Title: For the Dogs
Summary: Jules lived her whole life as a police dog only to be retired and forced to spend her life at home while her master, Garrett, continues to be a cop with a new dog. But does she really stay at home?
Pairing: Garrett/Emmett (implied future)
Rating: T
Word Count: 2234
Disclaimer: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.
For the Dogs
Jules lifted her head from her bed to watch as Garrett put his police jacket on and called to her sister – albeit, not by blood.
Bella bounded over to him, and he opened the door.
"We'll be back tonight, Jules," he said.
She let out a small bark before laying her head back down.
Jules had been retired from the force for just over a year, and this was her 'reward,' spending the rest of her life stuck at home being unable to do the things she'd been good at, unable to save lives, unable to sniff out explosives and drugs, and unable to help.
Sure, the job had been hard work, but it had been everything she'd been bred and raised to do.
Jules could still remember her mom, Bonnie, even though she'd been taken to start her training when she was only six weeks old.
It was the last time she'd seen her four litter-mates, although she knew two of them had also been put through training and joined the force, but with different divisions. Honestly, Jules could barely remember her four siblings; Seth, Bree, Doug, and Boris.
She'd been thrown into rigorous training at a very young age, and had excelled at it, surpassing the Doberman Pinschers, Dutch Shepherds, Belgian Malinoises, and Rottweilers who'd been in the same training school.
When her owner, Garrett, had picked her out and she'd started the specialized training with him, it had been one of the best days of her life.
For years, she'd been side-by-side with him, following him faithfully into all kinds of situations. It had been her whole life, but time had passed, and she aged past her prime and was forced into retirement.
While Garrett moved on and took on a new dog, she was forced to spend her senior years in the house by herself... or at least that was what Garrett assumed.
Jules wasn't without her talents though, so once she heard the k9 truck pull out of the drive, she got up from her bed and headed the back, going outside through the dog door.
The backyard was full of interesting sights and scents, including the flowerbed that grew on the one edge that only careful training kept her from marking it as her own or, at the minimum, rolling in it.
She ignored the flowerbed now, though, instead focusing on the dog house as she ran toward it, feeling the burn of the muscles in her powerful legs as she pushed off from the ground and landed on the roof of the doghouse. Jules didn't allow herself to stop there though as she took the two steps forward and leaped again – this time hurling herself over the top of the fence and landing in the alley that bordered the south side of the house.
It was easier getting out than it was going back in, but it was worth it, at least in her mind – as it was the only real way she got to truly live.
Jules raced out to the road, then looked left and right, tilting her head to the side to listen for anything of interest, finally honing in on a high pitched yowl.
She'd done her fair share of helping young children, dogs, and other animals – including cats – both before and after her retirement from the force. So running towards the sound of a cat's fear was nothing new to her.
She followed the sound three streets down, barely noting the browns and yellows of the flora growing in the flower boxes that bordered the sidewalks – though somewhere in the back of her mind she knew they were roses, poppies, and daisies.
The cars driving down the road varied greatly from the pale yellow vehicles with the little squares signs on tops – she thought her master called them taxis – to the browns and varying shades of blues which belonged to the numerous civilians.
A few people walking down the sidewalks eyed her suspiciously as she raced to her destination, but she ignored the looks. After all, they were merely human and couldn't possibly understand her need to serve. Humans like her were rare, even among the humans on the force... there were more that were corrupt than there were who were truly honorable.
Even her own master, Garrett, had pocketed drugs in his time. But she'd stood beside him through it, faithful to the core, which was more than she could say for his mate Paul – the man who'd cheated on her Garrett and drove him to the drugs in the first place. After a while, and with Paul no longer in the picture, he'd eventually gotten better.
Finally, she reached her destination, spotting the young kitten stuck on a limb halfway up a relatively tall tree.
She let out a huff of amusement. It was just like a cat to climb something and then not know how to get down.
Of course, the problem for her was it was far easier for cats to get up trees than it was her own kind.
Jules looked around, taking stock of everything on the street. There were two houses, close enough to the tree that she could jump from either if she could get to the roof of one or the other... There was also the cars driving by on the street which could potentially allow her to get on a low hanging branch – it wouldn't be her first time jumping on a vehicle, moving or otherwise, either – but it brought on its own set of problems.
She made another glance around before grunting and heading around the houses, hoping to find a way to leap up to the top of the roofs.
Neither house had an obvious way up, but the second had an overhanging porch roof that was sort of low. She just needed a halfway point like what she had to get over her back yard fence.
Jules growled in annoyance because she wasn't seeing anything before she finally spotted a trashcan in the backyard of the first house. She raced over to it and started shoving it to her destination with her head.
The trashcan was heavier than it looked from the outside, but she forced herself to move forward. It was hardly her first time dealing with weight – having pulled bags, lifted wooden beams, and more in her day as a police dog... Then again, she wasn't as young as she used to be, which was why she was panting by the time she got it into position.
The trashcan had a round tin lid, and while it should reasonably hold her weight, she also knew she was only going to get one shot at reaching her destination of the porch roof. First, because once she landed on the trashcan, she'd have to continue forward immediately. And second, because if she didn't make it on her first attempt, the crash would hurt.
A second yowl of fear prompted her into action, and she stepped a few feet away before racing forward and jumping, landing only briefly on the lid before pushing off of it and soaring into the air, landing on the porch roof a moment later.
"WHAT THE?" someone shouted – mostly likely from inside the house.
She let out an amused huff, her tail wagging slightly of its own accord before she darted forward again, this time jumping onto the main roof of the house.
Jules quickly dashed across the roof to the front of the house, scrambling some as her feet slid on the slanted paneling of the roof – she never would understand why humans insisted on building them at thirty-degree angles.
Once she was at the front of the house, she looked toward the tree, which was farther away than it had looked from the ground. She could still make it, though, she was sure.
Jules slowly backed up enough to get a running start before taking off and leaping through the air, landing solidly on one of the branches which immediately creaked under her weight.
On the street below, there were several shrieks, and some other shouted words which she impeccably ignored.
She looked at the kitten stranded on a branch on the tree, carefully making her way around the tree with slow steps and light jumps. When she finally reached the branch with the kitten, the kitten scooted closer to the end, trying to stay away from her.
Jules snarled and extended her body as far as she could, biting down gently on the back of the kitten's neck, backing up immediately so that her weight was near the core of the tree and away from the more fragile end. Then she started to carefully make her way down, hopping to lower and lower branches until she was as far down as she could get.
Finally, she jumped to the ground with the kitten in her mouth. There flashes from cellphone cameras as she made it to the ground and she growled in annoyance, making the kitty in her mouth whine in fear.
Jules ignored the kitten's fear and started sniffing the air for the kitten's trail so she could make sure it got safely home.
She turned and walked down the road – doing her best to pretend she didn't notice the humans staring at her curiously – heading even farther from her own home.
It took her four blocks, but she finally found a little white house where the kitten's smell was the strongest and trotted up to the door, standing on her hind legs so she could press her paw against the doorbell button before dropping back to all fours. It took two minutes, but a big man with close-cropped hair and a round face finally opened the door.
Jules promptly dropped the kitten just inside the house and then turned and raced off.
…
She opened one eye when the front door opened and Bella ran in followed by their master, coming in much slower.
Bella ran over to her, sniffing her suspiciously before licking her nose once and proceeding to bark furiously.
Jules huffed once, not responding to her sister's rudeness past that, closing her eyes as she pretended to snooze.
Eventually, it would be supper time, but until then she saw no reason to be all excited and such. She'd already had enough fun for the day.
Garrett headed back to his bedroom and bathroom so he could shower and change into normal clothes, she knew, because it was what he did every single day after work.
The instant he was out the room Bella bumped her head against Jules, and Jules proceeded to open one eye, finding her little sister with her romp in the air and her front close to the ground, clearly wanting to play. Of course, Bella always wanted to play. She was at that age.
Jules barked once, got up and spun around in her bed three times before laying back down, intent on forgetting her sister was there.
Bella jumped on her, biting on her ear gently and pulling on it slightly.
Jules growled slightly, but there was no heat behind it. It wasn't like Bella was actually hurting her.
Bella ignored the growl, continuing to chew on her ear for a minute before there was a sharp knock on the front door.
Bella immediately stopped, coming to attention as she sat up straight.
Jules sat up, as well, barking sharply once to let her master know someone was at the door.
A moment later, Garrett came out of his bedroom in only a pair of dark blue cotton pants – he always called them jeans – and a white towel around his neck.
"Wonder who's here?" he grumbled. "I'm not expecting anyone." He stepped over to the door and looked through the peephole for a moment before pulling back suddenly as if someone had shocked him.
Finally, he opened the door. "Hel –"
Jules stopped paying attention to what her master was saying as she spotted the big man from earlier on the other side of the door, a little kitten she recognized all too well in his arms – he appeared to be blushing slightly as he looked at her master.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but that dog, there –" the big man pointed directly at her "– dropped this little bundle in my house, earlier today. She seemed to be under an impression it was mine or something."
Garrett looked at her for a moment. "I think you're mistaken, Jules there was home all day... sir."
"Emmett, my name's Emmett, and I can prove it. Her rescue of the kitten has gone viral." He pulled out his cellphone, swiping at it a few times before handing it to her master.
Garrett watched the screen for a minute, his mouth widening into a large O, before turning to stare at her.
"Care to explain this, Jules?"
Jules promptly stood up, made two circles in her bed, and laid down in a ball, covering her face with her tail – ignoring the world around her as she decided to nap.
Besides, Garrett was a smart man, she was relatively sure he'd figure it out on his own eventually... maybe.