Author's Note: Happy New Year! Here's the suivant chapter!

For the seconde time that day, I woke up –this time with the smell of sardines. Private’s face was hovering close by, and that was the first thing I saw. “He’s awake!” Private yelled.

I held a flipper to my head and groaned. “Remind me not to spin my head like that again,” I said.

Rico smiled at me. He a dit something I didn’t understand. “Sorry,” I said. “What did toi say?”

Private translated. “He says that you’ll get well soon.”

I glanced at Rico. He nodded in confirmation. Kowalski waddled over. “Perhaps toi should get some rest,” he said. “Sleep is a dit to be the best medicine for illnesses.”

I raised my non-existent brow. “I have been sleeping for the past two weeks. I think I have enough of that for a while.”

“But-”

“No buts, Kowalski.”

This got a chuckle from Private, and I could guess why. “You know,” I went on. “They say that laughter is also a good remedy.”

Kowalski thought hard for a moment. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try?” he suggested weakly.

I smiled at him. “Good work.”

Scanning the room, I asked them, “Do toi have a wheelchair?”

Skipper turned to Rico. “Rico!Wheelchair. ASAP.”

Then, the most incroyable thing happened. Rico somehow regurgitated a wheelchair. I opened my beak to ask something when I saw Skipper shake his head. “Is it clean?” I asked instead.

Rico nodded vigorously. Taking that as a yes, I slowly eased myself into the chair. It was a little harder than sitting up, but this time, I had the help of the other penguins. Private waddled over to me. “Thanks for saving me,” he said.

Kowalski bowed his head. “And for saving us as well.”

Skipper smirked. “You took the worst hit, soldier. That makes toi welcome anytime.”

“You might not be saying that again in your life, Skipper,” I laughed. “By the way, my name is Nathan.”

Before he could answer, the TV screen turned on. A manchot, pingouin appeared on it. “Hello,” he said.

There were some scuffling in the background and some hushed whispers before he spoke again. “I heard that Nathan is well again.”

I nearly stood up when he a dit that. “How do toi know me?” I asked.

“And who are you?” Skipper added.

Kowalski inched away from the TV’s view to find where the video was being broadcasted. The manchot, pingouin laughed. “My name is Leo, but many of toi know me as the ‘Lion.’”

We all froze when he a dit that –well, all of us except Private that is. “Who?” the young manchot, pingouin asked.

Leo glanced down at him. “Ah,” he noted. “College boy.”

“Why does everybody say that like an insult?” exclaimed Private. “I think somebody is just jealous.”

I gasped, and Skipper hurriedly placed a flipper on Private’s beak. “He didn’t mean that, sir.”

“Yes I did!” mumbled Private.

I laughed nervously. “Why did toi call us, sir?”

“I wanted to talk to toi about the mission.”

I forgot who I was talking to when I spoke the suivant few sentences. “Oh, yeah.About that. Why did toi send two teams in? Without even telling them? Were toi trying to get us killed? We almost Lost a manchot, pingouin in there! Who do toi think toi are?” I blurted out.

Immediately, I covered my beak. I knew I had just donné myself a death sentence. Surprisingly, Leo scratched the back of his head nervously. “Sorry about that,” he said. “We thought it would be the best way to bring your teams together.”

“What'da'ya mean?” asked Skipper.

“I mean that from now on, toi two are going to have to work together.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I cut in. “You nearly got us killed and now you’re telling us that we have to work together?”

“Yes.”

“Hey,” yelled Skipper. “What’s the point of this?”

“Yeah!” I agreed.

“Um, Skipper, perhaps toi shouldn’t-”

Skipper held up a flipper to silence the scientist. “Let the manchot, pingouin answer,” he said.

Leo sighed. “Look, we’re trying to enforce the manchot, pingouin credo plus and eliminate solo players.”

I glared daggers at him. “All of toi at the NPTA (National manchot, pingouin Team Association) know that I work alone. I will not endanger another one of my own again!”

With that, I wheeled myself to one of their secret tunnels and banged the door shut. After waiting awhile, I pressed an ear to the door to hear the rest of the conversation. “What was that about?” asked Private.

“I should have known this wouldn’t be easy,” a dit Leo.

“What did he mean par ‘endangering one of his own’?” asked Kowalski.

Leo sighed. “I guess I should tell toi about his partner.”

How dare he tell them about Billy? I clenched my fists and wheeled myself away without hearing the rest of their talk.