A/N: To be honest, I'm not terribly pleased with this chapter, not because I'm dissatisfied with the writing, but mostly because I know there are much better ones to come. This one is just sort of a short but necessary transition to set up the character relationships and connect story events a little bit more. This is where we first start actually seeing Levi develop a little soft spot for Mikasa.

I hope you enjoy! This is the last one I'm uploading tonight but will upload more in the next couple of days.

Reviews are always so much appreciated :)

Disclaimer: I do not own AOT/SNK or any of the characters used in this fic.

CHAPTER 2: SORRYS DON'T BRING PEOPLE BACK

"The Scouts are back!" The call rang through the hallway outside Hange's room, where Levi had been, discussing theories and strategy with the other out-of-commission leader.

Hange was in worse shape than Levi, who was limping along just fine, but that didn't stop her from jumping out of bed and following him outside to greet their returning troops. She, too, had been anxious about being held back from the mission, though her nervous energy was far more visible (and loud) than Levi's, much ot his chagrin.

They both scanned the horizon at the encroaching mass, much smaller than the one they watched ride out if Levi wasn't mistaken.

That wasn't anything wholly different than any other expedition, but still, it twisted uncomfortably in Levi's stomach. As the group got closer, Levi scanned the beaten and battered soldiers, seeking only one face.

"COMMANDER ERWIN!" Hange suddenly shrieked and ran into the middle of the returning parade. Levi followed her with his eyes, to see Erwin, bloodied and bandaged one of the carts.

"Shit," he said to himself, following in Hange's erratic wake through the crowd. It wasn't the person he feared seeing injured, but it also certainly wasn't someone he was hoping to see in that state.

By the time Levi limped over there, Hange was in full hysterics. "What do you mean a titan ate your arm!?" she wailed. "You mean I missed it? That could have been such interesting research observations!" she had grabbed his arm, the one that still existed, and shook it.

"Hange!" Levi snapped. "Give the man some room. No reason for him to survive a titan chewing on him only to have him bleed out because a loon wouldn't stop shaking him." For someone so sharp, she could really be duller than a butter knife sometimes. "Commander, we need to get you to the hospital, but first, what about Jaeger? Did we recover him?" If he found where Jeager was, he'd find out where Mikasa was.

The commander's breathing was labored, each inhale riddled with pain. "Yes, Eren is safe. He's also probably on his way to the hospital." Levi furrowed his brow. With Eren's titan healing abilities, even if he was ripped to shreds he wouldn't need the hospital. Erwin caught Levi's puzzled expression and explained, "He's fine, but Mikasa Ackerman needs treatment."

Levi's heart plummeted into his stomach, but he maintained his mask. "Let's get you to the hospital, Erwin," so I can see if Mikasa's okay.

The last part, he kept to himself.

The second they arrived at the hospital, an assuming brick building in the middle of Trost District, Erwin was rushed away for immediate treatment. He had lost a lot of blood. Anyone but a stubborn ox of a man like himself would have long since succumbed. But Erwin was a tough bastard, that much Levi knew to be fact. He wasn't the one he was worried about.

"Excuse me," he asked a passing nurse. "Do you know where I might find Mikasa Ackerman? Dark hair, foreign, pretty," he said, flushing at how the last word had escaped his lips subconsciously without his willing it.

"Um, I think she's in the room at the very end of the hall, on the right."

"Thank you." Levi spun on his heels and breezed to the end of the hallways, feeling as though everything moved in slow motion around him. Please let her be alright.

He threw open the door to see Eren and Armin, faithful dogs that they were, sitting next to the bed. In it, lay Mikasa, her eyes open, but dazed and unfocused. She didn't look in bad shape. There were no major wounds or bloody body parts that he could see.

At his abrupt, unannounced entrance, Eren scrambled to his feet and snapped his fist over his heart, "C-captain Levi, sir! What are you doing here?"

"At ease, Jaeger. Glad to see our little trick titan is safe and sound. What happened to Ackerman?" he asked cooly, as if just noticing her presence.

"She…" Eren glanced sideways at Mikasa. "She got hurt trying to protect me when I couldn't… when I couldn't transform. One grabbed her and squeezed pretty good, then threw her down." Eren's voice wavered, clearly fighting back rage that he had failed to turn on command once again. If that boy didn't get that under control, he was going to be more of a liability than an asset. Armin jumped in. "We're not sure if she has a concussion right now. The nurse said to make sure she stays awake until the doctor can check on her." Levi nodded, releasing the tension he had been holding in his body for the last 36 hours. A concussion and probably some broken ribs; it could have been so much worse.

"And Reiner and Berthold?" Hange piped up. Levi started, not having even noticed her come into the room.

"Escaped," Eren said through gritted teeth, furious he had let them get away. "Ymir went with them. She…decided to protect them in the end."

So the traitor count continued to rise. "I see. Well, don't get too upset, brat. I highly doubt it'll be your last chance to get a piece of them. Tell me everything."

Eren and Armin took turns filling them in on everything that had transpired. The giant forest, the things Berthold and Reiner had told Eren, Ymir's story, Hannes' death, Erwin's heroic charge, Eren's scream that had somehow bent the titans under his command, all of it.

Once they had finished, Levi was quiet for a few moments, his arms crossed contemplatively across his chest. Zoe muttered something to herself that sounded like, "Fascinating, if only we still had Ymir to study, then we could compare her flesh to…"

He clapped a hand to the teen's shoulder. "We got you back. That's what matters. Don't dwell on the bad shit that happened out there. Stayed focused on the next objective, Eren."

The door to the room opened once again, and a soldier whose name Levi did not know stood in the doorway.

"Captian Levi, Sectional Commander Hange, Eren Jaeger, and Armin Arlert." The soldier saluted the four of them. "Commander Erwin wants to speak with you all."

"Damn, already? The man was still half bleeding to death not an hour ago." That bastard's capacity to bulldoze through life's bullshit never failed to amaze Levi.

"He said he urgently needs to share some information."

"But–someone has to stay and make sure Mikasa stays awake until the doctor gets back to make sure she doesn't have a concussion!"

"Eren, I'll be fi–"

"I'll stay," Levi said, cutting her off.

"But Captain…"

"I wasn't even on the mission. I don't have anything to report to Erwin as you do, Eren. And Hange is the research expert on titans so it's important she hears what happened, too. I can wait to be debriefed. Hange, I trust you'll fill me in later?"

"Of course."

"Good, then go." The troop of three left the room leaving Mikasa and Levi alone. Levi snorted as he plopped himself down on the chair next to Mikasa's bed. His leg was killing him from standing for so long.

"Is your leg still bothering you, sir?" Mikasa asked, looking at the way he massaged his injured ankle.

"Smarts a bit. I definitely won't be kicking any titans in the head anytime soon, but it's nothing I can't handle." Mikasa looked away, reminded once again by her failure on that mission, and her failure once more on this one.

The Captain had saved her life. Eren had saved her life. And still, she had been so ready to give it all up and make their efforts meaningless. "I'm sorry," she said, burying her face in the blankets so he couldn't see the tears pooling in her eyes. But he'd already seen and couldn't understand why she was suddenly so emotional. Had something happened with Eren he hadn't yet been told?

"Tch, quit it," he said, annoyed that she always felt the need to apologize to him. That he made her feel like she had to apologize.

He remembered the time Mikasa had run into him after returning from her first tragic mission beyond Wall Rose. "Captain, I–I'm so sorry."

"For what?" he had asked, annoyed as usual.

"For your team. For… Petra."

Petra. Even Mikasa had known about their relationship with how bad Petra had been at hiding it. The two had certainly been…close…but the relationship was always one-sided. She loved Levi, he knew, but he could never quite bring himself to feel the same way about her.

His girlfriend–if you could call her that, seeing as Levi never had–was slaughtered a mere few weeks ago and there he was pushing down feelings for another woman. And not just any other woman: his subordinate, and a woman half his age.

Maybe he really was the bastard everyone thought him to be. Petra deserved a lot better than me. So does Mikasa.

"I know I wasn't there but I'm sorry anyway."

"Sorrys don't bring people back. All we can do is keep moving forward," he had told her.

"What the hell do you have to be sorry about, anyway? What happened out there?" Levi demanded.

For giving up. For being reckless. For making someone save her again. For making Levi save her in the first place. For his injury as a result. Mikasa had a whole laundry list of sorrys she could regale him with, but she stayed quiet. The faint silver lining was that injury had stopped him from going on this mission and seeing her fail once again. Mikasa rolled so that her back was to him. She couldn't bear looking at his face.

"Just stop apologizing for shit that's not your fault. I suppose you want to say you're sorry for not realizing who Annie, Berthold, and Reiner were from day one, too, huh?" Again no reply. "Oi! Answer me and let me know you're awake, Ackerman!"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm not really in a talking mood, Captain."

"Then here's an idea…" he trailed off and did something surprising. He grabbed her hand resting atop her hip and threaded his fingers through hers, giving it a firm squeeze. "I'm going to squeeze your hand every so often. If you don't squeeze back to tell me you're awake, I'll slap the shit out of you."

Again, Mikasa didn't say anything but after a beat, Levi felt a gentle squeeze on his fingers. Knowing Mikasa couldn't see him, he smiled, fighting the desire to draw small circles on its back with her thumbs. I wish I could hold her hand like this, just because, he thought before swiftly kicking the thought out of his head. She's your soldier, nothing more. He knew he should let go of her hand, no matter how practical the reason he justified holding it was, but he didn't. Instead, he gave it another soft, reassuring squeeze.

"You have nothing to apologize for. You know that right?" he said quietly.

Saving Mikasa from having to respond, the door swung open and an elderly man with a long, white beard and grizzled features walked in. "I'm Doctor Schiff," he said as if distracted. He probably was given the influx of injured Scouts that had just overwhelmed the hospital. "Alright Miss Ackerman, let's take a look here." He had her sit up in bed so he could perform a few tests, making her eyes track objects, seeing if they would dilate, and checking various areas of her body for pain. She was calm through most of it, until he got to her torso, where she yelped as soon as put a slight amount of pressure. He stopped to scribble a few things in a leather-bound book.

"Well?" Levi asked impatiently.

"She doesn't have a concussion, but she does have quite a few dislocated ribs. We'll get those set back into place, but tomorrow. She's not in any life-threatening danger and I have to tend to those who are. I'm sorry, my dear, but you'll have to wait one more night.

"It's fine, doctor, thank you."

"We'll give you some opium to manage the pain. In the meantime, try to get some rest."

With that, Doctor Schiff bustled from the room, no doubt on his way to try and keep the Scout Regiment's numbers from dwindling even further. "Looks like you don't have to stay here anymore, Captain. You can be on your way."

"I didn't volunteer to stay because I had to," he flared softly, a little hurt at what she had insinuated. "I stayed because I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh," Mikasa said sheepishly, hiding her blush in the blankets. "Well, I am, so I guess that's that."

"I'll stay with you until you fall asleep," he said, in a tone that suggested it wasn't up for debate. Mikasa rolled over and closed her eyes, praying he couldn't hear how loudly her heart was hammering in the deathly quiet room. After a few long minutes, Mikasa felt the toll of the last battle crash down upon her. The absence of adrenaline suddenly flooded her limbs with lead and she found she could no longer keep her eyes open.

"Captain?" she muttered sleepily.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you," she whispered, then drifted away into dreams. For once, she didn't see the faces of titans and her dead parents in them.