A Second Chance (Marco x Fem Reader)

Chapter 72

"Gabi! What are you doing here?!", Reiner asked her despaired. He had specifically asked for Annie to make sure Gabi stayed out of this, and yet here they were.

"What did you expect when you left us like that?! You know that we can fight too!", she retorted.

"Annie?!", Reiner now aimed his slightly accusing tone at her, wanting an explanation.

"The Azumabito ship sunk", she simply said.

"What?!"

"It couldn't withstand Falco's transformation... We weren't even sure that he could fly, but Kiyomi was okay with it all and let us go"

"That's why we need to stop the rumbling! We need to repay her kindness!", Gabi shot in the second Annie stopped speaking. You all looked at them intently.

'These kids are really something else...'

Reiner bent down until his face rested against Falco's neck, mumbling something you couldn't quite catch. Your arms had started slowly regaining their power as they got a chance to rest uninterruptedly, but you were grateful Marco still held on for the both of you; you'd need all the strength you could get for whatever course of action you planned on taking next.

"So how's Armi—, no... How's Pieck?", Annie corrected herself. "What's her status?"

"Armin's been captured by the titans; his life is in danger", you answered her, even though she initially shied away from that question. He eyes widened worriedly.

"The titan that took him should be by the tailbone", Marco further informed her.

"Annie, help us", Mikasa then shamelessly asked. Annie looked at all of you as you looked at her with hopeful expressions; analysing your appearances and observing the many gashes and streams of blood trickling down from any injuries you've obtained from your fight. The whole bunch looked horrendously exhausted. It was evident you'd need all the help you could get, so it was a good thing she had already decided to join you before she even got here.

"Your childhood friends just love getting kidnapped, don't they?", she sighed sarcastic. "But, of course... I'll get him back". You smiled weakly but sincerely upon hearing this change of heart. Just her alone gave you much better odds.

"What about Pieck?!", Gabi asked worried.

"She's by the skull! We tried to blow the nape up, but the Warhammer Titan is stopping us", Reiner answered her.

"Blow it up?!"

"We've wrapped explosives around the nape, but couldn't hit the trigger—"

"Both.", Levi interrupted him stern. "We're doing both. One group will rescue Armin... We can use the Colossal Titan's explosion. The other will go after Eren and attack the nape at the same time. We'll split into two teams and do it simultaneously"

"Captain?", Mikasa asked confused.

"We're not...", he paused with a sigh, finding whatever he was about to say extremely difficult. "We're not in a place where we can be concerned about Eren any longer... No... we never were to begin with". Your stomach dropped as you listened. Subconsciously you already knew this could become a possibility, but the mere thought of it still sent a pang of sadness straight through your heart.

"But—"

"But?! But What?!", Connie asked her, worked up. "We would've died back there if not for this flying miracle we're on. Jean, Reiner, Y/N and Marco were literally hanging on by a tread, and Captain and I was this close to being eaten!", he demonstrated by pinching his thumb and index finger together until just the tiniest little space kept them from touching.