Deep Connections - Levi x Reader

Chapter 52

"Couldn't we escape to the other side of the Wall?" Levi asks.

"No... The Colossal Titan is closing in on us from there. Setting fire to everything around him too..." I reply anxiously. I start messing around with my bracelet and bite my lip.

We are so screwed.

"Even if the soldiers could use the Wall to avoid the stones. We'd have to leave the horses behind. If we retreat here we lose all hope of victory." Erwin breaks the silence.

"What happened to Hange's squad? Is Eren alive?" Levi asks calmly.

"I don't know." Erwin replies and my eyebrow twitches. How does he not know?? "But most of them seem to have been hit by that blast. We've taken massive losses. The Beast Titan must have been controlling smaller Titans to herd all of our soldiers to one forward location. Because of that, Squad Dirk, Marlene and Klaus, who were fighting those smaller titans, seem to have been wiped out by the earlier bombardment. In other words, the surviving forces within the walls are the Survey Corps recruits, Captain Levi, Y/N and Me." He finishes.

"They can't be fucking dead." I mutter. Erwin glances at me but doesn't say anything. Soldiers around us start screaming and shouting.

"Erwin, Do you have... Some kind of plan?" Levi asks, his fists clenched. I hear a loud BANG and turn around. I see the Wall, but lying on top I see a figure. I squint my eyes and I realise what it is.

"Wait, is that Eren?" I ask no one in particular.

"He must have been thrown all the way to the top of the Wall by that thing." Levi refers to the Colossal. "Looks like the Beast has us in its sights. This place is about to turn into Honeycomb. Erwin, if you tell me there's no way left for us to fight back, I'll start preparing for defeat. Eren's sprawled out there, right? Go wake him up. You and some of the others get on him and run. That way we'll have at least a few survivors." Levi continues. My eyes widen and I shove his shoulder.

He glares at me, "Stop talking about defeat you idiot!" I shout at him. A group of soldiers start yelling at each other but we pay no attention to them.

"The recruits and survivors from Hange's squad can scatter on horses all at once and try to head home... How does that sound? With them acting as bait, you and the others can escape on Eren." Levi says to me.

"And what are you going to do?" I scrunch my eyebrows together and ask Levi.

"I'll deal with that Beast. I'll lead him away." He replies casually.

"No." My eyes widen.

"You can't even get close to him." Erwin states.

"Probably not. But if you, Y/N and Eren make it back, there's still hope. Isn't that the kind of situation we're in now. This is a major defeat. Honestly, I'm not expecting anyone to make it home alive at this point." Levi ignores me.

"Can you stop and listen to me?" I practically yell at him. He looks over at me, his face stone cold. "Stop being a pessimist! You aren't improving the situation for anyone. How can you believe everyone is dead on the other side? Do you actually think Mikasa, or even Jean, would die and leave Eren behind? I Think fucking not. Stop planning our defeat and start thinking about how you and me will defeat the Beast Titan. For the sake of the walls. Are you going to let everyone's sacrifice mean nothing? Everyone that was on your squad? Your friends? Hange's Squad?"

Levi looks away and mumbles, "Sorry, you're right."

"But even if what Levi said was true about no one surviving. That's only IF we don't have a way of fighting back." Erwin adds.

"Don't tell me you have a fucking plan." I glare at him.

"I do." He casually replies. I face palm and Levi's expression darkens.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why didn't you put that ugly mouth of yours to work sooner and say something?" Levi expresses how I feel perfectly.

"You may be able to defeat that Beast, if this plan goes well... But only if we sacrifice the lives of all the recruits here. As well as mine." Erwin lets this sink in and I refrain myself from punching him in the face. "Levi is absolutely right. No matter what we do, most of us will surely die. In fact, it's most likely that we will ALL be wiped out. So our only choice is to assume we are all expendable and work from there. We'd have to ask these young people to give up their lives. You'd need the skills of a first-rate con man to come up with a reason that's convincing. So I doubt any of them would charge forward unless I was leading the way. Which would mean I'd be the very first to die... Without ever learning what was really in that besement."

I click my tongue, "You idiot."

"I just want to go the that basement." Erwin walks over to a crate and takes a seat on it. "Everything I have done, I did thinking that this say would come. That someday. I would be able to check my answers. There were so many times that I thought it would be easier to just die. But then, this dream I shared with my father would flash through my head. And now, those answers are close enough to reach out and grab. They are right there. But, can you see them? All of our comrades?" A frown graces Levi's face and mine. "Our comrades are watching us. They want to know what we will do with the hearts dedicated to our cause. Because they may have gone, but their fight isn't over. Is it all nothing more than... My own childish delusion?"

"You've fought a good fight. We've only come this far thanks to you." Levi starts. "I'm making the choice."