Disrespecting a member of Bravo will make the whole team hate you. Disrespecting Brock will make Cerberus hate you, which is a much more dangerous prospect.

Prompt from rockysmichigangirl on Tumblr: A higher-up looks down on Brock for being a dog handler and the team is super protective of him. It could be the higher up gets violent with Brock or something of the nature.

The Goodest Boy

Cereberus growled low as Admiral Doherty entered the briefing room. His attache, Captain Walsh, eyed the dog with a wrinkled nose and pursed lips. Brock patted Cerb's side and the dog settled. The rest of Bravo eyed the brass as they walked up to Harrington.

"This particular mission is high priority," Harrington cleared his throat, raised a hand to indicate the two men beside him. "Which I'm sure you've all gathered."

"The mission is both time sensitive and politically volatile." Captain Walsh stepped forward and clicked a button on the remote Harrington handed him. The screen behind him flickered as a map of Canada popped up - Quebec specifically.

Sonny snorted, "Politically volatile? Looks like political suicide from where I'm sittin'." Clay and Trent nodded, chuckles barely suppressed at a look from Jason.

Captain Walsh cleared his throat, "You'll be aiming for zero detection for that reason, Mr. Quinn." Sonny's eyes narrowed at the address.

"So what, exactly, do you want us to do?" Jason asked as Ray's attention flickered over the brass. Harrington and Blackburn were just as in the dark as they were - given the tension in their jaws and tightness around their eyes.

"Your primary mission is the retrieval of a prototype."

Brock snorted. Walsh glared at him. He just grinned as the man continued to explain what was, basically, government-sponsored corporate espionage.

All of Bravo was wearing a blank face by the end of the briefing. Even Harrington had flat eyebrows as he took in the plan that Walsh had laid out for them.

"And we're delivering this prototype to a bunch of contractors?" Ray's lips twitched as he asked the question.

"Only after you cross back into American territory." The Admiral finally spoke, eyes sharp as he pointed a finger at the map. "If you're captured on the other side of the border you'll be disavowed."

Brock barked out a laugh, "Great!" He patted Cerb's head, "I always wanted to be a spy as a kid." He winked at Walsh, "Had too much common sense and morals for the CIA recruiter."

That earned him a chuckle from Mandy. And Sonny was cackling. Admiral Doherty pinned him with his eyes, "I'm not sure what use a spy organization would have for a dog walker, Mr. Reynolds."

"That's Petty Officer Reynolds. Sir." Brock ignored the look Blackburn was shooting him. Talking back to an admiral was probably not great for his career. But…the asshole deserved it.

Cerberus jumped down from his chair to take up position at Brock's feet. He did not sit back down. Brock barred his teeth as the Admiral glanced at the dog.

"Don't worry," Jason pipped up, a sardonic smile gracing his face, "The dog's a total teddy bear."

"Maul you just as good as one too," Trent chuckled, his eyebrows jumped up to emphasize his point.

Harrington coughed and Bravo turned as one to face him. Their faces went flat. Cerberus kept his own attention on the admiral.

"What are we thinking for infil?"

They hammered out the details for the op within the hour. There weren't a lot of options for a silent run like this.

"You know, I've never been to Maine." Trent commented as they walked into the ready room. Brock only half listened to Sonny's tirade about the dangers of the Appalachian mountain and snow and moose.

He did catch the part where he called them meese, which had started Clay. Apparently there was a linguistic reason why such a pluralization was offensive to the English language.

Brock tuned the reason out and handed Cerberus a bone while he fit his harness on him. He grabbed Cerb's travel bag next. He dug around a bit - it was the only bag Davis didn't pack for them - before pulling out the near empty doggy water bottle.

"If you don't want to use mooses, what about moosak?"

"I ain't referring to an animal that fights with whales as a genre of elevator music!"

The door of the ready room closed just as Clay was launching into another explanation about orcas - which, yeah, there was no way Sonny wasn't provoking him on purpose now.

One day the kid would realize Sonny spent most of his time outside of bars watching documentaries and the discovery channel. That day was obviously not today though.

"Petty Officer Reynolds."

Brock was stopped before he reached the end of the hall by the voice of none other than Captain Walsh. Brock turned on his heels to face the officer, but he didn't bother with a salute.

The captain's face puckered. "I'd like to talk to you about disrespect of a commanding officer."

"He started it." Brock snickered.

He was not only on base, but in one of the most secure buildings on the whole installation. His team was literally a room away. He was talking to a Navy officer. An officer!

There was no reason to have his guard up. None at all. Which is why being slammed into the cinderblock wall came as a shock. The air in his lungs abandoned ship immediately.

"Look here, your only value is in your handling of that dog." The captain was literally sneering. Brock would have laughed if he wasn't coughing from the sudden exfil of his air supply. "You've obviously got an over-inflated ego from the-"

Captain Walsh had his guard down too. Though having it up would not have saved him from the teeth sinking into his arm. Cerberus had lunged right for the bicep of the arm pinning Brock to the wall.

Jason was blinking from his position by the door of the ready room. Brock rubbed at his chest and knelt to pick up the water bottle he'd dropped before whistling.

Cerberus backed away from the captain, who was now a simpering heap cradling his arm. Brock nodded to Jason and then continued on his mission to refill the water bottle. Cerberus hung at his heels, whining dramatically.

"Wow." Jason walked over to the captain lying on the floor. "You should probably see a medic." He grinned down at the man, "I'd get Trent, but, uh, he's got a strict policy about not fixing any damage that Cerberus causes."

Jason knelt beside the captain. He was bleeding, but he'd certainly live. He patted the hand gripping the dog bite. Walsh flinched.

"You got off easy." Jason's voice dropped to a flat tone as he whispered into the captain's ear. "You ever touch a member of my team again, Cerberus will eat well for months." He patted his hand again and stood to return to his cage.

Cerberus held his head up as he and Brock passed by again. The medics were loading him on to a stretcher - with many an eyeroll exchanged.

"Don't worry," Brock called over his shoulder, "Cerb's had all his shots." One of the medics stifled a laugh as the captain began muttering.

"You're gonna owe Blackburn a case of beer you keep that up," Ray shook his head at Brock walked into the room. He was smiling though.

Trent grinned ear to ear, "I saw we put it on Sonny's tab."

"He is the bad influence!" Clay added as Sonny squawked from his cage. A new debate emerged between the two men, with Trent egging them on from the sidelines.

Brock just repacked the bag for Cerberus and handed him a treat. The dog took it cheerfully, tail wagging as he sat at Brock's feet.

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