The Morning After
Blossom kicked her shoes off her feet as she entered her room. The investigation proved nothing. No fingerprints left, no alarms tripped, even the owner of the store had a solid alibi and all his keys were accounted for. Tomorrow she was going to visit the three places left to see if she could find any good vantage points or weaknesses in securities. Knowing they got away hurt a little, but she pushed the those feeling away when she tried to calm Brick down. To him it was his first failure. She had no idea what was going on his mind, but she felt like she made progress closing the gap between them.
Grabbing her two towels as she untied her hair, letting it fall back down to its natural length, and prepared her a warm shower. Her mind was lazily recounting the events of her evening, from the enjoyable time she spent with Brick on the rooftop, the fire, and even watching him study the crime scene like a detective. She let out a small giggle as the image of Brick trying to smother the flames with his body played out in her head. "It's actually nice having him around for once" She whispered to herself as she shut off the water. Her mind was her own vault of security and privacy, and while before she might have felt bad for enjoying it, this night allowed her to feel closer to him.
Allowing the cool air of her bedroom to wash over her she finished getting ready for bed. She sat as her vanity mirror brushing her long hair silky smooth as she, for the first time in years thought back to before she captured her counterpart.
It was just over five years ago during the first snowfall of winter. Buttercup and Blossom were sitting in chairs waiting for Bubbles to put on a special Christmas puppet show she had been working on all morning. Buttercup was resting her chin on he hands elbows on her knees as her impatience grew.
"Bubbles how much longer are you going to make us wait?" She pressed.
"Oh not much longer, just the hair on this one puppet slipped off. I just have to glue it back on." Bubbles said as she popped her head from behind her puppet theater before disappearing back behind it.
"What, are you in a hurry?" Blossom teased her growling sister.
"Look outside! It's practically Christmas and there is a forty foot blanket of snow out there. Why are you in no hurry to get out there and have fun." Buttercup shot back looking out the window with longing."
"Exaggerate much Buttercup?" Blossom rolled her eyes, "I was only a foot and a half. Plenty to have fun with but not forty feet worth that would be an apocalypse."
Green eyes flashed a look of annoyance, "Again leader girl you miss the point, fun is outside, boring puppet shows inside."
"Hey!" Bubbles voice rang out from behind her setup. "You don't know if it's boring or not. It hasn't even started."
"Then start it already Blondie." Buttercup groaned leaning back.
"Fine, I will." Bubbles said hitting the play button on her stereo, Christmas music filled the room as Bubbles got into position. Two elf puppets hopped into view, but just as Bubbles was about to say her first lines a buzzing cut through the music as the hot line rang out.
Blossom held her hands to her head as Bubbles cried about life being unfair. "We'll watch after I promise Bubbles." Blossom pleaded in attempt to calm her sister.
Picking up the receiver she answered in her usual way.
"Blossom, those dang hooligans, The Rowdyruff Boys, are demolishing my beautiful city, with its grocery stores full of sunflower seeds and pickle stands, ohhhh I just love the little shops this city has." Blossom could hear miss Bellum remind the mayor to stay focused, "Oh right which is why I need you to stop those three from leveling the city."
"On it Mayor." Blossom chirped as she set the phone down. "Alright BC you wanted fun in the snow you got it, those boys are wreaking havoc."
Bubbles and Buttercup were already in their winter gear placing their hats upon their heads. "This definitely beats snow angels." Buttercup had a grin growing on her face as she pumped herself up. In a flash Blossom was in her coat wrapping a scarf around her and placing on earmuffs. The next second the girls took off in formation towards the city.
The boys weren't hard to find it was a matter of following their laughter and shouts of joy. As they grew closer they found wreckage all over buildings and cars. They turned a corner and almost immediately a snowball whizzed past and collided with a a window shattering it on impact.
"You missed Bro." Boomer laughed at Butch who was packing another snowball.
"This one wont boom boom I promise!" Butch retorted winding back for another harsh throw.
"Hey watch out behind you!" Boomer yelled as Butch took aim.
"I'm not falling for-" Butch was interrupted by a giant ball the size of a small car slamming him into the pavement below.
Brick flew to the impact site arms crossed with a smirk. "Shoulda listened Butch." Brick sneered as Boomer flew close laughing.
Butch popped his head out of the pile of snow laughing, "Think fast Bro!" Butch yelled as he threw his snowball in Bricks face sending him into a building. He tackled Boomer into the ground revealing a crater where Bricks snow boulder forced him into the ground. He threw a flurry of snow over boomers face before Brick threw three balls into the back of Butches head throwing him off the blue Ruff. The three brothers were all laughing as the the girls readied their own snowballs. The laughter ceased as each brother was beamed in the face by a snowball.
Wiping the snow from their face they all locked eyes with their counterparts. "What do you sissies want?" Brick shouted.
"Yeah we ain't done nothing." Boomer shouted.
"You idiots are ruining the city with you're snowball fight, surrender now and we'll go easy on you!" Blossom shouted holding another ball in her hand.
Brick compacted snow in his hands as he feigned consideration, "I don't know, it might be more fun if you three joined in."
"As much as I love kicking Ruff butt, I wouldn't be caught dead playing with you." Buttercup readied herself for a fight, "So fight or leave!"
Brick shrugged and threw the ball at the sign hanging over the girls. The vibration caused a fleet of snow to almost bury the girls down below from the impact. "Boys, make quick work of the sissies, we split up meet back at the hideout." He ordered under his breath and shot forward to the girls. Blossom had barely got back to her feet when Brick uppercut her into the sky. Steadying herself and readjusting her earmuffs she locked her eyes on her counterpart. The wind screamed across her skin making her hair and scarf fly wildly and as a new snowfall started. It was easy enough to dodge his overly broadcast punches. As he attempted a right hook she lunged over his arms and landed a harsh heel into his cheek.
He flew back and rubbed his cheek and just as soon as rage filled his eyes, it left and was replaced by confusion. Right after he was fighting entirely on the defensive for a while, only dodging and blocking her punches.
She was throwing punches and kicks at a growing pace as he just flew just out of reach or otherwise blocking. She lunged in for a right jab, he in turn slid his arm up hers grabbed her shoulder and threw her away from him. She turned around and looked him up and down. His coat was incredibly worn out and frayed at the elbows. His jeans were starting to become too small and were rising up his ankles, snow clearly drenching his socks. If he was uncomfortable he made no signs of it, but his eyes seemed to look through her as he fought. "Cherries?" He said aloud as he placed a hand on his chin.
"What the hell is wrong with him today? He has hardly thrown a punch?" She wondered as she kept an eye on him. "He isn't being aggressive, and his mind is elsewhere clearly." She smirked, "If he isn't taking this fight seriously the win will be mine in no time." She stared him down and shot a few blasts from her eyes. He just dropped from the sky to avoid them and let himself hit the ground. His face still looked confused and distracts, so she tried to capitalize on it and dove to him continuing her laser assault. He rolled out of the way and jumped up to land both fists into her face sending her flying like she was no more than a baseball just hit.
Her anger grew as she steadied herself and shot back to her red counterpart. He had barely moved from his spot, and his eyes still appeared to look through her, yet remained locked on her. Letting her rage get the best of her she shot forward and unleashed a volley of punches into his gut. He was going to take her seriously if she had any say about it. As she stood over his form in the road his eyes finally seemed to focus on her. "Not bad babe, now let me show you a real blitzkrieg." His voice almost cackled as he jumped to his feet and rushed to her bashing his skull against hers. He failed to let up as he grabbed her hair and pulled her face into his knee. Her cries of pain were stopped as he grabbed her arms from her face and landed both of his feet into her chest. She fell to the ground with a groan and forced her eyes wide open through the pain. She looked around for him, but he made himself scarce. She listened for any sign of his presence but he entirely vanished. Moments later her sisters showed up through the worsening snow fall.
"Yours pulled a Houdini too eh?" Buttercup asked when she reunited with her sisters.
"I think their done for the day." Bubbles responded holding her arm. "Boomer gave me an Indian burn, next thing I know something hits me in the face and I hear Brick ordering a retreat.
Blossom looked to Buttercup hearing this, "Yeah same thing here, only I could hear was Butch yelling as they apparently dragged him away." She turned her eyes to Blossom. "You must've put some scare into the red one for him to order a retreat like that." Buttercup continued.
"I don't know what's going on with that one today he barely threw a punch until he hit me with some cheap shots and took off. Something was off about him." She reported. The pain he inflicted was already numbed, either by her healing or the cold she didn't know nor care. The city was safe and they were gone for now. With a final sweep of the city, and finding no Ruffs she called it a day and the sisters flew back home.
The days passed, and the only thing she could remember being strange was the presence of a burned book on her lawn on Christmas morning when she was taking out the trash. The new year arrived without another meeting with the boys until late into January.
They had painted a huge target in the middle of an intersection and was throwing steel girders from the tops of buildings trying to get it as close to the center as possible. Once the girls showed up and started the fight Brick fought Blossom with a new ferocity she hadn't seen before. She managed a defense at first but after a few minutes he dwindled her defenses down and knocked her out by slamming the girder down on top of her. The fight only lasted maybe fifteen minutes. The last thing she could remember seeing was his streak of red flying off somewhere. This fight set a precedent for the following months. The boys would do something dangerous and destructive, the girls would show up and Brick would beat Blossom down quicker and quicker, then help his brothers as her sisters reported. Buttercup or Bubbles was always made to carry the two others home.
By the third month the professor was scrambling to come up with a new containment laser. He learned of the unused basement in the prison and knew it would be a perfect housing unit, but the city demanded he have a containment device perfected. They weren't willing to lose cops or guards if and when the boys decided to break out. It had taken him two months of testing and research, his how I did it book was damaged and the pages containing the specs were torn out.
He was a husk of stress, fueled mostly by coffee, as he spent most nights pulling his hair out with every failure to replicate his machine. Letting his stress build up he finally threw a small tantrum and threw his tools across the lab screaming obscenities never knowing if each call from the hot line could be his daughters last. He was only grateful they seemed satisfied beating them unconscious then leaving, but he never knew when, or even if they would, escalate their attacks. After a few breaths calmed his tantrum he went to pick up his tools and start again. As he bent over to pick up his Philips head screwdriver he noticed a few pages sticking out of the side of his work desk drawer. Hoping for a miracle he pulled out the drawer and stuck to the side was his missing schematics for his laser. Praising whatever deity was responsible for letting him find it he went straight to work creating a fleet of devices. It was a few more weeks working with the city and manning a small restructuring team but they finally had the cells and devices ready for the unsuspecting boys.
The professor ran through the door connecting his home to his garage as he found the girls doing their chores. "Girls, I have wonderful news!" He was so happy he almost sang.
Each girl in turn dropped their task and floated to the professor, "As you know I've been working on a containment field for those counterparts of yours, And a few weeks ago I finally completed a number of them." The girls gave a small supportive cheer for their father before he continued. "Lastly I've been working with the city to produce cells to hold each of the boys, we just finished them an hour ago, so all that's left is to fill them with those degenerates." He proudly stated.
"So do we just wait until they make another move?" Bubbles asked. Looking to Blossom.
"Forget that noise I say we get the drop on them and beat 'em unconscious before we lock them away." Buttercup retorted pounding her fists together.
Blossom was at a loss. In many ways she didn't want to end it with a cheap tactic, she had been using every loss against Brick as a means of motivation to beat him. To beat them outside a fair fight, was like saying she wasn't strong enough to deal with the problem.
"Why even risk the fight we can have the lasers ready before the fight, we just need to find their hideout." The Professor reasoned.
"They change hideouts so often we wouldn't be able to find it and get the ambush ready." Blossom said lost in her thoughts, she came up with a compromise in her head. "But if we separate them and lead them to prepared points in the city, we can snag them like rabbit traps."
"Blossom Utonium," The professor beamed at his daughter, "You never cease to amaze me with your quick thinking." He moved away to contact the mayor and inform them of their plans.
A week later the girls had gone through the plan over and over, Bubbles and the chief of police were going to snag boomer in the recreational part of town, The professor and Buttercup in the industrial section, and finally Blossom and Miss Bellum in the business district. They found the boys hanging out in a park tunnel with stolen spray paint cans creating their version of art.
"You sure about this plan leader girl?" Buttercup asked before attacking. "I hate thinking were proving we're weaker than them."
"I understand how you feel Buttercup, But like most things we need to put our feelings aside and do what's best for the city." Blossom looked at her unaware rival and swallowed all the feelings she had and replaced it with contempt. She wished it didn't come to this, she wished he could be reasoned with, but whatever happened to him since that snowball fight, he was too dangerous to leave alone. "It is a shame, but they only grow more dangerous and just can't be reasoned with." With a final sigh and surrender of the situation she ordered the girls to attack.
The girls launched into action and body slammed their Ruff. "Looks like we found some pests out of their cages girls." Blossom jeered as Brick and his brothers got to their feet.
"And someone else will find some corpses." Brick spat as he glared her down.
"Can't kill what you can't catch, later losers." Blossom replied and shot off with Brick chasing her down. She and her sisters had practiced this plan for a week straight, and she knew it wasn't going to fail. As she raced through the streets she didn't risk looking back to Brick. She just kept leading him to his cage.
Back in the present Blossom was relaxing on her bed as she remembered watching Brick being hauled away. The last thought she had was how she was going swore to improve herself to be far better than him. She pushed him out of her thoughts as she took on endurance and strength training. She worked herself to near death in the training simulator having simulation after simulation beat her senseless to improve her ability to take a hit. She shuddered at the thought of some of her training. Her blood ran cold when she realized Brick had to be training just as hard somehow since he beat her down so hard when he tricked them into fighting a few months ago.
For a moment she felt like she did years ago dreading their next meeting, but somehow the memory of tonight and the warmth and light in his eyes also calmed her. Call it woman's intuition, but she felt whatever was going through his mind, beating her in a fight had suddenly fallen off his priority list.
This was the first time she even thought about the months leading to the arrest, and her feelings about were just as confusing. Seeing what they put them through was heartbreaking, but she allowed herself to see the Professors and the governments position. "Ugh, if only I could have just talked to him, maybe we could have worked something out." She relented. "but who knows if he would have listened, I just wish I knew what was going on in his mind back then."
Letting out an extended yawn she let her eyes slide shut, "Oh well, no point in wondering about what-ifs. He seems willing to listen now." She mumbled turning lay on her side, "I'll just have to keep sure he stays on my side from now on." She said with another yawn as she drifted off into sleep.
Across the town Brick was wandering through his apartment door way. He let out a groan as he made his way to the fridge through the dark kitchen. Pulling out the last can of soda he took a long drink as he leaned against the counter. The events of the evening raced through his mind. He found out Lasgston was admitted into the ICU and was not allowed visitors. He was worried what they would have to do about his leg. He saw it burnt down to the bone. A wave of grateful relief swarmed him with the knowledge he would most likely never know that kind of pain.
The failure of stopping the robbers still bothered him, but he didn't find the annoyance that he felt should have come with it. He felt strangely relieved it wasn't over yet. He had to admit he had fun listening to music and playing chess with Pinkie. He enjoyed the thrill of stopping the fire with her, having a new face to bounce ideas and strategies off of was a welcomed change. He removed his cap and ran his hands through his hair. He wanted to feel frustrated, angry, annoyed any other synonym one could conjure, but he just couldn't. Only a day ago he was after Powerpuff blood, now he was not only was he hanging around one, he was excited to see her again of his own volition. Memories long since repressed tried to bubble to the surface, but he pushed them back down.
"I cannot be getting soft for a Puff. Not me." He growled in his head. The growling of his gut interrupted his mantra and was looking for something to snack on before he showered and went to bed. He smelled like a BBQ and felt exhausted.
He left his shower after devouring some left over pizza he found and was resting on the side of his bed. The darkness of his room was a source of comfort to him. He felt safe and secured in it, but tonight it was a reminder of how much in solitary he placed himself in.
He looked through the darkness where only a few days ago his Pink Puff was chewing him out while in a towel. He let a small chuckle out at the image, but killed it just as quickly.
He thought himself above those feelings. He hated having them, and he hated the shame they made him feel. No matter how warm they made him feel. It had been years since he even considered a positive feeling towards her, and he just ruined the streak. He wanted to end this team up, finish his mission, and just go on with his life like normal. Whatever normal would be after all this, but somewhere deep inside him he had a small seed of doubt growing. His plan to eradicate the girls purpose felt, for the the first time ever, somehow wrong.
His mind felt heavy, and his thoughts swirled like clouds inside his head. He laid himself out on top of his bed and found sleep.
Maybe it was his body being used to sleeping so little, or the heavy rain beating his window, but he found himself waking up from a dreamless sleep a little over 6 hours from when sleep found him. It was just past nine when he wondered outside of his room and made his way to the fridge for breakfast. He only had a few options and chose cereal in the end. He looked over to Boomers room and questioned if he was still home or if he had work. A quick glance with his x-ray vision showed a vacant room, and a feeling of relief washed over him. If Boomer could leave his room he must have worked out whatever caused the anxiety attack. He hated to say it but he felt the blond puff was part of the reason why. "Results are results I guess." He said between bites.
He had finished his food and was washing up when he heard a soft knock rapt against his door. He opened the door to Mayor Bellum smiling down at him, "Mayor? What's up?" He greeted gesturing for her to come inside.
She denied the invitation with a shake of her hand and spoke, "I just wanted to come by and personally thank you for your involvement in the fire, and catching the serial arsonist, he has been a real thorn in the side lately." She said placing her soaked umbrella to her side.
"Oh, uh your welcome." He replied confused, he never expected her to make a trip for something that seemed so trivial. "You could have called for that instead of fighting the rain."
"I wanted a way to thank you, and I have just received word our very own Dr. Langston is able to see some visitors. I was thinking me, you and your brothers could make the trip."
"Boomer is out, I think he works today, but I'll see if Butch is in." He replied and shut the door. Walking over to the door he opened it up to find his green loving brother passed out one arm hanging over the bed. "Hey bro wake up." Brick said lightly punching his brother in the ribs.
Butch's eyes broke open and he quickly returned the punch, "What do you want?" He growled forcing his eyes closed.
"Langston is in the hospital, and we're going to go see him." He informed his brother, who immediately shot straight up in his bed.
"What do you mean he is in the hospital?"
"Exactly what I just said, he was in a fire last night, he just got cleared for visitors, the Mayor is gonna give us a ride. Or more likely her limo driver will."
It didn't take long for Butch to throw on a clean shirt and jeans, hopping into his shoes the two brothers made their way to the door. "Hey, what about Boomer?"
"He already took off, we'll visit again when Boomer gets home, we don't know if these visiting hours are limited while he recovers." Brick informed.
The two greeted the patient mayor at the door and walked down to her limo. It was a lengthy drive as the trio sat in silence. He ended up in the care of a hospital across the city. The mayor wanted to talk to the boys, but the grim faces each had one made her feel silence would be more appropriate. The silence only made the trip feel longer, but they finally reached the lot, with a thanks to the driver they walked into the lobby all huddled her umbrella as much as they could.
"We're here to see Erik Langston." The Mayor informed the receptionist as the two boys dried patting down their shoulders with tissues that had been on the desk.
"She looked at her computer, "Yes he was officially transferred out of the ICU last night," She took note of his room number and stood up, "Follow me." She said with a chipper smile.
"Did you know his first name was Erik?" Butch whispered to his brother.
"I only found out where he lived last night, I never thought to ask him his first name, it might have well been doc for all we knew." Brick whispered back.
The boys walked behind the nurse and the mayor taking in the sight. They hadn't stepped into a hospital before, and it set them on edge. The groans of pain coming from some of the people, the smell of cleaners suffocating the atmosphere and the sound of crying from a few rooms was not a calming place.
"If I can avoid it, I don't think I ever want to come back to a place like this... ever." Butch buzzed his lips after speaking.
"I doubt we ever will once Doc gets better and released." Brick commented, the cool chill up his spine was intense, the yellow white lights, the sounds of heels clicking against the tiles, and the faint smell of blood in the air was adding to his stress. "And for the record, I'm with you bro."
"Here he is." The nurse informed as they came to a shut door. She turned to them, "He might still be asleep, he is due here for a few more days, but once the Doctors feel the surgery sight is free of infection, and believe me it probably is we have some top skilled surgeons on his record, he will be released by Monday next week." With a small thanks and a wave she took off back to her post. "Oh yeah, it'll have to be a short visit, he still needs more rest than anything."
The mayor took the initiative and pushed the door open. The room was leaps and bounds more welcoming than the hallways they had marched through. The dark summer storm made the rooms white lights bounce against the cream colored walls. If it wasn't for the slow Beeping from the machines and the hospital bed housing a man covered in wires and bandages one could mistake it for a hotel room.
The man himself was lying on the bed, his breathing steady and eyes softly closed. He had a tube in across his face flooding his nose with oxygen, and his arms were draped over the blanket. Brick stood to his side and looked down his body with sadness. The mayor held his chart up and scanned through, she felt her throat tighten at the information. Butch looked at the man and ran his hands through his jet black hair. He turned around and shaking his head sat down.
Brick couldn't stop himself from looking at the leg he saw badly burnt last night. His hand moved unconsciously as he lifted the Blanket up. His fears were confirmed when he looked down and only saw sheets where his right leg should have been. Looking up he saw the space that would have been just above the knee covered in bandages and turned into a nub. Angry tears threatened to fill his eyes with their familiar sting. He was about to let out a slew of curse words when he heard a voice.
"Hey looks like I get half off on shoes for now on." A weak laugh followed. Turning his head Brick looked down at a half smiling Erik Langston.
"How can you still find room to joke about this?" Brick asked releasing a relieved smile of his own.
"Cause I'm still alive." He replied, "Plus whatever is in that IV bag is amazing." Another weak laugh emanated from his throat. As he attempted to sit up in his bed. "Or maybe it's I get to see you all." He looked around, "Where's Boomer?"
"He doesn't know yet, he was already went to work before we were told about you being able to see people." Brick explained.
"You better promise me you'll drag him along next time you come see me." He smiled.
"I think he'll be the one dragging us when he finds out." Butch gave a laugh as he stood by the Docs bed.
"That's a funny image." Langston remarked. He shifted his eyes to the Mayor. "Sarah you've been awfully quiet don't you have anything to say?"
A smile to match her happiness to see him graced her face, "I'm just happy to see you in such high spirits. So what exactly happened?"
"Oh what can I say, I was sleeping by the time the fire alarm woke me up, the way to fire escape was blocked off but my burning bookshelf, I went for the door and some of the ceiling fell on my, cooking my leg. I would be dead if it wasn't for the quick thinking of our own Brick and Blossom." He informed grunting a little as he readjusted himself in the bed. "The way the Doctors explained it to me, my leg was burnt down to the bone, and amputation was the only way they could guarantee it not to get infected. Apparently it's rare for something like this to happen, and they think if something less heavy, or at least not burning landed on me I would have been perfectly fine. I would just spending some time in a cast or getting skin grafts." He said as he gingerly scratched the bandages on his head and arms. "But I should be dead, and yet I'm not. So I'll take it. It's just a leg after all."
"So you gonna get like some cool robot leg prosthetic?" Butch asked.
"Well I don't know about robotics, but I'll probably get a prosthetic yeah." He remarked. The feeling of warmth and laughter in the room betrayed the gritty reality of the room, but the four spent the next few minutes laughing and joking with each other. The only reason they all left was because the doctors came in and asked them to leave. He was due to get his bandages changed, and the Mayor had to return to her office.
The boys thanked her for giving them a ride and they departed taking to the skies. Brick felt better seeing him, but the rage in his heart grew as he thought about the coward who caused the fire. It would be nothing for him to break into the jail and break the bastard like a twig. He kept his eyes focused on the skies and fought the anger down. He meant it when he said the arsonist wasn't worth it, and was intent on keeping himself to that. At least for now he felt a little bit better knowing his mentor was alive, and would make a recovery.
A.N. Please review would you kindly. This update took a bit for a few reasons, life and a full time job, I ended up in the ER the same weekend my grandmother passed, I felt uninspired to write, and I have been busy trying to spend time with my wife, working overnights 12 hours a night doesn't leave much time to do anything.