"Are you ready Eren?"

Eren shifted nervously in his chair, eliciting a low groan from the old worn wood. The candles flickered dimly on the table across from him. The atmosphere in the small humid room was so thick he felt as though he could almost grab it as it hung in the air above his head. He found himself only able to swallow nervously, making him feel cowardly and weak due to his own lack of confidence in the eccentric scientist before him. He could not quite source why he felt so uneasy, and it was starting to make him restless. A dark figure moved from its place in the corner of the room.

"Let's hurry this up Four-Eyes. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to and I'm sure the brat doesn't either." The Corporal emerged from the shadows of the confined space, his piercing black eyes trained on the auburn women just a mere foot away from where Eren sat. He did not sound even remotely annoyed, his tone was as emotionless as always; however, the scientist in front of him either did not hear him or was deliberately ignoring him.

"Oh I'm so excited! I began developing this experiment ever since we figured out about your special abilities and I have never been happier to perform a test like this in my life! Of course there is always Sawney and Bean … but this could pave the way for new Titan advancements! I've run the numbers and checked the chemicals over a million times and I'm fairly certain that I have the correct procedure …" While Hanji continued her rant Eren found his mind wandering, retaking him down the road it took him to get into his current situation.

He recalled the moment he transformed into his Titan. Recollecting the overwhelming shock, the confusion, and the boiling rage he did not remember he had, only until the image of his mother flashed across his mind. Even thinking about it now sent a shockwave of mixed emotions through his mind. He knew now that this was how he was going to live for the rest of his life, with the fate of humanity and seemingly the weight of the world resting on his shoulders. It was a lot to take in so he decided the best thing to do at the time was to channel the turmoil inside of him into the missions he went on. At first he thought he was doing well but eventually Armin took the liberty of informing him that he could see right through his 'surprisingly fragile' mask and that he could see his mental state cracking slowly under the enormous pressure. Although he just agreed that his best friend was probably right, he had to admit it had bothered him best friend had, in essence, called him crazy.

The interest Hanji showed in unlocking the secrets to his Titan form was enough to stun him to silence. She was always interested to share her research with him, and he was willing to listen … most of the time. She began to express an interest in running tests on him and he was willing to participate in her cause. He honestly did not mind, she was only doing her job and with such enthusiasm and zeal that it had become something Eren found himself admiring her for. He felt the same passion for annihilating every Titan that he laid eyes on, and the ones beyond his vision. In fact he felt that way for every one of the damn things that existed. He wanted nothing more than to see them all evaporate into nothing after their worthless lives where terminated. If that meant that he had to go along with the meticulous experiments Hanji created to learn more about the unknown then so be it.

Then there was Levi.

Eren had honestly not expected that humanity's most powerful solider would have been willing to protect him at all costs. He could tell Levi was doing the best he could when it came to Hanji and her experiments and Eren truly did appreciate his (Levi's) efforts. If she even mentioned the word 'pain' in a discussion of possible new experiments to try out he would shut her down with only a look. They appeared to be friends, so they would occasionally tease each other, but when Eren's safety was on the line Hanji knew to honor Levi's wishes. Needless to say he was very good at his job.

Eren respected the Corporal, but he could not help but feel that he was nothing but a liability to the shorter man. Levi had an entire squad to look after, aside from watching him, so he could not imagine why he would even bother with a 'brat', as he called him.

The question had been nagging Eren for some time now but he could never seem to gather up the courage to ask older man. He felt awkward and self-conscious around Levi due to the fact that if he lost control of himself Levi would end his short fifteen year life in an instant. It was a scary thought, even for a Titan-shifter, as he still had only begun his journey to defeat the Titan's. His aspirations could be shattered as quickly as slice through the neck. Eren knew Levi had killed more Titans than he could count, so why would he be any different?

"… I never thought that anything could go that wrong but lone behold I have a dead Titan corpse evaporating right in front of my eyes. He sure was beautiful too! It was such a shame we-"

"Hanji, shut the fuck up. You've been talking for five minutes, hurry your shit up." Levi glared at Hanji, who looked slightly taken back by his words. She gathered herself quickly though, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Woops, looks like I got off on a tangent again … Oh well no big deal. Looks like mister impatient pants over there wants to get back to dusting his floor so I suppose I'll get a move on." Hanji smirked and turned on the balls of her feet to face the table behind her. Levi rolled his eyes but said nothing. Eren could only sit in his chair in awe, wondering what Hanji had spoken to him about while he had left the world of the living to evaluate his thoughts. He must have been thinking too hard about everything. But who could blame him?

Metal and glasses clanked dully as the seemingly mad scientist before him gathered all the necessary supplies to begin the experiment. Copper wires littered the table and coiled loosely around tall glasses filled with unidentifiable liquids. Countless papers of almost illegible notes were scrawled across each page strewn about the surface. Journals were stacked in small towers on the corners of the table with fringed papers lazily peeking out of the yellowed worn pages. He did not know how, but Hanji somehow managed to identify all the essential components needed to run her tests amid the chaos that was her work table. She pulled out two metal pans and began pouring various dark liquids into them. She wrapped a wire around an odd looking contraption that Eren could not quite see. Muttering a quick "Give me a second." She continued to work on assembling her mechanism while whispering incoherent phrases under breath.

Eren found his eyes wandering. It took him a second to register that his eyes had landed straight on Levi, who had shifted back slightly to the shadowed corner of the room, not wanting to get in the way. That or he was bored. Either one would not have surprised Eren. Levi stood silently watching Hanji prepare what she needed. His face was as stoic as usual, and Eren could not help but wonder what the man had seen outside the walls to make him the way he was now. Suddenly he slapped himself mentally, considering how inappropriate it would be to ask about the personal life of a Captain. It was hard enough for him talk about the events of his own past, he could not imagine the pain it might cause Levi (without him showing it of course) to talk about his years leading up to the present. Come to think of it Eren did not even know his superior's age …

Levi turned his head quicker than Eren could register. He stared back into the mysteriously dark eyes of the shorter man for slightly longer than intended before he pulled away as quickly as possible. What he did not see was that Levi raised a thin eyebrow in response to unexpected shyness of the younger boy. He was usually so headstrong and loudmouthed, was the nature of this experiment unnerving to him? Whatever it was only bothered Levi for a second before his attention shifted back to Hanji. She had stopped muttering under breath and addressed Eren.

"Ok, I am just going to attach this wire ring with two of the two wires on the sides onto your head. Don't move a single muscle. If you even so much as bat an eye you might disrupt the measure of electromagnetic impulses from your brain. It shouldn't hurt … I can't imagine why it would. It's only heated a little bit. But don't move and we won't have to worry about it ok?" She smiled sincerely as she carefully placed the ring in the right position atop his head. Eren heard a short tsk behind her.

"Cut the crap Hanji, you've already scared the kid shitless." Hanji turned around and gave Levi an incredulous look, but he was not looking at her. He was eyeing the materials on the table. They really did not look safe … but he had to trust that the scientist before him knew what she was doing.

"Ok, fine you can move, but not too much. You hear me? If the readings are interrupted this entire experiment could go to waste! I'm sure both of you wouldn't want that as much as I wouldn't." She didn't sound annoyed, rather mildly amused at Levi's consistent impatience. She turned around to face Eren again, this time she held a rather odd looking object in her hands. It was some sort of glass cup with leather bands slipped through holes in the sides. The strange item would not have worried Eren at any other time but once he noticed the fabric tube extending from a hole cut in the glass he found himself panicking internally. What was this mad woman planning?

"I'm just going to put this around your mouth so don't freak out. You can still breathe, hence the tube. I'm going to filter in different chemical gases and gauge the reactions I can observe … Don't look at me like that none of them are supposed to be that deadly! I've tested enough chemicals and I found several I hypothesize will hopefully trigger a reaction within your Titan shifting impulses. The chemicals will hopefully ignite the synapses that connect you to your Titan. Granted we still don't know how your father managed to get Titan DNA inside of you, I would kill to know what is in your father's basement, so therefore I can't even say for certain where the reaction is triggered in your brain. Science is only so concrete; sometimes we have to take a leap of faith. I take full reasonability if you die," She winked at Eren much to his horror, "But you're a tough young man aren't you?"

"O-of course." Eren stuttered, his voice hoarse from hardly speaking this evening. She grinned wildly.

"Don't be so scared. I'm pretty well versed in the sciences so I can't imagine anything going out of my hands."

"Don't be so cocky Four-Eyes. You can hardly guarantee your own safety while running your experiments, what makes you think you can guarantee his?" Levi scoffed. Hanji turned around slowly.

"You may be right about that but you know firsthand how much endangering myself has benefited the rest of humanity. I don't care what it takes." She pointed a finger accusingly at the shaded source of the voice. He could barely make out Levi's still stoic expression. Levi sighed.

"I prefer you not endanger the kid. I was charged with keeping him in line and if you end up killing him how will that reflect on me?" So Eren was right. Levi did not care, so long as his duty was fulfilled. It did not really bother him (Eren) … it was actually good to know. Although he was glad to finally have a clear idea of what the Captain thought of him, Eren started to grow impatient from the stalling of the experiment. They had gone through all the preparations for this?

"Can we continue with the experiment?" Eren interjected, instantly feeling two pairs of eyes fall on him. Hanji looked from Levi to Eren a few times before gathering her thoughts. Levi looked at Eren indifferently.

"Yes you're right Eren, looks like I let my concentration switch from the task at hand. Let me just get a few more things in order." She began grabbing more foreign objects and containers, mixing chemicals and labeling charts. After a few short, tense minutes Hanji spoke quickly and clearly.

"Alright, I've finally got all my things in order. I apologize for my disorganization. Ok hold still, don't speak, and clear your mind. If you feel any pain or discomfort at all bat your eyes five times fast. I prefer that be the only move you make, after all the less the better! Alright I'm going to light the mixtures in the pan right here," She pointed to the inside of a funnel connected to the end of the fabric tube, "and when I do the liquid will start to melt and the gases released will, ideally, travel up through and into the mask you are wearing. It might smell unpleasant but that's only natural to the chemicals needed for this experiment. I'm going measure the amount of heat that is admitted through the wires around your head after I light the chemicals … this should give a clue as to whether or not your Titan is responsive to chemical stimuli. Again, if you feel uncomfortable at any time bat your eyes five times. Whew … I've talked enough, now it's time to let science have its turn!"

Hanji was giddy with excitement as she lit the wooden match and held it above the metallic liquids below. The silvery mixture sparkled under the low light of the flame looking sinisterly beautiful considering its purpose. Hanging it low enough to almost graze the surface of the thin liquid Hanji, watched for a considerable amount of time, waiting for any signs of evaporation. Finally the mixture began to sizzle and steam, releasing fumes straight into the tube as planned. Hanji and Levi could only watch as more time passed without a significant change in Eren's behavior, the heat of the wires, and the chemicals themselves.

"Well this was a pointless." They the two thought in unison.

Unannounced to pair, Eren was experiencing something just as mysterious as the strange liquids that somehow burned before him. An itchy sensation planted itself into the back of his head, annoying him to no end and breaking his focus. Hanji was right, the chemicals did have a foul odor and he found himself lightheaded and sluggish. He tried to blink away the dizziness but his eyes hurt inside and he could not bring himself to do such a trivial task. His vision progressively became splotchy. His nose burned and his mouth was as dry. It was not quick, but the changes he began feeling throughout his body slowly caused panic to swell inside of his chest. Seeing as to that his mind was seemingly shutting down, he could not remember for the life of him what he had been instructed to do in case he felt this way. Eren tried to speak but once again found it too painful to even complete the action in its simplest form. It would not have mattered anyway. He could not even remember what he had wanted to say.

Then, in a sharp contrast to the gradual distress he had felt, a stab of almost unbearable pain ignited within the back of his mind. His lips finally parted as he gasped for air in shock and agony. Hanji and Levi both sprang into action quickly, Hanji dropped the match into the pan and Levi was at her side in the blink of an eye. He could see their mouths moving, mostly likely asking him if he was alright, but he could not respond. The pain was constant and sharp, and it felt as though the very tissues of his brain were being burned inside of him. He could feel the heat of the wire ring around his head which only added to his agony as it burned into the soft skin of his scalp beneath his slowly charring hair. Black mixed with red as each wave of pain caused the boy to cringe violently. Sweat beads formed across his forehead as he tried to hold back the screams welling up inside his throat but it was losing battle.

And then Eren screamed.

He screamed a blood curdling scream that could most likely be heard throughout the entire lower basement and maybe even the rest of the stone complex. Hanji and Levi both stared in horror as the young boy in front of them bent forward in an almost unnatural way in the wooden chair. He attempted to grab ahold of his head several times but found he could not due to the excessive heat from the wires that trapped him in a glowing web. The lustrous liquid continued to bubble and boil inside the pan on top of the table. Candle lights flickered and even the shadows themselves could not escape the tortured screams of the agonized Titan shifter.

Levi was the first to regain his senses. In seconds he was at Eren's right violently shoving his shoulder, quickly glancing over the boy's face which was marred with pain. It was written across his unblinking eyes; something was inflicting pain inside of him, the real question was what? Could it be the dangerous chemicals that could have attacked his bloodstream? Or could it have been possible that Hanji had induced the reaction she had hoped for, igniting a response to Eren's Titan? Whatever the reason was could wait to be discovered because at the moment it appeared that Eren might not even live through this violent episode.

"What the hell is wrong with you Eren? Why the fuck are you screaming?! What happened?" He shouted uselessly at the younger boy. The raven haired man quickly shot his head back around to the auburn haired woman who was now scrambling to write something down in an old notebook.

"Hanji you need to fucking do something to stop this! For God sakes you can't be writing notes!" Levi struggled to be heard above Eren's deafening screams. Hanji was wide eyed as her hand glided blindingly fast across the yellowed parchment. She seemed to have only partially heard what he said.

"This is what I was waiting for! I did it! I sparked a reaction within a Titan!" She had a mad glint in her eyes that Rivaille had never seen before. She was their only chance at stopping whatever this response Eren was having to the chemicals and she was too blind by her research to see that it was damaging him. Motivated solely by the adrenaline that coursed through his veins, Levi began to reach for the glass mask that covered the boy's face. His usually skilled fingers fumbled to grab ahold of the leather straps that held the mask in place. He nearly had the clasp behind his head undone but at that moment Eren jerked his head up from yet another wave of pain, colliding with Levi's jaw. The impact sent him whirling; his back smacked against the stone floor with a hard thud. Stunned and slightly confused, he watched in horror at the scene before him.

A trail of red began to blossom it's from Eren's nose. The color was so vibrant and sharp compared to the dull, numbing atmosphere of the room. Eren's cries of pain echoed off the walls making the sound even more deafening. He wanted nothing more than to end the boys suffering so that in turn his would end as well.

It took only seconds for Levi to launch himself back into action. He did not know what the repercussions of his actions would be but he took the risk none the less. He grabbed at wires that sat atop the boy's head, glowing hot and resembling that of a demented halo. God was laughing at him again and he knew it. As his hands clamped down around the scathing metal he felt something he could not quite explain push into his mind. It had the power of a dull headache but it seemed to push into his mind instead of emanating from it. It felt almost like being underwater in a glass cage with someone pounding on the external surface.

Levi could faintly hear deep voices in the back of his mind, saying incoherent things he knew he would never understand. The burning in his fingers reduced to a mild tingling and numbness over swept every nerve in his brain. He tried to tighten his grasp on reality but only found himself slipping further into the dark void surrounding his consciousness. This confusion in his mind was foreign to him. He was used to having a focus sharper than knives and wits as fast as the beats of a hummingbird's wings. It was not like him to panic because he usually had any situation, no matter how dangerous, under control. But this was beyond his reach. This was something he did not understand.

A flash of immense pain pierced deep into the back of his brain, causing him to bark out a curse of pain. Within seconds everything went black.

…

"Eren! Eren! Are you ok? Eren answer me!" Hanji shouted hysterically as she shook the limp shoulder of the boy aggressively.

The boy abruptly opened his eyes. Hanji peered over her glasses straight at the distorted reflection of herself painted across his cornea. Suddenly his greenish-blue eyes narrowed and his eyebrows pulled together, the expression looked eerily out of place in comparison to his usually livid features. He coughed up a small pool of blood across his shirt as he weakly propped himself up on one elbow.

"Why the hell are you calling me Eren, Four-Eyes?"