Attack on Titan Short Stories

Just Want to Understand (Reiner x Bertholdt) part 1

TW: mentions of death, blood, mental illness, war, PTSD

The convoy made it was down the dusty road of the Iraqi desert.

Reiner and his squad mate were chatting about life back at home.

"I can't wait to get back to my dog" Yelena said. "She nearly tackled me after I came back from my last tour"

"You should film it next time...you could go viral" Reiner laughed, but he was cut short.

The blast hit their vehicle hard, next thing Reiner knew he was on the ground. Yelena dead next to him, their driver Samuel dead...Reiner looked down, his left leg was mangled beyond recognition. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of blood.

Then he saw them. The kids from the town they were escorting to base for medical care. Their broken bodies, the vacant eyes.

Reiner woke up with a jolt. He gripped his chest, his heart was racing. He brought himself upright on the couch, trying to use his breathing technique that his therapist has taught him.

It wasn't working. Reiner was still shaky, but was able to grab his crutches from the floor and make his way to the master bathroom. He pulled the orange pill bottle out of the medicine cabinet, grabbed his water bottle and popped the pill back.

**********************************************

"Bertholdt! I need pressure here now!!" Dr. Ackerman yell out.

Thick gauze in hand, Bertholdt placed both hands on the deep slash in the teens leg. The gauze became soaked with blood quick.

Sweating, he dropped the soaked gauze on the floor with one hand, and applied more pressure and gauze with the other.

"We have to stop the bleeding...Sasha have you been able to find a place for the IV, we need to replace the blood fast"

"I got a vein!" Sasha cried out and was trying to start the transfusion now!" Hange said.

"Onyonkapon I need an OR prepped stat, and page Dr. Zacharis, he's the ortho surgeon on call"

"On it"

***************************************

Reiner placed his head against the cold of the refrigerator door. Waiting for his tea kettle to heat up.

He medication was kicking in, and he felt himself coming down from his panic attack.

He opened his eyes and was meet with a picture of him and Bertholdt. It was from his graduation from Paris Island. Reiner didn't like the picture anymore. He wanted to scrub any memory of his time in the marines.

Bertholdt liked the picture, it was one of their first they took as a "semi-out" couple. Only their friends and family knew. Reiner was in the military during a time were you kept that to yourself. He only ever told his closest squad-mates that Bertholdt was more than a best friend.

Reiner looked at the clock on the stove. 6:30pm. Bert would be getting off soon.

He hoped it wouldn't be obvious that he had another panic attack.

He made his way back to the living room, accidentally knocking a folder of the kitchen table.

Reiner picked up the contents.

*******************************************

Bertholdt stripped off the bloody scrubs, and tossed them into the hazard waste container.

Not enough tide would be able to get that kids blood out of them.

His head hurt, his body hurt, his soul hurt.