Thank you very much, guys, for your support, so here's the next chapter as per request by an anonymous user a Brick and Bubbles one-shot. I really didn't know how to exactly write their relationship, but the story Intercept by cicatricum helped me settle on something. I know that it's been a pretty long time since I last updated, but writing doesn't come easily to me. I fret over details too much and characterization, so I hope that I did alright with this one and that it's not too boring or something.

BTW last chapter was named after the song Cherry Pie by Warrant. This one is named after the song Poison by Alice Cooper.

Anyway enjoy. :D

3. Poison

It was warm and soft - the light colored bed sheets felt like heaven. Never before have Brick woken up feeling so elevated and rested despite last night's activities.

From behind the shut blinds he could see the bright morning sun. It was still really early in the morning.

He sighed softly, putting his hand behind his head. He glanced at the blonde laying in bed beside him. Never would he have imagined that someday in his life he will be laying in bed together with the blonde Powerpuff. Even now when he thinks about it it sounds asinine.

The blonde stirred in her sleep and hugged the pillow she was sleeping on closer to her. The red ruff smiled and gingerly tucked a hair strand that was threatening to fall into her mouth behind her ear.

How did it even come to this?

In pure ridiculousness that's how. Well, at least from Brick's point of view.

The day when they first encountered each other without their siblings present hadn't been the best one for the red Rowdyruff. He had been pissed and was itching to destroy something. So of course the best place to do that without bringing any unwanted attention to yourself was deep in the forest. At that moment he really didn't think of the consequences his actions in the woods may cause.

Why was he even angry in the first place?

Ah, right. It was that fateful day when their father had announced that from that day forth they'll be living with their other father Him. Needless to say that none of the boys were happy about such a development. The clawed demon might have given them a second chance at life, but it didn't mean that they wanted to live in his hell hole, literally. His living quarters were less than pleasant from what Brick could remember.

They might have not sported the best attitude towards Mojo, but it gave him no right to throw them out and in the claws of a demon.

So yes, he blew up right in their faces, exclaiming his displeasure. He also might or might not have smashed Mojo's favorite death laser, but that wasn't that important. Butch and Boomer weren't too excited for the change as well. They might have not reacted as badly as him, though they still managed to pass out a few curses and threats with the occasional destruction of Mojo's precious lab equipment.

If Brick is being honest with himself, he might have talked things through with his fathers if his mood would have been better. It's just that the whole week he had been having a streak of bad luck and Mojo's announcement was like the cherry on top that made him lose his marbles.

After the whole yelling match he just stormed right out of there, right through the roof of the laboratory.

He had had enough. He couldn't handle all that shit anymore. As much as he wanted to smash Mojo's face in at that moment, he had enough tact to know that that would achieve nothing and would only worsen the situation. Of course Him might be delighted about that, but he wanted to smash his head as well and that would only end up badly for the ruff. Instead he decided to just lash out his pent up anger in the woods, where no one can bother him.

He spent about an hour deep in the forest punching trees before he was worn out. Besides the forest had suffered enough - he had made a clearing large enough to pass up as a small parking lot. How no one had heard him is a mystery.

Brick exhaled and slumped down against a tree. It was one of the trees he hadn't touched, so it provided enough cover from the moonlight.

This was all so messed up. Why had Mojo decided to send them off to Him anyway? Had the monkey finally reached his limit? Had he finally had enough with their shenanigans? Then again it might be because they never really listened to him and more or less usually compromised his plans in destroying the puffs. Not that his plans were perfect.

The ruff ran a hand through his messy hair (he had managed to lose his favorite cap sometime during his out burst). At least the fresh spring air of the forest was soothing. The warm night wind lightly tickled his skin. From somewhere afar he heard leaves move then a twig snapping.

His eyes popped open. His breath got caught in his lungs.

On the other side of the clearing the blue Powerpuff was aimlessly walking around the remains of trees, an anxious look on her face.

So much for him being quiet then. This just wasn't his day.

"What are you doing here, blondie?"

His voice startled her. She clutched her chest at the place where her heart was. She hadn't noticed him yet, so when he called out her again she finally pinpointed his location. And when she did her expression changed drastically. Obviously she had put two and two together.

"Do you realize what have you done?" With a shrill yell, she marched, stopping in front of him, her hands on her hips.

"I'm aware."

Her eyes narrowed. "What are you up to?"

Great! Now she thinks that he's doing all this because he has an ulterior motive. Can't a guy for once have a meltdown? Maybe calling out to her was a stupid idea. Scratch that! It was stupid.

He cast his gaze away from her blazing blue eyes and instead inspected the tree laying behind her. He really did quite a number on it. It was all battered and splintered.

That's when he looked down at his hands. They were all bruised and bloody with splinters here and there. At the heat of the moment he hadn't really noticed. Now that he did the pain caught up to him. He winced.

Bubbles was about to say something else when she noticed that his gaze was cast elsewhere.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" Her anger at him entirely forgotten she closed their distance and knelt down, examining his hands.

Brick leaned away from her scrutinizing gaze, her floral perfume invading his senses. He really didn't appreciate her nearness. If anything it made him cautious.

The blue puff ignored him and clutched his wrists closer to her to get a better look. "What did you even do? Bash your hands against wood?"

"Pretty much."

Bubbles finally let go of his wrists. "There's no way you could have done so much damage to your hands by doing that."

"You can if you don't use your super strength."

The puff stared at him in bewilderment, but didn't question him further. Instead she brought out a small med-kit from her bag. Why did she even have that was a mystery.

Brick actually hadn't noticed her dark blue bag on her shoulder before. In fact he hardly had paid attention to her appereance as soon as she appeared. Now when he did he saw that she was dressed in light blue jeans and a gray sweater with a kitten on it. He snorted. How very Bubbles-like, of course it had to be a kitten.

While Brick was taking his time observing her Bubbles had already dug out some tweezers and took a hold of his hand. That's when Brick flinched back from her, throwing her a dirty glare.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Helping you," she replied in a deadpan voice. He could see that she was trying to conceal her anger. Her voice might be steady, but her face said otherwise.

"Why?"

Bubbles sighed. She leaned back and sat down on the ground, her legs tired from the crouch. "Because it's the right thing to do even if you are a bastard." She glared accusingly at him. "I can't forgive you for destroying the forest, but I also can't leave you here bleeding. Knowing you, you had a reason for doing this." With her head she motioned to the beaten up trees behind her.

This made zero sense. She was angry with him, that much was visible, but helping him, a villain, made no sense. And what made her think that she knows him. Apart from their spats before their fights they hardly communicated. Well...actually like never. When they talked or fought everything was usually addressed to their counterparts.

This chick had lost her mind. She should be taking the opportunity in taking him out. If he's out of the picture then so are his brothers. Those two dumbasses can't do shit without him.

"What makes you think that? Maybe I did destroy the forest for my sole sadistic pleasure or maybe I did it because I knew that it would get the attention of a puff and I could get a chance to kill her..." He smirked when he saw a glint of doubt and panic flash in her eyes.

But the puff recoiled and set her face in an impassive grimace. "You're lying. I know well enough that you posses enough tact not to do that." Touché. "And you wouldn't do such a reckless thing alone as this just to get our attention. The chances of all three of us coming here are too high."

Damn. The blonde puff had left him speechless there for a moment. When did she become so smart? Although this raises an another question.

"Speaking about that: why are you here alone then?"

"Patrol."

"What?"

"I was on patrol when I heard weird noises coming from the forest. Blossom makes all of us patrol the city before we go to bed, to make sure that everything is in order."

Well, that's something he didn't know. Red really did take this whole hero thing way too seriously. Patrolling the city? That's just a bit too much. It's like she lacks faith in the authorities of Townsville.

"Anyway, that's not important right now." She scooted closer to him and before he could protest took his left wrist, pushed up the sleeve of his hoodie and started working on it with her tweezers.

"Yeowch!" He almost pulled his hand away when she pulled out a particularly big splinter from his finger, sadly Bubbles was holding on to his wrist with an iron grip. If he wasn't so tired right now he would have already fled the place. In the end it wasn't the wisest choice to use trees as punching bags bare handed without the use of his super strength. Okay...he might have used it a bit at one point. There's no way he could have blown up a tree in millions of splinters with normal strength.

Bubbles kept working on his hand for a few minutes more before she switched up to his other. All this time Brick was trying to conceal his whimpers of pain and his growing suspicion that he had fallen in an alternative universe.

This felt so surreal. He watched her clear blue eyes narrow in concentration, her blonde, collar length hair styled into two low pony tails move in the breeze. He felt her dainty, warm hand squeeze around his wrist to prevent movement. He especially found it odd how she suddenly furrowed her brows and set her mouth in a deep frown while before her face had been more or less impassive. That's when he found out that it was her concentration face 'cause at right that moment she pulled out an unusually huge splinter from between his fingers. It had been wedged in quite deep and Brick couldn't stop himself from letting out a yelp.

"You know, I'm kind of curious...what made you come here?" Her soft voice surprised him. She had been pretty quiet for a while. That's when she switched the tweezers up for a cloth and some antiseptic. "This is gonna sting a bit." When she started to dab the blood away with the cloth it made his skin burn. "Are you listening?"

Brick grunted in response. He didn't feel like explaining himself to her. It was already embarrassing enough that Mojo was throwing them out. He didn't need to add her pity to it. He hated that.

"So why are you here?" Bubbles asked a small smile appearing on her lips. "It can't be because you just wanted to smash things - that's Butch's thing."

The woman was way too perceptive for her own good.

The ruff glared in response. If she thinks that he will spill his guts to her she has another thing coming.

"Well?" She lightly nudged his shoulder with a giggle. "I want an explanation on why did the forest have to suffer the wrath of the mighty Brick."

Yeah...no. The mighty Brick won't succumb to her charms.

When Bubbles started to wrap his hands in gauze and he still hadn't bothered to answer her question she frowned.

He probably should have tired to explain himself in some way just so she wouldn't be angry at him and turn him in. The problem was he couldn't find the will in him to do so. She had hurt his pride enough for babying his hands. Telling her would be worse. At least that's what he tired to tell himself over and over.

The blue puff finally let go of his hands. She put away her tools. "Fine. Be stubborn and don't answer me." She got up from the ground and dusted off her pants. "But just so you know, whatever it was that got you in a sour mood can be fixed. If not there's always an alternative."

That caught his interest.

"What if the reason why I'm upset is because I can't beat your sister to death? Would you like to suggest an alternative to that?" He couldn't stop the grin forming on his face when he saw her flinch back. That should strike home with her. "You really shouldn't spout bullshit when you know nothing about the situation."

Bubbles glared and huffed. "Insufferable jerk," she muttered and turned to walk away. When she was in the middle of the field she stopped. "By the way, I won't say anything to my sisters about this." She had spoken this so quietly that if Brick wouldn't have his super hearing he would have missed it. With that Bubbles flew up in the dark sky.

Why is she doing this?

Is she trying to protect him in some kind of twisted way of hers? Seriously, just why? Did he hit his head somewhere along the way and hallucinated?

She should have been angry with him. She should have put him out of his misery then and there. Why didn't she?

The ruff groaned and ran his hand down his face in exasperation. Women are way too complicated for him to ever understand. On a side note, she had bandaged his hands quite well. He couldn't move his fingers, but at least it stopped the bleeding.

He sat on the ground for a few minutes more before he decided that it's time to get out of there. The blonde could suddenly change her mind and come back. Still he had to spend good five minutes trying to locate his hat in the mess.

Only when he arrived back home to the aftermath of the ruckus that had previously been there he got the meaning of her words.

That's right! An alternative. If Mojo didn't want them and they sure as heck didn't want to live with the devil they could live by themselves. This whole thing could have been avoided if he had had a clear mind from the very beginning.

So that's how the three of them ended up renting an apartment. Of course the way they got it wasn't entirely innocent, a couple of threats and blackmail was involved, but they got a nice place out of it. Not to mention that they only have to pay half the rent.

Being evil sometimes payed off.

Still after all that Brick couldn't get the blonde girl out of his mind. She had ended up being a completely different person from what he perceived her to be. She hadn't told a soul about their incident in the woods and the destruction he had left behind had been blamed on Fuzzy Lumpkins. If he had any sense of compassion he would feel guilty for putting the blame on Fuzzy. Even a month after he couldn't comprehend what made Bubbles make such a decision. It was illogical and stupid from her standpoint, but she had done it nonetheless.

The thought wouldn't leave him alone that's why he had sought her out a week later - to try to find her reason and bring peace to his over analyzing mind. It proved to be quite difficult to get a moment when the blonde was alone and not surrounded by a flock of friends. It genuinely surprised him to see so many people want to be around her. If it was him in her place people would look the other way. People often found his company too vexing and tiresome to stay around him for too long.

When he finally did catch her alone he approached her with the excuse that he came to apologize for his behavior and thank her for her help.

The puff was all smiles and giggles despite being tired from her cheerleading practice. She'd said that it was nothing and that he shouldn't violate the forest like that next time. She once again asked him why he had done it in the first place and he'd promptly had responded with a statement that had left her speechless for a while once again. Still moment later Brick swallowed his pride and had told her the real reason and how her advice had actually helped.

What shocked him the most was how understanding she was after that. He was already stumped enough by the fact that he had actually answered her prying question.

Once again Brick was absolutely lost with her logic and her actions.

He continued to seek her out any moment he could for the next month. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but in a way he trusted her and her viewpoint of things helped him solve questions he didn't know how to answer by himself. It didn't happen often, but when it did he trusted her opinion.

Bubbles from all of this was happy to find a friend in a person she least expected. Of course she didn't accept the fact that he still sought out havoc in the city from time to time and she promptly reminded him of that every time they met.

Weirdest part was that their siblings didn't suspect them at all. They had no clue that for the past two months the two had formed an odd friendship. Butch and Boomer for their part knew that something was up, since their brother had been in a better mood for the past weeks, but they didn't dare to question it much. Getting information out of Brick when he didn't want to say anything was a challenge that the two Rowdyruffs couldn't beat.

Brick was adamant to admit it, but the puff had changed him. She made him feel, see things he didn't see before. Even when he was an ass to her she didn't push him away. Instead she told him that he should learn to be more sensitive, compassionate. She told him that just with kindness and a smile you can make someone's day.

She sure did make his day with her bright smiles.

She told him things that before meeting her he sneered upon. He saw compassion as a weakness, something that would keep him back. Bubbles had proved with small acts of sympathy that you can achieve a lot.

So he wasn't the least bit surprised when one day he started to feel attracted to her more than a friend. It just sort of clicked. It was nice to know that there was someone out there that cared for him so much.

The red ruff didn't like beating around the bush, especially when he knew that he wasn't the only one who liked her, so one day he told her.

It had caught the puff off guard. At that moment she had almost fled the place. She wasn't ready for such a development at all. At first she had tried talking herself out of it and then stating that he wasn't the one for her. She still ran away after that.

For half a month she had avoided him. She had certainly bit off more than she could chew.

Brick for his part didn't do anything. He had accepted the fact that he had messed up and that it probably was for the best. Their friendship from the start was something that shouldn't have happened.

When the end of the month came rolling around he was surprised to encounter her on his way home from his job.

Bubbles had apologized for her actions and said that it's not the same anymore without him around, without their intriguing conversations, without their banter. She admitted that she liked having late nights in the diner with him, exploring the town with him. She hadn't realized it then, but they had done a lot of things together.

The ruff didn't know how, but he understood what she meant.

That's how it all had started. They slowly worked their way towards a relationship. Bubbles was still insistent the whole thing, but she couldn't deny her curiosity. After all what they were doing was behind everyone's backs and was oh so wrong. Some part of her felt guilty about it.

"Hey...you awake?"

The red ruff got thrown out of his musings when Bubbles slightly nudged his side. He absently checked his bedside clock. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that two hours had flown by without notice.

"Yea..." He sighed, casting a glance towards Bubbles. Despite just waking up she already had that spark in her eyes.

"What were you thinking about?" Bubbles rolled on her stomach to get a better look at him. The few patches of bare skin when she moved didn't go unnoticed, she was wonderfully naked under the sheet.

"You." Oh boy, he sure was thinking about her way more than before and not in an innocent way.

Bubbles tittered with a small snort. "What's so interesting about me?"

Brick smiled. "Everything."

With a playful punch to his side the puff laughed and leaned closer to him. "Don't over exaggerate." She tenderly kissed his shoulder, making Brick shudder. Now she's just teasing him. "You're way interesting than me."

That made the ruff chuckle. Only Bubbles would think that. "Would you believe me if I told you that I'm actually very boring."

"Nonsense and I can prove it."

Interest piqued the ruff changed his positioning - he laid on his side, propping his head in his hand. "Do say?"

"For starters you blow my mind each time we meet with something new."

He didn't miss the double meaning of her words. So he kissed her, setting her on her back.

She gladly reciprocated, running her hands down his chest, delicate fingers leaving a trail of fire. She managed to turn him into mush so easily, it was insane.

Soon after he started trailing light kisses along her cheek, yaw and neck. He ran his free hand down her side, lingering a bit longer at the side of her breast. This earned him a soft mewl from the puff. When he was about to go lower his actions got interrupted by the shrill ring of a phone.

Bubbles lurched up, effectively pushing the ruff off. "Oh God. I forgot." She quickly untangled herself from the sheets and searched the ground for her purse. When she located it under the bed she rummaged through it and pulled out the cause of the noise. Without checking the caller ID she answered it. "Yes?"

"Bubbles, where are you?" With his super hearing he could hear the anxious voice of his counterpart on the other end. It's bad to listen in, but at this moment Brick was curious as to what was so important to disturb them from their fun.

"I'm at a friends place. I'm sorry, Blossom, but I forgot. I'll be right over. I know how important the exhibition is to you." That didn't sound good.

"You better," Blossom answered in a stern tone. "May I know this friend of yours that has captured your attention so much these past weeks? You're rarely at home anymore."

Bubbles shakily sighed. "You know how the cheerleading team has that national competition coming up? Well, as captain I need to go over all of the choreography and lines and I can't do it without my vice-captain. Kendall has been really helpful, so I sometimes stay over at her place to practice and stuff. She has a gym in her house...and I'm serious I couldn't do this without her help."

"Okay, Bubbles I get it. No need to talk my ear off. Just be home before nine. We need to get ready."

"Okay. Bye."

"You just lied to her."

With shaking hands Bubbles put her phone back in her purse. "I know and I feel so bad about it." She gave him a sad look. "Every time I come over I feel like Blossom is onto me. It's driving me nuts."

Brick sat up in his bed. "So...?"

"I don't think that I'll be able to handle the pressure of not telling her. I hate lying to my sisters, Brick. Don't you feel bad about lying to Butch and Boomer too?"

Honestly, he didn't. It probably made him a bad person, but he wasn't exactly trying to win the Golden Boy of the year award. Though he sort of understood what she meant. It was tiring constantly going behind their backs, not that it was super hard for him, since after two weeks of living together with his brothers he had gotten a separate apartment.

"Kind...of..."

Bubbles dismissed his uncertain reply by searching for her clothes. "I'm sorry, but I have to run. There's an important exhibition Blossom is participating in and my and Buttercup's attendance is mandatory." She quickly dressed herself, running her hand through her hair to get tangles out.

The ruff huffed and fell back into his bed. "I understand."

Before leaving Bubbles gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Thank you. I'll see you later."

The blue puff left soon after that, leaving him alone.

"Fuck!" This has been happening a lot more often lately. Ever since they took their relationship to the next level Bubbles' sisters has started to pester her about her whereabouts. Brick wasn't blind, it was taking a toll on her. She'll crack and tell her sisters or dump him, whichever was more important to her. And the scary part was that Brick didn't know.

While he had decreased his villainous acts a lot, he still hasn't given up the lifestyle of a criminal just yet. He knew that this bothered Bubbles a lot. They both knew that they were engaging into something forbidden, something that shouldn't happen between a hero and a villain and as the most emotional Powerpuff it put Bubbles under a lot of pressure.

He knew that if he doesn't do something he would lose Bubbles 'cause right now the odds were stacked against him. He didn't want to lose her, but he wasn't sure if he can handle living a normal life. It just didn't fit him. Even though he's working a small job in a garage as a mechanic it still doesn't pay all of the bills and every so often he ends up hijacking a store with the use of his powers.

He just didn't know what to do. Without Bubbles he felt empty, without being a criminal he would end up on the streets.

Fate really was a cruel thing.

I know I'm an evil tease, but I like ending my one-shots on questions. This time: do you think that Brick will figure this ting out and stay with Bubbles or will Bubbles eventually leave him?

Anyway if you have a PPG/RRB pairing you want to see my next one-shot about - comment. For now I already have an idea on what to do next, but if someone wants to read something else I'll do that. I'll admit that lately I've been way too hung up on angst...so yea...

Thanks for reading.