Carrying on the Torch

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie

A/N:

Chapter 32 (New Dog)

Charlotte aimed the camera eagerly at the small German Shepherd puppy that PJ brought home, the pup was curled up in a ball with Teddy curled up with it. Skyler and PJ were sitting on the couch, watching. Nana was in the recliner, doing some knitting. "Our first dog, Teddy. His name is Amato. He's a sweetheart!" Amato gently licked Teddy, causing the baby to giggle and kick her legs. This pup was a huge lap dog, evidenced by his jumping in everyone's lap the moment PJ brought him home. "Amato's a baby just like you, hopefully he'll live a long time!"

"It's been a while since I've had a dog," Nana said while lifting her eyes from the baby sweater she was making. Charlotte turned the camera to Petunia, she'd already introduced her in the videos the day prior. The woman really had no problem with being on the videos. Nana eyed the camera and set the sweater in her lap. "Good to see PJ decided to get a dog, huh? I wonder what amount of prodding it took to convince him." She smirked teasingly and PJ laughed. "Why Charlotte, I remember when your brother Gabe brought a dog home. Oh the laugh I had."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow and moved towards Nana, growing more curious by the second. "Tell me more?" PJ smiled at the memory and put his arm around Skyler's shoulders. Petunia couldn't say much since she only heard about it over the phone, but she did know a thing or two about the entire scenario. Petunia waved her hand at the camera.

"Teddy dear, let me tell you about your grandma Amy. She always said she didn't like dogs, but when Gabe brought that dog home, she fell in love with it. It was a shame the real owner turned up, poor girl was broken up." Charlotte wished she could have remembered that memory, she would have loved to have a dog. "You can never say Amy Duncan wasn't softhearted. I'll always be proud of my daughter, even if she isn't around any longer…" Petunia bowed her head for a moment, then quickly picked up the sweater and continued knitting. An attempt to distract herself, no doubt. "I'm sorry, I just…" She cleared her throat and rose to her feet. "I need a moment." Charlotte nodded and lowered the camera as Petunia hurried off to her bedroom. Clearly it still hurt, even after all this time, but for an elderly it had to be even harder.

Charlotte turned the camera to PJ and took a slow breath. "Is there anything you can add?" He thought for a minute and shook his head. It was understandable, especially after Petunia's emotional moment. She took a deep breath and turned the camera to herself. "Well Teddy, that's all for today I guess. Amato seems to like to play and I'm about to take him for a walk, if he's a strong pup and starts running, well…wish me good luck, Teddy." She flipped off the camera and sat next to Skyler with a bright grin. "So, either of you want to take Amato on a walk with me?"

"No, we're hoping for some rest," PJ replied. Charlotte nodded and grabbed the leash off the couch, she'd forgotten PJ and Skyler wanted some quality time alone together. She hopped from the bed and latched the leash to Amato's collar. The pup lifted his head to her and she rubbed its ears, smiling brightly. Amato licked her face and slowly stood up as Teddy crawled towards her parents.

"Okay Amato, we're going for your first walk." Amato barked playfully and followed her to the front door. She heard Skyler tell her to stay safe. With that, she opened up the door and began heading towards the sidewalk. The air was crisp and the smell of freshly cut grass tantalized her senses. She breathed in and looked down, meeting the dog's eyes. "Beautiful day, huh?" Amato yipped and started to trot ahead. Charlotte moved on, keeping step with the dog.

After about five minutes of walking, she took a right turn down an alley to make a shortcut to the park. An uneasy feeling crept upon her and she stopped moving, glancing from side to side. She was sure it was nothing, since she was still on edge from the whole thing with Dee's stalker. It brought back those uneasy feelings of Brock having stalked her. This was one of those things Regina said she was glad she didn't have in common with the two girls.

Amato lowered to the ground and his muzzle flaps lifted up, revealing his teeth. She looked down as the dog faced behind her and began barking. What did he see? Dogs, like babies, were excellent judges of character. So if this dog was seeing something and growling at it, that meant she needed to be on the alert. All that she was looking at were a few dumpsters against the sides of either building. The alley was way too narrow for her liking, but she hadn't really given any thought to it before. "What do you see, Amato?" She was about three seconds away from turning around and forgetting about this issue, especially since she wanted to meet up with her instructor in the park. Jo and Sierra both wanted to meet her new dog.

When no one came from behind either dumpster, she tugged on Amato's leash and turned around. "Come on boy, there's nothing there." Amato whined once and turned back. She smiled and reached down, patting the puppy's head. "Good boy."

Before she reached the end of the alley, she heard a few rocks bounce along the pavement. She stopped moving and closed her eyes. There were reasons she hated alleyways, and this was one of them. Alleys always gave her those nervous feelings that she had to fight off, only because in every movie she'd seen, the good guy usually gets jumped in an alley. Amato whimpered and looked up at her, then gently nuzzled her ankle. She opened her eyes and looked down, smiling at the dog.

Up ahead was the park, right across a street that wasn't really traveled all that much. She listened to the birds in the air, singing their sweet songs. The wind rushed against her body, warming her, oddly enough, as it was winter. Though, as the wind passed, the birds stopped chirping. A chill ran along her back and her hair started to stand on end. Her brow furrowed as the air became dense.

Was someone following her?

She moved her eyes to the side, narrowing them as she listened to a soft crunching noise on the ground. Her heart started pounding and her fingers tightened around Amato's black leash. "Amato…" Her voice came out as an urgent whisper. The dog looked up to her and whined. "Go get help."A hand touched her shoulder and she quickly released Amato, who shot towards the park. Fear spiked through her. Using what she learned in her tae kwon do class, she grabbed the person's arm and bent forward, flipping the person over her shoulder and onto the ground. Her eyes widened when she saw Brock groaning in pain. "You!"

"I just want to talk…" He slowly rose to his feet, rubbing his back and gazing into her eyes. He extended a hand and chuckled lightly. "That's all, I was just wanting to talk." How long had he been following her?

"I know you've been stalking me…" Her eyes drifted to his belt, there was a bulge just above his belt. He had something concealed in there. She narrowed her eyes and took a step backwards. "I'm not a pushover, Brock." He moved forward, smiling slightly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Mason, that's all. I just wanted to know if you were sure you wanted to date that guy. I mean…what's the point? He couldn't care for you all that well…" She raised an eyebrow and slowly closed her fingers. Why had she let Amato go? Well, she didn't want him to get hurt, that was true. She lifted her hand and pointed to his belt.

"What do you have hiding there? Gun? Knife? Have you gone insane or something?" He chuckled and reached down, pulling a switchblade from his belt.

"What? This?" She froze and her body started crashing adrenaline into her veins. It was either run or fight, but that was if he actually did anything. "I wasn't going to do anything with this? Just…can we please just talk?" His body seemed to have a mild twitch, which made her wonder what his mental state was like at the moment. His hair was drenched with sweat and sticking to his skin, his shirt clung to his sweat laced body and his eyes were darting about nervously.

"Are you okay, Brock? You're not on drugs, are you? You're on the wrestling team, you shouldn't be taking drugs…"

"Steroids. I don't know. I couldn't beat up Mason or the football players, they just pounded me…I was hoping maybe…I could talk to them too." Her eyes widened and her throat clenched shut. Had he done anything to Mason? Kevin? His eyes locked with hers and his smile rose. "Don't worry, I haven't seen them yet."

"You're not planning on doing something to Mason are you?"

"What can I do to him? Obviously nothing. I mean the guy did pretty much push me down." Could she take out someone with a knife? She was taught how to disarm someone, but she never thought she'd be in that actual situation. The key here would be not to piss him off in any way, but he was a stalker, if she said no to something he wanted, would he flip out?

"You want to talk…" She moved next to the dumpster and slid her hand along the closed top. The dumpster was her level and the top had this brick close to the edge. Brock studied her and her muscles tensed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Why won't you date me?"

"No offense Brock, but you're kind of creepy."

"Creepy? I'm sorry, I don't mean to creep anyone out…surely you understand." He took a step forward and she carefully pulled the brick from the dumpster and moved it behind her back. "I honestly think you and I could really get along great."

"Yeah…I doubt that…"

"What? You're more into football players? Is that it?"

"No."

"Then why wouldn't you want to date me? What have you got against me?"

"I'm just not interested." He flinched. She pitied him, actually. It wasn't his fault, she just didn't feel any kind of connection to him. He started to panic, moving closer to her. Why, why didn't her sister leave something about this in her videos? Oh right, because no one ever stalked her sister, that she knew of.

"I'd do anything for you, though." She chuckled nervously and lifted her eyebrows. "I'd bring you flowers, I'd bring you chocolates, don't you see?" He was getting closer, dangerously close, and that knife in his hand was making her extremely nervous. Her fingers scraped the brick and her heel dug into the dirt behind her. "I can care for you more than a football player can, he's got to be at his games all the time! At practice! He could never treat you like the lady you are."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be too sure about that Brock." He was just inches away from her, close enough that she could inhale his hot breath. She didn't want to hurt him, she wasn't a violent person, she really wasn't. "Please back up, you're scaring me." She smelled something more on his breath, not drugs, but it smelled distinctively similar to the champagne that Skyler and PJ used on their anniversary dinner. She groaned and took a large step back, the smell of alcohol on his breath stung her. "Have you been drinking somehow?"

"Mom's Italian, she cooks with liquor."

"Ugh…" Great, the kid got into his mother's liquor cabinet. He was drunk! "Get away from me. Listen, that's a warning, please get away from me and put down the knife. I'm warning you, okay?"

"Come on Charlotte…" He moved his knife hand, not in a threatening gesture, but the blade came dangerously close to her. She let out a loud yelp and swung the brick from her back, slamming it against his arm. He yelled and dropped the knife, backing up several steps and gripping his wrist. She knew he probably didn't feel it, since he was drunk, but most likely the hit scared him. "What the hell was that?"

She narrowed her eyes and bent slightly, moving her fists in front of her and sliding her feet out along the ground. She was ready to fight, to see just how much she learned from those classes. "I told you to back off, now back off. I know how to fight Brock, I don't want to fight you. Don't come any closer…"

"I'm on the wrestling team babe…" He started moving towards her and she lifted her eyes skyward. In a swift motion, she lifted her knee up and kicked forward, striking him square in the chest. He jumped backwards and put his hand to his chest. After taking a deep breath, he glared at her. "You hit me! How could you do that to me? I thought we had something…"

"I would never date someone like you Brock. I like boys who aren't insecure pricks…you should have some confidence at least…I'm sure there are plenty of people who would like to go out with you Brock, anyone who likes wrestling, but I'm not one of those girls. Okay? I'm really not."

"Don't you understand? I want you."

"I understand, and I've said no. Okay? Do you understand?" Her heart was pounding inside. How was she supposed to reason with someone when they were in this state?

He let out an angry yell and ran for her, catching her off guard. She felt his arms around her waist and fell backwards onto the ground. She clenched her eyes shut and lifted her knees, striking him in the abdomen. His body lurched upwards, but he didn't let go of her. She tilted her head back and moved her hands towards his hair, grasping tightly and pulling as hard as she could.

"Get off me, Brock!" He was clinging on to the point that she couldn't roll out from under or push him off. He had her pinned in a typical wrestling move. She knew there had to be some way to break free, but she couldn't think of it. He was squeezing her and she was struggling to breathe. She needed air.

Air.

It hit her, she could probably try to put him out of commission. She closed her eyes and slowly lowered her hands to his neck, squeezing firmly. She didn't want to choke him, but she wanted to at least get him weak enough to throw off. He gasped and his eyes widened.

"What are you doing?" His hands moved to her wrists and he struggled to pull them away from him. She tightened her arm muscles and clamped her hands on his neck, narrowing her eyes.

"Just get off me Brock. Please." He gagged on his breath and his eyes started to roll into the back of his head. A familiar barking erupted into her ears. She gasped and quickly threw him off her. He landed against the nearby building and rubbed his neck, slowly shaking his head. Thinking fast, she rose to her feet and started sprinting towards the end of the alley where Amato was standing with Jo and Sierra. "Miss Keener! Sierra!"

"Wait Charlotte!" Brock cried out as he moved to his feet. She looked back over her shoulder and quickly moved behind Sierra, who extended her hand out in front of her and narrowed her eyes.

"You okay, Charlotte?" Sierra asked. Charlotte slowly nodded her head and knelt next to Amato, grateful that the dog found them. She hugged Amato's neck as her eyes began to water. The puppy whimpered and licked her tears away. When she opened her eyes, she heard Brock's pained cries. She looked over and saw Jo punching his gut and kicking his back, she was all over the place. "Cute puppy by the way."

"How did you know he was with me?"

"Didn't, just figured no one else was paying attention to his barking, so we did. He wouldn't let us touch him, just kept running around, followed, and here we are." She slowly nodded her head and ran her hand along the dog's back.

"Good boy Amato. Good boy." She lifted her eyes up to Sierra and felt a pang of guilt strike her as Jo started walking over, Brock was now unconscious on the ground. "I…I can't believe I let down my guard. After everything I've been learning."

"Don't talk like that," Jo interrupted. She turned her eyes to Jo's, the woman was gazing back with compassion. "You did what you could, seemed like you didn't want to hurt him. Sometimes even the best fighter slips up. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks…last time I'm coming into an alley though…" Her body shivered and she lifted her eyes up to the sky, dark clouds were rolling in and the wind was growing extremely cold. "Looks like it's about to rain…I was hoping to spend some time in the park. It's cold out here…"

"Here," Sierra pulled her jacket off and pulled it around her. Charlotte breathed in and carefully rose to her feet, thanking Sierra for the gesture. "Miss Keener, you want to call the police?" Jo was already on the phone, thinking a step ahead of them. "Let's get you home. The police can take care of that kid from here." Charlotte pulled the jacket tighter around her body and chuckled vainly as she eyed Brock's unconscious form.

"He might be safer in jail than the school when Mason finds out…the football players really don't like stalkers lately…"

Da-amn, that's all I gots to say on that matter. XD