Skipper dropped the binoculars to his lap as he frowned at the house across the street, aka the one belonging to Gloria. He had been sitting in that van for some time, just waiting for something to happen. Something out of the ordinary, that is. Anything to get him moving, but so far all those girls had done was normal stuff. Nothing suspicious was happening in that house and he was getting more than bored and irritated.

"I just can't stop thinking about the Asian...she looks so familiar..." Kowalski, the man in the passenger's seat, mused to himself. He was staring straight ahead, tapping his clipboard with a pencil. "Maybe we met in high school?"

Skipper raised a brow at his brother in arms and looked forward with a sigh, tapping the wheel with his fingers.

"Do you remember the Asian, Skipper?"

"Yes."

Taken aback, the scientist turned to him with wide eyes. "Really?" Skipper turned to him and Kowalski stared at him. "What happened to your eyes?"

"What?" Skipper touched his right eye and looked at his fingers, which held a black smudge. He leaned forward and peeked at himself in the rearview mirror. "What the..." Eyes rimmed with black circles stared back at him and when he looked up, he could see the image of his third brother in arms, Rico, chortling in the back.

"Uh, Skipper," Kowalski bit back a grin as he picked up the binoculars and slid a finger over the rim of the eyepieces, showing his blackened finger, "I think someone placed ink on the rims."

"Rico!" Skipper reached over to grab the man, but Rico rolled away, still laughing as Kowalski joined him with his quiet snickers. "We don't have time for jokes, boys! We're on a stake out, remember? Get back to your stations!"

Kowalski cleared his throat as Rico sat up and saluted him. "Aye aye, Skip'er!" He tossed a packet of wet wipes to Skipper, who ripped it open and started wiping at his raccoon eyes.

"Do you really remember the Asian, Skipper?" Kowalski asked after a moment of silence.

Skipper resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Why do you think we're doing this, Kowalski?"

"Uh..."

"Because?" The man pressed, rolling his hand for effect.

"Because...we want to find out what those girls are up to?"

"Precisely. And if I knew who they were, would we be doing this?"

"No...? No, wait. I meant yes. Or is it...I really don't know."

Skipper dropped his head on the wheel, careful not to hit the horn, and groaned. "And you're supposed to be the smart one..."

"Skipper," Kowalski glowered at him, "one reason why we're doing this is because Private had somehow gained access to their files, hid them from us and then refused to tell us anything about those girls. That's why you had him on time out, which, might I add, is very degrading for a child his age."

"You know I don't like the unknown, Kowalski. He refused to give us vital information. We don't know who these people are, what they're doing or anything. We don't know anything about these two. Nothing at all." Skipper raised a finger. "Not only that, he did not inform us about the newcomers the moment we came back from the last mission. He withheld information, AND stole it from us."

"I believe he was still mad that you didn't want him to come along. Also, you didn't have to lock him in his room."

"Well, the whole threatening thing wasn't working, was it, Rico?" Rico looked away from the positioned sniper rifle's scope and stared at Skipper through the rearview mirror. "Well?" The man shook his head and went back to the scope, looking through it.

Kowalski sighed and crossed his arms. "The boy is fifteen, going on sixteen in a few months. You need to trust him."

"How can I trust the little guy when he refuses to listen to me?"

In the background, Rico sighed and shook his head at them, still looking out the scope.

"There you go again. You see, this is why he thinks we don't trust him."

"Simply because I don't trust him. Did you know that he slammed the door in my face when I told him he couldn't go? He slammed the door. In my face. That's insubordination."

Rico rolled his eyes and dropped the rifle. "Guys." He murmured gruffly, staring at the two now. "Stop." He was ignored.

"Maybe," Kowalski started in a soft and gentle tone, "if you had been a little more careful, in handling him-"

"Well I'm sorry, mother, I didn't know I wasn't being careful by not letting him go on a very dangerous mission." He threw his hands down on the wheels.

"Skipper, that's not-"

"I am soooo sorry that I was being a very, VERY caring brother."

"Now you're just being cynical."

"Ooh, I'm being cynical now. Ooh, somebody call a doctor or something. I'm cynical, everyone! Whoo! I love my life!"

"And," Kowalski sighed and slouched against the window, placing his hand on his face, "that was just sarcasm."

"Shut your trap, Bennett."

Kowalski didn't answer as his eyes caught onto something, or rather someone, walking down the pavement while looking behind him occasionally. "Uh, Skipper..."

"What?" Skipper sharply called, glaring at the man. Kowalski ignored the tone and nodded outside.

Skipper followed his friend's gaze. "Rico," the man's eyes narrowed, "you did lock up the room, didn't you?"

Rico murmured incoherently under his breath, his scope now trained on the figure walking up to the porch. The three of them watched as the figure was greeted by one of the two guests and welcomed in.

"The boy's dead." Kowalski and Rico turned to Skipper, who was glaring at the house.

"Let's not get too far ahead."

"Obviously," Skipper turned and opened the door, "he had plans all along. Well, I guess he didn't know that we had plans too. Plans on spying on the two newbies."

"Skip'er?" Rico called out uncertainly when Skipper hopped out of the van. He looked to Kowalski, before the two of them jumped out and stopped before Skipper.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I am going to have a little 'talk' with our new neighbors."

"You're not thinking of embarrassing him, are you?"

"Oh, I am nowhere thinking of that." Skipper moved forward, but he was blocked again by Kowalski and Rico. "Move. Before-"

"It's not a good idea, Skipper." Rico nodded in acknowledgement with Kowalski's statement. "You cannot just march in and demand why and how Private ran away."

"Oh really? Watch me do it right now." He stepped away again, but Kowalski and Rico hooked their arms with his and started dragging him away, out of sight of anyone watching behind some trees.

"You two will pay for this." Skipper hissed at them once he shrugged them off.

"You can't just do that, Skipper. You don't know the consequences."

"I'd like to see you handle a teenager like him."

"I didn't say it was easy. I also," the intellect added sternly when he realized that Skipper was about to retort, "did not say that you were doing badly. You just," he sighed, "need to work on your methods. He's not a little kid anymore, so some things have to change."

"Then why is he so stubborn? Why won't he listen to me?"

"How about you look in a mirror, huh? Will that answer your question, you pig headed ignoramus?" Kowalski's eyes grew wide in shock. "Wait, that wasn't-"

"Why you," Skipper tackled Kowalski before he could finish his explanation and the two rolled about behind some bushes.

Rico stared down at the two, looked around and then up at the trees before sighing tiredly. Shaking his head, he reached down, plucked the two up by their collars and kept them away from each other. When he was sure they weren't going to attack each other, he let go of them. He still watched warily as Skipper adjusted his clothes while glaring at Kowalski.

"When we get back," the leader pointed at his second in command, "you're running the entire park."

"That wasn't-"

"Plus one week maintenance."

"But-"

"One whole month, and throw a lock on that lab while you're at it." Kowalski muttered under his breath. "What was that, soldier?"

Kowalski's lips settled into a grim line. "Nothing, sir."

"Good. Now," Skipper turned his attention back to the house and paused. "Where's their car?!"