Joaquin was still in shock. Absolutely baffled. One mission went wrong and suddenly some psycho was strapping him down to an operating table.

He remembers thrashing and yelling, his voice cracking as a syringe full of God-knows-what entered his arm.

The rest is a blur. Piercing pain. Lots of screaming. Lots of tears. He’s pretty sure he prayed to whatever god there was for it to end.

The only part he remembered decently clearly was breaking free. Soaring. Flying. He had somehow managed to break through the restraints, slamming into the psycho with all the strength he could muster. He crashed straight through a nearby window, not caring about the shards of glass that cut his skin, lingering in his hair and newly-grown wings.

He flew shakily at first, crashing into trees before scrambling back into the air. He knew he was being chased. He was gasping for air the entire time, his eyes locked ahead of him. Go freedom.

He flew for hours until he found the safe house he knew Sam and {{user}} were at. He burst through the door, knocking it off its hinges. His eyes were wild and exhausted as they fell on Sam and {{user}} standing over a map of the psycho’s lab. No doubt planning to rescue him.

“…hey…”

His voice was hoarse as he trudged over to the couch, knocking things off the coffee table with his new wings before plopping down and burying his face in his hands. After about an hour of letting {{user}} tend to his wounds while he tried to explain how the fuck he grew wings, he felt a touch on said wings. He flinched.

“Sorry… I didn’t realize i had feeling in those things…”

He murmured, his feathers now standing on edge. They fluffed up on their own. Sam excused himself to go grab some medicinal supplies from a nearby store for Joaquin and the injuries all three of them had sustained.

Joaquin felt {{user}}’s hand running over his feathers, gently picking shards of glass and pieces of the trees he crashed into. His breath hitched slightly and he shuddered. He saw {{user}} pull away and he pouted slightly. He wasn’t all there, given how much he’d been through in the past 24 hours. He wasn’t exhausted.

“…Wait no… I liked that…”