When Athos first saw the puppy, all he could think was, Oh dear Lord, there's been a terrible mistake!

A black and tan fluff ball was being lead by a short lead towards him, the small paws bounding along the floorboards excitedly, and a pink tongue lolling with happiness. Athos made a mistake at creating eye contact with the bouncing youngster, as it immediately fixed eyes on him and strained at the lead, yipping excitedly.

With a small laugh, Dan, the officer in charge of the dog kennels at K9 Unit headquarters let the puppy loose and watched as it dashed straight at a wide eyed Athos.

With uncertain hands he bent down and scooped up the yipping puppy, his view of the room obscured by a furry, frankly adorable face complete with the biggest brown eyes he'd ever seen.

" It seems your new partner has taken a liking to you, Athos, can't imagine why" Dan joked, amused at the adorable sight of Athos's face being covered in frantic licks.

Athos scowled in his direction, only causing Dan to smile with more mirth.

" Does my partner have a name?" Athos ground out, being careful to make sure the doggy tongue didn't end up in his mouth accidentally.

" His name is D'artagnan," Dan filled in.

Athos raised an eyebrow in his direction, pulling the puppy away from his face so he could get a better look at him.

" What in the world did he do to deserve such a name?" Athos inquired, casting his eyes over the squirming ball of fur who was gazing at him just as curiously.

Dan chuckled aloud, his deep laugh reverberating through the room and causing many of the canine residents to raise their heads curiously.

" I think the Shepherd breeders were having a laugh, though it is quite a mouthful, isn't it," Dan assumed, gesturing to the strangely named pup.

D'artagnan barked happily at the attention, and snuggled his head in to the warm crook of Athos's neck, settling after his moment of excitement.

" Has he been through the mandatory training?" Athos inquired.

He would never allow the puppy on mission with his friends if he hadn't been fully trained.

" That puppy excelled in every part of training, he's being released to you at such a young age because he went through the training so well and so quickly. I think you'll find that he will settle in with your team perfectly," Dan praised, ruffling D'artagnan's ears affectionately.

Dan had seen many dogs go through training, Athos knew the young sergeant enjoyed getting to know each and every individual dog, and very time he sent one off in to the field it was a bitter sweet moment. He was an excellent judge of animal character, and if he thought D'artagnan was a worthy partner, then Athos was prepared to trust him.

" I understand that you were ordered by Treville to keep D'artagnan at the house, sounds like you'll have fun! However I do have one word of warning for you, he likes to tackle people, that might be a problem for you when he grows bigger," Dan confided, eyes brimming with amusement.

Athos thanked the man and left, the puppy now snuggled in to his jacket contentedly.

A crazy puppy that tackles people? What ever did I do to deserve this…

Aramis and Porthos had lost it when they first laid eyes on the adorable puppy currently curled up sleeping Athos's lap.

Athos had come home and quickly discovered that D'artagnan was a bundle of energy, in the end he'd flopped on the couch and let the dog tire himself out. After reading a few case files, D'artagnan, now sufficiently tired out, had joined him and promptly taken up a position on Athos's lap.

He had no clue why the dog felt so at home with him after being entrusted in his care for only a few hours, but apparently D'artagnan was besotted with his new master.

Looking at him closely now, Athos realized that D'artagnan was quite a good looking dog, with silky, downy fur, comically big ears that were much too large for a face so small, a largely black body with tan underbelly and chest fur, and a very strange white spot on his chest that fitted his oddball nature.

The dog was content to lie still and quiet on his lap, and after a while his warm breaths had evened out in to sleep. As much as he hated to admit it, the puppy was actually quite adorable.

His peaceful moment was shattered by raucous laughter from the entrance to the living room. He knew exactly who the laughter belonged to.

" Well isn't that just a sight to see," A deep voice chuckled, causing Athos to look up and scowl in the direction of his two friends subsequent housemates.

" Who knew Athos was a dog person?" A jovial voice added to the first, setting off that deep laughter a second time.

" I wouldn't laugh so loudly if I were you, this dog is your new partner and housemate! If you wake him up you have to deal with him," Athos grumbled, clearly unhappy at being caught at such an affectionate moment.

Porthos and Aramis snickered quietly and made their way over, expressions softening at the sight of the sleeping puppy.

" Awww, cute little whelp isn't he, Aramis, what's his name?" Porthos cooed.

Athos rolled his eyes at his big hearted friend.

" His name is D'artagnan," Athos informed crisply.

With a sudden burst of energy, D'artagnan was on his feet, as if his name had triggered a sudden alertness. The puppy took one look at the two strange men in the room and began to growl threateningly, hackles raising and pearly teeth bared, his rumbling growl much too deep for such a small thing.

" Awww, he's cute when he's angry! It's okay little fella, we're your partners!" Aramis soothed happily, reaching out a hand to pat the small puppy.

It was a testament to his training that Aramis was able to pull away so quickly, when a lightning fast bite was sent towards his outstretched hand. With a yelp the young man evaded the bit and cast surprised eyes at the still growling puppy.

Athos, not one to see his friends in danger and allow for bad habits to be made, sent a gentle but stinging tap to his dog's sensitive muzzle, causing d'artagnan to shy away and scamper behind the couch with a small whimper of pain.

Porthos glared at Athos accusingly.

" You hurt the poor thing!" Porthos growled, causing Athos to stare at him with an offended expression.

" The dog has to learn not to bite his comrades!" Athos growled back firmly.

Aramis raised an eyebrow at him, having deposited his hat on the coffee table.

" He doesn't know we're his comrades yet, he was protecting you by biting the strangers!" Aramis pointed out snidely.

Athos blinked in surprise, guilt adorning his face suddenly. With a small grimace he moved off the couch and crouched to the ground, peering around the corner of his seat to see D'artagnan huddled behind the seat with wide, confused brown eyes, little body hunched in on itself and shaking like a leaf.

At once Athos found himself feeling like a terrible person, ugh, how could this tiny puppy make me feel so awful!

Reaching out a hand he gently scooped the shivering puppy in to his arms, apologetic eyes gazing down at the furball.

" I'm sorry for hurting you D'artagnan, I see now that you were only doing your job, you're a good boy," Athos murmured gently, using his free hand to stroke the quivering puppy's soft head.

D'artagnan let out a small bark and curled in to Athos's embrace, casting big brown eyes at the two strangers still in the room, unsure why his master wasn't doing anything about them.

Keeping up his soothing patting motion, Athos walked up to Porthos and Aramis and let D'artagnan sniff around the two men warily, only feeling the puppy settle when he had not smelt anything dangerous on them.

" See, we're friends little one! I'm Porthos, this is Aramis, and we promise we won't be hurting Athos," Porthos introduced, hesitantly reaching out pat the small puppy.

Realising that his master was happy in the company of the strangers, D'artagnan let the two of them pat him slowly, and even licked Aramis's hand apologetically.

" I can see that you'll fit in perfectly," Aramis chirped with a grin on his face, ruffling the pup's hair and causing an almost annoyed look to cross D'artagnan's face.

Porthos smirked at the sight, it was clear that with D'artagnan staying round for the foreseeable future, things were going to get interesting.