Paw Patrol: Separate Ways

(S-3) Chapter 5 "Before They Bury You" [Part 1]

Heavy and exhausted breaths exited from the Shepherd's nostrils as he stopped for a moment to catch his breath, his eyes catching the Den which wasn't far from where he was. Upon leaning his back against a wall, he pressed his tag again in hopes of reaching Avery.

"Come on, pick up...please." The pup begged as the ringing ensued. "Please be okay, please be okay..." The tag stopped ringing as the call was finally answered. Chase let out a small gasp and called out in a low tone. "A-Avery? Avery?"

There was a long pause before Chase's spine shivered from the voice on the other end.

"Don't bother mourning your old friend, you'll be joining him soon..."

The Shepherd's eyes widened as his shaking breaths turned into sharp seething upon hearing Alistair's voice. He pressed his tag and ended the call quickly, setting his eyes back at the Den and continuing his trek over there, picking up the pace the best he can.

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Mika tilted her head, scratching her paw a bit, "Wait, wait...what do you mean 'I detherve to know?' What about 'Chathe'? What about Avery? What about everyone 'elthe'?"

"They're not here now, are they?" Mavis let out a tired sigh as she shamefully lowered her head. "I...I'm..." She took another deep breath and closed her eyes, "I'm an undercover FBI agent..."

The Mountain Dog's heart sank, "W...what?"

"I'm sorry...it was a-." Mika raised her paw quickly.

"What did you 'thay'?" Her voice was shaking as she stepped a bit away from Mavis.

"I'm...I'm an undercover agent for the FBI. My orders were to get closer to Ajax and Alistair, get intel on them and keep my cover low but...but that all changed when Chase arrived." The Retriever explained as she kept her paws up in a safe manner, not wanting to seem harmful to Mika.

The large dog looked towards the ground, her paws fidgeting and scratching each other, "'t-tho'...everything you did 'w-wath' to 'thave' your own tail?"

"N-no! It...it wasn't entirely like that, I swear!" The Retriever tried defusing as she continued, "Chase was my main priority once he arrived, my orders were changed and as time went on, I...I became conflicted with my real intentions." Mika looked at her Retriever friend, seeing the sorrow and guilt eat her up as she told her the truth. "I understand if you hate me but I still need to get you out of Boroughton, whether you like it or not."

Mika inched up a bit, placing her paw on her shoulder. "I can't hate you, you 'thaved' my life. Badge or no badge...'Jutht' 'promith' you'll find me when 'thith' 'ith' all over..."

She put a stern look as she nodded her head gently, "I promise."

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A pair of paws were held on Hendrix's muzzle, a deep worried sigh escaping shortly after as he soon turned his head towards Ramirez. "He hasn't called back...maybe we should-."

"We really shouldn't..." Ramirez leaned forward into his chair, eyeing Hendrix. "We can't risk it...we wait for his call back and then we'll get the go-ahead to move in."

"What about his crew? Is your informant relaying all this back to you?" Hendrix questioned, worrying about every bit of the plan.

"Of course she is. She's relaying it all back to Rich, we're just on standby until everything is ready." Ramirez leaned back, "Hopefully, the McAllister's are handled so your owner's political career doesn't go up in flames."

Ramirez eyed Roman as he placed his hands on his forehead, hearing a deep sigh from across the room. The agent soon perked up, hearing a faint beeping coming from his service earpiece. Within an instant, the agent hushed everyone as he listened closely.