AN: Wow I imagine you guys hate me for making you wait so long. This chapter was about half finished before things got insane. March-May was basically a long sprint to the finish of my college career. The good news is I graduated. The bad news is that this chapter fought me tooth and nail because of it. So as usual, if you see anything that you're just like "wow this doesn't fit, please change it", let me know and I will. I am slowly getting back into writing after my three month or so forced break, so updates might be a little slow. Anyway, enough about that. Enjoy the update! The plot thickens.

The trip to Central Headquarters was uneventful. Eren didn't even try to bait Jean into having one of their infamous arguments. In fact, none of them talked at all. He knew that Armin was deep in thought, trying to come up with strategies for various scenarios in which things went wrong. Jean was probably planning ways to not get killed, the insufferable horseface that he was. Eren had no idea what Levi was thinking, however.

The Corporal hadn't done or said anything in particular to him after the second kiss. Eren was sure he would be punished for that one, but other than bark a few orders at them before they left, Levi hadn't said anything that would indicate he was angry. At this point, he just wanted to know what Levi was thinking.

"We're here," the subject of his thoughts spoke the first words Eren had heard in hours. He looked up. Sure enough, the building loomed over him. He shivered; if this was a trap like Levi and Hanji seemed to think it was, then he was walking into the very building he would never be able to escape from.

Two members of the Military Police came down to take their horses as they dismounted. "Eren Jäger?" The tall one with a bowl cut asked.

Eren looked at Levi, who shrugged. "That's me." Jean wasn't wearing the wig at this point anyway; there was no way they would buy that he was Eren.

The boy from the police shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "I was told that I'm supposed to take just you down to see An – down to see the prisoner."

They had expected this to happen. Just before they rode off, Levi had mentioned that they would try to separate him from everyone else. He had to go with them. One look at the nervous boy and the short girl who joined him moments later and Eren figured he could take them if anything got out of hand. He wasn't weak after all.

So he nodded and followed them.

"Oy, brat," Levi's voice called from behind him. "Don't take too long, alright? We're not getting paid so you can sit on your ass and talk to your old friends."

"Yes…sir." He muttered as the door closed behind him.

He followed his silent guards down the stairs that supposedly led to where Annie was waiting. They made him take off all his gear and leave it by the door, assuring him he would get it back later. He was suddenly glad that he'd taken the hand-to-hand combat training seriously.

His mind wandered as the route they took twisted and turned. He wondered what Annie could possibly have to say to him if she were really awake. He wondered how likely it was that she woke up. Armin could've calculated it; he was a genius. He should've asked when they were still riding.

"We're here." Eren's mind was jerked back to the present with the same words for the second time that day. It was Bowl Cut who spoke. He and the girl stood in front of a large door. "We're not allowed in," the boy continued, "so you'll have to continue on alone." He pulled open the door and held it for Eren to walk through.

The first thing Eren noticed about the room was that it was gigantic. The ceiling reached up almost as high as the one in the courtroom he'd been tried in, despite being underground. He looked around and saw testing equipment and pliers that were probably not being used for anything he wanted to know about, and then his eyes settled on the middle of the room. There, chained to a pole like he had been during his trial was a very frail, very awake Annie.

"Annie!" Eren yelled before sprinting towards her, forgetting everything Levi had told him. "Oh my god, Annie." He slid to his knees to see her at eye level. She looked terrible; her eyes were surrounded by dark circle, and her skin was paler than normal. "What did they do to you?"

"Eren…" She blinked at him. Her voice was gravelly. "They let you come…" She was practically whispering, and suddenly he didn't want to know what had happened to her in here.

He shifted his weight to get more comfortable. "Yeah, they told me I had to come, 'cause you wouldn't talk to anyone else. Listen…" He looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "Why'd you do what you did before? I mean kill people. Those were my friends, and you probably would've liked them too if you'd given them a chance." He turned his head back to look at her and found her eyes were averted. "Annie?"

"I did what I was ordered to do, nothing more."

"But why were you ord–"

"Eren." She turned and met his gaze. "Have you been blacking out?"

He blinked. "What?"

"In or out of titan form. Have you been blacking out?" Her eyes gave nothing away, instead staring blankly at him.

"Um…" He thought back to Hanji's experiment to make him talk and how he didn't remember anything after transforming and the time he'd lost consciousness and fallen off his horse before he'd kissed the corporal the first time. "Maybe?"

Her expression didn't change, so Eren continued. "I mean I've never been fully able to master the ability to control the titan, you know? How did you manage it?"

"You controlled it when you fought me." Her voice was still lifeless and gravelly. He wondered if it were because of whatever experiments they'd been doing on her in here.

"Sort of. That was a different circumstance. Usually it's more like falling asleep than anything else."

For the first time since he'd come down here, Annie's eyes sparked. "How do you turn?"

Eren knew she was speaking more now because they had a limited time together, but he could swear some emotion snuck into her voice at that. "I have to be stressed out and concentrated on what I want to do in my titan form, and then I bite my thumb or injure myself or something. Why? Don't you turn the same way?"

She shook her head but didn't elaborate. Before Eren could demand it from her, there was a knock on the door. "We don't have any time left," Annie remarked.

"What do you mean? You said you wanted me here for something, and you haven't told me anything!"

Annie glared. "Then let me tell you this: don't turn anymore. You'll lose yourself and become a titan for good."

He sat back. "What?" The door opened.

"You're losing yourself, Eren."

He glanced back and saw two new members of the Military Police walking towards him. He turned to Annie almost desperately. "What do you mean I'm losing myself? Why would you even tell me this?"

"Time's up." One of the men spoke. They were standing right behind him. When Eren didn't immediately stand up, one of them grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up. Eren resisted.

"Why would you tell me this?!" He repeated, starting to get angry. "Why would you call me down here to say something like that?!"

She stared back at him as he was finally pulled upright and the men started to drag him away. "Annie! Annie tell me what's going on!" He shouted back.

"Because I don't dislike you," she said finally just before he was forced out the door and it closed behind him.

He let himself be led back up the stairs, but didn't remain quiet for it. "What are you going to do to her?" No answer. "Are you gonna kill her and dissect her like you were planning to do with me?" Still nothing. "Hey listen to me! Hey!"

"Brat, calm down."

Eren stopped his thrashing and looked around. They were near the front entrance of the building, and Levi was standing there looking decidedly bored. He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and walked towards them. "I'll take him from here." He dismissed the two men, who disappeared with almost relieved expressions on their faces.

"Levi, I –"

"Shut up, brat. And it's corporal to you, remember?" The shorter man walked away without checking to see if Eren was following.

He padded along behind Levi. "Corporal, I –"

"Didn't I just tell you to shut up?" He didn't even look around. "We need to head back to headquarters. Your friends are waiting outside." He pushed open the door and the two of them walked out. They continued in silence down the steps. Just before they reached where Armin and Jean were sitting with the horses, talking, Eren hurried forward and grabbed Levi's hand.

"Levi, I need to tell you something."

He turned around and glared at Eren. "It can wait." He shook off Eren's hand. "Arlert, Kirschstein, I hope you have the horses ready for us to leave."

The brat had come up looking even more deranged than usual, yelling at everyone around him for no reason. Levi had good reason to make him wait to talk; it was pretty clear something had happened down there, but it didn't seem like a good idea to discuss whatever it was in front of the Military Police. Eren had managed to get in and out without anything happening, but Levi still wasn't letting his guard down. Kirschstein and Arlert grabbed the horses and Levi ignored the obvious looks Eren was giving him.

"Let's go." He mounted and took off, knowing the other three would follow. He didn't think they'd be able to get back to headquarters, but they needed to at least get further away from here. Just like on the way down, they rode out in silence. It wasn't long until dark, so as the sun started to set Levi stopped them at an inn a good ways away from the building they'd just left. He got them two rooms then set Kirschstein in charge of the horses and Arlert in charge of bringing their things to the rooms.

Eren followed him up to their room, as he expected, and barely wasted a second after Levi closed the door. "Levi, I really need to talk to you."

"Brat," the corporal said calmly, not even turning to look at him. "I've told you before to not call me by my name. Now do you have something to report or –"

"Annie was awake." Eren didn't even wait for Levi to finish before he interrupted. The corporal had half a mind to really chew him out this time, but what the brat had said distracted him.

"So it wasn't some scam used so they could intimidate you into leaving?" He turned around and sat on the bed he claimed as his own – Eren could sleep on the other one; he made sure to have two – and indicated that the boy continue.

Eren didn't sit. Instead, he paced as he talked. "She looked horrible, like they'd been doing experiments on her already. It makes me wonder how long she's been awake. She looks like she hadn't eaten anything for quite a while."

Levi frowned. There was still something not quite right about this whole situation. Hanji and he knew there wasn't much of a chance of this ending without sparking a conflict between the Military Police and the Scouting Legion, but knowing something I likely to happen and being able to stop it are two different things. He heard a soft knock and went to answer it himself, his eye on the blades he'd left by the door. It was Arlert. "Get some food from downstairs and make Kirschstein help you. We're eating up here." He closed the door again after issuing his orders.

"Was that Armin?"

"Brat, don't change the subject." He turned around. "You've been trying to get my attention since we left and now you have it. What did Leonhart say?"

Eren looked like he was going to argue for a moment, but then his face changed and he sat down on the bed Levi had vacated. "She told me not to change again."

"She was trying to kidnap you before she was captured herself. I hardly believe anything she says."

"She knew about the blackouts."

Levi's eyes widened, and he approached the other. "What?"

"I said she knew about the blackouts. She knows I've been losing myself. She said something about how if I keep turning I'll lose myself and won't be able to change back."

"And you believe her?"
"Why would she lie?"

Levi nodded. "Ok. So then what? After she dropped that bomb on you, what did she say?"

"Nothing." Eren flopped back onto the bed and put his feet on it, boots and all. Levi walked over and threw his feet off the bed, making a mental note to sleep in the other one. It didn't break the younger's concentration. "She didn't say anything after that. Time ran out, and I had to leave."

The corporal opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a knock on the door. He walked over and answered it, finding Arlert and Kirschstein bearing food on the other side. He beckoned for them to come in quickly and shut the door behind them. The blond walked over and handed Eren a plate, sitting next to him on the bed. Levi was definitely sleeping on the other one. Kirschstein handed him his own and the two of them sat at the small table to eat, but the corporal still had a few things to say first, even though the others had already begun to dig in.

"Kirschstein, you and Jäger will switch places starting tomorrow. You brought the wig as I asked, correct?" The other nodded. "Good. Now we'll keep the same sleeping arrangements, since I still need to protect you," he directed at Eren, "but until we are safely back in headquarters you need to keep your head low and your mouth shut."

"Bfft Reevy," Eren started to speak while eating before Levi shut him up.

"Don't speak with your mouth full and don't be an idiot. This is an order from your commanding officer and if you don't obey it, I'll see to it that you don't get out of that dungeon until the last titan has already been defeated." The brat looked like he was going to respond, but Arlert placed a hand on Eren's arm and it seemed he thought better of it. Levi ignored the pang in his stomach at the sight and chose instead to take a large bite of the potatoes in front of them. Damn inn potatoes never tasted quite as good as what the commanding officers in the Military Police no doubt got, but these were especially gross.

"Corporal, sir, I have a question." Kirschstein spoke as Levi took a bite of meat. He chewed and swallowed it slowly before responding.

"Ask it then, so I can eat." He poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher the room was supplied with and took a sip with it while he waited for the other to speak.

"I know that I've pretended to be Eren before, but that was when he was far away and no one could mistake us. If he's right there, no one's gonna fall for it. So how is Eren going to be disguised?"

Levi took another bite. "I managed to secure a blondish wig for him. I think that should be enough to fool people into thinking he's you."

There was a thud as Eren fell to the floor. Levi glared over at him. "Don't be dramatic, Jäger. You know this is the best plan we have."

"Sir I think –" Armin stood up and swayed before collapsing on the ground atop Eren.

The facts clicked into place too slow, and Levi didn't have time to warn Kirschstein before the other also crumbled onto the table. He stood up and made his way to Eren, but the room was already spinning. He hadn't detected anyone following them, but he was sure it was the Military Police behind it. All he knew was that he had to get Eren out of the room and onto a horse toward headquarters before he too could succumb to the drugs in their food.

But it was too late. The edges of his vision were already going black and his legs weren't under his control anymore. Levi stumbled one more step before the floor rose to meet him. The last thing he saw before everything went black was the back of Eren's head.