After spending a whole night researching about Francis, I felt like I needed a break from work, but I couldn't weasel out of this position now.

He needed help and I wanted to be the one to provide it for him. He needs to have someone to be able to talk to and trust so I will be that person for him.

Too tired to walk this morning, I took the bus and as I was getting off, I could see Keisha standing in front of the main door, waiting for me and fidgeting, even more so when she saw me, she had a worried look on her face and questioning eyes. As I reached her she blurted out so many questions I had to interrupt her.

"Why did you even agree to be his psychiatrist Val? For all we could know he could hurt you; why take the risk? You know what- why did you even become a psychologist in the first place?! Don't you know how-"

Well, someone had a change of heart.

"Keisha!" I interrupted suddenly, making her stop in her tracks and look at me with guilty eyes "I'm aware of what I agreed to. And I will be careful and I know what he's done and that's why I'm doing this" I answered, moving to hold both of her hands.

She looks down at her feet, shading her face from me "I'm just scared for you" she mumbled making me smile.

"Don't worry," I said. "I will talk to you right after the session. And I'm sure he won't try anything," That made her smile a bit which even made me feel better.

As we entered our office quarters, I walked to my desk to see Chris waiting for me. As we exchanged glances, we smiled at each other until I got close enough for him to start talking.

"Hey Val, I just wanted to talk to you about the protocol for Francis today," he said, I wanted to say that I didn't need to be taught like a kid how to do this but I listened to him.

"Okay so under no circumstances can you take all his wing restraints and ankle cuffs off, he has a straitjacket so don't worry about hands. You never know what he could do to you and trust me. If he could do something, he would. Second, if anything happens like he tries to attack you there is always the button of emergency in your pocket, that you can press and the button that will alarm me to come back in and take him away. Also don't be surprised in the first few days, if he doesn't cooperate- weeks even," he said.

I just nodded, a bit dazed. I always got the keys for any type of restraint that the criminal is wearing, sooner or later, so I wasn't worried about the first thing. And everyone has a bit of humanity in them, so I'm sure that Francis did too.

As I collected files and booklets, Chris and I walked to my room for the day and parted so he could get the prisoner.

As I sat down I started wondering what we should work on.

Should I ask him about how he got his wings? Or would that be too sensitive for him? I could just start building trust with him. Or-

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash and yelling. The heavy door burst open, and I saw him.

Francis Whitelock in the flesh.

My eyes travelled his body instantly. His build was tall and slim- but still slightly muscular- and his skin was pale. He had short black hair and streaks of dried blood in it, and strands of hair laying over his face. To top it off, a septum piercing that gleamed with gold just like his eyes.

And then his wings. Oh, his wings. They were enclosed in thick two chains but the gleam of the feathers made them look elegant. The span of them must've been huge judging by the size of the closed wingspan, but they looked to be in pain.

Chris and the prisoner were yelling at each other, but I was only focused on my new patient. He looked beautiful. The guard pushed him down at gave him a glare that could kill but just made Francis angrier. As Chris walked out with a puff and closed the door; the room fell silent. I tried to distract myself by looking around, but my eyes still fell on his wings. They were just so.. amazing!

"It's rude to stare at somebody's wings," a deep voice said instantly snapping me out of my thoughts. My eyes whipped to his and our eyes locked. His eyes were a deep brown but there were hints of yellow surrounding his pupil. Everything about him was perfect.

But ruined by the frost contained in them. They had a wall of ice blocking his true feeling. Something or someone did that to him and I was going to find out.

"Ah- sorry about that," I stammered. Why was I so nervous?

I straighten my posture and smile at him. "Okay, so today I was going to,"

"Stop it." he hissed, and I did as he said, but in surprise, looking back at him in confusion.

"Stop?" I repeated.

He chuckled darkly and his eyes instantly shot up to meet mine, "Just stop. There's no point in trying to change who I am. The world isn't rainbows and flowers, so stop trying to act like it and don't try to change me. Nobody has ever changed me, and they never will. And I know your type of people, just doing this for the money, you couldn't care less about people like me." he spat at me.

Once again his eyes hooked on mine and we just stare at each other. He looked like he was searching for something, fear, anger, cowardliness. But I didn't show any. He may be a criminal, but I was in the lead here.

"Glad we're on the same page." I snapped, and I saw his shoulders tense at my unexpected outburst. I crossed my arms defensively making his eyes wander but they instantly went up to my eyes once I opened my mouth again. "The world isn't sunshine and rainbows; and you're right, money is a stupid thing, but you don't see me flaunting it. So, can you tell me about your life?" I asked ending with sincerity in my voice.

There was a pause before he spoke again. "What?" he spoke, his voice even colder than before, a defence mechanism, because he hasn't been spoken back to before.

"You can search it up." He spat venomously and I nodded knowingly.

"I know and I have. But I want to hear it from you," I said giving him a forced smile to which he glared, before turning away and looking to the wall behind me.

"Nobody's ever asked for my side." he mumbled lowly, but I could still hear "But why should I trust you,"

His cold face was melting away quickly, but he was rebuilding it quickly and I didn't want to give up now. "I don't expect you to trust me straight away," I explained quickly "But maybe, you could take a leap of faith to trust."

A leap of faith

It was silence for a second until I heard a snicker from the other side of the table. And I just raised my eyebrow

"Then do you consider me a killer, a completely sick bastard?" he provoked, a sudden change in the mood, maybe to defend himself but I wouldn't know. I looked up for a second to his gleaming teeth shining back at me and his gold irises staring back at me, pupils dilated and crazy, so I immediately look away.

"I consider you misunderstood" I stated thickly, the nerves getting the best of me, but I said it with a smile not looking up from the booklet that I was writing in.

All I could hear was a snicker until the room was filled with silence again. All you could hear was the tapping of my pen until he spoke.

"You will never understand me!" He suddenly burst out and it was my mistake of not looking up in time.

"What-?" I looked up to see what he was saying but only got interrupted.

There was the flash of his white straitjacket before there was the clang of the metal table and chairs falling to the floor.

I was on the floor, under the strength of his foot. My eyes widened and I started to struggle under his foot, which just provoked him to press his foot down further. Struggling for moments with my eyes squeezed shut, I stopped after a few seconds as I realised if he wanted to, he could hurt me severely, but he hasn't; this was to warn me.

Shooting my eyelids open, I finally looked him in the eyes, making his pupils dilate from the eye contact we hold for only moments, but it feels like hours as we stare at each other, and I knew from his look that he was struggling just as much as I had.

Francis suddenly pushed his foot off me and turned away briskly. He swears under his breath, but I get up quickly before he can walk away.

"Francis," My voice croaked but my voice surprised me, the same as Francis when he turned around suddenly.

There would be no bruises on my neck and the pressure wasn't too immense, but I rubbed my neck to ease the pain. We stood there motionless, his back to me.

I finally reached to put my hand out to him but retracted it at the last second. It would be cruel to push him too far so fast. I respected his boundaries and turn to go back to the fallen desk and start to clean everything up.

I didn't hear anything from where he was standing, but as I went to pick up the last chair, his chair, it was yanked and pulled onto its legs before I could do it. I looked up to see Francis with another stone-cold expression as he looked out the small window on the side wall. He refused to look at me, but the small action made me smile.

"Thank you, Francis," I said smiling at him, but he didn't even turn to glare at me, all he did was stare out the window.

"How long until I get out?" he asked suddenly, his look dimming as he stayed with his head facing the wall, but his eyes slid to look at me.

"I don't know that," I answered honestly, but I knew it would be for long.

The room was silent yet again. After a minute, Francis slid down in his chair, making his jacket lift slightly, making my temptation allow my eyes to slide down to his bare hip. There was a tattoo there. It was tribal ink and a wing made out of its patterns.

My eyes lingered on it for longer than expected and I heard a chuckle from the back of his throat as he sat up, covering it again and making my eyes lead to his. As I was about to ask, he already answered.

"It's the gang's symbol, darling." he said with a sarcastic smirk but paused "But you wouldn't tell anyone that. Right?"

It was a question but I knew there was a threat behind it so I swallowed my words and nodded, making his smirk wider and sit back.

As I sat there for a few seconds debating on whether I should try to start another conversation, the buzzer went off, alarming me that the time for our first session was over.

"Sorry, but our time is up," I said with slight humour in my voice.

I heard him grunt but the sound was cut off by the large metal door creaking open and Chris appearing. I waved to him as he came over and restrained Francis. Chris started to look at me from top to bottom to check for injuries, causing him to jar the criminal's wings and Francis hissed in pain.

"Easy on the wings, buddy," Francis snapped, trying to pull away but that only made Chris's grip tighten. As I could see that a fight was about to break out, I jumped up from my chair and touched Chris on the shoulder, making his angry demeanour turn soft when he saw me worried.

"Maybe hold him a little less tight?" I suggested in a hushed tone trying not to aggravate the guard further.

Thankfully, he listened and nodded, losing his grip. As I backed away from the door I watched the two walk out and just as the door was about to close, Francis's eyes and mine met and I swear I saw a little smirk on his face.

"Until next time, Angel "

Maybe there was some humanity in him after all...

After the session, I gathered up my workbooks and walked to my desk and saw someone facing away from me, sitting in my chair, I instantly knew who it was since I could see her heels. But before I could point that out, she spun around with an evil smirk on her face

I let out a long sigh as I stopped and looked and her, pained, which just made her smile wider and before I could let out another groan she got up and started shaking me by the shoulders.

"So? How was it? Did he try to attack you? Tell me!" she demanded, as she stopped and checked my face for any bruises, thankfully not touching my neck which was still sore. I pushed her off me and sat down, making her cross her arms and huff.

"There wasn't much progress, but I know that there will be and-" I started confidently but stopped myself after those words. I was going to do this every day, and today had felt like it was already time for me to clock out

"And..?" she asked, wanting more than that but I know she was just a sucker for gossip.

"And that's it. I'm not breaking a rule, by telling you what we talked about. You know that's against the rules" I stated. She sighed, nodding, and walked away, muttering curses to herself, making me giggle.

As I returned to my work, I started going through more files and digging up more information on Francis. I needed him to gain trust in me so I could get more emotion from him, to let him be his real self. As I was deep in concentration, I finally gave up thinking and walked out of the office to go on break. As the outside doors swung open I let out a sigh of relief. All the stress in my life washing away.

The loud buzz of the busy day gave me some sort of ease and I enjoyed it. As I walked down the street, I looked at the buildings, people, and nature, it was all so beautiful to me.

Humming a rhythm, I stopped outside a cafe. A cafe I had remembered from a long time ago.. where my parents and I used to sit and spend time with each other.

A couple was sitting at a table, with intertwined hands and I found myself staring. Oh, how I wish I could be like them.

I don't know why but I've always wanted a romantic relationship. It seemed so calming to always have someone to talk to and rely on. I sighed and was suddenly snapped back into reality when a car passing by honked at another. I realised that I was staring at the couple for a while and looked away with a crimson red face.

"What a dream.." I muttered as I walked back to the office, since it was getting late I decided to leave early, and I went straight home.

I creaked open my old door in the busy apartment complex to my own. As I opened the door, I was greeted with the sound of happy chirps and then the sound of wings flapping. I laughed as I saw her and dropped my bags so that she could perch on my arm, and I patted her head with my finger since she was that small.

"Hey Tiki, how was your day," I said in a hushed tone, and she chirped in response.

Tiki was a Barbary dove and I have had her for a year now, and she was one of the most important things in my life, besides my work and friends. She would always be there if I was stressed, and I know people think it's weird that I choose a bird instead of the majority like cats and dogs but since I was little I was always interested in birds with their wing structures and hidden features. And now I had a crazy bird man patient. I giggled to myself. Birdman.

I let out a sigh and packed my bag away and started to walk to the couch. I laid down and Tiki flew on top of me and nestles in my neck, making me giggle.

After a while of sitting on the couch, I dozed off until I woke up to the cold breeze slipping through the crack of the window in the dining room. Groaning, I got up and was about to close it until I looked outside. After two minutes of staring, I let out a cold breath, deciding to step through the window to the outside.

With a basic apartment block design, there were frail metal balconies with ladders and stairs. I climbed up most of them to the top. I messily climbed onto the roof and let out a proud breath as I saw all of the beautiful nightlife of San Francisco. I sat down for 10 minutes staring at the stars and naming all the consolations I could think of in case I ever got lost or something like that.

I got up and walked to the edge of the building and looked down at the buzzing cars and loud people, then up to the stars. There was a gust of wind and I let a cold breath out that was taken away by the breeze. It felt amazing.

With a smile, I got back down from the edge of the building and went back down to go back into reality, Tiki had already fallen asleep in her big bird cage, and I go to the kitchen, reaching into the locked bottom drawer of my desk. I picked the cylinder container up and dropped 2 pills into my hand before swallowing them dry.

It's hard to unnerve yourself when you're alone.