Notes: This is the first crossover I've ever written - usually I'm really sceptic when it comes to crossovers. I don't even know anymore where this idea came from, but I found myself wondering: What if Eren Yaeger met the Doctor. And now I can't get over the thought that Eren would actually be an interesting companion. I really want the Doctor to show up and get Eren out of this horrible world that's messing him up - at least for a bit. *sobs* Also, Eleventh Doctor because he's the incarnation I have the strongest connection with and I like writing him.
Something tells me that I probably could do a little better than this, but it's 2 am and I need to sleep, but I can't without getting this out of my system (and that includes sharing it with the internet).
The freest Being in the Universe
Sometimes he'd look into the distance and dream of a life beyond the walls, a life without titans. On a clear night when everyone else was already sleeping he'd sneak out of the sleeping barracks and off the training grounds. He'd climb a hill nearby and remember the ideas he and Armin had shared when they had still lived in Shiganshina and had never seen a titan before.
Most of all Eren would think of the ocean. The unknown waters that supposedly held a never-ending amount of minerals were something he was especially taken with. He knew water in the form of rivers and lakes, but if Armin's books were right the ocean was huge – the waters inside the walls could not compare at all.
How he wished to stand on its vast shores one day and see it with his own eyes. How he wished to explore the world beyond the walls, to go where no human had gone in a hundred years. But as long as the titans still existed that was impossible.
So at day he put his all into the training. He pushed himself further and further to become the best soldier he could possibly be. Because when the time came, when he graduated as a trainee and became a full-fledged soldier he wanted to kill as many titans as possible. He wanted to be able to rid humanity from this plague.
Only at night he allowed himself to forget about his objective to slaughter all titans in order to leave these walls. Then he dreamed of the day he would be able to travel everywhere in this world, the day he would become free. He lived for that day, because to him whoever saw everything that was out there must be the freest person in this world. And that's what he aspired to be.
He still remembers the night he met him: the man who has all these prospects and more.
The moon was almost full. Eren stood on the hill and beheld it's reflection in the lake beneath him. A soft breeze rippled the surface of the water and made the leaves in the trees rustle. It was early spring. He'd turned 15 only recently.
'Beautiful night,' a male voice said behind him and almost made him jump. He hadn't expected someone to come out here.
As Eren turned his gaze fell upon a man who stood a few feet away and watched him. From what he could make out in the pale moonlight the man wore a strange set of clothing. The dark trousers and jacket looked both unusual stiff – it was nothing like the clothes Eren knew. But the most prominent thing was the bow the man had tied around the collar of his shirt. Eren couldn't recall ever seeing a man wear something funny like this.
'I'm sorry,' the man said with a half-smile. He was tall and swayed a little as he stepped closer. 'I didn't mean to startle you.'
Eren eyed him suspiciously as he approached. He still was reluctant when meeting new people – not to mention that this stranger absolutely didn't belong here. He seemed almost out of this world.
'I'm the Doctor by the way,' the man introduced himself, not at all discouraged by Eren's reserved silence and sceptic look.
'A doctor,' Eren repeated askance.
'No, the Doctor – 'Doctor' is my name,' the man corrected.
'Doctor is a title.'
The stranger gave a short laugh which caused Eren to narrow his eyebrows even more.
'Usually it is,' he agreed. 'But in my case it's a name. Everybody's always confused at first, but they usually get the hang of it quite quickly.'
Eren kept his silence. He still didn't know what this Doctor was doing here near the training grounds of the military that were north-east of the Trost District. It was too suspicious.
'And, what's your name?' the Doctor inquired chattily. If he was aware of the boy's mistrust he didn't get fazed by it.
A moment of silence passed until Eren finally gave his name. The Doctor smiled widely again at hearing it.
'Hello Eren, nice to meet you.' He nodded his head forward in what seemed like the indication of a bow.
A truly strange fellow, Eren noted. Maybe that piqued his interest a little and made him want to learn more about this man.
'So, Doctor, are you an actual doctor though?' he asked.
'Not really,' the Doctor admitted reluctantly. 'Not at all, actually.'
'What do you do then?'
Another short smile at Eren's growing curiosity.
'Mostly I travel.'
'Travel? Where to?'
As far as Eren knew, people always had a distinct reason to go somewhere – and they definitely had a destination. It was not a very common thing to do, though.
'Here, there, wherever it takes me,' the Doctor was unspecific. He paused while he seemed to consider something.
'You know, I have this… this machine with which I travel through time and space,' he added then in a low voice. Excitement sparked in his eyes as he shared the information.
'What do you mean 'travel through time and space'?' Eren asked confused. He had never heard of someone travelling through time – how was that even supposed to work – and what was that 'space' he was referring to?
The strange man with the weird combination of clothes laughed silently as he realised that the boy had probably never heard of the concept of time travel. He would have to be less scientific about this.
'Basically it means,' he began joyful, 'that I can go to any place I want and see it at any time of its existence.'
The green eyes of Eren grew wide as he began to comprehend these words. They sounded like a sweet dream, too fantastic to be true.
'Any place you want…,' he repeated enchanted and the Doctor nodded in affirmation.
'Even the ocean?' the boy wanted to know eagerly. 'Even the other end of the world?'
The man with the bow tie laughed in delight.
'Even' – he leaned in to Eren, raising his index finger towards the sky and moving around until it pointed at one of the faintly glimmering lights in the dark blue orbit. He eyed Eren to make sure his eyes were following the direction his finger indicated – 'that star.'
Glancing to his left he took in the boy's reaction, eyes growing even wider and mouth gaping open. It was certainly pleasant to see him in such awe at the prospect.
'And I can get back by yesterday, if I want to,' the Doctor added, though he doubted Eren would grasp the concept of time travel easily.
They spent some more time looking into the night sky. For the first time the boy saw all the possibilities it held. He had wanted to go beyond the wall, but never had he thought it possible to visit the stars. How many were even out there? They seemed uncountable, going on forever in the darkness of the night sky.
'You must be the freest person in this world,' Eren whispered in wonder.
Again the Doctor laughed silently. He had never considered it like that. But yes, maybe the boy was right. Maybe he was not only the freest person in this world, maybe he was the freest being in the whole wide universe. The thought certainly had a nice ring to it. But in the long run even being free was only half as wonderful if you had no one to share it with.
'I could take you with me, you know,' he offered. 'Take you wherever you want to go.'