It took a while for the other scouts to get back to the base, but upon their arrival, Carmen never expected to hear the first words that left their mouths.
"Wall Rose has been breached! We need to evacuate immediately!"
Quickly, Carmen raced back to her room, dodging the soldiers who were also following her instinct. When she got to her destination, she quickly went to her bedside draw, removing the books that were laid on top of all her weapons. In her drawer, she had a small pistol, and a few knives. Once she'd pocketed them, she lifted her mattress and took the remaining weapons. But other than her blades and gun, she had nothing else of importance.
When she'd packed her bag, she quickly mounted her horse and rode to Stohess. She didn't need orders, after all, no one left behind was of a higher rank and her squad leader wasn't exactly around. However she did have one duty, to protect Eren, regardless of what her letter may have said.
"Where are you going?"
"Doesn't matter." Carmen replied, suddenly riding away on Bowie to escape the panicked scouts.
In all fairness, she was taken aback too, it had taken 5 years since Shiganshina, so why were the attacks becoming more frequent? "Could their mission have been a success? Did they capture the girl?" She thought aloud, continuing to ride towards Stohess. "Maybe it's an act of retaliation, either that, or it's a coincidence."
Theories ran wild for hours before she arrived at another scouting base in Stohess, the only indication she was supposed to be there was her scouting legion jacket. Unfortunately, there was no time for her to put her uniform back on, so she wore a grey button up shirt, that went to just below her hips and was secured by her belt. Below that, she wore dark trousers.
Finally, she saw the embers of fire and the titan shifter sat next to Mikasa and Armin in a wagon. Ignoring their conversation, she interrupted them. "Where's Captain Levi?" She asked the three.
"Carmen? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be healing at the base." Eren gasped, noticing how the woman didn't seem in pain at all.
"Our base is close to wall Sina, but it's still in Wall Rose. We've had to abandon it for now, everyone else went to another base, but I decided to come here." She informed.
"Did you see the titans?" Armin wondered, neglecting the question she'd ask3d first.
"It's not the colossal if that's what you're wondering, but as far as I'm concerned, they haven't made it that far into Rose, yet." She answered him. "Now tell me where Levi is."
"He's with Section Commander Hange, they should be here soon." Mikasa replied. "Will you be joining us?"
There'd been a shift in the way Mikasa spoke to Carmen, she could sense it in her tone, her words were less harsh and spiteful. Clearly, she was thankful for Carmen's efforts when saving Eren, little did she know that it was never one of Carmen's intentions. All that clouded her mind was vengeance.
"I'll leave my horse here and get back to you on that." Carmen agreed, swiftly tying Bowie in the stables with the food and water he needed after their journey. She was just about done when she suddenly felt eyes on her. Stopping her movements, she turned to face the culprit, coming face to face with the man she'd been looking for. "Oh, it's just you." She sighed.
"The hell are you doing here? I gave you orders not to come to Stohess, there's better be a legitimate reason for this." He scolded her, not sparing her a moment to explain.
"Titans invaded, I'm here to protect Eren." She answered, slightly confused what Levi's issue was.
"You're in no condition to protect Eren."
"I should be the one to decide that." She defended. "Besides, I'm in better shape than you."
"Tch." He scoffed, looking at her torso which wasn't bleeding like it had a few times in the past week. She was healing well, considering she was content on dying a few days ago. "Come on." He shoved her, forcing her to follow him. "Erwin." He alerted the blonde man.
"Captain Levi, what seems to be the problem?" He wondered, seeing him glaring at the assassin beside him.
"A stowaway." Levi pushed her forwards again.
"This is quiet the inconvenience." Erwin stated, then appeared to go deep into his thoughts, as if contemplating his next move. Carmen knew exactly why, he was close to Levi, and Levi knew her secrets. So obviously, there'd be a mutual suspicion, if not awareness of her situation. "Let her travel in your wagon, she might have a useful insight, I'd also prefer it if you informed her of of the capture mission. As one of my strongest soldiers, she has the right to know."
Was he trying to flatter her? Why was he giving the enemy information? Carmen didn't know how Erwin's mind worked, but Levi trusted him, so regardless of his disagreements, he allowed Carmen to travel with them in the wagon.
"Don't think you're all high and mighty now that Erwin trusts you, I'm sure both of us would've preferred if you stayed at her post." The captain said, but Carmen didn't agree with what he was saying at all.
"What gave you the impression that he trusts me?" She asked him.
"He's not exactly telling everyone about the mission, or what you'll probably hear inside the wagon. You should be grateful."
"It's forced, he wants me to lower my guard, and you're playing along too, aren't you?" Carmen hypothesised.
"Why would you even need your guard up? It's not as though you've got anything to hide."
"I don't, that's why it's concerning." She lied again.
"I'll pretend I believe that." The captain said before getting back to what Erwin had ordered him to do. "The mission was a failure."
"What?" Carmen questioned, there was no way that was possible, if the mission was botched then Eren wouldn't be with them, and a female titan would still be rampaging.
"We caught her, but she's hardened a crystal around her own body. We can't break it, and believe me, I don't think she can either. Checkmate." He revealed, not giving her a moment to take the information in.
"So you're telling me, after all that, she's safe and sound, while we're out here fighting, again?"
"Exactly, I'm aware it's not ideal, but at least she didn't escape." Levi looked at her face, expecting her stoic motionless expression to falter, but it didn't. Her face was like ice, frozen with nothingness. "On top of that, we've recently discovered that the walls are made of hardened colossal titans."
Now, her expression changed. It was. Minimal, but he could clearly see her eyes widen at what she'd just heard. "Excuse me?" She asked him to repeat his statement, not believing she caught that right.
"You heard me, the walls are made out of titans. It's ironic really."
"That must be why the colossal titan only kicked down the gates, the walls are practically impossible to destroy." She suggested, to which Levi nodded. "Who else knows?"
"Only a select few, and apparently, the church."
"If the order of the walls know about it, then the government do too. They're all corrupt and will do anything to protect their secrets. No doubt that's why no one's mentioned this sooner. Either that, or they actually believe in that bullshit." She explained, realising she was going into too much detail, but it didn't matter, because she was sure Levi already knew.
"I wouldn't know, he's been keeping awfully quiet."
"Obviously, they'd slit his throat."
Levi wanted to say something, or at least tell her to stop talking as though she were secretly threatening the scouts and the pastor. But something told him to listen, considering it was odd for her to open up about events that could expose her, she was usually so careful. Something had clearly changed, and it wasn't just the squads absence. It was far more recent.
"So, the mission failed, titans breached Wall Rose, our intel refuses to speak, and we have to aid the secrecy of the government. I'm gone for half a day and everything turns into a shit show. Good job." She sarcastically congratulated.
"Don't give yourself too much credit."
"Sorry to keep you waiting everyone!" Hange waved as the two sat in the wagon. "Oh Carmen, when did you get here?"
"A few minutes ago."
It was minimal, but since Carmen was paying more attention to everyone's reactions, she noticed Hange's gaze avert to Levi before wearing their usual smile. "Well, all abord the science express, right Nick?" They invited a man to sit with them.
But something was odd about him, not just that he was a pastor for the order of the walls, but also his appearance. Carmen never forgot a face, and for some reason, she felt as though she'd seen Nick before. Clearly he wasn't one if her targets, but maybe she'd seen him when she was undercover. She couldn't put her finger on it.
"He's a priest from the order of the walls." Armin stated.
"I know, old Nick and me are thick as thieves." Hange laughed, wrapping her arm around the man. "It's fine, makes about as much sense for him to be here as the rest of us. Don't ya think! We're... random."
"No, on the contrary, Erwin's thrown us together for a reason." Levi explained.
Suddenly, their wagon began to move, as well as the others in the formation. However, regardless of the external distractions, Carmens eyes never left Nick. She was sure he didn't know her specifically, but he had to have known about her, as an assassin. All of them knew about a doll-like beauty who could kill with her bare hands. And everyone feared her.