Chapter Text
Life was strange.
At least, that’s what I would say.
Here I was, finding myself small and taking the form of, what I would call, a creature similar to the small velociraptor. Swaddled in the warmth of a pile of blankets that were only for me. All within a box made specifically for little me. And all that within a house that was slightly on the colder side, but thanks to my new feathers, it didn’t matter.
And to think, I didn’t have all this five years ago. Or was it twenty?
The first thing I remembered was being sick in a hospital, partially deaf and suffering from an unknown illness. I was only ten, naive to the world but desperate to go out and play like all the other kids. And just as I was reaching the end of my hope, these doctors came in. Told me that I could be cured if I came with them.
Next thing I knew, I was in a white room, confused as I got used to this cursed body. At only ten, it was scary. And with no family to comfort me, I was horribly alone. I would spend my days under a bed with thick sheets that were long enough to hide me if I hid under the bed. The doctors didn’t like them, as it allowed them to see me if I tried to bite.
I hated those times.
I dreaded them.
I don’t know how long I was there. In that room of white. With nothing but a bed with sheets too thick for me to maneuver them off the bed to make myself more safe. Instinct drove me to do wild things. And I mean wild.
I’ve scratched the walls to the point deep marks were etched into the white. I’ve lost a lot of my feathers to stress as I had nothing to play with, leaving me to keep pulling at the dull feathers since they itched so much. I had lost some of my teeth due to biting the legs of the bed so much. And I bite hard enough that I took fingers, something I found out after having enough of being grabbed at.
I hated that point of time in my life.
I was poked, prodded, and used for experiments that I didn’t even want to do. Sometimes they were simple, like using my nose or hunting a mouse through a maze. But most of the time? Needles, strange sensations, and increased aggression towards others and myself.
I thought I would either die from the treatments or die from the loneliness and cold of the white room. Curled up under the bed or in one of their chambers where they administered their treatments.
But then, nothing.
There was a noise, but that was it.
I was alone.
The room was silent as nobody came to get me. For hours, I laid under the bed, scared out of my mind and wondering what was happening. And for hours, I laid in the silence, too scared to make any sound.
Then, the door opened.
It opened with a hiss and I heard cautious footsteps enter the room. Where the door was, blankets hid my view. The doctors moved the blankets after the first time I bit someone’s finger off. Because they knew I couldn’t move them well without getting rid of my sanctuary under the bed.
I stayed quiet as the footsteps echoed in the quiet room. I could tell they were cautious, slow steps going one by one. Five seconds in between each step, I counted. And when a boot finally stepped into my view, I perked up.
It wasn’t white.
It was a dark color, like brown or black. Shoes not meant for the sterile environment. They were actually covered in thick stuff that took me a moment to realize was mud as the person trekked it through the white tiles. The feet stopped, spread out but close enough to tell me that there was only one person.
And then, I heard it.
“Strange, there’s nothing in here…”
That voice was unfamiliar to me at the time. No doctor or retrieval person sounded like that. I knew every voice that entered this room. And I knew that those shoes belonged to someone that wasn’t part of those I was familiar with at the time. Those feet stayed planted there and the only way I knew the person was looking around was the sound of clothes shifting.
Suddenly, there was an audible click before those feet shifted. I thought they were going to leave, but to my surprise, they stepped closer to the bed I was hidden under. The heavy blanket shifted, as if being lifted off the bed, followed by the same voice as it cursed, “Why the hell is this so heavy?”
The bed creaked audible as the blanket was left falling back down onto the bed. Admittedly, I shouldn’t have made any noise. But it spooked me after all the heavy silence. I chirped out of alarm, the only sound I could make besides a growl. The feet flinched, taking a step back at my noise.
Out of fear, I buried myself against the wall, feeling what remained of my feathers lifting up in alarm. My tail was low, curling around my feet and hands as I watched the shoes stay still. I waited, wondering if this person was going to go away.
Yet, to more of my surprise, those feet shifted back before I saw clothed knees appear on the floor. I lowered my head, trying to appear smaller than I already was. The person lowered themselves, one pale hand on the floor while the other was on the side of the bed. And when the person finally revealed their face, I couldn’t help but growl seeing the speckles of blood across their face.
Blue eyes, bright with surprise, stared at me. It was a man, his blonde hair parted from the side into a unique hairstyle I had never seen before. He stared at me with a gaping mouth as I stared back at him. For a moment, he didn’t say anything, taking note of what I looked like. And I must have looked like a mess because he sighed, “Poor thing. Wonder what they did to you?”
What didn’t they do?
His face disappeared and I was left staring at legs again. I could hear him talking to someone, “Hey, I found something in here…yeah, it’s the only one….No, I don’t think it’s dangerous…I don’t know…”
Who was he talking to?
“Permission to retrieve?”
The word retrieve made me panic. I tensed up, readying to run for my life. But then his face appeared again as he spoke, almost softly, “Don’t you worry. I’m here to help. But let me clear the faculty first.”
Clear it? Where was everybody?
“Just stay here, okay? I’ll come back.”
The man disappeared and he was out of the room. I had hoped he would leave the door open. But no, I heard it close. So I had no choice but to wait. Luckily I didn’t have to wait for long as the door opened after however long he was gone. As soon as the door closed, I waited until I saw those feet, which seemed to land heavier on the ground than before.
Suddenly, a heavy crate was set near the bed. Gloved hands opened the metal door. And to my surprise, I saw a blanket laid in there and something I hadn’t seen in what felt like days. It was an opened can of tuna.
Now, I never ate tuna until I turned into this tiny feathered thing. I actually hated fish before. But canned tuna? It was food. Food I hadn’t had since I was suddenly left alone.
But I wasn’t stupid.
Crates meant transportation. Crates meant being confined in a small space for however long. Crates meant I was going somewhere that wasn’t here, my room. My safe place.
The man kneeled down, speaking in a low voice as if not wanting to startle me, “Safer for both of us, little guy. I’m going to take you somewhere safe.”
I didn’t trust it, but my stomach was very much wanting food. It growled, making the man sigh again, “We don’t have much time. If I take too long, I’ll lose my transport out of here.”
I still didn’t trust it. But…he wasn’t one of them. He was like…like one of those nice people. Besides, I was hungry and I didn’t want to be exactly here anymore. Not since I came here. But who knows what was out there? I wasn’t a human anymore. I was this…thing.
Was anywhere truly safe for me?
Do I want to take the risk for freedom?
The man sighed again, taking a seat on the floor. Didn’t he need to leave? Why was he sitting? “I don’t know what they did to you, but if you think those people that were here are coming back, they aren’t. I don’t know how you survived, but this place is pretty much abandoned. This might be the only chance you can get out.”
I paused.
Everybody is gone?
They left me here? To die alone?
I didn’t want to die.
That’s why I accepted to be saved by these people. Because I was sick and dying.
I didn’t want to die.
I made my decision then, out of fear. I slowly crawled out, finding him sitting there, patiently waiting. He was dressed like what you would see in a military movie. Geared up for a mission. He watched me with those blue eyes, taking in my condition as I watched him back. The crate was big enough to fit me, but it didn’t allow me much room as I turned my attention to the tuna. The smell was enticing enough that I forgot about the mystery man in the room.
I happily ate the tuna, using my clawed hands to grab a hold of the can and dig in. The blanket, soft under my feathers and scales, had me curling up with the renewed warmth. I didn’t even realize I was cold.
For a moment, I felt at peace.
Then I heard the gate close.
I panicked, growling as I let the can call onto the blanket and I turned, seeing the bed disappear as the crate was lifted up. The man tried to calm me as he heaved the crate off the ground, “Sorry, but like I said. This is safe for you and me.”
I growled in disapproval, but there wasn’t much room to move around to create chaos. Like I said, I was small. Only the size of, maybe, a Yorkie. But I did not appreciate all the movement the crate gave. But thanks to the gate’s openness, I could see the faculty I had been trapped in for an undisclosed amount of time.
And the man was telling the truth.
The place was abandoned. Or rather, someone had come through and left behind messy halls and strange liquid puddles mixed with blood. And it wasn’t fresh.
All I saw were bloody patches and bodies of white coats. I didn’t recognize anybody, but seeing the dead bodies made me quiet. The smell of iron was overwhelming and suddenly the tuna I had eaten felt uneasy in my stomach. I slowly turned to the back of the crate, hiding my view of the place as the man took me somewhere else other than here. I just went back to the tuna, hoping the smell of the can will help fend off any unwelcomed scents that filled the faculty.
When the can was emptied with tuna, I lifted the blanket with my snout before using my clawed hands to move the can under the blanket. Just in case, I had thought to myself. The man took me out of the faculty and into the outside. It was light out, blinding me as I chirped with displeasure. I had not seen sunlight in months and it physically hurt me to see its shine.
I closed my eyes and waited for darkness.
The man was nice to me the entire way, putting me in a SUV in the passenger seat, the gate facing the driver’s seat. I watched the man the entire time, using the crate’s enclosed structure to protect my eyes. He drove and drove and drove. Sometimes, he would look over as if to check on me, every now and then mumbling to himself.
It was strange.
Soon, we arrived somewhere and he left me in the car alone. I waited, because what else could I do? I didn’t know where we were and I was too weak to break out of this crate. When the passenger side door opened, a blanket was then draped over my crate, shielding me from anybody wanting to take a look and preventing me from seeing anything.
The crate moved and I heard a lot of voices. Voices muffled and indistinct. The only consistent voice was the man who carried my crate, greeting unfamiliar people with a smile. And the smells. The smells were so new that I found myself raising my snout towards one of the slits in the crate. There were so many that I could only decipher a few. Paper. Ink. Pencil. Coffee. Smells I recognized only because I smelled them from time to time when I was receiving my treatments.
Suddenly, I perked up when the voices quieted and a door closed. The man holding my crate spoke again, this time with relief in his voice, “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”
“Not a problem!” A female voice. “What did you find?”
“Something I didn’t expect.”
My crate was set down and only then was the blanket removed. Light flooded the space and I crouched low, backing up as far from the gate as possible. I was in an unfamiliar room. The beige wallpaper and the metal table I was on was the first thing I could see.
The next sight spooked me.
A woman’s face appeared. Soft but surprised as her brown eyes widened upon seeing me. She seemed to be an older woman, aged by the years. And she was wearing a blue sweater with black hair tied back. She looked over and I could see the man through the side slits of the crate. I heard her surprise as she spoke, “Well in all my years of practicing vet, I never expected this.”
A vet? I was taken to a vet?
The man shrugged, the sound of the clothes shifting as he did the motion, “Neither did I. Which is why I had Claire call you in. I found this little guy in the abandoned Nest 37.”
“Another Umbrella faculty?”
“Seems to be. Don’t know what it is, but it was the only thing alive in that place.”
“Well, whatever happened, it’s lucky you found it. Have any information on it?”
Again, the man shrugged, “I tried, but someone wiped all the systems. And most of the experiments were either killed or gone. This guy was the only one left. But it wasn’t housed like the others. It was housed by itself.”
Do they really have to call me an it?
Well, to their credit, identifying the gender of a reptile was very difficult.
“I’ll check on it. What does the company think of this?”
“Claire told me to bring it here and have you check it to see if it has any viruses or not. If Umbrella experimented on this guy, we need to know if it carries a virus or not.”
“And if it does?”
“Then we move forward.”
The woman hummed, unimpressed before she asked the man, “Is it aggressive?”
“Don’t know. It didn’t like being locked in the crate.” I growled in agreement. “See? Maybe it’ll be happier outside of the crate.”
The woman hummed, looking through the gate again at me. I tilted my head at her, wondering what she’ll do next. Slowly, she opened the gate, tapping on the bottom of the opening with two fingers. My feathers puffed up, but I didn’t move. The woman sighed, moving out of the way and doing something with the crate that made it click. And suddenly, the top was gone, leaving me with only the bottom of the crate.
I shrunk, looking up at the woman and man as they stared down at me. The man took a step back, watching me as he leaned against a counter and crossed his arms. The woman looked me over, keeping her distance as I watched her watch me. After several moments, the woman grimaced, “It’s not in good condition. I can see the rib cage, some bruising on the face there, and the lack of feathers concern me. Stress-induced most likely. As to what the hell it is…it looks like a small raptor, like the non-avian type.”
The woman stepped away for a moment, turning her back to me to get something. When she turned back around, she had one of those things doctors had, a pair of thick gloves, and…a needle. Seeing the needle made me tense.
My tension did not go unnoticed by either, leading to the woman looking over at the man as she said, “This might be interesting. Glad you closed the door.”
I stared at the needle, completely forgetting about the woman as she raised both hands and slowly gravitated them towards me. Those hands coming closer got my attention and I did the one thing that I knew how to do in this situation. I opened my mouth, a warning that I’ll bite if she got too close. The woman’s eyes widened at this motion, saying out loud to herself, “Interesting behavior. Saves me from opening your mouth. Got a few teeth missing there.”
For a few minutes, this woman tested me. Gravitating one hand which made me keep my mouth open and my body tense. And when I hissed, that hand would retreat. But then, the woman’s hands fell and she looked at the man, “Take those gloves. I’m going to have a look and I think it might bite. And if it’s carrying any viruses, I don’t want it to bite anybody.”
“Sure.” I looked over at the man, surprised. He paused at seeing me giving him a look. “You’re seeing this, right?”
“Yes,” the woman hummed, interested. “You think it understands us?”
I can understand you perfectly, I wanted to snap. I looked between them, then at the gloves and needle. And as if thinking what I was thinking, the man stepped into my view, snapping his fingers. I startled, looking up right at him. He held a hand out, positioned far enough away that I couldn’t bite.
“What are you doing,” the woman sighed beside me as I stared at the man.
“I think it’s smarter than we initially thought,” the man said to the woman before turning to me. With a knuckle, he knocked on the metal table. I continued to stare at him. “I got its attention already so it doesn’t react when I already have its attention.”
Well yeah. I’m not stupid.
“Tap the table with how many fingers I’m holding up.” The man spread out three gloved hands. Oh, that was easy! Slowly, I stretched my neck to tap the table three times with my snout. It slightly hurt, but it was worth the surprise on the man’s face.
“Well I’ll be damned,” the woman beside me spoke.
What? It was easy. I gave the woman the best look I can to communicate that fact. She blinked in surprise. The man chuckled, “I don’t think it appreciates how surprised you are.”
“Whatever this thing is, it needs to understand that I want to help. So…” she raised both hands to me. “Don’t. Bite. Me.”
I can do that. As long as no needle was involved. Or those thick gloves.
The man stepped away again and let the woman examine me. She laid her hands on me, which while I tensed, I didn’t bite. She was actually very gentle with me compared to those other people. The man watched me, as if noting my body language to see if I would lash out. I glanced at him a couple times, especially when the woman moved me slightly.
After several minutes, the woman left me to look over at the man, “Well, the last thing I need is some blood. Then I can test it to make sure it’s clean or even safe.”
That meant a needle.
I growled as she picked up the needle. But before I could decide when to strike, I heard the snap of fingers again. I looked back at the man with a snap of my head, confused. And the man smiled.
Seeing him smile was odd, but also oddly welcoming. When I heard the woman move again, I looked over and saw she already had blood. How was I distracted that easily??
“I’ll need a night, but I’ll have the results by morning. Luckily, we have some open space here at the clinic. Would you like me to call you?”
“Please,” the man replied. “I’ll take it to where it needs to go, no matter what result.”
That meant the man would leave. And leave he did. I was already in that crate so the top and gate were put on before he left, as if knowing I would want to follow. And while the woman was nice, I couldn’t help but feel more anxious than when I was with the man. I was soon placed in an enclosed kennel with a blanket laid out for me to sleep on, in a small room that meant I was isolated once more.
I wondered if the man would come back. He was the first nice person that I have seen in what felt like years. And to be left alone again, it hurt more than I expected it.
Minutes turned to hours. Lights were turned off and I was left alone in the darkness. I didn’t sleep. Unlike the noise-proof room I was in, this place I could hear every little thing. I couldn’t help but think how vulnerable and isolated I felt at that moment. It was rough, to say the least.
When the lights turned on, the woman came and put food in my kennel. Canned tuna with some water.
I didn’t take it.
She came back later to find the dried up food and still water. I was curled up in the corner, watching her. Studying her movements to see if she would try and let me out. In some weird way, I hoped to see the man again.
The woman tried again to feed me, placing fresh food and water in the kennel whenever she visited, which was sparse. I didn’t eat or drink anything.
I didn’t trust her. And yet, for some reason, I trusted the man.
When the lights went out again, I was sad. Sad that the man didn’t come back. I thought he would. He got me out of that place, and said I was going to go somewhere safe.
But this place didn’t feel safe. I felt more like an animal.
After the lights went out three times, I overheard a phone call before the fourth lights out. It was the woman, speaking on the phone from her desk which sat nearby. The door to my isolating cage was open, allowing me to hear her speak with pity in her voice, “She’s not doing as well as I would like her to be…yes, she is safe to be around people but the public will not like this…yes, I understand…is there any way I can let you give permission to allow the creature to be cared for by your agent? I believe you can use it if given the right resources and training…yes, I am suggesting what you think I am suggesting. It can’t stay here and it can’t be adopted out…Your agent wants to take it in if he can.”
He? He? Is she talking about the man? I perked up for the first time since the first lights went out.
“Okay, I’ll give him a call. Thank you, Commander.”
She hung up the phone and dialed a number. I waited with anticipation as I heard the phone ring. The caller picked up and the woman spoke, “Leon Kennedy? I just spoke with your supervisor. They are agreeing to allow you this creature as long as it's trained to be of service…yes, like a K9 unit. This was the only way I can see this creature surviving another day, Mr. Kennedy. I know you don’t like the thought of using it for whatever missions you go on, but if you want to keep this thing alive, it’s best you go down this route…good! I’ll have her ready for you to pick up!”
I couldn’t help it.
I chirped with excitement, catching the woman’s attention. “Sounds like she’s ready to go to her new home!”
I was so excited to see him that I didn’t sleep that night out of pure excitement. When the lights turned on the next day, I was pacing the kennel, wanting out. The man, who I would now know as Leon, came and got me soon after the lights were on. I practically ran into the crate, wanting out of this place that reminded me so much of my old imprisonment. He was nice, though I could tell he was still careful and cautious around me as he took me back into the SUV and somewhere undisclosed.
He draped the same blanket over my crate before taking me out of the car again. I waited, anxiety beginning to rise as I wondered where I would end up next. When I was set down somewhere, I expected to find myself somewhere different.
And I was right.
The blanket was pulled back and the gate was opened, allowing me to see the inside of an apartment. The beige carpet lay out in what looked to be a living room area. There was a coffee table, a leather couch, and a TV that sat on a low table. The light that streamed into the apartment was soft, natural. I didn’t hesitate in crawling out, looking this way and that. For the first time since being in this form, I was stepping onto the carpet. It was rough, yeah, but it was nice.
It felt like a home already.
Leon was patient with me as I explored, slipping under the couch, sniffing through any open cabinet or sniffing towards shelves. And it seemed he prepared for my arrival as I found two bowls in a small stand in the kitchen, something I took advantage of as I drank the water with dips of my narrow head. I could feel him watching me as I drank before continuing my exploring.
He didn’t say anything until I wandered into a bedroom. Much to my dismay, there was no space under the bed, filled with flat containers filled with whatever. There was no space for me to carve a space for myself. But the bed…I couldn’t help but jump onto the bed.
Leon didn’t like that, but he let me do it once.
Just once.
The first two days I lived at his apartment, Leon left me to explore. He had an office, working at his desk while I explored his apartment most of the day. I found several things in my ventures.
First was his jackets. They smelled expensive as I looked up at the coat hanger. I knew better than to bother those. And some of his clothes smelled…off. Like ash but deep cleaned to mask that scent. Those clothes were stuffed away into a small closet in the office.
Second was his watches. He had a few lying about, with one that he kept on almost always.
Third was random blankets, some in a plush dog bed that he must have gotten for me. I used the dog bed a few times as it lay in the living room. At least, it was in the living room. One bad thunderstorm drove Leon to move it into his bedroom in case the thunder spooked me enough. He didn’t want to explain why there were suddenly scratch marks at the bottom of his bedroom door.
Fourth was the litterbox he kept in the guest bathroom. That was, of course, for me. Hey, it was much better than tile. I even have my own privacy since it had a lid. The door was a pain and Leon would later have to remove it because he came home to litter strewn across the apartment, a week into me living there. I totally didn’t get stuck.
In the beginning, he left me be. He worked a lot, something I noticed pretty quick with his late office hours and him coming home late. The first time he left, I was a little panicked, but I convinced myself that he would come back. And he did, much to my excitement. But to my surprise, he didn’t seem happy to see me as he cursed, mostly to himself, “Shit, I forgot you were here. You must be hungry.”
I wasn’t but I watched with growing hunger as Leon opened a can of tuna.
I could tell he tried to come home earlier, mentioning in a comment that he didn’t want me to eat the neighbor’s cat if I got too hungry. And every time he came home late, he would have this guilty look on his face as he watched me eat. He was so nice, something I found comfort in.
Now touching was something else.
The only times I had been touched in this form, aside from the vet, was by those bad people. Leon didn’t try to touch me. In fact, he avoided any contact with me and I was the same to him. There was a period of awkwardness where I didn’t know whether to be close to Leon or keep my distance.
But one day, that changed.
Leon came home late, his eyes tired and shoulders sagging as soon as he hung up one of his leather jackets. I looked up from my perch on the couch, where I had taken a quick nap. He didn’t notice me at first, walking into the kitchenette and grabbing something from the fridge. In the darkness of the apartment, he didn’t notice me at all as he walked up to the couch. He leaned over the coffee table to grab the remote before plopping down on the couch. Luckily he avoided me, so I just sat and watched him as he turned on the TV.
The TV flickered on, showcasing a man talking to his wife about something. The light of the TV showed Leon’s tiredness more and the open beer in one hand. He didn’t look over at me and I guessed that he completely forgot about me. I wasn’t offended, by the way.
He took a drink from the bottle before leaning forward to set the bottle down. When he did, he stopped, hand on the bottle as an expression of deep thought crossed his face. He looked at the floor, eyes widening as he whispered, “Where is-”
Then he saw me.
He flinched, hand yanking away from the bottle to prevent it from spilling at his flinch. I stared at him, tilting my head.
“Shit! You scared me!” He stared at me for a long moment. Then he sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Fuck, that’s why I wanted to go by the market!”
He looked at the bottle before looking over at me, his expression conflicted. He then mumbled to himself, “The store is closed so your tuna is out of the question…”
He suddenly stood up, walking back into the kitchen. I watched him silently, wondering what he was doing. When he appeared again, he was carrying something new, something I didn’t recognize. He turned on the light from the small table next to the couch before sitting, allowing me to see what was in his hands.
It was a round object, brown and fuzzy. I tilted my hand again as Leon looked between me and this small object. Now, this was not the first time Leon has introduced me to new foods. Whenever he dropped something in the kitchen, I was quick to snatch it up. Things I have eaten off Leon’s kitchen floor: Eggs, pieces of bell pepper, a carrot, a fish nugget, broccoli, and the occasional piece of meat.
But this was new.
“I don’t know if you’ll want to eat this,” he told me, lifting the object towards me. “It’s a kiwi. I got it on sale over the weekend. Want to try?”
I stared at him. Leon sighed, looking at the kiwi in his hand. “Hold on.”
He held the item close as he began to peel it, the brown fuzziness giving way to green. I have never tried kiwi before, but seeing the flesh of it made me wonder if it tasted like peaches or oranges. He held it out to me again then, waiting, “Try that.”
I looked at him before looking down at the kiwi. Then I looked back up at him. He watched me tiredly, being patient with me like always. He then sighed again, “I keep forgetting that you don’t like being handed food…Give me-”
I was already shifting before he could finish his sentence. He still held out that piece and he froze as he watched me slowly stand on my two legs before crawling off, careful with my claws. I sniffed the piece of new food cautiously before I gently took a bite. The strong taste was enough to alarm me, but in a good way. Because it was probably the freshest I have ever tasted.
I began to eat, quite viciously, at the poor Kiwi. I didn’t notice Leon’s growing smile and silent excitement. He didn’t want to startle me, so he kept quiet as I ate the rest of the kiwi with glee.
This was the first time I had ever taken anything from Leon’s hand. Weeks of just coexisting led to this moment. Neither of us wanted to ruin the moment, but I didn’t back away when Leon retracted his hand to place the skin of the kiwi onto the table for later dispatch.
Instead, I surprised him by stepping closer until I was right beside him. With a shake, I laid down once more, right up against Leon. He didn’t move, his hand hovering over me as if deciding where to land. His warmth was enough that I closed my eyes for a moment, head still up. But I noticed his stillness. His hesitation.
So I threw caution to the wind.
I laid my head on his knee, one eye looking up at him as if giving permission. I could tell Leon was nervous, not wanting to break whatever moment this was. But ever so gently, he laid his hand down on my head, soothing my feathers so softly that I closed my eyes with comfort.
There was a deep rumble, a barely suppressed chuckle from the man as he began to pet my head with soft strokes. “Guess all you needed was a piece of fruit to warm right up to me, huh?”
I chirped, half agreeing and half disagreeing. But I guess he was right. In the background, the TV kept playing the show. I could feel Leon staring down at me with a smile, glad that he went through all the obstacles to have me here. Softly, I heard him talking to himself, “For weeks, I wondered if you’ll ever warm up to me. I’m probably the first person to show you kindness…and I’m sorry it had to be me, out of all people.”
I cracked open an eye, feeling his hand still stroking my growing feathers as he continued, “I guess since Raccoon City…I don’t know. The only way to have saved you was this. And I thought you would despise me over this. But I guess not.”
He glanced at the kiwi skin, eyes widening. I didn’t know why until he turned back to me, “Kiwi sounds like a good name, don’t you think?”
Oh yeah, to him, I didn’t have a name. I like the name Kiwi though.
So I guess Kiwi became my name.
Since that night, our routine has changed.
With each day, Leon began to teach me more stuff. They were simple commands at first. Like sit, stay, play dead, follow, that kind of thing you would teach your dog. And while I didn’t like it at first, I wanted to show him that I can work with him.
Then it became more complex commands.
Such as hide and seek of small items. It could be keys, cards, guns, ammo, that kind of thing. Leon would get me into the crate and put a blanket over me. Allow me to sniff an object before hiding it somewhere. Nine times out of ten, I would find those items and he would tell me how much of a good girl I was as he scratched my head.
My feathers grew out with these exercises and I learned new stuff every week. After the first few weeks, Leon fitted me into a harness that had a symbol on it. It was a difficult fit and Leon brought home several sizes to have me try on. And when I had this harness on, I knew it was time to work.
Weeks grew into months until Leon came home one day, telling me excitedly that he’ll be bringing me to work the next day. After a year of living together, I had been stuck in this apartment. I hadn’t grown, but if I was blind, I would know where to go simply because that’s how well I knew the layout.
He made good on his comment, putting on the harness before telling me to follow. I followed, noting how early in the morning it was. Nobody was out and about when Leon led me to a parking garage, the black SUV blinking its lights upon him opening the back. For my safety, Leon put a new, bigger crate in the back of the SUV for me to use for the future.
It even had its own dog bed!
Getting to work was a little bit of a trip, but I slept until Leon opened the back again to let me out. I didn’t need a leash because Leon trusted me enough to stay at his side as soon as he ordered me to follow. I followed at his feet until we entered this building that was his workplace. There were so many people there already when we entered and they all looked at me with complete awe. It was awkward, but Leon distracted them briefly with a good morning.
We ended up in a big empty room where there was a line of serious looking people. Leon saluted, giving me enough clues that these people were his superiors, or at least higher than him. He had me do this course, similar to all the things we trained for back at the apartment.
It was so easy! I was actually having fun while working!
By the end, I stayed silent as Leon’s superiors smiled and praised him, shaking his hand for his work.
That moment marked a significant change.
Because from then on, I began to accompany Leon more. And not just to his work. I began to go with him out into the field. And while dangerous, I had more fun doing the field work than hanging around Leon’s desk at work. He traveled to a lot of places, and I accompanied him almost all the time. The only time he didn’t take me was when he went to South America, and that was because the pilot refused to take me on.
That was a real shitty week, if I had to say so myself.
I got to meet some of Leon’s friends, including one that took care of me while Leon was gone on that field mission. His name was Chris. He was a nice guy. But bigger than Leon. He was more scary than comforting like Leon was. I also got to meet Ada and Claire, both of whom I met out in the field. I also met Sherry when she joined the DSO force. I liked her best. She always gave me the best treats; dried salmon. Some experiences are more pleasant than others.
Months turned into years.
We both grew older, more experienced as we worked with the government before becoming part of the DSO. I grew slightly taller, reaching the size of a small German Shepard. Unlike the movies, we weren’t really recognized as heroes. I think we should, but I noticed Leon didn’t like attention. In fact, the man had his ups and downs both by himself and with others.
I was with him every step of the way, like a loyal dog. Whenever he found himself in the medical bay, which was a lot, I stayed by his side. Sometimes, the burdens of his life caught up with Leon in his weakest moments, leading to some nights passed out drunk on the couch. Those nights, I stayed close, but kept some distance for those moments. I was both his partner in crime and his emotional support animal, which I didn’t mind.
The work itself was fun, but hard at the same time. I learned through these missions that I was an experiment by the company Umbrella. A company that made bioweapons that they wanted to spread throughout the world. I learned about the Raccoon City incident, and how Leon survived it, and I was by Leon’s side through the toughest missions.
I also learned what I truly was. My transformation was a result of a new virus; TB Virus. A cure/new type of virus Umbrella was working on. I was meant to be a tracker for viruses…and a fighter.
Turns out, when exposed to other viruses, the TB Virus protected me from those viruses. And instead allowed me to utilize the other viruses to my advantage. If I absorbed tainted blood and flesh of the infected, I grew into different forms, helping Leon fight more enemies.
And after wasting all that energy on combat, I would expel it all and go back into this form. The first time it happened, it scared Leon enough that he held me for a good while as I lay unconscious from exhaustion. When I woke up, he was crying. The first time I had ever seen him cry.
It just told me that he needed me now more than ever.
Now back to the present, years had passed. We moved out of the apartment and into a house, somewhere that had a yard that I could use. No more litterboxes for me! Leon took some time to work on the house, which I helped him with. His new Porsche lay in the garage within the house, hiding Leon’s true wealth from the outside world behind a plain house.
Leon’s first project of the house was what I was currently staying in. I had the option of sleeping on the bed with Leon, but nowadays, that wasn’t possible. He made me a little area just for me, a small room that was only for me. He made a sturdy box, kind of like a bird house but for me specifically.
I slowly woke up, hearing Leon getting up in the other room. I yawned, stretching within my nest before shaking out my feathers. I slipped out of the box, seeing the bedroom Leon stayed in was open and a light was streaming out. Slowly, I peeked inside, seeing Leon in the bathroom. He had his shirt off, staring at himself in the mirror.
As he did every morning since it began to show.
I was the first to notice.
I was under Leon’s desk one day in the office, napping before a familiar scent began to nip at my nose. My eyes had snapped open, head perking up and looking around the room for any monster or any sign of an infection. But I saw nothing. No Mr. X, no Nemesis, no new monster enemy.
I sniffed at the tiny strand of smell until I found myself staring at Leon. He noticed, his eyes slightly wrinkled from age as he asked, “What’s up, Kiwi? Found something?”
I thought I was mistaken at first.
But I wasn’t.
Turned out, Leon didn’t escape unscathed like he thought from Raccoon City. The infection had been lying dormant within him for years. Now it was showing up, the signs visible.
And it scared me.
I didn’t want to lose Leon. I didn’t want him to succumb to an infection he had spent years fighting against. When it was confirmed, I stuck to Leon so closely that he had to physically shut me out if he wanted to sleep in peace. Why couldn’t he understand that I didn’t want him to die?
If I was a human, I would be almost thirty, so I had time. Meanwhile, Leon was closing in on fifty. If anything went wrong…he could die.
I didn’t want him to die.
He saved me from death, so I would save him from death.
That’s the vow I gave myself, something I could never tell Leon. He knew I was loyal, his constant companion since getting me out of that white room. And that loyalty will never die.
Suddenly, Leon looked over at me, his expression pained as he greeted me in a soft tone, “Sorry, Kiwi…I didn’t mean to wake you.”
I didn’t mind.
I watched as he got dressed for the day and went to cook some breakfast for us. Well, by cook, I mean he gave me six hardboiled eggs and some bacon meat. He was slower than me, taking his time as I waited at his side, finished with my breakfast before he would even eat a quarter of his. I wasn’t begging for food. I simply lay my head on his thigh, catching his attention. He didn’t push me away, instead putting a hand on my head to stroke my feathers.
“What did I ever do to deserve you, Kiwi?”
He deserved to live. That’s what I’m here for.
Suddenly, the phone buzzed, catching his attention. He put down his fork and kept stroking my feathers as he picked up the phone, “Hello?”
I waited, his hand stopping as he listened to the voice on the other end. His eyes widened slightly, “Another murder? Are you sure it’s another Raccoon City survivor, Sherry?”
Yeah, not only did this infection show up on Leon, but also on Sherry. And on other survivors. Survivors that were being murdered left and right. We have been investigating that for a while now, something I hoped would lead to Leon’s cure.
“Thanks, Sherry. We’ll be on our way.”
I didn’t need to be asked. I simply zipped away from Leon and ran to the mud room where my harness hung next to his coat. I jumped on the bench and grabbed my harness with practiced ease. And swiftly, I grabbed Leon’s coat, jumping up to unhook it before taking it to the dining room. Leon looked over at me, surprised but it was quickly replaced with a smile.
He smiled, “Ready to go?”
My tail wagged slightly. Don’t need to ask me twice!
Leon chuckled, the sound deeper than it was years ago when we first met. He grabbed his coat, telling me as he slipped it on, “Then let’s go. Before the scent goes cold.”
I snorted. This time, I won’t let the scent get cold. Someone knew Leon had me, hiding their tracks well. But not this time. This time, we were going to find the person murdering these people, and find out why.
And I hope there is a cure at the end of all this.
Years had made me stronger, missions that should have killed me made me who I am. Leon and I have stuck through everything since he rescued me. Despite all the warnings about how dangerous I was, or I could be the one to lead the next outbreak, Leon didn’t listen.
I showed everyone, both within and outside of the government, that Leon and I were a force to be reckoned with. If we gave ourselves a goal or were given a goal, we completed it, no matter the cost. But this mission…this was personal to me. The goal I had was to save Leon, while Leon had the goal to save others from this new strain of infection.
All I wanted was to cure Leon, so that we could make it through to his retirement. I don’t know what will happen to me, but it doesn't matter. Leon gave me purpose and without Leon…what was I?
The thought of serving someone else made me sick. I looked up to Leon. He was my protector, my voice, and my savior. If I lost him, I would surely lose myself. Make true to the potential threat of an outbreak. But not an outbreak at all of humanity. To those who want to create more viruses, more of me. Monsters who were changed without a second thought.
Leon whistled for me to follow and I loyally did, walking all the way to the Porsche in his garage. No longer did I need a crate to be secured in for missions. Instead, I had a comfy spot in the back seats. One of those covers people got for pets. But this was to prevent my claws from piercing through the expensive leather and there was a cut out for me to peek by head between the seats to the front.
Leon got into the driver’s side, looking in the mirror at me, “Ready for this?”
I gave a sharp chirp of excitement. He chuckled as I poked my head to the front, allowing him to scratch the underside of my chin. He told me with a smile, “Always ready for a mission, huh? Hopefully this will be the one to end this.”
I knew he meant the infection, but a part of me wondered if Leon would want to retire after all this. And if he did, I would be right there at his side. His retirement meant my retirement.
And I looked forward to the peaceful days, no matter how exciting the missions were.
The Porsche grew to life as the garage door opened, allowing Leon to pull out and onto the roads. I watched as he drove, slowly laying my head down until I looked over at Leon. There was a tired, worried look on his face, the infection peeking out of his coat.
Seeing that made my eyes narrow slightly.
Because we were going to beat this, no matter what.
Even if this mission ends horribly, I knew I was going to be right by Leon’s side. And if this mission succeeds, and we get a cure, our purpose is fulfilled. We did our job.
We would survive this, no matter what cost that might affect us.