Ahh! I'm so insanely sorry about not updating for so long! But I swear I have a good reason! That reason is called Nanowrimo. If you know what it is, you are going 0_0. If not; look it up then you will be going 0_0. I'm going 0_0 on the fact that I actually finished before the thirtieth of November. ^-^ Again, I am so insanely sorry that I haven't updated in forever!!!!

You know, now that I think about it, I really don't have a reason for not updating between December and February besides the lovely car wreck my life has become. I thank the man upstairs for actually keeping me sane these last few months, between a friend drifting away and another friend moving I haven't had any time to actually write.

Yeah….You're not here to hear me cry about my pathetic life so… TO THE STORY!!! ^-^

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Marlene searched the gun safe for bullets, only succeeding in finding one. She frowned as she loaded the gun and cocked it back into place, feeling the cold metal feel familiar under her hands. She knew she had one shot and that she didn't remember how to aim very well. She cursed under a whisper; this was going to have to be at point-blank range. She lifted the gun to her shoulder, cradling the butt of the gun in the spot between her chest and shoulder and lifted the scope to eye-level.

Inside the bathroom, the kidnapper lifted his head from the toilet to the unmistakable sound of a gun click. He turned to the door where his prey stood, the barrel of a shotgun pointed straight at his face.

"Get up." Her kidnapper rose unsteadily to his feet as he glared down the barrel of the shotgun.

"What you goin to doooooo, killll meeee" The man said, a drunkard's drawl messing up his speech pattern.

Marlene smirked, "No, not here. Killing you here would mean I'd have to clean it up. No, I'm going to kill you outside, where nature will take care of you. Did I ever mention that it's bear country out here?"

It was supposedly a daylong trip; it took Skipper three hours. Trees surrounded the car, causing the shadows to overlap the car, darkening the inside of the car as the team loaded their guns.

"Take a left and the first road you see is the driveway to the hunting lodge." Vincent growled, his hands gripping the side handlebar, "I'll kill this bastard."

"Not if I get to him first." Skipper muttered, turning into the driveway and analyzed the house. According to Vincent, the three-story lodge only had two doors that exited but windows galore. It stood up two tall stories high with an overhang held up by wooden pillars, one of which was extremely familiar. It was a deep brown color and blended in easily with the thick trees that surrounded it, easily missed by the passing road, which was perfect for a killer's hideout.

They took out their guns and surrounded the house, the police weren't here yet but they didn't have time to waste waiting. Vincent unlocked the door and pointed his shotgun around the empty living room. Kowalski came next and nearly had a heart attack when he came face to face with a wall hanging of a decapitated bear head. He breathed out and took a step back before entering another room. It was a room built for a child as little stuffed animals littered the corner of the room and the desk. Kowalski froze as he noticed some recent vomit in the corner and a stench coming from the bathroom. Rico had entered the bathroom and quickly left, making a hacking sound.

They searched the entire house and came to only one conclusion: Marlene was not here. "She was held captive in her old room. That room and the bathroom smell of vomit. Vincent's gun safe has been broken into…where could she be?"

Vincent paced the floor, "I know he would never know that combination. Marlene and I were the only ones that hunted here so she would know it."

"So she got free, but where would she go?" Skipper paced the floor in the opposite direction, "Kowalski, check for footprints around the lodge." The tall one nodded and hurried out the door, past Private who was staring down the bear head.

"Sir, did you shoot this yourself?" His voice trembled as he looked back at Vincent who scoffed.

"Boy, you think that would be on my wall if I didn't shoot it myself? This is bear country out here."

Two seconds after those words spilled out of Vincent's mouth the sound of a shotgun pierced the silence of the woods.

Marlene analyzed her situation. The shotgun had proven ineffective, as her badly aimed shot had gone off at least three miles of her actual target, her kidnapper was still alive, and they had their backs up against a tree by a large, black bear. Things were not good. The bear was predatory, meaning playing dead or going up a tree was not going to be an option.

Dr. Blowhole, however, was not aware of this and started up a tree leaving Marlene alone on the ground. She took a deep breath and did the only thing she could think of, scream.

The bear roared back but backed up from fear of a louder creature than itself. It sniffed the air and ignored Marlene, heading straight to the tree another certain person was hiding in. Marlene breathed out and scrambled away, attempting to ignore the unmistakable sound of a tree falling and a person screaming. The woods seemed to grow darker and denser as she tore through, putting more distance between her and that bear.

It's a proven fact that when lost you will travel in circles, Marlene traveled in five circles before stopping to catch her breath and regroup.

"I'm lost in the woods, in bear country, and alone. How bad could this really be?" She sighed, sinking down the trunk of a tree, "What do I do?" She put her head in her hands and sobbed, not hearing the rustling of the leaves nearby.

"It came from near here." Kowalski deduced moving tree branches out of the way. The sun was high up in the sky now, leaving the woods strangely bright, even with the thick brush around them.

"Where's near here?" Skipper asked, looking around, "Come on, Kowalski, give me results!"

"Well, I would say near the bear that is currently attacking our known kidnapper who is most likely dead." Kowalski pointed to the bear, "Wait….what? Okay! Play dead!" Kowalski fell onto the ground into the fetal position. Before anybody could follow his example, Vincent pulled the boy to his feet.

"Does it look like that bear is about to kill us? Honestly, for the smart one in the group, you're pretty stupid. You only play dead when the bear is charging and is defensive. You yell and scream at bears when they're predatory to make it think you're a threat and scare it off. Though I don't know why you would want to, it looks pretty content eating the guy." Vincent grinned at the bear and gave it a thumb up, "Keep up the good work." The bear, luckily, didn't notice them and kept on eating.

Something nibbling on her ear woke her up and Marlene slowly opened her eyes to see a rabbit looking down at her. The moment she moved, it took off in a hop/ sprint away from her. Marlene wiped her eyes and looked at the woods around her, a little blurry from her tears but still clear. Marlene blinked and rubbed her eyes as she recognized her surroundings, getting up to her feet in a flash. "It should be around here." She walked around the tree, her eyes glancing every which way before resting her eyes on an oddly deformed tree with planks nailed to the side of the tree. She grabbed one of the planks and started climbing. Her eyes widened when she heard rustling and looked down at the same little rabbit, come back for a piece of lettuce it had dropped. It was looking straight up to her with blank black eyes. Marlene and the rabbit stared at each other for a moment before the rabbit bounded off into the brush.

Marlene blinked, "okay, that was weird." She turned and continued climbing the tree until she got to a wooden ceiling. She pressed on it and a hatch popped open allowing her into her old tree house. Marlene pulled herself onto the floor and looked around. She raised an eyebrow and pulled herself up, getting a good look at the table where a few squishy balloons sat, filled up to the brim with water. She grabbed one and it broke with the slightest touch, soaking her and the table. She shook her arm free of the water and looked around the tree house and saw the old seat her father used when he used the tree house as a deer stand when he didn't want to risk the bears. She grinned as she ran her hand over the seat before collapsing into it, her legs unable to lift her anymore. Well, that was until she heard someone trampling below.

"The tracks lead this way," Kowalski scratched his chin, "Then they also lead that way. She must have gone in a circle of some sort. Then it looks like she left this tree and walked that way for some reason. Then the tracks aren't so visible with the fallen leaves all around. Why do you think she went that way?" team looked at Vincent who shrugged.

"I haven't been here in a few years. I really don't remember the layout of this forest."

"Well that's just great!" Skipper threw his hands in the air, "Now we have no idea where Marlene went and we're lost! This is just great!" He shook his head and all of a sudden, his head was soaked with a water balloon. The team looked up and saw Marlene leaning out a window, a huge grin on her face.

"Now what was that about not knowing where I am?"

Marlene stole Skipper's coat on the way back home, freezing from the setting sun. She was surprised that her boyfriend and dad were actually getting along well and even more amazing was the fact that Skipper was driving the speed limit all while having a hand on hers. Marlene blushed when she thought of the more than warm welcome as the team greeted her along with a very long kiss from Skipper, much to the chagrin of her father.

Marlene slipped her hand from Skipper's and slid them into the pockets of the very warm coat and felt a small, soft feeling box in the pocket. She slipped it out and studied the velvet box for a while until she noticed Skipper stiffen in the seat next to her.

"Skipper, is this what I think it is?" The leader of the team glanced to her and back to the road with not a word muttered. "Skipper, answer me."

"Allright, allright. Yes. But pretend you never saw it. Private will never stop with the crying when he realizes that he slept right through it." Skipper jerked his head to the backseat, where surely enough, the teenager was asleep on the window.

"Well, how about I answer now, and act surprised later." Marlene leaned over and kissed a blushing Skipper on the cheek. "I do."

I'm so psyched for the special coming out! Of course though, I'm a little awed by the fact there's mutated crabs under Blowhole's command. Hmmmm, I wonder who wrote with that? *looks pointedly over to Halfhuman* they're stealing your ideas!

Anyway, I'm not all that sure if I should write another chapter to this since that was a good ending. So I'm leaving you at Candanc…without an E…the E was supposed to stand for Engagement but as you can tell, the engagement part wasn't very long.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!! (and I'm so insanely sorry for the wait and horrible chapter update!)