DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING RELATED TO BALTO.

THE NEXT MORNING

I yawned into waking as I smelt bacon cooking. Rosie's mom was making breakfast. My companions woke shortly after I did, unable to deny the hunger the smell of food aroused in them. We all nodded in greeting to Balto and Jenna as they entered the room. We were comfortable, waiting for breakfast.

"Sleep well?" asked Jenna, breaking the silence. We nodded.

"Even though it wasn't really your choice, we are grateful that you welcome us so openly into your home," Demona told her. It brought a smile to my face. Demona rarely went out of her way to be friendly.

"Morning, dear," Rosie's mom greeted her husband. He sat down hard with a heavy sigh.

"We're almost out of food again," he said. "We have too many pets."

I frowned and exchanged looks with Demona and Lily. We knew what this meant. If we were going to continue to live here, we had to prove our worth. After giving a soft whine to Rosie's mom and stealing a single piece of bacon each, we all walked out.

"How much do you think we'll need?" asked Lily. I shrugged.

"As much as we can kill," I answered and we all took off for the forest.

THREE HOURS LATER

I pulled my final kill to the clearing. The other two were waiting. We'd made quite a pile...

"I'll go get the man," I told them.

"We'll guard," Lily said simply. I nodded and turned, running back to town. I searched until I saw Rosie's dad and then lightly tugged on his coat. He turned around and went to pet me, but I backed just out of reach. He tried again, stepping closer, and I backed away again. He went to turn back to his conversation so I tugged on his coat again.

"What is it, girl?" he asked. "Do you want me to follow you?"

Immediately, I nodded. Exchanging looks with Mr. Simpson, both men followed me back to the clearing. Immediately, they both gasped in surprise. I stepped aside and sat down, waiting for them to say something.

"Look at all that food!" Mr. Simpson said in shock. Several dogs had followed us as well, as had the butcher.

"Well, I'll be damned," muttered Rosie's dad. Together, my comrades and I had killed and piled here 14 Caribou, 9 Moose, numerous birds, tons of fish, and several rabbits. I gave a soft whine, needing to know we'd done good. In response, all three of us got a lot of attention from the men present. The Butcher ran back to town for help in transporting it all.

"Good dogs," Rosie's dad told us. We smiled in victory, then helped the men haul the carcasses back to Nome. After dropping them all off at the butcher's for processing, we went back outside and laid down on the porch of the post office.

"That was fun," Demona commented.

"The rabbits were fun," Lily agreed. I giggled. I'd seen her run around after those. While Demona and I had hunted the bigger, slower game, Lily had chosen the faster, smaller prey. Over all, I think we'd done well.

"We may have to do this at least thrice a month," I told them. They both nodded.

"Anything to continue to guarantee a home," Lily stated. The Mail team finally pulled up, late as usual. I said nothing, merely noted how all of them were sweating something fierce. I noted the new dog in my place, a youngster, just freshly grown into his paws.

"I see Micah fits right in," the postmaster told Mr. Simpson. The musher nodded, removing the team from the harness.

"He's an okay substitute, but he needs a lot more training," he answered. He then saw us and smiled.

"You missed it," the postmaster continued. "These three went and hunted down enough game this morning to feed Nome for a month."

Surprised expressions assaulted the group. Demona, Lily, and I all hung our heads in embarrassment.

"Make it sound like we saved the town, why don't you?" Demona muttered, her embarrassment obvious in her voice.

"Really?" Mr. Simpson asked. "These three are rapidly proving themselves to be indisposable. First with their protectiveness of the young, second with their speed, and now with their hunting skills."

We smiled at one another.

"These three may just be the best thing to happen to this town since Balto," the postmaster agreed. Unable to take much more of this flattery, the three of us rose and began to walk off. No dog was pleased with us after the postmaster had compared us to Balto, especially not the mail team. Even though I had my companions with me, I felt more alone than ever. Demona nor Lily missed the change in my demeanor.

"Talk to me," Lily said as we sat down in the old shed where the dog meetings were held. A few sleeping dogs were there so we kept our voices down. I sighed heavily.

"It just seems like the closer we get to the humans, the further we get from the dogs," I answered, my tone heavy-laden with grief. "Can't win for losing."

Both of my friends hung their heads.

"Serena, you can't live your life trying to please everyone," Demona said kindly. "Sweetheart, the only reason we went and got so much food is because Rosie's dad mentioned that he had too many pets and that they were nearly out of food."

"We hunted because we had to," Lily added. "As for being compared to Balto, well, that's a very high compliment... and outsiders are the ones receiving it. You have to take a moment to see it from their point of view. We move in on thier turf and-"

"All of a sudden their everyone's second choice," Demona finished. I just shook my head.

"Maybe coming here was a bad idea," I thought aloud. "We may have found a place to live and endless food to eat, but at what cost? All we've managed to do is hurt everyone... Why did we think we could ever be any good?... We never were and, it seems, never will be..."

My head was on my paws as I let the tears leak from my eyes. I closed them in my pain. My companions didn't know what to say to that, knowing it to be the truth. No one good thing had come of us being here. Slowly, they curled up next to me on both sides, laying thier heads across my neck and shoulders. I gave up completely in that moment and just closed my eyes, praying I'd never wake up.

THE NEXT MORNING

"Serena!" came a loud, sobbed cry. Every dog jerked awake at the sound of Rosie's mournful voice. "Serena, where are you?"

A few of them exchanged looks.

"Serena!" Rosie sobbed. "Please come back!"

Kodi and his team walked out of the shed to see what was wrong. In Rosie's hand was Serena's collar. Serena's two companions were walking with Rosie, each of them deeply distressed.

"Where is she?" Kodi asked them. Both of them looked like they'd been crying... a lot...

"We don't know," Lily answered. "She was there last night."

"This morning, all we could find was her collar!" Demona finished, her voice filled with grief. Suddenly, Rosie hit her knees. Demona leaned over to make sure she was okay, only to be wrapped in a tight hug. Rosie continued to weep on her while Demona hugged her back, needing the comfort just as much as the child did.

"Serena..." Rosie cried.

"Rosie!" he dad said, running up with her coat. "You shouldn't be outside, dressed like that! You'll catch a cold!"

Rosie merely turned and cried on her dad.

"Sweetheart, we'll find her," he tried to assure her. "It'll be okay..."

He continued to whisper things to her as he carried her back to the house.

My heart wrenched every time I remembered her cries. A large part of me screamed to return, but I couldn't turn back now. No one wanted me there, none except her. My friends, I was certain, would take good care of her...

So, I pushed on, running further and further away, my heart tearing more and more with every step.

"Serena?" I heard someone say. I paused and turned to see who had spoken, only to see the face of Stella.

"What do you want, Stella?" I asked, not unkindly. I was simply... defeated.

"Serena, everyone's looking for you!" she scolded lightly. "Do you have any idea how much that little girl misses you?"

"Everyone's looking for me, huh?" I asked. "How long did it take for them to actually begin to care, Stella?"

She looked taken back. I didn't blame her. My voice had gone ice cold.

"I've been running for over three days now," I continued coldly. "If they really cared, they'd have started looking for me from the get-go. Instead, they wait."

"Serena, Rosie's very sick," Stella said finally, her tone pleading with me to listen. I froze, my heart feeling like someone had clenched it with an icy hand. "She went looking for you and was attacked by a grizzly. Demona and Lily are barely alive. The bear did a number on all of them."

My legs gave out underneath me.

"Serena... Rosie needs you."

A part of me summoned strength I didn't even know I had as I got up and turned to Stella.

"Guide me home," I told her. She nodded, a smile on her face.

FOUR DAYS LATER

Slowly, I made my way through the darkened town. Not a single soul was out, not even a dog. My eyes scanned everything, finally coming to rest on Rosie's house. Stella nodded at me from on the roof, telling me Rosie was still inside. Soundlessly, I slipped in the back door, shutting it silently behind me, then made my way to her bedroom. The sight that met my gaze made my heart heavy with guilt and regret.

I shouldn't be here... I did this...

My two friends were torn all to hell and Rosie... Never before had I longed to just be dead. That child had been hurt because of me...

Silently, I walked over and gently laid my paws on the side of her bed. After a few moments of hesitation, I reached over and lightly licked her face. Rosie's bruised eyes slowly opened, then lit up like christmas came early.

"Serena?" she asked, her voice telling me she was heavily drugged. I nuzzled her hand softly and nodded. Her smile grew as she wrapped her arms weakly around me. "Serena... I've missed you."

I nodded, hugging her back.

"Mom!" Rosie called. "Dad! Serena's back!"

Both parents came at a dead run and I found myself in even more hugs. Mr. Simpson was there, the postmaster was there, the butcher was there, several kids were there-all of them glad to see I had returned. I saw the town doctor and the town vet and gave a low whine. Both gave me soft smiles.

"They'll all be just fine," the doctor told me. "Your companions were fixed up in less than a few hours. Dr. Antos is the best at what he does. They just need time to heal."

I nodded, then looked at Rosie.

"She just has a really bad cold," he assured me. "She'll be fine in a couple days now that you're back."

"I need to check you over real quick before you go anywhere," Dr. Antos said. I nodded and stepped over to him, letting him check everything. He smiled warmly. "Welcome home, Serena."

I nodded and then got on the bed with Rosie, curling up next to her to comfort her. I felt her place my collar around my neck again and licked her hand in gratitude.

"We'll be better soon," she whispered against my fur as she fell asleep once more.