Chapter Text
Raindrops raced each other down to the earth, accompanied by the occasional rumble of thunder streaking across the sky. The streets were fairly quiet that night, with only a few vehicles passing by, much like the hospital itself.
That day was Agent's turn for the night shift. So there he was, sitting in the reception room watching the cameras while waving to the secretary who was about to head home. The secretary set his clean coffee cup back in its place and tidied the scattered files on the desk.
"Hey, there was a new intern this morning, and today was their first shift. I'll admit they're really good at spotting anomalies while I watched them at the reception desk, well even though they're not very skilled with that fucking ancient computer," the secretary said, ruffling his own hair and sighing. "Dr. Harlow should really repair or replace these old facilities, man."
Agent just snickered and whistling. "That'll cost you half your salary."
"What do you expect from this damn cheap hospital," the secretary grumbled, grabbing his umbrella. "I'm heading home. That intern is covering for Nurse, so they should be off tending to patients right now. They're kinda freak but yeah, whatever. Have a nice shift. See you tomorrow."
Agent just nodded and made a shooing gesture. "Yeah, yeah. Stay safe on your way home, buddy. Hopefully those anomalies won't eat you."
The secretary just responded by flipping him the middle finger.
Agent's yellow eyes watched the secretary walk toward the exit, catching a few mutters about about what he should have for dinner tonight. After the secretary left, a patient rushed in with a slight limp.
"I'd like to make an appointment, please. Someone drunk while driving and hit my legs." the patient said pleadingly.
Agent glanced at the CCTV monitor for a moment and found no signs of anomaly activity, so he sit down and ask the patient to fill out their information first. While waiting for the old computer to print the card, he is looking at the patient's photo and again found no signs of anomaly.
"Alright, sir. Here's your patient card. You'll be assigned to Room 6." Agent said while taking the freshly printed patient card.
The patient sighed in relief and murmured something like a thank you. Agent was about to hand over the card when someone suddenly yanked the window curtain shut.
"Hey, what are you-"
Agent was about to shout in anger and turned to see who the fuck dared to close the curtain. A beige rabbit in a plain gray hoodie staring back at him with empty eyes and an unsettling smile.
A very familiar figure.
"Hello! Why are you just sit alone? What's your name?"
"Huh? What's it to you?"
"Well, nothing! I saw some other cat friends like you playing tag, and you're just here by yourself. Why arent you join them?"
"None of your business. Why would a rabbit like you know."
They smiled wide, nearly baring their small rabbit teeth. "Dont be so rude, friend. My name is—"
"Ollie?"
No. That wasn't them.
Ollie's eyes had always carried a small spark of light, never empty like this creature. Ollie's smile had always been sweet, nothing like the unsettling grin worn by the familiar figure he now believed to be an anomaly wearing his friend's form.
So he quickly drew the gun from his waist and shot the rabbit in their left shoulder, followed by a small cry. He's in fact, aimed to miss on purpose.
"How dare you," Agent snarled, pressing the gun to Intern's forehead, "wear the face of my friend."
Intern looked terrified, clutching their bleeding shoulder and trying to stop the bleeding even as their hands shook violently.
"Why did you kill my friend? Why the hell would you copy their form?! Answer me! Say something, you monster!" he shouted furiously, straining to keep his voice from cracking. "...why did you kill my only friend?"
There was no answer. The anomaly in front of him only looked at him in fear and made no attempt to attack him.
Agent gritted his teeth and was about to pull the trigger when a deep voice called his name from the reception doorway.
"Agent. What are you doing to our new intern?"
Agent turned quickly to find Dr. Harlow watching them (with what he was certain was an angry look). The anomaly called Intern shifted slightly toward the doctor, seeking shelter from him.
"What the fuck is this? You're seriously hiring an anomaly to take care for patients?!" Agent demanded, his voice rising slightly.
Dr. Harlow sighed and gestured for Intern to get up. "Agent, you know how we've been short on staff lately, and anomaly attacks have been increasing. Besides, they're under my supervision. I personally tested them when they applied for the job."
"But we were doing just fine before them! What if they end up eating—"
The front door opened with the chime of a bell.
"That's enough, Agent, we have a patient coming in. If I catch you pointing a gun at them again, I won't hesitate to find someone to replace you. Get back to work," Dr. Harlow gave Agent a sharp look before patting Intern's shoulder. "Let me treat your wound."
Intern look at him in fear. They seems like make a sign to him that he couldn't understand before they lowering their head and following Dr. Harlow.
Agent glared at the trembling rabbit and slammed the curtain switch shut. He let out a breath and turned back toward the patient, forcing his expression back into something more professional.
"Hello, I'd like to—"
The anomaly disguised as the patient dropped to the ground instantly, followed by the crack of a gunshot straight to their forehead. They convulsed for a moment before quickly scrambling back up and fleeing toward the exit.
Agent growled in frustration and immediately dropped himself into chair, running his paws through his fur. Only then did he realize that his paws were still trembling hard. Maybe they had been shaking ever since he fired the bullet into their shoulder.
A loud clap of thunder startled him. He quickly curled up, trying to cover his ears as he squeezed his eyes shut.
"Oh my gosh! Are you afraid of thunder?" they laughed as they helped cover his ears.
"Shut up." The black cat curled up even tighter and squeezed his eyes shut.
"You know, when there's a thunderstorm like this, you should just turn your radio up as loud as you can," the rabbit said, glancing around as they searched for something that could distract their friend from the sound of the thunder.
"We don't even have a radio."
"Well then, just sing something, you silly! Here come, I'll sing for you instead." The rabbit laughed and quickly tried to pry his friend's paw away from his ears.
"What the hell, you goof—"
Too late. They'd already started singing loudly.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are—" The rabbit began to sing while gently stroking his head, rocking him back and forth in a warm embrace.
"Damn you," he muttered as he rubbed his itchy eyes, "how dare you remind me of them, after all the years I spent trying to let go."