After riding Bowie back towards the wall, Levi knew something was off with Carmen. She was usually quiet but had an input on all their conversations. However, now she was completely silent and motionless, as delicate as a drawing. Whatever she had survived had to have been deadly to cause even the most stoic in the squad to resort to sadness. Levi just wished she would talk to him, after all, he assumed the dolls killed her when she didn't show up at the rendezvous point. It was probably why he was so violent when fighting Kenny's squad, they happened to catch him in a moment of despair and in return he responded brutally.

Absentmindedly, the captain averted his attention from Erwin's plan towards Carmen. From what he could observe, she looked tense, unnaturally so. Her hands gripped the horses reigns so tight that her knuckles turned white, meanwhile her hazel eyes were glued to the scout in front of her - Commander Erwin.

Moving his horse closer to hers, he matched her pace and stayed by her side. "You ready to tell me what happened yet." He asked her. Carmen didn't stop glaring at Erwin violently, Levi was beginning to worry for his safety. "Has it got something to do with him?" He asked, to which she finally shifted her eyes towards him and sighed.

"I can't tell you." She eventually said, but he could tell her statement was filled with doubt.

"Why's that?" He pried, she normally opened up to him, so it was strange for her to deny his request.

Carmen shook her head, looking him in the eyes before choosing her next words. "I'm scared that you'd hate me if you knew everything."

The man beside her looked bewildered by her words. He couldn't fathom what she was implying - not after all they'd been through together, not after all she'd told him about her past. Knowing the most about Carmen was something Levi was proud of, but she was hiding from him, he couldn't understand it.

"I could never hate you." He blurted out, not giving it too much thought. Regardless of the rashness, it was the truth, no matter how often he learned something about Carmen, he just couldn't bring himself to hate her.

"You don't know that." Carmen disagreed. "You don't know the half of it." Reluctantly, the woman looked away from him, hoping he'd get the hint and give her a moment alone.

"Try me." The assassin didn't deserve him, he was too kind, too loyal to her.

"Levi." She spoke seriously, if he continued then she wouldn't be able to stop herself from telling him the truth. "I can't."

Despite wanting to know more, Levi took the hint and dropped the subject, reminding himself that it wasn't his place to pry into her experience. Out of everyone, he knew best that if Carmen didn't want to talk, then she didn't have to. She'd already revealed enough to him.

"Fine, but if you change your mind then I'm here." He offered regardless before changing to topic back to business. "Erwin has a plan to take down Rod Reiss, but you're not getting involved. I want you to take a break." His orders were lenient and probably for the best, but Carmen wasn't in the mood to sit back and relax while her friends were risking their lives - it would only make her feel worse.

"No." She shook her head, it wasn't out of character for her to disobey orders, she just hadn't done it in a while. "I refuse to let people risk their lives for me, especially my squad." She denied.

"They'll be fine, you won't be much help in your condition." He argued.

"I told you, I'm fine." It's not like she could tell otherwise. She couldn't see the bruises scattered across her face, or the way she slightly limped when she walked.

"Don't lie to yourself." Levi scoffed. "I'm not referring to your physical injuries. You don't have to keep sacrificing yourself for the sake of everyone else. It's going to get you killed." His voice quietened when he scolded her, not wanting the other scouts to hear what he was saying. Everyone respected Carmen, they didn't need to know how much she was hurting herself just to protect them.

"Maybe I deserve it." She muttered, taking a deep breath and willing to compromise for Levi - she knew he had good intentions. However, she knew herself better than he did, so she was going to decide how to live her life. "Let me help, just this once." She begged. "After that, I'll take a break."

Hesitantly, Levi considered to offer. On the one hand, there was a chance she would get hurt, however, if it meant she would be safe for the next few months, then he had to take the risk. "Just this once." He repeated. "Don't push yourself too far, you're as human as the rest of us."

But Carmen didn't feel human, she felt as though she was far past that point. Maybe before she massacred the dolls, there was a chance at her finding humanity, now however, she didn't think it was possible. As though she had reached a point beyond return.

Within no time, they reached the walls, and Erwin commenced an urgent meeting with the local garrison of his plan. Although they weren't experienced, the plan wasn't overly complicated. All the garrison had to do was shoot the cannons and let the scouts do the rest.

The assassin made it her goal to never let her eyes leave Erwin, she wanted him to know that she knew what he'd done. He needed to feel threatened by her, needed to know not to cross her. Every once in a while, Erwin met her glare, his eyes lingered for a few seconds before promptly retreating back to his presentation. Good. Carmen was glad he was scared.

As the meeting met it's end, the Levi squad all left the room with a goal in mind. They would be the ones to bring down the Reiss Titan, seeing that the Garrison would likely be incapable. It wasn't ideal since they'd already been through enough, but all of them knew that they were the only ones strong enough to stand a chance against their enemy.

"Hey." Levi motioned for the assassin to follow him. "Are you sure you're still up for this?" He asked her, seeing the woman nod her head quickly.  "Fine, but make sure to follow orders, don't even think about going off on your own. If you're planning on sacrificing yourself then that would be plain suicide - I won't let you."

Once again, Carmen nodded as the two of them used their gear to run up the walls, reaching the surface in no time. Levi gazed at their oncoming opponent before shifting his eyes to the stoic woman beside him. He hadn't seen her in such a state in a while, something was clearly wrong. However, instead of telling him, she held the burden on her own conscience.

"Will you eve tell me what happened?" Levi wondered, eyes not leaving Carmen as she looked his way.

"I don't want to." She revealed, though her certainty was unclear. "But... there's something about you that just makes me want to spill all my secrets. For some reason, I want you to know everything about me, and I about you. So, no matter how much I fight it, you'll know eventually."

Taking in her words put the man at ease, he was grateful that Carmen was so open with him, but also felt guilty for not returning the sentiment. She'd always been curious about him, however, he'd kept his past private. There was only one solution.

"You want to know about me?" He questioned, not seeing the appeal. Most of Carmen's friends were open books, but he was far more reserved than the others.

"You once told me that we're the same. I want to know why you said that." The woman added.

"After Reiss is dead, I'll tell you about myself." He decided, seeing Carmen's features finally change after being frozen for so long. It made his heart melt, knowing that she was as fascinated in him as he was her.

"I'd like that." She admitted and Levi swore that he saw her lips curve upwards slightly - discreetly, he returned the gesture.

The moment was so tranquil and calm, he'd never been so relieved despite their lives being at risk. The huge titan approaching them was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, Levi know it would be gone soon enough. As soon as it was disposed of, all that mattered would be Carmen.

However, the brief amount of calmness was dispersed as soon as Carmen's eyes flickered to her right, causing a scowl to cloud her face. Emerging onto the wall, was Erwin Smith - a man who Carmen despised.

"Good to see that you two are here early." Erwin commented, eyeing them suspiciously. "Has there been any developments?" He asked.

Knowing Carmen wouldn't answer him, Levi stepped in. "No, that thing just keeps dragging itself towards the wall, hasn't even came up for air?"

"Interesting, though it's bothersome that we can't see its face." The commander replied as the rest of the scouts and garrison made their way up the walls, some using pulleys to bring cannons.

Subtly, Carmen walked away from the conversation. It was difficult to contain her anger when near Erwin, far different from when Levi was her target. She gathered it was because Erwin not only threatened her, but also her squad when telling Helga their location. If it was her alone, then she could have forgiven him, unfortunately that was not the case.

As she watched Mikasa unload a supply cart, Carmen made her way towards her and took one of the boxes out of her hands. At first, the girl was shocked, but soon relaxed at her company. "Carmen, you should be resting." She protested.

"I can rest after we save humanity again." The older woman argued. "I promise." Mikasa didn't look convinced, rolling her eyes, she gave in.

"What does Levi think about this?"

"The same as you." Carmen answered. "He doesn't like it but he agreed anyway."

Mikasa hummed as she lifted a barrel onto the pile that the two were creating. Her concentration was absolute until she saw Eren clench his fists and get into a fighting position. Upon his first strike, the two women were utterly confused, Carmen though that the boy had gone mad. However Mikasa stepped in before matters could get worse.

"Eren, it's not time to transform yet." She scolded him.

"Sorry, just had to beat the shit out of a useless brat." Eren shrugged away her hand. "With any luck, he's dead now."

Carmen looked at the sight before her in shock, she wasn't sure how she - as a second in command - should have reacted to Eren carelessly hurting himself. She supposed that she ought to tell him that it wasn't okay, but then again, she wasn't best suited to give that advice, especially with her track record.

Walking towards the trio, Carmen was cut off by a member of the garrison yelling at the top of his lungs. Her discussion would have to wait, her newest mission was about to begin. "Fire!" She heard the man yell again, an array of cannons firing after his command.

Everyone lined up on the edge of the wall, peering as the cannons bounced around their enemy, very few managing to hit the target. While they watched, the scouts seemed to see their chances dimming, meaning they would have to execute plan B.

"Fire!" The soldier yelled again, but it was far too late. A giant hand gripped the wall, denting the concrete in its strong grasp.

In fear, everyone ran away, giving the titan room to heave itself closer to the wall and eventually hold its head above it. It was a disgusting display, guts and all spilled over the walls edge - towns people could be heard crying out for help as they witnessed the action.

"Shit, it's breaking through." The garrison member panicked. "The city I grew up in, is about to be devastated."

Levi cut him off by placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "The garrison has done its duty, let the scouts take it from here." He turned back to the rest of the squad, watching them each pour a bucket of water over themselves.

Despite not feeling pain, Carmen understood the risks of not protecting herself against the titans steam. She was already littered with scars, she didn't need any more. "Eren, it's time." Carmen ordered the boy, hearing Levi's words with the other soldiers.

Nodding his head, the boy complied and distanced himself from the squad before a flash of lighting surrounded his human body - a titan emerging in its place. Carmen followed her squad as they fired one of Hange's newest creations at it. Upon impact, the machine exploded, causing the beast to lose balance and creating an opportunity for Eren's titan to attack.

With the titan unstable and vulnerable, Eren used all his strength to shove all the barrels of explosives into the mouth of their foe. Instinctively, Carmen began to doubt the plan, the delay in the explosion only made her worry more. However, as the titan slowly bubbled, her fear subsided and was replaced by determination.

"Go! Deploy your ODM gear and finish it off!" Erwin demanded, causing all the scouts to follow his command and spiral into the sky.

Carmen separated from the group, eyeing a large piece of flesh that looked as though it could hold a body, but as she slashed it, she realised her efforts were for nought. Hence she moved on, slicing an alternate piece. The sequence repeated itself so much that Carmen began to doubt they'd ever find it. Until finally, the piece of debris that she had targeted began to evaporate.

Someone had cut down the titan.

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Authors note !

The next few chapters are going to deviate from the attack on titan plot since there's a 4 months gap between Historia's coronation and retaking Wall Maria. HOWEVER, these next few chapters will still be important because they'll focus on the relationship between Carmen and Levi.

So stay tuned :)