Bratty thief stole my heart

Chapter 30: Trial trouble

Levi's Pov:

I stared at the empty corridor in front of me, my hand still streched out to reach for Eren, to take him back from Dock to where he belonged. To me.

But he was long gone, forcefully dragged to the basement cells for a crime he was wrongly accused of. I didn't know how long I stood there with my arm still raised, my eyes fixed on the corner where Eren had disappeared, unable to tear my gaze away.

I finally managed to snap back to reality, my arm fell feebly at my side and I slumped against the doorframe. Sinking to the floor I put my head in my hands, my fingers gripping the still damp strands as my brain started to go crazy with worry and fear for Eren. My breaths came fast and uneven, but I couldn't calm myself, after having stayed levelheaded the whole time everything now came crashing down onto me. My mind was flooded with horrible thoughts, pictures, memories of a beaten, bloody Eren lying on cold stone, the evil thriumphant laugh of Nile Dock ringing in my head. The worst part was that this were not just stupid thoughts my paicking brain was making up, I knew that this was very likely to happen. Without my shielding presence Eren was at Nile's mercy and the commander would for sure take advantage of it. The whole situation was really on his behalf, something valuable was stolen while everyone was distracted and Eren was the perfect suspect because nobody could prove his innocence. Well, I actually could, but this was not the right time to explain to the council why Eren couldn't be the thief.

The situation was pretty strange anyway if you took a closer look at it. The entire thing with the stolen documents was just too familiar and even if I hadn't been with Eren the whole time there would've been no reason for him to commit such a reckless crime when everyone would immediatly suspect him because he had no alibi. This all looked so made up, at least from my point of view. To the council it probably seemed reasonable to arrest Eren, the question was just, who was really behind the theft of the documents?

Okay, it was pretty damn obvious, only one person was gaining something from Eren's apprehension, now I needed to prove that the boy was innocent and that it was Nile who had taken the papers, trying to scheme against my lover.  

I lifted my head and pushed myself up from the floor, I couldn't allow myself to break down and lose my head now, I had find a way to help Eren. I knew he was far from weak and could withstand a lot, but that didn't mean I would not try anything possible to get him out of the damn basement and back at my side.

But I needed help. There were only very few people I trusted in this matter and besides they were the only ones who knew about my special connection with the young thief. So I strode out of the room, falling into a sprint as I headed down the corridor. I turned around the corner when I was suddenly thrown backwards, falling to the floor. I groaned, my back hurt from the impact, apparently I had run into something.

"Ow ow ow, can't you fucking watch where you..oh Levi!", the something cursed, looking at me through her glasses.

"Hanji! What the hell are you doing here?", I asked, standing up while she did the same, holding her head. She looked troubled and not just because of our collision.

"I just overheard some servants talking about Eren having got arrested, so I instantly came here to see if it's true. I could hardly believe it, I told myself you would never allow such a thing to happen, but when I see you like this... looks like it's true."

Hanji was staring at with worrying, but also expectant eyes, waiting for me to explain what on earth had the power to take Eren away from me.

"This is all Nile's doing, some documents of the council were stolen and he's blaming it on Eren and because it's just so convenient to have such a perfect suspect these noble idiots have ordered Dock to lock Eren up. What he has done with delight", I sighed, rubbing my temples.