A/N:
Disclaimer – I do not own the Attack on Titan anime (or manga), nor am I even associated with its owners or creators; so no, no copyright infringement intended here. I also do not intend to gain any sort of monetary profit from this one-shot.
(Note – I generally consider mangaverse Hange as female. It was honestly the first impression I got.)
"You called, Captain?" Hange asks.
The two sit down at a table in the storage room.
"Yes." Levi twists around in his chair to look at the couple of squad members in the room. "What the hell are you still doing in here? Get out."
Sasha and Connie scramble out quickly – though Hange doesn't miss seeing the girl stuff something in her jacket. She doubts Levi misses it either, but he doesn't say anything.
"Anyway," he resumes, turning back around. "I thought we needed to have a private conversation."
"Is it about the research on Eren? I've gotten plenty of interesting new data. If we weren't supposed to be hiding at this cabin, I think I could've gotten more –"
"It's not about that," Levi interrupts. He looks more pensive than usual at the moment, fingers laced under his chin and elbows on the table. "It's about you."
Hange freezes for a bare second.
. . .
"So you see, my theory on why Eren becomes exhausted after subsequent transformations –"
A knock on the door interrupts her lecture.
"Come in," Levi calls out impatiently.
Jean pokes his head in, looking a bit nervous. "Mikasa keeps getting out of bed. She and Eren just had a shouting match outside," he says. "We need someone to talk to her."
Hange watches Levi with a neutral expression.
On the inside, she's struggling with a guilty hope that maybe he'll consider staying here more important. It's not an unfamiliar feeling. But she is worried for Mikasa, who needs rest with her ribs still healing; and if she won't listen to Eren, it's become a concern.
Levi sighs. "That idiot. Alright, I'm coming." He glances at Hange. "Sorry."
"Oh no, it's perfectly okay! We can finish later."
He nods and leaves after Jean. Hange lets out a long exhale, staring at the door.
. . .
"I noticed a while back," he continues, "that you pay a lot of attention to me. It's been making me suspicious."
Hange feels like he's trying to choke her with his gaze.
"You are my captain," she says after a moment. "And a lot of people do want to kill you."
"Sure." Levi watches her. Hange can't tell what he's thinking. "It's a reasonable excuse. But lame."
She can't help but suck in a breath.
His narrow grey eyes are piercing. "Have any special feelings to admit?"
Hange looks away first.
It started out academically. Levi Ackerman and his two friends, the three new recruits from the underground city itself; they'd piqued her interest, especially considering the unique circumstances. What was the Underground like – its conditions, the people? How did they even acquire some 3DMG down there, much less learn how to use it as effectively as they did?
Later, when only Levi remained and she had gotten those answers... well. He is an interesting person.
Hange doesn't say anything.
Levi sighs and sits up, removing his arms from the table. "Life's too short, Hange, to pine after a guy who, ah... doesn't reciprocate." A brief flash of something like sorrow darkens his expression. "We Survey Corps know that all too fucking well," he adds with no small amount of bitterness.
Petra, Hange thinks, certain she has it this time.
"You should move on." Levi's face has a strange hint of emotion to it, but she can't figure it out before it's faded into neutrality again. "Find someone that actually is interested in you. As more than a friend."
The conversation comes to a halt.
Hange eventually smiles, genuinely. "Am I really that transparent?"
A faint smirk touches Levi's lips in return. "I didn't figure it out until recently. You can tell by how you only just got this talk."
She blinks. "'This talk' is something you do?"
Levi only looks back steadily. "Life's too short," he repeats. "And I have no fucking intention of letting my soldiers or anyone waste it."
Gears automatically turn in Hange's mind. Her words usually skip a few steps of the thought process before they come out of her mouth. "So that's why you're not a married man," she says.
A grimace shows on his face for a moment. "Sure."
Hange nods. She's aware that the topic's beginning to make Levi feel uncomfortable for once, and she's in agreement. "How about we change the subject?" she suggests, rather frankly.
"We do have more important things to chat about," Levi agrees. He produces a sheaf of papers and sets them down on the table between them. "Which is the second reason I called you here. I've got a couple ideas I'd like you to look over."
Hange smiles and pulls the sheets over, skimming his sharp, precise handwriting. Let no man or woman claim that Levi's neat-freak habits do not extend to a pencil and paper.
"Alright," she eventually says, pushing up her glasses. "The first part seems pretty sound to me. But..."
Levi leans in after Hange points at a spot on the page.