The clouds were finally letting up, and the zoo wasn't as dark as it had been just hours ago. The exhausted penguins had pretty much gone to bed, but after all the excitement; Marlene just couldn't bring herself to sleep. So she sat above her little shelter and continued to stare at the night. Not much wind stirred so she wasn't cold at all. She massaged her now bandaged arm (since Kowalski insisted he took care of the wound0 and continued to think on the past events that occurred. Suddenly she sensed a threatening feeling, as if someone was behind her. Out of pure instinct she whirled around with her fists up, ready to throw the first punch. WHAM!!!

"Ouch!"

"Oh my gosh, Skipper!" she shrieked. Skipper held his beak as Marlene rushed up to help him in any way. "I'm so sorry! It's just that after all that, y'know? I really am sorry."

Skipper rubbed his beak and cocked a brow, as she chuckled and fidgeted with her fingers embarrassingly. He shook his head.

"Well, Marlene you've really outdone yourself," he began with a smile. Marlene looked up at him. "Maybe Fey wasn't so wrong after all? Maybe you do have a dark, sick, twisted side we never got to know." Marlene growled at the sound of her name. She hated that Fey was right. "So in a twist of fate, I'm actually glad she showed up in our little zoo."

Marlene lit up and cocked a brow, "Say what now?"

"I mean if she hadn't shown up, maybe we wouldn't have known that side. So now everyone knows you can't be taken lightly."

"And who said I was before, huh?" Then Marlene shrugged, "I'm just glad she's out of our lives for good."

"10-4 on that."

Then the two sat down at the edge of the rock, just enjoying the view of the zoo.

"So what are you doing here anyway?" asked Marlene.

"Heh, how can you go to sleep knowing there are nasty and shady creatures like her around? You gotta stay alert always; you know the drill, don't you?"

Marlene laughed, "Yeah, I guess."

"Sure you do! You've got a knack for preaching my witty advice."

"Hey, someone had to 'cause you sure weren't doing that, Mr. Hypocrite."

"What? What are you talking about? I never let my guard down."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh shut up, Skipper! If it weren't for me, she would've stolen another one of your gadgets, or gotten some top secret data from you or… something!"

"Well, what if I told you it was all just an act?"

Her face lit up, "What?"

"Neither of us had ever fallen for her tricks. It was all a game, get it?"

"All of you?"

Skipper nodded.

"So… you were all just… faking it?"

"Of course! You know how I feel about newcomers; I never let my guard down. So after the first week, Kowalski noticed she kept asking irrelevant questions about our alarm system, our schedule, tactics, codes, gadgets. It was obvious something was fishy. So I alerted the team about it during your strolls with her, and we began making plans how to expose her diabolical plans and ship her outta here! Monster trucks, right?"

Marlene couldn't believe her ears, this was all an act? Or was he just saying this to make her feel better? She was relieved to hear this, but now she was angry that she wasn't in on the plan!

"Why didn't you tell me from the start?!" she exclaimed angrily as if she was ready to throw another punch at him!

"I never wanted you to get involved in the first place. But somehow you did, and trust me it was the last thing I wanted. I thought about your safety and I thought if you didn't know about it, you wouldn't worry about it."

Marlene darted her eyes around. So that's what had been happening to her reality all along? Then her question that was almost too scary to ask for the answer entered her mind.

"Even that night?" she asked almost softly.

He cocked a brow, "What night?"

Marlene nearly gulped, but she had to know the answer, "Well, I kinda snuck in on you guys one night… and well, I saw how you guys were… looking at each other and… well, I really thought you fell for her…"

Skipper had a puzzled look as he tried to think what she was thinking about, "Oh, that!" Marlene blinked. "Nah, nothing happened that night. You heard what I said about how a military penguin like me can't make time for such matters, right? Well, I meant it."

Marlene could literally feel her heart suddenly shift to a relaxed state. Her eyes darted at his face anyway, trying to see if there were any signs of him lying, but she couldn't find any. He was either a good liar… or he truly meant what he said. He seemed to notice her suspicions so he placed a flipper on her shoulder warmly.

"At ease, Marlene, I'm giving a soldier's promise," he assured as he raised a flipper in the air as if he was making a vow. Marlene finally relaxed, and put her paw on his flipper as she couldn't have been anymore relieved about anything. Then the thought of the dream raced through her mind and she looked up.

"That wasn't a dream either, was it?" she asked.

Skipper growled angrily and she could feel his grip on her tighten a little, understanding what she was talking about, "Kowalski found an empty bottle of some type of liquid to knock you unconscious just a while back. She had you believe it was all a dream."

"More like a nightmare!" So it was real after all! She couldn't believe that even after that, she still acted like her friend! Then another thought hit her. "Wait, now that I think about it, how did you guys know I was in trouble?"

"We didn't actually," he said almost sadly. "Fey alerted us. She came over here supposedly for a visit, and came back telling us you looked like you were in trouble. So we showed up and sure enough you were." Marlene spotted Skipper's expression turn angry as he withdrew his flipper clenched them into fists. "I should've known she could've pulled off such an evil, sinister crime… that…that…"

Suddenly Marlene wrapped her arms around Skipper and snuggled against his feathery chest. Skipper was caught off guard for a moment there.

"Thanks, Skipper," she whispered. "Thanks for being so caring."

Skipper smiled and returned the embrace, "Likewise."

They hugged for a little while until Marlene pulled away a bit to meet his eyes and smiled at him. They smiled at each other for a long time, ever so warmly and tenderly. Suddenly Marlene shifted her attention below her. Skipper raised a brow, still smiling.

"What now?" he asked.

"Well… it's just that, I'm still not convinced," replied Marlene softly. "I mean… how can I be so sure? How do I know a soldier's promise will be enough to prove otherwise?"

Skipper put his flippers on his shoulders, "You really aren't military material, are you Marlene?"

Marlene's brows lowered.

"My team knows me so well; they'll tell ya that a soldier's promise would be enough. I never ever ever EVER make one if I knew I couldn't keep it."

Marlene rolled her eyes, "Right."

"Boy does your clock tick differently. How else can I make you see that I was being a commanding officer on a lethal mission?"

"Sure… lethal."

Skipper sighed, trying to come up with the possible solution for this sensitive otter. And Marlene couldn't help but feel irritated; maybe he really was lying after all. How could he be so inconsiderate of her feelings like this? They both looked out into the night sky, taking in the still calmness of it all. Then Skipper turned to Marlene and tried to read her face. Annoyance. Thoughtful. Calm… jealous? She looked uncertain, didn't she? Then it hit Skipper, it all made perfect sense now! He smiled at the thought as he rubbed under his beak. He thought this over and thought about how cute and naïve she was right now. She couldn't keep it away from him, silly otter.

"Marlene," he suddenly spoke.

Marlene turned to him. This confirmed everything he needed to know… he was right.

"I'm really being honest here," he said.

"And what makes you think I'll believe that?" asked Marlene almost sarcastically.

"Well if a soldier's promise won't work, it looks like I'll have to try a different tactic."

"Like what? There's no way you can convince me unless you've some valid evidence."

Suddenly Skipper leaned in close until his forehead touched hers.

"How's this for evidence?" he said as he suddenly leaned his beak forward and kissed Marlene! Marlene's heart raced with happiness and shock all at the same time! What a rush! With almost little time to think she shut her eyes tight and pressed herself against him a little tighter. Her whole body melted into his arms, and he placed a flipper on the back of her head to deepen the kiss. It was one of the most incredible moments of their lives. It was so loving and so tender! So much for being unable to make time for such matters. The loving couple was enjoying their bliss so much; they didn't even notice the moon was in full bloom now. The dark clouds had rolled away and the whole zoo lit up now. Everything seemed to be at peace once more, under watchful surveillance of the penguin elite force, including Marlene.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle skies, Fey's crate had just been loaded onto the plane. Men were busily loading the crates one by one. As her crate was pretty much left alone, her voice could be heard inside.

"Retriever to base, retriever to base," she whispered in a hush tone to a small radio. "Mission aborted, I repeat, Mission: Sleeping with the Enemy aborted. Retriever had failed to return with the bone. Need of urgent retreat before take-off."

She looked around at her crate completely disgusted. Her mission was a total failure, she was beaten by zoo inhabitants, and she was sent in a crate full of things she just couldn't tell what they were! It was as if she was in some sort of green mud that smelled so disgusting, and felt so wet and slimy! Just like her now crumbled pride. She felt so degraded, so humiliated… and she wondered if there was any way for them to pay…

Suddenly she felt she stepped on a chunk! She screamed and suddenly slipped and splashed her whole body into the green mud! She immediately got up and after she sucked in air, she screamed her lungs out! Unfortunately, there was no one that could hear her.

THE END