Five days into the new year, Clyde called Emily into his office.

Honestly, she was surprised it had taken that long...

As she sat down across the desk from his calculating gaze, she was already mentally listing all the reasons why she didn't need to see a psychiatrist, preparing herself for a fight. He hadn't spoken to her, other than through office missives, since the night she kicked him out of her bed. She wasn't particularly concerned because he wasn't one to hold grudges and theirs wasn't a relationship where it mattered if he was, so long as he didn't bring it to work.

"Emily, I want you to..."

She opened her mouth to shut down his speech of disapproval and concern before he could gain momentum.

He continued to talk over her protests of already being cleared for field work and none of his concern. "...come with me to North Luffenham. The military is consolidating all their military working dog regiments there and we've been invited to oversee the transition."

Emily sat there for several moments with her mouth hanging open dumbly, that having been the last thing she anticipated him saying and therefore not having an immediate response to it. "Why...why me?" she asked when she found her tongue. "I don't know the first thing about dogs or combat training."

"I'm well aware," he replied. "I just think you need a break from the office. It will do you good to get your head away from here and get some fresh air."

She considered asking if this was because of what happened between them, but then thought better of it. Knowing was not always the best strategy. "Alright," she shrugged, unable to think of a reason why she shouldn't go. "When do we leave?"


From the moment she set foot inside the kennel area of the training facility, Emily was inundated with raucous barking, the sound making her head feel like it was splitting in two.

The soldier accompanying them through the facility had to raise his voice to be heard over the twenty or so dogs, but she found it difficult to concentrate on what he was saying even with the added volume. It was chaotic and overwhelming and she was having a hard time caring.

She had never been a dog person. At least, not since she was very young and her mother made it very clear dogs were entirely out of the question since they travelled too much and she wouldn't have some obnoxious beast dirtying her immaculate house.

And once she'd had her own place and the freedom to choose, a cat just made more sense with her job and inability to remember to eat three meals a day herself, let alone feed something dependent on her.

She took a few steps away from Clyde and the soldier to collect her scattered thoughts, tried to act like they weren't watching her, like Clyde's brow wasn't furrowed in concern. The caged dogs tracked her movement with vigilant eyes, bouncing off the wire fencing them in in furious barking fits if she got too close. Jaws snapped at her, sending drool flying in all directions. From the snippets of conversation she'd managed to absorb, she knew these were all dogs that had been trained for combat.

As she wandered along the row of pens, she paused in front of the kennel of one indifferent-seeming dog who was slumped in the far corner of her pen. A Belgian Malinois, if she wasn't mistaken. The dog glanced up at her, blinked sadly a few times, then lowered her head back to her paws with a sigh. Such a small gesture, but one she related to so well.

A hand landed on Emily's shoulder, startling her, and she visibly flinched before she could catch herself. A quick glance over her shoulder saw Clyde frowning as he watched her; she tried to act like she didn't know the source of his concern, but knew he saw through the act all too easily. She bit down on the inside of her cheek and counted to ten, waiting for her heart rate to slow again.

The soldier who'd startled her offered her an apologetic smile and a rubber dog toy which she took with confusion. He said something to her and she frowned when she didn't understand the words. She'd travelled enough to know that he was speaking German, but it was one of the few languages she had very little fluency in. He tried again, seeing her lost expression.

She shook her head. "Ich spreche kein Deutsch," she explained in the few German words she knew, "Englisch?"

"She seems to like you," he repeated in heavily accented English, nodding to indicate the sullen dog. Then, as if to prove his point, he moved towards the cage, instantly sending the dog into hysterical barking, baring her teeth at him in an unmistakeable display of aggression.

He backed away and gestured to indicate that Emily should offer the dog the toy he'd handed her earlier.

"How do I make her sit?" Emily asked, staring at the now calm dog.

He held up a closed fist, but explained, "She's not so good with the listening since she shipped home."

"Home from where?" The dog was watching her, curious almost, but not threatened.

"Sniffing bombs in Iraq. Her handler was shot in an ambush."

She made a small sympathetic noise, but said nothing. There was nothing to say. "What's her name?" she asked eventually.

"Nyx."

"The Greek Goddess of night..." Emily approached the kennel, immediately sending the dog to its feet, eyes trained on her. "Nyx, sit," she commanded, raising a closed fist.

She could tell that the handler watching her was surprised when the dog obeyed with little hesitation. She slipped her hand through the bars of the cage and offered the toy. The dog grabbed it a little brusquely, teeth exposed, but didn't try to bite.

The soldier shook his head with something akin to awe. "You have a gift," he insisted. "Nyx won't obey anyone since her handler died. Lots of trouble."

"I guess she recognizes a fellow troubled soul," she whispered, voice so soft it was barely there at all. She couldn't break her gaze from the forlornness in the dog's eyes. Somewhere behind her, she knew Clyde had heard, knew she was confirming all the things he'd said to her that New Year's Eve she'd kicked him out of bed. She knew he'd have something more to say, but all of that barely registered when it felt like there was a black hole opening up inside her...