You'll be in My Heart
A/N: This is just a little one-shot story I felt like writing, because I love Skilene! It was inspired by Esperata's youtube vid, You'll be in my Heart. It is awesome so if you haven't seen it yet watch it on .com/watch?v=xtPzBU0t_D4 because it is awesome!
Anyway here I go…This get's a little violent just to warn you...
Come stop your crying…
It'll be alright.
Just take my hand…
Hold it tight.
I will protect you
From all around you.
I will be here…
Don't you cry.
Marlene lay still in her bed, quiet and still as death. She was known for her obnoxious snoring…In fact, Skipper caught it on tape once.
But not tonight.
She was in the penguin HQ, sitting contentedly on one of the bunks. She had no idea whose it was, but she sat there nonetheless. Sighing deeply, she pressed her back to the wall and looked up at the ceiling. She planned on never leaving. She planned on never leaving the penguins…or Skipper…
But she still sat there alone.
She closed her eyed and inhaled deeply. She took in the strong odor of fish and damp air through her nostrils…which anyone else would undoubtedly think was disgusting. But not her.
It was perfect.
The best part, though, was the smell of the bunk she sat in. It smelled of many things; faintly of the rotting fish which consumed the whole base in it's death cloud, but mostly of something more pleasant…more appealing… It was indescribable. Unlike anything she'd ever smelled…or felt…before. It seemed to brighten up the room in its intoxicating aroma. She knew at once whose bunk this was…
"A little nosey, aren't we, Marlene?" came a confident, all-too familiar voice from the doorway behind her.
Marlene jumped in utter shock. She could have probably jumped ten feet in the air, had she not hit her head hard on the bottom of the bunk above. The second it did she felt a jolt of pain course through her body.
Though she tried, she could not keep herself from crying out in pain. As soon as she did she seriously regretted it.
Skipper, with a worried and slightly surprised expression, rushed over to her side. "Marlene? Marlene???"
Embarrassed, Marlene stared at her feet while supporting her head with one hand. She felt her cheeks blush and grow hotter all of the sudden. She could feel the presence of the very penguin she wanted to see right in front of her…but for some reason she was hesitant to look up at him. Maybe it was just because she thought he would be angry at her?.. Possibly. After all, he was very picky about who could come inside his HQ and when…but she knew it was something more.
She held her breath, waiting for the harsh scolding which she knew was to come.
"Hoover dam Marlene!" shouted Skipper.
'Here it comes…' she thought.
"We should put something on your head! That bump up there looks pretty darn big to me!"
This was definitely not what she had expected to hear, least of all from him. In fact, it was the exact opposite.
"Oh...no. I-it's fine." she replied weakly.
Skipper rolled his eyes, though she couldn't see it. "Your hand doesn't cover it up, either."
Becoming self-conscious, Marlene looked up at her head. She could feel the bump throbbing...and Skipper was right, it WAS enormous.
She sighed, lowering her hand to reveal a giant, blue-green mountain in the center of her head. Skipper gasped, coming closer.
"Marlene, I need to put something on that. You hit your head pretty hard.................uh...." He paused for a long awkward moment, unsure of what to say. Eventually he leaned in still closer. "..........Are you.....okay?"
This was just getting stranger and stranger. Startled by his sudden care for her, she slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze. She stared, nearly getting lost in his iceberg blue eyes. They seemed to see right through her, to peer deep inside of her. So many untold stories she could almost see in them.
The two stared into each others eyes in silence for a minute, forgetting about Marlene's injury. No sound could be heard, other than the beating of each others hearts. Marlene listened to Skipper's thumping inside his chest, so very close to her. Closer than she'd ever hoped. She longed for this moment to last forever, for this to be real. She didn't want to have to be contented with her own outrageous fantasies forever.
"Marlene...I...I need to tell you something. Something I've been hiding for a long time." Skipper stammered, breaking the silence. Finally he was saying something. Something important...to HER. She held her breath, hoping that it was what she thought it was going to be. "I ...I-" But he never got a chance to finish.
Both were shocked when they heard the sliding sound of the fishbowl entrance, as someone jumped into the base. Taken aback, Skipper shook his head fastly as if to snap out of some sort of trance. He whirled around and flipped through the air, landing in an attacking position.
"WHA- oh, it's only you, Rico." Skipper let his guard down and lowered his arms. He widened his eyes at the penguin in front of him. "What's wrong?!?"
Rico was jumpy, an expression of horror on his face. "COMING! COMING!"
"What's coming?!?!?!?"
"COMING! COMING!"
"What's coming?"
Marlene jumped off of the bunk she sat on, her emotions a mixture of utter dissapointment, curiosity, and fear. She walked up beside Skipper, staring with anxiety at Rico. She begged for him to continue, so that she would know what on earth was happening...but at the same time she dreaded what he would say. This was starting to really freak her out now.
"COMING! COMING! COMING CLOSER!!!"
"Spit it out man! What is it?!?!?!?!?!!!!!"
Rico shook his head, mouth agape and eyes wider than Mort's.
"COMING! COMING FOR YOU!!!"
At this, Marlene's heart sank. She wasn't sure who he meant when he said, COMING FOR YOU, but she knew that it wasn't good.
She turned to Skipper for comfort, but he looked just as perplexed and unsure as she was.
She hurried up the ladder. If they wouldn't tell her, she was going to find out what it was herself!
When she had gotten half way up, they could hear a big BANG from outside.
The whole HQ vibrated violently, followed by several gasps of terror.
BANG. Much louder this time!
Marlene turned around to face the other two, freezing where she was on the third rung.
BAAAANGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ground rumbled beneath them and the whole place shook. She felt her grip loosening on the metal rung as she lost control, and the very world around her trembled. Her hands slipped ever-so-slightly, and before she could even catch her breath, she felt the wind being knocked out of her as she made contact with the hard ground.
She tried to get up, gasping for air, but it seemed as if a million things were on top of her weighing her down. She proped herself up with her arms and nearly got up, but they gave out on her. Once again she met the cruel HQ ground.
"Sk-Skipper." she gasped, wheezing.
Skipper looked down at her and immediately ran over. "MARLENE-"
Several things happened all at once: Private tumbled down the open fishbowl entrance, skipping on the ground like a stone and landing right on Marlene's gut. (another heavy blow, preventing her from breathing) Then a blood-curtling scream was heard from across the room, coming from one of them. Marlene turned her head as much as she could to face the other two, who were gaping at her in shock. Realizing that Rico was the one who had screamed, she followed his gaze. "Wha-what is it, Ri-"
But she didn't need to ask. Looking at Private, who still lay still on top of her, she realized that he was dead and gushing blood all over her.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She stared at the lifeless, suddenly cold body that lay slumped on top of her.
Skipper ran across the room to them. "PRIVATE! MARLENE, NOOOOOOO-"
That moment, a crash was heard behind Marlene, bigger than any of the previous ones had even come close to. It was louder than an airplane taking off from 5 feet away.
Skipper scidded to a stop. "I-I-IT'S YOU!!!" He stared up at something, behind Marlene and Private.
She turned around to see a great big corner chunk of the ceiling missing, and a giant black figure standing above it outside.
"THAT'S RIGHT, SKIPPY!" it said in it's deep, booming voice. "It's time for you to hit the hay!"
Skipper gaped at it, but quickly regained his senses. "What do you want, stinky?! A breath mint?!!!!"
This was not the responce the figure had been hoping for. It jumped into the room through the hole, landing right beside Marlene with a big CRASH. She lay as still as she could, her thoughts filled with pure terror. She tried to look dead so the figure wouldn't care.
She lay her head down on the ground again, opening her eyes a millimeter to see what was happening around her. Skipper nodded his approval at her, smiling slightly. He stood in front of Rico.
"If it's my team you're after, you'll have to go through me!"
Marlene shoved her fist in her mouth to keep from shouting out at him. She bit down so hard she could feel the blood trickling down from her knuckles.
Skipper...no...she mouthed the words.
The giant figure shook his head. "You're even dumber than I thought, Skipper. It is not your team Im after." He stared directly into Skipper's eyes, meeting his hate-filled gaze. "But, I can certianly get them too if you don't mind!"
"Rico, RUN!" Rico scurried to the side, trying to make his escape.
"Oh, Rico, was it? I'm sure we'll have lot's of fun together." He ran to where Rico stood and picked him up, throwing him across the room. Rico slammed into the wall beside Marlene hard, unmoving after that.
Skipper had tears in his eyes. It broke Marlene's heart. She felt as if her only protection had crumbled.
"YOU, YOU BASTARD!!!" she screamed, not caring that she was supposed to be dead. "GET OVER HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU MYSELF!" The figure turned around.
"Marlene, no!" Skipper bolted for her, getting between her and the figure. "NOOOO!"
It laughed darkly as it swung a great arm at them, hitting Skipper and sending him crashing into the other wall. "Marlene, Mar-" he gasped, picking himself off of the ground with much effort, "Get...get out of here..."
"Marlene, Marlene, get out of here!" mocked the figure, chuckling evilly. It took another swing at Skipper, but he ducked and it narrowly missed his face.
"Marlene! Get. Out. OF. HERE!!!"
She refused to leave.
"MAR-" He looked to the side at her, and taking the opportunity, the figure smashed Skipper in the mouth. He began to bleed, slowly at first, then faster...
"Marlene!"
SMASH.
"MARLENE!"
SMASH.
"MARLENE!!!"
Skipper was panting heavily now and wheezing for breath. "No...NOOOO!" He turned around, rage and adrenaline pumping through him. With the most terrifying expression that Marlene had seen on anyone before, he ran full-force at the figure. He jumped, trying to kick it in the gut, but it caught him in mid-air and yawned.
"Nighty night, ladies."
He threw Skipper against the wall with so much force that he didn't get up.
"SKIPPER!" shouted Marlene. The figure laughed.
"Not so tough as you used to be, hey, Skip-"
But Skipper finally stirred and rolled over onto his back. Forcing himself to get up, he used all his willpower to attack the figure one last time.
"YAAAAAAAHHH!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, charging it with hatred in his voice. It was not expecting this, and for the first time it looked genuinely afraid...and rightly so.
Skipper flipped through the air and landed ontop of it. He smashed and kicked and punched with all of his strength. After a huge struggle, the figure atlast collapsed and toppled to the ground.
Marlene looked overjoyed, until she saw that Skipper had collapsed as well.
"Skipper!" she ran over to him. She bent down at his side and whispered.
"Skipper, are you alright?"
He stirred for a moment and rolled over to face her. "Marlene, Marlene, is...is he gone?" he said weakly, ignoring her question completely. "Is he...is he dead?"
Marlene nodded, her expression one of happiness but her eyes welling with tears. The sight of Skipper hurt and struggling to breathe in front of her was too much to bear. "Yes...yes! He's gone...he's gone. C'mon Skipper. Stay with me. C'mon!"
"Marlene." he raised a shaky flipper to her face and stroked her fur gently. "Marlene...don't worry. Everything's going to be all right. I will protect you." He gasped, barely getting out the whole sentence...............for her.
Marlene could tell his strength was running out. "No! No, Skipper, no...don't leave now! The figure is gone, we did it...it's gone, c'mon, c'mon...we're safe."
"Then my work here is done."
"No! No! I...I need you!" she couldn't hold back a tear now, and she felt it run down her cheek. It was all her fault! She had let him die for her!
Skipper's expression faltered. "Don't you cry...Marlene. Don't cry." He grabbed her and pulled her closer, so that her ear was right beside her mouth. "I...I love.........I love-" His muscles slackened, and his eyes shined like glass orbs as they stared forever at the girl they couldn't see. He fell over, lifeless, still holding Marlene tight in his arms.
All she could do was feel her insides bleed and lay down by Skipper. She cried her heart out, shouting at Skipper to come back to her. "Skipper! Skipper...S-S-Skip-per, nooo...no." She lay in his arms, never going to leave his side. "No."
"SKIPPER!" Marlene woke with a start, hearing her own voice. She panted fastly, looking around. Much to her relief and dissapointment, she lay alone in her bed back in her own habitat. She could see the utter darkness outside: it was still the middle of the night.
She heaved a deep sigh, sweating all over. Skipper would never be hers. He would never want her, she could never have him.
Maybe it was better that way? She tried to tell herself that. Shuddering, she lay back down and closed her eyes, instantly asleep.
At that moment Skipper walked up to her from outside, upon hearing his name. He smiled at her mumbling in her sleep. "Skipper...Skipper..."
He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, then began to sing to her.
Marlene was so barely into sleep mode, she wasn't sure if what she heard was reality,or just a dream. She might never know, but she was just sure it was happening! She longed for it to be hapening. It was a night she would ever forget, either way.
Skipper held her close and sang a sweet song to her, rocking her back and forth.
For one so small,
You seem so strong.
My arms will hold you,
Keep you safe and warm.
This bond between us
Cannot be broken.
I will be here.
Don't you cry.
Cause you'll be in my heart.
Yes you'll be in my heart.
From this day on
Now and forever more.
My first attempt at a Skilene fanfic. Sorry if it wasn't that good, but hey, it's my first shot at it. Please review and tell me what I could do better! I hope you liked it! :)