Hey everyone! Sorry this took so long to get up, but you'll see why at the end - there's a special surprise.

Enjoy!

Katrina was scared. The murders were becoming more numerous, more terrifying by the day - just this morning, they'd received news of what had become of Skipper's ex-girlfriend Kitka; of course Savio, then Maurice, and Julien...

And then there was Kowalski. Despite his earlier promise, he'd become more distant than ever. No one was more terrified of the recent happenings than Kowalski, though no one really knew why... she tried to console him, but he would merely turn away, or walk off to his lab. It baffled her, how cold he had suddenly become.

One day, when Skipper had his team go on t a recon mission about the murders, Katrina found herself wandering into his lab after she saw the door slightly ajar. She could smell the scent of unknown chemicals wafting through the air as they bubbled over a Bunsen burner - saw some note from experiments scribbled on his famous clipboard - and sat in the large armchair he'd dragged in some weeks ago. She could smell his peculiar smell - a mixture of fresh fish, chemicals, and something she didn't recognize but liked anyway - and snuggled herself into the upholstery. This was the closest she'd felt to her fiancé in days... she lingered in that chair, pretending to herself that he was there with her and none of the horrible happenings had… well, happened. Then, she saw the recorder he used as a journal for his experimenting sitting by his testing area. She slowly rose up from the chair and kneeled next to the tape recorder, rewinding it to the latest entry.

*"October 6th, twenty-two hours and forty-five minutes." Kowalski's rich - if tired - voice said through the recorder. "We are here-" we? " alone... terrible… more terrible than any beast stalking its prey..."*

"Katrina!" the same voice said from behind her. She jumped and spun around. Kowalski roughly pushed her out of the way and pressed the 'stop' button. "How did you get in here?"

"The door was open!" she snapped back. "I just needed something-"

"-and you thought you'd get it by poking around in my journal?"

"Kowalski! Is either of us really so changed we cannot have a normal conversation?"*

Kowalski said nothing. He sank down in the armchair, burying his head in his flippers. Katrina felt a surge of guilt course through her body.

"Kowalski… I don't know what the heck you're really doing in here, but I know it can't be easy on you… on us…" she sat down on the arm of the chair and put a flipper around Kowalski's shoulders.

"It's gone far beyond anything I could ever imagine, Katrina. But still, the answer is somewhere around here, I can feel it...!" Kowalski said in a frustrated voice. "It's like… it's like an addiction, I can't even explain it to myself, much less to anyone else-"

"I understand." Katrina said quietly. * "When this all began, we knew there'd be a price..."*

Kowalski sighed.

She continued. "I've been doing some work, myself... a new song. There hasn't been anything else to do, with you gone all the time and Skipper not letting me outside so I don't get hurt...

"Once upon a dream

We were lost in love's embrace

There we found the perfect place

Once upon a dream

Once there was a time

Like no other time before

Hope was still an open door

Once upon a dream..."

Kowalski felt a pain in his stomach. Afraid of what that could mean, he shook off Katrina's embrace and walked a few feet away. Katrina had no idea why he did this - she continued her song with a thick, trembling voice, trying not to cry.

"And I was unafraid

The dream was so exciting

But now I see it fade

And I am here alone..."

She slowly moved a little closer.

"Once upon a dream

You were heaven-sent to me

Was it never meant to be?

Was it just a dream?"

She held out her flipper to him, asking him:

"Could we begin again...?"

Kowalski reached, but he couldn't bring himself to stretch far enough. It hurt too much to stretch his muscles at all.

Katrina's voice broke.

"Once upon... a dream..."

Embarrassed and hurt, Katrina tried to run out of the room - Kowalski, realizing what he'd just done, ignored the shooting pain in his abdomen and grabbed her flipper.

"Katrina, don't go! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything - I'm sorry for being gone so much, for leaving you alone all the time, for not being able to explain, for the song-"

"What was wrong with my song?"

"That you even had to write it in the first place."

The pain started to go away, Kowalski realized with relief. He pulled Katrina into his arms and hugged her close, tucking her head under his beak.

"Please don't leave me now," he begged in a whisper, "I need you now more than ever!"

Katrina stood still for a minute, then pulled away a little and looked into his eyes. Taking both of them by surprise, she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him with all her might. Kowalski held her tighter still, bending down some and deepening the kiss. He'd almost forgotten how sweet it felt having her in his arms, how silky her feathers were, how her breath always seemed to taste like ayu, a type of fish with a peculiar sweet taste...

However, as quickly as the kiss had begun, it was just as quickly ended. Katrina pulled away, her eyes downcast, and stroked his chest.

"I won't leave you, Kowalski." she finally stated. "I never could, I love you too much."

Kowalski smiled - the first time in weeks he'd smiled (as himself, at least). "Thank you-"

"But I will not marry you until you treat me as your wife. That means not forgetting I exist, and no secrets."

"I understand." Kowalski said, a bit ashamed.

Katrina sighed. "Good. And... speaking of secrets... lately, I just can't help but notice something I'd like to clear up."

"What?"

"The murders always happen on the nights you go into your lab to 'experiment'."

Kowalski froze.

"What are you really doing in there, Kowalski?"

Kowalski looked away. He couldn't tell her the truth! The shock could very well kill her! But he couldn't bear lying to her again…

"Please don't jump to conclusions, it's not what you think." he said "The truth is... remember I told you I was working with a colleague?"

"Yes...?"

"His name… his name is Adrian Black. He's the murderer."

"What? Kowalski-!"

"I'm trying my best to stop him, but short of sacrificing myself, there is no way - he is completely uncontrollable... he's insane, Katrina! Just telling you this puts you in grave danger, please don't make me explain any more-"

"I won't." she assured him. "Oh, Kowalski..." she stroked his face.

They heard Skipper's voice echoing through the HQ. "Supper's here!"

"You go ahead, Katrina. I'll be along soon."

She nodded and after another quick kiss, left the lab. Kowalski quietly walked back to he recorder and pressed down the red-circle button to record.

*"October seventh - the beast has taken a heavy toll, not only on myself - who can still be saved - but others… who cannot. The transformations are starting to occur of their own accord..."*

The parts with aterisks are, as usual, not my own creation but taken directly from the show. I paraphrased most of Kowalski and Katrina's conversation so that I didn't have to keep putting up the little stars.

That last paragraph - dun dun DUN! Also, I think it's worth mentioning I always get a little smile out of that line, because October seventh is my birthday... ;)

And the special surprise... I've used Katrina in a few stories now, haven't I? And I always like to mention she's a singer... well, I wanted to give her a real voice, finally, so...

http:/ www. youtube. com/watch?v=7fEAHHHDQBU

and yes, that's me singing. :D

REVIEW! OR I WILL KILL YOU! (even worse - I'll get Adrian to do it...!)