A Dog in Blue: The Raid
Imported from SF2 with no description.
Travis’s Apartment
June 11th, 1969
Travis walked into the door, his head hung and footpaws shuffling along his short, freshly vacuumed carpet. He closed the door behind him quietly, hoping that anyone else here wouldn’t notice him, at least for a few minutes. The feeling of disgust he felt with himself was more intense than any before. This felt like even more of a betrayal to himself, to his kind, and to his family. The German Shepherd was not lucky enough to enter undetected. Nathan looked up from the pot of soup he was cooking and smiled at the cop.
“Home again already?” Nathan asked, his smile fading as he saw the look on Travis’s face, “What’s wrong?”
Travis walked forward and sat down at the kitchen counter without a word. He reached down and pulled out his service revolver. The Dog hated this thing, hated the way it felt in his paw, hated the way it sounded, hated the way it took people and crumpled them. Fortunately, he never had to kill anyone, but if things went wrong, that could very easily change tomorrow night. Nathan’s eyes went wide as Travis set the revolver on the counter.
“Why do you have that?” Nathan asked, “I thought you never brought it home with you?”
The German Shepherd looked up at the younger Dog with emotionless eyes.
“Get me a drink,” Travis began, “Scotch, make it a double. Hell, a triple.”
Nathan nodded and lowered his ears as he fixed his boyfriend the requested drink. He slid it over to the German Shepherd, who hungrily gulped it down. Travis let out a satisfied sigh as he finished his drink. He knew he’d be doing a lot more of this in a couple of days. Oh well, alcohol wasn’t the worst vice one could have.
“Will you talk now?” Nathan asked, “The longer you sit here the more I worry about you.”
Travis nodded and let out a whine.
“We’re raiding the Plaza tomorrow night,” Travis began, “And I didn’t stand up for us.”
Nathan sat beside his boyfriend and tenderly kissed his cheek.
“It’s okay,” Nathan nodded, “You can just go and tell Lionel what’s going to happen. That way he could close or something.”
Travis shook his head.
“I can’t go there,” Travis began, “And neither can you. If there’s a cop, especially if it’s Officer Steele, you aren’t safe.”
Travis sighed.
“The only person I can go to is Victor,” The German Shepherd continued, “I’ll call him in a bit. He should be home.”
“Yeah,” The Australian Cattle Dog replied, “That’s a very good idea.”
Nathan looked down and rubbed over Travis’s paw.
“So you don’t have to help out with this thing right?” Nathan asked, “You’re a detective now. You solve crimes. You don’t go out and bust up bars. Right?”
Travis chuckled.
“Generally you’d be right,” Travis began, “But this is an all hands on deck operation. We have to defend the moral fiber of the city.”
The cop played with his empty glass.
“Which means all my friends get to see me at my worst,” Travis continued, “They’re going to see me with the batons, the fire hoses, the dogs, the violence... I-I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m going to have to pretend I hate my friends.”
Travis started to cry.
“This is tearing me apart Nathan,” Travis whimpered, “Before, I’ve always been able to get out of things like this. But now, now people expect things of me. I’m not just a token Dog anymore. They think I’m a real cop.”
Nathan held his boyfriend tightly.
“Look,” Nathan began, “Just call Victor. Let him know what’s going on.”
Travis wiped his eyes and walked over to his phone. He dialed the operator and waited. It took a couple minutes, but finally, the Labrador connected.
“Hello?” He said drowsily, “Yes?”
Victor looked over at the clock. It was 4:45
“Victor?” Travis asked, “Did you just wake up?”
“Yeah,” Victor groaned, “Anthony and I were out late.”
He paused.
“I don’t know where he went,” The Labrador yawned, “Anyways. What is it Travis?”
“I need your help,” Travis began, “I need you to warn Lionel. There’s going to be a raid tomorrow night.”
Victor paused.
“Why don’t you get your boyfriend to do it?” Victor asked, “That’s probably why I got so drunk last night. Imagine hearing that your ex lover is dating someone new from some drunk Wolf groping your ass and whining about how his favorite fuck got himself hitched up with a German Shepherd.”
Travis frowned.
“We can talk about this later,” Travis began, “Right now. I need you to warn them. Please. Just put this aside for a night and help me.”
Victor sighed.
“You know I’m just jealous,” Victor replied, “Of course I’ll help. Don’t worry. The cops will be raiding a closed bar.”
Travis chuckled.
“Thank you Victor,” The Cop breathed a sigh of relief, “You have no idea how good it is to hear that.”
“Of course,” Victor chuckled, “Now I’m going to get some more sleep. I need to look my best if I’m going out tonight.”
The pair shared a laugh.
“I’ll meet up with you after,” Victor continued, “I’ll make sure you’re okay.”
“Thank you,” Travis smiled even as the Labrador hung up the phone, “Thank you so much.”
Travis put the phone back on the wall and retook his seat. Nathan gave his boyfriend a smile and rubbed his shoulders.
“So dinner should be ready soon,” Nathan began, “Are you hungry?”
“Sure,” Travis replied, “It smells amazing. What did you make?”
“Well, minestrone,” Nathan got up to stir the soup pot, “I also bought some roast beef at Mica’s Deli down the street. I figured we could have sandwiches too.”
Travis smiled and put his glass in the sink. He didn’t feel the need to drink any more. This would be hard, but Nathan would be there. The German Shepherd knew this. Things would be okay. Victor would warn them in time. There may be a big investigation on who tipped off the Plaza, but Travis would weather that, much like he weathered every conflict in his job.
“Get comfortable,” Nathan began, “I’ll get you a plate.”
Travis kissed his boyfriend on the cheek and sat down on the couch. He watched the Australian Cattle Dog as he worked, and smiled. Hopefully, Nathan would be a part of his life for a while. He truly was lucky to get a guy like him.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Later that night
Travis groaned as the sound of his phone ringing blared through the apartment. He got out of bed and rubbed Nathan’s still sleeping back as he strolled naked into the living room. With a loud groan, he turned on the living room light and picked up the phone. It was 10:15 PM.
“Who is this?” Travis asked, “It’s late.”
“It’s James,” The human replied, “We’re raiding tonight. Get your shit and meet us at the station.”
“Tonight?” The German Shepherd sighed, “When?”
“11 or midnight,” James began, “Apparently there’s a mole in our office who told them that we were coming. We’re moving tonight to catch them off guard.”
James almost growled.
“We’re going to stop them Travis,” James continued, “There probably won’t be a fag on the streets for a week.”
Travis didn't respond, but hung his head. Nathan came out of the bedroom and stood in the doorway. The German Shepherd sighed and looked up.
“I’ll be right there,” Travis began, “Thanks for the call.”
The Dog hung up the phone and slumped against the wall.
“Who was it?” Nathan whined, “What’s going on?”
“The raid is tonight,” Travis sighed, “I gotta go.”
He walked into the bedroom and started to get dressed. Nathan turned around and whimpered. The younger male paused for a moment and then started to dress as well.
“Someone’s got to warn them,” Nathan began as he pulled his underwear on, “How much time do I have?”
Travis growled and looked over at the Cattle Dog.
“Are you crazy?” Travis asked, “If they catch you and take your prints. You’re done. You’re getting executed.”
“I’ll be quick,” The younger Dog whined, “I’ll just run in and leave.”
Travis sighed and hung his head.
“You asked me to help,” Nathan held the German Shepherd’s paw, “Even if some of those guys did bad things to me. They deserve better than this. I can help.”
Travis growled and stood up from the bed as he put his shirt on.
“You go in and out,” Travis began, “You don’t linger. You run. Go out the back if you have to. Just don’t be caught there.”
“I know,” Nathan finished dressing and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek, “I’ll leave right now. Don’t worry. You won’t even see me there.”
“Good,” Travis replied, “I’ll see you when I get home.”
With that, Travis kissed his boyfriend on the lips and walked out the door. He steeled himself and got ready to be the cop the force thought he was. He could do it. He’d done it a hundred times before.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A block from the Crimson Plaza
11:20 PM
A squadron of police vehicles was parked on the street, and about 20 cops stood in a circle around Officer August Steele. The chief gave the Fox the command for this operation without a moment’s thought. The old human knew this raid would be as savage as possible under the Fox’s command. Travis sighed and moved his paw to his gun and James tapped the Dog on the shoulder.
“I keep forgetting this is your first one,” James began with a chuckle, “Don’t be nervous. They never put up much of a fight.”
“I know,” Travis sighed, “You know I don’t like doing stuff like this. It causes more problems than it fixes.”
James scoffed.
“There wouldn’t be any problems if they would just stay in the shadows where they belonged,” James replied, “Don’t feel bad for them. They’re scum. Just do this and make things go back to normal. For all our sakes.”
Travis wanted to grab the human by the throat and shake some sense into him. If they weren’t doing it on his doorstep then why in the hell did the stupid human even care? James may have been honest about trying to be more fair and tolerant to Furs, but any other group on the “fringe” of society still got the classic James treatment. The human tapped the German Shepherd on the shoulder.
“Come on,” James began, “It’s time to go. I’ll drive.”
Travis sighed and followed behind the human. Emotions among the other cops ranged from fear, to disgust and anger, while Travis simply felt sad. This was going to be the hardest night of his career. He ducked down and got into the car James had picked out. It was an unmarked car, which meant that they were likely going right in front of the bar. Travis gripped the dash as the black car lurched forward and rolled ominously towards the Crimson Plaza.
You wouldn’t have known it was a gay bar just from looking at it. The only telling sign was the cigarette smoking 6’5 muscular Cheetah in a purple cocktail dress and high heels standing beside the door. The Cheetah’s eyes went wide as the cars rolled around the corner and he ran inside. Travis sighed. Too little, too late. It looked like Nathan wasn’t successful in his mission. James pulled up to the curb and jumped out, grabbing a shotgun from the backseat.
“Let’s go Travis,” James began, “Go in behind me. The others will follow.”
Travis took a deep breath and followed the human up to the door. He drew his pistol and readied it. He probably wouldn’t have to use it, but needed to keep up appearances. James paused in front of the door, flashed an evil grin, and kicked it down. He pointed his shotgun up and fired into the low ceiling of the entryway.
“NYPD!” James bellowed and advanced rapidly into the bar, “This is a raid.”
James fired again and the sizeable crowd inside erupted into chaos. The other cops ran in around Travis and James, guns and batons drawn. Some fought, but most ran and were greeted by snapping dogs and fire hoses outside. Travis winced and looked away as James savagely brought the butt of his shotgun into the muzzle of a younger German Shepherd. The kid hit the deck and crawled out, blood and spittle dripping from his broken muzzle.
James let out an animalistic snarl as the sounds of carnage outside made their way inside. The German Shepherd sighed and walked back towards the kitchen. There was no one back here, which gave the Dog a place to lay low for a few moments. He held back his tears, but knew that in his heart of hearts that he may have torn his community apart. Travis picked up a cowering Otter by the shoulder and roughly threw him towards the door. He let out a whimper and ran out with his tail between his legs. Travis sighed, that was probably the nicest that poor kid was going to be treated all night.
The German Shepherd met up with his partner at the bar. The human looked over the liquor selection and let out a low whistle.
“Well well well,” James began, “They’ve got way more brands than they do at my bars.”
Travis scoffed.
“Most Fur places do,” Travis continued, “We brew and distill too you know.”
“Okay,” James smirked, “Make me something then. We’ve got time.”
“What?” Travis shook his head, “We’ve got a job to do James. We can drink on our own time.”
“Fine,” James replied, “We can hit up a bar after this. There’s gotta be some good Fur bars around town.”
Yeah this one Travis almost said out loud. Fortunately for him, James had picked up on some movement before the Dog opened his mouth and threw a bottle of vodka at it. He nearly hit the bartender, Lionel, as he tried to sneak out of the bar. James scoffed and picked his gun back up.
“I guess I’ll take him out there,” James began, “Watch my back will you?”
Travis nodded and walked up behind the human. From the shadows, a tall white Wolf with a knife lunged at the human and tackled him into a table. The Wolf snarled and brought the knife up, preparing to open the cop’s throat with it. Travis sized up the scene and then shot the Wolf through the chest. The Wolf stopped mid-slash and crumpled onto his knees, his face pressed against the metal support in the middle of the table.
Even though it was a gay Fur like him, he was able to take comfort in the fact that this killing was justified, even though the cop’s presence here wasn’t. Justified or no, all the veteran cops said that the first kill would be the one that would always haunt you. Tonight wouldn’t be the last time Travis saw that face, he just knew it. Travis sighed and helped the human up. James was a little shaken up, but totally uninjured.
“Holy hell,” James panted, “Thank you Travis. He almost got me.”
“I know,” Travis replied as he dusted his partner off, “That’s not your blood right?”
The human shook his head. He bent down to get his shotgun and rested for a few moments against the table.
“Was that your first one?” James asked, “The first one you’ve ever killed.”
Travis nodded.
“Fuck,” James continued, “We will have to get that drink.”
Officer Steele poked his head out from a side hallway and shouted.
“Travis with me,” The Fox began, “I saw two run down that way. We need to catch them.”
Travis blinked and James pushed him forward.
“Go dude,” James began, “I can handle things in here.”
Travis nodded and started to run after the other officer.
“What were they?” Travis raised his gun, “Did you see?”.
“Labrador and a Cattle Dog,” Officer Steele replied, “Stay on them.”
August moved ahead of Travis, shotgun ready, and kicked the door to the alleyway down. Travis hurried up and tried to close the gap between him and the much meaner cop. If August was right, this could mean that Nathan and Victor were in real danger. Travis knew he had to be as close as possible. He heard a cry of pain, followed by an angry growl, and then a deafening gunshot.
Travis ran out and saw August shove a slowly dying Labrador off of his body. The black Lab was face down, but Travis knew who it was. He turned the Dog over just in time to watch the life fade from Victor’s soft brown eyes. It was close range and quick, Travis didn’t know what he’d do if August had only maimed, or more sloppily killed the Labrador. He wouldn’t have been able to stomach that. The Fox growled and sat on the ground, a nasty piece of metal poking from his leg.
“Little bastard shoved me,” August said through gritted teeth, “I’d ask you to see what got in my leg, but that Cattle Dog went and cornered himself in that alley. He’s just around the corner.”
Travis looked down at Victor and trembled, hardly able to hold back his tears.
“Hey. Travis,” The Fox snarled, “Get that Cattle Dog.”
Travis walked off without a word and followed after Nathan. He rounded the corner and walked a few steps forward, obscuring him from the Fox’s position. The Cattle Dog stood at the back of the alleyway, tears falling freely from his eyes.
“Is he?” Nathan whimpered, “Is Victor-?”
“Yes,” Travis growled, “Why were you both here?”
“We couldn’t find Lionel,” Nathan rubbed his arm, “We were trying to tell as many people as we could, but most of them wouldn’t leave. We were just going when the raid started. We didn’t get out the back in time.”
“You do realize what happens now right,” Travis frowned, “If I bring you in, you die. If I let you go, I lose my job and probably get investigated and arrested. Why did you have to put me in this position?”
“I’m sorry Travis,” Nathan whined, “You never should have helped me that day.”
Travis frowned and lunged forward, roughly handcuffing the Dog and pressing him hard against the brick wall of the building. Nathan whimpered and trembled as Travis searched his pockets. There was no love in this touch. The German Shepherd couldn’t risk it. Once the cop determined the Cattle Dog’s pockets were empty, he roughly hauled Nathan up and walked him out of the alley.
“Follow my lead,” Travis growled lowly, “I’ve got a plan.”
Nathan squirmed as far away as he could from Victor’s dead body and the taunting gaze of August. Travis shoved him forward, digging the back of his nightstick into Nathan’s back cruelly. This was nothing compared to the treatment some of the others got. They walked out onto the street, and Travis swore under his breath. True to form, the cops had separated out the younger ones. They were going behind bars for a couple of days or weeks at the most, and would subject to harassment, violence from other prisoners, and other horrors for as long as the department could turn the other way.
The older ones in the crowd knew this, but also knew better than to cry any more. This would be over by the end of the month, and things would be normal once again.The younger ones didn’t, and they looked up at the cops walking around them, silently pleading to just go home. The whole crowd jerked in fear as one of the dogs lunged at a young Rottweiler in a tank top. The dog handler smirked and let his doberman have more slack. He didn’t care if the kid had a few extra injuries.
Nathan whimpered as the German Shepherd led him past the crowd and shoved him against an unmarked grey NYPD sedan. August was being helped out of the alleyway and shot the German Shepherd a smile.
“You bringing that one in Travis?” The Fox asked, “Think you can handle him?”
The other cop turned just as Nathan’s body was laid beside the wolf Travis had killed.
“I think you can,” August chuckled, “I heard you got your paws dirty too. Good man. You’ll probably get a commendation.”
Travis shrugged the remark off and shoved Nathan into the back of the car. As he pulled away to close the door, he purposefully left the handcuff keys on the floor of the backseat. August gave the Dog a nod of approval as he got into the car and drove toward the station.
“Why did they just let you go?” Nathan asked, “Are you finished?”
“No,” Travis growled, “Get yourself out of those handcuffs.”
Nathan nodded and started to squirm and roll about in the backseat. Travis let it go on for a few more moments and then cleared his throat.
“The keys are back there,” Travis began, “They’re on the floor.”
The handcuffs clattered to the ground.
“I’ve gotten out of handcuffs before,” Nathan chuckled, “I’ve kept a bobby pin on paw since I turned 16. I guess some habits are hard to break.”
Travis rounded the corner and then slowed down once he reached the street he lived on. Nathan’s eyes went wide.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asked, “You can’t let me go.”
“I’m not,” Travis took a deep breath and looked back at the Cattle Dog, “You’re going to assault a police officer.”
“But they know what I look like,” The younger male whined, “If they catch me, they’ll kill me, you’ve told me that.”
“So they won’t catch you,” Travis frowned, “You’ve just got to dye your fur or something for a while. Then, once this gets quiet again, you can hopefully get back to normal.”
Nathan fell silent.
“This is what’s going to happen,” Travis continued, “I’m going to hit my head against the steering wheel twice. After the first one, you run for my house as fast as possible and lay low. After a while, get one of our friends from the bar on the phone and have them help you get your fur dyed.”
Travis sighed and looked over his shoulder.
“Any questions?” Travis asked, “We’ve got to do this now.”
“No Travis,” Nathan whined, “I love you.”
Travis scoffed.
“Tell me what you think in a couple of weeks,” Travis began, “Don’t get into trouble. There’s not much I can do to help you now.”
Travis took a deep breath and brought his face down hard against the steering column. He was barely aware of Nathan’s surprised cry and the door rolling open. Travis did it again and brought the car to a stop, wheezing and choking on his own blood. He undid his seatbelt and rolled onto the ground. He couldn’t see his injury, but the blood that drained into his muzzle and that rolled into his eyes was proof that it wasn’t pretty.
Travis crawled to the door Nathan got out of and put the handcuff keys back into his pocket. That was one less thing he had to worry about being held accountable for. He leaned against the car to gather his strength and half walked, half crawled around the car to the open driver’s side door. Nathan was nowhere to be seen. That was good, at least the Cattle Dog could follow some directions. The German Shepherd slumped to the bloodied asphalt, reached for his radio, and cleared his throat.
“I need an ambulance,” Travis spat a tooth into his paw, “I was transporting someone to the station, but he attacked me and got out.”
Travis took a deep breath.
“Suspect is an Australian Cattle Dog, male, early 20s,” Travis panted, “No sign of him. I need an ambulance at 166th and Union.”
The German Shepherd whimpered in pain and slumped against the car. He never should have helped that kid out. At this rate, Nathan was going to get him arrested, or worse, killed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Saint Anthony’s Hospital
June 16th, 1969
James knocked on Travis’s hospital room door and let himself in. He was the first visitor Travis had since he had been admitted. It didn’t matter, once the doctor came in to examine the stitches around his eyes and go over the x-rays of the pins in his muzzle he was going to be discharged. Travis nodded as James sat down.
“Damn man,” James began, “Can you talk?”
“Yeah,” Travis replied, “Hurts though. Can’t talk much.”
“That’s okay,” The human gave the Dog a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “I’m just here to give you a ride home.”
“Thanks,” Travis began, “How’s work?”
“It’s good,” James chuckled, “I told the Chief how you saved my ass back there. He’s giving you a commendation the day you get back to work. It’s going to be a while right?”
Travis nodded.
“Makes sense,” James continued, “How the hell did that little guy even do that by the way?”
The German Shepherd scoffed and winced.
“Little fucker picked the cuffs,” Travis began, “Then he bashed my face into the steering column a couple of times and ran. He did it with all his weight the first time. I don’t think he was strong enough to break anything on the second go around.”
Travis let out a growl of pain and fake anger.
“Shit,” He continued, “I didn’t even get the chance to see where he went.”
“Shit,” James let out a low whistle and shook his head, “I suppose that’s what happens when you run out of regular police cars. We should have left those unmarked ones at the station.”
“Did everything else go okay?” Travis asked, “Did it all work the way the higher-ups wanted it to?”
James sighed and put his head down.
“No,” The human began, “We had to let the ones we detained go two days ago. Someone released a picture.”
“Of what?” Travis asked, “What happened?”
“Someone got out a picture of the kid who got killed, the Black Lab,” James shook his head, “It’s a doozy too. Poor bastard’s guts are oozing out through his paws.”
Travis shuddered as that image shot through his mind again.
“Anyways, that kid’s parents own some kind of chemical company in Ohio, apparently they manufacture the pesticide that every farm in America uses,” James continued, “They immediately caused a scene, and threw some dollars around. Now we’re under investigation.”
Travis groaned.
“Tell me about it,” James stiffened, “Well, unless that was about your muzzle. You okay?”
“That was about the investigation,” Travis began, “Hopefully it’ll be a team that knows what they’re doing this time around. Last time it took”
James let out a shaky breath.
“It’s gonna be some guys from Precinct 49,” James replied, ‘They know what they’re doing, and they really don’t like us.”
If James wasn’t sitting right here, Travis would have jumped for joy. The 49th Precinct hated the boys of Precinct 42 with a passion because they didn’t get the same funding or treatment from the rest of the city. It would be a thorough and damning investigation that would Travis would likely get out of scot free. James, on the other hand, was probably going to have a lot more than his job to worry about.
“I’m sure it’ll be okay,” James continued, “All cops have got each other’s backs.”
The doctor, a tall Hispanic man with grey hair and a beard, glared at James and cleared his throat.
“Excuse me,” He began, “But if you want your buddy to get out I need a chance to look at him.”
“Okay,” James replied, “Not a problem.”
He moved to the corner of the room and waited, tapping his foot awkwardly. The older man continued to glare at James.
“Leave the room,” He sighed, “Give him a little bit of privacy.”
James grumbled something racist under his breath and left the German Shepherd’s room. The doctor got low and closely examined the Dog’s stitches over the brim of his glasses.
“These look good,” The doctor began, “How do you feel?”
“Like shit, Dr. Garces,” The German Shepherd managed to get out two chuckles before stopping due to the pain, “How long is it going to hurt?”
The doctor took his glasses off and put them in his front pocket.
“Well a while,” The human said, “Just take it easy. You can go back to office work in a week, but no active duty for six weeks. The note I wrote your boss got you a three week leave, so feel free to take full advantage of that.”
Dr. Garces pulled the x-ray’s out of the German Shepherd’s file.
“As you can see we put three pins in your muzzle to hold the bone together as it healed and reshaped the cartilage as best as we could,” The human continued, “They look good for now, but go easy on it. Stay on soup and what not for 6 weeks, or more if it hurts. The important thing is to keep things together in there.”
The human put a hand on the Dog’s shoulder.
“Any questions?” He asked, “Now’s the time.”
The Dog shook his head.
“Then you’re free to go,” Dr. Garces chuckled, “We’ll get in touch when it’s time for you to get a check up.”
Travis smiled.
“Thank you sir,” Travis began, “Can I just show myself out?”
“Yes,” The human replied, “Your clothes are under your bed. Have a good couple weeks off, and remember to rest.”
Travis smiled as the doctor left the room, but let out a sigh as soon as the door closed. The inside of the hospital felt safe. The repercussions of the raid didn’t get him here. Now that he was going home to Nathan and to the gay community, Travis felt a strong feeling of apprehension. He would put his best foot forward, even though he was potentially an outsider in both of his worlds.
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Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I came down with strep throat last week and didn't have the energy to write. I will also try and respond to all the comments I've gotten so far on this series tonight or tomorrow. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.