"Kowalski's log number one: I have no idea how long I've been here. I am currently trapped in a store with no way out, there are window alarms and a door alarm…Rico is not here to open the vent. Luckily, I've kept a cool head…though that may be due to keeping refuge inside the refrigerated section…Oh who am I kidding?! I'm suffocating in here! If anyone finds this log before I die…HELP ME!" He threw down a box of crackers and buried his face in his flippers.

Almost a mile across the icy grounds of Central Park, a penguin was growing concerned. She'd been waiting for a smoothie that never came.

Mort dizzily made his way to the bouncy and bumped into someone.

"Mort, what's wrong?" Mikayla asked.

"No more smoothie…" Mort groaned.

"What happened?"

"I eated all the smoothies."

"First, eated is not a word; second, it's drank; third, where's Kowalski?"

"He went to get more food."

"WHAT?!" Skipper gasped, tearing himself away from Marlene. "He went without telling me? Maybe he-" He looked around and spotted his other teammates. "No…he didn't take Rico."

"Maybe we should go after him." Marlene said.

"Skipper, is everything okay?" Private asked. He had noticed Skipper's worried expression and brought Rico.

"Kowalski went on an unauthorized snack run alone." Skipper said. "We need to go after him."

"Go after whom?" Candace asked. "Sorry, I couldn't help but see what this was about."

"No one." Skipper said. "Uhh...Rikki wanted to tell you about when she turned blind, right Rikki?"

Rikki jumped, "Oh, right!" She said. "Come, I'll tell you about it."

Skipper, Rico, Private, Marlene, and Mikayla managed to find a spot that was more secure.

"Rico, Private, and I will go rescue him while you two make sure no one worries about us." Skipper said. "If anyone asks, we went back to HQ."

"I want to go with you." Marlene said automatically.

"I'm the one who asked for a smoothie." Mikayla said pointedly.

"What about a smoothie?" Rocky asked, jumping down from a tree. "Why do we have to rescue someone?"

"What the deuce? Isn't there any spot where we can talk privately? Never mind, we're wasting time with this. I need a team and you to distract anyone from our disappearance." Skipper said.

"Well that's boring." Rocky said. "But I'll stay."

"And so will Mikayla." Skipper said. "No arguments please, I need a team of four and Marlene's already had some experience. Also, I'm still not sure about you."

Mikayla pouted, but didn't fight.

"Good, let's go rescue us a nerd."

Skipper, Rico, Private, and Marlene headed off into the darkness.

"Yay, this is exciting!" Marlene said.

Skipper smiled as they approached their destination.

Rico handed him a pair of binoculars.

"Mm-hm…so that's what it is…" Skipper said. "Well men, it looks like we've got a case of door alarms as well as windows. If we try to enter, we'll get caught. Mind you, I'm not fond of waiting until morning to get our comrade."

"May I suggest a rooftop entrance?" Private said.

"Possibly…or we just need to disable the alarms. But we can get inside the roof and exit the door; by the time the police get there, we'll be gone."

"Skipper, isn't that-"

"Risky? Yes, Marlene it is, but I'm willing to place my bets that we'll make it out alright. I'm also not taking a chance on Kowalski's sanity."

"His sanity?" Marlene asked. "Kowalski seemed perfectly content by himself."

"You're forgetting that I know Kowalski better than anyone else, even his friends. Maybe I don't know the first thirteen years of his life, but I know the other thirteen enough to understand how his emotions work. I trust him completely, but he doesn't trust himself."

"Skipper, no traffic!"

"That's our cue!"

The four of them raced across the street and hid in the alleyway between buildings.

"Change of plans, I don't think Kowalski would appreciate having to run from the law, so we use a rope to get down there; pull Kowalski out; and get back to the zoo before Julien actually starts to care."

"Is that likely to happen?" Private asked. Skipper shook his head.

"How do we get up there?" Marlene asked.

"Honestly, don't you know us by now?" Skipper said.

He jumped up and bounced on the sides of the buildings until he spun and touched the roof of the store. Rico and Private copied him.

"Uhh…okay." Marlene said. She jumped on the wall and fell back on the ground.

"Need help there?" Skipper asked.

"No, I got this." Marlene said, standing up again. She jumped on the wall and sprang to the opposite wall. However she was so surprised, she forgot about the opposite wall and crashed into it.

A soft thump told her one of the penguins landed next to her.

"No worries, we'll practice at the zoo." Skipper said. "Grab onto me for now."

Marlene placed her paws around Skipper and held on tight.

"It's a springing movement, and you've got to be quick about it." Skipper said. "So quick that you don't have time to think about it."

Skipper began bounding the walls before Marlene could ask.

Private began to clap when they landed, but Rico slapped him.

"Well that was fun." Marlene said, shaking off the feeling of dizziness.

"Glad you think so, but we have a friend in need down there."

Rico supplied a rope and some tools to Skipper who tied the rope around himself and unbolted the vents when he was lowered to them. Then he untied the rope and jumped down into the store. Private jumped after him.

Marlene and Rico kept a lookout.

"Do you think Skipper truly loves me?" Marlene asked.

"Uhh…okay." Rico said, looking taken aback by the question.

"Sorry, I realize it's a bit weird for you…I think he does love me. I wonder if we're going to have a first date…maybe there will be oysters there…mmm…and romantic music and-"

"Bleh!" Rico gagged.

"Oh, um…sorry…" Marlene said. "I won't talk about it anymore."

Meanwhile, Skipper and Private were keeping a look out for Kowalski. Rico had given them a flashlight and some money for the food.

"Kowalski, where are you?" Private said.

"Kowalski? Are you still here, soldier?"

"Maybe we should split up."

"No. In my experience, splitting up is never a good idea even if it works in cartoons."

"Okay…maybe Kowalski's waiting by the front door."

"KOWALSKI WE'RE HERE TO RESCUE YOU!" Marlene shouted down the vent.

"Shh! Do you want the whole neighborhood to catch us?" Skipper said. "Sorry, but even animals can make loud noises whether humans understand their words or not."

"Sorry, maybe he was hungry."

"Hey, I heard something." Private said. He pointed to the deli area.

Skipper and Private jumped down and found the bag of fruit.

"I guess he was on a fruit run." Skipper said. "Kowalski, are you alright?"

There was a scuffling noise that frightened Private.

"…go away…" a low voice growled.

"We're here to save you." Private squeaked.

"I SAID GO AWAY!"

Skipper slid around the corner and yelped.

"What have you done?"

"Get out of the way or you'll suffer my wrath!"

Private peeked around the corner and let out an audible gasp.

Skipper smirked. "Oh no, I'm so afraid." He said sarcastically. "What were you going to do, bread me to death?"

Private shone the light on Kowalski and tried to suppress a giggle.

Kowalski was holding a breadstick and had a fish stuck to his head. His eyes were wide and quite frightening. He also seemed to have broken several gingerbread men which were lying in a puddle of tomato juice.

"I was hoping you wouldn't have to see an insane Kowalski moment, but it was bound to happen." Skipper said. "Once in a while, my second in command freaks out and this happens."

Private stopped trying to giggle because Kowalski had given him a glare.

"Be reasonable, Kowalski." The younger penguin said. "You've been alone for a little bit, but we're here now."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because we're brothers."

Kowalski looked stunned. He tensed as Private approached and held the bread stick tighter.

"You shouldn't have gone out alone." Private said. "I did that once and I almost became a chew toy. Remember the penguin credo? I know you do…and I'll never let you swim alone…but I need you to be here for me…Kowalski, please put the bread down."

There was a small thump and some tomato juice splashed onto their feet. The bread immediately began to absorb the juice.

"Put some noodles and meatballs there and we could have a meal." Skipper said.

"That would work better with sauce." Kowalski said.

"Yay, you're back!" Private squeezed Kowalski.

"Strong grip…losing feeling…need…oxygen…" Kowalski gasped.

Skipper laughed and put some money in the cash register, and then he grabbed the bag of fruit.

"Alright men, let's go!"

The boys climbed the rope to the roof.

Rico swallowed the bag of fruit and ate the fish off Kowalski's head.

"Hey Kowalski."

"Marlene? What are you doing here?"

"She's on her first ever mission." Skipper said. "Or at least I think it is…in any case, she's doing great."

Marlene smiled. "Thanks, Skipper."

They managed to zip across the street and started walking home. Rico was in the front; Kowalski and Private were right behind him; and Marlene and Skipper were farther back, chatting.

"Kowalski, look." Private said. "Skipper and Marlene are having fun."

"They must really love each other." Kowalski said with a smile.

"Do you think you and Doris-?"

"No…she's told me that she wants to be friends so many times…I don't think we'll ever be together now." Kowalski sighed heavily. "NOTHING happened…nothing…I feel so sad sometimes…but I suppose I'll have to get over her…"

"I'm sorry, Kowalski."

Kowalski smiled warmly at the young one. "Don't bother yourself about it…little brother."

"Thanks, big brother." Private said with a wide grin. "What about me? Do I get a girlfriend?"

"I'm afraid that's a negative." Kowalski said. "You're still too young for true love."

"But I'm seventeen!"

"I know, but we're brothers and if I have to stay single, so do you."

Private gasped. "But that's not fair!" he complained.

"True…but then again, life isn't fair."

"You're so mean." Private pouted.

"Nah, I'm just watching out for you."

"Then watch out."

"What?"

Private jumped on Kowalski and began tickling him.

"Stop…can't…hahahahaha…Pri- HAHAHAHA!"

One of Kowalski's feet struck out and nearly hit Private.

"Whoa!"

"Sorry…" Kowalski said, gasping for air. "My feet have a timer in them, once you reach the tickle limit, they kick."

Private rolled his eyes.

"What? It's true!" Kowalski said defensively.

"Yeah, I discovered that." Skipper said. "Never try waking up Kowalski with a prank either."

"What prank?" Private asked while Rico laughed.

It was Kowalski's turn to roll his eyes. "These two thought it would be hilarious to put whipped cream in my flipper and then tickle my beak with my own feather." He said.

"And Kowalski nearly punched Rico to the moon; then Rico got two more cans and we had a whipped cream fight at three in the morning." Skipper added. "Needless to say, we had a lot of explaining to do."

"I thought Zander was going to explode." Kowalski chuckled.

"Kaboom!" Rico said.

"I agree, and then Johnny took a can and squirted us." Skipper said.

"So unprofessional," Kowalski said, "but it was hilarious until Zander confiscated the cans."

"And called us a bunch of yellow bellied, childish, pigheaded, idiotic goofballs who would never accomplish anything in life."

"And then made us do an extensive training exercise."

"But it was worth it."

"I agree."

"Yup." Rico said.

Marlene and Private were doubled up with laughter.

"H-how did they put up with you?" Private managed to ask.

"I honestly have no idea." Kowalski said.

"Pure luck and they had no choice." Skipper said. "Plus, they didn't want to lose Kowalski's giant nerdy brain; Rico's regurgitating pyrotechnics; and my awesome strength and leadership. And Johnny said it was funny."

"The world better watch out for the prank kings, huh?" Marlene said.

"In my old age, I've stepped down from pranks." Skipper said.

"Skipper, you're not old, you're t-"

"EH!" Skipper clapped a flipper to Kowalski's beak. "Classified information!"

Kowalski rolled his eyes. "Fine, but I don't know why you're not admitting your age. Doesn't everyone know how old we are?"

"No, they might have guessed…but our ages are supposed to be classified."

"Seriously?"

"No, but I still don't want you to go shooting your mouth off."

"How old is Rico, then?"

"Twenty-seven. Repeat this to no one or I will destroy you. Private's seventeen, you already know you're twenty six, and Marlene's…you're twenty-five, right?"

"No, I'm the same age as Rico." Marlene answered. "How old are you?"

"Yeah, I kind of want to know myself…er, if that isn't too much." Private said.

"I guess it couldn't hurt if you two knew how old I was." He leaned over and whispered to Marlene and Private.

"I'm-"

"ACHOO!"

"Bless you, Rico." Kowalski said.

"Thanks." Rico said.

"That's how old you are?" Private said. "Wow."

"Cool, it was about the age I was guessing." Marlene said.

The penguins decided to turn in for the night after supplying Julien's party with fruit.

Kowalski was shutting down his lab when Private walked in.

"Hey, how's it going?" Private asked.

"Oh, fine." Kowalski said. "I think I'll take a break from inventing tomorrow."

Private's beak fell open. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Of course I am. I just thought I'd spend time with my favorite brother."

Private grinned. "I'll always be your brother."

"Same here, Private." Kowalski said.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Forever and always."

"Forever brothers and I'll always be there."

Marlene had once again requested Skipper's presence in her habitat.

"So, do you know the ages of all the zoo animals?" She asked.

"Most of them." He replied. "You wouldn't believe Mort's age if I told you."

"I'm guessing eight or nine."

"Pssh! Yeah, you'd think it was. He's actually around the age of thirteen."

"Thir- thirteen? Wow, he acts much younger."

"Yup, due to Julien's reckless vine swinging. He didn't pay attention to a tree."

"Ouch." Marlene winced.

"Yeah, ouch."

"Do you know how old Alice is?"

"Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I'll say forty-five."

"I'd think sixty; she's actually thirty-two.

"Wow, but she acts so cranky."

"I think it's just lazy, but at least she keeps the zoo from falling apart…of course with our help."

"After Kowalski's inventions cause the zoo to fall apart."

"Well, that too." Skipper chuckled.

"Will you stay here with me tonight?"

"Of course, I'm sure the others wouldn't mind."

Marlene smiled as she made room for him. She tried to stay awake, but she was too tired from the night's events.

Skipper fell asleep a little while later with his flipper around her.