AN: Yosh…Chapter XXXV! After a couple more chapters, we're done with The Future Arc. Sorry if my updates are a bit laggy but projects are being dumped at me left and right (I hate our new curriculum; it makes our grades project based and makes me speak in front more often than I usually have to and I do not like that because I have a bad case of stage fright), now my laptop's broken so I'm sharing the PC with my bro plus my 12 year old cousin got me to watch Elfen Lied with her (Read the manga, cried at the end). I do not approve of her watching that but it's so awesome that we can't resist. Anyways, I give you peeps Chapter XXXV of Link through Time. I do hope you enjoy this chapter and Thanks to those who reviewed and will review.

CHAPTER XXXV:

INTERROGATIONS AND A TRAGEDY

Levi carried Celeste to her room with Petra and the others behind him. They managed to stabilize her by administering the antidote to her and remove the bullet from her so they were given the clearance to bring her home. The next race won't happen until April 19th; that should be enough for her to recover. He set the girl on her bed and covered her with her blankets after taking her jacket and her boots off. Petra walked in and sat beside Levi.

"How is she?" Petra asked worriedly.

"Feverish but no doubt she'll make it." He answered emotionlessly but his eyes show the worry he holds. Petra ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. There was still a bit of blood around her face and she wiped it off with a wet cloth.

"I guess I was wrong. Even with the Titans gone, it's still a dangerous world." She remarked. Levi held his wife's hand and kissed it.

"If there's one thing I know is that Celeste won't stop fighting to get what she wants." He told her. Petra leaned into him as they sat there waiting for their daughter to wake up. At that moment, Damon entered the room.

"Hey, you both should get some rest." He told them. "She'll be feverish for a couple of days."

"No. We're fine. Thank you." Petra said. Damon lingered and checked the girl's fever and pulse.

"I think it's time for her to retire. She's getting too many enemies." He told them. He knew that he can't full well force her to retire but since they're her parents he was hoping that they'd make the decision for her.

"Retire? Why?"

"Racing is getting too dangerous for her and she's obviously having a hard time coping with the changes and adjusting to how they go now. I think it's in her best interest to retire after the Grand Circuit." Damon explained. Just then, Celeste opened her eyes, having heard what was suggested.

"What?" She weakly muttered.

"I'll leave it to you both then." He said before leaving the room.

"What does he mean retire?" She asked her parents. Petra held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Celeste, your uncle suggested that you retire now. He has a point; racing is too dangerous for you." Levi answered for Petra.

"Don't be such a hypocrite, fighting Titans is dangerous too and yet you don't force me to retire." She defiantly said before wincing at the pain in her chest and coughing violently.

"We know that but damn it we'd rather some titan eats you than crashing your fucking car or being murdered by someone else because that would be the most pathetic death a soldier would receive. Dying in the field; that's what your grandmother did (1); that's how I would like to die if I don't die an old woman and frankly, that's how I would like you to die." Petra told her. Her eyes widened; her mother never told her anything about how her grandmother died and she never cared to ask. She never thought that her grandmother was a legionnaire as well.

"I can't do that. I can't retire. Not now. I love racing." She said as she felt her eyes tear up and she began coughing violently again.

"Shh...don't talk now. Just rest. We'll be here, sweetie." Petra told her. Slowly, Celeste closed her eyes once more and fell asleep. For the rest of the night, Levi and Petra stayed beside her. Up to the point that they fell asleep there.

The next day, Levi woke up when he felt someone frantically shaking him.

"What?" He asked, annoyed.

"Celeste is missing." Petra reported. That felt like a bucket of ice cold water was dumped on him. He looked around and Celeste wasn't in her bed. He stood up and they both left the room. Rex was making coffee in the kitchen.

"Good Morning." He greeted.

"Rex, have you seen Celeste?" Petra worriedly asked.

"No. But I heard from Uncle that you guys might force her to retire so she's most likely blowing off Steam. Check the building gym on the 63rd floor. No one should be there at this time." He answered as he drank his coffee. Petra turned to Levi with a stern look on her face.

"Go talk to her, Levi. It's time you do." Petra told him. He begrudgingly walked up to the elevator and pressed the button to the 63rd floor. When he arrived at the gym, he immediately saw Celeste brutalizing a punching bag while her hands are covered in ice. She was wearing track pants and a grey shirt. He stood there in silence until Celeste let out a cry of anger and the punching bag flew to the opposite side of the room.

"What the fuck are you doing, you brat?" Levi angrily asked. She should be recovering, not down here punching the shit out of bags.

"I'm blowing off some steam, old man. Ever tried it? Might help get that stick off your ass." She answered as she moved to another bag, her hair stuck to her face and her shirt was drenched in sweat.

"You're filthy. Go take a shower." He ordered her. Celeste gave the bag a hard punch.

"Really? I'm about to go into forced retirement and you want to stop me from doing this too?"

"I'm not stopping you from anything, you brat. You need to recover if you want to us to let you compete in the Grand Circuit." Levi said in annoyance. When Celeste was born, he was expecting her to grow up to be a sweet and gentle person like her mother. How wrong he was; instead she grew up to be like him. But that's not stopping him from loving and caring for her the way a father should. Celeste suddenly started coughing violently and she was about to fall. Luckily, he was able to catch her.

"Damn it. I don't want to retire yet." She said, the frustration clear in her voice. Levi helped her up but he didn't let her go.

"I know it's hard to stop doing what you love but you have to understand that we're doing this for your own safety. After the next race, you're retiring. We know you're old enough to make your own decisions but this time, we're going to make this one for you."

Celeste hated to admit it but he was right; it's high time she retire. After this circuit, she's retiring. She'll be returning to the past soon and should she die there and not erased from this history, the people will think she just dropped off from the face of the Earth.

"You're filthy. Let's head back. Take a shower." Levi told her as he forced her to walk to the direction of the elevator. When they got back upstairs, Celeste immediately took a shower. Just as she got out back to the living room, someone knocked on the door. Janine opened it and saw Chief Rogers with a man. It didn't take long before they realized that it was the Tiger.

"Jan, get away from the door. Come here." She told her. Janine immediately walked up to her and Uncle Federico made him come in.

"Now, I know you didn't arrest him but I got you clearance to interrogate him."

"Well, this is going to be fun. Take him to the spare room over there." She told him. Once the chief left, she turned to the kids.

"Go to the kitchen but I want you guys to close your eyes, cover your ears and softly sing 'Lilium' until I come out and call for you, alright?" Celeste requested. Lilium was the theme song of Elfen Lied. It was a Gregorian chant in Ecclesiastical Latin and they all memorized it. When she beat up the perp of the rape – murder case, she made them do the same thing she's asking of them now. The three kids stalked off to the kitchen immediately. Celeste walked up to the room were the Tiger was cuffed to a chair. The Chief gave her a nod before leaving. The man looked at her as she sat across from him.

"You're not going to get anything from me." He said defiantly. "Who'd have thought you're also a cop?"

"I'm not a cop. So, whatever I do to you, you can't report it as police brutality. Tell me your name." Celeste said.

"Johnson. Lance Johnson."

"Mhmm…Lance Johnson; a grunt of the Blue Tigers. Let me ask you something; you think the Tiger boss would give a damn about what would happen to you?"

He didn't or rather couldn't answer.

"I'll answer for you; he won't. Trust me; he'd be happy to use you as a scapegoat. I know underground crime better than anyone in the family. My real father told me how everything goes. Do you know how he knows that? He himself was a higher up in underground crime before he went legit." Celeste told him. Johnson chuckled before speaking up again.

"Let-let me guess; he went legit for your mom?"

"No. He was already legit before he met her. But enough about that." Celeste declared before turning on the recorder. "Are you in league with the Gardeners?"

He didn't answer so she punched him. She punched him so hard, one of this teeth went flying. She raised her eyebrow in impression; her mom told her that when her dad beat Eren up, his tooth went flying too. But it grew back. Unlike this poor Son of a Bitch.

"Did you kill Clara and Raphael Knight?" She asked him. Another punch went his way when he didn't answer. Blood from his face went to her knuckles.

"I'll ask again before more pain comes your way. You were arrested on possession charges; that's enough to lock you up. But we're willing to cut a deal with you; tell me what I want to know, you go to Witness Protection. Anyways, some asshat rings my doorbell, telling me my parents were murdered 4 years ago. Did you kill Clara and Raphael Knight? Did the Gardeners order it?"

He didn't answer. Celeste rubbed her face and punched. His blood went to her face this time. She wiped it but instead it spread but she didn't care. She turned her watch face twice.

"Still won't answer? I don't want to but I can do this all night and keep you alive." Celeste said before shooting his leg. He howled in pain but showed no sign of surrender. Celeste stuck a finger in the bullet wound making him scream in pain yet again. Celeste took delight in his screams.

"Just tell me and this'll all be over." She told him. He groaned in pain before speaking up.

"I don't know if we killed your parents. But-but we are in leagues with Gardener. The-the boss, he has this ledger. Keeps all his transactions there. Arrangements and payments and what the job was. He keeps it in his safe at the mansion. You get that, you take down Gardener and the cartel. Code is 4-5-0-1-4-6."

"Thank you. See how easy that was?" Celeste said as she turned the recorder off. Before leaving the room, she punched him one last time, knocking him out for good. She walked back to the living room and threw the recorder on the coffee table before heading for the kitchen. They were surprised at the amount of blood on Celeste's face. It was enough to think she killed the kid.

"The fuck happened in there?" Duncan asked.

Celeste entered the kitchen and saw that the kids followed her orders to the letter. She cleaned herself up before approaching them.

"Hey, you guys can stop now." She told them. They took their hands down and stopped singing as they opened their eyes. They followed Celeste back to the living room.

"Put him in witness protection." She told the Chief as she plopped down on the couch next to her mother. They all listened to the recording.

"So, how do we get this ledger?" Petra asked when they were finished listening to the recording.

"With great difficulty. Place is also a private prostitution den. Only the rich get in." The Chief explained.

"Attempt to go in there, I'll bash your faces in." Celeste warned Rex and Duncan, who were about to volunteer. It's amazing how a 19 year old can easily intimidate a 27 year old and a 23 year old man.

"Do you send someone in there?" Petra asked.

"Protocol mandates that we do, usually but when Cassandra was 12, she went to a boarding school in Houston. Her Physical Fitness Tests showed that she's actually very quick on her feet and good at sneaking and infiltration. With your permission, I'd send her in."

Celeste's body was racked with coughs. She coughed in a handkerchief and saw that there was a bit of blood in it. They all shook their heads.

"No. She's still recovering." Levi said sternly. "I'll go. I can get that ledger out of there."

Celeste's eyes widened; send her father, a former thug, in a prostitution den? Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Not happening on her watch.

"You're not going." She told him bluntly. "If I ain't going, you ain't going."

"Well, you're not going." Natalie said.

"Then, he's not going. Not on my watch." Celeste decided.

"I'll send someone in there, then." The Chief said before walking to the spare room. They may think that he's just sending someone else in but Celeste has a trick up her sleeve. A foolproof plan formed in her head the moment they said she's not going. Chief Rogers walked back out with the barely conscious Johnson.

"Is he okay? Is he even alive?" Damon asked.

"He's fine. I'll take him back to the station. Thank you for your time and your help." He said. Uncle Federico escorted him to the door while Petra made Celeste some coffee. While they were going about their own business, however, Celeste sent the Chief a message.

"7:45. Parking lot. I'll be there."

Nightfall came and while they were having dinner, Celeste executed her plan.

"Anyone want some water?" She asked. They all raised their hands. She went to the kitchen and put some powdered sleeping pills in the pitcher. The dose wasn't lethal. She walked back to the table and they drank the water from the pitcher. The three kids fell asleep on their chairs almost immediately.

"Celeste, what did you-"Natalie asked before they all fell asleep. Leaving a not, she grabbed a hoodie and her legion jacket as well as her sabres. She kissed her mom's temple and left. Heading to the parking lot, she got there on the dot. The Chief pulled up a while later and she got in the car.

"Drive to the mansion." She told him. Chief Rogers nodded and stepped on it/

"How did you change their minds?" He asked.

"I didn't. Made them go to sleep." She answered as Rogers drove. He chuckled and after a while, they arrived at the mansion.

"Park around the back. I'll keep you posted." Celeste said emotionlessly as she grabbed a walkie talkie.

"You may look a lot like your mother but you sure as hell talk like your father." He remarked as he parked around the back like Celeste instructed.

"I'll take that as a compliment." She answered with a small smile. She exited the car and walked up to the wall as she pulled her hood up. Creating an ice ladder, she scaled the wall and perched on top of it. Sentries weren't patrolling the area. Yet. She saw an open window and jumped from the wall. Using the pipe to her advantage, she climbed the 2nd floor window. She wasn't surprised at the sight; it was just some Tiger snoozing off with some hooker after give her the D.

"Fucking pricks." She muttered as she cautiously entered. During her boarding school days, Celeste was prided as the most nimble and quick on her feet during the PFTs. There was also a reason why Celeste didn't want her father to do this; she didn't trust him in this type of environment. Who knows what kind of unpleasant shit he would do? If memory serves, the boss' room should be on the top floor. She's been here before with her dad. She accompanied him to arrest the Tiger boss, Eric Stanton, before heading back to North Dakota at the time.

"Chief, I'm in. Making good progress, over." She said over the walkie talkie.

"Copy that, over."

Celeste quickly snuck around the place, hearing the moans of women getting paid for their bodies while doped up on Crystal Meth.

'Fucking whores; believing there's no better future for them. Should've stayed in school. Idiots for believing those rich pricks and their sweet nothings.' She thought as she quietly and quickly snuck up to the top floor. While she may sound like a hypocrite since she dropped out of school at 15, she believed that school was better than this. No one deserved this. Finally, she got to the top floor. She knew immediately that the boss' office was the big door in front of her. Pressing her ear for any sounds, she entered when she heard nothing. No one was there so she immediately approached the desk and the painting behind it. Taking it off, she saw the safe.

"Fucking predictable." Celeste muttered as she typed the code in. When she was able to open it, she took the huge ledger and put the painting back. Once she checked that it was the ledger, she radioed Chief Rogers.

"Yo, chief, I got it. I'm coming out now, over." She said as she walked to the window. She heard footsteps approaching so she opened it and went out, Closing it, she used an ice slide to get out of there. It melted almost immediately so no one would see it. When she was clear, she ran back to the car and got in.

"Chill, it's me. I have it." She said as she showed it to him. "Drive. Go."

Rogers immediately stepped on it.

"You're insane, kid. You're lucky we got clearance for this operation." He told her.

"Again, I'll take the insane part as a compliment." She answered. "Stop here."

He stopped the car at the abandoned parking lot.

"Alright, so what's in there?"

Celeste shrugged and opened it. They kept reading and it was a gold mind of Illegal drug Transactions and sabotages.

"They're records of transactions. Drugs, sabotages, it's all here. What the jobs were and how much the payments would be are here too. Apparently, Lewis Gardener's father was the one paying them all off and kept calling hits on me, Rex, Michael Bennett and Hannah Monroe. They all failed but he's targeting champions and promising racers."

When Celeste flipped the pages back, her eyes widened at the words written at the page she stopped at.

March 27, 2024

Mission: Eliminate Clara and Raphael Knight.

Method: Sever brakes

Payment: $10,000,000

Client: Lloyd Gardener

SUCCESS

"He-he killed them, Chief. Would it be enough evidence to arrest him?" She asked and he nodded.

"I'll do it. I have enough evidence to go in without a warrant. I don't care about procedure. I'm basically untouchable." Celeste decided as The Chief started driving again. After a while, they arrived at the huge building that said 'Gardener Motors'.

"Wait for me here. If there's a ruckus, call people in." Celeste told him as she grabbed a recorder.

"Of course. Pleasure doing business, Cassandra." He said as he held out his hand which Celeste shook in response before grabbing his handcuffs.

"Likewise. Try not to lose the ledger." She told him and he nodded. Celeste got off the car and entered the building. She approached the elevator and went to the top floor. Celeste immediately approached the secretary.

"Yeah, hey, hi, Cassandra Knight here. I need to see Lloyd Gardener." She said. The Secretary coldly looked at her.

"Yes. Mr. Gardener's been expecting you for days now." She answered as she stood up and led her to the door. She opened it and Celeste stepped inside. She saw a plump man in his late 40s wearing a black suit, sitting on a leather chair behind a desk. At first glance, one would think he is Lewis Gardener.

"Ah...Miss Knight, what brings you here?"

Celeste calmly took a deep breath before talking. She turned on the recorder in her back pocket.

"Funny you should ask that; you think I wouldn't find out? How you killed my parents? Sabotaged races? Called hits on me, Rex, Michael Bennett and Hannah Monroe?"

"I don't know what you mean by killing your parents. Last I checked they're alive and well." He said. Something inside Celeste snapped at that moment.

"I'm not talking about my real parents, you fat prick! I'm talking about Clara and Raphael Knight!"

He looked at her with a smug smirk on his face.

"You have proof that I killed them? As well as for your other accusations?" Lloyd Gardener asked.

"Oh, I have more than that. I have the entire ledger belonging to Eric Stanton of the Blue Tigers in the cops' hands. I saw every transaction you made with them; drugs, sabotage, hits on me and others, my parents' deaths, everything." Celeste answered with her own smug smile. The smile on his face gradually fell.

"I got you, didn't I? Your face says it all. You're guilty." She said.

"Your parents deserved it. They took away my business and raised you and your cousin to be my son's downfall. When you left, I thought my boy would finally have his chance yet again but then Rex Knight, Michael Bennett and Hannah Monroe waltzes in and takes your place, how can I not want them dead?" He said angrily.

"Oh...boohoo. That's life; you win some, you lose some. You lose, you try your best to win but you don't kill or try to kill innocent people to do so." She told him. "Lloyd Gardener, I am placing you under arrest for the murders of Clara and Raphael Knight, sabotages of races and attempted murder on me, Rex Knight, Michael Bennett and Hannah Monroe."

Gardener stood up and walked around his desk.

"I can't let you do that. I can't let you live now that you know the truth." He said. Celeste was expecting that he would pull a gun at her so she pulled her blue sabre out and blocked the bullet. She slipped due to her sudden movement, though and her sabres fell a bit out of her reach. Gardener pointed his gun at her as she slowly backed away.

"Last words?" Gardener asked her as he pointed his gun at her. Celeste felt the hilt of one of her sabre by her hand. Gardener was about to shoot her so she retaliated by grabbing her sabre, swinging it upward. She accidentally cut off his hand. Blood didn't squirt to her face since the sabre cauterized the wound upon impact. Gardener stared at the stump for a while before screaming and panicking. He was running backwards to the window.

"NO! STOP!" She yelled as she stood up and tried to grab him. But she was too late; Gardener fell out and fell to the ground, dead. Chief Rogers ran out of his car and looked up to her in shock. Celeste turned the recorder off and she sat on the desk chair, dropping her sabre. Tears were silently streaming down her face as Celeste asked herself one thing;

"What have I done?"

AN: WAHH! I am so sorry for updating later than usual! I hope this chapter is long enough to make up for it. Like I said; I have too many projects and my laptop's broken so I'm sharing the PC with 3 other people. Anyways, here's what the number means;

1 – I have this headcanon where Petra's mother was also a legionnaire and she was Petra's main inspiration for joining the Scouting Legion. She died in an Expedition outside of Wall Maria when Petra was young (like 8 or 9). Celeste didn't know much about her grandmother so she was surprised.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thanks to those who will review, favourite or follow!