Unrelenting Force
1
854, Paradis
"We're losing him."
With a sickening thud, yet another blood soaked cloth fell on the huge pile next to the bed. Several women worked frantically around the broken man before them, hearts racing in a dizzying frenzy. Servants moved around them in assistance, some going in and out of the modest room to get supplies.
A beautiful blonde woman worked around the man swiftly and expertly despite her huge, bulging belly, an amazing feat for her small size. She wore a loose fitting, simple white nightgown that was now stained all over with the man's blood. Her eyes were fierce and full of determination as she worked. The eyes of the other woman in the room who was clearly not a servant, however, were brimming with tears behind her filthy glasses. She was completely soaked and covered in blood and dirt, her Survey Corps uniform stained all over. She pressed her fingers on the unconscious man's wrist.
"Historia, I can barely feel it now! He could go any moment!" Her voice shook and her breathing was frantic. "We need to do it!"
"Hold on, Hange," implored Queen Historia Reiss. "If I cauterize this big wound here, maybe we'll -"
"It's far too late for that!" Commander Hange Zoe screamed desperately. "Just look how much blood he's lost already! It's a miracle he even has a pulse at all!"
"It's too risky! We can't do it here. What will we do afterwards? Try to calm down."
"I'm telling you, we have no other choice! I have to use it, now!"
"Hange, wait!"
Into his forearm went the thick needle, Hange's movement extremely swift as she injected the titan serum into her comrade's body. Historia gasped and gestured at her servants to step back. They observed in stunned silence, paralyzed with fear.
At that moment, the Survey Corps Commander was but a vulnerable, devastated woman, her shoulders shaking with every suppressed sob as she summoned every ounce of self control to remain perfectly still while she continued to inject all of the serum into his body. Only sheer willpower kept her functioning at that point, the adrenaline of the past hour long gone.
How she managed to make it all the way to Historia's countryside location after swimming downstream an unruly river while carrying his unconscious body and getting shot at by hateful traitors the first several minutes - she would never know. It was all a vague blur to her now. By some miracle, the river's direction and the surrounding terrain allowed her to lose their pursuers, but then she had to somehow swim the rest of the way without both of them drowning. Captain Levi Ackerman was unexpectedly heavy for his petite size, and every single time she saw his alarmingly pale complexion, horrifying wounds and profuse blood loss, she had to summon every once of self control to hold back a scream. How in the world did the most powerful being alive - far more powerful than the strongest of all titans - end up like this? What will happen to them all if he died? But most importantly - he was her brother-in-arms, her battle sibling, a completely irreplaceable comrade with whom she'd shared many long, terrible years of misery and survived all manner of hellish battles with. Their bond was completely incomparable to any other, utterly unbreakable, and even stronger, she was sure, than a bond of blood. She couldn't even fathom a world without him. By any means necessary, she had to save him. No matter what. Even if that meant taking enormous risks.
"I can't believe you did it. You're crazy..."
Historia Reiss gazed at the scene in front of her as if she expected a huge blast any second. She turned to the servant next to her. "Quick, summon every guard in the vicinity. Tell them a titan has appeared. Now!" She then turned to the commander, rubbing her large belly and slowly stepping back. "I can't believe this. I can't… in this condition, I'm…"
"Don't worry, Historia. I'll protect you." Hange Zoe's voice was weak as she backed away from the bed, the vial of the injection now empty. She drew her weapons and stood in front of Historia while facing the bed, her face contorted with multiple emotions. "I'll figure something out, trust me. I'll find a way to restrain him and I'll take full responsibility for this…"
But several seconds had already passed uneventfully, she soon realized.
"Hold on…"
No explosion of hot steam. No bright, blinding flashes of yellow light. No quick formations of titan body parts. Just Levi, parchment white and impossibly bloody, broken beyond repair, lying limply and perfectly still on the blood stained bed.
A minute passed.
"What's going on, Hange?"
"This can't be happening," the Commander frowned. "The effect should've been almost immediate. It… it didn't work?"
Hange slowly and dreadfully approached the bed, her body numb and a heaviness increasing inside her with every step she took. She crumpled down on the blood stained floor right next to the bed, her legs finally giving in to extreme exhaustion and overwhelming despair. Without realizing what she was doing, she reached toward Levi and began stroking his blood soaked, silky raven locks. She couldn't hold it back any longer.
"No. No! This can't be happening. This isn't happening!" She wailed and sobbed uncontrollably. "No, no, no, no, no! You can't! You can't go like this! Levi! We need you. No…no…no… If you go… all is lost… it's over… if you go… I'll go with you...I can't…"
She continued stroking his hair, head bowed deeply as she began to sob so intensely she could no longer speak.
In him lied all the dreams, efforts and struggles of them all, the will of humanity itself entrusted to one man with unprecedented and unparalleled strength. That was Captain Levi. He was their savior, their beacon of hope - an unrelenting force. Unstoppable in every way, the mere thought of his broken body had been unfathomable to her or anyone else. He always, always stood proud amongst all the broken bodies around him, the wings of freedom on the back of his cape billowing in the wind. He always stood fresh, relaxed and impeccable amongst all his exhausted, stressed out and filthy comrades, comrades that always clung to him and his untouchable power. But as Hange's fingers passed through his hair and brushed against his skin, she started to realize how alarmingly cold he'd gotten and she started to recall how small his limp body felt when she carried him in her arms moments before. An aching, burning hole seemed to form in her chest as she sobbed.
Lost in her excruciating grief, Hange didn't even register the presence of several guards and additional servants in the room, or the sound of frantic, panicked and confused voices around her. All she could feel was Levi's soft hair and cold skin, and her pain.
One of the confused guards studying the scene before them approached Historia, saluted and respectfully asked what happened.
Historia was on the verge of tears. "I… I'm not sure. The Commander used the serum on Captain Levi here, but for some reason it didn't work. It was our last resort..."
Historia rubbed her belly absent-mindedly, only then noticing how exhausted she was physically and emotionally after the whole ordeal. The very last thing she expected that night as she peacefully read her favorite book by the fireplace was for Hange Zoe to kick open the front door of her residence, completely soaked and covered from head to toe in blood and dirt, absolutely frantic and carrying an even more filthy and bloody body of a hooded soldier in her arms. Everything after that happened so quickly, it wasn't until the body was placed on the nearest bed and the hood slipped away from the face that Historia finally realized, with a loud and flabbergasted gasp, the soldier's identity. Surely, if it was Captain Levi, he'd pull through no matter what, she thought. Her best servants got to work assisting her immediately, and she was so confident that all her years of training as a healer would pay off that night. Her resolve had been as strong as ever. She had no doubt in her mind that she'd help someone like him survive and recover.
But at that moment, only despair prevailed.
Historia really couldn't stand to watch the heart-wrenching scene in front of her. Her eyes burned and hot tears ran down her cheeks as she approached her friend. She placed her hand on Hange Zoe's shaking shoulder.
"I'm so sorry."
Historia noticed, even more at that moment, something particular about Hange's behavior and the intensity of her suffering, something that hinted at suspicions Historia and many others had for years about the commander and the captain. It only made the situation a hundred times more unbearable. The queen ordered the guards and servants to step out of the room.
"Hange... I am so, so sorry."
The Commander still sobbed, although more quietly, and again before she realized what she was doing, she moved higher beside the bed and threw one of her arms over Levi's chest, still stroking his hair amorously with her other hand. She kissed his pale forehead and cheeks between her sobs.
Then Historia heard a few words as they came out of Hange's mouth very softly, barely audible.
"I... never told you... how much I love you," the Commander whispered, her breath brushing the skin on his fair but injured face. She swiftly kissed Levi's lips before resting her head against his chest, her sobs getting gradually weaker.
More tears ran down Historia's cheeks as she watched. She rubbed Hange's back in an instinctive attempt to comfort her, strongly wishing she could do more. She vowed to stay by Hange's side.
A few minutes passed.
Historia wiped away her tears, only then realizing how blurry she's been seeing. As soon as it became clear again and her eyes rested on the body before her, however, she immediately froze. For a few seconds, she was totally speechless, her brain frozen solid as she merely stared in disbelief. But then she forced her lips to move and form words.
"Hange. Look."
The Commander looked at Historia, then to where the queen was pointing, but she could barely see anything at all. She took off her filthy glasses and frantically wiped them clean with one of the nearby unused cloths, then wiped away the tears on her eyes. She put her glasses back on and looked again.
Hange's heart skipped a beat. Speechless, she grabbed Levi's right hand and held it closer as she observed the phenomenon before her.
The slightest wisps of steam, like thin little white tendrils, were slowly coming out of the holes where his index and middle fingers had been severed. She put her fingers over his wrist for a moment and screamed. The avalanche of intense emotions hit Hange all at once like a boulder.
"Hange… is that what I think it is?" Historia whispered. "Does this mean…"
Hange's hands started to shake as she held Levi's for a moment. Then, without even realizing what she was doing, she started to giggle crazily, and the giggles got louder and louder until they became full blown screams of ecstatic joy. She turned and threw her arms around Historia, rocking her sideways in a tight and ecstatic embrace.
"Hange….stop…my back…" Historia barely managed to say, although she found her chest soaring rapidly as well, her tears of sadness quickly transforming into tears of joy. Hange released her but held her hands tightly.
"We did it, Historia!" The commander screamed. "It worked! It actually worked! He has a pulse and it's stronger than before! He'll live! He'll live!" She cackled crazily again. By then, multiple servants had entered the room in response to all the unexpected noise.
Hange Zoe had been through multiple hells before, but she'd never experienced such an extreme roller coaster of emotions before that night. After she finally calmed down a little bit, she got to work around Levi. She closely studied all of his wounds and repeatedly took his pulse on several intervals. His bleeding finally stopped. She also noticed the same very slight wisps of steam were coming out of every wound, but it seemed to be much more noticeable on his right hand, where his two fingers had been severed. Apparently, the regeneration was concentrated on his lost extremities.
She quickly made some calculations based on the data she remembered by heart from her many years of titan experimentation and studying the titan serum. She estimated, based on the intensity of the process she observed, that the regeneration speed was roughly about four times slower than that of an average titan shifter. The commander sat down with Historia on a nearby table and immediately started to excitedly spout out scientific explanations and theories while the queen's servants got to work cleaning up the room and the injured soldier. The queen looked increasingly bewildered as Hange spoke.
"Believe me, Historia, I read everything I found about the subject these past few years! Ackermans are so fascinating! And I've always believed that Levi is a special case - a true prodigy! I think his superior Ackerman genotype caused this totally unique and amazing effect we're seeing right now! The exact chemical compounds of the titan serum are still classified, but especially after seeing what's happening right now, I estimate the concentration of nucleotides must be almost exactly the same as in his genetic molecules - "
Historia held up a hand. "Hold on, Hange. Slow down. I didn't follow at all. Can you explain using normal words, please?"
"Oh, right, sorry… what I meant to say is, I believe that because Levi is not only an Ackerman - a byproduct of titan science - but a special one that already had more titan-like traits than his peers, the titan serum didn't have the normal effect on him. I think it's the reason he hasn't transformed into a titan. After all, in essence, Ackermans are already titans but in human form, in a way, and more so in his case. I can't be completely sure what the exact result will be, but based on my observations and calculations so far, I think the serum caused further mutations on Levi's genome makeup instead of a titan transformation, and began a process of transposing the new but similar chemical compounds into a reconfigured version of his -"
"You've lost me again."
"Oops, sorry! What I meant to say is that - bottom line - Levi won't turn into a titan, especially not soon. I think."
"You think, or you know?"
"Like I said, this is an unprecedented situation here. As far as I know, no other Ackerman in recorded history has undergone this process. But I believe he won't turn into a pure titan, and instead he'll recover completely but at a slower rate than a titan shifter. Does that make sense?"
"Yes, that finally made sense. But Hange… can you also predict what will happen once Levi awakens? Do you think he'll be…himself?"
The queen's apprehensive eyes darted sideways toward the bed. Hange almost forgot. Like many others, Historia always feared the captain, but her fear only got worse during the events leading up to her coronation, and Hange couldn't blame her. Levi had been harsher than normal during that time, especially with her - and especially when he intimidated her in front of the others, demanding she become queen. The thought crossed Hange's mind that maybe, at that moment, a part of Historia wished she hadn't helped him at all.
A few seconds of tense silenced passed between the two women.
"I'm sorry, Historia," Hange replied heavily. Her expression darkened. "I really can't say for sure. This process is almost like him being reborn, and it will inevitably give him more... titan-like traits. Some of those traits may resemble the ones we've seen with the titan shifters, or they may be completely new. How they will actually manifest is unknown. The only thing we can do now is wait and see. And hope."
"Oh, no…" Historia's eyes filled with dread.
"Calm down. Listen, I think it will be fine. But since I can't guarantee what will happen, let's take some precautions, just in case. I estimate that his regenerative process will take approximately four to six hours. I think it's unlikely he will regain consciousness sooner than that. I will stay here to support your personal guards until he wakes up. I will keep a very close watch on him at all times. Go rest now, Historia. Please. You need it. Thank you so much for all your help."
Hange tried to portray as much confidence as she could as spoke, especially to make the exhausted queen feel at least some ease after bringing such chaos to her out of nowhere. She wanted the queen to finally be able to get her much needed and much deserved rest that night. Hange gathered all the strength she could muster to set aside her own exhaustion and appear strong before the others while explaining the situation and organizing the guards.
The nightmare would soon be over, she hoped, but she needed to keep it together for several more hours. As she sat several feet away from the bed and waited, vowing to do everything she could to stay awake, Hange kept remembering all the challenges she faced and managed to overcome in her quest to gain knowledge about the Ackerman clan. One of them being what most thought impossible - finding a way to convince Levi to participate in her Ackerman research. But she'd always been extremely bold and reckless around danger, and she was dead set on getting the much needed knowledge, as always. The first time she asked him the result hadn't been pleasant, of course, but eventually, with unwavering persistence and much to everyone's astonishment - even her own, she made it happen. He'd reluctantly agreed to help. She took advantage of that miracle and also the sudden influx of knowledge from outside the island, and combined her research with every single piece of information she could find related to the subject of the Ackerman clan.
She went to check on Levi again, closely studying his recovering wounds and taking his pulse several times. Right away she noticed the rise in body temperature she expected due to titan regeneration, especially on the body parts closest to the wounds. The temperature itself, however, was higher than she'd expected, to the point where she knew touching him for an extended period of time would actually cause a burn. She made a mental note to closely monitor that particular change in the upcoming hours, then continued her observations. Despite his extremely high body temperature, he was not perspiring at all - a typical titan characteristic, she knew. Hange also noticed the wisps of steam got much more noticeable as time passed and that his skin was gradually becoming less pale. As she closely observed the wounds for several minutes, she could distinguish their visible healing process - a truly remarkable sight. She stroked Levi's soft raven locks, now damp mostly from the water the servants used to wash away the blood.
She took one of the clean cloths next to her and dipped it in the water on one of the nearby containers. She squeezed the excess water from it, then gently wiped away a tiny bit of blood she'd spotted on the side of his forehead that they'd missed. Memories of her comrade came to her as she carefully and gently cleansed the skin on his face with the cloth. She thought about his eccentric and very amusing obsession with neatness, even in the midst of a battle. Her lips curved into a slight grin, then she briskly pressed them against his forehead.
"Soon you'll be back with me, Levi…" She whispered very softly, barely audible.
She stood and watched him for a while longer. At that moment, he seemed to be merely sleeping peacefully. She'd never seen him look so harmless, like an exhausted and very beautiful but broken angel deeply asleep on white linens. It then hit her that after all the years working together, she'd never actually seen him sleep before, not even once, at least not as soundly, and definitely never on an actual bed. He was always the one standing irritably over her groggy, recently awakened self, harshly and sternly forcing her off the bed and unto her feet amongst multiple scolds. She was mesmerized at how different he looked at that moment and continued to watch him.
After a few more minutes, however, her legs started to give up on her, demanding she rest. The queen's guards switched positions as instructed to do so every hour, two in the room with her and the remaining guarding the hallway outside and the entrance to the queen's residence. She decided to go back to her position on the room.
Hange plopped down on her chair and, all of a sudden, her energy just dropped dramatically and uncontrollably. The physical, emotional and mental duress she'd endured that night had been too much, even for the Commander of the Survey Corps. She didn't even realize the moment her very heavy eyelids shut and she nodded off.
At some point later that night, a loud crack of thunder echoed all around her.
Startled awake, Hange immediately sat bolt upright on her chair as soon as her eyes opened. She gasped when she realized that not only had she fallen asleep for an unknown amount of time, but that there were now pools of blood on the floor of the room. The bed was empty and its linens - still clean - lay on the floor beside it.
Her battle instincts kicked in immediately. She cursed and jumped up from the chair brandishing her weapons in one swift and practiced movement, every single sense heightened as she took in her surroundings. It was still very dark outside - not many hours passed since she fell asleep.
She quickly spotted two very bloody and viciously mangled guards, to the point that they were barely recognizable, on the floor of the other side of the room, their bodies twisted in unusual angles in ways that made her stomach turn. As she carefully studied them, she discovered they also had severe burns on their faces and that their tongues had been cut off. Using her many years of rigorous battle experience and the evidence around her, she created a picture in her mind of the events that transpired while she'd slept, like pieces of a very macabre puzzle.
Her heart was about to burst inside her chest.
She'd been asleep through all of this? How silently and skillfully had he moved while still regenerating? Did her being alive mean he was still himself - at least partially?
Her astonishment only intensified with each mangled body she passed as she carefully made her way out of the room, down the hallway, and toward the entrance of the residence, her battle stance flawless as she held her weapons before her, ready for anything. She was barely able to hold back a gasp when saw the vicious wounds on the next group of fallen guards she passed.
At that moment, as her heart hammered in her chest, old and nearly forgotten memories came back to her against her will. She remembered the voice of her former squad leader back in the days she was an average Survey Corps recruit. She remembered how apprehensive he - and many other soldiers - had been when Levi was first recruited.
"How could they bring that fiend up here? Are we really that desperate for manpower? Now we have the underground's most notorious thug not just here on the surface, but serving alongside us, staying close to our barracks at night! What in the world was Erwin thinking? Those MPs guarding him are nothing but small fry to him. What makes the higher ups think he won't just slit all our throats while we sleep, then run away with all our money? Even more, what the hell makes them think that monster will actually become a true soldier?"
This was a conversation that recurred for months until they were all proven wrong; no major violent incidents happened with Levi. They eventually realized that this former thief, this rogue whose name was already a legend, was actually safe to be around - just as long as you kept your distance. He was unsettling, even terrifying at times, but safe. The coldness of his unreadable silver-gray eyes never changed, but his actions spoke otherwise. In every expedition Levi had not only singlehandedly killed more titans than anyone thought possible, but he'd also saved fellow soldiers countless times without hesitation. Slowly and gradually, only through his actions, he'd earned the respect and devotion of his fellow soldiers despite his intimidating presence.
Only she'd almost forgotten the shocking brutality he was capable of. Or had the titan serum enhanced that? That last one had been the seventh one - only one other guard must be in the premises. She continued to inch slowly down the hall, barely able to step around the pools of blood without making a sound.
She noticed the front door of the queen's residence was slightly ajar, and that a trail of blood on the ground led toward it. She continued her extremely careful pace in its direction, slowly opened the front door and cautiously stepped outside, her eyes darting in all directions.
It was still a dark, stormy and foreboding night, but the intensity of the rain had finally subsided. Hange could barely make out anything around her that her small light source - part of all the new Survey Corps equipment - didn't illuminate, until her eyes started adapting to the darkness around her very gradually. She spotted more blood stains on the ground and followed the trail they left behind, further away from the residence and toward a nearby group of thick bushes and trees.
She aimed her firearms forward in her best battle position, every one of her senses heightened, ready for anything. She became aware of every sound around her, the soft rustling of the leaves of the trees with the wind, the raindrops as they fell on the ground around her, the distant rumbling of remaining thunder in the sky, the twigs she crushed under her boots as she treaded deeper into the densely vegetated area. The slightest sound caused her to whip in its direction while expertly aiming the firearms, bracing herself for a fight. She reached an area with less dense vegetation and immediately spotted a humanoid figure crumpled on the ground, the night too dark to make out the details.
Then an impossibly swift, sharp blow to the back of her neck came out of nowhere. She crumpled to the ground, no sound or sign of movement of any kind warning her of the incoming danger. She cried out in pain as she fell, and for several seconds she felt too disoriented to even process what just happened, her whole body strangely numb. Amongst the blurriness and pain, Hange slowly and unsteadily reached for her weapons while lying on the ground. With a start, she realized they were all gone. Even the small dagger she always kept hidden on the side of her boot as backup was gone. The only thing she had left was her small light source.
In the blink of an eye, the Commander of the Survey Corps had been disarmed and turned into a completely helpless heap on the ground. She knew only one person capable of doing that.
Terrified, she could do nothing but stare at his silhouette in the darkness. She could tell he'd thrown her gear on the ground right next to him, but nothing more. It was too dark and her vision still too blurry to make out the details, but she knew exactly who it was. He stood several feet in front of her, between her and the fallen figure she'd spotted earlier. Her racing heart felt like it would burst any second. She cursed under her breath.
Captain Levi Ackerman turned his back on her for a moment and looked down at the motionless figure lying at his feet. He kicked the man's head hard, but no sound came from the limp body except for a crunch and also, Hange noticed with a horrified start, a frizzling sound, like something being scorched, accompanied by the sickening smell of burning flesh.
"I remember this piece of shit vividly," came Levi's unmistakable deep, husky voice. But there was something new and sinister in its timbre, something that made the hair on the back of Hange's neck stand on end. "I knew there was something off about this asshole. I should have trusted my instincts. But those stupid brats… they were so damn excited for the wine this maggot brought to our camp. How they begged for my permission to drink that fucking poison..." He spat hatefully on the body. "Barris. Everyone. You brats. Ever since you first came at me as titans, and the whole time I was cutting each and every one of you apart, turning you all into minced meat in seconds…" Hange gasped, horrified at the revelation. "All I could think about was that beard face piece of shit and this asshole's ugly face." He kicked the motionless figure beneath him hard multiple times, a sickening crunch and a frizzle each time his boot crushed the body, the stench of burning flesh getting worse and making Hange gag. "This filth. This fucking traitor. I should've known. I should've made you squeal like a pig back then, not now. Just you wait. I'll hunt down each and every one of you, even if I have to cross the ocean. I'm coming for you. I'll crush all of you disgusting maggots. I'll make you regret the day you were born."
She'd never heard him speak like that before, his voice far colder and more unsettling than ever, and immediately wished she hadn't. Her entire body trembled violently, making her feel like a small, helpless child, the reaction completely unfamiliar to someone like her who was more than used to mortal danger. But there was something unique and almost supernatural about the sheer energy surrounding him at that moment, the intensity of its menace much more overwhelming than anything she'd ever experienced before.
At that moment she was able to notice, for the first time, the new unnatural gleam in his silver-gray eyes, their color noticeably lighter and brighter than before. The air around him was warmer than normal and the wisps of steam coming out of his wounds were much more noticeable. His two fingers had regenerated fully. She was shocked to realize that Levi was currently about halfway through his recovery process.
Then her train of thought was abruptly interrupted when Levi turned to her and began approaching her with a dagger she just noticed he had in his hand - its steel, to her complete astonishment, glowing bright red. Her heart raced, the dense and unsettling energy he emanated becoming more intense as he got closer, his silver orbs gleaming unnaturally in the moonlight. A chill ran down her spine, a contrast to the abnormally warm air around her that also got more intense as he approached, suffocating her. She somehow found her voice, but it was a weak, hoarse, pathetic sound.
"Levi... please..."
She begged, on her knees, head bowed, overwhelmed with fear so intense she couldn't move. She'd never felt so paralyzed, not even when she first saw a titan as a child. She anticipated the worst and braced herself, eyes shut.
But then she only heard the soft rustle of paper very close to her. After a pause, she opened her eyes and saw that he'd thrown some sort of note on the ground right in front of her.
"Read it."
She froze for a few seconds, then slowly looked up at him and saw, to her intense relief, that he'd sheathed his now normal looking dagger. With shaking hands, she took the piece of paper. It was only the size of the palm of her hand, and she couldn't see a single thing written on it in that darkness. She had to use her portable light to read the note. Her jaw dropped. She read it again multiple times before she found her voice.
"These MPs... they were Yaegerists? By the Walls… they're everywhere," she whispered, her voice still hoarse.
Levi stood right in front of her, arms crossed, his gaze cold and unreadable as he looked down at her.
"You know, all of this has been the strangest experience." His calm tone was much more familiar to Hange, which relieved her tension greatly. "I saw and heard everything that happened from outside my body, like some fucked up ghost, right from the moment that bearded asshole blew us into the air, to what happened afterwards leading up to moments before I was able to move my body again. Even after you injected the serum, I saw and heard everything that happened in that room." Levi stared pointedly at her, but his expression remained impassive as he went on. "Were you really so distracted you didn't suspect these pigs, Hange? That's not like you. But it doesn't matter now. The pieces of shit still think I'm dead because I silenced all of these assholes before they could talk. Now, mark my words. When I finally get my hands on that fucking beard faced maggot, for the third time now... I. Won't. Hesitate."
He reached out to her suddenly, making her wince, but then she looked up and saw that Levi was not only offering his hand to her, but also his expression finally softened enough to resemble his normal self.
"I'm sorry for the rough treatment." His kind tone was music to her ears. "With how on edge you were, I knew you'd shoot the first thing that moved. And also - thank you. For everything. I mean it."
Was that actually the hint of a smile on his face? Astonished, she stared up at him in disbelief, slowly and hesitantly reaching out for his hand.
"It's fine. I'm not going to hurt you. "
As he helped her get back on her feet, his hands were as warm as the skin of a pure titan and not scorching hot as she'd feared. She could feel her heart start to beat normally again.
"Now help me get rid of the bodies."