Not a word was spoken on the long retreat back home. The moon was just starting to peak over the cityscape. Leading the penguins, Skipper marched with irritable, stiff movements. He was furious. His gaze was fixed on the path in front of him. He did not bat an eye toward the others behind them. If the others had stopped, he would never have noticed

The penguins returned from a highly delicate mission. The details of this mission remain classified and the parties involved should be mentioned at a later time. However, the result was obvious: they failed. Not only did the penguins lose, but their objective's location is completely unknown. It could be anywhere and be held by anyone.

Private was in the back of the group. His eyes were red and he was shaking. The youngest penguin glanced from his leader and back to the ground. His trembling flippers idled near his chest. He was terrified. A punishment would be due back at the HQ.

It was obvious as to what, or whom, caused them to fail.

He tried his hardest; really. Private felt he had done everything right. Yet the irremovable shame hung over him like dead weight.

Rico glared furiously at the penguin in question. He blamed Private for everything and the unforgivable stare only made him more timid. He recoiled, shrinking even lower and lower at the embarrassment. Rico made sure he felt this.

Kowalski, on the other hand, was the only one whose feelings were mild. Yes, they lost what was probably the most important assignment in months due to Private. However, many other missions have failed for numerous other reasons. This recent misstep with Private seemed to be garnering far too much attention. It was an honest mistake, nothing more.

He slowed down his walking, allowing Private to catch up alongside him. He rested a hand on the poor boy's shoulder, causing Rico to roll his eyes and walk faster. With Kowalski and Private alone in the back of the group, the analyst spoke, "There will always be miscalculations and mistakes. I wouldn't worry too much about it." His advice was very generic and plain. Despite his unparalleled strategic planning, he was terrible at these sort of affairs. "We've failed missions before, Private. Besides, we'll probably end up stealing it back and everyone will have forgotten this fiasco-ahem... misstep."

"Skippah doesn't think so," Private replied nervously.

"That-uh... no-...No he doesn't..."

"K'walski, am I in trouble?"

"Unfortunately that's not up for me to decide," Kowalski admitted.

Private felt unnerved by this. For the rest of the trek back, he stayed near Kowalski while feeling guilty for his mistake.

Eventually, the penguins made it through the gates to the Central Park Zoo and to their fake iceberg.

Marlene waved from her habitat, "Hey guys! How was your-" A sharp glare from Skipper followed by the ashamed faces of his comrades gave her a clear enough answer. "Okay then, I'll just be going."

The four finally arrived at their habitat. Private practically felt his bones rattling with fear at this point.

Skipper stopped, back still turned to the others. His gaze was off to the distant night sky overhead. "Boys, that's all for tonight. Dismissed."

The other three slowly shuffled towards the hatch. "Except you, Private." The littlest one stopped, quivering in fear. He hated being yelled at, even if it was just over something small.

Kowalski disobeyed his commander's orders. He stood firmly on the fake iceberg. His logic was that his presence might guilt Skipper into being not be as harsh. Seeing that no one was leaving, Rico joined him as well. He just wanted to see some violence, verbal or physical.

The air was dead silent. Private felt uncomfortable standing motionless. He had to twiddle his flippers and move his feet just to release some of the tension.

He knew what was coming. He thought he might as well ease the first blow. "S-Skippah... I-I'm really sorry about what happened a-and I promise it won't...uhm..."

"Private," Skipper finally spoke. The younger penguin jolted to attention. "I'm disappointed in you."

Private had been called names constantly, but those words were just so direct. So straight forward. They were just so matter of fact.

The leader turned to face the culprit, "Do you know what you did wrong?"

"I...uhm..."

"Do you know why we lost?!" Skipper was growing angrier. He tried to calm himself back down.

"I-I'm sorry I messed up. I-,wa-It was an accident."

"But it wasn't an accident. I wouldn't be angry if it was an accident, but this was completely intentional! When are you going to stop letting your feelings ruin the mission?"

Private was squirming where he stood and shrinking in on himself, "I-I-"

Skipper was stepping closer and closer as Private inched backwards, "You were right there. You could have gotten the objective but you let your feelings get in the way. And now, Hans or Blowhole could have it! We don't know who, though! It could be anywhere now!"

"I-I... I'm sorry," Private meekly cried, his eyes starting to water. Rico wished he had a bag of popcorn right about now.

This infuriated Skipper. "You're sorry? Is that all you have to say?!"

"I'm sorry, Skippah!"

Skipper raised his flipper. He had done this dozens, hundreds of times before, but never to this extent.

With unwavering eyes compared to the boy's pleading, terrified look, Skipper slapped Private across the face. Hard. The earth shattering crack stunned Kowalski and Rico. They both knew it was coming yet were still unsettled by the very act.

Private whimpered as he brought his flipper to his cheek. Tears streamed down his face as he softly sobbed. He has been hit all his life, but never struck. Furthermore, he could taste something funny in his mouth. It felt dirty as the rare substance swished around in his beak. It was blood.

Skipper shook his flipper trying to rid it of the painful sting of hitting him that hard.

He noticed the boy's sharp reaction. Usually, he would feel some form of regret or sadness, but not this time. Private's actions were inconsolable. Skipper lifted his other flipper towards him. "Private-..." he fumed. He struggled to retain his temper to continue this punishment. "Private, you are on momentary discharge from the HQ until I figure out what to do with you."

"W-w-what?" Private asked confused, still whimpering.

"You can find somewhere else to sleep, but you can't stay here." He turned and headed for the hole leading into the HQ, "Training begins at 0900. Sharp. Dismissed." Skipper climbed down into the iceberg, still visibly aggravated.

Out of sight of his leader, Private's crying intensified. His sobs grew louder and he shook more with each cry.

Rico shrugged and went back inside. Private messed everything up, right? So what if he got what was coming to him? These were Rico's views at least. Also, he was being a massive pansy.

Kowalski on the other hand sought for a way to comfort the youngest of their group. He never read anything dictating the standard response that dictated to such an act, nor did he comprehend the emotional stimuli that Private needed. He awkwardly waddled over. His hands were figitting.

"I, uh, Private..." he forced out, "Well, um. Hang in there."

Yeah. Smooth. This statement was obviously executed with the most unparalleled of slyness. After that whimsical advice, Kowalski uncomfortably shuffled back to the HQ and joined the others.

Private's crying did not cease. Abandoned by his friends, he felt utterly alone. He glanced hastily around the zoo. He had no idea who to see; who would help him?

He was afraid.

This was unusual. Skipper and the others were always there. Marlene seemed to join them at every outing. He never truly felt fearful on missions because of them. Yet... here he was on his own. Skipper wasn't done with his punishments yet either. There would be more top of that, he was temporarily homeless.

He tried to wipe up his tears, yet the sobbing continued.

"There has to be someone here who can help," he though optimistically. Yeah, they were all his friends, right? He could try the monkeys; the lemurs; maybe even Marl-"No, I... I can't ask her. I'll probably do something to mess that up somehow too. Oh buggah..." Besides, a quick glance at her habitat showed no signs of life. She had probably already gone to bed and Private did not want to be rude and wake her. And there was also that, well, other reason...

He began to wander around the zoo. The night sky overhead grew even darker as clouds blotted out the stars on the horizon. The young penguin would have to hurry.

His first stop was the closest: the chimpanzees. The penguin waddled within fifty feet of the exhibit before stopping, gagging, feeling as though his nose was on its death bed, and immediately absconded the other direction.

He stopped by Leonard the Koala's habitat next.

"Hello Leonard!" Private greeted cheerfully to the koala in his tree.

"No!"

"Wha-?"

"NOPE! No!"

"L-Leona-?"

"Not happening! I don't know what you want, penguin, and I don't care! All you cretins bring is destruction and chaos and mass hysteria!"

"Oh," Private replied dishearteningly, "S-sorry for disturbing you."

The next place on his list was the lemur habitat. As he approached, he was left with he beak gaped and mortified. Julian and Maurice were covered in tribal paint and dancing around an equally painted Mort who lay tied to the ground.

The penguin spoke awkwardly, "Uh... Julian?"

The mad king stopped his dancing, "Someone has stopped the royal ceremony, WHO HAS STOPPED THE ROYAL CEREMONY?!"

"H-hello..."

"Ohhehe, it is you flippered birdie who never shuts up," Julian greeted warmly. Private gasped in offense. "Well what is it? What to you need of being from the King? Can't you see we are a little busy?"

"I just wanted to know if-if I could, well... stay here for the night, if that's okay," he said twiddling his feet.

Maurice replied, "Yeah, sorry. Tonight's not a good night. We got this going on." He seemed less than enthusiastic and bored out of his mind.

"Um, what is this, if you don't mind me asking?"

Julian spoke as he began dancing again, "We are praying to the sky spirits to take Mort as an offering for eternal parties and for ridding us of annoyances and touchings of the feet!"

Private stood there. "...k."

Maurice responded, "We do this every Thursday."

"And the sky spirits will STILL not take him, eh?! What's wrong?! You don't like Mort?! Well, neither do I, but's beside the pointyness."

"I'm a sacrifice!" Mort gleefully yelled.

"We know," Maurice groaned.

"Oh dear," Private replied mortified. "S-s-so should I be going?"

"Yeah I think that's best," Maurice replied and then mouthed the words Save yourself!

"Augh! Maurice! Less chitchat and more pitpat-ted-ting with the feets!" Julian commanded.

"Yes your majesty..."

After that... encounter... Private went to the rest of the animals. Everyone was either asleep or flat out rejected. He even made the effort to ask Joey. Private was able to say two whole words before receiving an "UP YERS!".

Eventually, it grew close to midnight and Private still found himself homeless and alone. He became worried about what on earth he would do for the night. "Could it possibly get any worse?" he sighed to himself in defeat.

Almost on cue, the clouds overhead thundered as a light drizzle poured down.

plink

Marlene snapped out of her doze. It was the slightest of taps outside her habitat.

plink

Outside the rain loudly crashed onto every surface. The steady rainfall sounded more like a continuous note more than its usual patter. This tapping, though, stuck out. It sounded desperate, as if someone needed help.

"What the heck...?" Marlene muttered to herself as she neared the exit of her fake volcano. She gazed outside. The rain hazed over everything and it seemed impossible to venture a few feet without being completely soaked to the bone.

plink plink

"Oooohhh I don't want to get wet," she grimaced to herself. She was going to have to toughen up.

She prepared herself. "Okay, I'm just gonna run outside, take a quick glance around, then rush back inside. Yeah. Wooh. Good plan. Uh..." She closed her eyes and scrunched her face up, "One... two... two and a half... two and a half of a half..."

plink plink plink

She groaned, "Alright! Three!"

She sprinted out into the pouring rain. Her feet danced off the ground. Her arms stuck out in heightened response to the freezing water. "Coldcoldcoldcold," she muttered.

She made it to the other side of her volcano to find... "Private?" she said aloud.

The small penguin seemed not to have heard her. He stood on the other side of her habitat fence. He held small pebbles in his shaking hands. His entire body refused to stand still. He chucked a handful of pebbles at the volcano. Private began to give up hope and started to turn around.

"Private!" Marlene called out.

He turned, shocked by the sound of her voice.

He shivered, "C-c-c-c-an I come in? Please?"

"Private, why are on earth are you outside my house?"

"Skipper, he-he kicked me out," he struggled to say. "Can I come in?"

"Wh-oh, yeah! Uh, sure, just come right on in," she said with a considerate yet puzzled tone.

Private sighed in relief. He hardly expected her to come out for him. Speaking of which, even in the rain, she still had a mesmerizing shine to her, almost as if the sun was still shining through the stormiest weather.

After he ventured over her habitat fence, he shuffled his way to the other side of Marlene's volcano. The otter was already under the shelter of her volcano's tunnel by the time he made it inside.

He noticed how soaked she was, "S-sorry about this."

Drops of water fell from Marlene, soaking the floor as they walked towards her room. "Nope, no, no it's fine," she lied as her gaze fixed on the mess across her habitat. Finally she looked at the penguin in front of her. Private was completely soaked and was shivering violently. "Oh my gosh, Private, are you okay?"

The young penguin only replied with more shivering.

"How long have you been standing out there? My gosh, you must be freezing!"

Private smiled weakly and nodded. Actually, he's been much colder and in worse shape. In truth, something else was hurting him deeper inside which caused him to shake.

She grabbed the blanket from the other bed in her enclosure. She didn't really have a rag or a towel, so the miniature blanket was the next option. Marlene then wrapped the shivering penguin in the orange cloth.

He stood there; frozen. She acted so tenderly. Private reached for the blanket which crossed his chest. His flippers unknowingly rested on Marlene's paws. Her fur was soft to the touch. Private immediately felt his stomach begin to rise at the nervous excitement.

With the blanket wrapped around the shivering penguin, Marlene withdrew her hands.

"So, do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked sincerely.

It took him some time before he snapped back to attention. He shyly shook his head. He can't tell her. She'd feel bad then try to get involved. Skipper would get angrier at Private and then who knows what would happen. He didn't want to trouble her with his mess.

She began to experience minute feelings of rage. "What is wrong with him? In the morning, I'm gonna go over there and give him a piece of my mind."

"NO!" Private blurted out, "It was my fault. I messed up. It's okay. Please, please, don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? It would be no trouble and heh, I've been told I can be persuasive..." she said with a cocky smirk.

"I'm sure," he answered doubtfully. Her smile dissipated as he ironic humor just brushed right off him.

"Oh... ok..." she awkwardly responded.

"Y-yeah..."

"So... um, I guess I'll set up the guest bunk."

"Hm? Oh! I forgot. Um, I'm sorry I woke you up, Marlene."

"No no, it's fine," she muttered tiredly as she walked over to the other stone slab against the wall to the right of her bed. "Just gotta up the guest bunk," she yawned. "Guest bunk... why do I even have a guest bunk anyway? It's not like I have guests. Well, I do now. But why did they build it in the first place?"

Private felt awkward as he stood there with her incessant rambling taking place. He spoke, "Uhm...T-thank you for all this, though."

"Huh-wha-? Oh, Y-yeah! No problem. Just setting up the guest bed for the guests I don't have..."

With his host occupied, Private waltzed around her habitat noting all the different quirks and belongings she owned. The finger paintings of various New York landmarks and other zoo animals caught his attention. He noted the caricatures of the other four penguins and how, um... bloated... his was. "I'm not that tubby, am I?" he questioned as poked his jiggly stomach. Then he stopped when he saw something particular taped on the wall near her bunk. It was the photo booth roll of Marlene, Private, and the badgers.

He felt an inward disbelief followed by insurmountable glee from the photos.

"You kept this?" he said to her. He tried his hardest to keep his excitement down and remain obtuse.

"Hm?" Marlene replied turning, "Oh, yeah. Well, why wouldn't I? That was a lot of fun."

Private giggled, "We sure showed those badgers, didn't we, Marlene?"

"Riiiiiight. I'm gonna be honest, it's about a quarter past way too late so..."

"Oh. Right. S-sorry Marlene."

The otter crawled into to her bunk while Private nestled in between the sheets. The penguin lay still for a while, eyes directed towards the ceiling before saying, "Have you ever had a slumber party, Marlene?"

She awoke groggily and assumed Private meant something else, "I'm sorry, what?"

"You know, a slumber party?"

"If you count a three-hundred pound walrus, sure."

"Oh, that's right. I don't really think it counts with the others though. Hehe, I guess this is my first slumber party."

"That's nice, Private. That's nice," she halfheartedly replied as she drifted off.

A few minutes passed before the silence was interrupted. "Psst... Psssssst... Marlene? Are you awake?" Private whispered.

"No..."

"Marlene...Do you ever wonder-"

"Private! Can we just... go to sleep...?"

"R-right. Sorry, Marlene," the penguin blushed as he replied.

Private lay back in his bunk. His brief guilty blush was replaced with the terrifying realization of what was to come tomorrow morning. He messed up royally; there was no denying that. He no doubt would be suffering from it for some time. But his squad mates couldn't keep this up forever, could they? Maybe the others wouldn't look at him the same after that. Maybe they'd baby him forever... The thought flushed his face red and he grew hot with anticipated embarrassment. His eyes were watering already.

He quickly dried his face and felt ashamed with his state. "Just listen to Princess Goodia. Just try to think happy thoughts" he lied to himself as he cowered in his sheets. "Think about Peanut Butter Winkies and Lunacorns and a cool breeze on a summer day and Shakespeare and Marlene..."

His eyes shot open at that last thought. His thoughts seemed so loud that Marlene surely heard him. He rolled over and, to his relief, found her still asleep. His heartbeat echoed seemingly throughout the entire cave.

He relaxed back in his bunk. Finding comfort in his solidarity, he thought about the otter ten feet away. He thought about the eccentric, sarcastic way she carries herself. He thought about the way she smirks whenever she knows she's right. He thought about how she always makes his heart all tingly and happy inside.

Despite tomorrow's inevitable fears, Private drifted off to sleep with a smile.