A/N: Okay so chapter two, I remembered the teacher's name, Miss, Keen. And the Blonde woman is just the Professors current fling. So… yeah okay… moving on.

Chapter 2

Creature comforts

Blossom sat on the edge of her bed, it had been hours since Buttercup had left, and she still had not come back yet. The red head was worried. But she couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was amiss. She heard a knock on her door and raised her head softly saying, "Come in."

As the door opened a blonde haired, blue-eyed woman poked her head in. "Hello Gwen." Blossom said looking down sad since it had not been her sister coming home.

"Hey angle baby, how are you holding up?" She asked coming to sit next to the red head. "Fine I guess… have you seen Bubbles?"

"She is in the professor's room with his pillows. Asleep I think." Gwen said putting her hand on the Blossom's back.

"I haven't seen Buttercup yet, how is she holding up?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know, we got in a small fight when we got home and… she hasn't come back yet." Blossom said feeling the tears filling her eyes. She refused to cry over something as stupid as this. But somehow it was getting harder and harder to fight the tears back.

"She wants to go after them. To find the person or people who did this to the professor. I told her she shouldn't do it out of revenge… but I don't really think what I say or do will have any effect anymore. We are eighteen… no guardian…. To old to be sent to a home… getting ready for college… she has no reason to stay in the lines now that the professor is gone. I think she has lost it… I am afraid I won't ever get her back." Blossom said turning to Gwen and letting tears roll down her face. The blonde woman looked at the girl sweetly and gave a small smile.

"Angel baby, don't you worry about her. She is a tough one and I guarantee this whole thing is just her cool down period. She may stray from the path the professor had set her on for a while but I promise she will come back to you guys. You are sisters and nothing can change that. She just needs some time to figure out what she is fighting for. And if she doesn't come back, maybe…. it is what she really wants." Gwen said hugging the girl tightly. "Come on, let's go make lunch, I have some important things to tell you." She followed the blonde out of the room sparing a glance at the window.

Buttercup woke up with a pounding head ach. She sat up and looked around, she knew where she was, and for some reason she wasn't surprised. What did catch her off guard was the fact that she was wearing different clothes and she noticed that her under garments were gone. She pulled the blanket over her despite the warmth of the room. She looked around again, where was everyone? There should be five green slime eaters in here. She was about to get up and look out the window when the door opened and in walked the last member of the Gang Green Gang that Buttercup wanted to see.

"Hey kiddo, nice to see your up… you been passed out for the last twenty four hours." Ace said walking over and dropping a greasy fast food bag on the bed at her feet, he then walked over towards a nasty looking brown tub and pulled off his coat dropping it on the ground and peeled off his shirt and let that drop too. He then started to fill the wooden tub with hot water.

Buttercup stared at his bare green back and noticed how flawless his skin looked. She bet it felt even better. She grabbed the bag and opened it and was happy to see fries a burger and a small shake of some kind. She was hungry, very hungry, and she didn't hesitate to dig in. She shoved the food in her mouth and closed her eyes savoring the warm greasy flavors of the fastly prepared food.

She looked up a few moments later as she sucked down the strawberry shake, (her favorite flavor) she looked up to see Ace standing there looking at her over his sunglasses with a amused smirk.

"Ohmygosh!" Buttercup said spewing a little bit of fries everywhere. "Was this for you?" she said looking at the now empty bag.

"No, it's cool, I got it for you… you just act like you haven't eaten in years."

Buttercup wiped her mouth and swallowed her food, she then gave a small smile and said, "I usually eat a high protein diet and have large amounts, my body is used to eating every few hours. I guess the booze has me all fucked up." She said slurping some more of the shake down.

"High protein? Does that mean a lot of meat or something?" Ace said grabbing a bucket off the very crooked shelf.

"Yeah meat, eggs, peanuts… fish… protein shakes. It's an interesting diet but with the weight lifting I do I am a lot stronger then my sister's."

"Interesting." Ace said scooping water from the tub with the bucket and pouring it over his head.

Buttercup stood from the bed and ignored how her body felt with such baggy clothes and no support to any part of her. She felt really relaxed and she liked it. She approached Ace and came to stand next to him as he poured a gob of shampoo onto his hands, rubbed it together and started applying it to his hair.

"Where are the others?" Buttercup asked thinking it odd how civil they were being despite the fact it had been many many years since the last time they were face to face.

"I don't know, they have been gone for awhile, maybe your sister's got them, or maybe they got thrown in jail. It happens from time to time when I ain't there." He said getting his hair all soapy, and then washing it out.

"Right cause you're the fearless leader." She said crossing her arms over her chest and realizing he had left his sunglasses on. "Do you ever take those things off?" She asked.

"Not really, it's just easier to leave them on, they don't get in my way and they usually need a good cleaning anyway."

He finished his hair and reached for a towel hanging on a peg. "This place has sure changed a lot since last time I was here."

"Yeah well, I ain't a sixteen year old punk anymore. I like the place looking somewhat livable. The guys need something a little more realistic now."

"What do you mean?" Buttercup asked.

"Come on kid, we can't be in this gang our whole life. They will eventually grow out of it, and eventually either move away from here and join a real gang or they will actually grow up and get a family."

"That doesn't seem likely." Buttercup said sucking the final pink goop from the bottom of the cup.

"You'd be surprised." Ace said drying his hair and throwing the towel back on the peg.

"You would think that but I don't know. So how did you find me? I must have passed out on the far south side of the dump… I was trying to avoid you. And yet I wake up in your bed."

"You should wake up there more often… it suits you." That comment through Buttercup off, she looked up at him in shock and blushed, despite her growth Ace still had a good foot on her, he was still his tall lean self. She didn't know how to respond to that, was it a joke, a comment of the sexual nature? Was he coming on to her? Did he expect her to giggle and let him chase her around the room? She didn't know so she ignored the comment turned and headed back to the bed trying to avoid him seeing her face. She picked up the bag and started to clean up the mess she had made in her hurry to eat. Suddenly she felt him behind her and his hand gently grabbed her wrist and turned her to face him, "Hey kid, I was teasing I didn't mean to make you nervous." Ace said, his eyes peeking from behind his glasses.

"You didn't make me nervous you just surprised me, last time we were this close with out fighting you are tricking me and using me… when I woke up I really expected to hit the roof and attack you when I saw you… but I'm just not mad anymore. And I am tired of fighting you. The fact we are talking like old friends is just refreshing… if not a little weird."

"Yeah, it's weird… but it's also nice. I am not going to lie, I really expected you to throw a fit and possibly destroy the place when you woke up. To my relief it was still standing and you seemed pretty relaxed… then again… you don't seem to really have any effects from the alcohol. Your powers must have helped quit a bit."

"Don't be fooled, this head ach is going to rip my head open. I am just good at ignoring it. You got any meds?"

"Nope, can't take the chance of any drugs in this place… Snake is a depressive and I can't take the chance of him popping pills."

That got Buttercups full attention. "Snake is depressive?"

"Like I said…you'd be surprised. If you want I can run to the store…" Ace started.

"No no no it's cool. I can barely feel it now." Buttercup lied.

"Then back to your previous question, I found you because you were blowing things up. I am sure half the city probably heard the ruckus you were making."

Buttercup blushed again and hated herself for being so obvious about how she felt. She looked around the room and then asked, "Um, where are my clothes?"

Ace looked at her and then realization hit him, "Oh crude, I left them at the Laundromat. Fuck… come on grab a pair of Snake's old shoes and let's get over there before someone takes them!" And with that Ace was out the door with Buttercup reluctantly trailing behind.

A/N: R*R I hope you are enjoying this story. Let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas. If I like them or think they are possible I will use them!