(A/N): Hey everyone! I was asked to do a one-shot for today's "Semi Official BTR One-Shot Day" and I had this written down as a story idea anyway, so here it is! Hope you enjoy it! Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush or 101 Dalmatians which is mentioned in this story.
Sparky? Is That You?
The door slammed shut as Carlos walked into the Garcia household. His face showed extreme sadness that seemed odd on the normally spunky boy. The reason? His dog, Sparky, had just been put down after getting severely sick. As he stood looking over the living room, a tear ran down his face, realizing there was no happy dog to race up and greet him. The white dog hairs that littered the furniture just continued to remind him of his loss.
"Mom, I'm going for a walk!" Carlos called out through the house, refusing to be in the pet-free zone any longer.
Mrs. Garcia poked her head around the corner, "Okay, sweetheart. Go see your friends. They can help with this type of loss." Carlos nodded and left the house.
Instead of going in the direction of his friends' houses, Carlos chose the opposite route and just walked. His mind wandered to that eventful vet visit earlier that day. Sparky had been admitted the night before since the dog hadn't been eating for three days. Walking into the exam room, Carlos expected to see his dog sitting in the room, waiting for him and ready to lick his master's face in greeting. Boy, was he wrong. Instead, the family Dalmatian was laying on the exam table, parts of his hair shaved off. IVs stuck in the dog's appendages, keeping Sparky alive as best as they could. One of the IVs was obviously a blood transfusion. The exposed skin that should normally have been pink was a sickly yellow color. Carlos couldn't look away from the dog that didn't even bother to lift its head in a greeting. The vet had mumbled something about the disease to his parents, but Carlos wasn't listening, paying too much attention to the dog. He was only able to pick up one word from the vet: Goodbye. As Carlos gave his dog a tearful hug, Sparky pulled together just enough strength to be able to give his owner a lick goodbye.
Stopping, Carlos looked up and found that he had walked the route to the dog park he would always take Sparky to. Leaning up against the fence, Carlos watched the people and their dogs having fun. A Border Collie jumped on his owner's back and then jumped off to catch a Frisbee thrown into the air. Two dogs wrestled as their owners tried to pull them apart. A mixed breed watched a toddler playing in the sand. Seconds later, the dog leaned over and licked the child's face, making the baby giggle.
That was too much for Carlos. He walked away, not caring what way his feet were taking him.
A rummaging sound caught his attention, making him search for the source. Near an alley, a dog had knocked over a trash can, sticking most of himself inside of it. Carlos tilted his head as he watched the dog. As though the dog could sense Carlos's presence, he pulled himself out, facing the helmet-head. The Dalmatian looked almost exactly like Sparky did, only a few spots different. A ham sub was clenched between the dog's jaws.
Smile growing on his face, Carlos called out, "Sparky?!" The dog tilted his head, ears perking up. "Sparky!"
Suddenly, the dog broke out into a sprint in the opposite direction of Carlos. Determined, Carlos ran after the dog. Although the dog was fast, Carlos was able to catch up to him, trapping the dog in a corner. The dog gulped down the sub so that he could bark at Carlos. Hesitating, Carlos stared at the dog, wondering how he would convince the dog to come with him. He reached into his pocket, finding a cracker there. With a smile, Carlos pulled the cracker out of his pocket and held it out for the dog. Immediately stopping his barking, the dog stared at the cracker with a longing. Slowly, he inched towards Carlos. The helmet-head didn't move as the dog got within touching distance. The dog stretched his neck to eat the cracker right out of Carlos's hand.
Carlos smiled down at the dog, "Hi there." The dog barked at him and ran off, disappearing before Carlos had a chance to run after him. Carlos sighed sadly and walked off.
The doorbell rang at the Garcia household and Mrs. Garcia left the kitchen to see who was at the front door. She opened it to find Kendall, James and Logan on the porch.
"Hey Mrs. Garcia," James greeted her. "Is Carlos here?"
Mrs. Garcia frowned, "I thought he was with you."
"We haven't seen him since school," Logan mentioned. "And he didn't seem normal." He paused for a second before adding, "Well, normal for Carlos. Is everything okay?"
"Wait a second," Kendall spoke before Mrs. Garcia could answer. "Where's Sparky? He always greets us at the door." Mrs. Garcia shook her head and the boys immediately knew why Carlos wasn't himself that day.
"No wonder Carlos didn't eat his corndogs today," James realized.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Garcia," Kendall assured her. "We'll find him." The guys ran off the porch, intending on searching everywhere for their missing friend.
The three boys found Carlos sitting on a park bench in the local dog park. They gave out a sigh of relief and headed towards him.
Before they could get to him though, the Dalmatian that Carlos had fed earlier ran up to the sad boy. James, Logan and Kendall stopped, watching as Carlos looked down at the dog in confusion. The dog nudged Carlos's hand enough to move it. Then, he stuck his nose right on Carlos's pocket which held more crackers, looking up at Carlos with begging eyes.
"Heh, you are one smart dog," Carlos noted, pulling the crackers out of his pocket and handing them to the dog. Instead of gobbling them down, the dog held them in his mouth. He stayed put for a second, wagging his tail as if to say 'thank you'. Then, right as Carlos started to reach out to pet the dog on the head, the dog ran off, leaving the dog park behind. Carlos stared at the direction the dog had left.
It was at this point that the guys decided it would be best to confront Carlos. The helmet-head looked on as his friends made their way over to him.
"Carlos, your mom's been worried about you," Kendall told him.
"And you really shouldn't feed stray dogs," Logan scolded. "You never know when the dog might decide to attack you instead." Carlos didn't respond, choosing to stare at his twiddling fingers instead.
"Come on," James patted Carlos's shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Let's go over to Kendall's and play some Medieval Warcraft all night. By morning, you'll be too tired to know why you're sad."
Carlos sighed, getting to his feet, "Okay." Slowly, he dragged his feet towards the exit of the park. The three boys looked at each other, concern building up for their friend.
A few days passed before Carlos came in contact with the stray Dalmatian again. He and his friends had snuck out of the school to walk over to a nearby fast food place for lunch only to find the dog staring at them from the parking lot of the school. At the sight of the dog, the four boys froze.
"Carlos," Logan turned to the helmet-head. "Why is that stray dog still following you?"
"No idea," Carlos shrugged. "I haven't seen him since you told me not to feed him."
"Maybe by the time we get back from eating he'll be gone," Kendall led his friends in the direction of the restaurant.
As they walked away from the school, the dog continued to watch them, eventually getting up to follow the group. The boys increased their walking pace. The dog did too. Reaching the restaurant, the boys shut the door after them, staring out the glass doors at the dog. Outside, the dog sat there, waiting for the group to come out and watching the boys stare at him.
"Okay, this is getting creepy," James admitted.
"That is one determined dog," Kendall added.
"Maybe he's on a mission like the dogs in 101 Dalmatians!" Carlos exclaimed.
"That was fiction," Logan reminded him. "Dogs don't behave that way, especially with someone they just met."
"I've heard stories of pets that guard the graves of their masters," Kendall pointed out. "Maybe the dog thinks of Carlos as his master or something."
"I'm gonna buy him a burger," Carlos decided, heading for the ordering spot.
"You shouldn't feed him," Logan insisted.
"Like people shouldn't feed birds, but they do it anyways?" Carlos mentioned. "I'm getting that dog a burger and there's nothing you can do to stop me." His friends looked at each other as Carlos ordered the food.
The boys left the fast food place and Carlos separated from his friends to go over to the dog. The Dalmatian watched Carlos approach him with his head tilted. Reaching the dog, Carlos held out a burger for him. The dog wagged his tail once before taking the burger with his mouth. He ran off without gobbling the burger down. Carlos watched the dog run, scratching his head in confusion.
"That's weird," Kendall mentioned, walking up to Carlos. "Normally, dogs eat their food in one sitting."
"Maybe that dog just has a special place to eat his food," James shook it off.
"If we don't leave now, we'll be late for class!" Logan reminded them. He, James and Kendall headed back towards the school. Carlos stared for a second at the spot the dog had disappeared before following his friends.
Carlos sat on the porch of his house, waiting for his friends for a ride to one of their hockey practices. His bag of gear had been placed next to him. While he waited, his mind ran through the actions of the Dalmatian that kept bugging him. The dog really did remind him of Sparky. Thinking of his lost dog made his eyes start to tear up. He glanced down at his twiddling fingers, trying to keep the tears from falling.
Suddenly, Carlos felt something wet touch his hand. He looked up to see the stray Dalmatian pressing his nose against Carlos's hand. The dog looked up at Carlos with begging eyes.
"I'm sorry," Carlos told the dog. "I don't have any food on me." As though the dog wasn't listening, he chose to nudge Carlos with his muzzle. "I'm telling the truth! You can sniff me all you want, but you won't find anything there." The dog pulled away to stare up at Carlos, whimpering. With a sigh, Carlos got to his feet. "Okay, I'll go see if I can find some of Sparky's old treats or something."
Before Carlos could even head into the house, the dog grabbed Carlos's pant leg with his teeth and yanked. Carlos stared down at the dog in confusion, "What are you trying to tell me?" Letting go of Carlos's pants, the dog jumped off the porch, turned around and barked at Carlos. The Latino scratched his head, still wondering what the dog was trying to say. Moaning in annoyance, the dog jumped back up onto the porch, pressed his head up against Carlos's leg and pushed, trying to get the boy to move. It was at this point that Carlos realized what the dog wanted. "You want me to follow you?" The dog pulled away, barked and jumped back off the porch, running down the sidewalk. With a quick glance down the street and noticing that his friends were nowhere in sight, Carlos decided to see what the dog wanted. Leaving his bag of hockey gear on the porch, Carlos jumped off the porch and ran after the dog.
Carlos was led down a dark alley by the dog. Stray cats that were rustling around in trash cans looked up as Carlos ran after the Dalmatian. At the end of the alley, the dog crawled into a window missing the glass. He stuck his head out to bark at Carlos and then pointed at the door next to the window. Without a second thought as to what could be on the other side, Carlos yanked the door open and ran inside. The Dalmatian pulled his head in from the open window, took a quick glance at Carlos and then ran down a hallway. Carlos followed the dog, no questions.
As they ran through the hallway, a sound reached Carlos's ears. It took a few seconds before he realized it was heavy breathing with some groans of pain added in. The thing about the sounds that confused Carlos the most was that they were obviously human.
Following the dog into a room, Carlos found the source of the noise. A young girl about his age sat on the ground, leaning against the wall opposite the door. Blood ran down the girl's arm as she pressed her hand up against the long cut. Dried blood caked her ratty clothes and tangled blonde hair. She looked up at the sound of Carlos and the Dalmatian entering the room, hazel eyes filled with tears of pain. Seeing Carlos, she quickly let go of her bleeding arm to grab the knife that sat next to her, holding it up in defense.
"Stay back," the girl's voice was hoarse. "I'm warning you."
"Uh, is this your dog?" Carlos pointed at the Dalmatian that ran over to the girl. Not letting Carlos out of her sight, the girl nodded. "Then he brought me here."
Furrowing her eyebrows, the girl lowered her knife slightly and turned to the dog, "Sparky?" Carlos's eyes widened upon hearing the dog's name. With a whine, the dog placed his head on the girl's leg protectively.
"Listen, I can sit right here if it'll make you feel better," Carlos got the girl's attention again. "But you need someone to look at that cut. I have a friend that wants to be a doctor. If you let me, I can call him over here to look at that."
After staring at Carlos for a minute, the girl nodded, "Okay, but you're staying right there until he gets here." Carlos pulled his phone out and dialed Logan's number.
Kendall, James and Logan stared down at Carlos's duffel bag of hockey gear that sat on the porch. They had knocked on the door several times to find that no one was home.
"I have a bad feeling that this has to do with that stray dog," Kendall mentioned.
Logan opened his mouth to say something when his phone went off. He pulled it out to see who was calling, "It's Carlos." Answering the phone, Logan brought it up to his ear, "Carlos! Where are you?! We're already late for practice!" As he listened to Carlos's response, his facial expression softened from being angry to one of concern. "Okay, have her put pressure on it and I'll be right there." He hung up the phone to address the others. "That stray dog led Carlos to an injured girl." Kendall's and James's eyes widened. "I have to go see to her." The others nodded in agreement. The three boys dropped their own duffel bags of hockey gear before running off to find Carlos and the injured girl.
Carlos stared at the girl who stared back at him. Neither of them broke eye contact. Although the girl was in pain, she held her head high and ignored it. After Carlos had searched the building, he had come up with a cloth that the girl was able to use to put pressure on the wound on her arm. Sparky was lying beside the girl, staring at Carlos as well. The girl's hand went back and forth as she subconsciously pet her Dalmatian.
Finally, Carlos broke the silence, "Where did you find him?"
Knowing that Carlos meant the dog, the girl glanced down at Sparky with a smile, "My uncle was a firefighter and Sparky was his dog. But when he went overseas to fight in the war in Iraq, Sparky needed a home. None of the other firefighters could take him in and my family had just lost our dog so Sparky seemed like the perfect fit." She bit her lip slightly, smile disappearing, before continuing. "My uncle never came back."
"I'm sorry," Carlos told her.
The girl shook her head, "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. It's the governments that started this war that should be apologizing."
Silence filled the space between them again. Deciding that keeping her talking was the best thing for her, Carlos spoke again, "I used to have a dog named Sparky. My dad, who's a police officer, got him from a firefighter friend that had a Dalmatian that had puppies."
Chuckling, the girl smiled again, "Must be the reason that my Sparky trusted you." She went quiet again as she stared at the boy sitting across from her. Carlos searched his mind for another topic, but the girl interrupted his thoughts, "My name's Tess." She frowned. "Well, actually it's Beatrice, but I hate that name. So, everyone calls me Tess."
"Carlos," the boy introduced himself. "Sometimes my friends call me Carlitos." Tess giggled at this. "What are you doing here anyways?"
Tess's smile disappeared, "Um, that's kind of a complicated story."
Carlos opened his mouth to say he didn't mind listening to it, but he never got the chance to say the words. The sound of footsteps echoed in the hallways outside the room. Tess quickly grabbed her knife. Listening closely, Carlos overheard his friends' voices calling for him.
"Wait, I think those are my friends," Carlos told Tess. "I'll go get them. You wait here." Tess nodded, putting the knife to the side. She watched as Carlos got up and left the room to go find his friends.
"There you go," Logan finished bandaging up Tess's arm. "Although it's kind of rough. You should really see a doctor, Tess."
James turned the girl's head to face him sitting next to her, "If you let me, I can kiss away that pain." He waggled his eyebrows.
"Uh," Tess's eyes darted back and forth.
"Ignore him," Kendall advised. "He flirts with all the girls." Tess pried James's fingers from her face so that she could look at Kendall. "How did you even get that cut?"
"I accidently cut myself," Tess insisted.
"Unless you call it an accident because you regret it, there's no way that you could accidently cut yourself like that," Logan reasoned.
Tess sighed, "Okay, but it's a complicated story so don't interrupt." The four boys nodded. Tess focused on the ground as she spoke. "The event that gave me this cut and caused me to end up here started when I was twelve. As I was walking home from school one day, I was kidnapped." The boys gasped at the girl's revelation. Tess paused for a second, tilting her head at their response. A second later she went on, "For four years, the man dragged me along on the run. Mostly we traveled at night in a black van. Every time I tried to escape, he somehow captured me again. Last week, Sparky showed up out of nowhere and attacked the man. In his confusion, I was able to get away with Sparky. Not knowing where I was, I followed Sparky, hoping he would lead me home. He led me here instead. Somehow, Sparky kept coming up with food that he would bring here for me, him and –" She cut herself off, taking a quick glance over at a closed door. The boys didn't notice since Kendall, James and Logan looked at Carlos. The Latino gave his friends a gloating smile, happy he was right about feeding Sparky. They paid attention again when the girl continued, "This morning, while Sparky was out, probably looking for food, the man showed up. He had a knife which, when I fought back, cut me in the arm. Sparky showed up just as he started to drag me away. The man saw Sparky growling at him, got scared, dropped his knife, left me alone and ran off screaming. Sparky sniffed my arm and nudged it. When I winced in pain, Sparky licked my face and left. It took an hour before he showed up again with Carlos." She went quiet, checking for the boys' reactions.
"We should find your family," Kendall decided. "I bet they're worried about you."
"I can't leave," Tess shook her head.
"Why not?" James asked.
Suddenly, the sound of a high pitched whimper echoed through the room. The boys furrowed their eyebrows at the sound. Sparky perked his head up and barked. That seemed to be the breaking point for whatever had been trying to keep quiet. Another bark resonated through the room, higher than Sparky's bark. Three more voices rang through the boys' ears. The voices whimpered and yapped at a pitch much higher than the barks. Tess winced at the sound.
"Uh, what is that?" Logan asked. Tess kept her mouth shut.
"It's coming from behind that door!" Carlos pointed at the closed door that Tess had looked at earlier. His friends, Tess and Sparky all watched as Carlos headed for the door. He opened it to find it was a closet. The noises got louder. Checking the floor of the closet, Carlos found the source of the sound.
Another Dalmatian was lying down on the ground. The girl dog panted happily as she looked up at Carlos. Three puppies stumbled out of the closet, deciding to climb all over Carlos's feet. A smile grew on Carlos's face.
"PUPPIES!" Carlos exclaimed.
"And that's what Sparky led me to," Tess admitted to the others. "He's a dad and he wouldn't leave them except to find food. And there's no way I'd ever leave Sparky behind." She watched Carlos pick up one of the puppies. The puppy tilted his head and then licked Carlos's nose. "Plus, I could never leave these puppies without a home."
"What if I told you that we could get homes for the puppies and their mom?" Kendall asked. "And then help you find your family?"
"I'd say you're a lifesaver," Tess responded. "But how can you do that?"
Carlos came over and the four boys gave each other knowing looks before Kendall replied, "We know four people who, when they work together, can do anything." Tess raised her eyebrows at the cryptic words.
It didn't take long for Tess to find out exactly who Kendall was talking about. Five minutes after he had made a phone call, four women dressed in all black from the long jackets to the boots to the sunglasses on their eyes. Tess's eyes widened, intimidated by the women standing before her.
"Meet our moms," Carlos introduced them.
"Uh, hello," Tess waved to them. The women took off their sunglasses and smiled at the girl.
Mrs. Diamond stepped forward first, "I'm here to give you a makeover so that when your parents see you again, you won't look or smell like you rolled around in a dumpster." Tess looked down at her ripped and dirty outfit, twirling her tangled hair around a finger.
"And I am going to go through the missing children report online, searching for anyone that matches your name and description," Mrs. Garcia spoke next. "Once I get a hit, I'll contact your parents and let them know that you've been found." A smile appeared on Tess's face.
"As for the dogs," Mrs. Mitchell continued. "I'll ask some of my real estate clients if anyone would like a pet for their new home." Starting to tear up, Tess stroked Sparky's back, grateful that she didn't have to worry about them anymore.
"And until your parents arrive," Mrs. Knight finished. "You and the dogs are welcome to stay in our house so that you're in a safe place."
Tess let her tears fall freely, "Thank you. This-This means so much." She stepped forward to give the women a hug, but they backed away, holding up their hands.
"Why don't you get clean before you give us a thank you hug," Mrs. Diamond insisted.
Chuckling, Tess lowered her arms, "Deal."
A week later, Tess's parents had been found. A tearful reunion resulted in the Knights' living room as the families of all four boys looked on.
Once they were ready, Tess, Sparky and her family stood in front of the house, about to leave for their home in Illinois. Tess carried the one puppy that hadn't found a home. Before she got into the van with her family, she glanced over at the group waving goodbye.
"One second," Tess told her parents. Rushing up to the four boys, she gave each of them a hug goodbye. "I don't know how to thank you for this." She lingered on the hug with Carlos. "Especially you, Carlos."
"Oh, it was nothing," Carlos waved it off.
Tess looked down at the puppy in her arms for a second and then held him out for Carlos, "Here. He's yours." Carlos furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. With a smile, Tess continued, "A home is a place where you know you're loved and accepted for who you are. If you hadn't lost your dog, I wouldn't have ever been able to go home. This puppy needs a home too and, while I could probably give him one, I think that your home would be better for him. I know he won't be a replacement for your Sparky, but maybe he'll grow in your heart, help with the loss you had and make your house feel more like a home."
A grin spread across Carlos's face as he took the puppy from Tess, "Thank you." He brought the puppy up to his face only to have a tongue spread saliva all over it. "I think I'll name him Sparky Jr."
"A big name to live up to," Tess mentioned.
"For two reasons," Carlos added. The two of them glanced over at Sparky staring at them from inside the Tess's family van.
"Tess!" Her mother called out. "Let's go!"
Tess turned back to Carlos with a sigh, "I gotta go. Take care of this little one." Carlos nodded, ready to take on the task. "I hope to see you, to see all of you, again someday." Quickly, she leaned forward and gave Carlos a kiss on the cheek. With a wave to the other boys, she ran off towards the van and got in. Carlos placed a hand on the spot Tess had kissed, a dreamy grin appearing on his face. The group watched as the van pulled away and turned a corner, leaving their sight. Giving Carlos knowing smiles, his friends teased him about the kiss from Tess.
A few minutes later, the families began to head for home. Before they parted, Logan brought up, "Who would have thought that all of this would have happened because Carlos fed a stray dog?" The boys chuckled and left for home.
Years passed and the four hockey playing boys started their musical journey as Big Time Rush. Tours came and went, events giving each of the boys new opportunities. The memory of the girl they helped faded so much from their minds that, when it came up, they thought that it was a plot in a movie instead of a thing that actually happened.
On a tour stop in a city in Illinois, the boys had a meet-and-greet with their fans. At one point, Carlos looked up and noticed that a girl stood across the street from the meet-and-greet place. He furrowed his eyebrows. Something seemed familiar about the blonde girl. When a Dalmatian came over to sit down next to her, it clicked in his mind.
Tess reached down to give Sparky a pat on the head. A slight smile passed across her face as she gave Carlos a quick wave. Carlos waved back, unable to do anything else from the shock of seeing the girl again.
Suddenly, a semi-truck drove down the street, blocking her from sight. By the time it had passed, the girl and dog were gone. Shaking it off, Carlos smiled at the next fan, agreeing to take a picture with them.
The next morning, the boys were talking to a host on a radio show. After they had talked about the tour and rumors that were circling around the boys, time was starting to run out.
"And it just turned out to be a pineapple," James finished speaking.
"Ooh, I hate it when that happens," the host responded. "It looks like we're almost out of time. Is there anything else you guys would like to tell our listeners?"
Before any of his friends could say a word, Carlos spoke, "There's a story that I'd like to share. This happened back when we were in Minnesota. It's a story about two dogs, each named Sparky, and a strong willed girl who beat the odds against her." His friends watched Carlos tell Tess's story, smiles appearing on their faces as the memory crept back up in their minds.
(A/N): This was so hard to end for some reason. Maybe because I'm so used to multi-chapter stuff? Anyway, I hope you liked it! Let me know if you did! As for my other stories, if everything goes as planned, I should have an update for A Rush of Dog Days this weekend! Happy reading!