Hunting required silence and discretion. There were a number of twigs and withered leaves that had abandoned their branches, that could blow their cover. But if Nathalie had gotten good at something during her time in the Underground, it was being quiet. Although, there were no trees and no twigs and no withered leaves in the Underground. She hadn't gone hunting before, but she trusted Sasha. Sasha was really a mastermind at spotting a creature either following its footsteps or clumsily eaten bushes, or scathed soil where usually the boars dug, and dug deep trying to find roots of plants to feed on.

Nathalie had no idea how to spot a boar until today when Sasha actually showed her how to. There was always no need to go for hunting, since during the Expeditions, it was too dangerous to stray far from the squads, not to mention the titans that could sneak up on anyone who would try to catch an edible animal. The Scouts relied almost entirely on their rations during Expeditions. There was no point in hunting.

But still, Nathalie found that she actually enjoyed it. She had given Sasha a rifle, although Sasha had complained that she could hunt just as good with just a bow and arrows. Still, boars have a thick skin. An arrow wouldn't be able to breach it as good as a bullet. But in the end, Nathalie found out that she was just worried about having Sasha get hurt. Even though, Sasha knew much more on the matter than Nathalie herself.

Now they had it cornered. The bush that they had been hiding behind was thick enough to cover them from the boar's sight. It had been munching on the thick leaves of a plant, that Nathalie was sure Sasha had recognised. She and Sasha pointed their rifles at the creature. Nathalie couldn't really tell what Sasha was waiting for. She looked over at the girl who was staring through the targeting lenses of her rifle. Fingers found the trigger slowly. It almost looked like she was taking her time with this.

"I shoot, you shoot?" Nathalie whispered, raising an eyebrow, but Sasha lifted her hand up urging her to keep quiet.

Nathalie did as she was asked and she waited until Sasha finally pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced straight through the boar's eye, and eventually, its brain. The creature fell down, instantly dead. Nathalie was impressed by the precision of Sasha's target. Her eyes widened.

"Yes!" Sasha threw a triumphant punch in the air as she jumped on her feet and approached the boar.

"Well done, Sasha!" Nathalie followed her and helped her wrap their ropes around the boar and start dragging.

It took a couple of minutes of dragging the heavy boar through the dense forest. The sounds of insects and the shrieks of wild animals. The small, satisfying sound of withering leaves, crushed beneath their feet. These were the sounds that they had focused on entirely. But Sasha finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"So… Captain-"

"What have I told you about this?"

"L- Lieutenant?"

"Aw, Sasha, no need for that," Nathalie's hand found Sasha's hair, caressing slightly trying to ease the tension in the girl's face. "'Nathalie' or 'Nat', whichever you like," Nathalie said with a smile and Sasha returned the smile hesitantly.

"Alright, Lieut- er- I mean, Nathalie, you said you and the Captain grew up in the Underground. How was it like down there?" Sasha asked curiously.

Nathalie sighed. "Horrible. It's not healthy staying away from sunlight for too long, you know. Sunlight provides us with a vital vitamin for our limbs that helps us walk and move," Nathalie looked around her at the wonderful greenery. "And we didn't have this. Trees, birds, the wind,"

Sasha sighed heavily. "I can't imagine how that's like. I grew up in the forests surrounding Ragako. Dad taught me all I know on hunting,"

Nathalie smiled. "Then your dad must be a great teacher. He must be proud of you," Nathalie said and Sasha smiled.

"He is!" Sasha sighed. "Everything was great, until the fall of Wall Maria. People came storming in our forest seeking refuge. Suddenly the forest that we'd spend generations living in, it just wasn't ours anymore," Sasha finally seemed comfortable enough to open up.

Nathalie gave her a sad smile. "I don't know how it must feel like. Being pulled out of your roots. But things change, and they change constantly. Believe me, I'm not fond of that change either," she said.

Sasha sighed. "Yeah,"

"Hey," Nathalie drew her attention. "We're going to plug that hole in Wall Maria and people are going to return to their homes," Sasha's face brightened. "Everything's going to work out. You'll see," Nathalie gave her a reassuring smile.

Sasha nodded. "Yeah… thank you, Lieut- er- I MEAN- Nathalie," Sasha let out a nervous chuckle and Nathalie laughed, until she realised, they had finally reached their new HQ.

"We're here,"

The new HQ was a small cabin further away from the eyes of people in Wall Rose. It was surrounded by valleys and greenery, giving enough space for Nathalie and Hange to work on Eren's ability to harden his skin. It was the Commander's initial plan, to utilise that ability and plug the hole in Wall Maria.

Jean and Connie were already outside, carrying bags of flour from a cart, and back into the building. When they spotted Sasha and Nathalie approaching with the boar being dragged from behind, they hastily ran towards them.

"Nat!"

"Sasha!"

When the two boys reached them, they grabbed the ropes from Nathalie's and Sasha's hands and started dragging the boar on their own. "It's alright, girls," Connie said.

"Let the men handle this," Jean said with a smirk and Nathalie raised an eyebrow.

"Sure," Nathalie said sarcastically, messing his hair badly enough to make him groan in irritation.

"Hey!"

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"Did you guys wipe the mud off your shoes before you came in?!"

"Huh? Are you kidding me?! Do you not see all this stuff that we're carrying?"

Eren's voice was the first thing they heard when the four of them walked in. Eren had a cloth wrapped around his hair. His hands were tight around a broom that Nathalie assumed he used to scrub the wooden floor. Nathalie could have sworn, he reminded her of a younger version of Levi. Dark hair covered beneath a cloth. A white apron covering his clothes. The only difference, the green, blueish eyes. Eren and everyone else panicked when Connie and Jean placed the dead boar on top of the table.

Eren's eyes widened in alarm as he stared at the dead animal that now stood on the top of the table that he had tried so hard to clean. "WHAT THE HELL-"

"Relax," Nathalie cut him. "We'll skin this first, and then we'll think about the floor," She could have sworn. Eren was about to explode.

"But, Nat! Do you- Do you guys have any idea what's going to happen if Captain Levi shows up and sees this mess?!" Eren turned at Jean. "Wasn't it enough that I had to make your bed this morning and now this!?"

"Oh, shut it! What are you, my mom now? I thought Nat pretty much fills that role in here!" Jean cried out.

"We're back," Mikasa and Historia walked it with an axe in one hand and wood in the other.

"Wait! You were chopping firewood?!" Armin cried out.

"Gotta stay in shape somehow," Mikasa shrugged.

"Mikasa, you got grabbed by a titan, you should be in bed recovering!" Nathalie cried out.

"I think you're wasting your breath. I caught her doing sit-ups earlier too," Eren said with a heavy sigh.

Nathalie's eyes widened and she turned at Mikasa. "You were doing what?!"

"Oh! So, you're an idiot AND a spy!" Jean continued and Eren threw something back. Nathalie rolled her eyes. Oh my God, those two.

"Mikasa, you know you're only human, don't you?" Armin asked turning at Mikasa worriedly, but she ignored him as she and Historia settled the firewood beside the fireplace.

"Funny, it almost feels like we're back in the cadet corps, doesn't it?" Sasha said nostalgically.

Armin nodded. "Chaos. Makes you wonder why they chose us as the new Levi Squad,"

Sasha and Connie were working on the boar. Nathalie grabbed a large dagger and helped them out. She shrugged. "Well, you kids got more experience than any other member available in the Scouts right now,"

"Really?!" Armin asked surprised.

"Whoah, you can't be serious!" Connie said.

"It's true," Nathalie said. "Half of our veteran squads have been wiped out. And besides, we make a good team," She gave them a smile, even though, Jean and Eren were still shouting at each other.

"Hell, yeah we do," Connie smirked before the three of them got their attention back at cutting and skinning the boar.

But Sasha did not miss the chance to grab a potato from a nearby box and stuffing it in her bag that was hanging from her shoulder. Nathalie just shook her head and chose not to say anything about it. She just chuckled.

"Sasha, what did you just shove into your bag," Armin noticed her, of course.

"Something that's definitely not bread," Sasha said right away.

"Really, Sasha?!" Jean cried out.

"C'mon, put it back," Connie said.

"Can we focus here?! We have to finish cleaning before the Captain gets back!" Eren cried out.

"What's all this commotion?" Levi's voice finally came as he walked in and everybody got quiet right away. Everybody tensed, and stared worriedly and frightened at the Captain's face. Levi turned at Nathalie and he raised an eyebrow. "Nat, why's there a dead animal on my kitchen table?"

The only one that didn't seem scared of Levi was Nathalie. She rested a hand on her waist and she turned at her Captain. "That dead animal is gonna keep our bellies full for at least two weeks,"

Levi sighed heavily. His hand reached for beneath the table, making sure if the brats had at least cleaned it up thoroughly. The dust beneath the table was immense. He held back a groan of irritation and he turned at the kids who were all so scared of him at that moment.

"I'm quite certain I gave you enough time," Levi said.

"Oh c'mon," Nathalie said as she wiped the boar's blood off her hands on her apron and she approached Levi. "I'll take care of this afterwards,"

Levi sighed once more before he pulled out his handkerchief and started wiping the dust off his hand. Nathalie was really spoiling those kids. "Never mind, we'll discuss your utter failure at a later date,"

"E- Excuse me, sir, I believe the rooms aren't enough," Eren said taking a step forward hesitantly. "We're nine, sir. The rooms are eight,"

Eren had a point. Nathalie had cleaned the Captain's room first thing in the morning when they got there, only to realise that the bed was double. Of course, that was Levi's doing. He was the one to request how their proper HQ should be like and, of course, he had added that on the list.

"Nathalie will be staying with me," Levi said with that same aloof look on his face. Nathalie's cheeks, engulfed in deep red as the kids gave them both confused and suspicious looks.

"Right!" Nathalie changed the subject as she turned at Levi. "Has Hange arrived?"

Levi sighed. "Unfortunately," He turned around to leave the kitchen. He gave Eren a look. "Eren, Hange and Nat anxious to get started with the experiments,"

"R- Right, yes, sir,"

Nathalie approached the boy and passed a hand around his shoulders. "No need to worry. We just need you to transform and try to harden your skin,"

Eren nodded, slightly relieved now that he knew what they had in mind for him today. "I'll try my best, Nathalie,"

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By the time dusk arrived, Eren had already transformed three times, but he had failed all those three times to get his skin to harden. Nathalie couldn't understand what went wrong. He was supposed to be able to do this at will. Right? Right? A hand found her chin as she thought, and thought, and thought till her forehead ached. Still, there was one good thing they had gotten out of this. She had filled bottles of Eren's titan spinal fluid, which surprisingly was vaporising.

Nathalie couldn't hope to extract spinal fluid from Eren's spine. The cerebrospinal fluid was surrounded by bones and tissue that she could not breach with any needle. She'd have to snap his neck which wasn't an option.

She had been standing on the top of a hill with Hange, Levi and Moblit staring down at Eren's titan as it collapsed back down unconscious. There was no way it would move right now. Eren must have been exhausted, and Nathalie wouldn't blame him. They had overworked him for the past couple of hours with no outcome whatsoever.

"Eren! What's wrong, Eren?! GET UP!" Hange screamed whilst Moblit scribbled down the results of the experiments on his notebook. "The future of humanity depends on you, dammit! GET UPPPP!"

"Third time. And his form changed again," Levi frowned. "He's not even ten metres tall, and some of his body lacks muscle. Not mention Eren's scrawny ass is hanging out,"

"I can see that!" Hange cried out. "Eren! Think you can still move?! Give us a signal or something, will you?!"

"Eren!" Mikasa cried out as she jumped off her horse and climbed on top of the unconscious titan. Nathalie cringed.

"Mikasa! Wait up!" Jean cried out.

Levi sighed. "Great. The brat's at it again. Off to the rescue. She never learns, does she?"

"Oh jeez, if I was in Eren's position you'd be acting the same -if not worse," Nathalie said only for him to shoot her a glare. Still, Eren wasn't moving. There was no point. Not to mention that Nathalie was too anxious to get Eren's titan spinal fluid samples examined in the Survey Corps labs in Trost. "We're done here. He's too exhausted to move," Nathalie said as she drew the handles of her ODM ready to jump down.

Hange groaned, kicking the floor. "We need to get this to work, dammit!"

"Calm down, Section Commander. We will find a way," Moblit's hand found Hange's shoulder but he didn't seem to be succeeding in calming her down.

Hange sighed heavily and she turned at Nathalie. "Ready the bottles," Nathalie nodded before she, Hange, and Moblit jumped off the hill on their ODM and landed on the titan's back.

Before Nathalie had the chance to grab Eren, Hange was already there trying to pull him out of the nape. "HOT!" She cried out. "Do you think you can ease up on the steam a little?!" She cried out at Eren but he did not respond.

"Hey! Be careful with him! Can't you see he's bleeding?!" Mikasa cried out worriedly.

Nathalie and Moblit leaned down to look at Eren's face only to see the skin missing. The eyes, missing. The tongue, hanging out in the open. Hange let out a scream of panic and Nathalie's eyes widened.

"AAAH MOBLIT, NAT, YOU SEE HIS FACE?!" Hange cried out in terror.

"HANGE-" Nathalie growled. Eren must've been in immense pain.

"Section Commander! Have you no compassion at all?!" Moblit cried out scolding her.

"Oh- for crying out loud!" Nathalie loaded a blade and she cut off the titan skin that was connected to his face, finally disconnecting the kid from the titan body. She looked at the face of the kid. It was nothing but the bones and tongue hanging out. "Oh my God,"

"Uh… Eren… sorry about that," Hange said still holding the kid against her.

"Stop tearing his face apart, and help me gather more samples," Nathalie growled and Hange gulped.

"R- Right," She turned at her soldiers that had gathered all around and Hange gave the order. "Experiment's over! All troops, withdraw at once! Make sure we weren't seen!"

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Same night, in Trost.

"I see. Another failure then," came Erwin's voice.

He'd been staring out of his window. Levi had visited to report today's experiments, whilst letting Nathalie run her tests on the samples in the labs of the Survey Corps HQ. She was in the same building, only a couple of floors below. He'd pick her up afterwards and return back to HQ.

"Imagine if it had worked. We could have plugged the hole in Shiganshina in less than a day," Erwin said.

"What we need is information. It's not like there are books in the subject," Levi frowned. "We do have Krista- no, Historia Reiss. Maybe she can give us some insight into the nature of the walls,"

"I did some digging and found a report about her life before the cadets," Erwin said. "The illegitimate daughter of Lord Reiss. This was not a happy childhood. Rod Reiss is the secret to all this somehow. Why would a mere regional lord know the secrets to the nature of the walls?"

Levi sighed. "Nat will figure something out,"

He hated saying that. He didn't hate anything as much as he hated placing burdens on Nathalie's shoulders. But she was the only one who could figure something out. A few nights ago, when they came up with the plan, Nathalie had told them things about titans that they hadn't even imagined to exist. It was because of her that they knew now exactly what to do and how to act.

"I'm sure she will," Erwin said and the corners of his lips curled up for just a little. Levi frowned even more. "The people who know are in danger," Erwin turned and looked at him deep in the eye. "Keep her safe, Levi,"

Levi raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Where is she now?"

Levi's eyes widened. She was in the City, and if anything, she wasn't safe in the City. She was in the very same building. Isn't she?! Sure, these were the Survey Corps Headquarters, but that didn't mean that somebody couldn't sneak in either as a soldier or even as an MP officer. Erwin's eyes widened as well. He bit his tongue slightly.

"She's not in this very building, is she?!" Erwin cried out.

No. They couldn't let anybody take her. She was just as important as Eren and Historia for carrying out the plan. If Nathalie wasn't there to figure out the true nature of the walls and the titans. If she wasn't there to figure out how to turn titans back into humans, then there was no way his plan would work. But Erwin realised, it wasn't just that. Just the thought of something happening to her…

Before Erwin had the chance to start running out of his room and back downstairs where he knew the labs were, his back crushed against his wooden bookcase behind him. Levi's hands fisted around Erwin's shirt. His eyes burned in anger and terror.

"You're the one planning to overthrow the government. She's not a goddamn pawn in your fucking masterplans. Leave Nathalie out of this!" Levi growled behind his gritted teeth.

He didn't give a fuck whether the man that he had cornered and threatened was his Commander or not. Erwin used everyone to fulfil his plans and achieve the things that he wanted. Levi was in no way going to let Erwin use Nathalie just like he used everyone else. But he had no time. He had to find her.

He let go of Erwin and he rushed out of the room and downstairs. He ran as fast as he could. His heart hammered loudly against his chest. They could have hit her, and abducted her, or even killed her, and he'd be too late, and it was all going to be his fault. No, no, no, no, no… The building was empty. It was night and it made sense to be empty, but it also made sense it'd be easier for someone to sneak in. It was his fault. He should have never left her out of his sight. He should have never brought her in Trost with him.

So naïve.

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Nathalie wouldn't have been able to snap out of this if she hadn't heard footsteps. It was dark in the lab, but she had a couple of oil lamps and candles that helped her see and scribble down notes on her notebook. Her glasses rested neatly on top of her nose. Her eyes stung from the overuse, and her limbs ached from sitting on her ass for the last few hours.

She had only added a drop of Eren's titan spinal fluid to the spinal fluid that she had retrieved from Connie's mother. It didn't just decompose the protein. It destroyed completely the genes that turn people into titans as if they were never there. Her theories were proven correct. If she injected Connie's mom with Eren's titan spinal fluid, then she wasn't only going to turn back into a human, but she wouldn't be able to turn back into a titan ever again.

She had used a drop of blood of her own. She needed to see how Eren's spinal fluid was going to react with human blood. But she never got to do it when she realised the door of the lab creaked open but no one walked in. That is strange.

Nathalie raised an eyebrow. "Levi?"