Alice was at her post, fast asleep as usual, so Skipper had no trouble leaving. He didn't see anyone else in the lobby, probably because it was 10pm on a school night. He slipped out and started walking. He figured biking might give him away if anyone followed and no one would expect the exact path he'd take.
How he'd get back was a mystery though. Alice actually did one thing and that was lock the entrances by 11. He could always go down to HQ when he got back…but what would he do with Hans? Would he even find the guy alive? Or be able to rescue him?
The city noises didn't help his nerves and paranoia. Even though the white noise usually gave him comfort that the city was safe, he knowingly left his team behind despite being told they were in this together. Despite himself insisting they were a team…what kind of leader was he?
He had a bad feeling about this. Maybe he should have stayed home, taking it easy. He was barely off the boot from his injury, after all. He shook his head. He made a promise to Savio even if he didn't like the guy.
He trudged through, guided by his phone light and streetlights. He had never been afraid of the dark and he wasn't now, but something struck fear into him as he approached the house. Was it really his brother's tales coming back to haunt him? Chris was a decent storyteller, but even Skipper could see through it sometimes.
His phone buzzed and he looked at it.
Kowalski: Where are you? I woke up and you weren't there
Skipper: Bathroom
Kowalski: I was just there and you wouldn't take your phone for a routine trip to the toilet
Skipper: Lobby bathroom. I had to try to talk to Alice about Hans and nature called
Kowalski: You should've left a note
Skipper: Yeah, I know. Sorry. Go back to bed, I'll be fine.
Kowalski: Okay
Skipper put his phone away. Kowalski likely didn't believe a single word of it based on how much he'd been spacing out, but there was no way that even the resident genius knew where he was.
Skipper took a deep breath, exhaled forcefully, and knocked on the door. Nothing happened. He didn't hear any shifting footsteps or voices. The windows were haphazardly boarded so it wasn't like he could peer in and see movement.
Not wanting to call out and disturb any neighbors, he tried the doorknob. It was unlocked, which surprised him. It had always been rumored to be condemned and locked up. You'd have to go to the mayor and get paperwork and submit a valid reason as to why you want to enter…or at least that's what Chris said. He was more believable than Toby, so that's probably why Skipper kept thinking most of what the eldest said was true.
The floorboard creaked when he stepped over the threshold. The air smelled and felt stale and musty. Skipper closed the door behind him and used his phone flashlight. The carpet looked decently and recently walked on. There wasn't as much dust and cobwebs as he thought there would be.
The murders happened in the eighties and the last time anyone could say it had been entered was when the last family left approximately twelve years ago. It was obviously in bad condition, but the parts he could see as he made his way through were used. The living room couch and table looked old and worn, but relatively clean. Had someone been living here?
"Hans?" Skipper called out. Silence, only broken by the noises of the city, met his ears. The hairs on the back of his neck had been standing up since he entered.
He crept through the house, noting the floors weren't as dusty as they should be. He thought to check the bathroom first. His eyes widened at the sight of blood on the floor. The original crime scene had been cleaned up…right? Apart from obvious signs of age and disuse, the house hadn't shown signs of murder.
He debated touching it, then he realized his light was making it look somewhat shiny. He crouched and observed it. Fresh. He looked at the picture and moved different angles until he was pretty sure he matched how the photo had been taken. Hans had been there, but who moved him?
BZZT
He read the message that popped up on top of the Hans picture.
Private: Seriously, where are you? We've checked everywhere!
Skipper: Why?
Private: You know why, we aren't stupid
Private: He knew you were lying, he woke us up and told us. We all had that gut feeling
Skipper: Guess the gut is contagious lol
Private: Knock it off and tell us why you've gone AWOL
Skipper: Is it really AWOL if it's an unofficial mission?
Private: I don't know. But I do know that you're doing something reckless because of pride or ego or something like that. And what happened to not going it alone? You promised. You said we're a team. No matter how upset we are for whatever reason, we would be there.
Private: You could have come to us
He said he wanted to be a team again…I tried not to get anyone else involved, Dad, I really tried
Why didn't you come to me? I would have listened to you. No matter how disappointed I am, I still love you and I'm here for you.
I…it was my fault and I had to end it.
Skipper was about to reply when he heard shifting footsteps. He turned his light off and tried to hide.
"I literally told you to come and heard you calling for your friend." A voice he didn't recognize said. It sounded like a woman with a thick accent…Russian maybe?
Skipper fought the urge to retort that Hans wasn't his friend. He felt his phone buzz again, but ignored it.
"What did you do with him?" Skipper asked angrily. A beam of light lit the entire bathroom.
"Come out so we can talk. You're cornered anyway."
"How'd you get my phone number and why did you want me to come alone?"
"Skipper…please." A weak voice said.
"Hans?!" Skipper squinted as he peered around the corner. The flashlight illuminating the hall. He saw a large shadowed figure behind the light. "Hans, where are you? Are you alright?"
"You're Skipper, huh? I thought you'd be taller." The woman said.
"Don't fight her." Hans pleaded. He sounded close.
"What do you want?" Skipper demanded.
"To talk." The woman calmly said.
"You show me a picture of Hans beaten up, tell me to come alone to this godforsaken house, and expect to just talk?"
"Yes."
Skipper growled.
…
The day's events would make anyone restless. Restlessness could often lead to disturbed sleeping patterns, especially if your name was Kowalski Taro. He debated a last name change to Harrison, but at the moment his name was the least of his concerns.
He'd woken up with what he thought was a stomachache and shoved his glasses on to find Skipper's bed made with no signs of the leader having slept. Now defining the stomachache as a gut feeling that something was wrong, he got out of bed.
He looked in the bathroom, used it since he was in there anyway, and looked around the apartment. He even peeked into Rico and Private's room, but the leader wasn't there. He took out his computer to see if HQ had been accessed.
Nope, it was as closed as when they left earlier.
He texted Skipper and was relieved to at least be getting replies, but something was off. Besides his gut feeling, he didn't believe that Skipper would bother Alice this late at night and this was after they'd already gone to her about Hans. Also, back in November, Alice started locking the downstairs bathrooms by 9 because some kids had been messing around in there. One of them being a very hyper girl by the name of Tammy.
Instead of going back to bed like the leader said to, he woke the others. They were startled, tired, and confused until Kowalski said Skipper was gone. Then they were alert and concerned. They hurried to get warm jackets and snow boots on and went downstairs.
As predicted, the lobby was empty and dark. Even Alice had retreated to her room. They had no idea where to even start. Considering Hans got in a car and this was New York, he could be anywhere by now.
Private texted Skipper next, keeping the other two updated while they tried to think of places he'd go. The youngest was right in saying that no matter the fights that happened, they were a team and planned to stick together.
You could have come to us
Skipper?
"Kowalski, he isn't responding." Private said worriedly.
"He may be trying to keep a low profile." Kowalski said. "Don't text him again and don't call."
"Can we track his phone?"
"No, he turned that feature off." Kowalski sighed, then gasped. "We may be able to use the communicator watch." He tapped his and got to work trying to find a signal.
Rico and Private kept watch to make sure no one was coming. They were pretty confident it would be fine.
"Found him…huh? Hey, is this address familiar to you?" Kowalski asked, showing them the information.
Rico shook his head.
"That's across and down the street from Allie's house." Private said.
"I didn't know that." Kowalski said. "I swear I heard it before. Maybe I'm just remembering picking you and Kenny up from there that time you hit your head."
"Possibly."
"Alright, let's go."
The boys left the building and hurried as quickly and safely as they could.
…
Head pounding, nose bleeding, various body aches…which part was 'talking', again?
The world swirled around him, mostly darkness and purple and green colors swirling in his eyes. Where was he? Was he still at the supposed to be deserted house? What of Hans? Oh yeah…that's why he was here.
Hold up…Hans punched him…he was told to. Hans listened to the woman when Skipper refused to give her the information she wanted. What did she want again?
So, was it a trap? It was definitely a trap, wasn't it? Then why did Hans seem so reluctant to follow orders?
How'd he get caught off guard anyway? Oh, that's right. Hans said something and he disappeared into flashbacks again. Dang it! Why'd he have to be having flashbacks all evening into the night? It almost caused him to fall off the curb and now it got him distracted and beaten.
At least they didn't re-twist his foot…that was a small comfort from having his hands bound behind him and tied to a radiator. He only hoped it was too old to be turned on.
He tasted blood. Probably from post nasal dripping when he was briefly unconscious, but Hans did get him in the lower jaw.
How long was this going to last? Would his team find him? Hans stole his phone, so he didn't know if they'd been messaging. Probably not. If he had to guess, and because he knew Kowalski was smart enough, they wouldn't want to risk giving away his position and would mount a search. Would they even know where to start? His phone didn't have tracking on it.
His head hurt from this thought process. He wandered to this morning where everyone was happier. Then he had to go and open his trap and not accept that maybe, just maybe Private had a point.
His head gave a particularly heavy BOM at that moment. Coincidental, he knew, but it was almost like it was yelling HE WAS RIGHT, YOU IDIOT!
Yeah okay, he wasn't on a great roll today.
He heard them in the house, arguing in hushed tones. Hans was in trouble because he hadn't managed to get information out of Skipper. He'd also been beaten up prior to Skipper's arrival which had made him extremely confused.
He winced as the flashlight came back into the room, blaring into his face.
"Tryna blinds me or somethin'?" Skipper slurred.
"I highly doubt that would help our goals." The woman, who he still didn't know the name of, said.
"I got nothin'."
"On the contrary, you have everything. I know you're the leader of your little group. You've been an unexpected and unwelcome disturbance in our plans."
"Goals…plans…blah blah…whaddya want?"
"You may not be Kent's kid, but Sorenson is still highly ranked."
"M'not him."
"I know you're not. But you have information at your disposal on him and your nosy brothers. They've been getting too close. Why won't they be thrown off the scent?" The woman growled.
"Stubborn…like dad…"
"I know." She kicked his ribs. He grunted.
"Heh…c'mon…didn't even feel…break."
"Stop hurting him, please." Hans said, his voice full of regret.
"You know what I need and how I intended to get it." The woman snarled. "If you were going to be weak about it, you should have quit while you were ahead."
"We'll get caught."
"You said his team has no idea where he is. We'll be out of here by morning, whether he's alive or not."
"M'phone has track…boys'll be 'ere…" Skipper hoped they wouldn't call his bluff. He couldn't think how the boys would know…he couldn't think much with the incessant pounding of his head and heart.
"What?!" Hans yelped.
"Shut up!" The woman snapped. "Knock him out and leave him. If he's lying, he'll be dead in a few days anyway. Tape his mouth for extra measure."
"Hans…please…don't." Skipper begged.
As your friend, I'm begging you, don't do it!
You said we weren't friends anymore.
"I'm sorry." Hans whispered.
CLANG
…
Floating in the inky darkness…
Light as a feather…
Blurred images and swirls of color…
Distant voices…
Pain.
"AAAAGHHH!" Skipper writhed, feeling something covering him. Was it trying to kill him? He punched the air, his muscles screaming in agony…oh wait, that was still him screaming. His eyes flew open, then snapped back shut from the sunlight. A dream…was it all just- "A dream?"
"You sleep fight?"
The youthful British voice startled, then calmed him. He realized he wasn't tied to the radiator or anything. He opened his eyes again, wincing at the afternoon sunlight streaming through the blinds. This was not a place he recognized, but he did recognize the young teen who picked up the discarded blanket.
"You've missed school today. You and Hans. Kowalski and Rico are on their way to investigate the house."
Hans's name jolted him. He looked around. "W-where?"
"Where are you or where is Hans?"
"Both…how'd you…find-?" He couldn't gather his breath.
"We tracked your watch." Private replied. "We found you knocked out and Hans was there, he was tied too. He said he'd been jumped and you found him, but you got jumped too. Savio's taking care of him in their room, he refused to get medical attention."
Skipper frowned. That wasn't how he remembered it.
"As for where we are…" Private took a deep breath. "Allie's house."
"Oh."
They sat in awkward silence for a while. Then the door opened and Allie entered with a glass of water. She said nothing as she set it on the dresser and walked back towards the door.
"Wait." Skipper groaned. Allie stopped, her back to them. It was oddly reminiscent of the yesterday when Ramona left the Penguins' room. Skipper tried to find the words.
"I have homework." Allie said in a monotone.
"I'm sorry."
"For what? Waking us up in the middle of the night to be your nursemaids? Making us worry if you'd wake up? Or, how about not trusting me or even telling me that you think I've done or am doing something and not giving me the chance to defend myself?" She said the last part bitterly.
"Private, did you-?" Skipper started to ask.
Allie interrupted him. "He didn't have to. I can see clear as a sunny day that my friends are upset and avoiding me and each other worse than anything we've been through. That combined with Rico's reluctant attitude yesterday tells me you talked to them. At least the other times we've fought, I knew what was happening and not tossed into the darkness. Don't deny it, did you talk to them and that's why we're suddenly on eggshells?"
"Yes. But-"
"Then what's wrong with me?!" She turned around angrily.
"What?"
"Is it because of that day? Am I a liability now that I almost killed you?" Her anger broke into something that made Skipper's heart break. It was Allie's heart break.
"No. You were acting…weird."
"Nightmares. That's all I've been having since that day." Allie said. She kept eye contact with him. Her face and voice becoming more emotional. "I kept seeing your face…your terrified face…I couldn't stop myself…and sometimes…sometimes Barry couldn't stop me. Everything would go blood red and all I'd hear are screams…your screams…then it would get really quiet. A voice would tell me 'you killed him' before I woke up crying-" She sniffled, trying to wipe away the tears.
Neither boy had any response to that. They both felt horribly guilty. Having gotten no response, Allie sniffed again and left the room.
Allie's dad was polite to the boys, but let them know that the adults didn't appreciate how Allie was being treated. All they knew was that she'd been left out of a conversation and no one would explain anything to her.
They didn't see the teen for the rest of the afternoon. They went to join Kowalski and Rico in their house investigations despite Skipper being told he should rest.
"I was here and I know more about this place than you do." He kept saying. "You probably shouldn't be here in broad daylight either."
"We had to start sometime." Kowalski replied.
Rico and Kowalski finished their seventh scope of the house, not finding much other than someone had been living there for a while. They exited to see Private's friends across the street, waiting for them.
"Private-" Skipper started.
"They asked." Private said. "They need this as much as we do."
"Mr. Carson might not let us in."
Skipper was proven wrong as Allie's dad hesitantly let them in. Ramona promised they would actually talk to Allie this time. He allowed this, saying he'd be out in the garden. Mrs. Carson and her mother in law had gone shopping.
Skipper, Private, Barry, and Kenny sat on the couch while Kowalski and Rico stood to the side, in front of the door. Ramona threw her arms around Allie's neck, apologizing. Allie stood still, staring blankly ahead.
"What do you guys want?" Allie asked once Ramona let go.
"We want you back." Barry said. "We're sorry-"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, that's all I'm hearing." Allie said, rolling her eyes. "You can be sorry all you want, I don't want those. I want explanations, not repeated apologies and half-assed excuses. You want my forgiveness, tell me why you deserve it. I've been there for all of you and you couldn't bother to keep me in the loop. I didn't spill about the agent stuff, I was there as soon as I could be for Kenny and Kowalski, I didn't think Rico was a freak, I listened to Barry, I felt safe knowing Skipper's protecting us-" She inhaled shakily and looked at Ramona. "I didn't care that the one thing you didn't tell me about was Mira. Why? Because that didn't change a thing about us. I was still here. I was still your best friend and the four of you were mine."
"W-were?" Kenny squeaked.
Allie looked at him. "I want to forgive you, I really do. I'm nice and I want to keep being that one friend who you can rely on to just listen. I'm not super dynamic nor am I nerdy or extremely shy. In fact, I'd call myself relatively plain except for being a bit bookish and smart enough to help an entire class with finals…point is, I've tried seeing the best in people like Marlene does and usually I've found them. You guys crossed a line that I can't see the positives from."
"Alright." Skipper stood up. Everyone stared at him. "You want explanations, here we go. I suggested that since you were acting weird without explanation that you might be a spy for our enemy. This enemy is suspected to have recruited at least one teen and planted them in the school. For the record, I suspected Hans and/or Savio too. Private wouldn't let us just suspect you, Barry, and Ramona and not Kenny, Rocky, or Rikki."
He took a breath and continued. "We had those five meet us in our room and narrowed it from that specific pool. Was it smart? No. Was Kowalski upset and unable to supply logic because he didn't dare think his brother was working for the opposition? Yes. Am I blaming my team? No. I blame myself. I let paranoia get the best of me and I wasn't thinking about the fact that literally everyone knew eventually that I took Julien's music away so we could get better sleep. I only thought that someone knew I'd do something about the brainwashing. I told Ramona not to tell you about the meeting."
This was a lot to take in. Allie sat on a hardwood chair.
"We were unaware of your nightmares." Kowalski stated.
"You didn't ask." Allie said hoarsely. "You asked a personal question about Doris' home life."
"You were rather reluctant to-"
"I'm not her and I don't live with her. Why should I have to answer that?"
"No…you shouldn't." Kowalski mumbled, his face pink.
"I don't know if I can trust you guys again." Allie said.
"You can." Skipper said. "We're still trying to keep the city safe and you can still help us by-"
"Spying?" Allie rose a brow. "Like you thought I was doing against you?"
"If you don't want our apologies and we've explained, then what?" Skipper asked. "We can't make you a member of the organization. Private's a special case."
"I know. I don't want that. I want my friends back. I want communication and trust again…I want to stop lying." She mumbled.
"Come again?"
"Rhonda knew me because she and my mom used to work together before she got a new job. I didn't know until my mom told me during the summer, and I didn't know she worked for your enemy and that…I knew him…Doris's half brother, Francis Blowhole."
…
If it wasn't New York and there were no children out and about, it would have been complete silence so thick you could hear a pin drop. This shocking revelation had rooted everyone to where they sat or stood.
Anyone walking in at that moment would have thought they were trying to see who could be still the longest. Also, they might have been concerned. In fact, someone did come in and was extremely concerned at the sight of seven pale teens staring at his terrified and ashamed looking daughter.
Mr. Carson had decided to come in and see if anyone wanted a snack or drink since they'd been in the house a while. He did not expect this, nor did he expect his daughter to run to her room, sobbing.
"What did you do to my daughter?" He asked in a low, dangerous tone, giving the group a sharp look.
Only a slight wheezing sound was his reply. He found the source. The boy with dark red hair who was glassy eyed, staring somewhere he couldn't see. His protective demeanor faltered. The boy was having a panic attack. The boy's older brother, the black haired one with glasses, stood stock still. He seemed to be debating a fight or flight response.
Ramona was openly crying and the remaining boys were still just at a loss for words.
"Kenny?" Mr. Carson asked, trying to see if the teen would recognize him.
This snapped Skipper back to earth.
"Rico, you're on Kowalski duty. Private, take care of Kenny. Barry, comfort Ramona." He ordered.
Rico and Private snapped out of it and started calming Kowalski and Kenny. Barry was unresponsive.
"Ramona, go wash up." Skipper said gently. Ramona practically ran to the nearest bathroom.
Mr. Carson gave them a look that clearly said 'explain now'.
"Mr. Carson, could you sit down?" He indicated a rocking chair. "Please." He added as the man opened his mouth to say something about a kid telling him what to do in his own house. "None of us hurt her. We let her speak her mind and she told us something distressing."
This provided only a very small bit of comfort as the man sat down.
"Mr. Carson, do you know who Francis Blowhole is?"
Concerned eyes turned to shock and his jaw dropped. "How-?"
"Allie just told us." Skipper said. "We didn't force it out of her. We just wanted to make things right for unreasonably shunning her. We thought she was doing something bad and we didn't even give her the chance to defend herself. It's on us. More on me, but we wanted to fix it."
"Why did she tell you?"
"The five of us younger kids promised to tell each other our secrets before the new year." Private said now that he could no longer hear the wheezing. Kenny was gripping his hand and breathing normally. "Allie told us just before break that she and Doris are half sisters and some of us already knew. We thought maybe she thought it wasn't important at the moment as all of ours…we didn't think it was this."
"What do you know, Mr. Carson? If you're okay telling us." Skipper said.
"I only know that Francis was not a regular troubled soul and that he did terrible things. When my wife, Anna, met her ex-husband he'd cut off communication from Francis and was in protection. He made sure she knew the risks of life with him before they met. Then, Francis found them and attacked his father. Luckily, Doris and Anna had been out that day and he survived. They decided it would be safer to divorce so that if Francis ever found out, he would probably be likely to leave her alone. Doris wished to live with her father and visit her mother. Anna and I met shortly after and she eventually told me everything. I love her no matter what and I'm willing to fight for her. Doris and her father know they're always welcome. We hadn't thought he was a threat to us anymore."
"Rhonda, the horrible sub, was an agent on his side. She wrote a coded message for Allie; do you still have it?"
Mr. Carson shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. I told her not to worry and toss it. I saw her throw it away."
"W-what happens now?" Barry asked, having finally found his voice. Ramona came out of the bathroom, puffy faced and blotchy. She allowed Barry to put a comforting arm around her.
Protecting New York and the world. Skipper thought, then he spoke. "The boys and I need to regroup. The rest of PARK B, comfort Allie. She's not being shunned anymore and never should have been. We're keeping each other close and protected."
"Yes, sir!" The six teens said in varying volumes.
…
They called the organization as soon as they arrived at HQ. This time it was Johnny Bone who answered. He told them that they'd been keeping tabs on Doris and Allie to see if there was any unusual activities. The boys weren't told for the Carson and Douglas families' safety. Simms hadn't been told this so that's why he didn't tell the boys.
"Sir, do you think Allie will forgive us?" Private asked once the call ended.
"In due time. She needs to forgive herself first." Skipper replied. "A lot of her pent up emotions, including the nightmares, have been due to keeping this secret for such a long time."
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"The spacing out, odd fixture on finding Hans, whatever happened to you in that house…you never got to say what you went through."
"Hans told you, didn't he?"
"He said he was jumped and you took the bait and got taken by surprise. We didn't exactly believe him."
Kowalski and Rico confirmed their disbelief as well and Private continued voicing his thoughts.
"I know we've harped on you about Denmark, but if you're nearly going to fall into traffic or get yourself into trouble, you might as well tell us."
"I trusted him. I warned him…and he-" Skipper shook his head. "I don't know, boys. It's too hard."
"Too hard? TOO HARD?!" Kowalski said angrily. "Excuse me, I know too well what it's like to be beaten nearly to death and STILL TRY to do something like pushing a freezer door open at the age of five. Or literally living off the streets after being violated at the age of twelve. Or ignore every painful sensation and the desire for my body to shut down while I try to PEEL HANDS OFF MY BROTHER'S THROAT!"
Kowalski panted. The others were silent until he signaled for them to continue.
"Rico's been in his fair share of fights too." Private added. "You've defended Rico, fought agents, and have been beaten up twice in the past three months…how is telling us a story any harder?"
"Fine." Skipper snapped. "Yeah, it's not as hard as fighting an abuser or bullies, but it was still fighting my best friend. Someone who was like how Ramona and Allie are to each other. Maybe…just maybe…I felt like I was watching our kid selves again. Except I'm the one pushing them apart instead of one of them-" He took a deep breath in and out.
"They're not you." Private said softly. "You two were ten. They're fourteen and thirteen. And they knew each other since first grade."
"I knew Hans since we were four. Our dads worked for the organization and they worked together. Hans and I saw a lot of each other in different places. He was one of the only consistencies in my life at that point and I was for him…"
"How much worse can it be than being related to a murderer or an abuser?" Kowalski asked. Skipper gave a 'meh' gesture. "We're here and ready to listen and we won't think any less of you."
"We really won't." Private confirmed.
"Together as unit." Rico repeated the words Skipper had told them.
Skipper looked at them with a mixture of relief and fear. The boys got water and sat down, three sets of encouraging eyes on the leader. There was that thick silence again for a moment before Skipper's shaky breaths broke it.
"So…Copenhagen?" Kowalski asked gently.
Skipper took the confidence boost before he could lose it and began his tale.
"Copenhagen…"
A/N: I was originally going to leave it at Allie saying Francis Blowhole, but I feel I pretty much gave it away because of her relation to Doris. I also wanted an entire chapter dedicated to the Denmark incident. I don't know if the show writers had much beyond them mentioning high speed chases, explosions, and a betrayal, but it's one of those things that's haunted me…and next chapter is the human version of it.
