I reached the first ten meter titan and easily slashed the back of its neck, sending it tumbling to the ground with the rest of its kind.

I hung from the line for a moment, and looked up, trying to get a location on the second titan and Johnson. It was almost to him. I had to be quick, and he had to move if he didn't want to be smashed beneath its falling body.

I swung forward with the 3DM, whipping toward the second titan, and yelled out to Johnson, "Move, idiot!"

He darted out of the way, just as I flew past the titan and sunk my blade into its neck. Blood sprayed over the front of my uniform, soaking the fabric as the titan fell to the ground, flattening the foliage where Johnson had been standing moments before.

I dropped to the ground next to the downed titan and wiped a hand across my face, clearing the blood from my vision, just as Johnson ran up to me. His eyes were wide as he said, "Corporal, thank you for coming back for me....."

I ignored him, pulling the straps for my 3DM harness over my head and down around my legs with quick, measured movements.

"Corporal? What are you doing?" Johnson asked, his voice unsure.

I glanced over my shoulder as I finished stripping off the harness, just in time to see another titan enter the clearing at a sprint. I turned back to Johnson and held out the harness to him. "Take it, Johnson. Put it on. We don't have time for your stupid questions. Just do as I say." When he hesitated, I shoved the harness into his hands. "Do you want to die? Put it on, idiot!"

His gaze flicked over my shoulder to the titan that was coming toward us and then, seeming to make a decision, he shucked off his broken 3DM and pulled my harness over his legs and began to buckle the straps around his waist. I handed him the rest of the 3DM gear, keeping my blades for myself, and then motioned to the trees above us. "Now get out of here, Johnson."

He stared at me for one more frozen moment and then took off into the air, headed for one of the nearby trees. I turned, blades raised, and saw someone, one of the cadets, swing out from one of the trees, whipping past the incoming titan, their blade slicing its neck. It crashed to the ground in front of me, sending up a wave of dust and leaving my blind for just a moment.

I took the moment, covered from sight, to wipe a shirt sleeve across my forehead, which was covered in sweat, and readjust the grip on my blades.

Suddenly, a titan lunged at me from the left through the settling dust cloud.

I jumped backward, just out of reach of its grasping hands, but it scrabbled toward me on hands and knees, its empty grinning mouth open wide and saliva dripping from its large lips.
"Come on, you bastard." I muttered under my breath, raising my blades in front of my body.

It reached out again with a dirty, grime covered hand, I could see the dried blood under its fingernails and I wondered how many of the people it had killed were my comrades, my friends. I let out an angry yell and charged forward, swords raised and aimed for its large, empty eyes.

Suddenly, a gigantic form crashed into the titan, sending it flying to the other side of the clearing, away from me.

It was Jaeger. He roared in outrage, the bellow echoing through the forest and held the struggling titan down with his large hands. With one smooth movement, he leaned over the screeching titan and ripped into its neck with his teeth, separating its head from its body and sending a spray of blood into the air.

I stood, frozen, watching as the large, muscular titan finished taking care of the other titan and slowly straightened, blood running down his jaw and dripping onto his chest as he let out another angry cry.

I felt a hand on my arm and then I was being dragged backward, toward the safety of the line of trees. "Hey! What the hell?"

Levi was small, but he was stronger than he looked. His hold on my arm pinched my skin as he dragged me behind him and said angrily over his shoulder, "That was a damn idiotic thing to do, (L/N). And now you caused me to use the titan, which you know I don't like doing."
We reached the bottom of a large tree and he released me, throwing me on the ground at the base of the trunk. I scrambled to my feet and glared at him. "I didn't cause you to do anything. I didn't ask you to protect me. That was your decision."

He snorted. "You're on my squad today. That means you're my responsibility and Erwin would throw a hissy fit if I let anything happen to you while you're under my watch."

"We're equals, Ackerman! Equals! I'm not your underling. We're both in charge here!" I yelled back at him, clenching my fists at my side as I tried to control my emotions. Now was not the time to lose control. Not when we were still all in danger.

He watched me emotionlessly and then flicked his eyes down to my clenched fists. "You still do that, even after all this time?" There was a hint of surprise in his normally monotone voice.

Before I could ask what he meant, he suddenly leapt toward me and shoved me back against the trunk of the tree, shielding my body with his as he put his arms on either side of my head. Jaeger leapt past us, roaring in fury again, and tackled another incoming titan to the ground. Rocks and dirt and sticks flew up from his hands and feet as he charged past, hitting Levi in the back.

As he stood in front of me, protecting me, his face close to mine, a memory flashed before my eyes of a time when we had stood in this exact same position, but in much different circumstances.

FLASHBACK

"Levi, I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Shut up, dummy. Would I do anything to put you in real danger?"

Levi stood next to me as we pressed our backs against one of the crumbling walls of the Underground, a knife held tightly in his palm. He glanced over at me, an amused look in his eyes. "Come on, (F/N). It'll be a piece of cake. We'll be in and out before you know it."

I fidgeted nervously against the dirty brick of the wall, feeling the rough touch of the stone beneath my hands. "I don't know, Levi. I know we've stolen stuff before, but this is different...."

Suddenly, he perked up, as if he had heard something, and he slammed me back against the wall, pressing his body in front of mine, his hands on either side of my shoulders, his head down.

"Levi, what....."
"Shut up! Someone's coming." He hissed between his teeth, his breath warm on my skin.

I held my breath, holding as still as possible as he pressed closer to me, flattening us both against the wall. A man rounded the corner and walked by, narrowly missing seeing us in the shadows of the crumbling house.

When he was gone, we both let out our breath and Levi looked up at me, giving me a large grin. "I guess sometimes it pays to be dirty and blend in with the environment." His gaze drifted down to my chest, which was at his eye level, and his grin changed to a smirk. "Hey, (F/N). You're not looking so much like a boy anymore."

I shoved him away from me as he laughed and stumbled back a few steps. "Cut it out, Levi. You know I could take you if I wanted to. You're shorter than me after all." I shot him a glare as I attempted to wipe some of the stains off of my tattered dress.

He shot me another grin. "Yeah, yeah. We'll see in a few years. I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet." He flicked the knife between his fingertips. "Now, stop being a coward, and let's get something to eat."

FLASHBACK END

Levi stepped back from me and unsheathed his swords, glancing over to where Eren was fighting another titan. "Let's gather the group. We can't handle this on our own, not if they keep coming. I'll send up the retreat flare and we'll head back for the day."

I nodded, still pressed back against the tree, and he took off into the treetops to gather the cadets. I shook my head to clear the fragments of the memory from my mind and swore under my breath.

I'd have to make sure never to be paired up with Levi for a mission again. The memories wouldn't stay buried when he was close to me, and I'd prefer if those days remained Underground where they belonged.