Disclaimer: I do not own the SNK series in any way, shape, or form.

A/N at the chapter's end.


"Well, that could have gone a little smoother" said Eld, "especially with all that screaming. But hey, at least it's over."

"I'm just waiting to return and see who was inside that one" commented Oluo.

So far the expedition had gone just as last time. Eren and the Levi Squad had lured the Female Titan into the trap Erwin had prepared. Afterwards they had gone over to their designated position. The screams coming from the inside of the forest, followed shortly by the signal to retreat meant that Annie had once again slipped through the fingers of Erwin.

We should be moving soon, then receive a signal from Annie posing as Levi. I need to be ready by then Eren thought as he installed a new gas canister to feed his ODM gear. As he adjusted the goggle Hanji gave him to compensate for his impaired vision, he was taken out of his thoughts by Petra, who was saying something to him.

"Sorry, wasn't listening, what were you saying?"

"Nothing" she answered, "just wanted to thank you for trusting us today. Too many times I've seen new cadets just rushing into combat just to be torn apart instead of following their orders. So I wanted to thank you for sticking by the captain's orders. It's not easy to make the right decision."

"Don't praise him too much" came Oluo's cocky voice. "It's not like he did anything spectacular, all he did is do what the captain told him. Though I guess surviving his first expedition unscathed it's a beginning."

"Not unlike you" Eld chimed in. "I remember that you and Petra pissed yourselves in your first go. How much have you two grown!"

"Gah! Don't say that, Eld!" Petra screamed. "The boy'll lose respect on us!" The blond veteran simply shrugged before turning and started swinging through the trees.

"Hey, all I'm saying it's that with these white pants everyone can see whose guts gave way!"

Now Oluo, who was fuming in embarrassment, started going after Eld and Gunther who were already moving.

"You idiot! I've killed more titans than you! Many more in fact!"

"That doesn't make you a better soldier. Congrats Eren, I didn't get scared the first time, alright. I welcome you to the club!"

"Hey, knock it off back there!" barked Gunther. "The expedition's not over until we're back at base! The man then turned his head forward to the path ahead. "... Oh, and Eren, I wasn't scared my first time either."

If he wasn't so focused, Eren would probably have stopped for a few seconds to appreciate the people who were surrounding him. He was determined on keeping them alive.

Soon thereafter the signal came, followed by Gunther's response. As the impending moment draw nearer, Eren was pulled out his thoughts by Petra.

"Hey, you seem pretty quiet" she said.

"I have a very bad feeling" he responded.

Before she could continue, a figure appeared at their left. This was it. This was the moment to start changing history, hopefully for the better. He heard Eld and Petra question whether or not that figure was Levi.

"I've never seen the captain covering his face" Eren said before propelling forward. He did so just before Annie would turn and start dashing towards Gunther. She never saw him until Eren crashed into her, sending them both flying. Crashing onto a branch from a nearby tree, Eren saw Annie fall into some bushes some meters away. Gunther landed next to him, he seemed confused, confused and upset.

Before that, however, a bolt of lightning fell into the same bushes the figure had fallen to a few moments ago. From then, the imposing image of the Female Titan arose, setting its eyes on the retreating scouts, giving chase.

Ok thought Eren, this is my chance to stop Annie right here. As he started to formulate a plan as to how to confront her, he could hear that Levi squad was making their own plan. Soon enough, Eld called Eren to let him know what they decided on.

"Eren, you go straight for the horses and leave!" he said. Shit, I completely forgot about this.

"I'm staying with you" was his response.

"Do as you're told brat!" screamed Oluo.

"Eren, this is no time for heroics" added Gunther.

"I can't leave you to fight that alone!" Eren shot back. "We don't know what she's capable of. You really expect me to leave you to be stomped?!"

"Eren don't you trust us?!" asked Petra as she unsheathed her blades. Oh, you're not pulling that on me this time he thought frowning. They can hate me if they want, at least they'll live. Without word Eren turned around and started transforming. A good thing about Genesis, Eren found, was that it didn't produce a bolt of lightning when activated, he hoped that would throw Annie of at least long enough to land the first hit.

Sadly, that didn't work. Because, if well the Female Titan was slightly surprised, she still dodged the opening attack and adopted a fighting stance. Inside, Annie was unprepared for Eren to shift so quickly, or how his titan's appearance changed so much. She wondered what was happening, but shook her head to concentrate, this was her chance to accomplish her mission.

On his part, Eren was making a strategy as to how to approach this fight. Annie had always been a tough opponent, whether in human or titan form. Her being proficient in both kicks and grapples meant she was dangerous no matter how one approached the fight. On his part, Eren had, probably, more experience, he was more resilient and had the spikes in his elbows and knees. He also knew her style pretty well, then it dawned on him.

I'm most likely faster than her, if I use a good faint to break her guard. Or if she attacks first, I could get away with throwing a jab. With his tactics settled for the moment, Eren shifted his waist so his right side faced the Female Titan. With his leg positioned for a rapid side-kick and his clenched fist extended forwards, Eren kept a distance from Annie, so he could have space to kick. A few seconds rolled by, with either opponent waiting for the other to make the first move, both keeping to a counter-attack strategy.

With that settled, Eren decided to open with a flick punch aiming to the head, the Female Titan lifted his right arm to block the attack. Annie realized too late that by doing so, she had left her body exposed to a side-kick, which almost immediately landed on her mid-section, sending her backwards several meters, being halted by a tree.

Both the power of the attack and her crashing on a tree broke Annie's guard. Mistake that was swiftly punished by Eren who landed an upward blow with his elbow on her jaw. Without time to process that attack either, he followed it up by slamming his knee against her torso, the spike penetrating the muscle and causing bleeding as it went out. He would have kept the barrage going, knowing that leaving Annie Leonhart time to recover was a mistake, but he was stopped and pushed back by an unexpected kick, slowing the tempo of the battle once more.

The state of mind of the combatants was very contrasting. Annie was shocked that Eren, that dumb kid with a severe case of tunnel-vision, had effectively pulled a faint on her, and could probably have defeated her right there and then if not for her quick thinking. Where did he pulled that from?! Everything from his appearance to his tactics, even his stance had changed drastically, something's not right here she thought.

For his part, Eren couldn't help but feel slightly cocky at how shocked the Female Titan. I suppose you weren't expecting that he said to himself. As he planned his next move he gave a small thanks to the man who had taught him that style, Seb, if I ever see you again, the drinks will be on me he promised to the puffy-haired member of the Meliora.

As both titans returned their concentration to their opponent, adopting their previous stances, the members of the Levi Squad looked on from a safe distance.

"Damn brat!" cried Oluo. "He has no respect for his superiors!" Petra was standing beside him looking equally pissed and betrayed.

"What should we do?" asked Eld.

"I'll throw a signal in case the captain is nearby" answered Gunther while searching for a flare gun.

"We should intervene." As Eld said this, all the other three members stared at him. "I mean it is our duty to keep him safe."

"Let's do it then" Petra said frowning before jumping into battle. Knowing that they were already engaged, the other three soon followed her.

Their intrusion into the battle threw Eren out of the loop. Idiots, what are you doing?! With them involved, he couldn't keep on attacking the Female Titan, as doing so might harm them as well. He could only look on impotently as they pulled the same move they did the first time, with making a faint only for then Gunther and Petra to take her eyes out, followed by Eld and Gunther who left her arms useless, pinned back to the tree. It all seemed to be going alright, but Eren knew that Annie would punish their first mistake, last time it being Eld swinging too close to her mouth, now, with Gunther as another possible target, the chances of one slip up increased. He knew he had to do something.

Seeing that all four members were a fair distance away, Eren seized the opportunity by closing the distance and give the strongest kick he could muster against the Female Titan, hitting her with so much power that the tree behind her snapped, she flew through the air before landing harshly on the ground. Annie was remained immobile for a few seconds.

As she lay on the floor, Oluo dashed in, looking for the kill. Eren tried to call to him, to no avail.

Annie had regenerated her eye by then and had already located one of the intrusive scouts. Seeing that neither the other scouts nor Eren were close enough, she waited for just the right moment to spring her trap. As that moment came, her arm moved with impressive speed, her hand clenching into a fist around the poor sod. Feeling the multitude of bones breaking at once and the splattering of blood, she knew that he couldn't have possibly survived. Rubbing her hand against the floor as she would with any mosquito, the Female Titan lifter her gaze. She had managed to completely heal both her right eye and arm. Against her momentarily frozen opponents, she slowly stood up.

Eren, on his side, push his shock and anger to the side and moved forward. Making use of Annie only having one good arm for the moment made things easier. He approached and quickly grabbed her arm with his left hand, taking it out of the way, and started throwing punches. The fact that she dodged a couple at such a short distance was another reminder that, even in her current state, Annie Leonhart was not to be dealt lightly.

His attack was stopped once again as the Female Titan pushed him off with a kick to the liver, releasing her arm in the process. Quickly hardening her knuckles, Annie threw a strong punch to his jaw. Eren stumbled back, falling on his knees. Fortunately, this time his jaw didn't go flying, the mask having absorbed most of the force. Standing up he started to move forward again, only to see Eld, Petra and Oluo starting to make their own attack.

Annie saw them approach. She was in a bad spot, those three scouts were still capable of incapacitating her if she left them unchecked, but she couldn't focus on them because Eren's strange new beast was still in too short a distance. Sensing her other arm new fully regenerated. Swatting them away like flies, she saw them fall to the ground, still alive, but badly hurt and their gear probably busted. With that small nuisance out of the way, she turned back just in time to receive punch straight to the face, breaking her jaw in the process.

Eren had had enough qualms by then. Discarding his approach for a simple barrage, using punches, kicks, elbows and knees, he was not allowing Annie any chance of counter, opting for overwhelm her rather than going around her defense. And it was working, him being faster, more experienced and more varied in his attacks ensured that she couldn't find an opening to counter. Breaking her legs, he picked the Female Titan up and send her flying against a nearby tree.

As she landed and saw Eren approaching, Annie realized this was not a battle she could win. She had been too overconfident on a sweeping victory against the novice Eren and his entourage of experienced, but unprepared bodyguards. She had to retreat, she had to look for a different approach. Remembering the presence of many mindless titans nearby, she decided on her path, and started screaming.

Oh no, thought Eren furiously, you're not pulling that again! Closing the distance, he silenced her by throwing a kick, which she caught, but was enough to stop her screaming.

Sadly, it was too late, as he could already hear the stomps of several mindless titans directing to them from many different locations. It was then he realized that the Levi Squad was in the ground, with their gear probably ruined. Pushing his foot free, Eren backed up to gather them. As he took them and put them in a tall enough branch, he turned back to the Female Titan, only to see her hunched over like a doll. Annie had already left it and took off. She had escaped.

Jumping off the nape of his titan, Eren landed on the branch and turned to his teammates. Eld and Petra were awake, Eld had dislocated his arm and was holding his torso, he probably had fractured his ribs, Petra was banged up and seemed to have broken her leg. Gunther was passed out, he was very banged up, badly, with several deep cuts in his face arms and legs, and his back was broken so badly it was visible even through the layers of clothing. Grimacing at the spectacle, he noticed that Petra was looking at him.

"I told you I had a bad feeling" he said quietly before turning back to witness the arrival of the mindless titans, devouring the empty carcass of the Female Titan. He grimaced as he realized that he would have to come up with something quickly if he wanted to avoid the whole ordeal that was the fight in Stohess.


"Can this heat get any worse?" he asked as he covered the sun with his hand. Besides him a big, middle aged man chuckled.

"We're in a desert. What were you expecting? A cool pint and a blowjob?" he asked sarcastically as he counted his ammo. In front of them, the puffy-haired man surveying the canyon looked back from his binoculars.

"I wouldn't mind that, now that you mention it" he said with a smirk, getting a grunt from the older man.

"Don't get any ideas, Seb. We're on a job here."

"Yeah, yeah, I know" he said as he lowered back to their hiding spot. "Well, nothing yet. You sure they'll pass through here?"

"The alpenians' spy said they'd be moving troops down south" the older man explained. "The only working train track from the capital in that direction is this one." As he said that, a slender woman entered their hiding spot, she put out her cigarette before she started talking.

"The explosives are set. They're waiting for our signal to blow the bridge."

"Nice job, Carmen" said Seb lying back on a rock. "Your inspecting services are top notch, as usual."

"Listen to me, you fucker. I'm getting really tired of your shit! If you say anything—" she was saying before a whistle from the older man stop her.

"It's too early for me to deal with your bickering" he said sternly. "Carmen, get ready, Karl get back to scouting, now!" The woman decided to comply while muttering further insults, the man shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Boss." A couple of minutes later, Karl called for their attention. "I see smoke on the horizon. It's too far to make the train out, give me a minute." Later confirming that it was the armored train they were after.

Boss took over from then. "Everyone in position. You know the drill, we wait until it's close enough, the alpenians blow up the train, we help mopping up the survivors and capture the shifters inside. Get to it!"

As they got in position near the bottom of the canyon, he looked to see the bridge. If he squinted, he could make out the places where the explosives were set. The heat was atrocious. He had heard of how hot it could get in places like this, but experiencing it was another matter. And the scarf on his neck was not helping, but he was not going to drop it.

After some waiting, the signal was given, and explosions started to appear on the bridge above, bringing the massive metal structure down. Soon the train came, free falling into the canyon as well.

As the dust settled, he and Carmen quickly moved along the alpenian warriors, they stood out with them wearing pants and shirts in contrast to their allies' tunics and turbans made for this climate. Shooting anyone who stepped out of the train, they made quick work of the survivors. When Seb and Boss reached them at the bottom, they went for the car that had the signal of the Warriors Program in there. Entering, they quickly found the two passengers they were looking, unconscious and wounded. As Boss went outside to call for the stretchers and gags, Seb light a cigarette, clicking his tongue as a cocky grin came to his face.

"What did I tell you, Eldia?" the man asked him in between drags. "Best way to get a shifter is doing so before they shift."


A few days had gone by since the expedition. Most of the scouts had retreated to their base in Stohess. After dark, Mikasa and Armin headed to the quarters where the Commander had called them. As they moved through the halls, he turned to her.

"What do you think they called us for?" he asked.

"I don't know" she answered. "But if they're calling us for, it probably involves Eren."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same." The two fell silent as they continued walking through the corridors. After a few seconds, he spoke again. "He's been acting differently." It was statement, Mikasa noted, rightfully so. There really was no other way about it.

"He's been a lot quieter recently."

"He doesn't seem very angry anymore. Remember the day we left for the expedition?" Of course Mikasa remembered it. As the groups were preparing for the bug day, the recruits of the 104th were having breakfast in the mess hall. The banter was lead, as usual, by Connie and Sasha, and somewhere along the line they directed themselves to Eren.

"Hey, Eren" she remembered Connie say. "You ready for a second shot against the titans?"

For his part, Eren didn't seem to listen at first, he being lost in thought. "Huh, oh that. Sure, I can hardly wait" was all he said, not even explaining after everyone on the table was staring at him.

It was something Mikasa hadn't really shaken off since. Seeing the usually passionate Eren so apathetic felt, wrong. When she and Armin confronted him about that later that day, he simply excused himself by saying he was tired. It didn't ease her concerns, but she couldn't say anything to that.

There was also the fact that now he was being more affectionate, especially towards her and Armin. There was that embrace when they reunited, but also small moments, things that would barely be worth taking into account, like putting a hand on their shoulders, or simply looking at them with a small, even sad, smile. And on top of that, there was that he had told her where he was going to be in the formation when they were alone, even after just saying he wasn't supposed to.

It felt off, Mikasa couldn't put her finger on it, but all she could really do was hope it was just her being paranoid. When she went with Armin about her concern, he had said that maybe the whole episode in Trost and the trial had put things in perspective. She shook those thoughts as they approached the door.

As the two entered the room they were summoned, the saw that the only people inside were commander Erwin, squad leader Hanji and captain Levi, and all had a dark look on their faces.

"Oh, you are here" said Erwin. "Please take a seat." As the two took a seat opposite to Levi and Hanji, they turned to Erwin again.

"Commander, can we know why we were summoned?" asked Armin.

"Originally we were going to relay you the plan for the apprehension of the Female Titan. But something of more relevance has happened since." This took both of them by surprise.

"What could have happened?" questioned Armin. Erwin was staring at them when he retorted.

"I wish to speak to you about Eren Yeager. Since you're the ones who have known him the longest, you might help me with something about him."

"Is something the matter?" asked Mikasa warily.

"Well, indeed there is" he said before turning his back on the table. "The report we got from him painted the picture of a passionate, albeit impulsive young man. But by the time he was settled with us, he had proven himself to be a rather laid-back, even apathetic. What do you make of that?"

"We were just discussing this change in attitude" Armin once again replied after a few seconds. "I believe it is just from the shock of everything that's happened recently."

"An understandable assertion" the commander relented. "Did you know that he smokes tobacco?"

"What?!" Mikasa said shocked, as she felt a piece fall into place. That's the reason for that smell of his lately something stirred in the back of her head. Erwin Smith nodded.

"He came to us shortly after joining the Squad of Captain Levi, asking to be supplied a jar of the thing. But the thing is that he doesn't use a pipe, he lines the tobacco in a sheet of paper which he rolls up and smokes from them."

"Why are you telling us that?" Armin asked cautiously.

"Because for some time I've get this feeling from him. This sensation that, somehow, he knows more than he lets on." A small chill ran through Erwin's spine as the memory of the young shifter's answer to his question resurfaced.

"Who do you think the real enemy is?" he whispered to the boy as they witnessed the dead bodies of Hanji's imprisoned titans. Without missing a beat, the young soldier turned to him and answered with a flat tone.

"Whoever's not us" he answered. "But who's 'us?' And who are 'they?'"

Returning to the present, Erwin directed himself to the young cadets in the table.

"Before we had even settled back in Karanese, he came to us, already with the identity of the Female Titan. He had given a very good rationale for his suspicion, so by the time you came to us, Arlert, with the same suspect, it was something to be considered more seriously."

"The reason for this tangent" he resumed, "is because we want to be completely sure that he, indeed, has humanity's best interest in mind, as he claimed. Do you believe so?"

"He does" Mikasa instantly argued, followed shortly by Armin. Erwin looked over to Levi and Hanji, who nodded. It was then that he let it come out.

"When was the last time you saw him?" he asked. Seeing their widening at the question meant that they already were seeing where this was going.

"Well" Armin took the initiative, "we last saw him at noon today."

"Did he say something worthy of note?"

"He, um, not that I think of" answered the blond boy. Mikasa, for her part, was trying hard to remember something along those lines from their short conversation earlier that day.

"He said that the sun irritated his eye" she remembered. "That he might get a hat from the market."

"Here you have your clue, Levi. Go see what you can figure out." The captain nodded before rising from the table to gather his equipment. "You two go with him."

"What is happening?" asked Armin as he was becoming more stressed. Levi turned to them as he was at the door.

"No one has seen Eren Yeager missing since the late afternoon. Get some others to come and meet me outside. Hurry."


Well, this is it for thesecond chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. What do you think about these little flashbacks? So far I've put one per chapter, but am still unsure of whether keep them going.

Tune in next week for the second fight with Annie.

As always, all reviews are welcomed.