Second chapter on the go. I would like to thank Blouper for this, Blouper this story goes to ya! And to all of you who have stopped yourselves from shooting me the "Anti Marski" hatemail, thanks for holding back XD To all of you who reviewed, *sniff* thanks, i was bracing myself for the worst, but i'm glad to know you guys liked it :P On with the show!

Ideas

Marlene wakes up to the sound of ruffling paper. She sits up startled and her eyes come to a stop at Kowalski's silhouette against a single lit lamp. He stood by a table he seemed to have brought in sometime, fixing up some papers and scribbling things down quickly. She waits for him to say something. Kowalski doesn't even seem to realize she's awake so she decides to make her self know. If he was going to intrude her home she was definitely not going to let him get away with it.

"What are you doing here?" There, that was short, sweet, and demanding. Kowalski turns around confused, squinting a bit as he tries to make her out in the darkness.

"Oh, my apologies Marlene," he says, "it wasn't my intention to disturb you. I'm getting a few things ready for…my experiment." It's now Marlene's turn to be confused.

"Right now?" She asks skeptically. Kowalski nods slowly.

"I had to run a few nocturnal observations and then finish some notes and sketches." He gathers some papers behind him and keeps them behind his back, something that Marlene would have usually found suspicious, but at the moment she was still rolling his words over in her mind.

"A few nocturnal observations?" She asks taken aback, "As in, while I was sleeping?" Kowalski nods, but when he sees Marlene's expression he realizes that perhaps he would have been better off not answering.

"You were here…all night…you were-"Marlene seemed to be having a hard time not throwing something at him. It was dark and he was still watching the eagle? What was so interesting about it for Pete's sake? And while she was sleeping in the room! (She hoped she didn't snore anymore) So maybe he was taking this too far. And how had she not noticed when he came in? And how had he dared come in the middle of the night without permission? She takes a deep breath to steady herself before she does something rash, like kick him out gadgets and all.

"Umm…Kowalski, listen, when I ummm, agreed to let you come over I didn't, well, I didn't think that you would also come here so late…" Kowalski slants his head to the side.

"Oh, I hadn't considered any specifications in permitted times, but if that is what you prefer, then if you will give me a list of said curfew I promise to keep to it no matter the cost." Marlene shakes her head, if she understood correctly than he was…apologizing in a way?

"No, no, just…next time if you could give me a warning, that'd be great." Wait, wasn't she supposed to tell him not to come in at night again? Good job Marlene…

"Thank-you Marlene." Kowalski smiles "I should have a list of possible timings at the ready for you by today at 1200 hours."

"Oh, no that's, you don't need to do that," Marlene rushes to reply, "just, you know, tell me before you come." She smiles at Kowalski and he smiles back.

Her eyes adjust to the bright light and she can make him out better. Despite the fact that it was so late he still seemed to be wide-awake. His outline against the light made him seem like some sort of glorified hero that she had seen in movies. She could imagine him, sword in hand, ready to run into battle. She blinks and the image is gone, leaving behind plain old Kowalski in its place.

"If that's what you prefer." He replies, interpreting her silence as a dismissal. He tucks some papers beneath his wings and toboggans out of the room. Marlene slowly follows behind him and sees that the sun is only coming up the horizon. She leans against the wall and watches him jump swiftly out of her habitat and disappear completely behind the wall.

After Kowalski left, Marlene was unable to go back to sleep so she decided to start an early morning. She brushed her fur, finished her morning routine laps around her pond, and then she made sure that her fur was extra warm and dry after a long time of sun bathing on her rock.

She ate a few clams and once she had brushed the shell bits off of her she set out to check on the penguins. All the while she had not heard from them, or seen them come out to exercise, so she figured that she might go find out what was going on (they were her friends after all). She enters the base and sees something that she doubts she will ever get to see again.

The penguins were running around frantically, Skipper barking out orders to them as they packed things and ran to get more. In the corner, seemingly oblivious to the sight before him sat Kowalski reading the morning paper and jotting down notes.

"Remember to pack some of that tuna, and don't forget a barf bucket, I don't want to remind you how long it took to erase that smell last time. Private, no candy!" Skipper walks to his suitcase on the floor and jams a few lethal-looking weapons in it. Private sneaks a very candy-like square in his suitcase, looking over his shoulder at Skipper. Rico holds up a few different dresses for his doll to choose from.

"Get some blankets, lock the door, and bring some toothbrushes!"

Marlene walks up to Skipper.

"Make sure to get-Marlene!" Skipper glares as Private and Rico jump on her. Kowalski, who had seen her come in, sits and watches as she struggles against their grip.

"Hey, back up!" Marlene pulls her arm from their flippers and they stand looking at her sheepishly "come on, you guys know me, why do you always do that?" Private opens his beak to answer but is cut off by Skipper.

"And you know us." He says as he crosses his flippers, "So then why do you always creep in here without warning?" Marlene glares back. Weren't they friends? She didn't do this to them when they came into her home.

"Hey, I just came here to find out what's going on, the zoo's about to open and you guys haven't done your morning exercises yet."

"Why that's-"

"We're going back to the Base" cuts in Private. Skipper looks at him.

"Oh, sorry." He mumbles looking down.

"What Base?" asks Marlene.

"Clas-"

"The one we went to while we were chicks" Peeps up Private. Skipper nods to Rico who smack Private over the head. Private rubs his head looking down guiltily.

"Why?" Gasps Marlene. Skipper glares at Private before he answers.

"That's classi-"

"There's a fighting competition that they have been invited to." Jumps in Kowalski. Skipper smacks his forehead and walks away. Marlene looks at Kowalski.

"They?"

Kowalski gives her a small smile.

"I'm not the best when it comes to combat; this seems to be only for the…especially privileged." He hands her a sheet of paper with writing on it that she didn't understand.

"Uhu, because I can read." She mutters.

"Oh, right" Kowalski takes the paper from her and clears his throat, "In the search for recruits of a new and important mission, I, Commander South, have placed forth a competition that will enable you, Skipper, to try out for a spot in a temporary crew composed of only the best fighters in the academy, past and present. Come ready to intake on the new operation instantly and be sure to know your material. Tryouts will be held at The Base. Those who manage to pass the test will be rewarded not only with the prestige that this operation shall give, but will also be entitled to a few of our most advanced military implements to choose from. I hope to see you soon, and I bid you good luck, Commander South."

Kowalski looks at Marlene as he says the last part and she frowns.

"You're not invited?" She asks. He shakes his head and goes back to sit on his chair, and though she tries, she can't see his expression. Private looks at him sadly, looking at the invitation he and Rico held.

"Perhaps they just missed your name." He says trying to cheer him up.

"Erg." Says Rico. Skipper walks to him and is about to say something but Kowalski shakes his head quickly.

"Not to worry, after all, now that I don't have to go I can be certain that I will not miss one single part of the mother eagle's incubation process." He smiles to himself, obviously cheered up.

Well, at least he doesn't mope. Marlene thinks, looking at his expression. Skipper seems to also be assured by Kowalski's sudden reaction, so assured in fact that he gets back to the matter at hand; Marlene.

"We'll be leaving in about an hour. So, can I trust you to keep out of trouble while we're gone?" He asks, turning to face her. Marlene scowls. What? Did she have "vulnerable" written across her forehead?

"I'll try." She replies sarcastically, turning back towards the door. As she turns to leave she hears Skipper's whispered command.

"Keep an eye on her Kowalski, I trust you to maintain order for me." She resists the urge to turn back and give them a piece of her mind only because she wants to hear Kowalski's reply.

"Oh, I think she can handle things on her own."

Marlene ponders as she walks. So Skipper and the others were going away without Kowalski. Why would they do that? Of course, prestige and more weapons sounded exactly like the kind of thing that Skipper would want, and Kowalski didn't seem to be objecting so much to this. But still…why would they want to leave?

And what academy were they speaking of? More importantly, what had Skipper meant by "Can I trust you to stay away from trouble"? She wasn't weak, or defenseless. Well, at least from what she had heard, Kowalski didn't consider her to be that way.

She walks back to her habitat and was about to go in when she hears an all too familiar voice.

"No, no, this is wrong. Very, very, wrong. I'm supposed to be chasing you, and you are supposed to be letting me tag you. Now stand over there and pretend to be running away." Marlene looks up at the zoo clock. Only about an hour and fifteen minutes until the zoo opened; she had enough time for a short visit. She walks to the lemur habitat and comes into another strange sight; Maurice and Mort were running in place,Mort looking gleeful and Maurice tired. Julien runs to Mort and taps him on the shoulder.

"Tag, you are it!" He laughs, "Not 'it' it of course, because that's me, but you are the 'it' loser." Julien looks down at Mort who doesn't seem to mind this speech at all, and even seems to be enjoying the attention he's getting from Julien.

"I like being it." He says smiling adorably. Marlene walks up to them.

"What are you doing?" She asks puzzled. She takes a second to admire the fact that here she didn't have to worry about any psychotic penguins taking her down.

"Why, you silly otter," Replies Julien, "we are playing 'Tag', only I added my own betterfying twist to it. Instead of nobody ever winning, I always win, and everyone else loses! Which is adequate. So why don't you join the losers over there and make with the not running?" Marlene takes another second to remind herself that the animals here seemed to have no sense in them.

"Yeah, I don't think so." She replies backing away, "I have lots of things to do, so maybe some other time." Julien smiles at her like a teacher reminding a kindergartener not to wear his pajamas to school.

"But since I, the king of all that I survey, and even that wich I don't, have told you to play with us, you must do it. Everyone knows that." Marlene raises an eyebrow.

"Right, well, I'm still leaving." She turns to leave but stops when she feels a slight tug on her leg. She looks down and sees Mort clinging to it.

"Please?" He asks her, his eyes getting impossibly bigger, "Please?" She rolls her eyes; did he really expect her to fall for it? She looks down at Mort again to give him her final 'no' but she's stunned by the size of his eyes and the sadness in them. Don't do it Marlene…

"Fine." Brilliant.

"Yeah!" Exclaims Mort, spreading out his arms. Marlene scowls, internally kicking herself. Well, it was just a game, how bad could it be?

"All right, since the otter is new she can be it." Declares Julien, "Marlene, you can try to chase Mort and Maurice, but if you come after me you must run in extra-super-duper-slow motion."

Marlene stares at him. Was he for real?

"Why? That's the whole point of Tag."

Julien smiles self-importantly.

"Yes, but I am royalty, and us royal people must never rush to do things, that's why we have slaves-I mean, subjects." Maurice glowers but Julien pretends not to notice and instead jumps excitedly with his arms in the air.

"Okay, is everyone ready to lose?" He asks. A high-pitched squawk sounds around the zoo. Julien lowers his arms and looks at them confused.

"Ehh, I don't speak shrilly, screamy language, so was that a yes, or a proclamation of how great I am?"

"King Julien that wasn't us," replies Maurice, "that must have been that eagle above us." He points to a far off figure in the sky that goes to perch on a nearby nest. Marlene smiles remembering what she had planned on doing that day.

"Hey guys, why don't you come with me to meet her?" She asks the lemurs. Julien laughs.

"Marlene," He says with a patient voice," I do not have the time to go around stunning commoners with my charming looks. If that screamy bird wants to see me she will have to make an appointment." Marlene blinks. Was he always this conceited? Although, maybe she could make it work to her advantage. She shrugs her shoulders and places her face with a crestfallen look.

"Well if that's what you want, because after all, she really wanted to meet you. She mentioned something about not being able to wait to greet, what was it she called you? Oh, yes, 'the handsomest lemur beyond imagining'." She begins to walk away letting her words sink in.

"Hmm…perhaps I can be allowing this bird with just one glimpse of my gorgeous kingly features." Replies Julien. Marlene hides her smug smile as she turns.

"Great! I'll go get some welcoming gifts and than we can meet here in a few minutes all right?" Maurice nods and waves to her as she leaves.

Kowalski goes to Marlene's habitat to warn her that he would be coming over in a few minutes to begin his research. He knocks on the wall, which he assumed was something he should do, but gets no answer. Worried, he steps in and finds the place empty. He gets his notepad out and does what automatically comes to his mind; he begins an analysis.

No sign of a struggle, he writes, Assuming that there was no unusual behavior from subject I suspect that she might just be visiting a friend, however, it is exactly those two facts that lead me to believe that she has been kidnapped. Possibilities of such occurrence, 6.7%; dangerously high. He reads over what he wrote and takes another look around. Where could she be? His eyes come to rest on a corner of the room.

Resting above the table, he sees his telescope. A quick glance wouldn't hurt, he thinks, and maybe it will help me find Marlene. He goes to it and places his eye to the lens. He sees the nest with the eagle on it sleeping. He smiles to himself, things seemed to be going to perfection, and with Skipper about to leave he'll finally be able to maybe interview the eagle.

Movements on the building's stairs draw his attention. He readjusts the telescope, focusing it on the spot of disturbance. A small brown shape was climbing the stairs, a wrapped basket on hand. Below it, there were three more shapes, two of them carrying the tallest of them. Kowalski rubs his eyes and cleans the lens before looking through the telescope again. Was that really…Marlene! What was she doing?

Kowalski runs out of the habitat and rushes to get to them; there was no time to go get the others, he doubted whether he had enough time. He should have warned them earlier that eagles were very territorial, and dangerous.

Phew, finally a good cliffhanger. Sorry, i just love placing some sort of tension at the end of every chapter. Will Kowalski get there on time? And is the eagle really in love with Julien? Find out, in chapter 3 :Hallucinations.