Disclaimer: I own nothing

Rated: M

"That's fine."

Levi raised a brow at Kagome's smile, barely paying any attention to Mikasa as she whistled loudly for their horses to come, "What is, brat?"

"If people come to hate me, that's fine," Kagome answered, a bit relieved that she could hear Levi's voice better now. It seemed that the Shikon was healing her ears, though a lot slower than what she would have preferred, "As long as I can save a few lives in the process."

"Tch," Levi glanced at the bound Annie, frowning even deeper at the sight of her relaxed stance. Then again, the bitch probably knew better than to try and fight back at the moment, "Why do you even care?"

"What?" Kagome blinked at the strange question, "What do you mean by that?" She furrowed her brows.

"You said that you only had your brother," Levi stated, "That he was the one to train you. And if he was the one to train you, then I doubt you ever had to worry about him. You should not even know what it means to care about other lives if you had never come across anyone else before."

"Maybe that's why I care," She felt horrible for her many lies, but knew it was for the best, "Because I want to know what it is like to connect with others."

Lies.

It was all a damn lie.

She found that she hated lying to him especially.

Levi said nothing in response, looking away from the now trembling Priestess to see that a few horses had come for the call, 'Her brother trained her for a reason,' He thought, remembering what she had said before, 'She had to fight against something in her homeland. Things that aren't Titans.'

"The horses are here, Sir," Mikasa said as the animals pawed at the ground restlessly, "But only three must have heard the call."

"It will do until we rejoin Erwin and the others," Levi said, "Are you capable of riding with Jaeger, Ackerman?" He asked, seeing that the boy was still unconscious.

"Of course," Mikasa nodded, taking a glance at Annie and her grey orbs darkened again, "And about her?" Her voice dripped with the contempt she now held for her fellow trainee soldier.

"She can ride with me," Kagome answered lightly, "We did promise each other something after all." She smiled at Annie, who only stared in return.

Levi tightened his lips, but did not argue with the idea. He would probably just end up breaking Kagome's promise of no harm coming to Annie if she rode with him, "Let's go." He ordered, mounting his horse and watching carefully as Mikasa did the same and placed Eren in front of her so he could rest against her.

Kagome did the same with Annie, who seemed to have tensed quite noticeably once they touched each other, "You're going to have to relax," She told the blonde, "My powers can't do you any harm while you are in human form."

Levi then sneered as Annie slowly nodded and she lost her rigid form, lightly leaning against Kagome's front as the Priestess took hold of the reins.

The bitch looked far too comfortable in her position, seeing that any one of them could kill her at any given time.

'The brat is far too generous,' Levi thought and took the lead, firing off a green smoke signal and hoped that Erwin could see it so they could all rejoin quicker, 'So what will happen when we reach the walls and the promise is off the table?'

The brat had better be prepared.

~00~

"Levi."

Erwin spotted his Corporal as the small group finally made their way out of the forest. He wasn't surprised to see that Kagome was with them along with Mikasa and Eren, but the unfamiliar blonde girl had him frowning.

Levi let out a breath, preparing for the reaction he knew that he was going to get with his next words. He jumped off his horse, seeing that the surviving members of the Survey Corps were readying themselves to return to Wall Rose.

"Try to restrain yourself when I say this." The Corporal called out, catching everyone's attention as they gathered to see what he had to say. He specifically eyed the members of the former 104th Trainees Squad, seeing that they were staring at Annie with baffled expressions.

He then gestured to Annie, who was carefully watching the reaction with cold eyes, "But this bitch is what we were after. She is the Female Titan."

Chaos broke out.

"Silence!" Erwin loudly ordered, never taking his eyes off Annie and Kagome who was still behind the blonde. He certainly noticed that the Priestess was tense and that her hand was close to her sword, as if ready to draw it if anyone stepped too close, "So you managed to catch the Female Titan after she escaped our trap?"

Hange clenched her hands, fascinated and livid at the same time. The Female Titan's human form certainly would be the perfect specimen to study, but the anger over the deaths of her many comrades was still very fresh.

"A-Annie..." Armin whispered, swallowing thickly when her stoic eyes looked into his. He trembled when he recalled his two encounters with her Titan form and how she had allowed him to live both times quickly flooded his mind, "So it was you..." He glanced over to Jean and Reiner to see their reactions seeing as they had engaged her with him earlier.

Jean looked absolutely stupefied as everyone else, but it was Reiner's expression that had Armin blinking.

He appeared almost angry.

'Maybe because she killed so many people?' Armin thought, 'That must be it. We trained along side with Annie for three years. Even now looking at her, it's still so hard to believe.'

So what was this nagging feeling he had?

"And I assume you had something to do with her capture, Miss Higurashi?" Erwin asked, knowing it probably took everything in the soldiers to stop themselves from killing the Female Titan's human form on the spot.

"I did," Kagome nodded, "But in return for her surrender, no harm can come to Annie Leonhart on the way back to the walls."

"You can't be serious?!" Oluo stepped forward with his blades drawn, ignoring Petra's weak calls as she sat up in one of the wagons that held many of the wounded soldiers, "This bitch killed Eld and Gunther in cold blood and you're protecting her!?"

Kagome sighed, but held Oluo's stare, "So that's why I haven't seen them," She murmured, berating herself for not being quicker to save them, "But that promise isn't for nothing. Leonhart has given her word that she will not transform," Her eyes then proceeded to darken, "If she breaks that promise, then I will kill her myself in the most painful way possible."

Oluo looked like he was about to say more, but bit his tongue when Levi sent him a harsh glare for speaking in such a way to the Priestess, "This brat accomplished what we came out here to do. Do not talk down to her or you will have to deal with me," The Corporal stated before changing the subject, "We're wasting time here. We need to leave now." He said, knowing that they were sitting ducks out in the open field.

Their mission was done for now.