In the Darkest Hours - Part One
CW: Lab whump (a little), multiple whumpers, inhuman whumpee, rockslide, obsessive behavior, pet whump (hinted), briefly mentioned abuse
When Liam was little, he saw one of the last ever documented Winged's ever to exist. Her wings were flame-red.
She was in a circus, but even child-him chose to ignore the bruises on her body, how every part of her except her wings were well-kept. He, and the audience, were too stunned to really pay attention. Not like they would've cared, anyway. Many people had Winged's as pets, no one was required to respect them.
The numbers dwindled down over the decades, and soon Winged's were even being poached. Masters had to keep their Winged's in closed doors at all times, and eventually the government took the last ones away.
Liam became infatuated with wanting to find more. He was sure there had to be at least one more left, but he was sure there were more than that. He was sure if he just looked and studied hard enough, he'd find something to find more and become rich. He'd even get a Winged of his own, and he hoped it'd have bright red wings, just like hers.
He started working for a private research center, surrounded by the research of all creatures that aren't human. Laws were different, there were more equal rights for others like the Horned, Scaled, and Gilled, but since there were no Winged's out there... there were no laws protecting them.
As he grew older, he grew more bitter. His obsession started to dwindle down by the time he reached thirty, and he thought he moved on, accepting that if there are any more Winged's on this planet, the chances of him getting his hands on them would be low.
Until one night, that is.
...
Alden has gotten better at hiding his wings, even if it still hurts like hell. He's managed to tuck them by his sides, and though it looks strange and unnatural, people still seem to shrug it off, considering he's done this several times.
He's glad he lives in a remote and cold area, because it gives him an excuse to bundle up and hide his wings better, and go to less-populated markets.
"Hey, Al. Haven't seen you in a while."
"Oh, hey, Em. Sorry, I've been kind of busy."
She chuckles. "I can tell. If you spend all your time in those caves, you're going to get hurt, you know."
"I'm fine."
She raises a brow but leaves it at that with a casual goodbye once he pays for his things. It's a miracle he can afford it, barely scraping by. At least he never has to worry about his medical expenses, since there's no way he'd trust any doctor with his wings. He'd get turned in, no doubt.
Alden goes to drop off his things at his cabin, and then decides some mining wouldn't hurt. He hit it big about a month ago, at least bigger than what he normally finds there.
Since no one's ever down in the caves or the river, he decides to throw one of his jackets off. Everyone else in the town thinks he just gets cold easily, which is somewhat true, but not totally true.
He hums quietly to himself as he makes his way down the steep rocks. It's also extremely conventional he lives so close to the mining site. He grabs his helmet with a cap light from his backpack, his pickaxe and chisel, and leaves the rest of the equipment outside the cave.
He knows where everything is, and he likes keeping his surroundings clear so no one gets hurt. He takes one of the mining lamps and lights it up, walking in further until he gets to his first spot of interest.
He sees something shiny in a small crevice of the rocks, so he picks up his pickaxe and chisel and starts hacking away at the rocks, trying to get whatever it is out of the crack.
He has no idea what it might be, but it has to be valuable or it wouldn't be so deep in the crevice.
It's difficult work, and by the end of the day he's covered in sweat and dirt, and near what looks like the back of the cave. He decides he'll try one more location before leaving.
Just as he gets back to the close entrance of the cave, he finds one more area. He only hacks at the spot four times when he feels the whole cave start to shake.
His head snaps up and he tries to look at what he's doing, but it's too dark, even with the light on his helmet.
Before he can rush out of the cave, the whole thing caves in and everything goes black.
...
"Dr. Schultz, you won't believe what we just found!"
"I really don't care," Liam responds bitterly, not looking up from his paperwork. "Can you shut the door on your way out, Blake? That'd greatly be appreciated--"
"It's a Winged."
That causes Liam to abruptly stop writing. His ballpoint pen falls out of his hand and onto his desk. He looks up at his assistant with wide, disbelieving eyes. "You're kidding."
Blake smiles. "No joke."
Liam quickly stands up from his desk and looks at him. "Is this real? You're sure?"
He nods. "He was recently transported here. He might be asleep for a while. Poor thing was in a cave that had collapsed."
"Show me now."
They make their way to a certain room, and Blake opens the door to room 640, where the Winged is located. He moves to open the door for Liam, but Liam shoves past him and throws open the door himself.
He runs over to the Winged, who is currently laying on a bed with all sorts of medical equipment hooked up to him. He immediately goes to examining his wings. "Good, they don't seem injured much..." He frowns deeper at the color. "Blue. I wanted red wings."
"He's likely the last Winged alive," Blake mumbles, out of annoyance of Liam's reaction, or lack thereof. He knows a little about the slightly younger man's obsession with Wingeds, but he really thought he'd have more of a reaction at the extremely rare find, regardless of the color of wings.
Liam doesn't acknowledge him. He seems to be focusing on the Winged, taking in every detail. "Do we have any kind of file for him yet?"
"Not that I know of."
Liam continues to stare at the Winged in silence for several minutes. "I think we need to do some tests first before we do anything with him. We'll have to bring in some other doctors. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Herman for me. I have a lot of work to do."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, and when he wakes up, notify me immediately." He doesn't wait for Blake to respond before leaving. He simply walks out the door without a goodbye, as per usual.
As soon as he's gone, Blake looks back at the sleeping Winged. He thinks the blue looks nice, shiny and almost iridescent.
History has proven Winged's are more comparable to obedient dogs than birds, given they are loyal and compliant, even if they start off stubborn and short-tempered at first.
Liam can have the Winged as his patient, but Blake wants a loyal pet. He thinks he's found the perfect candidate.
