Ezra sat quietly at his desk at the ATF office of team seven. It had been over two months since he was transferred in as the unit's undercover agent. The fact that he was there because he was good at what he did, didn't surprise him. People only wanted him around for that very reason. When it came to trusting him though, he found that no one ever did that. The men on his new team however were interestingly enough the opposite of what he had imagined. They all treated him pretty well. Vin would offer him opportunities to prank the older men and JD invited him to some of the online poker game events he did on occasion. Buck always loved to talk and Josiah was very welcoming. Nathan was good for a nice argument and Chris. Well the team leader he wasn't quite sure what he thought about him. The man was a mystery to be certain.

"Hey Ezra, you doing anything tonight? The new Marvel movie is showing." Asked the young computer expert as he came up to Ezra's desk.

Ezra was about to politely refuse when he heard a slamming noise coming from Larabee's office.

Buck then walked out the door followed by the blonde himself who was carrying his stuff over his shoulder. He walked passed them without saying a word and everyone was left questioning. Only Buck however seemed to have an idea of what was going on.

"Chris won't be around for the next couple of days. Nothing wrong, just likes to be by himself." Was all the explanation he gave before solemnly going back to his own desk and sitting down to work again.

JD seemed to have forgotten about the movie and walked quickly to the mustached man to figure out what had happened. Ezra understood that the man and their leader were old friends. He would know what was going on, but that didn't mean he would say anything.

Best to leave that one alone.

Ezra quickly packed his things and got ready to leave himself. While yes he was brought in by Travis to be an undercover agent for team seven, he was also brought in for another assignment by the director. One he preferred that no one knew since it involved everyone as his targets.

It was a part of the new program that the department was doing. Only the director however knew about it.

The emotional support animal system.

Josiah had made a side comment about Ezra being raised by wolves when it came to them having drinks outside of work. The man had a quick tongue and comment for everything. He was also pretty good with cards. Each of the other men learned quickly not to place all their money on the table when playing against him. Josiah was half right in his description of him. Though he wasn't a wolf, he was of the same canine family.

According to the records director Travis had given him, Chris lost his family three years ago that weekend. This was to be his first job. If all went well this weekend, Ezra figured that he wouldn't be asked to leave. Being treated like he wasn't a rogue agent was nice for a change.

Chris sat at his ranch house. He had a bottle of beer in his hand and another three packs in his fridge for the long weekend. The picture of his family sat in front of him on the coffee table. All he could think about was his wife and son. How he never had the chance to say goodbye. That he wouldn't be able to hear their voices again or to ever hold them again.

Taking a long swig from his bottle, he ran his hands through his hair. Partially tugging at it, he let the frustrated tears run down his cheeks. So absorbed in his grief that he didn't hear the scratching at the front door. When the tears had finally stopped for a moment, Chris heard a barking noise outside his door. Wiping his face and clearing his throat, he pushed himself up from the couch and walked over to the front door. Pulling it open, he saw a dark brown retriever. It couldn't be more than three years old. It barked at Chris, wagging its tail.

Chris cocked his head to the side in confusion before looking around to see if there was an owner lurking nearby.

Not seeing anyone, he bent down to where he was eye level with the dog.

"What are you doing out here boy without your leash? Where's your owner?" He ran his hand through the soft fur.

The dog picked up one of its front paws and placed it on Chris's chest. Chris gave a little grin. He stood up, letting the paw fall back to the ground. He gestured for the retriever to go inside and it did.

"Well aren't you interesting." Chris smiled as the dog looked around the house a little before sitting and waiting for Chris to close the door.

Chris walked back to the couch and picked up his bottle again. The retriever picked that moment to trot on over to where the blonde sat and climb onto the couch.

"Whoa there. I don't know if you have fleas on you. Why don't you stay on the ground for now?" Chris said as he tried pushing the animal off. The retriever plopped down and even offered his stomach to rub, his head slightly resting on Chris's lap. Sighing and shaking his head, Chris gave in and let the mutt lay there. He scratched the dog's belly and under his front legs. A happy tongue hung from the side of its mouth as he panted. "Fine you win. You get to stay."

The dog licked at Chris's arm before turning back to looking at the things in the house.

Chris went back to his bottle and drinking.

He was in. Ezra felt fortunate that Chris had a thing for animals. Buck had made a passing comment about Chris owning horses on his ranch and that they each had one on the team. That he also had a dog that had died a year ago. It was easy to connect with that past relationship. All he had to do was not take advantage of it. Playing on his 'mark's' emotions was not the key to this job. His job was to comfort according to Travis.

Ezra pushed himself up on the couch and looked at the offending bottle of beer in Chris's possession. How was he to supposed to separate a drinker from his bottle?

Climbing on Chris's lap, he pushed the bottle out of the way to demand the man's full attention.

"The hell. Look I don't care if you want to hang here for a while, or even lay on the couch, but don't disturb me from my drinking." Chris said gruffly, pushing Ezra off of him.

Ezra frowned. It wasn't going to be easy apparently with his job. Climbing off of the couch, he looked at the picture sitting on the table.

It was a picture of Chris and his family. They looked so happy, and Chris was actually smiling. How was he supposed to get that kind of feeling out of the man?

Licking the picture, he got a snort out of Chris and he turned to see Chris was leaning back in his seat.

"Guess you can tell that they're not here too." Sighing, Chris went for another bottle of beer.

Ezra reacted and nipped him on the wrist. "Damnit! What the yell you crazy mutt!"

Ezra knocked the bottles off of the table, breaking at least two and spilling the liquid.

"You ass!" Chris shot to his feet and looked ready to beat the dog but he didn't. He only grabbed his hair in frustration and walked away to cool off. "Almost a big of a pain as Vin and Ezra with your tricks." He muttered.

Ezra perked at the sound of his name. He figured that people talked about him behind his back, he never got a chance to listen to what he said.

Walking up to the man that was standing by himself in the kitchen, he sat by his feet and pawed at his leg.

"Not now." Chris murmured.

Ezra stood on his back legs and reached up to lick Chris's elbow. Chris patted him on the head.

"I need fresh air."

Ezra watched the blonde make his way to the door and followed him.

Outside was dark except for the porch light Chris had turned on. Ezra kept beside Chris as they went to the stable.

"You know, I've been raising horses as a hobby for eight years now. I like doing it." Chris walked up to the first stall where his horse was at. A big black stallion. "For the first time since doing this, I have people who appreciate horses just as much as me. Team seven, the people I work with, they come up here and ride sometimes when we aren't working. All of them come up here. That is except one." Ezra knew Chris was talking about him. "I'm not sure if he'd want to. Seems pretty busy doing his own thing. Heard he rejects JD's offers for movies on a constant basis. Josiah however thinks he has some past history with trust issues or insecurities." Ezra snorted which made Chris look at him in wonder. "You remind me a little of him. Of Ezra. That's his name. The slippery bastard always likes to sneak out right when the clock told him it was time to leave."

Ezra dipped his head. It was true he would always leave when the clock read six. Maybe he should've tried to stay behind at least once and go to the ranch house. It was a pretty sweet place now that he was there.

Yawning, Ezra got up from where he sat and began walking back to the house.

Chris watched the dog go and shook his head. The animal seemed just as lazy as Ezra too. After finishing up feeding and taking care of the horses, Chris went inside to see that the dog had somehow opened the fridge and was raiding it.

"You've got to be kidding me. How the hell do you even know how to—never mind." Chris saw that the cases of beers were sitting in the trash can, curtesy of the strange dog that he decided to let into his house.

Ezra barked and got into a playful position. If he can make Chris think about something other than his grief, even if it was getting annoyed with him, then his job would've been a success. Barely, but a success nonetheless.

Chris shook his head and walked passed the wagging tail animal.

Ezra huffed, this was already humiliating, no need to make him beg while he was at it.

Running till where he almost made Chris trip over him, he stood in front of the blonde and got back into his position, asking for attention.

Rolling his eyes, Chris found one of his stress balls that he had lying around the house and tossed it to the dog.

Ezra let it bounce. Yeah, he may give the impression of wanting to do dog games, but he wasn't about to stope and play fetch. Too demeaning. Ezra walked over to the ball and kicked it back to Chris.

"You are one lazy but still interesting dogs I've ever seen." Chris muttered as he walked back to the couch. Ezra followed at his heels. Hopping on his hind legs and pulling at Chris's black tee. "Knock it off." Chris murmured half-heartedly.

Ezra kept it up though, before barking and waging his tail.

Chris pushed Ezra away and Ezra hit him a couple of times with his paws. The two kept going until it back wrestling on the floor. At first Ezra was scared Chris was actually trying to hurt him, but soon figured it was all for fun. He even heard Chris chuckle a couple of times.

The blonde soon tired out and laid on the floor on his back. Ezra stretched himself out on top of his stomach. Chris reached up and scratched the dog behind the ears.

"I told myself I wasn't going to be happy this weekend. That I was going to let myself have one weekend where I can self-loath and wallow in guilt for being the one who survived when I was the target."

Ezra perked his ears up. He didn't know everything about Chris, about his family. Only that they were gone. That they were murdered, was new information to him.

A tongue licked his cheek and Chris gave a half smile at the dog showing him sympathy.

'Man's best friend'. Yeah dogs were pretty good at reading emotions. His hand absentmindedly strokes the retriever's back while he lay looking at the ceiling.

When it was time for him to go to bed, Chris contemplated on just staying on the ground. However, he knew if he did then he'd be sore the next morning. Pushing himself up to his feet, he made his way to his bedroom.

"You coming?" Chris asked the dog who just laid there on its side. It stayed there for a while before shifting to get up and slowly went to Chris.

It wasn't Ezra's plan to join Chris, but he'd lay beside the bed until the blonde fell asleep.

Chris only took off his shoes and shirt before dropping in bed. "Staying down there? Figured you'd try and sneak your way onto the bed."

Ezra weighed his options and decided he'd be fine to stay at the bottom of the bed.

Hopping up on the bed, he made a few circles before settling down at Chris's feet. Chris was silent for a long time until he bent down and pulled the dog up and he laid down with it pressed up against himself and continued to run his hands through its fur.

It was soothing and both fell asleep.

The next day Chris was accompanied around the ranch by the retriever he started calling Todd because it means 'fox' which was a trickster. Chris was planning on drinking the day away, but his new companion saw to that never happening. Instead Chris would go on walks along the paths that were on his property. He attended to the horses and did somethings around the house.

Ezra was satisfied that he had got Chris out of the house and doing something. He knew that his work was far from over. Bringing Chris out of his funk didn't mean that it was gone. Just a prolonged spiral down.

Ezra sat to the side watching Chris work the hoes, watering a garden he had growing. He was surprised the man did that kind of thing. Then he figured it was his wife's garden. Smiling to himself, Ezra got up from his spot and walked up to Chris. He purposefully bent the hoes so the water would stop running. Chris frowned and turned to see the problem. Ezra released his hold and the water shot out again.

"I know you have nothing better to do then to bother me, but I have chores to do since you won't let me sit inside."

Chris aimed the hoes at Ezra, spraying the dog a little.

Ezra glared at Chris and started pulling on the hoes. He got shot again with the water for his efforts. Ezra grabbed the hoes and was able to pull the hoes out of the man's hands and was able to soak the bottom part of Chris's pants. Chris laughed as he wrestled in the mud with the dog and the hoes. It took a few more minutes before the water fight ended and Chris turned off the hoes. Chris would have to take a shower and clean the dog.

This was definitely not according to Ezra's plan. He sat in the bathtub getting scrubbed of the mud that had stuck to his fur coat. It was bad enough getting dirty. It was another thing getting cleaned up by your boss no matter what the circumstances.

Night came around before he knew it and he was resting in bed alongside Chris while the man read. When it was time to sleep, Chris rested an arm over Ezra and fell asleep.

Morning came around and Ezra woke up first. He felt Chris's hot breath on his face and he shifted in bed. His eyes shot open and he carefully looked down at himself. Apparently his transformation didn't wait before he left the house. Now he laid in bed alongside Chris's sleeping figure with nothing but the sheets covering parts of his body. Moving with caution, he moved out of Chris's hold and slipped out of the bed.

Chris shifted in bed, but his eyes never opened. Ezra looked around for something to put on and he found a shirt and a pair of pants to put on. Looking back at his 'mark', he hoped that he had done something that weekend to help alleviate some of the blonde's pain.

Somehow he'd have to find a way to return the clothes.

He couldn't help wanting to apologize for leaving like he had to. If he was still needed he'd return.

Chris walked into work looking his normal brooding self. Almost an hour later Ezra came in. JD was the first one to ask where the undercover agent had been.

"Just doing an assignment for director Travis."

"What kind of assignment?"

"One that requires discretion."

"I can be discreet." JD offered.

"I'm sure you can mister Dunne." Ezra smiled.

JD waited awhile before he finally got the hint that he wasn't going to be told.

Ezra's eyes shifted to the office where Chris Larabee was already working. He wondered if his work had paid off any.

About two hours passed before Chris walked outside of his office to go and meet with the director.

"I hope being made to leave for two days and giving you time to heal helped this weekend Chris." Travis said as Chris sat down.

"If that time was to be able to be alone then I didn't get chance. I was preoccupied the entire time."

"In a good way I hope."

"Some dog came out of nowhere and decided to bother me the entire time."

"Is that so?"

"I know about other departments bringing in emotional support animals and that there have been strange cases with people who can change forms. You wouldn't happen to be doing that here would you?"

"Maybe."

Chris sighed.

"It's for the benefit of you all. You may not appreciate it but someone else might."

Chris thought about who the supporter could be. Chris had mostly picked his team with the exception of one undercover agent.

Buck had told him that he'd been out of the office the same time he was on a recommended leave.

"They'd prefer it if you don't reveal their identity to anyone."

"Yeah I'd imagine he wouldn't. Seeing how much he appreciates his reputation and all that." Chris said as he got up from his seat.

"The terms were that if he did his job and there was visible results then he'd stay."

Chris turned back to the judge.

"So Ezra's contract here is only going to stay if I say he did a good job?" Sighing, Chris shook is head, "I'd be lying if I said he didn't help take my mind off of things. Though knowing what he is will make it harder to the future."

"I'm sure it won't." Travis said.

The older man got up form his seat and held something up to eye level to Chris. A flash went off and the blonde blinked a couple of times before looking at Travis in confusion.

"What the hell am I doing here?"

"We were talking about your break with the emotional support dog we sent home with you. Did things go well for you?"

Chris thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, strangest dog I ever met. Lazy as hell, but could do some fancy tricks. Didn't have a leash so you'd know what the animal's name was. So I called it Todd." Chris smiled at the name.

"Well if you ever need Todd again just ask."

Chris only nodded before walking out of the office back to where his team worked.

Travis had made a deal to keep Ezra's secret safe. He didn't like using a brain wiping device on any of his men, but it only erased back to ten minutes and had no side effects.

He was surprised that the undercover agent/ emotional support member of team seven had success with his first mission which was pretty difficult. Albeit distraction could only last so long. The man was fricking suicidal last year though. No, this was a success in his book. He only wondered who would be the next to need Ezra's other form.

A/N: I really want a pet, but you can only have one if you have a doctor's note saying you need an emotional support animal. I qualify, but living in dorms, you aren't allowed to have anything besides a fish, and you can't pet a fish.

Please review and tell me which of our boys needs help next.