'Sup, guys? :)

I meant to upload this soooooo long ago, but the weeks vanished before my eyes while I continued to struggle and labor over this chapter! There were at least three entirely different ways this chappie could have taken, and give or take a few paragraphs and this story's final outcome might have run down a completely different path than I had intended. Sum it up in a nutshell: this chapter was pivotal turning point for me. :)

Thanks for all the awesome reviews; they made my day! :D You guys rock!

The digital clock's electronic trill filled Blossom's awareness with piercing discomfort. Her head jerked suddenly on her pillow, her eyelids flew open only to sag half-way closed again, and a disgruntled moan escaped from her. Thickly, she reached over to the annoying hotel room's alarm clock, fumbling for a second before she found the unreasonably small switch that silenced the hideous noise, which was unfortunately becoming a well known screech to the pink puff. For the last two days, the Reds had been out dawn until far after dusk in the city of Berlin and the surrounding countryside, searching discreetly for clues, tips, news, rumors, small talk, hints, or even the faintest indication a rampaging murderer was roaming anywhere near here by passing off as two young American college students, conducting a survey, the subject of which varied by the nature of questions they needed to ask each individual/group. Despite their hard work and the cooperation of the majority of questionees, the Reds had found nothing. And, to add the salt of stress to the wound of disappointment, the small team was feeling the tension between two ex-arch-enemy, strong willed leaders used to getting their own ways. So far, each had managed to simply express their distaste for the other with the cold shoulder when possible, icy words and glares when not.

Swiftly, she threw the covers off her legs and slipped into the small bathroom. The red-head couldn't allow herself any lounging time to habituate herself to the reality of morning. She could imagine exactly how Brick's irritated face would frown disapprovingly down at her if she was late.

Not happening, Brick. Keep dreaming, but you won't be able to pinpoint a single flaw. I'll make sure of it.

Not bothering to lock the bathroom door, she took one of the world's record for shortest bathroom experiences. She dressed, threw her dirty clothes and bathroom supplies back into her bag and gave the room a quick check over. Finding that she had left no personal items, she slung her bag over her back and left without a second thought. But when her fingers reached out for the elevator down button, a rare event occurred for the strong minded puff. She hesitated. Her fingers flinched in indecision.

If she arrived ten minutes early to the 7:30 rendezvous Brick had set last evening, and somehow he noticed, would she look like she was being too eager to please? Brick would raise a single eyebrow mockingly, gazing at her with a superior regard, conveying his amusement at her childlike endeavor to beat him at his own game.

But by allowing how he will judge me effect what I do and think, doesn't that mean I already lost?

Frustrated with self-doubt and her own attempts to impress Brick (or just silence his unspoken criticism), Blossom internally snarled and pushed the button harder than she had meant to.

I'll just get some breakfast in the meantime. They had fruit and power bars for sale at the lobby.

After a delay of seconds, in which Blossom already had the time to start to berate herself for being so foolish, the metal doors slid gracefully open, revealing two middle-aged, slightly overweight women. Blossom gave them a polite acknowledgment, mumbling a quiet "gutentag." She shuffled her bag awkwardly to her shoulder and tried to appear like a very normal young woman traveling alone in Germany.

The shorter of the two gave her a brief glance and dip of the head. The other gave her a longer look and a friendly half-smile. No one spoke for the short ride down to the lobby.

The doors slide open and the two women resumed their conversation a few steps out of the doorway. Even without super-powered hearing, Blossom could clearly hear them. She realized they were southern Americans. Not too uncommon of a find in a hotel just outside Berlin, one of the biggest tourist cities in the world and the capital of historic Germany.

"I just don't understand, this sudden change o' heart, that's all. Why do ya want to leave Berlin already? We just got here yesterday mornin' for Pete's sake," grumbled the taller one.

"I just think we should, ya know? Come on, it'd be fun to shake it up a bit. Why stick to plans when we could scurry across Europe willy-nilly? It's so boring to have everythin' all planned out already. Don't be a stick in the mud, Hilary. After a good breakfast, you'll feel better and we can pack up and hit that road."

Hilary gave her companion a hard stare, a mixture of concern and frustration. She paused a second before replying.

"Ya ain't makin' much sense, ya sure ya okay?..." she mumbled quietly. As they distanced themselves from Blossom, she tuned them out. Although if she had tried, she could have quite easily continued to eavesdrop on them, but she didn't consider it of great importance. Besides, people should have a right to their own privacy.

Instead she turned towards the front desk and, looking over the head of the lady managing the counter, began visually browsing through the boxes of power bars stacked on a shelf.

She had not considered herself well studied in German, (only having memorized a few books on simple grammatical rules and common vocabulary words) so she was pleased when she had arrived n Germany able to decipher most written sentences and pick up on the general meaning of the locals. Brick wasn't much better in German either, but together they had managed to struggle past the language barrier without too much difficulty. Their American accents and mistakes also added to believability of their student act.

After a half a minute of reflection, she chose a bar which declared itself to be 100% organic granola with raspberry chunks, along with a small water bottle. She charged it to her room, ultimately Brick's little agent card.

The red head seated herself in one of the lobby's waiting chairs and daintily ate her breakfast. She had just screwed the cap on her half empty bottle when from her vantage point, she saw Brick exit the elevator.

Involuntarily, her fake blue gaze hardened, her eyebrows drew slightly together. His presence always annoyed and stressed her, both inhibiting her from fully concentrating and competitively driving her to greater focus. Out of the corner of her eye, she observed his approach, futilely and silently wishing him away.

As usual, Brick walked with a confident swagger bordering on egotistical. His hands were shoved deep into his jean pockets, he surveyed his surroundings with a relaxed, but alert gaze, and his mouth was formed in an easy, unworried, and neutral position. With a turn of his head, he swept the room and located her. Nonchalantly, he redirected himself towards Blossom, coming to a halt a foot in front of her chair.

"Ready to go, Babe?"

Blossom upper lip curled.

"Don't call me Babe."

The response was almost automatic by now. For some reason unknown to her, Brick seemed unable to drop the stupid pet names. Between 'Pinky', 'Babe', 'Sweets' and, her least favorite, 'Blossy', Blossom was about ready to rip his throat out.

Blossom had noticed that ever since Him had revived the boys, Brick seemed dead set on not using her real name… weird side effects of being – whatever the hell Him had done.

But, this was no time to take a stroll down memory lane. They were on the move, and as always, she had to keep a clear head to keep up with her counterpart. Today they were leaving Germany and were going to make a hop down to Italy, stopping by a few large cities on the way. She had to keep a sharp eye out for anything abnormal during their drive.

After checking out of the hotel, Brick maneuvered skillfully through the morning traffic in this outskirt town, until he reached the autobahn. More than the majority of the cars were on the other side, barely putting towards Berlin. The Reds were headed south, away from commuters, and could take advantage of Germany's famous lack of speed limits. Brick was nearing 190 miles an hour, flying along the black tar, with the poise, ease and ability of an experienced driver which didn't go along with the profile of qualities for an average fifteen year old American teenager. But, then again, no one had ever claimed Brick was a normal adolescent. Or even a normal anything for that matter...

Blossom relaxed into the passenger seat of the white sport's car that had been mysteriously waiting for them in the parking lot of the airport. Brick had pulled out the keys from his carry on luggage, given her an eyebrow wiggle and a small smirk, before sliding into driver's seat. She had rolled her eyes at his cockiness, but hadn't found a comeback sharp enough to satisfactorily top that, so she had remained silent.

After a few minutes of high speed driving, Brick tossed her a brief glance.

"We probably aren't going to make the drive in one day, but we'll get as far as we can. Sometime or other we'll stop for lunch. Keep a look out."

Blossom's mouth turned down into a tiny frown at his bossiness, but as she had for the last several days, she didn't argue, knowing that she was unqualified to take control of the situation. But that didn't mean that it didn't irk her. And he knew that.

She gave him a curt nod and turned her attention to her window, leaving her partner to keep track of his own vantage points. Brick indifferently ignored her distant response. He switched on a German radio station and for the next six hours, they didn't exchange a word.

When Brick finally did speak again, he shattered the soft, warm atmosphere in the car so abruptly and loudly that Blossom almost jumped.

"I'm turning in here. We can eat at that little café."

Blossom straightened her seat and turned off the faint, constant hum of the radio. Brick glided into the exit lane, into the small, road side town. The village/rest stop offered a small park, a local bar, a coffee house style diner which Brick had referred to, scattered odds and ends shops, and perhaps a hundred or so, hum drum, sleepy German citizens.

By now, her breakfast of energy bar seemed long ago, and Blossom was quite eager to examine the menus placed before them. The number of options was about equivalent to the size of the town, but at least the mass BLT sandwich was large enough to satisfy her grumbling stomach. Brick finished his burger before her. He leant back, stretched his arms behind his back, and interlocked his finger behind his head, observing her general direction with a little boredom, but Blossom could easily tell that he was actually looking behind her, inconspicuously watching through the large store front windows. The pink puff slowly sipped the remainder of her ice tea through her straw, not especially motivated to get back into the car. Long road trips with Brick were anything but a wild party. She had a small fear that if she got back in her warm front seat, she might actually drift off, and Brick would not be pleased.

Just at that moment, she felt a peculiar vibration around her wrist. Confused, Blossom brought her hand closer to her face. Her watch was silently shaking, and on the screen, the time had disappeared, replaced by two words, "Incoming Message"

Blossom looked up to look at Brick. He had not moved from his original position except that now he was giving her a hard stare. Eyes never leaving her face, Brick released his arms from behind his head and left a tip on the table. With no rush in his movements, he got up and gave her a small nod. Bewildered, Blossom followed him out to the parking lot. Even if she wasn't sure what was happening, she had at least enough common sense to not draw attention to her ever trembling watch.

Once inside the car, with the doors firmly closed, Brick's fingers flew to his wrist, where he swiftly pressed a button. His watch emitted a beep, but he ignored this as he roughly snatched Blossom's arm and repeated the action. Blossom's device made an identical ping and the vibration abruptly stopped. Her screen turned a glowing blue, and now two new words appeared, "Voice Recognition"

Brick moved his watch up to his mouth.

"Brick Strogoy Jojo."

As he spoke, his face turned towards her, and he gestured with his free hand to do the same. Blossom responded instantly, finally getting an idea of what it all meant. As she spoke, she gave Brick a dirty look. He didn't have to be so secretive. Why couldn't he just say, "Update from HQ," or something?

"Blossom Utonium."

"Voice Recognition: positive" chorused the two watches in soft digital voices. Now, a single word materialized on the screen for a brief second, "LIVE"

A familiar face filled the entirety of the watch's display. Director Sherry Agathit blinked her enormous watery eyes, looking straight Blossom's face, indicating to the puff that her watch was also transmitting video feed.

"Hello Reds. All's well I presume?" the CIA director's voice sounded clearly through the watches' tiny, but obviously high tech, speakers.

"So far, no signs of anything out of the ordinary." Brick lowered the watch from the close proximity to his face. Blossom mirrored his move.

"You are on the move to Italy?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I estimate that we will arrive some time tomorrow."

"I see. You two have encountered no problems?"

Brick turned to her direction briefly, displaying his cold contempt of her company. But as they had already made their distaste for each other quite clear to Sherry, neither felt obliged nor inclined to continue whining. Brick readdressed his superior, carefully wording his response to attend only to Sherry's real interests.

"No major concerns pertaining to the case. Nothing we saw in Berlin suggested foul play, the move of a homicidal maniac, or panic stricken citizens."

Blossom gave a curt nod and continued to stare down at the watch, having nothing to add to that blunt and starkly true statement. They had wasted two days in Berlin. They had nothing to report, nothing to say, nothing to even comment on. Nothing.

Sherry narrowed her giant eyes.

"I see. Disappointing, but not a surprise. He is thorough in his work. Our top scientists have failed to identify any more chemical compounds from the victims, so we have no more information, conjectural or otherwise, to help you in your search. For now, you will have to carry on looking for abnormalities that catch your eyes. I trust your instincts. Bad vibes, odd groups, suspicious individuals, and by that you know I don't necessarily mean drug lords and pedophile creepers. But they still might know something, or have a tip. Anyone might.

"Reminders: Have fun in Italy - don't forget the side trip. And our criminal has a point. 'Everyone has a weakness.' Works vice versa too – he must have one. All to be said on this end. You know how to reach me. 10 - 4?"

Brick sucked in soft, determined breath before replying.

"Out."

Blossom gave another small dip of her head. Sherry gave them a stern look before she suddenly vanished from the screen, to be replaced by the time – 3:30 P.M. Brick made a small scowl, not necessarily directed at her, before sliding the keys into the ignition and gliding out of town.

As Brick hit the autobahn once again, he heaved a gusty mental sigh of frustration. Sherry's little rant only brought their lack of information harder down upon him. The villain was more than "at large." He, she, or perhaps even it was invisible, untouchable, unimaginable. Also, Brick's so called "family visit" was hanging overhead. And, to top it off, Blossom was ever present, as she would be in Italy during their little masquerade.

He didn't care to converse with Blossom, and the subject of his 'family' was always touchy. But, knowing the pink puff, she would be bordering on murderously impatient if he didn't explain the details of the next few days soon.

"So, I suppose now is as good of a time as any to explain the little side trip you've heard mentioned once or twice."

Blossom turned towards him, her long red hair flying around in a copper blaze, coming close to brushing his arm. She fixed him with a hard, inquisitive look before replying.

"Well, then explain."

The corner of Brick's mouth twitched downward at her fresh response. But, someone had to be mature, so he let it slide.

"I trust you can't be completely clueless to the hints of 'family' in Italy?"

"I may have a few theories. But, go ahead and explain."

"Fine. We will be attending a meeting of high class, world criminals located in the south of Italy, more commonly refereed to as the Mafia, but you would not be wise to use that terminology in front of them."

Blossom took in this information without so much as a blink. As Brick had thought, Sherry's nickname for his line of assignments had not been left un-coded by his counterpart.

"When you say, 'attend,' are you loosely referring to a stealth break-in or do you mean we have an actual invitation?"

Now, Brick smirked. So she hadn't realized the true nature of his work down south after all.

"Think, Pinky, did I say 'crash a meeting'?"

She scowled.

"For the last time, it's Blossom, and just answer my question!"

"Oh, someone's a little touchy. Scary thought? Well, then, prepare yourself, Miss Powerpuff, because we will be warmly welcomed by my Italian Family."

Blossom took this in with a moment of pause, but she showed no hint of shock, or even the mildest trace of surprise at this turn of events. Brick gave a small, smug chuckle, and broke his gaze away from hers, party because a response-less Blossom was a rare event to be cherished, and partly to hide that he wasn't sure if her calmness was a mask, or genuine.

Blossom's glower darkened and she folded her arms across her chest.

"First off, why wasn't I told this before? If you have any other oh-so conveniently forgotten mission details, do tell!"

Brick rolled his eyes, his satisfied expression sliding off his face.

"Yeah, yeah, Blossy, I know, you're pissed. But to be honest, I don't know much more either. More often than not, we are expected to instinctively fly by the seat of our pants, and take orders from HQ. So, nope."

"Ok, fine. Then, I'd like to hear the details of how you got involved with the Mafia."

Now, it was Brick's turn to scowl.

"Not much to know."

Blossom observed him with curiosity.

"I believe you mean, 'Not much you want me to know.'"

Brick kept his eyes to the road, all traces of former arrogant humor completely washed away.

"Maybe, 'Not much you need to know.' Closed cases, classified information, yada yada. Must you understand much more than the Mafia considers me a member, the CIA uses me, and you are to accompany me?"

Blossom seemed to ponder this for a second. Her eyes narrowed, the afternoon sun filtering through her long lashes. Brick stomach fluttered uncomfortably, sure that she could keenly feel him side-stepping the conversation. But, despite what she did or didn't think, she let it drop.

"Okay, fine. When is this meeting?"

The knot in his stomach loosened, and Brick couldn't help but be grudgingly grateful to Blossom for not insisting over reliving his…complicated, to say the least, past. Eager to escape his reminisces, he focused on her question.

"Meeting…is a loose word. A gathering would better a word to describe the event. And it's in three days."

Blossom twitched her lips, contemplating.

"So, if you are a member of the Mafia, I'm guessing I can't be an American college student conducting a survey?"

"Heh heh, no, you kidding me? They know exactly who you are, even with your fancy blue contacts. Blossom, leader of the Powerpuffs, the Titans of Townsville." He tossed her a leering, arrogant half-smile, "And, of course, my counterpart."

Blossom huffed.

"Sarcasm, Brick; it was sarcasm. I meant, how am I getting in? I don't belong to the 'family.'"

Brick conceded a nod.

"For once, yes, you're right, you can't stroll in. But, yet again, try to think, Sweets." Again, he looked at her expectantly, before sighing at the obvious. "You can get in if you're attached to me: as in, my date."

Blossom crinkled her nose.

"Only option?"

"Yup," replied Brick, popping the 'p.'

"Good grief, if this wasn't a mission to save the human race…"

Brick shrugged.

"Take it or wait for me outside."

"I think you know the answer to that question."

Brick chuckled, and for the first time, his dry laugh wasn't directed at her.

"Yeah, I know, you're as incorrigibly nosy as ever."

"Hm."

Silence descended upon them, the sun set, they passed into Switzerland, and the next time Brick glanced at his passenger, she was curled in a ball, her face pressed against the window, sleeping soundly.

As the hours passed, Brick too found it harder and harder to keep his lids open, until he finally decided at 11:30 that the danger of sleeping at the wheel, and his next to empty gas tank were strong enough motivators to pull into a small town bordering on Zurich.

"Hey there, Blossom."

He tapped her arm as they neared a motel. Her eyes flew open as she jolted awake, and her fingers jumping to shield where he had touched her.

"We're stopping for the night."

"M'k," she murmured thickly, sitting up and stretching her cramped limbs. All day power driving was not comfortable or relaxing to say the least, and the Reds were quite eager to pile out of the sports car.

But just as Brick had slammed the door shut and shouldered his bag, flashing lights a few blacks away caught his eye. He squinted, and saw a mass of humanity swarming over a small patch of ground.

Disregarding the idea of grabbing two rooms and crashing, Brick started quickly jogging to the site. As he turned to shout back at Blossom to come, he found her running noiselessly at his side, all fatigue gone from her now alert face.

The pair pushed their way through the crowd, straining to catch a glimpse of what all the fuss was about. Everyone around them was babbling loudly in German, and many were shrieking incorrherently, but Brick couldn't make out what they were saying. Blossom squatted down and wormed her way in; Brick followed in her wake. As they arrived at the line of police, they straightened and finally caught sight of the main attraction.

After years in the field as an agent, being an ex super villain, and a member of the Mafia, Brick had thought he had seen pretty much the worst of human mutilation. Now, looking at the scene before him, he was seriously rethinking his top ten list of ways not to die.

Lying on its back, was the naked corpse of tall, plump woman. The majority of her skin had been shredded into a barely distinguishable bloody pulp, and was spread out in a mess on the grass around her along with bits of hair, nail, and bone fragments. Her stumps of arms were stretched out before her, as if still trying to shield herself, and her hands had been gnawed on. The unfortunate woman's brains were seeping out of her ears and cracks in her skull, and her face – the only unharmed section of her body - was distorted into a horrible mask of utter terror.

Brick blinked, feeling his almost empty stomach give a heave of uncomfort. After a second of self-indulgent, blank horror, he suddenly remembered Blossom, who was standing at his side. Grateful for an excuse to tear his eyes away from the disgusting wreck of human carnage, he turned to her. She was open mouthed, wide eyed, and transfixed by the sight. Despite their past disagreements, rivalries, hatred, and sworn nemesis-hood, Brick felt a twinge of pity for his battle-innocent partner. In a weak minded moment, he acted in that pity and grabbed her upper arm, jerking her around to face him. Amidst the earsplitting, screaming chaos of the crowd, the shoving of the people behind and in front of them, and flashing of the police lights, the Reds locked eyes. Blossom gulped, and gave a little shudder. Her eyes didn't leave his face, nor his hand from her arm. In that one second, Brick felt a strange, unspoken connection, but then she opened her mouth and whispered the unthinkable, shattering his concentration.

"I know her."

Her voice was so soft; Brick could barely hear it above the deafening racket around them. His hand faltered and let go of her arm.

"What?" He stammered, incredulous. But her eyes trailed away from his face and over his shoulder. A strange intensity took hold of her and she fixated upon one point behind him.

"And her too!"

Brick whirled around, knocking over a random Swiss man. Blossom leapt nimbly over the fallen citizen and crashed sideways through the crowd, apparently chasing someone. Without hesitation, Brick bounded after her, shoving until her reached her side. As they exited the confusing mass of populous, he caught sight of their quarry – a short, also plump, woman sprinting down the dark village street. Blossom put on a burst of speed and Brick had to resist the temptation to fly in order to keep up with his nimble counterpart.

"Who?" he grunted as the woman swung a corner and they skidded to round the bend.

"At...hotel," she panted, "with…dead, huh, one."

How is she able to stay ahead of us? We are super powered beings for crying out loud!

The woman whipped down another alley way and started scrambling up a fire escape to the roof of an apartment building. Brick charged after her but by the time he was even at the bottom of the alley, the woman's shoe was disappearing over the edge of the roof.

Brick, deciding to toss caution and incognito to the wind, shot to the top of the building in a burst of dark red. Adrenaline pounding through his veins he whirled around, looking for the woman, but after a few seconds, he realized she was no longer there. The rooftop was completely barren. There were no footprints beside his own on the gravel. In a flash of pink, Blossom appeared at his side.

"Where - ?" she started but Brick shook his head.

"She's gone," he snarled. Frustrated, yanked off his hat and ran a hand through his bangs, and replaced it with a sigh. He folded his arms, staring out across the roofs of the small Swiss town. Zurich glittered in the distance.

"Now, would you please tell me why we were chasing that unearthly fast human? And what she has to do with the body?" he snapped at Blossom. Their brief feelings of comradery had died to be replaced once again by short tempers and dissent.

"This morning, on my way down to the lobby, I rode in the elevator with two women. They were arguing. The short one we were chasing," Blossom gestured to the empty space before them, "was trying to convince the woman whose mangled body is back there," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder back towards the crowd, "that they should go somewhere."

Brick continued to glare at Zurich, absorbing this new turn of events. A cold, night wind gusted by and they shivered, the weariness of the day redescended upon their exhausted bodies. The red ruff turned and jumped off the three story building, landing knees bent, with two fingers to balance himself. He straightened, Blossom followed and together, they trudged back to the motel.

"…I guess we got ourselves an update for Sherry," Brick murmured softly as they passed the still chaotic police scene, the colored strobbing lights the only illumination in the black night.

DUN DUN DUN! Finally, some action! :D

Oh, and I feel obliged to apologize for the gory description ^ above. But I really wanted you guys to…understand what all the fuss is about, so there was no way to side-step it…and, this fic is rated T, folks!

Also, we got some Br/Bl going on, huh huh? Fun to write :P

What did you all think of the Mafia bit? I bet most of you saw that coming…heh, not a completely original idea, but, I have my own twists. And the southern ladies in the hotel? How many of you foresaw something with them? Or, were you thinking, "Geez, LittleMissFutureToBe, why are you spending so much time and words explaining useless parts of Blossom's morning?" Lol, I'd love to know your thoughts. :)

Sorry again for the late update (that kinda rhymes, lol). I'll try to keep up more consistently now…

Thanks for reading! Please review, it is my motivation to write, and right now I think I'll be needing some of that… :)