Sorry for the late posting on this one, it's been a ridiculously hellish month. Stomach viruses in kids really suck. Anyway, please enjoy, I will try to keep up the posts. As always I don't own AOT or any of that jazz. Please comment!

One thing I hate about missions is how they usually didn't go according to plan. No matter how close we got, things usually ended up much, much worse. Today's mission was exactly like that. While squad Levi, Erwin and Levi all were handling the now known female titan Annie Leonhart, I got to enjoy sneaking into my family's estate to deal with those matters. The amount of influence they had was astronomical and the stuff that Levi's squad had attained for us wasn't even close to making a dent.

It was my turn, get in and get out silently, maybe kill a few people along the way. It was an interesting mission to say the least, especially since it was happening in broad daylight and I had to not wear my usual Survey Corps uniform. Now, I was able to look a little stealthier but that also meant my ODM gear was out of the question. At least I had suitable personal weapons sheathed on various parts of my body; this time no one was going to get away with torturing me, it was going to be the other way around.

The house was relatively quiet, especially since the stirring of the MP's and Survey Corps not far away. My nerves twisted slightly at the thought of how much chaos and destruction may end up coming my way if they didn't get titan girl on lock down. I could only hope I had time enough to get the information I needed before shit hit the fan. It was stressful to worry about everything that was going on where I was at currently and where I had left my squad. Even though Jason had been training hard and showing he was cooperating, that didn't necessarily mean that it was going to last. I had to push the thoughts from my head as I slipped from room to room, dodging the maids and occasional foot soldiers as I made my way into my father's office.

Unlike the office down in the cellar, this was the one that he conducted all of his business, personal and otherwise. It was also the same spot Levi and I had been tortured. There was no one inside, luckily as I began to search drawer after drawer, cabinet after cabinet. Nothing of use was turning up. How did a family like mine have so much influence and power and have literally nothing to dig up? Then it hit me, there was a hiding place somewhere in this stupidly large house and I had to find it.

I checked the paneling in the office, pulled on anything that could act as a lever and still nothing. His office was clean. I quickly made my way up the stairs to the only area that no one probably would ever think to check. I stepped quietly into my parent's bedroom, checking for anything even remotely secret. A well-placed tapestry confirmed my suspicions. I stared bewildered at the faint outline of a door behind the tapestry, knowing full well that this could turn south quickly. With my Karambit comfortably snug in my hand, I made my way down the darkened hallway behind the door.

It took more than a few minutes for my eyes to adjust as I followed the linear dark and narrow path that essentially lead be behind the walls of the house. I had never known of any of this growing up. As a kid it was either be conditioned and turn into the perfect mold of what the family wanted you to be or be discarded, probably dead, in the streets for how useless we could be. There was no real choice, if you wanted to stay alive, you worked hard to ensure it stayed that way.

My steps were carefully placed as I took my time, making sure that there was nothing around the corners I had to turn nor was there any traps to step on. For a secret hideaway, there weren't any surprises. That's not to say there wouldn't be any the farther I got through the house but there was also the possibility that my father was confident enough that no one would ever find this place.

Twisting and turning through the walls, I had never thought in a million years that something like this had existed nor that it would take me forever and a day to get through. I was determined though and a dim light at the end of the hallway was showing that my dedication was about to be rewarded. Muffled talking made me stop dead for a moment, straining my ears to try and hear what was going on.

"Your kids have no proved to be a liability, you must end them before they find out what they are." An unknown male voice spoke. I leaned closer to the door silently, taking in everything being said.

"You don't understand, I raised those two to be powerful assets to Marley. They're supposed to be warriors, remember!" The voice came from my father this time.

"Warriors don't abandon their family! Warriors have a job to do and had you informed them of their duties earlier on, they would be just as useful as the others. But you had to let them have their own free will and look where that got you!" The other man scolded my father in a way I had never heard before. What the hell was he talking about warriors?

"My children have worked hard to get to their skill-level. Not even your current warriors could compete without their titan forms." My heart jumped to my throat. There were more than Annie and Eren? How many more?

"Their titan forms are what make them warriors you stupid imbecile. Your children were supposed to take on their own forms and help us find the founding titan, but your ego and pride to be an influencer in this god-forsaken country has left you blind from Marley. We are tired of waiting for you to get a handle on your kids. Kill them or we will. They are of no more use to us." My heart dropped. It was the first time I had ever heard my father defend either me or Jason in any way. But now, to hear we were supposed to take on titan forms and find some founding titan? It was unbelievable. I could barely process the thought before they continued to speak.

"I will not kill my children and if Marley wants to try and take them out, so be it. I am done following your stupid views. Find the founding titan on your own, I'm done." My eyes widened at my father's blatant rebellion. His scream and gurgling caught me by surprise as I could hear my father dying slowly.

"That is why you never could get where you wanted to be in Marley and why they sent you here. You're worthless trash, not even loyal to your own kind. We don't need you or your family anymore." The sounds of my father choking on his own blood lit a fire in me that I had no idea I could feel. Stepping from the shadows, I took the unknown man off-guard as he stood over my father's lifeless body, dagger in hand. "Oh, the prodigal child returns. Isn't this sweet."

"Who the fuck are you?" I growled angrily, grabbing a second blade for my other hand, positioning myself to strike.

"That's none of your business, stupid child. You'll be dead soon anyway." I couldn't help the laughter bubble from my gut.

"Good luck with that, buddy. I'm not going down any time soon." The man chuckled menacingly, turning and facing me now. He was close to my father in age, though he looked significantly more fit and scarred. He had seen some brutal fights in his time, but I wasn't going to let him win this one. He lunged quickly, swinging his blade forward, narrowly missing as I rolled out of the way to keep the distance.

"It's a good thing he trained you in combat, otherwise you'd make my job too easy." He cackled.

"Who are you? Why did you kill my father?" The man rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I told you it was none of your business. This is now the business of the Marleyan government." I couldn't stifle the frustrated growl I had.

"What is the Marleyan government? What is Marley?" The man howled with laughter, relaxing his posture before turning fully and pointing his blade in my direction.

"Your useless father should've taught you this from birth." He sighed aggravated but finally gave me a little information. "There is much more outside these walls you all hide in. In fact, there's a whole world out there that knows of your existence. Do you know the history of Paradise Island?" The confusion on my face made him nod. "You see, the founding titan took a race of Eldians from the Eldian Empire during the war of the titans. Long story short, King Fritz had these walls built to protect the last of the Eldians from the war with the threat that if Eldia and Marley didn't find peace, he would unleash a many number of very powerful titans, and thus peace was gained. However, Marley needs the strength of the founding titan to secure its rule over all and hence that is why we are here. Marley's titan warriors are seeking what should have been Marley's from the beginning and we will not stop until we find it."

Still on the defensive, I stared at the man while trying to process the information. He was either completely batty or he was telling a truth that literally no one in our world had known anything about. I'd never heard of anyone ever speak of Marley or any other governments. I had also never heard of anything even remotely sounding about more titan forces in this way. This was only mild speculation at best and what the Survey Corps was trying to find out for so long.

"Why hide it though? If Marley is so powerful, why not just storm the walls now and just take it?" The man laughed again.

"I'm not giving you everything you stupid girl. In the event that I die, just know that you and your kind only know the tiniest fraction of what really is going on around you, and even then, I guarantee you're blind to the truth." I growled loudly, lunging forward for the man, but he was quick to slip through the doorway and make a break for it.

Taking chase, I moved as quickly as I could to catch him, the sounds of his cackling laughter echoing the halls. What the hell was going on? This was just absolutely insane. As soon as I reached my parent's bedroom, the man was gone and everything was silent, causing me to curse loudly. That room had plenty of important stuff in it for sure, still the thought of the man having disappeared left my nerves completely unchecked. Before leaving, I ensured I had all the papers and books and notes that I could carry from the room, though the language written on some of them I couldn't understand at all. Hopefully, Hange would have an easier time.

I took a moment to stand by my father, staring down at his lifeless body. It was a shame he hadn't acted that way in front of Jason and me. Part of me wondered what my mother possibly knew, if anything. It was time to seek her out and get to the bottom of this. She was in the one place I knew I could always find her, her little tearoom enjoying lavish snacks and tea while she read. She had no idea her husband had lay dead up the stairs somewhere. Her face paled at the sight of me as I walked through the door, no longer concealing my presence.

"What the hell are you doing here, Alessa?" She whispered loudly, stomping over and grabbing my arm. "If your father knew you were here…"

"Dad's dead." The look in her eyes was nothing but pure shock as she took a step back and sat down.

"What did you do?" I sighed and shook my head.

"It wasn't me, actually. Do you know about dad's secret passage in your room? Do you know about Marley and the titans?" My mother stared at me flabbergasted.

"What the hell are you on about?" I sighed and thought for a moment. There was only one outcome and I prayed she would listen.

"Mom, you need to come with me. You need to give me your full cooperation because if you don't, you're going to end up like dad and so are me and Jason." Her face grew paler, taking in my request.

"Fine, but do not keep me caged like some wild animal. I am a woman of class and standards."

"Where we are going, that won't get you anywhere, trust me." Her lips pursed but she stood obediently and followed without me having to drag her out of the house. At least she wasn't stupid. This could have been a lot worse.

We made it out of the house finally, though along the way we noted the chaos and destruction all around us. I was so consumed by my mission I hadn't even realized Eren and Annie had been fighting in their titan forms in the middle of the city. My mother gaped at the surroundings and the abundance of military that swarmed the city. I caught the grouping of the Survey Corps by the wall and made my way over, my mother quietly in tow as we approached a quiet Levi. He couldn't participate in the mission because of all of his injuries, so seeing him rather casual was slightly refreshing.

His eyes caught mine, widening as he saw my mother following. The sight in front of me was one I couldn't believe. Annie was sealed in a crystal so to speak, looking almost like she had been sleeping. Hange and everyone else was swarmed around trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Hange caught sight of me, barreling over and crashing into me hard.

"WOMAN YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE…" She stared at my mother who offered her not even the slightest of smiles. "I'll talk to you later about it. What did you find?" Her immediate professionalism almost made me laugh.

"A lot, but I can't read most of it, so you'll have to do some serious research. I also have some other information that I don't know if any of it is written down. I've got a lot of work to put into the upcoming report." I sort of whined. Levi stepped over, not taking his eyes off my mother, who in turn death glared him. She was still sour about the party it seemed. "Also, my father is dead, and the family is essentially collapsed I am assuming, my mother is in just as much danger as Jason and me so I'd like us to keep her safe." Levi let out a 'tch' but Hange nodded, patting my shoulder.

"Whatever the hell is going on, we're going to get to the bottom of it." She nudged me, nodding slightly at the wall as discreetly as possible. My eyes met the giant hole and I nearly dropped my stuff. Is that a…titan in the walls? That man from earlier was right, we have no idea what is going on in the world around us, not even a slight fraction.

When we all were finally back at the headquarters, Jason nearly lost his mind seeing out mother walk through the doors. We had to calm down all the chatter of the day's mission considering a number of different things had happened that day and not even those of us who were part of it could wrap our heads around it. Annie had snapped and her and Eren had gone completely crazy in the city and the destruction was pretty real, though this showed that the Survey Corps were the ones to handle this sort of crap better than anyone else, even if the other branches didn't like it.

Jason had spent some time with my mother, though the Survey Corps wasn't about to let the woman free-roam the headquarters, especially after what Levi and I had gone through. She was locked up even though she pitched a fit about it. I tried to convince her that it was better than the alternative where we locked her up in a dungeon without so much as a bucket to pee in, but she didn't find me funny. In a matter of a day, the Survey Corps was bustling around the headquarters, handling all sorts of new findings and information, between my family's connection to this Marley place and what that had even meant and Annie Leonhart sealed away in some casing of some sort, it was all a lot to process.

The day was finally winding down as I sat in the common lounge area of the headquarters. Not many people really hung around here, but it was great for everyone if they wanted to gather around. It was also the place where I had drunkenly told Levi how I was a spy. I smirked to myself at the thought of my dumb antics. For someone that is supposed to be so skilled in everything that I do, it is like Levi just melts any and every wall that I have, like hot lava just taking it all down.

"If there's any place to find you, it's cooped up in the quietest place with a hard drink in hand." I glanced up at Jason who plopped onto the armchair across from me, clearly looking exasperated.

"I'm a creature of habit." He nodded and smirked. We sat in comfortable silence, neither of us needing to speak. I may have my doubts of my brother, but even still, he's my brother. I wasn't going to jump up and start being a jerk to him for no real reason. It was nice though, to sit with my brother like this again. We had done this so many times in the MP's, sitting quietly with no real reason to talk. It was nice to share, considering there were far too many people who made it a point to converse solely out of their own necessity.

"Is it strange that mom is in jail and dad's dead? Or am I just fucking weird that I'm really happy we don't have to go back?" Jason's statement caught me a little off-guard. Was this bait or was he sincere?

"I mean…it's not like I cried when I saw dad die. I don't think I really felt much other than the fact that I was surprised he was trying to protect us apparently from whatever this warrior fate was. And you know mom, she'll just bitch and moan for days until she either gets her way or finally shuts up. At this point I just want to do my job and live my life free of anymore corrupt bullshit." Jason leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I still can't believe it. What the hell is Marley? What was that dude even talking about?" Jason heard the details from me as I briefed him and Erwin with everyone else. "Does this mean that we're trapped behind these walls and we don't even need to be? That there's a whole other world out there?" I shrugged and let out a light laugh.

"If I could answer even half of that, you know I would. I have no idea what dad was doing, or if mom was even in on it. This whole thing is just a giant load of shit that I don't want to deal with. Even if there was a big old world out there, part of me just wants to stay here, find a place to call my home and say fuck the rest of you lot." Jason laughed as he leaned back in the chair.

"You would too. You'd be that cranky ass old lady that beats people with brooms to get off her front porch."

"Never underestimate a crazy old lady with a broom." I giggled. It felt like it used to be more than I could ever imagine. I had to keep up my caution with Jason though, he wasn't like me. He could talk the pants off anyone and not just that, he could easily sway your emotions to match his, even if you didn't believe in what he was saying, you end up falling for it just based off feelings alone. He was our father's prodigy, the golden boy and the one who would've ended up taking over the family business. Now there was no family business; everything was getting liquidated one signature at a time from our mother. Not that I cared, I didn't want the money or the assets. I just wanted my freedom and being with the Survey Corps gave me a sense of that.

"I'm sorry, you know." My heart dropped. Jason never apologized for things, ever. Not unless he truly meant it, and I could count probably on one finger the amount of times he'd apologized and it was to me because he had really hurt me, physically, when we were kids. He felt awful and did everything he could for almost a year to make it up to me and get me to forgive him. This was the sign I needed from him to trust him.

"I know. You didn't do this though; this was all our family. And I'm sorry too, I should've been there for you when the Survey Corps held you captive. I should've been a better sister." Jason laughed and shook his head.

"No, you did what you needed to do at the time. I'm sorry that I almost fucked everything up for you. I love seeing you happy and lately, I've seen more genuine smiles from you than I have our entire lives. Whatever that dickweed does for you, clearly you needed it." I quickly downed the last of my drink, laughing a bit.

"That dickweed could easily kick your ass, you know." Jason scoffed.

"He'd need a ladder." I couldn't stifle the giggle. Levi and I were right around the same height, so I never had to think of him as short, but my brother was rather tall, so it was easy for him to look down on people, literally.

"Even so, I promise you'd die. Don't underestimate him because he's short. He'll definitely destroy you." Jason glared at me and shook his head but thankfully didn't argue.

"You must really love the guy." I choked a little at his choice of words.

"Love?" He nodded, his face getting serious.

"Look at you Alessa, you are defending him, you were all over him the other day when we were training and I'm pretty sure by the looks on your face usually, he's always on your mind. Pretty sure you love the guy." My jaw dropped slightly as a confused look spread across my face. We hadn't been together long enough for me to consider the L-word. What is love anyway? How do I know that I truly even love the guy? What if I just love aspects of him, or love things he does? How could I tell if it's that I love him as a person? It was all too much to even think about.

"Don't go putting these thoughts in my head. I'd like to keep thinking that I use him for the utility tool in his pants and the occasional abuse of his smart mouth okay." Jason shook his head and laughed.

"There's something wrong with you." I scoffed, pretending to be offended. He was right, there probably was a lot wrong with me.

"You're related to me, what does that say about you?" Jason smiled wide.

"That I got all the good genes." He yelped out as I kicked him hard in the shin. Jerk. I finally stood up and sighed, pointing at my brother.

"Go to bed before I make your training tomorrow a living hell." He just chuckled as I left the room, making my way up the stairs to Levi's room. Overall, it wasn't a terrible day like it could have been. Things could've been much worse on so many different fronts but today, we got what we needed, we succeeded, for the most part, in our missions and now, I could really relax a bit. No family ready to strike, no added stress that lay ahead of me as of yet. It was for once, a day that I could probably sleep without fear of nightmares as well. The sight in front of me said it all as Levi stood shirtless, fixing his clothes and gear meticulously. I couldn't help but smile and watch as went over his belongings with a fine-toothed comb. He was too much sometimes.

His eyes caught mine finally, sending a shiver down my spine. He didn't need to say a word and neither did I. We both knew that bed was getting put to good use in less than a moment. For only tonight, I wouldn't have to worry about anything but my own feelings as Levi repeatedly reminded me how I needed to feel.