This fanfiction is set shortly after the events of Stakes but before the events of Islands, and is based in the main universe rather than the storytelling graveyards (don't at me) that are highschool/college and real-world AUs.
I have taken a few liberties with certain events and traits, so some events mentioned may not be recalled exactly as shown in their episode, and different characteristics of characters/objects may be changed. Additionally, segments may be inspired or outright borrowed from pieces of fanart that I particularly enjoy.
As you may notice, several chapters will be my take on certain episodes and comics that heavily build on the relationship between the two characters, but those may also have moments changed to varying degrees from the official version.
(And before I get any comments about it, yes; I am aware the comics aren't canon. Neither is this fanfiction, so it works out.)
Flying across the night sky, Marceline strums her bass whilst humming a tune to herself. She glides along the cool breeze, her shoulder-length black, glossy hair flapping in the wind and her eyes closed. The land of Ooo lies beneath her back, while her face looks up towards the stars.
Far below, the grassy fields that surround Finn and Jake's treehouse roll on, the grass swaying softly in the breeze. To the north, the glacier-mountains of the Ice Kingdom stare over the landscape, and pinpricks of light can be seen where windows into Ice King's palace are carved into the ice.
To the west, the grass fades to a golden-yellow and trees turn cotton candy-pink as the land draws closer to the Candy Kingdom, and even in the dead of night, the massive tree that serves as the support to Princess Bubblegum's castle is clearly visible.
She begins humming to herself, and starts strumming the tune to the song she sang several years ago to open the Keylord's door, which her friends have dubbed I'm Just Your Problem. She continues playing, and subconsciously drifts towards the sugary plains of her best friend's kingdom, not noticing as black clouds form above her.
"La-da, da-da, da,
I'm gonna lift you off the ground.
La-da, da-da, da…
I'm gonna lift you with my sound.
I wanna clean the tears
from your pretty pink face.
I wanna show you what you mean to me,
No matter how long it takes."
As she finishes the first verse, a raindrop falls onto her face, causing her to open one eye and look up at it, before closing it again and continuing her song.
"I wish I could be by your side,
But I'm worried what I might do.
I wish I could tell you that you're perfect,
But that's too blunt coming from me to you.
You know that you mean a lot to me,
But do you really know just how much you do?
I don't quite understand my feelings,
And I'm afraid I'm not quite over you…"
She pauses once more, sighing. As more drops begin falling onto her, she turns over and looks down, seeing the massive pink tree that serves as the support for Bubblegum's castle. Marceline considers flying down to visit her friend, but the smell of ozone fills the air.
Before she can react, her bass grows hot in her hand, then lightning streaks down from the clouds. The bolt strikes her metal bass, and she screams in pain, before falling unconscious. She drops from the sky, a scorched form trailing smoke, as her bass, shattered into fragments, drops behind her.
BOOOOOOOM!
In one of her palace's many towers, Bubblegum mixes together various vials and beakers, softly whistling to herself as she does so. She had shut the window when the rain started, but as she hears the boom of the thunder, she has an overwhelming sense of dread.
She rushes over to the window and throws it open, before scanning the rainy night sky. Even without her eyes having adjusted to the darkness, she sees a dark shape falling from the sky, trailing smoke. It falls, slamming into one of the branches of her castle's tree, before dropping onto the terrace, a cloud of smoke and dust rising around it as soon as it hits the ground.
Bonnibel, not even taking off her lab coat, rushes out the door and sprints through the hallways, before making her way out onto the terraces. Immediately, the rain makes her hair stick to her head, and it flattens down her back, sticking to her clothes. She runs through the rain, quickly making her way to the source of the smoke. As she lays eyes on the blackened shape, her heart drops.
"Marcy," she says quietly, falling to her knees. Large patches of her clothes are singed or outright burned away, and her hair is heavily burnt, being a rough, charcoal grey rather than its normal glossy black. Bonnibel, with tears welling up in her eyes, scoops up Marceline in her arms and carries her into her candy palace. "Pep! Bring my medical equipment to my chambers!" she shouts, while thinking to herself, 'Why isn't her healing working? It saved her from Hierophant's poison, why not this?'
As she marches through the halls, several banana guards look at her and attempt to follow, but a single stern look sends them back to their posts. She enters the royal bedchamber and carefully lays Marceline on her bed.
"What seems to be the emergency, Princess?" Peppermint Butler asks from the far side of the room, where he is setting various medical equipment on a table.
Sighing and trying to blink back her tears, Bubblegum quietly says, "It's Marcy."
Dropping the items from his hands, Pep whirls around. "Marceline?!" He walks over and look at her, before looking at the princess in confusion. "I thought she had some healing thing after she sucked one of those vampires?"
"So did I," Bonnibel whispers, taking a seat on the open portion of the bed next to her friend. She gently begins stroking her hair, a look of worry plastered across her face. Clearing her throat, she pulls up the pendant around her neck, bringing the purple gemstone up.
It begins glowing, and soon the image of Finn's face appears. "Hey, Peebles!" he cheerfully says. "What's up?"
"Yeah, how's it going, Princess?" Jake asks, stretching himself up so his head is next to Finn's. "Oh… something bad's happened, hasn't it?" he adds after seeing the princess' face.
"It's Marcy," she says quietly, turning the gem to face her comatose friend. "She got struck by lightning, and she's really hurt. I don't know how or why, but it's stopped her healing." Finn and Jake's faces turn first to shock, before Finn's changes to one of concern.
"We'll get there as soon as we can," he says. "It'll be a few days before we can get there, though."
Wiping away her tears, Bubblegum attempts a shaky smile. "Thanks, Finn. Please, get here as quickly as you can."
Finn nods, then the purple hologram disperses.
Three days later…
Bonnibel sits in a chair at a computer near to her bed, which Marceline still lies on. Various medical apparati are scattered about the room in complete disarray, and she is similarly disheveled; her hair is a mess, her lab coat lies discarded on the floor, her clothes are completely unkempt, large bags are present beneath her eyes, and her entire face seems drained of color. PB's eyes are bloodshot and puffy from crying constantly over the previous days and nights, with several empty coffee mugs scattered about. The curtains are drawn tight, with only candles lighting up the area around the bed, while the rest of the room is almost entirely dark.
Suddenly, the door bursts open as Finn forces his way in, Jake is close pursuit. "Is Marcy okay?!" Finn shouts as he rushes towards the princess. She looks up at him in surprise, blinking several times as light beams in from the open doorway.
"Oh, Glob," Jake says. "You look like—"
"Have you slept? Like, at all?" Finn interrupts, looking at both women with concern.
Brushing some rogue hairs out of her face, Bubblegum tiredly stands up and answers, "I can't even remember. It's been…" she yawns, "... a rough time." The princess looks at Marceline, who lies on the bed with various wires and cables hooked up to her. "She's in a bad way. I'm not sure how, but the lightning that struck her, it cut her healing down to nearly nothing. Only three things can kill vampires: sunlight, a stake through the heart, and fire, which is what lightning is, in a sense." Once more, she sits on the bed next to the vampire queen and begins stroking Marceline's charred hair. "She's only got enough of her healing that she wasn't killed."
Gently placing a hand on PB's shoulder, Finn says, "We'll do whatever it takes to help Marcy. Just say the word, Peebles."
Pushing his hand from her shoulder, the princess exasperatedly says, "That's just it. I don't know what to do!" With a sigh, she explains. "All the readings I've been getting are… confused. Some say that she's recovering, but others say she's dying, and some even say that she's already fully recovered or already dead." She stands up and looks at the various machines. "The only explanation I can think of is that the equipment doesn't understand her vampire physiology, but I've used it on her before, so…"
She again lets out a sigh, once more looking to her friends. Suddenly, Jake pipes up, "What about that magic goop? The cyclops tears or whatever?"
PB's eyes light up momentarily, but drop once more. "No. That wouldn't work. From what I've seen of it, it can only heal what it touches, and you've only got the one bottle." Jake's face drops, and he sits down on the ground. Bubblegum pulls her knees up to her face and begins crying, causing Finn to reach towards her once more, wanting to comfort her, but thinks better of it. "I only wish… I wish…" she starts, before crying into her knees.
"Wait, wish?" Jake asks rhetorically, getting an idea. "We can go to Prismo!"
A smile appears on Finn's face, and excitedly agrees. "Yeah! Prismo!"
Looking up, Bubblegum sniffs softly and asks, "Prismo? Who's that? Can they help Marcy?"
"Of course he can! He's the wish master!" Jake reaches into Finn's backpack and begins digging around, before pulling out a nondescript-looking piece of paper. "I try to keep this with us in case we wanna go see him, no matter where we are!" He stretches his arm to grab both Finn and PB, then presses the 'P' at the bottom, and the three are teleported away in beams of multicolored light.
They rematerialize in a yellow room, with Prismo's pink silhouette against one wall. "Oh, hey guys!" he says surprisedly. "What're you doing here? And who's the chick?"
"This is Princess Bubblegum," Finn says as he walks up to the wish master, looking at the princess as she looks around perplexedly, wiping the tears from her face. "And she's got a pretty important request to make."
"Oh." he turns his eye to look at Bubblegum. "Hey, my bros tell me that you've got a wish to make."
The princess looks at the wish master, and quietly says, "My– our friend, Marceline… she got struck by lightning, and she's badly hurt. I don't know what I can do to help her. Can you help her?"
Prismo considers for a moment, then says, "Alright. Because you're friends with Finn and Jake, and because you really seem to care about this 'Marceline,' I'll let you rephrase your wish. But you should know that my wishes always have some sort of twist to them, so try to be as specific as possible and not to let any loopholes in." Pausing briefly, he states, "You only get one wish." As he raises a hand, three chairs, a table, and a jar of pickles appears. Upon seeing this, Jake immediately picks up the jar and begins devouring pickles. "Here, sit down and relax."
Bubblegum takes his advice and sits, slowly lowering herself into one of the chairs, while Finn sits opposite her, a look of concern on his face, while Jake busies himself with the consumption of the pickles off to the side.
After a few moments, PB quietly and carefully says, "I wish for Marceline to be healed of all the damage dealt by the lightning bolt, but not to lose her vampirism or mess with any of the powers gained through it. Just… please, just let Marcy be okay."
The wish master nods. "I can work with that." A sensation that can only be described as a shift overcomes the three visitors, but quickly subsides. "Do you wanna head back?" Prismo asks Bubblegum. She nods, and is instantly beamed away in the multicolored light. "You two wanna go as well?"
Jake is still busy eating the pickles, so Finn answers. "Yeah. I need to make sure nothing went wrong with Marcy."
"Well, we can always watch on my TV-wall." Prismo summons a remote and puts in finger over the power button, but Finn cuts him off.
"No. I need to be there myself. PB and Marcy are my friends, and it'd just be… wrong to stay here and watch."
Nodding, Prismo agrees. "Yeah, I understand. Jake going, too?"
"Nah," the magic dog answers, pulling his head out of the jar momentarily. "You go ahead. Prismo and I've got some catching up to do."
Finn considers arguing, but quickly decides against it. "Alright. Just… if you see anything's wrong, come to us."
"Don't worry man!"
The human boy sighs. "Alright." With that, Prismo warps him out, sending him to follow the princess.
Bonnibel appears just to the side of the bed, and as she first sees Marceline, she appears unchanged. Just as she begins thinking nothing happened, she notices that Marceline's torso is healing. The blackened, scarred portions of skin revert to their normal blue-grey, and her hair begins reverting from the burnt, charcoal grey to its natural glossy black.
As the princess watches, Finn appears behind her, watching on with wide eyes. As the healing finishes, Marceline groans and, bringing her hand up to her head while propping herself up on the other elbow, says, "Ow, my… everything."
Upon hearing her friend's voice, Bubblegum is shaken from her stupor, and smiles, before taking a few tentative steps towards her.
The vampire queen opens her eyes, and soon sets her sight on the princess, not seeing Finn behind her. "Bonnie?" she asks, "What happened?"
Wanting to say something, Bonnibel opens her mouth, but fails to find any words as tears well up in her eyes. She falls forwards and embraces her friend as her tears break free once more. She begins crying into Marceline, who falls back before placing a single hand into her friend's diskempt, pink hair.
Finally, she manages to speak, quietly saying, "I thought I lost you… again."
"Yeah, You were pretty bad," Finn says, causing Marceline to look at him in surprise.
"Finn?" she asks. "You're here, too?"
He nods. "PB called me and Jake here when you got struck by lightning. It messed up your healing pretty bad." With a small chuckle, he adds, "PB was crazy worried for you. She's been up for days making sure that you're okay."
Bubblegum blushes slightly. "It was only three days," she says, then places her hand on her friend's cheek before continuing. "But I'd stay up as long as I needed if it meant you'd be okay." Her tears continue rolling down her cheeks, and she quietly adds, "I almost lost you twice in… just a few months."
Marceline brings her hand up to the princess', then wipes away her tears with her other hand's thumb. "Don't worry, Bonnie. I've survived for a thousand years. A little lightning isn't going to take me out."
She tries to summon a smile, but begins crying more. "I already did lose you once, when I was still… finding my role. I don't want to lose you again."
To this, the vampire queen cannot think of a response, so she simply pulls the princess in and embraces her. A brief moment of silence, save for the sounds of Bubblegum's quiet crying, overtakes the room, before Finn awkwardly says, "Well, it's good to see that Marcy's okay, but I should get back home and wait for Jake to get back from Prismo's."
Bonnibel clears her throat, then says, "Alright. Check back tomorrow morning."
Marceline waves at him as he leaves, before asking Bubblegum, "Who's Prismo?"
"I'm… not really sure, but Finn and Jake said he's a 'wish master'. We went to him and… I used my wish for you to be better." She looks at Marceline, who is looking at her in surprise, but soon replaces it with a teasing smile.
"I didn't think you cared about me this much," she laughs. Bubblegum looks up at her, however, with her tears still falling. As she sees this, Marceline stops laughing and wipes her tears away.
Quietly, she says, "Marcy… you know I care about you. Nothing will ever change that."
Staying quiet for a few seconds, Marceline eventually says, "I know," as she leans her head against her friend's.
After a few moments, however, Bubblegum slowly stands up and begins helping Marceline up. "Now, come on. Let's get you out of bed so you can wash up." Marceline rises, and as she drops to the floor, she grunts and winces. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Marceline says calmly, putting on a smile. "Just a little bit sore." She tries floating up in the air, but beads of sweat appear across her skin immediately, and she only manages to rise a couple of inches from the floor before dropping down again.
Bubblegum catches her, keeping her upright, and nervously laughing. "I don't think you'll be doing that for a bit." Marceline smiles weakly, taking heavy breaths. "But you still need a shower."
The vampire queen straightens up, and begins walking, leaning into her friend for support as they near the princess' private washroom. "Do you think you're going to be fine alone?" Bonnibel asks.
With a laugh, Marceline says, "Just because I can't fly doesn't mean I can't take a shower, Bonnie." Smirking, she adds, "Of course, if you want to help, I'm not gonna say no…"
The princess blushes deeply, then lets go of Marceline, whose knees buckle slightly, before regaining herself. "Nope. You can handle this. Call if you need anything."
"What I need is for you to get some sleep," she responds, poking the tip of PB's nose with her finger. "I'll be fine." Bubblegum opens her mouth to argue, but the vampire queen enters the bathroom, jokingly winking before closing the door.
Bubblegum begins walking away, but a wave of exhaustion overtakes her and she yawns deeply, before telling Marceline through the door, "Alright. But wake me up when you finish."
"No prob," her friend responds, as Bubblegum hears the sound of her clothes dropping to the floor inside. She makes her way to her bed and lays down, then quickly falls asleep to the calming sounds of the water running, as Marceline occasionally sings quietly within.
Thirty minutes later…
Marceline exits the bathroom, with a new change of clothes from the princess' wardrobe; a pair of jeans, with a purple sweatshirt and matching boots, and a white shirt underneath. She sighs as she feels the cooler air within Bonnibel's bedchamber, and a smile appears on her face as she sees the princess lying on her bed, fast asleep.
Walking over, she makes sure to tread quietly, but doesn't need to try hard as her bare feet sink into the thick carpet that covers most of the floor. She is still sore, the very act of walking agitating her tender flesh, but the pain is significantly lessened after her shower.
Once she reaches the bed, she carefully sits on the edge of it and looks down at her sleeping friend, who doesn't react to the shift caused as the vampire queen sits down. She strokes some of the loose hairs from Bubblegum's face, and smirks as the princess' expression shifts slightly. She then gently shakes her awake. "Wakey wakey, Bonbon."
"Mmm…" Bubblegum groans. "Are you already done?"
Smirking, Marceline responds, "I'm afraid so."
"Alright…" The princess rises and then rubs the sleep from her eyes. "Well, I'm gonna need to do some tests so I can get a grasp of your current condition, because it seems like Prismo didn't go all the way."
"Some wish master he is," the vampire queen snorts.
"He told me that every wish he grants has some twist to it, and I guess his was that you only get healed to the bare minimum that you'd be okay."
Marceline shrugs. "Alright. Just don't do anything too intrusive when you test me."
With a playful, albeit tired smile, Bubblegum says, "No promises." She then directs Marceline to an open portion of the room and begins pulling her medical equipment over. From her various apparati, she lifts up a bundle of metal rods, and sets them up; a square around Marceline's feet, with a tall support structure rising up slightly over her head. At the end of the final rod, a gemstone is fastened.
"Need some help?" Marceline asks as her friend struggles to reach the top, before reaching up and attaching the final segment, using her couple extra inches over Bubblegum to her advantage.
"Thanks," Bonnibel says, before sitting down at her laptop. She types in a couple of commands, then says, "Alright. Try to float again."
The vampire queen jumps and attempts to use her flight, before dropping down as she had before, sweating and breathing heavily. Meanwhile, Bubblegum reads the analysis appearing on the screen in front of her. "It seems that your flight ability is directly dependant on your physical well-being, and since you're not completely healed yet, your flight is only working at a fraction of what it normally would. Now, let's try your shapeshifting."
For the remainder of the day, she conducts various tests, and most give the same readings; until she recovers, most of her abilities will either function at a reduced rate, or won't work at all. Even her healing is mostly impeded, but is still working in the background, meaning that she'll recover significantly faster than most other people would.
"I'm estimating that it'll take you about a week to recover," Bubblegum says, talking to Marceline after completing her battery of tests. Outside, the sun is setting as the day turns to dusk. "Until I feel you're ready to go home…" she pauses briefly to yawn, "... I want you to stay here. So I can… I cannn…" Bubblegum trails off and begins sinking into her bed, while Marceline watches in amusement.
"Don't worry, Bonnie," she says. "I'm not going anywhere."
Bonnibel quickly sits upright again, trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes, then smiles. "Okay… that's good. I'm just gonna…"
"Shhh…" Marceline hisses teasingly, before gently lowering her down. "Just get some sleep."
"Alright," PB concedes. "But no funny business." As soon as her head hits the pillow, however, the princess is slumbering. Marceline looks at her, smiling as she gazes upon her friend's face.
Suddenly, she yawns as a feeling of sleepiness comes over her, in spite of how long she was unconscious for over the previous days, and her eyes drift to the empty spot next to Bonnibel. 'Could I…?' she thinks to herself, but she's already beginning to fall into it.
Before she knows it, she's laying next to her friend, and notices how comfortable she feels next to her. She closes her eyes and tries to sleep, but her ever-active mind keeps her awake, even in her deep comfort. 'It's been too long since we've been like this,' she thinks to herself as a sense of nostalgia begins climbing at the edge of her thoughts, making her remember the good times she and Bonnibel had in the centuries they've known each other. A single tear wells up on one eyelid, but she forces it back down.
Suddenly, she feels the bed shift, and becomes aware of the princess rolling over, then cuddling with her. A smile comes across her face, and she wraps an arm around PB's shoulders. 'I missed this.'
Shortly after, she drifts into sleep…
The next morning…
As the sun rises, Marceline wakes up, still lying in Bonnibel's bed. As she becomes aware of her surroundings, she realizes that she and PB are still in the same position as when she fell asleep. This heralds a small smile.
She carefully slides Bubblegum off, eliciting a sleepy groan of protest, before pushing off the bed. Out of habit, she attempts to float, and realizes she manages to stay in the air, although she needs to focus significantly more than usual in order to do so. Deciding it's still easier to walk, however, she drops back down to the ground, before heading into the bathroom to conduct her morning routine.
Shortly after she finishes, a knock comes on the door, and Finn's voice comes through. "PB? Marcy?"
After momentarily considering just ignoring the knock, Marceline walks to the door and opens it up. "Heya," she answers as she steps through the door, before closing it once more. "Bonnie's still out, so you might wanna be quiet." With a smirk, she adds, "She gets crabby when you interrupt her beauty sleep."
"Alright, well—" Finn starts, before Jake interrupts him.
"Speaking from experience, Marcy?" the magic dog asks with an amused grin. To this, the vampire queen simply shrugs.
"Well…" the human boy continues. "PB told us to come check in the morning, so…"
Marceline chuckles. "Don't worry, dude. I'm fine."
"Okay. We're gonna stay in the city, so tell PB that we're here when she wakes up." He turns around and takes a step, but asks, "Oh, by the way… is there anything you need?" Finn takes off his pack and begins looking through it. "We've got some water, a box of pencils, an unopened can of ravioli, some—"
"I'm good," Marceline interrupts. "Bonnie's got just about everything that I'll need."
"Alright," Jake says, as Finn slips his bag back onto his back. "Seeya Marcy!"
"Bye!"
As Finn and Jake walk away, Marceline reenters the princess' bedroom and sees that she's still lying down, although she's clearly moved from her position when Marceline first began talking to the boys. As she walks over, Bonnibel yawns and slowly opens her eyes. "Was that Finn and Jake?" she asks.
"Yeah. They said they're gonna stay in the city for a bit, so you can get them whenever you need 'em."
"Alright…" the princess responds, yawning once more, before sitting up and stretching. She looks at Marceline, then, with an amused grin, asks, "Did you sleep with me?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Marceline laughs. "I slept in your bed next to you, but I didn't 'sleep with you'," she answers, making air-quotes. "You said 'no funny business', so I had to restrain myself." Bonnibel continues to look at her, still smiling.
"Well… I'm glad you did." Leaning forwards she wraps her arms around Marceline. "I feel safe when I'm with you." This surprises Marceline slightly, causing her to blush, but she returns the hug nonetheless.
They remain embraced for almost a solid minute, before hesitantly breaking. Rising from the bed, Bonnibel stretches once more, before making her way to her private washroom. "Don't do anything crazy while I'm showering," she says.
"Don't worry, Bonnie," Marceline replies. "I know my limits. As long as there's no lightning, I'll be fine." The door shuts, and she flops back down on the bed. 'Why can't I have a bed this nice?' she thinks to herself.
Even though she had just slept, she dozes off, her mind wandering first to Bonnibel, then tracks its way backwards several years to the point where their reconciliation began.