A/N: Hello, and let me be the first to welcome you to my first story on FF! I'm really excited and hopefully my writings will be enjoyed by all. This is a sort of slash fic, but nothing too heavy or graphic. I would appreciate as much reviews as possible, so even if you didn't like the story and think I should improve on some things, please leave your opinion; it means more to me than you think. Now, on to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Penguins of Madagascar or anything related to the matter. I just own this story.

Sometimes, when you think everything's perfect, nothing can go wrong at all, you're on top of the world and no one can bring you down, it all crashes right in your face and you're helpless to the disaster it causes...

It started innocently enough...

06:00

The sunlight, just now lining the horizon with an illuminating glow, shone through the clouds and touched the city, giving the streets and alleyways a natural shine. A mist drooped over, and all was quiet; a rare happening for the usually loud and overworked sounds of men and women starting off for yet another normal morning in New York. But on this particular morning, there were no sounds. No horns blaring in the street; no workers or bums polluting the area with their gaudiness. The morning had begun, and it was a perfect one at that.

A pair of icy cobalt eyes slowly started to shift open, as they always did at the exact same time. The body belonging to those eyes, none other than a mildly stout, yet muscular penguin named Skipper's, had moved up and slugged out of its resting place, taking in the aroma of coffee and fish, as was a ritual for the tired penguin, now grabbing a mug and filling it with the sweet black liquid. He waddled over to the table in the middle of his residence and took a seat, casually sipping the mug and setting it on the hard concrete surface, in the same spot he did every morning.

His eyes drifted across the room to his bunk; a place he'd be more than happy to accompany right now. But now wasn't the time for sleep, nor was it during the endless times he had woken before to start the day off for himself and his three other companions. His eyes shifted upward, to the bunk above his, and he was met with a more-than-familiar sight. Rico, his long-time friend and weapons expert, was slouched over on his pillow, snoring obscenely loud and drooling immensely. It was a sight and sound he had learned to live with, one he had gotten used to and now just ignored. He chuckled to himself, wondering how he could have ever become accustomed to the noise.

He looked up again, to another of his comrades, and was met with the sight of the slightly taller penguin and Skipper's second in command, Kowalski. The way he slept almost made Skipper chuckle once more; it was almost melancholic, the way he just lay there, in the most normal and organized way possible. His body was outstretched and his flippers were glued to his sides. The sheet covering him had no creases or folds and the pillow was as if someone had just fluffed it. It had almost seemed that someone had put him there in the utmost carefulness and caution, as if one minor flaw made it unacceptable.

He got up from his chair and moved closer, examining the final bunk on the bottom, Private's bunk, yet he didn't know why. It was like he did it out of habit, but never once had he done this. He watched as the small figure below him twitched in his sleep, and held the sheet close to him as he continued his slumber. His ivory feathers rustled softly under them, and his head nuzzled into the pillow. He didn't know why, but Skipper just couldn't bring himself to look away. The way he slept, every move, every breath, it was so serene, almost breathtakingly beautiful to look at. Skipper felt himself move closer to the little penguin, just to get a better look at the sight before him. He could hear his breathing, just like clockwork. Not a breath too short or too long, almost entrancing the larger penguin in a state of calmness. Skipper didn't know why he seemed so interested in him right now, but he didn't seem to care. The only thing that mattered to him right now was the feeling of euphoria knowing his soldier seemed as happy as he could be right there in that bunk.

The flat-headed penguin felt a smile form across his beak, and he moved back to his seat at the table, but what had just happened hit him harder than a bag of bricks.

What am I thinking? He thought to himself as he took another sip from his mug. What just happened to me? He took another glance at the young penguin on the bunk, and almost considered getting closer once more, just to feel that feeling again. But he shook the thought away. This isn't something a leader of an elite squad does. Why did I become so entranced? The question bumped around in his mind for a short while, but soon after he forgot all about it, with the help of some fresh air and a couple laps around the water surrounding his habitat.

06:45

Water dripped off on all sides of the penguin as he departed from his pool, and as he got out, he let the feeling of the warm concrete take over. He lay there, taking in the fresh scents of the morning, something you couldn't just do anywhere in a place like New York. And Skipper was happy for that; happy he had the luxury of one of the only places in the city where you could actually feel one with nature. Not that he was for all that "Hippy crap" as he put it; it just felt nice to let the cool air flow through his feathers and the warm sun dry him off from a relaxing swim.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting in the fresh scents once again. If he hadn't known any better, he might have thought that he could lay there forever. He felt happy having this one short moment of leisure, considering that every day was a mission and no one around him could be trusted, besides his team-mates, of course. The place seemed like a vacation right now, but it felt like one thing was missing. One very important thing..

His thoughts had suddenly drifted to Private, and he had felt the same sense of elation again. He smiled to himself as he relived the morning in his habitat; Privates body, gently covered by the sheets, a small smile on his face as he buried his head into the pillow and drifted into a deeper sleep. Skipper felt his heart beat faster, and his smile grow wider, but he stopped himself once more, shooting up and shaking his head. Confusion pulsed through his mind, but before he could dwell any deeper into the thought, the bell on the clock tower overshadowing the zoo rang loudly through his ears. He picked himself up and headed back into the habitat he liked to call his "Head Quarters".

07:00

"Good morning, Skipper. How's the weather, today?" The voice of his second in command almost drifted right past the leader, as his thoughts were still pre-occupied, but he caught himself a third time and looked towards Kowalski, who was sitting at the table beside Rico, who was stuffing his face with two mackerel and a mug of coffee. Breakfast of champions.

"Good morning men," Skipper replied as he casually made his way over to the table. He looked around, and found that the penguin who had filled his thoughts earlier was absent.

"Hey," He said. "Where's young Private?" Right after he spoke those words, the two team-mates before him exchanged a worried glance. Kowalski was the first to speak.

"Well, erm.." He shook with his words, obviously not wanting to distort the leader's good mood. "Private is still asleep in his bunk..again."

The calm and cheeriness covering Skipper's face was replaced with one of anger and disappointment. He shook his head as he spoke.

"Again? I thought I told him sleeping in is prohibited!" The scientist cringed with the leader's emphasis of the word 'prohibited'. He nervously tapped his flippers on the table, trying to find the right words.

"Yes, Skipper, I know," He started, making sure not to look Skipper in the eyes, which were blistering with anger. "But he is still learning, and-"

Skipper shot his flipper up, ceasing any more words from Kowalski.

"That's no excuse not to learn from his mistakes, Kowalski. He should know better, especially after last time.." Kowalski shuddered at the leader's last words as he watched him move over to Private's bunk.

"Go topside and start training," He said sternly, motioning for the fishbowl entrance. "I'll take care of Mr. Slacker here."

The two comrades exchanged glances once more. Whatever was coming to Private, it definitely couldn't be good. But they obeyed the orders and headed for the top of the concrete ice flow, lest they want the same treatment from the furious Skipper.

Once alone, Skipper moved closer to Private's bunk, and all previous thoughts were shot out by total anger.

"Private..." He cooed softly. "Pri-vate..."

One light blue eye cracked open, but almost instantly after, it shut. The smaller soldier rolled over, mumbling 'five more minutes...'. And that was where Skipper drew the line.

SLAP!

The sound rang through the entire HQ, and no doubt it could be heard from the two training penguins who were topside. Private lurched to the hard concrete floor, rubbing the sore spot, now irradiating a soft red, where his leader had mercilessly smacked him across his face. He let out a low whimper of pain.

"Five more minutes?" Skipper shouted as Private culpably kept his gaze on the ground. "How about five hundred laps around the zoo?"

Private let another whimper escape his beak as he dared to look up at his leader. His eyes burned brightly with wrath and his flipper looked almost ready to deliver another blow. He motioned to say something, possibly to object or apologize, but Skipper had already started; there was no way he would stop until he got the message through.

"You were expected to be up thirty minutes ago! Can you not even do that, soldier? Would you want me to train for you? How about I just do everything for you, since you can't manage to do it yourself!"

Private's eyes burned and swelled with tears from, what Skipper thought, was from the slap he just delivered. But it wasn't. The slap had barely phased him; it was the words that truly hurt the young penguin.

"I'm sorry, Skippa!" He pleaded, trying his best to hide his emotional pain. "I really am! I-I'll try harder next time and-"

Another slap. Another wail of pain, and another tear rolling down Privates burning face.

"What if there isn't a next time?" He shouted, even louder, if it was penguinly possible. "You could have been dead right there, man!"

Private cowered and wiped the tears from his face, now looking to the ground in defeat. There wasn't going to be a a way out of this, he might as well just take his punishment without remorse.

"Now get your sorry butt topside and give me one hundred push-ups!"

Private's gaze shot up in disbelief. "What?" He questioned. "But..But Skippa..I can't do th-"

"No. Excuses!" The leader turned and headed for the fishbowl entrance. "Now get up there, and give me one hundred push-ups. Now!"

07:30

The sun was fully shining over the entire city when Kowalski and Rico had finished their training exercises, and Private had begun his own. Skipper stood sternly over the little penguin as he struggled with the push-ups.

One..Two..Three.. Private counted out to himself the number of push-ups he had accomplished, but it only made him sick with worry and doubt. The leader said nothing, but he kept his gaze fixated on the smaller as he progressed, slowly becoming more weary.

Twenty-one...Twenty-two...Private felt every vein in his flippers pulse with each violent second. He wanted to protest, even beg Skipper to let him stop, but he was sure that there was no possible way out of this. He lifted his chin up to Skipper, who's eyes were still glowing with a dark temperament; a gaze that could kill a man, and there his leader was, staring him straight in the face with it.

Fifty-four...Fifty-five... He could hardly stand the burning sensation in his flippers.

"Skippa..." He gasped out. "Please..." But Skipper stood there; he was determined to get his message through to the small penguin, although he had definitely gotten the point.

Fifty-eight...Fifty-nine... Private, to his own amazement, had kept up this far, but he knew any second now he would collapse. And the worst part was, he didn't know what Skipper would do to him if he failed. He just couldn't bring himself to think of it.

Sweat dripped off of his gleaming feathers, and he lifted his head up once more. Skipper had seemed slightly impressed, but he didn't let Private up yet.

"I can't do it, Skippa...I-" Skipper interrupted him with an angry lash of words.

"You're not stopping, soldier! You need to learn your lesson, and this is the only way that you will!"

Private could think of a thousand ways he could better himself than this torture, be he didn't dare go against the leader's orders.

Seventy-three... Private felt every muscle in his body suddenly give out. His eyes widened with pure terror and he fell to the ground with a thud. Skipper just scoffed at the sight before him.

"I knew it.." He grumbled to himself as he shook his head. Private tried to lift himself up, but was only met with a burning pain in his flippers.

"Skippa.." He whimpered, but the leader held his flipper out to silence him.

"I don't want to hear it, soldier. You failed the exercise, and you failed to learn your lesson. But most importantly, you failed me." He turned and headed for the HQ, but not without delivering one more blow to the heart.

"I can't afford a failure on my team!" And with that, he slammed the fishbowl entrance shut, leaving Private to lay in his pool of sweat and self-pity.

The young penguin couldn't believe his ears. He sat up, and ran the last five minutes through his head once more.

"A...Failure..?" He whispered to himself, feeling the tears swell up in his eyes and run down his face.

A failure's no good for his team..I'm no good for him.. Private could feel every part of his body tense up as he sobbed. He cried and cried, just laying there, replaying the words through his mind, until he realized the only thing he could do.

"A failure like me...I don't deserve to live here, with you.." He said to himself, wiping the many tears from his face as he picked himself up and ran off. To where, he didn't know. But it didn't matter, he was no good here, no good for Skipper. The enough made him feel like he wasn't even good enough for life.

He headed in the direction the clock tower...

Please leave a review telling me how you like it, and if there's any grammatical or spelling errors, let me know and I'll fix them right away. But please do tell me your opinion of it, and if you like it, there's definitely more chapters coming within the week!