Alex aimlessly walked through the streets of London in an effort to escape his mind. He just got back from an unforgettable mission and it was undoubtedly taking it's toll on him. He was quieter that usual and Jack was getting worried. And so worrisome that it was making Alex uncomfortable, so he decided to take a walk.

As he reached an empty alley he kicked an old Coke can that was in front of his feet, it rolled up into a cardboard box and stopped, then amazingly it rolled back out as if by itself. Curiously Alex approached the box and a black wet nose peaked out. As Alex looked closer he saw that a very dirty and ratty yellow Labrador was scrunched up, shivering a bit from the cold. He looked famished. But his big brown eyes held hope and trust as he looked deep into Alex's hopeless and trust-less ones.

"You stink," Alex commented as he warily reached out to pet the dog, knowing that a stray could sometimes be violent. But the dog just licked his hand as it became in reach.

The teen then pulled out the rest of his cereal bar he had been munching on earlier and held it out for the dog. The dog immediately wolfed the whole thing down, barely chewing it.

"There you go," Alex said as he stood up to leave.

He went to leave but he was stopped by a small whimper and a scraping noise. Looking back he could see that the the Lab was looking after him hopefully as he wagged his tail.

"What?" He asked.

Then suddenly he felt that he couldn't move, this dog's eyes suddenly had a hold on him. The poor dog needed him, and once again he knew he couldn't help but help.

"Well, come on then," He replied, patting the side of his leg. The dog immediately stood up and immediately walked to the spy's side and they set off for the Rider household.

They soon reached Alex's house and headed straight for the bathroom.

"You have to get a bath first or Jack will kill me," Alex said to the dog. Jack was going out to lunch with a couple of friends, and had urged Alex to tag along but he refused.

He ran some warm water and much to the teen's surprise the dog hopped straight into the big bathtub.

"Ookay," Alex said, as he bent down and began to scrub the dog with shampoo, "this is human shampoo. It should be safe to use on you once. Just until I can get you some dog shampoo."

The yellow lab looked up and licked Alex full on the face. Alex smiled slightly as he scrunched up his face, "And some breathe mints." he commented.

After nearly an hour of scraping and scrubbing the Lab was finally nice and clean. And once he was dried off Alex began to show the dog around the house. They stopped in the kitchen and Alex prepared some leftovers for the dog. He greedily wolfed it down and drank a whole bunch of water. Then Alex let him out in the fenced in backyard. Alex started to bounce a tennis ball around as the dog sniffed out his surroundings. Then when Alex least expected it a whoosh of yellow came out of nowhere and snatched the ball away from Alex. The dog leaned his front body down, butt in the air, wagging his long tail as he looked at Alex with a glint in his eyes.

Alex laughed quietly, "Alright, if that's the way you want it."

And he began to chase the dog, soon Alex was laughing openly as he tried to catch the hyper dog. Alex was having such a good time that he was not aware of the red haired woman who had appeared on the patio, watching Alex in awe.

Jack thought that Alex would never get out of the rut he had fallen into. And now here he was running around and playing with a dog, laughing. Something Jack was beginning to think she'd never hear again.

"Hey, Alex! You want to give me a hand with these groceries I stopped to pick up? Then maybe you could introduce me to the new member of our weird little family," Jack suggested.

Alex spun around and looked at Jack.

"Oh, Jack...I uh...I'm sorry I didn't talk with you about it first..." Alex said, hoping Jack wasn't going to freak out and make him get rid of....he really did need to think of a name for the dog.

"Oh please, Alex. You know me better than that. If it takes a dog to make you happy I'm all for it. And besides I love dogs! I used to have two Great Danes when I was growing up,"Jack said petting the dog as it bounded over to her.

"So he can stay?" He asked.

"Yes, as long as you train him, housebreak him, and what not," Jack replied, opening the door for the trio to go into, "And he'll need shots. And I guess this means another trip to the store. He'll need a leash, collar, food, toys." She said naming off a few things.

"You got it," Alex said as he began to put away the groceries.

"You thought of a name yet?" Jack said as she began to do the same.

"No. Any ideas? I've never been good with these sorts of things," Alex admitted.

"Well, look at him. What does he look like to you," Jack said thoughtfully.

Alex looked at the dog, "I don't know. How about Riley? I like that name."

Jack smiled lovingly at the dog, "That's a great name, Alex. What do you say? Do you like the name Riley, boy?"

The dog looked at Jack and barked excitedly.

Alex smiled, "Riley, it is then."

Jack sat with Riley while Alex went to the store and bought all the dog necessities that they would be needing.

Riley was really upset when Alex left, but as soon as Alex came back his tail was wagging frantically and begged for Alex's attention. Alex immediately went dropped down down to the floor and began to rub the dog's belly as he fell over.

And soon the dog was well fed, and fitted with a brand new royal blue collar, with a leash to match. Both dog and boy became tired from their eventful day. Alex showered and changed into his pajamas, and gave a quick goodnight to Jack before him and Riley headed to bed.

Jack peered into Alex's room before she headed to bed herself and smiled at the sight she saw; Riley was curled up on Alex's side, they both were snuggled up to each other. Alex had an arm draped over the dog, while Riley rested his head on the boy's shoulder.

"Goodnight boys," She whispered and then turned to go to bed herself.

A/N- As a complete dog lover I couldn't help myself. I think Alex getting a dog would brighten his mood considerably.

And yes Riley is the name of my dog, and he

This was supposed to only be a one-shot but I might be persuaded to continue it as a series of one-shot's of funny little moments of Alex and his new dog, if that's what people would like to see.

But I need people to tell me whether they liked it and to go on with it to do that:)