before the meet up, several days earlier

"What's the holdup," Levi says, taking a sip from his cup. After the expedition, Latina, Eren, and Levi stayed at the HQ for the meantime, "Erwin and Donna are never late... they should be here... at this rate the damn Mp's'll show up first. That'd be our luck." He takes another sip before continuing

"yeah, who can say? Maybe they're all takin' a shit Duty calls right?."eren laughs a bit as he blurts, ", your, Uh, sure in a talkative mood today." Levi rolls his eyes, "So what if I am? Does it mean I was talkin' to you." He places his empty cup on the plate and pulls himself up, but stops once his foot starts to ache. Eren notices this and looks away from him, "it's my fault, sir. I made the choice if I thought this through none of this" eren gripped his fits on his knees " if Latina hadn't..." She takes a sip from her tea and places it down as Levi states, " you made a judgement call, look, no one expects you to be clairvoyant." Then, the sound of the dining hall doors open, making the three turn their heads

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Erwin states."Sir." Eren nods his head to the Commander before looking at everyone else who had entered the room, jean mikasa armin, drake and Grayson . "What the-... w-why are you all here?"

"We believe we've uncovered the Female Titan's true identity," Erwin states, and Eren gasps. "She won't slip away this time."

"Who is it?!" Eren asked, Erwin frowns. "Everyone, take a seat. We have much to discuss tonight."

."The day after tomorrow, we'll be passing through Stohess District in route to the Capital. That's when we'll strike; it'll be our first and only chance to do so," Erwin states, and Eren's eyebrows furrow."What happens if we miss our opportunity?"

."You and me belong to the government," Latina sighed understanding. "Correct. Once we've set foot in the interior, the government will assume custody of Eren and violet, and the Scout's authority to continue operation will be limited. Thus, unless we wish to concede defeat, we must flush out the enemy now."Eren nods in response while violet glances down at the paper in front of her before averting her attention to the map rolled out across the middle of the table

."So here's what we do," Erwin states, and points at an area on the map marked in red pen. "While in Stohess, we use Eren and Latina as bait, luring the target into this underground passage. The deeper, the better. Get her well beneath street level. With that done, she should be easily immobilized, even in Titan form."

"What's your plan if she transforms before heading into the passageway?" Latina ask."If she transforms before reaching the tunnel, she'll be Eren's and your responsibility."Eren's and Latina's  eyes widen in shock, but they nods

. "Right. So we know she'll be in Stohess? There's no chance she'll bolt before we get there?" he inquires, and Erwin leans forward."No, she won't risk going awol."

"Wait, you mean she's-""Armin here identified her," Erwin states. "She's a member of the Military Police. Likely responsible for the deaths of Hange's test subjects, and was a trainee in the 104th Training Corps."Eren gasps and stares at Erwin. "You can't be serious... I trained with her?!"

Latina grips her hand, which levi seems to notice. "What's wrong?" Levi asks, his voice low and tired. Latina sits up straight and look at Eren. "Eren...let me put this bluntly...and this is hard for me too....but...the Female Titan is.....Annie," she states, his eyes widen.

Back to reality

A flash of light strikes the ground above us and Latina looks back to see Annie's Titan form

. "Annie," Eren whispers as they stop at the bottom of the stairs.Annie reaches one of her arms toward us, and they run around a corner and continue down the corridor. "I should've known what the ring was used for," Latina  growl, and Annie pulls her arm back once they were out of reach.

"What do we do next?" Mikasa asks as we continue running."We need to rendezvous with the squad down here then get above ground. We have to fight her out in the open. Eren, Latina, that means she's all yours to fight."

"Got it," he states " yeah I know" she nods."Over here!" someone calls out to them, and they look ahead to see the squad they were to rendezvous with

."Squad three!" Armin exclaims."Hey! What happened?! Is plan A a no-go?!"

"Obviously! We have to go with plan B!" Latina shout just before Annie's Titan foot stomps through the ground above us and crushes the members of squad three.A strong gust of air blows dust around, Latina covers her face, so it doesn't get in her eyes.

Things settle down after a few seconds, and we look forward as Annie removes her foot from the passage.

"She caved in the ceiling..." Armin says in shock."We've got to pull them out of there!" Eren exclaims, and violet look at the rubble that has blood leaking out and some limbs appearing at random places."Eren, get back," Mikasa states, grabbing his collar before he can move forward.

Latina look up at Annie's Titan form from the hole above us before moving back and rejoining Armin, Eren, and Mikasa. "Does she not care if she kills you?" Mikasa asks Eren."She took a chance," Armin says."It was a risky decision on her part, but she was gambling on Eren being able to survive. We're now dealing with someone who's been backed into a corner," Latina says, they start running in the direction of the way they came

."She's desperate. That makes her all the more dangerous," Armin explains, when we find a spot to hide out in. The four of us crouch down on the ground and Armin frowns. "Dammit, we're cut off. If we try to get airborne with our ODM gear, she'll swat us down like flies. And if we-"Another hole is stomped into the passage near the first, making us shield our eyes from debris and dust. It settles after a few seconds, violet stare down the passageway. "But we can't stay down here either. She'll crush us if we do."

"I know what I have to do!" Eren announces while standing up. "I'll change! I'll shield you guys just like that time with the cannon fire. Get in close!" Eren pulls the, towards him."But-" Armin whispers."All right, brace yourselves," Eren states before biting into his thumb. Mikasa and Armin clamp their eyes shut while Latina watch with a neutral expression as Eren can't change.

He stops biting his thumb, and Armin and Mikasa reopen their eyes. "Oh no... not again. Why now?"Eren collapses to his knees, violet crouch's down beside him. "You still seem hesitant to believe Annie is the Female Titan," she state, and Mikasa joins her side."What did we see back there just now? She's a murderer. Period. This isn't complicated," she tells him."Get off my back, dammit! I'm not stalling for time!" Eren exclaims and bites down on his thumb again

Flash back

"How did you find out, romanoff? No one had told you." Erwin narrows his eyes at her."It's obvious," she respond incredulously. "The Female Titan is an exact replica of Annie. Plus, the way they both fight is the same unique style."

"There... there has to be more to go on than that," Eren whispers still in shock."The Female Titan knew what you looked like before she attacked. Plus, she reacted to my use of your suicidal nickname- something only our classmates would know. But the biggest reason I suspect her, is that I have strong reason to believe she is the one who killed Sonny and Bean," Armin adds on."You both are kinda going out on a limb there..." Eren trails off

."Eren, Killing two Titans at once is not an easy feat. It requires a precision strike with the ODM gear that few of us are capable of doing." Armin said "But... there was that whole equipment inspection. Annie's totally checked out."

"Because Annie switched hers and Latina's gear." Armin remembers during the inspection, Annie gear didn't look like the one she had, but really looked like Latina's gear

"She used her own gear to kill Sonny and Bean then switched it with Latina's afterward. The gear the Military Police checked for her was really Latina's while the gear they checked for Latina's was really Annie's," Armin explains, and Eren frowns

."But why would she do that?! And frame Latina of everyone?! Their closer than anyone!"Levi placing down the paper he was reading and looking at Armin and me.

"Do you two have anything else on her? Any sort of concrete evidence?"

"Nothing, sir," Armin responds with a head shake." Latina's right, there's the fact that she looks and fights like the Female Titan. That's something," Mikasa says before I can speak.Eren shoots out of his chair and looks at Mikasa. "Really?! What the hell's wrong with all of you?! All of your evidence is bullshit!"

"So basically we're going after her without proof," Levi states, Latina's hand hit the table, making everyone look at her again."Something to say, romanoff?" Erwin quirks an eyebrow, and she nod

."Yeah...i do, and it's more proof. Concrete proof to suit your need,", commander Erwin gestures her to continue. "Remember when we captured the Female, and I broke orders and went over to her?"

"What are you getting at" Levi narrows his eyes, she frowned looking down at the table."Do you remember she stopped struggling in the wires?" She asked."Yes, what about it?" Erwin looks at her curiously

."She...stopped struggling because I asked her one question- Annie, is that you? She responded to that name the entire time I talked to her. It may not be as concrete as proof as you like, but it's the strongest we have," she says, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms."This is insane... what if it's not her, and she was just reacting to your voice What if she's not the monster you all say she is?" Eren asks incredulously

."If it's not her, she'll be cleared. End of story," Mikasa states.Eren gasps and stares at her in shock

"No one wants to condemn her prematurely, least of all me, but either we make a move on the evidence we have, or we sit back and let the central government condemn you," Armin tells him.Eren looks away . "Do you even hear yourselves? You're talking about Annie," Eren whispers

"Eren, don't stand there and tell me this conversation isn't ringing any bells," Mikasa says, and his teal-green eyes widen. "You fought hand-to-hand against the Female Titan. Think about what violet said, wasn't there something familiar about her technique?" He thought for a moment, but remembered her fighting style, it was similar to Annie's, that's when his eyes widened, Latina sighed and said

"eren, Deep down, you know it's Annie...Eren. I know it's hard to believe because she was in our friend group...but you need to confront the fact that there's proof. That she killed a lot of our comrades. She almost killed armin...Levi's squad...me...and she's after you for who knows what reason,"

Flash back ends

Armin seethes his blades, "I know what we have to do!" Everyone turned to him "Mikasa, will head for that opening, I'll make a run for the exit, I'm sure Annie will go for one of us. When she does both of you run in the opposite direction for all your work!" He says to eren and Latina "Are you out of your mind?! What the hell good's it going to do if one of you gets killed?!"Mikasa slide her raincoat back on and pull up her hoods

. "If we stay here, all four of us will," Armin tells him " mikasa, you ready?" He turned to her " yeah. Good luck" the tow run in opposite direction

" guys! No wait!" Latina exclaimed, along with eren" Mikasa! Armin! Don't do this!" The two didn't listen, and continued running "We're not worth it! You hear me?! You don't have to go!" Eren yelled, Mikasa stopped and turned back at the two" What choice do we have? The worlds a cruel place..."

"There's always a choice!" Latina snapped, eren looks at her for a brief moment before looking down at his bleeding hand.The ground starts to shake, making the two look up.

They gasp when they see the roof above them break. There was no time for either of them to reach as the rubble crashes down on both of them. The Female Titan had stomped down, making a hole. "Oh no! Eren! Latina!" Armin gasped when Annie in titan form picked up an unconscious Latina in her hand from the rubble

"Latina! No!" He exclaimed out of pure shock ' why?...I thought she was after eren! Why is she taking her?!' He wondered

Titan turns to Mikasa. Mikasa flies her way over to her as she gets grabbed.She slices each of her fingers off and goes off to slicing her "I won't let you take her! Put her down!" Mikasa yelled, Armin turned his attention back to the rubble"Eren!" He rushed over to find him" Eren! Hold on! I'm coming!"Armin throws a wooden stick away and finds Eren crushed. Blood drips from his mouth and head

"Come on stay with me!" He begged, Annie turns around and begins to run while Mikasa trails behind.

Annie swings her Titan hand at her, but Mikasa moves and procceds to cut her arm" Urg...wha?..." Latina opened her eyes slightly, then Widens and gasp when she noticed she's in Annie's hand, she tries to struggle out but she doesn't have enough strength to, The hand intacted the nearest building, sending out pieces of bricks.

Mikasa tries to dodge each of them, but she gets hit by one and rolls on the ground. "Mikasa!" Latina screamed, Annie looks down at the unconscious mikasa before walking away as soldiers from a distance get into action

."Don't let her get away!" One soldier shouted "We have to contain her! Whatever it takes!"

"No! stop! Get away! She'll kill you!"latina   shouted, then screamed when Annie tightens her grip slightly, making the commander gasp "She's got a hostage!" He alerted the other soldiers

Meanwhile

"What the hell is going on?" Nile wondered "Escort squad! Have a look! I'll hold this position!" He turned to marlo and hitch up on The roofs"Sir! Yes sir!" Marlo yells, he and hitch took off "This is bad. What in the hell could be going on this far in?" Nile wondered aloud

"Nile Deploy all troops immediately. We should assume that a titan has already appeared" Erwin said as he stood outside the carriage with Donna and levi" Are you out of your mind? This is wall sina! There is no way a titan would just suddenly show up here!" Nile exclaimed

"Just listen Nile!" Donna glared, just then the two figures in the other carriage jumped out "Who told you two to move! Jaeger! Sanders!" One soldier pushed the so called eren back

"How 'bout this dam wig said I could, moron"  jean growled, ripping off the wig, along with the girl inside, who turned out to be a Petra, the guard backed up shocked " you need to get your eyes checked" she glared

" call me jaeger again and it's your ass, you got that?" Jean yelled as he and Petra ran over to the two commanders

"Commander! What's the plan?" He asked Erwin "Ask squad four for equipment" he said"Sir!"

"Like the brass balls, but try not to swing 'em so hard they get you killed" levi said "Sir!" Jean acknowledged before taking off " Petra, gather up the rest of the squad and go after the others, keep your distance "

"yes sir!" She nodded, also taking off "Hold on. What the hell?" Nile said

"Shut up Nile!" Donna snapped "Commanders! Here!" A soldier ran to them, bringing to boxes with their gear

" Well done" Erwin said" Thank you sir" the soldier saluted, the two commanders put on their gear "Bout time, I've been waitin for this" Donna smirked at Erwin who slightly smirked back "wait just a damn minute!" Nile yelled back they ignored him "Alright! All of you with me! We're rendezvousing with the captains squad!" Erwin announced to the soldiers in the scouts" No! The hell you well!" Nile yelled, pointing his rifles at the two, followed by his men " this is out right treason! I am well within my rights to shoot you where you stand!" He snapped

"Think, Nile. I find it hard to believe you're actually as thick headed as you look at. You're a hair trigger away from making The biggest mistake of your life" levi declared

"Take off the gear before I shoot you!" Nile snapped, pointing his gun at the two commanders and captain

Meanwhile

Citizens of wall Sina were running and screaming in fright "It's a Titans! It's a Titans!" A man shrieked "How is that even this far in?!" Another screamed "Somethings happened to the wall!" Another guesses "Wow. So that's what they look like" MP soldier stared in shock, not knowing what to do"Evidently, yeah..." his buddy agreed also in shock, In the running crowd, Jean yells at the citizens as he runs the opposite way from them "Watch it!" He turned and noticed the mp's on the rooftop watching in shock, and weren't doing anything to help the public

"Useless mp bastards. I believe there was a time I have given my left arm to be one of 'em, I don't know what the hell I was thinkin'" he glared continuing to where he was running to' please be alright Latina.' He thought

With the fight!

"Right! Don't kill er! our orders say we only have to stop! Save the hostage!" As the soldiers go in to cut her limbs up, Annie grabs the wire while stomping on another"Dammit! It's like she knows every move we're going to make in advance!"

"Because she does! Don't get close!" Latina yelled, only to yelp as she felt Annie's grip, The soldier goes to attack while Mikasa zooms over, catching up to Annie

"Try that with me! I dare you!" Mikasa growled, She goes and cuts her foot as Annie stares down at her, glaring.

Back with eren and armin

As that happened, Armin pushs away the rubble that crushed Eren "Eren! Talk to me! Wake up!" Armin yelled trying to wake his friend, who was still Unresponsive, just Then jean appears rushing over"What the hell is going on?" Armin turned to him"Help me! He stuck in here! Annie's taken Latina!" His eyes widened "Why didn't eren just change into a titan?! And I thought she was only after him!" Jean exclaimed "He Couldn't transform! I-I think there's something holding him back from being able to take on Annie! I still don't know why she took Latina though!" Armin exclaimed, still in shock

"What?.." was all jean said "We'll worry about that when he's safe, help me get him out!" Armin Grunts, trying to lift the rock off eren "He really couldn't do it." Jean then grit his teeth marching over to where eren was stuck

"That's it! Enough of your bullshit, eren! I or did I not tell you this day will eventually come? Look at yourself! Our fates in your hands!
Where out the puttin our lives on the line, this is all we can expect from our last best hope?...damnit..." he lowed his head still gritting his teeth "do You really want her to take Latina away forever?!" Jean yelled, just then they see a huge rock hitting a tower, causing it to fall towards them as they jump out of the way.

Armin rolls on the ground roughly and looks up to see the Female Titan fighting soldiers before turning his gaze to Eren "Eren!" Armin called out

"Leave him! We can't do anything until we take care of her! And save Latina!" Jean draws his sword, before rushing off, armin turned back to the unconscious eren

"listen. I said something to jean recently. To rise above monsters, we have to abandon our humanity. what we fight, we become. Fire with fire. Look at her. Annie can do it. I don't know why, but there it is. Simple. You have to match heartlessness to win! Do it for Latina!" He yelled, Armin stands up and turns to the Female Titan

Several of the Survey Corps members slash at her, and Latina look down as Armin appears in the middle of the street.' Armin! No!' Her eyes widened with tears in them

"Annie! Are you going to kill me or not?! I seem to remember you making a wager; well here's your chance to make good on it! Now let her go!" he shouts, making her look at him. Jean appears in the air and raises both of his blades while aiming for her neck, but they break on impact from the hardening hand that held Latina in, he was kinda relieved cause he didn't want to hit her

" armin! Follow my lead!" He yelled "You got it!" Annie turns and follows Armin and Jean, Latina still struggling in her grip " annie please don't do this!"

Meanwhile

Elsewhere, Hanji grins maniaclly and laughs, tightening her grip on what seems to be a handle

"Yes."  Hanji Intense laugh, while morblit looked at her nervously" Commander you uh...you've got that look in your eye again.." Armin and Jean go flying past a few seconds later, and Annie starts to pass but turns her head and looks directly at us.

Hange pulls the cord, and wires surround Annie who makes one last attempt to grab Armin or Jean but fails, losing her grip on Latina

"GAH!" Who starts falling "Got you!" Jean caught her before she hit the floor and carried her to safety,

Annie struggles in the trap before falling to the ground. Two soldiers on a nearby rooftop throw a net with spikes on it over her body

"Nice! and here I was convinced having a plan c was nothing short of paranoid!" Hanji grins while swinging the cord to the barrel around " oh commander Erwin, Donna you geniuses" she steps off the rooftop and start to fall before shooting out one wire and swinging down to the ground. Mikasa walks out from behind several other barrels and watches as Hange approaches Annie and aims one of her blades at the Female Titan's eye."Oh, calling your cohorts to dinner isn't an option. So let's not waste that lovely singing voice. In fact, let's not waste anything. No, no, I'm going to read you like my favorite book. Every part of you has a story to tell," Hange states and Latina's eyes snap to Annie's legs. Making her gasp"She's going to move!" She shout, and she swings one of her legs out and swipes the equipment that was holding her down, just before Latina could run again, Annie caught her in a tight grip " NO!" She struggles as she's once again taken

Both Mikasa and Hange land on a rooftop, Annie stands up and starts running away again with the redhead in her grasp" she broke free?!. "Dammit, we didn't have time to set enough traps. Don't let her get away!" Hange exclaims.

Meanwhile with eren

at the rubble, Eren was still crushed beneath the pavements as he looks back on what Armin said to him. 'To rise above monsters, we have to abandon our humanity. what we fight, we become. Fire with fire. Look at her. Annie can do it. I don't know why, but there it is. Simple. You have to match heartlessness to win! Do it for Latina!'

' yeah. I know that's why..that's why my comrades died. Because I couldn't let go.' He remembers Levi's Squad was nearly wiped out, if not for her.... and his mother's death.

He widens his eyes and begins to push himself up, the wood stabbing him more and more as he progressed, growling

.'I swore... to kill them all! Every last one! I'm coming Latina!'

Latina pov

I tried wiggling out of her grip but it was no use, I see the others running across the rooftop before shooting their wires out and gliding through the air after us. Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Hange, and Hange's assistant- Moblit , and Annie turns around and swipes her hand across a rooftop " guys! look out!" I yelled, Large rocks fly towards the,, and mikasa swiftly dodge every one while catching up to Annie

Mikasa makes her way towards her, and Annie watches her closely before kicking her wire, sending Mikasa sprawling across the ground. "Mikasa!" I shout, just then a flash of light strikes the ground where Eren was. I hear Quick, heavy footsteps approaching, making me smile in relief

  " eren!" I called out, Eren appears and punches Annie in the face, i scream when I felt Annie's grip loosen again, I was about to hit the floor when I giant hand caught me, I looked up and saw it was him, he lifted me up and placed me on the nearest roof top gently, I felt his giant thumb gently brush against my cheek slightly, making me blush, I felt a thumping in my chest, he then pulled away letting out a roar, making me cover my ears from the loud noise, now I know how mikasa felt while I was unconscious that one time, he then charges towards Annie in rage

' go eren...'