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Levi cursed when his call was once again sent to the voice mail. He threw the phone on his bed, running a hand through his hair. Fucking four-eyes, he thought furiously to himself. He had been trying to contact her for the past three hours, what the fuck was so important to her that she couldn’t answer his calls?
Levi sighed and looked out of the window of his apartment. He was angry with Hange for ignoring him, but he was worried too. It was known for Hange not to answer her phone, but she had never disappeared for so long, always calling back after an hour or two, apologizing for getting too focused on her work to hear him calling. Such occurrences weren’t rare and Levi was used to them. Still, this time was somehow different, he felt it. His gut was telling him something was wrong, and, hard as he tried, Levi couldn’t ignore this heavy feeling.
Levi picked up his phone, once again dialing Hange’s number. It went straight to the voice mail, and Levi growled, gripping the phone in his hand tightly. He stood up abruptly, putting on his jacket and grabbing his keys. Quickly, he made his way out of the apartment and headed to the parking lot, where he had left his motorcycle. He climbed onto it and started the engine, driving towards the main road. If Hange didn’t want to talk to him, then he personally would go and see her.
Levi was nearing Hange’s apartment, when his phone started ringing. Stopping his motorcycle on the nearby sidewalk, Levi quickly took out his phone. He cursed, when he saw the name of the caller.
Sighing, Levi accepted the call. “What the fuck do you want, Kenny?” he grumbled, not wanting to waste his time listening to his uncle’s rumblings.
At the other end of the line, Kenny chuckled. “It’s nice to hear you too, Levi. I’m doing great, thanks for asking.”
Levi cursed. “Get to the point, Kenny.” He said impatiently. “I’m busy.”
“Oh, you’re busy?” Kenny asked sarcastically. “May I inquire with that exactly? Because I’m calling you to tell that my guys have done your job for you.”
Levi’s breath hitched. “What job?” he asked slowly, feeling his insides churn unpleasantly. The feeling, that bad feeling he had while he was trying to contact Hange returned with a renowned vigor.
“Remember a job I gave a couple of months before? You had to get information out of one pesky scientist… ugh, I forgot her name.”
“Hange Zoe.” Levi croaked, feeling his throat gone dry.
“Right!” Kenny cheerfully agreed. “Anyways, I’m glad you still remember her, since you haven’t finished your job. I’m getting old, so please, Levi, remind what exactly you had to do?”
Levi took a deep breath. “I had to find out what information she managed to dig up on us and then I had to kill her.”
“Of course!” Kenny snapped his fingers. “And if my mind doesn’t betray me, that Hange Zoe managed to run away, correct?”
“Yes.” Levi gritted through his teeth.
“Well, then you’d be happy to hear that we’ve managed to locate her! I’m already sending you the address, do you want to finish the job or should I ask someone else?”
“No,” Levi answered way too quickly. “I… I’ll do it myself.” He finished more calmly.
“Excellent, then I’ll be waiting for your report. Bye!”
And then the line went dead. Levi stood, motionless, for a couple of seconds, his phone still near his ear. The sound of incoming message snapped Levi out of his daze. He opened the message from Kenny and wasn’t all that surprised to see that the address showed the exact place where he was standing right now.
Putting his phone inside his jacket, Levi hurried to Hange’s apartment. He had to warn her, he had to help her run away. Levi would rather die himself than let Kenny or his men hurt Hange.
After running up the stairs, Levi stopped in front of the door to Hange’s apartment. Suddenly, he felt very anxious and was almost afraid to open the door. Shaking his head and overcoming his hesitation, Levi laid his hand on the handle. The door opened easily and Levi cursed. How many times had he told Hange to close her goddamn door?
As he opened the door and entered the house, Levi was met with pitch black darkness. The apartment was silent, and Levi’s heart started to beat faster. Something definitely was wrong, Hange’s house was never that quiet. There were always sounds of Hange’s awful music, or the click-cluck of the keys as she typed on her computer, or her quiet thoughtful muttering. And whenever Levi visited her, even if he came in unexpected, Hange always came out of her room to great him with a wave of her hand and a sweet smile on her lips.
No one came out to greet Levi this time.
Slowly and carefully, Levi made his way towards Hange’s room. His heart beat loudly in his chest, as his worry grew with each passing step.
Hange’s room, when Levi reached it, met him with the same darkness and silence. The pale moonlight shone through the window, weakly illuminating the room.
As Levi’s eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, he saw a pool of almost black liquid on the floor beside Hange’s bed. Heart in his throat, Levi traced the liquid with his eyes, until he saw it. A body, lying prone and motionless.
Without hesitation, Levi hurried there, falling to his knees near the still form. With shaking hands, he turned the person around, until he could see their face. Although, Levi didn’t actually needed to see their face to recognize the person in front of him. Their messy pony-tail was a sure give-away, but some part of Levi didn’t want to believe it, couldn’t accept the truth that it was Hange lying on the floor in the pool of her own blood.
Levi lowered his head, his eyes staring, unblinking on Hange’s too peaceful face. It looked wrong, Hange never looked like this. She was always so expressive, her face showing every emotion she felt. But now her eyes were closed, her expression neutral.
Levi put his hand on her cheek, trying to stop the sobs that wanted to escape from him. He came too late, he wasn’t quick enough to protect her, to save her. And he had promised, he had sworn to her, that he would always be there, that whenever she needed he would immediately come to help.
It looked like he had broken his promise.
Levi couldn’t look away from Hange, his hand starting to gently caress her cheek. And then, Levi suddenly realized. Her skin. It was still warm. Even if Hange hadn’t died a long time ago, her skin still would get cold.
Holding his breath, Levi quickly put his hand on Hange’s neck, feeling her pulse. He was ready to weep from relief, when his fingers felt the weak throbbing.
Hange was alive!
Levi quickly looked over Hange’s body, searching for injuries. He saw only one – a bullet wound in the left side of her stomach. Levi sighed, relief cursing through him. The wound was serious, but not grave. If he got Hange to hospital right now, the doctors would be able to patch her up.
Levi wanted to lift Hange, but as he put her hands around his neck, Hange’s eyes suddenly opened.
She looked at him for a moment, squinting. Only now Levi noticed that Hange wasn’t wearing her glasses. “Levi?” she asked groggily.
“It’s me, Hange.” Levi confirmed. “You’re safe now.”
Hange seemed hesitant, her eyes quickly darted somewhere behind Levi’s shoulder, and then her gaze became panicked.
“You need to leave!” she whispered frantically, pushing Levi away. “C’mon, Levi, get up and run!”
“What the fuck, Hange?” Levi asked, looking at her in confusion. Did Hange hit her head too? “I’m not leaving you here!”
“You have to!” Hange persisted, her eyes again glancing behind Levi.
Levi turned around to try and see what got Hange so desperate.
He was met with darkness, but as he squinted, Levi saw something that looked like a person sitting in the far corner of Hange’s room. Levi’s heart skipped a beat as he finally saw it. The black cowboy hat.
Levi swallowed heavily, as he saw the pleased smirk on the face of his uncle.
“Kenny?” Levi uttered, not believing his eyes.
Kenny laughed boisterously, enjoying the confusion on Levi’s face. “Took you long enough to notice me, eh? Were you too worried someone else stole your kill?”
Levi took a deep breath, returning his composure. He focused his eyes on Kenny, afraid that if he even as much as glanced at Hange, at her bloodied stomach and pale face, he would lose himself. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked. It was hard for Levi to speak in his usual neutral tone, when emotions were overwhelming him, worry and panic twisting themselves in his heart, but Levi couldn’t let Kenny know that he was afraid. He couldn’t let him know that Hange was something more than a failed mission to him.
“I was bored,” Kenny replied, shrugging. “I wasn’t on a job in a long time and I actually wanted to take a look at the scientist. After all, she is the first person, who managed to escape from great Levi Ackerman. And then she proceeded to hide from you for three whole months!” Kenny’s voice was incredulous, but the way he stared at Levi, the way his eyes looked at him knowingly, made Levi’s insides churn unpleasantly. “I’m actually impressed, you’ve got my deepest respect, Miss Zoe,” Kenny tipped his hat at Hange. “Not only you successfully eluded my dear nephew, but you managed to do it, while hiding in the same city he lived in. You actually lived in the same apartment block Levi visited so frequently and still he didn’t find you.”
Levi froze, feeling his heart fall. Kenny knew, that bastard knew. Levi could tell it by looking at Kenny’s predatory smile. Still, Levi tried not to show his fear, he would not let Kenny intimidate him so easily.
“Were you following me?”
“It was surprisingly easy. You’ve never noticed my guys following you, eh? Makes me wonder, really, have I trained them so good or were so oblivious? Ah, well,” Kenny gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Maybe you were too focused on something else. Or someone else.” His eyes glinted dangerously in the dark, and Levi tensed when he saw that Kenny was looking at Hange.
“I didn’t intervene for a long time, thinking that you found a new hobby or something,” Kenny continued, his eyes never leaving Hange. “Turns out, you’ve got yourself a girlfriend instead.”
Kenny suddenly rose, shortening the distance between them in a few short strides and coming to stand directly in front of Levi and Hange. Levi involuntarily moved, covering Hange’s body with his. Kenny smirked.
“She doesn’t look so bad,” Kenny admitted after a long moment of silently studying Hange. At his words, Hange rose from her position, half sitting on the floor, one hand pressed to her wound and another one clutching Levi’s shoulder tightly. She glared defiantly at Kenny. “Oh, and she’s so fierce too! I love strong women,” Kenny winked at Hange, prompting Levi to tighten his hold on her. “But I think you know Levi, why I can’t let her live. She’s our enemy, she tried to destroy our gang,” Kenny shook his head, looking at Levi like he was still a scrawny kid who disappointed his uncle. “And you, you were supposed to get rid of her! You were supposed to kill the annoying scientist and not fall in love with her!”
Kenny swiftly took out his gun, aiming it at Hange’s head. She looked up, staring at Kenny, not an ounce of fear on her face. Levi felt his heart stop, he knew that he had no chance in a fight against Kenny, even if the man was older than him, he taught Levi everything he knew. Besides, should he lose, Hange would pay for his mistake and Levi couldn’t, he just couldn’t let it happen. Even if he knew Hange for just three months, even she was the loudest and messiest person Levi had ever known and even though he despised loud and messy people like her, Hange burst into his life, changing every rule and breaking each and one of Levi’s walls. And despite their differences and frequent disagreements, Levi had fallen in love with her and he couldn’t imagine his life without her sparkling eyes and cheerful smile.
So Levi looked at Kenny, letting the man see all the desperation and fear in his eyes. Kenny was a cruel and oftentimes a merciless man, but Levi hoped that something human still remained in him.
“Kenny, please,” Levi breathed out, his voice no louder than a murmur. “I can’t lose her.”
Kenny’s eyes widened as he saw how hopeless his nephew looked. He remembered seeing Levi that vulnerable only once – after his mother’s death. Something ached in Kenny at the sudden memory of losing his dear little sister and he turned away, staring out of the window and trying to get his thoughts and feelings in order.
“Why should I let you two go?” he asked, still not looking at them. “That woman is a fucking FBI agent, who had been trying to take down my gang for years now. And you, Levi, why should I let you walk out of here alive? You have betrayed us, you have betrayed me.”
Before Levi could open his mouth to try and reason with his uncle, Kenny took off his hat and sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair.
“Go.” Kenny said so quietly, Levi barely heard him.
“What?”
“I said go!” Kenny turned around to look at them. “Take the goddamn scientist and go away! And hurry up, if you don’t want her to die from the blood loss.”
Levi stared at him, still not believing his ears. “You’re letting us go?” he asked quietly.
“Jesus, Levi, I never thought you this dense,” Kenny smirked, although his expression lacked its usual malice. “Just leave already, until I change my mind.”
“Thank you, Kenny,” Levi said earnestly. “I’ll never forget it.”
Kenny nodded. “And neither will I. And if that idiot woman will ever try to put her nose where it doesn’t belong, I’ll cut it off, understood?”
“Understood.” Levi confirmed, silencing Hange’s attempted protests with a wave of his hand. They really didn’t need to anger Kenny right now.
Levi slowly and carefully lifted Hange up, mindful of her injury. He started walking, but before he left the room, he turned around again, looking at Kenny.
“Why?” he asked. “Why did you change your mind?”
Kenny let out bitter laugh. “Because I’m an old and stupid man.”
And even though, the room was dark, Levi saw a smile on Kenny’s face. He had never seen such smile on his face, it wasn’t cruel and mocking, this time it was a sad, but soft one.
Levi suddenly realized that he probably would never see his uncle again. He didn’t know how he felt about this and he didn’t how to properly say goodbyes. So instead Levi nodded at Kenny, tightening his hold on Hange.
“Thank you,” he said again, hoping that Kenny would understand everything that was left unsaid.
“Go already,” he waved his hand at Levi. “Take care, Levi. And take care of her,” Kenny finished, sighing.
When Levi and Hange left, Kenny continued to stand by the window, looking out at the street below. He watched how Levi appeared on the street and how carrefully carried his precious charge.
Kenny chuckled to himself, the sound too loud in an empty room.
Why had he let them go? Kenny didn’t know how to answer this question. Maybe, he really was getting old, becoming softer than before? Or maybe, he couldn’t stand the look in his nephew’s eyes. Kenny saw the same expression on his sister’s face before, right before her death, when she asked him to look after her brat. So that was it? Had he wanted to protect his nephew? To make him happy?
Kenny shook his head, his hand running through his hair. It was a lot of stupid questions and he was nearly not enough drunk to think about them. So he took out his сigarette pack, taking one out and lightening it. Kenny inhaled deeply, his thoughts returning to Levi. Despite everything, Kenny couldn’t help but hope that his nephew would be happy, that this woman, this Hange Zoe, was the one who would make him feel happy and loved.