Stohess District
Present Time

After awaiting further instructions for the transfer of Eren Jaeger over to the Military Police, the scout team that would be in charge of the operation were given orders to move in a caravan of carriages while being escorted by Military Police. A formation of MP's was set in front of the main gate as Annie Leonhart stood in line along with the rest of her fellow MP's with both rifle and gear on her person. After letting the carriages carrying Commander Erwin and Eren Jaeger pass, the MP's fell out to head to their next position, and Annie jogged off to follow the rest of them. Falling under the shadow of a few buildings, Annie was about to run pass an alley way until a voice called out to her.

"Annie..." The blonde girl stopped in her tracks when she heard the familiar tone come from her right side.

Waiting for the rest of the MP's to leave the area, Annie stepped back and turned towards the alley and ran inside of it where she saw a cloaked person duck around a corner. She was nervous and felt her heart racing when she wondered if her assumptions of who the voice belonged to were correct, but decided to carry on ahead as she slowly rounded the corner and grew wide-eyed when she saw you standing a few feet away from her.

"Hey, Annie...How's the Miltary Police life going? No one's flirting with you, right?" You said with an awkward smile on your face before she suddenly wrapped her arms around you.

"...I wanted to see you..." Annie said while hugging you closer as you wrapped your arms around her as well.

"Yeah...I missed you, too..." You said with a death glare pointed down at the top of Annie's head, but faked a smile once more when she pulled away.

"Why are you dressed like this?" Annie asked in wonder of your clothing.

"I'm a pack bearer, believe it or not. I've got my gear hidden under my coat also." You said while raising one arm from under your coat to reveal your tucked away Maneuver Gear.

"What's going on? Why are you alone?" Annie asked in confusion.

"Truth is, I need your help, Annie. We're trying to help Eren escape. I was hoping you could help us." You explained the situation as Annie couldn't grasp the goal of your plan.

"Escape where? If you disobey the monarchy, where will you go inside these walls?" She asked in wonder of where you would all try and hide from the government.

"It's only for a short while, we wanna avoid fighting the monarchy head-on for the most part.  It'll be reported as  rebellion by a portion of the Survey Corps. It can buy us some time. Then we can spend that time rounding up some weapons and ammo to overtake the other factions at the tribunal. And we're sure to find it." You said as Annie walked closer to you with worried eyes.

"You can't, Y/N. There won't be ammunition just lying about for you all to take. What makes you all think it's easy to find?" Annie asked in confusion of your actions.

"...I can't say, I'm sorry.." You apologized to her.

"Y/N, I wanna help you, but I can't do it like this. I won't tell anyone, but what you're trying to do is something I can't even try to contribute to...even then, what could I even...?" Annie said as she was conflicted and felt sad about not being able to help you.

"Annie..." You took her hand as this surprised her as she looked up into your eyes to see the desperation that stirred behind them. "I don't want my friend to die...and if we let them do this, all of humanity will eventually tear itself apart! I came here because you're the only one I can count on in my life...!" You said as you pressed your lips against Annie's as the blonde was surprised.

Annie went wide-eyed when you suddenly kissed her because it felt different somehow, but in an instant, melted into your warmth as you two held each other close. It was this warmth that Annie wanted to hold onto for dear life, and it's finally come back to her after so long. Annie almost felt herself cry from the touch you gave her, but due to the lack of air, Annie and you split slowly from the kiss as you stared longingly into each other's eyes and you cupped her face with one of your hands. 

"I hate myself for causing you trouble, but there's no one else I can turn to, Annie..." You said to her as Annie closed her eyes in confliction of what to do before she opened them once more.

"I'll do it, for you..." Annie said as you gave her a happy smile.

"Thank you." You said as you kissed her once more before pulling away.

"Let me put this down." Annie said while gesturing to her rifle as you nodded and she turned away. "...this is it...my chance..." Annie thought while unslinging her rifle from her shoulder and setting it against the wall while facing away from you. "...If I can get out with them both...I can live the life I want...then, Y/N..." She reached into her jacket and pulled out a silver ring before slipping it onto her right index finger while you couldn't see. "...I'll show you the truth about this world, and stand by your side to help you get through how horrible it is..." She thought before turning back towards you as you gestured to the walkway behind you.

After getting her to agree to help you in your plan, you rendezvoused with Eren, Armin, and Mikasa as the four of you wore your hoods to conceal your faces while Annie led you down the path you wanted to go. The area was dead silent as you walked in close formation, but Eren decided to speak up in reaction to getting Annie's help.

"That was easier than I thought it'd be." Eren said as Mikasa shushed him, but he continued to mutter. "That's the Military Police for you. You can see how hard they work every day." Eren said as you glanced back at him.

"Eren, will you shut up? We already look suspicious enough, let's keep it down until we get to where we need to, huh?" You said in frustration over the unnecessary noise being made.

"Let's just hope they won't find out that Jean's taken my place. That won't last long, though...We don't look alike at all." Eren said as he felt irked knowing Jean was the one imitating him in the caravan.

"It's fine. Both of you look like criminals, with the same nasty look in your eyes." Armin said as Eren didn't like the comparison.

"I don't have a horse face like him." Eren said as you turned around again.

"Will you shut it!?" You said in a low angered tone.

"Hey, if I hadn't helped you, how did you plan to get over the wall?" Annie asked wondering what would have happened if they didn't have her cooperation.

"I was going to use the Maneuver Gear to get through." Armin said as Annie found that foolish.

"That's insane. Wouldn't it have been easier to escape before you'd reach Stohess? Why here? And why now?" Annie asked as she felt a strange feeling in the setting she was in as you all traveled down a small hill of stairs. 

"I felt that the complicated layout of this city would give us a better chance at swapping Eren with Jean. And I thought about pretending to go along with it, rather than an outright opposition, would prevent suspicion and buy our escape more time." Armin explained the reasoning as Annie turned back ahead.

"...I see. I get it now."  Annie said as she glanced over at you while you continued to look ahead down the path.

"There!" Armin said as he ran ahead of the group and towards the place you wanted to head to.

After walking for a bit more of a distance, you and your friends all stopped in front of an entrance way that led to the subterranean city below Stohess District. You all peered down into the dark stair well as Annie tensed up a bit and grabbed the sleeve of your jacket as you were confused by her actions.

"Here?" Annie asked as she kept her stern look on her face.

"Yeah, we go through here. The remains of an underground city they planned and abandoned are still down here. This takes us close to the outer gate." Armin said as he, Eren, and Mikasa walked a bit down the stairs.

"Really? Wow!" Eren said in surprise of there being an underground abandoned city, before he noticed you and Annie still standing at the top of the stairs. "You guys? What's wrong? Don't tell me you're afraid of dark, cramped places." Eren said as you laughed and waved him off.

"Hold on, we'll head down now." You said while turning towards Annie as you saw how tense she had gotten. "What's wrong, Annie? Are you okay?" You asked as she continued to stare down the stairs.

"I'm afraid of tight spaces. I'm sure a brave, suicidal bastard like Eren can head in there easily, but I can't do that. I'm too weak..." Annie said as your eye twitched a little, but she noticed this and looked towards you.

"It'll be okay. You can stay by me." You said while taking her hand into your own.

"No, I won't go that way." Annie said while staring directly at you. "Y/N...please, don't tell me you've..." Her thoughts trailed off as you spoke once more.

"There's no other way, Annie. We need your help. I need you." You said while placing both your hands on her shoulders.

"No, I won't go that way. It scares me. If we aren't going above ground, I won't help." Annie said aloud for everyone to hear as a nerve-wracking breeze blew through the area.

"What are you saying?! Get down here! Stop screwing around!" Eren shouted in a cold-sweat.

"Shut up!" You turned back to scold Eren before turning to Annie with a desperate look in your eyes. "Annie, this is important not just to us, but for the rest of humanity. We can't let Eren get captured. This is our only chance to get out of here. Please, Annie..." You said while taking her hand as she gasped and pulled away from you as you were shocked from her reaction.

"Y/N..." Annie spoke as she lowered her head so you couldn't see her eyes and this put you on edge. "...tell me...why hasn't anyone been around here for all this time?" She asked your worst fear for the plan came to fruition as Annie knew she was surrounded. "...how could you...?" Annie's hands trembled as she raised her head to reveal tears in her eyes as she saw the true look you had on your face, one of pure hatred. "I never thought it'd be you to start looking at me like that...Y/N..." She said as you walked towards her before staring down into her eyes.

"...why did you have Marco's gear during the inspection...?" You asked her as she stared at you with hurt, tearful eyes. "Armin confirmed even the marks and dings on Marco's Maneuver Gear...why did you have it?" You asked her.

"...I just found it, that's all..." Annie said as you closed your eyes tightly.

"Then that night we had..." You gritted your teeth behind your lips as you remembered the encounter on the roof. "...that was you on the roof, wasn't it?" You asked her.

"Stop, Y/N..." Annie said in a low, begging tone.

"Why didn't you just kill me? What was the point of killing the test subjects?" You asked as your voice was beginning to grow in loudness.

"Don't do this..." Annie begged as her body was beginning to tremble.

"Why did you kill them? Why did you hurt us? Why did you hurt me? Why did you betray us? Why did you betray me? I loved you...I fucking loved you, dammit...If you really loved me...Why can't you just go down the fucking tunnel and prove to us that this is just a misunderstanding?!" You screamed at her in rage.

"This isn't funny!" Eren yelled from down the stairs.

"Let's talk, Annie! We can still talk!" Armin begged with a desperate and fearful look on his face.

"That's enough. I can't listen to any more of this." Mikasa's foot stomped on one of the stairs as she stepped towards you and Annie and let her cloak fall off as she drew her blades. "It's pointless. I'll tear you apart again..." Mikasa glared daggers at Annie as you and the blonde were locked in eye contact. "...Female Titan." She threatened her with full intent to slice her to bits as she gave Annie the coldest stare she had in her eyes.

Annie hung her head as silence filled the air, but as you stared at her, you were surprise attacked when she suddenly flung herself on you and kissed you. You were wide-eyed and frozen in shock from her actions and because of how tense you were before, you couldn't muster any strength to push her away. Mikasa and the others were wide-eyed from her actions before Annie suddenly pulled away from you and began to laugh hysterically while crying.

"Ahaha...Haha...! Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha~!" Annie laughed with a blush on her face as she stared at you. "Armin put together a well thought plan to have pushed me this far. I'm sorry, but you couldn't have come up with this on your own, my dearest. I love you Y/N. I'll save you after this..." Annie said while pressing her hands against your chest and getting close to your face as she cupped your cheek and you were too afraid of what would come next, you couldn't move. "Armin, I'm glad I could also be a good person to you. You've won your bet. But..." You whimpered in fear when you saw a crazed and terrifying look look Annie's eyes. "This is where my bet begins!" She pulled her hand away from your faces and opened her mouth to bite it, but this shocked you out of your scared state as you mustered up all your strength to stop her.

"RRRRAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" You screamed at the top of your lungs as you grabbed her hand and pushed her hard to the ground as Armin fired his pistol for the signal as all the hidden scouts came out and rushed her.

You held her to the ground with all your rage as you grabbed her hair and yanked her head up so someone could gag her before she could bite her tongue off. Holding her down as best as you could, you turned back where you saw Eren run up the stairs, but he was stopped by Mikasa.

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE, MIKASA! ARMIN!" You screamed, but didn't notice Annie had slipped one of her legs away from her captives and she kicked you in the side of your chest. "Agh! Watch out!" You yelled as Mikasa turned back and caught you, but you four slipped and fell back further down the stairs.

Mikasa looked up to see what was going on, but gasped when Annie suddenly flipped a small blade out that was built into her ring. She grabbed you and Eren before dashing the other way and clothes lined Armin with her arm while taking you three to the bottom of the stair well. 

"We'll be together soon, Y/N..." Annie thought as you had a shocked look on your face while growing farther away from her. "...I promise." She thought as she sliced her thumb and committed herself to whatever turn of events would play from this.

In an instant, a blinding flash of light struck down on Stohess those who were holding down Annie were torched in mere moments as a hot rush of air blew down the stairs you were in. Mikasa lost footing and you all yelled when you crashed down at the bottom of the stairs as debris began to fall above you all. You gritted your teeth in frustration over the failure of the first plan and watched as the body of the Female Titan began to form, and Annie disappeared into the nape of the Titan as her transformation was complete. Not wasting anytime over sentimentality of what you had with Annie, you grabbed your friends and threw yourself and them deeper into the tunnel as you narrowly avoided the explosion that came Annie's transformation. After some of the dust cleared and you regained some vision, the four of you looked to the wall of the stairs where blood and body parts of your comrades were crushed and splattered all over.

"Fuck, we messed up!" You groaned before gasping in surprise when Annie's hand suddenly came in and crashed against the wall of the stairwell. "Run!" You yelled as you grabbed Armin and pulled him with you while Mikasa did the same with Eren and you ran deeper down the tunnel, narrowly escaping Annie's hand that reached after you all. "Shit! What the hell!? What happened?!" You asked in confusion of how she transformed.

"She had a blade hidden in her ring." Mikasa said.

"What!? You're telling me she was prepared for this?! Shit! I'm sorry, Armin! I let you down!" You said while continuing to run down the tunnel.

"Forget it. You did your best. Damn it...That ring! She knew I was bluffing from the start. She figured out we would ambush her. We must have had another way!" Armin spoke in frustration.

"Save it for later. What do we need to do right now?" Mikasa asked Armin as he looked further down the tunnel.

"For now, let's meet up with Squad 3 and get above ground. We'll follow plan B. We fight Annie...The Female Titan!" Armin said as you all turned towards Eren. "Eren transforms as planned, and assists in her capture! You'll do it, right?" Armin asked.

"Yeah!" Eren agreed to the change of plan.

"Hey!" You all turned ahead to see Squad 3 waving at you down the tunnel. "Did the first capture attempt fail?" One of the members of Squad 3 asked. 

"It's all gone to shit! Time for plan B!" You yelled before growing wide-eyed when a shadow appeared over the hole they were under and slid to a stop as you held out your arms to stop your friends. "GET AWAY FROM THERE!!!" You screamed out in terror.

If you hadn't stopped your friends, you and them would've been crushed by Annie's foot that burst through from above and crushed Squad 3. A huge dust cloud and shockwave barreled towards you as you turned your friends around and tried to run, but the blast caught up and you were blown away. You all rolled on the ground for a few moments before stopping against some debris and the walls of the tunnel as you coughed and tried to clear the dust out of your face. After whipping away the dust around you with your arms, you and your friends were shocked when you saw Annie slowly raised her foot from the ground.

"She stomped right through the ground?!" Armin said in shock as Eren grew worried when he saw one of the foots' of Squad 3 sticking out from the rubble.

"We have to help them!" Eren tried to head towards his fallen allies.

"Eren! Get back!" Mikasa pulled him back as you backed your friends away while staring up at the silhouette of Annie through the hole.

"Give us a fucking break! At least let us out of this hole we're in for a fair fight!" You said in frustration as you went to the middle of the tunnel.

"The Female Titan's willing to let Eren die?" Mikasa said in shock of Annie's actions.

"She made a bet..." Armin spoke up as you turned towards him. "When she created that hole, she bet that Eren wouldn't die. It's crazy, but it also means she'll be tough to beat!" Armin said before taking off back towards the stairwell you came from as you all followed. "To take Eren, Annie's willing to assume any risk!" Armin said as you were growing tired and annoyed of this.

"Stop! Stop!" You yelled as everyone came to a stop and you were huffing for breath and put one arm against the wall. "We can't keep running back and forth like this...we've gotta...come up with something..." You said through breaths as they noticed blood pooling at your right shoulder.

"Y/N!" Mikasa rushed over as you fell back against the wall and slid down before sitting on the ground. "Your wound is reopening." She said while pulling your cloak off as you groaned in pain.

"Ngh! Forget about it! I'll be fine, just come up with something so we can get out of here." You said as Mikasa continued despite your words and opened your shirt revealing your bleeding wound. "Any plans, Armin?" You huffed in staggered breaths as Mikasa tore your shirt up and began dressing your wound.

"What should we do? Our exit is gone. Even if we use our 3D Maneuver Gear to make a quick exit, she'll be right there waiting for us. But if we..." Armin trailed off before Annie stomped through the street again from the direction she crushed Squad 3, but it was getting closer to you all.

"It's a good thing we're down here, since she can't see us to grab us...but I don't think we have the luxury of time here when she's stomping through the street like that, Armin." You said while leaning forward as Mikasa tied strips of shirt around your body as you were practically shirt less and adjust the straps of your Maneuver gear on your body.

"If we stay here, who knows when she'll crush us?" Armin said as he looked between the stairwell and the hole, trying to deduce which one would give better results of success.

"I'll do something! Like when I blocked that cannon shell...Come this way!" Eren said as Mikasa helped you get close to Eren and you three hugged close to him. "Let's go...Stay close!" Eren said as he slowly raised his hand to his mouth.

"Well, I hope you know what you're doing. Otherwise, I'll finally know what it's like to be roasted meat." You watched Eren raise his hand to his lips before he bit down and blood spewed onto your face. "...really? You couldn't do that without splattering me, Eren?" You were slightly irritated by what just happened.

You three braced for the transformation as Eren yelled in pain from biting his flesh apart, but all that came was just more groans and yells of agony from Eren as you opened one eye. Looking around to see that nothing happened, you three opened your eyes again in confusion of why nothing was happening to Eren.

"I'm not an expert on this stuff, but when you wound yourself, aren't you supposed to transform?" You asked as Eren looked at his hand in disbelief.

"Not again! No...!" Eren began to despair as he bit down once more on his hands and collapsed to his knees in pain. "Now, of all times...It hurts!" He yelled in pain as you three watched him try and try again.

"You can't transform without a specific goal, right? Picture it in your mind again...Clearly!" Armin tried giving advice to Eren.

"I am!" Eren yelled in frustration as he bit down and more blood seeped from his hands before he spat it back out in pain and huffed exhausted breaths as Mikasa knelt down next to him.

"Don't tell me...You still have qualms about fighting Annie." Mikasa asked as Eren had a nervous and unsure look on his face as he didn't respond.

"Eren?" Armin looked at his friend questioningly as Mikasa pressed further.

"After everything you've seen, do you still think it might be all a mistake that Annie is the Female Titan?" Mikasa asked as Eren remained silent with confused eyes. "What did you just see? She's the one who killed our fellow soldiers. How can you still think that?" Mikasa asked as Eren was even more nervous and confused.

"Shut up! I'm trying, aren't I?!" Eren yelled as he chomped down on his hand once more.

"Tsk! What the hell is wrong with you!?" You said while grabbing Eren by the collar of his cloak and yanking him to his feet as Mikasa stood beside you and him, keep her eyes on Eren.

"You do know, don't you? You know Annie is the Female Titan." Mikasa said as Eren had a despaired look in his eyes as you both glared at him. "Then we should fight her, shouldn't we? Or do you have certain feelings for her? Is that what's stopping you?" She said as Eren could feel the burning sensation you and Mikasa were giving him with your stares.

"I have a plan!" Armin said as this drew the attention of you three and you turned towards Armin. "Mikasa, Y/N and I will exit at the same time, using the original entrance and that opening. Annie will attack one of us. Use that opportunity to get out from the other exit!" Armin said while putting up his hood.

"She'll probably go after me. I'm one of her targets after all. Mikasa, I'll need your back up." You said as Mikasa picked up her cloak and threw it on. "Armin, head back to the stairwell entrance, Mikasa and I will take the hole up over there." You said as the three of you split off, leaving Eren in the middle.

"Wait! Then one of you will die!" Eren said in fear.

"If we stay here, we all die, anyway!" Armin countered Eren as Eren was left speechless. "Mikasa, Y/N, take your position!" Armin said as you all ran ahead.

"Right." You and Mikasa said in unison as Eren watched in disbelief.

"I'll take the front. Y/N, stay behind me." Mikasa said as you nodded and you all drew your blades and left Eren to sort himself out.

"Mikasa! Y/N! Armin!" Eren tried calling to you three, but you all continued ahead despite his pleas. "How? How can you fight her? HOW!?" His screams echoed through the tunnel as you stopped running and you and Mikasa turned back.

"Wake up to reality...!" You spoke up as this made Eren freeze up from the intensity and power coming from the tone you spoke in. "Nothing ever goes as planned in this world. The longer you live, the more you realize, that only pain, suffering and futility exist in this reality...Listen to us, Eren..." You said as Eren's eyes filled with despair as you and Mikasa turned back towards him. "We don't have a choice. Because the world is cruel." You and Mikasa spoke in unison as Eren was left speechless trying to contemplate just exactly what to do, while you continued ahead with the mission, pushing forward despite the obstacles in your way as in this moment there was nothing left in this world to stop you from letting your hatred run wild as there was only one goal in your mind, kill Annie Leonhart.