Levihan in Love

Am I Even Real

a/n: trigger warning for gender dysphoria, talk of child abuse/neglect, and blood. this fic mostly focuses on Hange's gender dysphoria and some bullying (ish) about gender but also has Levi's perspective of how he's starting to realize just how important his partner is to him. enjoy!!! :D

Hange felt the tears rolling down their cheeks as they speed walked down the hallway, hardly realizing when they passed Moblit, who asked what had happened. The overheard conversation between two of the new scouts still echoed loudly in their head. "Yeah. I think section commander Hange is pretty cool." Hange had heard the words of one of the new recruits while walking to their study, ready to conduct a new experiment they had been excited about for weeks.

At first, the words made Hange's heart swell. The kids thought they were cool? Levi was never gonna hear the end of this one. Until another voice answered. Hange recognized this one. It belonged to a young boy by the name of Elis Hughs, who was memorable because he was the only new scout with ginger hair. "Hot too. Wish she had more of a chest." A round of laughter came from the group that sat in the vacated meeting room.

"She...." "Her..." Why couldn't people see? Having a chest doesn't mean you're a girl. Hange sometimes didn't mind being called a girl. But most days it was just "they/them". Some days Hange even liked being called more masculine pronouns. Those were the days Levi got frustrated. Not at Hange, at himself. He would call them his "partner" instead of "boyfriend" and would feel absolutely horrible.

Levi didn't do well with emotions and Hange knew it was because of his past; he never talked much about the underground. It just hurt too much, the worst years of his existence were spent fighting for his life in a ring, only to be treated like a lump of coal that wouldn't burn, even if he won. He still had nightmares though, and they were terrible.

It was only a moment before Hange was in front of Levi's office. They hesitated for a moment. Levi would be working... What if he got angry? What if he stopped loving Hange and told them Elis was right? No. That wasn't how Levi was.

Levi wasn't their father. He promised to love Zoë forever, and boy, did they need that right now. Gathering all their courage and opening the door, Hange stood there, slightly in the hallway, working hard to hold in tears. Levi didn't even look up from the paperwork in front of him when he spoke. "What is it, four eyes? Erwin's on my ass to fini- Zoë?

He stopped speaking as soon as he looked up to see his partner, the one person he truly loved and trusted, with silent tears rolling down their cheeks. He was out of his seat and in front of Zoë in less than two seconds, his hands resting lightly on their shoulders. That was all it took to make Hange start sobbing.

Levi gently led them over to the rather small sofa that sat in the corner of his office . Hange sat down, still bawling their eyes out, now clinging to their boyfriends uniform jacket.

The liquid pouring from Hange's eyes dotted their glasses and ran down their face due to the open glasses they wore when not using the 3D maneuvering gear.

"What is it, dear? Did something happen with an experiment?" Levi asked, though he knew the answer. Hange might be upset over a failed experiment, but they never cried like this. Has someone died? No missions were happening but heat stroke or dehydration weren't uncommon for cadets.

"L- Levi." The word were barely out of the scientist's mouth before Levi Ackerman, the emotionless captain of the scouts who trained the newbies until they were close to fainting, felt his heart break.