It was Private's third birthday, and Kowalski was worried. Not about Private at the moment, per say, but about his older brother Skipper, and their uncles, Manfredi and Johnson. They had been missing for three days now. He had called up Granny Acorn, the little old lady who lived down the street and ran the local marketplace, and asked if she had seen any of them.

"…no, I haven't. I'm starting to get worried too, so let's go and check with the police… but I want you to make sure those brothers of yours are in a safe place, I don't think you should leave them in the apartment."

"I know somewhere, no worries. I'll meet you at the market after I make sure Private and Rico are safe."

"Alright, Brain-boy, you'd better hurry though. It's not like Soldier boy to leave you all alone for this long."

"Right. See you soon, Granny." Kowalski hung up the phone and then looked to his little brothers. Rico was playing with Private, showing him different blocks and what each of them had on them. "Rico, Private… we're going to HQ now. I'm leaving Skipper a note in case he shows up, alright?"

" m'kay, K'Walski!" Rico grunted as little Private nodded and giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, HQ, HQ! Home, home." Private didn't talk much in front of adults, but his brothers knew that he was learning, and learning fast. "We go home!"

Rico nodded as he placed his little brother on his back for a piggyback ride. Though he was the youngest of the seven year olds, Rico was also the second biggest of them, and would do anything to protect his little family, especially his little brother, whom all three had come to adore. Private had shockingly jet black hair like his mother, but he had his father's dreamy blue eyes. Even though Private was the youngest, he was no slacker either. He had started trying to mimic his brothers when they practiced for their martial arts class every day.

After dropping Private and Rico off at their HQ behind the dumpster in the alley that they usually hid in, Kowalski ran off towards the marketplace to meet up with Granny Acorn. Granny Acorn was a nice old lady who had greyish hair and silver eyes. She was a thin lady, but the kind that made almost everyone call her "Granny" whether they were related to her or not.

Granny took young Kowalski to the police department, hoping to help the young man find his family. While Granny tried to explain everything to the police, Kowalski was pacing back and forth. He had to figure out where his brother was. "Skipper wouldn't make us worry like this. He's always careful. He knows we need him. Surely he wouldn't leave us to our own… no what am I saying. Skipper wouldn't abandon anyone. It's not in his nature. He's too loyal… there has to be some sort of explanation… something logical…" He then noticed one of the officers had left. "Where did…" The officer then came back with… "SKIPPER!" Kowalski ran to his slightly shorter brother and pulled him in for a hug. "Are you alright? What happened to you? Do you realize how worried we all were? Even Private was worried!" He stood back a pace as he felt his older brother's tears fall onto his shirt. "Skipper? What's wrong?"

"They're dead… I couldn't save them… I lost them... Manfredi… Johnson… they were shot… bank robbery… they were just shot down… not even given a chance…" His ice blue eyes were filled with tears for the first time that Kowalski could remember. Skipper rarely cried.

Kowalski brought his big brother in for another hug. "We'll figure something out. Everything will be okay. Just don't worry, Skipper. We'll figure out something."

Skipper noticed his little brother was also starting to cry. He patted the taller on the back. "Yeah. After all, you've always got some options, right, Kowalski?"

Kowalski stood back and wiped his eyes. "Yeah, we've got options, Skipper. Let's get going, I left the others back at HQ and they were already worried about you."

"Yeah, we better hurry then, heh. Can't leave the Sargent all alone with the Private for long. They might blow up the HQ." Skipper gave a weak smile to his younger brother. Kowalski and Skipper left after telling Granny they were going home.

The moment that the two entered the HQ, Private ran up to Skipper and hugged wrapped his tiny arms around his brother's waist. "Skipper!"

"Easy, Private, easy." He stroked the child's head as Rico smirked. Rico and Kowalski got started on making dinner out of the supplies that they had in the HQ. Skipper picked up Private in his arms. "Listen, Private. I've got to tell you and Rico something."

"They aren't coming back, are they?" Private looked up to Skipper with his big baby blue eyes. Skipper bit his lip. Private knew more than he should've, as usual. He was getting smarter at a scary pace, but he wasn't as smart as Kowalski had been at his age, that was a relief at least.

Skipper rubbed the kid's hair softly. "Yeah, sorry, Private." The little boy's grip tightened on his oldest brother. "I couldn't save them."

"It's okay, Skipper. No one's perfect. Not even someone as amazing as you." Skipper felt tears well up in his eyes again. His little brother was taking this pretty well. He seemed to be wiser than the rest of them. "Besides, as long as you keep coming home, we'll be fine. Nothing can stop us as long as all four of us are together." Private looked up at his big brother with his wide baby blue eyes filled with tears. "We're going to be okay, right?"

Skipper hugged his brother closer to him and looked up at his two other brothers. Kowalski and Rico were both looking at him expectantly. They knew that they were just kids, but somehow they felt that Skipper would always be able to save them. He was Skipper. No matter what he decided, the boys would follow him to hell and back. It was just how they knew him, how they trusted him. He knew that they were scared, but he also had confidence in them.

He smiled weakly to his little brothers. "We're going to be fine." Kowalski had opened his mouth and was about to give the odds of survival for them. "No matter how the odds are stacked against us." He gave a smirking glare to his nerdy Lt. Kowalski grimaced and shut his mouth. "Got it boys?"

"Aye Skippah!" Private's adorably cute voice piped up sleepily. It was then that Skipper noticed how tired the young boy was. The other two nodded their agreement. Skipper smiled and carried Private to one of the lower bunks of the two bunk-beds that were in the HQ.

"Alright then, looks like we're on our own again, boys."

Rico rubbed the back of his head. He remembered how he had been when he had first met Skipper and Kowalski. He had the most experience with surviving without adults. It had been hard to be on his own, but then he looked at his three brothers and smiled. He hadn't had them back then. Now he had a team to back him up and with their combined knowledge and the HQ to stay at during the night, they would be just fine.

"Eh, we'll e okay." Rico grunted. Skipper nodded with that knowing smirk while Kowalski just chuckled.

"Odds against us, I'll be amazed we survive the first month."

"I'll take those odds." Skipper smiled wide as he headed towards the little kitchen in the HQ. The HQ had almost everything they could ever want in an actual house. The only thing missing was some form of entertainment like a television, and their caring parents…