It had been three years since the reclamation of Wall Maria. Progress as being made to counterattack the Marleyan Warriors as technological advances within the walls was increasing. New developments were being made to the current vertical maneuvering gear. This would allow the user to attack someone who was a titan or a normal human being.
As progress was being made, the front lines of Paradis were being attacked. Soldiers were sent on a regular basis to prevent the Marleyans from returning. The shifters Armin and Eren were often found on the front lines defending the land when needed. Keith was sent every now and again to ensure back up was provided.
Never before had he believed that he would be using his powers for war. So far things were looking up for them. Their battle was far from being over. Although the war was beginning on the outside of the wall, there was a different type of war raging on inside the walls.
Reports had been flooding in about an unknown drug coming to the surface. The drug had been seen in the past before. In the reports, those affected by the drug experienced hallucinations, bouts of aggression, sometimes losing consciousness, and even death. With the increase in the reports of the drug it had become known as Clouded. A drug recognized as clouding the mind of all judgement and sense of reality.
Queen Historia had been made aware of the increase usage of the drug. The current investigation was starting to become dangerous for the lower division Military Police Brigade. Casualties had been accounted for during times where the investigation had some sort of lead. The Commander and the Queen decided that it was best to take care of the people within the walls once the shorelines were stabilized.
Keith had returned from the latest trip to the shore exhausted. Although there were no fights that had taken place there were ships visible from time to time. He was welcomed back to the office with the reports on the latest drug. He was not looking forward to the long nights and patrols that would occur already feeling the stress. All he wanted to do was to return home and rest for a while. He was stressed and overworked, not able to get a good night's rest.
After a long while, Keith had returned home. He and his squad were able to gather up some missed information after compiling all of the reports and evidence together. They had a lead that they would check up on and proceed the investigation from there. In the meantime, Keith was eager to rest his head and relax.
He sat quietly in a chair by the crackling fire. The fire was warm and pleasant, lighting up a good portion of the room. Robin was nearby sewing up patches on the latest holes of Sebastian's pants. While Sebastian was reading a book on the ground.
Keith broke the silence, "Sebastian, have you been practicing like I asked?"
Sebastian eagerly got up from the ground, "Yeah dad! Watch!"
He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to show his bare arm. While making a fist it was clear that Sebastian was focusing very hard on his wrist. A bone slowly began to poke through the skin to form a spike.
"Very good, keep that up and you could be almost as fast as I am," Keith replied lifting up his own wrist to have a bone spike come out twice as fast.
"No transformations in the house, how many times do I have to tell the two of you," Robin shouted.
"The boy needs to practice. It's as my father used to tell me. Aufschub bringt Gefahr."
Robin raised an eyebrow, not able to understand a word he had just said.
"I would rather him learn how to use his powers and strengthen them now because we don't know what could happen down the line."
Robin was quiet as was Sebastian. However, Keith sat there with a smile on his face as he soaked in the moment.
The following afternoon, Keith was on patrol alongside Emilee. They were scouting the area within the city to see if there were any signs and hints that they could pick up. Luca and Oscar had approached them with the latest report.
"Keith, glad we found you," Luca proclaimed.
"What do you have for me?"
"Does anybody in our squad care about titles other than me!" Emilee shouted in annoyance.
The three of them turned to her for a brief moment and then proceeded to ignore her comment.
"We can confirm that James Vanderwald is a distributor of Clouded. We have reports coming in from various eye witnesses as well as people who have been detained claiming that he was the one who gave it to them."
"Excellent, we will go to his house with the proper paperwork and arrest him. Once locked up, we'll question him, get out answers, and go from there. Good work, both of you. I want you to continue your patrol and see if there is any further evidence or possibly any other distributors."
"You're the boss!" Luca proclaimed as he began to walk with his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner.
"So what are we going to do?" Emilee questioned.
"You are going to go check the place out. Don't interfere just observe. I want you and Mia on that."
"And what do you plan on doing?"
"Something tells me that it isn't just Vanderwald's doing. I have a sneaky suspicion that this is a little deeper than we may have originally thought?"
Emilee turned and questioned him.
"Clouded has been around for some time. But most of the reports in previous years have been from residents of the Underground or someone involved with the Underground in some sort of way. Now, there are more reports from people with no connections to the Underground at all. I'm thinking that Vanderwald is just a supplier and not the source."
"So you're going to the Underground to check things out yourself," Emilee pieced everything together.
"Precisely."
"It's risky," she commented.
"Yeah, but that's what makes it fun and worthwhile," he said with a smile.
That evening, Keith made the trek down the steps into the Underground. In all of his years living within the walls, this was his first time viewing it himself. He calmly walked down the dark stairwell dressed in his casual attire. He dressed in the same manner he would have back in his days within the circus on a mission. A dark black hooded cloak concealed most of his face as he wore all black clothes. He made sure he had his gun in a holster to at least have something to defend himself with without relying on his powers.
He was greeted by an older gentleman. His grin showed signs of missing teeth and his face appeared to be cracked due to age.
"If you want to go any further, you must pay the toll." He held out his weathered hand waiting for the change.
Keith grimaced at the idea of a toll both. He reached down into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The old man still held his hand out and waited for the change. Keith proceeded to look for the change needed to get through and handed it to the old man.
It wasn't much farther until he had reached the city. There were a few people walking about. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. It was just an average city designed long ago. A few people sat in the street and watched Keith as he walked by.
In an area such as this, Keith had no idea where he was going to start. In a situation like this he remembered the steps his parents taught him during their missions together.
He whispered them to himself, "If you don't know who or where you target is, let them come to you and show you."
Keith waited for something by leaning up against a wall and smoked his cigarette. He watched the various people interacting with one another, going about their evening business as per usual. Eventually, there were two people who caught Keith's eye. One of them carried a larger rifle on his back while the other had a small bag. The man passed the bag and he received something in return.
"Find the target," Keith whispered. "Follow the target and stay out of range."
He threw his cigarette to the ground and began to follow the man who had the bag and the gun. He made sure he kept his distance and was quiet. In this situation, it was like a flick of a switch in Keith. It was feeling he had long forgotten.
Old instincts were kicking in after many years. He was light on his feet and quiet, not making a sound at each step. His focus was well maintained as his eyes were fixated on the man. If anyone were to see the expression in his eyes, they would be intimidated by him. The eyes weren't the same joyful carefree eyes. They were the eyes of a predator.
Keith followed the man down an alleyway. This was a bad sign for Keith. If he were to continue down the same alley then the man would catch on that he was being followed. Instead of continuing further, Keith used the walls of the alley to jump onto a rooftop and continue. He was able to get a bird's eye view that way and see if the man interacted with anyone else.
He waited on a rooftop as he watched the man enter a building. The building appeared to be a housing complex of some sort. Keith analyzed the area and determined that there were many people living within each house. Nothing seemed too far out of the ordinary. He waited and watched for any signs.
After about an hour or so, he determined that the man lived alone. The man left the house with the bag and the gun. Keith decided to leave him to his business.
"Let them go, gather information on you target, and gain the upper hand," he whispered.
He jumped down from the roof and approached the house once the coast was clear. As to be expected the door was locked. He reached into the sleeve of his jacket and pulled out his small lock picking tools. Once the door was unlocked he was able to take a look inside and find out more on his target.
The house was a normal house, nothing was out of the ordinary. It was something to be expected. Just an average house. Keith walked through and began to examine various items making sure he kept his black gloves on. He picked up a painted picture of the man and a young girl. Although, upon further inspection Keith learned that there was no little girl present within the house. Normally Keith would be saddened at the thought, but his mind was too focused on the task at hand.
He began to flip through the drawers of a desk and came across a letter. All that was written was, "I will never forgive you" in dark ink. Keith threw the piece of paper back and continued his search. He found a smile vile of Clouded within the desk. Keith's intuition had proven correct with the assumption of the man's involvement. He pocketed the drug and left the house. He decided that his best option was to locate the target and continue from there. Right away he learned that he had a family and the family was gone. Most likely it was the cause of his involvement with the creators of the drug that had driven the family apart. Although, due to the minimal furnishing it seemed that the man didn't have much as was willing to do anything to either make money or get his family back.
"Be prepared and begin the hunt," Keith whispered as he ran and climbed his way back onto the roof.
He ran across each rooftop in the direction that he saw the man go. Once he reached an opening he scanned the area to assess the situation and determine where he could have gone. He jumped down to the ground and adjusted his cloak. Once on the ground he began to walk around the area and observed once again to try and catch the scent of his prey.
"You look like a man who'd be willing to help a gal out," came a crackling voice from behind him.
An older woman stood before him. She held an unlit cigarette in her hand and gave Keith a devilish grin. Keith complied with the woman and lit it for her. He didn't say a word to her and just kept to himself.
"You're not from Panthera are you?" she questioned.
Keith turned to her and questioned her.
"You know, the big dogs. The ones who've been causing a lot of trouble. The biggest crime syndicate the Underground has seen in a long time. You must be if you're going around dressed like that. If you ask me, you lot should take things down a notch. Listen, you should tell your boss to calm down otherwise everything is just going to blow up in his face. He thinks he is all that, because he took over the Jackal's warehouse."
Keith continued to keep silent as he watched where she was gesturing. He turned away and ignored the rest of the conversation. The woman called out to him but he ignored her and calmly walked towards the warehouse.
The warehouse was fairly small, but to be expected. It was fenced in with two guards at the front. They were armed and alert. Keith waited in the shadows.
"Don't risk being exposed. Distract to get past or strike for fun. And a Crovus likes to have fun," he said with a sadistic grin coming over his face.
Keith gripped onto the handle of his gun and pulled it out. He pointed it at one of the guards. A large part of him wanted to shoot and kill the man and the thought of it made him smile a little more. Growing up with the Crovus Clan and being exposed to their ways had turned Keith into someone with a sadistic side. As a child he grew accustomed to injuring people and even killing them at a young age. The thrill of the blood on his hands would excite him. During his days within the circus, he used the same methods on higher risk missions that the Crovus Clan would provide them. Keith followed the steps and procedures of a full-fledged assassin. Although his parent's didn't want Keith to be exposed to such evil acts, they had to do it for the sake of all of their safety.
However, as Keith grew up and away from the Crovus Clan, he began to grow conflicted. He was no longer the assassin that he was growing up to be. He had begun to see himself as a weapon or a monster. He didn't want to be around people and kept himself secluded. However, Lucas had brought his walls down and Keith began to change into the person that he is now. It was a constant struggle for Keith as he would undergo the circus' jobs from the Crovus Clan. Each time he would slip into what he called his "other self". He hated what it was and what it was doing to him. He tried his hardest to keep it within him and not let it surface.
He had a similar sensation during his fight with Nicholas long ago. Seeing the blood spill out reminded him of those days long ago. The blood that came from his hands. The same went for the encounter with Jack. Although they were like brothers to him, there was a small part of him that had always wanted to do that to them. He rather enjoyed the color red that spilled from them.
However, after the incidents Keith had forced himself to contain that other part of him for good. He kept himself out of situations that would cause him to slip into that mindset, refusing operations and missions. Although, the stress of his recent duties on the shoreline and the fight he had had with Xavier had caused his mind to revert into the old ways. He fought hard to keep that part of him in check. But as each day went on he could feel it slipping out. He didn't want to be that person anymore, and yet it was still a part of him.
He quickly turned his gun and fired it at the torch that was near the gate going against the voice inside his head coaxing him to shoot the man. The men began to move away from the gate with their weapons at the ready. The two of them split off with one of them coming closer to Keith. Keith was quick to pull the man into the shadows and cover his mouth. He quickly snapped his neck enough to put the man asleep. With the other one not near the gate, Keith made a run for it.
He leapt over the gate and darted towards the warehouse. He shook his head to snap out of his mindset. He firmly gripped the gun and calmed himself as he could feel his heart beating. He kept himself together at the realization that he was close to snapping the man's neck fully.
He watched as he began to refocus on his mission putting the gun back into the holster and looking for a way inside. Once inside he was able to hide behind some large canisters. There he was able to hide near an empty room as four people approached. He closed his eyes and listened, taking in the moment once more.
"Excellent work. I'm glad you were able to get the stuff."
"It was hard but I managed to make it work."
"Here is your payment. Let's move out."
"Thank you sir."
Keith narrowed down the sounds. He could make out three sets of footsteps walking by. That indicated that one stayed behind. Using a nearby reflection of one of the metallic surfaces, he was able to identify the man as the one he had been following. The bag he held was gone and he was currently counting a stack of cash. He began to walk away which prompted Keith to strike.
"Isolate the prey and go in for the kill."
Keith sprung out from behind the canister and grabbed a hold of the man. He kept one hand over his mouth preventing him from screaming with another holding a knife to his throat. A part of Keith wanted to slit his throat and get it done and over with, but there was a part of him that stopped it. He could hear a small voice in his head. It wasn't just any voice. It was the voice of his son. The urge to kill the man died down as he threw him into the empty room and closed the door.
"Wh-what do you want!" he called out to Keith.
"I don't want to hurt you."
"Please just let me go, I'll do anything!"
"What business do you have here?"
"Huh!"
Keith repeated himself.
"I'm a transporter. Look I'm not wanting any trouble, please! I just do what I'm told. It's not like I want to transport drugs!"
"And is that what you're daughter wants?"
The man looked stunned. "How?"
"Tell me who you deliver to."
"Please just let me go. I don't want to do this anymore! I just want this all to end."
"I'm not going to ask you again," Keith lowered his voice.
"Vanderwald, James Vanderwald. He works with his father in a shoe maker shop on the surface," the man cried out.
"And now the cat's out of the bag," Keith quietly said with a smile as a small moment of relief came over him for completing his mission.
He left the man to whimper in the room and made his way out of the warehouse. Getting out was easier than getting in as he didn't care if he was seen. He quickly made for a mad dash through the gate and down the alley. Gun fire could be heard as the guards were shooting at him for intruding. He sprinted as fast as he could back above the surface. He even went as far as to bypass the toll booth. With the information that was collected he was able to start a full investigation on James Vanderwald.
The following day, Keith had ordered Mia and Emilee to undergo the investigation. He waited for their return in his office. When they arrived to report in he was eager to hear what they had to say.
"So what do you have for me," he asked with a small smile.
However the expressions on their faces told him that the news was not good.
"We arrived at the shop to find James Vanderwald dead," Emilee began.
"We believe that this is the doing of Panthera. It appears that word had gotten out of his involvement. They decided to take it upon themselves to take out the problem. His father, Jacob, had money stolen from his shop in the process," Mia reported.
"It seemed that killing his son didn't suffice," Emilee added.
"Something doesn't feel right. My guess is that there is something else going on in the matter. I want you to bring Jacob in for questioning. Start off with basic questions not mentioning anything about the drug and Panthera. See what he says and assess the situation from there," Keith ordered.
Emilee saluted while Mia nodded in response. The two left Keith to his work as he compiled the information he knew and what he was looking for. Before they walked out Mia turned back.
"You should know. When we arrived at the scene, your wife and sister were there tending to Jacob."
Keith groaned at the idea that the two of them were now involved with everything. Knowing them, they were hot-headed, stubborn women who had a large sense of right and wrong.
When Keith returned home, he was welcomed to Lana and his niece and nephew. He knew that there was no way he was going to be able to avoid questions about the incident that had taken place earlier that day. He tried to remain quiet as he let the stress of his work get the best of him. He was still tired and exhausted not letting himself rest fully. He decided to bite the bullet out of hours of not saying anything.
"So I heard that they two of you saved a man," he openly started the discussion.
"I wouldn't call it save, we simply just helped him from bleeding out," Robin chimed with a small smile.
"Either way, he lives," he replied with a cold undertone.
"Do you know why he was attacked to begin with?" Lana asked.
Keith knew both of them too well. He didn't want to share too much information because he knew that they would go off on their own.
"We are still going through the questioning process but as far as I can tell it involves a syndicate from the Underground. From what we can tell, they call themselves Panthera."
"So what are you going to do? You plan on doing something I presume," Robin was wondering.
"The Underground is out of our military jurisdiction you know that."
"So you're just going to let them get away with what they did?" Robin angrily shouted.
"I've said it once and I'm going to say it again. Panthera is part of the Underground out of our jurisdiction therefore out of our hands. Unless Historia wants us to get involved then we will."
"I can't believe you."
"What do you expect me to do? From what we know, Panthera is a ruthless organization. This is what they do. If they were regular citizens above ground then I can legally go in full force. But because they are an Underground organization we can't do anything. Especially right now. We can't put ourselves at the risk and go up against them."
"What are you talking about? You are the Military Police Brigade," Lana raised her voice.
"You know what, forget it. Forget I said any of this. You two shouldn't be getting yourselves involved in any of this to begin with. This conversation is over," Keith responded sternly and loudly.
He got up from his seat and stormed out of the house. He was letting the stress get the best of him. He knew at this point that nothing he was going to say was going to make matters any better.
He stood outside in the cold night air with a cigarette in his hand. The door creaked open and Sebastian stepped out. His bright blue eyes looked up at him concerned for Keith's well-being. Keith immediately put out the cigarette and addressed his son.
"Dad are you mad?" he quietly asked.
"Mad no. I'm just a little frustrated at your mother and aunt."
"Why?" Sebastian questioned.
"Seb, let me tell you a little something about the two of them. They are both very driven people. Once they have their hearts set on something they will stop at nothing to get there. I just don't want to see them get hurt. I love them too much to let that happen."
"So you're not mad?"
"Come here you little squirt," Keith chuckled and pulled Sebastian to tussle his hair.
Sebastian laughed and tried to push him away. "Dad I'm not little anymore!"
"You'll always be little to me. When you can transform into a titan bigger than me, then I will stop calling you squirt. Deal?"
"DEAL!"
Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary when Keith returned inside. The three of them carried out the conversation as if nothing had happened. The talk with Sebastian had helped calm Keith down enough to regroup his emotions.
The following day Keith had gone to work like normal. He performed his regular duties alongside the Commander while his squad carried out the investigation. When they returned with a report they had learned that Jacob Vanderwald was involved in Panthera alongside his son James. Jacob had admitted to being a supplier of various materials that were used to make the drug. He had the connection to gather up the chemicals and other ingredients. Meanwhile, James was a distributor of the drug. Jacob would give the supplies which would come back to James to sell. However, James had started pocketing the money for himself. When the leader of Panthera found out, that was when he struck. He killed James and took Jacob's money to compensate. They spared his life, killing James as a warning to Jacob.
After confessing, Jacob was going to be locked up in prison. His sentence was up to fifteen years in prison for his involvement.
It was a long day as Keith had passed out in his office. He was reviewing the latest technological advancement that they had hoped to have competed within the next year. As he laid his head on the schematics drooling all over them, a soldier had swung the door open. The abruptness was enough wake Keith up from his sleep and see the intruder. He grabbed his glasses to see Luca standing before him with a concerned look on his face.
"Boss, you don't look so good," Luca proclaimed, "Anyways, I have urgent news to report in. I have already reported to the Commander."
"Alright!" Keith gestured for him to continue.
"The armory was broken into. Our patrol team stationed there reported that a canister was thrown and shot at. The shot caused it to explode."
"Do you have a description of the perpetrators?"
"No, it seemed like they knew exactly what to do and when to hit."
"Like an inside job," Keith said to himself. "What was taken?"
"A rifle, a couple of knives, two revolvers, ammunition for said revolvers."
"Ok so nothing too major that we need a heavy team."
"Not exactly. One of the items that was taken was one of the vertical maneuvering devices from the old anti-personnel squad."
"You're kidding me!" Keith slammed his hand on the desk.
Luca shook his head in response indicating that his words were no joke. Keith immediately had an idea as to who was behind the robbery. There was one person he knew that knew the armory like the back of their hand. The other person knew how to get passed people without getting noticed and how to use the new v.m.d. Keith had a bit of a laugh to himself thinking of the situation. No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't convince the two of them to not get themselves involved in the situation.
Luca stood before him confused. He waited for his orders.
"I have a feeling I know who might be behind this," Keith commented rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I want you and a squad of six people to wait by the main Underground entrance. I have a feeling that the culprits went down that way and will be back up. Remain there until they either turn up or until I say so."
"You got it!" Luca said with a bit of excitement in his voice.
Keith was not looking forward to seeing Lana and Robin behind bars. But he knew that was exactly what was going to happen. The two of them broke the law and there was nothing he could really do about it. He decided that the best approach was to dig up old files on the two of them that were kept in the discharged soldiers file. His next approach was to contact the Survey Corps and let Levi know what was going on.
While he waited for their return Keith took a look at the schematics on his desk. Commander Nile had already approved of the work to be done with the involvement of the military. It was Keith responsibility to come up with a strategy and training procedure. The schematics that were on his desk were naval vessels.
People within the walls had experience with ships, but at a much smaller scale. Keith was one of the very few who had the experience with a vessel designs for the sea. Although Keith himself did not know exactly what he was doing, he at least knew where to start.
A few months ago, a ship from Marley was retrieved. It was studied and it was taken apart. This allowed those on Paradis to find out what to do to make a ship make the trip across the ocean. With the information they were able to start building warships of their very own.
Keith vigorously wrote down all that he could remember with handling the ship while sailing. It had been thirteen years since the last time he had been on one, but he was able to remember key parts and procedures. His eyes were growing tired the more he wrote and he found himself asleep on his desk once more.
The following morning, Luca once again barged into his office to report in. He startled Keith, this time experiencing Keith's powers first hand. The surprise had caused Keith to react in such a way that caused his bone spikes to pierce through his uniform. As he calmed himself down, Luca explained to Keith that it was in fact Lana and Robin who had been the culprits. They were currently under arrest along with the boss of Panthera.
"You have got to be kidding me, they actually managed to capture the boss!" Keith proclaimed.
"Yeah, I have a team down in the Underground right now investigating this warehouse where they said they got him. So far there are no reports on any casualties. It seems that the two of them were playing vigilante. They even managed to follow the proper procedures aside from breaking and entering."
Keith rubbed his face in frustration at the new thing that had been piled on him.
For the next few days, Keith worked up a report from Luca and the rest of his team. It was confirmed that there were several containers of the illegal Clouded drug within the warehouse. All materials were confiscated and all involved were arrested. The current sentences for those involved was to be determined. However, the questioned remained was what would happen to Robin and Lana.
Due to their crime they could not go without receiving some sort of punishment. Keith did all in his power to lessen the blow as much as he could. He dug through all of the reports of their past to bring into the light. With the help of Levi bringing Lana's file, he was able to come up with valuable information that would prove that they meant no harm. He even went as far as to state that the two of them had proven that their security needed upgrading. Keith spoke in front of the officials alongside Levi and a decision was to be made.
After a couple of days of working on trying to get them free, along with his own duties, and the small responsibilities given to him by the Queen, he was finally able to make the trip to the cells. Here he would be able to confront the two of them and inform them of the situation. The closer he got to the cells the angrier he seemed to get. It was reminding them of how stupid they acted and how all of this could have been prevented. He felt more stressed out than ever before and he put the blame on them.
He and Levi stood before their cells. They each didn't want to look at their husbands. They knew exactly what was going to come to them. They waited to hear what was to be said as Keith and Levi did nothing more but stand in silence.
With a deep breath, Keith finally said what was on his mind. "What were you thinking," Keith began, "I told you not to get involved and now look at you. Look at what you've done. Do you not realize the consequences of your actions? The recklessness! What would have happened if you wound up dead? Did you even take a second to think about the kids! The thought of them losing their mother! I can't believe you both would go behind my back and do this after I specifically told you not to." His voice was getting louder and louder at each passing word.
Levi glanced over to him and raised a brow in response. It was clear to him that Keith was losing control over himself.
"What we did was get the guy's money back and take down a crime lord," Lana answered back.
"What you did was irresponsible," Levi scolded.
Keith was relieved that Levi at least understood the severity of the situation.
Robin got closer to the door of her cell and grabbed onto the bars. She stared into Keith's eyes as they were filled with anger. "Irresponsible as it may be, we stopped people from causing more damage. Something that you couldn't do."
"Do you really think we were sitting on our asses doing nothing!?" Keith shouted. He took in a deep breath and continued in a more calm and yet stern voice, "Let me tell you something. That man that you supposedly got the money back for, was a supplier. That man was providing them with materials they needed to make that drug. In return they gave him a portion of the proceeds. His son, was one of the distributors of the drug. During our investigations of the drug induced incidents we learned that. We also learned that the son was putting a good portion of the money in his own pocket. That's why Panthera went after them. We were planning on taking Panthera down ourselves. We were going to have people get them from the inside out."
"Why didn't you tell us this from the beginning," Robin shouted slamming herself up against the bars.
"Because I thought that if I told you any of that then you would do something to try and help. But clearly I was wrong either way."
Keith could feel the blood boil within him but he did his best to keep himself calm.
"Alright, so what happens now?" Lana asked.
"Right now you are being withheld for stealing the maneuvering gear and guns," Keith answered.
Levi leaned up against a wall, "It appears that the court may be in your favor."
"How so?" Lana asked walking up to the bars.
"It seems that Panthera had held some sort of authority within the Underground. Now that they have been disbanded, various people have turned themselves in. The ways of the Underworld are unbalanced right now and there are some criminals who see as turning themselves in as being the best option rather than trying to restore the power. Plus there was the control that Panthera had on certain families on the surface."
It was clear to Keith that Levi knew a little more than he had originally let on. He was quite surprised as to how knowledgeable Levi was.
"On top of that, the notorious drug has been confiscated. Not to mention the fact that we learned that we need to upgrade our security procedures. You did everything in one night with no casualties. We are able to question these men and figure out how big this network really is." Keith stated with a sigh. "You are both very lucky. If it weren't for your previous records and involvement with the military you would have been locked up for ten years. You will only have to be locked up for a few more days. Afterwards you are free to go home. Just promise me that you'll let us handle it next time. The court recognized your methods and procedures as part of standard military protocol. Aside from the stealing, everything seemed to be by the book."
"You can take the soldier out of the fight, but you can't take the fight out of the soldier," Lana chimed with a grin.
"Once a soldier always a soldier is what I always say," Robin relaxed a little.
He was glad that everything was over for now. The two of them would return home to their families. It was obvious to Keith that no matter what he could have said or done, there was no way of changing their minds. The moment that the two of them had gotten involved, they were hooked and determined to do what they felt right. It's what makes them who they are and that's what Keith loves the most about them. They were fighters, they could go through hell and still come back with a smile. Keith wondered if that's how he was. With things the way they were going he began to feel like he wasn't much like himself anymore. Lately he was high strung and angry. He wondered if it was just because of his work, but he started to believe if there may have been an underlying cause to all of it. Just a few days ago a part of him he kept locked up had resurfaced again, and the thought of it scared him.