"What do you mean, Hange?", I had to double check to see if I'd heard correctly.
"You heard Shitty Glasses, the shitty brat got his human brain and titan brain mixed up. Useless piece of shit...", the captain mumbled from across the room.
"Is there anything we can do to help Eren?", Petra asked, sitting next to the sleeping boy.
"Well, not that I know of, but there are most definitely things we could try!", Hange laughed in a sinister way, holding up an already loaded syringe which I promptly took from her hand.
"Sorry but, until we know more about his current condition, no experiments."
"Boring woman..."; she sighed. "Well, as much as I'd love to watch Eren's abilities and study him some more, pressing matters await me. See you guys later.", the major excused herself, climbing up the stairs.
"So... what are we going to do, then?", Petra's concerned expression betrayed how much she actually cared for the boy and probably his future, considering that, if he wasn't able to control himself, he'd be turned over to the police and killed. The hope for humanity lied in that kid's basement and also in himself and yet, there we all were, unable to help him.
"I guess... we'll just have to wait.", I answered her as I sat outside the boy's cell. Hange left her almost all of her weird concoctions, in case I decided to experiment, I assumed. Still, the only thing of use in there right now would be the sedative, in case Jaeger woke up.
After about half an hour, the captain dismissed Petra, ordering her to lead training with the rest of the team. I was ordered to stay, since he didn't know how to work with Zoe's flasks. Grumbling came from the bed and the body under the sheets became increasingly restless.
"He's probably waking up, sir. We should give him something to sleep."
"Useless kid, a fucking burden most of the time.", he cursed under his breath. I prepared the syringe and waited until the captain was next to the bed. Eren hadn't woken up yet, but it didn't seem like it'd take much longer. Unknowingly, the back of my mind held on to the slim hope that he'd wake up his normal self again but, when he opened his bloodshot eyes and gnawed at the ceiling, thrashing and struggling against the restraints.
"Please hold him still, sir. If he moves while I'm giving him the injection, the needle might break inside him and we won't get it out. Besides, he's not regenerating."
"How about you quit you yapping and give the brat the shot already?", he interrupted, leaning over to keep the boy's chest glued to the bed. Seeing the kid's gaping mouth directed at Levi's neck made my body react on it's own, my left hand extended and pushed the raven haired man away, just enough so that the teeth carved themselves on my flesh and not the captain's. I screamed at the top of my lungs with that pain, feeling the skin tearing under Jaeger's blunt teeth and warm blood almost gushing out from the area around his mouth.
My gut began to boil with rage. How could this kid, who'd come screaming that he'd kill all the titans not even be able to have control over his own body to not attack a superior. The needle had fallen out of my right hand and onto something because it'd made no sound, not that that would matter over Eren's grunts. My hand pulled back on its own and swung with all it had.
"Fucking runt! Get a hold of yourself!", I lashed out at the boy, slapping him across the face hard enough to leave a raised red imprint of my fingers. And he seemed to snap out of it for a couple of seconds. He stopped jerk his head and, his eyes were back to the usually placid stare he'd show us whenever surrounded by his fellow cadets. It slowly morphed into terror, upon tasting blood and his gaze darted back and forth between me and the captain before his eyes rolled back and he passed out.
Blood kept coming out from the wound, draining me at a fast pace. A hand pulled me, already lightheaded and burning liquid was poured over the exposed flesh.
"Why'd you do that for? Trying to lose an arm?", the captain scoffed coldly.
"No offense, sir, but Jaeger's mouth was about to bite your- OW! How about you be more careful!"
"How about you shut up and stop breaking my concentration. I assume you don't want to die from blood loss.", he scolded as he tied a piece of his shirt tightly to stop the bleeding. Falling back and sitting with a loud thump on the ground, I barely held up my head, processing what'd just happened. Eren had nearly tore my triceps muscle and it was bleeding profusely. The white cloth the captain gave me was quickly getting soaked in blood and my eyelids felt heavy.
I'm going to bleed out... I need something to stop this..., as my drowsy eyes searched the room, the torches that lit up the area gave me an idea. There had to be something made of metal nearby... the captain's 3-d gear was unbuckled by the stairs, half hidden. Maybe that would work.
"Captain, give me your swords from the gear and that torch please. We need to cauterize the wound, now."
"I'll go get Shitty Glasses to sew you back up."
"I'm gonna fucking die, Levi! Now!", the energy needed to shout drained me further and the room started spinning.
Seeing her like this made the man rush to get what she asked. He'd never done anything like that but he knew enough to let his blade get red hot before pressing it against her now exposed skin. Biting on her own shirt, she let out a grunting scream, clamping her jaw and screwing her eyes shut when the metal made contact and a small cloud of smoke rose, reeking of burnt flesh. The gushing blood stopped and she half collapsed forward, him catching her against his chest.
She drew quick breaths, her pounding heart echoing loud enough for him to almost hear it and for a few seconds, Martha let herself ease up to the captain's warm torso.
"You're good, now.", he said, reluctant in encasing her with an arm, even though it seemed like she might fall at any moment. When he'd seen her shout at that brat... it'd been long since she'd shown that much intensity in her eyes. Levi wouldn't consciously admit it but he felt something shift inside of him when he saw her enraged, eyes blazing, chest heaving and the look of sheer... fire? when she told him to hurry.. Was it wrong that it pulled her further into the new light in which he saw her, as of late? She was never one to speak much to him, before all that happened that is.
How was she before the grief had weighted on her shoulders? Before the burden many of the team leaders in the Corps carried struck her as well? Not how she was near the officials and others... no. Levi wanted to know how she was alone. When only her friends could see her. Did she chirp in a happy voice or was she calm and composed at all times? The flushed face of embarrassment he'd given her the previous night made his lips want to curl ever so slightly into a grin but he contained himself.
That could never happen. She was his subordinate and they were in the Survey Corps. Even if Erwin allowed it – which he probably wouldn't – it was bound to end in disgrace. It? What it? Those pestering ridiculous thoughts... Levi, humanity's strongest thinking about a lieutenant? How pathetic. He really was getting old and even worse, letting his age get the best of him.
"Thanks cap.", she suddenly whispered. "I guess you ended up saving me, again.", the last sentence was said with a slight chuckle, as much as her weak body could muster one.
"I'd have no neck, if it weren't for you. So thank you, Martha.", being so honest.. was it because of her drowsy state? She probably wouldn't remember it later, just like when she stopped him from killing a man whore and prevented him from getting into serious trouble.
"Fuck you Levi! Who the hell do you think you are?!"
The only time she called him by his name was in situations like this and hearing that sound coming from her immediately got his senses in high alert. It stung, because there was no hesitation, no after thought about if she'd used his military rank, she didn't even seem to care that he might decide to punish her for yelling, which he'd already done. The name spilled from her lips carelessly and that stirred him up for some reason.
It'd been a couple of seconds since her breath had stabilized and Levi decided to end the physical contact between them. "Can you stand up on your own?", he asked, but there was no reply. Looking closely at her, he noticed she'd fallen asleep. With a sigh, he picked her up, closing Jaeger's cell behind him and walking up the stairs, carrying the unconscious woman.
He brought her to Hange's office, where all the medical stuff was located. The brunette looked alarmed to see Martha in her state, with lips almost purple and very pale.
"What happened?", Moblit asked the captain, handing gauze to the major.
"Shitty brat bit her. Nearly chomped my neck off.", although Levi kept his distance from the bed at the corner of the office, he looked attentively to what was being done to the lieutenant, his eyes following the steady motions of her semi exposed chest.
"Interesting... anything else?", Hange grinned slightly, thinking about all the experiments she could do to Eren, now that he had the titan mind controlling his body. Seeing her maniac expression, Levi recoiled in this chair, scoffing.
"You're fucking sick, Shitty Glasses. The brat is a nuisance, I'll inform Erwin of what happened. I bet he'll reconsider having him here."
"Oh? Is Mr. Levi getting scared of a little boy? Because he almost bit your neck off? I'm disappointed...", she joked. "Thought you said you could handle Eren."
Evading the hand that darted to catch her collar, the woman opened the door, smiling back at the captain.
"I'll be down there. Experimenting. She'll wake up in no time, don't worry too much. Come on, Moblit."
"Y-yes, squad leader.", he rushed, closing the door behind himself and leaving Levi alone with Martha.
"Wasn't worried about myself.", the captain spat in a low voice, pulling the chair closer to the bed and looking at the relaxed face of Martha. She appeared more lively than before, with the flush of her cheeks having partially returned. Well, there wasn't any doubt that she was willing to die for him, not that he'd ever doubted that. Her loyalty to the Corps was commendable and Erwin was probably the first to praise her on it.
She was half naked, with just the white cloth covering her chest and the bandage wrapped tightly around the left arm, purple and yellowish bruises still scattered across the ribcage. Yet another injury had been added to the already extensive list she'd already endured.
"Hum... captain?", a soft voice interrupted his thoughts. "You're staring.", realizing this, Levi was quick to adopt his blank expression, deviating his gaze to her face.
"Bullshit, I was thinking."
"About? Where are we?", she mumbled, wincing after she'd tried to move her arm. "Is this.. Hange's office?"
"Yeah, it is. Shitty Glasses is downstairs doing weird shit to that brat."
"Really..? She-", I began to say but was interrupted by a flash of light when trying to sit up.
"Oy, what the fuck are you doing? You lost a lot of blood, stop moving."
"I have to tell her something."
"It can wait."
"She should know that Eren reacts to pain, sir. Remember when I hit him?"
"Yeah, so?"
"He seemed to regain conscience for a few seconds. She should know that."
"She probably knows by now. She might be Shitty Glasses but she isn't dumb."
"I guess you're right sir...", slowly, I managed to get up, sitting against the pillow. "Thank you for bringing me here.", a light smile formed on my lips.
"Yeah, don't mention it.", he brushed it off quickly. "I'm going to speak to Erwin about this situation, I'll see you later."
"Understood. Bye, sir.", with that, he left. Only after did I realize he'd seen me half naked and a light blush rushed to my cheeks. Not that it mattered anymore, at least I wasn't naked like the last time.
A few minutes later, I felt well enough to get on my feet. Walking towards my room, wrapped in the ripped shirt I was previously wearing, the walk was slow so that no more flashes made me lose my balance. Passing by the commander's office, I couldn't help but overhear the conversation inside.
"I'm telling you, that brat is dangerous, Erwin.", the captain's voice had a tinge of irritation to it.
"He's all we have Levi. We can't just simply dispose of him like that. He carries the hopes of all of Humanity."
"Not if he can't control himself and it's pretty clear the brat has his off days pretty frequently."
"You said you could handle him. Are you backing down, Levi?"
"I hope you know what you're doing, Erwin. You know how I feel about pointless death."
"Yes, but the incident with Petra was a one time occurrence."
"Just today, the brat almost killed me and Martha."
"How did that happen?"- staggering against the door, my knee accidentally struck it loud enough to seem like a knock. Erwin's voice on the inside commanded me to enter and I did so mechanically.
"Hello, sir.", I said, trying to stay in saluting position but Hange must've given me something that made my arm partially numb.
"I thought I told you not to move. Insolent brat.", Levi spat, turning his back to me to address Erwin again. "As you can see, the Shitty Jaeger nearly bit her arm off."
"How are you feeling, lieutenant?", the blond man asked me.
"A bit tired, but much better."
"I'm pleased to her it. Captain Levi, I understand your concern for the soldiers' well being but we all signed up our lives here for the sake of Humanity and will achieve victory by any means necessary."
"I see. Understood.", he replied, ending the conversation. "For fuck sake, lieutenant put a shirt on.", he muttered when he passed by me.
"So that's what happened...", Erwin mumbled, staring at the void. He' asked me to explain exactly what had happened with Jaeger and so I did. "On you professional opinion as second titan researcher of the Survey Corps, lieutenant, do you think Eren Jaeger has what it takes to learn how to control himself and his powers?"
"That's a very direct question, sir...", it was understandable for me to be apprehensive. I'd been bitten a couple of hours ago and Levi had almost been killed but... Jaeger did seem to have the will power to dominate the titan mind at times.
"I expect a direct answer."
"I can't say for sure, but I firmly believe that with work, Jaeger can master his powers to some degree so that he no longer poses a threat to us."
"That's good enough.", he sighed deeply, hands burrowing in gold locks, elbows supporting his tired frame on the desk. "I'm glad you're okay. You always get yourself in these things Martha, it's like you attract danger...", he noted,
"You're telling me... I must've stepped on some mirrors and didn't notice. I probably won't be able to go to the Underground mission after all, I apologize for this mess, Erwin.".
"Nonsense, I highly doubt we'll get an answer before tomorrow night. The messaging system between walls has been having issues with thieves lately, or so I'm told. Besides, your friends only know you."
"You're right... I doubt they'd let anyone else in if I didn't show up. It will be nice to see the again, after to long."
"Ever since you join us?"
"The Corps doesn't properly allow 'vacation' days, does it now, mr. Commander Erwin?"
"We need all the people we can get. Now, you should go rest for the rest of the day, just check the reports the cadets made first."
"Fucking hate reports...", I mumbled, grinding my teeth.
"What was that?", Erwin asked, not bothering to look up. "You want to go clean stables with that arm?"
"No, sir."
"Then mind your tongue in this office."
"You don't ever punish the captain for swearing or complaining."
"Just do as I say and go, Martha, before I change my mind."
"Fine, fine, going...", closing the door behind me, I went to my office, switching to a clean extra shirt I had there.