Finally I'm back, thanx for the reviews guys.
Lilac Gurl: Thanx, I hope you like this chapter!
Zarola: Yep, you're saved. Thanx for the comment.
Brneyedgirl: Thank you, hope it was worth the wait. Anyway, 'till now don't even I know the final pairing.
YinYangHinataFinally I updated, hope you like it!
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Dancing through the StormI thought it would be easier to remember the names that way. Hope you like this!
AT LIGHT SPEED LOVE COMES AND PLANTS ITS SEED
Disclaimer: I don't own the TT
Where we left: Gar led the way to the consulting room with Richard and Rachel in tow. Robin looked from his master to the female vet and felt that something was going to happen there, it was just his sixth sense kicking in, but the dog couldn't tell if it was something good or not.
Now with the story…
AT LIGHT SPEED LOVE COMES AND PLANTS ITS SEED
CHAPTER 4
"What exactly do you want us to do with Robin?" Asked Rachel as the dog jumped onto the examination table.
"Well, he needs the anti-rabic vaccine and just a little check would be nice; he was sick two weeks ago and I want to make sure he's completely fine again." Richard said looking around the consulting room.
"What was his illness?" The woman asked looking for the syringe to apply the vaccine.
"Robin here was curious and wanted to know how the meat tasted after it had been in the garbage for 24 hours, some infection he got in his stomach." Richard answered with a shake of his head "I took him to a vet back in Gotham but I couldn't take Robin back after the treatment was over so I thought this could be a good moment to bring him for a check up and see if everything's in order."
"Oh, please Rach; can I check Robin up?" Said Gar excited "You can go and feed Raven and Beast while I do this."
"Um, ok; I'll be back in a minute." Rachel said handing her assistant the still empty syringe before walking out the room and hanging her coat back on its place.
One thing you had to give the male vet was that he was very observant when it was necessary, and he couldn't help but notice that Richard had been following Rachel's every move with his eyes until she had left the room, it helped a lot that the young executive didn't have his shades on. Now, according to Gar's mind, that could mean: a) His suspicions were true and Richard actually was interested in Rachel, or b) Rachel reminded him of his mother. It was time for him to use his special abilities and discover what the truth behind this was.
"Hey Rich," The black-haired man turned to the vet and waited for him to continue "Why don't you go with Rachel? You can ask her to give you a little tour around the house, this won't take long, and you could always stay in the garden with her until I'm finished with Robin."
"Robin doesn't like vaccines; he tends to run whenever he sees a syringe approaching him." Rich said "You'll possibly need some help with him."
"I can handle this, don't worry; I have tended to many kinds of pets before so I know how to handle him." Gar assured "Go, I bet she'll be happy if you just talk to her."
"Gar," Richard started "I think you're jumping to conclusions."
"And I think you're wasting your time staying here." Gar retorted "You remember where the kitchen is, don't you?" Rich nodded "Ok, follow down the hallway to your left until you reach the last door; that's the door to the backyard."
"You won't leave me alone until I leave the room, right?" Gar nodded with a grin and Richard sighed looking at the floor for a second before turning around and make his way towards the backyard "I'll be back in a minute."
"Don't worry, take your time!" Gar yelled and then turned to Robin "Now boy, are you ready to be checked up and receive your vaccine?"
Robin looked at him straight in the eyes and then cocked his head to the side moving his ears.
AT LIGHT SPEED LOVE COMES AND PLANTS ITS SEED
: With Rachel
"Ok guys, dig in." Rachel said as Raven and Beast started to eat their food. Rachel looked up at the sky and saw it tinted with orange, yellow, red and purple; the sunset was already starting and the sky couldn't be more beautiful in the vet's eyes. "This is definitely my favorite time of the day."
"Personally," Rachel turned around a bit startled by hearing a new voice in the garden with her "I prefer sunrise."
"Twilight is always beautiful, no matter if it is early in the morning or late in the afternoon." Rachel commented as Richard stood beside her looking at the sky.
"I can't argue with you on that." They stayed in silence for a moment just looking at the darkening sky before Rachel decided to break the silence.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"I just wanted to check out the garden." Rich lied, not that Rachel noticed it "Gar told me he could handle Robin so I decided to come here."
"Gar just loves to show he can do things on his own." Rachel said with a sigh shaking her head "But that gives me more time off."
Richard looked at Rachel for a moment and then at the dogs; they had finished eating and where now ready to take a nap on the grass. The man brought a hand to his chin in thought and then looked back at Rachel.
"Rachel," The woman looked up at her companion "Can I ask you for a favor?"
"Sure."
"Would you mind taking care of Robin while I'm working?" Rich asked looking briefly at the dogs "I'd bring him here everyday before work and pick him up around this hour from Monday to Friday."
"Well…" Rachel thought about the question for a moment before giving her answer "I think an extra dog wouldn't cause any trouble, but mind if I ask why?"
"Although my house is never empty, no-one pays much attention to Robin and he gets sad and bored; all of our dogs seemed to like each other yesterday so I thought it would be good for my dog to have some company during the day."
"What time would you drop Robin off?" Asked Rachel with a quirked eyebrow.
"Are you a morning person?" Richard replied with his own question, when the vet didn't answer he sighed and answered her question "6: 50 am."
"Well, that's early." Rachel commented "But I think I'll be able to be awake enough to greet him every morning."
"You sure you don't mind?" Rich asked to be sure.
"Don't worry about it, I usually wake-up a little after seven so I can get everything ready for the day; a few minutes' difference won't cause any harm." The girl assured.
"Still, I feel somewhat bad about it." Richard admitted "I know!" Rachel looked at Richard quizzically about his sudden change of tone "Would you like to go for a walk through the park with our dogs this Saturday? I would pick you and Raven up after work."
Rachel stayed quiet thinking about it. Usually Saturday was the hardest day of the week, but there were some times no-one appeared; weekends were always unpredictable and, besides, it was the week when all the vaccines were for free so probably more people would go looking for the vaccines their pets needed making good use of a day off. But then again, Gar had a date that Saturday with Tara; it would be fair for her to have an outing that day too. Besides, her workmate could always call her if he needed anything. But what time?
"What time?" Rich smiled before answering.
"Around noon." Gar's date was at four o'clock, and it was only a walk through the park so she would have enough time to enjoy herself before Gar's date. Was it just her imagination or was she really a little anxious for the outing with Richard? The simple thought of it created a feeling inside of Rachel that could only be compared to the one she had felt back when Wally had kissed her cheek.
"Ok," She said at last "As long as we're back before four o'clock."
"You have something to do that day or something?"
"Gar has a date with Tara, so I'll be attending to the place alone that afternoon." Rachel explained "Weekends are unpredictable so one of us needs to stay here in case someone comes."
"I see…" After a few seconds Richard spoke again "Maybe, I could stay after the outing and help you out with anything I can."
"And lose a nice Saturday afternoon?" Rachel asked half-serious half-joking "I wouldn't let you do that."
"Well then, I'm sorry but I will do it." Richard decided "And I won't let you talk me out of this."
"No, seriously; I bet you have better things to do than spend the day with me." Richard shook his head.
"Believe it or not, a day at my manor on my own means nothing but boredom at its max. Besides, that way we won't need to cut out any conversation we may have at the moment, we'll spend some quality time together." Rachel looked at him strangely and he added "You could teach me some things about medicine so I can take care of my dog properly or something like that."
"Ok, if you say so; it would be great to have some company while Gar is out."
"It's settled then." The boy said with a bright smile, he really wanted to get to know Rachel a lo- little more and what better way to do it than spending some alone time with her?
"I think we should be heading back in, Gar is probably finished and must be waiting for us so he can go home." Rach said turning on her heel and walking to the door.
"Right." Rich agreed before following her.
Upon entering to the house they headed back to the consulting room; only to find Gar on his knees and forearms crawling down one of the sofas that were in the living room outside the consulting room. Because neither Rachel nor Richard spoke they could hear Gar calling for something…
"Robin, are you here? C'mon boy, this isn't funny!"
"Garfield!" Gar jumped and hit his head on the sofa giving an "Ow!" as he crawled out from under the sofa.
"You know I hate being called that Rachel." The male vet complained standing up and receiving a very cold glare from his female workmate.
"What were you doing down there?" Asked Rach ignoring her friend's complaints.
"Oh, well…heh, heh; funny story." Gar said laughing sheepishly "You see, I decided that it would be better if I checked first that Robin didn't have any more problems with his sickness; he's perfectly fine now." He said to Rich before turning back to his co-worker "And then, it was time for his vaccine so I went for the syringe you had given me and then turned around and he jumped on me making me fall to the floor and then he ran out of the room. I stood up and ran after him but I couldn't find him anywhere."
"You're a genius Mr. Logan." Rach said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes "You lost a patient, you should be thankful there is no way out of the house."
"I'm sorry ok? It was an accident." Gar excused himself looking at the floor and shifting his weight from one foot to another.
"I told you I should have stayed with you." Rich reminded him making him hang his head even lower "Don't worry, I'll bring him back."
"You know where he is?" Gar asked hopefully looking up at his black haired friend.
"I don't need to." With that Richard brought a hand up and, with the help of his thumb and index finger in his mouth, whistled a long whistle that was answered by a bark coming from upstairs.
Seconds later you could see Robin running down the stairs and in front of his master wagging his tail so fast it looked like nothing but a brown blur. Rich smirked at Gar.
"See?" Gar was looking at the dog with an un-readable expression so the executive turned to look at Rachel "I would suggest you check your bed before you go to sleep; he's got a thing for pillows and he's a genius when it comes to doors."
"So is Raven," Rachel stated with a shrug "Let's see if your boy can beat my girl in that kind of disasters."
"Robin is considerably bigger… but I'm not going to argue with you." Rich said finally "Let's give Robin his vaccine before he decides to run away again."
"Sure, come on."
Once they arrived in the consulting room Rachel called Robin up to the table once more, the dog obliged and sat down on the table while the female vet turned around to get the syringe.
"Want me to hold him down for you?" Asked Rich already walking toward his pet, Rachel looked at him and shook her head.
"I'll be able to do this." She assured hiding the syringe behind her back and approaching to the dog.
"Robin, come here." The dog looked up to the vet speaking sweetly at him "C'mon boy, here, I won't hurt you." Rachel reached the table and hugged the dog by the neck making him rest his head on her shoulder. The dog stayed still as the vet took him by the scruff of his neck. Rachel then brought the syringe out and in a swift movement injected Robin with the vaccine; the dog seemed not to have felt anything at all. "There, it's all done."
Gar and Rich stared at her surprised that she had controlled the dog so well; the animal didn't emit a sound. Rachel was amused by their expressions but decided to explain the situation to them.
"Taking an animal by the scruff of their neck starts a reaction inside them that relaxes them." She then looked straight at Gar "You should know this by now."
"I knew that." Gar replied insulted and then continued with an uneasy tone "And I was going to do the same with him but he noticed the syringe before I could hide it behind my back."
"Sure." Rachel said unconvinced before turning to the other man in the room "Anyway, nothing in Robin's mouth until the vaccine has taken effect; ok?"
"Yep, the same rules every time; thanks." Rich said strapping the leash around his dog "I need to go now."
"I'll walk you to the door." Rach said walking out of the room followed by Richard and Gar.
Once they arrived at the door Gar kneeled down and said threateningly to Robin.
"We'll meet again buddy." The other two humans didn't mind him and neither the dog seeing as Robin was looking anywhere but him.
"Thanks for everything guys." Richard thanked the vets, only Rachel was paying attention to him though.
"That's ok, that's what we do."
"Right… Well, I'll see you this Saturday- I mean; I'll see you tomorrow morning, and afternoon too…" At this Gar's attention turned to his friends. "Um, you know, what I mean."
"Sure, bye." Rachel replied with a small smile.
"Good night." Richard said turning around and walking away as Rachel closed the door slowly behind him.
Rachel closed the door completely and then looked at the floor for a moment. So she had an outing with Richard on Saturday; it was nothing to worry about, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't feeling good about it. The sound of someone clearing their throat brought her back from her thoughts.
"So, what did I miss?" Gar asked with a smirk.
"Nothing important." Rachel answered with a monotone voice "We're going to take care of Robin from Monday to Friday while Richard is at work starting tomorrow."
"Really? Cool! Raven and Beast will have a new friend to play with." Gar said excitedly "And… Maybe I'm wrong but did Rich say something about this Saturday?"
"We're going for a walk through the park with our dogs this Saturday and he'll help me out in the afternoon while you're on your date." Rachel answered with a glare that dared him to say something about it… and Gar accepted the challenge.
"Aw, how nice. It has been so long since you had a date."
"It's not a date." Rachel retorted "It's an outing I would have with any of my friends."
"Are you anxious about it?" Gar continued questioning her.
"It's normal to feel that way."
"Would you feel like that with any of your other friends?"
"Of course."
"I mean, with any of your other male friends?" The questions came faster each time.
"With anyone." Rachel was now answering without thinking about her answers, and that's where Gar wanted to get at.
"Would you feel just as excited as if the outing was with Wally?"
"Yes." Rachel answered annoyed almost immediately.
"And if it was Victor?"
"No… I mean…" Rachel stopped for a moment and Gar couldn't help but grin "I've known Victor for years, it wouldn't be the same."
"But you just said it would be the same with any other of your friends." Gar reminded her.
"Well I lied." Rachel defended herself.
"Then you would feel the same if it was with Wally but not if it was with Vic or any of the others you have known for years?"
"Exactly." Rachel answered "Besides, what's this? Twenty questions?"
"Hey, I'm just a little curious." Gar said holding his hands up as if in surrender.
"Curiosity killed the cat." Rachel started "But I'll kill the vet if you continue with these sorts of questions."
"Ok, ok no more questions." Gar said with a sigh before smiling again "I think Richard is very excited about this date too, seeing as he was checking you out yesterday."
"It's not a date, and he was not checking me out; I told you that already." Rachel said exasperated "Do you even take threats seriously?"
"I'm not asking you anything, I'm stating some things." Gar retorted crossing his arms.
"When did you learn to use your brain?" Rachel asked trying to maintain the conversation away from her.
"I may not be the brightest crayon in the box but I'm intuitive like the animals and observant thanks to my career." Gar explained seriously "And I think you should think about feelings. You were acting differently after Richard left, and also after Wally left; you were like out of this world."
"You wanna know what I think?" Rachel started crossing her arms over her chest "I think you should go home now."
"Yeah, you're right." Gar admitted before yelling "Beast, time to go!"
The little Terrier came running trough the little door made for them and jumped into Gar's awaiting arms. Raven was behind her playmate and Rachel picked her up.
"But I'm going to tell you something Rach," The dark haired girl waited for her workmate to continue "I suggest you to start organizing your feelings; otherwise you'll have problems later on."
"I'll start to organize my feelings when I feel the need to." Rachel retorted holding Raven close to her chest "In the meantime I'll go on with my life just as it is now."
"Ok then, do whatever you want to." Gar said defeated, Rachel was the most stubborn person he had ever met in his life "But trust me, you'll have many problems with your heart."
With that said the male vet opened the door and exited the house closing the door behind him. As he made his way to his bicycle –he lived a few blocks away from Rachel- he sighed and said to Beast.
"You know? This should be interesting." Beast looked up at him as if he had understood him.
AT LIGHT SPEED LOVE COMES AND PLANTS ITS SEED
: Back with Rachel:
"That Gar is jumping to conclusions." Rachel said to her dog "He says two guys like me, but that would never happen. He also thinks I like them both; but that's a lie. I'm sure he's just hallucinating."
Raven looked up at her and she continued talking to her pet.
"I mean, I have known them for no more than two days and he's thinking I have already developed feelings for either of them? That's just crazy! And he's even crazier thinking they like me; I'm sure they have a lot of girls after them. More Richard than Wally because of the fame he has, but they both are great guys and they're also good loo- I mean, good hearted."
Raven gave her master a low growl telling her she didn't like something Rachel was doing, she as the rest of the animals knew a lot more than the humans gave them credit for. If only humans could learn that true beauty and wisdom could only be found if they didn't pretend to be someone they're not and not hiding their feelings from the rest and from themselves; if they couldn't learn that then they would never be happy.
"Don't be like that," Rachel started "You know I'm right."
A whimper answered her and she frowned.
"Who asked you anyway?"
AT LIGHT SPEED LOVE COMES AND PLANTS ITS SEED
Well, that's it for the moment. Please review so I can continue ok?
Next chapter: Wally gets his first assignment; he thought there would be no problem but he'll get a surprise.