"The mines are about to collapse?" (Y/N) echoed, feeling fear. Someone knew they were here. Someone must have seen them come in. This was all a trap. She knew it was too good to be true. But who would do that? Would Jean want her dead?
"Come on," Hange urgently grabbed her wrist and tugged her down the tunnels, pulling her close when rocks fell from above. The ground was shaking violently, and (Y/N) struggled to keep upright. Her knees would give way with every loud rumble. It felt as if the world was crumbling around them.
"Ouch," (Y/N) winced as a particularly large chunk collided with her shoulder. That would leave a mark. If she survived.
"We're almost there," Hange panted hauling themselves and (Y/N) over the boulders. They were right. In the distance, (Y/N) could spot the brightness of the sky through the opening. Which was crumbling. If the opening crumbled, the two of them would be trapped inside the mines and die.
(Y/N) pushed through the pain she felt and struggled to the opening. They were so close. She could reach out her fingers and stick them into the fresh air of the mines. But the universe hated her. It had deemed her its enemy.
The ground shook again, this time much stronger than the other times. (Y/N) stumbled onto the ground, her palms scratching against the floor. She landed on her ankle, letting out a gasp when she heard it crack.
"Go," (Y/N) urged, unable to stand up again due to the pain. The opening was going to close if Hange didn't move. The rocks were crumbling down too fast. They were blocking the entrance in a few seconds. She didn't want Hange to die with her. "Go on without me, I'll only slow you down."
"I would never leave you behind," Hange didn't even look over to the entrance, which was mere inches away. Instead, they knelt down, grabbed her waist to haul her up and before the entrance was blocked, they shoved her out of the mines. (Y/N) cried as she crashed onto the grassy ground, a sharp jab of pain going up her leg. Seconds later, the sound of a loud crash filled the air.
"Hange!" (Y/N) yelled, looking over her shoulder to see if Hange had made it out with her. She was met with silence and the sight of heap of rocks. Her breath caught in her throat. No. No, Hange must have made it out. "Hange?"
Silence again. (Y/N) staggered to her feet, ignoring the throbbing ache in her ankle. Hange had to be out here somewhere. They were right behind her. They had to have made it out. She hobbled over to the rock pile that blocked the entrance to the mines.
"Hange!" (Y/N) yelled. Silence. Silence louder than anything she'd ever heard before. The truth began to slowly dawn on her, and she shook her head. No. No, no, no. They were okay. They had to be okay. She clawed at the rocks, hearing them clatter to the ground. Hange was just behind those rocks, alive. She'd get them out. It would be fine.
A small voice in her head whispered to her, telling her that her efforts were futile. If they were alive, they'd have called out. If they were alive behind those rocks, they would have responded to your yells. (Y/N) ignored the small voice in her head. She didn't need to listen to it. Instead, she pulled at the rocks, trying to open up the entrance.
The light from the sun caught on something, making it shine bright. (Y/N) paused her clawing, her hands red and raw from. She looked closer, a small cry building up in her throat. The sun had caught on shattered shards of glass stained with blood. The thin frame of Hange's glasses were trapped underneath a rock, the glass scattered around.
There was no way Hange had made it out alive.
--
It had happened again. (Y/N) had lost someone close to her. She could have stopped it. She could have moved faster, she could have stopped Hange from wanting to explore the mines. She could have done something. Anything. She didn't know how, but (Y/N) found herself stumbling down the road that led up to Hange's mansion. She didn't care if anyone saw her. She didn't care if her ankle was killing her. She didn't care about anything.
Hange was dead.
They had to be.
A rock had crushed them.
"(Y/N)!" It was Levi, lingering near the entrance of Hange's house. He seemed concerned, worried that nobody had opened the door when he had knocked previously. His gaze fell on (Y/N)'s bloody hands and limped posture. "What the hell happened?"
(Y/N) ignored him. She brushed past him to enter the mansion, hoping that Hange would be there when she opened the door. Maybe this was all a hallucination or something. That happened, didn't it?
"(Y/N)!" Levi grabbed hold of her arm. "Are you alright? Why are your hands bleeding? And where's Hange?"
At the sound of their name, (Y/N)'s eyes filled with tears. She remembered the way their glasses looked, crushed underneath the boulder. She remembered the way they had shoved her wordlessly out of the way.
I would never leave you behind.
But they did. She was alone again, left with the haunted memories of those she had been close to. Sasha, Connie, and now Hange...their deaths had all been related to the stupid drug. Their deaths were all related to one person, one person who had started this operation. (Y/N) raised her hands shakily, burying her face in them. Her head felt like it would explode by the intense emotions she was feeling. A deep, resonating sadness. Fierce, fiery rage. A rage so strong it filled her entire vessel.
Most people went through sadness during loss. (Y/N) had felt that when she had seen Sasha's broken crossbow. She had felt that when she had seen Connie's mangled face. She had felt that way when she had seen Jean dealing shimmer. But now? Now all she felt was rage. Save for Levi, her entire family had been taken away from her. She was alone. All alone. With no one to rely on.
It felt as if her anger was pulsating off of her in fiery red waves, as if her body wasn't enough to contain the loathing she felt towards Shiganshina City and King Erwin. The mansion was dark and quiet, devoid of Hange's exuberant presence.
"(Y/N)," Levi barked, gripping onto her shoulder. "What is going on? Talk to me."
"Hange's dead," (Y/N) whispered. "Dead. They're dead, Levi. Because of the mines. It was a trap. A set-up. I knew we shouldn't have gone."
"What?"
"I will kill him," (Y/N)'s tone was low and murderous. "I will kill him."
Levi shot a concerned look her way before leading her onto the sofa and coaxing her to sit. He didn't ask any other questions. He didn't say anything else. The look on her face was enough.
--
One week passed. And then two. (Y/N) didn't know what to do. Was she supposed to report to someone that the royal scientist was dead? No, they'd take her and throw her in jail. Maybe kill her too. But she couldn't die. Not until she avenged Hange. She stood in front of a map of Shiganshina city, staring at it through weary eyes.
"Oi, go to bed already," Levi glared at her from across the room. His arms were crossed, his eyes piercing. (Y/N) hadn't had a full night's of sleep since the day in the mine. She hadn't eaten a proper meal. She hadn't showered. Instead, she had thrown herself into the mission. There was something missing. There had to be an obvious clue. And she was going to find it. It was her only purpose now, the reason why she had lived, and Hange hadn't. Her health didn't matter. Justice did.
"Where would they manufacture shimmer?" (Y/N) murmured, staring at the map. The mines were crossed out and so was the factory. Where else would shimmer be made.
Levi sighed. "How about the factory?"
"No, Hange had ruled that out...but...maybe they were wrong," (Y/N) narrowed her eyes. "Hange had said that the factory was used to dump toxic waste and that they didn't go down there. Perhaps the factory had been seized by the people making shimmer."
"Hm. If Hange didn't go to the factory, how would they know it wasn't being used to make shimmer?"
(Y/N) mulled over the possibility of someone stealing the factory right under Hange's nose. She hadn't told Levi about what she had found about Jean. She hadn't told him that Jean was the main suspect when it came to this case. She hadn't told Levi about how she had gone searching for Jean a week ago, yet had come up with nothing. Jean was missing. He was the lead of this case and missing.
"We're going to the factory," (Y/N) whirled around on her feet. She didn't care if there wasn't enough plausible cause to storm the factory. She didn't care if the factory would have no leads. She couldn't just sit around. Even if she had the slightest hint, the slightest clue, she would go search it. She had nothing left to lose.
--
"What are you hoping to see?" Levi asked once the two of them had reached the base of the factory. It was an old, worn down building, with weeds growing out of every crack. (Y/N) held her gun in her hand, her stance fierce as she stormed through the woods.
"The bastard behind all of this," (Y/N) frowned, noticing the lack of security. Was this another trap? No, she couldn't falter. This was the only lead she had left. Hange was gone. Jean was missing. The guards were dead. She couldn't afford faltering.
(Y/N) marched ahead, Levi following in her footsteps. He had tried reasoning with her, he had tried whatever he could to bring sense to her head. But it wasn't working. Losing Hange had hurt far too much.
"Wait here," (Y/N) ordered. "I'm going to go inside alone."
"Absolutely not—"
"Wait here," (Y/N) repeated. "If you're in there with me, I'll focus too much on your safety. I don't need distractions, Levi. I need to do this on my own."
"That's not a smart idea, (Y/N)," Levi warned. But he relented, stepping back to let (Y/N) enter the factory by herself. She wasn't going to listen to him now. "Come out of this alive, you hear me? Alive."
"I'll try," (Y/N) muttered.
She took a deep breath and stalked towards the entrance to the factory. The air was still, not a single breeze. She entered the factory tentatively, pushing open the wide rusty door. At first, she was surrounded by darkness. But as her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw the faint glimmer of purple light.
Intrigued, (Y/N) began to follow the light. Hange had said this was where toxic waste was dumped. Shouldn't there have been some people working here then? Some sort of hazardous protocol? But there was nothing. As she followed the glow, (Y/N) kept her gun poised in front of her. The light path led her to a large room.
(Y/N) froze. There were five huge cylinders in the middle of the room, containing a pink substance. Shimmer. That was shimmer. Her gut instinct had been right. This was the shimmer headquarters. (Y/N) quickly looked around, taking in the messy work tables and lab benches. The liquid was bubbling, moving around in the container.
She had done it, she had found—
Before (Y/N) could rejoice in her discovery, before she could feel successful about what she had found...a light mist began to filter through the room. (Y/N) frowned, coughing when she inhaled. What the heck was that? Was there a fire? But her question was answered mere seconds later, when her vision started to blur. No, that wasn't a fire. It was a sleeping drug. The gun fell from (Y/N)'s hand, clattering onto the ground. She resisted for as long as she could, struggling to stay awake. Eventually, she succumbed to the darkness and felt herself sinking onto the ground. Levi had been right. This was a bad idea.
--
(Y/N) awoke again after an hour, blinking wearily at her surroundings. Where was she? Oh, right the factory. Her arms and legs were bound, a piece of duct tape over her mouth. Her eyes widened as she struggled against the shackles. No. No. Whoever was in charge of the shimmer operation had captured her. She wouldn't be able to help the undercity. She wouldn't be able to avenge Hange. She would die.
The door to the small room where she was being held captive creaked open. (Y/N) stilled. Someone was coming in. Someone who might kill her. Her screams were muffled, the sound of her shackles hitting the metal pole she was tied to filling the air. This wasn't how she wanted to go out. This wasn't how her story was supposed to end.
A figure entered the room and (Y/N)'s breathed became uneven. It was hopeless, wasn't it? There was no way out. But then she remembered that if she died tonight, she would join Connie and Sasha. And Hange. She would be with them, wherever they were. Slowly, her resistance stopped. She stared at the figure cloaked in darkness, urging it to come closer. The last thing she wanted, the last thing she needed before her end, was to see the bastard behind it all. Who had done all of this? Who had singlehandedly ruined her life?
Slowly, the figure walked forward and into the faint light. "Well, well. Look what you've got yourself into, (Y/N)."
No.
It couldn't be.
But it was. There was no denying it. There was no reasonable excuse that (Y/N) could up with. All of her struggle had died in her throat. This was impossible. She stared at the person in front of her, eyes wide with fear. She had never seen this coming.
It was Hange.