Levi X Reader A mission worth dying for

Chapter 24

We rendezvous with the rest of the regiment. Eren was put on one of the carts. Levi was sitting on the end, panting. I was sitting next to him, looking down at my lap. I noticed Levi still had blood splatters on his face. I know how much he hates being dirty, he's probably too exhausted to notice. I grabbed a handkerchief out of my pocket.

"Levi." I called. He looked over and I began wiping the blood off him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"You still have blood on your face. It makes people think you are the one bleeding." I replied. He narrowed his eyes away and let me continue cleaning him.

"You're one to talk. The blood on your face is in fact yours. How did you even get so hurt?" Levi questioned. I stopped and looked away for a moment.

"After the female titan killed the others, I lost control of my anger and I went to attack her. She yanked the wire and I was slammed into a tree. I fell and was nearly killed. It's thanks to Eren's transformation that distracted her from crushing me." I explained. His eyes softened a bit. He took the handkerchief from my hand and grabbed my chin with his hand.

"You need to be more careful. Besides, you already have a lot going. I don't want you to die just yet." Levi exclaimed, as he wiped my face. As soon as he said that, I felt myself crying again. I dropped my head and tears dripped on my lap.

"I'm sorry... For being so weak... I'm sorry...!" I cried, covering my face. Levi wrapped his arms around me and brought me into a tight embrace.

"The weak give up and accept death. The strong remain fighting and stay alive. You are not weak, you are not giving up. Not now, not ever. (y/n), you are strong." Levi whispered. I opened my eyes, but more tears came flooding.

"Levi... Aha...! Levi!" I sobbed loudly.

A lot of the bodies were collected and placed into the carts. Everyone was getting ready to head off again. So far there were no titans in sight.

Levi and I tried standing up, but it turned out we were both injured. My whole body was sore, and Levi injured his leg.

"When we get back to HQ, let me see to your injury." I requested.

"Shouldn't you worry about yourself?" Levi questioned.

"I'm fine. It isn't serious, I'm sure it's just bruising. You on the other hand seem to be worse." I pointed out. He let out a sigh.

"Alright fine, as long as you let me check out your wounds. You shoulder looks out of place." He pointed out.

"It does? Oh, I didn't realize." I murmured.

"We should put it back into place." Levi said, as he moved his hands on my arm.

"W-wait. How?" I asked, feeling a tinge of fear.

"Simple. I'll roll it back into place. Ready?" Levi asked, as he positioned himself. I slightly nodded, bracing myself.

In an instant, he rolled my shoulder back into place, causing a sharp pain.

"Ahh!" I cried, as tears ran down my cheeks. I squeezed my eyes tight trying to get over the pain. I then felt a hand caressing my cheek, wiping my tears away. I opened and looked up at Levi. His expression wasn't as serious, softer. He still carried the same frown.

"Is that better?" Levi questioned. I nodded and looked away, hiding the fact that I was blushing. What is this feeling? He's normally dead set harsh with me, but this time he's actually being nice.

"(y/n), I'm going to go on horseback now. Are you good to stay here?" Levi asked. I shook my head.

"I want to go with you! Please, you're injured." I pleaded.

"Alright then. Come on." Levi gestured. We hopped onto his horse. I sat behind him, with my hands on his waist.

We began making our final way back to HQ. We heard shouting coming from behind. I looked back and there were two titans coming this way.

"Levi...!" I warned.

"It's alright, they are too far behind." He responded.

"But there are soldiers over there..." I noticed one of them was carrying his fallen comrade. A red smoke signal was fired off. Two of them began to fight one of the titans, the other ran and caught up to us. I noticed some more in the far-off distance.

What do we do? Levi and I are unable to fight, at this rate the carts will be vulnerable. Levi steered his horse and ran beside one of the carts.

"You've got too much weight, you need to dump the bodies." Levi ordered. I gasped. The men were just as shocked.

"What?!" I blurted.

"But sir!"

"Do you realise how many bodies we already left behind? These aren't special, now dump them. Consider it their last service to the cause." Levi ordered.

"Are we doing this?! We can't seriously be doing this!" Cried one of the men, as he was hugging his fallen friend.

"I'm sorry, there's just no other way!" Cried the other soldier. They picked up one body and tossed it down. It immediately got stomped on by the titan. I clenched my jaw. Another one was tossed, and we immediately knew who it was. Petra...

Tears began to fall again. My friend... I'm sorry I couldn't do anything... I turned away and rested my head on Levi's back. I silently cried. Levi sped the pace up and caught up with Erwin. The wall was in sight and we finally made it back. A lot of townspeople were gathering around and even some made fun of the fact that we lost a lot of soldiers.

Suddenly a man ran over to us.

"Excuse me, Captain Levi! Good evening, I'm Petra's father, sir. Might I lend your ear before she sees us? I received this letter recently and she mentioned that you handpicked her yourself, she's very excited. In fact, it sounds like she's utterly devoted to you in every way, so devoted that, well her mother and I are a bit concerned. I know it's hard for fathers to let go, but still I think she's far too young to be thinking about marriage."

I felt my heart sink. Petra was in love with Levi... And now this man has to know that she died...

"Where is Petra?" He asked, looking around.

"She's dead." Levi said. The man's facial expression twisted.

"Dead?! No, that can't be right. Petra isn't one to die easily. You must be joking. She's a part of your squad, you'd have to look out for her, to protect her... She can't be dead..." He didn't want to believe the truth. I jumped off the horse and stepped in front of him.

"Sir, my name is (y/n) Zaki. I was friends with Petra and... I am the reason why she is dead. I failed to support her and back her up. She died trying to protect me... It's my fault she's dead. I'm the only one at fault." I explained, saluting him.

His eyes looked upon me with disgust as tears covered his cheeks. Levi grabbed my wrist and pulled me along.

"I'm so sorry..." I cried.