Veronica peaked over the book she clasped tightly in her hoof as her brown eyes focused on the entrance of the small bar she was waiting in. Seeing that the figure walking in was far to tall to be who she was waiting for, her eyes glanced back down at her book without a second thought. She was not there to mammal watch.

Her lips lowered in the smallest frown as she flipped the page of her romance novel a bit more roughly then she needed to. There wasn't much that irked her but being kept waiting was on top of that short list.

Her ears twitched as she heard the amateur smooth jazz trio finished up their two hour time slot. A moment past and the next band started their more upbeat mixture that Veronica was not at all interested in identifying.

Another page flipped as her eyes narrowed, her free hoof tapping irritably against her table. Usually reading one of her favorite romances was enough to relax her in any situation, but not tonight. Tonight she found herself being restless and impatient, wanting her task to be over so that she could go home and move on.

Her eyes lifted once more as she heard the entrance door open once again, this time her ears perking forward as her eyes were forced to drop down to see who was entering. A red and brown mongoose with sleek fur and dancing eyes scampered into the bar.

For a few seconds his eyes danced around the bar until they finally landed on Veronica, his ears perking slightly as, to Veronica's surprise, relief lit those amber colored eyes.

He easily weaved his way through the tables to hers, his eyes glancing around him until he reached her. "Sorry for being so late...the bus was running late." Veronica only gave a cold nod as she marked her spot and gingerly closed her book and laid it down in front of her.

"You know I don't like being kept waiting, Butch." a flinch ran up the rodent's spine as his eyes looked anywhere but her.

"I know...such a mess." a growl escaped the mongoose at the end of his sentence, his eyes narrowing dangerously. A gleam lit up Veronica's brown eyes at the look in her companion's eyes. There was the fire that she needed.

He fixed her face into that one of an empathetic friend as she leaned forward a bit.

"Just relax, things are still going as planned and soon we won't have to worry about the ZPD, or anyone, being in our way." Butch's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward a bit, his eyes finally focusing on her.

"Something doesn't smell right...First you tell me that this is a rush job and now you're telling me not to worry." Veronica smiled sweetly as she lifted her small drinking glass that she had been neglecting while reading, taking a sip.

"What can I say? My partner works fast." Butch scoffed as the comers of his lips lifted to show his needle sharp teeth.

"I almost got caught because you had me rush, Ver." Veronica's face turned ice cold as she glared at her companion over the top of her glass.

"Control that temper of yours." a hiss like sound escaped Butch's throat but he calmed down as he leaned back. Veronica's friendly smile returned to her face as she returned her glass to the table. "Why don't you go get yourself a drink and then I will tell you why I asked you here." Butch's right eyebrow arched as he leaned forward again.

"I thought we were here to discuss the mark you gave me." Veronica's smile turned even more sickly sweet as she also leaned forward, resting his chin against the top of her hoof.

"Go get a drink." Butch frowned a bit but he rose to his feet and walked over to the bar, his eyes dancing around again. For as long as Veronica had known him he had been a bit of a paranoid mammal.

Letting out a deep sigh, Veronica took another sip of her drink as her eyes calmly looked around her. Due to it being a week night the bar was not as busy as I was on the weekends but there were still enough costumers that she and her companion didn't stick out. Well at least he didn't.

Without even looking to hard, Veronica knew that she was attracting attention from a table of male Cervidae a few tables from her. One specific male, a red deer, was seemingly determined to get her attention.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see him attempting to lean in to her line of sight, his ears flicking and his head tilting as if attempting to show off his healthy set of antlers. He was dressed nice enough but physical appearances were just the icing on top for Veronica; she needed far more to be interested.

She tilted her head so that she could make eye contact with him; noticing the other males shift a bit wanting attention as well. Of course Veronica was no stranger to attention, she knew she was an attractive doe and her taste in clothing just added more to her natural attraction.

However, she had no time to deal with hormonal males, she had work to do. She gave them all a charming smile before refocusing on her glass, seeing Butch coming around with his own drink.

He seemed more relax now just having the drink in his paw as he took his seat and took a quick sip.

"Alright, now how about you tell me what else you want." his voice was still gruff but Veronica could hear that it was not as tense as it was when he first spoke to her. She gave another smile as she placed her glass down again and leaned forward.

"As you know I have found myself working for quite an exceptional mammal. Right underneath the nose of the ZPD he has brought Devil's Bite Gang back from the dead and rallied its strength to be even more than it was before it was betrayed." Butch's ears twitched a bit, showing that he was impressed. After all, neither of them were involved with the gang back then but anyone working on the streets knew of them and how they were gaining power and territory through the use of their drug.

"If he's so great, why did he ask you to hire me to off someone on his orders?" though the question itself sounded rude, Veronica knew her mongoose companion well enough to know that he was just simply curious.

"The ZPD has been doing such a fine job looking everywhere but where we are that he decided not to tempt fate until the time is right." Butch nodded as he took another sip of his drink, his way of saying that he understood the logic of that statement.

"And what is it that your new partner wants from me now? The way you made him sound the last time we spoke, I was expecting to have my light snuffed out at any moment." though his face remained calm Veronica could see a spark of fear reflected in his amber eyes.

"He can be quite intimidating when angered, but he understood that he shouldn't have rushed you to the point of you doing it during broad day light. Also, I've told him of some of your skills and he'd like to take advantage of them." Butch frowned a bit as his eyes narrowed. He wasn't one to trust strangers, in fact Veronica was surprised that he even took the first job so quickly, but she could also tell that he was intrigued by this.

"And what would that be?" the corners of her mouth lifted as she dramatically looked to her left (seeing that the four males were still ogling her) and to her right before leaning even further forward.

"It's time to reveal the new Devil's Bite Drug and he wants you to help with that." again Butch arched one of his eyebrows as he took a sip of his drink, almost finishing it.

"And how do I do that?" She had him. Slowly, Veronica reached into her purse that was hung over the back of her seat. Taking her time, she fished into its insides until she found what she wanted, pulling out a small vile with a liquid that was such a dark blue it was almost black.

Butch's eyes widened slightly as Veronica expertly handed it to him without anyone seeing it. "Find someone to test it on and we will see the results for our-." here she was interupted by a crashing sound, her head snapping in the direction of the ogling males.

The red deer that had been so focused on her was now embarrassingly picking himself up from the floor. A devilish grin crossed Veronica's face, causing an evil shadow to fall over her innocent features as she nodded in the direction of the embarrassed deer.

"And I believe I found you some perfect test subjects."

Notes: I am so sorry for the long break again! Life has been crazy but hopefully it'll calm down soon so that I can continue at a more decent pace. Next chapter will show more of Dange's plan and more of how the DB drug has changed. dun dun dun!