Disclaimer: I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters, but I do own the penguin Alex in this story.

Skipper watched as Private waddled across the island, entertaining the humans that surrounded the habitat. He was proud to see the young penguin working hard to earn the people's affection. As he looked on, Private jumped into the water and started swimming around, kicking his feet. He did this for a moment or two, before back flipping out of the water, spraying sparkling droplets into the air. He landed neatly back on the platform.

"Aww!" everyone exclaimed, throwing fish to the flightless birds.

Skipper reached out and caught one in his flipper and swallowed it in one gulp, then he turned to Private and said," Nicely done, young private."

"Thanks, Skippah!" The young bird's eyes lit up, clearly happy that his performance impressed his leader. He picked up a fish and swallowed it whole. He turned in surprised when Rico came running over and started gulping down fish without ever seeming to be full.

The leader watched as Kowalski joined his friends, a thoughtful look on his face. Skipper wondered what he was thinking, but before he could ask him, the strategist seemed to tell him what was on his mind. "Do you think I should be down there, working on getting those two back to normal?"

Skipper nodded slowly. "Okay." He turned to his other teammates. "Private. Rico." The two penguins looked up from the fish, a tail hanging out of Rico's mouth, but he sucked it in as he and Private ran to their commanding officer. "Distract the humans so Kowalski can sneak down stairs."

The two nodded and ran to the edge of the island, waddling in a line. Instantly all eyes went to them, and Kowalski walked to the fishbowl, pushing it away and disappearing in the hole. The bowl was pushed back to hide the hole. Skipper stared at the hatch for a moment, before turning back to his teammates, leaning down to grab another fish.

He let his eyes scan the crowd around his habitat as he swallowed the fish. It was then that he saw something that confused him. He ran to the edge of the platform, pushing Private and Rico aside as he stared at the zookeeper walking by. He narrowed his eyes when he saw that she was holding three cages. Then he saw what was in them.

She's captured Alex!

He turned back to his team, ordering," We have to save her before she does something to her!" He was aware that his voice was rising in panic, but he was afraid for his daughter. He didn't have time to be mad at her for sneaking out of the HQ; he would have to get on to her for that later.

"But Skippah," Private started as he took a step toward his leader," we can't do anything with these humans watching us."

Skipper growled under his breath, knowing the young penguin was right. He rubbed under his beak as he walked to the fishbowl, thinking Kowalski would have an idea. "Distract them," he ordered, and when Private and Rico got the humans attention again, Skipper pushed the fishbowl aside and started climbing down the ladder, making sure to put the bowl back in place before letting go of the ladder. He landed in front of the bunks and called out to the smart penguin.

Within heartbeats, Kowalski's lab door opened and he came waddling out, asking," Yes, sir?" He looked around the lair before Skipper had time to tell him what was going on. "I guess Alex must have left with the other two." He shrugged and turned back to his leader. "Did you need something?"

Skipper crossed his flippers on his chest. "Yes," he replied, trying to stay calm, knowing that freaking out won't solve anything. "Alice has captured Alex and the other two. We need to save them." He pointed at his strategist and demanded," Kowalski, options!"

But Kowalski had stopped listening to his leader. He was staring wide eyed at him and breathing heavily. Skipper slapped him before he could freak out anymore. "Calm down, Kowalski," he ordered. "Now listen," he went on, grabbing his shoulders," I'm going to go rescue them, while you stay here and continue to work on that machine. We need everything back to normal before our whole operation is ruined! Private and Rico are gonna stay up there and entertain the humans. Got it?" He let go of the tall penguin and looked at him. He was glad when Kowalski nodded.

"Good." He turned to leave, but stopped when Kowalski said his name.

"Please bring Alex back," he whispered. He looked at his leader for a moment, but he disappeared back in his lab before Skipper could say anything.

Skipper stared at the door for a moment, watching as it closed. Then he promised in his head, Of course I'll bring her back.

Once he was topside again, Skipper waddled to Private and told him his plan. The young penguin nodded and assured him that he could count on him, and with that said, Private and Rico got the humans attention once more while Skipper dived into the water. He swam to the edge of the pool, looking over his shoulder to make sure no human was watching him, before flipping out of the water and dashing behind a garbage can.

He looked around and slid on his belly toward Alice's office, keeping an eye out for humans. He jumped to his feet when he got to the building he knew the human would be in. He slid on his belly through the door and jumped into the trash can. He poked his head up, but made sure he was still hidden as he listened to the zookeeper talk on the phone.

"Really?" she was saying. "You say they can take them? What was the zoo called? The New Orleans Zoo? Okay, I'll call them." Skipper heard her hang up the phone.

Skipper growled under his breath, making a vow that he had to save his daughter before she was transported away. He ducked in the can when Alice walked out the door. When she was gone, Skipper jumped out of the trash can and slid over to the table where the three cages were. As soon as Alex saw her father, she jumped to her feet.

"Dad!" she exclaimed. "You got to get us out of here!"

Skipper nodded and walked to the cage his daughter was in. He looked it over, trying to decide how to get them out of it. Then he looked at his flipper, wondering if he could use it to unlock the cages. He picked up the lock and pushed his flipper in it, wriggling it all around and smiling when he heard a clicking sound. He felt satisfaction when the lock fell to the ground.

His daughter opened the door and hugged Skipper tightly, gasping," Thank you! I'm so sorry I left without your permission!"

Skipper decided that this was not the time to get mad at her; he could yell at her later. So he waved the apology away. "Come on, let's get the other two out of here and fast," he said as he dashed over to Jack's cage. The penguin with green streaks in his feathers stared at Skipper with wide eyes as he slipped his flipper in the lock and it fell to the table. He hopped out of the cage.

The lead penguin turned to see that Alex had rescued Mark, but he didn't have time to feel proud of his daughter. A scream coming from the entrance made every penguin turn around to see the zookeeper staring at them with wide eyes.

Oh no! Alice!

"Run!" he yelled to everyone as he jumped off the table and slid on his belly to the door. He didn't have time to look back to see if the others were behind him, but he could hear Jack freaking out and saying that they were going to get caught again. Skipper wanted to tell him that that wasn't going to happen, but he couldn't stop. He knew Alice was right behind them. They had to keep running so the zookeeper wouldn't catch them.

Without thinking he ordered everyone over the wall and he stepped back to make sure they all made it. Once Mark had stumbled over, Skipper followed him, looking around and thankful to see that they were all here. Then he sighed as he realized where they were. "Great, the lemur habitat," he muttered.

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