A/N - I know that I had Frieda imply that there could be a potential relationship between Annie and Nick in the previous chapter, but nothing is set in stone yet for the characters and the future of the story, remember, anything could happen that may or may not change the way that some characters feel about each other. Now I hope thay you enjoy this chapter!

(Year 841, Mitras)

"Again!" A female voice sounded out, rather harsh in her commands.

There was a soft thump as the ten year old boy thrust his leg into the padded legs of the girl that was being used as his training dummy.

"Again! Harder this time!" The same female voice commanded.

The boy responded with an even harder kick to the thigh of the training dummy, sending her slightly backwards at the power of the kick.

The woman commanding him didn't look impressed at all as she continued to bark out orders. "Don't just use your right leg! You won't have the luxury of choosing in a life or death situation!"

The boy once again responded with another kick, this time with his left leg, sending his shin firmly into the other thigh of the dummy.

"Higher!" The command came once again.

He responded once again by sending an even more powerful kick to the midsection of the girl wearing the padding, sending her to the ground as she cried out in pain. The boys eyes widened in horror after seeing what he had done to his friend.

"Frieda! Are you alright?" He asked as he rushed over to help her up, ignoring the commands for once.

"It's alright, I'm fine Nick." Frieda responded as she felt the air return to her lungs after having it forcefully removed by that kick. "But I have to ask how you got so strong." She teased, his face turning red in embarrassment as she pinched his cheeks.

"Frieda stop." He said as he tried to wiggle free of his friends grasp, the fourteen year old girl giggling as he got redder and redder.

"I didn't say you could stop Nicholas." The female voice spoke once again, telling him that he should continue with his training, despite his concerns for his friends wellbeing.

"But mom, Frieda got hurt." He pointed out. "Can't we stop for today." He pleaded. "It's been weeks since me Frieda and Florian played together."

"I... suppose thats true." His mother conceded. "But you realise why I'm doing this right?" She asked. "I just want to be sure that you can protect yourself in case something happens to you." She said as she kneeled down to his level.

"I know mom." He responded as he hugged her, smiling as he did so. "I'll try twice as hard tomorrow!" He proclaimed.

"I know you will." His mother said as she let him go from the hug so that he could go with Frieda to play with her and Florian.

"Come on Nick." Frieda said after she had managed to get herself out of the improvised training equipment that had almost been forced upon her by Nick's mother, with her saying it would be good experience to attack a taller opponent.

"Look after him." His mother told Frieda as she offered her hand to Nick, him accepting as Frieda nodded to his mother, silently saying yes to her.

"Frieda?" Nick asked after a few minutes after they had left his house to go to hers. "What do you want to be when you get older?"

"I want to be our saviour." She replied to his question with. "I'm going to save the world one day."

"How will you do that?" He innocently asked, not yet having been told of the secrets of the world. "Will you join the Scouts?"

"No Nick. Sadly, I'm not brave enough to fight the Titans like they are." She responded, sounding disappointed in her answer to him. "You need to be special to join the Scouts, and I'm not special."

"I think you're special." Nick responded, Frieda lifting her head at his words so she wasn't looking at the ground while they were walking along the streets. "You're smart, you're really nice, you like to help people... you're really pretty and best of all, you're my friend." He said, smiling a huge smile at her as he did.

"Thank you Nick." She responded, now having a smile on her face as well at his reasoning for her being special. "Who knows, anyone could turn out to be that special someone to join the Scouts, even you."

"I don't know... dad thinks that they're just a waste of money." Nick told her, having overheard his father talking to some others about the Scouts once.

"That's not true." She responded as she bent down to look him directly in the eyes. "They risk their lives so that we can have a chance at living outside of these walls. Don't you want that Nick? To be free of this prison."

"But I heard someone say to dad that it's what we deserve." Nick responded. "He said after what our people did it's the most we deserve, living inside these walls and ruled by the Titans."

"Who said that." Frieda asked, wondering who it was that was so careless to let Nick overhear them talking about the Eldian race, especially at his age.

"It was that old man Inocencio." Nick replied to her.

Frieda grabbed his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "Well he's wrong, the Scouts are the bravest people to ever live in these walls, and anyone who thinks otherwise are stupid. Okay?"

He nodded vigorously as he continued to look into her eyes. "But what about all the Scouts that died?" He asked.

"They won't have died in vain Nick, because next year I'm going to free us all from these walls, I promise you that."

"How will you do that?" Nick asked.

"Don't worry about that yet Nick, you'll learn soon enough." She said as she stood back up and took his hand once again. "Now come on, wouldn't want to keep Florian waiting now do we?"

(Year 850, Stohess)

Nick was woken up by someone thoroughly shaking him awake, taking him out of the peaceful sleep he had been having. Now having been transferred unwillingly to the Stohess branch of the Military Police, he could definitely say that the beds were much comfier than the ones the Scouts had, the sheets and blankets were thicker and much softer, making it even harder than it was before to get out of bed early in the morning.

"Get up." The voice of his new roommate practically demamded. "You're going to be late."

Nick opened his eyes to see his roommate was already fully dressed for the day, clearly he was taking his job at least half seriously, either that or he was scared of being fired, but the Officers didn't really seem to care so Nick assumed it was the first.

"The Officer won't care if I'm late." Nick replied, closing his eyes in an attempt to shut out the sun.

"Get up, the Scouts are passing through today, we may have some work to do."

"That's right, I almost forgot about that, guess the bed was so comfy I didn't think about it." He thought, slowly opening his eyes to see his roommate staring at him.

"You could definitely say the bed was comfy." Frieda replied to his thoughts with.

"Really? You're gonna get me hard if you keep talking like that." He responded.

"Maybe that's what I want." She shot back.

"Frieda, as hot as you are, we need to be serious today, this could determine the fate of Eren and even the Scouts."

"Right, sorry about that." She sheepishly replied.

"It's fine, just get ready to help today, okay."

"Right." She finally responded.

"I can tell you didn't have many friends back in training." Nick bluntly told him after he had finished talking to Frieda, seeing his attitude would not have been appreciated in the Cadets.

"Eh? What makes you say that?" He asked, still eyeing him down.

"It's the way you act." Nick explained as he sat up, revealing a dark purple bruise on the left side of his ribs after he hit a tree after he was shoved into the bushes while fighting the Female Titan. "That attitude of yours, the way you're so serious all the time won't make you any friends. Even the top ten from my class were laid back most of the time."

"Where did you get that bruise." He asked, ignoring the insults about him, now noticing the purple patch of skin, clearly contrasting the pale skin of the rest of his torso.

"From fighting a Titan." He simply explained.

"You fought at Trost?" He asked.

"Yes, but this us from the expedition." Nick said as he rubbed his eyes.

The boys eyes widened at the statement from Nick. "How are you here if you were a Scout?"

"Let's just say, unwanted transfer. Now can you hand me that glass of water." He said as he pointed it on the dresser.

"Here." He said as he handed it to him, but was dumbfounded as Nick splashed it over his face, getting rid of the sleepiness from his eyes.

"Why'd you do that!?" He shouted at him. "You got the bed wet."

"Doesn't matter now, it'll be dry by tonight." Nick nonchalantly responded. "I'll be there in a minute Marlowe, you don't have to watch my every move." He said as he got out of his bed so he could put his gear on.

"Right, just don't end up like Hitch." He snorted.

"Who's that." Nick asked, not knowing any of the MP's there apart from Annie and Marlowe.

"She was the one that was flirting with you when you arrived yesterday." He explained. "I'm surprised she didn't put her hands all over you."

"Oh... her." He sighed, remembering her calling him cute yesterday, he ignored her however, knowing that he would only be here for today. "I feel sorry for whoever is her roommate."

"That would be Annie. She doesn't really talk much." Marlowe commented.

"Is Hitch is half as bad as you say then I'm surprised Annie hasn't tried to kill her yet." He replied as he got out of his soaked bed to get dressed for the day.

"You know Annie?" He asked as Nick managed to get his pants on.

"Yeah, same class. 104th, Southern Division." He replied as he put his socks on.

"But you look so..."

"Old?" Nick finished his sentence. "I was the oldest in my class by over a year, don't worry about it."

"Right... well I'll be downstairs waiting for our orders, try not to be late."

"Whatever." Nick grumbled as Marlowe left the room.

He put his shirt on after Marlowe had left, putting the harness on before he put on his boots, knowing that he would need it for later today if his plan was to succeed.

"Frieda." He spoke out loud. "Is it wrong wanting her to transform in the middle of the city just so I can go against the Scouts plan. They put their full trust in me, and I'm going to break it just like that." He grimly thought, knowing full well they may lose all confidence in him if he did this.

"I won't lie to you." She stated. "I'm not particularly happy with this plan of yours." She told him. "It will most likely mean the injuries and deaths of hundreds of men, women and even children."

"I know." He softly replied, looking at the Unicorn on the back of the jacked that was supplied to him yesterday when he arrived. "I hate that I'm doing this, and I'll hate myself even more if it succeeds, and the thing is... I don't even know if it will be worth it. Will Annie even join our side? Because I'm going to lie to her about Eren being the Founding Titan. What's to stop her from turning on us the moment she finds out?"

"I can't tell you what you want to hear Nick, but I won't hate you." She told him, making him smile slightly. "And I'll still help you regardless, because even I think this is the best way to get her to fight for us."

"And what about everyone else? Eren and Mikasa will be furious with me if I try to protect her after what she did five years ago." He said. "She's some of the only family I have left apart from my mom, dad and Rachel. I don't want them to hate me." He softly finished with.

"I'm not sure how they will react." Frieda started. "But I don't think Mikasa could totally hate you, after some time she will realise what you did was for the good of us all."

"Doesn't change the fact that it was Annie who tried to kidnap Eren." He pointed out. "Mikasa will hate her for that, and killing countless Scouts on the expedition won't help her case."

"You need to stop grovelling over things that haven't happened." Frieda harshly spoke for once, getting tired of his self pity. "You don't know what will happen or how they will react, so quit whining, get that jacket on and get your ass out that door! You have a civilisation to save!" She practically shouted at him.

"Wow..." He breathed out. "I never thought you shouting at me could be so..." He trailed off at the end.

"So... what?" She asked.

"So... sexy." He finally got out.

"Nevermind that, if you find me shouting so sexy then we can arrange for that to happen at a later date. Now get going!" She sternly told him.

"Yeah yeah." He replied, finally putting his jacket on, his back now displaying the Unicorn of the Military Police instead of the Wings of Freedom.

When Annie woke up that same morning her blonde hair was messy and was sprawled all over her face. The first thing she noticed when she sat up was that Hitch hadn't woken her up. "Asshole." She thought to herself, she couldn't deal with that girl, she was so infuriating that she had to refrain from punching her on multiple occasions. She was constantly trying to get under her skin, whether it was with her trying to get something out of her or just being a pain in her ass.

When Annie had finally got dressed and ready for the day, she began to walk down the stairs towards where the new recruits were assembled. When she saw that Nick was standing next to Marlowe, she froze on the staircase, not knowing what to think as a million thoughts rushed through her head.

"Why is he here!? Does he know about me!? Surely he must if he's here! Is that why? Wait, he's wearing the standard MP uniform, does that mean he transferred here? But how? Must have used his connections."

"Are you going to stand there all day?" Hitch's called out, her voice bringing Annie out of her thoughts.

Begrudgingly, Annie made her way down the rest of the staircase, ending up next to Hitch as she continued with her endless teasing.

"At least you're finally awake." She jested. "You look so terrifying when you're asleep I didn't dare disturb you." Annie didn't respond to her, instead taking her place next to Hitch against the wall, waiting for their superior to give them orders.

"You've been pretty lax in your duties lately." Marlowe noted, still looking forward.

"Typical Annie, slacking off every chance she gets." Nick thought.

Hitch then pouted. "Aww, Marlowe, you've upset her." The concern in her voice was so obviously fake.

"She's anti-social, not upset." Marlowe responded, waving Hitch's fake concern off.

"Knock it off you two. You know she fought during the battle of Trost before coming here right? That makes her the only member of this outfit who's seen any real action. She must have been through hell there. It probably takes some time to readjust." The soldier at the other side of Marlowe stated.

"Actually." Marlowe intervened. "The new guy has as well." He pointed out. "He transferred here from the Scouts... after the expedition."

"But that would mean..." The boy started, just to be cut off by Nick.

"Yes, I was on the expedition." He stated. "It was a disaster. The right flank was wiped out barely an hour in, with the early warning system compromised we didn't stand a chance." He explained, leaving out the details of the Female Titan, trying to play it off as if he didn't know about Annie.

"Wow... you must be really brave then." Hitch cooed. "To go out there takes some real guts, but why the transfer?" She asked.

"It's not something I asked for." He replied.

"Can it, the Officer is coming." Marlowe hissed as the Officer walked up to them.

The Officer walked down the hall with sone papers in his hands, seeming like he had some real work for them to do. The younger recruits all saluted as he walked up.

"Great. Thanks guys." He was clearly bored out of his mind when he spoke, not bothering to return the salute. The recruits all dropped the salute except for Marlowe, who still held it. "You'll be happy to know that I've got actual work for you today, not just the same old crap. Apparently it's got something to do with the scouts being summoned to the capital." Annie's head perked up at that, now realising that she would have another chance to complete her mission. "Some time today they'll be passing along the main street. HQ is already provided a security detail, so we're only being asked to assist until the convoy is clear. ODM use in city limits has been authorised, you'll follow beside the convoy as additional security. There's a barge waiting to take you to the starting point. Dismissed."

"Who're you?" The Officer asked as he looked at Nick. "You weren't here yesterday." He pointed out.

"New transfer." Nick replied, not liking the man's ignorance to his job.

"Oh right, I think I read something about that." He scratched his head.

"Excuse me Sir, may I ask a question?" Marlowe spoke up.

"If you must."

"What exactly is it that we're supposed to be protecting the convoy from?" He asked.

"Huh?" The Officer now looked confused.

"It's just that, I've never heard of anyone openly defying the government, especially this far in. Most of the populace is just happy to be safe behind the walls. There are a few petty criminals here and there sure, but I can't imagine any organization that exists being large enough to attempt a strike. What possible motive could such an organization have anyway?" He finished with.

"Well aren't you mister serious today." The Officer looked at him incredulously. "You can be in charge of this." He said as he thrust the papers into Malowe's chest. "Everything you need to know is right in here."

"Huh?"

"We Officers are busy enough as it is, prove that you can handle this one yourselves." He said as he opened the door oposite them. "Oh, and you better not screw it up, got it." He spoke as he entered the room. "Hey sorry about that, back to business, whose turn was it." He said to his fellow Officers who were drinking and playing cards.

"Well, we should probably get going." Marlowe pointed out as he started to leave, the others folowing him.

"Hey Nick, got a second?" Annie spoke up.

"Yeah sure, what is it?" He said as he turned to face her.

What he didn't expect was when the others had left was for her to throw her arms around him to bring him into a hug, effectively burying her nose into his neck as she did so.

"Annie! What's gotten into you?" He asked as he awkwardly patted her back until she let go.

"Sorry." She apologised. "Guess I'm glad you survived the expedition, but how did you get to be an MP?" She asked.

"Apparently Nile thinks it isn't safe in the Scouts for me, and the Royal Assembly seemed to agree with him. So here I am." He explained, it was the truth, so she shouldn't think that he was lying.

"Right." She said as she stood there awkwardly, holding her right arm with ger left hand. "We should go with them."

"Of course." He responded. "Lead the way."

(Courtyard, Stohess MP HQ)

"Damn, this stinks." Marlowe spoke up.

"Got that right." Hitch responded. "The amount of slacking that goes on in this outfit is even more than I imagined, I mean that is why I chose to join, but still, I might've thought twice if that meant the rookies got stuck doing all the work all the time, seriously..."

Marlowe growled to himself as he spoke. "Bastards, they're all irresponsible, self absorbed imbeciles, all of them."

"Hm, so what's that make you Marlowe?" Boris asked. "You chose to join the Military Police, you're a slacker just like the rest of us."

"You're wrong Boris." His tone was low, and slightly threatening. "I'm nothing like the rest of you degenerates. I joined up because the Military Police is in dire need of repair."

"Wow!" Hitch sarcastically said as she was clapping. "That was great Marlowe, I never pegged you for the crusader type."

"Just how do you plan to fix it?" Boris asked.

"By working my way to the top of course." Marlowe responded. "Once I'm in charge, I can install a bew system to make sure those who are dishonest pay for their transgressions. It's as simple as that. The MP's just need a little discipline, and nothing more, I'll shape them back into the people they're supposed to be."

"Wow!" Hitch stated as she was on the floor, laughing her head off. "That is something, and I thought you were a total buzzkill before." She finished, slapping the ground as she laughed.

"Well thats a rather lofty idea, so you know, good luck with all that." Boris resoonded.

"What's the point." Annie spoke up, getting Nick's attention. "I think if a do gooder like you was put in charge of this regiment, you'd quickly find yourself working alone." She pointed out.

"Really?" Marlowe asked. "That's the first thing you open your mouth to say?"

"Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt your sincerity, I know conviction when I see it, you're not the first person I've met who thought they could take on the world and change things for the better. It takes a lot of courage to go against the flow, I respect that. Of course it could be that you're just a bunch of fools."

"Is she talking about Eren, or maybe me? I guess I can ask her that later." Nick thought to himself.

"They might be but don't go lumping me in with them, is that understood? Gah, enough chit chat, lets go!" Marlowe ordered, since he was put in charge of them.

"The escort wagons are scheduled to pass through the outer gate in forty five minutes." Marlowe said as he led the recruits along the side if the river to the barge. "Once we arrive, everyone take up your positions, got it."

"Yeah yeah." Hitch responded as she stretched her arms upward, yawning as she walked into the back of Marlowe, who had stopped. "Hey! Watch it bud!" She told him.

"What's going on?" She asked as she noticed some crates with the MP symbol on it. "That's our gear." She pointed out.

"Shipping it to the interior." Boris offered up.

"Isn't it a bit strange having the merchants guild conduct the transport." Marlowe pointed out. "What are they up to?" He asked as he saw one of the MP's accept a pouch full of coins from one of the merchants.

"Are those bastatds illegally selling government property?" Marlowe growled out, making a move towards them. Nick was about to follow him, a deep scowl on his face at watching MP's sell government property to mechants.

"Don't." Annie said as she held him back. "I want to see what he's got."

"Hey! This isnt our assignment!" Boris hissed at him.

"Look at him, crusader man's the genuine article." Hitch pointed out.

"Well, I suppose we have time to spare, I bet this will be entertaining." Boris replied as Nick and Annie watched closely as the boat set off with the equipment.

"I'd say we've earned outselves a drink." One of the MP's said to his partner.

"What do you think you're looking at, huh rookie?" The other MP said as they both noticed Marlowe standing there.

"You- You can't sell government equipment. It's against the law." Marlowe nervously told them.

"Is that so?" One of them asked.

"Those supplies are the property of the hard working citizens who paid for them with their taxes, and that means-" Marlowe was then cut off as one of the Officers started to laugh in his face.

"Can you believe this business? A rookie blackmailing his superior Officers. Im thinking you got a bright future ahead of you kid." He said as he placed one of the coins from the pouch into Marlowe's pocket. "Go spend it on a girl alright, she'll help you unwind."

"Wait!" He shouted in response. "Hey!" He yelled as he grabbed the MP by his shoulder. "What you did was against the law-"

He was cut off as the Officer drove his rifle into Marlowe's stomach, causing him to double over as continued to beat him into submission.

"Thats it." Nick growled out as the rest of them stood there, while he marched over to the Officers.

"Hey wait." Boris whispered as Nick continued his march towards the Officers who were still beating Marlowe.

"Youre under arest for a treasonable offence against an Officer." One of them spoke.

"Blatant disregard for the rule of law-"

"Is standard procedure." The MP finished, raising his rifle once more, he started to bring it down only to have his bicep gripped by an angry Nick, who had his anger radiating off of him.

"If it's standard procedure, then I guess you wouldn't mind if I did it." He spat out at them.

"What do you-" He didn't get to finish his question as Nick had kicked him in the stomach, the full force of his right shin coming into contact with the man, sending him to the floor.

"Hey!" The other MP growled out as he charged at Nick, swinging the butt of his rifle at him, Nick easily stepped out of the way and delivered a fierce elbow to the side of his nose, hearing a sickening crack as it connected.

"Selling government property is illegal." Nick pointed out. "And I'm well within my rights to deal with said criminals." He said as he stepped towards the two Officers, one of them raised his rifle at Nick, seemingly intending to shoot him, but before he could Nick grabbed the barrel of the rifle and forced it upwards as he yanked it out of his grip, smashing it against his head as he did so, knocking the man unconscious.

"Just you wait till the Captain hears about this!" The other Officer cried out. "He'll see you hanged for treason."

"Oh, will he now." Nick sarcastically replied. "Why would he do that when I only fought against two criminals, I hear Captain Levi is a very strict man."

"Captain Levi isn't even an MP." He pointed out.

"True, but he's still my Captain, and I don't think he would take too kindly to having two criminals running around in broad daylight." He whispered to him as he kicked him in the head, knocking him out as well.

"What the hell was that!" Marlowe asked as he finally regained his breath after his beating as the rest had finally caught up to them.

"They were common criminals, nothing more." Nick plainly said.

"Lool what you've done." Hitch said as she gestured to the crowd. "You've attracted unwanted attention."

"Don't worry about it." Nick said as he grabbed the pouch of money the MP had on him, unwrapping the top and throwing it onto the street, letting the crown of citizens pick up as many coins as they wish. "It was their money after all, wasn't it Marlowe?"

"Yes it was, but still, you didn't have to beat them into submission." He tried to point out.

"What's done is done, can't change it now." He said. "Don't we have somewhere to be."

"What about them?" Boris asked as he pointed to the two unconscious Officers on the street.

"I'm sure someone will come along and deal with them." Nick said as he started to walk away.

(45 minutes later)

"Annie." A hushed voice called out from an alley where they had just passed by as the convoy was moving through the streets. Annie heard the voice and went to investigate, Nick also heard the voice, he knew it was Armin but he followed Annie discretely so she wouldn't hear him, he wanted to listen to the conversation as well.

"Hello." Armin said, Annie's eyes widening as she saw him. "So, you're a full fledged MP now."

"Armin." She breathed out. "So uh, what's with the outfit?" She asked, gesturing to his raincoat.

"Why I'm in the raingear you mean? It's a make shift disguise, needed to conceal my ODM rig." He said as he revealed he was wearing the gear. "See."

"What's this about?" She asked in response.

"Annie, we have a plan for Eren to escape and we're hoping that you'll help us." He explained.

"Wait, escape to where? Stuck behind these walls, where can you possibly hide that they won't find you?" She asked.

"We'll only need to hide him for a short while, this isn't a mutiny, we have every intention of returning." He countered with. "View this as a few loyal Scouts staging a small act of protest, it's a stall tactic, we need time to gather enough evidence to overrun the Assembly's ruling about Eren. That's all we want."

"You're serious about this. How can you be sure the evidence exists? And what is it?" She asked.

"Come on Armin, you have to sell this, or it all goes downhill from here."

"I... can't say. I'm sorry."

"Well then, there goes the whole plan." Nick thought.

Annie took in a deep breath, amost as if she was sniffing the air, trying to catch a scent. She narrowed her eyes at Armin. "I'm sorry Armin, you should've asked Nick for help, I'm sure he would have done it." She told him as she began to walk out of the alley.

"Shit! Looks like I'll have to do this my way." He thought, getting his body into position to swing his foot at her head when she walks out the alley, in the hopes it would knock her out straight away.

"Wait!" Armin called out. "Annie please." He pleaded. "They're going to kill Eren!" He told her. "They'll kill him for no better reason than that they fear what they don't understand, they don't see that their fear is pushing humaanity to the brink of extinction."

"Well you're wrong about both things there Armin, I wish I could tell you, but it would jeopardise everything I've been working for. You will know in time Armin." Nick thought as he heard Annie's footsteps getting closer and closer, ready to strike at her.

"Maybe it's too late to change their minds, but what if we can, we have no choice but to be everything on that chance! I'm sorry, the last thing we want is to cause you grief, but well, the only way to sneak him through the Wall Sina checkpoints is with the help of someone in the Military Police. It's our only hope." He told her, trying to convince her to help.

She looked back at him. "Sorry Armin." She apologised. "You should've asked Nick." She said as she continued to walk forward to the entrance of the alley.

"Here she comes." Nick thought.

Armin stood there in complete fear, he didn't know what to do now, the whole plan had fallen to pieces, the only glimmer of hope now was that if Nick had something planned just in case.

He was proved right when she reached the entrance to the alley, a leg being swung at her head very fast, but to his surprise she blocked it, as if she was expecting it.

"How'd you know I was there?" Nick asked as she stepped backwards into the alley.

"You're smart, you'll figure it out." She told him. "But I'm hurt you know, I thought we were friends Nick, and now you try to attack me. Why?" She asked, raising her fists into her fighting stance.

Nick also raised his fists in response, knowing full well that he could take her. "You know why, but shouldn't I be hurt more." He jested back. "After all, you tried to squish me back in the forest."

"Maybe." She said, throwing a left jab at his chin which he stepped back to dodge.

"Armin fire the flare, the plan's a bust!" Nick shouted at him, he was still hiding in the alley.

"I gave it to Mikasa before I left for here!" He shouted back as Nick blocked a kick from Annie.

"Well go get it, I'll hold her off!" He shouted back, after that Armin took off running in the opposite direction.

"You really think you can take me?" She asked, throwing a punch at him which he blocked and clocked her with an elbow across her face, sending her reeling back.

"I know I can, after all, it was quite easy to carve you up in the forest." He said, advancing to her with a flurry of punches, she dodged them, then connecting with a kick to his stomach, sending him backwards as she took off running after Armin.

"Hey! Get back here!" He yelled as he took off running after, chasing her out if the other side of the alley, engaging his ODM gear as he did so. Annie may know this city better than him, but at least he knew where Armin was going, so he went to cut her off.

Annie was dashing in between the citizens of Stohess, trying to get away from Nick as he was chasing her, she had a faint idea of Armin went as she managed to pick up his scent from where he was standing in the alley. That was also how she knew Nick was waiting for her, shifters who have trained get increases in their senses, and the hug that Annie enveloped Nick in earlier had allowed her to pick up his scent rather easily.

She currently had no idea where Nick was, she was constantly looking over her shoulder to see if she could spot him, she knew he was faster than her, and had greater stamina than her, it had probably improved after his month long stay in the Scouts where they constantly trained, while in the MP's there was hardly any training, only patrols mostly.

She was running west towards the inner gate where the checkpoints were at, diring the commotion of her running away she had managed to slip the ring on her finger, in case she needed it if he caught her.

Annie was currently running through the market stalls, pushing her way through the citizens, the fabric overhead stopping her from being seen from above.

She was caught completely off guard when the sheet just behind her was ripped open with Nick dropping down from above, both blades drawn as he rushed her. She quickly drew her blades, and blocked his attack, the citizens around them dispersing so they wouldn't be caught as collateral damage as they watched two MP's fighting it out in the streets.

"It's rude to run away from someone who's talking to you." He pointed out as he slashed at her again, with her parrying his attack as she was continually forced backwards by his constant attacks.

"That's quite hypocritical coming from someone trying to attack a frail little girl like myself." She shot back, activating her ODM gear so she could use it to get away.

"Frail my ass." He shot back, lunging at her once more, breaking her left blade as she was too slow to fully parry the attack. "You're just scared because you don't know how to live for yourself." He swung both blades down, breaking the other one. "All you are to them is a weapon, ready to be disposed of once you're no longer useful to them."

"How... how do you-"

"Its not hard to figure out you know." He replied, sending a kick her way, she jumped back and used her gear, shooting past him in the process, trying to get away now. They knew it was her, and all she could do now was try to get back home, back to her father.

She turned a corner while using her ODM gear, trying to stay out of view as much as possible, making her way towards the closest wall. She looked behind her expecting to see Nick hot on her heels, but she didn't, instead she was tackled from the side by him, sending them both flying through a window into someone's home.

Nick and Annie quickly got to their feet, Annie backing herself up towards a wall while Nick stood where he was, he noticed out of the corner of his eye there was a mother and a child, about five to seven years old, standing there looking at them, closer to Annie than they were to him.

Annie saw her opportunity and quickly made her move towards the child, raising her blade to her throat as she lifted the little girl up, who was struggling in Annie's grasp.

"MOMMY!" The little girl cried out, still struggling in her grasp.

"Annie, let her go." Nick demanded. "They're innocent, there's no need for them to get involved." He said, tightening the grip on his handles, blades still in them.

"This is your fault!" She hissed back at him. "You brought them into this the moment you tried to lead me into a trap here!" She spat at him. "These peope aren't innocent, they're descendants of the devil."

"You don't believe that at all." He spat back. "Stop trying to convince yourself, you're a weapon for them Annie, that's all you'll ever be to them."

He then saw something he never would have expected from her, he saw her smile, then that smile turned into a laugh, like she had just heard a really funny joke, then it turned into a really creepy laugh in Nick's opinion.

"That might be true Nick." She said after she had calmed down, moving herself behind the table that was infront of them, moving next to the window. "But as long as I make it home to my father I don't care."

"Annie, we can reason this out like human beings." He protested, putting the blades and handle away, showing that he was going to back down.

"Oh Nick, I'm glad that I could be your friend, but you made a gamble on capturing me today." She told him rather softly before her tone turned quite dark. "But now I'm going to gamble, and here's my wager!" She said, raising her finger to her mouth, Nick's eyes widening in fear of what she was about to do.

She was however distracted as out of the window behind her she heard an explosion, she turned around to see a red flare being fired into the sky, that being the signal that Annie hadn't followed Armin to the underground entrance at all.

Nick used her distraction to his advantage as he sprung into action, quickly vaulting over the table, moving the child out of the way and grabbing Annie's wrists and forcing them above her head as he forced her against the wall.

He then noticed her flick her wrist, he looked up to see a spike on her ring and she was about to use it to transform right then and there, he moved his hand on top of the ring, preventing her from using it and forcing the spike down so she couldn't use it currently.

"She can bite her tongue to transform!" Frieda warned.

"You think you have me caught?" Annie asked as she struggled against his iron grip on her.

"You won't get free of my grip Annie, I suspect you already know that." He pointed out.

"Don't you get it Nick?" She asked. "A good spy always has a trick up her sleeve." She stated as she opened her jaw, ready to bite down on her tongue.

The only chance he had of stopping her from transforming this time would not have been obvious to most people in his position, but after Frieda had told him she could transform by biting her tongue he knew there was only one option, so right before she could bite down, he leaned down and forced his lower lip and his tongue between her teeth, taking the hit so he wouldn't die.

Annie started to squirm even more in his grip, she only wanted to go home to her father, she never wanted this, she just wanted to live a normal life for herself, but she couldn't do that anymore, not after what she had been sent here to do. In essence, Nick was right, she was just a weapon, a tool for Marley to dispose of as they wish when she outlasted her usefulness, but she didn't care anymore, she would be their weapon, as long as she got home to see her father.

She was squirming against him even more now, trying to bite her tongue wasn't working now after he had stuck his lip and tongue into her mouth. There wasn't a hint of love, passion, or at the very least even lust in the kiss, it was desperation, desperation on his part to not die right there and then, to prevent the deaths of the mother and the daughter also in the room, but Annie couldn't help but wonder if there was a deeper, hidden meaning behind this gesture of his.

He had to risk that she wouldn't transform while he pulled back to take a breath, that was when he noticed that her face had flushed a deep shade of red at the sudden contact between them.

"What was that?" She managed to breathe out.

"Sorry Annie." He apologised, moving her towards the window. "If you want to go home to your father, being used as nothing more than cannon fodder, then go for it." He seemed angry now. "But don't expect me to just let it happen." He said, throwing her through the glass onto the street below as he did.

Annie looked up towards the window as she fell down towards the street below. "I have to get home to you father, I promised you that I would. Now nothing will stop me!" She thought as she flicked her thumb against her ring, cutting herself in the process.

Nick looked back out the window to see lightning come down and strike where Annie had been thrown out onto the street below, there was an explosion if wind and dust as the other windows in the building all shattered at the force of the explosion, getting glass all over the floor.

Nick looked out the window and when he did he was staring straight into the eyes of the Female Titan once again.