Skipper adjusted his tux once more out of nervous habit and checked the roses in hand. Private had helped him to find a decent tux and bowtie, having been wearing them for special missions most of the past five years. To say Skipper looked Dapper would be an understatement. Kowalski was smiling as he looked at his older brother's nervousness. "You alright, captain?"

Skipper looked up at his younger brother. He knew that Kowalski was trying to comfort him by acting like it was a mission. It was something they used to do all the time as children. It gave a sense of normalness to the boys. "I'm fine, Lt. Aren't you nervous?"

"A little. We had an agreement. One date, and if it doesn't go well, I never ask her out again."

"Huh… you're okay with that?"

Kowalski shrugged. "Private says that if it wasn't meant to be then it just wasn't meant to be."

"Does he have dating experience that we don't know about?"

"He had a mission where he had to date a young lady who was part of the Reindeer squad, whatever that means. He says he likes her but didn't want to put her in danger at the time from Mr. Tux. Besides, he was too concerned about us to really put his heart into it, and the lady respected him all the more for it."

"Why did he have to date a reindeer?" Skipper knew who they were and only one of them was alright in his books, but he still wouldn't say it out loud.

Kowalski grimaced. "Something about doing it to protect her from having her cover blown."

"Cute…"

"I thought it was."

The boys turned around at the sound of a cough. They were startled… how long had the two been standing there? How much did they know? These questions formed in Skipper's mind until he actually got a good look at Marlene. She was wearing a Hispanic red tango dress with a ruby necklace that Skipper had snuck her for her birthday last year when he had gained the courage to do so. She was also wearing a pair of ruby red slippers that went with the dress quite nicely. Skipper felt a similar pain in his chest to when he had been dating Kitka, only this was stronger, and more… pleasurable. 'This has to be what love feels like.'

Kowalski was feeling the same as he looked at Eva who was wearing a ball gown that had a similar pattern to that of a snowy owl. Her owl like glasses that she usually wore were no longer on her face, instead replaced with contacts for the night, much like Kowalski, who also was wearing a tux and looked quite charming.

The boys each held out an arm for their dates, and gave them the corsage and bouquet they had gotten for them. For Marlene, a set of red roses had been gotten for her, and Skipper even placed one in her brown hair among the red beads that decorated it. Kowalski had gotten a rare type of flower known as frost roses for Eva, feeling like they would be appropriate for her. She loved them and allowed him to tie the corsage to her wrist around her watch, which Skipper recognized to be a spy watch so she could call for backup if something happened.

The four walked over to the gym where parents, teachers, and a few other staff members were chaperoning. Much to Skipper's annoyance, Classified was there as well. Apparently he was still on the list of guardians and was asked to chaperone. He was about to question seeing Skipper there, and with a date no less, when the annoying tall boy known as Julian Ringtail decided to come up and question it himself.

"Eh, what are you doing here?" He asked Skipper, basically ignoring Kowalski, much to the taller brother's delight. He and Eva quickly made their way past, showing their tickets and joining in on the dances.

"I'm on a date. Isn't that what teenagers do?" Skipper asked with some uncertainty. Marlene smirked and nodded. She knew how nervous Skipper was just to ask her, mainly because he had never really had a normal childhood and he was out of touch with what was normal. She was proud of him for trying to be normal for at least one night.

"Yeah, but since when were you normal? You are the bossy penguin boy, and you usually don't even come to school today… what changed?" When it really came down to it, and if Skipper really thought hard about it... really really hard about it… Julian was one of his best friends, even if he was egotistical, problematic, and looked down on most people. He just seemed to look down on Skipper less than some others, and in a way, actually showed concern and respect for him.

"I decided to suck it up and go to school today because it was Private's first time at a school with Valentine's day. The boy got overwhelmed earlier, and it could have been a lot worse." Much to his surprise, Julian nodded, as though he understood.

"Yeah, dat would do it. So, you here to party?"

"Um… yes?"

Julian automatically turned back into his "Party King" mode. "Then let's party!" Julian shouted as he ran over to the DJ booth and plugged in his own party track, much to Skipper's amusement.

Skipper looked over to Marlene with a grimace. "Shall we?"

"Do you know how to dance?"

"Maybe… Private told me that it's like fighting but with music…" Skipper shrugged with a small smirk.

Marlene smiled as she nodded and the two made their way to the dance floor. Classified just rolled his eyes and smiled. He was sure that Skipper couldn't dance, so he was up for seeing the smart mouthed boy trip over his own two feet.

Much to his surprise, Skipper seemed to do fine since no real dance moves were required for the majority of the night. Skipper had an idea though and made a request of Julian, since he had hijacked the DJ station halfway through the night. Marlene was sitting with a drink at one of the tables after she had stopped to watch Skipper perform some martial art moves with his brother, the two of them synchronizing like they were one and the same. Only a few of the students knew that the brothers were using martial arts to the tune of Celebrate by someone named Pit Bull or something. It was definitely impressive, and cool.

Marlene was surprised when she heard a tango tune start up and noticed Skipper looking smug as he made his way over to her. Classified was watching from the background, curious as to why his apprentice, who seemed to not get along with anyone, was not only willing to go on a date with this young lady, and dance with her, but also talk to the young teen who tended to annoy him almost as much as the Puffin; Julian.

"May I have this dance, Senora?" His accent changed to Hispanic as though he had been raised in Spain like Rico.

Marlene blushed as she took his hand and was led onto the dance floor with Julian introducing the song in a suave low voice. "Okay everyone, now it's time to get serious and Party with that special girl of yours. We are going to… Tango." The way he said it actually surprised some of the girls who started blushing and looking at him as he started the song before jumping onto the dancefloor.

Skipper smirked as he started the moves gracefully. Marlene acted as his perfect partner to the Assassin's Tango, a mysterious variation of the classic dance. Every step was carried out with deadly perfection, and Marlene could hardly believe that this was the same boy who avoided every dance like the plague and didn't think much of girls… actually… when Marlene thought hard about it… he never acted sexist around her. He always treated her with respect… he really did like her, didn't he?

Her mind was pushed away from the thought as she was spun and then caught in his strong arms. A crowd had formed around the duo, none believing that the cold boy with ice blue eyes could have such nimble skills on the dancefloor… none save for Kowalski who was smirking at his older brother as he performed the dance that he had been taught by their parents when he was four. Skipper never forgot anything, even if he pretended he did, this was true for all the Andrews boys.

Every step was executed as though the two were professionals, and all the while, the smiles on their faces never leaving. When the dance ended, everyone clapped. Skipper and Marlene sat down at a table while Julian kept the music going. Kowalski and Eva sat down next to the two.

"You know, I've always been jealous as to how well you could always execute your moves, Skipper." Kowalski grinned as he looked at his shorter brother adjusting his bowtie.

"Yeah? Well you better be ready to execute yours next, Kowalski."

Kowalski looked at his brother's troublesome smirk questioningly before looking at the grinning Julian. Julian was already pointing to the device to indicate that a certain song would be next. "Skipper, I haven't done that since Mom and Dad were…"

"Yeah, well neither have I, so I say you give it a shot." Skipper countered, and Kowalski rolled his eyes, knowing better than to argue with his commanding officer, especially since he never won against Skipper's logic even if he tried.

"Fine…" Kowalski then turned to Eva. "May I have this dance?" Eva blinked in surprise as a waltz came on; "On the Hills of Manchuria". She had been practicing the waltz since she was a child, and to hear this song… did Kowalski really know how to dance to it?

"…Yes?" Kowalski grinned as he led Eva to the dance floor. Skipper and Marlene followed to watch as a crowd opened for the second of the Penguin brothers and his date.

Kowalski took the initial bow as the music played. It was amazing to say that Julian was even behaving for such a dance, acting as a conductor with his fingers while he watched the dance. As Kowalski and Eva performed the difficult dance that had been around for centuries, it was hard to deny a sense of grace in the tall boy. With their glasses off, the two could easily be confused for Cinderella and her Prince Charming. Not a single step was missed as they seemed to glide on the dancefloor. When the dance ended, Kowalski took another bow while Eva smiled and curtseyed before allowing the tall boy to lead her off of the dancefloor and back over to the table.

Eva felt flushed. Out of all the dance partners she had ever had, Kowalski had actually managed to not step on her foot once, he kept up the pace perfectly, and had even managed to have perfect control of the spins!

Marlene was smirking at her roommate's surprise. "Where'd you learn to dance like that, Kowalski?"

"Our parents taught each of us how to dance, save for Private. He was too young." Kowalski grimaced. He was really relieved that his memory allowed him to still possess the skills necessary for dancing the waltz. "Skipper is proficient in most dances considering he was four when he learned. I'm afraid I'm only good at the Waltz and … Ballet…" He muttered as he blushed. He then continued on, shaking off his embarrassment. "Rico is actually quite skilled at the Salsa and any other Latino dances. We once hazarded a guess that his origins were from Central America actually. Now though, we think he might be from…"

"Wait!" Eva looked at her date in shock. "You don't know you're brother's origin?"

"We're all adopted, save for Private. I don't even know Skipper's origin. Only Private and Myself are certain as to our origins. My parents were originally a set of scientists named Kewl, and they perished in a fire." Kowalski raised an eyebrow. 'I thought everyone knew we were all adopted… huh…' Kowalski took a deep breath and then finished the explanation. "Private was born to the Andrews couple who had taken us all in. He's the only legitimate Andrews in the family, but we're brothers, no doubt about that."

Skipper nodded, proud that his brother was able to hold it together. "I actually do know my own origins now, but I'm not proud of my biological parents." Skipper shrugged. Eva looked at him incredulously while Marlene grimaced. Marlene knew that if Skipper was uncomfortable with talking about something, he wasn't going to spill unless tortured with it. Kowalski simply nodded and accepted it, as it was his elder brother's right to keep things to himself.

After the dance was over, the two boys walked their girls to their dorm room. "I had a great time, Skipper." Marlene smiled to her date, who blushed.

"It was definitely a good night. You dance nicely, Kowalski." Eva batted her eyelashes at her taller date.

"We're glad you had a good time, ladies." Kowalski smiled back.

"Maybe we could have another date…?" Skipper asked somewhat hopefully. It was amusing to all to see the usually confident Skipper being nervous over something so normal as a date.

"I'd like that." Marlene said before leaning towards him and kissing him on the cheek. Skipper froze and fell over in a faint! At the same time, Eva had also given Kowalski a kiss, so now both boys were unconscious on the ground.

"Figures that a kiss would make them faint, eh, Rico?" The girls turned down the hall to see Private and Rico making their way over.

"Uh-huh." Rico chuckled as he picked up Kowalski. Private picked up Skipper and lugged the slightly taller boy over his shoulder. "Ou ot im?"

"I've got him." Private confirmed as he adjusted his hold, not wanting to drop his commanding officer, and older brother. Private then looked to the two girls who were in shock that their dates had just fainted. "Sorry about this. Hope you all had a pleasant night."

"Yeah… are they going to be okay?" Marlene had never seen Skipper faint before, and to be fair, neither had his brothers.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine. Skipper's just never been kissed before probably." Private smirked as he and Rico started off down the hall towards their room on the other side of the elevator. "G'night!"

"Night!" Rico called back in agreement.

"Um, night?" The girls looked at each other before bursting out laughing that they had just had the best night of their lives and the soldier boys fainted from a kiss!