Lassiter was awoken the next morning by the feeling of something cold and wet in his ear. He quickly sat up, glancing around; it took him a moment to remember why he was on the floor of his bathroom.
The puppy was sitting next to him, watching his face, and its tail began to wag furiously when he met its gaze. It barked and scampered to the door, looking back at him in expectation.
Lassiter got to his feet slowly, his muscles protesting having spent the night on the hard tile of the bathroom floor. He could hear his alarm going off in the bedroom as he pushed the door open; he had set it earlier than normal in order to give himself time to stop by the animal shelter before work.
When he caught sight of the clock, his scowl deepened. The alarm had apparently been going off for a while; it was already past 6:30. So much for his plan to take the dog in. He'd be lucky to get into work close to his normal time.
He let the dog outside to do its business then locked it in the half bath while he headed to his own room to take a quick shower and get dressed. He left a bowl of food and water with the animal before hurrying out to his car. There wasn't much in the bathroom the puppy could destroy while he was gone; he'd have to figure out what to do with it later.
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"Dude, what is up with Lassie?"
Gus shifted the bag of styrofoam containers to his left hand, looking over his shoulder towards the police station door. "He's leaving for lunch, Shawn. What's so strange about that?"
"Well, Jules asked us to bring her some takeout because of her big caseload. Even on slow days, Lassieface hardly leaves his desk, especially for something as trivial as lunch." He raised an eyebrow in response to the look Gus gave him. "Not to me, obviously. Gus, I'm hurt you would even think that. Lunch is never trivial in my book. I'm just saying, Lassie never takes a lunch break this early and never when there is so much crime afoot in the good city of Santa Barbara. Here you are, Jules!"
She flashed them a thankful smile as Gus handed over her lunch. "Thanks, guys."
"So, uh, do you know why Lassie headed out in such a rush?" Shawn inquired, putting on as innocent of a look as he could muster.
"No," Juliet shook her head. "He seemed a little distracted all morning actually."
"Huh." Shawn was clearly distracted.
Gus looked up from the seat he had pulled up next to Juliet's desk, where he had just opened the lid of his container. He had one of the looks that Shawn was used to seeing by now, the one that said Shawn needed to drop a subject.
"You know ..." Shawn shot Juliet a look.
Gus shook his head. "Shawn, sit down and eat your lunch."
"Jules, is Lassie dating again?"
Gus snorted.
"Uh ... not that I'm aware." Juliet shot him a confused look as she stuck a fork into her rice. "Why?"
"Well, I'm getting the signal that something - or someone - new has entered Lassie's life recently." Shawn shrugged. "Gus, don't eat my ragout. I'll be back."
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Shawn pulled his motorcycle to a stop outside of Lassiter's house. He wasn't sure at first if the head detective would even be home, but he had planned to do some digging if not. However, the man's car was parked at the house, so Shawn strode up to knock on the front door.
From inside the house, Shawn could hear a skittering, as if a small animal were running on the floor. A shrill barking confirmed his suspicions, and by the time Lassiter opened the door, Shawn was grinning from ear to ear.
"Spencer, what on earth are you doing here?" Lassiter demanded. He had to tighten his grip on the squirming puppy in his arms; the dog was barking in excitement, wriggling to get closer to the new arrival.
"The spirits told me your house had a new occupant, and I wanted to be the first to welcome it," Shawn explained. "Can I come in?"
Lassiter sighed. "Fine. But only because I don't feel like standing here fighting with this animal for much longer."
After Shawn had closed the door behind himself, Lassiter put the puppy down. The dog immediately started jumping up at Shawn's legs, begging for attention.
Reaching out a hand to scratch behind its ears, Shawn shot a mischievous grin at the head detective. "What's his name?"
"He doesn't have a name," Lassiter answered, "because he's not staying."
Shawn clapped his hands over the dog's ears. "Lassie, be nice. You're going to hurt his feelings."
"I couldn't care less." Lassiter checked his watch. "I need to get going; I have to drop this animal by the shelter before heading back to work."
"You're going to just throw him back to the cold hard world?" Shawn stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "Come on, Lassie. Where's your heart?"
"Long gone, like the pair of suede bucks he ruined. Now if you'll excuse me." He reached for the dog.
"Hey, Lassie, why don't you let me take the dog for you? That way you can get back to work sooner," Shawn suggested.
Lassiter paused, regarding Shawn with a raised eyebrow expression. "You sure, Spencer?"
"Well, yeah." Shawn shrugged. "You're obviously missing being at the office; it's the friendly thing to do."
"Huh," Lassiter snorted. "Fine. But lock the door when you go. You know where the shelter is?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it. Get back to the crime-fighting and leave the doggy business to me." Shawn waved him off.
As soon as the other man had pulled out of the driveway, Shawn turned to the puppy, who was watching him intently. "So, are you ready to go?"
The dog barked happily, turning in circles by the door.
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The day finally came to a close, and Lassiter was able to head home. He was looking forward to an evening by himself before what would surely be another busy day in the morning.
He unlocked the door, pocketing his keys, then paused in midstep when the now-familiar skittering of puppy claws on his floor reached his ears. There was a jingling sound as well now, and Lassiter scowled.
"Spencer!"
"Hey, Lassieface!" Shawn appeared in the kitchen doorway. "You hungry? I grabbed some Chinese while I was out since Gus ate my lunch from earlier."
"Spencer, what happened?" Lassiter demanded. "I thought you were going to drop the dog off at the shelter this afternoon." He crossed his arms and glared at the other man.
"You did. But Timmy said he wanted to stay. If I were him, I wouldn't want to go to a shelter either."
"Timmy?"
Shawn grinned. "I thought it fit." He turned and hurried to the kitchen excitedly, giving Lassiter no chance to respond.
The head detective followed him with a less enthusiastic look on his face. "Spencer, the next words out of your mouth better be that you are taking that dog home with you when you walk out my front door in two seconds."
"Aw, no, Lassie, I couldn't take your best friend away from you," Shawn called over his shoulder. "Now come see what Timmy and I bought this afternoon!"
