I forgot to, in the first chapter, do the traditional copy rights and stuff. Powerpuff Girls and all related characters belong to Craig McCracken and the guys behind PPG. However, Fabio, Alexander, and Mariner are mine so don't take them.

Also, loading is really gonna slow down since school has started and I'll be paying more attention to my own stories than this one. Not only that, but this and the next chapter are the last pre written ones. After this, I don't know if you'll ever find out the end of this story since I'm known to have a very short attention span with my stories. I might come back to this story months or a year from now, but I can't promise you'll ever find out the ending.

I'm rambling.

Buttercup woke up quite late the next morning, and when she went to the kitchen, she discovered that Fabio had taken his grandmother to visit a friend of hers downtown. He said, in the note he'd left, that he wouldn't be back until noon and that there was some cereal in the cupboard. Buttercup sighed heavily, feeling like she was trapped in a prison as she poured herself a bowl of cereal and ate quietly in the kitchen. Normally, she ate and watched TV, but she didn't want to disrespect Fabio and his grandmother if they didn't like people eating in there.
After she'd finished, Buttercup took a brief shower and got dressed. She didn't really want to watch TV, so she just sat in the bed and stared aimlessly at the ceiling, the minutes passing agonizingly slow and the bright red numbers on the clock changing, what seemed like, every one million hours. Buttercup's mind was numb with boredom, and she considered calling her sisters', but discarded the idea when she thought of what Fabio had said the night before.

"Bubbles was crying, she was so frustrated."

Buttercup still obstinately refused to apologize and tried not to even acknowledge her sister's distress, but it was gnawing at her innards. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Fabio returned to the house without his grandmother. He walked by the guest room into the kitchen, his face, as usual, unreadable, but there was a still crease on the bridge of his nose. Buttercup sat up, following him into the kitchen.

"Where's your grandmother?" She inquired politely.

"She's staying at her cousin's tonight." Fabio explained blandly. "She doesn't like being in the same house as you."
Buttercup winced guiltily, but proudly didn't apologize as she sat down at the table. She stared out the window at the ill grey sky, a premonition pulling with dirty fingernails at the edge of her conscious. She shook her head, and glanced over at Fabio, who was braced against the stove.

"Is something wrong?" Buttercup asked worriedly.

"Bubbles called me this morning. She said that a man from her days as a PPG—some guy named Ace—approached her at the hotel and told her that it was all a trap set up by 'him' to get her and Blossom killed. She's worried and isn't sure if she's going to go through with the press conference now. Blossom was livid, I guess, and Bubbles was crying on the phone." The words spilled so fast out of Fabio that they stumbled over one another. Buttercup looked up in surprise and horror.

"Ace?" Buttercup breathed. She hadn't heard that name in years. Her first—and only—love, ever. If you could count a passionate crush as love, that is. "Ace is in Chicago?" She said this more to herself than Fabio, who eyed her concernedly.

"Yes, why? Is there something I should know?" Fabio asked restlessly, his mind instantly going to Bubbles and her safety. Was this man, Ace, very dangerous? Would he do something to her? Had Bubbles been crying not only because of Blossom's rage, but because he had hurt her too? The thoughts swirled in his head and threatened to make him explode, but Buttercup's sudden movement made snapped him out of it.

"Someone… someone's outside." Buttercup whispered in such a low voice that Fabio had to strain to hear her. He felt his blood run cold as the chill warning in Buttercup's voice. Theirs was the only house on McCracken Road, and Fabio was expecting no visitors.

Before Buttercup and Fabio could react, the front door was smashed into a million pieces and dark figures flooded the house in a whirlwind of feathers and banshee shrieks that made Fabio's ear drums bleed. Buttercup screamed in horror, batting at the things—crows—as they flocked around her and pecked mercilessly at her body. She snarled curses and shrieked for Fabio's help, but he only stood there, shell shocked and frozen. Finally, he managed to find some resolve in him. He thought rather tenaciously of Bubbles as he fought the surge of crows around Buttercup. Panic dug it's teeth into his skin right down to the marrow of his bones, and liquid fire singed through his veins. His thought process was muffled slightly by adrenaline, and the pain that the crows brought with their viciously sharp beaks made it hard to concentrate. He locked his jaw and shoved at the birds, trying to get them away from Buttercup.
She managed to escape the cloud, but now it had descended, in a flurry of claws and beaks and feathers, upon Fabio. He fell to his knees, and Buttercup screamed with rage, throwing open the back door and rushing at the crows again. She hadn't been in the center of any kind of action in a decade, but she quickly remembered how to keep her cool and not be overtaken by the adrenaline rush. She smacked violently at the birds, allowing her temper to seize control of her movements while, in a sort of disconnected way, she eased them towards the window.

Finally, they were at the cusp of the door. She wormed calmly through the cloud, still punching and kicking any crow that attempted to get at her, and then, when she was at the heart, gave such a piercing scream that the pictures on the wall rattled and the house shook. Her throat was ripped raw by the gust of breath, but it did as Buttercup hoped. The crows wailed in surprise and flew out the open back door, screeching and cawing as they spiraled into the grey sky in a murky blur before disappearing into the woods.

And then it was over, and Buttercup and Fabio were bleeding, black feathers scattered like a carpet across the kitchen floor.

Buttercup panted heavily, her bare arms covered in dozens of tiny, bloody cuts that oozed sluggishly. She glanced over at Fabio, relieved to see he was mostly unharmed since he had been wearing long sleeves and jeans, but there was a long, vile cut on his cheek and blood trickling from a wound above his eyebrow. She hurried over and knelt down beside him.

"Are you alright?" She asked fearfully. Fabio nodded mutely, staring haplessly at the linoleum. Had that really just happened? Buttercup lunged to her feet, striding across the room and searching desperately for a first aid kit of some kind.

"Under the sink," Fabio croaked when he realized what she was looking for. Buttercup hurriedly pulled it out, cracking it open and sitting back down beside him to clean the wound and apply disinfectant and bandages. When he was clean and bandaged, Buttercup washed her arms with soap and water, a process that stung bitterly. She ground her teeth, but didn't utter a sound as she stood over the sink and cleaned her own wounds. She quickly wrapped her entire arms in long strips of white, tape like bandages. She knew it would be hell to remove later, but she couldn't put a band aid on every wound. She also had to slap a band aid on her cheek, where a crow had tore at her. When she was satisfied with the medical aspects, she quickly helped Fabio to the living room couch and started some hot chocolate on the stove for the pair of them. As she began, in a subdued way, to sweep up the feathers, a long, narrow vial of black liquid was swept up. Buttercup frowned, kneeling down to pick it up and get a closer look. On the glass, in clear black letters, were the words ELEMENT Y. Buttercup frowned, shrugged, and pocketed the bottle—element y—before returning to her cleaning.

She at last returned to Fabio in the living room with two cups of hot chocolate. Was he going into shock? Should she call 911? But how would they explain that a flock of crows had attacked them?

Fabio seemed thoughtful and distant as he sipped the hot chocolate. Buttercup stared at him in disbelief; it was still steaming. How could he take a sip, however small? Buttercup shook her head nervously, turning on the TV to dissolve the growingly awkward silence that enclosed them.

"Er, do you want to go to the hospital or something?" Buttercup asked fretfully, tightly clutching her mug even though it burned her fingers. She felt growing concern.

"No, I'm fine." Fabio replied calmly, too calmly. Buttercup whipped out her cell phone, dialing Bubbles number and handing the cell to Fabio, who reluctantly accepted the phone.

"Buttercup? What do you want now?" Bubbles sniffled on the other end.

"Bubbles?"
"Fabio! Why… what's going on? What's happened? Where's Buttercup? Is she okay? Are you okay?" Bubbles words gained more and more speed until it was hard to understand what she was saying.

"Yes, I'm fine." Fabio assured her and, truthfully, he was. Though the crows had shocked him, he felt… fine. Was that good? Should he be more freaked out? But, then again, how scary could a flock of crows be? He hadn't sustained many injuries anyway. "Except…" He didn't know if it would be a good idea to tell Bubbles about this on top of this Ace approaching her and then Blossom's freak out. But, why else had Buttercup called her? "…well… a flock of crows attacked us."
"Crows?" Bubbles gasped. "Those are… 'his'."
Fabio went very pale and very numb.

"We're coming to join you in Chicago." Fabio declared strongly.

"What? No! You'd be putting yourself in unnecessary danger! You can't!" Bubbles argued.

"You're putting yourself in danger too, Bubbles." Fabio pointed out. "And we aren't any safer here than we would be in Chicago. At least we'd all be together."
"I know, but…" Bubbles voice trailed off.

"We'll be there by tomorrow morning." Fabio promised, though how he would accomplish this, he didn't know. At least his grandmother would be taken care at her cousin's place… "Don't worry, Bubbles."
"How can I not?" Bubbles giggled hysterically.

"Bubbles…"
"Fabio, are you sure you're okay? I mean, being attacked by a flock of crows has to be shocking…" Bubbles interrupted suddenly.

"I'm fine, Bubbles." Fabio reassured her honestly.

"I'm so sorry you got dragged into this." Bubbles sounded like she was about to cry again.

"Don't worry about it, Bubbles."
I'll do anything for you, Fabio added silently.

"We'll be there by tomorrow, I promise." Fabio said again earnestly.

"You can't. It's too dangerous." Bubbles insisted.

"We'll be alright, Bubbles."

"Fabio, you're the greatest guy ever and you're my best friend, so I don't want to see you get hurt." Bubbles persisted stubbornly.

"We'll be fine, and we'll be there tomorrow. Where are you staying?" Fabio inquired now to get her mind away from the danger that they all seemed to be in.

"The Ritz-Carlton," Bubbles replied wanly. Fabio choked, but Bubbles didn't hear him. "How exactly are you going to get here, anyway?"
"We will."
"Okay… be careful, Fabio."

"We will." Fabio repeated soothingly.
"Bye,"
"Bye."
With that, Fabio hung up the phone. Buttercup stared at him quizzically.

"Seriously, how are we gonna get tickets to Chicago?" Buttercup asked curiously. Fabio smiled attractively, and Buttercup's frown deepened.

"Where there's a will, there's a way." Fabio said, grinning. "Gather your things. We're going to the airport."
Buttercup eyed him warily, still suspicious. But, she complied and soon, the two were on their way to the airport, totally silent and thoughtful.