A few weeks had passed from when the new recruits first joined and they ghoul had resorted to drinking her unique blend of tea once again. The ghoul had been to a couple of Erwins meetings and had a good idea on how the expedition was going to go, she wasn't fond on her comrades dying, but if it meant that humanity would grow more understandings from their enemies, then it was worth it.

Today was the day of their mission and the ghoul was sitting on her horse with the rest of her squad, waiting for the commanders orders. Looking around, she could tell that the new recruits were anxious for what was about to happen, it was their first time out, after all.

Out of the corner of her eye, the thief could see Eren staring at some kids who were admiring the scouts, the shifter sent a soft smile towards the children.

"This is it, the day has come for humanity to take another step forwards, now let's show those titans exactly what we're made of." A higher up shouted, causing most the scouts to raise their swords in the air with determination. "Open the gate"

"FORWARD!" Erwin shouted, his horse was first to react and led Erwin through the gate. "It's officially begun, the 57th recon mission, scouts move out!" He yelled above the noise of horses galloping. Kaya shared a glance with the captain to show that they were both ready for what they had to do, regardless of the blood on their hands.

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So far they had only encountered a few titans, but the support squads did their job and slaughtered any that posed a threat, their long range scouting formation was in session. Kaya started to think that Erwin was wrong about another shifter trying to get Eren, however that changed when she heard booming footsteps a few miles away.

"Green smoke signals, Oluo pass it on." Levi ordered while Oluo complied and shot a green smoke signal. Kaya quickly flinched when she heard another scout make his way towards the group.

"Reporting sir, the right wing spotters have been entirely wiped out, the early warning network is compromised. You will need to relay the message down the line." The scout explained. Most the the squad let out a gasp, the ghoul knew there would be casualties but she didn't expect there to be so many, what exactly was the new shifter capable of?

"You heard the man Petra, go on." Levi said. Petra nodded her head and quickened her pace to relay the message to the squads in front. As soon as Petra was further down the line, black smoke signals were fired to the right of the squad.

"Eren, fire the signal." Levi commanded, locking eyes with the ghoul who was still focusing on the footsteps she heard that were now growing closer by the second. "This is a disgrace, lot of good a formation does if the bastards can tear into it that easily." The thief nodded her head and listened deeper to see if she could decipher what was going on under the black smoke.

"I have to tell the others, I can't allow her to take anymore lives. The scouts will be decimated. Ahh!" Kaya heard a scout say, this wasn't looking good for the ghoul, surly the commander would be shocked by how powerful this new shifter was, and by the sounds of it, the titan was a female.

After a few more green smoke signals were fired, the centre ranks made their way into a forest, the ghoul couldn't help but stare in amazement at how huge the trees were. Normally it was Oluo who ruined her first impressions of new places, however this time it was Eren.

"Captain, captain Levi." Eren continued to annoy, the ghoul let out a groan and carried on riding her horse.

"What?" Levi asked, obviously irritated by Eren's persistence.

"Cmon sir, we're in a forest, we won't see a Titan till it's right on top of us, the centre rank is totally cut off. Somethings coming from the right isn't it? So what are we supposed to do? Avoid titans or defend the wagons?" Eren continued. The ghoul was starting to get frustrated with the boys consistently.

"Quit whining and stating the obvious already. Neither of those is an option anymore." Levi stated.

"W-what are you talking about?" Eren stuttered.

"Haven't you noticed what's around you, take a look at these big ass trees. Perfect environment for ODM gear, wouldn't you agree? Take my advice Eren, calm down and use you're head, the best survival tool is your brain." The captain reassured.

"If that's the case then he's screwed." The thief muttered, earning a few glares from her squad. Kaya didn't care much, she couldn't shake the echoing noise of the female titan edging closer and closer, it didn't help that smoke signals were also going off from all directions.

"Black smoke." Eren observed.

"Ugh, it's right behind us. Damn things been on our ass since we came in here." Eld stated.

"Blades drawn, now." Levi ordered, swiping his blades from his gear. The squad followed his orders and were now all armed, prepared to fight.

"It'll happen in the blink of an eye, keep your guard up." The ghoul warned, she had been hearing the titan since the beginning of the expedition, it was safe to say that their enemy was deadly. "3,2,1" her countdown proved to be accurate because no more than a second later, a loud crash was heard and the female titan came into view.

"Go move it!" The captain yelled. The ghoul could hear her squads heart beats begin to quicken as the female titan recklessly swerved, trying to grab Eren. A psychotic smile was plastered across its face as it shortened the distance between itself and the squad.

"Holy shit, how are we supposed to pull evasive manoeuvres in here?"

"It's catching up."

"Captain, should we engage the ODM gear? Captain!"

The squad continued to plead, however they soon became more panicked when they saw reinforcements get crushed by the female titan, killing them without hesitation.

"Captain your orders!"

"It's too dangerous, let's take it out! Tell us to engage sir!"

"I'll cut the bitch!"

"Captain!"

"We need your orders sir!"

"She's gaining on us!"

"Everyone, cover your ears now." Levi finally said, after they approached the place where the traps were set up. Kaya put her hands over her ears and put as much pressure on them as she could, knowing her hearing was too enhanced for the acoustic shell. She watched as Levi raised up his signal gun and saw him pull the trigger.

As soon as the shell was released the ghoul let out a blood curtailing scream, biting her own lip in pain of the sudden loud noise. She was positive that the squad had heard her over the gun, yet she tried not to focus on that, instead, she covered up her mouth until the wound on her lips quickly healed.

"Was that an acoustic round?" Eren asked, the ghoul winced, her ears still being a little sensitive after the bang.

"Remind me, what is our mission? It is to simply act on impulse in the heat of the moment? Let me answer that question for you. It's not, this squads mission is to keep this brat alive, whatever the cost. Don't forget it." Levi said, scolding his squad members for their rash decisions. "We keep pushing forwards on horseback, is that clear?"

"But for how long? We can't keep running forever. She's right on top of us as it is, if we don't do something soon, no." Eren questioned until he saw more reinforcements attempt to take down the female titan. "They keep coming, they're all gonna die unless we turn around and do something." Eren urged.

"Eyes front, stop looking behind!" Gunther scolded.

"Seriously?" The shifter yelled.

"Keep pace with the group, maintain top speed or we're all dead!" Eld added.

"Eld please, help them. If the Levi squad can't stop this thing then who will, those men need us!" Eren pleaded. More soldiers continued to get decimated by the female titan and the ghoul kept her eyes forwards in hopes of not acting out of line, or worse triggering her ghoul eyes out of anger.

"Another one dammit, he didn't have to die. Kaya, are you seriously ok with letting good soldiers die for nothing?" Eren accused.

"Shut up." The ghoul said calmly, yet in a threatening tone.

"Please, you're the strongest person I know, you can put a stop to all of this!" Eren continued, despite the thief's warning.

"Dammit, I told you to shut up!" She shouted. Kaya was enraged by her comrades dying in front of her, but mostly she was just frustrated that she couldn't save them, Eren wasn't helping by guilt tripping the ghoul.

"How can all of you just ignore what's happening back there, are you telling me to abandon my comrades is that it?" The shifter once again yelled at the squad.

"Dammit Eren yes, now quit whining and follow your captains orders." Petra snapped.

"But why are we letting people die, is this part of some bigger picture, why can't someone explain it to me?"

"Ask not the reason why, ask what to do and die. You'd know what that meant if you weren't such a useless greenhorn. Now stifle it and behave like a soldier." Oluo shouted, like many of the squad, he had also grown annoyed by Eren's constant yelling.

Kaya had finally thought that the shifter had given up, until she heard the sound of him putting away his swords. As soon as she glanced back she saw the boy bringing his hand towards his mouth, preparing to turn into a Titan. "Eren what the hell do you think you're doing, if you turn into a titan I'll make it my personal goal to kill you." Kaya threatened.

"I wouldn't blame you, do as your conscience dictates. But Eren, listen, you are not inherently evil, your ability to change doesn't make you a monster. That said it could be the other way around, how are you supposed to know where to draw the line? Whether you lose control or freely give it away, maybe it's the same. Look Eren, we don't agree because our experience brings us to opposing views, as life. At the end of the day there's no reason to go against how you see it. The choice is yours, you can trust yourself, or you can trust the people willing to put their lives on the line for you. I don't know which way is better, I never have. Should I act on my own instincts or put myself in the hands of my comrades and trust them. Either way, there's no guarantee, in the end, you chose what you chose. If afterwards your regrets are at a minimum, good for you." The captain said. Kaya knew he was talking from experience but she never pried about how he became a scout or any other subjects that could potentially have a negative outcome, not wanting to break their friendship.

Eren had chosen to ignore his squad and decided he was going to bite his hand, it wasn't until Petra intervened that he changed his mind.

"Eren, trust us." Petra pleaded. The thief watched Eren's eyes dart over to his comrades hands and look towards the bite marks that had previously inflicted on themselves.

"Eren, make a damn decision." The ghoul shouted.

"IM WITH YOU!" The shifter yelled in response, causing Kaya to glare at him.

She was interrupted when she heard the screams of another soldier and after his death, the female titan started to speed up, charging towards the squad.

"Target is accelerating."

"Just keep moving, we'll outrun the bitch." Levi ordered.

They kept riding until they saw the shadow of the female titan tower over them, the ghoul smirked, knowing the squad had finally made it to the clearing and once again covered her ears. "FIRE!" Erwin commanded. Which lead to a echo of blasts going off in all directions, Kaya winced in pain but tried to ignore it to get out of the line of fire.

"Everyone, hitch your horses a bit further on, switch to ODM gear. We have to break away for a little while, Elds in charge till I get back." He said while looking at the ghoul who was still recovering from the noise she heard earlier. "Try to get Eren somewhere out of sight away from the titan, and see to my horse." Levi said while switching to ODM gear and leaving his horse in the hands of the squad.

"Same here, we'll catch up later." The ghoul stated before standing on her horse and attaching her hooks onto a nearby tree, following the captain to the female titan.

Both Levi and Kaya landed next to the commander and observed the sight in front of them. "She's not putting up much of a fight." Levi said.

"That's no reason to let our guard down, good work leading her here, I'm a little impressed." Erwin praised.

"You should be thanking the sacrifices our comrades made to buy us the little time we needed to survive." Kaya snapped, she wasn't fond of Erwins lack of sympathy for the fallen soldiers.

"We couldn't have done it without the rear contingent, this belongs to them." Levi agreed. "I don't intend to ever forget that."

"Is that so?" Erwin said, the thief was starting to get pissed off at how little he thought of his soldiers.

"They're not just pawns." Kaya retorted.

"Without them, we wouldn't be able to expose whoever this really is." Levi added. "Whoever they are, I bet they're pissing themselves right about now."

Kaya and the captain both drew their swords, both of the same mind, they were prepared to kill the female titan for what she did.

"Not quite yet, a little insurance first, SECOND AND FIRST WAVES, FIRE!" The commander shouted, causing the ghoul to once again cover her ears, she was getting sick of all the loud noises and what she had to deal with each time. The ghoul grit her teeth as the canon fire died down.

Once the ghoul regained her composure, she stood up straight and grabbed her swords. "You two, begin first extraction attempt." Erwin ordered. Kaya and the captain swooped down and used their gas to gain the speed needed to sever the hands.

Their swords both clashed against the titans skin and the ghouls eyes widened when she saw her blades had completely shattered, yet the titans skin still remained untouched. Kaya landed on a tree near Levi to see if his swords were similar to hers.

"That bitch broke my swords, how about yours?" She scowled.

"Same here, wait for Erwins next orders, he'll have something planned." Levi replied.

"Shit they're using the canons again." She gasped, about to place her hands on her ears when she saw Levi swing onto the female titans head. The ghoul was beyond confused, but waited to see how it would play out.

"Knock knock. We know you're in there, why don't you come on out and stop wasting our time. Seriously, what can you hope to gain by stalling, if you're thinking we'll let you go, we won't. If you're thinking about trying to escape, don't. All you should be thinking about are the good people you killed today, tch, not that you would, it's not your style is it. Remorse. You enjoy killing. Which means we have something in common, course, I enjoy killing titans, but it's a start, I'm sure we can still find some middle ground." Levi taunted, trying to provoke the titan into making a wrong move.

"Oh that's right, let me ask, you're ok with me cutting your limbs off at the joints, right? I mean they'll grow back. I'm talking about your actual body, don't want you dead just yet, timing wouldn't work." The captain said in a dark manner.

The ghoul knew that the titan wouldn't go down just because she was captured, but when she heard the female cough, the ghoul knew what was coming.

The female titan lifted her head and let out one of the greatest shrieks that the ghoul had ever heard. Louder than the acoustic round, louder than the canon fire, louder than the screams of her comrades. The ghoul couldn't bear the pain to her ears and dug her nails into her own hands while trying to cover her ears from the sound. The noise was unbearable for the ghoul, her hearing was too sensitive to be exposed to this sort of noise. Blood was starting to pour onto her sleeves as she subconsciously harmed herself. The amber eyed girl put all her strength in staying conscious until her ears and hands could heal.

When the shrieking finally came to a stop, Kaya rested against the bark of the tree she was stood on and started gasping for air, never in her life had she dealt with such pain.

"Nicely done, I almost lost my composure." The captain congratulated, clearly not having the same experience as the ghoul. Kaya's ears were starting to recover, and as her breathing slowed down she started to hear footsteps in all directions.

"Shit, that was a cry for help!" She shouted towards the higher ups.

"Wagon defence squad, intercept now." The commander ordered. A few scouts went to action and swerved through the titans, expecting them to change direction and falter from their paths. However, their efforts were deemed useless, as the titans continued to swarm the area.

"Three titans have broken through, captain Levi." The scouts shouted, hoping the captain would be able to take them down.

Kaya quickly sprung into action and zig zagged through the titans, cutting their napes each time she passed by, then landing next to Levi on the titans head. "Their coming from everywhere, too many for us to stop." She informed as they watched a smaller titan slip through the soldiers and take a bite into the female titans leg. "What the hell." The ghoul muttered.

"All hands commence combat, defend the female titan at all costs." Erwin instructed.

The scouts were quick to obey orders and the ghoul took out titan after titan, but they just kept on coming, each one that broke through started to devour the female titan, who was willing to die to protect her secret. Kaya continued to slice the napes regardless and watched as some of her comrades started to jump out of the war zone. No matter how many titans she killed, it wasn't enough, the female titan was slowly being eaten and she watched as the monster started to turn to steam.

"All hands withdraw. Redeploy the formation. Return to colonist district." Erwin ordered while the scouts landed on nearby trees and observed the titans cannibalise one of their own.

"We've been bested." Erwin stated.

"Don't give me that crap, not now, not yet." Levi argued.

"Think about it, the enemy was about to make sacrifices, enormous ones. So content on keeping her secret, that she would rather be cannibalised than exposed." Erwin stated. Kaya turned to face the commander but when she did, her eyes immediately widened.

"Why the hell are you smiling? Is this just a damn game to you?" The ghoul questioned in a more serious tone than usual.

Erwin sighed and his face turned to a more neutral expression. "Right now our main concern is getting back to colonist district safely." Erwin responded, avoiding the ghouls question.

"I'll gather up my squad." Levi said while motioning the amber eyed girl to follow him.

"Not yet Levi, first replenish your blades and your fuel." Erwin instructed.

"I can do with what I've got, we're running against the clock as it is. Why?" Levi back chatted.

"Because I said so, that's an order." The commander said.

"Whatever you say sir." The captain said with rolled eyes. Kaya looked down towards her hands to see how many blades she had used up in the battle and noticed the amount of blood staining her sleeves. She looked at her hands to see that they had mostly healed and there were only a few faint marks as evidence.

Regardless, the ghoul followed the captain to a supplies truck and replenished her gas and fuel, like ordered, while the rest of the scouts set off the smoke signal to withdraw. "That bitch almost shattered my ears." Kaya scowled while she crouched down next to the captain.

"I take it you're not fond of loud noises." The captain replied. "Come to think of it, you do have good hearing."

"Not anymore." She said, refuelling her gear in the process.

"What happened to your arm, it's soaked in blood." Levi asked.

"It's not my blood, a tried to save a soldier but I couldn't get there in time." The thief lied, hoping he wouldn't see through it. The next few moments were spent in silence, neither one of them wanting to speak of the deaths they had caused that day.

Once they geared up, the ghoul heard a loud explosion in the distance casing her to gasp. "What is it?" Levi inquired.

"Did you hear that?" Kaya questioned. The captain shook his head so the ghoul stood up, dragging the captain with her. "I just heard a loud explosion about a mile from here, I think it's our squad. The question is, who turned titan?" She summed up. The captain trusted the thief and they both used their ODM gear to fly towards where their squad was positioned, both sharing the same determined expression.

A few moments of silence had passed and the ghoul could hear the faint screams of her squad dying out. She started to feel relived, thinking they had made it out safely, until she heard another explosion. The amber eyed girl looked towards the captain and it was clear that he had heard it too, meaning there were now two titans rampaging.

"Eren wouldn't have transformed unless it was an emergency, we need to hurry." Kaya urged. Yet the closer they drew to the scene, the more the ghoul could smell blood. The thief tried to shake the thought and carried on her journey.

The two got closer to the titan scream and Kaya could tell they were at the place where the battle was first initiated. The ghouls eyes widened as she saw Gunther hanging from his ODM gear, his torso had been sliced open. The next corpse she saw was Elds, his upper half lay on the floor and his eyes were wide open. The ghoul didn't want to look Levi in the eye, she had only known the squad for a few months, but Levi had known them for likely years.

Her eyes darted towards Oluo's body which rested on some long grass, his entire figure looked as though it had been crushed. But nothing could prepare the thief for what she saw next. Kaya followed the captain onto a tree branch and followed his gaze to the body of her best friend. Petra. Tears started to form in Kaya's eyes as she stared at her motionless body slumped against a tree, the amber eyed girl whipped away the few tears that managed to escape and looked over towards Levi. The thing that gave away his emotions was his eyes, they were half open, and staring softly towards the angelic girl who was no longer with them.

The titan screams brought the ghoul back into reality and she waited for the captain to do the same.

The two scouts continued and made their way towards the shifters at a quicker pace, both agreeing to mourn their comrades deaths at a more appropriate occasion. They could finally see the female titan and had previously passed Eren's rotting titan body, coming to the conclusion that the female had taken him. Kaya recognised the girl who was violently slashing the female titan and recalled it to be Mikasa, however, if the raven haired girl continued to slash at the titan, she would end up getting herself killed.

Levi seemed to think the same because he sped up and grabbed Mikasa before she could attack. "Stay back for now, maintain current distance, she's slowed down a bit, that fight took a toll on her. It looked like she may have bitten the entire nape off, it's unlikely Eren survived." Levi stated, making Mikasa send a glare in his direction.

"He's still alive in there, this titan is different it acts with purpose. If she wanted him dead she could have simply crushed him. No she needs him for something, but she also needs her hands to fight." Mikasa observed.

"She's right, the bitch has been holding Eren on her tongue. After all, Eren's ability would make a better ally than a simple meal." The ghoul added.

"Someone's optimistic." The captain retorted.

"If you had just done your damn job and protected him like you were supposed to them we wouldn't be having this conversation." Mikasa shouted.

"Oh, I see now. A childhood friend, suddenly it's all making sense." Levi said after he tuned around to face Mikasa.

"Quit wasting time, we need a plan." The ghoul yelled.

"Fine, for the sake of argument let's say you're right, then we need to forget about taking her down." Levi instructed.

"No way, she's taken too many of our people for that, she's dead." Mikasa argued.

"Clearly you haven't seen what she did to our most elite soldiers, you're only a new recruit, you don't stand a chance at taking her down." Kaya spat, thinking of her squad.

"She's got defences that none of us have been trained to deal with, I'm telling you it's a lost cause. Instead, we'll act on the assumption that Eren is alive, focus only on freeing him before she exits the forest. I'll handle all the cutting, you two find a way to distract her." Levi ordered, the two girls nodded and they all took off preparing for their battle.

Levi flew behind the titans neck and the ghoul observed the female swiftly turn around to confront the captain. The scout instantly spun and sliced all the way down the females arm, before taking out her eyes. When the captain was in the air, Kaya took the opportunity to disable the titans legs. She swerved in a circular motion, slicing all the way up both of its legs, and watching as the titan backed up against a tree.

Levi attacked the right arm, while Kaya took the left, both of them working in unison to bring her arms out of the fight. The ghoul smirked when she saw the titans body go limp, however her expression dropped when she heard Mikasa fly towards the females nape. Kaya reacted fast and pushed Mikasa out of the way of the female titans mouth, which was opened, ready to close and crush the ravenette. The ghoul had successfully managed to push Mikasa out of the way, however she got lost in the crossfire and the titans jaw had closed on her side, taking a small chunk of her flesh from her.

That wasn't the only issue, Kaya had unknowingly pushed Mikasa into another trap and she heard the sickening sound of bones crunching followed by a grunt from Levi who had also saved the reckless girl. Swiftly, the captain made his way to the titans jaw and sliced it open, to reveal an unconscious Eren laying on the titans tongue.

Kaya sighed in relief as the captain grabbed Eren and flew away to safer ground on his ODM gear. Kaya looked down to see that her body had healed little to nothing and grunted as she used her ODM gear to lean on a nearby tree with Levi and Mikasa.

"He's alive, disgusting but alive." Levi said while looking down at the boy who was covered in titan saliva.

"We told you not to go for the kill, how could you be so reckless." The ghoul struggled to say, failing her attempt at masking up her pain.

"Let's go, Kaya can you still use your gear." Levi said while noticing how much pain the ghoul was in, it wasn't until she removed her arm away from the wound that the captain realised how serious it was.

"It's looks worse than it is." She tried to smile but began to cough up some of her own blood. "Just ignore that, I'm fine."

Levi looked at the thief as if she were insane, with about a quarter of her stomach missing, it was a miracle that she was still alive. "Mikasa, you grab Eren, I'll take Kaya back to the infirmary." Levi said as he picked Kaya up, not giving her a choice in the matter.

"What about you?" The ghoul asked. "Your leg." She elaborated.

"Huh?" Levi questioned.

"Your legs broken, don't act like it's not." The amber eyed girl scolded.

"Shut up, talking isn't going to be any help to you." Levi advised the ghoul, little did he know that her would was already starting to heal.

Kaya was starting to panic, if Levi saw that her wound had spontaneously disappeared by the time they reached the infirmary, it would answer all his previous suspicions and likely cause the ghoul to rot in a prison cell. If only she had her book, maybe she could discover a way to limit her healing.

"The wound isn't as bad as it looks." The ghoul stated bluntly. "It's mostly just my shirt that's making it look like a big deal." She tried to convince.

"You coughed up blood." The captain deadpanned. "There's no way that your wound isn't serious."

The situation wasn't looking good for Kaya, however, just as all hope was lost, the ghoul remembered something from her book. 'As long as the ghoul has access to human flesh, they can regenerate at a fast rate'. Kaya just needed to starve herself until she reached the infirmary and get bandaged up. As a backup plan, the ghoul dug her hand into the wound, causing her to wince in pain, but knew it would prevent the wound from healing.

After putting herself through hell, Levi took the thief to the infirmary, where she was quickly bandaged up and placed in the back of a wagon next to Eren. Kaya sat up and watched in misery as the scouts rounded up corpse after corpse and placed them all in rows in the back of the wagons. Kaya looked closely and saw the captain crouching over the body's of their squad members and taking their scout badges from their jackets.

The ghoul stared at the clouds above her and tried to make out shapes in her free time, shortly later, the wagons started moving and they were on their way back to the safety of wall rose. The injured girl tried to keep her face neutral and not dwell on what had happened on the expedition until they got back to the base. However, her expression soon changed to a one of shock when she heard soldiers screaming in the distance.

"Behind us." The ghoul choked out. No one responded so Kaya sat up and tried to raise her voice louder. "I said behind us dammit." The thief yelled, her voice sounding as though it was backed up with her blood.

The commander and a few other scouts turned around to see two scouts trying to outrun some titans on their horses. One of them carrying a body on the back of his horse. The situation soon escalated and both the titans were gaining on the scouts. Kaya watched in awe as Mikasa took one of the titans out, but that didn't stop the other from gaining on them.

"You've got to get rid of the extra weight, dump the bodies." Levi ordered the men on one of the wagons further back.

"But sir-" the soldier questioned.

"Do you know how many corpses we've left behind, these ones aren't special. Dump them, consider it their last service to the cause." The captain continued while gripping his broken leg.

"I'm sorry there's just no other way." The soldier said, opening the cart and allowing the bodies to roll onto the ground they had just passed. The ghoul watched with wide eyes as she saw Petra's body fly amongst the others, hitting the ground mercilessly. As much as it pained her, the plan had worked and they had managed to lose the titans.

They had later stopped for a quick breather and to rethink their course of actions. Kaya couldn't lay down and sleep, she didn't want to, not after all she had seen. All the lives that were lost because of her, she simply couldn't sleep knowing the burden of her guilt.

"We can't always carry our fallen comrades home, but we carry their memory." She heard the captain say while handing a badge to the scout who had led the titan horde towards them. Kaya didn't know whether to think the captain was extremely kind or extremely stupid for giving away Petra's badge so carelessly. "This was Ivan's." Levi stated.

The scout in front of him began to cry, tears spilling from each of his eyes. "Thank you sir."

Levi quickly turned away and saw the injured girl staring at him, however this was different from her usual stares, this time, she was looking at the captain with respect and kindness.

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The scouts had finally made their way closer to the safety of the walls and Kaya sat against a barrel, still gazing towards the sunset, which would soon get ruined by the giant wall. Mikasa had also gotten into the cart and continued to try and wake Eren.

"Where's the female titan?" Eren asked as soon as he awoke. "What about the mission."

"It didn't go as planned, don't worry about that right now." Mikasa responded.

"Understatement of the year." The ghoul chimed in. But got ignored by the two teenagers beside her.

"How did I get here? Did you have to step in and save me again, is that it?" Eren continued, oblivious to the fact he got captured.

"Look, we're almost home ok?" Mikasa reassured.

Shortly later, the gates had opened and the scouts were met with the crowd of people, either willing to congratulate them, or to insult them. Either way, the ghoul wasn't a fan.

"Am I miscounting or are there fewer of them than before?"

"No you're right, there's a lot less."

"I don't get it, they were all pissing vinegar this morning and their already back?"

"Huh, why bother leaving in the first place?"

"No idea, I'd say by the looks on their faces they hoped to be gone longer."

"Our taxes hard at work ladies and gentlemen. Bravo."

Kaya just sat there, she was too exhausted to cause a scene, not to mention the injury she had held her hand in the entire journey back. Eren on the other hand was eager to get up and try to speak his mind but Mikasa didn't agree. It wasn't until he saw the two children from the morning that he reluctantly pushed his resentment to the side.

"Awesome, beat but they're still ready to go. You've got to be made of nails to be one of these guys, they're unstoppable." The kid said. Eren sat back down and the tears in his eyes were made visible to the ghoul.

"It doesn't get any easier, you just get used to it over time." The ghoul said, recalling the time when she had first spoken to Eren.

The ghouls ears perked up when she heard a cheerful voice through the crowd. "Excuse me captain Levi, good evening, I uh, I'm Petra's father." The man greeted.

"Oh no." The ghoul muttered and tried to get out of the wagon to the best of her abilities but soon got restrained by Mikasa. "Let go dammit, he needs help." Kaya argued, but didn't have the strength to go against the raven haired girl.

"Might I bend your ear before she sees us? I received this letter from her somewhat recently, apparently you handpicked her yourself, she's very excited I can assure you. In fact it sounds like she's utterly devoted to you in every way, so devoted that, well, to be honest her mother and I are a bit concerned you see." The man continued, not acknowledging the fact that Levi was trying his best to ignore him.

"Now I know that fathers can have trouble letting go, but still, I can't help but feel she's far too young to be thinking about marriage, she has so much yet to experience before settling down." The deceased girls father continued to say to Levi.

The amber eyed girl looked around her in hoped of finding something that would prevent her from crying on the spot, but there was nothing. Still, she persevered until they reached headquarters and tried to block out the voices of the civilians who had no idea of the horrors they had each seen.

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When they got back to their base, the remaining members of the Levi squad sat at the table and waited for someone to break the silence between them. Kaya sat with her lower torso completely bandaged up, if anyone were to remove that bandage, they would no longer find the wound that was once littered across her stomach. The ghoul drank her special blend of tea and kept her head hanging low.

"What's the holdup, Erwins never late, they should be here. At this rate the damn MPs will show up first. That'd be our luck. Eh, who can say, maybe they're all taking a shit, duty calls right?" Levi stated, breaking the silence. The ghoul let loose a light chuckle at the last remark.

"Your sure in a talkative mood today." Eren replied.

"So what if I am, didn't say I was talking to you." Levi remarked as he placed his teacup onto his plate, sending an echo throughout the room. He grabbed his leg after he felt a surge of pain.

"How is it?" The thief inquired.

"Fine, you?" The captain answered.

"I'm good." Kaya commented.

"It's my fault sir, I made the choice, if I had thought this through, none of this would have happened." Eren apologised.

"You made a judgement call, look no one expects you to be clairvoyant." Levi added.

The door creaked open and the table of survivors looked towards it, Eren stood up to salute the commander once seeing his figure. "Sorry to keep you waiting." Erwin said upon entry.

"Sir. What the- why are you all here?" Eren asked while observing his friends from the training Corps. Kaya recognised them to be Mikasa, Jean and Armin.

"We believe we have uncovered the female titans true identity. She won't slip away this time." Erwin answered. Levi and Kaya shared a quick glance at one another as if to make sure they both heard correctly. "The day after tomorrow, we'll be passing through Stohess district on route to the capital, that's where we strike. It'll be our first and only chance to do so, once we set foot in the interior, the government will take custody of Eren and the scouts ability to continue operations will be limited. Thus, if we wish to concede defeat, we must flush out the enemy now." Erwin explained.

"So here's what we do, while in Stohess we use Eren as bait, luring the target into this underground passage, the deeper the better. Get her well beneath ground level. That done she should be easily immobilised, even in titan form. If she transforms before reaching the tunnel, well, at that point she'll be your responsibility Eren." Erwin planned.

Kaya wanted to be part of the action, she wanted the female titan to pay for what she did, however, the protection of her secret took priority.

"Yes sir, do we know she'll be in Stohess? There's no chance she'll bolt before we get there?" Eren questioned.

"No, she won't risk going awol. Armin here identified her, she's an MP, likely responsible for the death of Hanges test subjects. And a fellow trainee at the 104th cadet core." Erwin continued.

"You can't be serious, I trained with her."

"Yes, she's one of us, her name is Annie Leonhardt." The commander added, sending shivers down Eren's spine.

"You think it's Annie, where's your evidence, tell me." The shifter asked.

Armin explained in detail the reasons why Annie was the female titan and Mikasa chimed in with the fact that they both looked alike. Kaya didn't know 'Annie Leonhardt' but she could tell that Eren must have been close with her.

"You're kidding right, what if it's not her, what if she's not the monster you all say she is." Eren pleaded.

"If it's not her then we have nothing to worry about." The ghoul answered before getting up from her seat and heading towards her room, she didn't realise how lonely she would be without Petra there.

Kaya lay, eyes glued to the ceiling for what felt like hours, she couldn't sleep, not like this. Instead, the thief decided to get her sewing needed and made her way to the captains room, to her surprise, it wasn't locked, so the amber eyed girl walked in without a word. The ghoul then sat down next to him on his bed and started to climb under the covers.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Levi asked the girl.

"I didn't know it would feel like this. When I lived in the underground, I did kill a few people, but I never thought anything of it. But now, Gunther, Eld, Oluo and Petra. They're all dead because of me." Kaya whispered, it was clear she was trying to contain her tears.

"You didn't do anything wrong, I'm the captain, it's my job to protect the squad." Levi stated.

"No, Erwin said there'd be blood on my hands and it was my choice to accept that." Kaya continued, letting a few tears slip from her eyes. "I'm going to kill the female titan, don't try and stop me."

"With that injury of yours you'll be lucky to reach the front door without collapsing. If you go after her, you'll end up dead. I can't lose another friend." The captain said in a more serious tone, oblivious to the fact that she had already healed.

The ghoul sighed and turned over to face the captain. "Would it be different." The ghoul questioned, causing Levi to raise a brow, asking her to elaborate. "What if the titans needed to eat people, what if the titans died if they didn't kill. Would you still feel the same?"

"I guess the circumstance would change, they'd just be sharing the same goal as us, to survive. But that's not the case, they eat for pleasure and have taken away too many innocent lives to be thought of differently." Levi answered.

The amber eyed girl let out a hum and turned back onto her back. "I'm sorry for being a such a bother, but can I stay here for a while?" Kaya wondered. For a split second, the thief had considered telling Levi about her being a ghoul, but she quickly shook the thought and mentally scolded herself for her emotions blinding her.

"It's fine, I'd actually like some company other than Eren once in a while." The captain responded.

"Some of the things he says really makes me question the fact that he's humanity's hope." Kaya joked.

Soon later, their conversation died down and the ghoul finally fell asleep, forgetting all about her troubles. Or at least, for now.

Authors note: oml that was such a long chapter, anyways I hope you enjoyed and managed to read all of that.