"Zeke's got a plan."
"Fuck Zeke."
Hange raises their eyebrows at Levi's language, then glances at you.
You shrug. "Yeah. Fuck Zeke."
"I know neither of you are fans of him," they say with a sigh.
Levi snorts, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. "That's a damn understatement."
"But," Hange concludes, clearly as tired of this as everyone else is, "we don't really have a choice. It's our best chance of success going through with this invasion."
A heavy silence follows, because everyone knows they're right. You glance sideways at Armin, who you don't think has smiled since Eren officially flew the coop. You're not the happiest with that decision either- he's forced your hand. Why would he want to rush into war? You were finally at peace, with no immediate enemies to fight. Why would he ruin that?
Although... you guess you never really were at peace, not while Marley is so close. And strategically, yes, it's better to plan an attack than to be attacked. But still...
"We've been over Armin's plan based on Zeke's goals," Hange says, and you glance at the blond again. "I think it's solid and I've got no corrections to it. Anyone have any objections or suggestions?"
There's only eight people around the table, and no one says a word.
"Good. I trust Onyankopon to fly the blimp."
There's a pause. You appreciate the transparency from Hange: short and to the point. "Are you sure that's wise?" Pixis says from next to Hange, raising an eyebrow.
Hange nods. "I am. He's been nothing but loyal to us since he got here three years ago."
"There's also never been an opportunity like this," one of the other Garrison leaders says.
"We're going to need to trust a few of our anti-Marleyan volunteers if we want to do this properly, with minimal bloodshed," the commander returns, lacing their fingers together. "We're going to need to rely on their information- which has yet to fail us so far- and their knowledge of the area to pull this off correctly."
No one else speaks up.
There's only eight of you at the table, but honestly, it feels like less. In general, everyone agrees on things fairly easily, and there's minimal issues. Hange, you, Levi, Armin, and Jean are the only ones here that are officially Survey Corps. Pixis is here as the head of the Garrison, plus his one other commanding officer, and Zackly, the head of the military.
Surprisingly, everyone works together pretty well. At least, in the strategy sessions.
"I want Levi, Logan, Jean, and Lobov to lead the four main squads," Hange says, referencing the other Garrison member at the table. "Their goals will be to wipe out the Marleyan cannons or anything that can be used against Eren, as well as support him until the blimp can come in and we can successfully retreat. Any objections?"
Once again, there's no protests.
Hange nods. "Perfect. I'll disclose specific details when I can. Zackly, anything else?"
The old man shakes his head. You hardly see why he or Pixis get to have an opinion; neither of them are participating in the attack.
Hange locks eyes with you, and you stiffen up. "Alright," they say. "Dismissed."
Everyone rises, including Levi. He shoots you a puzzled look when you don't stand up right away. "Give me a minute," you say, glancing up at him. "I'm going to talk to Hange."
Levi frowns. "Fine. See you soon?"
"See you soon," you agree, shooting him a quick smile.
He nods, squeezing your shoulder briefly before he slides by, following Armin out of the room. Hange stays in their seat, eyes focused on the door until Jean shuts it behind him, leaving just you and the commander in the room. "Thanks," Hange says, grinning. "Wasn't sure if you were going to get the memo or not."
You shrug, smiling. "You were pretty clear. What's up?"
"Two things." Hange's smile widens. "Mike's coming on this mission."
"Really?"
Your smile splits across your face. Mike has been out of his wheelchair for a long time now- ever since your wedding- but there's been a constant limp that seems like it's fading over time. He's picked up training again, but you weren't sure if he was doing it with the intent to participate in the mission or just to gain some sort of routine back into his life.
You nod appreciatively, clenching your hands into fists and then releasing. "That's great," you say. "Whose squad?"
"Yours, if you'll take him."
"Is that even a question? Of course I will."
Hange grins. "Good. Didn't think you'd object." Their smile wanes. "Personally, I think he's fit for battle despite the limp and I think he'll be an asset. Regardless, I want him with your squad because I know no one's going to look out for him quite like you are."
Your chest warms. "Of course," you agree.
"I'm also assigning him to you because he's been a squad leader before, and I think he can be a good fit to... to take your place when I put you somewhere else."
You pause. "Put me somewhere else?" you repeat.
Hange nods. "I've got another assignment."
You sigh. "And it's dangerous, so you couldn't tell me when Levi was here."
"Saw through that too, eh?" They shake their head. "It's a hypothetical situation, so it may not even be necessary, but I want you on standby for it anyways because, well... since when has anything ever gone exactly to plan?"
"Fair enough. What is it?"
"Yelena is supposed to trap the jaw titan and the cart titan," Hange states, and you nod along. You've heard this before. "In an ideal world, they wouldn't be able to escape and we can count them out for the whole battle. This means that Levi can perform the Zeke takedown with minimal issues."
You nod again. That much, you know. "But?"
Hange sighs. "But the chances of them being out for the entire battle are slim. We know this."
"Yeah. And?"
"I want you to distract them so that Levi can get a clean shot on the beast titan, if it comes to that."
You blink. "That's it?"
They raise their eyebrows. "I'm asking you to keep two intelligent and experienced titans occupied. You expected more?"
"Nah, I just thought it'd be more dangerous." You shrug, standing yourself up from your chair. "I would've done it anyways, without the order," you say, shrugging again. "You know that."
Hange stares at you for a moment, then sighs. "Sometimes I forget some of the things you've had to do," they murmur, and you straighten yourself up. "Yeah. I suppose occupying two dangerous titans isn't that high up there on the list of worst things you've ever done, huh?"
"Guess not," you reply, smiling bitterly. "That's all?"
"That's all," Hange agrees. "You're good to go."
Nodding again, you stand up from your chair and head towards the door. According to Eren's letter, he's hoping that your attack will come in two days. Two more days until war, then? Is that the plan?
Sighing to yourself, you head down the hall, trying to keep your head up.
Two days.
.
The night before the mission, you and Levi sit out on the beach. You sit on a blanket on the sand, hands behind you to prop yourself up. It's cloudy tonight and there's not many visible stars; the only indication that the moon is even there is the glow coming from behind one of the clouds.
Levi's in a similar position to you, head tipped up to the sky and arms pushed behind him to stay propped up. His fingers trail loosely across yours.
"You worried about tomorrow?" you murmur.
Levi's hand finishes its aimless movements and closes firmly over yours. "No," he replies. "You?"
"No," you lie.
Silence falls again. You frown at the stars above you; they seem so dull tonight.
He leans towards you, and Levi gently kisses the side of your head. "The plan is good," he murmurs. "We're good. We'll be okay."
You nod. "I know. But... it's not us I'm worried about."
You feel Levi sigh next to you. "They'll be fine," he reiterates, squeezing your hand. "We've been training for years. They're not kids anymore."
Your lips twitch. "Yeah. All grown up, right?"
"Oh, hardly. Did you see them at dinner last week?"
"Yeah," you say with a laugh. "I'm not sure if they'll ever get that stain out of Connie's shirt."
Levi's lips twitch. He kisses the side of your head again, then reaches out with his other hand to tip your chin towards him. Slowly, he kisses you on the mouth, his lips warm against yours. As you always do, you melt in his hands, eyes fluttering shut.
He pulls back only slightly. "They'll be okay," he murmurs firmly.
"I know, but..." you trail off, sighing. "We've all made it through so much already," you whisper. "Our luck's got to run out at some point."
"Hey." Levi kisses you again. "Remember what we said? We fight fate."
Your lips twitch. "And we win," you finish.
"Exactly." He looks you dead in the eye. That stare of his never fails to make your insides twist themselves into knots. "We fight fate," Levi repeats, "and we win. We'll make it through."
We'll make it through.
Sighing, you let yourself lean against Levi, eyes wandering to the sky.
We'll make it through, you repeat to yourself. If Levi says so, then you're inclined to believe it. What other choice do you have?
Have some faith, a voice in the back of your mind echoes. Who's told you that before?
...Yeah. Faith.
You tuck yourself tighter into Levi's side, banishing the doubtful thoughts to the back of your brain.
.
You hadn't realized how big Marley was going to be.
Levi had told you about it. Similar in structure to your towns within the walls, just... more of it. There's more buildings, he was right- but so many of them are just larger in general. It feels like there's more height to Marley, buildings stretching up higher into the sky.
You're not complaining though- that just means more maneuverability for you and your friends in ODM gear.
There's some sort of celebration too. The main streets are crowded with vendors and people, all bustling about. Eren had mentioned this date specifically because of some sort of event; you hadn't paid too much attention to the specifics.
Mike nudges you. "Where to?"
You tip your head down one empty alleyway. The building on the right side is perfect: tall enough to provide a great vantage point and plenty of handholds for climbing. "Here," you say, grinning up at the wall. "Top floor."
"Empty?"
"Only one way to find out."
You raise your leg up, planting your boot on one of the windowsills. Then, you hoist yourself up, fingers grabbing onto a pipe laid along the wall as you continue to scale the brick.
You hear Mike sigh below you, but you continue on. Your gear is heavy in the pack on your back but you don't let it stop you from hustling up the wall with minimal issues. Climbing just feels so natural and so easy that you'd be stupid not to do it. You make it to the top floor easily and peer inside: no one to be seen.
With a shove, the window comes open, and you roll yourself inside. You pull your knife out of your boot and raise it warily, glancing around for any Marleyans. No one appears.
You turn back to the window and pop your head outside, looking down at Mike. "Clear," you call, flashing him a thumbs up.
Mike shrugs at you. "Front door's locked."
"You guys can't climb?" you call down.
"We're not crazy."
You roll your eyes. "One minute!"
You close the window, wandering back inside and heading to the stairs. You keep your knife out, footsteps silent against the floor as your eyes scan for anyone left in the building. You can't hear anyone, but you trust your eyes more than your ears.
Second floor is clear, and then so is the first. You relax, tucking your knife back into your boot as you head towards the main door. The window blinds are pulled down, so no one can see you inside- you're just going to have to hope that it's your squad on the other side of this door and not anyone from Marley.
You check the lock and groan. You need a key.
Fumbling into your pants pocket, you pull out your lockpick tools. Ever since that mess in the military dungeon, you don't go anywhere without them. You bite down on your tongue as your hands move on their own accord, messing around with the lock.
There's a click as the door comes unlocked, and you push it open with a quick shove.
Sure enough, Mike is standing on the other side of the door, crowded by the half dozen or so scouts that are meant to be part of your squad. "Ta da," you say dryly, swinging open the door.
Mike steps aside and the rest of your squad hustles in, heading straight for the stairs. "You picked the lock?" Mike asks as he steps inside and you shut the door behind him.
"Yep," you confirm, holding up your tools.
"Ah. Forgot you could do that."
You shrug. "Saved my life four years ago. I don't leave home without them."
Mike hums in response, and the two of you head up the stairs. You keep your pace slow, allowing for Mike to keep up with you; that limp of his slows him down a fair bit. The rest of the scouts are waiting at the third floor, looking out the windows. There's a set of stairs that undoubtedly go up to the roof: perfect.
"Alright," you say, clapping your hands. "Let's get ready."
There's no rush; you've got some time until the event is supposed to start and you'll have to make your move. That just means a lot of time to get ready and make sure everything's set and good to go.
People start dropping their disguises, showing off the new scout uniform. You like it: all black, long sleeved, a small wings emblem on the front chest. As much as you understand the stealth and inconspicuousness required for this mission, you still miss the old uniforms. The white pants, the green cloaks. You've got your brown jacket hanging up in your room alongside Levi's, probably never to be touched again.
You pull open your gear bag and you pause.
Everyone else has switched to thunder spears. Obviously, your enemies aren't just titans anymore, so blades are nowhere near as useful as thunder spears. You and Levi were the only ones who chose to stick to blades. It hadn't been a difficult decision: you're much more comfortable with the swords than the new spears.
No, your blades aren't surprising. What is surprising, however, is the folded green cloak that you certainly don't remember packing.
Curious, you pull it out of the bag. A note falls out.
Only if you want it.
Levi.
Smiling, you bring it up to your face, inhaling. God, it smells like him. You hadn't thought you'd be allowed to bring a cloak or you'd be stupid to consider it. Yeah, there's no way you're not going to wear it.
You pull it over your shoulders, and Mike hums behind you. "Nostalgic."
"Yeah," you say with a happy sigh. "I miss these."
"I would've packed mine if I knew we were wearing those."
"I didn't pack it," you confess. "Levi did."
Mike's lips twitch. "Hm."
You clasp the cloak on, then start pulling on your gear. It takes a while, but you have the time, so you don't rush. The rest of your squad are all suited up and ready to go when you're done, but you tell them to relax and hold tight: they'll know when to go.
Ten minutes later, there's a giant explosion, and that's your cue to move.
"Rooftops," you order, and the rest of the scouts start taking the stairs up to the roof. You peer outside one of the windows. The streets are basically empty now, which is good, but that just means there's a ton of people at the event thing that's supposed to be going on. What's Eren up to? "Let's go," you call again when you notice people lagging behind. "We'll wait for the signal."
Your squad heads up towards the roof, and you see everyone start fussing with their gear. Despite everyone having prepped to go a while ago, people are still going through their gear for a third time, checking straps and gas.
"Everyone's so fidgety," you remark to Mike.
He shrugs. "They're nervous. It's everyone's first large scale expedition in unfamiliar territory."
You turn to him. "Are you nervous?"
"No."
"I guess we're kind of immune to it at this point, hm?" you joke, smiling.
"No one's ever immune," Mike says, his voice quiet and his eyes focused somewhere far away. You're immediately reminded of the terror Mike went through in his last expedition over four years ago, and you kick yourself for not being more sensitive. "We think we are, until we aren't."
We think we are, until we aren't.
That metal bench. That damn metal bench, blade pressing into your skin-
You squeeze your eyes shut, then reopen. Mike's completely right: every time you remember that dungeon, your skin crawls. You're naïve to think that you're not nervous or that you'll never be nervous again.
"Sorry," you murmur. "That was insensitive."
"You're fine," he replies, shrugging. "We may be nervous, but we're a lot better at hiding it."
Well, that's true, at the very least. Everyone seems so fidgety. "Alright!" you call, raising your voice, and your squad turns to face you. "We've practiced this. You all know what you're supposed to be doing. Remember our strategy and..." you trail off, looking to Mike. He doesn't say anything, so you turn back to the others. "Don't die," you finish. "Alright?"
"Yes, Captain!" they echo.
Captain. It's been a few years now and you're still not used to it yet. Rolling your shoulders back, you glance at Mike. "Smell anything?"
"Titans," he says. "Two."
"Assuming Eren's one of the ones transformed, then someone's up against him," you muse, glancing around. You can't see any other movement, so you're assuming that you're holding your position for now. "Everyone's got their lights? Guns?"
There's nods as people hold up their equipment.
"Good." You glance behind you again; you can hear whirring. People are starting to move. "Let's go!"
Your squad follows your lead as you step off of the roof and let your gear pull you away, swooping over the rooftops. Mike leads next to you; you'd instructed him to stay near you in case you needed his impeccable sense of smell to navigate, but there's no need. You can see the battle in the distance.
There's a giant spike shooting up out of the middle of the event courtyard. It's huge, towering well over the buildings, and the top of it has been broken off. You see something raised up above the building's height level: a hammer of some sort with an impossible thin handle.
"Go," you urge, leading your troops towards the battle area. There's cannons and soldiers spread out around the battlefield area, weapons pointed at the titans. The courtyard is massive; it'll be difficult to cross easily. If you ever have to go around, it's going to be a long trip.
There's a resounding boom as the hammer gets brought down. You can't see what it hit. "The soldiers?" Mike questions.
You nod. "Yeah. We're going to time it."
Mikasa should be making her move anytime now; you'll time it with her strike. You signal for your squad to pause, only a few rooftops away from the soldiers that you're planning on taking out. From here, you can see the other titan: it's thin, tall, and almost looks like it has some sort of faceguard on it. Everything about it, including the hammer in its hands, looks like it's made out of that hardened titan material.
Eren's titan is standing across from it. He's been decapitated, head torn completely off his body. You can vaguely make out Eren emerging from the back of his titan's neck, which means Mikasa should be coming in any minute.
"Go!" you shout.
Your squad jumps with you as you head straight towards the enemies' cannons. You draw one of your blades and drive the flat side of it straight into one soldier's head. He plummets, collapsing to the ground like a puppet cut from its strings. Only after the man crumples do the soldiers realize they're in danger, and people start to shout.
Shouting does them nothing. Your team takes care of them quickly, firing shots at the men until every single one of them is down and launching thunder spears at their cannons to render them inoperable. You're happy that you stuck to your blades, because it proves to be effective against Marley's fighters. None of them stand a chance against you as you sweep from man to man, slicing away.
Once the last one is down, you call out, "back!" and your squad immediately retreats to the nearest rooftop like you'd planned. You touch down, stumbling across the roof, and do a quick head count as the rest of them swoop in.
"That's everyone," Mike says, pulling up on your other side.
You nod. "Everyone's good? No injuries?"
A flurry of murmurs.
"Good," you say, relieved. "Alright. Mike's in charge. Go!"
This is the tricky part: the part where you trust your squad to Mike and you have to improvise. Stocked up on bombs and thunder spears, your squad takes off, ready to handle the incoming Marleyans. "Ready?" Mike asks, lingering by your side.
"Absolutely," you agree. "Good luck."
Mike nods, zipping away, and you turn back towards the battlefield. This is the fun part for you- right? You just have to keep an eye out for Levi and make a move on any of the enemy titans if necessary. That, you can do.
Mikasa's taking on the war hammer titan- at least, that's what you think it's called- and she seems to be having a relatively easy time, so you perch yourself on the roof edge and wait. Your eyes skim the clearing, looking for where Levi's perched himself, and you grin when you see him standing on top of the broken spike from earlier. Of course he's fine; it's still nice to see him regardless.
There's a blast of air as Eren transforms once again, and you see his hand dive into the ground. He yanks out some sort of crystal- much like the one Annie's encased in- and a thin cord that had been connecting it to the titan snaps. The titan that Mikasa had been fighting drops to the ground, useless.
"He got it," you say in surprise as Eren holds the crystal up to his jaw.
Another titan comes out of nowhere. It's small with what looks like an iron jaw, and it's really damn fast because you don't see it until it's already latched onto Eren. Its mouth opens, and it clamps down on Eren's nape, ready to sink its teeth into his neck. Jaw titan.
Hange was right- looks like Yelena couldn't keep them down for very long after all. Looks like you're up.
"Here goes," you say to yourself, and you jump.
Levi's closer, and like you'd expected, he swoops in and cuts straight through the titan's jaw. Perfect- now it can't bite down. Spinning, you zoom in, gear whirring, and slice through the claw that the titan's got digging into Eren's shoulder. The hand cleanly separates from the wrist, and there's a growl from the titan as it falls.
You plant your boots firmly on the building wall that you landed on and ricochet off, twisting your neck to see if you need to go in for another swing. The situation seems fine: Eren's grabbed the titan by its hair and has pulled it up.
Your eyes look for Levi. He's still airborne, but he's looking at you too. His eyes meet yours, and the smile appears on your face without meaning to.
"God, I love you," you whisper to yourself as he flies around, going after the jaw titan again as it tries to get away. There's something about the grace in the way Levi flies that always makes something flutter in your stomach.
Mikasa launches a thunder spear, stopping the titan's escape attempt, and several scouts converge on it, preparing for the kill. You don't join them; something feels wrong, something in the deepest part of your core, and you look up right as the guns go off.
It's that god damn cart titan. Pieck.
It's got some sort of armor loaded up onto its back, and it's pouring heavy fire out over the battlefield. You take off immediately, zooming over the rooftops with your jaw locked. That's quicker than you'd anticipated. In the strategy meetings, Yelena had said that she could buy plenty of time to take down the war hammer titan before they would manage to get out, but here they were. That was too fast. Hange had been worried about this, like they'd voiced to you, but it feels so much sooner than expected.
The jaw titan alone, you might've been fine to manage. Now you really do have to take on two.
"Shit," you curse as you glance down at the battlefield and see some fallen scouts. You were hoping for no casualties, and although that may be a bit too much to hope for, it still makes you angry.
You zip along the rooftops, unwilling to go straight across the battlefield and make yourself an easy target. It'll be easier to sneak up on them this way too; hopefully, she won't see you coming.
"You're not getting away from me this time," you mutter, a scowl fixed on your face.
Even better. Lumbering around the buildings near the cart titan is none other than Zeke himself. You hate working with him and you wish you didn't need him alive- well, you know Levi hates it more. That was a promise Levi made to Erwin, one of the last times he talked to him before he died. A promise that he'd kill the beast titan.
You know that's a promise that keeps Levi up at night, and you know it hurts him not to be able to act on it- so it hurts you too.
As you get closer, you start to realize that this may be more difficult that you'd intended. The jaw titan is next to Zeke, snapping its jaws, and the cart titan's armor looks painfully heavy duty. Well... you said you'd distract, right? You've had to do worse. And they're both in the same place- theoretically, this should make your life easier.
But you've got to do this right. Zeke will look suspicious if he doesn't also participate in the attack- so you'll need to stay out of his range until Levi can take him down.
You narrow your eyes at Pieck again. There's some sort of armor covering its face and four separate machine guns mounted on its back- you bet there's a few soldiers hidden in there. There's no way you'll be able to get to her nape.
"Fuck," you say with a snarl. You'll have to incapacitate.
You curse your gear in your head as you continue to hook your grapples into the building walls and release, flying as fast as you can. Two scouts fly around Zeke's neck; the soldiers on the cart titan's back shoot them both down. This could be bad.
If the guns are pointed outwards, then the best spot to strike is from above. Finally close enough, you launch yourself up to roof level at the same time that another scout does, thunder spears aimed at the machine guns.
The jaw titan lunges for the scout, and you lunge at the jaw titan.
It spies you coming at the last possible second, and it twists. Your blades, which had been intended to go through its nape, take a chunk out of its shoulder instead. You loop around, hooking onto its opposite shoulder so that you can swing back towards it. Unfortunately, the jaw titan still succeeded at knocking the scout off course, so his thunder spears didn't hit their mark. Thankfully, the scout's alive- you can see him collecting his bearings and escaping into one of the buildings.
Scowling, you spin around its outstretched arm, twirling around it the way Levi taught you and slicing through its scrawny limb. You land yourself on the jaw titan's back.
Hm. His limbs are so damn thin- easier to cut through than branches.
"I can't get a shot!" you hear one of the gunmen on Pieck's back shout. "Galliard's in the way!"
Good. That means you're doing this right.
The jaw titan- Galliard- reaches around for you with its good arm, which serves to be a mistake, because you swing up both of your blades and slice his fingers into a dozen pieces. The jaw titan howls and spins, trying to throw you off, but you're still planted firmly on its back, hooked in tight and holding onto its hair.
Funny- you'd done this with Ymir too, when she helped you escape from Reiner way back when. Damn. You miss her.
"I've stayed upright being carried around in Reiner's mouth," you say with a grin on your face. "Good luck shaking me off."
Galliard almost... pauses. Then, he rotates so that his back is to Pieck. You see what he's doing, and it's exactly what you were hoping for.
The guns on Pieck's back go off, and you leap up at the last second, putting yourself up in the air above the cart titan. The other scout had tried moving directly above the cart titan and the gunman had yelled that he couldn't get a shot, so you're betting you'll be safer up here. The bullets slam into Galliard's back and you hear the titan roar. Obviously, it won't do any major damage, but it'll be annoying.
Gracefully, you land on top of the heavily armored backpack that Pieck is wearing. You whip your neck up, hair flipping out of your face.
The jaw titan is picking itself up from the rooftop, groaning. Behind him is the beast titan, thankfully out of reach: last thing you want is Zeke reaching out for you and putting you up against three titans at once.
"Hi," you say with a cheeky grin, tapping your blade against the top of the cart titan's head. "Remember me?"
Pieck creaks, shifting around to try and throw you off, but you lock in your grapples and hold yourself still. You hear some of the soldiers inside the barrels on her back crying out from being rattled around and it's hard to stifle your smile.
"Careful," you taunt. "Not just me up here."
"Logan," you hear Zeke rumble, and you forgot how unsettling his voice was. "As bothersome as ever."
"Then why don't you do something about it, Zeke?" you call, cocking your head. Galliard is still picking himself up off the ground- you'd destroyed one of his arms and his other hand, so he's having difficulty. "C'mon. It's just me."
No, you don't want him to attack you- but taunting him is still fun. God, you hate him.
Adrenaline is pumping through your veins, and you're genuinely having the time of your life. Hange's orders echo in your brain: the jaw titan and cart titan need to be distracted so that Levi can make his move on Zeke, all part of the ploy that Zeke's still on the side of Marleyans. You don't mind this job at all; vengeance has been high on your priority list ever since Eren's letter came in detailing an attack plan. Vengeance against the titan that got the better of you in the battle of Shiganshina.
You like being a pain in the ass- especially to Pieck. You've wanted revenge for a while.
Galliard's eyeing you warily, but he's not moving- maybe he recognizes that you're at a stalemate for the time being. Pieck's nape is covered by that thick armor, so without thunder spears, you're not going to be able to crack through. His hands aren't healed, so he can't swipe at you, and he can't risk lunging without injuring Pieck and the soldiers on her back. Zeke is too far away to be a danger without devoting three titans to taking down one person, which would just be humiliating. Regardless, you have to keep him at a decent distance so that his inevitable takedown still looks realistic.
You grin, locking eyes with Galliard. "Don't tell me you're scared," you mock, raising an eyebrow. "I'm one soldier against three of you. And I don't even have a gun."
Now, Levi. Do it now.
Perfectly timed, Levi zips out of nowhere, blades dragging through the back of the beast titan's neck. Zeke doesn't even move: his titan tumbles, falling to the ground.
Good. As long as Levi can successfully grab Zeke, then your job is done.
There's a burst of steam from the back of the jaw titan's neck; Galliard bursts free. He's got light, slicked back hair and wide eyes. Wide eyes that are focused on you as you ready your blade and prep yourself to jump at him.
You're about to launch yourself at him when Pieck jerks sideways. You don't fall, but it stops you from going after Galliard as he transforms again, launching himself in Eren's direction. He's taking off, leaving just you and the cart titan.
"Now!" you hear, and scouts surround the roof.
This is the moment, the moment when the two titans separate. This is where everyone is supposed to take down the cart titan, now that the jaw titan isn't around to pick off the scouts. Gritting your teeth, you flatten yourself to the back of the titan, lean over, and jam your sword blindly into one of the sight holes for the shooters.
There's a cry, and one of the guns stops. "Carlo!" someone yells.
"Logan!" you hear Jean call, and you look up. "Here!"
You release your grapples and jump as Pieck twists violently. You launch yourself to where Jean is as half a dozen scouts appear overhead, launching thunder spears down at the cart titan. You grin to yourself; one less shooter means less injured scouts.
"Thought you'd want to do the honors," Jean says, and he hands you a thunder spear.
You beam, mounting it on your arm. "You can get some action too, I don't mind sharing," you joke, watching as the armor on Pieck's back crumbles away under the weight of the explosions.
Jean nods. "Now!"
You and Jean charge forward, thunder spears in hand, one of you posted on either side of the cart titan's armored face. You kick out your feet and slide forwards, launching your thunder spear up into the opening for the cart titan's eye, and the spear successfully slides into the opening in the armor. A quick glance at Jean verifies that he's hit his mark too. "Go!" you hear Sasha call, and a dozen scouts release their own thunder spears into Pieck's back.
There's a deafening boom, and the cart titan explodes. You spin around as Pieck stumbles to the edge of the roof, launching herself off, and you shoot your hooks after her.
"Logan!" you hear someone protest, but you're already gone.
You catch up to Pieck in the air, using your grapples to pull yourself down until your feet touch the titan's back. She's missing limbs, eyes falling loose and steaming everywhere, but you want this moment. You want to solidify this as the moment you caught her. You got your revenge.
Pieck falls to the ground, and you fall on top of her. Your orders are to finish her off; that's what the homemade bomb strapped to your waist is for.
You grab the bomb, ready to drop it-
"Wait!"
You turn your head. It's a kid. He's blond and short- maybe eleven or twelve years old. His eyes are wide with panic, and he's running into bombing range.
Your heart jerks in your chest. Kids. You can't kill kids- they haven't done anything wrong except grow up in a different place.
But you can't... not do your job.
You drop the bomb, then lunge at the kid just as steam explodes from behind you.
Damn Pieck for always having the last laugh. The steam dislodges the bomb, blasting it away, and the explosive is propelled skyward before it explodes above your head. You tackle the blond kid to the ground, pulling your cloak out from around your shoulders to help cover him from the explosion. Heat singes the back of your neck from where you don't quite have the cloak pulled up high enough, but nothing bad.
You pull back your cloak, and you're genuinely surprised that your first instinct is to turn to the kid and blurt out, "you okay?"
His eyes are wide, shining with tears, but he looks alright. "W- what?" he stammers.
You look up and immediately stiffen. Across from you, beside the body of Zeke's titan, is another kid- young girl, brown hair, ferocious eyes- and a commander. He's got his rifle raised at you, directly at your face, and you can stare right down the barrel.
You know what Levi would tell you to do: grab the boy and hold him up in front of you. Prevent the shot, then wait until there's a sufficient distraction for you to zoom away. But you can't bring it in yourself to use the blond boy as a shield. He seems so innocent, so scared. Panicked.
"Miss Pieck!" the girl shouts.
The commander's staring you down- why hasn't he fired yet? From this range, he could easily hit you without hitting the kid.
Unless...
You saving the boy. It's a truce.
His eyes narrow at you, and he nods. He's sparing your life in exchange for you saving the kid's. You'd never expected that, not from people that were rumored to hate you simply for your existence.
You don't want to push your luck. You nod, give the boy once last glance, and shoot up to the top of the building.
It's a good thing you moved when you did; another dozen Marleyan soldiers roll in and they immediately start firing off shots at incoming Survey Corps. You nearly stumble over the roof ledge, then collapse onto your knees, exhaling.
You could've died. You faced off with two human-controlled titans, grinning like a madman the entire time, and came out without a scratch- only to nearly be done in by an old man with a rifle.
It's done. It doesn't matter now; it's all done.
Shakily, you pull yourself together, getting to your feet just in time for Mike to appear over the edge of the building. "We can't pursue," he reports as he hobbles forward. "Too much gunfire."
"Almost had her," you say with a sigh. "Sorry."
"Don't. You took her down. She's out for the count now."
You pinch your lips together and glance up at the streets. The scouts have done their jobs: lights line the rooftops, and you can see the blimp coming in the distance. That means Armin's done his part as well. Good. All's going according to plan then, more or less.
There's more whirring, and three more familiar faces land on the roof. You can't help but smile as Connie runs over to you, Jean and Sasha trailing behind. "You're good?" Connie asks, evidently relieved. "That guy- he was aiming at you."
"Fine," you report. "Life for a life. I got lucky."
"I'll say," Jean says in a tone that reads that was reckless.
You roll your eyes lightly. "Yeah, yeah. All worked out, even if I didn't get her." You point a finger at Jean, then sweep it around to the rest of your comrades, finishing on Mike. "Levi doesn't find out about that part," you add.
Mike smiles softly. "Yes, ma'am."
"You were awesome against the jaws titan," Sasha adds, shooting you a reassuring smile. "I think he's scared of you now."
"You definitely traumatized him," Jean agrees, lips twitching.
You laugh to yourself. "Good!"
The casual banter amidst the battlefield makes your heart warm, even if it's definitely not the right place for it. In the distance, Eren's got his hands on the jaw titan, and he's holding him above his head. You narrow your eyes. Is that- is that the crystal with the war hammer titan in Galliard's jaws?
Eren forces Galliard's jaw shut, and the crystal breaks, pouring its contents into Eren's mouth.
"I gotta hand it to him," you say offhandedly. "Never would've thought about using the jaw titan to break the crystal."
"He got the war hammer now," Sasha says softly, eyes wide.
You clap your hands. "Alright. Time to defend the blimp so that everyone can get home." You glance at Mike. "Losses?"
"I know of four," he reports. "Not sure if there's more."
Your stomach twists. Four is literally nothing- not compared to the two hundred lost at Shiganshina- but with no battles and next to no death in the past four years, you've been used to keeping everyone around. Four good soldiers gone.
You squeeze your eyes shut and reopen to keep yourself focused. "Alright," you repeat. "Let's go."
"Got it."
Jean, Connie, and Sasha take off, moving towards the blimp. You grab Mike's arm before he can leave. "You're limping," you accuse, raising an eyebrow at him. "How're you doing?"
Mike stares at you for a moment before he replies. "Nothing new," he says. "Not as capable as I hoped I was, that's all."
"You hurt?"
"Nothing I can't deal with."
"Come on. Mike."
"Logan."
"Michael." Your lips twitch. "Is that even your full name?"
He smiles in return. "No. But I appreciate the concern." He glances down at his legs. "Bothersome, but not particularly painful," he admits. "I'll be a hindrance if I continue for much longer. This is probably my last field mission."
Your smile wavers slightly. "Well," you say, "it was a honor to do one last mission with you."
"The only thing bothering me," Mike muses, glancing up at the blimp that's approaching, "is that I never got to repay my debt to you."
"Repay it by not telling Levi the extra lengths I took today."
He chuckles. "Fine."
You and Mike both step up to the building's edge and hop off, swooping along the streets. You don't have guns, so you'll be pretty useless trying to ward off the oncoming soldiers unless you jump down to the street to fight them. Not only would that be ridiculously dangerous and reckless, but Levi would most definitely have a heart attack.
So you zip alongside Mike, being mindful not to get in the way of any of the other scouts, and you zoom up to the blimp. Mike is right next to you, reaching to grab onto the ropes that hang from the underside of the aircraft. You hang next to him, grip tightening around the material.
A figure appears from the doorway to help you up, and you grin when you see who it is. "Armin," you say happily as he grabs your arm to help you up. "Success?"
"If this is what you consider success," he says, eyes distant, "then yes."
You hoist yourself into the blimp, then reach down to help Armin pull Mike up to safety. "Thanks," Mike says gruffly, rolling into a sitting position. He extends his legs out in front of him, wincing as he stretches.
"All clear?" Armin asks, glancing at you.
"Yep," you say, grinning as you recount your fight with Pieck and Galliard. "Couldn't finish off Pieck, but we did a number on them all. Haven't had that much fun in a while."
He nods, lips twitching in amusement. "We're all posted in the front- I just wanted to make sure the first people got up okay. Levi's in the front room too, with Zeke. I'm assuming you'll want to see him." He turns to Mike. "You good to help the next few?"
Mike nods. "That, I can do."
"Perfect," you reply. "Thanks, Mike."
You squeeze Armin's shoulder as you pass him, heading towards the front of the blimp. Armin follows you as you slide open the door, peering inside.
The first person you see is, unfortunately, Zeke. He's still steaming, his wounds recovering from where he's sitting, restrained. Levi's standing next to him, cloak billowing with the air flow, and you can't help but smile when you see him. Of course he's unharmed, you'd expected nothing less- it's just nice to see him.
Apparently, it's nice for him to see you too, because you see his posture relax. "Logan," he says. "Report?"
"Four confirmed dead," you say, looking to Zeke and then back to Levi. "Eren ate the war hammer. Cart titan's down for the count but not out. Jaw titan too, probably. We're gathering up to leave."
He nods, and he gives you a quick scan. "Injuries?" he asks.
You know it's framed just for you, disguised as being for everyone, but you give him the general breakdown anyways- no point in being sappy when Zeke and two other military officers are watching you. "Nothing that I know of," you say. "Mike's old injuries are acting up but otherwise, he's fine."
"Good." Levi's gaze lingers on you, and you see his eyes soften. "Go make sure everyone else gets into the blimp okay."
"Yes, sir."
"Rings?"
You look to Zeke. You hadn't realized that your fingers had moved to fidget with the silver ring on your left hand- your nervous habit is certainly presenting itself at weird times. You glance at Levi; he's ignoring Zeke, as per usual, but you smile when you see his ring on his finger. He never took it off for the battle.
Zeke chuckles when neither of you respond. "Congratulations, you two," he says, tipping his head back against the wall. "Slaves to the laws of marriage."
"Jealousy doesn't look good on you, Zeke," you say cheekily, rolling your eyes. You shoot Levi one last look before you turn on your heel, heading out the door and back to the main room.
God, what you wouldn't give to jam your blade down that man's throat.
.
"She's in a good mood," Zeke remarks after you leave, glancing at Levi. "She like taking on titans as much as she likes you? She sure was having a grand time taunting Galliard and Pieck."
"She's been waiting for this ever since we cleared the walls of titans," Levi replies, glaring daggers at him.
"Mm. Well, based on what I saw, she definitely traumatized Galliard for the rest of his life."
Levi can't help the twitch of his lips.
Of course you did.
.
You count heads as you help scout after scout into the blimp, keeping a careful eye out for your friends. Sasha is the first of them all to arrive, with Connie close on her heels, and the two of them help Jean get into the blimp. You see Mikasa swoop in, but she locks onto the ropes below the front room where Levi and Armin are. She's got Eren in tow. Good; the whole reason for coming to the island was Eren, so it's good to see he's alive, even if no one's exactly happy with him right now.
"Confirmed deaths?" Jean asks as he pulls himself to his feet.
There's still a few people swooping around below the blimp, but you step away from the opening when Jean stands up. "Still only four," you say. "I think that's all."
He nods solemnly. "Dammit."
"Compared to the damage we did to them!" someone shouts, and you turn to see Floch. He's become no less aggravating in the past few years, but for once, you agree with him. "It's a huge victory! The new Eldian empire's first battle has been a massive success!"
There's a massive cheer as the other scouts start celebrating. Your moment of agreeing with Floch is over; it's much too noisy now.
"Now rejoice!" Floch howls, and you resist the urge to throw something at him. "That's how we'll pay tribute to the fallen four!"
Jean sighs from next to you. "Our first battle. I wonder... how many more there's going to be."
That sounds like something you or Levi would say. The two of you constantly pondered that, wondering how many more fights you had until your world was finally at peace and the two of you could live your lives. "Plenty," you say softly, thinking of the repercussions of this battle. "But we'll win those too."
"Well," Connie says, wrapping one arm around Sasha's shoulders and another around Jean's, "at least we survived another one."
Your lips twitch. The luck of the 104th.
"Sorry to everyone else," he continues, hugging Jean and Sasha close to him, "but you guys are really special to me."
"Ouch," you say loudly.
Connie laughs. "C'mon, Logan!" he says, and Sasha grabs your arm to pull you in for a messy group hug. "You're in this too."
"This hurts!" Jeans complains. "Idiot! Don't hug people when you've got so much iron on- that's just stupid!"
"Hug him harder," you suggest.
"You know what's stupid?" Connie says, releasing the three of you. "Someone who tries to trim a beard that they've just started growing."
You snort in laughter. "Says the one who can't grow a beard."
"Hey!"
"That's right," Sasha agrees. "You can't eat a beard, no matter how long it gets."
"Huh?" you, Connie, and Jean echo.
She perks up, looking at you. "When are we eating next?"
You shrug. "Probably when we get back to the island."
Sasha groans, slumping against the ground. "That's so far."
Connie and Jean start to hassle Sasha, so you stand up, smiling to yourself. Your friends really are the best- you don't know what you'd do without them. You look around for Mike, wishing that you could call his name but knowing it would get lost amongst all of the cheering.
You finally find him near the rear of the blimp. "Doing okay?" you call above the noise.
"Fine," he replies. "Noisy."
You hum in agreement, glancing back to the celebrating scouts. Your fantasy of punching Floch may come true tonight; he looks especially hittable right now. "Yeah," you muse, cracking one of your knuckles. "Maybe we should-"
"Blood," Mike says.
You turn towards him, stiffening. "What?"
"I smell blood," he says, eyes whipping towards the back of the blimp.
"Anyone injured?" you call, raising your voice. Only a few people turn to you and shake their head; too many of them are cheering alongside Floch. God, one of these days, you're going to kick his ass. "Hey!" you cry out, pushing into the crowd. "Anyone bleeding?"
"Back," Mike says, and you turn towards the back of the blimp. "Has Lobov come up yet?"
"I don't think so," Sasha says from beside you. "I-"
Someone rolls into the blimp, and it's not Lobov. Immediately, you draw your blade, suddenly cursing yourself for not having a gun like everyone else. You raise your arm, finger twitching on the button to release the blade as you rear back to throw your sword.
Your eyes widen as the figure raises their head. It's a kid.
Not just any kid- it's the girl from earlier. When you took down Pieck, this kid was on the ground nearby, staring at her surroundings in horror. For a moment, you'd empathized with her: her whole world, turned upside down.
Now she's raising her gun, and your options are limited.
You don't have time to use your words: you lunge forwards and shove the person who's the closest target down: Sasha. Fuck- was she aiming specifically for Sasha? You see the girl's finger squeeze over the trigger, and for a moment, everything seems to move in slow motion, accompanied by a deafening boom as the bullet is launched.
Everything's so stupidly slow.
Realistically, you know that the bullet is moving faster than your eyes can comprehend. But in the moment, it feels like you're stuck in time. You watch as the bullet travels towards you and Sasha, whom you've shoved down, going barely over Sasha's shoulder and missing her.
Your moment of relief is very short lived.
The bullet hits you, and all hell breaks loose.
.
A/N: Thanks for reading my loves! See you next week <3