Vigilante PAW

Chapter Eighteen: Aftermath

Standing alone in the now destroyed room, Chase closed his eyes. All he could hear was the faint cracking of the structures around him, the grating screeching of metal bending and buckling under newfound weight, and the noise of rubble hitting the ground around him.

When he and Marshall broke that pillar during their fight, some of the support to the floor above him was displaced. He was standing in a death trap. He knew he was. But for a second he just needed to be still. For a second he needed to think. For just a moment, he needed to take a break.

Had he really just let Marshall leave? He couldn't believe that he was so weak. Every time he looked at Marshall, wanting to keep fighting the Dalmatian, all he saw was a little pup crying in fear, cowering under his blankets.

The moment was bittersweet for him. That little pup was no longer so little. He was at Chase's eye level. Marshall was fighting back. He was standing his ground for himself. Whether or not it was for the right reasons, he wasn't too sure. But as Marshall rammed him through that pillar, he realized that Marshall didn't need protecting anymore. He was big. He had his own will. His own strengths. And he had his own side of this story.

His eyes still closed, Chase felt a sudden warmth on his body. He didn't have to open his eyes to know what was happening. He refused to open his eyes, knowing good and well that if he did, he wouldn't like what would come out of them.

Cutting through the silence around him was a single faint voice, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Skye.

He didn't answer. He didn't want to answer. Even if he did, what would he answer with? He wasn't sure if he was okay. He wasn't sure if he was hurt or not. His body and mind felt numb, in a way. Like he was at the dentist with anesthesia being constantly pumped into his body. As though there was only static in Chase's brain, he couldn't even begin to think about what was currently happening in both his mind and body.

He didn't dare to open his eyes. Once he opened his eyes he would have to face the reality of the current situation. Once he opened his eyes, he would have to report the current situation to Ryder. Once he opened his eyes, the world would start moving again, and so would he. But he didn't want to move. He didn't want to talk to Ryder. Come to think of it, he didn't want to talk to anybody.

What was happening to him? Why was his heart beating so fast? Why was his mind racing like it was? Why did he feel like he didn't have any control? Of himself, of the world around him. There was no way of getting a handle on it.

Through clenched teeth, Chase finally spoke, "I let him go."

"You... What?"

The pup finally opened his eyes, looking down at the Cockapoo in front of him, "The upper part of the building collapsing was because of us...Marshall and I got in a fight."

Skye's eyes bulged. She was well aware that Marshall wouldn't be coming back to the lookout without a bit of a struggle, but a fight? She couldn't even begin to fathom the concept of Marshall and Chase coming to blows. But when she looked at the developing bruises on Chase's body, the dust and debris coating his fur, and the tired expression in his eyes, she was forced to believe it actually happened.

"A fight?"

"Marshall tried to run, so I chased him... And when we crashed in here... We fought..."

"Oh... Oh my gosh..." Skye put her paws over her mouth.

Chase slowly looked down at his right paw. The same paw that punched the Dalmatian across his face. The Dalmatian that was supposed to be his best friend. The Dalmatian that he promised to be friends with forever. It hurt. His paw hurt.