Heart of a Warrior (ON HOLD)

Clint, Cap, and Courage

It has been 2 weeks since Captain first gave me a bacon treat. AND HE HASN'T GIVEN ME ONE SINCE! It is agonizing. Every day he shows up in the morning and feeds me. Then he sits there and seems to be scribbling something and he constantly looks at me. Then lunch time comes around and he disappears. He shows up later and and will take me out into the yard. And by "take me out" I mean he opens the gate and I run ahead of him out to the grass. Then we have fun playing with my Kong. He'll chuck it across the yard and then I usually prance around chomping it for awhile before dropping it at his feet. Then it's back inside and I usually take a nap once he disappears again. He comes back and he gives me dinner. Then he sits in my cage and I ignore him. Every night before he leaves, he tries to pet me. And every time I growl at him. Then he leaves. And then it starts all over again the next day.

It was honestly sooooo boring. I mean I need a challenge dude. I need some variety.

My nose twitched as I heard the door open, but my curiosity died when I smelled Captain. I let my eyes close again not really caring to do the same boring day again. He was just coming back to let me out in the yard.

"This is Dodger."

"He looks thrilled to see you."

Immediately my eyes flew open at the sound of another voice.

A man was standing next to Captain with his arms crossed staring at me. He had slightly darker hair and was shorter than Captain but was radiating with the same authority. The man crouched in front of my cage and stared at me. I immediately started growling at him.

"Why'd you want me to meet him?" The strange man asked.

"His partner died awhile back and he hasn't let anyone else near him except for me. But I have no clue what to do with him or how to train him."

"So you thought I could help you?" He scoffed. "What in Odin's name gave you that idea?"

A spike of anxiety and uncomfortableness caused my head to snap towards Captain who was now rubbing the back of his neck.

"I uh, read in your file that you uh, had a dog. Back when you worked with Kate Bishop."

I suddenly smelled sadness on the man. I stopped growling and was puzzled by his sudden feeling. He hadn't moved so why was he sad?

Suddenly he stood up and started walking away.

"You shouldn't have brought me here Cap. I can't help you."

"Clint! Clint wait!" The man stopped. "Let me show you something first."

They both walked away. I remained confused on my bed but soon shook it off and chewed on my bone. It wasn't too long before Captain came back... and that man, Clint, came back as well. Captain was holding something in his hand that I couldn't quite see, but Clint was the one that came up to my door.

"So. It turns out you're pretty smart Dodger. You lost your partner though. Turned you into a big meany head. Well Steve here is a good guy." He said gesturing behind him to Captain. Wait his name was Steve? "So I'm gonna help him to teach you. But you gotta pull your own weight and at least try and make a relationship. Okay?"

That was a lot of words. He said I was smart. He mentioned a partner. Apparently Captain is also Steve. And more words about teaching or something. But he was serious about whatever it was. Clint stood up and turned to Steve.

"You are going to go in his cage and put the leash on his collar."

My eyes darted between the two men. Steve then proceeded to unlock my cage and come in. I watched him warily unsure of what was happening and why they were acting so weird. My hair stood up on edge as Steve came closer to me. He took another step and I began to growl.

"Stop." Clint spoke up. "Look at the way he's acting, you've got him on edge. You need to wait until he figures out that you're not going to hurt him."

Steve nodded. I stopped growling when he didn't move towards me again. Immediately after I stopped, Steve moved to hit me with the thing in his hand. At least I think that's what he was going to do. I don't really know though because I launched myself at the thing. A millisecond before my jaws snapped shut Steve's hand was yanked away. I remained snarling as Clint began angrily talking to Steve.

"I told you to wait!"

"I did. He wasn't growling at me so I figured it was okay."

"Growling isn't the only sign a dog gives you when they're on edge."

I didn't like the way this Clint guy was yelling. When guys get angry they usually seem to hurt someone else. I started snarling and snapping at them, which quickly gained their attention. They had forgotten to close my cage and I had a straight line of attack. I smelled the nerves coming off of Steve as he noticed the change in my behavior.

"Clint. You might want to quiet your voice down a little."

Clint turned his head to look at me. Without warning he suddenly launched himself in front of me in a crouched position. And he was growling. At me. When I didn't stop my behavior, he growled louder. This guy meant business. I stopped growling and ducked my head, acknowledging that he had my respect. He stopped growling and let out a huff. After raising his head he stood up and turned back to Steve who had his jaw slack.

"What was that?"

"I showed him I meant business. That I was above him in the pack. All dogs have a pack mentality. Meaning they have those that are superior to them and those that are inferior. If you don't stand up to him, he's going to start thinking he's in charge of you. You need to put him in his place."

Clint shoved the object into Steve's hands that Steve had approached me with earlier. Steve once again approached me with it and once again I began growling.

"No." His voice was commanding but I chose to ignore it. "I said NO."

He snapped the last part at me and took a challenging step towards me. I didn't like the way he was suddenly challenging me. I thought we had established I was the dominant one in this relationship. All of a sudden he rushed me and flipped me onto my back. His hand pressed on my chest. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to keep me down. I began thrashing around. I didn't like this position because I had no control. Steve had complete control over me and the way his hand was positioned I couldn't bite him either. I kept thrashing for about 2 minutes before I finally stopped. I smelled the relief come off of Steve when my movements ceased.

"Dodger bleib."

I obeyed his command and stayed still even as he slowly took his hand off me.

"Steh." I stood up on his command. "Good boy Dodger."

He once again approached me with the item and he attached it to my collar. A leash I realized. We were going somewhere? We walked out of the cage and stopped in front of Clint who had a faint smile. He said something so quietly that I know Steve couldn't hear it, but I did.

"Just like pizza dog."

I wagged my tail once up at him. I liked the way he smelled. He was a good guy to help Steve. He helped Steve understand what I was telling him. I didn't trust Clint but he was useful to have around. Plus maybe he would give me some pizza like my partner Robbie had.

"You ready Cap?"

Steve or Captain or Cap or whatever this guy's name was nodded.

"Dodger fuss."

And with that I walked beside him as we went towards our first adventure.