Chapter Text
All units, it's 10-64. National City Bank.
Hange started the car seconds after she heard the message. As she drove out on a street, she grabbed the walkie-talkie, shouting that her ETA was seven minutes. With excitement rushing through her, she pressed her foot on the accelerator, speeding up. If she was driving slightly above the speeding limit, she'd arrive that much sooner. She clearly needed to be there as fast as possible.
If there was a robbery at the most prestigious and wealthiest bank of their city with the best possible security, it could mean only one thing.
It was those assholes. It had to be. No one else was quite as daring as them.
And Hange had to be here, she had to catch them. After almost a year of pursuing them, she couldn't let them run away once more.
The Ackermans. Despite their famed crimes, no one knew who they were. No one seen their faces, no one knew their true names. The name Ackermans stuck to them after someone found out that two men checked under that name in a hotel near the casino Royale the night before it was robbed. It was the only real piece of evidence Hange managed to discover. She looked through all of their old cases then, searching through the databases of all hotels, situated near every place of their past robberies. The name Ackerman appeared with alarming frequency.
This information wasn't enough to find their real identities, though. The hotels they checked in never had any kind of sufficient security.
The one thing that was known for sure - there were two of them. One short, another tall. Rumors were they belonged to one family. Some said they were brothers, others were sure that it was a duo of father and son.
Ackermans. Just the mention of this name filled Hange with so many feelings. Mostly, when she reread the files of their cases over and over, until her eyes watered, she felt pricking annoyance. Sometimes, when she stared at the dead bodies of those scarce unfortunates who stumbled upon their crimes, she was filled with hatred and a pushing need for revenge. Hange couldn't deny, however, there were times when she marveled at the impudence of their crimes. And, when she was investigating the Ackerman's cases and saw just how meticulously planned they all were, she couldn't help but feel something close to fascination.
Right now, as she drove through the night city, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles went white, she was filled with thrilling excitement. The adrenaline was cursing through her veins, and Hange briefly wondered if that's how hunters felt when they locked onto their prey.
She turned the corner, and the looming structure of National City Bank was already in her sights. She said her ETA was going to be seven minutes. She arrived in four.
Hange grinned, her eyes blazing behind the lenses of her glasses. Today was the day. She was going to finally get those bastards.
As she drove closer, Hange saw that the building was illuminated by more than a dozen of police cars. The whole perimeter was surrounded. No one dared to come inside, however, opting to just stand with their guns drawn, watching the entrance intently.
Cowards, Hange huffed with distain. It was a well-known fact that Ackermans were always armed. Maybe, it was sensible to keep a distance. She never possessed that quality, though. Besides, if no one was inside, then it meant that all the fun and fame would be hers.
Hange parked the car nearby and confidently walked out.
"I'm going in," she nodded to her colleagues, not bothering to hide superiority from her voice and ignoring the incredulous looks.
As soon as she was inside, her assertive steps turned into a jog, and as she neared the stairs to the vault, she started to run. She rushed there, heart hammering in her chest.
She was close.
When she turned the corner and saw the enormous door that lead to the vault, she slowed her step and willed her breathing to level out. She needed to be calm, she needed to make them afraid.
She approached the door, took out her gun, slowly pushed the door open…
....And then cursed at the top of her lungs.
The vault was completely empty. There was nothing - and no one - inside. Hange glanced up and saw the open window of a ventilation shaft.
"Bastards!" she screamed, kicking the wall beside her in frustration. "Motherfuckers! Assholes! I was so close!"
As she looked around the room once more, Hange saw a small note, lying on a table. She growled lowly, anger cursing through her. She tore the paper into pieces without as much as a glance at the contents.
She knew what was written there already.
Better luck next time, four-eyes
“The robbery of National City Bank was a sudden attack, and our forces, unfortunately...”
Blah-blah-blah. Levi drowned the rest of the sentence, lamenting that he decided to watch the live press conference, and not the recording as usual. He was just too excited about it, but now he started to regret this decision.
Division's Captain Erwin Smith was boring him to death. So righteous and straight-laced, he made Levi roll his eyes every time he appeared on a screen. His protégé, though, now she was much more fun. Extremely intriguing, too.
Detective Hange Zoe was the only one, who managed to get so close to them. And Levi knew, could see it in her eyes every time he looked at her through the screen of his phone. The bespectacled detective enjoyed chasing him and Kenny. Even met with failure after failure, she wasn’t going to give up.
For some weird reason, Levi admired it, admired her.
Detective finally walked on a stage, and Levi’s lips curled into a small smirk.
Right now, with dozens of reporters watching her, Hange Zoe wasn’t even half as confident as her superior. Her shoulders were a little sagged, her eyes shifting nervously from side to side, her hands moving to her face to shakily put the glasses up her nose every other minute.
Levi knew, though, that this wasn’t the real detective Zoe. During the investigation, doing what she truly loved, she was radiant. Her eyes were sparkling, she was grinning almost wildly and her whole body seemed to brim with exciting energy.
He liked to watch her. That’s why sometimes… he lingered at the scene of his crimes. Simply to watch her kick something in frustration. And then get back into the action like the pro she was. It was mesmerizing.
“Detective Zoe, you just said it was the work of Ackerman?” the reporter on the screen asked. “Are you sure about it? Or are you simply putting all of your unsolved crimes on the same criminals?”
For a second, Hange’s face turned into a scowl, and Levi could almost hear the sound of her teeth gritting. Just as quickly, however, she put the professional mask back on, and relaxed her expression into a serious frown.
“Even if we ignore the fact that the circumstances of this crime are very similar to their previous thefts, we’ve found another clues that link this case to the Ackermans.”
Levi’s smirk grew wider. He knew exactly what piece of evidence detective Zoe had found. Too bad he hadn’t seen the look on her face, when she had discovered it. That expression was surely one of pure hatred.
Riling her up was so easy. And teasing her was so much fun.
Suddenly, the door to his room opened.
“Nephew!” Kenny’s booming voice called. He didn’t even glance at him, but Levi hastily hid his phone. His uncle was the last person, who should know about his little obsession. “Get your ass here! We need to work!”
Kenny left as soon as he came.
Levi cursed, closing the tab with press-conference on his phone. Detective Zoe had just started telling the strategy of the future investigation. It was his most favorite part, she was truly glowing in those moments.
With a heavy sigh, Levi raised up from his bed to go and join his uncle. Luckily, he could always watch the recording. Throwing a longing look at his phone, he left the room.
So long, detective