You weren't supposed to break off from your formation but after heaving about the abnormal that could potentially be another titan-shifter, you rushed to find Petra. You didn't doubt her abilities but she always had the tendency of putting others before her. You weren't going to take the risk of letting her do it this time. You had heard from the others that the titan had killed several squads in cold blood. The other titans killed to eat but this was just killing to get them out of the way.
You push yourself to go faster in hopes to reach them before the titan caught up to them. You let out a sigh of relief when you're finally able to hear her and the rest of her squad up ahead but it's short lived when your start to hear the heavy footsteps of the running titan. Using the last bit of gas that you had left, you push yourself to move faster to catch up to them.
X
Petra's eyes widened in horror as she watched her teammate get killed in a matter of seconds. She could see Oluo telling her something but she couldn't' hear anything. All she could focus on was the way the titan killed him in seconds. The titan turns around and starts running towards her but she freezes. Just as the titan is about to step on her, you crash into her in time to get her out of the way.
"Petra? Petra!"
You started cursing when you saw the blood pouring out from her head. She must've hit her head when the two of you tumbled to the ground.
"What the hell are you doing? Where's the rest of my squad?!"
Levi gripped your coat and pulled you back so you could face him.
"I don't know! I just saved her life! Some titan was chasing after them."
He looks down at Petra and then back to you. You could see the relief in his eyes but it's quickly gone.
"Stay here and take care of her injuries. They'll eventually find you."
You nod and he takes off to chase after the titan.
X
Petra didn't wake up until the night.
"It's okay. You're okay, Petra. I got you."
You attempt to give her a hug to comfort her but she pulls away from you. Her head was killing her but she pushed through the pain.
"What the hell! Why did you do that?! I could've helped them! I was supposed to protect Eren!"
"I don't give a shit about Eren. You're safe and that's all that matters to me, Petra."
"What happened after you knocked me out?"
You looked away from her. She was already furious, you could already imagine how worse it was going to get when you told her what happened.
"What happened, (y/n)?"
"T..the titan chased after Eren as he tried to head out of the forest. Since your squad had been tasked to keep him safe, they all tried to take her down but she killed them before they could even cut her down. You, Levi and Eren are the only ones left."
"Get out."
"What?"
"Get out! I shouldn't even be alive. I should've helped them but I couldn't because you knocked me out!"
"I did it to save you! You could've been killed!"
"You think that I don't know that?! My squad is dead because I wasn't there to help them."
"There wasn't anything you could do! Even Levi had a hard time taking her down to save Eren. Mikasa had to help him!"
Petra took a deep breath and then looked out the window to look at the newly recruited cadets train.
"I'm not going to apologize for saving you."
"What makes me different than the others? Why do I get to live while they laid down their lives to protect the kid? I shouldn't be alive."
"Petra..."
"Just go. I need to be alone."
You reached out to take her hand but she pulled it away. Hurt by her actions, you rush out of the room.
X
"Don't take what Petra said personally. She's coping with what happened. Give her time."
"Captain Levi!" You wiped your tears as you saluted him. This was the first time being face to face with him after everyone learned about how you saved Petra. "I.."
"Don't bother. I don't blame you for what you did. She would've been killed if you hadn't done what you did."
"She hates me."
"She hates herself. Thanks to you, she'll live another day to help the Survey Corp."
He doesn't say anything else as he walks into the room.
X
"She's asleep if you want to go in and see her."
You thank him and head inside when he leaves. You take the seat he had previously occupied to be sitting besides her. You wanted nothing more than to just hold her in your arms and tell her everything was going to be okay but you choose to remain sitting. You didn't regret saving her but you hated how you had caused her pain. It was going to take some time for her to deal with what happened and that was okay. As long as she was still alive, nothing else mattered to you.
