Erwin walked down the hall and stopped by one of the doors, whereupon he raised a hand and rapped a knuckle upon it.
Footsteps sounded from within, then the door opened to reveal Mikasa. He could see Eren as well, still bedridden. Mikasa looked up at him in surprise as he addressed her.
"Good evening."
Eren stirred at the sound of his voice. Mikasa stood frozen.
"Commander Erwin?"
He smiled. "Yes. We'd like a word with Eren."
"Alone." Levi added.
She blinked. Her hand loosened its grip on the door.
"Oh. Of course, sir." She stood back to let them in, departing without another word.
Erwin took up the chair she had occupied before. Levi leant back against the wall, arms folded. As soon as the door closed behind her, Erwin began.
"I trust you're feeling better?"
Eren nodded. "Well enough, sir."
"Good to hear." The boy hesitated under this light tone of conversation. Erwin leant forward, fingers interlocked in his lap. "I have something to ask of you."
"Sir?"
"I want you to lay low. Allow yourself to heal. And you will not, for any reason whatsoever, speak to anyone regarding the relationship between yourself and Annie Leonhardt."
Eren's reaction was predictable. He bolted upright, blurted:
"What? How do you—"
"We know many things, Jaeger." Levi said. "Believe me, watching you has often been one of the more exciting parts of my job."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Eren shot back.
Levi said nothing to this at first, but stared at him coolly. Then he sighed, inclined his head towards the door.
"Move along, Ackerman."
There came a great deal of scuffling from the other side of the wall. Levi looked back at Eren. "I assure you, the only thing that's keeping you alive is the fact that no sane man could possibly fathom the extent of your ignorance."
"And it would be beneficial to us all to keep it that way." Erwin added. "After everything you've done today, I assume you will understand why we've taken these precautions. You did us a great service."
"I don't—"
"Do yourself a favor and let him talk." said Levi curtly. Eren sat back, glared at him. Levi only raised an eyebrow.
"It'll make sense after a few weeks." Erwin stated. "For now, you will recuperate."
"What about Annie?"
The corner of Levi's mouth twitched despite himself. Erwin sat back.
"Your friends have not misled you. She is, as far as we can tell, still encased within that crystal. As for her motives, well...your guess is as good as mine. We haven't been able to get anything out of her."
"So what's going to happen to her now?"
Levi sighed exaggeratedly through his nose. Erwin merely smiled.
"You needn't worry about that, Eren. I can assure you, she's quite safe in our custody. Though I will admit your concern is not entirely without merit. You may recall your experience with the captain of the Military Police at your tribunal."
"The man who tried to have me shot?"
"Nile Dawk. Given his reaction to you, I'm sure you can imagine what his people might wish to do to someone as powerful as she, given the opportunity."
Eren said nothing. Erwin extended a hand.
"I'm glad we could come to an understanding."
The boy took it warily. Erwin shook it, released him, stood and left. Levi was close behind him.
He could sense the other man's unease. He entered one of the empty rooms.
"Are we really going to put our lives in the hands of a lovestruck child?" Levi asked, unable to conceal the incredulity in his tone. "With all due respect, sir, I don't think he should be trusted."
"Do you honestly believe that I would do this without some kind of backup?" Erwin sighed. "I ask that you have a little more faith in me, Levi."
"Alright. So who have you picked to be your abettor?"
"Armin."
"Arlert? Isn't he a bit close to him?"
"He understood my intentions. He has agreed to assisst me further."
"And how is he going to do that?"
"He'll watch Eren. Collaborate with Hange. We need to learn as much about his Titan abilities as we are able-"
The door burst open.
"Commander Erwin!" The two men turned. A third man stood there, winded and wrought with terror. "Wall Rose...Wall Rose has been breached!"
_____________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Another short one. I want to be careful, because we don't know much about Erwin yet.
Chapter Five is going to be interesting, though. Stay tuned!
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When the Hunter Met the Lionheart
FanfictionA boy and a girl met, fell in love, broke apart, and found love again at the very worst of times. The chaos that ensued in the wake of their newfound connection would change the world as they knew it. Alliances were forged and abandoned, battles wag...
