Chapter 10: Till Death Do Them Part.
"Steele?", Jenna asked again. Even after staring at Steele for at least a minute, the husky still seemed to have trouble acknowledging his presence.
By now, Steele seemed to have regained his composure, and had moved a few inches in the last minute. But even though he now had a large scowl on his face, sneering right at Kodi's father, the malamute hadn't made any sort of move to attack the hybrid. And Kodi figured that was a good thing.
"What the hell are you doing here?!", Nikki growled.
"What did you do to Kodi?!", Kaltag demanded.
"I didn't do anything to him. Just ask the little runt", Steele said, gritting his teeth.
"Well you must have been planning to", Jenna glared.
"Mom, dad, it's okay. He's telling the truth", Kodi insisted.
"You don't know what he's capable of like we do Kodi. You can't believe anything he says", Star replied, deciding to join in the conversation.
"But I do. There were plenty of times he could have killed me tonight when you weren't here, but he didn't. Heck, I even invited him to a couple of times", Kodi explained, before the husky bit his tongue, albeit a bit too late. Sometimes, he really did talk too much for his own good.
"You invited Steele to kill you?", Balto asked incredulously.
Kodi gulped, realizing he had once again said the wrong thing, and then nodded. "That came out wrong. It sounds a lot worse than it actually was", Kodi said, deciding it was best to lie, for both his and Steele's sake.
When his father still didn't reply, only continuing to glare at Steele, Kodi sighed. "Look, I know we've all fought each other in the past. Steele kicked me in the head when I was a pup, and I bit him on the leg", Kodi said.
Steele smirked, and rolled his eyes, causing Kodi's eyebrow to raise his eyebrows ever-so-slightly at him. "You didn't exactly draw blood kid. You'd get your ass kicked in a real fight", the malamute said smugly.
"You're not helping", Kodi growled under his breath, glaring at the black and white dog almost as intensely as his father was.
Steele frowned, but silently decided to follow Kodi's advice for once and keep his mouth shut.
"But this isn't about us anymore. It's about Dusty and all the people trapped in this hotel. If we're gonna get them all out of here, then we're gonna have to do it together, whether we like it or not", Kodi explained. And then, completely unexpectedly, Kodi grinned, and looked back at his father. "And isn't that what being on a sled dog team is all about? Putting up with a bunch people you can't stand and bringing them all together for the greater good?", the boy asked.
Balto hesitated, and looked at Steele again. Even he had to admit there was something different about Steele than the last time he had seen him. The malamute had actually joked about something. He had made a joke about Kodi, the son of a wolf-dog, and it hadn't been deliberately malicious. And that wasn't normal for Steele. Not normal at all.
And when he looked into Steele's eyes, the cold blood orbs that had haunted his nightmares for so long, he didn't see what he always saw in them. Yeah, sure Steele looked pissed off like he always did, and close to snapping, but there were a few things different. Balto didn't see hatred in his expression, nor did he see any rage or aggression, just frustration. Instead he saw something that looked almost like worry. And beneath the worry, he saw the most impossible of things.
Regret.
When Steele looked at Jenna, every time he saw the husky, Balto could see regret flash across the malamute's face for a few brief seconds. Like it hurt him to look at her, knowing what he had done to her a few years prior. How he had broken his word to her.
The Steele Balto knew, the heartless bully that had tormented him for years, never felt regret about anything. You'd need to actually have compassion for others to feel regretful about something.
The Steele that Balto was looking was at now wasn't the proud, boasting troublemaker that everyone in Nome feared. But instead a sad, broken man, who was being forced to face the demons of his past. And for the first time in his life, feel real fear and regret.
Balto had a feeling Kodi was the reason he was so willingly facing his emotions. After all, this sort of change couldn't have just happened for no reason. And Kodi was quite possibly the only thing besides himself and Jenna that could have triggered it.
That was why Kodi had so much faith in the malamute, and that was why the boy was begging his father put all his trust in his worst enemy, for the sake of his daughter-in-law.
"Please dad, you have to do this. The longer we stand around here arguing, the longer Dusty and the others are exposed to the cold. And you've been in blizzards for years, you know what'll happen if we wait", Kodi reasoned.
Again, Balto looked at Kodi, and then at Steele. "Kodi, do you really think you can trust him?", Balto asked doubtfully.
Kodi hesitated, and looked behind him, before sighing. "Maybe, I don't know. But like I said, we don't have time to worry about that", the husky restated.
"Well then…you're right", Balto decided.
"WHAT?! You can't be serious!", Kaltag asked, running up to the hybrid's side.
"Kaltag, we didn't come here to start a fight, we came to help Dusty, and that's just what we're gonna do", Balto reminded him.
Kaltag frowned, and growled at Steele again, before he resigned to his thoughts.
However, Balto still wasn't finished yet. There was still something important left that needed to be said. "Nikki, Kaltag, Star. Before we begin, I need you all to give me your word that you'll trust me and Steele, and do whatever we need you to do. It's important that I can rely on all you to ignore your own feelings and focus on the crisis at hand", Balto insisted.
The three sled dogs raised their paws, and rubbed the back of their necks, while Jenna and Kodi watched their father anxiously. For a moment, the boy and his mother were afraid that Balto and Kodi's plan would never work. That the wolf-dog was asking too much from his most loyal of friends. Meanwhile, Steele just watched from a distance, still keeping quiet like Kodi asked him to. Finally, Kaltag decided to answer Balto's request. "Putting up with people you can't stand for the greater good. Just like the old days, right boss?", the husky asked, grinning at Balto.
Balto smirked, and nodded his head. "Exactly", he said, before turning towards the wolf pack behind him. "What about you guys? We could use all the help we can get right now. Do you think you'd mind getting involved in canine affairs and helping us out, just this once?", Balto asked hopefully.
The lead wolf smiled, and placed his paw on Balto's shoulder. "After what you and Jenna did for me, it would be my honor", Bane said reassuringly.
Balto smiled, before turning around and steeling himself. Now came the most difficult part, the part he had saved for last. He ignored all the other dogs and wolves in the room, and focused on the malamute in the corner. "Steele-", the hybrid began.
"What is it wolf-dog?", Steele asked impatiently.
Balto frowned, but then tried to refocus his thoughts. After all, it was Steele he was talking to. It's not like he had expected the malamute to call him by his real name. He would actually have to respect him for that. In fact, the hybrid was surprised Steele was still being this civil, considering the circumstances of their last meeting.
"Steele, I already know I can trust the others. They've all given me their word. But I need to know I can trust you right now. Kodi seems to think I can, and I'd like to think my son has good judgment. Now-", Balto began, raising his paw, before he was suddenly cut off.
"Oh shut up already", Steele said suddenly, taking the wolf-dog by surprise. Before he could reply, or angrily tell the malamute off, Steele grabbed Balto's paw and pulled the hybrid forward. Balto flinched instinctively, and prepared for the worst, when he realized the malamute wasn't attacking him. Steele was actually shaking his hand, though not because he wanted to by the sour look on his face. "I'll help you save the girl", the sled dog decided.
"But…but why?", Balto asked, confused. He struggled to understand why Steele was being so selfless all of a sudden, or why the malamute had actually accepted his offer.
"Three reasons wolf-dog. One, my beef is with you Bingo. I might not know this Dusty girl, but I know her and her baby are innocent in all this. Even if she does have a really bad taste in men", the malamute remarked, before glancing at Kodi and smirking as he saw the frown on the boy's face.
"Two, I'm a sled dog. Helping people is my job, even if…if I've never been very good at it", the malamute admitted, earning several stares from all the other dogs. Modesty was an entirely new concept to Steele, humble was something he had never even thought of being before. But who knew swallowing his pride would be so painful? Or embarrassing? Still, all he could do was ignore the stares of peers, and continue (besides, if any of them tried to give him trouble later, they'd all be met with the receiving end of his fist). "But after everything that's happened tonight, I promised myself that I wouldn't let what happened at the serum run happen again. This time I won't let any innocent lives be lost while I'm on the job", the sled dog promised.
Balto looked at the malamute in wonder. Even though Steele still looked the same, and acted mostly the same, it was like he didn't even recognize the sled dog before him anymore. Could Kodi have really done all that in just one day? "Steele…that's really insightful", the wolf-dog stuttered, struggling to find the right words.
"Oh don't go getting all preachy on me yet lobo, I still got one last thing left. Or have you forgotten that already?", the malamute asked sarcastically, though his insults didn't seem to have the same effect on Balto like they did before. They didn't have the same malicious intent they always used to have. Like his rival was insulting him, but it wasn't nearly as fierce or as personal as it used to be.
"Which is?", Balto asked him curiously.
"My owner is buried under there with your daughter-in-law and Griff's boyfriend. It's my job as a sled dog to protect my musher…something else I didn't do right when I needed to. Besides, if Roger dies, not only am I out of the job, but I'm homeless again too", Steele said lightly, though Balto figured the malamute had only added that joke at the end so he wouldn't dwell too much on the serum run.
By now, the grin on Balto's face was huge, and the hybrid had only one last thing he needed to say. "So I can rely on you then?", Balto asked again, wanting to be extra sure Steele's words were sincere, just in case.
"So long as you pair me with a dog. Just because I'm willing to work with you on this doesn't mean I'm going to want to spend the next hour moving wood with a pack of wild wolves", Steele warned.
"That's reasonable enough", Balto shrugged. Though, despite his attempts to seem blasé, Balto was relieved beyond belief that things had been that easy.
"And Bingo?", Steele asked, while raising his eyebrow in annoyance for some reason.
"Yeah?", Balto asked curiously.
"When did you decide to rip my paw off my arm?", the malamute asked, growling slightly.
Balto looked down, and realized that sure enough, he still hadn't pulled his hand away from Steele's. He had been so shocked by Steele's cooperation he had forgotten to break up their pawshake. "Oh, sorry", the wolf-dog said sheepishly. The hybrid then turned around to face his friends.
"All right, we'll do this as one giant chain, stretching from that side of the room to the front door. This way, no one dog, or wolf, carries too much weight by himself, and no one has to exert themselves for too long", Balto explained, adding details as he went along.
"Jenna and I will be at the head of the chain, Kirby and Nikki will be next, Star and Griff after them, then Kodi and Kirby, and Kaltag and Steele will be near the end", Balto continued.
"What?!", Steele and Kaltag said simultaneously. Neither sled dog liked the idea of having to work with their former teammate. Even though they had both promised to cooperate, they still held resentment towards each other for the events of the serum run. Kaltag for Steele sabotaging his team. And Steele for Kaltag and the others abandoning him and running off with a wolf-dog so quickly. Not to mention the relationship they used to have beyond being teammates. Hell, Steele would even want to work with one of Bane's wild wolves before he'd want to work with Kaltag.
"Buck up you two, working together for once won't kill you. After the wood reaches you two, you'll hand it to Bane's pack, who'll then bring it outside. Since they have more fur than the rest of us, they can handle blizzard winds better than we can, so they'll be working the end of the chain. Now, everyone line up in a row, and take the positions I just granted you", Balto continued.
The wolf-dog watched in satisfaction as his friends and family all formed a single file, Steele and Kaltag begrudgingly standing next to each other. Once he was sure they were all in place, Balto picked up a piece of wood, and handed it to Jenna, who then handed it Kirby, who then handed it to Nikki, and so on and so on. The hybrid's plan just might work. If they got to Dusty and the humans in time.
((()-()))
"You know, I never thought I would die like this", Roger murmured, his voice muffled by all the wood on top of him.
"I don't think anyone would have seen this coming", John added, lying next to the man.
"Still, I guess when it's time for you to go, the universe comes up with some pretty creative ideas", Roger mused. "By the way Connor, when you told me this hotel had an upstairs draft, I didn't think you meant the whole upstairs was gonna fall down", Roger said, hoping to amuse himself.
"I told you this hotel had problems with it's support beams, but you still checked in anyway", Connor reminded him from a few feet away. Though Roger and John were lying next to each other (since they had been standing side-by-side when the second floor fell), Connor was separated from them by the rest of the rubble.
"True", Roger admitted. All three men were in a surprisingly light and jovial mood, considering they were buried alive. Then again, panicking would do them no good, so all they could do was make jokes and wait for the blizzard to end so help could arrive. Trouble was, sunrise wouldn't be for another hour or so.
"Got any regrets?", John asked.
"Just one. That I spent the rest of my life traveling, never settling down like the rest of my friends. But I've had enough of that now. If I survive this, I'm moving back to Nome. Maybe I'll take Steele to go see Gunnar again", Roger said, thinking out loud.
"Kaasen would like that", John said, smiling.
"Gunnar would get a kick out of that", Roger corrected him.
"I think it's time me and Steele hang up our hats", Roger said peacefully, closing his eyes.
"What are you two gentlemen talking about?", Conner asked curiously.
"It's a long story", Roger replied, not really feeling like explaining.
"We've got plenty of time", the hotel reminded him, trying to shrug but failing to do so since he couldn't move his arms.
Roger groaned, and opened his eyes again. So much for waiting out the next hour in peace.
Meanwhile, the humans weren't the only ones awake under the rubble. Their dogs were beginning to show signs of life too.
"How are you holding up Dust?", Blake asked, shivering as his body was pinned down to the ice cold floor. As if their situation wasn't bad enough already, there had to be blizzard raging outside. Nature just had to throw salt in their wounds.
"Well, I'm extremely uncomfortable, but I'd say I'm still all right for now. How about you?", Dusty asked.
"I'm freezing my tail off, but I guess I'm all right too", Blake replied honestly. The husky had woken up a few minutes ago, and was surprised to find that him and Dusty weren't buried that far apart from each other. Sure, they couldn't see each other because of all the broken wood that divided them, but they could still hear each other pretty well. Unfortunately, they didn't think their rescuers could hear them though.
"I wish Kodi was here. We always used to keep each other warm on nights like this", Dusty said wistfully.
"Yeah, Griff and I did too", Blake added. "What I wouldn't give to be in that big bear's arms right now", the husky thought, his teeth chattering.
"Can you hear the others?", Dusty asked.
"Yeah, Roger and John are awake. I think they're talking about death right now", Blake replied.
"How optimistic of them", Dusty muttered sarcastically.
"Dusty, we're gonna get out of here. I know Griff, he's not gonna stop until he finds us. He'd give the devil hell if it meant finding me. I know it's what I would do if he was under here. And it's what Kodi is probably doing right now", Blake said reassuringly, wishing more than anything he could touch Dusty, so he could comfort his friend psychically as well as emotionally. If only those goddamn walls weren't separating them.
"Yeah. He probably is. But is it enough?", the female husky asked rhetorically.
Though Dusty couldn't see, Blake's face darkened, and he glanced in the direction of where Dusty's voice was coming from. "What's wrong? Why are you so worried?", he asked.
"It's just…when Kodi and I got married, we said we'd always be together until death did us part. I just didn't think it'd be this soon. And even if I had, I still wouldn't have seen this coming. I always thought that Kodi and I would be together forever, just like Balto and Jenna. We'd get start a family together, and raise our little half-wolf kid. What an adventure that would have been. God, that kid was going to keep us up all night for months, but I would have still loved him anyway. And after a few years, we'd retire from out jobs as sled dogs, and grow old together. I knows this sounds really sappy and girly, like all that stupid romantic stuff that girls like Dixie and Sylvie like to talk about, but I always thought that when it was time for us to die, we'd die together. Our unity would last forever, even in the afterlife", Dusty explained, her voice breaking as she went on.
A few feet away from her, tears began to appear under Blake's eyes around the same time as Dixie's, as he realized where the pregnant husky was going. The fact she was speaking in past tense meant she had long given up on the dream she was currently telling him. Like there was no hope for her future. No hope at all.
"But instead I'm trapped under here, while he's out there, freezing to death. I'm going to die here cold and alone, and hundreds of miles away from home. And I'll never get to have that life with Kodi I always dreamed I would. Everything that we could have had is over, before it even had a chance to start", Dusty continued, her eyes burning as the subzero draft froze her tears. Still, she paid the pain no mind. Her mood was far too sad and desolate to notice any kind of physical pain, not when her heart felt like it was going to split in two.
Blake growled, and twisted his head around. He wanted to make sure Dusty could hear everything he was about to tell her. "Dusty, you can't just give up! Hope is the only thing that keeps us alive in times like these, and if let yourself die here then you really will be relinquishing that life with Kodi before it even has a chance to start. If Kodi was here, he'd want you to fight. He'd want you to bite nature in the butt every step of the way until help came! Not just for you, but for your baby too", Blake shouted suddenly, taking the female dog by surprise.
"He's still so young Dusty. He's hasn't even had a chance to experience life yet. You can't just let him be cheated out of that just because some raggedy old hotel decided to fall down one day, can you?", Blake demanded. Normally, the husky wasn't nearly this firm or direct, but this was one of those times when Blake found his inner fury and had more strength than he ever thought he had.
"No", Dusty replied hesitantly.
"Then for god's sake, fight it woman! Kodi is your husband. He will come, and he will tear this hotel apart to get to you. But he can't do it alone. You'll have to make an effort too and meet him half-way", Blake insisted, calming down a little as he noticed how Dusty's tone was wavering. Her moment of desolation was ending, and she was finding her own inner strength again. He just had to keep her talking, he had to keep raising her spirits.
"Kodi and his folks did say that marriage wasn't always going to be easy", Dusty whispered, remembering the talk she had with Jenna shortly before they left for White Mountain.
Blake scoffed, and though Dusty couldn't see him, she could still tell he was rolling his eyes. "You think that's hard? The guy you fell in love with was already a nice guy. And from the looks of it, he's a pacifist just like his dad. But Griff wasn't always as calm and mellow as he is now. Try going out with a hothead for two years, and trying to get him to stop pounding the crap out of everyone he sees. Being crushed under this hotel is nothing compared to that. Still, no one ever said that being in a relationship was always going to be all sunshine and roses, and I don't regret a single minute of it", Blake insisted.
Even though he had sounded sarcastic before, the sled dog really meant everything he was saying. And once he was sure he had gotten through to his friend, Blake's voice softened, and the husky's voice returned to it's usual, joking tone. "Look at it this way Dusty. When we get out here, you'll have one hell of a story to tell that kid of yours when he keeps you up at nights", Blake suggested.
Dusty grinned, the last of her tears fading. "Yeah, I guess I will", she chuckled.
"Yeah you will. Though, now that I think about it, telling him that story might actually be counterproductive since he'll be way too scared to sleep by the time it's over. Anyway, forget about that. Focus on the now, and just keep holding on. Our guys will get to us soon", Blake said firmly, babbling awkwardly at the beginning, before deciding to return to the point.
Though he couldn't see Dusty either, the husky knew she had nodded in reply, and relaxed under the rubble again. Now all he had to do was relax, and keep his mood light and cheery until help arrived. Shouldn't be too hard, Blake figured, he could look for the bright side in any situation. "Helped a pregnant mother fight to survive - that's my good deed for the day, possibly the week", the husky thought to himself, grinning.
Author's Note:
Relationships are tough, and marriage is even tougher. When people get married, they promise to be together during good times and bad, and the true test of a marriage comes during a crisis, when a husband and wife are forced to be strong and put their faith in one another. Kodi and Dusty have been worrying about their marriage since chapter 3, and Dusty's doubts are readdressed here (I know it's clichéd, a gay man giving a troubled woman marital advice, but why mess with a classic? Besides, people discussing relationships while they're buried alive isn't exactly typical). Kodi's doubts, about whether or not he has what it takes to be a good husband, will play an important role in the next one. Plus, the rest of Dusty's rescuers still have their own issues to work out before the night is over too, including Steele. It's time we learn why Kodi and Griff's words got to him the way they did, and why he's so willing to work with his oldest rival on this mission.