Work Text:
Barney could smell Pip in the gusts of wind that tore against his golden fur. She was.. sniff… at the.. house! He twisted with excitement, pulling against his collar which the strange girl with the dark hair held.
Barney had been chasing a squirrel through the woods when she’d grabbed him. The girl had seemed nice enough, so he let her carry him off and put him in her car. She’d fed him pizza, greasy delicious pizza, so she had to be nice! But Barney remembered his family and his comfy bed back home, so he started scratching at the car door. The girl had checked her phone and sighed, turning the car around. And now they were back in the woods.
She stroked his nose and whispered softly in the dark, her words sad and bitter, “Go on now, Pip-”
her voice cracked, anxiety and regret and resentment bubbling up,
“She’ll be waiting.”
-
Barney raced across the moonlit woods, paws landing in clumps of fall leaves. He was getting closer.. and closer…
He skidded to a stop.
The river.
Barney hated water.
He glared at the river.
The only way across..
No, he couldn’t.
Barney pictured struggling to keep himself above the current, soaked fur weighing him down.
He whimpered.
He would just.. wait.
Wait for.. what?
What about Pip?
He needed to reach her.
He could do it.
For Pip, Barney would do anything.
-
Pip sat on the front steps of her house watching the sun come up.
It was 2 a.m. but she couldn't sleep.
Her mom had called her out absent from school after seeing her tear-stained face.
This was all her fault.
Barney.
She’d looked away and next thing he was gone.
Gone.
And now she’d done as his kidnapper had said,
But where was Barney?
Barney.
Why didn’t she go look for him,
Herself?
Maybe,
Just maybe,
They had released him.
He could be on his way back,
Just lost!
A tiny bit of hope rose out of her.
She pulled herself up and took off at a run.
-
Barney put a tentative paw in the rushing water.
It soaked and he shook it, spraying off the water, hating the feel of that.. horrible dampness that turned his fur inside out.
He straightened up.
He would not cower at a river.
Barney put both paws in and pushed forward.
He whined.
Front half in, back half to go.
He scrambled for purchase on the shifting pebbles as a surge of water crashed into his side.
This was a very bad idea.
Well, too late now.
The small wave had knocked his back legs in, so now he was completely submerged.
Barney rotated his paws up and down, paddling, as some long forgotten instinct kicked in.
Huh.
It wasn’t..
As bad as he thought.
This wasn’t like the terrible baths he dreaded at home.
And his fur.. wasn’t soaked.
In fact, only the outer part felt wet, the inner fur felt completely dry. The water surrounded him and he felt a strange kind of peace. It was kind of.. nice.
Maybe it could be fun? Barney swam experimentally in a circle and then twisted, kicking his back paws up, out of the river.
Drops of water rained down and he surfaced completely. Barney barked joyously.
The water felt more than nice, it felt great.
He loved the river!
-
Pippa’s feet took her to the woods. The place where she’d lost him. Her sweet golden retriever. In a cruel twist of fate, she swore she heard a dog barking joyfully nearby. She looked towards the sound, remembering Barney barking just as happily the other day as he indulged in his favorite activity, scaring the wits out of the poor local squirrels. Wait, a minute. She stood frozen as a tide of excitement swept over her. Pip mentally compared the memory with the barking. Could those barks be Barney's? Was she just hearing the similarities because of wishful thinking?
Probably.
Pip sighed.
The dog barked again.
She listened carefully this time.
She was sure. It had to be him.
Pip sprinted towards the sound.
-
Barney was enjoying his new-found discovery when he smelled her.
Pip! She could play in the water too!
He began to swim towards the opposite bank.
-
Pip was by the brambles by the river when she saw him.
Barney! What was he doing in the water? Barney hated water.
She ran down to the water’s edge.
-
Barney leapt high out of the river.
Pip jumped and reached forward to catch him.
They met, for a split second in midair.
The morning sun bounced off Barney’s shining coat and onto Pip.
Everything was perfect.
-
Then Barney landed on Pip, knocking her down into the sandy beach.
He licked her face thoroughly and bounded around her as she got up.
Pip brushed herself off and sat up. She hugged Barney tight and checked him for any injuries. He looked completely fine, except for being covered in river mud. She would have to check if his new love of water applied to baths later.
But for now, she would be happy.
In this moment, she didn’t care about the Andie Bell case,
or anything else really.
She’d found Barney and that was all that mattered.