(I'm back. So I have some ground to cover. I'm still debating exactly what I'm going to do in the next few chapters. I have two plot lines in mind, and they are exclusive to only one. I'm not sure which one I'll choose in the end, but right now I'm going to give it some thought and try to figure out which one is the most effective at doing this story justice. Anyway, this chapter is shorter than the last couple since it focuses more on the aftermath of some pretty big events. However, due to the nature of the relevance of the two main characters here to the events which follow in Canon, the next big event is literally right around the corner. I don't get to delay it with a few chapters of Castle Utgard and Beast Titan and all that. So, I'll go find out how Angel and Annie will play into this. Signing off, Cerily.)

Angel Blase

It was light when I awoke, the sun streaming down through the thick canopy to remind me of the morning's arrival.

Sitting up, I surveyed my environment, taking great care to check for any signs of human movement through the area. There was nothing obvious that I could see. The branches were undisturbed, the trees not marked by gear and the ground lay covered with leaves. The most damning evidence, however, was the lack of people trying to take me captive.

They would come, but all in due time. There were priorities, things which must be done, achieved. Annie. I have to get Annie back. That's why they haven't come for me. They are too busy securing their last capture. By this time, they probably have her locked away deep underground in a prison she'll never escape, and even now they are taking their tools and slowly cracking away at her crystal shell, breaking down the last line of defence between her and a life of torture and pain.

I had to go stop that.

I should've taken the crystal with me. No, no. Then they would've found both of us, and there'd be no chance of a rescue. I made the right choices. Now I had to find a way back. Now I had to find an ally in this world once more, for I had lost all my old ones.

Earlier

"Alright, soldiers." Section Commander Hange said, calling the Corps to her, "I have Annie's background check. Because of the chaos five years ago, it's messy and a lot of things have been lost in time, but there's one thing I found odd."

"Commander, I was thinking about what happened, and-" Armin began, but was interrupted by Hange.

"One moment Armin, you'll want to hear this before you start making theories." He nodded. "There were two other people who came from Annie's village." A sound of interest went through the Corps. "These two are, Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover." Gasps went up among the Cadets.

"I knew they were all from a small village, but not the same one..." Armin said, seeming to fall into thought.

"That seems to surprise you all. Tell me, how did they interact during training?"

"They didn't." Mikasa piped up.

"They never talked." Armin agreed.

"Annie would sit and eat in the cafeteria, all alon-" Her eyes looked down, seeming to recall something. There was a glimmer in her pupil as the memory came back.

"The only person Annie ever really talked to was..." Armin began, the memories flooding back to him as well.

The two spoke in unison, "Angel Blase."

"Who?" Hange immediately asked.

"Angel Blase," Armin said, "He was #2 in the 104th. Him and Annie were...very close."

"He didn't talk much either." Mikasa said, "But the two of them got along oddly well."

"Wait..." Eren said, "Angel...that titan...in stohess..."

"The Angelic-Type Titan?" Hange asked, "That came to Annie's rescue?"

"He was talking with her." Armin said, "Erwin sent him to lead away Kurt Weissingman and he started talking to Annie after he did so."

"What'd he say?"

"We couldn't hear." Mikasa interjected.

"But it was suspicious." Armin finished.

"So he was here." Hange thought for a second, "Guther, go ask around to see where he is and bring him here. If you don't find him, return."

Guther bowed and sulked away.

"And his fighting style..." Eren said, remembering all the times he had gotten his ass kicked.

"The two of them were the top in hand-to-hand. They fought all the time." Mikasa noted.

"And the way the Angelic Titan fought...that was Angel's style. Armin said. There was silence for a moment. "And back in Trost, Angel had shown an incredibly odd determination to keep Eren alive."

"Back during the Female Titan assault out in the woods, he came with me and Levi to save Eren but didn't do anything. And he stayed behind us, claiming he would watch to see if it resumed its chase."

"Do you know where he is from?" Hange asked. Eren, Armin, and Mikasa all looked at each other.

"Shiganshina." They said, all at once.

"Did you know him?" Hange inquired.

"No." Eren said, "I never did."

"But his dad..." Armin recalled, "His dad knew Eren's dad. He was a boxer, semi-famous."

Hange nodded, "I see. So then is he the Angelic Titan?" Armin nodded.

"I think so."

"And what of Reiner and Bertrolt?" She said, bringing the subject back around to them.

"Well..." Armin began, as Guther returned empty handed.

Angel Blase

There is someone coming. I can feel it on the wind. Someone in the forest, out there. And they are looking for me.

I checked my gear, quickly running over it to make sure there was no significant damage. All it had were bruises and dents, but it still worked. I could run with this, and run as a titan, but I'd prefer this gear. I knew my gear better. My gear is almost an extension of my body, so naturally does it fall around my waist. The titan was still new. I didn't trust it like I trusted this gear.

I checked the wind again. Oh, there was someone here. It was faint, very faint, but yet I could make out the sound of 3DMG gear being used, gas expulsion noises drifting slowly to me. Whoever it was, they were moving fast. And they were nearby. Blades. Check. Gear. Check. Gas. Check. I had little food though. I'd have to find a small village and get food there. I have military gear on, they'll assume that's what I am. They won't know.

I can hear someone's movement around me. I drew my blade, tensing up, the ring of the metal instantly giving away my position. I cringed at the noise.

There were little bursts of gas coming from each and every direction. I spun to look towards my predator but I could not catch a glimpse of anything. Wherever I turned to look, I could only find a peaceful bunch of leaves rustling gently in the breeze. But what I was seeing did not conceal the fact that a hunter was stalking my movements, threatening to pounce. The danger was felt through my spine, if not through my eyes.

I stepped back to position my back against the tree, but when I did so a blur of green came tearing out of it's forested hiding spot, and although I raised my blade in front of myself, no avail was had as the the clean cut of a certain soldier's shimmery sword sliced my left arm straight off.

"AH-" My howl was cut short as well, as the green flash turned upon me once more, bringing it's right blade swinging directly into the flesh underneath my heart, just barely missing the organ as the weapon embedded itself deep into my chest, before being violently ripped out. I fell back, falling onto the rough wood of the branch. In the sudden assault, my grip on my swords faltered and they dropped right onto the branch, sliding off to embrace the ground. A boot clamped down onto my chest, pounding hard, prompting a guttural gasp for air. A quick glimmer of steel moved to threaten my neck, the sharp point hungrily eying me.

"Found you." Captain Levi Ackerman said, boredom the only thing in his voice.

And I just stared up at him, blood seeping out of my chest in huge volumes as thick steam poured in miniature clouds up to the sky.

"I was going to kill you." Levi says, his boot pressing down harder against me. We stare at each other, but all I see is the cold look in his eyes and I can't help but imagine all he sees is a terrified kid. Where hours ago I had felt more powerful than any man, now I have been proven weak still. I have been turned into a dog begging for mercy at the hands of his master.

I make a noise, but even I don't know what I tried to say. Levi looks down at his boot, observing the bloodstains all over them. He looks at me, the subtle shaking of his head barely noticeable. He sheathes his other blade, leaving only the one pointing at my throat.

"You've caused me a number of problems." He simply states. I think about transforming. I think about fighting, but I don't. I know I am going to die. Levi is looking at me, he flexes his blade, with very slight movements back and forth. My body hurts all around. He lowers the blade down, gently and lightly, pushing the tip towards my throat. It grazes against my skin, drawing the tiniest drop of blood.

I know I shall die here. And I shall die with pride.

I close my eyes, and prepare.

In the distance, I see her coming. I have been waiting within this grove of trees for almost fifteen minutes, and by that time I had begun to think that she wasn't coming. But her hair was unmistakable, just like her walk. Casually, uncaringly, she sauntered forth. If you paid no attention, it seemed as if her thoughts were on something far, far away, but close examination revealed her noting everything going on. She was cautious.

But more importantly, she was interesting, if only to me.

"Annie," I say, still slightly surprised, "I didn't think you'd come."

She shrugs, "Neither did I," She looks around the area, at nothing in particular, "But I guess curiosity got the better of me." There is an awkwardness to our conversation, but an odd sense of mutual understanding about it. "You know, Girls and Boys aren't supposed to be out at late hours together according to the rules."

"Oh come on," I laugh, "You care less for the rules than I do."

"I don't know, you fight pretty dirty."

"Not as dirty as you."

"But aren't boys supposed to be delicate with these bodies of ours?" She jokes, flat and sarcastic.

"You don't seem the type to want to be treated like a lady."

"I expect a good fight."

"Of course, you're a dirty girl."

"And you're a rough guy." She fired back, completely flat.

We talked for a while, about unimportant things, just making mundane conversation. Eventually, we began to walk back towards the barracks, the two of us side by side discussing the proper ways to dislocate a shoulder bone. As we approached the barracks, having agreed it was better to just break the forearm bone anyway, I noticed Bertolt walking our way. He was on a straight collision course to us, his eyes turned to the ground.

As we walked by him, I smiled and said, "Hey Bertolt."

He looked up for a brief moment, no smile, and replied, "Hi Angel." As Annie walked by us both. I looked at him for a second, and then turned to rejoin Annie. Although I did not turn around to look at him, I could feel his eyes watching the two of us walk away. I could feel his eyes angrily staring hard at me.

In a few hours, I got a bad itch on both ears, and for an entire hour, I swear they felt as if they were burning.

I gasp as I come back to reality, the pain coursing through my body feeling entirely fresh. I look back up at my torturer, and think once again.

I cannot die yet. Annie needs me. I cannot embrace my death yet. I have to go save her. Only then, only then.

I can feel the power rising through my body, electricity beginning to crackle.

"You got blood on my boots and blades, for one." Levi says, pulling his leg off me, and in one smooth motion he sits down, simultaneously pulling out a wipe and starting to clean off his thick, black boots. "You probably thought I was going to kill you. I wish, but Erwin said he wants you talked to first. I said that's stupid, he saved the Female Titan and fought Eren, he's pretty clearly against us."

Levi pauses, taking a moment to examine his job. He bites his lip, and then nods and begins cleaning his blades. "But Erwin said, 'Or, he stopped Eren from killing the Female Titan and then prevented her escape. All a matter of perspective.' And so he sent me off to find you. Didn't take me very long. Only one set of giant footprints within this wall, I'm afraid. Wasn't sure how to approach you, in all honesty, so I figured I'd just beat you before you tried to run, and not after." He looked at me, nodding at the blood caking my chest.

"Sorry about that."

I looked at him, my jaw just dropped nearly to the floor. I was in total astonishment. "You want...to talk to me? Like torture?"

Levi shakes his head, "If only." He frowns at his sword. Quickly glancing between his wipe and the blade two or three times. "Erwin just wanted me to ask a few questions, make sure you're on our side."

My jaw dropped another couple feet. "You're...you're side?" My quest to regain humanities trust had just been completed.

"You didn't kill any humans, you didn't try to steal Eren, and you didn't break any walls." Levi looked at me as if I was stupid. "It's not a decision I support, but Erwin makes the choices around here."

"So..." I said, completely forgetting the searing pain and heat in my chest at this insane turn of events, "What happens next?

And so I told Levi everything. I told him about myself, my family, that I wasn't with the Armored or Colossal. I told him of Trost, and how I had only realized Annie's identity in the forest. I began to tell him about the identities of the Armored and Colossal, but he cut me off, stating that he already knew. So I asked him what was going on. And he informed me that there were titans in Wall Rose, and that everyone was currently heading to seal the breach. He informed me Armin and Hange had figured out it was me, but that orders had been given not to spread that information. He said they were keeping that knowledge as restricted as possible, and that Erwin wanted to make it his dirty little secret.

And finally, he told me that we were heading out towards Wall Rose, to meet up with the rest of the Corps. By then, my body had fully healed. But when he said we were heading away from Stohess I couldn't resist. I had to ask.

"Captain, if you would tell me...what happened to the Female Titan, Annie Leonhart?"

Levi looked at me, "Her crystal is unbreakable. She's been taken deep underground. I don't know what they are planning." I simply nodded at that. He looked at me closely, I averted my eyes but quickly realized that had been a mistake yet I dared not look back at him. "There's more to this than you're telling me, about you, and this Annie."

I smiled sheepishly at him, as if I were a dog being berated by his master.

"What's going on?" He asked, flatly.

And so I told him what I had told nobody else in this world.

"I love her."