First off, super sorry for the late chapter! (Months off schedule) XD Just couldn't seem to pick up the story from where I left off, but now that I've had waaaay too long to think, I know where I'm going! I'm going to try and make chapters longer, and although I can't promise they'll be fore frequent, I'm going to come up with an upload schedule. This chapter would be out sooner, but I had a sudden idea and deleted a lot of it! XD Love you guys! Annie is a character whose head is hard to get into. I love writing Hange, too. She's just an amazing character with so many different moods to try and capture with words. Insane, upset, excited, angry, and my favorite mood of hers is scary Hange. We need more of scary Hange to give use chills, and I hope I've done her right.

I'm not too happy with this chapter... but Im anxious to post, so, here! *throws*It's not too good, and not even proof read very closely. Sorry. XD

Hitch is another one of my fav characters. We don't get to see much of her in the manga or anime, but I love her all the same, even though she can be so mean! Mikasa is another one of those characters that give me trouble, but all together, I love working hard to get them down in writing. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and, once again, sorry for the incredible long wait. If it makes anyone feel better, I am super guilty!

…. Also, things gonna happen next chapter, which I am almost done with.

Oh, and to make this clear, the only ship in this story is Ymir and Krista XD Trying to stay as canon as I can!

Hitch would not stop talking, and Annie was trying to think. Some days, it was a good thing; it provided a distraction from the endless, mind-numbingly bored hours that passed down here, days bleeding into one another, and Hitch occasionally shared some useful information, but it was mostly useless jabber about nothing important, worthless gossip. She had considered that some of the information Hitch said could be a ploy by the Commander to misinform her, but Annie doubted Hitch would be able to play along with that.

Annie had put together that there were two teams of every soldier in the castle, for day and night operations, and usually it was Mikasa or some other soldier she didn't know on guard duty, and when most were out on business, it was Hitch who stood guard. Occasionally, someone she knew, but not often. 8 hours. A full 7 of them full of Hitch's voice, and only in the last hour or so would she shut up. Since she could remember, there had been one goal in her life- complete the mission and return home. It had been drilled into her head, over and over and over again, and part of her was still scheming, looking for a way to succeed, but there were too many variables. Her success had to be clear cut or there was no going for it.

Annie remembered that day, the one right before she would set off outside the walls and capture Eren Jaeger. The thought of more blood on her hands had stuck with her the entire day, but there was always that childish thought… that when she succeeded, every single thing she'd done would just… go away. Not be fixed, just… disappear. She wouldn't be the one who committed those crimes, no, just a person looking in from somewhere else, looking in and feeling nothing. And then there was her father. He'd be proud of her, welcome her home. When everything was over… all would be fine.

Marco. Why was he coming to her mind right now? Reiner had accused her of forming an attachment to the human race, but he had been wrong. Marco was… had been just another human. With silly dreams and ridiculous ambitions to make the world better when in a few years, there would be no more of their world. She had just ended his life sooner… but it wasn't that. Marco was different from the countless others she'd killed, because she knew him. Just like she had known Mina, and only when Annie had stared at their bodies did she realize the cost of this mission. Marco wasn't faceless like everyone else, but that would be the only time she would ever apologize.

Annie had been warned before even entering the walls to not make connections, but part of her had never really believed it would be this hard. Then she found out she realized that this walled world was so messed up, and it was messing her up. Even now, she was no better that anyone. A failed warrior was just as defective as any human.

And there was the fact that, perhaps, there was no where to go anymore if she decided to continue the mission. She was alone it it, too. No matter how she looked at it, there was no way he could succeed as of now or any way in the future.

Annie knew how stupid it was to entertain the idea. She had failed twice already. She was smarter than this, but that part of her that still thought this way saw it as a small break from her unbreaking, stony silence.

Annie would just have to bid her time and wait for any scrap of information. Meanwhile-

"... and then there's Marlowe. Walls, you should see him! He's practically in heaven here, giving commands and actually doing something. I'm amazed he got this many MPs to join him out here. He's got his own squad, can you believe it? Anyway…"

She would not shut up.

Then, as if Hitch had heard Annie's silent complaint, she stopped talking. Silence, finally.

A pair of olive eyes right there.

Annie raised hers to meet Hitch's.

"You look horrible."

It was unexpected, but Annie didn't show a reaction.

"With your hair down like that, you look like a beast. It's worse than your usual sleeping face," Hitch continued, uninterrupted. She started to pace. "I've always said, always said you should do something with it, but not this. Honestly, you look terrifying.'

Annie proved her point with a glare, not bothering to say anything.

"Before, it was usually a mess. I mean, whenever you got up in the morning, but now, I almost wish you'd put it in that lame, half-hearted bun."

Annie waited for Hitch to finish, knowing she would eventually, but her rant was relentless. Why was she treating this like nothing had even happened? Like she wasn't guarding the cell of a mass murderer?

"It just looks awful. The hoodie is bad enough, oh, and where is my thank you for bringing it? I can literally count on one hand, on one hand, the times I've seen you without it. That may be slightly exaggerated, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is how bad you look right now. I've never…"

Annie tuned her out, though Hitch's voice was still present, the annoying buzz of a mosquito. She might have missed tying her hair back, but it was a frivolous request to make, and she still had pride. She didn't feel like herself anymore.

The sound of footsteps, soft clinking. Good, she was leaving. And then the door clicked open, and her head shot up. Her icy eyes focused on Hitch, who had just entered the room, not bothering to close the door. She walked in and slid the rifle off her shoulder, leaning it against the foot of the bed. Hitch sat down on the mattress, the patted next to her.

"Come on."

Annie stared at her for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "You're so bad at your job… You're supposed to be this close to me."

Hitch shrugged and folded her arms behind her head. "Since when have I, of all people, cared about my job." She beckoned Annie closer. "C'mere and let me do your hair."

"I could take your rifle, kill you, and escape," Annie said calmly.

"Let me do your hair, first, then," Hitch responded, nonchalant.

She wasn't going to leave, that much was obvious. Someone being those close to her was not something Annie enjoyed or wanted. She sighed and got up, perching right at the end of her bed. Paying no attention to Hitch, she picked up the rifle, her hands sliding along the polished wood. It was covered in nicks and scratches, nothing like the MP issues, which were rarely used at all. She rested her finger on the trigger, feelings the cool metal there and looking at her wrapped reflected in the dull metal. For one incredibly long second, she pictured herself whirling around and slamming the butt of the rifle into Hitch's jaw, then shooting- the door was open- but then it was over. She was smarter than that.

"Really going to let me hold this?"

"Sure, keep it as a security blanket if you need to," Hitch said, then giggled. "I won't judge."

"It's not even loaded," Annie said scoffed exasperatedly, setting it aside. She crossed her arms, then looked down at the floor as Hitch dropped her satchel. A comb ran through her hair.

"You were prepared for this." That somehow annoyed her more than anything Hitch had done. So far.

"Of course," Hitch snorted. "I wasn't taking no for an answer." Self satisfaction dripped from her voice. That trademark, smug complacency was always there, no matter the situation.

It was quiet for a few minutes, infuriatingly so, because she was this close to another human being, doing something so normal… she reached back and grasped Hitch's wrist, provoking a small gasp.

Annie turned her head halfway, and there was an intense look in her piercing eyes. "Stop."

Hitch froze, fear flashing in her eyes, and that confirmed it. This overly natural attitude of hers was her way of dealing with what Annie turned out to be.

"I'll finish it myself."

"A-"

"I don't want you to," Annie said, releasing Hitch's wrist. It only took her seconds to finish tying up her hair. "It's fine now." You stay out there, I stay in here. It's easier.

Hitch sensed the sudden change in mood, and she got up swiftly. "... Alright, I get it." She picked up the rifle and her satchel, then walked out, making sure to lock the door.

Guilt was not an emotion Annie enjoyed feeling.

0-o-0

The Female Titan had ruined countless families, murdered people whose names she had never even heard. Hange realized that it would be easier to continue to see Annie as the Female Titan, beaten and simply a tool at her disposal, but despite years of being surrounded by death, there would always be a human side to her. A need to know everything, and there was no way Hange could file Annie away in that category. Titan. Enemy. She was obviously so much more, just like those who died on the battlefield were so much more than just soldiers.

The thought that the Female Titan could no longer be labeled as just that had kept Hange up for the past two days. She could function normally when needed, but whenever there was a spare moment, any time when there was nothing that required her attention, the Squad Leader's thoughts returned to Annie and what she knew about her, only from Shadis' reports and those she knew during trainee days. Hitch and Marlowe didn't have much to say.

From her own interactions with the Female Titan, Hange knew that Annie still had a small bit of pride she kept hidden, as well as a timeless determination to whatever she focused on, but she was still smart enough to know when to run from an impossible fight.

These thoughts wouldn't let her rest, and Hange had attempted to lose herself in the false euphoria of alcohol.

She stumbled down the first flight of stairs before she remembered how to navigate them. Down, down, down, that's what her mind told her to do. Down, down, down, to the beast in the basement. To slay it. Her breath echoed harshly as she continued brushed a hand along the rough stone, marking her skin. The rational part of her mind was completely gone, replaced by a dangerous cocktail of misery, insanity, and anger. She was unstable, teetering on the edge of the severe emotions. Her movements were jerky, her body swaying from side to side as she lurched down the stairs. She was messed up, she could tell, but did nothing about it.

0-o-0

Annie lifted her head from the pillow, awaking from the light sleep immediately. She shook of the grainy, sluggish feeling of a bad rest. Something was off, she knew it. Her skin prickled, hair standing on end. She sat up, her breath barely audible. It was like the darkness was loud. Too loud. The suffocating silence it produced tricked her into seeing shades of colors in the air, nauseating feeling. The only comforting darkness was natural, night. Not this tight, endless black.

Annie could fee her heartbeat quicken. What had woken her? She strained to hear a sound, any sound, and there it was. A clicking sound, faint, but getting louder. She recognized it as boots on stone. The frequency of the sound was uneven.

Step, step…. Step…. Step… step step…. Step step…step… step…

Something told her she should be scared as whoever was coming reached the bottom of the steps. There was a pause. Complete silent. A thump of someone's fist on their chest.

"Squad Lead-"

"Get out."

The second voice was raspy and uneven. Unstable. It shook slightly, but Annie knew who it was immediately. The torch light from outside flickered. Annie listened breathlessly, the tone of that voice making her senses go on high alert.

"Excuse me? I-"

"Out. Go."

"... "

"Get out."

"I can't do that, Squad Leader. I'm on duty."

"This is an order. Get out. GET OUT."

Heavy breathing. The sound of someone walking away, footsteps fading upward. Nothing moved. Annie stared at the door.

The torch outside suddenly flared up and then dimmed down, it's light now considerably dimmer. It barely reached inside Annie's cell. The loud breathing outside gradually slowed to soft breaths, then the sound of fabric sliding against stone. Then, a low, mournful voice. Chilling.

"They saw you do it, but they didn't feel it."

0-o-0

Hange sunk to her knees, leaning against the wall. She spoke, then fell silent, gathering her words. "Sometimes I hate them, you know? Thew new ones. They saw you smash those soldiers left in right, scared of the blood, the fact that it might happen to them, but not saddened by it. Saddened by the betrayal, oh yeah, they were, about that, but nothing else. They saw it, but they didn't feel it.

"Did you know? That's useless asking, but I have to. Did you know? That they had families? Hopes, dreams, ambitions? They looked at the sun and slept under the moon like you and I." She was rambling now, rambling on and on and on, like she would never stop. These were her middle-of-the-night thoughts. The ones that crawled around her room and crept into her ears and nestled in her head.

"They tasted and saw and heard and breathed and remembered and touched and felt. And you knew. You knew, you knew. And you knew…"

For a second, it sounded as if her voice was going to crack, but it rose and then fell back to that low, dark tone.

"I hate you so much. It's almost unbearable…" Her voice sank to a whisper, finally breaking, "but, you know, it's hard to hate someone for a long time. I did it, though." She laughed, a chuckle that was so full of actual mirth, so unfitting for the situation, that Annie almost shivered.

She lifted her head, her glasses flashing. "I did it…." Again, there was quiet. It stretched on for a long time, for the next minute, then another, and another.

"Most of us, we all want the same thing, life, but it's the million other little goals that suffocate it. What type of life, though? We all want the impossible, all of his fighting right now, so, in the end, we're all going to settle for the next best thing, that life we want for someone else.

"Erwin, he's a military man. What would he do when all of this is over? Garden? It's go big, or go home. For all of us. Sure, the Survey Corp will be needed when all's said and one. Clear out the rest of those beasts and find out what's really out there…. But we'll all be dead before it happens. If it happens." She sighed.

"Hey, can you even hear me? You listening? You say you want to survive, so you'll fight for us? But is that a bit of guilt I sense? Huh, feeling bad for once? That why you're really going to help us?" Hange's heart had started to quicken, her voice growing louder. "Do you even know what guilt is? Listen to me." Hange stood suddenly, slamming a fist against the wall. A wave of fury swept over her, so powerful it sent her stumbling forward. "I've been fighting for humanity for half my life now, and then you waltz in and set us back years, you bitch. It's all a mess now, everything's a mess. You made me into a mess, and now you're messing me up even more."

Her words now held a malicious tone. Murderous. Someone had flipped a switch, lit the match and dropped it to her fuse. She swept her arm to the side, knocking the torch from its stand. It rolled a few feet away, almost flickering out.

The door to Annie's cell banged open, the wood smashing into stone. Cooling embers scattered at Hange's feet, her form filling the doorway. She tilted her head to the side, her glasses reflecting the small amount of light, small red flames instead of eyes.

Hange's hand left the door knob as she slowly walked into the room, boots softly clicking in the near darkness. She slammed it shut behind her.

Quietly, Annie stood in the back corner of the room, shrouded in darkness. Her eyes were focused sharply on the large shadow that crept into the room, bringing the scent of liquor. She watched Hange sway from side to side, knowing that she wouldn't be able to defend herself with this little strength.

And then Hange was upon her, a rough hand closing around her throat and slamming her into the wall, knocking the breath out of her lungs. Hange tightened her hand around Annie's neck, leaning close. Their faces were inches apart.

"Gonna take you apart finally, Female Titan. Remember what I promised all those months ago? I had you pinned, just like this, and I could see fear in your eyes, just like I can sense it now." She laughed, voice full of dark mirth, and tilted her head from side to side. "Gonna do it with my bare hands and gonna be nice and thorough."

"You're too smart for this," Annie said, staring at Hange. From what little light there was, she could make out the shine of her glasses. Her voice was cool, analytical. "I'm more use to you now than I ever was-"

With her other hand, Hange grabbed a handful of Annie's hair and wrenched her head back, squeezing harder. Harder. Hange could hear her gasping for breath now, the sound sending a shiver through her body. It was too dark to enjoy the sight of her enemy completely helpless, but Hange could feel it, the beating of Annie's jugular vein, hot breath on her face, cold hands pulling at hers.

Annie's vision darkened, her hand fell. Hange's voice started to fade away, her iron grip only getting stronger. Her last breaths would be silent; any call for help would be useless.

"How low you've fallen," Hange breathed. "Going to die like this, now, and I'm going to rip apart your body and find whatever it is that seperates you from me. Alone, quiet, barely even put up a fight, not like last time. Everyone who thinks we can trust you is a fool." She started to shout again, her voice hoarse. "A monster like you can't do anything but destroy. Destroy. DESTROY!" Hange was roaring by now, and she choked on her words, a sob racking her body. Her chest was heaving. She cut it off, fury burning in her eyes. Her voice shook.

"But it's over now. Y-"

She was suddenly torn away, leaving Annie to slump to the ground, hands scrabbling at her throat a she gasped for breath. There was a sudden flare of light, so bright and unexpected that it burned her eyes, but she didn't close them, focusing on the scene in front of her.

There was a smaller, darker form, whirling into the room in a flash of black and green, a hand grasping the front of Hange's shirt and throwing her to the side.

"What the hell are you doing, shitty-glasses?"

He was furious.

Levi paid no attention to the girl slumped in the corner, glaring down at Hange, her wild eyes rolling around the room and then locking onto him. She looked terrifying, and for a second, it looked like she was going to attack him.

"Get out," Hange snarled, getting to her feet. There was a scrape on her cheek, darkening into a bruise. She was panting.

"Have you been fucking drinking? Upstairs, now," Levi growled, his voice full of cold fury and obvious disgust.

"No! I want that monster dead! You were there, you saw everything!" Hange screamed. Her breath was ragged.

"This is you out of your mind," Levi said, his voice even. "You're smarter than this. You're going to go upstairs and calm down. Now." His voice was firm, leaving no room, for argument. He pointed to the door, then spared a quick glance at Annie to see if she was alive.

Confirming this, he waited for Hange to stagger out of the room, then followed her.

"You've got to stop this," Annie could hear him say. "Get things straightened out in your head before you really go insane. None of us can afford a breakdown now." He slammed the door shut behind him. "Afterwords... that's a different story."