A Dog's Life #7
A Criminal Minds fanfic
K Reid, Alvez, Garcia, Roxy the Dog, Sergio the Cat
©mccabebabe
Roxy's Master comes home.
Decked out in their full riot gear, six members of the Joint Special Task Force made their move, taking up positions at every window and door in the small desert house. The three Iraqis and three Americans operated quickly, hastily setting up their locations, preparing to back up the first wave. Nodding to each other when they were ready, their team leader quickly gestured to the four other team members. In unison, the men readied their weapons and looked to their commander, Luke Alvez.
"FBI! Don't move!" he yelled at the front door of the house. Alvez was seconded to the Fugitive Task Force because the FTF Unit Chief was down with a broken leg. There was no response to his call, and Luke quickly gave the two lead team members a signal. They hefted their battering ram and stormed the entrance to the house.
Once the door was rammed open, the next four men rushed in—two to the left into the house's lower level and two upstairs. The other six followed immediately, going room to room to secure the entire building.
"Clear!" was heard four times and punctuated by the sound of Alvez' voice, "I got something here!"
He'd heard thumping sounds under the bed in one bedroom and indicated he needed backup. Together, he and another officer pushed the bed aside to reveal a hidden hatch. Opening it, Luke called back over his shoulder, "I got a tunnel here."
Descending down the few steps with his firearm at the ready, he called out into the dark space, "FBI, don't move!"
The light from his gun-mounted Maglite was the only illumination as he reached bottom, followed closely by two of the other team members.
Their prey realised he was cornered. He made a half-hearted attempt to escape and was quickly overpowered by Samir, one of Luke's Iraqi team members. The suspect was screaming at them all and Samir shot a look at Luke who nodded almost imperceptibly. Samir punched their prisoner in the face and told him to shut up in Arabic. They shouted at each other in Arabic and finally Samir looked to Luke and spoke in English.
"They're down there," he indicated further along the tunnel. Their captive said something else in Arabic and received another backhand for his trouble.
"Asmat!" Samir lost his patience and told their suspect to shut up again.
Luke and one of the other team members scrabbled along the tunnel until they found the hostages. Three captives, peacekeepers kidnapped from the nearby base were bound and gagged and laying in the dirt on the floor of the crude tunnel.
Exhaling with relief, Luke found them to be in relatively good health and after freeing them of their bonds, he and his teammate led them back outside where medics quickly assessed and treated them.
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Several hours later, temporary FTF Unit Chief Luke Alvez was on a plane back to Arlington, Virginia.
"Yeah, mission completed, I'll be back at the BAU Tuesday, Emily," he spoke into his cellphone. He listened to her for a moment and replied, "Somewhere over Hawaii at the moment, I think." He laughed and then, "Reid and Garcia must be so sick of Roxy by now." Something Prentiss said made him laugh and then he answered her honestly, "Yeah, I miss her too. And Reid. And Garcia. It'll be nice to get back to profiling serial killers and eating actual meals at normal times."
After disconnecting the call, he tapped in his girlfriend Lisa's number and left a message on her voicemail. That completed, Luke closed his eyes to sleep, the first real rest in days.
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Roxy padded around the apartment, fulfilling her self-assigned sentry duties. Both Reid and Garcia were away at work; they'd left together in Garcia's car this morning.
Sergio was in Garcia's room, chasing a catnip mouse under the bed.
That's the most exercise you've gotten in days," Roxy barked at her feline friend.
I thrive on being idle, Sergio told her haughtily. Penelope gives me these treat mice to play with sometimes. He batted at the hapless toy until it broke apart and then Sergio lost interest and climbed up onto Garcia's bed.
Want company or is it alone time now? Roxy asked.
Come on up, you're nice and warm! Sergio told her.
Some time later, Roxy's ears perked up when she heard a noise outside. It was a car coming into the complex parking lot. But it wasn't just any car. It sounds like Master Luke's car! She jumped down off the bed, not disturbing the still sleeping cat and rushed out to the big picture window in the living room.
It was him!
Excited, Roxy ran to the front door and forgot about being quiet. She barked eagerly at the door as Alvez fumbled with his key to unlock it.
"Hey, Roxy, I'm home, right, girl?" He laughed as he finally got the door open only to be bowled over by eighty pounds of exuberant canine.
"Hey, girl, easy," he exclaimed and she jumped up and enveloped him in her version of a hug.
"So good to be home, so good to see you!" He laughed as he petted her.
He was tired from nine days of overseas covert work, eighteen hours of travelling and no real rest during his absence but the mere presence of his beloved dog gave him a second wind and he pulled her leash from its hook and asked,
"Go for a walk, Roxy?"
Her short yip affirmed this and they headed out the door to Roxy's favourite park.
"I hope you've been a good girl for Garcia and Reid this past week and a half, Rox. Hope you haven't been any trouble."
She was trotting alongside him and came to a full stop.
ME?" She barked indignantly. I have not been any trouble, Master Luke. Not at all! She resumed walking to the park. Our friend Reid though? Entirely different story! Ask him!
He laughed at his dog's apparent response. Half an hour later, they returned to the apartment and Luke fed Roxy her dinner.
She barked at him, "What about Sergio?" Master Luke didn't understand her of course. Oh well, that lazy cat can wait for his dinner until Penelope gets home.
"Rox, girl, I'm really tired, I'm gonna need a nap now, okay?" He made his way to the bedroom and collapsed on the bed. She followed and took up her position on the floor beside him.
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Roxy decided that Master Luke's nap had gone on long enough and she employed the same tactic she'd used on Reid to get him up. Alvez awoke as her rough tongue licked his face and he glanced over at his bedside clock radio and drew a sharp breath.
"Two hours! Wow, I musta really needed that nap." As he rolled out of bed, he heard the front door open. Roxy had already run out to investigate, and still bleary-eyed, Luke followed and found Spencer and Penelope at the door.
"Hey, Luke! You're back," Reid said by way of greeting, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Welcome home, newbie," Garcia laughed as Alvez' jaw dropped. "I'm kidding, Luke. I'll just collect Sergio and my stuff and I'll, we'll—" she looked to Reid for confirmation and when he nodded, she continued, "We'll be out of your hair."
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey wait. Wait. You guys don't have to go," he tried to stifle a yawn as he spoke. Garcia continued on to the room she'd been sleeping in.
Reid laughed. "Yeah, we do. We've impinged on Roxy's space long enough. Her favourite human is home. She could use some reacquainting time with you. And judging by your looks, you could use some sleep." He moved towards the bedroom, telling them, "I'm just gonna grab my stuff."
Penelope came back into the front hall, bearing her bag and the pet carrier in which fussed Sergio. Roxy padded along behind her, tail wagging.
"You're going home now aren't you?" She barked.
"I think so!" Sergio said happily.
"Didn't you enjoy your time here?" Roxy wondered.
"It was okay. You're not bad, for a dog," Sergio conceded, "But I miss my own kingdom."
Roxy wasn't sure how to answer that. She'd miss being fussed over by Penelope. But she understood Sergio's desire to be in his own domain. As they converged at the front door, Roxy put a paw up on the pet carrier and Garcia reacted.
"Awwww, look! Roxy's saying good bye!" She petted Roxy's head and told her, "Thank you so much for being such a good doggy!"
Roxy licked Garcia's hand.
"Thank you for taking care of her," Alvez offered. "We'll have to go out for dinner or something."
Garcia laughed. "Roxy is a doll to look after. But you should talk to your Super, Luke. Ask him about who's looking after whom."
His brow furrowed and he was about to ask her to explain further as Reid returned with his go bag. He squatted down to ruffle Roxy's fur and say goodbye, and Luke's eyebrows rose as he heard Reid speak to her.
"Thanks for everything, Roxy."
"Just remember to be more careful around the pond will ya? I'm not always gonna be around to save your ass," she barked at Reid. Of course he wouldn't understand me, Roxy figured. She tilted her head in surprise when Reid apparently did comprehend something about her warning.
"Don't worry, Roxy, I won't be jogging again any time soon," he whispered to her before rising back to his full height.
As Reid and Garcia stepped out the door, Alvez gave them a wave and then turned back into his apartment. Roxy followed him happily back to the bedroom.
"I'm sorry, Rox. I'm still really tired." He flopped back down on the bed and told her, "Saving lives is an exhausting business."
Tell me about it! Roxy barked as she settled on the floor beside Alvez' bed. You have no idea how much trouble your friend Reid is to look after.
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