When Hayden got home he was angry no wait that was an understatement he has pissed. How could they not tell him that they were training Toothless with another person but not only that but to ship him back off into deployment in Iraq again. And all he could do was pretty much sit and wait and hope Gary's plan works out. No he could not just sit and wait around while his best friend was getting ready to leave the US again but without him this time.
So he entered the house and headed right up to his room. Once there he quickly changed out of his Army Service Uniform and back to another pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Then he grabbed his old laptop he used back in high school and sat on his bed.
He was going to try and find a way to get his partner home. Surely other canine handler had to have the same problems right?
So far everything he saw that may be promising would end up taking to long and Toothless would probably be in Iraq by then. He must have stare at the computer for hours because he was frustrated to say the least. The only thing to draw his attention away from the computer and his work at hand was the knock at the door to his room and his mother voice.
"Hayden?"
Hayden sighed before looking up to answer "Yes?"
His mother then opened his door fully to walk in. She had a glass of water in one hand and a plate of sandwiches in the other.
"You have been up here all day it is almost 3 and you have not eaten anything." She said
"Ya well I am kind of busy"
"Did the meeting not go well?" She asked
"You could say that." Hayden took the glass of water out of his mother hand that she held out
"Do you want to tell me about it. Maybe I can help you."
"Unless you can cancel some order a higher up officer gave that is making my partner get shipped back out to Iraq without me then no you can not help." He said
"Oh honey I am so sorry. How could they do something like that. Don't you have some kind of say over what happens to him you are his owner and handler right?"
"Nope I have no say in this because I had no say in anything that happens to him since the day I got blown up by that IED and discharged me from the military." Hayden said then laughed lightly "It funny we spend so much time in the military protecting and serving the people that we love and care for but then the military does not give a shit about us. Like I fucken saved so many lives out there with Toothless. And then me and him became something other handler wanted to work up to be. Then once I lost my leg they did not even think to tell me that they were going to ship him out again. What just because he was the best dog they had out there? But they did not even have a second thought about said dog's feelings or needs because they knew he does not do well with other people working him but they are forcing that on him like he is some sort of machine." Hayden ranted on
Val pulled her son into a hug. She knew what it is like to have someone close to you go away and not know what was going on. Because just a couple years ago that was her son. He had just left right after graduating high school. And then only now did she know what had happen to him in them years. He had joined the military were he could have died and then she did not even having contact with him and if he would have died she would have known to late.
"Oh honey we will figure something out that will work. We will we have to."
"Thanks. Hey I am sorry mom for not telling you what I chose to do after high school. I know how you feel now to not know what was going on in someone's life while they were away."
"It's okay just be honest with me from now on. Like why did you not tell me about your leg."
Hayden nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his neck "Well I guess it never came up."
Val just sighed "How long did you say we have till he gets shipped to Iraq again?" She asked
"About till the end of the month why?"
"Well this may be a long shot but did you think of a petition maybe. Like get people to sigh it cause you said yourself that they were going to rehome him just before you met him. So technically if he is behaving the same way they would need to actually do it this time since you are not there."
"Oh mom your a genius." Hayden said and went up to hug his mom for the second time
————————————
Everything was going good for about one and a half weeks. They had gotten a pretty good amount of signatures and they would have probably had enough if they did not call Hayden saying that Toothless was being deployed early today. And that was not really the thing that made Hayden the most angry. The thing that made his angrier was that he could not say goodbye or visit him today because today he had a ceremony to get his Purple Heart.
So here he was in his room at his parents house getting ready by putting on his Army Service Uniform and fixing his hair. Once done he grabbed his army hair and headed downstairs to where his parents were.
Over the short time that he was back home Hayden and his parents had been working on fixing their relationship. It had been going good till a couple of days ago where Hayden had noticed that his parents have been hiding something or were not telling him something. That also made him a bit mad cause this was the reason why he was trying to fix their already broken relationship anyway. Because he went away and joined the military without telling them and they
His parents seemed a bit over eager to leave the house cause he was not even downstairs for more then five minutes and they were pushing him to the door so they could head to the stadium just off the highway by the military base.
Hayden could not see why they were so excited to see Hayden get his Purple Heart. It was like they did not even care that Toothless was being deployed today. It was weird because they were even helping him get signatures to try and bring Toothless home.
——————At Stadium——————
The ceremony was long to say the least and Hayden was the last one left that still needed to get his. It was weird because a different person came out onto the stage to give him his.
"Hello everyone I am Major Finn Hofferson and I would just like to say I am sorry that this ceremony is longer then you expected it to be I would just like you to sit tight for a little bit longer while we talk about this last young man on this stage today." Major Finn Hofferson said as he walked over to Hayden
"You see this young man in front of me today had saved many lives in his years of service for his country. Even though he is only 22 years old. But see he did not do it all alone. He did it with his partner or what people call a mans best friend. On this screen behind me you can see many different pictures of Lieutenant Haddock's K-9." Finn pointed to the screen behind him "In the almost four years that they were stationed in Iraq they have found many bomb and different firearms from the enemy forces and were able to take them away or take care of them so we do not have to keep losing lives to them. I know for a fact that these pictures do not do justice for how good this canine is and I also know that this is one shitty quality projection too. So that is why I decided to give you a look at the real deal." He turned around too the door right off of the stage "Bring him out"
Once the door opened out burst Toothless pulling on his leash to get to Hayden. Hayden just stood there confused. He thought that Toothless was on his way to Iraq why would they bring him here. 'Were they just trying to rub it in his face that this may be the last time he would see him'. Hayden had though
"You see everyone I was made aware of something that should never happen between a handler and a canine. They told me that they were going to ship Toothless 'This canine' back out the Iraq under lead of a new handler. There were many things wrong in the way they were doing this though. Because before Lieutenant Haddock here met Toothless they were just about to rehome him out of the military because he would not listen to anyone. But in actuality he was just waiting for his true handler which he knew was Haddock. And that bond between these two just got stronger in there time deployed in Iraq. But then when Haddock had to come home because of the reason he is here today. To get his Purple Heart cause he was wounded while in combat. While they wanted Toothless to get back out there. Cause they knew they were loosing a valuable part of their team when Toothless left. So they went against almost everything they knew was right and logic to keep this dog with them. Many times this dog showed and pretty much told them he is not going to listen and work with them without his handler Haddock." He then turned to Hayden
"So that is why you are not only being given this Purple Heart today-" He puts the Purple Heart onto Hayden's Uniform "but you are also getting you partner back and he is going to be by your side till the end" He then hands Hayden Toothless's leash
Once the leash was in Hayden's hands the crowd started applauding. And when Toothless heard them cheering he tackled Hayden to the ground and started to lick him on the face. This then lead to more clapping and laughter.
When Hayden was able to get up and stop his laughter too Major Hofferson pulled him in so they could get a photo of the three of them.
———————————————
Since the ceremony was over Hayden could finally make his was to his family and try and get some long needed answers. Sure he was happy to have Toothless back no wait overjoyed to have him back. But he still had many questions for his mother and father and maybe even Gary. Hayden was pretty sure he had saw Gary sneak off to where his family was waiting for him.
So right when he saw the three adults standing before him he blurted out his question.
"You all were in on this weren't you."
Val sighed and laughed out "Yes"
"Wait- But how?" Hayden said a bit confused as he looked down at Toothless
"Well you see" Stanley started before turning to where Major Hofferson was "Ah Finn there you are"
Finn then finished shaking someone's hand before saying goodbye and heading over to where Hayden's dad was standing.
"See Finn here went to high school with me you should know his niece Alyssa (Astrid) right?" Stanley asked as Finn nodded "Right well when I heard he was coming home for a bit after being deployed in Afghanistan. I reached out and told him about you and asked if he could help."
"Right well the four of us had been working together to get Toothless back to you and it just worked out that you could get him today." Gary said as they all nodded their heads
"I hope you are not mad at us for not telling you this we just thought this would be the best way to surprise you." Val said
"I am not mad but from now on will we stop keeping secrets from one another?" Hayden asked
"I think we can do that" Stanley said causing Toothless to bark in agreement
———————————————
It has been a couple of years since Hayden was finally able to bring Toothless home with him and since then he and Toothless got their own place not far forms Hayden's parents but also not far from his new job.
Since Toothless was able to change his life he decided that he wanted to help other handler find there canine. So he joined Gary at the canine department.
Today though was like any other day Hayden was working with the different dog and some of there handlers. While a new group of Privates go on there training run around the base.
But whenever this group would come by the fence that encloses the canine area Hayden would always watch one dog in particular. A Sable German Shepherd that is about a year and a half old.
So today was the day that he decided to put this theory into action. He walked over to the gate where the Private's would turn by to head back to there Drill Sergeant.
"Private Grant can you come here quick." Hayden call out
"Yes sir" Grant said once he came over
"I want you to come here and work with this dog named Fanghook for me."
"But I don't work with the canines sir."
"I just want to see how well you can handle him." Hayden said as he lead Grant over to Fanghook
"Oh okay. Well come here Fanghook"
The dog then went over to Grant and followed him to the obstacle course. Hayden just stood there and smiled remembering that is how he and Toothless started out.