And here we are, at the last chapter of the story. Sad day, I know, but all good things must come to an end at some point, or else you don't appreciate them as much.
Anyways, let's just get going with this. The chapter will be a little rushed, but not as action exciting as previous ones.
Honestly, when Private had said that he was going to call his uncle, Skipper and Kowalski couldn't tell whether he was being serious or not. Because, seriously, they needed the police or an ambulance or something useful like that. What help would Private's uncle be able to supply?
Apparently, a lot of help, considering the fact that he's a stinking spy!
Skipper still had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea, that Private's uncle was a spy. Even though they were currently at C.E.N.T.R.A.L.'s New York spy headquarters, part of Skipper still had a hard time believing that this was really happening. The other part of him believed all right, and thought it was totally awesome and wanted nothing more than to explore the headquarters.
But, he wouldn't, he couldn't. At least, not yet. Skipper wasn't going to do anything until he made sure that Hans was alright.
After Private had called his uncle, it hadn't taken long for some of C.E.N.T.R.A.L.'s spy agent whatever guys to show up. The first thing the agents had done was secure Deilf, who, in fact, wasn't dead. Rico shooting him hadn't been lethal, though it did do some serious damage to Deilf's spinal cord, and it was likely that the guy would be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life.
After making sure Deilf wasn't going to get away, the agents had captured Dave and any straggling gang members. Deilf had been their first priority though, because, apparently, he was one of their most wanted enemies.
Not much longer after that, the agents brought them all back to their headquarters. Deilf, Dave, and his gang were thrown into their holding cells in the basement, and the same thing nearly happened to Hans too, because they apparently saw him as a 'threat'. Which, you know, Skipper kinda understood that, because Hans could be dangerous sometimes. But not enough to have to be locked up.
It was only because of Private that Hans hadn't been tossed into one of those holding cells. Private, who always saw the good in everybody, could tell, like Skipper could, that Hans had his problems, but wasn't a bad person. Not really. Private had talked to his uncle and convinced him to not lock Hans up.
This didn't mean that Hans was entirely off the hook, as the agents will be keeping a close eye on him. Now that, Skipper could live with. Besides, maybe having people constantly watching his every move would finally get Hans to behave himself...maybe.
While Skipper agreed that Hans' should have somebody watching him, he still wasn't entirely happy with this situation. Mostly because it was taking forever for these stupid agents to decide that he could actually see his brother who, while not in one of those cells, was being held in a room temporarily while they tried to figure out what exactly they were going to do with him.
Finally, after what felt like forever to Skipper, who wasn't a very patient guy, Private's uncle let him into the room where Hans was. The two brothers were going to be allowed to talk...just as long as Private's uncle was behind them, listening to their every word.
Having an eavesdropper would normally bug the heck out of Skipper, but right now he really couldn't care less. He was just glad to see that Hans was okay. The second that Skipper entered into the room and Hans saw him, the Dane beamed brightly. As he always did whenever he saw Skipper, Hans ran forward and tackled Skipper into a hug. He usually hated it when Hans did this, now, however, Skipper found himself more than happy to return the embrace.
This rare moment of intimacy didn't last very long, as Skipper soon ended the embrace and instead whacked the back of Hans' head.
"Ow." Hans winced and rubbed his head. "What was that for?"
"You're such an idiot." Skipper scolded. "What the heck were you thinking, trying to take on Savio by yourself? You know better than I do that you're no match for him."
Hans frowned. "I was just trying to stop Savio from hurting Rico." He muttered.
"Yeah, I know. Private told me about that." Skipper smirked. "You know, I've been wanting you to take responsibility for your mistakes for years now. I would have prefered it, though, if your taking responsibility didn't involve you almost dying."
Hans' frown deepened and he rubbed his hand lightly over his neck which, Skipper was not happy to see, was pretty badly bruised.
"Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you've finally started doing some good. I just hope that this wasn't just a fluke, but you actually starting to pick up your act." Skipper joked. He expected Hans to at least smile at that, but no, nothing.
Hans scowled. "Good? I didn't do good. It was because of me that Rico and Private were in danger in the first place. I lured Rico out, just because Deilf told me to."
"And because you were scared to go against him. We both know you didn't want anybody to get hurt." Skipper insisted. "And yeah, you made a mistake, nothing new there. But you shouldn't beat yourself up over it. You did what you could to fix things, and honestly, I'm...I'm proud of you."
Hans' eyes widened. "You are? But I thought that you hated me."
"Hate you? I've never hated you. Been seriously annoyed and angry at you, but never hate." Skipper said.
Hans grinned and once again attacked Skipper by means of hugging. And Skipper, once again, let him. Sure, Skipper wasn't a big fan of this mushy intimate stuff, but for his brother, Skipper would be willing to make an exception every once and awhile.
Their moment was interrupted when a really distressed looking agent came through the door in a hurry. He ignored the two boys and turned to Private's uncle.
"Nigel, we need you downstairs. Now!" The agent said. "We don't know how, but Blowhole, he's escaped."
"He's what?!" Nigel didn't waste any time running out of the room to go check on the situation. Skipper and Hans shared a brief glance before running off after him. They wanted to know what was going on too, and apparently they weren't the only ones who wanted to know either.
Upon arriving in the basement Skipper and Hans found that Private, Kowalski, and Rico were all there already. Private looked concerned and totally exhausted. Not that Skipper blamed him though, it had been a long night for all of them. Kowalski, who all this time hadn't left Rico's side, looked like he was just trying to figure some stuff out. Rico was stiff, but he was at least reacting more to things than he was earlier. Currently, Rico looked torn between running and hiding, and punching somebody in the face.
Nigel went over to the now empty holding cell that Francis Deilf had been in a short while ago. "How did this happen?" Nigel muttered to himself.
"Savio." Hans all but growled. Everybody turned to look at him.
"No, he's likely correct." A voice said that caused Skipper to groan and roll his eyes when he heard it. How could he have forgotten that Classified was here too. "Savio is a master at breaking and entering, and one of few people who actually knew that Blowhole was here."
"You're probably right." Nigel said to Classified, which just made Skipper even more frustrated. Hans had been the first one to think it had been Savio, and yet Classified got credit for the idea? That just wasn't fair.
Nigel sighed and looked at the empty holding cell. "And here I thought the hunt for this guy was finally over. And, to top it all off, it looks like we'll need to update the locks on these cells...again."
"Shouldn't be too hard of a fix." Another new voice added. Skipper turned to see a man and a woman, neither of whom looked like agents, and a little girl standing next to them. Skipper didn't recognize them, but the way that Kowalski's eyes widened, Skipper thought it was safe to assume that he did. The little girl, when she saw Kowalski she smiled brightly, ran over to him, and hugged his legs awkwardly.
"You're okay!" The girl exclaimed happily. "Mommy and daddy were worried about you."
"Th-they were?" Kowalski asked. He still wasn't used to people worrying about him. Kowalski looked up to the man. "Dr. Brine, what are you doing here?"
"I called him." Nigel said. "We're close friends, though we haven't actually seen each other for a few years."
"Nigel called me when he found out that you were involved in all this." Dr. Brine said. He looked very relieved that Kowalski was okay. "Although, Since I'm already here, I can find a way to improve my lock system."
"Hang on. Your lock system?" Skipper raised an eyebrow.
"Yep, he invented it, plus other things that C.E.N.T.R.A.L. uses." Nigel said. "That's how we know each other."
Young Karen, who had gotten bored of the adult's talking, drew her attention elsewhere. She was curious to see that the holding cell next to this empty one had a person in it. Karen went closer to get a better look. She was surprised to see that the occupant of this cell was younger, around Kowalski's age. And he looked sad.
"Are you okay?" Karen asked. Dave glared at the small girl.
"What do you want, brat?" Dave asked.
"I want to know why you're sad." Karen said.
Dave's eyes widened. "I'm not sad!"
"Yes you are." Karen said plainly. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here because these paranoid idiots don't want me on the streets, but don't know what else to do with me." Dave said angrily.
Karen looked to the side to where the others were still talking in front of Blowhole's now empty cell. "Someone else was here, but he's gone now. Why aren't you gone too?"
Dave turned away from Karen and glared at the floor. "Because some people don't know how to keep a promise." Dave looked angry, but Karen could see the pain in his eyes.
"Your friends left you here?" Karen asked.
"Yeah, they did." Dave didn't bother saying that he had never been friends with Savio or Deilf or any of them, that they'd just had an alliance. Because it didn't matter what his relationship with those guys were, what mattered was they had made a deal, and they had broken their end and just left him here.
Back with the adults, plans were being made on how they were going to find Blowhole again, but Kowalski wasn't paying attention. He had other things on his mind, a decision he had to make.
"Dr. Brine, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kowalski asked. Derek Brine looked curious, but he agreed. He followed Kowalski a little away from the others so they could have a private conversation.
"What do you want?" Derek asked.
"uh, well...I just-" Kowalski stumbled over his words, as though he didn't know how to say what he wanted to. Finally Kowalski just asked. "Why did you choose me?"
"You mean to adopt you?" Derek asked. Kowalski nodded almost sheepishly. "Well, the reason that me and Debbie decided to adopt in the first place is because we want kids, and there are already so many children who don't have proper homes. We chose you for a similar reason why we chose Karen."
"The two of you are just so bright, and you have so much potential. I can see you going far in the world if you get the opportunity. Sadly, both you and Karen are lacking in skills that most people think essential, which may limit the opportunities you may get."
"Like, the fact that I can't read." Kowalski muttered under his breath.
"And your occasional lack of social skills." Derek said teasingly. "Karen, she's smart, but she has a difficult time learning the way that most people do. Me and Debbie decided to adopt Karen and you to give you kids your best chance, to help you find those opportunities that can get you far in the world."
"However, we're not forcing you to get adopted." Derek said. "That's what this is about, isn't it? You're having second thoughts?"
"Dr. Brine, you and your wife are amazing, and I adore Karen." Kowalski looked towards the others, at his teammates. His friends. "But I think I'm needed somewhere else."
The whole time he was with the Brine's, Kowalski couldn't get his mind off worrying about his friends. And then to return and see that things had just fallen apart, it was upsetting. Kowalski never again wanted to leave his friends. Not when they needed him so much...Not when he needed them. Yeah, he admitted it, he needed his friends. He needed his...his brothers.
Derek nodded. "I understand completely, though Karen will be disappointed. She was looking forward to having an older brother."
"I think Karen knew I was going to decide to stay even sooner than I did." Kowalski said. "And there are plenty of kids around who need help. I'm sure you'll have no problem finding somebody else."
Derek looked over to where Karen was. The young girl was now showing Dave a snow globe that she had brought with her. One of her favorite snow globes from her collection. And Dave actually seemed interested in what she was saying to him. Watching the two of them interact, Derek smiled.
"Yes, I'm sure I won't have any problem finding somebody." He said.
Kowalski, who never really knew what to do when he spoke to people, nodded at Dr. Brine and, not sure what else to say, rejoined the group.
"Hey, what were the two of you talking about?" Skipper asked when Kowalski returned.
Kowalski shrugged. "Just about how I am no longer interested in being adopted by him and his wife anymore." Skipper and Private looked at him like he was crazy. Rico blinked hazily and looked at Kowalski as if it were the first time he was seeing him.
"Oor...oor s'ayin'?" Rico asked quietly. Kowalski smiled. It was nice to hear Rico's voice again, after so long.
"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere." Kowalski wrapped his arms around Rico's shoulder. Rico flinched at the contact, but didn't pull away. In fact, he leaned closer to Kowalski and smiled slightly.
"Mi''ed 'oo." Rico muttered.
"I missed you guys too." Kowalski said.
"It'll be nice to have you around again, Kowalski." Skipper said. "We make a pretty good team."
"Yes, you do. This agency could actually use some more people like you." Nigel said to the four of them. "Maybe we should see if we can get you into The North Wind."
"The North what?" Skipper asked.
"The North Wind." Private said excitedly. "it's a group of younger spies. That's what Classified and his friends are."
"I knew they were spies!" Skipper said triumphantly. A moment later, the news he had just heard hit him. "Wait, we're going to be spies?"
"I don't see why not." Nigel said. Classified's jaw dropped at this news.
"Them? Spies? But they're...he's...who would lead their team?" Classified asked.
"Skipper's a legal adult. I believe he's more than capable of leading this team." Nigel said.
"That's just fantastic." Classified forced out, his tone more than suggesting that he thought the opposite.
Eva came forward. "Kowalski, do you remember why things didn't work out for us earlier?"
Kowalski frowned. "You said that a relationship would get in the way of your work."
"Yes, but now that we're likely to be in the same field of work, I see no reason why we should not try again. If you want to, that is."
"I...of course I want to!" Kowalski exclaimed, his face red. Eva smiled and kissed Kowalski right then and there.
"Yeah, 'old friends' my foot." Skipper scoffed. "And here I thought you still had feelings for Doris." Kowalski and Eva broke away from their kiss and looked at him.
"I do still have feelings for Doris." Kowalski said, his voice wavering slightly like it always did when he said her name. "But, well, I also-"
"He also still has feelings for me." Eva finished.
"And you're fine with him liking both of you?" Private asked.
Eva shrugged. "I did not mind before, and I do not mind now. He may like Doris, but those feelings are obviously no longer returned, which is her loss anyways. As long as he has feelings for me, that's all I care about." Eva kissed Kowalski once more before rejoining her team. Skipper shook his head.
"Kowalski, tell me, how did you ever accomplish having two ex-girlfriends who are both beautiful, smart, and older than you?" Skipper asked. Kowalski shook his head, obviously as confused about how this happened as Skipper was.
Private, who didn't really understand romantic relationships much, turned to his uncle. "Are we really going to be spies."
"Most likely, unless it's decided otherwise, which I can't think of a reason why it would be." Nigel said.
"But, we won't have to do anything that has to do with Blowhole again, will we?" Private asked fearfully. Nigel's eyes darkened a bit.
"Absolutely not! Not if I have anything to say about it." Nigel said. "That man has caused you kids enough trouble as it is."
"So those guys get to be spies, and that's great, but what about me?" Hans asked. Nobody had yet given him a straight answer on what was going to happen to him and where he was going to go.
"Actually, I think you could be a big help for the agency too." Nigel said.
"Me?" Hans asked.
"Him?" Skipper raised an eyebrow because, yeah, he loved his brother. But Hans, a spy? Skipper just had a hard time seeing that happening.
"A different type of spy." Nigel said. "You have a more questionable background, which means that we will have to keep a close eye on you. But your background could also be useful. You could be able to provide insightful information about Blowhole, Savio, and Clemson."
"Yeah, I guess I could." Hans said.
"Hang on." Dave's voice cut in. "If the Dane is going to be selling out Deilf, than I want in."
"You want to betray Blowhole?" Nigel asked.
"Absolutely. He betrayed me first." Dave said simply.
"Are you really going to trust these delinquents?" Classified asked Nigel, who shook his head.
"I'll do whatever it takes to catch Blowhole." Nigel said. "He's been on the loose for far too long now. And, as I said before, we'll be keeping a close eye on them."
"So I'm actually going to be a spy?" Hans asked. He looked as excited about this idea as Skipper felt.
"We all are." Skipper smirked. He turned to Kowalski, Rico, and Private. "Looks like we're going to be an actual team now."
"It's not going to be easy." Kowalski pointed about before grinning. "Than again, nobody ever said it would be."
"Fair enough." Skipper agreed. Yeah, this spy stuff wouldn't be easy, and neither would being leader of this knuckleheaded team. But Skipper knew they'd be able to handle whatever got thrown at them, just so long as they worked as a team.
Together.
And that's the end of the story. Honestly, I always have a hard time believing it when I've finished a story after such a long time.
What I have a harder time believing though is that I actually finished this story on time. Yep, I met my deadline. And no, I didn't just give myself a deadline as a goal for when I wanted to finish the story, but when I needed to finish the story. See, for the next year and a half I will have little to no fanfiction writing opportunities, starting tomorrow. I am dead serious about this. So don't expect to see any more of my stories for awhile. But hey, at least I finished this one, right?
And though I did kinda rush through writing this chapter, I am pleased with how it worked out, and I don't think I forgot anything. So yay!
And thank you so much for everybody who has read, favorited, followed, and reviewed this story. It really means a lot, and I hope you enjoyed it.