I know I updated only a few days ago, but for this story it feels a lot longer. Really, I don't think I've ever been so excited to write a story as I am for this one. It's just fun.

Anyways, I don't own Penguins of Madagascar...just thought I'd say that.

The room was dark, very dark. Not even a prick of light. Rico couldn't see anything, yet he knew exactly where he was. A room that he was very familiar with. Even though it was dark, he could tell that the room was fairly large. The floor felt hard and cold, like cement. The whole room in fact felt very cold, and wet. He was in a basement, and, judging by the silence, he was completely alone.

Some people would be bothered being in a dark room, cold, wet, and alone. Rico, however, was not scared. Quite the opposite, in fact. He embraced these conditions, as they were preferable to the alternative.

Somewhere in that room was a door, locked. Rico may not appreciate being locked in a basement, but nonetheless, he was grateful toward the locked door. For as long as that door remained steadily closed, not only couldn't he get out, but nobody else could get in. And as long as he was alone, he was safe.

Rico was oh so aware of the fact that the locked door wouldn't be his protector for long. Sooner or later, probably much sooner than Rico would like, that door would be opened, engulfing him in light from outside the room. After hours of being in the dark, the light would burn his eyes, giving him a headache. And that would only be the first of his many pains.

Because there, standing in the doorway, leering at Rico, would be him. The worst man Rico had ever met in his life. He was absolutely evil. Rico hated him. Hated him, and feared him. He was the one who had locked Rico in the basement in the first place, as punishment for disobeying him. But being locked in was only the beginning of his punishment. The rest of it was much more painful.

Rico knew this, because this torturing cycle had become their routine almost from the moment Rico had been placed under that man's care. Rico didn't listen to him, didn't do as he was told, so he was always punished for it. And yet, he continued to disobey. He hated the pain, but more than that he hated the thought of letting that man mold him like he did the others. No, Rico wasn't going to become evil like the rest of them. No matter how much they broke him.

Rico was broken from his thoughts when he thought he heard something. He strained to hear more clearly, and when he did, his blood felt like it froze. Footsteps. Heavy, purposeful, and tauntingly slow footsteps, coming down the stairs, toward the basement.

Rico closed his eyes tightly and clutched at the empty chain he kept around his neck. He prayed to God that he was as crazy as people thought he was. That he was only imagining those footsteps. That there was no one coming down to get him. That the room would remain as dark as it ever was-

*Crack*

Rico's eyes shot open at the bright flash of light that was gone as quickly as it had come. He was breathing deeply, practically gasping for breath. It took him a minute to gather his bearings. He wasn't in that cursed basement, he was safe in his room. He had only been dreaming. It was just a dream...except, it wasn't.

It was a nightmare.

A frighteningly realistic nightmare, that had once been his reality.

Another sudden flash of light lit up the room, scaring him terribly. Rico choked out a gasp and felt panic rise up inside his chest. He glanced around the room nervously, almost expecting someone to be in there. But no, he was completely alone, the room was dark again. He was safe. The anxious feeling he had diminished slightly, but didn't leave entirely. He was still scared. And, although he hated to admit it, he wanted company. Friendly company.

The perfect solution came to mind. Rico reached under his bed and groped around everything he kept down there until he found what he was looking for. Ms. Perky, his dolly. Yes, Rico had a doll, and he loved her dearly. He always felt better when he was holding her close. Not that he felt good now, per se, but certainly better. But only a bit.

Clutching Ms. Perky tightly, Rico laid down again. He didn't close his eyes, for fear of falling asleep again and having another nightmare. Instead, he laid wide awake on his bed and just listened. There was a constant hard pattering that made Rico nervous at first, until he realized that it was just rain. His nerves spiked on edge again when a bright flash lit up the sky.

Lightning.

Rico hated lightning, it always unnerved him. It wasn't just lightning either. All sudden appearances of bright light, even just someone turning on the light when he wasn't expecting it, made Rico tense. He always expected pain to come after the light. He knew it was stupid, but after two years of that being the case, he couldn't help himself.

Rico tensed when the room was lit up for an instant by another flash of lightning. He knew he'd never be able to relax as long as he could see when the lightning occurred, so he threw his covers over his head. There. Now he couldn't see the flashes. He could still hear the rain hit the window and the rumble of the thunder, but he couldn't see the lightning, so he was content.

Lying there in the dark, listening to the storm outside, Rico found himself dozing off to sleep. He tried not to, but he couldn't help it. He was tired, and his head hurt, and he needed sleep. He was almost asleep when his eyes snapped open and he sat up. He thought he heard something. Rico held his breath and strained to hear past the storm...there it was again!

There was no mistaking that sound. He was hearing footsteps. Someone was coming. But, that didn't make any sense. Nobody else was even awake. They were all asleep. But if that was true, then just what was he hearing? Had he fallen asleep and was dreaming again? Was he having another nightmare?

Rico kept his eyes glued to the door as he listened to the footsteps come closer. Then, the instant another flash of lightning struck, the door opened. Rico cried out in alarm and dove under his covers, clutching them tightly to himself. His breath began to come out in short, quick gasps. His heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest.

Rico was beginning to get a feeling of anxiety. Why wasn't anything happening. There was someone in the room with him, but they weren't doing anything, and he didn't know why. Why weren't they doing anything?!

"...Rico, are you okay?" The timid voice of a child asked. Rico froze for a moment before deciding that whoever was out there was just a kid, not someone dangerous. Cautiously, Rico crawled out from under his blankets to see a concerned Private standing by the door.

"Uh-huh. M'fine." Rico muttered sheepishly. Private knew that Rico wasn't being completely honest though. He was most certainly not fine. He seemed nervous and jumpy. He was upset about something.

"Did the storm wake you up?" Private asked.

"Yup." Rico answered. There was no need to mention the nightmare at all. Private didn't need to know about it, no one did.

"Me too. I always have a hard time sleeping during storms. The thunder's too loud." Private said, though he wasn't being completely honest either. What had actually woken him up was his stomach, which hadn't felt very happy at all. He had felt incredibly nauseous too. Now though, after a visit to the bathroom to throw up what little food he had eaten the day before, Private actually felt a lot better and not as sick.

"Don' like ligh'nin'." Rico said. "Too brigh'."

"Yeah, I guess the lightning is pretty scary." Private said.

At that moment a flash of lightning and a loud roll of thunder happened, simultaneously, making both of the boys cry out in alarm. Both grew more nervous because they knew that lightning and thunder happening at the same time meant that the storm was right on top of them, and that wasn't a very reassuring thought.

Private whimpered a tiny bit. He hated storms, they were too strong and scary. He had always been afraid of storms. He wanted nothing more than to just cower under the covers and hope that the storms blows over soon. Then, Private came up with an idea even better than that.

"Do you want to build a fort?" Private asked.

Rico did not understand the question at all. "Huh?"

"Make a fort made of our pillows and blankets." Private explained. "We can sleep in it. It'll be fun, and provide extra protection from the storm." Not that pillows and blankets would provide much protection, but it would feel like would. Honestly, what Private really wanted from building the fort was to have some closer company. He and Rico could kind of protect each other.

Rico mulled it over. Actually, it didn't sound like a bad idea. Actually, having someone else's reassuring presence while he tried to get more sleep may do some good, and possibly keep him from having any more nightmares. Not that he was going to admit it though. If questioned, he would deny everything and say it was Private's idea, which it was.

"Yeah, okay." Rico decided. Rico grabbed his pillows and threw them at Private, who stumbled at the impact and fell to the floor. After Rico helped Private to his feet, the two got to making their fort. It wasn't impressive, and didn't take long to make at all. In fact, someone might think that their 'fort' was just a pile of pillows and blankets that buried the two of them, which was exactly what their fort was. It didn't look nice, but it suited their needs for sleep and comfort just fine.

"Good night, Rico." Private yawned as he snuggled up against the closest thing to him, which happened to be Rico. The teenager stiffened at the touch, but soon relaxed to it. Actually, he found himself enjoying it. Yeah, he could get used to this.

"G'nigh'." Rico muttered. as he found himself dozing off. It wasn't long before they both were fast asleep once again.

Yeah, I'm happy with this. The beginning though, that turned out even more dramatic than I was expecting. Seriously. So, how about we take a short break from this drama? The next two or three chapters will be fun, sweet, bonding stuff, and I look forward to writing them.