Deviate | Levi Ackerman x OC

Ch. 45

"I told you!!" Hange couldn't help but call out to us as a titan came into view. It was about 4 meters high, with cropped dark hair, eyes that were too big for its face, and a permanent unsettling smile. I glanced over at Levi while Hange happily hollered out below. He rolled his eyes when his gaze met mine. "At least we can finally get this over with."
"That's the spirit," I quipped back with a smirk.

Hange walked out of the cover of the tree line and the titan's speed slowed momentarily as they seemed to zero in on them.
"Hey, big guy!" They called out playfully. "Whatcha doing? Wanna come hang out with us?!"
My breath hitched in my throat. Although this was everything they'd wanted to happen, seeing my best friend intentionally acting as titan bait wasn't easy to watch. I gulped as I saw the creature's speed pick up in their direction, Hange jumping and waving their hands. I side glanced at Levi, who nodded his head back at me. Getting to my feet, I watched a bit longer as the titan did seem to fall exactly into Hange's plan, closing the remaining distance and pursuing them as they took off on foot.

I turned and got to it, using my gear to return to the final checkpoint with Petra and the others as quickly as possible. I checked over my shoulder a few times as I went, and even as the gap between us grew, I could faintly make out Hange on the ground, the titan not far behind them, and Levi keeping perfect pace to keep anything from going sideways.

When I made it back to Squad Levi, I was met with a few different expressions; shock and confusion across the board initially, but that gave way to excitement on the faces of Eld and Gunther and apprehension when it came to Petra and Oluo.
"Hey guys," I greeted upon my landing. "Happy to see me?"
"Well yeah! Because that must mean–," Eld stopped himself as he put the rest of the pieces together. He bowed his head at me once in affirmation, a reserved grin on his face.
"Let's get to it then!"
They all got to their positions, Petra taking up the post closest to me. The apprehension was clear in her demeanor, despite how she tried to hide it.
"It's got me a little on edge, too," I reassured first. She looked a little surprised at my unprompted admission, but the corners of her mouth turned up in a soft smile after a moment.
"Surprisingly enough, it's gone almost exactly to how they predicted it would. This last step will bring us that much closer to getting outta here."
By now, Hange and their guests were visible from our position, bridging that remaining gap at an impressive rate.
"Hold it until they've cleared," I called out, getting a firm nod back from each of Levi's squad members.

"Yaaahhhooooo!" Hange squealed as they approached. "Stroid, isn't this incredible?!"
I shook my head, though seeing the unadulterated delight on their face did warm my heart even in this chaos.
Levi zipped through the foliage not too far behind and it was a relief seeing this all coming to an end finally.
Hange cleared the makeshift finish line and Eld and Gunther got to work, instantly shooting out both of their hooks back and forth in a criss-cross formation, creating a wall of wire to lock their next experiment in. The titan slammed into this road block and muffled out something of a cry in response. Levi swung around to verify their handiwork before returning to the ground beside me. Petra and Oluo launched their phase of the attack next, though it seemed like everything was moving in slow motion now. Though they repeated the same action as their peers, for some reason, it didn't look quite right; from here, it looked like their wires were crossed a little too low. I kept my focus on the titan in its temporary enclosure as Hange walked over to us, too.
"Can you believe it, Stroid!?" They asked me breathlessly, putting a hand on their chest as they talked. "We did it!"
I hummed in quiet agreement, eyes still locked on the titan; we needed reinforcement up top on this side and I wasn't going to wait for any of the others to notice that first. "You did it,  Hanj. We just helped. Speaking of which, excuse me."
I turned away from them both and shot my own hooks out.
"Stroid, what are you doing?"
"Helping. That's why I came, right? I'm here to he–"