Hi there! Well, someone asked me to write a Kipper like, more than three weeks ago, and so I've finally started it. I have to give you some warnings:

a) English is not my first language, and I haven't practiced it in a long time, so you'll probably find lots of mistakes :( Sorry about that.

b) OoC: Although I do love PoM, it has been long since I last watched it. This three weeks I re-watched the movie like ten times and re-watched some episodes, but even with that you may find some OoC.

c) This fic takes place after the MOVIE, and therefore is placed in the Madagascar story-line. Even if it follows the movies, you may found references to the series.

d) The person who requested this fic asked me to include lemon in this… We're still deciding on it, so the rating might change.

That's all. As I said, this is a Kipper fanfic, aka, slash. It will have some Kowalski/Eva, but it's just a part of the plot.

What you mean to me.

"Kowalski… Kowalski… Kowalski!"

Said penguin was brought back from his thoughts. He looked back at Skipper, who was giving him a stern glare. "Yes, sir?"

The leader crossed his flippers in front of his chest. Kowalski eyed the other two, who were also staring at him. Private had a worried look in his face, while Rico was giving him a weird glare, just as if he was wearing a wig and a dress.

"You´re spacing out again, soldier!" He returned his attention to his captain. "This is the third time in the week, what´s wrong with you? Stop traveling to la la land!"

"Sorry, Skipper." He shrugged, truly sorry for his lack of attention.

Skipper looked at his second in command. "Sorry, Skipper? That's all?" Usually, Kowalski would have given him an excuse like "I stayed up late because I was working on a new project which…" or something like that, and then start with some scienc-y nonsense that no one but him could possibly understand.

Yet, he was doing any of that. Skipper raised his non-existent eyebrow. Lately, Kowalski had been acting strange, since their return from their "delightful adventure" –as he had called it–; spacing out during the day, thinking in who-knows-what, and definitely not paying attention to some orders. Though he had being distracted before –usually when he was working on something new that would capture all his attention– it had never been to this extent.

"Have you been working on something?" He asked suspiciously. If Kowalski had been working on something why hadn't he told him? Even if it was something dangerous, he would have been interested –danger was his mistress, after all–. What could he be working on for not telling him? Was it that destructive?

"No, sir" Was he telling the truth? "No? Are you sure?" He got closer, trying to intimidate his lieutenant –though with his damn height it wasn't that easy– but the answer was the same.

"Yes sir, I'm sure"

They stayed in silence for some seconds. Skipper was trying to find something that told him that Kowalski was lying, but the brainiac seemed to be completely honest, yet, he could see the bags of his eyes had grown too much in that one week.

"Uhm, Skippah" Private said, feeling that the atmosphere had gotten somewhat dense. "I don't think K'walski would have been able to work on something without any of us noticing, you know… we're in a circus and, there are no many places where he can actually do his… inventions".

Skipper took some more seconds looking at the private, while Rico and Kowalski looked at both, the taller gave the kid a grateful glance.

"Well, I guess you're right young Private" He finally said, smiling at the younger, though it didn't last much. "But anyway, that doesn't change the fact that you're obviously not sleeping well, Kowalski. So, whatever it is what keeps you awake, get rid of it. I don't wanna risk the props; we already had to pay too much for those pure gold wristwatches".

"I don't know why we bought them, in the first place" Said Private, putting one flipper below his peak. "We don´t even have wrists".

"Well no, but we can use them as belts".

To prove the leader's point, Rico coughed his golden belt and put it around his waist, showing it to his companions.

"See? They look classy".

Kowalski had kept away from the conversation, glad it was no longer about him. He was well aware that he had been spacing out too much since they had returned. He had barely slept that week, and though he was getting really exhausted, he couldn't manage to sleep more than three hours at night. He had no idea why he couldn't sleep, since nothing had been disturbing him.

Well, there was something…

Since they had return, even if that hadn't been more than three weeks ago, he had noticed that Skipper and Private were closer than ever. That was good, he thought. Private was finally more than the "cute guy" and Skipper was actually paying more attention to the kid, who was more than happy for being acknowledged by his superior. Kowalski was really happy for him, really. Seeing them both so happy made him happy, too. Yet…

Yet somehow he didn't like it.

He felt like he was gradually being ousted. He had always felt like he and Skipper had the closest relationship, always together in everything. He was the brain of the team, Skipper's right hand, his options guy. He had always been there for him to help him using his intelligence, whenever he needed it.

Until now.

Since their return to the circus, Skipper had been more than glad to give Private some new responsibilities with, of course, his own supervision. At first it was nice, but as days passed by Skipper and Private did more work together, leaving him and Rico to do chores and preparations all alone. And, while he did enjoy being alone sometimes, this was not what he was used to. Skipper had not asked for his help at all during the last two weeks, and he had started to feel some kind of emptiness in his chest –which was stupid, of course, since it was biologically impossible, as he would be dead if he had nothing in his chest–. However, the feeling that he was no longer useful to Skipper was starting to grow and he couldn't help but feel like he was being suffocated every time he saw those two so close –which once again was stupid, since the interaction of his teammates had nothing to do with the capacity of his respiratory system–.

He had tried to ignore it. It wasn't as if he had any other options –which was ironic, considering the fact that HE was the options guy–. But it had gotten harder to do so, and the sickening feeling kept growing making him feel…

"Kowalski!"

… lost.

"What?"

Skipper sighed; he had been calling the guy again without any response.

Kowalski noticed they were now alone; the other two must have been dismissed while he was deep in his thoughts. Although he knew the answer, he asked anyway. "Where are Rico and Private?"

"They've already gone to sleep!" He said, and exhausted tone evident in his voice. "Just how you and I should be doing right now, soldier. Now come on, you need some sleep."

He followed Skipper, who was being actually nice with him, not punishing him nor slapping him to get him out of his dreams. But he was most probably just studying him, trying to get inside of his mind to see what the real problem was.

They arrived to their car train, founding Rico playing with some explosives and Private trying to get them away from him.

"Rico, you've already had your fun, wait until our next show" The psycho let out an "aw" and left his "toys" aside. "Alright boys, time to sleep. Make sure you rest nicely, 'cause we've got lots of work for tomorrow". Kowalski sighed, knowing that last part was meant for him, and laid on their "bed". It was a big mattress, in which the four of them slept next to each other. He placed himself between Rico and Private, noticing that Skipper's pillow was next to the other side of the younger. "And, lights out!"

Darkness covered the carriage. Kowalski rested one of his flippers in his stomach, looking up at the ceiling even though he couldn't see anything in the darkness. He closed his eyes, really trying to fall asleep. He was tired, but he was still very much awake. He tried to think in something, and started drawing equations in his mind, solving them as if he had his abacus. Unfortunately, that didn't help, and soon he discovered he wasn't even paying attention to his own mind. Maths aside, he had no idea of what else he could do. Soon he was able to listen to Rico's soft snores and Private's soft breathing. He tried to concentrate on both of them, thinking it may work as a lullaby, but to no avail.

He opened his eyes as an idea suddenly crossed his mind. Unfortunately, it required getting out, which was something risky, almost dangerous, considering that Skipper wanted him to sleep.

Closing his eyes again, he tried to concentrate on any sound his ears could catch. Again, the only sound was Rico's snores and Private's breathing. That wasn't enough. Rico was a deep sleeper, just like him, so he was no problem. And though Private wasn't, as long as he didn't make much sound the kid would not wake up.

The problem was Skipper.

He was more of a light sleeper, always ready for any possible situation –though Kowalski was sure it was just some kind of paranoia probably caused by anxiety–. He had to be extremely cautious, and make sure the captain was really asleep.

After what seemed hours –though it was probably no more than fifty minutes, Einstein's statement of time being an illusion now making much more sense– he finally managed to hear Skipper's soft breathing, too.

He sat up, looking at Skipper's figure next to Private. He looked at his chest moving peacefully upwards and downwards in a calm rhythm. He kept like that for some minutes, not daring to move an inch, frightened of waking him up. Once he was sure Skipper was indeed asleep, he moved out of the mattress with extreme caution, walking towards one corner where many drawings, plans and equations were placed without order. Trying his best to make no sound, he took a small laptop –though it was still too big for him, almost his same height– and walked to the door, gently sliding it just enough for him to get out, and closed it behind him.

He looked around; making sure no one was there. It was almost impossible, as they had stopped the train in the middle of a small valley, with no humans close. All the animals were sleeping, finally having some rest after their magnificent performance.

Even like that, he didn't wanted to risk been caught, and he climbed to the ceiling –almost falling more than once, since it wasn't that easy with his laptop in one flipper–. Finally, he turned it on and stared at it for some time.

What am I doing? What was he thinking when he got up? Skipper could wake up at any minute and if he noticed he wasn't sleeping he would give him a harsh punishment and he would be even more away from him.

Wait, what?

He wanted to slap himself for those thoughts. Why was he thinking in that? Skipper was still the same. It was just something temporary. Soon, everything would be back to normal and he would once again be next to his best friend, receiving orders from him and helping him in everything again.

Right?

He put his head in his flippers. Oh, he was so tired, yet he couldn't sleep. Why was this bothering him so much? He didn't know what to do about those… feelings. He was good in everything else, maths, physics, chemistry… but, feelings? He wasn't good with that. He was sensitive, very much in fact, but he didn't really know what to make with it. Out of the four, he was probably the one who had it more difficult.

Private was pretty good at it, actually. He showed his feeling and was good understanding others. Rico didn't have too much to struggle with; he would just let out his feelings, though it was usually dangerous when he did so. Even Skipper showed his emotions and although he seemed to exaggerate them sometimes, he was still better than him.

When faced with strong feelings, Kowalski would try to dismiss it and work on something, distracting his mind of whatever was disturbing him. It usually worked, but sometimes when it didn't he could be even more dangerous that Rico. He had a tendency of "exploding", sometimes screaming of frustration and rage.

This time, though, he didn't feel rage, and that was even more frustrating. He could get rid of something that made him angry, but he couldn't get rid of something that he loved. Love was… something too difficult for him. It confused him, because he wasn't sure what to do about it. When Private "died", he was confused, unsure on what to do. His interaction with Eva had proven that he was no really experienced in that topic.

Eva.

He looked down at his laptop. Right, he had escaped from the carriage and from Skipper to talk with her. Why? He didn't even know why. He had done it before, in other nights like that when he couldn't sleep. Of course, he had been calling her a lot lately. Surprisingly, every time he had called her she had answered, not having work to do at the moment. They didn't talk much, though. At least not her, he was the one that would talk the most, though he had to admit he mostly said nonsense, since he got nervous at her silence. Actually, he wondered why she only ended their video calls when Classified told her to get back to work.

He had discovered that those conversations didn't really help him feel better, as the next day the sickening sensation would be there again; but at least while they talked he was distracted enough of those thoughts, his mind busy trying to say something intelligent to his crush.

He wasn't aware he had already started to move his flippers across the keyboard. Moving automatically, since he had learned what keys he should press –still not knowing how to read, but trying his best at understanding how to use it without needing to–. When he snapped out of his thoughts, he noticed he was already calling the owl. He immediately panicked. When he called, he usually took his time to prepare himself for the conversation, but right now he was just calling her without even knowing what he was going to say! He was about to hang up, when the screen had already changed, and the owl was looking directly at him, a small smile showing in his beak.

"Oh! Eva!" He squeaked. "Uh, I…"

"It's that penguin again?"

Despite not being able to see him, he could tell that was definitely Short Fuse. Eva narrowed his eyes at her side, where the seal presumably was. Kowalski shrugged.

"Oh, I'm sorry… You've got work to do so, uhm, I guess I'll go…"

"It's alright. We are taking a break" She interrupted, then looked at him with some surprise. "Did something happen?"

He looked at himself, trying to find something out of place, but everything seemed just fine. "Uhm, no, why do you ask?"

The owl's face softened. "What time is it?" "Well…" He looked at the sky and sighed. "It must be almost 2 am…"

"And shouldn't you be sleeping?"

He coughed a bit, trying to recover his voice. "Well, yeah, I mean…" He looked down, nervously poking the tips of his flippers. "I tried to, but I just couldn't manage to do so, therefore… I thought I could talk to you a bit…"

His voice had sounded like a squeak at the last sentence. Eva didn't answered immediately, and the penguin didn't move his gaze from the ceiling under him. It had been something stupid, indeed. But it was true; he really wanted to talk with someone.

"I see" She said finally. He looked at her once again. "But I think you should try harder, it's not good for you not to sleep".

Blessed Turing's pants, he was oh so glad he was a penguin. If he were a human, he would be definitely flushing deep red. "Don't need to worry, Miss Eva, I'll go to sleep soon"

"Well I hope so" Oh, dear Volta's pile. Was she worrying about him? "Because those eye bags are getting really unattractive"

His eyes opened wide. Embarrassed, he tried to hide his face in his flippers.

"I am sorry" The owl said, seeing the poor guy struggling with her statement. "I didn't mean to scare you, you're still cute"

"Oh… uh…" He looked once again at her. He was smiling, but his eyes showed he was still nervous. "Do you…" he coughed again, trying to hide his embarrassment "Do you really think I am… cute?"

"Well, yes" She smiled at him. He definitely was cute, not noticing she was just joking about him being unattractive, just wanting to ease the topic about his lack of sleep.

He coughed once again. I should have brought some water… "Uh, thank you… I…" Oh, feelings. How he just hated feelings. Even if she was just seeing him in a screen, he feared she could somehow feel the heat that seemed to be getting out of his head, where his blood was right then. He looked anywhere but the screen. "I also think you are… uhm, really, really cute"

Each word had sounded even higher pitched than the previous. He suddenly felt dizzy, most probably because of the amount of blood in his head.

He suddenly heard a snort and an "aww", and he turned his attention to the screen once again. Those two were there, too? Oh, for Bohr's sake, there it goes what remained of his dignity.

Eva cleared her throat, glaring once again at her right side where Classified and Corporal were. Kowalski could hear Classified coughed just like he had done before, and Eva return her gaze to him.

"Uh, I am sorry… I…"

"Thank you" She said with her normal, emotionless tone, but with a cute smile on her face. Still embarrassed, he smiled her back.

"Uh, sorry for interrupting" Classified appeared standing next to Eva, who moved a bit so the front camera of her computer could show the wolf to Kowalski. "But, we have work to do so I think you will have to end your conversation at another moment"

Work? At that hour? Well, that was the life of a secret agent, apparently. The leader stayed there, looking at Kowalski through the screen, and not noticing Eva glaring at him. Kowalski moved his gaze to him, then to her, and then to him again. It worked, since the wolf turn to Eva, just to find a serious frown directed to him. He understood that message, too.

"Oh, right. Goodbye, penguin."

Once he was out of Kowalski's view –though he was sure he and the other two were still there– Eva turned to him and gave him an apologetical look. "I am sorry, but I have work to do"

"It's ok" He said. It was fine; he had already had too much embarrassment for one night. "You've… things to do and… there are animals who need your help"

She smiled. "Goodbye, Kowalski"

Before he could say anything else, the call was over. She had said his name with that beautiful accent of hers and it had been enough to left him happy. He stayed a little more in there, still registering the conversation. He felt humiliated for had being heard by the North Wind guys saying so… lovely stuff, but somehow he was happy. Eva had called him cute. He was cute, he knew that, after all he was a penguin and penguins are cute. But to have someone like Eva saying it was a nice sensation. Usually, no one he actually knew would call him cute. Private was the one who received those flatteries, especially from Skipper.

His chest suddenly felt heavy. He was just right and happy and he just had to think of that. Why did it hurt? Private was cute. He was the cutest of them. There was nothing wrong in acknowledging that, even he had done it.

Then why did it hurt so much?

Not feeling fine, he decided to return with his team. Being extremely careful, he entered once again in the train, leaving the laptop in the corner it had been before and climbing to the mattress once again, careful of to not waking any of them. He was really exhausted now, and he was sure he now would be able to sleep.

Yet, he couldn't help but looked at his side. Private's happy sleeping form next to him. The only thing between him and Skipper. The ache in his chest grew. He closed his eyes, trying hard to have some hours of sleep.

Yet his mind didn't let him find some rest.

To be continued…

Thanks for reading, and I apologize if you found many mistakes. I'll correct it, sometime… Anyway, thanks for reading! :)

(A/N: I know I also owe a KoJu to someone… I'm working on that too, promise!)