A Siblings Promise (An AOT Sibling FanFic)

Closure

Levi watched from a safe distance through the clouded smoke as Armin's Titan form went to pick up a defeated Bertholdt who had just woken up. He could hear Bertholdt begin to panic.

His mind was blank as he glanced away to look at Erwin. He could feel the weight of the guilt on his shoulders. He shut his eyes as he heard Bertholdt cry in pain as Armin began to devour him. 

The sound of ODM caught his attention. Levi's eyes flew open as he instinctively turned to see who dared to approach him during this moment of guilt and grief.

His eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open... Yet no words escaped his mouth. 

"Captain..." Jean said softly with a worried expression. He held a bloody and unconscious Cordelia in his arms.

Levi felt himself begin to tremble.

Hange landed immediately next to Jean. She looked at Levi reluctantly and bit her lip.

Levi took a few slow, weak steps towards them as Jean walked forward with Cordelia.

"Is... she..." Levi managed to speak with a breaking voice as he followed Jean and gestured for him to lay her down.

Jean gently set Cordelia down next to her brother who lay dead on the roof. He sighed and stroked Cordelia's cheek gently.

Noticing Erwin's body on the roof, Jean stared at Commander Erwin in confusion. He looked at Armin's Titan in the distance, then back at Levi and tried not to gasp. 

He ... chose Armin... Jean felt his heart race seeing that his friend was revived, but why...?

Levi felt frozen as he stared at the amount of blood that caked Cordelia's body. Jean noticed his Captain's expression and felt uneasy. He had never seen his Captain in such a grief-stricken state before.

"Jean," Hange called as she noticed the situation, "Go assist Armin from his Titan."

"Y...Yeah..." Jean said sadly. He glanced at Cordelia one last time with a pitiful expression then went on his way.

Hange sighed, "Well... She sure as hell got lucky, but... she's stable, Levi, for now at least," She put a hand on Levi's shoulder, "Chances are she'll live, but we'll have to monitor her." 

Levi felt his knees weaken as he sunk to the ground.

"...Dammit..." He cursed as he gripped his fists tightly, "This shouldn't have even happened..." He said in frustration. 

Hange didn't know what to say to her friend. She bent down and patted his back in reassurance with a sigh.

Levi had just witnessed the death of one of his closest friends, and now? Cordelia was on the verge of death herself. She couldn't imagine what Levi was feeling.

"Tell me," Levi said firmly with anger in his voice, "What happened...?"

Hange shut her eyes, "...It's hard to tell. We were so far away when the explosion happened, but," she bit her lip, "She was saved by someone at the last second." 

Levi glanced up at Hange, "By who?" He growled.

Hange took a deep breath as she prepared to tell Levi, "...It was... Patrick Starks."

Levi clenched his jaw and grew a cold expression, "...What the hell did you just say?"

Hange tightened her grip on Levi's shoulder.

"Listen to me, Levi. He saved her life. He..."

"Where is he?!" Levi growled as he slapped Hange's hand off of his shoulder and stood up immediately.