In Between The Ends

Chapter Fifteen

    The wheelchair rolled along noiselessly as Connie pushed Levi down the hallway, Gabi and Falco trailing anxiously behind them. They had both tried to say their piece regarding Arya's innocence, but it had fallen on deaf ears: his only reply was to ask to be taken to her. Luckily (or not so luckily) Levi's recovery room was in the Parliament building and not the hospital a few streets over, which made for a quick trip. Connie wheeled him down several hallways before coming to a stop outside a set of heavy brass doors. Falco ran to push the door open for them as they quietly entered.

Levi's eyes swept quickly around the room, which purpose seemed to be for large meetings, and spotted the five people bunched up at the far end of the room. Most of these faces he knew: Armin, Pieck, Reiner, Jean. The fifth person had his back to him, but what he could see of them told him it was a woman. A very small woman with long, dark hair. Jean's arm was in a sling, and his face was contorted in annoyance and discomfort as she adjusted his bandages. Levi had only caught the tail end of their bickering, which ended with the woman letting out a sigh of exasperation.

"Oh, Jean, stop being such a big baby. I swear, all that luscious hair of yours is squishing your tiny brain into mush." Her voice struck a chord in Levi's mind, a memory, perhaps? He didn't know, but her comment was amusing to him.

"Who knew such a small person could be filled with so much venom." He said with slight humor. The four people he knew turned to acknowledge his arrival as the woman finished tucking in the gauze on Jean's arm. She turned to him then, big brown eyes locked onto his, a small smile playing around the edge of her mouth.

"I find that rather funny, Captain, coming from you."

Several things happened at once. Matching faces of aghast horror appeared on all the ex-Scout Regiment members, petrified at the casual rebuttal the woman had given their former captain. Falco and Gabi stifled their laughter with little success, making the others even more terrified. The woman held his gaze calmly, almost defiant. The strangest reaction, however, was the one that Levi had himself. His normally narrowed eyes widened, and his good hand gripped his arm rest so hard that the wood nearly splintered. Memory came rushing back, memories of her heart-shaped face fueled by fire. It was her.

His reaction only lasted a few seconds before it disappeared entirely. Confusion replaced it as the image dissolved, the feeling it carried all but gone. In front of him now was just a woman. Perhaps considered appealing in her small and slender frame and locks of thick long hair, but just a regular person all the same.

She was still looking at him, a crease of concern now etched on her brow.

"How are you feeling today, Captain Ackerman? Are you in any pain?"

Her question reminded him why he had entered this room, and he realized quickly that she was the one he had come to see. This was his attending physician, the one who had altered his body without his permission. His face hardened.

"Who are you?" He asked coldly. Who was she indeed, to experiment on him like some common rat? Who was she to go against his wish of no additional treatments, as so many others had failed in their attempts? The woman ignored the undertones of his question, instead choosing to address the more obvious one.

"My name is Arya Halbrand, sir. It's an honor to finally meet you." She said earnestly. "Though, I wish we were meeting under better terms."

Arya approached him, ignoring the looks of warning she was getting from her companions. She knelt in front of him, and Levi leaned back from her unexpected closeness, frowning.

"Allow me to sincerely apologize, Captain. I assure you that I don't make a habit of performing medical procedures on people who can't speak for themselves. I understood your wish to forgo any more treatment, yet I allowed myself to be threatened into doing it anyway. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any reprimand or punishment you wish to give."