"Levi?" The soft, feminine voice called again, knocking a little bit harder this time.
Levi sighed and opened it. "What is it, Petra?" He asked, his voice and expression composed.
"Oluo came running back into the dining hall, talking about how you were in a bad mood and made him bite his tongue."
"Tsk." Was all Levi responded with, leaning against the door, assuming she was going to say more by the look on her face.
"And uh... well... I wanted to know if you were alright." She squeaked softly, looking down at the ground as she played with her hands.
"I'm fine." Was Levi's curt response.
"I see..." Petra mumbled. She started to turn away but her face lit up and she turned around. "Aren't you hungry?" She asked a little too enthusiastically. "The food just got finished."
Levi stared for a few seconds before finally saying, "Fine. I'll go. Let me get washed up first." He thought about the blood on his hand.
Petra's face lit up and she turned around to skip back to where the others were.
Levi pulled back his chair and elegantly slid into it, glancing at everyone in the room. If he was being honest with himself, he was looking for someone in particular.
"See, I told you he looked gloomy." He heard Oluo whisper to Moblit, his attempts at covering his mouth useless.
Levi got irritated and opened his mouth to say something when the door slammed against the wall.
Hanji burst in with a wide grin. He noticed the blotches of dirt had disappeared off her face and she sported a new shirt.
"Hey, Hanji!" Everyone greeted, happy to see her enthusiastic self.
Levi glanced at her with an indifferent expression, barely even trying to hide his annoyance. "Took you long enough, Shitty Glasses. Did you have a hard time taking a shit?"
"It came out quite smoothly, thank you for asking." She shot back, taking a seat across from him.
He glared at her as he took a sip of his tea.
"Hanji, what did you do to him?" Oluo reprimanded her, cautiously glancing at Levi.
"What do you mean?" She asked, pretending to be shocked. "It's just his face." She joked.
Levi's nose scrunched up at her stupid joke.
Oluo glanced back and forth between them. Even he knew it was time to drop the subject. He turned his attention to Petra who tried to diverge his attention to someone else but failed miserably.
Levi continued to stare at Hanji with his piercing gaze, still sipping on his tea. The thing that both infuriated and intrigued him was that she returned the stare right back to him.
"I win!" Hanji yelled excitedly, pointing her finger at him as she laughed.
He frowned. "Won what, idiot?"
"You blinked! I won the staring contest!"
Levi stopped mid sip, and slowly set his tea down. He rested his hands on the arms of his chair and hoisted himself up, slamming both his hands on the table dramatically. "Oh yeah?" He challenged, inches away from her face. He felt everyone in the room staring at him but he didn't care.
Hanji had a wide smirk on her face and he grabbed her chin. The handkerchief he'd used early was swiftly pulled out of his pocket and he started to rub her whole face aggressively. "It's because I couldn't stand looking at that dirty face of yours," he lied, stopping to pinch her nose really hard.
"Let gooo!" She said nasily, her nose still being squeezed rather painfully as she tried to wriggle away. It was futile as Levi had an iron grip on her chin.
"And while I'm at it, let me clean that shitty attitude of yours." He remarked bitterly as he rubbed her face even harder.
She kept struggling against him and he eventually let her go, sending her flying backwards as she tugged away.
Levi sat back down and crossed his arms.
A voice caught his attention.
"Oh, look at me. I'm Levi, I'm so cool." Oluo mocked, striking a pose. "I clean people's faces when I'm pissed so I have an excuse to let out my aggravation."
Levi felt the heat crawling up his neck. What made it even worse was that Hanji started to snicker and then full out howl with laughter, banging the table as her body shook with the force of her laughs.
Levi scoffed, waiting for her bouts of laughter to stop.
The scrape of a chair against the floor caught everyone's attention.
"Hanji! I have to show you something!" Moblit urged, suspiciously agitated.
Levi narrowed his eyes as he watched Moblit grab her by her arm and whisk her away.
He waited a few moments before getting up and calling it a night. The looks he got ranged from comical to concerned, but he had a more pressing manner to worry about.
He gently closed the door behind him and looked down both sides of the hallway, looking for the two. He couldn't see them but Hanji's loud voice carried down the hallway and Levi sighed. At least this time it was in his favor.
Moblit shushed Hanji and pressed his finger against his mouth to motion for her to be more quiet.
Hanji nodded, but her voice wasn't too much quieter, making Moblit hunch his shoulders in defeat.
"What is it, Moblit?" She asked, surprised by his behavior.
Moblit looked down at her chest bashfully, pointing to it and saying, "It's bleeding. Your wound must have reopened."
Hanji quickly looked down. "Woulda look at that," She smiled, raising a hand and scratching the back of her head awkwardly.
"I just didn't want anyone to notice and start asking about it. Are you really okay going out there by yourself? Let me come with you." He begged. He wanted nothing else but Hanji to be safe.
"I can't do that. I'm acting on my own." Hanji replied with a voice of authority. It's true that everyone in the Survey Corps risked their lives trying to save humanity, but Hanji knew that her excursions were unnecessarily risky to put it lightly. Bringing in someone else and being the cause of their death in such a situation was not something that settled well with her.
"Plus, if something happens, you'll be my successor, right?" She teased, her dark humor coming out.
"Don't say that!" Moblit cried, with the same tone he did every time she got herself into a dangerous situation.
She couldn't help but laugh at him. "Well, let me take care of this wound and clean off this shirt before Short and Furious notices." She spun on the heel of her foot and marched towards her room before Moblit could say another word.
Levi turned and pretended to stroll down the hallway as if he heard nothing. Soon enough Hanji, with her long legs, had caught up to him within seconds.
"Listening to people's conversations, are we?" She whispered as she passed him by.
His eyes widened for a split second and he gave a small smile as he watched her walk away.
Levi looked out at the setting sun as he casually relaxed in one of the large windows. He kept an eye out for Hanji, watching people come and go until the last slivers of sunlight were almost gone. Eventually he sighed and got up, gearing up with his omni-directional gear. With the last few pieces in place he headed out for the wall to wait for Hanji.
He sat down a little ways off and he waited for maybe not even ten minutes before he heard the sound of what was most likely Hanji's omni-gear. He hoisted himself up, dusting the dirt off his pants and waited a few seconds before following her. He was somewhat relieved that it wasnt completely dark so he could keep track of her.
Even though he knew that around this time the Titans either began to disappear or become sluggish, some even being rendered unable to move, he still had his hands placed on his blades, ready to react if an attack happened. He could tell by Hanji's movements that she was just as tense and just as cautious as he was.
After running for a good fifteen minutes, they arrived at a small forest. Though the forest itself wasn't too big from what he could see, the trees were humongous. Hanji quickly disappeared into the trees and Levi followed suit, keeping his distance.
"Oh, Levi! How are you doing?!" She exclaimed happily and Levi's heart lunged in his chest. Thinking he was found, he was about to step out of the shadows until he realised that Hanji was actually talking to a Titan.
Levi's anger immediately sky rocketed and he refrained himself from digging his blade into the tree's branch. The Titan Hanji had oh so conveniently named after him was one of the smaller sized Titans. He clenched his teeth, trying to ignore the fact that she dared to compare him to that Titan.
"What's this? You don't have your usual stoic expression, Levi. Are you happy to see me?" She casually talked to it, trying to get a reaction out of the sluggish Titan.
Levi's eyes widened. Stoic expression? "What the hell is this asshole getting at?" His mouth was downcasted in a deep frown as his irritation spiked up by the second. Images of what he'd do to Hanji when they arrived back to the quarters flew through his mind by the dozens. He started to get excited and cheerful at some of the ideas, smiling as he thought of ways to carry them out. He'd show her not to name that tiny, idiotic Titan after him.
Caught up in his fantasies, he failed to notice that Hanji had gone down a few branches.
"Can you say 'Hanji'?" She asked the Titan gently. It just stared up at her, sitting down while leaning against a tree.
"What about 'Levi'?" She coaxed.
The Titan's mouth moved slowly as if it was trying to say the name.
Hanji gleamed with excitement and she yelled happily. "Yes, Levi! You can do it!"
Levi was just about done with this situation. Every time she said his name, he kept glancing at her thinking she was referring to him.
"Le-vi," She pronounced slowly, repeating it patiently as the Titan kept moving its mouth.
Hanji eventually sighed and crossed her arms. "Don't worry, you'll get it eventually, Levi." She smiled at the Titan and went down even a few more branches.
This time, Levi was starting to feel on edge. She was getting too close to it. As little as it was, there's one rule one should never break: never let your guard down around a Titan. While keeping track of the Titan, his eyes also constantly scanned the area around them, making sure nothing was going to ambush them.
Hanji was nearly on the ground when Levi heard a loud snap to his right. His head whirled towards the noise and his eyes quickly adjusted to see what was there. His grip tightened on his drawn blades; he was like a spring, ready to jump into action. A Titan, around 11 feet high came running towards Hanji. Being as experienced as she was, she dodged the attack without breaking a sweat.
"Oh my goodness!" She yelled excitedly. "Almost caught me there!" She laughed, safely in the trees again.
"Did you see that, Levi?!" She yelled out happily, this time looking straight at him.
He smirked and walked out into the moonlight. "You knew." He said more like a statement than a question.
Hanji swung her head back and laughed again. "Give me a little more credit than that." She teased.
"Ah!" She gasped. "Levi, meet Levi." She introduced, motioning to the Titan to "formally introduce" them.
Levi's face dropped. Now was not the time for her bullshit.
"I don't know that Titan, but I'm sure we can get aquainted!" She nodded her head enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear.
"I wonder what I should name it..." She mumbled to herself, resting her chin on her hand as if she was in deep thought.
"Hanji! Focus!" Levi yelled, furious. "Now is not the time for your fantasies."
Hanji frowned for a moment before returning to her usual persona.
Suddenly, the Titan that was clawing at the tree to try and reach Hanji stopped. This intrigued the two of them and their attention shifted to observe the Titan turn towards the other Titan who was now trying to desperately get up. Its sluggish movements made it difficult. It was almost a lost cause since for some reason, the advancing Titan was moving like it would during the daytime.
Hanji cautiously eyed the bigger Titan and drew her blades. Levi immediately knew why she drew them and before he could stop her, she jumped off the branch, sending her hooks digging into the tree behind the small Titan. She swung through the air and landed gracefully behind the Titan.
"Hanji, what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Levi immediately followed suit, ready to drag her away, and was close to doing so, but she jumped again, cutting off the bigger Titans arm as it tried to get a tight grip on the smaller one.
"Don't you dare hurt my Titan!" She yelled down. Despite the Titan having its arm cut off, it's resolve to eat the smaller one made it persist.
"Hanji, you dumb piece of shitty glasses. Leave it alone!" He was beyond livid at that point and was ready to drag her by her hair away from the situation.
Hanji ignored him and went in to kill the bigger Titan and almost succeeded until the smaller one managed to make the bigger one loose its balance and fall backwards, right into one of her supports, pulling out the hook and sending her skidding across the ground, colliding straight on with a tree. The leaves rustled from the impact.
The second she hit the ground, Levi had already reacted and was right by her side. Hanji was groaning as she tried to pick herself up, rubbing the back of her head. Hanji jumped for a moment before becoming rigid as she quickly pulled her hand up to her face. "Well shit."
Levi grabbed her hand to take a look as well. She saw his jaw clamp shut and without a word he picked her up and escaped high up into the trees. Or tried to. The larger Titan had already managed to get back on it's feet and swatted at Levi. He released one of the hooks and redirected it to another tree, effortlessly spinning away from it.
"But my Titan," she whined as she looked on helplessly as her Titan tried to defend itself.
Levi couldn't hold it in anymore and he grabbed her by the front of her shirt, their foreheads nearly touching. "Do you think your life is worth losing for that Titan!" He snarled, his voice coarse as he continued to yell, "I told you I hate meaningless deaths!" At this point, Levi had moved close enough that their noses were touching.
Hanji remained silent, mainly because at this point, Levi was beginning to become a blur for her. And he knew it because he could see her eyes start to lose focus. He took a deep breath and pulled back, sitting her down while still keeping a strong grip on her just in case she fainted. He analyzed the situation and tried to figure out what to do next.
Hanji tried her best to regain her vision and when things started to stop spinning, she attempted to get up.
"Sit the fuck back down." Levi immediately commanded, having entered full Captain mode.
She obediently did, not only because Levi's authorative aura made her, but the world started to spin again.
Levi noticed that Hanji started to slump and his heartbeat quickened as he started to panic. "Don't you fucking dare die on me, you four eyed giraffe."
Hanji made a sound that sounded like a chuckle. "I can see Sonny and Bean," she mumbled, reaching out towards the sky.
"Titans don't go to heaven." He yelled, grabbing her and resting her against him.
"Who said I was going to heaven?" She shot back playfully, her dark side coming out.
Levi's mouth formed a hard line. He analyzed his surroundings before he suddenly grabbed her belt and started to undo it.
"Levi," Hanji frowned. "Not now." She protested, grabbing onto his hands to stop him.
Levi felt heat creep into his cheeks and he turned his head away, embarrassed. "Shut the hell up. That's not what I'm doing right now."
"Aaww." Hanji feigned disappointment.
He clenched his jaw and took in a deep breath. He'd have his revenge later on if they got out of this alive. He continued to undo her belt and then gently picked her up, carrying her to a thin branch near them.
Levi pressed on it a few times to judge how sturdy it was and once satisfied that it would hold Hanji, he tied her belt around it, securing her to the tree.
"What are you doing, Levi?" Hanji whined, grabbing the air after him. It was getting harder for her to stay awake. Black spots began to dance around her vision. As she thought, she was losing too much blood.
Levi looked over his shoulder. "I'm keeping you from falling if you faint." He responded curtly before drawing his blades, he had to hurry. He took a quick glance at his clothes which glistened with fresh blood before leaping off the tree.
The Titans stood zero chance of surviving as an irate Levi quickly advanced on them. He had lost any sliver of reason, gone like a madman's. His eyes were cold, hard, and very calculating, pinpointing where his attack would start and how it ended. He decided to start on the severed arm, digging his blade deep into the flesh and starting his infamous move; barreling along the Titan's arm at a speed blinding to the eye.
He sliced all the way across its shoulders and off the other arm, rendezvousing back to his starting point where this time he diced up it's limbs, showing no mercy. This was the Titan that hurt Hanji. This was the Titan that was going to suffer by his hands. This was the Titan that was going to die by his hands.
Chunks of flesh flew left and right; only taking Levi seconds to butcher it. As he maimed the last bit of the Titan, he propelled himself high up into the air before flinging himself at the Titan's neck to finish it off. With one devastating swoop, the Titan was dead.
By the time he was done, his chest heaved heavily as he tried to regain his breath. He glanced at the smaller one, debating if he should kill it, but by the looks of it, it was too far gone to even bother with it.
With his enemies eliminated he rushed to Hanji who's head was now lolled to the side. He grabbed her head and checked to see if she was conscious.
"Hang in there, Hanji." He begged softly, untying her from the tree and sprinting back towards the quarters. He supported her head as much as he could to avoid jostling her.
Taking half the amount of time that it took to get to the forest, he jumped the wall. Within seconds he was at the hospital in the quarters.
The doctor jumped back in surprise as Levi flew in through the window, clutching Hanji to his chest.
"Wound to the back of the head. Loss of too much blood and half conscious," he briefed in the doctor.
Having understood the severity of the situation, the doctor and his assistants immediately jumped into action, grabbing Hanji from him. They kicked Levi out of the room as they took control of the situation. He stayed outside the door with his forehead and hands resting against it for a good fifteen minutes, listening to the doctor bark out orders.
Soon enough the orders stopped and hushed murmurs that he couldn't understand made him turn around and head towards the bath.
Stripping down his blood soaked clothes, he tried to wash what he could off of him before quickly entering the tub, scrubbing his skin furiously. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop seeing the blood. He couldn't stop smelling it. He'd seen blood many times before, but this time it was different. It was Hanji's blood and as that realization sunk in even deeper, he became numb. He stopped scrubbing his skin raw and just stared at the wall.
He heard a small patter and soon realized that he was crying. He gingerly brought up a hand to his face.
Don't. That word echoed over and over in his mind. That was the word that Erwin had said to him when he cried over Isabel and Farlan's deaths.
But how could he not? His love for Hanji was a lot deeper than he ever showed. And his heart clenched in his chest at the idea of never seeing her again. Never touching her again. Never hearing her voice excitedly ramble on about Titans.
A bitter taste developed in his mouth as he thought of the word 'Titan'. And he glanced at his clothes, making his stomach churn. He laughed to himself as the urge to kill all the Titans flashed through him.
"Great, I'm turning into Eren." He mumbled to himself bitterly.
He groaned and covered his face with his hands as sobs escaped him. Hot tears weld up in his eyes and then poured down his face to only merge into the water of his bath. He tried to hold in his sobs, but the more he held them in, the louder and harder the ones that managed to burst out became. He hadn't cried like that in years and he felt ashamed. He felt weak and helpless.
A few moments passed before he wiped away the last of his tears and got out of the bath, changing into fresh clothing before heading back to the doctor.
He hesitated for a second before knocking on the door. It opened slowly and one of the nurse's stuck out her head from behind it.
"How is she doing?" He asked quickly, without missing a heartbeat.
The nurse moved aside to let him in and he practically ran to Hanji's side. She had gauze wrapped around her head and her breathing was ragged.
"We've managed to stop the bleeding and get her stable for now, but she's still in critical condition." She reported to him. "We'll keep a close eye on her for the next few days."
Levi nodded his head slowly and grabbed Hanji's hand, squeezing it tightly. It was so cold and lifeless that it made him start to panic. He dropped to his knees and rested his elbows against the bed, clenching her hand to his forehead, a small tear rolling down his cheek.
That was a restless night for him as he sat by her side, making sure that her chest still rose and fell.
Levi walked out into the sunlight, joining the small group of people that had somber looks on their faces. It's as if the joy had been completely sucked out of them, leaving back an empty shell.
Erwin stood at the head of the stage, looking everyone in the eye. Once he had everyone's attention, he began.
"When we all decided to join the Survey Corps, we all knew what was a stake." His voice carried over the group, steady and strong.
"Every time we head out past the wall, we never know if we'll come back." He took a small pause to collect his thoughts.
"And when we can, we bring back those who perish in order to honor them for their sacrifice and give them a proper burial." At this point, some people in the group started to sob.
"Last night, Hanji Zoe, a strong willed member, with a passion for her research on Titans passed away. She was an honorable squad leader as well as a trustworthy comrade. She will be missed and her death will not be meaningless." Erwin ended his speech, not a waver in his voice. He glanced at Levi who's face was emotionless; his eyes were sunken in and he looked exhausted. Erwin walked off the stage and pulled Levi aside.
"Here, I thought you might want this." Erwin took out something from his pocket and placed it in Levi's hand before walking away.
Levi unfurled his fingers to see what Erwin had given him. He chocked back a sob, clamping his hand over his mouth as he double over, tears springing to his eyes.
He gulped down a ragged breath and held up the object to his face. It was Hanji's Wings of Freedom patch. "That bastard..." He cursed Erwin's name, crumbling the patch in his hand. For him, a patch would always remind him that that person existed, no matter how long time had passed. So for that, he was also greatful.
He walked the short trip to where Hanji had been buried and sat down next to the freshly dug up dirt. He rested his head in between his knees, her patch still gripped tightly in his hand.
"We'll all miss you Hanji." He mumbled. "Everyone's miserable. And I'm not the same without you."
As he tried to exhale, a sob escaped him. "I love you, Hanji." Halfway through the sentence his voice cracked. "I- I wish I-" He couldn't speak as sobs started to rack his body, his shoulders shaking violently. "I wish I could have saved you!" He yelled in anguish, angry at himself. If he was one second quicker he could have stopped her from hitting the tree. "I failed you as your comrade. And worst of all, I failed you as your lover." His breathing became very irregular and ragged. "I love you so much and yet I couldn't protect you." His crying was soon accompanied by hiccups.
"I'm sorry." He whispered meekly.
Levi jolted awake, nearly falling off his seat from the nightmare. His chest was heaving; as he wiped the tears from his face and tried to calm himself, he broke out into a cold sweat. He whirled his head around trying to make sense of his surroundings. When his eyes fell upon Hanji, and he saw her chest rise, a heavenly feeling of relief trickled through him.
"It was just a dream." He muttered happily, a weak smile forming on his lips. He realized just how hard he was squeezing Hanji's hand and loosened his grip. He looked at her and realized she had turned over towards him with a goofy grin on her face.
He wondered what she was dreaming about; probably breaking the doctor's rules, he pulled aside the cover and slid into the bed next to her. As he carefully avoided her wound, Levi wrapped his arms around her and snuggled close, nestling his face against her chest. His eyes widened in surprise when she tightened her grip around him.
He tried to glance up to see if he woke her up, but she had such a grip on him that he could barely move. Her light snores confirmed her sleeping.
"So small..." She mumbled. "So furious." She continued rambling in her sleep.
He felt something warm drip onto his head. And when he realized it was drool, he started to scream internally. He wriggled against her, but it was a lost cause. Accepting his gruesome fate, he laid there and waited until she either woke up or let him go.
Hours passed and he listened to her heartbeat, reassuring him that she was still alive. As daylight started to creep into the room, he heard Hanji mumbling again.
He felt her look down and loosen her grip in surprise. Finally able to move, he lovingly stared up at her with a grin that stretched from ear to ear, relieved to see her cinnamon colored eyes that now glowed as the sun shown on them.
"Levi?" She asked, confused as to why he was there. Not that she minded, but she was confused at to where she was and why he was in her arms. "Di-did we do it again?!"
His face heated up and he buried it in her chest to hide his reddening cheeks. "Shut up, you idiot." His said affectionately, his voice muffled by her chest.
He peeked up at her and she had the most loving smile he had seen yet, plastered on her face. He couldn't help himself and scooted up a few inches to be face to face with her.
"I love you." He quickly said as he placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her softly. He brought their foreheads together, and he gazed into her eyes. Only a few seconds passed before he planted another kiss on her lips, moving on to her cheek, to her forehead, and to her neck, lingering just above her favorite spot.
Hanji laid there, happily basking in his attack of kisses. "You may be humanity's strongest, but to me, you're the man I love the most."