Fic: Dogsbody (8/13)

[rusty_armour]

Title: Dogsbody (8/13)
Author: Rusty Armour
Pairing: Lester/Quinn
Summary: Lester is forced to depend on the people around him when he finds himself in a strange and startling predicament.
Word Count: 3,047
Rating: Slash, PG-13
Spoilers: S3 in general
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or the shiny prehistoric creatures. I just played with them for a while and then returned them to the toy chest.
A/N: I was inspired to write this fic after reading knitekat’s Under the Moonlight, the first story in the Under the Moonlight wolfverse. Although I had intended to post this as a serial, the original plan was to finish the story first, as I swore to myself that I wouldn’t commit another crime of WIP. However, as so often happens, this story ended up being longer and more complicated than I’d imagined. Reality has also been rearing its ugly head and there are other commitments I can’t put off any longer, so…WIP. Well, at least this time, a large portion of the story has already been written, so I think most of the posts should be delivered in a timely fashion.

This is a sequel to Ps & Qs and Better Late Than Never, though this could probably be read as a stand-alone. As you’ll quickly realize, this story is complete crack and unapologetically self-indulgent. I’ve had a lot of fun writing this – probably too much fun. *g*

I’d like to give a big thanks to lukadreaming for the Brit-check beta.

---

Lester had hoped it would take them longer to find him, that he would have a bit more time to spend with his family before they dragged him away. But these were people who tracked animals down for a living. He should have known that he’d have little or no chance of eluding them completely.

Jeremy came to stand beside Lester, as if sensing that Abby and Connor were a threat. Emma remained where she was, though her body tensed and her fingers curled into fists.

“You two,” Emma said. “What do you want? My dad isn’t here.”

Abby tossed an uneasy look at Connor and cleared her throat. “Uh, hi. Emma, isn’t it?”

Before Emma could answer, the back door to the house opened. Joanna and Peter stepped into the garden, both stopping when they saw Abby and Connor.

“Oh, hello,” Joanna said.

Abby and Connor exchanged an uncomfortable glance before Abby spoke. “I’m very sorry to disturb you, but we’ve lost our dog and…Well, it looks like he ended up in your garden.”

Joanna’s eyes darted anxiously to Jeremy before she managed to produce a smile. “Well, that’s wonderful. Please, do come in.” She lifted the latch on the gate and swung it open. “I’m Joanna and these are my children, Emma, Peter and Jeremy.”

Abby held out her hand to Joanna. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Abby and this is Connor.”

Joanna shook hands with both Abby and Connor. “It’s very nice to meet you,” she said. “I was about to do a bit of first aid on your dog’s paw, though I’m beginning to realize that it would have made more sense to give him a bath first. I don’t know where he’s been, but he’s covered in mud and it looks like he’s walked quite a distance, given the state of his paws.”

Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone?

Abby bit her lip. “Uh, yeah. We were in Chesham Bois Wood.”

Joanna’s eyes widened. “But that’s miles away! Why would he have come this far?”

“He was startled,” Connor said. “He had a bad scare and took off.”

Lester glared at Connor. I wasn’t bloody scared and you know it.

“And he just happened to end up here?” Emma asked. “In our garden?” Her hands were on her hips now and she was eyeing Abby and Connor suspiciously.

Connor laughed weakly. “Yeah. Funny that.”

Peter set down the bowl of water and walked up to Connor. “Why doesn’t he have a collar? He should have a collar with a tag on it. We could report you, you know.”

“Peter!” Joanna exclaimed. “I’m terribly sorry. He’s not usually this rude.” She gave a pointed look at Peter. “You should apologize.”

“It’s okay,” Connor said. “He’s right. The dog should have been wearing his collar. It’s just that…that…”

Abby jumped in to save Connor. “His collar got caught on some brambles. We had to remove it before we were able to free him.”

“So why didn’t you put it back on when he was free?” Peter asked.

Good question, Peter.

“Oh, um…because that’s when he got scared and ran away,” Abby said.

Emma’s eyes narrowed, but she kept quiet. Jeremy wasn’t able to exercise such restraint.

“Are you sure he didn’t run away because you were horrible to him?” Jeremy asked.

“Jeremy! You shouldn’t say such things!” Joanna blushed, looking completely mortified.

Jeremy stared up at his mother inquisitively. “Why? If they were horrible to K-9 then we don’t have to give him back.”

Connor raised an amused eyebrow. “K-9?”

“I’m sorry,” Joanna said. “He named your dog before I could stop him.”

Connor grinned. “That’s okay. K-9’s brilliant. Almost as cool as the Daleks.”

“So what’s his real name?” Peter asked.

“Lester,” Connor said, before he could stop himself.

Peter’s brow furrowed. “But that’s our name.”

Lester saw Abby smack Connor’s arm. Fortunately, Joanna seemed too surprised by Connor’s revelation to notice. However, Emma’s sharp gaze had fallen directly on Lester. Lester wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or worried that he couldn’t read the expression on her face.

“Isn’t that funny?” Joanna said. “A dog named ‘Lester’ turning up in our garden.” She gave Lester a speculative look, but it was nothing more than that. Emma, on the other hand, was still scrutinizing Lester far too closely.

“We should be going,” Abby said. Her eyes were on Emma, and Lester knew that she’d also noticed Emma’s sudden interest in the German shepherd.

“Could I at least offer you a drink before you go?” Joanna asked.

Abby managed to tear her eyes away from Emma. “No, we really should be going, but thanks. Thanks for everything.”

“That’s all right,” Joanna said. “Think nothing of it. We were delighted your dog could drop in for a visit. It’s been such a treat, especially for the boys.”

Abby smiled. “Well, I’m glad he wasn’t too much trouble.”

“Oh, he was no trouble at all.” Joanna crouched down in front of Lester and scratched behind one of his ears. “You’ve been absolutely lovely, haven’t you?”

Well, yes, I suppose I have.

“You just need sprucing up a bit.” Joanna glanced up at Abby. “You’ll see to his paw, won’t you?”

Abby nodded. “It’s the first thing I’ll do after I’ve given him his bath.”

Lester tensed despite the gentle caress of Joanna’s hand. Bath? You can’t be serious.

“What is it?” Joanna asked. “Don’t you like baths? I know someone else just like you.” She shot an accusing look at Jeremy. “Well, don’t just stand there, both of you. Come and say goodbye to Lester.”

Peter came forward at once and patted Lester’s head affectionately, but Jeremy wouldn’t budge.

“Sweetheart?” Joanna said.

Jeremy sniffed and his bottom lip quivered. Then his entire face crumpled and he began to cry.

Joanna’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, sweetheart.”

Jeremy plopped down on the grass and sobbed as if his heart were breaking. Then Lester realized that it probably was.

It had been stupid and selfish of him to show up here. He should have known what the repercussions would be.

Although Lester couldn’t take back what he’d done, he could at least make some effort to repair the damage. He walked over to Jeremy and began licking the tears from his face. An instant later, Jeremy was clinging to Lester and his wet face was pressed against Lester’s side. Joanna gave them a couple of minutes before she pulled Jeremy away.

“Come on, darling,” Joanna said. “I think you’d better go to your room for a while.”

Jeremy tried to break free. “I don’t want to.”

“Well, no, dear. You never do.” Joanna smiled at Abby and Connor apologetically. “I’m sorry. He’s five and five year olds get attached very quickly.”

“No, we should be the ones apologizing,” Abby said.

“We didn’t mean to hurt the little guy.” Connor’s eyes were suspiciously bright and he looked like he might burst into tears himself.

Joanna brushed some of the hair from Jeremy’s forehead. “Oh, you’ll be okay, won’t you, Jeremy?”

Jeremy shook his head violently. “No, I won’t. I’ll never be okay. Never ever ever.”

“Never ever…ever?” Joanna asked. “That’s an awfully long time, Jeremy.”

“I don’t care,” Jeremy said. “I’m never ever ever going to be okay forever, Mummy.”

Joanna laughed. “Well, now I know you’re going to be okay because you sound just like your father.” She took Jeremy’s hand and started walking towards the house, looking back at Abby and Connor over her shoulder. “It was very nice meeting you both.”

“And you,” Abby said. “Thanks again.”

When Joanna and Jeremy had disappeared inside the house, Lester looked at the remaining members of his family. What he saw thoroughly shocked him.

Emma had turned at least two shades paler and was shaking visibly. Peter was gaping at her, clearly concerned. After a brief hesitation, he reached out to touch his sister’s arm. “Emma, are you okay?” he asked.

I’ll give you £10 if you get out,” Emma whispered.

Peter’s brow furrowed. “Out of the garden?”

Emma gave a jerky nod. “Yes. The money’s in my purse.”

Peter’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re letting me go inside your purse?” He frowned. “Maybe I should get Mum…”

“Fine,” Emma snapped. “Make it £20. That’s all I have. I’ll give you £20 to get out of the garden and keep your mouth shut.”

Peter hesitated, looking unsure. “Are you really okay? You look sort of funny.”

Emma ran a hand across her face. “If you’re that worried, you can come back in half an hour and check on me.”

“Twenty minutes,” Peter said. “I’ll only take £10 if I can come back in 20 minutes.”

Emma sighed. “God, you’re almost as bad as Mum. Okay, 20 minutes. Now piss off.”

It wasn’t up to her usual standard, but Peter must have been reassured by Emma’s “piss off” because he retreated inside the house without further argument. Abby and Connor, who had stood in stunned silence during Emma and Peter’s exchange, seemed far from reassured. When Emma moved past them to block their exit through the gate, they shared a look of panic.

“What really happened to my dad?” Emma asked.

Connor, being Connor, tried to deflect the question. “Um, what do you mean?”

Abby rolled her eyes at Connor. “I think your dad’s supposed to be at a conference or something,” she said.

Emma crossed her arms. “No, what really happened to him?”

Abby’s eyes shifted away from Emma, while Connor seemed utterly fascinated by his shoes.

Emma shook her head. “I don’t know how he puts up with you.” She looked at the German shepherd sitting in front of her. “How do you do it, Dad?”


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Lester stared back at Emma in amazement. Although he had suspected that she might have worked it out, he had been clinging to the faint hope that she hadn’t put all the clues together. The denial had been nice while it lasted.

“Emma…” Abby said.

“Shut up.” Emma walked over to Lester and knelt in front of him, placing her hands on either side of his head. “I know you can’t talk, but I assume you can bark. If you’re my dad, bark three times.”

Lester didn’t know what to do. It was one thing withholding information from his family to protect them, but could he actually look in his daughter’s eyes and tell her an outright lie? Was he that cold? If Emma’s life were in danger, he knew he’d find a way to push past his qualms, but he was the one at risk here.

“Emma.” Abby sat down on the grass and placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder. Then she sighed when Emma flinched and shook her off. “Emma, I don’t know what’s going on, but you must realize how crazy – ”

“No,” Emma hissed, “don’t you dare. I know what kind of strange things you’re into. I was at that club. I saw that big sparkling light and all those dodos. You may have tried to cover it up, but I remember.” Emma tore her eyes away from Lester long enough to glare at Abby. “Do you really expect me to believe your dog, who happens to be named Lester, decided to come to this house – out of all the houses he could have chosen – after walking all that way from Chesham Bois Wood? Oh, and if that’s not enough, he went straight to Jeremy as soon as he started crying – just like Dad would because Dad hates it when Jeremy cries.”

Abby stood up abruptly. “I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Then do us all a favour and don’t say anything.” Emma’s eyes returned to Lester, and Lester wasn’t sure if he should fear or admire the determination in her eyes. “You still haven’t answered my question. All I’m asking for is three barks.” Emma’s fingers dug into the fur of Lester’s ruff. “You can lie about your job, but you can’t lie to me now. Not about this. If you can’t tell me the truth then I want nothing more to do with you. You’ll no longer be my father, and I definitely won’t be your daughter. So, what’s it going to be?”

It was one of the hardest things Lester had ever had to do, but he somehow managed to dredge up three barks.

He thought Emma would look smug or triumphant, but she just started trembling again and her eyes filled with tears.

“Daddy?” Emma whispered. “How?”

Lester bit back a whimper. Where do I even begin? Even if he had the alphabet blocks with him, they wouldn’t be enough. He laid a paw on Emma’s arm, knowing it was all he could offer her. Then Connor’s lips were parting, and the words Lester wanted to speak were flooding from his mouth.

“That big sparkling light you saw is called an anomaly,” Connor said. “It’s like a portal that connects one time to another. Usually, they’re closed and invisible, but, sometimes, one will open, like that one in the club. When it does, it can be a problem if there are any creatures on the other side.”

“Like dodos?” Emma asked.

Connor smiled. “Yeah, like dodos, though often it’s something worse. Yesterday, it was a sabre-toothed cat.”

Emma raised an eyebrow. “In Chesham Bois Wood?”

Connor nodded. “Yeah, but that isn’t what made your dad run here, if that’s what you’re thinking. He ran because…Well, we’re not exactly sure why, though I think I can guess. Anyway, it’s, um, complicated.”

“My dad’s a dog, so I’d say this whole thing is complicated.” Emma looked down at the paw that was still resting on her arm and sighed. “So, there are these anomalies that open up on different times. That’s absolutely fascinating, but it doesn’t explain what happened to my dad, unless whatever came out of one of these anomalies made him this way.” Connor bit his lip, and Emma’s mouth fell open. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding! Some dinosaur did this to him?”

“Not a dinosaur but a woman,” Abby said. “And this is about to get a lot more complicated because she was from a parallel universe in which – ”

“Hold on!” Emma cried. “A parallel universe? These anomalies can lead to a parallel universe?”

“We’re not sure,” Connor said. “According to this professor we once knew, changes in the past can alter events in the present.” He gazed at Lester and frowned. “We don’t know where this woman came from, but we know that she was using the anomalies not only to travel to our world but the future. It was in the future that she got a hold of the technology to, um, transfer your dad’s consciousness into a dog.”

“But why?” Emma asked. “I mean, really. Who does that?”

Abby grimaced. “If this woman is anything like her counterpart, she’s completely mad.” She raised a hand when she saw that Emma was about to speak. “Before you ask, her counterpart is dead.”

“Yeah, but Anna Taylor’s picking up where Helen left off,” Connor said.

“By turning my dad into a dog?” Emma asked. “Lovely.”

Connor smiled sympathetically at Emma. “Apparently, she and your dad – or, um, an alternate version of him – used to work together in this parallel universe. Then your dad tried to have her killed. But before Anna Taylor could seek revenge, your dad got killed himself.”

Emma opened her mouth, paused, and then closed it again. Lester had never thought he would live to see this day, but, apparently, his daughter was at an actual loss for words. It was as if there was too much information to process, and Emma was struggling to take it all in. However, she wasn’t a Lester for nothing and managed to recover quickly.

“Look, I don’t care what my other dad did,” Emma said. “When I get my hands on this Anna Taylor, she’s going to wish she had never been born – in either universe.”

Oh, no, Lester thought. He didn’t want Emma anywhere near Anna Taylor. It was bad enough she had learned about any of this in the first place. Lester barked twice and pawed at Emma’s arm anxiously.

Emma’s forehead creased. “What’s he doing?”

“He’s not happy,” Abby said. “Two barks mean ‘no’.”

“And one bark means ‘yes’? What is this? Most Haunted?” Emma glanced at Lester disdainfully. “I’m not going to stand by while some psycho bitch – ”

Lester leapt to his feet and started heading for the gate. He had to leave. Emma couldn’t be a part of this. There was a reason why he had kept his private life separate from his professional life all these years. He had broken the cardinal rule, and now his daughter was paying the price. He had to put as much distance between himself and Emma as possible.

His plan might have succeeded if Emma hadn’t grabbed him before he made it to the gate.

“I’m sorry. Please don’t go. I’m sorry.” Emma’s breath hitched and she clung tighter to Lester. “I’ll stay out of it if that’s what you want. Just don’t run away again.”

Lester barked once and rested his chin on Emma’s shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him. An instant later, Emma pulled away. Lester was horrified to see tears on her cheeks, though Emma tried to swipe them from her face.

“You have to fix this,” Emma told Abby and Connor.

“We’re trying,” Abby said.

“Well, try harder. I don’t care how you do it. Just do it.” Emma’s voice sounded closer to its normal tone, though she was refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. “You’ll look after him, won’t you? Make sure he doesn’t take off again or get into trouble?”

Abby smiled, her expression compassionate. “Of course we will.”

“Your dad’s still at his flat, so you can phone there whenever you’d like,” Connor said.

Emma gave a sharp nod. “Okay. I might do that.” She gazed at the house almost reluctantly. “You’d better go before Peter or Mum starts snooping around.” She leaned forward to plant a kiss on Lester’s head. Then she rose swiftly and walked into the house, not looking back.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


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Comments

[knitekat.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, that didn't go well. *hugs Jeremy* Maybe he can have the dog once Lester's back in his own body.

Emma's definitely her father's daughter, although Connor blurting out that the dog is called Lester was a pretty big hint.

Loved Lester's internal comments and his determination to protect his kids.

Great addition to this series *purrs*

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, that didn't go well. *hugs Jeremy*

No, I'm afraid it was a bit of a disaster...

Maybe he can have the dog once Lester's back in his own body.

*Whistles innocently* Stranger things have happened... *g*

Loved Lester's internal comments and his determination to protect his kids.

I'm happy you liked Lester's internal comments and his determination to protect his kids. As I told lukadreaming, it was a bit of a challenge trying to balance all of those characters. I actually ended up going back and adding a number of those internal comments from Lester. And as we haven't seen Lester with his kids on the show, I had to guess how he might interact with his children and how much affection he would reveal. I think many fathers are protective by nature and try to act in their children's best interests.

Great addition to this series *purrs*

Thank you so much, knitekat! I'm happy you enjoyed it! :-)