Missed Chances - Chapter 3
There was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," yelled Everest. Marshall was in his study again.
"Marshall, there is a guy here with a warrant for you!" yelled Everest.
"Tell him to kiss my ass," laughed Marshall, "He'll have to blow the door down to get me!"
"I can do that!" laughed Chase.
Marshall came running into the tripping as he turned the corner. Marshall fell to the floor.
"I'm good!" laughed Marshall. "Chase, it's you. I never trip anymore unless you're here."
"Yeah, I don't buy it," laughed Chase running over and diving on top of Marshall. The wrestled and finally Chase pinned Marshall. Marshall tapped the ground twice.
"Hose Jockey still can't hang," laughed Chase standing up and helping Marshall up.
"Yeah, not everyone wakes before sunrise to perform their PT regiment," laughed Chase.
"Yeah, He still does that every morning regardless of what country we find ourselves in," said Rhonda walking in behind them.
"Hey guys," said Chase, "This is my best girl, Rhonda."
"Hello Rhonda," said Everest, "welcome to Jake's Mountain. You work with Chase?"
"Yeah, My job is to pick up the pieces if he ever screws up," laughed Rhonda.
"Yeah that's the only way you'll get promoted," laughed Chase.
"Yeah F-You," laughed Rhonda. "Uh, sorry, shop talk."
"Yeah, I'm totally kidding," said Chase, "She's already better than me. She'll have her bars in less than a year."
"So where did you meet?" asked Everest.
"Uh, that's classified," said Chase.
"What?" asked Marshall.
"Shut up stupid," said Rhonda, "he just loves telling people that. We got assigned together a year ago to teach these classes. Now we can't seem to get rid of each other. I think we may just end up moving to Berlin, we'll see how it goes."
"Uh, cool," said Marshall, "Let me show you to your rooms."
"Great, I'm really wanting to catch up," said Chase, "But I seriously want to get out of this uniform for a few days."
"Maybe take a shower you stinky dog," laughed Rhonda.
"You gonna come help?" snapped Chase.
"Have you got too fat to reach your ass?" snapped back Rhonda. Marshall and Everest stood there with wide eyes not knowing how to react.
"Uh, I did it again," said Rhonda, "We banter a lot. I really do love him, honest."
"Yeah, ok," said Marshall. "Anyway you're in cabin 2 right next to the road. You can walk over or drive your, uh, Chase did you really rent a hummer?"
"What? I like how they drive," said Chase. "At least it's blue, not sand brown or olive green."
"He can't drive anything else," laughed Rhonda.
"Dinner is at 1800," said Everest.
"I'm impressed," said Chase, "Did you learn military time just for me?"
"I figured you didn't know how to read regular time anymore," said Everest, "I can assure you I have no intention of being awake at 0600."
Marshall hesitated before knocking. He listened for a moment but didn't hear anything. He leaned forward to knock as he raised his hand, the door opened, Chase stood there with a pistol held behind his back. The moment he saw Marshall his face softened and he stepped back.
"Sorry, I heard the porch creak," said Chase stepping over and setting the pistol on the kitchen counter.
"Chase," said Marshall, "I really appreciate your service to the country, but I'm really sorry for the stuff that has messed with your head."
"I'm sorry Marshall," said Chase, sitting at the bar. "I haven't slept since we left Germany. Marshall, I saw her."
"Her?" said Marshall, although in his heart he already knew.
"Skye Marshall," said Chase, with a noticeable haunted look in his eyes. "I saw her. She was picking up a boyfriend or whatever. They flew out just before we did."
"Well Shit," said Marshall, "that complicates things."
"What?" asked Chase, "What does it complicate?"
"Here," Marshall said, as he set a case of Chase's favorite beer on the counter. "You're probably gonna need several of these."
"Ok," said Chase, grabbing two and handing Marshall one. "Out with it."
"Well," said Marshall, 'like a Band-Aid, rip it off, it hurts less' thought Marshall. "Chase, Skye is coming in tomorrow. I was really hoping we were wrong about her plus one."
Chase hung his head, "It's my own damned fault. I can take on a battalion of soldiers, but I was a coward when it came to her. I gave her no reason to wait for me. I can't believe I was so stupid."
"Chase it's not over until there is a wedding," said Marshall. "It would be surprising if it was that serious. She talks to Everest all the time. I can't believe she wouldn't have said something."
"Well, it wasn't my imagination that saw her hug and kiss a guy in Germany," said Chase.
"I never said it was," said Marshall. "So, uh, how long have you two been dating?"
"Who?" asked Chase.
"Who?" laughed Marshall, "You and Rhonda, you duffus."
Chase began laughing. He laughed so hard he fell over on the floor. Rhonda came running out of her room. "What the hell Chase?" yelled Rhonda.
"Mar-(ha, ha) Marsh," Chase struggled to contain himself. "Marshall wants know how long we've been dating."
"Oh Marshall," laughed Rhonda, "We, uh, we aren't dating."
"Don't tell me you're already married," said Marshall, not understanding.
This made Chase return to a fit of laugher, "Oh god, I'm gonna pee myself!" Chase was almost crying he was laughing so hard.
"Ok, I'm obviously missing something," said Marshall.
Chase began calming down and sat up looking at Marshall. He turned and looked at Rhonda and snickered again. "Rhonda is more likely to go run off with Everest, then she ever will be with me."
"WHAT!" yipped Marshall.
"Real smooth shit for brains," said Rhonda. "Marshall what this idiot is trying to say is we love each other because we literally have saved each others asses on several occasions. I would willingly follow him onto any battlefield in the world. But I'm a lesbian. I don't date men and never have."
"Oh, OH!" blushed Marshall, "Sorry I wasn't catching on."
"It's ok," said Chase, "I agree, Rhonda is a very good looking female, but I don't think we could date even if she was interested in men. We've been through too much together. We've sweat, bleed, and cried together in some of the darkest places in the world. We're family beyond what anyone that hasn't been there can ever understand."
"Even if we were interested in each other," laughed Rhonda, "He's my superior, I love him, but he's not worth the conduct unbecoming charge. And yes, your mate is hot."
"Uh?" said Marshall.
"Officers serving together aren't supposed to date," explained Chase.
"Well, that's half of the problem," said Marshall.
"Ok, what did I miss?" asked Rhonda.
"Skye's coming tomorrow," said Chase. "I guess, I'll get to meet her, whatever."
"Great, just as I thought I was going to get to enjoy myself for a change," said Rhonda, sitting and grabbing a beer.
"What do you mean?" said Marshall.
"Chase here saw her in Germany," said Rhonda, "and it took a thousand miles before he would speak to anyone. I told him to call her."
"What good would it do?" said Chase, "I screwed around and lost her. I promise Marshall, I'll be civil. I can't be mad at her for moving on."
The three of them spent the rest of the evening drinking and telling Rhonda Paw Patrol stories. Rhonda in turn told stories of Chase and herself.
"So, Chase set off the charge and blew the back half of the house across the street," Rhonda was explaining. "He turned and looked at me and with a straight face said 'Well, that didn't quite go as I expected.'"
Marshall rolled with laughter, "I can just imagine that."
They had drank all the beer. Marshall had called Everest and she had brought another case. Marshall explained to Everest that Rhonda wasn't going to be an issue.
Rocky drove into town and stopped at the Lookout. It had been turned into a museum / community center. He took a deep breath remembering the good old days.
"It was so much simpler then," said Rocky. "Some days I wish we could just go back to rescuing chickens and little boys."
He started his car back up and turned towards Zuma's house. As he pulled into the driveway he saw Zuma running up from the beach.
"I figured that was you," called Zuma and he ran up and hugged his best friend.
"Man, I've missed you," said Rocky.
"So, you want to join me back at the beach?" asked Zuma.
"I'll come down and sit with you," said Rocky. "But I'm not going to go swimming."
"So, you still hate water?" asked Zuma. "I thought you had gotten past that."
"I'm fine," said Rocky, "But I'd have to change from my work clothes."
"Oh, I see," laughed Zuma. "But no, I'm just sitting on the beach working on my lesson plans for the next month."
Rocky and Zuma both walked down to the beach. Zuma had anticipated Rocky showing up and had everything set up already. Beach chairs, umbrellas, drinks and snacks.
"Uh, Zuma," said Rocky pausing, "did you have this set up and ready for me or is this something you do everyday?"
"I knew you were coming today," said Zuma, "I've had everything ready for a little bit this morning. I've missed you a lot, I knew we'd have a lot to catch up on so I got ready. I told you I had to go shopping."
"I've missed you also Bro," said Rocky.
"So, take a load off and tell me all the things you can't talk about," laughed Zuma, opening a drink and handing it to Rocky. They sat and talked for several hours about their lives and adventures. Zuma was speaking about a student he had taken an interest in. A young kid that was a bit of a loner. Incredibly smart but super shy. Zuma said he just needed a friend that he could come talk to. Zuma explained that the kid was afraid of water but was excellent at organization so he had made him the team manager.
"Zuma, you replaced me," said Rocky, "Don't tell me his name is Rocky also."
"No, it's Terry," laughed Zuma, "But he reminds me of you so much that I can survive between your visits."
"Ah, I love you to bro," laughed Rocky.
A knock on the cabin door caused Everest to jump at first. She got up and walked to the door. Marshall was still over at Chase's cabin. She opened the door to a cute dalmatian.
"Hey sis," said Cinder, "Did someone order a cuddle buddy for the week?"
"Cinder!" squealed Everest, "Marshall said he wasn't sure if you were going to make it."
"Yeah, I'll admit," laughed Cinder, "I told him to do that."
"You two just love to play with my emotions like that," laughed Everest. "Come in, I'll grab you a drink. Tell me about big city fire business."
"Where's Marshy," asked Cinder, jumping on the couch.
"Well, somehow we inadvertently arranged a Paw Patrol reunion, but.." said Everest.
"Uh oh, I heard a but," said Cinder.
"Well, it started with Chase requesting a room for the week and then…" started Everest. She went on to explain the situation between Chase and Skye, both of them arranging to be here at the same time. Then Rocky coming into town and Rubble being available.
"But you're not really sure about Chase and Skye's plus one's," said Cinder.
"That's just it," said Everest. "I was still hoping but Chase showed up with a very pretty cocker spaniel. Marshall went over with a case of beer to try and get him talking. They ended up calling me over with more beer and it turns out she really is just a work friend. A very close work friend but not possible for them getting together."
"Not possible?" asked Cinder. "She's got a pulse, anything is possible."
"Well in this case," laughed Everest, "She would like me more than Chase. In fact she'll really like a hot dalmatian like you."
"Oh, ohhhh!" said Cinder, catching on. "Well, I'd be flattered, but I still like to hope there's a guy out there for me somewhere."
"She's really very nice," laughed Everest, "And he's out there somewhere. I keep looking but little old Adventure Bay still has few prospects."
"Well, I get my monthly cuddle time from you anyway," laughed Cinder, "Wow, that sounds just shy of lesbian doesn't it."
"But I love our cuddle time," laughed Everest, "And we let Marshall join us so it doesn't count, right?"
They continued talking for a while until Marshall finally came home late that night. Cinder and Everest put him to bed and returned to continue talking.
The next morning Marshall walked out with an extra cup of coffee. He sat on the porch and waited. A few minutes later Chase came running up the driveway from the direction of town.
"Morning!" called Marshall from the porch.
"Morning Marsh," panted Chase as he walked over stretching and cooling down. He walked over and gladly took the cup of coffee.
"Rhonda's not up with you?" asked Marshall.
"Yeah, she said her head hurt this morning and since it wasn't mandatory PT she'd just sleep in," laughed Chase.
"So, did you decide what you're going to do?" asked Marshall.
"You know me," said Chase.
"So, you didn't sleep at all huh," laughed Marshall. "Well during your nocturnal activities, did you come up with a plan? Do I need to run to Home Depot and get rope and sheet plastic?"
"Tempting," laughed Chase, "No, if in fact she has moved on. I will support her decision. Hell yeah, it will hurt, but I did this, not her."
"Well, it turned out your plus one was a work friend," said Marshall, "Maybe hers is as well."
"I don't deserve a second or whatever number of chances I've had," said Chase.
Cinder walked out and grabbed Chase from behind in a bear hug. Chase grabbed her paws and flipped her over before realizing what he had done but quickly recognized her and started to jump back. She grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.
"Ok, so noted," laughed Cinder. "Don't sneak up on the war dog. I've missed you, Chase. MY haven't we got more muscled up since I last hugged you. I don't think I want to let go now."
Chase kissed her nose, "Sorry, I'm a little jumpy still. I'll settle in a few more days. I've been working out a little. I've missed you too."
Chase stood and helped Cinder to her paws. She walked over and grabbed her a cup of coffee. The three sat on the porch and talked until the others began waking up. Rhonda had come over and introduced herself. Everest poked her head out and asked if Cinder and Rhonda wanted to come help finish breakfast.
I want to take a moment to Thank Foxfire69 for letting me use his OC Cinder. She is always a fun addition.