A/N: I was trying to get a story with Tracker done to post, but it just doesn't feel right. It might just be me, though, since it doesn't have any of the drama that you've been seeing. Do you guys want me to risk posting it?

On the same point, I threw in the towel on trying to keep this story from the dramatics. Domestic "emergencies" still happen in Adventure Bay, I'm just not writing them... I even changed the genres of this! The Wisp Saga is going to get dramatic and be full of thrills and danger that never happen in reality in Adventure Bay. If you've been holding out on me, hoping that my stories would chill... they won't, sorry.

Anyway...

Requested by Demonlord555

Synopsis: After finding an abandoned fox kit outside her puphouse, Skye adopts it and learns a hard lesson in responsibility. At the same time, a lie shatters Skye's trust in Chase.


Late one cloudy night in Adventure Bay, when everyone should have been in bed, a lone figure crept along the edge of the town.

It stuck close to the shadows of trees and buildings, making its figure indistinct. When it paused at the border of an alley, its small, four-legged form briefly became clear. It held something bulky in its mouth.

Slowly, carefully, the figure approached a broad field. It stopped and waited for a full five minutes before darting across the clearing and to pavement. It stopped and looked up at the tall tower in the center of the space.

Around the tower was seven small dog houses of varying colors and shapes. The figure crept up to the house that was bright pink in color and paused. From inside, came soft snores.

After another quick check, the figure lowered its bundle gently to the ground. When the bundle touched, something inside squirmed and whimpered.

The figure stepped back and opened its mouth, making a louder sound like the bundle had. Once the snores from the pup house stopped, the figure turned and bolted. It didn't stop until it was back in the shadows, and leaped into a bush before turning to watch.

The pup house door opened, and a sleepy cockapoo stumbled out. She froze when the bundle whimpered, then turned to it. Very slowly, the pup untied the blanket and something popped out. The pup jumped, then leaned closer and cooed at the little critter inside.

Content, the figure turned and silently walked away.


A paw tapped softly on the door of Skye's puphouse. Skye's ear twitched, but she was too intent on the small sleeping figure curled against her side to respond

"Skye, are you awake?" came Chase's voice. "It's getting late."

The critter tucked against Skye stirred, then raised her red-furred muzzle to give a tiny adorable yawn. Skye nudged the baby, and gave her a lick on her pointed muzzle.

"Skye!"

"I'm coming, Chase," Skye said softly.

Skye carefully stood. The critter whimpered and wobbled onto her small paws. Skye giggled, then bent down and picked her up by her scruff. She opened up the pup house door.

Chase was about to say something when the door opened, but then he made an odd noise and appeared to lose his train of thought. His mouth hung open for a long moment, then he cleared his throat.

"Skye… why are you holding a baby fox?" Chase squeaked out.

Skye placed the fox between her paws to speak. "I found her really early this morning outside my pup house."

"Where did she come from?" Chase asked. He leaned down to sniff the fox, who blinked at him with her green eyes, then batted at his nose.

"I don't know. She was wrapped in a ratty old blanket, but that's all." Skye nuzzled the fox closer. "I'm naming her Ruby."

Chase blinked at her. "This is a wild animal! You can't name her!"

Skye lifted her head challengingly. "She's just a baby. And I needed something to call her."

Chase shook his head. "Bring… Ruby inside. We'll ask Ryder what to do with her."

Skye frowned, but picked up Ruby and followed Chase. On their way inside, they passed Rocky, Zuma, and Wisp, who stared after them and followed as well. Inside, Ryder and the rest of the pups were eating, though they stopped when they realized what Skye was carrying.

"Is that a fox?" Ryder asked, standing.

Skye nodded and put Ruby down. "I found her outside my pup house this morning. I named her Ruby. Can I keep her?"

"Woah, woah, slow down," Ryder said with a chuckle. "I'm sure her mother must be close by and is looking for her now."

"I don't think so, Ryder," Chase spoke up. "Skye said the baby fox was wrapped in a blanket when she found her."

"Wrapped in a blanket?" Ryder repeated. "Then I don't think it was her mother. Someone else must have left her here."

"But, why?" Rubble asked.

"Paw Patrol always helps anyone in need," Chase said. "Human or pup, domestic or wild."

"Right. I think the better question is, why didn't they show themselves?" Ryder mused. "Why the secrecy? Chase, why don't you see if you can pick up a scent?"

"Good idea, Ryder!" Chase rushed out of the Lookout.

Ryder shooed the other pups back to what they had been doing, then sat beside Skye. Ruby was busy sucking on Skye's paw, making the cockapoo giggle.

"I think she is hungry," Ryder said.

"Do you think she can eat pup food?" Skye asked.

Ryder gently pried open Ruby's mouth. The kit squeaked and tried to bite Ryder, but she had no teeth to hurt him.

"No, she is still too young," Ryder decided. "We should take her to Katie. She might have kitten formula that the fox kit can eat."

"Her name is Ruby," Skye reminded him.

Ryder chuckled. "Let's take Ruby to Katie."


Katie looked up from grooming Cali when Ryder and Skye walked into the clinic. "Morning, Ryder and Skye. What are you doing here so early?"

"We had a visitor last night," Ryder said, motioning Skye forward.

Skye walked up to Katie and turned her body. On her side hung on of Rocky's old tool bags. Ruby was bundled up in a blanket inside, and she gave a small yip when Katie leaned down to see her.

"Aw, she's so cute!" Katie cooed. "Where did she come from?"

"We haven't figured that out yet," Ryder said. "And until we do, we need something that she can eat."

Katie had already scooped up the kit and was gently checking her. "Well, she doesn't have enough teeth for pup food. I think I have some formula that will work for her, though."

Skye carefully watched Katie work. Although she knew Katie would be careful, she didn't like her little charge to be away from her. She sighed in relief when Katie returned Ruby to the bag.

Katie went to the the back of the clinic and searched for a few minutes before returning with a box and bottle. She handed them to Ryder.

"She's still very young, so she will need to be watched at all times and fed every four hours." Katie thought for a moment. "It might be best if you left her here."

"No!" Skye yelped, making the kids look at her. She drew herself up. "I can take care of Ruby."

"Are you sure, Skye?" Ryder asked. "Taking care of a kit will be a lot of work. You will have to clean her and keep her busy. Feeding her every four hours means waking up in the middle of the night."

"I can do it," Skye said firmly. "Don't you trust me, Ryder?"

"I do," Ryder said with a laugh. "I just want to make sure you know what you are getting into."

"It will be fine," Skye said.

"Then I'll be leaving Ruby in your care," Ryder said, putting the box of powered formula and bottle into the bag on Skye's other side.

Skye beamed at Ryder, then had a thought. "What if someone needs my help on a mission?"

"Either we'll make do without you, or another one of the pups can watch Ruby," Ryder decided.

"Yippee!" Skye yelped. She nearly backflipped, but remembered Ruby just in time. "Don't worry, Ryder, Ruby is in good paws!"


When the trio returned to the Lookout, Ruby was sound asleep. Skye carefully headed for her puphouse, and saw Chase still sniffing around.

"Find any clues, Chase?" Skye whispered.

Chase lifted his head. He was about to answer, when his face twisted. He quickly sat back and pressed his paws to his muzzle to muffle a sneeze. He blinked, then lowered his paws.

"Nothing. All I can smell is garlic. Alex must have dropped some garlic bread when he was here yesterday evening," Chase said.

Skye cocked her head. "But… Alex came here two days ago, and it rained yesterday morning."

Chase got a funny look on his face. "So he did…"

"Chase?"

Chase shook his head. "There must be garlic bread around here somewhere. I'll check further away for fox scents."

Skye watched Chase walk away. He was acting odd, but she shrugged it off as she headed inside her puphouse.

Skye bundled her blankets into a next in the corner of the puphouse, then settled Ruby inside. The fox kit stirred, but settled back to sleep.

"Ruby will be hungry when she wakes up," Skye thought.

Leaving Ruby to sleep, Skye slipped out of the puphouse and ran inside the Lookout. No one was inside as she ran up to Ryder's apartment and into his tiny kitchen. She dragged out the box of powdered formula, then studied the instructions.

"Maybe I should get Ryder's help." Skye immediately shook her head at the thought. "No. Ryder's trusting me to take care of Ruby, so I will!"

While the need was rare, all the pups knew how to use Ryder's stove. Skye dragged a chair into the kitchen and hopped onto the counter. She measured out some water into a pan, then set the pan on the stovetop and turned it on. Once the water was hot enough, she poured in one of the formula packets and stirred. She then carefully poured the formula into a bottle and capped it.

"There we go!" Skye said happily. "Knew I could do it!"

Skye picked up the bottle in her mouth and trotted outside. She waved at Rocky as he drove by, then headed to her puphouse. She was humming cheerily, but the humming broke off and she froze when she saw her puphouse.

The door was wide open.

Dropping the bottle, Skye raced inside. Her blanket was still bundled up in the corner, but it was empty! Skye ran outside and circled the puphouse, but there was no sign of the missing kit.

"Oh, no! Where could she have gone?!" Skye yelped. "I need to find-" Skye stopped herself before she could run off. "No, I can't tell Ryder. He trusted me with Ruby! If he finds out that I lost her already, he'll never trust me again!"

Skye whined indecisively. Ryder was playing with Rubble, Zuma, Marshall, and Wisp in the yard, but she didn't dare ask for help or even hint that Ruby was missing.

Skye tried sniffing around the puphouse like Chase did when he was tracking, but her nose simply wasn't any good at that. She checked around the other puphouses as subtly as she could so as to not arouse any suspicion. Her search turned up nothing, though, and Skye could feel herself panicking.

"Maybe she went inside," Skye thought worriedly.

Skye darted inside and searched the Lookout top to bottom. When Ruby was still nowhere to be found, Skye almost howled in despair.

"Where could she be?!"

Skye ran outside and looked desperately around. She knew it was time to ask for help, but she was too afraid of disappointing Ryder to do so.

Wait, Chase! He could track Ruby down, and he wouldn't mention it to Ryder if Skye asked! It was even possible that Ruby had followed the German Shepherd!

Skye ran in the direction that she had seen Chase take. Her route took her close by Ryder and the other pups, and she winced when Ryder glanced up and called her name.

"I'll be back soon, just taking Ruby for a walk!" Skye yelled, ducking into the brush and deactivating her collar before any questions could be asked.

Luckily, the ground was still damp enough under the trees that Skye could easily see Chase's paw prints. Unluckily, there weren't any Ruby-sized pawprints.

Skye swallowed the lump rising in her throat and made herself run faster. Chase shouldn't have been far away! But the prints just kept going and going, deeper into the forest that edged Adventure Bay.


Skye was a quarter mile from the Lookout before she heard a familiar howl from close by. She skidded around a tree, then crashed right into the owner of the howl. Both pups fell backward onto their tails.

Chase quickly leaped up. "Skye, are you alright?"

"I'm… fine," Skye panted, accepting Chase's helping paw to stand. "I… I was… looking for… you."

"Me?" Chase cocked his head. "Why didn't you go to the Lookout? I was headed there."

"Did you find something about Ruby?"

"No, Ryder called." Chase cocked his head. "Didn't you hear?"

"No…"

Chase sat down. "What's wrong, Skye? You've never turned off your collar."

"I've lost Ruby!" Skye wailed.

Chase started. "How?"

"I left to make her some formula, then I got back and she was gone!"

"Is that why Ryder called us to the Lookout?"

Skye lowered her head. "I didn't tell him."

"What?"

"I didn't tell Ryder!" Skye yelped, starting to cry. "I didn't want to disappoint him, but Ruby's not around the Lookout, and I can't track!"

"Woah, woah, it's okay." Chase smiled reassuringly. "We'll find Ruby."

Skye sniffled. "Don't tell Ryder?"

Chase frowned at the request. "That's not a good idea. Ryder won't be mad, you know that."

"Please!" Skye pleaded.

Chase opened his mouth, then sighed. He tapped his collar to deactivate it. "Okay. She couldn't have gotten far, anyway."

The pups headed back to the Lookout, where they found the rest of the puphouses gone. Skye felt guilty for not being there to help with whatever job they were on, but trusted the rest of the team to make do without her.

"Well, this is as good of a place to start as any."

Chase started sniffing around Skye's puphouse, eyes narrowing as he sorted through the scents. Skye ran around the Lookout again, hoping to come across Ruby on her own.

After ten minutes of useless searching, Skye returned to the front of the Lookout. Chase was standing still in front of where Rocky's puphouse normally was, in his "on point" position.

"Did you find anything?" Skye asked hopefully.

Chase relaxed and shook his head. "The scent is all muddled from the pups leaving on their vehicles. It's like she vanished into thin air."

"Oh, Ruby!" Skye howled. She dropped onto her stomach to clutch her head. "I wasn't ready for this! Why did I think that I could take care of Ruby?!"

"Stop that."

Skye looked up, startled out of her self-pity by Chase's stern tone. The German Shepherd was frowning down at her, his own body drawn up firmly.

"You are a sweet, caring pup who doesn't like to see baby animals alone," Chase said. "Maybe you don't have the experience, but you have the determination to be a responsible pup. And one thing you need to learn about responsibility is to deal with issues when they arise. You can't just throw yourself on the ground anytime something goes wrong! So pick yourself up, get a grip, and help me find Ruby!"

Skye scrambled to stand and blink away the tears. Chase's fierce expression relaxed, and he nodded at Skye.

"Good pup. Now, if you were a little lost fox kit, where would you go?"

Skye took a deep breath and closed her eyes to think. Ruby would have been frightened when she woke up alone.

Skye pushed back the guilt at the thought and focused.

Ruby must have accidentally pushed the button to open the puphouse doors while searching for Skye. Once outside, she would have gone to the Lookout…

Wait, no she wouldn't! Ruby had been there for less than a day. She didn't know that the Lookout was someplace safe! She would have turned toward something more familiar, something like…

"The forest!" Skye yelped, opening her eyes. "I bet she went into the forest!"

Chase nodded, looking proud. "Then that is where we will start."

Skye and Chase went to the closest section of trees and began their search anew. Skye scanned the ground for any signs that Ruby had gone that way, but there was nothing.

Just out of view of the Lookout, Skye noticed a two sets of pawprints. One was headed for the Lookout, then an identical set was going the opposite way.

"Weird," Skye thought. "None of us pups go this far into the woods."

Skye put her nose to the prints and sniffed deeply. The first scent she could detect was… garlic? Skye lifted her head. Chase had been complaining about garlic earlier…

She tried again, concentrating harder than ever. Beneath the garlic was a musky scent, and…

"Ruby!" Skye cried. "Chase! Chase, I found Ruby's scent!"

Chase burst out of the bushes. He looked at the tracks, expression briefly going panicked before his features smoothed. He calmly sniffed the tracks, then shook his head.

"It's garlic."

Skye bristled. "I know that! But underneath the garlic is another animal's scent and Ruby's!" Skye gasped. "Do you think someone stole her?"

"These tracks must be mine," Chase said. "Ruby's scent is too old to have come this way, and the garlic is the trail I was following."

Skye's eyes narrowed. "No, they aren't."

"Aren't what?"

"These aren't your tracks," Skye said.

"What are you talking about, of course they-"

Skye cut in with a growl. "First! You said the garlic was only around the Lookout!"

"Well, maybe-"

"Second! I could never scent Ruby on you from the little bit that you were around her. I can't smell her on you now!"

"Don't-"

"Third! I followed your tracks from the Lookout, and they went a different way!"

"I could've-"

"Stop interrupting!" Skye snarled. Chase stepped back, ears flattening. "Fourth and final point." Skye pointed a paw at the prints that were too small and scuffed to be from Chase's large, steady paws. "These. Are. Not. Your. Tracks."

Chase glanced at the tracks, then back to Skye, who continued to glare at him. His mouth opened and closed a couple times before he spoke.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

Skye had the sudden urge to grab Chase's ear in her teeth and drag him around until he told the truth. Chase must have seen that, because he actually took a step back.

"Don't you lie to me, Chase!" Skye seethed.

"I'm not… I don't…" Chase fumbled for words.

"You can't even admit it!" Skye spat. "I don't know what you are hiding, but I don't even want to hear it. Just go back to the Lookout. Tell Ryder that I failed, for all I care. You obviously don't."

Skye turned from the awestruck Chase and started to run. She didn't realize that she was crying again until tears blurred her vision and caused her to trip. She sprawled on the ground, but hurried to stand. Chase was likely right behind her.

Skye looked down and realized that she had been following the tracks. Why would Chase lie about them? He never lied to anyone!

Her eyes narrowed. Whoever owned the tracks could lead her to Ruby and they might know what would lead Chase to lie.

Skye started to run again, determined to get to the bottom of everything.


Skye ran and ran through the forest. She had a vague idea of where she was, but only because the looming Pendrake mountain was getting closer.

Skye eventually had to stop and catch her breath. As she leaned against a tree, she noticed a buzzing sound that didn't belong to the forest noises. She ducked under a bush and peered out.

Chase's spy drone flew into view. It circled around the tracks. Skye held her breath, hoping the ground was dry enough to not point the drone toward the bush.

After a minute, the drone turned and flew off. Skye let out her breath and crawled back into the open.

Chase likely would have told the others about her running off by then. They probably knew about her losing Ruby, too.

Angry tears rose in Skye's eyes. She shook her head.

"Crying won't get Ruby back, Skye," she berated herself. "Just keep going."

Skye resumed her mad dash through the trees. As the tracks reached the base of Pendrake Mountain, the tracks suddenly became a wild mash. Skye couldn't tell if there had been multiple canines in the area, or if a single one had run in circles to throw of pursuit.

Eventually, Skye sorted out a single set of tracks headed deeper into the forest. She smiled and ran on.

Ahead, there was a fallen tree. The tracks went right to it. Rather than go around, Skye gathered herself and leaped over the trunk.

Skye landed in a slick of mud, instantly slipping onto her side. She yelped as her momentum sent her skidding across the ground. Before she could recover, the ground suddenly vanished beneath her! Skye twisted and saw a dark hole directly under her.

"Arf! Wings!" Skye cried, forgetting that she wasn't wearing her Pup Pack.

Skye crashed into the far wall of the hole, just a few feet from the top. Blinking rapidly, Skye desperately tried to grab onto something. But her paws slipped right off the stone, and Skye was falling again.

Her hindquarters struck something hard, making her cry out as she fell on her side. She rolled a couple times from her momentum, right off the stone that she had fallen on. Her head cracked against something solid, turning everything black.


"...com… kye!"

Skye moaned at static attacking her ringing ears. She weakly lifted a paw to press against her ear, trying to keep the annoying sound out.

"Skye, pl… in!"

Skye started when she heard her name. She blinked her eyes open, but was surrounded by darkness. There was a tiny glow from under her chin, the same place from which the voice was coming.

"Ryd… saying anything… worried."

It took a few seconds to reorient herself, but Skye realized that it was Chase's voice coming from her collar. She also remembered slipping and falling into a hole, though she couldn't make out any outside light from where she laid on her side.

While her friends' voices continued to static and fritz from the collar, Skye made herself stand. Her whole body ached and her head pounded, but searching paws didn't find any cuts. She gave herself a vigorous shake to clear out the last of the cobwebs in her mind, then focused on the voices from her collar again.

"We're…. out. Where…." Marshall was speaking that time.

Chase responded. "Found… scent and prints… fell…"

"Pups?" Skye tried. "Pups, it's Skye."

No one appeared to hear, meaning her collar must have been damaged. Sitting, Skye tugged off her collar and set it on the ground.

Skye crouched and studied the tag. The cover had come partially off, but Skye couldn't see if the insides were broken. Carefully, Skye used her claw to nudge the cover back into place and pressed down. Most of the static cleared up immediately.

"-isp, and I are headed your way, Chase," Ryder was saying. "Just hang on."

"Pups? Ryder?" Skye tried.

"Skye!" Ryder exclaimed. "Where are you?"

"Um, I fell into a hole near Pendrake Mountain," Skye said.

"Okay, so I was right," Chase said. "Don't worry, Skye. I'm right above you. Here, I'll shine a light."

Skye looked up. There was a dull glow above her, but it appeared to be coming from behind a ledge or turn in the tunnel.

"I see it," Skye said.

"Are you hurt?" Marshall asked.

"Just sore," Skye assured him. "I hit my head, but I think it will be fine."

"I'll be the judge of that," Marshall said skeptically.

"Whatever you do, don't move," Wisp chimed in. "You don't have any light in there, do you?"

"Just a tiny glow from my collar," Skye said. "Don't worry, I won't budge a bit!"

"We were so worried when we couldn't find you," Ryder said. "Chase said that you had run off."

Skye lowered her head in shame. "Yes, Ryder. It's because… because I lost Ruby. I left her alone without thinking, and she wandered off. I tried so hard to find her, Ryder, but she's gone!"

"Chase told me," Ryder said soothingly. "It's okay, Skye."

"No, it's not!" Skye yelped, feeling fresh tears rise up. "Ruby is still missing!"

"No, she isn't," Chase said quickly.

Skye sniffed. "What?"

"Ruby climbed into Rocky's recycling truck when he was headed for Farmer Yumi's," Chase explained. "When we went to the Lookout and found everyone gone, it's because they were all looking for you."

Skye gasped. Ruby was safe? Imagine that, she had never been missing in the first place! It was Skye that everyone had been so worried about!

Skye started to laugh at the absurdity, then stopped. Why was Chase telling her that? Part of her said that it was just because he was the first one to talk, but another part wondered if it was because… because he was just trying to calm her down.

"Skye?" Chase asked. "Skye, is your collar still working?"

Skye shook her head. She was being ridiculous! Chase would never lie.

"Just like he didn't lie about the tracks?" a betrayed voice whispered in her head.

"Skye?" Marshall sounded worried.

"Ruby's back?" Skye whispered.

"Yeah, she-" Chase started.

"I don't want to hear it from you!" Skye snapped. "Rocky, was Ruby really in your truck?"

A strained silence fell over the collars. The silence only served to heighten Skye's fears, until she couldn't handle it anymore.

"Rocky, answer me!"

"Ah! Uh, yeah, she was! Chase just said so."

"Was she really?" Skye knew she was crying and probably being overdramatic, but she couldn't help it. She had never, ever thought that any of her friends would lie to her, yet Chase clearly had. She felt betrayed and hurt. "Is Ruby really okay?!"

"Yes, Ruby is just fine!" Ryder put in. "Skye, what's wrong? Is your collar cutting out?"

"My collar is working fine," Skye hissed out.

"Skye, I-"

"Just stop, Chase!"

Chase fell silent. Marshall jumped into the conversation.

"Okay, Skye? Listen to me. I need to ask you a few questions, okay?"

"Okay," Skye whispered. The team thought she had hit her head too hard, most likely.

"What's your name?" Marshall asked.

Skye sighed, but humored him. "Skye."

"Good, good. What's my name?"

"Marshall."

"What's the name of our team?"

Skye choked at the word "team," but forced out, "Paw Patrol."

"And what do you fly?"

The pointless questions went on until Wisp announced that she was going to climb down.

"I'm coming down, too," Marshall said.

"Are you sure?" Wisp asked. "It could get narrow."

Marshall had slight claustrophobia, the team had recently learned. It was rare for him to have any problems, but Wisp was always hesitant to take him climbing.

"I'll be fine. Besides, I need to make sure Skye didn't break anything when she fell."

Skye didn't insist that she was fine. Marshall always worried when one of them was hurt, and it was best to let him do his check-ups.

Skye sat and patiently waited. Within a few minutes, a head poked over a ledge above and flooded the area with light.

"Wisp!" Skye yipped, jumping to her paws.

Wisp grinned. "We've found Skye!"

Wisp and Marshall climbed down to where Skye waited. Skye eagerly greeted them, nuzzling both of their ears, mindless of the mud coating Marshall.

"Okay, okay," Wisp said. She pushed Skye away, but was clearly holding back a grin. "Are you okay?"

Skye shrugged. "Just sore."

"Let me check," Marshall said, stepping closer. "Arf! X-Ray!"

Marshall's x-ray popped out of his Pup Pack and in front of him. Skye stood still while Marshall checked her over.

"Nothing's broken or sprained," Marshall declared, putting the x-ray away. "You're a lucky pup!"

"How did you even fall?" Wisp asked as she took a spare harness from her own. "Weren't you watching where you were walking?"

"You always ask that when we trip," Skye said with a giggle.

"So, you tripped?"

"No, I actually slipped in some mud," Skye said.

"Really? We saw the skid marks, but we didn't think they were yours. You must have been going pretty fast," Marshall said. "You had a bigger wipe-out than me!"

"You slipped, too?"

Wisp smirked. "You should have seen him. Why do you think he's all muddy?"

Skye giggled, able to imagine the scene. Wisp got to business, securely attaching the spare harness to Skye. She then clipped Skye's harness to her own with a short length of rope.

"Ready?" Wisp asked when the three pups stood beside the tunnel wall. Skye and Marshall nodded. "Alright. Pull us up!"

The pups made their slow and steady way up the wall. When they reached the top, Skye pulled herself up to find herself muzzle to muzzle with Chase. He didn't make eye contact or try to talk, only moved to help Marshall. Ryder lifted Skye -harness and all- in his arms to hug her.

"Don't ever scare us again like that," Ryder whispered, holding Skye tight.

Skye cuddled against his chest. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, and there was someone else who wanted to see you!" Ryder said.

Ryder crouched and put Skye on the ground. Zuma was waiting. He wore Rocky's old tool bag and peeking over the top was-

"Ruby!"

Ecstatic, Skye ran over. She plucked Ruby from the bag and held her tight, making the tiny kit squeak. Skye loosened her hold, but didn't put her down.

"I was so worried when I couldn't find you!" Skye said, putting her nose to Ruby's forehead. She looked up at Ryder. "I'm sorry I lost Ruby. I… I understand if you don't want me to take care of her anymore."

"I'm not taking Ruby from you," Ryder said firmly.

Skye blinked. "You aren't?"

Ryder knelt and rubbed Ruby's head. "Of course not. You already love Ruby so much, and that's what matters. All I ask is that you aren't afraid to ask for help. And never be afraid to admit your mistakes. We're lucky that Ruby wasn't really lost or hurt this time."

"I know." Skye looked down, then made herself lift her head to meet Ryder's eyes. "I'll be more responsible with Ruby from now on."

Ryder smiled. "Good pup." He stood. "Come on, pups. It's getting late; let's head back to the Lookout."

Marshall directed Skye into the back of his ambulance. Skye climbed up and curled herself around Ruby, and happened to glance outside.

Chase still stood beside the hole. He was sadly watching her.

Skye turned her head away, then Marshall closed the door.


That evening, Skye was settling Ruby down in the basket that Katie had loaned them. It had a woven top with wide gaps that would prevent Ruby from a late-night adventure.

Soft tapping distracted Skye from the kit. She walked to the door and opened it, unsurprised when she saw Chase standing outside.

"Yes, Chase?" Skye asked coolly.

"I'm glad you're okay," Chase said, voice and ears low.

"Thank you."

"Please don't be mad."

Skye blinked at Chase. "Mad? Why should I be mad? You only lied to me. Why should that make me mad?"

Chase lowered his head as well. "I didn't mean…"

"Didn't mean what?" Skye shook her head. "How many other times have you lied to me, Chase? I thought we were friends."

"We are friends! I never thought-" Chase stopped himself when Skye raised a paw.

"I asked Marshall about the tracks," Skye murmured. "You know what he said? 'What tracks?' that's what he said. What else are you lying about?"

"There's… there's things going on," Chase said, sounding desperate.

"What things?!"

"I… I can't tell you!"

Skye turned away. "It's alright. I don't trust you, either."

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's… it's all so complicated!" Chase protested.

Skye didn't turn as she said, "Not telling Ryder about Ruby being missing was a terrible decision. Don't make the same mistake."

When Chase didn't respond, Skye thought her heart would break. She gazed sadly over her shoulder at Chase, whose head hung nearly to the ground.

"I can't," Chase whispered. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," Skye said, closing the door.


A/N: That's the teenager coming out in the pups. XD Marshall was the first one to lose trust in his team, and now Skye's feeling betrayed. How could this get any worse?

Well... let's just wait and see.

The next chapter will finally have some Everest! If you've sent me a request and it hasn't been fulfilled yet, could you send it again, please? I feel like I missed some requests.