Okay, i'm slowly getting thorough my writers block thanks to a Ninja Turtle story that I adopted called 'Fake Smiles Real Tears' You should go check it out if you get the chance.

The other thing i wanted to point out it tat a few of you seem to have a problem with me naming one of my own characters Isis. For the record, I name her after the Egyptian Goddess of magic and healing. Not the terrorist group. And i will not let some group of wackos ruin a perfectly good name.

Anyway, Enjoy!

Ryder's amber-brown eyes watched Jake walk the few feet from the nurse's station to the row of chairs where he was sitting for what felt like the hundredth time. "I don't think the doctor would appreciate the hole you're wearing in his floor."

Casting his grey-brown eyes on the teen, Jake flashed a small smile. "I guess not." It faded quickly as he walked over and sat down next to Ryder. He gave an exasperated sigh. "Even though the doctor said he found a pup who was a perfect match, I'm still worried." Jake didn't say anything for a few moments, and then spoke again. "Did anyone else get the feeling the doctor wasn't telling us everything about Drake's condition?"

As everyone looked at each other for a conformation, Everest noticed that Marshall had his blue eyes fixed on the floor. "Marshall, what is it?" she asked.

Ryder fixed his eyes on the pup and he knew the particular look the Dalmatian had on his face well. "You know, don't you?" When the pup remained silent, Ryder spoke in a more stern voice. "You know what the Doctor isn't telling us?" He said it more as a statement than a question.

The pup continued to look down, but he finally spoke. "When Drake slumped into the cabin, I noticed his front left leg was lying at a funny angle. But, at the time, I was worried about him being. . ." The Dalmatian took a deep breath. As he exhaled, Everest noticed the glint of tears on his muzzle. "Alive . . . Once I knew he was alive, but was seriously hurt, I put all my attention into making sure he stayed alive." The pup shook his head slightly to get himself back on topic. "Anyway. . . Once I was sure he was stable in ambulance, I decided to feel around on his leg." He swallowed hard.

After a moment, Everest gave her best friend a soft nuzzle. "It's okay Marshall," she whispered softly, "take your time."

The Dalmatian took another deep, shaky breath. And finally, he brought his blue eyes off the floor and locked them with Jakes. "His leg is shattered. . . Like someone . . . hit it with a baseball bat . . . several times."

No one said anything for a few moments, too stunned by what the Dalmatian had just said. Finally, Jake spoke up, "they said I should keep watch over my other pups. I guess they were right."

At that moment, Everest wanted to walk over and comfort Jake. But somehow, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. As upset as she was about Drake, and as bad as she knew Jake felt, she was still too angry with him to show him sympathy. If he hadn't kept this secret from them for so long, maybe they could have kept the situation from going this far. She wouldn't forgive him until she got Dundee back.

Instead she leaned over and gave Marshall another soft nuzzle. This was one of the things she loved about the Dalmatian. Drake had only been with them for a couple of months or so. But as she had seen before, once you became a member of the PAW Patrol and became his friend, he cared about you deeply.

The husky was brought out of her thoughts when Ryder spoke. "What do you mean 'they'?" the teen asked. "The men who want to buy your mountain?" when Jake nodded, Ryder narrowed his amber-brown eyes. "I guess this means they've contacted you since Dundee was pup-napped?"

Jake nodded again. "The middle man came to my office this morning, and he made a call on his cell phone to the men who were holding Dundee."

Everest's ice blue eyes flare with anger again. But she took a deep breath, and then let it out in an attempt to calm herself down. "Is he okay?"

The man focused his grey-brown eyes on the husky. "They let me talk to him, and he seemed just fine." He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it didn't work. "He told me not to sell, Everest, even." He swallowed again, "even if it meant we'd never see him again. . ." The man and the husky stared at each for a few long moments, until Jake finally spoke again. "What do you want me to do, Everest?"

She only looked at him and struggled to come up with words to say. "I . . . Don't . . . Know."

There was another long moment of silence.

"Do you want to go for a walk outside and think about it?" Marshall suggested, knowing the husky probably needed a distraction. After a short pause, she nodded and moved towards the door. He looked at Ryder. "I don't know how long we'll be."

The teen nodded, "just check in every half hour or so, okay."

Marshall nodded, and then followed the husky out the door.

After a couple of seconds, Ryder turned to Chase. "I only see one way to solve the problem. . ."

The shepherd tilted his head. "What's that Ryder?"

"Chase, I want you to go back to The Lookout and use the drone on your spy truck to search Jake's Mountain for Dundee."

Chase tilted his head to one side and gave his leader a curious look. "But Ryder sir, how do you know Dundee's being held on the mountain?"

Before the teen could answer, Rocky did for him, "phone reception!"

"Exactly," Ryder nodded.

When the others looked at the two of them with curious looks, Rocky explained. "The phone reception on the top of Jake's mountain isn't the best. . . The only reason we get a good connection from The Lookout is because it's so tall and the signal doesn't have as many things, like trees, to go through."

"So," Chase said catching on, "to get a good signal they would have to be on the mountain somewhere."

Jake nodded, excited to have a lead. "Start about a third of the way up the mountain, that's when you start to get good reception."

The shepherd nodded, "You got it Ryder. . . Chase is on the case!"

"Before you run off," the teen smiled at his eager pup. "Take Rocky with you." He focused his amber eyes on the mix-breed. "Rocky, I need you to stay with Chase and try to help in any way you can."

"What about me Ryder?" Skye spoke up for the first time.

The teen nodded. "Skye I need you to search from the air." He glanced up at the clock over the nurse's station. "The sun should be coming up soon, but use Chase's night vision goggles until then. . . And be careful, all of you. Make sure you always have eyes on each other. "

The three pups nodded solemnly, "of course Ryder." Rocky said, nodding. Then, he turned to the shepherd, "Are you ready?" When the others nodded, Rocky focused his deep brown eyes on Ryder. "Green means go! See you later Ryder."

Just as the pups got to the door, Rocky noticed a worried look develop on the shepherds face. He stopped. "Are you okay, Chase?"

Chase stopped as well, and thought for a moment. Then, he turned around. "Give me one second, okay." The others nodded as he ran back to Ryder.

Ryder was confused. "Is there something wrong Chase?"

"Well, Ryder sir. . . Earlier you said you wanted me to stay because Marshall might need me. . ." The pup hesitated.

Ryder smiled, "I can look out for Marshall. . . The sooner we find Dundee, the sooner this will all be over."

Chase nodded. "You got it Ryder."

Deciding that Everest needed to get away from the hospital, Marshall walked her over to a small park across the street. The two pups walked the footpath for a few minutes in silence for several minutes. Even though the Dalmatian could see the questions in Everest's ice blue eyes, she would talk to him in her own time, when she was ready.

Finally, she stopped and turned to him. "What do you think I should do?" she asked.

He sighed. "Honestly. . . I don't know." He focused his sky blue eyes on her. "But it doesn't matter." When she cocked her head to one side in confusion, he smiled. "Ryder's got a plan."

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Before we left, I looked in his eyes. He gets a certain look in his eye when he as a plan." Marshall's eyes softened. "Everything will be back to normal soon, okay Rissy?"

She moved closer to him and gave him a soft nuzzle. "Thanks Marshall, you always know what to say."

He smiled wide, "it's a gift." As she laughed and nuzzled him again, his attention was drawn to a car parked at the street a few yards away that he was sure wasn't there a minuet ago. He couldn't see who was inside, even though the front window was rolled down. What caught his attention was glint of the full moon reflecting off something familiar resting in the window.

His blood ran cold.

"Everest, get down!" He shoved her to the grass just as a gunshot rang out.

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