"Jon.. Hey, Jonathan.."

'Come on, I just fell asleep..' He thought before stirring, finding his head had been resting in his arms this entire time. Wait, this isn't my bed.. Oh shit.

"You missed roll call." He heard a voice above him say.

Shit.

"Sorry, sorry I uhh.. Was doing paperwork and.. didn't.. hear.. Yeah.. Heh.." Man, what a shitty excuse. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and peered up to see that it had been Mike who had woken him. Jonathan considered him a friend, Jacob saw him more as a nuisance but he did take pity on Jon from time to time. "Thanks Mike, so, uh.. Was Sarge mad?" He asks bashfully, finally pushing himself up from his seat and running his hands down the creases in his uniform. 

"Yeah, a bit. He said he wanted to see you in his office when you decide to show up. You know, you really ought to shape up. You're making me look bad too." And with that, he turned and walked off.

He felt his heart sink already. Oh no, he was in trouble again. How many times did that make? He was already on thin ice.. another write up or two at this rate and he'd be back on the streets. "I better not keep him waiting than.." He mumbles to himself, resigning himself to his fate. The short walk down the hall and to the office was all mental preparation for Jon. He knew what was coming, the speech about how he needed to be more attentive and responsible and how peoples lives depended on him and so on and so on.. he knew it already, and it wasn't that he didn't feel bad but.. he couldn't fight his nature sometimes to be a little.. well, lazy. What did it matter anyway? At the end of the day he was still the 'bad cop'

He knocked on the door. "Come in." 

As instructed he let himself inside and found the Sergeant, a large and imposing man sitting behind his desk looking only mildly annoyed. "O-Officer Jonathan Garfield reporting as requested.. uh, Sir." He forced out in his most serious sounding voice. 

"Garfield. Take a seat. We need to talk."

He felt his heart skip a beat. Was this it? Was he being suspended? Fired? Oh man, his parents were going to be pissed.. what would his sister say when she found out? Obediently he took a seat at the end of the large oak desk and began to fiddle with his thumbs.

"Garfield, we've had this talk about your performance over and over haven't we? I don't think it needs repeating. You missed roll call, but more importantly Hilderbrandt said the cruiser you signed out last night came back with the bumper dented in and you never reported it."

"Oh.. Uh.. That. I meant to Sir, you see.. But it was the night watch and by the end I was so tired I just sorta.. went home.. I know it's not much of an excuse but.. well, you see there was this shoplifter and I went to chase him and well, I sort of forgot to put the parking brake on and it may have hit a pole- B-But it wasn't a hard hit, more like a tap y'know? It was.. Well.." 

He began to trail off in his words at the end when the icy stare of the Sergeant told him it was time to shut up.

There was a long, deep sigh from across the desk before he began again. "The Chief knows your name, Garfield and it's not a good thing. I tell you what though, we have a new assignment for you. A chance to redeem yourself, truth was last week we were planning to suspend you but we just had a new transfer and we decided you're the best for the position."

They really were going to suspend me? Oh man.. New assignment? What did he mean by that? He didn't like this.

"We've decided to promote you to the K9 Unit." He finally announced with a smirk. 

"But Sir.. we don't have a K9 Unit.. and, well, Sir.. I don't.. really.. like dogs. I'm more a cat kind of person. I don't have training to work with dogs anyway.." 

"Starting this morning the Fairview Police Department has it's very own K9 Unit and you, Garfield are the second officer assigned to this post. Don't worry about training, this is a little different than a conventional K9 outfit."

Oh no, I'm running out of excuses.
"Ooookay.. So, than.. Uhm, if I'm the second member than who is the first?"

The Sergeants smirk turned to a grin as he knocked on his desk and looked past him toward the door. 

"You can come in now, come meet your new partner."

When he sounded a knock on his desk, Rachel was too far away for a human to have heard. Fortunately for her, her ears twitched in the direction, picking up the faint sound. She said goodbye to the polite officer she was chatting with, and skipped over to the Sergeant's door. 

Upon entering the room, Rachel was met with the sight of her partner. His uniform was wrinkled, haphazardly smoothed. He looked disheveled, and she knew she probably should have been upset with the way he presented himself. She was anything but. 

“You're Jonathan.” She chirped, more of a statement than a question. 

Throwing protocol to the wind, she threw her arms around him, discretely taking in his scent. “It's so nice to meet you! I'm Rachel! I'm yours!” She stated proudly, pulling herself away to get a good look. Her tail was swinging rapidly, causing her bottom half to wiggle about. She was overjoyed, she got to be his K9! “Are you excited too?”

Jonathan had been staring straight at the door when she walked in. There was an obvious look of surprise on his face, after all, the extra-species were only starting to trickle into society and usually only in bigger cities. Sure they had a couple in Fairview and a couple times and Jon even interacted with them but they were still an unusual sight. About a year ago it had been discovered that the species of myth and legend were all real and until recently had been in hiding from humans. 

Due to an agreement by the UN a universal bill had been passed allowing them to integrate into human society (mostly due to human expansion making it harder to hide anymore) and thus slowly extra-species people were finding themselves in society, living with foster families and starting to work and finding a place besides humans.

It was strange but now here one was in the room, wearing the same uniform as he was and uh, hugging him? Her tail was wagging excitedly back and forth so fast as to shake him in his seat. "I-I'm Jonathan Garfield.. Nice to meet you? You're.. you're what? You're mine?.. What?" He questioned completely unsure of what was happening right now. So.. where is the other member of the K9 Unit? He thought briefly, staring at the humanoid animal person before, with another revelation he realized.

"T-That's my new partner?" The disbelief in his voice was obvious. She was, well, ironically enough a dog or something. Was this a joke? No way, they were serious. 

"Yes, it is. Her name is Rachel Shepard. From today forward, you will be partners. You're her K9 handler, so to speak. She'll fulfill all the functions of a conventional service.. uh, service dog? But as you can tell, she's Extra-Species so you won't need any training. She's just like you, though I'm sure you know that." He smiled broadly while explaining the situation. He was loving this.

"S-Sir.. I don't really.. like.. uhm, dogs though so if I could.. I'd like to decline this position and-"

"-However if you refuse this new assignment we will be suspending you from the Department effective immediately." He cut him off with another grin. What had had he done to piss off Sarge this bad? Oh.. right.. a lot of things. Sheesh.

With a deep sigh he looked at his feet, clicking his boots together before finally speaking. "Yes Sir, I understand. I accept the position. Thank you for the opportunity."

"Oh, and another thing. She will be living with you from now on."

"W-What!? Y-You can't do that! It's my house!"

"Yes, but you signed the paperwork right here saying that you would." He said, putting a piece of paper on the desk. It said something like Extra-Species Residential Occupant Form 83-2345 and it looked very official, however the signature at the bottom was blank.

"I never signed that!"

The next piece of paper the Sarge put on the desk was a pink slip. Official Notice of Suspension. The Sarge played hard ball.

"Okay-okay.. Fine." He reluctantly took a pen from his desk and quickly signed off on the form accepting her as a roommate.

“T-That's my new partner?” Jon had asked, his voice thick with disbelief. The question had made Rachel whimper suddenly, a slight sound neither officer had noticed. It reverberated through her head, alarming every sensor. ‘H-He hates me!’ She cried out mentally, staring up at him with wide doe-eyes. 

She watched as he signed the documents that would allow her to stay in his home, something he hardly looked happy about. During the Academy she had been told her trainer would be a qualified, and professional asset, bested by none and dedicated solely to their partner. What kind of dedicated trainer disliked dogs? Had he even been trained previously? Had he been told about her? The way he acted seemed forced, the pink slip confirmed it. 

"Wonderful! Garfield, take Shepard here on a tour of the station and when you're ready take her out on a patrol. I'm putting you in a low priority sector, just to let you two get familiar with each other." He stood and saluted Rachel. "You're both dismissed."

Jon let out long groan and stood, turning to face the dog-woman. Wow, this was weird. "Uhh.. We'll be working together from now on.. I guess?" He sighed out. "I'll show you around."

When the meeting was over, she sheepishly saluted the Sergeant and followed after Jon abashedly. Her tail was tucked between her legs, she walked with her head hung low. Some officers noticed, giving Jon curious stares. All of them stared at her as well, eyes bugging obnoxiously at the sight of a minority. 

She thought back to the first time she had entered a human society. She had been swarmed by the denizens of that town. People took pictures, irritating her eyes with the flashing lights. They asked to stroke her ears, and called her barbaric when she growled at them in warning. Things were only slightly different now, less offensive but still there. Kids were too afraid to yank on her tail as they had a year prior, the day the UN officially signed the Inter-species Relations Act. Adults were the same, stealthily taking photos of her on their phones, to share with friends. 

The tour was not very thorough, mostly it was Jon walking quickly while Rachel trailed behind trying to take it all in. "This is the lobby. This is the locker room. That one for women, that one for men. These are the offices. The holding cell is down that hall.. the garage is down that hall. Through this door is the evidence room.." He'd quickly go through until they had done a complete circuit of the building and met back in the lobby together. "I think that's it.. any questions?"

Because I sure have a few..

When she was pulled out of her thought bubble, she found that she had been left in the dust. Jon was far ahead, pointing at rooms, peeking in, and carrying on. He didn't bother to stop and wait for her, and she had to hold back a growl of irritation. 

ES.842- Any act of aggression towards your handler -whether it be minor or major- is just cause for relocation or immediate suspension of both your badge and Extra-Species license. She reminded herself, thinking back to the extra thick book of laws she had read front to back several times in her scholarly training.

Ears pressed flat to her head, she gave herself a more thorough tour. She scoped out both locker rooms, taking the scent of every clothing item she could find. She entered the garage and looked at the squad cars, taking note of their numbers. She entered the evidence room for a moment, her eyes passing over the bins that were carefully labeled and numbered. She paid little attention to the holding cell, rushing to meet up with Jon before he abandoned her entirely. 

The moment she turned the corner to find him, she felt her breath catch. Her heart bloomed with warmth where their should have been annoyance. She was still his, they could still make things work. They would be great partners! He asked her if she had any questions, and she shook her head in response. Her tail wagged erratically, and her ears were up and twitching. She graced him with a shining smile, her sharp canines on full view. 

“I don't have any questions yet, Jon. Do you have questions for me? Can we go to the low priority zone together? I'm excited to live with you! We'll have tons of fun, I'm sure. Do I get to sleep in your bed?” 

She rattled off a series of excited, frantic question to the obvious dismay of her new partner.

Jon felt like he was staring, oh, well, that was because he was. It wasn't like he hated these extra-species people, not really but it was a little odd. Only a couple years ago had this announcement been made, that the other species that were supposedly fiction had been real all along and hidden away from the general public. Now here was this dog-woman.. was that the right phrase? He'd have to Google it later.. anyway, this dog-woman standing here with him in the lobby real and apparently now consigned to be his partner and roommate. One minute he was living alone, the next he had a pet. Wait, not a pet right? They're people too, kind of. Man, he would probably sound like a racist or something if he said all this out loud.

He spotted the wagging tail with detached curiosity. Rachel gave him a smile and than happily began to speak how happy she was to work together and so on. Jon didn't seem very amused by it all, infact it was a little embarrassing to watch. She did certainly remind him of a dog though, eager and happy to serve. She reminded her of every eager cadet straight out of the academy, too formal and too excited. 

"In my bed? No, no, no, no... No. No way. We'll figure something out later, I'll buy you a bed I guess or something but we are not sleeping in the same bed."

He shot her down. Not only was she a woman and his co-worker that was completely inappropriate and she was a dog.. would she smell like a dog? He hadn't really gotten close enough to check. 

"Sorry if I'm coming off as kind of.. you know.. I wasn't really expected this.. uhm, promotion. I guess I should be lucky though, anyway let's go sign out a car and hit the road."

He turned his back on Rachel and waved his hand to follow. They arrived at the garage a minute later, Jon scribbled their names on the board with which unit they were going to take. Ironically enough it was the one with the bent up bumper. Ten minutes later the two of them were both cruising down the streets of Fairview. It was a small to medium sized city, no skyscrapers or anything but it had enough people to be relevant. It wasn't some hillbilly town after all though there were still farms the further out you went, the interior was more dense though, townhouses, shops, big department stores and than a small suburb, a lot of people actually commuted by train to the bigger cities but they lived here. 

"So... Uhh.. You're a cop huh? Like, well, a K9. I mean, it makes sense I guess. But you know how to be like a cop and junk, right? Sorry, I'm bad at conversation, they usually don't let me partner up with anyone. I'm supposedly a bad influence. Anyway, you're extra-species huh? That's cool.. I guess. Who do you like the human world?" 

He asked, struggling through conversation but making an honest effort at least to talk. It wasn't that he was afraid of dogs.. well, not all the time but Rachel made him uneasy for some reason. He didn't work well with others to begin with and lately his performance had been well.. terrible. He had once been like Rachel, eager and excited but it just wasn't that way, he saw a little bit of his past experience in her now and it embarrassed him more than he was embarrassed for her specifically, though she would have no way of knowing that.

Rachel gazed out the window resisting the urge to roll it down and stick her head out into the rushing wind. She didn't want to be an embarrassment, or a liability for her partner however. Was it just her personality?

She would have to tone it down for a while, prove her worth. Then, he would appreciate her. He would also let her sleep in his bed. They would be perfectly happy partners, just as she was taught to be. 

Her head snapped in his direction when he addressed her, pulling her eyes away from the storefronts. Fairview wasn't small, but it was more of a tourist stop than a major city. She had wanted to take mental note of as much as she could, but her partner came first and foremost. She blushed furiously when he asked if she was a cop. Was the uniform and badge not enough?

“Yes, I have proper training as a police officer. I graduated summa cum laude.” She beamed, maybe that would make him proud of her. If not that, than something else. He had to have a compassionate streak somewhere. “I'm happy to be one of your first long-term partners.”

She had hit a cord with her Jon by even making reference to any past partnership but he took it in stride and did his best not to let on she had said something wrong.

She glossed over her enjoyment of the human world. First of all, she had lived in the ‘human' world for nearly two years now, though with limited interaction with the public at least. Secondly, she wouldn't have left her village on had human expansion not been a problem. She had a job here now, a foster family of humans who had integrated her, but she still felt a bit strange. Her time in the Academy had been pleasurable, and she was proud of herself for completing the training, but she knew what she was being compared to. Dogs. The little furry creatures that walked on all fours and barked at passing mailmen.

She knew she resembled them, with her tail, her ears, instincts, senses and her canines. She just didn't understand why she was defined by them. Maybe if she had been born a vampire she would have been more easily accepted, humans seemed to openly worship them what with all the literature and movies dedicated to them. 

“I'm of use in a lot of situations. My senses are enhanced, and I can give chase easily. If I'm given a scent I can track it. I can see well at night, too. Do those things help?” She stared at him, begging him to say yes. “I'm also good at interrogations, and I can hit the bullseye of a target ninety percent of the time...and I can write a really good ticket!” She struggled for more. Was she good enough? She had no clue, but if she wasn't...she could always ask for a transf- No. She couldn't do that, she wouldn't leave Jon. They had to have been partnered for some reason. 

He gave Rachel a sideways glance as she spoke, he kept his eyes on the road but he did take a peak in her direction either to confirm the fact again that yes, she did indeed have dog ears or just to see how she was reacting. He hadn't expected the blush though. He embarrassed her? Summa Cum Laude? Oh, right, she was a honor student.. or more appropriately. "Oh, so you were a Teacher's Pet." He laughed to himself, the first time since they'd met he had loosened up. He loved puns, it was one of the reasons he had no partner.. one of many reasons. They were usually bad puns. "Anyway, we'll see how long term this partnership really is." 

She tried to win him over with a modest lists of her physical attributes, night vision, sense of smell and speed among others. He had stopped at a red light and had the opportunity to look over at her from across the laptop and console between them. Puppy dog eyes. He thought, his heart momentarily skipping. She was a woman, for sure but the animal features really did pop out at you and in this case her pleading eyes worked.

"Uh.. That's impressive." He finally conceded. "I'll give you that.. You're better than a typical K-9. After all, real mutts can't talk or well, shoot or write tickets for that matter." His lips curled in a dumb smile, yeah, she was right she certainly did have advantages over a real dog and had he been paired with a real dog he probably would have just took the resignation. He could cope with this hopefully though these amazing traits remained to be seen.

"Bravo 12."
The sudden screech of the radio on the center console gave him a bit of a jolt. Oh right, they had a job to do. He'd almost forgotten with all this talk, they usually put him out on patrols alone after all so the companionship was throwing him off a little.

"Bravo 12. Dispatch, go ahead."
He answered.
"We've gotten a call from your sector for a Code Adam. Address is the Campbell Plaza Galleria, caller is at the East Entrance with Mall Security."

He glanced at Rachel, chances are she wasn't used to the codes or anything else this Department used yet, everyone was a little different with them so despite being an honor student at Academy he decided it was better to be on the same page than to assume.
"Code Adam means missing kid." He told her.
"Copy that, show us enroute."

Rachel hadn't been expecting a call so soon, but it was the perfect opportunity to prove her worth. Jon’s hard shell was starting to crumble, and with a few more good hits she was sure she could shatter it. The night before, she had read over a small document in her package with codes for certain crimes. That being said, she appreciated the refresher and expressed her gratitude through a controlled smile. It pained her to hear about a missing child, but the faster they started handling the situation, the better.

"You sure you ready for your first callout?" He asked, though it sounded more like he was asking himself. He usually tried to skip out on most of his callouts.

Jon brought the car around and at the next light turned off into the parking lot of a large shopping center passing a sign reading "Campbell Plaza Galleria." where he soon pulled up to the curb at one of the large entrances, just inside the doors through the glass they could see two security guards standing with a man and woman, the woman was crying and clutching a small baseball cap.

“I'm ready, you don't have to worry about me, partner!" Rachel got out of the vehicle as it stopped, picking out the scents of many different denizens. The shopping plaza was cramped, but with a strong enough trail, it wouldn't be too hard to pick out the scent of the child. She looked back, smiling cheerfully at Jon before entering the Galleria. 

People had been staring at her nonchalantly through the glass, but now that she had walked inside, she was being openly gawked at. Sierra curtly ignored the fingers of children who didn't know better. She was alert, focused on the parents in front of her. Jon would have to work with the security guards, for an official report. 

The mother of the missing child stared at her for a moment too long, eyes bloodshot from her excessive crying, a plain red baseball cap in her hands. The father blinked a few times, before having a sudden epiphany that he was truly staring at a dog-woman. 

“Hello, I'm Rachel Shepard, K-9 Officer with the Fairview Police Department.” She stated, her voice calm and gentle. She had practiced this tone many times, but this was her first time putting it into use. 

“They sent us a dog? Where's the actual police?” The woman blabbered into her husband's shoulder, trembling.

“Excuse my wife, she's a bit...stressed. I'm Gerald, this is Maggie. Thank you for coming to help. Our son, Tony...” Gerald said, his voice wavering. He looked just as strained, hiding his emotions to stay strong for his wife. 

Once the woman had calmed down a bit, Rachel asked if she could take a look at the hat. The woman’s fingers tightened around it, but the man slipped it from her hands and presented it to her.

Rachel pressed her nose to the cap, and began smelling it. It had a light layer of his mother's perfume on it, probably from all the times she had clutched it or pressed it to her chest. Underneath that, was Tony’s scent, heavy and easily identifiable. She turned around, nostrils flaring as she followed the scent. 

Her eyes fell on the front doors of the building; she’d smelled that on the way from the parking lot. She quickly thanked the parents, handing the hat back to them and walking quickly pass Jon and through the doors. She followed it to the sidewalk, trying to figure out which way the wind would blow the scent. She turned the corner, poking around a number of cars for a few minutes. 

Rachel’s heart was pounding; what if the car wasn’t there? What if they left a long time ago, how far could they have gotten? Her ears perked up when she heard a small voice and some tiny banging. Dashing around the truck, the young woman came across a boy clutching two action figures in his hands, smashing them against the ground and the truck beside him.

The boy’s eyes lit up at the sight of Rachel’s ears, running up to her and petting her tail, which was wagging a mile a minute. 

"Doggy!"

"Why did she leave? Did.. does she know where he is?" The Mother asked on the verge of another break down.

"I don't know, Ma'am I'm going to go check on her though, I will be right back. We'll find your boy." Jon promised, suddenly worried. He went outside and glanced around the cruiser, the parking lot. No Rachel.

Where was she? He felt his pulse quicken and panic start to creep up on him. Why didn't he go with her? What if she was in trouble, what if this was a kidnapping and she had walked alone into the middle of it? This was why he was never partnered up with anyone. 

Rachel asked if the boy would take her hand and he didn’t hesitate, she held one of his toys for him as they walked quickly back to the main building. 

Jon was about to call out to her on the radio, about to go running and ducking around cars looking for her when to his relief she saw Rachel come from a corner lot, and to his relief there was a little boy with her being led by his hand. 

The boy burst through the doors making laser gun noises, his father scooping him up as his mother scolded him for running away. Rachel walked up next to Jon, grinning ear to ear.

“He was hanging out in the parking lot with his superheroes. Kid should be on a leash,” She joked, nudging Jon with her elbow. She held her hand out for a high five, her tail batting gently against a display nearby so, so desperate for praise.