Always Go Back (Jack Reacher Fanfiction)

Chapter 8: Pain

The car ride took a lot quicker than Sage thought. Then again, Sage slept the entire way. He was awoken when they parked the vehicle at the Boston PD. They had been in there before and Reacher had his old military ID. They usually didn't have much trouble. Besides, they could sneak into almost everywhere.

Before they got out of the car Reacher tried to clean up Sage as much as possible. His calloused hands wet the napkins with what little water they had in the vehicle and tried to scrub away the dried blood that was making Sage's collar itchy and nearly intolerable to wear. He growled a bit when Reacher hit a tender spot, but other than that he allowed Reacher to clean his wounds without much trouble.

"Remember, no talking and you have to stay on the leash. No pulling," Reacher recited as if they hadn't done it hundreds of times before.

Sage struggled not to roll his eyes. "Yeah, I got it," he barked with a painful shrug. "I'll just act like a normal dog."

Reacher winked at him. "Lisa adores you. She'll give you some of her lunch as soon as she sees you. Maybe that'll make you feel better," joked Reacher as he gave Sage one more pat between the ears to fully calm him down. It seemed to do the trick.

Reacher stepped out of the car with Sage climbing out of the driver's side. Reacher clipped Sage's leash to him as well as a service dog vest. No one would question reacher with Sage when he wore that. At least, it always worked in the past.

He clicked his tongue against his teeth and Sage matched his pace. He made sure to always heel and do everything that a true 'dog' was supposed to do. he bounded forward with his paws skirting gingerly against the ground as his claws clicked on the floor.

They walked through the hallways and received a few nods. They had been in there plenty of times before and they knew where Lisa's office was by heart. They headed to the office and knocked on the door that read Detective Smith.

Reacher knocked once more before Lisa came to the door. She smiled broadly at Reacher, but it wasn't as genuine as the smile that she gave Sage.

"Sage," she exclaimed as she kneeled down in her nice skirt and wrapped her arms around Sage and laughed as Sage licked her face greedily.

Hmmm, chicken sandwich, thought Sage as he continued to lap at her face.

"Easy, Sage, give her time to breathe," joked Reacher softly as he looked to Sage.

Sage drew backwards and continued to wag his tail, whimpering ever so slightly. Lisa laughed and gave him a few more scratches. "Oh don't worry about him! He probably smells my other dogs too."

"It's good to see you too, Lisa," Reacher broke in quickly. "But, I'm afraid that we have something extremely urgent to speak to you about. Alone."

Lisa sensed the seriousness in hi voice that she had heard numerous times before in the short time that she had known him. "Alright, Jack, come on in."

They stepped in and Lisa closed and locked the door behind her. Reacher took a step in the soft chair right across from her desk while Sage sat at his feet, panting a bit. He could still smell the succulent scent of grilled chicken with a huge chunk of tomato, oozing with ketchup stuck between two heated buns. There could be nothing better than that. That and Sage was beyond starving.

Lisa saw him eyeing the half eaten sandwich and she gushed in affection. "Are you hungry, Sage? I'm certainly full." She looked over to Reacher. "He's allowed to have that, right? It won't upset his stomach?"

Reacher looked at Sage who gave him the saddest look that he had ever seen. "No, he's allowed to have it," Reacher decided after a moment as if he was reluctant, but he would never discourage Sage from getting sufficient food.