Behind The Mask

Chase And Maya

     The German Shepherd was carrying the small, blue shepherd on his back to her home. Awkward silence filled the two. But then, Chase broke the silence.

"So...aren't you a little too young to be here all alone?" Chase asked, wondering why such a small pup like Maya was doing out here all by herself.

"Hey, I'm only three! I can take care of myself." She cutely pouted and Chase playfully rolled his eyes.

"Uh huh. Sureeee." He said, which earned him a frown from Maya.

"Hey, you've seen me bite that guy's leg? I had him right where I wanted him." She argued back, making Chase chuckle.

"Okay, I'll give you credit for that. But still, you still look like a squirt to me." He teased and Maya pouted even more.

"You can't call me a squirt! From the looks of it, you're like less than eight years old."

"I'm seven, which doesn't make it better. But still, can you tell me why you're here all alone?" Asked Chase and soon, Maya's pouty face turned into a sad one.

"I wanted to find some food for me and my sister to eat, so I snuck off." She answered which earned a confused frown from Chase. She only mentioned her sister, what about her parents? Chase wondered.

"Well...I don't think your sister would be happy with you just sneaking off. Much less your parents." Chase sighed.

"Our parents...they're...up there now." She sadly said as she stared up into the stars in front of the black sky. Chase sadly frowned a little bit, feeling like an idiot.

"Sorry, I didn't know." He apologized.

"Don't be sorry, it's all okay. But, I don't really care, I just want to take care of my sister the same way she's been taking care of me." She said in a determined voice which for some reason, made Chase smile.

"She actually has a job but...she won't really tell me if she gets paid or not." Her tone went from happy to a non-emotional tone. But then, her face brightened up a little bit and looked at Chase who was staring back at her.

"What about you, Chase?" She asked and Chase choked a little bit on that question but answered her.

"Well...my parents...they're..." The German Shepherd had a hard time lying to this small, innocent pup, so he exactly didn't want to lie to her, but at the same time, he doesn't know her that much, but already, the two can relate. "They're working a lot so I don't usually see them often. But I live with my owner."

"Oh." Was all Maya said and silence filled the atmosphere once again.

Suddenly, Chase heard Maya's stomach growling which made the little girl blush at the sound and the police pup allowed a smile to escape his lips.

"Well, it seems like you're hungry. How about we get somethin' to eat?"

Maya began fidgeting with her paws.

"U-Um...well..." And already, Chase knew how to get her answer to be a "yes".

"We'll also save some leftovers for your sister." He said which lit stars in Maya's eyes.

"Really!? Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She thanked a lot as she hugged him around his neck while Chase happily returned the embrace by nuzzling the little shepherd's head with his.

"Well, we've already passed Mr. Porters and..." Chase mentally slapped himself in the face as he forgot that he didn't have any money left.

"And what?" Maya asked as to why Chase had stopped talking.

"Well...the funny thing is, I don't have any money." Chase embarrassingly chuckled which made Maya sadly sigh, which kind of upset the German Shepherd a little bit and looked back. He noticed that they didn't walk as far away from Mr. Porter's Café so he quickly had an idea.

"Actually, hold on a second." Chase said which made Maya look up to him in confusion and was quickly surprised when Chase began running back to the direction they were walking from.

A few minutes passed and Maya was sitting outside the entrance of Porters Café. Suddenly, the doors opened which revealed Chase walking out with two bags. He placed both of them in front of Maya.

"It was hard to convince him, but I was able to get these for you and your sister." Chase grinned at her and Maya didn't really care but the smile on her face was priceless to the police pup of the Paw Patrol.

"W-Wait, what about you?" She then asked as she looked up at Chase, noticing that there wasn't a third bag for the German Shepherd.

"Don't worry about me, I'll eat once I get back..." Chase tried to justify but then heard the sounds of something digging into a bag and when Chase opened his eyes, he saw a pup-treat being held from Maya's paw out to him.

"Uh..." Chase was confused and surprised by the kind gesture as it was unexpected.

"It's thanks to you that me and my sister will eat tonight, so I should probably be thanking you." Maya said and Chase warmly smiled at her.

"It's no problem, I know you're having some trouble so I'm glad to help out." Replied Chase.

"It's not just that. You've actually been the first one ever to be nice to me, besides my sister, but still. Everybody else would just ignore me or make excuses for not helping me but you went out of your way to do so." Maya emotionally said as she let a small tear drop and reached out for a hug, "So this is my way of saying thank you."

Chase was moved by her words a little bit which earned him a sad smile from the police pup and happily returned the hug for a bit.

"Hey, I know what it's like, so it's not a big deal."

Maya wiped her tear away and looked up at Chase with somewhat of a surprised look.

"Y-You do?" She asked.

"Yeah, I lost a lot before so I know how you're feeling." Chase said and looked from the small girl to the sky. He happily sighed and stood back up.

"Alright, now let's get you back home." He said and lied down next to her, allowing for Maya to ride on his back while she held onto the bags of pup treats.

"Thank you Chase." She said as she rested against the back of his head and snuggled, making Chase smile even more and he began walking.

"Hey, Chase?" Maya spoke up and Chase only responded with a "Hm?", letting her know that he was listening and Maya couldn't help but ask.

"Umm...maybe...could you come visit me tomorrow? It gets lonely a lot so maybe..." Chase glanced back at the little girl and in all honesty, he's already getting attached to the adorable pup and he just couldn't resist her sorrowful face.

"Sure, sounds good to me." He answered and Maya's face lit up to his response.

"Really? Thank you so much big bro!" Maya said, not realizing what just came out of her mouth. Chase choked on himself and looked back at Maya.

"W-What did you say?" He asked and Maya just realized what she said and became a little nervous.

"S-Sorry, I just...my...my sister would always take care of me a lot, and you're taking care of me to so I kind of thought you as my big brother." She sadly explained herself and avoided eye contact. "I...I'm sorry if I upset you..."

"Who said I was upset?"

Maya looked up to Chase with wide eyes to meet the police pup with a large grin on his face.

"You can call me big bro...squirt." Chase said with a large smile on his face which reflected to Maya's face.

"Yay! Thank you so much, big bro." She thanked over and over and snuggled against his head one more time, resting. Chase happily chuckled as he kept staring at the small, adorable puppy, now only having one thought in his mind.

Maybe I can't find a sister in Everest, or a brother in Marshall...but Maya...trust me, from now on, I'll make sure to protect you.