Looking back on his puppyhood, it seems he spent nearly the entirety of it in a cage. A hard metallic floor beneath him and a door of thin wires that kept him locked in. Humans in white coats roamed around the room he was kept in, occasionally removing him from his cage to poke him with more needles or run various experiments. They were scientists, he knew that much, and they were trying to do something to him. He didn't know what exactly, but amongst the scientific mumbo coming out of their mouths, he often heard the word 'enhancement'.

He was later proven as a small success after the scientists forced him to run for hours on the treadmill to test his endurance. They said he had increased stamina, which excited them, but when they continued to inject him with serums and take his blood and nothing else happened, they grew disappointed.

The dog did feel something different, however. While his body didn't enhance any further, it seemed that he gained a new ability.

He first noticed it with his handler, April. She was his favorite human, and while he didn't have a name, she liked to call him Nine, after the number the scientists called him, FX009. Nine liked her very much, and when she approached him one day he just knew how happy she was to see him. He didn't even have to read her body language or hear her voice, he just felt her happiness. Later, when she left for the night, Nine felt a little piece of him go with her.

His ability got stronger after that and expanded to other humans too. He could feel the malice and frustration of the other scientists, could feel their indifference to his obvious pain as they injected him. April was like a light in the darkness, a constantly positive emotion in the sea of hostility and irritation he felt from the humans. However, sometimes when she looked at him, when no other scientists were around, he felt sadness from her. When she was gone, he was practically in agony, feeling as if a piece of himself was missing and not being able to rest until she returned.

Nine didn't know what was happening and didn't like it, but the scientists remained oblivious to his newfound ability. One day, while he's with April, one of the scientists approached her and told her that FX009 had been deemed a failure. A flash of panic came from her and she immediately protested, but the man refused to listen and insisted the dog will be put down so they can focus on other experiments.

April was in emotional turmoil for the rest of the day, and thanks to his ability, Nine shared her agony. She was very fearful and seemed to deliberate about something before her emotions hardened with determination. That night, she took the dog and brought him into her car, driving far away until she came to a stop in Manhattan.

Nine didn't understand what was happening. He'd never been outside the lab before, and now April was taking him out of the car and putting him on the sidewalk. Everything was so overwhelming, not only his alien surroundings but also the immense fear and sadness coming from April.

Kneeling down, she kissed his head, whispered goodbye, then got in the car and drove away. Nine sat, waiting for her to return, his anxiety growing the further she got away. He could feel his bond with her stretching thin and it was making him ansty. To make matters worse, he could feel her sadness slowly fading away into fear and anxiety. So, he got up and went after her, despite not knowing his way around the city.

It didn't matter a few minutes later, however. Through their bond, Nine felt April's emotions suddenly spike up in pure terror before the bond was brutally severed. The dog stumbled backwards, gasping in shock and pain. It felt like a part of his soul just died. There was this emptiness inside him, hollow and gaping, that his bond with April was supposed to be in. He gasped and whined in sorrow. He knew, he just knew that she was dead. And he didn't need to be an empath to know it had something to do with those scientists she worked for.

For a long time after that, Nine wasn't sure what to do. He was a young dog, only a few months old, in a strange world he'd never been in before. Thankfully, there were many other stray dogs in Manhattan, some of which were willing to help guide him, so he soon learned how to survive as a stray. He still mourned April every day, and it took a long time for the gaping hole in his heart to stop aching so fiercely.

He spent the next few months roaming around the streets of Manhattan, snatching hotdogs from vendors and watching the city's inhabitants mill about. He learned a lot from watching and listening to the humans, learned what kind of world he lived in. Eventually he settled down in an old warehouse. It belonged to a man named Adrian Toomes, who seemed to run sort of salvage company. The warehouse was full of metal scraps and other large pieces of junk, which provided Nine with plenty of places to hide. He didn't interact with humans often, despite spending so much time watching them. Even though he missed human connection, he didn't want to risk bonding with another person. It hurt so much to lose April, he didn't know if he could handle that pain again.

Toomes did eventually find out about him. He poked his head under one of the machines one day and spotted the large black dog. Nine felt his surprise, which turned into curiosity and mild annoyance. However, the man was kind enough to leave him alone, only occasionally leaving out food for him to eat. For the most part, however, he ignored the dog.

That was fine by Nine. However, he only lived in the warehouse for a couple of months until aliens attacked Manhattan. He was safe in the warehouse, but once the battle was won Nine decided to find out what happened. Leaving the warehouse, he made his way through a severely damaged Manhattan and attempted to find a TV.

He noticed a group of humans gathered around the window of a restaurant and he approached them. They paid no mind to him and he followed their gaze to a TV behind the restaurant window displaying the news.

Nine learned that he wasn't the only one with strange abilities. These 'Avengers' seemed much more powerful than him, though. He briefly wondered if they had gotten their powers by being experimented on, but then dismissed the thought. Still, their heroic actions lingered in his mind and he idly wondered if he could somehow use his powers to help people.

After the Battle of Manhattan, he slowly but surely made his way out of Manhattan and moved into Queens. He didn't aim to go there, but the cleanup took awhile and brought the government uncomfortably close. Nine actively avoided getting in their way, especially after he stumbled upon an intense moment between Toomes and some government officials in one of the destroyed buildings. The dog didn't stick around long, but he could feel Toomes's fury at his salvage operation was being taken over.

So, Nine put Manhattan and all of it's troubles behind him and gradually moved away from the damage until he found himself in Queens a few months later.

He found himself liking Queens a lot more than Manhattan. There are more people there and the city is rich in diversity and culture. Nine enjoyed the years he spent there and moved to Brooklyn briefly, but the other borough was a bit too populated for him, so he soon moved back to Queens.

Nine had spent so long moving from place to place that when he first considered spending the rest of his life in Queens, the thought almost scared him.

But he liked this part of New York. It didn't carry the memories of his past like Manhattan did and it wasn't overpopulated like Brooklyn. He liked watching the children walk home from school and he liked watching friendly people interact. He'd even found some ways to be helpful to the civilians. He would pick up items that people dropped in the street and return it to them, he would let homeless people pet him and watch them smile, and he would play with children in the park. He especially liked occasionally finding a lost child and staying with them, protecting them, until their families found them a few hours later.

He loved seeing the parents' reactions when they reunited with their children.

It made him long for a family. He's met many pets over the years and they always seemed so happy and carefree. He could feel the love shared between the dogs and their owners and longed for something similar. He missed April, but more importantly he missed the love he felt from her.

Sometimes, he wondered why no one ever tried to bring him home with them. He interacted with lots of people during his time as a stray and he's always been kind, but no one ever did anything more than give him some food they happened to have on them. He assumed it must've been because of his size. He'd seen many different types of dogs and eventually he discovered that he was an Irish Wolfhound. Not many people would be willing to bring such a big stray dog into their household.

Currently, the hound is walking through the streets of Queens at night. It's relatively quiet and his claws make a clicking sound as they scrape the icy pavement when his paws touch the ground. He pauses by a frozen puddle and looks at it. His reflection stares back at him.

Despite being a large dog, he isn't much to look at. Years of living as a stray gives his black fur a dirty, scraggly appearance. He envies the clean, pampered dogs he sees walking with their owners during the day. As much as he loves his freedom, he really wishes he could take a bath. The dirt is nothing compared to the fleas, though.

Continuing on, he makes his way over to the alley he's been sleeping in the past couple of days. It's behind a hospital and has been quite cosy so far. The building is large enough to block out both the cold February wind and the loud ambulance sirens as they enter on the opposite side of the structure. There's a couple of dumpsters and Nine has taken to sleeping underneath one of them.

As he approaches his sleeping spot, he notices a flash of red streaking past above him. He pauses, glancing up. The figure is gone by now, but Nine knows what it was.

The person appeared a couple of months ago, roaming around in the evening in what looks like a red onesie. He's small but quick and apparently strong too. Nine has followed him a couple of times to discover that he spends most of his time helping random people. When Nine walks around the city during the day, he hears people talking about the red vigilante excitedly. It seems that they've named him Spider-Man.

From what Nine has seen of his powers, he figures it's a fitting name. However, he highly doubts that Spider-Man is actually a man. Everything about him, from his suit to his brief conversations with civilians that end up either on YouTube or the news, practically screams his youth.

Nine has even caught his scent a couple of times, enough for him to be able to recognize it. Unfortunately, there are many things to smell in Queens, so Nine has never been able to track him anywhere. Not that he's given much effort into trying in the first place.

Spider-Man is kind and makes the people of Queens happy, so if he wants his identity to be a secret then Nine doesn't care. Besides, what would he do with that information?

Looking away from the roof, the large dog crouches down and crawls underneath the dumpster and curls up. The cold weather makes it hard for him to rest, but eventually he manages to fall into a fitful slumber.

He's woken up abruptly in the morning by a banging sound above him.

Startling, he jolts upwards only to hit his head on the bottom of the dumpster. Wincing, he lowers his head and opens his eyes.

He sees two pale feet in flat shoes in front of him. They shuffle as the person they belong to picks up garbage bags from the ground and hauls them into the dumpster, creating the sound that startled Nine. Once all the bags are in the dumpster, Nine expects the person to leave, but instead they pause.

Suddenly, a face peeks underneath the dumpster. Pretty brown eyes meet his and the woman lets out a surprised sound.

"Oh!" She squeals, "Poor thing! What are you doing under there?"

Grunting, Nine crawls out from underneath the dumpster, causing the woman to take a step back. He feels her nervousness when she sees how big he is so he sits down calmly, looking at her with a tilted head. She smiles softly and stretches out her hand for him to sniff. He does, and when he gives her hand a soft lick after, his eyes dart to the name tag over her breast pocket.

May Parker, it reads.

The lick causes May to giggle and she pats his head. "Aww, you're a good boy," she says, "But don't go sleeping underneath dumpsters. You don't want to know what goes in here." She wrinkles her nose at the dumpster before shivering. "You'd better find a warmer place to sleep, honey," she says, her breath creating a cloud in front of her, "It's freezing out here."

The woman turns around and walks back towards the building. In the doorway, she pauses, glances back at him, and then disappears.

Nine watches her leave, his nose twitching. Something about her smells… familiar.

Nine keeps sleeping underneath the dumpster for the next couple of weeks. Every morning, and sometimes in the evening, May visits him for a few minutes and sometimes brings him little things to eat. She's very nice and Nine likes her, although he still can't pinpoint why she smells familiar. May seems to like him too and often laments about not being able to bring him home with her.

"Oh, you're such a good dog," she coos at him as she scratches his cheeks, "I'd scoop you up and take you home, but my husband is allergic to dogs. He sneezes a lot when I come home after petting you."

Nine can't help thinking that's too bad, because he wouldn't mind having May as his owner. She always has positive and bubbly emotions that only get brighter when she sees him. She's kind and funny and he looks forward to their meetings.

But just as soon as he gets used to her presence, she suddenly disappears.

Nine is a bit worried the first day, but figures that it's probably some holiday and she doesn't have to go to work. When he sees other people going to work, though, he frowns in confusion.

Days go by and she still doesn't show up. Nine is still worried but figures she might've taken a vacation. And if not, well, nothing in his life is really permanent. Perhaps he will never find out what happened to her. Still, her absence lingers in the back of his mind.

He considers maybe finding a new place to sleep would take his mind off of her. However, the day he decides to leave is the day May finally shows up again.

Nine perks up, hearing her footsteps approaching him. He crawls out from underneath the dumpster, his eyes bright and tail wagging. However, his excitement diminishes when he feels a wave of emotions coming from her.

Pure gut-wrenching sorrow emanates from her. When he sees her face, her brown eyes are red-rimmed and puffy and she sniffles occasionally. She looks like she's barely holding herself together, her body trembling slightly and her eyes full of grief. She looks at him sorrowfully before falling to her knees.

Nine rushes over to her, sniffing her uncertainly. She immediately wraps her arms around his shoulders and holds him tightly. Nine freezes, taken aback. To his horror, she begins softly sobbing into his fur. He sniffs her hesitantly, unsure of what to do.

'What happened? Is she hurt?' He wonders, 'Why is she so sad?'

May just keeps crying, her fingers clenching his wiry black fur. It starts to become a bit uncomfortable after a few minutes, but he patiently waits it out. Eventually, her sobs begin to grow softer and her fingers unclench. She lightly scratches his fur as she sniffles for a few more minutes before pulling away and standing up. Nine watches her in confusion as she gives him a watery smile and stands up, pats his head, and goes back into the building.

The Wolfhound just stands there, bewildered. 'What could have made her so sad?'

The crying doesn't stop there. For nearly two weeks, whenever May comes out to see him in the morning and occasionally the evening, she simply cries and hugs him. He's confused but always lets her. Petting him seems to soothe her and calm her down. She always leaves him with a watery but grateful smile.

When Nine leaves the dumpster during the day to wander around, he thinks about May. He knows she must've lost someone- he's very familiar with the emotions she's feeling. They were the same ones he felt when April died, although he didn't have anyone to comfort him. The thought makes him feel determined. He will be there for her to make her feel better, but there must be something more he can do than just sit and let her cry on him.

As he walks through the city, he passes by a dog park. Pausing, he glances up to watch the dogs and their owners playing with each other. The dogs yap happily as they bring balls and frisbees back to their masters, who grin and ruffle their fur before throwing the retrieved item again.

At the sound of a child's laughter, Nine tilts his head contemplatively. 'Play? Not a bad idea.'

When May Parker exits the back of the hospital and enters the alley, Nine is ready for her. The moment the grieving woman spots him, he pads up to her and drops a dirty, worn tennis ball at her feet. She blinks in surprise, staring at the ball before looking back at him. His tail wags and he lets his tongue loll out of his mouth, gazing up at her hopefully.

Slowly, a smile creeps onto her face and she lets out a breathless laugh. Nine's tail wags again. Another small laugh follows, then another, and then May is on her knees and giggling, her arms wrapped around Nine's shoulders. She hugs him for a long moment, for once not crying, and he licks her on the face when she pulls away.

She snorts and wipes her face with her sleeve. For a few moments, she just looks at him, a mixture of happiness and sadness swirling in her gaze. Then, she seems to decide on something.

Standing up, she scratches his head and looks down at him fondly. "I think Peter needs you a lot more than I do," she says softly.

Nine tilts his head. 'Who's Peter?'