"Which part do you think he regretted?" Private asked.

Skipper looked at the boys. "You don't think I'm…" He didn't know what he was going to say, several words popped up: terrible, incompetent, dangerous-

"As I said, we don't think any less of you." Kowalski said. "You already went through all the guilt and the would/could/should have done. It's not any of our jobs to continue to judge you for this." Rico and Private nodded in agreement.

"Hans didn't regret Denmark as much as he regretted kicking the crap out of me." Skipper said. He proceeded to explain exactly what had happened and that he knew it would have gone better if he told his team.

"Let's just get some rest." Kowalski eyed the yawning Rico.

"You're not expecting a surprise for your birthday, are you?" Private asked.

"No, and I don't want any. Just acknowledgement would be nice…and maybe some cake."

"We can do that." Skipper agreed.

They made their way to their room and collapsed into their beds.

Rico woke up the next day after a dream that got him thinking things he never did before. In the dream, his sister was trying to set him up on dates even though she'd long given up on him trying. Then he heard Kowalski's voice followed by Skipper's and he woke up.

"You were mumbling a lot in your sleep." Skipper said.

Rico yawned and stretched. The leader didn't pursue the subject further, so Rico spent the day dwelling on his dream and the subject of romantic love.

He really didn't know how he felt. He wasn't completely turned off by the idea of partnership. He felt he could be in a committed relationship, but he really didn't feel like anyone knew him well enough for him to open up.

Until that fateful summer. Kowalski talked to him a lot, mostly bonding over their mothers' past history. Rico started picking up hints here and there, he wasn't stupid. He just, was unsure how to respond. He tried to be as neutral as possible so he wouldn't scare his friend while trying to figure himself out. Rex absolutely accepted his son no matter what and his grandma and Rikki were always in his corner, so Rico wasn't afraid of familial rejection.

He was afraid that maybe he was reading it wrong. Kowalski did make sure Skipper was accepting, to which the leader confirmed his support. Then came the day Rico, in not so many words, broke Allie's heart. Kowalski was utterly devastated because this came after opening a pricy gift she'd gotten him. There was something about Kowalski's head on his shoulder that made Rico feel good.

They'd had quite a busy couple days after that, so Rico couldn't do much more thinking about his internal debate. Did he like girls? Sure, some were nice enough. Would he want to date any of them? No. He and Marlene had an understanding that last year's 'dance date' was platonic friendship. Did he find girls his age attractive? He supposed so.

He thought about the questions he asked himself in different ways. The common answers he came up with led him to one thing: he didn't really know if he was in love because he'd never been.

Thinking about Kowalski made Rico happy. Thinking about dynamite also made Rico happy, but dynamite was plentiful even if it wasn't always obtainable and there was only one Kowalski. Was it wrong to want to make his friend happy?

On Kowalski's seventeenth birthday, they kept celebrations quiet because they'd been through a lot. Skipper was on the road to recovery again and Private was processing a lot of information from those days and dealing with friend group stuff. Ramona and Barry texted happy birthday and Barry came by for cake.

They ended the day by watching a movie. Kenny had gone back to his room early so he wouldn't disturb his roommates. Private was carried to bed by Rico while Skipper ambled into his room. Rico came back out to see Kowalski cleaning up.

"Birthday. Why clean?" Rico asked.

"Someone should." Kowalski yawned.

"Brush teeth." Rico said.

"Fine, I'll get ready for bed."

Rico smiled and continued the cleaning. He placed the trash bag next to the door so they'd remember to take it out in the morning. He changed his pants and went to brush his teeth. He found Kowalski in the bathroom, in deep thought, staring at his reflection. He held a prepared toothbrush.

"Whassup?" Rico asked.

"Huh?" Kowalski looked at him. "Oh, nothing. Just...thinking about things."

"Brush race?"

"You're on...go!"

They tried not to laugh as they brushed fast, dripping toothpaste. Rico was the winner, but Kowalski flossed first. They wiped off the counter so Skipper wouldn't be upset about dried toothpaste everywhere.

"That was fun, got me out of my head for a second." Kowalski chuckled. "There is something I want to say though."

Rico gestured for him to continue.

"Rico, I don't know how you're going to take this...um...there's someone I've been having feelings for and I think. Well-I-it could go terribly wrong. The person could feel nothing for me and cast me out, but you wouldn't do that-" Kowalski gasped and cringed. He didn't want to look at Rico and opted for staring the other way at the toilet.

"'Walski. M'not upset."

"Y-you aren't?" Kowalski turned to his teammate who had a gentle smile.

Rico shook his head. "I knew. Not mad."

"O-oh?"

"Give present?" Rico asked.

"But I thought you already did?"

"One more."

Kowalski's heart was racing as Rico's lips met his. He felt butterflies as he kissed back. He had no idea if he was doing this properly. He felt dazed once Rico finished the kiss. Kowalski opened his eyes to see Rico still so close to him.

"You okay?" Rico whispered.

Kowalski wanted to answer that yes, he was okay, or that he was more than okay. At that moment though, he just kissed Rico back.

Kowalski wanted to keep this under the radar which Rico was fine with. He would have been fine with anything, but the nervous scientist wasn't ready to go public yet so they contented themselves with being subtle. It appeared that they were doing a good job of it since Skipper and Private didn't ask or say anything. Or maybe they were just distracted by the rumors going on of serial kidnapping.

The school seemed to have found out about what happened to Hans and Skipper and Julien was playing up the events since he was part of the search party. He left the part out where he went back to the apartments right after they found out Nat and Josie were fine.

It took several days before anyone really got concerned. Skipper's confident persona put off any questions about him, but his former friend was another story. Hans played it off as him getting mugged and Skipper happened to be there too. Skipper skeptically accepted this. He still didn't know why the tracks looked like Hans had willingly gone. Their stories were conflicting with Julien's so people didn't know who to believe.

On Valentine's day, Rico and Kowalski gave each other candy and also got some for the other two and a few friends so that they wouldn't draw attention. They were surprised they managed to keep it to themselves, though they had a suspicion that Skipper knew.

Mid-February, Izzy said that Hans packed his stuff and left the apartments when everyone was at school. He'd left a short letter saying he was fine and not to worry about him. By the end of the month, Hans stopped coming to class and didn't respond to any texts or calls from his former roommates.

In weirder news, Alice was physically checking all the rooms. She ignored everyone who asked why until she got to 4P. Skipper refused to let her in without a reason. She groaned in frustration and left, returning two days later with a woman in business attire.

"Hello, my name is Colette." She said in a French accent. "I work for child services in France. We are looking for Hans Riber." She showed them her badge.

"The Ribers moved to France?" Skipper asked.

"Oui. Out of curiosity, who knows of how he came to be in France?"

"Me, my family, his family, and my three roommates."

"Excellent. Miss Alice, I wish to speak with the boys alone."

"Fine. I'll keep questioning the other rooms." Alice said, stalking off.

Skipper let Colette in. She politely declined the water Rico offered her.

"I was to keep watch on the child after his expulsion from Denmark."

"Oh-I uh...I'm the other kid." Skipper mumbled.

"I know. I was there when it happened."

Skipper turned pink.

"Don't worry, I pass no judgment." Colette said, waving away his concern.

"So, what's this about?" Skipper asked.

"Neighbors grew concerned at him being left for hours by himself, then they reported they didn't see him anymore. Unfortunately, his parents left in the middle of my questioning. I've been looking all over Europe for him. Then, I inquired about a certain Organization for a Better Society. Hans was a child and didn't mean to tell me about it, so I kept it to myself until now."

"They told you he was here?"

"A man by the name of George Sorenson told me. That is your father, correct?"

Skipper nodded.

"Did Hans' parents forget to tell you they sent him here?" Kowalski asked.

"No, they mentioned sending him to a boarding school and were extremely vague about it. I received no details, then they packed and moved, which is why my search has taken me nearly five years." Colette responded. "I have reason to believe he has been abandoned."

The boys exchanged shocked looks.

"B-but his parents care about him, right?" Private asked.

Skipper thought about it. Hans' parents had never been the outwardly affectionate sort, though he obviously couldn't say what the home situation was like when it was just the three of them. They'd always been extremely polite whenever their families met or when Skipper came over, which wasn't often. Hans was mostly at his house…because his parents were…busy.

"Denmark changed us." Skipper blurted. He blinked, surprised at this. He gathered his thoughts and sighed. "I think it changed them too. My dad and Chris were upset with me the longest, but we eventually went back to our normal relationship."

"I think this precedes Denmark." Kowalski said. "There's something to be said about the type of damage neglect can have on a child. Perhaps Denmark was Hans trying to gain attention. He was starved of a lot and even if you gave him what you could, he'd be returned to the confined environment each day."

"Do you perhaps know where he may be?" Colette asked hopefully.

"I haven't known him well in years." Skipper said. "Sorry, I wish I knew."

Colette sighed and pulled out a card. "Call me if you find him. Thank you for your time."

The boys looked around at each other.

"Is there a place you could disappear and no one would expect it?" Private asked. He looked at Kowalski. "I know it was an idea, but-"

"It was nowhere." Kowalski said. "We didn't have a location in mind, it was just nowhere. Maybe an abandoned place if we were lucky to find one, but it would have to be far."

"He still went to school for a couple weeks, so it can't have been that far."

"The old Wilson place?" Skipper asked.

"The what?" The three boys looked at him in confusion.

Skipper sighed, having forgotten they weren't told about it. He explained what his older brother had told his siblings. Private was horrified, Rico was amused, and Kowalski was shocked, then laughed when the leader said people thought it was haunted.

When Kowalski was done laughing, he thought about it some more. It did seem plausible that people played up the hauntings, then if someone used the house secretly, it would boost the rumors even more.

It was broad daylight and risky, but probably safer than in the darkness. The Penguins entered the old Wilson house, shuddering slightly. It may have been early March, but there was still a cool breeze…even though it was going three miles per hour.

They heard a small scuffling noise and went to a bedroom to see a shaking lump in the corner. The lump seemed to have spotted them, gave a gasp, and went still.

"Hans?" Skipper whispered.

"Hans, it's okay, it's just us four. Is it just you?" Private asked.

"We've come to talk. Just talk." Kowalski said.

Hans lowered the blanket that was over his face. His usually slicked back hair was messy and all over his forehead and eyes. His eyes looked terrified and had bags under them. His face was paler than ever and a little thinner than Skipper remembered.

The boys knelt down on the worn carpet. There were various canned foods around them, opened and unopened. Hans held a jar of peanut butter with a spoon in it.

"Have you been living here?" Kowalski asked.

Hans nodded. "They came for me?" He whispered.

The boys nodded.

"Do you live here when school's out?" Private asked. Hans nodded again. "What happened to your parents?" Hans sighed.

"They kicked me out." He said weakly.

"Who was that woman who was here with you, beating me up?" Skipper finally asked.

"Agent Twelve." Hans mumbled.

"Rhonda?!" Private gasped. "B-but...why? Does that mean you're responsible for the attacks on the school?"

Hans shook his head. "For the sibling kidnappings, yes. And the brainwashing. I had nothing to do with Mr. Taylor's family getting attacked."

"But you...this has to be against your free will, right? Maybe she forced you or threatened you because Skipper said you didn't look like you wanted to beat him up. Did you know she was Blow-?"

"Yes!" Hans snapped. "I knew who they were. That's why I came...She found me wandering the streets. I was a scared little kid, but I still knew who they were. I-I found out you were here, Skipper, and I knew Blowhole was targeting New York. I just..." He coughed.

"But...you willingly joined them? Why?" Skipper asked. "I thought you wanted to be an agent for good like my family, like yours. We always talked about-"

"You did." Hans muttered. "You talked about how great of an experience it was. And I don't deny, I liked the stories. It wasn't going to be the life for me, but the life my parents wanted. I liked the chaos. That's why I joined him...he's unleashing chaos and you so happened to be here...I'm chaotic...no good, worthless, street trash-"

"Stop it." Kowalski said. "I've heard things like that before and I'm sorry they treated you like that...you're not worthless."

"Hans, you were like a brother to me. I never lied about that." Skipper's hushed voice said.

"Going to your house was a blessing. Your family was what I wished I had. Less rigidity, less shut up and obey, less loneliness. They gave you attention and love." A ghost of a smile briefly appeared on Hans's face.

"Blowhole and everyone who works for him, they're insane and chaotic and they do give you attention, but they can't give you the love that family and friends do." Kowalski said. "It's taken me a long time to get used to people who care, but they exist. Trust me, they do."

"I only 'abandoned' you when you tried to kill me." Skipper said.

"What? When?" Hans looked confused.

"You swung a baseball bat at me. Like, a metal one. And several of your explosions could have ended badly."

"I wasn't aiming to kill...I never wanted death...just chaos."

"You knew Blowhole would kill."

Hans sighed and nodded. "I needed shelter, food, water, and I wanted to survive. I've used this place as a hideout for the last three years. I've spent almost five years training to be his spy."

"If he told you to kill us, would you have done it?"

Hans looked Skipper in the eyes. "The fact that you're alive after the last time you were here should answer that. I'm not a murderer."

"What now?" Kowalski asked. The boys looked at him questioningly. "I'm asking anyone, really. Do we turn him in?"

Skipper looked between his teammates and his former friend.

Kowalski awaited an answer patiently. Hans had gone back to picking at his peanut butter, not wanting to see their facial expressions. Private had a concerned look and opted to stay silent. Rico was silent too, but with obvious body language of preparing for an attack in case Hans didn't like Skipper's answer.

"It's our duty to do so."

Rico's body tensed and he kept an eye on Hans, but nothing happened. Hans stared at his jar for a moment, then took the spoon out and closed the peanut butter. He shakily got up, the Penguins following suit, and sighed.

"Okay." He sounded defeated.

The boys kept their guard up as Hans went to throw away the plastic spoon.

"No one maintains the trash here." Kowalski said.

"I know." Hans said.

He didn't say anything else when Skipper told Private to call for an agent. The three older teens kept an eye on Hans.

"I'm not going to do anything." Hans said as he sat on the dusty couch, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"You know why I can't trust that." Skipper stated.

"Fair."

Agent Simms appeared an hour later followed by a backup agent. Simms told them that Hans's case was going to be handled by the organization now and that there wouldn't be much if anything that the boys could know. His parents were still unreachable.

Hans gave them a sad smile as he looked out the car window. He hadn't been restrained since he agreed to go with them quietly.

The weekend before spring break was filled with excitement. Kowalski's approved project was coming along nicely. They gathered in the lab, watching Kowalski finalize his work. In his bubble of happiness, he kissed Rico in the lab.

"Ha-oh wait…aw come on!" Skipper complained.

"Y-you're upset?" Kowalski asked nervously as Skipper reached into his pocket.

"Kinda. I'm out thirty bucks." He opened his wallet, took out some bills and shoved them into Private's waiting hand. The youngest teen had a huge grin. Rico laughed.

"Wait, what?" Kowalski was the only one who was still confused.

"You're the observant one, we made a bet and clearly I should lower the price."

"You bet I wouldn't come out?"

Skipper shook his head. "We knew you would eventually, I just said it would be in the latter half of the year. Are we ready for the fair? You've been waiting all year for this."

Not completely prepared for the change in subject, Kowalski didn't answer immediately.

"Addressed, accepted, moving on. Need another moment?"

"Wha? Oh, I'm good." Kowalski said confidently. "Right. I am totally prepared and I'm not losing anything to Simon this time. And I'm ready for the decathlon. Last year was a bit of an emotional upheaval so yeah..."

"Yeah, that was last year. This year, you're ready."

"I will beat him in chess too! He may have won multiple times, but I can do this!"

"Multiple? But you're in tenth grade and you've only done two science fairs." Private said.

"It's Monday to Thursday during the spring break and this genius accepts Simon's friendly challenge each time." Skipper said.

"He's won eight times." Kowalski groaned. "But not this time! I have a maneuver that will blow everyone away!"

"Wow, adopting Rico's maverick tendencies already? Hey, that's what you can teach us."

"Kaboom time?" Rico asked.

"No, not blow up. Blow away. I've done a lot of strategizing and studying, there's only a small margin of error that could allow me to lose." Kowalski explained. He then proceeded to talk about the project in detail.

Rico asked Skipper to take a walk with him while Kowalski and Private worked on the oral presentation.

"What's on your mind?" Skipper asked after a couple minutes. He'd seen the thoughtful look on the older teen's face.

"'Walski. He's happy."

"Of course, he's geeking out over the fair. I'd say he's ecstatic."

Rico shook his head. "Dating me."

"Yeah, which is why you're not hiding it from us anymore." Skipper said. "Why state the obvious?"

"Want him...happy." Rico said tentatively.

Something appeared to have clicked in Skipper's brain. He stopped in his tracks. Rico avoided eye contact as he stopped too.

"Rico...are you just trying to make him happy?"

"Um...dunno."

"What does that mean? Do you or do you not want a romantic relationship?"

"Ehh-not a lot." Rico mumbled, wringing his wrists. A group of laughing children ran by as Skipper was thinking of a response. One of the kids sounded familiar.

"I don't get it. It's not a lie, but you don't completely feel in love? We're teenagers so love can be fickler than adults, but at the same time, teens know how they feel. You can't just try to make someone happy by making them think they're in love. It's not right."

"No, I want-I..." Rico sighed. "Wanted to know me."

"Rico, did you have any confidence in this aspect of your identity?"

Rico shook his head. Skipper sighed and sat on a bench, Rico sat next to him. They were silent for a while, watching people feed ducks.

"You can't force yourself to feel love either." Skipper said softly. "You should have done more self analysis. This is one of the few times I'll say acting on instinct isn't good. Think about it, then we'll go-oh no."

Rico's head shot up and he looked around for any sign of trouble. Everything seemed fine, but Skipper was looking at his wrist, wide eyed.

"Rico, how long has your watch been on?"

Rico gasped and looked at it. Apparently, he'd been in communication with Private, but all they could see was the ceiling of HQ. They knew Private had taken it off so it wouldn't get damaged while experimenting. He'd also said he'd call if they had any questions or needed anything.

No sound came from the watch. They hurried down to HQ. Both Kowalski and Private's watches were on the table and the boys were in the lab.

"There's a good chance that you accidentally called and they didn't hear it." Skipper whispered. That didn't make Rico feel better since he knew the call had come from Private.

Rico waited while Skipper entered the lab. Kowalski, facing away from the door, was busy writing his report while Private was absentmindedly cleaning the dirt free cabinets.

"I didn't schedule routine maintenance today." Skipper said. Private jumped.

"O-oh, I know, sir. Sorry about that." He said in a higher pitched tone than normal. He gave a nervous giggle. "Just...thought I'd get a head start."

"We gotta work on your cover stories, kid."

"Right, of course."

Skipper rose a brow. "Alright, how much did you guys hear?"

"Erm...not a lot. We had music playing." Private looked over at Kowalski who had stopped writing.

"I'd buy that if this was a run of the mill essay, not the thing he thinks will beat Simon."

"It will." Kowalski said firmly, his back still turned to them.

"Ah, he speaks! We need to talk, all of us."

Private blinked. "Er...this seems like a situation for-"

"The team." Skipper interrupted. "When it can break the team, it becomes an all of us thing. Rico, get in here!"

There was the sound of a chair being knocked over, then rapid footsteps and Rico slid into the room. Kowalski remained staring down at his paper. Private opted to sit on a stool.

"So, we've gotten ourselves in quite the pickle." Skipper said. "I should have said this earlier when I said it didn't matter what romantic relationships we were in as long as we don't blab about the organization. I don't care who you date, including team members, as long as you can remain a team when it counts. This-this does not wash. I can't have flimsy feelings getting in the way-"

"Tell that to him." Kowalski snapped. "I know I'm bisexual. I've known it for a while and I've known you accept it. But to be the butt of a joke, on my birthday no less, was-"

"Not a joke!" Rico said in a hurt tone.

"Then what was it? A false sense of security?"

"No!" Rico made odd, concerning, noises while trying to figure out what to say.

"What if you wrote it down?" Private suggested.

"Please." Rico said gratefully.

He was given a paper and pencil and began writing. Various emotions crossed Rico's face, most notably guilt. He handed it to Kowalski when he was done.

"Do you want me to read it aloud?" Kowalski asked. Rico shrugged indifferently.

"I'm really sorry. I never meant to hurt you. It didn't come from trying to pull a joke or a prank, I would never mess with your feelings after everything you've been through. I've tried over the years to feel romantic interest, it just never happened. I noticed the signs you were giving me and I thought that maybe I would gain feelings by trying. It felt good to comfort you, but I didn't know if it was because of friendship or love and I still don't really know. I've always been told I'll know when it's love when I feel it, but I honestly don't know. I thought a kiss was a gesture of love and that it would make me feel love. I do care about you a lot and I want both of us to be happy. I thought that by going with the feelings, I'd finally understand love. I am happy when I'm with you and I'm happy being your boyfriend. I just went the wrong way about it and I should have asked my sister or Skipper since they're better at social stuff than me and I'm an idiot. Can we be friends again? Again, I am extremely sorry."

"Aww, that was touching." Private gushed.

"Way to ruin the moment." Skipper said.

Kowalski sighed. "Rico, I appreciate that you were trying to be nice and show me that you care in your own way. I would have still allowed you to kiss me if you'd told me you wanted to see if you'd feel anything. That way, I would have been better prepared for potential rejection. You aren't an idiot, you're just inexperienced in certain aspects of life as am I. I forgive you."

Rico squealed happily and tackled Kowalski in a hug, knocking his glasses askew. He gestured for the other two to join. Private immediately hugged both of them.

"You're a bunch of saps…" Skipper rolled his eyes, but joined in anyway.

"Admittedly, I don't understand love either." Kowalski said once the four of them parted. He fixed his glasses. "I know you think what you're feeling is irrational, but so is love, I guess."

"It can be." Skipper said. "The entire fling I had with Kitka was irrational. I literally can't explain why I was head over heels without listening to you guys...Private, any insight on the concept of romantic love?"

Private thought about it. "Well, you can be at odds but still love one another. I suppose it's about finding compromises and the positives, enduring life together. Like wedding vows say 'through sickness and health' and they list pros and cons, but you go through that because you're in love." He scratched his head. "Sometimes love makes people do stupid things."

"It does?" Rico asked.

"My dad's told me that." Private said.

"Thought it's jus' me." Rico mumbled. "Dumb."

"You're not dumb, you just play by your own rules." Kowalski said. "You're more of the 'leap into action before you look' person, which is why you're not a solo agent. Hmm...love makes people do stupid things...maybe..." He trailed off.

"So...friends?" Rico looked into Kowalski's eyes hopefully. Kowalski regarded him.

"If you don't mind, I would like to remain in a relationship longer."

"Boyfriend?"

"Irrationally so."

Rico squealed excitedly again and kissed Kowalski.

"That is probably the oddest restart to a relationship I've ever witnessed." Skipper said. "But I'm glad the team's still together. Just promise me if you two ever actually break up, you'll talk to each other and still be teammates."

"Of course." Kowalski said.

"Yes sir!" Rico saluted.

"Great. Private, let's leave these lovebirds alone for a while."

Private giggled and followed Skipper out, shutting the door behind him.

A/N: After a lot of thought and planning, I have decided to go with Kico. Writing down Mikayla's background, then choosing some characters from All Hail King Julien to place in this universe, I decided not to have Mikalski this story. She'll still be in their lives and the story will still be the boys as a team. AHKJ characters mostly will be post WATP.