The Return of Marco Bodt (Titan!Marco)

Chapter 2

That night, Jean built a wall of pillows separating him from Marco. While Marco was playing a card game with Eren, he took the blankets from Marco's side of the bed and placed them on his side. If Marco cared that Jean had taken his blanket, he didn't show it as he went to bed without a complaint. Despite Jean attacking him at every chance he got, Marco still made an attempt to be his friend. He would always try to partner up with him during training and waited for him after class.

"Would you leave me alone?!" Jean yelled as Marco ran up to his side after training. "I swear you're like a lost dog! You're always following me around and it's getting annoying! Do you not hate me?!"

"Not one bit," Marco said, a smile painted on his face. The sun glinted off his dark brown eyes making them appear a shade lighter than they actually were. Jean couldn't remember much about what happened after that. All he could remember was Marco lying unconscious on the ground in front of him and Keith yelling his name.

Jean fidgeted in his seat, his eyes darting around the room, trying to look everywhere but at Keith. "What the heck were you thinking Kirstein?!" Keith yelled. "Do you want me to send you home?! You can't treat your comrades like this!" Jean began to apologize but Keith stopped him. "I don't want to hear it. You don't get dinner tonight and I want you to run laps until it's time to go to bed." Jean stood up and walked out the door, groaning as he started running laps around the training grounds.

"Marco? Marco, can you hear me?" Thomas asked quietly.

"God?" Marco replied, slowly opening his eyes.

"This isn't the time to be joking around! You're hurt!" Thomas scolded. "Now stay still so I can take care of your wounds. Jean really gave you a beating." Marco sat in silence allowing Thomas to tend to his wounds. Almost every part of his body throbbed painfully. He silently glanced at the blood-stained towel Thomas was using to clean his wounds. Thomas winced as he bandaged up Marco's arms and legs. "That was uncalled for. You did nothing wrong. How do you not hate him?"

"I just think he's going through a tough time right now. It's not his fault," Marco said, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"You're too forgiving. That's not going to get you anywhere," Thomas said, shaking his head. "If a Titan were to have killed your family right in front of you would you forgive the titan too?"

"That's different," Marco said, wincing as Thomas put antiseptic on one of his open wounds.

"Hey, are you catching something? You don't look too good," Thomas said with concern, reaching out and feeling Marco's forehead. "You're a bit warm... How about you take a break for the rest of the day?" Thomas suggested.

"I feel fine. Oh, and is it true that Connie wets the bed?" Marco asked. Thomas frowned knowing that Marco was changing the subject but went along with it.

"I was a bit worried about that at first but it turns out he doesn't. He moves around a lot in his sleep though," Thomas's eyes wandered to the window seeming to see something outside. "Is that Jean? I guess the commander made him run laps. Thank God I haven't had to do that just yet."

Marco stood up and walked to the front deck of the cabin, hanging his arms over the railing. He watched as Jean ran past the cabin, his eyes focused straight ahead. Night was beginning to fall, and the sky had turned a combination of purple and pink. All the other cadets had gone inside and were getting ready for lights out.

"Hey, Marco. Were you watching horse face running laps for beating you up? Personally, I think he should have gotten kicked out," Eren said, making Marco jump. He was walking up the stairs to the cabin with Bertholdt and Connie. Bertholdt was soaking wet and shivering slightly.

"What happened to Bertholdt?" Marco asked, looking at him with concern. Bertholdt's face turned a light shade of red.

"He tripped and fell into one of the horse's water buckets," Connie said, barely holding back laughter.

"Come in before you catch a cold," Marco said, escorting them inside. Every step he took hurt but he had to be up on his feet by tomorrow so he might as well get used to it. The moment they stepped inside, Thomas rushed to get Bertholdt a new pair of clothes. "Thomas would make a great medic," Marco pointed out when he was out of earshot.

Bertholdt nearly jumped out of his skin when Jean thrust the front door open, causing it to slam against the doorframe. He made a beeline to his bed and sat down, panting. He wiped away the sweat dripping down his face and attempted to catch his breath.

"I'll be back," Marco said, walking out of the cabin. No one questioned Marco leaving so suddenly because they all assumed it was because he didn't want to be around Jean more than he had to. Marco came back not even ten minutes later and walked straight over to Jean, who was laying on his back still out of breath. "Here," Marco said, holding out a loaf of bread and a few cups of water. Jean snatched the bread and water out of Marco's hands and began to wolf down the food without hesitation. Marco smiled slightly watching him.

Marco walked away to let Jean be alone and went to check on Bertholdt. Bertholdt had changed out of his normal blue shirt into a beige one and looked like he had warmed up a little. "Thomas, you really should be a medic. You would be a great one," Marco said with a smile.

"I don't think so but thanks," Thomas said, rubbing the back of his neck. "That was nice of you to get bread and water for Jean even after everything he did."

"I don't want to hold grudges against anyone. That won't help anybody," Marco said with a shrug. He glanced over to see Jean had finished the bread and had fallen asleep. "Well, I'm going to get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." Marco said, laying down on his side of the bed and attempting to fall asleep. Marco could hear Connie and Thomas's voices slowly fading away as he fell asleep.