"Puppy love…" Peabody read the front page headline with disdain as he sipped his coffee. It wasn't the top story, as had been when he'd adopted Sherman… But the headline, along with a photograph from the restaurant, was on a bottom-right article on the front page of the news.

"The paper?" Rigby rolled her eyes as she walked out, toothbrush still in her mouth. "I'm getting calls from my friends and family now."

"I thought you didn't own a phone."

The home phone rang, and Rigby cringed, "…They somehow have your number."

"It must have been leaked..." grumbled Peabody, folding the paper before slamming it on the table.

"Good morning!" Sherman burst out, and Peabody immediately handed the paper to Rigby, who, unspeaking, shoved it in her bathrobe.

"Sherman, why aren't you dressed for school?"

"I don't have it! It's a teacher work day, remember Mr. Peabody?"

"Another one? What are my tuition checks going to, exactly? All right, very well. I'll set up a study plan for you… We'll start with intermediate Mandarin and then perhaps fit in some Tennessee Williams before lunch."

"Or maybe just go to a park," Rigby muttered to herself, quiet enough for Sherman to ignore, but loud enough for the dog with superior hearing to catch and tilt his head ever. So. Slightly.

"Penny's coming over early!" Sherman exclaimed. "I'm gonna finish getting ready."

Peabody sipped his coffee again after Sherman had left the room "…You really don't have to give your opinion on something I've been doing for nearly a decade."

"I'm going to go get my smile and sweater on," Rigby grumbled, resuming the brushing of her teeth and heading back towards the bathroom, groaning at the sound of the phone ringing yet again.

Sherman seemingly didn't notice the distance between the two adults in the WABAC, or the tense frowns on each of their faces. Penny started to say something, but upon seeing the excited look on Sherman's face, decided to keep quiet.

"Where are we going to today, Mr. Peabody?" asked Sherman, practically bouncing up and down in his seat.

"Well, Sherman, I thought that perhaps a visit to see some Vikings would be a fun jaunt!"

"Vikings!? Awesome!"

"Or a bed of broken glass…" Rigby added to herself from her seat, her chin resting lazily on a paw. "Or a volcano. How about just an active volcano?"

"Where's this coming from exactly?" Peabody's voice lowered, and he pulled his seat closer to the cat to speak more privately.

"The phone's ringing off the hook for me since this morning. I have people from when I was a kitten wanting "exclusives". I checked a computer and I'm on there, too. Everywhere!" she answered with a quiet hiss. "You didn't even think about that happening, did you?"

"I didn't think it was going to go the way it did, in all honesty."

"And what DID you think was going to happen?"

"Well, perhaps you would-"

"Of course," she leaned back and laughed. "I'd be just the littlest bit impressed and that would be that, right?"

"Not in the slightest, I—"

"I spent years trying to keep low, which isn't easy for a talking cat. I'm on the cover of "People" this week!" her voice raised a bit now, and Sherman exchanged nervous glanced with Penny. "First my house gets wrecked, now my life's going the same way… And now you think nothing of going to… Scandinavia at its sharpest and pointiest!"

"I wouldn't let any harm come to anyone."

"Oh yeah, just tear open another portal."

Sherman started to speak up, "Actually, that was—"

"And you can't put a safety lock on this? You can buy them for toilets!" Rigby's voice had raised even more. "I got out of being known as a weirdo, into being respected as an artist, and now I'm back to being a sideshow!"

"You're just a bit stressed. It's understandable; we'll straighten this all out later."

"Dogs are supposed to protect people. Guard dogs, police dogs… Those cartoon mountain dogs with the little barrel attached to their collars—You're good at everything but that!" Rigby was now at a shouting level. "I think I finally figured it out. I figured out the one thing you're bad at. You're a bad dog!"

The air from the WABAC seemed to have left the room. Peabody's jaw clenched, as did his grip on the handles of the WABAC's steering wheel. Rigby's chest was heaving in the silence, her face in a scowl equaling the dog's.

"…I don't think the date went well," Penny said in a stunned hush.

"No I don't think so either," added Sherman with a shake of the head.

"Do you want to know why I went to Fiji and all of those places?! Because no one bothered us there!" she shouted. "I never wanted to be bothered, I never wanted to be in danger of… Vikings, samurai, or anything like that!"

"That's ENOUGH," Peabody broke his silence in just as equal a shout. As he did this, his paws slammed down onto the console. This left the WABAC lurching and spinning out of control, and the four went tumbling.

Peabody finally managed to grip onto the console and steady it, attempting to jerk it out of the wormhole the WABAC had traveled into but finding it was no use.

"Where are we going?!" Penny cried.

"I don't know, but we're going there fast!" Peabody answered. "Brace yourselves!"

After sailing through the wormhole, the WABAC sputtered until coming to a halt, letting the four inside tumble about. The window in the darkened WABAC was now facing upwards on the ship's dock, so that Peabody could see the fluttering white and red flag with the Union Jack placed on the top left.

"Where are we, Mr. Peabody?"

"Most likely headed towards the Galapagos Islands, Sherman. The Galapagos."

"Mr. Darwin! Mr. Darwin!" Sherman was the first to run off of the rowboat that led them to the sandy coast of the island. The young, brown-haired man looked up from the journal he'd been writing in and then lit up upon recognizing the boy.

"Sherman!?" he immediately set aside his journal and rose, allowing for the little boy to fall into his arms. He lifted him up a bit and laughed. "It IS you! You're getting so tall! This must mean your father's here, too! And some visitors!"

Penny was taking a photograph of a seal nearby that allowed her to do so without little movement or struggle. Rigby remained on the small boat, her head lowered, as Peabody sat across from her, shooting daggers.

"…You can't stay in here…" Peabody's expression softened as he recognized the nervousness of the cat, her claws dug into the sides of the small boat as she sat in it. He rose from his spot in the boat and hopped out, and offered a hand to her.

"If you wanted to throw me to sharks I wouldn't blame you right now," she answered. "I didn't mean—"

"I know," the dog replied. "We all say things. Now come on."

She looked hesitantly into water that the dog was knee-deep in, and she started to rise from the boat and climb out, only the tumble out when she'd nearly made it, falling on top of Peabody and causing them both to fall into the ocean.

"They're kind of dating. Maybe. We don't know. I'm Penny. Nice to meet you!" the girl held out her hand to Darwin, who with some amusement took it and kissed it briefly while the dog and cat bickered all their way out of the water, Rigby wringing out her skirt.

Darwin had drawn a fire for the group as the sun set of the islands, poking away at a large and lazy lizard that wandered too close for the comfort of Penny and Sherman. They had been joined by an equally-young captain of the ship, FitzRoy.

"What are you doing, Penny?" Peabody raised an eyebrow as she turned to him with her phone, snapping a photo that included both him and the ship in the distance.

"Learning about coincidence," she answered, showing the photo off to Sherman, and pointing out the name of the ship to Sherman—The HMS Beagle. The boy laughed at this and snorted, and Mr. Peabody glanced over and gave a huff.

"I am not amused, for the record…"

"That's okay, we are," Penny chuckled.

"I have to say it's nice you've taken on female company, my friend," said Darwin to Peabody, just before swigging his canteen. "Books are wonderful, but companionship… That's a void impossible to fill."

"That's very true, Charles," said the dog quietly.

"You're married?" FitzRoy spoke, and Rigby choked on the water she'd been sipping. Peabody shooed away one of the iguanas with a stick and then turned back to FitzRoy.

"Not yet," Penny said with a sigh and a roll of the eyes.

"That's enough, Penny," Peabody pointed towards her.

"Well, I'm a captain…" said FitzRoy quietly, only to be ignored by the others around the fire. "I could probably—"

"Charles, I'm going to need a bit of help making some repairs to the WABAC. They don't seem as bad as last time," Peabody explained, rubbing his eyes. "But I will need a hand. Would you be wiling to help?"

"Of course you can count of me," Darwin replied, and jumped at the sight of a hissing iguana, mere inches from him. "…I say we talk about this more on the boat."

Rigby had managed to find a few scraps of paper, and was in the midst of drawing by candlelight as she was curled up, her dress having dried a while ago.

"Do you really think my dad's bad?"

"...No," she set aside her charcoal, and scooted so Sherman could take a seat next to her. "Sherman... I'm sorry. There's no excuse for me doing that earlier. Adults make mistakes, too. I'm just sorry you had to see it."

"It's okay. Me and Mr. Peabody had gotten in fights like that, too, sometimes. I know it doesn't mean he doesn't "hold me in a deep regard"."

"I just act out when I'm scared, I guess…" Peabody was about to turn the corner, into in the cabin, warm cup of tea in hand, but stopped as he heard the two speaking, choosing to listen in on this conversation. This wasn't without a small reminder to himself that eavesdropping was wrong... But he couldn't resist.

"What's to be scared of?" the boy snorted.

"Well… I'm used to looking out for myself, not other people. And at this point I'm used to no one looking out for me."

"I didn't know you were a spy on top of everything," Peabody jumped and spun around, and motioned for her to remain quiet.

"Say. Nothing," he whispered, and Penny only brushed aside her hair and gave a self-satisfied smirk.

"It's okay, I don't think he minds looking after you! I mess up a lot, and he always still loves me."

Rigby reached over and patted the boy's head, "You're sweet. He's lucky to have a nice boy like you."

"I know," Sherman chuckled. "And I think you're nice, too."

"...Even with all of that, you still think I'm nice?"

"Yeah. You bring me my lunch even when you're working, you don't think I'm weird, and you try to keep me safe like Mr. Peabody does."

"...Your dad's done a great job. I'll apologize to him again soon as I can, all right? And then I promise I'll get better about how I let things bother me. Maybe you can give me some pointers on dealing with pressure."

"You should totally say something," Penny whispered, nudging the dog in the back.

"Absolutely not. She's made her interests incredibly clear. And aside from that she has a boyfriend."

Penny folded her arms and smiled, "I have a hard time believing that."

"Don't you lampshade me, young lady, I—" Penny answered the beginning of this lecture from Mr. Peabody by pushing him through the doorway. The rattling of the teacup startled both the cat and the boy, and Peabody held it in front of himself while clearing his throat, "Sherman, I brought you some tea from Mr. Darwin. I figured you might enjoy it before bed. Miss Rigby, would you… Care to go for a walk after I put Sherman to bed? I was thinking of rowing one of the boats out to shore and maybe collect some volcanic rock."

"I can tuck myself in, Mr. Peabody. I'm old enough!" the boy hopped to his feet.

"….Are you sure, Sherman?"

"Definitely!"

"All right… But no getting in trouble, you two," he said with a warning on his way out to the room.

Penny and Sherman waited until they were gone before rushing up onto the deck of the ship to discretely watch this unfold.

Rigby looked down at the school of silvery fish reflecting in the moonlight underneath her, and just as quickly shut her eyes and squeezed her paws together.

"I did some research a nigh or two ago… The water aversion you have goes beyond being a cat, correct?" there was a mere, rushed nod and Peabody continued his rowing. "I'll make sure we're there quick. I was a rowing captain at Harvard, after all."

Rigby said nothing, only flinched with every small wave. She managed to get out into the water the second time they were ashore, and she was glad to see the large lizards had seemingly left.

"I know I said it before, but... I'm sorry. And while I'm trying not to be terrible, I should probably tell you that I lied again," she admitted as they started their walk along the shore, and Peabody only raised an eyebrow. "I don't have a boyfriend. Well, I did, but… We broke it off about a month before all of this."

Peabody's head shot up, and his ears perked up.

"I just… I figured out what you were doing, and I didn't know how to react. Because if I ended up liking you more one thing would lead to another and I be someone's mom. And I don't know if I can do that yet..."

"More?" was the one word the dog managed to cling onto. "…You asked "why you" a while back. It's because Sherman seems to like you. And I trust his judgment in people, young as he may be. He's a smart boy when it comes to seeing the good in people, I've found over the years. Better than even myself. You don't have to rush into anything, but… I'd love for him to get to know you better. There's a lot about him to like!"

"Him? Are you sure it's just him you're talking about?"

"Well, of course we'd have to get to know one another better in the process…"

Rigby chuckled, "So… Starting out as friends again, then?"

"I think we still have one good foot," replied the dog as the cat stepped closer, forcing him to back ever-so-slightly into the ocean.

Penny, who was leaning against the railing of the deck, reached over and placed a hand purposefully over Sherman's eyes.

"Ugh, Penny, what're you doing?!"

"You're too young for this."

"I'm only three months younger than you!" he answered, attempting in vain to push her hand away while she smiled slyly.

Meanwhile on the beach, the dog now felt the ocean water against his back paws as the cat leaned in a bit closer to him.

"What are you—"

Rigby, a smile across her face, lifted up one of her hands, revealing a small length of driftwood.

"You wouldn't da—" she threw the driftwood and he took off running, on all fours.

"Sherman told me about that," she explained as he walked back after having caught it, tumbling on his back onto the sand in the process. She removed the driftwood from his mouth and glowered, but the cat only leaned forward, rubbing one of her cheeks against his own. In response, the dog's tail took off wagging.

Sherman gagged from his spot on the boat, and Penny rolled her eyes and turned him away from the deck, leading him back down underneath.

"What did you think was going to happen?" Penny snorted.

"It's still gross," replied Sherman in a grumble.

"Are you thinking head back now?" Rigby had linked arms with the dog, and Peabody looked out onto the beach, his smile gone and his frown deepened.

"…The air pressure's changed…" he said ominously. Rigby gripped onto his arm tighter at the news of this. "We need to get back. Now."

As they rushed back to the boat, the wind was already beginning to pick up.