The Captain - Levi Ackerman

Chapter 28

Dedicated Chapter Song: Anyone Else - PVRIS

I don't belong to anyone else

      "She's lost a lot of blood, Levi." Hanji said quietly to him as they sat in the infirmary, staring at Anna's pale and fragile body slumped on a medical bed. "The doctors are unsure if she's even going to wake up. According to them, they found trace amounts of poison in her stomach."

      Levi's grey eyes widened. "She poisoned herself?" he asked. Hanji took a look at her clipboard. "Apparently it was some kind of liquid that healed her wounds for a moment, only to contradict itself and make the wounds almost three times greater." Hanji sighed. "If you'd have lingered for another moment in that forest she wouldn't have made it."

      "Did they give her an antidote for the poison?" he demanded. "Yes." Hanji nodded. "It wasn't too hard to drain out of her system. It appears she only drank about a 10 milliliters worth." Levi sighed quietly. "Any estimated time she'll wake up?" Hanji frowned. "If we're lucky... in a week."

      "Shit." he breathed, reaching out and gently taking Anna's hand. "Why would she poison herself?" he questioned aloud. "I personally don't think she did, Levi." Hanji said, lowering her voice. "I think someone gave that to her as a healing tonic."

      "That's impossible. She was injured when I found her on the ground. There was no one around." he stated. "Your report says that Anna managed to catch up with you and Mikasa, yet... " she flipped through the pages on her clipboard. "When you last left her she was so injured she could barely stand up."

      His eyes widened in realization. "She was poisoned. By someone she trusted." he turned his head to look at her. "Someone's trying to kill her."

      "Wh.. Where am I?" Anna slowly sat up on her wooden bunk in the cabin under the ground. "Huh? The old cabin? Why am I back here?" childish laughter came from the living room. Anna stepped out to see the somehow alive Ruby and Cullen dancing about the floor. "Look, A," Ruby smiled up at her. "Cull is teaching me to dance!"

      "You two..." Anna exhaled. "You're dead. I saw you two die. There's no way you're alive right now." Cullen and Ruby exchanged glances. "What's she on about?" Ruby asked. Cullen shrugged his thin shoulders. "Dunno. Boss says she hit her head pretty hard. Started mumbling some nonsense about a "Levi"."

      "Levi!" Anna gasped. "I have to get back to him! I have to let him know I'm alive!" she rushed for the door, but Ruby got there first. "Anna! Your head is still swollen. You're not going anywhere." Ruby pushed her back. "And who's this 'Levi' fella? Some secret boyfriend of yours?" Ruby smirked. "Why didn't you tell me? You tell me everything!" 

        "Because you're dead, Ruby!" Anna blurted out. "Both of you are dead!"  Cullen shook his head. "She really lost it on that last mission. She's probably confusing Joel and Hunter's deaths for ours. We were the last people she saw before she passed out."  Anna stomped her foot angrily. "Joel and Hunter have been dead for 10 years! I'm not crazy! I was just in the forest with the Survey Corps fighting off a Female Titan! I got caught on my sword  when she threw me to the ground and it broke off in my skin." she felt her abdomen, relieved to feel there was no pain. "Wait...Levi came after me....but I passed out...." she glanced around the dark room. "This is my subconscious. I've heard about things like this. Whenever someone is in a fatal comatose they typically experience a mental trial." she looked at the two of them. "You two are here to test me."

      Ruby glanced at Cullen. "How long did it take her to figure that out?" she asked. "2 minutes and 52 seconds." he stated. "Damn. New record. I'm surprised, Anna. No one is fooling you." she smiled. "We're here as your subconscious guides to guide you back to reality. We take you back through the most traumatizing parts of your life in order for you to safely make it out of here. It won't be easy, but if you ever want to see your precious Levi again, it's what you'll have to do."

      "I want more than anything to let him know I'm okay."  Anna replied. "He's the only thing I have left to live for." she solemnly admitted. "I've lost everybody else." Cullen gently took her hand. "We're still here, Anna. Just not physically. We'll always be here." a soft groan came from the back bedroom and Anna furrowed her eyebrows, looking at her two friends. "Who else is here?"  Ruby happily clapped her hands. "He's asleeeep!" she sang. Anna cautiously  grabbed the knife off the dining table and headed to the bedroom, her eyes scanning everything. "What the....where am I now?"  Anna put her back against the wall to the bedroom. She raised her knife and looked in the glint of it to see the figure in the dark, sitting on the bed. Anna wasted no time and threw the knife around the corner, pinning the figure's shirt to the wall. 

      She quickly rushed in and grabbed an oil lamp, turning it on and  illuminating the stranger's face with it. It fell from her hands and smashed, making the room go dark again. "Levi..." she whispered, taking a step back. "Anna?" he yanked the knife from his white shirt and stood up, handing it back to her. "You're okay?"  he asked, worriedly. Anna said nothing and grabbed him by the wrist, yanking him out into the living room. "How is he here?!"  she demanded. Ruby smirked. "A little test of our own. By connecting your hearts, every time Levi Ackerman falls asleep in the real world, he'll wake up here in your subconscious."

      "What the fuck? How does that even make any sense?" Anna scoffed. Cullen winked at her. "Connecting hearts. Think about it." he explained. "So," Levi spoke. "I'm stuck here in Anna's subconscious until she wakes up?"  he asked. Ruby nodded. "Mhmm. Well, you can leave when you wake up in reality. Until Anna manages to make it out of the Underlands, she'll remain in a comatose." 

      "I never should have trusted that bastard!" Anna spat. Levi's eyes glistened over. "I'm sorry you two..." she whispered. "You can apologize to us by getting yourself out of here." Cullen said. "Right." Her eyes tracked over as all of a sudden an array of weapons was laid out before her and Levi. "I'm seriously going to need these?" she asked. "Both of you will. This isn't like reality. There's many more demons when you leave that door." Ruby said, tossing her red and black hair over her shoulder. "Who's up for an adventure?"