What Could Have Been (HangexFemReader)

Chapter 10: Cooperation

(Y/N) grinned at Hange, feeling a burst of elation at their willingness to contribute. Levi wouldn't be upset now, he wouldn't threaten to dispose of Hange since they weren't cooperating. She would get the answers she needed. She would protect the undercity.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "Your help will make my job a thousand times easier."

Hange narrowed their eyes and tugged at their restraints. "Does this mean that you'll let me go? Since I'm working with you."

(Y/N) hummed and leaned it, placing a finger under Hange's chin and raising their face to her level. "Yeah, no. Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy you're helping...but I don't exactly trust you. And you don't trust me. And that's fine. You have my guarantee though, that you'll be alive and healthy by the time we return you to the castle."

The door to the room opened ad Levi walked in, butcher knife in hand. He looked ready for coercing any kind of information out of Hange. Hange gulped, fearing the cold look in Levi's eyes. "(Y/N), I came to ask if you needed any help."

"Nope, it's all good here!" (Y/N) straightened. "In fact, Hange said that they're willing to work with us. And I didn't even have to torture them for that! Isn't that great?"

Levi eyed Hange skeptically. "Is that so?"

"I couldn't exactly say no after (Y/N) bared her heart and soul by telling me her tragic life story," Hange said sarcastically. "I'm a scientist. Not a monster."

"Hey!" (Y/N) cried indignantly. "My tragic backstory? I was just telling you my reasoning! Excuse me for having an underprivileged childhood where—"

Levi held up a hand and stared at Hange. "What now? You say that you'll help us, and how exactly is that? Do you currently have any knowledge about Shimmer? Or know anyone who might want to deal this kind of drug?"

"For starters, I would like to physically see the drug and inspect its properties," Hange stated. Their glasses had slid down their nose, teetering at the tip. (Y/N) leaned forward and shoved them up so that they wouldn't fall. Hange didn't acknowledge the gesture and continued to speak. "(Y/N) told me that a guard was seen dealing the drug to a civilian and wanted to keep it under wraps. Does everyone in the underground know about Shimmer?"

"No," Levi responded. "Only a handful of people do. The numbers of deaths due to this drug are low enough to evade suspicion. Most people mutate into something abnormal. There are questions, of course, but for the most part Shimmer is hidden and extremely hard to acquire."

"Hm. Do you have a sample of it?" Hange asked.

"I do," (Y/N) said quietly, remembering the time where she ripped it off of the guard that had attacked her. "But its from a couple of years ago. I don't know if it's still...effective."

Hange shrugged. "That'll do. Something is better than nothing. I just need to see the drug in person to see if I recognize it. The term shimmer means nothing to me. Perhaps I'll be luckier with the physical substance."

"I'll go grab it," (Y/N) exited the room, motioning for Levi to continue watching Hange. She hoped that he wouldn't interrogate or scare them any further. Hange didn't seem like a bad person. Sure, they resisted in the beginning, but who wouldn't in their situation? Hange had been kidnapped and forcibly dragged to the underground, yet they still agreed to help in the end. They were a good person, at least in this scenario, and that caught (Y/N) by surprise. Good people were rare.

Her hand wrapped around the small glass vial with the sparkly pink liquid. She felt her chest tighten. The feeling of regret and despair was inescapable. Years had passed and with time the pain had just dullened, it hadn't disappeared. There was a gaping hole where (Y/N)'s heart was, and while she smile and laughed, her life would never be the same. She turned on her heels and walked back to the room Hange was at, unable to reminiscence over her past anymore.