A/N: It has come to my attention that Veronica is too much like Tammy so I will get rid of her. Also I stated in chapter eighteen that Maya was one and a half months old, but she is actually four months old. As of this chapter, the month is August. The story began sometime in March and Maya was born in April, specific dates currently unknown. Enjoy and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask!

Josie had quickly rescued her baby from being squeezed to death.

"I warned you." Skipper said.

"You are banished from my kingly kingdom!" Julien told Veronica.

"For hugging a baby?" Veronica asked, "That's just messed up."

"No it's not." Skipper and Julien said at the same time. They looked at each other.

"I said it first." Julien said with a big grin.

"Only in your dreams, Ringtail." Skipper responded. "Alright you three," he said to the other penguins, "Let's go."

They heard Josie say "At least she finally said Mama. I'm so proud."

"Why am I banished for hugging a baby?" Veronica asked once they were back at the HQ. "I love kids. Besides, I didn't hurt her."

Mikayla looked away sadly, but no one noticed.

"She was wiggling for a minute before she yelled." Private said, "Also, you're a complete stranger to her."

"I don't like that Julien guy." She said.

"Shh!" Private said before Skipper could respond. "Kowalski's sleeping."

Kowalski was in his bunk with his mouth slightly open.

"He looks like he's smiling." Private said hopefully, "Maybe he's feeling better."

"Maybe, and he's probably dreaming about science." Skipper said. The others looked at him. "I've known him the longest. Technically, I knew Private before Kowalski, but I was one of the first penguins to meet Kowalski."

"Are you brothers?" Mikayla asked, glad for a change in subject.

"Brothers in a way, but by blood, no we are not." Skipper told her. "You two are going to be watched. I still don't trust you two."

"But you trusted us enough to let us tour the zoo." Veronica said.

"Or did I?" Skipper said mysteriously, giving a maniacal grin. "You didn't see anything, it was all a dream."

"What are you talking about?"

"Blood…innocent blood…death…not deserved to go…take me…" Kowalski grunted, turning in his bunk. "Emma…my fault…"

"Uh, scientific things," Skipper said, "Beakers and inventions and er…exploding stuff…What is the quadruped former something?"

"Quadratic formula?" Kowalski muttered sleepily. "I know that stuff…hang on…I have a phone call…yes, Mr. President… I can invent a suit ray…as soon as…Skipper gets back from…Madagascar…I went there once…Met a nice guy…and there was a dancing lion…no, I'm not kidding…he sounds oddly…oddly like…a guy named…Ben…Ben something…I finished the ray…have it on your desk by…by Mon…Monday…morning…" he trailed off into a snore.

The girls were dissolving into silent giggles. Private smiled.

"Alright, up top." Skipper said. "Good night Kowalski."

"Good night, Doris."

Private let out a laugh as he climbed out of the hatch.

"Haha, you just earned yourself night time recon." Skipper said. Private's smile faded quickly, "No arguments, soldier."

They trained up top until Alice threw their dinner into the habitat. Kowalski woke up sometime later, hungry for dinner. He ate his fish quietly and retreated to the lab. Skipper sent Private to do recon as soon as he was finished with dinner. Rico and Charlie entertained themselves with a monster truck marathon.

"Uh…Private?" Rico asked Skipper.

"Negative, soldier." Skipper said. "He hasn't had a chance for recon in a while, and this was the perfect excuse to make him."

Rico shrugged and returned to the television.

There was a knock at the entrance.

Skipper climbed up the ladder, "Private, I told you- Oh hey Mason." He said, "What brings you to our humble home?"

"Humble?" Veronica said.

Skipper glared at her.

"Actually, it concerns her." Mason said. "Phil was planning a poo throw at Alice when we heard her talking about transferring her. Apparently the other zoo made a mistake on the transfer papers."

"When does she move out?" Skipper asked, trying not to sound hopeful.

"Tonight, they need her back right away."

Skipper nodded. Phil and Mason left to plan their next target of chimp poo.

An hour later, Veronica was taken by Alice to a truck outside the zoo. Everyone tried to act sad that she was leaving, but they were honestly glad she was gone.

"She's worse than Tammy." Charlie said.

"How so?" Skipper asked.

"You could at least tell her to shut it." Kowalski said. "And she never squeezed the life out of anyone. She only tried to take a bite out of Rico's head, which I find odd."

"Yeah, ouch." Rico said, rubbing his head as if it still hurt.

"I wonder if she actually has ADHD. It would make sense with some of the symptoms." Kowalski said, "She was inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive."

"Or maybe she was just being a kid." Skipper said.

"Maybe." Kowalski said.

"Let's use the opportunity to learn more about you." Charlie said to Mikayla.

"Well, she has been here all day and we know nothing really." Kowalski said, "Okay, tell us everything about you."

"Maybe not everything." She said. "But I was born, or hatched, in Alaska and had a perfect life."

"Yeah right, no one is perfect. Even Josie's ex-boyfriend dumped her and tried to run away from the fact he was the reason she became pregnant, and then he died before Josie could kill him." Skipper said. "Something tells me you have more to say."

"It was an accident." She said, "A terrible accident. I thought I was saving him…he looked so thirsty."

"Who?"

"A little penguin, just a few weeks old." She said, "And I killed him…"

Rico and Charlie gasped and Kowalski stared at her.

"How is that an accident?" Skipper demanded.

"He was playing near the water and there was no one around supervising him, so I decided to watch him until a parent came. Then he started pointing to the water and I thought he was thirsty. I took him to the water and he drank it…" She stopped, the memory was too painful.

"And?" Skipper pressed. "Did you shove him in?"

"No!" Mikayla gasped, looking horrified. "Apparently, he wasn't supposed to be there, he had snuck away from his parents…a ship had been caught in a storm and toxic barrels broke and spread into the ocean."

"So he was poisoned." Skipper said.

"And I was left to feel the guilt of what I had done, and if that wasn't enough, everyone avoided me. Even my own parents hated me; they didn't want to have a daughter who was a killer. It was five years ago and I still feel guilty. I tried to run away from my mistake…and I left Arizona because there were baby animals." She looked up at them. "I don't even know if I want to stay here…but I don't want pity, I never did." She said. "I can take care of myself."

They all nodded.

"Alright, I'm feeling generous at the moment." Skipper said. "You two go back to your monster trucks." He told Charlie and Rico. "And Kowalski, go back to the lab. But I am not taking it easy on you tomorrow."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Kowalski said as the other two zipped back down. "Combat drills? I'll take you down, respectfully speaking."

"I respect that," Skipper said, "but it will be you who is going down."

"Down? Down where?" Julien asked, bounding into the habitat. "Is de weird girl gone?"

"She's gone, and none of your business."

"De wedding will be in two weeks." Julien said.

"Congratulations, I look forward to having a good time." Kowalski said.

"And I look forward to watching you crack and mess up everything." Skipper added.

Julien looked offended, and then he stalked away.

"Ah Ringtail, he takes everything too literally." Skipper said, shaking his head. "Maya would be four months old now, right?"

"Actually, too loosely," Kowalski said, "Yes, she was born back in April and now it's the middle of August."

"What the deuce? Where did summer go?"

"Well, we spent it and the rest of spring being chased by Blowhole, looking for your sister, training recruits and being betrayed. Anyway, I'm headed down; I'm working on the new plane." He saluted his leader and disappeared.

Not much of summer left to enjoy. Skipper thought. Well, there were some good parts. He remembered sharing a few moments with Marlene. Speaking of Marlene…

Marlene waved to him with a smile across her face.

Skipper grinned and flipped up over the fence and then jumped up onto the wall surrounding the otter habitat. He was about to say something when Josie interrupted.

"Sorry, but I just remembered something that Rocky told me." She said.

"Josephine, my sister left over a month ago." He said.

"I know, but it's important and it may help with whatever Kowalski is going through."

"Spill."

"She was looking online in Alice's computer the day that you helped Marlene tame her feral side and we came across an interesting piece of news. It was about an otter transfer a few weeks ago to the Bronx, this otter was the only surviving one on a whole riverbed of otters."

"Of course, Kowalski's friend!" Skipper said, "Thanks a lot; er…do you mind uh…"

She looked between Marlene and Skipper, grinned and returned to the penguin habitat.

"You have a lot on your mind." Marlene said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"That I do, my friend, that I do." The penguin responded.

"Skipper, is this about Rocky?"

Skipper sighed and plopped himself on the grass. "It's about the sake of my team."

"Meaning?" Marlene asked, lying down next to him.

"Kowalski needs his mother, who I have the vaguest idea who she might be, and his friends that he lost thirteen years ago and I just let Nat go to Hoboken. I know it was her choice but…there's obviously nothing I can do about Emma and if this otter is Izzy…he could have been in the city. But he's miles away from here in the Bronx and across the Harlem River."

"You could get him transferred here."

"I could…"

"What else is bothering you?"

"Rico hasn't' seen his sister or his father in years. Since Rocky came, Rico's been missing his sister."

"Rikki?"

"Yeah, and then there's Private."

"What about Private?"

"He has no idea that his father was a legend and a role model to many on the Force, including me…and his mother is protected. They all want to see their kids."

"And what about your mother?"

"All hidden in a safe location, though they had to calm her down first. She didn't like the idea of being holed up in a place for long. I get my stubbornness from her."

Marlene smiled.

"And then there's Johnson…"

"Jordan?"

"No, my former teammate, he's in that small safe village as well."

"Are you afraid of him?"

Skipper snorted, "Yeah right, I'm just wondering if I was too harsh on him and Manfredi…and I am also avoiding Jordan."

"Maybe you could go on another trip? We could cover for you."

"Even Alice couldn't possibly ignore four missing penguins."

"Then we'll get Dan and Tammy and whoever wants to help."

"Sure, though I'm not sure about Dan staying here unsupervised."

"I see how you would be suspicious, is there anything else bothering you?"

"I have a hunch, though I'm not sure if it's accurate…it's something I was thinking about a while ago."

Marlene waited.

"I think I've met Kowalski's mother." Skipper said. "When I was eleven, but the baby she brought wasn't Kowalski…"

"Who was it?"

"It was-"

"SKIPPER!" Private yelled suddenly, cutting across Skipper, "HELP!"

Skipper bolted out of there. "Sorry Marlene, another time." He said quickly as he left.

He sped past HQ where Rico and Kowalski had burst out and joined him.

"I told Charlie to stay there." Kowalski said.

Skipper nodded. "Private?! Where are you?"

"Over here!" Private was approaching the gates and looked like he was carrying a sack. "She's still alive."

"It's a live animal." Kowalski gasped.

The boys rushed her to their habitat and put her on an examination table that Kowalski had pulled out.

"It's dark, I can't see." Skipper said.

Rico found the lights and turned them on. The penguins let out loud gasps but only Skipper, Rico, Kowalski, and Private knew who it was.

Mats of tangled, dirty fur were shown in the light as well as blood coming from her side, she was unconscious.

"Nat…" Kowalski said, tears falling down his face.

Rico got the medical supplies and began working on helping her. He wiped up all the blood spots and wrapped bandages around Nat's waist. Then he pulled out a stinky shoe and waved it around her face.

She twitched, then coughed and tried to sit herself up but put her head back on the pillow. Then she gasped and began looking around frantically. "He's here…attacked me…he's alive…don't know how…I fought him off…it's so…he's dangerous…"

"Who?" Private asked in a whimper.

"Simon."

"I thought he was dead." Skipper said.

"The building collapsed on him and there was a fire, he couldn't have gotten out." Kowalski said.

"He did, he's joining Blowhole again." Nat groaned.

"Simon's not as bad as Koru." Charlie said. "Or is he? I never met the guy."

"Maybe not as bad, but he's still up there." Skipper growled. "I hope I'm the one who gets to destroy Koru."

Private looked worried, "But Skipper, that's-"

"I know what destroy means, Private!" Skipper snapped. "And do you deny that he deserves it?"

"I-I don't deny it." Private said softly. "What do we do now?"

"We take this to the top." He said. "Men, there's only one thing to do and I've been afraid of it for too long. We're going to Antarctica!"

"Yay!" Private cheered.

"Sorry Private, but this isn't a happy mission. We're telling Sarah about this, and we will put a stop to Blowhole's plan!" Skipper said. "How long until we're ready to fly?" he asked Kowalski.

"Assuming you don't want me to put in the seating and special features, approximately four days." Kowalski replied.

"Four days…I can't wait four days." Skipper groaned, "But if we have to, then fine."

"Can we call first?" Private asked, "I'm sure she'd like a call."

"Fine." He turned to Mikayla. "Why don't you go hang out with the lemurs?"

"Am I allowed to know what's going on?" she asked.

"Highly classified, we'd rather you didn't know." Skipper said.

"Fine." She said dejectedly, leaving the HQ.

"Sir, what about me?" Charlie asked.

Skipper waved his hand and began the call to the Antarctic Base.

The screen flashed on to reveal Jordan Johnson. "Oh it's you, what do you want?"

"Jordan, we're coming in four days and need penguins to take our place." Skipper said.

"You must be joking; there is no way you can come without proper authori-"

"An entire planet is at stake, I don't care for proper authorization." Skipper said furiously.

"Really? I'll have to make an appointment." She said in a bored tone.

"Jordan, what are you doing?" a voice asked from her end.

"Er, nothing…" Jordan said sheepishly.

"Move." A female penguin took her place, "Skipper? Haven't seen you in a while, how-"

"Sorry Tory, no time." Skipper said. "I need Sarah to know we're coming to base in four days."

"Okay." Tory said, marking it down, "What's the occasion?"

"An evil dolphin and a psychotic mad penguin are on the loose and their good agent Simon has rejoined them." Skipper said in one breath.

"Evil dolphin, got it. I can pencil you in for an anytime appointment." Tory said with a serious face.

"Does the end of the world mean nothing to you? There will be mayhem beyond our wildest dreams!" Kowalski said nervously, "And we could be facing planet wide shut down, we'll lose the sun and we can all die!"

"Calm down, I was only attempting to make light of the situation."

"IT DIDN'T HELP!" Kowalski screamed, running over to the television. "Don't you get it? We're all DOOMED!"

SMACK!

"Get a hold of yourself, soldier!" Skipper ordered. "Tory, we were planning to take our plane which can be underway in four days."

"Or we can pick you up in a helicopter at 0600 hours."

"But that's tomorrow morning!" Private said.

"Exactly." Tory said.

"We'll take it." Skipper told her, and then he turned to his team. "Kowalski, call an emergency meeting at the Zoovenir Shop; Rico, pack the necessities for our trip; Charlie, help him; and Private, take care of Nat."

He watched the boys follow his orders with a satisfied smile. Then he turned back to Tory.

"Tory, I'll need you to arrange the pickup and the cover for our disappearance."

"Roger that, how many?"

"Four penguins, the lemur isn't officially part of this zoo."

Tory nodded and left.

Skipper made sure that everything was going as planned before heading off to the Zoovenir shop. He watched as the grumbling animals gathered in the shop and waited for Skipper to speak.

"Penguin, you are interrupting my beauty sleep!" Julien complained.

"I should smack the lot of you!" Joey yelled.

"Is this really a good time?" Burt asked.

"Don't be silly, we're having a super fun sleepover!" Stacy said.

"Cool, bring out the arts and crafts!" Becky squealed, "We could make a-"

"QUIET!" Kowalski shouted over the noise. Everyone paused and looked at him. "Thank you. Skipper, you may speak now."

Skipper nodded to Kowalski, "Alright, most of the stuff is classified but you need to know that we penguins are leaving tomorrow morning."

"Why should we care?" Roy asked.

"You should care because, without the security of us penguins, the entire zoo could be in danger." Skipper said, immediately putting up a flipper for silence as everyone began speaking as soon as he had said danger. "Some friends of ours are coming to take our place and-"

"Why are we in danger?" Pinky the flamingo asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Leonard asked nervously.

"Why does this all lead back to you?" Maurice asked.

"Yeah, we want answers!" Roy demanded.

"Of course this is one of their secrety spy mission things!" Julien said.

Skipper sighed, how was he to explain this? They were going on journey to discuss to the General of the Antarctic Force how to deal with this new dilemma. Also they were going to find their families and knowing there would be an explosion of epic proportions if Kowalski and his father were to come in contact. And while dealing with family dramas the dilemma spoken of earlier could escalate into a full blown war between Blowhole and the Antarctic Force.

"Are we being tested?" Shelly asked.

"No, we just…uh…Kowalski, you want to take this one?" Skipper asked.

"You're the leader." Kowalski whispered, "I suggest trying to make it sound less worrisome than it actually is."

"It's a bit late for that." A voice came from the doorway.

"You?!" Kowalski, Skipper, Julien, Maurice, Marlene, and Josie said at the same time.

"Yes, it's me." Simon sneered. "Pretty baby by the way."

Josie clutched Maya closely.

Skipper growled, "Get out of my zoo before I say something that shouldn't be said in the company of young animals."

"You'll be wasting your time if you kill me." Simon said.

"Oh and how's that?" Kowalski asked furiously, "You don't seem to care who gets hurt around here. Why did you come back?"

"To tell you that you're all doomed," Simon cackled gleefully, "and our victory is inevitable. You can't harm us, so why don't you give up and surrender your scientist to us?"

"NEVER!" Kowalski yelled, "Why do you need me so badly?"

"Duh! You're the brains; a talent like yours is wasted here with these simpletons." Simon said.

"By order of the king which is me, get out!" Julien demanded.

Kowalski held up a flipper and walked over to Simon.

SMACK!

Kowalski glared at him. "Listen and listen good, I will never join you." he said. "My loyalty lies with Skipper and him alone."

Simon glared back, and then grinned. "We'll see about that." He said, and then he vanished into the darkness.

Skipper bolted outside and looked wildly around. "He's gone." He said bitterly. "That-"

"Skipper?" Marlene said, she was looking at him worriedly.

"I'll be alright, everyone go back to bed."

The others agreed and went off to bed; the only ones who stayed were Kowalski, Marlene, and Mikayla.

"It'll be alright." Marlene said. "One day, everything will be back to normal."

"It has to get worse before it gets better." Skipper said, staring up into the sky.

Kowalski was staring at the ground. As if I could join them. He thought angrily. How dare Simon say that, how dare he come in here and…but what if he's right? I could be evil…come to think of it, I've been snappy and angry today…and lately I've not been myself…No, I couldn't be...Could I? Could I be destined to join the group that killed many, including Skipper's father and brothers? No. No, I am determined not to. I won't go there; I am in control of my own fate…

"We'll be okay." Marlene said. "I like to keep up a vote of optimism. So, even if it gets worse, it has to get better sooner or later."

"A vote of optimism." Skipper said, "I'll keep that in mind. Alright, bedtime." He said, snapping Kowalski out of his thoughts.

Marlene waved to them and headed to her habitat.

The penguins headed back to HQ and wrapped things up. Nat was asleep on a stretcher and Private had fallen asleep in a chair next to her. Rico and Charlie were already asleep. Kowalski crawled into his bunk and resumed his thoughts after helping Skipper move Private in a bunk.

Skipper took an available bunk and waited for sleep to come to him. He heard Kowalski's snores a while later. Nat had woken up, taken a sip of water, and lay back down. Mikayla was awake and looking out the window.

"It's not your fault." Skipper said, making the girls jump. "What happened to either of you wasn't your fault. Nat, you were tricked. And Mikayla, what happened to you could have happened to anybody."

They nodded and Mikayla fell asleep soon after.

But Nat stayed awake, "I should have stopped them." She said, "I could have stopped Emma and Kowalski…"

"Something tells me that he would have gone anyway." Skipper said. "Even if you did manage to stop them, then what would have happened? Rico might not have been found."

Nat sighed, knowing he was right. "Good night, Flatty." She said.

Skipper rolled his eyes.

Soon, everyone except Skipper was asleep.

Skipper snuck out of the habitat and wandered to the top of the zoo clock. He took in the view, the animals were sleeping soundly, except for those nocturnal animals, and everything looked calm. He wondered if it would be the last time he'd see the place like this.

Marlene's right. He thought. We just have to keep some optimism.

He yawned and headed back to bed, for the morning would be ripe with anticipation and nerves.