A/N Just cuz it's fun, I thought I'd put the thank yous/acknowledgements in the beginning.  Don't ask me why, I don't know why I do a lot of things…

Raskolin Phoenix: Well, I agree, if it was me, I'd probably worry too, but it's not me.  Another thing to point out, is that they've taken their powers (and the abilities of the Professor) for granted and… we hopefully this chapter redeemed them a bit for their stupidity.

Pilfered Sympathy: So glad you like! 

Hairy Gregory: Well, suspense wasn't exactly I was going for (OK, sort of) the main purpose of the last chapter was to explain the implications of their situation. (hey, that rhymes…sort of)  Well, even if you don't write a lot, I hope you update Unpredictable Occurrences of Lunacy soon!  I think it's hilarious so far!!

OurhomeisNowhere: Thanks a bunch! ^_^

Tamayo: Thanks!  I was getting afraid that people were finding this dull or frustrating, so I appreciate the compliment!  ^_^

And remember all you out there who don't review… PLEASE REVIEW!!!  I value each and every one of the reviews I get, they're what keep me going, and are so helpful to me as an aspiring writer.  I am on my knees begging you!!!  I like reviews, they're my friend.  I love constructive criticism, and even if you don't have a lot to say, you don't have to write a lot.  I'd like to see this catch on, and know if there are more than just a few people reading.  And like Raskolin, I sometimes wonder if people are losing interest when people don't review every chapter so… yeah, I'll stop my ranting and get on with the story…

Chapter Seven: Revelations

Buttercup hated herself. She didn't normally leave her best friend hanging like that, and he was only trying to help her feel better. The truth was, she was embarrassed. She was afraid she looked the way she felt, and judging by the sincere concern in Kevin's eyes, she did. But if she stayed, she would have to admit to feeling like crap, and that was something she didn't want to do. She was tough, and she could handle anything that came her way, including illness, whether it's normal or not. So the last thing she needed was her best friend worrying about her. He had enough to worry about. Besides, why worry when you're the toughest fighter there is, and you have a scientific genius for a father that was probably solving the problem at hand that moment? He probably had it solved by now. She and Blossom and Bubbles would feel better in no time. Buttercup was sure of it.

But still, there was one thing that bothered her, and lingered in the back of her mind. The Professor did ask them to refrain from crime fighting, something they never had to do before. The thought was enough to drive her crazy. What if there was another monster? What if they were needed? Sure, ever since the villains became no longer threatening in one way or another, crime fighting had become a little slow and the odds of even being called were slim, but still… what if? Crime fighting was her life; she knew she couldn't blatantly ignore a distress call.

She had never seen the Professor look so worried before. His eyes were desperate when he asked them not to fight crime. That thought bothered her enough to prompt her to push it aside and ignore it, she would not face the thoughts that crossed her mind when she saw the look on the Professor's face. He was just overreacting. He had to be. Buttercup kept telling herself that. They were invincible.

Of course for someone who was invincible, getting home was beginning to prove trying. She had barely begun to fly away when she felt a wave of lightheadedness hit her. Sharp pain stabbed at her temples and the air increased in density. Buttercup sank lower, hoping it would ease her. She felt much worse than she did before. Her unintended nap did not help her as much as she thought. Flying was supposed to be the best feeling in the world, but for the first time, Buttercup had the sensation that she was falling. Buttercup closed her eyes and tried to will herself to remain in the air, ignoring the pain in her head until she regained control. She opened her eyes again and as much as she didn't want to admit it, decided it would be wise to land.

She tried to appear as graceful as possible when landing, although there didn't seem to be any grace at all, but once she landed she realized she never felt so relieved to be on solid ground. Buttercup swayed slightly and sat down at a bus stop bench to take a quick break before heading off again. The sooner she got home, the sooner she'd feel better, she told herself over and over. She'll feel like herself in no time.

Buttercup wearily rested her head in her hands and sighed, waiting until she felt ready to fly again. Not wanting to admit to any defeat, but reaching the point where she felt she had no choice Buttercup reached into her pocket and counted her change for bus fare. Public transit was definitely not her style. The only mode of transportation she preferred was flying, but had to admit it wasn't such a good idea considering how she was feeling. Just as she felt into her pocket a car pulled up.

"Hey Buttercup!" the driver called as the passenger window opened.

Buttercup approached the car and looked inside, "Greg?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Buttercup didn't know what to tell him. She certainly wasn't going to tell him the real reason why she was sitting at a bus stop so she shrugged casually, "I was going to ask you the same question."

"I was actually on my way to drop something off at your house, noticed you sitting here, thought I'd stop and say 'hi'," Greg said. "Actually, I want to talk to you too, do you want a ride?"

Buttercup considered it for a moment. She didn't really want to talk to him or anyone especially considering how she was feeling, besides, she didn't want anyone to notice she was feeling weak. But on the other hand, it beat taking the bus which would undoubtedly cause rumors or at least questions she didn't want to answer, and much to her dismay, flying was out. "OK, whatever." She climbed into the car and they headed on their way. "Have you and Blossom worked anything out yet?"

Greg shook his head, "No. Not yet. You know, I wish I never decided to take a break. It obviously hurt her a lot."

"Only because she thought you broke up with her. There was a miscommunication there somewhere." Buttercup said then muttered bitterly more to herself, "She blamed it on me."

"I never wanted to break up. I certainly didn't want her to think I did," Greg sighed.

"So why did you take the break anyway?" Buttercup asked, "You guys always seemed like the perfect couple. What prompted you to do that?" while not her intention, her tone of voice sounded slightly accusing.

Greg grinned slightly, his expression ambiguous. "What has Blossom told you?" Buttercup didn't respond, "Well, to tell you the truth, you aren't going to like it."

"It is me then isn't it?" Buttercup muttered.

"Yes… and no," Greg replied, "I chose to take a break because of the attitude Blossom had developed because of you. You and the conflicts you've been having… Seriously though, I only did it to show some tough love. You two need to resolve things, and I hoped that by putting our relationship on hold would prompt her to take some initiative to make up with you. The relationship between you and Blossom and Bubbles is so much more important than anything. I hate to see her upset, especially for that reason, and I only had her happiness in mind. I just didn't think it would hurt her so much."

Buttercup managed to smile and shook her head, looking away, almost jealous of Blossom, "Oh my goodness you two are the perfect couple," she muttered quietly, "She obviously misunderstood you, or something like that."

"Do you… have you two resolved anything yet?" he asked.

Buttercup shook her head, "No, not really. We haven't been fighting, but we haven't really been talking either." She winced slightly as a sharp surge of pain hit her temples. She put her hands to her head.

"You OK?" Greg asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'm just, I don't know, tired. And yeah, I don't like the situation Blossom, Bubbles and I are in… with the fighting that is," Buttercup said, her thoughts still on the pain in her head that was surely affecting Blossom and Bubbles. She didn't want Greg to know about that.

Greg nodded as he pulled up into the Utonium driveway, "Do you think Blossom will be ready to talk to me? She's been acting really strange lately. She wants us to get back together, right?"

Buttercup nodded, "Sure. She loves you. She's been crying a lot you know."

Greg bit his lip, "Really?"

"Look, don't feel guilty, OK? I think it's really neat that you're strong enough to show her this tough love as you call it. It only shows how much you truly care for her. She's been pampered so much by you and everyone, I think she needs a bit of tough love, it's good for her, even if it does hurt. It'll only make her stronger, and I don't know, I think it will only strengthen your relationship in the long run, so don't feel too bad," Buttercup said truthfully, but thinking more about her bed, and how comfortable it was and how much she'd rather be in bed, sleeping off her headache. "Y'know, don't listen to me, I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm the last person you'd want to talk to about love advice. I've never been in love, so what do I know?"

"No, Buttercup. I appreciate it, and I think you might be right," Greg said.

"I hope so. I honestly think you two deserve each other, and belong together," Buttercup sighed, giving him a small weary smile, she opened the door and started to climb out.

"Thanks," Greg smiled, "I never expected this from you."

"Expected what?"

"Such insight… I don't know. You just don't strike me a someone who's very… deep," he replied.

"Thanks?" Buttercup wasn't sure how to take that.

Greg seemed to sense it, "Don't take it the wrong way. I just mean you've always got this wall around you, and you have that tough image and all, this is just a side of you I'm sure few people get to see, and a side I didn't think you had. That was good advice you gave Buttercup. Thank you."

"Anytime," Buttercup shrugged, not really sure if what she said was advice or not, she was just saying what she thought.

"Before you go, can you give this to Blossom for me?" He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a pink envelope.

"Sure," Buttercup nodded and with that she left and went inside to see the Professor, Blossom and Bubbles already home. Blossom and Bubbles were looking like they were in better shape than Buttercup, but they were sitting on the couch, looking pretty tired.

"Thank goodness you're home!" Professor Utonium sighed with relief, rushing over and giving her a hug. "I was so worried, afraid something terrible happened!"

Buttercup tried to find breath, the Professor was hugging her so hard. Obviously he was in the overprotective father mode. "Relax, I'm fine," she gasped, gently pushing him away. "What are you guys doing home?" Buttercup asked her sisters. Bubbles was supposed to have cheerleading, and Blossom should be having her grad committee right now.

"Mike drove me home," Bubbles said, "I wasn't feeling good. In fact cheerleading only made me feel worse. He's so good to me!" she giggled, obviously not upset about anything, mainly because she had complete faith that everything would turn out OK in regards to their health. Besides, she and Mike were now officially a couple, and her head was in the clouds.

"I was feeling lousy, so I went home with Robyn," Blossom said with an empty voice, "What's that?" she motioned to the envelope in Buttercup's hand.

"Oh! It's for you! Greg gave me a ride home and had me give this to you!" Buttercup said, trying not to let on how she was really feeling. She nearly lost her balance as she went over to hand it to Blossom but the Professor steadied her, much to her embarrassment.

"Greg was here? He drove you home? Why didn't he come in?" she asked, as she took the envelope. "What was Greg doing driving you home?" Blossom seemed upset.

"Nothing I…"

The Professor interrupted them, before irrationality drove things out of hand again, "You girls can talk about that later. Right now I have something important to talk to you three about. Have a seat Buttercup," he said, motioning to the couch. Buttercup took a seat next to Bubbles, "Before we get into this, Buttercup I'll get you something to relieve your headache, OK?" He went to the kitchen and quickly returned with a pill and a glass of water. "Take it."

"What is it?"

"Aspirin, it won't solve anything, but it will help," he said.

"Believe me," Bubbles said, since she and Blossom already took some, "It will help."

"All right, but I still don't think it's really that big of a deal." she lied trying to convince herself as she swallowed the pill with the water that they still didn't know was contaminated.

The Professor looked at her unconvinced, "You mean to tell me then that you aren't worried?"

"Should I be?" she asked somewhat defiantly.

"Even though you've never had a headache before? Even though it only got worse as the day progressed like I'm sure it did for you too," Blossom added, "I mean, at first I too didn't worry, but come on, the Professor's got a point."

"Why worry? We can handle anything, remember? Nothing can harm us, right?" Buttercup looked at the Professor who looked solemn. "Right?"

"So what is wrong with us?" Bubbles asked casually, "And how long before we feel better?"

"Girls, this is not something to take lightly, I want to make that clear," the Professor said, trying to be patient, but amazed about how he seemed to be the only one who was thinking clearly. Of course he was still the only one who knew, but he felt that he would be a bit more anxious if he were in their shoes. Blossom seemed the be the only one showing concern, but even that was minor and didn't surface until he pointed out the fact that they indeed hadn't been ill before.

Bubbles' face darkened, "What do you mean? We're unbeatable, and whatever it is you can fix, right?"

"Yeah seriously, what can possibly harm us? Nothing. Except maybe antidote X, but you have the only samp…" Buttercup stopped suddenly as the realization hit. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at the Professor, "You still do have the only sample, right? That can't be what it is."

"I'm afraid so," he said.

"But… you have the only sample of antidote X, that can't be it!" Buttercup gasped.

The Professor sighed; he knew that once they found out Buttercup would be the one to take it the hardest for it meant they were losing their powers, something Buttercup always held dear. "The only known sample. That means there could be more out there, undiscovered, unaccounted for, and apparently there is. I don't know where it's coming from yet, but there's nothing else that can do this to you."

There was a moment of silence. Buttercup looked around the room. Blossom seemed to be taking it all in and it was as though a light bulb turned on above her head. She nodded as though everything was falling into place for her, making sense. Bubbles in a way Buttercup found odd, looked as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Buttercup looked to the Professor, the look in his eyes gave her the impression that he was withholding information, and that there was so much more to it than he was letting on. Buttercup closed her eyes and sank in her seat as she realized that her worst nightmare was coming true. They were losing their powers.

Hope you enjoyed that chapter!  R&R!!!