Barracks. Midnight. The storm hadn't stopped.
Annie didn't sleep. She rarely did after field ops — not because of the danger, but because her mind wouldn't go quiet.
That look Mikasa gave her in the woods — like she'd seen something — had burrowed too deep. And Mikasa hadn't even said a word about it.
She didn't need to.
Annie stared at the ceiling until she heard it — two faint taps against her door. Not hesitant. Just... careful.
She opened the door slowly.
Mikasa stood there — cloak gone, boots damp, the black of her shirt clinging to her skin. She didn't say anything. Her eyes swept over Annie once — no warmth, no invitation.
Just a question she wasn't going to ask out loud.
Annie didn't invite her in. Mikasa walked in anyway.
The door shut.
Silence filled the room like smoke.
Annie stayed where she was, arms crossed.
"You've been watching me," Mikasa said flatly. No accusation in her voice — just fact.
Annie tilted her head. "You came all the way here just to say that?"
Mikasa's eyes didn't leave hers. "I don't like distractions during operations."
"And I don't like being handled like one of your recruits."
"You're not."
Mikasa took a slow step forward.
"You're worse."
Annie's mouth twitched — not a smile, but close.
"You think you've figured me out?"
"No." Another step. "But I don't need to. I know what people become when they're cornered. And you — you're already pressing against the walls."
Annie stood straighter, jaw tight. "What do you want from me?"
Mikasa stopped close enough that Annie could feel the space between them stretch thin.
"You disobeyed. You were reckless." Her voice was low now, dangerous. "And I should have disciplined you in front of everyone."
"But you didn't."
Mikasa's eyes narrowed.
"No," she said. "I wanted to see what you'd do next."
The room was thick with heat and tension, neither of them breaking gaze.
"Go ahead," Annie said, voice flat but trembling at the edges. "Whatever you came here for, get it over with."
"I didn't come here to touch you," Mikasa said, stepping even closer. "I came to see if you'd finally show your hand."
Annie's jaw locked. Her fingers curled against her arms, but she didn't move.
Mikasa looked her over once more, eyes calm, calculating.
"Still hiding," Mikasa muttered, almost to herself. "Pathetic."
And then she turned.
"Try to sleep," Mikasa said at the door. "We move at dawn. I don't want excuses."
The door closed behind her — quiet, precise — like she hadn't come at all.
But the heat she left behind stayed.