A/N: R&R really helps me get motivated to write this.


(0)

It was 8 years to the day that he'd gotten arrested and tried as an adult when Ace got an unexpected call. If he'd known it at the time, the man wouldn't have dared answer any call.

Lil' Arturo was lucky that his former leader had been ignorant, otherwise he'd have spent another night in jail.

The old nerves had evened out as Ace made an honest living, but that didn't make the jailhouse any more inviting. It was mildly full, with echoes of prisoners and detainees yelling their innocence. Ace passed a few despondent guards here and there, and even a public attorney or two before he was led to a crowded cell near the back.

"Hey, Boss." Arturo's fringe of hair covered his eyes and Ace had to hand it to the little guy - he had the decency to look ashamed.

Ace sighed.

"This him?" Ace's unofficial official tour guide questioned. The guard was twice Ace's side, but clearly lacking when it came to brain cells. Ace turned to him and nodded anyway, quelling the desire to tap his foot against the floor impatiently.

He turned away as soon as Arturo was stepping out of the cell and began to walk to the front of the precinct. He hadn't done a thing, but Ace could feel his mood souring in real time as his shoulders slumped. It felt like he was walking through quicksand after so many years of avoiding this very place. Or any place remotely like it.

Nevertheless, Arturo was trying to catch up to Ace with his much shorter legs as fast as he could before the taller man came to a halt. He was looking sideways with eyes wide, taking in the chaos that he hadn't realized existed until that very moment.

Lil' Arturo swept the fringe from his eye and followed Ace's lead. It was a bit of a shock to see three officers trying to wrangle in another green individual - shouting, cursing, screaming - into a cell.

"Who do you think you are? D'you even know who I am?!" To hear his voice was to have an electrical current bolt straight through your brain. "Git me a private cell or somethin' for Satan's sake!"

Two pieces of the Gangreen Gang recognized him instantly, but the Townsville police station was more or less completely put out from top to bottom.


(14)

Bubbles had taken to spending evenings and nights with him, keeping him company more often than ever before. She wouldn't tell Ace why it was suddenly alright for her to do so, but he cared more to keep her close than to ask and make a mess of things. Instead, he looked for new things to keep her entertained.

She'd been content with what they'd been doing before - arcade, late night coffee, galloping around town - but the world had shifted recently. It wasn't a shift proposed by words, but by the way they moved closer to each other upon sight. If Bubbles moved to hold his hand, Ace would take it without a word. If Ace pulled her forward and squeezed her like he was trying to mold their bodies together, she embraced him.

"Ace -! Wait-!" Bubbles inhaled sharply, unable to stop herself from squeaking again and again. She couldn't speak without stuttering as she was bounced up and down. "What if they see it-?"

Ace groaned. He let go of one of her legs - making her quickly latch it around his waist - to brace them both again the wall. His hot breath and the vibration against her skin had Bubbles closing her eyes, shuddering.

His lips had left her neck for a moment. Boney hips still working frantically. "Shh, relax. They'll just think you been fightin'."

She could've argued, then. None of her clothes were torn and her fists weren't bruised almost black like usual and there wouldn't be anything to report on the news after she'd been out crime fighting. But then, Ace was back to licking her skin and lifting her up against the thin wallpaper with his hips.

Instead, Bubbles clung to him fiercely, pressing her face into his neck and ready to ride out the inevitable wave to come.

Among other things.


(15)

She breathed in deeply and sighed. Ace was still slightly sweaty and oh so warm as she lay across his chest. The hair on his arms was still on end above his goosebumps and she had to quietly giggle at that.
Bubbles spared a look at his face and cooed inwardly over how serene he looked. His hair had fanned out across the pillows and his eyes were closed, the shadow of a smile lingering at the corners of his mouth.

"What'a'ya lookin' at?" He murmured. Ace pulled her up somewhat from his chest and kissed her forehead.

"A sweetheart." She smiles against his collarbone.

Bubbles heard him scoff through his nose and felt it through the rise of his chest. She returned to using him as a pillow to rest on.

There was silence.

"You make me so happy." Bubbles said. No snort of laughter met her statement, and she was too afraid to look at his face, then.

It was a lot to say. Even as a simple sentence... it felt like more than that, in no less than maybe five months.

In her head, she told him 'I love you'.

The silence lasted for longer than the first go. She tried to stifle the wobble of her lower lip, feeling a dip in her previous contentment as sadness started in. Suddenly, Ace was running a hand through her hair. Rising ever so slightly from the bed, he kissed the top of her head.

"You make me happy, too." He said in an undertone, so slow she had to strain to hear him.

But she did, before the phone rang.


A/N: Hey, the plot decided to show its face for once.