I WILL PROTECT YOU

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟗

3rd POV

  The titan serum they had received from Kenny laid on a table surrounded by Erwin, Hange, Levi, and Pixis. After moments of waiting the door to the secluded room opened and in came  Commander-in-chief Darius Zackley. Everybody gazed at him as he closed the door behind him. "Sorry I'm late." He said, he took a seat in a chair at the table and held his hands in front of him.

"Well? Have we discovered what's in the container?" He asked.

"The thing is..." Hange began. "With our technology, I'm afraid we can't dig much deeper. Like we've heard from the Jaegers and Historia, it seems to originate from some sort of human bodily fluid. However, it vaporizes when exposed to air, making analysis difficult. Whoever made it must have had technology far superior to ours. If it was the Reiss family, I can't imagine how..." she said.

Zackley crossed his arms across his chest. "Hmm..." He grunted. To his side, Pixis stared at the syringe. "In that case, instead of tampering with it, we should use it to achieve our current objective," Pixis said. Zackley looked at him.

"But who do we entrust it to?" He wondered. "Erwin, to you?" He asked, his eyes now on the blond. Erwin shook his head and grasped the numb that was once his right arm.

"No...I'm no more than a wounded soldier. This box belongs with one of our elite soldiers who has the best odds of survival." His eyes traveled to Levi and he called his name. "Would you keep it?" He asked him.

"If it's an order, just say so. Why even ask the question?" Levi told him.

Erwin looked back at the serum. "We can't predict in what situation we'll have to use this. We'll be relying on you to make a decision on the fly. Judging when and who to use it on will be for you to choose. Can we leave that to you?" He asked him.

"If this dream of yours comes true, what will you do then?" Levi asked. Erwin furrowed his eyes.

"I...don't know. I won't until it happens." He said unsure.

"I see...All right. I'll do it." Levi accepted the role, he closed the case, and took it into his hold. In the chair, Zackley grumbled and rested his jaw on his cupped hands.

"By the way, I'd like to unveil that work of mine soon. Have you given it thought?" Zackley told them. Pixis brought his hands out of his pockets and held them behind his back, tilting his head. "You still haven't given up on that? If the public saw that repulsive display, trust in the military would hit rock bottom." Pixis laughed.

"You don't know art when you see it," Zackley muttered. While the two men squabbled, Levi had his hand in his pocket where he had put the case. He didn't pay attention to anything as he stared at nothing with blank eyes.

-

Erwin placed written documents on the coffee table and faced his Squad Leaders and Captains. "In other words, Grisha Jaeger and Cameron Fritz...are likely humans who came from outside the walls." He said.

"Yes. Just like Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt, they possessed the power of the titans. But different from those three, Grisha was supportive of humanity within the walls. The same can't exactly be said about Cameron." Hange said.

One of the people in the room, seated on a couch, spoke up. "If he was so interested to know about the Scouts and such, we could've used more of that support of his." He said with his arms crossed.

"I wonder..." Hange then began. "From the moment he entered the walls, he was searching for the royal family all alone without the help of Cameron who had been found with him, I'm sure. And that...That's not something you do without incredible resolve. That same father wanted to show his ten-year-old children, eager to join the Scouts, the basement of their house. On death's door, he said the truth of it all was...in the basement. What in the world do you think is down there?" Hange finished with a question.