A/N: This story was originally from Wattpad but now I'm uploading it here too. My writing drastically improves a little into the story, so please stick with it for now; sorry.

Chase jolted awake breathing rapidly with a drop of sweat running down his face, he slowly sat up and gathered himself.

"Damn, that nightmare again." Chase thought to himself as his eyes turned toward the clock on the wall.

5:23 am

"Well I won't be getting any more sleep, might as well start my day." Chase quietly said to himself with a sigh. He then stood up and grabbed his pup tag and swung it over his head making sure it was properly attached. He then opened the door to his pup house, a gust of air blew in as he took a deep breath and began walking outside. He stopped a few steps outside his pup house, he just stared out to the horizon over the sea and then towards the city below with the mountains in the background. He sighed and turned around and started walking towards the lookout tower door.

"Man I'm hungry" Chase whispered to himself as the doors slid shut behind him. He thought back and remembered that he didn't have time to eat dinner yesterday as he was busy helping Mr. Porter load a last-minute delivery. It was mostly bags of frozen food and other goods but the bags were very heavy for the pup, so when he got home he simply went to his pup house and collapsed out of exhaustion.

Chase made his way to the food dispenser and placed his blue plastic food bowl under the dispenser and reached up and pressed the button for a second, as he held down the button food came pouring out rattling in his bowl. He then moved his bowl and began eating the food. It wasn't the best but neither did he hate it. After he was finished he grabbed his bowl lightly gripping it with his mouth and placed it back where it belongs next to all the other bowls. 6 of them including chases were colorful and then a couple of grey guest bowls were stacked next to the rest.

"What am I gonna do now?" Chase thought to himself as he walked out the sliding door having it shut behind him shortly thereafter. He glanced back out over the city seeing the sun rising over the mountains shining an orange hue over the city, this was the view he was greeted with every morning. He decided to go for a walk. He walked down the hill towards the bridge connecting the Lookout to the rest of the city.

7:05 am

Marshall woke up from the sliding of a door outside next to his pup house, he stood up rubbed his eyes with his paw, and stretched his body before proceeding to open the door. He walked outside and saw Rocky, Zuma, and Skye ahead of him talking, and Rubble just now stepping out of his pup house. Marshall wondered where Chase was before thinking he must already be inside. Marshall followed Rocky, Zuma, and Skye to the sliding door of the lookout closely followed by Rubble. They all made their way toward their bowls and lined up one after another in front of the food dispenser. When it was Marshall's turn he started pouring his food as he heard a door slide open.

"Morning pups!" Ryder said in his usual gleeful tone as he stepped towards the kitchen to prepare some breakfast for himself.

"Morning Ryder" all the pups said in unison before continuing to eat while watching the tv or chatting with each other.

"Where is Chase, his bowl is still here." Marshall thought to himself, as he locked his eyes on Rocky and Zuma who were happily chatting with each other. He made his way over to them and carefully placed his bowl close to them trying to not drop any food on the ground. He overheard Zuma and Rocky laughing about yesterday when the pups were playing football late in the evening before Marshall interrupted.

"Have you guys seen Chase today?" Marshall interrupted, hoping that Zuma or Rocky would know where the Dalmatian's best friend was. The two pups looked at Marshall in thought, before Zuma responded.

"No, I haven't seen him since he went to help Mistew Powtew yesterday after lunch." Zuma said before Rocky added.

"I saw him before dinner going into his pup house, he's probably sleeping in late again." Rocky added. Marshall thought about it and mentally agreed that Chase has been sleeping in a lot lately and not playing with the rest of the pups as much since they got back from Adventure City. Marshall finished his food and stood up.

"Okay, thank you guys I'll go look." Marshall said before walking to place his bowl back next to the guest bowls and then headed towards the lookout exit. Then leaving through the sliding door and having it shut behind him as he looked at the beautiful town taking a deep calming breath. Then he walked towards Chase's pup house. Once there he lightly tapped on Chase's door and waited a bit, no response. He then knocked on his door a little harder and waited, again no response.

"Chase you in there?" Marshall asked through the door, no response. Marshall then opened the sliding door to Chase's pup house finding it empty. Marshall then had a worried look on his face as his best friend would never leave without saying anything to anyone, he then calmed himself down as he remembered that he must have told Ryder that he was going somewhere. Marshall quickly made his way back into the lookout, spotting Ryder putting his dishes away he ran towards the boy before slipping and sliding into the back of Ryder's legs.

"*oof* Sorry Ryder" Marshall grunted as Ryder regained his balance. Marshall stood back up and looked at the boy.

"No worries Marshall, was there something you wanted?" Ryder asked looking back down at the little Dalmatian pup with a smile on his face.

"Oh right, do you know where Chase is Ryder?" Marshall asked in a happy tone and mirroring the smile Ryder gave.

"Is he not in his pup house?" Ryder asked, lessening the smile on his face while waiting for Marshall to respond.

"No I looked in there and it was empty." Marshall said with worry once again creeping onto his face. He was worried about his best friend as he has not been acting the same since they came back from Adventure City.

"He's probably just out walking." Ryder said trying to calm Marshall's blatant worry. Ryder knew Marshall truly cared for his best friend and that he was easily emotional.

"Oh, okay." Marshall said in a low voice trying to hide the worry on his face. Ryder bent down and scratched behind Marshall's ear before Marshall wandered off back towards the door to the lookout before it closed behind the little Dalmatian pup.

Ryder followed the dog with worried eyes until he disappeared behind the sliding doors. Ryder thought that this was unusual behavior from Chase as well but did not want to worry the emotionally prone Dalmatian. He thought about calling Chase's pup tag but decided instead to talk to him in person once he was back at the lookout.

Marshall entered his pup house and sat down, his mind was thinking back on the first day back from the city.

Flashback

Marshall woke up well-rested in his pup house he fell asleep as soon as they arrived back from Adventure City after a long exhausting road trip. He quickly stood up and walked towards the lookout along with all the pups. Skye upfront, Rocky and Zuma just behind chatting, behind them Rubble was trying to catch up, but no Chase he thought to himself.

"He must have already gone inside, doesn't surprise me he's always the first one awake." Marshall thought to himself as he followed the pups inside the lookout, he grabbed his food as usual and then took his bowl to the common area as usual. He saw Rubble and Skye watching TV, Rocky, and Zuma in their usual spot chatting, but no chase in sight. Marshall walked over to the spot where Chase and Marshall would usually sit and eat. He placed down his bowl and began eating, just then he saw Chase slowly walking in through the sliding doors with his eyes towards the ground he kept the same pace as he lumbered towards his bowl. After a minute he finally made his way over the usual spot where the two friends would eat together. Chase placed his bowl down close to Marshall and without even a "hello" he began slowly eating at his food.

"Morning Chase... how are you?" Marshall said softly in a slightly confused voice. Marshall had rarely seen his friend like this before, he was always the first one to wake up and even wake up anyone who slept too long.

"I'm fine Marshall, how are you?" Chase asked with a tired voice without looking away from his food. Chase kept eating his food, whilst Marshall was too busy in his head to eat, thinking of what to say next.

"Are you sure Chase?... you seem a little-" Marshall spoke but was interrupted by Chase.

"I'm fine Marshall, don't worry." Chase said keeping his head down. Marshall knew that that wasn't the case but he didn't feel like now was the time to pry. Marshall convinced himself that Chase probably just didn't sleep well. Although in the back of his mind, he was still a little concerned for his friend. Before he could think of what to say next.

"PAW Patrol to the lookout!" Sounded over their pup tags. All the pups quickly finish their food and hurry to the elevator, everyone arrived in the elevator with some of the pups noticing that Chase is dead last however no one thinks about it too hard as they are too excited to go on another mission, except for Marshall. Chase entered the elevator with his head still down. They get dressed and before they know it they are already at the top of the lookout, everyone lines up. Chase mustered up some strength and forced a smile and looked up.

"Ready for action, Ryder, sir!" Chase said loud and clear. This is the first time Marshall has seen Chase's face the whole day. Everyone else was busy listening to Ryder explain the mission to notice except Marshall who couldn't focus on anything but Chase in this moment. He saw the bags under Chase's eyes it looked like he hadn't slept at all.

"Marshall, I need you and your water cannon to cool down the generator until Rocky can fix the coolant pump!" Ryder stated which brought Marshall back to the situation at hand.

"I'm fired up!" Marshall stated as he would usually do after being called upon for a mission.

"PAW Patrol is on a roll "Ryder called out, Marshall and Rocky took the slide down leaving the rest to go back to whatever they were doing beforehand.

Flashback ends

"He's been acting weird like that ever since they got back" Marshall thought to himself. In his worry, he hadn't realized how long he'd been inside his pup house thinking to himself until someone opened the door to his pup house. In front of him was a Chocolate Labrador.

"Hey dude, you wanna play some football with the rest of us? or are you gonna keep lazing around in here" Marshall quickly looked at the clock in his room.

7:56 am

"I've been in here for 40 minutes?" Marshall uttered in surprise. He hadn't realized that he spent that long by himself thinking.

"Yeah dude, so are you coming ow not?" Zuma asked

"Y-yeah I'm coming." Marshall said with a slight stutter before realizing that worrying isn't gonna help the situation. He thought he'd just have to talk to Chase once he comes back.

Meanwhile

While Chase was walking around adventure bay he couldn't stop thinking about his past. although he was no longer afraid of the city, he has yet to let go of his past, it's keeping him up at night. The things that are burned into his memories.

Flashback

"MOM, DAD!" Chase yelled as-

Flashback ends

"NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Chase yelled. Chase then realized that he screamed that out loud, he quickly looked around him to find himself alone on the beach.

"Okay, good no one heard that." Chase said quietly to himself. He thought to himself that he desperately needed a distraction. He once again looked around and this time his eyes fixed on Mr. Porter's restaurant. He noticed Mr. Porter loading some things into his van, he decided that he would ask if he could help to load the van. This would be a good distraction he thought to himself as he hurried over to Mr. Porter.

"Oh, hello Chase, good morning." Mr. Porter said with a smile as he was happy to see the little police pup again. Mr. Porter then kept loading the boxes into his van.

"Morning Mr. Porter, would you like some help lifting those boxes?" Chase asked in the happiest voice and best smile he could muster. Mr. Porter then stared at the little pup and then back at the boxes.

"Sorry Chase I think these are a bit too heavy for you." Mr. Porter said. Chase's smile dropped slightly, seeing this Mr. Porter quickly thought of another idea.

"But you could help me fasten them to the van so they don't slide around when I'm driving, how about that?" Mr. Porter said with a newfound warm smile. Chase's smile returned as he was happy to find something to do.

"Sounds good, what do I do?" Chase asked as he had never done this before. After a quick explanation from Mr. Porter, Chase quickly got to work and once they were done, Mr. Porter thanked Chase for his help and gave him some pup treats before going to make his delivery. Chase looked through a window into the restaurant where he looked at the clock on the wall.

8:40 am

Chase then realized that he had been out way longer than he intended, he hurried back as fast as he could.

8:50 am

Marshall looked away from the clock and focused back on the football game that was still in full swing. Rocky and Zuma vs Skye and Marshall. Then there was Rubble as a referee as the teams would be unfair but also Rubble didn't mind not playing. Marshall was playing but something caught his eye, on the road, he could see Chase walking up the driveway, Marshall was debating whether he should go talk to Chase now. Just as he was about to he saw Ryder approaching Chase, who walked with Chase inside. Suddenly Marshall felt a thud at the back of his head, he momentarily lost his balance.

"Marshall what are you doing you've got the ball, run!" Marshall heard Skye scream, he quickly turned around.

"S-sorry Skye." He said as he went back to focusing on the game.

Meanwhile

Chase had just arrived at the lookout exhausted after running he walked the final bit up the driveway where he was greeted by Ryder.

"Good morning Chase." Ryder spoke. Chase looked up at the boy trying to hide the tired emotion on his face.

"Morning Ryder" Chase said, hoping Ryder hadn't noticed he had been gone.

"Where have you been? I didn't see you at breakfast." Ryder questioned, at the same time he saw Chase trying to hide his tired expression behind a smile.

"Yeah sorry Ryder, I was out on a walk then started helping Mr. Porter. I just lost track of time." Chase said trying to hide his tired voice from the boy.

"How are you feeling Chase?" Ryder asked after noticing the German shepherd's continued unusual behavior, slightly worried for his pup.

"I'm fine Ryder" Chase answered still trying to hide his tired demeanor. Ryder didn't believe the pup, he has been with Chase since he was an even younger puppy. He knew that Chase was hiding something, this wasn't normal for the pup he thought to himself.

"Let's walk inside... You know you can tell me anything, Chase." Ryder said as he and the pup were headed through the doors of the lookout. Chase slightly winced at Ryder's statement as Chase figured that Ryder knew that something was off. However, Chase didn't want to tell the boy about what has been bothering him.

Flashback

"Chase!" He heard both scream as the engine started and slowly faded away in the rest of the ambient noise.

Flashback ends

Chase shook his head as if to bring him back to reality. He didn't want to tell the boy about his traumatic past, all the boy knew was that he was alone in the city when he saved him on that crosswalk. Ryder seemed contempt with that knowledge and Chase not wanting to bring it up further never has. The boy appears to have never doubted how he ended up alone on the streets of Adventure City and why would he. Chase realized that he had not yet responded to Ryder, Chase looked at Ryder who was now looking at him with a worried expression.

"Y-yeah I know that" Chase finally stuttered before quickly excusing himself to leave Ryder's side. Ryder followed the pup with his eyes with an even more worried expression before Chase disappeared behind the sliding doors of the lookout. Ryder was left there with the conversation they had running through his head over and over worriedly trying to figure out what to do about the situation.

Chase walked out of the lookout and headed towards his pup house but was quickly stopped by a Dalmatian pup running up to him and nearly slipping into him but the Dalmatian just barely kept his balance. Chase looked at Marshall who had a big smile on his face while trying to catch his breath from running over to him from the football game.

"Hey Chase!" The dalmatian happily said while still being slightly winded.

"Hey Marshall." Chase replied no longer having the energy to even fake a smile. Marshall noticed Chase's saddened face and his smile dwindled a little bit before he got an idea.

"You wanna join our football game? We could use another player!" Marshall replied with much energy hoping to entice the German shepherd pup. Chase looked at Marshall with a drained emotionless face.

"No. I'm gonna go to my pup house." Chase replied in an emotionally drained voice. Marshall was taken aback by this answer as Chase always loved to play with him and the other pups and never said no to a game of football. The Dalmatian pup once again got the worried feeling in the back of his mind.

"Oh, okay then." Marshall said in a quiet defeated voice before Chase walked past him to his blue pup house leaving Marshall standing there with a worried look on his face. He was now very concerned for his best friend. He tried to go back to his football game but was unable to enjoy it.

Chase walked to his pup house and laid down on his bed trying to go to sleep but the memories were keeping him awake.

Flashback

-To be continued-

A/N I'm so excited to share my first story with everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's been a bit of a learning curve for me, but I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far. I have a few more chapters that are almost ready to release, and I think they're better written than this one. I can't wait for you to read them!