The hall was empty the night Princess Bubblegum summoned her. The eerie silence was uncharacteristic of the Candy Kingdom, so bright and buzzing with giggling gumdrop people and such.

Marceline let her irritation hide the tempest of feelings twisting her guts. The Princess requested her presence at the stroke of midnight. Very dramatic. The Vampire Queen, having a century of travel barely behind her, had planned to sleep in. It was so like Bonnibel, she thought, to disrupt her plans.

As she crept toward the castle, she looked up to the sleeping Candy guards and with a smirk, wondered how old their gumballs were. Before she could pass through the steps, a sleeping guard stirred.

"HALT." Marceline cringed. "SHOW YOURSELF."

She hesitated, saying, "You know who I am. Was it necessary to wake up the entire Kingdom?"

The Candy Guard rolled its giant glass head toward her voice. "Marceline does not use the front door," he said.

Marceline felt her body itch to mutate. "Shut up."

Having confirmed her identity, Marceline pushed passed the doors, daring him to throw some damned math equation at her.

Princess Bubblegum was sitting at the head of the royal conference table. Her hands were steepled in front of her. After a moment, she laid them flat on the table. Marceline did not make a sound as she drifted, invisible, to the seat on her left.

"You rang, Bonnibel?" Marceline popped into existence, starting the Princess, who folded her trembling hands together in front of her.

"Marceline, please." Her fingers uncurled, flattening against the tabletop. "I heard you were back. I thought to ask you over before you decided to climb through my window like some…" The Princess huffed, waving a hand in the air. "Anyway."

Marceline was restless the moment her boney bottom touched the seat. "Get to it, Bonnie."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Bubblegum drawled with a roll of her eyes. "Am I wasting your precious eternity? Tell me," Bubblegum's hands were folded in front of her once again. "How many are left to your Kingdom, Marceline? That is what you left to find out, isn't it?"

Marceline tipped her chair back, resting a boot on the table, "None. Unless you count the Nightosphere…" She soaked in Bubblegum's stunned expression. "I don't."

Bubblegum nodded, a stiff jerk of her pretty pink head. "Why did you go?" She asked, finally.

Marceline was startled by this. Bonnie's voice coming out of this snotty monarch. The chair dropped to the ground. "I had to…" She didn't know what to say. Bubblegum looked away, shook her head again. Marceline stared at her. "I had to," she repeated.

They were both quiet.

"Bonnie—"

"How long?" Bubblegum was looking at her again, her face curious under the anger.

"Um," Marceline's mind raced through her adventures, stopping at the little boy living in her tree pad. "Jeez, a little while—"

"No," Bubblegum cleared her throat. "How long have you been back?"

"Precisely?" Marceline rolled her eyes and thought. "Three months. Give or take."

"I see." Marceline felt the ghost of a chill pass over the table. "And did you find what you were looking for?"

Marceline snorted, tipping her chair back again. "Just needed a vacation. Too much sweetness will make you rot, you know?"

Bubblegum lowered her head as she spoke. "You should have informed me of your return. Things have changed since you left; there are new creatures in the land of Ooo, including a human, who—"

"The kid crashing in my tree?" Marceline's teeth cut into her grey lip. "I've seen him. He's cute. The dog he hangs with is a wuss, but…"

"What?" Bubblegum was looking at her again. She swiped at her face. "He hasn't said anything about—"

"I thought there was something familiar about him," Marceline muttered. "He's a real boy, huh? Not one of your…"

"Will you STOP interrupting me?" The Princess snapped. "What did you do?" Her eyes narrowed, "Did you try to bite him?"

Marceline grinned as Bubblegum turned an even paler pink. "Actually, he gave me a good whack before I could defile him."

"That is NOT funny, Marceline. He's the last—the only—"

"Whatever," Marceline yawned as she began to float over the table. "Is this meeting done yet? I'm hungry."

Bubblegum glared at her drifting form, swallowing a response. "How long?" she pressed.

"Jeez, you're a broken record." Marceline looked at her. "A record, you know, one of those big black circle thingies I showed you back…"

Bubblegum glared, waiting for an answer.

"We've been over this," Marceline said.

Bubblegum shook her head. "I'm not playing with you anymore, Marcy."

Marceline stared at her as she floated back down to sit in the chair. She blinked. "What?"

Bubblegum's eyes didn't leave hers, and Marceline could not keep the image of her, smaller – twelve, thirteen, maybe…

"How long have I been gone?" Marceline asked.

The princess didn't even have to think about it. "One hundred years." She paused. "Give or take."

Marceline didn't say anything. The old wounds on her neck itched as she held the Princess's gaze. Her pink lips parted slightly and the crease between her bright eyes softened as she blinked. She laid her hands out flat against the tabletop and blinked again before she let her eyes flutter shut.

"I'll see you around, Bonnibel."

When Princess Bubblegum opened her eyes, Marceline was gone.

When Bubblegum brought up the subject of the vampire Queen to Finn, he asked where her kingdom is. "I don't think we've ever seen it," he said, eyes glazed over in excitement.

"Oh. Finn. If you had," Bubblegum said, placing a gentle hand on his covered head, "You probably wouldn't be here now." Finn looked up at her. "Other vampires are not like Marceline."

"Well, duh," he shrugged. "That's why she's the Queen."

"Well." Bubblegum patted him on the hat. "I won't argue with that."

Though Bubblegum and Marceline crossed paths at social events, and even a few of the Royal conferences that Marceline deigned to drop in on, it took two years for them to actually speak to one another. It did not go well.

After the incident at Red Rock Pass, Marceline opened her door and found Bonnibel Bubblegum, mid-knock. She was flushed and wearing her sweatshirt, stained with Marceline's red spit. "I thought you could, ah, dry clean it for me," she joked, pointing at the stain.

Marceline tossed her a strawberry soda and said, "Our friend was sitting right there, the other day. He asked me to bite him."

Bubblegum's jaw dropped.

Marceline smirked. "Really? I'd have to go to the Nightosphere and never come back. And in case you've forgotten, that's not really my scene."

Bubblegum relaxed, slightly, and took a nervous sip of her soda. "I guess you're over the whole, 'wiping out an entire species' thing, huh?"

Marceline stared at her. Bubblegum's laugh died as she tried to sink into the rock-hard couch. "I'm glad you didn't, I mean," she muttered, finally. "He must have been out of his mind."

"He's a kid." Marceline grabbed her Ax and began to strum. "Not like he's the first one to ask."

Bubblegum watched her for a while, leaving them in strange silence. She coughed.

"That song you sang, the other day," she began. Marceline plucked a wrong note. "I missed you a lot, you know. I didn't realize that I…hurt you? I mean…" The Princess shook her head, deflating again. "You were my hero."

Marceline sighed. "Forget it, Bonnie."

The silence was crushing. Bubblegum cleared her throat.

"So… will you clean my sweatshirt? It's kinda my favorite."

Marceline looked at her sheepish grin, the stain sitting just below her shoulder. "Uh," she took another swig from her soda. "Sure. Give it here." She held out her hand.

Bubblegum looked at her grey hand, and hesitated. "Actually… it's kind of cold in here. Do you think I could keep it on?"

Marceline's hand dropped. "I guess." She put down her soda. "C'mere."

Bubblegum inched over so there was just barely a space between them. Marceline leaned in and took a handful of the sweatshirt fabric and ran her thumb over the stain. She looked at Bubblegum. "I might take the color out of this spot forever. Are you sure?"

Bubblegum nodded, the fabric pulled over Marceline's fingers. "I'll manage."

"Okay." Marceline let go of the fabric, hesistated, and moved her hand around Bubblegum's back, holding her up. Her other hand snaked around her shoulder, to still her, as she tipped her head and carefully sunk a tooth into the spot.

There was a sound like a soft inhale, and she sat up to check her work. Where the spot had been was now grey nothingness. Bubblegum blinked, looking from Marceline to the spot.

"Alright?" Marceline said. Bubblegum blinked again, looking at her.

"Actually," Bubblegum lifted her gaze from the grey smudge and met Marceline's red eyes. "No."

"What?" Marceline hooked her fingers into the sweatshirt again, inspecting it. "But…No, I—"

Her words were lost as her teeth pressed into Bubblegum's lips.

She released the sweatshirt and her hands floated in the air, frozen. Her shock faded as Bubblegum edged on, pushing her to the edge of the sofa. Marceline's eyes fluttered shut as her hands found Bubblegum's warm, red face. She tried not to bite the pink tongue slipping between her teeth.

Bubblegum finally pulled away from her and breathed, "How long?"

Marceline could barely think. "I don't think I can count that high, Bonnie," she said, her forked tongue stinging.

Bubblegum laughed and when she kissed her again, her lips lost their color.