So... this is the final chapter of Kowalski's story. But don't worry, there's more of the Flashback Series on the way! Rico will be my next victim - I mean, character.

A little warning about this chapter: it gets a little... racy. If this doesn't get some reviews, I don't know what will ;)

One last thing: fifty points to whoever can catch the shout-out to a special series of dreadfully funny books. If you've read them, it's pretty easy to see.

Katrina was sitting forlornly on Marlene's bed - she still thought Kowalski had been in the room the entire time she'd been talking with Marlene. But somehow, this didn't bother her quite as much as she thought it would have. Kowalski slowly walked towards her and sat next to her, taking her hand in his own.

"Why did you follow me here?" she sounded annoyed, but did not let go of his hand.

Kowalski chuckled a little. "I don't think you realize how dangerous that sewer is, and not just for you, Katie. I simply wanted to know you wouldn't get hurt."

"Did you hear what I said about you?" she whispered.

"Yes. And by the way, you're right." Kowalski said. "You were hearing my song."

Katrina smiled, all anger forgotten. "And you mine."

Kowalski took her other flipper and held them tenderly. "Then… by process of elimination and logical reasoning… we're a perfect match?" he asked rhetorically.

Katrina gave him an answer anyway. "I guess so."

She snuggled up into Kowalski's chest. Kowalski softly stroked her face.

"I love you, Kowalski."

"I love you too."

For the first time, Kowalski was actually sort of glad Katrina was blind, horrible as that sounded. His voice sounded confident, but his face showed confusion and his mind was racing, having pretty much no idea what to do. Should he kiss her? Simply keep holding her like this? Scoop her in his arms and head to Vegas? Possibly abort mission?

Eh… that probably wouldn't work.

All Kowalski knew was that he wanted to make Katrina happy. He took a huge breath, trying his best to do what Skipper had always said: go with your gut.

It worked. The feeling of indecision left his body along with the fumes of carbon dioxide - NO! No over thinking! Katrina… Katrina…

He could almost feel his instinct wash over him like water and he knew what to do.

Kowalski cradled Katrina's face and kissed her, maybe not quite as softly as both of them were expecting. Katrina laid her flippers on his chest and leaned in closer. She was pleasantly surprised at just how good it felt to have Kowalski's beak against her own. It was so… right. She couldn't help but smile into the kiss. Katrina boldly ran her hands up and down Kowalski's chest, smoothing and ruffling his feathers.

What Kowalski did in response was a shock to both of them: he actually picked her up a few inches and laid her on the bed on her back. She gasped as this happened, but didn't let go of him.

Kowalski used just enough of his own willpower to open his eyes and judge Katrina's reaction - he didn't want to do anything she didn't want to.

But… she didn't seem exactly unwilling…

Kowalski grinned, falling back into instinct mode and joining his love on the bed.

…

Marlene was almost home, admiring the new CD Mason had lent her - Josh Groban's newest album. She just loved his smooth, tenor -

"What the - KOWALSKI!!!"

He was practically straddling Katrina!

"Hmm?" he said lazily, barely looking up.

Marlene nearly dropped the CD. This was… probably the most un-Kowalski-like she'd ever seen him!

"Ah - ah - ah…" said incoherently. She shook her head somewhat violently and was able to string together a couple of sentences.

"This is the second time I've walked in on you two! Now, just - get outta my house, please!" she cried.

Without even breaking the kiss, Kowalski fluidly got up and carried Katrina, bridal-style, out of Marlene's home.

Marlene blinked a couple of times, then shuddered.

Good for him… I guess…

But why MY house?!

…

(I think I'll skip all the gory details… let's just say that the couple was in no fit state to return to the HQ - and young Private - until late the next morning.)

...

Katrina woke up the next morning in Kowalski's arms. At first, she wondered if all of last night had been nothing but a dream, and they were still in the HQ, dozing before the rest of the team came home. She groaned a bit, and stretched out her back.

"Good morning, Katrina." Kowalski said with a smile in his voice.

"G'morning, Kowalski." she replied. She now had enough focus to feel the ground beneath her - it was soft, and somewhat earthy.

"Kowalski, where are we?" she asked, a bit worried. He hadn't taken her out of the zoo, had he?

"We are in the Reptile House - more specifically, the exhibit showcasing the world-renowned Incredibly Deadly Viper." Kowalski had taken her to this exhibit and currently, they were hidden in one of those little alcoves humans hate because the reptiles always hide in them and can't be seen.

"What?!" she shrieked, scrambling to her feet.

"No, it's okay, you're fine," Kowalski chanted to calm her down and holding her close. "The snake isn't even here, she's in the zoo nursery, waiting for her eggs to hatch. Besides, even if she was here, she's one of the least deadly and friendliest creatures in the scientific class Reptilia."

"Then… why is it called the Incredibly Deadly Viper?"

"I'll explain later."

They both knew that they had to go back to the HQ - in Kowalski's case, back to what he knew would be an angry skipper.

When they stepped outside, Kowalski couldn't help but smile at the sight. There were various zoo-dwellers running amok, calling out his and Katrina's names. He could see Rico in the distance, interrogating a squirrel - possibly Fred, it was hard to tell at this distance - and threatening him with an axe of some sort.

Katrina heard the names, over and over. "What's going on?"

"It seems that Skipper has sent out a search party for us since we didn't come back from Marlene's last night."

Katrina nodded in understanding. It didn't really take long for anyone to figure out the extent of Skipper's paranoia.

Kowalski suddenly saw Mort and Maurice flying in the air, cannon-balling out of… he checked the trajectory and...yep. Joey's pen.

Kowalski winced a little as the lemurs hit the ground with a painful THUD. Well, to Maurice, at least, it was painful. Said lemur rubbed his head and mumbled, "Guess Kowalski and his girlfriend ain't in there…"

"LET'S GO AGAIN!" Mort shrieked.

Kowalski gingerly tapped Maurice's shoulder from behind. "Uh… we're right here, Maurice."

The portly lemur whirled around, startled, and frankly, quite miffed.

"Skipper's had the entire zoo up all night lookin' for you two! Private's worried sick, Rico just about killed King Julien when he refused to get up at about one in the morning -"

"We'd better get back." Kowalski whispered before Maurice was finished.

…

Man, did Skipper give him the yelling of his life. The tirade lasted exactly 47.6 minutes, and Kowalski got himself slapped in the face four times after trying to interrupt. Katrina also got a quite a lecture, but on the grounds of not being on the team, were wasn't quite as much shouting as more like a stern talking-to and on the grounds of being a woman, there was no slapping at all. Kowalski couldn't help noticing that he saw neither feather nor tail of Rico or Private during this time.

While she definitely didn't regret what she and Kowalski had done, Katrina still felt terrible for getting him into so much trouble. She definitely could hear Skipper yelling himself hoarse and she felt Kowalski's flipper tighten a bit around hers whenever Skipper slapped him.

Finally, Skipper had nothing more to say. He took a few deep breaths and tiredly announced he needed a quick swim to cool off.

"Just… stay here!" he said, exhausted. Just before he closed the hatch, he added, "And don't you two be doing anything Private can't see!"

SLAM!

Kowalski let out a deep breath, and looked down at Katrina, who stood stock-still.

"Katie?" he said quietly. "Are you all right?"

She slowly turned to face him. "Kowalski, I'm sor-"

"No." he interrupted, speaking firmly but gently. "Don't apologize. What's done is done, and I personally… well, I don't regret anything."

She smiled. "You took the words right out of my beak."

Much later, that evening…

It was just about time for the boys to hit the sack. Katrina was already in bed, and before Kowalski crawled into his own bed across the room (even though the two of them were officially mates now, he didn't dare sleep with her while Private - or any of the guys, really - were in the same room, for fear he might be tempted to… you know), he noticed Katrina's flipper was hanging off the side of her bed. Chuckling a bit, he crept over and gingerly shifted her arm to a more comfortable position. She stirred a bit, still a light sleeper, then fell back into near unconsciousness.

As Kowalski got into his own bunk, still smiling, he head Skipper voice from three bunks above:

"You sure about this, Kowalski? I mean, for life, it's a big deal…"

With a final look across the room at his mate, Kowalski replied:

"Technically speaking… absolutely."

On three, everyone: one, two, three...

AWW!!!!

Again, reviews are awesome!