Counter-Cultural Love

Through It All

Quote/Prompt that Inspired Writing:

"You don't have to love me"

It had been a long day for the former soldiers of the Resistance. 

Therapy for the specialized units of the army, namely Rookiez, the fighter jet pilots as well as several small brigades, had uncovered sensitive information about the origins of many soldiers that had showed up randomly throughout the war. But the one that caused the most uproar, however was Nadia's. The truth about the permanently injured she-wolf had been announced accidentally by Mallory, the psychiatry student heading the session. 

After the initial shock, a pilot named Velocity burst into a violent uproar, creating a mob of mentally struggling young animals, most children. 

The sweet, yet often shy, wolf was actually from a line of wanted criminals, her ancestors ranging from being wanted for minor crimes to being on the Top Ten Most Wanted list. Once Velocity learned that Nadia was the daughter of the one and only Clawzie Wolf, who had been added to the Top Ten All-Time Most Wanted after she was found murdered, the furious bison yelled at Nadia with all her strength. 

In her fury, she provoked Gadget, who had been quite standoff-ish since his 'Nadie' had been critically wounded in Operation Big Wave. 

Before Mallory could calm the two down, Gadget and Velocity were screaming and lunging at each other on four limbs. While everyone had lost control of themselves and were fighting, Nadia hid underneath the couch that Mallory had been sitting on just ten minutes before and started sobbing. Desperate to end the uproar before someone was injured, Mallory flapped her pearl white wings, picked up two muzzles with her feet, and muzzled both Gadget and Velocity, scolding everyone who had been involved. 

"I am ashamed of all of you! You all fought together to free Mobius, and now you lash your weapons at each other in a moment's time!" 

The room instantly became silent enough to her Nadia sobbing, and Gadget slumped over to where he could see her fur poking out.

Lowering his head, he saw her fur flooded with tears, and he filled with shame at himself. The alpha reached under and pulled his girlfriend out from the couch; she refused to return his glace as he stood and walked out of the room, heading to an open space not far from the room where the therapy session was being held, where both him and Nadia could calm down and hopefully reset. He sat down on a chair, Nadia slumped down in a pile on the floor, quite a ways away from him. 

After a long uncomfortable silence, Nadia's crackling voice was heard: "You don't have to love me." She sniffled and began to whimper, beginning to sob. "I'm no better than my mom..." 

Gadget muttered with disgust at her words, which were a direct result of Velocity's hate. He stood up from the chair and looked directly at her, ignoring a painful burning in both his back and his left leg. "What are you talking about? You're so much better than your mom! You want to know why? You fought with the Resistance; Clawzie would have helped the Empire. She killed innocent people because she wanted to or because she didn't like them. You? You wouldn't hurt a fly unless you or someone you care about was in danger." He bent down next to his girlfriend, laying down on four paws and pulling her close to his chest, instinct keeping him from moving his burning leg more than he had to. "You are not your mom, Nadie, you're not any of your ancestors who hurt people. You're a hero..." A tender smile spread across Gadget's face as laid his muzzle on Nadia's head, tears began to roll down Nadia's face again. "Hey... what's wrong?" 

She burrowed herself into his fur, grasping his wrist. 

Gadget curled up tighter against her, lifting his head. "Hey.... you're okay.....no one's going to hurt you..." At least not while I'm around. Gadget declared mentally while Nadia pushed herself up a bit to kiss him. However, she couldn't get around the wire muzzle still strapped onto his face, so she wrapped her fingers around the wire and laid back down. Gadget blushed a little before pressing his face to her's, she moved her arms to wrap around his back and sighed. 

A while later, Mallory came to check on them, and removed Gadget's muzzle, deciding he had calmed down enough. As soon as he felt the wire come off, Gadget kissed Nadia's ear. 

Mallory looked at Gadget, but waited until he looked at her to start talking. "Are you okay, Gadget? You're not hurt or anything, right?"

 Nadia ran a hand down his back, pulling away when he winced. 

Mallory sat down next to them, discovering a bite wound in his back, and a puncture wound in the back of his left leg, which was probably a result of getting shoved into something during his fight. "Ooh, Velocity got you, these look almost as bad as the huge slash wound in her shoulder..." Mallory pressed down around the bite, preparing to disinfect it, but Gadget snarled. "Gadget. I know it hurts, but you have to let me clean it before it gets worse." 

The stubborn alpha raised his right leg and slammed it on the ground, trying to intimidate the dove so she'd leave his pack alone. 

Mallory reached for the muzzle, to try and keep him contained, he pushed himself up onto four legs almost instantly, his injured leg shaking from his weight. 

As he took a step towards Mallory, pain shot from his back through the wound in his left leg; he howled in agony and collapsed onto his side, losing his balance as he relieved the weight on his injury. By the time he had figured out what had happened, Mallory had tied his legs to a chair. "Mallory! Let me go! Let me go!" An annoyed whimper accompanied his statement. 

"I'll let you go as soon as I'm done patching you up." And she did. Mallory untied Gadget as soon as he was bandaged, he jumped up before she could retie him, but winced once his injured leg felt weight again. 

"Gadg-Gadg," Nadia cooed, standing up to take his hand. "sit down. You're just going to make it worse." 

Gadget promptly sat down in the chair that Mallory had tied him to, willing to listen to Nadia. 

"You've had to take care of me pretty much since we met, but you need someone to take care of you too." She sat on the arm of the chair and nuzzled him. "Can I be the Alpha for a while, please?" 

Gadget sighed, knowing she was right. "Alright, Nadia." 

Mallory chuckled as Nadia scented his ear. 

"Thanks for loving me, Gadg-Gadg." 

Gadget smiled. "No problem.... thanks for loving me too..."