Hello again. As my busy schedule now allows me to, I shall bring to you a new chapter to this story. But before that I'd like to thank you all for reading, and especially for commenting - that is always much appreciated!
Now...

Enjoy!

CHAPTER IX – SHE MAY PRESENT A PROBLEM

"Kowalski, what are you doing?"

Kowalski lifted his gaze from the books in front of him to the leader.
"I'm teaching James chemistry," he said like it would've been obvious and adjusted the glasses on his nose.

"Why?" Skipper asked. Then his eyes widened at the realisation.
"No. Oh no, we're not having another you in this unit," he announced.

James looked up from the book on the table and looked at Skipper with his head tilted. Kowalski sighed, took off his glasses and put them to the table.

"Skipper, I am not making him into 'another me'," Kowalski assured him, sounding annoyed.

"Why would that be a bad thing?" James asked, looking at Kowalski.

"Skipper has this idea in his head that everything I do will inevitably lead to an explosion or some other disaster," Kowalski answered, and turned to look at Skipper.
"Which statistically speaking isn't even close to the truth," the scientist continued pointedly.

"But if he really believes that, why does he keep you in the team?" James questioned.

"Well, young Private," Skipper answered, "Team like ours needs explosions - that's why we have Rico!"

James looked at the said man, who was sitting further away, fiddling with explosives on the kitchen counter. Rico seemed to notice him and gave the boy a wide smile - something James still found unsettling.

"I don't appreciate you comparing me to Rico," Kowalski said dryly, "He might be an expert on explosives, but I am a scientist".

"And you both wreak havoc - all the same to me!" Skipper replied, earning a bit of a glare from Kowalski and a barely contained giggle from James.

"At least teach him something useful," Skipper continued.

"Like what?" asked Kowalski, crossing his arms on his chest.

Before Skipper had the chance to answer, there was a knock on the door. Everyone froze to their positions - James just instinctively following the example of the Penguins.
Skipper moved towards the door with a finger on his lips, signalling for all to be quiet. James turned to look at Kowalski, hoping for an explanation, but Kowalski's gaze was nailed to the door - he didn't even notice the poor confused boy.
James saw something move from the corner of his eye. Quickly he turned to look, and saw an object fly through the air from Rico's direction - a gun, more specifically, which Skipper caught with ease like he would've been a professional at catching guns in mid-air. Maybe he was - James wouldn't have been surprised.
Skipper lifted the gun up and moved to open the door.

"Three... two... one," he mouthed, showing the countdown with his fingers - then he flung the door open.

"Hi guys, sorry to come unannounced but I thought I'd bring you guys some cupcakes and ..."

Skipper, as well as the rest of the Penguins, relaxed visibly - it was only Marlene behind the door, now barging in with a basket in her hands, without waiting for an invitation.

"The few visitors we ever get don't usually knock," Kowalski whispered to James, who nodded contently - until he realized the oddness of that statement.

"Is that a gun?" Marlene suddenly asked, spotting the object in Skipper's hand.

"It was a gun," Skipper replied, handing the weapon back to Rico, who put it away somewhere James didn't see.

Marlene blinked.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I thought I'd bring you guys some cupcakes and maybe we could talk about..." she continued as she made her way to the kitchen - as she set her cupcake basket on the counter she noticed James at the table.

"Skipper! Are you swinging a gun in front of a child?" she inquired sharply, turning to face him.
"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Relax, Marlene, it's not like he hasn't seen a gun before," Skipper replied calmly, walking past Marlene towards the kitchen table.

"That's supposed to make it better?!" Marlene cried out, following Skipper.

"Well the boy needs to know how to handle weapons - the enemy's not going easy on him just because he's young," Skipper replied, stopping on his tracks to look at Marlene.

"Kowalski, you are a sensible man, help me out here," Marlene pleaded, turning to look at the said man sitting at the table.

"In what we do, weapons are a necessary evil, Marlene. James knows what he has signed up for," Kowalski answered slowly, casting a sideways glance at the boy, who, in turn, looked at him.

"But this is not a place for someone that young!" Marlene argued, "You know that, don't you?

Kowalski swallowed hard, but tried not to let it show - he glanced down before answering.
"I have no authority over the matter," he said, fiddling with his glasses on the table.
"All I can do is ensure that James gets the training he needs to survive," he added quietly.

Marlene stared at him in utter disbelief - her mouth hung open in a protest that never came, her hands on her sides slowly clenching to fists.
"I can't believe you three!" Marlene growled.
"Or I mean Rico yes, and Skipper maybe, but... you too, Kowalski? Don't you think of him at all?" she continued, pointing at James, "he's just a kid".

"You know, I was willing to come here and talk to you about this in a civilized manner, because I thought he'd be in school or something…" Marlene huffed, grabbing her basket from the counter.
"I even brought you cupcakes! But, seeing that you aren't willing to discuss this…" she turned on her heels and walked to the door, turning around at the doorframe.
"I might just have to figure out something else".

With that, she left, slamming the door shut behind her.
The Penguins, and James, looked after her in silence - James swallowed nervously.