m_findlow

Title: Doggy dilemma
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Ianto
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: G
Notes: Written for Challenge 3 - Dilemma at anythingdrabble
Summary: Ianto has lost something very important

Ianto looked around again, hoping to spot the steak of black amongst all the other swathes of colour.

'Buddy!' he called out for what must have been the twentieth time.

Jack was going to kill him. He loved that bloody dog, and now it was gone. He'd only turned his back for a second. They'd been in the park playing fetch. The black labrador had a limitless amount of energy, not unlike its adopted owner. Daily trips to the park were essential so that it didn't tear up their small backyard, or worse, the house. Buddy loved the park and he loved insisting that Ianto throw the mangy tennis ball one more time so that he could bound after it like a madman, running it down like a policeman after a criminal. He loved bringing it back even more, all coated in drool, making Ianto take it from him, albeit sometimes having to tug it from his jaw, another little game Buddy liked to play.

For all his reluctance to Jack's insistent pleas to adopt the dog, Ianto had come to like having Buddy around. No one knew where he had come from, and Ianto had done whatever he could to try and locate its original owners, but it wasn't microchipped. They'd put up found posters around the neighborhood and left more with the local vet and animal shelter, but after several weeks no one had come to claim him. In the end, as Jack reasoned, they'd done everything they could, but it was just as likely that someone had gotten sick of him and abandoned him. It was impossible for Ianto to say no to adoption after that.

Now though, he was in all sorts. The dog they'd adopted had gone AWOL on his watch. He thought he'd been doing so well. Buddy was almost completely untrained when they took him in, but dedicated weeks at puppy school had gone a long way. Ianto had thought he could safely let him off the leash without worrying that he might take off. Yet that was what he'd done.

Ianto had spent ages wandering through nearby streets, checking everywhere. His worry was that with all the cars around, he might run out in front of one, but no one he asked had seen hide nor hair of a wayward black dog.

What was he going to tell Jack? Yes, he'd had Buddy chipped, but if he wasn't picked up by a shelter, no one might report him. Maybe he'd spotted his old family and gone after them, or maybe someone had dognapped him.

Despondent, Ianto returned to the car, still wondering what he'd say to Jack. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and was interrupted by a loud bark. There was Buddy, sitting by the car door, tail wagging happily, sodden ball at his feet.

'I've been looking everywhere for you!' Buddy barked again.

Ianto growled back. 'If you'd wanted to go home, why didn't you just say so?'