To my dearest friend, Cathy.

For being the driving force behind these stories.

For listening to all of my insane ideas.

For bringing me back to what I loved the most.

And for being the best friend I have ever had the honor of making.

Prologue

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Adam sighed as he dropped down at the bar, combing his fingers through his hair as the familiar feeling of failure coursed through him. He had been home for less than three months and still, his journey to opening the clinic was nowhere closer to completion than it had been when he stepped off of the plane. Of course, it didn't help that finding an owner was nearly impossible.

No one wanted to be involved with a risky business decision even if it was for the good of hybrids all over the city. As far as most humans were concerned, they only worried about what they would get out of it and since it wasn't for them, they didn't care. Adam had a hard enough time convincing the committee assigned to handle hybrids opening businesses to give him some time to find an owner before just deciding his venture was doomed from the start.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice when the empty seat beside him was suddenly filled.

"I don't think I've seen you around here before," a bubbly, feminine voice said, startling Adam into glancing up. A young, pretty blonde in a white sundress sat on the stool beside him, smiling warmly. At least she wasn't leering at him or glaring at him like so many humans did.

He sat up a bit straighter and managed a smile for her in return; she seemed friendly enough and he hadn't been able to legitimately talk to someone in such a long time. "I've not lived around here for quite some time. Just got back a little while ago, actually. My name's Adam."

"I'm Summer Rae." She offered her hand and he shook it, noting how her eyes darted up to his ears. "You're a cat hybrid, aren't you? I just love cat hybrids. So graceful and cuddly. May I?" She held out her hand again, and he found himself smiling as he dipped his head down a bit.

It had been too long since someone had offered to pet him, and all things considered, he had long since forgotten how good it felt. Mewling softly, he closed his eyes and just delighted in the gentle way her fingers soothed his ears, finding that spot that just made him melt and purr. Humans around here didn't tend to touch hybrids that didn't belong to them and he was so busy before he came home that he hardly thought about satisfying his craving for affection. Now, though, he felt a little crazy for putting it off as long as he had. He missed this so much.

"You are just precious," Summer cooed as she pulled back. "Are you here with your owner?"

"Hmm?" Adam sat up and took a moment to process her words, shaking off the little pleasant reverie he had fallen into. "Oh, um… No, actually. I don't have an owner at the moment. I've been doing my best to find one, though. Been a bit of a challenge. Didn't expect that."

She cocked her head at him, brows furrowed. "Any particular reason you're looking for one?"

"Well, I have something I want to get done and I need an owner for that. Here, they don't really let hybrids do their own thing." Understatement of the year. He was beginning to understand why so many hybrids didn't want to be snatched from their countries of origin.

"So you're opening a business or something, right?" Summer flagged the bartender down before turning back to him. "Some of my friends' hybrids run them and ownership is a big part of it."

"I'll pay for that," Adam said a beat after Summer ordered her drink, adding an order for his own as well. Might as well get smashed. Lord knew he didn't have any reason not to. And the surprised smile out of Summer was nice, too. "I've been away studying medicine. It's not easy to do here and most doctors aren't equipped to properly care for hybrids. I came back here so I could open a private clinic just for hybrids. We need someone to take care of us, too."

Summer waved for him to continue, and as soon as their drinks were set down in front of them, Adam took a breath and launched into the story starting from when his last owner, Elizabeth, had died. It was hard to remember those days because she had truly been nothing but a wonderful person who had given him the tools he needed to learn about medicine in the first place. She was one of the rare few doctors who had wanted to understand hybrids better to help them.

Considering how few humans truly loved hybrids they way they needed to be loved in order to thrive, it was only natural Adam bonded with her. She showered him with love and affection, and when she realized he wanted to learn about medicine, she fostered that with everything she had. Even to the point of leaving her money to him when she died instead of her own children.

So he did what he hoped was the right thing to preserve her memory, using that money to travel the world and learn from doctors who truly knew how to take care of hybrids. Once he had learned all he could learn from them—and it took years, so many years of effort and learning and traveling—he had come home hoping he could put his knowledge to use. What good was knowing how to help injured and sick hybrids if he didn't have a way to practice what he knew?

The only problem was that, like so many states, New York refused to grant him the necessary permission because he was one of few hybrids without an owner. Had he been poor, he was sure they would have found a way to force him into an adoption center. He had money, though, and the ability to support himself so they at least left him alone about that.

Once he finished the story, he stared down at his glass and gave Summer a moment to process everything. It was a long and complicated story; he knew it was because he had lived every moment of it. Even when he just wanted the struggle to end, he forced himself on because to do anything else would have been an insult to the memory of the one owner who had cared for him.

"Fucking hell," Summer whispered. "They really won't let you open the place on your own?"

Adam shook his head and finished off his drink, setting the empty glass back down on the bar. Much as he wished they would, he understood the twisted logic behind not giving him a chance to do this. "No. Not until I have an owner. And an owner is impossible to find. Everyone wants something out of it other than companionship, and I'm not prepared to whore myself out."

"That's so stupid. They let all sorts of humans open businesses and hospitals even when they shouldn't, and here you are just trying to do something nice…" She scoffed and shook her head, her eyes flickering with anger that Adam could easily identify with.

"I know. Didn't seem like a good idea to point that out to them at the time, though." He shrugged half-heartedly, biting down on his bottom lip. "And unless I can find an owner by the end of the month, I don't think they're going to even consider this. And we need this."

Summer nodded, reaching out to stroke his ears again, and he let her. "You do. The adoption center's doctor can't handle all of the sick hybrids, and their owners certainly can't."

"Only really, really small towns get away with it," he agreed, closing his eyes.

When she stopped, he opened his eyes once again and saw her occupied with her cell phone, giving the screen a thoughtful stare. He thought about asking, but that might just seem rude.

"What exactly are you looking for in an owner?" she asked, peering up at him through her hair.

"Just someone who's willing to co-sign the papers," he replied. "I can handle everything else, including the finances. I just can't sign off on everything on my own. There are very few places around here that see hybrids as fit to run successful practices on their own, unfortunately."

"I want you to meet a friend of mine who might be able to help you." Summer stood and Adam fished a few bills out of his wallet, leaving a generous tip for the bartender who probably had to deal with awful patrons on a nightly basis. "I can't guarantee he'll say yes, but he doesn't have a reason to say no, and I think… I think you might be good for him."

Adam knew it was a long shot and Summer Rae was virtually a stranger, but he had zero prospects and he was at least curious as to why she thought he might be good for her friend. She wasn't a bad person; he would have known from scent alone if she had ill intentions for him because a human's scent had a way of turning with the run of their thoughts. It was a sixth sense almost, the ability to discern something like that from scent alone, but it was one that had been traced back through the evolution of hybrids in general. For most of their history, they had been victims of abuse; it was only natural they had developed a sense to help them pick out bad people.

She hailed a cab and gave the driver the necessary directions while Adam settled in beside her, trying not to breathe too deeply. Cabs rarely smelled pleasant and he was unwilling to subject himself to the scent at he moment. Instead, he focused on Summer, watching her fingers dance across the touch screen keyboard of her phone without making an effort to see what she was typing. He was one of the rare hybrids who owned a cell phone; it was one of the first purchases he made when he returned home. Considering he was staying in a hotel room and needed a stable phone number of his own, a cell phone seemed like a good investment at the time.

"There's something you need to know about my friend before you meet him," Summer said suddenly, turning to face him with a slight smile—though the edge to it bothered him a bit.

He cocked his head, forcing himself not to think the worst. "What is that, exactly?"

"He was, ah…" She seemed to be grasping for the right words, then sighed and simply looked at him. "Fandango was born mute. He can't talk. He speaks primarily through sign language."

"My God." It was the best Adam could do under the circumstances; he wasn't expecting such a revelation and it hurt a bit to think about anyone being unable to speak even from the beginning.

"He's fine, you know. He does good without having the ability to speak. Just calling attention to it tends to make him upset, so I figured I should tell you that now as opposed to when we get to his place." Summer sighed softly. "I hope that's not going to be a problem for you."

Adam shook his head and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Not at all. I promise."

After all, he knew what it was like to have people pity him. He'd never do it to anyone else.


A/N: So, first chapter of the first story of the Hybrid Chronicles, huh? Looks like progress to me. Obviously, this story focuses on the pairing of Adam Rose and Fandango with the side pairing of Summer Rae and Emma. And the fact Adam and Fandango just wrestled on SmackDown and Adam smacked his ass... Clearly, fate.

I want to take a minute to include some trigger warnings for this story so that you know what you're getting yourselves into: Warning. This story will contain mentions of past abuse both physical and verbal, physical violence, graphic depictions of violence for medical purposes, and large amounts of bigotry. If any of these subjects upset you or offend you, then this story may not be for you.