I'm So sorry it took so long to update, pressure of school and all that crap, No worry I'm just going to have to work extra hard, this is dedication, and no stupid school that i spend more time at than home is going to keep me away from something i love. Don't worry i already have an idea for the next chapter, i just have to ask the others about it. So happy reading and I'll update more often, i Promise.

0800 hours:

My day turned bleak when Kowalski confirmed Rico was too sick for duty, it completely took a toll on my plans for recon for today. It wasn't as easy with 3 of us instead of four, infarct it would be down right impossible. Kowalski suggested we ave Marlene fill in, i wasn't quite sure if it was the greatest idea, but than i thought of all that Marlene had done, and she had really proved herself. When Kowalski reminded me of the Crown incident i was sold, and i thought he said we were years away from mind reading, even farther than shrink ray technology.

Well it was all plans go especially since Private hung onto the penguin plush from when we went to save Mort from the clutches of the sick and twisted toy factory. I mean really what kind of toy factory slices and cuts up unusable toys, it's just plain wrong. We took turns making sure Rico was still alive, it wasn't easy for me to see my demolitions expert in such a miserable mood, he seemed close to death at some points, but Rico is tough enough to handle anything.

Part of me was glad we didn't let him go, with all the work we were doing that day, i can't say how long it would be before he couldn't handle it anymore. Marlene was down right giddy to join us, it was a privilege for her, an honor, and i was secretly enthusiastic to have her on the team. Since she was a starter, i let her stick by my side when we split into teams, Kowalski seemed to have a certain... 'look' in his eyes when i had Marlene on my team, but i don't think he suspects anything.

I sent Kowalski and Private to a mission outside the zoo, I knew they could handle it, but i didn't want to take chances with sending Marlene outside the zoo again. Some untold problems from our snow cone mission was keeping Marlene from the outside. Private seemed especially happy, and it made me proud to see them so excited to do their duty to this zoo, after all where would the zoo be without us keeping order?

Me and Marlene headed off, we had a long list of requests from members of the zoo, i was down right shocked when the list said we had a request from Joey. We started with him, deciding to get his dirty work out of the way. Turns out his hay rig was broken and he needed us to fix the gate, thanks to ring tails battery incident so long ago, it's been having problems ever since, Marlene was no Rico, she didn't spit up the tools i needed in an instant, but she did happen to have the tools needed to fix the gate.

Well i can't say i enjoy doing work for Joey, but if i didn't it would be breaking the penguin code, i can only hope it was going better for Kowalski and Private. After Joey kicked us out, 'actually he kicked me out, he politely led Marlene to the door.' the next thing on our list was the elephant habitat, how can a creature so big, be afraid of a mouse? i never understood it, and I wasn't in the mood to figure it out.

1400 hours:

I can't lie, helping Burt went.... differently than i expected, and i can't seem to figure out if it's a good thing or bad. Burt seemed all to upset about the mouse when we arrived, and at first i didn't even notice the little thing, but when it did scamper by, Burt went completely mad. He was running around crashing into walls and trying to get away from the little animal that he could easily crush.

Burt wasn't paying attention and went on and was heading right for Marlene, she stared at him wide eyed, to frozen to move, i couldn't believe now of all times she just stood and stared. I couldn't let her get trampled so i jumped forward and pushed her out of the way, somehow i ended up on top of her instead of beside her. I was staring down at her bright hazel eyes that seemed to be grateful and still scared.

I jumped off her as soon as i felt my cheeks warm up and helped her up from the ground. The first thing she did was grab my flipper and return to my feet as fast as she could, the second thing she did was wrap her arms around me and thank me, let me tell you, Marlene is a lot stronger than i gave her credit for, i thought i was going to be crushed in her hug. I felt at peace, and for a moment forgot about Burt, who had finally settled down.

Burt was watching us with a content smile on his face, and i watched the last of the mouses tail scurry back into a small dark hole in the concrete wall. Picking up a rock i smashed it against the whole in the wall, blocking off the mouses path.

After that Marlene remained quiet as we traveled to the chimps habitat to the flamingo's and even to check up on Rico. I couldn't help but feel worried, one of my team members could be down in the dumps, it conflicted with performance. I asked her what was wrong on our way over to the lemur habitat, she merely blushed and looked away from me, muttering 'sorry about before.'

I was about to ask, but Julien as always got in the way, pulling us to his bouncy, which didn't look so bouncy at all. I examined over it, i was no Kowalski but it didn't take long to figure out the problem, the air cap had come undone, and the bouncy had deflated as they bounced. I was about to fix it until Marlene stepped forward, taking control on her own. Marleen really could handle herself, beside, no penguin had enough air in the world to refill that bouncy in the time Marlene did.

She walked away with an accomplished smile on her face, i followed after her and marked off 'lemur' on our list, that was it, we were done and i could head back and check on Rico again. Marlene smiled and nodded when i told her we were done with our list. She smiled and saluted me before running back to her habitat, and i returned to mine.

2130 hours

When i returned back, i could faintly smell cola, and chocolate. My chocolate question was answered when i saw Rico shove a few chocolate buttons into his chocolate covered beak. I knew i could count on Kowalski and Private they even had time to pick up Rico a treat. Rico looked better and it was good to hear that Private assumed that he'd be well again tomorrow, however without a correct diagnosis from Kowalski it all depended on tomorrow.

I suggested we hit the hay, we had training in the A.m. and i had the feeling Rico just needed a long rest before shaking off the rest of his flu. I went to bed with a smile, replaying the events in my head. Although it was a tough day, Marlene was at my side, and i felt like i could accomplish anything. I truly was completely undyingly in love with Marlene. However, a military leader like myself can't get caught up in love. To much to risk, it could put Marlene in danger, and i wasn't willing to take that chance, not with Marlene.