After a painful eternity of sitting in the car with her head against her mom's shoulder, Audrey eventually felt the firetruck coming to a stop—both reassuring and terrifying with what little she knew. Assuming that her torture had finally ended, she glanced upwards to see a confusing reality. The lookout was still down the street, and instead of being within the safety of its walls, they were stopped in the parking lot of Mr. Porters (either way, she was just hopeful that the driving was done).

"Dad, what are we doing here? I-I wanna go home," she asked, leaning up in her seat and out of the fur on her mom's shoulder. She was far from comfortable here, but at least they weren't moving—plus, they were in public now, and the last thing she wanted to do was make her social life somehow worse by causing a scene. Without much confirmation, her parents stepped out of the car, that being more than enough permission for her to get out as quickly as she could.

"Well, if you really want to go back home we can, unless, of course, you'd rather get some ice cream first." As the Dalmatian expected, she smiled brightly once she had gotten onto the safety of the sidewalk with a wagging tail—and good thing, although he wouldn't have forced her to stay if she didn't want to, ice cream did sound pretty good to him. Not that this exactly made therapy worth it for her, but it at the very least sweetened the deal.

"Can we walk home?" Her parents exchanged looks, each one knowing what their answer had to be; a sacrifice that one demanded one of them as its price. One of them would get to stay while the other was cursed to be the lone traveler back to the lookout. And as much as neither of them wanted to rob the other of time with their daughter, one of them spoke up sooner and bit the bullet.

"You and Dad can walk home, I don't mind driving back to the lookout," the husky answered, looking around at the Dally who nodded in favor—she had beaten him to the chase, after all, it was only fair. As much as he wanted to protest for her sake, arguing over it honestly felt like a bigger price than it was worth (not to mention that admittedly, she shouldn't be on her legs for too incredibly long).

"Don't you think it's a bit cold for ice cream?" the pup eventually asked, not that she was stepping away from the favor. The two mostly laughed her remark off, although she was far from wrong, odds were this was one of the last days the restaurant would even be selling the frozen delicacy—and that was assuming they even had it today.

"Well, I think we can handle it unless you don't want any. Worst comes to worst, we can just cuddle up with mom, she has enough fur to warm us up," Marshall suggested with a small smirk. Audrey giggled as Everest glanced back, who was shaking her head in amusement. Though she hoped that she wasn't their first plan of action. Not that she fully disapproved, it wouldn't be the first time they had used her for warmth, and she had yet to complain.

"The least you guys could do is wait until my winter coat grows in, I'm still shedding. You two will have to survive," she tried to reason with them before stepping up to the counter. Marshall and Audrey, although originally just going along with her, quickly looked back at each other and laughed in secrecy—their minds already agreeing with one another. Regardless of what the husky actually said, they both knew that the second they even hinted at being cold, she'd hug them both and hold them there until they finally said otherwise. And that was if they were lucky, odds were they wouldn't have much of a say as to when they were freed.

"Oh hey, you three. Ice cream again?" Mr. Porter questioned as they moved closer, standing behind the break in the wall that bordered the inside and outside of the restaurant. Assuming that she was the one stuck with ordering, (from the looks of it, her mate was a bit distracted joking around with their daughter), Everest nodded.

It only took a moment or so for him to hand over their ice cream and for the payments to be made, the whole interaction only took a couple of minutes at most. And before a certain two of them probably even realized that they had gotten to the point of ordering, all three of them had cones in their paws. They all had the same flavor, but there was only one flavor specifically made for dogs; vanilla with bits of dog treats in it, though it wasn't like they would ever order something different. Besides, the fact that they even had a flavor for dogs was more than most.

"Thanks, Mr. Porter, have a nice day," she called out, Marshall and Audrey finally bringing themselves out of their own world to say their thanks. The husky had no intentions of leaving just yet, and for the time being, they found a table to sit at. They were fairly far away from any other customers who were coming in and out, giving them enough privacy to start up a well-needed conversation.

"So...how was your appointment? Anything that you wanna talk about?" the husky hesitantly asked, hoping she wouldn't regret her choice. Audrey's face lowered—as did her ears—and her eyes would do just about anything except hold eye contact with either of them.

"Nothing eventful, s-she just wanted to get to know me." The Border Collie knew her response wasn't the most descriptive, but it was better than just making something up as she had done before. It was apparently good enough for her parents, once again proving to herself that she never needed to say more than necessary—if only her mind could learn a thing or two.

"Do you like Haley? Would you be okay with continuing to see her?" Marshall spoke up, once again sparking hesitation within her. She knew that there was no right answer here, either she said yes and had to keep going, or she said no and risked her getting help—that and probably putting a bad rep on her therapist, who really had been nothing but nice.

"Uhm...I-I guess I'm okay to keep going," she quietly muttered, eyes locked onto her ice cream. As disappointing as the supposed reality was, therapy was designed to help her, perfectly crafted to bring her to the light she desperately wished to find. It might not have changed how she felt about going, how fragile talking about her pain made her feel, but her parents always insisted that it worked for them. She rarely trusted herself, but they were a different story.

"Alright, cool, just let us know if you feel like anything needs to change, alright?" The pup nodded and dug back into the ice cream, hoping that maybe then the conversation would finally go down a different path. Thankfully, this time fate seemed to take her side, letting someone else take the spotlight.

"And...done!" Marshall and Audrey glanced up in the voice's direction, eyes widened at the sight of the husky holding nothing more than an empty cone in her paws. And to think, they thought they were doing pretty good with theirs, and they were only halfway done. If that wasn't her just trying to be a show-off, they didn't know what was.

"Yeesh, Eve, we weren't racing, you know?" the Dally mused, raising his eyebrow as Audrey took his side of the argument—if one could even call it that.

"Yeah! What the heck, Mom?" she exclaimed, hoping that her smile made it clear she was exaggerating (so help her if she got herself punished for joking). The husky rolled her eye at them before taking a few last bites out of her cone until it was nothing more than a few crumbs. The Border Collie eyed her ice cream carefully, mentally debating if eating the entire thing in a matter of bites so she could keep up with her mom was worth the brain freeze.

"Whatever, don't talk like I haven't seen either of you eat faster. But anyway, I'm gonna go ahead and drive back." Everest jumped down from her seat, immediately seeing a pair of keys flying at her that (after originally being startled by) she just barely managed to catch, also having to muster up the willpower not to say anything too harsh to her giggling mate. Instead, she glared at him and pointed the keys at him like a dagger. She let Audrey off the hook, at least, warmly hugging her—and only her, for that matter. "Ahem, I love you, Audrey. Tell your father that if he keeps this up, he's kicked out for the night."

"Uh-huh, didn't you say last night you would never be able to kick me out?" the Dalmatian asked, almost laughing before she punched his shoulder—all in good fun, of course, albeit it did sting a little. That was all the attention she bothered to waste on him, turning back to her daughter who was trying not to laugh.

"Love you too, Mom, just be safe while you're driving. And don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him," she softly answered, nuzzling against her as the husky laughed and ruffled the fur on the top of her head.

"That's my girl. See you in a little bit." Everest smiled softly before eventually climbing up in the firetruck, and even though it was the last time she'd see her for a few minutes, Audrey had to look away until she had driven off. The itch in the back of her head demanded that if something were to go downhill, her last memory of her mom would be hugging her, not a...gorier alternative.

"So...wanna start walking back? We'll probably be done with our ice cream by the time we're there. We wouldn't want Ruby and Gus knowing, would we?" the Dally asked, cracking a smile. Audrey laughed softly and shook her head, she would protect her desert with her life—and if her cousins were the ones after it, her life was something she might very well lose.

"I think I can handle them. I'm ready to go if you want to, Dad." Marshall nodded, jumping out of his seat and joining her side as the two began the trek back home—doing what they could to walk with three paws since they weren't ready to say goodbye to their cherished ice creams.

As per usual, after just a few minutes of walking, she already got herself distracted once they walked past Katie's. All she ever did was peek her head in the window to see if her owner happened to be around at the time, which unfortunately only disappointed her in the long run. But it did remind her of something important.

"Hey, Dad, is it okay if I stay the night at Katie's tonight? I'll call her and make sure she's fine with it." Even if the answer was almost a guaranteed yes, she made sure to keep true to her golden rule of trying to get her parents' permission for things. Always ask her father first, odds of getting the response she wanted were the highest with him. And better yet, with him taking her side, she was usually able to win over her more cautious mother (though of course, Marshall never wanted to fight with her, so it didn't work every time).

"Uhm...yeah, that should be fine. Mom and I have to go over there later, though, so it'll probably have to be after that," he explained, hoping she wouldn't pry any further—despite also knowing that most of the time she was too curious for her own good. The downside of a never resting mind, it gave her plenty of knowledge considering all the random questions she asked, sure, but sometimes knowledge was nothing more than a curse.

"Oh, sure, can't I just come with you guys? What are you going for?" she questioned curiously, innocently tilting her head. The Dalmatian sighed to himself, he truly loved her, but now she was setting upon him one of his least favorite requirements of his everlasting job as a parent. Lying straight to his daughter's face, even if it was for her own benefit.

"Because your Mom and I have to talk to her about private stuff. Don't worry, I don't think it'll take long at all, the second we're done you can go over." Thankfully, that was good enough of an explanation to persuade her. From then on, he could only guess what wonders she was thinking of, it was sort of obvious that she had stopped paying attention to him—not that he minded, this meant he had gotten away.

Truth be told, he wasn't fully lying, in fact, he wasn't lying at all; they really were going to talk about private stuff. It just wasn't the bad stuff she probably assumed it was. No, no, it was far more exciting, he had been counting down to this for weeks now. Today was the day he and Everest would finally get to learn the gender of their puppy, another step towards finally getting to meet them, how could he not be jumping at the chance?

However, his daydreaming got cut short as he suddenly heard the blaring sound of a horn running through his poor, sensitive ears. Instinctively worried, he shot his head up to the road for a better look at whatever was going on out there, the fur on his back standing up straight. And of course, some reckless driver hadn't been paying attention—probably looking at their phone or some dumb excuse like that—and slightly drifted into the opposite lane, causing the car on the correct side to swerve and rightfully yell at them using the full force of their horn (which honestly, was almost tame considering the road rage he had seen for lesser situations).

Although it clearly wasn't their fault, the driver who was forced to swerve came a little too close to the sidewalk for comfort. Thankfully, they were right by the park, the only thing he landed on when his paws jumped backward was a soft patch of grass. He deeply exhaled, feeling the small rush of adrenaline pass him by. Albeit a bit startled, he was unharmed, but the mental side of him suddenly felt a deep, aching pain as more of the reality dawned on him.

"A-Audrey?" he called out, just now seeing her frozen on the sidewalk—blankly staring out at the road. His mind instantly started filling with worrisome thoughts of the worst-case scenario, but he had his priority set straight enough to act accordingly to the situation. He ran to her side and gently gripped onto her shoulder, stepping in between her and the road. "Hey, Princess, are you still with me?"

"D-Dad?" she nearly pleaded, her voice no higher than a whisper. Her heart was pounding against the inner walls of her chest with the same force as a boxer against their punching bag. It took her about all of her strength to simply realize that he was in front of her, her eyes phasing right through him until she got an (admittedly unstable) grip on reality.

And on a lighter scale, she wouldn't have been too worried, it wasn't like falling into dazes was anything new to her day-to-day life. The true issue lay with the reality that came with how much stress she had just experienced, a combination of the car that just moments ago was mere inches away from being too close as well as that small bit of stress still lingering since therapy. The two of them mixed together to make the perfect weapon against her.

All of the warning sensations were starting to kick in, and the first up on the list was when she felt her muscles locking in place. The strange taste in her mouth—and not a pleasant one at that—the sudden blurriness in her eyesight. She knew where this was going, she knew it all too well, but that didn't mean she was willing to accept it quite yet—she refused to go out without at least trying to save herself, even if she knew by now that preventing the inevitable was impossible.

"D-dad...I-I think I'm...g-gonna have a...seizure," she breathlessly muttered, knowing that making him aware was probably the best thing she could do before her consciousness faded away. Without any second thought, Marshall let his innocent ice cream crash to the ground as he set both paws on her back and carefully helped her walk onto the grass.

"Okay, just stay calm, you're gonna be okay, I'll stay right here. Can you breathe for me?" The Border Collie managed to deliver the bare minimum that she could, letting out short and choppy exhales—the only helpful thing it told him was that she had enough awareness to at least process what he was saying. Only for it to be followed by yet another bad sign, prompting him gently lay her down in his arms while he tried so hard not to let the fear in her eyes get to him.

"I-I can't s-stop it, p-please don't leave...I-I need y-you here." Marshall nodded slowly and gripped her paw, gently squeezing it in reassurance. Not even in his worst nightmares could he imagine leaving her at a moment like this, and that was saying something. And a good thing that he didn't too, right after she managed to get those words out, her eyes closed as her weight sunk into him.

The Dalmatian loosened his grip and gently laid her down on the grass, doing a quick scan around her to make sure there were no rocks or sticks that she could scratch herself against. As much as he hated not being able to hold onto her while this happened, he knew it would only hurt her for him to be so close—both physically and mentally once she woke up.

Moments like this made him thankful that he and Everest had taken a quick course on how to deal with seizures from Katie, it would be a way of life for, well, a lifetime, a few hours were well worth it for the long run. And unfortunately, that also came with the realization that even after waking up from unconsciousness, her ever-endured pain wouldn't be over quite yet.

And soon enough, the shaking started, just as violent and uncontrollable as ever—no matter how many times it happened, he never got used to it, and he wasn't even the one experiencing this. Part of him wished he could look away, seeing his daughter in such a state of suffering was unbearable. The only reason he didn't was because he knew better than to let his emotions get in the way of his priorities. she needed every last ounce of his attention right now.

After around a minute and a half, what felt like endless spasms on her end were finally starting to slow down, losing their strength before part one of the torture ended and she was left laying on the ground. At least now he could focus on something other than seeing her in pain, physically, at least, what came next really wasn't any better.

"Audrey? Can you hear me?" he softly asked, stepping forward and softly resting his paw on her back. She only lay still against him until she began to shift slightly, rolling onto her back as she gripped his paw, trying to pull herself back up to her legs. Although he wasn't fully confident that she'd be able to stand on her own (in fact, he was certain she couldn't), he did what he could to ease the tension.

For the moment, that meant holding her up in a hug so she could let her body weight rest against him. Her eyes began fluttering open, letting him know to brace himself now that she had regained some sense of consciousness. She had yet to say a word as she rubbed her eyes, calmly leaning back from him as the two made held eye contact.

Once she did fully register his presence, Audrey's eyes widened as she shoved him away from her, almost falling over now that her legs were left to fend for themselves—though she managed to keep herself on her paws despite the pain running through her joints. Even in the process of having to use so much strength just to stand, she still glared at him, bearing her teeth while her lips quivered.

"D-don't....t-touch me," she blurted out in a shaking voice, backing away and carefully eying every inch of what she purely saw as a stranger. The Dalmatian held up his paws in surrender, simply waiting patiently as she slowly started to soften up, studying him as her head tilted. "D-do I...k-know...?"

"Yes, you know me. My name is Marshall, I'm your dad, and I'm not going to hurt you," he gently explained, admittedly unsure if him speaking would do much—usually, her memory came back sooner than later regardless of what he did. Her body language had yet to be in his favor, she had her tail in between her legs with her eyes frantically looking around her (if it meant anything, she at least wasn't studying him as much). Chances were she'd have moved farther away from him if she wasn't limited by her body's pain tolerance, that or she was starting to piece everything back together.

"D-Daddy?" This, at least, gave him the opening he needed to let himself relax. She probably hadn't fully registered his role in her life or really who he was in general, but just knowing who he was meant that it wasn't far away. Seeing this as his calling to take further courses of action, he took a small step forward, one that didn't get much of a reaction—which was probably for the better.

"Yes, that's me. I'm Daddy. Can I come closer?" he asked, giving him déjà vu from all the times he had to ask something along the latter of those lines—whether it be to her or to his mate, though the latter was under much different circumstances. Audrey made sure to triple-check him, making sure that the coast was clear before slowly nodding.

He made sure to take his steps slow and steady, and soon enough it paid off when they were within arms reach, that being the stopping point for himself. He spread open his front legs, and just as he hoped, his daughter scooted forward and grasped onto him like it was a matter of life or death—to her, letting go would be the equivalent of letting go of the edge of a cliff. She buried her head into his fluffy shoulder, letting her waterfall of tears stream down onto his shoulder.

"I-it hurts, Dad. I-I wanna...h-home," she muttered, her words coming out as a jumbled mess—though it was coherent enough that he knew what she meant. Marshall nodded and gently cupped the back of her head, softly running his paw against her fur. Her muffled cries echoed through his ears, only encouraging him more and more to soothe her pain. No matter how infinite it felt on her end.

"I know, Princess, I know. I just wanna make sure nothing is worse than it usually is. What is it that hurts?" The pup went silently for a moment, probably her trying to process a reasonable sentence that wouldn't make things even more confusing. And that was fine by him, she could take all the time that she needed.

"M-my head hurts really badly...s-same with my legs." The Dally nodded and carefully leaned back, standing back up as he rested one paw on her back and the other on her chest while she slowly stood up alongside him.

"You can put all of your weight on me, you know, it doesn't bother me." Whether she could actually help it or not (in all honesty, she wasn't sure herself), Audrey immediately gave in to what he was offering; pressing against his side and sharing the burden of walking. "Do you think you're ready to walk back home now?"

"Mhm," she hummed in response, using one paw to clutch onto her pounding head. Admittedly, having to pretty much carry her home was a bit tiring for the Dalmatian, but that was no excuse when it came to caring for his daughter. He had put up with far worse in his old rescue days, not to mention that parental instinct kicking in—that was something that any somewhat sane being could never refuse.

Thankfully, they weren't too far away from the lookout, even with their slow steps it only took a few minutes for them to get back onto the safe space of the lawn. The collie never made any attempts at conversation during the walk, and Marshall didn't dare to push, knowing that even something as simple as talking might spike her headache even harder.

The two walked closer to the looming tower overtop of them, and as he expected, Everest noticed their appearances and eagerly ran to them with a blissfully unaware wagging tail. She was initially excited until she saw the washed-out colors on the collie's face, the tears in her eyes, and the heavy panting as she leaned against Marshall. So much for the warm welcome she originally had planned.

"What's wrong, Audrey? Is everything okay?" she nervously questioned as the black pup left her dad and softly hugged her. The Border Collie managed to shake her head, very quickly regretting it from the sudden wave of agony pulsing through her. Considering the number of times she had done something of that nature, she was really wondering how she had yet to learn that it was a bad idea.

"I-I...h-had a..." she breathlessly tried to explain, holding onto the other's shoulders as she held her head up. No matter how hard she forced herself, the words simply refused to leave her mouth, only concerning her still clueless mother to no end. And suddenly, she let her head fall back against her shoulder, hugging Everest tightly as her vision started to fade to black. And she fought it off for as long as she could until she finally felt herself losing consciousness—slumping against her mom right as the darkness took her.