She looked down on him with sorrowful eyes, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. He called himself Reaper now, but laying on the ground defeated he could only be Gabriel Reyes.
When she became a doctor, she'd taken an oath.
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant...
Angela had made him into this monster.
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
What she had done to make Gabriel into Reaper had been a medical marvel. It paved new roads and knocked other esteemed rules out the window.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
But at what cost had it been?
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.
She'd been Mercy, trying to fix every problem with a cool psyche and hot head. Angela Ziegler wanted to do right, but looking down on him now…
I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.
Had she done harm?
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. Above all, I must not play at God.
A silly question. She'd turned a valued friend into a menace, into a psychopath, into a monster and atrocity.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
Angela had seen him as an experiment.
I will prevent disease whenever I can but I will always look for a path to a cure for all diseases.
It made her want to vomit. Had she been so cold before?
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
First Genji, now Gabriel…her skeletons were coming out of the closet to haunt her.
Gabriel Reyes was dying before her.
Angela Ziegler crouched down next to her friend and stuck a needle into his arm. He fixed her with a look without emotion. Just…exhaustion.
The life dripped away from his eyes, and Angela couldn't tear her gaze away.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.
Author Notes: Written on a whim in barely any time at all. This italicized text is from the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take before entering the medical profession.