FAKE Fic: A Dog’s Tale - Part 2 - Lucky Dog
Title: A Dog’s Tale - Part 2 - Lucky Dog
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo, OCs.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Dee comes to the rescue of a certain unfortunately named dog for the second time.
Word Count: 1819
Written For: My own prompt ‘FAKE, Dee/Ryo, Dee gets a dog,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Part 1
It was sheer chance that Dee happened to be driving along by Central Park, on his way to pick Ryo up one afternoon, but as he passed a row of exclusive apartment buildings he spotted a very unhappy looking dog literally being dragged across the sidewalk on the end of its leash. Dee wasn’t what you’d call a dog person, but cruelty to animals of any kind wasn’t something he’d stand for. Luckily he was a cop, and therefore sworn to uphold the law, so he had every reason to intervene; in fact he was duty bound to do something about it. Besides, there was something familiar about this particular dog; it looked an awful lot like Dick, the sausage dog he and Ryo had returned to its owner a few weeks previously after it had gotten lost in the park, and the person dragging the dog was definitely not Dick’s elderly owner.
Pulling up at the curb, Dee got out of his car and approached the man who was dragging the poor dog. “What d’you think you’re doin’ with that dog?” he demanded to know.
The man scowled at him. “Trying to get the damned thing in the car. What’s it to you anyway?” He yanked harshly on the leash again, dragging the small dog a few more inches. The dog yelped.
“Cut that out, unless you wanna be charged with animal abuse,” Dee snapped, flashing his shield. “Detective Laytner, NYPD. That isn’t your dog; I know for a fact he belongs to Mrs Holloway in 1411, so I’ll ask you again; who are you and what are you doin’ with him?”
The man sighed, annoyed and impatient. “Name’s Denny Wade; I’m the janitor here.” He gestured over his shoulder at the building behind him. “Look, the old lady took a fall this morning and broke her hip, or that’s what I was told. Anyway she’s in the hospital, probably won’t be comin’ back for months, if ever, and she don’t have no family so there’s nobody to look after the mutt. My boss, Mister Coleman; you know, the building manager? Well, he handed me all its stuff and told me to take it to the pound, so that’s what I’m tryin’ to do, only the stupid damned thing won’t cooperate.”
“He’s a living creature, not a thing, and he’s most likely scared. He doesn’t know you, and he doesn’t understand why you’re hurtin’ him. You ever think of pickin’ him up and carryin’ him instead of draggin’ him along like that?” Dee asked scathingly.
“You’re kiddin’, right? I hate dogs, wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole; I’m allergic, see? Only reason I’m doin’ this at all is because you don’t say ‘no’ to Mister Coleman, not if you want to keep your job. I’ve got a wife and two kids to support!”
While they’d been talking, neither of them had been paying any attention to Dick the dog, but when Dee felt an oddly familiar sensation and looked down to see the little dachshund planted firmly on his foot, he realised he wasn’t particularly surprised. He didn’t stop to think, just reached for the leash and whisked it out of Wade’s hand before the other man could react. “This dog isn’t your boss’s to give away, that amounts to theft, so I’m confiscating him until such time as his owner is able to decide what she wants to do about him. You got a problem with that?”
Wade shrugged, unconcerned by the turn of events. “Hey, you’re welcome to it, no skin off my nose; saves me trekkin’ across the city and gettin’ dog hair all over my car. Mister Coleman isn’t gonna care, long as the dog’s out of his building.”
“You said Coleman gave you the dog’s things?”
“Yeah, that’s right, shoved ‘em in two trash bags and told me to deal with ‘em, so I tossed ‘em in the dumpster round the back. Bad enough he expected me to take the dog without having to lug all its junk around too. We about done here? Only, I got other things to be getting on with.”
“No, not quite; you and me, we’re goin’ around the back to the dumpster, and you’re gonna find the two bags you tossed in there and help carry them to my car.”
“Aw, c’mon man, gimme a break can’t you?” Wade whined.
“I already have, takin’ the dog off your hands without pressin’ charges, remember? You should think yourself lucky; you could’ve gotten a hefty fine, maybe even probation, depending on how much harm you’ve done to the dog.”
Wade’s shoulders slumped and he heaved a sigh. “Okay, fine, if it’ll get me off the hook. This way.” He started off towards the alley between buildings and Dee followed, with Dick trotting obediently beside him. Glancing back over his shoulder, Wade frowned. “Hey, how come the stupid dog walks for you when it wouldn’t for me?”
“He knows me, and he’s a good judge of character. It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t like you, and I don’t blame him,” Dee smirked.
“Huh. Feeling’s mutual.” Shooting a disgusted glare at Dick, Wade strode onwards, clearly wanting to get this over and done with as quickly as possible.
Round the back of the building, three dumpsters sat in a row beneath the building’s trash chutes. Wade went to the closest one, reaching in and hauling two bags off the top; they hadn’t been there for long, and it was a good neighbourhood so Dee was relieved to see they weren’t covered in disgusting crud. Nevertheless, he had Wade open them both to make sure they were the right bags. They were, which was a relief; he didn’t want to find out later that he’d slung someone’s trash in the trunk of his car. One bag contained a dog bed, brushes, and toys, while the other held dog food and dishes. Trotting closer, Dick stuck his head in the first bag, rummaged around a bit with his nose, and pulled out a small teddy bear, gripping it gently in his mouth and wagging his tail. Dee couldn’t help smiling; must be the dog’s favorite toy.
“You bring that bag,” he told Wade, gesturing at the one containing the food, and picking up the other one himself.
“How come I have to carry the heavy one?”
Wade was seriously getting on Dee’s nerves. “I could still arrest your sorry ass,” Dee reminded him. “Fact is, you keep bitchin’ about every little thing and I’ll do just that, so what’s it gonna be?”
Grumbling, Wade hefted the heavy bag and with a glare in Dee’s general direction, started to lug it back along the alley to where Dee’s car was waiting.
Dee grinned. “Thought you might see things my way.” Picking up the much lighter bag, he followed Wade to the car and unlocked the trunk. “Okay, load her up.”
Gritting his teeth Wade did as instructed, dumping his bag beside the bag Dee had been carrying. “Is that it? Can I go now or do you wanna torture me some more?”
“Don’t tempt me.” Dee slammed the trunk. “Yeah, get outta here, but remember this; if you ever mistreat any animal again, I will find out about it, and next time I won’t be anywhere near as nice about it.” He smiled pleasantly. “Thanks for your help, Mister Wade. You have a nice day now.” Opening the rear door of the car, Dee lifted the dog onto the backseat, plonking him down and saying firmly, “Stay.” Dick looked at him then lay down with his chin on his teddy bear. Dee closed the door and ran one hand through his hair. “What the hell have I done?” he muttered under his breath. “Ryo’s gonna kill me!” Which reminded him of where he’d been going when he’d spotted the dog. He checked his watch. “Shit, I was supposed to pick him up half an hour ago!” Sliding behind the wheel, he sent his partner a quick text saying he was on his way, fired up the engine, and pulled out into the afternoon traffic.
OoOoOoO
Ryo was waiting for Dee outside the building where he’d been interviewing a witness, and he slid into the passenger seat as soon as the car pulled up in front of him. “What kept you? I was starting to get worried.”
“Hey, babe, sorry about that, I… um… had a bit of an emergency to deal with.” He pointed towards the backseat.
Ryo twisted to look over his shoulder and his eyebrows shot up. “Is that who I think it is? Did he get lost again?”
“Yes it is, but no, he didn’t get lost. Seems Mrs Holloway fell and broke her hip, there’s no one she could ask to take care of the dog, and I happened to be passin’ by just at the right moment to prevent him being dragged off to the pound. Literally. I confiscated him, didn’t know what else to do, but I wanna get him checked over by a vet, make sure that jerk didn’t hurt him. After that… I’m not exactly sure what to do for the best.” He trailed off, glancing at his partner with a sheepish grin. “Hope you’re not too mad at me.”
“Why would I be mad at you? I would’ve done exactly the same thing. The poor dog must be so confused. As for what we should do, there’s no restriction about keeping dogs in our building so I don’t see any reason why we can’t take care of him until Mrs Holloway recovers. We’ll need to get a few things though; food, and a bed.”
“No need for that; I got all his stuff in the trunk.”
“Great! That’s one thing less to sort out. He’ll be much better off with his own familiar things around him.”
Dee felt himself relaxing and realised he’d been worried Ryo might say they couldn’t keep the dumb dog. He didn’t even like dogs, but there was just something about this one. Dick trusted him; he couldn’t let the dumb mutt down. “Thanks, babe.”
“What for? Mrs Holloway doesn’t deserve to lose her dog just because she’s suffered an unfortunate accident. You saw how much she loves him.”
“You’re right, it would break her heart. Okay, I clocked us out at the precinct before coming to pick you up, so I guess now all we need to do is find a vet…”
“There’s one not far from my old place; she’s good, she used to treat Bikky’s cat. We can take Dick there for a check-up before heading home.”
“Works for me,” Dee agreed. “There’s just one more thing.”
“What’s that?” Ryo gave his partner a questioning look.
“If he’s gonna be stayin’ with us for a bit, we’ve really gotta change his name. Callin’ him Dick just isn’t gonna work.”
TBC in Part 3 - Vet Check-Up
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo, OCs.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Dee comes to the rescue of a certain unfortunately named dog for the second time.
Word Count: 1819
Written For: My own prompt ‘FAKE, Dee/Ryo, Dee gets a dog,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Part 1
It was sheer chance that Dee happened to be driving along by Central Park, on his way to pick Ryo up one afternoon, but as he passed a row of exclusive apartment buildings he spotted a very unhappy looking dog literally being dragged across the sidewalk on the end of its leash. Dee wasn’t what you’d call a dog person, but cruelty to animals of any kind wasn’t something he’d stand for. Luckily he was a cop, and therefore sworn to uphold the law, so he had every reason to intervene; in fact he was duty bound to do something about it. Besides, there was something familiar about this particular dog; it looked an awful lot like Dick, the sausage dog he and Ryo had returned to its owner a few weeks previously after it had gotten lost in the park, and the person dragging the dog was definitely not Dick’s elderly owner.
Pulling up at the curb, Dee got out of his car and approached the man who was dragging the poor dog. “What d’you think you’re doin’ with that dog?” he demanded to know.
The man scowled at him. “Trying to get the damned thing in the car. What’s it to you anyway?” He yanked harshly on the leash again, dragging the small dog a few more inches. The dog yelped.
“Cut that out, unless you wanna be charged with animal abuse,” Dee snapped, flashing his shield. “Detective Laytner, NYPD. That isn’t your dog; I know for a fact he belongs to Mrs Holloway in 1411, so I’ll ask you again; who are you and what are you doin’ with him?”
The man sighed, annoyed and impatient. “Name’s Denny Wade; I’m the janitor here.” He gestured over his shoulder at the building behind him. “Look, the old lady took a fall this morning and broke her hip, or that’s what I was told. Anyway she’s in the hospital, probably won’t be comin’ back for months, if ever, and she don’t have no family so there’s nobody to look after the mutt. My boss, Mister Coleman; you know, the building manager? Well, he handed me all its stuff and told me to take it to the pound, so that’s what I’m tryin’ to do, only the stupid damned thing won’t cooperate.”
“He’s a living creature, not a thing, and he’s most likely scared. He doesn’t know you, and he doesn’t understand why you’re hurtin’ him. You ever think of pickin’ him up and carryin’ him instead of draggin’ him along like that?” Dee asked scathingly.
“You’re kiddin’, right? I hate dogs, wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole; I’m allergic, see? Only reason I’m doin’ this at all is because you don’t say ‘no’ to Mister Coleman, not if you want to keep your job. I’ve got a wife and two kids to support!”
While they’d been talking, neither of them had been paying any attention to Dick the dog, but when Dee felt an oddly familiar sensation and looked down to see the little dachshund planted firmly on his foot, he realised he wasn’t particularly surprised. He didn’t stop to think, just reached for the leash and whisked it out of Wade’s hand before the other man could react. “This dog isn’t your boss’s to give away, that amounts to theft, so I’m confiscating him until such time as his owner is able to decide what she wants to do about him. You got a problem with that?”
Wade shrugged, unconcerned by the turn of events. “Hey, you’re welcome to it, no skin off my nose; saves me trekkin’ across the city and gettin’ dog hair all over my car. Mister Coleman isn’t gonna care, long as the dog’s out of his building.”
“You said Coleman gave you the dog’s things?”
“Yeah, that’s right, shoved ‘em in two trash bags and told me to deal with ‘em, so I tossed ‘em in the dumpster round the back. Bad enough he expected me to take the dog without having to lug all its junk around too. We about done here? Only, I got other things to be getting on with.”
“No, not quite; you and me, we’re goin’ around the back to the dumpster, and you’re gonna find the two bags you tossed in there and help carry them to my car.”
“Aw, c’mon man, gimme a break can’t you?” Wade whined.
“I already have, takin’ the dog off your hands without pressin’ charges, remember? You should think yourself lucky; you could’ve gotten a hefty fine, maybe even probation, depending on how much harm you’ve done to the dog.”
Wade’s shoulders slumped and he heaved a sigh. “Okay, fine, if it’ll get me off the hook. This way.” He started off towards the alley between buildings and Dee followed, with Dick trotting obediently beside him. Glancing back over his shoulder, Wade frowned. “Hey, how come the stupid dog walks for you when it wouldn’t for me?”
“He knows me, and he’s a good judge of character. It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t like you, and I don’t blame him,” Dee smirked.
“Huh. Feeling’s mutual.” Shooting a disgusted glare at Dick, Wade strode onwards, clearly wanting to get this over and done with as quickly as possible.
Round the back of the building, three dumpsters sat in a row beneath the building’s trash chutes. Wade went to the closest one, reaching in and hauling two bags off the top; they hadn’t been there for long, and it was a good neighbourhood so Dee was relieved to see they weren’t covered in disgusting crud. Nevertheless, he had Wade open them both to make sure they were the right bags. They were, which was a relief; he didn’t want to find out later that he’d slung someone’s trash in the trunk of his car. One bag contained a dog bed, brushes, and toys, while the other held dog food and dishes. Trotting closer, Dick stuck his head in the first bag, rummaged around a bit with his nose, and pulled out a small teddy bear, gripping it gently in his mouth and wagging his tail. Dee couldn’t help smiling; must be the dog’s favorite toy.
“You bring that bag,” he told Wade, gesturing at the one containing the food, and picking up the other one himself.
“How come I have to carry the heavy one?”
Wade was seriously getting on Dee’s nerves. “I could still arrest your sorry ass,” Dee reminded him. “Fact is, you keep bitchin’ about every little thing and I’ll do just that, so what’s it gonna be?”
Grumbling, Wade hefted the heavy bag and with a glare in Dee’s general direction, started to lug it back along the alley to where Dee’s car was waiting.
Dee grinned. “Thought you might see things my way.” Picking up the much lighter bag, he followed Wade to the car and unlocked the trunk. “Okay, load her up.”
Gritting his teeth Wade did as instructed, dumping his bag beside the bag Dee had been carrying. “Is that it? Can I go now or do you wanna torture me some more?”
“Don’t tempt me.” Dee slammed the trunk. “Yeah, get outta here, but remember this; if you ever mistreat any animal again, I will find out about it, and next time I won’t be anywhere near as nice about it.” He smiled pleasantly. “Thanks for your help, Mister Wade. You have a nice day now.” Opening the rear door of the car, Dee lifted the dog onto the backseat, plonking him down and saying firmly, “Stay.” Dick looked at him then lay down with his chin on his teddy bear. Dee closed the door and ran one hand through his hair. “What the hell have I done?” he muttered under his breath. “Ryo’s gonna kill me!” Which reminded him of where he’d been going when he’d spotted the dog. He checked his watch. “Shit, I was supposed to pick him up half an hour ago!” Sliding behind the wheel, he sent his partner a quick text saying he was on his way, fired up the engine, and pulled out into the afternoon traffic.
OoOoOoO
Ryo was waiting for Dee outside the building where he’d been interviewing a witness, and he slid into the passenger seat as soon as the car pulled up in front of him. “What kept you? I was starting to get worried.”
“Hey, babe, sorry about that, I… um… had a bit of an emergency to deal with.” He pointed towards the backseat.
Ryo twisted to look over his shoulder and his eyebrows shot up. “Is that who I think it is? Did he get lost again?”
“Yes it is, but no, he didn’t get lost. Seems Mrs Holloway fell and broke her hip, there’s no one she could ask to take care of the dog, and I happened to be passin’ by just at the right moment to prevent him being dragged off to the pound. Literally. I confiscated him, didn’t know what else to do, but I wanna get him checked over by a vet, make sure that jerk didn’t hurt him. After that… I’m not exactly sure what to do for the best.” He trailed off, glancing at his partner with a sheepish grin. “Hope you’re not too mad at me.”
“Why would I be mad at you? I would’ve done exactly the same thing. The poor dog must be so confused. As for what we should do, there’s no restriction about keeping dogs in our building so I don’t see any reason why we can’t take care of him until Mrs Holloway recovers. We’ll need to get a few things though; food, and a bed.”
“No need for that; I got all his stuff in the trunk.”
“Great! That’s one thing less to sort out. He’ll be much better off with his own familiar things around him.”
Dee felt himself relaxing and realised he’d been worried Ryo might say they couldn’t keep the dumb dog. He didn’t even like dogs, but there was just something about this one. Dick trusted him; he couldn’t let the dumb mutt down. “Thanks, babe.”
“What for? Mrs Holloway doesn’t deserve to lose her dog just because she’s suffered an unfortunate accident. You saw how much she loves him.”
“You’re right, it would break her heart. Okay, I clocked us out at the precinct before coming to pick you up, so I guess now all we need to do is find a vet…”
“There’s one not far from my old place; she’s good, she used to treat Bikky’s cat. We can take Dick there for a check-up before heading home.”
“Works for me,” Dee agreed. “There’s just one more thing.”
“What’s that?” Ryo gave his partner a questioning look.
“If he’s gonna be stayin’ with us for a bit, we’ve really gotta change his name. Callin’ him Dick just isn’t gonna work.”
TBC in Part 3 - Vet Check-Up