"What's wrong?" Levi asked Armin, him and the others gathered round a fire in a warehouse. "Did all this filth kill your appetite?"
"No." Armin shook his head. "Jean, there's something I don't understand."
"What's that?" Jean had a very good idea to what he was referring to.
"When I turned around to try to save you, that woman already had her gun to your head. It's... funny..." Armin trailed off for a moment. "How could I have shot before she did?"
Jean gasped, remembering the woman's face very vividly. "I don't know."
"You shot first because she hesitated." Levi said what Jean wasn't willing to admit. "It's that simple."
"I'm sorry Armin." Jean apologised. "You wouldn't have had to save me if I'd just done my job."
"I know what it is." Armin spoke up again. "The woman I shot back there, I bet she was a really kind person, she must've had a lot more human empathy than I ever did. I pulled that trigger so easily. Without a thought, I'm..."
"A killer." Levi finished his sentence for him. "And now that your hands have been soaked in blood, the person you once were is gone for good."
"Why would you say that." Mikasa gasped.
"And you shouldn't regret it for one second." Levi ignored Mikasa's protests. "Because if you'd chosen to keep your hands clean, Jean would be a corpse on a cart right now." He reminded him. "I'll tell you why you pulled the trigger, because your comrade was about to die. Armin, everyone aside from Eld on our squad survived today, because you got blood on your hands. Thank you."
"Captain Levi, I uh, I thought it was wrong for us to fight other humans Sir. I thought it was wrong that you ordered us to do it." He told him how he felt. "I mean, we became soldiers to protect people, but now, I see that I was in the wrong Sir. Next time I swear I'll shoot." He promised.
"I never said anything about what was right or wrong." Levi shocked him with his response. "My moral high ground is shot to hell, I have no idea if we're in the right at this point."
"Now then." Levi got to his feet, eyeing up the guest they had with them. "I think it's time we heard what our guest has to say." Levi walked up to the man they had captive, and took the gag out of his mouth.
"Mercy please." He begged. "I'm just an old man they used to move cargo, I didn't want-"
"I've met this one before." Mikasa remembered him from the Trost Invasion. "He seemed to be a prominent merchant."
"Yeah, I know him. Dimo Reeves right?" Levi asked.
"This damn job was forced on us by the Military Police." Dimo tried to tell them. "And now that we've completely botched it, they'll plunder the Reeves Company for everything it's worth, first they'll kill me, then they'll set up accidents for all my employees, my dumb son too."
"You just gonna lay down and take it?" Levi tried to get the man to look at whatever bright side there was. "There's a reason Trost recovered from that Titan attack. It's largely because of jobs and money brought in by the Reeves company. Tell me, if your company were to disappear, how many would survive the coming winter?"
"So what? You want me to join you?" Dimo asked.
"We just need to know where Eren and Historia are." Levi informed him. "If you're in contact with the MP's, I think I have a plan."
"Then can you give me your word that the people of Trost won't end up starving to death?" Dimo pleaded.
"I can't guarantee it." Levi kneeled down to his level. "That said, I believe they'll have a better chance with us than without."
That seemed to be enough to convince Dimo, so Captain Levi went on to explain his plan.
Later that night, in Wall Rose, Dimo had two members of the Interior Police in the back of his cart, driving them along to where they believed the Scouts would be.
"Hey, how'd you find them anyway?" One of the MP's in the back asked, Sannes was his name.
"They found me." Dimo turned back to speak to them. "I promised them that I'd cooperate, and for some reason they believed me." The cart came to a stop once it hit the rock that had been placed on the road.
"Are we there?" Sannes asked, though when he looked outside, there was a gun in his face, they had been tricked and lured out here. Sannes recieved a gun butt to the face, knocking him out.
"Reeves you piece of-" The other MP was knocked out just as quickly by Mikasa.
"Sorry gents, that's how it is." Dimo apologised to the two men, he tried to be honourable, but these two were scum, and the Scouts carried them off into the house they had stopped at.
"What happens now?" Dimo's son, Flegel Reeves spoke up. "Do you think this means we'll be safe, or what?"
"There's no guarantee."
"Say what?" Flegel's head shot round to face his father's. "Then why'd we do it?"
Dimo smacked Flegel on the head. "A good merchant has to learn to trust his nose." Dimo explained. "And not just to smell easy money, but to sniff out the potential for future profit too. Once you have, you bite and you don't let go. You remember that son."
The house that the Scouts were using conveniently had a basement, and once both MP's were taken downstairs, Levi sent everyone back upstairs to sit and wait until Hange, Moblit and Nifa returned from meeting Commander Erwin.
Oluo was sent outside to stand guard while everyone else was seated at the table, a number of them still confused as to how Lukas was still here, especially Petra. She'd seen his head getting blown off, even with his Titan powers, surely it wasn't possible to regenerate from that without consequence.
Though he did save her life twice earlier today, and she had yet to thank him for that, so she wanted to do it now, but only if she could make herself clear to him.
"Lukas." The ginger haired soldier spoke up, getting his and everybody else's attention. "I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life twice today."
"I sense there's something else you want to say." He knew there was a but coming from her.
"Yes, just because I'm grateful you saved my life, it doesn't mean that I'm anywhere near being able to forgive you for the things you've done, I don't know If I ever will be." She continued. "You were a part of my life for years, and I don't know whether to regret that or not, but what I do know is that you've done awful things, things that I could never have imagined you were capable of."
"Historia told me that she'd seen some of your memories." Petra informed him. "One's with me, and ones where you shot children, that is fucking despicable. Who you are, who you really are will never come close to redemption for your sins. Those sins are ones nobody in this room could ever forgive you for."
She hoped that her message would get through to him, remind him that what he had done was unforgivable, but what he did instead, was smile. It was creepy, he was smiling after Petra had effectively just told him he was a monster inside. It wasn't even a sarcastic smile, he looked genuinely happy for once, a smile she'd only seen from him three times in her life before this.
"Why the hell are you smiling?" Jean was horrified at his response. "She just said you killed children, what the fuck is wrong with you?"
"For years, you've been so kind to me Petra, I never deserved an ounce of that kindness." Lukas began with. "Whenever we talked about how our lives were going, I'd tell you about criminals that I couldn't stop, deaths I didn't prevent, and you always said that it wasn't my fault, that I had tried my best. I hated that about you."
Petra was becoming more and more disturbed as he spoke. "That's why I went back into Trost after the cadets, it wasn't because of the other Warriors or even Eren. It was because you'd tell me it wasn't my fault. All I ever wanted was for you to blame me for things that were my fault, so..." He looked directly at her. "Thank you."
Before anybody could say anything, Hange burst into the house, Moblit and Nifa in tow. "I'm here!" She announced. "I'm not late am I?"
"Captain Levi took the MP's downstairs." Armin was the one to speak up.
"Wonderful." Hange's spirits were high. "Lukas, come with us, we'll need you to help question the MP's."
With that, Hange, Moblit, Nifa and Lukas all went downstairs, taking him out of what could have been a hugely volatile situation between the others after his very strange and disturbing way of thanking Petra.
"I made it!" Hange had rushed down the stairs once she learned who the MP's they'd captured were. "You haven't finished yet have you?"
"No." Levi responded, standing over a tied up Sannes. Levi was wearing an apron and rubber gloves to prevent any blood from getting on him. "Haven't even gotten my feet wet." Sannes had been beaten, he had a black eye and a bloody face, that much was obvious.
"Sannes!" Hange remembered the MP, he was the one who murdered Pastor Nick. "I'm only a novice at human torture, but while I lack experience, I plan to get this job my all!" She was followed into the room by Moblit and Lukas, with Nifa staying outside to watch over Ralph, the other MP they had.
"Hold on!" Sannes protested. "At least tell me what you want!" He pleaded. "Who the hell tortures someone without asking questions?"
"Oh yeah, we do have some questions." Levi dryly remarked. "Where were Eren and Historia taken? What do you want with Historia? And what is the Reiss family?"
Sannes knew what they were asking, but he stuck by his faith, their God would take care of all of this soon enough. He and Ralph just had to bide their time.
"Come on!" Hange yelled at him, threatening to pull out his nails. "Can't you see we're in a time crunch here?" She pulled out the first nail, and Sannes' screams could be heard throughout the whole house.
"Sorry, I don't have your knack of ripping out nails." Hange apologised, but the man still hadn't talked a bit. "Just how many did you have to rip off to get so good at it?"
"More than I could keep track of." Sannes was hanging on to his faith, not letting these people break him. "Within these cramped, squalor walls, war has never broken out, and I can tell you why."
"It's because we of the First Interior Squad dirtied our hands to protect the King's peace." Sannes told them. "A teacher too smart for his own good, a stupid couple who tried to fly, a whore who screwed the wrong man. No matter how they beg or plead we erased them to protect humanity! You should be on your knees thanking me! In all my years I've never seen anyone take such pleasure in human suffering as you! You're both monsters!" He yelled at Levi and Hange.
"But I'm determined to face you without fear. Do what you will, for I have my faith. And I believe in the King, and peace within these Walls. I believe every last one of my wretched deeds was justified. But..." He trailed off. "To think that it hurt this much, if you're going to torture me to death get on with it, that sounds like a fitting end for this blood stained life."
"Time for a break." Levi spoke after a few moments of silence, leaving the room with the others in tow.
"Damn it all." Hange cursed. "I'm starting to feel sorry for him."
As they left the room, they left the door open just a crack, so that their plan would work, so Sannes could hear what was happening outside, hopefully Lukas had done a good job with writing the script.
"Quit shoving me." The silence Sannes was left to was broken by Ralph, who was being forced along at knife point. "It hurts."
"How pathetic can you get? Can't believe you started talking after just one nail." Levi was behind Ralph, knife to his back. "Sannes doesn't have any nails left, he's a real soldier."
"Like I care." Ralph read from the script Hange was holding. "He can get tortured all he wants. The guy never shuts up about peace and the Queen. The rest of us all hate his damn guts. Just do us all a favour and kill him already."
Inside the room, Sannes heard it all, Ralph had talked after one nail. He knew it to be true because he said Queen instead of King like he had been doing to throw them off.
"We're gonna have to keep him around until he's verified what you've told us." Levi warned.
"Yeah, well you got everything you wanted out of me, so why don't you lay off already?" Ralph said. "Oh, and about my cell, it'll have a bed right?"
They left Sannes to stew for a while, part of Levi didn't want him to crack, because if he said the same thing Lukas had said about the Reiss Family, then he was most likely telling the truth about everything else, then their whole world will be turned upside down very, very soon.
The door to the room creaked open as Hange opened it. "Ready Sannes?" Hange asked. "We're gonna try it again, this isn't easy for me either, but I'll be the best torturer I can-"
"Reiss is the true Royal Family."
That was the one thing they needed to know, or didn't want to depending on who you asked. It meant that Historia was related to the Queen of the Walls, and she wanted her for some reason or another.
Levi sent Lukas outside to stand guard with Nifa and switch with Oluo, while the rest of them were filled in on exactly what had been said down in the basement, and what it meant for all of them.
Once the two squads had been split up once again, this time Levi sending Petra and Oluo off with Hange and what was let of her squad to help her deal with the murder of Dimo Reeves and to clear the Scouts name in Trost.
Levi's group were camped out in a forest outside of Stohess, with Jean, Armin and Mikasa being sent to the city to get supplies that they needed. Levi couldn't go anywhere, because his face was plastered all over the papers being spread around like wildfire.
"Captain!" Jean called out as they arrived back at the camp. "We bought the supplies."
Armin approached Captain Levi with one of the flyers from the city, handing it to him. "The MP's were handing out these flyers." Levi took a look, there was a rather insulting portrayal of his face on the front. "If this is true, the Scouts will be disbanded. They say they'll be hunting for us in the mountains tonight. They're also posting guards on all the vital roads, no one can get through them without a pass. Captain, what now?"
"We need to hurry and find Eren." Mikasa suggested, though she wasn't going to take no for an answer without a fight.
"He'll be fine." Levi shut her idea down for now. "They're taking him on a wagon. That gives us one day before they reach Reiss' estate. And we need every second we can get to come up with a plan."
"Why'd you figure they'd be there?" Lukas spoke up. "I spent years trying to find where they scattered to. Not even a sniff."
"Because Kenny thinks he killed you." Levi told him. "For a psycho, he never shuts up. With any luck, they'll also think you're dead, for the time being at least."
"Captain, I hear footsteps." Sasha whispered, alerting every one of the group. "Sounds like they're approaching."
In the treeline, two MP's were patrolling the area. One Hitch Deryse and Marlowe Freudenberg, the male was talking about the Scouts, and why they would murder a civilian like Dimo Reeves.
"Why would the Scouts murder a civilian and run for the hills?" Marlowe pondered aloud. "This is the same group of soldiers who consistently risk their lives for the sake of humanity."
"Gimme a break." Hitch had enough of his babbling. "Did you forget? Think about what they did to Stohess. The way they turned it into a battlefield. How many dead bodies do you think we carried?" She asked. "Annie's been missing ever since, they still haven't taken her junk out of my room. It's annoying."
"But in doing so, the Scouts also uncovered a Titan in hiding." Marlowe pointed out. "And took it prisoner. I highly doubt that the Military Police could've done that. How is disbanding the Scouts whats best for humanity."
"Be quiet." Hitch raised her rifle, hearing something from the river, Marlowe following suit. "Listen closely." As they listened, they could hear something or someone splashing water lightly.
Advancing towards the sound, they spotted a hooded figure kneeling by the river. "Don't move." Marlowe ordered. "Turn around slowly." The figure did as they were told. "You must be a Scout." Marlowe concluded. "Not a sound. Don't say a word. Now listen, do exactly as I instruct you-"
It was too late for them as Mikasa and Levi had both swooped in from above, holding their blades to each MP's neck.
"That's the way." Levi complimented Armin for his calm performance. "Now hand over your guns to the one in front." He was ordering them now.
Reluctantly, Hitch and Marlowe did as they were told, handing their guns to Armin who came and collected them. "Don't say a word, right?" Armin jested.
Within minutes, their gear was stripped and they were tied up on the riverbank, on their knees in front of the group of Scouts. Jean then handed Levi their assignment papers.
"Now then." Levi stood up. "You're Stohess District Military Police. Private Marlowe Freudenberg. Same assignment, Private Hitch Dreyse." He circled the two of them. "We'll need to dispose of you."
"Because of what you did." Hitch spoke up. "Stohess was a graveyard. Over a hundred people were killed!" She informed them. "You bastards." She ignored Marlowe's warning. "I bet you all think you're some kind of hero's of justice, but you're not. You dropped dozens of innocent families straight into hell on that mission of yours."
"Yeah, we did." Levi didn't sound like he had a hint of remorse in his voice.
"Hey you." Hitch directed her attention to Armin. "You're from the Southern Cadet Corps right? So you trained with Annie Leonhart? Were you a friend of hers? No, she wouldn't have made friends there either. Way too gloomy and unapproachable for that. She was just afraid of people like a scared little kid. Now I'll never get the chance to learn anything about her. She's officially listed as missing, you know why? It's because one of your Titans turned her into an ugly red stain on the street!"
"Actually, no, it's because the Titan we captured, was Annie Leonhart herself." Levi corrected her. That shocked both Hitch and Marlowe. "God dammit, it makes me sick, nobody knows a thing about this world, except for the bastards at the centre of it all."
"We're letting you go." Levi relieved them both with that news. "But we need to give ourselves a head start on you."
"Hey! Captain Levi!" Marlowe tried to get his attention. "Please, let me join in on your cause. I believe that the Military Police are in the wrong here. If there's anyway I can fight this worlds injustice. Then that's what I want to do!"
"Easy, calm down." Levi spoke.
"I swear I won't let you down Sir." Marlowe tried to convince him.
"No, I have no way of telling if you have enough resolve to make an enemy of the state." Levi sheathed his sword. "Let's go. Take them deeper into the woods and tie them up Sasha."
"Hey Captain." Jean spoke up, a plan forming in his head. "Would you let me do it instead?"
"Knock yourself out."
When Jean returned to the group, he had a bruise on his face and Marlowe and Hitch were with him. He was convinced that they wanted to help, and that convinced Captain Levi. And with their help, they were able to locate the least manned checkpoint in the area.
"Far as I know, this is the least manned checkpoint in the region." Marlowe confirmed, they were all in the bushes, looking on intently for any activity.
"Good. We'll handle things from here." Levi told him. "Get back to your squad before they're suspicious." He suggested.
"Right." Both Marlowe and Hitch went to leave.
"Marlowe, Hitch." Levi stopped them for a moment. "We're grateful. And if you feel any tremors, I wouldn't suggest coming back to see what's happening."
"Sir?" Lukas questioned once Marlowe and Hitch had left.
"You say you're helping us. You want to gain our trust, now's your chance to prove it." Levi informed him. "Try anything though, and I will cut you up, understand?"
"I understand." Lukas nodded, and while Levi went and told the rest of the squad what was about to happen, he bit his finger to draw blood, but he waited until Levi gave him the signal to transform.
Looking back, he saw the others retreating to a safe distance before Levi gave him another nod, and he let the power travel through his body once again.
Every single MP who was manning the checkpoint just about shit their white pants when they were blinded by a bright light, then a huge sixteen metre Titan walked out of the woods. They were all recruits, none of them could move, they were all terrified, none of them had ever seen a Titan before, and they were frozen in fear, completely and utterly petrified.
"Point out the Interior Police and you'll all get to live." The recruits had never raised their hands faster in their lives, not even when their cadet corps instructor screamed in their face demanding a salute.
Despite the fact that a Titan had just talked, their fight of flight instincts kicked in, every single one of them pointing to the white tent in the middle of the camp.
Leaning down, he used a single finger to rip the top of the tent down the middle, and when the fabric fell to the ground, it revealed a middle aged man, wearing what was an Interior MP jacket.
"Traitors!" He yelled at the rest of the MP's who we saw were pointing at the tent, turning and making a run for it, but he only made it two steps before he was grabbed by Lukas and brought up to his eye level. The Interior Policeman struggled, and while he was up there, the rest of the MP's staring, not moving a muscle for the fear of being squished like a bug, Levi and the rest moved in to restrain them all, catching them completely off guard, getting them all tied up within a couple of minutes.
"Let me go!" The MP trapped in Lukas' hand squirmed, trying to break loose. "You have no idea what's about to come raining down upon you. You have no chance against the might that is the Royal Government!"
The MP was silenced as Levi had grappled up to Lukas' enclosed fist, kicking the man across the face, knocking one of his front teeth out. "We have a pretty good idea about the power the Royal Government has." Levi pressed his boot into the mans face. "Although they've got nothing on the power held by Frieda Reiss, isn't that right?"
"H-How do you know that?" The MP looked shocked that they knew.
"Take a look around you." Levi suggested dryly. "How'd you think we found out?" It was rather obvious.
"Now, where were Eren and Krista taken?" Levi pressed forward with the interrogation. "Better speak up or the Titan might start getting hungry."
"W-Wait!" The MP pleaded, terrified of being eaten. "I don't know, I swear! Kenny Ackerman doesn't like to make his business known!"
The others were standing on the ground, they couldn't hear what was being said for the most part, but they all heard that part. Mikasa for once was very affected by it, sharing the same last name as an infamous serial killer was not what she needed to know right now, but it made her wonder if they were related.
"So that's his name... Kenny never did like to discuss things, least of all important stuff." Levi remembered what he was like. "Though I suggest you start remembering before I have the Titan start squeezing."
"What the hell! You're crazy!" The MP shouted at him. "You'll never win! Unless you turn yourselves in, the entire Scout Regiment will be hanged at the gallows, starting with the guiltiest one of all, Erwin Smith!"
"Captain, ask him about the chapel in north Wall Rose." The Titan grumbled out.
"W-What chapel?" The MP had already screwed up and he knew it, the one time he didn't want to stutter in the face of adversity and he did.
"I didn't think they'd go back there, Kenny must've told them he killed me." Lukas summed up out loud. "That's the only way they'd go back there."
"Alright then, that settles it." Levi was happy that the interrogation was a success. "Do whatever you want to him. Be ready to leave in ten minutes."
The MP looked terrified when Levi left, understandably so, but he chose not to kill him. Instead he placed him on the ground, and trapped him within crystal bars made from his Titan powers, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Within ten minutes, Lukas had exited his Titan and joined up with everyone else, who Levi had briefed about the chapel they believed to be where Eren and Historia were taken.
Sasha though, with her hunter's instincts noticed that off in the distance, people were approaching. "Somebody's coming towards us!" She announced, raising her bow, while everyone else hit the deck, or ducked behind a tree. "And there's more than one." She could see five hooded figures approaching from the south.
Looking at the figures approaching through the tall grass, they were prepared for another fight, but their worries were soon eased when the hoods were pulled down, revealing it was Hange and the others, they had returned from Trost, and with any luck, they would have been successful.
Hange explained everything, accompanied by a newspaper from Trost, which everyone was gathered round Levi to read.
"And there you have it, the coup was successful." She told them, some more good news for now. "Premier Zackly now has full control of the Capital and Government. For the time being at least, the nobles seem to be staying in line."
"That's because they think it'll all be back to normal by morning." Lukas spoke up. "If we don't stop Frieda Reiss before she uses her power, only Mikasa will remember, and it'll all have been for nothing."
"That's what worries me the most." Hange agreed. "Even with the Reeves situation sorted and the MP's rightfully taking the blame for his murder, who's to say it won't all be forgotten by tomorrow?"
"How did you manage to get the MP's to take the fall?" Armin was next to speak up.
"Thanks to some great Scout work of course." Oluo butted in. "You could still learn a thing or two from veterans like us. We lured them in and got them to confess like a bunch of idiots."
"That being said, there's no cause for celebration just yet." Levi reminded before the rest could celebrate. "Erwin's gamble might have paid off, but we still need to stop Frieda Reiss, and Lukas here thinks he knows where they are."
"If we're thinking of the same place, then they'll definitely be there." Hange nodded.
"Everyone on the cart now." She ordered after confirming her suspicions about where they would be with Lukas. "We ride for the Reiss Chapel now!"