Fandom: The PowerPuff Girls (original version – 2002 designs)
Rating: Adult
Genre: Romance
Pairing(s): HIMxSnake, AcexSnake
Warnings: Slash, MxM, explicit sex, violence, rape, domestic abuse, language, Original Characters, mention of PPGZ characters (Znake, Ivy)
Summary: After getting tired of Ace's Not-Quite-Friends-With-Benefits and other abuses, Snake agrees to go on a date with his older sister's friend. The trouble is, her friend is none other than His Infernal Majesty – otherwise known as HIM. Is Snake jumping from bad to worse, and just how is Ace going to react when he finds out?
Disclaimer: The characters within this story are the creative property of Craig McCracken, with the exceptions of Belinda Ingleberry and Dr Hitomi Ingleberry, who remain my own characters, and Znake and Ivy, who are male/female versions of the same character, and are the property of the PPGZ creators. The idea to separate them as twin siblings is my personal headcanon.
Chapter 5 – Ace – Do Not Touch
Chapter-Specific Warnings: M/M, language, attempted rape, violence, sexual assault.
It was driving Ace insane!
Since announcing that he was first going on a date with some mystery guy, Snake had been insanely happy. He'd been on another two dates with him in the past ten days, and a trip to the movie theatre besides. Apparently, he had overheard Snake tell Arturo, the movie itself had turned out to be so bad as to be almost offensive, so they had spent most of it making out.
The thought made him angry. Bad enough that Snake was dating someone else other than him – the fact that he had never expressed a desire to date the serpentine teen before carefully ignored – without Ace having to hear him laughing and bragging about it too. To make matters worse, Snake never mentioned his date's name or anything to hint about what he looked like. It was getting harder and harder for him to just swallow his pride and ask him outright.
The mystery guy was obviously as keen on Snake as Snake was on him, given that he had taken Snake to two fancy restaurants and out to a club – one that Snake had gotten into with no problems – as well as the movie theatre! Ace was itching to know what kind of loaded weirdo was willing to go to all that trouble for Snake.
As for Snake...he was changing with every date he went on! He was cheerful and laughed a lot more. There was a sparkle in his eyes now, which Ace had never noticed before, that got brighter whenever Snake mentioned (or appeared to think of) his boyfriend. He was starting to act with more confidence, which was having an effect on the rest of the gang. They were all happy – except for Ace, of course.
He could hear them laughing and joking behind him. For the first time in a long while, Ace felt left out, which made him angry. The Gangreen gang was his gang – he had founded it with Arturo when they had met Big Billy and Grubber. Snake had been the last to join them, giving him the least right to exclude him from anything the gang did! Only Ace got to do that, nobody else!
Subconsciously, he walked with his body hunched forward, deliberately keeping a short distance between himself and his giggling friends. He was so wrapped up in his sulking that he wasn't even aware that he was doing it.
"Hey, Boss."
He turned to find the gang staring at him. Though it was Arturo who had spoken, all four members of the gang were looking at him with worried expressions.
Out of all of them, Snake looked the most concerned.
"What?" He asked, taking his hands out of his jacket pockets.
"You...okay, Ace?" Arturo asked after a pause. Ace scowled at him.
"Fine, why yous askin' me?"
"Well, you were racing ahead of us just then."
Ace felt his cheeks flush, realising he had been letting his temper get the better of him. Angrily, he spun back round so the others wouldn't see.
"M Fine!" He snapped. "S'not my fault yous mugs're walkin so damn slow!"
Yes, yes that was better. Shoving his hands back into his jacket, he stormed ahead. A few seconds later, he heard the others as they hurried to catch up with him. He smirked, noting that their cheerful talking and laughter had stopped.
I'm still the boss – not that stupid slut Snake...
The sun had come out by the time they reached their shack and the glare was giving Ace a headache. He lay down on the raggedy couch they kept propped against a wall and was soon dozing. A while later, he was woken by the sound of Snake approaching the shack. He sat up just as the reptilian teen appeared in the doorway.
"Hey, Boss." He hissed softly. "Feeling betterss?"
"A little, I guess." Snake smiled at him, and held up a can of soda.
"We thoughtss you might feel betterss after a drinkss." He offered, coming across to the couch and holding the can out.
Ace accepted the drink with a smile.
"Thanks, Snake."
He opened the can and took a swig, patting the seat next to him. Snake seemed cheered by this, and sat down to open his own can. He took a drink while Ace studied him behind his shades.
He hated to admit it, but this mystery boyfriend had made Snake look even hotter than ever. The sparkle in his vermilion eyes was surprisingly intoxicating, provided he didn't dwell on the why, and Ace found that he wanted to be looked at in that way. He stood straighter, and was more relaxed when he was sat down. Normally he didn't so much sit as he did perch, as though ready to spring away if anyone tried to get near him, especially if he were near Ace.
Yet here he was, sat inches from him without cringing, relaxed and settled fully into the still-firm cushions, sipping his soda happily.
Beautiful...so fucking beautiful...
As he froze, surprised by the unexpected, traitorous thought, Snake turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Acce? Are youss sure youss feel okayss?"
Ace's eyes followed the flickering tongue as it slipped back between black lips before he blinked and shook his head to clear it.
"Uh, yeah. I'm fine, Snake." He replied, offering a crooked grin before moving to face Snake fully. "But, I...uh...I wanted to talk to ya about somethin'..."
Snake set his can into his lap, holding it in both hands and cocking his head slightly.
"Oh, yeahsss? Like whatss, Bosss?"
"Well I, uh..." he fixed his features into something that he hoped looked remorseful "I wanted to, ya know, apologise to ya, I guess."
"For whatss?"
"For the way I acted when you said you had a date." He looked away and shrugged dramatically, looking back. "I acted like a real brat to ya, Snake – really shitty to ya. I...ya didn't deserve to see dat, ya know..."
Snake was looking at him as though he had grown another head – wide eyed, black lips parted slightly.
"Acce..." he smiled shyly "youss don't need to apologissse to messs, reallyss. I...I did kinda...ssspring it on yousss..."
"Well, sure, dat's as maybe, but...well...I shouldn't have called ya a whore." He paused, remembering the day. "Guess I shouldn't have made dat comment 'bout fuckin' ya sister neither."
Snake's expression froze when he said that, so he gave an embarrassed chuckle and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, guess dat part was pretty shitty too." He admitted, genuine this time.
Snake lowered his gaze, running his thumb across the lip of the can. He appeared to consider his words before he spoke.
"Isss...I guesss it wasss..." he hissed softly. "I knowss you don't like Belinda..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think dat part's common knowledge." Ace waved his hand dismissively. "But it's not ya sister I'm wantin' to say sorry 'bout. It's da way I treated you."
When Snake looked up at him again, he continued.
"I never expected that you'd end up meetin' someone else, let alone go on a date with 'em."
"Why notsss?!" Snake looked genuinely offended, so Ace offered up a hand in a placating gesture.
"Well, I thought dat yous just wanted ta hook up for a fuck, ya know? I didn't think you were after anythin' serious. Seein' as we were fuckin' a lot -"
"Only whenss yousss wanted to fuckss, Bosss." Snake looked so annoyed that Ace wondered if his attempt at apology had backfired. "Isss have never onccce come to yousss for sssex."
Ace paused, both embarrassed and shocked to realise that he was right: Ace had always been the one to instigate their liaisons since they started. He dipped his head and made a show of pushing his shades up the bridge of his nose to hide his blushes.
"Okay...you're right about dat." He conceded, inwardly amazed at how level his voice was. He looked to see Snake looking a little less irritated.
"Look, Snake," he sighed in frustration, "I think yous can guess I suck at dis apologisin' shit! What I'm tryin' ta say is...I wasn't expectin' you to skip over one day an tell me ya was seein somebody when yous did. I acted like a shit and I regret doin' it, so I wanted to say sorry about it. I don't wanna wreck our friendship over somethin' like dis."
He leaned back, taking a sip of his drink and glancing to the side.
"Ya get me?" He muttered.
For a moment, Snake simply stared at him with a blank expression. He blinked and smiled softly.
"Yesss, I undersstand." He replied. "Iss sshould have told youss I had a date firsst, but the othersss got to me before youss did."
"Yeah, they sure did." Ace snickered. "But, yous didn't really need to tell us nothin' 'bout it – yous coulda just said ya were goin' back home to hang out with Belinda and we wouldn't have known shit."
"But, Bosss, yousss are my friendsss. I wouldn't liesss to yousss about sssomething like thatss." Snake looked sincere as he spoke, then grinned shyly. "Bessidess, you'd have gotten really mad if you found out latersss."
Ace laughed.
"Yeah, sure! I'd be pretty pissed if we'd snuck into the movie theatre and found yous making out with ya boyfriend."
Snake looked away, eyes widening at the thought.
"Ye-eesss..." he said carefully "that would besss...sssomething awkwardssss."
The opportunity was there; Ace's lips were practically burning to ask Snake who his boyfriend was. He drew a breath, trying to think up the right words to ask, when Snake took another sip from his can. This time, a drop tumbled from the opening as he was moving and splashed against his lower lip.
"Ohsss."
Quick as a flash, Snake's thin green tongue flickered out to catch the rogue droplet, running over his lips before slipping back between them. Ace's mouth suddenly went dry, memories of the time he had spent...enjoying that mouth filling his mind. That mouth had been his, along with the body it came with, to enjoy, before some mystery creep had just waltzed up and stolen it from him!
Well...I better just take it back, shouldn't I?
He took a long swig from his own can and licked his lips, glancing at Snake.
"So, uh, Snake?"
"What isss it, Bosss?"
"You've been seein' a lot of this boyfriend of yours, huh?"
To his annoyance, Snake's face lit up and a soft blush danced across his scaled cheeks. He nodded happily.
"You...seein' him again tonight?"
Snake sighed, shaking his head gently.
"Nosss, I'm not ssseeing HIMss for a couple of nightsss now."
Perfect...
Ace grinned, setting his can down on the ground before leaning towards the younger teen.
"Well..." his voice was a low growl "in dat case..."
Snake gave him a confused look.
"Wha-mmh!"
Ace's lips covered his just as they parted, keeping them from closing as his tongue slid into his mouth to taste the lemon and lime that still lingered from the drink. He heard the can drop from Snake's hand and onto the dusty floor, felt Snake's hands pushing against his shoulders. He let Snake push him away and broke the kiss. He looked down to see Snake staring back at him, eyes wide and panting softly.
"Wh-what are youss doing?"
Ace smirked and gave a little 'tch' noise in response, reaching round to the back of Snake's head and seizing a fistful of his hair, pushing him into another kiss when he cried out. Snake made a muffled squeak of protest and began to struggle. Ace responded by pushing the weight of his body down on Snake's, which made the younger teen's frantic wriggling much more enjoyable. He could already feel himself growing hard.
"Accce, I've gotsss a boyfriendsss!" Snake hissed frantically when he managed to free himself. Ace snorted.
"So what? Ya said yourself you ain't seein' him tonight," he grinned "or for a couple nights after."
"Ssso?"
"So...ya won't have to worry 'bout him wantin' ta fuck yous straight after me!"
He dipped his head to kiss Snake again, stifling an incredulous "The fuckss?!" from his soon-to-be lover. Pressing his weight against Snake's, he found the other's wriggling was pretty hot, so ground his hips against him with a growl.
"Accce, sstop itsss!"
To his surprise, Snake actually managed to push him away. He tried to push him back down, but Snake moved his head to the side.
"Accce, no."
Enraged, Ace shoved hard, and his hand started pulling at Snake' shorts, pushing them over his hips. He was going to have Snake, one way or the other! To his annoyance, Snake only pushed back harder.
"No! Isss don't wantsss to! No!"
With a cry, he snapped his body upwards, knocking Ace off him long enough to slide off the sofa and onto the floor. Ace's head snapped round to snarl at him as he scrambled to his feet, pulling his shorts back up as he backed away. Ace climbed off the sofa and glared at him. A tiny part of him was protesting, squeaking that this wasn't right, but it was soon drowned in the outraged screams of his anger.
"Get back here!" He growled, baring his sharp teeth at Snake. Snake took another step back, shaking his head.
"Acce, what'sss wrong with yousss?"
"What's wrong with me? I dunno, Snake. Maybe I never counted on yous being an ungrateful little slut and thinkin' ya could go off with other guys, huh? Maybe that's what's wrong with me!"
"Whatsss?" Snake's hands flew up to cover his mouth and a tremor was in his voice when he continued. "Acce, can you jussst lissten to what you're sssaying? Pleasse?"
"I don't need to listen – yous need ta do what I say!" Ace snapped, grabbing Snake by the wrist.
"Let gosss!"
"Sssh...come on now." Ace's voice was low, predatory. He almost didn't recognise it as his own. "We don't want the others to hear us, do we?"
"Theyss already knowsss, Acce. They've known for agesss."
For a moment, Ace paused. The little, insistent voice began protesting at the back of his mind, but he ignored it.
"In dat case, make all the noise yous want, babe. Ain't like dey's gonna come save ya anyhow."
He pulled Snake forwards and tried to kiss him again, but Snake had other ideas. He pulled back frantically, using the other hand to pull at Ace's fingers.
"Let go of messs! Ace, sstop it!"
Ace managed to get him close enough to pull into another kiss, but Snake pulled himself away and screamed.
"I sssaid NO!"
Slap!
Snake's thin hand whipped across Ace's cheek with enough force to whip his head to one side and knocked his shades to the ground. In disbelief, Ace watched them clatter to the floor and brought a hand to his stinging flesh.
Something in him snapped.
"You little BITCH!"
His fist slammed into Snake as hard as he could, sending the teen to the ground with a scream of pain...
The scream was what snapped him out of it. Snake usually hissed, never screamed. The red mist lifted instantly, leaving him stood over Snake, who was trying to pick himself off the ground. Snake looked up at him, eyes wide with fear. The skin on his cheek had been split by the blow, letting a trickle of blood run down the tear-streaked flesh...
Snake was crying, had been since he'd escaped the couch. How had he not seen that until now?
What...what have I done?
Unbidden, a long-ignored memory stirred. He had been somewhere with his grandparents for the day, which had been commonplace, and was coming back home. They had opened the door to find his mother on the kitchen floor, trying to pull herself up using the drawer handles. Her face was battered and bloody, her sun-dress torn and spattered with blood and tears. Standing over her, his hands twisted into terrible, bloody fists, was his father – definitely, horrifyingly, sober and very angry.
Ace had been a child – five or six at most – and burst into screaming hysterics as his Nonno had stepped forward and restrained his son, while Nonna had simultaneously held her grandson close and helped his mother to her feet. They had left the house so that Nonno could deal with his father, which had resulted in a stay at his grandparents for several weeks until they finally went back home. Nobody had ever talked to him about what happened, but he had heard his grandparents talking late one night. His grandfather's words came back to him now.
A real man doesn't raise his hand to his woman, Viola, let alone a fist, no matter what the reason might be...
Looking back at Snake, who was edging away through the dust, he began to feel sick. The blood seemed to glow, accusing him of spilling it. His own cheek began to sting as if in mockery of what he had done...
"S-Snake..?"
Snake flinched at the sound of his voice, looking up at him fearfully. Ace opened his mouth, desperate to say something – anything – when the door of the shack opened only for the space to be immediately filled by the massive bulk that was Big Billy. Lil Arturo and Grubber had rushed in before him and Ace could only stare dumbly back as they surveyed the scene.
"De fuck's wrong wit' you, Ace?" Lil Arturo thundered, the volume impossibly loud considering his diminutive lungs.
The tiny Mexican's anger was wasted, swallowed up by Ace's horrified daze. He looked back at the gang, his mouth opening and shutting. Meanwhile, Grubber stepped forward and gently coaxed Snake to his feet, guiding him out of the shack. Billy stepped aside so the two could leave, then resumed his guard as soon as they were outside. In the silence he could hear Snake start to cry, punctuated with Grubber's soothing responses.
The sound cut him deep – no less than he deserved, but something was wrong...
"I-I..."
He heard Snake's footsteps fading into the distance. Big Billy looked round at something Grubber had said and nodded.
"Duh, Snake's going home now." He announced to the shack. "Grubber offered to go with him, but he said no."
Suddenly, the cyclops pointed a finger that was thicker than Ace's wrist in the direction of Ace's face.
"You made Snake cry!" He bellowed. Ace winced and hung his head.
"I know..." his voice was shaking and tiny. He braced himself, expecting the others to attack him. Snake had become very well-loved by the others, a genuine, cleaner affection than anything Ace had ever shown him. Boss or not, this was a step too far...
But the blow never came. Billy and Arturo looked at one another, confused by his reaction, and simply looked back at him, neither one moving. He looked up at them.
"What you waiting for?" He snapped. "If yous two are gonna do somethin' – do it!"
Nobody moved, though their bodies began to tremble as tears blurred Ace's vision.
"Please..." his voice was barely a croak.
Lil Arturo opened his mouth to speak, when a frantic spluttering noise came from outside. As one, Billy and Arturo turned round and rushed out of the shack. Alone, Ace wiped his eyes and retrieved his shades from the floor. Grubber had sounded frightened – that meant a threat!
He could feel guilty once it had been neutralised.
His featured fixed into a familiar expression of anger as he stepped through the door, and quickly looked around at the others. They were all staring ahead, their combined five eyes wide and mouths open in surprise. As his eyes began moving towards the direction the others were looking, he heard Snake's voice, pleading with someone – had his boyfriend come to find him?
He was beginning to think that the guy's voice was familiar, just as he saw a figure in red, black and pink approaching, with flashing yellow green eyes fixed on him...
Oh, FUCK!
Before he could even draw a breath, a red claw shot forward and seized him by the throat. He felt his feet lift from the ground and into the air. HIM's bared teeth parted to let out an outraged cry so loud that the entire dump began to shake.
"YOU CUT HIS FACE!"
With the final word, Ace was flung into a pile of trash, where he screamed as his back collided with the fender of a rusting car. As he slid down to the ground with a whimper, the outraged demon suddenly appeared before him, his scarlet features twisted with rage. Trembling, he came to a terrible, horrifying revelation...
Snake's boyfriend...HIM is Snake's new boyfriend...and I just tried to fuck Snake!
...This is how I die...
All thoughts fled from his mind, however, as HIM began to rage.
"Little BRAT!" The demon howled. "You DARE to touch what's MINE?! You DARE to HARM HIS FLESH, which you are barely worthy to even LOOK AT?! YOU DARE?!"
Ace could say nothing, or do nothing, besides tremble under HIM's furious glare. How could he have ever imagined that the most evil villain in Townsville – if not the world – would have wanted to date Snake? Ace would have named literally anyone before HIM – anyone!
HIM's eyes flashed so brightly that they appeared to burn. Ace closed his eyes, preparing for the final blow.
"Your suffering will be legendary..."
"Nosss!"
Ace's eyes snapped open to find Snake stood protectively in front of him, his hands pressed against his boyfriend's chest. Though the thumping of blood in his ears, Ace could hear Snake's breath was ragged with tears.
"Pleasse, HIM, don't hurtsss him any moress..." he pleaded. HIM blinked, somewhat diminished by the tearful teen before him.
"But, my pet – look what he did to your face!" The demon's voice had returned to its normal melodic tone, but Ace still didn't dare move.
"I-I knowss, but...I don't want yousss to hurt him. I...Iss jusst wantss to go. Can'tsss we jussst go? Pleasse?"
Ace couldn't see the face Snake was pulling, but HIM was clearly affected by it. His expression softened, and he visibly relaxed.
"Okay, okay my pet." He said, pulling Snake into an embrace. The teen snuggled into it with a relieved sigh, which somehow cut Ace deeper than any blow HIM could have dealt him. He remained where he was, not daring to move, while the two were engulfed in pink clouds. He saw Snake cast a worried glance in his direction, only to turn and smile weakly at HIM as the clouds covered them completely. The mass shrunk, then dissolved into nothing.
"Boss!"
He turned his head at the sound of Arturo's cry and saw the three remaining members of the gang hurrying towards him. He tried to sit up, but pain shot through his body and he collapsed back with a cry. Immediately, Grubber was at his side and poking and prodding at him carefully. After a few minutes of both this and asking questions, Grubber determined that Ace had not been seriously injured. He asked Billy to pick Ace up and carry him into the shack. He could rest on the couch for a while...
But Ace freaked out at the prospect of going back to the couch. The thought of laying down where he had literally just tried to rape Snake was too much.
"No! No! Put me down! Put me down!"
Billy tried to keep hold of him for a few seconds, so Ace kicked the air and thrashed until the cyclops had no choice but to put him back down. When his feet touched the ground his legs buckled, causing him to stagger and collapse to his knees. Batting away the offers of help, he managed to get back to his feet. Swaying a little, he cast a glance at the shack.
No...he couldn't go back in there tonight...possibly not ever...
Eventually, he had given in and let Arturo walk home with him. They only lived a few streets apart anyway, so it was hardly as though he was going out of his way.
Yet Ace had really wanted to make the journey home alone. If HIM – or Snake, for that matter – decided that he hadn't been punished enough and attacked him, at least the others would be spared the risk of getting hurt.
Besides, he needed to be alone. Not to think or nothing, just...to be alone.
Arturo tried to make conversation, most likely to try and distract Ace from the pain and dizziness that he was evidently suffering from, but Ace just couldn't bring himself to give more than grunts and one-word responses. Considering that he and Billy had looked ready to unleash their own beatdown on Ace before HIM did it for them, it found the sudden concern amusing. He wanted to ask why, but couldn't find the energy.
They reached Arturo's street first, though the Mexican lingered to watch Ace continue on his journey home for a while.
It felt like forever to reach his house, but finally he was walking through the door. His Mom was in the kitchen, smoking what looked like the latest in a long chain of cigarettes. She arched a blonde eyebrow at him when he stepped into the room.
"Yous home early." Her shrill, nasal voice, comically twinned with her unrepentant New York , accent, made his head ache. She wafted some of the cigarette smoke away from her face and frowned at him. "Ya look like shit, Ace. What happened?"
"Fight." Ace moved to the fridge and peered inside, taking a can of orange soda. He looked around as he opened it. "Where's Papa?"
"Gone to da liquor store fer more booze." She cast a disgusted look at the full bottles on the counter. "Apparently we're runnin' out."
She looked at him.
"Looks like whoever it was did a number on ya, dat's fer sure." She narrowed her eyes. "You ain't gonna be needin' ta go ta hospital, are ya?"
"No, Mama." Ace replied softly. "I..uh...just wanna go lie down, kay?"
She threw a bottle of aspirin at him, which he caught out of habit.
"Don't go overdosin' on 'em." She returned to the table and lit another cigarette. "I ain't gonna be tellin' yer Nonna dat yous died cus yer dumb ass don't know how ta take aspirin."
Ace stared down at the bottle in his hand.
"Right, sure Mama." He went to the stairs and looked back at her. "G'night."
She looked back and gave an uncommitted wave and looked away as he walked up the stairs. He couldn't expect more from her – neither of his parents were big on affection.
His room had been exactly as he left it, except some clean underwear had been dumped on his bed. Shoving them into a drawer without ceremony, he shut the curtains and sat on the bed. He pulled off his shades, putting them on the night-stand with greater care alongside his soda can. Carefully, he shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the bedpost. The shock was starting to wear out and every movement was sending pains shooting down his back. He managed to slip out of his pants and sock without too much pain, leaving him in his t-shirt and underwear. Carefully, he gripped a sleeve with one hand and pulled his arm out, gritting his teeth against the pain as he repeated the exercise with the other arm. He moved his arms, pushing the material further up his chest until it hung on his shoulders. Finally, he lifted it over his head.
He checked the back of the material, surprised to see no sign of tearing or blood. There was a mirror affixed to his wardrobe, but when he tried to turn his head so that he could check his back the pain was too much for him to manage it. He took some Aspiring, washing them down with soda, and pushed his discarded t-shirt off the bed
Sleep, if he could get some sleep he would give the aspirin time to work. Setting the bottle on the night-stand, he pulled back the covers and climbed into bed. He screamed through his gritted teeth as his abused back pressed against the mattress, tears of pain coming to his eyes. For a moment, all he could do was lay rigid and breathe carefully until his screaming flesh quieted. There was no sound of his mother coming to check on him; concern was another thing she wasn't good at.
Ace was left with his own thoughts, which quickly forced him to remember the events that had led to his misfortune. Try as he might, he couldn't explain why he had suddenly tried to force himself on Snake like that. More importantly, he couldn't understand why he hadn't stopped when Snake had made it clear he didn't want to fuck...
Had he ever wanted to fuck in the first place? He'd even pointed out that he had only ever responded to Ace's needs, never for his own. Had what they had been so awful that Snake had seen dating HIM as something better?
He shuddered, wincing immediately, at the memory of HIM's attack. The anger in HIM's eyes made the time he had caught them making crank calls on the PowerPuff Hotline seem cheerful and gentle in comparison. Ace had been certain that he was going to die; would have died if Snake...
His breath stilled and his eyes widened at the memory. Snake had jumped in front of him, had begged his boyfriend not to hurt HIM, in spite of what he had done. He'd saved him...
A sob forced his way out of his mouth before he could bite it back, so he slapped a hand over his mouth. As tears began to trickle from his eyes, he abandoned all hope of stifling them. Turning his head, he pushed his pillow against his face to muffle the sound, and sobbed into the material.
By the time sleep finally came to claim him, his tears had soaked into the pillow and his throat was sore.