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It was an unusual, yet normal afternoon in the 101 of ghe dalmatian street, since an enemy of its residents, Hunter De Vil had returned after quite a while, the house was in lockdown so no pups were in the lawn like they used to, but they were having their usual fun indoor, well every pup but...
"Owww, my head" mumbled an drowsy Dylan, who had just woke up from a body mandated nap after several sleepless nights and foiling Hunter's latest plot to capture them, he touched his forehead to feel a piece of wet cloth wrapped around it, he could overheard several of his siblings mumbling something about getting Dolly, he tried to get up but could barely stand thanks to his exhausted body.
"There are you, sleeping beauty, but I honestly think that the prince came early" teased Dolly arriving to the room, Dylan couldn't help but noticing that the taunt lacked some of his sister's usual sass, he then noticed something around her neck.
"Dolly, what are you doing with my whistle?" Asked Dylan in an uncomfortable tone.
"Huh, this silly thing? Dawkins and I decided that it was better that from now on we'll take turns keeping everyone safe" answered Dolly.
"What!? But mom and dad trusted me with keeping you all safe" retorted Dylan, limping to get close to her.
"Oh, and you think that makes you better than us!?" Asked an insulted Dolly.
"What!? Obviously not but I need my whistle" answered a frustrated Dylan still limping to her, Dolly then began to walk up to him.
"It's your ego really more important to you than your body and mental health?" Asked an frustrated Dolly.
"No! Just give it back!" Answered Dylan.
"Why is your passion for control really worthy to you!?" Asked Dolly getting into his face.
"Just! Give! It! Back!" Answered Dylan reaching for the whistle only for Dolly to effortlessly knock him onto his back and put a paw on his chest to keep him down.
"Then What is it!?" Asked Dolly glaring down to him. Dylan tried to struggle but he gave up and sighed.
"I need it to make up for being a failure as a brother" Dylan answered sadly.
The pups witnessing the event gasped at the revelation and Dolly glared softened in surprise.
"What-what do you mean?" Asked softly the surprised Dolly releasing him from her weak grasp.
"What you heard, after Hunter returned I began to suffer nightmares about the what if he won, since I was dumb enough to let him sweet-talk me into letting him in and not only that, this year I made several stupid mistakes like driving Deepak away by taking the Dimitris side and pressuring Da Vinci , I'm a complete failure" answered Dylan, suddenly Dolly slapped him
"That's the biggest piece of poop I ever heard! I hope that slap knocked sense into you since you are anything but a failure to us!" Dolly said harshly.
"She's right, dear brother when you make mistakes you work hard to make up" said Deepak.
"And you get us to feel safe in a thunderstorm" added Dizzy and Dee Dee.
"You saved my life when we first meet Hunter" added Dallas.
"Even if it was just Dolly and the girls pranking us, you attacked a monster to keep me and Diesel safe" said Dawkins.
"You attempted to save Dolly even after she confessed to use you as an scapegoat and got you in trouble several times" said DJ.
Dylan began to smile warmly as the pups continued to share the good moments he gave them then Dolly held him by the shoulders and gave him a passionate speech.
"Do you see? You're a great brother, sure you screwed up bigly sometimes but hey, who wouldn't with a family like this, specially I made several mistakes as well with you suffering from most of them but that doesn't make me a failure as neither do yours make you one in fact I need to confess something, I'm proud of you" said Dolly, culminating with giving her brother the most passionate hug she could master.
"Thanks, Dolly, this was something I really needed to hear, now I know my fears aren't justified" shared Dylan reciprocating the hug until he collapsed and a snore escaped his muzzle.
"Oh, It looks like you haven't recovered your strength, please rest a little more, big dork" whispered Dolly smiling warmly at him, softly putting him on the floor and giving him a couple of doggy kisses before leaving, the rest of pups shortly followed but not before caressing to their sleeping brother, Dawkins even lended him his beloved Princess Positron plush to help him sleep, Dylan maybe a control freak and even a jerk in his worst moments but for them, he will always be a valiant knight.