Feels like I should put Levi's part first because it takes place right where the last chapter ends, but Mike and Hange start their quest simultaneously on that same morning, and I have this stubborn push convincing me to keep their part first, despite that it advances the time forward before Levi takes us back to the morning again. Bear with me and don't get confused! Their part is short anyway.
Hange hung to the hope Erwin had instilled in her. It was always like this with Levi, he was so reliable on his own that everyone took him for granted. But here she and Mike looked through the entirety of Trost district, visiting every warehouse that belonged to Erdmann, and finding no trail of him anywhere. He was now indeed and by all definitions officially missing.
"What are we doing now?" She asked Mike, holding her steps to a halt by the edge of the river, muscles exhausted from having walked a thousand steps.
"We go back to the warehouse where the man told us he had come."
"What's the point? He came to them at 10 a.m. yesterday. It's past noon now, he could've gone anywhere since."
"Then let's find out more about this Erdmann. If Levi were after him, it would've been what he did next not having found him in there."
"The man said he would come to his office at three. We wait. But if he did something, Mike, it's not like he'd be telling us about it."
"I didn't know you to be so hopeless. Wasn't it you who always said research pays? All I'm asking is that we do that."
Hange sighed. It's true what Mike said, yet she couldn't help but lose some of her composure with Levi not found. The more hours it took, the more she felt clouded by fear. The Scouts had many enemies and he was one prominent target, and Erwin took him for granted by sending him alone on the dangerous undertaking.
Now all she had left was to wait for Erdmann to come to his office at three, all hopes of finding a lead.
(-)
Levi found sleep again as soon as the three men had left, or maybe it was unconsciousness. He didn't wake up for hours, not until the morning sun shone bright out the window, birds chanting outside filling the tiny room.
He opened his eyes, hating to find the pain again. His right side felt sore for having remained on it for so long, he tried to move himself from that position but didn't know how exactly. His back was a battered mess to lay on, his stomach would take away his breathing, and his left side would send the prominent rib further deeper inside of him. Levi only manipulated his right arm forward, deciding it was better to remain as is over the sharp pains of yesterday.
He remained like that for what felt like hours, when he started hearing people moving outside. It was like they slept and just woke up. He heard movements around, undistinguishable chatters and mixed bustling. When he closed his eyes, he could for a second imagine he was back in headquarters, with his comrades starting their day outside.
It took about thirty minutes since that bustle had started until the door to his room opened, causing him to open his greys in response.
Levi found Erdmann, walking in towards him with a plate that held a bowl steaming with something hot.
"Hope you're feeling better today." He spoke with a reserved, regretful voice.
Levi just preferred to keep quiet. He wasn't sure he would find the strength in him to answer if he'd tried, either way, he didn't want to.
"I would bring you out to rest in the living room if I knew you wouldn't try something." Erdmann said once he reached him, stopping to stare.
Realizing that Levi had barely moved from his place in the past hours, he realized the absurdity of his statement.
"Hell, guess I can bring you out to a softer bed." He sighed, before raising his voice with a yell. "Klaus, come here."
A few moments in, the man who guided the horse yesterday to bring Levi here showed up. He found his master placing the tray that smelled like fresh nature on the floor.
"Help me bring him to the couch."
"But sir, what if he tries something?"
"Look at him, this is precisely where I left him yesterday, lying on this same side. If he couldn't bring himself to move an inch in hours, how long do you think he could run in this deserted forest before one of us could find him? The wolves would be the first to pick up on his blood anyway, and they'll do the job for us in case he decides to leave."
The two men approached Levi. From laying still for the longest time, his pain had been muffled slightly. Having them move him again, his back split all over, each vertebra feeling like it was growing separate from the one near it. Levi groaned, grinding his teeth together to hold what could've been a scream.
"I'm sorry about that." Erdmann said, showing surprising softness in dealing with him.
He placed most of Levi's weight on his tall body, saving him from the arm lock of the other man. Levi stood too small to him in comparison, more so now that he was shrinking himself to gain back some contact between his aching vertebras. Erdmann laid a hand under his legs, suddenly raising him up to him like a child.
Levi was about to groan but he cut it so shortly, surprised by the act. He felt embarrassed, avoiding the man's eye contact as he started to walk him outside. Erdmann seemed to have caught that hint of a groan regardless, apologizing a second time before he ordered Klaus to bring the tray after them.
"Hey, fast, bring that blanket over here." He ordered, remembering the dry, yet unsettlingly sticky blood on Levi's hair. He didn't want that to ruin the naked sofa.
Finding himself laid down, Levi felt comfort in his aching bones. Except for the back of his head that he turned to the side not wishing to have it make contact with anything, his back seemed to feel way better like this. His rib too. Now that the softness swallowed his flesh, less pressure was applied to his lungs, allowing for deeper breaths. He was again mostly on his right side, but it didn't bother him as before. It was the most comfortable position in his state.
Erdmann sat on a chair near Levi, grabbing a spoon from the tray that Klaus had set on the coffee table, filling it up with porridge that was still steaming and smelling excessively good. He brought it to the raven-haired's mouth with care, eyes filled with stupid certainty that he would take it.
"What the fuck do you think yourself doing?" Levi's voice was rasp from not having spoken too long. It was weak and cracked by occasional whispers. "If you want to buy me with this, then know that soon as I leave here, I'm making you pay back for everything that you did. You might as well kill me now."
Erdmann looked at him with a hint of disappointment. He looked down, nodding.
"Of course I'm not trying to buy you. I'm not stupid, Levi, I know nothing would. I just want you to eat to make up for what you've lost. You need it to heal."
"The fuck do you care if I heal or not when you want me dead? What are you planning with that fucker friend of yours?"
"Marcus?" His blues raised back to meet the greys. "We are planning things, but it doesn't involve you dying. You don't have to worry about that."
Levi felt an uneasy feeling creep around him. What in the world do they want with him?
Erdmann raised the spoon back to approach his mouth, face soft again as he stared at him. Staring back, Levi raised his hand up and pushed it away with his forearm, feeling like he was being mocked. The porridge full spoon fell down straight, finding a rest on the beautiful carpet underneath them.
From looking at the stuck mess, the blonde raised his eyes back up to look at Levi, letting out a subtle blaming sigh before he bent down to grab it and walked with it to the nearby sink in the kitchen.
"He'd gone somewhere early to get something for me. He can tell you what we plan once he's back." Erdmann walked back to Levi with the now cleaned spoon, planting it into the steaming porridge. "There's water and food, you need them. You can feed yourself if you managed, or call Klaus here to help you. I'm leaving now for some business myself. See you once I'm done."
With that, Erdmann left.
Looking at the remaining man in the room, Levi found a cold gaze coming from him.
"I'm not helping you." He said, all out of the blue.
"Tsh" Levi looked away, having had no plans at all to call him anyway.
Please comment, let me know what you think of this, it always makes my day to receive one :)