If her mouth hadn't been duct taped, (Y/N) would have breathed out their name, wondering if she were hallucinating. Was it a side effect from the weird smoke that she had inhaled earlier? Was it because she was going delusional? Instead, all (Y/N) could do was stare at the person in front of her. Appearance wise, it was definitely Hange...except...they were different.
Hange wore a simple black track suit, donning an eyepatch that covered their left eye. They were frowning in her direction, looking very displeased. Hange? What were they doing at the factory? They were dead. Hange was dead. She had seen them die in front of her. Although, she had never seen the actual body.
"Oh, (Y/N)," Hange sighed. They walked closer to where (Y/N) was bound, raising a hand so that it brushed her cheek gently. "I tried so hard. I tried very hard to get you to stop chasing after this case. But you never listened, huh? Even my death didn't dissuade you."
(Y/N)'s words came out as urgent mumbles, straining against the shackles. Hange sighed and quickly peeled off the duct tape from her mouth, causing (Y/N) to wince.
"Hange..." she whispered. "How are you even alive? The explosion—"
Hange placed a warm hand on her cheek, and even in this circumstance, their eyes were kind. The physical feeling of their touch confirmed the fact they were alive and this wasn't a dream.
"The mines have tunnels connected to the factory," Hange explained simply. "It was messier than I had anticipated, but I had been able to find my way back to the factory. Of course, it was me who set off the explosion. I had timed it wrong. My initial plan was for both of us to get out, but my supposed death actually ruled in my favor. I had hoped that you'd stop your pursuit."
"I—but—" (Y/N) stumbled over her words, unable to come up with a comprehensive sentence. This didn't make sense. It didn't make sense at all.
"I know you must have many questions," Hange pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat in front of her. "And I'm willing to answer them. Despite what it looks like, I'm not your enemy, (Y/N)."
(Y/N) let out a noise of shock. "Not my enemy? Hange, you tied me to this pole, in a factory full of shimmer. What about that screams friendly to you? Was this all a lie? What...there has to be an explanation! I don't understand...I thought you wanted to help me."
"Oh, dear. That's a lot to unpack, isn't it? Let's take this from the beginning," Hange suggested. They extended a glass of water to her, but she shook her head fiercely. They shrugged and settled back into their seat, staring at her with a piercing gaze.
"When you first broke into my lab and kidnapped me, I had assumed you just wanted a hefty ransom or whatever. It wasn't until you told me about your shimmer situation did I agree to help you. I mean, why wouldn't I? It was a win—win situation for me," Hange said. "I got to stay close to you and see your every move. The determination in your eyes had told me that you wouldn't stop chasing after the person behind all this—which by the way is me—and in order to prevent you from finding my true identity, I had to play the role of somebody who wanted to help you."
(Y/N) was unable to speak. Hange had betrayed her. They had played her since the very start. This entire time, the person she had been hunting for had been right beside her. Suddenly, it made sense. Everything began to click together. The guards that were dealing the shimmer...how Augustus and Leo had died immediately after she had told Hange about them...how Jean was missing and how Hange had tried to pin the blame on him because he was close to her. Everything made sense. Except for one thing.
"Augustus and Leo were quite easy to take out," Hange sighed. "I did have to damage my precious lab, but...you were getting too close, dear. I had to take them out. It hurt me physically and mentally, but it was a necessary task."
"But why?" (Y/N) spat out. "Why are you doing all this? Do you want to see the undercity crumble?"
"Crumble? No, absolutely not. I want to make it stronger," Hange's eyes glinted dangerously. "Remember that one story I told you? About my assistant who died? Well, we used to work together in the undercity. We were intelligent for our ages and always got into trouble because of it. One day, when I was 18, the king's guard invaded our little lab. Apparently, we had created some sort of powerful drug that the Sina guard needed. How had they figured out? I'll never know. But Moblit and I resisted. We didn't want to work for the King and we didn't want to give our stuff up."
"You're from the Undercity?" (Y/N) asked, confused.
"The guards ended up shooting Moblit and threatened to shoot me too if I didn't comply. And at that moment, while I stared at his dead body, I had made the decision to never defy the king," Hange continued. "At least, not publicly. All of my resistance would be in private. I would infiltrate the castle and bring the king down to his knees."
It was the first time that (Y/N) had seen Hange like this—their eyes narrowed and fierce with hatred, their tone dripping with venom. In this state, Hange was scary.
"So, you created shimmer...to make the undercity stronger?"
"Yes, that was my plan. On my test batch, everything worked out perfectly. The lab rats grew stronger, extremely strong. My plan was to distribute the drug, make the undercity strong, and have someone lead a revolution. But I made a mistake," Hange said grimly. "Rats are different than humans. I hadn't anticipated the side effects. I had never intended on hurting anyone. I swear, (Y/N), I had honest intentions. But it was too late for me to stop with the operation. Shimmer was already spreading throughout the streets. And the side effects didn't happen to everyone."
"People died. They mutated, Hange..." (Y/N) whispered. She remembered Sasha. She remembered Connie. She remembered what Jean had told her. So, he hadn't been lying. "People died because they witnessed the guard dealing the drugs!"
"Oh, right. There are a couple of guards from the Sina guard that are actually from the undercity, like me," Hange tilted their head. "Augustus and Leo were from down there. They knew about my plan. They were on board. They would sell off batches of shimmer to one person in the undercity, and that person would then distribute it. Secrecy was important because it was vital that the topside not be connected to this."
"Because if the king found out, he'd have you dead?" (Y/N) concluded.
"Yes. And only I know the formula for shimmer. You see, the revolution can't work if I'm dead," Hange let out a humorless chuckle. "I'm working out all the flaws. The next batch will be perfect."
"Do you even hear yourself?" (Y/N) asked, astound. "People died and you're still going to make a new batch?"
"I never wanted to hurt people, I only wanted to help them," Hange seemed apologetic, ashamed at their previous mistake. They stood and walked closer to her, kneeling so that they were at her eye level. Hange stared at her fondly, raising a hand to cup her cheek. "And I do care about you, (Y/N). Despite what you think, there was nothing fake between us."
(Y/N) was perfectly still, staring at Hange with what seemed like horror. She remembered the night perfectly. She remembered the way their lips had felt. The way their touch had been so firm yet light. The way their eyes had shone brightly in the darkness.
"Hange," (Y/N) closed her eyes. She felt a heavy weight on her chest, as if she had done something horribly wrong. As if something horribly wrong would happen. "Hange, please. Just...stop. Whatever you did, whatever you're doing, just stop it. It won't help the undercity."
"Out of everyone, I thought you would understand me, (Y/N)," Hange frowned. "We both lost people to the Sina Guard. Don't you want the citizens of the undercity to never lose someone again? Don't you want to stop repeats of Sasha's death—"
"I lost Sasha because of you," (Y/N) cried. "It was your drug deal that had gotten her killed. It was your master plan that took my family away from me. It wasn't the king. It was you, it was always you."
Hange's expression faltered, a look of hurt flashing across their face. "I never wanted to hurt her, (Y/N), please believe me."
"You're delusional," (Y/N) whispered. "Absolutely delusional if you believe that what you're doing is justifiable. People have died."
"I—I...I never meant for it to happen like this," Hange ran a hand through their hair, perplexed. They seemed genuinely upset at the thought of hurting people. "I just wanted to help people."
(Y/N) let in a shuddering breath, trying to calm herself. What happened in the past, had passed. As much as she wanted to scream, as much as she wanted to hold Hange accountable for her family's deaths, she knew that wouldn't go anywhere. She needed to focus on the future. She needed to prevent this from happening again. Hange was planning on creating another batch. They were planning on leading some sort of half-baked revolution.
"Look, whatever you did in the past has happened. Please, just stop now. You've seen the consequences. You've lived it. Leave the undercity alone," (Y/N) pleaded. "I swear I will never tell another soul about this. We can leave this factory like we were before. You'll go back to being the scientist and the undercity won't be flooded with shimmer."
"(Y/N), I've come this far, I can't stop now."
"Please," (Y/N) cried. "If you've ever cared about me, even once, you'll stop this. If you've ever cared about the undercity, you'd stop this. This isn't what Moblit would have wanted."
Hange's expression grew darker. "Don't say that. You didn't know Moblit. He would have wanted this. I'm doing this for him. I'm doing this for you."
"Why did you trap me like this?" (Y/N) tugged at the cuffs that bound her to the pillar. "If you were doing this for me, then why treat me like this?"
"I'm sorry, dear. I didn't know what your reaction would be like," Hange said softly. They reached out and grabbed her hand gently. "I don't want to hurt you. I will never hurt you."
"But you did," (Y/N)'s voice was hoarse. "And it's alright. I forgive you. You just have to stop doing this. We'll figure out a way together."
She was lying. Her words were hollow. Empty and without meaning. She would say anything at that moment to get Hange to let her go. She would do anything to stop Hange.
Hange sighed. "I'm sorry I can't do what you're asking me to do. Why don't you join me instead? We'll be strong together. We'll fix the undercity."
"It doesn't need to be fixed," (Y/N) closed her eyes. She wasn't sure how to react anymore. She wasn't sure how she should handle the situation.
"If only you would understand," Hange sighed. "It would be much easier if you understood. I wouldn't have to capture you like this. We could have overthrown the topside together."
Hange stood, retrieving their warm hand from (Y/N)'s skin. She watched as they left the room. What was (Y/N) supposed to do? Hange seemed as if they truly believed the nonsense that they had spouted. Her heart was torn. One part of her was furious, absolutely in rage over what Hange had done. She had lost her family because of them. She had suffered through great losses. But the other part of her felt pity. Hange seemed...broken. They seemed so hopeful about making things better, they were so bent on revenge. It remined (Y/N) of how she felt after Sasha and Connie. She wanted to help Hange. She wanted to help stop their madness. But a huge part of (Y/N) was hurt. Hange had lied to her. They had betrayed her. All along, Hange knew she was searching for them, yet they stayed quiet.
All (Y/N) could do now was wait.