And here we are with the second part of Red Robin and Dog Chronicles.

So without further ado, let's begin.

~•~

Tim had drifted off to sleep with his head resting on the breakfast counter. The only thing that could rouse him was the scent of coffee.

But unexpectedly he was woken up from his slumber by the sound of pure chaos.

"Replacement, get this thing off me!" Jason yelled, waving his arm vigorously to which the puppy was stuck by its jaws.

Sleepy blue eyes fluttered open and he groaned, "not again..."

"Where did you even find this thing? It's a mini piranha."

"For the record, I didn't. This thing found me," the scent of coffee hit at last as Alfred put down his cup in front of him, making Tim completely forget about Jay's crisis as he gratefully accepted the cup.

"I'll knock your cup into your lap if you don't do something," Jason warned.

Tim groaned then turned to face him, "Dog, behave. Let him go."

Like an obedient little puppy, the grip on Jay's arm slackened and the puppy fell down to the ground, bouncing back up with its tail wagging behind.

"It likes you," Jason remarked, examining the little teeth dents, "and it's so tiny, couldn't even bite properly."

"So you should have let him bite you longer and I could have slept in peace," Tim remarked but then noticed the air horn in his hand, "by the way, what were you going to do before you got bit?"

"I was going to wake you up with this," he showed the air horn, "but before I could, your loyal bodyguard sprang up to defend you."

"Sweet," he mumbled sarcastically, not paying the least attention to anything.

"By the way are you going to keep calling it Dog? You should give it a name," Jay remarked, looking down at the puppy that had curled up in its earlier position by the foot of Tim's stool.

"I'm not keeping him so why make all the fuss of assigning a name," he replied, filling his cup again with the thermos Alfred had left for him, "you can name him if you want to."

"Okay... But I'm not on exactly good terms with the little buddy, am I?" Jason tried to test the waters by reaching out to pat the dog but it barked at him, making him retreat, "see?"

"I don't know why you all are so obsessed with names. Damian was suggesting the same earlier."

"I mean it's a very plausible thing to do and I don't think you will be kicking the puppy out anytime soon. You might not be fond of animals but you aren't heartless," he remarked, knowing full well that he had stated a very accurate thing about Tim.

"I hate you for how right you are about me all the time," he mumbled, looking back at the puppy who was trotting around his stool, "still don't see the need to give him a name."

"Okay, I am sure Damian will try naming your little friend."

"I do not have a little friend," Tim rolled his eyes as he got down the stool but then looked ready to jump back up if the dog tried to lick his feet.

But it didn't, instead it just barked happily as it tottered on its tiny legs around him.

"And are you going to keep following me too?"

"Woof."

Tim rolled his eyes wearily but didn't do anything to stop the dog.

Jason laughed at his reaction, "how adorable."

"Shut up."

"Yo Duke, why did you not film this when you had the chance?" Jason called over to Duke who was coming downstairs as well.

"Wait, the puppy is here? This puppy Tim saved last night?"

"Yup and looks like it won't leave him alone."

Seeing Duke, Tim lifted the puppy and shoved it into his arms, "please, keep him away from me."

It seemed as if the dog liked Duke too as it immediately went to licking his face. Relief spread on Tim's features to see that he was not the sole center of attention for the pup and taking that chance, he rushed up to his room and locked the door as fast as he could.

***

It turned out that it was quite impossible for Tim to get rid of the little puppy who was so fond of him. The rest of the family looked after it well, especially Damian and Duke, while Tim tried his best to avoid the puppy but would fail eventually.

The others found it very amusing to see him constantly running away from the adorable little puppy and then eventually accepting that there was no way out but to coexist. Tim still called it Dog but was very particular with the pronouns, never once addressing it as an animal.

And Dog too responded only to the name Tim called it by. The others had tried to name him but it wouldn't budge until it unless someone called it Dog instead of the fancy names Damian and Jason came up with.

According to Damian, the dog was exactly like a mini version of Tim; following the boy around obediently and striving for acknowledgment. He had once remarked that the way the puppy followed Tim almost reminded him of how Tim followed Bruce. And that had earned him a shoe on the head thrown by Tim that missed only by a few inches.

Days passed and Dog became very accustomed to its new lifestyle. Its fondness for Tim hadn't faded one bit however by then Tim too acknowledged it and would sometimes show his rare affection by patting its head.

It was also a given that Dog would follow him wherever he went so the only times he strictly ordered the little creature to stay put and not follow him were when they were all going out on patrol.

Even then it would stay in the cave and provide Barbara company, not leaving until Red Robin came back and told it to come back to the Manor.

Deep down, Tim was getting fond of the adorable little puppy too although he didn't admit it. Or perhaps if not that fond of it because he still thought he couldn't stand animals, he had definitely become accustomed to Dog's presence.

The times when he would not hear the soft trotting of little paws behind him were when he would get worried and check whether his unexpected little companion was safe or not.

One night, Red Robin got injured on patrol. He hadn't seen it coming and got thrown around like a frisbee by the opponent, hitting a moving truck. He had managed to roll out of the way before sustaining any major damage but his head was ringing from the impact and he could feel his whole self shaken up.

He was quickly taken to the Batcave by Red Hood from there and Alfred had already prepared the medical wing of the cave to treat his injuries prior to taking him to the hospital.

Dog too had noticed something was wrong as it was running around Alfred frantically, tugging at the edge of his trousers as if to ask what was going on.

At last, Red Hood brought the injured young vigilante to the cave and the little puppy immediately trotted up to the portal, barking in alarm.

Seeing Tim hurt, its eyes drooped in a very sad expression and it stopped prancing around Alfred and Jason.

"Is he sad?" Jason remarked lifting the puppy up in his arms soon as Tim had been laid down on the stretcher and Alfred had started giving him first aid.

The dog sat scooped up in Jason's arms but with its wide brown eyes not leaving Tim for even a second.

"Don't worry, he'll be alright soon," Jay patted its head, feeling more sorry for the puppy than Tim who was finally getting his much-needed hours of sleep after being concussed.

A sad low bark sounded as Dog tried to be put down next to an unconscious Tim.

"Alright, you can stay with him," Jason felt his heart soften at the sight of the tiny animal being so concerned for the concussed boy.

When Tim's state was relatively stable, Jason put the dog down on the bed and it curled into a ball close to Tim's side, closing its tired eyes at last.

***

That's all for today. I know you guys didn't want me to end this one shot here but well, I'm a cruel person who likes to leave things hanging for a little while.

In the next part, we'll be seeing Tim's reaction after waking up and maybe there will be a few more scenes of Dog being its adorable self.

I'm supposed to complete this one shot but I keep getting more ideas.

Stay tuned for the next update.

~•~