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The world has been saved yet again, albeit unknowingly, secrecy and distraction was their game.

Several smartly dressed individuals stood in the highly-secured office of the Head of MI6 in London, England, with several armed guards standing outside of the room. The current head of MI6 stood beside the current Prime Minister as they and the one other person kept their attention on the one individual whom was currently speaking.

"... and from there we destroyed the facility and returned back to the mainland." The well-to-do British voice spoke, male, confidant, smooth, a real life "James Bond" character, the owner of the voice was a fit man, standing an even six-foot-tall, mid-30s, head full of luxurious black hair, he was one of MI6's finest agents and he went by the name; Samuel Jones.

"And the data?" the Prime Minister, an aging 50-something year old man, whose hair was beginning to grey, asked with curiosity and urgency.

"I was able analyse the data and confirm our previous suspicions of bribery, theft as well as the blueprints for the weapon," the other person spoke up, the voice smooth, strong and female.

She unlike the rest of those in the room was an anthro-morph, a race of beast-men that had evolved along side humanity over the millennia, their kinds had their differences over the centuries and now there was those who saw them as nothing but animals, though refereeing to them as such was deemed highly inappropriate and racist. She herself was a lioness, her fur a dirty-golden like colour with long brown hair that reached just below her shoulders, she stood a little taller than the gentleman beside her and she, like him, was an agent for MI6, her name; Natasha Lingwood.

"... I uploaded all of the data onto the hard drive and get it back to the lab for analysis, they should be finished by the end of the day."

They had saved the world from an unknown threat. Their mission? To confirm British Intelligence's findings; the multi-millionaire Russian business Dimitri Shevchenko was using his business as a front for his illegal mining operations in Peru where several people had gone missing. The had succeeded, but that was not all. Shevchenko was developing a weaponised gas, that could dissolve a human body within several minutes and leave no traces of either body or the gas itself behind, his plan was to use the weapon to make himself richer than one could imagine and hold the world prisoner, the typical "take over the world" scheme. The agents had stopped the gas' production, stopped Shevchenko and his plan, and now Shevchenko was dead, and his growing empire had been crumbled down to nothing but wreckage.

"It was a straight forward task sir, nothing we couldn't handle." Samuel spoke up confidently.

"Oh?" the head of MI6 raised a well-groomed brow, "I have in Agent Lingwood's report that you were both captured."

Samuel turned his gaze towards Natasha and glared ever so slightly at her.

"That is correct sir." She confirmed, "until Agent Cooper was able to free us."

"Not that we couldn't have escaped without his aid." Samuel added on confidently.

"No, we couldn't." Natasha interjected, annoyance slipping into her tone, "Agent Jones if I may remind you of yesterday we were restrained and our personal affects had been taken from us, no weapons no gadgets, and in a highly-secured facility full of armed men." She spoke in a slight condescending tone, wanting to remain professional while giving Jones a piece of her mind.

"I had a file up my sleeve, we would've escaped regardless." Jones shot back calmly, hiding his growing frustration.

"By which we could've been too late to stop Shevchenko..." Lingwood immediately replied.

"Enough you two, enough!" the MI6 head spoke out stopping the two, "there's no need for this," the aging gentlemen exhaled softly as the Prime Minister looked between the two.

"Where is this Agent Cooper anyway?" he asked.

"Probably in some god-awful place getting drunk or with some floozy." Jones muttered none too quietly.

"Ah, Agent Cooper isn't one for medals or ceremony sir, he prefers to do a job then go do his own thing." Natasha explained rather sheepishly.

The Prime Minister just nodded, accepting the reasoning.

"I'd like to conclude this debriefing by saying congratulations, as always you've done her majesty and your country proud, the world will never know or your hard work and sacrifices, but your continued duty to the crown has kept us all safe. Thank you."

Both agents saluted the Prime Minister.

"It is an honour sir." Jones simply replied dutifully

"We'll keep England and her allies protected sir, as best as we can." Lingwood added professionally.

"I'll have our science division look at the information you procured Agent Lingwood." The head of MI6 stated then saluted them, "Good work agents, dismissed."

Lingwood and Jones saluted, turned around then marched out of the room, leaving the Head and the Prime Minister to speak. The agents stepped past the armed guards and away from the room, the doors closing behind them, then paused in the middle of a hallway, Lingwood exhaled slowly preparing herself and stared at Jones.

"Well, say it." She grunted.

"Of all the bloody things to put in your report!" Samuel said with quiet frustration.

"A report is to detail every bit of what happens, Dwayne saving us actually happened." She replied calmly. "It's not my fault you and the others don't see eye-to-eye with him."

"It's not you're right, it's his." He growled back, "He's a disgrace of an agent, he has no etiquette, no charm."

"He's not a playboy who likes to woo ladies into his bed and wear fleshly pressed suits." Natasha retorted and put a hand on her hip. "He works differently than we do, the agency needs all sorts of different skills, it's what gives them options, the agency knows what to expect from him as they do us all, it's why they send him on certain missions and not others."

"Now I wouldn't try and play the moral high ground in terms of seducing the opposite sex Natasha, how many men have you bedded in the name of Queen and country?" Samuel defended, before glaring at her, "Furthermore let's just be realistic here, the man is a deranged lunatic, every time he's sent on a mission there's immense property damage and god knows how many bodies left behind, we're secret agents, key word being secret! We wouldn't be very secretive if we all started blowing up building and leaving a trail of corpses in our wake!"

"Not that you should be aware of another agent's mission Samuel but I'll admit Dwayne's methods are extreme but it's what he's for, besides it's his methods that saved us in the end, it's what got us out of that damnable place and saved the world." She crossed her arms, mimicking Jones' stance, "but let's be truthful to each other, it's not his skills nor his methods that's really got you ruffled, it's him_in particular isn't it? You don't like him; he's not one of you rich boys with your slicked back hair and fancy cars and gadgets, who went to fancy schools and were able to pay your way here, you don't like the fact a _commoner could make it into the agency and made it by hard work, heck I bet you don't even like the way he talks."

"He sounds like a bloody drunk and a half-wit farmer." Samuel shot back, glaring at her with suppressed rage.

"He's a Northerner."

"Same bloody thing! But more to the point the man has no class, no prestige, he doesn't follow protocol and he's a bloody barbarian, a psychopath!" Samuel shot back with controlled rage, "He shouldn't be on the agency, he should be locked up in a cell tied up in a straightjacket and chained to a wall, the others joke that the only difference between Dwayne Cooper and a mass murdering psychopath is that the government pays Cooper and honestly you SAW what he did, no sane person does that, he's an out of control animal!"

"The world was in jeopardy Jones need I remind you? There wasn't much time left and they were going to kill us if not worse, I didn't really care for their wellbeing and honestly the bastards got what they deserved, the world was saved and Shevchenko is nothing but ash, all problems solved." Natasha leaned against the wall behind her yet kept her focus on the man before her.

"I don't believe this, you're actually defending the man and his action." Samuel threw his arms up in the air with exasperation.

"Dwayne is a nice guy when you get to know him Samuel, and his actions saved the world, I have no complaints." She shrugged.

Jones couldn't believe what he was hearing, and spoke without thought. "Typical, an animal defending another." He paused immediately, his eyes opening wide in shock at his words.

Natasha stared slack jawed at Jones, as what he said slowly sunk in. Her eyes narrowed and her ears pricked up, "Another thing I have to say about Cooper, Mr Jones, is that at least he's not a racist pompous prick!" she pushed herself off the wall and stormed away from the Agent.

"Wait, Natasha, I didn't mean that." He took after her, "Ms Lingwood if I can just explain ..." he placed his hand on her shoulder once he caught up.

Natasha spun around, her claws extended and she roared loudly directly in Jones' face shocking the man stiff and jumping back away from her.

"I'd be careful Mr Jones; we animals tend to be violent." She snarled and continued on her way.

Upon stepping outside she took a deep breath to calm her nerves then exhaled.

Animal.

No matter what Jones said she knew that was all he and the others thought when they saw her; an animal, nothing more than a cat walking on two legs, she wasn't the only woman in the agency, but she was the only anthro. Maybe that was why she and Cooper could bond so quickly after meeting, they were both outsiders.

She looked up to the late afternoon sky, glimpses of orange were beginning to intermingle with the vastness of blue, the day was warm with a cooling gentle breeze, such days were a rarity in England these days. She looked down and checked her watch; nearly half-six, she tapped her watch and pressed it against her ear, she couldn't hear it ticking, her watch had stopped.

"Great." She muttered with frustration.

She looked back to the MI6 headquarters, her thoughts immediately returning to Dwayne and her body immediately began moving towards his most likely location. If Dwayne Cooper was anything he was a creature of habit and if there was one place he liked to go after a mission, it was a pub and she knew which particular one.

She knew Dwayne well, better than the other at least, they were ... well, they were close if she were being honest. He was genuine in what he did, he had a way to him, he could be sweet, kind, he was friendly to most people, he didn't judge someone by their history or race or species. He was actual boyfriend material to her, if only things could have been different.

Though reluctant to admit it Jones was right, Cooper was violent on missions most of the time overly so, a secret agent was supposed to be silent, deadly and intelligent, be in and out of a situation without anyone knowing while obtaining their target and leaving without a trace nor suspicion. She'd personally worked with other agents before on tough cases, Jones and Cooper included, Samuel Jones was what you'd expect when hearing the term "secret agent"; the suit, the gadgets the charm, and a small silenced pistol hidden in his coat, he was as deadly as he was smooth.

She herself was very much the same, she could easily charm simple minded men, and women if the need arose, she had a small .22 silenced pistol holstered on her thigh and a few small knives hidden on her person, though her preference was for stealth; to sneak in and out of a situation without anyone noticing.

She and Jones were like two high precision tools, fine tuned and able to cut out an infection at its core. Dwayne was a rocket launcher, loud and explosive, you fired him towards the enemy and then cleaned up the pieces afterwards. He went into a mission armed to the teeth and left nothing but corpses and chaos behind, his way was simple, brutal, chaotic but he was effective, very effective, the agency knew of Dwayne's destructive capabilities and mainly used him for such missions where the only thing that mattered was victory and the other Agents hated that, and in turn it made Dwayne an outsider, like her being a lioness made her one, they were both treated differently, but she at least had some respect from her colleagues and the head office, Dwayne was treated more like a tool, a weapon or a rabid animal. It wasn't fair.

Her thought came to a temporary halt as she found herself looking at the pub Dwayne would visit, it was small, quaint, an old pub but most importantly it was quiet, from her current position she could see that there were only a few people inside but she didn't see Cooper, though she knew where to find him, she always did.

---

"Another bottle please Sean." Requested the man in a Yorkshire accent.

The man appeared to be in his early thirties, deep black hair and the brownest eyes, he sat upon a stool leaning against the bar an empty bottle of Jack Daniel's to his right and a half empty glass in his hand, the man looked emotionally down which seemed amplified by the slouch of his back, the sadness in his eyes and a small frown upon his lips.

"Aye lad, sure." the Scottish bartender; Sean, replied before bringing another bottle. Dwayne handed over the money, "you sure you don't want any water, that's your second bottle?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm alright mate," Dwayne flashed him a brief but appreciate half-smile before ducking his head back down and resuming his previous posture.

He liked to come here after a mission, there were several reasons:

A- The drink wasn't flat

B- The prices were cheap

C- The bartender was an old solider and they sometimes swapped stories.

D- It was quiet. Even at its most busy the place was still generally quiet.

And at the moment, quiet was what Cooper wanted, he finished off his glass before refilling it half way with the deep amber liquid. He closed his eyes and exhaled softly letting the ambiance of the pub soothe him, to calm his nerves, he felt a weight fall from his shoulders.

He had killed people. There were no ifs or buts about it, he'd killed people, a lot of people, it was why the Agency kept him, because he was good at it and the after psychological affect were slim to nil. Years ago, if he'd pinned a man to a wall and driven a screwdriver through his temple and watch the life drain from the man's eyes, it would have shocked him, terrified him, but now? Nothing. He was doing his job and even if he wasn't "IT" wouldn't let him feel anything, "IT" kept him sane, kept him detached when his was covered in blood and the floor was littered with corpses, it was purely simple, he was a predator and they were prey, he was strong and they were not, kill or be killed.

Maybe that was why the others didn't like him, because he could do what normal men couldn't, could sleep peacefully after such a traumatic event, or maybe it was because he was a monster, he didn't know, he didn't care, or maybe he did.

Cooper took another sip of whiskey and sighed then door behind him opened, his ears twitched his nostrils briefly flared, a smile tugged on the edge of his lips.

"Though I'd find you here." Came a familiar and welcoming voice.

"Am I really that predictable Tash?" Cooper asked without looking around.

He heard the lioness sit down beside him and give him a friendly smile.

"I know what you're like Dwayne, always skulking away whenever there's a report to be written." She joked.

"Well I never had a way with words," he shrugged and turned to look at her, "you know that."

"I do, I do," she turned and greeted the bartender with a smile, "my usual please Sean dear," she turned and looked back to Cooper, "so how many have you had so far?"

Cooper took a quick sip of the amber liquid, "One bottle and I just started this one and no I don't even feel a buzz yet."

Natasha smiled, "Well great, now I get my chance to drink you under the table." She said as a coy challenge.

Dwayne snorted once as a laugh escaped him, "Never once have you been able to out drink me, nor will you ever."

"Oh really? Well today I'm feeling lucky." She took her glass of wine as Sean passed it to her, she gave the man his money plus tip.

"I don't really see this as being fair, you're drinking wine and I'm drinking something a little stronger." Dwayne pointed out.

"Yes, but you've got a much higher tolerance than I do." Natasha replied with a grin upon her muzzle.

He said nothing, his grin still tugging at his lips as he took a sip of his whiskey while Natasha started on her wine.

"So, the old man give his speech about "Queen and Country"?" Dwayne asked.

"Yep" she replied popping the 'p' as she spoke, "his usual "you've done her majesty and the crown proud" drivel."

Dwayne groaned and rolled his eyes, "Give me a fuckin' break." Dwayne groaned with irritation.

"He's patriotic Dwayne, he and the other agents love this country and all the crown represents" She explained and placed a gentle paw on her shoulder.

"I don't see why." He grumbled and sipped his whiskey.

Natasha sighed, ever since she'd known Dwayne he'd never been one for "Queen and Country" or "for duty" his morals started and ended with defending those who deserved it and those who couldn't defend themselves, he fought for people not for an organisation or a figurehead. Yet she didn't know why, perhaps it was with his Northern upbringing, though perhaps it was what had happened during the early 2000s, a secret which he'd shared only with her, a secret that terrified yet intrigued her.

She patted him softly and smiled, "I'd like to thank you again for the help Dwayne." She said honestly with a caring tone.

Dwayne's mood changed immediately, he gave her a small lopsided smile though the smile didn't reach his eyes, it rarely did. "It's alright lass, happy to help. Just make sure Jones doesn't find out it was you who invited me along, you'd never hear the end of it."

"Believe me, I know, if he found out he'd go straight to the top man and put me on report but still thanks again Dwayne." She replied. Yes, she'd invited Dwayne along with the mission, taking it upon herself to go against usual protocol and bring along some back-up in case her and Jones' approach failed them, she'd felt uneasy when they had been debriefed, Shevchenko sounded dangerous, she didn't like the look in his eye or the way he carried himself, call it primal instinct but she failed they needed some extra muscle brought with them, and who better than the man beside her? Yes sure, looking at him, he didn't seem too deadly, he was shorter than her and Jones, his build however was rather athletic but not as heavily built as some of the other agents, yet he was strong, much stronger than his size and frame gave him credit for. She was thankful she went with her instincts on this one.

Besides, it was always interesting working alongside Dwayne, and the pair usually had some fun together, in more ways than one. Jones had been an utter bore, seducing women around him and gambling with other men, he and she only spoke about the mission and he always seemed to bark orders as if he was in charge of her.

"Lass? Earth to Nate! Have ya gone into hibernation early this year?" Cooper called out and poked her shoulder.

Natasha blinked and shook her head, "What?"

"You were staring at me and you looked like you'd zoned out." Dwayne explained.

"Sorry just thinking," she apologised and took a sip of her wine.

"About Jones being a stuck-up prick?" he asked with a knowing smirk.

"How did ...?" she began to ask.

"I get the exact same look when I think about him, the cross between wanting to be sick and wanting to slap him."

Natasha snickered briefly, "Believe me, the amount of times I wanted to slap that condescending bastard." She brought her glass to her lips and took a light sip before gently twirling the glass in her hand watching the ruby red liquid swirl inside.

"I can imagine." he muttered in reply.

"And just a minute ago, he even dared to call me an animal!" she snarled with indignation.

Cooper winced and inhaled through his teeth, "Bastard," he growled with disgust then looked at her, "I could kill him if you want, make it look like suicide." He offered.

Natasha shook her head, "Tempting, but I appreciate the offer Dwayne. I knew he and the others looked at me that way, not comfortable seeing an anthro among in their presence."

"I also don't think they imagined a woman being in their big boys club." He added, "They probably see you as a threat to their masculinity." He added as a half joke.

Natasha looked at him with amusement, "Oh really?" she leaned closer, her elbow almost touching his, "does that include you too Mister Cooper?" she jested.

"I'm a pretty fanciful dandelion you know that." He said factually.

Natasha snorted then leaned her head back and laughed, "Jesus Dwayne," she spoke through her laughter, "I don't know what's worse, you actually saying that, or saying it with such a straight face."

"Hey I can't help it if I'm a fragile little thing." He shrugged.

"You're weird Dwayne, very weird." She smirked, "maybe all that whiskey is finally getting to you."

Dwayne looked at his drink as if considering her words, he shook his head with confidence, "Nah, still sober."

"Could've fooled me." Natasha muttered in response.

"He have much to say about me?" he asked.

"Oh plenty," she replied amused annoyance, before taking another sip.

"I can imagine," Dwayne shook his head, he looked to Natasha noticing her glass was low, "another for her Sean, my treat." He spoke up louder for the bartender to hear, he noticed Natasha about to protest, "I'm positive, my treat."

"Cheers mate." She smiled.

Sean returned with another glass and placed it in front of them.

"Can I git you two anything else, food maybe?" the Scotsman looked between the pair.

"Nah I'm alright mate." "I'm fine thank you" they replied to which the Scotsman took his leave to serve another customer.

"He called you an animal." Natasha said quietly as she turned to look at Dwayne.

The Yorkshireman simply shrugged, "Can't fight the truth."

"You're not an animal Cooper." She said with confidence, turning to look at the man beside her as he poured himself another glass.

"You're right," he said without looking at her, his eyes closed, "I'm at monster." He leaned in closer to her suddenly, his eyes flew open revealing his once brown irises now changed to a deep yellow colour, they almost seemed to be glowing.

Natasha leaned back slightly, "I don't care Dwayne," she replied trying to keep the shakiness out of her voice, she'd never seen it fully, just in parts, just enough for her to know, to believe, the truth of the matter was, it scared her even if only a little it scared her.

"Sorry, sorry." He pulled back, his eyes shifting back to their original colouration. "Sorry."

"Hey no problem, no problem, I won't pretend that it doesn't scare me, but I don't care about it." She replied.

"I appreciate that."

The pair descended into a comfortable silence and enjoyed their drinks.

After her fourth glass Natasha called it quits, she turned to her companion whom had three empty bottles of whiskey by his side and was just finishing off his last glass.

"I'm done." She announced, she was feeling a little tipsy, but not completely drunk.

"Yeah, me too." Cooper replied, still very much sober. "Guess I win again?" he asked with a smug look.

"Shut up." Natasha replied before standing up, cracking her stiff back then looked outside. The heavens had opened and rain was falling heavily from the sky, "shit, and I didn't bring a coat." She whimpered slightly. Suddenly she felt something thick and warm being put over her shoulders, she looked at it noticing the thick deep brown jacket.

"Use mine." Cooper offered.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'll be fine." He replied before helping her put his jacket on.

"If you're sure," she said reluctantly yet thankful as she put her arms through the sleeves then zipped it up from the front, "come back to my place?" she offered, her eyes hopeful.

Dwayne Cooper smiled at her softly, smiled at possibly one of the only friends he had left in the world. "Of course, I plan on getting my jacket back." He replied with light jest.

"I'll keep you warm out in the rain then tough guy, come on." She put her arm around him as he put his around her and the pair; the lioness and the monster, stepped out into the rain, and made their way towards the safety and warmth of her London apartment.