The Girls Are All Grown Up

Ch. 47

Blossom and Bubbles waited in the RowdyRuff Boys' living room with Buttercup sleeping on one of the couches, while the Professor and the boys were upstairs trying to treat Butch.

Blossom was immensely grateful that her father was so amazing with medicine, doctoring, and anything scientific. But she knew that still didn't mean that Butch would survive, he'd been stabbed twice and the second one did a lot of damage.

As she paced about the room she chewed on her nails, if she was being honest, she wasn't so sure that he was going to pull through. 

And then Buttercup would wake up to Butch being gone.

And Brick and Boomer would've lost their brother and best friend all because of her.

Because she'd brought her sisters back together. 

She'd broken her own rules and brought them back to the City of Townsville.

It was all her fault.

As Blossom's mind spiraled, she chewed harder and harder on her nails until she felt blood, but even then she didn't seem to notice it.

Bubbles did though, she got up and marched over to her sister and slapped her straight across the face so hard Blossom's head jerked backwards.

The red head stared at her sister in shock, ''What the hell was that for?!"

''For losing your shit! Keep it together until we know, Blossom. Until we know he's not okay, there's still a chance.'' She said with a fierce look.

Blossom nodded her head, keeping a hand up to cup her throbbing cheek. ''I- I can't look at her if... if he doesn't make it Bubbs.''

Bubbles eyes softened just a little as did her voice, ''I know. But sometimes we have to force ourselves to do what needs to be done, no matter how impossible it feels or how much it hurts, because it's the right thing to do. You taught us that Bloss, and if...if he doesn't make it... she needs to hear it from us. She needs us to be there if that happens.''

Blossom slowly nodded her head, ''When did you become the smart one with all the answers?"

Bubbles cracked a small, sad smile at that, ''When my two stronger sisters were gone, all I could do was try to find out answers about the bad guys on my own.''

She winced but said nothing, letting her sister continue.

''You guys were gone, everything was gone, so... all I wanted was to find out who had done this to us, and why. All I wanted was to have answers about what had made us so afraid and how to beat them.''

''That's what made you go looking into their weaknesses and everything,'' Blossom said weakly, understanding what Bubbles meant despite how sad it made her. 

''What kept you going, Bubbles? You told us how you dug in deeper and everything you found out, how many times they'd caught you and the hell you'd endured to get the answers... but... how didn't you back down or give up?"

Bubbles looked at Buttercup's sleeping face for a moment as she thought, and when she answered she looked right in Blossom's eyes.

''I didn't give up, because I had nothing else to lose except the good memories of my sisters and I.''

********************

''What's that supposed to mean?"

''Which part?" Brick asked dryly. 

''I think he means all of it,'' Boomer said, sitting on the other side of Butch's bed in a chair. ''He could've hit his head too hard while we were getting his stupid ass out of a freaking suicide mission.''

Butch squinted at his blond brother as if he might hit him, except that would hurt too much and he couldn't even breathe without horrible pain squeezing his insides.

''Guys, everything is hurting right now, just answer the damn question,'' Butch complained. ''What did you mean by that?"

Brick and Boomer exchanged a glance.

Since regaining consciousness, Butch had been drilling them for any and all answers before they were allowed to notify the girls that he was in fact not dead. The Professor stayed where he was, leaned against the wall on his other side and making no comment as he rested his eyes.

Boomer almost was sure he was dead to the world.

''It means Bubbles was holding out on us, she'd had a plan to take them down all on her own on a suicide mission as well,'' Boomer bit out, still pissed at it himself. ''In the years they were all separated, she spent it all being a master spy and getting good with techy-shit and finding out how to beat them and just about everything she could.''

''Damn,'' Butch breathed, clenching his jaw at the pain exploding in his chest at the simple action.

''Right?" Brick snorted, ''I mean I was curious what they'd been up to in the years of their disappearance, but like... Blossom being the best jewel thief and part of a gang, Bubbles fucking doing Mission Impossible and OO7 shit, whatever the fuck Buttercup was doing.... that was definitely not expected.''

Butch laughed despite the pain, and his brothers joined in too.

Their girls were there. They were really there, and they were alive. And they'd been up to wacky shit none of them would've ever thought of for the three goody-two-shoes they hated as kids.

''So, you mean to tell me BUBBLES was the one who found out how to beat them and where they would have us at? She was a freaking mastermind this whole time?" He still couldn't quite believe it.

''Well... more or less,'' Boomer said, ''She never thought she'd see her sisters again, so she was gonna go out on her own terms-- taking as many of them out as possible. Which if you think about it, that's what each of the girls have been trying to do on their own at different times.''

''It's....almost ironic, in a terrible sort of way,'' Brick said with a grimace.

Boomer and Butch nodded their heads in agreement, well, Butch tried to but had to give up after a minute. He instead, let Boomer use his hands to nod his head for him.

Brick cracked a smile for the first time since Butch had open his eyes, ''I'm glad you didn't die, bro.''

''Yeah, we'd be lost without your dumbass,'' Boomer said, his voice tight and giving away just how worried he'd been.

''If you three are done now, we need to talk to the girls and put together a real plan,'' the Professor spoke up, startling all three Ruffs.

''His eyes are still closed,'' Boomer whispered to Brick, ''I thought he was asleep.''

Brick placed a hand to his forehead, ''Professor, maybe not give us heart attacks.''

''You all knew I was here, you getting scared isn't my fault.''

''We thought you were asleep!"

''You assumed.'' The Professor opened his rage-filled eyes. ''Now, if you don't mind, we're going to fucking decimate those bugs that've hurt my girls. I missed out on EVERYTHING for my daughters, and they will pay for that.''

Boomer scooted back until he was partially hidden behind Brick, and whispered, ''Dude, I see where Bubbles gets the 'hardcore' episodes from.''

Brick and Butch just nodded their heads along, too nervous to say anything.

But they were positive Boomer was right about that theory.