The Cart Titan lunged for Hange.
You almost grabbed your rifle, but Hange managed to calm the situation down. Your heart was drumming rapidly in your chest, but you previously decided to have faith in Hange. Levi was staring up at the sky, seemingly lost in his own world, and you felt a wave of protectiveness roll over you. If anything went wrong, he was your number one priority. You were going to die before you let anything happen to him.
Out the corner of your eye, you saw Hange turn and gesture for you to come over. Your eyes flickered upwards, and you saw two people on the back of the Cart Titan. With a quiet sigh, you urged the horses forwards,
The closer you got, the bigger your desire to grab your rifle grew. You didn't even know why you were nervous. Maybe it was because you had a sleeping and vulnerable Levi behind you, or maybe it was the fact that Hange was standing so close to the Titan.
Please, Hange, I hope you know what you're doing.
One of the people on the Cart Titan's back was a woman. You knew that she was the Titan because of the steam billowing off of her and the Titan markings on her cheeks. She had black hair, dark brown eyes and a general... friendly look about her. She met your gaze, and you hardened your glare. She blinked, then looked away, a small blush on her cheeks.
Hange introduced the second man on the Titan as General Theo Magath. You stopped the horses in front of them, your eyes narrowed on the General. He held a gun at his side, but it wasn't aimed at you.
"That wasn't so bad, now, was it?" Hange said, her voice oddly cheery. "Is Levi awake?"
You nodded. "He just woke up."
Hange smiled and moved to her horse, trying to remove the cart. You didn't move from your position, painfully aware of the stares of the Titan and her accomplice. You wished you had your swords.
Hange managed to untie the ropes that were attaching the cart to the horse. She untied the ropes that were holding Levi, and he sat up slowly as Hange turned the cart around so he could see the people she was previously conversing with.
Levi looked from Theo Magath, the the girl he was with, and his gaze fell to his lap.
He knew exactly what to say.
"My goal... is to kill Zeke."
Silence.
He spoke up again. "Looks like our interests align, Theo Magath... Pieck Finger."
So that was her name. Pieck Finger.
"Levi Ackerman," Magath said as he raised his gun. Your fingers twtiched, aching to reach for your rifle as you heard the familiar click, telling you he'd shoot if given the chance. "It seems you can stand up to one of the Nine, but... how do you plan on dodging a bullet like that?"
Fuck this. You raised your rifle, aiming it straight at Magath's head and urged your horse closer toward Levi. "I can't dodge a bullet," Levi said calmly, and the calmness in his voice made you relax a little. "But I've come before you in this sad state. Whether you shoot or listen is up to you."
Your whole body was shaking, and you lifted your finger to the trigger. Magath's eyes flickered to you, then back to Levi. He didn't say anything, and you assumed it was because you still had your rifle aimed at his face. Slowly, painfully slowly, you lowered it back down to your hip. The tension in the air simmered, so Magath started speaking. "Then I'll ask this first: you say you'll kill Zeke, but where is he?"
Hange answered before Levi got the chance to. "Zeke's probably being held by Eren to make use of his royal blood..." She cast her gaze to the ground. "No, by the Founding Titan."
"It seems the Titan expert Hange knows everything - even more than Marley," Pieck said. It was the first time you'd heard her speak. Her voice was unexpectedly calm. "Have you seen the Founding Titan?"
Hange shook her head. "I know it's so humongous that it seems nothing can be done, so...We've got no other choice." The sudden confidence and sureness in her voice shocked you. "We've gotta put our powers together."
There was a long pause. Your fingers brushed over your rifle.
"Fine," Magath eventually said. "This seems to be our best course of action."
You sighed in relief, letting your hand fall to your side. You glanced up at Pieck, but she was already watching you. Her face wasn't worried or scared. It was serene. You narrowed your eyes at her, and her lips twitched. "Nice to meet you, too," she said softly. After regarding you for another minute, she turned to Hange. "What do you suggest for the next course of action?"
Hange spoke immediately. "Gathering our allies. She'd clearly thought this through. "We both have people on our sides that are stuck in Shiganshina with the Jaegerists. We need to get them out of the city so we can regroup and figure out our next move."
"How are we supposed to retrieve them if they're prisoners?" Magath asked, eyeing the three of you warily. "You three don't seem to be in the best shape."
"I can fight," you cut in.
Magath stared at you for a moment. "You can fight," he repeated.
Hange nodded and spoke up. "She can fight, and she's pretty damn good at it, too. You're looking at one of the best soldiers we've ever had."
"Impressive," Pieck added, and you felt your shoulders rise. "But you're injured, aren't you?"
You glanced down at your ribs and side. They were both still heavily bandaged under the shirt you were wearing. How did she know you were hurt? "I'll manage," you argued. "I can fight if I have to."
If you were speaking the truth, you had no idea if you could fight if you had to. But no one needed to know that.
Pieck hummed. "Okay."
She was extremely different compared to all the other Marleyan Titan Shifter's you'd met. Betholdt and Reiner tried to kill you all in Shiganshina, and Zeke also tried to kill you a mere few hours ago. Pieck was... surprisingly agreeable.
"Y/N," Hange suggested. "Why don't you come down from there?"
You froze. No. You didn't want to get down. Because you did't want anyone to know how bad your injury was. You didn't want Levi to know how bad your injury was. You didn't want to know how bad your injury was. If you got off your horse, you knew that you'd stumble and possibly fall. There was a dull ache in the back of your head that made you feel slighlty dizzy. If you tried to get off your horse, you knew it'd end badly.
You glanced down at Hange and sighed. She was practically pleading with you. If you didn't cooperate, Magath and Pieck would never trust you. They'd still think that you were a threat. With a sigh, you kicked one leg over your horse and slid off, gripping the saddle like a lifeline.
It wasn't bad. You still felt like shit, but better than yesterday.
Hange touched your shoulder and squeezed, telling you without words that she'd support you if you needed it. You smiled gratefully at her and nodded, telling her you were okay. She nodded back and turned to walk over to Magath so they could come up with a plan. You slowly walked over to Levi, and when you met his gaze, you shrunk in on yourself. He could always see right through you. He knew that you were downplaying your injury to decrease the amount of guilt he felt. None of this was his fault, but if you were walking around visibly injured, it would break him. And you didn't want to seem weak in front of Magath or Pieck, two people who wouldn't mind having you dead. You felt their eyes on you.
"So I'll infiltrate tonight," Hange said quite loudly, and you internally thanked her for taking everyone's eyes off you. "I'll see where everyone is and report back."
Magath nodded. "My only request is that we include Yelena in the list of those we're gathering."
"Done," Hange agreed, which surprised you. She saw your wide eyes, and started to explain. "Based on what Floch said, the Jaegerists imprisoned all the Marleyan volunteers. She's not on Zeke and Eren's side anymore." She thought for a moment. "I'll try and get Onyankopon, too. We'll need a good pilot if we're going overseas."
"We'll figure out who survived the massacre and go from there," Magath said.
"Massacre?" you questioned breathlessly. What the fuck happened?
Magath stared at you for a moment. Then, he grumbled, "Guess you weren't here for it. Zeke turned everyone who drank the wine into Titans so that he could get to Eren. Marley attempted an ambush to stop them from getting to each other. As you can see, it was unsuccessful."
You swallowed and nodded, unable to speak.
"Alright, then," Hange interfered. "I'll find Mikasa and Armin first. It'll be easier to round up our allies from there."
"Alright," Magath agreed.
You sighed to yourself. Things could easily go out of hand, but you trusted Hange.
Night fell, and Hange left for Shiganshina with one of the two horses. Levi had been asleep for a while now, and you didn't want to wake him up. He needed a lot of rest, especially if he was planning on fighting later on.
Pieck hadn't stopped staring at you. She was perched on her Titan's nape, eyeing you carefully. Magath had moved closer to the city to keep an eye out. You sat in front of Levi's cart protectively, even though you were injured and at an extreme disadvantage against a Titan and a man with a gun.
Hange had never let you down. You trusted her.
"You two are married," Pieck spoke up after several moments of silence.
You looked up at her. You'd been fidgeting with your wedding ring, occasionally glancing back at Levi. As you waged you options, you decided that you needed to trust her if you were going to be allies. "Yeah," you confirmed.
"How long?"
You bit your lip. "Four years."
"Mm," Pieck hummed. "Zeke told us he had a weak spot." Her eyes held yours. "It's you."
You hummed in acknowledgement. That's probably why Zeke made those comments back at the outpost. To make a dig at Levi. To get him riled up. You glanced back at Levi, who was sleeping peacefully. As much as you didn't want to risk waking him up, you wanted to hold his hand.
You reached up, your fingertips brushing the back of his hand experimentally. When he didn't stir, your hand closed around his, your wedding rings brushing against each other. A quiet sigh left your lips at the contact, and your muscles relaxed as your head fell against the side of the cart. Glancing sideways, you saw that Magath was still a little further away, gazing over at Shiganshina. But there wasn't much to see.
"So..." you started, trying to break the thick blanket of tension between you and Pieck. "You're the Cart Titan."
She stared at you for a moment, then nodded, as if she didn't expect you to start a conversation. "Yeah. I am." Then, as an afterthought, she added, "I can stay in my Titan form for months. It's one of my specialties."
You relaxed a little. It seemed like she was open to conversation. It bothered you a little, though. It would've been much easier to hate her if she was cocky.
"And... you?" she asked.
You blinked, subconsciously holding Levi's hand a little tighter. "What about me?"
"You asked about my skills. I want to know yours."
You paused. You were treading on dangerous territory. Anything you said now, she could've used against you. But if you were going to do this alliance thing, you had to reveal something. "Well..." you said reluctantly. "I'm sure you remember our old gear. The ones we used back when we retook Shiganshina."
"I remember," she said softly, and you knew that she was thinking back to five years ago. "You still use it. Everyone else has new ones."
You nodded. "Yeah. I prefer the old ones... I-"
"Your blades, too."
Your head snapped sideways, towards where Magath was staring at you. "My... blades?"
Magath's eyes flicked towards Levi, then back to you. "You two were the only ones who used blades when you invaded. Even though you were fighting humans, you still used your blades." He was silent for a few seconds. "So you two are seasoned veterans?"
"Yeah. We joined the Scouts..." You thought for a moment. "Nine years ago." You probably shouldn't have been revealing so much information about yourself, but being open was the quickest way to gain trust. Your gaze flickered over to Levi, and you smiled. How he'd managed to put up with you for the ten years that you'd known him, you had no idea.
You felt Pieck's gaze on you, and you caught her stare. Something passed between the two of you. It felt a lot like understanding. Understanding that you both wanted the same thing to come out of this war, and that you could trust one another. When she saw you smiling so lovingly at Levi, she realised that you were more human than she thought you were. You weren't one of the Eldian Devil's that everyone talked about.
To your surprise, Magath said, "That day. Falco saved you."
You remembered. When you were about to get shot, he pushed the man out of the way so that he'd miss.
"I had no idea why he'd save one of our enemies," Magath continued. "Why didn't you attack him? You must've seen his armband. He's your enemy." He didn't sound angry - just curious.
"My only aim was to get back to the airship. I don't kill kids. They're not part of this fight." You sighed.
"Even when Gabi shot one of your friends?" Pieck asked softly. It wasn't accusatory, or hateful. She just wanted to know.
Your eyes filled with involuntary tears, so you looked down towards your lap to will them away. You felt Levi squeeze your hand, and you smiled - even in his sleep, he could still comfort you. "Yeah," you whispered, a lump in your throat. "Even though she killed one of my friends, we're both on different sides of a war. It was understandable why she did it, but I don't think I'll ever forgive her."
After a few moments, Pieck turned towards Magath. "I think we can trust her," she said, her voice soft like silk.
Magath eyed you warily. You raised your eyebrow at him, daring him to disagree with her. After everything you'd just revealed to them, they had to trust you. Eventually, he nodded at you and walked away without a word, stalking back towards Shiganshina. When you looked back towards Pieck, you were shocked to see her smiling at you. It wasn't a large smile, but it was big enough to say that she trusted you. That you were in this together.
Maybe Hange was right. Maybe this wouldn't have been too bad. After what happened in Shiganshina five years ago, you thought you'd hated Pieck for dragging Zeke away, leaving Levi unable to fulfill his promise to Erwin. But now, she seemed reasonable enough.
It would all be okay.
"It'll be okay," you whispered to Levi as you ran your hand through his hair. You let your fingertips linger on his skin. "We'll be okay."
Hange came back some time later with good news. All of your friends were alive. You brielfy panicked about your Squad, until Hange said that they were okay, too. They were going to follow your previous orders and stay and help the civilians. Hange, Pieck and Magath started to form a plan on how they were going to get everone out. You stayed sitting next to Levi, and they didn't ask for your input, which you were grateful for. You wanted to sit next to Levi for as long as possible.
At some point, you fell asleep, your head resting on the cart while Levi's hand was gripped firmly in yours. When the sun rose and shone in your eyes, you woke up, immediately checking if Levi was okay. He was still sleeping, so you pressed a kiss to his forehead and stood. The pain in your ribs and side was still awful, but it was getting better. As you thought about it, you came to the conclusion that you'd be good enough to finally use your gear. You voiced your thoughts to Hange, but she responded with a stern, "No. You still have a concussion."
Pieck left to go through with the plan, which left you, Hange, Magath and Levi.
"What happened?" you asked Hange. "Who'd you see when you went into Shiganshina?"
"Jean and Mikasa. Apparently, Armin went to stop Connie from feeding Falco to his mom in Ragako," she said. "Falco ate Galliard and turned into the Jaw Titan."
You blinked. "Oh..."
"Pieck seemed a bit upset. She and Galliard must've been close."
You remembered how she looked at you and Levi, that look of longing and vulnerability, and your heart clenched. They had to have been good friends.
"All the higher ups are gone," Hange continued, and you frowned when you realised there was more. "Nile, Pyxis. They turned into Titans. And they've all been..."
She didn't need to finish for you to know what happened. "So... we're all that's left," you said, your voice low as you stared at her. "Just like that?"
"Just like that." She sighed.
You glanced towards the city, hoping that Pieck would be back soon. You wanted to know that your friends were okay.
"Pieck should be back soon," Hange said, somehow knowing what you were thinking. "She'll have everyone with her. Everyone else will come with supply carts one they know they're in the clear."
You nodded, unsure of what to say. There was a pit in your stomach, and you wanted to wake Levi up so that he'd tell you that it would all be okay.
By some miracle, you heard shuffling behind you. "This had better work, Hange," Levi said as he pushed himself into a sitting position.
The warmth that filled your chest at he sight of him spread to your whole body, and you couldn't help it as you stumbled over to him and wrapped your arms ligtly around his shoulders. You didn't care if Hange and Magath were watching. You didn't care if it made you look weak in front of Magath. All you cared about was Levi.
"Brat," Levi mumbled. "It'll be okay."
How did he always know what to say to you? How could he just look at you and know exactly what to say and do to make you feel better? As you pulled away and gazed at him, you realised that you could do it, too. From one look into his gray eyes, you could tell that he was skeptical about the plan, but he knew that he would be there for you whenever you needed it.
A few minutes later, Pieck's Titan came crashing through the clearing. You instinctively stepped in front of Levi, obscuring his view of what was happening. You doubted he even wanted to look as Pieck dropped Jean, Onyankopon and Yelena from her mouth.
"Are they okay?" Levi asked from behind you.
Jean started coughing and throwing up into the river, and you had to turn your head. "They... seem okay," you stated, unsure.
"The Cart Titan can stay a Titan for months, right?" Hange asked cheerily. "Don't you ever brush your teeth?"
You breathed a laugh, your spirits lifted as you realised that your friends were okay. You had nothing to worry about.
"That's a rude thing to ask a lady," came Pieck's gravely Titan voice.
Levi's hand brushed yours, so you turned and shot him a smile. "You feeling okay?" you asked, your smile turning from happy to sincere.
"Like shit," he replied gripping onto your fingers. "You?"
"Good," you said truthfully. "I'm doing good."
The sound of water splashing from behind you made you turn around, and you spotted Jean stumbling out of the water towards you as he shook off his coat. "Jean!" you called happily as you hobbled over to him, your ribs burning from shouting. He looked up at you, and he looked angry for a moment. Then, his expression softened, and he met you in the middle and wrapped his arms around your back. Water immediately soaked your clothes, but you were too happy to care.
"You idiot," he mumbled. "Where did you go? What the fuck happened to you?"
You laughed, wrapping your arms around his waist and squeezing tight. "Nice to see you, too," you mumbled into his shoulder.
"Get off her!" Levi snapped. "She'll get sick."
Jean pulled away from you, but your shirt was already soaked. "You're okay?" Jean asked, noticing the way you were slightly hunching over.
"Yeah. Broken ribs. Thunder spear stuck in my side. Concussion." You shrugged. "I'll be fine."
Jean looked wary, but he nodded anyway. "Alright."
There was silence for a few moments, then Levi spoke up from behind you. "It's my fault, Jean," he said, not looking at you. "She's hurt because I was reckless."
"Levi," you pleaded as you turned to face him.
Jean didn't say anything. Him and Levi stared at each other for a few moments. "It's good to see you, Captain," Jean eventually said before walking off towards Hange. You sighed and made your way over to Levi, staring at him with concern.
Then you wondered if there was any point in trying to reason with him. It didn't matter what you'd say. He would've blamed himself anyway.
He looked up at you when you were in front of him. "No matter how much you say it, it'll always be my fault," he whispered. "I shouldn't have stuck a thunder spear in his stomach and expected him to behave nicely."
You pursed your lips as you stared at him. "I'll never blame you, Levi," you said softly. "In my eyes, you saved my life, and I'll never blame you for doing something you thought was right." His gaze flickered down to his lap, and you crouched in front of him. "Hey... We'll be okay, right? And that's all that matters."
Levi clenched his eye shut, so you lifted your hand and placed it on his bandaged cheek. "We'll be okay," he whispered. "I love you."
You smiled, your thumb dusting gently over his cheek. "I love you, too. No matter what."
Levi opened his eye to look at you reverently. Underneath his bandages, you could tell he was smiling. "No matter what."