A/N: So about Gasket, I've noticed that the wiki changed her breed from a Siberian Husky to an Alaskan Malamute. In this story I'm just going to keep her a husky because to me she looks nothing like a malamute.

I don't own anything other than OCs

CH10

The trio were close to the desert sooner than expected, thanks mostly to Skye allowing Chase to hang on to her pup pack while she used her wings to fly the two. January was quick on the ground too. It was as if she now had unlimited energy since she ate actual food and got out of that place for the first time in who knows how long, she ran around and interacted with many different objects on the roadside.

It wasn't long before the green grass and pines were replaced by sand, cacti, and Joshua Trees. They were in the desert now and the old diner was just a few clicks down the main road.

January shivered at the feeling of the cold sand beneath her paws and saw her breath as she exhaled. "Why… why is it colder here than the fields?" She asked, shivering slightly.

"There's no humidity in the desert, so when night comes it drops down to near freezing." Skye explained as she landed.

Chase wish he had brought a blanket or something, she was missing about over half of her fur and he didn't doubt the air was probably chilling her to the bone. He was thankful there wasn't any wind.

"C'mon, it's just a straight shot to the diner from here." Chase said as he motioned down the road. He wanted to keep them moving before the cold air started chilling them too and also didn't want to waste any more time.

He wondered how the Ruff Ruff Pack stayed warm out here during the night since they practically lived here. A thought came to him of them cuddling together, sure it was amusing to him but the thought probably wasn't too far from reality since the group behaved like a family of sorts. Their diner also didn't have power as far as he knew, he just hoped they wouldn't leave January out in the cold.

It was a grueling half hour run until Chase had picked up the scent of smoke. The diner had come into view now and the bright orange flicker of a campfire can be seen just outside of it. So that's how, huh.

"Man it sure would be nice if we had some s'mores." Hubcap said as he gave a stink eye to Gasket.

"You said it, Hubcap." Dwayne pouted as he rubbed his stomach.

"You just can't let it go, can you?" The husky quipped.

"No, in fact I can't Gasket," Hubcap growled as he sat up and pointed an accusatory paw at her. "You're the reason my plans never work!"

"The one time I make a wrong call and you drill me about it the whole freaking day!" Gasket shot back in exasperation.

"Dang right I did, because cutting through town would have meant one of my plans would have finally worked!" Hubcap exclaimed, not realizing he just burned himself.

A wry grin formed on the side of Gasket's muzzle, showing her fangs. "Which entails what exactly?"

Hubcap raised a brow at her before his eyes widened completely, he immediately shook his head frantically. "Oh shut up!"

"That's what I thought."

"You thought nothing Gasket!" Hubcap was now livid and was approaching her. "And what about all your 'inventions' huh? They're all half-effort failures that don't contribute anything to the pack, just like you." Hubcap hissed as he narrowed his eyes at her.

Gasket's eyes met his. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, you're dead weight to this pack!" Hubcap stated, near shouting.

Gasket stood up and approached Hubcap in a threatening manner, her cold blue eyes piercing into the French Bulldog. A guttural growl escaped her that was almost adult pitched. Hubcap took a step back as she now stood before him but kept his hard facade, even though fear was starting to grip him. She was the bigger pup after all.

"The only DEAD WEIGHT here is YOU, Shorty!" Gasket spat as she jerked her paw on his shoulder.

Hubcap recoiled in disbelief, but his shock soon gave way to his immense animosity he had towards her. He shot daggers at her. "You! This pack would be perfect with just me and Dwayne, and maybe with one other pup like us that are serious about wheel trouble!"

Gasket froze as her mind had it's own assumption of what he meant by that. She glared, bared her teeth, and kept her voice low. "It's because I'm a girl isn't it?"

Hubcap managed to hide a gulp, he wanted to say yes so badly but something told him that wouldn't be a good idea. Gasket looked ready to snap at any given moment.

"Because I'm not in Dwayne's spot, just sitting there taking orders and happily taking more of your crap than I already do!?" She nearly screamed that last part.

Dwayne was laying down watching the standoff. To him, this was clearly one of those rare but nasty fights they had, sometimes they ended in toothy dog brawls and sometimes they didn't. A part of him wanted to intervene before they hurt each other seriously but he wouldn't be too scared to admit he was too frightened. He saw three silhouettes belonging to other canines approaching from the road and while they did freak him out, it was the perfect distraction.

"Hey guys?"

"Why you stupid…!" Hubcap seethed.

"Go ahead and call me it! I dare you!" Gasket was starting to tremble in rage, on the verge of both attacking and crying.

"Guys, the PAW Patrol!" Dwayne managed to yell over the two and get their attention.

The two eventually broke off exchanging 'this isn't over' glares and looked where Dwayne was pointing and just as Dwayne said they recognized Chase and Skye. Hubcap Scowled at the two members, not letting his frustration from his spat with Gasket go away.

"What do you two want!?" Hubcap barked.

"Just here to make your night hopefully." Chase said as they came into the fire light. "And it looks like you guys can use a good one."

"Cut the crap, we don't have time for games." Hubcap growled as he shot a weary eye to the larger canine he hadn't seen before. Gasket was over near Dwayne and the two now had their full attention on January, looking over her features.

Chase cleared his throat, regaining the attention of Hubcap. He motioned to the large dog. "Guys this is January, we just rescued her from a tight space."

"…and?" Hubcap asked rudely.

January walked past him, causing the French Bulldog to gawk at her as she took his spot by the fire. Hubcap immediately glared before spouting, "hey! What's the big idea!?" The question was more for her and the two pups.

January didn't acknowledge him though and soaked up the heat, looking pleased as the warmth radiated what was left of her fur.

"I have a proposition," Chase began, peaking the interest of Skye. "If you can watch over her for a few days…"

"NO! No no no! Do we look like pup-sitters to you!? We're the Ruff Ruff Pack!" Hubcap cut him off with defiant barking.

"Just hear me out…" Chase begged.

"I said no! Now you two can go screw off with that mangy stray!" Hubcap jabbed, causing Skye to wince at his choice of words.

"I know your pack needs food!" Chase stated firmly.

This of coarse stopped Hubcap in his tracks and got the attention of the other two pack mates. Gasket spoke up this time as she trudged over.

"What makes you think that?" She asked nonchalantly.

Chase smiled. "The last few calls we had because of you always involved you guys stealing food and it's not like you guys actually buy your own."

"Chase? What are you getting at here?" Skye asked, seeming to half know what he's proposing, Chase only winked at her.

"And what if we just like to make people miserable by taking their snacks?" Hubcap countered.

"Come on guys," Chase pleaded. "I thought the Ruff Ruff Pack was all about causing real tr–"

"Wheel!" Dwayne interrupted, earning glares from his other two pack mates.

"Yes wheel trouble, and also vandalizing and causing a huge ruckus, not just stealing sweets from a pansy family."

Skye shot Chase a confused look.

An amused smirk gradually formed on Hubcap's muzzle and he looked over to Gasket who was now beside him. She raised an eyebrow before giving a soft nod, it was seemingly the first time they ever agreed on something. Hubcap looked back at Chase.

"So what do you propose, Po–Po pup?"

Chase stood confidently, proudly smiling now that he got through to them. "In exchange for just watching over our new friend for a few days, we will give you a decent portion of our dog biscuits, juice packs, and our Beef flavored kibble every day. And every time you guys cause trouble, we'll let you get away with it." He finished.

"Chase! What's gotten in you!?" Skye almost screamed as she gaped in horror at her longtime friend.

Hubcap's smirk grew into an outright evil grin.

"That sounds like the best deal to ever exist!" Dwayne jumped up, his tail wagging.

"BACON TREATS?"

Chase caught Gasket's hard and demanding stare.

"I know you have some." Gasket prodded.

"Yep, those too." Chase added.

"Hey! No!" Skye protested.

Hubcap laughed and the cockapoo's attitude even garnered the amusement of Gasket who just smirked. Chase felt himself being pulled to the side as he noticed Skye chomping down on his uniform and pulling him away.

"Hey, let go!" He demanded.

Skye did so and glared up at him. "What do you think you're doing!?" She nearly screamed.

"Look, I know this looks disgraceful, but…" Chase was sheepish in his attempt to defend himself but Skye quickly cut him off.

"It is! And you know Ryder would never approve and I won't either!" Skye seethed.

Chase shook his head. "Skye this is just temporary!"

"I don't care Chase! I can't let you just sell us out to one of Adventure Bay's most infamous group of troublemakers!" She doubled down on her claim before getting in the police pup's face. "Do you realize how sickening what you're proposing is?"

Chase looked at her and caught her horrid stare. It pained him and she did have a point, the thought of corruption sickened him also and he couldn't imagine the punishment for a corrupt member of the PAW Patrol. But this wasn't any ordinary situation, and he understood this might require him to make some drastic calls. All he could hope to do was lessen the damage it could cause by working as fast as he could.

"Hey! Deal or no deal!?" Hubcap called at the two.

Chase looked over at them before returning his pleading gaze to Skye. "Can you at least let me do it for her." He pleaded in a soft voice as he motioned to January.

Skye looked over to her pitiful frame and while half of her wanted to cave in to Chase, this was just crossing the line for her.

"Skye please." Chase started to whimper uncharacteristically.

Skye huffed, her decision was made. "Go ahead, but count me out." She said, void of any emotion.

She turned away from Chase and walked out into the darkness, her wings spreading from her pup pack. Chase immediately ran after her but she turned with an icy gaze.

"You can walk back, and don't talk to me anymore." She said coldly before taking off.

Chase fought back tears as he watched her fly off into the night sky, yeah that stung him. She definitely caused him to question himself now, if what he was doing was truly right.

"So we got a deal!?" Gasket yelled.

Chase regathered himself and began to move back towards the Ruff Ruff Pack. He promised himself he'll make it up to her once this deal is over.

"Yes, deal." He spat.

"Shake on it?" Hubcap offered his paw.

Chase reluctantly took it and Hubcap shook wildly.

"Now that's how you make a deal with the Ruff Ruff Pack!" Hubcap exclaimed as Chase pulled his paw away.

"Yay! Free dog biscuits and juice!" Dwayne yelled, overjoyed.

"And we get to cause all the mayhem we want!" Gasket added somewhat sadistically.

…What the hell did I just do?

Chase turned away from the celebrating strays and made his way over to January. She was on her stomach now and looked as if she was meditating or something.

"Hey."

Her ear twitched at the sound of the pup's voice. "I'm awake."

"Oh, well I'll be back this afternoon once I get some rest and I'll bring you some more food and maybe some band aides?" Chase offered.

"Yes, you do that young one."

"Well I guess I have to go now, uh, and if they give you a problem or something you let me know when I come back and I'll find somewhere else for you, I promise." Chase assured genuinely.

January gave an amused scoff. "Don't worry, these runts are no different than the flees I've crushed beneath my molars, but it looks like you need to work on fixing that bond with your companion."

Chase looked away. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get to… sometime."

January looked him over before her bright eyes caught his.

"Thank you, for everything, Chase."

Chase blushed slightly before acknowledging her. "Yeah, don't mention it… it's just what I do."

There was a short silence between them before Chase said one last goodbye and headed back for the Ruff Ruff Pack. The group of strays had calmed down and appeared eggar to return to fire.

Chase stopped before Hubcap. "One last thing before I go, January is sensitive to light so she might need to hide in the diner for most of the day or she could go blind." He warned.

"Yada yada, we'll take good care of your friend and don't come back without any grub." Hubcap shoed him off.

Chase grunted and moved away, taking one last glance at January. He caught her looking at him but she didn't turn away, he couldn't tell if it was a look of concern or pity.

Her face remained in his mind as he got back on the road, it was like it was haunting him. He didn't feel the relief he thought he would once this nasty business was over, he should've assumed Skye was going to react the way she did. The solution just created more problems for him, which could describe this whole situation to began with, and yet he just kept going.

It was going to be a long and lonely walk back to the Lookout.

Hubcap was the first to approach her, desperate to get his spot back and to hopefully teach her the pecking order.

"Hey! Move!" He barked.

She just looked at him in a calmly manner. Gasket and Dwayne watched her from farther back, both were too put off by her to actually do anything with Hubcap. The French Bulldog was just too arrogant to care.

"Why don't you sit over there." She said as she nodded across the flames.

"Because that's not my spot, are you dumb or something? I said move!" Hubcap ordered again.

"And if I don't?"

Hubcap twitched at that and his gaze began to wander. "I, uhh, …I'll show you if you keep that attitude!"

"Entertain me then."

Hubcap shook his head in frustration. "No I won't entertain you I'll show you who's boss!"

"Alright then show me." January egged evermore calmly.

"Oh I will!" He stated in rage. He just stopped and stared at her, she did the same in her unnervingly relaxed posture. Hubcap wouldn't show it but now he was in a state of panic, even Gasket hadn't defied him like this though she wasn't a large sketchy wolfish dog. She also had an emotional vulnerability that Hubcap liked to exploit.

"You're not going to actually do anything are you, little one?" January taunted.

Hubcap's eyes looked like they were about to explode out of his head. He jerked his head in the direction of Gasket and Dwayne who were both snickering. "Knock it off you two!"

"No keep giggling at this little runt's foolishness, he deserves it." January insisted.

"You shut the f&@% up!" He practically roared as much as a French Bulldog could. The two other members both stopped, Hubcap only cursed when he was truly enraged which the others only recalled happening one other time. January just tilted her head like a pup hearing something that intrigued her.

"I AM THE ALPHA OF THIS PACK, SO YOU LISTEN TO ME!"

January broke into a fit of laughter.

Now Hubcap lost it, he bared his teeth and charged at her. The last thing he saw as he barreled towards her was her emotionless gaze shooting those pale eyes before she turned into a black blur. She was so fast that Hubcap couldn't even get within a meter of her before he was lifted up. Her jaws were curled around his neck just above his pup pack. She did her best to listen to her instincts and to not hurt him too bad, she just had to teach him a lesson.

"Hey, put me down b!&@%!" He yelled as loud as he could.

Still haven't gotten the message yet?

She clamped down harder and began to shake him around wildly.

Dwayne and Gasket watched in terror, neither of them wanted to intervene. The way January moved combined with her sickly appearance gave an almost uncanny look that frightened the two to their core.

"Stop…! Let me…go!" Hubcap choked out.

She clamped down even harder, pushing a pocket of air in his throat out. He started to holler now in a primal distress call.

Dwayne was on the ground with his eyes closed and his paws covering his ears, shaking. Gasket was frozen, tears started to fall down her cheeks as she was completely torn. She saw one of her pack mates that she'd known as long as she's been alive being torn into harder than a rag doll, but fear kept her from acting. Sure he might be an A–hole most of the time but she still considered him family. She had to do something, it was either now or never.

As she bit down more, January started to taste a hint of copper. She stopped, knowing this was probably hard enough. Hubcap's screams pierced the darkness well beyond the diner.

"STOOOOOOOP!!!"

January looked over to the source of the feminine scream to a tearful husky. She opened her jaws and allowed the bleeding bulldog to fall out on the ground. Gasket immediately ran over to him and assessed the damage. The bleeding was light and it seemed her fangs had only pricked the hide. Hubcap looked up, his eyes as big as saucers and breathing frantically.

"Are you ok?" Gasket asked, choking.

Hubcap simply gave her a frantic nod.

"This isn't the best deal anymore!" Dwayne whined.

Hubcap shot a fearful look at January who now had retook her place at the fire. "She's crazy! I'm not sharing the diner with her!" He spouted, on the verge of crying himself.

"Packs don't have Alphas, they have leaders and you are no such thing." January stated flatly.

Hubcap cursed under his breath and winced as he rubbed his neck.

"You." January nodded to Gasket, who turned her head fearfully to her.

"Come here." She motioned.

The husky hesitated, but eventually started to slowly paced over to her. She stopped a few meters before her, not daring to get closer.

January looked her up and down. She made out part of the argument she had with Hubcap earlier and could immediately tell Gasket had the fire in her. She also admired her coming to Hubcap's aid after she tore into him, she had compassion for her fellow pack mates and doubt Hubcap would do the same.

"Why aren't you the leader?"

Gasket flinched, she averted her gaze.

"Don't look at him." January warned, "answer me."

"I… I–I don't know." Gasket stuttered. "Hubcap's always been the leader for as long as I can remember."

"So are you all family?" January asked.

"Pretty much… a dysfunctional one." Gasket murmured.

"Hmm, a pack is a family, there is no alpha or a beta, just a strong and caring leader and love ones that would follow them until the end." January explained.

Gasket kept her eyes on the ground in front of her paws but listened with interest in what January had to say.

"That's why I won't you to be the leader of your pack."

Gasket looked up, stunned. "…what?"

"Huh!?" Hubcap blurted.

Dwayne's ears perked up.

"Yes, I will even watch over you to make sure the males don't get the wrong idea. You have potential to lead this pack fairly, and maybe down a better path from what I've heard about you all." January spoke genuinely.

"I can't believe this…" Hubcap muttered before he began to hobble towards the diner.

A smile formed on Gasket's muzzle as she wiped her tears away. She didn't know what to think but she couldn't help but be somewhat excited, deep down she had always wanted to take Hubcap's place since she knew she was smarter than him. It looks like the time has finally come.