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Chapter 1: El Mañana

They say Deja vu is proof that you are where you're supposed to be. Jack couldn't say if that was true or not; but then again how could he? He wasn't born in this world. Jack was Anonymous, a human born in a different world but brought to this one by some unknown force. Why it didn't work the other way around, he would never know, as well he would never question it, after all what would that gain him? Knowledge of some arcane insight? No, he didn't bother with the intricacies of para-dimensional travel.

Jack was Anonymous, but different than most of the other members. While for the most part, they were fully grown when brought here, he was brought to this world when he was...well, no one knew for sure the exact date or what age he was. Instead, he got a guess for an age and a "birthdate" from when he was found; cold, ragged and starving as a toddler. Being raised in this world by a human and an Anthro might have given him a bias, but he tried not to let that bother him.

Even as he grew up his Capybara mother told him, "Love people for who they are, not what they are!" and his father, a third generation anonymous, echoed that sentiment.

"Love who you love, be what you want, you do you" his father always told him.

Jack graduated college, and was instantly recruited by the BHA. Why wouldn't he be? He WAS Anonymous. He was the bridge between this world and that one... The one he “Belonged" to and this one he grew up in.

The BHA recruited him and sent him abroad, to countries and world's vastly different places. Brazil, the murder capital of the world was one of those places. He needed to find some Anons, three exactly. The searching process turned up nothing, and when he dug deeper, groups became interested and hunted for him. In the end a man called "The Raider" saved him, after his helicopter was shot down by groups of rebels. What they were even rebelling against was a mystery at this point, after all they had everything needed provided.

The Raider seemed like a nice enough guy, scarred and with a distant look in his eyes, but still a good guy. Jack noticed the way he looked after a rare golden Ocelot, with fevered love and compassion. Jack almost envied that feeling. The feeling of love so deep you would do anything for them.

presently though, Jack sat behind his desk at the BHA headquarters, organizing the various Anons who came through the system. An Anon from California who was a firefighter? Get him a recertification. An Anon from New York that was a lawyer, helped him get scheduled to take the bar. That was his job and he did it well. These weren't the days of old where someone had to just claim they were something, they needed to prove it. And Jack was the approving official.

Being a part of the BHA was almost natural in that sense. Jack's position, while realistic, was also political. Who would question an Anonymous member on assigning another Anonymous member a job? No one. The general populace thought no one else was qualified for the job. Sure, Jack didn't even remember his old world, but he was Anonymous. His word was law in regard to it all.

But he wasn't heartless. Why should he be? He gained nothing from disregarding the men and women from the other world. His mother always said "do unto others" when she was alive. He tried to be as fair and impartial as she would have been, But at the same time he was practical. How could a 20 something year old be a Vietnam vet? There were no proven cases of time distortion, so why should he believe when a person claimed to be a Korean War vet born in 1987, but somehow here in this world during the current year? It simply wasn't possible.

"Look sir, I understand you claim to be the CEO of a company, but we can't do anything about that, the only thing we can do is help you try to start up this company again" he said on the phone to a very angry Anonymous member. Sure, the guy claimed to be the Former CEO of some company he had never heard of, but what was Jack to do? Kick the CEO of an already existing company out for this guy? No. This new Anonymous member would have to restart, albeit with a loan from the BHA to restart his company.

A few minutes of getting yelled at through the phone and a sudden hang up on the other end was a bit of a comfort, no need to have awkward goodbyes and details of how to contact his higher ups. Just the cold silence of a dead phone call.

"Fuck" Jack sighed to himself as he hung up his own phone and looked at his computer. Lists of names; anonymous members, and their status in the system sat in front of him. Anon X from Canada worked at a warehouse. Anon Y from Utah was a preacher? What is even the pay of a preacher? Jack sighed at his misfortune for dealing with such an individual and rubbed his face calmly.

Looking at the time, he saw it was nearly noon, and therefore time for a quick break. Sure he didn't smoke, but why would that limit his ability to take breaks? Standing and stretching, he felt the relaxation already begin to set in as his joints creaked and cracked.

That Relaxation was quickly broken though when he heard a quiet sob as he passed by his neighbors cubicle. A sob? Why? He might not be a nosey individual but he couldn't just leave a crying woman alone. Sure, he hadn't really talked to the person in the cubicle neighboring him much, but he liked her well enough.

Meghan Stone was her name, and she was a Hybrid of some sort. Peeking into her office space showed she was in fact crying softly, trying not to draw attention to herself. Jack's heart fell when he saw her quietly crying, her muzzle buried in her paws.

Crying is weird in people, when they cry loudly, it's for attention, but then they cry silently, it's because they can't help themselves. Here was Meghan, tears rolling down her muzzle, staring at a computer screen through the paws.

"Meghan? You ok?" Jack called out to her, already knowing she wasn't. Sure she was sad, but how could he just leave her to cry to herself? She was a good person, at least from what he knew of her she was. Meghan sat upright quickly upon hearing his voice, then wiped her eyes before turning her swivel chair to look at him.

"Jack! Hey! Yea I'm fine! What's up" she said, lying through her teeth. She wore a white button up shirt and a black skirt along with some black open toes shoes. Her long hair was a mixture of black and purple, which Jack assumed was either dye or some sort of odd mixture from hybridization. Behind her swished a long brown tail, ringed like a raccoon, yet set with odd rings like a snow leopard.

While Jack might not have been the most attentive person, he pulled up a spare chair in her cube, looking at her with concern.

"Meghan, I saw you crying...what's wrong?" he said, unsure as to what to do with his hands. Should he put a hand on her shoulder? Fold them quietly in his lap? No. he opted to put on softly on one of her paws.

Meghan looked quietly up at him, as though she feared his response before answering.

"The...some of the other Anthros around here...the BHA I mean... aren't really nice to me because I'm..." she said, quietly trailing off while looking into the distance.

"Because you're...?" Jack said, squeezing her paw gently. Clearly, this was none of his business, but what kind of person would he be to leave a crying person without console?

"Because I'm a hybrid" She said finally, looking at Jack with her deep violet eyes.

This puzzled Jack a bit. He knew she was a hybrid from her various attributes, Feline like claws, rounded ears like a raccoon and thick fluffy tail that she would occasionally bite when working on a difficult task.

"Because you're a hybrid?" Jack copied her, with a bit of questioning. Why should it matter if she was a hybrid? She was smart, funny and a good person; at least that's what he gleaned from their limited interactions.

She nodded, then looked up at him, letting her violet eyes meet his before squeezing his hand gently.

"Promise not to talk about it to the others?" She said quietly, with a faint sad smile.

Jack nodded quickly. "Of course" he said with confidence. Sure, he had worked for the BHA for a long time, but there were few people whom he worked with he was actually friendly with. Not to say he didn't get along with people here, more to say he just didn't count them as friends. Even more to the point he wouldn't gossip like a clucking hen to anyone around here.

"I'm a Hybrid...and a very obvious one. Most of the time Anthros stick to their own species" she said to him quietly, like it was more admitting it than confessing it. Jack nodded quietly, unsure of what that had to do with anything.

"And us Hybrids aren't quite...smiled upon" she said after a pause. A small tear formed as she said that she was a hybrid, and she looked away from Jack, almost like she expected him to reel back and spite her for something she couldn't control. Jack calmly looked at her and smiled.

"The other Anthros here tend to be a bit mean to me, stealing my lunch, leaving mean sticky notes" She said pointing to one in her trash can. Jack reached over and pulled out the crumpled note and looked at it. The words "Go Home Half breed" were scrawled on it.

"Ever since I started working here this kinda stuff happens, today was just...rougher than normal" Meghan said with some lament in her voice.

"Why? What happened today?" Jack asked.

"Uh....Rachel, the German Shepard in accounting was showing off the ring her boyfriend proposed with and one of the other girls looked at me and said "No one's gonna propose to Meghan, she's a mutt" and that just was..." Meghan's voice trailed off, another tear rolling down her muzzle.

Were Hybrids really that disliked? Jack had always thought Hybrids were something to be celebrated. After all they got the exoticness of 2 species of Anthro. Kinda like the, "Smarts of a cat and loyalty of a dog" thing. Even Now as Jack looked at Meghan, he could see she was a gorgeous Anthro.

"Ok...So let's go talk to someone who can help" Jack said almost out of instinct. Her problems were her own but....How could he leave her to deal with this on her own? This was a problem that reduced the poor girl to tears and one she obviously couldn't handle on her own.

Meghan's eyes met Jack's in confusion. "Who could help me with this?" she said as a tear rolled down her muzzle.

That tear broke Jack's heart. Why did Anthros dislike her for something she had no control over? From what he knew of Meghan, she was friendly, polite and a generally good person. In fact, the only thing he could think of was that maybe she indulged a bit too much when someone brought doughnuts, but that was hardly a reason to hate her.

He grasped her paw firmly, determined to get to the bottom of this and end this sadness. Sure, she was a co-worker, but she didn't deserve to be treated badly. As he pulled her gently to her feet, she looked at him with confusion.

"We need to talk to Jasmine" he said calmly, pulling the fluffy hybrid along. Even as he felt her grip slightly diminish from his, he held tight.

Jasmine the tigress was in charge of meeting Anonymous members, and she took her job very seriously. From what Jack had seen she was kind, generous, and helpful to a fault. The man she was dating was also Anonymous, and while Jack had never met him, he sounded like he belonged in a Wild West film.

Those thoughts are pushed aside as Jack led Meghan to Jasmine's office, despite her weak protests. The quiet knocks on the tigress's office door were almost drowned out by quiet pleading sobs from Meghan for him to stop and just let her get through it on her own. The fact she was sobbing about it meant Jack never could. Who could let a pleasant and beautiful woman suffer? Not him, and hopefully no one else.

"Come in!" came the happy tone from the tigress through the closed door. That was more than enough for Jack as he pulled Meghan in. Jasmine sat behind her desk, a worried grin upon her face as Jack led Meghan to a chair in front of Jasmine's desk. Meghan desperately was trying to hide her tears, and was also attempting to hide behind her big fluffy tail.

"Tell her" Jack said to Meghan offhandedly as he found a chair to the side of Jasmine's desk for himself. This wasn't about him after all, so he didn't need to really be part of this conversation.

As Jack looked up from getting his chair all set, he saw Jasmine looking at Meghan with nothing but concern. That was what Jack had expected from her, Jasmine was always so kind to everyone, and he admired that about her. In fact, that was one of the reasons he had brought Meghan to her. If anyone could help Meghan, Jasmine could.

"Uh..." Meghan started, looking from Jack to Jasmine uneasily.

"Tell her" he restated to Meghan, crossing his legs and leaning back in his seat.

"Uh...Some of our coworkers have been...unpleasant to me because of who I am" Meghan said, fidgeting with her paws and not looking at Jasmine; who, to her credit, was giving Meghan all of her attention.

Jasmine looked hard at Meghan, then to Jack then back at Meghan. "Because you're a hybrid?" she said finally, with a slight frown on her face. Jack was a bit concerned when she said that. Sure Meghan was obviously a hybrid, but it seemed a bit harsh to point it out right away.

"Yes" Meghan said without missing a heartbeat. For someone who was so reluctant to admit being a hybrid to you, she was suddenly exceptionally sure of herself now.

Jasmine gave a sad smile and half nod, looking from Meghan to Jack.

"Well, I'm glad you found someone you can trust about you being a hybrid, and I'll try to talk to your coworkers" she said finally.

Meghan looked a bit relieved, but Jasmine wasn't finished.

"Hybrids in today society aren't really seen as equals I'm afraid, so even if I say something, I doubt it will have much impact"

This made Jack frown, why wouldn't it? He was essentially being told "Fuck who you are, what you are is all that matters" and from what he had seen from Meghan was that she cared deeply about her work and those she helped. Sure, to the Anonymous members she spoke to she was just a voice; but to those who were truly lost, her voice was a saving grace. She cared about the random human from another world, even if she never met them.

Jasmine continued however, explaining further.

"I too, am a hybrid, although without the fur dye you can't tell" She said before giving Jack a quick wink.

"Keep it secret, that's an order" she said before focusing back on Meghan. “I have someone you can talk to about it, and it looks like you have someone who isn't a psychiatrist to talk to about it"

Wait did she mean Jack? Jack only helped because he didn't want to shoulder her workload. That's all it was right? Recalling the tears rolling down Meghan's muzzle, he knew that would be a lie. Jack watched as Jasmine scribbled something on a piece of paper then handed it to Meghan.

"This is the number and address to Dr. Cord, the Official BHA psychiatrist, He can help you, and he helped me" she said to Meghan before looking at Jack.

"Take good care of her, this is a lot for someone to shoulder" Jasmine said finally, with a slight frown.

Jack nodded as Meghan stood up. He wasn't sure how he was going to “take care of her", but he was certain that he would try to make work a bit more inviting for her. He stood up and extended a hand to Meghan, who took it delicately.

"Thank you Jasmine" Meghan said, looking at the Smiling tigress.

"It's no problem! If you have any more problems let me know and I'll handle it myself!" Jasmine said happily.

Jack then led the now smiling Anthro out of Jasmine's office and headed back to his cubicle and by extension Meghan's. Sure, this isn't quite what he expected his small break to be, but still he counted it as a good break from work. After all, it's not every day that he got to help someone.

"Thanks Jack, I don't know if I would have gone to see Jasmine without you" Meghan said, squeezing his hand gently in her paw.

"It's no big deal Meghan, I just don't like seeing a pretty girl cry" Jack said off-handedly.

Meghan's ears fluttered a bit at those words.

"It really means a lot to me though" she said, with a smile "Can I pay you back with lunch? Someone stole mine from the fridge" The fluffy Anthro said with a sad smile.

Jack considered for a moment then nodded. Who would turn down lunch with a pretty lady? Not him, that's for sure.

"I would love to have lunch with you Meghan, what did you have in mind?" he said as they walked past to their cubicles.

Meghan grabbed her purse and car keys, then led the way out of the building, earning a few stares. Jack actually thought it was funny as they walked together. Jack noted one of the girls Meghan said was mean to her looking at him with disdain, like he had insulted her family or something.

"I was thinking uh... there's a place that sells awesome Asian noodles down the street called big bowl! Have you been there? We can take my car!" Meghan asked with a smile.

Certainly a big change from earlier, and a very welcome one at that. Jack noticed how her smile was mesmerizing and how the sunlight shimmered on her long hair. He also noticed a few other things about her, like how her button up shirt strained to hold back her healthy bust and how curvaceous she was.

"I can't say I've been to big bowl before, but noodles sound good, it's been forever since I had good Asian food." Jack said as they walked together to her car, which was a basic red sedan.

"Great! I go there from time to time and they have the best spicy pad Thai!" she said as she pushed the button on her car keys to unlock the doors "Sorry about the mess in the car, I need to clean it out".

A few stray food wrappers were on the floor of her passenger seat, and an empty soda can sat in the cup holders.

"It's no big deal, my car is also a bit messy" Jack said with a smile as he climbed into the car. That wasn't exactly true, his car wasn't dirty at all, but he wasn't going to make Meghan feel bad about a few stray pieces of trash. Meghan started the Car and rolled down the windows for some fresh air. It was early summer, so it wasn't too hot just yet. The cool air billowed through as Meghan drove with a smile on her face.

"So Jack... Are you this helpful to every lady you meet?" Meghan said, as the city blurred past. "Or do I get special treatment?"

"I just couldn't let you sit in your cubicle and cry, besides we've worked together for a while" Jack said, watching her ears perk up slightly and her tail swish behind her "So I guess you get the special treatment."

"Aww you're gonna make me blush" she said with a smile "I mean if I could blush I would but you know what I mean!"

Jack laughed and they continued talking for a bit as she drove. The ride itself wasn't very long with the restaurant being right down the street. True to its name, the restaurant had a large neon sign in the shape of a big bowl. Meghan was positively giddy as she got out of the car.

"Ooo my tummy is already growling thinking about that spicy Pad Thai! Come on jack!" she said happily as she bounded for the doors. Jack walked behind her, keeping his distance to not get swatted by her fluffy tail. He did, however, quicken his pace when they reached the doors to hold them open for her.

"Such a gentleman" she said in response to that.

"Hi, welcome to the big bowl, table for 2?" the hostess, a small Anthro squirrel said as Meghan walked up to the podium.

"Yes please!"

Jack and Meghan followed the small squirrel to a booth table. They sat across from each other and looked at the menus. Well Jack did, Meghan however, had a smile on her muzzle.

"Aren't you going to look at the Menu Meghan?" Jack asked, peering over the top of his at the almost bouncing Hybrid. She shook her head hastily.

"I already know what I'm gonna get!"

Jack smiled and looked at the menu and picked a basic noodle bowl with shrimp. Sometimes the best thing to do is to keep it simple.

"Hey what can I get you both?" The waitress, a teenaged human girl asked.

"Gimme the Spicy Chicken pad Thai with the hot peppers! Oh! And water please" Meghan said, her tail flicking quickly in excitement.

"And may I have the Shrimp noodle bowl and a coke?" Jack said with a smile.

"Sure thing" the waitress said before disappearing.

The 2 of them chatted for a while as they waited for the food. Jack learned Meghan was 26, enjoyed video games, reading and watching ghost hunter shows. He told her how he liked to travel, read and play video games. When he mentioned that, she gave a big smile and suggested they play together and he agreed with that. After all you can only play games solo for so long before you want to play with others. When the food arrived Meghan's face lit up, and she gripped her chopsticks eagerly.

"Ooo this is gonna be tasty!" she said wafting the smell of the food to herself.

Jack watched Meghan use her chopsticks expertly as he ate his own food quietly. The meal was delicious but he was more focused on his company. Sure, she was a bit of a messy eater but she was still pretty fun to hang out with, plus seeing side of her rather than the usual down to business girl was quite refreshing. As well this was a huge change from less than an hour ago. He didn't even try to initiate a conversation with her as she ate because she seemed so focused on her food. At the end, she let out a content sigh and sat back.

"Ohh that hit the spot Jack. I love eating Asian food, although it's not as good as my mom's!" She said leaning back and patting her tummy softly. Jack nodded as he finished his food.

"It was quite good, and you use those chopsticks like a pro" he said before sipping his water.

Meghan nodded happily, "Yea my mama taught me how to use them, and she grew up in Hong Kong!" She looked at her phone and gave a slight "Meep!" before looking up at Jack.

"We should get back to work! I have an Anon to meet at 2" She said before looking at the bill. Jack reached over and took it from her.

"Hey! I said I was gonna pay you back for talking with me and taking me to Jasmine!" She said, her fur fluffing out a bit.

"A gentleman doesn't make a pretty girl pay him back for doing the right thing, besides I don't think it was that big of a deal" Jack said placing his card in the bill book and handing it to the waitress.

"It was a big deal to me though" she said with a sad smile "I'll have to pay you back some other way later"

The waitress handed Jack's card back to him, so he and Meghan got up and left the restaurant, then got into her car. The ride back to the BHA headquarters was uneventful and they talked a bit more about How Meghan went to college majoring in "Interspecies relations". She said it was her passion learning about how humans and all the species of Anthros got along. Even after the car was parked, they kept talking about how different parts of the world reacted to Anthros. As they neared their cubicles, Meghan stopped and sniffed the air for a moment

"Uhh one sec! Go to your cube and I'll meet you over there" she said before rushing off. Jack stood dumbfounded for a moment, then shrugged and went to their cubicles. He didn't know why, but he peeked into her cube first, and was disheartened to see a sticky note with the words "Half Breed" stuck to her monitor. Angrily, he pulled it off and crumpled the offending piece of paper and threw it into his trash can so Meghan wouldn't see it.

"Jack! There was some cake in the break room! I got us some!" Meghan said happily as she entered his cube carrying 2 plates of vanilla cake.

"Thanks Meghan" Jack said as he took one from her.

"Oh and before I forget... here's my cell number, so we can play games together later" she said, scribbling her phone number on a sticky note and sticking it to Jack's chest.

"OK Meghan, I'll be sure to give you a call" Jack said before turning to his computer. The sound of Meghan typing away, unaware of the Note that was left for her Made jack smile. She deserved that. Jack got back to work, thinking about the Fluffy hybrid and how best to keep her happy. Hopefully he could at least try.