New
Arrivals
Author-Suzie
Titles
Tracy
by Suzie
Summary: Jim brings home a stray. #2 in the I Want a Pet series.
Disclaimer: Some of the characters in this story belong to the UPN Network and Pet Fly Productions as part of the television show The Sentinel. I do not claim these characters as my own. No money has changed hands.
Notes: Well, this one didn't end up the way I originally planned it ... so I changed the title. <VBEG> Thanks, as always to Jen, for her great betaing and for the scene in the park. :-)
"In a cat's eyes, all things belong to cats."
######
Jim kicked the door with his foot since his hands were full. "Hey Blair! Open Up!" he called. Jim listened to Blair's hurried footsteps as he crossed the loft.
"Hey Jim, you're really late," he said, as he pulled open the door. "What hap ... What's That?!" Blair stared at the blanket covered bundle Jim had in his arms.
Jim stepped into the loft, "I ... ah ... had a little accident on the way home. Sorry I didn't call."
Blair closed and locked the door, then followed Jim into the living room. "Geez Jim, what happened? You okay man?" he asked, suddenly worried. "Why didn't you call?"
"I'm fine Chief." Jim carefully set the bundle down on the floor and gently removed the blanket. "I hit her. She ran right out in front of me. I spent the last couple hours at the vet. I just didn't think to call until I was nearly home."
"Oh ... Jim," Blair whispered, kneeling beside his Sentinel. "She's just a puppy."
"Yeah, luckily I didn't run her over ... she bounced off the tire."
A soft whine, as glazed brown eyes peered up at the two men for a moment before falling shut again.
"Is she hurt badly?" Blair asked, stroking the soft fur gently.
"The vet said there's nothing broken, but she's bruised some. She's pretty doped up, probably sleep the night through." Jim gently rubbed around one floppy ear. "The vet said she can't be more than three months old."
"Merow?" came from Blair's room, followed by the soft padding of little paws. "Murf?"
"Hey Figaro," Jim said, smiling as he stroked the four-month-old black and white cat. "We got company."
Figaro purred loudly and pushed his head against Jim's leg in greeting. Then stepped forward to sniff at the small Australian Shepherd sleeping on the floor.
"Careful there, don't scare her. She needs to rest," Jim smiled, watching the cat sniff his way around the visitor.
Figaro gently nudged the puppy's face, giving a soft little "murf". Not opening her eyes, the little dog emitted a soft whimper as she flicked out her tongue, catching Figaro on the side of the face.
Blair stood and disappeared inside his room. Jim could hear the young man shuffling things around and mumbling to himself. I minute later Blair emerged carrying a large cardboard box and stopped at the linen closet for several big fluffy towels.
"What's that for?" Jim asked.
Blair got down on his knees again. "She can't sleep on the floor all night. It's too drafty." He placed the towels inside the box. "There ... that'll do for tonight. Where we gonna put her?"
Jim continued to gently pet the small animal, "I'll ... ah ... keep her upstairs with me tonight." He then carefully placed the puppy in the box. "There ya go girl. That should be more comfortable."
Blair couldn't help but grin at his Sentinel. "Hungry? I can heat up your dinner."
"Thanks Chief, that'd be great," Jim smiled. "I'm starved."
**********
The next morning Jim woke to the sounds of whimpering coming from the box beside his bed, and a cat standing on his chest licking at his nose.
"Hey ... morning Fig," Jim yawned and scratched the cat's head.
"Merow" Figaro insisted, as he jumped down into the box next to the puppy.
Jim rolled over and looked down into bright brown eyes. "Good morning there," he smiled, reaching a hand down to pet the brown and black puppy. "Feeling better?"
The young dog yipped happily and licked Jim's arm.
"Guess it's time for a walk, huh?"
**********
Figaro lay on Blair's back between his shoulder blades and nuzzled his wet nose into Blair's ear, purring loudly.
"Figaro, it's Saturday," Blair mumbled groggily, pushing the cat's face away. "Wanna sleep."
Figaro changed tactics and began playing with Blair's hair, batting and biting the long curls.
Blair sighed and cracked one eye open to look at the clock on the bedside table. "Aw man ... it's only 7:30. Can't ya give me another hour?"
Figaro slid off of Blair's back and began sniffing around Blair's face.
Blair blew a puff of air into the cat's face and said, "Jim must be up by now ... go get him to feed you."
Figaro nipped the tip of Blair's nose with needle like teeth.
"Yeow!!" Blair yelped, as the cat bounded off the bed. "That's it you little brat!" he said, pushing himself up as Figaro's tail disappeared out the door. "You know ... cat is considered a delicacy in some countries!" he called as he reached for his robe.
Figaro was sitting next to his dish when Blair shuffled out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Blair flipped the coffee maker on thinking, God, I'm glad I remembered to set this up before I went to bed.
"Marow" Figaro called, as he wound himself around and through Blair's bare legs.
"Yeah yeah yeah," Blair yawned, reaching into a cupboard for a can of cat food. "I'm doing it." He opened the can and scooped the food into Figaro's dish. As Blair rinsed the spoon and set it in the sink he wondered aloud, "I can't believe that puppy is still asleep." Quietly Blair went upstairs to Jim's room and broke into a smile at what he *didn't* find. Both bed and box were empty. He must've taken her out for a walk, he thought, visualizing big, anal, Detective Ellison walking a puppy.
**********
A half-hour later, Jim walked in with the puppy under one arm and a bag of puppy food under the other.
"Hey Jim, you two have a good walk?" Blair smiled, taking the bag of food so Jim could set the puppy on the floor.
"Yeah we did," Jim grinned. "You can tell she's a little stiff, but she doesn't seem to be hurting at all."
Figaro appeared and checked the puppy from nose to tail, as if making sure she was all right. Then the two began to cautiously play, testing each other.
"Cool," Blair said. "Breakfast will be ready in a sec."
"Great," Jim said, following his roommate into the kitchen. "Oh ... I found a name for her."
"You named her already?"
"No, there was a small nameplate on the collar she was wearing. I found it in my coat pocket this morning ... I'd forgotten about it." Jim pulled a large tupperware bowl out of a cupboard.
Blair scooped scrambled eggs onto two plates with toast and headed for the table. "So, what's her name Jim?"
Jim poured puppy food into the bowl and set it on the floor. "Tracy."
The puppy stopped and turned to face the voice, which earned her a quick thump on the rump from Figaro. Ignoring the cat, Tracy trotted over to Jim and hungrily dug into the bowl of food. Figaro settled nearby to watch and preen.
"I put up one of those lost and found cards on the bulletin board at the store," Jim said, as he washed his hands. He sat down to eat his own breakfast, noticing the sad look on Blair's face. "We can't keep her you know," he said matter of factly. "I wish we could."
Blair watched Tracy and Figaro from his seat at the table. "But ..."
"For one thing she must belong to someone, and for another ... well you know it just wouldn't work out here Chief. What with our schedules and all it just wouldn't be fair to her."
"Yeah ... I know," Blair sighed wistfully. "But what if someone didn't want her and just dumped her?"
"We'll find a home for her, don't worry. Someplace where she can run."
"And play with kids ... she'd be good with kids Jim. I can tell."
"Yeah Chief, with kids," Jim smiled affectionately at his young friend. "Well, we've got her for the weekend at least and we're both home." Narrowing his eyes at Blair, he asked, "Got any plans for the day?"
"I was gonna take Figaro to the park," Blair answered before scooping the last of his eggs into his mouth. "He likes to stalk the ducks at the pond."
Tracy had finished eating and had curled up on the floor next to Figaro, who was meticulously cleaning the puppy's fur.
Jim chuckled, remembering the last time he'd accompanied the twosome to the park. "Want to make it a foursome?"
Blair's eyes lit up, as a wide grin spread across his face.
**********
The day was warm and sunny. Jim and Blair packed a lunch and drinks in a cooler, and off they went to the park.
When they arrived at the park Jim scanned the area with Sentinel senses and announced, "There's only one other dog here, and it's on the other side of the park." He put an excited, squirming Tracy down and held the leash.
"Cool," Blair grinned, setting Figaro down and slipping the end loop of the leash attached to the cat's harness over his wrist. "We can let them of their leashes then."
"Yeah, we'll just keep an eye on 'em." Jim tucked a paper bag of goodies under one arm and grabbed one handle of the cooler with the other.
Blair took the cooler's other handle and together they walked to a picnic table near the pond.
Figaro saw the ducks and immediately pulled on the leash. "Murf! Murf!"
"Hang on Figaro," Blair laughed. "Let's get to the table first."
Tracy didn't know what all the excitement was about, but decided that if Figaro thought it was good ... well, it must be *good*. She started whining and yipping, jumping and running around Jim's legs.
"Tracy, stop!" Jim scolded, trying to step out of the leash as it wrapped around his legs.
Tracy ignored this and continued her wild antics.
"Tracy!"
They set the cooler down and Blair laughed, "Here ... I'll get her." But as he reached for the puppy, Tracy chose that moment to run one last time around Jim's legs, then scamper off away for Blair's hands.
With a yelp Jim's legs went out from under him and he landed flat on his back.
"OhmyGod Jim!" Blair asked, concern and humor in his voice. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah ... I think so," Jim said breathlessly.
A wiggling ball of fur pounced onto Jim's chest, as a small wet tongue quickly slurped across his entire face.
"Oh Yuck!" Jim cried, sitting up and grasping the playful bundle in his arms. "Okay okay! If that's an apology ... I accept!"
Blair laughed as he unwrapped the leash from Jim's legs, and Figaro sat at the end of his leash with a rather indignant look that seemed to say, "Will you guys hurry up! The ducks won't wait forever!"
**********
Jim and Blair spent the afternoon watching Figaro and Tracy play. Figaro was obviously a bit frustrated as he tried to stalk ducks with Tracy chasing them down into the pond.
"Ya know Jim, it's amazing how well Figaro and Tracy get along," Blair said, as he munched on some pretzels.
"I've noticed that Chief," Jim said, watching the animals. "It must be true what they say about opposites attract," he said with a wink at his partner.
Blair chuckled.
Jim noticed Tracy rooting around in the reeds at the edge of the pond. He gave a sharp whistle. When the puppy turned holding something bright red in her mouth, Jim called, "Tracy! C'mere girl!"
"What's she got Jim," Blair asked.
"I'm not sure," Jim said as Tracy bounded towards them.
Tracy played tag with Jim, as the big man tried to get the object from her. Blair sat at the table laughing at the two's antics. Eventually Jim's longer arms won out, as he grabbed hold of the wriggling furball.
"Okay ... now you *will* let me see what this is!" Jim chuckled, holding Tracy under one arm while trying to pry the thing from her mouth.
Tracy growled and snarled in mock protest. This got Figaro's attention and he trotted over to Blair, jumping into his lap to watch the silly human play with his friend.
"Hey, no biting!" Jim said, as needle sharp teeth pressed against his fingers. "That's cheating!" He shook the small head playfully, trying to get Tracy to release the object, "Let ... go!"
Tracy just growled and snarled.
Finally Jim stopped, but didn't release what he now knew to be a rubber ball. Looking Tracy in the eye for a second, he grinned wickedly then blew a small puff of air into her nose.
Tracy looked somewhat shocked for a second, just before she sneezed.
"AH HA!" Jim cried triumphantly. "I Win!" Then he looked at the slippery, saliva coated ball and mumbled, "I think I won anyway."
"Eewww Jim, that's gross man!" Blair laughed
"Mearf," Figaro commented.
Tracy let out a yip and began to struggle in Jim's arms.
Jim set Tracy down and said teasingly, "You want this huh?"
Tracy yipped again, jumping at the hand that held the red ball.
"Okay ... here ya go!" Jim said, letting the ball fly.
Tracy scampered off after it excitedly. But, after retrieving the ball, she wouldn't bring it back. Jim and Blair had coax and plead until one of them got close enough to grab the ball.
On the third try, the little dog had figured out that if she returned the ball to the human right away he would throw it again sooner. By now Figaro had joined in the fun, racing Tracy to the place where the ball landed, and sometimes waiting for the pup to arrive to pick up the ball after she got sidetracked.
"Okay you two," Jim said. "This is the last time! Then we're heading for home."
Blair was already packing things up.
Jim let the ball fly one last time. It must have hit a rock or something when it landed, because it bounced off at an odd angle. Tracy lost sight of the ball and began looking fanatically for it. Figaro, on the other hand, had followed it easily with his cat eyes and raced to where it had rolled to a stop at the edge of the pond.
"Merow!" Figaro called loudly to get Tracy's attention.
Tracy turned and immediately ran full tilt towards the cat. Suddenly she was tripping over her own big puppy feet, staggering and stumbling until she tumbled head over heels. It all happened so fast that Figaro couldn't get out of the way in time. Tracy, Figaro, and the little red rubber ball went into the pond with a very big splash. Ducks quacked and squawked as they scattered in ever direction.
"Oh Shit!" Jim and Blair cried simultaneously.
But before either man could react, both animals launched themselves from the water yelping and hissing. Jim caught one soaked and muddy dog, as Tracy leaped into his arms, nearly knocking the big man down. Figaro looked something like a drowned rat with part of a water lily stuck in his tail, as he pounced upwards and attached himself to Blair.
Jim was immediately drenched from head to toe with water. Pond muck and mud smeared across his face, and oozed through his fingers as he tried to hold the wet, whining, squirming pup. Blair was doing only slightly better because Figaro was too busy hissing and sneezing to squirm, but the young man still had water and mud running freely down the front of him.
The two humans looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"Well, at least we were headed home anyway," Jim grinned. "C'mon, there's a couple of old towels in truck."
**********
Blair stripped down to his boxers at the front door when they got home.
"You're gonna have to give me a hand here Chief," Jim said from beside his partner. "I'm not putting her down until it's in a tub of soapy water."
Blair giggled as he helped the older man out of his soaked clothes while he still held an unhappy Tracy in his arms.
"If she gets down she'll shake this goo all over the place," Jim mumbled, as Tracy whined and wiggled.
"Okay Jim, the tub is full!" Blair called from the bathroom a short time later.
Jim quickly went into the bathroom and deposited his bundle into the warm soapy water. Tracy yipped, not having a desire to be in any kind of water again, but only managed to get a nose full of suds which sent her into a small sneezing fit.
"Hang on to her Jim," Blair said while he scooped water from a big plastic mug onto the small dog.
"I've got her ... just hurry!" Jim replied, holding Tracy by the collar.
"Murf?" Figaro said from the door of the bathroom. "Merof."
"Hey ... isn't that *my* shampoo?" Jim asked.
Blair grinned and said, "Isn't she *your* dog?"
Jim rolled his eyes with mock distaste as Blair squeezed a generous amount of shampoo across Tracy's back.
"Merof."
"What do you mean we're doin' it wrong?" Jim asked distractedly, turning his attention toward Figaro.
Blair stopped scrubbing Tracy to stare, wide-eyed at his Sentinel. "What did you say?"
Jim huffed slightly. "Oh ... Fig says we're not do ... oh my God!" he said with sudden realization.
"You understood what Figaro said?!" Blair asked excitedly.
Jim nodded silently, dumbstruck. Tracy took advantage of the humans inattention to give herself a good shake.
Suds and water flew everywhere, as Jim and Blair scrambled to hold the pup still.
"Merow," Figaro said, as he continued to calmly sit in the doorway of the bathroom.
"Yeah yeah," Jim groaned. "I know you warned us." He could have sworn the cat was laughing at them. "But I'm sure we won't make the same mistake when we give you your bath next," Jim smiled wickedly at the cat.
Figaro stopped his cleaning to look at Jim with narrowed eyes, then slinked off in the general direction of the living room.
**********
A half-hour later, Blair emerged from the bathroom to look for Figaro as Jim toweled off Tracy.
"Okay Figaro ... it's your turn in the tub," Blair called quietly.
The phone rang.
"Hello?" Blair said into the receiver.
"Hi," a pleasant, young sounding male voice said. "I saw a card at Murphy's Grocery that says you've found a 3 month old shepherd puppy?"
Blair's breath caught in his throat, as his heart sank, "Um ... yeah, that would be us."
"By any chance does she have a leather collar with 'Tracy' on it?"
"Yes she does." Blair heard a muffled squeal of a child in the background. "I take it you're the owner?"
"Yes ... is Tracy okay?"
Blair swallowed hard. "Oh yeah, she's fine. We just got back from the park."
"She probably loved that." A smile was evident in the voice. "My name's Gary Sanders by the way."
"Oh ... I'm Blair Sandburg. It was actually my roommate who found Tracy."
"Daddy ... Daddy, when can we get Tracy back?!" a small voice said in the background.
"Soon honey, just a few more minutes." Then Gary said into the phone, "That's my daughter, Cindy. She's been beside herself with worry ever since Tracy got away from her."
"HEY! Come Back Here!" Jim hollered.
Blair turned to see Tracy run from the bathroom with one big detective, dressed in just boxers, in close pursuit. Blair smiled sadly at the playful grin on the big man's face.
"Would it be too much trouble if we picked her up right away?" Gary asked.
"Huh? Oh ... yeah ... sure. No problem," Blair sighed. Then as an after thought he said, "Could you wait and come in about three hours? We'd like a little time to say good-bye"
"I understand."
Blair watched Jim and Tracy for a moment longer before turning away. He cleared his throat of the lump that had formed there and said, "Let me give you our address."
Figaro crawled out from under the sofa to stare intently up at his human's sad face. He sensed that something was happening ... something that was going to make the loft sad for a few days to come. And Figaro knew *he* would have to be the strong one to pull his people through the crisis.
**********
(Author's note: Yes, in my universe Jim can talk to the animals. For Jim's first experiences with this ability read "Getting Away")
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