Rebuilding
At the courthouse, Gregory and the girls shared the Professor's findings. The judge was quiet for some time before he did as Professor had predicted, ordering a retest by an unbiased party agreeable to both sides. After the day's session was dismissed, the girls went straight back to the hospital.
After they shared the outcome on their front, Professor gathered his strength and broke the news of his heart condition to the girls.
"But I plan to do everything I can to work on this. Even if I fail, my work should be of use to others."
"But you'll figure something out, right dad?" Bubbles asked, voice wavering.
"I'll try, honey. I already have a few things in mind, but most of them will eventually involve some kind of surgical procedure I might not survive. For me to get even that far, however... The attacks are inevitable for now. Any one of them could be the end of it." Of "it," he noted. It was still too hard to say "of me."
Blossom nodded. Her cheeks were wet, too, but she still had her wits about her. "So either we bring your lab to the hospital, the hospital to the lab, or else listen to your heartbeat twenty-four-seven and rush you to the hospital."
Professor nodded. The last, while possible, would be asking too much of his girls. He didn't doubt they would do it, if he asked. Even Blossom's tone indicated it was a possibility she was willing to agree to, at least at the moment. "I've already spoken with the doctor about how I should go about hiring some nurses to watch over me constantly. And for buying the appropriate medical equipment and such."
Fortunately, while they were not rich, the Utonium family had done well for itself thanks to Professor Utonium's work in the scientific community. They did not worry about the expense. One of the advantages of using your money wisely was that you tended to have more on hand when you really needed it.
Buttercup smirked, attempting humor. "Well, they'd better be male nurses. Don't want any pretty young girls making your heart race."
Professor smiled. He was glad his daughters were taking this as well as they were, whether they had faith in his ability to fix himself or just couldn't accept losing him.
Professor had to stay put for the night, though.
Mojo made the mistake that night of making an assault on the girls. While he was in the middle of sharing the deadly virtues of his newest energy cannon, Buttercup finally let herself go and singlehandedly shredded the thing and landed Mojo in the hospital as well. He'd be staying a bit longer than Professor.
If the other underworld elements had wanted to take advantage of the situation, word of that brief battle probably changed their minds. And even if Princess had been strangely quiet about Blossom's "dropping in," word of that seemed to have spread as well.
In the days they spent waiting for the return of their father and the genetic retest results, Blossom took it on herself to contact the girls' various teachers and get make-up assignments.
But the very day before the girls were to return to court, Mike Believe made a surprise visit. His reluctance to use the phone made any visit a surprise one, but Blossom had trouble remembering the last time Mike had stopped by their house at all.
"Hey," Mike greeted Blossom, who had opened the door.
"Hey," she said, slightly surprised. She felt a little uncomfortable, given that the last time she'd seen or spoken to him she'd been sitting on the battered sofa on which she herself had broken down.
The thought reminded her, and she was quick to say, "Crap, I forgot about the couch. We'll--"
"Screw the couch. How're you doing?" Noting Blossom's uncertain, nervous reaction he was quick to add, "Your family, I mean?"
Blossom smiled and breathed deeply. "Well, things are going all right, I guess... Heh. Except for dad being in the hospital and quite possibly dying any day now."
Mike narrowed his eyes in concern, "Yeah, I heard something about that."
"Oh, Bubbles hasn't been in touch with you?"
Mike shrugged. He leaned on the door frame. "Not really."
At that, Blossom finally remembered to invite him in. Closing the door, she continued, "We hit the courthouse again tomorrow. I'm pretty sure we'll--they'll be cleared. Turns out we're cousins."
Mike briefly cocked an eyebrow. "No shi--" Mike started to ask. Seeing Blossom's scowl, he decided not to push it. "Really?" he corrected himself.
"Yeah. Turns out that's still legal most places. Go figure. The girls are upstairs dealing with homework backlog."
"Yeah, haven't seen any of you around school lately."
"I'm already caught up. I'm just kind of cleaning up around the house. Make yourself at home."
Mike nodded and took off his jacket, hanging it on a coat hook near the door. Blossom left him be, returning to the kitchen and running water to do the dishes that had piled up.
The girls were able to move with superhuman speed, but then there was adding superhuman accuracy and superhuman restraint of their strength, and not wrecking their surroundings with little whirlwinds and buffets of air was yet a third superhuman feat. They could still pull off all those things, but the more power they threw at something the quicker it wore them down. Maybe Blossom could get the dishes done in a flash and recover with a few contented minutes on the living room sofa with a pint of ice cream, but time to think was always nice.
Forcing herself to let go of her time was sometimes equally important.
Blossom turned when she heard the pantry door open. Mike pulled out the broom and dustpan tucked aside there.
"What are you doing?" Blossom asked.
"Making myself at home. Sounds like they're still behind, so I may as well leave 'em alone. I can always pop in later."
Blossom crossed her arms, "Don't feel like you have to help. I'm doing just fine."
Mike shrugged as he started sweeping. "Never said you weren't. Sink's getting full."
After the non-sequitur registered, Blossom turned around and shut off the water before it overflowed. As it was, she had to let a little water down the drain. She glared at Mike with narrow eyes for what his distraction had almost made her do, but he wasn't even looking her way. She chuckled, smiled, and started washing, not surprised.
"Parents back?" she asked.
"Yup. Wedding went fine."
"Why didn't you go?"
"Never really liked that aunt. Can't say she cares for me, either."
"Wow," Blossom said, dripping sarcasm. "You mean there're people who don't enjoy your company?"
"Is that your way of telling me to piss off?" he asked casually.
"Not really. I figure someone like you is just going to do whatever you feel like anyway."
"A lot of people assume that."
"They right?"
A pause. "Sometimes."
There were a few minutes of near-silence as Blossom worked to fill the drying rack and Mike continued sweeping. Eventually Blossom spoke again. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind the interruption. After this long I'm not sure they're even still doing homework. In fact, I'd be surprised."
Had she looked, she would have seen him shrug again. "No big deal. I'm sure those two can get by without me. If they can't help each other through this, then it's all been for nothing anyway, right?"
Blossom stopped washing. "Is that why you're here?" She drew her hands from the water and grabbed a towel. Turning around, she started drying them and Mike stopped sweeping, resting his hands on the handle of the upright broom. "You think I need help?"
Yet another shrug. "I dunno. Do you?"
Blossom threw the towel down onto the counter. It was the only outward sign of her mood, as she seemed calm otherwise. "I'm doing just fine, thanks. And if I change my mind about that, I've got my sisters and my dad to help me out."
"For what it's worth, no, I didn't come here for you. Just the same, I am here, and I'm happy to do what I can. Housework or otherwise."
"Maybe this sounds strange coming from someone who's been risking her life in public service since kindergarten, but given your track record I have to ask why you think you need to pitch in."
Mike leaned against the counter behind him and gave it some thought. "I suppose you girls are like a second family. Or maybe you're right and I'm still being selfish. Maybe I'm just here because I feel left out."
"So you're saying you count me as part of that family?"
Mike smiled. "Hey, every family has its...bossy big sister."
He'd been about to use a different "b" word, albeit in a good-natured teasing way, but checked himself. Bubbles would have laughed. Buttercup would have caught on quickly enough. Blossom, though, had never been a fan of his cavalier sense of humor.
Blossom looked at the floor for a while, smiling. She didn't say anything, just shaking her head and turning back to the sink.
When Mike later emptied the dustpan into the trash can, Blossom asked, "How do you feel about those two?"
"Being together?" Mike tried to confirm. When Blossom didn't answer right away, Mike took it for a "yes." "I don't think it bothers me. You?"
Blossom paused. "Not really."
"How 'bout your dad?"
Blossom breathed in deeply and sighed just as deeply. "I don't know about him, sometimes. I think he did a good job raising us. He steered us straight, but I'd never call him strict. He's always been so forgiving. But like I said, I think he did well.
"I hate to say it like this, but really, who can stop us from doing what we want to do except ourselves? Self-restraint is something we had to learn sooner or later. So it's no big surprise all he cares about is whether we're all happy with it. He worries--I worry--that this might be one last little childish fantasy of theirs that'll end in tears."
"You still worry about that after everything they've been through?"
"Sure I do. Look at you and Bubbles. Bubbles knows you about as well as she knows Buttercup, and that turned out to be a mistake."
Mike winced at the sting of Blossom's remark, but she was still focused on the dishes and missed it. It was just as well. Mike doubted it had been intentional. The Utonium father wasn't the only one with the occasional difficulty in softening his words.
Mike noticed the rack getting full despite more dishes yet to be washed and stood beside Blossom, grabbing the towel and starting to dry. They didn't speak for a while.
With the pile thinning, Mike finally worked up the nerve to ask, "You ever been in love? I know you dated that guy once or twice, but that's not what I mean."
"You mean Rick? I'm not sure," Blossom said. She meant to say she wasn't sure what he meant, but that was close enough.
"I guess it doesn't matter," Mike responded. "Love is probably too complicated for a yes or no answer anyhow."
Blossom chuckled. "Only in this house."
"Yeah. I see even you got pulled into it."
Mike regretted his statement immediately. That Blossom just as quickly stopped washing didn't help. He went back to drying, hoping she'd catch on and let it go if she wanted. He wasn't going to apologize, though. At least not until he was sure he'd crossed the line. Besides that, apologizing would just clash with the "lovable asshole" image he worked so hard on.
After a few uncomfortable moments Blossom spoke up. "I guess you don't know this either, but half the people on the tapes from that night weren't us. We're pretty sure Him had something to do with it, but we haven't seen his face in years. With Bubbles and Buttercup, we think he just wanted them to say things worth recording..."
Her unspoken "with me" hung like a weight in the air. In the end, she decided to leave it unspoken. "Maybe I could've ended up like them. All this has brought us closer together. Even I'd forgotten how good it can be. But, personally, I'm happy having sisters. And nothing more."
She started washing again. Mike had by then run out of dishes to dry and stood patiently at her side. They were nearly through, now.
"You asked about Rick earlier. I don't think I really loved him. Maybe Bubbles was right when she told me you just have to try when it comes to figuring this stuff out, because that's about what I did. I tried. I didn't feel anything special. I decided I'd rather..." Blossom switched to a sing-song mocking voice. "Be more constructive with my time." Mike wasn't sure who she was mocking. His best guess was she'd taken a shot at herself.
"I've never really felt like I needed someone like that in my life. Maybe that'll change someday. I'm pretty sure I'll be perfectly happy by myself. If, by chance, someone comes by that makes me happier, so much the better."
"Sounds lonely."
"Why? I mean, look at it this way: I've never had sex." The word didn't hurt so much with her sisters out of the picture. "I'm fine keeping it that way, too. And I don't usually need anyone to hold me up or help me out. When I do... Well, it's rare enough I don't know if the hassle of spending my life with someone is really worth all that. I think some people just work differently. Need different things to be happy. Maybe some people are happier this way, and maybe I'm one of them. What's the point of having a husband or a boyfriend you only want to bother with every once in a while?"
Mike wasn't about to argue the point. One thing he did agree on was that there were all kinds of people. Besides, even if people changed, or were wrong about who they thought they were, that was for them to figure out. For her to decide.
The dishes were finally done. It was starting to get dark outside.
As Blossom toweled off her hands, Mike asked, "On the offhand chance that this is the last time you and I have a civil conversation, mind if I hang out a while longer?"
Blossom paused to consider her response, which ended up beginning with a hug. Mike, while mildly surprised, still managed to wrap his arm around her in turn before the brief moment ended.
"Just shut up and go upstairs," Blossom said.