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Hange hadn’t planned to get a maneuver hook in their shoulder by Traute Carven. They hadn’t planned to fight such an unpredictable opponent either, but they also hadn’t planned to be acting out missions that included death when they joined the Survey Corps. Ultimately, Hange Zoe did not plan to get put into a fucking alternate universe upon injury. They felt like they were living in one of those fairy tale adventures, except pinching their arm didn’t exactly wake them up.
They knew it was an alternate universe when they noticed machines that even they hadn’t thought of developing. Sure, their specialty was titan research, but when it came to medical research, Hange wasn’t picky about what they decided to make. If they were told to create a machine that could keep someone alive, they did. And they had, at least three times before they were vaguely satisfied with their work. Anyway, these machines were white and had some kind of smooth material covering them, with different colored buttons and some kind of display which was dark at the moment. They stared around the room, vaguely recognizing it as a hospital room, although this was much cleaner than any hospital room they’d ever been in.
They looked around until they found a large green button that said something ending in “NURSE.” It didn’t really concern them that they couldn’t read the language here; obviously, it was quite in the future, so language would have developed and changed depending on how things happened. What concerned them was that there was some kind of tube shoved into their skin under a layer of shiny tape. They were sitting up too, without any memory of getting up. After staring at it a moment, they finally hit the green button and let their head fall against the pillow of their bed, said pillow being somewhat stiff. Fatigue hit almost immediately, making them realize just how tired they were.
The nurse came a moment later, wheeling a familiar cart into the room. She was pretty, with long blonde hair tied back into a loose ponytail and pink scrubs on. Hange could have sworn that maybe in ten years, this was Historia. But no, this was some weird alternate universe.
“Hello,” Hange called out somewhat hesitantly. Then they paused, realizing the tilt of the nurse’s head indicated a lack of understanding, not a lack of ability to speak. Hange tried again, in an old language that they had learned for pure fun once.
“Hello?” They repeated again, in the somewhat grating tone of German. “Is Levi here?” The nurse rolled her eyes, saying something under her breath then ducking out for a moment, only to return with someone they swear…
“Levi?” They called in disbelief.
Comforting gray eyes stared back at them. “You’re awake, finally. They wouldn’t let me in until now.” He speaks the language they’re used to; a language they don’t really have a name for but they’ve figured is a mixture of so many others.
“I’ll leave you two to be,” the blonde haired nurse tells them as she wheels her cart out. Definitely German, Hange notes as an afterthought.
Hange studies her partner, noticing he’s out of his usual outfit and in some black pants made of unfamiliar material and a jacket of equally unfamiliar material. His hair is the same, the undercut maybe a little more precise than usual, and that bored-eyed stare as unwavering as ever. “Are you real?” They ask.
“No, you’re in a coma in the real world. I’m worried as hell about you, shitty glasses,” Levi replies, sitting down on the side of the bed. “The hook hit you pretty hard.”
They stare downwards. “I wish you were real.”
“And I wish you were awake.”
“Where are my goggles?” They ask.
“Glasses,” Levi corrects. He takes them from the bedside table and unfolds them, handing them over neatly. They’re brown square frames, nothing special, but when they put them on everything comes into sharp focus. Apparently the glasses of this alternate universe are significantly better than the ones she lives with normally. The sharpness almost hurts their eyes, so they close them and open them again, finally resigning to just keeping their eyes closed.
“You need to wake up,” he continues, his voice soft. Sleepiness is taking over Hange’s body, shutting their mind off and making their hands feel like lead.
“Wake up, Hange.”
One moment, they’re closing their eyes on the only person they’ve ever been able to fall asleep next to. The next, they’re opening their eyes to a blurry image of home.
“Wake up, Hange,” Levi’s voice isn’t just soft anymore, but a kind of desperate, pleading tone that makes Hange’s heart pang painfully in their chest. They can’t see him properly, but he’s sitting next to their bed, his head cradled in his hands.
Hange slowly creeps a hand out from under their bedlinens and touches his brow. His head jerks up, his hands following suit to grasp the one touching his face. He holds it there for a moment, staring at Hange’s face.
They smile. “I’m awake, Levi.”