Archive of Our Own ^beta

The days passed with a subtle shift among the group. Skye and Marshall began to favor each other’s company over the others, finding solace in each other’s mutual heartbreak. In truth, it made the two of them closer than they had ever been.

It wasn’t as though they hadn’t been good friends before now. There had been a brief time when the Paw Patrol had just been Chase, Marshall, and Skye; and in that time, the three of them had been inseparable. One would be hard pressed to find any one of them not accompanied by the other two pups.

Once Rocky joined, and all the drama that had come with it, Marshall found himself forming a closer bond with Rocky, while Chase still opted for Skye’s company. Though before Adventure City, Marshall and Chase’s bond was always unbreakable.

Now, in the year since they had returned home, Marshall wasn’t so sure. Chase had been more distant, especially in the last few weeks. There had been moments that Marshall thought… maybe Chase might also feel the same…

But Chase would make excuses for being anywhere but around Marshall whenever Marshall’s thoughts tended to stray in that direction — usually to find Skye. Marshall’s heart hadn’t been able to take much more of that, and had come to the heavy acceptance that Rocky was right. There wasn’t any other explanation.

(Though thankfully, Skye had proved him wrong. It only made the sting a little less sharp since Marshall knew Chase’s heart still belonged to someone else)

Despite this, he was suddenly hanging around Skye more than any of the other pups. It was just nice to have someone he could confide in without fear of judgement or scrutiny. Not just that, but someone who understood exactly what he was going through. Marshall knew it was mutual, especially since Skye, well… she wasn’t exactly avoiding Chase. But Marshall overheard her making up excuses for why she couldn’t be alone with him.

Marshall really didn’t think anything of it. The other pups noticed though.

Well, other pups being Rocky.

“So… you and Skye have been hanging out a lot,” Rocky commented a bit over casually while he, Marshall, and Zuma were on standby at the Lookout. The other three pups had already been called out with assignments.

Zuma, who had been pacing along the length of the window in hopes of catching a glimpse of the mission — it was on the bay, after all — perked his ears up at Rocky’s remark and turned his attention towards them.

“Yeah, she’s a great friend,” Marshall replied, his voice carrying a strong hint of dismissal. He really didn’t want to get into this right now.

Rocky hummed in agreement. He was silent for a moment, thinking, and Marshall was hopeful that maybe he had decided to drop the subject… but he continued anyway. “She and Chase haven’t been around each other as much. Probably good they toned it down a bit so Ryder doesn’t notice.”

“Notice what?” Zuma asked. Confused, his brow furrowed and his eyes shifted between the two pups.

Rocky look at Zuma with an amused expression. “Come on, Zuma. How have you not noticed yet?”

“Notice what?!”

“They’re not together,” said Marshall, ignoring Zuma’s wide eyed and curious stare.

“Together?” Zuma asked.

“What?” Rocky said doubtfully, also ignoring Zuma borderline jumping right in his face. “Are you sure?”

“Chase and Skye are together?!”

“No,” Marshall answered emphatically. “Keep your voice down. You don’t want Ryder to hear. Not that it matters though because they’re not. They never were.”

Zuma blinked a couple times, before letting out a long breath that he seemed to be holding in. “I thought we weren’t allowed to,” he said.

“We’re not. That’s why we thought they were hiding it,” Rocky replied, though he didn’t take his slightly narrowed eyes off of Marshall. His head was tilted, puzzled.

“You guys never tell me anything,” Zuma grumbled, his mouth pulled into a pout.

“It’s because you can’t keep a secret to save your life,” Rocky snarked.

“You take that back!”

Marshall giggled as Zuma pounced on Rocky, who let out a happy shriek as they wrestled playfully to the ground.

Though he couldn’t enjoy it nearly as much as he usually could, he realized. His smile faltered as he remembered Skye’s crestfallen face when he hesitated after her subtle inquiry about these two. Marshall truly didn’t think there was anything going on between them, but… he had been wrong about a lot of things recently. Who was to say he wasn’t wrong about Rocky and Zuma too?

The two of them jumped apart at the sound of Ryder calling. They resumed their previous, alert positions as Ryder’s face appeared on the screen.

“Zuma, I need you and your hovercraft down at the bay!”

Zuma’s tail started wagging happily. “Let’s dive in!”

He started to race towards the slide, but halted as Rocky cried out, “Wait Zuma! Your helmet is crooked!” before running over to straighten it out.

“Thanks, dude,” he said with a grin. His face turned marginally more serious as he motioned between Rocky and Marshall with his paw. “We’re not done talking about this!”

With that, he hopped down the slide with an excited yelp, leaving Marshall and Rocky alone in the Lookout.

Rocky didn’t miss a beat the moment Zuma disappeared and turned back to Marshall. “So they’re really not? Did Chase tell you that?”

“Skye did,” Marshall corrected with a shake of his head.

“Huh,” Rocky said, sounding a bit puzzled. He was silent for a moment, conflicted and clearly deep in thought, before slowly asking, “Are you and Skye…”

“No!” Marshall exclaimed immediately with an embarrassed laugh. Not even a little. “No no no. Friends. Just friends. Promise.”

Rocky eyed him curiously for a moment, before nodding in acceptance. Thankfully, he seemed satisfied by that response.

Marshall knew he should probably just drop this subject… but while they were asking…

“Are you and Zuma…you know…?”

“No!” Rocky huffed in exasperation. “We are not together! Why does everyone ask that?”

“Umm…” Marshall began as he glanced over at the slide where Zuma had disappeared. “I can’t imagine why.”

Marshall found Chase sitting alone next to the swing. He looked miserable, his head low and his ears back, and Marshall knew he couldn’t just walk away from him looking like this. It made his heart clench painfully knowing that Chase was having such a tough time… especially since Marshall knew exactly what he was going through.

“Hey,” Marshall said softly. Chase peeked up, and greeted him with a small smile. “Everything okay?”

Chase shifted his gaze away, but thankfully didn’t say anything defensive or dismissive. Instead, he just let out a resigned sigh.

“I think Skye is avoiding me,” he answered as his claws pawed anxiously into the dirt.

“Oh…” Marshall murmured. He bit his lip, contemplating what to say next. “Why do you say that?”

And well. Marshall already knew the answer to that… because Skye kind of was avoiding him, and Chase wasn’t stupid. There were only so many excuses Skye could make before he started to suspect something.

“I don’t know,” Chase mumbled, looking particularly depressed. Marshall’s tail stopped wagging. “It just seems like every time I get close to her, there’s somewhere else she has to go.”

“Have you tried talking to her?” Marshall asked this right before cringing at his own question. He might have been an idiot. What kind of question was that? He already knew the answer to this question too.

“I’m trying to!” Chase exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to talk to her for weeks now! This is really important to me.”

Marshall hesitated. He really didn’t want to hear about Chase’s feelings for Skye, but he also hated seeing Chase like this.

“You - you could talk to me, you know,” Marshall said gently. “You can come to me about anything, you know that right?”

Chase looked back to meet Marshall’s gaze. He stared at the Dalmatian for a moment, before his brown eyes crinkled fondly. Marshall felt his face heat up, only for his heart to sink at the reminder of how much he loved Chase looking at him like that.

His gut twisted painfully knowing that Chase wouldn’t look at him the way he so longed for.

“You know I trust you with anything, right?” Chase replied.

“Yeah, of course,” Marshall responded quickly.

“But I really need to talk to Skye about this first.”

“Oh,” Marshall said, trying not to let the hurt show in his voice. “Right. Okay.”

“I’m sorry. Hopefully… I’ll be able to talk to you about this just… not yet.”

Marshall cocked his head at the way Chase averted his eyes once again, and the way his voice had grown a little nervous.

“Yeah, Chase. Whenever you’re ready,” Marshall said sincerely, despite the fact that he was secretly sweeping up the pieces of his heart knowing exactly that he would be the one comforting Chase’s broken heart.

The sun was hitting them at full force as Skye and Marshall slowly made their way across the bridge from town back to the Lookout for dinner. A heat wave was coming, and summer’s relentless heat was already making everyone struggle to be outside for too long.

This wasn’t helping the pups’ low demeanors, as they both felt the weight of Chase’s inevitable pain. Even Marshall informing Skye that Rocky and Zuma were not actually together had only marginally improved her mood.

“Officially? Did they say there were no feelings between them though?” Skye had clarified.

“Oh, well… Rocky seemed pretty certain there was nothing between them,” Marshall answered.

“But what about Zuma?”

“He, uh… he wasn’t there.”

Skye’s ears drooped as she stared at her bowl of pup ice cream. “So he could be in our situation too.”

Marshall blinked at her for a moment, before letting out a sad sigh. “I don’t know, Skye. I guess it’s possible.”

Skye had just nodded. She didn’t finish her ice cream.

And now, the breeze from the water under the bridge was barely enough to cool them off. It was sweltering, and it made it even more difficult to breathe since all Marshall could think about was what a mess this whole situation was. Could no one just have fallen in love with the right pup?

Which made Marshall remember just how miserable Chase was. He sighed.

“I know you don’t want to but… I don’t think you should avoid Chase anymore,” Marshall told Skye, giving her a sad, sympathetic smile.

“I know, I know. I’m just… scared,” Skye said, sounding totally defeated.

“I think that you avoiding him is hurting him more than a rejection will. He would rather have you in his life than not at all.”

“You’re probably right. Besides,” Skye shrugged and sent him a sad smile. “I miss him a lot.”

“And he misses you too,” Marshall replied sadly. Skye moved closer and nuzzled against him, pausing their walk to seek the comfort despite the heat. Marshall breathed out slowly and nuzzled his nose against her head. He wrapped his legs around her to reciprocate the hug. They both needed it.

Skye was positive that Chase hadn’t gotten the chance to tell Marshall before Ryder called them all in the next afternoon. Between the short rescue mission that morning, the fact that Chase had been surrounded by other pups all day, and simply general nerves about the possible daunting confession, there hadn’t been a good opportunity.

The pups wandered into the control room. Everyone seemed rather puzzled. Ryder had assured them there was no emergency, to not worry about getting geared up, because he only had an announcement.

“Alright, pups,” Ryder said as soon as they were all situated. “I have some exciting news for you. We’re going back to Adventure City!”

“Oh, cool! I’ll go get packing!” Rubble said, tail wagging and turning to run back towards the elevator.

“Wait, Rubble! I’m not done!” Ryder yelled after him, rolling his eyes in fond amusement.

Rubble almost tripped over his feet, Marshall style, from trying to stop his pace so suddenly. He padded back over to his spot rather sheepishly. “Sorry, Ryder.”

Skye giggled along with the other pups. She was itching to go too, as she knew most of the other pups were. It had been a few months since they had left the Adventure Bay area and surrounding towns. All of their traveling had been at the beginning of last year, having spent almost 2 months in Barkingburg almost immediately after returning home after Adventure City, and then a couple weeks in the jungle visiting Carlos and meeting Tracker.

She adored Adventure Bay. It was home. But a change in scenery was always nice too.

Though she immediately studied the room, gauging everyone’s reactions carefully, and could clearly see that not everyone felt the same way.

Chase stood defensively, ears pricked up and tail held high. His eyes narrowed warily.

“Why are we going?” he asked slowly.

And… yeah, that was fair. Chase didn’t have the best luck traveling outside of Adventure Bay, if Skye were being completely honest.

Ryder pulled out his pup pad and threw his animation up on the big screen for them to see.

“Don’t worry, Chase. We’re not being called in on another emergency, thank god. Liberty told me that there’s going to be a huge meteor shower tomorrow night. Said we can’t miss it.”

“Whoa,” all the pups breathed out in wonder as they watched the graphic of the meteor shower.

“So cool,” Rocky admired. “Do you think they’ll give us any super cool extraterrestrial materials that we can experiment with?”

“They’re not coming down to the surface, Rocky,” Ryder said in amusement. “That would be a disaster.”

“Oh. Right,” Rocky said with an embarrassed laugh. Skye shook her head with a smile.

Rocky, always thinking about his next project.

Chase’s defensive posture was starting to relax, intrigue filling his face as he stared at the animation, but there was still some skepticism dancing in his eyes.

Marshall lifted a paw to reach out to Chase, before hesitating, frowning, and placing his paw back on the ground.

Chase didn’t notice. Marshall ignored Skye’s look.

“Seriously, Chase. We’ll be there… a week, tops. No huge Humdinger emergencies this time. No guarding any crowns. Just a fun trip, with the occasional rescue to make sure we don’t get bored.”

Something that Ryder also appeared relieved about.

Chase’s tension finally melted away at Ryder’s reassurance. He smiled.

“Okay. I’m sold,” he said. All the pups nodded in agreement.

“So when are we leaving?” Skye asked.

“Bright and early tomorrow morning. Oh, and we’re not taking the Paw Patroller. Make sure you all meet me down at the bay. I have a surprise for you.”

All the pups let out yelps of excitement.

Though not everything was what it seemed. Skye was always one to observe the room. It was how she noticed the little things.

Like how Marshall looked positively thrilled about returning to the city, but his enthusiasm noticeably waned with the slowing of his tail as he eyed Chase with concern.

Because although Chase seemed genuinely excited about the meteor shower, Skye could still see the nervous shuffle of his feet, or the way his tail wagged just a little slower than everyone else’s.

Or how Zuma hopped in excitement, in typical Labrador fashion, but was the first one to dart down the slide.

“I’m gonna go pack!” Zuma announced, to which all the pups agreed.

“Don’t stay up too late, pups. We got an early morning tomorrow,” Ryder instructed.

“Yes sir, Ryder!”

They all followed Zuma’s lead and made their way out of the tower, each pup heading for their respective pup houses to get ready for the trip tomorrow.

Well, all except…

Zuma walked right past his pup house, hardly sparing it a glance, and made his way towards the direction of the beach.

Skye paused. Her eyes flicked between the orange pup house and the retreating figure of the Labrador. She frowned. Didn’t he just say he was going to go pack? Maybe he left something down at the beach?

Skye glanced over at Rocky, who had also slowed his steps towards his own house to stare after the water pup. But he looked… sad. His tail was no longer wagging, instead falling slightly.

“Is he okay?” Skye asked, trying to make her concern sound casual and not like she was about to run after him and find out herself.

She was really trying to reign in her habit of sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Zuma was no exception.

“He just needs some alone time before we go,” Rocky replied with a sigh. “That’s in short supply in the city.”

Skye didn’t feel very convinced, and it clearly showed. Rocky walked over and placed a reassuring paw over hers. It ripped her attention away from the spot Zuma had disappeared and fully turned her focus towards the mixed breed.

“Skye, he’ll be fine. He always is.”

Skye felt a stabbing sensation of jealousy in her gut and tried to not make it obvious how hurt she felt that Rocky obviously knew what was wrong and she didn’t. It didn’t matter, she scolded herself. She was being irrational about this. It was none of her business.

Besides, she knew that Rocky knew Zuma better than anyone. It was best that she trust his judgement. So she just nodded and responded, “Okay.”

And with that, they both made it to their pup houses. Skye tried to push away that nagging feeling that something was wrong with Zuma and focus on packing.

Zuma still hadn’t returned when they were done, and it was getting late. The sun had set, bags had been packed and set outside the Lookout, and the other pups were decompressing with a short episode of Apollo before heading to bed. Skye and Rocky met outside.

“Why don’t you go check on him?” Rocky suggested. “I still want to help Ryder do quick maintenance checks on our City packs before we leave, and I don’t want him to be out too late.”

“I’ll go drag him back,” Skye agreed. She shook her head in amusement. “He probably got distracted surfing or something.”

Rocky laughed and nodded in agreement. “He does tend to get distracted easily.”

“Especially if there’s water involved.”

Rocky scrunched his nose in disgust.

Skye laughed and said, “Don’t worry, Rocky. I’ll swim out and get him.”

“Thanks, Skye.”

Rocky went down the hill to join Ryder in the garage, and Skye ran in the direction of the beach.

When she got there, she fully expected to have to swim out and drag Zuma out of the ocean, with a little bit of light chastising about recklessly swimming at night alone, no matter how much of an expert he was.

To her surprise though, he was just sitting there, staring out at the ocean. The dark night sky was lit up tonight, shimmering with a multitude of stars that glinted prettily off the soft waves. The moon was bright, full, providing visible reflections off the water and allowing easier visibility of the sand, even with her enhanced eyesight.

She had to admit. She could understand why Zuma would want to just relax out here at night.

“Zuma! Hey!” she called down as she ran over to him.

Zuma startled at her voice, but turned to face her with a smile. It was a little less enthusiastic than usual, though still genuine nonetheless.

“Oh, hey. What are you doing down here?” he asked.

“Rocky sent me down to find you,” Skye explained. “He was nervous he would have to dive in and get you.”

“He worries too much.” He rolled his eyes as he said this, but there was a fond smile on his mouth regardless of his mock annoyance. Skye ignored the jealous twist in her heart.

As Skye approached him, she noted that he didn’t look particularly wet. Then again, he was a Labrador, so his coat was much more water resistant and didn’t get so heavy and soaked like hers or Rocky’s. She could smell the ocean on him, and as she sat down next to him, could see the light droplets of water repelling off his fur, so he at least already went out for a swim.

“Well, it is getting pretty late. Ryder said we were leaving first thing… and you haven’t packed yet… so…” Skye trailed off, a light tease in her tone as she gave him a little nudge with her paw.

“I know,” Zuma said before letting out a deep sigh. “I just want to take it all in before we leave. I know Ryder said only a week, but… I can’t help but think that we’ll probably be there for a while like the last time. Ryder can never just leave if something needs fixing.”

The deep wistfulness filling Zuma’s words gave Skye a sudden understanding — why Zuma had gone straight to the ocean upon hearing that they were heading back to the city.

And Zuma was right. During their initial visit to Adventure City, the plan was to only stay the duration of Humdinger’s trial. They stayed an entire month longer after that. The city was always in need of help, and Ryder was unable to leave a problem unsolved.

“I guess there’s not a lot of water over there, is there?”

Zuma shrugged as he answered, “I mean, there’s the harbor.”

“It’s not the same,” she replied with a head shake.

Zuma’s mouth twisted into a sad smile. “No. It’s not the same at all.”

Skye felt a pang of sadness for him. At least she was never without her element. It didn’t matter where she was — she could fly over the ocean, go high above the trees in a forest, navigate through the tall skyscrapers. Anywhere, anytime, she could open her wings and lift herself up into the air.

Zuma, on the other hand, thrived on the sand and the sea. She couldn’t imagine how devastating it must be for him to be stuck on the roads in the middle of a busy city. If that was Skye instead of Zuma, it would feel like someone had cut her wings off.

“I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. “I guess Chase isn’t the only one who prefers Adventure Bay.”

Zuma shook his head, trying to dismiss her sympathy with a feeling of nonchalance. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I just needed to hang out with the water before we go. I caught some totally awesome waves earlier.”

Skye was about to respond, but her words got stuck in her throat as she took in the sight of him. Her breath hitched, suddenly distracted by how alone they were. How this level of privacy was practically nonexistent in the Adventure City headquarters. How romantic this would be under different circumstances, sitting on the beach together under the light of the moon and the stars; the sound of the waves crashing and the tide inching in on their paws. Especially with Zuma, who loved the beach and loved the ocean more than anything else.

Skye felt her cheeks flush when she realized she was staring at him. She quickly snapped her head away. Thankfully, Zuma seemed so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Skye asked, trying to distract herself from how hot her face felt.

“I don’t know. It’s stupid.”

“Nothing you could say would be stupid.”

Wow, Skye. Really smooth.

Zuma breathed out a heavy sigh. He slid his paws against the sand, lowering himself onto his stomach and resting his head against his paws. Skye mirrored his movements, moving across from him so she could see his face.

“It’s just… I like being in Adventure Bay. Adventure City or even Barkingburg just don’t really compare. Besides, I know I’m good at what I do. I feel needed here, even if Ryder hasn’t been… well. Anyway. I just know that Ryder doesn’t need me in the city. Not really.”

Skye lifted her head up, tilting it to the side in concern. Marshall, Chase… and now Zuma? How did her teammates have these insecurities? How long had they had them?

Skye never, ever wanted Zuma to feel like this. Ever.

“You know that’s not true,” Skye said gently. “Ryder needs you just as much as any of us.”

“Yeah, for street clean up maybe,” Zuma replied with a doubtful shake of his head.

“Hey, street clean up is important too! Rocky does it all the time.”

Zuma raised a brow at her. “Dude, that is literally Rocky’s job. I just do it because Ryder doesn’t know what else to do with me.”

“Zuma,” Skye scolded softly. She didn’t like hearing Zuma talk about himself like this. “You were so important last time we were there.”

Zuma scoffed bitterly, and it made Skye flinch. When had she ever heard him make a sound like that?

“Says the pup who crashed her plane to save the whole city,” he murmured.

“You pulled a car out of the water. You saved their lives!”

“The other pups could have handled that just fine.”

“But they didn’t. We’re a team, and we needed you to do that.”

“And the rest of the trip? What about then?”

“What about Barkingburg?” Skye countered.

“That was all you, Skye.”

“Zuma, stop,” Skye pleaded a little desperately. Who was this bitter version of Zuma she was talking to? “Ryder does need you! I needed you with me in Barkingburg! I need you!”

Zuma’s eyebrows lifted up to his forehead in surprise. He pulled himself back into a sitting position. “Wait, wait… what?”

Skye turned away from him, breathing heavily to try and get it back under control. Her heart was racing in a panic. She couldn’t believe she had just blurted that out. Zuma wasn’t the most observant pup by any means, but it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out what she meant by that.

But then… she thought about Marshall. She thought about Chase. She thought about how they’d loved each other for years, and the amount of pain they caused themselves by keeping their feelings a secret. If that was the case with Chase and Marshall, then maybe… just maybe…

“Skye?” Zuma prompted, still staring at her expectantly.

Maybe it was time to take matters into her own hands.

“Zuma, I… I love you.”

Zuma’s frown deepened.

“I love you too? I don’t understand,” he replied, sounding genuinely confused.

“No!” Skye cried. She looked up at the dark night sky in frustration. “I mean I love you! I’m in love with you!”

Zuma simply blinked for a moment. His jaw went slack as the confusion slowly turned into shock as her words set in.

“You… love me?” Zuma clarified, as though he wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly.

Skye looked at him in disbelief, her confidence waning as her anxiety set in. “Yes! I love you! I have for a long time! And I just hoped… I mean…”

She paused to take in a deep breath, hoping to calm her nerves and decrease the churning in her stomach. She lowered her voice slightly as she continued.

“I’m never scared when we work together. Just knowing you’re there… in case something were to happen to me over the water. There’s never been any doubt in my mind that you’ll be there to catch me. I needed you in Barkingburg, Zuma. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. The team needs you. We would be lost without you. You have to know that.

“A-and I just need you to know that even if you don’t love me back, or if you… l-love someone else… that I’ll always stand by your side, no matter what. Because you’re worth it, Zuma. You’re worth everything to me.

“B-but, if you… do feel the same way, I… I want to give this a try. I’m tired of waiting and being afraid.”

She suddenly realized she was rambling. No matter how much she tried to calm herself, she couldn’t get rid of the anxious energy lighting up her nerves. She averted her eyes away from his and stared down at her paws. She was too scared of seeing his expression.

“So… yeah,” she finished lamely.

Zuma stayed quiet. Anxiety filled her to the brim as she anticipated his response. She snuck a glance up at him and saw that he was staring out at the endless black ocean. His eyes were narrowed, hardly blinking, so she at least knew he was deep in thought.

“Ryder is super strict on his rules, you know,” Zuma finally said. Skye’s stomach dropped. “He really doesn’t want any of us together like that.”

“I know he is,” Skye said quickly. “But I think we could make it work. He doesn’t have to know.”

“But if he finds out? What then?”

Skye really didn’t have an answer. She honestly hadn’t thought about what would happen if Ryder found out. Ryder didn’t have that many rules, so they didn’t get broken too often… if they ever had been broken at all.

“Then… then we’ll talk to him. Show him that we work better like this. Because we… would be happy,” Skye answered a little desperately. She had to make him understand that she could get Ryder to understand.

“And if he doesn’t?” Zuma asked. His tone was flat, a little overly casual, like he was trying to reign in his emotions. “I don’t need to give Ryder one more reason that I shouldn’t be on the team.”

The words were nonchalant in typical Zuma fashion, but Skye could hear how affected Zuma was by the thought.

Skye reeled back, feeling like she had been slapped. That’s not how Zuma meant it, but it stung like hell.

“Ryder wouldn’t kick you off,” she said defensively.

“You don’t get it, Skye. He wouldn’t kick you off. He wouldn’t kick Chase off. He wouldn’t —”

“What?! No!” Skye exclaimed, interrupting his next statement. She was feeling extremely shaken by this whole conversation. “Zuma, you’re being ridiculous! He wouldn’t kick any of us off!”

“Oh really? I’m being ridiculous?” Zuma snapped with a glare. The stinging increased. “When was the last time he called me in as a first responder?”

“W-well, there w-was Barkingburg,” she stammered. She felt like she was grasping at straws. Barkingburg was months ago.

“That doesn’t count. He didn’t have any other choice. There was hardly anything I could do, and he knows that.”

Skye opened her month to answer, thinking back to all of there missions since their time in Adventure City. Because of course Zuma had been a first responder. They had plenty of water rescues.

But as she tried to speak, nothing came out, because she truly couldn’t remember anything.

“But… he still needs you when things… go south…” she murmured, voice drifting off and void of confidence.

The panic was twisting in her gut. She knew exactly what Zuma was talking about. A small sob escaped her mouth, and tears blurred her vision with the knowledge that Zuma didn’t want to be with her because of these stupid fucking rules.

“I’m sorry Skye but…” Zuma said, sounding truly pained with the apology. “I can’t. I just can’t.”

Skye whimpered. She could feel the fur under her eyes start to dampen.

Zuma stood up. His own eyes were glassy in the moonlight, and the small smile he gave her was one filled with regret. He hesitated, before nuzzling her head to offer some semblance of comfort. Skye froze. She didn’t reciprocate. Her chest felt tight, bursting, and she bit her lip to hold back her cries.

“I gotta go pack,” he said softly. Skye nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He sighed, before making his way towards the tower. His tail was low, and his head was hunched beneath is shoulders.

“Zuma?” Skye called out, voice thick and wavering with the tears that were now flowing freely. “Could you please be honest with me? Is there someone else?”

Zuma sighed and shook his head. He didn’t look back as he whispered in a shaky voice, “No, there isn’t. There’s never been anyone else.”

Skye’s face crumpled. A sob ripped up from her chest.

Zuma paused for just a moment, body frozen with tension.

“Maybe if things were different,” he said, so quietly that Skye had to perk her ears up to hear him. “But they’re not.”

Then he dragged his feet towards his house without another word.

Skye felt the crack that had been forming in her heart break completely, a clean break down the middle. She let out a choked sob, and her feet stumbled as she ran in the direction of the pup houses.

She frantically knocked on the door of the red pup house.

She heard a thump, followed by an “ouch!”, then she was greeted by a half asleep Dalmatian.

Marshall’s eyes were heavy with sleep, clearly struggling to keep them open, disoriented from being woken up so abruptly. A huge wave of guilt punched her in the stomach from disrupting his sleep.

“Did I sleep through Ryder calling again?” Marshall slurred.

Skye opened her mouth to say no, sorry for waking you! It’s nothing!

But the words died away in her throat, replaced by her face scrunching up and a cry. It was forceful and painful, and after trying to keep them in — now in the presence of someone she trusted — she couldn’t stop. It was enough to fully jerk Marshall awake.

His brow furrowed in concern. Her fur was dark with tears, her eyes puffy and bloodshot. “Hey, whoa,” he said softly, and gestured his head for her to come inside. “What’s going on?”

The door closed behind them. It was a little cramped, but Skye was small enough that it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“He said no!” she cried. “I told him! I told him how I felt, Marshall. And he… he said that he didn’t… that he couldn’t…”

This only made her sob even harder as the reality of what just happened came crashing down on her. Marshall’s front legs were immediately around her, pulling her in close and gently shushing her. His paw moved up and down her back, and Skye leaned against his chest.

“I’m sorry, Skye,” he said sincerely. “What does that mean he couldn’t?”

She sniffled, and wiped her face clean with her paws. “With Ryder’s rules.”

She felt Marshall nod in understanding. “Does he feel the same way?”

Skye let out a strangled sound, and Marshall shushed her again gently while nuzzling her head, legs tightening around her.

“He… he didn’t say,” she replied in a small voice.

“I wouldn’t have expected Zuma to be so concerned over the rules,” Marshall mumbled, a little surprised.

“He’s being ridiculous!” She hiccuped. “He thinks that Ryder will kick him off! Which Ryder would never do!”

Marshall didn’t reply. In fact, his body went rigid. Skye felt a dread filled, sinking feeling in her stomach and she pulled away from his embrace to look at him. Her stomach dropped even more as he avoided her gaze.

“Marshall? You don’t think Ryder would, right?”

Marshall sighed, looking guilty. “I… I don’t know, Skye. We’ve never broken his trust before, and… At least a strong suspension.”

“What’s wrong with you two?” Skye asked a little hysterically. “Ryder would never do that to us! He loves us!”

“I know he does,” Marshall said calmly, trying to reign in Skye’s hysteria. “But he also really cares about our safety and other people’s safety.”

“But we can show him that we can keep people safe just fine no matter what!” Skye said. She couldn’t believe she had to say this again.

“Maybe, but Skye…” Marshall sighed sadly. “I don’t know what Zuma’s thinking but… for me… I already cause more harm than good. I don’t need him to finally realize that.”

“No, you’re wrong! You’re both wrong!”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Ryder needs you more than me.”

Which is exactly what Zuma had said too. Only instead of bitterness, Marshall just sounded… defeated.

Skye gaped at him. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing!”

“Skye,” Marshall pleaded, but Skye had already opened the door and ran outside.

She could hardly see from how much her tears were blurring her vision, but she made it to her pup house anyway, quickly locking the door behind her.

It wasn’t long before a soft knock sounded on her door.

“Skye?” Another knock. “Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Skye didn’t reply. She tried to silence her crying.

Marshall pleaded with her to come back out, to please let him talk to her. He apologized again, but he never denied his statement within his apologizes. When Skye made no movements, she heard Marshall eventually sigh in defeat. The sound of his footsteps fading indicated that he was walking away.

Skye felt like her perception of the world had been shattered. Zuma felt like Ryder didn’t need him. Chase felt like he failed them, that he wasn’t brave enough for the team, despite everything he did. And Marshall actually thought that he wasn’t good enough?

Skye hated it. She hated it. Because both of them saying these things about Ryder. Horrible, untrue things. Ryder had saved her, had saved all of them and gave them second chances. He would never abandon them, right?

Right?

The doubt was creeping into her mind, and she tried so desperately to silence these thoughts. But she felt completely out of control, and she couldn’t help but think about the other pups’ insecurities and fears. Of not being brave enough, not being needed, not being good enough.

Of being too small and helpless.

She whimpered and covered her eyes tightly with trembling paws. No.

No no no!

Ryder had always said no pup was too small. She hadn’t thought about her size in a long time, because it never mattered to them.

But if the other pups thought the way they did— Chase, Marshall… Zuma — then what was stopping Ryder from seeing her as a weak link? As too small and helpless?

In that moment alone in the dark, Zuma’s rejection ringing in her ears, Marshall’s words circling her head, and her unwavering trust in Ryder completely severing, she had never felt smaller.

When sleep did eventually come to her, it was not restful. It was full of nightmares of the memories of her litter mates taunting her, bullying her, calling her runt.

You know what I heard happens to the runts? The farmer takes them out back. Bang bang! Bye bye!

Cruel laughter filled her dreams. She whimpered in her sleep.

So, Skye had powers.

Skye had superpowers.

She was flying. Really, actually flying.

Nothing compared to this. Not her helicopter, not her jet, nor the wings on her pup pack. This was incredible. Free floating through the air, completely weightless and free. This was the stuff that she had only dreamed about.

Here was the problem: flying she was used to. But super strength?

Not so much.

Which was how she accidentally crashed through three walls constructed out of solid metal.

When she showed everyone what she could do, they all gasped in total amazement. Skye even spared a glance at Zuma, and the way he was looking at her made her feel somehow even lighter. He was gaping at her, slack jaw and wide eyes filled with wonder — almost as if she was something special, something he had never seen before.

It made her feel like she could do anything.

Marshall’s paws reacted first.

“Whoa,” he gasped. But Marshall’s attention would always be drawn to Chase, even while discovering the ability of creating literal fire with nothing but his paws. “I wonder what your power is?”

Skye blinked, and Chase was gone.

“Marshall! Up here!”

She reeled back when she saw that Chase had somehow transported to the completely opposite side of the ship in under onr second.

“Hey, how’d you get over there so fast?” Marshall yelled over, voicing Skye’s exact thoughts.

Chase disappeared again.

“Get over where?” he asked teasingly in Marshall’s ear, a flirtatious glint in his eye.

Unfortunately, Chase seemed to forget that Marshall was… well… Marshall. And said Dalmatian happened to be holding a ball of fire in his paws.

Marshall shoulders turned inward as he grimaced. Chase looked pretty guilty about startling him.

“Don’t worry! I got it!” Zuma announced excitedly.

And Skye… she couldn’t help but giggle as Zuma literally materialized into water. She couldn’t believe it. He had actually done it. He literally became one with the water. All of this — flying, Marshall’s wonder, Chase’s confidence, seeing Zuma’s eyes light up with excitement — was making Skye simply feel positively giddy.

She turned to share the excitement with Marshall and Chase, but stopped herself when she saw that Marshall still looked horribly embarrassed. His head fell down and his paws shifted nervously. He scrunched his nose in displeasure.

“Oops,” he murmured quietly as almost everyone turned their attention towards Rocky. Skye also turned towards the floating forklift, but kept the two of them in her periphery. “That’s not good.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Chase reassured gently. He glanced around quickly, before nuzzling and licking Marshall’s forehead affectionately. “You’ll figure it out.”

The two of them shared a look: subtle smiles on their faces, eyes shining with affection, Marshall’s face a faint pink as he admired Chase. It was silent exchange where Skye felt as though she was intruding by just looking at them. It seemed like, for just a moment, they were totally lost in their own world.

She was now completely distracted from what was happening with Rubble and whatever powers he had obtained. She openly gaped at the two of them instead.

Marshall must have felt her gaze, because he snapped his head in her direction. She tilted her head at him, brow furrowing curiously, but all that did was make him avert his eyes to the floor.

Chase looked over to meet her puzzled expression, and his lips pulled up into a mischievous smirk. He whispered something in Marshall’s ear, something that made him blush so deeply that the white fur on his face looked like it was glowing.

Her brows lifted in shock.

Did something happened between these two? Surely they would have told her… right?

Marshall tried to hide his face as he began to walk away. The heat from the force of his blush seemed to spread up to the tips of his ears and down to the glowing red paws. Because he left a trail of fire in his wake.

“Dude, hold up!” Zuma shouted in amusement. “I’m gonna have to follow you around at this rate!”

Marshall’s embarrassment melted away at the sight of Zuma splashing into water to put out the fire. His eyes lit up playfully and his tail wagged furiously. He ran away in a fit of laughter, not even bothering to control the fire he was making. Zuma giggled in absolute excitement as he chased Marshall. He looked ecstatic. It made Skye break out into a huge grin.

Only for her smile to falter and her spirits to dampen as she realized something: she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Zuma look so genuinely happy.

How had she not noticed? How had he been able to hide behind such a convincing mask? Only now that she could see the playful light return to his eyes did she realize how long it had been missing. The sadness she felt stabbed into her gut painfully, the knife twisting in regret as she acknowledged how selfish she had been.

He must have had the concerns he had expressed to her for so long. The stress he must have been feeling, looming over him and always present. It made her feel horrible, because she had actually tried to convince him that his concerns weren’t legitimate. That he was horrible for saying those things at all.

It must have made him feel awful. What kind of friend was she?

She took a deep breath, and tried to reengage with the contagious excitement of all the other pups.

She promised herself that she would apologize to him as soon as she was able to find him alone again.

But right now, they had some superpowers to test out.

The next couple months were indescribable. Flying around? Being so strong that she could lift ships out of the ocean? Unbelievable. It wasn’t real, and yet, this was her life now.

The citizens in Adventure City had been enamored with the super powered pups flying and zooming around, saving people and fixing problems using their newfound abilities. The media was eating it up, and they were receiving more publicity than ever.

Due to the destruction of their vehicles, as well as the pups gaining their superpowers, Ryder was constantly busy in his garage trying to finish their new vehicles. The pups barely saw him that first month in Adventure City, and Ryder began assigning missions for Chase to lead when he absolutely couldn’t be pulled away.

Chase had been a fairly anxious about it at first. Even on missions where they had been in charge of their own individual rescue teams, the pup in leadership always had Ryder there to guide them if things went wrong. In this case, Chase was totally and completely on his own. But after a lot of encouragement, both from Ryder and the pups, he stepped up and filled the role very naturally. Skye was extremely proud of him, and she could see that everyone else was too. Marshall, especially.

Once Ryder had finished their new vehicles a month into these hectic rescues, the media went into an absolute frenzy.

The publicity made the pups busier than they had ever been before. They were constantly getting calls for emergencies both far and near — Adventure City and beyond. Eventually, they had to go in shifts just so the pups could get some sleep and eat in between.

That also meant there was very little free time to spend together. It was difficult to even think about personal problems, much less discuss anything serious with the other pups. That also meant alone and play time were extremely limited too. Ryder and Chase essentially became co-leaders in that second month, each going on solo missions with one or two other pups, or even the two of them taking charge of two separate teams if the situation called for it.

But Skye didn’t mind the absolute chaos that was discovering the powers of these crystals. She was thriving. She had never felt so important, so worthy, in her entire life.

She no longer felt like the smallest, and she definitely wasn’t the weakest.

She didn’t have to prove to anyone that she deserved to be on the team. They knew, just by looking at her, that this was exactly where she was supposed to be.

The day her crystal was stolen was absolutely devastating.

The whole team was completely shaken. There was a certain aura of power that had taken hold of the team, surrounded them with a surge of confidence that made them believe that failure was all but impossible. The powers had brainwashed them into thinking that they could do anything.

Skye had convinced herself that she was invincible.

She felt so stupid now, falling into a trap like that. It made her angry. Angry at herself for being so arrogant. Angry at her litter mates for being right about her. Angry that she couldn’t have been a bigger and stronger pup like Chase and actually stand a chance at fighting back.

Worst of all, as she stared at the pink handkerchief that brought up the memories she had tried so hard to forget, she was overwhelmed with the turmoil of realizing that maybe the farmers had been right. She was good for nothing, tiny, weak. Not even worth being their pet. Not even worth being… here.

They hadn’t even thought she was worthy of believe alive.

She had never told anyone about her puppyhood, not even Ryder. She had told him that she got lost in the snow, but not much more than that. She had been afraid that if she told him how much smaller and weaker she was than the rest of her litter, that he wouldn’t want her. Just like all the other people who had taken one look at her and decided she wasn’t worth it.

“I’d do anything to get that crystal back,” Skye stated to Chase with cold eyes. A desire for revenge burning in her heart for the one who took away her powers. A pulling in her chest to get that crystal back now. She had been worthy of being here with that crystal… and now?

And now here she was again, completely powerless.

But she could still prove herself. She had to.

Unfortunately, Ryder wasn’t going to give her the chance.

“But that’s not fair!” shee cried. Her voice was hysterical, dangerously on the verge of tears.

“I’m sorry, Skye. But my decision is final.”

Skye didn’t even watch him go. She was too stunned by the fact that Ryder had actually made this decision.

She was being forced to stay behind. She wanted to run after him, scream that she deserved to go. He always told them that no pup is too small, and yet here he was holding her back because she was exactly that. Too weak. Powerless.

She felt so full of rage, she could barely contain it. How could Ryder do this to her? She made one mistake, and now he wasn’t even giving her a chance?

This whole time… She had been defending him. He would never do this, never kick them off for making a mistake. He would never leave anyone behind, even if they happened to break a certain rule. Because she trusted him, and she had never wavered in that trust. Not until now.

Because she was wrong, and Marshall and Zuma had been right.

She had told both of them that they were wrong, that they were being unreasonable. And yet, here it was; the exact thing they both had been so scared about that she refused to believe.

If Ryder was putting her on probation for making a mistake, a mistake that happened because of a situation he placed her in, what would he do if she actively broke a rule?

In the end, Zuma had been right. Of course he had, she thought with a disbelieving shake of her head. Her paws trembled and her face felt hot with the knowledge that Ryder had proved him right. And now, in the midst of the betrayal and anger, she was once again feeling that devastating heartbreak that she had so easily been able to ignore since discovering the crystals. Pushed to the side. Buried in the deepest crevices of her cracked heart.

But now… it was splitting in two, and it was impossible to ignore.

She would never get her happy ending. Ryder proved Zuma right. Now he would never open his heart to the possibility of them being together because of this.

It was at that moment, when her thoughts were nothing but a whirlwind spiraling out of control, her eyes staring in fierce determination at the hologram, that the elevator beeped and the door slid opened.

Skye quickly turned around. She felt the slightest hope that maybe Ryder had come back to tell her that he changed his mind. That she was perfectly capable of helping on this mission without her powers.

But it wasn’t Ryder. It wasn’t anyone she expected.

It was Zuma.

Zuma must have noticed Skye’s stunned expression, because he smiled sheepishly at her.

“Hey,” he greeted quietly.

He seemed to have been expecting her to be there, which surprised her even further.

“Hey,” she breathed out. The rage that had been coiling deep in her stomach began to unwind at the sight of Zuma cautiously approaching her.

Maybe he was waiting for her to snap at him to go away. Maybe he was expecting to be told that she wanted to be left alone.

But even after all the heartache, the rejection, the recent realization that they might never be together, Skye would never pass up an opportunity to be around Zuma.

Because at the end of the day, he was her best friend, first and foremost.

And god, she missed him. She had barely seen him these past couple months. As he sat down next to her, she could feel a physical ache with how much she missed him.

“Are you okay?” Zuma asked softly.

At Zuma’s words, Skye once again felt on the verge of tears.

Ever since Skye had confessed to him, things had been pretty tense between them. Even now, in between their crazy busy schedules, they weren’t talking much to each other.

But even after everything, he still cared. He must have known that she would be in turmoil, and he actively sought her out to see how she was.

She hadn’t ruined everything. He still cared.

She took in a shaky breath before saying, “Ryder told me that I had to stay behind. You know, since I have no powers now.”

Zuma didn’t look surprised. It killed her because this must be how he had been feeling this whole time.

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “He’s crazy if he thinks that you can’t help without powers.”

Skye scoffed at that. Tears of frustration filled her eyes.

“You were right, Zuma,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry if I made you feel like you were crazy. Because you were right. I make a mistake. I screwed up. And because of that, Ryder won’t let me help. He doesn’t think I can handle it because I’m… I’m nothing without that crystal and -”

“Hey,” Zuma interrupted, tender and fierce at the same time. “No way, dude. That’s not true. Ryder loves you. He’s just scared of you getting hurt.”

She shook her head. “He was never this concerned before we got our superpowers.”

“Yeah well, we never went up against a totally crazy lady with a magic space crystal,” Zuma replied with a shrug.

Skye choked out a laugh. She could always count of Zuma to make her laugh even in her lowest moments.

She glanced over and gave him a small smile. Zuma was looking at her in a way that made her heart flutter, his eyes soft and the corners of his mouth upturned slightly.

“You’ve never been nothing, Skye,” he murmured. “You’re the strongest pup I’ve ever met, with or without that crystal.”

Skye’s breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t believe how sincere he sounded.

She had no idea what to say. There wasn’t anything she could say, because… well… she didn’t believe him. Even if everything in her was screaming to just talk to him.

And after a long pause, where Zuma clearly resigned himself that she wasn’t going to acknowledge his words, Zuma sighed and motioned towards the elevator.

“You should get some rest,” he said gently. “It’s been a long day.”

“You go ahead,” Skye replied. “I’m gonna stay up a little longer.”

Zuma looked like he wanted to protest. Instead, he bit his lip and nodded before making his way back to the elevator.

Skye dozed off after Zuma left. She wanted to feel comfort at his words. She desperately wanted to believe him.

But Ryder’s dismissal of her was still a fresh wound that hadn’t healed. While Zuma’s words gave her some hope, it wasn’t enough to forgive Ryder.

So when the beeping jerked her awake, her automatic response was to run and tell Ryder.

But as she looked into his room, her face scrunched in anger. Her eyes hardened in defiance.

Zuma might have thought that she was worth something without that crystal… but Ryder certainly didn’t.

Skye wasn’t one to make rash decisions. But at that moment, with the hurt and betrayal cutting deeply into her heart, she made a decision.

She was going to do this by herself. She didn’t need a leader who didn’t believe in her telling her what she could and couldn’t do. She was going to show without a doubt that they needed her. She was going to prove that she was worthy of Zuma’s belief in her.

And besides, if she took all the crystals, she would be there and back before anyone even noticed. Right?

Art by self-indulgent-paw-patrol

The days went by like this:

Rocky would hang out and talk animatedly about whatever project he and Ryder were working on. They would joke around with each other, poking fun at Rocky’s hoarding tendencies,

(“It’s literally trash, Rocky.”

“It’s not trash! It’s perfectly good reusable materials!”

“It’s a broken coat hanger!”

“It could come in handy! Just you wait, I’ll show you!”)

Or at Zuma’s excessively webbed feet.

(“I mean, what are you? Part duck?”

“No way, dude. Those guys are way too fun to chase around. Maybe part dolphin!”

“I don’t think dolphins have webbing though?”

“I know they don’t. It would be totally awesome though.”

“The way your mind works disturbs me.”)

He would listen to Marshall’s stories about their previous missions with rapt attention. Chase would usually be present as well and tease Marshall about whatever wipeout happened that day. But really, Chase would mostly just sit there and smile at Marshall.

Chase seemed to really like looking at Marshall.

“Pup Pup Boogie?” Zuma asked curiously when the two of them were excitedly telling him about their favorite games.

“Yeah! It’s really fun,” Marshall replied.

“But what is it?”

“Oh, it’s a dancing game designed specifically for pups,” Chase explained. “You stand on a mat and you have to step on the right buttons at the right time.”

“So you dance,” Marshall added.

“Oh,” Zuma responded with a grimace. “I’m not really a dancer.”

“It’s okay. I’m not very good at it either,” Marshall admitted bashfully. “I got two left paws, so I fall over a lot.”

“I don’t know, Zuma,” Chase said thoughtfully. “I have pretty good instincts, and I have a feeling you’d be a natural.”

“Why? You ready to get crushed, dude?” Zuma challenged with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“In your dreams, surfer boy,” Chase scoffed with a haughty expression.

Zuma smirked. His tail wagged excitedly.

“Sounds like you’re scared,” he mocked playfully.

“Against you? Yeah right.”

“Alright, let’s do it. You and me. Let’s go.”

Chase’s eyes narrowed, but the corners of his mouth lifted with the possibility of having someone match his competitive nature. “Alright! I’ll take that challenge.”

“After he’s better, Chase!” Marshall interjected firmly. “He is in no position to play Pup Pup Boogie right now!”

“Damn it,” Zuma grumbled under his breath.

“Watch it,” Chase reprimanded lightly, but he also looked a little pouty.

Both of their tags beeped anyway.

“Paw Patrol, to the Lookout!”

“Ryder needs us!” they both said.

“Maybe I can finally be first on!” Marshall exclaimed hopefully, before immediately yelping as he tripped over a bean bag chair.

“Better luck next time!” Chase laughed as he ran past him.

Zuma winced when he heard a crash in the elevator.

Zuma loved being around all the pups, but he found himself looking forward to Skye’s visits the most.

His heart raced when she walked into the room, and his stomach filled with butterflies when she giggled. He wanted to listen to her laugh all the time. He felt like such an idiot with the way he grinned so brightly every time he saw her, but he just couldn’t help it.

“So is it like this all the time?” Zuma asked curiously, averting his gaze as she sat down next to him in the hope of controlling the heat burning his face.

Skye was dressed in her aviator gear. Her goggles were still down, which magnified her eyes in an almost comical way.

Zuma didn’t mention it. It was cute.

She pushed her goggles onto her hat anyway and cocked her head to the side. “Like what?”

“Just constantly on the go, I guess. You dudes seem crazy busy all the time.”

Skye thought for a moment, then nodded as she responded, “Yeah, we have a mission pretty much everyday. Ryder tries to give us a day off, but sometimes the town doesn’t let us.”

“Does that not get totally exhausting?” Zuma asked with a concerned frown.

Because based on the one mission he had been involved in (where he had almost died), he didn’t understand how they all maintained such good spirits. Like, he understood they were pups, and some breeds especially needed work to do or else they’d go insane (example: Zuma lying on the floor of the Lookout tower absolutely bored out of his mind), but surely the stress could lead to some kind of burnout?

Or maybe not. Zuma was a pretty chill pup who simultaneously needed constant stimulation. He would probably do just fine.

“Nah,” she answered with a small smile. “Most of our missions are pretty low stakes. Stuff like… we help with cleaning up the town, or reunite a baby bird with its mama. Missions like… the one 3 weeks ago,” — as in, the one they found Zuma in — “are thankfully few and far between. That doesn’t happen too often in Adventure Bay.”

“That actually sounds pretty sweet,” Zuma said, head tilting thoughtfully.

It honestly made him feel pretty jealous.

“Yeah, we have a great thing here with Ryder,” Skye agreed happily. “He takes good care of us.”

Sometimes they would just talk. Sometimes, Skye would bring a non physical game like cards or a board game, often times accompanied by Rocky or the other two or even all three. Other times, she would just sit and read some of their books to him.

Honestly? Zuma hardly paid attention to the words she was reading.

He took the opportunity to just look at her and listen to her voice. She had these big, beautiful eyes with a color that was so uniquely her. Her fur looked soft and always so put together. Her smile was bright and lovely. He felt like he could look at her forever.

Zuma was totally, absolutely, completely smitten with her.

His heart ached when he thought about how fast the time was going. He would recover soon. He would leave this behind. He would go back to his old life, alone, scrounging for some food to eat and searching for a place to take shelter from the cold.

It never bothered him, being alone. He never knew anything else.

But now he knew what it was like to talk to someone every day. To have friends. To receive consistent meals and not feel hungry. And the idea of walking away from this was gut wrenching.

That was the other thing. He had no idea that a human could take such good care of him. Of course, he had always been a friendly pup, and humans were generally pretty friendly to him back, but never like this. At best, humans might let him have a small conversation with them, maybe give him some food and ear scratches. But at the worst, he would be thrown out, told to beat it, kicked to the curb.

Meanwhile, Ryder was… well… loving. He would pet him, talk to him, treat him like they were equals. He would give him treats for no reason at all. He would change his bandages, make sure he got his medicines on time, rubs his legs gently with some kind of ointment to treat his burns. It left Zuma questioning all of his previous perceptions about humans.

Zuma owed a lot to Ryder. He had never been cared for so well by anyone.

These pups, Ryder. They were a family. And Zuma watched them with a deep longing in his heart to be a part of this family.

Ryder had told him he could stay as long as he wanted. But these pups had jobs. They were important to this town. Zuma didn’t need to be an extra weight for them to haul around.

Though the pups had reassured him multiple times that they didn’t mind him being around whenever he would apologize for his inconvenience. In fact, they seemed to somehow have… taken a liking to him?

Rocky especially hovered over him like a mother hen. He was constantly badgering him about this or that.

“Make sure you finish your dinner, Zuma!”

“Are you comfortable? Are you in any pain?”

“Have you had enough water today?”

“You’re overexerting yourself, Zuma!”

…that last one, Zuma had walked across the road just so he could touch the grass. Apparently, walking 5 more feet than his usual walking allowance was “overexerting himself.”

Despite Zuma’s frustrations with having such limited mobility, he kind of… sort of… liked the attention.

It made him feel wanted. It made him feel cared for.

One day, Zuma made a passing comment to the group about not being sure where he was going to go after he recovered. Rocky immediately stood up and excused himself. Nature called and all that. When he returned, his eyes were slightly red and puffy.

Another time, Zuma had made a joke to Skye about finding shelter under a bridge and making a comfy home with some old cardboard boxes when all of this was over.

Skye did not find this joke funny. On the contrary, it made her burst into tears.

Zuma was so alarmed that he apologized profusely, over and over again, until Skye was able to calm herself down.

He never wanted her to cry because of something he said ever again.

Unfortunately, just because the pups seemed depressed by knowledge of him leaving, it didn’t change the fact that it was inevitable.

At least, it was inevitable, until a few days before the six week mark.

Marshall had approved Zuma to start taking longer walks to get more exercise, much to Zuma’s relief. He thought he was going to go insane with all this resting he was doing. Marshall and Ryder had gone with him the first few times to make sure everything went okay. They started small, just taking a lap or two around the tower.

The other pups began taking turns walking with him. Chase eagerly showed him all of their vehicles. He demonstrated how his pup house turned into his car with just a specific bark, and let him see some of the equipment that was in his pup pack.

Zuma thought that all of the equipment was just the coolest thing ever.

When Skye walked with him, Zuma had to remind himself that it was rude to stare. She had this excited skip in her step as she led him towards the trampoline, eager to show him some of her tricks and flips.

“That’s totally awesome,” he breathed out in awe as he watched her giggle during her backflip.

“I’ll teach you sometime!” she said excitedly.

That made Zuma hold out some hope that maybe they would still see each other after all of this was over.

When it was Rocky’s turn to walk with him, Zuma decided he was tired of looking at the same old Lookout tower.

“Please could we walk to the beach?” Zuma begged, his eyes wide and pleading as Rocky’s disgruntled face attempted to avoid his gaze. “I promise no water! Just down to the beach and back, I swear.”

“You swear?” Rocky asked with a skeptical look.

“Cross my heart. I just want to see the ocean.”

Rocky finally met Zuma’s eyes and sighed in defeat.

“Fine,” Rocky begrudgingly agreed.

“Yes!” Zuma exclaimed, trying not to hop in excitement. “You’re the best Rocky!”

Rocky rolled his eyes as Zuma hugged him, but Zuma could see that he was clearly fighting a smile.

Zuma practically skipped when they stepped onto the sand. He felt like he was whole again. He wanted to roll around in the sand, ride in some waves, swim around in the ocean.

“Don’t even think about it!” Rocky warned with a stern look as he noticed the mischievous glint in Zuma’s eye.

“I know, I know,” Zuma sighed as he fell down against the sand. “Just… look at it, dude. It’s crazy beautiful, isn’t it?”

Rocky tilted his head thoughtfully as he stared out at the ocean.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. He smiled at the realization, like he had never really thought about it. “I guess it is.”

It was pretty windy out, but neither of them really minded. Rocky glanced up at the flagpole with a red flag attached.

“It looks like a storm is blowing in,” Rocky observed. “Too dangerous for swimming anyway.”

“Eh,” Zuma said nonchalantly, emphasized by a shrug. “I’ve been in worse.”

“Of course you have,” Rocky laughed with a disapproving head shake.

Despite the chilly wind, Zuma felt totally relaxed. The sun was mostly out, only occasionally hiding behind the clouds, so the sand was warm and dry.

Rocky was sitting in front of him demonstrating how to build a sandcastle.

“There’s tons for really cool stuff to make,” he explained enthusiastically. “But we’ll start with the basics.”

Zuma watched attentively, his tail wagging eagerly to learn something new. He had seen sand constructions around when he would walk on the beach, of course. However, he usually just rolled around in the sand, sometimes he would dig, but if he was at the beach, chances are he was in the water.

His ears perked up when he heard a faint sound in the distance. He ripped his eyes away from Rocky’s demonstration as he looked around.

“Did you hear that?” Zuma asked.

Rocky looked up, brow furrowed in confusion. But then his ears also became alert at the sound. He stood up, his tail and head high.

“That sounds like…” Rocky started, but cut off as they heard it again.

It was definitely a cry for help.

“Look! Over there!” Zuma cried, standing up and charging towards the water without hesitation.

“Wait, Zuma! Slow down!” Rocky shouted as he ran after him.

“Look!” Zuma pointed towards the ocean. In the distance, they could see an overturned kayak, getting knocked around by the harsh waves. And beyond that, Zuma could see a human getting swept further and further out into the ocean at an alarming rate. “They must have gotten caught in the current!”

And in their panic, they seemed to be fighting against the current. Zuma saw them struggling.

“Oh no,” Rocky gasped in horror.

“We gotta save him!”

Zuma looked over at Rocky, who was looking rather sick.

“I’ll… I’ll call Ryder,” he replied weakly, moving to tap his tag.

“That’ll take too long! By the time they get here that person will have drowned!” Zuma explained a little harshly.

Rocky blanched. His breathing increased, and he swayed slightly on his feet.

“Zuma… I - I can’t,” he whispered in a panicked voice.

Zuma knew he would never ask Rocky to do that. There was a reason behind Rocky’s fear, and no way in hell would Zuma ever put that kind of pressure on him.

“I’m not asking you to, Rocky.” His eyes hardened in determination. “I’m diving in!”

“What?!” Rocky screamed in horror. But in a second, Zuma was already diving under the huge waves. “Zuma! Come back! It’s too dangerous!”

It was too late. Zuma wasn’t coming back. He was already halfway out there.

“Ryder! Come in Ryder!”

“Rocky? You okay? What’s going on?”

“It’s Zuma! Someone got stuck in the current and he went out into the water!”

“He did what?!”

“You gotta get here now!”

“Hang tight! We’re on our way!”

It didn’t matter. Zuma was not turning around. He could see every time he popped his head up that the human’s movements were slowing down.

He dove under the waves so he didn’t get swept away. He pushed forward with all the force he could muster. The last few weeks had made his strength deplete, his muscles had grown weaker, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He wasn’t going to let the sharp twinge in his side prevent him from doing what he had to do.

He pulled himself up to breathe and paddled through the water. He felt the current pick up, pushing him out further into the ocean with alarming force. Zuma knew how currents worked, and swam parallel with the force.

He caught up and grabbed the man’s wetsuit with his teeth.

“I got you,” he gritted through his teeth. He panted heavily, the effort of holding the person up seriously started to drain him. The man was limp, unconscious, and Zuma’s ribs were burning. His legs were shaking with how badly they hurt.

He couldn’t give up. Not now. Failing wasn’t an option.

He finally made it out of the current and used the force of the waves to propel him to shore. He dragged the man onto the beach and through the sand, where Rocky was standing in an absolute panic to meet him.

“Do you know how to stabilize him?” Zuma asked impatiently.

Rocky snapped out of his shock and visibly switched gears in his brain to put himself into rescue mode. He moved to check the man’s breathing and pulse, but mercifully, the man started coughing and sputtering up water on his own.

Rocky recoiled back in horror.

Zuma heard the sirens, and looked up to see the other vehicles making their way over to them. Marshall quickly hopped out of his ambulance and raced over to start performing a checkup. Chase and Ryder were hot on his heels, and Skye ran over to meet Zuma and Rocky.

“Zuma!” Skye cried as she ran at him full force and hugged him fiercely. “I’m so glad you’re okay! I can’t believe you did that!”

Zuma felt a small smile tug at his lips. He was so tired, and he was still panting very heavily from how exhausted he felt, and he simply just melted into her hug.

“That was completely insane,” Rocky agreed as he joined the hug. Both pups held him in tightly. “Never do that again. I don’t think I could handle it.”

Zuma was full on grinning now. The other two pups were basically holding all of his body weight up at this point.

Ryder turned his attention to Zuma. Both pups pulled away as Ryder hastily approached them.

Zuma flinched as Ryder came closer, afraid of being reprimanded and bracing himself for the shouting, but soon he realized there was nothing to worry about. Ryder wrapped his arms around him, pulling him in tight.

“That was so dangerous, Zuma!” Ryder exclaimed, sounding genuinely distraught. “And in your condition? What were you thinking?”

Zuma felt warmth fill his body despite the cold water soaking him and the chill of the wind. He completely relaxed into Ryder’s embrace.

Ryder cared about him. He had been scared for him.

“I had to, Ryder,” Zuma stated simply. “He would have drowned.”

“And you did it,” Ryder said in disbelief. “You got him out.”

“Zuma!” Marshall called out. Chase was still with the patient, and Marshall ran over and threw a blanket over the soaked and shivering pup. “Here! You’re going to freeze!”

Zuma gave Marshall an appreciative smile as Ryder pulled the blanket tight around him.

When they returned to the Lookout, all of the pups fussed over him. Every single one.

Chase forced him to lie down and watch TV with a firm order of, “Don’t even think about moving for the rest of the night!”

Marshall fretted over him staying warm and dry, piling blankets on him a bit excessively. Zuma rolled his eyes as Marshall took his temperature for the fifth time.

Skye sat with him with a stern gaze until Zuma had drank some water and ate all of his food.

“That was such a crazy stunt. You have to be hungry. I’ll sit here all night if I have to,” she stated without any room of argument.

(Zuma might have thought about dragging his food consumption out a bit to see if she would actually keep that promise.)

And of course… Rocky.

“Are you comfortable? Are you in pain? Are you cold? Marshall, he might need another blanket! Do you like this show? We could find something else to watch!”

“Holy shit, Rocky. I’m fine,” Zuma said with a laugh.

Chase looked like he wanted to say something, but bit back the retort when Marshall waved him off.

Zuma couldn’t stop smiling. He was sore and completely exhausted, but he was totally fine. He decided to let them fret over him, bask in the knowledge that so many actually cared about him like this.

The next day, Ryder asked the pups if he and Zuma could talk in private. The pups all agreed, but not before exchanging curious and hopeful glances with each other as they exited the Lookout.

“That was quite the rescue you pulled off yesterday,” Ryder commented casually.

“It was nothing,” Zuma replied with a small shrug.

“I think your swimming abilities say otherwise.”

“I just did what had to be done.”

“Zuma, I don’t think you understand. I would never send my pups out into that kind of water without any special equipment.”

Zuma frowned, eyes narrowing in confusion. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that it was fantastic. You were amazing. That’s why I wanted to ask if you would be interested in living here as a member of the Paw Patrol.”

Zuma blinked at him. He wasn’t sure if he had heard him correctly, or if he was just hearing what he wanted to hear.

“What?” he asked stupidly, slack jaw and eyes going wide at what he thought Ryder had asked.

“I’m asking if you want to join our team. You would be our water rescue pup. You would live here, be on call, and you would be part of our family.”

Zuma felt a huge grin taking over his face.

“Are you serious?” he asked hopefully. His tail was wagging furiously.

“One hundred percent serious. After you’ve healed completely, of course.” Ryder gave him a look that was probably supposed to be stern, but there was too much pride in his gaze for Zuma to care.

“Yes! Totally! Absolutely! You can count on me, Ryder dude sir!” Zuma yelped excitedly. He jumped on Ryder.

“Easy, easy!” Ryder said with breathless laughter, but Zuma was too happy to take it easy.

“Thanks, Ryder! I won’t let you down! Promise!”

Ryder pet his head. “You’re a good pup.”

Zuma closed his eyes contently as Ryder scratched his ear.

Ryder stopped his movements. Zuma looked up at him, and tilted his head in puzzlement at Ryder’s suddenly serious face.

“There is a catch though,” Ryder continued. Zuma felt a little nervous at the sudden tone change. “I have a rule, and I take it very seriously. I don’t allow romantic relationships between you guys.”

Zuma’s tail slowed to a stop. His heart dropped.

”Oh.”

So Ryder knew about his crush on Skye.

Ryder was telling Zuma that he could never be with Skye.

Zuma didn’t even know if Skye returned his feelings, or if she would ever return his feelings. But even still, the knowledge that he would never be allowed that possibility to be with her broke his heart.

But Ryder was offering this opportunity of a lifetime. A life with meaning and family and never being alone again. Ryder had already done so much for Zuma, caring for him in a way no other human had before.

Zuma owed Ryder everything.

So he had to make a decision. He could say no, go back to his lonely life of just trying to survive one day at a time, and live with the hope that Skye might feel the same way.

But even if she did… then what? She would still constantly be on call, making a difference in the world for the better. Zuma would just drag her down.

He had to take this. There was no way on this earth that he would want to say no to this.

Besides, he and Skye were already such great friends, even after this short period of time. If friendship was all he could get, he would take it in a heartbeat. He would miss her like crazy otherwise.

Besides, there were the other pups to think about too.

There had been a general gloom among all the pups with the knowledge of Zuma’s inevitable departure. Chase seemed to be trying to hint (not very subtlety) that Zuma should just stay, saying they needed more of his relaxed attitude. Marshall and him got along great in general. They had a very similar sense of humor and could laugh together for hours. But even Marshall’s laughter had started to wane as the weeks came to a close.

And of course, he didn’t think he could ever leave Rocky.

Rocky had been particularly weepy about him leaving. For the past few days, Rocky would inform Zuma about how well he was healing in an almost depressed manner.

So Zuma made up his mind. He stood tall and looked Ryder right in the eye.

“I understand.”

Zuma pushed his feelings down, constructed a wall around his heart, repressed them into the deepest corners of his memories. He tried to stay out of any drama between the pups, and would just laugh it off casually. He wouldn’t allow himself to acknowledge any feelings that might arise whenever he and Skye were together.

Whenever he would feel that fluttering again, he ignored it. Did everything he could to extinguish it.

Friends. She was his friend. That was it. There was nothing else.

He slipped up once. He forgot to push them away. She just looked insanely amazing with a fish tail. And the excitement in her eyes, the way she looked under the water. The one time that Zuma thought that maybe… just maybe… she might also feel…

But no. It wasn’t possible. He promised Ryder. He couldn’t betray Ryder. Zuma loved his job. He loved water rescue. Ryder trusted him.

Zuma had been so psyched about going to the city. He couldn’t remember ever being outside of the general area of small towns around Adventure Bay.

But the longer they stayed there, the more depressed he felt. It seriously dampened his spirits. He felt useless, and missed Adventure Bay with a physical ache. He constantly was asking Ryder if there was something more he could do, some way he could help, and Ryder would either say no, or delegate him to road patrol.

It devastated him. Ryder didn’t need him anymore. Not here anyway.

When Liberty joined the team, he felt even more like just an extension. She and the other pups could handle civilian protection just fine.

Zuma did his absolute best not to let it show. He refused to let the other pups worry about him, or show him pity.

Unfortunately, Rocky could always see right through him. Zuma never explicitly told him what was wrong, but Rocky suspected something was not right nonetheless.

Zuma had been thrilled about returning to Adventure Bay. He missed the beach. He missed the water. He missed being needed.

It was a devastating realization that maybe Ryder didn’t need him as much at home anymore either. He got called out less and less, eventually being exclusively called out for backup. He tried not to let it bother him, he really did.

But even in Barkingburg… that was supposed to be a fun trip. And all he did was drag Skye down.

On top of everything, Ryder then informed them that they were heading back to the city, and Zuma had been in absolute turmoil. He really struggled to pretend to be excited. It didn’t matter though, since everyone’s attention turned to Chase.

Or so he had thought.

Whenever he got down like this, he just needed some alone time with the water. Then he would be fine. Or at least, be able to act like everything was fine.

He knew this. Rocky knew this.

But Skye didn’t know this.

He had spent so long repressing these feelings, layering the fortress brick by brick around his heart. He didn’t even know how to respond to her when she told him that she loved him.

He remembered that he had made a promise to himself that he would never make her cry again.

It seemed as though he broke that promise that night.

He lied awake, crying about the unfairness of it all. That she loved him. He felt a fissure form on the wall. It trembled under the weight of the unfairness that he couldn’t love her back.

Rocky had been in a complete panic when he saw Zuma the next morning. This never happened with Zuma. He let things go so easily, whether it was healthy or not.

“What happened? Are you okay? Why didn’t you sleep? Please talk to me!” Rocky pestered the next morning.

Zuma shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. He didn’t want to talk about what happened, because telling Rocky would make it real. He would have to confront the feelings he had been ignoring for so long.

It wasn’t fair.

“Did something happen with Skye?” Rocky asked, putting two and two together.

Zuma didn’t answer, but a small whimper came out at the sound of her name.

That was all the answer Rocky needed. Whatever look Rocky was giving everyone was enough to keep the other pups from asking Zuma what was wrong.

Zuma was eternally grateful for his best friend in that moment. The pups cared a lot, but sometimes that care could be overwhelming. And if anyone asked him what was wrong… well, he might just break down right then and there.

Watching Skye fly, legitimately fly, and single handedly pull ships out of the ocean, was something he simply could not ignore. Zuma thought it was amazing at first. She was incredible.

But then he noticed that she had brainwashed herself into thinking that all of her worth was because of that crystal. That was just something he couldn’t stand for.

He felt the wall around his heart shake as she said that; that she was nothing. The cracks deepened, began to separate as he told her exactly what he thought about her.

When Chase and Ryder woke them up, screaming in a panic that Skye was gone and the crystals were missing and they didn’t know where she was or if she was even alive?

The walls came crashing down, and Zuma couldn’t ignore it any longer.

Because… he loved her. He always had, from the first moment he opened his eyes and saw her.

Now, all he could think about was that she had to be okay. They had to get her back.

Even if it terrified him.

So they were rescuing Skye the old fashioned way. That was great. It would be totally fine. This is what they used to do every day. Marshall didn’t think that they had actually become that reliant on their superpowers, right?

Well… Marshall couldn’t help but think — as much as he could think while helplessly watching in absolute horror, with his claws digging painfully into his thighs — as a giant Humdinger tried to step on Chase and send him careening down into a gaping black hole of death that maybe… just maybe… there was a possibility that they had gotten too used to using their superpowers.

They drove at breakneck speeds for their lives. They did what they could to protect each other. But it wasn’t enough, and there was palpable terror among the group when they realized that they were completely and totally trapped.

And there was absolutely nothing they could do as they watched Humdinger try to commit first degree murder on Ryder.

Marshall didn’t let himself feel relaxed when Humdinger became distracted by the little puppies attacking him, or even relieved that both Chase and Ryder were okay. This wasn’t over yet. Humdinger still had that crystal, and Marshall was going to get it back if it was the last thing he did.

And as the power of the crystal surged into his veins and reignited his powers, it was this thought that allowed the fear he was feeling deep in his gut to morph into a violent and vengeful anger.

Sure, Humdinger sucked. They all knew that. Sure, the Paw Patrol and Humdinger had had their differences in the past. Multiple times, in fact.

But regardless of all that, how dare he try to kill Chase? How dare he try to murder Ryder? What the fuck was wrong with him?

It was this thought that ignited a fire of absolute fury through Marshall’s entire being. It fueled his actions as he felt the giant hand begin to squeeze his body. Marshall felt Humdinger trying to crush him, tight and becoming alarmingly painful.

And Marshall put all of that vengeful anger into burning the absolute shit out of Humdinger’s hand.

If you mess with the fire pup, his leader, and his mate? The burn you will get is gonna make you feel like you’ve been to hell and back.

Marshall had never been so viciously satisfied about hurting another living being, especially with fire of all things. It should go against everything in his nature.

Maybe this was why Ryder was so firmly against them being together. That sympathy and compassion that Marshall usually felt so deeply was apparently thrown into oblivion if someone tried to hurt Chase.

“Humdinger, you’re going back to jail!” Ryder shouted triumphantly.

And okay. Marshall thought Ryder was being a little too casual about this, but he supposed it was Ryder after all. It was sort of in his nature.

“Chase, you’re up,” Ryder ordered.

Chase strolled up, head held high and proud, as he said, “Humdinger, you are under arrest for public endangerment, destruction of public property, and attempted murder.”

His voice was professional, but his eyes were narrowed in anger.

“Is this really necessary?” Humdinger whined rather loudly.

Marshall saw the slight snarl on Chase’s lips as he recited Humdinger’s rights.

“Alright, Chase. We need to get him back to the jail, quick,” Ryder instructed as he led Humdinger to Chase’s car.

Chase hesitated. He glanced at Marshall.

“Umm, actually Ryder?”

Ryder paused and curiously looked over at Chase upon hearing the way his voice faltered nervously.

“I really think I should check on Marshall,” Chase continued, still trying to keep professionalism in his tone. “He fell from pretty high up. I’m worried he might be hurt.”

He sent Marshall a look, and Marshall got the hint. He lifted his front paw in the air like it hurt to put weight on.

Ryder’s brow furrowed in concern. “Marshall, are you okay?”

“I think so,” Marshall replied, but put on an unconvincing face. This at least came naturally to him. “But it hurts to walk a little.”

That was not… necessarily true.

“Good call, Chase,” Ryder said. “Make sure Marshall is okay. Liberty, open your sidecar and come with me to the prison.”

Liberty reeled back in disgust as Humdinger sat down next to her.

“My hand!” Humdinger screamed in over exaggerated agony. “That filthy dog did something to my hand!”

“I’m sure you’re fine,” Ryder shrugged it off as he climbed onto his ATV. He motioned for the Junior Patrollers to climb on behind him.

“You call this fine?!” Humdinger shoved his hand in Ryder’s face.

“Oh, ouch!” Ryder hissed when he saw the burn. Then he turned to the Dalmatian who did not even try to look remorseful. “Marshall, try to go a little lighter on the heat next time, alright?”

“Sorry, Ryder.” Marshall did not even sound a little apologetic. “I still have trouble controlling the heat sometimes.”

This was definitely a lie.

“We’ll be back as fast as we can. Skye can’t wait much longer,” Ryder said before turning to his pups. “Rocky, Zuma, I need you to block off the damaged roads and find alternate routes. Rubble, fill in as much of that hole as you can. I’ll come get you guys when I’m done.”

“We’re on it!” the assigned pups responded before driving off. Ryder and Liberty followed close behind them.

Chase was immediately on Marshall the moment everyone was out of sight, wrapping his front legs around him tightly and nuzzling their heads together.

“God, Marshall, are you okay?” he asked a little desperately.

Marshall let out a shaky breath. His eyes closed as he slumped forward into Chase’s embrace.

“I’m fine. I didn’t get hurt. But Chase… I thought… I really thought that you - that we -”

Marshall’s voice cracked, and it trailed off into a frightened whimper. His ears pressed against his skull.

“I know, I know, I know,” Chase whispered, an obvious attempt to soothe. But his body was trembling, his grip on Marshall so tight, clutching him in an attempt to anchor himself to something. To someone.

Chase pulled away slightly to lick Marshall’s forehead. Marshall didn’t know who he was trying to comfort more, himself or Marshall. But it calmed his anxiety anyway. He sighed and looked at Chase with a shaky smile.

“We’re okay,” Chase promised, pressing a gentle kiss to Marshall’s head. “We’re all okay. We’re going to get Skye back.”

Marshall turned his head and looked into Chase’s eyes.

“I love you,” Marshall breathed out with all the sincerity he felt.

Chase leaned forward and kissed him.

Marshall completely melted into him. He leaned back on his hind legs and framed Chase’s face with his paws, pulling him closer because he just wasn’t close enough.

Chase’s movements were slightly frantic. His claws dug into Marshall’s skin almost painfully. Like he could not let Marshall go. He was not willing to let Marshall go.

Marshall could feel it. He could feel how terrified Chase had been, for both of them. He could feel the way Chase was pouring everything he was feeling into his movements, into the kiss. The way his claws moved, trying to touch Marshall and feel that he was really truly still here. He touched Marshall’s head, his ear, his muzzle, trailed his paw down Marshall’s neck to clutch at his shoulder. All the relief, all the love, all the desperation that Chase felt because Marshall had to be okay. There simply wasn’t another option.

They jumped apart in a panic when they heard a gasp behind them.

Marshall felt the blood drain from his face, nearly shocking his system from how flushed he had just felt, at the sight of Zuma staring at them, eyes wide and mouth open in total astonishment.

Marshall cursed at how quiet Zuma’s hovercraft was compared to the rest of their vehicles. They hadn’t even heard him approach.

“Zuma!” Chase gasped, shoving Marshall a little harshly behind his body. It was a familiar motion; one that Chase did whenever he was trying to protect Marshall from something. “It’s - we - it’s not what it looks like!”

Marshall swayed a little at the thought of being caught red handed. They had only made it two months, and now…

How stupid were they? Of course any one of the pups could have seen them. Ryder could have come back for whatever reason and seen them and they wouldn’t have even noticed. But Marshall had been so overwhelmed with the fact that he almost lost Chase again that he just didn’t even think.

Chase was usually so sensible too, so levelheaded. But it had almost been like he couldn’t stand to keep his paws off of Marshall for one more second.

“I thought you were helping Rocky!” Chase continued, voice clearly fraught with anxiety.

“Rocky said he had it. I’m not exactly equipped for road work,” Zuma replied. He sounded a little distant, still totally stunned.

Zuma’s expression fell from one of shock to one of conflict as he sat down next to the hovercraft. He bit his lip. His eyes shifted away as his ears drooped a little.

“Does… Ryder know?” he asked in a small voice.

Chase and Marshall anxiously glanced at each other. A silent conversation transpired between the two that ended with them coming to a simple agreement. It was pointless to try and deny this.

“No, he doesn’t know,” Marshall stated quietly, gently pushing Chase to the side so he could stand beside him.

He made a mental note to talk to Chase about that. Marshall didn’t need to be protected from everything.

(Even if he enjoyed it a little. Or maybe a lot.)

Zuma’s eyes stared unblinking at the ground. His paws clawed nervously at the pavement.

“How do you do it?” Zuma murmured, a slight hint of despair in his voice. “How can you deal with the guilt of lying to Ryder?”

Marshall knew what Zuma meant. He knew that Zuma wasn’t accusing them of anything, of completely betraying their leader. Marshall knew exactly what Zuma was talking about. Who Zuma was talking about.

But Chase didn’t know, which was why his eyes narrowed in anger, and his hackles raised slightly in defense.

It was Marshall’s turn to step in front of Chase. He didn’t want Zuma to have to see the misunderstanding in addition to his distress.

“Are you talking about Skye?” Marshall asked in understanding.

Chase’s soft growling stopped as he sent Marshall a confused look.

“Skye?” Chase asked.

Zuma’s head finally snapped up to meet Marshall’s eyes. He reeled back slightly in surprise.

“How do you know about that?” he gasped, ignoring Chase’s inquiry.

“She told me.”

“Wait, told you what?” Chase said, sounding mildly offended. “What does Skye have to do with this?”

At Chase’s words, Zuma whimpered. His ears pinned against his head, shoulders turned inward, head down in shame.

“You must think pretty low of me,” he murmured miserably.

Chase’s eyes went wide with alarm. His ears fell back in distress at the sight of their friend. Marshall felt the same way.

They had never seen Zuma like this. They had never heard Zuma sound like this. Zuma was loud. He was boisterous. He loved to have fun and exuded endless amounts of energy.

This pup? The one curling in on himself to appear as small as possible? Depression tumbling out of him in waves? This was not Zuma. It had never been him.

“What happened?” Chase cried, running over to their friend with Marshall close behind. Chase brushed his head against Zuma in attempt to comfort.

But Zuma just shook his head, his eyes squeezing shut.

Chase shot Marshall a helpless, pleading look, one that was begging for an explanation.

Marshall shook his head. He sent the other pup a look which conveyed the message that they would talk later. Chase sighed and nodded in acceptance.

“I would never think that about you, Zuma,” Marshall said sincerely. Zuma didn’t open his eyes. He barely moved, but his ears lifted slightly, which showed he was listening. “I felt the same as you. I was terrified of telling Chase how I felt, because I was terrified of what might happen if Ryder found out. Although to be honest… Chase and I really haven’t talked about it. This thing just sort of… happened.”

Chase looked a little guilty from the confession. They just had not had the time to discuss what to do. They chose instead to remain blissfully ignorant, and only really had the opportunity to steal kisses in dark corners, showing hasty moments of affection out of the sight of curious eyes, whispering ‘I love you’s’ in a quick second before leaving for a mission.

After hearing Marshall’s words, Chase seemed to put two and two together. He nuzzled his head against Zuma, who accepted the comfort with slight hesitation.

“We obviously hate lying to Ryder,” Marshall continued. “We have no clue what Ryder will do when he finds out. But honestly, Zuma?”

He glanced over a Chase, his strength, his comfort, the one who he loved the most in the world.

“He’s worth it. He’s everything to me.”

Their eyes met. The way Chase looked at him, lips turned up and eyes soft and crinkled, shining with devotion — that alone made it all worth it.

Zuma opened his eyes. His body relaxed slightly as he finally lifted his head to meet Marshall’s gaze. He blinked. A haze seemed to be sweeping away as he registered Marshall’s words.

It was at that moment that Ryder and the pups returned.

Zuma’s demeanor immediately changed. His head perked up and body mostly relaxed.

And… wow. That freaked Marshall out a little. He could never put up a front like that.

But now that Marshall had seen Zuma looking so vulnerable, his feelings fulling display, he saw through the mask that Zuma was putting up.

“We’re getting her back,” reassured Chase.

Zuma looked at him with a new look in his eyes; a hard determination that had not been there before.

“Dude, that wasn’t even a question.”

——————

When they arrived at the run down hideout, Ryder and Chase did a quick walk around, scoping out the perimeter to see exactly what they were up against.

Ryder gathered the pups behind the bushes. All of them were attentive and attention solely on their leader.

“Alright, here’s the plan,” Ryder began in a hushed voice. “We’ll use the Junior Patrollers as a diversion. She doesn’t know about them. Chase, I need you to use your super speed to —”

“No.”

Ryder cut off immediately. His brows lifted up in surprise and reeled back at the interruption.

He was very, very rarely interrupted by his pups, especially during a mission briefing. There had been moments in dire circumstances, but even then it had been few and far between.

The rest of the pups were frozen in surprise as they gaped at Zuma.

While most of them had previously had moments of rebellion, interruption or otherwise, Zuma had not. He always just rolled with the punches, happy to go along with whatever Ryder decided to do and always willing to help where he was needed.

In this moment, Zuma was refusing to back down. His head was held high, and his gaze met Ryder’s full on with fierce determination.

“Oh! Uh… do you have an idea, Zuma?” Ryder inquired after a brief stunned silence. It was a genuine question, because at the end of the day, Ryder respected his pups and wanted to hear their opinions.

“I’m doing this,” Zuma stated with total finality and leaving no room for argument. “I can literally turn into water. I can disappear at any given moment. I’ll sneak in through the fence and get in the house through the pipes. She won’t even hear me coming.”

Ryder thought about it for a moment, before giving him a genuinely impressed look.

“That’s… that’s a great plan, Zuma. Let’s do it.”

Chase and Marshall exchanged a proud look.

——————

Skye barely allowed herself to look out of the cage. She was so overwhelmed with shame and agony that it just felt wrong. She was totally powerless to stop this… massacre.

Vance was going to kill hundreds of people, possibly destroy the entire city, and it was all her fault.

And for what? Because Skye wanted to prove something to Ryder? That she wasn’t a loose end, and that she could do this alone?

In the end, that is exactly what she had proven.

It made her whimper pitifully. What had she been thinking? When had she ever felt so strongly to do things by herself, to prove that she could be strong enough on her own?

She loved being on a team. She had always loved knowing that she had a team who loved her and would always have her back.

These crystals had made her selfish. They had made her blind. She had never, not once in her entire life, felt so angry and spiteful towards Ryder and her teammates.

It was a poison, a drug, and she had gotten addicted to it.

Her lust for power, to get that rush of flying freely again, had even made her ignore Zuma.

Zuma, who had come to check on her at her absolute lowest. Who had gone out of his way to tell her that he thought the world of her despite everything. It made her heart ache with regret just thinking about him. It had only been less than a day, but to her, it felt like a lifetime ago.

Now, Ryder and the team would be walking into this perilous situation. They had no idea what they were even walking into, and they were completely unmatched.

That is… if Humdinger had not gotten to them first.

That train of thought made her choke out a sob. She couldn’t think like that. They had to be okay. They had to.

It would be her fault if they weren’t okay.

Skye vaguely registered that Vance had gone to answer the door. She didn’t care. Skye was trapped in here because of her own stupidity, and she didn’t know whether Ryder and the pups were okay or hurt or even alive.

“Skye!”

And now she was imagining Zuma’s voice. She missed him so bad she could hardly stand it. If there had ever been a chance with him, she had now royally fucked up that chance forever.

“Skye, where are you?” Zuma’s voice had gotten a little louder, but still very hushed.

Then she looked up and saw…

No. It could not actually be…

“Zuma?” she called out in disbelief, hardly daring to believe that he was really here.

But it was him. He was really here.

Zuma had come to save her.

Zuma’s eyes lit up when he saw her. Her heart raced as he approached. Her lips pulled into a joyful smile.

She had never been happier to see him, and that was saying something.

“Time to bust out of here,” he declared, his eyes filled with something that she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Happiness. Pride. Affection.

It gave her the confidence she needed to fight.

——————

Marshall really did not like fighting. It went against his nature to rescue and protect. Especially when he had to watch Chase almost tumble to his death. Again.

Marshall thought he might have a stroke if he had to watch Chase try and die on him one more time.

But watching Zuma smirk deviously, his eyes dancing playfully with revenge, and then completely toying with Vance all while wearing his typical shit eating grin?

Well… Marshall was just overwhelmingly happy to see Zuma return to them.

——————

They had gotten the crystals back, but those meteors were coming down fast. It was up to Skye to stop them. She had to do this. She owed it to Ryder — to the team.

“Skye!” Zuma yelled after her as she hopped into her jet. He looked terrified. “Just… be careful. Please.”

Skye breath caught in her throat. He was still looking at her like he did before, standing outside of that cage. It was like a mask had come off, and he was refusing to hide anymore.

“I will. I won’t let you down,” she repeated with the same determination.

“You never do,” he replied sincerely. His legs were trembling slightly.

“Here, take this.” Skye handed him one of the crystals, which attached to his tag and made his suit light up.

Zuma gasped in protest and moved to take it off, but Skye put her paw on top of his to stop him.

“No way, dude. You need this way more than we do,” Zuma argued. He tried to fight back, push her paw away, but her grip was firm. It was impossible.

Skye shook her head. “I have six. You guys might need one. Take it, just in case.”

Then she shut her window and flew into the sky before Zuma could protest further.

——————

Marshall watched in horror as Skye fell at a rapid speed towards the water.

She was not flying. She was falling.

No. No way. She couldn’t be… she couldn’t.

“Skye!” they all screamed as they ran full speed towards the water.

Zuma had given Chase the crystal to move around the city to quickly warn people to evacuate immediately.

But in that moment, Zuma didn’t hesitate.

He snatched the crystal off of Chase, attached it to his own tag, and hopped into the water without saying a word.

“Zuma!” Ryder shouted.

But it was too late. Zuma had already materialized and disappeared into the water.

The pups looked out at the still water helplessly. There was nothing they could do, and they hated it.

Marshall trembled. His heart pounded painfully in his chest. His eyes burned with tears. He was truly just so terrified that they might have just lost her. And now Zuma was out there, searching the vast and endless waters to find her.

Marshall did not know the true nature of Zuma’s abilities, but all he could do was hope beyond hope that Zuma could feel her presence in the water.

“Wait, look!” Chase shouted.

A wave of water could be seen in the distance, but was approaching them at an alarming pace. The wave pushed an unconscious Skye up on the rock in front of all the pups, and Zuma materialized over her.

He looked petrified as he saw her unconscious body. He had his ear to her chest and listened for a minute. Marshall approached quickly to help.

“Shit,” Zuma muttered under his shaking breath.

Marshall’s heart twisted at what that might mean.

He moved to help Zuma get her lying on her right side. Zuma didn’t give Marshall the chance to step in, because he immediately had his paws on Skye’s chest to start compressions.

“Come on, Skye,” Ryder whispered fearfully.

The pups were all watching in utter turmoil. Rubble and Liberty were both sobbing. Rocky whimpered as he slowly approached Zuma, who was desperately trying not to cry through gritted teeth, breath coming out in harsh pants. A glassy eyed Chase was shaking as he gravitated towards Marshall, who was stony faced and trying to push away his personal feelings to shift into EMT mode.

Zuma’s movements were becoming erratic. He was losing composure as a sob ripped from his chest. Tears soaked into his fur.

“Let me take over,” Marshall said a bit harshly. Shallow and inconsistent compressions would not be helpful.

Zuma ignored him. “Wake up, Skye! Wake up!” He cried hysterically.

“Zuma, move!” Marshall ordered, and all but shoved Zuma away to take over.

Zuma backed away. Rocky was immediately holding him, trembling, tears staining his fur, but trying to stay strong for his friend who was now openly weeping.

Without any sign of warning, Skye gasped. She coughed and choked up water. A collective wave of relief encompassed the group. Zuma was immediately hovering over her once again.

“Skye? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Zuma asked frantically. His eyes skimmed over her face, looking for any signs of pain or distress. Skye’s eyes fluttered open and looked directly into Zuma’s eyes.

Like he was the only one there.

Marshall shared a look with Chase, who was also crying with relief. They could both tell that in that moment, there was a definite shift between these two.

Skye’s eyes were bright and happy at the sight of the Labrador.

“I must be dead, because there’s an angel looking right at me,” Skye said quietly, a teasing smile playing at her lips.

The pups all started laughing as Zuma groaned and slumped forward with an obvious release of tension. He leaned forward and rested his head against hers, eyes closed and shaking his head at her words. Chase rolled his eyes, but was clearly holding back laughter.

“I thought we were over this,” Chase said in a poor attempt at annoyance.

Rocky bumped his shoulder. “Nah, we’ll never be over that.”

“Alright, pups,” Ryder said, though he also looked incredibly amused. The pups were all smiling as they stood in attention. Zuma didn’t let go of Skye. “Let’s get her back to the ship. Marshall, I need you to give her an exam as soon as we get there.”

“Yes sir, Ryder,” Marshall replied.

Chase wagged his tail as he beamed at him. Marshall would never get tired of the way Chase looked at him with so much pride.

Ryder picked up Skye and held her close. Instead of biting or snapping like Marshall knew she had threatened to do in the past, she curled in even closer, seeking comfort after the trauma of what she had just gone through.

Zuma followed closely behind, hot on Ryder’s heels.

Marshall and Ryder all but had to physically force Zuma out of the medical wing. Zuma was not particularly thrilled about leaving Skye before knowing whether she was completely okay or not. It was only due to Skye’s reassurance that he surrendered the fight and exited the room.

“It’s okay, Zuma,” Skye had said with a soft smile and a warmth filling her body. “I’ll be out soon.”

Now, Ryder was standing next to the door, his arms crossed, observing Marshall as he checked Skye over carefully.

“Nothing is broken, and no visible injuries that I can see,” Marshall reported. “But I still think you should take it easy for the next week or two. The crystals seem to be helping you heal faster, but even still. Punching through a meteor of that size and having CPR administered is going to take a toll on your body.”

Skye nodded in understanding. The crystals were still adhered to her tag, and she understood what Marshall was saying. She easily could ignore the aches and pains that must be shooting through her body after that whole ordeal. The crystals’ power pulsed through her, filling her with incredible strength and endless amounts of energy that she knew should not be possible.

It was because of this that she reached up and ripped them off of her tag, causing her to instantly feel all of the soreness and physical trauma of the last 24 hours.

The floor swayed under her paws. The room started spinning.

“What are you doing?! Put those back on!” Marshall yelped, reaching out to steady her unbalanced stance.

“I’m not putting them back on,” Skye replied stubbornly, slightly slurred from the dizziness.

“You’re exhausted! They’ll help you heal faster!”

It was true. She was exhausted.

She hadn’t been able to sleep in that little cage. Any time she’d managed to doze off, she would be jerked awake shortly after by nightmares plaguing her every thought. Visions of her team dying horrible deaths, bloodied and beaten and lying at her feet. Ryder’s face twisting in agony as he screamed and cried over their dead bodies.

Look what you did! This is your fault!

Ryder’s voice rang so loudly in her head that it had almost been like he was actually there. She shook her head to get rid of the hateful voice, and refocused on the Ryder’s caring face in her reality.

“I don’t care,” Skye stated. “I don’t want them.”

“What’s going on?” Ryder asked. He approached the two of them, brow furrowed into a concerned frown. Marshall looked very distressed by Skye’s petulance.

“I don’t want to use these anymore,” Skye answered. “I think we should lock them away somewhere no one can find them.”

Ryder’s eyebrows shot up. His mouth fell open in astonishment.

“Are you - are you joking?” Ryder stammered in total disbelief.

“I am not,” Skye replied firmly. “These crystals are dangerous. They’re addictive, Ryder. They cause way more harm than good.”

“Wait, hold on!” Ryder said, holding his hands up in front of him. “Let’s not make any rash decisions. We should think about this first.”

“There’s nothing to think about! Look at how easy it was for one of them to fall into the wrong hands!”

“That was a mistake, Skye. One mistake. We’ve done a lot of good with these crystals.”

“We’ve done a lot of good without them too!”

“I can’t believe you are saying this!” Ryder cried as he motioned to her. “Look at what you just did! You just saved all of Adventure City because of those crystals!”

“You’re right, but I had to save Adventure City because of the crystals too.”

“These crystals are so beneficial to us! We’re way more capable with them than we ever were before.”

“You guys did just fine without them earlier today,” Skye pointed out. Ryder shook his head.

“We almost died without them, Skye.”

“So, we’re becoming reliant on them, then.”

“No. We were just way more evenly matched when we had one.”

“Well, obviously! Humdinger had a crystal! We were only more evenly matched because someone was smart enough to trick us!”

“Well, we’ll just have to be more careful in the future!”

“By doing what? Doing an inspection on everyone who needs to be rescued?”

“By making smarter calls.”

“There’s no way to know that for sure!”

Ryder bit back a retort and looked back and forth between Skye and the crystals. Marshall didn’t say anything, just watched the two of them arguing with wide, stunned eyes.

“Alright, Skye,” Ryder finally concluded. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. I’ll call a meeting with the rest of the team first thing in the morning. We’ll make this decision as a team.”

Skye sat in silence for a moment, mulling it over, before nodding in agreement.

“I think that sounds fair.”

——————

Skye thought about going to find Zuma, but she decided that she wanted to be alone with her thoughts for just a few minutes. Besides, she figured that if Zuma wanted to talk, he would probably come find her either way.

So she sat on the edge of the ship, observing the moon’s reflection on the water - the way it glinted with every pull and push of the waves.

She sighed as it reminded her of that night with Zuma right before this whole mess started. But it was not quite the same. There were no stars in the sky. The light pollution of the city ensured that. It was something she missed the most about Adventure Bay.

She should go to bed. She should be trying to get some sleep. As Marshall said, she was completely exhausted.

But her mind just wouldn’t stop moving, no matter how hard she tried. Her thoughts were a whirlwind — on past, present, and future — and she knew that sleep was not coming any time soon.

Especially as she stared down at the pink handkerchief, the one that had unknowingly caused so much pain. She didn’t even realize she had stowed it away with the rest of her stuff. It sort of got into the mix of toys and other personal items that she had hastily packed up in her distress the night before leaving. She didn’t even notice it until the night of the meteor.

It was almost poetic, given the circumstances. An object with the purpose to help show that she was more than her size, given to her by people who didn’t think she was worth keeping around because of her size.

She sighed as she looked down at it. It was reminder to her of who she used to be — pushed around, the runt, pitied, told she would never be useful for anything. A reminder that she didn’t even deserve to be alive.

But she wasn’t that pup anymore, and it was because of the mere fact that Ryder had believed in her. He had given her a chance.

She let it go, and along with it, all those memories of never amounting to anything. She watched it flutter away in the wind and disappear into the picture of the setting sun. She didn’t want to be that pup anymore.

Which is why the crystals had to go. All they did was bring back that crippling insecurity that she hadn’t felt in years. She never, ever, wanted anyone else to let the crystals affect them the way they did her.

Ryder informed everyone through a group call that they had a very important meeting first thing in the morning. He also hinted at the possibility that they might be heading back to Adventure Bay soon depending on how the meeting went.

But until then, Ryder insisted that everyone head to bed for the night. It had been a long day for everyone.

Skye suspected that she was not the only one who ignored that suggestion, because she heard the sound of paws padding softly towards her. She did not need to turn around to see who it was. She would recognize his scent anywhere.

She watched in her periphery as Zuma sit down next to her.

“So… any ideas what this super important meeting is about?” Zuma asked, his eyes not drifting away from the water.

“You don’t want to just wait and find out?” Skye retorted, glancing over with a smirk.

“Ah ha! So you do know!” he accused playfully.

“Yeah, well…” she laughed a little bashfully with a shrug. “Ryder and I might have butted heads a bit earlier.”

“Yeah, Marshall said it got a little heated.”

Skye’s face scrunched up with embarrassment at the thought of Marshall witnessing her potentially disrespecting Ryder.

“I think I was a little sore from earlier. Might have made me a little cranky,” she tried to casually write off.

“Oh, okay. I see now. You go and save the world and now you can get away with literally whatever. Got it,” Zuma quipped with a teasing glint in his eye.

“I think ‘saving the world’ is overselling it a little,” she replied while rolling her eyes at him, the corners of her mouth turned up.

“Well whatever you did, it was amazing.” His expression softened as he looked at her. Skye’s breath caught in her throat and had to avert her eyes. Her face felt even warmer than before, because he was looking at her in a way she had only dreamed about.

She must have been imagining it. Some kind of trauma induced response maybe.

Or maybe not, because Zuma ducked his head in front of her to meet her eyes.

“You were amazing,” he said earnestly.

Skye blinked. Her mouth fell open slightly. Her lungs felt too tight against her chest. Her heart clenched and stuttered happily as his unrelenting eyes stared into hers.

“Oh, umm. Th- thanks. Wow, uh. Thank you,” she stuttered.

She winced in embarrassment. This was the girl who supposedly saved the world — someone whose brain stopped forming coherent thoughts when her crush looked at her a certain way.

Skye was mercifully interrupted from falling apart into a stumbling, rambling mess when delighted laughter filled the air.

They both turned towards the upper deck to see Marshall running away from something. He turned his head around to glance at whoever was chasing him which, unfortunately, caused him to stumble forward with a yelp and flip onto his stomach.

“Ouch,” they heard him groan.

Skye and Zuma both dissolved into a fit of giggles. After all the insanity of the past couple months, it was so comforting to watch Marshall just act… well. Like Marshall.

“It’s amazing how capable Marshall is while he’s working,” Skye commented in wonder.

“But when he’s playing, he can hardly walk straight,” Zuma added with a grin.

“I wonder what he’s running from - oh,” Skye said.

Because at that moment, Chase appeared to pounce on top of the other pup. Marshall laughed breathlessly as Chase pinned his front limbs down with his paws.

“Gotcha!” Chase shouted triumphantly. His rear was in the air, chest pressed firmly against Marshall’s back in a bowed position. His tail wagged furiously.

Chase pressed his nose against the base of Marshall’s ear. He licked him, then playfully nibbled his ear, causing Marshall to sigh happily and lean into the touch.

“What are you gonna do about it?” Marshall asked innocently.

Chase started murmuring quietly in Marshall’s ear, so Skye could not hear his response. But whatever he said, it made Marshall’s ears perk up and his face color to a faint pink.

“Those two, I swear,” she said in exasperation. They were so stupid. There was no way they could not see that one was completely obsessed with the other, right? They couldn’t be that oblivious? Right? Because it was getting a little ridiculous.

“I know. They’re totally in love,” Zuma agreed casually. Like that was just a common piece of knowledge that was just thrown around.

Skye whipped her head to the side to stare at him in a stunned silence. He was still looking at the two on the deck. Marshall had rolled over onto his back and was positively beaming up at Chase. Chase, in return, was looking back with unashamed adoration. They seemed to be totally oblivious to anything and everything in the world around them.

“What? Why would think that?” Skye questioned, even though it was probably closer to a demand.

Because as far as she knew, this fact was not common knowledge. She had accidentally forced Marshall to confess to her about Chase in the first place, and them Chase had told her about his feelings for Marshall in total confidence.

Even with them being so disgustingly obvious about how they felt for each other, Zuma of all pups was the absolute last one who she thought would have guessed it.

Flashback

(The pups were all lounging on their cushions, passively watching Apollo on TV. They were all pretty wiped out from chasing down a high speed train earlier that day.

“So,” Rocky suddenly spoke up, a sly grin playing on his lips. “When do you guys think Ryder is gonna ask Katie out?”

Ah, Rocky. Skye could always count on him to talk gossip.

The pups all started snickering.

Well, all except Zuma, who simply frowned in confusion.

“Did you see how red his face got when she hugged him?” Skye giggled.

“He was so nervous he could barely say ‘you’re welcome,’” Chase laughed with an eye roll.

“What the hell are you guys talking about?” Zuma asked loudly, causing all the pups to look at him in fond amusement.

Except for Chase, who scowled, opening his mouth to tell him off, but Skye batted at his leg to hold back the scolding.

“Oh come on, Zuma,” Marshall said with a smirk. “Not even you could have missed that.”

“Yeah, even I’ve noticed. And that’s saying something,” Rubble piped in. The other pups nodded in agreement.

“They’re together? Since when?” Zuma demanded.

“Well, no. Not yet anyway,” Rocky answered before giving Zuma with a serious look. “You cannot tell Ryder though. He’ll chicken out the moment he knows it’s obvious.”

“I wasn’t gonna!”

“Sure you weren’t,” Rocky replied with a skeptical look.

“Sheesh. Some best friend you are,” Zuma huffed.

Rocky leaned over and nuzzled the top of his head against Zuma’s side. It made Zuma scrunch his nose, though he was very obviously fighting a smile.

“I love you too, Zuma,” Rocky teased.

Zuma shoved him off and pounced on him to start play fighting. The rest of the group giggled at the two of them.

Well, most of the group, anyway.

Skye’s smile faltered as she turned her attention back to the TV.)

So yeah. She was moderately shocked that Zuma had figured it out. Like, surely Chase or Marshall would not have risked telling him, right?

But then, Zuma just shrugged as he said, “I mean, they’re together, so why wouldn’t they be?”

Skye blinked slowly a few times, silence washing over the two of them, before her eyes went huge.

“They’re WHAT?!” she shrieked.

She was so loud that it snapped whatever spell the two pups up on the deck had been under. Chase hopped off of Marshall, looking a little flustered, but then his face lit up when he saw the two of them.

“Hey guys!” he called out, tail wagging happily.

Marshall rolled over and pushed himself up onto his feet. When he noticed Skye and Zuma, very much alone, he gave Chase a knowing look and motioned his head towards the inside of the ship.

“Oh, right,” Chase said with a nod, before frowning in confusion. “Wait. What?”

Marshall rolled his eyes and pushed Chase towards the door.

Skye stared at the spot they disappeared, feeling totally perplexed, before looking back over at Zuma.

…whose nose crinkled guiltily.

“Oops,” he murmured. “I don’t think I was supposed to say anything.”

“Zuma!” Skye groaned. “And you wonder why we say you can’t keep a secret?”

“I know, I know! It just sort of… slipped out?”

Skye scoffed with a small shake of her head.

“What are we gonna do with you?” she asked fondly, eyes growing soft with a hint of a smile on her face.

Only for her eyes to harden a second later to glare at the spot the other two had disappeared.

“I can’t believe they told you and didn’t tell me! I’ve been their number one supporter for months!”

“Well… they didn’t exactly tell me. I kind of saw them… uhh…”

“Saw them what?!” Skye exclaimed, flabbergasted at how embarrassed he looked. Surely not. Surely they weren’t that stupid. Like, okay, she had a sneaking suspicion that when it came to Marshall, Chase’s common sense and self preservation skills would be thrown out the window. But Marshall was much more careful. Surely he would be able to reign in Chase’s impulsiveness.

“No, not like that!” Zuma said hastily as he caught on to her implication. The fur on his face looked a little darker. “No, they were just kissing. And probably other gross lovey dovey stuff. But nothing like that.”

“Oh, geez,” she sighed in relief, but still bristled. “Even still. I’m surprised Marshall wasn’t more careful.”

“Eh, considering Chase almost got stepped on and Marshall almost got crushed by a giant hand, I can’t really blame them for being a little reckless.”

Skye reeled back slightly.

“What the fuck,” she muttered under her breath.

Zuma nudged her. “Language,” he lightly scolded.

Skye huffed as she nudged him back. “You’re one to talk.”

Zuma laughed. But Skye deflated a little, face falling, his words actually seeping in. Horror coiled deep in her gut after she realized the true meaning of what he said.

Zuma noticed the sudden mood shift, and tilted his head in concern. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Skye lowered her head, eyes staring towards the ground. Her heart squeezed, chest tight with so many conflicting emotions. Love for Zuma with his immediate concern. Hatred of herself for how selfish she’d been.

“I just…” Skye started. Her ears drooped in shame. “If I hadn’t been so stupid and just stayed behind like Ryder wanted me to, none of that would have happened.”

“Why did you do it?” Zuma asked gently. Not accusingly, not at all, but clearly trying to make sense of it.

Skye sighed, ears still pinned down with shame. “I don’t even know. I was just so… angry. I couldn’t believe Ryder told me I had to stay behind. He all but told me I wasn’t good enough to be on the team, and I just couldn’t take it. So I wanted to prove to him that I was good enough, that I could do it by myself if I had to. I wanted to show you that…”

She trailed off, unsure how to proceed with that thought.

“Show me what?” Zuma prompted, brow furrowed deeply with worry.

Skye let out a deep breath, then looked into his eyes with a sad sort of determination.

“Show you that you were wrong. Because more than anything, I was furious that he proved you right.”

“Skye,” he whispered, looking deeply regretful.

“Because if Ryder put both Chase and I on suspension for messing up in circumstances that he put us in,” Skye continued, ignoring Zuma’s protests, “then what would happen if we directly disobeyed him?”

“Skye, stop,” Zuma said firmly. Skye shut her mouth. “Ryder did that to protect you. Not to punish you.”

“I had time to think about this, Zuma,” Skye replied flatly. “There were still six crystals. Liberty didn’t have her powers yet. I could have used that one.”

Zuma opened his mouth to rebuttal, but seemed to realize that there wasn’t a good argument for that. He frowned as he tried to think of an explanation.

“Maybe,” he said uncertainly. “Maybe he just… forgot?”

Skye gave him a skeptical look. “This is Ryder. He thinks of all possible angles.”

“Skye, I really don’t think Ryder would ever kick you off the team. Especially not now. Not after you singlehandedly saved the city.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Skye said, looking up at him through her eyelashes. “You saved me. I’ll never forget that.”

She felt her face flush as Zuma stared at her with an intensity she had never seen before. Her heart thudded hard and fast with anticipation.

“Skye,” he murmured, reaching out to touch her paw. “There’s something I want to tell you.”

“Yeah?” She said a little timidly, hardly daring to hope that maybe… just maybe…

Zuma’s mouth curled into a small smile. His eyes crinkled with affection as he breathed out, so sincerely, “I love you.”

Skye’s face crumpled, a small sob escaped her mouth. Her chest felt tight, breathing becoming shallow, heart thrumming quickly and heating up her body with happiness. A watery smile found its way on her face as tears filled her eyes.

“I’ve loved you since I first saw you after that fire. I never dreamed that you would love me back, and finding a home and becoming part of a family was so important to me that I forced myself to ignore it. I’m so sorry I told you I couldn’t love you back. I was so scared of having to go back to the way things were — of being forced off the team.”

“Zuma,” Skye whispered. The fur under her eyes was becoming stained with tears.

“But now I know that even if we get caught, even if you or I or we both get the ax, I’m okay with it. Because to me… you’re so worth it.”

“I still love you,” Skye cried, feeling so overjoyed she could hardly contain it. All of the exhaustion she had been feeling disappeared, and Zuma’s gaze, the one with a huge grin and eyes shining with everything he was feeling, was filling her with a similar strength to how she felt while wearing the crystal. His mask had come down, and he wasn’t hiding anymore. Not to her, never again.

Zuma approached her. He touched her face with his paw, looking at her in absolute wonder. He leaned forward and -

A gray blur came out of nowhere and tackled Zuma to the ground.

Skye squeaked and jumped a foot in the air by the sudden interruption. Her focus had been so solely on the brown lab that she had blocked out everything surrounding her.

“Zuma!” Rocky exclaimed proudly. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere! You were amazing! Fantastic! I’ve never been so proud of you!”

Zuma glared up at him, absolute daggers piercing through Rocky’s fur.

But the fact was… Skye knew he could never stay mad at Rocky, especially when Rocky was beaming at him with so much pride.

Which was why Zuma flashed her an apologetic smile as his angry glare just turned into one of annoyance.

And wow, this would have sent Skye reeling with jealousy a few months ago. Her stomach would have twisted painfully. Her heart would have ached at the sight of the two of them.

But those feelings had vanished. On the contrary, she felt giddy watching the two of them, Rocky looking ecstatic, tail wagging furiously, and Zuma looking both annoyed and resigned.

Rocky would always be in her life regardless due to the Paw Patrol, but she was also very aware that… with Zuma came Rocky. They were sort of a package deal.

“Thanks dude, but uh… could you get off please? You kinda interrupted something pretty important.” Zuma motioned his head towards Skye.

Rocky looked over and somehow only just now noticed Skye. He must’ve had some kind of tunnel vision once he found Zuma.

“Oh, hey Skye,” he said as he helped Zuma back to his feet. “I guess you did alright too.” He shrugged casually, but smirked anyway.

Skye rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks,” she huffed with amused sarcasm.

“Rocky!”

They all turned to see Chase and Marshall charging towards them. Chase stopped when he saw Rocky next to Zuma though, but Marshall didn’t notice and crashed right into him. The two of them flipped forward together, landing in a heap next to the other 3 pups, Marshall on top of Chase.

“Oops! Sorry, Chase!” Marshall exclaimed. He gently used the paw resting on top Chase’s head to stroke his fur in apology.

Chase closed his eyes and hummed. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

Skye rolled her eyes. Yeah, it was just like she suspected. 

Chase pouted a little pitifully when Marshall climbed off of him.

“Sorry, we tried to stop him,” Marshall said with a grimace.

“But we got a little… distracted,” Chase continued with a nervous laugh. Marshall’s face blushed a faint pink.

Zuma and Skye sent each other an annoyed look that said, They are not even a little subtle.

Rocky just looked confused. “Stop me from what? I thought you were helping me find him.”

“We sort of knew where he was the whole time?” Chase replied timidly.

Which made Rocky even more baffled.

“What is going on?” he asked, looking between all the pups.

“Dude, you totally interrupted my declaration of love,” Zuma stated bluntly.

Skye’s eyes went wide, Rocky’s mouth fell open. Marshall and Chase looked thrilled.

“Wait wait. What?!” Rocky cried.

“Seriously?” Marshall said, mostly to Skye, who nodded furiously with barely contained laughter. “That’s amazing!”

“You and Skye? How did I not know this?” Rocky exclaimed, sounding a little betrayed.

“It literally just happened.”

“Right, but I didn’t even know you liked her!”

“It didn’t seem worth talking about when I didn’t think there was a chance of it happening.”

“Speaking of which,” Skye started before staring daggers at the Dalmatian and German Shepherd who standing just a little too close to each other. Considering how much smaller she was than the two of them, the way they shrank under her scornful gaze was very satisfying. “When were you going to tell me about you two?”

Rocky looked exceptionally lost now. “Which two? Tell you what?”

“You told her?” Chase said to Zuma in exasperation.

“In my defense, you didn’t actually tell me it was a secret,” Zuma replied, throwing his paw up in defense.

“We thought it was obvious!”

“Okay, hold up!” Rocky shouted in frustration. He hopped in between the two pairs, shutting everyone up. “You guys are going to tell me what’s going on! I’m feeling like Zuma over here.”

“Hey!”

Skye playfully nudged a very disgruntled Zuma.

“Well, Rocky,” she began. “Long story short: Zuma just told me he loved me about 5 minutes ago, and Chase and Marshall have apparently been together for some time now. And they didn’t think to inform me about this little life update, even though we’ve been talking about it for months.”

This was mostly directed at Marshall, whom she glared at accusingly.

“Sorry,” Marshall replied sincerely. “There was just never a good time to bring it up! It happened right after the meteor shower.”

Skye tilted her head, thinking back to the last couple months. He was right. There really hadn’t been a good time to bring it up.

“Okay… fine,” she begrudgingly accepted. “But that doesn’t mean we’re done talking about this.”

She jabbed her paw sharply in both of their directions, causing them to flinch.

Rocky still looked a little shell shocked.

“Wow,” he said distantly and exhaled a sharp breath. “I had this all wrong.”

“Yes,” Marshall replied slowly, sounding extremely annoyed.

“You did,” Skye added with narrowed eyes.

But Rocky wasn’t phased. Instead, he just groaned.

“What is this? I can’t be the fifth wheel! Where is Rubble?”

“He knocked out as soon as we got back, dude.”

“Don’t worry, Rocky,” Chase reassured as he walked over and threw a paw around Rocky’s shoulders. “We’ll find you someone too.”

“Uh, yeah, no thanks,” Rocky scoffed while shoving Chase off. “I got my new garage to keep me busy. So as long as Skye doesn’t steal all of my best friend’s time -” he shot Skye a distrusting look. “I think I’ll be good.”

“I promise to never come between you and Zuma,” Skye replied, swearing it with her paw up in the air.

Zuma nuzzled his head against Rocky in comfort. “That wasn’t even a question, Rocky,” he said quietly.

Hearing Zuma’s reassurance seemed to help Rocky visibly relax a little. But then his brow furrowed in concern.

“What are you guys gonna tell Ryder?”

The question made all the pups shrink a little bit.

Chase especially looked ashamed. He scratched the surface of the ship anxiously.

“I don’t know,” Chase sighed. “We haven’t gotten that far. It all just sort of happened. I wasn’t even going to say anything to Marshall, but…”

“But,” Marshall picked up. “We’ve had one too many close calls recently. So we just decided to say screw it.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re not going to tell Ryder!” Chase piped in hastily.

“Right. Just... We don’t know how,” Marshall finished, head falling and shoulders curling in.

Rocky stared at the ground with an intense expression on his face, clearly deep in thought, before his ears fell back and his expression morphed into total panic as he turned to Zuma.

“You can’t get kicked out!” he cried. “I don’t know what I’d do!”

“Rocky,” Zuma said calmly, but Rocky continued frantically.

“If you leave, I’ll leave too! We can start our own business! I can probably recreate most of Ryder’s stuff! I’ve helped him with almost all of it!”

“Rocky!” Zuma snapped. He put his paws against Rocky’s shoulders, shutting the hysterical mixed breed up. “We’re not getting kicked out!”

He looked over a Skye, who sent him a small, grateful smile.

“I think if there’s one thing Ryder knows, it’s that he can’t do any of this without us. And he loves us. He might be upset at first, but I think he’ll realize that we’re way happier this way and that we can do our jobs just fine, no matter what.”

Tears of joy welled up in Skye’s eyes after hearing Zuma’s words. It was a far cry from Zuma’s fear and pessimism from a couple months ago. She could hardly believe it.

She showed how much she appreciated it by nuzzling her head against Zuma’s.

Since it was an official meeting, they all gathered in the control room dressed in their uniforms. Each pup sat attentively in their assigned order, with Marshall and Skye on both ends, and patiently waited for Ryder to pull up the graphics on the computer.

It was the same computer that Marshall had destroyed a couple months ago, which meant Ryder had either found the time to fix it somewhere in all the insanity, or replaced it entirely. Marshall was ashamed to admit that he… still felt pretty embarrassed about that. Thankfully, he had gotten control over his abilities in such a way that he didn’t shoot fire out of his paws every time he tripped. The whole ship would probably have burned down by now.

Though a variation of this thought — the nature of his powers — was something that had kept him awake for a while, even after the lights were turned off and they all had turned in for the night. He was well aware of what this meeting was about. He was pretty certain that he and Skye were the only ones who knew, since he had been present to witness Skye and Ryder’s heated disagreement.

Marshall somehow even had managed to keep it from Chase, despite his persistent poking.

Last night

(“I don’t know why you won’t just tell me what this meeting is about,” Chase grumbled as they walked back inside.

Since Chase had been totally oblivious to the fact that Zuma and Skye were very much alone, and that it was probably one of the rare opportunities for them to be so, Marshall had to forcefully push him inside and explain why he could not go talk to Skye. Chase’s jaw dropped in realization, with a silent “oh,” and moved on incredibly fast back to the reason Chase had been chasing after Marshall in the first place.

“I told you. It’s just about what Skye and Ryder were arguing about earlier. That’s all,” Marshall replied with a shrug.

Chase hopped in front of him, tail up and head down in a playing position. Marshall’s stride came to a halt so he didn’t accidentally collide into Chase. He cocked an unimpressed eyebrow, but the smile dancing on his mouth betrayed him.

“If you know, why won’t you just tell me?” Chase asked, tail wagging mischievously.

Marshall snorted. “What fun would that be?”

He was only just bracing himself to be pounced on again, with Chase moving into position to try and force it out of him, when Rocky stepped around the corner. Chase immediately straightened up his stance and hastily put a little distance between himself and Marshall.

Rocky didn’t even kind of notice. He was looking every which way, obviously trying to find something, and even barely reacted to the two of them. He would’ve walked right past them, had he not noticed them at the very last second.

“Hey guys. Have either of you seen Zuma? I haven’t been able to find him since we got back,” Rocky said while sounding a tad distressed.

“Oh yeah! He’s just - ow!” Marshall started, but yelped by the interruption of Chase stomping on his paw. Rocky, who had not been paying close attention, gave Marshall a puzzled look, but decided to just shrug it off because. Well. It was Marshall.

“I mean. No. We haven’t seen him,” Marshall corrected, internally chastising himself. Chase had the right idea there. They both knew that as soon as Rocky got ahold of Zuma, any sort of profession of love would be delayed indefinitely. “But we can help you look for him!”

“There’s tons of places to hide in this huge ship,” Chase agreed, and they all set off in the opposite direction of the deck.

Unfortunately, Chase started trying to nag the information out of Marshall again, who flat out refused to give in.

This time, Chase was successful about pouncing on Marshall, pinning him down behind a shipping container and out of Rocky’s line of sight.

“Tell me,” he demanded.

“Or what?” Marshall mocked, a challenge clear in his voice.

Chase’s eyes narrowed. “Or I’ll bite you.”

“Sounds hot.”

“I’ll tie you up.”

“Even better.”

“You won’t be able to get away.”

“I look forward to it.”

They stared each other down, both refusing to be the one to back down. Marshall smirked, mischievousness filling every corner of his face. Chase looked down at him with narrowed eyes and that hyper focused intensity that Marshall would refuse to admit was making him feel flustered.

In order to prevent Chase from discovering his weakness, Marshall decided to exploit Chase’s weakness instead. So he leaned up and kissed him, which Chase instantly melted into.

It was supposed to be brief, just a distraction, especially since they were barely concealed in the middle of the main room. But Chase only pinned him down more firmly, and increased the intensity of the kiss to a level that was decidedly not appropriate in their current situation.

They both seemed to forget where they were and what they had been doing. That is, until they heard the sound of a door opening and then closing. Chase hopped off Marshall right as he heard it, frantically looking around to find the source of the sound.

“Umm…” Chase began nervously as he helped Marshall onto his feet. “Weren’t we supposed to be watching Rocky?”)

Today

“Alright, pups. Let’s get this started,” Ryder said as he turned his attention towards them. “I called this meeting so that we can discuss as a group what the future of the Paw Patrol will look like. Powers, or no powers.” The computer lit up with an animation reflecting his words. “Stay in Adventure City, or return home to Adventure Bay.”

The other five pups glanced at each other curiously. Marshall and Skye kept their attention forward, unwaveringly on Ryder.

“The reason we’re here,” Ryder continued. “Is because Skye feels strongly that we should quit using the crystals; continue with our lives as they were before we started using them. Hide them away somewhere no one can ever find them.”

The pups, except Marshall, looked at Skye in alarm, who stared ahead without showing any emotion.

“I disagreed, but we came to an agreement that we would discuss this as a group. So, I’m opening the floor for discussion and debate. Let’s try to figure out the right course of action together.”

“Get rid of our powers?” Rubble gasped.

“Yes,” Ryder replied simply.

“Why do you say that, Skye?” Chase asked, causing Skye to finally rip her eyes away from Ryder to give Chase her full attention. “After what you did? After what you said?”

Chase was, of course, referring to their conversation on the carrier only a couple very eventful days prior. Marshall didn’t know all the details of their conversation, but he knew Chase had been extremely worried about her and her wellbeing after having her crystal stolen. So the change in opinion must have been a little shocking.

“You’re saying exactly what Ryder said,” Skye began. “‘After what I did.’ But here’s the thing, Chase: I wouldn’t have had to put myself in this situation if it wasn’t for these crystals. The only reason these meteors almost destroyed the city was because of the crystals falling into the wrong hands. And I admit it. The reason the meteors were falling in the first place was… my own fault. I was stupid. And I’m so very sorry for putting you all through that. But that’s my other concern. The power of the crystals can be incredibly addictive. At least… for me it was. And I never want anyone else here to feel the way I did.”

“We have to recognize that there are bad things that can happen with them,” Rocky interjected. “And we of course have to be smart with how we use them and recognize if they become too much for us. But we’ve also done a lot of good with them too. I’ve prevented so many accidents by just using my paws. You’ve pulled sinking ships out of the ocean with nothing else except your strength. We’ve saved a lot of lives because of them.”

“We’ve pulled ships out of the ocean using our equipment. We’ve prevented accidents by using our training,” Skye rebutted.

“It makes our jobs more efficient.”

“Efficiency means nothing if we have to worry about someone trying to trick us to get their own powers and use them for god knows what.”

“It might be worth the risk though. Chase was able to warn a greater amount of people to evacuate the city yesterday simply because he could move faster. It was way easier for Rubble and I to get our work done yesterday than if we hadn’t had our powers.”

“But Rocky, since when do you like your work to be easy?” Skye pointed out.

“She’s right, Rocky,” Marshall agreed. He had been thinking the same thing. “You’ve always liked your work to be a challenge.”

“This situation was challenging enough,” Rocky replied with a shrug.

“But you would have done just fine with a challenging situation without the crystals.”

“Under normal circumstances.”

“Exactly.”

“But this wasn’t a normal circumstance.”

“And it wasn’t a normal circumstance because of these damn crystals!” Skye snapped, sounding a little frustrated.

“Alright, Skye. Let’s take a breath,” Ryder ordered calmly, clearly hoping to mediate the debate from getting too heated.

Rocky looked as though he was thinking about saying more, but held himself back to contemplate Skye and Marshall’s words.

“Marshall?” Ryder prompted. Marshall stood in attention. “You knew what this meeting was about. You seem to have some thoughts. Do you want to share?”

Marshall took moment to just think, trying to calm his anxiety over the situation. He looked over at Chase, who shot him a small smile and a nod of encouragement. He took a deep breath and looked back at Ryder.

“I think… I’m with Skye,” Marshall said. “These powers might make us more efficient, but they make us dangerous too. I’m just speaking from my own experience. I mean, what is my power? I create fire. I can burn things. I can hurt people. Isn’t that counterintuitive to who I am? To what I’ve sworn to do? I’m supposed to stop fire, not become an arsonist.”

“That may be true Marshall,” Ryder started. “But it is an excellent fighting mechanism and defense maneuver. You’ve shown that over the past couple months, and you did incredible yesterday.”

“But since when have we had to fight like that before?” Marshall countered. “Skye‘s right. We never had to use violence like this before the crystals. It’s not part of our job description! We’re supposed to help people, not hurt them! If that’s the advantage of my power, then I don’t want it.”

“It might not be in your job description, but for some of us, it is,” Chase mumbled, so quietly that Marshall almost didn’t hear him.

Guilt made Marshall’s gut clench painfully. He cursed himself internally as he looked over at Chase.

“Chase, I’m sorry. You’re right,” he apologized hastily.

“It’s alright, Marshall,” Chase reassured gently.

But it wasn’t alright, because Marshall knew exactly what Chase was talking about. The more serious roles of Chase’s job description happened so infrequently that it was easy to bypass. However, as infrequent as they were, Marshall knew how much they affected Chase, how he sometimes still had nightmares of the memories from those missions. The missions where Chase had to join up with private investigators or outside speciality law enforcement, mostly to help them track down something and possibly assist with arrests.

These were times where Chase had to ignore any fears or hesitations to take on the role of a protector, a tracker, a guard dog.

The role where he helped track down an illegal and inhumane breeding facility - where he heard the bark of a pup who had been left to die. Or when he caught a whiff of something a few miles outside of Adventure Bay and told Ryder they had to call for backup immediately because the smell of drugs was so strong. Where they aided in raiding the facility with local law enforcement, only for Chase to be at the right place at the right time, allowing him to almost rip the arm off the man who was trying to drown Rocky.

Marshall had been there, but his job was to get Rocky stabilized and get him out immediately. To save a life, rather than help take down. Not at all what Chase had to do.

If they had their powers, those missions might have been less traumatic.

“What are your thoughts, Chase?” Ryder asked when he noticed Chase’s anxious expression.

Chase gaze shifted between Ryder and Marshall, looking extremely torn.

Marshall tried to communicate with his eyes that no matter what Chase said, no matter what the final decision was, he would stay by Chase’s side.

Even still, Chase let out an uncertain, shaky breath.

“I - I don’t know, Ryder. I need to think some more,” he replied. Ryder nodded in understanding.

Rubble looked mildly distressed.

“If we get rid of our powers, we’re losing the thing that makes us special!” He cried. “I mean, look at all the amazing stuff we’ve done! All the people we’ve saved!”

“What makes us special is that we’re the Paw Patrol,” Chase replied. “We help people. We make our town and city a better place to live. We did that long before the meteor crash.”

“And we’re good at it,” Rocky agreed. “Most of our missions are successes because we make the right calls. We make smart choices. We pull our resources together and that’s what makes us better. I think we might be forgetting that.”

Marshall wondered if maybe Rocky had realized that he hadn’t been as intellectually stimulated since the meteor crash. His joy in life was finding a job and working out how to answer the puzzle; of figuring out what the best materials or tools were that could make something better. That had been absent in the last couple months.

Liberty did not look particularly thrilled either.

“Here’s the thing, you guys,” she began. “We have made an incredible difference in Adventure City! I have no clue what crime is like in Adventure Bay, but there were areas of the city where crime was rampant. We have significantly lowered that and now it’s safer place to live.”

“She’s right. Crime has gone down in the last couple months,” Ryder agreed thoughtfully.

“But was this reduction in crime ethical, or were we just acting as vigilantes?” Chase asked skeptically.

“Was anything you did not legal, Chase?” Liberty said with a raised eyebrow.

“She’s right, Chase,” Marshall interjected quickly. He was probably the only one who noticed the way Chase’s tail fluffed up in defense. “Everything we did was by the book.”

Marshall watched as Chase’s tail relaxed at Marshall’s words, but his shoulders were still a little tense.

“We can make the city safer without our powers too,” Chase replied a little defensively. “We just have to try harder.”

“But when it comes to making a safer place,” Rubble added, a little nervously with the palpable tension filling the room. “We can save so many more people. Look at the recognition we’ve pulled in! We get calls constantly. We’re needed everywhere!”

“The fame shouldn’t even matter!” shouted Chase.

“Chase, reel it in, buddy,” Ryder ordered.

Chase shook his head. “Sorry, sir.”

“I wasn’t saying that the fame did matter,” Rubble replied calmly. “I was saying that it helped people know who we are, what we did. It expanded our reach so that if a building was collapsing in an outside neighborhood? They knew who to call. A plane was flying out of the sky? We were there.”

“Rubble, that plane is what got us in trouble in the first place,” Skye replied testily, clearly trying to reign in her emotions.

“Well… yeah. Right,” Rubble said with embarrassed agreement. “Sorry, Skye.”

“It’s alright.”

“But the thing is,” Liberty argued. “Is that if we do this together, we can do anything with our powers. When we work as a team, we can’t be stopped!”

“But that’s exactly the problem!” Skye cried. It sounded personal, like maybe the discussion was starting to get to her.

“Skye,” Ryder scolded, voice heavy with a warning. She ignored him.

“You know what I thought when I was going up to that plane? Of course I can get this down. I can fly. I’m strong. I can do anything! There was no doubt in my mind. And where did that land me? In a cage, with no crystals, being forced to watch a crazy lady try to kill thousands of people!”

“Skye!” Ryder snapped angrily at the coldness of Skye’s tone. “Enough. We’re all sorry we failed you in that plane. But you ran off with those crystals. That was your choice. You made that decision without consulting anyone. You failed, and you have to own up to that. You can’t blame the crystals because you made the wrong decision.”

Skye snapped her mouth shut. She bowed her head to the ground, ashamed, ears pinned against her head, tail tucked between her legs.

“Watch it,” Zuma growled.

The constant stream of debate and heated argument stopped abruptly. The room went silent. Everyone looked over at the chocolate Labrador in complete shock. He hadn’t spoken a word until now. Until he growled at Ryder.

Marshall wasn’t sure any of them had ever growled at Ryder, much less calm, collected, hardly phased by anything Zuma.

Skye looked over at Zuma, her eyes wide and filled with unshed tears. Ryder looked stunned. His mouth opened and closed, like he was trying to figure out how to navigate the unfamiliar situation of one of his pups showing even the smallest sign of aggression towards him.

Chase inched closer to Ryder. He probably didn’t even realize he was doing that, just acting off of pure instinct.

Zuma was not phased. He looked Ryder right in the eye, his glare demanding an apology.

Finally Ryder sighed, and looked back at Skye as he said, “I’m sorry, Skye. That was too harsh. We both made some bad calls.”

Skye nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry too, Ryder.”

Ryder turned his attention to Zuma, whose face had returned to its usual expression, appeased by the apology.

“So, Zuma,” Ryder said. “You’ve been awfully quiet. Mind telling me your thoughts?”

The pups turned their attention solely on Zuma, all intrigued by any opinions he might be having, considering the spectacle he just made.

“I think…” Zuma began slowly, like he was trying to piece his thoughts together. “I think that we should compromise. It’s no good if we just hide the crystals forever, but I don’t think we should use them in our every day missions anymore.

“We should hide them away where nobody can find them. Go back to living our lives like normal. But we should use them in case of, like, a totally serious emergency. Like, let’s say… Give or take a hundred meteors falling from the sky? A giant robot is trying to take over the city? Chickaletta’s giant golden statue goes missing?”

The tension that had been so thickly filling the room suddenly shattered. All the pups broke into laughter.

“We’d definitely need the crystals for anything involving Chickaletta,” Skye said in a fit of giggles.

“I think Mayor Goodway would insist on it,” Marshall agreed with a grin.

“Meh. I’m sure it would just be in some cave in Foggy Bottom,” Chase shrugged with his nose in the air, like he had already solved the case.

“Humdinger is back in jail though,” Rocky pointed out in amusement.

“So that would really be a mystery!” Rubble laughed.

Ryder let out a sigh of enormous relief as his pups returned back to their normal camaraderie, falling into a giggling fit.

“Alright, pups,” he said, calling the pups’ attention back to the situation at hand. “Zuma… I think that’s actually a great plan. Let’s compromise. It makes it so we can handle those situations, but we’re not constantly putting ourselves in danger. What to you guys think?”

The pups looked at each other with smiles in their faces.

“Sounds good to me,” Chase said.

“Me too,” Marshall added.

“Me three!” Rubble agreed.

“Best plan there ever was,” Rocky finished.

“What do you think Skye?” Ryder asked.

Skye looked over at Zuma, who met her gaze. His mouth twitched up into a smile, and she loved him so much in that moment.

“I think that’s a great plan,” she said sincerely, her tail wagging happily.

Skye beamed at Zuma with pride, her eyes shining with affection. Marshall shared a knowing smile with Chase.

“That settles it,” Ryder said. “We’ll head back to Adventure Bay in a few days. I have an idea of where to put the crystals, and we’ll use them only when necessary. Until then, we have some work to do.

“Rocky, Rubble, let’s get these roads working again. Rubble, finish filling in those holes and smooth out the destruction, and Rocky, clean up any debris and fix what you can see. Liberty, I need you for pedestrian control. Get the people off the streets. Chase, we blocked off the roads yesterday and got that properly situated, so you should be fine to just stay here, but be on standby just in case. Marshall and Zuma, be on standby too just in case we need extra paws. Tomorrow, we’ll all pitch in and help clean up the city, then we’ll head back home!”

All the pups yelped in excitement. Chase and Zuma seemed especially happy about the prospect of returning home.

Skye POV

“What about me, Ryder?” Skye asked curiously. She wasn’t used to being left out of group situations.

Ryder smiled at her with a shake of his head.

“Nothing for you today, Skye. I’m giving you the day off. I think you deserve it, don’t you agree pups?”

“Plus,” Marshall added firmly, leaving no room for argument. “You need to rest. Your body still hasn’t fully recovered.”

Skye’s tail wagged gratefully. She was definitely feeling the exhaustion of the last few days.

“Also, Skye?” Ryder said. “You okay with us using the crystals one more time to help speed things along?”

Speeding things along meant getting home faster. Skye smiled.

“I think we can do one more day,” she agreed.

Rubble and Liberty headed in the direction of their vehicles. Rocky was about to follow, paused, and then made a surprise leap onto Zuma. Zuma yelped as he fell on the ground.

“Dude, get off me,” Zuma grumbled half heartedly, trying to push him off, but Rocky was relentless and nuzzled his head in an over exaggerated way.

“Look at you making all the decisions for the team. You’re basically our new leader,” Rocky teased mercilessly before turning to Skye. “Isn’t he amazing, Skye?”

Skye giggled, overwhelmed with affection for Zuma too.

“Yeah, Rocky. He’s the best,” she replied.

“He sure is.”

“Okay, you two can stop embarrassing me now,” Zuma complained loudly with an eye roll, but he couldn’t stop the small smile cracking on his face.

Ryder laughed as he passed them, then patted Rocky’s head. “Alright, Rocky. Let’s go.”

“Coming!” Rocky said. “You two have fun!”

He hopped off and ran after Rubble and Liberty.

Rocky’s words gave Skye an idea.

“Ryder!” She called out as she ran towards him.

Ryder stopped his pace to give her his attention. “What’s up?”

“Umm, I was just wondering,” Skye began, face suddenly pinched with nerves. “Well, if I have the day off, I thought I might take advantage and maybe explore the city a bit. Maybe go catch a show?”

“Okay. Just make sure you take it easy too. I don’t want you to overexert yourself,” Ryder nodded. He started moving, thinking they were done.

“W-well, umm.” Ryder paused again, frowning at her nervous behavior. Skye cleared her throat. Stop acting weird. “I thought it might be lonely going alone? I was just wondering if maybe, umm… if maybe Zuma could come with me?”

The three pups on standby had been passively listening in and became alert at the mention of the lab’s name. Chase and Marshall gave him teasing smirks. Zuma ignored them, focusing on Skye.

Ryder hesitated. “Well, I don’t know. I kind of need him on the ship just in case something comes up.”

“Right!” Skye said hastily. “But - but Zuma’s not exactly equipped for road work. So like. Are you really gonna call him in? He might as well be used to keep me company.”

Skye always tried her best to refrain from using puppy dog eyes. It was demeaning and humiliating, especially considering her size. But at that moment, she gave Ryder the most pleading of puppy dog eyes she had ever given him.

Ryder sighed in defeat, unable to say no to that. “Well… alright. I guess not.”

Zuma suddenly appeared extra light and smiley.

“Seriously?” Zuma piped up, his tail wagging furiously. “Thanks Ryder!”

He jumped up and licked Ryder, who laughed at the affection.

“No problem, buddy. Take your hovercraft and stay close though, just in case!”

“You got it, dude!” Zuma said, practically jumping with excitement. Skye giggled. She would totally do a flip if she wasn’t so sore.

Besides, Zuma’s hovercraft was always super fun. Maybe they could go out on the water.

“I guess we can’t ask the same?” Marshall joked.

Ryder shrugged. “Sorry, you two. But I definitely need you guys here for backup.”

Chase held his head up. “No problem, sir!” He said importantly. “We’ll wait here together.”

Chase’s ears suddenly perked up, very alert.

Ryder was sliding onto his ATV.

Zuma and Skye were excitedly skipping to the hovercraft.

And Marshall and Chase stood there, a little tense, very much alone.

“Can you believe those two?” Skye asked in total disbelief. “We weren’t even gone that long!”

They were climbing back onto the hovercraft. Zuma had to all but drag Skye back outside because she did not trust Chase and Marshall not to act like animals as soon as they left.

Which… like. Okay. They were animals, but they were intellectually and emotionally developed animals and was completely beside the point.

“I’d really rather not think about it,” Zuma replied while putting the vehicle into gear. “I’ve seen enough of Chase and Marshall to last me a lifetime.”

Skye huffed, before falling into a laughing fit.

Zuma never failed to make her laugh, even in her most aggravated states.

They made it off the aircraft carrier and onto the road when Skye’s stomach dropped in realization.

“We forgot our money again, didn’t we?” she groaned in frustration.

“I’m not turning around,” Zuma stated simply.

“I think they’re smarter than that, Zuma.”

“You wanna test that theory?”

“I - well…” Skye started, before she slumped forward with a growl. “No, not really.”

“We’ll figure out something else!” Zuma said optimistically. “There’s tons of stuff to do around here… I think.”

“You think?”

“I mean, I haven’t exactly done much leisurely exploring around here,” Zuma admitted with a shrug.

“Yeah… me either,” Skye confessed, scrunching her nose a bit.

“Kinda crazy since we’ve been here for so long.”

Skye heart broke a little at the undertone of sadness in Zuma’s tone. She tried to remind herself that they would be returning home in a few days, Zuma would go back to his happy go lucky surfer boy domain, and she was determined that Zuma would have a good time in one of their last days in the city.

“Maybe we could… find a park? Walk around some? Explore the sights?” she suggested.

“I thought Marshall said you needed to take it easy?”

Skye rolled her eyes at the mention of the Dalmatian. “I don’t think I trust Marshall’s judgement too much at the moment.”

“Okay then,” Zuma said, sounding a little stern. “How ‘bout I tell you that you need to take it easy?”

“I can handle a little walk, Zuma,” Skye replied with stubborn pout.

“You just punched through like, five hundred meteors, dude.” The other thing that happened, the little detail of her almost dying, went unspoken, but still managed to hover heavily over both of them. “I think you should listen to Marshall.”

“Since when do you care about listening to him?”

“Since I really want to have a nice date with you,” Zuma said in amusement.

Skye’s disgruntled demeanor melted away, turning into nervous excitement.

“You’re calling this a date?” she asked, feeling unfamiliarly shy in his presence, but hope blooming in the pit of her stomach at the same time.

Zuma slowed the hovercraft to a stop, then turned around to look at her a little incredulously.

“What else would this be?”

To be honest, Skye didn’t think much of it. She just wanted to be with Zuma. It felt like just how they normally were, hanging out together, laughing, having fun. But now, she realized with a small grin, this was different. They were actually doing this thing.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. This is a date,” she replied softly, staring happily into his playful eyes, the subtle shake of his head, the adoring smirk as he gazed at her.

Skye suddenly had an idea.

“Do you want to just, maybe, go out on the water? Maybe go down in the sub?” she suggested hopefully.

“Really? You want to?” Zuma said, sounding a little surprised.

“Yeah! That way I don’t even have to move, so it’ll appease you and Marshall, and it’ll be lots of fun.”

Zuma’s lips pulled up into a genuine smile. His tail wagged with excitement.

“Yeah! Totally! Let’s do it!”

Then the hovercraft shot off, causing Skye to squeal giddily at the force. She grabbed onto Zuma to stop herself from being thrown back into her seat and held onto him. He leaned back into her touch.

“It’s not as clear as I remember it being,” Skye commented curiously.

They had transformed it into the sub and were diving under towards the bottom of the harbor.

“It’s not as clean as Adventure Bay, that’s for sure,” Zuma said with a little disgruntlement.

“The last time I was down here like this was when we were merpups,” Skye said, smiling softly at the vivid memory from a couple years prior.

Zuma laughed. “Yeah, that’ll also skew your perspective a little. You can see way clearer with those sick magical powers versus just even scuba gear.”

Zuma landed the sub on the ground, placed it out of gear, and turned around in his seat to look at her.

Her breath caught at the way his eyes studied her face. His tail wagged lazily. His ears were alert towards her, indicating that she had his full attention. He rested his head against his paws resting on the top of his seat, his head tilted slightly.

“That was the best night ever,” he remembered.

The way he gazed at her so unashamedly made Skye feel a little flustered, but she refused to look away. She was going to be brave with him. She didn’t want to miss a second of the way Zuma was allowing her to see past his mask, every emotion and thought on full display, so different than she realized he had been for the last year or so. It made her heart ache a little at the thought of Zuma being in pain and unwilling to let anyone see. But she wasn’t going to bring that up, not today. Not now, while he was looking at her with so much wonder.

“That was when I realized I was in love with you, you know,” Skye said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I just felt so drawn to you. You were so happy, and so completely in your element. It was incredible, and I just wanted to share it with you so badly. I realized there was no one else I would rather do that with. Just you.”

Zuma reached out and placed a paw against her face. She leaned into the gentle touch.

“You looked pretty incredible. Not gonna lie about that,” he admitted with a mischievous grin.

Skye’s shy giggling was cut off by Zuma leaning forward and kissing her.

She gasped, surprised by his actions, feeling tense with nerves. But she was not at all complaining, and closed her eyes as she relaxed into the kiss. Zuma reached his other paw forward to frame her face, pulling her just a little closer.

It was gentle, it was loving, it was everything she dreamed about.

But Skye could maybe… just maybe… also kind of see… where those two they left back on the aircraft carrier were coming from.

Zuma broke the kiss to take a breath, his eyes closed as he rested his head against hers.

“You wanna… come up here?” he whispered. Like they had to keep this a hushed secret. Like they were not completely secluded in a submarine surrounded by nothing but water and sea creatures swimming past the window.

“Can we both fit?” Skye asked a little breathlessly.

Zuma looked down, then looked back up with a smirk. “I think we can make it work.”

Skye hurriedly climbed over the seat, for once being grateful for her small stature that she could fit between the head of the seat and the top of the window.

She landed on top of Zuma, pushing him back firmly so his back rested against the window. She crawled into his lap, wrapped her front legs around his neck, and pulled him back in for another kiss.

It was more intense than before. The knowledge of being so incredibly isolated thrilled her, nobody around except the endless sea, igniting a fire in her stomach as Zuma pulled her closer with his paws on her back.

The inside of the sub was getting warm, their breaths coming out in light pants, but both refusing to break the kiss as it became more heated, mouths opening and tongues licking out and paws beginning to wander. Zuma’s paw was trailing up and down her back, and she could feel her hackles stand up in the presence of his touch.

They didn’t have to be anywhere for a while. They didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing them. It was just the two of them, Skye and Zuma, hearts racing and gentle but firm touches igniting their skin, fiery kisses emitting heat into the cold water surrounding them.

They had to regrettably return at some point, because Skye really did need some rest. Zuma could tell she was exhausted, and he insisted that they return so she could nap.

“Just make sure you knock this time,” Zuma joked, causing Skye to roll her eyes with a sigh.

She didn’t have to worry, because the other two pups on standby seemed to have gotten control of themselves and were just sitting together talking in the control room.

So Zuma spent some time with them for a while. He wasn’t one to hold a grudge, and Chase and Marshall quickly relaxed into their normal companionship once they realized this. Though eventually, he went off on his own to pace around the ship with that all too familiar restless energy as he waited for Rocky to come back.

Zuma’s ears moved in the direction of the sounds of Rocky’s truck before he even saw him pulling in.

Zuma ran over, didn’t even give Rocky a chance to say hello as he jumped out, and immediately reported, “Dude, you’re never gonna believe what happened while you were gone.”