DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING

The Awesome Move

Skipper and the crew were doing a special training session in the part.

"Boys, you have proved yourselves worthy of learning this ultra secret move previously only known to Manfredi, Johnson and I. We called it the Sub-zero Flipper Side Stickler."

"Sub-zero Flipper Side Stickler? Sounds dangerous." Private mused.

"Oh, it is young Private!" Skipper said, patting the younger's head. "You will all learn the discipline and control it takes to conduct this move."

"Skipper, I am privileged to be able to learn this move… And also really excited!" Kowalski exclaimed.

"Me too!" Rico pumped his flipper in the air.

"Well good! To learn this move, you must charge up your energy."

"And how do we do that Skippah?"

"Through 8 hours of meditation!" Rico's air pumping stopped almost immediately.

"Aww wha? Da borin!" Rico grumbled.

"I am going to have to agree with Rico on this one, Skipper. I could be working on experiments during that time."

"And I could be watching Lunacorns!" Private pranced around a bit before awkwardly clearing his throat.

"What is the practicality of a move that has to charge first?" Kowalski said. Rico and Private nodded in agreement.

"Is this… insubordination?" Skipper stared daggers at the three and stood up. "A move this good needs to charge or our puny little bodies wouldn't be able to stand the massive energy usage!" The other three penguins began to walk away. "You can punch through walls 20 inches thick with this move!" At this point, they had already gotten out of earshot. "…So much for that."

Captivity

He was a prisoner. A caged bird. Skipper never let him go anywhere, even after he turned 18. Private just assumed Skipper was being mean or paranoid. He missed out on a lot of things. Going to the arcade with Marlene and the rollerskaing rink with Julien. Rico and Kowalski got to go. Private couldn't help but feel incredibly lonely and bored… And mad at Skipper. But whenever he and Skipper home alone, Skipper would look in the younger's bedroom frequently. He'd ask the boy if he needed anything. At some point, he'd come in and talk to him about miscellaneous things. Private began to realize that maybe Skipper too would be incredibly lonely and bored without him. That Skipper wanted him all to himself. And that made his captivity a little more bearable.

Epiphany

At some point, I realized his feelings for me. The passing glances. The cleverly given compliments. He seemed so… Preoccupied with his work. With his love for science and that girl Doris he always talked about. It didn't even occur to me that he might've had feelings for me until that day a taxi driver hijacked and stabbed me and left me for dead. He was the one who carried me into their car. He was the one who cradled my injured body. He was the only one who shed a tear that night. And when I woke up the next morning in the hospital, he was the one sitting there. His eyes drooped, but weren't closed. His hair was a mess and his shirt was stained with dirt and blood from the previous night.

"K-Kowalski?" My voice sounded weak and tired. But it was enough to jolt him up and to the side of the bed.

"Oh Marlene! You're awake!"

"Question…How did you even know I was out there?"

"I was sitting on the stoop of the building to enjoy the air when I realized this is the latest you have ever been! So I tracked your phone." He paused his fast talking and stared me deep in the eyes. "I'm just happy I got to you in time. I don't know what I would've done if- If you weren't oka-" At that moment, the others walked into the room. Private was holding an assortment of goodies.

"Marlene! Good job almost getting killed last night!" Skipper said with a smirk.

"Oh.. Shut up," I said in the most playful voice I could. Kowalski moved from my side and began speaking science-y once more. It was the first time he took over my thoughts completely. The epiphany came once they all left the room so I could change and go home. It was so sudden, in fact, that I almost forgot the pain in my abdomen and gasped.

I still haven't confronted him about it to this day. But I return the passing glances and the clever compliments. Maybe one day I will.

A/N: So here is the first batch of one shots! I'm going to work on these in between my other projects that I need to continue. So yeah. Thanks for reading!