Chapter Text
The Monday played out like any other. During their break, Secret Agent and Head Nurse made small talk, mostly about Head Nurse's niche interests, eventually turning to Dr Harlow and anomalies.
"Honestly, I've never seen Dr Harlow being scared of the anomalies."
Not looking up from their novel, they replied to the head nurse.
"...Well, that's because he's- " cutting themselves off, they froze in place. The black cat's pupils turned into slits as they realised what they almost did.
"Sorry, what was that?" She tilted her head in confusion, waiting for an answer.
The agent cursed themselves in their head.
"...Nothing. You must've heard me wrong." The agent replied in a smooth tone, effectively steering the conversation away as they continued to talk about other stuff.
The head nurse nodded, not questioning them any further.
Though, during their conversation, the black cat's thoughts repeatedly drifted to how they had even made such a foolish slip-up in the first place.
They blamed it on tiredness, since they didn't get the best quality sleep as they normally would last night.
Maybe their brain wasn't functioning as well, or something.
But that couldn't excuse this slip of the tongue.
...Forget about it. It's fine. You saved it well enough.
The conversation ended not long after as another nurse called the head nurse to assist in a surgery.
The two said goodbye, leaving only the Intern and the Agent in the office.
Secret Agent continued reading their novel while sipping their coffee, as the Intern flopped onto the counter, bored out of his mind due to the small number of patients checking in.
The bell at the door rang, signalling someone had entered the hospital. The yellow bunny perked up, getting into position to greet the visitor.
As the orange deer came into view, the Intern's face lit up.
"Oh, Dr Harlow! Good to see you, sir!"
The doctor smiled, returning the greeting.
"Good day, Intern. Say, is Agent here? I require him for an errand I have at the moment."
The agent's ears perked up, tail flicking behind them in anxiety.
"Mm-hm! Hey, Agent! Doctor Harlow needs ya for something!!" He turned around, calling the agent.
The agent nodded, getting up from their seat and setting their book down as they walked out of the office, the Intern waving at them.
The two walked to the staff break room, the doctor entering first as the agent followed.
In the brightly lit room, the two continued to walk until they finally reached the doctor's office, Dr Harlow stopping right in front of the door and turning around.
"Leave your gun outside. It will not be necessary here."
The agent hesitantly reached for the gun in its holster, slowly pulling it out as the doctor pointed at the desk behind them, signalling to leave it there.
The gun fell on the table with a soft thud.
"Good. Go in, now."
The doctor reached for his keys, unlocking the door to let them in.
As the agent walked in, the doctor would enter right after, locking the door behind him and storing the keys in his back pocket.
The cat's eyes tracked the floor, refusing to look at the doctor.
Dr Harlow turned around, his face instantly darkening.
"So... Agent," he said, staring at them, the doctor's expression an unchanging dark scowl.
"You know what you did, hm?"
"Yes."
"This careless behaviour will not be tolerated."
They carefully selected their next words.
"I apologise. It was a slip of the tongue."
The doctor walked forward, the cat taking a few steps back as well.
"Slip of the tongue, you say. Yet that could've exposed my identity."
"I apologise. It won't happen again."
"Apologies will not do. I think you deserve a punishment for your carelessness... And to make sure you never do it again."
Dr Harlow stepped even closer.
The cat instinctively retreated.
One more step, two more steps...
Their back hit the cold wall.