"Hey," Hook says into his phone, staring out over the city as the sun slowly sets. "You free right now? Got this promo I wanna film, need to scout out where to do it at."

Mooch only hesitates for a moment before saying, "Uh, yeah, I'm good to go. Where?"

"Remember that area we noticed a few days back, by those high rises?" Hook asks, scooping up his backpack and heading for the door. "See you there."

There's a brief pause. Then, "Alright, see you there," Mooch gives in with a sigh.

Hook shrugs off how disinterested Mooch sounds and adjusts his backpack before making his way block by block to where they'd seen the high rises, something about the vibe of the place leaving Hook curious about what could be filmed there. He stands around and scopes the area out while waiting, turning when he hears familiar footsteps approaching. "Hey."

"Hey." Mooch casts a critical glance around the area. "Here?"

"Yeah." Hook paces around a bit, trying to find the exact spot where he thinks might have the most interesting backdrop for one of his promos. He's just walked between two buildings when he stops short, turning to look into the shadows.

Mooch, unaware, says, "I think this could be-"

"Shhhh," Hook hisses and Mooch turns quickly, staring at him. "I think I heard something."

"What?" Mooch stage whispers back, Hook rolling his eyes.

"I don't know, it was really faint-" he cuts himself off, hearing the strange sound again. "I think there's something down here," he says, pulling out his phone and turning on the flashlight, shining it next to the building.

"What are you doing?" Mooch demands, eyes widening. "Hook, we don't know what's down there-"

Hook ignores him, heading further down the sidewalk.

"If you get rabies, I swear to god," Mooch mutters, lurking next to the building, eyes wide as Hook looks around.

There's a pile of garbage bags and broken down boxes and Hook trudges around it, still struggling to listen for the sound over the general noise of the city. He frowns, noticing a box that's tilted on its side, leaning against the pile of trash. "What the-" he mumbles, kneeling down next to it and peering inside. His eyes widen when he hears that sound again, registering it as a faint whining sound, the distress behind it making him ache with the need to do something to comfort what's making it. He exhales slowly and reaches into the box carefully. "Hey," he says quietly, his fingers brushing against soft, quivering fur. "Oh. Hey, what're you doing, buddy?"

He can vaguely hear Mooch muttering, "Great, we're both going to die" and rolls his eyes.

"Mooch, stop panicking," he says, reaching into the box and gingerly lifting the little creature out. "It's just a puppy."

"Just a puppy," Mooch mumbles. "It's probably an overgrown rat or something-" His complaints die away when Hook turns towards him and he gets a good look at what's cuddled up in Hook's arms. "Oh," he says, blinking. "Oh."

Hook stares down at the shivering, whimpering puppy with a frown, cuddling him closer. "Poor little guy, what are you doing alone out here? Huh?"

"Damn, he's little," Mooch says, hesitantly approaching. "No collar or anything." They exchange glances, Hook's face grim.

"Some asshole must've abandoned him out here," he mutters, looking back over at the building with a scrutinizing gaze. "He was in that box over there."

"I don't know," Mooch says hesitantly. "How do you know its mother isn't around or something?"

Hook nudges the box over with his foot so Mooch can see the edge of it. "FREE PUPPY" is scrawled sloppily on the side and Mooch cringes.

"Right. Of course." He scrubs his hand through his hair and grimaces. "Why not."

"We need to get him warm," Hook mumbles, struggling to remove his hoodie one handed.

Mooch watches him with wide eyes. "Wha-"

"Take him, I can't get out of this-" Hook stares at Mooch until he reluctantly holds his arms out, taking the puppy and holding him gingerly, observing how the puppy doesn't wake up or even really move outside of the shivers wracking his small body, despite being jostled between the two of them.

"He doesn't look too great," Mooch murmurs, softening towards the poor puppy the longer he holds him. "People suck."

Hook finally frees himself from the hoodie and exhales, shaking his hair out and adjusting the black shirt he'd had under it quickly. "They do," he grumbles, taking the puppy back and wrapping him up in the hoodie, making sure his face is uncovered so he can still breathe. "Let's go."

"Wait," Mooch says, scrambling to catch up as Hook walks off quickly. "Where are we going?!"

"There's an emergency vet a couple blocks from here," Hook says over his shoulder. "Gotta see if it's open, they could probably help this little guy more than anything else right now."

Mooch stops short, then forces himself to rush forward again when Hook keeps walking. "How do you know that?!" He finally catches up to Hook and stands shoulder to shoulder with him as they walk down the street, glancing down at the struggling puppy. He exhales and looks over at Hook. "Well. At least we didn't get mugged or anything, huh?"

-x

It's late when they get out of the emergency vet. Mooch had left awhile ago, leaving Hook to figure out what to do next. The little puppy is much more awake now, warmed up and re-hydrated, still wrapped up snug in Hook's hoodie. "Well, all in all, that wasn't too bad," Hook murmurs to the bundle in his arms. "Considering, you're a pretty tough little guy, aren't ya." He adjusts his hold on the puppy and lifts him up until they're eye to eye, staring at him. The puppy stares back, yawning widely. Hook chuckles and shakes his head, tucking the puppy back in to the little nest his hoodie's become. "Alright, here we go."

The staff at the vet had suggested taking the puppy to a nearby shelter, but Hook knows they're all overwhelmed by abandoned or stray animals as it is, and he can't even picture leaving the little puppy in a cold, lonely cage in one of those places so soon after pulling him out of that flimsy box, shivering and suffering, so there's only one real option he has.

He unlocks the door to his and Orange's apartment and looks down at the puppy, who's hiding his little face in the folds of Hook's hoodie. "Hey, little guy," Hook says, brushing his fingers into the fabric to try to unearth him a little. "I'm going to put you down for a little bit. I need to get a couple of things to take care of you, alright? I'll be nearby, you'll be alright."

He settles the puppy down on the couch, making sure he's still snuggled up in the thick fabric of the hoodie and leans against the armrest, pulling his phone out to check a delivery service. He'd asked the emergency vet for a couple recommendations for puppy food, and he types it in, skimming through the options that show up. He selects the food and a couple of other things the vet had recommended- puppy pads, some shampoo and a brush, a combo food/water bowl. "Alright," he mumbles, spotting a couple of dog toys and adding them to everything else. He looks up and notices the puppy peeking at him from the edge of the hoodie. When their eyes lock, the little guy's ears perk up. "Anything else you need? What do you think, huh?"

The puppy just whines and continues to stare at him, Hook's lips twitching up into a soft smile as he places the order and puts his phone aside, settling down on the couch. "Let's get you outta here," he says, gently untucking the hoodie and scooping the puppy up into his arms. "Are you still cold? We're inside now, you'll be alright."

After handling the more dangerous issues, like re-hydrating him and warming him up, the vet had looked the puppy over thoroughly. He'd given him a flea bath and recommended more medicine for future flea prevention measures. Had run tests, a couple of which had already come back clear, and the rest the vet promised to call with results for in a couple of days.

"Hmm," Hook sighs, nuzzling into the puppy's fur. "Look at you, all clean and handsome." He chuckles. "That order should be here soon." He strokes the puppy's face, from the top of his head down to his nose. "We'll get you set up, everything'll be good and you'll be comfortable tonight." He hums. "Orange has some media stuff to do tomorrow, then he'll be home on Monday. I bet he'll adore you." He smiles.

Hook's sleep that night isn't the best, the puppy anxious in the dark. He whines a couple of times, wide eyed and trembling, and Hook shushes him quietly, tucking him closer. "S'ok, little guy," he mumbles, closing his eyes. "We gotta think up a name for you, huh?"

By the time sun's up, the puppy seems a little calmer, eyes flickering around the room before resting on Hook's face. "That's better, huh?" Hook asks, rubbing at his eyes. "Let's get up. Get you something to eat." He eases the puppy out of the sheets and holds him close, the puppy nudging against his chin as Hook shifts around. "Good boy," he murmurs, getting to his feet. "C'mon, little guy."

The puppy scares easily, sometimes making himself very small at noises outside, but Hook thinks he's coming along, actually eating a little more of the puppy food than he'd managed the night before. "Have some water," Hook says, gently easing him over to the other side of the bowl. He chuckles, watching as the puppy laps at the water, picking up speed the more he registers how thirsty he really is.

While he's distracted, Hook takes the time to snap a picture of the puppy and sends it to Mooch: "What should I name him?"

Almost immediately his phone pings. "POOCHYENA!" the responding message reads.

Hook groans and drops his head back, staring up at the ceiling. "Why do I even bother," he mumbles, before resting a hand on the puppy's head, lightly stroking the soft brown fur above his eyes. "Don't worry," he murmurs. "I won't name you after a Pokemon, promise."

The puppy naps a lot through out the day. So much so that Hook starts to worry, googling it. It calms him when he reads that young dogs do sleep a lot, will have a short burst of energy, then sleep some more. "Living the dream," he sighs, shaking his head with a soft laugh. While there, Hook takes the opportunity to search a few more things, trying to make sure he hasn't overlooked any desperate puppy needs.

Hook lifts the puppy up and settles down with him on the couch. "Well," he murmurs. "If you're going to nap, it's only fair I get to too." He's gentle, running his fingers in slow, soothing motions over the puppy's back as he sleeps peacefully on Hook's chest. "Hm. I could get used to this."

The second night is a little easier. The puppy isn't as scared in the dark, though Hook wakes up a couple of times through the night to find him sitting on his haunches, staring. "Need anything?" he mumbles, reaching out to stroke the dog's nose. He jostles a little when the puppy licks his fingers, blinking. "Oh, that's new." He chuckles. "You getting comfortable? That's good."

The day starts off slow like the morning before, Hook refreshing the water in the puppy's bowl and watching him eat, making sure the puppy food is still agreeing with him. "C'mon, Orange should be home soon," he says, settling the puppy down on the floor in the living room once he's done. "Wanna try out some of these toys?" He opens up one of the packages containing a soft ball, squeezing it a couple of times before rolling it back and forth between his hands. He looks up and smiles upon finding the puppy staring at it, his head tilted.

Hook shifts and rolls the ball forward, watching as the puppy watches it warily, not bothering to move towards it. "It's a toy," Hook says with a small laugh. "You'll figure it out." He collects the ball and rolls it a few more times, the puppy gingerly reaching out and batting at it with his little paw. "See? It's fun." Hook tries again, amused with how quickly the puppy catches on, interacting with the ball more and more, yipping a little when he moves to bat it around. It's the most Hook's heard of his voice and he aches a little that the puppy may have felt too scared to make much noise up to this point. "Poor guy," he sighs.

By the time Orange comes home, the puppy's fallen back asleep, Hook snuggling him close as he breathes softly. He sits with his back against the couch and listens as Orange walks into the room and puts his luggage down. "Hey," Hook calls out to him quietly.

"Hey," Orange says. "Why are you sitting down-" His words fail him as he catches sight of the puppy in Hook's arms and he exhales, pulling his sunglasses off and carefully folding them up. "What's that?"

Hook's lips twitch a little. "A puppy," he says.

"I see that," Orange says. "Why is he here?"

"Mooch and I were looking for a place to film at," Hook explains. "I heard this little guy whimpering, he was really cold and hungry, so I got him out of there, and-"

Orange stands there for a few moments, examining him with a tight look on his face. "How long's he been here?"

"Friday evening," Hook says, carefully getting to his feet and walking up to Orange to let him get a better look at the puppy. He watches as Orange's eyes trail around the room, taking in all of the various supplies scattered around. "He sleeps a lot."

Orange nods, glancing from the puppy up to Hook. "What're your plans?"

"My plans?" Hook echoes.

"Yes," Orange says slowly. "With the puppy. Hook, you know he can't stay here."

Hook frowns, surprised. "Why not?"

Orange sighs. "Hook, we live in an apartment. Will our landlord even approve of us having a puppy? Not to mention we're on the road at least three days a week, sometimes more. Who will take care of him then? We can't bring him with, and we can't leave him here alone for that long. Then what?" Orange rests a hand on Hook's shoulder. "We can't keep him, Hook. It's just not going to work with our life right now."

Hook's frown grows as Orange pointedly looks everywhere but at the sleepy puppy. "We can figure it out," he says. "I've thought about it the last couple of days."

"I'm sure you have," Orange says tiredly. "Hook, we already have so much going on. Do you really want to add the responsibility of such a young puppy to everything else?"

Hook squares his shoulders, tense. "Orange, come on, you've barely even looked at him since you got home. At least give it a few hours and see how you feel then, please."

Orange sighs, unable to argue with the pleading look on Hook's face. It gets worse when he glances down and finds the dog's woke up at some point, staring at him with wide, sad brown eyes too. He looks back up at Hook, a warning tone in his voice. "It won't change anything though."

"I bet you're wrong," he says, lips twitching up into a soft smile. "No way will you be able to refuse this all day." He holds the puppy up so that he and Orange are eye to eye and Orange sighs, already regretting this.

"Fine. He can stay for the rest of the day," Orange says. "But Hook?" He waits until Hook looks away from smiling fondly at the puppy to speak again. "It's just to give us both time to think of where he can stay. Alright? This doesn't mean anything."

Hook shrugs. "Sure," he says, not doubting in the slightest that Orange will come around given time. "C'mon, little guy."

Hook spends the afternoon keeping the puppy entertained, happy. Tries to involve Orange, but he doesn't seem that enthused, keeping to himself and his usual post-travel rituals. After supper, Hook's sitting on the floor with the puppy, lightly rolling the ball towards him and chuckling as the puppy wears himself out batting at it and sometimes even running after it, his awkward little legs moving at an impressive speed, considering. Once he slows down, starting to nod off where he sits, Hook picks him up and tucks him close, bringing him back to the couch. He settles in with a fond smile and gently strokes his hand down the puppy's back while watching the random comedy Orange has on.

"So I'm guessing you don't want to take him to a shelter," Orange says during a commercial break and Hook freezes next to him.

"Huh?"

"A shelter," Orange says. "You don't want him to be at a shelter."

"No," Hook says slowly. "I don't."

"Right." Orange focuses on the TV once more, watching a few more minutes of the show before turning back towards Hook. "I bet Chuck would love him, I'll call him in the morning and see if he's interested. Or maybe knows someone who might be."

Hook hasn't looked away from him the entire time, a confused look on his face. "You... you really don't want to keep him?"

Orange sighs and mutes the TV, turning to look at Hook. "Facts haven't changed, Hook. Our lifestyle just doesn't really lend to getting a new pet right now. Especially one that young." He stares down at the sleeping puppy. "Maybe in the future, but it just won't work at this time."

Hook opens his mouth, about to argue it further, but he stares into Orange's eyes and something stops him, a sinking feeling in his chest as he realizes he just can't find the words. He swallows and turns his gaze back to the TV, although he's not registering anything that's happening, even when Orange turns back as well and unmutes it. A few minutes pass and Hook can't stomach sitting here anymore, pretending to care about this random TV show when his thoughts are spiraling all over the place.

Adjusting the puppy in his arms, he stands and walks around the couch. "I'm going to bed," he says quietly. "Good night."

-x

It takes Orange a bit to register what exactly Hook's said over the laughter track on the TV, looking over and blinking blankly as their bedroom door down the hall clicks shut. "Uh," he says, frowning. His focus on the TV is completely ruined now and, after the episode ends, he turns it off and sits with his hands on his thighs, lost in thought. Hook's reaction isn't enough to change his mind, but he does feel kind of bad, especially the more he thinks about the look in Hook's eye when Orange was talking about calling Chuck.

Not quite ready to go to bed, he busies himself around the living room, careful not to disrupt the various puppy things scattered around. He's just moved to collect the mail that he can see piled up on the table when he pauses, distracted by papers scattered all over around it. "What is this..." he mumbles, scanning over the papers curiously. "Oh." He looks up and frowns.

Piling the papers up into some semblance of order, he walks down the hall and pushes the door open, blinking into the shadows to find Hook curled up on his side, hugging a pillow. There's a soft, whimpering noise, and Orange finally catches sight of the puppy nudging at Hook's hand, fussing only louder when he notices Orange.

Worry growing, Orange makes his way to the bed, careful not to jostle the puppy as he puts the papers down. He rests a hand on Hook's shoulder, trying to get a look at his face. "Hook?" he murmurs. "Hey-"

It's sudden, almost violent as Hook lunges upward, gasping himself awake. "No!"

"Whoa," Orange says, trying to catch his eye as Hook curls in on himself, panting. "Hook?"

"It was a nightmare," he whispers, sounding like he's trying to convince himself. "Just a nightmare." He reaches out and digs his fingers into Orange's shirt, holding on desperately. "Fuck."

"What's happening?" Orange asks, curling his fingers around Hook's and just holding on to him, not caring how much it's stretching his shirt out. "Hook? You were having a nightmare?"

Hook finally looks up and exhales shakily. He nods.

"Tell me about it?" Orange asks quietly, sitting on the bed next to him and waiting as he struggles to catch his breath.

"We were at Dynamite," Hook finally begins, loosening his grip on Orange's shirt. "I was looking around the arena for you, and I finally found you, y-you were standing at the end of the hall, and I was walking towards you, but before I could... before I could do anything, Jericho appeared and just... he threw a fireball at you, and you- I... I don't know," he says helplessly. "I just knew it was bad, it just felt like you were seriously injured... or worse..." He shivers, looking away. "There was nothing I could do to help you, it all moved too fast. I woke up before I could get to you."

Orange closes his eyes and pulls Hook into him, holding him close, feeling the trembles working through him. "Do you," he says hesitantly. "Have you... had these nightmares before?"

Hook hesitates, then nods into Orange's shoulder.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Hook shrugs and Orange frowns. "Hook..."

"You have enough going on," Hook mumbles. "I'm not going to put more on you because of a couple of nightmares."

"You woke up yelling," Orange says quietly. "That's a little more than a couple of nightmares, Hook. The puppy was worried too."

Hook freezes. "He was?"

"Yeah." Orange sighs, brushing his fingers gently through Hook's hair. "Dammit." He pulls away from Hook and stares into his eyes. "I'm going to be ok. Jericho won't be dumb enough to do it again, not after how it backfired on him with you." Hook nods along, although he still has a worried look on his face, and Orange sighs, knowing that there's only so much he can say until he's out of Jericho's orbit. He lets go of Hook and leans over to pick the puppy up from where he's slipped between two pillows in all of the commotion, whining uncertainly. Orange examines him for a moment before gently settling him down in Hook's arms. "Hook? I know this is a bad time, but I came in here because I wanted to talk to you about something."

Hook sighs. "Alright."

Orange scoops up the papers and starts to organize them, half-listening as Hook fusses over the puppy.

Hook rubs the puppy's paws carefully, murmuring. "Little guy like you probably got scared by all of that," he says quietly, watching the puppy. "Sorry about that, I think you're ok, but I do still have the vet's number, if you need anything... Maybe-"

"This one?" Orange asks, holding up a business card that's slipped free from the paperwork as he'd carried it.

Hook's eyes widen as he looks up. "Uh, yeah," he says wearily. "That's the one."

Orange hums, piling the paperwork on the blanket between them. "So," he says, taking it page by page and examining the scribbles in Hook's somewhat sloppy handwriting all over the back. "When I got home this morning, and I saw this little guy, I thought you were just acting impulsively, that you hadn't really considered the responsibilities of bringing a puppy into our life." He looks up. "Then I was looking for the mail and I found all of this on the table." He rustles through the papers from the vet's office, holding up another page. "You took him to the vet for dehydration, and the vet helped warm him up, gave him a flea bath and checked him over." Hook nods, holding the puppy close, and Orange rustles through the papers a little more. "Ran some tests, the rapid results all came back clean," Orange muses. "More results will be called in in a few days, but considering everything, he seems like a pretty healthy puppy, if a little malnourished."

"Yeah," Hook says quietly, expecting the mostly positive review from the vet to be enough for Orange to insist they give him away ASAP.

"You requested a rough schedule for future vaccinations and other things the puppy will need done in the next few months," Orange says. "A list of puppy food and other recommendations from the vet over here..." He continues reading, showing more interest in things than he has all day. "Then I realized that on top of that, at some point you pulled out our lease and highlighted the part talking about what kind of pet deposit would be required." He stares at these papers as well, setting them aside after a few moments. "Which just leaves me with this paper. Hook, what is it?"

Hook frees a hand from the puppy, taking the last page from him. "A list of people I thought might want to dog sit when we're busy with AEW," he says, hope starting to light up his eyes, bring some life back to his words. "Orange..."

Orange sighs, thinking about a couple of names to add to the list before looking back up at Hook. "I guess the main question I have now is if you thought of all of this for this puppy, why didn't you fight a little harder to convince me to keep him?"

Hook exhales, glancing down at the puppy. "Uh," he sighs. "Well, I... I was going to, I came really close a few times. But you just seemed so against it, and the more I thought about it, the more I kept going back to what a bad year it's been for you. After all of that, how was I supposed to force something else you didn't want on you? Especially when you're still trying to adjust to partnering up with the Conglomeration and everything else. It didn't seem fair to you."

Orange nods grimly. "I see. But, Hook, do you think I would've enjoyed giving him to someone else, just to realize at some point in the future how much you really wanted to keep him, and how much thought you put into trying to make it work out?" He leans over, careful not to jostle the puppy, and brushes some of Hook's hair out of his eyes, searching his face. "I don't want to make you feel like you can't talk to me about stuff like this, Hook. Nightmares or a new puppy. Yeah, things haven't been great for awhile, but that's true for both of us. Between your injuries this summer, and everything going on with the FTW title..." He shakes his head, staring down at the puppy, who's dozed back off in Hook's arms now that things have calmed down. "Of course you wanted something good to hold onto."

Hook closes his eyes. "I'm sorry," he mumbles. "I just... I didn't want to add to the stress."

Orange hums. "Tell me about how you found him," he requests quietly and Hook's grip tightens on the puppy as he relays the story. Scouting around with Mooch, hearing this weak, sad little sound and following it to where the puppy had been abandoned. The box against the pile of garbage, and how lethargic and weak the little guy had been when Hook had gently lifted him out of it. Orange listens quietly, watching the anger and sadness warring on Hook's face. "Sounds like you saved his life," he comments.

"I don't think he would've lasted much longer out there," Hook murmurs, running his fingers gently down the puppy's nose. "People are such assholes. Imagine how many just walked by that box, ignoring him. Ugh." He tucks the puppy in closer, exhaling slowly.

Orange nods, watching the two of them. "Well, I just have one more question." Hook looks up warily and Orange smiles at him, shrugging. "I don't think we're going to get away with just calling him puppy or little guy for much longer, so... what're you going to name him?"

Hook's jaw drops. "You mean..." When Orange nods, Hook closes his eyes and hugs the puppy even tighter into his chest. "Sorry, sorry," he murmurs when the puppy whimpers, startled at being woke up so abruptly. He lifts the sleepy puppy up to eye level and beams at him. "I've been mentally calling you Rocco for a little bit now. What do you think? You like that?"

The puppy squirms and yips, his little paws flailing around, and Hook laughs as Orange rolls his eyes, scrubbing a hand through his hair. "Of course," he mumbles. He waits until Hook puts the puppy back down to lean over, staring at him.

Hook blinks, looking back and forth between the two of them as they examine each other, waiting for... something to happen.

Eventually Orange reaches out, slowly, and waits patiently. After a few moments, Rocco leans up, meeting him half way, and sniffs at his hand. Orange smiles a little when, after a few seconds of consideration, the puppy gives his fingers a couple of tentative licks, permission quietly granted. Orange hums and begins gently petting his head, scritching behind his ears. "Well then. Welcome to the family, Rocco."