Chapter Three

Bubbles sniffed as she curled up into a tighter and smaller ball in her sleep. She missed being with her sisters, knowing that she was one of three but the other two weren't there. She had tried to go to sleep, she had thought about how peaceful most of her nights had been and how she had had all of her stuffed animal plushies. She had then felt a disconnect and needed to be near the other surviving part of her family. She sobbed again as she whispered her sisters' names into the pillow.

"Blossom, Buttercup," she whispered as she clutched to the blanket. "Where are you guys?"

Bubbles felt herself drawn towards something warm and comforting and she looked up, she blinked as she saw the square jaw of the professor's face and smiled weakly, tears filling her eyes. She blinked up at him. "Dad?" she asked and he smiled to her. The last thing that Bubbles wanted to hear was that she was just an experiment, a program that had broken free from its matrix, some mutation of a number of strong elements.

"Did you want to talk about it?" he asked her and Bubbles sniffed. She pushed her head to the professor's leg and then took slow breaths out. She looked up at him before frowning and then slowly rose. Utonium opened his mouth to argue with her but instead he grabbed her, pulling her towards him and then wrapping his arms around her securely with her sitting on his lap. "I'll listen."

"I'm scared of going outside," Bubbles squeaked before sighing. "Maybe I could stay inside today, do some drawings?" she asked and Utonium smiled at her.

"Sounds like a good plan. We'll go at whatever pace you feel that you need to. I think we should set something up with a school or maybe homeschooling. How does homeschooling sound?" Utonium looked away. He would definitely feel better at keeping Bubbles in the house. He was beyond scared that someone would hurt her again or there would be a new villain targeting her. None of the girls had ever really been a solo fighter, their main asset was teamwork. You needed a team to really invest in teamwork.

Bubbles managed to float a little and she went to sit on a chair. She let her blonde hair fall over her face. "Dad, I'm sorry," she apologized to him and Utonium opened his mouth to argue with her but she cut him off. "I'm not really sure why I'm here. I remember blurred images. Colors. Crayons. Magic. Something. I don't really remember how I'm here but I can also promise you that I don't know where Blossom and Buttercup are or if they are even alive. No matter how you ask me, I don't know the answer to that. I can't help you find them other than to follow your lead."

"Bubbles," Utonium sighed before sitting on the bed facing her. "I understand. You are the only person who I'm sure, wants to find them more than I do. I know how much it must hurt and we'll do what we can to find them but I also know that right now, you need to have a lot of attention too. You're right that just because you were found it doesn't guarantee that we'll find your sisters but I want to try. Don't you want to tr—"

"Of course I want to try," Bubbles replied without hesitation. "They are like my arms, my body doesn't function very well without them but I don't want you to be disappointed with only me. I'm only one of the three girls who you -"

"You're still one of my daughters," Utonium told him and Bubbles nodded as if to tell him that was exactly what she was saying. "No. I mean, you're still my daughter. Yes, I definitely would be happier if our whole family was back together but that doesn't change the fact that you are my daughter. The top priority for today is making sure that you have everything that you need. If you don't feel like going out today, we'll stay at home. I don't want you to fight crime right now anyway."

Bubbles nodded. She bowed her head again. She felt selfish about the fact that she really didn't want to go out to defend the city of Townsville. She had once dressed up as Harmony Bunny who was dedicated to filling the world with happiness and sunshine and using stickers to brighten anyone's day. Now the only brightness she cared about was hers and the professor's. "Dad?" she tried again and Utonium nodded. "Thank you."

"Sweetheart," Utonium softened his expression as he watched her. "You don't need to thank me, I am your father and it's my privilege to take care of you. Is there anything that you want to do today?" he asked and Bubbles rubbed her upper arm nervously. "Let's hear it. Anything at all," he told her and Bubbles took a deep breath in.

"Can we cook together?" she asked and Utonium nodded slowly, "It doesn't have to be a lot, even sandwiches would be good but I'd like to make something we can enjoy together."

"A very good idea," Utonium smiled as he looked at the eight-year-old. "How does spaghetti and meatballs sound? We can work on doing that together. It would be fun to make a meal together," he told her trying to sound as energized as possible. He still would stare at her though thinking about how she was only one-third of the unit. No. There was a probability that Blossom and Buttercup wouldn't return and if that happened it would only be Bubbles and he should be thrilled to have any of his girls.

"Dad?" Bubbles asked as she watched him. The professor nodded as he had his hands on his knees ready to listen to her. "Thank you."

PPGPPG

Bubbles stood in the clothing store with Utonium, even though she was wearing a hooded jacket to hide her identity, she could hear people whispering about her behind her back. She smiled weakly before bowing her head. She let her hair fall on her shoulders, putting it up seemed to prove a happiness which she definitely didn't feel anymore.

"How about this?" Utonium asked as he pointed to a warm pink coat that was a popular item for young girls. "This one's pretty cute," he said as he picked up a white fluffy jacket that had a bunny design on it. He saw Bubbles' weak smile. "Sorry, I guess I'm not good at picking things out."

"It's okay," Bubbles whispered before pointing to a pink and white striped turtleneck. "How about this one?" she asked before pausing. Pink was Blossom's color. She shook her head and picked up a couple of blue shirts she also grabbed a couple of skirts and a pair of pants. She smiled as she looked around. There were a lot of cute things in here actually. She pointed to a couple of white dresses and blue dresses. "Is there a limit?" she asked and Utonium shook his head giving her a supportive smile. If she wanted it then he would get it for her.

As he stood with the basket he was holding getting filled with clothes, he felt someone behind him and paused as there was a citizen there. He smiled weakly. "Hello," he said slowly, his eyes focusing on them. The man looked to him before pointing to Bubbles.

"Is that one of your girls?" the man asked and Utonium frowned at the way he had said that word. He hated people treating his daughters like objects and Bubbles wasn't as strong as she had once been despite being a lot older. He wanted to know where she had been as much as anyone would but he would let her tell him in her own time.

"Yes," Utonium replied slowly. He watched as Bubbles finished and came back to him. She saw the man standing there and tensed up. Seeing her unease, Utonium placed a hand on her shoulder and then stood, taking her hand in his own. "Excuse me, we still have to do some more shopping."

"That…thing doesn't need to be shopping. It needs to be fighting crime and saving the day. You don't know how many people are getting hurts because your girls aren't doing there job." The man turned towards Bubbles, unaware of how furious the professor was. "You're a disgrace. Not caring about other people. Trying to act human even though you're not. You caused too many people to get hurt, too much bloodshed because you cou-"

"Excuse me," Utonium said to the man as he started rolling up his sleeves. "You do not have any right to speak to my daughter like that. My daughter can live the life of a proper girl despite her background. She doesn't need to be fighting people especially since she only returned here last night. Finally and most importantly, she is not a thing, she is not an it. She is a girl, my girl, and I think you should beat it before you experience the force of an angry and protective father."

The man looked between them and then walked off. Bubbles watched him go and grabbed hold of the professor's leg, starting to cry into the fabric. "I'm sorry," she apologized and the professor bent down to place a hand on her back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause everyone so much pain. I wish I could help everyone. I can't do it, Professor," she said and Utonium pulled her into his arms. "I don't know if I can do it without Blossom and Buttercup."

"I know and it's okay," he tried to reassure her. "You don't have to do anything that you're not ready for. There are others who have been helping with the situation." He wiped the tears away from Bubble's bright blue eyes and tried to give her a loving smile. "Besides, I thought you were going to call me Dad."

"I'm not a disappointment to you?" she asked and the professor smiled. He put his hand on her head and brought her closer to him.

"Never," he promised her and Bubbles closed her eyes.

"Thank you…Dad" she replied just wanting to know where her sisters were. She wasn't strong enough on her own and although the professor understood that, the rest of Townsville might consider her as selfish as that man just had.

End of Chapter Three

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Two

MadnessJones, popipowo

AN: This is the real Bubbles, however the story of her escape and revival is a lot darker than you might think and will be explored in future chapters.