Not Much Longer (AOT)

Explain Yourselves!

Erwin was in bed after hours of paperwork. Spending every moment of the day cramped inside a small room, with no contact from anyone else, was absolutely draining.

He had finally gotten a break at the end of the day when he crawled into his bed, and fell asleep.

This was the place where Erwin could escape the pressures of the world. Where he could get away from the stress of the Corps.

But Hanji had other plans for him that night.

He was rudely awakened by shouting. It was coming from somewhere down the hall, but Erwin could't make out anything that they were saying. From the moment it started, he knew it was going to be trouble.

He made his way out of his room and traveled toward the sound.

"How could you keep this from me?!"

Erwin could tell it was Hanji .

He picked up his pace and traveled down the corridor, and before he knew it, he stood in front of Levi's door.

Erwin pushed open the door and found the two screaming back and forth.

Hanji turned around and held Athenas file in her hands. "What is the meaning of this Erwin? Can you not trust me with anything anymore?"

Erwin hushed her. "You can't scream your head off like a maniac. This is bigger than-"

"YOU are supposed to trust ME. I put my faith in YOU, and THIS is how you treat me?" Hanji pointed to the file again. In a fit of rage she threw it down on Levi desk.

"Calm down!" Levi was trying to get her to listen.

"Just tell me what the hell is going on!" Her voice replied in absolute anger.

Erwin was growing tired of the situation. After hours of stress and mindless work, he only had one thing to look forward to. The only thing he had these days was sleep.

And right now, he was losing it.

With each passing moment the two grew closer and closer in their screaming match. It seemed that at any moment, Hanji and Levi would be at each other throats. 

"You need to calm down first!"

"You need to explain yourselves!"

Erwin grabbed the two and threw them apart. "ENOUGH!"

The room fell silent and both Hanji and Levi looked to Erwin.

He was huffing and puffing with rage.

Erwin raised his voice. "I told you! This is bigger than just us. And now you come in, and sneak around where you don't belong. And thanks to you, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire Corps knows what's going on!"

"I just want to know what you two have been hiding from me." Hanji's voice was low and still bubbling with rage. However, pain in her voice was clear.

Erwin realized he had no other choice but to tell her. He let out a couple of deep breaths to regain his composure. 

"On the last exposition we uncovered documents from the old town we discovered. We have reason to believe that we can reverse the flow of titans and rid humanity of them forever. We have been in contact with a translator to try and help us, because those documents are written in a language that nobody alive speaks. We are currently breaking the law by hiding this pages from the government. If they knew about what they hold, they would destroy them in a second. You know that." Erwin spoke with order in his voice.

Hanji listened intently.

"If we are successful, titans would no longer keep humanity trapped. We would be free from them forever."

"We could leave the walls..." Hanji's eyes widened as she realized the importance of the situation.

"We could be free," Levi added.

She was in awe. Hanji sat down on a chair in front of Levi's desk and studied the file sitting in front of her. "So is this the translator?" She said quietly.

"Yes." Levi backed up and leaned against the wall. He let out a sigh and rubbed his temples.The stress from the situation cause him to get a headache. The travel back and forth from base to Athenas was not a short or easy ride.

Hanji sat in the chair and studied the picture in the file for a long time. She immediately became intrigued and wanted to know more, but was met with disappointment when Levi told her that her Athena's file was small and led to no more information.

After leaving Levi's office, Erwin stalked his way back to his office.

There was one thing Erwin enjoyed everyday, and that was his sleep. It was the only time he could sit in his own mind and feel the weight of the world fall away. He could go beyond the zCorps, beyond the stress, beyond the walls, and he could let go.

He would dream of what he longed for most, and he hated that he would wake up the next morning longing for something he could not have.

His dreams were filled with the smell of tea and pine that night. And though the next morning he would awake to the horrors of the world around him, in his dreams he was free.

Truly free.