Car horns blared across the busy streets of the Downtown district of Boroughton, Hendrix looked on, seeing many pedestrians going about their day and seeing some strays near an alleyway fight it out. Oh, how the purebred Terrier hated this part of the city, it was filth, sure, but at least there were some dogs he could trust, to a point, at least. He moved across the street, keeping his muzzle towards the ground to avoid any attention to himself, occasionally glancing up at the signs to see which street he was on.
"Cormack Street." The Terrier thought to himself. "Don't remember if I'm close or not." Hendrix let out a frustrated sigh as he realized that he may have to ask a pedestrian for some assistance, something he really didn't like doing.
The Terrier kept walking until he saw a civilian walking along the sidewalk with his dog, upon getting close, he stopped him. "Excuse me, sir? Do you know where the Stagg Hotel is?"
The owner's dog leaned into Hendrix, sniffing him down as the Terrier glared at him with a stern look. "Yeah, just keep heading up this street until you see 'Masterson Street', head down that street and then you'll be on Hunan and 5th." The civilian answered as he smiled at the Terrier, pulling his dog back just a little bit.
"Thank you, sir." Hendrix nodded as the civilian let out a quick warning.
"Be careful though, ever since that incident with those dogs at the hotel, they've been pretty strict about letting dogs in for awhile." The civilian advised.
"I'll keep that in mind, you have yourself a nice day, sir." Hendrix nodded as he moved along, following the man's instructions and heading towards the hotel.
Mavis and Mika made it back to the Den after that fateful scouting mission at the docks. The two moved on in, thanking Saxton as he agreed to let them through, the next thing to do was to head to Avery's office and that was the worst part.
The Retriever felt the nervousness creep up all over her body, she never, in her time working with Avery, failed him in such a way. She feared that the Greyhound would have her killed for failing her but as she looked on at the office door, she felt the heavy paw of Mika on her shoulder.
"I got your back." Mika assured as she smiled.
Mavis gulped, moving towards the office with Mika right behind her. She finally got close and was a bit hesitant on knocking but the Retriever didn't have to, she felt her soul soon leave her body as the Greyhound opened the door and revealed himself to the two, soon giving somewhat of a worried look at the two as he stepped aside to let them in. "You're okay, you weren't answering your pup tag, what happened?" The Greyhound asked as he shut the door, soon getting bowls of water and food for the two.
"Some McAllister got the jump on me and almost took me out but Mika saved me." Mavis quickly explained as Avery shot a look at the Mountain dog.
"Alright, you couldn't scope out the club, right?" Avery asked as Mavis lowered her ears, feeling disappointed in herself that she failed. "Look, I may have come off that conversation as an asshole but these McAllisters need to get what's coming to them."
"I'm sorry, Avery, I could've approached that plan better and the-." The Greyhound cut her off, not wanting to hear her 'what if' scenario.
"I don't wanna hear it, it's alright. We're still fucked though because we don't know what's in that club but we'll figure something out." Avery stated as he sat down.
"I did get something, got a name." Mavis chirped up. "Before I got attacked, some patrol passed by and they mentioned someone by the name of 'Hendrix', could that mean anything?" Mavis asked as she leaned down, drinking her water.
The Greyhound froze upon hearing the name, was Mavis sure she even heard correctly? "Hendrix...You know who they were talking about, right?"
The two females shared confused glances at each other as Avery answered his own question. "Hendrix Remington, he's the one of the dogs of Roman Remington, who is one of the city politicians of Boroughton."
The two let out a depraved sigh as Mavis had a thought enter her mind, "Wait, if his owner is a politician, then why is Hendrix working with the McAllisters?" The question entered everyone's mind shortly after, at least until Avery cleared it up.
"Maybe something happened but I'm not looking forward to finding out, you two go take the rest of the day off, you earned it, and again, I'm sorry for sending you out there." Avery slightly lowered her ears as the two dogs nodded.
"I understand but...Mika, wait outside, please?" Mavis asked as the Bernese Mountain dog nodded in agreement, leaving the two in the room as Mavis continued on. "She shouldn't be in that position ever again."
"She worked with the McAllisters!" Avery barked as his temper rose at the Retriever's obsessive coddling of the Mountain Dog.
"I know that but she didn't have a choice, she was just scared!" Mavis defended. "I can tell she's never hurt a soul in her life, today was her first time ever getting blood on her paws, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even be alive!"
"Then what do you want me to do?! Congratulate her? Make her feel happy that she finally killed someone?" Avery got close to the Retriever's face, who backed up a bit, trying not to be intimidated by the Greyhound.
"I just want one thing and one thing only...if the McAllisters end up raiding this place, taking us out, and I'm not around." Mavis glanced off to the side. "I want you to take her somewhere, somewhere where she'll be safe, she doesn't deserve a life in Boroughton, she just deserves to be happy, you know what I mean?" Mavis asked as she wiped the small bit of tears coming from her as Avery gave it a thought.
"You want me to get her out of Boroughton if things get too crazy with the McAllisters?" Avery asked, trying to get a reassurance on his question.
"Yes, that's all I'm asking." Mavis answered.
Avery smiled, letting out a short chuckle as he said something, "You know, you're one of the only few dogs in this place that ever asked to get some pup out of Boroughton." Avery stated as Mavis tilted her head.
"Who were the others?" The Retriever asked.
Avery sat there in silence for a while, giving it some thought. "Never mind that, just go get your mind off what happened, alright?" Mavis nodded in agreement as she started to walk towards the door, hearing Avery call her out one last time, "I can't make any promises but I'll try."
"Thanks, Avery." Mavis smiled as she soon left the office, the Greyhound soon lowering his ears and letting out a depressed sigh as he realized that this problem was getting worse by the day and there was very little they could do.
The Terrier finally arrived at the somewhat massive hotel, seeing the beautiful golden sign, his attention was soon drawn away as he glared over to the ground, seeing police tape covering up part of the sidewalk. "Guess the news wasn't lying after all." The Terrier thought to himself as he moved past the scene and up towards the street, getting closer to the Den. The fur on the Terrier stood up as he heard thunder crack across the sky, seeing rain begin to drizzle down shortly after. Within a moment's notice, he picked up the pace and eventually arrived at the Den's entrance, seeing Saxton guarding it as usual, upon approaching the Pitbull, he was immediately threatened by him.
"Hey! You stumbled into the wrong place, get out of here if you know what's good for ya!" Saxton barked but was taken back as he saw the dog's face and immediately recognized who it was. "He-Hendrix Remington, what're you...what're you doing here?"
Hendrix looked at the Pitbull and let out an answer. "I'm here to see Avery, it's business."
Saxton nodded as he let the dog through. The Terrier trekked on through the bustling hub as he headed towards Avery's office, keeping his head down and occasionally getting stopped by some dogs trying to sell him something or beg for something. After some time, the Terrier knocked on the office door, hearing the Greyhound respond shortly after. "Yeah, come in."
Upon entering, Avery glanced over and saw the Terrier with an unamused look on his muzzle.
"Avery, we need to talk." Hendrix advised as he sat down.
"Do we now?" Avery smiled as he turned to face the average-sized dog, approaching him as he lent out his paw, soon grabbing him and slamming him against one of the shelves. "You think I'm gonna talk with you after my associates have been hearing you've been hanging with those McAllister bastards? Devi essere fuori di testa!"
"Easy there, Avery! Give me a minute to explain and get those claws away from my neck." Hendrix ordered as Avery gave it a second, soon releasing his grasp on the Terrier. "Thanks. Look, I need this from you, the McAllisters have some information on me that can't go public." Hendrix stated.
"Oh, let me guess, they caught you cheating on your poor wife?" Avery mocked as he walked back to his desk.
"No, my darling son did some deals with them and now they're blackmailing me into helping them." Hendrix explained as Avery sighed. "Nobody can find out, do you hear me?"
The Greyhound gave it some thought. "What makes you think I'd do this for you?" Avery asked as he crossed his paws.
Hendrix rolled his eyes as he gave a response. "This isn't for me, Avery, this is for your damn cause."
Avery looked at the Terrier, head tilting as he tried getting the context of what he just said. "The hell are you talking about?"
Hendrix sighed as he knew he had to come clean to his old associate, "My owner, he told me that he's going to try to do something about what's been happening here for some time. Stated that it'll help the public side with him more, this information goes out, he's going to get desperate and put the pressure on this place, letting the McAllisters waltz free. I know you don't want that."
Avery chuckled at the statement, glaring at the Terrier, "I think Alistair can handle a small politician like Roman, so listen closely, you discarica cur." The Greyhound approached the Terrier, getting close to his face. "We'll help but no promises and if we fuck up, don't even try coming after us. Alistair finds out, that home you have and that family will be out on the street and the Remington name will be nothing more than white noise, do I make myself clear?" Avery asked as he kept his stern glare at the Terrier, who barely seemed to take his threat seriously.
"It's not like I don't want him to go after you but there's no choice I have, I just want to make sure my family is safe." Hendrix stated as Avery pressed his paw against the Terrier.
"No, you just wanna make sure you're safe, you selfish asshole!" Avery barked. "You did it back then, you'll do it again, I can guarantee that." Hendrix kept his cool at the Greyhound's outburst, soon speaking back up again.
"I can assure you nothing like that is going to happen, you help me, I'll help you, that's how this whole thing works." Hendrix assured.
Avery took another step back, taking in a breather as he came to terms with the Terrier's needs. "You're going to have to wait though, the rest of my crew isn't even back yet, they're all busy but give it some time and they'll be here."
Laughter and conversations chattered all around the bar-like restaurant as Mavis and Mika entered it, approaching the counter and hopping up on the stools, Dixon glanced from across the counter and spotted the Retriever, seeing her banged up face as he approached the two. "Damn, hermana, you look like shit! The hell happened to you?" The Mastiff asked as he leaned on the counter, giving a quick nod towards Mika.
"McAllisters, what else?" Mavis sarcastically asked as she reached into her satchel, bringing out some ration cards. "Just get us some food, alright?"
"Sure thing, what do you want?" Dixon asked as he stepped back, grabbing two bowls for the dogs.
"Steak for me and kibble for her." Mavis answered as Dixon nodded.
"You got it, be right back." With that, the Spanish Mastiff departed to get the two their orders, taking the currency in the process and placing it under the counter.
Mavis laid her head down on the counter, letting out a deep, depraved sigh as she looked at Mika. "You doing alright?" She let out a small reassuring smile towards the Mountain Dog, who nodded in response.
"'Jutht'worried." Mika answered as she rubbed her paws together, the nervousness slowly coming back.
"About what?" Mavis asked as she heard the Mountain Dog lightly whimper, soon laying her head down on the counter. "What's wrong? You can talk to me, you know I'm here for you." The Retriever assured as she rubbed the Bernese Mountain Dog's back with one of her paws.
"I heard what you and Avery were talking about..." Mika lowered her ears, glancing away from the Retriever, who froze for a moment. "I don't want to 'lothe' you...then I realized 'thith'. What if we take care of the 'McAllithterth'? Where will I go?" Mika asked as she looked at Mavis, tears beginning to slowly fall out her eyes.
"Don't worry about that, we take care of those McAllisters and I'll make sure you'll be able to stay here, you've more than earned your stay." Mavis assured as Mika shot another question at the Retriever.
"What if the 'otherth' go 'againtht' it?" Mika asked as Mavis looked towards the ground, giving it a thought, would her friends really not stick up for Mika after everything she's done for them?
"I...I don't know but we'll cross that bridge when we get there, okay?" Mavis looked back at the Mountain Dog, who nodded in agreement.
Dixon soon arrived with their food, placing it in front of the two dogs, along with two water bowls. "Enjoy that, alright?" Dixon gently smiled as he left the two to go take care of other customers.
The stomachs of the two dog's growled as they looked at their food, soon leaning down and digging into their bowls.
Saxton sighed as he guarded the entrance to the Den for another countless time, awaiting for his break so he could fill his stomach up with some food. As he rolled his head upon leaving the sigh, he noticed four familiar dogs arriving towards him. Within a moment's notice, he called them. "Hey! You four get over here!" The Pitbull called out, seeing the four dogs approach him rather quickly.
"What is it, Saxton?" Nashi asked as he scratched his ear, soon being pulled in by the Pitbull.
"A rather important dog just stumbled into Avery's office wanting to talk to him, I think it's best you all go check and see if everything's alright." Saxton whispered as the four dogs shared somewhat worried glances at each other.
"Thanks, Saxton." Nashi nodded as he handed the Pitbull some ration cards as compensation.
"No problem, just make sure Avery is alright." Saxton advised as the four dogs headed inside, approaching Avery's office.
Chase was the first to reach the door, hearing the unknown voice inside, he opened the door rather quickly to make sure his friend was okay.
"Hey, kid! Glad to see you made it! Nashi, Delta, Levi, good to see you too." Avery let out a smile as he approached the four dogs. "Everyone, this is Hendrix Remington, the dog of Roman Remington who's going to try and screw us if we don't help him."
"What?" Nashi asked as he looked at the Terrier, full intent of tearing him apart but was held back by Delta.
"It wasn't exactly like that, Avery here just likes to stretch the truth a little bit like he always does." Hendrix continued on. "Anyway, long story short, I need the McAllisters handled as soon as possible so my owner doesn't have to be forced to move on you dogs."
Delta stepped in and asked a question, "What's in it for us?"
"You get this done and I won't forget it, ask Avery, I don't forget my friends." Hendrix shot a quick glance at the Greyhound, who rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Alright, well, we'll start tomorrow then, they're all tired, alright? They need a break." Avery stated as Hendrix nodded.
"Sure thing, I'll be heading back home then and I'll see if I call in some favors to help you dogs out, alright?" Hendrix asked as the dogs shared assuring looks at each other, soon nodding in agreement. "Good, Avery, come here a second." The Terrier gestured as the Greyhound stepped forward, grabbing his pup tag and scanning it with his. "There, now, I can call you whenever I have something that could help, good luck, alright?" With that, Hendrix left the office, leaving Chase and the others with more questions than answers.
"Avery? He a friend of yours or something?" Nashi asked as Avery sighed.
"Old friend of mine, I used to work with him a long time ago." Avery answered as he filled up his water bowl.
"You think he's actually going to help us?" Chase asked.
Avery stopped for a second, taking a break from drinking his water, "Most likely, this is something he needs done because if it doesn't work out, he's the one who's going to get punished for it." The Greyhound answered. "Look, you all have been busy today, go get some food and some rest."
"If you need us to do some more, we're willing to-." Nashi tried insisting before being cut off by Greyhound.
"No, no, it's alright, Mavis and Mika are already there, meet up with them and just relax, compredere?"
The group shared glances and shrugged, with the majority of them agreeing with the Greyhound's orders, it was a long day after all, the rest and food was well needed for them. The rest of the crew soon left the Greyhound's office, heading towards Dixon's restaurant to meet up with Mavis and Mika.
"I don't trust that Terrier." Nashi stated as the crew made their way towards the restaurant.
"I don't think we have that much of a choice, Nashi." Delta guessed as his eyes gandered over at Levi, noticing the claw marks on his muzzle. "You two get into a scrap or something on your way to Spencer?" The Australian Shepherd asked, a tad bit concerned.
"Had to do a job for Spencer, didn't account on running into problems, you know?" Levi smiled as he answered the question. "Spencer really has some trust issues, had to go on it alone."
"I assume those dogs that you ran into didn't have a good time?" Nashi asked as he slightly smirked.
"You're right on that!" The Alaskan Malamute chuckled as did the others.
The crew made it to Dixon's restaurant, with them immediately eyeing Mavis and Mika at the counter eating their food. "Hey, you two!" Delta called out as they made their way inside, hopping up on the stools and sitting next to each other. The Australian Shepherd looked at the Retriever's face and noticed the injuries. "Oh man, what the hell happened to you?"
Dixon arrived at the crew, shortly answering the question for the Australian Shepherd. "Esos pendejos de McAllister." The Spanish Mastiff leaned forward on the counter. "They need to be dealt with as soon as possible, would be a shame if they somehow end up taking you guys out, you're my favorite customers."
"Appreciate it." Mavis smiled as did the others, realizing that the Spanish Mastiff was being truthful.
"I assume you want the usual? Nice steak to fill your soul?" Dixon chuckled as the rest of the crew agreed. "I'll be right back then."
The Spanish Mastiff departed as he called over some help, leaving the crew to talk things over with each other. Chase distanced himself a bit from the crew after that incident with Levi, the Shepherd just wanted to make sure he didn't flip out again and hurt someone.
"Hey, Mav? You wanna explain a bit in detail on what happened?" Nashi asked as the Retriever tapped her paws on the wooden counter, releasing a sigh from her mouth as she quickly answered the question.
"I was on my way to do a scouting job for Avery and I got jumped by this McAllister, wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for Mika, she ended up saving me." Mavis answered as she went back to eating her food.
"Sh-she saved you? You're kidding me, right?" Nashi laughed as he glanced at the Bernese Mountain Dog. Mavis's ears lowered as she wasn't in the mood to deal with Nashi at the moment.
"She really saved you? From a McAllister?" Delta looked over at the, now nervous, Mountain Dog and smiled. "Nice job, pup."
"Why didn't Avery just wait for us?" Levi asked as he leaned over, adding himself to the conversation.
"I don't know, he said it was because of the incident at the hotel but I find that hard to believe. Whatever, it's over now." Mavis ended the conversation just in time as Dixon came back with his associate, placing the bowls in front of the dogs as they paid for their food, shortly realizing what was in the bowl.
"Dixon...what the hell is this?" Nashi asked as the Spanish Mastiff sheepishly smiled.
"Yeah...we're out of steak, hope you like kibble! I know that Shepherd does." Dixon grabbed his payment from the crew and dismissed himself, hoping to not deal with a ticked-off Nashi.
Levi looked down at his bowl and shrugged, leaning down and taking a bite of his kibble. "It's better than nothing, I suppose."
Time passed as Rocky laid slumped in the safe house, waiting for Skye, Zuma and Decker to return with, hopefully, good news. He let out a sigh of boredom as he glanced over to where Marshall was still residing at, lying there, still relishing the thought of the betrayal that their German Shepherd friend gave to him.
Feeling a bit of pity, he got up and stretched, with the full intention of having a conversation with the Dally. Upon reaching him, he laid down next to him, sparking up a conversation. "Is your plan to just lay here all day? You're getting us worried, Marshall." Rocky stated as he heard the Dalmatian release a huff.
"I just need to rest, that's what dogs normally need when they're attacked by an unstable dog they used to call their friend." Marshall assured as Rocky took a slight offense to that statement.
"You're talking about Chase, aren't you?" Rocky asked as he laid a paw on the Dalmatian, seeing him jolt in response.
"Yeah..." The Dalmatian trailed off as he looked at the Mix. "What do you want, Rocky?"
"I just wanted to check up on you and...see if you wanted to...talk about what happened last night with Chase." Rocky lowered his ears upon mentioning that last part.
Marshall realized that it would be better if he actually told, at least, one of the pups what happened last night, he sighed as he began to explain. "I found him in that alleyway, beaten and bruised up, I wasn't sure if it was even him at first, Rocky. I saw all those dead dogs there and all I wanted to do was help him and he just paid me back by attacking me, biting my paw, slamming me into a dumpster. I told him that we wanted to help him, to try to get him out of this stupid vengeance mission that he was on but it didn't matter."
"And that's when he left?" Rocky asked as Marshall nodded, quickly answering his question.
"Yeah, and that's when I ran into Katie's aunt, she took me to her place and Katie patched me up." Marshall finished as he laid his head down on the ground next to Rocky. "You remember back in the interrogation room? About what I said about Chase?"
"Yeah?" Rocky raised his brow at the Dalmatian.
"I truly meant that and I'm not sorry for saying it, I'm sorry for not saying it to him sooner." The Dalmatian turned away from the Mix, who stood up in offense.
"C'mon, Marshall, he's our friend. I know you don't mean that." Rocky assumed as the Dalmatian stood up, getting in the Mixed breed's face.
"You know-!" The Dalmatian winced at the pain his injured paw was emitting. "You know he doesn't care about us, why don't you just accept it?!"Marshall asked as Rubble heard the commotion, approaching the two.
"I know he had his reasons! I'm sticking by that!" Rocky barked as Marshall let out a sigh.
"You sound just like Katie."
Rocky rolled his eyes in annoyance, arguing back with the pup. "Well, I'm sorry we can't have that much of a say in it, we didn't ghost our team and talk to him one on one, now, did we?"
Marshall let out a low growl at Rocky, who didn't seem intimidated one bit, he had to let the Dalmatian let out some sort of anger but maybe he went too far with it, Rubble intervened and stopped the Dalmatian from doing something he'll regret. Even the Bulldog knew that Rocky would win if it came to that, after that run-in with those McAllisters earlier, it proved that Rocky wasn't a pup to be messed with.
"Whatever..." Marshall scoffed as he faced away from the two. "Just leave me alone, alright?"
Rocky felt bad for the Dalmatian, he knew what he went through was bad but at this point, he was showing signs to what Chase was showing before he left, if Decker and them don't end up finding Chase and putting this whole thing to rest, it could end up being the same thing all over again.
The Mix gave Rubble an assuring nod, letting him know that he and Marshall wouldn't have any problems, patting his shoulder and walking away. Now that Rocky was left alone, he thought about his friends, how much this changed them in a way, how it changed Marshall and Skye mostly, like everyone, all he wanted was everything to go back normal but how would it? If everything was sorted and they went back home, Chase still wouldn't be the same and neither would any of them. The Mix wiped the bit of tears from his eyes as he heard his pup tag ring, upon answering it, he heard Decker's voice.
"Rocky? We're almost on our way back, things got a little heated so that's why we couldn't call earlier but we managed to do what we had to do." Decker advised.
"Got it, see you in a bit." Rocky dismissed as he cleared his throat, trying to not let the Aussie mix hear his voice breaking.
After some time, The Eco pup's ears twitched at the sound of the front door opening, shortly after, he saw Decker and his friends come through, soaked with rain. Rocky approached with a smirk, trying his best not to laugh at, mostly, the Australian in charge. "Save it, you drongo." The trio shook the rain off their fur and Rocky checked up on Skye and Zuma, each of them giving him assuring nods.
"We're good, Rocky." The Labrador smiled. "Had some problems though." Zuma glared over at Decker, who took over the conversation.
"Yeah, there was some dogs scoping the place out at the same time as we were, we managed to get to the club and plant a wiretap." Decker glanced over at Marshall and Rubble, who were across the room. "Oi, get over here, you're going to wanna listen to this!"
Within a short notice, Rubble and Marshall arrived with the rest. "What is it, Decker?" The Bulldog asked.
"It's been a pretty eventful day, we got intel and we're planning to get more, Zuma planted a wiretap over at the club, I'll stay tuned in and listen to see if they'll spill anything interesting, those dogs at the Den, Hendrix Remington, the McAllister Brothers themselves, or if Maurice plans to leave the club himself." Decker explained as he continued, "You pups get some rest, I'll keep my ears tuned to the wiretap and wake you up if anything urgent happens." The pups mostly agreed as Rocky looked at the Australian Mix.
"We've all had a pretty tiring day, you should get some rest too." Rocky gently smiled, trying to coax the Aussie.
"I appreciate the concern, mate, but no one else here knows how to use this." Decker stated as Rocky scoffed, knowing something like that would be a cakewalk for him.
"Maybe I could help, I am the tech-savvy pup of the group, after all, take after Ryder in a way." Rocky boasted as Decker sighed, giving it a thought.
"Look, I'm trained to stay up more than a day, alright?" Decker looked at the pup as he continued, "But let me just take over tonight and I'll teach in the morning, how does that sound?" The Aussie Mix asked as Rocky smiled.
"Thanks. You can trust me on this, don't worry." Rocky assured as he walked towards his temporary bed, soon flopping his body down onto it and closing his eyes as did most of the pups.
After grabbing food over at Dixon's 'bar', Mavis and the others arrived at their room, each of them heading onto their beds and resting their bodies after a long, stressful day for most of them.
Mavis laid down onto her bed and noticed that Chase wasn't with her, she glanced around the room and saw him curled up in the corner of the room all by himself, rather than pressuring him like she did earlier, she decided to leave it and head off to sleep.
Hours passed as the crew were now in a deep sleep, most of them, at least. Mavis's ears twitched as she heard light whimpering in the room, she groggily opened her eyes and realized that it was Mika, normally, she would've left it but after what happened today, she needed to support her friend. She quickly stretched and dragged her small bed right next to Mika, laying down next and rubbing her fur to calm her down. "Everything's going to be okay..."
While that was happening, Chase was still having the occasional night terrors and he knew no one there could help him. Within the mumbles of the wounded and almost mentally broken Shepherd, the night terrors continued torturing his mind...
Chase heard laughter as he found himself back in the Lookout, he took a moment and gandered back at his home, nearly shedding a tear as he was back home again. He heard rain patter against the slide doors glass as the laughter got close and as he heard the Lookout doors open, he saw the pups there, happy and sharing laughs, like nothing happened, fur not even wet from the rain.
"It's good to be back, right, dude?" Zuma asked as he patted the pup's back.
The Shepherd didn't utter a response, he just stood there and watched, cracking a smile at his friends as the tears strolled down his eyes, he soon felt the touch of a paw on his own paw, he glanced over at the culprit and saw Skye smiling back at him.
"It's over, Chase..." Skye gushed as she leaned her head onto the Shepherd's chest, "You can stay with us now."
Chase hugged the Cockapoo as he looked forward, seeing his Dalmatian friend in front of him. "Welcome home, Chase."
Thunder cracked outside the Lookout as Chase saw something behind Marshall, he looked up and saw Alistair, gun in hand and ready to fire. Upon glancing back at the Dalmatian, he saw his bruised and wounded body. The Shepherd no longer felt Skye's presence on him and noticed that she was lined up with the rest of the pups.
"This is never going to be over, Chase." Alistair stated as he raised his gun at the Dalmatian's head and fired, soon aiming at the others and firing gunshots inside the Lookout, Chase's inaudible screaming commencing as he witnessed his friends being murdered right before his eyes.
The Shepherd jolted upwards, letting out a yelp as he woke up from his night terror, the hyperventilation trying to set it but was soon cleared away as the pup got his bearings back together. He looked around, making sure he didn't wake anyone up from his night terrors and proceeded to leave the room to get some air, he stepped outside and placed his paws on his head, trying to calm himself down.
The door behind Chase slightly creaked open, startling the pup a bit, he turned around and saw Levi with a somewhat worried expression drawn across his face. "Hey, you alright?" The Malamute asked as he leaned against the wall.
"Ye-yeah, I'm alright..." Chase brushed off as he wiped his eyes.
"You...you didn't sound alright. Did you have another bad dream?" Levi asked, concerned with the pup as he looked away, not answering the question. "I'll take that foreboding silence as a yes."
Chase huffed at the Malamute. "Take it however you want to take it, I'm heading back inside, sorry I woke you up." The Shepherd apologized as he walked past Levi, who called out to him one last time.
"Wait!" Chase stopped in his tracks. "Was...Marshall your friend's name?" Levi asked as the pup turned around to face him, not being able to answer him. "You said his name when you sliced my face earlier and I...pieced it together." Chase felt his body tense up as the Malamute continued. "I don't know what happened between you and him, Isaac, and it's none of my business to know anyway. But you just have to learn how to brush it aside, you know?" Levi gently smiled as the Shepherd furrowed his brows at the Malamute.
"It's not that simple." Chase warned as he rubbed his eyes.
"Maybe I can-." The Shepherd cut off Levi, assuring of him of his answer.
"It's NOT that simple, believe me." Chase sighed as his ears lowered. "I appreciate the help but trust me on this, I can manage this on my own, it's better if I do." With that in mind, the Shepherd left the Malamute alone as he went back inside with the others.
Levi sighed to himself, knowing that he failed in trying to help the Shepherd with whatever he was going through. "You try helping someone and they just brush you off like it's nothing." The Malamute thought to himself as he entered the room and laid onto his bed, like the rest of the crew, waiting for the next day to happen.