A/N: Psst... happy non-denominational winter holiday. :)
O
Alex stroked the soft fur atop Trouble's rounded head, scritching gently behind his ears in the early morning light. Trouble elected to enjoy it for a few seconds before defaulting to immediately attacking the appendage, obviously preferring to play conqueror instead of cuddler. Swallowing, Alex reminded himself that this was all for the better. Trouble would go to some nice home where a proper owner could housetrain him. A nice big yard to run around in, maybe even other dogs to wrestle with.
Knowing the life he could give the little canine warrior wasn't the best didn't stop Alex from wishing it weren't so. He'd miss the little arsehole, even if he spent most of his time trying to steal Alex's food, bite his hands, or piss on everything he owned.
Okay, maybe Alex was a little more ready to let go than he gave himself credit for.
"Little Alex."
"I know, I know." Ignoring the knot in his stomach, Alex nodded to Yassen and stepped out of the car.
The older man handed him the leash from where it had been folded in the backseat of their newest ride, an exceptionally boring Ford Taurus, and leveled him with a steady look. "Do you want me to come in with you?"
Alex shrugged. "Up to you. I'm sure it won't take long."
From their shaded parking spot beneath a palm tree, Yassen considered the animal shelter across the street and shrugged. On the surface, there didn't seem to be anything unusual about the squat stone building to Alex's eyes. "This is a county building, so I expect the security cameras are decent. Once the CIA ties us to the doctor's office, white noise on security systems becomes our calling card so I'd rather not use your little iPod. We'll draw less attention if you go alone."
"Okay. I'll be back in a bit. Ouch-" Hissing in pain, Alex snapped the leash to Trouble's collar, before half-dropping the twisting puppy to the ground. He gently tugged the wandering mutt towards the front entrance. "Come on, you little bastard," he muttered, just loud enough for Yassen to hear. "Let's foist you on some unsuspecting family."
The reception area was simple but small, decorated by glitter-drenched posters made at the local elementary school. A wide wooden counter spread across the length of half the room, manned by two women in matching neon green t-shirts that screamed 'volunteer workers' more effectively than their cheap lanyard badges. Alex found himself in a short queue behind a sobbing woman clutching a sparkly cat collar and a missing pet poster. One of the volunteers called her to the counter while the second finished helping a mother and toddler holding the leash of a somewhat elderly looking terrier.
Trouble took one look at the terrier and lunged, barking and snarling loudly enough to draw shocked stares.
Alex clamped his hand down on the leash, feeling his cheeks warm as he avoided the direct gazes of everyone around him. As the small family hurried away, Alex gave them a muttered apology before scooping up Trouble into his arms and approaching the desk.
"Oh, dear." The woman at the counter gave him a strained smile as he approached. She seemed a touch overwhelmed at the sight of the snarling little bastard.
Probably new.
"That's one way to put it," Alex agreed ruefully. He shifted the furious pup in his arm, trying to evade his ire with mixed results and wincing as Trouble managed to find some purchase with his little claws. The woman opened her mouth to interrupt but Alex was eager to get on with his day. Yassen had been pretty up front with the morning's schedule and Alex owed him for the car thing. "He's quite the handful. My stepdad and I found him on the side of the road next to his dead mom, but we can't take care of him anymore. I don't know what breed he is, but I'm not sure I'd give him to a family with kids or other animals. He pays no attention to commands and really, really likes to bite."
The woman opened her mouth, eyes wide and seemingly lost for words. Wooden. Kind of like adults did when a kid asked an embarrassing question loudly in public.
Alex felt a second flare of heat rise to his face. He'd probably missed some kind of obvious bit of dog knowledge and it was all his fault that Trouble was behaving so badly. Ian had never let him have pets, though! Hopefully whatever Alex had failed to do wouldn't make the little guy unadoptable. Someone who knew what they were doing could probably retrain him, right? Trouble was challenging, sure, but Alex couldn't help but like his wayward mutt. What he lacked in obedience, he certainly made up for in personality. As much of a pain as dealing with him was, Alex had needed Trouble as much as Trouble had needed him. He'd been a wonderful distraction. It had eased something in him that Alex couldn't quite name, to be able to take care of something nice and soft, with relatively easy problems to solve since his own were so-
Wait. Was that how Yassen felt about him?
"Well, um, sweetie," the woman said, voice a little higher than was clearly natural for her. "I have to ask. Like, actually, legally required to. Is your rabies vaccine current?"
O
Tapping his cigarette out the window, Yassen straightened as Alex approached the car with his arms folded stiffly and expression… oddly blank. That inspired a wave of resignation in the older man as he exhaled smoke safely out of the cabin. It had been an impossible situation, but one he'd quickly grown resigned to. Alex could neither be persuaded to abandon the animal to die nor be prevented from bonding with the furry bastard. Even Yassen had gotten used to the little ball of rage and fluff. While he half expected the loss of the dog to correlate with a sharp spike in Alex's panic attacks, he also knew that there was no way he could indefinitely drag them both across several continents without becoming noteworthy.
He'd find a way to make it up to the boy. Maybe he'd steal another sports car or something. Alex had enjoyed it. It hadn't been the smartest move as every second that they drove something so flashy put them at risk, but Yassen had only kept it for a few hours. Well, had only driven it on the road for a few hours. Showing Alex how to do donuts in that empty parking lot had taken half an hour at most. Or two.
Okay, fine. It had taken two hours and twenty six minutes of unnecessary risk.
It still barely counted.
Yassen groaned softly and let his head fall back against the headrest. No more sports cars. Right now, he'd just have to deal with whatever fallout leaving the dog unleashed upon them both.
Alex tugged open the door and eased into his seat, brows furrowing ever so slightly as he stared out the windshield. If it wasn't for his eye movements and coordination as he buckled his seatbelt, Yassen might have suspected he was having another absence seizure.
Yassen waited a solid sixty seconds before speaking. "Everything alright?"
With a choking noise, Alex pitched forward, sucking in a lungful of air as he rested his elbows against the dashboard. It was as though he couldn't remain upright otherwise. Yassen froze as the boy's shoulders began to shake and soft gasps filled the car.
Damn it. Goddamnit. He'd known this would end in tears.
Sitting stiffly upright, Yassen couldn't quite suppress the instinct to fight or take flight. He sighed. At least he didn't actively try to hide Alex's face with a blanket this time. Small improvement.
It was as though time was trapped in syrup. Yassen uneasily listened to the boy's soft gasps, unwilling to fully speculate on just how much this would derail Alex's emotional stability for the next few weeks. How much worse this would make the nightmares and hallucinations. Or impact Alex's ability to bond with anything ever again.
"I know you wanted to keep him," Yassen said after a small pause, mildly reassured by how steady his voice sounded if somewhat dismayed at how rushed the words were as they left his lips. "But I promise to buy you another dog when we get to Russia. Any dog you want. Or a cat. Or a lizard or something- I don't know what English boys like. Doesn't matter. Any pet you want, little Alex."
Alex sucked in another deep breath, but didn't look up. He almost formed words this time.
With an indignant huff, Yassen realized he might never get used to dealing with Alex when he got like this. He could handle anthrax better than tears at this point. He was well past wondering why. The fact remained that this was just a problem he had, but was he doomed to devolve into panic every time? Yassen had thought there was just a certain threshold at which one could be desensitized to anything. Surely he had to be close.
He found himself trying to fill the silence- anything other than quietly listen to Alex weep. "Besides, the dog was an idiot. Training the little imbecile was a nightmare. We'll get you a smarter one. One that won't maul you seventy percent of the time."
Alex finally looked up. His eyes shone with unshed tears, but his lips were twitching into a helpless grin. The little bastard was laughing again.
Dragging in a ragged breath, he choked out, "Trouble wasn't a dog. He's a baby coyote."
Yassen stared at him. "A baby-" he said, before he stopped himself. Swore. Couldn't stop swearing. That set Alex off again. He wasn't even sure in what language he was speaking anymore- maybe all of them. He didn't stop. At some point it morphed into laughter, mirroring Alex's and filling the car around them.