"Nothing... There's nothing!" The Shepherd bellowed, his eyes facing the sky, "Why isn't she here!?"
Chase cried, louder than he ever had before. He had hit a dead end. He spent who knows how long digging out Skye's helicopter just to find nothing but an empty cockpit. His paws stung with the pain of what was presumably frostbite, and his eyes stung from the warm tears falling from them as he laid his head on the cockpit's steering wheel.
What kind of second in command was he? One of his teammates, his crush, for that matter was gone. There was no trace of her anywhere along this trail that seemed to run cold, and now he had to face the reality of not knowing where she was in the slightest. For all he knew, she could be halfway across the world by now. What was he going to do?
He failed, hadn't he?
The Shepherd wasn't thinking straight any longer, which proved evident when he slammed his own head into the steering wheel.
Then he did it again.
And again.
And again...
Chase shot up from a bed, panting heavily, he looked around frantically before looking to his right. An EKG monitor sat there, the beeping having increased along with the Shepherd's heartbeat.
"What? Where am I...?"
"The Foggy Bottom hospital." A familiar voice replied.
The police pup turned around to see who had spoken, only to nearly burst out in laughter.
It was Sweetie, who had been put in a full body cast. When she threw Skye out of the helicopter, she subjected herself to what seemed like a fatal crash. She had assumed she died, but that was quickly disproven when she woke up in Ryder's arms, screaming in pain.
She had survived, but why?
"What happened to you, Sweetie?" The Shepherd asked.
Sweetie huffed, sticking her nose upwards, "Survived a helicopter crash, you could never."
"Are you bragging?"
"So what if I am?" The Terrier looked back at him.
"Yeah... You can have that any day..." Chase grimaced, looking at her full-body cast.
Before Sweetie could retort, they heard the door open, revealing a familiar spotted ally.
It was Marshall. Chase was immediately able to notice that the large bandage that had been on the Dalmatian's cheek ever since their close encounter with that bear was gone, a smaller bandage taking its place. His fur also seemed a lot cleaner than it was the last time he saw him. Marshall looked very much like he did back before Skye got pupnapped. He must've gotten a bath while Chase was unconscious.
"Hey, Sweetie!" Marshall exclaimed, carrying a plate on his back, "It's mystery meat Monday!"
"Oh, my favorite!" The Terrier exclaimed before her ears and eyes fell, "...I've been with you pups for too long. My standards have lowered."
"It's not like you're leaving anytime soon, either." The Dally remarked, walking into the room, "Ryder talked to the Princess and she agreed that you would stay here until you heal. At least enough to eat on your own."
"Why's that?" Sweetie inquired, a bit impatient.
"Well firstly, you have various broken bones, fractures and cuts all around your body with the exception of your head and neck..." He listed, walking past Chase, "Not to mention... Oh, hi Chase."
The Shepherd waved as the Dally passed by.
"Along with the full body cast, we're going to need to get you a cone for your neck, and work on rehabilitation... Wait, CHASE?"
He comically snapped his head around 360 degrees to look at his sworn brother.
"Hey there, Marsh."
"Chaaaaaasssseee!" He ran over and jumped on his bed, "How are you feeling? Are the vitals looking decent?"
"I think I'm okay." He chuckled.
"You sure?" Marshall looked a bit confused, "If I were unconscious for a week, I'd be pretty freaked out if I'm being honest."
"A WEEK?"
Chase was in utter shock. Sure he had been overexerting himself, especially when trying to save Skye right after fainting from exhaustion. It would make sense that he'd be out for a while if you couple that with the injuries he had sustained over the course of his mission with Marshall.
Speaking of...
"Hey Marsh? Skye's okay, right?" The Shepherd asked, "I didn't imagine that we finally got her back, right?"
The Dally chuckled, "She's all good. A few ice packs for her bruises, a bandage around her sprained paw, and some food did the trick. She's A-okay!"
"Where is she now?"
"She was dispatched on a mission. Chickaletta got stuck in a tree again or something."
Chase was a bit confused, "Isn't that more of a job for you?"
"I'm on a different mission." Marshall answered, "It's making sure that Sweetie's needs are attended to. That means I'm on EMT duty for a while."
"Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow, looking over at Sweetie, "I thought you of all pups aside me and Skye would hate attending to her."
"She paid her price." The Dalmatian began heading over to the bedridden Terrier, "And besides, she saved Skye's life. She's a good pup."
This statement made Sweetie blush with embarrassment. She wasn't used to being referred to in such a positive light.
"Did you really do that?" Chase looked at her with shock.
Chase was the first PAW Patrol pup to ever have met Sweetie, and that didn't exactly bring the best impressions. He was locked up in a basement and accused of a crime he never committed. That same selfish pup would go to such lengths to save somebody else and not herself?
"Oh get over it." Sweetie huffed, turning her nose upwards, "I only did it because Skye looked so pathetic trying to get out of her seat."
"Thanks, Sweetie." The Terrier looked back down to see Chase smiling at her.
"Whatever, mutt."
The police pup turned back to Marshall, "So what exactly happened over the last few weeks?"
"Well for starters I should probably start from the point where you passed out." The Dally thought for a moment, "You ran out of that building with Skye on your back and immediately fainted again, you really did a number on your body with that stunt, I hope you know that."
The Shepherd chuckled nervously, akin to the chuckle Marshall would usually do after performing one of his many trademark clumsy slips, "Sorry, I won't do it again."
"We both know you're lying about that." The Dalmatian laughed.
Chase laughed along with his sworn brother, "Yeah, I am. When it comes to my team, you won't see anyone else risking his life."
"Anyway..." The EMT pup rolled his eyes with amusement, "Once you and Skye were looked at, we found Sweetie among the pieces left of Skye's helicopter. It was not a fun sight to witness, even if it was Sweetie. We even had to take Rubble and Siren away so they wouldn't have to see that."
Chase grimaced, thinking about how it must've been.
"We knew that I would have to grab my EMT stuff and work on the worst of her injuries there, because it would've been agony for Sweetie if we tried to move her." Marshall continued, "Once I was done doing the best patchwork I could, Ryder picked her up and began taking her to the PAW Patroller 2.0. That's when she started screaming. It was safe to assume that she woke up."
The boys looked over at Sweetie, who was looking away from them and out a nearby window.
The Terrier was able to remember the events that played out right after she woke up. She couldn't help but to scream. The pain was blinding, and made her regret everything in her life that led her to that very moment.
"We took Sweetie inside and gently put her down on a pup bed. It took her a while, but she eventually fell asleep." The Dally explained, "We began to head back to Adventure Bay, but Siren had us stop somewhere to leave a note for his family if they came back to look for him after the earthquake."
"Oh, that reminds me, was the earthquake evacuation successful?" Chase questioned.
Marshall grinned his usual toothy grin, "Zero casualties! We aced it!"
"That's great!"
Marshall's expression soon fell, remembering something else, "Well... I wouldn't say zero."
"Wait, somebody died?" Chase sat up in his bed.
Sweetie, who had been listening, couldn't help but to allow her ears to perk at this. She was curious. She had been awake almost the entire time since leaving Adventure City, but didn't hear anything about a death.
"I'll get to that..." The Dalmatian trailed, his eyes glancing to Sweetie for a moment, "So all of us came here to foggy bottom to drop you and Sweetie off, but before we could leave, Skye begged to stay here with you for the first night, but Ryder knew it had been way too long since she slept without a bed so Ryder dragged her back to the lookout for her own good. But best believe she was right here the next day."
Chase blushed beneath his fur, "Oh dog..."
"She even slept with you on the second day. It was adorable!" Marshall teased, pushing Chase slightly, "She was really worried for her knight in shining armor~"
"Don't mention anything about knights anymore..." The Shepherd groaned.
"Why?"
"Well considering that we had a gang of five knights out to kill us for around a week and a half, I don't know how comfortable I am about hearing about knights in shining armor."
"Right, trauma and stuff."
Sweetie, on the other paw, was confused, "I never told them to kill you two! I just wanted them to keep you two away."
"Oh they kept us away alright!" Marshall exclaimed, turning around to face Sweetie, "They destroyed Robo-Dog and crashed the first PAW Patroller! We had to walk on foot to Adventure City and it took like two days to get there!"
"Is that so...?"
"That's kind of what happened." Chase looked away awkwardly.
"...Sorry."
Both Chase and Marshall's ears perked up, "Huh?"
Sweetie's eyes bulged, "N-Nothing."
The two exchanged a glance, smiling faintly at the other.
Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't be so quick to forgive the Terrier for what happened. But considering that she hadn't directly ordered the knights to kill them, coupled with the fact that the only reason she was in the same room as them was because she risked her life to save Skye's, it was something they could let go of.
The police pup spoke up after a short duration of silence, "Just don't do it again, Sweetie."
"Shut up."
"As I was saying..." Marshall interjected, "We all came here to visit you, but Skye was the only one to come every single day."
"Aside today, huh?"
"Nope, she visited you this morning."
"What time is it anyways!?" Chase suddenly blurted, not even knowing if it was day or night.
"About four in the afternoon."
"I'm not even tired enough to go back to sleep in a few hours..." The Shepherd groaned.
"Siren's family eventually showed up here at the hospital too, but it wasn't really to visit you." The Dally laid down on Chase's bed, "Apparently, the Yorkshire Terrier, Grandpa, I think it was, got hit by a baton or something and wasn't looking too good..."
Sweetie turned around.
"...He didn't make it."
The two were completely caught off guard when they heard whimpering from Sweetie.
"Um... Are you okay?"
"S-Shut up..." She turned her head away once again, "I'm not the type of pup to freak out when some dog I barely know dies."
Chase looked at their former enemy with a bit of remorse. He didn't know what Sweetie's connection was to Grandpa, but it was clear that she cared somewhat for the deceased dog. That was made even more abundantly clear when he looked closer.
Sweetie's lip was trembling.
"I wanted to listen to how you presented the events."
"And how'd that go for you? Sweetie spat.
"How'd it go for you?" Grandpa asked calmly, "What did you desire out of taking Skye from her home?"
"I wanted the PAW Patrol out of my fur."
"And for what?"
"So I could take the crown of Barkingburg, obviously!" The white Terrier shouted, "If I take the crown, I'd be queen!"
"...Young Sweetie, I'm not sure that's how it works."
"What would you know!?" Sweetie barked, "The intricacies of the royal system are too complicated for a homeless pup such as yourself!"
"Actually, I believe you are the homeless one."
"What?"
"You see, my home is right behind me, judging you for what you did. He's a little grumpy, but no home is perfect."
"...What?" She was completely confused by this point.
"You see, Jack, Marcy, and Siren are my home." Grandpa explained, "Home isn't a building or where you lay your head at night. Have you ever heard the expression, 'home is where the heart is'?"
Sweetie shook her head, "Not in the slightest, old man."
"The way I see it, you only truly become homeless when there is nobody left that cares about 'ya. I've had a home ever since Jackson came into my life, and that home kept getting bigger and bigger when Marcy and eventually Siren came along. Now, there's a house big enough for the four of us. Laughter is our beds, and progress is our nourishment."
"Is that so?" The white Terrier asked, seemingly disinterested.
"A little food for thought, Terrier to Terrier." With that, Grandpa walked away to leave Sweetie with her thoughts.
Sweetie thought about it, mulling over the words spoken.
Sweetie had never imagined that a single conversation would have had such an impact on her. She didn't even know the dog's real name, yet he had enough of an impact on her to push her to save Skye's life. Quite the domino effect, in her opinion. She had been raised by the Princess of Barkingburg to at the very least, have a respect for elders. Perhaps that could've been why she was so receptive to Grandpa's words, coupled with the fact that their breeds were so close.
But this was unprecedented.
She sighed and opened her eyes, looking at the three dogs sitting in front of her bed. Jack, Marcy, and Siren. The last three of the pups she knew within the pound.
After Marshall finished telling Chase about the events that transpired while he was unconscious, Siren, Jack, and Marcy had conveniently come into the room to check on Chase and Sweetie. Marshall took Chase out of the room at Sweetie's request to give them some privacy.
But since then, the Terrier couldn't bring herself to say anything.
"Is there something you wanted to talk to us about?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sweetie exhaled, "I heard about Gramps..."
Jack knew where this was going, "And he heard about you."
"What?" She was thrown a bit off guard.
"I told him that you saved Skye." Siren looked at her, "You were her hero! And that makes you my hero for saving my hero."
Marcy added, "And by association, you became our hero as well, including Grandpa's."
Sweetie shook her head, "I am not deserving of such a title."
"Sure, you weren't deserving of it when we first met you, but you have no right to be bedridden after saving somebody's life and to not be called a hero." Jack retorted calmly.
"Bad guy or not, you did a great thing!" Siren hopped onto the bed, nuzzling his cheek against hers, "And we're all really proud of you!"
"And to prove that, I have a message from Grandpa."
"From Gramps?" She was confused.
"He had a final message for you, Skye and Chase, and for the rest of the PAW Patrol."
Sweetie's ears fell as she looked down, "He was ready to die, wasn't he...?"
"It seems like he was ready for quite some time." Jack answered, making Siren whimper.
"So what was this message he had for me?" The Terrier asked.
Jack cleared his throat, "Go to your home, and forget about being queen. Be a pup. After all, you'll regret not living your pup days to the fullest when you get old and gray like me."
Sweetie nodded, "Is that all you needed to tell me?"
Jack nodded, "Yes. We'll leave you be for now."
The instant Sweetie heard the door close, she finally opened the floodgates and allowed warm tears to trail down her cheeks. She couldn't help but to smile as well, thinking about how even in his final message, he just had to brag about how old he was.
"It should've been me, not you..."
"Dumb old mutt..."
