Colleen looked down at her trembling paws as they sat down at their usual places at the table in the Main Room. Colleen stared at the place right next to her- Hunter's place. It was just sitting there, empty. Empty, like the huge empty space in her heart. She touched the arm rest, then quickly took her hand away. Her heart was breaking, she could feel it. Everyone felt the same way she did, especially Muzzle, who was dragging himself around, not even jumping like he usually did. More than anyone, he had been Hunter's friend.

"So, I wonder who Master will choose as new leader?" Blitz mumbled to himself.

"Blitz, how can you even think of that?!" Exile almost yelled at him.

"Well, somebody has to! Yes, this is tragic, I'm not saying it isn't, but if we get a mission, we need a leader, that's why he called us here!" A huge growl from Shag in Blitz's direction quickly settled the matter.

"Gather around, Rovers," Master began from his place on the platform. "As you know, this is a sad time. Today..we have lost one of our own," The Rovers immidiatly noticed that even HE got a bit choked up as well. Quickly he brushed a tear from his eye.

"Life is made up of meetings, and partings, that is the way of it. I'm sure none of us will ever forget Hunter..or the brave and caring things he has done for all of us." The Rovers stared down at their laps. "He was a wonderful dog, a true blue hero. We will miss him very much. But, in his memory, we must continue what he has started, which is to shut down Parvo, who I believe had a hand in this!"

"HE HAD AN EXACT HAND IN THIS!" Colleen thought to herself. "HE KILLED HIM!" Sobs once again over took her, and Shag put his paw on hers to try to calm her down.

"In order to do that, we must chose a new leader," he then took Hunter's Leadership Collar down from where it was hanging. Stepping down off the platform, he began to walk around the Rovers. "The one I choose to become the new leader of this Pack is one I have chosen based on bravery, based on ability, and based on the trust and honesty required of Leadership. The one I choose will be one who I feel is the best one to take the reins from Hunter and continue what he has begun. There is NO OTHER REASON for this choice. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"When I call your name one at a time I want you to stand in front of me and give a short demonstration of your special powers. I will then look you over carefully. Once you have all done that I will make my descision. Do you all understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

Master walked to the front of the room. "Exile," Exile raised his head. "Rise." Exile stood up. "Come up to the front." Exile slowly walked up and stood next to the Master. He pointed to a block of wood at the corner of the room. "A quick demonstration of your power." Quickly Exile stared at the block of wood and used his heat vision to burn a hole in it and his ice vision to freeze it entirely. He then picked it up with one hand and put it down. "Now face me." Exile did so. The Master slowly walked around his, staring, carefully considering very feature. "Return to your seat." He did. "Blitz? Rise." Blitz stood up proudly. "Come up to the front." Blitz did so. "Now, Blitz, a demonstration of your power." Blitz then lifted up the frozen block of wood and took a huge bite out of it. Then he took a toothpick and cleaned his teeth ferociously. "Good, now face me." Blitz did as the Master gave hi a careful walk around. Blitz did several poses for him until Master silenced him with a look. "Return to your seat." Blitz did so.

"Did you see that? I think Master was the most impressed with me! I'm going to Lead.."

"Quiet! Master hasn't finished his testing yet," Exile said in a harshed whisper. Colleen raised her head and quickly wiped her tears knowing she would probably be next.

"Colleen? Rise." Colleen did so. "Come to the front." Colleen stood at obedient attention and did so. "Now a demonstration of your talent." Colleen took a deep breath and went into a complicated martial arts demo. She let her sadness and anger over Hunter's murder come out in her place kicks, high punches and backflips. Finally she came to the block of wood and with the back of her hand succeeded in breaking it in two. When she was finished she bowed before the Master. "Now come up to the front." She did so. Master walked around her carefully, slowly, taking a good deal of time with her. Finally he said, 'Return to your seat," She did so and continued to stare at her hands.

"That was good, Comrade," Exile said. Colleen didn't even answer.

"Shag? Rise."

"Me?" Shag asked.

"Yes, you. Rise," Shag did so. "Come to the front." Shag slowly walked up. "Now, a quick demonstration of your powers." Shag the went to both pieces of wood, lifting them high over his head and then balancing them on the tip of his finger. "Now, come to the front." Shag did as the Master walked around him and looked at him carefully. "Return to your seat."

With that, the Master slowly looked at each Rover one more time, obviously thinking. He went to each one twice, looking, considering, thinking. Exile, Blitz, and Shag looked at one another, the tension obviously killing them. Who would the Master choose? Who would it be? Finally, he returned to the platform and pressed a button. Instantly a small walkway leading to the platform appeared. The Rovers gasped. He was ready. He had made his choice.

"Colleen!" he called. Colleen raised her head. "Rise," he said. Quickly, she stood up. "Come up," he said, beckoning to the walkway. Slowly she walked up to the platform and stood beside the Master. He directed her to kneel before him, which she did.

Slowly, he removed her collar she was wearing, after Colleen removed Hunter's ring from it and slipped it on her finger with the heart turned toward her as Hunter had said it went. She lifted up her hair as the Master put the Leadership Collar on her. "Colleen, you shall be the new Leader of the Road Rovers. Stand up and raise your right hand." She did so. "Colleen, I hereby with the giving of those collar choose you as the new Leader of the Road Rovers. Do you swear that you will to the best of your ability guide this team throughout any danger and offer a calm and level head throughout any mission?"

"I do, Master."

"Do you vow that the position which you will now inherit will be one you will take with the utmost seriousness and will you lead this team with the memory of Hunter guiding you every step of the way?"
"I do."

"Then I do bestow on you Leadership of the Road Rovers. May you lead this team to victory and may they prosper under your guideance."

"I'll do my best, Master," Colleen said. "I won't let you..or Hunter down"

He turned her to face the rest. "Rovers, this is your new leader. Obey her as you would Hunter."

Exile, who was the first to notice how miserable Colleen truly looked, was the first one on his feet. "Comerades," he began, "A salute to our New Leader, Colleen!" Immidiately, they all went into a big group howl. Colleen reluctantly joined in, even though her heart still felt numb and in a lot of pain.

Groomer woke suddenly and stared at her dark bedroom, gasping for breath. Sunlight streamed through the window like blood from a wound. For a moment she wondered what had woken her. "Parvo?" she said in a small voice. "Are you there?" But there was no answer. She wondered if Parvo had come back in the middle of the night, she was not looking forward to seeing him, not after he found out what she had done.

It was supposed to be foolproof, she thought to herself. How could this have happened? She sighed, admitting the truth, she had failed. Hunter was dead, and the Rovers knew it. There was no way anyone or anything could replace Hunter now. His spot was now permanently filled, even if it was only a memory.

Colleen! The voice yelled to Groomer, making her jump. COLLEEN! it said louder. She thought. It stood to reason, she was the Second-In-Command of the team, it made sense if Shepard chose her to be the new leader.

Groomer stood in her mirror and smiled, picturing the pretty little Rover in her mind. "If I can't control Hunter, I'll control Colleen!!" She said. She would dispose of Colleen in a more orderly fashion, then use her Clone to take her place. THIS time it wouldn't fail! Parvo won't like it, The voice said to Groomer. She slumped a little. Parvo wanted to control the Rovers, too. They were often the only obsticle in his way. She knew Parvo would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

Suddenly she gasped as a realization came to her, a reaslization that explained why Parvo had not shown up to confront her. "Me!' She gasped. "My God, he's found out somehow, and he's planning to get me!!" She began to pace around the room. "How did he find out? How could he have known?" THAT was why he hadn't come back. He was probably programming one of his Clones to come attack her! Well, she would fix that!

She knew what she had to do. 'I have to find Parvo, and I have to kill him..before he comes to kill ME!!" She'd even use his own Hunter Clone to do the dirty work and maybe drive him a little crazy. After Parvo was dead, she could then dismantile THAT Clone and go after Colleen. She picked up the small computer. In the the end, there could be only one.

Mrs Blair, wife of the Prime Minister of Britan paced up and down the huge, billowy carpet of Buckenham Palace, worried and scared out of her mind. One of her aides came to her. "Madam, calm down!"

"How on earth can I calm down?!" She cried. "My sweet little baby...I don't know WHAT'S wrong with her! She won't eat, she won't play..all she does nowadays is lay in her doghouse. She seems so...depressed. I mean, I can't even get her to drink even one cup of tea."

"I know," the aide said halfheartedly. "It's almost like she's stopped caring about anything!"

"Don't say that!!" Mrs. Blair shreaked. 'Dear God, don't say that even in fun!! My sweatheart.I know I haven't had her long..but I love her so much! I don't know what else to do except hold her..but that doesn't do any good at all. I'm surprised I can even get her to lift her head. She seems to depressed..so worried, oh, God!" She hid her face in her hands.

"Has she stopped howling?"

Every time she stops she starts right back up again. Poor little baby.."

She thought she heard Charles mutter across the hall, 'All this over a dog..' and she had to resist the urge to throw something at him.

"She's no more of a dog than Camilla," she whispered to herself.

The aide gave Charles a dirty look and glanced at Mrs. Blair. "Madam, she said, "Do you want me to call the vet?"

"No...no, not just yet. Let me go back to work for awhile..than maybe I'll try to get her to eat again, by then it should be teatime."

Meanwhile outside Edward and Sophie were arriving at the Palace to talk to the Prime Minister. Edward went in and left Sophie outside with Colleen, he knew that besides the Prime Minister, she loved that dog. Sophie clapped at the doghouse, expecting Colleen to rush out like she always did so they could play. But she didn't. Sophie looked concerned, and clapped her hands again. But all Colleen did was lay in her doghouse with her paws on her lap.

Sophie began to get worried, she knew what the Prime Minister was saying about Colleen, but now she was seeing it. Colleen looked truly depressed. She knelt down next to the doghouse. 'Sweetheart, it's me!" she called. 'Come out, dear." But all she got was a pitiful whine. "Come on, baby," she pushed her bowl..still piled high with food,, toward her. "Are you hungry?" She turned away. "OK, no. Want to play?" She asked, picking up a ball near her. But the sight of it made her howl mornfully. "Sweetie, what's wrong with you?" She then shook her head. She's a dog, she can't answer you! She picked up her hairbrush. "How about I brush your hair? 1,000 strokes, just the way you like it?" She turned away. 'Come on, Sweetheart, you love to have your hair brushed!" But it was to no avail, she just didn't want to do anything! Now Sophie was worried. She moved closer until she was practically in the doghouse, thankful the Queen wasn't there to see her.

"Oh, Honey, I wish you could tell me what the matter is." She put her arms around her, and was surprised to see her fur was all wet..almost as if she had been crying. Glancing down, she saw something shocking on the newspaper in the doghouse. It was a copy of yesterday's edition. WHITE HOUSE PET FOUND BRUTALLY SHOT the headline crowed. Sophie started to pick it up, but suddenly Colleen growled and barked ferociously at her, she didn't want her to have it! Sophie then remembered the Prime Minister talking about his trip to America, and she put two and two together.

'Oh, Honey, I'm so sorry!!" she cried, throwing her arms around Colleen. Who says dogs don't have feelings? she thought to herself. "Oh, Sweetheart, I know you miss him..I know...oh, I'm so sorry." Only then did Colleen relent and put her head on Sophie's shoulder. Sophie knew she was doing this to cry. 'Yes, baby, just let it out, let it out, Honey, Sophie's here. I wish I could say the pain will go away soon..but it'll only get worse for quite awhile...yes, just keep crying as long as you need to, I'm here for you. Oh, baby we're all here for you. We love you so much, Sweetheart, we do."

For the longest time she just held Colleen and let her rest her head on her shoulder until Colleen finally cried herself to sleep. Sophie sighed, she knew all to well what she was going through, and she also knew it would be a long time before she returned to her old self again. But for now she had to tell the Prime Minister that Colleen wasn't physically sick...just heartsick.

A short while later an all too familiar sound woke Colleen up. "Colleen, report to Headquarters," the Master's voice rang loud and clear. A bit reluctantly, she rose and dashed to the secret tunnel underneath a pile of bushes. Once she got there and transdogmafied herself, she went to the Main Room and slowly sat down. A minute later Exile and Shag joined her, Shag holding a new creation of his. He offered some to Colleen, but she just pushed at away.

"I don't want anything, Shag, thank you,' she said quietly.

"Take some, just eat a little," Exile said. "We are all very worried about you, Comerade. Don't forget, you're Leader now. We need you more than ever." Colleen nodded and quietly took a small mouthful of the food, ignoring Blitz, who was stuffing his face. Exile sighed. "Colleen, we are all very, very worried about you ever since a few night ago."

"I saw what I saw," Colleen insisted.

"I know you were sure that night," Exile said. "But you were traumatized, hysterical. Now that you're a little calmer, maybe you can help the Master find out who did it..."

"I know who did it!" Colleen cried. "It was Groomer, I saw her!! Parvo figured out where we are!"

"How? Master took so many precautions.."

"Blimey, Exile, I don't know how he did it, all I know is he did it, Groomer was here, I saw her kill Hunter!! "

Exile took her hand. "Colleen, believe me, you were tramatized, you probably only THINK you saw Groomer, because of that dream you had. But maybe now if you remember you can point the Master toward a suspect..maybe a wild animal..maybe something Parvo mutated that found it's way here on a boat or something..but it can't be Groomer, Master has kept saying no other human has access to this but him..it has to be a different suspect.."

"I pointed you toward THE suspect!!" Colleen said, slamming her fist on the table and standing up, causing Shag to hide behind his chair. "Dammit, Exile, Groomer was here, and she and Parvo are out there somewhere, gloating about this! As the new leader I'm asking you to help me..help me get them for this!! " But before she could say more, the Master came in. His eyes, usually glowing brightly, were dull and listless, with tears clearly forming in them.

"Hello, Rovers," he began.

"Hello, Master," the Rovers answered.

"I've called you all here today to help with something important."

'Like what, Master?" Blitz asked.

"Well, I've been making plans for Hunter's funeral service," he said. Colleen lowered her eyes. A funeral was so...final. It made Hunter's death so..irrevocable. She once again looked at the empty place next to her where she knew Hunter would have been. The pain of missing him began to hit her heart right in the middle and she considered running right back to London, going back to sleep, and not waking up for twenty years..if ever.

Exile saw her look and squeesed her hand gentily. "Where will the funeral be held?"

"The President is giving him a small funeral at the White House Lawn. I don't know how or where we can get a hold of some of the ashes, but I was thinking seeing as how he's from Wyoming, if we could find a small funeral parlor to hold the.."

"NO!" Colleen yelled, standing up. 'No funeral parlors!"

Master winced. "Colleen, I know how hard this is for you, but.."

"Hunter would have hated that!" She said with certainty. "It's too depressing..a stuffy funeral parlor, lots of big ugly flower arrangements and conservativeness.." she stopped. 'it isn't what he would have wanted."

"Colleen, this is the way things are done. It's all right.."

"No, Master," she said. "It isn't all right. it's all wrong!"

"What would you suggest, then?" Blitz asked.

"Yes, tell us," Exiile said, squeesing her hand again. 'Where would YOU hold funeral?"

"Here!" Colleen said with certainty in her voice. "Right here, in Headquarters. This is where we met him, this is where he lead us, this is where we all got to know him, this is where we should hold it."

"Colleen," Master objected. "I hardly think this is appropriate. I don't know if I can.."

"You have to," Colleen said. "Don't you see? Hunter loved this place more than anywhere else in the world. This is where I want to say goodbye to him!" Tears overcame her before she spoke again. "This is where he would have wanted to say goodbye to everyone!" Shag handed her a tissue.

Master than cleared his throat. 'Are we all in agreement, then? Do you all say the funeral should be held here?" After a few seconds, the others nodded. "All right, Colleen, I admit it's a bit unusual..but I can't refuse you something like this. I doubt very much if I can get some of those ashes..but there's no reason why we can't hold a memorial service here..if you believe that's what Hunter would have wanted."

Parvo looked grim as anything in the hotel room he and Storm were staying in so discuss how to carry out the first part of their plan. He threw the newspaper he was reading on the floor in a heap, causing Storm to jump up from the table, but not before he had a chance to glance at the headline. PRESIDENT'S DOG FOUND BRUTALLY SHOT. "Somebody beat us to the job!' he cried out.

"Yeah,' Parvo said with menace in his eyes. 'And I bet I know who that someone is.." Quickly he grabbed his communicator. "GROOMER!" He bellowed into it. There was no answer from it. "Where IS she?!" He mumbled.

"I TOLD ya we shouldn't have gone yesterday and left her alone!!"

"Well, if we took her along there would have been another argument. Never mind, maybe she didn't do it."

"But if what you're saying is true, Sir, then that part of the plan is already kaput."

"Maybe the PART is gone, but we can STILL get revenge!"

"Yeah..' he said slowly. 'You're RIGHT! So, are we gonna go back there and do it?"

"Later," he said slowly. "First things first. We should make DEFINITELY sure she DOESN'T screw up again! Which means making a full check of the remaining Clones, getting the money from our friends sooner than we had planned, and carry out the rest of the plan. THEN we go down to the basement and take care of it."

"And what about HER?"

"We'll take care of that too."

Groomer shivered quietly at the White House Lawn. She had managed to slip in undetected, something was telling her to come there. She saw to her right a small monument set up for the funeral tomorrow. Somehow, something was pulling her toward it. She didn't know what it was. She slipped past the thick trees. The trees! Groomer spun around quickly. Parvo could be hiding behind any of them!

Groomer had tried earlier to summon the Hunter Clone, but it wouldn't respond. Damn that Parvo, he must have rigged it so the Clone WOULDN'T recognise her voice anymore. It would think of her as the enemy, and before Parvo could dismantile it, it would leap out of one of these trees and destroy her in a last ironic revenge...

She quickly put the sacry thought out of her head and she came closer and closer toward the monument. She could even see the carved letters upon it. IN MEMORIUM it said, HUNTER. AGE 5 YEARS. A TRUE, BRAVE HERO AND DEAR FRIEND. She stopped at the monument where the ashes would rest, trembling with fear and rage. DIG, commanded a voice in her head. DIG!! She shrank back in horror. She knew what the voices meant. She was being asked to dig her own grave!

"NO," she cried. 'I won't let you do that to me!" She was strong now, she reminded herself. As strong as Parvo. She would kill Parvo first, then go after Colleen, then Exile, Then Blitz, Shag, Muzzle, and the Master. She pulled out the silencer. "Parvo, wherever you are,' she called, "Come face me!"