A young Gabriel was sitting in a glass case with a few other kittens his age. Just toddlers, barely four years old. He found comfort in the nest of blankets that surrounded them and the little purrs and mewls of his peers.
He stood out, dark skin with black ears and a black tail. Equally dark clothing he was dressed in, while the other kittens had bright colored clothing and lighter hair; a calico, a blond and bone white. Black cats weren't rare per se, but they didn't have the best rep, and they didn't normally get adopted.
Not that young Gabriel knew this, he didn't know much of the world at the time. Couldn't remember his mother, just the smell of her sometimes and the memory of her kind amber eyes that were similar to his own. He was taken from her before he learned to crawl, moved from place to place until he was sold to this pet store.
He didn't know how many days he had been in the shop with the bright lights and the many, many faces of new and old guests. He'd been petted and poked and played with more times than he could even recall.
Kittens came and go, but he always stayed.
'Maybe today will be the day you find your forever home!' The caretakers said this a lot, and would ruffle the chocolate curls on his head. Would poke his pudgy cheeks and give him an extra treat.
But days would come and go; the lights in the shop coming on and off and people would leave with other pets. He was always left-
Until one day, a little red haired girl and her tall skinny mother came into the shop.
Eventually the duo found their way to his glass box and the girl pressed her nose against the glass and pointed. In an Irish accent she said, 'I want that black cat mama.'
Gabriel remembered her different colored eyes and how the red on her head looked like fire.
He remembered being so excited to be chosen, to finally be leaving, to have an owner of his very own! He'd gone through the shots that made him fussy, sat for his chip and collar and was cleared to go with his new owner just moments after he had been chosen. He'd held her hand all the way to the car and was buckled in safe and sound.
Gabriel remembered seeing the store in the back of the car window get smaller and smaller until it was out of sight completely.
Gabriel was much older now than his young kitten days, and he didn't believe in forever homes anymore.
The young girl that had first adopted him hadn't been kind. He was used as an experiment of sorts. He was treated meanly, and often left without food or water. He was poked and prodded with sharp instruments and had been burned with fire and acid in places.
She'd given him the scars on his face, and some of those on his body. One of his ears had been cut in half. He'd known fear and sadness and longing in a way he had never had before. His young life was filled with misery for a couple years until the child got bored and the mother dropped him off at an animal shelter.
He was nursed back to full health, given a small cage to sleep in, and no luxuries like he had been used to at the pet store. But it was better than pain and fear, and eventually when he turned ten he was adopted out again. To a boy his age who would show him kindness and love in a way he'd never had before.
Stupidly, he'd fall in love with the human and think that this was finally his fairytale ending.
He had been such an idiot, clinging to any kindness and luxury like a bleeding heart. When his first heat hit he shared it with the boy, as they progressed into their teenaged years he thought he finally found stability.
Only of course, to find out he was just a stepping stone, just a pet to be used since the boy found another human to date and fuck. Turns out, having a sulking molly around kills the mood for two teenagers wanting to neck and explore each other. So, off he went to another animal shelter with a broken heart and feeling worse than he had with the Irish girl.
He'd believed all the humans' lies and affections, had thought he was comfortable and beautiful and happy.
These experiences left him hard; he put a wall around his heart and didn't want to be adopted anymore. He didn't want to be around humans and he hated even his caretakers. He sulked and hissed and scratched anyone wanting to interact with him.
For a long time he was left at the shelter until a few stupid people thought they could 'fix' him. Even with his bad temper and scars he was still a good specimen in the eyes of breeders. When human companions wouldn't do, the breeders had tried to use him.
Of course, that didn't end well either. For a molly Gabriel was big, even when he was younger. With the boy he had worked out alongside him, had done sports and other things he enjoyed at home. He bulked up and gotten strong(even if cats in general were stronger, faster and more agile than their human counterparts). He didn't lose that bulk at the shelter, days spent alone he'd just work out, run, anything to make the time go by faster.
So when they tried to introduce toms, Gabriel had fits. He didn't accept any of them. Even during his heats, he'd attack the other cat. None were able to mount him, and none able to soften his thunderous moods.
Eventually the breeders stopped too and Gabriel was moved to another program. He'd been adopted into a foster program, moved from house to house, cared for briefly by different people while they still tried in vain to find him a real home.
His current foster parent was a woman named Ana Amari. She was older, like him, and had a grown daughter who came and went. Sometimes they spoke English and sometimes they spoke Arabic, neither language Gabriel completely knew inside and out.
He hadn't been extensively educated as most pets weren't. Just the basics, math, writing and other complexities not worth the time spent. Especially since pets were normally just kept in the home, rarely ventured out into the world, and definitely didn't integrate in society.
'Strays' were something like a myth. That pets had actually integrated under the noses of humans and became a part of society. Hiding their traits in plain sight. Maybe when he was younger, full of angst and grit, he would have thought of trying to become a stray.
But a stray was just as mythical as a hybrid. That a human actually would breed and bond with a pet was laughable to him now; but had been a desire for his youthful self. Gabriel actually had no idea if strays or hybrids even existed, and at this moment in time, he didn't care either.
Gabriel was reaching middle age, and the idea of a 'forever home' was a fairytale his stupid child self believed in. Now, he was content to lay around on other peoples' couches, eat their food, and interact as minimally as possible. He was just as aggressive and stone faced as ever, but this had been the longest stay at a foster home he had ever had.
Their time together, had to be going on a year, maybe a little over that. He'd had two heats in her home, and she had been accommodating. She'd given him her bedroom in her small one bedroom apartment. He'd had food and water supplies and even a heating pad. She didn't try and mate him with any tom(though the first heat Gabriel had been expecting it, had been fluffed up and ready to fight).
Despite how uncomfortable his heats were, the two in her home weren't as bad as they could have been. He appreciated her for that, and tried to be a little less of a dick.
Ana wasn't unkind, and despite how much he hissed and batted at her, she'd still try and pet him sometimes. She made him home cooked meals instead of giving him shit from a can, and even gave him treats of raw fish here and there. She didn't mind that he clawed up the furniture nor did she mind that a lot of his day he spent sleeping in whatever place he wanted for however long he wanted.
Her daughter however, he didn't think she was completely on board, but she wasn't mean about it either. Just expressed some concerns; the fact that her mother was on a military pension and all the food the big molly ate, all the clothes and comforts he needed including the vet bills as he got older.
Gabriel didn't pay much attention to those conversations, but in the end, Ana kept him day after day and slowly, very slowly, he was starting to become comfortable.
So it made sense that just as he started to accept Ana's presence and attempts at conversation, that things would change.
One night they both sat side by side on the couch, she had just made a big dinner and he was close to dozing off. Some movie was playing on the TV across the room but he could barely blink his eyes open as his body started to shut down to digest the amazing meal he just had.
It was then that Ana gently tapped his wrist to get his attention and Gabriel drowsily looked at her. More calm and open than he had ever been in her home. "Gabriel, I've enjoyed our time together, but I think I have someone more deserving of you."
That got him to wake up real fast.
He was wary as he looked at her, his tail flicking from side to side in agitation. If she noticed, she didn't mention it, didn't look to it. She held his stare and let the words, and the silence sink in. "I'm leaving?" He finally asked, as clipped as possible, his jaw clenched tight. He didn't want any emotion to flicker across his face.
He'd started doing it again, getting attached to someone.
Of course this was going to happen-
"It's not like that." She said softly, her voice still warm. Her thumb was still rubbing on the bone of his wrist and he hadn't moved it away yet. "A colleague of mine, he suffers from PTSD. Do you know what that is?"
Minutely Gabriel's shook his head 'no', barely a movement at all as his scarred ear flicked.
"Post traumatic stress disorder. It affects everyone a little differently, but for Jack, he had nightmares mostly. Sometimes just episodes of depression, paranoia, anxiety too. He served with me, in the military. Longer tours than I had done, and was still in it even when I had been honorably discharged." She touched the patch over her eye for emphasis. "I think he could benefit from a companion, and I think you'd make a great service animal for him."
"How?" Gabriel snorted, finally removing his hand to fold his arms grumpily over his chest. He sunk back into the couch, all but trying to hide in the plush back of it coupled with the big hoodie he wore.
Ana smiled and offered a small chuckle, "You both are a lot alike. I think you'd get along just fine with him."
"I don't know." Gabriel said, but added a moment after, a little bitterly, "It's not like I have a choice?"
Ana frowned, "Of course you do Gabriel." Though she understood the laws, as well as the lack of rights regarding pets. But, she had hoped Gabriel had thought better of her than that. But, it wasn't an issue she'd press or fuss over. "I'll invite him over for dinner, how about that? If you think you'd get along with him, will you go live with him a while? If it doesn't work out, you can come right back here, I promise."
Gabriel wasn't expecting that, having an out. He expected to be shucked off to the next human and forgotten about. He was quiet while he contemplated all of it, not looking at Ana anymore.
"I've enjoyed our time together, I have. I know we will also have many more moments together in the future. As I said, Jack is a good friend, and I'll definitely still be seeing you."
Ana was giving him a choice, which she didn't have to do. She was letting him say no if he wanted to.
But Ana had been good to him, and she had done so much for him. They had a lot of good moments together, and he did think the older woman was a good person.
Chewing on his lip a moment he finally responded, "Okay. I'll meet him." But, he also expected not to like him. Ana said he had a choice, so if he had this meet and greet and wanted to stay here, she'd let him? Gabriel glanced to Ana then, his body language still anxious and unsure. He didn't know how to ask all those questions that he was feeling but eventually she'd raised her hand and gave him a couple firm pets on his head.
"Thank you Gabriel." She said with a real smile.