Chapter Text
Eren’s first steps into his new home weren’t all that great. However, this wasn’t like fifteen years ago; now he stood tall and confident, eyes flashing dangerously at guards and inmates alike. Honestly, Eren did look rather intimidating. His ankles were chained together, wrists cuffed behind his back, and a collar with poles attached hung around his neck. Two men on either side of him held the poles, a lot like one would do with an aggressive animal to prevent them from biting.
Eren had been in and out of detention centers his entire life, starting from the age of eight, where he was held temporarily in a juvenile center as a trial for charges of manslaughter went down. This was all he knew, and all he would ever know, thanks to the lifetime charges he’d just landed himself with. To Eren, this was simply status quo, and he was nothing short of confident as he strolled through the doors.
He went through procedure upon entry: since this facility was multi-presentational, special protocol had been put into place. Eren was sprayed with scent blockers until the Betas deemed him acceptably neutral, and then was collared with a red tag which displayed his presentation as an Alpha, as well as his class and the barcode which identified him as a prisoner. Eren idly wondered what class he was this time. Last place had started him on A, but by the time he left he had been graded as triple S. What a dump, that place had been. Who the hell approved having an Alpha-only detention center? Fights had broken out nearly every day as a result of the tensions between Alphas, but at least there Eren knew what everyone was.
Here was a little different, as everyone’s scent had been blocked. You could still tell by the tags, but one couldn’t accurately gauge the danger of another if their scent was blocked. It was like speaking- scents carried emotions and tone that voices couldn’t always put words to, and not having it left Eren feeling bare and more than a little annoyed. Being vulnerable, especially in this new environment, did not sit well with his inner Alpha. He couldn’t let his guard down; this center held the best and brightest in the field of criminal activity. Not only that, but this place also had special protocol concerning the hormones of their occupants. Honestly, this place seemed like a glorified hospital to Eren. They had all kinds of doctors on the premises equipped to deal with any and every kind of riot.
Speaking of doctors, Eren should probably listen to the one in front of him right now.
“…we expect you to be on your best behavior, always. This is your last chance. It’s this or the chair, and to be frank we won’t hesitate to put you up there. All staff here are well-trained to deal with your… special case. Understood?”
“Sure, bud,” came Eren’s condescending response. He smiled politely as the doctor grimaced in irritation before him.
“We’re going to give you an injection to dampen your instinctual drives,” the doctor continued. “However, I’m not authorized to give it to you, so you’ll wait in here until the head doctor arrives.” The man guided him into an empty room with a singular chair. He shuffled in, and sat down, chains still rattling, nose wrinkling at the sterile smell. Seriously, it was as if they had a bleach scented Glade in here.
The door closed, locking behind itself, and Eren slumped over in his chair. This place had too many precautionary shots and sprays and patches. His stomach growled. When was he going to get some of that slop they passed off as food here?
Suddenly the door flew open with a bang, as if someone had jarred it open with way too much enthusiasm.
“Hi!”
The person who entered the room, presumably the head doctor, was strange looking. Their mousy brown hair was haphazardly thrown into a ponytail, and glasses framed their eyes, which were currently brimming with enthusiasm.
“I’m Doctor Hange Zoë. And aren’t you a cute one, huh?”
Well that was the first time since he was five that someone had referred to him as cute.
“Not much of a talker, eh? That’s ok, you’ll be chatting it up with me in no time after a day in Iso. Sorry about that by the way, protocol and everything! Gotta make sure you don’t react badly to the blockers or shots.”
Eren nodded his head.
“Okay,” they said as they dabbed his arm with antiseptic. “And…here we go!” They stuck the needle in his arm briefly. Eren didn’t so much as blink at the intrusion.
“What a model patient!” The doctor exclaimed. “Okay, and now some blood…. Awesome. This is going to be so interesting. I wonder if they’d let me do some tests on you?” The head doctor then cackled as if struck by a funny thought. “Hah! As if they would let me. No way are they going to risk you getting aggressive.”
“Then how come they let you alone in this room with me?”
“Ah, he speaks!” The doctor exclaimed. “This is a holding cell. If you acted up, they’d gas you immediately and you’d drop like a hammer on a nail.”
“Fun.” Eren said dryly.
“Well, you know how it is; after that last incident, it’s a miracle they let you out of the last place to come here! But don’t worry, you’ll get along great with the other inmates. Besides, we’ve got more variety here than your average jail.” They said, winking.
Eren gave a hum of acknowledgement. This was a rather interesting facility. Alphas, Betas, and even some Omegas had found their way into this place.
“Alright, well, I’ve gotta dash. See you around Eren!” A moment of seriousness crossed their features. “I wouldn’t suggest acting up, honeybunches. Not good to cause a scene around here.”
And then she was gone, and guards chained Eren back up and lead him to isolation, where he would be spending the rest of his day.
However as he entered the cell, he realized that he would not be off the hook with the chains. He dutifully sat in the bed as guards strung his arms up to either side. Honestly, was he so much of a monster that they had to keep him chained up 24/7?
It had only been hours since he had entered the premises and already a feeling was pulling in his gut, telling him something was wrong. Eren had half a mind to punch his own stomach if he could; he was tired of dealing with instincts for the day. The Alpha within him had been enraged at the suggestion of scent blockers. Not that he could have done anything about it- he had been chained up six ways from Sunday, and this was his last chance. It was this or the chair. Eren couldn’t help but wonder if being on the chair would be better than this miserable excuse of a life.
Those were his last thoughts as he drifted off into a fitful sleep.
. . . . . .
“Rise and shine, Mr. Alpha-man!” A familiar voice cackled as Eren opened his eyes. He moved to rub the sleep out of them, tensing slightly when he couldn’t, his arms obstructed by chains.
Standing in front of his cell was none other than Doctor Zoë, who was smiling wide as she unlocked the door. Of course, who else would call him ‘Alpha-man’.
“Your day in Isolation is up!” They trilled. “Time to go meet all your new friends. And also,”’ They said as she scented the room, “you may want to re-apply those scent blockers because it smells like an angry Alpha in here. Not that I can blame you- you must be going crazy with all those chains!”
The doctor moved to unlock his restraints. Eren heard a male voice from just outside his cell call out a warning to the head doctor. “Doctor, please be careful! He’s aggressive.”
“Oh come on Hannes, we’re friends!”
“It’s still not a good idea to unchain him.”
“Well you can gas the room if it makes you feel better.”
Eren couldn’t help but wonder if all of these rooms equipped with gassing technology, or if it was just his.
“Okey dokey, that should do it!” Doctor Zoë exclaimed as the last of the chains fell. Eren rubbed his wrists out of habit. The abrasions caused by the rough metal were already healing. The head doctor took notice of his wrists and quickly whipped a small notebook out of their pocket.
“Accelerating healing process, huh? You’re such an interesting specimen Eren”
“Thanks, I try.” Eren murmured dryly.
“Hah! And funny too. Come on sweetums, I’m here to take you to breakfast.”
The head doctor lead Eren through the halls, out of Iso, and into a bigger main hallway where inmates were lined up against the wall
It was roll call, and Eren stood dutifully in line as the names were called in a bland voice. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered the dull voice yell ‘Jaeger’ and he raised his hand in indication. He caught some of the other names as well, but none stood out to him. Except… he kept smelling something odd. It wasn’t bad; actually it smelled delicious. However, it made him feel uncomfortably angry. Not the primal rage that he was used to, but more like a possessive rage. Jealousy? Whatever it was, it was putting him on edge, and by the time he had sat down at breakfast he had worked himself into what some might call a bad mood.
He stabbed his eggs with a little more violence than necessary, and ended up breaking the plastic fork in his grip.
“Woah there, pal. You’re gonna murder your eggs if you keep that up,” said a voice to his left.
“Look, I’m really not in the mood to deal with other people right now.” He almost growled, keeping his eyes on his plate. He could feel anger boiling under his skin, barely contained. What was up with him?
“Wow, who shat in your cheerios?”
“Okay, since you need me to spell it out.” Eren stood up, knocking the chair over at the sudden movement. He faced where the voice came from, finding a stocky man with two-toned hair fronting him with a cocky smirk. “I don’t really feel up to this whole socializing thing. So I would suggest you leave, or risk having your face become thoroughly acquainted with my fist.”
“Oh, tough type, I see. Let’s see if you’re all you’ve been worked up to be, huh?” He said, as he brought his fists up near his temples. This guy was too eager to fight, and Eren couldn’t help but feel like he was being baited. Of course, he also couldn’t help but feel that he didn’t care in the slightest. This man was offering an outlet for this anger, and honestly, Eren was almost glad that he had provoked him.
With a menacing growl, Eren followed suit, cocking his fists, prepared to block and throw if needed. Across the cafeteria he vaguely heard some sort of commotion as the guards caught onto what was about to go down. Or what wasn’t, as the two-toned man’s eyes flashed with fear. What he saw before him was no ordinary Alpha- his eyes shown with a primal rage, red glinting off of them. The pheromones rolled off of him, sending a clear message: back off, or I’ll make you.
Despite that, the ash-brown punched first, what would have been a direct blow to his opponent’s cheekbone, had he still been there. Eren moved with inhuman speed, dodging the hit and delivering his own punch to the other man’s gut. The force of the blow sent the man stumbling backwards, falling as he tripped over his feet. Eren strode over and kneeled on his chest, prepared to rain down blows on this threat. Wait…threat? Eren was confused for a second. What exactly was he trying to protect? This man was obviously no threat to him. So what was he doing?
Eren couldn’t maintain that train of thought as his inner Alpha soared inside of him.It was pleased to have found something to pound its anger into, so he growled before baring his teeth at the man below him. His opponent let out a quiet whimper, and tilted his head up and to the side, exposing his jugular in a clear sign of submission. Eren was about to threaten the man, but suddenly he felt a slight twinge in his left shoulder. He looked over, eyeing the small dart before ripping it out; of course they would pull all the stops on him. His vision blurred slightly and his hearing echoed a bit, but other than that the Alpha rose to his feet, unfazed.
Guards were on him in an instant, having finally made their way over. He didn’t fight as they roughly pulled his arms into cuffs, but allowed his gaze to watch over the cafeteria of inmates. He sent a clear message: don’t fuck with me. His eyes caught briefly on one inmate, who happened to be the only one not observing him fearfully. Eren nearly doubled over as the jealous rage washed through him again. What the fuck was going on?