A/N: Sorry for the delayed upload. I forgot yesterday was Wednesday. WHOOPS! As always, thank you all for the follows, fav, and reviews!
Let me know what you all think of the story so far and where you would like to see it headed!
Chapter 24
Willow chews on her fingers as she looks out the window, watching the people of Stohess go about their mundane day as they walk from one point of their day to the next. She hears a click in the door and turns to see Reiner and Bertolt enter the room. She turns away from them, feeling her chest grow heavy.
"You're late," she tells them with a harsh tone.
"Yeah, well it wasn't easy getting off base," Reiner grumbles. "There's a man hunt going on for the Female Titan. We couldn't sneak away when we intended to."
Willow turns from him and looks out the window, "Good, they know now."
"What are you talking about?" Reiner asks with pressed brows. "Didn't you hear me? They're searching for a Cadet. They clearly have no clue it's you."
"No, they know," she reassures them. "They are just looking for who equipped me with ODM gear." She turns from the window and back to them, "Stay somewhere visible to others, make it painfully clear that you are around, and you are human," she tells them, grabbing her things.
"What is your plan?" Bertolt asks her, seeing the intent in her eyes.
"Whatever happens to me, do not turn," she tells them with tense eyes. "No matter what, I have a plan, understand?" The two of them look at her with hard gazes, seeing the wild look in her eyes, but figuring she must have committed to a decent plan. "They are going to approach me, and they are going to attempt to stop me from turning."
"Here?" Bertolt asks with widening eyes, "They are going to confront you here? Within the walls?"
"They figure you won't turn with all the innocent lives crowding the streets," Reiner assumes and Willow figures the same.
"Take this," Bertolt begins, holding out a small silver ring. "There is a small hook on it," he tells her, and Willow extracts the metal hook. "You can use it if they somehow detain you."
"Thank you, Bertolt," Willow says placing the ring on her finger.
"You sure you got this," Reiner asks her, hesitant that she will be able to pull off retrieving Eren and evading Levi and the others this far into the walls.
"Eren is spent from our fight. I doubt he will be able to transform. And if he does, I will be able to take him down like I did before with no problem."
"And Levi?" he presses, knowing Levi to be a formidable foe, "Mikasa?"
"I'd rather not kill that girl; this isn't her fight, but if she gets in the way this time, I will not hold back. And I've been preparing for Levi," she promises them. She looks out the window to see the crowds of people now slowly dispersing. "Stohess is being emptied. Looks like they have some partiality towards innocent lives."
Reiner watches her carefully, seeing her lidded eyes and sunken shoulders. She is not holding her body as confidently as she normally does, and he can see something weighing her down. He wonders if the death of her old squad is affecting her negatively and if she regrets what she has done to them.
This mission has been three years in the making, and he can't help but wonder if she is giving up with the realization that it has not given her the release she expected. He wonders if she will even be able to turn, and if she has the resolve to finish this through.
He moves forward to express his concerns with her, however, she turns from him to leave the room.
Willow places a hood on her head and begins walking the empty streets of Stohess, having just seen the streets bustling with people. It did not take them long to clear the streets to confront her. She takes in a labored breath as she walks the streets, waiting for someone to swipe her up or confront her, but for a brief and quiet moment, she is given a chance to peacefully walk amongst the deserted roads.
She takes in another breath, closing her eyes and lifting her head up to the cloudy sky as she hears his footsteps approaching her. "Sorry about the leg," she exhales, hearing the limp in his stride as he encroaches on her.
Willow turns around to see him, looking handsome in his plainclothes dressed in a black suit, still dawning his signature cravat strapped to his neck. His blazer hangs on his shoulders as the leg of his torn muscles and broken ankle remains straight while his weight is distributed on his left leg.
Her blue eyes land on his steely grey eyes and she feels her heart skip a beat at the sight of him. Waves of memories flood her mind, and she can't help but think of all their good ones. She wonders if he is able to see her the same, figuring that he cannot after what she did to his squad.
"At first I didn't want to believe you were back, but then I couldn't deny the smell of you," Levi grunts with disgust lacing his tone.
"Miche and his damned nose," Willow murmurs with a smile on her lips, figuring that's how they discovered her identity. She lifts her hands, pulling down on her hood and allowing her golden curls to fall wildly in her face as a soft wind blows her hair around. Levi looks at her with a pained expression lacing his eyes, missing the sight of her wildly. He had forgotten how beautiful she was, but he shakes the idea out of his head. She is nothing like she once was.
"Willow," he whispers and her heart races, hearing his voice say her name for the first time in three years.
Her eyes flash from his to Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, who all stand back and wait for her to respond to them. She smiles, knowing that they are here as a contingency in case she goes for Levi, knowing that he is far too hurt to act against her.
"Where is Commander Erwin?" she presses, unable to allow her mind to linger on how much she missed Levi.
"Is that what this is all for? To get the Commander to notice you?" Levi asks in a condescending tone.
"You still don't understand, do you?" Willow asks him, disappointed in him. "It is because of him that we are here," she tells him. "You saw it, Levi. I know you did. The way the Commander hungrily pushed me to do his little song and dance with the Titans," she shakes her head at the memories that bring her fists to tighten at her sides.
"I was a weapon to him, nothing more," she says with hate filled eyes. "My life meant nothing to him. All that he cared about was using me to fight the Titans, regardless of how scared I was. It was clear when he signed off on my training when you told him I was not ready. It was clear when he pushed the Abnormals on me, or any other time he put me on that field away from any of you."
"We've had this tired conversation countless times, Willow," Levi says with a heavy sigh.
"We have," she nods, "but I am always supposed to be grateful for what my hard work has done for the Scouts, and blindly comply with the next mission I am thrown into," she says bitterly. "There's never a moment for me to catch my breath and breathe," she tells him with watering eyes. "I was always just a tool to you all, and I was never enough. I was never enough for anyone to fight for me, for anyone to defend me, for anyone to protect me."
Levi blinks at her, seeing the hatred in her eyes meld into breaking sorrow.
Her eyes flash over to Eren, "I can see I've been replaced, and they're doing it to you now too," she says masking her sorrow with hate. "Tell me, Eren, how many times have they pushed you to turn when your body said otherwise? How many times have they pushed you to perform your little dance for them? Does he still say it's for the good of humanity too? Does he still place that pressure atop your shoulders?" she asks him and he watches her with wide eyes, "You are nothing but a weapon to him. You are enslaved by his will, and you will never be free of his expectations of you."
"Don't you speak to him like that," Mikasa threatens in a low tone, the hilt of her blade in hand as she lurks for another attack.
"You're lucky to have such good friends, Eren," Willow returns breathlessly as she holds back her anger. "She was willing to die for you back there. My friends allowed me to die to buy them their lives."
"You killed them all," Eren's wavering voice timidly speaks.
"They signed away their fate when they retreated. They were nothing more than cowards," she tells him with clenched teeth and hate spilling from her lips. "They were mindless soldiers thoughtlessly moving as their superiors commanded them to. Just like Mikasa blindly follows you without a thought of her own, you are sheep being herded to the slaughter."
"You're a monster," Eren's voice shakily accuses her. "You're a monster and you should be ashamed for what you did to the Levi Squad!" he yells as his voice carries in the desolate streets.
Willow turns to him, looking into his turquoise eyes as she sees the same passion she once held in her own. "Why should I be ashamed for being a monster, when no one is ashamed for turning me into one?"
Eren's staggers away from her as he sees the hatred lacing her tone while she speaks to him. He understands her, feeling the pressure of turning to a Titan that the Commander has imposed on him. But he cannot imagine how that weight crushed her so hard, that she snapped and killed her entire squad.
"Your fight is with the Commander," Levi reminds her, pulling Willow back to him as he feels a building worry in his chest when he sees the comprehension forming in Eren's eyes. "Why involve the Levi Squad? They did nothing but welcome you—"
"Welcome me?" Willow scoffs, "Oh Levi, how blind were you?" she shakes her head at him. "They were vindictive towards me, making their snide comments just loud enough for me to hear, but quiet enough to play the victim if I were to ever lash out. Sure, Petra was nice enough to give me clothes that fit, and Oruo confessed his love to me on many occasions. Eld inviting me to their table. But eventually, I became the hateful bitch that was only tolerated for my stupid puppet trick," she says quoting Oruo's last words to her. "In the end, no one was really welcoming when I was left for death in those woods."
Levi shakes his head at the memory, closing his eyes as the images penetrate his skull. "We called a retreat, and you failed to comply with orders."
"We had the Armored pinned!" she raises her voice at him.
"No, Willow," he shakes his head. "We lost that fight, and Malik's death bought us time to retreat. If you did as you were told, Hal wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself in vain to get you out of there. That blood is on your hands."
"If you didn't leave in the first place, none of their deaths would have been in vain!" she spits at him trying to change the view to the argument that best suits her cause.
"We left to survive!" Levi calls out angrily, losing his demeanor to her.
Willow scoffs at this, seeing the shock in his subordinate's eyes as she provokes him. "Humanity's Strongest Soldier everyone!" she calls out, her voice echoing the empty streets. "No," she breathes, "More like Humanity's Surviving Soldier," she states offhandedly. "Because that is what you do, isn't it, Levi? You survive. You ride on the backs of the fallen soldiers that paved the road to your victory—with their lives—while you sit back… and you survive."
"And what about you, Willow?" Levi asks her in a patronizing tone. "You are so quick to judge the Scouts for retreating when a command was called, but you failed to comply with orders and it was because of that, Derrek and his Squad are dead!"
Her eyes widen and she staggers back with a gasp at his fiery tone as he continues, "Had you not engaged the Armored and we successfully lured him into the artillery cannons on our first attempt, we would have taken down the bastard! Those downstream deaths are all on your bloody hands." She swallows hard, feeling her chest compress and collapse at the weight of their bodies burying her into the ground.
"You've become so disillusioned with the Scouts and with me, that you've changed the narrative to better fit your agenda. So, what do you have planned next, Willow? Are you going to turn here and finish the job?"
"No, Levi," she tells him with a sad tone as tears stream down her face. "Take a look around, you're the one with the plan when you emptied the streets of civilians."
Levi's jaw tenses as he holds the signal gun tightly in his hand under the blazer of his coat. "We went back for you," Levi tells her behind gritted teeth as the memory invades. "The squad and I returned to bring you home."
Willow shrugs at this, not as moved as he would have hoped. "But it didn't change anything did it?" He watches her carefully as she looks up to the sky one last time, attempting to take in one last breath, but failing.
"Then finish what you started," Levi commands her with venom lacing his tone, glancing at the building tops where the Scouts await.
"Goodbye Levi," she sighs as she goes to bite her hand.
Levi is quick to pull out the signal gun and shoot it in the air. Within seconds, Willow is overrun by Scouts as they charge at her and tackle her to the ground. Her arms are quickly pinned back, and she is gagged as they press her down to the pavement. She looks up at Levi, seeing the disappointed look in his eyes. She smiles at him through the gag and his eyes widen as she flicks out the hook in her ring and cuts her finger.
Mikasa sees this and quickly grabs Eren and Armin by the collars of their shirts, running away with them as the thunderous lightning crackles around them. Jean quickly jumps down in his ODM gear, grabbing Levi and lifting him from the scene as the Scouts are obliterated off of Willow as she turns into the Female Titan.
The Female Titan releases a woeful roar as she begins tearing people off of her, tossing them into the buildings as she destroys the structures around her. She needs to make a scene so undeniable, that the Commander cannot help but engage himself.
"I can't believe this is happening!" Armin yells as Mikasa and Eren run with him away from the carnage. "I should have known taken a different approach; convinced the Captain a full-frontal assault to draw her out was a folly plan."
"Save the 'should've' for after we're out of this," Mikasa presses him, "The question now is 'what do you do next'?"
"We… we fight her out in the open," Armin says, realizing they have no other choice, looking up to the carnage she is bestowing on the town less than a few buildings away. "That means we are switching to Plan B. She's all yours, Eren. Got it?"
"Yeah," Eren releases, feeling the weight of her words crushing his chest, unable to shake the fact that he is enslaved by the commands of others. He is not a Scout as he wanted to be. He is not like the others; he is not dying fighting with honor and bravery. He has been diminished into nothing more than a weapon used by the Scouts; a tool to further their cause. He is not a Soldier, and neither was she.
Two soldiers from Hange Squad call out to them as they land down next to them, "Is Plan A no go?"
"Afraid so, yes!" Armin calls out to them. "As of now we are going with the backup option!" As he says this, the Female Titan comes crashing through the building, crushing the squad in the debris as the kids cover their faces at the cloud of smoke that smashes into them.
She turns and looks at Eren and his two friends. "We got to get them out of there!" Eren calls out looking at the mangled bloody limbs through the blocks of debris.
"Eren, get back!" Mikasa says grabbing onto his hood. "What the hell was that?" she releases, watching as two others from Hange Squad move in to distract her on their ODM gear. "Does she not care if she kills you too?"
"She doesn't care anymore," Armin assesses with a grim tone, "She's so hellbent on killing Levi and the rest of the Scouts that she's willing to level the city if it means they die too. We are dealing with someone who's lost all essence of her humanity; that makes her all the more dangerous!"
"Eren, you need to change and fight her," Mikasa commands him and Eren looks up at her, watching as she swats at Hange Squad.
"Right," Eren releases as he feels a heavy weight on his chest. He begins breathing heavily as he brings his hand to his mouth. He bites down, groaning in pain but not changing. He looks down at his hands with confusion and frustration, unsure as to why he didn't change. He bites down again as the taste of hot iron fills his mouth. "Oh no, not again!" he groans out with wild worry. "Why now?" he falls to his knees, continuing to bite down on his hand. "We don't have time for this. Just work, damnit!"
"Don't try to force it, you have to have a clear goal in mind, like Hange said," Armin commands him.
Eren looks up to see her cut down one of the soldiers defending them with brutal force. "Believe me, I'm trying!" Eren cries as he continues to bite down on his bloodied hand, groaning in pain.
Mikasa falls to her knees, seeing exactly what is holding Eren back. "Really," she presses him. "Are you sure you are not having second thoughts? Willow's words getting to you?" she asks him, and he looks away from her. "Feeling like you are just a pawn in the game, with no stake in your own life? Afraid she will take you down like she did in the woods? She is a monster Eren, she killed her entire squad. What did we see back there? She is a murderer. Period. This isn't complicated. However she wants to justify her actions, she killed all those people in cold blood. And you're afraid that you'll end up just like her."
"Get off my back damnit, I am not stalling for time!" Eren cries out as he clenches his teeth down to his hand once more. Her words plague him as he thinks about Hange and Erwin pushing him to succeed with his Titan skin. He thinks about the toll on his body and their constant push of him. He thinks about how Willow must have felt the same and he tries to push out the doubts from his head.
Will he turn into the monster that she's become? How long will it be until a new Scout watches as Mikasa and Armin are mowed down by his Titan form? Will he be as forgone as she is now?
"I know what we have to do," Armin calls out to them as Hange Squad gets taken out. "Mikasa will go and distract her, Eren and I will escape with our hoods drawn."
"Are you out of your mind?" Eren cries up to them, "What the hell good is it going to do if you get yourselves killed?"
"If we stay here, all three of us will!" Armin yells at him. "Mikasa, are you ready?" he asks her, and she nods at him, lifting her own hood.
"Mikasa!" Eren yells at her as Armin pulls him away. "You don't have to go! Don't save me! I'm not worth it!"
"What choice do we have?" Mikasa turns to him. "The world is a cruel place," she says turning away from him.
The Female Titan turns to them, seeing Mikasa run towards her as she takes down the last of the attack squad. She sees Eren just behind her and she charges at them. She jumps over Mikasa and into the building to their right. She crushes the building, and before Eren can move, he is crushed by the rubble.
"Eren!" Mikasa cries out, seeing the bloodied limbs peeking through the bits of debris. She growls as she turns her attention to the Female Titan.
Mikasa charges at her, blades drawn, shooting her ODM gear as she pulls her blades back. Willow decides that she will not allow the girl to live out of petty admiration towards her drive, and snatches the girl quickly.
Mikasa is quick, tucking herself smaller than Willow anticipated when she grabbed for her, and gives herself room to move in her grip. Before Willow can crush her, she swings her swords in her grip, cutting herself loose. "I won't let you take him!" Mikasa yells out to the Female Titan. "Not this time!" she promises.
Armin looks down at the rubble, calling out to Eren as he remains unconscious under the debris. He begins clawing at the heavy boulders, trying to lift them off of his unconscious friend while Mikasa continues to fight the Female Titan.
Mikasa cries out as she launches herself at the Female Titan, who moves away from the scene, looking for Levi. Mikasa pulls her swords over her head and slices into the arm that reaches out to kill her. Willow swings her arm into the rooftops of the buildings, in hopes to smear Mikasa into the tiles, but she jumps off at the last minute, hiding in the cloud of debris, but is quickly knocked to the ground by a flying rock.
Willow watches as the girl remains motionless on the ground and turns from her, making her way to Levi and finishing what she started. Two more soldiers of Hange Squad come approaching on ODM gear, and Willow smiles to herself, knowing that she will have the chance to take them down with her.
Meanwhile, Jean lowers Levi to the ground at the carriage where the Commander waits for him. He breathes heavily as he approaches Erwin. "Commander, what's the plan?" he asks strongly.
"Replenish your equipment with Squad Four," he returns, and the Cadet salutes him.
Levi brushes himself of debris, "Like the brass balls, but try not to swing them so hard they get you killed." Levi says and Jean nods at him.
Commander Erwin stands tall next to Levi with stiff hard soldiers as he watches the lifting smoke from the horizon. "So, she actually did it? There was no convincing her?" he asks, turning to his Captain with downturned brows.
"She's gone, Erwin. There's nothing left of her in there," Levi says, the assessment stinging his throat.
The MPs look at the situation with shock as the Commander suits up in ODM gear, preparing himself in case Willow makes a move on him. "Alright, all of you with me!" he Commands the surrounding Scouts. "We are rendezvousing with the Capture Squad," he says thanking Hange's paranoia in this moment as he watches the tip of the Female Titan's head approaching them.
"No! The hell you will!" Commander Nile shouts, pointing his gun at Commander Erwin. "This is outright treason! You failed to turn in Eren Jaeger, you failed to give us the identity of the Female Titan, and you knowingly lured her here within Wall Sina! I am well within my rights to shoot you where you stand!"
"Think Nile," Levi presses him. "I find it hard to believe you are as thick-headed as you look," he says between gritted teeth. "You are a hair-trigger away from making the biggest mistake of your life."
"Take off the gear before I shoot you!" he demands.
"Look up and see for yourself, Nile," Erwin warns him. The Female Titan has breached Wall Sina, with her mind set on the singular purpose of killing me and my men. Allow us to move freely, and we will stop this threat before she takes any further unnecessary lives."
Nile cringes into himself as he thinks of what to do, not allowing his words to make sense, but they do. He looks up to see the top of her head as clouds of destruction follow her. The sounds of people's cries ring out even from this distance. He shuts his eyes, hating his next move as he lowers his gun and allows the Commander to pass.
The Commander nods at him, moving quickly before Nile has the nerve to retract his decision. "Levi, you stay here," Commander Erwin tells him. "A pointless death wouldn't suit you."
"No, I doubt it would, any more than it suits anyone else." Levi releases with distaste lacing his teeth.
Commander Erwin looks down at his Captain, "She will not stop until she has us both," he tells him. "Stay hidden and allow the Capture Squad enough time to retrieve her. We will get the answers we seek soon."
Levi stays there, knowing he has all the answers he needs. He knows why she is doing this, hell, a sick part of him can practically sympathize with her on this. He was more than willing to assume Eren was dead and allow her to run off with him. If it wasn't for Mikasa's stubborn love for the little brat, Levi would have left him there to die at her hands.
For the first time in his life, he questions himself and his methods, wishing that he had the chance to go back and save her, and subsequently stop all this death and destruction. Because in the end, despite what he says to her, and how he may have acted with her, she was always enough.