Light The Way

Chapter 1

Three years later...

She lays down on a blanket near the wall, her nose in between her paws as her keen eyes glance over the room. She doesn't recognise anyone, there's only five people including the receptionist. When the door opens, she perks up. Instinctively getting ready to protect, but she relaxes when she finally sees a familiar face. Well, two familiar faces. Spencer walks over to her with Silas at his side. The man smiles, then kneels in front of her to pat her head "Hey, girl. You ready to go home?". She gives a soft yip as a response before standing up fully. Her tail starts to wag a little when her brother jumps excitedly. "Come on then" He tells them. With a quick goodbye to the receptionist, they leave the small building. Silas barks happily while Tessa yips back. "Go ahead, you two" Spencer gives the go ahead. As suspected, Silas takes off like a rocket as Tessa hangs back. Watching her brother with a soft whimper, she sits down on the grass. Spencer softly rubs her head "It's okay, Tess. On you go". Silas's barks can be heard from a long distance, which acts as more encouragement. Tessa stands up, then bolts after her brother. Like a bullet, she shoots towards him before they chase each other. It's their favourite game, ever since they were puppies. Chases, until someone gets pinned.

"Yo, Spence! Where you headed?" A sudden voice can be heard. He smiles, hearing the familiar voice of a close friend "Home, you?". He shrugs "I need to get back to Avenging". Spencer nods "Right, how's that going? Do you miss this life?". The man sighs "Sometimes, yeah. But my time is over here, it's time to start over. The guys here will always be my brothers, but the Avengers... it's my home now. It's the right thing to do. You should consider joining, might be good for you. And those two". He nods to the dogs currently occupied by trying to pin each other. Spencer nods "I might consider it. But I don't know, I don't know what to do with myself anymore".  The other man nods "I get it. But the way I see it, you didn't lose anybody. The thing that connects us most here is that we both believe we have lost someone who was special to us. The truth is, no one loses anyone. If you had a good relationship with them, they don't ever leave. You can't lose them. We don't lose anybody, we only gain more respect for them for the sacrafices they made". Spencer nods "Thanks, Wilson". Suddenly a bark interrupts them and they both turn in the direction of the dogs. Tessa has finally pinned Silas. Wilson chuckles "He's left you with a pretty amazing dog though". Spencer nods "That, he has. Good girl, Tessa!". Wilson laughs "Yeah, Tess! You get 'em!". Tessa barks again, making the two men laugh.

Wilson puts a hand on his friend's shoulder "Seriously, any time. Just call, I'll pick up. Whenever you need a brother, I'm here". Spencer nods "Thanks, Sam. The same goes for you".

When Wilson leaves, Spencer whistles for the dogs to come back. Showing their trained instincts, they both immediately pick up on the whistle and start trotting over. "Tess, you want to visit him?" He asks, as if she'll answer. She tilts her head. "Connor" He concludes. She jumps excitedly, upon hearing her handler's name. It breaks his heart when she looks around as if he will suddenly show up. "Come on" He sighs, leading both dogs over to the cemetery at the other side of the Veteran school.

When they get there, he lets Tessa lead the way to the right grave stone. She lies down beside the grave. As usual, she whimpers and Spencer goes over to join her. He sits next to her, placing a gentle hand on her side. "Hey, Haz. It's been a long day" He sighs. Tessa leans over to rest her head on his lap. Silas sits at the other side, paying his own kind of respect by bowing his head slightly.

For a few hours, Spencer talks to his friend as if it's a normal conversation like they would normally have. When it first happened, two years ago, Tessa wouldn't leave the grave. Not for food, or anything. She just lay there, for days. It didn't matter if it was raining or snowing, she refused to leave. Spencer always came to check on her, he knew she needed some space. But Connor was his brother, he knew he would kick his butt if he was still here. So, he did everything to get her to go home with him. It took weeks, but he finally got her home. She was still depressed, but at least he knew she was safe. In those weeks, he met Sam Wilson. An ex Veteran, who went through the exact same thing he did, minus the dogs. They grew closer, bonding over their similar stories. Sam was there for him and Spencer did his best to return the favour. When Spencer would visit Tessa, he would meet up with them and they would sit with her for as long as needed. Tessa didn't seem to care if he was there or not at first, but she eventually warmed up to him. Tessa knew her handler was gone. She couldn't smell his scent anymore. The first time she slept over at the grave, Spencer was sure he saw a tear fall down her furry cheek. It took a whole year, but she's still a bit depressed. She's slightly better, and for Spencer, that's enough progress. No, scratch that. That's enough for Connor Harris. He would've hated to have seen her in that state. He would've killed to protect her.
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Hey guys, here's the first chapter. Hope you liked it. Was it too obvious that the friend was Sam? I probably should've hid that better, but oh well.

- WS