Because Of You

Chapter 14

Regardless of her distrust in Eren, Carmen took Levi's advise and restocked her energy. However, as always, she was up bright and early for her daily chess game with Eld. The two scouts sat opposite each other on the stairs, neither wanted to engage in Hange's conversation, which they could hear most of the night.

The assassin moved he pawn forwards two spaces to kick off the game, while Eld planned his next move. But it was painfully obvious that his main focus wasn't on their match.

"What do you think of all this shit?" Eld asked her. "I didn't become a scout just so I could babysit a titan."

"I don't like the fact that everyone is in constant danger when around him." Carmen answered. "That said, I feel as though he's in more danger than us."

"What do you mean?" The second in command wondered.

"Everyone in that court room wanted to dissect him, especially the military police. So, if I were a petty, corrupt government official, I would simply go behind the scouts' back and take Eren myself. I'm sure that's what they're planning at least, but who knows? Maybe they'll hire an assassin?" She theorised, relating a little too much, but not enough for Eld to actually be suspicious.

"I guess you're right on that front, it must be one of the reasons he can't leave our sides, just in case someone kidnaps him. Even if he is a brat, he's a mystery that everyone wants to solve." He agreed.

"Eventually, we'll get to the experimentation section of this deal, that's when we need to be on high alert. Because not only are we protecting ourselves and others, we have to protect Eren too. He's valuable."

Suddenly, Moblit burst through the doors, instantly noticing the two scouts playing chess. "I have a message for section commander Hange!" Moblit exclaimed. "Alert Levi that the test subjects have been killed." He ordered.

"Hange's in the main hall, with Eren." Carmen revealed and Moblit made a beeline to the direction.

"You tell Levi, I'll gather the others." Eld instructed, giving Carmen the task of talking to the man she despised most, again.

Once everyone was gathered, the group geared up and rode their horses to Hange's science site, seeing the steam rising in the distance. It confirmed that the titans had been killed, but that had to mean that the person who killed them were trained, likely a soldier with ODM gear. It also raised the question, why? Maybe it was just a petty soldier who hated titans, but how stupid did they have to be to kill titans that were helping humanity? Unless, they wanted humanity to fail, but that didn't seem right.

"Noooo! Sawney! Bean! How could this happen!? Someone tell me this isn't real!" Hange screamed in agony. "Nooooooo!" In a way, Carmen did feel slightly sympathetic, because even if the bond between them and the titans was strange, Hange cared about them.

"Those were valuable specimens, was this a soldiers work?" Gunther asked.

"Yeah, but they haven't pegged the one responsible yet." Eld concluded. "They were killed just before dawn apparently. By the time the guard got here, the bastard cleared out on ODM gear."

"Whoever it was must've had a lookout to warn them about the guards." Gunther suggested.

"Or they knew the schedule." Carmen muttered. Then, she felt someone staring at her, and she could hear heavy footsteps edging closer.

"What do you see here? Who do you think the real enemy is?" It was Erwin, that was the question Levi wanted her to avoid, from a safe distance, he too was listening intently for her answer.

Obviously, by this point, Carmen was fully aware of who the enemy was. It was someone in their ranks, purposely wanting humanity to fail, she didn't know why, maybe they were like Eren? But it was only a theory, one that she wasn't going to tell Erwin.

"You're too close, distance yourself from me." She didn't even look back to him, but the commander got the message and took a few steps back.

"You're answer?" He persisted.

"I don't care." She replied. "As long as my friends are safe, I couldn't give a shit about our enemy."

It was partially true, that's why Erwin believed it and moved on, but when Carmen made eye contact with Levi, she saw a slight nod of his head, discreetly, she nodded back. Their deal was over, she'd done what he'd asked, and in return, she could protect her squad.

"If you truly want your friends to be safe, then you'll tell me what you think." Erwin decided and turned back around. "The only way to ensure your friends have a long and healthy life, is if our enemies die, the sooner we find the truth, the quicker that will happen."

That wasn't part of the script, Levi looked concerned too, had Erwin found out? No, that wasn't possible, and Carmen was a good liar, so why didn't he just move on like he did with everyone else? The same questions were simultaneously running through Carmen's head, only had one more. Did he know about her? Was that why he persisted? Did her know her past?

"You're giving it a lot of thought. I suppose that must mean you've got a decent answer." The commander gathered and Carmen was sure to send a sharp look to Levi, he was almost a confused as her, but she managed to regain her composure and form a response.

"Someone lost their cool. Maybe they lost someone and wanted to get revenge. Obviously, they were too stupid to think of the consequences." Carmen lied, she didn't think that was true at all, but she'd heard Oruo say it, and she knew the full story.

"Hm." Erwin finally nodded his head, then walked away.