OHMYGOSH GUYS. I'm sorry for the cliffhangers! Wow your guys' responses to the last chapter were crazy! But I loved them I promise. You guys made me laugh. I know I've been a turd with the cliffhangers lately, so here! Enjoy a chapter that doesn't leave you hanging! :3
Chapter 14: Truths Revealed
Levi
I'm pushing passed Mikasa and sprinting down the hallway before she even finishes speaking. My hand grabs at my shoulder as I wince at the pain of it being jostled. But right now I don't give two shits about the pain in my shoulder. Why the fuck is the Military Police arresting Eren? He hasn't done anything wrong. And why the hell are they arresting him without notifying me first? It completely goes against protocol. Is it because he's a ward of the state? Because he's here in lieu of a prison sentence? That shouldn't matter. He was signed over to Erwin by the courts, so they at least needed to notify him, and he would've in turn notified me. Wouldn't he? Is that why he hasn't called me? Is it because he knew this was going to happen and he didn't want me to know? Why the fuck not? Is he afraid I'll try to stop them? He better believe I'm going to try and fucking stop them.
I race up the stairs and throw the doors open. The courtyard is a bustle of activity despite the fact that most of our population is deployed. There are three Jeeps sitting at odd angles on the other side of the courtyard near the dirt road. A handful of privates on base patrol are milling around, watching as the six men in dark fatigues drag Eren towards one of the Jeeps. I can see, plain as day, the green unicorn head emblem of the Military Police emblazoned on their shoulders and back. Eren is glaring at them, snapping snide and inappropriate remarks, but he doesn't struggle. Perhaps it's because the bastards have him handcuffed and are dragging him by his arms, held at an awkward angle above his back.
"Oi!" I shout at them, running towards the men dragging Eren away. "What the fuck is going on here?"
One of the MPs, a man with a sloppy undercut and pathetic scruff on his chin and upper lip, turns to face me as I run up to them. He looks down his nose at me, eyeing me as if I were some scrappy kid not worth two seconds of his precious time. Something about this man's face is familiar, but I'm too fucking pissed to concentrate on placing it.
"You are Captain Levi Ackerman."
"Damn right I am, and that's my soldier you're arresting," I snap at him, getting right in his face despite the fact he's half a foot taller than I am. I'm good at intimidating people despite my stature, and it obviously works on this fuckface too, considering he takes a step back from me. "Care to explain why I wasn't notified before you showed up here and started dragging my man away?"
"The proper people were notified. He's a ward of the state, assigned to Commander Erwin Smith. Smith received his notification shortly before we arrived here," he tells me.
I glare at him. Unfortunately the asshat is right. The only person he needed to notify is Erwin, and if he just notified Erwin minutes ago, Erwin wouldn't have had time to call me and warn me. Damn this asshole. It comes to me then, this man's name, and with the realization comes a small hint of fear, but mostly white hot anger.
"You're Nile Dok, commander of the MPs," I say, trying to keep the surprise and fury out of my voice. This man and I have a shaky history. "What the hell is he charged with that would have you out here personally to arrest him?"
"He is being arrested on charges of treason, conspiring to defraud the United States of America, and insubordination against the United States Marine Corps," he says as if he were reading off his shopping list.
My utter shock breaks my pissed off glare. He can't be serious.
"What?!" Eren gasps, beginning to pull harder against the men holding him.
"What fucking evidence do you have that lead you to believe Eren is guilty of any of that?" I demand of Nile. I'm having a hard time reining in my shock and anger.
"I don't need to explain my reasons to you," he snorts. "I've informed your commander, so if he wishes to fight the charges, he will. Until then, we're shipping Mr. Jaeger off to Quantico to await trial."
"Quantico?!" Eren shouts, struggling in earnest now. "You can't send me there! I didn't do any of that! I swear! I'm not a traitor! Levi, tell them!"
"I will tack on resisting arrest to your charges if you keep that up, Jaeger," Nile snaps at Eren.
"Damn it Eren, don't make this worse on yourself. Erwin will fight for you. I'll make fucking sure he does," I promise, turning my glare on Nile. "I'm coming with you."
"You can't come with-"
"I dare you to stop me," I cut him off, trying to make my tone and my eyes as dangerous as I feel right now.
Nile stares at me for a long moment, then nods, gesturing for his MPs to put Eren in the Jeep. They toss him roughly into the back. I fist my hand at my side, fighting the urge to kick all of their asses. I could do it too, even with my right arm strapped to my chest. I climb into the back of the Jeep with Eren as he struggles to right himself. I sit down beside him as the Jeep turns to take off up the dirt road back to the landing strip.
Eren is terrified, but he's trying to hide it beneath an angry, rebellious facade. His green eyes are wide and he's breathing hard. His whole body is shaking. I drape my arm over his shoulders and pull him into my side, not caring what this may or may not look like to the MPs. He stares down at his lap, not looking up at anyone.
"Eren," I murmur, not wanting to be overheard by the MPs in the front seat. "It'll be okay. You did nothing wrong. Erwin and I will fight for you."
He nods, still not looking up at me. I press a finger under his chin, lifting his frightened gaze to meet mine. I don't know what else to say to him. I've never been one for words, and none come to me now. I know that there's nothing I can say to change the situation he's in, but it'd be nice if I could at least come up with something to comfort him. Nothing comes to mind though. At least, nothing I'm willing to say around all of these people. I'm not willing to get him in further trouble by revealing the extent of our relationship.
"Trust me," is all I can think to tell him.
Again, he nods, then looks down at the key dangling against his chest. "Can you hold onto this for me?" he questions, his voice quiet. "I don't want these dickwads to take it."
I nod, reaching up to slip the cord from around his neck. I put it around my own neck, tucking it underneath the collar of Eren's shirt that I'm still wearing. The cold steel chills against my chest. We ride in silence all the way up to the landing strip. I'm trying desperately to figure out how to get Eren out of this mess, and also how he ended up in this mess to begin with. What evidence could the MPs possibly have against Eren? And for charges of fucking treason no less. That is no small charge. It's a capital offense. I've been worrying these last few months that any slip up will land Eren in a federal prison, but now he's facing lethal injection. But there is no way Eren will be convicted. He can't be. He hasn't committed treason. I don't know what evidence the MPs think they have, but it's bogus. He hasn't left my side for more than a few hours since the operation I left him behind for. And that was nearly five months ago.
Eren looks like he's trying not to think of anything at all. He stares at his lap and takes deep breathes. His hands fidget in their handcuffs behind his back. He looks so fucking miserable. I want nothing more than to pull him against me, kiss those sweet lips, and promise him that everything will be okay.
We reach the landing strip to see a small white jet waiting. I climb out of the Jeep when it pulls to a stop and brush off a MP that reaches for Eren's elbow. I help Eren out of the Jeep and glare daggers at the two MPs that push me aside to take either of Eren's arms. I follow quickly behind them up the stairs into the small cabin. The shove Eren down into the first pair of seats and I take the seat next to him. I dare to reach up and squeeze Eren's shoulder, trying to reassure him that everything will be fine.
"I don't remember you being a sentimental man, Levi," Nile says, taking a seat across the aisle from us. "Are you this cozy with all your squad members?"
I grit my teeth and try to reign in my reaction to his words. My heart is pounding in my ears though. I need to be more careful around Eren. Fraternization charges may not be as bad as treason charges, but it could still get him discharged and land him in prison, even if none of the other charges stick.
"Only with my men that you try to have wrongly executed," I snap at him. "It's been a long time since we've last talked, Nile. A lot has changed since then."
"Yes, it has been a long time. Eight... almost nine years, right? We were in a very similar position then, too."
I frown at the memories that come back to me. The last time I had a run in with this man, he was arresting me for conspiring in the death of Carla Jaeger. He thought I was a double agent working with the terrorist group that killed her, and that I had done it. The trial was a joke. I didn't kill her, and they had absolutely no evidence. I glance over at Eren. I have a bad feeling that he's about to find out more than I am ready for him to know. It has to come out eventually, I'm just afraid that he has enough stress to deal with as it is without learning that his mother was involved with my squad and that's what got her killed, and that I was tried for her murder.
"Yes, we were, and as I recall you were trying to pin a crime on someone innocent then as well," I retort.
"Just because the jury found you innocent does not mean you are innocent," he replies. He's fucking with me, I can see it, and it's working. "I still think you killed that woman. And if it were up to me, you would've at least been stripped of your rank a long time ago."
I slam my fist down into the armrest. "I didn't kill her," I nearly shout at him. "And you had absolutely no evidence that I did. It's why I was acquitted. And with the courts sincerest apologizes for your utter and complete fuck up."
"What is he talking about?" Eren questions. For once since the MPs showed up, he doesn't look scared or angry. He just looks confused, his eyes moving between Nile and I.
"No one told you, kid?" Nile questions. Shit. Here it comes. Eren is about to find out everything. "Your precious captain conspired with a terrorist group and killed a woman working with his own squad when she got close to discovering his secret."
"Don't listen to that shithead, Eren. It's all lies."
"Captain Levi would never do that," Eren frowns, looking at Nile as he says it. His brow is furrowed in confusion, as if he's wondering why Nile would even say something like that in the first place.
"What was her name again? It was some foreign name..." Nile muses out loud, stroking at that pathetic excuse for a beard. His eyes fall to Eren and widen slightly, as if he's just now putting the pieces together. His eyes glow with amusement, like it's the funniest coincidence in the world when he says, "Jaeger. Her name was Jaeger. Carla Jaeger."
Eren
What... what did he just say? Carla? Mom? What is this man trying to say? He thinks Levi killed my mom? Why would he think that? That's impossible. Mom was mugged coming home from work one day. There's no way Levi could've killed my mom. Right?
My horror must be clear on my face because Levi's hard glare falls on me. "Do you seriously think I killed your mother, Jaeger?" he snaps at me. "I didn't do it. You should know firsthand that this fucker loves to accuse people of crimes they didn't commit."
What he's saying makes sense. I nod, knowing him to be telling the truth. I don't think I ever doubted it. It's just hearing them talk about my mother's death is confusing me. Did they know her? How did Levi become the prime suspect in her murder? How were they connected? I wasn't even aware there had been a trial. Why did no one ever tell me? I'm her son. If they had had a suspect and had gone to court, shouldn't I have been told? And what about dad? He ran away after she died. If he had known there would be a trail, would he have come home?
"Why was I never told that my mom had a trial?" I find myself asking the very questions that are swarming around in my head. I'm staring at Nile as I ask this. He seems to be the one that was in charge of investigating her murder, considering he was the one that arrested Levi for it.
"It was need to know information, kid," he replies with a nonchalant shrug, as if I had asked him what the answer was to a math problem.
"Need to know?" I retort, moving to stand, but Levi's hand on my arm keeps me seated. "She was my mother! Why wasn't I on that 'need to know' list?"
"Her death is linked to an infamous terrorist group that we have exactly this much information on." He makes a '0' with his hand. "We needed to keep the investigation and trial under the radar. We suspect Levi as being their inside man infiltrating our military. We had to keep his trial secret or risk him getting word to the group. Or, risk having someone from his group come execute him before he could spill the beans."
"You talk as if you still think I'm an insurgent," Levi growls. "Have I not done enough for this country to prove that I'm not a terrorist?"
"How are you connected to my mom's death?" I ask Levi, completely tuning Nile out. I don't want to talk to him right now. He's pissing me off. "Why were you even a suspect to begin with? The cops told me and my dad that it was a mugging gone bad."
"Do you know what your mom did for a living?" Levi asks me, turning his body so his back is to Nile. He's tuning him out too, making the conversation seem a little more private.
"Not really. Neither of my parents talked much about what they did. I just know my dad was a doctor and my mom... she did something with communications I think? Like a call center or something? I don't really know. I was young when she died."
"Both of your parents were under the employment of the Marine Corps," he tells me. "You mother was an intelligence analyst and your father was a military doctor. Both were the best at what they did. So when Erwin formed my squad, he recruited your father as my squad's permanent doctor, like Hanji is now, and your mother as my intelligence analyst, similar to what Arlert does for us now. It was actually your mother's idea to form my squad. My first year I ran solo, so I relied very heavily on your mother and the information she was able to gather. After the first year is when I got a full squad, and your mother's involvement lessened. But when my squad was assigned to gather intelligence on a particularly secretive and brutal terrorist group, she volunteered her help, and she got more involved than she should've. We think she was killed by someone from this terrorist group."
I don't know what to think. It's all so much to take in, and I feel like I'm going to explode. I had been devastated when my mom died, and I was so mad when it seemed like the police weren't doing anything to catch her killer. It's starting to make sense now though. If these weird unicorn guys had taken over her case and kept it secret, that would explain why it seemed like everything was getting swept up under the rug. I try not to think too much about it though. I can't think about it right now. There is too much happening.
"And this dweeb thought you killed my mom?" I ask. "Why?"
"That's a good fucking question," he replies, turning a glare on Nile before focusing back on me. "I was working closely with your mother. I guess he thought it was someone close to her that killed her."
I nod. I don't know what else to say. Today has been one hell of a day. I'm being arrested for crimes I didn't commit, I'm being shipped off to Quantico, I'm learning all these things about my mom's death when I thought I'd never know anything, and I'm learning that the man I'm in love with was the prime suspect in her murder.
I look down at my lap, trying to get comfortable with my hands handcuffed behind my back. I want nothing more than to be in Levi's arms right now, but I know that he can't touch me the way I want him to. Not with the unicorn squad watching.
"What are you guys anyway? I've never seen your unicorn symbol before," I ask, leaning forward to look around Levi at the scruffy man. I don't know why I asked. I really don't care. But I'm too nervous to sit in silence right now. I want to think about things other than my mother and the situation I'm in.
"We are the Military Police," he replies, crossing his arms over his chest. "We investigate crimes within the military."
"You mean you frame people within the military," I retort.
Levi's hand squeezes mine. "Eren," he warns, his voice low.
I huff and lean back in my seat. Levi's hand lingers on mine for a moment longer, then slips away. I feel cold once that hand leaves mine. I'm craving his touch, his comfort. I want to kiss him, I want to feel his arms around me, his breath in my ear as he whispers sweet nothings, I want to run my fingers through his silky black hair. I just want to be with him.
"Commander," someone says, walking up the aisle of the plane. "We just got a call from headquarters. We're to take Jaeger straight to D.C. His court date has been moved up to three days from today, and he's to be held in small, secluded prison near the courthouse. Zackly wants everything about this case to be kept under the radar."
Nile looks upset. So I guess this is a good thing for me. It means I don't have to go to Quantico.
"I already cleared our plans with Zackly before we arrested the kid," Nile argues. "Who the hell changed his mind?"
"A Commander Erwin Smith, sir."
...
I've never been to Quantico, so I can't know if this dungeon-like prison is any better, but it sure as hell doesn't feel better. It sucks, actually. I'm the only prisoner down here, and it's dark and dank and I feel like some monster that they chained underground so I don't wreck havoc on civilization. They separated me from Levi the second we landed, dragging me down here into this dungeon immediately. I've been down here for what feels like forever. All I have is a bed, and I'm sprawled across it now, my face buried in the scratchy pillow. I'm still trying to figure out how I ended up here. Just this morning, I was sitting in the medical bay at the base, watching Hanji clean Levi's wound, and now I'm sitting in a cold prison cell somewhere under Washington D.C. awaiting a trial for a capital offense. I groan loudly into the pillows.
I hear footsteps and quiet voices coming down the hall. I sit up quickly, watching the hallway on the other side of the metal bars. The hallway is bathed in a flickering light cast by a torch against the wall. What the hell is this place anyway? It's like something out of medieval times.
The quiet voices get closer, muffled by the echoes of their footsteps. It almost sounds like...
"How are you doing in there, brat?" Levi asks as he and Erwin step into view. His tone is nonchalant, teasing almost, but I can sense the worry he's trying to hide.
I jump off the bed and hurry to the bars. "Captain! Commander... What are you doing here?"
Levi leans back against the far wall, Erwin taking a seat in the chair a guard usually occupies. I hadn't even noticed that the guard had left. Levi pulls his fatigues jacket further over his strapped arm. It is pretty cold down here. I wish I could wrap him in my arms and keep him warm. I wish we weren't separated by these cold metal bars.
I exhale sharply and sit back down on the edge of the bed.
"What's going to happen now?" I ask them.
"Your trial will be held in three days," Erwin tells me. "I've asked a good friend of mine to represent you. He's a great lawyer. He'll be here tomorrow to talk with you. I'm doing all I can to figure out what evidence they have against you, and my friend will be able to help with that. That's all I can tell you for now, I'm afraid."
"We'll get you out of here, brat," Levi says. "There is no way these charges will stick. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Then why am I here?" I demand. "I wouldn't be here if they had nothing on me. They obviously have something or I'd be at home in your-"
I cut myself off in horror. I did not just say that. And it was almost a hell of a lot worse. I scramble to figure out how to cover up my near mistake.
"I mean at the base with my friends... and Captain, training. It's practically home to me now," I quickly say.
Levi's jaw is clenched, and he glances down at Erwin. Erwin raises an eyebrow at me, but doesn't comment. Either he didn't notice my half-assed attempt to cover something up, or he doesn't care.
"Yes, they obviously think they have something against you, and we're going to try our hardest to disprove them," Erwin promises me.
"His friend is the same lawyer that got me acquitted in your mother's murder trial. He'll be able to help you too," Levi tells me.
"You told him about his mother?" Erwin asks Levi.
"Not by choice. That asshole Nile brought it up, so I had to explain it to him," Levi explains.
"How long were you going to keep it from me?" I question them in shock. "It's my mom. She was killed by some radical terrorist group and you guys were hiding it from me!"
It hadn't bothered me at first, on the plane, because I had a lot of other things on my mind. It's not that I still don't have a lot going on, but now, with them sitting in front of me talking about my mom, it feels like they've been plotting against me. They both knew about my mom's death, and neither of them told me. And by the sound of it, they hadn't planned on telling me either.
"Eren, we were going to tell you, but-" Levi starts to explain, but I cut him off.
"Don't give me that bullshit. You knew from day one who I was. You had to. That's why you picked my sorry ass up off the streets, isn't it?" It's all making sense now, as I take out all of my stress and anger and anxiety out on the two people that are trying to help me. But right now I don't care about that. The anger continues to flow out of me. "My mom was brutally murdered, and you two didn't feel like I should know who killed her? How she died? That you two let her die?"
Levi is suddenly right in front of me, his one free hand gripping one of the bars, his knuckles white. His eyes are furious, his lips pressed into a thin line. I know that was a low blow, but I can't seem to care right now. I'm too angry.
"You mother wasn't the only one that was killed while we investigated that group," he snaps at me, his voice hard and cold. It actually scares me. I don't like that tone, especially when it's directed at me. It does a lot to get rid of my anger. "Do you remember when I told you about my two friends that joined the Marine Corps with me? They were my only family, and they were murdered right in front of my eyes by the same people that murdered your mother."
That hits me hard and I exhale sharply, dropping my head into my hands. "I'm sorry, Levi. I didn't... I'm just stressed out. I never knew what happened to my mother. People tried to make it disappear. The cops were useless. To find out that you guys knew what happened to her, and that you were hiding it from me... I'm just so over everything right now." I laugh, but it's humorless, stressed. "I'm sitting in a fucking dungeon, about to go on trial for a capital offense, and I just... I don't need to be dealing with this right now too."
"Oi," Levi calls to me, his voice much softer now. I look up at him. "I told you not to worry, brat. I'm not going to let them execute you."
I stand and walk up to the bars, lifting my hand to cover his on the bar. I remember that we're not alone though and quickly pull my hand back. Erwin stands, but Levi doesn't back away from the bars, and neither do I.
"I need a few more minutes," Levi tells Erwin as the commander starts to head back down the hallway.
"I'll be upstairs," Erwin replies. "Don't worry, Eren. We'll get you out of this. My friend will be down tomorrow to talk to you."
"Thank you," I tell him.
"Oh, and Levi? If it were any other man, I'd separate the two of you, but I know you, and I trust you not to let... whatever this is get in the way of your work," he says, and the color drains from my face. Damn. He knows. "But if I get the slightest suspicion that you are letting this distract you or effect your work, you will be suspended and Eren will be discharged. Do I make myself clear?"
Levi frowns, his eyes not leaving mine. "Crystal."
"Very good. I'll be waiting upstairs for you. Make it quick." And with that, he leaves the two of us alone.
Levi reaches through the bars and his hand strokes my cheek. I lean into the touch, wishing for more but willing to take what I can get.
"I'm so sorry. I slipped up. Twice," I apologize, slipping both arms through the bars to loop around his waist. "I didn't mean for-"
"Would you shut up, brat?" he interrupts me. "Don't worry about that right now. He was bound to find out anyway. He knows me too well, and especially with all of this happening, it's hard for me to hide how I'm really feeling. Especially seeing you locked up here in this disgusting cell like an animal."
A small smile pulls at my lips and I rest my head against the bars.
"Everything will be okay, Eren. The trial will start in a few days, and it should go by quickly. The charges will be dismissed, and we'll be on our way back to the base. Maybe I'll even try to convince Erwin to give us some time off. We can go back to Boston, maybe catch a baseball game at Fenway. I know the season started a month or so ago."
His voice is soft, trying to calm me down, and it does the trick. A smile pulls at my lips and my hands fist in his fatigues jacket. That is all I want. I want all of this to be over with. I want to go home. Home to the base, or home to Boston. Wherever Levi is, that's where I want to be.
"I have to go, brat," he tells me, and I release him as he steps away from the bars. "I'll try to come back tomorrow morning. It took a lot of convincing on Erwin's part to let us down here this time, but hopefully they'll let us back down with the lawyer tomorrow."
I nod, and after a moment of hesitation, Levi leaves, heading back down the hallway in the direction he had come from. Now I'm all alone. At least, until the guard comes back down the hallway and takes his seat in the chair Erwin had just been occupying. He eyes me and I eye him back, trying to make him uncomfortable. It works, and he looks down at his feet. I stick my tongue out at him, then collapse back onto the uncomfortable bed.
This will all be over soon. This will all be over soon...
...
"Wake up sleeping beauty!" an unfamiliar voice rings through the cell block, startling me awake. "Time to work on your defense!"
I rub at my eyes as an old bald guy walks up in front of my stall, peering between the bars at me. He has wrinkles beneath his eyes and a bushy grey mustache on his upper lip. He's dressed in a light grey suit with a purple bolo tie. He pulls a flask out of a pocket inside his jacket and takes a swig. My groggy mind takes a little too long to figure out who this man is supposed to be. I didn't exactly sleep very well on this rock of a bed. But it eventually comes to me as I rub at my eyes.
"You're Commander Erwin's friend, the lawyer," I mumble around a yawn.
"Yes, the lawyer that's going to get you out of this mess and back under Erwin's command," he says, snagging the empty chair with his foot and dragging it closer to the bars. "I'm Dot Pixis."
"Eren Jaeger," I reply, repositioning myself on the end of the bed, my legs crossed in front of me.
"Yes, I know who you are," he says, holding up a thick folder. "Let's get down to business, shall we? Now, they're going to try and use your long rap sheet to prove that you're a dangerous person, but that will be easily refutable. These are all crimes of attention, none of them violent. They will also try to discredit you by-"
"Why do they think I'm terrorist?" I blurt out the question before I can even stop myself. It's been bothering me ever since the unicorn squad showed up at the base and slapped a pair of handcuffs on me. Who is it that gave the orders for my arrest? Why do they think I'm guilty? What did I do wrong? I don't know the answers to these questions and it's driving me insane.
Pixis stares at me for a long moment, then sighs and scratches at his head. He looks down at the report, but I can tell he doesn't need it to answer the question. "During your most recent operation, your squad was ambushed. There were many life threatening injuries, and it resulted in a failed operation. The big dogs in the government want someone to blame for this failure, and so they're turning to you. They believe the group you were watching was fed information about your presence. You were not on site at the time of the ambush, and you were the only one left uninjured. To them, all of that adds up to you being a double agent."
I stare at the man with wide eyes, my jaw hanging open. He's got to be fucking kidding me... "Are you serious?" I shout. He recoils slightly at my anger, but I'm not angry with him. I'm angry at whoever is calling my service to my country treasonous. "That's bullshit! I wasn't there when my squad, my friends, got gunned down because I had to go take a piss. I didn't get injured only because I got fucking lucky. I wasn't feeding information to anyone! And I sure as hell didn't have my squad set up to be killed!"
"Well they have evidence that they think says you did. Don't worry though, kid. I've seen the evidence, and it's weak at best. This is going to be an open and shut case, and you'll be on your merry way," he promises me. "Trust me. I saw this same exact thing with your captain. He was the only one that made it back alive from a deployment around the same time your mother died, and they wanted to sacrifice Levi for it in the name of counter-terrorism."
I don't know what else to say, so I just nod, staring down at my lap and putting my faith in this man to get me out of here. I'm innocent. The evidence will prove that. The court will see that. They'll know I'm not a terrorist. I did not commit treason. I was serving my country. I did nothing wrong.
"Oi, I told you to stop worrying, brat."
I hadn't noticed how much I had been craving that voice until it spoke from just outside my prison cell. Looking up to meet his grey eyes, I realize I'm craving more than just his voice. It had been a long, cold night, and more than once I had wished I was back at the base, in his bed, in his arms, instead of on this cold rock of a bed. His presence is comforting, and very much needed to calm me down.
"Captain. I didn't think they'd let you down here," I tell him, not sure what else to say. It was a legitimate fear, but what I really want to say to him I can't. Not with Pixis here.
Levi snorts with a roll of his eyes. "Those shitty MPs couldn't keep me out of they tried."
"Well I'm glad you got passed the unicorn squad. I'm so lonely down here."
Levi laughs, a short, humor filled sound that does a lot to mask his anger. It's been a constant emotion in his eyes since the MPs showed up on base, along with the frustration and worry. He cares about me and how this will all turn out, but he's afraid to show it. "The unicorn squad... That's a good one, brat." He leans back against the far wall. "Don't let me distract you, Pixis. Pretend I'm not here."
"Very well," Pixis says. He looks back down at the file again, flipping through it before he opens his mouth to speak again. I don't give him the chance though, interrupting him before he even says a word, ignoring his irritated look at my constant interruptions.
"What's going to happen to me after the trial?" I ask. "I mean, if I'm found not guilty. We all know what's going to happen to me if they find me guilty."
Levi tenses, his gaze shifting to Pixis, as if he's eager for that answer as well. He's probably been wondering the same thing I have.
"Are you referring to your deal with the courts?" Pixis asks.
"Yeah," I reply with a small nod. "Even if I'm found not guilty, are the charges alone enough to have me dishonorably discharged? I don't want to go to prison. I didn't do anything wrong."
"That shouldn't happen. If the court finds you not guilty, then according to the law you can't be punished. A dishonorable discharge is a punishment. Why would they dishonorably discharge you for a crime that the court decided you didn't commit?" Pixis turns to look at Levi before he continues. "If they do, call me and I'll help you fight it."
Levi nods and Pixis turns back to me. "Now, let's go over what's going to happen when you step into the courtroom in two days time."
*sighs deeply* I just love me a protective and caring Levi. He loves his brat X3