M-21 gritted his teeth. Blood filled his mouth yet again and he swallowed reflexively.
It had been like this for hours now.
The taste was foul, repulsive, sickening.
It made him realize how much had changed.
As an experiment hanging helplessly in a lab tank, he had become used to the taste of blood. He had focused on it, even. It was one of the precious few tangible feelings he had experienced. That he remembered.
The other was pain.
So he had learned to concentrate on the taste of blood in his mouth instead, had trained his body and brain to focus on the sensation of blood filling his mouth until it had become a habit, until he had become desensitized to it, until he could no longer even register it.
Then he had been saved, adopted, treated as a human, given a just purpose in life.
He was no longer a helpless experiment.
Oh, there were still times when there was blood in his mouth. But those times were different, better, healthier, in a way. The blood no longer tasted disgusting – it tasted of determination. It came from striving, of his own will, to become stronger, to protect those he cared about, to repay the unlimited kindness he had received from his new comrades, new friends, new family.
His family.
They must be worried. He could just imagine how they would react when he got home.
The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly despite the pain being separated and alone caused him to feel.
Frankenstein would fuss over him by running multiple tests and telling him how close they had come to losing him, all while maintaining the aloof discipline of an uninvolved doctor.
Seira and Rai-nim would likely be silent, the concerned look in their eyes the only indicator of their feelings.
Regis would berate him for getting involved in something so inelegant and try to pull him into a petty argument in order to reassure M-21 that he was indeed home and safe.
Takeo would probably be silent but encouraging, smiling to indicate his happiness and relief that M-21 had returned, while Tao would probably be unnecessarily boisterous.
He suspected Karias would congratulate him on his recovery and return through some grand speech, and hey, maybe Rael might even tell him that he had not been concerned at all while doing everything in his power to avoid looking M-21 in the eye.
So he would not let this monster win, this creature who sliced him up as easily and gleefully as a child cutting up construction paper.
He would not let the crippling pain or the grievous wounds inflicted upon him stop him from surviving, from returning, from living.
He would not let this thing take him away from them, from the house, the kids, the school, from everyone and everything he loved.
He would just continue focusing on the taste of blood in his mouth, and do whatever it took to see his loved ones again.
-xxxxxxx-
A/N: Written for anon on tumblr, to emphasize the messed up shit M-21′s gone through and the tenacity that's kept him alive through all of it.
