Standing alone in the now destroyed room, Chase closed his eyes. All he could hear was the faint cracking of the structures around him, the grating screeching of metal bending and buckling under newfound weight, and the noise of rubble hitting the ground around him.

When he and Marshall broke that pillar during their fight, some of the support to the floor above him was displaced. He was standing in a death trap. He knew he was. But for a second he just needed to be still. For a second he needed to think. For just a moment, he needed to take a break.

Had he really just let Marshall leave? He couldn't believe that he was so weak. Every time he looked at Marshall, wanting to keep fighting the Dalmatian, all he saw was a little pup crying in fear, cowering under his blankets.

The moment was bittersweet for him. That little pup was no longer so little. He was at Chase's eye level. Marshall was fighting back. He was standing his ground for himself. Whether or not it was for the right reasons, he wasn't too sure. But as Marshall rammed him through that pillar, he realized that Marshall didn't need protecting anymore. He was big. He had his own will. His own strengths. And he had his own side of this story.

His eyes still closed, Chase felt a sudden warmth on his body. He didn't have to open his eyes to know what was happening. He refused to open his eyes, knowing good and well that if he did, he wouldn't like what would come out of them.

Cutting through the silence around him was a single faint voice, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Skye.

He didn't answer. He didn't want to answer. Even if he did, what would he answer with? He wasn't sure if he was okay. He wasn't sure if he was hurt or not. His body and mind felt numb, in a way. Like he was at the dentist with anesthesia being constantly pumped into his body. As though there was only static in Chase's brain, he couldn't even begin to think about what was currently happening in both his mind and body.

He didn't dare to open his eyes. Once he opened his eyes he would have to face the reality of the current situation. Once he opened his eyes, he would have to report the current situation to Ryder. Once he opened his eyes, the world would start moving again, and so would he. But he didn't want to move. He didn't want to talk to Ryder. Come to think of it, he didn't want to talk to anybody.

What was happening to him? Why was his heart beating so fast? Why was his mind racing like it was? Why did he feel like he didn't have any control? Of himself, of the world around him. There was no way of getting a handle on it.

Through clenched teeth, Chase finally spoke, "I let him go."

"You... What?"

The pup finally opened his eyes, looking down at the Cockapoo in front of him, "The upper part of the building collapsing was because of us...Marshall and I got in a fight."

Skye's eyes bulged. She was well aware that Marshall wouldn't be coming back to the lookout without a bit of a struggle, but a fight? She couldn't even begin to fathom the concept of Marshall and Chase coming to blows. But when she looked at the developing bruises on Chase's body, the dust and debris coating his fur, and the tired expression in his eyes, she was forced to believe it actually happened.

"A fight?"

"Marshall tried to run, so I chased him... And when we crashed in here... We fought..."

"Oh... Oh my gosh..." Skye put her paws over her mouth.

Chase slowly looked down at his right paw. The same paw that punched the Dalmatian across his face. The Dalmatian that was supposed to be his best friend. The Dalmatian that he promised to be friends with forever. It hurt. His paw hurt.

"Marshall used this new gear to launch himself and me into a pillar..." He could hear the aviator pup whimper as he explained, "But... I let him go, Skye. I couldn't do it!"

Skye put a paw on his, trying her best to support her friend, "So... He's gone?"

"He better be!" Chase's voice broke as he allowed himself to fall on the ground, "That little jerk better be!"

Skye quickly found herself in a very unique situation. Laying in front of her was Chase, the usually composed, well put together pup. But he wasn't the same Chase that everyone had got used to seeing. This wasn't the Chase everyone else grew up with.

Chase was laying in front of her, sobbing his eyes out.

The Cockapoo walked over to Chase, her eyes filling with tears at the mere sight of the broken down Shepherd. She quickly blinked the tears away. The last thing Chase needed was her breaking down as well. Skye laid down in front of him. She had seen Chase cry before, sure, but this wasn't just any other time.

When the Cockapoo held the sobbing Shepherd's paw, she noticed that it was limp. She noticed how Chase wouldn't even look at her. She even noticed how Chase was burying his nose into the floor below as he sobbed.

"Um... Guys?" Skye's tag lit up, "I'm hearing a lot of cracking... And my ears don't lie. It's no bueno. You guys gotta get out!"

"Tracker! Get in here now!" She screamed, "I need help with Chase!"

.

.

.

Stumbling to a stop, leaning up against the door leading out to the roof, Marshall could feel his heart pounding in his chest. It was frequent, irregular, and strong. He laid down, his right forepaw shaking as it gripped the area over his heart.

He gasped, struggling with every breath to regain a steady breathing rhythm. As an EMT, he was aware that something in his body wasn't normal. But the way his mind felt mixed up, how trying to breathe was the only thing he could think about, stopped him from thinking about anything else.

He gulped. His mouth and throat felt dry. He was well aware that he had just gotten away from a stressful situation, and hadn't drank anything since he left Liz's house, but the dry feeling in his mouth and throat was unprecedented. Like getting a mouthful of sand while at the beach with his friends, he tried desperately to spit it out.

A small beep could be heard from his right foreleg. His eyes slowly drifted down to the communicator Rocky gave him. Did that beep indicate that it wasn't broken anymore? He slowly moved his other paw over, tapping on it.

"...R-Rocky... Everest... I... I need help..."

That was the last thing he could remember before everything went dark.

An indiscernible amount of time passed before he could feel a repeated tapping on his face. He opened his eyes to see a familiar face standing over him, looking worried.

"Marshall?"

"Marshall!"

Standing over him was Everest, who was trying desperately to wake him up, "What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"

Everest's communicator buzzed, "Everest, did you find him?"

"I found him!" She replied, "...But he's acting strange..."

"Strange? What do you mean?"

"He looks really out of it... And he's really sweaty..." The Husky answered, "His heart is beating so fast!"

There was a faint silence from the other side, "Is he breathing?"

"Barely!"

Rocky breathed in, "Everest. Listen closely. I think Marshall's having a panic attack."

"A what!?"

"Calm down. The last thing he needs is someone panicking around him..." The mixed breed spoke calmly, "Neither of us are good with social things. You grew up isolated and I'm just plain bad at it. But right now, Marshall needs you to be good at it."

"So then what do I do!?"

"Your best."

Everest turned her attention to Marshall, who was laid on the ground with a paw gripped over his heart. The Husky couldn't bear to see him like that. She hated to see him like that. She gulped as she watched Marshall struggle to find his breath. She felt useless. For the first time since the arctic, she felt like there was nothing she could do.

"Marshall, I..." She stuttered, trying her best not to panic, "I'm no good at this... There are so many things I can do... But I can't even begin to wrap my head around this..."

She closed her eyes tightly, trying her best to keep her composure. She racked her brain for something—anything to do. Something that would make him feel better. But she knew that she couldn't just lift up his chin and hit him with blind optimism until he smiles again. But how could he smile again like this!?

As Everest proceeded to panic, she felt something on her paw.

She opened her eyes, looking down at her paw. A familiar black and white spotted paw was laid on top of hers. Her eyes slowly trailed up to see Marshall's face. With one eye closed, the Dalmatian gave her a strained smile.

Her eyes widened. Marshall, despite being the one who needed help. Despite being the one who was struggling, was doing his best to make sure she, and everybody else he worked with was okay with a smile on his face. It wasn't fair. He didn't deserve this. Any of this. Her paw slowly grabbed his as she laid next to him.

"Marshall, you're too kind..." She spoke faintly, scooting close to the Dalmatian, "...No matter what, you're always putting others before yourself. Just like that time you saved Rocky. Don't you remember that?"

Marshall, still trying to regain his breath, nodded slowly.

"You never give up, either. Don't you remember that skunk incident?" Everest asked, eliciting another nod, "I got sprayed and you guys did everything you could to try and clean me up, even though the smell wasn't THAT bad..." She joked.

Marshall couldn't help but to smile a bit.

"Then, when the skunk got around Mr. Porter's, you bravely stepped up to try and treat the skunk, even though you were scared..." She giggled, "...Even if I interrupted you when you were taking too long..."

"...Danger... Zone..."

Everest's ears perked up. She looked over at Marshall, who gave her a smile. He was still struggling to breathe, yet he couldn't help but to smile at the memory. His breathing, although still unsteady, was slowly stabilizing.

"...Yeah, yeah!" The Husky grinned, "...And remember when we all became Mighty Pups? I always thought you were gonna slip and light something ablaze. I was always ready to put something out with my cooling breath."

Marshall listened to her speak. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't blushing madly, or trying his hardest not to mess anything up. For once, he actually just remained there and enjoyed her company. He didn't enjoy the fact that his crush was right up against him, holding his paw, but he did enjoy listening to Everest. Because at that moment they were spending alone, it wasn't about his crush.

"And don't you remember the day I joined the team?" Everest asked, "I was all alone in the cold, saving penguins and trying to befriend them. After all, I didn't have anyone else around. Then Jake came along. Then all of you pups..."

Marshall thought about the frigid climate he and the rest of the PAW Patrol found her and Jake in.

"...Ever since then, every day, every moment, has felt like a dream to me. Getting to be on the PAW Patrol, learning how to really make a difference in the world, and getting to play with all of you pups..." The Husky smiled, "I know things aren't the same right now, but as long as I have you and Rocky... Things still feel like a dream."

Everest closed her eyes, leaned over and gently nuzzled her left cheek against Marshall's right one. She could feel Marshall's now steady breath push against the tufts of fur on her cheek. She was close enough to feel his heartbeat. It was stable once again.

The two laid beside one another in silence, finally having calmed. That was until the two heard a sudden bang from nearby. The two yelped as they wrapped their arms around one another. Looking over at where they heard the bang from, they saw the door leading into the building had opened, revealing a familiar pup who walked onto the roof.

"Rocky, don't scare us like that!" Everest cried, "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"How's Marshall?" The mixed breed was quick to disregard Everest's complaint.

"I'm good..." The black and white pup tried to stand, but his legs shook and buckled, "...I'm a little tired, though..."

"Here, I gotcha!" The Husky quickly picked Marshall up on her back, "So what next?"

Rocky looked at Marshall, who had tiredly closed his eyes, "I think we've had enough for one night. Let's head back, regroup, and figure out what to do next."

.

.

.

Liz, now that she was left home alone with Katie, had decided to do some digging around while she still had free time. She was currently rummaging through her attic, trying to look for something specific. But, as it is in most attics, battling against the cobwebs and old items was a struggle for her.

She soon came across a cardboard box, trying to figure out if it was from her childhood or not. She put her hands on the top of the box, slowly opening it to look at what was inside. A few binders awaited her, each having a date written onto it.

"Hm... These are all pretty old..." She grabbed one of the binders and opened it up.

The first picture she noticed was one of her younger self. She was around Katie's age in the picture that depicted Liz's young smiling face as she hugged an old man in a wheelchair in front of her. The little redhead was wearing a bright red scarf that draped over the shoulder of the old man.

Underneath the picture was a quick sentence that read; "Love ya, Grandpa! Thanks for teaching me how to help animals!"

"I remember this day..." Her eyes widened, "This was my eleventh birthday! Gramps gave me his favorite scarf as both a present and a congratulatory gift for learning to be a proper vet... Wonder where I left it..."

As she wondered where the long lost scarf could have possibly been, she suddenly felt a sensation on her hand that made her skin crawl. She felt something tickle the skin on her hand, and later her wrist. She slowly turned her right hand around to look at the back of it. Crawling on her arm was a roach that only crawled quicker when she moved her arm. Liz's eyes bulged.

Katie, meanwhile, was in her room. It had been another long day of vet work. But after long days, she loved to make herself some tea and just relax in bed with Cali.

She sighed contently, "Cali, what do you think—"

A sudden, high pitched scream echoed through the house, promoting Katie to sit up and whip her head in multiple directions. Cali jumped up and yowled in surprise.

"That sounded like auntie!" Katie immediately got out of bed, hurrying over to her door and opening it, "Auntie, are you okay?"

"KATIE, GET UP HERE NOW!"

The young blonde hurried from her room to the stairs leading up to the attic. After climbing up the stairs, she peeked into the dark area, only to see her aunt, a full grown woman, hanging from one of the wooden support beams above her.

"...How'd you get up there?" Katie's eyes narrowed.

Liz pointed down at a roach that was crawling on a nearby cardboard box, "Kill it! Kill it!"

The young vet's eyelids suddenly lowered, "You've got to be kidding me..." She grabbed a small container and approached the bug, "...Still scared of bugs?"

"No! Just roaches! They're all dirty and crawly and... Eugh!" She cringed.

"You're a grown up, auntie..." Katie scooped the roach up in the container, closing it and bringing it downstairs.

The young blonde carried the container toward the front door. She wondered how a grown-up like Liz could act younger than she was at times. Upon opening the door, her eyes drifted down to see a familiar mixed breed, who was getting ready to knock on the door.

"...Good timing as always, Katie!" Rocky smiled nervously as he looked up at her, "Now let us in, please."

Katie looked down at Rocky and Everest. She also looked at Marshall, who was asleep on the Husky's back. The first thing she thought was that the Dalmatian was knocked unconscious. Judging by the debris and sediment littered over his fur, there could've been a struggle.

"Oh my... What happened this time?" She asked with concern as she stepped to the side and allowed them to come in.

"We don't know," The ex-eco pup replied, "Marshall called for help after whatever happened to him happened."

"Lay him down, I'll check up on him..." Katie ordered, putting the container with the roach in it outside, taking the lid off. She then closed the door behind her, "Auntie! The pups are home!"

"What?" A faint voice came from above, followed by the repeated thumping of footsteps running through the house. As Liz came from the hall, she looked around, "How'd it go?"

"How do you think it went?" Rocky sighed, pointing at the unconscious Dally.

Liz's eyes widened, "Oh man... What the hell happened?"

"Language, auntie..."

Everest sighed, "No clue."

"Lucky I keep the stethoscope on hand now..." She pulled out the tool and began to examine Marshall.

Katie smiled faintly as she looked at Rocky and Everest, "How about I make you two some dinner?"

"Thank dog! I was so hungry!" Rocky groaned.

As Rocky and Katie headed to the kitchen, the Husky couldn't help but to hesitate, looking back at Marshall. She wasn't too sure why, but she felt a bit uncomfortable leaving him, despite him being in the care of Liz. All she could think about was how Marshall looked when she found him atop that roof earlier.

Shaking her head, she followed, on her way to the kitchen with Katie and Rocky.

The instant Katie poured the two their food and water bowls, Rocky was quick to pick them up and make his way to the guest room, "There's a few things I need to work on, I'll be taking these with me."

Both Katie and Everest looked at the other in confusion, but soon shrugged it off. As Everest went to begin eating, a sigh slipped from her mouth.

"Everything okay, Everest?"

"Yeah... No? I don't know..." The Husky huffed.

"What's wrong?"

Everest ate some of the food in front of her before speaking, her voice muffled and unintelligible. Katie only giggled at the Husky's action, sitting down in a nearby chair.

"I can't understand what you're saying with your mouth full."

Everest gulped down the food in her mouth before speaking, "It's just... I can't stop thinking about him. Marshall, I mean. Rocky said he was having a panic attack, and I was the only one around to comfort him."

"What?" Katie sat up a bit, "A panic attack? Why?"

"I don't know. I was looking around, and Marshall just called me and Rocky for help. When I got there, he was already going through the thick of it."

"How'd you deal with it?"

"I talked to him. Well, more like I talked at him," Everest explained, "Whatever came to mind, I said. I rambled on and on. Eventually, he started talking back, and he started calming down..."

Katie noticed a smile develop on the former mountain pup's face. She also noticed that her tail began to sway, "Really?"

"Yeah... After that, we just kind of laid there together..." Everest spoke as her tail proceeded to wag faster, "It was nice."

The young vet's eyebrows furrowed, gears beginning to turn in her brain. As she watched Everest smile to herself, as she noticed how quickly her tail was wagging, Katie pondered something that had been lingering in the back of her mind for a few days.

"Hey, Everest, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Do you... Like Marshall?"

"Like Marshall?" Everest looked at the young blonde, "Of course I like Marshall! He's really funny, and he's nice to everyone!"

Katie was immediately able to tell that she wasn't picking up what she was trying to put down, "No, Everest, do you like him, like him?"

"Like, like him?" The Husky asked, earning a nod in response, "What? Like Marshall like that? I..."

As her sentence trailed off, her mind began to wander. She thought about the aforementioned Dalmatian, and the question Katie asked her. Marshall was her friend. Of course she liked him. But like in that way? She never even considered the possibility that her and Marshall's relationship could be anything other than platonic.

Marshall was a nice pup. She knew that every time she was around him would be a fun time, especially because of how funny and goofy he was. She liked that about him. That's what made him stand out from the others. He had one of the most dangerous jobs on the team, and yet he was always willing to give his friends a smile.

And that smile of his was really nice...

That toothy smile seemed to always make others smile. It made her smile. On top of that, Marshall was always willing to make sure everyone around him was okay before himself. That's why he ran away from the lookout in the first place, all in hopes of not getting her and Rocky involved in the situation he found himself in the center of. He was selfishly selfless, yes, but that was just one of the many things that made him great.

As she continued to think, her eyes gradually widened in magnitude. Everest sat on her haunches, putting her paws up to her cheeks as they began to sting. Why were they stinging like that? She was just thinking about Marshall. That's when it hit her.

"...Katie, I think I like him, like him!"