Levi couldn't breathe.

He choked, coughing, willing his lungs to expand.

They refused.

He curled into himself, mind short circuiting, counting the seconds. How long can I go without air?

Not long.

Finally, after too long, he sucked in a puff of air. He choked again, coughing it away.

"The hell idiot! We don't want to kill him!" A voice shouted above him. The heavy sound of someone else slamming into a wall hit his ears.

Another gasp of air

Another coughing fit.

God, he was going to suffocate. Captain Levi, humanity's strongest, suffocating from a sucker punch.

And from being stabbed. Multiple times.

His stomach heaved as he forced himself to breathe.

No, he wasn't going to suffocate.

But he might end up strangling the two idiots above him. He glared at them, even as he sucked in breath after breath. He sounded like he was dying, all rasping and hoarse.

"Hey hey hey, man, hey-look!" The scrawny one said, pointing frantically at Levi as the bulkier man approached him, winding up a punch. "Look! He's fine, he's fine! See?"

The bigger man whipped his head towards where Levi laid, curled up in the corner of the dinghy wooden hut. He examined him wide-eyed for a moment before pointing a finger threateningly at his comrade. "No thanks to you! You're lucky. One more slip up from you and it's over." He turned back to Levi, grimacing. "Sorry about my brother's idiocy. I swear I can't leave him alone for ten minutes."

The floorboards creaked as he approached Levi's vulnerable form. "I mean, if it was up to me, we'd kill you now." He examined the blood trailing down Levi's white trousers. Fresh from the stab wounds. "Hey where did you stab him smart-ass?" He yelled back to his brother.

The smaller man whimpered pathetically. "Just in the leg. I swear! I swear it was just the leg. He'll be fine!"

"Course you will be." the man muttered quietly so only Levi could hear. His foul breath puffed around towards him, and Levi wondered if being able to breathe now was actually furthering his suffering.

If his hand's hadn't been bound together behind his back, he would have punched the man. As it were, his very bones weighed him down like bricks. Bruises were forming on more parts of him than he cared to feel. The initial blow they'd dealt to his head, knocking him unconscious at the time, pounded like a bass drum, each spike injecting dizziness and throbbing into his skull.

The large man reached for Levi's leg, prodding it right at the cut.

Levi's breathing hitched at the touch, a hot spike of pain flaring up.

"When did the boss say they'd get here?" He yelled out again. "I want to make sure he isn't going to bleed out from your idiocy before then, but I don't care if they're showing up soon. It's not our problem once they take him."

"I-I don't know, they should have been here by now!" Came the still frantic reply.

Levi watched as the larger man rolled his eyes, stalking back towards his brother. He let out a silent breath, groaning quietly into it. Though he was grateful for the brief lack of attention on him, he too wondered what the next few minutes would bring him.

He tuned out the sounds of the two brothers squabbling, instead taking stock of his injuries. He could probably stand, though his injured leg would be shaky and not very good for fighting his way out of this situation. He likely also had a concussion, coupled with his aching body and bound hands, he was in no shape to be fighting. Not only that, but he'd have to take down both men before he could flee.

Assuming he could run.

He shifted on the floor, bracing himself against the wall he'd been thrown against. The small movement made his body protest, battered and bloodied as it was, and he hissed in pain.

This was not going well.

Through some sheer force of will, Levi convinced himself to try again, this time successfully pushing himself onto his elbow.

The two brothers continued to argue, some shows of force being included now in their conversation. Slaps echoed around the hut, but they paid him no mind as he continued to struggle to a sitting position.

Finally, he pushed himself up onto shaky legs, his injured one threatening to give out on him any second. He forced himself to breathe, chest heaving again.

The bigger man noticed him first.

"Hey," He shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Levi didn't grace him with an answer. Instead, he shifted his weight, wincing as he positioned himself mostly on his hurt leg. He braced it back, readying his good leg to dash.

As expected, the bigger man began to move toward him. "Get back you rat." He snarled, baring his teeth.

This was going to hurt like hell.

A growl echoed around the space, and Levi braced for the impending impact.

But it never came.

A blur of white and black flashed before crashing into the larger man.

Dog.

She'd come to rescue him.

Levi watched, dumbfounded, as she tore into the man's flesh, teeth digging into his hip. The man screamed in pain, loud enough that the echo could be heard outside. But Dog didn't stop there. She tore at him with a ferocity Levi had only seen her show around titans. Her paws slashed into the man's side, his face, his back, tethered by nothing except a pure drive to protect.

The smaller brother shook himself out of his horror, screaming in terror. Dog whipped her head around towards him, snarling, looking more like a wild wolf or rabid beast than a tame dog. She stalked towards the other man, letting out a deep, guttural growl, every step silent as she drew closer to him.

He screamed again, tripping and falling as he scrambled away from her. He shoved himself forcefully to his feet and grasped desperately at the wooden doorframe. He flung it open, nearly collapsing in a heap, and dove out the door.

Levi heard his cries fade into the distance.

The other man groaned from the ground, fully incapacitated. Levi didn't know if he should be horrified or relieved at the deep crimson blood pooling everywhere.

Dog turned as though noticing Levi for the first time. She trotted over to him, letting out a soft whine.

In the aftermath of the sudden chaos, Levi had forgotten about his injuries. It all came back to him, hitting him like a ton of bricks, and he collapsed, falling on his knees then pitching forward on his face, breathing heavily.

But it was okay. She had come for him.

His stab wound flared to life again, and he gasped, looking down.

Dog was licking at his cuts, seeing his hurt, and doing what she could to help. He winced as she applied pressure, cleaning the cuts.

"...Dog...don't…" He tried, but she had already started on the next open wound. He let out a low groan, trying to suppress the urge to kick her away. She was trying to help, the only problem was he thought he might pass out.

"...You need...to stop…" He tried again, voice barely audible.

Dog continued for another moment, then, satisfied, she turned her attention on his face, bringing her nose in close, her narrow snout right in Levi's face. She sniffed him, licked his cheek, her scent filling his nose. Then she rested a single paw on his side.

She waited, watching him.

"...I'm fine girl…" He breathed. "I'm okay."

She clearly didn't believe him, letting out another whine, this one sounding oddly incredulous.

He shot her what he hoped was an annoyed look. "...Don't start...with that attitude again."

She shook her head around, giving off a single bark.

He rolled his eyes at her, wincing at the pain spiking through his skull. "Okay, okay. You win. You win this round." His chest heaved again, soreness creeping into each inhale. He closed his eyes, exhausted.

A moment later, he heard Dog move and then felt her press herself against his body. He cracked an eye open to see her curled up form, nearly as big as he was, nestled into his on the ground. Her body warmed him, the small rise and fall of her breaths against his comforting.

He prayed someone from the Scouts was close behind her, but for now that was all he could do as he surrendered his consciousness to sleep.