Thankfully, Ryder had given everyone permission to sleep in today. Everest was usually perfectly fine with getting up early, but today she managed to sleep pretty late. Normally she would've gotten up to go see who else was awake, but Marshall was still cuddled up in her fur, and she didn't want to wake him.

Ryder had told her that the dally had gotten very little sleep in the last three months, so his body needed to get as much rest as possible. So, with that in mind, she just decided to wait. Plus, she did promise him that she would be there when he woke up.

After who knows how long, Marshall slowly opened his eyes and saw that Everest was there, which slightly caught him off guard. "E-Eve?" He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. The husky quickly turned her attention back to her mate.

"Good morning Marshy." She greeted as she licked his cheek. Without any warning, Marshall immediately hugged her and started crying softly. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, clearly concerned.

Marshall looked up at her with a smile on his face and licked her face. That's when Everest realized that these weren't tears of despair. They were tears of happiness. "Y-you're alive. It wasn't just a dream. You're really here." He whispered.

The husky smiled at him, enjoying seeing his face light up the way it did. "I told you I was real silly. Now let's go see if the rest are up." She suggested as she stood up. Marshall slowly got up as well, but she could still see how tired and worn out he was.

"Come on, get on my back." She insisted as she laid back down. The dally tiredly accepted and got on, using every ounce of his willpower to not fall back asleep. Everest stood up once again and walked to the elevator.

Once they got to the top, they noticed everyone was not only already awake, but it had looked like they'd been up for a while. "About time, jeez you two slept in late." Chase joked.

"Yeah whatever, I was tired, and I still am." Marshall replied as he got off Everest's back, letting out a few yawns in between.

"Well, good morning guys. I got your food over here, you should be lucky Rubble hasn't eaten it yet." Ryder called out from the kitchen with a small laugh, only kind of joking about what he had said.

They both walked over and began to eat the food in their bowls, already pretty hungry. "Hey Ryder, can I have some more? I'm still pretty hungry." Marshall requested as he finished his food.

"Normally I would say no, but you haven't been eating much recently so yes, you can." Ryder responded as he poured him another bowl, which the dally happily ate. After he finished, he and Everest joined the others who were simply sitting on the couch and talking.

"Ryder sir?" Chase called out, having a specific question in mind. Hearing his pup, the boy walked into the room and sat down with the rest of them.

"What is it, Chase?" He asked, knowing the pup could be asking almost anything. Lots had changed in the past day, things would never be the same, but in this case, that was definitely a good thing.

"Now that Everest is back, does this mean we can start going on missions again?" The shepherd asked curiously.

This was something Ryder had actually thought about. However, It was a kind of a double-edged sword. On one end, he knew how much the pups loved missions, plus it would be helpful for all of them to get out. On the other end though, he wasn't sure what to do if Marshall was called for a mission and Everest wasn't, knowing if something were to happen, she'd be the one who'd calm him down.

Another thing was that they had been on a break for a whole three months, they might not be as needed for rescues anymore. Of course, they'd still have plenty of missions, there just might be bigger things than some of the usual duties that they had to take care of if the town had gotten used to their absence 

"Hm, I really don't know. Let me call Katie and see what she thinks." He said, earning him a bunch of teasing looks from the pups. Trying to hide his slight blush, Ryder turned away and called her.

"Hey, Ryder. Something wrong?" She greeted through the speakers, assuming he had called to ask her something.

"Hey Katie, I was wondering, now that Everest is back, do you think it's a good idea to go back on missions. The pups want to, but I'm a bit worried about Marshall." He asked, proving her suspicion right. There was a pause before Katie spoke up.

"I would say it's probably fine to bring him on missions. It might be helpful for Marshall to get out." She started to answer.

"But, there is one thing I'd recommend. Whether she's needed or not, if Marshall goes on a mission, you need to bring Everest as well. And the same goes for the other way around. Like I said yesterday, I highly doubt Marshall would like being away from her. Plus, if for whatever reason he has an attack, the thing that will calm him down most is her." The girl explained.

"Ok, good to know. Thanks, Katie, bye." Ryder replied as he hung up. He turned around to see all the pups looking at him with eager expressions written on their faces. "Good news! We can start going on missions again!" He announced.

The pups howled with joy and excitement, happy that after so long, things would finally begin to start going back to how they once were, even though in reality, it could never truly be the way it was before.

"Oh, and Everest, Katie said that you need to stay with Marshall, so if he goes on a mission, you go as well. And vice versa." He informed.

"That's completely fine with me." Everest responded happily as she licked Marshall, who was also in favor of the small change. Ryder went and called Mrs. Goodway to tell her the good news, and that the husky was alive since they hadn't had the time to make that public.

"Well, now what do we do?" Marshall asked as their owner talked to the mayor in the background.

"I was probably going to go see Jake. I kinda miss him, plus we haven't really seen each other in a while, he probably misses me too." Everest replied, wanting to be able to spend some time with her old owner.

"Oh ok, do you mind if I come with you?" The dally asked, hoping the husky wouldn't be annoyed with him trying to tag along. But of course, she smiled at him, letting him know everything was fine.

"Of course you can go." She exclaimed. She wouldn't have even gone if he didn't want to go with her. The last thing she wanted to do was leave him alone. She still couldn't help but feel terrified by what he had almost done the previous night.

"Uhm, Everest? Are you ok?" Skye asked, seeing the worried expression on her face. It almost looked like she was about to cry. The husky bit her lip, knowing that she should tell the others what had happened, but she wasn't sure if it was the best idea to do it with Marshall right there.

"Marshy, can I tell them?" She whispered. The dally looked back at her with a confused expression as he tilted his head, making her let out a quiet sigh. "About what happened when I came back, in your puphouse." She clarified.

She could immediately see the happy look on the dally's face fade away into a worried, almost scared one. Regardless, he gave her a slight nod. Just like she did, he knew that it would be best for the others to know.

"Well, the thing is, uhm, the night I came back, a-and...." The rest stood there confused as Everest struggled to find her words. Then, not being able to hold her emotions any longer, she burst into tears and hugged Marshall, who seemed a bit caught off guard by the sudden outburst.

"I-I was so scared, Marshy. I-I really t-thought that I wasn't going t-to be able to s-stop you." She cried out. She knew she'd never forget what she had seen him do that night. She saw him mutter what he assumed were his final words and brought a knife to his own body, and if she was any slower, she wouldn't have been able to stop him.

Of course, Marshall tried to comfort her, but in the end, he started to cry just as hard as she was. It was such a stressful moment for both of them, it was one they knew they wouldn't be forgetting any time soon.

The others had simply no clue what was going on, but eventually, Everest managed to calm down first and pulled Marshall's face so the two were making direct eye contact.

"M-Marshy. Never d-do that again. Please. If y-you ever feel like that again, please come talk to me. I d-don't think I could handle it if y-you actually went t-through with it." Everest begged, getting a sad nod in response.

"So, what exactly is happening?" Ryder asked, still completely clueless about the whole situation. Marshall looked up at him with a worried expression on his face.

"I-I almost did it, Ryder. Eve saved me, b-but I was really gonna do it." He replied as he wiped away some tears. This just made the boy even more concerned, so he bent down and put his hand on the pup's head for comfort.

"What were you gonna do?" He asked worriedly. The dally looked up at him, clearly struggling to force his words out. Seeing his obvious distress, Everest nudged him.

"Marshy, let me tell him." The husky insisted, not wanting him to talk about what had happened any more than he had to. Marshall nodded and scooted back a bit to let the two talk.

Everest let out a small sigh but got to explaining. "H-he almost killed himself." She whispered, still loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ryder could feel his heart split in half. His own pup had been forced to see his mate brutally attacked, fell into a deep depression after her supposed death, was diagnosed with PTSD, and now this. One more thing added to his suffering.

That being said, it brought another emotion to the boy. Guilt. He wished he had done more, but everything had happened so suddenly. He wasn't sure what to do, or how to help him. And because of his inability to get the dally the help he needed, well, it nearly cost him his life.

Marshall sat there for a minute once Everest had explained what had happened. Ryder didn't seem to give much of a reaction at first, which worried him. He knew the others had heard it too, so it was only a matter of time until he heard how they'd take it.

After a moment or so of agonizing silence, the dally was a bit surprised when his owner wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly. Everest smiled at the action and decided to join in herself. Eventually, all of the pups had done the same.

Marshall was caught off guard at first, just not understanding their sudden gesture. However, he quickly let himself melt into the moment and hugged them back. He enjoyed the feeling of the other's care and support, especially a certain husky's.

After a while, Ryder pulled back, as did most of the others aside from Everest who was still clinging to his side, and looked his pup dead in the eyes, making sure the dally could tell he was serious.

"Marshall, listen to me. We all love you. And if you ever feel like that again, do what Everest said. Talk to her, or me, or Chase, or any of us for that matter." He stated, making sure he got the point through to him.

"I-I will. I'm sorry I had to make your guys worry." Marshall apologized, although part of him already knew that the others wouldn't reject him.

"Marshy, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. I'm not mad or disappointed in you because of that. None of us are." Everest replied warmly as the rest nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Eve, and all you guys. I-I needed that." The dally confessed, looking at everyone. He wasn't just saying for their sake either, he really meant it.

"Of course Marshy. Just remember, we're all here for you, and that will never change." The husky responded, licking his face a few times.

"Anyways, do you still wanna go hang out at Jake's? I understand if you would rather stay here, I'll just do whatever you do." She asked. Marshall smiled weakly and nodded his head. "Alright, cool. Let's get going then. Bye, everyone!" She called out.

Just as the two were about to walk out, Everest was stopped by Chase, who seemed to be worried about something.

"Everest, keep an eye on him, ok? He's like my brother, and I would hate to see something happen to him. I know he's in good paws, I'm just worried." He requested, still concerned about the dally's well-being, fully aware he wasn't just going to be better overnight.

"Of course I will Chase. I'm his mate after all, it's my job to look after him. Especially now, with everything he's going through." She answered with a small smile. Chase nodded and went back to join Skye and the others, a bit relieved from the husky's reassurance.

The two pups walked out to their vehicles, and Marshall couldn't help but feel excited. He was getting to spend a full day with Everest, which not even twenty-four hours ago would've seemed impossible.

Despite having far too many negatives, he still felt okay with everything. He was hurting terribly, but he finally had something to live for again. And now, he was in a life he was willing to experience.

Because now, he would never have to be alone.