A/N: Sad shit ahead. I regret nothing...
No, I lied. I regret it.
Chap. 3
Beg For Your Life
Eren and Armin's heads turned to the sound of a loud pop, very loud. They could faintly see dust scattering in the air, followed by birds flying out of the area the sound came from, but it was too far away to know what happened exactly.
"What was that?" Armin asked, arms crossing over his chest to shelter himself from the mysterious happenings.
"I have no idea..." Eren muttered, backing up slightly and inching an arm over the younger boy behind him. Armin's lips turned up in a small smile, happy by the idea of Eren protecting him of something dangerous, and finding it even more adorable that he'd do something so unlike himself. A person like Eren, abrasive, obnoxious, loud, a fiery temper, and a lack of an attention span, wouldn't normally do something so caring, but then again, that was probably what made him act that way. Obviously Armin didn't know everything about Eren, but he wanted to learn.
That didn't mean he didn't want to learn.
"Should uh... Should we go check it out?" Armin asked, his voice faltering on slight embarrassment.
"No, let's leave it be. No canons have gone off, so obviously no one is dead. It would be like walking into a trap." Eren explained and turned around on the branch to face Armin. "Unless you want to end up dead," He remarked with a cheeky smile.
"Yeah, sure, and you can fly away on some pretty wings." Armin came back with, his smile making his cheeks ache. Eren laughed at the boy and ruffled his hair, and he definitely didn't miss the blush dusting Armin's cheeks.
"Eren...!" The two teens looked out into the empty forest, seeing Mikasa returning with Ymir and Christa at her heels. She was panting heavily, frantic, and her voice was heavy with fear and anxiety. "Eren!" She called out.
"I'm up here!" Eren started climbing down the branches to meet his sister, Armin following close behind. Once down, once Eren's feet hit the forest floor, Mikasa ran into him with the full force of hurricane winds. She wrapped her arms around her adopted brother and pulled him into her body, his face in the crook of her neck and their chests pressed tight together, even to the point where Mikasa, still out of breath from running, couldn't breathe.
"What's going on?" Armin asked.
"We heard that explosion! We thought it was here!" Christa exclaimed, just as much out of breath as Mikasa.
"I-I was so worried that something happened to you while we were gone! I thought someone got to you or maybe Armin turned against us!" She cried into his neck. Eren kept pulling at her jacket, trying to free himself from her death grip so he could breathes (let alone speak), but Mikasa seemed blind to his antics.
"Ackerman, you're choking your brother to death." Ymir uttered, slightly tittering from the running. Mikasa finally released Eren, and she was met with the sound of him gasping for air like his life depended on it. The sight was funny enough to make the other teens chuckled lightly.
"W-We're alright!" Eren gasped out before taking deep, heavy breaths to relax.
"Sorry..." Mikasa mumbled dejectedly, her head falling low.
"It's alright," Eren assured with a small smile and a pat to her shoulder.
"So what do you think that was anyway?" Ymir spoke up and asked, her hand falling to her angled hip.
"Not a clue." Armin said.
"The game makers add more than just forest settings. Maybe someone set off a trap?" Christ suggested.
"That's probably what happened." Eren muttered.
"Don't you think we would have heard a cannon go off by now?" Mikasa asked.
"Not unless the person didn't die." Eren replied.
"Ouch, that's sucks massive ass." Ymir uttered. Christa frowned at her harsh language and elbowed her side, but Ymir didn't take the gesture seriously and wrapped an arm around the small girl's shoulders. "Hey, speaking of people sucking ass, guess who we saw staggering for life by the river?" The tall girl asked.
"I don't know, who?" Eren asked, just as sarcastic as before.
"Jean Kirschtein, The guy from my district." She said. "He looked like a kicked puppy." She then chuckled.
"Good, serves him right." Eren grumbled to himself.
"He's in really bad shape, Eren." His sister spoke up.
"Yeah, so?" He asked. Mikasa tilted her head a little to the side, a sigh leaving her as she stared into his eyes. It didn't take very long for Eren to understand what she was implying, and when he got it, he was immediately on the offensive. "No, no, no! Hell no!"
"He's needs help," Christa mumbled over him.
"He could be eaten by a pack of wild dogs and I wouldn't care! I'm not helping that asshole!" Eren continued to rant.
"Eren," Armin said over his yelling. "We could use this to our advantage." He proclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Eren asked.
"He needs help, Eren." His sister said, a hand falling onto his shoulder. "If we help him, he'll be in debt to us. He'll owe us his life. He'll need to pay us back for it, and we can use that to our advantage. We can make him protect us."
"By force…?" Eren asked. No matter how many times that idea stuck in his head for Ymir and Christa, the idea never struck him once for Jean.
"No, we'll throw a little tea party." Ymir retorted, which was punished by another blow to the side from Christa's elbow. Mikasa looked back at her with a berating glare before looking back to her brother.
"If we save him, he won't have a choice but to follow us around, and when the time comes, if it ever comes, we'll kill him. It's as simple as that." Mikasa said and released her brother from we sturdy grip. Eren's eyes wandered around to the four teens standing by him. He looked back at Armin, wondering how the boy felt about the plan, and Armin seemed into this idea just like the others. Eren felt defeated, and with a heavy sigh, Eren took the bow away from Mikasa and wrapped it around his body.
"I get to kill him." He muttered.
"Fine then," She replied with a small smile.
"Well there went my fun." Ymir grumbled dejectedly. Eren smirked at her before gathering the arrows from his sister and putting them on his back, along with the bow. He looked back to Armin, who, at some point, grabbed his own pack from the tree. He must have done it just before they had climbed out, leaving the five teens ready to leave.
"Alright, lead the way." Eren commanded. The three girls began the long trek to their destination, Eren and Armin following closely behind while Eren made small, quiet jokes about everything and anything. One of the jokes had been about Mikasa who had a problem wetting the bed at fifteen. To his unpleasant misfortune, his sister heard it all, and before he could even defend himself, Mikasa swiftly turned around and stomped on his foot.
Eren yelped and cursed, holding his boot-covered foot in his hand and simultaneously jumping up and down at once, but Armin's childish giggles and laughter brought him out of his pain long enough to give him a playful shove. Their antics didn't go unnoticed for long, however.
"Hey, you do remember that we're trying to stay alive. People could be anywhere and you're playing like children." Ymir hissed at them. She would have scolded Christa for laughing at their idiocy too, but when the girl giggled or laughed, she seemed to glow even more than before. She couldn't possibly lose the sight of that.
"But we are kids," Armin argued.
"We all have our childhood to look forward to, you old biddy." Eren said with a slight skip in his step and an airy tone. Ymir turned around and flipped him off, a growl escaping her tightly closed lips, but Eren brushed it off like it was nothing.
The trip after that stayed relatively quiet. Eren and Armin continued their quiet banter, this time without the personal jokes. It wasn't until they entered a clearing for the river that they spoke up. At first it was simple sounds to show their awe of the beautiful area (despite the morbid feel it had), but then it turned into questions.
"Where is Jean?" Was Eren's question, already eager to know if he'd get to kill him.
"Is there anyone around?" Was Armin's.
"Can we be seen easily from here?" Christa asked and ducked behind Ymir's back for protection. Ymir obviously had no objections.
"Is any of this water fresh water?" Was Armin's second question. Uncaring for his own safety, Armin jumped out from behind the brush to scurry to the river. Eren followed close behind to make sure no one would harm him, bow and arrow in hand, and in return, Mikasa then followed him for the same reasons. Armin stopped by the water's edge, eyes glistening from the reflection as they followed along the shoreline. He looked back and forth a few times, simply questioning the cleanliness of the water before bending down to test it. The water was cold when his fingertips fell in it, but before he could cup the water up into his hands and drink it, a glimmer of something caught his eye.
Armin looked down the shoreline once more, except this time his eyes followed farther down. He followed the little river rocks that were smooth upon touch to the mud licking around them. His eyes fell on the rocks and mud cluttered together under an unmoving body, a gasp escaping him as he stood up.
"Jean!" He exclaimed and ran over to the teenager's body. The others followed, and when arriving, Christa fell to her knees in front of Jean's unmoving form and pressed her fingers to his throat.
"He still has a pulse." She murmured under her breath before forcing an eye of his open. She could hear the quiet, raspy breath leaving his dry and barely parted lips, and just barely she could see the remains of drool slipping down his cheek and jaw. "Armin, check the water. Is it fresh or salt water?" She commanded, her voice high with adrenaline.
Armin finally cupped some water into his hands and drank it. It wasn't long before he spit it back out and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand.
"It's salt water..."
"I don't get it. What does that have to do with anything?" Eren asked.
"If Jean drank this, he'll be two hundred times more dehydrated then one would be without any water in their systems." Christa explained while reaching for the flask Armin was already holding out for her. She pulled the boy's head into her lap and tilted it for him before holding the flask to his lips. "The salt will also mess with his blood and reroute everything. It will really mess with his system." She said while feeding the water into Jean's dry mouth.
"Could it kill him?" Mikasa spoke up and asked.
"Depends on how much he drank. If he drank a lot, there's no helping him." She answered, her voice dropping. Jean was still unresponsive, the water either slipping down his throat or dribbling past his lips to sink down his chin and neck. "All of this could be in vain..." Christa's voice fell lower to a mumble.
"If he's as good as dead, you might as well stop." Ymir scoffed, her hand falling languidly to her hip. Christa looked up at her with a frown before looking back down to Jean.
Maybe Ymir was right. If Jean was as good as dead, then they were just wasting fresh, clean water. They needed the resources, and it could have been a waste. It seemed so by his still flaccid corpse.
"We were too late..." Christa's voice rose and cracked at the end of her sentence, as if asking the statement more than saying it. She was about ready to pull the water back into the flask when she noticed something. It was subtle at first, but it was there. Jean's body twitched lightly, his lips curving to fit the flow of the water. Just as she tilted her head to one side as a means of getting the hair out of her face, Jean's eyes shot open, along with his hands that clasped around the container and the blond girl's hands.
She yipped a small sound in surprise, but it was obvious what he was really after. She pulled her hands from his tight grasp and sat back, letting Jean sit up onto his elbows to swallow the water properly. Jean practically inhaled the water from the flask, drinking it all until there was nothing left. Afterwards, he dropped the empty flask and gasped for air, utterly lacking in that and energy.
By this point, the others had fallen into fighting stances, besides Armin, who had no weapon to fight with. He was reduced to jumping back slightly and hiding behind Eren and Mikasa. Christa had jumped to her feet and stood behind Ymir, her arms lacing around Ymir's in a protected hold. Ymir herself was pushing the girl back more, wanting to keep her safe, and Eren had done the same thing with Armin, but the boy kept standing on his toes to look over Eren's shoulder and see what was happening. Mikasa had her fists up and ready to fight, instinctively stepping in front of Eren. This way, Eren and Armin were safe from danger.
"Shit..." The word was uttered under Jean's breath, barely a whisper, but it was there. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand in hopes of sparing more water, but it was no use. It was practically dried like his drool and sweat, leaving him still thirsty for more. The whole relenting urge for thirst made him remember that something had woken him up.
Some goddess like face was above him, granting him access to water and life. Had it been God? Had he or she given him another chance?
A clearing of someone's throat made him realize that this hypothesis was incorrect. He hesitated to look up, five pairs of legs already being in his line of view. His eyes shifted, traveling up higher until he met the faces of the ones who saved him. There was Christa, who was being protected by Ymir. There was Mikasa who was the closest to him, practically guarding Eren, and in turn was guarding Armin. Armin was separated between Jean and two other bodies, making him the safest, but that didn't mean that particularly.
While Jean had gotten a nine for his leadership, this didn't mean that he didn't have a good aim. His hands searched, grabbing at the closest thing that could be any sort of weapon in his defense. The closest thing was a river rock with a jagged edge, and Jean grabbed at it. Even with the distance between them, the rock managed to slip past the two siblings and hit Armin right in the forehead, the jagged edge creating a rather deep gash in his skin.
It was like a bomb had been set off. With a snarl, Eren pushed past Mikasa and lifted Jean off of the ground by his jacket. The two began throwing profanities back and forth, barking threats at each other while Mikasa began trying to pry Eren off of the older teen. Ymir had her throwing knife pulled out and ready at a moment's notice, waiting for just the right moment for when it was time to pay back her debt to the three teens and their help, and Christa had gone to attend to Armin's open wound.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Back off, Four! I don't have time to deal with you!"
"We saved your ass and you just go and attack Armin! He and Christa just saved your god damn life!"
"Eren, that's enough!" Mikasa yelled over the two, her arms slipping around Eren's waist to pull back, but Eren's grip was firm around Jean's jacket and shirt collar.
"Fuck you! I don't owe you shit!"
"I should have just let you die!"
"Threaten me one more time, god damn it! I dare you!"
"You really want me to? I'll do more than threaten you!"
"Eren, stop!" Armin cried over their yelling. Eren's grip immediately loosened, the anger in him dissipating faster than he thought it would. Armin's voice was pleading, begging, and Eren couldn't possibly go against it. With a few moments of glaring, Eren clicked his tongue and shoved Jean away. Jean stumbled back, nearly falling into the water that almost killed him, but he caught his balance in time.
Eren stomped his way back to Armin's side, the anger on his face disappearing when he saw the blood drenching his face and staining his skin. He cupped his hands around Armin's cheeks, making those blue eyes look up with slight surprise. Armin was sure that he would be blushing if it wasn't for the profuse amount of bleeding he was doing.
"Are you okay?" Eren asked quietly, hands cutting away the blood paths falling down his cheeks.
"I'm okay..." Armin answered, a shiver going up his spine at the close contact.
"It's a deep wound, but it's small in width and length. It's a head injury, that's why it's bleeding so badly. He's okay." Christa assured with her goddess-like grin. Eren smiled, the relief obvious on his face as he slowly drew back.
"Good..." Eren said with a sigh.
"Good," Mikasa agreed.
"Good, now what are we going to do with him?" Ymir asked with a tense voice, but she had a long smirk on her face while she ran her blade between her fingers. The rest of the teens glared at Jean, and seeing and feeling the tension directed towards him, Jean tried backing away. However, with the river directly behind him, Jean was trapped.
"Let me kill him." Eren hissed.
"Can't I have my fun first?" Ymir teased, her grin getting bigger as her and Eren stepped closer to Jean.
"Stop it, you two." Christa commanded. Ymir listened on a dime, stopping and turning on her heels to give the smaller girl a pleading look, but Eren kept his glare directed at Jean.
"Eren," Mikasa said, her voice stern. Eren didn't look away, and he kept his close contact. He wanted to throttle Jean, and if the "horse face," as Eren called him, tried anything, Eren would do just that. "Jean, despite the rough start we had already, it's blatantly obvious that we saved your life." Mikasa stated flatly.
"I don't care." Jean growled.
"Alright then," Mikasa sighed quietly before looking to her brother. "Go ahead, Eren, kill him." With those words, Eren smirked a devilish grin and yanked at the bow around his shoulders and chest. Before he could even click his arrow into place, Jean was already backing up into the water, boots becoming soaked as he tossed his hands in front of his face.
"Whoa, wait, wait!" He cried out.
"Stop, Eren." Mikasa said. Eren audibly scoffed and rolled his eyes, irritation thick in his attitude. "You owe us. Either do what we say or die. Take your pick." Mikasa suggested.
"You can't be serious..." Jean groaned quietly, more to himself than the others. He looked away for a moment, weighing the options in his head. Of course he didn't want to die, so he was trying to figure if there was a way to get out of this alive. Ymir let out a teasing hum, grabbing Jean's attention for a brief moment. He watched her run her fingers over the sharp blade of her knife, and even that was a reminder for him.
Of course. Even if he were to slip away, both Ymir and Eren had deadly aims, better than his would ever be. Not to mention, they both had long distance weapons. He had nothing, unless he wanted to make a dive for that rock he tossed, which was an obvious no.
He was trapped.
"Well, Jean, what do you say?" Mikasa asked. Jean ground his teeth together in irritation and defeat. There was no way he could get out of this alive without agreeing with them, none.
"I-I don't want to die." He didn't stutter, of course not, and his breath sure didn't hitch when he felt Eren step around him.
"We'll take that as a yes." He said, his hands pulling the bow off of his shoulders and then yanking an arrow from his satchel. Within a mere second, he clicked the arrow into place and cocked it back. "Mikasa, duck." He commanded.
Mikasa did as told, grabbing Armin by his shoulder and pulling his down to the ground as Eren released the arrow. It shot over their heads and into the brush, and within another second, a high pitched screech came following the impact.
"A-Are we surrounded?" Christa asked. Eren made a mad dash in the direction his arrow went, already replacing it with another one in preparation for a battle. Mikasa followed close behind, followed by Armin, and then Ymir, who had drawn her knife. Jean had quickly jumped into his roll to protect, and pulled Christa behind him as they made their way over to the others.
"No, stop!" A voice cried out. Mikasa yanked back the branches of the lush bush to see two other teens behind it, the two from District Five: Sasha Blouse and Connie Springer. The screech had come from Sasha, whose hair was caught between the arrow and imbedded into the tree. Tears had streamed down her face, and in an act of bravery, Connie stepped in front of her and held out his arms. It was him who begged for them to stop.
Eren took the time to look over the two. Besides some small cuts and bruises, the two of them were relatively healthy. Sasha looked a little famished, but the girl was constantly eating, a possible binge eater, so it wasn't much of a surprise to him. However, the two of them were filthy. It looked as if the two of them had jumped into a pile of mud and dry dirt. Sasha's hair, minus the arrow pinning her to the tree, was clumped with dirt, and a few leaves stuck out of her brown locks. Connie's clothes were caked with mud, and while he didn't have hair, a shaved head as compensation, it was still covered in dirt.
The two of them looked terrible.
"What do you want?" Ymir asked.
"P-Please, we don't want to fight!" Connie cried out. Sasha began yanking on the arrow in her hair, but it didn't seem to want to budge. She was practically hysterical, and if it wasn't for Connie suddenly grabbing at her flailing arms, she might have just lost it then.
"Then what do you want?" Armin asked.
"W-We saw Three, a-and we saw her bandages!" Sasha cried, and Connie cradled her head against his chest.
"You have medicine, right? At least some bandages and antibiotics?" Connie asked for her.
"What's it to you?" Ymir hissed out, raising her knife threateningly at them.
"Please, it's not for us, it's for our friend! He's hurt, badly, a-and we don't have anything for him!" Sasha pleaded with them. Eren and Armin exchanged worried glances, eyes saying the same things to each other. That explosion they heard earlier must have had something to do with this.
"Who is it?" Eren asked, lowering his bow for only a moment.
"Marco, from District Nine." Connie said.
"Marco...?" Jean pushed past the others at the mention of Marco's name. "He's hurt?" He asked, and the two nodded. Tears threatened to spill over Connie's eyes, however. It was obvious something more was to it.
"Was he in the explosion?" Christa asked, her voice trembling. The two from District Five looked at each other for a moment before nodding.
"He... Stepped on a land mind..." Sasha mumbled. Blood ran cold in their hearts as Connie continued to say what Sasha couldn't.
"He's missing half of his body..." He finished.
"And he's still alive?" Ymir gaped in surprise. Sasha nodded her head begrudgingly. "Holy shit..."
"I want to see him. Where is he?" Jean demanded.
"Hey, wait-" Eren tried to intervene, but Jean wasn't having any of it.
"Fuck you, Jaeger!" He spat.
"Jean, calm down," Mikasa said calmly while setting a hand on the older teen's shoulders. "Panicking isn't going to help Marco..." Jean took the words to heart, but the fear was still obvious. One couldn't tell him not to be afraid, because if what Sasha and Connie said was true, he could die at any second. He didn't have time to remain calm.
"We'll take you to him." Connie said, helping Sasha stand to her feet after removing her hair from the arrow and tree. Without verbally stating it, the large group of teens all seemed to be in agreement. When Connie and Sasha began leading Jean, they all followed close behind, fully aware of their surroundings. Ymir kept her knife in hand and Eren had his arrows ready for a fight.
Thankfully, however, none of it was needed. Though the area seemed shady, Sasha and Connie lifted up some heavy branches leaning on the ground to reveal an opening to an underground cave. Jean wasted no time in thinking or contemplating the possible danger he could be running into; he simply jumped into the small space and disappeared into the darkness. Sasha and Connie followed close behind, and after a few hesitating seconds, the rest did the same.
The area they were in underground was much bigger. It wasn't where someone like Jean could stand up straight, but in width, it held all of them perfectly, and could possibly withstand a few more people, as of now, however, besides them, there was only one other person in the enclosed area.
Marco was trapped in a heavy sleeping bag, the right side of his face hidden behind the hood and his body near a small fire to stay warm, but it didn't seem to make a difference for him. As Jean stepped over to him, he noticed that Marco was still shivering within the sleeping bag. He was practically sweating after their run, and the fire sitting next to him, though low, was making him dizzy with lack of oxygen. If Marco was still shivering in an area that was overheating with warmth, it was obvious what kind of condition he was in.
"Marco...?" Jean called quietly. Marco's eye opened slowly, obviously unfocused, and he could tell that Marco couldn't see anything, but he could hear.
"Jean...?" He croaked out. Jean sat down beside him and placed careful hands down on top of his chest. Jean shuddered, because he could feel the indentation of where Marco's body wasn't.
"Yeah, it's me..." Jean mumbled.
"J-Jean..." Marco's eye winced in pain at the added pressure to his chest, his voice hoarse from his raw throat.
"Don't talk; it's okay," Jean couldn't resist the curiosity, taking a peek beyond the hem of the sleeping bag. He wished he hadn't. Marco's face was practically gone, his muscle and remaining skin sticking to the fabric of the bag and pulling back with the fabric. He couldn't see far into the bag, but he swore he could see the remains of Marco's other eyes.
In all honesty, Jean wondered how the boy was still alive.
"How bad... Does it look?" Marco asked, his breathing heavy, but quick.
"N-Not bad..." Jean muttered, but he was trembling too much. It showed in his voice just as much as it did in his body. Marco managed a contorted smile, part of his missing face showing, but it disappeared when he coughed. Blood spilled back his tattered and blue lips, and Jean shuddered again.
"Jea... Jean..." Marco kept calling out, but not without some issues.
"It's okay, I'm right here for you." Jean murmured and gently touched below Marco's eye. His cheek was unbelievably cold, so much that the real fear was setting in for Jean.
This was really happening.
"Jean, please..." How could he even speak when part of his mouth was missing? How could he be breathing? How was he alive?
"What, what's wrong?" Jean asked. He wanted to lift Marco's head into his lap, to pat his head and just murmur sweet sayings into his ear, but he couldn't. He didn't know what was broken and what else was missing. Doing it would only cause the boy more pain, and he couldn't do that to him.
"Can I... Ask a favor of you...?" Marco managed to say. Jean kept brushing his fingers under Marco's eyes, hoping for that once vivid hope in his eyes to show and for him to look at him, but he couldn't do it.
"What? Whatever it is, I'll do it." Jean promised, hand pressing more feverishly into his cheek. He wasn't even sure if Marco could feel it, if he could feel anything, but he needed to do something to keep himself grounded.
"I... Could you... K-Kiss me...?" He asked, voice cracking under pressure and blood dripping past his chin and onto what was left of his neck. Jean sat back a little, taken aback by the question.
"... What?" He asked.
"I haven't... Ha-had my first kiss yet... I know I'm gonna d-die... I'd like to die with at least that..." A tear slipped out of Marco's blind eye, slipping down onto Jean's hand. Seeing that tear set something off in Jean, a pang of guilt and utter penitence welling up in his heart, because he knew that all Marco said was true.
He was going to die.
"I know I'm... Not what you want... And I know I'm... Like this..." He couldn't possibly say how disfigured he was. "But I... Haven't..."
Another tear slipped out of Marco's eye, and Jean was done sitting by uselessly. He didn't wait for Marco to finish his stuttering, simply bending down and pushing back the hood of the sleeping bag. He didn't care if Marco was disfigured now. Marco was Marco, and that was all he needed to know.
He bent down close, making sure Marco was aware of what he was doing before pressing his lips against his mouth, his full mouth, or at least, what was left. He didn't care what was there, so long as he could give Marco what he wanted.
The boy stilled underneath him, and for a moment it fell quiet.
That was until the sound of a cannon went off.
Jean pulled back, blood dripping off of his lips as he gazed upon the boy's face. Marco's eye had closed, and with that, his breathing had stopped.
Marco was dead.
He could hear distant things. He could hear Sasha break out into a hysterical fit of crying, and Connie consoling her. He could hear Christa trying not to cry, and Ymir pulling the sullen girl into her chest for her to cry without eyes on her. He heard Armin fall to his knees and cry, and then Eren fall next to him to hold him. He heard footsteps, and then felt Mikasa's hand fall gently against his shoulder. He looked out of the corner of his eyes, seeing her kneeling beside him and Marco's unmoving corpse. She had tears lining her eyes, but a smile on her lips.
"You made him happy..." She said quietly, her hand rubbing gentle circles on his shoulder. He nodded his head, his eyes falling back on Marco. "I think he's smiling..." She stated quietly.
Jean had to tilt his head a little, but it did seem that way. Could Marco have really died with a smile on his face, or was it just the illusion from his torn skin?
"Hey..." Eren's voice sounded by them. He kneeled down beside them, a hand falling on Jean's other shoulder to comfort him. "I'm sorry, but... We should probably move his body... The capital ships will be here to get it soon." Eren stated, though he hated the idea of it just as much as any of them.
"No," Jean's voice cracked, trying to hold back his pain, but it was obvious to everyone. Why he tried to hide it, no one knew. "No..."
"Why...?" Mikasa asked. Jean swallowed rather noisily before pulling on the drawstrings of the sleeping bag and covering Marco's face.
"I don't want the capital to have him... Our bodies don't go back to our families anyway, and I..." Jean trailed off, his hand patting over Marco's un-beating heart.
"I understand..." Mikasa said.
"But... What are you going to do to stop them?" Eren asked. Jean's eyes followed along the contours of the sleeping bag, hoping for a miracle, but to no prevail. He had only one idea to keep the capital away from him, but it wasn't to say that it was a good one.
What it was could potentially blow their cover.