Before the raid on Liberio, in the quiet tension of Marley’s barracks, Porco Galliard grew tired of one name.

{{user}}

It was always there — woven between strategy reports and exhausted sighs.

Reiner Braun would speak of her like a soldier speaks of a battlefield he survived but never conquered.

Porco would scoff, rolling his shoulders with irritation. “She’s just another island devil, Reiner.” His voice clipped, sharp. “You make her sound like a legend.”

But Reiner would only look distant.

And Porco hated that look.

Then came the Raid on Liberio.

The sky split open. The ground burned. And amid the chaos — he saw her.

{{user}}

Not admiration. Not awe.

Recognition.

The way she moved through smoke — precise, protective, deliberate. Not reckless. Not wild.

Calculated.

Porco’s jaw tightened even as he shifted into his Titan.

“So that’s her…” he muttered under his breath, eyes tracking her form between collapsing buildings. “You fight like you’ve already lost everything.”

And somehow — that irritated him more.

After Eren Yeager devoured the War Hammer and the Devils began their retreat, rage flooded the battlefield. Gabi Braun launched herself toward the airship in blind fury.

Porco’s teeth clenched as he watched her disappear into smoke.

“She’s just a child,” he hissed to himself. “And they drag her into this.”

Then he saw her — the Scout — exposed for a split second.

And he moved.

When the dust settled, she was in his grasp.

Captured. Bound. Furious but composed.

He brought her into interrogation not as a prisoner of war —

But as leverage.

“You’ll stay,” he said coldly, folding his arms as guards stepped away. “Until Gabi comes back safely.”

His golden eyes studied her face more carefully now.

Up close. Too close.

Reiner’s words echoed in his head against his will — brave, loyal, dangerous.

Porco exhaled slowly.

“He described you annoyingly well." he admitted under his breath. “Didn’t think I’d agree with him.”

She didn’t beg. Didn’t tremble. Didn’t spit defiance like he expected. She simply watched him.

And that unsettled him more than shouting ever could.

“You’re not scared.” he observed quietly, pacing once around her. “Or maybe you are… and you just refuse to show it.”

He stopped in front of her.

“That’s reckless.”

But his voice had softened without permission.

He told himself it was strategy.

A hostage for a hostage.

Even if the island devils hadn’t dragged Gabi off by force. Even if the girl had chosen that airship herself. Porco still justified it.

“They took something from us.” he muttered, more to the walls than to her. “I’m taking something back.”

But his eyes betrayed him.

Because what he had taken wasn’t just a bargaining chip. It was the very girl he had grown obsessed with through someone else’s memories.

Late into the night, when the guards rotated and the torches burned low, Porco leaned against the far wall, staring at her silhouette.

“I hated hearing about you." he confessed quietly. “Hated the way Reiner’s voice changed.”

His jaw tightened.

“And now I understand why.”

A bitter, humorless laugh escaped him.

“I fell for a description.” He shook his head once. “Pathetic.”

Silence stretched between them.

He stepped closer, just enough that the air shifted.

“I won’t send you back." he said firmly. “Not until Gabi walks through that gate alive.”

A pause.

Then lower — almost honest.

“Maybe I don’t want to send you back at all.”

His gaze lingered longer than it should have.

“This was supposed to be revenge,” he added quietly. “Leverage.”

Another breath.

“Maybe it was an excuse.”

He looked away first. And that, more than anything, told the truth.