A/N: I'm afraid this story is going to be coming to an end soon, if all goes to plan, there should be two more chapters after this one. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and messaged so far and I hope you enjoy this next chapter :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan.

Chapter Twenty-One: Strike the Blood.

"Higher, Levi!" Hanji yells from above, her voice echoing through the sports hall of the school.

I grit my teeth and pull down on the rope, my feet digging into the ground. "I can't get you any higher, Four-Eyes! You weigh a tonne!"

"Nonsense, you can do it," she calls down, trying to reach the crystal chandelier to replace a bulb. "Or else get Mikasa to help you!"

My grip slips suddenly at the name and Hanji lets put a yelp of terror from above. I just manage to catch the rope again and begin to tug harder to get her back up. My eyes wander around as I hope no one noticed but more than that, I hope to spot pale skin and raven hair in the crowd.

I'm no longer surprised when I don't find her.

It's been nearly two weeks since Mikasa vanished from the face of the earth. I've exhausted nearly every resource in an attempt to locate her. I've called her phone, I visited her flat which had been cleared out completely, I went to the café where I was told she had resigned and I went to the secretary's office, asking for information.

No one has heard from her and when I'm asked where she is, all I can reply is the truth: I don't know.

Every so often, I find myself scrolling through my contacts and finding the one of my uncle. My finger always hovers above the call sign but never makes contact. If I ring and he doesn't answer, that mans she has probably succeeded but if he does answer, that means she didn't succeed and I will never see her again.

Hanji's cries for me to lower her back down break me out of my thoughts. I let her down a bit too quickly, causing her to land on her back. She just bounces up with a small shout of indignation. She can tell from my features that I am not in the mood to argue.

"Cheer up, Levi!" She grins and hops in front of me, pushing her glasses up her nose. "The winter dance is this weekend and then you can finally put the moves on Mika!"

Put the moves on her? What an out-dated, ridiculous term. I give Hanji a dead look, wanting to tell her that Mikasa and I had already 'put the moves on each other' and I did not need any dance to give me the opportune moment to do so.

No dance could help me now anyway.

"I'm not going," I say as I push past her.

Her sudden grip on my shoulders is like iron and I'm stuck in her grasp. "Yes you are," she argues. "Sasha has spent weeks talking to different catering companies, Jean and Eren have finally agreed on a playlist for the DJ, Connie nearly robbed a warehouse to get the lights and I have poured tears, sweat and blood into decorating this place and getting you a tuxedo. You are not backing out of this, Ackerman!"

I've never hated the sound of my name so much until now. "Build and bridge, get over it and then jump off it," I growl, pushing her off of me and walking away. I can hear her mumble something about torn love before I storm out the door.

It's late by the time I get home. The sun has already begun to dip behind the horizon. It feels like I've gone everywhere and nowhere all at once. I went to the park, the café, the bar, the shops, her flat and yet in every place I have found nothing.

When I walk into the kitchen, I'm greeted by the last person I want to see right now.

"What are you doing here, Shitty Glasses?" I demand, glaring at the girl who munches on the last of the rice balls in the fridge.

"I invited her," Erwin speaks up from his position in front of a large pile of files. "I thought she might be able to help find Mikasa."

"How is a deranged, wannabe mad scientist going to help us find her?" I gesture towards the girl who is currently trying to get a grain of rice out of her nose unsuccessfully.

"You said she was obsessed with Mikasa and that she stalked her," Erwin looks towards Hanji who nods proudly in response. "Maybe she knows something you don't."

"She doesn't even know any of Mikasa's secrets," I argue.

"She does now," Erwin states calmly. "I told her everything."

"You what?"

I send him a piercing glare but he holds up a hand to ask me to give him the time to justify his reasonings. "Right now, the most important thing we need to do is locate and retrieve Mikasa, it doesn't matter which of us knows what of her shady past at this stage, all we need to do is ensure her safety before she does something reckless."

"It's doubtful she will," Hanji pipes up suddenly. "Although some of her actions in the past may have appeared to be reckless, she never charges into a situation where she is unsure if she will come out victorious. Even when her back is against the wall, she calculates her next move carefully before advancing. I'm not sure how her brain can function on reflex like so, it must be in her genes."

"Get to the point, Four-Eyes," I growl impatiently.

"Therefore, I can hypothesise with the utmost ensuring that she has not made an attempt on Kenny Ackerman's life yet. It's too soon. She probably assumes that you've informed Kenny of her existence and her thirst for blood. She knows that if Kenny is aware that she's after him, he will be on his best guard so she has to place a trap and then go in for the kill. It will be the only way to get to your uncle, right? And if he's anyway as smart as you are, he won't fall for it so easily. She has to bide her time on this one, otherwise it won't work."

"That's... true," I mutter after a second of going over the details. "But even so, it's been nearly two weeks now, she's bound to strike soon."

Hanji nods in agreement. "Indeed, I've never observed her when she's been placed in this kind of situation before but Mikasa will rely on her instincts as well as her knowledge and both say it's better to get rid of a threat as soon as possible."

"So it's highly likely, she'll try to end all of this within the next two days," Erwin says quietly. "We just don't know where and how."

That's the biggest problem. Not knowing where she is. Mikasa was unpredictable before but now, predicting her movements will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Without a magnet, it's hopeless. Every conversation we had on that vacation and even before then, all the subtle little hints, all the small clues she muttered; there has to be something...

Then it hits me.

"Mikasa talked about her plan for him once before," I say suddenly. "A girl she knew, Annie, got out of the juvenile detention centre recently and she was a witness to all of Kenny's crimes so he wouldn't let her live for long once she was free. Mikasa is going to use her as bait to get Kenny out in the open and then she'll kill him."

Erwin and Hanji share a look before the blonde asks; "what is Annie's second name?"

"Leonhart."

His eyes are like clear blue skies that have suddenly been darkened by storm clouds. They widen before narrowing in a grim expression and Hanji covers her mouth in shock. I don't understand why the name is so significant, why they're so shocked. I've told them about the night at the party, I've told them about how she was caught but why-?

"Annie Leonhart is not just a witness to Kenny's crimes, Levi," Erwin begins solemnly.

"She was practically his right-hand man back in the day," Hanji adds.

"She accompanied him on every one of his murders, or so she claimed, up until the day she killed your mother and father, that was when she was sent to the juvenile detention centre. They apparently wanted to change her mindset but Kenny had raised her to be a killer, he's like a father to her. She will not betray him, no matter what."

"But then why-?" I don't finish the question. I don't need to. We all know the answer to it.

She's going to lure Mikasa in, so Kenny can finish what he started six years ago.

"We need to find Mikasa right now," I growl through my teeth.

"She's at the school," Hanji announces suddenly.

Erwin and I both look towards her in shock and she just shrugs her shoulders. "While you two were talking, I rebooted the tracking system I placed on her phone. It's not easy stalking someone who's used to disappearing, you know so I had to think of more advanced ways. Jean helped me out with the technological side of things."

"Of course he fucking helped," I mutter before grabbing my keys and heading towards the door.

"Levi, where are you going?" Erwin demands, rising from his seat and walking after me.

"To find Mikasa and bring her home," I reply bluntly.

"She may not even be there. The school's closed right now, maybe Hanji's device is broken-"

"I'm not taking that risk."

"And my device is not broken," the mad scientist adds indignantly.

"Even so, what will you do once you find her? She's not going to listen to you," Erwin says, grabbing my arm.

"I'll make her listen."

The school is nearly as eerie as the woods are at night. The trees around it have lost all their leaves and so they cast shadows over the dark vacant building due to the light of the moon. There is no noise except for the odd rustling of leaves along the pavement, like nails dragging against a coffin lid.

The front door of the school is open ajar and I can't help but hesitate before entering. Something is twisting in my stomach, it feels like deja vu but in a slightly horrifying way. The shadowy corridor glares out at me, daring to enter its world of illusionary nightmares at my own risk.

Despite this awful sensation, I proceed, closing the door behind me. The corridors are completely silent and illuminated only by the light of the moon and the small green safety lights that remain on at all times. They do little to help me distinguish my surroundings and the feeling in my stomach only worsens.

A door slams ahead of me and a figure runs across the end of the hall, entering another classroom. My hearts racing in my chest as I run after her, noticing the short hair and slender form.

"Mikasa!" I call, bursting through the door.

There's no one in here though.

The door clicks closed behind me as I walk further in. Then there comes another click; the sound of the door locking. Something's wrong, I can feel it as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I drop to the ground and roll away just as I sense a knife cutting through the air where my neck had just been. Turning and jumping to my feet, I quickly scan the room for something to use as a weapon, something that could do as much damage as a knife. Nothing catches my eye though and so I raise my fists, focusing solely on my attacker.

"Alex."

Annie stands before me, knife held firmly in her right hand and her left hovering out in front of her. Her eyes are a deadly yet serene blue while her brows are turned down in an expression of distaste and determination.

"Or should I say Levi?" She twirls the knife around in her hand, causing it to glint in an almost bloodthirsty manner.

"Where's Mikasa?" I growl.

"She's busy with Kenny," the blonde replies neutrally. "You should be more worried about your own safety right now."

My eyes narrow on her and I tilt my head to the side, feeling the vertebrae crack satisfyingly. "No, you should be."

With that, I grab the nearest chair. It's plastic and light and easy to lob at her head at a frightening speed. She rolls under it more quickly than I expect her to and closes the distance between us, lashing out vertically with the knife. It slashes right through the air in front of my face as I roll backwards over a table to dodge it, getting to my feet quickly.

"You missed," I taunt but then I see her smirk.

"Did I?" She asks as her eyes leave mine and travel to the space between us where a few small strands of my front hair float daintily towards the ground.

"You bitch," I snarl, kicking the table between us so that it flies towards her.

The force of it surprises her and pushes her back but she's quick to recover and move towards me, knife held firmly in hand.

"How long do you think you'll last by just throwing furniture around?" She demands viciously, attacking relentlessly with her weapon.

Each swipe comes faster and harder and I'm forced to focus on my footwork and dodging lest I get one of my primary blood vessels slashed open. It's clear that Kenny taught her well but if I had a knife rather than just my fists, I'd wipe the floor with her.

Beggars can't be choosers.

The back of my legs hit a table, breaking my concentration for a second. There's a stinging sensation on my bicep and blood begins to stain my shirt. Annie doesn't hesitate to go in for the fatal blow but thankfully I get out of the way just in time and send a high kick to her back with enough force to flip her over the table.

My initial thought is to make a run for it and lock the door but then I remind myself that Kenny's trained her. She'll have that knife in the back of my head before I reach the door and on the rare chance she misses, she can probably pick locks as well as I can.

Speak of the devil, she's charging this way yet again. The thirst for blood dazzles in her blue eyes as she holds the knife with both hands. Her movements are every bit as concentrated as when we first started this fight but even so, her hatred is clouding her perception. It's only a matter of time until she makes-

A mistake.

She pulls back the knife and launches it straight for my face. I dodge just in time but the force and follow-through is too much and it leaves her back wide open. The opportunity is there and I'm sure as hell not going to waste it.

My knuckles crack as my fist tightens right before I send it crashing down into her mid-back. She screams out in pain as the knife falls from her hands and skitters across the floor. She falls to the ground on her side, her face contorted in agony.

"The kidney is considered one of the most vulnerable parts of the body when hit with enough force at the right angle since it's not protected by your ribs," I tell her, kicking the knife further away. "And since you have two of them, that means the whole midriff of your back is practically defenceless if not guarded properly."

The heel of my shoe crashes into the other side of her back and she cries out again, tears falling from her eyes despite her efforts to hold them in.

"You wouldn't know that though, you don't study biology," I say with distaste as I bend down to stare at her pathetic features. "Your brain is said to be one of the least vulnerable because it's surrounded by a fuse joint but..." I grab her by her ponytail, "people often forget that the skull can crack quite easily."

With that, I slam her head into the cold, hard floor and she lies still. A strange sense of satisfaction comes to me when I see the blood begin to form a pool around her head, like the halo of a devil.

"That was for my mother," I mutter as I walk away and grab the knife before taking out my cellphone.

Erwin answers almost immediately. "Did you find her?"

"I'm closing in on her now," I reply as I exit the classroom. "Kenny and Annie are here, I took care of the female but Mikasa's with Kenny right now. I need you to send reinforcements immediately."

"Alright, we're on our way. Be careful," he says before the connection goes dead.