Shingeki no Kyojin/進撃の巨人 Shifter Brigade

"You know what's really pathetic?" The clicking of the Corporal's boots against the wooden floor pulled Eren back to consciousness. Shaking off the grogginess, he found himself peering around the room, attempting to put a name to a place. "That none of you saw it. All of you colossal fucking idiots failed to see the very answer, when it was sitting right in front of you."

Knelt down in front of Eren now, Levi reached out and took firm grip of the boy's dark brown locks, yanking him forward so that their faces were mere inches apart. Demanding his full attention before bringing a balled fist, right, to meet his jaw. This, in turn, left the shifter to fall limp. All weight pushed on his right side, his body only being held up by the ropes that bound him.

"Worse part is…." Lifting a leg to prod Eren with his foot, Levi pushed the titan into place so that his back was once again aligned with the pillar that secured him. "I'm not even sure if you still get it yet." Striking once again, only more harshly this time, the Corporal placed a hand on either side of Eren's face, and thrust his underling's head forward, meeting the raven haired males knee half way. Once the man pulled his knee back, the entirety of the youth leaned forward. Mouth agape for air, as blood trickled from his mouth, nose, and lip. Breath seemed to be coming to him in forced gasps, his chest rising and falling against the confines of the rope.

Levi however, didn't seem the least concerned. Actually, his facial expression went from annoyed, to outright disgusted when he realized Eren's blood had gotten on the uppermost part of his boot. Lip curled into a snarl, he pulled away from the lump of mass curled up against the pillar, and made his way over to the cot, in the corner.

Pained, and even further addled, Eren slumped forward. Head dangling helplessly. Trying to shake off the threatening unconsciousness again. "W-Why are you doing thi-"

"Three days." The leader cut in, as he placed his hand in his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief. Bringing the cloth to his boot, he began to work off the stains that Eren's bodily fluids had left behind. "I've had you here… doing this for three days. And every damn time you start to get the picture, I give you a hit… Just like the pathetic little maggot you are, you pass out, and forget all over again."

By now, Levi had worked off the stain, and tossed the material aside. The familiar echo of his boots against the hard wood floor signaled to Eren that his captain was making his way over again.

"Then, I'm forced to beat it into you all over again."

When the shadow cast over him by the shorter man became more prominent, the soldier braced himself for another strike. But, it never came. Eyes, sunken, tired and dreary from the beatings, ran up the length of the Lance Corporal, until finally meeting his head. The lights from the torches stung his eyes, which forced him to squint a few times before he was amply focused on his face. When Eren was able to see the man's face, he immediately regretted making the decision to look up in the first place.

There was Lance Coropral Levi. As proud as he'd always been, standing straight, head up, and eyes as piercing as any blade could only wish to be… This time along, though, there was ferocity in them. A fierce, almost animalistic trait.. Those eyes held a fire that could only be akin to that of the flames that burned in the deepest pits of hell. This was how Eren knew the Corporal was serious. …How he was honestly in danger.

"I don't like wasting time. We've all got better things to do. You know that." Levi's fists were balled at his sides, as he glared down at the subaltern. The knuckles of his right hand were bloodied, and bruised. Skin was flaking off around freshly re-opened scabs, and curling around the wound. While his opposing hand was wrapped up. A raggedy looking strip of cloth, wrapped taught about his hand. Crimson splatter marks, and streaks of red sprinkled over the thin fabric.

"Let's hope the injections your dad was giving you didn't screw with your memory too much."

Reclaiming the same fistful of hair atop Eren's head as earlier, Levi lifted him just a bit, before leaning in. His breath caressed the youth's ear as he whispered, "The traitor… In the forest. Who was it?"

Almost instantly, the bound shifter found himself recollecting his memories of the past three days. Levi had called him to his office to discuss an attack strategy… Or so he'd thought. After knocking him out, he'd had him brought here. Bound, and beaten… All the while he only had one question that was consistently being asked. 'Who was it?' Upon remembering this, Eren tried to pull away from his commanding officer, a grunt proving his efforts were fruitless, as Levi pulled him right back to his previous position.

"I don't know!" The shifter managed to grind out, his words followed by a strong huff. Teeth gritted with anger and frustration, Eren tried, once more, to tug away from the corporal's grip. Successfully this time, he pulled his head back. Such force was put into the tug, that the back of his head hit the pillar. A smirk tugged at Levi's lips as Eren yelped in pain, and allowed his head to lunge forward again, hanging limp in front of him once more.

"Jaeger. Stop playing games. You know as well as I do who it is." The color tone of his voice held a certain level of minatory. Yet, regardless of his foreboding sense of speech, the corporal held a casual wave to his actions. Almost as though nothing was wrong in the least. This threw the soldier off, but he knew the dourness of the situation. The consequential air to all of this.. Which is exactly why Jaeger was so desperately clawing for answers. Deep in his mind, did he truly know who the traitor was? Who killed Gunter Schultz? Did- …

"_You_.." Eren said, raising his head to look up at his captain with a crooked glare.

In response, Levi only smiled. "I didn't quite catch that… What did you say?"

"_It was you_…" Voice hoarse, words being spit out with odd portions of blood, mixed with saliva, as his whispers transformed into shouts. Eren angrily tugged at the ropes, lunging forward in a futile attempt to attack his kidnapper. "You were the one who killed Schultz! Who was in the forest that day! It wasn't Annie! It was you!.." Every time an accusation left him, he grew more and more feeble in his stance, until eventually, his weight was once again only being held up by the ropes, panting, and leaking crimson from more injuries than he'd probably like to have admitted receiving.

"It's funny… Isn't it? How this kind of stuff works? You jackasses spend most of your time sniffing around like fucking dogs, looking for the culprit, when the entire time, it was the very person you'd come to trust most…" Levi leaned in, taking Eren by the chin. His touch gentle, while handling the newfound fragility. "The answer was standing in front of you the entire time."

That same hostile smirk reclaimed its place on the Corporal's face, as his demeanor went from relaxed, to something so much more sullen. "There are others, Eren… Little shits with talents just like yours. Some of them below you, while others are so much higher above on the food chain, that if they ate you and shat you out, it would take you weeks to trickle back down to the rank you're in now."

Pupils dilated when the significance of the situation finally became clear. Levi didn't want to kill Eren…

"Getting to beat the shit out of you like this was merely a plus… What you're really here for is to become an employee."

He didn't want to use Eren's shifting abilities to combat other titans…

"If you start to feel that guilt shit… Think of it this way; Who's going to stop you? The Survey Corps? Please… If their leaders, captains and commanding officers all told them to pull back, they would. Because that's what they're ordered to do. That's what you're all trained to do after all. To take orders."

Eren tugged away once more, attempting to break free of the grasp Levi had on his chin, but to no avail. The older man simply pulled him right back, making him hold eye contact. "This is an opportunity you shouldn't squander, Jaeger. A talent like yours would come in handy. Especially for our little group."

"Gr-Group… ?" Through one swollen, black eye, and one not, Eren forced himself to glance back into the Corporal's eyes, if only for a moment. "What do you mean? What group?"

"Eren Jaeger. From this day forward, you will be working for the Shifters Brigade. Orders will be given to you inconspicuously, and I'll leave it up to you whether you follow those commands or not."

At last, Levi released his underling's chin, and stood straight. Making his way to the door, he left on Eren, speechless and shocked in his wake. Taking him a moment to recuperate from everything he'd just heard.

"And if I don't follow your orders? What happens then? You kill me? Because I'd rather die than help titans."

Levi, already standing near the cot again, stopped. He picked up his Survey Corps cape and flung it over himself, buttoning it. "It's so ironic you claim to hate the very thing that grants you the power you have.." The disgust of it all was set so clear in his voice.. His words dripping with disdain.

Heaving a sigh, he rolled his eyes before turning to face the shifter once more. "However… If you need a little extra incentive… Know that there are consequences for decisions. Every decision has them.. Good .. Bad. We've had that conversation before." Adjusting the hood on his cape so that it lay equally on his back, he lifted an arm, gesturing to Eren. "Make the wrong decision, and the people around you.. The people you care for most will start getting hurt. …As if they're not in enough danger already.."

Leaving it at that, Levi pulled the hood up over his head so that it barely covered his face, and strolled towards the door. A hand on the knob, he half turned to Eren, and smirked, which, just by the light of the torch that sat aside the door, made it look like only a toothy grin lay beneath the shadow of the hood. "So don't let disobeying orders be a decision you come to regret, Jaeger."

The Lance Corporal turned then, opening the door to reveal Hanji, whom was waiting patiently on the other side.

"Did he…?"

"He'll do it." Without so much as turning to confirm Eren's existence, his tone was as earnest as they came. "You can tell the commander that the Shifters Brigade has a new factotum."

Hanji, with a concerned eye, peeked in at Eren, easily, over Levi's shoulder, their brows knitting. "Did you have to be so violent with him?"

"I did what I had to." The Lance Corporal said, walking right by the fellow Captain, making his way away from the small captain, and into the night. Disappearing from sight merely moments later.

Zoe made their way in, and dropped at Eren's side. Dabbing at the wounds with a cloth they'd found nearest the door, along with a bucket of luke-warm water.

All the while, the silence remained. Eren, exhausted and beaten, once again drifting off into a state of blissful unconsciousness. Whether it be from exhaustion, or blood loss… Rest was rest. At this point, it was the one thing separating him from this insanity.

"Rest up, Eren…" Hanji spoke, still cleaning him, as they reached to undo the ropes, and move him to the cot. "…You'll need it…"


End file.

Shingeki no Kyojin/進撃の巨人, Mystery, Tragedy