Chapter 72: Joined at the hip

Already forcing his feet towards the caboose' stairs, Felix felt his courage only grow. He was going to be there for Calhoun- even if it meant he had to die trying.

Approaching the first step, though, he gulped and cautiously stepped one paw down onto the rung. Being courageous didn't mean he had to flat-out be stupid, he quickly decided.

The second his paw touched the top step, the train hit a bump on the tracks, causing the unbalanced Felix to dig his remaining paws a little deeper into the platform for stability. Once the bump and it's effects had passed -and all furry paws were finally safely on the first step- the small dog cringed when he was nearly blown off by the sudden rushing air that assaulted him. He realized with a startle that he was technically on the side of the train now, no longer protected by the locomotive to block the forceful wind.

His ears long slapping him repeatedly in the face from the brutal gusts, Felix slowly yet blindly continued his decline down the ladder...

Only for the locomotive to hit another small bump on the track, causing the unprepared Felix to go tumbling right off the steps- and to plunge nose-first to the harsh ground.

Crashing hard onto the dirt ground beside the tracks, the small dog brutally somersaulted few times before finally coming to a slow stop. Opening his blurry eyes for a moment, Felix watched with a growing headache as multiple fazey trains seemed to chug down the track. Blinking a few extra times for good measure, the sets of trains he once saw merged into one final form as his eyes adjusted and focused.

Forcing himself weakly up to his paws, Felix shakily watched as the train he was once on rounded a bend. As it chugged through a long, dark tunnel, the locomotive quickly disappeared from view- causing the corgi to slowly shake his head in a stupor.

Felix the corgi couldn't believe it, but he had tumbled right off a rocketing train- and somehow didn't die!

His moment of sheer, exhilarating disbelief only lasted for a moment, however, when Felix remembered the reason he'd gotten off the train in the first place. Perking his ears up, he heard the harsh struggle Calhoun was currently facing in the distance behind him.

Straining as he looked over his shoulder, he saw that she was still exhaustedly wrangling the scorpion around, doing her best to not let it go from her near bone-crushing grip- but was quickly losing strength and stamina to fight it...

And it was clear she couldn't sucessfully hold onto the scorpion much longer.

His eyebrows hunched in determination and valor, Felix immediately took off across the dirt ground beside the tracks towards Calhoun. The corgi's legs racing as fast as he could make them, he focused solely on doberman, somehow still looking beautiful... while wrestling such a deadly, intimidating creature...

Forcing his mind to block out the very real danger he was about to face with said creature, Felix focused on the fact that he had to act. Listen to his gut and to his mind...

And finally be the good dog everyone believed he was.

As he drew closer to the combative duo, the corgi quickly realized that Calhoun was for so absorbed in wrangling the scorpion that she hadn't noticed anything else around her- or that Felix had gotten off the train. She didn't even seem to detect that an orange and white corgi was sprinting towards her...

Until said corgi tried to speed to a halt a few feet in front of her, only to end up tripping and skidding flat on his chin before her paws.

"FELIXH?!" Calhoun screeched in shock with a full mouth, still holding a gradually weakening death grip on the creature between her jaws. "Whath are you thoing here?!"

Forcing himself up on his aching paws, Felix moved his bottom jaw side to side for a moment, making sure he hadn't broken it.

"I'm here to help ya, Calhoun!" He exclaimed quickly, courageously charging forward...but freezing in place as the scorpion twisted around to face him. Clawing the ground underneath it with its many legs, the creature tried to in vain to snap it's large, extremely frightening pinchers at the corgi's face, already hissing at yet another enemy it had to face.

"You should havth noth done thath," the doberman growled as she bit down harder, dragging the creature backward a bit. "You were muth safer on the thain!"

Realizing how true that could very well be, the corgi backed up a bit as the scorpion snarled at him yet again.

"B-but I knew you'd need help!" He exclaimed, his eyes narrowed and chest suddenly puffed out. "You can't possibly defeat this thing without my assistance!"

As she briefly rolled her eyes, Calhoun strained and attempted to pin the amazingly strong scorpion's face down into the ground- noticeably even more desperate to do so now that Felix was here.

"I think I can hanthle thisth quith fine on my own," she growled at the heroic corgi-

Just as the scorpion seemed to anticipate her next move and swung back around to face in her direction. Pinching it's large pinchers haphazardly around, the creature clenched down on one of Calhoun's foreleg- and started to pinch so hard the doberman had no choice but to release an agonizing yelp.

At being freed from its restraining hold, the creature collapsed on the ground and let go of Calhoun's leg. Turning towards its smaller target, the scorpion hissed threateningly at Felix. Before either dog could blink or react, the mutated scorpion charged at the corgi, it's pinchers -and even worse tail- ready to strike and no doubt kill its smaller prey.

Blinking frantically, Felix scrambled quickly backward in terror before turning completely around and running forward. The scorpion was right on his tail- and the short corgi's tiny legs were no match for this creature.

Forcing himself not to trip, the small dog desperately racked his brain for what he could possibly do to stop this thing- or, better yet, kill this thing. Anything that would kill this deadly creature...

When one statement came flashing brightly into his mind.

All we can determine as of right now is that those creatures...all completely die when submerged in water...

Resisting against the urge to coward in place or run away, Felix began to frantically look around for some amount of water, any amount.

Peering at the other side of the furthest train tracks, he saw there was a large puddle of water, left when by an earlier rainstorm the town had experienced. Quickly deciding it was his best bet, the corgi began curved to the left, now heading across the tracks with the creature still hot on his tail...

Neither even seeing that there was another train heading northbound as it quickly chugged down the tracks.

"Felix! Look out!" Calhoun screamed frantically at seeing the other train quickly approaching. She desperately limped forward down the side of the tracks, cursing herself that she was in no condition to race after them to help Felix.

Only now between the two sets of tracks, the corgi looked up to finally see the other train quickly racing down the tracks that he himself was about to run across. About then, the train conductor noticed the two creatures about to run over the tracks and blared his warning horn, attempting to scare them into running a different direction. He was way too close to be able to stop in time.

Deciding to risk it -and to trust his gut- Felix narrowed his eyes forward, plastered his ears up against his head...and forced himself to pick up his pace as he pushed straight ahead towards the second tracks. He could make it- at least, he hoped he could. The dirt ground beside the track was just right there...

The small yet steady corgi jumped over the first raised railing of the track- and quickly became square in the middle of the second track. Relentlessly, the huge locomotive plowed ever ahead, now just inches from where the corgi and the scorpion where.

Holding her breath, Calhoun watched helplessly as the corgi raced on. He attempted to jump to safety, to get just on the other side of the railroad tracks...

As the train bolted forward and crushed the scorpion with one side of its many wheels, killing the creature instantly. Bits and pieces of the scorpion exploded into a million different directions, showering the two tracks with legs and arms.

Gasping, Calhoun blinked repeatedly. For a mere moment in time, she was a strange numb, feeling literally nothing at all.

Maybe she was in too much shock to come to terms with what just happened or she was trying to mentally deny what just occurred before her eyes. But there was no denying it.

There was no way Felix had cleared that jumped and didn't also get killed by that train.

Her weak emotions coming to grips with that raw reality, Calhoun suddenly buckled, having to force her ripped-up legs straight to remain standing. She abruptly felt like the wind had been knocked out of her, like she had been run over instead, making it extremely hard to breathe.

All at once, however, she began breathing too much, heaving as her sides rapidly rose and fell. She frantically realized that she felt dizzy as if she were spinnng around in circles. Blinkly repeatedly yet again, the world around her was becoming blurry and too heavy to bear...and, worse of all, everything was a still silent.

An impossible-to-bear, deathly still kind of silence...

Just like it did when-

Shaking her head so hard she nearly fell over, the doberman gritted her teeth hard and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She forced herself to swallow down every gut-wrenching, sickening, weak, real emotion she had bubbling up.

No, Sergeant Calhoun wasn't going to allow herself to feel this way, this attached. Not now- and not ever again.

The only sound for a few agonizing minutes was that of the train passing by, the constant clicking of it chugging down the tracks making Calhoun feel sick to her stomach. As the caboose finally appeared and was quickly pulled by, the doberman finally sighed emptily, about to painfully but despondently limp back towards home...

When she saw strange moment happening on the other side of the far tracks.

Her eyebrows scrunched together, Calhoun focused the movement on the ground beside the tracks...and quickly realized she was looking an orange and white creature laying in the puddle of water.

An orange and white creature that was alive...

"Felix!" Another scream erupted from Calhoun's lips suddenly- only this one no so gut-wrenching. In desperation, she began straining her aching legs forward, forcing them to carry them over to where the still alive corgi was.

At hearing his name, the spread out, soaking, still alive corgi slowly stood up on his paws- and came to the slow realization that he'd somehow not been killed by yet another train.

Shakily turning around, Felix saw Calhoun limping desperately towards him, slowly making her way over the tracks. Her face bore an interesting mixture of emotions, ones Felix had never seen her have quite to this degree before. Emotions of extreme anger, bitter annoyance...

And an overwhelming sense of relief.

"A-are you ok?" She asked, her wobbling voice on the verge of rare, painfully real tears. Square in between the two set of tracks, she froze and lowered her head in his direction, her dark, worried eyes begging Felix to tell her that he was really okay.

Still soaking wet, the cogri smiled gently at her as he made his way quickly over to meet her half-way, dripping along the tracks as he did.

"Never better!" Felix laughed to calm her fear as he came to stand right before her, then shaking his wet fur semi-dry. As he did, the droplets of water showered Calhoun...but oddly enough she didn't even notice.

All she could see and focus on was Felix at that moment, alive and by miracle unharmed- and she couldn't quite describe just how happy that made her.

As he continued to shake the water off, it was as if the doberman's world slowed down, watching as his soaked fur swished this way and that until it was mostly clear of the water. Giving one last shake for good measure, however, the corgi's fluffy fur became messily stuck up in many different directions.

A smile came onto Calhoun's face at how wonky and overly cute Felix looked then...

And yet, she found her smile faded into a small, awe-struck gape when she realized that Felix still appeared majestic and handsome, the now clearly visible sunrise kissing his shiny fur making him look even more appealing.

A surpirsing look of strongness and bravery coming over his face, Felix smiled kindly up at Calhoun- and instantly a raw chill ran up the doberman's spine.

"Felix...You- you jumped out of a moving train... and then nearly got hit by another train in order to kill a mutated scoption...to help me?" She asked softly, her eyes the widest and most raw Felix had ever seen them.

In them he saw awe, adrimation...and a strange look he couldn't quite identified yet. But one that he liked nonethless.

And, most of all, there he saw Calhoun's tough, iron-clad wall start to crumble just a bit...making Felix feel warm and happy all over.

Well, of course I did all of that for you, the corgi's mind answered silently, another goofy grin surfacing on his face. One can't control the power or force of love, after all...

Instead of saying just what was on his mind, though, the corgi decided better of it...and decided to show it instead.

A soft smile still on his face, the corgi pranced forward and looped around under Calhoun's stomach. Coming to a stop between her two tall front legs, he looked up at her and blinked happily.

"Well, the train really killed the scorpion, not me," he acknowledged humbly...

Before looking down at the painful, harsh cuts, rips, and scratches Calhoun's poor front legs were now littered with. Just looking at their painful affliction caused Felix' handsome smile to disappear...and for him to personal experience the pain those injuries must have caused her.

He briefly gave of her forearms a quick, gentle lick, making Calhoun feel her stomach do multiple cartwheels at how soft Felix was being. She wasn't used to that level of gentleness- or that she actually greatly liked the feelings it gave her.

"And besides," Felix suddenly smiled, looking back up at her with those deep blue eyes, "you said to stick by your side. At all times, right?"

Looking back down at him, all Calhoun could do was stare into his eyes as a hauntingly familiar feeling swallowed her whole.

But the feeling wasn't what shocked the closed-off doberman so much- not at this point anymore, at least.

It was the fact that she was actually allowing herself to feel that familiar feeling. Allowing it to swallow her whole.

Allowing Felix himself to have that effect on her. Allowing him to calm her, soothe her...

Allowing him to slowly fix the broken, pounding thing in her chest.

Actually welcoming the raw, exciting feelings filling her now, the doberman broke her stare with Felix. A slow smirk coming across her face, she backed up.

"Ok, enough with the goo-goo eyes," she pushed dryly, playfully rolling her eyes to look down the tracks heading southbound. "Without that train ride, we've got a hard, bumpy walk ahead of us."

Beginning to slowly limp down the tracks, the elegant yet tough police dog peered over her shoulder at the corgi. There Felix saw look of a hidden level of excitement on her face, ready to face whatever laid ahead of them.

"Let's move'em out...Short Stack."

A warming sensation overtaking him all over again, Felix melted for a moment on the track before quickly smiling. Forcing his wobbly paws forward, he went skipping after her.

"Can do, Tamora!" He crowed confidently- before instantly pausing and wincing in his place.

Oh, why'd I have to ruin such a good moment like that?! His mind growled at himself as he crawled to Calhoun's side, peering up at her with a marked look of contriteness. You know she doesn't like hearin' her first name!!

At hearing that one delicate word said yet again out loud, Calhoun whipped her head to look down at the clearly remorseful corgi. She felt beyond odd for some reason, so conflicted- making her face unreadable to Felix' worried eyes.

Every instinct inside the doberman wanted to tackle Felix and choke him out then and there. To reject the warming emotions bubbling up and fill with cold, crippling yet safe fear and anger instead- as she had done for so long. To run and hide emotionally, refused to ever be seen as weak again- all at hearing just that one word...

But instead, Sergeant Calhoun went against her natural instincts for the first time in years- and just playfully nudged Felix over to the side, an ever-growing smirk and eye roll on her glowing face.