IF YOU // A.U.

ONE

ONE: DOG BONDING

"OUR PARTING WAS LIKE A STALEMATE. NEITHER OF US WON. YET BOTH OF US LOST." -Unknown

-

"C'mon Fury." I smile as I lead him into the kennels when I see a girl cleaning out the cages. 

"Oh, hi." I smile at her.

"Hi." She says quietly and looks at my dog. 

"Don't worry about him, he's just a big baby." I laugh. 

"Oh, I wasn't worried about him, but thank you." She smiles lightly.

"C'mon boy," I say and lead him into his cage. 

"So, how'd you get stuck doing crap work?" I ask the girl. 

"Got drunk and pissed outside some building." She shrugs. 

"That sounds like something an old friend of mine would've done." I laugh, remembering Amber. 

"Must've been a great friend." She laughs. 

"Yeah, I miss her. We were going to sign together, but she went to the Air Force and I didn't." I shake my head. 

"Air Force is a good branch, she chose right." She nods. 

"It is. I can't blame her for picking it. I just changed my mind." I shrug. 

"Why?" She frowns. 

"Well, I loved my dog way too much. I couldn't leave him behind. So, I went to the Marines instead so I could take him with me." I smile at Fury and reach my hand into his cage to pet him. 

"I wanted to sign up for dog handling, but I went through some stuff so I just signed up for the first thing that put me out in the line of fire. I just wanted to go somewhere and be on the front lines." She sighs. 

"Damn. Everyone's got their story, I guess. Sorry, yours seems to be so rough, though." I frown. 

"Yeah." She frowns. 

"I know the handlers sniff out IEDs and stuff. Maybe I can switch over." She shrugs. 

"You gotta pass this test first, but it's not that hard." I smile reassuringly. 

"I'll ask Gunny about it, thanks." She smiles at me. 

"Cline, if you're done in here we need you outside," Gunny says before leaving the kennels. 

Cline? 

No. It couldn't be. 

She went to the Air Force with Jackson.

There's no way she'd give that up. 

There are lots of people with the last name Cline. 

"I'll see you?" I smile at her as I go to leave as well. 

"Yeah, sure. Bye." She smiles before following Gunny out into the training yard. 

-

I take Fury out onto the training field and get ready for him to run the course. 

"You got this boy." I smile and he touches his nose to mine, making me smile. 

I see Cline zip up the protective jacket and pants, making me chuckle. 

"Go easy on her, alright?" I look at him and he licks my face, making me laugh. 

"What am I saying, you're the biggest baby." I laugh and make sure she's ready before unclipping his leash and letting him go after her. 

He jumps on her, making her fall, before licking her face repeatedly. 

I smile and laugh before a memory comes to mind, making me freeze. 

-

"Hi, okay, so I have a surprise, but you can't judge me because he was just sitting on the side of the road and I couldn't leave him there," I say quickly when Troy opens the door. 

"What?" He furrows his eyebrows and rubs his eyes sleepily. 

I had just gotten to his house after a six-hour drive and it was already night.

I forgot how early he went to bed. 

I pull the small Siberian husky puppy from behind my back and show him to Troy. 

"A dog?" He deadpans. 

"He was abandoned on the side of the road!" I frown and nuzzle my face in his fur. 

"Ah, fine, bring him in." He sighs tiredly and opens the door wider. 

I grin and step inside, setting my bag down. 

"Here, hold him for a second," I say and hand him to Troy. 

"Oh, okay?" He furrows his eyebrows and looks at the puppy. 

I take my shoes off before I start to hear giggling. 

I turn around to see the puppy licking Troy's face, making me laugh quietly. 

 "You're supposed to be my attack dog." I giggle and put the puppy who was curled up to Troy's chest. 

"Yeah, he's a mean little thing." He says sarcastically. 

"Well, he still needs a name. I can't just call him puppy forever." I chuckle.

"Hmm." He hums, thinking. 

The dog looks up at him, tilting his head in confusion because of the noise coming out of his mouth. 

He stares at him for another minute before snipping at Troy's nose, making me laugh. 

"He's quick to anger." He laughs. 

"I am not calling him Anger." 

"Rage?"

"Absolutely not." 

"Fury?" He looks at me as we walk to his room. 

I think on it for a moment while Troy lays back down on his bed, the puppy curling up on his chest. 

I think of a future of the three of us. 

I see Troy, myself, the dog, and two kids playing in the backyard of a big house.

He calls the dogs name and he runs up to him. 

"I like it." I nod my head at Troy before slipping into bed beside him. 

"Hm?" He looks at me confused. 

"Fury. It's a good name for him." I smile and pet Fury's head. 

"I think so too." He nods and smiles at me, eyes drooping. 

"Let's get some rest. We have to show Fury the city tomorrow." I smile and curl up beside him. 

He puts an arm around me, pulling me as close as possible before kissing the top of my head. 

"Goodnight Troy, I love you." I yawn. 

"Goodnight Emma. I love you."

-

I snap out of it when Fury runs back up to me. 

I didn't want to think about him. I couldn't think of him. 

-

[IF YOU]