Rico swung his prepared backpack on, bid everyone farewell, and hurried back. He was wondering if he was following the instructions clearly when he thought he was getting closer. He didn't hear anything and Julien had been going on about wanting to host an all day beach party.

The town was empty, or so it looked. No one was in sight, no sound was heard, and the bad gut feeling increased. He assumed he'd have been able to at least hear music from the beach as Julien's loudness would allow for that. His phone showed only one message from Skipper saying he hadn't gotten an answer from anyone.

The tracking device he'd given Clover indicated she was still with Julien and the others at the house. Should he call out? Probably not. He walked through the ghost town towards the house, hoping to hear Julien preparing for the party.

One of the first things he noticed was the garden had been stomped through. The door was wide open and by the looks of it, forcibly. Heart beating fast, he steeled himself and entered the house.

He tried not to yelp when he saw someone lying on the ground. Trying to control his breathing, he cautiously approached the person.

No. NO! He wanted to scream. He was panicking, breaths getting shallower. Were they audible? Losing it. Maurice's was beaten up and bloody. He looked like a battered Kowalski...like Skipper had when we found him in the abandoned house...Kowalski dying...Skipper...dead...My fault...all of them...gone...

GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF, SOLDIER!

Skipper's voice in his head brought him back.

A shaky breath cleared the tunnel vision slightly. He hoped no one heard.

Check his pulse and evaluate his injuries.

Oh yeah, thanks Kowalski.

Rico felt for a pulse, a wave of relief washed over him when he felt the slow and steady beat. There were bruises and scrapes, and what looked like lacerations from a knife, but no stab or gunshot wounds. It wasn't ideal, but Maurice would be alright as soon as he received medical help.

A high pitched whimper reached his ears.

"Shut up already!" A voice hissed. "Stupid child."

Mort's alive. Focus on that. Private's voice in his head said.

Rico slowly approached the sound of shuffling steps, recording it on his watch. It sounded like someone started pacing. Then the sound of urgent, whispering voices came. He didn't know what they were saying.

"Please let them go, they're just children." Julien Sr's voice pleaded.

Children? So, either Clover or Julien is alive too. That's good.

Yes, Private, but I need to know what to do now.

Rico, we're not really there. It's what you think we would have said. Trust Kowalski to supply logic even when he's not there.

Stay low, stay quiet, and trust your gut instinct. Just try not to lose control.

Ok, Skipper.

"My dear son, what have I done to make you angry?" Grandma Makyhira's voice sounded heartbroken.

"Conform." Dom said angrily. "Why...why did you continue to live like this after everything that's happened to our family?"

"You mean more than a hundred years ago?" Julien Sr said.

"We had it all, we could have gotten the throne back. Don't you want to be king, nephew?"

Julien Jr whimpered, but didn't respond. Rico was both relieved and terrified. Were Clover and Claire okay?

"History is bloody and messy, but we can learn from it. We can adapt and change. That's what our ancestors did-"

"No, dear brother, they ran away like cowards."

"They went to our family who already lived in India. They went to a safe place-"

"While others died. You had to see what they were doing to us." Ok, that sounds insane. Literally, his voice sounds- Can it, Kowalski, I'm trying to listen here!

"Doing? Currently? What are you talking about?"

"You had to see...I helped your family and you're ungrateful..."

"Helped?"

"So many stupid questions..."

"Maybe we could chat better if you relax-GET THAT GUN OUT OF MY FACE!"

Rico's heart pounded, blood rushed to his ears. The faint voices of his team were the only thing stopping him from trying to rush in there.

You don't rush this boss, you have to load up and strategically dodge until you find an opening.

Kaboom!

That's actually the harder way, Rico. Think about it, what do you have on you?

What do I have? The noises in his head subsided as he carefully and quietly searched his bag. Ooo, blowgun with knockout darts. Now I need a plan. Kowalski, options?

Again, I'm in your head. Though...one idea's coming up and-no it's stupid. Don't do it.

Imma do it

I literally cannot stop you.

Rico edged back out and knocked on the front door.

"Pizza!" He called out. I really think you should have fleshed out this plan.

Kowalski, lives are on the line and he's Rico. Godspeed.

I can't watch.

Private, you're not-never mind

"What the-? You, go check!" Dom snapped. "None of you idiots move!"

Rico hid around the side of the house as a man came out, holding a gun. The man walked towards the front door, intentionally kicking Maurice as he passed.

The man was confused when he saw no one outside.

"Yoo-hoo."

"Wh-ah!"

Rico chuckled softly as the man was hit by the dart and fell down. He dragged the man out of sight and took the small gun.

Should have used a rifle. Rico thought.

A gun's a gun. Just be careful.

Aye, Skipper.

"Hey, what's going on out there?" Dom asked.

He's not telling anyone else to go. Rico thought. Did he really only bring one backup guy?

A pained groan sounded.

"Clover, he has a gun." Julien Jr squeaked.

Clover didn't reply.

"I wanna go home." Mort whimpered. "The ropes hurt..."

"That's the point, I'm making you suffer you unwashed gremlin." Dom snarled.

"Me? What did I do?"

What happened next was probably a result of facial expressions that Rico didn't see.

"Dom. Did you...are you the reason Mort's parents died?" Julien Sr asked.

"They were too nosy. Too happy. They, along with that dumb girl, were in the way of my plans."

"Girl? Maurice's sister? You killed her?! Why? She was just a kid, trying to make a name for herself." Claire said.

"For being too close to you, Claire. You just HAD to insist on trying to adopt these street kids."

"Maurice and Rosalind deserved a home. How were they detrimental to your plan?"

"Rosalind was a no good, nosy, perceptive b-"

"She was like a sister to me!" Julien Jr yelled. He probably did so to spare Mort hearing the swear. "They were my siblings..."

Rico heard a shifting noise and looked back to see Maurice's pained face, his eyes wide open and filled with tears. Rico made a shush gesture. Maurice nodded.

"Where is that idiot?" Dom grumbled. "Should have brought more backup...can't just trust one guy with a gun, can you?" He stomped to the door, Rico ducked into the next room while Maurice closed his eyes and pretended to still be out. "Hey, what's-your-name, get back in here!"

"He could be dead and you don't even know his name?!" Julien Jr yelled out.

"Why should I care, nephew? Don't you remember the stories I told you? The king has it all, why should commoners matter?"

"What good is a king without a kingdom? Friends, people to trust, people to help you, why would a kingdom want a tyrant? I'd rather be a benevolent king."

"Violence makes people fear. Fear makes them obey. Hm...friends..." Dom scoffed. He looked at Maurice. "You don't need these people, nephew." He raised the gun, aimed and clicked.

Maurice's eyes opened curiously, he saw the weapon pointed at him and yelped.

"MAURICE?! WAIT, NO! DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!" Julien Jr screamed.

"MAURICE!" Mort yelled, he started crying loudly.

In a split-second decision, Rico got the jump on the man and yanked his arm back over their heads.

BANG!

The bullet hit the wall. Rico had no time for other reactions, just pulling the man down to the ground.

THUMP

The distant sounds of the others screaming were growing faint as blood rushed in his ears again. Not even the voices of his team were heard.

They grunted as they fought, the gun had fallen somewhere.

Survive

Rescue the captives

Don't die

Save them

Live

Protect

Pain

Defend

PAIN

GET AWAY

Red

Blood red

KILL

DESTROY

"HIIIYA!" The man was thrown off him. He slowly got up.

"Got 'em! Rico, you okay?"

Shadow...it was a shadow in his tunnel of red. He growled.

"Uh-oh. Maurice, free them and keep them in the room. Rico, it's me, Clover. Rico? Remember you're a Penguin. There are civilians, Julien Makyhira and his family. They need you to help them. You're one of the good guys-that's a knife! Whoa!"

Why was the shadow trying to talk to him?

Clover yelped as she dodged Rico, trying to snap him out of his bloodlust. She yelled for someone to call the Penguins. Maurice said Julien was on it. He'd untied everyone.

He pushed her into the wall and burst into the room, causing the people inside to scream.

"Rico, wait! I have Skipper on the phone!" Julien put his phone on speaker and squeaked as Rico slowly approached.

"Rico, stand down!" Skipper said.

"AGH!" Rico had been jumped from behind by Clover. She grunted as he tried to break free of her grip.

"Rico, please." Kowalski said. "We're your friends. Your family. Rico, it's us. It's me."

"Remember your calming techniques!" Private said. "I know the song was annoying-"

"It may work."

"What are you waiting for? Sing it!" Skipper said.

Private cleared his throat and began to sing, trying to stay calm himself. "Come along and sing a song. We will help you to stay calm. When you feel anger wiggle, calm it with a jolly giggle. And when your blood starts to rise. Hide it with a smile disguise!"

Private. It's...Private. Singing that song...wait...where am I?

Now all three boys started to sing the song again. Even Julien and Mort were joining in. Rico's breathing was shaky now. Clover loosened her grip, then let go once he didn't try to throw her off.

"I-I'm-" Rico trembled.

Julien put on a friendly smile. "Hey, don't worry. You were just trying to protect-LOOK OUT!"

Everyone screamed again. Rico and Clover ducked.

BANG!

Screams surrounded them. Rico could barely register someone collapsing when he turned to face the shooter. Dom was standing there, wide eyed, as if he hadn't meant to shoot. Taking advantage of this, Rico knocked him off balance and took the gun. Dom tried to snatch it back, but Rico hit him with the butt of the gun and the older man was knocked out.

Rico turned the safety on, carefully handed the gun to Clover, and looked back to the tightly assembled family who was panicking. They ran in and out for medical supplies. Rico tied up Dom as the family was trying to treat Julien Sr.

"Mort, go make sure the police are coming." Clover ordered. Mort wanted to say no, but he saw the pleading expression. The young teen couldn't help but cry as he ran out.

"S-stop. Stop it. I-I'm dying...just...be with me." Julien Sr wheezed. He had been sat on the couch, his mother crying as she cradled his head in her lap. Julien Jr and Claire were knelt down in front of him.

Maurice had been sat in a chair by Clover, his leg was broken and he'd overused it hobbling to the next room. He had his face buried in his hands and he shook silently. Clover had a hand on Rico's shoulder. He was pale and felt horrible.

"My darling, my love, isn't there anything I can do?" Claire asked through her tears.

"Take care...of yourselves...Julien...Julien, m'boy..."

"Y-yes, Dad?"

"'M so...so proud of you..."

"I-"

"Claire...my will...letters...take care...family...ma reine..."

Claire broke again, she held onto him as his breathing became more labored.

I could have saved him. Rico thought. Tears welled up at the family's cries.

"H-he's gone..." Clover whispered to Rico.

He died because I ducked. He died because I couldn't control myself.

"'M sorry." Rico said weakly.

"What?"

"My fault...I-"

At that moment, the police arrived with an ambulance. The paramedics tried to perform CPR, but they knew they were too late.

...

Rico was avoiding people. He ignored calls from his team as he tended the garden. Everyone else was inside, he figured he probably was doing the least amount of damage upon everything else he did.

Clover had been trying to tell Rico that it wasn't his fault, but he wasn't hearing any of it. He was pretty sure his team was telling him the same thing. He would know if he didn't take his phone and watch and shove them at the bottom of his backpack.

Everything made him feel guilty. The grief on the family's faces. The horror and trauma young Mort saw, which clearly had an impact on him. Maurice walking around with his new cane since he'd suffered permanent nerve injury.

Lalitha Makyhira was as devastated as her daughter in law and grandson. She'd always expected to outlive her sons. She never expected anything like this.

Mort could only try to be a positive light in their lives. Though Julien was numb to everything, and the young teen could only do so much. Clover and Maurice were definitely overwhelmed even if neighbors and the housekeeper pitched in more than normal.

Four days later, Clover had enough waiting around. Maurice had been trying to get her to let Rico go through grief in his own way. She cornered him on his way out of the bathroom, blocking his exit.

"You need?" Rico asked.

"No. I need you to answer the bloody phone." Clover growled, showing her phone with Skipper's name on it. "They've been calling you nonstop and now they're calling me. I'm done with playing nice. I get it, we're in mourning, but we need help. Maurice and I have been making sure everyone's eating and taking care of themselves. Mort can only do so much and Maurice is injured. A large portion of the responsibilities are on me. Why's that then? Why do I have to shoulder that much when there's another able bodied person in the house who's older than Mort. You're nineteen, an adult, start joining in on the adult responsibility around here. It's horrible what happened, I know, but that's no reason to skulk off and not even be there for your friend in his time of need."

"Tell him sum'n." Rico said, pointing at the phone. "Quit."

"You...quit? But-I-gah! Why?"

Rico nodded. "Danger. My fault."

"You weren't the one with a gun."

"Dodged."

Clover's jaw dropped. "Wh-ab-bu-huh? You can't be serious."

"Should been me-"

WHAM!

"OOF!"

Rico had noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, but didn't expect the speed and strength. He especially hadn't expected Julien to knock the wind out of him. He stumbled back and fell on his butt, gasping for air.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!" Julien screamed.

Rico looked up at him. For once in his life, he was terrified of someone he knew well. One couldn't blame him, Julien had such fury the likes of which no one had ever seen.

"Julien-"

"Ah-no, Clover. This is between us. You-" He stopped. His expression seemed to soften upon looking at the vulnerable form of the toughest of the Penguins. "What is this? Some sort of death wish? Do you actually want to die?"

"N-no." Rico said.

"Well my dad wouldn't have wanted it to be you. Or anyone else. He didn't wanna die either, but he certainly didn't want us or you or anyone else caught in his problems. I-I am not going to hurt you. I wanted to, but-" Julien sighed, holding out his hand. "I was reminded of the day you got ganged on. The entire time in which they turned on you. In which I fueled a lot of that-that-"

"Mob mentality?" Clover suggested. "Also sounds like you were egging them on."

"Yeah, that-egging? Is that like a British thing? Eh-anyway-yeah, I hated the idea that it got you hurt. That it almost got you killed. I know you aren't trying to make this about you. It sort of feels that way. I just need you. I need everyone, including you and the other three. I need support. You need support. Is this making sense? I am not used to the advising."

"We're all pretty traumatized."

"Yeah." Rico sighed, taking Julien's hand. Julien grunted as he helped Rico up.

"I am nowhere near as strong as you." Julien said. "But even the strongest can break. You gotta know yourself...ok, now I think I'm going into subjects beyond my knowledge."

"Sorry. I will be...better friend."

"As will I, friend."

CRASH!

"I'm okay!" Mort said. "But I don't think the chair is!"

"The chair? He was just supposed to get a bag of rice from the pantry." Julien said, rolling his eyes. They went to see what Mort did now, Rico feeling much more prepared to help around the house.

Rico brought up the concern of his loss of control, asking aloud if that made him a monster now. Everyone refused to accept that, telling him that it happened and if he was concerned it was going to cause issues, he should see a professional.

Claire was trying to process everything while preparing to get counseling for the family. Rico didn't have time for any sessions once she'd found someone, so she got him one in New York and didn't allow him to refuse because of the cost.

...

Skipper made him go in December.

Rico couldn't tell the therapist exactly why he'd been there, just that he happened to want to accompany his friends and help Clover protect the family. His story was that he'd gone to explore the jungle because Julien had told him to take a break when the incident happened.

The therapist was interested in Rico's descriptions of his blind rage. Some of his symptoms did line up with it being a disorder known as intermittent explosive disorder. Once Kowalski had researched it, he wondered if he would ever be impacted as a victim of abuse. Part of Rico liked the fact that it had the word explosive in it, but also knew to take it seriously.

He joined a therapy session to ask this. The therapist said that it was highly likely as he'd already shown increased strength when Kowalski described the last encounter with his father. She said that as long as they stick to their coping mechanisms, they should be able to calm themselves enough to think.

Julien wasn't returning for the rest of the semester. He kept in touch with the boys to let them know how things were going. His uncle's attempted takeover had been dissolved. He had been mostly on his own. Clemson had ditched him weeks prior, which was why Dom was past his patience and anger limits.

Julien Sr's will dictated that everything was to go to his son once he came of age. Claire had not wanted much in her life, just a happy family. She was fine with her son inheriting all that the patriarch had.

It was a lot. Julien was now in charge of the business his dad had founded. He hadn't ever realized how much his dad did for the community. He basically remade the school, which had been very old and run down back in his day, and actually had the apartments built. He'd also known George Sorenson longer than anyone, including Skipper, had realized.

George finally admitted something that no one had expected coming. Julien Sr had saved his life when they were both nineteen. After getting over the initial shock of the two being the same age, Skipper asked for the story.

His father didn't want to tell it without Julien. It was something that not even Claire or Sapphire knew fully.

The most stunning turn of events was that Julien and Josie had broken up. Well, were taking a break. Josie didn't understand most of it, really, just that he had a lot going on and he couldn't be committed to a relationship at the moment. Kowalski tried to ask about the situation when he sent homework, but Julien wasn't having any of it.