The Road Rovers are tired, so they retire. A brief one-shot about their life after going their separate ways and their relationships after the fact.

As a first draft this has not been proofread or checked for quality yet.

---

Disclaimer: I do not own Road Rovers. All rights belong to Warner Bros. Please enjoy!


The anthropomorphic yellow canosapien mutt sank into his bunk at the fire station with a sigh, his fingers tapping deliberately onto his phone's touch screen, waiting for Colleen to let him know that she was off work. Miles apart, and yet the miracle of technology let them stay in touch effortlessly.

While waiting, Hunter thought back to the event that separated them all... their retirement from being the Road Rovers.

At some point, they had become unsatisfied with being the presidential pets of several world leaders. The more they became canosapiens, the more they found their normal canine forms to be limiting and less comfortable. And scarily enough, more alien. It felt weird... but the forms they were born with were no longer the forms they saw themselves as.

Even so, it did come with a burden – now that they were full time heroes, they had more responsibilities, and they had become celebrities and such.

It was a burden that would crush most human beings. And they weren't humans... but something between that and canines. Even before becoming full-time canosapiens, there was something that was becoming evident.

They were getting tired. And not just physically, but mentally. Even Blitz, the egotistical doberman, couldn't even muster up the energy to do more than glance longingly at himself in the mirror.

That was the first time Hunter noticed something was wrong.

Exile the Siberian Husky usually perked up after a bit of coffee, a dog biscuit, and watching Blitz make a fool of himself in front of Colleen, but even he was starting to drag.

They had been at this for a few years now. And in retrospect, they should've been tired sooner – after all, to dogs, years feel almost seven times as long.

Even Colleen, the femme fatale of a border collie, who was the second perkiest member of the team, was slowing down, and a bit more quick to bite – sometimes literally – than she was before.

Shag was always difficult to read, which may have had something to do with the large amount of fur he had, but he seemed to be in agreement with the other tired Rovers... or at least that's what it seemed like he was saying.

In truth, Hunter himself still couldn't feel it. He always felt full of energy, and that hadn't changed. He wondered if it had something to do with his super speed. He continuously urged the Road Rovers to keep the fight up, to keep going and to fight the good fight.

Then Muzzle, their rottweiler "mascot" and the only non-sapien member of their team, had a breakdown after being sicced on one too many opponents. Even their Master, Professor Shepherd, lost his composure at that. Muzzle, at the very least, had to retire, even if no one else did.

And looking at his companions, Hunter knew the right action, as much as he himself didn't want to go through with it. So, with the Master watching over them as they ate their lunch, he took a deep breath.

"Rovers, I would like to call a vote."

Their ears perked up as they looked towards him. This was the first time he had ever called for a vote – usually he just made their decisions for him, due to him being their leader and all. Something was definitely up.

"You're all aware of Muzzle's breakdown, and I can see it in your eyes – the sympathy you feel with him," Hunter continued, "You're tired, and you feel like you're about to break down."

"What, like you're as fresh as spring time?" Blitz snarled, quick to aggression.

"Calm down, Blitzen, let him finish," was Colleen's response, causing Blitz to deflate a little.

"My name is just Blitz...."

"Shushkie, comrade, let's hear what vote is about," said Exile in his charmingly broken English.

Shag made very undogly noise which Hunter took to mean "Get on with it already".

"Listen... I wouldn't call this vote without good reason. Rovers, should we retire?"

A silence fell over the room, as every cano-sapien brain took a moment to process that suggestion coming from Hunter. Hunter, of all people.

"Who are you and what have you done with Hunter?" Blitz accuse, quick to anger again.

"Hunty wunty, are you feeling alright?" Colleen chimed in.

"Is this Hunter? Our Hunter?" was Exile's confused reaction.

The Master closed his eyes. Perhaps the least shocked out of all of them, he was afraid of this day coming.

"For the record, just so everyone knows, I myself vote 'Nay'" Hunter said, continuing.

After taking a moment to look at each other, Blitz's hand shot up.

"I vote aye!"

Colleen narrowed her eyes, "Of course you'd be quick to..."

"I also vote the aye, comrades. Prosti," Exile said, apologetically raising his hand.

Shag raised his hand and murmured in, presumably, agreement.

Colleen bit her lip, not sure what to do.

"It's okay, Colleen," came Hunter's reassuring voice, and she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Hunty, but I have to agree with Exile."

"Not with me?" Blitz asked foolishly.

"Who are you again?" said Colleen, smirking maliciously.

"Nevermind."

"Very well, Rovers. The vote's decided. We're all retiring," Hunter said, without the usual chipper tone of his voice. On some level, he'd hoped that Colleen would have voted Nay as well, or that they'd all decide to stick it out, but... he knew this was the right call.

"We're very sorry, Master," Hunter said, "But this is our decision. Sorry for springing it on you."

"No no, it's alright. You're all very good dogs," the Master said, "and you deserve this. Your lives are your own now. Do not worry – I will make sure that the world is kept safe. However, remember – inside every dog is a rover, and you will forever have access to this base and its facilities should you need it."

And with that, they went their separate ways.

Hunter glanced down at his phone, seeing Colleen typing a message. He smiled at her peppy greeting, "Cheerio, Hunty! Everything's good here in England. Been kicking Crime's butt! How're the fires?"

Hunter smirked, typing his response, "Eh, you know, face-meltingly hot. Thankfully, fewer and farther inbetween. Muzzle's doing good now, he's seeing a canine therapist. It took awhile for the firemen to accept a dog-man among them but now I'm one of the guys."

"It's a bit funny that we retired just to take up professions that were similar to what we had, isn't it?" Colleen typed.

"Well, my dream job was always to be a hero so I just changed how it worked slightly. How do you feel about your decision though?"

"It feels great. I don't have the weight of the world on my shoulders, and the criminals are much worse at shooting at me than those goons we fought so often. Still, I miss you, Hunty. I have some vacation time coming up soon, I'll definitely have to come and visit!"

"Looking forward to it babe", Hunter typed, smiling happily, "Goodnight, Colleen."

"Goodnight Hunty."

And with that, he put his phone away and nestled into the bed, quickly falling into a restful sleep, though not so deep – after all, he was still technically on duty, ready to jump at the next emergency should one happen in the middle of the night.


Exile frowned at the car he was working on. The piece of junk was barely holding together with gum and tape. He didn't even know it was possible to do that to a car!

Muttering some Russian epithets, he removed the offending objects and set to work. His heat vision serving as a welding torch, he quickly managed to put the piece of junk into a working shape.

"Are you done yet, Exile?" Blitz asked from the nearby doorway. Exile sighed and facepalmed.

"Why always Russian me?" Exile said, letting the pun flow freely from his cano-sapien lips, "And why stay here? You have modeling job in Germany! I let you stay for a week to get away from job, and you've been here for three months! You don't even like me!"

Blitz harumphed, but he didn't exactly have an answer to that question. He did have a successful job, but for some reason, he just... couldn't forget Exile.

"Well, maybe I DO like you," was Blitz's not-so-witty retort, "why shouldn't I? I mean, you did save my life several times."

"Don't remind me," was Exile's exhausted response. Still, he had to admit to himself that he did welcome the company. Before Blitz moved to Russia, he had only the customers and the Russian snow to keep him company, but now he at least had this minor annoyance which sort of filled his life up a bit.

Later that night, Blitz sighed as he laid awake on the couch. He really had only intended to stay for a short while, but every time he thought of moving back, he felt some sort of pain in his heart.

If he had to compare it to anything, it was like the feeling he got when Colleen would tease him about whether she knew him or not. It made him feel kinda lonely.

He wasn't nearly as naive or stupid as he used to be. Since becoming a model, he had gained a lot of confidence in himself – confidence he didn't really know he lacked. He was finally able to live up to the perfect being that he knew he was. And yet he felt... empty. Incomplete. Imperfect. It was an annoying, painful sensation. It was why he had pursued Colleen as a Rover. And it was why he moved here, to Exile, in the middle of Russia.

He turned over, shivering from the cold. Could he love Exile almost as much as he loved himself? Could that husky actually measure up to him?

Yes. Yes he could.

None of these thoughts did anything to satisfy his fears. After all, should he tell Exile that the reason he moved to Russia and freeloaded at his home was because he loved him? How would Exile act?

...Still. The next day, he'd tell him, and whatever came of it, would come.


"PLEASE seek therapy!" was Exile's immediate response. He had an alarmed response on his face, "You know this isn't normal!"

"Why not?" Blitz said, his heart and eyes stinging a bit from the harsh rejection, "Why can't it be normal?"

"You know how it is. Boy dog meets girl dog and they have puppies! Boy dog and boy dog can't. It's simple logic!"

"But Exile, this is how the world is! Sometimes boy dogs like boy dogs and girl dogs like girl dogs. It's a part of our nature!"

"Listen, I don't know what game you're playing at, but this isn't funny!"

"Exile, I--"

"DON'T BE A WEIRD BOY!" Exile said, slamming his fist on the table, shattering it.

Silence fell over the room, and Blitz bit his lip, unable to fight the tears in his eyes anymore. Why did he think this was a good idea?

"I'll... I'll be heading back to Germany now," Blitz said before leaving the room to pack his stuff up.

Exile just stared at the broken pieces of the table. Thoughts swirling through his head. He barely noticed Blitz leaving.

All his life, he had been raised with simple notions. Simple, concrete notions. There was no time for nonsense. Duty to your comrades and your country – these were the important things.

But... he had failed. Failed in his duty to a comrade. He had always thought Blitz was eccentric, crazy even, but... Blitz wasn't the one who had just shattered his table. He was. In reaction being challenged on something so simple.

"<I'm a big hypocrite... my values are worthless>" he said to himself in Russian.

The pieces of the table didn't disagree.

"...I hope I can catch up to Blitz before it's too late."

Blitz hadn't even made it to his car before he burst into tears, sobbing openly. It was too dangerous to drive in this state. Of all the things he endured among the Rovers, he'd never been hurt quite so badly as that. He was always more in touch with his emotions than he would've liked to have been, but... this was intense, even for him.

Then he heard the tapping on his window and looked out to see Exile. Rolling the window down, he blubbered out, "Whad do you want?"

Exile sighed, lowering his ears and tucking his tail between his legs, "Proshu proscheniya, comrade. I'm very sorry for how I acted. You opened up heart to me and I acted shamefully."

Blitz sniffled, fighting the urge to act out. Still, he didn't want to immediately say anything yet... not while his heart was still hurting.

"I do not know much about this boy dog and boy dog thing. It is... new to me. But I do know one thing. I hurt my comrade. If that is what my values cost, then price is too high. I look at life in new way. Come home with me, Blitz. I do not know if I love you back, but I give it a chance."

Blitz sobbed again, "Oh Exile, I forgihihiiiive you!" and leaped out of the car, hugging his husky friend closely.

Exile bit back his instinctive retort and hugged his friend back. He would open his mind just this once and give this a try. It was the least he owed Blitz.

It was a week later when they kissed for the first time, and Exile figured out the answer to his question.

"I'm weird boy, too," Exile said, smiling into Blitz's face, "and I think I like it!"

"Ja, me too..." Blitz said, leaning in closer

And their lips met again and the two of them fell back onto the bed, reveling in their new found companionship.

One year later... (that's seven in dog years!)

"I would not have predicted this," Hunter said happily, watching the service.

"Shhh," Colleen said harshly, "Why'd you say that now anyways? We received the invitation a month ago!"

"Oh, I know, I'm just saying it for any potential readers who may have only just arrived."

"First viewers, now readers, how about some consistency, Hunty?"

Shag harshly hushed the two of them.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husbands!" a cano-sapien scotty minister said, closing his book, "You may now kiss!"

Exile and Blitz kissed each other deeply, looking fine in their white suits.

Shag made weepy noises and blew his nose into his handkerchief.

Exile lifted Blitz up and carried him down the aisle, laughing uproariously. Blitz screamed in shock the entire way, and Colleen couldn't help but laugh.

Later, after much of the food had been eaten...

"So Blitz," Colleen said, "How long have you known that you like boy dogs?"

"I'm sorry, have we met?" Blitz said, smirking.

"Ha ha, there's your comedy," Colleen said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm just kidding. I realized it when I moved all the way to Russia just to stay at Exile's house."

"Da, and I find out shortly afterward when making big scene over little issues like whether liking boy dogs is wrong," Exile said, "turns out, it's like making molehill out of a speck in eye!"

"Uh-huh," Hunter said, realizing he missed Exile's mangling of English idioms, "Well, honestly, I'm quite happy for you two!"

Colleen leaned against Hunter, "I wonder who's gonna get married next, hm?"

"Probably the people who've got this place booked after us," Hunter said. Colleen rolled her eyes and leaned away from Hunter, allowing him to smirk. He knew exactly what she meant, but he enjoyed pretending to be oblivious.

Suddenly, a ray of light fell on each of them, and a voice echoed in their ears.

"Rovers. General Parvo has re-emerged and only the five of you can stop him. I am deeply sorry for this, but the world needs you again," rang the Master's voice in their ears.

Hunter sighed, "Yet another unexpected twist."

"Bummer," said everyone simultaneously.

"Still, I kinda missed being a Rover."

"And I missed the biting of the soft tushies!" Blitz said, baring his teeth.

"Hey! Don't make me jealous, weird boy," Exile said, "We only just get married!"

After a brief pause, everyone burst into laughter. It felt good to be around each other again and to get ready for action again.

Maybe all they needed was a really long break, after all.