A.N. - Hey everyone! Welcome back! However, I'm going to recommend that you go back and re-read the last chapter of A Scientific Conundrum, because after it was brought to my attention that I had accidentally dropped a few plot strings, I went back and made major edits. Sorry about the inconvenience! Super excited to be starting book 3!

Chapter 1: Pizza Peace-Treaty

Had it really been three weeks since he had gone off the radar? He hadn't intended to be gone so long. Maybe a week tops, but three?

To be fair, it was hard to keep track of time while in the ocean…without his phone. His mother, not wanting him to leave again, also slowed up his getting back home. All in all, though, it was needed time away for some self-reflection and mending fences between him, Doris, his mother, and their pod. Of course, that was far from over, but he had made a start at least.

Now though, Blowhole was approaching the penguin habitat with a pizza in flipper. Surely the lobsters had sent his message to Kowalski, right? Maybe he won't be too upset about how long he had been away. However, if he was, then they'll talk it out.

There's…Probably a lot they needed to discuss now, anyway.

He paused outside the door for the larger entrance into the HQ. Sighing deeply, he knocked.

After a few minutes, the door was opened by young Private who gasped at the sight. "So you ARE still alive."

"...Yes?" He offered the pizza down. "And I brought pizza?"

Private looked at him and his pizza before nodding and opening the door for him. "I don't have any current orders saying not to let you in."

"That's reassuring." He nodded politely at him as he rolled past. He knew the way to the lab, after all…But he had another stop to make first.

Blowhole rolled into the main room of the HQ and sat the pizza down on the table. "This is for you peng-u-ins to share." He motioned while giving a look to Rico. He may not know the other penguins as well…But something about him gave him the feeling that he might not be as prone to sharing as his brothers.

The lab door then opened with Skipper stepping out and coming to a full stop as the door shut behind him. "Well. You've got a lot of nerve, don'tcha?"

"It's nice to see you too, Skipper." The dolphin eyed him. "...I brought a peace offering." He motioned again to the pizza.

He looked at the pizza and then at him. "While your pizza's accepted, I'm not sure you really want to visit Kowalski right now if you value your life." He crossed his flippers.

"...Is he upset?"

"Yeah you could say that." He waddled past him to the pizza before looking up. "You were a decent arch…But I can't say it was nice knowing you, sea devil."

Blowhole rolled his eye at that. "You're hilarious, a real comedian." He shook his head and very quietly opened the lab door and rolled inside.

Kowalski was standing over by a porthole window, looking out it and appeared completely oblivious to him. "Francis, you drive me crazy. I hope you realize that." He sighed, scratching at his flipper.

"Oh do I?"

He spun around and gawked at him. "WHERE THE—" he sputtered, waddling over.

"I just came in. I haven't been here long." He stated, though cautiously eyeing the approaching bird. He had to admit, he didn't look very happy to see him.

Kowalski jumped onto the Segway, shimmying up onto the console before crossing his flippers, staring him down. "Where have you been? Why didn't you tell me? Even a simple, 'hey I lived, be back soon'?"

"I lost my phone in the ocean. I wasn't expecting to be gone so long."

The peng-u-in jumped up, now standing on his chest as Blowhole leaned back. "And you couldn't have even sent a lobster to deliver a message?" He narrowed his eyes.

He motioned to the computer. "I did! Didn't you get the CD?"

"NOT UNTIL TODAY!"

"Not until…" His eye widened. "Oh Neptune, Jan, I am so sorry. They were supposed to have given that to you weeks ago."

"Do you know how worried I've been? I couldn't track you; I had no indication for weeks that you survived. I was starting to think, maybe you weren't, or flounder! Maybe you had even ghosted me!"

Blowhole lost his balance, falling back from his Segway. He rubbed his head, still looking at his understandably upset boyfriend. "I understand that you're—"

"—Not yet! Not yet you don't, Francis!" Kowalski now was very close to his face. "This is after you strongly borrowed from ideas of mine, something highly hypocritical of you, with how much you complain about this behavior from others. This is after I think I might lo—like you…a lot." He stepped back, looking away and shaking his head. "You just…You don't understand."

Blowhole was silent for a moment as he watched him. "I'm semi-retiring from villainy."

"…What?" He turned and looked at him again.

"I'm cutting back on my world domination schemes. I'm not…Stopping completely, I can't. If I did that…Then some other villain would try to usurp my territory…Plus, I have to keep my position as Skipper's arch, I think he'd be pretty depressed if I fully left the villain thing." He sat up.

"Francis, I…I don't know what to say."

"Just, let me continue, please."

Kowalski nodded, sitting down on his belly.

"I told the lobsters to give you the CD after I decided I was going to spend some time with Mother and Doris. I talked with Mother a lot about this…And did some self-reflection." He sighed, looking away. "I didn't like seeing the hurt in your eyes back on the last mission. I started all of this as revenge against the humans for the pain they caused my family and I…And I just…I got caught up in it, and I don't know. That was me for several years, but this past time…It didn't…I didn't like how I felt. And I didn't like how it hurt you either."

The peng-u-in tilted his head.

"I didn't feel like someone who had ruined their competition's sales, or wreaked havoc upon New York…In all honesty, I did feel like ocean scum." He snorted, shaking his head. "I haven't cared much about the opinions of others for a long time…But I guess I do care about your opinion now." He then eyed him.

"You…Care about my opinion? If you're spending less time on villainy, what about your lairs? Your minions and agents?"

"Oh, they still have jobs to do. I have my technology company and I'm sure I'll always have missions for the agents. After all, you four aren't my only enemies, as I'm not your only one either." He chuckled slightly. "As for the lair, renovations are mostly finished on my old Coney Island one. I decided I wanted to move closer again…That two and a half hour drive is just too long. One hour away is at least a little more convenient."

Kowalski nodded at this, furrowing his brows in thought. "…I am glad you're alright, Francis…I'm sorry about my initial reaction."

"Don't be. I deserved it." He leaned back onto his flippers, looking at him. "…But are you possibly free today that we can go, I don't know, get something to eat?"

"I thought you had pizza?" He raised a brow.

"No, I just got one to broker a peaceful entry past your brothers."

Kowalski chuckled at that. "Yeah, that'd do it." He then smiled at him. "Also, yes, I'd like that very much."

"Think you can be ready in ten?"

"Ten minutes? Francis, the zoo is still open. It's daytime."

"I'm aware."

Kowalski blinked at him as he digested this concept. "Alright then, uh, give me fifteen." He stepped off of him to the floor. "Do you need help up?"

"Yeah, or you can just tip the Segway down enough for me to reach." He nodded, holding out a flipper.

The peng-u-in then hopped on the Segway enough to tip it over for Francis to get on again.

"Okay, I'm going to take a shower then I'll be ready…I guess you can go bother Skipper in the meanwhile?" He offered as he waddled over to the lab door.

"I do enjoy a good bothering of Skipper." He chuckled, watching as Kowalski waddled off to their showers. Blowhole then rolled out and observed the others and their pizza.

Oh he could pester the little peng-u-ins, but perhaps since Kowalski's already upset with him, he should somewhat behave himself. Awkward house guest it is then.

"Looks like he spared you." Skipper glanced up.

"I'm definitely in the dog house, but he is letting me live, yes." He side eyed him. "Disappointed?"

"You planning to make it up to him?"

"Of course, I'm taking him out to eat."

"Good, but that's not enough to get you out of the dog house."

The dolphin straightened himself to get a better look at the flat-headed penguin. "I'm not sure I trust you…But go on."

Skipper sighed, setting down his slice of pizza. "Look. I don't like you dating Kowalski…But as long as you're treating him right and keeping him happy, then I'm tolerating it." He looked him straight in the eye. "So I'm only helping you because I've seen how upset he's been these past three weeks, pining after you like some stray cat. Got it?"

Blowhole looked away and nodded. "Yeah…I understand."

"So all that info you've got on him from those dates you ain't counting, put it to use wooing him, alright?" He gave him a look. "Now I know he has a tendency to babble on and on, and I have a bad habit of tuning it out, after twenty years of hearing it and not half understanding a word he's saying. I don't speak nerd, but you do. So you listen to that nonsense he's babbling about and take notes, because he'll tell you exactly what he likes and wants, you just got to listen."

"I do listen to him…He's actually pretty interesting." He looked at him. "More interesting than I admittedly initially expected."

"Yeah, I always thought you were more into jocks."

The dolphin rolled his eye. "Don't let Costa Rica go to your head. I've mainly dated sharks. They look tough, but they're really a bunch of wimps."

"Probably why you get bored of them, ain't it?"

"…Yeah." He crossed his flippers, looking away. "They're pretty predictable. I don't know how that chicken enemy of yours finds Kowalski so predictable, because he simply isn't."

"Blue? Eh, there's some things he can be pretty predictable on, you just haven't been around him enough yet. Blue just stalked us and took detailed notes for calculations. You'll start to get a handle on him eventually…But unlike a shark, he's not going to swim away with his tail between his legs when you get mad."

"No, nor is he afraid to call me out on things either…I do kind of like that about him. Red One is my only minion brave enough to make an attempt, and he still chickens out. Parker speaks his mind."

"But Parker is Parker."

"Yeah, exactly. Kowalski is afraid of many things, but even at my worst I'm not—" He paused and looked over towards the shower room, squinting. "…Is he singing?"

"Probably if he's in the shower. He usually does."

Blowhole turned as though to roll closer, but Skipper grabbed the Segway.

"You already gave him one heart attack today, let's not terrorize him in the shower too, alright?"

"I'm not, I just wanted to listen."

Skipper shook his head. "I'm sure he'll be out in a minute."

The dolphin sighed dramatically. "Fine."

However, a moment later a screech of "GOOD GALILEO!" grabbed both of their attention.

"I'll check on that; you stay." Skipper pointed at him before sliding off to the shower room.

Blowhole sighed and looked at the other two penguins. Behaving was hard, how do these guys do it so often? He leaned on his flipper on the handlebars of his Segway. This was definitely going to take time to adjust to.

Maybe he and Parker can come up with a side hobby, like robbing a bank once a month or something? It's been a long time since they've done much together, some heists could be good for patching up their own friendship.

"Sorry, it took a little longer than fifteen due to some unexpected circumstances." Kowalski cleared his throat as he waddled into the room, now wearing a green argyle sweater vest.

Blowhole looked over with a raised brow. "Nice sweater. I'm guessing your feathers are still kinda thin?"

"Not exactly." He frowned. "It seems that my stressing over you has thrown off my molting cycle, but the sweater covers the thin patches."

"Oh." He glanced at Skipper before looking back at Kowalski. Okay, how to navigate this without upsetting him again?

"Well, as I said before. It's a nice sweater and I think it looks very handsome on you."

Nailed it.

"How does Italian sound to you?"

"I'm game for it, though I'm more interested in where we're possibly going during the day?" Kowalski smiled slightly.

"Don't worry about it; I know a place."