Grateful A/N: Everyone, thank you so much for your reviews! They encouraged me to start this chapter immediately, and I've also reached my 30+ number of reviews goal; a height I've never reached before! You were all still so nice to me even when I forgot to add the bars in the last chapter… X( If you were confused, please check it out again. It's revised. I'll try to put this chapter in Brick's POV. There'll be a few dramatic flashbacks, prepare yourselves for them!

Chapter 10:

"Poor boy."

At the words, I looked up; my flinching stopped. There was something about the voice that seemed familiar to me. My eyes rose to his face, and I saw two half-lidded eyes that seemed to chuckle. The color was a rich shade of brown, and his mouth, surrounded by a short beard, was turned up in a smile.

I knew this man, that's one thing I was positive of, though I couldn't exactly put a finger on it. And, judging the way my eyebrows pushed my red eyes down to a frown, I was sure of another thing.

I hated him.

"Aw… Brick, do you still remember your papa?" He gently tore of the paper that was stuck over my mouth, and though I knew it hurt, the hard frown on my face did not waver. This man did not intimidate me, but I wanted urgently to know what he was talking about. He did not say more, however. Instead he stepped back, and the men were peacefully able to place me on the chair. Blossom gave me a worried glance, and though I hated to tear my gaze away from the man, I was unable to resist looking back at her.

"Brick…" she said softly, her large pink eyes filled with concern.

"Blossom, don't worry," I told her in gruff whisper, deciding not to remove my frown. "I'm going to get you out of here."

"Well, you came a little later then I thought," the man started to speak, pacing in front of us. "I was already able to tell Blossom everything. Hm. Well, I'll give you a brief summary. Me, Dr. Ned Saragossa. You, Blossom, and Ms. Sara Bellum, my creations. Sara ran off with Blossom to have Mr. Utonium adopt her. You, then created and sent after them but got brain damage and adopted. Me, killed your parents—"

"WHAT?!" I jumped in my seat, making the machineries rattle, though the chair did not. "YOU killed my parents?!"

This cruel man, my true father? My brain swiftly recalled what he had just said to me, and other incredible facts entered my head. Ms. Bellum being related to me was sickening. I have never met before a more shameless woman (okay, maybe I have), and I have never any man who disgusted me, and who made me loathe him with all that I was.

"Egad. We had better heighten the stability in this place," said Saragossa when the vibrations ceased, eyes closed, two fingers on his forehead. Then, turning back to me he said, "Well, those two gullible beings had some rather annoying beliefs. Can you believe what the blond woman said when one of my men—"

"YOU SICK OLD MAN!" I screamed. I didn't care anymore. He killed them. What if we weren't blood-related? They gave me almost all the love that I actually knew in this world. "I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU AND PULL THE LIVING GUTS OUT OF YOUR—"

"That is quite enough!" I spotted a vein pulsing in his temple, and I knew that I had actually stained his pride when I spoke of killing him. Tch. "Men, please prepare the brainwashing apparatus."

Three men saluted with a dutiful "Sir!" and disappeared into the darkness.

"That machine will brainwash the two of you to become my very own," Saragossa explained smugly. "Obediently, you will follow my orders and become subservient minions." He licked the corner of his lips as if dreaming of that thought. "Ms. Bellum will be back here in no time."

The men once more reappeared with a machine on wheels that shadowed before us. It had several slim metal arms attached to something that they fitted onto Blossom's head like a helmet. "Ah!" she cried.

"Hey let go of her!" I commanded angrily and almost immediately they slammed another one of those helmets onto my own head. I fought to keep my eyes open, but it was near impossible. Soon, a calm expression floated over my face, and I was engulfed in serenity. The last thing I saw mere seconds before my eyes closed completely was the blurred sight of Ms. Keane being carried away by the men, crying out my name.

"Brick! Brick! BRIIIIIIIICK!"

--

Darkness. All darkness. A bubble surfacing over a thick liquid. Two, large red orbs slowly opening.

The first thing I saw before me was a man. He was dressed in a white lab coat; he had rich brown eyes and brown hair. His chin was free of any facial hair, which he scratched as he spoke ponderingly to himself. "Hmm, well, there was Bellum, Blossom… ah, I'll call you Brick." He turned to me. "That's a nice name. I like that." And he smiled.

From this wicked man who greeted me with a smile I learned stealth, physical stunts, and loathe so overcoming that it caused me to run away.

--

A couple looked about the room, the children laughing and pulling at their hands. "Come, Mr. and Mrs. Johns!" they cried. One messy-haired boy who called himself Mitch offered them an introduction to all the children in the room. A curly redheaded girl who introduced herself as Princess offered a tour.

The blonde woman chuckled as they pointed at everyone and everything. The man soon spotted a short redheaded boy with his limp bangs over his nose, by himself in a thin white bed in the corner. The man tapped the shoulder of Mitch, pointing at the boy and asking for his name.

"Oh, Brick?" Mitch pointed his nose to the sky. "He's been here for like two weeks. He won't talk to anyone."

"He's really rude!" Princess put in. "He said my name suited me for a 'spoilt little girl'! All I did was try to be friends with him!"

The man tapped his wife's shoulder, whispering into her ear. The two of them, ignoring the little children's protests, walked over to him. "Hello there, young boy," the man said. The voice seemed nice and friendly like a ray of light that didn't blind me, but just lit up the place, and I found myself lifting my head.

This time the woman spoke. "You must be Brick," she said, and smiled like a flower blooming, her large emerald eyes luminous.

I would never forget that smile.

--

"Who are you people?" I demanded writhing and brimming with anger. The figures that had just suddenly marched into my alley and hauled me up did not speak, but instead strengthened their holds on my elbows. "Let me go!"

"We are not your enemies," said another man, this time in a blue, buttoned suit. His chubby stomach curved in front of him and his graying hair was held back. A pipe was held between two fingers. "We are here to grant you an agreement. An occupation, I believe, that will give you a better life."

My writhing stopped, but I continued to keep my chin low, giving him sharp glares. I breathed heavily. "And what makes you so positive that my accepting this proposal of yours will give me a better life, huh?"

I was very suspicious of these people, and coming from a person who did not trust anybody, what I felt had a meaning. And yet this proposal of his made me want to listen more. I was curious. I wanted to know… I wanted to have a better life away from all this pain and anger. An occupation…sounded good.

"Please." The man smoked from his pipe and a spiral of smoke swirled out as he removed it from his lips and looked up, smirking at me. "Call me boss."

--

I woke up one day on my Styrofoam bed, feeling as if I had overslept. Restlessly I left the room and bumped into Ms. Keane, who fell, frightened. She looked up at the surprisingly tall stature for a boy around eleven years old, and she immediately got to her knees, gathering papers. "I'm sorry, M-Mr. Brick sir."

"Where's Mojo?" I asked flatly.

"Oh—w-well, he's on a mission right now, Brick," she told me as she got to her feet.

"A mission?" I glowered at her. Jojo and I always had missions together! Why was today different? Why hadn't boss let him go with me? Did Jojo not want me with him?

"Y-yes!" she answered, averting her gaze away from me. Suddenly her eye caught sight of a paper in the bundle she held. "Oh yes! I'm sorry I forgot—the boss gave me orders to give this death sentence to you when you had awoken…" she unsteadily held out the paper to me, and I snatched it away from her in a quick motion.

Strips of paper fell to the ground as I tore at the envelope to find out the next person destined to die. And when I saw the name, the anxious anger on my face was replaced with shock—and understanding in Mojo's strange behavior in earlier missions.

The Death Sentence of Mojo Jojo

--

Blossom stared down at the cake, then gently picked out a strawberry from the top of the cake and popped it into her mouth. She turned her head towards her bodyguard, and I looked at her with confusion. What was she doing? Why was she getting so close?

I was cornered on the bed. Blossom bent over and her lips softly met mine. My mouth opened as something round came in contact with me, and Blossom pulled away quickly, blushing deeply. Dumbly, I chewed the strawberry that had a bit of cake on it, and then winced slightly.

"Is it…bad?" she wanted to know, looking hopeful, miserable and in distress. Women have an incredible ability to protrude many different expressions all at the same time. I didn't know what emotion would portray my feelings at the time, so I showed none.

…If she was talking about the kiss, it wasn't that bad at all, actually.

--

An overwhelming feeling of finalization came over me. I was going farther into the future, and yet I felt as if the happiness would end—

"Brick." The blonde woman at my side looked down at my short self. "We're going home. I'm your new mother, and I permit you to call me that." She smiled brightly, and I smiled back at her, her arms comfortably around my shoulders as I sat on her lap. Never since I was born have I felt such happiness.

"Time to get out of the car, kids!" the jolly man I recognized as my new father opened the car door, and I held on to him as I let him help me out. "A cake is waiting inside the house, and your new brothers are, too," he told me. "You'll be happy to meet them."

Brothers? I started to grow uneasy. I didn't get along well with people my age. But when they opened the door, two boys around my height stood beside either side of a table, where a large white, strawberry cake was set. The icing was smeared, but what I really looked at were the jolly faces the two boys gave me. They were friendly, and they were evidently happy to have me there.

"Brick, these two icing-covered boys are Butch and Boomer Johns."

--

My eyes opened again. But I was in a different place. My brain was unfocused, and I heard my name again.

"Briiiick!"

I got abruptly on my palms, and stared about in the dark room. The first thing I saw was Blossom sitting on my knees, looking worriedly at me. The other people in the dark room consisted of Ms. Keane, the professor, Butch and Boomer—

Wait! I remembered everyone, which obviously meant that the apparatus had obviously not worked. And why was everyone here? The professor must have seen the look on my face, and chuckled. "Brick," he began, "we—"

"Came to save us?" I finished. My mind was clouded, but like it always did, I never needed to think to have my brain gear on its own, predicting near everything a person would say or do next. "I have no idea how you people have gotten here."

"It was easy, really," Butch shrugged. "Especially with all those guys you knocked down for us."

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "At first Butch thought they just fainted at the sight of him."

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" he argued. "You girls weren't supposed to be here in the first place."

"It was a good thing we did!" she shot back. "You wouldn't have gotten through it all."

"Okay, maybe that's true, but—"

"Um," I interrupted, and the attention was drawn to me. "I would like to know where we are and, if you'd be so kind, what we're planning to do?"

Everyone let out a breath, and then the professor sat in front of me, begging his daughter to please sit aside. The room wasn't very big, but it was able to cozily fit in seven people quite comfortably.

"Thanks to Boomer and Butch," Mr. Utonium began, "and some help from the girls, we were able to overthrow the five men that worked for Ned. Yes, I know that fellow scientist, but I never knew he had such evil intentions."

"How did you know about our being here?" I wanted to know, "And also about Dr. Saragossa's true objectives?" I wasn't sure if I quite believed him.

The professor straightened his tie, looking very professional. "There is a tracking device attached to you," he answered, and began to explain everything he knew, making things quite clear. But my ignorance toward the tracking device really actually lowered my pride, though I did not show a single sign on my face.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked bluntly. Mr. Utonium once more straightened his tie, and coughed twice. "Seeing as Dr. Saragossa is still out there, we've actually taken a hiding in this place until there's an opening. Oh—but don't worry. We'll be able to sense if there's someone coming, and we'll be ready for them. When we do escape, I'll be turning him in, and then I'll be keeping Blossom." He smiled down at his adopted daughter, who glowed happily. "So, everyone, please get some rest. Ms. Keane and I will be keeping watch."

"It would seem that you know Ms. Keane," I said flatly. By now the two started to get uncomfortable, but Buttercup demanded a story. "We're all at the edge of our lives here, so why not reveal all the secrets?"

"Please knock on wood when you say things like that, Buttercup," Bubbles sighed.

"Why? Do you have any secrets?" Boomer teased. The pigtailed blonde blushed deeply in reply.

Blossom chuckled at them all. "I don't know about you guys," she said, "but I've always wanted to know what was on Brick's mind." I blinked as their heads turned in my direction, apparently sharing the same thought. Before I even thought of speaking, Blossom went on. "While we still had those metallic helmet-like things on our heads," she said, looking down with a faint smile, "I encountered many fond memories that I recognized, including those that I didn't remember." She looked up. "What did you see?"

I was silent for a moment, reminiscing. I had witnessed great pain, happiness worth remembering…

Blossom immediately panicked and said I didn't need to if they were that personal. But I just smiled and said, "I saw Dr. Saragossa naming me. I saw when I was accepted into the assassination corp. I saw… my mother. And my brothers, too."

All of a sudden, it snapped back to me. My head shot up and I looked up at Butch and Boomer, who were listening intently to me.

"You… you two are my brothers!"

------------------------------

A/N: Tune in next time to see what Blossom saw!