POV Levi

His shadow flickered across the walls as he walked through the dark, empty corridors of their new HQ.

Every step he took echoed throughout the silent building, with only several members of the Scouts still awake within it.

Finally arriving at Erwen's office he knocked on the door quickly, keen to speak to him.

"Come in," Erwin called out from within the room, his voice muffled by the walls.

He opened the door and walked into the room to see Erwin staring through his window and into the night.

The commander had papers spread across his desk most of them were maps, but he could see many documents hidden among them with most of them having names of nobles on them.

"Commander," he greeted, taking the seat before the desk.

"Levi," Erwin said, still looking out his office window and across the fields which stretched out before him.

"Why are you here?" Erwin continued as he sat in his seat in front of him.

"I think you can guess who I'm here to talk about?" he replied.

"Eren?" Erwin asked.

"How could you tell," he mused. "But yes I wanted to talk about him. More specifically his many abilities."

"Which ones have made you suspicious of him?" he questioned, unsurprised by the topic.

"Well his ability to see his father memories which he never mentioned till now made me slightly suspicious, but there were more obvious ones as well."

"Which are?"

"His ability to work out the answers to questions we had yet to ask. Being able to control his Titan-form as if he has used it a hundred times before. These were what made me sceptical of him… And his true motives."

Erwin remained quiet for a moment before speaking,

"I've had similar suspicions, but it also is clear to me that Eren is hiding more from us. Every time Bertholdt reveals something else he tries to hide his surprise. But matter how much he tries to hide it, it is clear to me that he knows more than he's letting on."

"What do you think we should do?" Erwin asked him after a moment of silence.

"Pardon?" he replied.

"What do you think we should do about him," Erwin repeated.

"Well…" He began "Eren mentioned a serum that his father used on him to transfer the power of his titan. We could confine him as we did to Bertholdt. And then we move against the royal family to take one of their serums and take Eren's titan by passing it onto a new host."

"We could do this, but it leaves us defenceless against the other shifters and whatever the royal family holds up their sleeve. We don't know enough about them yet, and they have followers throughout the branches of the military, they will quickly learn of our plans so we must act as secretly as possible."

"And this is if he's going to betray us," Erwin finished.

"You have doubts," he questioned. "After all, I've said."

"I have no doubts that he is hiding information from us, but I am still unsure whether he intends to take control, help us, or destroy us from the inside like the other shifters tried to do.

"But soon enough we will know," Erwin stated.

"Now go get some rest Levi, we have much to do in these coming days and you'll need all you can get."

He nodded before standing up and swiftly walking out of the office.

Rest? I'll have rest when I get my answers.

He once again walked through the dimly light hallway, but instead of returning to his chamber he made his way to the dungeon stairwell and descended the steps.

Like he expected the dungeon was empty and nearly silent, with only the crackling of the torches and dripping water filling the room.

The dungeon was the one part of the headquarters which had been left largely dirty, with only Eren's room being cleaned properly.

And that's if you could call it a room.

But it mattered little to him, he had seen people live in far worse conditions than this, and right now he wanted answers.

He arrived at Eren's barred door and looked at the sleeping teenager for a moment, before slamming his fist against the bars making Eren awake instantly.

Eren looked shocked for a moment before his eyes found him. His eyes were cold, and he could almost see the thoughts run through the boy's mind as he tried to figure out why he was here.

"Captain… Why are you here?" Eren asked calmly as he left his bed.

"What are you hiding from us?" he replied, getting straight to the point.

Eren walked over to him and stared him in the eye. The boy was taller than him but only barely, making his intimidation even more of a pathetic attempt to get him to leave. Either way, there was nothing to fear down here, or at all when it came to his human form.

His Titan form was another story.

They stared each other down for another minute at least before Eren broke the silence.

"I'm not hiding any-."

"Bullshit," he said cutting in, his voice barely louder than before.

"Believe me, if I knew more than I know right now I would have acted already," Eren replied as if he hadn't said anything.

"Not if you're waiting for the right moment to strike. Now, stop giving us lies and give me the truth. There's no point hiding it either, we'll find it out eventually and it will only make the situation worse for you."

Eren held his silence while staring at him again, like a cornered dog he was trying to find any way out, but there is no escape for this mutt.

"Fine don't tell us," he said after a moment with no reply. But you'll be the one telling your friends why we're going to kill you, not me." he finished non-chalatntly.

Eren's eyes narrowed as he stared at him.

Well, I found something that aggravates him.

"So, are you going to answer me or are we going to stand here all night?" He asked after a minute of silence.

"I'm not hiding anything," he started. "And I know you're not going to kill me. You could kill me. But you'd gain nothing from it, and at the moment I'm too valuable to lose and going forward.

"And if I'm hiding something you wouldn't kill me immediately anyway. If I hold information then it could very valuable to your cause. Killing me would leave you without it and far weaker."

"Don't you mean our cause," he questioned, picking up on the miswording.

"Yes… Our cause," Eren replied, every word sounding painful for Eren to speak.

"But yes, your information is valuable. But perhaps your successor will see into your memories and will find out all the information for us. We don't need you to obtain them"

"Perhaps. But how do you know I spoke the truth? Perhaps I was lying. And how do you know that the memories will pass on? And are you willing to lose such a valuable asset? Can you afford to lose such an important asset?"

Eren had flipped the table against him, now he was the prey and Eren was the predator.

Eren walked closer to the bars, his cold and calculating eyes tearing every argument he had thrown against him apart.

"Your threats do not work Levi. Perhaps if you were smarter you would have realised that a long time ago."

His frustration skyrocketed as he finished. And in his frustration, he grabbed the top of Eren's shirt within the blink of an eye and slammed his head against the bars.

The boy fell to the ground as steam rolled from the wound in his head which he clutched tightly.

"We'll get this information from you one way or another. It's only a matter of time," he said while the boy stared up at him, his green eyes filled with rage but knowing better.

He left the Eren alone in the dungeon with his wounded head still steaming.

And as he left one thought went through his mind.

Eren is too dangerous to be let loose.

Bertholdt Pov

His eyes opened slowly, groggily looking around he tried to see where he was.

Then He remembered. This place, god how long had he been in here for? Days? Weeks? No longer than that two weeks, but he can't be sure.

Zackly and his… Instruments had broken him after only a day, and since that day he had brought up everything he could in desperation to be let go, to be let die.

Though he had withheld one piece of information, and throughout his torture, he had kept to himself. Why he, Reiner and Annie were here. He had only kept the secret in the desperation that Reiner or Annie would come and save him.

But no one had come, had they abandoned him, had Reiner abandoned him. Had Annie left him to this miserable fate? Every day he begged for death, yet it never came.

Due to his healing Zackly had taken a great amount of sick pleasure in torturing, knowing that he could go as far as he wanted without killing him. And this was now his life, from the first glimpse of light till that light would rise again.

Perhaps he could escape, perhaps he would be let free. He constantly wished for this to happen but it never would. And how would he escape, he had nothing and was presumably in the middle of nowhere with heavy guard.

A dripping could be heard in his room. How long had it been going on for? Was it real? This wouldn't be the first time. Often he would see his family in the room, and how he begged for them to save him.

He finally saw the drip. It was blood, coming from his head.

Zackly hadn't been in at least an hour, so it couldn't be new. So… Could it be?

Was this it? Had his body given up? could he no longer heal? Could he finally die? Would Zackly kill him and set him free?

He could only hope and wonder.

Where would his power go? Presumably to someone on the island, as this was where most of the Eldians were. But maybe A child in Marley would be gifted it. No, given it.

His thoughts were interrupted by a door opening. His door.

He looked up weakly to see someone standing in the gateway. He knew who it was instantly, it was him. Zackly.

"Please…" he whispered hoarsely. "Don't."

Zackly steeped forward.

"Why would I stop now? Not when we're just beginning to truly connect."

"I'll do anything, please, just don't," he begged as Zackly moved over to his bench of items.

Zackly hummed as he put on his gloves, ignoring his pleas.

"I'll tell you why I was sent here!" He yelled desperately.

This caused Zackly to stop, perhaps he was considering finishing him.

"And why don't I just break you to get it, or maybe I'll ask one of your friends," he replied.

"No! No, you don't have them."

"Really? And how would you know? Perhaps They are being tortured right now, or perhaps I just finished with them," Zackly said leaning towards him.

"If I tell you, why I-. Why we were here, will you let me go?" he asked hopefully."

Zackly chuckled at his plea as if the mere suggestion was laughable.

"It depends I suppose," he said brandishing his tools. "On how interesting it is."

He waited a moment, wondering whether this was the right choice, giving up this vital piece of-.

Zackly slammed his mallet down on his hand while he was thinking, breaking many of the bones and causing him extreme pain. Though it was slightly dulled over all this time, Zackly still found new, painful and creating ways of torturing him.

"We were sent here to get the founding titan," he screamed in pain.

"And what is this founding titan then?" Zackly asked him.

"The holder of the founder had the ability to have full control over all titans and Eldians, our people, the devils who can turn into monsters. It is currently held by the royal family here in Paradis."

"Full control you say… Overall of us," Zackly thought allowed.

"They who hold the founder and are of royal blood are unstoppable. They could change the Eldian race to fit their image," he confessed.

"And if this is possible, why have the royal family done nothing to stop the titans. Why are we so weak if we hold the power to change life?"

"Because… The founder is bound by an oath, an oath that will never let them use their full power," he explained.

"And how can this… Oath be broken?" Zackly asked him.

"I don't know," he replied quickly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Really? I think you do know," Zackly stated sadistically.

"I DON'T!" He begged. "I don't know I swear it."

"Well then, perhaps I'll let you go without any fun today," Zackly told him, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Really?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I have to talk with other officials about what you've told me tonight."

Zackly removed his gloves and went to leave the room.

"Wait!" he yelled. "I told you all I know, I want something in return," he stated, praying that Zackly wouldn't beat him for this.

"Really," Zackly started, turning his head slightly. "You think I'd give you anything more than your sanity?"

He nodded.

"Well then, what do you want?"

He thought about it for a minute before answering slowly.

"I. I want to speak to, Eren Yeager."

"Very well. I will ask him about it, but whether he comes is up to him," Zackly replied before swiftly walking out and closing the door after him.

He was once again left alone in the darkness, but the hope of being able to talk to the one person who had caused all of this filled him.

Eren, you must come here. I need your help. I need death.

Sorry for the long wait, life was a pain but I'm back, but I have no idea how long I'll be posting for. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.