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A shrill alarm jerks the Agent awake, his ears flattening against his head. He shoves his face into the pillow and groans. He had spent all night tossing and turning, only catching an hour of sleep at a time.
The alarm trills again and he slams a hand onto the screen of his phone, feeling around until it eventually silences. His arm falls limp and he sighs into the fabric of his pillowcase. He grabs the phone and turns his head, clicking the phone on and wincing at the bright light in his dark room. The clock reads 1745, and Agent sighs again. He drops the phone and pushes himself up, climbing off the bed.
Agent raises his arms high above his head, curving his spine and stretching. His tail curls behind him as his spine pops. He runs a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes. Exhaustion makes his steps sluggish as he makes his way to the bathroom. Agent flicks on the light as he enters, squinting as his eyes adjust. He leans onto the vanity, looking at himself in the mirror.
Yellow eyes framed by pitch black fur, tousled by sleep. His fur helped him hide a lot, but nothing was going to help those bloodshot eyes, exhaustion tugging at his expression. He sighs again, tugging open the shower curtain and turning the faucet.
Agent sits on the closed toilet as the water heats up, burying his face into his hands. He had gotten home from his shift barely five hours earlier. Forced overtime kept him at the hospital late, ambulance after ambulance coming in as a massive anomaly attack hit the city this morning. Agent had to be on high alert. Anomalies were easily missed while critical patients were rushed to unoccupied rooms, and he couldn’t afford to be sloppy. At least the Paramedic had the decency to apologize after every trip he made.
The hospital was chaos right up until he left. The amount of anomalies that had slipped by the Secretaries during the emergencies was ridiculous. By the end, his gun was dangerously empty.
They even had to call the Intern in. They had rushed around helping wherever they could, moving the dead anomalies, cleaning the various… substances on the floor, rushing supplies to the nurses and doctors.
Honestly, he had never seen the hospital so staffed since he had started his contract there.
Agent raises his head from his hands as the bathroom grows warm and wet with steam. He stands up, pulls the curtain back, and steps in. His muscles relax under the warm water soaking through his fur. His eyes flutter closed and he exhales softly.
The Intern… they were certainly interesting. They behaved relatively normally, if not a bit clumsy, but… Agent couldn’t shake that there was something off about them. He tried not to be so shallow, but their face was a bit hard to ignore. Dark eyes, an eerie smile that never seemed to show teeth.
The other staff never seemed to treat them any differently, though. Agent supposed their personality made up for it. They were kind, helpful, friendly… and yet, Agent always found himself watching them out of the corner of his eye. It doesn’t help that he’s almost always scheduled with them. Doctor Harlow controls the schedule, and he doesn’t do things without thinking them through, there had to be a reason.
Agent shakes his head. He was too tired to be going through hypotheticals.
Slowly opening his eyes, he sighs and grabs the shampoo, squirting the soap into his hands and dropping the bottle back onto the shelf. He lathers the soap in his hands and rubs it into his fur. The bathroom is filled with a soft floral scent as Agent rinses the suds. He takes a moment to close his eyes, leaning against the wall of the shower as the water cascades over his back. He was exhausted, a headache already growing behind his eyes.
He grabs the conditioner and squeezes a hefty amount into his hand, setting the bottle back down. Agent runs the conditioner through his fur, focusing especially on the longer head fur between his ears. He doesn’t bother to wait for the conditioner to sit, instead just rinsing it out and turning the faucet off.
Agent pulls the shower curtain back, stepping out onto the bath mat. His ears flick droplets off as he grabs the towel off its hook, roughly rubbing his fur dry. He uses the towel to wipe the foggy mirror.
His eyes look better, at least. Not as bloodshot as before. Hopefully no one says anything.
Agents fur is fluffed up, messy from the rough treatment. He grabs his brush from the vanity. He quickly taps his phone, checking the time. He blanches at what he sees. 1823. He was going to be late.
Quickly brushing through the long fur on his head, he drops the brush and runs his claws through the extra fluff on his cheeks, straightening his whiskers. He grabs his phone and darts from the bathroom, yanking open his closet door and grabbing a clean set of work clothes.
Tossing the clothing onto the bed, Agent quickly runs his hands along his body, trying to smooth out his fur. He shoves his legs through his briefs, pulling them up and pulling his slacks on quickly after. He leaves the fly unzipped, grabbing his shirt and putting his arms through the sleeves. He buttons his shirt with slightly trembling hands.
Agent pauses when he notices his fingers fumbling, holding out his hands. They shake slightly, just enough he knows it's going to mess with his aim. He tries to shake it out, going back to buttoning his shirt. He doesn’t have time to worry about it. Coffee will help as soon as he gets to work.
His headache is getting worse.
Once his shirt is buttoned, he tucks the bottom into his slacks, zipping the fly and grabbing his belt, pulling it through the loops. Agent buckles the belt and grabs his tie from the bed.
Tying a tie was second nature to him now. He could do it with his eyes closed. Yet, today, his hands trembling is making the knot difficult. He pulls the end through a loop, pulling the tie tight. He pulls his vest on and buttons it closed as well.
Agent grabs his phone and heads to the kitchen, grabbing his gun and holster from the table along with his bag. He checks the time again, his phone reading 1845. Huffing a sigh of relief, Agent heads towards the door. He shouldn’t be late.
Shutting and locking the door, Agent leaves his apartment and heads towards the elevator. The hospital was only a 10 minute walk from his complex, thankfully. Even then, Agents head pounds behind his eyes. He really didn’t want to make the walk today. He wishes the Corporation wasn’t so cheap they couldn’t provide him with a company car.
Agent approaches the elevator, pressing the call button. While he waits, he quickly checks the safety on his gun, making sure its on, before shoving it and the holster into his bag. He always got scared looks if he carried his gun on his hip in public.
The elevator dinged and the doors open. Agent steps inside, pressing the button for the ground floor. As the doors shut, he sighs and slumps against the wall. He felt like shit. Along with the headache, it felt like his brain was full of fog. His hands were still shakey, and he clenches them into fists to try to get them to stop. His claws dig into his palm pad.
He could only hope tonight won’t be as bad as the past few days. Anomaly attacks have been increasing lately.
Agent pushes himself off the wall as the elevator dings again, clutching the strap of his bag as he walks into the lobby of his complex. He quickly strides out the door. Cool air hits him in the face, and he closes his eyes for a brief moment, enjoying the breeze.
Startling at the sound of a siren nearby, Agent flattens his ears to his head. His head pounds. He starts off towards the hospital, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers and trying to shake the damn fog out of his head.
Before he knows it, he’s approaching the emergency center. He’s almost swaying on his feet. His hands shake harder, and nausea curls in his belly.
Coffee. He just needs caffeine. He’ll be fine.
The doors slide open as he approaches. He beelines directly for the office, walking in and dropping his bag onto the counter with the coffee machine.
“Wow, you look like shit.” The Secretary says. Agent turns and shoots them a glare. They hold their cloven hands up in surrender. Agent rolls his eyes and goes to unloading his bag, pulling out his holster and fastening it to his hip.
“Just an observation.” They say. “When did you leave this morning?”
“Around noon.” His voice sounds rougher than he anticipated. He quickly clears his throat. Secretary hums quietly behind him. He notices the other Secretary isn’t here tonight.
“Where’s your other half?” He says, pulling his gun out of his bag and checking it, making sure it’s loaded and ready to go.
“He left a bit ago. I’ll be out of here in an hour or so, depending how the night goes.” He hears their hooves click on the keyboard.
Agent holsters his gun and turns towards the door. He stops when the Secretary bleats at him.
“Don’t forget to sign in.”
Agent sighs, walking back over to the counter. A messy sign in sheet with a pen on top sits on a clipboard next to the coffee machine. It’s a mess of signatures, small doodles, and messages to the other staff. A note from the Doctor that's nearly illegible tells everyone to stop drawing on the sign in sheet. It obviously didn’t work.
Agent fills in the last slot on the sheet with “Secret Agent” and his sign in time of 1900 sharp. Just on time.
A wave of nausea crashes over him and he leans heavily on the counter.
“...Are you sure you're okay?” Secretary says, concern in their voice.
“I’m fine. Just need some caffeine.”
“Coffee won’t be ready for a bit, Nurse took some after dealing with a nasty patient.” They tap the empty chair at the other desk with their shoe. “Sit, you can wait with me.”
Agent sighs, but complies. He drops his weight onto the chair and slumps back. He rubs his temple with his fingers, wrapping his other arm around his stomach.
“How busy has it been?” He mutters, closing his eyes against the bright fluorescent light in the office. His head is throbbing now.
“Not terrible.” They bleat, hooves back to clacking on their keyboard. “Had an attack earlier, but other than that no anomalies got through. Thanks to me and my lovely companion, of course.”
Agent hummed. “Who’s on staff tonight?”
“Didn’t bother to read the sign in sheet?”
Agent just grunts in response. He can basically hear their eyes roll.
“Nurse, Doctor, Me, You, and Intern are the only ones here. I’ll be leaving soon hopefully, then it’s just you four for the night. Hopefully you don’t get to see Paramedic.”
“Hopefully.” He murmurs. Of course Intern was here.
The door to the office opens. Agent looks up. Speak of the devil.
“Agent, hey!” Intern says, their ever present smile widening.
He hums a hello. They turn towards the coffee machine, the pot nearly full. Secretary clicks their hooves at him.
“Agent gets the next cup.”
“I know!” They say, grabbing a mug and pouring the coffee in. The office is filled with the rich smell of black coffee. Before Agent can open his mouth to protest, Intern is already bringing him a steaming cup. They smile at him.
“Here.” Their brows furrow. “You don’t look so hot, Agent.”
“I’m fine.” He stresses. “I just need caffeine.”
Agent grabs the coffee from Intern’s hands. He brings it close to his chest, and inhales the scent. He grits his teeth as the smell makes his stomach turn.
“Are you sure you’re oka-”
Agent fixes a sharp glare at Intern. They back away.
He takes a small sip of the coffee, bitterness spreading across his tongue. The hospital only had the cheap, instant stuff, but it at least did something to help staff keep their sanity.
“You just- uh. You aren’t wearing shoes.”
“What?” Agent says. It was near impossible to tell exactly what Intern was looking at, but their head was tilted towards the floor. Agent looks down, and sure enough.
His entire face warms and he tucks his paws under the chair. How did he not notice? Thank god his fur was dark enough Intern couldn’t see the blood rushing to his cheeks
“Y-You don’t ever wear shoes.” Agent childishly snaps back.
“Well, yeah, but that’s me. You do.”
“Wow you really aren’t wearing shoes.” Secretary says, now facing them in their chair. “I’ve never seen your paws before. How did that happen?”
The fur on Agents tail fluffs up. “I was in a rush. Leave it alone.” He mutters, hiding his face behind another sip of coffee.
Intern hops up to sit on the check in counter next to Agent. “No judgement from me! I think paws out is the way to go.”
Secretary huffs. “Have you seen the stuff we clean up from the floor? Absolutely not.”
“There’s sinks for a reason!”
“You wash your paws in the sink here?”
Agent tunes out their bickering. Usually he gets through his coffee in minutes, but the idea of taking a gulp makes his already churning stomach feel worse. The taste is nearly making him gag. Small sips it was.
Everyone jumps when the bell at Secretary’s counter dings. All their heads snap to the window, where a sheepish fox stands.
“I- Um. was hoping to check in?”
Secretary immediately swaps back to professional. It was impressive. Agent turns away again to stare at the floor. His brain was fuzzy and his head was killing him.
“I can handle the counter tonight, Agent. If you wanna relax a bit.”
Agent looks up at Intern. They look concerned.
“I’ll be fine.” He stresses.
Intern’s smile drops a bit. “If you’re sure…”
Agent stands abruptly. He’s sick of the coddling already. To his horror, he immediately stumbles, and has to catch himself on the counter as his head throbs and spots appear in his vision. Intern’s hands dart out to hold him steady, but he waves them off. Agent sets the coffee down, having only drunk half of it, and heads towards the door. Secretary looks up at him after they hand the patient their badge with a smile.
“You should take it easy, Agent.”
Agent ignores them and strides out the door, starting his rounds. He heads towards the hallway with the smaller treatment rooms. Only two of the door lights are turned on. Hopefully it stayed this empty all night.
Nurse walks out of the door right as Agent reaches the end of the hallway, turning around to head back towards the opposite hallway.
“Oh! Hello, Agent!”
Agent turns his head to look at her. She has a small smile on her face, her arms full of medical supplies.
“Good evening, Nurse.”
She frowns slightly. “Are you feeling okay?”
Agent sighs. “You too? I’m fine. Just a long shift yesterday.”
Nurse walks towards one of the bins, tossing away the used ointment and bandages. “I can check you out if you’d like.”
“I’m the only one here with a gun. I’d rather not be incapacitated on a hospital bed if an anomaly shows up.”
Nurse turns to him with a huff, putting her hands on her hips.
“You’re going to be worse off if you don’t take care of yourself. Then what will we do?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll be keeping my eye on you, mister.”
Agent huffs a laugh. “I’m sure you will.”
She turns to head to another occupied room. Agent turns and heads towards the opposite hallway. His steps are sluggish and his tail drags limply behind him. He sways while he walks, arms wrapped around his middle. His stomach is churning harder now. The coffee probably wasn’t the best idea. His head hurts.
Agent walks the other hallway, noticing the Doctor in the surgery room working on a patient. He doesn’t want to hear another animal telling him he looks like shit, so he turns the other way. He walks towards the supply shop and ducks inside, leaning against the restricted access door.
Closing his eyes, Agent lets his head fall back, knocking against the door. A wave of cold sweat spreads across him and he shudders. He really needed a break. How long had it been since he had more than one day off? His apartment was a mess, and he had probably got 12 hours of sleep for the entire week.
He could only pray that it would be a quiet night.
Agent regretted thinking the words as soon as he heard sirens. He pushes himself away from the door just as the ambulance pulls up. He sways and nausea curdles in his gut. He shoves a hand against his mouth as saliva pools under his tongue. He swallows thickly and lashes his tail, straightening up and heading towards the lobby.
Paramedic rushes in with critical patients, the Nurse and Doctor grabbing them and ushering them into rooms. Intern and Secretary dashed from the office.
Agent quickly shook his head to try and rid his brain of the fog. This was the easiest time for anomalies to get through, he needed to focus. His eyes darted between patients being helped into rooms, nothing seeming wrong with any of them. No extra eyes, no sharp teeth, no stares, nothing.
“Agent! Take room five!” Nurse calls.
Agent quickly nods, and follows the canine patient rushing to room five. He wasn’t exactly… qualified to be doing medical work, but on such low staffing, he rarely had a choice. He helps the patient to the bed, lying them down. They’re trembling, gasping for air. They look at him with fear, eyes welling with tears.
He was really bad at this part.
“Just… try to take a breath and calm down. I’m going to help you.”
“O-Okay.” They whimper.
Agent approaches them with a small needle and bottle. All he needed was a small DNA sample, and the computer could do the rest of the work. He grabs the patients hand, and pulls it close to him. He holds up the needle and tries to bring it towards their paw pad. The patient squeezes their eyes closed and looks away.
“It’ll just be a small prick,” Agent reassures. He brings the small needle closer. His hands won't stop shaking. Cold sweat beads under his fur. He tries to still his hands. He just needs a little bit of blood. He can do this.
He tries to prick the patient's paw pad, and the needle slips, scratching them slightly instead. They jerk and yelp.
“O-Ow! You said it’d be a little prick!”
“S-Sorry, it was a bad… poke. One more time.”
The patient whimpers.
Agent brings the needle close again, fingers trembling, then it slips out of his fingers and hits the floor.
“Fuck!” He hisses, ears pinning back. His tail lashes. The patient looks nervous and pulls their paw away.
“I-I um. Is there someone- sorry, is there someone else maybe…?”
Agent stands, then stumbles back, vision growing dark for a moment.
“Are you okay?” The patient says.
“I’m- fine.” Agent grits out. “I’ll get you a nurse, just wait here.”
Agent quickly walks out of the room. He nearly collides with Nurse.
“Is everything okay?” She asks.
“I-I can’t- I-” Agent exhales sharply. “I need you to help the patient. Please. I can’t.”
“O-Okay-” She starts, worry pinching her brows.
Agent walks off before she can stop him. He needs to sit down. Nausea makes his stomach churn and his mouth waters. He feels himself gag and shoves a hand against his mouth. He needs to get to the bathroom.
Before he can beeline towards the toilets, a scream of his name sends his ears swivelling towards the lobby.
“A-Agent! Help!”
Agent takes off sprinting towards the office. As he rounds the corner, he sees Secretary and Intern crowded into a corner, two anomalies with mouths open wide approaching. Their teeth are dripping green saliva. Intern has an arm thrown out in front of Secretary, their ears flattened tightly against their head.
Agent’s hand darts for their gun, ripping it out of the holster and pointing. His hand shakes, and he grabs his wrist to steady it. He closes an eye, and breathes in.
The anomalies make a horrible, gurgling growl, and lunge.
Agent breathes out.
Two loud shots fill the hospital, and the anomalies drop, bullet holes in their heads. Blood sprays onto Intern’s face, and they flinch back.
Agent drops their arm, then the gun. The shots ring in his ears, his head feels like its going to split open.
Suddenly, he gags, stomach lurching, and he can’t stop a retch.
“A-Agent, are you-”
He retches again and his mouth fills with acid. Another lurch and vomit spills from his mouth down his front. He doubles over, gagging.
He hears footsteps rushing towards him, warm paws holding him up. He heaves and vomit sprays from his lips, tinted brown and burning his tongue. The taste of acid and coffee makes him gag again, another mouthful coming up and onto the floor.
“Shit, Secretary go get Nurse!” Intern says from next to him, rubbing his back gently.
Agent dry heaves again, a horrible retching noise, and his head pounds. His vision darkens, and his hands feel numb.
“I-Intern-” He slurs, “I’m gonna-”
“Oh fuck, hold on Agent I got you-”
Agent slumps forward, and everything goes dark.
Beeping is the first thing Agent hears. His head hurts, but the pounding is finally gone. He slowly opens his eyes and is greeted with a dark hospital room. He looks down and sees his soiled vest and shirt were taken off, leaving his chest bare. There’s an iv placed in the crook of his elbow, connected to a bag on a pole.
His head jerks to the door as it slowly opens. Intern pokes their head in, then smiles widely when he sees Agent.
“Hey! You’re awake! Thank god, you really scared us out there.”
They enter the room, carrying a teacup.
“Wh-” His throat is rough and raw, and he coughs. Clearing his throat, he tries again. “What happened?”
“You saved me and Secretary for one, thanks for that.” They pull a chair close to his bed and sit next to him. Agent tries to push himself up.
Intern quickly sets down the teacup on the table next to his bed, standing and grabbing Agent’s arms gently. “Hey, hey, be careful. Take it slow.”
They help him sit up, supporting his weight. They’re stronger than he thought they were.
Once they deem him stable, they grab the teacup and hold it out to him.
“Here, mint tea. It should help your stomach a bit.”
Agent takes it from their hands and pulls it to their chest.
“...Did you carry me in here?”
Intern fiddles with one of their ears. “Yeah. Nurse and Doctor were too busy dealing with critical patients, so I handled it. Hopefully everything feels alright…?”
Agent takes a sip of the tea, enjoying the mint spreading across his tongue. “Yes. Thank you.” He murmurs.
Intern exhales and sags in relief. “Thank god. I really didn’t wanna fuck anything up.”
Agent glances at them. “Why did you help me?”
Intern furrows their brows, smile flattening out. “Why wouldn’t I? I care about you.”
Agent feels his eyes widen. “You… care about me.”
“Of course I do. I know you don’t really think much of me, but…”
“No, no, I…” Agent trails off. They weren’t necessarily wrong. “I’m sorry. That I made you think that.”
“It’s okay-”
“No,” Agent interrupts, “It’s not. We’re always scheduled together, it’s important we get along. I do think a lot of you, Intern. You’re… interesting.”
Intern laughs and leans back in their chair. “Yeah? You’ll have to tell me what you think of me then.”
“Maybe.” Agent murmurs. He takes another sip of tea.
“What happened?”
Agent lowers his cup. “What do you mean?”
“What made you so sick? We were all really worried.”
Agent traces the rim of his teacup with a claw. “I… work a lot. I have a contract with the hospital that requires me to stay when I’m needed. I couldn’t leave. I worked seventeen hours yesterday, and only got three hours of sleep. I can’t remember the last time I got a weekend off.”
Intern stays silent. When Agent looks over at them he’s shocked at their expression. They look angry. That ever present eerie smile is turned into a frown, their brows furrowed together.
“That’s not fair. You shouldn’t be treated like that.”
Agent shrugs. “It’s in my contract.”
“Maybe I can do something-”
“Don’t.” Agent snaps. “I have to be here.”
Intern falls silent again. “...You’re here because I’m here, aren’t you.”
Agent looks at them in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“We’re always scheduled together, when I’m called in you’re called in too.”
“...It’s possible. I’m not sure why, though. I’m sure Doctor Harlow has his reasons.”
Intern stares at him with a blank face. “You… don’t know why?”
Agent blinks at him. “Should I?”
Intern quickly shakes his head. “No, no it’s nothing. If that’s the case, if I take some time off, you’ll get time off too, right?”
“Wait, you don’t-”
“I’ll tell Doctor Harlow tomorrow that I need to be out for a few days.”
“That doesn’t mean I won't be scheduled-”
“And heavily imply that a certain Secret Agent of ours could really use a break.”
“Do not do that.” Agent hisses.
Intern fishes their phone out of their pocket, already typing out a message. “Too late, already putting in the request.”
“You-!”
Intern looks up at them, smiling. It was still eerie, but Agent couldn’t look away from their dark eyes.
“Let me do at least this for you, Agent.”
Agent feels his cheeks warm. “I… Fine. I guess I can’t stop you.”
Intern smiles wider and leans back in their chair. “So, I guess we should get to know each other better, right? How about twenty questions? Okay, what’s your favorite color?”
Agent huffs a laugh and shakes his head.
Maybe the Intern wasn't so bad.