This is my first TPOM fanfic story so it might not be the best. I'll try though.

It was a normal day at the Central Park Zoo. Skipper and the gang were doing their own things.

Kowalski was playing with a few chemicals separate from the others so that he wouldn't hurt them if something went wrong.

Private was playing cards with Skipper. They were playing *Egyptian Rat Race. Skipper was winning.

Rico was painting. He wasn't painting anything special. He was just painting.

That was when Julian barged in.

"Penguins!" He shouted.

"UHG! What do you want ring tail?" Skipper asked obviously not in the mood to deal with Julian. He wasn't feeling right at all. He had been having nightmares. They were becoming worse too.

"I am inviting you to come to my meeting to discuss the important matters." He responded

"Important matters? About what?" Private asked confused.

Julian moved up to Private as if to tell him a secret" that is what you will be finding out at the uh meeting. " he whispered loudly "Yes! So you penguins must come to find out what it is for. Aha! So you are coming yes?

"It couldn't hurt Skipper." Kowalski stated

"Ah uh" Rico grunted in agreement

Skipper looked over at private. The look on his face told skipper that he wanted to go. Skipper really wasn't in the mood but Kowalski was right. What could possibly go wrong? They all wanted to go and Skipper didn't feel like explaining why he didn't want too. "Oh alright" He sighed

"Yes!" Julian shouted them he left.

Skipper rubbed his forehead like he had a head ach. He really wasn't in the mood for one of Julian's useless announcements. But then again he usually didn't personally ask them to go to one of them. Skipper wasn't feeling right. He wasn't sick. He didn't feel sick. He just, didn't feel right. He had a feeling that this meeting that Julian was having was going to end badly. He didn't know why. He was afraid of what could happen tonight. But his curiosity drove him to find out. To discover why he was feeling this way.

And he would soon find out ….

They went to the Zoovanier shop that night for Julian's meeting.

Marlene, Bada, Bing, Phil, Mason, and the other lemurs were also there.

Private and Kowalski were talking to Marlene. Rico was listening in on the conversation. Skipper was standing away from them trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

"Hey Skipper!" Marlene called

"Huh?" Skipper responded. Marlene had broke his train of thought.

"Are you ok?" She asked sympathetically

"Uh, yea I feel fine" he was lying. He still didn't know why he wasn't feeling right.

He walked over to Marlene and the boys. Skipper though it would ease his mind.

"So where's Ringtail?" Skipper asked.

"I am here silly penguins." Julian's voice rang behind him.

Julian didn't startle Skipper. He startled private who was standing right next to skipper.

"Why are we here Ringtail?" Skipper was getting annoyed. He wanted to get this so called meeting over with. His stomach was bothering him. It was that feeling. Something bad was going to happen and he knew it.

Then Maurice stood up on a stool that mort dragged over and talked into a bamboo megaphone.

"Alright everyone may I have your attention!" he shouted.

The room went silent. Maurice stepped away to let Julian talk. He mostly talked about himself. Skipper herd nothing but Julian for hours. Bada, Bing, Marlene, Kowalski, Private, Rico, Mort, Phil and Mason were sleeping. Skipper wanted to find out why his stomach was bothering him. He had to find out what he had such a bad feeling about.

Then Julian said it. He said the words that would set Skipper off.

"I have suffered." He said.

Skipper herd that. He was awake he just wasn't paying attention to Julian. Not until he started talking about pain. That was what Skipper had a bad feeling about.

"Yes. I have been through pain, and suffering. More than you could imagine"

Skipper wasn't thinking straight. He was letting his thoughts come out. He was announcing them. Something he wouldn't usually do.

"Did you get a paper cut?" Skipper asked sarcastically

"No. it was a broken limb. My leg. My poor royal leg. It was like a thousand paper cuts inside of my skin." Julian replied solemnly.

"I've probably been in more pain in year than you have in your entire life." Skipper said. Remembering.

"Oh really penguin." Julian challenged

"Do you think I'm lying?" Skipper asked defensively

"I don't believe you Skippah. How much pain can one penguin possibly endure?" Julian was obviously not buying the fact that skipper experienced more pain than him.

"A lot." Skipper replied blankly. He was remembering his childhood. I knew it. Skipper thought. I knew something was going to go wrong tonight. Why did I agree to come here? He was regretting even thinking about coming. Now he knew why his stomach bothered him. Now he knew, and he wished he didn't.

"And uh… how much is that exactly" Julian said. He sounded like he was afraid of the answer. Skipper was remembering. The horrible nights in that horrible place. The torture the misery. His family. He couldn't answer Julian's question. He felt himself start to shiver. His eyes started to sting. Then without warning he hit the floor, unconscious.

"AH!" Julian shouted. He didn't know what had just happened, but it freaked him out. He never expected Skipper to just pass out. He always thought that Skipper was the strongest of the penguins.

"What happened!" Maurice asked freaked

Julian didn't answer instead he ran over to Kowalski, who was sleeping near the racks of T-shirts. "PENGUIN WAKE UP!" Julian said shaking the penguin. "WAKE up!" He shouted again. He was freaking out. He was in full blown panic.

"uhg, What's the matter Julian?" Kowalski mumbled

"It's, its Skippah!" Julian replied, still freaking out.

"Yea, what about skipper?" Kowalski asked sitting up. Julian usually freaked out about minor problems. Well they were minor to the penguin s. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Julian with an uninterested look on his face. What could possibly be wrong with Skipper? Kowalski asked himself. Whatever it was Kowalski wasn't worried. Skipper could take care of himself.

"He, he, he passed out." Julian informed.

"Well we all did." Private said. He woke up when Julian was trying to wake Kowalski. He was waiting for Julian to say something that wasn't obvious. But Julian seemed frightened. And private knew that it had to be something that happened before Skipper fell asleep. That's what he thought Kowalski was trying to get out of Julian. He decided to help Kowalski get the information. Well he just wanted to know why Julian was so freaked by skipper passing out. Passing out. Private thought. Julian didn't say that Skipper fell asleep. He said that Skipper had passed out. Passed out… That's it Skipper didn't just drift to sleep. He passed out. Something's not right. Why would Skipper just, pass out?

"No, NO Penguin!" Julian said franticly, "He fell"

"He fell?" Kowalski asked skeptically. "Fell from where? Why was he climbing in the first place?"

"He wasn't climbing silly penguin why would he do that?" Julian seemed to have calmed down "NO! He was just standing there and he just, fell to the ground."

Kowalski and private glanced at each other, confused. "So you're telling us that Skipper just passed out? He wasn't laying down or sitting or anything like that?" Kowalski asked

"No he was just standing there and he fell to the ground. How hard is it for you to understand this?" Julian replied.

"It's true!" Maurice chimed in.

"So let me get this straight. Skipper was standing, doing what exactly?" Kowalski asked, still trying to figure out why Julian was so freaked by Skipper passing out.

"talking" Julian replied totally calm

"Something isn't right." Private stated still thinking things trough.

"What?" Kowalski asked. What private had just said made no sense to him. What was Private talking about?

"Skipper wouldn't just pass out. Something's wrong with him." Private was just comprehending what he just said. He knew something was wrong. He knew something was wrong with skipper before the 'meeting' started. Something was wrong with Skipper. And Private was trying to figure out whether he wanted to know or not. Because, Skipper never really just passed out. There was always a reason.

Now Kowalski understood. Private was right too. Skipper wouldn't just pass out. There had to be a reason for it. What could it be? He could be sick. But Skipper hardly ever gets sick. I haven't seen him sick in a while. But he could be sick. Or he could've had a though that forced him into unconsciousness. But what sort of thought could do that? To Skipper? Kowalski was trying to figure out what could possibly be wrong with his friend.

"What were you talking about before Skipper passed out?" Kowalski asked. He was going to get to the bottom of things before the night was over.

"Pain" Julian answered.

"What?" Kowalski asked in disbelief. Why would they be talking about pain? It wasn't a very happy subject. He thought that Julian hated pain

"We were talking about pain. That is not bad is it?"

"And why were you two talking about pain?" Kowalski asked. He was quite shocked actually. He thought that talking to Julian about pain would be the last thing that Skipper wanted to do. He was confused. Very confused.

Julian was about to answer when Skipper moaned. He was still sleeping. But his dream was anything but pleasant.

Kowalski grabbed a plush toy of a nearby shelf and threw it at Rico."Rico get up." He whispered loudly."Come over here"

Rico got up and walked over to Kowalski and Private. They were sitting on their knees by skipper, who was still sleeping.

"Wha?" he asked. Kowalski sounded worried. Rico wanted to know why.

"Something's wrong with Skipper." Private said. He was beginning to panic.

Skipper was stirring in his sleep. They knew he was having a nightmare. He was sweating, and his eyes were tightly shut. His breathing was uneven. They knew that whatever the nightmare was, it was a bad one. A really bad one. And they couldn't wake him up. Skipper was usually a light sleeper. They began to worry.

Meanwhile in Skippers mind a dreadful memory was playing. Like a horror movie. He was reliving a nightmare that he wanted to forget. A nightmare that haunted him….