A/N: So we had a pretty solemn subject matter for the last TFTA. This time around, I did something a bit more light-hearted.

Because who among us is able to resist smiling at the antics of a fluffy, empathetic doggerino?

Title: Healing

Author: DrAmishMD

Zwei was on a mission.

It seemed to him like the number of people onboard the Avenger had doubled overnight. Which was fine, because that meant more pets, ear scritches, belly rubs, and people to play fetch with. Those were all excellent, important activities, and Zwei had made it his solemn duty to ensure he snagged as many people as he could each day to partake in the pets, ear scritches, belly rubs, and fetch. What was less fine, however, was the emotions he could feel coming off of all the new people. And the XCOM people. And Yang and Qrow. Even Dr. Shen, who was always a source of delightful happiness, felt different.

Zwei knew that a big mission had happened. There had been a lot of preparation over the last week, a lot of tension among the soldiers, and the elevated heart rates among everyone was just like when there was that other big mission in the desert. Ruby didn't know that he knew about that one, but Zwei had managed to sneak up to the top deck when the action was going on to keep an eye on the big robots standing on the edge.

Speaking of Ruby, he hoped that she would come home soon. Something was wrong, and although Zwei didn't know what, he could tell that Yang was affected by it. So now one of the most important people to Zwei was affected by the absence of the other most important person to him, and now she was affected by this mission that had brought so many new faces to the Avenger.

"Hey Zwei! How you doin', Buddy?"

Ah! Lucian! Zwei liked this one a lot. He was very friendly, and he gave great belly rubs. Even though he always held a faint sadness just below the surface of his eyes, that never stopped Lucian from doing his best to make others happy. From one Morale Officer to another, that alone had earned him Zwei's respect.

Zwei rolled to his back and looked up expectantly at his friend. Lucian laughed, kneeling down to administer the all-important rubs. The way he worked his fingers into Zwei's tummy just felt absolutely amazing, and the dog couldn't stop his tongue from lolling out to one side even if he wanted to (he did not want to).

"You holding up okay?"

Why wouldn't he be? He was performing his usual patrol route and would almost certainly be meeting all sorts of people who would undoubtedly stop to give him love and affection the moment they laid eyes on him. Affection that he could reciprocate with cute little panting noises and friendly woofs. Zwei's work as a Morale Officer was never finished, and he took great pride in it.

But the way Lucian asked the question, it was almost as if he was asking it to himself. Was Lucian holding up okay? The sorrow in his eyes seemed closer to the surface, even as he administered the belly rubs. This… was a concerning development. But the best course of action Zwei could think of was to do what he was known for.

"Woof!"

Lucian smiled. "Atta boy. Keep your chin up and take things one step at a time."

Zwei watched his friend get back up and dust himself off. "Thanks, Zwei. I needed that."

He wasn't the only one, Zwei suspected. The two of them parted ways, and the Morale Officer resumed his patrol down the hall. He encountered a few more faces along the way, some familiar and some new. Each time, Zwei dutifully turned on his charm and gave the people every reason to stop what they were doing and play with the dog for a few minutes. Some of them seemed to be in a good mood already, while others definitely had a heavy weight on their shoulders.

Zwei was happy to note, however, that all of them walked away with a little more spring in their step.

How many people weren't coming back from this latest mission? It had been a few days, and Zwei already noticed the absence of a few familiar faces. He wasn't sure if Captain Beagle was in the same situation as Ruby, but the way MacAuley had acted when Zwei had last met him… he was worried that something really bad had happened. He hoped he was wrong, but-

Blake!

Zwei never saw Blake on his routes, which he suspected was intentional on her part. So finally seeing her now… he wasn't sure if she wanted to say hi, or she was so distracted that she didn't realize she'd been caught. Both possibilities, however, meant that she needed a healthy dose of fluffy butt ASAP.

He barked happily and dashed down the hall towards the startled Blake. He could see it in her eyes as they darted around that she was considering making a run for it, but her moment of indecision was enough for Zwei to close the gap, leap up towards Blake's chest, and force her to catch him.

"Umm… h-hi Zwei…"

Blake made a face when Zwei started to lick her cheek.

"Stop that, dog," She commanded. Zwei dutifully ignored the command. Just like Lucian, he could feel sorrow in Blake's tone. She needed this.

"Zwei!" Blake protested. However, the fact that she hadn't dropped him told Zwei everything he needed to know. His tail wagged, and he crawled up her chest so that he could lick closer to her ear. Blake yelped in surprise, and tumbled to the floor while Zwei continued to carry out his solemn duty.

As he worked, he noticed Blake resisting less, and he noticed that she stopped vocally protesting. He looked up at his (secret) friend and did that thing where he simultaneously panted and smiled. It was a technique that was usually effective with Ruby and Yang when he could tell they wanted to scold him for being rambunctious One comment later about, "you've got that stupid look on your face, Zwei, you are just so dang cute," and all was forgiven.

He saw fatigue in Blake's eyes. She hadn't slept peacefully in a long time. Zwei wasn't sure if this was normal for her, or if it was worse than usual, but he decided that he didn't like it. He cocked his head to one side, still panting and smiling as he sat on Blake's stomach and held her gaze.

Eventually, Blake cracked. She sighed, wrapped her arms around Zwei, and held him close.

"Thanks, Zwei," Blake whispered. "I… needed this."

Of course she did. Zwei was an excellent Morale Officer for a reason. Hopefully Blake knew that he was always available for snuggles (unauthorized or otherwise), tummy rubs, pets, and all the other services that he provided. Hopefully she knew that no matter how dire things got, he'd be right there with a smile and an encouraging bark.

Because that's what good boys do.

"We should probably split before someone sees us like this," Blake said, sitting up and letting Zwei hop off. "Can't let anyone know that I actually like you, after all."

Of course. That would be scandalous.

Just like Lucian and the others, Zwei parted ways with Blake.

More faces passed by him in the halls. The Morale Officer made sure to stop for each and every one, even if it was just for a friendly word and a pat on the head. They needed to know that he appreciated them, and that they were doing good work in the name of XCOM, Remnant, and Ruby.

Every person that he stopped for a morale inspection was somebody who needed his services.

Every.

Single.

One.

This… this was a dire situation. An emergency. There were certain regions of the ship that Zwei never patrolled, because he assumed that the people there didn't require his aid, but now? With a 100% need rate on his patrol so far? He couldn't take the chance.

So Zwei made his way to the bridge.

The soldiers moving about did not question his presence as he strayed from his patrol route and journeyed towards his destination. Zwei still did his duty and stopped for each person he saw. While the pets, the ear scritches, and the tummy rubs kept him from his ultimate goal, Zwei didn't mind. This was his sworn duty, after all.

There. The door lay ahead. It was closed, but Zwei didn't need to wait long for a soldier to head towards it with the intent of going through. The Morale Officer simply followed behind, waited while the soldier swiped a card to unlock the door, and stepped through into a room that he'd never seen before.

There were a lot of people here. People he recognized from when they would spend their free time in the cantina. Some people that, as before, he'd never seen. He would have to visit all of them and do his work, but first…

There was one man that Zwei was looking for.

It didn' take long to find him, conversing with both MacAuley and a man and a woman wearing lab coats.

He barked, and all heads turned in his direction, including the one that he was focused on.

"... Zwei?"

He trotted over to Bradford, looked up at the man, and barked again. He threw a tail wag in for good measure when he saw what could only be annoyance on the Central Officer's face.

"Zwei, what are you doing here? You know you're not allowed on the bridge."

Oh no. This was bad. Time to employ emergency countermeasures.

Zwei drooped his ears, lowered his tail, and let out a low whine. He watched as Bradford pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"There's a lot going on in here, Zwei. You'll distract people who can't afford to be distracted right now. You can go see them when they get off-shift-"

"Brad."

Both Zwei and Bradford looked over at MacAuley.

"You're breaking an unspoken rule right now, Boss."

"Mac, what-"

"Pet the damn dog."

Bradford looked to Vahlen for help, but she was already kneeling down to pick up Zwei and give him ear scritches.

"I think we can afford a few minutes, Bradford," She said. "He's never come up here before, so he must have had a good reason this time."

Zwei watched as Bradford turned to Tygan.

"Don't look at me," The man said. "I'm next after Doctor Vahlen."

Zwei barked happily and stared at Bradford while Vahlen continued to scratch his head.

"C'mon, Brad. When was the last time you pet Zwei?" Someone called from across the room.

"..."

MacAuley snorted. "You can't even remember, can you?"

Bradford rolled his eyes. "Fine. Five minute break so that everyone can pet Zwei. Then he's leaving and we're getting back to work."

"Five minutes," MacAuley answered, "Plus an extra minute specifically reserved for you."

Zwei liked those terms. And from the subtle shift in Bradford's facial expression, he suspected that the Central Officer secretly did, too.

The work of a Morale Officer was never done. But as the entirety of the bridge converged on Vahlen to take turns giving him rubs, pats, and scritches, Zwei was reminded that this was the opposite of a bad thing.