That night, Fey slid down the ladder from the fish bowl entrance (literally), and quickly yet quietly hopped to her feet. Not even a slight sound was made. The HQ was dark, and she could see the bunks were filled with sleeping penguins. Fey smirked at the thought that she managed to remain quiet without even activating the alarm and began tip-toeing her way back to her bunk. Just after she took a few paces and just before she reached there, a sudden light shown over her. She was greatly surprised and covered her eyes from the light.
"My, my Fey," said Skipper's voice. "And here I thought you enjoyed getting caught in the spotlight."
Fey squinted her eyes and spotted Skipper holding up a flashlight at her. She turned back at the bunks and found the top bunk occupied- with a bowling pin. She smirked.
"I thought you'd be asleep," she replied.
"You kidding? You'd be lucky to get even a nap around here. Unless, of course, you're equipped with a couple of ear muffs."
"You're a clever fellow. So were you trying to catch me in the middle of any action tonight?"
"Partly. I was beginning to suspect you were in any kind of action. So I thought I'd catch you red-handed."
"Well, all I can say is: mission accomplished."
Skipper moved the light away from Fey, "Fey, here in the HQ we're signed onto a policy. And that's to never swim alone. So I can't say that this secretive behavior of yours to sneak out to a night spree of sorts won't be tolerated."
Fey put on her trademark smile and approached him very slowly and placed her flipper on his chest very lightly.
"I do apologize for my… naughty actions. Is there anything I can do to make up for them?"
Skipper grinned and cocked a brow. Fey blinked her eyes dreamily and leaned close, as if to give him a kiss. Suddenly, she was surprised to find the flashlight being passed onto her flippers. She stared at it, and then looked up and him for an explanation.
"As a matter of fact, you can get some shut-eye while I wake up Kowalski to get started on fixing a better security system; obviously the model we're using isn't doing its job."
Fey blinked and stared at him. She squinted for a moment but quickly perked up.
"Of course… anything for my fearless leader."
They stared for a moment, until Fey waddled back to her bunk. Skipper simply eyed her steps and smiled at his victory as the true head of HQ.
* * *
Meanwhile, Marlene lay in her bed, trying to force her to get some sleep. She didn't really feel quite sad, but disappointed. How could they have believed Fey? Over her? To think that she's been with them longer than that witch! She found her teeth grinding and her fists clenched. Until she realized she couldn't lose herself like this. It wasn't healthy and she needed to get over this loss somehow. Then suddenly she realized she was being selfish. She got up from her bunk and looked out to the entrance. What about the team? She thought. She might just leave me alone, but what will happen to them now? All this time she was angry over their betrayal that she hadn't even thought about their safety. What kind of friend was that? She began to pace around the room and realized she was in a great ethical dilemma. Should she try to warn them despite the strain in their friendship, or should she just ignore them and hope for the best?
"They could take care of themselves, right?" she thought aloud. "I mean, it's not like they've never encountered fishy characters like her before, right? Even Skipper says he's handled worse things than that." Then she paused and thought these things through. She remembered the way they acted and then Fey's character. Her eyes drooped. "This might be a little complicated for them than I thought."
She sighed and sat back down on her bed. What should she do? There were so many things to think about! Just leave them alone, she told herself. Whatever happens, I'm sure they'll be fine. Besides, they deserve whatever's coming to them for the way they treated me. Then she sighed. But then if I let something bad happen to them, then it wouldn't be any different than what they've done to me. We're still friends no matter what. That's when she remembered what Skipper had said before.
"You're just as much a part of this mission now," was what he said before.
Marlene breathed deeply and got up once more. She knew that she had to help them. Not for the sake of pride, but because she was their friend.
"Fey's a rotten crook," she said aloud. "And I'm going to prove it to you guys so you can kick her little, dirty tail outta here!"
She marched right out the entrance and breathed in the night air. Suddenly she noticed the lemurs weren't having late-night parties this time. It was a little surprising, they usually never slept! Then again, she looked up at the big clock at the end of the zoo.
"Wow is it way past my bedtime," she chuckled.
It was so late, not even the lemurs were up anymore! She looked over at the penguins' habitat and dashed toward it. She hopped up on the fence and looked over the area. It's kinda late, she thought. Maybe this is crazy after all. I guess I'll just come over in the morning. She nodded at her decision and turned her head away until the next thing she knew- KABOOM!!!
Everything around her rumbled and shook. She even lost her grip on the fence from the sudden blast and fell over. She hopped up immediately and was shocked to see a thick cloud of black smoke seeping through the fish bowl entrance.
"Skipper!" she exclaimed out loud without thinking. "What've I done? I'm too late!"
She ran over into the habitat and rushed to the fish bowl entrance. Without even stopping to let the smoke clear away, she dove down through the hole. She didn't even use the ladder as she hopped to the bottom and looked around. Suddenly the harsh fumes entered her nostrils, causing her to cough.
"Skip-Skipper?" she called between coughs. "Hello?"
"Marlene?" replied a voice.
"Huh? Who's that?"
She walked towards the voice she heard, reaching her in front of her. Suddenly she bumped into something, or someone. She couldn't tell until, eventually the smoke began to clear. Suddenly she saw wide-eyes and a large smile on a disfigured face! She screamed and jumped back, but was surprised to find the figure fall before her. She picked it up and realized it was Rico's doll girlfriend.
"Marlene?" called a voice again.
"Guys?" she answered and dropped the doll.
The smoke cleared out and she was relieved to see Kowalski, Rico, and Private alright. They were covered in black sleet, but they all seemed okay. She rushed over to them and smiled.
"I'm so glad you're all okay," she sighed. "Whew! But, uh… what are you guys doing?"
"Well, I was trying to install a new security system," replied Kowalski. "But it appears I may have miscalculated the fuse in the battery pack and resulted in this… em, messy turmoil."
"Did we wake you?" asked Private happily.
"No, no!" Marlene replied. "I was already awake."
"At this hour, Marlene?"
"He he, I guess so."
She scratched the back of her head and chuckled at the thought. Then she looked at the team and sighed.
"Look about earlier… I never meant…" she began. "It was wrong what I said, and I'm sorry I called you guys that. And, well… I just can't tell you guys how sorry I am…"
"Yet somehow, we get the picture," nodded Kowalski.
Marlene up at them with her face lit up, "So…"
"Of course, Marlene, we forgive you," added Private. "Skipper knew somehow you didn't mean those things."
Rico nodded his head furiously, "Uh huh, uh huh!"
"Aw, you guys…" she began until suddenly she blinked. "Wait, Skipper told you-"
"Yup," replied Private. "To be honest, it was very hurtful what you said."
"But Skipper assured us, that you were angry and insisted that we simply accept your apology," added Kowalski.
"Huh? And what made him think that I'd apologize to you guys?"
"Honestly, we haven't a clue," Kowalski shrugged.
"But we hardly question Skipper's judgment," smiled Private.
Suddenly Rico pulled out the talking toy once more and pushed a button. But it didn't work for the moment there, so he had to punch it a couple times before it said, "Forgive and forget."
This couldn't have gone any better for Marlene. Her grin spread from ear to ear. That Skipper! If only he knew how she was feeling right about now!
"Wait," paused Marlene. "Where is Skipper?"
The trio looked at each other.
"Actually," began Private. "Now that you mention it."
"Skipper said he and Fey were going to your habitat to settle things between you two," explained Kowalski. "Apparently, Fey couldn't sleep well with a sort guilt consuming her and she insisted they visit you."
"But..." Private's voice suddenly slowed. "That was a while back."
"What?" Marlene thought. "But they never came."
"You don't think they ran into some sort of trouble?" asked Private.
Rico grunted and shook his head.
"Well, where else could they have gone?" he wondered.
"At this time, it's very unlikely they'd have gone anywhere else," Kowalski thought over. "But knowing Skipper, I'm sure they're fine."
Rico nodded and pushed a button on his toy again, "Femme Fatale."
Everyone looked at each other with worry. Then suddenly Marlene's heart sank as she thought of all the possible things Skipper and Fey could possibly be doing. Out at night. In the dark. Alone!
Marlene's brows lowered and her fists clenched. If anything happened to Skipper… why, who knows what Marlene will do to her!
"We must investigate this at once," Kowalski declared. "But remember not to jump into conclusions too quick. There has to be a logical explanation."
"AND LOOK WHERE THINKING GOT YOU THE LAST TIME!!!" snapped Marlene. "What are we waiting for?! They could be in serious trouble, for all we know! We have to go, NOW!!!"
The trio panicked at Marlene's reaction. They realized that perhaps she just might have a dark side after all. Never ever get on Marlene's bad side! They nodded their heads in agreement and together they sprang out the fish bowl entrance to the rescue! Hopefully, if there was any danger waiting for them… let's hope they won't be too late.
