GREETINGS FROM FRANCE! Here's the next chappie! A little less rushed, so it's a bit longer than the last one (i think) :)

Word Count: 3860 or so

-Bubbles's POV-

Brick stiffened at the question, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "Around," he's said.

"Where's around?" I probed further.

"It's none of your business, Blondielocks. Just stay out of it." He muttered, finishing another steak. I stood up and moved towards the picnic table next to him, setting it up. All the food would be finished soon, and everyone must be getting hungry. "He's fine though, if that's what you're worried about it," Brick replied, still not looking up.

I shrugged. "Guess I was just curious since I haven't seen him 'around,'" I told him, reaching for a large bag of chips to place in the center. Brick didn't respond to that. He started helping me set the table though, while still keeping an eye on the fire. "Boomer told me that he doesn't live with you guys."

Brick nodded. "He doesn't."

"But why?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. I thought then of what happened between Blossom and I. I also remembered all of the fights that Blossom and Buttercup had before I left. I wondered of Brick and his brothers went through the same thing."Did something happen?"

"Prying doesn't look good on you 'Puff," Brick sighed, placing all the food on plates and dodging the question.

I ignored his comment and continued, wanting to know more. "Boomer mentioned that you guys don't talk much anymore…"

Brick looked up at me then, but his stony expression remained the same, making it practically impossible to read. "Has he?" Brick moved back to the pit, closing his palms and snuffing out the fire. "What else has Boomer told you?"

Oh no! Have I said something I shouldn't have? "N-nothing. Nothing too important I don't think."

Brick noticed my stammer and raised an eyebrow before giving a small chuckle. "You don't have to be scared of me Blondie. Believe it or not, I don't want to hurt you."

Hearing that, I relaxed a little. "Sorry, guess I'm still not used to all this. I don't think you and I have ever talked before today, have we?"

"No, I don't think so. I understand you wanting to keep your guard up but honestly? There's no point. Even if anyone here wanted to hurt you, I can practically guarantee Boomer wouldn't let anyone touch you." With that, Brick gestured behind me and we both saw Boomer watching from afar, a small smile tugging at his lips. Noticing the sudden attention, he winked at me.

It deepened my blush.

"He's smitten," Brick said, standing next to me now. "And for what it's worth, I wouldn't let anyone hurt you either. Despite what Boomer thinks or how little we talk, I care about that shithead." His comment forced a small giggle from me to come out. "I wouldn't let any of my brothers get hurt. Not if I can stop it."

I smiled a little, warming up quickly to the redhead. I suppose he wasn't so scary after all, not like this he wasn't. "Thanks, I guess I just got worried when Boomer told me that you two hardly ever talked."

"Why's that?" Brick asked, motioning for me to stop working and to sit down. I did.

"Well," I hesitated. Should I tell him? Can I really trust Brick Jojo? But sitting next to him was less and less scary, and he wasn't emitting that threatening aura that usually followed him. His features seemed softer, caring, even if a bit rough around the edges. Those red eyes that usually frighten anyone who made contact weren't glaring pits of fire right then. They were just warm.

For a moment, I didn't see him. I saw Blossom. My big sister Blossom. The one who cared about me and loved me. I suppose it made it easier to trust him, pretending I was just talking to her. "Part of the the reason why I left was because Blossom stopped talking to me too. We hardly ever spoke."

"Oh."

"Sometimes, she wouldn't even see me," my voice trembled. "I could be standing right next to her, and she would still see nothing."

Brick put his arm around me, the closest to a hug we could muster while sitting next to each other. It was a little surprising at first, but I didn't flinch. It wasn't a Blossom hug, but it still helped. "I miss her," I whispered.

Brick rubbed my arm. "I know," he whispered back, keeping his gaze forward. "Hey," he began, slowly lifting his arm off me. "The food's going to get cold. We should probably call them over."

I sniffled a little, regaining control over myself again. "Yeah…"

Brick formed a tiny ball of fire in the open palm of his hand and took my hand, "Here."

I wasn't sure what was about to happen and it clicked just as Brick rolled the ball of embers into my palm. "Wait Brick I-"

To my surprise, the ball of fire didn't fall apart or burn me. It just floated atop my own palm, warm and flickering. Brick let out another chuckle, "What? Did you think I would burn you?"

"I didn't know you could do this. Or me for that matter."

Brick cocked his head towards the rest of the party who had been keeping themselves entertained. "Well?"

"What?" I asked.

"Throw it."

-Brick's POV-

Bubbles's eyes squinted in confusion. She reminded me of a younger, less pissy Boomer, with perplexion contorting her face like that. I had to hold back another chuckle. "Just throw it, hard as you can."

"Won't it hurt someone?" Bubbles asked.

"It's tiny," I responded. "If you're so concerned just aim it at the banner over their table, not them."

Bubbles nodded, slipping the ball of fire from hand to hand, amused at her sudden ability to hold it. She eyed me one more time, as if waiting for permission to throw it. I nodded back at her. With a gleam in her eye, Bubbles launched the little fireball to the banner that hung above the crown with a squeal. As soon as the little ball was halfway there, I raised my arms in front of me and opened my palms. Instantly, the little ball of fire grew six times its size and flew hot and roaring towards the banner.

"TAKE COVER!" Yelled Boomer, being the first one to notice the incoming attack. Everyone's eyes widened and they all fell to the ground as the fire hit the banner. Immediately, it went up in flames. Just as quickly as it arrived, I closed my palm again and the flames vanished. Slowly, Boomer, Mitch, Princess and Robin stood up.

"FOOD'S READY!" Bubbles called out between giggles. I snickered at her reaction, and Boomer caught on, starting to laugh himself. Robin, Mitch, and Princess were hardly grinning, still recovering from the shock, but we didn't care. It was funny to us. Boomer used his superspeed to run over to us while the rest trudged along behind him. He sat next to Bubbles, and I took it as my cue to leave, I'd done enough.

"Brick, aren't you staying for lunch?" Bubbles asked when she noticed me heading out.

Boomer patted his hand on the chair next to him, "Stick around man."

"But NO more fireworks!" Princess huffed beside me.

I smirked, "No promises." It caused more laughter. Boomer smiled at me, really smiled, and yeah. I kind of missed that shithead's smile, he hardly ever smiled now since he kept fussing over me just like I would to him. So I decided to stay a bit longer. Just as I was about to walk over to the seat next to him, Princess took me aside.

"So," Princess smirked. "How did it go? Spill your darkest secrets over ice-cream?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed past her, which gave Princess the answer she needed. She was right.

Not that I'd ever admit that to her.

*flashback time heck yes these are my fave things to write*

"Seriously? Rain?" Brick groaned. Rain was an understatement. There was a storm wreaking pure havoc on Townsville. Biting, howling winds, fierce fat rain, and blackened clouds. One of the worst storms the city had ever seen.

Dexter shook his head too. "We can't go home now."

"We're not really allowed to stay here much longer though," Blossom replied. "Besides, we don't know how much longer the storm might last." Blossom turned to her best friend and gave him a reassuring pat on the back, "Maybe we should go home now before it gets any worse."

Just then, a loud thunder crackled, making all three of them jump at the sudden loud noise. "A-actually Blossom I think we should stay right here." Dexter sputtered, edging more towards the center of the classroom they were working in.

Brick snorted. "What? Is little boy genius afraid of thunder?" he joked looking out the window before turning around to see Dexter hiding underneath a desk and Blossom trying to coax him out. She glared at Brick. "What the?"

"Yeah, he is." Blossom replied coldly. "You think that's funny?"

Brick, having just recently made peace of some sort with Blossom a few days prior, shook his head. "Shit man, I didn't know…"

Dexter held up a purple glove, "It's fine. I'm fine."

BOOM! More thunder exploded outside the classroom window. Dexter flinched at the noise and crawled further into the desk. Blossom hung her head, upset that she couldn't get rid of the storm for her friend. Brick remained next to window, not knowing how to react. He'd never actually met anyone this scared of something, except of him and his brothers. But flying away wouldn't really solve this problem.

Meanwhile Blossom kept whispering words of encouragement to Dexter and they actually were working…

That is, up until another bolt of lightning stuck and rendered the classroom dark.

"AAH!" Dexter exclaimed, quickly pulling his hand back from Blossom.

Blossom grimaced, "Dexter please try to stay calm. I'm right here okay? I won't let anything hurt you, don't worry. It's just a black-out, but we're okay, okay?"

Her words were helping Dexter a little, but with the entire room rendered completely dark with the occasional flash of light from the window and the loud noises from the storm, it really was taking everything he had not to have a panic attack. "Maybe now would be a good time to leave?"

"Um, I don't think we can," Brick piped up from the shadows next to the only door. "Doors have electric locks remember? We'd have to bust it open."

The boy genius groaned, "Told you we should've gone out while we had the chance." He tried to think of something else. Sure it sucked to be stuck in the classroom rather than in the comfort of his lab, but it suck a lot less if they had some sort of light. "Blossom, maybe you could use your laser vision to start a fire?" Dexter asked hopefully.

Instead of doing so, Blossom looked over at her dear friend through the darkness and placed a hand over his. "I don't think I can Dex," she lamented. "If we were to have a fire burning in here, the sprinklers would come on and the fire alarms might go off."

Dexter shrugged, "What if we broke the sprinklers or something. In a way that would stop them from pouring water over us?"

Blossom shook her head. Sure she felt for Dexter and she did want to make him feel less uncomfortable, but asking her to damage public property and get in trouble with the school wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

"I can make the fire,"Brick announced. The other two students, so previously lost in their thoughts that they'd forgotten about the Ruff in the room, shot their heads up at the news.

Dexter was ecstatic.

Blossom was less so. "I'm sorry guys, but I can't let you do that Brick," she told him. "The last thing we need is to break the rules and worsen the situation."

"You wouldn't break one stupid rule for a friend? Brick asked, stepping closer to the pair. The wind continued howling outside.

Blossom followed his moving silhouette with her gaze. She stood up from her spot, suddenly tense and ready for a fight.

Brick noticed this, "Relax Pinky, I'm not breaking any sprinklers or burning any desks."

Confused, Blossom allowed herself to sit down beside Dexter again, who had been keeping his eyes focused on his hands in front of him to keep calm. It helped a little.

Under the dim light of the window and with the harsh rain and winds in the background, Brick did appear quite menacing to his counterpart as he walked slowly towards them. It was for that reason that it took Blossom a moment to compose herself before asking, "If you're not burning anything, then hoz do you plan on starting a fire?"

Brick snorted loudly, and with that all traces of of the threatening aura that had been building around him vanished. "Um, hello?" he mocked with a snap of his fingers. Instantly, an ember appeared at the tip of his finger. He waved his opposing hand over it and it grew into a larger, brighter ball of light, flickering over his palm.

Dexter looked up and gazed in delight.

Blossom too felt some relief at not having to sit in the dark. Still, there was some concern… "What about the fire alarms? The smoke?"

Brick sat down next to Dexter and across Blossom; cross-legged, and held the fire over his hand in the center of them. "My flames don't make smoke," he clarified. Blossom, having never noticed that, scooted toward Brick to get a closer look. Sure enough, there wasn't any smoke.

"Oh," Blossom said. "I didn't know…"

"Guess there's a lot you still don't know about me yet," Brick whispered back.

Dexter meanwhile, never took his attention away from the fire. He stared intensely at it. "Amazing," he mumbled.

"What?" Brick asked.

Dexter kept his gaze on the fire, slowly crawling out from under the desk to get a closer look, "Fire that burns on its own. No fuel, no smoke, it's just there. It is as if you are harnessing energy itself at will."

The two supers blinked, first at Dexter, then at each other; and then back at the boy genius. Neither really knew how to respond. "Umm...thanks?" Brick shrugged.

Silence ensued. Blossom fidgeted in her spot. She was grateful for the distraction that drew Dexter's attention from the weather but she figured just staring at the ball of fire would eventually lose its interest.

So, an idea came to mind.

"Hey Brick," Blossom began. At the sound of her voice, both boys turned to Blossom, give her their full attention. "Can you give away your fire?"

Brick furrowed his eyebrows, perplexed and intrigued, "What do you mean?"

Blossom cracked a tiny smile. She couldn't help but love knowing something that Brick (nor Dexter for that matter) had no clue of. "It's something I discovered while playing with my sisters last year," she clarified. Blossom straightened her back and held up her hands in front of her, cupping them. She closed her eyes and gently breathed out a sphere of ice and snow. Like's Brick fireball, this blue sphere of ice and snow hovered over her skin rather than touching it directly.

Brick and Dexter observed her closely. "Watch," she smiled. With one hand holding the sphere, Blossom used her other hand to take Brick's free one and she then placed the snowball over it. For a split second, Brick tried drawing his hand back, thinking that the icy ball would melt or shatter at his touch. It didn't. Rather, the ball just floated atop his skin, just like his fireball.

"What the-" Brick mumbled, moving his hand side-to-side and watching the snowball rise and fall with each movement, floating still. "Whoa."

Blossom kept her focus on the ice sphere. "It is will, like you said Dexter," Blossom nodded at him, and continued to explain. "I can control my ice from anywhere and make it do what I want, as long as I focus on it. So if I want to, I can just 'give it' to someone."

Brick broke out a grin, "That's sick."

Dexter nodded in agreement. "Incredible…" he mused. "You two and your superpowers. They never cease to impress."

Brick and Blossom glanced at each other, unsure of what to say next. Of course, both knew quite well that their superpowers were super awesome, but it was normal to them. It's easy to forget sometimes just how abnormal they really were, how other people actually saw them.

Again, Blossom took it upon herself to break the silence, "Want to see something else?" Brick, still holding the fire in one hand and the ice in the other, nodded. Blossom smirked and raising both palms, moved her hands sharply to each side. This in turn made the sphere of ice in Brick's hand crack and break apart only to grow and quickly engulf Brick's entire left arm.

"WHAT THE-" Brick cried out, falling backwards and snuffing out the fire all at once. This (over) reaction caused Dexter and Blossom to burst out laughing. Even Brick, once he regained his balance, teased a smirk in spite of himself. He made another fireball to melt away the ice, and shook off the frost. "That was a cheap shot Pinky," Brick replied shaking his head. "Didn't think you were the type to play dirty like that."

Blossom held in some more laughter. "Well," she shrugged. "I guess there's a lot you don't know about me yet."

-Elmer's POV-

My palms were sweaty, and I trembled all over. The longer I waited, the more I mulled over my thoughts and the weaker my resolve became. Minutes passed. I had hoped it wouldn't become hours, I don't I can handle waiting so long. Not now.

Eighteen minutes. Nothing. It was at this point that I wondered if I should just give up?

No. Don't chicken out, I thought. BC would want you to stay strong. She'd want you to follow this through.

Right.

She would.

And so with renewed strength, I wiped the building sweat from my forehead off and shuffled my feet. Didn't matter how long it takes, Blossom has to leave school eventually. I just need to wait a little longer. Not too much longer hopefully…

About seven minutes later, a spot of pink caught my eye. Her scarf. I quickly sunk into the wall I was leaning on, hoping she wouldn't notice me, and watched her. Blossom didn't fly home, she usually doesn't, so it would make my plan much easier. I kept my eye on her, waiting for her to turn the corner. As much as I wanted to put more distance between me and that she-demon, I wouldn't be able to keep up if I did. If only I still had my car…

When she finally did turn the corner, I popped my collar up and started to follow, doing my best to avoid the leaves and twigs on the floor, so as to not make any noise. It wasn't easy to avoid all of them, considering how dark out it was, but Blossom never turned around. Guess she can't hear me…

We walked in complete silence, with only the sounds of cars in the distance being heard. Townsville, not known for its nightlife, was normally empty this time of night. With the exception of the emerging underworld of the city.

After walking for a little over twenty minutes, we neared the neighborhood were the Utoniums lived. Just another right at the next stop.

At the next stop, Blossom, unwavering, turned left.

What? I wondered, squinting my eyes to get a better look. If she's not going home, then where is she going?

I picked up the pace a bit to get closer. If she isn't going home, then that only proves I was right. She's up to something! I needed to keep going. I followed her pink silhouette as she weaved through the narrowing streets, stalking deeper into the unknown parts of the city.

Eventually Blossom stopped in front of the rusted doorway of an old apartment. Immediately, I stopped too and hid behind the nearest building behind her, peeking around the corner to watch. A blue hand opened the door and there stood a looming figure. The golden gleam from his sunglasses flared, forcing me to squint my eyes. I couldn't make out who it was since Blossom was standing in the way. The figure stepped aside, still hidden in the shadows, and Blossom went inside. The door closed heavily behind her.

I waited several minutes to make sure the coast was clear. When I was sure that no one was there, I closed into the building where Blossom was and stood outside the door. I tried opening it slowly, but it wouldn't budge. Damn it, locked. There wasn't any other way in. Most of the windows had been boarded up or taped shut. I checked my watch, nearly 10:30PM. Sighing, I took off my glasses and pressed my ear against one of the windows hoping I could hear something.

I heard the smooth, low-pitched voice of a man, probably the guy who opened the door for Blossom. He was laughing, and then I heard Blossom's unsettling giggling join in, albeit very muffled through the wood of the boards. Then, nothing. I slid down to the floor, my resolve dissipating again. True, I'd found out Blossom might be hiding, no, she IS hiding something. Why else would she be in some random part of Townsville's most sketchy neighborhoods in some shady building so late at night? I have to stay, just a little longer. Just enough to have something to hold against her.

The weather started to get a little misty. Finally, around twelve minutes 'til midnight, the doorknob turned. I hid as rapidly as I could and just barely got out of sight when Blossom exited. Her black boots clacked on the pavement as she walked away. I didn't move. I didn't even breathe, holding it for as long as possible so that she wouldn't hear me. Once she began to turn the corner, I got ready to stand. Just as she turned however, I saw her face.

I saw her smiling. A disturbing smile.

Then she turned the corner. I walked briskly to where she had been, still trying to stay quiet. I was so sure that only a couple of minutes at most passed by the time I turned the corner, but when I did, she was gone. I darted my head in every direction, nothing. No pink, no bow, nothing. I even checked the sky; there was no sign of a pink trail anywhere.

"Way to go Elmer," I face-palmed. I lost her. And…

I have no fucking clue where I am.

Sorry Buttercup, I apologized. Guess I wasn't fast enough today.

I will be next time.

r&r