Ch. 7

xXx Bubbles xXx

Bubbles took a deep breath. Oh god, this was his bed. It was his scent that she liked so much. With her good hand, she clinched the bed sheets as she tried to calm her panic. One part of her wanted to hide under the blanket, the other wanted to be as far away from his bed as possible. She tried to calm herself by taking in another deep breath, but every time she did, she could smell Him's scent. After she couldn't take it any longer, she pushed away the blanket and jumped off the bed. Too bad gravity wanted to test how badly it could piss her off today. She fell the ground with a thud, her arm leaning over the side of the rock. She shot an accusing glare down at her legs. Then she saw it, the leg that was covered with blood during the fight. Above her ankle were a few inches of bandaging. She inwardly cursed her leg for not being able to hold her weight.

"Does it hurt?"

Bubbles nearly jumped out of her skin and let out a small scream. She turned around, ignoring the protests from her leg, and saw Him. He was floating in the air a few inches in front her. Her expression changed from that of shock, to annoyance when she saw the smirk on Him's amused face. She felt so stupid. She should be used to that smirk by now. Before she could say anything insulting, he grabbed both of her arms and hoisted her up. His grip was strong, but it didn't cut through her skin, like before. Then, he pushed her back down on the bed. For a moment, panic sparked inside her.

"You shouldn't be moving around. I'm afraid your leg can't hold your weight yet." His grin widened as he saw the glare she was giving him, "Why are you so cold with me? I thought that you were supposed to be the sweet one?"

She cringed away as she heard the mocking, sarcastic tone to his voice. She looked away from him, pretending to be immensely interested with the lap beside the bed. Anger washed over her, and she hated it. Her heart dropped as she realized all the negative feelings she was experiencing. The past few days hadn't been her best and she would give anything to feel happy again. Her heart only ached more as she began to wish that she had never made her deal with Him. Her thoughts traveled to her sisters. She hoped that they were all right. She wondered how the Professor would react when he found out that she was missing. She was really beginning to believe that she had made the wrong decision. She jumped back in surprise as Him's face slid in front of her.

"Your sisters are not dead."

Bubbles took a deep breath. A blush trespassed on her pale checks as she realized she had been holding it. She looked away from Him once more, hoping that he would leave this time. Do to her naturally nice nature, she wanted to thank him for not killing the ones that she loved so dearly. She tried desperately to fight that urge down. It seemed to be working, but she was sure that Him could read her like an open book. Relief and thankfulness must be written all over her rose-colored face. Her sore body tensed over as Him continued to sit next to her. She became more nervous as he stayed silent.

She couldn't take how close he was to her, even though he wasn't as close as he had been when they were in her room. He was close enough so that she could smell him. Or perhaps it was just the bed. Either way, she forced herself to believe that she didn't like it. She didn't want to be near him! Her hurt leg just wouldn't allow her to get up. Much to her dismay, the tension in her body eased as his smell became stronger; she didn't realize that he was actually moving closer. She felt like falling back to sleep as his body heat washed over her. It was more comforting than she cared to admit.

"What's the matter, Bubbles? I thought you would be relieved."

The warm and cozy feeling left her body as Him spoke. He wasn't going to stop talking until she replied, "I... I am."

He decided to ignore her not-so-sure reply, "I believe things worked out for the best back in the city. Your sisters still trust you. They'll believe that I've simply kidnaped you."

Bubbles fought back to urge to say that he had kidnaped her. She didn't like what he seemed to be implying. If Him thought that her sisters still trusted her, then he might send her back to them. She didn't want to lie to them any longer. Her mind traveled back to the city, and to what Him wanted her to do. She couldn't fight her sisters. Her heart just wouldn't allow it. On top of that, she doubted that she was even strong enough to beat them both. Him was just kidding himself if he thought she could. Sadness washed over her yet again. She was so tired of being unhappy. So tired of being frightened. Her heart skipped a beat as Him pressed his lips against her ear.

"You seem upset." he leaned in a bit closer, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

She froze as he spoke his last sentence. It sounded like something he would usually say in his scarier voice. Then she realized something odd; he hasn't spoken to her in that voice for a while. A small gasp escaped her throat as she noticed Him was still pressed against her, and that she had not yet attempted to move away. She pushed away from him but only succeeded in trapping herself between Him and the backboard of the bed. She mad one fatal mistake; her eyes met Him's. This happened every time. She could never look away from Him's eyes.

"I think you could use some more rest. Go back to sleep."

She felt as if she could breathe more easily as Him got up from the bed. She watched as Him went back to his big puffy chair.

xXx Blossom and Buttercup xXx

Blossom opened her sore eyes only to be blinded the light that shown through their windows. After a few moments of gathering her strength, she finally managed to sit up. The lights in the room were not on, but the sunshine provided enough illumination. She could see that Buttercup was curled up underneath her emerald green sheets. She glanced over to Bubbles powder blue bed to find that it was empty. A slight sense of panic came over her, but she tried to push it aside. Through her pain, she managed to rise from her bed. Slowly, she made her way to the door, tripping a few times during her journey. Once she reached the door, she had to pause to catch her breath. She stumbled out of the doorway, and leaned on the wall to keep her balance. The bottom or her pajama pants dragged on the floor. The trip down the hallway to the stairs seemed to take entirely too long. She wished she had the energy to fly. When she reached the stairs, she was more than a little surprised to see Butch, Boomer and Brick in her living room. Butch was the only one awake. He looked at her and quickly got up.

"Blossom, you're awake?" he went up the stairs when he noticed that Blossom was swaying from side to side.

"Yeah, Buttercup is still sleeping." she didn't hesitate when Butch offered her his hand. The walk down the stairs seemed to take longer than the hallway.

"I don't doubt that, she was in really bad shape."

She tightened the grip on his hand as she asked her question, "Where is Bubbles? She wasn't in her bed."

He stopped once they stepped off the final stair, "We...we don't know."

She gave him an odd look, "What do you mean?"

He led her to the nearest set, "Well, Boomer just got back from looking, he couldn't find her anywhere."

She thought for a moment, "What about Him? How did the fight end?"

He forced her to sit down, but he continued to stand, "We don't know that either... you and Buttercup were badly hurt. Bubbles made us take you two home. We went right back to the city after we dropped you guys off, but she wasn't there. Neither was Him."

"Well, what do you think happened?" she jerked herself up from the coach, but dizziness washed over her, and made her fall back down.

Butch jerked back at her sudden outburst, "I don't know."

Blossom quickly cut him off, "What if Him took her?" she stood up again, and she didn't go back down this time.

Butch placed his hands on her shoulders, "Come one, Blossom. What would Him want with Bubbles?" once again, he pushed her back down, "No offence to her or anything, but she's not that strong. What worth would she have to Him?" he sat down beside her.

Blossom stayed silent for a few minutes, thinking, "Maybe that's the point."

Butch gave her a blank stare, "...wait, what's the point?"

She sighed, Butch may be showing compassion; which was miraculous in itself, but he was still as slow as ever. "It might be a trap. We know that Bubbles can't beat Him, so we'll try to save her."

His blank expression disappeared, "Oh. So, she's like bait."

Blossom gave a sad nod, "It seems that way."

"What are you going to do?"

She looked thoughtful, "We have to get her back, we can't leave her with Him... Careful, we'll have to extremely careful."

"No kidding."

Blossom rubbed her head, "Where is the Professor?"

"Asleep. He had his work cut out for him... That's kind of why were still here, he needed help." a slight blush crossed his face as he looked away from her.

She gave him a questioning look, "Butch?"

He quickly moved away from the girl that could probably still kick his ass, "I didn't see anything. I swear!"

She got up from her set with a slightly embarrassed frown, "I suggest you not blurt that out to Buttercup."

xXx The Next Day xXx

"Come on, Blossom! Get up!"

Blossom woke to her sister shaking her quit vehemently, "Okay, get off of me!"

She watched her sister stretch in front of her, "You seem to be doing well."

Buttercup gave an overconfident smile, "Yeah, thanks to the Professor. It's like he's magic or something. One day we'll have broken bones, and the next day, were fine. I don't see why he doesn't work at a hospital or something."

Blossom sighed at her forgetfulness, "Don't you ever pay attention? The Professor said that our bodies are different from normal humans. The technique he uses on us won't work on others."

"Oh, yeah." she scratched her head in confusion.

She frowned at her sister's usually loud voice, "Be quiet, Buttercup. I told you last night that the Professor doesn't want us to leave. He even made the boys stay here to make sure we stay."

She made a snorting sound, "Like they could keep us here. What's keeping us from flying out of our windows?"

"Nothing. Now, let's go before someone comes to check on us."

Buttercup nodded as she followed her sister out the window. Both flew in silence. Blossom couldn't help but feeling a bit scared. She knew Buttercup was more than willing to go. If she was scared, she covered it well. She felt bad about leaving when the Professor told them not to. He was worried about Bubbles just as much as they were, but he thought to go looking for Him was suicidal. She couldn't disagree with him, but she wasn't going to delay on saving Bubbles. She was brought back from her troubling thoughts as they landed in front of a small house in the middle of nowhere. Buttercup didn't want to waste any time, she tried to charge at the door. Blossom quickly tackled her to the ground.

"What are you doing? I told you the plan! We can't just go rushing in. Especially if Him is expecting us!"

"Well, if Him is expecting us, then why waste time being careful? He probably already knows were here!"

Blossom frowned, "You agreed to the plan last night."

"Yeah, well... now were here and I think the plan sucks."

"I can't believe you, Bubbles is counting on us!"

"So let's go!"

Buttercup burst through the door and went into a fighting stance. The room was empty. Blossom cautiously fallowed her, with a grimace. Before Blossom could say anything, Buttercup ran deeper into the house. Blossom sighed in frustration and looked around. This house seemed to be empty. Dust on the furniture. No lights. She found a light switch and flipped it up; nothing happened.

"This house is empty, Buttercup!" she cried out in frustration.

Buttercup emerged back in front of her, "Why isn't she here?"

"I don't know... if she's not here. If Him isn't here." she rubbed her head, "I thought he took her to make us come after him. If he's not in a place where we would normally find him, then maybe he has something else in mind." both sisters looked at each other in confusion.