It Started With Cadet Training (Reader/Levi/Erwin/Hange/Mike)

Fight For You

Catching up to Levi as he dodged the soldiers, you shout out to him:
"Where'd it originally form?!"

"Center of town!" he calls back.

"Mike needs help, there are two shifters outside the wall!"

"Understood!" he calls back, swinging himself and his squad towards the wall.

Taking a deep breath, you head in the opposite direction of him, towards the middle of town. Staying low you duck around buildings to avoid the gaze of the titan as you get as close as you can.

You search for the cord around its feet, leading away. Above you, you hear Scouts shouting, their voices mixing with the Marleyan soldiers. You'd lose them all if you couldn't do this job.

"Captain, there!" one of your squad members calls out, pointing towards a cord that trails off to the left, attached to the titan's feet.

"Good eyes, Cadet!" you call back, signalling for your squad to fan out to prevent the titan or soldiers from noticing where you were heading.

As you navigate the streets, you trace the cord to an abandoned building, leading inside. Carefully, you check your surroundings to make sure that Soldiers weren't nearby. Satisfied that you were alone, you quietly landed in a second-story window, hesitating for a moment to make sure no one had heard you enter.

When you heard no sign of another person, you tip-toed through the building and down the stairs. Your breath catches in your throat as you lay eyes on the little boy encased in hardening. He looked no older than four or five, curled together in the hardening.

Carefully, you walked over to him, resting your hand on the shell. It's cool to the touch, like ice. You weren't sure he was going to hear you from outside, but you had to try. You had to try to save him and everyone else.

"Porco? I know you don't know me, but I'm Lance. That person with brown hair and glasses around your titan form is Hange, and everyone dressed in green capes and brown jackets, are Scouts. Weren't not here to hurt you, I promise. We're here to save you."
You see, your friends, Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt asked us to come and save you. That you, Pieck, and Zeke needed someone to help them. They've been staying with us, safe and taken care of. I know I can't offer you much, and that you probably won't believe me, but, I can offer you this. If you come with me, you'll never be used as a weapon again. You'll be able to see Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt again, and Zeke and Pieck too. And I promise you can have as much ice cream as you want."

For a moment, you believe you were just talking to yourself. That your efforts were for nothing and that he hadn't hurt a word of what you'd said. Then a crack ran down the hardening, splitting it open and widening until it was just big enough for someone to fit through.

The boy inside moved, opening his eyes as he looked at you. You catch a glimpse of the war of emotions behind his eyes, the fear, regret, and pain that no kid should ever have to experience.

"You... promise?" he asks, his voice croaking and cracking.

"I promise," you assure him, holding out your hands for him to grab.

His hand wraps around yours, allowing you to help pull him out of the hardening. His clothes are ragged, a bomber jacket wrapped around his skinny frame. He's just as light as the other three were when you first found them.

"Hold tight, I'm going to have to fly fast," you warn him as you wrap a leather strap around his back so he's secured at your side.

He gives you a wary expression but clutches your shirt and the straps tightly. Wrapping your arm around him you try to not stab yourself in the face as you take a running start and launch yourself into the street.

You can feel him clutch your shirt as you soar through the streets of the city. All around you, you can hear shouts and orders being given as the rest of the Scouts attempt to distract the Soldiers. You barely catch a glimpse of the War Hammer Titan, now collapsed and smoking as it disappears.

You've only got a few moments of cover to make it up the walls. Your heart hammers in your chest as the first wire hooks onto the wall. The second one hooks in across from it, pulling you up through the air as you adjust your hold on Porco so he doesn't fall.

There's a shout behind you, pointing you out to the rest of the Marleyan soldiers as you scale the wall. You hold Porco close, your hand on the back of his head as you see the top of the wall coming into view.

Then there's a bang behind you and your left arm roars in pain. You can feel something lodge in your bone as you clench your jaw and launch yourself over the wall. On the ground below, you can see the mix of Garrison and Scouts keeping the horses steady as the steaming bodies of titans lead in a path towards the Beast and Cart titans.

As your feet touch solid ground, you collapse to your knees, clutching your injured arm with gritted teeth as the remaining members of your squad - as well as a few ground cadets - rush over to you.

"I'm fine. I'm fine!" you insist, getting up to your feet as you scan the area for one of your partners.

The Scouts back away from you as the world spins. You can feel the blood seeping through your shirt from your bicep. Your head's already light, a slight pounding that you can't identify being from the bloodloss or loud noises.

"Where's Erwin?" you ask, knowing the Commander was on the ground due to his inability to maneuver ODM gear anymore.

"Over here, Captain," one of the Scouts says, guiding you over to where Erwin was sitting on a wooden crate. In the dirt, you can see boot tracks, small enough to belong to Levi.

"Erwin? Where's Mike and Levi?" you ask, walking up to him and crouching down in front of him. Your head continued to pound as the stain continued to spread across your sleeve, creeping towards the front. You thanked the Gods for your cape.

"Gone after the titan shifters, on my orders," Erwin says, a dismal tone to his voice. "The beast titan - Zeke - had been throwing rocks at us, we've lost so many horses, so many men. We were going to cause a distraction when Levi's squad joined our aid. He and Mike took off to stop them - it must've worked, it's been a while."

"That's good. They're probably talking them down as we speak. I found Porco," you say, gesturing to the small boy on your lap. You started to unbuckle him, unable to use your left hand for some unknown reason. Perhaps it was from the blood loss? Catching a glimpse of your left hand, you saw your fingers turning blue from blood loss.

Erwin looks up, a small smile turning the corners of his lips as he looks at the small boy in your lap.
"Hey there, I'm Erwin. I know Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie," he informs him as Porco eyes him suspiciously.

"You... might want to take him," you whisper quietly as you watch the blue of your fingers spread farther, the dampness spreading across your shirt as the world around you starts to fade.

Erwin eyes you, his gaze catching on the stain spreading through your cape as he takes Porco from your lap. The last thing you hear as you fade from consciousness him calling your name.