Operation: Heartstrings

Chapter One

Approx. 8 months after recovery operation and Blowhole's death

"I have a date!" Kowalski was nearly on the verge of hysterics as he practically burst through the front door with Private trailing behind. He saw the blank look on Skipper's face and realized that he should be more specific. "With Doris! We're going out to dinner on Friday."

"What?" Skipper sputtered and nearly spilled his coffee as what Kowalski was saying finally registered in his mind. "You're saying the same Doris who has rejected you at least a hundred times before has agreed to go on a date with you?"

"If I hadn't seen it myself, I'd have a hard time believing it myself Skippa. Although, I think I'm still having a hard time believing it." Private commented as handed a few bags off to Rico who had emerged from the kitchen at the commotion.

"I'm not sure which is stranger: the fact that Doris said yes or the fact that she was in our neck of the woods, to begin with."

"What's strange about it Skipper?" Kowalski frowned at the reaction and cast a harsh glare at Rico's back as the man carried the bags into the kitchen whistling something that sounded like the Twilight Zone. It was somewhat satisfying to see Private catch up from where he was trailing behind with the rest of the bags to elbow Rico's side to make him stop. At least one of his teammates was clearly on his side and happy for him. He knew Rico would be as well, but it stung that the man he considered his best friend didn't show support.

"I think the aforenoted rejections are enough to support my case, but I find it odd that she's in Manhattan and you just happen to bump into her when she lives and works in Brooklyn," Skipper paused, eyes narrowing in suspicion, "unless—"

"We didn't go to Brooklyn to get groceries. That would just be asinine and believe me when I say it was just a happy coincidence." Kowalski cut in rolling his eyes at Skipper's paranoia. He should have known that this would have been Skipper's reaction. "We bumped into her on the metro and when I expressed that I was surprised to see her she said she was visiting some friends. This is just like the time you thought that Marlene's roommate was a spy for Blowhole."

"It's suspicious and I don't like it. Not with the anniversary of our victory over Blowhole on the horizon."

At the mention of the fallen villain, a somber tone fell over the room and Kowalski unconsciously touched his neck. The scars left there had faded into almost nothing some time ago unlike the marks left behind by the implants that had been placed along his spine. More often than not he was thankful that he could only remember the feel of the electrical impulses from the device rather than every detail of what he had done under Blowhole's control. Kowalski stood a little taller as he turned his attention back to Skipper's concern. "Blowhole isn't exactly someone we have to worry about anymore."

Skipper sighed and glanced toward the kitchen at Rico. "While Rico certainly made sure that Blowhole is no longer a direct threat we have to remember that the man still had a lot of connections-more than we realized. We know Blowhole liked to keep secrets and thanks to Hans we've learned that he kept his closest allies in the dark whenever possible. I wouldn't be surprised if one of his connections decided to make a move or was under orders to avenge him in some way in the coming weeks or months. Just the fact that there hasn't been anyone even making ripples in the water bothers me."

"I understand your concern Skipper. However, there is nothing connecting Doris to Blowhole." Kowalski did mean that because he had to admit that the lack of large scale villainous activity was unnerving to him as well. However, he had hoped that his team would be happy for him overall. After years of pining after the girl of his dreams and after giving up hope that Doris would acknowledge him as having something other than friend potential, the marine biologist has finally decided to give him a chance. Yet a part of him wasn't surprised that their leader would try to twist something as harmless as a date into some nefarious scheme.

"I mean, you can't say that it's not a little weird, Kowalski." Skipper pointed out having spent far too much of his time on this planet listening to Kowalski lament over Doris. He had hoped that Kowalski had finally gotten over her in the last year during recovery. "Not just the lack of trouble, but that you've been holding a torch for that dolphin-crazy dame for years and she has turned down your every attempt to sweep her off her feet and then out of the blue she's suddenly interested in you."

The somber mood lifted quickly as Kowalski felt the burn of anger reignite in his chest. "I find it little more than insulting that you think Doris showing interest in me has to be some elaborate plot."

"Perhaps Kowalski taking my, Marlene's, and Rico's advice merely paid off Skipper," Private called out from the kitchen. "We all told him to give Doris the space she asked for."

"That is the most logical conclusion. After I was informed that I had a problem with coming off a tad strong," Kowalski paused when he heard a short bark of laughter in the kitchen that he knew had to be Rico, "okay more than a tad strong. But after I was made aware of what should have been a glaring flaw in my plans, I decided that perhaps I needed to use a different tactic and it seems that may have worked after all. After all, Doris asked me out, Skipper."

Skipper rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like 'hippy dippy lunacorn garbage' before giving Kowalski his full attention again. "Look it really doesn't matter why. I don't like it. But unfortunately, there's not much I can do about it." Skipper's expression softened and then he spoke again, "just promise me that you'll make smart choices."

Kowalski snorted in amusement, "Like I would make any other type of choice Skipper."

"I'm serious solider. Love makes people seven different kinds of stupid, crazy, and dangerous. I've seen what it can make people do first hand so I mean it when I say that you need to think things through and make smart choices if things go well on your date with Doris and I'm not just talking about smart choices if she invites you in for coffee. I'm talking about making smart choices with what you say and do. Loose lips sink ships and an unlocked phone can lead to nuclear war. You have to think everything and I mean everything you say or do through and I mean really think it through because for whatever reason Doris seems to render you incapable of thinking things through."

Kowalski bristled at the accusation, "name one time—ʺ

"Because you set 'Doris' as the password for our storage levels, Ringtail and Sad Eyes broke into level 13 containing highly classified information and experimental technology ultimately resulting in thousands of dollars in damages that CENTRAAL had to pay for and I had to answer for when I got back from a mission dealing with Hans."

"Well that's hardly—ʺ Kowalski started feeling his face grow hot at the reminder that a 12-year-old figured out his security passcode.

Skipper continued, "you erased security footage to record yourself reciting a poem that you wrote for her which resulted in us losing track of the two international jewel thieves we were tracking."

At that, the embarrassment faded into anger once again, "oh, come on! I was sleep deprived when I made that video besides we caught them regardless of my minor error."

"You've been banned from the aquarium she works at." Skipper deadpanned remembering the call from Private and the migraine that had followed.

And the embarrassment was back. "That was a simple misunderstanding—"

"Marlene's still sore over the Luv-U-Lator incident." Private called out from the kitchen and seconds later Rico called out 'tattoo' to add to the growing list.

"Alright, alright, you've all thrown in your two cents." Kowalski snapped and took a moment to calm himself. The tattoo was the one example he could have gone without. He loathed it the instant he had seen it the morning after he had gotten it in a sleep-deprived and alcohol-fueled haze of multiple bad ideas. He had also loathed the smug look on Rico's face that morning because the other man had told him he'd regret it and tried to talk him out of it multiple times. He wondered why he didn't listen to Rico more often. He supposed he had over the last few months, after all, Rico had been the one to help him through the fall out of being modified without consent and was the one person on the team who seemed to understand exactly how his mind worked. "I suppose that I have to admit that I don't have the best track record in terms of decisions when it comes to Doris although I will argue that some of your evidence isn't exactly fair especially delivered without context."

Skipper shrugged, "I'll give you that, but I believe my point still stands."

"Well, I'm afraid that your point isn't exactly backed by solid evidence, just your outstanding paranoia." At his response, Skipper's smug expression fell briefly before it hardened into something unreadable and his blue eyes had Kowalski feeling like he was a specimen pinned to the dish.

"I remember what happened to Manfredi and Johnson," Skipper started to say his cold glare never lessening, "when they fell hard for those two sisters. They lost their hearts, along with 15 feet of intestine, but continued with the mission as if nothing happened. You broke down sobbing when Doris was halfway through giving you the 'let's just be friends' talk. So, if you want to call it paranoia you can, but I consider it concern."

Kowalski's throat tightened, "understood, sir."