Chapter Text
Intern made his way into the office, having just escaped the wrath of Head Nurse's endless to-do list, feeling that familiar headache begin to pound within his skull at the lack of coffee this shift. Thankfully, as he entered, one of the machines dinged, signaling his long-awaited beverage ready, and he made a beeline for it.
He grabbed the mug, before stepping off to the corner to sip it silently, not usually one to talk when tired like this, opting instead to either stay mute or use sign language to communicate. In these moments, it felt as if his jaw was clamped shut, and forcing it open was not a risk he was willing to take in case he couldn't keep his… unfavorable features concealed.
Because of course, in this hospital full of animals and anomalies, he was the latter. Not that any of his coworkers knew, he wasn't stupid like the ones that tried to mimic patients during the day to score a free meal. He was a fully functional anomaly, thank you very much, and very rarely did his instincts ever get the best of him.
And besides, however many times he may accidentally let his true identity slip for a split second would go completely unnoticed by his fellow staff members. They couldn't even tell that Barney of all people was just like him, a functional anomaly, an intelligent one, though that was arguable. And the rabbit had even gotten his picture taken by Secretary, yet the animal saw absolutely nothing wrong with it, apparently. So Intern felt he had nothing to worry about.
"Hey Intern, why do you keep coming to the hospital so early in the morning? You know we don't have to be here until 7, right?" Secretary asked from his seat at the front desk. It was a slow day, few patients were coming in, and most of the staff members had begun to congregate in the office, following Intern's example.
"…" Intern set the mug down, sluggishly signing, "I like to get a head start on chores."
Secretary raised an eyebrow, "Intern, you came in at 12:30 am this morning! You don't need six and a half hours to get chores done!"
Intern swallowed. Seeing this, Nurse piped up.
"I-I mean, is it really that big a deal? If he's been doing this consistently, shouldn't the lack of sleep be obvious? He still does his job well!" she argued. Intern gave her a very faint smile. Moving at all was hard, the coffee was taking too long to kick in and certain coworkers were not helping.
"But he lives off of the coffee, if he's getting enough sleep that wouldn't be necessary," Paramedic chimed in from under the desk for some reason.
"I agree. It's really not good for you to be supplementing sleep with caffeine, Intern, unless you want me to lecture you about mental health again," Psychologist spoke, ever eager to chat about Intern's mental health as everyone was convinced he was slightly deranged. Intern frowned, but made no effort to acknowledge otherwise. He could feel Secret Agent's gaze boring into his skull.
"How about we leave him alone, hm? It's not our business unless his performance deteriorates, and as far as I've seen, Intern is ten times more reliable than any of you deadweights," Head Nurse interjected, having just entered the office and making a similar beeline to the coffeepots, grabbing the first cup that was done.
"Oh come on Head Nurse, don't be so mean," Security joked, but was met with Head Nurse's deadpan stare.
"You couldn't spot the most obvious anomaly if your life depended on it. Not to mention you can barely use a taser correctly. Who even hired you anyway?"
"The same guy that hired you, apparently," Security shot back, leaning against the dashboard of the cams' screen.
"Please don't make me regret leaving you all with closing duty," Doctor called out from the lobby, Surgeon trailing behind him. Secretary chuckled nervously.
"We won't. Have a good night," he called out to the two professionals. He sent a glare at Security once they had left.
"Arguing is pointless. If no more patients are going to show up, let's begin closing early," Psychologist spoke, making his way out of the room. Head Nurse motioned for Nurse and Intern to follow, and thankfully, Intern could finally feel the headache clear away enough to do so. However just as he left the room, a hand grabbed his arm, pulling him to the side.
Secret Agent leaned down slightly, his voice soft enough not to be heard by the others in the office, "Listen. If anything's going on, you tell me, okay? Please?"
Intern looked up at him meekly, before nodding and scurrying off, feeling Secret Agent's eyes on him the entire time.
Secret Agent turned back to the office only to be met with the room's entire population sticking their heads out of the window. His eyes slitted and he barely held back a hiss at the oogling faces of his incompetent coworkers, opting instead to remove himself from the situation and simply leave for the night.
He no longer felt very comfortable in this god-forsaken hospital, though was he ever? Not really.
Intern gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the warmth emanating from his face. While he couldn't deny he liked being worried over by someone, why did it have to be him? The number one anomaly-hater in the entire building, first of all. And second of all, him? The most aloof, solitary, cold animal on the face of the Earth?
Intern also couldn't deny there had been some weird, platonic-but-kinda-not connection between the two ever since the cat had begun working at the hospital, since they matched energies somewhat well compared to the others, who still were very put-off by him. He even came pre-packaged with sign language, which Intern had had to reluctantly teach the others with the help of Psychologist in case he had ever needed to go mute again.
So of course there was immediately a reason to gravitate towards the cat, despite the gun he kept on him at all times, his absolute hatred of anomalies, and his extremely observant nature, all of which screamed danger within Intern's brain and body, yet he could care for neither, especially when the cat had begun to grow fond of him.
And because of these conflicting signals, Intern had absolutely no idea how to go on about this situation. If he spent too much time around Secret Agent, surely he would begin to catch on to Intern's true nature. However, if he tried to avoid the cat, he would feel so incredibly guilty that he'd likely trigger a new depression episode, or go straight-up insane and just eat everybody, neither of which were very good outcomes.
So basically all he could do was go straight-up insane anyways trying to figure this out. Thankfully he no longer had to think for the time being. He was in Head Nurse's presence, and all he had to do currently was whatever she wanted him to do, which was something he was very good at.
His excitement died when he saw her face.
"Listen, Intern," she began as soon as Nurse had left to clean the rooms down the hall, "I meant it when I said I don't mind what you decide to do with your mornings. However we all worry about you, and we don't want you to get sick on the job, or make a mistake you wouldn't have otherwise. I'm telling you this because I know that you have potential, and I don't want to see you throwing that away.
"All I ask of you tonight is to go home and get as much good sleep as you can. That's it. No to-do list. You're free to leave."
Intern stared at her, processing, before nodding slowly, a small wave of relief spreading through his limbs. She smiled, and lightly pushed him out of the room.
"C'mon. You did great today, I'll see you tomorrow."
Intern waved at her, before starting down the hallway.
Intern pushed through the doors of the hospital's entrance sluggishly, the clutches of sleep dragging down on his body despite his efforts to fight it. It was 12:45 am, a little later than his usual arrival time, but he had accidentally missed his first alarm. He also got attacked by a skinwalker on the way, but of course he took care of it.
Absent-mindedly wiping the blood stuck to his fur on his jaw, he entered the office and began brewing a coffee. He grabbed a napkin to clean the remnants of his easy victory and delicious breakfast off his face, wincing at the uncomfortable overstimulation of his fur matting against his skin.
The breakfast thing was a lie. Skinwalkers did not taste that great, which was likely why they refused to cannibalize each other and instead attempt to eat innocent animals. Intern let out a sigh. He had morals, obviously, but even he could agree that animals tasted absolutely heavenly, especially their blood. Barney had jokingly called him a vampire once, when Intern admitted to breaking into the blood bank at the hospital when both of the coffeepots had conveniently broken at the same time. Though if he hadn't done so, he probably would've committed a way worse crime.
Intern had never killed anyone, at least not an animal. They were intelligent, and usually completely innocent. The guilt he would have if he ever did would make him inconsolable; he just knew it, which was why he refused. Barney did not have the same morals, he was a known serial killer, however after befriending Intern he had made certain compromises to keep the young rabbit happy, including narrowing down his victim list to those who already had a guilty conscience.
He also began bringing Intern the spoils of his hunts, despite the rabbit never asking him to. It didn't make Intern's stomach turn to eat dead animals he hadn't had a hand in killing, and he was very grateful for the loophole, as well as Barney's insistence to stop relying so much on coffee, which was honestly hypocritical, but Intern decided not to argue. It really did make him feel better to have a proper source of food as opposed to synthetic animal-made drugs.
The memory of the time he got higher than a kite to chase away his hunger suddenly popped into his mind, before he pushed it down with a frown. He was not going to try that again.
He startled as the coffee pot dinged, before grabbing the coffee greedily and chugging it. Almost immediately, he felt the waking rush of caffeine course through his veins, fighting off his drowsiness for him.
He pushed off from the table he was leaning against before making his way to the front door of the hospital, grabbing the sign he hid against the wall on the way. It was small, barely noticeable where he rested it on the lip of the wall outside, the words "Others Welcome" scrawled on it. No animals would be awake to see it so early in the morning, but it served simply as a signal that the hospital was not open to them, but to others like him.
There were more than just Intern and Barney. All of them had different circumstances in terms of how they reached that level of full control, some were born that way, some were turned that way, some worked themselves up from the masses of dumb anomalies into something more civilized, something with morals, even if they lacked at times, something that was truly conscious.
And while every so often they managed to sneak into the hospital during open hours, not for a meal but to truly seek medical attention, most were either too afraid to risk it, or simply refused to go near a hospital owned and employed by Animal Corp. That was why Intern took matters into his own hands.
Only a few weeks ago had he begun this system, after he realized that a select few of his coworkers were a bit too good at spotting anomalies, intelligent or not, namely Secret Agent. It had become popular extremely quickly, especially with the help of Barney's mysterious connections with nearly every intelligent anomaly in the city.
So, Intern became the designated medical professional for all those in his community, and boy did they love it. They needed it, truly, since the city was more hostile to them than any minority within its limits. No one was on their side, both animals and lesser-brained anomalies saw them as a target, and despite the intelligence they had been granted with, companies like Animal Corp had become smarter as well.
Intern didn't realize it at first, but he had nearly single-handedly created the first safe space for those of his kind, and it always made him a little giddy to remember that.
It didn't take long for the first few patients to arrive. Well, some were patients, others came by to linger and chat, which Intern didn't mind, especially since he didn't seem to have to remind them to be respectful of the space and leave no trace of their being there.
He went through the familar motions he did during his work day, check a patient in, treat them, clean up, repeat, except the lingering anxiousness of worry that something might go wrong, that he might be found out, was absent. These were his people, they were kind to him, and there was a sense of camaraderie in that, something he struggled to find amongst the animals. If he were found out, it would be the end for him, figuratively and literally.
Dr. Harlow, the mysterious character that ran the hospital and whilst arriving at the same time, 5:30 am, every single day, some how managed to never be around when he was necessary. Which was both relieving and stressful for Intern, as he knew the deer, most of the time, would never think to actually help around the hospital or even show himself more than what was necessary, but at the same time he had a habit of popping out at the most inconvenient moments, and his presence always put Intern into a dour, sullen mood. And he had his reason for that moreso than any of his coworkers.
Since that stupid buck was the reason he was even like this in the first place.
His memories of his life before were hazy, just enough to vaguely know who he was, where he came from, and what he had learnt before reaching this point in his life. Which unfortunately did not include his parents, so as far as Intern knew, he was an orphan. Given his nature to cling to people who made him feel safe, this was the most likely case, however Intern didn't really give it much thought. There was really no point in dwelling over a forgotten past, even if it was one where he was still a true animal.
He remembered the moments leading up to his change, remembered having to go to the hospital for a sickness, though he never figured out what it really was, because Dr. Harlow, in all his disgusting, perverted glory, had taken one look at him and decided he was the perfect lab rat for his experimentation.
It never truly made sense, since the deer worked for Animal Corp, or at least was heavily involved with them, yet behind the scene, only a select few knew what was truly going on in Dr. Harlow's heavily guarded room. Despite being a victim of his maltreatment, Intern had a million questions as to his intentions, and what Animal Corp itself might be doing undercover. Perhaps there was corruption? Perhaps all the higher-ups were in on it, and it was a ploy to gain control from the beginning?
Intern wasn't as motivated to find out as Ratthew was. The little guy had much more of a reason to be doing the digging he was doing. However Intern was happy to help, and be his eyes and ears when the rat wasn't around, or to cover for him in case of trouble. He liked their friendship, but he couldn't help but feel wary around him.
Ratthew had an incredible knack for identifying anomalies, better than any animal Intern had ever met. And with Ratthew's belligerence towards Barney, Intern could only assume the rat at the very least suspected the white rabbit of being an anomaly. But if that was the case, what about him? Did Ratthew suspect him?
Would he lose his friendship with him so easily if he found out?
He was unsure. But the negative thoughts of Dr. Harlow and being found out were not helping his mental state currently.
And what a godsend, his favorite rabbit had just walked in.
He smiled as Barney waved to some of the anomalies in the lobby, leaning against the desk as the rabbit walked up to greet him.
"Intern! It's so good to see you, friend!" Barney exclaimed, resting his elbows on the desk and holding his head up in his hands.
"Hi! I didn't expect you to come by so early today," said Intern, copying the other rabbit's behavior.
"Ah yes, well, I figured it would be safer for myself to arrive early if I was going to visit you, since the cops have really been on my tail recently. They all sleep in late, thankfully. Oh! Could I maybe have a coffee, friend?"
Intern rolled his eyes, but nodded at Barney's request, grabbing one of the already ready-made mugs and handing it to him.
"Thank you! I'll make it up to you, I always do!" Barney said, winking at Intern. Intern clenched his jaw, trying to hide his smile.
"Seems pretty slow today, huh? A very good thing indeed. In fact, I wanted to let you know that a few friends of mine are working on a little underground place to eat, just for our people. Nothing violent, everything is ethically sourced, and it is supposed to be 100% hidden away. Of course, it's not nearly done yet, but when it is, I will just have to take you! How does that sound, hm?" Barney asked, tilting his head and smiling that sly smile when he attempted to flirt with Intern. He knew the yellow rabbit wasn't interested, but that didn't stop him.
"Hm, that sounds fun," Intern replied, in his usual, not-so-talkative manner. Barney knew him well enough to know that was just the default for the young rabbit.
"Well, I must get going now, my to-do list won't kill themselves! Swing by my home later, we'll have a nice dinner," Barney called, already leaving and ignoring the amused smirks of anomalies around him. Intern chuckled to himself before grabbing another cup of coffee to mull in his grasp, waiting for the next patient.
Secret Agent had forgot. For the first time since he had gotten this forsakened job, he had forgotted something. And of course, it had to be the one thing he told himself would never even leave his person while he was on the job, his gun.
But he had taken it out of its holster to clean it, the thing nearly smothered in gunpowder from so much recent usage. And then he had set it on the desk absentmindedly when he went to catch Intern before he started closing, and… his little humiliated self had left before he could grab it.
Shameful, was all he was. And he couldn't sleep knowing it was still unattended at the hospital, knowing that people would arrive before him, possibly notice it, maybe even take it? He didn't even want to know what his coworkers might do if they got a handle of that firearm. It wasn't user-friendly, had little hiccups in its usage that only Secret Agent would know about since he had had it for so long.
What about Intern, with his deranged sleep schedule and habit of arriving before even his inherently suspicious boss, Dr. Harlow, who was definitely up to something, by the way. What if Intern came across it when he was doing… whatever it is that he did so early in the mornings.
Genuinely, what could that meek, quiet little rabbit be doing? He was about to find out.
He could see the hospital coming up in the distance; he pulled into the nearby parking lot and shut his car off, yet he didn't get out.
There were other cars in the lot. Not many, just two or three, and the lights were on within the building. He could vaguely see movement inside the doors. Just what was going on in there?
He had to get his gun, that was the first priority. He got out of his car silently, making his way towards the hospital in the same manner.
Other people were in there, he realized as he got close. Patients? At this hour?
He opened the doors, wincing as the alert bell signaled his arrival, and every single head within the lobby turned towards him.
It was as if everyone in that room, including him, was stuck in a state of shock as they realized what the other was.
Secret Agent had just walked into a room full of anomalies. And they knew he wasn't one of them.
He both nearly sobbed in relief and had a spike of panic when he spotted Intern rushing towards him. He could barely mumble his name in an almost dazed greeting before the rabbit turned to block the doors the cat had been backing up towards.
"We need to talk," Intern simply said, before grabbing Secret Agent's arm and all but dragging him to the office, raising a hand in apology to the rest of the population in the room.
"Wh- what is- going on?" Secret Agent forced out, mentally berating himself for losing his cool so easily in the presence of anomalies, despite their lack of hostility, for whatever reason. It must be because he didn't have his gun, that must be why.
His ears perked up, pupils growing slightly as he frantically looked around the office for his gun, only for Intern to interrupt him.
"I didn't think you would come by after hours for your gun. I noticed it when I got here," said Intern, and only then did Secret Agent realize the yellow rabbit was holding it, the safety still on.
Secret Agent clenched his jaw, eyes fixated on the gun, his ears flattened painfully against his skull. Before he could move to take it from Intern, the rabbit spoke again, his quiet, slightly raspy voice piercing through the cloud of anxiety that had been building up in the cat's head.
"I'll give it back to you after I explain, okay? But I can't explain until you calm down," Intern said softly, placing the gun on the table behind him before slowly walking towards the panicking cat.
Secret Agent felt like he was fighting every single urge, every instinct he could possibly have. Fighting the urge to run, to back away from Intern, to grab the gun and attack every single anomaly in the hospital, not questioning how they got there, just that they needed to die. It pounded in his head, but he couldn't allow himself to do that. Couldn't allow himself to lose any more composure, especially not with Intern around.
So he stood frozen, and let Intern wrap his arms around him.
He allowed himself to lean into the touch, to focus on it, to let it ground him, to find clarity, like his training had taught him long ago. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, heaving a sigh as he felt the energy drain from him almost immediately. He hugged Intern back, unable to stop himself from nuzzling into the fur on the rabbit's neck, already feeling embarrassed by the action. But at least that was a sign he had regained some of that clarity back.
The two stayed like that for a long moment. Intern only then pulled back when he was sure Secret Agent's breathing had returned to its steady, composed rhythm. He gave the cat grace by ignoring how he latched on for a second too long.
"Are you okay?" Intern signed, the worry for his coworker in his eyes present enough that Secret Agent could feel his face heat up a little. He nodded slowly, keeping eye contact with the rabbit he uncharacteristically feared to break.
"I guess… you know everyone out there is… not like… us," Intern started, crossing his arms over his chest, "I… they aren't like the other anomalies either…they- they are smarter. A lot smarter, and they have morals, and they come here every morning seeking medical attention, and I give it to them. That's the simple answer."
"… How do you know that. They're anomalies, h-how- how do you know that they have morals, that they're smart, they could be lying! It's their nature to lie!" Secret Agent sputtered out, his eyebrows furrowing. Intern sighed.
"I don't…I don't really know how to explain it… they just- one of them gained my trust, and now- and now they trust me with medical help. They need it too, I mean, they have everyone out to get them, Animal Corp, other, dumber anomalies… Listen. I've never felt like I was in danger doing this. A-And you should've seen their faces when I- when I started doing this, they were so, so happy, and they love it here!
"I just- I know you think it's bad to… to do something like willingly give an anomaly treatment, but… they hurt too, and- and they don't want to hurt us! They're scared! I just-" Intern explained, before getting cut off.
"I can't believe you… I- I can't believe this! How- Intern! You know anomalies are manipulative; we know this, we see it every day at work! How can you just- just blindly trust these, these creatures!? I could care less if they have morals, or if they're nice to you, I mean- god, Intern, they still have to cannibalize to stay alive!"
"Please lower your voice, please-" Intern began, swallowing hard as he realized they were within earshot of the lobby.
"No- no! I'm not going to, you aren't listening to me!" Secret Agent exclaimed, his voice gaining an edge he was too distraught to notice, "You're sacrificing your own sleep schedule for- for this!? I can't- I just-"
"Please- please! Stop- they can hear us," Intern pleaded, trying to lower his own voice as he saw someone come up to the desk out of his peripheral.
"No! I don't care if they hear this, I couldn't care less! You need to get them all to leave, now! I can't have you putting yourself in danger for- for whatever this is!" Secret Agent nearly yelled, then paused as he saw the expression on Intern's face. But only for a second.
"Uhm, is… everything okay in there?" A voice asked from the front desk, and both the cat and the rabbit whipped their heads around to the source. Secret Agent bristled as he saw the anomaly feigning worry for their private business.
Before Intern could stop him, before he could even stop himself, the gun was in his hands. He didn't really remember how he got it, now vaguely processing his arm lifting and his finger pulling the trigger, the resounding shot sounding out before Secret Agent finally gave in to his instinct to run, to get out of there.
Intern wouldn't follow him, he knew that. But he couldn't even think about that right now. He had to leave.
And so he did.
Intern felt his breathing become more and more difficult, tears springing from his eyes as he quickly made it to the side of the anomaly, on the ground and leaking blood from her stomach.
"I'm so- I'm so so sorry, I'm so sorry, come on, stand up for me, okay?" Intern said shakily, helping the woman get to her feet, spewing out more apologies as she yelped in pain, taking her straight to the surgery room and leaving the rest of the lobby in disarray as they nervously discussed the horrific situation they had just witnessed.
And Intern couldn't help but cry long after the wounded anomaly had been patched up, hiding in the room, waiting for her to wake up, and neglecting the front desk.
He fucked up so bad.