Run || Bertholdt Hoover x Reader

Run. Part Two.

Beyond the wall you knew you were never safe, that was the first step of trying to survive. You had to always be looking and ready to act in an instant. That was why you stayed as high in the trees as you could while you headed towards the closest river you knew of. Stopping against the trunk of the tree you looked around, it was pretty open so you should be able to see a titan but that meant if one caught you by surprise getting away wouldn't be easy. But you had to take the chance, the smell of blood was making you nauseous and there was no way you'd be able to get that far with that scent following you around.

You were able to clean yourself up quickly, there wasn't any getting the blood off of your clothes but you could clean your hands and face off. You felt a little better after that, the scent of death wasn't as prevalent around you. There wasn't the constant reminder that because of Bertholdt and Reiner people you knew were dead. You would have to accept that though, if you were going to find him and give him a chance to talk, to explain everything then you had to accept that he had killed people. He was the reason thousands were dead. It wasn't something you could run from.

Getting back in the trees as quickly as you could you looked around trying to find where the three of them went. You didn't want to give them a chance to get beyond the walls if they wanted to. Eventually they'd have to leave but hopefully they'd be too tired to leave right away. It would be safe for them away from the scouts, they'd already gone back and aside from that there would be no way they'd risk going all the way to Wall Maria for them. They had Eren and hopefully Christa, otherwise they'd still be out here fighting.

For as long as you could, you stayed in the trees and kept moving towards the wall. When night came you could make bigger moves across the fields but for now this was what you could do. You'd lost track of Reiner now, you had to take your chance to clean up while the titans you could see were distracted. You'd been relying on being able to hear them but that soon fell silent too. The distance you could go in your ODM gear was by far shorter than a 15 meter titan who could run straight to the walls. Even with the titans catching up to them it was easier than the waiting you had to do.

When you finally got close to the wall you had to stop. You would have to go through one of the towns to get to the wall if you wanted to stay in the air and it wasn't safe. In the towns and broken buildings there could be titans anywhere and you'd have no way to see them. For now your only option was waiting until the sun set and make your way across the field and then up the wall. From there, there was only so many places they could be. And walking the wall would give you a chance to actually think before you confronted him. When you decided to follow Bertholdt it was almost without thinking. Even now you had no idea what to even ask him other than why.

When the sun finally fell it was your time. You had to run, even if you hadn't seen any titans there was no room for mistakes or slacking. The ODM gear would slow you down but taking it off wasn't an option, you had to have it to get up the wall and to try to fling yourself forward if a titan got near you. Taking a few deep breaths you looked around the field, double-checking for titans before you jumped down from the tree and ran.

You were a soldier, you'd trained for things like this, you'd been put through hell to help you survive any kind of scenario you could end up in, in the field. But none of the training really prepared you for the feeling of the heavy ODM gear hitting against your legs, the hypervigilance you had to have to make sure nothing got near you. You tried to not make too much noise as you ran, controlled your breathing the best you could but the ODM gear made enough noise that it didn't really matter how quiet you were.

Every movement of a bush was almost enough to make you jump, your heart pounding in your chest as you kept running. Not even watching Bertholdt and Reiner transform to the fear coursing through you right now. There was nothing near for you to latch onto if you did see a titan, it was just you and the flat land around you and every second you were down here there was a chance that a titan could come out of no where. You'd seen it before, seen them grab someone when no one saw them, you'd seen Hange's titan move around at night, not caring that the sun wasn't out. Abnormals could do almost anything.

Out of the corner of your eye you spotted movement, for a moment you almost let yourself think it was an animal but no. Tears filled your eyes when you realized you were looking at a titan. It was far away from you but it was coming closer, ten meters? Maybe more you couldn't tell. All you could do was push on. Your legs burned, your lungs burned as you did. Through tears, you looked around, trying to find something big enough to use your gear on but there was nothing. You could hear it getting closer, the heavy footsteps getting closer and closer to being the last thing you ever heard.

Looking behind you, you took the chance that you might be slowed down to see if there was any way you could just attack it from the ground but the way it was running, it's arms flailing at it's sides, you'd get knocked around before you could make a killing move. If you were like Mikasa or Reiner maybe you could do it but you weren't. You weren't even good enough to make the stupid top ten. You'd killed titans but never from this level, you couldn't do anything. Just like all those years ago you felt helpless. Felt like you weren't even worthy of calling yourself a soldier when you were running away from them.

A scream tore through your lungs when you heard it's roar and felt the wind from it reaching out towards you. Squeezing your eyes shut you pushed yourself as hard as you could when a yell reached your ears and you were suddenly covered in a hot liquid. You stopped, almost sure that it was your own blood you were feeling, that it had gotten you without you knowing. Dizziness filled your head as you waited for the pain to come, but it never did. There was nothing but the burning steam from the liquid that had covered you.

Collapsing to your knees your entire body shook as you refused to look behind you, if it was there still, some trick of an abnormal titan. Small whimpers escaped you as you covered your ears with your hands. If you were going to die now you didn't want to hear it coming. You could die a traitors death for following Bertholdt and Reiner. It was what you deserved for abandoning the scouts, you didn't deserve to fight back. You'd die, shaking and holding your own head, pretending it wasn't real. As a coward.

When something touched you the resolve you had for death suddenly left you. You couldn't die without a fight, without trying to do something. Traitor or not your body wouldn't let you just die. Your hand gripped the blade at your side and you spun around, feeling it make contact with your attacker. "Y/N!"

The blade fell from your hand when you heard his voice. "Bertholdt?" Opening your eyes you stared at him. Was this real or was this what you were seeing after your death? You hands shook as you grabbed onto the front of his sweater, pushing against him. Solid. He was solid. Another cry left you as you collapsed against his chest. Rough sobs shaking your body as you held onto him, your grip on his sweater hurting your hands but you couldn't let go.

He'd saved you. Again he was your savior, stepping in and being strong when you couldn't be and putting himself in danger for you. His hand was in your hair and you felt him talking but your sobs and choked breathing stopped you from actually hearing what he was saying. "Breathe. Come on Y/N breathe, it's okay!" He looked as terrified as you felt, his green eyes wide as he looked at you panicked.

Reaching out towards him you pulled him in, your lips resting against his as you tried to calm yourself. It wasn't much of a kiss, wet from tears and snot but he held you there against him, a firm presence against you. Letting you ground yourself however you needed to.

"Shit she took your hand off." That voice, Reiner. The armored titan. Pushing yourself back from Bertholdt you looked at him with wide eyes, the fear on his face different as he looked between you and Reiner. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He was talking to you, you knew that within reason, but your eyes were locked onto Bertholdt's arm. His hand was missing, that must have been what your blade hit. Steam was already rising from it, healing itself. Reminding you why you were out here, why you were almost killed. The lies, the betrayal, the fact that the man who you loved and who risked his life to save you was the colossal titan.