Work Text:
Hunched over their desk, with steam rising around them, the scientist tinkered with some gears, focused on a bronze set of digits. They picked up each one, examining them with a set of loupes attached to their goggles. They pushed their goggles up on their forehead, sitting up rather suddenly as they ran to the other side of the room, grabbing a canister of water. They sat it down, attaching the bronze fingers to an arm-like contraption.
They grinned at their invention, unscrewing a small metal cap from the arm. They filled the inside canister up with water, then closed it up. “Come’re,” They called, wiping the oil and sweat off their face.
The tall blond came over, examining the scientist’s work. “Very nice, Hanji,” he commented, looking down at the whole thing, wondering how exactly this was supposed to work. “...Are you going to attach it now?”
Hanji nodded, picking it up. “It’ll be like ya never lost that arm in the first place, Erwin.” They picked it up, fingers lightly touching the sharp metal ends. “I’ll help ya take this off an’ clean these sharp bits every day, so you don’t get infections in there. These ends will pick up your muscle movement, and make the whole contraption work exactly as ya need it to.”
Erwin nodded, unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it off with Hanji’s help. He was incredibly unsure about this. How could it work? Did they really have the technology to pick up his muscle movements? He sat down in Hanji’s chair, looking uneasy.
“This is gonna hurt. Just warnin’ you beforehand, okay?” Hanji attached the harness to Erwin’s shoulders to hold the bronze arm in place, their fingers gingerly brushing across his hair, trying to sooth his nerves.
“Okay… Just get on with it.”
Hanji nodded, picking the contraption back up, aligning it with his muscles, which they had marked with ink earlier in the day. They slowly pushed the metal pins into his arm, hearing him hiss with pain, gritting his teeth.
They had customized the arm perfectly to fit his body. The pins met up exactly with each muscle they were supposed to connect with, and the metal cusp fit right against the stump where his arm used to be. They flipped the lever on the top to turn it on, steam spitting out the top and between the fingers. “Come on, come on…” They murmured, watching in anticipation. They laced their fingers together tight, biting their lip.
For several long seconds, nothing happened. Erwin shifted his other arm, trying to remember how he moved his arm before he lost it. He slowly shifted his shoulder, but the attached metal contraption just spat out more steam and remained limp.
“No… I’ve worked so hard on this! I’ve been perfecting the design for months!” Hanji cried, coming around in front of him, adjusting a few of the wires, making sure all the panels were shut. They were desperate for it to work. They tapped the metal above the combustion chamber and the gas chamber. It was running okay, it just… wasn’t moving. They looked ready to cry, seeing that their months of work had all gone to waste in just a couple of seconds. They would have to rework everything and pull apart the invention. They were about to give in to failure when suddenly, the metal fingers grasped onto their shoulder, making them jump.
“Hanji…”
“...It works!” They stumbled backwards, falling into their desk, a huge grin suddenly breaking out on their face. “It works! Holy shit, it’s actually working!”
They let out a wild cry of excitement, scribbling down notes in their journal, spattering ink across their desk in the process. However, Erwin was too caught up in the shock of their invention to focus on anything else; he stared at his new hand, eyes wide with amazement. Tears pricked at the corners of his intense blue eyes, and he slowly brought his new arm up to his chest, saluting Hanji.
The tears fell, and the commander choked out a soft sob. “Thank you… Hanji, Hanji…” His words were caught in his throat, but Hanji only grinned, pulling an oil-stained handkerchief out of their back pocket to wipe his face for him. He stood, pulling the scientist into a close hug, which they gladly returned.
“It’s okay,” They breathed, ruffling his hair with their fingertips. “You’ve got your arm back, big guy. Come on, we’ll go an’ show it off.”