Sorry, no valid excuse this time for the slow update other than the fact that I'm lazy. =P

Anywho, Chapter 10.

Blossom rolled her eyes at Butch's retreating back, deciding to take the mature course of ignoring his middle finger. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw Brick smirk, but when she swirled around to glare at him, he was observing the flight information board. Blossom arched an accusing eyebrow at his seemingly innocent back, but decided to also ignore him.

Without turning to face her, Brick started to walk away from the opposite direction that Buttercup and Butch had gone, throwing the number of their gate over his shoulder.

"B3."

Wordlessly, Blossom followed her counterpart through the crowds of people until they reached Gate B3. The pink puff threw a glance at her new watch, which informed her they still had almost three hours of waiting.

Splendid. Exactly what I need, three hours of waiting in a crowded, smelly airport with Brick.

Sarcastic inner thoughts running through her head, Blossom cast a guarded look at her companion, who was rummaging through his bag. She watched him pull out the contact box. He looked up from his search, box in hand, giving her an expectant look before heading off to the nearby men's room. Blossom caught the hint and pulled out her own.

Inside the woman's restroom, she repeatedly stabbed herself in the right eye in an attempt to put it in, before finally having success. Pleased with herself, she glanced at the mirror to observe her new eye color.

Hm, blue.

She put the other one, once again returning her azure gaze to the mirror.

She wasn't really pleased with the change. Even though her natural eye color was rather odd, Blossom liked it, not only because it was her favorite color, but because it set her apart from her sisters. Now her eyes were like Bubbles, just a little lighter in color. Blossom frowned, feeling like part of her identity had been stolen, replaced by her youngest sister.

But it's all for the mission, I won't have to wear them forever.

Shoving the empty box into her bag for later, Blossom walked out and back to where she had left Brick. He was there, causally watching the hordes of people briskly walking through the airport. Neither acknowledged the other with a word or glance as she returned.

They slumped into a pair of empty seats in B3's waiting area. Suddenly stricken by curiosity out of nothing better to do, Blossom snuck a glance at Brick to see how he looked with blue eyes.

To her surprise, his contacts had changed his eyes to a dark chocolate brown, not light blue. She blinked, startled by the extreme change it had made to her counterpart's appearance. Without his blood red stare, he looked…less intimating. Minus his eerie eye shade, he looked far more human. And for some reason, Blossom didn't like the change on him either.

She paused, confused as to why she cared.

I guess because it's just not Brick…I know his eyes are really red, like mine are really pink. Ah well, not my concern anyway.

Brick turned to look at her, cocking his head to the side slightly.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Blossom blinked again. She hadn't realized she had been staring the whole time she was thinking.

"I was looking at your contact color," she said smoothly, trying to cover up her mistake.

"Hm. They're different than yours. Probably to make our obvious physical similarities less noticeable," he replied, just as coolly.

Brick returned to observing the plane outside the window. Blossom chose to look the other way, at the bustling masses of people, bemoaning the fact she hadn't brought her book with her. She had figured their mission would start right away and finish quickly, and that there'd be no time for reading. Alas, she had been horribly wrong, and now she had nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs and ignore Brick.

About an hour later, Blossom's stomach reminded her that they hadn't eaten breakfast by growling. Loudly. Brick's dark hazel gaze switched back to her, the corners of his mouth twitching in a half formed smile. Blossom rolled her sky blue eyes.

"Forgot to eat," she mumbled.

"Hn, get something to eat now, plane food sucks, and I don't want you complaining the whole flight."

Blossom's temper flared at this self-important, bossy command, but years of practice allowed her to feel irked without a flicker of emotion touching her face. She was about to reply with an equally smart-ass comment, before a thought occurred to her which took precedent over a leadership squabble with Brick.

"I would, but what about money? Sherry didn't give us anything, so what do we do?"

Brick smirked, and once again, Blossom was thrown off by his eyes. They didn't look…right. They were brown. Brick was red, not brown. It was all wrong. But she brought her mind back to focus and the question on hand; mainly, why was Brick smirking at her question. It was a logical concern.

Brick leaned back into her seat, still smirking.

"How ironic, I'm going to have to be your teacher about fighting crime. This just takes the cake."

Blossom scowled.

"Stop gloating, and for your information, I know how to fight crime. What I don't know, is why you're so conceited and stuck up for no apparent reason."

Brick's smirk slide off his face, replaced by a hint of irritation.

"I beg to differ, you don't fight crime. You used to beat up random and brainless monsters, a gender-confused lobster-demon, a psycho monkey, a dysfunctional gang of green mutants, and a giant pink bear with antennae and a banjo. You don't fight crime the way we'll have to now."

"Don't forget the times we pulverized a trio of ignorant little boys created by said monkey and demon."

"Hn, I remember pulverizing you guys first."

"I remember winning."

"I remember I have the answer to your original question, before we got so off-topic."

"Fine. Answer."

Brick reached down to his pack, pulled out a wallet, and extracted an ordinary-looking card.

"The Budget," he murmured, holding the card discreetly enough that passer-bys wouldn't stare at it as Blossom was.

The puff arched an eyebrow in question, demanding a further explanation. Brick sighed slightly, before lowering his voice and leaning in.

"Our mission budget card accesses a stocked bank account. Each of my brothers have one, as do other all other CIA agents sent out on missions."

Blossom gave a slight nod of understanding, and Brick resumed his original position in his chair, still holding the card. Blossom kept her gaze trained on the piece of plastic.

"So, we're going to have to share that one."

"Look's like it. I thought Sherry would give you guys one, but she just told us to 'explain the details' or something. I guess she didn't have time to authorize three new cards."

"Well, can I have the card? To get food? Remember?"

Brick sighed again and got up, slinging his pack over his shoulder, still holding the card.

"I'd better come, can't have you losing this."

Again, her was messing with her temper, but she didn't show a trace of emotion, her face remained as stoic as his.

"I wouldn't lose it."

"Better to be safe than sorry."

"Do you think I'm incapable of keeping track of a single debit card?"

"Quite frankly, yes."

"That's rich, coming from you."

"This is your first mission, not mine."

"…"

"…"

"I hate you."

"I know. I don't care."

Blossom grit her teeth. Argh! No had ever gotten her as ticked as he had when they were little, and apparently he still had the knack. He didn't whine like Bubbles, or be plain rude and loud like Buttercup. He was calm and smooth and egotistical. It infuriated her to no end.

"This is going to be a nightmare, isn't it?" Blossom mumbled, just loud enough for Brick's sensitive ears to hear as they walked to food court.

"I agree, your company is quite unpleasant," he sniped back.

"The feeling is mutual."

They stopped next to a coffee shack, facing each other with acid stares of contempt.

Brown. It's the wrong color. Gah! Why am I so distracted by his contacts?

Indifferently, Brick broke the staring contest to stand in line, as if her opinion as of no consequence to him; as if she was no consequence to him. Blossom's hands balled into fists, but went to stand next to him all the same, not giving him the pleasure of visible anger.

After ordering a crossiant, Brick payed, and, without a glance at Blossom, began to stroll back to their seats in the waiting area. Blossom's teeth were clenched, hunger forgotten in her pent-up rage at Brick.

That self-righteous, know-it-all, bossy, arrogant, stuck-up, indifferent ice cube!

But I have to control myself. If I let him see how riled up he makes me, I'll have no peace. Let him be childish and icy, see if I care. I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he pushes my buttons. Even if it drives me up the wall. It is the one small thing I can do to get revenge.

Ugh, revenge is so immature; I shouldn't want to get back at him. I'm falling for his game. This is stupid.

But, damn it! It works! He makes me so mad! I don't remember the last time I was so furious!

Calm down. Sooner, better, sooner, better. Just remember that. It'll be all over, we'll get the job done, and I can forget all about my counterpart.

Sooner, better, sooner, better.

The words were strangely comforting, and by the time they reached their chairs again, she was completely calm and able to ignore him successfully. Serenely, Blossom ate her croissant, watching the minutes tick by on the clock next to their gate.

10:45.

All most time for their flight. Once we're at a hotel, Brick can explain his 'family.' But I can wait. I'm in no rush to talk to the jerk.

Internally, Brick moaned. He had packed light, as usual, and now had to bear the consequence of no entertainment. The people around them were dull, ordinary, and provided no relief for his waiting.

He supposed he could try talking to Blossom, but for some reason, she had simply stopped rising to his challenges and looked quite unreadable, as usual. She was a closed book to him; he couldn't find emotion in her eyes, like her could with most people.

Especially now they were blue.

Bleh, it looks weird on her. Like, Bubbles and Blossom accidently merged into one body. How odd. But, no, they aren't blue like Bubbles, they're…icy. Bubbles's blue is happy and ditzy. Blossom's blue is hard and unapproachable. Maybe that's just Blossom. Oh well.

Brick cleared his head of such thoughts, and continued to analyze the people around him.

A scruffy looking young man in his early twenties was reading a newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. He had dark circles under his eyes, and looked like he was about to drop off any second.

Probably a college student, leaving home from a weekend stay. The way he's sitting straight in his chair makes him look eager, probably a top student. Maybe he's losing sleep by studying for mid-terms in advance. Can't let himself fall asleep now though, doesn't have enough money to buy another plane ticket to get back to campus.

Next to the college student, an older woman was trying to hush a fussing baby. She looked frustrated and was continually shuffling through her purse and murmuring to her child.

A mother obviously, might be switching planes here in D.C. Where could she be going? Visit relatives? Meet up with the child's father? Vacation? Probably not the last, who would go on a vacation with only a 8 month old baby as you're only company?

Across from the hassled mother sat a stiff-looking man in a business suit, visibly displeased by the loud child. He had an expensive leather briefcase in the seat next to him and a small work laptop balanced on his legs. Brick's super-powered vision could tell the man was working on a PowerPoint for some sort of meeting.

Going to Europe for a business meeting. Not a family guy; he'd have more pity for the mother. Doesn't look like the kind of guy whose going to have a life other than work. Too uptight, too wound up in money. Perhaps he hopes to get his boss's job in the future. A clever, unpleasant man.

In the seat next to the business man's briefcase, sat Blossom, crumpling the bag that had held her croissant.

Brick's eyes narrowed momentarily, brought back to the question of what went on in her head.

Collected, powerful, and cold. Those are the only vibes I'm picking up from her. It irkes me how unreadable she is.

Tch, Butch would say she's like me. Duh, Butch, we're counterparts. Great, I'm talking to my brother, who isn't even here. I really am bored.

10:57 read his watch.

We'll board soon. Should I mention that to Blossom? Nah, she's looking at the clock now too.

Brick stretched in his seat, tired of observing the people around him, and almost comfortable enough to drop off right here in the waiting area. Lazily, he watched Blossom get up and throw her trash away before returning to her seat next to him, as always, her expressions carefully guarded to give away none of her thoughts.

Whatever. Like anything in her head would be of interest. It's just frustrating that she's so cold.

Finally, hallelujah, the stewardess announced that their flight was boarding. Simultaneously, the Reds stood up from their seats, without exchanging a glance went to the back of the line.

Once situated in their seats, the flight attendants began their lengthy ramble on safety, flotation devices, and the like.

Brick zoned out, having heard this speech countless times. Hack, he could probably deliver it himself.

"…in case of emergency, the seat cushions can be used as a flotation device…"

Just because he could, Brick mouthed the words along with the flight attendant

"…please take notice of the exit doors nearest you…"

Blah blah blah.

Brick already knew, could they just start the flight please?

"Enjoy your flight!" finished the ditzy stewardess with a bright smile before walking down the aisle and out of sight.

Brick pulled out the complementary ear buds and plugged into the side of his chair, trying to lose himself in the cheesy music provided.

Now to wait some more. What a drag.

But Brick could be patient, or at least put up a front.

No way to speed up the plane. The flight will take as long as the flight will take.

Brick closed his eyes, ignored the pink puff beside him, and settled into his chair.

Hours later, Brick started awake, blinking as he realized he had drifted asleep. The lights were dimmed and most of the other occupants in the plane were also asleep. The quiet hum of the plane's engines filled his ears.

Out of the corner of his eye, he checked up on Blossom. Her head was leaning against the window, but the reflection of her blue eyes confirmed his suspicion that she was awake.

Blue…

His still slightly groggy mind focused on the reflection of her blue orbs, which were looking out at the night sky above.

Her eyes shouldn't be blue…I don't like it. No offense Boomer…and Bubbles.

Her eyes look dead when they're blue. She's not really Blossom.

The image of her eyes on the window shifted from gazing upwards to looking directly at him. Brick blinked realizing he had been caught.

Still looking at him by way of the window's reflection, she quietly spoke.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I don't know," he mumbled, remembering how he had spoken those exact words to her earlier, "Your eyes…"

He trailed off, feeling lame.

She raised an eyebrow coolly.

"I know," she murmured, "Not quite right, is it?"

Without waiting for a response, she once again looked up to the sky. Brick rolled over to his other side and fought to go back to sleep.

Hmph, I think a teeny Brick and Blossom moment snuck in there…ah well, they're my favorite PPG/RRB pairing.

I know I made a big deal about the contacts, but, being a contact-wearer myself (not the colored kind though), it kinda bugs me how people totally blow it off if and when they use them in their own stories.

All while I was writing this, I was listening to songs by the band RED. Lol, how funny. Next chapter, I'll listen to Green Day, then…does anyone know of a decent band that's name has the word 'blue' in it?

If you do, you'll have to review to tell me =P