Foreword

Well, here I am again, writing another Balto fanfiction. This one is a direct sequel to my previous story, "The First Day". Spoiler Alert: It ends with Balto catching Steele and banishing him from the town. (Steele being banished isn't exactly a new concept. It's something that has been around in Balto fanfics since the mid-90's) However, I left that story with a cliffhanger ending, with Steele meeting someone from his past after days of wandering in the wilderness.

Now, we pick up right where my last story left off, with a new character by the name of Sonya. She is someone who has a bit of a past with Steele, and that past will be revealed over the course of the story. Much like "The First Day", this story jumps between the present and the past, essentially making it two stories in one. I also made sure to have Steele do what he does best - be the bad guy. After all, that's why so many people love him. (Why did they have to cut him from Wings of Change?!)

I will admit that this story was a challenge to write. It uses mostly original characters and it made me feel as though I was going into truly uncharted territory. There were other obstacles, which delayed the writing of this story: homework, needing to re-write entire scenes, family holidays, catching swine flu - did I mention homework? (Curse you Physics!) Right now, I'm at the point where I don't care how well this story does - I'm just glad to be finished with it. So, sit back and enjoy iWolf231's second fanfic - "A Second Chance".

Prologue: An Unwelcome Visitor

It just had to be him. After all this time, he had to be the one that appeared in the dead of night. There were hundreds, if not thousands of black and white huskies in Alaska, but out of all of them, it was him. It was the one dog that she had hoped to never see again.

When the others found him, he was in pretty bad shape. He had collapsed in the middle of the street out of exhaustion and had to be dragged into the general store's boiler room. They gathered to watch over the newcomer, but she stayed back, hoping that it might not be him. She hoped that it was just another husky who was black and white.

Finally, he did wake up, "Where……where am I?" he weakly asked.

"You're in the town of White Mountain. Can you tell us who you are?" another husky responded. This was it; now she would know if he had finally dropped back into her life.

"I'm…… Steele," he responded. The others murmured in surprise while her heart fell. Steele was a champion sled dog who had won the coveted golden collar four times in a row, with his most recent win being just a couple of weeks ago. She knew that his owner lived in Nome, so why would he be in their town, without his team and without the fancy collar that he wore as a badge of glory?

"Uh-oh, Sonya's going to want to know about this," one of them said.

"I already do," she replied as she walked through the crowd to meet him directly. When he saw her, his ice blue eyes locked in shock onto her golden eyes, "Hello there Steele," she said coldly, "You may not remember me, but I remember you. I remember everything you did to me. I've waited a long time for this."

There was something about Steele that the dogs of Nome didn't know, but the dogs of White Mountain knew all too well. Steele had a long history with Sonya and it was well known in this town that no good would come if they were ever put in the same room again. She glared at him, waiting for his response, but it never came. He just started at her as though he had been slapped across the face.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything?" she snapped.

"Um….. hello Sonya. Long time no see," he replied.

"Hello? That's all you can say after what you did to us? That's all you can say after what you put me through all those years ago!" she yelled, "Get out of here!"

"Sonya, no," a brown and white husky spoke up, "He's obviously exhausted and needs to rest."

"I don't care Jake," she retorted.

"C'mon Sonya, let him stay," another dog chipped in, followed by many others. Seeing how she was vastly outvoted, Sonya relented.

"…… Fine" she growled, and trotted out of the room with Jake following. The night was pitch dark, with the only light coming from the glow of the boiler. The orange glow framed itself around Sonya, illuminating the dark grey fur that ran along her back and sides, smoothly transitioning into the white that covered her paws, muzzle and underside. The light glinted across her collar, which was thicker than most collars and had silver studs embedded in it.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jake asked, but she didn't respond, "Sonya!"

"I'm fine Jake," she snapped.

"You don't exactly sound fine to me," Jake replied, "I'll just cut to the chase. I know you're ticked because Steele's here."

"Ticked does not even begin to describe how I feel," she replied, "After all this time, it just has to be him. He has to show up," she trailed off and sat down in the snow.

"Maybe it won't be as bad as last time," he suggested, "Maybe he's changed."

"No, dogs like Steele don't change. No matter what happens, they always stay the same," she replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Well, changed dog or not, something definitely happened to him. Champion sled dogs don't wander into town in the dead of night without their team or their trophy collars," Jake said, referring to the gold-studded collar that Steele usually wore.

"He never deserved the thing in the first place," Sonya muttered.

"What do you think happened to him?" Jake asked.

"I don't know and I don't care. I just want him out of here as quickly as possible."

"What? You saw what shape he was in; sending him out would be the end of him."

"Then good riddance," she said flatly.

"Sonya, this isn't like you. I've never seen you act so coldly to anyone else."

"That's because no one else did what he did to me!" she snapped, "You remember what he did right? What he did to our team? What he did to Amak…"

Amak had been the leader of their sled team a few years back, taking Sonya under his wing when she was growing up. He always had a strong sense of right and wrong and made sure to share it with his team. Granted, his opinions sometimes led to disagreements between him and his team, but they always respected him as a leader. He had become a father figure for Sonya, which made it all the more painful for her when he was forced away from them…… all because of Steele.

"Yes, I do remember he did, but I also remember what Amak was like," Jake continued, "He'd never want us to turn anyone out into the cold - even if they were Steele."

"Yeah, I guess he wouldn't," she replied. They sat in the snow for a few minutes more, but soon Jake started to shiver from the night's cold.

"Brr. Sonya, let's go back in. My tail is starting to freeze."

"Are you sure? I don't feel anything."

"Not everyone is as well built for the cold as you," he replied and he turned back towards the warm boiler room with Sonya following him. When they got back inside, they saw that Steele was still lying down, while the other dogs had started talking amongst themselves.

"So, has he said anything else?" Jake asked.

"Actually, he fell back asleep shortly after you guys went out," a large malamute replied.

"Then wake him up," Sonya said, "I want some answers!"

"Sonya, it's the middle of the night and we all need some sleep," the malamute replied, "We can deal with him in the morning."

"Ya, I'm tired Sonya," Jake yawned.

"…… Alright, he can have his rest," she reluctantly replied, "But tomorrow he's giving us an answer or he's out of here."

With that, the dogs started to leave for home. Sonya stayed behind for a little longer, before turning to leave as well. She walked past Steele's still form, holding back the urge to kick him in the head. She pushed the creaking door open, taking a moment to breathe in the crisp night air.

"So, were you surprised to see me Sonya? I know I was."

She froze and looked back to see Steele sitting up, with a smug expression on his face, "You could say that," she replied and walked back into the room, "Though I'm not sure you really want to know how I feel about you being here."

"I see you've kept the old silver collar," Steele said, indicating the silver-studded collar around her neck, "It's actually fitting for a second-rate dog to have only the second best trophy."

"Better that I have this than nothing," she replied, "You know, you look a little funny without your golden collar. What happened to it?"

"That's none of your concern," he replied.

"Oh I think it is my concern Steele. I want to know why, after all this time, you come back here," she said sharply, "Why here? Why would you come back here? Why can't you leave me alone? Why can't you leave my team alone?!"

"Oh, you think it's all about you and your team do you? I thought I was supposed to be the one with the ego," Steele replied coyly.

Sonya had no patience for his games, and pushed him roughly onto his back, holding him down with her paws, "Answer the question tough guy or I promise you things will get ugly very fast," she growled.

Despite being pinned on his back Steele showed no fear or submission to her. He would never bring himself to show fear to dogs like Sonya, "My, my, you still do have your violent temper. I wonder what your old pal Amak would think if he saw you like this? He'd probably give you another one of his boring lectures. Heh, the lobo-lover always did have his head stuck in the snowdrift."

This was more than Sonya could handle and in one sudden motion, struck a hard blow across his face with her paw, "You shut up! Amak was twice the dog you'll ever be so how dare you say something like that!" she screamed and stormed out of the room, kicking the door closed with a loud bang. Steele remained where he was, and despite the sting from Sonya's blow, he started to crack into a grin.

"Oh Sonya……… you always were an unstable wolfdog."