Levi's perspective:

Nick's eyes widened, a flicker of something - guilt? fear? - passing across his face. "There isn't much I can tell you within the sacred will," he said, his voice trembling. "However, there's something I can give you in the church located here."

I glanced at Evelyn and Jake, making a split-second decision. "You two go find Hange," I ordered. "I'll go with the good pastor."

~

The musty scent of old wood and incense filled my nostrils as I followed Nick into the church. My senses were on high alert, every creak of the floorboards and flicker of candlelight registering in my mind. The empty pews stood like silent sentinels, their shadows dancing on the walls in the dim light.

Nick's trembling hands fumbled with an old key as he led me to a hidden storage room. I watched him closely, my body tense and ready for any sudden movements. The air felt heavy, laden with secrets about to be revealed.

"Each church has a hidden room such as this," Nick whispered, his voice barely audible. "To keep illegal items hidden."

I raised an eyebrow but said nothing. My gaze followed his shaking hands as he opened a small box, pulling out an odd-looking locket necklace. Despite myself, I leaned in closer, curiosity piqued.

Nick's voice was heavy with the weight of long-held secrets as he began to speak. "About 11 years ago, in the dead of night, two people came in with a 14-year-old girl. It seemed she had been kidnapped from her home."

My jaw clenched involuntarily. "Go on," I said, my voice low and dangerous. "What happened to the girl?"

Nick's eyes met mine, a mixture of fear and resignation swirling in their depths. "The church had nothing to do with the kidnapping," he insisted, his words tumbling out faster now. "She was brought here from outside the walls. Our job was just to hold her here until she got an injection to erase her memories and the Reiss family could find a suitable family to take care of her."

I felt my blood run cold. "The Reiss family?" I repeated, my mind racing. "What do you mean, they're the true royal family?"

Nick nodded, his face pale. "They've been ruling from the shadows for generations. But there's more..." He hesitated, and I fought the urge to shake the information out of him.

I grabbed Nick by the collar, my patience wearing thin. "Tell me everything," I growled. "Every detail you remember about that night, about the girl, about Jake. Leave nothing out."

Nick's eyes widened with fear, but he nodded, his words tumbling out in a rush. "It was eleven years ago," he began, his voice trembling. "A group of us were tasked with bringing a young girl to the Reiss family. We didn't know why, only that it was important."

As Nick spoke, I could almost see the scene unfolding before my eyes. A fourteen-year-old Evelyn, fierce and defiant even then, struggling against her captors. Her voice, younger but still unmistakably hers, rang out in my mind: "Let me go, you sick bastards! I will royally fuck you all up if you don't!"

Nick's voice pulled me back to the present. "She was... extraordinary," he said, a hint of awe in his voice. "Before we could even react, she had taken down three of us and escaped through a second-story window. We thought we'd lost her for good."

I couldn't help but feel a surge of pride at Evelyn's strength and resourcefulness, even as a child. But the pride was quickly overshadowed by a growing sense of dread. "What happened next?" I pressed, my grip on Nick's collar tightening.

"An hour later, a man brought her back," Nick said, his eyes distant as he recalled the memory. "A tall, gruff-looking man in a long brown coat and a dirty old hat. He handed her over to Rod Reiss, saying something about her having spirit."

My mind immediately went to Kenny. It had to be him. The description fit, but why would he be working for the Reiss family? But before I could dwell on that thought, Nick continued.

"They took her away after that. I don't know what happened to her, but when I saw her again years later, she didn't seem to remember any of it."

I released my grip on Nick's collar, taking a step back as I tried to process everything I'd just learned. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place, but the picture they formed was more complex and dangerous than I could have imagined.

"Five years ago," he continued, his voice dropping even lower, "a man in a mask came looking for her. I think maybe her boyfriend. He wanted to find her and take her back home."

A knot formed in my stomach as I began to piece together the implications. But Nick wasn't finished.

"This person in the mask arrived around about the same time as the breach in Shiganshina," he said, his eyes darting nervously. "Even though he was wearing a mask, I recognized the voice... it's Jake."

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. Jake? The same Jake who was Evelyn's partner in the Military Police? The same Jake who was alone with her right now?

"I don't know why he hasn't taken Evelyn yet," Nick added, pulling me back to the present. "Perhaps he's biding his time, waiting for the right moment."

A cold realization washed over me. If what Nick said was true, Jake could be planning to take Evelyn at any moment. My heart raced as I spun on my heel, ready to bolt from the church.

"Captain Levi, wait!" Nick's trembling voice stopped me. "There's more you need to know about the Reiss family and the walls..."

I hesitated for a split second, torn between the urgent need to find Evelyn and the potential importance of Nick's information. In that moment, I made a decision that would shape everything to come.

"You're coming with me," I growled, grabbing Nick's arm. "You can tell me and Hange everything on the way."

As we hurried through the streets of Ehrmich, Nick's words tumbled out in a frantic whisper. He told me about a girl called Historia, the daughter of Rod Reiss, and how she was somehow connected to all of this. But my mind was racing, focused on finding Evelyn and confronting Jake.

We finally reached the meeting point, but my heart sank when I saw that Evelyn and Jake weren't there. Hange's eyes widened as she took in my expression and Nick's trembling form.

"Levi, what's going on?" she asked, her usual enthusiasm tempered by concern.

I turned on my heel and strode out of the stables, my mind focused on one goal: finding Evelyn before it was too late.

~

Evelyn's perspective:

I wiped the beer from my face, grimacing at the sticky sensation on my skin. The MP who had slapped my ass was writhing on the ground, clutching his broken arm. I couldn't help but feel a flicker of satisfaction at the sight.

"Ew, gross," I muttered, turning to Jake. "Let's head to MP headquarters here so I can change my shirt, yeah?"

Jake nodded, his eyes darting around the room. As we walked to the building, I noticed his nervous energy. Something was off.

"You okay?" I asked, studying his face.

He cleared his throat, aiming for casual and missing by a mile. "Yeah, just wondering if your boyfriend's gotten anything useful from the pastor."

Boyfriend. The word sent a jolt through me, images of Levi's steely gaze flashing in my mind. I shrugged, pushing the feeling aside. "One can only hope," I replied, my tone carefully neutral.

We reached the MP headquarters, a looming structure that seemed to mock the devastation surrounding it. Inside, I made my way to a small changing room, grateful for a moment alone.

As I peeled off the beer-soaked shirt, my fingers brushed against the rough fabric of my jacket. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

~

My eyes scanned the darkened streets, searching for any sign of Jake or Evelyn.

As I rounded a corner, I spotted Jake leaning against a wall, alone. Without hesitation, I closed the distance between us in a few quick strides. Before he could even register my presence, I pulled back my fist and delivered a powerful punch square to his face.

Jake stumbled back, his eyes wide with shock and pain. "What the hell, Levi?" he sputtered, blood trickling from his split lip.

I grabbed him by the collar, slamming him against the wall. "Where is she?" I growled, my voice low and dangerous. "Where's Evelyn?"

Confusion flickered across Jake's face, quickly replaced by a guarded expression. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, his voice steady despite the blood on his face.

"Don't play dumb with me," I hissed, tightening my grip. "I know who you are. I know you're from outside the walls. I know about your connection to Evelyn."

Jake's eyes narrowed, a mixture of surprise and calculation in his gaze. "I guess I should have killed the good pastor after all," he muttered, more to himself than to me.

His words only fueled my anger. "I'm just here to take my girlfriend home, where she belongs," Jake stated, his voice taking on a harder edge. "I don't care about the others chasing after Eren."

"She's not your girlfriend," I spat, my voice trembling with barely contained rage. "She doesn't even remember you."

To my surprise, steam began to emit from Jake's wounds, healing before my eyes. "I would back off, unless you want me to turn titan," he threatened, his voice low and menacing. "You girlfriend-stealing bastard."

Despite the shock of this revelation – Jake was a Titan shifter too? – I didn't back down. My mind raced through memories of my relationship with Evelyn: training her to fight in the underground, living together, the years we spent side by side in the Scouts. Our first night together, clumsy and tender, flashed through my mind.

"I know her," I continued, my voice low and intense. "I know every scar, every fear, every dream. You might have known her before, but I know who she is now. And I'm not letting you take her away."

Jake's eyes flashed with anger, but I could see the doubt creeping in. "This isn't over," he growled. "I'll get Evelyn back, one way or another."

"Leave now," I threatened, my voice cold as steel. "Or I'll kill you where you stand. And don't think for a second that being a Titan shifter will save you."

For a moment, I thought Jake might actually transform, consequences be damned. But then he seemed to deflate, the fight going out of him. "This isn't over," he repeated, before turning and disappearing into the shadows.

I stood there for a moment, my heart racing, adrenaline still coursing through my veins. I knew I should have killed Jake then and there, but the thought of how it would affect Evelyn held me back. With a frustrated growl, I turned and headed back towards where I had last seen Hange and the others.

As I approached, I could hear Hange's excited voice carrying through the air. She was interrogating Pastor Nick about something – a secret child of Rod Reiss, from what I could gather. But my focus was solely on Evelyn, who was standing off to the side, her brow furrowed in concentration as she listened to the conversation.

Her eyes met mine as I entered the room, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. She was safe, at least for now. "You okay?" she asked, her voice laced with concern. "You seen Jake about? The idiot wandered off somewhere."

The irony of her words wasn't lost on me. If only she knew the truth about Jake, about her own past. I knew I had to tell her, but not here, not with everyone else around.

"Pastor Nick," I called out, interrupting Hange mid-sentence. "Fill Hange in on everything you told me. Evelyn, I need to speak with you. Privately."

Evelyn's eyebrows rose in surprise, but she nodded, following me as I led her away from the group. We found a quiet corner, far enough away that we wouldn't be overheard. I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the conversation ahead.

"Evelyn," I began, my voice softer than usual. "There's something you need to know. About your past, about who you really are."

I watched as confusion, then shock, then disbelief flashed across Evelyn's face as I recounted everything Pastor Nick had told me. About her kidnapping, her escape, her connection to the Reiss family. And finally, about Jake and his true identity.

When I finished, Evelyn was pale, her eyes wide with shock. "I... I need to get some air," she mumbled, turning away from me.

I wanted to reach out to her, to hold her and tell her everything would be alright. But I knew she needed space to process this information. So I watched as she walked away, her shoulders slumped under the weight of her newly discovered past.