Underground (Levi x Reader)

Mine

Just as I was considering leaving to go and look for her myself, Levi and his squad landed behind me, most of them covered in steaming titan blood, their skin wet with perspiration. Levi sheathed his dirtied blades as he walked up to me, sweat dripping from his brow, and looking all of us over, said, "Oi, (L/N). Everything went well then?"

I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the cadets, speaking in a low, hurried voice, the panic making it hard for me to breath properly. "Levi. Miller's missing. I don't know..."

He stopped in his tracks, grabbing my arms and turning me to face him as he looked at me intently, his voice suddenly deadly serious. "What happened?"

I felt tears fill my eyes at the thought that she could be dead, and it would be my fault. Not another one. Please not another. "She went after a few titans to the north while we waited for you, and she didn't come back with the other cadets."

I expected him to yell at me, chastise me, call me an idiot for letting my cadets leave my side, but instead, he reached up a hand and wiped the tears from my eyes with his thumb, before he said in a low, fervent voice, "Listen to me, (F/N). I'm going to go and get her. But you have to stay with the other cadets. Don't leave this spot." He dropped my arms and stepped back from me, pulling out his blades once again as he readied his 3DM lines. He glanced over at me, his dark eyes intense. "Don't leave this spot. I promise I'll be back."

Before I could react, he had whipped upward into the trees, disappearing from view among the foliage as he headed north, toward where Miller had gone. I jogged a few steps after him, screaming up at him, "Levi! No, wait!" but he was gone and out of sight, the sound of his 3DM gear nothing but a low hum in the distance.

I dropped my hand back to my side and swallowed hard, trying to force the panic down that was rising in my throat. What if I lost Miller and Levi? And all because I had made a stupid decision? I couldn't handle it. I couldn't go on if I lost anyone else. I almost hadn't made it last time, when I lost Johnson, and I knew I wouldn't make it this time if anything happened to either of them.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and glanced over to see Arlert standing beside me. He gave me a slight, comforting smile, and then said, "Corporal Ackerman will find her. And they'll be back before we know it. If anyone can, it'll be him."

He dropped his hand from my shoulder and returned to the other cadets, who were whispering nervously amongst themselves. I resumed my pacing at the edge of the clearing, not bothering to even attempt to assuage their fears. I couldn't even quiet my own at this point.

After what seemed like an eternity, I heard the faint sound of branches breaking under foot coming toward us through the trees from the north.

And then they came into view.

Miller seemed alright. Dirty and disheveled, and one of the straps of her 3DM harness was torn as if she'd been in a scuffle, but otherwise, she could have been worse for wear.

Levi, on the other hand, was a different story.

His arm was slung over Miller's shoulder, she seemed to be supporting most of his weight as they stumbled along, and his other hand was held over his side, where his shirt was torn and blood could be seen seeping through his fingers and down his side.

I sprinted toward them and slipped underneath Levi's arm, relieving Miller from carrying his weight any longer. They had obviously walked all the way back to the meeting point, and she looked exhausted.

The rest of the cadets gathered around, their eyes wide and worried, as they all talked over each other, asking what they could do to help, as I dragged Levi into the clearing. Miller collapsed to the ground, her head in her hands, and Arlert and Ackerman ran over to her, asking if she was alright as they crouched down beside her.