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“Natasha?”
“Yes, Clint?”
“I think there’s something wrong with Captain?”
“What about him?”
“He looks… down.” The two looked at the melancholic Retriever-mix pup lying down with his chin rested on his front paws. Not even with Leo the hamster running around in his transparent pink ball could peak the puppy’s interest.
“What do you expect? All his brothers and sisters are adopted except him.”
The pup remembered four of his brothers and sisters being adopted one by one. Falcon, Patriot, Peggy, and Thirteen. It stinks being the runt of the litter. Captain thought his brother, Bucky, would be the one who stick by him as they were the only ones left. But after one argument between Clint and another female human, Kate, Bucky followed Kate as she walked out the door with her belongings and never come back. Might as well, Bucky has a fondness for Kate ever since she fed him tiny pieces of pizza under the table.
“Maybe he needs some company,” Clint said, “Some canine company. That Loki doesn’t do him justice.” He was referring to Loki the purebred Bombay cat that spends his days causing trouble around their apartment when he was supposed to be bothering his owners, Jane and Darcy, the Norwegian Elkhound breeders next door.
Natasha just cleaned Jemma the rabbit’s cage, “Not to worry, Captain will have some canine companions very soon. Or we could visit the girls and ask them if Captain could play with Thor and Sif.”
“No can do, Sif is in heat.”
The Russian redhead petted Jemma's soft brown fur, “Oh, please. Captain is way too young to copulate, especially with a bitch her size.”
Suddenly there’s a buzz on the door, Natasha wiped her hands and opened the door to answer.
“Oh, hello, Nick,” she said. It was Nick Fury, their next-door neighbor. He was scruffy yet well-built man with graying dark hair. There’s not much about him except he was a war veteran, lost his eye in the war, and have a fondness for Cuban cigars.
“Hi, Natasha,” Nick said with his cigar in hand, “Our satellite is being a dumb-ass; can my son watch T.V. here?”
“Sure,” Natasha answered, “I didn’t know you have a son.”
“Well, his mother and I split after Marcus was born, we moved on, Marcus needs his dad, I have custody now, end of story,” Nick poked his head out of the hallway, “Marcus! Ms. Romanov said we can watch Dog Cops.”
Clint walked into the living room with a smile, “Dog Cops is on?”
Nick smiled back, “Did you know about the Dog Cops marathon that is going on?”
Nick’s son entered the apartment; he looked nothing like his father. He was a bald, African-American nine-year old carrying a small beagle, who was a few weeks older than Captain.
“Marcus, this is Mr. Barton and Ms. Romanov,” Nick said, “What do you say?”
“Hello and thank you, Mr. Barton, Ms. Romanov.”
Clint said, “Please, call us Clint and Tasha.”
“It’s Natasha,” Natasha looked at the beagle, “Who is this little one?”
“This is Cheese, my Mom gave him to me and I get to name him,” Marcus replied. Clint and Natasha suppressed a snicker (it’s just so adorable).
Nick pat his son on the back and shoulders, “Okay, Marcus. Now park yourself and Cheese in front of the T.V.” Sadly, Marcus, like most kids, is easily distracted.
“Wow! Look at all these animals!” Marcus said while he and Cheese looked at a black American shorthair who was glaring intently at a white rat in a glass cage which was labeled “Jasper”.
Natasha noticed the boy’s eyes in wonderment, “Her name is Calvary.”
Marcus held on Cheese tight, “What a kick-ass name.”
“Marcus, only grown-ups can use swear words,” Nick reprimanded.
“Sorry, Dad.”
Clint said to the boy, “We rescue these animals all over the city. We make them feel better so that we can give them to families who wanted a pet.”
Natasha had an idea, “Marcus, maybe you can let Cheese play with Captain. He’s a puppy just like him.”
“Cool! Would you like to play with another puppy, Cheese?” Marcus asked the beagle. Cheese responded with a happy tagging of his tail.
Marcus put Cheese down and the pup dashed towards Captain who is grew intrigued by this new ball of energy in his life. He was the most cutest puppy he ever seen in his life. Cheese greeted Captain with a sniff of his bottom. Captain sniff Cheese’s bottom back. After all, it’s only polite.
Cheese notice the toy that was sitting on the side of the room. It was a squeaky cheeseburger that was once Thirteen’s favorite. He trotted over to the toy and held it with his mouth. Cheese took a bite of the toy which makes a cute squeak. Captain’s eyes lit up and play with him by taking the cheeseburger toy away from him. For some reason, the puppy's spirit gave Captain his bounce back. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
A few minutes into Dog Cops, the show was on a commercial break. Clint pulled his eyes away from the T.V. to notice Captain rolling around with Cheese on a purple shag rug.
“Should we be concern that Captain is biting Cheese?” Nick said to Clint and Natasha all in a while his son still watching the Dog Cops marathon.
“Maybe he took his name literally,” Clint replied
Natasha said while petting Calvary, “At their age, it is normal. It’s just another way to play with each other.”
“Shh!” Marcus said, “It’s starting again!”
Another hour later, the Dog Cops marathon was over and Marcus was calling his dog.
“Cheese! Come here, boy. It’s time to go home!”
Cheese’s ears pricked up and run towards his young owner but not before he give Captain a good licking on his snout.
As the other dog left, Captain let out a tiny whine. He wants his new friend back.
It has been 24 hours since the last time Captain saw Cheese. To the puppy, it could’ve been 24 years (but it’s hard to say in dog time). Now is back where he start, laying down on the floor with his head resting on his front paws. This time, he has the cheeseburger squeak toy which has Cheese’s fresh teeth marks on it.
Clint worried about him again. He kneels down and rubbed his golden head, “What’s a matter, buddy?”
Captain’s only respond is a sigh.
“Do you miss your new friend?”
Captain lifted his head to look at Clint.
“Do you want to see Cheese again?”
Captain’s tail wagged rapidly.
A few minutes later, the moment that Nick opened the door to let Captain and his caretakers inside the apartment, Captain was once again reunited with Cheese. This time, the moment Captain licked Cheese’s snout, Cheese licked back. Both of their tails are wagging like crazy.
Marcus stopped from playing video games to point out to the licking dogs, “Hey! They’re like Aunt Maria and Aunt Victoria!”
“I knew it! So that’s what Cheese wants, every-time we took him outside for walks, he went to the opposite direction,” Nick turned to Captain’s caretakers, “I have a proposition for you…”
One and half months later, Captain is now a permanent fixture of the Barton-Romanov rescue home. While Marcus is off to school and Nick is at work, Cheese kept Captain company as well as all the animals in the rescue home.
After an intense game of chasing Leo in the living room and that one moment when Captain was bouncing around Cheese, both dogs were lying very closely to each other on the purple shag rug. Cheese wrapped all of his legs protectively around the yawning Captain as they fell asleep with their tails slowly wagging.
Natasha quietly held her smartphone towards the sleeping puppies and taking a picture, “This is going on Instagram."