Notes

"Why did you leave me?" the words were barely a whisper leaving Jean's lips."I was scared" Marco admitted. "Of what?" "Of you, of Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie, of the world? I was scared that if you knew the truth about me, you'd hate me. I knew the other warriors hated me, I couldn't risk you hating me" Marco clarified, head remaining lowered before Jean."Why? Why fake your death? Why put me through all that pain?" Jean mumbled, looking down at the man he had once known. "It's a long story, just know that I hadn't meant to... go as I did. " Marco sighed."Does it look like I'm going anywhere? Plus you can't just walk in here and expect me to not demand answers" Jean huffed, shifting to try and express his feelings. Marco nodded, sitting back up and running his hand through his hair. "Well, it started long before we met." Marco began, "I was born into the Tybur family here in Marley. I have... I had a brother and a sister; Willy and Lara. We are Eldian nobles living in Marley as honorary Marleyans. Even though we are Eldian, our family is highly respected throughout the world for being the first Eldian family to fight against Eldian rule during the Great Titan War" "So your surname isn't Bott." Jean scoffed, Marco shook his head, "A name I made up as a child when I still believed in the intrigue of going undercover" Marco chuckled, the sound was but a shadow of the slightest laughter Marco would make in their trainee years, and Jean couldn't help but frown at the forced sound. "Anyway, I truly was happy in the 104th, with you. None of the time I spent with you was anything but the truth." Marco added quietly, returning to avoiding Jean's eyes"I was able to forget about my life outside of the walls. I was happy and I was forgetting why I was there in the first place. The other warriors wanted to remind me. Thus... the disaster of Trost"

Marco sprinted down the streets of Trost, travelling by roof. The moving was quick. Marco had been searching for four people in his desperate scouring of the city. The wall had been destroyed by the colossal titan about half an hour ago, and pure titans flooded the streets, devouring and slaughtering all who moved. "Dammit!" he cursed, leaping off one of the buildings and letting his ODM gear carry him swiftly away. The metallic scent of blood and the reeking odour of death was all Marco could scenes. His eyes flicked down to a pair standing alone on one of the rooftops, watching a trio of titans feast upon a group of trainees. Marco glided down and came to a running stop on the roof they stood on. "Then I transform and break the next wall down. Marco will see sense, and the coordinate will have to show up if I do, they'll have nowhere to run too" Reiner spoke to Bertholdt, presumably answering some question that Marco didn't arrive in time to hear. The muscled blonde and his taller partner turned as Marco glided down and came to a running stop on the roof they stood on."Reiner! Bertholdt! What are you doing?" Marco demanded, storming forward, thrusting his sword towards the pair."I told you not to break another wall down!" Marco snapped, pushing the tip towards the noses of the two Warriors before him"Did you forget why we came here? We need to find the coordinate! And to do that we need to take action! Our last attack did nothing! We need to keep trying!" Reiner countered, turning to face the dark-haired man in earnest. Rage set in his golden eyes. "I thought we agreed to go undercover! Do it Annie's way! Silent and without death!" Marco spat, dropping the tip of his sword back down to the ground as he closed the gap between him and Reiner. "We tried. For four years" Bertholdt muttered, glaring at the dark-haired boy, Marco watched the other shifters, his anger withheld, but obvious. "How much blood do you have on your hands?" he asked, gaging their reactions. Bertholdt didn't waver, intent on letting Marco know of his dislike of the privileged boy. Marco stepped away from Reiner, shaking his head in disgust."You're too attached to these devils" Reiner hissed, stepping closer and grabbing Marco by the collar. "You're too intent on saving these people! Remember what they did to us? They need to pay for their crimes! We need to teach them a lesson!" Reiner spat shaking his collar, Marco dropped his swords to the ground as he grabbed Reiner's wrists, attempting to free himself as Reiner snapped at him. "Let go of me!" Marco brought his knee up hard between Reiner's legs, watching as the boy before he yelped and crumpled. Bertholdt was at his side in a moment, crouching beside Reiner. "Don't you dare touch me like that again" Marco growled, looking down on the two, he had once dreamed that he wanted to be like them. He had wanted to be like the esteemed Warriors. But now he wanted nothing more with Reiner, Bertholdt, or the warriors. "Tybur brat" Bertholdt spat. "You think you're so high above us just because you were born to the life we worked blood and sweat for! You are nothing!" he yelled, rubbing Reiners back."Work with us, as you were meant to" Reiner offered, sitting up as the pain subsided. "You destroy that gate, and we will be able to leave and go home, then you never need to speak to us again" Reiner offered. Marco scoffed, shaking his head he picked up his swords."No. I won't be the cause of the deaths of thousands of people. It sickens me to think that you can." Marco rejected the proposal, turning and walking to the edge of the rooftop."If you try and break that wall down I will be forced to act upon it" He warned leaping from the rooftop and grappling away, flying quickly with his ODM gear.Marco was fast with his ODM gear - having devoted the time he had spared from weapons training on improving his use of the complicated gear -, this advantage was key in the chase Reiner and Bertholdt had forced upon him. Marco looked down at the ground below him as two shadows appeared at his side. "What?" Marco cried, swerving as Reiner threw himself at Marco. Marco turned and shot down one of the streets, using the buildings as cover as he skimmed across the cobblestone roads, weaving through the legs of titans that filled the city. Bertholdt shot his grapples at Marco, throwing himself to the ground, Marco veered upwards, twisting around just in time to avoid Reiner's attempt at catching him. He focused on avoiding the pair for as long as he could, but Reiner was able to throw himself at the shifter on his next attempt, sending the pair crashing violently down across the rooftops. "Reiner! What are you doing? Let me go!" Marco thrashed as the bulky blonde pinned him beneath him. Bertholdt joined them within seconds. Marco tried to scream for help, but Bertholdt slapped a hand over his mouth, blocking the pleas from escaping "You're either with, or against us Marco. There is no in-between anymore!" Reiner seethed, slamming his fist into the nape of Marco's neck, causing a muffled cry of pain to come from the trapped boy. "What's this all about?" A new voice broke into the group, and Reiner whipped around. Marco knew who it was, and any hope of overpowering the two warriors faded. With all three he was trapped. Bertholdt stood quickly, stepping over to the edge of the roof. "Reiner! A titan! It's heading this way!" He called over his shoulder."Bertholdt! Use a knife and stop him from transforming!" Reiner demanded, looking between Bertholdt and Annie, Bertholdt pulled a pocket knife from his jacket and jumped to kneel beside Reiner. placing the blade against Marco's nape, and making a thin cut down the weak point. Marco was immediately jostled as Reiner tore his chest from the tiles, "Annie! Take off Marco's ODM gear!" Reiner barked, pinning Marco's legs beneath his as he lifted his torso, exposing the straps on Marco's shirt that held the gear on. "Why... Do I have to?" Annie gasped, frozen in place as Reiner answered. "Back there, you risked your life for Conny, didn't you? Why did you put yourself in danger? Have you become attached to this evil race like Marco or something?" Reiner's voice dripped with venom, Annie shook her head slightly, fearful and confused, but desperate to live. "If I'm wrong, prove it to me now! If you and your father waiting back home for you, are any different to these filthy devils, prove it to me right now!" "Reiner! it's almost right on top of us!" Bertholdt warned, gripping his shoulder as Marco thrashed. "No! You can't do this! You need me! Please!" Marco begged, "Annie!" Annie dropped to her knees, hands immediately finding Marco's straps and starting on the buckles. "Stop it! Annie! Don't do this!" Marco howled, tears breaking down his cheeks Annie ripped the core of his ODM gear from him, throwing it through the window of a building across the road. Annie and Bertholdt leapt away instantly, fleeing to a safe distance. Reiner jabbed his fingers into the flesh of Marco's exposed nape, causing the shifter to recoil in pain, Reiner then followed his companions, stopping at a safe distance. Marco looked up at the trio as he was grabbed by the titan behind him. He had trusted them, the three he had seen as friends and comrades, and now they threw him away so easily. Marco looked up at the titan as its teeth shadowed his body. The shifter struggled as the titan pressed its teeth into the left side of his face and torso, Marco moving in a way where his neck was free as the world snapped to black.

Jean sighed and began to weave the tale of the events that had happened over the past five years. Jean told Marco everything, every detail he could recall, the way they had discovered that Annie was a shifter, about how Zeke had destroyed Connie's home and family, about Ymir and Historia, about the royal coup d'état that the scouts had pulled, the retaking of Shiganshina and the battle there within. Bertholdt's death, Armin's inheritance of his titan, how the islanders had found the sea and cleared Paridis of every last titan, ant his time in Marley. Marco listened intently as the night progressed, somewhere in the evening the pair had gotten a few bottles of wine to share over the stories, and the night had slipped into a pleasant blur as the two long-lost lovers reconnected.

Jean and Marco bolted across the large fields the scouts were training in, running hand in hand the two boys pushed their way through the long grass. Sprinting through the chin-high stalks, lost in the moment and the thrill of the game."C'mon! they're gonna find us if we don't hide!" Marco called, glancing at Jean's wild grin, Jean was slightly behind Marco, mostly being pulled along by the lanky teen. "Ymir's on their team! We're gonna be found anyway!" He quipped, Marco laughed, pulling them to the side and running through the empty fields towards the distant tree line. Ymir was the best at sniffing out where anyone was hiding, and everyone, including commandant Shadis, knew it, he would often put Ymir into the 'hunters' team on purpose to test everyone else. Marco and Jean ran to where a few lone trees stood, Jean looked over his shoulder as Marco surveyed the trees for decent hiding spots. Jean could see several closer hiding spots, but all seemed too close to where the other team rode on horseback. He saw this exercise as high-stakes game of hide-and-seek, one team hiding, one team trying to find and catch them, then they'd swap. the whole exercise was to test if the cadets could hide properly if stranded on foot in Titan tan territory. Jean didn't see why he and Marco would need to do this activity, both set on living cozily in the interior, where there were no titans. "Jean!" Marco called out, Jean whipped around, scanning the area for his partner, who had vanished,"In the tree! Come 'ere and I'll help you up!" Marco offered, leaning down as Jean jogged over to the tree, unsure of how Marco had climbed the branchless trunk. Marco grabbed Jean's arm, helping pull him up. the two shuffled around, climbing higher into the large tree, shuffling into thcentreer of the branches as they waited, bodies pressed together in the confined space they'd given themselves. "This is ridiculous! Why do we even need to do this? we're both gonna get into the MP's and never have to think aboTitansans again!" Jean scoffed, and draped his arm down over Marco's shoulder, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze. Marco chuckled, leaning his head against Jean's side, his shoulder pressing into Jean's leg. "It's good to know just in case!" Marco offered, looking up at Jean who despite the sound of his voice, was smiling brightly. "once we're in the MP's, what do you think will happen next?" Jean asked innocently. "Hmm... I don't know, we work - get paid easily and climb the ranks? And maybe even make it to the king's honour guards!" Marco chuckled, "Again with the king thing! Face it, you just wanna live easy and have people look up to you!" Jean poked Marco in the ribs with his free hand, "Nuh-uh! I just wanna live honestly! Work for statis and earn it myself!" Marco defended, swatting Jean's hand away as he tried to tickle Marco's side. "So you're just gonna work hard? Nothing else you wanna do in the interior?" Jean chuckled, Marco looked up, the back of his head pressed against Jean's lower chest as he looked up at him, Jean curling down to place his forehead on Marco's."You're wondering what I wanna do with my free time?" Marco closed his eyes, bracing his legs and reaching up to hook his arms over Jean's neck, holding him in place. "Spend it with you of course! I can't think of a better way to live than that" "You're a big sappy teddy bear you know that right?" Jean chuckled, Marco pulled Jean further down, causing them both to wobble unsteadily. Laughing quietly, they wrestled carefully in the branches, waiting to be found.