make it back to me (Levi Ackerman)

soixante quinze

Levi, Norie, Erwin, Hange and Pyxis stand around the table looking at the Titan serum Kenny had given the couple before he died as they waited for the Chief Commander.

"Are you okay?"

Norie looked up at Erwin as he says "Both of you?"

The couple looked at each other and they both whispered "yeah"

They heard the door open and Zachary  walked in and closed the door behind him, he walks up to them and says "sorry I'm late"

Norie hooks her arm with Levi's and places a hand on his upper arm and stood up straight, the Chief pulls up a chair and sits down, he places his elbows on the table and says "well?"

"Have we discovered what's in the container?"

"The thing is...with our technology, I'm afraid we can't dig in much deeper. Like we've heard from Eren and Historia, it seems to originate from some sort of human bodily fluid"Hange explained.

"However, it vaporizes when exposed to air, making analysis very difficult. Whoever made it must have had technology far superior to ours"

"If it was the Reiss family, I can't imagine how..."she finishes.

Norie looks at Zachary as Pyxis says "In that case, instead of tampering with it we should use it to achieve our current objective"

"But who do we entrust it to?"The chief said.

"Erwin, to you?"

"No..."he responded as he grabbed onto where his right arm should've been.

"I'm no more than a wounded solider, This box belongs with one of our elite soldiers who has the best odds of survival."

"Levi, Norie?"

The couple looked up at Erwin as he says "would you two keep it?"

"If it's an order, just say so"Levi says.

"You know we'll follow it either way without hesitation nor questions asked"Norie says.

"Why even ask that question?"Levi says after her.

Erwin looks at them and turns away saying "We can't predict in what situation we'll have to use this. We'll be relying on you to make a decision on the fly."

"Judging when and who to use it on will be for both of you to choose. Can we leave that to you?"

Levi and Norie looked at him as he says "If this dream of yours comes true, what will you do then?"

"Have you thought about it?"norie says softly as she caressed Levi's arm with her thumb.

Erwin froze and then says "I... don't know"

"I won't until it happens"

"I see... alright."Levi says.

"We'll do it"Norie says

"By the way, I'd like to unveil that work of mine soon. Have you given it thought?"the chief spoke up.

"You still haven't given up on that? If the public saw that repulsive display, trust in the military would hit rock bottom."Pyxis says.

"You don't know art when you see it"

Norie looks at Levi who only stared at the table, she sighs and runs her knuckles softly over his cheekbone making him close his eyes and lean slightly into her touch.

---------------------------------

"In other words, Eren's father, Grisha Yeager...is likely a human who came from outside the walls." Erwin says placing papers on the table.

"Yes, Just like Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt, he possessed the Power of the Titans. But different from those three, he was supportive of humanity within the walls."Hange explained.

Norie looked out the window looking at the sky and feeling relaxed at the warm feeling of the sun, she closed her eyes and thought about how she wanted to feel like this forever.

"If he was so interested to know about the Scouts and such, we could've used more of that support of his."

"I wonder, from the moment he entered the walls, he was searching for the royal family all alone. I'm sure, and thats not something you do without incredible resolve"

"The same father wanted to show his 10 year old son, eager to join the scouts, the basement of their house"Hange says

"On deaths door, he said the truth of it all was in the basement. What in the world do you think is down there?"

Norie waited for a response as everything was quiet, she turned her head as soon Erwin spoke up.

"Things Grisha Yeager couldn't say, even if he wanted to. That which the First Reiss King wiped from our memories of our world"he says.

"Is what I hope but...pondering about it here won't accomplish much."

Erwin looked up and says "the preparation finished today, the operation to retake Wall Maria starts in two days. Want to know what's in the basement?"

"Let's go see for ourselves, isn't that what scouts do?"

Norie smiled softly and turned back to the window as Erwin says "let all your squads know"

"Right, keeping it a secret of course, right?"

"On a day like this we deserve some meat yeah?"

"You're right. Gotta show these kids us adults can be counted on."

"What about commander Sadies keeping secrets from us?"

"Forget about him, we don't have time to deal with"

Everyone began to walk out of the room, norie heard and was about to turn around but felt someone grab her arm softly and whispered "stay"

Norie turns and sees Levi, she looks into his eyes and nods.

She walks over to Erwin and stands next to him as Levi shut the door, Erwin looked between then asks "what's wrong?"

"It's a bit hasty, but...what will you do after retaking Wall Maria?"Levi asks.

"I'd guess a defense plan comes first, but-after that"

Erwin looks at him and then at Norie who only looked at him.

"Eliminating the threats..."he responded.

"Outside the walls, there seems to be someone hoping Titans will eat us all. Of course the answer to who is in that basement, I imagine"

"It's as I said earlier, we'll plan that after the basement"

Levi stared at he looked at Norie who only looked at him with a questionable look.

"I'm only asking you this because you might not live that long"Levi says.

Norie and Erwin froze as Levi continues.

"And...Norie could be in trouble"