Mystrade Oneshots

3) (II) Buddy

Honestly, I wrote this over a year ago, so I have no idea what was going through my head, but enjoy.

Greg had always wanted a dog. Well not always, he actually had one when he was younger so he didn't need to want for one. Her name was Willow and she was a Cocker Spaniel.

Later in life he'd always wanted a dog though but it never seemed like the right time.

When he moved out of his parents house and into a flat in London he had just started his police training and that took up far too much of his time. Not to mention he was shattered when he got home, he had nowhere near enough engery left to walk a dog as well.

Then when he'd met his ex-wife she was allergic to dogs, yet another piece of joy she had ripped from his life. Looking back on it, that should have been a deal breaker.

Now he didn't have his ex-wife around but he also didn't have his kids around. They wanted a dog more than anything in the world and he'd promised to buy them one. He always felt like he'd be betraying them if he got one and they couldn't have one. Whenever he explained that to someone he felt stupid because the person would imediantly try to reassure him that it was fine. He knew they were right but he never could bring himself to do it. It was complicated.

So he just convinced himself that other aspects of his life stopped him from getting a dog anyway.

Three words, detective inspector's salary.

Mycroft had assured Greg that he would help financially but Greg had refused because he didn't feel right taking money from Mycroft. That and his promise to his kids.

Well then, four words, detective inspector's working hours.

Greg didn't even get enough sleep to support himself, let alone be able to support a dog as well. He could always pay a dog walker but the money again, was an issue. More often than not he had to work through the night anyway, sometimes he didn't go home for days on end and just stayed at Scotland Yard. He slept in his office and got food at a cafe across the road.

That kind of life wasn't fair to a dog. It wasn't fair to any animal. So he never had one.

The day had started like any other. He'd gone into work, chatted to the receptionist, Becky, as he walked in. Then he'd gone into the lift, pushed the button for the fourth floor and waited to be let out. He strolled off towards his office, on the way over he'd told Anderson and Donavon to "behave" because they're at work not in a hotel room. He'd cleared a bemused Dimmock's mind about one of his cases, and he'd smirked teasingly at a struggling Gregson who was trying to work out how Lestrade currently had two more solved cases than he did.

God, office rivalries are so much fun when you're winning.

When he actually got to his office was when the abnormality came. Sally had come rushing into his office with a case file, she'd told him it was urgent. It seemed to be some low life leaving mangled animal corpses all over London. There were pictures in the file. This was one of the days Greg was glad he had skipped breakfast.

He felt the familiar feeling of strangled anger building up inside him. He'd been in this job for years and it still baffled him how people could be so cruel.

It took everyone on the case a while to pin point a location for the criminal but eventually they found a hideout of sorts.

Greg was first through the door, he went off one way and ordered everyone else to fan out and search the place. He walked for a while, this place looked like an abandoned factory. There were cages everywhere that both unnerved and disgusted Greg.

He turned a corner and there it was. A Golden Retriever dog, just sat looking miserable in a cage on the other side of the room. Greg rushed over. "Shh, it's ok buddy. I'm not gonna hurt you." He said soothingly as the dog tried to move away from him.

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Greg looked fondly at the dog that was sat at his feet, he gently stroked his hand over the animals head, it seemed to sooth the both of them.

"You look happy." Sally said as she walked up to him.

"I feel happy." He replied.

Sally noticed Greg wasn't making any effort to give her eye contact, he seemed far more interested in something else. She followed his gaze and smiled to herself. "I talked to the guy from animal rescue. The dog's partially blind, he needs special care. With so many animals already at the shelter they wouldn't have anyone to give him that care."

"...So- So they have to...?"

"Put him down, yeah."

Greg felt his heart clench, and his eyes fill with tears. After they'd fought so hard to save him, that couldn't happen, he wouldn't let it happen.

"Unless, of course, someone were to adopt him." Sally added, sending Greg a knowing look.

"Thanks Sally." Greg said, scratching the dog behind it's ear.

She nodded at him before turning to walk away. "Anytime boss."

You can imagine how surprised Mycroft was to receive a phone call at three in the morning from an excited Gregory telling him that he adopted a dog.