Firstly, I own nothing to do with the Blacklist. I am just a huge fan.

Thank you so much, I know its a silly idea, but I am so glad that some of you are willing to go along with it LOL. Don't worry, Red can shift into BOTH human and dog, so she will meet him eventually as a human.

Chapter 2

Liz was still grinning to herself as she got inside the apartment she shared with her boyfriend Tom, her spirits lifted.

Something about having a little run-in with the dog Raymond and his owner Dembe had her feeling very happy this morning. When she stepped inside the kitchen to fill up a tall glass with water, she found her boyfriend of a year, Tom, already awake, sitting in a chair at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee nursed between his hands.

"You got up earlier than usual?" he said, raising his eyebrows at her. "I woke up wondering why the bed felt so cold and realized you were gone?"

"I know. I'm sorry, babe." She paused, sipping down a few mouthfuls of water greedily. The run back to the apartment had made her mouth feel parched. "I just had a sudden burst of energy this morning and decided to go for a run earlier than usual." She turned and leaned against the sink after filling up another glassful of water, noticing Tom scrutinizing her carefully.

"You seem particularly... happy this morning, too?"

She had to press her lips tightly together to suppress a smile. "Do I?" she asked, playing dumb.

"Yeah, you do. Should I be worried?"

"Maybe." She slipped up, grinning. "No. I actually ended up meeting someone at the park on my run."

"Oh, really?" Tom shifted in the chair slightly to face her with heightened interest, his eyes widening. "I think I should definitely be worried then. Was it a really handsome guy?"

She laughed quietly to herself at how far off the mark he was. "Well, they definitely were adorable. They were about this tall" - She bent down, demonstrating how tall the guy was by leveling her hand just above her knee -"And were extremely hairy. Aside from that, they were very adorable."

Tom's face seemed to fall in relief. "You're talking about a dog, Liz, aren't you?"

"Maybe," she kept up, teasing him. She was enjoying his reaction far too much than she probably should have.

"Do I need to seriously be worried over a dog?"

"Maybe, if I'm ever... into bestiality," she teased. She pretended to think deeply for a second. "He left a pretty good impression on me so, yeah. I think you definitely should be worried, babe."

Their playful bantering was interrupted when Tom glanced over at the clock. In a hurry, he was up, tucking in the chair. "Shit, babe. I really have to get to work," he muttered, tipping the rest of his coffee out in the sink.

"Okay, babe. Have a good day."

He pecked her on the lips goodbye, rushing to find his briefcase. Then he was out the door in a flash, leaving Liz by herself. Well, not completely by herself. Hudson was sitting by his bowl, scoffing down his breakfast.

When she glanced at the time herself, she tipped the rest of the water out into the sink, rushing into the bathroom to have a shower to get dressed and ready for her day as well.

That night, ridiculous as it was, Liz found she couldn't sleep.

She laid in bed, tossing and turning, Tom asleep beside her. It was too hot under the sheets, too... stuffy, so she kicked one of her legs halfway out, yanking the sheets down past her waist to get some cool air onto her skin. Her mind wouldn't seem to switch off.

Strangely enough, she found herself thinking about Raymond, the dog she had met this morning, as well as his owner Dembe. Dembe's word seemed to come back to her, with what he had said to the dog.

He had mentioned something about a meeting, which seemed so strange to her. Since when do dogs go to meetings? It just didn't seem to make any logical bit of sense to her.

Hudson certainly didn't have to attend any meetings.

She huffed in laughter quietly at herself, at just where her mind was taking her. She was being so silly. Why on earth was she still thinking about this for? Especially at... She turned, glancing at the illuminated red numbers on the alarm clock on the dresser beside her. Jesus, it was already two-thirty in the morning and yet, here she was, thinking about what a man had said to his dog?

"Liz?" Tom's groggy, sleep-roughened voice startled her. "Are you still awake over there?"

She must have disrupted him from his sleeping by all the sheets rustling she was doing. Either that, or how she had laughed. She placed a hand against her sweaty forehead, sighing heavily. "Yeah, babe. I'm still awake."

"Why?"

"Weirdly enough, I'm... I'm actually thinking about Raymond."

"Raymond?" She heard Tom sit up, his voice thick with confusion. She had forgotten she hadn't said what the dog's name had so happened to be in the morning when she had told him what happened.

"The dog I met this morning. His name was... Raymond."

He laid back down heavily, making the mattress creak. "And you're up at this ridiculous hour thinking about a dog?" Even by his tone, she knew he thought she was being stupid.

She frowned, peering up at the dark ceiling. "I know it's silly," she muttered apologetically. "But I was just... thinking about what his owner said."

"His owner? What?"

"He said to the dog that he needed to go to a meeting." She had to purse her lips together to stop herself from laughing out loud at the absurdity of it all. "A meeting, Tom. I mean, since when do dogs have meetings of all things to attend?"

"Well, I don't know, Liz." She heard him yawn loudly. "Maybe he's one of those... stunt dogs or something? Or a... a dog they use in movies?"

Hmm, that wasn't unlikely. It could be possible. "Maybe you're right," she agreed tiredly in a soft whisper. "Maybe he's a stunt dog or an acting dog? I know he seemed very... talented and intelligent? It was almost like he could understand the human language?"

She waited in silence for Tom to say something else, to give her his further output on it. Only, what she heard next, was nothing but his irritating, drawn-out snores. He had fallen back to sleep.

Waking up bright and early the next morning, Liz got dressed into a grey tank top and matching track pants, plopping down onto the edge of the bed as she slipped on her joggers and did the shoelaces up. It had turned just after six thirty and Tom was still fast asleep, grunting and mumbling incoherently in his sleep.

As she bent down to kiss him goodbye on the cheek, she thought she heard him grumble, "Please don't leave me for the dog, Liz," as she made her way out of the room.

Why Tom was mumbling about something so silly in his sleep, she had no idea. Or maybe it was due to what they had talked about in the middle of the night while she was having difficulty in getting to sleep? Maybe it was playing on her boyfriend's mind unconsciously?

She took her time as she got out of the front door of the apartment, getting into a light jog. She took the route she did every other morning in running four blocks before turning left into the path that led into the park. It was fairly deserted at this hour in the morning with only about three other people up and about.

As she slowed down to a brisk walk, panting strenuously for air, she stopped when a sudden stitch came beneath her ribs, grimacing. The back of her scalp felt drenched, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of her forehead. She was just working herself up into starting to jog again when she caught sight of something a blinding grey and white in the corner of her eye.

Raymond. Raymond was back in the park again.

She felt embarrassed at how excited she felt at the sight of him, at how much her heart seemed to soar in her chest. He was just a dog, after all. In this day and age, it was rare for a person not to have a pet dog and yet, here she was, grinning at the sight of him.

He was a fair distance away, sitting near one of the deserted benches. She couldn't help but get the impression that he was sitting and waiting for someone dutifully, but when she glanced around, she couldn't see his owner Dembe anywhere in sight.

It was a disturbing moment for her when the dog turned his head, his ears poking upright when he saw her. It was almost as though he recognized her from yesterday morning, and Liz's heart leaped nervously when he broke out into a full-on run, scampering straight towards her.

She stepped back instinctively, anxious that he was going to attack her or at the very least jump on her and throw her to the ground. Yet she noticed his powerful legs grow slower the closer he reached her.

When he did reach her, Raymond stopped straight in front of her, his bushy tail beating back and forth as he leaned down, licking the skin on her ankle peeking through her cut-off, three-quarter track pants.

"Hello again, Raymond," she said in her baby voice as she dropped to her knees, patting him. "Why are you here so early? Where's your owner?"

While she knew the dog couldn't possibly talk back, she didn't care.

"You're not wearing your red neckerchief today?" she observed softly, smiling when he pushed his way in closer, his fur brushing against her as he licked the patch of skin exposed on her chest from her tank top. "Does your daddy Dembe let you roam out here all by yourself or is he around here somewhere with you, too?"

At least she knew the dog was being properly taken care of, if his healthy glistening coat was anything to go by. Dembe had obviously been treating his dog well; He didn't look malnourished or underfed. If he had, Liz would have been struggling on the very tempting urge to bring him home and adopt him.

She made herself stand, ignoring the dog's whines of protest. "Well, I have to go now, Raymond," she said to the dog quietly. "But it was so good seeing you again. Maybe I'll see you back here tomorrow if you're here still?"

She gave Raymond one last scratch near his ears, noticing how the dog was almost peering up at her in a forlorn way, like he didn't want her to leave; His head tilted, tail between his legs.

It was hard, but Liz managed to pull herself away.

When she reached the back entrance of the park on the opposite end, she looked behind her shoulder, her heart falling in unease. Weirdly enough, Raymond was still as she had left him, watching her as she went.

Raymond was back again in the park when Liz jogged in at the same time the next morning. Just as the morning before, he was sitting by the deserted bench, only this time a brown paper bag was beside him on the grass.

Even although she was wearing different colored running clothes than the morning before- with a hooded jacket on for extra warmth, as it was cooler this morning- he still seemed to recognize her, amazingly enough.

The instance his greyish-green eyes landed on her, he stood with a yipping noise in greeting, bending down to pick up the paper bag between his teeth before breaking out into a slow jog towards her.

It was so bizarre, but she couldn't help get the feeling that he was waiting for her to come now every morning, as if he recognized that early morning exercising through the park was her routine.

Liz had heard that dogs could be loyal to a fault to their trusted human companions- and if she had to be honest, it was one of the reasons she loved dogs so much the way she did- and why she held preference for them over cats.

But she wasn't Raymond's owner, which made it startling most of all. How could a dog become so loyal and excited to see someone when they weren't their owner and were simply a mere passing acquaintance for the past two mornings?

"Hello again, Raymond," she called out affectionately through deep breaths as the dog padded towards her eagerly.

The breath seemed to hitch in her throat and she grew profoundly unnerved when the dog growled at her as he released the sealed paper bag from his teeth, dropping it on the grass near her trainers. He looked up at her then down at the unopened bag, panting; his pink tongue peeking through as he bared his sharp incisors to her.

She dropped down on her knees, running her fingers back and forth along the ridge between his eyes. He growled again, startling her. Liz pulled back nervously, almost dreading for him to suddenly nip her fingers painfully. But instead, Raymond lowered his head, nudging the paper bag twice.

Was he trying to say what she thought he was trying to say? Liz wondered in shock. Was he trying to give her the bag?

"Oh. You want me to take this, Raymond?" she asked uncertainly, her voice shaking. "You want me to open the bag and see whats inside?"

Astoundingly, it seemed that was what Raymond wanted. He looked at her with his luminescent eyes for a moment, head tilted. Then he lowered his head again, repeating his actions of before in nudging the bag with his nose. It took her breath away. The dog, he was truly amazing.

She grabbed the bag, setting it on her knee before uncurling the opening to peer inside curiously.

"Is this a doggy treat for you?" she asked in confusion, pushing the bag further open with her fingers to properly peer inside. It was food; she knew that much. As she reached inside, pulling it out carefully with shaking fingers, she realized it was a blueberry bagel. "Oh. Did your daddy Dembe give it to you, Raymond?"

Liz didn't think dogs liked- or could even eat bagels, no less. But obviously Raymond was not your everyday dog.

Startling her even more, Raymond stood, stepping close enough to push his wet nose against the crook of her neck. By the time she had finished squirming due to how freezing the tip of his black nose was, Raymond had already taken off, racing across the park without so much as a backwards glance at her.

It was only when he had disappeared completely out of eyesight that Liz thought she finally understood.

Wow. Raymond the dog had given her a blueberry bagel for breakfast.

Her heart hammering in her chest, Liz climbed off her knees to stand slowly, searching for where he had gone to while she tucked the blueberry bagel back into the paper bag. This really didn't make sense to her at all. Dogs could be extraordinarily intelligent, and she knew that. But intelligent enough to bring a human breakfast? To select a freshly-made bagel to purchase for breakfast from a store?

She picked up her speed, striding towards the place where he had suddenly vanished from. As she reached the entrance of the park, she stopped in her tracks at the two men that were just leaving through the parking lot.

One, she recognized as Dembe, Raymond's owner. He was talking to a man; A man a few inches shorter than he was, who was wearing a three-piece suit and a white fedora.

Her stomach clenched as she looked around them, trying to find Raymond. If his owner Dembe was there, then where was the dog? Where was Raymond, his four-legged friend?

It just didn't make any sense.

Hope you enjoyed this one? :-) Thank you so much for showing your interest, I know it is probably crazy. Dog Raymond is going to get very protective of Liz, especially when he sees she's with Tom. And very soon they will meet with Red in his human form; Possibly similar to the show where he has handed himself in to become an informant, if that seems interesting? Or I can just create an alternate universe more, different than the show completely?

I was inspired by reading about and watching the movie on the dog Hachi. If you haven't heard of him (or seen the movie about him), you definitely should. I'd love to know where you would like for it to go.