After a long time of quiet worry, all the pups had finally fallen asleep in the common area, all of them except Marshall. Marshall felt too guilty to fall asleep, as he lay there on a beanbag curled up into a ball with tears running down his face every now and then, he couldn't stop thinking about what he had done.

"Chase is gone and it's all my fault, I should have done something." Marshall thought to himself as his thoughts endlessly bounced around his head, regret was stabbing at his heart as the weight he had placed on himself weighed him down further and further. He was struggling to stay still as his heart told him to find Chase and apologize as he wanted nothing more than to have his friend back and help him get through whatever it was that was causing the German Shepherd so much pain.

"It's all my fault... I did this... He hates me..." Echoed through the pup's head before he finally snapped. Everything went clear in his head, he had only one intention, to find his friend. Marshall stood up quietly so as to not alert any of the sleeping pups, he silently dashed toward the lookout door and as it slid open he stopped and turned around and looked at Everest who was sleeping peacefully, he smiled a little before he dashed away and the door slid shut. He quickly ran to his pup house and opened the door, he stepped inside and walked to his right where he opened his closet and grabbed his spare EMT pup pack before he quickly made his way to the bush where they had found Chase's collar some hours before.

"Okay, now I just need to find him... What would Chase do?" Marshall thought to himself before getting an idea, He bent his head toward the ground and smelled around the bush, but unfortunately his weaker nose and next to no experience in tracking gave no results, especially after the rainfall.

"If I can't smell him, I'll have to look for tracks." Marshall spoke in his mind, he looked around now with the sun barely peeking over the horizon giving him some extra light, after a moment he saw a broken branch just behind the bush. Marshall walked over to the branch and aligned himself with the bush and started walking as he assumed Chase ran in a straight line as he probably didn't have a destination in mind.

Chase woke up in the cave exhausted, the sun shining into his face, his damp fur on the cold stone floor making him shiver, he decided to move and lay down in the sun instead but as he stood up he felt a sharp pain in his hindleg as he yelped and fell back down on his stomach. Chase didn't have any medical training unlike... Marshall... but he knew he had to do something about his leg. He carefully stood up doing his best to keep his injured leg off the ground yet also moving it as little as possible, with every step he felt his leg hurting as it shifted. As he made his way out of the cave onto the wet grass he looked around for anything to help him. He got an idea as he saw a low-hanging branch, he slowly made his way over to it with pain in his every step. Chase grabbed onto the branch and pulled until it came loose from the tree causing him to fall on his back with a painful grunt. He picked up the branch in his mouth and dragged it over to the small pond where a patch of reeds was growing close to the edge of the pond, he ripped up some reeds and took them over to a rock that was slightly bigger than Chase. He sat down leaning against the rock keeping his leg folded against his body as he broke off a piece of the branch and placed it along the outside of his leg, he took the reeds and began crudely weaving the reeds together to make two ropes, one rope he used to fix the stick to his folded leg to keep it folded and the other piece of rope he used to tie his leg to his body by wrapping the rope around his body and attaching it to his leg. Feeling satisfied with his improvised stilt he slowly stood up with his leg now firmly attached up against his body it didn't move nearly as much, and the pain was drastically reduced to manageable levels.

"I n-need to warm up." Chase said out loud to himself still shivering from the cold, he looked down at the remaining reeds and wood at his side he knew he could make a fire with this. He grabbed the reeds and branch and walked slowly towards the shallow cave he had been sleeping in earlier, as his paws wandered on the cold rock again he dropped the reeds and branch and sat down. Chase picked up the branch and looked at it one end of it was thicker than the other, with all the might the tired pup could muster he broke off a bit about the size of his leg from the shorter bit of the branch and placed it down on the ground. He then picked up the thicker longer bit of the branch and with his claw he slowly carved a small hole into the wood, once he was content with the size of the hole he picked up the reeds and started cutting them down into thin strips and placing them around the hole on the branch. Chase picked up the stick he had broken off and placed the thinner end in the hole and began spinning the stick back and forth as fast as he could hoping to make a flame with the dry pieces of reed. And after 10 minutes of constant spinning finally, a bit of smoke and a small glow appeared, Chase quickly started softly blowing on the glow until it turned to a small flame, but as Chase was placing the reed down again on the wood he felt a cold breeze from behind blow past him. The reed was extinguished and blown to the back of the cave, Chase just sat there and stared at where the reed used to be before falling backward and laying down on his back in exhaustion both mental and physical, staring at the ceiling of the cave he was too worn out to care about what just happened but a single tear ran down his cheek as his shivering body curled up into a ball. Chase noticed the sun slowly disappearing from his damp fur as he got colder and colder, he turned his head to look out of the cave and saw big dark clouds covering the sun and moving straight towards him.

Marshall was still in the forest determined to find Chase and bring him back, he had been wandering in the forest for a long time now the sun progressively rising making it easier to see the tracks left by Chase. Every paw print or broken branch led Marshall a little closer to finding his best friend, as he walked over a slight hill he saw a pool of mud where it looked like someone had been... laying in? Marshall walked around the mud and saw footprints leading out but now there were only 3 paw prints.

"Chase must have been hurt." Marshall thought to himself as he picked up his pace becoming a little frantic now feeling he is in a bigger hurry to find Chase. He kept following the tracks left by Chase on the muddy ground, Marshall's paws now becoming uncomfortably dirty. Marshall lost Chase's tracks as the mud transitioned to grass as he entered a small clearing, seeing a small pond Marshall walked over and rinsed his paws from all the mud as he looked up into the sky, Marshall could see a glimpse of the sun behind the thick black clouds quickly approaching, he knew the pups were gonna wake up soon. He had to find Chase quickly before the rain fell again possibly washing away any tracks left behind. Marshall quickly stood up and looked around in an attempt to find Chase's trail again, he saw a tree with a thick branch snapped off. Marshall walked over and saw that the branch had been moved as it was not below where the break was, as Marshall was trying to figure out what had happened he smelled something

"Chase!" Marshall thought to himself as he lowered his head and began sniffing around after a moment finding his trail Marshall began walking, he ended up at another part of the pond before turning to the left, Marshall stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Chase curled and shivering up on the cold stone floor of the cave in front of him. He quickly ran towards the cold pup.

"CHASE!" Was the last thing the Shepherd pup heard before everything went black...

The young pup woke up to find the cardboard box had collapsed in on him leaving his short brown fur wet. He looked up into the sky and saw the sun shining down on him. The now alone pup slowly stood up and looked around, he didn't know where he was but what did that matter to a pup without a home... without a family. Chase began walking toward the street hearing the rumbling of the busy Adventure City getting louder and louder as Chase was surrounded by the fast-moving city being swept along with its flow. Eventually Chase found himself outside a small café, he was so exhausted he hadn't eaten in two days that Chase pushed his way to the outdoor seating of the café in the hope of some food. Chase squeezed through a little fence keeping the busy sidewalk away from the calm relaxed area of the café, as he looked around he saw mostly empty tables but there was one that caught his eye in particular. On the table was a mostly untouched piece of bread, Chase saw his opportunity as no one was there at the moment, the small pup quickly jumped up from the seat and then to the table and quickly began biting down on the bread, his sharp teeth designed for hunting had some issues with chewing the bread and all his focus was kept on trying not to choke but suddenly he felt himself being grabbed.

"Bad dog!" A man yelled before Chase was thrown back over the fence landing on the busy sidewalk with a yelp, Chase slowly stood up still in pain from being thrown on to the cold hard concrete sidewalk. Chase continued walking with a sad expression trying to find more food but as the hours passed and the sun fell the young pup found himself increasingly exhausted and eventually Chase found himself back in another alley behind a dumpster laying down on an old greasy pizza box. With no one to talk to, he was left with only his own thoughts.

"They can't be gone, they have to be somewhere. I have to find them." Chase thought as he lay there with tears slowly running down his face he knew he had to find them, but as the world around him went dark he held on to the hope of finding his parents, that was the only thing keeping him from giving up.

Chase slowly woke up and opened his eyes to a warm orange light emanating on the walls and a calming crackling sound as the rain outside fell hard, as Chase turned slightly to look around he noticed the blanket that was wrapped around his now warm and dry body. Chase saw a well-made campfire with a small safety ring of rocks around it, Marshall was sitting in front of the fire with his head hanging low. Chase pushed the blanket off himself and looked down to see that his leg had been re-wrapped now with soft comfortable bandages and some straps instead of the crude rope and uncomfortable stick. Chase's movement caused Marshall to look up and notice that Chase was awake.

"Chase!" Marshall said and quickly stepped over to the quiet and emotionless German Shepherd, there was a short silence before Marshall hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry Chase! I'm sorry I know I've been a bad friend." Marshall wept as he hugged Chase. Chase was shocked as he had not expected to be the one to be apologized to as he was the one who yelled at Marshall.

"No. You're not..." Chase said after a moment of silence and lightly hugged Marshall back who was now crying on his shoulder. Chase knew that he was the reason for all of this and was now feeling guilty about making his best friend cry.

"I forgot your birthday and- and-" Marshall cried into Chase's shoulder before being interrupted by him.

"It's okay Marshall, I-I overreacted... You were just there and I couldn't... I'm sorry, I wasn't mad at you." Chase said in a low voice trying to console him. Marshall slowly pulled away from Chase with a sniffle and looked into his eyes.

"Then what is it?" Marshall asked as he wiped a tear from his face.

"It's nothing Marshall I'm f-" Chase was interrupted

"No! You clearly aren't, you can't keep hiding your problems..." Marshall yelled which surprised Chase as he rarely heard the usually calm pup raise his voice.

"You've been different since we came back from Adventure City, so now tell me!" He continued.

"It doesn't concern you Marshall! Just leave it!" Chase yelled back.

"YES IT DOES, YOU ARE MY FR-" Marshall got cut off by loud thunder roaring from the sky causing them both to cover their ears and yelp as the thunder rang through their ears. The pups look up and each other again with sadness as they stare at each other.

"Look, I'm sorry." Marshall spoke softly to the now quiet Chase.

"You are my friend, we've been together ever since Ryder adopted me... If you're going through something you don't have to face it alone." Marshall said looking softly at Chase. A tear slowly ran down Chase's face as he could no longer hide his emotions, he fell to the ground now crying even harder burying his face in his paws. Marshall stepped forward and embraced the broken pup as he cried.

"It's okay, let it all out... everything you've been holding back." He spoke in a comforting voice as he hugged his friend letting a few tears of his own escape, but he had to stay strong for his friend. After a few minutes, Chase calmed down a little.

"I'm sorry..." Chase let out in a sad voice, as Marshall released him and laid down in front of his friend.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Marshall replied looking at his friend.

"Yes I do... I lied to you, to everyone." Chase continued as he lifted his head from his paws. Marshall looked at him with a confused face and was about to say something but was interrupted.

"I lied about my past... The reason I was alone was... because my parents were taken away, I was left all alone on the streets not for just a day but probably weeks.." He said in a saddened voice. Marshall looked at him with remorseful eyes as he didn't know what to say at first.

"Why didn't you tell us... why did you lie to Ryder." Marshall asked in a soft voice after a short silence.

"When he found me I couldn't handle that... I no longer had anyone, I was scared of the truth... but now I lie to be strong for the ones that need me." Chase said with new tears forming in his eyes.

"You can't help others if you yourself are broken. It's not sustainable." Marshall said looking up at his friend. Their conversation was interrupted by his beeping pup tag, he looked down and pressed on the red tag to answer the call.

"H-hello?" Marshall spoke hesitantly.

"Where are you Marshall." Ryder sounded over the call in a stern voice.

"I-I went out to find Chase in the forest." Marshall said.

"I told you to stay at the lookout, where are you now." Ryder said annoyed at the Dalmatian for disobeying his order.

"I'm in a cave somewhere in the forest, a-and I found Chase." Marshall responded hoping he wouldn't be mad at him.

"Is he alright?" Ryder asked sounding concerned.

"Yes he will be ok, he fractured his leg but I wrapped him up." He responded.

"*sigh* Okay, walking is out of the question so you two stay there until the storm dissipates so Skye can bring her helicopter over." Ryder ordered.

"Okay Ryder." Marshall said in a low voice feeling disappointed in himself for disobeying Ryder. Although Marshall knew it was the right thing to do he never liked to make anyone disappointed or mad especially the person who gave him a home and a family when no one else would. Marshall moved his head and looked back at Chase who returned the look.

"What really happened when you were alone." Marshall asked softly staring at Chase's now slightly red eyes. Chase sadly sighed as he laid his head back down on the floor looking off to the side not wanting to make eye contact.

"My parents were taken by animal control..." Chase began explaining his past to Marshall and after a few minutes, he knew everything the pup had been hiding from the world.

"I'm so sorry Chase..." Marshall didn't know what else to say. He didn't know what his best friend had gone through. The two pups could only lay there on the stone floor in silence as the fire crackled next to them and the storm came down outside.

Sometime later

Marshall woke up to find his pup tag beeping again. He yawned and looked over towards Chase who was still sleeping next to the ember that used to be the fire, sitting himself up he pressed the red tag to answer the call.

"Hello?" Marshall spoke

"Hey... The storm is cleared up enough for Skye to come and collect you two. She'll be there shortly." Ryder spoke in a low voice. Marshall looked outside and saw that it was barely raining anymore.

"I-I'm sorry for not listening to you..." Marshall spoke in a low voice after a second of silence.

"*sigh* I'm sorry too... I shouldn't have yelled at you, I-I was just scared you would get hurt." Ryder responded now feeling a little better. Marshall started hearing faint helicopter whirring outside.

"I think I hear Skye, I gotta go." Marshall said.

"Okay, see you back at the lookout." Ryder said and ended the call. Marshall felt a heavy weight being lifted off his soul as he now knew Ryder wasn't mad at him. He turned his head and looked at Chase who was now beginning to wake up.

"Skye is gonna be here soon, let's go outside so she can see us." Marshall said to the barely awake German Shepherd. He walked over and helped his friend up and supported him so he wouldn't fall over as they made their way outside to see Skye preparing to land. Nothing was said between the two as Skye's helicopter touched down on the ground in front of them carrying a stretcher on a wire below.

"The only way we're all fitting is if Chase goes on the stretcher, so let's go before the storm picks up again." Skye yelled over her rotors from her helicopter. Marshall helped him over to the stretcher and tied him down with a couple of straps as the wind from the nearby helicopter blew through their fur, only sad looks were exchanged. Marshall quickly walked over to the helicopter and jumped in and sat down behind Skye in silence. Skye carefully took off and slowly headed back towards the lookout making sure Chase was safe.

"I-Is he going to be okay?" Skye asked hesitantly after a long silence,

"Yeah... I think he just needs someone to talk to." Marshall responded in a low voice.

"Oh, okay." Skye said now feeling a little better knowing he will be okay at least physically. The conversation fell silent as Skye neared the lookout and she lowered the helicopter down to let Ryder disconnect the stretcher and get Chase away from the helicopter. As she was landing back at her parking space she felt Marshall lean in closer to say something over the loud rotors.

"I think you should talk to him." Marshall said causing Skye to tense up and wobble the helicopter before she touched down.

"W-Why me... You're his best friend." Skye said slightly flustered.

"You know why." Marshall said with a smirk as he climbed out of the helicopter nearly falling as he landed on the ground leaving Skye frozen in her helicopter as her face turned red. Marshall quickly walked over to the rest of the pups and Ryder who was holding Chase. The pups were both happy and disappointed in themselves and no one knew what to say so everyone was just quietly standing around Ryder.

"Alright pups Chase needs to rest so his leg can heal." Ryder said before looking over to the right and saw Marshall coming towards them.

"Marshall, can you get Chase to his pup house and make sure his leg is okay?" Ryder asked the EMT pup as he lowered Chase towards him.

"Yeah of course Ryder." Marshall said in a low voice as he supported his friend as they walked in silence toward the blue pup house. As they reached the door Marshall slid it open and walked with Chase inside and helped him up into his bed.

"Your leg needs to be still so don't get up without help. And if you need something or... someone, call me." Marshall said as he turned around and opened the door.

"T-thank you Marshall" Chase said quietly from across the room. Marshall turned around a looked at the tired pup.

"Always... brother." He said and turned back around and closed the door behind him to give Chase the quiet he needed to rest. Marshall decided to go get some breakfast as he had not yet eaten, he headed toward the lookout door and on his way there he spotted Skye just now getting out of her helicopter. A smirk formed on his face as he caught her eyes before winking and turning away, causing Skye to once again turn red. Everyone knew that she had a thing for Chase, everyone besides Chase it seemed. Marshall walked through the door and grabbed some food from the dispenser. As he grabbed his bowl and walked over to the common area he noticed how unusually quiet it was, the TV was off and no one was talking. Marshall placed down his bowl and began eating alone on the soft carpeted floor lost in his own thoughts.

"Hey Marshall, we need to talk." Marshall heard Ryder whisper to him, Marshall jumped a little as he had not seen the boy approach.

"Yeah..." Marshall said as he stood up and walked with Ryder towards his room leaving his red bowl behind on the floor. They entered Ryder's room and shut the door behind them before sitting down on his bed.

"Is he okay?" Ryder asked in a low voice.

"Physically yeah, It's only a small fracture but he won't be able to do any missions for a couple of weeks. But mentally... he needs someone."

"Yeah... I realize that." Ryder said disappointed in himself for not being able to help Chase earlier.

"It's not my place to speak for him so you should talk to him, just let him get some rest first."

"Yeah... Thank you Marshall." Ryder said as he petted Marshall's head. After a second of silence, Marshall jumped off the bed.

"I'm gonna go finish my food." He said as he walked out of the room leaving Ryder on the bed.

"Okay Marshall." Ryder answered in a low voice before the door shut behind the spotted pup.

Zuma saw Marshall leave Ryder's room from his and Rocky's usual spot, they were barely talking to each other just sitting there feeling ashamed like all the other pups. Emotions running through the Lab's head trying to figure out the right thing to do, but with all the emotions it was hard.

"Well sulking here isn't helping anyone, I'm just gonna go apologize to Chase. Better now than later." Zuma heard Rocky say, interrupting his thoughts. Zuma had always admired how Rocky could use his brain instead of his heart to resolve situations, but he also hated it. Rocky could be so cold and unfeeling at times, completely unphased by everything as his brain crunched for the best possible action. Yet he knew Rocky was right, a decision he made without his heart interfering that is something Zuma could never manage to do.

"Yeah you'we wight, I'm coming with you." Zuma replied as he stood up and followed the mixed breed toward the lookout door. With every step closer to the blue pup house he felt the nerves creeping in, his legs falling weaker, and the thoughts bouncing around in his head once again. He looked over to his best friend walking next to him, he appeared completely unphased by the situation his cold calculating mind probably thinking of just the right words to say. It was like his friend's calm spread to the Lab as his mind slowed down, his legs regaining strength, and the nerves somewhat dissipating. Although he wasn't as calm as Rocky appeared he still felt like he was ready for any emotions thrown upon him as long as he was there with him, he felt safe... warm even.

Zuma's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sight of Chase's door right in front of him. He looked over at Rocky and then back at the door, he lifted his paw to knock on the door but hesitated for a second. Zuma thought over the possible ways Chase might react in his head but before he could finish he was interrupted by a white gray-sleeved paw quickly knocking on the door.

"Yeah? uhh... Just open it." A faint voice could be heard from inside, Zuma tried to prepare himself but again Rocky just went for it with no hesitation, he opened the door.

"O-oh hey guys, what's up?" Chase said from his bed in the far corner of the room. Zuma was surprised by the neutral tone in his voice as he expected him to be mad at them or at least sad.

"We came to apologize about yesterday." Rocky said as he stepped through the door with Zuma following behind. Zuma didn't even have time to begin to think of what to say before Rocky started like that.

"O-oh, no it's fine guys... I overreacted yesterday. I'm sorry for making you have to look for me." Chase replied.

"N-no it's not okay, I'm weally sowwy." Zuma spoke poking his head past the gray pup in front of him.

"It's okay guys no need really, but thank you anyways... it means a lot." Chase said with a faint smile on his face. Before a short silence fell over the room.

"Is that from Ryder?" Rocky said breaking the silence. Chase was confused about what he meant before tracing his eyes and once again laying eyes on the blue box on his nightstand.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that was there." Chase reached over towards the box stretching his forelegs as far as they could reach.

"Here let me help you." Rocky said with a light smile on his face as he walked over and picked up the blue box by the yellow ribbon on top. He placed the box next to Chase who was now sitting up rested against the backboard of his bed to support him as he couldn't balance with one leg bound up.

"Thanks." Chase said as he picked up the box and placed it in front of him before looking back at the Lab and Mixed Breed with a smile.

"Well, we'll leave you so you can rest up." Rocky said before turning around and walking towards the door.

"And remember you can always reach us on that amazing thing around your neck." Rocky proudly chuckled.

"Yeah yeah, enough bragging Pebbles." Chase chuckled as Rocky turned around to look at the smiling German Shepherd.

"Hey, I'm not that much shorter than you guys." Rocky responded as he hated that name.

"Alwight anyways best that we go, make suwe to get some west." Zuma butted in as he and Rocky closed the door leaving Chase alone in his pup house again.

Chase looked down at the box in front of him, he pulled on one end of the ribbon making it come undone. He lifted the top of the box revealing a face-down picture frame in the box, he picked it up and pushed the now empty box off the bed. He turned the frame around revealing the photo inside... A single tear ran slowly down his face. The picture showed younger Chase, Marshall, and Ryder happily playing in the boy's parent's front yard, it was dated to just a couple of months after Chase was found in adventure city. He brought the picture to his chest and hugged it tightly as old memories came flooding in.