ask about the plan?” Armin asked cautiously.

Annie shrugged. The last time she was here, she had been trying to gauge Armin’s intentions. Trying to figure out whether she had been discovered, and whether she should take this opportunity to capture Eren. She had guessed right, that Armin had always known what she was, but a part of her wanted him to think of her as a good person, and she had to take the chance to capture Eren to go home. “I assume you have one. You probably need me to get through the checkpoints, right?” 

Armin blinked. “Yeah, that’s right. Just…” Armin seemed to uncomfortably shift his weight, “You’re not usually this easy to convince to help out.”

And what could she say to that? That she had promised him, four years from now, under the moonlight at the crumbled remnants of the world, that she would be there for him always? That she had already failed one of his promises to him and couldn’t bear failing another? That she knew he was walking her into a trap, but she would do it over and over again if it meant keeping him safe? Annie took in a breath, clearing her thoughts. “Let’s go Armin.”

She unslung and unloaded her rifle, placing it leaning on a wall. Little good it would do compared to her titan powers. Annie hesitated, before putting her ring on her trigger finger. A last resort, if she needed to crystallize again. She didn’t miss the way Armin carefully eyed the ring. Pride and admiration filled her. He had always been observant, she really had no chance of outsmarting him last time.

As Annie followed Armin, she desperately tried to think of a plan. Could she change things, save people? But if she changed things, there’s no telling what would happen. What if one of her changes got Armin killed even earlier? Gritting her teeth with frustration, she wished that Armin was here. Her Armin. He would know what to do, he would be able to save everyone, maybe prevent the rumbling. 

If I make a break for it now, I can probably make it out with my ODM gear. Get to the wall, as high as I can, and transform. It’ll probably be safer for everyone involved. But what would I do after? What could I even do? What if something changes and Armin gets hurt?

Annie cut herself off. She only had one mission objective now. Keep Armin alive. And there was only one, sure fire way to do that. Swallowing down the dread of reentering the crystal, Annie reminded herself of why she was doing this. Kind, brilliant eyes, always attentive. Brave, inquisitive, intelligent. Arms that would hold her during her worst nightmares, or to remind her where home was. She focused on her plan. Once the flare was fired, she was going to try to get as far away from Armin as possible before transforming. She’d probably try to put up some weak excuse of a fight, trying to stay away from any of the scouts, before crystallizing herself. 

Eren and Mikasa appeared to join Armin and her. Eren and Armin were talking about the laxness of the MPs or something similar, but Annie could only focus on Armin. If she was going to commit herself to the isolation again, she wanted to absorb as much of him as possible. To remember everything about him to get her through the darkness. His blonde hair that would change to frame his face handsomely. A jawline that would sharpen and that she would tenderly explore countless times. A posture that would become straighter and more confident. 

“Hey Annie, are you okay? Do I have something on my face?” Armin had noticed her staring. Unbidden, a blush rose to her cheeks and she looked away. She caught Mikasa’s eye, who was thoughtfully looking at her. The rest of the walk passed in tense silence. And far too soon, they had arrived at the staircases.

“Well, we’ll pass through here” Armin’s voice seemed tentative. “It’s what remains of an underground city that they were planning to build way back when. If I’m right, it’ll lead us to the vicinity of the outer gate.”

“Nice work, Armin, that’s amazing!” Eren hastily agreed, following him down. Annie smirked. He was such a bad liar. Mikasa seemed to turn around contemplatively, before following Armin and Eren down the steps. Annie stood still at the top of the staircase, a tired acceptance beginning to fill her. 

The trio paused when they noticed she wasn’t following. Eren turned around, teasing, levity forced into his voice, “What’s the matter, Annie? You’re not scared of dark, cramped spaces, are you?” Annie bit her lip. She had missed Eren, the suicidal blockhead. The reckless and brave boy who hated the Titans and wanted to liberate humanity. Who became someone who was willing to do monstrous things to ensure the safety of his friends. Someone she had both scorned and respected.

But there wasn’t any time to figure anything out. There was never any time. Annie sighed. “I think you know why I can’t go down there, Armin.” Armin met her eyes, horror and curiosity in them. She looked away, she couldn’t bear that look. Those eyes would always mean something different to her. 

Eren yelled back, desperation in his voice. “What the hell are you doing? Quit screwing around and get over here!” He took a couple steps up, as if wanting to pull her down. “Don’t make those kinds of jokes. You can prove something just by stepping down here!”

Even now, when every fact pointed at her, Eren was still trying to desperately believe that she was innocent, that she was on their side. “I’m sorry, Eren,” Annie said. I’m sorry that I’m not doing a thing to save you. I have someone I need to protect.

“Please, let’s talk, Annie!” Armin pleaded. “We can work this out. Trust me!”

Annie felt the urge to look at Armin one last time, a cocktail of feelings–grief, love, shame, affection–beginning to overwhelm her. There was so much she wanted to express and no time to do it. “Why is it me, Armin?”

Armin’s anxiousness seemed to be split by confusion. “What?”

“It should have been you,” Annie continued, realizing she was making very little sense to this version of Armin. “If you were here, where I’m standing right now, you’d make the right choices. You’d know what to do.” Annie choked back a sob. “But I’m not you. It should have been you.” She had so many things she wanted to say, but couldn’t, not without changing what would happen irreparably. I love you. I should have been the one to die . I’m sorry for being a failure, for not protecting you. I’m not going to let it happen again. Resigned, Annie tried to take a deep breath in preparation for what came next. “Fire the flare, Armin,” her tone reverting to the flat, emotionless one she had held for so much of her life. A shield to prevent any feeling, any reaction. “You know it’s what you have to do.” She turned her eyes skyward, flicking open the blade on her ring, and waited for the violence to begin.   

She waited, and waited, and waited. Instead of the whoosh of the flare, all she heard was clattering coming from the stairs. She instinctively turned toward it, and found Armin running toward her, arms outstretched. Probably the weirdest fighting form that she had ever seen, she had time to muse, before realizing that Armin was actively sabotaging her plan – she couldn’t transform with him so close. Gripping the handles of her ODM gear, Annie turned sharply, ready to launch the hooks. But Armin was faster, slamming into her with a …hug? She really could only blink, arms pinned to her side with the force of the hug. Annie tried to look at him to figure out what was going on, but he had already buried his face into her neck.

“I told you to fire the flare, not drop it,” Annie deadpanned, trying not to hope, to not melt into Armin’s embrace as was instinct. 

Armin seemed to chuckle weakly at that. “You’re not supposed to boss me around like that yet.” He brought his face out of her shoulder, meeting her gaze, now with a familiar, protective, adoring gaze. It was different, a distant part of Annie noted, not having to look up at him while being so close. Then, the rest of Annie’s brain caught up. Yet? This time, she couldn’t stop the hope from blossoming in her chest.

“Armin.” Her voice was choked by emotion, a tone almost like she was an acolyte worshiping something precious. 

“Annie.” She had always loved how he said her name, like it was something to be admired. It’s him. He’s alive. I’m not alone. Annie wanted to laugh and sob in relief, moving her hands to return his embrace. Her mouth moved, but there were no words to express what she was feeling right now. He’s alive. He’s alive. He’s mine and he’s alive. And then she looked over his shoulder and couldn’t stop herself from breaking into probably insane sounding laughter, a way to express everything that had bubbled up in her.

Eren looked flabbergasted, like she and Armin had grown three extra heads. “Armin, what are you doing!? Get away from her! Annie’s the female titan!” Eren began to start running, probably to pull Armin back, before Mikasa grabbed his shoulder, holding him firmly. Annie really looked at Mikasa now, and found her hands relaxed and empty, and face full of pride, relief, and confidence. Reminding Annie of a conversation eight years from now, in a different lifetime, where she had promised to protect Armin with her life. Her joy faded, turning into a rock of guilt deep in her stomach. I’m sorry, Mikasa. I didn’t protect him.  

But the oriental girl just smiled back, knowing and supportive. You’re protecting him now.

Annie turned her attention back to Armin, whispering in his ear urgently. “He’s right, you know. You’ve got to get away from me. You’re going to be named as an accomplice, and I can’t shift with you this close.” 

At that, Armin seemed to tighten his grip. “What were you planning to do, Annie?” Armin seemed to scan her face, looking for something.

Annie swallowed, shame filling her. She had been planning to do so little, change so little. “Whatever it took to keep you alive,” she whispered.

Armin seemed to realize what she meant, expression hardening in determination and resolve. “I won’t let them hurt you. I can’t let you go through that again.” A part of her melted at that, at the care he had always shown her. Another part screamed in frustration.

“Armin,” Annie warned. The scouts lying in wait were no doubt about to attack, and she had no way of ensuring his safety. He was in more danger now than he had been five minutes ago, when he was on the side trying to capture her.  As if synced to her thoughts, the sound of ODM gear firing echoed throughout the air. 

Commands echoed out. “Armin, step away from Annie!” She turned toward the threat, hand going toward her blades. Identifying the attackers as Jean and Connie with swords drawn, of course it was them, Annie resolved to try to disarm them. 

“Annie, release Armin!” It did probably look like she was taking hostages, Annie accepted. But before she could take any further action, they seemed to stop, faces of surprise and shock on their faces. They must have made a strange sight, the unapproachable Annie Leonhart and the bookish Armin Arlert hugging like they were old lovers.

But maybe they weren’t such a strange sight to Jean and Connie after all, as Jean’s face seemed to fill with relief and cautious optimism. “Annie!” he called out cautiously, “Had a change of heart, yeah? No longer want to be the Female Titan?” Annie opened her mouth to reply, to identify herself, but the shit-eating expression on Connie’s face made her stop. Don’t you dare.     

“You fell for the dashing Paradisan Commander, right, Annie?” Connie was grinning now, his voice already full of poorly disguised laughter. 

Annie turned away, making a rude gesture with her hands, and responded in the only way she knew how, “Fuck off, Connie.” Laughter, full of relief, was their only reply, as they ran up to Armin and Annie, grinning. Both of them embraced Armin tightly, unwilling to let go. Mikasa walked up calmly, joining them, while Eren seemed to trail behind, still looking like the world was ending in front of him.

“Guys, I hope that this isn’t just a dream,” Connie expressed the entire group’s wishes.

“I don’t think it is,” Armin replied, “This feels too real.” Annie gripped him tighter at that. It better not be just a dream. She looked at Mikasa, catching her eye, before teasingly tilting her head toward Eren. A deep red blush coated Mikasa’s face. 

More ODM gear firing alerted her to danger, sudden fear gripping her. Annie reflexively covered her nape, as much good that would be now. It was the Ackerman, Levi, looking at the group with an analytical eye, but also with fondness. “All units stand down!” He commanded. “This operation is called off.” The other scouts, lying in wait, started leaving their hiding places, walking toward them. 

Annie recognized one of them, a spectacled woman with crazy hair, the one that died at Odiha. Lacking the eye patch Annie had seen last time. “Levi! Want to explain what this is about?”

Levi seemed to almost ignore her, walking toward the group. “I’ll explain later, four-eyes,” he dismissed. He cast a judgmental gaze on the group. “You brats couldn’t do this more discretely?” 

Armin could only shrug at that, turning toward the Captain and promising, “We’ll make it right this time, Captain Levi.”

Levi held his gaze, giving a small nod before holding his fist in front of his heart in a salute. “I would expect no less, Commander Arlert.”

Notes:

This fic was inspired by some fanart I saw by Bella (@_superspicy) on Twitter/X. I can’t link the art directly since they privated their account, but basically it’s the confrontation in Stohess, Annie is like “Why’d you wait for a month to report me,” and Armin is like “Why’d you spare me” and they both look at each other and confess their love. Obviously, no way for that to happen in canon or even any reasonable AU, but what if it was time travel?

I’m unfortunately a sucker for time travel fics, especially where only one side of the pairing goes back. I think it leads to a lot of natural angst, especially if there are feelings involved. There’s actually a surprisingly few amount of AruAni ones, maybe 2? Unfortunately, I lack the indepth knowledge of the AoT plot to write a convincing multichapter time travel fic, so a quick self-contained oneshot it is. Checking the wiki, I realized that Jean and Connie couldn’t canonically be present for this situation, but after writing their interactions with Annie in Full Hearts I wanted to include them somehow, so AU!

I’m not as happy with this fic as I was with the first chapter of Absent Plans or Full Hearts. It’s kind of the first time I’ve tried to work with any plot elements at all, and I think it shows. Namely, I struggled really hard to find a reason to get Annie back to the staircase for the dramatic finale. It really doesn’t make the hugest amount of sense for Annie to let herself get led back into the trap, so I have this relatively weak reason of Annie prioritizing Armin’s life above all else. If I hadn’t set those constraints, I would have probably had Annie try to escape, or have her surrender, but that would be an entirely different type of fic that would need to be explored further with many more chapters. I considered plopping Annie back in the past right at the staircase, but that I think the buildup is critical. Also, she goes quite OOC imo near the end of the fic, when the dramatic tension is decreased. I’m happy enough with the fic until Armin reveals that he also traveled back in time, I couldn’t figure out a good satisfying way to convey all of Annie’s emotions and her reaction.

Anyway, let me know how early you figured out that Armin had come back too. I wanted to hint at it, but I made it pretty obvious, I think. Basically, Armin is trying to gauge whether Annie has come back too, and given it’s Armin, he memorized everything she had said the first time around because of guilt and his general simpiness. Which is why there’s this contrast of Armin trying to stay perfectly on script and Annie just being like yep, let’s go, I’m with you the whole way. And Mikasa is sitting here wondering “Did Annie always make goo goo eyes at Armin? I don’t remember that.”
I also noticed I made Annie way more spaced out this time, with like different parts of her brain noting different things. I think it’s fine for this fic, traumatic events and all that.

Thanks for reading, and as always, I welcome any and all feedback.

Find me on Tumblr @alfavictor
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Series this work belongs to:

• Part 17 of Dull Eyes, Lethal People