Music was filling the dead air that was roaming around Avery's office, the only thing keeping the Greyhound calm while his crew were out on their most dangerous job yet.

"I see the bad moon a-risin'
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin'
I see bad times today."

As the song progressed, the Greyhound swayed his tail to the beats of the song, a light smile forming on his face as he spotted Chase's duffel bag. Grabbing it from its usual spot, he soon stored it under his desk, backing up and letting out a long sigh.

Fear was something that was lacking in the Greyhound as he got older, the only thing he did fear was just being alone but being a contractor at the Den made sure that rarely happened. You'd think compassion would be the last thing on his mind when dealing with dogs who worked with him but his time with Mavis and the rest helped him see that, feel that again after a long time even when the stress was slowly killing him.

"I hear hurricanes a-blowin'
I know the end is comin' soon
I fear rivers over flowin'
I hear the voice of rage and ruin."

"Don't go around tonight, well it's bound to take your life..." The song trailed off as the volume was lowered, Avery's calm state of mind being brought to an end as he pressed his collar and called one of his contacts

The voice on the other end responded rather quickly, shooting a question towards the Italian Dog after greeting him.

"Hey, Avery. What's the problem? What do you need?" It was Hendrix.

"Don't need anything right now, just want to know what the plans are for when the McAllister's are dealt with and we go after Alistair and Ajax?" Avery wondered, being met with a short silence as Ramirez soon spoke up.

"Your involvement has been helpful so far but as of what you and your crew do? You all leave. We're gonna send squads there to control the area while we take down Alistair." Ramirez answered.

Avery leaned against his desk, letting out a scoff. "Depending on how many squads you're sending, these dogs aren't gonna lay down for anything, most of them at least."

"They're not going through the front door, They're going around back, where the greenhouse is." The agent advised.

"Anyone going through the tunnels that the kid and I suggested?" Avery asked as he heard a knock at the door.

"Avery? We need to talk, it's Ajax!" The Great Dane announced, causing Avery's fur to stand up.

"Just a second, Ajax!" The dog advised, "I'll call you back." The knocking progressed faster as the Greyhound let out a snarl, approaching the door. "Will you hold on, Ajax?! You're such an impatient..."

Upon opening the door, the Greyhound ears fell back, being met with the sight of Alistair along with Ajax.

"I'm such a what now?" The Great Dane asked, a slight chuckle coming out of him as he saw the Greyhound's moment of fear.

"Al-Alistair! Wha-what's the matter?" Avery stepped back, his pupils dilating as the man stepped in and closed the door, walking over to the radio and turning the volume back up.

"Hope you got your things together
Hope you are quite prepared to die
Looks like we're in for nasty weather
One eye is taken for an eye"

"Didn't you hear Ajax?" The man asked, kneeling down to the Greyhound's level. "We need to talk..."

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As the commotion between the patrons sparked up, unaware of the plans that were unraveling as they were enjoying their time like any other day. Mavis sat at the edge of the counter away from the entrance next to Mika as Dixon handed the two their food.

"So...¿Dónde está la tripulación?" Asked Dixon, his paws soon grabbing a mug and cleaning it.

The two shared eyes with each other, nervousness being shown on them as they slowly munched on their food. "Wh-what did he 'thay'?" Mika asked, hearing a chuckle from the Spanish Mastiff.

"He's wondering where the crew is." The Retriever answered as she looked over to her bartender friend, "They're...busy but we need your help with something."

Dixon looked around, making sure no one was listening in, "Getting out of Boroughton?" He smiled.

Mavis nodded, pointing her head over to Mika as Dixon got the idea. "You don't have a problem with that, right?"

"Nah. No problem." Dixon shared a smile with the two as he gave them a booklet of ration cards, "It's...shit..." The Spanish Mastiff hid the booklet underneath the counter as one of the waiters came by. "What is it? I'm talking to some associates."

The dog had a somewhat frightened look on him, his eyes dilating as his fur stood up upon answering his boss, "It-it's Ajax and Alistair, they're outside, you know they never come down here unless-!"

"Ciérralo! Keep an eye out, you two, come with me!" Dixon hurried as Mavis and Mika hopped off and around the bar counter.

Dixon kept leading them around the kitchen, spotting a large refrigerator, rushing the duo to it as he opened it and hurried for them to get inside. "Go! Go! Come on!"

"I'm not going-!" Mavis felt her body move forward as Mika pushed her inside, climbing in and closing the door.

"You're lucky your friend here is a quick thinker! I'll come back once those two are gone!" The two heard Dixon's paws clack away, Mavis letting out an annoyed huff as she glared at Mika.

Dixon snuck back out to the bar, his associate being right beside him, "They passed the place or what?" Asked Dixon as he scanned the room.

"Yeah, we should be in the clear, probably stopping by some other poor sap." The dog gave a nervous glare to the Spanish Mastiff as he asked a question, "Would it better for those two to leave right now?"

There was a pause before Dixon responded, "Y-yeah...you're right, hold on, I'll be back." Instead of turning back to the kitchen area, the Spanish Mastiff headed towards the entrance of his bar, peeking out as he saw Alistair and Ajax down the hallway-like area. "Fuck..." The dog cursed at himself as his suspicions were right, soon pulling himself back into the bar and heading to the kitchen, helping Mavis and Mika out of the large fridge.

Mika stepped out with ease, soon reaching her paw in and pulling Mavis out, the Retriever hitting the floor but getting back on her paws rather quickly, baring her teeth in a pissed off manner at the two.

"I'm 'thorry' but we had to be quick about it!" Mika apologized, her tail sticking between her legs as she fidgeted with paws in a nervous manner.

"Be pissed off later..." Dixon grabbed a nearby cloth, drying Mavis's paws and satchel, "Because right now, you two need to leave, Avery is in trouble so you two better make haste!"

"What? What happened?!" Dixon ignored the question as he shoved the small booklet inside Mavis's satchel. "Dixon!"

"Mavis, escuchar por favor! Take your friend and get outta here, while you're heading to the train station, call the crew and let them know what's going on, alright?" Dixon explained as he patted the satchel, not hearing a response from his Retriever friend. "Mavis!"

Mavis's fur jolted up, snapping her out of her small trance-like state, "What? Yeah, yeah, warn the crew, got it! Come on, Mika!" The Retriever hurried as they ran out of the bar, not looking back as they hastily ran past Avery's office.

As they reached the outside, the two caught their breath, with Mavis soon turning to face the large home that took in dangerous strays who had nowhere else to go.

A voice called out, shaking the two as Mika cowered behind Mavis. "Mavis? Everything all right?" It was Saxton, a perplexed expression being drawn across the Pitbull's face

"Y...yeah...no...no, it's not alright." Mavis quickly glared at the Pitbull, not giving him a chance to speak. "Saxton, listen, you need to leave now! This place is gonna go to shit, alright?"

"Mavis, what're you-?"

"Just listen to me!" Her eyes darted back and forth, worried she was wasting time, "Remember what I said, I gotta go, alright? Come on, Mika!"

Saxton watched as the two departed, trying to piece together what Mavis really meant. The Pitbull turned his head, eyeing the entrance of the Den as the thought ran around in his mind. There was never a quarrel with Mavis, and Saxton's loyalty to Alistair and Ajax was questionable, more or less, not useful, except for just being a guard dog that takes shifts here and there. The dog approached the entrance, grabbing a brick that was close by and smashing the set of locks that were hanging on the side and leaving the premises and disappearing into the large city.

<><><><>

The sound of a mechanized tool hit the stone floor as the Husky stepped away from the Malamute, eyeing the wound as Levi thrived in pain. "Sorry about that, had to make it sound convincing..."

The pain momentarily subsided as Levi steadied his breathing, "That's cool and all but how about you get me out of this chair?! Or patch me up or...something!"

"Keep it down a notch, ya daft bastard, this place ain't sound proof." Satoon advised, eyeing the stairs and making sure it was clear. "I'll be back, gonna check if the coast is clear."

"T-take your time...no rush..." Levi winced, seeing the Husky go up the stairs and leave his sight.

"Shite..." The Husky lowly cursed to himself as he peeked out the metal door, seeing multiple dogs pass through and paying no mind to him. The dog pulled back on the door, closing it as he took a deep breath and looked down the stairs, hearing Levi's pained breaths get louder as he soon trekked back down the steps. "It's gonna be awhile, just gotta relax here until all hell breaks loose."

Lifting his head, Levi shot a question towards the Husky, "How long will that take?"

"I don't know..." Satoon loosened the straps on the young dog's paws, "If anything, we'll leave tonight and if they come back, then I don't know, I'll figure something out, maybe just grab those tools and hope for the best..."

<><><><>

Multiple paws clacked through the trash and graffitied alleyways, getting closer to their objective by the minute. The crew let out tired and exhausted breaths as they stopped for a moment. Chase lightly winced as his injured paw was still bringing him moments of pain. Delta eyed the motion and asked the pup a question.

"You sure you're up for this? That paw could really set you back." Delta worried as Nashi tagged in.

"Yeah, it could, we don't need you messing up right now, especially when Levi's life is on the line." The Husky eyed the Shepherd down as he continued, "Hurry and decide, don't want to keep wasting time."

"You're not going to." The crew turned their heads, seeing the cat reveal himself along with his partner. "I take it you're Avery's crew?"

"Yeah, who the hell are you?" Delta asked.

"Name's Elias, this is Sultan, did Avery not tell you we were helping you out?" The York Chocolate cat tilted his head.

"Guess he forgot. Anyway, we got a good idea on what we gotta do, make sure we get our friend out, at least." Sultan heard Nashi claim as she nodded her head in agreement.

"Right, you get your friend out and we'll distract." The Highlander feline assured, her ears drooping as she heard a chuckle come from the dark Husky.

"No offense but how are you two gonna cause a distraction big enough for us to get by, especially when your hind paw isn't looking too good?" The Husky scoffed, seeing Elias stare him down.

"Never said it was gonna be just us two."

The crew looked around, seeing more cats around the fire escapes, from behind the dumpsters and so on. Delta smiled as they saw their numbers quickly grow but shot a rhetorical question. "You always set up to be dramatic like that?"

"Fuck off, is the Shepherd in or out?" The York cat asked, seeing his crew join up with him and lock eyes with the dogs.

"All depends on him..." The Black Husky eyed the Shepherd, "That being said, what's it gonna be, Chase?"

The Shepherd stood there, feeling the eyes of everyone around him pinning him down, his paw being injured was a setback but he still wanted to fight. He owed, at least, that much to Avery. "I'm-." There was a sudden ringing from the Shepherd's collar as everyone suddenly snapped their heads towards it. Delaying the call for a bit, Chase looked towards Delta, who nodded at him to answer it. "Hello?"

"Chase?! Chase, listen! Forget about the McAllisters!" Mavis advised through the collar, everyone's fur raising as they heard the fear in the Retriever's voice.

"What? Mavis, we can't, we're already here! We can't just quit now!" Nashi stated, hearing the rapid panting from her and Mika.

"Fuck's sake, Nashi, Alistair knows! He knows what we're up to! You all need to leave now!" Mavis yelled, the group being frozen in fear upon hearing the Retriever.

"Wh-what? H-how the hell did he find out?!" Delta frantically asked as Nashi and Chase started to panic.

"I don't know, I'm taking Mika to the south downtown Train station. Avery's in trouble too, we saw Alistair and Ajax head to his office before we left, you all need to get Levi and leave or...or figure something else out quick!"

"I ain't leaving Levi." Delta assured.

"Piper ain't getting out of that place alive either, she needs to pay for what she did to our boss." Elias backed up the Australian Shepherd.

Chase zoned out, his ears ringing as he stared into the ground, hearing Mavis's statement about Avery cycle over in his head, slowly beginning to hyperventilate, he moved away from the group, quickly being stopped by Nashi.

"Woah, woah, woah, you fuckin' insane? You're not going anywhere!" Nashi yelled as he held Chase's shoulder.

"I gotta go back!" The Shepherd yelled as Mavis interjected into the conversation, being drowned out by Nashi's yelling.

"What? Did you not hear Mavis? Alistair knows what we're up to! You hear that, Alistair fuckin' knows!"

Chase disregarded the Husky's warning, getting his paw off of his shoulder as he tried again to walk away, feeling Nashi grab onto his shoulder in a more rough manner. "I can't leave him!" The Shepherd yelled out, shifting his weight towards the Husky and pushing him past Elias, making Nashi make contact with a nearby dumpster.

"Ease up, Chase, Jesus!" Delta approached, backing up as he saw the Shepherd bare his teeth at him and the crew.

"Take it easy, Shepherd..." Elias tried soothing as Chase slowly walked past them, eyeing them to make sure they wouldn't stop him.

"Fuckin' psychopath! You wanna kill yourself for Avery, go ahead!" Nashi yelled as he stood up, wincing a bit from the impact and feeling Delta's paw assist in helping him. "Let's go get Levi and get the hell out of here..."

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