Well, I decided to update quickly due to how much everyone was freaking out when I left Skipper and Private in those situations.

Enjoy...and please no more heart attacks XP

This chapter is dedicated to 'reidswife' Who is new to fanfiction and has been a faithful reader ^_^

On with the story!

I'm sorry dad...

That was Private last thought as he fell on his back and the smoke covered him, he released what was left of his preserved air from his lungs and almost welcomed the smoke. Skipper would never know that he died here thinking about him, that he was sorry for not believing him about being his dad...That he loved him.

His vision blurred and faded. He couldn't recognise his base as it looked like a painted picture that had been left out in heavy rain.

He lost consciousness just as a hand was pressed behind his back and lifted him from the ground, towards the now open fishbowl.

It was too late...

~/\~

Marlene paced the room of her habitat, twiddling her fingers anxiously.

Okay, breathe girl. It's Skipper, the explosion was probably just something in Kowalski's lab and now Skipper is giving him a lecture or something. But then Private would have come and told me… GAH, why do boys have to make me worry like this…

Marlene walked down the tunnel still deep in thought. One part of her wanting to go check on them and another arguing that Skipper would just say something about mammals being worried easier than birds.

As she sat down on the concrete, paddling her feet in the water of her pond with her eyes closed, she realised the part that wanted to check on her friends was her heart.

What was it my mom used to say? Oh right… 'When making a choice, always go with your heart but bring you brain along for the ride'

Marlene breathed deeply through her nose and choked as the air was more smoke then oxygen.

"Wait, smoke?" Marlene asked out loud to herself, opening her eyes and silently gasping at the column of smoke coming up off to the right. The grey smoke clashing with the black sky.

Cold realization dawned on her as she jumped to her feet.

Guys…

Going with her heart, Marlene set off to the penguin habitat.

~/\~

Blackness completely crowded Skippers vision.

There was no feeling, no sounds, no smells, no sights.

The only thing there was, was a feeling of almost weightlessness as he stared into the void of white above him.

Almost…

It seemed there was only one thing keeping him grounded, if only he could remember…but he couldn't see anything, there was nothing. He began to think he'd had no life, nothing to create memories with…

He couldn't feel anything, not even air in his lungs…

There must not be any, he thought. For some reason he felt he should be worried by that. But he wasn't.

It seemed natural that he wasn't breathing, why would he be?

Then a small voice called out to him through the darkness.

Skipper…

Was that his name? Where they even calling for him? Maybe if I just ignore it they'll-

Skipper!…

The voice was calling more urgently now and there was no mistaking it. It was directed at him.

Then the darkness melted, the light faded and he felt something rising in his stomach a kind of liquid, was he being sick?

Then the water rushed out of his mouth as he felt a hand on him, turning him on his side. His eyes closed, when he opened them he could only see blurs. The one in front of him was a light brown.

"Marlene?" He asked weakly, recognising the words as they came from his mouth.

The voice replied "Ya got it wrong there bro" Another hand was placed on his lower abdomen.

Sudden alertness filled him as Skipper pulled back and kicked the blurs knee, at least he thought it was his knee?

A pained gasp came from the blur as a female voice called him.

"SKIPPER!"

Skipper vision cleared as he recognised the owner of that voice,

"MARLENE!" He jumped to his feet…

…or tried to, an immense pain shot through his chest causing him to cry out and fall down on his back.

Marlene's voice was now filled with panic "Skipper, are you alright?"

It was then that Skipper noticed he was lying on the path of the zoo just across from the flaming habitat, some of the rubble on top of the base had been knocked away and into the water.

"Ya have a broken rib, so don't move ya knucklehead!" The earlier voice told him.

Skipper looked through watery eyes, ignoring the pain while he fought the panic that rose when he recognised Karen's badger companion.

"You" Skipper told him threateningly "What are you doing here?"

The badger sighed "Relax man, da boss-" He caught himself "Karen, ain't here"

"Then where is she?" Skipper asked again, putting his flippers by his sides and pushing himself up gently "And what are you doing here?"

"Well, we're-" The badger was cut off as the fishbowl was blown open with a loud 'BANG!'. Smoke erupted from the small hole as a light brown badger's head came out, choking on the smoke.

"SHAUNA!" The brown badger ran toward the fence and front-flipped over it, landing with practised ease. He knelt down by the hole, wrapping his arms around one of Shauna's. He frowned when she shrugged him off.

Skipper was too far away to hear what was being said between the two, but he could tell it was bad when the brown badger paused and stared at Shauna like he was mentally picking which flowers would look best on her grave.

Shauna grimaced like she was carrying a huge weight as the brown badger reached his arms down the hole and helped her to pull something out. Skipper's heart leapt to his throat when he recognised the unconscious penguin.

"PRIVATE!" Skipper ignored the pain and pressed his flippers while rolling on his side. He pushed himself up onto his feet and balanced himself before running to the fence, noticing the piece that tried to kill him was missing as the fence hung at a slight angle towards the water.

He pressed his beak between two of the bars and hung on to them. "Private…"

Marlene appeared beside him, her eyes filled with concern as her eye darted between the badgers hauling Private from the base and the lump on Skipper's chest, the broken rib pushing out against his muscle.

Skipper never noticed her. His full attention was focused on his son whose feathers were completely black with smoke and ash and some singed from the heat. Black spots danced across his sight as the pain in his chest intensified, he fought to stay conscious long enough to check on Private.

Now he was close enough to hear the two badgers conversation.

"How is he Chase?" Shauna asked in a worried tone as she knelt down on the cleared space on the concrete, her hands on her thighs.

The brown badger, Chase, removed his hand from Private's neck as he lay him down on his back. "His lungs are filled with smoke….I..I don't think…"

That was all Skipper heard before the darkness claimed him and he fell, his head hitting hard off the ground.

I couldn't give you guys a complete break from cliffhangers though XP sorry

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