In the short time it took to get from Jake's cabin to Katie's clinic, Everest's originally overwhelming, tear-jerking emotions had turned into pure excitement. Most of the others had been dropped off at the lookout, which was fine by her, all they would've been doing was waiting for her surgery. She had Marshall for company, who was all she really needed, and of course, Ryder, Katie, and Audrey came as well.

By now, they were pulling into the driveway, two of them being happier than ever to have finally arrived after what felt like hours upon hours of driving. The husky jumped on the ground the second she had the chance, instantly feeling the cold concrete pressing against her paw pads. She usually wasn't the fastest, but now that she was excited, it was a different story. Audrey wasn't too far behind either, although she was just glad to be back home.

Everest held the door open and let the pup rush into her temporary home, even if technically she was her guest. Before the door could close on her, she bolted inside, expecting to see the other three walking in as well. However, she quickly found out that besides themselves, the place was a silent ghost town with no one else in sight.

Slightly confused, she turned back and walked to the glass door to see what the hold-up was. Of course, as luck would have it, her decision didn't take long to lead to an unfortunate outcome. The husky was forced to scramble backward to get out of the way of Katie and Ryder opening the door, both struggling to carry the large crate inside.

She just barely managed to get out of the way—minus the close call of her tail almost getting stepped on—and thankfully her instincts kicked in quick enough to grab Audrey before she could run to greet them. The two humans thanked her for keeping her out of the way and finally got to set down the box, which was probably an amazing feeling for their arms.

"Excited?" the Dalmatian asked as he stepped inside, more joking with her than anything. She flashed a quick glare at his obvious sarcasm, but either way, she nodded in confirmation. As if she even needed to give an answer, her tail was giving him all the evidence needed. Though that almost felt like cheating, he could admit that having their tails convey the majority of their emotions could get troubling.

"Well hang on, don't get too excited yet. I still have to go get everything ready for your surgery. It'll only take a minute or two, so just relax and I'll come get you soon," Katie explained, petting her head before disappearing behind the door to the operation room. As good as her intentions were, telling Everest to "just relax" in this state was pretty much impossible.

Even if the girl's estimated time wasn't long at all, those first couple of seconds felt like minutes for Everest. She wasn't usually one to be impatient, in fact, compared to the others she was probably the best at waiting, but everyone had a breaking point when they were excited.

She wasn't even as nervous as she usually was, which was saying something considering how much she typically hated going to the vet. It was a foreign concept until she lived with Jake, so at first the idea of going somewhere to get needles stuck into her skin and have a bunch of data collected sounded like something straight out of a horror movie. But thankfully, Jake and Marshall had slowly explained to her that it was only to look after her health, and Katie was used to dogs being nervous for their first couple visits.

However, her irritation was interrupted by the sound of a small bark, which caught both her and Marshall's attention. They both looked up to the source of the sound, being greeted with the sight of Audrey standing at one of the doors scattered around the lobby while looking back at them. The Dalmatian was the first to take initiative, walking over to the pup with her close behind to see what all the fuss was about.

"What's up?" Knowing she probably wouldn't understand most of what he was saying, the Dally made sure to tilt his head so she at least had an idea. The pup seemed to catch on—for all he knew she actually could understand him—and she nudged his leg with her nose before pointing back at the door.

Everest was just confused, she was never the best at deciphering puppy actions into what they actually wanted, having never been given the chance to do so until she taught herself how to talk. Marshall, on the other hand, seemed to get the message. He jumped up on his hind legs and pressed down on the doorknob, barely opening it enough that he could finish the job with all paws on the ground.

All that lay behind the door was a flight of stairs, but that was apparently what Audrey wanted. She might as well have been granted the ability of teleportation, within the blink of an eye she had scaled the stairs and was looking down at them both, clearly waiting for them to follow along. Odds were she would try and drag them up by force if necessary.

"Lean on me," the Dally muttered to the husky. She obliged, knowing how much of a pain stairs tended to be for her, but not without the usual hatred of having to ask him for help. But, now at least she could tell herself this would be the last time. Just a little more waiting and she'd finally have to stop needing all of this help for everyday actions.

With a bit of assistance, they both made it to the second floor where the Border Collie had waited for them. Audrey looked around as if she was right at home, the others not so much, but it was still pretty obvious as to what it was. While the downstairs was for Katie's work, everyone, including her, needed their place to stay and relax.

It was arranged very similarly to what a typical apartment would be, mainly one large room in the center that had a kitchen and living room with all the usual stuff; a TV, a table and chairs, a couch, and other random household appliances, plus a closet off to the side. There was a small hallway that led to two doors on each side, likely being the bathroom across from the girl's bedroom. It wasn't nearly as big as the lookout, but it was pretty perfect for just one person.

Unlike Everest, Marshall knew he had been up here before, the distant, blurry memories of playing up here with some of the others when they were pups still floating around in his mind. He didn't remember much, but he knew that Katie used to keep an eye on them whenever Ryder had to leave the lookout for whatever reason it would've been. Usually, she'd just come to them, but for longer periods of time, they would stay at her place for however long was needed.

Of course, this was back when they were too young to be trusted alone—he hadn't even known Everest existed at the time. But either way, he remembered that she was pretty good at babysitting. She would always spoil them with treats and baths when they were over. There was no doubt that Audrey had lucked out when it came to having a foster owner, the only drawback being how often Katie worked.

"So...I guess this is where Katie lives?" The husky was a bit more confused than he was, which was expected. The Dally nodded and opened his mouth for more of an explanation before another bark took both of their attention away. Now, the Border Collie had moved targets and was at one of the doors in the hallway, jumping through the built-in dog-door once she knew they were looking at her.

Thinking nothing of it, Marshall followed behind. Everest on the other hand had her face screaming uncertainty. She wasn't sure if going into what she assumed was Katie's room would be seen as an invasion of privacy or not. Then again, the Dalmatian and the others seemed to have much better relationships with her—not that they didn't get along, quite the opposite really, she just hadn't grown up with her the way they had—so his decision was probably safe to stand by.

"Don't worry, Eve, Katie isn't gonna mind us going in there," he reassured her, reading her mind once again. She was still a bit hesitant, any chance of getting in trouble was usually enough to turn her away, but she hopped through the dog-door anyway, with the Dalmatian close behind.

Inside was about what they expected; a pretty average-sized bedroom. There was a bed against the wall with a nightstand next to it. There was also a dresser across from her bed and a closet off to the side, and it was fairly clean as well. Sure, there was a t-shirt or two laying on the ground, but the cleanliness was definitely an upgrade compared to Ryder's.

This also seemed to act as Audrey's room, hence why she wanted to show it off to them. She had all the toys she could ever want in one corner of the room, along with the essentials, like an automatic refilling water bowl near it. She also had a dog bed with a warm, fluffy, purple blanket laying on it, but judging by the black and white fur on Katie's bed, chances were it wasn't used all that much.

The Border Collie grabbed one of the toys in her mouth before turning back to Marshall, proudly wagging her tail as she showed off her prized possession. He, however, only allowed that to last for oh so long. Soon enough, his mouth was latched onto the other end of the rope she had, initiating yet another game of tug-a-war. Everest got the feeling that this was her plan the entire time, but she stayed silent and let them have their fun. She found it pretty enjoyable to watch until a separate voice entered her ears.

"Jeez, you three just love sneakin' off, huh?" Although the other two were more focused on their game, the husky turned her head around and made eye contact with Katie, who seemed more amused than anything. But apparently, her tail sliding between her legs and ears lowering was enough to give her away and ruin the humor. "Oh, don't worry, Everest, you're not in trouble. I really don't care if you guys are up here. Trust me, Marshall and the others have played up here more times than I can count."

The husky could feel her body get less tense, although she still flinched when the nurse pet her head out of fear it would be more aggressive, but other than that it gave her the excuse she needed to rid herself of the troublesome worry. Katie called out for the other two, who did the very least to move their eyes towards her, their mouths not even bothering to leave the rope.

It wasn't until then that Everest realized why she was up here in the first place, which naturally turned into visible excitement as she quickly looked up at her. The girl smiled and turned around, walking out of her room and back down to the lobby. The snow dog, of course, was as close as she could be, almost getting her paws stepped on multiple occasions.

Marshall was about to rush down behind her before he felt Audrey's nose nudging him. He looked down at her, only to see the pup holding her head high with the rope in her mouth and her mouth alone. The Border Collie giggled as she watched the shock wash over her opponent's face once he realized she had won without just being handed the victory.

"You give me that," he challenged playfully, reaching his mouth out in an attempt to take the toy back. Instead of actually giving him a chance, however, she jumped out of the way, almost causing the Dalmatian to trip. She quickly nuzzled his leg before smirking at him triumphantly, darting down the stairs before it was too late. Marshall just sighed and slowly followed behind, she had won fair and square, even if she insisted on being sassy about it.

"As you can probably tell, everything is set up and ready for you, girl. Marshall, Audrey, Ryder, you three can just hang out here until it's done, it shouldn't take long at all," she explained, taking the handful of necessary pieces of paperwork from the boy, freeing him from that obnoxious chore and passing it onto her. She would never give them to customers if she was able to, they always were just a pain for everyone to deal with.

Everest walked next to the Dalmatian, nuzzling him and licking his cheek—which he returned instantly—before pulling away, tears already starting to trail down her face. She was smiling, and no words were needed to come out of her mouth to express how happy she was feeling. The only negativity was a small pinch of stress from requiring surgery, but other than that, this was a dream come true.

"Good luck, honey, I'll be right here when you're finished. Love you." The husky blinked her eyes a few times, keeping herself from causing much of a scene. Katie was already holding the door for her, in probably less than a minute she'd be out like a light and then waking up as if nothing had ever happened.

"T-thanks, I love you too. I guess I'll...see you when it's over." The Dalmatian nodded, and Everest gave him a gentle smile before disappearing behind the door. He could tell how excited she was, he was definitely glad this project that was started so long ago was finally being put to use.

Her robotic leg was never even meant to be a Christmas gift, time had just worked with their schedule and made it happen. He had assumed it was something she would've loved to have, so he talked to the other three into helping him soon after her amputation. The conversation in their puphouse that night he snuck out to the graveyard only confirmed that for him, which made him happier that it was finally finished. And for now, it was his turn to feel the dreadful wait from the other side of the door.

▪️◻️◻️⬛️◻️◻️▪️

Even if no one doubted her to begin with, Katie really wasn't lying when she said it wouldn't take long. For Marshall, at least, it only felt like a few minutes, but that was mainly Audrey's fault. He had kept himself entertained by playing with her—along with explaining to Ryder why she had a name all of the sudden. He seemed a bit confused at first, but was very supportive once he figured it all out.

The girl opened the door with a warm expression on her face, interrupting the two dogs' game of batting a tennis ball back and forth. Both of them were excited to see her, just for their own separate reasons. Marshall's was obvious, he only wanted to see Everest and confirm that she was okay, while Audrey on the other hand just looked at her with a ball in her mouth and a wagging tail, hoping to drag her into another game of fetch.

"How is she?" he asked excitedly. Katie smiled at him and pet his head in reassurance. Her expression was really all he needed to see to gather all the needed info, it's not like she was trying to lie with her face. It definitely calmed him in more ways than one, seeing as he still didn't like not knowing about his mate's condition.

"Everest is perfectly fine, bud. The surgery went great, she should be waking up any second now. Y'all can come back, but be careful, she might feel a bit weird waking up." Marshall thanked her before rushing inside, almost instantly finding the husky laying on her back in bed, fully knocked out by the medicine she was given. As promised, the black metallic leg had been properly attached to her.

Carefully, he jumped up next to her and waited for those lake blue eyes to open. Audrey tried to jump up next to him, but just to avoid her being too touchy with the husky, Katie scooped her up mid-jump. The pup turned her head back to her foster owner, glaring at her in annoyance that she was being taken away from the other two. Although, her stubbornness melted away with the pets being placed on her back.

As the girl had estimated, the husky started to shift in her bed, letting out a tired groan as if she was just waking up from a long nap. The first thing she did before even opening her eyes was grip her mate's paw, trying to pull him closer. Marshall just let her do as she wanted, and he welcomed her tired, mindless affection before she fully woke up and processed everything.

"Morning, snowflake, how'd you sleep?" Everest rolled her eyes and gripped his paw tighter, using his assistance to sit up a bit more in bed—a task that only required her front legs. She yawned before taking in the sight of her lower body, looking down at her leg at what was usually just a stub. It had no lavender fur, more of a sleek, black metal coating, but it was so much more than she thought she'd ever get.

"I'm still tired, honestly. And you better have gotten some type of rest while I was out instead of stressing over me, mister." The Dalmatian exhaled at her call-out, even if he knew it was a pretty usual concern of hers. It's not like he wasn't used to her constantly checking up on him, especially within the last couple of weeks.

"Don't worry, I mainly just played with Audrey. The only thing that happened was me getting dizzy again, but—" The husky glared a deathly stare at him, already warning him of the loving wrath she would wash upon him if this didn't end the way she wanted it to. "But, I laid down for a bit and it eventually went away."

"Good, you would've been in trouble if you didn't," she reminded him, lightly nuzzling him as the reward for his small act of self-care. Marshall could only let her have at it, as much as he didn't see it as a big deal, she would constantly do this for even the tiniest actions, despite his claims.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But how are you feeling? Does everything feel comfortable?" Everest was surprised with herself, for a second there she had been so focused on him that she had completely forgotten what was going on for her. Although, the fact that nothing immediately stuck out was probably a good sign.

"Uhm...it doesn't hurt, it's just weird," she explained. The sensation of something actually being there was something she had obviously felt before, but after a month or so of nothing, it was very much a new and confusing feeling. Katie scratched behind her ear as she carefully sat down next to her, making sure Audrey didn't pry herself out of her arms as she examined her leg.

"Well that's normal, it'll take some getting used to. As long as it doesn't hurt it should be fine. Now, we just need to do a few tests. Can you move your back leg for me? Your actual leg, I mean." Everest nodded, easily kicking her leg into the air as requested. The girl slipped her a small treat as praise, that being what she always did for patients. She also had to slip one to Audrey before she got too jealous. Besides, she knew her next request would be anything but easy, unlike her previous one. "Ok...can you try and move your other back leg?"

The husky squeezed Marshall's paw in nervousness as she looked back in his direction. The Dally gently stroked her shaking paw, silently reassuring her that it would be fine. If everything went according to plan, moving her new leg should be just as easy as moving her real one, but that was the problem, it was only an "if". All the tests they had done said that this should work, but they could never be sure until she was actually wearing it, and it would only lead to disappointment if something were to go wrong.

But with that being said, Everest also had taught herself by now not to get her hopes up for anything. So with hope for the best and preparations made for the worst, she went ahead and did as asked. It felt unbelievably weird to try and send the mental signal for her leg to move, having not done it for so long she almost assumed she'd do it wrong and nothing would happen. However, by some miracle, that wasn't the case.

In nearly identical fashion to her real leg, her robotic replacement softly kicked the air, doing exactly what she had asked it to. Ryder and Katie both looked at each other, their mouths wide open in a mixture of happiness, shock, and pride. Marshall was smiling too, but none were as big and genuine as Everest's, although her expression was the main source of his.

"It..it works," she muttered in awe, her words only coming out as a mere whisper. If earlier felt like a dream, then right now she had died and was in heaven. She was trying out everything she could think of, bending her knee, stretching it out, kicking it more, moving it as if she was walking, and she still had yet to get a result that let her down.

Sure enough, tears were starting to force themselves out of her eyes. She tried to wipe them away, but she was beyond outnumbered, there was no hope for that plan. Marshall noticed and instantly wrapped his forelegs around her, laying his head against her cheek in the closest thing he could do to a hug with her in bed. He knew they were happy tears, at least, he couldn't blame her for being emotional.

"Do you mind if I help you up, Everest? We just need to look at one more thing before you can go,'' the girl explained. The husky barely managed to nod, and Katie sort of picked her up—compared to Audrey, she was way harder to lift—and gently set her on the ground. The husky allowed herself to add the extra weight onto her back legs, which for once didn't end with her falling over.

Marshall jumped down from the bed as well, walking a few feet in front of the husky before sitting down. She on the other hand was still getting adjusted to the fact that she was standing on all fours, even that was an old feeling she had forgotten; the blessing of being able to stand without either falling over or having to lay down within minutes.

"Alright, now I just want you to try and walk over to Marshall," the girl instructed. Everest anxiously looked down at the floor and then back up at her mate, unsureness once again intruding her headspace. She was quite literally relearning how to walk, they could tell her all they wanted that this would be simple, maybe even convince her mind, but her body would refuse to trust her.

She told herself plenty of times that she wouldn't fall, that she'd be okay, but despite all that effort, her legs were frozen solid. After what felt like far too long, she finally mustered up the strength to take the first half of the step, one that didn't require the use of her robotic leg.

"You're okay, Eve, you can do it. I'm right here," Marshall encouraged her, spreading his forelegs open as an obvious invitation. With that extra confidence booster—and the reward of a warm hug waiting for her—she forced her back leg to move. It felt surprisingly natural, and she was lucky enough to not fall over.

The husky smiled at herself, her heart was still beating out of her chest, but now she knew could at least walk. In the adrenaline rush of her excitement, she tried to walk faster to the Dally, but that turned out to be an overestimation. As she still wasn't used to the extra weight strapped on to her, the second she moved without thinking about it at all ended in her tripping and falling to the ground.

Thankfully, Marshall was right there to catch her and shove her back into his hold, giving her the hug he had promised accompanied by light back rubs. Without leaving his grasp, Everest turned back to Katie who was smiling at the rate of her success. The girl tossed both of them a treat, along with handing one to Audrey, all three of which were gobbled up instantly.

"How's it feeling now? Does it hurt to walk or anything?" he asked, lessening his grip on her. The husky reluctantly left the arms of her Dalmatian, walking around in small circles by herself with her eyes glued to the ground. She started out slow, but as the seconds passed, her speed slightly increased, although the care she was taking never went away. Soon enough walking would just be second nature again.

"I-it feels fine, still doesn't hurt," she answered, for once taking her eyes off of the ground to look at him. Not a single aspect of this felt like it should be happening, it was almost too easy. She always tried to remind herself that if something felt too good to be true, it probably wasn't, but this day was really giving that saying a run for its money.

"You sure? If anything feels uncomfortable or out of place I'm sure Katie could fix it." Everest laughed slightly and walked next to him, this time moving relatively close to her usual speed. The more and more she walked, the less she thought about it, producing the more natural feeling before she could even realize it.

"I'm sure, Marshy, it feels great. T-thank you guys, really, this has been one of the best days of my life." All four of them were enjoying seeing the husky so happy, especially since three of them were among the very few who were aware of her struggles. No one liked to see her bottling up emotions with cover-up lies, but now she was quite clearly letting her true colors show.

"You're not the only one who can say that," Marshall chimed in, his eyes looking over at a certain black and white coated pup for a split second before he brought them back to her direction. Everest decided that she had done enough pacing, feeling comfortable enough with just walking—although certainly nothing more than simple steps. It was good enough for her to move around, which for now was what she needed to confirm to them.

"So...is that it? Do we go home now?" Katie almost agreed and told her that she was free to go, everything medically-wise was finished. However, that didn't mean the entire visit was over, she had just enough time to bite her tongue and throw on her fake face to keep the act going.

"Well, just one more thing, and then yes, you can," she explained, gently poking Ryder's arm to grab his attention. Unlike her, who was expecting him to get the memo and play along, he looked at her in genuine confusion. He assumed he might've just forgotten to sign a piece of paper or two, but the desperation on Katie's eyes flashing between him and Audrey as what almost felt like a hint said otherwise.

"Hm? What else does she need to do?" he questioned, fully neglecting the sign that she felt was a dead giveaway. Katie raised her eyebrow at him, which originally confused him before his own eyes widened at the realization. The other two dogs sat in confusion, especially Marshall. He was one of the ones that had made her leg and prepared everything, he was never told about whatever this last task was.

The girl sighed to herself, already starting to feel an upcoming sense of worry washing upon her. She gently squeezed the pup in her arms, almost having second thoughts. But she knew that would be downright evil at this stage, it was too late to back out, and she knew that this was the best thing she could do for both the pup and the others. Everyone had to leave the nest eventually.

"Well, things tend to get pretty busy around this time of year, and I'm kinda worried about Audrey. With me starting work again, I don't want her to feel alone or neglected since I can't be with her most of the day." Katie looked down at the pup before looking back up at Marshall and Everest, both of which had their heads tilted in confusion.

She smiled lightly, reminding herself of how much this could do for them. Even if she had felt herself becoming attached to the pup, the best life she could give her was one that was out of her hands. She loved the Border Collie, but she wasn't lying when she said she would be too busy to give her all the attention that she needed. Her friends, however, were a different story.

"So, I was wondering...do you guys mind doing a pretty big favor?"