Sedusa woke up groggily in the morning. She still felt the lingering sensations from the day prior.

She truly hadn't expected to spend quality time with the Powerpuff Girls of all people. But as it turned out, it was genuinely a fun experience. It had been so long since she felt the way she did.

It didn't start off on a good note. Most of the time, she had to tolerate Bubbles' animosity without rousing Ms Keane's suspicions. The better part of the event was spent trying to do damage control. Sedusa had to admit, Bubbles was sweet sometimes, but when she held a grudge, it was extremely hard for her to let it go.

In fact, it was so bad that Sedusa had no choice but focus prominently on the blonde, asking questions, having one-on-one conversations. Her plan had been to annoy Bubbles to such a degree, that the blonde would just snap and finally vent her true feelings.

Sedusa never liked to keep things bottled up. She always believed that if you didn't like someone, then they should know it.

And Bubbles didn't hold back. She screamed curses at her, ranting on and on how much she disliked the seductress for using her family for her own gain. Sedusa was lucky she chose a secluded area for them to have a talk.

Then something unexpected happened. During the climax of Bubbles' hate-filled yells, she finally broke out into uncontrollable sobs. She wailed herself hoarse, and Sedusa could do nothing but stand there, awkward and all.

After she had enough – and had a hard self-deliberation – she threw caution to the wind and actually hugged the little girl. The effect was immediate, because Bubbles didn't hold herself from hugging back.

Now Sedusa was a genuine super villain, but she struggled to feel any sort of disgust for her actions. It felt natural, in a way, like a mother comfortable her own troubled child. And that kind of revelation staggered her.

After that, the day ran smoother, with Bubbles visibly opening up to her more. The moment they shared must have been crucial to the little thing.

Back in reality, Sedusa yawned and sat up. She took her medication from the dresser and lazily drank them down her throat. Her legs felt a lot more stable. But her body still emitted a dull pain, achingly reminding her of the vicious beating she endured a few days ago.

She made to get off the bed, but something was holding her midsection in place. She realised that Professor had both his arms around her waist, and was suspiciously closer than the night prior.

To think that he didn't like her; it seemed so hard to believe with how gentle his hands felt…near her butt.

She shook her head, trying to dissuade any unnecessary thoughts entering her mind.

She looked at him again… This man was a real hypocrite.

She didn't feel repulsed by his touch, though. Honestly, she damn well liked it. It was as if she was linked to him, like they were really a family.

How old was she? Was she old enough to even think about settling down? And if so, then who with? No one could honestly accept her without an ulterior motive. Well, any no normal person that is.

But Professor and the girls weren't normal people, not by a long shot. She could relate to them in the sense of abnormality.

She just stayed in bed and continued to watch him, mesmerised by his visage. Had he always looked that way? So…mature? And why did she care anyway?

It was very confusing to her. She had a lot of emotions that she couldn't discern.

Professor started to stir to life, and Sedusa felt like messing with him for getting chummy with her body.

He barely opened his eyes, and saw Sedusa's enchanting gaze staring at him.

"Good morning." Her voice was sensual, kind, like a happy lover greeting another.

At this stage, Professor was still on auto-pilot.

"Good morning," he replied, yawning and sitting up. He stretched his limbs a bit.

Sedusa looked at the clock. "How did you sleep?"

"…Well, and you?" he said sleepily.

Sedusa smiled at him; it was too innocent. "I'm great."

"Mmhm." Professor nodded dazedly.

"Professor?"

"Hmm?"

"You're late for work."

Professor blinked at her a few times. His eyes soon shot open and he flew out of bed. He quickly got ready.

Sedusa noticed that he was about to leave without he's bag. Although she enjoyed his panicked actions, she decided to end it.

She rose from the bed and grabbed the suitcase.

Before Professor could leave, she called him.

"Professor, you've forgot your bag," she informed, rolling her eyes at it all.

Professor stopped his run and rounded on her. He quickly went to her and took his bag from her hold.

"Thanks!" he said hastily. "I'll be back at five."

Whether it was intentional or not, Professor completely caught Sedusa off guard when he kissed her, full on the lips.

It was a quick kiss; one ordinary couples gave to each other when they were in a hurry. But it had an electrifying effect on these two.

Professor realised his mistake too late. His mind caught up to him and he quickly sputtered an apology. "I... I-I'm sorry… I…"

Sedusa was frozen in place. Her eyes were wide and she looked like a statue.

Professor scratched his head. This was horrible. Of all the things to do early in the morning…

Sedusa finally came out of her stupor. She waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine… I just didn't see it coming, that's all."

"Well, I-"

"Shouldn't you be getting to work?" Sedusa queried, already knowing the answer.

At that, Professor dropped everything he was about to say. Hurriedly saying an uncomfortable goodbye, he left for his job.

Sedusa continued to stand in place.

She had kissed many people in the past, but none of them had ever felt like this.

She slowly touched her lips, feeling the Professor's lingering touch.

It was strange to her. She didn't even hate it?

Was it really that easy for her to adapt to her current situation?

Shrugging in the end, she made her way downstairs. She went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was full of stock.

"Well, at least I don't have to starve myself anymore."

Before, her only way to survive was to seduce – no two ways about it. Her food, her disguises…everything came from her victims. And that meant that if she didn't have victims, then she didn't have money.

It was worse when she was on the run, making it even more difficult to get what she wanted.

But now, in the Utonium residence, she felt very safe, very secure.

It didn't take long for the girls to come downstairs, getting ready for school.

"Oh great, the Professor isn't here again," Buttercup noted.

"Good morning to you, too," Sedusa retorted, a tad irritated with Buttercup's attitude.

"Morning, Sedusa…Wow, I never thought I'd ever say that," Blossom said, scratching the back of her head.

"…Morning," Bubbles greeted softly. She didn't even spare Sedusa a glance, more like she tried her best not to look in her direction.

Sedusa didn't know what to make of the different signals. The girls were obviously acting dissimilar from the first day she saw them. And Bubbles being shy was a brand new thing for the seductress.

She was confused. Were they still enemies or was the truce still in effect? She couldn't but hope for the latter. She was sick and tired of fighting. And yesterday made her feel really good about herself.

She decided in attempting to quell any rising flames. "Does the Professor usually make you lunch?"

That actually got the girls' attention, for they all stared at her.

Buttercup answered. "Uh…yeah? Why do you care?"

Sedusa took out some lettuce, tomato, ham and bread. "Well, since he's very busy these days, he won't have the time to make you lunch."

"No offence, Sedusa, but we know that already," Blossom informed.

Sedusa started making three ham sandwiches.

Once complete, she put them in the allocated lunch boxes. "Here you go."

The girls didn't even move an inch.

Sedusa huffed, understanding but not liking their lack of trust. "I didn't poison it."

"No, that's not really the issue here. Besides, poison doesn't really affect us." Blossom couldn't help sounding bewildered. She knew that Sedusa didn't want to do crime anymore. But seeing her do something for them was not only suspicious, but unsettling.

"Then what's the problem?"

"I'd say the problem is understanding why you're doing this," Blossom explained.

"Well...I thought we had a truce. You know, no fights or violence? I mean…didn't you enjoy yesterday?"

"Yes, very much," Blossom answered truthfully. She turned her gaze to her sister's, waiting for their answers.

Buttercup was stubborn at first, but soon gave up under everyone's scrutiny. "Okay, fine! I liked it, too!"

"… Me too," Bubbles finally said.

"So then there's nothing more to think about. Let's just continue acting like that, until my three days here are up," Sedusa said, trying to be at least civil. "It will make things easier to deal with."

The girls exchanged looks.

"I don't know about this," Blossom said, unsure. "To be honest, I'm not against it. It's just…"

"You can't honestly be thinking of trusting her! Remember how miserable she made us when she was here the first time?"

Buttercup had a point. Currently none of them had any reason to even give Sedusa's suggestion a shot.

Sedusa mentally sighed. Well, nobody said that changing was going to be easy. And changing people's perception of her was going to be even harder.

She wasn't going to lie to herself. There was no way she was going to become this goody-to-shoe person that was her complete opposite. The only thing she wanted to change was her lifestyle, what she did. That's it… Professor actually gave her the chance to.

His little project provided her a chance to see how much she affected the Utonium family. And according to everyone, she left them all pretty devastated.

So wasn't this a good place to start? Three days won't probably achieve much, but it was worth a shot anyway.

Speaking of which, Professor never attempted to understand her as a criminal, like he said he would. If she had to be blunt, it seemed like he was using this whole project thing as an excuse to have her in his house.

She needed to talk to him about that later.

But right now, she needed to convince-

"Can you take us to school? We're late," Bubbles spoke up.

The entire conversation halted at what she said. Blossom and Buttercup knew all too well of Bubble's anger towards Sedusa. But for Bubbles to actually ask for Sedusa's help voluntarily was a very big deal.

Blossom conceded when she realised that Bubbles was right. "I agree… Can you take us?"

Buttercup only folded her arms; she didn't say a thing.

Sedusa mouth thinned. It was one thing to be on equal understanding, but to be close than that was alien to her. She had never been close to anyone without suspecting the worst of them. It came with experience, unfortunately. She had been used before, and swore to herself to never allow anyone near her heart.

But looking at the girls' beady, expectant eyes, forced her to consider the possibility of trying again.

Damn, she was perplexed.

She shook her head to focus. "Okay, let me change and I'll take you there."

Blossom smiled at her, and the girls went to the garage. But before they left, Bubbles spared her a meaningful glance.

It was the same look she had when she thought Sedusa was Ima.

Sedusa didn't know how to react to such a gaze. It made her feel funny.

She shrugged and decided to change her clothes.

To be honest, I'm really trying to give this a shot, but with little reception, I'm struggling to see any inspiration for it. If anyone's interested in this story, feel free to let me know. But right, I don't know about this story's future.