𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐲 | 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

✥𝙻𝙾𝚂𝚃 𝙲𝙰𝚄𝚂𝙴✥

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"Above you! Look out!"
Violet's warning cry was the only thing heard as the world slowed down. Too late was her voice to alert Eren, to make him move away from the trap the two other titan shifters had set up for him. A fool, she was a fool for not noticing how precise their whole plan was. How she didn't notice it before. How it did not make much sense for the Colossal Titan to just stay there while he could've been helping his companion. How perfect and convenient this whole thing was for them.
Now all she could do was watch as the steaming beast fell face first, mouth open wide, towards Eren and Reiner. Everything happened so slow as if the world wanted to rub in more her failure, to let it soak in into her mind and soul, how she had failed to notice this devious plan so carefully set up right before her E/C eyes. It all happened so slow, taunting her as Bertholdt fell and fell until his mouth and body landed on top of Eren and then the world resumed, as if tragedy hadn't struck.

Bertholdt sent another burning steam over to them as his body landed right over Eren Jaeger, trapping him in a makeshift cage. It caught them all off guard and it burned just as bad as the previous ones he had delivered right over to them, that Violet threw herself over Mikasa, protecting the young girl with her body from the aching steam. "Hold on, Mikasa." She hissed, the sickening heat making her already aching burns scream with pain. She didn't know how many more burns she could sustain in her body because the pain was starting to be nauseating that she felt her whole vision start spinning from how bad everything hurt.
Still holding Mikasa tight to her chest, she squinted through the diminishing smoke, eyes watering as she pushed through it. Gods, it was terrible. But what was even worse than the sting in her eyes, as she looked down, was seeing Reiner biting Eren's neck and pulling him out unconscious. "Eren!" And then Bertholdt, back in his human form, took Ymir with him too, getting on Reiner's back, marching away from where they all hanged in the wall. 

Violet couldn't help the shaking that took over her body, hands trembling at an alarming pace. It was all going to shit. To complete and utter shit. And she had failed. Failed to save the day and at preventing this whole thing from even happening in the first place. It felt like a lost cause, enough to make her want to scream their failure and retreat in defeat, back to the Headquarters where she knew she would be greeted by Levi's disappointed face and Erwin punishing her with the gods know what.
But Violet was not like that, would be damned if she admitted defeat to the enemy she'd sworn to bring down. She would get them back, she swore on any god that was looking down below. But they needed to regroup, re-plan their whole strategy before they walked right into the path of hell. 

✥

"They're not as bad as they look, Julian." She examined her hands again, "I'm fine, I promise. Don't worry about me so much, you'll end up hurting that pretty little head of yours."
"Grey, those burns look like they hurt like hell. I don't know who you thinking you're lying to, but I can see how bad they hurt. Your little wince's that you try to hide. So let me check your hand, please?" They both sat at the edge of the wall, legs hanging from a fifty-meter drop. They had to catch their breaths, had to strategize again before jumping into battle once more. And Violet needed a break, the injuries she took making her see double from the pain. It had been a long time since she had endured this much pain in one go, usually, she was careful of her body and from getting hurt. 

Julian took her hand into his big ones, calloused fingers touching the burns gently. "Gods, Violet, take more care of yourself." He sighed, "I have no fucking idea which god you have on your side, but these burns are bad enough to cause severe damage yet here you are standing."
Violet scoffed. "Well, I don't have any fucking idea which god it is, but let me tell you that they sure do one hell of a job in not taking care of me." She pulled her hand away, placing them on her lap, "Plus, you and I know I don't believe in any of that shit. And I'm fine, Julian. It's only my hands."
"Your face is burnt, too, Grey." His blue eyes found hers and she could see the concern dull his usually bright eyes, "They won't scar, they seem to be healing fine. But, please, take care of yourself. I'm sure Levi would appreciate that, too."
It took a lot of willpower to not that small gasp leave her lips as she turned to look at Julian, the young man grinning from ear to ear. "What?" He continued, his smile growing bigger at the second, "I am not lying, Levi would appreciate that, Grey. He cares about you, Levi cares about you. You thought I didn't notice? That I didn't notice that something going between you two?"
She felt her cheeks burn, but it was not from the injuries that Bertholdt's heat had caused. "My injuries will be fine, thank you, Julian." She changed the topic, "You know I love you, right? I know I never say it, but thank you for everything; for taking care of me."
Julian only looked at her and smiled, but in his shone with a silent message between the two. This conversation isn't over, Violet Grey. We will talk about this soon.
There's nothing to talk about, Julian Holt. She turned away from him, seeing straight ahead to where she had last seen Reiner walk away with Eren Jaeger.

Julian stood up and let out a long breath. "I'm going to get something to eat, you want something?"
She shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm good."
Julian's hand patted softly her head before he ruffled it, leaving as Violet turned to throw daggers on his back. She let out a small sigh and was about to turn around when she saw Armin and Hannes kneeling next to a still-passed-out Mikasa. Violet made her legs get up, pushing her body up, and take those few steps towards them. "How's Mikasa doing?" She asked, looking down at the girl.
"I don't see any bad wounds, so I'm guessing it's a concussion," Armin said, hand moving a stray of hair from Mikasa's face.
Violet hummed, a concussion was still not a good thing. Not better than anything else. But she said, "Alright, then. But let's continue keeping an eye on her, I don't want her condition to worsen, okay?"
The two males nodded before Hannes turned to the blonde and said, "Armin...you haven't eaten, have you?"
Violet frown didn't fail to go unnoticed as she said, like a mom taking care of their child, "Armin...you have to eat, kid. We need you well, too." She placed her hand on top of his head, gently patting his hair as Julian had done moments ago. "Hannes, go get him something to eat, please."
Hannes nodded his head and walked away from them, not before saying, "I'll get you something, too, Captain Grey. Don't think I didn't notice that you haven't eaten either."
Violet didn't say a word to him as she crouched down by Mikasa and smiled weakly, concern filling her body as the girl still didn't wake up. She just hoped she would open her eyes soon, that way Violet knew she was alright and that she didn't lose another kid once again.

✥

The tapping on her shoulder woke her up from the long nap she had taken.
As her E/C eyes opened, Violet saw Julian's warm smile looking down at her, offering her a hand. She took it, bringing her up to her feet. "Did something happen?" She yawned, making her eyes focus once again to their full potential.
"You have been sleeping for some while now, thought it'd be best to wake you up."
"Right." She blinked at him, eyes then turning towards Armin and Hannes, talking to a now-awake Mikasa. "When did she wake up?"
"Not long. An hour or two, at most." 

The rushing of feet to the opposite side of the wall cut the conversation short, making the two best friend's turn to look where all the ruckus was happening. They looked at each other and frowned, walking up to the rest of the cadets. "What's going on?" Julian asked, turning to a boy at his side.
The boy only pointed excitedly upfront, finger directing them to the horses raising over to them, Erwin Smith on the lead. Holy gods. "They're here," Mikasa whispered, placing a hand over her mouth.
Violet only stood there watching without revealing what she felt. But inside her, her mind could not believe that Erwin Smith, the Commander Erwin Smith, was their salvation of the day. 

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