C-team, anyone, + "Oh you poor baby"
"Oh, you poor baby," Laurel coos, bending down next to the small terrier whose paw is caught in a hunting trap. "Let's get you out of this."
"Hurry," Dante urges her. "Rory's going to wonder why we're not back yet."
"We'll be fine," Laurel assures him while examining the trap. The poor pooch barks as she shifts the trap. "Sorry about this. Dante, come over here."
Dante raises an eyebrow, but marches over regardless. "Can you get it open?"
"I think so. I just need you to hold him steady so he doesn't hurt himself more."
She catches Dante's lips press together at the sight of the dried mud clinging to the dog's coat and leaves and twigs caught in the hair. But without comment, he crouches down and gently keeps the dog steady. He gives her a nod, and Laurel places her hands on the levers.
"Three...two...one!"
The jaws open enough for the dog to stumble backwards into Dante with a series of barks. Once it's clear that he's freed, he lays down in the grass with a pathetic whine. Laurel watches as he licks at the injured paw. As he moves, she sees for the first time a glimmer of chain along the fur at the terrier's neck.
"Someone owns him," she nudged Dante.
He nodded. "So there might be someone close by? Which also means shelter. Which brings us one step closer to finding out why we were alerted this time."
"Exactly. This little guy might be helping us as much as we helped him."
"Hey!"
Their plans of finding the dog's owner are put on hold as Rory comes striding through the brush to them.
"I don't care what you two get up to when we're at home, but you can't get off the path for- what the hell is that?"
The terrier is now on its feet with one paw held back, staring at the newcomer. Rory, tough and stubborn Rory who has faced down Bureau agents and various bastards across time, is backing away from him. Laurel has never seen her so shocked.
"Are you talking about the dog?" Dante questions, staring from the aforementioned animal to his friend.
Rory looks baffled. "That's a dog?"
"Of course this is a dog," Laurel now is shocked. She knew Rory grew up in space, but figured that she knew what some animals native to Earth looked like. After all, she built Knut and referred to him as her dog. "Did you not know what a dog looks like? I mean, Knut's a robot but he's dog-ish."
"This looks nothing like Knut! It's so hairy!"
"Have you ever seen a hairless cat?" Dante asks, not helping the situation. He really can be a little shit sometimes.
Now Rory looks even more horrified. "There's hairless cats on this planet?"
"Well, most cats have hair. There's just a breed that looks like they have no hair whatsoever-"
"Forget the cats," Laurel holds up her hands. "This is what some dogs look like on Earth. Someone owns this one, and he might be able to help us figure out why there's an aberration in this time."
"Okay," Rory nods. "Bu you said some dogs look like this. What do the others look like?"
"The next time I see a dog, I will point them out to you so you know. Okay?"
For a second there I thought Knut may have been turned into a "real" dog somehow! LOVE Rory bursting in with "I don't care what you two get up to when we're at home" because she KNOWS they're in love, even if they don't. And her referring to it as HOME! Can we take a moment for that please?
Thank you so much for this!
