After getting the morning off work, and getting an appointment said morning, I went back into my bedroom and showered. I changed into dry clothes and put my hair into a braid.

After shrugging on my jacket, I picked up Athos and walked out the door. Successfully remembering my keys this time.

Athos slept soundly the entire walk to the vet. Poor thing. An injury like that….. Well, I wasn't very surprised. When I was healing, I (frustratingly) couldn't stay awake longer than an hour before crashing again. I was a teenager with boundless energy. This was just a puppy who had gone through a very traumatic experience.

I walked through the door to the vet's office. There wasn't anyone else there, and I wasn't too surprised. It was only 7:00 am.

A reception lady looked up at me and smiled kindly, "Are you Kiley Reid?"

I nodded, "Yeah. And this is the poor puppy I mentioned on the phone." I held up Athos slightly so she could see him.

She cooed and came around the counter, "Poor dear. Did you wrap him yourself?"

I nodded, "Yes. I have a bachelor in medical science. So I know enough to help him."

She nodded, "Alright. Let's get him into an examination room."

She led me to a room with a cartoon dog on the front and asked me to put Athos down on the counter. I did as I was told and he awoke to the feel of the cold metal. He groggily looked around before growling at the lady.

I put my hand on his uninjured side and he relaxed slightly, but kept looking at the lady with mistrust.

She nodded to me with a smile, "The doc will be right in. Wait here."

Then she walked out, closing the door behind her.

With a sigh, I jumped onto the counter and pulled Athos onto my lap. I scratched behind his ears lightly and he closed his eyes, leaning into my touch.

I was so absorbed by the tiny thing in my hands that I jumped violently when the door swung open again. The vet, a bald, dark skinned man with warm brown eyes and a lean build in his 6'4 frame, walked in. He looked to be in his late 20's or early 30's.

He smiled at me apologetically, "I apologize. I had not meant to scare you." His voice was deep, and very rich and soft, like velvet.

I smiled bashfully back at him. "No, you're fine. I should have been paying more attention."

Athos was growling at the doctor now, and the man laughed. "Feisty little thing, isn't he?" The doctor had a slight accent. I couldn't really place it, but the familiarity tickled at the back of my mind.

"Yeah. He is. Although, with an injury like he's got, I'm not surprised." I replied with a smirk.

I jumped off the counter and placed the groggy Athos back. He glared up at the doctor in distrust.

The doctor smiled at him again before holding out a hand to me, "I'm Doctor Dorian Silver."

I held out my hand, which happened to be wrapped up, "Kiley Reid. Pleasure to meet you."

He inclined his head and looked pointedly at my injured hand. I fidgeted, "Uh, Athos bit me when I was cleaning his injury."

"Athos?"

"The dog."

"Ah. I'm a fan of les Inseparables myself."

"Tout le monde a besoin d'un héros."

Yes. After learning Italian, I learned French in a fit of boredom. Sue me. I was currently trying to learn German.

Doctor Silver raised his eyebrows, "Impressive. 'Everyone needs a hero', hmm? I agree."

"You know French?"

He gave me a grin, "I was trying to impress a woman. French is the language of love. Besides, my grandmother was French. She tried to teach me when I was younger, and that's what made it so easy when I got to college." His accent sounded South African. But I wasn't sure.

I smirked back. Athos gave me a confused look.

Doctor Silver turned to him then, and gently removed the wrapping. When he did, he set the scissors down and turned to the wall, breathing hard.

"Do you know who did that to him?" His voice was low, and angry.

"Nope. I was walking early this morning and heard him. He was in the northwest side of the park. Near the lake. I don't know how he got there, and I don't know how he was still alive when I found him. Normally, wounds like that bleed a lot. After seeing what he had gone through, and survived, I decided to keep him." I explained.

He turned back around, his eyes pained. He gestured to my face and asked with a sincere tone, "Did it remind you of yourself? Not that it is any of my business. But I've often noticed that people choose their pets because of physical or emotional connections to themselves."

I waved him off, "Don't worry about it. Yes. It reminded me of myself. I had some psycho take a knife to me and give me a mark that won't go away too. My heart went out to him, because I know what it feels like."

The doctor gave me a look that wasn't pity, but more acceptance. Which I was thankful for. I had enough of pity.

He nodded to me and gestured back to Athos. "I'll have to take him to surgery. You can leave him here and go pick up things for him. I assume you haven't done that yet?" I shook my head and he smiled at me, "I'll make you a list before you leave of things he'll need."

I nodded and he wrote a list down on a notepad. He handed it to me and smiled reassuringly, "He'll be fine. If he's made it this far, chances are he's too much of a fighter to quit now. Probably like you."

I smiled at him, "Thank you." I knew I wasn't just talking about Athos. He knew it too. Athos probably knew it.

The doctor gave Athos a sedative, and once he was out, I left the office.

I looked down at the list I had been given, sighed, and walked towards the nearest store that could have what I needed.

Criminal Minds

I walked out of the apartment, already having put everything up, and walked towards the vet's office again.

When I arrived, more people were there. I saw a Siamese cat being cuddled by a six year old in the corner. An old woman with her Yorkshire terrier near the door. A veteran with his bulldog. A young woman with her poodle. A man with a chocolate lab smiling flirtatiously at the poodle lady.

The receptionist saw me and gestured me over with a wave. "I'll let Doctor Silver know you're back. Your little pup is adorable. He has the most adorable glare, and he acts so frumpy, it's so cute! But you can wait there," She pointed to an empty chair, "Doctor Silver should be right here."

I nodded and sat down as requested. I waited a few minutes before Doctor Silver strode into the waiting room. I stood up and he beckoned me to follow him with a smile.

I followed him into the backroom where the animals were kept, and he led me over to a cage in the corner. Inside was a groggy, drugged up to his eyeballs, glaring, frumpy puppy named Athos. When his blue eyes locked on me though, he woke up enough to wag his tail towards me and his eyes brightened considerably.

Doctor Silver gave a laugh that was both loud, but soft at the same time.

"This little guy has already won over all the nurses. I think if you hadn't decided to adopt him, I would have had at least 9 volunteers. Including myself. However, no matter what they tried, none of the nurses could make him look that happy. Also, I figured out what type of dog he is." Doctor Silver informed me.

He took Athos out of the cage and handed him to me. Instantly, Athos cuddled up in my shirt and closed his eyes.

Doctor Silver smiled fondly at the dog and looked back up at me. "You will have one very intelligent, very protective, very dangerous dog defending you. Be sure to train him correctly, or you could have problems with him. He is a hybrid of a husky, a German Shepherd, and, from what I can tell, a strange breed that no one can identify. But," He looked at me seriously, "If I had to guess, I'd say wolf based on the way his canines look, and his claws. So be sure to train him properly, and never get lazy with him. To remain healthy, he'll need lots of exercise. And be sure to discipline him. A lot of pet owners say it's cruel to the animal, but in his case, it will be cruel if you don't. He'll need strict command mixed with a bit of coddling. As he gets older, it'll be very important to keep that alpha command with him. But, also show him affection. He'll need to know that he's under your command, but also that you love him. It'll make him more responsive to you, and protective.

"German Shepherds are mainly known to be good at taking orders. They are intelligent and can be extremely protective of someone they like. They remember commands and follow them, which makes them good police dogs. Huskies are known for their endurance, stamina, speed, and strength. Something that makes them good sled dogs. And, if my suspicions are correct, the wolf side of him can be vicious and lethal. But, with all that mixed together, and if you train him right, you will have a very, very good protector."

I nodded, looking down at the harmless puppy in my arms. I mean, yeah, his teeth hurt, but that should always be expected. However, with this new info, I needed to start training him right away. House training was high on that list, or Spencer would kill me, but I also needed to start teaching him commands like 'back off' or 'attack' just like 'fetch' and 'bring it back'.

Doctor Silver smiled at me though, and said, "But, I think you'll do just fine. Now, for the nicer part of this discussion. Medication. I've prescribed him some painkillers so he can be comfortable. Other than that, I wouldn't recommend any other types of medication until he gets older, or we could prematurely stunt his growth. I suspect he is 5 to 6 months old at this point. He'll start growing and developing more muscle very soon, so, as soon as he's able, I would get on that training regime.

"But, let his injuries heal for about 3 weeks before you start anything to stressful. After the second week, you can take him out jogging. But as soon as he starts getting tired, stop. We don't want to put too much stress on his body right now. House training and light playing is fine for now. Just take it easy.

"Puppy chow mixed with milk would be the best for him right now, after that 3 week period, you can start giving him the puppy chow dry. Until then, cereal it is. Would you like me to write this down?"

I shook my head and tapped my forehead, "I've got a photographic memory. Will the injury scar badly?"

Doctor Silver shook his head, "Not badly. As he gets older, his fur with mostly hide it. It will stay with him though, much like yours will. But, like yours, it will only be a slight discoloration after a few months. After about 4 weeks his fur will start growing around it. Because of his unique breeding, you might have to schedule annual haircuts for him."

I nodded, "Alright. It doesn't sound too difficult. It actually sounds fun."

He smiled at me, "Just wait until school starts up again. You have the next few months of summer, but you're young, so school will start up in the fall and make it harder for you to interact with him."

I smirked at the Doctor, "I already graduated."

"Highschool?"

"College. With numerous degrees." I wasn't bragging per say. Just stating facts. I didn't say how many.

He looked shocked for a second, before chuckling and shaking his head. "I'll think you'll do just fine with him then. Work still might get in the way."

"Yeah. I know. But my boss is pretty nice, so I think he'll understand. He has a snake. So he knows what having pets looks like."

The doctor shook his head again. "Yeah. You'll do just fine. Also," He put his hand on my shoulder, "Having this scar doesn't mean he'll be bad. So don't get discouraged if people look at him funny. All that matters to him is your opinion." I knew he was talking about more than the dog. He knew I knew. Athos knew.

"Thank you." Again. I wasn't just talking about the dog. And again, he knew, I knew, Athos knew.

Doctor Silver nodded, and pulled out a paper from his pocket. "This has the prescription and my number in case you have any further questions. Also, my wife fell in love with this little one as well. So, if you ever have problems training him, she'd love to help. She's the other doctor here."

I smiled at him, "Thanks."

With that, I walked out, got the medicine, and took Athos home with a spring in my step. This should be interesting.