It took some extra time to write this. So far the only review I got for this story was in question: "chapter 13?" When you leave a review, please, please leave more commentary.

101 Dalmatians II

XIII - Reunion

In a few short minutes, Patch and Thunderbolt made their way through Regent's Park to the show dog's personal trailer. It wasn't exactly the best trailer one could provide for an actor, but it was certainly exceptional, and certainly fitting for one of the the world's most notorious show dogs.

"So this is where you're staying?"

Thunderbolt nodded with a smile. "Not bad right?"

"No, not at all."

Patch stopped admiring the trailer for a moment and looked around as though he were looking for something, which apparently was nowhere in sight.

Furrowing his brow, Patch looked up at his hero. "So where are they?"

"Who?"

"Uh, my brothers and sisters?"

Thunderbolt became rigid. "Oh! Right." He looked about as well and saw no sign of them. He sighed exasperatedly. "They must've went inside. I told them not to."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Because it's my personal trailer and they could break something."

Patch shuffled his paws nervously. "I don't think they'd do that."

"No?"

"My Mum and Dad run a pretty tight ship. We don't misbehave if we can help it, usually."

Thunderbolt raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, where are your parents?"

Patch stared at Thunderbolt. "Were they not with my siblings?"

Thunderbolt shook his head.

Patch's eyes shot open. He didn't mention Mum and Dad when he mentioned my siblings! If they're not here, then what in the world are my siblings doing in London?! Did they fall off the truck too?!

"Something wrong kid?"

"I...I don't know."

Thunderbolt furrowed his brow as he studied the pup. "Are you lost kid?"

Patch's right eye flinched very slightly.

That was as good as any answer. "I don't suppose your siblings got lost too?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen them since we boarded the truck, the one we drove to the new farm."

"So how did you end up-wait! Hold that thought. I think it would be better if you wait for your brothers and sisters to hear this too so you don't have to repeat yourself, ok?"

"Oh, alright then."

Thunderbolt motioned to the door of his trailer. "There's a little door for you to go through. Go ahead."

"Don't you want to go first?"

"Nah, you go on ahead."

Patch smiled gleefully and he swept through the doggie door.

And he was in awe of what he saw.

Aside from the luxurious shag carpeting and the quality wallpaper, there was a sofa which was remarkably clean and upholstered.

Even Nanny couldn't do that good a job of keeping a sofa clean.

And then there was all the Thunderbolt merchandise. There were life-sized dolls of the Wonder Dog. Portraits upon portraits of him in some fantastic feat of heroism or in a group photograph with very notable people such as John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Vivien Leigh, and even Elvis Presley. And then there were certain photographs of Thunderbolt with certain dogs that Patch was all too familiar with: the Rough Collie known as Lassie and the Labrador Retriever known as Old Yeller.

These pictures even had their signatures and paw prints.

Wow. This is amazing.

And of course, there were figurines and trophies, dozens of them. There were action figures of Thunderbolt which Patch was tempted to play with but he restrained himself.

Mum always said that it is not right to play with something that doesn't belong to me without permission.

The trophy case, which comprised of an expensive looking shelf, held many trophies dedicated to Thunderbolt's excellence in acting and heroism.

And there were many others from coffee mugs, cookie jars, flags, pillows, cologne bottles, and even those tiny dolls with the head attached to the body by a spring. Were those called nodders or bobbleheads?

Patch was so enamored by the interior and contents of his hero's trailer that he had almost forgotten why he had come here in the first place.

His siblings, whichever of them, were nowhere to be seen.

Maybe they're hiding.

Patch called out, "Um...hello?"

There was a high-pitched gasp and what followed was shuffling which came from behind the trophy case.

Two familiar heads poked out from behind it.

Patch recognized them at once. "Lucky? Penny?"

"Patchy," Penny croaked. She was crying.

Another voice spoke, a small voice. "Patchy?"

Cadpig's here too?!

Penny immediately lunged at her older brother and Cadpig soon followed after her. They both crashed into Patch, knocking him down and with tears of joy, they embraced him, crying and laughing at the same time.

Patch was engulfed in a sea of nuzzles, kisses and tears.

"Patchy...I was so scared for you!" Penny cried.

"How...how in the world did you make it to London?!" Cadpig sobbed.

Before Patch could get a word in, three others squirmed their way out from behind the trophy case.

"Roly? Freckles? Pepper? How...why are you all here?! Did you fall off the truck too?"

"Long story," Freckles said. "And no."

Penny managed to settle down but she continued to nuzzle Patch. Cadpig however continued to sob, embrace and kiss her brother. Her crying seemed to border on hysteria.

Something puzzled Patch about Cadpig's disposition. Her tears were filled with joy but there was a quiver in her sobs that seemed to suggest fear.

What on earth happened?

Patch noticed Lucky as he approached. He kept it together but tears were flowing down his cheeks. "Hey Luck, are you ok?"

"Am I ok?!" Lucky said disbelievingly. "Are you ok?! Neville didn't hurt you or your friend did he?"

"No no, he didn't. He-" Patch paused mid sentence. "How do you know about that? You weren't there."

"We saw you on the telly."

"What?!" Patch sat himself up. His eyes went around the room anxiously. "So you all saw-?"

Pepper smirked. "You nearly getting crushed by an elephant and standing up to Neville all in order to protect your little girlfriend? Yeah."

Patch's ears burned red hot. "Wha...What did you say?"

"I know you heard me."

"She's not my...I mean...that is to say...sh-shut it!"

Penny looked unimpressed. "Pepper, leave him alone. And Patch, you shouldn't talk that way."

"So...let me get this straight, everything that happened at the circus yesterday, you all saw it on the telly?"

"That's right," Lucky said.

Patch gulped. "What else did you see?"

"Well…" Freckles said scratching himself anxiously. "Dad turned it off right about when Ryder had Neville by the throat. We didn't see it but we're pretty sure that he snapped his-"

Penny struck Freckles lightly in the ribs with her paw, cutting him off. He looked at her strickenly and she motioned her eyes towards Cadpig, who was looking quite frightened.

"Oh," Freckles said regrettably. "Sorry."

Patch gave Freckles an annoyed look.

He can be so thoughtless at times.

Dropping his frown, Patch approached Freckles and gave him a loving nuzzle. "I'm glad to see you Freckles."

Freckles cleared his throat, trying to prevent any tears of his own. "Y-you too Patch," He stammered.

Pepper approached and started playfully chewing Patch's left ear as he often did whenever Patch was caught in some kind of trouble, much to his annoyance. "Nice to see you too Pepper."

Roly affectionately nuzzled up against Patch's side. "I'm glad you're ok Patch."

"Thanks Roly."

Lucky wasted no further time to pounce on Patch, causing and the other boys to fall over. They were quite literally a dog pile.

Penny and Cadpig, clearly amused, decided to join in and they pounced on the boys, causing them to cry out.

"You know, I actually missed doing this," Patch said out of breath but smiling.

As amusing as the reunion was, it was high time to get down to serious business. The pups untangled themselves and shook themselves off.

"That aside, not that I'm not glad to see you all, I am but what are you all doing here? How did you get here?"

The six looked downward. They looked quite sad and quite scared.

Roly spoke up first. "We stowed away in Detective Wilkinson's car."

"What?! Why?!"

"We didn't have a choice," Lucky said. "The farm was attacked."

Patch's mouth dropped open in shock. "Who attacked the farm?! How did they find you?!"

"We don't know. They just did." Lucky's voice cracked. "These strange men tried to lure us into a Kanine Krunchie's truck."

Patch stared. "Seriously?"

Freckles scoffed. "Yeah, they think we're dumb."

"Are the others ok? What about Mum and Dad?"

"They're fine," Penny said. "Maddock saw to it, but we got separated after the cave in."

"Cave in?!"

"We had to escape through a tunnel beneath the barn we were sleeping in," Roly said. "And then they sent these attack dogs after us." He looked ashamed. "My foot got stuck and they were getting closer. And then Caddy caused the tunnel to collapse."

"It kept those attack dogs from following the others and gave us enough time to pull Roly free and escape," Penny said.

Patch looked to her sister who looked rather sheepish. "That was a really dangerous thing to do Caddy."

"I know, but there was no other way."

Patch smiled. "Well, dangerous or not, it saved lives Caddy."

Cadpig blushed. "Thank you."

"Then what happened?"

"Then we dug our way to the outside," Penny said. "We had to find a place to hide because the attackers were coming. The only place we could find soon enough was the trunk of the Detective's car."

"Who's idea was that?"

"It...it was mine Patch," Lucky remarked sounding rather embarrassed.

Patch looked at his brother with what appeared to be admiration.

He's smarter than he lets on. "And you weren't seen?"

"No, we wouldn't have gotten away if they knew where we were hiding."

Patch grinned. "Good one Luck." His smile fell as soon as it rose. "That still doesn't tell me how-" He stopped mid sentence as it hit him. "The attackers stole the car?"

Lucky, his eyes downward, nodded.

"And Detective Wilkinson did nothing to stop them?!"

At the mention of the good Detective's name, Cadpig burst into tears. Lucky did his best to console her and she wasted no time accepting his embrace.

Roly laid his head on his sister's back, trying to do his part to comfort her as well.

Penny, Pepper, and Freckles bowed their heads, almost as though they were mourning.

Patch was aghast. "What happened?"

Penny wouldn't look Patch in the eye. With tears, she said,"Detective Wilkinson is dead."

That struck Patch as hard as the wooden cabinet Jasper had thrown him into half a year ago.

He fell on his haunches, trembling. "Wha-What?"

"He was in the trunk with us. He had been attacked and tied up. He distracted the attackers so we could escape unseen. And they killed him."

Patch's mind went blank. He felt numb. The Detective is dead. Who will protect my family now? Will Maddock and Beatrice be enough? And Mum...she must be worried sick.

"And you got away of course. They couldn't follow you?"

Penny shook his head. "We were not followed."

Patch sighed in relief. "Good. How were Mum and Dad doing after I went missing?"

Freckles, being the blunt sort that he is, answered the only way he knew. "Mum fainted."

Patch clenched his eyes as though he were in pain. "Is she ok?"

"She's fine," Penny said, giving a scathing look in Freckles' direction, who was covering his eyes, immediately regretting his words. "After we saw you on the telly, Mum and Dad went with Roger and Anita to come find you."

"They did?"

Pepper shook his head. "Of course they did. They traveled a quarter way across the country to rescue us. You think they wouldn't make a quick trip to London to find you?"

"And leave the rest of you alone?"

"We were in good paws Patch," Lucky said. "It was just a bit of...bad luck if you will."

I'd laugh at that choice of words if this weren't so serious.

Patch visibly saddened as he looked at his brothers and sisters. "Were you guys in the crowd when I...you know...barked?"

Penny looked sympathetic. "Yes."

Patch's face scrunched up with shame and embarrassment. "Sorry you had to see that."

Penny approached and placed her head against his. "You have nothing to be sorry for. All those people shouldn't have laughed. They should've known better than to laugh at a pup, especially that awful Thunderbolt."

"Yeah, where does he get off making fun of you?" Lucky said angrily. "He's supposed to be a hero!"

Fundamentally, everything they said was true and yet Patch couldn't will himself to speak a crossword of his hero. "It was only a bad joke and he apologized for it."

"Did he mean it?" Penny questioned.

"I think so, even if he didn't apologize, the fact that he saved my life was apology enough."

A pin could have dropped and been heard as it fell through the air.

Everyone stared at Patch in dead silence with looks of horror and confusion on their faces.

"What?" Penny said barely above a whisper.

Patch's eyes widened when he realized what he had just said. Might as well come clean.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, I was just so upset that I didn't watch where I was going."

Penny looked incredulous. "What?"

Without thinking, Patch continued. "And as it turns out, your life really does flash before your eyes."

Now she looked angry. "What?!"

Patch recoiled. "But I'm not hurt, really!"

"Is this going to be normal from now on?!" Cadpig shouted, her voice breaking. "Are you going to keep putting yourself in mortal danger from now on?!"

"Caddy…"

"No!" Cadpig cried. "I can't stand this Patch! This more than I can bear!"

Cadpig was angry, more angry than Patch had ever seen her. More angry than any of her siblings seen her really. Not even Lucky or Roly have her seen her so upset. They were all quite put off by this sudden show of aggression, especially since it was coming from their dear little Caddy.

"I'm sorry for yelling Patch, but...I just can't stand this! How long am I going to live with the fear that you may not come back to us? How long do I have live with this knot in my stomach? Forever?!"

She was not angry anymore, she was crying.

Patch felt hot tears well up in his eyes as well. He felt terrible. Was Caddy living with this fear since Hell Hall? Was she keeping it herself, bottling it up, letting it fester all this time?

Patch looked to his other siblings, all of which had looks of terrible sadness on their faces. He looked back to Cadpig who was crying her eyes out. He approached her to hold her and she did not resist. She let everything out and Patch held her tightly, ever so gently rubbing her back all the while.

Patch's emotions were in chaos. He was tempted to break down as well but he refrained. He stayed on.

Remember what you promised Dad, that you would look after them, be strong for them. You promised to be the best big brother ever.

"It's ok Caddy, it will be ok."

"How can you be sure?" Cadpig sobbed.

"Because I will help make it ok Caddy. That is my promise."

"But what if-?"

"No!" Patch said firmly. "Remember what we said about what-if's?"

Cadpig lifted her head from Patch's shoulder and looked her brother in the eye. "Y-Yeah," she hiccuped.

"What did we say?"

"That what-if's a-are useless and thinking about them is just a waste of time."

Patch nodded sharply. "That's right. Do you remember what I promised?"

"That you'll make it ok?"

Patch shook his head "The other promise."

"That you wouldn't die?"

"Yeah and I am going to fight to keep that promise Caddy."

Cadpig sniffled and nodded in understanding. "I'll hold you to it big brother."

"Us too."

Patch looked to his other siblings, Lucky, the one who spoke, was in the front.

"When you made that promise Patch, we all agreed to hold you to it, remember?"

Patch smiled warmly. "Yes."

"Well, we intend to fight to keep that promise too, all of us."

The rest of the pups nodded vigorously. If their father were here, he would've noticed how similar their nodded were to his own when Roger rejected Cruella's offer to buy his puppies on the night they were born.

Patch almost cried but he shook it off. "Thank you, all of you."

"We're family Patchy," Cadpig said. "We're in this together."

Patch gave her a kiss and she kissed him back.

"Sooooo," Roly said. "Where is that girlfriend of yours anyway?"

Patch clenched his teeth as his ears started burning again. "For the last time, she's not my-!" He stopped short and calmed down. "I don't know. I guess she left."

"Yeah, to go looking for you after she gave Thunderbolt the what-for," Pepper said annoyed.

"Huh?"

Penny smiled knowingly. "Well, after you left, your little friend basically shut Thunderbolt and told him exactly what he was for mocking you. She shamed him and then demanded he apologize to you right before seeing you were gone. And then she went after you."

Patch gasped sharply. "Precious did all that?"

"So that is her name? Precious." Penny giggled. "It suits her."

"Two-Tone would like her," Cadpig said.

"Do you think Mum and Dad would take her with us?" Roly asked.

"I don't think they would have the heart to separate Patch from her," Pepper replied.

Lucky looked back the topic of conversation and quirked an eyebrow when he saw the way Patch was behaving. "Patch? What's wrong?"

But Patch was no longer listening. He was no longer looking at them. He became stiff. Nothing moved except his rapid-beating heart.

She came after me?! After she told Thunderbolt to apologize?! How did he get to me first? Is he just really fast? Why haven't I seen her? Where did she go?! What if...what if something happened to her?!

Patch looked towards the little door, the doggie door as the humans called it, and he bolted towards it.

"Patch?!" Penny called out. "Where are you going?"

Patch did not answer.

He leapt through the doggie door and he was gone.

"Hey kid, what's the matter?"

"Where's Precious?!"

Thunderbolt looked at Patch, confused at first. "Uh...oh! Yes, I think she might've gone home."

"She has no home! And there's no way she would've just left, especially after what she just did to you on my account!"

Thunderbolt winced. The pain in his paw from being stomped on still quite fresh, and yet it felt it had occurred years ago. He laughed nervously. "That's...hahaha...a pretty good point. Sorry kid, but I haven't the foggiest of where she went."

Patch glared at him. He shook his head and swept away.

If I can just track her scent. She can't have gone far.

It took several sweeps and sniffs, but eventually Patch managed to get Precious' scent.

It was quite fresh but it was taking him away from the park. In less than a minute, he found himself on the sidewalk again.

And then something else reached his nostrils, something foul, like a refuse smell. It smelt very, very familiar.

"Uggh! Yech!" Patch gagged, wrinkling his nose. "What is that?! And why does that smell like…?"

Patch's blood ran cold.

"No," he whispered. "It can't be...it can't be Neville!"

"It ain't kid, that dog is a dead dog."

With a start, Patch whirled around to find a pure-white English Bull Terrier staring down at him with a manic grin, showing many jagged sharp teeth.

I know that voice, he's one of Nero's bruiser toadies!

"What have you done with Precious?!"

Tommy laughed insanely. "What did I do with Precious? I regret I didn't do anything with that slimy piece of vermin."

Patch growled. "Shut up! Don't talk about her like that!"

Tommy grinned. "Or you'll kill me? Like you did Neville?"

"I didn't kill him!"

Tommy's insane persona turned serious. "No, but you know who did?"

"R-Ryder?"

"That's right." Tommy stalked over Patch until he was right above him. The pup didn't move an inch.

"And let me tell you, Nero was stark-raving mad and even more than usual. He's Hell-bent on seeing you and your little girlfriend dead."

"W-Why?"

"Why? Cuz he blames you on account that you were the one Neville was pursuing before he was killed. See the connection pipsqueak?"

Patch stared at the Terrier. In his mind, he should've been scared and yet great anger boiled up from inside him.

"What? That's it? THAT WASN'T EVEN OUR FAULT!"

With a growl, Tommy pounced on Patch and placed a paw on his stomach, pinning him. "I wouldn't yell kid, it brings out the worst in me."

Patch was shaking now.

"Now then, down to business. You come along quietly, I'd hate to have to bite you."

What came next was the sound of a loud, high-pitched yelp. Tommy was dragged backwards by the tail and then thrown across the sidewalk.

Shaking out of his near-panic state, Patch looked up to see a familiar sight. This one had his back to him but he could almost make was it was.

"Thunder?"

"Guess again."

Patch gasped.

"Ryder?"

To be continued…