"You ready Marshy?" Everest asked as the two along with Ryder walked up to Haley's clinic. It had been about a week since her visit, and she had talked to them about the idea of giving Marshall therapy. Of course, they were all completely on board and got him an appointment scheduled, which happened to be right now.

"I-I don't know." The dally replied nervously, trying to back away from the building. He had been worried about this ever since the two brought it up to him. Of course, they weren't surprised by that. He hated talking about this kind of stuff.

Everest looked back at him with sympathy, seeing how distraught he was. "Come on, you can do this. It's just a therapy session, that's all." She cooed, trying to lower his anxiety. "This is gonna help you, I promise."

Marshall let out a small sigh and turned back to his mate, seeing the determination in her eyes. The only reason he had agreed to this in the first place was because she was insistent on him going, and he didn't want to let her down more than he already felt like he had.

"You'll stay with me, right?" He asked. The husky smiled and nuzzled him, remembering that ahead of time she had asked Haley if she could go with him during his session. Normally he would've gone in alone, but it was obvious he had formed some sort of separation anxiety after being away from her for so long.

"Of course I will." She answered, giving him a small nod. The dally took a deep breath, then slowly walked over to the building. Everest and Ryder smiled at each other, seeing that he had finally given in and was willing to give this a try.

The trio walked into the lobby to be greeted with a pleasant sight. The room was kindly decorated, with some nice-smelling candles lit. It had a very calming and happy vibe, clearly designed to comfort the animals who were coming here.

They all walked in and sat down on one of the waiting couches that had been set out for patients. Ryder had called Haley right before they left, so she knew they would be arriving sooner than later.

A few minutes passed before a familiar face walked into the room, snapping everyone out of their trance. "Hey guys, hey Marshall." Haley greeted as she walked over and gave him a light pat on the head, causing the dally to nuzzle her hand.

"You ready? And don't worry, I already spoke to Ryder. Everest is more than welcome to come in." She explained. Marshall looked up at her and gave her a small, nervous nod. 

"Great. You two can come on in." She stated as she directed the two to a door. Everest gave him a quick kiss for good luck before they both entered the room.

Inside, just as the lobby, there was a nice and welcoming atmosphere with some decorations around the room. There was a couch, presumably for the patients, with a chair sitting across from it, which was probably for Haley. It was the perfect design for this type of thing.

"Go ahead, take a seat, and make yourself comfortable." She beckoned. The dogs jumped up and laid down on the couch. Marshall nervously cuddled up with Everest, almost like he was trying to hide himself in her fur. The husky noticed his behavior and wrapped her arm around him.

"Hey, it's ok Marshy. Don't worry, I'll stay with you, alright? Everything's gonna be ok." She comforted. The dally slightly calmed down and rested his head on her shoulder.

"She's right Marshall, you have nothing to be afraid of, this is a safe place. We're just gonna talk for a bit, and then we'll be done until next week." Haley stated as she also sat down in her chair. "So, how have you been recently?"

"I-I've been ok I guess." He responded weakly. Haley and Everest both looked at each other with unconvinced looks on their faces, knowing what he had said was far from the truth.

"Buddy, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong. I understand you're probably scared just being here, I get it, you aren't my first patient. You're safe here, I promise. I just need you to be honest, ok?" The girl explained, earning a small nod from Marshall in response.

"Well, I feel happy sometimes. Especially when I'm with Eve. She makes me happy. But, I-I don't know, sometimes I just feel so hopeless and guilty, like I'm a burden to everyone else. Maybe, everyone's life would be easier if I wasn't around. I want to be happy, but I feel like there's something inside me that doesn't want that." He told her.

"I see, well, when did these feelings start?" She asked. The dally moved closer to his mate, trying his best to not break down as he remembered how everything started.

"A-after t-the attack.....When I-I lost her." He mumbled, looking over at the husky as the memories began to resurface. Everest, seeing his discomfort and immediately knowing its source, gave him a few licks.

Haley smiled at the husky's attempts to soothe him, seeing the obvious undying love between the two. She knew that alone must've been one of Marshall's biggest calming points, which was also proven by the fact that he refused to stay away from her.

"What attack? Can you tell me about that?" She requested. Naturally, the dally started to get anxious as she said that. He shut his eyes, trying to lock away the tears that were trying to escape.

"I-I can't." He whispered in response, as everything came back. The blood, the screams of pain coming from his own mate, the despair and hurt he had felt himself. He just couldn't put it into words.

"Marshall, listen to me." His therapist stated, resting a hand on his paw. "I know this isn't easy for you. It takes a lot to relive your trauma, especially with someone you don't know well, and not someone like Everest. However, just the fact that you're here shows me how brave you are. Like I said earlier, if you don't tell me what's going on, I can't help you." She insisted.

The dally slowly opened his eyes, the memories leaving just as fast as they came. "Marshy." Everest called out, grabbing his attention. "It's ok, you can tell her."

Marshall nodded and began forcing the words out of his mouth. "Eve and I were on Jake's mountain. It was normal at first, b-but..." He slowly trailed off, seemingly unable to continue. His ears drooped as his explanation came to an early end.

"I-I'm sorry....I-I just can't. I-it hurts too much." He whimpered, lowering his head in shame, assuming his company would be disappointed with him. Instead, and much to his surprise, the others didn't seem that way at all. In fact, he felt Haley lean forward and give him a scratch behind the ear, causing him to look up in confusion.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you buddy. I know this hurts. Whatever it was you went through must've been awful, and I'm truly sorry you had to experience that." She reassured. The dally smiled a bit, seeing her kind reaction. "Now, do you wanna try again?"

Marshall thought for a moment, then looked over at Everest for any type of direction on how he should respond. "It's up to you Marshy." She reminded, knowing exactly what he was about to ask her.

"A-alright, I-I can try." He answered weakly. The two females nodded, glad that he was willing to at least try and recall what had happened, despite only one knowing fully how painful that was for him.

And slowly but surely, he began explaining everything. He didn't go into too much detail though, for his own sake.  He told her about Damian and how he was there when Everest was attacked. But just as the others had expected, the poor pup was shaking in fear by the time he finished, clearly terrified by just talking about it.

"Right, so that's what happened." Haley stated, writing a few things down before looking back up at her patient, who was being hugged tightly by Everest, trying her best to calm him down a bit.

Now, she had a full understanding of what happened, and she was surprised to find out it was worse than she expected. She assumed his trauma had come from something like a car crash, or something going wrong on a mission, but no. He had been forced to watch the love of his life torn to bloody shreds and what was thought to be murdered.

That had answered multiple questions she had. It explained why Everest had gotten her injuries, and why Marshall seemed so scared to be separated from her. Everything made sense, and she had realized how scarred he must've truly been.

"I'm sure those months were hard, weren't they?" She asked with sympathy starting to fill her voice, knowing he probably didn't take his mate's death very well.

"T-they were like torture. It hurt so much" He whispered in response, even those months he had spent alone had formed into bad memories. They didn't even seem like his own anymore, he could barely process them.

"Does it still?" The girl questioned. Marshall titled his head a bit, slightly confused about what she was asking. "Does it still hurt as bad as it did back then?" She clarified.

"No, not as bad as it used to. Eve makes things better." He answered as the husky smiled at his statement, glad she could still bring some form of joy to his life. "B-but, it still hurts a lot. I just wish this pain would go away...."

"And it will, one day. These types of things don't heal overnight, but they can over time, and I'm gonna be here to help that happen, I promise." Haley vowed, giving him a warm smile to emphasize her point.

"So will I, Marshy. We'll help you, all of us will." Everest chimed in, nuzzling the dally. A small smile began to appear on his face, and unlike most of the other times, it wasn't a fake one just put on for show. It was a genuine one, put there by the unfamiliar feeling of hope. Hope that maybe, one day things really could get better.

"T-thanks guys." He replied, and although it was clear he was nowhere near fully healed, just by his tone of voice alone they could tell a small start had been made.

"Of course buddy, this is my job, and I really do wanna help you." His therapist responded. Suddenly, as she remembered something and looked back at the pups with a bit of disappointment visible on her face.

"But, that's all the time we have right now. Come on, I'll walk you two out." She stated as she stood up from her chair. The couple also got up from their own couch and exited through the door.

"Oh, hey guys, how did it go?"Ryder asked, noticing the trio walk out from the room. Haley looked down at the weakly smiling pup and turned back to the boy with a smile of her own.

"I think it went pretty well. It might take some time, but I know we can make some good progress." She happily reported. The boy nodded and bent down, getting closer to Marshall.

"And what about you? Do you think you'd wanna come back for another session next week?" He questioned. In all honesty, he had no idea what answer to expect. Naturally, he didn't want to force the dally into doing something he didn't want to do, but at the same time, this was a healthy and very helpful option for recovery.

Ryder, Everest, and Haley all eagerly waited for a response, knowing fully how much this one decision could change, whether it be good or bad. However, to all of their delight, the dally gave them a small nod, confirming the best-case scenario.

Almost immediately, the husky threw her arms around him, covering his face with her tongue, clearly overjoyed at this new opportunity for him. Marshall immediately hugged back, despite not exactly sure why she was so happy for him.

Eventually, she grabbed his face and pulled back. "This is really gonna help you. I-I'm so proud of you Marshy," She exclaimed. She could tell the dally was a bit confused, but regardless, he did exactly what she thought he would and pulled her into another hug.

Without breaking the hug, Everest silently looked up at her friend, and her mate's new therapist and mouthed a silent thank you. The girl nodded, the three left the building, two of them being much more satisfied and happy than the other.

Who could blame them? Their pup, or the closer relationship of mate, was one step closer to getting better.