New Promises

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Eren POV
"You know they raised her to be a decoy for the princess?" I told Levi after finishing the food he brought to me. Now I sat sipping my coffee watching the girl toss and turn.
"Really, but she's a royal too?" Levi said.
"Not technically. Her father refused to claim her. She grew up in an orphanage after her mother passed away. I think she had an aunt that worked there." I stated.
"That's rough." Levi stood leaning his hip against my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around his waist.
"Levi?" I tried again. I didn't want him out there. Not that close to Zeke. I wasn't sure what my brother was capable of. To ask him to sit this one out was asking him to gut himself. I knew that, yet I had to try.
"Stop it, Eren. There's no changing my mind. I don't care that Mikasa is just as good as I am, or that you can't stand the thought of Zeke near me. Imagine what I will be going through if I wasn't there."
"I am, believe me. It's just..." I buried my head in his rock hard stomach. "... want you safe." I muttered. His arms wrapped over my head. He kissed the top of it.
"We will be safe together, when you either give up this idiotic idea, or we see it through. Those are you're only options, love." He told me. Then slapped me across the back.
"And don't you dare try to convince Erwin to give me a different date so you go alone!" He ordered. I chuckled lifting my face up to his.
"Now, I wish I had thought of that." He glared at me. "Kiss me, please?" I begged him. He lowered his head until his lips touched mine. I pulled him tighter to me. I couldn't get enough of his small body being in my arms. I could feel his strength.
Truth was, I had no hope of convincing Erwin. He would side with Levi every time. As Levi's tongue invaded my mouth, I thought of my other plan. Armin would help me, even Mikasa. If I did this, if I went behind his back, what would I come home to? That fear made me hold my husband even tighter. I let him win our battle of tongues as his knees cradled my hips in the chair. He sat on my lap.
"They are both under my orders." He told me as we separated. His hands clutching my hair. I hadn't opened my eyes yet as I leaned my head against his.
"We face this together, brat." He told me. There it was. The vow I made to him when I put that ring on his finger. There wasn't anyone better I could have at my side. Not today, not the day I go after my brother, not any day in the years to come.
"What would it do to you, to be helpless and watch me die?" I asked. His breath caught in his chest. His hands became painful in my hair, I felt little droplets hitting my cheek. I pulled back. Looking into those grey eyes, now filled with tears I gasped.
"I would rather be helpless and watch you die, then to be left behind and wonder what I could have done to save you." He told me.
"I promise, Levi, I promise, I won't go without you." I swore.
"And I promise, I'm never helpless." He informed me. Then the monitors watching over the cadets went haywire.
"Get Han..." I started to order him. The door burst open as I flipped switches. Isabel's small form was jerking and bucking on the bed. Krista's was doing a sort of snake wiggle. She was about to fall off. Shoving Levi away, I ran down to the girl.
To my surprise, Church busted through the doors to the lab. He flew to Isabel's cell right behind Hange. He pulled the tiny girl into his arms. It was all the attention I could spare for him. I jabbed the needle into Krista's neck.
"Listen to me. I'm real. Krista I remember you. The first day I met you, you called me dirty because my skin was so much darker than yours. We played by that creek, you remember, the one with the flowers..."
"Blue bells." She whispered.
"Yeah, the blue bells. We tried to make them ring." I smiled. Her eyes blinked open.
"I remember you, Eren." Her eyes closed and her vitals stabilized. I laid my head back against the wall. Levi was looking down at us from the observation room. But he wasn't looking at me. I lifted Krista up, placing her back into her bed.
Getting up I went to see just what was happening with Isabel. Church sat on the ground holding her to his chest. He was talking to her as well. Telling her things about their childhood. Church knew her? This was news to me. Church glanced up as he saw my shadow cast over them.
"Save her." He begged. Hange pressed the button on the syringe.
"She's not responding." She hissed.
"Send me in." I ordered.
"Eren, that's only a theory. I..."
"She is going to die, Hange. Send me the fuck in." I ordered. She nodded. I laid down on the bed. She pressed the syringe into my node. I heard running feet, then the world went white, red flashed behind my eyes. Isabell. I needed to find her.
Chaos rained in a landscape darker than hell itself. Things flew at my head while something bit at my legs. I created a mental shield around my body. Glowing armor to show her I was here. Hange and I had talked about this, but if Isabel lost her mind and Hange couldn't get me out, I would be lost too.
"Isabel?" I called to her. Turning I tried to find her. Things flashed and flew over head. I walked forward. She couldn't be far, I was inside her head. There on the shore of some rushing red water I saw the body. Damn this wasn't good at all. I ran forward.
"Isabell?" I called. I lifted her up. Her head rolled back against my arm. "Come on kid, I know you're better than this. You can fight!" I shook her. Eyes opened slowly. "We are in your head, make it better." I told her.
Just like that the nightmare landscape vanished. We were in a field of purple flowers. There was a bridge a little ways away. One end was anchored here. The other... I smiled. "Good job." I told her. Lifting her in my arms I walked to the bridge. Stepping up I looked down at her.
"You ready?" I asked. Her hands weakly grasped my shirt. "Time to go home." I walked over the bridge. The weight in my arms didn't go away. I blinked. I was looking up at the celling. Levi was curled on my chest.
"You're awake." A soft voice said beside me. I turned to see Hange sitting there. I hadn't seen her look so worried since I met her.
"Isabell?" I asked.
"She woke a few minutes ago. Her adjustment is complete." Hange stood looking down at me.
"Never order me to do something like that again." She told me before walking out.
"Why, nothing bad happened!" I called.
"Nothing but the two of you both dying." I hadn't seen the commander leaning against the wall. Erwin pushed his body away to walk up to me. "You flat lined and she didn't know which one to save. Levi was yelling for her to help you and Church was yelling for Isabell to be saved."
"Well we both are fine?" I frowned.
"Because Moblit showed up with Armin. They took care of Isabell while Hange and I looked after you." Erwin's blue eyes turned cold as he glared down at me. "I thought you had outgrown your recklessness with your leg. Now I'm thinking I should just scrap this mission of yours." He turned away.
"Wait commander!" I cried sitting up. Levi groaned and rolled over.
"Did you even think about him at all?"
"No." I admitted. "Because a young girl was dying to be a part of my unit. I had a way of saving her." Erwin could move fast for a guy so big. He spun around and was in my face a moment later.
"And if she had been to far gone? If you entered a dead girls mind, what do you think would have happened?" He yelled, actually yelled at me. I blinked.
"I, I don't know." I whispered.
"Exactly, Eren. You don't think about what could happen. You get tunnel vision and see only one option. That's not what a good commander can survive doing for long. You've been lucky up to now. That luck will run out one day. Armin may bot be there to save you. So fucking think, will you!" He smacked me on the forehead before he spun back around. At the door he barked out. "Levi, he's awake." The door slammed behind him.
"I'm..." I began.
"Save it. He's right and I'm pissed at you. How can you treat your life so carelessly? You say you love me, but you do shit like this.?" Levi climbed out of the hospital bed I was in. He kissed me. "You need to really think about what you want in life Eren. Maybe we married too young..." He was gone before I could say anything. I really screwed up this time.
A soft knock came on the door. It opened slowly. "If you're here to yell at me too..." I began.
"Thank you." I blinked. I had assumed Armin would be coming to check in on me next. I looked up. Church stood there, head bowed clothing rumbled and fists clenched at his sides.
"Isabell, and I we, we grew up in a bad place. She was always this spitfire. I loved her for that. But it got us both in trouble a lot. She's been like a sister to me since I can remember. So, thank you for saving her." He told me.
"You're welcome, but I didn't do it for you."
"No, you did it for her." He lifted his head to look up at the celling. "When I first saw you, I thought damn you're hot. The way you acted I thought you were just a pretty face, no brains. I couldn't believe you were a lieutenant commander." He shook his head. Lowering it to look at the bed I was in. He was doing everything but looking at me. "Levi is just my type. Damn he is so fucking hot. Add in the danger vibe he has going for him..." He bit his lower lip. Then he lifted his eyes to focus on me. "Don't fuck up what you have. I don't know your history with him, but I know it wasn't all easy." He turned away. "And, Eren. When you're luck runs out, and Armin can't get to you, just know, I'll be there." He turned at the door to look back at me. "I owe you." He walked out.
"Well, what are you going to do with all of that?" I turned to look towards the window. Armin stood there.
"Can you just kill me now..." there was an explosion outside. A large shadow filled the window behind the blond, I pressed the code for the command bot into my wrist com Hange had given me. The titans were back.

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