Walking Dead | J. Todd

Sparky The Guide Dog [One-Shot]

Since a lot of people gave me the idea of including a service dog in Oculus | J. Todd, I thought why not give it a shot? Now I don't know if I would get time to include it in the story since it would require a lot of editing and stuff, but I have decided to write a one shot for it here.

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Evelyn was cleaning up her kitchen when the doorbell rang. She got up and carefully made her way out, not bothering to count the steps because in her own place she knew the whole layout by heart and felt most comfortable walking around.

"Who is it?"

"Eve, it's me. Jason."

A smile spread on her face as she opened the door and stepped back to let him in. "Jay, what a pleasant surprise!"

He locked the door after stepping in and turned to face her, "how are you?"

"Good, you?"

"As usual," he took her hands gently and closed her fingers over the white cane that he had brought.

"What's this...?" But her voice drifted off as she recognized the slender cane and a smile crept over her features, "you got it repaired?"

He smiled as well seeing the look of pure relief on her face, "yup."

"Thank you so much."

Though there was another gift he had gotten for her but hadn't told her just yet, "also there's someone I want you to meet."

She looked surprised, "oh... Who is it?"

Jason beckoned the dog that he had brought for her to step forward and the obedient golden retriever did as told, stopping right in front of Evelyn. She seemed to have realized that there was something at her feet and when a short bark was heard, she bent down on her knees, hands reaching out towards the dog.

"Its name is Sparky," Jason spoke, noticing how Sparky had immediately pushed its head in between Eve's palms and the young woman had been delighted to meet the dog.

"Sparky... How adorable," she stroked the dog's head fondly, "have you taken in a pet?"

"Oh no. It's for you."

Surprise was evident on her features, "for me?"

"Yes," he explained in a gentle tone, bending down to pat Sparky's head too, "Sparky is a guide dog. I thought it would be better for you to not only have Sparky as a pet but also it can help in making sure that you're safe."

She knew he must have been referring to the time he had first found her after five years of staying away from Gotham. It truly hadn't been a favorable situation as her cane had been broken and she was in clear danger from the thugs that lurked in the dark city streets.

Having a guide dog by her side could prevent such a situation from arising again.

"I hope you don't mind," he spoke up again as he saw that she hadn't replied, "I mean I should have asked you about this beforehand but I wanted this to be a surprise..."

But he was cut short as she had stepped forward and flung her arms around him in a hug, her wrists crossing at the back of his neck.

Jason froze for a second for it had been really long since he had experienced such a gesture but then he wrapped his arms around her gently, holding her close against him.

For the first time in years, a strange sort of warmth crept into his heart and he felt as if he had finally come back home after years of being lost.

"Jay, this is honestly the best surprise I have ever gotten in my life," she exclaimed, her features breaking into a radiant smile, "thank you so much!"

A smile crept up on his face too upon seeing her so happy, "you're always welcome."

"Come now, let's show Sparky around the house, shall we?" She had held her hand out and Jason handed her the handle to the dog's special harness so that she would be able to hold on to it.

Jason felt relieved that she was happy about the prospect of getting a dog and the way she had gotten excited and was smiling so radiantly, it reminded him of the time when they were both children.

Evelyn had always been rather fond of animals so the idea of keeping a guide dog with her was splendid.

The smile on his face lingered as he saw her interacting with the golden retriever and for the first time in his life, he felt as if he had made the right decision in helping out his best friend as such.

He wanted to do all he could for her, to always be there for her because life had almost robbed him of that chance by his untimely death but resurrection and returning to Gotham after that long time had given him a second chance to fix things up.

And he did not want to lose his second chance.

***

So that's it for now.

I hope you guys enjoyed this one shot. I have just written till here but I am excited to write further chapters with Sparky and Evelyn so I will be including those chapters later on. And who knows, if I get the time I would totally add these chapters into Oculus.

For now, the story has been entered into the Wattys 2021 so I am not making any major changes but surely after the Wattys time period for judging and announcement of results ends, I might make changes such as this one.

But I have in mind a one shot involving Sparky and Tim's first encounter so I am going to work on that and post it here too. Let me know what you think about it.

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