Well it was a long weekend for me. Trust me when I say Illinois is a boring state, and it's not fun to drive through. When I finally got home I busted my butt to get this chapter up for you, so hopefully you enjoy it.

Inner Turbulence

As Rico made his way up the ladder he felt the urge to look back. He turned his head around and his eyes caught those of his dolls.

He stood, frozen, as his nightmare from the night before flooded into his mind.

"It's all your fault" He heard the doll say as the possessed face flashed before his eyes. "You could have saved her" Rico heard again as the dolls face once more flashed in front of him, this time, however it got closer, it's grin piercing Rico's hard outer shell.

He could feel him self starting to lose control of his thoughts while he slowly slipped back into his nightmare. Just then he heard Skipper voice call from the top of the ladder "Rico, lets go we haven't got all day"

He shook his head and quickly snapped back into reality. Rico climbed the ladder and came face to face with his team. He could tell they had been waiting for him.

"Well now that we're all here" Skipper said as he shot a look at Rico "We can start practicing our flipper to flipper combat. Kowalski you come with me and Private you're with Rico."

Private gulped at the thought of having to go flipper to flipper with manic penguin. He knew that even if Rico wasn't 100% he would still get beat. He nervously made his was over to Rico as Skipper and Kowalski went to the other side of the penguin's cement island.

Private looked at Rico standing in front of him. His shoulders were sagged and his eyes were fixated on the ground. Private could tell that there was something methodically eating away at him.

"Alright men first one to get knocked over loses" Skipper said as he explained the drill. "Ready, set, GO!" Skipper barked as he advanced towards Kowalski.

Rico was so lost in his thoughts that when he finally heard Skippers orders to begin he suddenly looked up from the ground, his eyes darting from one side to the other trying to figure out where he was.

Private noticed that Rico was confused and decided to exploit the manic penguins' sudden befuddled state. Private lunged forward and planted his foot square in the middle of Rico's chest.

Rico could feel his breath leaving his lungs as he saw the ground get closer and closer and with a thud he hit the ground. The air was silent as Skipper and Kowalski stopped fighting to see Rico lying on the ground with Private standing over him. They were in total shock, Private included.

"Private…did you just beat Rico?" Skipper asked already knowing the answer.

"I believe I did sir" Private replied in his normally cheery voice.

"Well…um…good job Private" Skipper said as he faked enthusiasm. Sure he was happy for Private but he knew that there were bigger problems that had to be addressed, and that he was not happy about.

"Kowalski, Private you two go enjoy yourselves. I'm giving you early leave for today." Skipper said as he smiled at them.

Kowalski and Private high fived each other a few times and started towards the fishbowl entrance when Private finally realized something. "Wait Skippa, what about Rico?"

"Don't worry about him young Private, I'm just going to have a little talk with him" Skipper replied. And with that Private nodded and went down the ladder into the HQ.

Skipper now turned all his attention towards Rico, who was just lying on the ground still not sure what was going on.

"Rico you haven't been yourself today. Is there something that's bothering you?" Skipper asked as he helped Rico off the ground.

"Nope" Rico responded.

"If that's the case than why did I see you crying this morning? In all the time I've known you, not once have I seen you cry until this morning. And what about losing to Private? You never lose to Private in flipper to flipper combat." Skipper said as he saw through Rico's lie. "Now I'm going to ask you one more time, is there something that you need to tell us?"

Rico let out a long, deep sigh and slowly nodded his head yes.

"Well what is it solider?" Skipper questioned.

Rico began to grunt and squawk as he explained to Skipper what he had done the night before with his doll. He explained how he lost his mother, and how he got captured and sent to New York. He told him about his nightmare and explained why he had been crying the morning.

Skipper was flabbergasted by what he was hearing. He had never known about this side of Rico. He started to see Rico not so much as a psychopath but more as a penguin with a troubled past.

Finally after Rico had finished Skipper got a chance to speak. "I'm sorry Rico…I never knew you had such a difficult past." He said as he placed a comforting flipper on Rico's shoulder.

"I think it would be best to tell the others your story Rico. That is, of course, if you feel comfortable doing so." Skipper suggested.

Rico didn't want to go through the pain of recalling his mother's death again, but he knew that Kowalski and Private needed to know.

He nodded in agreement with Skipper.

"Well I think the sooner you get this done with, the better off the whole team will be." Skipper said. He thought about how his team would be if Rico had all this on his mind during a mission. It was not a pretty image.

They both turned and headed to down the fishbowl entrance. Rico realized for the second time in 24 hours he would have to relive his painful memories.

Hoped you enjoyed the chapter. I would like to thank Monsy 38 for putting up with me through the majority of this story. She's been a big help so far and I imagine she will be in the future. I would also like to that YOU for reading, and hopefully reviewing. Well until next time arrivederci!