It Started With a Puppy

Chapter I: Cheeky Little Bugger

For the best experience, I recommend you read my fics on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56134537/chapters/142589797

Carefully clasped in Deadlock's hands was a brown and white border-collie puppy— desperately trying to lean forward and lick her face.

One of the puppies had its jaws clamped around her sock— feebly tugging at the fabric in an attempt to grab the Norwegian's attention.

"Cheeky little bugger, are ya?" Skye said with a chuckle, picking up the puppy by its ankles— briskly patting it on the head.

"O–okay, Skye, I–I— I think I've h–had enough," Deadlock tried to keep her voice even, but it was growing more and more difficult as panic began to flood her body. "P–please take it,"

Skye let out a small laugh, then immediately took note of the color draining from Deadlock's face— she set the pup down.

"You look like you're about to have a panic attack," she remarked, not even trying to hide her amusement, "You're that scared of dogs?"

With the way her companion was looking at her, Skye couldn't keep a straight face, and her lips grew into a wide grin, "You're scared of this little thing? I'm surprised you haven't thrown yourself out a window already."

And without waiting for a response, she extended one of the pups toward her.

"Hold 'im. You can give him back when you're done crying over how 'scary' he is."

Deadlock stumbled back, putting her hands up defensively. "No, d–don't. Please." She knew they were just puppies, but something about their eyes reminded her of the bear. She wanted to run, but she had no idea where in this massive maze of a building she was, let alone how to get out. She felt helpless, just like she did when the bear attacked her, and it only brought back more bad memories.

Skye's face immediately dropped, her grin vanishing in less than a second.

Her tone shifted into one of concern, the same that most people would use when speaking to a child, "Hey, look at me," she said gently, "It's okay. Nobody's going to hurt you. They're just little puppies."

After a moment, she placed one of the pups in her lap, "If you really aren't comfortable with them, I can take them back... But seriously, just take a deep breath, alright?"

Deadlock didn't respond, her eyes following Skye's every movement warily, as if she was afraid the shorter agent would pull out a weapon.

She frowned at her reaction, feeling a pang of guilt at failing to make the woman feel at ease.

"You okay there? You're looking at me like I'm a criminal," she joked, her tone softer and gentler than before, but still maintaining its firmness.

"Look, I'm not going to try and force you to do anything. You don't have to pet them, it won't hurt me any. But it seems like just being around them upsets you. What's that about?"

"None of your damn business," The words were ripped from Deadlock's throat without her consent as she took another step back towards the door, keeping her hands up in preparation for a fight she knew wasn't going to come. She wanted to put her hands down, she wanted to relax, she wanted to tell Skye what happened at the Vault, but her body wouldn't let her. It just kept yelling at her to get out! Get out! Get out!

Skye's lips twitched into a frown, there was clearly something wrong— something that really made her concerned for the other woman's wellbeing.

Her eyes darted from the dog to her face, to her body and the way she held herself, and she could tell just by looking at her that something had happened that was seriously making her uncomfortable, but she also knew that it wasn't her place to pry.