When they found you on the street, you were broken.

A shattered piece of yourself that would never be whole.

You had no worth to them, no worth to anyone, you were merely a sack of dead tissue laying across the ground like a limp carcass.

You honestly didn't care who found you- who knew your secret- who picked you off the street and if they wanted to do horrible things to you.

You were already broken- from all the things done to you- but that meant nothing else could shatter you.

Imagine your surprise when instead of a cold and calculated hand reaching down to place you in a cage by the scruff of your neck, but instead, a warm and gentle hand was extended to you- asking for your permission to be rescued.

You didn't feel like you needed to be rescued- you weren't worth it. But the angel that extended their arm was so kind, and so inviting- that all the guilt of burdening someone was shoved to the side by the need for comfort. Every sentient things greatest want.

She grabbed your limp hand, firmly, and pulled your to your feet. Forced you to stand like you meant something to anyone.

Metaphorically of course. Your body was so abused that several people had to drag your massive body onto a ship. All while you barely cracked open your weary eyes. The change in lighting was messing with your eyes- from the dark damp road, to a clean, bright inside of some sort of ship.

The doors closed, and the engine had started, and people were rushing around your body, everything kept phasing in and out of existence. One moment your looking into a flashlight, the next you see that angel addressing your wounds, feeling the stinging clean.

You faintly remember vomiting- so put out and dizzy from all the spinning voices and moments that even if you tried you couldn't have stopped from dirtying the clean floors.

The engine was loud in your ears, and the feeling of flying was so strong- that eventually- everything went black.

But oh- you could still feel everything. A never ending nightmare of fading voices, and prodding needles- everything from your past ate you up on the inside- a mad beast that swirled in your mind like a maelstrom of chaos.

Not even now, when you were supposed to be unconscious, could you stop feeling everything happening in your body.

Hours of feeling, and aching, yet not feeling, and your eyes finally opened.

When you woke- you were motionless. Already expecting the worst, and already ready to submit to defeat.

But excruciating pain never came.

Neither did the doctors with needles, and straps, or the cage- and the knives.

Simply...

A serene and quiet air about you, the windows showed mornings light, and the air conditioning gently made the curtains sway.

You still felt tremendously tired, and still ached with every breath of air you took, but it was... better.

Better then before, better then everything before.

It took awhile for anyone to check on you, and you took that time to contemplate everything that happened in your life.

All the minute details that led to being tortured the way you were- and every minor thing you could have done to receive an actual hospital bed to lay on- and actual blankets.

But eventually, someone had to come check on you, and you knew they were coming minutes before they entered the room.

A door opening, from far off down the hallway of what you could assume was the medical ward entrance- and the clicking of high heels that spoke of someone important.

You weren't surprised when someone opened you hospital room, the angel from before strutting in with a caring demeanor about her. Everything from her golden hair, and worry stress lines, and the kind smile on her face told you of a genuine, living breathing, and gentle person.

She wanted to help you.

Did you believe that? Barely...

But all the signs were so obvious that it was hard to even try to ignore them.

She waved her hand the moment she saw you, smiling and speaking a simple, "Greetings!" Gentle voice directed at you and nearly blinding you.

"How are you feeling?" She took the seat next to your bed, clipboard in hand and pen idly being held in her hand.

You almost gave her an incredulous look, so confused by her nature that it took you quite awhile to chug out a response.

"I..." you muttered, flexing you hands and looking between them and her. The bandages smelled of her scent- and you knew she was responsible for helping.

"Better..." exhaling, the tension in you eased at the fact that she continued to look like she gave a damn.

"Excellent! Better is, well, better then before-" her face grew a tinge of worry, "I wasn't sure you would even make it to proper medical supplies..."

Face unchanging, you merely nodded- more then aware of how you perched yourself on deaths row.

"..." you both gave each other glances, yours feeling much more aggressive then it should have. Curiosity and disbelief burned inside of you, "Why'd ya do it....?"

She looked at you, not quite understanding what you were asking, "Pardon?"

"Why'd you save me?" A fire flared in your eyes, and she saw this- emotions kindling and bubbling, before gently being eased down with her response.

"Why wouldn't I?"

You resigned yourself to silence at her answer, simply looking at your hands, and trying to find it in yourself to believe her kindness.

She cleared her throat, before looking at you with the same amount of care she had been, "My name is Angela, may I ask what yours is?"

"(Y/N)..." You spoke, gritting your words through your teeth.

"What a lovely name-" she smiled, writing something on her clipboard.

"Alright miss (Y/N), I'm going to run you through how your currently doing."

A simple nod from your head and she continued.

"Now, firstly, whatever happened to you should have killed you, multiple times over, and thankfully your... talent helped you through."

Angela flipped a page on the clipboard, looking at a list of some sort. Every small noise sent a cascade of echos in your aching head. You should have been dead.

"Alright- you sustained about 26 bone fractures, five broken ribs, a pierced lung, extreme blunt trauma to the head, as well as shards of glass needing to be removed from your skull and other parts of your body. Your rib cage nearly folded into itself, and your spinal cord was snapped."

Did you still even want to be alive...

She took a breath, pausing to take in your facial expression before continuing, "And those were just the top of the list."

"Sounds about right."

Angela squinted at you, worried at the apathy in your voice. She made no comment on it however, simply choosing to continue, "How in the world did you acquire so many injuries?"

Refusing to change your grim face, you continued to stare at your hands, slowly clenching them the longer and harder you thought about everything that happened. Your body was tensing with how much negative energy was building, and you could feel the hair on your neck bristling.

"You don't have to answer." Angela's voice broke your line of thought, and the limbs that had been growing and the fur that had been spreading paused, before subsiding back into you.

"..." A silence fell into the room, still thick with the tension from before.

"We have another here like you, if you would like to meet him."

You couldn't help but perk up a little bit. The last time you had seen another like you was when you traveled with your family to a meeting ground- and that was years before you were captured.

Would seeing them even do anything for you? Did you even want to try and kindle a warmth for life.

"I'll be right back." As she stood up to leave, you reached out, gently grabbing onto her lab coat.

She paused, looking back at you while you furrowed your brows and stared at the floor.

It took a moment for anything to come from your mouth, but when it did, it was a small, barely audible mutter of, "....Thank you..."

She looked, smiled, and said, "Of course."

Without another word, Angela left the room, the clacking of her heels echoing out of the medical ward.

You took a moment to settle yourself, patting down your bristled hair, and taking a few deep breaths. A quick stretch, and you felt your body crack with a mixture of satisfaction and ache.

It had been awhile since you last stretched freely.

It felt nice.

About five minutes of looking at your wounds later, and the door to the medical ward opened from outside the hallway. With it came the scent of you- another with your capabilities.

It was calming- a familiarity you hadn't had in awhile.

When they came walking through the door, your eyes met with Angela's first, before straying and catching the brown eyes of someone dressed like a cowboy. The idiocy of it almost made you laugh, but you were too focused on taking in his scent.

He seemed to be doing something similar to you, sniffing cautiously at the air, before finally smiling and starting off with, "Howdy there pardner, names Mcree."

Kudos to the start of a good friendship. The beast in you trusted him, and he trusted you- its easy to connect with another of your kind. You gave him your name without hesitation.

"Think you can walk pup?" Was the first question that came from his mouth, as he sidled to the side of your bed.

You nodded, "Most likely."

He extended a robotic hand, to which you grabbed onto and stood from the bed.

Admittedly, you were still considerably sore, and walking killed you on the inside, but you wanted to get up. You didn't want to be left alone with humans- even if they were as nice as Angela.

Mcree gave a small pat to your head, "Now how's bout a little tour around base?"

With that, you were off, a final goodbye to Angela and down the hall you went.

He prattled on to you about everything on the bass, leading you from one hallway to the next, opening doors to training grounds, and labs, and workshops- everything was so open- and free to explore.

It was a complete opposite to where you used to be- and that paired with the company of Mcree, and this place had the makings of a home.

Not that you rightly deserved it- and not that you even wanted it- but the thought was in some ways pleasant to you.

Mcree was essentric- and ironically funny- ending his tour with the cafeteria and asking if you were hungry. Which you were- undeniably- and without farther ado, you both sat in some small corner of the room with plates stacked with a glorious amount of food.

It was had to not smile when you knew what Mcree was- but you restrained yourself, still not fully comfortable.

It was pleasant, feeling like you had a friend- but not pleasant enough to stop you from worrying about all the prying eyes.

Everyone in the cafeteria watched you, most with curiosity, a few with an intent- it would have frightened you, were it not for the fact that you were already accustomed to thousands of eyes piercing through you.

"So what's your favorite type of meal?" Mcree muffled out, mouth full of a mix of hamburger and fries.

"Meat." You deadpanned back at him.

"Pfft- well that's obvious- what kind though." The cowboy gave a chuckle, before swallowing, "Chicken? Pork? Maybe some Carne Asada?"

You shrugged, "I like chicken I guess- never had Carn Ashda- or whatever you said."

Mcree gave you a blank look, "Carne Asada-" He paused, "and you are getting introduced to all the Mexican cuisine I know of-"

A laugh escaped before you could stop it, "Haha- Alright cowboy- go ahead and teach me proper food etiquette."

"I can and I will." He shoved another burger in his mouth in a matter a fact way, continuing to eat in relative silence.

He'd still pause to talk about something, but most of dinner was spent silently eating.

Finally, after dinner was finished and everyone began filing out of the cafeteria, Mcree led you back to the medical ward.

Stopping outside your door, he leaned against the wall and looked to you, "So for now we don't have a room set up for you, and Angela wants to make sure your healthy-" He looked you in the eyes, "So we'd like if ya stayed in the hospital room, but whatever makes you most comfortable. You can sleep wherever ya want."

"Sure..." you nodded, looking at the door before giving it a hesitant nudge.

It opened with a creak, much darker now that daylight had fallen. Much more reminiscent of the dreary lab you had been stuck in. You could still see just fine- but something so reminiscent of it so fresh from being there made your hair bristle.

Mcree set a hand on your shoulder, clearly feeling your fear, "Hey now darl' ya ain't gotta do nothin ya don' wan to."

"I can do it." You muttered, stuck staring into the room.

"But ya don't have to."

It's fine.

It's really really fine.

Is what you wanted to say- but instead, all that came out was a garbled growl, body having started expanding at all the twisted emotions sparking inside of you.

You were shifting- joints popping and bones snapping- and this time you couldn't quite stop yourself. Instead you stood- hunched over and staring into the doorway fully shifted into the eight foot tall beast of a creature you were.

Shaggy fur had coated you, long jaw clenched and pulled back into a snarl-

It hurt that you had such a lack of control over this side of yourself- when years before this whole fiasco happened even when you were wrathful you could keep a level head.

You were useless.

Mcree firmly grabbed your massive arm, "Hey there pup- don't worry- I've got your back."

He gave a few small pats to your bicep,

None of which helped turn you back, but it at least made you focus on something other then the itching sensation of needles in your back.

"Come on- I've got a few spare blankets in my room."

Wordlessly, he led you down the hall, out of the medical ward and towards where the rooms were- similar to a campus dorm, only with single file hallways and fancy pin pad sliding doors.

It was a miracle no one was out and about to see your hulking mass of muscle and fur- much less the teeth that had refused to unclench- or eyes that refused to unsharpen.

Mcree types in a quick few numbers into a pinpad, door sliding open and leading into a room that smelt of him. Smelt of wolf and dust.

He let go of your arm, moseying into his closet and grabbing a few large southwestern styled blankets.

"Here- you can use these."

You simply snuffed in his direction, refusing to take any steps and instead just standing at the front of his room.

He didn't try to force you any farther, simply shooting you a worried look. Before sitting cross legged on the floor. The placed the blankets down, neatly folded and in front of him.

You stood, hackles raised and claws tense. Mcree was calm- and you were not- and you wanted more then anything to be what you weren't.

So with the first few steps forward, you sat in front of him, the ground made a thud with how fast you dropped.

The snarl from your face slowly dropped. Fangs being hidden by your maw-

Mcree pulled you into a hug.

"Listen." He squeezed a little tighter, "I know I don't know you, and you don't know me, but I've felt what your going through before."

The fur began retracting. The limbs were cracking, and retreating into the rest of you.

Before long,

You were just a sad, broken carcass- who didn't give a fuck about what was happening to yourself.

All you knew, was that things sucked, and getting this hug was so much better then sucking.

________

Did i just post another story? SHIT- YES- YES I DID WHY CAN I NOT STOP EVEN THOUGH I HAVE A LOT OF OTHER ONES THAT I SHOULD BE CONTINUING INSTEAD OF WRITING FIVE CHAPTERS WORTH OF THIS NEW STORY.

Okay, I've calmed myself.

Overwatch 👌 love it

Love the trash man