Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:
Nubbin Juice 9
Fleas and Things

Tegan was standing in the main lab with Kate, Henry, Biggie and Helen when Will came in carrying a gray dingy lump of fur under one arm and the newspaper and a coffee in the other. "Look at what I found half stuck in the gate."

"It's that dog from last night." Henry looked from the puppy to Tegan as he started to wiggle until he was free falling from Will's grasp.

He landed on the concrete floor with a dull thud and quickly found his feet. He was covered in a thick layer of gray and brown dirt, so thick there was no telling what his coat actually looked like. He turned around in a circle his clear crystal blue eyes taking in the faces looking down at him. When he found the one he was looking for he sprinted over and sat down barking happily at Tegan's feet.

"Looks like she likes you dude." Henry grinned.

Tegan bent down and picked the smelly dog up. "Dude, she's a he."

"How was I supposed to know?" He shrugged.

Tegan held the dog up for him to see. "Because he has a wiener just like you."

Kate didn't even try to hide her amusement as she held her side and laughed hard.

"Flea bag." Biggie grunted down at him.

Tegan wrinkled her nose. "You stink."

"Get him cleaned up and fed, then check him over and make sure he's healthy." Helen ignored the questioning looks from the group as she turned and walked out.

Tegan put him in the sink in her lab and used Dawn to clean the grease and dried on gunk from his fur. After his third soaping up she was sure he was clean, and he no longer smelled like week old garbage, which is what she suspected he'd been eating from the none-to-pleasant-smelling burp he had let out right in her face. "You're actually kind of cute."

He tilted his head sideways, listening to her in earnest as clear blue eyes searched her face. Instead of gray or brown or a combination of the two, he was all white except for one floppy black ear. She dried him off as best as she could and wrapped him in a warm dry towel, holding him close to her chest as she moved him to the island in the center of the room. She grabbed her stethoscope out of the drawer and listened to his lungs and heart before doing lab work and heading with him to find Helen.

"Wow, not at all what I expected him to look like." Helen said as she looked up to see the puppy cradled in Tegan's arms. "Did he check out ok?"

"He did. He looks to be right at nine weeks old. His blood work and stool came back negative for parasites, and I'm pretty sure he's been eating garbage for the last week."

"I want you and Henry to go back to the docks and see if you can find any clues as to where he came from."

"He was most likely a drop off."

"I know." Helen doubted there would be anything to trace the puppy back to its irresponsible owners, but if there was she wanted to know. She hated people who mistreated any living being and if nothing else she would send Biggie to give them a scare or two in the middle of the night. "Take him with you, and you can pick up some supplies and food on the way back."

"Supplies?"

"Leash, collar, bowls, toys, bed."

"You're going to keep him?" Tegan wondered why she was doing all the work.

"No." Helen smiled lightly. "Are you?"

Tegan hadn't even considered the possibility. Her brow furrowed as he looked up at her with questioning eyes. "No."

Helen watched him drop his head dejectedly. "Maybe you should give it some thought; I mean he did follow you home."

Tegan shook her head but didn't completely dismiss the thought.

"What did you find?" Will was sitting across from Helen's desk and turned toward the doorway when Tegan walked in holding the puppy.

Helen looked up and smiled as the puppy lifted his head and licked Tegan's chin. He really was quite cute now that he was clean.

"Stop that," Tegan chastised without any vigor before turning her attention back to them. "He's a mutt, and he's going to probably be the size of a lab full grown. I was right he had garbage breath. From what Henry and I found back at the docks I'm positive he's been eating garbage for the last week.

"When we got back to last night's location and started poking around he," she indicated the puppy with a tilt of her head. "Started freaking out when I headed to the dumpster. When I looked behind it, I found out why. There was a plain brown cardboard box with four of his littermates who weren't as lucky as he was. They've been dead for a couple days at least."

"That's horrible." Will watched her put him on the floor.

He ran around her legs twice before plopping his little rear right on top of her foot. He looked up at Tegan like she was a god.

"Are you going to keep him?"

"I don't think so." She answered looking at Helen who gave her an unreadable look.

"I still think you should consider it." Helen watched the puppy tilt his head at her.

Tegan watched as he ran on wobbly legs around Helen's desk and sat staring at her for the few minutes it took for her to decide to bend over and lift him onto her lap. Helen scratched his ears. "You're such a cutie."

Tegan turned her head to the door as he started barking, his full attention in that direction.

"I heard there was a dog loose in the Sanctuary and it wasn't Henry." Nikola grinned.

"Well, that's a pro for keeping him." Tegan spoke over the less then annoying puppy bark. "He doesn't like you."

"Oh, now that just hurts my feelings." Nikola tapped his chest once.

"Hush, it's ok." Helen soothed as she rubbed his back.

"Hey," Tegan turned her attention back to the puppy. "I know he can be a jerk and all that, but if you are going to stay here you have to over look his personality flaws."

He continued to bark.

"It's ok." Tegan assured and he immediately stopped barking and jumped off Helen's lap.

"Does that mean you're keeping him?" Helen watched him run back to Tegan, amazed that he stopped barking for her like that.

"I don't know."

"I don't think he's giving you a choice." Will commented as he again sat right on top of her foot.

"Where did he come from anyway?" Nikola looked down at the interesting mutt.

"He followed Tegan and Henry home last night." Helen explained. "Evidently he tracked the van back from the docks."

"Interesting..." Nikola nodded in thought.

Tegan looked down as the puppy started to stir on the oversized dog bed she'd picked up for him. He looked up at her and whined. "Do you need to go out?"

He wagged his tail causing his whole body to shake. She grinned and reached for the blue leash that was curled up on the corner of her desk. So far he hadn't gone inside the Sanctuary once, granted he'd only been there about forty hours. She wasn't about to let that change.