When the old man sat down across from him, Levi was prepared to offer his soul. Whatever was required, he'd pay it. Not for himself, but for her. The image of Petra standing on a scaffold, rope tied around her delicate neck, and the awful ka-thunk of the trap door falling open beneath her feet and dropping her into a sharp plunge with a snap at the end of it had wiped away his pride. As a thug in the underground, Levi had always had it in the back of his mind that one day the Military Police would catch up with him. That one day, he'd have his date with the hangman. He'd always been prepared for that eventuality, even after he'd gone topside and been deemed Humanity's Strongest.
But Petra Ral had not been born merely to die at the end of a noose. He'd make sure of it.
"So," Lord Siegfried said as he gruntingly settled his ass into a chair. A steel gray eyebrow raised.
"What can this lord business do for me?" Levi's hands were clasped; the manacles at his wrists chafed a little, but he didn't want those MP shitstains to notice. Everyone in this room was looking at him with wrinkled noses, like he smelled foul. Fuckers.
"Beg pardon?"
"If I get the title, or am next in line, I know it probably won't save my life. Even though you rich assh…guys…are good at getting out of bad situations, that's not what I want. If I murdered someone, I ought to pay for it." Even if that someone had been a fucking rapist. Levi clenched his jaw. "But the girl who's involved, she's completely innocent. What can the Morgenstern title do for her?"
Siegfried blinked, and stroked an idle thumb along his chin, over and over again. The seconds drained away. Levi was starting to feel punchy.
"I believe Karl Morgenstern's removal from this world to be nothing but a benefit," Siegfried said, his voice light. Levi huffed out in relief. Privately, he'd been afraid the guy was going to be sore about this.
"So."
"And I would expect nothing less of you than his murder. After all." Here, the lord gave a slow, creeping smile. "You are some underground whore's bastard get."
With that, the lord rose, his eyes boring into Levi's.
"I take it you're not gonna help me, then?" he growled.
"I should sooner slit my own wrists." Siegfried sniffed. "Vulgar, criminal filth."
And the man waltzed right out the door and back into his party. Levi sat back in the chair, working his jaw. Probably shouldn't have expected anything else; after all, the man's hatred of his nephew aside, they were still family. But something rang false inside of Levi's gut, the sense that he had missed something much earlier than this.
And there was something…happy…in the way Levi felt now. He owed these Morgenstern shits nothing. Expected nothing from them.
It was a bit like getting out of prison, even if he was physically nearer to it than ever before.
The MPs continued to watch Levi from their positions all around the room. Seven men altogether, all wearing blank expressions…but Levi wasn't fooled. Whenever he coughed, or raised his bound hands to itch at his nose, they'd jerk forward as if goosed by lightning. They were on edge, these pigs.
Even though they were all technically on the same side now, Levi would always draw a line between himself and the MPs. He had spent his life running from them. Apparently he'd been born in a jail cell, his pregnant mother cuffed and thrown in there as part of a systematic raid on the whorehouse; occasionally the MPs would flaunt the crown's virtue by making a show of locking up "degenerates" like Kuchel and the other prostitutes. They'd let the women out after a few days, of course, usually after they'd had their way with some of them. But that's where Levi had drawn his first breath: in some shitty cell, Kuchel probably weeping with the pain, no doctor coming to help her.
No. No, he would always hate these pigs for that.
The door opened again, and Levi instantly recognized the tall, blond man.
"Erwin," he breathed. An almost childlike relief, coupled with a deep sense of shame clashed within him. Levi turned his face away and studied the weave of the carpet as Erwin sat down opposite him. "Sorry," he muttered through clenched teeth. "I fucked up."
"It would appear so." No malice in the Commander's voice. No reprimand. No disappointment. Merely that thoughtful, rumbling baritone stating the facts as they presented themselves. Levi couldn't bear to look up.
"Listen. I know I'm going to swing for this, but Petra." Only the girl could force Levi to look up at the man—the god—he'd disappointed. Erwin's clear, direct gaze met his. There was nothing so human as reproach or confusion in the Commander's eyes. "She's the victim here. Don't let them—"
"I will do everything in my power to secure her release, Levi. You should know that." There. The tiniest disappointment, the first crack in the marble. Erwin was not angry that Levi had stomped a man to fucking death; no, he was hurt that Levi had assumed he would need to instruct Erwin in anything at all. Idiot. Levi was a fool.
He narrowed his eyes. "That's the only part of this I regret. Her involvement."
"I told you once never to regret anything."
"Tonight I'm not sure any human can really do that."
"I can."
"Like I said." Small smirk. "Any human."
The touch of a smile from Erwin now. Levi did not have much to be proud of, but he had always prided himself on the ability to loosen the Commander up. Didn't make much sense, the least charismatic, funny man in the entire Corps lightening Erwin up. Then again, nothing in this damn world made sense.
What he wouldn't give to be just the two of them in Erwin's office or chamber now, sharing some tea, discussing the flaws in the new recruits, discussing the new strategy. Sometimes, when he was tired, Erwin might go off about some book he had read, some new idea that was bumping at the edges of his mind. Levi would never have anything to contribute, but listening to the quiet, oiled churning of that mind always soothed him. It was like his mother's voice singing him to sleep, or Kenny sitting at the kitchen table and drinking while Levi lay in bed. The idea that someone was protecting him, that was the sense he got from watching Erwin at work. Levi had little experience of that blissful state.
"I'm sorry I have to leave you shorthanded." Levi's stomach soured. "Sorry I can't be there when you save humanity, bring all the titans to heel."
"There is no salvation without you, Levi." Erwin did not seem panicked, or particularly concerned. Again, those freaking enormous eyebrows knit, and those blue eyes of his patiently scrutinized Levi. "Are you so determined to go to the gallows, then?"
"I killed him, Erwin. Didn't mean to, but I did. The Morgensterns aren't going to help." Erwin said nothing, but his breathing changed. "Fuck them anyway, I don't want it. But without them, you can't get me out of here. Not without fucking yourself over in some way."
"Whatever happened to that man I met in the underground? The one who stole from the merchants, leapt through windows, flew through the air? The man who thumbed his nose at authority?"
Levi sniffed. "You tamed him, I guess."
"No one can ever tame you, Levi. Not any man living."
Maybe a woman…
Levi let that idea fall. He'd ruined everything for her already. She'd seen him as he truly was, and her girlish affection had evaporated. It was a relief, really. If he could save Petra's life, she'd be free of him forever.
"You telling me to run, Erwin? Sure these kids would love to give me a chase." The two men glanced about the room. The MPs looked ready to piss themselves. Beautiful sight.
"No. No, you're quite right, actually." Erwin laced his fingers together. "You must be brought to answer for your crimes."
"Yeah." He frowned. "But not Petra. Like I said, she's the victim."
"Indeed. Both Lord Karl's and yours, if I'm not mistaken." Erwin nodded. "Shame. That poor girl. First she's assaulted by that reprobate, then she must stand by and watch you resort to your old, base instincts."
Fuck, he didn't have to rub it in that hard, did he?
Levi grunted in acknowledgement, and Erwin continued.
"After all, to beat a man is one thing. But to stab him to death?" Erwin clucked his tongue. "You haven't used your knife on a man in some time. It showed."
Levi blinked. Something snagged in his brain, realigned itself.
"Stabbed?"
At least they'd buttoned up the back of her dress. Now Petra sat in a room with three Military Police, rubbing at her bare arms to get some warmth back. No one offered a jacket, or anything like a hot drink. The three men regarded her with looks pitched somewhere between lustful interest and derision.
After all, she'd been implicated in a murder. And a nobleman's murder at that.
"Whore" someone had breathed as he passed her by. Petra felt fury rising within her, but said nothing. She was too damn tired, and sore, and…miserable.
She'd watched the captain turn into a monster. When Karl had had her on her back, prepared to violate her, she'd prayed that someone would find them and kill the bastard. But those idle wishes changed once she saw her prayers realized.
His face. Levi's face, usually so stoic, had morphed into something alive and fiendish. His gray eyes lightening, his teeth clenched, he'd never looked happier.
He'd enjoyed beating that man to death. And even though it had been on her behalf, to avenge her—and Petra was intensely grateful for that, always would be—remembering that look made her want to vomit.
The door opened, and Petra gave a cry of relief as the guys from her squad shuffled in. The MPs didn't move to stop her as she stood and flung herself forward. No one was worried she'd make a run for it.
"Petra." Eld embraced her, then held her at arm's length and studied her. His jaw tightened with what he found, and he looked away. Eld had always been the type to put duty above everything else, to repress his emotions in order to get the job done—rather like the captain. But Petra's bruises had apparently shaken that resolve.
Gunther was next, a quick hug and a small kiss on the crown of her head. Then Oruo, who'd been the one to find her and hold onto her in that room, with the captain and Lord Karl and all the blood…
"What's going on?" Petra sniffed; she wasn't going to cry in front of the guys. She refused.
"I think the Commander believes he can get you out of this." Eld closed his eyes. "But the captain's another story."
No. No. Fear gripped her. Even if Levi had…changed…in her eyes now, Petra instantly rushed to defend him. He was a hero…of a certain kind, at least. If these fancy, stupid people from the interior wanted to hang him for rescuing her from a beast, then they deserved to be eaten by titans, the whole lot of them.
"He went too far with the kicking, I know. But he did it to protect me." She swallowed. "He got carried away."
"So carried away that he stabbed the guy to death?" Gunther sighed, rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe they could've bought that story if the captain had just kicked him to death, but grabbing a damn letter opener off the desk and using it—"
Petra blinked. "Excuse me?"
The guys stilled. Petra watched as glances darted between the three of them, and it made her angry. She hated being on the outside of anything.
"They found the bloody letter opener next to the body. He'd been stabbed four or five times in the chest." Eld tilted his head. "That makes it cold-blooded murder."
"That's impossible. At least, impossible for the captain to have done it." None of this was making sense. Petra shook her head. "I saw the whole thing." She recalled, then, the opener whittled from bone on the desk. "He never went near the desk, and he never got a weapon. Wait. Someone stabbed Karl?"
Silence. The four of them made a tight little circle in the room, much as they did when discussing the captain's strategies. Them against the world.
"I didn't see anything when I came in." Oruo sniffed; sounded like he'd been on the verge of tears. "I…I can't say either way."
"I can." Petra turned to Eld and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Something's going on around here. I know the captain didn't do…that."
"But there's no way to prove it, other than your word." Eld frowned. "And they won't buy that."
Damn. Damn. Petra wanted to scream, beat her fists against something, swear and break a damn window or some furniture. Her teeth clenched. The captain. She had to protect him, save him from the vultures circling overhead. Someone had set him up. But who? And why?
She thought it through. She had seen the captain strike that bastard MP who'd held her down. The man had been unconscious for all the rest of Karl Morgenstern's ordeal. That left only her, and Karl, and…
"Oh." Petra's eyes widened. "I think…I think someone else might have seen the whole thing."
The three again shot a look amongst themselves.
"Who?" Gunther whispered.
"So." Erwin nodded.
"So." Levi blinked.
They had sat in absolute silence for the past minute. Stabbed. So. Karl Morgenstern had been stabbed.
And Levi knew for a damn fact he had not been the one to do the stabbing.
That created a whole new set of wrinkles, didn't it?
Erwin and Levi had sat in silence, but Levi had felt that invisible thread between them tighten. They were both thinking the same, goading one another toward the same conclusion.
"I should go and see Petra." The Commander stood. "She'll be two doors down, I think."
"Ah. Say hi for me."
"Certainly."
Erwin's blink indicated that they understood one another. He left, and Levi remained behind with these seven little boys looking ready to piss themselves in fear. The clock ticked. Levi shifted in his seat, his chained wrists rattling with the effort.
He scanned the room, and picked out the smallest guy among the MPs.
"Excuse me. Can I ask you a question?" Levi said. The guy turned eyes to him.
"S-Sure."
A pregnant pause. The silence in the room became sharp, dagger-like.
"How much do you weigh?"
Several bewildered glances fluttered this way and that.
"Um. Hundred and sixty? I think?"
"Nice. Okay." Levi kicked back, jerked his chin. "Nice jacket. I really like the blue cuffs."
"Th-thanks."
Again, they sat in that ever-sharpening silence.
"You're sure about this, Petra?" Eld whispered. She was practically bouncing on her heels.
"You have to find him. The captain never noticed him, so he'd have seen everything." Gregor. That bastard. She was so, so glad she hadn't knocked him unconscious. "At the very least, he can agree with what I saw. The captain never went near a weapon."
Someone was playing with Captain Levi's life, and she would not let it stand. Not while she still drew breath.
"Okay." Eld nodded slowly. Then, he smiled. "The Commander told us what to do."
Petra frowned. "Excuse me?"
Eld leaned closer and whispered. "He told us that if you said the captain hadn't stabbed anyone, that you should wait. Wait, and someone will come to get you soon."
Mystified, she nodded. "A-All right."
"It's gonna be okay, Pet." Gunther squeezed her elbow, and followed Eld out of the room. Oruo wavered, clearly searching for something to say. Then, giving up, he turned and followed the guys. Petra was left to sit here with these three men glaring at her, heart racing, trying to discern the truth of whatever had just happened.
Who was coming to get her? What was the Commander up to now?
Petra sat back down, and waited. And waited. Ten, twenty, thirty minutes passed, and she began to grow restless. She kicked her heels under her dress again and again. She did feel some relief; if the Commander was involved, there were more than a few moves they hadn't yet exhausted. No matter the circumstances, Erwin Smith always seemed capable of outmaneuvering his enemies. No wonder the captain trusted him so thoroughly.
The captain. Thoughts of him stirred a strange combination of emotions. He was her hero, the man who'd stormed in to avenge her; he was a beast, a creature that had caused pain for the sake of enjoyment. Her love was still there, but uncertain on its own feet. What was it that she loved, anyway? A phantom? Was she in love with the idea of the man, not him as he was?
Petra shook her head. She could worry about that much later, when Levi was set free. When these bastards knew that he hadn't stabbed Karl Morgenstern to death.
A flash of movement through the window caught Petra's eye. She turned in time to see some person hurtle towards them. Her mouth fell open as she leapt to her feet.
"Oh!" she cried as a limp body came crashing through the window, shattering the glass so that it rained onto the carpet. The body—a man in his shirtsleeves, without a jacket—rolled across the floor and then stopped. He was breathing, but unconscious. The MPs around her barked orders to one another, and screamed as another man appeared in the window.
Captain Levi.
Faster than she could think, Petra watched as the captain dove into the room. The MPs fumbled at belts for their weapons, but they shouldn't have bothered. Within instants, they were all on the ground, moaning with broken and bloody noses or bruised jaws. Petra stumbled to her feet as the captain turned to her.
He was dressed in a jacket with blue cuffs, she noticed. Not his.
"Tch. Are you ready?" He came to her, and Petra was too entranced by the wild light in his eyes to quail or shy away. He drew close to her. Petra felt weak with amazement; he'd literally thrown a man through a window, then incapacitated three others in a matter of seconds.
He's a beast, she remembered. But she could not be afraid of him.
He had sworn, after all, that he would never hurt her.
"Ready for what?" she murmured.
"Ready to run."
"They'll catch us."
"We won't run far. Trust me."
Trust him? Yes, with her life. Always. Petra felt entranced; there was nothing this man could ask that she would not do, it seemed. There was a light in those gray eyes of his now, something wild and alive as she'd never seen him before. Perhaps those rumors about Levi's past criminal life were true; perhaps there was a part of him that only awakened when there was a law to break.
The most principled and orderly man she'd ever met was also the most lawless. No wonder he excited her.
No wonder she feared him.
"Pick out which jacket you'd like." He gestured to the men rolling around on the ground. "I know it'll be big, but it's cold outside. Oh." He turned back to her. "And look for the guy with the smallest feet."
"What?"
"The boots." He nodded somberly. "We're gonna need to make tracks."