BOILING OVER

Marshall has long been known for his ability to take misfortune in his stride. But even he has his limits, and one particularly bad day causes him to lash out in spectacular fashion after being pushed beyond those limits. Now Chase has to to not only find the straw that broke the pup's back, but help to repair Marshall's crushed spirits.

It was hard to get a pup like Marshall down. Even for all of his faults, he rarely stayed down for long. Some days, he'd end up falling over himself, or hitting the wrong target with his water cannons, but he was one to not repeat his mistakes. No matter what pushed him down, he'd always end up back on all fours at the end of it.

Today, however, seemed to be intent on making sure he stayed down. At this point, "comedy of errors" would make for a good descriptor of his day. From accidentally hitting Rocky with his water cannons twice, to getting their ball stuck in a tree, to accidentally tripping Mayor Goodway, to causing Farmer Al to drop what he was carrying, to countless other mistakes, just about everything that could go wrong was going wrong for the clumsy dalmatian. But despite this, he strained to keep himself smiling and upbeat. Everyone had said that they forgave him for his mistakes and that what he'd done was only an accident. But the more errors he made, the more their forgiveness had started to ring hollow.

Marshall was a pup stretched thin on that day. But now he was about to break. An upcoming art competition had caused the pups to start gathering paint, brushes and a large canvas together to put a picture together, with Marshall needing to stand by with his cannons. Marshall had vowed to himself that he wouldn't make another mistake. But the pups had barely gotten started before Marshall slipped on one of the brushes and found himself uncontrollably rolling a can of orange paint towards the canvas.

"Whoawhoawhoawhoa!" Marshall yelled.

"WATCH OUT!" Zuma cried.

"Nonononononononono!" As he rolled, Marshall knew what was going to come of it, despite his best efforts to stop the can.

"Marshall, no!" Skye called out.

But it was all too late. Marshall had finally lost his footing and sent the paint can crashing into an open can of yellow paint, sending it flying and splattering its contents all over the canvas, completely ruining it. The pups all cringed as Marshall fell off, and cringed further when the can impacted the canvas.

"Awww, no! Ugh, what a mess!" Rubble groaned.

Marshall finally had all he could take. When the impact of his most recent blunder had hit him, something inside of him snapped. The pot had boiled over despite his best efforts to put a lid on it.

"No… No, no, no, no, NO! NO! NO!" Marshall screamed, ripping his helmet off of his head and slapping it across the ground in total rage. "Another screw-up to add to the pile! Why can't I do anything right?!" Marshall puncutated each sentence by furiously stomping his paws on the ground. "EVERY SINGLE TIME I DO ANYTHING IT GOES WRONG! WHY AM I SUCH A FAILURE?!"

The pups froze up in horror at this sudden explosion from Marshall. Of all the pups to get angry, Marshall was one of the last ones that they had thought of. But here he was erupting in a display of volcanic ire.

"Whoa, Marshall! Where did this come from?!" Chase yelled back in shock. "It was an acc-"

"SHUT IT, COP BOY!" Marshall roared. This sudden display of hostility was so cold it caused Chase to freeze on the spot, staring on in fear.

"You don't have any idea! None of you do!" Marshall continued, small beads of rage-filled tears forming in his eyes. "I know what you all think! Why did Ryder choose such a stupid klutz as the fire pup?! I'M TRYING, BUT NONE OF IT MATTERS! DON'T BOTHER WITH YOUR PITY, 'CAUSE I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"

Angrily detatching his Pup Pack, Marshall whipped around and charged off towards his Pup House. The remaining pups could only watch, trying to get what they just saw and heard through their heads. Some had their mouths hanging open. Some tried to get a read on the others, wondering if they'd just seen the same terrifying display as they had. But Chase in particular, as much as he prided himself on being a professional, couldn't quite handle such a vicious retort from a close friend. He soon felt his lip quivering.

"...Wh… Wh-wha… What did I say…?" Chase stammered, trying to stem the tears threatening to run down his face.

When everyone had found the resolve to move again, one of the first places Chase went was Ryder's room. He had to share what happened with someone. Anyone. But with the risk of a breakdown looming over him, he only felt confident in seeing their owner, who realised something was up near-immediately when he saw the look of frightened sadness on his pup's face. After an effort to calm Chase down, Ryder listened carefully as Chase recounted what happened.

"He just… blew up?" Ryder asked.

"Totally…" Chase replied mournfully. "I… I said something wrong, didn't I?"

"It doesn't sound like it, Chase. But then, that doesn't sound like Marshall, either."

"But it happened! I swear!" Chase looked up, obviously distressed. "I don't know what the heck's going on!"

"Well, you're our detective pup, right? You can find out, can't you? He probably feels awful about yelling at you. It makes sense that you'd be the one to go make things right with him."

Ryder knew Marshall well. That pup couldn't handle the weight of the world. Nobody could. And he'd already put together that Marshall had been pushed past his limits. And that once Marshall calmed down, he'd feel terrible.

"But… What if Marshall hates me?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Chase." Ryder replied with a small smile. "That's totally impossible. The idea of Marshall hating anyone is just silly. You know that. In fact, if you want my two cents, it sounds like Marshall's stressed out. Like what happened with that paint was the final straw for him. Whenever he falls down, he always gets back up, but there's only so much one pup can take."

Chase blinked. "You… think so?"

"Maybe." Ryder lied. He didn't think so. He knew so. "I'm just throwing stuff out there, but maybe it'll give you some ideas."

"Are you… sure I can make Marshall feel better? Are you sure I can find out what's wrong with him?"

Ryder kneeled down and placed a hand on Chase's head. "You can do it, Chase." Ryder whispered reassuringly. "I know you can. If there's one pup who can pick Marshall back up, it's you."

Ryder's encouragement had helped Chase find the confidence to face Mt. Marshall. He gave it a few minutes before his anxiety took him over and he steeled himself for a heart-to-heart chat with his friend. Whatever it was that was affecting him, Chase was going to find out. Sure enough, when he arrived at the red Pup House, he saw Marshall with his back turned to him, completely immobile. Chase couldn't help but wince at the small, paw-shaped dents in the walls. And if he knew Marshall, then he'd likely been crying, too. Chase took a couple of deep breaths, hoping that Marshall hadn't realised he was there yet, before opening his mouth.

"Marshall? You feeling OK?" Chase asked gently.

"...go away, Chase..." Marshall replied miserably after a few seconds, without moving from his spot.

Chase wasn't going to be gotten rid of that easily. "Not a chance."

"Look, if you want an apology, then I'm sorry I screamed at you! Just leave me alone, OK?!" Marshall continued to avoid looking at the shepherd.

"Sorry, pal." Chase's gentle tone didn't falter. "It's gonna take way more than that to get rid of me right now."

Finally, Marshall rose to his feet and whipped around. Chase's suspicions were confirmed when he saw Marshall's red, puffy eyes stare back at him, locked in a glare.

"What do you want from me, then?! You want me to beg?! You want to beat me up?! You want me to disappear?! WHAT?!"

Chase couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "Marshall, I don't want apologies." Chase's tone turned slightly firmer. "Listen to yourself. What brought all this on?"

"Quit playing dumb, will you?! What DIDN'T bring all this on?! You know what's happening!"

Chase grew slightly annoyed. He felt some of his episode of irrational anger being put into perspective. "No, Marshall, I don't. Please. Whatever's causing this, you can tell me. I'm your friend, aren't I?"

"Yeah, somehow." Marshall replied bitterly. "But you don't deserve me! You don't deserve a pup that screws up all the time! Nothing ever goes right for me! I'm a total jinx!"

Chase realised that words alone weren't going to calm Marshall down after he was this far-gone. But he knew that the familiar, clumsy, silly Marshall of old was still in there. Chase sighed, before taking a deep breath in, and started to slowly and disarmingly walk towards the ranting dalmatian.

"Everything I go near goes bad! I'm so clumsy that I can't even walk a couple of steps without making a total mess of things! Right now, I don't even know why I'm here! All I do is make more work for all of you! I'm a complete fai-"

The words died in Marshall's throat when Chase had finally reached him, sat down in front of him and threw his front paws around him in a warm, reassuring hug. In that moment, Marshall went from distressed and angry to silent and flabbergasted. His jaw hung open and his eyes went wide.

"Calm down, OK…?" Chase whispered. "Just take some deep breaths… Relax..."

The process was slow, but visible. First, Chase felt Marshall fall to his rear. Then, he started to feel him shaking. As the time rolled on, the shaking grew more and more intense. Until finally, Marshall pulled himself closer to Chase and hugged him back with a noticeable level of desperation. It was a slight relief to Chase. The old, angry, resentful Marshall had been banished by the reassuring warmth of Chase's loving embrace. And in his place was a deeply-regretful, depressed Marshall who continued to shake like a leaf. Now Chase could get through to him.

"Shhhh…" Chase whispered. "Don't worry… Everything's going to be fine..."

"Chase, I…" Marshall stammered, his voice cracking. "I-I… I'm so sorry..."

"Hey, I'm more worried than mad…" Chase whispered back, running his paw down Marshall's back. "You obviously didn't mean what you said..."

Marshall sniffled, doing his best to suppress his tears. "...how could you still want to be friends with me?! I screwed up again and screamed at you for it!"

"Marshall..." Chase whispered sadly.

"I just… don't… understand..."

"Because you're not thinking straight… Whatever happened today's messed with your head."

"What, more than usual?" Marshall asked bitterly.

"Hey." Chase took a slightly-firmer tone. "From now on, no more putting yourself down. How about you tell me what happened today?"

"Try 'everything'… I couldn't do one thing right today..."

"I'm listening." Chase replied reassuringly.

Marshall was struggling not to burst into tears and a mess of babbled apologies towards Chase for messing up and yelling at him and the other pups, but Chase managed to keep him relatively calm while Marshall poured his heart out, listing off every single mistake he'd made that day, punctuating each one with self-deprecating insults. As much as Chase wanted to cut him off and tell him how wrong he was about himself, he listened in silence until Marshall had finally finished.

"So what you're saying is that it was all a bad day?" Chase asked, still trying to process what he'd just been told.

"It was… worse than 'bad'…" Marshall replied sadly, still clinging to Chase for dear life. "I'm kinda amazed I wasn't struck by lightning… Which I wouldn't mind right now."

"Oh, Marshall…" Chase whispered sympathetically, with a touch of guilt. "We all have bad days, you know… You should've told us… Heck, I should've noticed you were feeling so down."

"I tried… I really tried to stay positive..."

"And look how that turned out. You bottled it all up until you couldn't take it anymore." Chase whispered with a hint of disappointment. The shepherd was fully familiar with trying to keep his own feelings hidden. It took a meltdown and one of Ryder's lectures for him to fully realise how bad for you the practice was.

"But it's all in the past." He continued. "All those people know you. They know how you are. Trust me, nobody in Adventure Bay thinks you're bad at what you do, and neither do we. They wouldn't hate you either! You're too nice!"

"Except Rocky…" Marshall whispered sadly, recalling Rocky's annoyance at getting sprayed twice. "I don't know how he keeps putting up with me..."

"How many times has that pup told you now? He could never hate you no matter how many times you get him wet. Rocky can't hold a grudge at all. He loves you like he loves everyone else here. You know that."

It was true that Rocky had forgiven Marshall, and Rocky had even told him outright that he felt bad over storming off the way he did, and the two had hugged it out.

"But all that doesn't change how useless I am!" Marshall shouted, the pain in his voice evident. "If I wasn't such a dumb klutz, none of this would've happened! I can't even do anything by myself without help!" Marshall's grasp on Chase tightened, as if he was scared to let go. The pup sniffled a couple of times, with spasms accompanying each one. "I wish I could be more like you..."

"More like me?" Chase echoed, before letting out a hefty sigh. "You're REALLY not thinking straight, Marshall. Ryder's said it before, and now I'm gonna say it. The Paw Patrol wouldn't be the Paw Patrol without you. None of us want you to change. We all love you for who you are, clumsiness and all. Not only that, but you're missing the point of a team. The reason we're all here is because we all can do stuff the others can't. I mean, you couldn't fly a helicopter or fix a fence." At that moment, a familiar, encouraging levity had returned to the pup's voice. "But you can put out fires and help people when they get hurt! I couldn't do any of that! Plus, I don't know if you've noticed, but I can be pretty clumsy, too!"

Marshall had frozen and fallen quiet at those last couple of words. A few seconds passed before Marshall finally broke the hug, pulling away from Chase slightly and giving him a thoroughly-unimpressed look, as if he'd just heard the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"...really. You."

"You know I'm right..." Chase smirked.

"Are you living on another planet, Chase?" Marshall's face had changed to an annoyed glare. "Name three times you've been clumsy."

"You're on." Chase replied immediately, without really thinking, much to Marshall's surprise.

As much as mishaps and pratfalls in the Paw Patrol were associated with Marshall, Chase knew that it was hardly territory that was exclusive to him. Every pup had their share of silly moments, and Chase, for all his professionalism, was no exception. His first thought was accidentally putting himself and Rocky to sleep with Officer Bear while they were supposed to be on guard duty. But then he realised that perhaps a memory that Marshall was actually present for would stop the dalmatian from denying that it happened.

"Let's see..." Chase took a couple of seconds to comb his mind for ideas, before smirking with amusement. "You remember that bat that went to sleep in City Hall's bell tower? It was all going so well. You were climbing your ladder, you nearly had it, but who has twelve toes and couldn't keep his big yap shut? Or even aim his net?"

Chase couldn't stop himself from faintly giggling at the memory of him getting them both stuck under a net. Marshall was staring at the floor, avoiding eye contact with him, but Chase couldn't help but notice something. Marshall looked like he was shaking. He was obviously trying to keep his face hidden, but that couldn't hide the repeated quick breaths shooting from his nostrils. Chase's spirits soared, escaping from his mouth in the form of laughter. He didn't quite expect the treatment to work that quickly.

"See?" Chase said. "You're laughing!"

Marshall soon transitioned to a full-on giggle fit, responding to Chase's observation with a playful shove that sent the laughing shepherd onto his back.

"What the heck made you think that was a good idea?!" Marshall demanded through his laughter.

"I don't know!" Chase replied through laughter of his own. "But see, you're not the only one who's clumsy!"

Slowly, Marshall got a grip on himself once more, the smile not leaving his lips. "Nice try, Chase."

"Stubborn, huh?" Chase grinned, picking himself back up. "You sure we're not ACTUALLY brothers? Anyways…"

Chase searched for another occasion of his misfortune. "...oh yeah, you remember when those penguins got loose? One ended up spilling a bunch of ice everywhere, right? Do I have to remind you that you weren't the only one who went for a ride that day? I was sliding around all over the place, too!"

Marshall flashed back to the pair of them failing miserably to catch the penguin as they rocketed around on a set of ice cubes. "It was kinda fun, thinking about it… Even though I can't skate worth beans..."

"Heh, no-one can with skates that small…" Chase replied with his head in the past, before shaking himself off after a moment. "...and oh yeah, remember when Mandy got loose?" Perhaps now, Marshall would be more receptive to hearing memories that he wasn't there for. "I tried to net her then, too. All I got was Ryder, and lemme tell you, he did NOT care for that little slip-up..."

Marshall's face shifted to one of confusion. "Huh? I don't think he ever told us that..."

It wasn't exactly a memory that Ryder was keen to share. Being netted by his pup was not his idea of a good time, after all.

"Our little secret." Chase replied. His face quickly turned deathly-serious. "And I don't mean a Marshall Secret, either. I mean a 'not a peep to the others or I'll tickle you till you explode' secret." Chase glared at Marshall, pressing his nose against the dalmatian's. "GOT IT?"

Marshall pulled back slightly, feeling a little intimidated. "OK, OK…" He said hurriedly. "My lips are sealed..."

"ARE THEY?!" Chase yelled with a wicked grin, throwing himself on top of Marshall and quickly kneading the dalmatian's squishy, white belly.

"EEK-!" Marshall shrieked, collapsing into hysterics. "Hee hee hee hee hee! Ch-Chase, no-! Pfft-hahahahaha!"

Marshall desperately tried to wriggle out of Chase's grip, but the shepherd was keeping a stronger hold on Marshall than he thought, rendering the ticklish pup entirely helpless.

"OK, OK, HAHAHA!" Marshall yelled through his mirthful spasms. "N-NOT A WORD, HAHAHAHA! I SWEAR! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Satisfied with Marshall's surrender, Chase kept his paws still, grinning smugly down at his friend.

"That's more like it..." Chase sneered playfully.

Marshall panted heavily, trying to get back some of the life that was just tickled out of him. "You… you're evil..." Marshall gasped, still smiling the whole while.

"Ababababa! 'Persuasive', Marshall." Chase corrected with the same smug smile on his face.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night..."

A few seconds passed of Marshall catching his breath. Underneath Chase's playful grin, Chase was starting to feel deeply relieved. It looked like Marshall was coming back around to his old, playful self, with the bitter, furious Marshall now a thing of the past. Having later caught his breath. Marshall looked up at Chase, who was now smiling warmly down at him.

"So?" Chase began. "What do I win?"

Marshall froze, realising that Chase had just met his challenge easily. "…I… er…" He stammered.

"See?" The smile hadn't left Chase's face. "You aren't the only one who's clumsy and makes mistakes. And even if you were, you know we all love you no matter what. That's just part of who you are. We all know you didn't mean to trip over that paint can or get the ball stuck in that tree. And what you said back there? About knowing what we all think? Totally wrong."

Chase leaned in, pressing his nose against Marshall's and fixing him with a firm look. "You're. NOT. Useless." Chase pulled back one more, his expression changing to a gentler one. "We all know why you're our fire pup. You're nice, you're brave, you never slow down and you know what? You're smarter than you think." Chase smiled encouragingly. "You know when you fooled Sid and Arrby by going overboard with your clumsiness? That takes brains, pal! I know the Marshall we all know and love is in there somewhere. Where did he go?"

Marshall was stunned by Chase's speech. All of his depression and frustration had just been obliterated in a few moments. "Well…" Marshall stuttered. "He had a really bad day… He left for a little while..."

"He needs to come back." Chase quickly replied. "Like I said, we all have bad days. But tomorrow's a new day to look forward to." Chase placed his paws on Marshall's shoulders "And if you're really feeling rotten, you need to tell us. We're all happy to help you. That's what a family's all about, after all. And like I said, tomorrow's a new day. Do your best and forget the rest, right?"

Marshall slowly started to sit up. He felt emotion start to well up in his stomach again. But this time, it wasn't anger. It was happiness. Even despite his failings and his furious outburst that day, he had friends that would never turn their back on him. Brothers and sisters who would forgive him and pull him back out of any dark hole he found himself in. Just as he would do for them.

"...yeah…" Marshall whispered, looking at the floor. "Do my best… forget the rest…" Marshall finally saw fit to look at Chase. The dalmatian's eyes were noticably wetter than usual. "Chase, I think I was wrong."

"Huh?" Chase looked slightly confused. "Wrong?"

"I said you don't deserve me… But it's more like I don't deserve you… You're too good to me..."

"Silly pup." Chase soothed, smiling warmly once more. "Deserve me or not, I'll always be here for you. Like you're always here for me. If you need me, I'll be there. Heck, I'll even be there if you don't need me."

That did it. Chase had officially opened the floodgates. A few seconds of silence preceded Marshall completely breaking down in tears. All it took was one little push to render Marshall too overwhelmingly-overjoyed for words.

"...oh, g-g-great!" Marshall sobbed with a huge, tearful smile on his face. "N-now you're making me c-cry! Y-you really are evil!"

Marshall rushed forward and gratefully threw his arms around Chase, who responded in-kind immediately, holding Marshall close and allowing the pup to cry on his shoulder. It was official. Marshall was back. Chase struggled not to cry himself. For all of his doubts and fear that Marshall hated him, and if he was too far gone to listen to anyone, now he was expressing his gratitude for Chase's handiwork by sobbing joyfully into his fur. All in all, it was a job well done.

"Not evil…" Chase whispered with a relieved smile. "'Persuasive'..."

The two pups must've sat holding each other for about five minutes while Marshall slowly stopped crying and Chase forced back his own tears. Eventually, though, Marshall pulled back slightly while not letting go of Chase.

"Chase, I…" Marshall whispered. "I can't thank you enough..."

"Psh, I don't need thanks." Chase scoffed, punctuating his words with an affectionate noogie that made Marshall groan and giggle before Chase placed his arm back around Marshall's shoulder. "We've got your smile back and you're calm again. That's all I need right now."

Marshall smiled warmly, until he remembered his earlier outburst and his smile faded. The other pups were probably deeply hurt by his earlier eruption. Slowly, Marshall began to feel like a very bad friend indeed.

"I... think I owe the pups an apology..." Marshall said guiltily, looking down at the floor again.

"Yeah, you do. But there's nothing to be afraid of. You know as well as I do that they'll forgive you." Chase placed his paw under Marshall's chin, moving his head up to meet his gaze. "Besides, it's not like you're gonna be alone for that, either. I'll be right there with you."

"And as long as you're here, I'll never be alone… right?" Marshall asked, with the smile returning to his face.

Chase responded by pulling Marshall close again and nuzzling the pup. "Absolutely." he quietly affirmed.

Marshall was quick to return the favour. "Then lead the way…" He whispered. "Big brother..."

After an affectionate squeeze from Chase, the two finally broke their embrace and headed to the Lookout. And sure enough, apart from "punishment" in the form of further noogies and light slaps to the head, Chase was right. The pups were quick to call things even and completely forgive Marshall, even adding that they were more upset that he'd try to bottle up how frustrated he was, and that he could always see them if he wanted to talk things out. There was only one thing Marshall wished that he'd realised sooner.

He was far luckier than he knew.

And that's one of the heavier fics out of the way. Like I said, I feel like this is the point where they really start to get good. But if you'd believe it, this one isn't my favourite. That honour goes to next week's fic, and I'm itching to upload that one. But this was actually one of the earlier stories I wrote, iand for a long time, it was the one I was most happy with.

Not much to say on this one, so I'll move on to something that others have done that I fancy doing now. Review responses! Yep, like some before me, I got some reviews that I'd quite like to reply to on Minding the Medic, so without further ado, here goes:

PupPupGo: Perhaps it's empathy? People can relate to being sick, and that makes them want to see the character get better. And as much as vomit would probably be taboo on a TV-Y show, an episode where Marshall gets sick and the pups have to step out of their comfort zones (in terms of a rescue going on that he'd be needed for and in having to take care of him) would certainly be a fun one to watch.

VenusDemilo-Shirolover2: I mainly keep the description and title at the top of the fics since they're all meant to be their own standalone stories and I try to keep things organised. I'll cut the descriptions out if they're too bothersome, though. I think us both writing sick fics about the pups was a happy coincidence, actually. I had the idea to write one kicking around since shortly after Bulldog in a Bind. By the way, great job on More Than a Cold so far!

Zojak: Well, most illnesses have an incubation period of a few days before the symptoms strike, hence why Chase started to feel ill about five days after coming into contact with Marshall. I left the country on a Saturday and didn't start to feel ill until the Friday, for what it's worth. Plus, dogs can do everything in this show, so they can probably get human illnesses, too. As for where it took place, it was the bottom level of the Lookout. Chase went up the elevator, got into Marshall's gear and took the slide down to the ground. Let's just say he was going through a gear check before the pups set out. And with Chase and Marshall both gone, the pups would need to work overtime to fix all of the sabotage the kittens were causing, as well as chasing them away.

Entity of Spite: I don't know if I'd go as far as to say that I help to keep the thread alive, but I'm still humbled that you feel that way. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy what's to come!

LuigiWife1551: I wasn't exactly a healthy child, so I've had my fair share of vile medication in my time. I like to think I write what I know!

SharpDragonKlaw: Perhaps more impressive since flu can really mess with your head. Trust me, I know.

Thank you all for your reviews. I do love reading them. And I hope you enjoy the next fic to come, which will be another (relatively) lighter one. Here's the description for you all. Hope to see you Sunday.

WHATEVER IT TAKES

When it comes to protecting those you love, how far can you go before crossing the line? Even though Chase and Marshall never asked this question, they receive an answer after a rare display of violence gets them suspended from the team. But time for guilt leaves time for reflection as the two ruminate on their error.