"It's hot."
"It is." a shuffling sound of material deafened the silence, until it settled back once more like a suffocatingly warm blanket on a summer night. Three girls sat next to each other on the grass, near a wooden bench that was perched just underneath an oak tree. The blonde one with pigtails that fell in loose curls over her slender shoulders, turned her gaze towards the fourth girl that laid on the bench, her chest heaving as she exhaled and inhaled, a hand hovering above her eyes to block the burning and bright sunlight which crept through the leaves.
"Renee?"
"Mm?" the blonde bit her lips thoughtfully, casting a glance towards the brunette that was sprawled at the trunk of the tree, a baseball cap lowered over her face as she slept. "W-what will you do?" it was easy to catch the light trum in her tone, as if she knew the answer but wanted to validate it.
A sigh resounded from the bench, locks of pale pink slipping over the edge as the girl addressed by Renee turned her head enough to squint an eye at the blue-eyed golden girl. "I still have time to figure that out, Bubbles." as if the name burnt, Bubbles lowered her eyes to the hem of her baby blue dress covering her knees, fingers playing mindlessly with the ring on her index finger.
The sound of a page turning snapped the two girls from their dialogue, both their attention grasped by the redhead sitting at the feet of the bench, back leaned on it and face scrunched in concentration with what she was reading, the black leather book held elegantly between her slender fingers. Her trademark red bow that held her fiery strands into a neat ponytail shifted with a light breeze. She cleared her throat and finally closed the book, placing it neatly on her lap, a morbid contrast between the black and the washed blue jeans she was sporting.
"I would suggest making a plan, Renee, do not let the fact that you have time fool you, organize yourself and think of both pros and cons." the pinkette groaned at the professional tonality of the redhead, pulling herself up in a sitting position and brushing the messy long strands back, a scowl evident on her pale features. "Don't give me that, Blossom." she quietly added to the display of rebellion.
"I'm only trying to-" the redhead started, halted by the hand that was raised in her direction "I know." but Blossom rolled her eyes and stood up effortlessly and with grace, flipping the long ponytail over her other shoulder and fixing her silky light pink top. Bubbles followed in her sister's movements and stood up as well, patting the blue dress that came to her knees, before she turned towards the pinkette that glared at her own blue sneakers and played with the brown belt of the dungarees she sported.
"Quit it Bloss, let'er choose for herself, stop yapping like you're some kinda authority figure or somethin'," all eyes turned to the brunette that had previously slept soundly over the tree trunk, her face now visible as she gazed sharply at Blossom, the electric green eyes forcing her sister to avoid a direct eye contact. "Look, Renee, if you wanna get involved, that's good, we need an extra bicep in here, if you don't wanna, that's fine too, I ain't gonna judge you for it." the short-haired ravenette always had a way to put her at ease. As logical and rational as Blossom was, Buttercup took the cake with how direct and simple she solved the problems that came her way.
"Now should we just get our asses home or what? I'm starving." it was settled then, as the third member of the four-girl squad stood up. Bubbles nodded vigorously while Blossom scoffed but followed the brunette either way, while the pinkette watched the three sisters soaring into the air, a grin plastered over her lips.
It was incredible and baffling how easily the three sisters accepted her in their family, ever since she was fifteen and angry. Her mother married their father and it felt as if they were a match made in heaven, what with them both being science lovers and practitioners in the field. Five years passed since then and it still made Renee smile at how ridiculous their first meeting was and how hard she made it for her mother, stubbornly refusing to adjust to Townsville, after all, Citysville had been her home for fifteen years.
It felt like it was yesterday when she stared up at the dark haired man that was going to become her step-father, and glared at him with fire in her baby blues. It felt like it was yesterday that she had her first bickering with Buttercup or the first word-war with Blossom. It felt like it was yesterday that she discovered the lives the three girls had, fighting crime and facing criminals at least each week or every few days, putting their lives in danger every time they went out there with bravery in their hearts. She learned to respect them then, because as they grew up, the villains became meaner, bigger...stronger. It also felt like it was yesterday that she had to come clean about her secret that her mother had kept for years, while they were gathered at the kitchen table and questioned about the time when she saved a girl's life by literally stopping a truck in the middle of the street. It was obvious that fate had a funny way of arranging this, because while Renee had been hiding her special abilities, the three girls she would soon start calling sisters, used those to fight crime and save lives.
Truth be told, it wasn't exactly her call. It was her mother that called the shots and to be honest, what man would go for a woman scientist that would tell them on the first date that they had a super-powered daughter that could lift cars and fly? Or worse, that she re-arranged her own daughter's DNA, that she mingled with it, for a good cause nonetheless. Renee learned to live in secrecy, especially after her mother re-designed her DNA, without knowing exactly what would happen. It was the reason she had the obnoxious pink hair instead of the lush brown her mother had, for instance.
Whatever the consequences, the girl was thankful for the second chance, especially after she had been doomed to live her life as a vegetable, paralyzed and with no hope of recovering, from a car accident that she was the victim of while she was only 6. Her mother's ambition to save her from that kind of life was what had her breathing today, able to enjoy her life to the absolute fullest and there was no way in hell she was ever going to blame her mother for anything, not even the moments when she would crack a mug in her hand accidentally, not even when she had to hide her potential.
Life was good that way. It was when she met professor Utonium that Renee started to rebel, up until the moment she realized her hatred was misplaced and childish, after a heart-to-heart talk with the man.
Her feet started to move towards the bus station as she remembered the discussion and how awkward it had been for both of them. Despite being able to fly, she still refused to show off any of her powers, choosing to live normally, or as normally as she was able without getting anyone's unwanted attention. Being a hero meant being on the radar, being exposed and out there, the target of many things that were not good; the three sisters were strong, strong enough to withstand it all.
She wasn't.
It came to this point, though, the point where she would have to make a choice, after all, the city was becoming more restless and three twenty year old girls could handle so much between university courses and social life. It was understandable and Renee couldn't help but feel selfish for avoiding the topic as much as she could.
As she grew with the girls she also came to know their enemies, learned their customs, stole some tips, some things from their experience that helped a lot with controlling her own abilities. There were only three other people out there that were as powerful as the girls...or had the potential to bring them down, but thankfully they made a truce. The Rowdyruff Boys were no easy topic to talk about, surely. At least they grew up enough to think for themselves and make choices that would benefit both parties. Renee didn't like their kind, she avoided the names and the faces, always leaving if she even caught a glimpse of red caps or forest green eyes or blond jock-like guys. As far as she was concerned, they were obnoxious, disgusting and wild. If they weren't fooling around with girls or cars or motorcycles, they were creating trouble in bars or other areas that the girls had to go to in order to settle things down.
As the bus came to a halt in the station, Renee quietly stood straight from leaning on the glass wall of the small bus stop settlement and moved towards the vehicle, busily rummaging through her pocket for the permit. However, her movement came to an abrupt end when a red sports car screeched in front of the bus, stopping just in front of her and making it hard for the driver to leave. Speaking of the devil, or rather, devils, three young men occupied the car, music blasting in vulgar lyrics and making the pinkette settle her gaze over the redheaded driver, the tuffs of long and slightly wild hair gathered in a messy ponytail and top hidden underneath a familiar red cap turned backwards. Brick, as she learned his name was, motioned for her to come close to the car window which was rolled down. Avoiding attention and staying off any radar was what Renee preferred and right now, if she wasn't going to comply, she would turn eyes towards her. Glancing around her, she grunted and walked up to the window, leaning down to be eye-level with the red-eyed ruff. Apparently, he was not alone either. There was his brother, Butch, in the passenger seat and Boomer in the backseat, with a blonde girl she saw around the university campus where the girls went.
"What do you want?" if it wasn't clear she avoided them like the plague, her ice-cold tone surely did the trick, because the red ruff was smirking and the green ruff turned to lock his eyes on her as well. "She talks guys!" -well then. "She could always talk. She just chose to not talk to you." it was a dumb move to try and sass this monster of a man, but Renee wasn't particularly in the mood to have her first encounter with the snakes and let them put her down.
Ignoring her remark completely, he carried his smirk as if nothing even happened and leaned closer to stare her in the eye. "Where you headed pinky? Have any idea where the girls are at?" what in the hell was happening here? Why was he asking her this? "Home...where I am headed too...obviously." her expression was void of any kind of emotion, simply neutral and calm. "Great, means I can give you a ride since I wanna talk to Red." so he wanted to talk to Blossom. It was no secret that Blossom and Brick dated briefly. It didn't work out and they were on and off for a bit until they just dropped it -the worst was that it was Blossom who kept trying and he was the one always letting her down.
"No thanks. Perfectly capable of giving myself a ride. I can pass a message to her, though." the pinkette shrugged with indifference, rejecting the offer without second thought. Judging by the fish lips in the backseat, there were a million germs just waiting to be hosted in someone's body just by getting into that car...not to add the identity of those in it. Her refusal seemed to wipe off the smirk from Brick's face, for a moment at least, but his eyes turned darker and the smirk was back on his lips, this time wicked.
"Listen pinky, I'm trying to be a nice-" "I was listening and I said no," the girl interrupted him, this time a tinge of annoyance in her voice. It was bad enough she was talking to him, now she had to fend him off like the creep he was? This struck a nerve and in an instant, his hand shot out and grabbed hers above the wrist, yanking her closer and almost bending her through the window of the car, eyes glinting dangerously.
"Don't interrupt me while I'm talking." at first, Renee was shocked, surprised, caught offguard, all of the above, but after the initial shock and the apparent strength with which he decided he could handle her, the young woman turned from calm to angry and irritated, patience running low. Throwing her secret out the window, she yanked her hand back, pulling the red ruff with her and grabbing his wrist with her free hand, blue eyes glaring into his reds. "Let go of my fucking hand." and she squeezed tight, earning her a confused look from the ruff, before his face contorted into shock and disbelief, his hand letting go of hers in an instant. His green brother remained eerily silent throughout the encounter, while the blond was fooling around with the girl in the back, until Brick yanked away from Renee.
"What the fuck...what the fuck'?" stepping away from the car with a look of satisfaction on her face, the pinkette quickly turned towards the bus and climbed inside, swiping her permit and taking a seat near the window just as the doors closed. The dread came later during her ride, when she realized what she had done and how it could end up biting her in the ass. As she stared at her reflection in the glass window with nervous eyes, the girl understood that her slip would have consequences.
••••••
the next morning
"You did what?!" -Renee stopped mid-pulling her sneakers on and sheepishly looked at Blossom, much like a child would look at a parent while they would chide them. "I didn't show off or fly into the horizon or say anything! He grabbed my wrist, okay? I was getting really fed up there!" because she was and she had a valid reason to stop acting like the fourth wheel on a tricycle all the time. The redhead wasn't having it, however. She pinched the bridge of her nose and watched the other girl from under her lashes in a controlled rage kind of way. This was the scary part about the pink powerpuff, she didn't yell or scream or punch, she just looked at you viciously.
"Do you even realize what this means? It inevitably shoves you into this -into our -" but she stopped before she could even continue with that idea, instead, she crossed her arms over her chest "You didn't want attention? Now you clearly have it." with that, she left Renee's bedroom. Was that really the issue? That she got their attention or that it was Brick that made the discovery? For someone that was so coldly logical at certain moments, it was a surprise that she could get emotionally flustered.
"It's not like...that…" a sigh left the pinkette as she returned to lacing her boots, a frown crested onto her face this time. There was a subtle line that Renee had to watch and it had to do specifically with Brick, given the two reds' involvement with each other. Yes, they were handsome for three psychotic villainous assholes, but that didn't mean she was gonna go shove her morals and principles just to -ugh.
Well, time to get her ass to her job.
Standing up from the bed, she tested her new boots and went to grab her backpack, a far easier way to carry shit around than carrying a purse like most ladies her age. Granted, she was one year older than the girls and Blossom along with Bubbles used purses like their lives depended on them, however, she would empathize with Buttercup here and stay casual. Especially since she was carrying her sneakers inside.
The cafe was almost empty as per usual in the morning, save for a couple and two girls in another booth. Renee quickly went to get dressed accordingly and passed a few hello's to her fellow co-workers on the way, before she took her spot as the barista. Mitch, one the guys currently there made a point to whistle after her, mostly just for fun and because they messed with each other like an old married couple. He was her closest friend outside of the job as well and it helped with making her feel better about her lonely breaks and taking orders every few hours. "So what have you been up to, candy floss?"
"Oh, you know, the usual, looking for part-time jobs, eating, sleeping, taking over the world," at that he snickered and shoved his shoulder into her own with a grin on his face. "You'd like that wouldn't ya?"
"Hell yeah, I'd ban morning shifts and cancel monday." she replied with a cheeky grin of her own, taking a cloth and wiping down the counter while she was still free. "Yeah, but then you'd have a week that starts with tuesday and everyone will start hating it just as much."
"True. Any news on Robin? The girls didn't see her at courses either, is her mom okay?"
"Oh yeah, she had the surgery, so she's gonna be missing for a while, took the whole week off. Think her mom's gonna recover just well, don't worry,"
"Poor girl, I should give her a call when I can...actually, remind me to call her after work,"
"Sure thing, candy floss."
"Stop that." the pinkette gave the teenage boy the stink eye, in mock offense. "What was that candy floss?" he continued with a devil may care smile "Dude, people will start thinking that's my name, I don't wanna be like-"
"Are you two quite done?" the extremely annoying pitch voice of the one who you do not speak of cut through the friendly banter. Princess Morbucks, aka the devil, was at the counter. When did she even get in? Renee could swear she didn't hear the door bell ring.
"Hey Princess, same as always?"
"Of course. What do you take me for? An indecisive peasant?" there we go; before she could hear more of the monologue, Renee quickly marked the order and passed it to Mitch to make it. As usual, she swiped her card and the drink was paid for. "So how are the powerpuffs. Must be interesting living with them under the same tiny roof."
"It's...they are fine?"
"Brick is sniffing around, by the way, asked me about you last night." that made the pinkette stop abruptly from busying herself with the cups, reluctantly looking at Princess while she waited for her drink. Of course the spoiled rich bitch knew Brick, they were both villains at some point and rolled around the same social circles. The only reason why these rowdy villains didn't eat the ginger girl at the counter whole, was because she had money and influence and that made her almost untouchable. The fact that the leader of the ruffs was already asking about her made her skin crawl, though.
"Any reason why he was asking about me?" she asked cautiously, trying to keep her voice under control. "You tell me."
"Must be because he's looking for Blossom and wanted me to pass a message to her-" the obnoxious laugh from the other girl startled Renee and had her glare back at the culprit. "Oh you are precious! If he wanted Blossom he'd go straight up to her. Clearly you don't know him at all!"
"And I'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much."
"Well, I told him where you work so-" "What!?" Mitch almost dropped the coffee at Renee's screech. "Why the hell did you tell him where I work?! Jesus, what the hell are you even thinking?! I want nothing to do with those hooligans-"
"Don't you even dare yell at me, peasant. He asked, I answered. What's the big deal anyway?" how could she act so casual about it? Renee was furious. Incredulously, she kept staring at the girl as she sipped her coffee calmly and then proceeded to hop on the stool at the counter on Mitch's side. This time, the boy decided to clear the tension that settled heavily.
"Princess, I shouldn't be one to talk but...they are some pretty bad dudes that no one really wants to get involved with. You should've asked Renee first.." the whole advice fell on deaf ears, because all Morbucks did was scoff and roll her eyes. "What's the worst that can happen?"
"With those hooligans? You never know! That's exactly my point."
••••••••
At four o'clock, Renee was finished with her shift and quickly made her way towards home, taking shortcuts and constantly looking over her shoulder. Perhaps it wasn't healthy to be so paranoid, especially for someone that could actually do something to defend herself, but she couldn't help but feel as if she made a big mistake that she was going to pay for later. That's how karma worked.
Thankfully, she got home safe and unfollowed. That night was a challenge, because she kept waking up and looking at the window, before hiding under her blankets again and overthinking all the possible scenarios in which her life could go downhill.
"Ugh! I ain't got time for this."
While it was admirable that the ruffs were trying to get an education, she knew better than to assume that they changed their ways completely. It was in their nature to be this way and that's why they were created no? That's what Blossom told her. They were unpredictable and dangerous, but look at the irony in that when she started dating their leader. Of course, the thief calling out the other thief.
Her mother didn't pry when she saw Renee's pale face when she got home for dinner, thank heavens, so she had one less thing to explain, but she was sure the topic would come up when she'd catch her alone. Then there was Blossom, silent throughout the ordeal, all while the other two sister chatted and laughed with the Professor and her mom.