A/N: This chapter has mentions of assault. Starting right off the bat with Mikayla, nothing descriptive with her, a face touch and implications, and later physical assault and forced kiss. It's enough to make me put a warning.

It was still October and the boys were fixing an enhanced radio of Kowalski's when there was a knock on the door. Skipper repeated that phones and watches were still effective as he opened the door to see a very annoyed Alice standing there with Mikayla behind her. The teen was shuffling her feet and looking down at her shoes. She was in the same outfit they saw her in at the fair and her messily tied back hair was dirty.

"I don't do charity cases." Alice stated. "I don't appreciate random friends appearing whenever they want at all hours of the night."

"It's only five in the evening." Skipper said.

"I don't care." Alice snapped. "I'm only allowing this because Julien said he knew her."

"Right. Okay, thanks." Skipper made a mental note to thank Julien later. "Come on in, Mikayla."

Mikayla hurried in and Alice stalked off. Skipper closed the door and the other boys turned to her in surprise.

"I know it's weird coming to your place after only meeting you once..." Mikayla said softly. "But I need help. I'm not welcome in the shelter anymore. I've been trying to get here for days."

"I thought it was a women's shelter." Kowalski said. "They can't kick you out unless there's a good reason, right?"

"It's not the people who run it, it's some of the women who have anger issues and other things that they don't take medication for. They seem to think I'm old enough to be an adult even though I keep telling them I'm seventeen. And-" Her breath caught. Tears sprung to her eyes and she trembled. "I-I c-can't go to s-school..."

"Why not?" Skipper asked, gesturing for her to sit on the chair he'd just been in. She took her backpack off, sat, and hugged it.

"B-because I-I was stupid..."

"Flunking out is not you being stupid." Kowalski said. "Maybe you were stressed and-"

Mikayla shook her head. "I'm a B average student, a couple C's, but nothing that would make me flunk out."

"What's happened then?" Private asked.

Mikayla opened her mouth, struggling to put it into words. Tears fell down her face and she wiped them away quickly.

"It's okay to cry in front of us." Private said gently. "Did something happen at school?"

"I-it was happening a long time and I didn't even-I wasn't paying attention-I-" She let out a sob.

"That's rather ominous." Kowalski said. He shared knowing looks with the other three. He immediately knew they all had the same sinking feeling. "Was something happening after the fair and that's why you couldn't reach out?"

Mikayla nodded.

"It all started because-because I told him about Ethan."

"Told who?" "Who's Ethan?" Kowalski and Skipper asked simultaneously.

"Ethan was my unofficial guardian. He died before I met you guys."

"Was Ethan nice?" Private asked.

"Yes. He was like a grandfather. He took me in when I was eight, then again when I was eleven."

"Is it easier to talk about him than the other person you reference?" Skipper asked.

"Much easier." Mikayla said.

"If I may surmise, is the other person your science teacher?" Kowalski asked.

Mikayla's eyes widened and she looked at him in shock.

"I remembered you said your teacher pushed you to join the fair. Later you commented that he'd taken an interest in your education."

Mikayla let out a breath. "Right...my education..."

"Mikayla, what did he do?"

"I-it started out like that. I really thought he saw this orphan kid who needed a chance and was helping me...for months...and I didn't understand how he acted after the fair...he didn't like that I gave my project to you and that I met you because you're guys. I didn't out you." She added the last part, looking between Rico and Kowalski. "He thought I liked you, Kowalski, and he wasn't talking to me as much outside of class. I thought it was weird."

"W-what happened next?" Private asked, dreading the answer.

"The students all called me teacher's pet. I thought maybe I was just a favorite student for some reason...then a girl from another class told me he started being nicer to her when he was being cold to me. She told me that her parents told her it was a bad thing...so she started being rude to the teacher and he came to me-"

"Breathe, then speak." Kowalski said offering a comforting hand. She didn't take it.

Mikayla took a shaky breath. "He-he asked if...if I was ready to apologize and be his favorite again. I asked what I had to apologize for and he-" She shook her head violently.

"Don't hurt yourself." Skipper said. "Were you alone?"

She nodded.

"Were you alone for long?"

"No, the bell rang in less than a minute."

"Did he touch you?"

"On the cheek." She touched her face, then wiped as if to get something off. "The look. His face scared me the most...it wasn't something you look at your students with..."

"You don't have to say anymore if you don't want to."

She shook her head.

"I tried to get through it, stopped staying after class and running off if he tried. Then he gave me detention last week so I ran. That's when the women started picking on me. They said I was an adult if I wasn't in school. If I told him Ethan was still alive, maybe-"

"He probably would have tried to make Ethan a bad guy to get you to listen to him." Kowalski said. "I've dealt with a person like that. My father tried to pin everything on me and my brother and it worked. No one would believe us until we got here. The blame is not on you. He tried doing this on another student and probably would try it again. We can report him."

"He knows what shelter I live at..."

"Lived. You're not going back." Skipper said, pulling out his phone. "You and Julien are about to become friends."

"Huh?"

"Julien can help you get into the apartments and once we explain the situation, you can transfer to Central High."

"But-he'll see the transfer-"

"We'll try to report him before he can." Skipper said. "Which is why we're going to have Julien's father call his lawyer."

"What about how expensive that all is?"

"He's got money."

"I don't want to be a charity project..."

"It's not charity, it's helping a friend out of a bad situation." Kowalski said. "I meant it when I said you can contact me anytime. You reached out to us and here we are, answering the call."

"Friends." Rico supplied.

"We can help you through this." Private added.

Julien came by a couple minutes later. He said he told his dad he needed legal help with getting a student transferred and their abuser punished. His father was surprised that he hardly knew the girl and yet was helping her. Then he heard about the situation and set out to work on it.

While they settled rooms and schooling, Mikayla stayed in the room shared by Marlene, Josie, Nat, and Hunter. They hadn't been told much, but were told that she needed real friendship and the girls were happy to oblige.

Kowalski was able to enroll Mikayla as a transfer from Arizona as a part of last year's program and that her papers had just processed late. He had a feeling that the principal didn't entirely buy the story, but allowed her entrance because she had nowhere else to go and Kowalski said that her only other option was to drop out entirely and Ms. Petrie didn't want to cause a student to drop out of education.

Mikayla was placed in Marlene's room, saying she'd be fine on the couch.

Mikayla told the boys that she'd met an odd girl who had pointed her in the right direction of the apartments, but told her to be wary of them, especially Skipper.

"Did she have dirty blonde hair with red tips or highlights?" Kowalski asked.

"Yeah, so you know her?"

A slightly pink Skipper took out his phone and found a picture to show her.

"That's her...were you dating?" Mikayla asked.

"You still have the pictures?" Private questioned.

"That's not important." Skipper said.

"You don't still have feelings for her, do you?"

"Private, butt out."

"She doesn't have good feelings about you." Mikayla said.

"The relationship ended because Kitka doesn't like kids, as in twelve and younger, and she slapped Mort because he wanted to hug her." Kowalski said.

"Why would you keep a photo of an ex you're not on good terms with?" Private asked, having placed himself behind Rico who was looking at Skipper in amusement.

"So we have photographic evidence of what she looks like in the event of an emergency or something. It's not like I look at it." Skipper glared at Private. "I just knew it was the only picture I kept and it's just her holding a coffee cup."

"The only picture?" Kowalski asked.

"Yes. End of that discussion." Skipper said sternly. "Mikayla, you don't have to be worried about us. Did she say anything else?"

"No." Mikayla replied. "I won't be wary of you guys, then. I'll keep an eye out for her and let you know if I see her again."

Skipper was extra paranoid now. He kept thinking she'd pop up out of nowhere. Julien and Marlene were forewarned and they let their roommates know. Mort whimpered when he heard. Private's friends were also put on alert as well as Clover.

Kowalski's research into his mother's death was brought up again the week before Rico's birthday. He'd been able to find the name of the man who had done the break in. The teen was correct in assuming the driver who caused the accident was him, the man had used his own car so it was easy to link it to him. But the name meant nothing to Kowalski. He didn't know the man.

Ralph would never tell Kowalski anything about it and there would be no point in trying to write or call and demand answers. The teen wouldn't want to try to contact him anyway. But he was sure his father had something to do with this man.

He was also trying to find the truck driver, but the company he found was reluctant to give out personal information especially for a subject this sensitive. The driver had injuries tended to after trying to pull people to safety and quit his job after his community service hours.

"What if you ask around school? There's got to be someone whose family members were there that day." Private suggested.

Kowalski put the request on Central Community chatrooms. He told them to reach out and maybe there would be something. There were rooms for former students, not that many replied. They did say they'd try to help out, but the replies probably wouldn't be quick.

...

It seemed bittersweet to be taking more things out of their HQ that had served them well the past two years, but it was looking emptier by the week. It would be dismantled and filled before snow fell.

They had a mini birthday celebration inside the HQ for Skipper in November. Then they went to join their friends who insisted on at least having cake in the lobby.

"I forgot my watch." Skipper said as The Penguins were walking through the park. "Go on ahead, I know where I left it."

The boys figured HQ and back was safe enough and nodded as their leader headed back. He shivered in the cold air. He'd taken the watch off to help Kowalski clean a very slimy substance that had attached itself to several beakers.

He went down the ladder and the remaining lights flickered on. He scooped his watch up and looked around. He smiled and headed up the hatch. No one was around as he closed it and spread leaves on it.

TW- describing physical assault and somewhat sexual (forced kiss)

His phone went off and he looked at it.

Kowalski: Marlene said she thought she saw Kitka hanging around the park earlier.

Skipper: I can handle it.

He didn't see Kowalski's reply as he heard someone walking towards him. Paranoia spiking, he put his arms up in defense and kept walking towards the apartments. The building was in sight when a figure jumped out at him. He kicked, but it jumped back.

"Would you relax?" A muffled voice snapped.

"Kitka?"

"Yeah." She took off her thick scarf and raised her beanie slightly.

"Why the theatrics?" Skipper asked, crossing his arms.

"A challenge I thought you'd appreciate." She said simply.

"I don't appreciate it. What do you want?"

"I want to pick up where we left off." She said, putting her scarf around Skipper's neck and pulled him towards her. There was something nice about it, he was remembering the way he used to feel. But-it was different, something was off. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'm sorry for everything that happened. I wasn't in the best head space and maybe you weren't either, but I want to fix us."

"There's nothing to fix." Skipper said, keeping himself grounded in the present.

"We were good together, though. We had so much in common...still have in common." Her face was inches from his, he could feel her breath, it smelled weird like she hadn't brushed her teeth. He scoffed and took the scarf off, then took a step back.

"No. And I mean it."

"I'll apologize to all your friends, I promise. Let's start over..."

"I don't want to."

"I can't pretend I'm not hurt that you picked a bunch of children over me, but I can move past it."

"I didn't 'pick a bunch of children over you'. I decided not to date someone who hates my roommate and willingly slaps ten year olds."

"He was disgusting."

"How? By being a kid? By trying to hug because he knows that comforts people?"

Skipper's phone started ringing. He took it out, but it was slapped out of his hand. He was swept onto the ground before he could retaliate.

THUMP

"I'm offering you a second chance and you're trying to waste it." Kitka growled. She pinned him down before he could do anything. "You wouldn't hit a girl, would you?" She simpered. "It would look awfully bad if you were to hit your ex. Might go on your permanent record."

"I already said no, what do you want from me?" Skipper grunted, trying to throw her off. He saw the main door to the apartments open.

"I told you. A second chance. The spark we had. We had something. Something...good." She leaned in closer.

"RICO!" Skipper bellowed. "KOWALSKI! PRIVATE! HEL-" He flinched as Kitka kissed him roughly.

He tried to spit but his mouth was dry. He shook his head, which threw her off and made her hiss angrily and tighten her grip on his wrists. Her nails dug into his skin. She slapped his face and kissed him again, grabbing his head with both hands. Wrists hurting, Skipper took the moment to shove her off.

He tried to scramble to his feet, but she tackled him back down. His face hit the ground, hard. His nose started bleeding.

"Don't you like adventure? Risk taking? The blood rushing to your head?" She had a knee on his back. "I suppose out of your head is one way to have it." She smashed his face into the ground. "Don't make me do this..." Her voice sounded odd, was that last part towards him?

She didn't notice arms wrap around her from behind and pulling her back. She struggled. Skipper turned to see Rico squeezing her.

TW END- now it's just discussion.

Marlene and Private's faces appeared above him. They were talking, but his ears were ringing. Kitka slowed down. It appeared Kowalski gave her something to knock her out. Skipper passed out.

It was daylight when Skipper woke up. He heard voices in the main room and groaned, trying to get up. Private entered.

"Let me help you." Private said. Skipper gratefully accepted, putting an arm around Private. The younger teen had a stabilizing arm around the leader and led him out to the living room.

Skipper was placed on the couch and Rico immediately began tending to his injuries. Kowalski explained that they hadn't wanted to go to the hospital or press charges because he'd be questioned about the knockout drugs.

They had waited until it wore off and told Kitka that they had video evidence and if she ever tried anything like this again, they'd report her. She hurried off after that.

Marlene and Private had been monitoring Skipper all night and Marlene had just gone to take a shower.

"Did anyone else see what happened?" Skipper asked hoarsely.

"Julien, Josie, Clover, and Mikayla. We told them to stay inside, but they insisted on helping." Kowalski answered. "They won't spread any rumors."

"Good. Well that sucked...I gotta thank you though, boys. You're always there for me. I hope this doesn't discourage you about me going solo for things in the future."

"We won't be mother hens forever." Private said. Kowalski and Rico looked at him in confusion. "What? It's a saying."

There was a knock before Kowalski could respond. Julien, Josie, Marlene, Mikayla, and Clover had arrived.

"No guests." Skipper groaned.

"We just wanted to check in." Josie said.

"I'll live."

"Why do I feel like injuries will be a recurring theme?" Clover asked.

"Because they're them." Julien said. "It'll always be those four. At least you didn't get broken this time."

"Just my pride, Makyhira." Skipper said. "Though my nose almost broke."

"Jealous exes are so not worth anyone's time."

"What would she have been jealous of?"

Julien blinked in confusion, looking to Marlene. "Wait..."

"And this is where we leave." Josie said, pulling Julien away. Clover shrugged and followed.

"What do you mean they're not-?!" Julien's voice faded as Mikayla and Marlene entered the room.

"What was that about?" Skipper asked.

"Uh, well..." Marlene said. "They were annoying me about relationships. It seems like just because Rocky and Rikki graduated, doesn't mean their mission did."

"Their mission?" Mikayla asked.

"Skipper and Rico's older sisters decided they would play matchmaker and get us all crushes or relationships before we left high school." Kowalski said. "It seems that's been told to Josie and Julien. What's worse is, they want to make a playlist of relationships using mostly love songs and Rocky approves. Julien and Josie already started making and singing their relationship playlist."

"Did they make one for you and Rico?" Mikayla asked, much to Marlene's surprise.

"No, they don't know about us and Marlene didn't know." Kowalski sighed. Mikayla was about to apologize, but Kowalski interrupted her. "It's okay, I trust Marlene with this information."

"When did you guys get together?" Marlene asked.

"On my birthday. Rikki and Rocky know because Rikki was scolding Rico for not making his intentions clear. It was a rough start, but we're going good."

"Aww, that's sweet. That explains why your crush was brief...and why Rikki had to go mom mode on her brother."

"Does Julien think you like Skipper?" Private asked Marlene.

"Um...I guess he does...I haven't given him that impression though." Marlene said.

"I haven't given any impression either." Skipper agreed. "They should at least know when flirting is happening. Being concerned about a friend doesn't necessarily mean more than just best friends who've known each other for years."

"We've always been best friends and always will be." Marlene pulled out her phone. "Oh, I gotta go make sure the others know you're okay. All they know is you ran into trouble. See ya later." She left.

"If that wasn't a sign I don't know what was." Mikayla said.

"A sign of what?" Skipper asked.

Mikayla looked at him, then the other three. "I-"

"That was a lot to process. Can I have time to myself to rest?" Skipper asked.

"Sure." Mikayla said, giving him a bewildered look before leaving.

"I don't know what just happened and I don't want to talk about it." Skipper told his team.

"But-"

"Alright, Skipper, we won't talk about it." Kowalski cut across Private.

Skipper was fed, then they watched tv for a while. They reported to the organization what happened and were told that Kitka wasn't confirmed one of Blowhole's so she must have just been a jealous ex. They said that they could cover the knockout gas if they needed to report it, but the boys said they were fine.

Once Skipper had gone to bed, Private asked to talk to Kowalski and Rico.

"Why aren't we telling Skipper that Marlene likes him?" Private asked.

"We don't know that for certain."

"Yeah, we do. She's been flirting with him all term. Actually, I think it started last year or even when he started dating Kitka. Marlene was distant and not even tutoring him for a while."

"Either he hasn't picked up on it or he's not interested. She could simply have been annoyed by his puppy love and disregard for school while he was dating Kitka. I know I was annoyed."

"I think he tried flirting once but it came out wrong." Private said.

"Really? I don't remember."

"I remember. It was two years ago on Halloween and he said something about not liking Marlene's short skirt because it bothers him."

"Maybe he doesn't like seeing so much skin. Or he worried about his friend freezing in cold New York weather."

"Or maybe it didn't bother him, but he couldn't describe how he truly felt." Private's tone was of exasperation.

"Reading." Rico said.

"Yeah, maybe you're reading too much into it." Kowalski said. Rico nodded.

"I really don't think I am." Private said stubbornly. "Julien and Josie even think that they'd make a good couple."

"Julien and Josie also tried to skip the dating phase. Don't force it and maybe don't mention it."

"Kowalski..."

"How about this, we'll try to notice any hints without blatantly stating it and then we'll regroup and discuss?"

"Skipper won't like that we're talking about him though."

"You started this conversation, remember?"

"Yeah, but I don't know what we'd do next."

"Which is why we don't do or say anything. You didn't see anything."

Private sighed. "Fine."

They returned to their beds.

A/N: Do I sense Skilene on the horizon? Perhaps. I'm going to try to post twice a week until story's done.