Wings in the Dark

Chapter 22: Just A Moment

*Hange's POV*

Since Erwin was swamped with guiding the scouts through their part in the immediate damage control after the wall fell, it ended up falling to Hange to figure out where Shorty and the Favorite Pupil where. The last message Erwin had about their whereabouts was when Levi sent a message saying he was alive and waiting for Y/N to arrive on Wall Rose between Utopia and Karanase, but that had been the evening before, and still no word from Levi. So, around noon the next day, Hange and Moblit headed to the northern part of Wall Rose to see if they could figure out what the hell happened to Levi that made him go silent and disappear, because he should have been back now.

They were only certain about Levi–he'd been waiting for Y/N to arrive, so the last they knew, she hadn't arrived. They weren't expecting to see her, because there was no guarantee she would be there when they arrived. So, Hange was staying focused on the one they knew for sure would be there, Levi. He was the one they were checking in on.

And, if necessary, dragging from the wall if he was waiting for someone who would not come. He was needed with the Scouts, enough so that it wasn't a road the Scouts could handle Captain Levi going down.

When Hange and Moblit arrived, the Garrison troops had an...unusual reaction. They heard a few mutters along the lines of, "More Scouts?" not in a degrading matter, but more of an incredulous or tired one.

Curious...

Hange went up to one of the Garrison soldiers that seemed to be in charge, glancing around at the supplies that were being moved around, the Garrison troops in the middle of strengthening Rose's defenses now that Maria had fallen and the Titans had flooded into the area surrounding Rose.

"Have you seen a Scout up here, about yay high–" Hange began pleasantly, holding her hand out much shorter than Levi actually was, before the Garrison soldier cut them off.

"You're looking for the one that's been here since yesterday–Captain Levi, right?" he asked, turning to face her fully as Hange blinked in surprise and pulled her now-closed hand back to her chest.

"Ah...yes. When you say he's been here since yesterday–"

"He arrived last evening in Karanase, and he's been on the walls ever since, walking from Karanase to Utopia and back all night long and into this morning. Until that Miracle Woman showed up, anyway. I wasn't there, but from what I hear he saw the flare, jumped off the wall like a lunatic and ran four or five miles to her on foot, and then back carrying her. They're both exhausted. Last I knew they were still on the northernmost point of the wall around Utopia, passed out cold."

"Levi–Levi's asleep?" Hange asked incredulously, staring at the soldier in front of her.

"That's what I'd be doing if I was up and doing as much as they were. They've earned it, from what I hear. Everyone's just been letting them sleep–it's only been a couple hours since they passed out, not even."

"Right–you said they were at the northern part of the wall around Utopia? We should go pay them a visit," Hange finished cheerfully. She bounded away with a slight spring in her step, curious about what they would find, and rather excited to see the rare sight of Levi fast asleep. Hopefully they got there before the irritable captain woke up–she wanted to see this.

She led the way, ignoring the curious looks of Garrison soldiers they passed as Moblit followed quickly behind, giving the occasional nod towards soldiers they passed as they traveled the length of the wall between Karanase and Utopia, then along the wall around Utopia to the northernmost point they'd been told the two where resting.

A few well placed questions later, they were pointed towards a stack of crates, which, as they came closer, they could see two sets of feet poking out from behind the stack.