AN: I wrote this little short after seeing a picture of Tim Omundson holding a basset hound on Dule Hill's twitter.

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It was just after five when Lassiter's radio crackled to life. He was on his way home from a long day of arresting bad guys and filing reports and the detective was looking forward to making dinner and then sleeping for as long as possible.

"We have a report of suspicious activity at Helping Paws Humane Society in the 600 block of Paloma," the dispatcher's voice came loud and clear over the airwaves.

Out of habit Lassiter glanced at the passing street signs and saw he was only three blocks from the shelter. He grabbed the radio handset.

"Dispatch, this is Head Detective Lassiter; I'm in the vicinity and will respond. ETA two minutes."

"10-4, Detective. You do realize you're not on the clock, sir?" The dispatcher wasn't even bothering to hide the laughter in his voice.

"Do you want this checked out or not?" Lassiter snapped. He'd already turned his vehicle around and flipped on his siren and lights.

"It's not a problem, sir; you are a 24/7 crime fighter," the dispatcher was still snickering.

Lassiter scowled at the radio when his own quote was thrown back at him, but he ignored the dispatcher and within seconds had arrived at the shelter.

The trio of volunteers, two women and a teenage boy, met him at the front entrance. One of the women, who introduced herself as Elaine, was in her thirties and looked like she was in charge.

"I feel a little stupid now," she admitted, biting her lip when she saw who had responded to her call.

"There's no need to feel stupid if you legitimately felt in danger," Lassiter assured her, pulling out his sidearm. "You said you heard something around back?"

"Yes, sir," Elaine nodded. "We all heard it. It was like someone was banging on the side of the building." The other woman and the boy nodded in agreement.

"You stay here; I'm going to check it out," Lassiter motioned for them to stay put and made his way to the back of the building. Before he rounded the corner, he heard the steady banging sound the volunteers had described to him. He steadied himself and then rounded the corner with his gun out. "Police, freeze!"

OoOOoOOoO

The burglar ended up being a rather large tree branch that had blown loose in the storm the night before. It was still caught in the tree, the breeze causing it to bang against the backside of the building in a steady interval. Lassiter holstered his gun and went to get the three workers.

Elaine blushed as she saw what had been causing the noise. "Now I just feel silly," she gave a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here."

"I was in the neighborhood anyway," Lassiter commented. "Now, let's get this branch taken care of." He shrugged off his suit jacket and started rolling up his sleeves.

Between three of them - the other girl had been elected to stay inside and help the other visitors at the shelter - the branch was taken care of in no time.

"Thank you again, detective." Elaine handed him a cup of water once they were inside. "If there's anything I can do for you, you just let me know."

Right,Lassiter thought to himself. I'll need something from the humane society.He glanced over to the door that led back to the animals. Well... he might as well make sure that everything was in order. He most certainly was not going back there because he wanted to look at the puppies.

"Actually," Lassiter turned back to Elaine. "I'd like to walk through there." He pointed to the door.

"No problem!" Elaine beamed. "Right this way." She led him through a maze of cages, stopping to talk about one dog or another. Then she got to the puppy cages. "These fellas are the youngest in the place." A bell chimed over the PA system. "I'll be right back," she promised and then disappeared around the corner.

Lassiter turned his attention back to the puppies. He stared at the soulful eyes of the animal in front of him. Basset hounds had always looked a little bit odd to him, but there was something charming about their sleepy-looking faces and their velvety soft ears. Not that he would ever admit that sentiment out loud to anyone.

He had wanted a dog for as long as he could remember. His mother thought they were a waste of money and hadn't allowed Lassiter or his sister to have one. She'd even snapped at them every time they brought it up - which was usually right around Christmas. As he had gotten older, Carlton could understand it from a financial side, but he had still wanted one. Victoria had been more opposed to a dog than she had been to children. Anything messy and loud wouldn't work in her neat and tidy life. So Lassiter had wanted a dog but had never gotten one.

The whining of the puppy brought his thoughts back the present. It pawed at the cage. Lassiter glanced around the shelter and, satisfied that no one was looking, he tentatively put his hand up to the bars. It was a deep brown, almost black, and white with a few brown markings here and there. The puppy licked his fingers and wagged its tail. Lassiter gently scratched the soft ears and almost smiled when the puppy closed its eyes and leaned into his hand.

"She's a sweetie," Elaine spoke up from behind him.

Lassiter jumped slightly and jerked his hand out of the cage, causing the puppy to give a startled bark. "What?"

"The puppy," she repeated pointing to the basset hound who was pawing at the cage again, trying to get Lassiter to resume his petting. "She's a real sweetheart. I can't believe she hasn't found a home yet."

A mother and her son were walking through the humane society as well. The kid was yapping, whining and complaining as he looked at the dogs. He couldn't have been older than ten, Lassiter decided. There was a fancy cell phone in the kid's hands and designer labels on his clothes. He was probably used to getting what he wanted.

"Mommy, look at this one!" The brat shoved himself between Lassiter and the cage holding the basset hound. "It's like the dog in Fox and the Hound!"

"Steven, honey, I don't want a dog that will drool." The mother didn't even bother to look up from her own phone. She was dressed in a suit and obviously more interested in the business data in her hand than in her son.

"This is the one I want, Mommy," the boy whined. "Please! This is the one." He put his hand out to pet the puppy.

The basset hound sniffed the child's fingers and Lassiter could have sworn it backed up a step, giving a short gruff bark at the fingers.

"Is that puppy available?" the woman asked the volunteer, practically pulling out her checkbook.

"I... uh.." Elaine stuttered, glancing up at Lassiter.

"No," Lassiter heard himself say. "No, she's not available. I'm taking this puppy."

The volunteer glanced worriedly at Lassiter. "You are?"

"Yes," Lassiter nodded. "I am."

"Sorry, Steven, that puppy is taken," the woman said again, still not looking up.

Steven gave Carlton a dirty look and Lassiter wanted to smack some common sense upside his head, but his mother pulled him away and towards another row of cages.

Lassiter unlatched the cage and pulled the basset hound out. The puppy went from in the cage and tense about the brat trying to touch her, to wriggling and barking happily in Lassiter's hands, licking at his face.

"Alright, let's go fill out the paperwork," Elaine grinned.

Twenty minutes later, Lassiter was holding a leash and watching the puppy run circles around him in the yard of the shelter. He was waiting for the thing to use the yard before they went home. The shelter had been more than happy to provide him with a small bag of food and the collar and leash. Elaine had told him it was a thank you for not laughing at them about the tree branch.

The gifts didn't mean that Lassiter wasn't going to stop and get a few extras - purely because he wouldn't have time to go later in the week, not because he thought the pink collar currently around the puppy's neck was stupid.

"Come on," Lassiter gave a small tug on the leash as the puppy finally peed. "We need to go home."

The puppy gave a bark and followed Lassiter, running ahead as far as the leash would allow and then doubling back to make sure he was still there.

It wasn't easy getting the puppy to stay in the passenger side while Lassiter drove. She wanted to climb all over Lassiter and see what he was doing. Finally he got her to hold still by petting her ears with one hand and driving with the other. Thankfully there was a pet store not too far from the shelter and for the first time in his life, Lassiter was happy to see that pets were allowed in the store as well.

A bell dinged above the door as Lassiter pulled it open and led the puppy inside.

"Hello, is there anything you need help with today?" The cashier was a friendly-looking man in his late forties. "Oh, ho," he bent down when he saw the puppy. "Somebody is a pretty little lady," he smiled as the puppy barked in agreement. "What's your name, sweetheart?" He glanced up at Lassiter.

"Umm," Lassiter froze, he hadn't even thought about a name. "I don't know; I just got her."

"Well, you'd better come up with one soon." The man stood up and Lassiter saw a name tag with the name Alan on it. "Now, have you got puppy chow?"

Lassiter nodded. "The shelter gave me some and the collar, but I don't like it."

Alan glanced down at the hot pink collar and gave a small laugh. "Don't worry, I'll get you fixed up."

Lassiter left the pet store carrying a bag filled with food and water dishes, chew toys, a small package of dog treats and a soft puppy-sized bed. The basset hound was wearing her new collar, a smart looking charcoal grey, with matching leash that was held firmly in Lassiter's hand.

The ride to the condo was less eventful than the ride to the pet store. The puppy seemed to be getting tired and she was content to just sit on the passenger seat without needing Lassiter's hand to hold her there.

After Lassiter parked the car, he took the puppy for one more trip around in the grass. When he was satisfied that she wouldn't pee all over the floor the second they were inside, he gave a small whistle and a gentle tug on the leash to get her to follow him.

Lassiter had the bag of food in one arm and the bag from the pet store held with the other. The puppy's leash was looped around his wrist. During the ride, he had made a mental list of what he would need to do in the morning. He'd have to let the new property manager know he had a dog. Then he would need to do background checks on any possible veterinarians since the shelter had told him the puppy would need shots in the next month or so and Lassiter was going to have the puppy fixed. No need for more puppies running around his condo.

The puppy's bark made him realize the doors to the elevator had opened. He managed to get everything inside his place and shut the door. Only then did he let the puppy off her leash and let her explore the condo.

He had expected the puppy to sniff around at the furniture and maybe go into the kitchen. He hadn't expected her to take off running around, sniffing everything and disappearing before Lassiter could blink.

"Puppy! Puppy, no!" Lassiter dashed after her as he saw a tail vanish into his bedroom. He would need to puppy-proof the condo and fast.

He found the puppy under the bed, staring at him with those big eyes from the very back corner. He made sure that there was nothing there for her to chew under the bed and then took a moment to change out of his suit.

His stomach rumbled and he realized that it was well past eight. The trip to the pet store had taken longer than he had planned. He managed to coax the puppy out from under the bed with the promise of food and poured some into the metal dish he'd just bought. Setting the water dish next to the food one, he could then focus on feeding himself.

He didn't want to bother cooking, so he threw together a sandwich and sat down at the table. The puppy didn't bother him until halfway through. Then he felt a nudge at his leg, followed by a whimper.

"No," he said firmly.

The nudge came again.

"No, puppy." He looked down. The puppy gave a happy bark and wagged her tail. Lassiter returned to eating his sandwich and was surprised when he didn't feel another nudge. He cautiously glanced down and groaned when he saw the puppy was out of sight again. Wolfing down the rest of the sandwich in two big bites, he went to find her.

Lassiter found the puppy enjoying the entire roll of toilet paper in the bathroom. She was just tall enough to grab the end and had discovered that when she tugged on it, it made more!

"No, bad dog!" Lassiter scolded the puppy, taking the chewed paper away. The puppy's ears went back and she cowered a little at the stern voice. Lassiter almost gave in, but he managed ignore the puppy as he threw away the soggy mess. Then he picked up the puppy and went to get her leash. She'd lapped up a lot of water with her food and no doubt she would need to go again.

"You still need a name," Lassiter muttered to the puppy as she licked at his chin, wagging her tail.

It was in the elevator on the way up from taking the puppy outside that Lassiter realized what a pain living on the fifth floor and having a dog was going to be. "You'd better appreciate this," he told the half-asleep puppy lying on his feet. The only response he got was a half-hearted tail wag.

The puppy woke up a little as Lassiter got back inside his condo and started getting ready for bed. She followed him around as he washed and put away his dishes from dinner and set up the coffee maker for the morning. He put her bed in the corner of his bedroom and put one of the stuffed toys inside it. She cautiously pawed at the bed and then settled in while Lassiter pulled out a suit, shirt and tie to wear the next day. He brushed his teeth and came back into the bedroom to find her completely asleep. He smiled a little and then shut the bedroom door; he didn't need her wandering around if she decided to get up in the middle of the night. Flipping out the lights, he settled in for a good night's sleep.

OoOOoOOoO

It wasn't the blaring of Lassiter's alarm that woke him the next morning. It was the cold and wet feeling of something trying to climb between his neck and his pillow. Startled, he sat bolt upright. The puppy barked in enjoyment and then tried to climb in his lap. Rubbing his hands over his face, Lassiter looked down at the basset hound then over at his clock. It was just after five-thirty. He had another half hour before his alarm went off.

"You still need a name," he mumbled and then started looking for shoes to slip on. He would have to take the puppy outside before even attempting to get ready for work.

OoOOoOOoO

Getting ready for work was thankfully uneventful. The puppy was more interested in eating food, chewing on her toy and exploring the corners of the bathroom then bothering with Lassiter while he went through his morning routine. Finally, coffee in hand, Lassiter was ready to go.

That was when he realized that he had no idea what he was going to do with the puppy. He couldn't leave her at home all day; her bladder would explode or she would go all over the condo. There probably wouldn't be time for him to run home over lunch, even if he wasn't working a case. He tried to think if there was anyone he could call to look after her, but no one came to mind that Lassiter would trust without a proper background check and a full blood test.

This thought process is what led Lassiter to decide that he should take the puppy to the station with him.

OoOOoOOoO

Lassiter and the puppy earned more than their fair share of smiles as he led her up the stairs to the station. A ziplock full of puppy chow and her empty dish in one hand and the stuffed toy in the other.

"I didn't know you were starting a K-9 unit, sir," McNab commented as he stooped to scratch at the puppy's ears. "What did you name her?"

"I'm still working on that," Lassiter muttered, pushing past the rookie and heading for his desk.

"Carlton?" Juliet's voice was extremely puzzled as she saw her partner securing the leash to his desk chair and trying to coax the puppy to play with her toy instead of gnawing on the legs of the desk. "Did you get a puppy?"

"Yes, O'Hara, I did." Lassiter gave up on the toy and turned to the reports on his desk.

"And you brought it to work?"

"I brought her to work," Lassiter nodded.

"What's her name?" Juliet asked, finally coming over to see the puppy who was more than happy to make a new friend. "Awww, she's so sweet."

"I haven't decided on a name," Lassiter admitted.

"What about Princess Buttercup?" Spencer's voice cut into the conversation. "Or maybe Kimber."

"Zip it, Spencer," Lassiter growled, causing the puppy to look at her owner and give a short gruff of her own.

"Clearly she's already been corrupted by Lassifrass." Shawn frowned at the puppy, who gave another bark.

"I think she's a sweetheart," Juliet defended the puppy.

"Detective Lassiter." Chief Vick had stopped by to see what the commotion was.

"Yes, Chief?" Lassiter looked up from where he had been scratching the puppy's ears to show O'Hara how the puppy preferred to be scratched.

"Is that a dog?" Vick narrowed her eyes at the puppy.

"Yes it is, Chief; I was actually just going to talk to you about her. I want to write her adoption fees off on my taxes as a business expense." Lassiter sat up and straightened his tie.

"Why would I let you do that?" The puppy lumbered over to Vick and began sniffing her shoes.

"Because I'm going to train her to sniff out drugs." Lassiter looked at his boss like it was the most obvious conclusion in the world.

"Maybe you should name her first, Lassie," Shawn suggested. "Then she can at least learn her own name."

"What about Belle?" Juliet grabbed the puppy's toy to distract the basset hound from the chief.

"Or Jill," Vick took the toy from O'Hara and made it squeak. The puppy barked happily and lunged at the toy.

"No," Lassiter stood up and picked up the puppy, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the suggestions. "No, her name is Lady." He realized that name had been in his head since the pet store. "She's a pretty little lady," he told everyone.

"Well," Karen adjusted her jacket. "Just make sure Lady stays home tomorrow." She gave the toy another squeak and then headed for her office smiling.

"Let me know if you ever need anyone to watch her." Juliet grinned at the puppy and then went back to her own desk.

"Yeah, and good luck with the drug sniffing." Shawn added, reaching out to pet Lady, who moved her head away from the hand. "And maybe teach her to like me." Shawn went to follow Juliet.

"Good dog, Lady," Lassiter murmured, putting her back on the floor with the toy and turning back to the reports. Maybe he'd just work a half day. He did have to find a dog-sitter for tomorrow after all.