Private was going first. But he didn't know what to ask. He wasn't really sure how to play twenty questions. But he decided to start off with something simple.

"Hmm. What is your favorite color?" He asked.

"Mine? Ummm…. Purple." Cassy replied confidently. "Yours?"

"Mine's blue." Private replied. That was a good start. Hopefully it would work it's to more personal questions.

Cassy hoped so too. She wanted to know special things about him.

"So what's your favorite…. Activity?" Cassy asked curiously. She knew his favorite game, that didn't mean it was his favorite activity.

"Ummm. I guess the fighting, travel thing." Private didn't know how to say it. He liked fighting. Not the part where he had to hurt people. How it felt to know how to do something. To not be afraid of getting beaten up so much. And he liked seeing knew things. Every time they got kidnapped, captured, or stolen, they were somewhere different. They've been in about ten of Blowholes secret labs. All ten were in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

"Really?" Cassy asked confused. He didn't seem to be the fighting type. Well she knew that he could fight. But not that he liked it. "Why?"

"Well um." Private didn't know how to answer that. The truth seemed to be the only way. It was the only way. Private sighed. "I guess I just like knowing that I can protect myself. Somewhat at least. And I like seeing knew things." Private replied nervously.

Cassy stared at him. "I like the protection part too…" She hesitated. She was embarrassed to say so… but she had never left Florida. All there was to see were swamps, marshes, gators, and sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine. "I haven't traveled enough to like it though." She finished shyly.

Private still hated to see her upset. She didn't look good upset. No one did. But something about her made his heart crack when she looked sad. And he only saw her sad twice. "That's ok. You guys probably don't have a lot of enemies." Private said reassuringly, "That's a good thing. I only like travel because I've traveled a lot on rescue missions, escapes, and other objectives."

Cassy looked up at him. He was nice. She had told herself that many times before. "Yeah I guess." She sighed. "But I always wished I went somewhere else. I always wanted to see things. I want to be in a forest. I want to look out from the top of the mountain and see the sun setting behind the forest below. I want to swim in the sea. The real sea. I've never been to the outer edge of Florida. I just want to see things." She had never been anywhere. She had seen places in movies. But she needed to see them for herself. To experience it.

"Well you will some day." Private replied calmly. "And with you guys here with us, that day should be coming. Sooner than you'd think too." Private smiled. She seemed very self conscience at the moment. Hopefully that would change.

"Oh I hope so." Cassy replied seriously. "But I guess I can worry about that later." She laughed nervously. She knew she was acting like a nervous wreck right now…or close to it. But she couldn't help it. She was nervous. She wanted him to like her, to not be freaked out by her.

"Maybe you can ask um… Destiny about that." Private suggested. He thought that Destiny was a lot like skipper. She did things like him. She was just more angered and annoyed.

Cassy sighed. She didn't like how this turned out. She had to reverse it somehow. "Um Private?" She asked, still thinking if she should say this or not. "Um, what is your favorite place to be?" She asked, curiously, and softly. He had been so many places. She didn't know that for sure. But he sure made it seem that way.

Private understood the sudden change in topic. Cassy didn't want to talk about not being able to go places. Or maybe it was the mentioning of Destiny. Then it would be his fault. But he had no time to think about that. "Um…I guess woods. They seem calm." He said.

"Hmm. That makes sense." Cassy said. She liked forests. She had been in a few in Florida. They were a good size.

Then there was silence.

Down in the sewers….

Skipper was leading Destiny and the others to meet the rat king. He and the rat king made a truce after they won back their habitat and forced the rats back down into the sewers. So he wouldn't attack them.

"Skipper where are we going?" Destiny asked annoyed. They had been walking for at least an hour. He hadn't said anything since they past Roger. He seemed pissed. And there was no good reason for him to be.

Skipper stopped. He was tired of her. She had to see everything. And there was no stopping her. Ever since they started the tour of the sewers under the city, she had been on him. Asking him useless questions and asking him what he was doing. She acted like a middle school brat. Maybe that was just him. Maybe not. He turned around and started at her. He was tired. He had been letting his paranoia get to him. And it was wearing his patience down. "Look, I know you can't help yourself. But I think you can hold the questions until we get to where we're going." He said. He wasn't happy.

And he didn't sound happy either.

"I'm just asking where we're going." Destiny replied. He could at least tell them where they were going. And it wasn't to a king.

"I told you." Skipper said losing his patience, "We are going to see the only person in these sewers you haven't met yet."

"There is no rat king." Destiny snapped. There was no such thing as a rat king. Rats didn't have kings. They weren't smart enough.

"You don't believe me? Then you can finish looked through here on your own!" Skipper growled.

Kowalski didn't think that it was a good thing to leave the girls here alone. He didn't want Kiki to get hurt. He didn't want any of them to get hurt. But mostly Kiki. They didn't know their way around. They would get lost for sure. He thought that Destiny just needed to calm down.

Rico thought that they should leave. But he didn't want to leave Nicky here. She had weapons of course. But Rico still felt that she would get hurt. And he didn't want that. Besides, if they left the girls here they would get lost. That wasn't good.

Nicky and Kiki felt nervous about being left here, the only reason they agreed to go was because they were being showed the way. In other words they wouldn't get lost.

Kiki was afraid of being lost. She liked to know where she was and where she was going. She was just uncomfortable being lost.

Nicky didn't want to run into trouble. She had left the heat ray at the habitat. And all her weapons were cubified. She only had her hand to work with. And she wasn't very good with that kind of fighting. She wondered if Rico had the same problem.

Destiny really couldn't take anymore of Skipper. She was done with him. They could navigate the sewers alone. They didn't need him. Them. They didn't need the boys. "We don't need you." She stated, glaring.

Kiki, Nicky, Kowalski, and Rico all felt the same wave of fear.

Kiki of getting lost, Nicky of running into trouble, and Kowalski and Rico wanted the girls to return.

"Rico." Skipper said. He was calm now. Glad to get the girls off his shoulders. Temporarily.

Rico didn't know what Skipper wanted this time. Usually he did. Usually he could tell by the situation what Skipper wanted. He coughed up a walkie-talkie. He thought that if the girls ran into trouble they could just say so. Into the walkie-talkie of course. Then the boys could come save them.

Apparently, Skipper was thinking the same thing. Or predicting it.

Skipper took the walkie-talkie and handed it to Destiny.

She looked at him like he was insane. "What do we need this for?" She asked. She didn't need that. What was she going to do, call them?

"I guarantee you'll run into someone down here. If you need any help at all, tell us." He replied flatly. The he started walking back to the zoo.

Kowalski gave an unsure smile to Kiki. She returned it.

Nicky and Rico did the same. Then they followed their leaders, walking away from each other.

Kiki and Nicky were instantly afraid of being lost and getting hurt. Destiny made a bad decision. They could feel it.

…

"So." Private started.

Cassy looked at him intently. She wanted to hear what he was going to say.

"What's your favorite movie?" He asked.

"Um… uh… Ice age I think." Cassy replied. "Yours?"

"Mine? Oh… Um. I think toy story's my favorite." Private replied. He smiled at her.

She smiled back.

They went back and fourth for an hour or so.

Private told her that he liked, snow, and watching it fall in the winter, as well as all the other seasons. He liked the way everything came back to life in the spring, and how the trees seemed to catch fire in the fall. He told her that he liked watching TV. Mostly kid shows (he was a little shy about that). He liked hot chocolate and peanut butter winkies. He told Cassy that he couldn't read, he could surf, if he got the chance, he liked nice sunny days, didn't like bugs, and can really tolerate anything if he tried to. But sometimes lost his patience anyway.

Cassy told him that, she could ride a scooter very well, like all seasons too, how the leaves changed and the way the wind blew in the summer. She said she couldn't surf, but wished she could, she could bogie board and wake surf, though. She told him that she didn't like watching shows as much as she liked watching movies on TV. She didn't like horror shows, or movies. He said that she couldn't read either, she was also a fan of peanut butter winkies but her favorite candy was milky ways'. She told him that she didn't like bugs at all, no matter what, and she liked fruit punch.

Then they went deeper.

"So when did you meet them?" Cassy asked, carefully. She didn't want to seem too eager to know his back round so quickly. She did want to know. She just didn't want to make things uncomfortable.

Private was a little uneasy about that. But he had planned to ask her the same thing. So he didn't have the right to be uncomfortable. She would feel uneasy too. "Well, I met them in the woods. I hatched in Antarctica, but something happened. I don't remember what. All I remember is their faces, and then I was in the woods. And that's where they found me." He explained.

He sounded upset to Cassy. She was afraid she had gone too far too fast. But she couldn't help herself. "Who found you?" The question came out faster than she could stop it. She felt terrible.

Private wasn't upset at all. He did wish he knew what had happened. He always knew that the faces belonged to his parents. But that was all he could remember them by. He didn't remember anything that they did together. He was confused if anything at all. He wasn't sad anymore. Manfredi once told him that he would see them again. So Private never got upset anymore. Unless he was upset to begin with. "Who? Um…everyone really. Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Manfredi, and Johnson. I don't even remember how I got in the woods. But they found me. It was Manfredi and Kowalski who let me go with them. Skipper wasn't so sure, neither was Rico. Johnson said he didn't need any more trouble makers. After a month or two they treated me like I had always been there." Private finished. He always wanted to tell that to someone. But he could never find the right place or time. Or person for that matter.

Cassy had to wrap her mind around what he said. It took her a few moments. Skipper and Rico didn't know what to think, Manfredi, whoever that was, and Kowalski wanted him to stay, and Johnson, whoever he was, didn't want Private to stay at all. But after a few months he was treated like he was always there? She would have to dig into that later. She could feel that it was her turn. "Wow. That's… Good and bad." That's what she decided to say. She really didn't know weather it was good or bad. It was kinda both. But even as she said it, she was second guessing herself. But she would have to see Private reaction to tell if her statement was wrong or right.

Private had to think for a minute. She was right. Not remembering the events that lead him to be lying in the woods was bad. But being excepted was a good thing. She was right. It was good and bad. "Yeah." He said, still thinking it over, "I guess it is."

Cassy was relieved. She didn't go too far, that was good. And she said the right words. Also good. But now it was her turn. Private just had to ask the question. She smiled at him.

Private didn't know how to ask. He wanted to know how she met the girls but he didn't want to sound rude. He just had to ask. That was the only way to do this. "So." He started "how did you meet the girls?" it was simple. And almost the exact same question that she had asked him.

She knew it was coming. But how she met them was a lot more complicated than Private's way of meeting the guys. Or maybe she just simplified it. She didn't really know how he did that. But she would try to do the same. "Well, um. I also hatched in Antarctica. But I remember everything. My parents loved me. My father was stricter than my mother, though. And it was like that for a while. Just your average, ordinary family. Then the town was raided, all the youngest kids were taken. I was one of those kids. We were put in a cell. Like the ones they put prisoners in. we were their prisoners. But they only got to a few kids before she came. I wasn't one of those kids. Her name was Calypso. She had left Kiki, Nicky, and Destiny, at their campsite. She took me there, everyone else was too afraid to go. They went with other good people. I was too confused and shocked to be afraid, I think. But Destiny was stuck like Skipper was with you. Nicky didn't want me. Calypso was going to give me a chance and Kiki wanted me to stay. After a while, I too was treated like I was always there. It felt good to be accepted." Cassy finished. That was a lot easier than she thought it would be. It felt almost, natural. She had never been able to tell that part of her life without some kind of sadness or fear. But she felt calm.

Private understood the kidnap and prisoner part. But it took him a minute to get his mind around the rest. "So you met the girls through Calypso? Like how I met the guys through Johnson?" Private said. It came out sounding moiré like a question than a statement. He was still a little confused by the whole idea. But for the most part he understood.

Cassy thought for a moment. He was right. "I guess so." Cassy replied.

Elsewhere…

"Skipper do you really think we should leave them alone? In the sewers?" Kowalski asked nervously. He was worried about Kiki. Of course Skipper didn't know that. He and Kiki would be dead if that ever happened.

They were walking the streets of New York. Cautiously so they wouldn't get caught.

Skipper was getting over his annoyance. He could do these things very fast. Anger, annoyance, sleepiness, were all things he could push away. But he was having trouble getting over his annoyance towards Destiny. And he didn't know why. It was just unusually hard for him.

"Skipper?" Kowalski asked when he didn't respond.

"No Kowalski." Skipper replied.

Kowalski could tell he was thinking. He had that tone in his voice that said 'I'm thinking but I'll talk to you anyway'

"I don't think it was a good idea to leave them there alone. Not here in New York. She's going to get those girls in a whole lota trouble."

….sewers…..

The girls had been walking for about half an hour without the boys when they ran into trouble.

And it was the very person Destiny swore didn't exist. The Rat King.

"There is no Rat King." Destiny argued. The three of they were tied up in the rats' battle cage. They had accidentally taken a wrong turn. The cage fell on them instantly. There were too many rats than they could fight.

That is how they got to where they were now.

"How can you say that!" the rat king laughed. "I am standing right in front of you no?"

Destiny growled. She hated being tied up. And being talk to like she was an idiot. This Rat King had done both.

Kiki did all she could to keep her breathing under control. If she didn't her windpipe would close. They didn't have the heat ray. Her nebulizer was in a cube. If she lost control of her breathing she was dead. And she was freaking out so that was hard to do. These rats weren't disinfected. They looked like they had never taken a bath. Filthy, disease ridden rats. She hated being a sick. She hated being so scared. And these rats scared her. She knew rats could have evolved into smart creatures. And she was right. They had become smarter. But uncivilized. Rat versions of barbarians. This was the thought that scared her. This was the thought that freaked her out.

Nicky couldn't help Kiki at the moment. She was kicking at the rats that kept walking towards her. She had already kicked ten of them. She didn't like rats. They looked like tiny fluffy, pirates. She had had a terrifying experience with pirates. And she just didn't like rats. And she was getting scared herself.

"You are not a king!" Destiny growled. "You are just a laboratory rat that escaped."

"That part is true actually." The rat king said. "But I am king."

"De, just listen, to him." Nicky said as she kicked a few more rats away. "AH!" She just wanted to get out of this situation.

Kiki didn't want to talk. She was pushing herself against Destiny and Nicky to get herself as far away from the rats as possible. But they were still getting closer. Then she remembered the walkie-talkie. She still had it in her hand. She could feel it. She wiggled her arm free and screamed into it.

…..streets…..

Rico was carrying the walkie-talkie. Skipper told him to put it away at first. But Kowalski said they wouldn't be able to hear it if it was in Rico's stomach. It was a good thing they left it out.

"HELP!" a voice cried. It came out of the walkie-talkie. Kowalski recognized the voice. It was Kiki.

"Someone please!" she screamed. "Hey! Give me that"

They all recognized that voice. It was the Rat King.

"Looks like they met he nonexistent king." Skipper stated.

He looked at Rico and Kowalski. They both looked worried. The wires connected in his head. He knew what they did when they were left with the girls. He let a smug little grin appear on his face. "We know where to look now." Then he turned around and they ran towards the rat part of the sewers.

The rat king had grabbed the walkie-talkie from Kiki's flipper. The rats had jumped on her, and she screamed. She didn't like rats. She hated rats. And she didn't hate many things.

And then the boys arrived.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Skipper demanded. As much as he hated the many questions and comments that came from the girls (Mostly Destiny's were the ones that annoyed him), he had to rescue them. It was the penguin way. The penguin credo also stated that if a fellow penguin is in trouble (or any other innocent animal) he/she is to be rescued.

"They entered our turf. They're ours." The rat king argued.

"No." Kowalski said. "They're with us."

The rat just stared at them, and then looked back at the girls. "Uhg. Fine. But next time they're mine." The rat king growled. He hated losing pray. It wasn't really pray. Prisoners more or less. But they were entertainment.

They untied the girls and let them go. No one said anything on the walk back to the zoo. Nicky and Kiki had a slight case of the willies. Destiny just didn't want to talk. Especially to Skipper.

…..Habitat….

"I guess we are more alike than we seem huh?" Cassy asked smiling. She was glad she got to know him better. She actually had fun doing it. But she was pretty sure they played twenty questions the wrong way. And asked more than twenty questions.

"I guess so." Private agreed.

They were sitting in the middle of the room just talking. Cassy still held the picture book, and Private the stuffed animal.

"But I'm sure we didn't play twenty questions the right way." Cassy laughed. She couldn't explain it. She felt happy. Really, truly happy. She loved it.

"We did." Private laughed. He too felt truly happy.

But they couldn't stop laughing. Not fast enough….

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Private and Cassy jumped, turned towards the latch door and saw Destiny standing there. She was mad. Madder than mad. She looked like she was ready to explode. Crazy mad.

Cassy felt like she w just swallowed by fear. She was going to get in now. Destiny was going to kill her. Literally. Cassy didn't know what to do. She felt like a dear in headlights. "Umm…um…uh..." She didn't know what to say. "D-d-d-d-d-d-de, I-I-I-"Cassy stuttered.

"You interacted with him!" Destiny shouted.

By this time the girls had jumped into the habitat. Cassy was never good at sneaking things.

"N-n-no D-d-de, its n-n-not wh-wha-what y-you think." Cassy replied. She was shaking uncontrollably now. And she couldn't calm her nerves.

Private saw this. He knew destiny was probably two times more dangerous than Skipper. Mostly because she lacked self control. But he wasn't going to let Cassy get hurt. He…loved her. "It was my fault." He said loudly. Most times people, who are out of control mad, can't hear anyone very well.

Destiny whipped her head towards Private. She knew it was his fault. Boys were no good heart breakers. Boys were not to be trusted. Not to be mingled with. But Cassy let him mingle with her. So she turned back towards Cassy.

The boys were now in the room and had heard Privates confession.

"PRIVATE!" Skipper shouted. how could Private go against direct orders? Private was the good one. But Skipper was tired, annoyed, and now angered. He could usually calm down. But not when those three emotions came at the same time.

He also looked mad as a bat. Miles and miles past being pissed off.

"Oh, S-s-sk-sk-skippah. I-I-" Private stammered.

"Went against direct orders!" Skipper shouted.

Now Private joined Cassy, shaking uncontrollably.

"STOP" Kiki, Kowalski, Nicky and Rico shouted at the same time.

Skipper, Destiny, Cassy, and Private looked at them

"What!" Destiny shouted. Still mad as ever.

"Well. If you guys are going to yell at them-" Nicky started.

"Then you might as well be screaming at us too." Kowalski finished

Cassy, Private, Skipper, and Destiny stared, confused.

Kiki took a deep breath. "We mingled too." She said.

Skipper and Destiny went back to being angry. Miles and miles past pissed off. Only now it was three times worse. Now they were mad at everyone.

Now only fate will be able to decide what the punishment would be.

Because all six lovers knew there would be a punishment...