[cw: animal injury, car accident, blood, broken bones, cuts, severe blood loss; implied lesbian sex]

Fairfax was hurt, and it was all Pepper’s fault.

It had been a speeding car, down a nearly empty road. The cat ran out into the street and Pepper had just barely gotten there in time, diving to catch him and roll with her body. The car slammed on the breaks when it saw the woman leaping into the middle of the road, and swerved after hitting her. She still bounced off the front bumper, leaving a dent. She broke several bones, but she healed fast enough that it didn’t matter. Fairfax didn’t, and his little body was still injured, even though he was saved.

“Did you see that?” one of the people on the street said. “That girl just ran into the street.”

Someone from the sidewalk asked “hey, do you need a doctor?”

Pepper wouldn’t need one for herself. But she could feel Fairfax wheezing. Did he have broken ribs? She could smell his blood from when they got thrown to the street. Phones were coming out, and Pepper knew that could be bad. They might not notice that she was healing, but if they saw the video they would.

“Shut up, phones!” she whispered to herself, and suddenly the conversation changed tone to everyone complaining that their phones all went out. The car’s engine shut down as well. The street was eerily silent, where technology was concerned. With a gross snap that hopefully no one noticed, Pepper’s shoulder knit back together and she suddenly was on her feet, running off with a cat in her arms.

The man in the sports car got out, stumbling in shock, “wait, where are you going? Are you okay?”

In a few minutes, he’d probably just drive back off. Maybe deal with some whiplash. But Pepper needed to get Fairfax some help, and she wasn’t really good with that sort of thing. She just kept running, and trying to think.

When an idea came to her, she doubled back, and started heading in a new direction. She tried to avoid people, but when they were in her way she’d shoulder check them if she had to. This was important!

She finally got where she needed to go. Riverside Veterinary Clinic.

Samantha Evans sat in the waiting room with her dog, who had gotten her front leg torn by a sharp piece of metal. She was trying to catch at something that dove into the rusted hole of a storm gutter, and Pepper had reached in to grab it, but the ragged, broken edge of the hole sliced open her leg and tore a slip of skin off. There was also the worry of tetanus. But it was bandaged up right now, in a red stained rag that had dripped on the floor.

Pepper lay there whimpering. The other people in the vet were keeping their distance. She had a collar, but Samantha barely bothered with the leash. Pepper seemed well behaved, more so than many of the other animals. But she was also very clearly not a regular dog. The worried Samantha had assured everyone she was just a husky, but this was a wolf. A surprisingly well behaved wolf.

“Evans?” Dr. Maria Tompkins said, looking into the waiting room.

Sam and Pepper both perked up, and Sam got to her feet, Pepper jumping down off the bench and hobbling over on three legs. She was holding her own leash in her mouth.

“Oh, that looks bad, but she’s handling it very well. Is she on painkillers?” She lead the pair into the exam room. She didn’t seem bothered by the wolfish nature of the dog.

Sam shook her head, “no, I don’t know which ones are safe for her.”

When they got to the back room, Maria gestured to the exam table. “I’ll need you to help me get her u—” before she’d even finished, Pepper was already trying to climb up. Sam helped her get the rest of the way.

There was a little whimper, and Pepper looked to Maria. “This dog of yours is extremely smart. Do you think you could hold her mouth open while I give her some painkillers?”