Balto anxiously made his way around town in search of Jenna. As he wandered around trying to find any clues or traces of her, he listened carefully for anything that the humans said in hopes that Jenna would come up in their conversations. More than that, he asked any dog he came across if they had seen her between last night and now.

But unfortunately, they all had similar replies.

"Sorry, Balto, I haven't seen her."

"Last time I saw her was yesterday morning, when she was heading off to find you."

"Oh dear! No, I don't know where she could be! I hope she's okay."

Each response was more disheartening than the last. But almost as disheartening were the very few instances where the dogs he asked responded with a very thinly-veiled scorn and shame in their voices. It was known that a few resident canines thought lowly of Jenna for her relationship with Balto; even with his great deed, there remained a small minority who still retained their prejudice. But as much as Balto wanted to chew them out for looking down on Jenna, he needed to not get distracted.

But thankfully, Balto soon came across the most potentially useful dogs for this situation. Dixie and Sylvie, Jenna's two friends and the dogs she was supposed to meet with last night, were sitting on a couple of barrels by the corner of a building. Balto hadn't really spent much time with them, even after he and Jenna got together, but he was hoping that they'd be of some help here.

The taller dog noticed Balto as he approached the two. "Well, well, if it isn't Mr. Big Shot Hero," Sylvie said smoothly. "Have fun with Jenna yesterday?"

A bit caught off guard by her suggestive tone, Balto simply said, "Y-Yeah. Yeah, we had a great time. But listen, I kinda need your help. You girls were supposed to meet up with Jenna last night, right?"

"...Yeah??" Sylvie replied.

"Well, apparently she didn't go back to her folks. They haven't seen her at all, and Rosy's father is looking for her. Do you two happen to know what happened?"

The two girls looked at each other in confusion, clearly not expecting Balto to say something like this. Dixie started, "Why, no, we don't. We waited for an hour last night but she didn't show. We just assumed that she decided to stay with you or something."

"Yeah, Balto," Sylvie chimed in. "We figured that you were keeping her awfully nice company." The wolfdog would have been slightly stammering and bothered by the gossip queen taking such joy in speculating on her friend's new romance. But anxious over the situation at hand, the wolfdog just rolled his golden eyes and ignored the teasing. "Well, no, she wasn't with me. I dropped her off at your meeting point for you. You're telling me you don't know where she is?"

At this information, the females were starting to look worried. "Well ... maybe she just wanted to go home? You guys were out there for a long time," Dixie suggested.

"But why wouldn't she just wait for us to show up and then say that she wanted to turn in? Or have Balto tell us for her?" Sylvie pondered. "This doesn't make sense."

"Did you notice anything weird when you got there?" Balto asked.

Dixie and Sylvie slowly turned to each other, exchanging glances that Balto couldn't quite read. There were traces of fear and shame, their ears folding back a bit. After a moment, they turned to him.

"... Well ... actually," Dixie started.It had been a horrible night for Jenna. As if being kidnapped wasn't bad enough, but going a whole night with her legs tied and mouth sealed. This would have made falling asleep very difficult ... if she even tried. There was no way she was going to allow that while she was at Steele's mercy and could instead be trying to escape. As much as her body was begging her otherwise, especially considering that none of her struggling yielded any progress whatsoever. Her paws were still in the achingly tight hold of the ropes, her mouth still stuffed and sealed by her own bandana.

She couldn't tell when morning came, with little light able to break through where she was being held. But she could confirm it when Steele emerged from his little area. He was giving a big yawn and stretching himself out pleasantly. He looked so comfortable doing it, making Jenna feel even more miserable at the contrast between herself and her captor.

"Good morning, Jenna. I trust that you had a good night's sleep? How could you not? You have big, strong Steele watching over you now," he said as he sauntered over to his red-furred captive. Jenna's brown eyes flared at him, and she couldn't stop the low growl from behind the gag.

"Oh, but of course, you're too blind to realize how much of a good thing that is. Otherwise I wouldn't have had to resort to this."

Jenna's legs started tugging and her paws flailing in renewed desperation as Steele ended up standing over her. She tried to wriggle away from underneath him, but Steele just walked over and got in her face.

"You know, there's just something I need to know. Why? Why him? Why did you turn me away, and yet you go for that filthy wolfdog freak? I'm bigger, stronger, better looking. I'm a champion dog racer. I was the dog that every male wants to be and every female wants to be with. I had the fame, the glory, the appeal, all of it. And yet you choose some skinny mutt who had never accomplished a thing in his life?! HOW!?"

In his fury, the crazed male yanked Jenna's bandana down with his teeth. It now hung loosely around her neck. The husky spat the knot out of her mouth, coughing with a sore, dry throat.

"Tell me why, you lobo lover."

Oh, how Jenna was ready to lay it on thick to him. For one thing, she found Balto more attractive than Steele anyway. Sure, he didn't have much muscle, but his body and legs were still ruggedly sturdy and athletic, with a much more handsome face and eyes that wore the scruffy look very nicely. But that was trivial compared to what she really had to say.

But Steele cut her off before she could begin. "If he never brought back that medicine, you wouldn't give him a second glance. You know that, right? You know he'd just be a nobody without that hero status-"

"SHUT UP!!!"

Steele seemed taken aback. The husky had confronted him before, many times, but he had never heard her speak so loudly and intensely.

"I don't care what the town thinks of him! Balto is a million times the dog you'll ever be! And you know why? He actually cares about me, and about others! He sees me as more than just some prize! He makes me feel safe instead of intruded upon! He's the sweetest, smartest, bravest creature I've ever met, and none of that has ANYTHING to do with what he did for Nome!"

Steele opened his mouth to retort her, but she wasn't done. "You think he'd try to kill children to make himself look good? You think he'd kidnap me if I turn him down?! I don't care how amazing you think you are, you tried to take away the two beings I love most, and I will NEVER forgive you for that, you monster!!!"

The tied up husky let out several deep breaths when her rant was over. In spite of her bleak situation, it felt extremely cathartic to give Steele the piece of her mind that she's wanted to say for so long.

Steele just stood there, a mixed look of deep thought, anger, and a somewhat-poorly hidden shock, both at Jenna's sharp words and how hysterical and vicious the normally soft-spoken girl was. But he slowly narrowed his eyes as a realization seemed to hit him.

"... Love? You love him?" he asked, disgust clear in his voice.

The realization of what she said then hit Jenna at that moment. She hid it, but was nonetheless surprised by her subconscious declaration. But she thought about it, and ... yes, she decided. She loved Balto. And she would shout it to every dog on Earth if she had to.

"Yes," she stated firmly and proudly, not even acknowledging her fear of him. "I love him. And there's nothing you can do to change that."

At this moment, Steele looked like a bomb about to go off. There was no denying the damage to his already-bruised pride that Jenna just dealt, willing to lay it all out even when helpless to defend herself. He paced back and forth, as if trying to process a twisted, warped reality where the most beautiful girl in town prefers a half-wolf outcast over a purebred champion. She prefers Balto over him.

He stopped. Slowly turned his head to his captive. A glint of seething rage boiled in his icy blue eyes, and Jenna couldn't help but shiver slightly, her paws twitching in the ropes. The malamute slowly approached her, and Jenna began struggling again.

"Alright, that's enough out of you." Steele gave a sharp whistle, and the goose returned over to him. "Gag her again."

Jenna gasped, and squirmed twice as hard to escape the tight ropes. The goose approached her, his wings coming into her line of sight. "You won't get away with this! Balto, my family, the town, they'll know I'm missing and firrnnmrrm rrrrrmph ghrrrrrrrm!!" She was cut off when the bandana's knot was shoved back into her mouth.

"I'm no fool, Jen. I know that pesky little mongrel will be looking for you. And when I rip him apart, the look on your pretty face will be priceless."

Fire burned ever brighter in Jenna's eyes. She was thrashing her head around, making the goose's job harder. "Dmmn yrrrnrrrnn nrrmmhmm!! RRRMHMMMMRRHNN!!!" Despite the violent thrashing of her head and legs, she was unable to move from her helpless position, or keep the knot of her bandana from being pulled tightly, keeping it securely jammed in her mouth.

"I'll show you what happens when you make a fool out of Steele. I'll show both of you." With a low growl, the psychotic dog sat in the corner and ... just waited.

Jenna knew what he was waiting for. Steele knew that Balto would find them, and then planned to finish him off in front of her. She squirmed and muffled for all she was worth, now caring more about Balto's safety than her own. Balto was physically fit, but he couldn't beat Steele in a fight.

"Mmmmm!" she cried out. She had to get out of this, or else the love of her life would be doomed, and she would likely follow. That is unless Steele then decided to keep her alive to ...

Balto, please. I have faith that you'll think of something, just please don't let him do this to you ... I love you.

If only the poor red-headed husky had looked up at the grate in the ceiling. She'd just make out a familiar scruffy tail slinking off out of sight.Dixie and Sylvie led Balto to their intended meeting spot. And it was immediately clear to him that something was very off.

The snow was a mess. There were uneven mounds of it everywhere, scuffled and tossed about. A long, disjointed trail emerged and seemed to continue into the alley. And most disturbingly, there were paw prints scattered around the area. Balto could tell that they came from two different animals.

And he recognized one of them. Jenna.

Dixie and Sylvie had thought this whole scene weird when they saw it last night, but didn't think much of it. However, Balto's knowledge of what was happening and familiarity with Jenna's prints allowed him to connect the dots: Jenna had been attacked.

Balto felt his hackles slowly start to rise, his thick brow furrowing. What vile creature would go after someone so innocent? He grew more and more worried with every second. Where was she? Did whoever did this ... did they ...

No! She's not gone. Don't ... don't even think about ...

Dixie and Sylvie were frozen for a few seconds at the look of pure fear and dread in the hybrid's eyes. From the times that they had seen Balto interact with Jenna, it was obvious how important she was to him. They were grateful that their friend seemed to have someone good for her. And also ashamed that she was in danger and the clues were right under their noses.

"W-we didn't think anything of it, Balto," Dixie lamented. "I'm sorry, if I thought she was in trouble, I would've told someone. Oh, what's going to happen to her?!"

"Hey, hey, Dixie, calm down," the wolfdog tried his best to manage the smaller dog's meltdown. He crouched down to her height and tucked a paw under her chin gently, moving her head to look into her eyes. "It's okay. And it doesn't matter who could've done what. Right now, we just need to find her."

In truth, Balto himself was feeling guilty as well. He had just left Jenna alone. If he had stayed until her friends arrived, perhaps he could have helped her fight off whatever had come along. But similarly to how he'd comfort Muk and Luk when they were distressed, he tried to bring Dixie down to Earth. While the two hadn't been on proper terms in the past, she never really picked on him or chased him away like so many other dogs. The girl was a little light on brains and a bit vain, he had to admit. But she appeared to have a good heart and clearly cared for her friends. Plus, if Jenna called her a friend, that clearly said a lot about her.

His comforting seemed to work, as Dixie slowly stopped shaking. "Y-you're right. I'm sorry, she needs us right now."

Balto simply nodded, before getting back to business. He turned his head and glanced at the trail that was left. Whoever had done this clearly didn't take the time to cover their tracks, quite literally in this case.

Almost as if they want to be found, Balto thought.

The wolfdog turned to the girls. "You two spread the word about this. I'm going on ahead to follow the trail." He had a gut feeling that stealth was the best option for tracking this, and going solo would accomplish that most effectively. "Meet up back here and wait for me. Something's going on and we're getting to the bottom of it."

The dogs obliged, and Balto took off to hopefully find his husky.Balto followed the trail for a good while. It was surprisingly somewhat easy to follow, with a few exceptions. Every once in a while it would stop, and in those times there would be more scattered paw prints, some of which were Jenna's again.

Balto's mind went in circles as he tried to paint a picture of what was happening. It was becoming increasingly clear that another dog had attacked and dragged off his friend and partner, but by the looks of things, she had put up a fight the whole way. The smallest of proud smiles graced the wolfdog's otherwise-tense features. Jenna had always been a strong-willed dog, and wouldn't hesitate to get physical to defend either herself or others. That fiery spirit within the usually-demure husky made Balto's heart swell even stronger for her.

But it unfortunately looked like her efforts had been in vain. And so he continued.

As Balto kept going, he started picking up faint scents, ones that would have likely gone unnoticed by almost any other canine. But as he kept up with the trail, they were getting stronger and stronger. And just like the sets of paw prints, there were two. One was definitely Jenna's - he could never forget such a thing - and the other was unfamiliar ... and yet somehow he felt that it shouldn't be. As if he did indeed know it from somewhere ...

After what felt like hours of tense, nervous tracking, Balto saw the trail reach its end. In front of him was a building, relatively small and modest. It appeared to have been used for some service at one point, but it showed no signs of active use. But it was where he had tracked Jenna to, and that was more than enough.

And when Balto lifted his nose to sniff the air again, his love's scent was the strongest it had been in his search. She was in there, there was no doubt in his mind.

However, the other mysterious scent was just as strong. And this time, it triggered a memory inside him. Many memories, in fact, and none of them fond ones. He was brought back to being harassed, bullied, mocked, and chased away. Unable to go out into town in peace, unable to spend time with the girl he cared for, and unable to live life as an accepted member of Nome. And the scent of the one creature responsible for so much of that was unpleasantly invading his senses.

No ... please don't let it be him. Please, anyone but him.

Steele had not been seen since the serum run. He had been chastised and chased off by those who had previously worshipped him for his betrayal. Balto didn't have any idea of when or if he'd ever have to deal with the Malamute again. But if he was correct, it would appear that Steele was the one who took Jenna. The very thought of it rattled Balto to his core.

By sniffing out the building further, Balto padded over to a pile of loose objects and boxes. He furrowed his brow for a moment, before seeing a tiny crack behind them. He crouched down to get a peak inside, before suddenly hearing the last voice he ever wanted to hear.

"Alright, that's enough out of you. Gag her again."

Another voice, this one feminine and unmistakable, shouted out, "You won't get away with this! Balto, my family, the town, they'll know I'm missing and firrnnmrrm rrrrrmph ghrrrrrrrm!!"

Jenna.

The wolfdog, able to tell that the voices were coming from inside this area, dashed as silently as possible to find some other way to look inside. His heart raced as he heart the struggle continue, Jenna's screams seemingly blocked by something. He was quickly able to find a grate in the floor, one that seemed to be directly above where Jenna was. He was proven correct, as he went over, crouched down, and peaked over to the area below, careful to not be visible.

The sight he saw shook Balto to his very core. Jenna was hogtied with ropes, struggling like mad to break them. A goose appeared to be gagging her with her orange bandana. And to confirm Balto's worst fear, none other than Steele was looking on at all of it.

"I'm no fool, Jen," Steele said. "I know that pesky little mongrel will be looking for you. And when I rip him apart, the look on your pretty face will be priceless."

"Dmmn yrrrnrrrnn nrrmmhmm!! RRRMHMMMMRRHNN!!!" Jenna's struggle broke Balto's heart. She was giving it everything to fight her situation, despite being clearly in pain and terrified.

Balto forced himself to focus for just a minute. What Steele said told him all he needed to know. His initial intuition was correct: that trail was intentionally left for someone to follow. More specifically, for him to follow, so that Steele could trap him and have his true revenge.

But the hybrid was highly doubtful that Steele wouldn't just keep Jenna for himself after all was said and done. It didn't matter what she wanted; Steele would always just see her as some goal, as prey for his sick desires. Balto's fur bristled in a rage that he couldn't remember ever feeling. The normally peace-loving canine was using up all his self-control to not break in there right now and claw Steele to shreds.

"I'll show you what happens when you make a fool out of Steele. I'll show both of you," Steele growled.

We'll see about that, Balto thought darkly. He needed to think of something, and fast. He couldn't get Jenna out just through brute force; he'd be easily beaten by the Malamute. Luckily, he was at an advantage from having learned what was happening without Steele's knowledge. Now, all he needed was a plan.

It ripped Balto apart to leave Jenna like this, tied up and gagged in the clutches of this mad dog, especially when he heard her distressed cries that were cruelly stifled. But he knew it was necessary now to save her.

Hang in there, Jenna. We're getting you out of there.The Balto series, the original images, and all characters (except the unnamed goose) all belong to Universal.

Originally uploaded on July 18, 2019.This was my first time doing a bit of nonlinear storytelling, having us go from Jenna's time as Steele's prisoner to showing what Balto was doing in that time, and the two merge at the end. I hope that the two points of view between the captive and the potential rescuer helped keep things interesting. Plus, Jenna realizes she loves Balto! But will she get to tell him that? And does Balto feel the same? (Who are we kidding, we know he does!)

It was also tricky to get Dixie and Sylvie down, especially since they're not characters I'm really all that fond of. But I tried to give them some interesting back-and-forth with Balto, especially since hardly any fanfics I've read show them properly interacting.

Thank you very much not only for reading this, but for your patience as well. As always, please let me know what you liked about the story and what you think could be better! It really boosts my motivation to keep it going! Hopefully the next part won't take as long to get here.Jenna's gag speech translated:

"Dmmn yrrrnrrrnn nrrmmhmm!! RRRMHMMMMRRHNN!!!" - "Don't you dare touch him!! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!"