Disclaimer: I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. They belong to Nickelodeon and DreamWorks. Unless, of course, I explicitly say that I made up the character or fleshed out what was merely mentioned.

Apologies for the late update. I have recently rediscovered The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series as well as Eat, Pray, Love, also the rediscovery of Forefly and Sherlock. Then I had camp… I am also a lazy bum, but I will finish this story, even if it kills me, but don't quote me on that…

Karenkook: I can't agree more, although you have to admit, Kowalski has a great singing voice as evidenced by Concrete Jungle and the second Dr. Blowhole special.

J.W. Turner: Yes. Yes she is. Also, a meta-human is basically the term to describe people with superpowers. Not aliens with super powers, but people born on Earth who, for some reason or another, have superpowers. This is a DC Comics term. An equivalent saying would be mutant.

Lovepaw and Silverpaw: They'll be back….

Attention: You may have not read the previous chapter which contains vital information regarding Private.

Winds of Change

By West189

Chapter 3: Can't Go Home

*End Private's Flashback*

"Do you always pass out at the end of your story parts?" Skipper asked in exasperation.

"I'm not sure… I probably do though." replied Private. "But why do I always get hit in the neck? I'd much rather it be my shoulder that gets injured."

"The neck has many nerves which can be used for paralyzing foes or knocking them unconscious. It also contains a major artery and a major vein. These allow for injected chemicals to quickly pass through the subject's heart into the rest of the circulatory system." Kowalski explained automatically.

"Ummm… That was a rhetorical question, Kowalski."

"Oh."

"'oo talk nex'?" squawked Rico excitedly. He had patiently waited the thirty seconds it took for the other three to talk. Now he wanted to hurry up and get on with the story.

"Skippah, it's your turn to speak, isn't it? I mean Kowalski and I have said everything useful or important that we know up to this point. Since Rico can't really enunciate and articulate what was happening, that leaves you." Private had tilting his head as he worked this out aloud.

"Who says you need to enunciate or articulate to be understood? Don't answer that, Kowalski." Skipper glanced at the scientist whose mouth had opened and then closed, his cheeks beginning to flush. "Alright Rico. You're up to speak!"

Rico grinned maniacally before starting his tale. "I 'as playin' Texa' Hol' 'Em whe' Joh'so' call…"

*Rico's Flashback*

Manfredi glanced down at her cards with a smirk on her face. Rico just stared at the cards on the table. In the background they could here Skipper shuffling papers every now and then. The two players were at a stand-off. It was time for them to lay down their cards, but Manfredi had left Rico waiting. Among the community cards were a 2 of Hearts, a 4 of diamonds, a 10 of Spades, a Jack of Spades, and a Queen of Spades. At last she showed her hand. "Straight Flush, Rico." The cards Manfredi had set down were an 8 and a 9 of Spades.

Rico grinned evilly and laid his cards down. "Royal Flush, Manfredi." His grin grew when the female began to turn beet red out of anger.

"Rico, I am going to show you what my cousin did to Johnson only more slowly and more painfully." Rico stopped grinning.

Fortunately, he didn't learn what Manfredi's cousin had done to Johnson and never would, for precisely at that moment Johnson called with news. "What's your status, soldier?" Skipper asked urgently.

"Me an' Kowahlski have crashed into a' tree. Ah'm fine, but Ah don't know what happened tah Smarty." Johnson's voice sounded apathetic to this. "Mah bet is the runt you sent us after had something in that bag o' his that caused our floatin' boat tah go off-course."

"Speaking of the 'runt,' what was he like?" Rico stared at Skipper like he was a crazy person. Johnson had just said Kowalski was M.I.A.! They should have been going to find him.

"How should Ah know? Kowalski pretended tah be the ticket person, not me. All Ah know is that the kid is a cheeky devil. The boy did have the instinct tah trah an' run when Kowahlski was trahin' to sell the ticket." Johnson began to sound annoyed at this line of questioning.

"What's his eye color? The boy's, not Kowalski's. And tell me his name if you know it. Not the one that would be listed on an official license or document. The one he goes by." Skipper was getting intense; his sapphire eyes were lit up with a passion that Rico couldn't explain.

"Ah don' know the name you're talkin' 'bout, but Ah overheard Kowahlski sayin' the eye color was ice blue, which ain't a natural eye color, an' Ah don' need tah tell ya what that means."

"No. No one does." Skipper had closed his eyes. "Where are you? We'll grab you and start our search for Kowalski."

"You should be able tah trace mah sig—" Whomp. Pause. Thud. "Signal. Sorry 'bout that. Some animal snuck up on me. "Jus' follah' the signal tah me." With that Johnson hung up, and the connection ended.

"Skipper, why on Earth were you asking so many pointless questions? We need to find Smarty! The lab rat won't last a week in a forest on his own!" Manfredi ranted angrily.

This caused Skipper to look at her furiously. Despite Manfredi being taller, Skipper somehow managed to tower over her. His voice was low and quiet, and all background noise had stopped. "In case you had forgotten, Manfredi, Kowalski has been on this team for years longer than you have. He knows full well how to survive alone in a small forest for a good deal longer than a week. As for my questions, that is classified information, soldier."

Rico was fighting to suppress the shudders of fear he got from Skipper, and he wasn't even the one who had spoken out. Manfredi, however, refused to back down. "Classified? CLASSIFIED? I'm your first mate! You can't say something is classified to me!" Manfredi had stepped forward and was now trying to get the upper hand.

Rico knew what Skipper was going to do next, so only Manfredi was surprised when Skipper's hand went out and slapped her across the face. Everyone had frozen. Rico was standing back looking uncomfortable, Skipper was watching Manfredi with narrowed eyes, and Manfredi had her hand pressed to where she had been slapped.

"Sorry, Skipper. You know how it is…" Manfredi bowed her head in guilt.

"It's okay, soldier. Just don't do it again." Skipper was now smiling at her. "Rico, you're on look-out. If anything comes, shoot it with the tranq-gun. We don't want to hurt anyone. Manfredi, you drive. I'll watch the signal."

They all moved to get the required equipment. A thought struck Rico. "Skipper, what do I do if I see the kid we're after? Is this recovery, kill, or injure?" While Skipper was turning to reply, Rico vomited up his tranquilizer.

"Recovery though injure is not out of the question. I want him as intact as possible. He's no use if he's maimed, dying, or dead." Skipper looked contemplative for a moment before grimacing.

"Something wrong, Skipper? You've been acting strangely since we left New York." Rico said worriedly.

"He's probably just thinking about how to tell his fiancé that he wants to break up." Manfredi earned a glare. "Sorry, but it's true… and not at all what you're thinking about. Come to think of it you were even acting wonky before giving us the info for the mission, which is next to none."

Skipper just shook his head and got into the passenger seat of their pink car. "The real mystery is how I ever agreed to getting this ridiculous car."

"You're the one who said, and I quote, 'the more you try to stand out, the more you blend in, and visa versa.'" Rico responded.

The drive to the forest from their hide-out to the forest took about an hour-and-a-half. They spent another two hours trekking through the forest. "Johnson sure knows how to get lost." Manfredi began. "Shame that the one time we don't want him to, he does."

They really need to get over their hate/love relationship, Rico thought. Of course, the world would probably explode if that happened. Hey! That would look really amazing on canvas. Maybe in the style of Van Gogh…?

Neither Skipper nor Rico commented on Manfredi's outburst. Skipper did, however, grab Manfredi into a headlock. Before she could make a protest, he slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle any noise. Rico stared at him questioningly. Skipper jerked his head to the left and ahead of them. Rico could barely make out a small figure moving slowly in the direction they themselves had been heading.

Rico raised his tranq-gun, but Skipper shook his head. A second later he released Manfredi. After waiting for the figure to get out of earshot, Skipper whispered his orders. "Rico, if he deviates from the direction we're going, follow him. Manfredi, you stay on track of the signal. Move out."

The three of them stalked the boy, who seemed to be going to the same place they were. After another twenty-five minutes, the boy entered a clearing. Skipper gave the signal for them to hide. Once he was behind a tree, Rico watched as his leader pulled out a motorcycle mirror, so he could watch what their quarry was doing.

Just as Rico began to relax, a small burst of light caught him off guard. It was followed a minute later by a dazzling burst of light. Rico could only watch Skipper with anticipation. He seemed to be waiting for something. A few minutes later, Rico saw the signal to attack. He slowly stood up and carefully made his way into the clearing. The first thing he saw was the wreckage of the Skyboat. Next he saw Kowalski talking with the one they pursuing.

Kowalski glanced up, and their eyes locked if only for a second. As Rico raised his tranq-gun to shoot, he almost didn't catch the look of guilt that crossed the scientist's face. This shocked the maniac enough to cause him to barely miss the boy. He was up and running before Rico could even blink. Once he had registered that he had missed and that the boy was now running, Rico immediately raced after him.

He didn't get a chance to shoot until the boy tripped and landed face down in a stream. Rico hit the mark this time. A dart with an ice blue tail stuck out of the boy's jugular. He grinned until he was forcefully pushed out of the way. When he looked up, he saw Skipper holding the boy out of the water. Rico said nothing as his leader gently lifted their focus of over four months' work and carried him back to the clearing.

Upon arrival, they could see Kowalski looking through a black and white Army backpack. Manfredi was leaning against the large tree in the center of the clearing as she watched the scientist. Rico noticed that Johnson had finally turned up and was pacing a few feet away from Kowalski.

"Looks like the gang's finally together! Now will you tell us why we came to this rainy country in the first place?" Manfredi asked, her voice sounding annoyed. Skipper glared at her and she quickly closed her mouth, which had opened to make a most likely cynical statement.

"Kowalski, have you learned what the kid's power is?" Skipper's voice was sharp and got across his unhappy sentiments.

"He's a healer. He has very limited strength in this power, but he is still young and with the proper training, he could easily become strong enough to heal mortal injuries with minimal damage to himself. However, he barely knows anything about his abilities, which will likely cause him to avoid their use." Kowalski hadn't stopped looking through the bag.

"Did he give you a name?" Skipper was unusually curious about this.

The scientist sighed before speaking. "He told me that the only name that matters is Private. He said something about a passport, but I can't seem to find it anywhere in his bag."

Skipper's eyes glimmered for a second, but Rico was almost certain he imagined it. Almost.

"So, Skippa', whatta ya'll want the kid fer, anyway? Ah refuse tah believe that a kid that small 'n' inn'cent is any sorta' threat tah us." Johnson had stopped pacing and was now glaring at Skipper angrily.

The innocent remark caused Rico to blink. Sure, he's young, but innocent? That's a bit of a stretch, coming from Johnson… Oh. His thoughts had made Rico take a real look at the person that Skipper was holding in his arms. Despite months of constant surveillance, Rico had never really looked at Private, and what he saw was a shock.

He was small, there was no denying that. He was also pale, extremely so. His, lips were bright red, however. His unkempt black hair created a stark contrast to his skin. He was thin and wore a solid white, short-sleeved t-shirt. He had on black shorts and shoes that were ill-suited for running around a forest. Despite being thin, Rico could tell that Private had at least some upper body strength but not enough. There were some scuffs on his clothes and face, and it appeared that a bruise was beginning to form on his left cheek. The boy's arms were lying across his stomach, his face turned away from Skipper, and mouth slightly open. He looked as if he were sleeping.

Then, Private slowly opened his ice blue eyes, and all hell broke loose.

*End Rico's Flashback*