Underground (Levi x Reader)

Exhaustion

It wasn't long before I realized that Levi was here, beside me, so where was Jaeger?

I glanced over at Levi, who was still staring down at the smoking skeleton at our feet. "Ackerman, where's Jaeger?"

He flicked his dark eyes up to my face, and before he could completely mask it, I saw exhaustion cross his features. He pushed his black hair off of his forehead, his face streaked with various shades of drying blood, and said, "Right after you left, Hange showed up with her squad to help out if we needed. She was tending to Jaeger when I came after you."

As if they had heard us talking about them, Hange appeared beside us after Levi's words, Jaeger's arms around her shoulders for support as he limped along beside her. She flashed me a grin, her hair disheveled, her uniform coated in gore, and called out cheerfully, "(F/N)! I'm glad to see you made it."

I realized as she spoke that my hand was still in Levi's. Not wanting to embarrass him, I dropped my fingers from his and took a small step away from him, putting distance back between us again. He glanced over at me after the movement, one eyebrow raised, but said nothing.

Hange continued on, oblivious to what had just happened. "I was worried when Levi said he needed to go after you. I thought maybe you had gotten yourself into trouble."

I cleared my throat and glanced over at Jaeger as the pair came to a stop in front of us. He looked worse for the wear. His shoulder, which had taken the brunt of the beast titan's attacks, was still bleeding heavily, the skin torn and the muscle peeking through the ripped sleeve of his uniform. His chest was covered with long scratches and gashes as well, the blood congealing in long rivers down the front of his shirt. Sweat beads had gathered on his forehead from the effort of walking, and his normally clear, green eyes were opaque with pain and fatigue.

However, as we all stared at him, even now, his wounds were smoking and slowly healing over as he regenerated his injured body.

He met my gaze and gave me a weak smile, still leaning heavily on Hange as he said in a slightly shaky voice, "How did I do, Corporal? Kept our promise?"

Without thinking, I stepped forward and pulled him to me in a tight hug, saying quietly, so only he could hear, "Yes, Jaeger, you idiot. You did more than enough. More than anyone ever expected of you."

I pulled back from him, but kept an arm around his shoulders to keep him steady, cautious of his wound, as I turned to look at Hange again. I flashed her a smile. "I take it your squad was successful then."

She grinned at me, her eyes flashing behind her glasses. "Very much so. We cleared out the right flank quickly. And then we came to see if you and Rivaille and Jaeger needed help." She winked at me. "But you three had everything under control." She flicked her eyes over to Levi, who stood watching all of us, his arms crossed over his chest. "However, I don't know if Erwin will be entirely thrilled with the damage you caused the wall, Rivaille."

Levi scoffed. "Tch. If that idiot can't see that I did what I had to, then he's not fit to be commanding the scouts."

Just then, the rest of Hange's squad appeared behind her, one of her scouts leading her mount beside them. Tossing her the reins, the cadet saluted her stiffly and said, "Squad Commander, we've returned with all the horses. No more titans in sight along the right flank."

Hange nodded at the girl and then mounted her horse, swinging up into the saddle as she looked down at the three of us. She motioned another pair of scouts forward, and I noticed that they were leading Jaeger and I's horses beside them. Hange must have sent her squad to collect our horses as well. "Do you think you can ride, Jaeger?"