Criminal (Levi x Reader) [COMPLETE]

Chapter 19

Darkness...

You couldn't think, couldn't move. The air was suffocating, pressing down on you like a great weight. No... That weight was real. Solid. You felt its crushing mass upon you. A dull ache, spreading from your centre out to the tips of your fingers and toes in shocks and waves sent your head spinning, threatening to lose consciousness once again.

Overhead you could hear the sounds of thundering footfalls, the ground shuddering beneath you with each mighty step. Your mind was hazy, but you remembered one thing clear as day – the wall had fallen, the Titans had entered the city. One hundred years of peace had finally come to an end and here you were at the mercy of monsters.

You tried to move, but the pressing weight only became heavier, shifting dangerously above you. You froze. One twitch of a muscle, one breath drawn too deep could mean the end of you.

But isn't that better than the alternative?

Straining your ears for the sound of approaching footsteps, you attempted to still your rapidly beating heart. From the sounds of it, the Titans had already advanced far into the city – you could hear their muffled footfalls growing fainter in the distance. You realised there would be no one left to hear your cries for help, they had all either fled and were long gone, or were nothing but a smattering of blood on the broken cobblestone.

And so with unconsciousness flitting at the corners of your mind you lay alone and waited for the end – be it in the maw of a monster, or in the remains of the home that would become your tomb.

Eyes closed against the pain that was slowly spreading through your abdomen, you thought of the child from your dream and you could not stop the tears or the muffled sob that escaped your throat. I never got to meet you. But perhaps we will meet in heaven...

"[Name]!"

Your heart leaped in your chest as your heard that voice. He found me. You tried calling to him, but your throat was dry, and all that came out was a hoarse cry, muted by the layers of rubble pressing down on you. You tried again and again, but all you managed to do was produce a hacking cough, one that shook your body, causing the rubble to groan and shift.

No! You tried one more time.

"Levi!" It was weak, but it was enough, and soon you felt the weight lift from your back and shoulders, slivers of orange light filtering through the dust and splinters as he was revealed to you inch by inch. He looked like an angel silhouetted against the dusk sky, his cloak fluttering behind him like great wings. Wings of freedom. The relief on his face was evident as he freed your legs from beneath a broken beam.

"I thought the worst," he said, almost choking on the tears that now streamed down his cheeks. He reached out to pull you against him but stopped, a look of horror dawning on his face.

"Oh God, no..." he whispered as he watched the pool of blood slowly spread beneath your body. You looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

"Levi... The baby," was all you managed to say before the darkness claimed you once more.

*   *   *   *   *

Panicking, Levi bundled [Name] up in his arms and took flight, Erwin close at his heels. Silently, he prayed for the first time in his life, prayed that both [Name] and the child would be alright, that there was still a boat that could carry them to safety and that the remaining fuel in his tanks would be enough to reach it. He gritted his teeth, putting on a burst of speed to narrowly avoid the rapidly closing jaws of a titan around his ankle. 

Erwin felled it without so much as a second glance, focused intently on the limp weight in Levi's arms. His expression was grim, stoic, but inside was turmoil as he watched her grow paler and paler and the sleeves of Levi's jacket become slowly soaked with her blood.