A/N: I know it has been awhile, but this story is the next story on my listed I planned to update and finish so you guys who like this story can finally stop throwing rocks at me and get excited because I will try to update once a week. So enjoy! Btw when I was writing the beginning of this chapter I was listening to the song I'm still here by John rzeznik from the movie treasure planet so when Buttercup says it should have been a montage it's because it really was in my head. Look up the song its good.

Chapter 5

On the road

If this had been a movie Buttercup would have thought this would be the montage moment. They road on and off for the next few days trying to get as much distance from their old home as they could, sleeping on the ground under the stars in sleeping backs. They would build fires if they could and sometimes Buttercup got frustrated because there were moments when she could have made things easier with her powers but Ace was always watching making sure she was not using them. She didn't mind him watching her; she liked it, but sometimes she felt like she wasn't being who she truly was.

They road past all kinds of cool things, some of them they stopped by. The world's largest frying pan, the largest rubber band ball, the biggest known under ground canal and other such places. They snuck into a theme park and had a blast on the rides and Ace even showed her how to steal food with out getting caught.

Eventually Ace wanted to stop and grab some food for the road, Buttercup waited on the bike and when he came running out with the goods she screeched the tires and they were off. Buttercup didn't bother to ask if he paid because she had a feeling he hadn't and she didn't want to know. She smiled though as he wrapped his arm around her waist. It was her first time driving, he had been practicing with her when they would stop to rest and now was her time to show him what she had learned. She shifted gears, popped a wheelie and sped off down the road screaming at the top of her lungs.

After a moment of shock she heard Ace join in and they whooped and hollered together as they sped down the highway. Eventually she turned off and searched for a side road like Ace always did. She found an old service road and traveled down that until they were way out of the way. They lay under the stars that night and laughed about their big adventure of the day and Buttercup was sure things couldn't get any better then this.

Page Break

"So what is your story?" Buttercup asked as they lay on a large rock next to an even larger lake. They were somewhere in the mountains and she wasn't complaining, it was isolated and quiet and the moon was high above and she had Ace with her.

"What you mean?" He asked chewing on a piece of jerky.

"I mean what made you become who you are?" Buttercup asked.

"Oh… that story… well it's not pretty but its not unusual either. I had a broken home just like every other punk that runs around after dark in the city. My dad was a drunk; my mom was trying to deal the best she could. One day my old man really went to town on her with his belt and I called the cops, they came and took him to jail and took my mom to the hospital." Ace said like it was no big deal.

"So what happened after that?" Buttercup asked sitting up and looking over at him.

"Nothing exciting went from home to home since my mother was an unfit parent and eventually ran away from the home and finally didn't get caught and brought back. Once I turned 18 they stopped looking for me and I have been on the streets ever since."

"Is that what happened to the rest of the gang too?" She asked looking up at the moon.

"Not exactly, I mean each one of us has our own story. But mostly yeah, we come from bad homes or homes where we just got ignored and over all mistreated. It was only me and snake for a long time, they he brought home Pedro and then Billy… grubber came next… we all found him together sifting through stuff in the junk yard trying to find food. No one really knows his story aside from the fact that he came from Europe and he hates Gypsies."

Buttercup giggled a little at that and then looked back to Ace, "So what made you guys decide to become a gang then? Just because you were all together?"

"Believe it or not I held a steady job for a while to support us but I couldn't get enough money, I was pretty young you know… and well… it was just easier to take care of them if I stole stuff…eventually they joined in and the next thing we knew we became the gangrene gang."

"Hmmm… I never really thought about what might have made you guys act so nasty… I just tried to stop you. Maybe if we had known what was going on…"

"Don't even pretend you would have made an exception."

"Maybe not an exception but we wouldn't have beat you so bad." Buttercup said.

"You have no idea how hot it was sometimes… I mean… when you were older… I am not a pedophile but once you hit 16… damn sometimes it was hard not to try and win you back over."

Buttercup blushed and looked away, "Sometimes it was hard for me to beat you up… sometimes I still felt like there was something between us… guess I was right."

Ace said nothing at first and then asked, "What is your story… I mean… I know your story… but aside from a tyrannical sister what made you really want to leave like that?"

Buttercup sighed and looked down at her boot-clad feet, "I guess once the professor died I just didn't want to do it anymore. I always told myself that I did it because I liked helping people, and when I was young I really did enjoy helping people. But as I got older… I just wanted to do my own things and once the professor died I realized I have only continued doing it to please him. To make him proud of me."

"How did he… uh… you know…"

"One of the bigger villains we had faced and put away in the last few years had escaped from the maximum security jail that we had put him in. He wanted revenge on us because we busted his billion-dollar project wide open. And by busted it wide open I mean we not only exposed him, and his men, but completely destroyed his business, his name, his life, everything. He got out about a month ago and knew that the best way to hurt us was through our family. While we were out at different cities he made it back to Townsville and took hold of the professor, he practically tortured him. He did things that I didn't think anyone would ever do. He called us then…we have cell phones now and you can call all three of us at once via the phone in our room. He called us and told us we have twenty minutes to get across the world and save him otherwise he would be killed."

Buttercup stood and wandered down from the rock, she came to stand at the edge of the water and stared at her reflection, a tear rolled down her cheek and dripped into the water. It distorted her image and she fell down into the water, it came up to her waist and she stared at the dark water that stretched out before her, "I was the closest, I could have been there in less then but I didn't pick up my cell phone… I thought it was Blossom… by the time I picked it up and heard what was going on I was too late."

Ace had watched her in surprise; she was still so upset about this whole thing, had she been holding it back this whole time? Was she really still hurting? Ace stood and went after her; he waded into the water and helped her stand. Her face was soaked with tears and her eyes were red from crying. He pulled her gently to his chest and it was like his hug was what she needed. She started to sob and her legs gave out again. Ace picked her up bridal style and carried her out of the water, she cried like she had never cried before. "I was the closest!" She kept repeating over and over.

Ace settled her down next to the fire they had built only an hour ago and pulled out some fresh clothes and a blanket. "Listen to me Buttercup, you may have been the closest but it wasn't your fault. It was no ones fault because no one knew what was going on. You can go around blaming yourself for the rest of your life but it won't do anything but make u feel miserable. This is when the professor would have wanted you to be strong, he would have wanted you to keep going and try to be happy. So help me I will help make you happy, no matter what I got to do. Here, take a puff."

Ace allowed her a smoke and she gratefully inhaled and felt the smoke burning her lungs and throat. She let the smoke drift up into the air and watched it disappear. She wished she could disappear… she got an idea just then… "Ace…"

"Yes?" he asked.

"I want to change my name."

"What?"

"I want a new name… or at least a nick name so I don't have to hear my old name anymore. Will you help me think of something?"

"Sure thing kid… what ever makes you happy. But remember what I just said, don't blame yourself because it wasn't your fault."

Buttercup nodded and started to think of new names, "Thank you Ace, it was really relieving to be able to cry and not worry about if people saw."

"Hey kid, trust me, I've been there. Despite what I've said in the past crying is a good way to get all the shit that is clogging your head out of the way. When my old man went to jail I sure and shit cried my ass off. But it just made me stronger, it made me never want to cry again and so I grew stronger. From this accident you can only get stronger."

Buttercup leaned into his side and pulled the blanket tight, she looked up at him and he whipped a tear off her face with his thumb, she leaned in and kissed him softly. His hand trailed down her shoulder and eventually came to rest on her side. She was hoping he would have gone for her chest but he probably thought she wasn't in the mood. Perhaps tomorrow night he might try something, being the non-dominant one in he relationship was hard because it meant she had to wait for him to make the next move.

Eventually they both fell asleep and as the fire slowly died Buttercup started to dream and she eventually had a smile on her face. What a way to end the night, dreaming of Ace with his hands doing things to her she apparently would only ever dream of.

A/N: Okay except the next chapter in a few days guys! Let's get this mother cranked out!