Chapter 21

::/AN/:: BTW I don't own Attack on Titan….

Whoa, it's been a long time, hasn't it? Yikes! Sorry about all of this guys, school got crazy (and the fact that i joined the track team doesn't help I"m sure), I'M BACK! I promise I'll finish this story, just please be patient, that's all I ask.

Ok, here we go...

Commander Hange Zoe arrived two days later, much to the relief of Petra's squad and the nervousness of Levi's. Not only was Hange their commander, but she was also quite eccentric and no one ever knew what might happen when she was around. So, it was much to Squad Levi's relief when they were told that she would only be staying one day, and Petra set out to meet the Scouts Legion's leader shortly afterwards. She was saddling up her horse when Levi came out to meet her.

"You didn't tell me you'd invited Four-Eyes to the party," he grumbled, coming up behind her as she tightened the bit in the stallion's mouth. For some reason he wasn't angry, simply lightly annoyed. "Do you know what's going to happen once she arrives?"

Petra shrugged. "No."

"Exactly." Levi stepped around her a grabbed a saddle in return, and Petra raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think you're doing with that?"

"I'm going with you," he replied simply, saddling the white mare next to him and swinging himself atop it. "Someone's got to keep her on track, and you don't know her as well as I do. Better safe than sorry, I say."

Petra shrugged and climbed up, steering her horse out of the stable and into the open. "Your call, Ackerman." She started off, but only after making sure the other captain was right behind her. No need to get off on the wrong foot this morning. They rode into town and arrived at the train station, where Hange's train was due to arrive any minute. Levi glanced over at Petra. "So, what made you decide that we needed a check-up from the Commander of the Survey Corps?" he asked somewhat harshly. "Thought you need to put us in our place or something?"

Petra smiled sarcastically and squinted into the distance, down the train tracks where she thought she saw smoke. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't have it out to ruin your entire career Ackerman. It's about the case."

Levi frowned. "Oh?"

"Commander Zoe is the military's most seasoned expert on Titans," Petra said. "If we're looking at Titans or Titan-shifters, she's the person who'd know what to do." She looked over at him and prayed that she hadn't crossed a line by asking Hange here. For some reason a little voice in the back of her mind told her that she didn't want to hate Levi, or even dislike him. It wasn't in her nature to hate anyone, it said, and she was better off trying to befriend him again in spite of everything.

In spite of everything.

But Levi wasn't listening. He pointed down the tracks. "Here she comes." He nodded towards the approaching train and then at her. "You'll like her, I think. She's bat crazy, but she's not a bad crazy." There was a tender sort of comradeship Petra picked up on as it entered his voice, and she remembered that he and Hange had known each other for a long time.

I wonder how long I knew Hange, Petra thought to herself as the train skirted to a stop and the doors burst open in front of them. She thought of the letters she'd found in the back of her father's closet, the ones that had held the most accurate and detailed descriptions of Petra's former teammates she could get. Hange had been a friend. Perhaps we could be again. It would be some semblance of normal.

Because by no means was Petra Ral's life normal.

A tall mousy brown haired women with thick rimmed glasses practically burst out of the train and tackled Levi, her small traveling bag left forgotten on the floor of the train station. "Levi!" the commander shouted, grabbing his shoulders tightly and shaking him. "How are you? You haven't written me like I told you to! How's the squad? Eren? Tell me about the Titans!" She didn't wait for a reply from a visibly uncomfortable Levi but rather turned and grasped Petra's hands to shake.

"Captain Petra Ral! You haven't been introduced, but I've heard all about your work with the new Garrison Unit. You're quite good, the case couldn't be better handled. It was right of you to call me up here, I'm terrible interested in this particular aspect of the case…"

Petra bit her lip. Here it goes. She swallowed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to have brought you all the way up here for nothing, Commander, but we dissolved the idea of actual Titans in this region only a few hours ago. I had one of my team send a telegraph back to Trost immediately afterwards, but they told us you'd already left."

Hange's smile faltered a bit, and the look on Levi's face said it all. He looked at Petra incredulously. "I wasn't aware we were discarding the theory-"

"New evidence has come to light which I was just made aware of," she responded quickly, not giving Levi a chance to cut in. "Commander Zoe, my team and I are truly sorry for the inconvenience, and we'll reimburse your travel expenses in full-"

"Nonsense, it was an honest mistake," Hange told her, waving it off even while looking disappointed. "I was really looking forward to hearing about Titan shifters this far north, though." She chuckled. "That's what I get for getting my hopes up, yes?" She smiled at Petra, her eyes glittering with eccentricity and invitation. "I do wish to meet your teams, captains, and get caught up on the case if I can. If the Titan sightings aren't true, why are you not packing up and leaving?"

Levi looked at Petra and frowned in annoyance. "I'd like to know that too, actually."

Petra nodded. "My team uncovered something a bit more complicated than monsters, something we could really use your opinion on, Commander Zoe. I remember you at the war crimes trial a couple weeks ago. You must know the case backwards and forwards."

Hange nodded. "Yes, but Captain Ral I don't see how this is relevant to your case-"

"I can fill you in on the big picture on the way, and my team can come in with specifics," Petra said earnestly. "Of course, if you're tired from the journey up we can always wait-"

But Hange Zoe's interest was piqued, and she insisted that she hear everything there was to know at once. Levi was silent, and Petra told Hange everything she remembered off the top of her head as they rode to the Garrison base. "There's a man named Henry Gossamer who's stationed up here, one of the Garrison's soldiers," she informed the commander. "He used to be stationed in Trost and was rising through the ranks extremely quickly, but was transferred out for insubordination and terrible team leadership skills. At the time of the war crimes trial involving Corporal Reeves he was here, but he was communicating with the corporal and encouraging the actions he and his conspirators took during the wall breach. He is to be held responsible for the entire conspiracy because in his letters he admits to orchestrating the entire thing."

Hange nodded grimly, still taking it in. "I was present to the sentencing of the criminals the other day, and the entire trial before that. Not once did Henry Gossamer's name come up."

It was Levi that spoke up. "Gossamer has them by the collars. If he promised them he could get them out of prison should they get caught, then that's a risk they'd be more than willing to take." Petra couldn't help but be impressed; Levi was exceptionally quick on the uptake for someone who hadn't known anything about the conspiracy until half an hour before. They rode into the stables and continued talking as they dismounted off the horses and tied them to the hitching posts.

"The real question is why Gossamer felt the need to cry wolf up here in Klorva," Levi continued, thinking hard. "Everyone in Walls Rose and Sina knew about that trial. If he knew his cronies had been caught then why would he take such a personal risk by bringing the Survey Corps and the Garrison Special Operations Squads up here?"

"Better yet, why do his cronies sitting it prison think that he can get them out?" Petra added.

The wheels in Hange's head were visibly turning. "They have to have a piece of information we don't," she said, thinking aloud as they walked towards the castle. "Something that will make everything fit together into an ugly little picture. This Henry Gossamer, does he know you're onto him?"

"If he didn't before he will know," Petra replied. "I had two of my men ask around about him in the village. No one up teher seems to like him, but word will spread that we mentioned his name."

"He'll bolt the moment he has an opportunity," Levi observed. "We'll have to move fast."

The group walked into the castle and down the hall towards the library, where Petra suggested David and Jewel meet Hange to get her caught up on the finer details of the case. Hange sat down immediately and the three got to work, so Petra left to go get a cup of coffee. Levi followed her. He stared at her acutely. "You did away with the Titan theory days ago, didn't you?" he confronted her sternly. "There was no telegraph to Trost."

"There was a telegraph to Trost, actually," Petra replied simply, trying her best to evade the question. "I had Mason send one to make sure the train was on time." She sighed as she stirred her coffee. "Yes, I did away with the theory long before the commander came here, but all we did was inform Commander Zoe of your assumptions that we were dealing with Titan Shifters. We didn't lie."

Levi continued to stare at her, but he still wasn't blowing up at her like Petra was certain he would. All he did was sigh and roll his eyes wearily as he sat down at the table across from her. "Well, you sure do know your way around the rules, Ral. I'll give you that."

Petra couldn't help but smile a bit. "I'll have to tell my team you said that. It was entirely their idea. I was simply the enabler."

"Really?"

"Really." Petra sipped her coffee quietly and was silent for a moment before opening her mouth to speak again. "I am sorry, for not telling you sooner. I just thought you'd fight me tooth and nail on it, and I'd rather beg forgiveness than ask permission."

To her surprise Levi actually cracked a smile. "You, beg? I'd like to see that." He shook his head humorously. "But in case you were wondering, it's a good idea. I hate being wrong, but if I had to be proven so I'd much rather it be you than Four Eyes." He chuckled, and Petra smiled and laughed in reply. He seemed lighter, happier than the days she'd seen him previously, and she found herself thinking This is the first civilized conversation I've had with him since I found out he was my former heichou.

And for some bizarre reason, she really didn't care about that anymore.

Levi looked at her and frowned, like he was able to read her very thoughts (and who knew, maybe he could). "So, is this still you hating me, or are we actually becoming decent people now?"

Petra felt her cheeks flush, and she answered anyways before sipping her coffee again. "This is me burying whatever hatchet I thought I had to hold against you. How does that sound?"

The captain shrugged. "It sounds good to me." He looked her over curiously. "But I have to ask- what hatchet did you think you had to begin with?"

The female Garrison captain felt a chill go down her spine again, and the muscles in the back of her neck tightened. Tell him, the voice in the back of her mind whispered. Tell him everything.

He doesn't deserve it! There was the spiteful voice again. He doesn't get anything. It's his fault!

You don't know that the small voice pressed. You don't know anything anymore.

The unbidden image of the two blurry people from her daydream popped into Petra's mind, but she didn't want to think about that now. She didn't want to think about the nightmare where she was falling and wrapped in canvas and about to be eaten by Titans because she'd just woken up with no memories and only battle instincts to save her from Death Himself. Her breathing shallowed and Petra could feel the cold sweat beads glisten against the back of her neck, and she met Levi's intense and hopeful gaze with a shaking one of her own.

"I don't know."

Commander Hange stayed in Klorva two more days after finding out that Henry Gossamer was also a war criminal. Half of her time was spent coming up with outlandish theories on Gossamer's motives and influence within the Garrison, with parts of it ranting about how she should just go and end the son of a gun's life right then and there and the rest resisting Petra and Levi's attempts to calm her down and get her to think in a complete train of thought.

It was only a few hours away from when Hange's train was set to depart, and Petra found herself escorting the Survey Corps Commander back to the station. Levi had offered to take both of their teams out on routine exercise at the wall while Petra accompanied Hange, and she had found herself agreeing to it more than she was thinking of ways to undermine him.

Hange meanwhile was chattering away about the case, sincethey were still a waysout and the station was usually empty anyways. "If solid evidence on Gossamer can link him to the wall breach in Trost he'll be arrested and sent to prison for good," the commander was saying. "Since you've brought all of this to my attention rest assured you will be able to legally arrest him, and we'll figure out the evidence part when the military tribunal is convened. This has been quite the turn of events, Captain Ral. First we send a joint task force up to a remote district to investigate a false Titan report, and then we uncover a conspiracy right here in our laps! It's practically Christmas!"

Hange laughed out loud, and Petra smiled. She found that much like the old Petra she had taken an instant liking to the woman. Hange Zoe might have been crazy, but stupid and un-lively she was not. "Yes, Commander. I'm happy with the progress we've made. Once we have Gossamer arrested I'll certainly sleep easier."

"Yes, I was wondering about those dark circles of yours," Hange mused, nodding. She suddenly grew solemn and looked over at Petra with funereal eyes. "I was wondering something else, too, if you don't mind."

Petra frowned and nodded as they climbed the short staircase up to the train platform. "Ask away. I've got time."

Hange swallowed hard and Petra got the feeling that Hange had wanted to talk to her for a while. "Well, um, you see, I don't know if Pixis ever told you or not, but I knew you- before this, I mean. I was part of the Survey Corps the same time you were, actually in the field, and I-"

"I know you," Petra said quietly. Hange stopped and looked at the golden-eyed woman, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears. "So you know, then, that I was your friend!" she cried, her lower lip quivering. "I wish I could have told you sooner, I really do Petra, but I didn't know you were even alive until a few weeks ago and Erwin told me not to get involved unless I had to – oh, please don't be angry with me, I didn't leave you to die out there, I really didn't-"

Petra felt a lump rising in her throat, and she smiled comfortingly through her own tears. "I'm not angry, Hange," she replied, placing a caring arm on the other woman's shoulder. "I'm actually fine. I- I found some old letters of mine, a while ago, and I found your name in some of them. I've known for a while and just didn't know how to approach you about it, or even if you wanted me to, so I left you alone."

"Oh Petra!" Hange flung her arms around her old friend and smiled in relief. "I'm so happy you're back!" Her eyes widened and she pulled away suddenly, attempting to restrain herself. "I mean, I understand your memories are gone, but you're here, and you're alive, and Levi's-" She froze and bowed her head. "That's another thing too."

The Garrison captain eyed Hange carefully. "What about Captain Ackerman?"

Hange turned back to Petra and attempted a genuine smile again. "It's not my place to say." She watched as the train pulled up to the station and the doors unfurled, awaiting their passenger. Hange patted Petra on her shoulder and gripped it tight. "But you should know, there's another side you'll want to hear first. Before you make any more judgments about him, I meant. I know he can be quite the grouch sometimes, but he does have a heart, you know."

The commander stepped away and boarded the train, and turned back one last time to see Petra before vanishing inside for good. "He didn't abandon you, Petra. No one did. We just didn't realize what we'd lost until it was too late."

Hange's last words sank into Petra like a hot knife even as Hange disappeared, and they burned.

Everything made sense now- the strange dreams, the canvas wrap, and people talking to one another. Her entire team had died that day, and the survivors had rounded up the dead.

Petra knew from stories that floated around the military that almost no bodies of valiant soldiers ever received a proper burial. Most were eaten, and the few that weren't were left because there was too much danger and not enough time to dig tens and hundreds of graves. They carefully, diligently and mournfully wrapped each and every one in canvas instead, tying they up tightly like a funeral shroud.

To mask the scent of human flesh, Gustav had told her once. The Titans won't eat dead bodies, but they will go back if they smell fresh blood. Good soldiers, they don't deserve to be stepped on like dirt, not even in death.

Petra felt sick to her stomach. She'd been killed and left for dead, but she hadn't been forgotten. Someone had been good to her, cared for her, and she never even realized it.

And I blamed Levi Ackerman for everything.

Petra's breath began to quicken, and she felt like she was going to pass out. Guilt pounded into her like a hammer against a nail, driven into a wooden beam at full force. He was my heichou. He was the only survivor. He must have felt so bad, mourned all of us at once, and I treated him so terribly. I'm so insensitive, a horrible person, I wasn't even thinking-

"Captain Ral!"

A soldier Petra didn't recognize was sprinting towards her at top speed, his face a ghastly shade of pale and his 3DM Gear had been damaged through and through, though he was carrying an extra on his back. "Captain Ral? Is that you? Please, come quickly!"

Petra started running towards him, and the man stopped and waiting for her to catch up before siding with her and sprinting back the way he'd come at top speed. "Yes, I'm Captain Ral. What's going on?"

"It's the wall, ma'am!" the soldier cried, his eyes full of terror. Petra glanced back down at his gear; it hadn't just been badly damaged. It had been shredded like aluminum foil, as though he'd been swatted clean out of the skies. "Titans, they're here, for real this time! They came out of nowhere!"

"Where is my team?" she demanded anxiously, grabbing the 3DMG off of the soldier's back and rushing to claps it into place. The machinery was light, but it was a hassle to put on while running. "Where are they now!"

"At the wall, ma'am!"

"Get me there now."

Well then, this is certainly going to be interesting! I'm so excited, and I hope you guys are too. We're finally getting somewhere!

Yeah, chapter 21 is done! LONGEST. CHAPTER. EVER. Did I portray Hange ok? I'm kinda worried about her, and I'm worried about Petra's sudden shift from hating Levi to maybe thinking he's not so bad and being really conflicting because she's having trouble letting go of the past on this one.

Oh, BTW- thank you EVERYONE who kept reviewing and reminding me about this story. I legit about stopped the entire project altogether, but you guys made it worth while. Love y'all to piece (I'm from the South, it's ok for me to say that, right?)

R&R? Please? For me?