Experiment: Success!
Summary: Eren found a bloody little girl wondering around town and brings her back to his house to help her. He finds out she's been abandoned and has had a horrible early childhood, so he and his lover, Levi, take her in as their own. They give her a name and a fresh start, though, after a kidnapping, she loses it all. After becoming a cadet, then three years later, a member of the Recon Corps, she and her squad have one mission—find the Jaeger house and the secrets of the titans. But what about all of the secrets that surround Erica's birth?
Pairings: LeviXEren, ArminXAnnie, ConnieXSasha, YmirXHistoria, JeanXMikasa
Notes: Yes, I know, Annie is frozen and Ymir is 'missing'. TDB. In my world, they aren't, so shush haters. I've finished the manga from where the anime left off, but I might make the characters OOC, but that's okay because this story is mostly about their kids, so it doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, with everything they've been through, they're bound to act different than canon.
Another note: I am a huge Katekyo Hitman Reborn fan, so there are most likely references to that show in this story as well. (There may or may not be references to Free and Fairy Tail….) Try to see if you can find them for each chapter (if there are any, of course.)
Also, I really should be writing my other stories, but I just...can't. I've hit a wall, so I'm taking a break from them.
Disclaimer: I don't own SnK.
"Experiment 27 is a success, sir!"
The man, who was holding a small bundle in his arms, looked over to his superior in the room with pride. "This one actually has a form, sir. She isn't physically deformed like the others."
The other man, an older looking man with glasses, nodded as he walked over to the younger man with the bundle. "Has she opened her eyes?"
"No sir, but—sir, look!"
The older man gazed down at the baby girl, whose heterochromatic eyes looked up at him. Her right eye was an emerald green while her left eye was a beautiful silver.
"Do you think it will matter, sir? Many may think she is a beauty or a rare find."
"Or a freak."
"Sir, I'm sure there will be those who like her eyes."
The older considered it. "I guess so. As long as she does what she was created for, then I don't truly care what she looks like." The older man then asked, "Are you sure she will be able to?"
"Well…" The younger looked down at the girl in his arms, lost in thought, as the girl started to shift slightly. Staring into her eyes, he had a thought. "Well, sir, her eyes mean that the joining of DNA was successful. Maybe if we injected the T-Cells into her at a steady rate, we could insure she could do that."
The older thought about it. What he had said was true, after all, if you inject a high concentration of T-Cells into a growing body, then they do gain that ability. Would that mean a steady, medium concentration from a young age, basically birth, would completely insure that ability, if not enhance it?
"What you say is true. Alright, we'll keep this one, but we should create a backup just in case. Make sure to replicate the ratio exactly as you did for this experiment."
"Yes sir!"
Five years later
Dull, heterochromatic eyes glanced around the dark streets as the young girl, barely older than five, walked barefoot on the cold street. Blood was smudged on her face and staining her ragged dress. Her dark, chocolate brown hair was a rat's nest, caked with mud and blood. Her small footsteps were drowned out by the rain batting down all around her.
As the girl's gaze swept the road once more, she saw a man in a uniform walking towards her. He had a large umbrella over his head and a small back in his hand, but as soon as he saw her, he dropped the bad, spilling the contents into the street. "Oh my god, are you okay?!" He asked, panicked, as he rushed over to the girl. She just looked up at him, wondering why he wasn't slapping her for looking untidy. She must look horrible—which was unacceptable.
"Are you hurt anywhere? Where are your parents?" He asked, using his sleeve to wipe blood off her face as he held his umbrella over the two of them.
"Parents?" She asked. The word was foreign to her, and as she tested the word on her lips, she couldn't help but feel a very small pang in her heart. What are parents?
"Do you have any?" He glanced over her body once more. His eyes widened as he came to a conclusion. "Oh god, you're alone."
The girl kept her gaze with the man, who was now in deep thought. Is he going to hurt me? She wondered. I am a dirty girl, after all.
Finally set on a thought, he smiled, which startled her slightly. "Well, how about I take you home, okay? Let's get you fixed up and then we'll see what we can do, alright?"
She nodded, afraid if she had said no that he would have hurt her.
Bending down, he slid an arm around her waist and picked her up, setting her on his hip. "Let's get you out of here."
The walk hadn't been long, and after only a few minutes they had arrived at a nice, two story house. The man's hands were full, so he kicked the door to gain the attention of the one inside.
Grumbling, the man inside opened the door. "Shitty brat, why didn't you just—what is that?" he asked, looking at the girl sitting on his hip. He cringed at her state of being. She was so filthy and dirty—was that blood?
The man holding the girl sighed. "She's a kid, not a 'that'. I found her on the streets and she looked like she needed help."
"She defiantly needs something." The shorter said as he wrinkled his nose, earning a kick to his shin. "The fuck was that for?"
"Levi, don't cuss. She's an innocent child." The taller reprimanded.
The shorter man snorted. "Sure doesn't look innocent with all the blood. Eren, you're taking care of her. Make sure she's clean."
"Planning on it."
The girl had stayed quiet throughout the whole conversation, knowing it wasn't her place to speak. She had no right to speak unless spoken to, so even if she had many questions, she couldn't ask them. She was a useless girl.
The man, Eren, had set her down while he fumbled with the umbrella. She looked around, trying to analyze her surroundings, but that was short lived because Eren had picked her up and started to carry her up the stairs. She didn't struggle in his hold. Instead, she oddly started to feel at peace in his arms. It felt really weird. She's never been held like this, and she figured her dirty state would repulse the kind man.
Once they were in the bathroom, Eren set her down once more and started to run the water in the tub. While the tub was filling, he turned to the girl and gave a smile. "I'm going to give you a bath, okay?"
She nodded, knowing that it was needed. She wasn't clean, so she had to be washed. It was wrong to be dirty.
The man continued to talk. "My name's Eren. What's yours?"
"Name...?" She asked timidly. She was never given one, so how was she supposed to answer? What did they always call her? "Number 27."
"Number 27? That's not a name..." Crouching to be on her level, he got a closer look at her and gasped. "Holy crap, your eyes!"
Immediately, she covered her eyes and suppressed a whimper, afraid that they had hurt him or something. She didn't want to hurt him, he'd been so nice to her.
Eren was surprised by her eyes, and wondered how he had never noticed them before. They were two different colors, something he's never heard of, and it surprised him. But seeing the girl's reaction to his outburst made him instantly regret it. Gently, he pried her hands away from her eyes. "It's fine. I'm sorry about my outburst, your eyes just surprised me."
She looked up at him. He was...apologizing? "I didn't...hurt you?"
He was taken back. "Hurt me? Goodness, no. I was just surprised that they were two different colors."
"They are?" She gasped. Quickly, she looked around for something to see herself in and once she found the full body mirror, she gasped once more. She was so dirty! But her eyes... they were so pretty. "Pretty..." She whispered.
Eren's eyes widened at her behavior. She didn't have a name, she has never seen herself—where has she been this whole time? And how the hell was she treated. Obviously, horribly. He thought angrily. He calmed himself, not wanting to scare the girl.
Eren felt something inside of him awaken, something warm and caring. It feels slightly different than his feelings towards Levi and his friends. He felt...very protective of the girl. Like she was his. And it felt nice.
"How about I give you a name? How does that sound?" he asked her. If she let him name her, then he already had the perfect name for her. It popped into his head and it just seemed to fit.
She turned to look at him with wide eyes. "You'll give me... a name? I won't be Number 27 anymore?"
"That's right. You'll never been Number 27 ever again. From today on, you'll be Erica Jaeger."
"Erica Jaeger..." She tested the name and was instantly pleased with how it rolled off her tongue. "Erica Jaeger, Erica Jaeger, Erica Jaeger!" She started to giggle happily and was instantly silent, surprised by the sounds coming from her own mouth. She then giggled again, before gasping. What was she doing? And what was this feeling in her? She's never felt this way before! It felt really nice!
The male smiled warmly as he watched the small girl. "I take it you like the name?"
Instantly, she nodded. She loved her name—how could she ever thank this man for helping her and being nice to her?
Eren noticed that the tub was about full, so he turned off the water and turned to the girl. "Ready for a bath?"
Erica nodded.
After her bath and being dressed in one of Eren's shirts, which fell to her ankles, Erica had grown very loyal towards Eren. She would constantly watch him and follow him, like a duckling would follow its mother.
Eren had scooped her up in his arms once more and started to carry her out of the bathroom and into the living room to talk to Levi about her. There was no way he could leave her, not after everything he learned about the girl. That and he felt a connection to her. He couldn't exactly explain it. He just felt pulled towards Erica, and he knew he had to take care of her.
Making his way downstairs, Eren noticed Levi wiping the floors, grumbling to himself. The shorter man seemed to notice him and glared at him. "She made a mess."
Instantly Erica tensed in Eren's hold, clutching part of his shirt in her tiny hand. He was going to hurt her for making a mess! "I-I'm s-s-sorry." She whimpered, hiding her face in Eren's neck. She knew that hiding wasn't going to help her get out of punishment—sometimes it even made it worse—but she couldn't help it. She hoped that Eren would protect her.
The two were taken back, Eren more than Levi since he knew this wasn't normal behavior for a child when they made a mess. Instantly, Eren started to comfort her, whispering soothing words in her ear as he rubbed her back. "Shh, it's okay. Levi isn't going to hurt you."
"B-but I made a-a mess." She said through her sobs, "I'm supposed to be punished."
"Oh Erica!" Eren was horrified. "We would never hurt you over a silly little mess, and I have no idea who would hurt any child over something like that."
"I do." Levi mumbled as he stood up, to which Eren instantly glared at him for. The comment was completely unnecessary.
The girl's heterochromatic eyes stared into Eren's emerald green eyes, trying to see if he was lying to her. She knew what to look for—after all, those men would constantly lie to her. "You w-won't hurt me?"
"Of course not!" He gave her a reassuring smile. "In fact, we're going to make sure no one ever hurts you again, right Levi?" The taller male looked over at the raven, who was shocked by these words.
"You mean we're going to keep her? Shitty brat, I knew you were stupid, but this just takes the cake. Don't you think her parents are going to look for her?" He retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "We could be charged as kidnappers and immediately thrown out of the survey corps."
Eren shook his head. "Levi, she doesn't have parents. She doesn't even know what they are—there's no way we could put her back on the streets like this. She could get taken by real kidnappers." Shifting the girl in his arms, he continued. "Besides, I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to kick humanity's strongest and humanity's hope out of the Recon corps. That'd be asking the titans to eat us all."
Titans? Erica wondered. Why was that word so familiar to her? She's heard it before, but where…?
"Give her a stronger dosage. We want to make sure she'll be able to fight the titans."
"She'll be perfect to kill the titans."
"Do you understand? You must kill all of the titans. That is your only purpose in life."
"…must kill all of the titans…" she mumbled under her breath, reciting what the man had said. "That's my only purpose…" Her eyes glazed over as she went limp in Eren's arms. "I'm perfect to kill the titans. I must kill all of the titans. That is my only purpose in life."
The two males, in the silence of the ending conversation, were able to hear these words and were stunned. Who in their right mind would tell a child that? Just what has she been through?
This seemed to convince Levi that she truly needed them to take care of her and make sure that she had a normal childhood. Or as much as she can get after whatever hell she's been through. Levi thought grimly. Eren, on the other hand, immediately launched into convincing the girl that she was made for more. "Erica, killing the titan's is not your only purpose in life. In fact, that might not even be your purpose. Your purpose could be to be a baker or an artist. Maybe it's to be our little girl."
The girl looked up at him. "But they told me that my purpose was to kill all the titans."
"I don't know who 'they' are," Eren took a breath to calm himself. "But they are wrong. They can't decide your purpose—that's what you have to do for yourself." He hugged her close as he saw her start to shake in his hold. "All I know is that Levi and I are going to be there for you."
"Really?" The girl asked.
"For as long as we can, yes." Levi said, walking over to the two of them and ruffling her hair. "We won't be around forever, but we'll try to not leave early." He gave her one of his rare smiles, instantly gaining her trust.
Eren smiled and shifted Erica once more. Levi looked up at Eren, his smile still in place. "I didn't know a shitty brat like you could act like a parent."
"Well, I doubt I'm great, but I'll try my best." Eren said honestly. He noticed that Erica had started to nod her head in attempt to stay awake, but she was failing. Within seconds, she was asleep in Eren's arms. Holding her on his side with one hand, he leaned over and wrapped his free hand around Levi's waist, pulling him into his side as he placed a light kiss on his lips. Pulling away, he said, "Thank you."
Levi waved it off. "Don't thank me, thank the brat. She's grown on me." His face then contorted into anger. "I want to the find the mother fucker who twisted her brain so far from a normal child's that she doesn't even know what the fuck parents are and she feels like she has to kill the fucking titans. She's probably not a day over five and she already has seen too much darkness. Damn mother fucker, messing with the innocent."
"Agreed." He tightened his hold on Levi. "I'd ask Erwin or Pixis-san if they've heard anything. Maybe Hanji would know something."
"Hey, shitty brat, don't tell me how to do my fucking job."
"Love you, too."
A/N: And that's the end to the first chapter. What did you think about it? Like it, hate it?
I have a poll up on my profile. Please vote—it's going to contribute to this story (or any SnK story I plan to write in the future.)
I'm really sorry about delaying my other stories. I think my problem is once I see my story from start to finish, I lose interest in it, and so I slowly stop writing it. I'm really trying to fix that, but it's not working…
Anyway, I've just gotten into the SnK fandom and I have to say, I love it! Especially ErenXLevi! I know it's pedophilia, but hey, it's anime. We can ship whoever the fuck we want!