Zero Hour

"Oh, my," Professor said, gazing at the crumpled though clear image on the table.

"After that, Buttercup took off and I lost her. I found Bubbles riding to school with Mike and stopped them before they could get there. Mike thinks he has some idea of where Buttercup is. Bubbles is waiting at Mike's house. I promised that if Buttercup showed up here before Mike caught up to her that we'd send her out that way."

"Oh, my," Professor repeated, having not looked up from the picture. "How is Bubbles taking this?"

"She's... She's not that upset, actually," Blossom said, still surprised by the fact. "She's a lot more worried about Buttercup, that's for sure. Maybe she can afford to not worry about how people will react. Buttercup is one thing, but you see her expression there. Not many people can accuse Bubbles of anything based on that."

"I see."

"Dad, when you asked me about them spending time together... You weren't already thinking..."

"I'm not sure what I was thinking. I was on the family computer looking for Dr. Whitley's paper on hyper-thermal dynamics you'd told me about. I was looking through the browsing history for it and I came across some searches. I can't say I remember all the specifics, but things like 'sibling marriage' come to mind. Terms related to siblings by adoption and matters of parentage, or your girls' lack thereof."

"Oh. Wow," Blossom uttered, taking a chair across from her father. "So you think all this time..." She trailed off.

"I didn't know who was interested in those topics or why, but I do suspect that Buttercup may have been dealing with this for some time now, yes."

"Do you think it's a good idea to send her to Bubbles, then?"

"I don't know, honey. Do you think it would be a bad idea?"

"Not really, I guess. I figure this is why Bubbles decided to spend some time away from home yesterday, though. She sounds like she's ready to deal with it now. She did tell me that everything was going to be all right and not to worry."

"Maybe that's going to have to be good enough. Judging from this picture, I'd agree that Bubbles wasn't harboring any romantic feelings towards Buttercup."

"But Buttercup... I mean, how--why?"

"It's really hard to say, Blossom. We can only guess without hearing their side of this. Maybe we should wait for that. For right now," he nodded to the picture, "it sounds like we have another problem to worry about."

Mike really hoped he was right about this. He'd already been on the road for hours. Not only did he expect a long drive, but he'd lost more than a little time on a wrong turn, too. A few hours back he realized it was quite possible he was on the right track but that by the time he got there Buttercup would be long gone. He might have done just as well to tell Bubbles to go look for her here. Of course, if Buttercup were still there after all this time, she'd probably needed the time to think anyway. For that matter, he still thought Bubbles could use some time, too.

Or maybe he was just trying to make himself feel better about trying to be the hero for a change and quite probably screwing it up.

He did reach it eventually. He and Buttercup had talked about some of the "special places" she and her sisters visited to get away from the world. He pulled off the road when he saw a distant figure on the cliff's edge. Even after the drive, it seemed he had a few minutes of walking ahead of him.

Mike didn't blame her. There had been times he might have wished he could fly hundreds of miles away from his problems. But in the end, he'd always been happy to have pushed through his hard times.

She didn't react to his approach, although he'd made sure she would hear his footsteps.

"I don't know how you found me, but I'm not in the mood."

"I know," Mike said. Buttercup did turn, now.

"Mike?"

"Yup," he said, sitting a few feet away. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"What the hell are you doing way out here?"

"Checking up on you. Everyone's worried about you, you know."

"Ha! Understatement of the friggin' century. I'll bet they're worrying about me all the way to CNN by now."

"I mean your family. Just forget about everyone else. What do they know, anyway?"

"They know I'm a perverted freak of nature. Hell, some of them already thought I was a freak of nature. Now they think I'm a sick, disgusting weirdo, too."

"So what? People don't like anything that fails to fit into one of the neat little boxes they've so painstakingly crafted. And you're right, you've never been easy to categorize like that. But you're anything but a freak or a sick pervert."

"Great. One on my side, three hundred million against me. I saw the looks in their faces, Mike. Not only am I a horrible freak who wants her own sister, but I hurt Bubbles!"

"Hurt her?" Mike started. Before he could continue, Buttercup did.

"Damn right! I freaked her out. I made her afraid." Buttercup's voice became a little shaky. "Made her run away... Now that damn picture's all over the place! She's got that to deal with, thanks to me."

"Hey, stop it! You didn't see Bubbles this morning. When we found out what had happened, all your sister cared about was you! She wondered where you were, if you were okay--she saw the picture and even then I swear the first thing out of her mouth was her concern for you. I know you must have been worried about her last night. Well, right now she's worried about you. She's waiting at my house for you as we speak."

"But... But how can I face her now?"

"Forget that--how can you avoid it? Never go home again?"

Despite herself, Buttercup chuckled. "Good point."

After a little silence, Buttercup asked, "So you don't think it's wrong? What I feel?"

"It's not my place to say. I don't think I do, but it's still not my decision or anyone else's. No one but you and your sister understand this."

"But we're supposed to always do the right thing. People look up to us."

"Most of those people would be dead or worse if not for you. I'm sure most of them are dying to bring you girls down to their level. But you're not, and you never will be. You're better than that, and they hate it. No matter what they've said or done to you over the years, you've always helped them, and deep inside some of them hate you even more because of it."

Buttercup took a minute to soak that in. Mike finished his cigarette and flicked the butt over the cliff side.

She watched it disappear from view. "It must have taken you hours to get here."

"Don't sweat it. Besides, on a wrong turn a while back I found this awesome decrepit farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. I'll have to head back this way sometime and paint a landscape."

"Heh. Sometimes the wrong turns end up better than the right ones."

"I guess you'd be the expert on that."

After a while, Buttercup asked, "So, I've got to ask... Did you come here for her sake or for mine?"

Mike just smiled.

Buttercup smiled, too. It didn't matter anyway. "So do you think she could ever love me the way I love her?"

"I don't know. She hasn't told me anything and I haven't asked. Whatever it is, though, she's ready to talk to you about it."

"That's a good sign, I guess."

"You don't sound like you believe that."

"Mike, what I wanted to tell her yesterday was that I loved her but that I wouldn't let it get between us. That I couldn't make myself stop loving her that way, but at the same time she didn't have to worry about me. Instead I totally freak her out and make that a lie before I even say it."

"Look, Buttercup, I don't know how many ways I can say this, but I don't have the answers."

"I could have done a better job is all I'm saying."

"Look, Buttercup, you can't change who you are--who you love. Trust me, I've tried. It doesn't matter what you said, or how you said it, or what you did."

Buttercup looked at him with amazement. "You know, Mike... You're right. And I just realized something. It was never my place to say the right thing or try to make her understand, was it? Either she loves me or not. And if she still at least loves me as her sister, maybe it'll be all right." She stood up. "Besides, the hard part's over, right?"

Mike stood up as well, brushing off his pants. "Only one way to find out."

Buttercup hesitated for a moment, then just did it. She surprised Mike with a hearty hug. "Thanks again, Mike," she said after she stepped back. "I'd better get moving. Do you want me to fly you back in your car?"

Mike shrugged. "Nah. It's not like I'm going to school today. Or have anything better to do. And, unlike you, I don't get to see so much of the world around us. Besides, this way you two should have plenty of time to sort things out by yourselves."

Buttercup silently mouthed a final "thank you" and sped off.