My Hero
Author's note: Technically, this is my first "Foofur" fic (I've been kind of working on another one on the side). I loved this show as a child, and was really excited to discover that the first season was available for viewing on YouTube. Anyways, I randomly started thinking about the episode "Fritz Carlos Bombs Out", and this idea would not go away. This is a missing scene, and its set after Fritz Carlos is rescued by Kirk (Hazel's ex-boyfriend) and before Kirk gets a new job with the local fire department. I didn't use a beta for this, although I did reread it repeatedly. I'm not quite sure how it turned out, so read and review.
Sighing despondently, Fritz Carlos lay stretched on his stomach out on the back porch of the impressively large home that he shared with five other dogs and a cat. The sun was setting, resulting in a very picturesque scene as the sun painted the clouds in the deep blue sky around it gold and a rich shade of pink.
But Fritz Carlos was oblivious to it all. The yellow and white miniature schnauzer was the very picture of shame and misery. His cropped ears drooped, and even his long white mustache, which he was normally extremely proud of, sagged like a plant in dire need of watering.
Fritz Carlos felt like dirt – no, lower than dirt. He had gotten so worried about Kirk that he had taken his negative feelings out on the other dog – like spilling Kirk's secret to Hazel and the others about his being taken off the police department's bomb sniffing squad for developing an aversion to loud sounds. Kirk had forgiven him for that incident as well as for scaring him by catapulting a trash can into the backyard and causing him to panic at the racket it created and "freak out", as Fencer the cat might say.
Kirk even went onto save his life when one of the houses down the street caught fire. Still wanting to desperately prove to everyone that he was still the same brave dog who had spent time in live battle zone with real soldiers, Fritz Carlos had stormed off to save a puppy (a friend of Rocki's) who had been trapped inside the burning home. The place had started coming down around them, trapping Fritz Carlos and the terrified puppy that he was trying to carry out, but thankfully Kirk had appeared like some furry guardian angel and carried them both to safety. The Belgian malinois-mix didn't have to help Fritz Carlos, but as Kirk had told him, "Helping people is my job. What kind of a police dog would I be if I didn't help someone who was in trouble?"
Kirk was indeed a true hero, and Fritz Carlos was… well, he was a wretch. Basically, he had made a fool of himself in front of his friends, not to mention in front of his beautiful Hazel, over nothing. He remembered how angry everyone had gotten at him when he had tried to call out Kirk about his bomb phobia and scared him with his nasty trick. After the situation was resolved, Hazel, Foofur, Louis, Annabelle, and Fencer had forgiven him, but he still felt ashamed of himself and thusly had confined himself to the porch for the rest of the day.
"Fritzie?"
The little dog continued to stare at nothing as his wife padded up to him. "Yes, Hazel darling?" He asked without any trace of his usual enthusiasm.
"Fritz, are you alright?" The full-figured cocker spaniel-mix gently tasked, deep blue eyes filled with concern as she looked down at him.
"No, I am not," He sighed deeply again. "I… I am a terrible dog."
Hazel lowered herself so that she could be closer to her shorter husband. "Fritz Carlos, look at me." When he finally turned his face towards her, she said, "You're not a terrible dog."
"But I humiliated Kirk. Not once, but twice! He trusted me with his secret, and then I turned around and tried to make him look bad! Would a good dog have done that?" What struck Fritz Carlos as being so terrible was that he himself knew full-well what it was like to be humiliated. He had been teased by others before – usually for being a toy dog or for being French. And then he had turned around and did it to someone else.
"Yes, you did act poorly. But you also understand that what you did was wrong and apologized to Kirk. A really terrible dog would have never said he was sorry, or felt guilt. Kirk doesn't have any hard feelings towards you."
'Of course he doesn't.' Fritz Carlos thought. The guy was practically a saint. It wasn't like he deserved Kirk's forgiveness though.
When Fritz Carlos was silent, absorbed in his own thoughts, Hazel gently rested a white-tipped paw on his upper back. "Silly Fritzie," she said, voice gently teasing. "You're my husband. Remember when we pledged to be together forever? I would never leave you for another."
Her efforts at comforting him finally received a weak smile from Fritz Carlos. "I know you are far too wonderful to do something so... ignoble. I guess I was worried because… well, let us be brutally honest here. I am hardly as impressive as Kirk is. I am small and have these scrawny little legs," Raising a white-toed forepaw into the air for emphasis, he then gave a helpless shrug. "I am not the magnificent hero that he is either. I didn't even do any fighting in the war or anything amazing like that. I was just the unit mascot."
"Fritz Carlos, I will not have you beating yourself up like this!" Hazel firmly said, rising to her feet, a stern expression on her face. "Do you really think I'm that shallow? You are impressive in your own special way."
A sheepish Fritz Carlos started at that. "You… you really think so?"
"I know so. Even though you may not have actually fought on the battlefield, if you hadn't found that injured soldier like you did, then who knows might've happened to that poor man? He never would've been rescued, and he might've even died out there. You saved his life, and that makes you as much a hero as Kirk is. What you did for that man is why I fell in love with you - your compassion for others. And if I must say… you're a little more handsome then Kirk is."
This time, a genuine smile spread across the schnauzer's mustachioed muzzle, and a little life returned to his dark brown eyes as he gazed adoringly at Hazel. He had failed to consider the fact that heroes weren't just tall, ruggedly handsome types who pulled off daring rescues or went into combat against the bad guys. A hero was anyone who saved a life without any regard for their own well-being, and they came in all shapes and sizes. "Thank you, my darling. Your words truly mean a lot to me. You know… I don't know what I would do without you in my life. Every moment that I can spend with you is worth more to me than anything else in the world."
Hazel gave him a warm smile of her own. "I love you too."
Affectionately nuzzling one another, the couple settled down together to enjoy the rest of the sunset and one another's company.
The End