Brothers and Trials

Orphans

It was two days before Private's first birthday. Kowalski woke up from his bed, startled by a small sound that had haunted his nightmares for years. "Skipper, Rico! Get up!" He jumped off of his upper bunk on the bunk bed that he shared with Skipper. He ran to the window as his brothers started to get up. His eyes widened in fear as he looked at a shadow in the street. "No! Not again!" He bolted as a Firecracker was set off and thrown at the house. He grabbed his glasses and rushed towards his parents' room. "MOM, DAD! FIRE!" He called.

Skipper woke up instantly with that word. He knew that Kowalski wasn't one to exaggerate when it came to fire. "Rico, follow him. Make sure he gets out. I'm going after the Private!" The two nodded and set to their tasks.

Skipper ran to the nursery, thankfully there were no patients that night, and only Private was asleep in the nursery. The little baby looked around wide eyed, trying to look around the room, but only finding his crib. Skipper grabbed the baby as the fire started to enter the nursery. "Don't worry Private, Skipper's got ya, and I'm not letting go, baby brother..." He thanked god that his brother was so sensitive to the lighting of firecrackers now and hoped that they would all be alright.

Rico found Kowalski trying to open the door to their parents' room. Rico had been told about the fire and how Kowalski was now sensitive to the sound of firecrackers and fireworks. "Dad, come on! Mommy, please! Not again, please, not again!" Rico rarely found his older brothers crying, but there was no doubt about it, Kowalski Kewl Andrews was crying. They barely noticed a flash of light from inside the room. "What was ...?"

"Kowalski!" Rico started coughing from the smoke. It didn't seem to bother his older brother, but it was bothering him. "'Walski!" Kowalski looked at his little brother. He had failed again! Both their parents were gone, but what was that flash of light? What had happened in there, and where were their parents if not in the room? "Walski!" Rico suddenly pushed him out of the way of falling debris, gaining a scratch on his face and being knocked unconscious.

"Rico!" Kowalski glared as he lifted the debris off of his unconscious brother. "I'm not losing my little brother too!" He proceeded to lift his little brother and carried him with surprising strength towards the nearest window. "Hang on, Rico!" He jumped, holding his brother tightly, through the window and landed on a set of pillows that Skipper had placed. "Skipper!"

"What happened to Rico?" Skipper's ice blue eyes filled with fear and concern for his little brothers. He started to help lift Rico off of Kowalski.

"Some stuff fell on him, and he got a nasty scar from it. I think the smoke might have also damaged his voice. I couldn't save mom and dad... I failed again, Skipper! There was a flash in their room and..." Skipper pulled his crying brother away from the fire and towards the alley that he had hidden their littlest brother in.

When they arrived in the alley, Skipper led them to the hole in the dumpster that led to a secret room in another building. They didn't know how the place came to exist, but they knew it had been abandoned for some time and that it was their secret hideout. Skipper and Kowalski laid Rico onto a bed and gave him an oxygen mask that Skipper had snuck in a few months ago. It was their own personal hospital so that they wouldn't get into trouble if something had gone wrong. They were always able to patch themselves up before their parents could find out. Skipper waited for Rico to wake up before saying anything.

Rico woke up with a start and looked around desperately for his brother. He was relieved to find that both his older brothers were safe and that they were in their secret base. "How ya feeling, Rico?"

" Eh-kay" He put a hand to his throat and started to rub it. He sounded horrible, but he just looked tired. "A bout oo guys?"

The two older brothers looked to each other, and then back to their little one. They could understand him, but they also knew that he was having trouble speaking. "We're fine. You need to get some rest. You've been through a lot tonight... everything will be better in the morning." Skipper then looked to Kowalski who was knocking his head against a wall. "Kowalski, stop that! It wasn't your fault! In fact, if anything you're warning saved us!" Skipper put a hand on his younger brother. "Hey, we have to stick together. We're all we have at the moment. When dawn comes, I'll make my way over to Granny Acorn's place and call Uncle Manfredi and Uncle Johnson, alright? Everything will be okay."

Kowalski looked to his older brother, tears streaming from his face. "I couldn't save them... I failed again..." Skipper held his brother close, patting him on the back.

"You did your best. We need to be strong though. For Private's sake at least, alright, Lt.?" Skipper himself was holding back a sob, hoping to not cry in front of his little brothers. "Come on, into bed you two. I need to check on the Private." Kowalski nodded and tucked himself into a small bunk next to Rico's. "We're going to be just fine, boys. As long as we stick together, we can handle anything they throw at us. Right?"

"Right!" the two younger brothers chorused as they smiled at their oldest brother. No matter how hard things got, or what went wrong, he would always be there to help them. Skipper was as set in stone as anything, and that was what made them grateful to have him around. He was their steady rock in the sea of confusion. Skipper was a constant that they would always hold onto in their lives.

Skipper walked over to the makeshift bed that he had made for Private. They hadn't planned on showing him the place till he was three, but this had been an emergency. Private looked up at his oldest brother and noticed the sadness in his eyes. Private didn't like seeing his brothers sad. "Skipper?"

The three brothers jolted from where they were. Rico and Kowalski heard the small British accent from their beds, and Skipper, being right in front of the child, stood petrified. Kowalski and Rico rushed to his side and all three looked at the youngest Andrews brother.

"Did he just..."

"Uh-huh..."

"But, he's only..."

"Skipper?" Private pointed towards the eldest brother. Then he looked at the other two and giggled. "Walski!" He pointed to the glasses wearing boy, who put a hand to his mouth to cover a gasp. Private then smiled and pointed to the youngest of his older brothers who now wore a scar on his face. "'ico? Urt?" He managed to ask.

Rico couldn't help but smile and ruffled the child's hair. "I'm ood, li'l bro."

Private smiled back and then drifted off to sleep, satisfied that his brother said he was alright.

"Kowalski... should he be...?"

"Technically, Skipper... no... but he is an Andrews, and we all have developed at incredible speeds apparently... so... being the only biological child of our parents, I suggest that we take it as normal and be grateful he didn't ask for mom or dad..." His hushed tones brought concern, and yet his answer brought them relief. Private, it seemed, would be a fast learner.

"Yeah..."