((Disclaimer: Mature Language and intentional misspell for Mika's lisp)

Chase and the two females were actually enjoying their time for once, it's a rare sight to behold but as the three were reveling, the other half of the group were handling business like Avery told them to. Out of loyalty and respect to the Greyhound. To two of the dogs, it was business like usual but to one of them, it was more than that.

It was personal.

The aforementioned McAllister brothers lit a spark in the Black Husky's head, he had a personal grievance with the gang and the Husky was taking this role of his job as seriously as he could.

As he was looking around the Den's outer walls, Delta and Levi were busy chatting up a storm, which angered the Husky to a point.

"Hey, either you two can help me or you can fuck right off back to Avery's office, he said to keep an eye out and that's what I'm trying to do. I can't do that when you two are constantly babbling like a bunch of kids." Nashi argued.

"Easy there, Nashi." Delta tried defusing the Husky's anger. "Like it or not, we're in this together."

Nashi sighed at the statement. "Sometimes, I wish it wasn't like that. You two never seem to take things seriously, especially this whole McAllister Brothers situation."

Delta rolled his eyes at the Husky. "So helping out to toss a dog off a rooftop wasn't taking it seriously?" Nashi stayed silent. "You know, the mere mention of the McAllister brothers caused you to jump ship instantly when we could've taken a break. It doesn't always have to be work, work, work." The Australian Shepherd stated.

"Then how about you go take your break?" The Husky raised his voice. "I can handle this on my own."

Delta rubbed his eyes at the arrogance that the Husky was emitting. "No point when Avery wants us to report back soon." The Shepherd thought about the situation deeply for a moment. "Is there something you're not telling us? Why, all of a sudden, you're more intrigued about these McAllister assholes? They've been a thorn on our side for a while now but you didn't give two fucks about it then." Delta approached the Husky as Levi kept a close eye, ready to get between them in case something happened.

"Maybe things change, I wasn't-." The Husky stopped as he and the two other dogs heard something fall over near them. Nashi looked at the two, who nodded in response to the sound.

The trio approached the direction of where the sound came and went in on all sides, ready to attack whatever was lurking near them.

<><><><>

Another bowl slid across the counter as Mika's paw stopped it from going any further, soon eating yet another bowl as the other bowl had the mishap of falling off the counter due to her clumsiness.

Mavis smiled as she took a gander at the Bernese Mountain Dog.

She had a good feeling about the Bernese Mountain Dog, that she had a good heart, but a question still remained in her head.

Who were the dogs she had a run-in with? It couldn't have been dogs from the Den.

The Retriever took in a deep sigh and asked the Mountain Dog a question.

"So...Mika, who were those dogs that you had a run-in with?" Mavis asked as the big dog stopped eating from her bowl.

Mika was nervous, she didn't and couldn't trust Mavis even though she stuck up for her, but she had to think of something to eventually change the subject.

"Stra-strays." Mika stuttered. "They thought I took thomething from them." The Mountain Dog stated.

"That's why you thought we were going to hurt you?" Mavis asked as Mika nodded at the question. "Don't worry, we'll look out for you when you have to leave tomorrow morning. I wish it wasn't like that but they'd stick my head on a pike if I tried going against their rules." Mavis assured the Mountain Dog that she'd protect her.

Mika stopped eating and looked at the Retriever, soon pulling her into a hug.

"Thank you." Mika smiled. "I never really had anyone looking out for me." Mavis patted the Mountain Dog's shoulder, trying to respond that she was basically getting crushed.

Upon realizing this, Mika released the Retriever, apologizing shortly after.

"No need to apologize, it happens." Mavis assured. "So...you really never had anyone look out for you? What about your family?" The Retriever asked.

"I left them." Chase's ears perked up upon hearing this. "They treated me like trash and I left after some time." Mika answered.

"You didn't leave anyone you cared about behind?" Chase asked.

"No, it's mostly been me, all by mythelf. Until now." Mika smiled at the two. "You two have thown more care than they ever have."

Mavis can feel the anger that Mountain Dog was emitting and she felt bad about it but it also felt necessary to let her vent out her frustrations.

"It's alright, I'll stick by your side, I'll even-!" Mavis was cut off by her pup tag receiving a call. "Hold on." The Retriever hopped off the stool she was sitting on and answered the call. "Talk to me."

The Retriever heard the husky voice that she knew from the pup tag.

"Mavis, get Isaac and the other dog and meet me back at my office. Nashi and the others found something interesting." Avery ordered through the tag.

"Got it, we'll be there in five." Mavis ended the call and regrouped with the two.

"Is it time to head back?" Chase asked as he hopped off the stool, along with Mika.

"Yep, Dixon, thanks again for the food!" Mavis waved.

"No problem, hermana! You're paying next time though!" Dixon smiled as the trio left the restaurant.

The group left the bustling restaurant and began heading towards Avery's office, with Chase and Mavis leading the way.

As the Retriever got close to the Shepherd, she had a question that she wanted to ask the Shepherd but she didn't really ever have the right time to do so. Now that she knows that Chase should let loose a bit, she took her chance.

"Hey...um...Isaac? Can I ask you something?" Mavis called out to the pup as they trekked forward.

"Hmm?" Chase turned his head at the Retriever in response.

"I was wondering...if you would like to go to Contractor Owens celebration tomorrow?" Mavis asked as she rubbed her paws together, nervous for a response from the Shepherd.

Chase tilted his head in confusion. "Contractor Owens? Celebration? What's going on?"

"We-well, Contractor Owens is having a celebration in regards to something but it's just a party, a little get together." Mavis briefly explained. "So I was wondering if you would like to go with m-us! Maybe you'd like to go with us?" Mavis stammered.

Mika had a slight snicker at the Retriever's nervousness, she knew exactly what was going on but she didn't want to bug her new friend about it.

"Us? So, Nashi and the others are going too?" Chase asked.

"Maybe, maybe not." Mavis had a frown. "I just thought they would want to go also, get some time off and relax for a bit."

Chase walked up to the Retriever. "If they don't want to relax, that's on them. I was never one for relaxing but Avery said to do so, so it looks like I have no other choice." The Shepherd smiled, giving a slightly cryptic, yet positive answer to the Retriever.

Mavis smiled and in her head, she was jumping up and down at the response she got. She wanted to spend time with her new found friends.

The trio reached the office door as Chase turned the handle to open it, leaving Mavis and the others with a question to be shouted out.

"Who the hell is that?!"

<><><><>

As Skye and Rocky finished up their part of the investigation, the other duo were next in line for theirs.

"Alright, pups, listen up." Ryder began to explain all the info he and the agents managed the find on the McAllister brothers. "Thanks to Rocky and Skye, we know that the McAllister brothers were setting up Harper for something, we don't know exactly what but whatever the case, Agent Rich and Ramirez will have someone take him in for further questioning. After some digging around, we found out that the McAllister brothers are run by Sean and Gideon McAllister, hence the name. Two Irish crazies that set up shop around the docks district of Boroughton, and since Boroughton has a long history of strays and what not, they took them in and taught them how to survive and be loyal. Rubble and Zuma, your objective is to head to the docks and find whatever you can on them, they may be connected with Chase in some way." Ryder explained to all the pups.

"Find out whatever you can on them and report back, try not to stick around too long, they know when there's a rat among them." Agent Rich added.

"Got it." Zuma replied as he gave Rubble a nod. "Don't worry, dude, we'll be in and out." Zuma gestured for the Bulldog to follow him outside as they started making their way to the docks, since Zuma knew the lay of the ocean, he can tell where the docks were just by smell. Well, anyone could when all you smell was fish and that ocean smell. Zuma didn't have a problem with it, but Rubble was having gag reflexes almost every five seconds.

Zuma rolled his eyes and laughed. "Dude, it's not that bad."

"Ugh! How can you handle that smell?" Rubble exclaimed.

"If Rocky can handle a bath every once in a while, then you can handle fish smell. Like, dude, we occasionally hang around with Captain Turbot! How does this bother you?" Zuma asked as he kept the conversation going.

"I guess the smell is stronger?" Rubble asked as the two kept moving on.

"Sure it is." Zuma rolled his eyes as the two eventually made it to one of the many entrances of the docks. The Labrador pressed his pup tag and called Ryder, telling him that they reached the docks.

"Ask the workers around, it's your best chance to not get spotted and find more intel about this crew. If that happens, get out of there as fast as you can and head back to the safe house." Ryder advised.

"Got it, come on, Rubble." Zuma led the way deeper into the docks, looking at the busy yet also dangerous work area. "Who do we ask?" The Labrador asked the Bulldog, who shrugged in response.

Zuma noticed a worker having a smoke near a set of crates, the Labrador soon gestured for the Bulldog to follow him as he ran up to ask him a set of questions.

"Excuse me, sir? Is it alright if I ask you some questions?" Zuma asked as the worker let out a puff of smoke.

"So you can bleed us dry for the third time this month? Yeah, sure." The worker sarcastically said to the Labrador.

"What? No, what're you talking about?" Zuma asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, pup! We all know you try hustling your way to 'protect' us, that ain't happening this time!" The worker stated.

"Sir, we don't know what you're talking about, we're new here and wanted an insight on the area." Zuma stated.

The worker realized that he had never seen the two before, they could be new and he just started being rude to them for no reason.

"Oh shit, my apologies." The worker put out his cigarette and stomped it with his foot. "You two don't look like those McAllister dogs. Sorry about that, we've been having problems with them recently." Zuma fidgeted with his collar, turning on the recorder for it. "They've been trying to squeeze us for protection money but they're just dogs, the men and women here can handle a bunch of wannabe toughs. I heard about a mishap they had, one of their own ran away with something valuable they had in their possession and now they've been moving into other districts looking for that traitor." The worker explained.

"Word travels fast around here?" Rubble asked.

"Oh yeah, even some of the dogs that help us out inform us on stuff that they try to overlook." The worker replied.

"Okay, anything unusual aside from the traitor that they have at the moment?" Zuma asked.

"Hmm, one of the dogs here said something that they're trying to branch out to the downtown district. They already have some of their own over there trying to take some of the spots but some other crew is preventing them." The worker explained.

"Any idea on who the other crew is?" Rubble asked.

"No idea, they usually keep their thing a secret, unlike those McAllister goons." The worker answered.

"One last question, have you seen this pup?" Zuma showed a picture of Chase and handed it to the worker, who scratched his beard, trying to think of an answer.

"No, sorry, doesn't look familiar to me. That the reason why you're here?" The worker asked.

"Yeah, something like that. Thank you for the answers, sir." Zuma nodded as he and Rubble left the docks, quicker than they expected. "Wasn't that fast?" The Labrador asked.

"Yeah, surprisingly." Rubble agreed. "I didn't know you could speak so formally? It's always dude this and dude that." Rubble laughed.

"I'm just laid back like that." Zuma smiled. "It even annoyed Cha-." Zuma stopped himself from saying anything else. "I-uh-I'm gonna send this to Ryder and they'll inform us on more, let's head back to the safe house and get some food." Zuma called Ryder after they got some distance from the docks and informed him and the other agents on what they found. He didn't mean to say the Shepherd's name, it just came out, he just wanted to reminisce on time where it would tick off Chase but the mere mention of the Shepherd would bring the mood down.

After some time, the two finally made it back to the safe house, they were grateful that it wasn't far from the docks but also it felt like they really didn't do anything, when in reality they helped out a lot.

Zuma took a small bed and plopped right onto it, exhausted from the walk back.

"Really miss those exercises we used to do back then." Zuma stretched. "This walk wouldn't have been so tiring."

Rubble slid a bowl of kibble to the Labrador as he sat down and began to eat his.

"Yeah, me too. Any reason why we stopped?" Rubble asked.

"No clue, I guess the others were getting tired of it or something." Zuma theorized.

"Probably, I hope we get this done soon. I miss the food back at the Lookout." Rubble stated.

Zuma chuckled at the statement. "I miss my bed." The Labrador sighed as the only thing can be heard was the clock ticking and Rubble eating. "And the fun times we had...I just miss Chase. I know he was a strict and defensive pup but he was still our friend and he knew that." The Labrador laid his head on the edge of the bed. "I hope nothing terrible is happening to him, I hope he's safe." Zuma lowered his ears, missing his Shepherd friend with every second that passed.

The silence that filled the room was cut by the sound of Zuma's pup tag ringing.

"Yeah, Ryder? Did that intel work out for you over there?" Zuma asked. "You think that dog that stole something from them was Chase?"

Ryder sighed at the question, he knew it didn't add up. "No, it doesn't add up." Zuma lowered his ears as did Rubble. "That has to have been a different dog, this isn't the crew that Chase ran with but I'm thinking that the other crew that the worker talked about is them, maybe they're the ones who have the downtown district at the moment." Ryder theorized.

"Maybe that's where Chase is!" Zuma hoped.

"Maybe, we'll try looking into it more so for now, just rest up. Marshall and Decker will have to check out the downtown district and hopefully by then, we'll have a solid lead on Chase." Ryder ended the call as the two pups relaxed, happy that their investigation helped out in some way and that they could get a lead soon.

Zuma looked out one of the windows and noticed the beautiful sunset shining it's orange and yellow light past the eyesores in the distance.

How can a place riddled with dangerous threats look so beautiful?

<><><><>

"Who the hell is that?!" Mavis asked as she and the two looked to get a view of the anonymous dog's face.

"Yo, that's our new guest, Mavis." Nashi lifted the dog's head up. "Caught this asshole trying to sneak around the Den."

Avery walked up to the dog and made him face the Italian Greyhound. "Is there something you want to tell me, porco?" The Greyhound was immediately met with a spit to his face.

"Fuck you, you Italian cunt!"

Nashi made the dog face him. "You better show my boss some more respect." The Black Husky suggested as he slammed the dog's head onto the table, causing him to bleed from his nose.

"It doesn't matter what you assholes do to me, it's nothing compared to what the McAllister Brothers will do to you!" The Irish Terrier assured.

"No shit...those micks still reside at the docks?" Delta asked but was met with silence. "I'll take the silence as a yes."

"Take it however you want to take it, I'm not saying anything!" The Irish Terrier laughed as he looked to his side and noticed Mika, who stood back with worry. "You. Who knew you would be working with them after betraying us?" The Terrier laughed.

The group looked at Mika, who was starting to back up slowly.

"Wh-what?" Mavis questioned.

Delta and Avery began to approach the Mountain dog but was stopped by Mavis.

"Out of the way, Mavis." Avery ordered.

"Avery, there has to be a mistake here!" Mavis defended.

"No mistake, she betrayed us and she's going to betray you!" Nashi pinned the dog's head onto the desk.

"I suggest you keep your fucking mouth shut!" Nashi ordered.

"What are you hiding from us, Mika? You working with them, you two-faced rat?!" Nashi yelled out.

"It'th not like that!" Mika defended herself as she started backing up.

Chase eventually went to defend her also, which baffled Avery and Delta.

"You might wanna explain real fast." Chase suggested.

"You're on her side?" Avery asked.

"There's no way she's a rat. I believe her! Just let her explain!" Chase suggested, trying to defuse the situation.

He was on the Mountain dog's side because he believed her and because the situation was all too familiar to him, the Shepherd still believed in helping others, he still believed in good morals. He was going to stay on Mika's side no matter what.

"Yeah! That's all she needs to do!" Mavis sided.

"Fine but it starts to sound like bullshit, she's as good as dead." Avery warned.

The two looked at the Bernese Mountian dog and nodded at her, signifying that everything was going to be alright, they had her back if anything.

Mika sighed as she took off her satchel. "I worked with them, then I thtole this." The dog opened up the satchel and revealed a golden collar encrusted in jewels.

"What the fuck?" Delta questioned as he glanced upon the magnificent collar.

"I-it belonged to one of the brotherth. I thtole it after they tried killing me one night. I've been on the run ever thince and then I ran into you dogth! It'th the truth, I-I thwear!" Mika explained.

Avery handled the collar with care as he gazed at its beauty.

"Well, I'll be damned." Avery said as he gently placed the collar back in its satchel. "Looks like you bought yourself a couple of more days." Avery smiled. "So long as you help us with this problem."

"O-of courthe." Mika stammered as the Italian Greyhound grabbed the satchel and placed it at his desk.

"Ha! That pup ain't gonna help you out, she's nothing but another mouth to feed! She's better off-!"

The Irish terrier was met with another slam to the desk.

"Avery? What do you want us to do with this trash?" Nashi asked as he kept the dog pinned.

"What do you think I want you to do? Get rid of him. Once you're done with that, take the rest of the night off, the sun's about to set anyway." Nashi nodded at the order as he and Delta left the room. "Isaac, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" Nashi asked.

"Sure thing." Chase followed the Italian Greyhound outside the office, with Mavis and Mika going up against the door to hear the commotion.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Avery asked, yelling at the Shepherd.

"What?" Chase raised his paws. "I knew she wasn't a rat, I trusted my instincts and I was right!" The Shepherd defended.

"You chose a dog that you just met today over the one who looked after you all those years ago, loyalty and all that doesn't matter?!" Avery questioned.

"I'm not that defenseless pup you knew back then! I trusted her word and I was right! Besides, you don't have to look after me like you did back then!" Chase argued.

"You need to decide where you loyalties lie, you ungrateful pup!" Avery warned.

"You know where they lie! I took a chance in trusting her and it turned out right." Chase argued.

"Don't get too clever with me, kid." Avery soon lowered his voice and placed his paw around the pup. "Look, it's like this. If you show your loyalty to me then change it shortly after, that's going to make you and I look bad, more like idiots. I know you're loyal, a good earner, you always have been ever since...you know." Avery explained.

Chase looked down to his side, thinking back to his friends that helped him throughout his time at the Den. "Yeah, if they were here, they would've handled this problem already."

Avery chuckled at the statement. "You got that right, those two were amazing at this." The Greyhound sighed. "Look, just take the rest of the night off and tomorrow, meet me here if you don't have any plans."

Chase thought about Mavis's proposal for tomorrow and had to bring it up to the Italian Greyhound.

"I...uh...I can't. Mavis and the others are heading to Owens tomorrow." Chase stated.

"For that party? Yeah, I doubt Nashi and the others are going to go, considering this whole McAllister problem is rising." Avery advised.

"Guess it'll just be Mavis, me, and Mika." Chase said.

"Guess so, if nothing happens by Saturday, come see me then." Avery sighed once more. "I think I should shed some more light on what happened after you left."

Chase's ears perked up.

"Alright, see you then." Chase nodded as he regrouped with Mika and Mavis.

The trio soon left the Greyhounds office and decided to head to their room, Mavis's room, that is.

The trio trekked on and eventually reached the room, lying onto the beds close by.

"Oh man, that was a close one, Mika." Mavis sighed as she looked at the large dog, who was shaking. "Mika?" The Retriever walked up and comforted her.

"I-I...almo-." Mika was shushed by the Retriever.

"Shhh, it's alright, we got your back." Mavis assured as she pulled the dog into a hug, calming her down some more.

"Yeah, we just met but I knew I had the right feeling to trust you." Chase added.

The trio lied down on the beds as after some time, the other half of the group came back from disposing of that dog.

Nashi let out a loud sigh as he and the others lied down.

"Good to see Avery didn't kill you, Mika." Nashi smiled as Mavis gave the Husky a glare to be quiet.

"What a day." Delta added.

"Yeah...just another normal day for us, right?" Levi asked.

"Yup, I wish it was different, though." Delta answered.

"So, Mika? What was the deal you had going on with McAllister Brothers anyway?" Nashi asked, not getting a response.

"Nashi, just leave it, she's been through a lot today." Mavis advised.

"Just wanna know what she was doing for them before she left, hopefully she wasn't whoring herself out to them." Nashi chuckled.

"She doesn't want to say anything, just leave it at that!" Mavis yelled out.

"Hey, I got an idea? What about you, Nashi?What brought you to the Den?" Chase asked.

The Husky went from smiling to a serious face in the matter of a second, the question brought an unsavory flashback to the dog but he knew that if he didn't say anything, Chase and Mavis would get on him about it since he did the same to Mika.

"The McAllister brothers." Nashi replied.

"They guide you here themselves?" Levi asked.

"Don't be a wiseass, Levi." Nashi warned as he looked at the sun setting outside. "The McAllister brothers are the reason I joined up with Avery and the others, those fucking micks made it personal."

"Here it comes..." Levi rolled his eyes.

"Shut it, Levi." Nashi warned yet again. "They...they killed my family, never knew why but I knew it was them. Trust me, once I get my paws on the ones who did it, I'm gonna rip their fucking throats out!" Nashi yelled out as he assured everyone his goal as Chase looked on.

"No wonder you were so keen on this." Delta pieced everything together. "Had I known about that, I wouldn't have said anything."

Nashi rolled his eyes, ignoring the Australian Shepherd.

"Since we're on the topic, what about you, Levi?" Nashi asked.

"Why are you bringing me into this?" Levi looked away from the Black Husky.

The Husky shrugged at the question, thinking that it would be fair since he just let out his grievances and figured that the Malamute should do the same.

Levi looked around the room, all eyes on him as he sighed, thinking back to a terrible time in his life.

"I...don't like being close to anyone." Levi laid his head on the ground as he let out another depressing sigh. "I know I'm sounding like Nashi but I really don't like getting too close to anyone. The last time I did, I ended up losing others I cared about." Levi kept his eyes towards the ground. "My brothers helped me survive in this city, but it didn't take long for them to get whacked, turns out, they were in debt with someone."

Delta felt bad for the young dog. "That's rough, sorry you had to go through that."

Nashi shot a question at the Malamute. "Ever find out who they owed? Could've been the McAllister brothers."

"They never told me anything about that, they just wanted to keep me safe and away from this line of work but look how that turned out." Levi answered. "Sometimes, I think to myself that I was designed to be alone."

"Don't say that, kid." Mavis said. "We're all in this together. We're going to show those McAllister sons of bitches what's what!" Mavis assured, letting the Alaskan Malamute feel a tad bit better.

"Yeah!"

"Fuck those McAllister assholes!"

"Oh, the righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance!" Levi praised as the others kept the spirits up.

Chase and Mika looked on as the small group found encouragement from the Retriever, they smiled upon this, they had a lot of work to do but they were certain that they were going to put the McAllister brothers in the ground.

It was only a matter of time.