Author's Note: In this story, Eren is 19, Levi is 25, and the OC is 21. Thanks! Enjoy :)
"You seem pleased with yourself."
Captain Levi glared through the iron bars at the shadowy figure. The cement beneath his feet was webbed with hairlines. A dripping faucet echoed in his peripheral.
He was answered with a humorless chuckle.
Levi tightened his knuckles. "I take it everything went according to plan? The Scouts came to your beck-and-call like dogs?" he said.
The figure rose from the creaky mattress and stepped into the light. His eyes glinted goblin green. Dark tendrils spilled across his brow. He pressed his forehead to the bars.
"We've been through this, Captain," he said, lip curled.
"You're not gonna see her. I've sent her away to the interior."
"Liar. You wouldn't toss your only ace."
"There's plenty of other ways to make you talk." The hilt of a blade peeked through Levi's cloak.
Eren taunted him with a grin. "If you lack the balls to rip a couple fingernails, that's fine. You know what I want."
"She's out of the question." Levi strangled the hilt. There was a wink of silver. "I have no problem hacking off your limbs—they'll just grow back."
"Be my guest." Eren stretched his arm between the bars, wrist limp as though he were already bored. "Go on, hack it off."
Levi clenched his jaw hard enough to crack his teeth—Eren had called his bluff. He couldn't be touched without running the risk of a deadly Titan transformation. And harming him would defeat the purpose of locking him up in the first place.
Levi sheathed the blade. "Pff. Not even if you begged."
"Then the stalemate continues." Eren slinked back into the shadows. The mattress creaked.
Levi cursed under his breath. He didn't want to involve her. But his arsenal was slimming.
"Any luck?" Hange was stirring a sugar cube into a steaming cup.
Levi slumped into his chair. The desk was littered with battle reports and detailed maps. He hated the clutter. A saucer clinked in front of him followed by a porcelain cup with pink flowers. "Thanks."
Hange sank into a chair and folded her arms. "Would it really be that bad to send her in?"
Levi glared over the rim of his cup. "You know that's not how this works. We don't negotiate with prisoners."
"We don't negotiate with prisoners or we don't negotiate with Karma?" Hange nudged her glasses up her nose with raised brows.
"Neither."
"It's looking like our only option. He won't hurt her."
"We have no way of knowing that."
"If that's your only concern you can chaperone."
"He won't talk if I'm there. He's made it very clear he wants her alone."
"Have you talked to Karma? This isn't just your decision."
Levi slammed his cup on the saucer.
"I take that as a 'no,'" Hange said. "Would you like me to bring her in?"
Levi pinched the skin between his eyes. "Fine."
The door closed and reopened minutes later. Hange escorted a fairy-framed girl with a golden braid. She had honey-colored eyes curtained with long, dark lashes.
"You needed me for something, Captain?" Karma said, standing before his desk in salute.
"At ease." Levi waved his wrist. He hated this barrier of formality. "Take a seat."
Karma sat with her hands in her lap. Hange leaned against the wall and observed their interaction like they were some hybrid Titan species.
"It's about Eren." Levi took a long drink of tea, stalling to gather his nerves. "He wants to talk to you—alone."
"Me? Why?"
"Hell if I know. He isn't giving us much to work with."
"You think he'll tell me anything?"
"If we're lucky. And that's only if you're willing to do it."
"Of course I am. I'm not scared of Eren."
Levi half-smiled. That's what he was afraid she'd say, and yet hearing it come from her was oddly comforting. "Then we'll need to strategize. Hange, get us more tea."
"Right away, sir." The door closed behind her. Levi waited until her footsteps died down the hall.
He leaned over his forearms. "Listen, Karma. If it were up to me, you wouldn't be involved. I don't know what he's planning, but I know what he's capable of. You need to be on high alert."
"Alright."
"And squeeze out of him whatever you can—his plans, his motives, his next moves."
"Okay."
"Do I need to remind you to be careful?"
"It's alright, Captain. He won't hurt me."
"Don't count on that. He isn't the Eren we thought we knew."
"But I know him—"
"You don't. None of us do. He's dangerous, Karma. Don't trust him. I need you to promise me while you're in there you won't get near him. Keep a safe distance."
"Well, what if—"
"Promise me, Karma."
Karma hesitated. She tapped her fingers and watched the clock tick twice. "Okay. I promise."
Levi's shoulders deflated. His grip on the rim of his cup loosened. "Thank you. I'll escort you to the cell."
"Right now? Isn't Hange coming back with tea?"
"No. I just needed her gone."
"Why? She could've chimed in. This wasn't exactly ground-breaking strategizing."
"Hange sees this as an opportunity rather than a hurdle. Our strategies aren't compatible."
"What's her strategy?"
"Don't know, but I'm sure she wouldn't be opposed to you approaching the bars if it would get us answers. She might go so far as to lock you in the cell with him."
"Oh."
Levi's chair scooted from the desk. "Follow me."
They descended two staircases. Karma could feel the air shift when they made it underground. It was cool and dank and smelled stale like it'd been recycled.
A heavy, wooden door with wrought iron hinges separated the stairway from the cellar. Levi unlocked it and heaved it open.
The first thing Karma noticed was the persistent plink of dripping water. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out an empty room split in half by metal bars.
The hunched shadow behind the bars rose at their arrival. She heard a familiar chuckle, but it was deeper than she remembered with a sinister tinge.
"Karma." It was Eren's voice, but with that new darkness.
He stepped out of the shadows with his hands in his pockets. The pants were the only thing he was wearing. His chest was bare and broad and breathtaking. Karma strained to keep her eyes on his face, which was equally as stunning. When did that happen? She'd never paid his physical appearance much mind, but now it was the only thing on her mind.
She was starting to understand the Captain's concerns, but was no less tempted by Hange's strategy.
"Hey, Eren. It's been a while," she said.
"You can leave us now, Captain."
Levi's knuckles tightened on the door. His chest was barreled like he was holding his breath. "Not a finger, Yeager. She comes back to me in one piece."
"Yes to the second half." Eren smirked.
Levi bent to Karma's ear. "Keep your promise. I'll leave the door unlocked—I'm just up the stairs." He glared at Eren. "One hour."
"Karma is free to stay as long as she likes."
"One. Hour."
"Fine, we'll make do."
Levi's gaze lingered on Karma. She turned and offered an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, Captain." He nodded. The door closed behind him with a heavy clang. Then the room was starkly silent with the occasional plink.
"I knew you'd come eventually." Eren's voice was alluring. It echoed around her like fingers of steam. Karma had to keep her back pressed against the far wall to avoid drifting towards the sound.
His eyes had lost that rounded boyishness. They were narrowed, like he was persistently underwhelmed—yet another darker distortion of the Eren she knew. But it somehow made him all the more seductive.
"How'd you know?" Karma said, fingernails digging into lines of grout on the cool wall.
Eren raised his arm on the bars and pressed his forehead against it. Her eyes flickered to his elongated torso then back to his face. She'd floated an inch off the wall without even noticing.
"We can't have a real conversation like this. Come closer," he said.
Karma thumped back against the stone. "I'm fine where I am."
"True, but you're even more fine up close."
Blush blossomed across her cheeks and neck. She cleared her throat. "Is there a reason you asked for me?"
"Of course."
"Well what is it? The hell are you plotting?"
"Plot's already underway. I'm just killing time."
"Am I here to entertain you then?"
"Please, Karma, get over here. Do I really have to beg?" Eren reached through the bars and curled his fingers, beckoning her.
"I promised Levi I wouldn't come near you—he doesn't trust you."
"Do you trust me?"
"I don't know."
"What if I promised to tell you everything? That's what you're here for, right? To get answers?"
"I'm here because you asked for me."
"I like the sound of that."
"But—yes. The Scouts want answers."
"Come here and I'll tell you anything you want."
It seemed innocent enough. He was cooperating with her more than he had with anyone else. If this was his condition in exchange for valuable information, wasn't it the obvious choice?
Karma took a hesitant step. Then another. Now she was close enough to reach out and connect with his beckoning fingers. Eren watched her until she stopped, just within arms reach.
"Even prettier than I remember." He lulled his head, cheek pressed against the cell.
"So you'll tell me what you're up to?"
He stretched a hand toward her neck. Karma stiffened. Eren could crush her windpipe like a cracker—what was she thinking trusting him?
But the snapping of her ligaments and trachea never came. Eren's touch was as light as a dryer sheet. He brushed his fingers down her throat then stroked her braid, watching the end slip through his palm like water.
"Beautiful…" he said, voice as soft as the fingers sculpting from her ear down to the tip of her chin.
Karma forgot what she'd come for—she forgot why she'd ever distrusted him. His words and touch melted her like a candle.
"It's all for you, Karma. Everything is for you," Eren said, watching his thumb pull across her lower lip.
"Everything?"
"Everything—even the world. I'll make it perfect for you."
"For me? Why?"
That chuckle echoed around her again, but it sounded more like the one she remembered. "Because I want you."
She was too stunned to move her tongue, so her mouth hung uselessly open as he carved the outline of her waist. There was no doubt that if he kept touching her like this, she was in danger of doing whatever he wanted. Logic kept dissolving like wet cotton candy.
Dammit, she needed to move, but her feet stopped working. Actually, they just stopped listening—she had taken a step, but it was in Eren's direction instead of the door's.
"Me?" Karma's chest grazed the cold metal. Eren's hands locked around the small of her back. He bent his forehead against the bars, as close to her as he could get.
"I'm in love with you, Karma. I always have been."
His words triggered a montage of memories—all of the stolen glances during sparring practice. The shared laughs in the lunch line. The smiles in the hall. At the time, these moments seemed perfectly platonic. But now she saw the signs—his hugs always lingered. His cheeks reddened when she was near. His words would spill out in a nervous rush. His face was always angled in her direction.
He was telling the truth. She'd just been oblivious to it.
But this was a different Eren. He wasn't shy about his intentions.
"So why invade Marley? You could've just asked me out to dinner," she said.
"I'd love to take you to dinner. But I need to secure our future first."
He pulled her arm through the bars and trailed kisses to her finger tips. He pressed his lips into her palm then held it against his cheek. His warm skin was barbed with a hint of shadow. Karma wished the bars weren't between them. She wanted to get closer and feel that warm skin all around her.
But she came for answers.
"What'll it look like? Your perfect world?" she said.
"Freedom and safety for Paradis."
"Sounds beautiful."
He hummed in agreement and kissed her wrist. Her pulse quickened and she wondered if he could feel it thump against his lips.
"What do you need me to do?" she said, hoping to unravel a piece of his plan. His intentions seemed good enough, but based on the events in Marley, she was suspect of his methods.
"Steal a key and get in here with me." He was skimming her waist and hips. Karma hadn't realized goosebumps could ripple across those areas. She felt an enticing curl in her stomach.
"Really?"
"God, yes." Eren squeezed her sides.
"What if I don't want to?"
Eren just smirked. He dragged a finger down her neck like a slow droplet of nectar, and she shuddered on cue. He stepped back into the shadows. "I'll be waiting."