Niles' arms limped at his sides as he stared in disbelief. It was hard to hold in the amount of mixed emotions he had, witnessing their playful banter. He stopped in the doorway abruptly, darting his eyes between the two holding it together. His arms slightly inched but not a word was spoken as he cleared his throat.
"Uh, yeah. Two said I could find you up here." he replied, looking between the two of them with a softened smile.

Oh how he missed them.

"That so?" Blossom quipped. "He'd be right. What'cha need?"
Niles stood for a second in silence, thinking about what to say. "I, uh, was on a mission. I just got back from the jungle outpost and I found something you're going to want to see."
Even as he spoke up about his mission, his sentence softened as he blinked. His eyes darted to the floor for a moment, an enveloped feeling of joy overtaking him as he looked back up and interrupted himself. "It's good to meet you, finally."
The girl nodded back, Buttercup raising an eyebrow at his reaction and spoke formally. "Good to meet you; who are we speaking to?"
"Agent Arachnid number four nine dash twelve," He perked up and made his way forward. "But you can call me Niles."
They shook hands, exchanging looks between each other. "I know you're Blossom and Buttercup; I admire your work.. a lot."
Blossom's eyes glowed a little at his compliment and she chuckled, "Well, thank you! It's not every day we get compliments for our work; some of these soldiers are ungrateful when we're on the battlefield, so I appreciate that!"
The other sister chuckled, taking a seat on one of the desks and swayed her legs back and forth. She smiled at him, "Ain't no sweat, rookie. I do this thing every day ya know."
"Have I met you before, Niles?" Blossom asked, tilting her head and scratching her chin.
He shook his head as a small grin crept up on his face, breathing in and admitted the truth. "Yeah, I uh.. was the recruit who spilled that cloffee on you a couple weeks ago. I'm really sorry about that, again."

Blossom squinted at him for a good second, then lit up a little and she waved a hand up. "Oh, it's you! For some reason you look a little bit.. older than I remember, no offense. It's okay, I was able to get the stains out really quick."
She turned to look at her sister and gestured with a hand, her grin widening. "Buttercup, this is Niles; he's an assistant at the dexlabs."
She crossed her arms again, puffing a little bit of hair out of her face and tilted her head. "Sup?"
"Oh, this is partially what I came here for. I switched guides and joined the team. Thus the colors-"
Blossom watched as he gestured toward the suit, raising an eyebrow and dropped her grin.
"Bad idea, pal. She'll work you straight to death!" Buttercup snickered.
"Welcome to the team," Blossom nodded. "If Dexter is fine with it, I'm sure it's okay. I appreciate the colors." She said, doing her best to appreciate his gesture at the suit. "Despite what my sister says, no I don't 'work you to death' but I certainly ensure everyone puts in enough effort so we succeed. We're a team, after all; it's important to remember that!"
Her sister tilted her head the other way and snorted, "Basically, everyone works to death."

While Blossom gave her a playful glare, Niles chuckled and crossed his arms. "I also heard you were decent with engineering, that Dexter taught you a couple things?"
A devilish grin formed on Buttercup's face as she stared right back at her sister.
Blossom looked over at Niles. "Yes, he did. I know a thing or two, why?"
The young man motioned toward his armor and gave it a smack. "My suit got roughed up during a fight over at Mount Blackhead; I could use some repairs and was hoping I could get some help. Hoagie said he'd get to the rocket boots whenever he had time, hopefully tonight."
She nodded, taking a couple steps closer and inspected some of the bent and fractured pieces of titanium plate. "Yes, I could take a look at it for you. Do you have blueprints I could get a look at? Maybe I could ask Dexter since he-"
"No no!" Niles held his hands up anxiously, slightly waving them with a creak. He chuckled nervously, "He's gonna be busy with Computress. I personally wouldn't wanna bother him, at least tonight-"
Blossom hesitated, giving Niles a look. Buttercup raised an eyebrow to his response, but didn't say a word.
"Well, I guess I won't then? He's always busy with something." She sighed.
Buttercup grinned widely, "Miss him already?"
She stared daggers at her response, a hue of pink on her face. "I'll be free soon but likely not tonight; we're in between missions, so I've got some downtime." Blossom huffed and turned to look at Niles. "Please ignore my sister; she loves to start trouble if ever given the opportunity."
Niles paused, looking at her for a second. Her eyes were already on his, that same grin not leaving for a second while she swayed her legs. "You're looking at the best Powerpuff girl, at least on the field that is. I can take on any kinda fusion, no sweat!" Buttercup poked a thumb into her chest, then cruised her hand.

There was a longing, one in which he hadn't felt in a long time. This meeting was already a mixture of emotions but getting to see her again like this was unreal. His heartstrings were plucked, as if stricken down by an arrow. He stammered, his face turning red a little bit as he nodded, "N-Nice to meet you."
She quickly recognized his reaction and pushed him a little further, "What? Can't stand the sight of a girl like me?"
"I'd have to see you in action first," Niles quickly changed, a determined grin on his face as he crossed his arms. "before I swoon, anyways."
Buttercup switched. She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head a bit, "I'm curious why an egghead like you would wanna question that. I rarely lose, almost never." Her eyes scanned him up and down, squinting. "You think your little mech suit can beat me, dork?"
Niles corrected his posture, crossing his arms. "I'll take you on right here."
"Oh it's on-"
Blossom extended her hands out as she held them between the two, darting between one another. "Woah, recruit. I admire your confidence but even you said you're a bit nicked up. I wouldn't wanna take on my sister unless you're hoping to lose." She fixated back on Buttercup. "And you, quit taking on every challenge you get with everybody. The last time you did that, Coop had to repair Megas for weeks. You'd break this guy."
Niles huffed a little, smiling playfully. "Let's do it when I get the suit fixed; that way I've got a better chance."
"Man, I've never met a guy so bent on wanting to get whopped by me." Buttercup raised her eyebrows, getting away from her sister's arm.
"Well, you're a good test subject for the creative process. I mean, you'd be the best in this case, for suit improvements and all." Niles humbled, grinning a bit.
Buttercup looked to her sister for a reaction, looking a bit confused. "Creative process?"
"Well, yeah," he replied. "I.. uh, admire you guys a lot. I'd like to be a superhero like yourselves, with the suit that is."
Blossom lowered her arm and scratched the back of her head, a hand twirling through her hair anxiously. "Again, whenever I'm free, just get me the blueprints and I could take a look at it and see what's wrong. Keep in mind, there are dozens of projects I am helping others work on so please don't feel too bad if I don't get to yours in a while, alright? I usually help Dexter out with his stuff."
The other girl clasped her hands together and leaned in, shutting her eyes and sucking her lips together.

WHACK!

Buttercup yelped after Blossom smacked her upside the head, pointing a finger at her. "OW! Alright, I'll stop, it was just a joke." she flared a little bit, looking away and scoffing. Her hand rubbed her head a little bit to ease the sting.
As he took a step back, Niles nodded in response to Blossom and looked over at the other powerpuff girl. "Well what about it, Buttercup? Would you be willing to help out with my project?"
The girl looked at him with keen eyes, "How long would this take?"
"Not too long, I hope. I just need you for the fights; you're more than welcome to offer suggestions and feedback too." he replied.
Buttercup scratched her chin, "You're saying you wanna be a full on hero, man. That takes a lot of work, and not just the suit gimmick either. How are you, a regular recruit, supposed to fight like a hero if you lose your suit? Then you're back to square one and have to use standard rifles again."
"Well, if it's not too much trouble to ask, I'd like to get help from the source itself." Niles grinned, looking between the two of them. "You guys are great and I'd love to meet a standard like yourselves someday."
"Niles," Blossom began softly. "That's sweet of you to say, but being a superhero is a lot of work. I mean, we've never really taken the time to train somebody into becoming a superhero with the war. Besides, if someone actually did that, it would be Major Glory. He'd be the kind of guy you would wanna talk to that about."
Buttercup replied, "You really wanna train with us, recruit?"
The term 'recruit' brought a little bit of disgust in Niles; they had no idea how much he had actually grown when he was a teenager in his skills. By now he was an avatar of war, his old and true self gone because of Fuse.
"Yes, and I'll see if I can convince Major Glory to help me too.I know he's a pretty busy super, unfortunately." he replied.
Buttercup thought about it for a second, looking at her sister before finally speaking up. "I don't mind taking the reins, sis. You've still got a lot of projects and plus: you should really be seeing your boyfriend again."
"You know, for a second I thought you were going to be serious for once." Blossom huffed, her eyes flaring a bright red.
A devilish smile formed on the other girl's face as she waved a hand, "Woah woah, don't laser me in here!"
Blossom frustratingly took a deep breath and shook her head, giving a gesture toward her sister. "I will warn you, I don't know how well my sister can train but she is pretty lethal. As for me, well, I like that idea. If I have enough time, I'll get to it and join the cause." she smiled widely. "Maybe at some point we can have you meet Major Glory too; he's an incredible guy, and a great trainer once you get to really meet him."
"I look forward to it," Niles smiled. "What kind of training would we be doing?"
Buttercup got off her seat, taking a couple of steps forward and inspected him carefully. "I have a few ideas, starting off with getting you in shape. The better I know about that suit, the more accurate I can be."
"Again, suggestions and feedback is always important from the both of you. Bubbles would be too, if you could get her to join?" Niles asked hopefully.
Blossom shook her head, "She's been stationed at the Town Hall to protect the mayor for now; maybe when things look up down there? Otherwise, it would just be us three for now."
"What's going on down south?"
The girl sighed, "The spawners have just been a nuisance, projecting slime and filth nearly every day. It's a hazard to clean up and, since they're immovable, have been a real problem."
"I have a way of helping with that; I need to see Dexter at Tech Square, so maybe I could give a demonstration?" he smiled.
Blossom held a hand up, "Why are you so interested in meeting Dexter again? I'll be honest, you've got me skeptical."
Niles grew nervous; his throat ran dry as he took a deep breath. A thought about Two in the back of his mind spoke up and so did he, "It's a W.A.I.T. protocol; reconnaissance mission."

"...W.A.I.T.?"

The two girls looked at each other, going blank for a moment then back at him. Blossom took a good look at him, reading into his expression. She couldn't see past his eye mask, though the wording in his speech made him seem subliminally desperate.
With an uncanny insight, Blossom nodded her head. "I'm planning on heading to Tech Square tomorrow; you can tag along if you want. I can guarantee we're faster than any S.C.A.M.P.E.R. you'll ride."
Niles smiled again. Every once and a while she had her quips and moments, a part of her 'powerpuff charm' he called it in the future. Each girl had their own unique skills, abilities and personalities, but deep down they were still sisters. It was a sibling experience, something Niles didn't quite get.
"What time?"
"Ten," Blossom replied. "Good enough?"
He replied, "That's a good time. I'll be seeing you both then?"
"You can count on it," Buttercup said. "I don't have much going on anyways besides boring meetings and downtime."
"We'll be seeing you tomorrow then, Niles. Let's meet by the entrance of the tree house before we take off. That way we all know where to meet." Blossom explained.
"Sounds good," Niles responded. "I'll see you two tomorrow. Thank you for this opportunity; I won't let you down."
Blossom grinned, "Oh don't worry; I'm sure my sister will put you through it once you start."
"See ya around, Niles." she had a smug grin on her face, looking up at him.
His last couple of steps back to the doorway were slow, a little wave from him before he made his exit. By the time the door closed behind him, Buttercup turned to look at Blossom and made a face.

"Who is he?"
Blossom shrugged, "I've only seen him once; I guess I must've looked past him. Whatever he found being that urgent is suspicious. I like his attitude, but I didn't get a good look at his eyes. Did you?"
Buttercup shook her head, "No I didn't. So then, if he's not a fusion in disguise.. he's just weird?"
"I guess so." Blossom replied. "Though look at you! You've got a little fanboy."
Buttercup shook her head and grinned, "Ew, don't say it like that."
"Doesn't feel so good, does it?" Blossom snickered and crossed her arms. "If he's a fusion, sounds like Fuse is pretty mad at you. If he's a boy.."
Buttercup flicked at her hair in her face, chuckling. "Shut it, dweeb-lover!"
"Ack! Hey!"

The old garage was a husk of what Niles once had built up; none of the great weapons or tech other than his suit remained in the past. The shelves were empty, a single desk light hueing the room in a soft gold on his wooden work desk. A small, circular device sat on the center of the desk, flashing a light green. A slightly used office chair for a throne was all he needed. The faint sound of moving vehicles, equipment and people outside brought about an ambience he didn't miss. It was slightly muffled by the steel door, the only entrance and exit to this box cage he had. A few crates of spare wiring and scrap left to be assorted were the only thing he had to work with, barely anything high tech at all. A plastic square shower sat in the corner of the room with a single drain, a washing machine and dryer snug comfortably on each side of it in the corner for the most optimization.
The dynamo suit stood upright in the middle of the room, lit up by a singular light bulb pulled on a string. Its yellow eyes leaned down, staring at the floor while the blank teeth just froze on the helmet. The cape was slightly just off the floor, drifting from the soft breeze of the desk fan sitting beside the lamp.
Niles had changed into a black t-shirt and some khaki shorts, his feet kicked up beside the lamp while he had clicked a pen emptily in his hand. He slouched in his chair, his elbow resting gently on the desk and his head tilted to the side while he was deep in thought. What was once a treasure trove of reliability and easy work in his tech lab had now been reduced back to what it once was: an empty garage. Still, this garage led to his best invention: the first dynamo suit.

Three loud bangs echoed in this large room, causing him to ruffle up in his chair before slipping on his flip flops. "Coming!" he shouted, adjusting his posture and running a hand through his hair.
A hand slipped over and pushed the button to the garage; the obnoxious roaring and clinking of metal folding slowly made way to reveal a round outline. First a pair of sneakers, then some khaki pants, then a blue button up shirt and black gloved hands. Finally, Numbuh Two's face came into view with a wide grin, his arms at his sides while he stood outside. Behind him, the evening sky had darkened severely, a shower coming down. The entire district was wet, storm drains sucking up and running down as much water as it could possibly get.
"Hello, agent!"
Niles grinned and reached in to give Two a handshake, "Numbuh Two! Glad you can make it; I didn't know there was some rain coming tonight. I'm so sorry about that-"
He waved a hand, "Ah, no worries! You caught me at a good time."
The moment Two stepped inside, he put his hands on his hips and scanned the entire room. He looked.. disappointed. An eyebrow was raised as he scratched the back of his head, "This your place?"
"Yeah, don't mind it. I just.. uh, moved recently." Niles chuckled awkwardly, gesturing toward the door. "By the way, you want me to shut the garage door or leave it open?"
Two looked back, jolting a little bit. "Oh! You can leave it open! I like the sound of the rain."
"Well, feel free to get yourself cozy. I don't have that much supplies to work with but it'll make do for now. I need to make repairs on it soon but I don't have the materials just yet." Niles explained as the two approached the dynamo suit.

Two offered with a hand and Niles accepted. He carefully dragged two of his fingers across it, kneeling down and looking down at the boots. "Man, this is some top tier tech! I mean.. getting titanium laser-cut down like this is, well, impressive! If you don't mind me asking, how'd you get it?"
Niles looked up at the suit, stopping to think up a good excuse while he was looking away. He scratched his chin, answering after a long moment of silence. "It was a gift, for a good cause."
"I take it either Dexter or Mandark made it? It kinda reminds me of Blossom in a way.. maybe just the colors."
The cape was unclipped and pulled off, taken to the other side of the garage to set up as a hammock. "I had a hand in making it." he lied.
"Ah, got it!" Two replied, biting his lower lip. "you really outdid yourself with this one-" He looked up at the side from the floor at Niles. "So what seems to be the problem? Outside of the dents, I think you mentioned the boots?"
Niles made his way over to a little toolkit in the storage crates and picked it up, carrying them with him over toward the suit. "Yep! They're a little faulty, sputtering every now and again."
"Let's see what's up-"

The two quickly got down and went to work, starting on the right leg and took off some of the platinum plating. An inner mechanism of the leg was exposed, showing the tucked-in wiring and padded lining for the leg itself.
"Nice work on the inner lining; it's like a cozy nest for your leg." Numbuh Two remarked, his hands deftly working to detach the rocket part itself.
During this time, Niles took this opportunity to get a feel for the inner workings of the suit itself. Although he wasn't the greatest mechanic, or a scientist, he had a small talent in working on things like this. The first version of the suit had been his life's work, motivated by Blossom and eager to win. Even Blossom helped him directly, resulting in the first dynamo suit being constructed. It was clunky, slow and heavy, but it got the job done. To know the ins and outs of his new suit would be a great skill to have in the future, should something ever go wrong.
Together did the two analyze the damaged components, recognizing that the thruster itself had been cut open. Two traced a finger across it, seeing the frayed wiring and direct cause of the malfunction.
"We'll need to replace the thruster and, well honestly just get new wires. You got either of those spare parts?" Two asked.
Niles already began his search in the pile of provided junk and drew a small box of wires first, digging deeper for something to be used as a thruster. "If I can't find one, do you think we could make one from scratch?"
Two took a long good look at the thruster, rubbing his chin. "Well.. yeah, I don't see why not. I don't like keeping a thruster with an open hole like this though; you'd be surprised how many times coincidental accidents happen just because of damaged parts from prior usage."
As they worked, the air was filled with the sound of tools clinking and the occasional hum of a diagnostic scanner. Numbuh Two's goggles gleamed as he focused intently on the task at hand, his nimble fingers maneuvering with precision. Meanwhile, Niles assisted by handing tools and holding parts in place, his mind racing with ideas for further enhancements to his suit. The camaraderie between the two was evident, even if it was subtle.

After a series of adjustments, replacements, and meticulous testing, the repaired rocket boot whirred to life with a satisfying hum and pleasurable click in place. Numbuh Two grinned triumphantly, giving Niles a thumbs-up.
"I never would have guessed it's the thruster, to be honest. I'm glad to have you around."
Two gave a toothy smile, gesturing out toward Sector V. "Good thing I'm around… town!"
Despite this horrible joke, the two of them shared a good laugh together as Niles clicked the last part in place.
"Wait.. you laughed," Two paused. "No one ever laughs at my jokes."
Niles shrugged, moving toward the next leg and started removing a piece of the plate. "I just can't help it; my humor is busted, honestly."
"Just like the suit, huh?" Two snickered.
He shot him a look, chuckling a little bit back and waved a hand. "Hey, if you wanna be a comedy act so bad, plan an event night. I'm sure everybody is gonna be there."
Two stuck out his tongue, "The first guy to laugh at my jokes in a while and he thinks he's witty! Say, get this." He adjusted himself, getting ready.
Niles sat back and outstretched a leg, smirking as he crossed his arms.
"I once taught a new fellow mechanic how to use tools. Every time he would get confused, I'd say 'you know the drill!"
An uproar of laughter came from the two of them as Niles closed his eyes, leaning back and smacked his knee in place. Two held the side of his head and chuckled a little bit.

"Alright, alright! Onto the next one-"

As the two completed the last smaller repairs on the other leg and ran a quick test, it appeared to be working just fine. Two wiped the sweat from his brow as he turned to look at Niles and rolled his shoulders a little bit, "Well if that's the last one, I'm gonna head back and get settled in for the night."
"Thanks a lot, Numbuh Two." Niles nodded, dabbing him up firmly. "It's always a pleasure to get to work with you."
The young man grinned and closed up the little tool kit, nodding his head. "No worries, I work with all sorts of small stuff like this all the time! I can't promise I'll be free for the next time, though. If I am, though, come see me. I love your suit!"
Niles shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked left and right a little, "I will."
"Remind me again," he paused. "what was your name again? You're agent Arachnid, I got that part."
"Niles."
He snapped a finger gun and grinned slyly, "Niles, the guy with the metal suit. Got it."

The garage door shut behind Two as he made his way out, braving through the rain just to get back to his room. In a way, Niles felt bad about it, but at this point it was too late to go out and offer him an umbrella. Besides, did he even have an umbrella in that junk pile? He turned to look over at it and shook his head; it was for the best to get ready for tomorrow anyways. First impressions mattered, especially if it was for a young man like the old Dexter.
For the remainder of the evening, Niles took the free time he had to take care of himself. He took a long, thorough shower and switched into some comfortable pajamas. Despite the space of the garage, he took the time to clean up a little bit and at least make it look nice and neat. He didn't have enough time to scrub the floors, let alone own a sponge and a bucket. His suit was still someone dirty and busted, not a good look to have. Perhaps whenever he had enough free time, he'd take whatever credits Numbuh Four promised him and use it to buy furniture and quality of life items. This whole on-the-move thing was starting to annoy him, especially lacking in basic wants and needs.
After another begrudging pre-cooked meal heated under his hand cannon's light flame, a basic tooth-brushing with a disposable and a desperate search to find a pillow in the pile of provided goods, he climbed into his hammocked cape and fluffed out his pillow for rest. The lamplight had been turned off, leaving him alone in a dark, cool room under the soft rain. He had slightly shuttered from the temperature, cuddling himself up before sitting his head up. "Hey, X, I need a favor!"
The tiny outline of the nano formed, then he appeared with his own glow in the dark light. "Yes sir? Something I can help you with?"
"It's okay if you power down the suit to save battery and be sure to power it back up at nine tomorrow morning. Wake me up first thing!" Niles carefully ordered. "Have a goodnight."
With a serving bow, X placed his hands over his stomach. "As you wish, sir. Have pleasant dreams."
As the faint nano light went out, Niles sighed and cuddled himself up against the wall. It didn't take long with the cool temperature and the soft pitter patter of the rain on the roof to put him to sleep, preparing him for what was to come tomorrow.

It had been a long time since Niles ever felt so safe; he let his guard down, holding onto every single memory he shared today. His talk with Blossom, his banter with Buttercup, his laughs shared with Two. He missed it. He missed these days; a spark kindled within him, something he never thought he'd get back in a long time.

4/17/24
I loved writing this chapter.
Here we're really introduced to past Blossom and Buttercup, beginning the relationship all over again with him and the Powerpuff Girls. There's that connection where he admires their power and general status, something he strives to have. You would think his interests as a hardened war vet would be in a hero like Major Glory or Ben 10, though surprisingly enough it's them. The thing I like about the protagonist is that he's secretly tender, mainly because of what he fights for. These conversations make it all the more sweeter, seeing a side of Niles most don't.
When Niles and Numbuh Two got to meet and have their interaction, it was honestly great. This whole segment as a whole was him taking X's advice and rekindling the relationships he once had.

Granted it's a slow and awkward start, though in the end could turn into something sweet.

6/6/24
Just updating the formatting. Thank you for making it this far! I have to say, as the author I think this is one of my favorite chapters. I mean the whole fic itself is precious to me but there's just something about this one. I don't know what it is.