"INTRUDER DETECTED!" an alarm blared loudly, causing Chase to tense up, looking around for the source.

Marshall gave a fierce bark. "Guest mode!" With that, the alarm fell silent, allowing Ryder and the dogs to ride up the elevator. "Sorry about that, your collar isn't registered."

Chase sighs with relief. "Figured as much. What happened around here that made you increase security?"

Rocky stared at him in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? Did all that time playing spy make you forget all the bullsh-"

"Giving up your treat for today?" Ryder asked with a chuckle, raising an eyebrow from Chase. Once the elevator doors opened, Ryder gestured towards the pup treats. Next to them was a large jar labeled 'swear jar'.

Chase chuckled. "Well, glad I'm not the only one that grew up."

Rocky's ear flicked in annoyance and he cleared his throat. "Did you forget about Humdinger?" he said in a low voice.

"Rocky..." Ryder warned. "You know better than to bring up his name."

The name brought chills and flashbacks to the shepherd. The pain, the torture. Their early puppyhood was not something any of them liked to recall. "O-of course not... How could I?" He turned to Rocky. "But that's all over with now."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to make sure we would stay safe, so, with the help of a friend, I beefed up security, not just here but all around the island," Rocky said proudly.

Chase chuckles. "Who's your friend? There's no way you could do all this by yourself."

Rocky just smirked. "That's classified." He trotted away chuckling.

The shepherd blinked. 'I should look into that- nah, focus on your mission later...'

Meanwhile, Ryder had gone to the kitchen, digging out Chase's old water bowl with a smile. "Chase, are you thirsty? Hungry?"

"No, sir, I'm fine." There was a brief pause as Ryder filled up his bowl anyway. "Did you know I was coming?"

"How could I?" Ryder walked over to him, leaning on the counter. "No calls, no emails..."

Chase shuffled his paws. "W-well, as you can imagine, I've been busy..." It wasn't a total lie. His training and office work did take up most of his day.

"I'm not mad at you, pup, it just would've been nice, y'know?" Ryder patted his head. "So, tell me. Is it everything you imagined it would be?"

Chase gulps. "Well...I've mostly just been training. There's been a few small missions here and there but nothing remarkable."

Ryder chuckles. "You've always been humble. I know you can't talk about most of it. You're probably on a mission now," he joked.

Chase's ears lowered a bit and he looked towards the hallway. "Heh, right..."

Ryder noticed the shepherds hesitation. "So, how long will you be on the island?" he said, walking back to the Command Center.

Chase followed, noting that not much had changed. The screen with a map of the island was higher resolution, but the control panel remained the same. Even the slide looked the same, leading down to the dogs' vehicles. "Not sure. I've got a lot of vacation time racked up."

"Why are you wearing your old pup uniform?" Rocky suddenly asked, sniffing around the shep. "It barely fits you."

"Well I wasn't going to wear my tux now was I? Way too formal." Nevertheless, he barked a command and his uniform was removed and neatly folded in a pile, leaving him with his standard issue collar.

"Damn dude!" Zuma gasped, walking around him. "You're ripped!"

Chase wagged. "Heh, thanks dude."

"Zuma..." Rubble warned. "Swear jar."

Zuma rolled his eyes, shoving the younger dog away. "We should totally work out together."

"Oh yeah, we could lift weights too!" Rubble wagged excitedly, running into the lab.

All the dogs chattered about their plans with Chase. It was kind of overwhelming for him after being around such serious dogs the past year. Nevertheless, he wagged along with them.

Rocky and Skye watched Marshall, Zuma and Rubble chatter away at the shepherd. "Why aren't you over there welcoming your boyfriend back?" he muttered.

"Why aren't you?" Skye quipped in return, causing the mutt to growl quietly and flick his ear. "You know I'm over him and I'd hope you would be too after 2 years."

"18 months," Rocky corrected.

Skye chuckled. "You missed him."

The mutt felt his tail wag a bit. He could never admit his true feelings. Yet somehow, Skye always knew. Rocky had missed him. A lot. "You didn't?" Rocky looked down at her curiously, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "We understood that as much as we liked each other, a long distance relationship wasn't something we'd be able to do. When and if he ever came back, long term, and if we still wanted to, we could talk about it."

Rocky remained silent, watching the shepherd curiously. "He's here for something," he mumbled after a few seconds.

"What makes you say that?"

"He's working." Rocky pawed at his own collar while gesturing over to Chase. Skye took a glance, noting a blinking light on his collar. "He's recording."

"So he's not here on vacation?" Skye scoffed but she wasn't surprised. "Figures. Always a working dog." She noticed the mixed breed staring intently at Chase. "Rocky, snap out of it,' she whispered.

Chase felt as though he was being watched and looked over at the two. He smiled, then frowned as he realized Rocky was glaring at him hardcore. 'Yikes, what's got into him?' he thought.

Ryder whistled loudly, catching everyone's attention. "Alright everyone, let's not overwhelm him. He had a long flight and probably wants to rest."

Everyone agreed. Tomorrow he'd be given a tour of Adventure Bay and some of the pups' new jobs. "Uh Chase, your pup house was put in storage but I can pull it out if you want?" Rocky asked once the others left.

"I'll give you a paw," Skye said with a wag.

"Yeah, actually, that'd be great! I'll come with you!" Chase smiled and followed him down to the basement. He still couldn't shake the feeling that something was on the gray furs mind but it would be nice to hang out a bit.

————————

The basement served as storage as well as Rocky and Rubble's "At Home Workshop" as they called it. Chase was surprised to find out about their little scrapyard business. "We mostly get orders from the mainland, especially Adventure City," Rocky said.

"It's not just a junkyard either," Skye mentioned. "It's surprisingly clean, organized."

Rocky wagged. "It helps Rubble with construction gigs and me with my inventions."

"That's really cool," Chase smiled. "Where's it at?"

"It's on the west coast, we could check it out tomorrow if you want," Rocky said. "Ooh found it!" He pulled a dusty sheet, revealing a compact pup house. "Just as you left it."

Chase walked around it slowly, memories flooding back. "Wow, it's so...tiny."

"We were just growing out of them when you uh... left..." Rocky said. "Probably don't fit in it now." The mutt watched the shepherd as he activated it with a bark. "Wanna go for a ride?"

Before Chase could answer, his ears twitched. "Did you guys hear that?" he whispered.

Rocky tilted his head, trying to listen. "Hear what?" Chase stood alert, sniffing around and ears perked up. "What-"

"Shhh!" Chase growled and a tiny satellite dish emerged from his collar. He approached the old vehicle cautiously, feeling his collar vibrate. He growled again, hopping into the seat. "When's the last time anyone drove it?"

"Uhhh it was you? When you drove it in here for storage." Rocky said. "Why?"

Chase thought for a moment. "It didn't get shuffled around down here?"

"Well yeah probably when we had to bring other stuff down here but it would've been with Rubble or my trucks wench."

Chase looked at the wheel curiously. His collar was vibrating non stop around his neck. 'A bug? In my old truck?' The onboard computer on his collar picked up the signal and began a trace. "Heh I'm just probably jet lagged and seeing things. Long training days and all."

"Why don't we go back upstairs and see if Ryder's cooking dinner?" Skye suggested. Chase wagged and hopped out of the seat. "You wouldn't have been able to start it anyway. Once we got new trucks, the old ones got disabled."

"Yeah, I'd have to install a whole new electric motor in it," Rocky said as they went upstairs.

Chase nodded, looking back at it once last time. 'I'll have to reach out to Bruno to check on that signal. It could just be the old GPS acting up.' There was no possible way anyone outside the agency could have known his whereabouts.

Right?