Carmen wasn't entirely used to Mikasa's company. It was true that the two weren't previously fond of one another, however, now, they were as thick as thieves. Mikasa was grateful Carmen had a heart after all, and Carmen content that at least one of the squad members were treating her like a person, rather than a ruthless killer. It brought a sense of ease that neither expected, despite most the squad being terrified of the powerful duo.

"Levi should be arriving shortly." Carmen said to the squad, some cleaning as instructed, and others boiling water. "He probably won't be doing room inspections like last time. That said, we should at least keep the living and dining room tame."

A few nodded their heads, agreeing silently before complying to her brief orders. Her time in charge was short lived, and she was thankful that she wouldn't have to manage them much longer. Each of them had a shed of fear towards her, and she simply still wasn't used to giving orders instead of following them.

Throughout the commotion, the assassin peered beyond Mikasa to see Eren rubbing his eyes, finally awake after a traumatic experiment. "Headache?" She questioned the shifter, who was now rubbing his temples.

"How long was I out?" The boy asked after a hummed response.

"Just a day, you didn't miss much." She answered before turning to look towards the kitchen. "I'll make you some tea." She decided, seeing as Levi would be there soon anyway, and he would appreciate some black tea after his travels. "You should have lavender, it will help with your headache."

"Why would you know something like that, if you can't even feel pain?" Eren asked, baffled by her unseen knowledge. He was more surprised that she was being nice to him, it had only been a few weeks since she'd tried to kill him.

"Petra made tea for Levi a lot, she knew her stuff." Carmen explained, pouring some of the hot water into the cup.

Stunned, Eren's breath hitched at her reply. He'd said it before, but didn't know if it had truly sunk in - after all, he doubted Carmen heard anything he tried to say after the female titan attack. She was numb to the external world back then. But now, he had a chance to finally speak his mind.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, and Carmen stopped pouring the tea, still as ice. "They died, because of me. And you still saved me. I'm so sorry." His words were stuttered, regardless of how many times he'd revised the speech.

Carmen took a deep breath in, then finally released it. "It wasn't your fault." She turned towards him, placing the cup into his palms. "It was the female titans fault, she massacred them. Executed them." She rephrased. "That wasn't you. So, when that bitch gets out of her crystal, I'm going to be the one to kill her. Me."

Before Eren could form a response, Sasha entered the room, bow and arrow in hand. "Captain Levi and Hange are here." She revealed.

It only took a few moments for everyone to be seated at the dining table, tea served by Carmen. Though, even though they seemed pleased by the hospitality, Carmen could tell something was wrong. Hange, was a key giveaway, they were twiddling their thumbs and couldn't take their eyes away from their own hands.

"Something happened, didn't it?" Carmen wondered, speaking on behalf of the squad.

"It's that obvious?" Hange's replied casually, avoiding the severe topic. The woman simply nodded, hoping Hange would continued. "Last night, Pastor Nick was murdered in the Trost Barracks." A few gasped, but Carmen could only sit in silence, she had warned them. "I knew they would want him dead for cooperating with the scouts, but I never expected them to use soldiers to get the job done. I suspected they would use the dolls, that is their job after all." They looked at the blonde woman, hoping to retrieve any information.

"From what I understand, the dolls activity has been put on a standstill, something big is about to happen, so i can understand why their using MPs instead of the real professionals." She informed, and Hange seemed even more deflated.

"In any case, Pastor Nicks death is just the beginning." Levi added. "I can guarantee their next target." Carmen nodded, but she was victorious so far.

"They've been trying, thats why there's a sudden change in tactics."

"Well, we'll just have to switch up our act too." He agreed. "Now, how many nails was the good Pastor missing?"

Hange blinked in confusion, naive to the connections a killer could make. "I couldn't see, a few? Definitely most of them." They answered. "Why?"

"People who talk, talk after one. I never thought much of Nick until now."

"Thats good news for us." Hange understood. "It means that the military police have no idea how much we know, which gives us an advantage."

"Or a target on our backs." Carmen interjected. "They're scared of the unknown, and they aren't afraid to kill to keep a secret." She began to twirl her butter knife between her fingers, emphasising her point by slamming it into the table.

"They can't kill us, right?" Connie worried.

"They're not supposed to, but, I think it's clear who known the MPs best." Armin nudged his head towards the assassin, who seemed distracted.

Suddenly, with a bang, someone barged through the front door of the cabin, no regard for those inside. If Carmen didn't know any better, she would have said this was a raid.

"Captain Levi!" Nifa, a member of Hange's squad burst through the door. However, her words were cut short when a butter knife landed sharply in the wall beside her head, missing her by mere inches.

"Nifa!" Hange panicked, getting up to approach the stunned girl. "Didn't you get my message? I said be weary, some people can get a bit jumpy in here." They consoled, turning to Carmen for an apology.

The woman sighed, but gave in nonetheless. "Sorry, I thought you were an intruder. Your timing couldn't have been worse, we were just discussing the target on our backs." She apologised, slightly reasoning her intense reaction.

"Theres no time." Nifa shut down. "I have an urgent message from Commander Erwin." She quickly placed a letter into Levi's hands, resulting in commotion.

"Everyone get your things and get out, make it look like we were never here." He ordered, discarding his tea down the kitchen sink.

At first, the group were too stunned to move, this was the storm that Carmen had feared and talked about - if a killer like her was worried, then they all should be terrified.

It was Carmen who moved first, taking the drinks and pouring tea down the sink and giving cups a quick rinse before placing them back into the cupboards. Next, she raced towards the sleeping areas and grabbed all her clothes, quickly placing her ODM gear on in the process. However, she refused to leave without one thing, hidden under the floorboards of their temporary home.

A while back, after the original special operations squad had gotten far closer, Eld offered to draw a portrait of them. It captured him, Gunther, Ouro, Petra and herself inside shading a fine lines. It had a few creases after the amount of times she had folded it into her pocket, but it was still dear to her, some of the faces were fading in her memory, the drawing was all she would have left eventually.

"Carmen." Historia asked as she entered the girls' room, noticing the quick work of someone who had trained for moments like these. "They're after me, aren't they?" She guessed, and she couldn't be more right.

"Likely, you're a nobleman's daughter, and apparently know things about the Walls." The woman answered, moving to pack Sasha's clothes next. "But even so, the scouts have your back."

"But what about the dolls?" The youngest asked, fear encoded in her tone.

"Irrelevant." Carmen closed Sasha's bag, moving to Mikasa's next. "They could send a hundred, and I would still win. Leave the threat of the dolls to me." It was slightly cocky, but Carmen felt there was an element of truth to her words. She had taken on many of their dolls in the past month or so, some of their disguises were fantastic, and admittedly could have gotten to her. However, they always forgot one thing - she was the original. Everything they could do, she could do better.

"Is everything packed?" Mikasa and Sasha appeared through the doorway, gratefully admiring their packed bags and made beds.

"Gear up, we'll be needing it." Carmen instructed and the three girls followed suit.

It didn't take long for them to all meet back in the living room and quickly race outside with their horses. The place they had chosen overlooked the cabin, and Carmen was grateful that she could assess her enemy without being seen. When they appeared, there were five MPs, each holding guns tight in their hands - their only skill set. However, what seemed to make her nervous was the trio behind them, a group of women, looking in their late teen years.

"Who are they?" Connie wondered, hoping it wasn't what he thought.

"They're the dolls, aren't they?" Jean gathered, and suddenly Eren peered over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of Carmen's copycats.

"They looks so much like you." The shifter said, turning to Carmen, who looked far more composed than the others.

"That's because they were trained to be identical to me." She stated. "But, no matter what, I have far more experience. I also know every trick up their sleeve, none of their moves are original." The assassin scoffed, some of the scouts signing in relief.

"Well, that's good news for the rest of us." Hange revealed, even though it meant that only Carmen and Levi stood a chance at confronting them.

"How did Commander Erwin know they were coming for us?" Armin wondered as he looked at the raid.

"The government have passed down new orders." Levi explained, catching everyone's attention. "There's been a freeze on all scout activity outside the wall. We're to hand over Eren and Historia."

The two mentioned froze, expecting as much but still be disappointed that their hunch was true. "Captain, I didn't have time to tell you earlier." Nifa began. "But some MPs came for the Commander right after I left him."

"What? Like he's some kind of criminal?" Hange stepped in, Erwin wasn't just their commander, he was their friend.

"They're bringing this our into the open." Carmen stated. "This is the storm, and we're all about to be caught within in."

"They're going to protect the walls secrets at any cost. But why? And what exactly do they want with Eren and Historia?" The scientist asked, their questions passing through emptily. "They don't want them dead, so what are they doing?"

"Who knows? But they want these two and they're not being subtle about it." Levi replied.

Carmen however, still had her eyes fixated on the cabin, the dolls were outside, looking at their surroundings in confusion. "It's dangerous to stay here, we need to get moving." She sharply suggested, if they were seen then they were at risk of being caught.

"We'll move to Trost." The captain ordered, receiving a few gasps.

"Taking them to the same district where pastor Nick was just murdered?" Moblit questioned, his confusion evident in his tone. He didn't like the plan so far.

"Heading to the interior would be worse. With Trost in a panic, it should be easy to slip in. If it all goes to hell, we gain use these in the city." He moved aside his cloak, showing his ODM gear. "We don't know the identity of our enemy yet, I have an idea of how we can change that. Hange, lend me some of your squad."

"No problem." Hange nodded. "Alright, I'm going after Erwin. Moblit's with me, the rest of you will go with Levi."

The remainder of the squad nodded, though kept at a distance from the captain because of one obvious factor - he was being guarded by the assassin. Not that Levi knew of course, to him, she was just standing beside the person she was most comfortable with. However, in Carmen's mind, she was making sure he was protected, along with the memories he held of her squad.

"Carmen, can you tell us anything about the dolls?" Levi asked, and she looked at him with full sincerity.

"If you're not prepared to make the kill, then run." She warned. "We're killers, taught to not think twice about killing. But what drives us most, is that if we go back empty handed, our fate is worse than death." The woman continued, remembering things she wished she could forget. "You'll be doing them a favour by killing them, trust me."

"Hm." Levi hummed, it was a painful story o hear, but he could sense the truth in it. "No one make contact with the dolls other than Carmen and I." He advised the squad.

"If you encounter one, it's kill or be killed. There's no room for hesitation." Carmen added, emphasising the brutality of her copies. "Is that clear?"

A few nodded, and the group took it as a signal that it was time to part ways. But not before a few words were exchanged between Eren and Hange, granting Levi a moment to confront his second in command about something that had been plaguing his mind.

"Hey." He grabbed her attention. "You do realise, you don't have to fight for the scouts today." Said the captain, his words sounding almost empathic.

"What do you mean, of course I do. I'm the only one who can fight them. I'm the strongest." She disagreed, but she wasn't seeing his point.

"I'm still injured, I'm in no shape to stop you from fighting me and running from this fight." He was hinting at something, Carmen could tell. "If you get captured by the MP's, then it'll be a fate worse than death - you said it yourself."

"What are you suggesting?" Carmen knew exactly what his answer was, but she wanted to hear him say it, realise how absurd he was being.

"You shouldn't risk being caught." He outright said it. "I won't blame you if you run from this fight."

Carmen scoffed, looking at her captain with a hint of disappointment. "Who said I'm a runner?" She retorted. "I've been waiting for this moment my entire life. I'm going to be the one to bring down the Doll programme. I'm going to be the one to save them - even if the best way of doing that is through death." She walked from him, mounting Bowie.

"If that's what you want..." Levi trailed off, mounting his own horse, Farlan. "Let's move out."