Note: As mentioned, this is an AU where Patch and Penny were adopted by a new owner while the Radcliffes continued living in their flat after the events of the first movie as Roger was still unsuccessful in getting a hit for his songs.

Chapter 1

A cool breeze gently blew over Holland Park in the middle of the London borough of Kensington. With the Sun peaking over the horizon just an hour earlier, the Park was soon thronged by humans who were looking to enjoy the great outdoors and savour the breezy morning. But it was not just humans who were there to enjoy the rare sunny weather in what had been England's wettest Spring season the last few days, animals were out and about within the park as well.

Over at the west end of the park, two female dogs were strolling along a path while happily sharing a laugh together. A teenaged Penny Dalmatian chuckled heartily at Ginny the Golden Retriever's tale of how her pet human accidentally poured the contents of her last bottle of gin into her drinking bowl instead of the bottled drinking water next to it while she was preoccupied with the phone last night.

"Oh, if only you could've experienced what I did last night, Penny! I ended up so tipsy I was laughing my head off at every little thing I saw while my pet kept wondering where has all her gin gone after that phone call of hers!" Ginny cackled loudly as they walked.

"Heh, Ginny the dog drunk on gin," Penny grinned at her. "Seems like your own name foreshadowed that very moment!"

"Yeah... won't be a surprise if my pet named me after her favorite booze, the old drunkard!" Ginny laughed loudly, leading Penny to silently believe that her friend was still experiencing the effects of the boozy drink. "So what's your human pet been up to, Penny? What's he called again? 'Bald Morty' or something?"

"It's Baldrick, Gins," Penny corrected her. "And no... nothing interesting happens with my human. You know that." She then nudged her head in the direction where a skinny, balding spectacled man in his mid-twenties sat on a bench in the distance. He appeared to be holding up a book in front of him and heartily reading its content to a Dalmatian dog who laid lazily next to him on the bench with a bored look in its eyes, clearly uninterested in his human's ramblings.

Ginny snickered at the sight of the bored Dalmatian, who resembled a lot like Penny but with a distinctive black patch pattern on his right eye. "Looks like your brother Patch is having a smacking good time with him," she chortled teasingly. "Bet you two miss living in your previous home with the rest of your family, eh?"

Penny pinched her lips to the side. "Mmmm... some days perhaps. Baldrick still brings us to our family's home every Saturday, so we don't miss them too badly." She then lowered her voice by a decibel. "Although... looking at how our siblings grew up, Patch and I are actually quite glad we're able to move out of our old flat. I mean... we still love our brothers and sisters dearly, but... personal space is somewhat a rarity in that house now that everyone's bigger."

Ginny nodded understandingly. "Yeah, I bet it is," she said. "And how's your previous human doing? Wait, what's his name again? Todger or something?"

Penny couldn't hold back her laugh this time. "It's Roger, Gins!" she corrected her again with a grin.

"Ah, yes... Roger. Silly me. I was wondering why a male human would name himself that," Ginny chuckled to herself. "Anyways, how's he doing? Has he become a rich and famous musician yet?'

"Sure... he traded his multi-million dollar mansion to continue living in that cramped flat of his," Penny sarcastically replied with a humorous grin, resulting in Ginny bursting into a sudden fit of laughter. "But seriously, he's doing fine. Still playing the piano and coming up with all sorts of crazy songs to get his big break." She then continued, "Still, no matter how funny his songs may be, Patch and I still enjoy hearing him sing. For some reason, our new pet Baldrick seems to be his biggest fan so far. You should see him dreamily stare at Roger with those owl eyes everytime he sings." She recalled with a giggle.

As they walked, Ginny turned her gaze back towards the bench, and it didn't take Penny long to realize that her friend's eyes were zeroed in on a specific target. "Hey, come on, Gins. Eyes off my brother!" Penny said while giving the golden retriever a firm but friendly nudge.

Ginny laughed sheepishly at being caught red-handed. "Heh, sorry. Just admiring the view, is all," she said with a sly grin, earning an eyeroll from Penny.

"Yeah, sure... you can enjoy the entire view of your boyfriend Richie when we get to his hang-out spot, Gins. There's nothing worth admiring at my brother's direction," she said before she pulled Ginny's snout so that it was pointed forwards again.

Ginny laughed at Penny's protectiveness over her brother, "Aww... that's just so cute of you, Penny!" she teased with a smirk, causing her friend to let out a tired sigh. But then Ginny unexpectedly stopped in her tracks and looked like she needed to confess something to Penny.

"By the way, I forgot to mention to you earlier that um... Richie and I broke up," she eventually said.

Penny was indeed surprised by this. "Really?! When was this?"

Ginny shrugged. "Just last week. We just had too many differences." She said, rather vaguely.

Penny raised a brow at her. Ginny seemed to be hooking up and then ditching her boyfriends by the week, and she was always giving very vague and unconvincing reasons for each breakup. Richie the Rottweiler would have been her 11th ex-boyfriend that year, and it was only the first week of March.

"Well, why didn't you tell me that when we started our walk? I thought I'm just accompanying you to Richie's hang out spot," Penny said, slightly irritated.

"Oh, come on... is it so wrong if I just wanted to have a walk my best friend?" Ginny pouted, trying to put on a convincing smile.

Penny instead became even more convinced that the golden retriever had an ulterior motive. She then remembered how her friend was staring at Patch just a while ago. "Ginny... are you sure you just want to have a walk with me... or are you planning to use me to hook up with my brother?" Penny bluntly asked with a raised brow.

Ginny suddenly looked surprised, but Penny was sure she was feigning it. "Whoah, whoah... wherever did you get that idea?" Ginny exclaimed.

Penny snorted. "Oh, come on, Gins. You didn't mention about you breaking up with Richie until I brought it up, and then I caught you staring at Patch just a minute ago!"

The golden retriever continued staring at her with the surprised look plastered on her snout until she suddenly erupted in a fit laughter. "Oh, Penny... just because I happened to look at your brother's direction, that doesn't mean I was eyeballing or something!" she said, laughing so loud that tears started streaming down her eyes. Penny's brow was still raised with doubt. Ginny continued, "Look, your brother Patch may be dreamy, muscular, cute and hot and..."

She almost trailed off with her compliments until she noticed the thunderous glare she was receiving from Penny.

"Uh... I mean- yeah, your brother is everything I just described, but there is one thing about him that puts me off..."

"And what's that?" Penny asked, genuinely curious.

Ginny grinned at her. "He looks too much like you!" She exclaimed. "I mean... if he hadn't had that patch on his eye and if his right ear wasn't completely black, he'd be the spittin' image of you, Penny! You two look so freakishly alike!"

Penny by now was beyond confused with the golden retriever's reasoning. "Well, of course we would look like each other, considering we're brother and sister and we were born literally minutes apart. What's so freaky about that?"

"Well, it would be freaky for me if Patch and I were going at it and then I'm suddenly seeing your face instead of hi-"

Once again, Ginny cut her sentence midway when she realized that Penny's murderous glare had returned.

"Uh- I mean, well, yeah..." Ginny laughed nervously. "I mean... you're good looking and all, Penny, but I'm obviously not into you in that way, um... if you know what I mean..."

Penny let out a long, exasperated breath, mentally wondering how she ended up befriending the golden retriever. "Yeah, sure, Gins. Whatever." She said before walking ahead. "Let's just get on with our walk."

Her friend trotted after her.

"So, Gins... if you're not after my brother, who's the next guy you're planning to hook up with for this week?" Penny asked, making small talk so that their walk together would not be enshrouded by awkward silence.

"Hey... you make it sound as if I'm dating a new guy every week," Ginny pouted, leading Penny to wonder if she was mocking herself or if she really was that oblivious. "Anyway, I don't wanna talk about guys today. They're all the same, anyways..."

"And how is that?" Penny asked.

Ginny scoffed. "They pretend to be interested in you in the beginning, but later on you realize that they're more interested in nothing else but shaggin' ya!"

"Perhaps you should start dating more decent males, then."

The two dogs gasped and turned around to see Patch, who was looking at Ginny with a dissatisfied look on his maw.

"Oh! Oh um- hey Patch!" Ginny nervously greeted him.

Patch merely rolled his eyes. "Us males are not all the same, Ginny. Sure, there are a few rotten apples in the basket, but you seem to constantly avoid the good ones and then complain each time you get a rotten one."

"Well... maybe you can help me find the truly good ones, then..." Ginny cooed while smiling seductively.

"Eh, I got better things to do," Patch replied bluntly. Ginny immediately let out an offended huff while Penny failed to suppress a giggle.

Patch then turned towards his sister. "Hate to interrupt your walk, Penny, but Baldrick just remembered that his supervisor is meeting him at the house, so we have to shoot off back home."

Penny nodded. "Sure. See you around, Gins!" She said before paw-bumping her friend and then taking off beside her brother.

"Bye Penny. And good-bye Patchy!" She called out.

Patch shuddered slightly as they walked away. "Ugh... how do you put up with her?"

"I get by. Just barely," Penny grinned at him. "But hanging out with her certainly beats 'story time' with our pet. Was his book actually funny this time?"

"Hmm, yes, a ripping good laugh," Patch mildly responded, earning a chuckle from his sister.

They soon arrived at the bench where their human pet was waiting for them. "Ah... there you are, my lovelies! Come now, musn't keep the ol' gaffer waiting!"

He attached a leash each to the Dalmatian siblings' collars before they all walked away from the park and towards the busy streets of Kensington on their journey home. As much as she liked the park, Penny much more enjoyed the trip back home where it's just her walking beside her brother and with their pet in tow behind them. The lively atmosphere of the town was a much-needed remedy for her after they spent most of the week indoors due to the round-the-clock Spring showers the past few days. It's just too bad that their morning was cut short due to their human's work.

Soon they arrived at the grounds of the flat where they lived. The moment they went inside their unit, Baldrick unleashed the Dalmatians before turning on the tv for them. "Alright, you two enjoy the telly now. Got to prepare them documents for when the boss arrives, see?". He then went over to the small dining table which, as evident by various files and paperwork strewn about on it, was also his working table in which he then sat down at before sorting a few documents.

A few feet away, Patch contentedly sat on his haunches in front of the tv as his eyes glued themselves to the black and white screen. He was just in time to catch his favorite programme, 'Canine Careers' - a documentary about dogs who work alongside humans in various fields of work.

To his far right, Penny was watching the tv too whilst she was curled up in the large sleeping basket that she and Patch shared when they sleep at night. They obviously would have preferred their own sleeping basket each, but Baldrick was clearly unaware of their need to sleep in separate baskets, and it didn't really help that the sole 'sofa' in his flat was an oriental-themed settee made entirely out of hard wood. So for now, Patch and Penny didn't really mind sharing the basket as they could still fit in it without encroaching into each other's personal space.

Half an hour had passed by with everyone doing their own activities, that was, until someone started rapidly bang on the unit's door. "Oi, Baldrick! Hurry up and open this damn door!" cried the gruff, impatient voice from the other side.

Patch and Penny watched as their human hurriedly put his coat and flat cap on before making a mad rush for the door, clumsily knocking down a stack of files on the table along the way.

"Alright, alright, I'm a-coming!" Baldrick responded as he opened the door.

A tall and fierce-looking man with a thick moustache took a step inside the moment the door opened, his huge frame almost knocking down the skinny Baldrick as a result. "You got them overtime claims sorted out?" The man harshly asked.

"Uh, y-yes... here are the files..." Baldrick timidly replied while handing over the files that he grabbed earlier on.

"What about the tender offer letter?" the man briskly asked, making it more obvious that he didn't want to be there long.

"Er- The drafts are inside that last file. I made several copies."

The man examined the contents of the last file before going through with the ones. Baldrick stood quietly in his place while sweating profusely, as if he were a child whose parents were examining his report card.

Everything seemed to be going well until-

"Oi! Where are the letter of terms and conditions, then?!"

Baldrick froze in his place and was visibly confused. "I beg your pardon, sir?"

"Where are your drafts for the Letter of Terms and Conditions?!" the man bellowed his question again. "I've sent you a memo for it yesterday! Are you really that daft or something?! I ought to-"

His sentence was cut short when Patch and Penny suddenly appeared beside Baldrick, both snarling menacingly at the man with their bared fangs.

He yelped and took a step backwards before glaring back at Baldrick. "Are you bleedin' threatening me with those two mongrel mutts of yours, Baldrick?!"

"Now, now, lovelies. Calm down. Sit." He said in a kindly but firm voice to the Dalmatian siblings. Patch and Penny obliged him and sat on their haunches but they still aimed their bared fangs to the man outside in case he tried to do anything else.

Baldrick then faced his superior again but with a very apologetic look on his face. "Pardon my dogs, sir. They can get a little too excited at times," he began. "But would you be so kind, sir, as to give me a few minutes to explain myself?"

The other man huffed impatiently. "You better have a bleedin' good explanation then."

Baldrick nodded. "Well... first of all, sir... I'm just a receptionist. I'm not supposed to be processing overtime claims or preparing important documents like a tender offer letter. With respect, sir, these are jobs that's meant for someone of your grade, sir, but I'm still trying my utmost best to have them settled, nonetheless. Secondly... I've been having my days off since yesterday as granted by HR, sir, so I wouldn't have received your memo, hence why I hadn't prepared drafts for the Letter of Terms and Conditions."

Baldrick released a breath of air after he finished. It clearly took him a lot of courage to say what he had just said. However, his superior was evidently less than satisfied with his explanation. "Baldrick, you've been with the company for the last three years, you don't start pretending that we don't all do jobs outside our job scopes, see? Who cares if you're just a receptionist?! You best start bleedy workin' on them bleedin' letters, or I'll bleedy... bleedy... UGH!"

Baldrick's eyes widened with surprised when the man unexpectedly let out a defeated sigh before looking exasperatedly back at him. "You know what? You might as well add next Monday to your day off as well, alright? And the same can be said for Tuesday, Wednesday and the rest of next week! In fact, don't bother coming back until you get a brain implant or something! I'm done with your shite!"

By now, Baldrick was getting tired of being constantly insulted by his superior. He understood perfectly what the impatient man was now trying to get at. "Alright, sir. I'll go back to the office today, on my day off, to collect your memo and whatever other items I need, and then I'll have the drafts ready for you by this evening itself, sir."

"You bleedin' better!" The man bellowed before he stormed off away and made his exit.

Baldrick let out a long breath of disappointment as he closed back the door. He looked down when he felt a lick on his hand.

"Thanks for having me back, lovelies," he chuckled as he playfully ruffled both the Dalmatians' heads. He then let out a long sigh as if he had bad news for them. "Well... looks like I'll have to keep meself busy with me work, I'm afraid. And just when I thought I could enjoy me day off and go back to the park later in the evening..."

Patch and Penny could do little else but offer their pet looks of pity. Baldrick got up and gave them one last ruffle before he opened the door again. "Gotta go to the office, lovelies. Hold down the fort for me, alright?"

He was about to make his exit when he decided to give his dogs some last few words of encouragement. "Chin up, lovelies! Tomorrow's Saturday, so hopefully things will be better tomorrow when we visit your family, alright?" He finally disappeared after closing the door behind him, leaving Patch and Penny to exchange doubtful looks with each other.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the day. Baldrick came back home an hour later and had to spend the rest of the day getting his work done while Patch and Penny loyally stayed beside him at the table to keep him company.

Later that night, Baldrick went off to bed early, leaving the Dalmatians alone in the living area for most of the night. Penny switched off the tv and headed for the sleeping basket to retire to her slumber. Patch had been quietly laying in there since their human retired to his sleep, and he didn't even noticed when his sister curled up beside him at her half of the sleeping basket.

"What're you thinking, Patch?" she asked, causing him to jolt slightly.

Patch took a glance at her before resuming staring at the space in front of him. "Nothing much..." he mildly responded.

Penny chuckled. "You really shouldn't spend all night thinking about Baldrick, you know."

Her brother looked at her in surprise, wondering how she knew what was going on in his mind.

"I can't blame you for thinking about him, though. I worry about him too," Penny continued, ignoring her brother's surprised look as she scooched over closer next to him.

"Yeah... I'm wondering why he just lets that old fart scream into his face earlier today. I'd like to bite that wanker's face off," Patch said with a low growl as he pictured that very scenario in his mind.

"Still won't cure his ugliness," Penny nonchalantly said, earning her a smirk from Patch.

"True..." he replied before drifting back into his thoughts. "I think our Baldrick lacks self-esteem. I mean, we don't see him being friends with other humans aside from Roger and Anita."

Penny nodded in agreement. "Yeah..." she responded, before an idea suddenly flew into her mind. "Hey, you think we'd boost his morale if... we were to find him a mate? What do you say?"

Patch raised a doubtful brow at her. "I'd say... that you've been hanging around with Ginny too much," he said, causing Penny to roll her eyes at him. "Come on, sis... if sex were the answer to every problem, we'd achieve world peace by now."

"No... not for sex, you bonehead," Penny groaned before giving him a hard nudge. "I'm talking about companionship. Think about it, Anita and Roger have each other, Dad and Mum have each other, our brothers and sisters have each other... even you and I have each other, Patchy. But who does Baldrick have? He lives alone in this house without a companion."

Patch stared confusedly at her. "Aren't we supposed to be his companions?"

"But he can't understand us. He needs another human to be his companion. Someone who understands about him and what he goes through everyday. And who can make a better companion other than a mate who will love and support him? It's probably the only way we can see our pet actually show some self-confidence instead of being timid all the time."

Patch though about what she said, and pretty soon, he had to admit that what she said was right. And he hated it when she was right. "Ugh... okay. I guess we can talk to Dad about it tomorrow, considering he's got the experience."

Penny nodded, glad that her brother saw her way. She then gave him a goodnight lick on his nose before moving back to her half of the basket. "Good night, Patch."

"Night, Penny," he wished her before resting his head down. He then stole one final glance at the door of Baldrick's bedroom, muttered something to himself before lulling himself into his slumber.

Note: Not much going on here as most of the events will start from the second chapter onwards. Also, apologies if I seem to be dragging on with this first chapter as it's my first fanfiction I've written. Comments are always appreciated!