Disclaimer: I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters, but I do own Alex the penguin, and Sam and Ethan, and a few other characters who appear in this story.

Sam sighed, hoping her dad will come get her soon. She knew he would, but it was taking forever! At first she had been excited to see her friend, Ethan, but that excitement faded when she realized they were both trapped in the evil dolphin's lair now.

It's been quiet for so long. She wondered what was happening. It was a while ago that Rico left, but he had been wearing that hamlet and wasn't acting like himself.

Now she sat in her cage, unable to figure out how much time had passed because there was no clock in here. She forced herself to continue to feel hopeful, not wanting to believe the bad guy would win. She kept telling herself that Skipper and the others will come for them. It was getting harder to believe that, but she had to have faith or otherwise she'd get very depressed.

Finally, after so long, the door to the room opened. Sam looked up, hope rising in her, but it faded as Blowhole rode his segway in. He was shouting something to a couple of lobsters that kept pace with him.

"We have to get out of here fast!" the dolphin growled. "No doubt Woolsey will tell them where to find everyone and we can't be here when they arrive."

One lobster stopped and looked around. "What do we need? I thought this was a temporary lair anyways. Everything is back at the other place. Right?" He glanced at the other lobster, who shrugged.

Blowhole halted and turned to face his minions, anger blazing in his eyes. "Don't question me! Just do what I say! And I say–" He hesitated, looking around. "Bring Skipper's daughter with us!" An evil grin spread across his face. "Oh yes, that's what I'll do. The peng-u-ins might have stopped me this time, but I'll win in the long run if I take Skipper's daughter!" He threw his head back and let out a chilling laugh.

Sam gasped as several more lobsters entered the room and they picked up her cage, carrying her down the hallway. She heard Ethan begging Blowhole not to take her, but their voices faded away the farther the lobsters took her.

She cowed in her cage, not sure what else to do. The lobsters took her to a part of the lair that had a submarine waiting in a body of water. But instead of putting her inside it, they set her cage down and looked at each other.

What are they doing? she wondered.

After a while, the door opened and Blowhole came in. "Okay, let's get out of here before–"

He was interrupted when a lobster hurried over to him. "Boss!" it said, panting. "The–The–" He broke off, struggling for air.

"What is it?" Blowhole demanded.

A different lobster shouted," The penguins!" just as the door opened and Skipper came running in. He didn't hesitate as he threw himself at Blowhole, knocking him off his segway.

"Where do you think you're taking my daughter?" the flat-headed penguin growled.

Blowhole pushed himself up and glared at his enemy. Just then a huge white wolf came through the door and walked over to Blowhole.

"Leave," he snarled. "You're beaten."

Blowhole didn't move at first. Then he inched backwards, toward the water. He shot Skipper and the wolf one last glare, before slipping into the water. The lobsters ran for the submarine and it sank under water.

Sam felt so relieved that she was lightheaded. She looked up when she heard footsteps heading toward her. Skipper looked just as relieved as she felt. "You okay?" he asked.

"I am now!" Sam answered with feeling. "Thank you for saving me!"

Skipper nodded, then frowned. "I'm just sorry I didn't come sooner. Blowhole had us running all over New York!"

"It's okay." Sam wanted to hug her father, but the bars of the cage were separating them.

She jumped back when the wolf walked over. "Stay here. I'll go look for the key to unlock the cage." He turned and left the room.

Sam stared after him, before turning back to her father. Skipper sighed. "It's a long story, but he's with us. Well, now he is. So," he continued," what happened? How did Blowhole capture you and Rico? We know he blew up our HQ, but what happened before that?"

Sam gaped at him. "He blew up the HQ?" she gasped. She shook her head. "All I remember is Rico coming down and going to his bunk. I was watching videos and then these lobsters showed up and attacked us. Rico tried to fight them off, but they knocked him out and then they grabbed me too and brought us here. I didn't know they blew up the HQ! Was anyone hurt?"

"Thankfully, no, but at first, we thought Rico was… Anyways, we soon discovered that he was alive, and we've been trying ever since to find you both. Rico showed up much later, but he attacked us. I realized it had to be the helmet he was wearing. Alex took it off him and he's fine now. But Private is still under Blowhole's control and we came here because Woolsey–that wolf– said he knew how to fix him. And he told us that you and the others were here."

Sam opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, the wolf came back, several keys in his jaws. He dropped them beside Skipper. "One of these unlocks her cage, but I'm not sure which one."

"Well, let's try every one of them." Skipper picked up one of the keys and tried to put it in the lock, but it wouldn't fit. He sighed and tossed it aside. "This might take a while. Woolsey, go help Kowalski and Rico with Private. You said you knew how to fix him?"

Woolsey nodded and left.

Skipper tried another key. It fit in the hole but wouldn't turn. Sam watched as he tried a few more. After almost using all of them, he found the right one and the cage opened. Sam burst out and threw herself at her father, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you!" she said.

He laughed and hugged her back. Then he cleared his throat and stepped back. "Come on, let's go find the others."

Sam followed her father out of the room and down the hallway. They looked in a few rooms, until they found Woolsey, Kowalski, and Rico gathered around Private, who was now locked in a cage, growling and glaring at them. He definitely wasn't himself.

What did Blowhole do to him? Sam thought nervously.

She noticed Ethan and his father, Julien, watching them from where they were, still in their cages. Julien snorted. "I should have told everyone the night I saw the young penguin sneaking off to meet that Blowhole guy."

Skipper stared at him. "You saw him, and you said nothing!"

"Yeah, well…" Julien cleared his throat. "I wasn't sure any of you would believe me, and I had been about to tell you when he–" He jerked his head toward the wolf–" kidnapped me!"

Woolsey sighed. "Blowhole told me to, because Private had told him that you seemed suspicious of him, and Blowhole didn't want any of you to find out until he told you."

Kowalski shook his head. "None of that matters now," he insisted. "We need to fix Private."

"Right." Skipper stood tall and faced Woolsey with his chest out. "How do we do that?"

Woolsey gestured to a machine on the other side of the room. "I wasn't here when he took control of Private, but he explained to me that he used that machine, and when he first did it, his mind was blank, waiting for Blowhole to use him for his plan."

"So that explains why he was so emotionless for months," Kowalski muttered. "Until only recently. When Blowhole started using him, he became angry and short-tempered."

Skipper nodded to his teammate, before turning back to Woolsey. "So do we put him back in the machine to fix him?"

Woolsey shrugged. "Worth a try," he replied.

Skipper seemed annoyed that the wolf didn't seem to know for certain, but he didn't say anything to him; he only turned to Kowalski and Rico, and ordered them to take Private to the machine.

They obeyed, unlocking the cage with a key, and as they grabbed their friend and carried him over to the machine, Julien called out," What about us? Are you ever going to let us out?"

Skipper glanced at them, muttered something under his breath, and then turned to his daughter. "Sam, can you go get those keys? Maybe one of them will open these cages."

Nodding, Sam left the room and headed back the way they came. At first, she was afraid she'd get lost, but relief washed over her when she entered the room with the water. She walked over to the keys and started picking them up.

She jumped when she heard something behind her. She turned and saw two penguins heading toward her. She eyed them, wondering who they were. They stopped in front of her and smiled.

"Hello, Sam," the female penguin said.

Sam widened her eyes. "H-How do you know my name?"

"We're friends of your father," the male penguin told her. "He wanted us to show you something."

Sam hesitated. She shifted her feet. Should she trust these penguins? They said they knew Skipper. She opened her mouth to reply, when someone called out," Get away from my daughter!"

Shocked, Sam looked past the penguins to see her father running into the room.

"Sam, come here," Skipper added, and Sam circled around the strange penguins to her father.

"Hello, Skipper," the male penguin said with a hint of growl in his voice.

"Paul. Marissa. I didn't expect to see you again." There was a coldness to Skipper's words. "What are you doing here?"

The female stepped closer, but when she spoke, it was to her friend. "Let's get out of here, Paul. Clearly that dolphin has failed and there's nothing more we can do here." She glared at Skipper, and then calmly walked out of the room, followed by Paul, who growled at them as he passed.

Sam watched them leave, confused. "Who were they?" she asked her father.

Skipper sighed. "It doesn't matter. Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." Sam still held the keys. "I was gathering these when they showed up. They knew my name and they said they were friends of yours."

"They aren't my friends," Skipper growled, and Sam flinched. Skipper calmed himself and patted her back. "Come on, let's join the others. Kowalski is still figuring out how that machine works, but we can get Ringtail and his son out of their cages."

Sam followed her father out of the room and down the hallway, her mind racing. She wanted to know who those penguins were and how they knew her. She was knocked out of her thoughts by a yell and they hurried to the room.

There was a flash of light and a scream, and then it was calm again. Skipper ran forward and stopped beside Kowalski. "What happened?" he gasped.

Kowalski looked inside the machine and a smile spread across his face. "It worked!" he announced, opening the door and a stunned Private came stumbling out.

He shook his head and looked up. He blinked several times, clearly trying to focus. "W-What happened?" he choked out. He sat up and rubbed his head.

Skipper cautiously stepped forward. "Private? Is that you?"

The young penguin blinked at him. "Of course! Who else would it be?" There was confusion in his eyes.

Skipper smiled, seeming satisfied that Private was back to normal. Rico rushed forward and hugged Private, and Kowalski joined in. Skipper hesitated before joining in the group hug. Sam watched them, feeling happy for the first time since those lobsters showed up. Skipper's team was reunited again and she was with her father again. She couldn't wait to get back to the zoo and see her sister.

"Hello!" a voice called out, and Sam looked over to see Julien waving to them. "Still in these cages!" he reminded everyone.

Skipper sighed and pulled away from his friends. "Come on, boys, let's go help Ringtail and the younger lemur."

Sam handed each of them a few keys and they went to go see which ones opened the cages. It didn't take long and as soon as they were both out, they hugged each other and joined everyone else.

Skipper turned to the wolf. "What will you do now?"

Woolsey looked thoughtful. "I've been thinking about that. I might return to my homeland and find a new wolf pack."

"That'll be better than seeking revenge on a few humans," Kowalski pointed out.

Skipper nodded. "Well, thank you for the help. We couldn't have fixed Private without you."

Private glanced at him, confused. "Fix?" he asked.

Sighing, Skipper shook his head. "I'll explain everything later. Right now, we have a lot of work to do. We have to go home and rebuild our whole lair." He sighed again, but determination burned in his eyes.

Sam smiled, knowing that it'll be hard work, but with everyone helping out, they can do it. They said goodbye to Woolsey and headed back to the zoo. Sam was very tired, but she was just glad to be with her family again.

I'm glad I have Skipper for a father, she thought, knowing that nothing can beat him. In the end, he and his team will always win.

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