Title: For Lost Years
Author: SeBriar
Summary: The boys are back after having disappeared for years. They must be up to something, but what? And who's leading these random attacks on the town? It's not the boys, so who?
Pairing: RrB/PpG
Rating: T for now
Genre: Romance/Drama/Family
Details: Ruffs and Puffs are 16, and for the sake of the story as they grew older they developed fingers, toes, noses, etc.
Disclaimer: I most definitely don't own the Powerpuff girls. I simply own the plot and the OC's in this story.
Chapter Three: Memories of Pain and Pleasure

(A/N: This is a flashback guys!)

Happy reading everyone. Special thanks to my Beta, Elizabeth Burke!

''If family were a fruit it would be an orange: a circle of sections, held together but separable - each segment distinct.'' ~Letty Cottin Pogrebin

It's cold, and gray, and creepy, and wet. He's tired and hungry. All he wants is a cheeseburger and a nice warm bed.

''Hurry up, Stupid!'' Butch hissed ahead of him. He sped up, but it was hard. He couldn't see in this rain, and he was shivering uncontrollably. ''Do you want those girls to find us?''

''No,'' He whined pitifully. But he was HUNGRY. He hadn't eaten in days. And they'd been so close to food.

''Then keep up! There are snails faster than you!'' That was completely untrue, for he was currently going at a speed of sixty miles per hour, and on a normal day he was faster than both Butch and Brick, but he kept silent. Butch was pissed off and just as hungry as he was. He wouldn't complain and be called a baby again.

He squinted his eyes and looked past Butch at the red blur he could barely see through all the rain stinging his eyes. Brick hadn't said a word for the entire ten minutes they'd been flying, staring determinedly ahead and ignoring Boomer's previous pleads that they stop and find something to eat.

He didn't even know why they were still flying! Those girls had long since given up chase.

The rain felt like ice shards simultaneously piercing his skin. His stomach hurt from always being empty. His eyes burned from the rain and lack of sleep. His head hurt and he couldn't see straight anymore. He was so cold he couldn't feel his hands or face. His nose was running. His ears were ringing. His clothes were soaked through and rubbing his skin raw as he flew.

...And he was losing altitude.

His eyes closed half way as he started to free fall over a hundred feet toward the ground. He could faintly hear his brothers shouting for him over the pounding in his ears.

His descent was suddenly slowed to a stop, and he could feel Butch's arms slide underneath his, holding him up.

In his bleary vision he could see Brick floating in front of him. He was frowning angrily, and Boomer was prepared to hear how weak he was for just fainting like that.

Surprisingly, Brick didn't say anything for a minute, just studied his face.

''He looks pretty bad Brick,'' Butch muttered, as if trying to persuade their leader to make the obvious choice.

Boomer blinked slowly as he watched Brick clench his fists. His mind was in a haze and he was having difficulty processing what was happening around him.

''Fine!'' He thought he heard Brick growl. ''Let's take him somewhere dry.''

The next few minutes was a whirl of colors and shapes for Boomer, but he knew they were flying from the harsh wind whipping the hair around his face. He was set down on what felt like moderately dry grass, and opened his eyes enough to tell that they were underneath the slide at the park before they became to heavy for him.

He felt someone roughly shove their hand against his forehead before pulling away sharply. ''Great! And he's got a fever! Just perfect!'' Brick was yelling. Brick was angry.

''So what should we do?'' Butch asked, laying Boomer's head down on the soft grass, which the blonde was thankful for since it relieved some of his nearly unbearable headache.

''How should I know? Do I look like a doctor to you?'' He let his eyes crack open again, desperate to see what was going on. Brick was trembling, whether from the cold air or anger he didn't know.

''Well you're the leader here, Red. You fix him.'' Butch's hand was resting on the top of his head, the only sign of worry he was sure he was ever going to get from him. But that's not why he'd noticed it. His hand was ice cold; he could feel it through his hair. And Butch's voice was hoarse. He was getting sick too.

He must have drifted off into a feverish sleep after that, because the next thing he was aware of was Butch's heavy breathing on his left and Brick's shivering form on his right, both apparently asleep. And oh, he felt even worse now. It hurt his head just to think, and he could forget about moving anytime soon.

It was still raining, and it was darker out now. It'd been late evening before so he guessed now it late at night.

''What on Earth?'' He let his eyes drift forward, and spotted yellow rain boots. His gaze traveled upward to the worried face of a young woman wearing a matching raincoat and carrying an umbrella over her head. He could see blonde hair plastered to her face under her hood and emerald green eyes looking directly at him. ''What are three little boys doing out in the rain at this hour?''

She squatted down and touched his forehead, and he saw her frown. She did he same to Butch and Brick, neither of them stirring from their heavy sleep. Then she glanced at her umbrella in contemplation, before sighing and closing it. She hooked the string on the handle around her wrist, and reached out to him.

He thought about screaming at her to go away. After all, that's what his brothers would tell him to do. But he didn't. He let her lift him up and cuddle him to her chest, because she was warm.

She shifted him gently to make room for his brothers in her arms, hugging all of them to lend them her warmth. She stood up and began to walk, hunched over to shield them from the rain with her body.

It was really dark out, which would explain why she couldn't tell he was awake and staring at her. It was probably also why she was even touching them. Everyone in town knew about the infamous Rowdyruff Boys; the trouble making counterparts of the Powerpuff Girls that constantly terrorized the town and were evil to the core.

''You three sure are light. Don't you eat?'' NO. She was talking to herself, which he thought was weird, but he did it sometimes too since he couldn't really hold a conversation with Brick or Butch without being called stupid, wimpy, or a crybaby.

They entered a really large building, and he dazed out on the ride in the elevator to the top floor. He was brought back to reality when he heard, ''WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?''

He winced at the loud noise, his headache fast approaching the migraine stage. ''Jen! Don't be so loud! I just went for a walk.'' The woman carrying him whispered harshly.

The screaming banshee now known as Jen lowered her voice, but continued her lecture. ''It's two in the morning Cathy. Who goes for a walk this late, and in the rain? You're twenty-four; you could've gotten hurt. There are psycho's out there.'' There was a pause as he was carried further into the apartment. ''Please tell me why you're carrying children. They aren't yours, are they? The blonde one sort of looks like you.''

The woman -er,Cathy, placed him and his brothers on the couch, and took a moment to take off her coat and boots and hang them up in the closet. ''No, Jen, they aren't mine. I found them at the park.''

''What were they doing at the park?'' The banshee was suddenly hovering over his face, and he squinted up at her. ''Hey! This one is awake!'' Seconds later Cathy was kneeling by the couch too, looking at him with that same worried look from earlier, and he wondered why she looked like that.

She slid a hand under his head and lifted him up a little. ''Are you okay, Sweetie? Can you hear me?'' Of course he could hear her, what kind of question was that? But for an answer he just moaned painfully.

''They're soaked, and all three of them are shivering badly, Cathy. We should warm them up,'' Jen suggested. ''And probably feed them too. They're skin and bones.'' Okay, she wasn't a banshee anymore, she was an ANGEL! Yes! Food! Food for Boomer!

Cathy nodded, picking him up in one arm and Brick in the other. His red-headed brother only turned and pressed his cheek into the warmth, sighing. ''Can you hand me him?'' She asked, nodding her head to Butch.

Jen lifted him carefully and placed him in between Brick and himself. ''They're kinda cute...'' She commented.

'WHAT? WE'RE BOYS! BOYS ARE NOT CUTE YOU-'

''They'll be even cuter once they're warm and their faces aren't so flushed. I'm going to give them a nice hot bath. Were you going to stay over, Jen? Or are you going downstairs?''

''I'll go downstairs; I can see you've got your hands full.'' He heard the elevator open and close, so he assumed Jen had left. Cathy carried them into the bathroom, which smelt like strawberries, and reminded him how sleepy he was. She set them down on the carpet in front of the tub and started running the water.

When the tub was full she started to take off Butch's clothes first, and he suddenly realized that if she was going to be giving them a bath, that meant them being naked and letting her wash them.

She set an undressed Butch in in the water, leaning him against the side so he wouldn't slip under before turning to him. He moaned in protest as she pulled the shirt over his head, but she continued on and started taking off his shoes. ''Sorry, Little One, you need to warm up and get clean.''

He didn't put up much protest after that, mostly because he was incredibly feverish and could hardly think straight. Once he and Brick were in the tub she scrubbed them all down gently and wrapped them each in a towel before carrying them off to her bedroom. Boomer watched her with glazed eyes as she went about drying them and combing their hair.

She left for a few minutes, coming back with kid-sized pajamas. ''I borrowed these from a neighbor,'' She said, apparently thinking out loud since she wasn't actually looking at Boomer when she spoke.

She dressed them and tucked them in her bed, placing Brick's cap on the table beside them. Brick wasn't going to be happy when he woke up without it, he thought.

She left again, this time coming back with a bowl full of water and three washcloths draped over one arm. She dipped them in the water and squeezed out the excess liquid before placing them on their foreheads.

The cooling sensation spread through him quickly. It eased the pain in his head and cleared his mind significantly.

Now more aware, Boomer carefully considered the woman sitting next to him on the somewhat large bed. She wasn't looking at him; staring over him at the window and looking out at the night sky. Her hand though, reached over and started to stroke the side of his face. The motion was soothing and once again reminded him of how tired he really was.

The woman's presence was comforting, like his brothers' when they weren't being mean. Barely thinking about it, he shifted so his head pushed up against her thigh, making her glance down at him. She smiled softly and lifted his head to her lap, and he sighed in content. Her lap was pretty comfy.

''You're still awake, right? Can you tell me what your name is?'' Didn't she know? Or was Townsville not actually aware of their individual names?

''Boomer,'' he mumbled sleepily.

''And your brothers?''

''Brick and Butch...''

''How old are you?'' She was stroking his hair now instead of his face.

''Six.'' He didn't know why he was telling her these things; it really wasn't any of her business.

She didn't ask anything else, and his eyelids began to droop. He fell into a peaceful sleep moments later.

He was woken up hours after when he was violently yanked from under the covers and into the air, staring into a pair of dark red eyes. Before he could completely understand what was happening, he was being dragged through the air, just barely noticing Butch in the same boat on Brick's other side, looking utterly confused and sleep deprived.

They flew out the bedroom and down the hall, only to smash into someone's chest. The person wrapped their arms around them and held them to them. Boomer recognized the comforting presence.

Surprise seemed to be the only thing keeping Brick from ripping himself from her hold and continuing his escape.

''Good morning to you too!'' She giggled down at them, and Boomer found himself smiling at her bright demeanor.

Brick abruptly snapped out of whatever trance he was previously in, glaring up at her and pulling himself out of her arms. Butch stayed where he was, having fallen back asleep the second his head had hit her chest and was using it as his pillow.

''Who are you?'' Brick asked sharply. Boomer frowned.

''My name is Cathy,'' she said simply.

Boomer watched Brick tense as his brother shifted his gaze to where he and Butch were clutched in her arms. He looked like he was ready to rip them away from her, so Boomer spoke up, thinking he should at least try stave his brother's anger at the woman who'd helped them. ''She found us and took us here to get us out the rain, and she gave us a ...bath and...pajamas...'' He trailed off uncertainly when he noticed Brick focusing on him.

''I made you breakfast too, since you looked like you hadn't eaten in a while.'' Cathy said, her voice more subdued now. That was all Boomer needed.

He shot out of her arms and straight to the kitchen, letting the smell of delicious food guide his way.

There were three color coated booster seats, and he plopped down in the blue one and dug greedily into the plate of pancakes and bacon in front of him.

Cathy came in a moment later, Butch now awake in her arms and staring at the food on the table, not worried about where he was, how he'd gotten there, or who he was being carried by. There was food and he getting closer to it.

He was placed in the green seat and didn't waste a moment before chowing down, asking no questions and just waiting for things to be explained to him later.

Brick floated in seconds after, looking irritated but not as angry as before, making Boomer wonder what happened in the few minutes he'd left. He sat down without a word and ate the food slowly, though cast a brief glare at the red booster seat before doing so.

As Cathy sat down Boomer looked across the table at all of them, a pang of longing hitting him. Wouldn't it be nice to wake up to this every morning? He and his brothers sitting at a table and eating breakfast. And someone to...

He turned to Cathy, who was delicately cutting her pancakes, unlike Butch who'd just picked them up and ripped off chunks with his mouth, completely ignoring his fork. What was she in this picture? She would be the one who cooked the meals and...took care of them. So, would that make her...

She glanced up at him and smiled; he looked down with embarrassment.

...Their mom?

Sorry I'm still leaving you with that cliffhanger from chapter two. This was just a bit of back story from Boomer's POV. I'll hopefully be doing two more for Brick and Butch, but for now we'll be continuing on with the main story. I hope you enjoyed this one, though. It was difficult to write because I'd never written an entire chapter in someone's POV while still keeping it in third person. I need a nap.