Chapter Text
"Mr. Haywood! If you struggle one more time I'm going to tear off those horns with my hands!" A nurse growled as she kept trying to peer into the man's bull ears to ensure they were healthy.
Ryan never liked having a vet check-up, they made him feel uneasy instinctively.
"Thank you, now... The other ear" She groaned as he sat on the table having a tantrum like a four year old.
Meg sighed in her office as she filled out piles of paperwork, though it paid off to help poor hybrids get better it wasn't easy work in any way.
Humans and Hybrids have lived in harmony for some time now. well, if you call being domesticated in a home like bird or a cat for the whole of your life then yes, they have lived peacefully together with no disruptions.
Just like a normal pet, Hybrids do require to have check-ups and medication to ensure that their health is in perfect condition.
Lots of families do adopt hybrids like a second child, some couples also do so when procreation isn't the option.
A light knock came from her door, Meg rose from her wooden chair to open it.
"Hey Burnie, what can I do for you?" She smiled.
Burnie had a clipboard in his hands, he seemed to be quickly flicking through the papers as he occasionally looked up.
"It seems you're going to be examining Mr. Narvaez this afternoon since Gus already has his hands full"
Ah shit, she thought while rubbing the bridge of her nose. Nobody wanted to examine that patient, during the year that the man kept coming back colleagues found it incredibly hard to treat him since he was quite timid. Last time he came at least two doctors had bite marks on the arms.
"Do I have to?" She moaned
"M'fraid so Meg" Burnie replied with a faint smile as he wrote something on the papers and walked off.
Meg sighed and closed the door behind her as she walked to down to corridor to the reception looking in other offices as she went by.
Barbara was unlucky enough to be treating the Jones feline, never too far from his anger flaring it seemed. Stand too close and he'll give you some scratches to remember. His eye infection was still quite severe which made the cat grumpy.
"Hey Arryn" Meg said as she walked over to the desk, Arryn was best option for a receptionist and everyone agreed. She always had a light mood with a smile on her face ready to greet people.
"Hey Meg" She replied "Need me to print out your schedule for this afternoon?"
"Yeah that'd be great"
The printer made loud distracting noises as it spat out sheets of paper still warm from being printed, she quickly picked up the pile and handed it to Meg who thanked her quietly before turning back to the office.
A few hours went past and she had finished her paperwork with a terrible hand cramp, looking at her watch she sighed. Time to do a check up on Mr. Narzaez.
Walking over to the waiting room she called out his name.
"Ray Narzaez Jr.?" A woman stood up pulling up Ray with her, he looked somewhat anxious as they walked behind Meg to the room and entered.
"You are Miss Tina Dayton I presume?" Meg asked as she closed the door and held out her hand, Tina held out her hand as well to shake.
"Yes I am"
"Would you mind taking a seat there while Ray sits on the bench?"
"No, not at all" Tina smiled as she signalled to Ray to sit down.
"Okay..." Meg mumbled as she grabbed a clipboard "What seems to be the problem today?"
"Ray won't let me check his ears and I think there might be something stuck in one of them" Tina explained as she stared at the big rabbit ears.
"Ah, okay. Ray... I know you get stressed around people but I need you to let me touch your ears. If we don't check them it could get worse" Ray didn't look over to Meg at any point, he only played with his hands nervously.
Gently reaching out Meg attempted to grab one of the ears when Ray tensed up quickly and shook it it out her grasp. She tried again but with luck this time making sure to hold tighter to ensure he wouldn't move.
"Okay" She whispered while letting go to grab the other ear, as soon as Meg touched the other he jumped and ran into a corner.
"That ear is the problem then" She chuckled half-heartedly "Would you?"
Tina nodded "Ray get back on the table" she said with a stern tone of voice, he slowly got back on slightly shaking.
Grabbing the ear and peering in it had appeared a cotton bud had gotten lodged inside the inner part. Picking it quickly but carefully she let go allowing Ray to calm down.
"I think we might need to keep Ray away from small objects from now on, there is the risk of this happening again"
"Okay, I can do that" Tina replied with a tone of understanding "Thank you Doctor Turney"
"Anytime" She smiled opening the door politely for the two. Right outside of her room was Blaine leaning against the wall and staring at the vending machine.
"Lunch break?" She asked Blaine who started counting his change slowly.
"Yeah, luckily today we haven't been called out for any abandoned or abused hybrids. Makes me feel a lot more relaxed right now. Hmm... Fuck it. KitKat it is"
He punched in the numbers of the vending machine and waited for the satisfying noise of the item dropping into the take out flap.
"That's good. It still makes me angry that some people would harm them just because they can!" Meg growled clenching her fists tightly.
"Don't worry about it so much Meg we always help them to best of our abilities, think of the amount of abused Hybrids you've helped get better. If we didn't help who knows how long these guys would get abused" Blaine replied calmly as he bent down and reached for the KitKat in the lower part of the vending machine.
Meg took a deep breath and closed her eyes "I guess you're right Blaine, go on, go eat your kitkat" she giggled.
"See ya" Blaine mumbled with a mouth full of chocolate as he walked to the staff room "Remember to eat as well! Everyone knows how distracted you get with paperwork!" He added.
"Sure..." She mumbled to herself.
---
The night was cold and distant, yet it felt so welcoming to the hybrid as he lay slumped against a hard brick wall.
It hadn't been an easy time for him since his owner who was so kind turned sour and decided they didn't want him anymore.
He thought about it a lot, about what he did wrong. Maybe it was because he fought back the punches, or was it the kicks?
Alleyways were his home now, humans were something he never wanted to see again. They all wanted to kill him, they all wanted to hurt him. They're all... Loveless.
A footstep echoed in the darkness of the alleyways but by now the hunger and pain had made him too weak to react.
"Go away... Go away I don't need humans" He moaned weakly with his eyes closed. The footsteps got closer and closer until they suddenly stopped.
---
The sun had just begun to set as Meg's shift was ending and another colleague's was starting. She grabbed her coat after finishing up her forms and head for the entrance before being stopped by Burnie.
"Remember that the paperwork needs to be given in tomorrow"
"Sure thing" She replied walking out the doors and into the light of the dying sun.
Half an hour had passed since Meg left and she was sure that the right turn she took into the alleyways was not right. It was a gut feeling of sorts.
A small rustle caught her attention but she shrugged it off until it came back louder.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" She quietly echoed in the darkness of the alleyways. The rustle returned as if replying to her question.
Meg edged closer and held out her hand to find something, anything hiding in the darkness until something soft touched her fingertips. A feather. Followed by a dull grey pigeon coming out from the shadows.
"Hah, you gotta be careful around these parts Mr. Pigeon there's alley cats" she giggled when suddenly a groan came from behind it as she stood up quickly.
"Hello?" She whispered stepping closer.
"Go away" It groaned "Go away... I don't need humans" A hybrid, Meg thought alarmed as she searched frantically for a keyring torch in her bag, ah, she whispered when it was found.
With a click it turned on revealing the Hybrid.
It was a Bird Hybrid, but the species was almost impossible to tell due to the abuse and damage on the wings. Many feathers were missing, there was large patches of unknown black substances and the person didn't look too good either.
The body frame was thin, skeletal like almost and grey with dirt and grime as it slumped against the cold brick walls. The breaths were shallow, weak and raspy. Though it didn't want her to come any closer it didn't look like it would put up much of a fight.
"Hello, I'm Megan. I'm going to help you but first I need you to tell me some information about yourself, okay?" Meg said gently as she punched in the numbers for the emergency line of the Veterinary Hospital.
It nodded weakly not bothering to even open its eyes.
"Okay let's start with your name... Can you tell me your name?"
"Gavin"
"Okay Gavin, would you be able to tell me how long you've been here?"
"No... It doesn't matter. They'll come back if I say... They said I can't tell nobody"
The phone dialled as she frowned "Who will come back?"
Gavin shook his head "No one... I can't tell you"
"Yes, Blaine? I need you here immediately. Alleyways downtown, quickly. What? YES BRING THE VAN!" She growled at the other end of the line as she hung up.
Meg reached out to touch Gavin's wings when he flinched and tried to shuffle away. She noticed many colours of bruise dotted across his arms and face. She dreaded to think the severity of the bruises under his ragged purple top.
"I need you open your eyes" She asked firmly "please"
He did as commanded painfully revealing his murky green irises, they didn't look very healthy, she thought sadly.
"Why do you want to help me? I don't deserve to be helped... That's what they told me"
She sighed, this one would take time to rehabilitate. How long had he been told these lies? How long they been inflicting the deep bruises?
A familiar rumble of the emergency van came closer as Blaine jumped out of the driver's seat to run to Meg, she glanced over quickly to see the horror and shock on his face.
"Oh my god..." He quietly said under his breath as a walkie-talkie was taken slowly from a pocket.
"Gonna need some backup, serious case tonight" crackle came from it and another voice as he replied "Everyone who's on night shift" another crackle as he put it back in the loose trouser pocket.
"Please, would you tell me who hurt you?"
"No." Gavin replied sternly, his eyes full of anger and pain as he met contact with Meg's.
"Alright fine, but I'm still going to fix you up myself. I don't care how much paperwork is involved for this" She said while standing up quickly.
Another siren pierced the quiet streets as Blaine walked over to the arrival of the second van and talked briefly to the driver. Four people hopped out to help.
As they got closer Gavin's eyes grew bigger with fear, he suddenly screamed and frantically flapped his battered wings as he looked for an escape route in the alleyways but fell back to the floor in a murky puddle.
It surprised Meg that he had so much energy left to run as five emergency paramedics pinned him down and tranquillised Gavin. During the process he bit at least two hands and an arm.
Carefully lifting the poor bird they placed him on a gurney and started the engine. Blaine hopped into the driver's seat "Need a lift?" He shouted to Meg.
"Of course" She replied closing the door of the passenger seat.