Kendra looked herself over again in the mirror, straightening out her ponytail. Today was the day she would finally get to be a part of the family business- protecting people and puppies alike.

To be completely fair, she wasn't just going to protect puppies. Kendra loved all animals, big, small, furry, or scaly! She was going to be a part of the animal protection police force centered in Dallas, Texas, along with her younger brother Seth, and a couple of her other relatives.

That was one perk of coming back home- She could finally see her grandparents again. It had been a while- maybe a couple months, since last Christmas?- since she'd seen them, and she was ecstatic.

She pulled herself away from her thoughts and grabbed her purse and keys, starting on her way to work.

When she got there, a hot cocoa in hand, she was welcomed by a whoop and a surprise hug from her cousin, Warren.

"Hey Kenz," He said, shifting his arm to around her neck, "Welcome home! You look awesome in the uniform by the way, very heroic." He finished with a wide grin.

"Thanks Warren! I'm glad to be back." She replied with a grin of her own as she moved towards her Grandfather's office for the scheduled meeting before her first day.

As she moved through the precinct, she got to get a good look at the people who would be working with her for the foreseeable future. Most she didn't recognize, but she did catch a peek at Coulter with a scowl on his face. For a friend of her grandparents, he sure wasn't happy to see her. She did another look around for Seth, but couldn't see him anywhere.

"He's gonna be late," She sighed to herself, before turning and knocking on the door of Stan's office.

SCENE

Seth's day had started very badly. As Warren would say, it was pretty ruff.

The first contributing factor being that his alarm clock had chosen that day to betray him. He didn't have any idea what happened, but his clock had somehow been set for 6:30 PM instead of AM, which resulted in a very sleepy Seth being woken up by a phone call from his grandpa at 9- thirty minutes after his scheduled first day meeting with him.

Seth cursed before picking up his phone, ready to apologize.

"Hey Grandpa-" He started, before a stern voice interrupted him.

"Officer Sorenson, you better get here in the next thirty minutes, or you will be late on your first day and will be written up. You're lucky I told Coulter I would call you, or you would be getting a much more severe talk right now. Do you understand?"

Seth nodded, but realized that his grandpa couldn't see him and replied with "Yes, sir. I understand, and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Seth?" Stan asked, waiting for a reply.

"Yes?"

"I'm proud of you. See you soon." He then hung up.

Seth smiled, and then started rushing around his house as fast as he could to get out the door.

He walked out of his apartment, shutting the door before realizing that he hadn't grabbed his jacket or keys. He was just glad he hadn't locked himself out when he went back in to grab them- but was 'laughed' at by his parrots, Newell and Dorren.

"Very funny, guys." He muttered as he left, sticking his tongue out at them before shutting the door and locking it this time.

SCENE

Seth looked like he'd just run a marathon.

Stumbling into the precinct, he ignored the people around him in favor of rushing towards his grandfather's office.

"I'm here," Seth said, a little out of breath as he pushed the door open. "Sorry I'm late. I'm here-"

"While I am glad to see that, Officer Sorenson, in the future I'd prefer it if you knocked before entering my office. As you can see, I am in a meeting." Stan said, motioning to a short korean woman who was sitting across from him. She had turned around in her seat, and was giving him a small smile.

The woman was a little bit older than Kendra, and had a stripe of red in her pixie cut. She had a mixture of mirth and kindness in her eyes.

"It's alright, Stan! You must be Seth! Nice to meet you, I'm Elise." She stood to shake his hand, and he reached for hers, grinning.

"Nice to meetcha, Elise," He said, looking back towards his grandfather. "Sorry for interrupting, I'll take my leave now."

"I was actually just on my way out. Don't worry, I'll wait outside." Elise replied, moving toward the door.

"Wait?"

"Yeah, be ready. You're going on your first ride along!" Elise said, grinning as she closed the door and left him to his fate.

SCENE

The meeting had been short, informing her of the plans for her first week and letting her know that she wouldn't be receiving any special treatment just because she was family.

That being said, it must have been by some stroke of good luck- or a lot of begging- that she ended up on a ride along with Warren.

Over the day, when she wasn't worried about Seth or talking with her partner, she had time to look forward to seeing her best friend Raxtus again.

They talked every day, even while Kendra was in New York, but it'd be their first time hanging out since Raxtus has come out to her. She was worried about misgendering him, but was ultimately happy for him and that he was comfortable enough with her to share. She also was super excited to see his three dogs.

The day went by pretty slow for a first day, but they had managed to save a bunny from a cage that was too small, as well as a snake who had been in danger of being killed by a scared, ignorant man who had thought the snake was poisonous and was trying to protect his kids.

When they returned to the precinct Seth and Elise were already back, and Seth was talking her ear off.

"Hey! You made it!" Kendra greeted, interrupting him by putting her arm around his neck in a side hug.

"Yeah, get this, my alarm was like set to the wrong time or something and-" He started, but was again interrupted by a loud whooping sound.

Raxtus, a small man with acne and shaggy brown hair, came running at them. He was covered in dog hair- probably from work, or possibly because of his dogs at home- and consequently transferred some to Seth and Kendra's uniforms when he tackled them in a group hug.

They didn't care, embracing their mutual friend with love.

"Hey Bud," Warren greeted, grinning at the exchange.

"Hi!" He mumbled from Kendra's shoulder, lifting his hand from Seth's back in a sort-of wave.

"I know you and Kenz had plans for tonight, but would you all mind changing those plans a little? Me and Elise were planning on going out to dinner to celebrate their first day in the force," He suggested, grinning. "And I'll pay-"

"I'm in!" Raxtus and Seth said at the same time, releasing a laughing Kendra from the cuddle puddle.

"I guess that settles it then." Elise said, clocking the others out as they changed into their civilian clothes, before following the group out the door.

SCENE

They'd all had a nice time, eating and laughing together. Warren and Elise were on their way out, both saying it was a little late for their "old bones". Elise had a carryout box for to bring home a meal for her girlfriend.

"Mara gets home pretty late, she works out of town and all." She supplied, a smile lighting up her face when talking about the other woman.

The kids- Kendra, Seth, and Raxtus- all exchanged knowing smiles and said goodbye to their friends.

"Hey, I'm going to go use the restroom before we head out, alright? Be right back," Kendra said, setting the napkin that had been on her lap onto the table. The others just shrug and continue their conversation, talking about something one of Raxtus's smaller dogs had done.

On her way back out of the bathroom, Kendra accidently ran right into a hard body.

"I am so sorry-" She began, looking up into the face of a very handsome man with dark hair.

"N-n-no, Exc-excuse me miss. I-i-i'm sorry," He replied, smiling at her. "Are you h-h-hurt?" He stuttered.

She shook her head, smiling at him, before replying. "Nah, I don't bruise that easily. Are you okay?"

"W-well, I did just m-m-meet a beautiful woman," He said, grinning and causing a blush. "I'm G-g-gavin, Nice-nice to meet you."

Kendra nodded, blushing a little. "You too, Gavin. I'm Kendra, and I betted get back to my friends now. It was nice meeting you." She said, waving a little as she started to walk backwards back to her table. She then knocked into a chair, causing him to laugh.

"B-b-bye." He said, before heading into the men's room.

When she got back to her table, she realized she hadn't been missed too much in the chaos that was her brother's wake. He had somehow managed to spill drink on a woman, who her friends had proceeded to glare at him.

"She looked like a pixie, or a faerie- she was so small! I feel so bad!" Seth said, sinking his head into his hands. Raxtus patted his arm, smiling at Kendra's return.

"Well I obviously missed something," Kendra said. "How'd that happen?"

"He was talking about the 'sewer alligators' that are totally 'real' in New York-" "They are!" "And he lifted his arm to far back with his drink in hand and she kinda ran into him?" Raxtus explained as Seth groaned again.

They paid and went to leave, still teasing Seth lightly about the incident when they heard loud whimpers. They shared a look before going to investigate, firmly aware that an animal could be hurt.

They come around a corner to the back of the building when they see a man trying to catch a dog who is obviously hurt and very very small.

"Hey!" Seth shouts, and the man looks up, obviously shocked.

"Oh hello! I'm trying to help this poor dog here, it seems pretty injured. I'm Errol." He says, smiling at them. His posture is stiff, and Kendra knows in her gut- and by the dog's body language- that this man is not doing what he says he is.

"Step away from the dog, sir. We can help it, we work with these types of situations," Seth says, stepping forward with his hands out in surrender. "Hey!" He calls out as 'Errol' makes a run for the side of the building pushing Seth down.

"You okay?" Kendra asks, helping him up and he nods, already ready to go.

Kendra and Seth both go after him, entrusting the dog's safety to Raxtus who watches it carefully as he phones in what is going on.

Seth almost catches him before the man runs into the road without looking both ways, and by some chance, doesn't get hit. Kendra yells "go!" when it's clear enough, making it across in time to see the man get into a truck in another business's parking lot before he drives away.

Seth curses, looking at Kendra and then down to his hand where one of his fingers is a little banged up and bleeding from the fall.

"We gotta tell grandpa. That man obviously was going to take that dog as a bait dog or use it for a puppy mill." Kendra said, sighing as she grabbed at her forehead, already developing a headache.

"Yeah, but maybe we should check on Raxtus and the dog first?" Seth replied, already looking both ways to cross again.

"I can't believe he ran out into the middle of the road without looking-"

"It was kinda cool how he didn't get hit-"

"SETH!"

"What?! It was!"