From: Myself
Idea: Veterinarian!Steve meets Cop!Natasha when she brings her wounded, four legged partner to his clinic.
Special Request: I can do whatever I want, so none XD.
It's almost one in the morning and Steve sighs as the seconds tick by slowly. He set's down his sketchbook, the drawing of his mother's kitten snoozing in the yarn basket all but forgotten. He doesn't really know why he took the shift in Wanda's place. Maybe it was the pleading face, or maybe the bribing cookies she'd brought him yesterday and then again this afternoon. He looks at the Tupperware and resists for a few seconds before giving in and stealing another one. Although it's not actually stealing, given that they're his, but he's been trying to cut down on the sweets. Wanda knows he's been depriving himself of his personal ambrosia, and the little shit has used that to her advantage.
He looks around, trying to pass some to the others and not eat them all himself before remembering he's the only one there. They've been short on staff since Darcy quitted and Bruce moved to the bigger clinic in the city, leaving him and only seven more people to handle the smaller clinic in the outskirts of NYC. And only one person in the night shifts.
He sighs and looks down at the Tupperware before sticking it into the fridge so the chocolate chips don't melt. God, why does it have to be so hot?
Suddenly, the bell at the front door rings and Steve jumps from the table and trots down the hall. As soon as he bends the corner his eyes widen at the sight before him. A red-headed woman, probably his age, is setting down a dog that looks like it weights as much as she does on the floor and kneels beside it, settling it's head over her lap and petting its muzzle and cheek. He looks it over quickly: ragged breathing, quiet whimpers and the unmistakable sight of a bandage soaked with blood around its torso.
"It's ok, you're gonna be just fine. Shh, stay still, Katia, It'll be over soon. Shh…" her voice breaks through his reverie and he steps forward, getting the attention of the dog but not it's owner. It raises its black eyes at him and it's like it's looking into his soul before it shows him their teeth and growls. Or tries to, because as soon as it starts the vibrations jostle the wound and the snarl fades into a pitiful whine. The woman immediately raises her face to him and the fear clouding over her green eyes fades away. "Oh, Thank God."
Steve steps closer and kneels down to seem less threatening to the dog and see better what's wrong before realizing that he won't be able to do much with the bandage still in place. Instead, he proceeds to interrogate the owner as he gathers the sedative from behind the counter.
"What happened?"
"She got shot a couple day ago and she popped her stitches." Answers the woman. It makes him pause before extracting the syringe from the vial and approaching again.
"Shot?"
"Police, K-9 unit. Protection and substance detection." She informs, and she rises to her knees to show him the badge strapped to her waist. He hums and nods; yeah, that makes sense.
"I'm going to need you to hold her down." The redhead does as he says, murmuring soothing words at her dog to keep her calm. Steve sedates her without much trouble and just a minute later the big animal is K.O. "Done. Here, I've got her." He tries to pick the dog up, but she stops him.
"I can take her." He can hear the protectiveness in her voice, he can practically feel it.
"I know you can, I saw you set her down. But depending on how you grab her, you may pop another stitch." She flinches at that, but relents. He's the professional, after all. He slides his arms around the dog and takes her into his arms, careful to not jostle her too much, and moves her to the exam room down the hall. He set's her down on the table and deftly cuts away the soggy bandage. "Have you ever brought her here?"
"No, and she's never been sick or injured before, so there was no need." He hums in response and leaves the room for a second, returning with a suture kit and a paper and a pen.
"I'll need for you to fill this while I stitch her up." He motions for the table at the other side of the room and se bends over it, writing down her personal information and the dog's. He stitches over the gash, the bullet just grazed her side but still left a pretty deep wound, and then bandages it. He's just finishing with it when the dog gives a little twitch. "Well, look who's awake." He grins when the dog's eyes roll towards him and he hovers his hand over her muzzle so she can take on his sent.
"Katia!" the woman is at his side in an instant and the canine starts wiggling, her tail thumping against the table. "Hey, there, precious! How's my warrior?" Katia whines and licks the fingers closer to her snout.
While the redhead gives her dog some lovings, Steve goes about discarding the used tools and soiled bandages and stitches. He goes to the table and skims over the formulary.
Owners name: Natasha Romanoff
Pet's name: Katia
Species: Dog
Race: Belgian Tervuren
There's also the identification number of the dog and all the contact data to Natasha –that's a beautiful name– but he sets it down for the moment and concentrates on the redhead cooing at her dog. He's seen it millions of times by thousands of different people, but there's something in the way she does it that has him mesmerized. He clears his throat and approaches.
"I would like to keep her here for tonight, make sure that the stitches hold and give her a bag of fluids and blood. You could come get her tomorrow at noon." Katia rolls over as he speaks and lays belly down on the table in a lounging position, her back to her owner and her eyes trained on him. He offers his hand and she sniffs it and then slobbers all over it. A second later she raises her head, her ears erect and licks her chops. He chuckles and Natasha blinks at her dog.
"That's… weird. She's usually distrustful of strangers."
"Yeah, well, I have an advantage." He folds his hand into his scrubs' pocket and takes out a dog treat. Katia wiggles and proceeds to hypnotize the treat with her big, black eyes. He moves it around until she whimpers and both humans laugh before he gives her the bone-shaped treat. He scratches her neck and then pats her rump. She just moves her tail. Steve returns his eyes to Natasha. "So? What do you want to do? As I said, I think it would be best if I keep her, but she's stable so it's not a necessity."
"She'll be fine if I take her home?"
"Yes, but she'll be anemic for a few days. She lost a considerable amount of blood and you'll need to give her the double amount of food she usually has in the morning and tomorrow night so she gets her strength back. Maybe even the next morning."
He lets her think it over for a few minutes and uses the time to type the information into the system to have Katia registered in the database. When he looks over Natasha is bend over the canine and he can see the tan tail move from over her shoulder. He types in the shots that Katia has and then walks over to the pair. Natasha looks up and straightens, but keeps her hand running over her dog.
"I'll leave her here for the night, but I'll have to come around five to get her. That ok?"
"Absolutely. Don't worry, she's in good hands."
He sets an IV on Katia's right leg, and is amazed when she doesn't resist. He takes them to the back room, where all the cages for patients are. He kneels at one of the bigger ones, right next to one occupied by a big ass schnauzer. it get's up from it's slouched position and barks a greeting when it sees Steve.
"Hey, Goof! What are you doing up? You should be sleeping." Goof just pants and sits down. "You're gonna have a neighbor for tonight, ok?" he nudges open the door and sets Katia inside, hooks her with a bag of fluids and another of blood and then moves aside to let Natasha say goodbye. He moves around the room, checking on the other pet's. aside from Goof, there's also a cat, Whiskers; another dog, Luna; and a parrot, Gulliver.
When Natasha is done, he walks her to the exit and waves her out. He then returns to the back room to make a final check on Katia. She's munching on a toy that was already on the cage, but looks up at him when he approaches. He takes two of the dog treats and gives her one and the other to Goof. He moves to Luna and digs another one out of his pocket before burying his hand in the other pocket for the cat treats and a couple of seeds for Whiskers and Gulliver.
Once done, he retreats to the staff room, cracks open the Tupperware and takes two cookies. Then he moves to the table, picks his sketchbook back up and turns the page over, the pencil flying over the paper.
It's been a slow morning –the only customer actually being his mother to get Winter his last shot– and an even slower afternoon, so Steve has been able to finish the sketch for his mother and two more. The first one, of enchanting eyes and curly hair is tucked away in his bag, as far as it can get from Wanda's prying eyes and Bucky's sticky fingers and teasing smirk. The second one is already rolled with a decorative ribbon and inside a bag containing treats and some meds for Katia to take in the following days. Despite Natasha's comment about her being wary of strangers, Katia had been glued to his side from the moment he opened her cage to examine her stitches. She had even taken a liking to his mother, who had cooed at her and even taken some photos when she'd humored Winter and played with him while Steve prepared the shot.
That was actually what the drawing was: Katia lying on the floor with her muzzle between the paw of a kitten that could fit in a teacup.
He's in the staff room, letting Wanda manage the front and Bucky keep company to the pets in the back room, when the door bell rings and Katia's head shots up from her front paws, her ears straight and trained forward. He looks at the clock, 17:06. Not a second later, Wanda bursts into the room and closes it with her back. Her eyes are wide when they lock on him, but then she frowns and closes her arms over her chest..
"Mind telling me why is there a cop outside asking for you?" Steve just smirks and get's up, snapping the computer shut and clipping a leash on Katia's collar. She immediately gets up, but he shushes her.
"Easy, tiger." He pats her head and walks her out, kipping his movements smooth and the leash tight so the dog doesn't make any harsh movements.
But as soon as she sees Natasha, his efforts are in vain. Thankfully, she trots over and spares her dog of popping her stitches again. She drops to her knees and lets Katia slobber all over her, laughing all along. He stays rooted on the spot for a few seconds, mesmerized by the sight of the redhead in a police uniform. He knows everybody says that there's nothing hotter than a man in uniform, but damn if women don't rock them too.
"Well, hello to you too, girl! Yes, yes, I missed you too." Her tail moves so fast that even her rump moves along with it and it even ahs Steve laughing. Natasha looks up and grins. "God, what did you give her? She hasn't been like this since she was a puppy!" the dog is practically throwing herself at her owner, whining and wiggling all over. Steve shrugs innocently.
"Not much, just a bath and some scratches. And she made friends with a kitten, he was here to get his last shot, and they played while I prepped it." She hums and drops a kiss between Katia's eyes. A second later she frowns and looks back up at him.
"I thought she'd be staying in that little cage all day…" Steve chuckles and shakes his head in exasperation.
"That was actually the idea, but after her morning bath she all but refused to get back in it. She's just been following me around all day. Today was thankfully slow, or she would've popped another stitch. I swear I've never met a dog so stubborn" Katia finally stops and looks back at Steve, her tongue falling over the side of her muzzle. "Yes, I'm talking about you, you fur ball." She barks and he returns it. She actually looks offended. Wanda returns with Bucky in tow.
"Steve, stop flirting with the dog, she's clearly not interested." Teases the girl, picks something from behind the counter and smacks Bucky's ass before returning to the back room. The man actually jumps, broken from his staring at Steve and Natasha and trots behind.
"Hey! What was that–?" his voice fades away and Steve just hangs his head and shakes it.
"I'm so sorry, they're usually more professionals than this; but as I said, it's been an extremely slow day."
Natasha just brushes it off and he proceeds to tell her the cost of the cervices and then they're on their way, but not before he can give her the little gift bag and the meds.
"Sorry, almost forgot. It's just a gift bag we give to all new comers and the meds she needs to take. You already paid for them, actually." He rubs his nape in embarrassment and she gives him a final smile before leaving.
The next time he sees her, it's entirely by chance. He's out with his mother, strolling through the park, when he hears a loud barking and a shout of alarm. He turns just in time to see the big, tan ball of fur before it collides with him and sends him to the grass. Next thing he knows, his face is drenched and the smell of an exotic dog shampoo fills his nose drills. He remembers that one.
"Katia! Down, girl! Vniz!" the dog finally obeys and get's off of him, moving to sit at his side and looking down at him with her tongue hanging out of her snout. Steve sits up and rubs the saliva off his face, shaking his hand towards the canine and sending a few droplets over her face. She snorts and sneezes. "God, I'm so sorry! I don't– wait… you're the vet." He chuckles and gets up.
"And you're the cop." He grins at her and looks down when he sees Katia zoom past him and to his mother. She crouches down and pets her.
"Well, hello, there! Long time no see!" Katia barks back a response and prances around her, her leash trailing behind her. His mother laughs. He returns his gaze to Natasha and offers her his hand.
"Steve Rogers." She snorts and takes it.
"Natasha Romanoff, but you already know that." He chuckles and lets go of her hand. She shifts her weight to a more relaxed position. "I really liked the drawing, did you make it?"
"Yeah, she was playing with Winter and inspiration just struck. I already have some pictures, so I just though you'd like it." He subs his nape sheepishly and then runs a hand through his hair. His mother's still playing with Katia, so she doesn't see him get all nervous before the redheaded police officer.
"Oh, I did. It's already framed and hanged on the wall of my bedroom." She smirks and he commits it to memory to sketch it later. "You forgot to sign it, though." Steve frowns in confusion.
"Really? I'm sure I did…" his mother suddenly appears beside him, giving him an exasperated look.
"As clueless as ever, I see?" he blinks, but she ignores him in favor of gifting Natasha with one of her broadest smiles. "Hi, I'm Sarah, this goof's mother." Natasha laughs and gives the older woman her hand.
"Natasha, this fur ball's owner." She nods towards the dog dutifully seated at her side. Katia looks up at her and moves her tail innocently.
They chat for a while, walking slowly through the park with a prancing Katia moving from side to side. By the time they finish their walk, they have exchanged phone numbers and as Natasha jogs away, Sarah shouts out at her that he'll give her call for a date. His ears are burning, but Natasha turns around and smirks at him.
"I'll be waiting!"
BONUS:
The next time Katia meets up with Winter it's been six months and they're at his mother's house for the official "meeting the boy/girlfriend's parents". And while the pets snuggle together on the floor after a couple hours of playing around the house, Steve and Natasha fall asleep on the couch curled around one another and Sarah Rogers doesn't miss the chance to snap a couple of photos of the cute moment.
"I'm going to have so much fun showing this to my grandchildren when the time comes!"
'Kay, first shot is done! What do you think? is it good? Bad? Be honest here, people, but please remember not to be rude!
For the Guest 'KillerKat': I'm gonna take your idea –the royal thingy one–, so I'm gonna need your special request, if you have one.
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