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Ryder hated early mornings. Probably because he never went to sleep before 3:00 AM.
But this morning was especially bad, because he hadn't gone to sleep until 6:00 AM, and someone was calling him at 8:00 AM.
Opening his bleary eyes, he stifled a yawn. He shoved his feet into his Chase slippers and made his way to his makeshift alarm.
"PAW Patrol, how can we help?" He blinked a couple of times.
"Ryder, dude, you're looking rough." Jake peered at him through his phone screen. "Yeesh. If Everest weren't busy saving beavers, I'd just call her."
"What's going on?" He sat on the edge of his very warm, very comfortable bed.
"Oh, you know, stuck on a cliff again. But I don't have Alex this time!" He showed off the impressive drop he had somehow survived, and the skinned knees from that drop. He was shaking a little from the wind.
"Alright, we'll be there."
"Thanks, Ryder."
Ryder shut off his pup pad, mentally cursing Jake for having a serious emergency at 8:00 AM. He computer animated his special graphics in five minutes (he had had a lot of practice) while he waited for the PAW Patrol to come back from their various activities. They were probably all bright-eyed and ready to go. Especially Chase.
Wait. Chase.
Chase could lead his own mission. He'd done it before, when Harold had captured the meteor to give himself superpowers (There weren't such hard feelings now, though). He could use the support of his team to get through his anxiety, but it was a straightforward mission they could probably figure out without him. Besides, if they really needed him, he was only a call away. And he could take a much needed nap.
Chase leaped in just in time. "PAW Patrol, ready for action, Ryder, sir!"
"Jake's got himself stuck on a cliff, but Everest is busy helping some beavers. So it's up to us to help him. I'll need…Chase."
"Chase is on the case!" He leaped forward.
"Chase, I want you to lead this mission today."
His determined expression lapsed into one of confusion.
"I'm really tired today. And you're a good pup. You know what to do." He scratched Chase's ear as he made his way to his firefighter pole.
"We all know why you're tired." Skye giggled.
"Yeah, I'm sure Chase told all you guys what happened." He waved a hand flippantly.
Skye blinked. "I read about it in TMZ."
"What?" His hand slid down the firefighter pole.
"Ryder's famous?" Zuma ran over to the magazine Skye had somehow acquired, staring as she turned to the right page. Marshall and Chase followed.
There he was, plastered in a two-page spread. "RYDER HAS A NEW ANSWER TO THE CAT VS. DOG DEBATE"
Someone had taken a picture of him walking out of the supply closet with Harold. A goofy grin was on his face, and his shirt was barely tucked into his pants. Harold's hair was sticking up in strange places, and his hand was reaching down to take Ryder's hand in his.
"They outed me in TMZ?" He balled his hands into fists.
"Harold?" Rocky looked up at him. "He never really felt like your type."
"It was just a one-time thing. Which is what makes this even worse." He crossed his arms.
"Don't worry, Ryder. By next week, this'll be old news." Skye's eyes glinted. "We just get to tease you relentlessly until then."
"At least everyone knows now, and you don't have to plan a big coming out speech?" Chase wagged his tail hesitantly.
Ryder groaned into his palm. "I'm too tired to deal with this. Chase, go."
"Yes, Ryder, sir!" He sat proudly in Ryder's spot at the front of the group.
Ryder slid down his firefighter pole before collapsing into his bed again.
It was only a few moments after Ryder left, and all the pups stared expectantly at him, that he realized the magnitude of Ryder's decision.
"So we know that Jake is stuck on a cliff. And Ryder and Everest aren't available to help."
The pups nodded.
"So I will be going, of course, as team leader." He picked his own icon, watching as it lit up. He bit down the urge to say, "Chase is on the case!"
"I will be supervising. And I can communicate with Jake using my megaphone."
The pups kept nodding.
"Next, Skye!"
She flipped. "Let's take to the sky!"
"And…Marshall. You can use your ladder in case things go south."
"I'm fired up!" He stepped forward, wagging his tail.
"PAW Patrol is on a roll!" The pups chanted together.
Chase jumped down the slide first, making sure he was sitting tall. He could hear Skye following him. His stomach churned, and he could taste something bitter in the back of his throat.
He landed in his police car and started the engine. He drove a little out of the way for Skye and Marshall, watching as they landed in their respective helicopter and firetruck.
Turning his head to the sky, he howled. He could feel his breath become a little slower, and he wasn't trembling as much.
Marshall paused beside his police car. "Are you okay?" He licked his cheek.
He nodded. "We can save Jake."
The drive to Jake's was well-worn and familiar to all of them. They knew which potholes to avoid and where the snow would pile up. They got to the cliff in record time. Jake waved his hands at them.
He barked to call out his megaphone. "We're here to save you, Jake!"
He gave him a thumbs up.
"You're up, Skye." He sat back in his helicopter. Did Ryder always feel this calm? Having a plan and a backup plan eased the thoughts crowding his mind.
Skye drove higher into the sky, but the wind was buffeting her helicopter back and forth. "It's too windy!"
"Come back to the ground, Skye!" He called through his megaphone. "Your turn, Marshall."
Marshall backed his firetruck up, trotting out on his ladder as it expanded. It couldn't go down as Chase thought it did, only horizontal. He carefully felt the cliff face for pawholds, but shook his head at Chase.
Okay. Maybe Plan C would work.
"Wench!" He barked, grabbing the metal bone between his teeth. He pulled it over to Marshall's ladder, carefully adding his weight to it. He dripped the wench between two of the ladder rungs.
"Jake, catch!" He dragged his wench down further to him, kinking the wire with his teeth so it wouldn't automatically retract back up. The wench swung high above Jake's hands.
"Can you reach it?" Marshall called to him. Snow covered his firefighter hat.
Jake shook his head.
He mumbled to Marshall around his wire. "I'm going to use my weight to pull my wench down. That way, Jake can use it to pull himself up. Then you can call Rocky and Zuma. Rocky can build a float for Zuma to bring out here. I can jump onto that. I need you to retract your ladder so Jake doesn't have anything in his way going up."
Marshall blinked. "Who do you think you are, an Olympic diver?"
"I would get Skye to hold me in her harness, but it’s too windy out here. There's not a good place for me to use my net. Zuma will save me if I don't make it onto the float."
"Are you sure?" The way Marshall's ears were flattened back told him he already knew.
"I'm sure." He nuzzled against his chest.
Marshall nodded slowly. "Sure thing." He activated his pup tag.
When he saw Zuma speeding across the water with a Rocky original, he explained the plan to Jake with his megaphone.
Jake's face paled. "Um, okay, man."
Marshall retracted his ladder, leaving only the gray snowy sky up above. Chase stood on the edge of the cliff, wench in his mouth.
He jumped off the edge of the cliff, landing in Jake's arms. He released the wench into Jake's hands, apologized for the dog slobber, and barked for his wench. He watched from the ground as the wench lifted him up.
He called down to Zuma, "Get ready!"
Zuma shuffled his float in response. It looked like it was made out of trash bags wrapped around an air mattress to protect it from any punctures.
His breathing had turned fast again. He was trembling as he pawed the edge of the much higher jump ahead of him.
"You can do it, dude!" Zuma howled.
Taking a deep breath, he jumped off of the cliff. The fall was much faster than he had been anticipating. The wind was cold, but the water was colder.
Chase kept his eyes closed the whole time. He could feel the water around him, soaking into his skin and fur and forcing him to sink faster. He shivered beneath the waves. His only thoughts were of Ryder and how he'd let him down. Let all of the PAW Patrol down.
Suddenly teeth clamped around the scruff of his neck. He opened his eyes, but all he could see were dark swirls of water in front of him. Powerful paws brought him higher and higher, until he could see the glimmer of light on the surface of the sea. His chest burned with the effort of not breathing.
Zuma pulled him onto the raft. He coughed until his throat was sore, and he was shaking now from the cold. He saw the metallic covering of an EMT blanket and knew that Marshall was here. He felt the warmth of a body next to his under the blanket. He cuddled closer as Zuma pushed the raft to shore.
"You did it!" Marshall licked Chase's cheek.
"We all did it." He wagged his tail.
Once he was at the shore, Chase gave Jake a proper police escort back to his house and Everest's. The EMT blanket was still wrapped around him. Skye was the only one he had allowed to come with him, because he knew she wanted to see Everest. Marshall had done enough. He wanted him to rest. Then they could talk about everything that had happened so far today.
He dropped the blanket as they got to Everest's. He didn't want her to ask him questions he couldn't answer yet. Skye knew him well enough not to ask him her questions for a while.
Everest ran out of her pup house and tackled Jake as soon as she saw him. He laughed and patted her head and promised to buy her liver-flavored treats. Skye joined in with them seamlessly.
He backed up his police car to head back home, slipping away quietly.
Marshall was waiting in his pup house for him, just like he'd known he would. He welcomed the comforting familiarity of being at his home.
"I'm glad you're safe."
"I am, too." He admitted, letting himself feel the fear that had almost paralyzed him up on that cliff face. He crawled against Marshall's side.
"Why did you jump? We could have called Ryder. We should have called Ryder."
"I wanted to prove to him I am a good leader. And to myself." He turned to face Marshall. "I trust the PAW Patrol. And I trust you. If you thought it was that bad of an idea, you wouldn't have let me do it."
"You're more stubborn than I give you credit for." Marshall wagged his tail.
"More like determined with a hatred of asking for help." He lay his head on the pup bed.
Marshall wagged his tail, but was silent for a long while. He let his eyes close. Marshall's body was warm next to his. He drifted into a midday nap, the sun warming the pup house entrance and casting long shadows over the pup bed.