Disclaimer: I have no claim to the rights of the Penguins of Madagascar, nor do I make any profit from writing this piece of fiction which was inspired by The Penguins of Madagascar.
Author Notes:
This is a direct sequel to A Deal with the Devil, although you don't have to read that story first, it does make everything easier to understand. That also means that this story does belong to Park Avenue.
There is also a pairing in this fic, so I'm sure all you Skilene fans will be excited, especially for the second chapter. Where there are also little hints of my personal OTP, which should be easy to figure out. But that's that the next chapter, not this one.
But for now enjoy!
In the Line of Duty
"You can't handle the truth!" - Col. Jessep from the film A Few Good Men
Now that everything was settled from the Mr. Tux incident, something that Skipper would be making up to Private for years to come, the leader enjoyed the idea of taking the day to relax and bond. Especially after the divide that occurred, he probably owed Rico an apology based on how Kowalski had chewed him out yesterday as well. A sharp chirp caught his attention and he looked over to where Private was sitting, cell phone in hand, the boy looked up at him owlishly.
"Skippa, who's Frankie?" The words struck him like a freight train; he hadn't heard that name in years, at least not since Denmark. If it really was Frankie then one wrong move could plunge the globe into World War III or at the very least expose CENTRAAL and their allies' secrets.
"Movie night is cancelled until further notice boys. Kowalski call up HQ tell them Frankie is back, Rico run a security check, and Private you tell Kid to get the hell out of whatever he got himself in to." While Kowalski and Rico disappeared to complete the tasks they had been given, Private was looking at him confused.
"Skippa?"
"Listen, I know Kid threatened the team, but no one and I mean no one deserves to get mixed up with Frankie. It's like playing with an atomic bomb." He wouldn't wish Frankie on his worst enemy; the man was a sociopath and a criminal genius. Nothing like Dr. Blowhole, of course, he was more of a mad scientist. Frankie was a master tactician and knew exactly how to get under a person's skin and exploit their weakness. Even if the person didn't realize what their weakness was. Moreover, Skipper already knew where Frankie would hit them.
"Incoming transmission, 10 minutes." Kowalski spoke rushing back into the room, switching the television on to a secure feed and activating the camera. After a tense silence, the screen was filled with face a of young CENTRAAL agent, her expression was neutral, she had one hand on the one side of her headset and the other typing rapidly, after a few seconds, her hand dropped and she began to speak.
"Commander Davis, the Director has been notified of your situation, he believes that Frankie's target is Commissioner McSlade. Your orders are to take Frankie down by any means. Lethal force has been authorized failure is not an option. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"The full details of your task are being sent, you should be receiving them momentarily." The agent stopped typing and brought her full attention to Skipper. "Frankie was selected for a reason, but so were you. That bastard has been slipping through our fingers for far too long; it's time to end it. Best of luck and remember, never swim alone."
The transmission ended just in time for Rico to enter the room with a manila envelope in hand. "Security clear."
"Good, but don't expect it to stay that way for long." Skipper took the envelope from Rico and opened it pleased to see that they had faxed Frankie's file over, however after 2000 there was no further information. "Kowalski we're going to need eyes and ears down at the new Children's Center; McSlade is going to be there and security isn't going to be tight enough. Rico-"
"What the bloody hell is going on?" The sudden shout brought everyone's eyes to Private, the young Brit looking beyond irritated.
"Maybe it's best that you tell him, Skipper. He needs to know what we're getting in to." Kowalski's voice was gentle, but it did dissolve some of the building tension.
"Alright, a little more than twenty years ago CENTRAAL came up with Project: Alpha, it was their version of Group 13, except instead of one group there would be multiple, smaller groups of three. In theory, it worked, but the regulations were lose and some unsavory characters slipped through psych evaluation, they also didn't take in to consideration compatible personalities." The words came easily, which was not something he had been expecting, then again he had told it before to Kowalski and Rico years before. "Anyway, one of these teams was made up of Hans, Frankie, and me. We were on a mission in Denmark, it was simple, Hans was looking for any connection between ambassadors and global crime syndicates, I was control if anything went wrong and we were ready for that. However, we weren't ready for Frankie to be what went wrong, he planted false evidence and pointed at Hans and myself once all was said and done. Of course, Hans shifted the blame completely on me and I was made public enemy number one."
"Wait, how did that make you unable to step foot in Denmark?"
"It was the deal CENTRAAL managed to strike with the government, as long as I never stepped foot in Denmark they wouldn't charge me with, well, that part is still classified." It was not, but he couldn't bring himself to say what he had done, he had never been able to. For weeks after the fact it left him unable to sleep, he had been ready to quit and move to Alaska and become an angler the rest of his life.
"If CENTRAAL knows that Frankie's behind it, why didn't they do anything about it?" Skipper visibly flinched at Private's next question, prompting Kowalski to step in.
"Frankie disappeared from the grid, only showing up long enough to prove he was still around or somehow connected to some catastrophic event. He's not your everyday sociopath. He's a genius. There was no way to connect him to the crimes. In other words, he's a Pigeon, can't tell him from the rest." At Kowalski's words, Skipper began to feel sick, even his lieutenant was covering for him. He wondered what Private would think of him if he knew the truth that Frankie had found him years earlier before Project: Habitat went into practice, and that he could have finished Frankie then, but let the man go.
"Then why here? Why now?"
"It doesn't matter, what matters is that he's here and we're going to take him down." The words came out harsher than he had intended, even Rico was looking at him with raised eyebrows. "I'm sorry Private, but there's more hanging on this mission than you realize. If Frankie gets away, it could be years before he makes an appearance." A heavy silence settled over the team, it was several minutes before Private spoke, his tone indifferent.
"What's the plan?"