A door to a nondescript warehouse creaked opened, allowing the dim light of the morning to fill the black room. The man left the door open and looked around the inside briefly, his sunglasses making the dim room seem even dimmer and making it impossible for him to actually make anything out.

Some of his informants had told him to come here and although he hated running around on a damn wild goose chase, he couldn't exactly ignore the lead. Besides, his people were good and they knew better than to lie to him.

"Stay out here," The man ordered his group of loyal followers, gang members, as he walked into the building. The group nodded and remained where they were, ever vigil incase something was amuck and they had to get their leader out of there.

The man felt the nearest wall, searching for something. He found it and quickly flicked on a light and the warehouse was at once brightened by a bright fluorescent glow. He frowned and began walking deeper inside.

Boxes were stacked high, filled with what? He didn't really care.

He sauntered around the crates, his walk confident and sly as always. They say you can judge a man by his walk and if someone were to judge his they would know at once that the man was trouble.

But that's alright. This man liked being trouble.

"Hello?" He called, his voice echoing slightly. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a pile of weapons. There were guns and other things he recognized but most of the pile consisted of small technological objects that, even though they appeared deadly, he had never seen before.

He frowned.

They were obviously stolen…

"Hello?" He called again, because although the weapons were an excellent find and would undoubtedly get him a lot of money in the streets, they weren't the stolen object he was after. No, he'd have to come back for them.

His mind was on something else.

Something else that had been unlawfully taken.

Taken from him.

"Hello?" He called for the third time, growing tired of searching but keeping his voice slow and sly like always.

He stopped abruptly as he turned around a particularly high stack of crates. Behind his sunglasses his eyes narrowed but besides that his face was impassively calm and collected, a trick he'd had to learn after years of having to keep his cool.

"What took you so long?" A girl, strapped to a metal slab, asked weakly. Her voice cracked miserably despite her obvious attempts to sound brave and she cringed at her efforts.

"You're one hard broad to get a hold of," The man replied, walking up to the metal slab which was serving as a crude bed-like structure. He stood eying the state of the girl with inward rage. On the outside, however, he gave her a charming smile. "Need help?"

"No," The girl said defiantly, her light green eyes determined and stubborn despite the heavy binds that strapped her down. The man just smirked before walking up beside her.

There was an IV embedded into the back of her hand and from a perch hung a bag of clear liquid, dripping continuously into the girl's bloodstream. The man saw this and his eyes narrowed further behind his sunglasses.

"You sure?" He asked, no longer looking at her but still focusing on the dripping bag. He didn't wait for her to respond before he grabbed a pocket knife from his pants and cut the tube that the liquid flowed through. He would've just ripped the needle out but, well, that might've hurt her…

"I can escape on my own," The girl said, still trying to sound brave and hating herself for appearing so vulnerable. "Just give me a minute to let that chemical wear off."

The man just rolled his eyes before turning and giving her another sly, charming smile. The girl shut her mouth and glared at him but said nothing as he began to cut the thick leather straps that held her in place. Soon his pocket knife had torn through and she pushed herself up into a sitting position despite the fact that her head was reeling.

He shook his head, the girl was just so stubborn…

"How'd you find me?" The girl asked, her tone defensive out of nervousness and her voice still rough from being unused for so long. She scooted towards the edge of the metal bed, wanting desperately to stand.

"I always lurk around rat infested warehouses," He said, shrugging nonchalantly as he watched her every move, taking in her uneasy posture and weak progress. "You never know when there will be a hot young thing strapped on a bed waiting for you."

The girl, who had just risen to her feet, felt her legs give way beneath her, her muscles feeling fragile and her weight immense. The man's green hand caught her arm easily, pushing her back to sit on the bed again.

His skin was green against her pale bicep.

"Get off," She muttered, pushing his hand away as she tilted her head to hide her face from his view. Her short black hair fell from behind her ear to hide a blush that stained her cheeks. She cursed herself, feeling stupid.

"Fine, fine," The man sad with fake hurt, "This is the thanks I get for rescuing you."

"I could've saved myself," The girl snapped but it didn't sound so true when she immediately winced in pain. She looked down at her hand to realize she'd accidentally yanked out the IV needle. "Damn needle." She muttered.

"You feeling alright?" The man did well to mask his concern with a mocking tone.

"As if you care," And the girl did well to mask her nervousness with a biting spark of attitude. She often used that tone when she didn't know what to say to people.

"Your powers are gone, right?" The man asked, still watching the girl as she shifted on the metal bed, her face still turned away from him.

"So it would seem," She bit off, suddenly reminded of why she was in this predicament in the first place. She glared behind her shoulder at the metal bed and the torn leather restraints, anger boiling in her. "I'm going to kill him…" She began threateningly.

The green skinned man just laughed. "I'd be afraid if I were him." The man said, neither of them mentioning the fact that she couldn't even stand in her weakened state, let alone fight. But the man seemed to know that stroking her anger was wise as long as it wasn't directed at him.

"He should be afraid," The girl said as she attempted to stand again, this time her legs begrudgingly held her up although they shook with the effort. "I'm going to whip his sorry butt."

He raised an eyebrow at the last word, never knowing her to choose another word instead of profanity. It seems that lying there on that bed as the liquid slowly ate away her strength had also weakened her harsh vocabulary. But her feisty attitude hadn't deterred.

"Plan to do that alone?" He questioned.

"Plan to stop me?" She countered and he just grinned. She frowned.

"I'm going to hurt him so bad," She muttered as she took a step. Her legs, unfortunately, were still weak from the chemical and her body was still slow as so she began to collapse again.

This time when the man caught her he linked her arm around his neck and after a moment of hesitation she leaned her weight on him for support. With his help (which she didn't want!) they made slow steps towards the door of the warehouse.

"You didn't have to come," She said, breaking the silence, embarrassed by the fact that she needed help to simply walk.

The man smiled slyly, charmingly.

"Yeah," He said. "I did."

She frowned, her light green eyes looking away from his face and her body betraying her with unwanted weakness and unwanted butterflies in her stomach. She glared at the ground for lack of better thing to do.

Finally they were outside, the morning air oddly thick to the girl's nose and she breathed in the smell of dust in smoke. She frowned, looking around and blinking her eyes against the harsh light, her eyes unused to the sun no matter how dim it was.

Finally her eyes adjusted and she took in the sight of the city silently, her anger bubbling in her chest but her lips were pressed in a thin line. She felt the man beside her shift to make her position more comfortable, causing himself to take on more of her weight.

She hated that she seemed such a burden but the sight of the town made her mind reel and forget her weaknesses.

She let out a shaky breath.

"I'm going to kill him," She repeated darkly but also with a slightly resigned tone as if she knew very well she was too battered to do so.

She started moving off towards a nearby pile of ruble, unlinking her arm from the man's neck as she did so. He seemed slightly upset by the action but forced a smile and an indifferent look because they were outside now and his men were watching.

"The battle is that way," The green skinned man said, watching the girl walk slowly (very slowly) away from behind his sunglasses. She was too weak, she needed medical attention.

"I know," She said, still hobbling in the other direction, her black hair in a disarray and her body sore and feeble.

"Aren't you going to kill him?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow.

The girl threw him a fiery look over her shoulder, startling him with the contrast between her lively look and her tender movements.

"I've just been strapped to a bed for almost four days," The young girl said and her voice wasn't so much harsh as it was a mocking tease. "I kind of have to piss before I can take down any evil villains."

The man smirked as his men laughed at the girl's cheek.

"Is that alright?" She asked even though he knew full well she didn't care if it was alright with him or not.

"Do as you please," He smiled but still watched her carefully until her slow moving body disappeared behind a pile of debris. Immediately he turned to face his crew. "Hey," He called, pointing to a man, and the addressed man came forward. "You heard the lady; she's been on a bed for four days. Don't you think she might need some food and water?"

The man with the overly pointed nose nodded his head quickly before setting off at a fast pace to find somewhere that would have some unharmed previsions. He didn't question his leader once.

The man with the sunglasses just smiled again, leaning back against the wall of the warehouse, waiting for the girl to come back. Once she did he'd need to find somewhere to take her, somewhere they could look after her, but until then he'd let her think she was calling the shots. It wouldn't do well to boss a girl with her attitude around.

No, he'd drag her to find a doctor later, until then he'd let her be content and bossy, just as she should be.

And she was with him now, no longer stolen….

Just as she should be.

----

Her pink eyes blinked open, feeling incredibly heavy and her head was pounding immensely. She recognized at once that she was in a hospital due to the machinery around her and the stark white walls. She jolted fully awake at the realization.

"What's going on?" She whispered, sitting up in the hospital bed, her body craving the soft mattress but her mind recalling all the previous events. The fight. The blow to the back of her head. "Oh God, I passed out." She muttered darkly, upset.

'But,' She thought reasonably. 'If I'm in a hospital that must mean everything's okay. Someone had to get me here.' She sighed in relief at that thought, the images of a destroyed Townsville still flashing across her mind and making her a bit uneasy.

She reached her hand up and ran her fingers through her bright red locks, her secret nervous habit. The tips of her fingers brushed against a tender knot, making her feel dizzy with pain.

"Look what I've got!" A loud, overly animated voice called and the redheaded girl turned quickly to look at the door. Her mouth dropped open when she recognized the boy standing there, smiling at her.

"You?" She asked scathingly.

The blonde boy just smiled wider, his dark blue eyes dancing as if he knew something she didn't. She just glared at him, raising her chin with pride despite the fact that she was bedridden and knew better than to attempt to stand up.

"I brought you magazines," The boy informed the pink-eyed girl, either ignoring her harsh tone and stance or not noticing it. He held up the glossy book for her to see. "And…" He trailed off as if to add suspense. "The whole contents of the vending machine!"

The blue-eyed boy promptly dumped the load onto the foot of her bed, unaware as she watched him closely, not trusting him for a minute. Her eyes widened when he suddenly climbed up, sitting cross-legged at her feet, his hands shifting through the pile of unhealthy food.

"What're you doing here?" The girl asked untrustingly, her pink orbs following the path his hands made until they found what they had been looking for. Babyruth…

He didn't even raise his eyes to meet her. "No where else to go," He said with a shrug. The girl only frowned more but her shoulders became less tense at his unexpected and non-violent behavior.

"Is Townsville…?" The girl cut herself off, unable to ask. A traitorous lump formed in her throat.

"Gone," The boy confirmed, his tone still casual but his shoulders had tensed as he tore open the candy bar with unnecessary force. The girl looked down at her lap, her long elegant fingers fiddling with the hospital blanket.

"And my sisters?" She asked, the lump feeling larger and her head pounding even more.

The boy was quiet for a good minute before he looked up at her, his dark blue eyes serious and surprisingly his smile was gone.

He shrugged again.

"I don't know." He said before looking away, back down at his chocolate snack, hesitating before taking a bite. "Alive I guess." The girl just looked back down at her lap.

"Where are we?" She questioned after a moment of silence. The redheaded girl had always hated silences unless she was studying. All other times though, she preferred to hear some sort of noise. It paid off to have to talkative sisters when it came to this.

"Citysville Hospital," The blonde answered before he had completely swallowed. Usually the redheaded girl would have minded but she was too distracted to comment on his eating habits. Townsville…gone? And…they were in Citysville?

"You took me here?" She asked, feeling oddly numb. Her head was still pounding but the thoughts of her sisters…her town…made her feel very cold. "Why?"

"There was no where else," He said, suddenly defensive, misunderstanding what the girl had meant. She looked up to meet his upset blue eyes and she was instantly reminded of her sister. She had to look away.

"I meant why would you take me here?" The girl clarified.

"Oh," The boy mumbled, obviously embarrassed at his moment of stupidity. "I guess…because my brother told me to." He sighed, feeling dumb for admitting his lackey tendencies. He took another bite of the chocolate bar.

"Where's he now?" She asked, hoping to speak to the blonde boy's leader. She wasn't sure if that was the brother he was referring to but she'd just assumed. Maybe if they talked she'd know what was going on.

"He went back to look for…" He trailed off uneasily. It was quiet for a moment. "We had to leave a few people behind when we came here. We planned on just dropping you off and going back but the doctor said you should have someone here when you woke up."

"And they picked you?" She asked with a bit of ridicule, her pink eyes bright and a thin red eyebrow raised.

The boy huffed. "A thank you would suffice," He said sarcastically. There was a bit of chocolate on his chin. "I had to fly you to a completely different city to get you medical attention. There was an overload on rooms and I practically had to fight the lady at the front desk to take you right away."

"An overload of rooms?" The girl repeated, easily ignoring the list of complaints the blue-eyed boy put forth. "What do you mean? Citysville has a huge hospital, how can if be full?"

He gave her look, clearly saying that she was smart and should get this on her own. The girl just stared evenly back.

"Where do you think all the people from Townsville had to go?" He asked. The girl was silent, her eyes sad. "It's like we've doubled this town's population already."

"There were a lot of survivors then?" The girl asked. If there were a lot of people in Citysville that had escaped the mayhem then maybe her sisters could as well. She latched on to that hope.

The boy seemed to sense her train of thought and smiled.

"Yeah," He said with a shrug, shifting to get comfortable and the girl drew up her legs to give him more room. "A lot of people pulled through. It was one hell of a city, brought up a lot of survivors."

The girl nodded.

Yes, living in Townsville forced you to go through enough. You had to learn to survive.

"Good," She mumbled, relaxing back against the pillows, her pink eyes drooping. "Thanks," She said as almost and afterthought, watching as the boy devoured the candy at the end of her bed.

"Here," The blonde boy said, tossing a bag of Skittles at the girl. She caught it quickly. "Those cost .75 cent. Enjoy."

She just nodded, her head still pounding and her mind still on her sisters. But the candy did taste good.

----

The short man walked though the streets.

This wasn't his town.

These weren't his streets.

He shuttered at the mere memory of his burning city. He had just watched it as it collapsed, able to nothing but order a complete evacuation. But even that was useless, everyone had begun to evacuate on their own anyway. They hadn't needed his order.

He felt pathetically useless. Unneeded and unhelpful to his own citizens.

He turned, adjusted his monocycle and brushed his purple suit jacket, and looked at the hundreds of people lining the sidewalks and cramming into hotels and hospitals. Some had blankets. Most had nothing. All looked forlorn and lost.

This wasn't his town.

These weren't his streets.

But these were his people and he'd make sure his blunder wouldn't be the end to it all. If there was one thing he learned from being the mayor of Townsville, it was that the people there were undeniable strong and able to get by.

And they would get by.

He looked across the bay at the smoldering city in the distance. The ferry that ran between the two cities was still making trips back in forth, carrying more and more refugees over to the neighboring town.

He raised himself to his full height, which wasn't too tall, before sticking out his chest in confidence.

They would rebuild, as always.

They would rebuild like they had done every other time before.

They would rebuild and they would endure.

---

Complete and utter darkness surrounded him.

He couldn't move.

He could barely breathe.

He lay, completely still and utterly lost to the world above him. Rocks pressed against his skin and his body became strained to continue breathing as gravel pressed at his closed lips and began to block his nose.

He opened one green eye, ignoring the pain that immediately filled it in order to do so.

One air passage, a small break in the mound of asphalt above him, let a gray pillar of light shine through. Besides that, complete darkness.

Scream…

His mind commanded him but beneath the weight of the earth his pride still remained and he refused to call out. Refused to seek help.

Scream…

Sirens began to fill the air a few feet above him but from his position he could hear nothing but his own weakening heart beat and the constant drabble of his own mind. And even those were slowly becoming muffled.

Scream…

Fire trucks drove on the uneven earth that held him down but he felt neither pressure nor pain from the assaulting vehicles. The pain he felt was from the suffocating earth around him and even that was becoming easier and easier to ignore with each passing second. His senses were becoming dull with the lack of oxygen.

Scream…

"Have you found any bodies?" A voice on the surface asked, knowing nothing of the boy bellow.

A firefighter stared at the questioning young man, distrust in his eyes as he eyed the trademark red eyes and red cap. He new of this boy. But then the uniformed fireman looked around the broken city and the distrust melted away to a look of hopelessness.

"No," The older man sighed, scratching his hairline that was still reachable with his firedome helmet on. "Not yet." He looked back at the young man in front of him, watching as the boy's red eyes looked defiantly around the town. "No, no bodies yet." The firefighter repeated. "Too soon, all the fires aren't even out yet."

The red eyed boy looked slightly dismayed by the news, but only for a second before he nodded. The young man adjusted his red baseball cap unconsciously while shifting to step off of the uneven road he stood on.

"Thanks," The boy said to the fireman and by the way he looked away and shifted awkwardly you could tell the boy wasn't used to saying the word. The fireman just nodded before turning back to the rubble that was once a city.

No, no bodies yet.

Scream…

The boy below the earth hated calling for help. He had grown up in a life where there were few people that would actually care to answer such calls anyway. And so he never asked for help and he never expected it in return. Besides, there probably wasn't anyone up there anyway. It was too soon.

Scream…

The boy tried to move, shifting only minutely in the dark crypt he lay in. The movement caused what remained of his oxygen to be cut off as even more rocks filled his nose and his mind became even more foggy, more slow.

Scream…

The cut of the rocks against his skin, all around began to make him feel insane. Mad. He had to get out but his mind wasn't cooperating and so he couldn't think of what to do. There wasn't really much of a chance left for him anyway.

Scream…

His lungs practically aching for air, his skin torn, his mind amuck, the boy lay waiting.

Scream…

One last, fleeting thought ran across his mind, slow and hazy as unconsciousness began to grip him. It was of a blonde girl, laying in a bed before him, crying but trying to hide it in the dim firelight. He couldn't quite remember why the girl was crying but as his lungs began to burn the girl in his thoughts only became more vivid, more defined.

He didn't like her crying.

Scream…

'It must've been scary,' The girl said but her voice was distorted as the boy began to fade away from himself.

'What must've been scary?' A voice asked, a voice that belonged to the fading boy.

'Dying.' The girl said simply.

Dying…the boy was dying. He knew it, in the back of his mind, but he wasn't thinking about that. He was thinking about the girl in his thoughts. He was thinking about how he hated her crying. He was thinking about how she looked so lost. About how she wasn't supposed to cry. Ever.

He was thinking about if he faded now, he'd never stop whatever was making her cry.

Scream…

The girl in his thoughts began to fade away as his body began to shut down. And as the girl's image was ripped away the boy's eyes flew open in defiance, angry to see her go.

He then opened his mouth and as the dirt and rocks rushed past his lips, reaching down into his throat, the boy used his last strength, his last tangible resolve, his last breath…

And he screamed…

---

The red haired boy stood, watching the fireman walk away back towards the flaming wreckage that was once the library. He sighed, deflated. His control of every situation was slipping and he was beginning to panic slightly.

He had spent his whole life trying to keep his family together. It was only three of them so it hadn't been that hard. But after a while the family had grown and now they were all separated. All apart.

He had failed to keep them all together.

He had failed to keep them all safe.

And now…

He hung his head, upset. He kicked a piece of gravel away from him and it skidded across the uneven road, bouncing off the cracks. He watched it, wondering vaguely what had happened to make to road so bumpy. Had a water pipe burst underneath the ground?

He shook his head, shaking away the meaningless thoughts.

He thought about what the fireman had sad. 'No bodies.' And the red-eyed boy knew that there probably wouldn't be any bodies. And that thought made his eyes oddly burn with an unchecked emotion. He whipped at them, feeling lame and too much like a sissy.

Just as he turned to fly away, back towards the other city he had left his other brother at, he heard a muffled scream, so soft and smothered he wouldn't have heard it without his powers.

The boy froze, his red eyes flashing around to catch the source. It had sounded as if it came from…bellow.

But that…that was impossible.

The boy hesitated, looking around as if for a sign or indication to tell him what to do. He hated not knowing what move to make. He was a leader, he called the shots. But now he felt as if he couldn't decide if he had heard the noise or not.

He sighed and turned to fly away again, not trustful of his own mind.

But then a sinking feeling ate at his stomach and the boy froze.

He looked down at the ground beneath his feat, his mind mauling something over.

"What the hell," He said with a shrug before he raised his arm up to gather momentum before he brought it down harshly in order destroy the earth with his fist. The asphalt cracked beneath his strength and the concrete split with his power.

---

"Girls!" The man exclaimed, his hands trailing down his white lab coat with nervousness. "Oh thank God you three are all right. I was so worried!" He began to babble, the concern of a father making his words unintelligible.

It had taken him hours to catch a ferry over to Citysville. The line had been so large he had nearly swam the distance but luckily he at least had the knowledge that his house was safe which was more than could be said for all the people that had waited around him.

Living in the suburbs had turned out to pay off. Their house was perfectly fine and once everything had calmed down he'd even rent it out to people who needed somewhere to stay while they rebuild. Yes, he was lucky. His house was fine and his dog was at home safe and sound.

But he wasn't thinking about that as he walked into the occupied room in the crowded Citysville Hospital. People were lining the halls, injured with no place to go, and his stomach was sick. But all that was forgotten when he saw the face of his daughters.

They had all, at different times he assumed, been dragged to the hospital and now due to relation were sharing a room.

They were all there.

They were all safe.

All three of them.

"Hey," The green-eyed girl said weekly, her confident smile making the man tear up.

"You were missing," He said miserably before walking over beside her bed and pulling her into a gentle hug, mindful of the wires that came from her body and hooked to various machines around her bed.

"I'm not anymore," She said and he recognized the brave tone in her voice but there was also a hint of something else. He let her go to see that her eyes were red and she instantly whipped at them to keep from crying. "I'm fine." She said when she noticed her father's concerned look. "It's just been a while since I've seen you."

"It's been a while since you've seen any of us," The redheaded girl in the middle bed declared but her eyes were soft and her smile was gentle. "And you didn't cry for me."

"I'm not crying!" The tomboy said defensively, aghast that anyone would say she'd do such a thing. The redheaded girl just giggled and the man in the white lab coat just smiled at the scene.

His eyes then moved to the last bed off to the side. A small blonde teen was lying there, staring at her hands as if they were the most interesting things in the world, her mind obviously somewhere else.

"Are you okay sweetie?" The man asked, walking over to her after giving the pink-eyed girl a gentle hug as well. The blonde didn't say anything. She didn't even respond. "Honey?" He tried again. Maybe she hadn't heard him.

"Hm?" Was her reply as she looked up at him suddenly. Her eyes were bright blue but oddly dry. No tears. "Oh, hello! How are you feeling? Does your head hurt? How'd you find us?" She asked quickly.

The man laughed, used to the girl's tendency to talk too much and too fast. "I'm feeling fine. My head…has been better." Here he touched his temple where a large knot had been when he'd woken up on the kitchen floor. "And the lady at the front desk remembered you and showed me your room."

The girl, he realized, wasn't really listening. She was looking at him, sure, but her blue eyes had a far off look and her face looked…pained. He frowned, not used to this behavior. Especially not from this daughter.

"Are you alright?" He asked, placing a hand on her small shoulder. He felt the other two girls watching them with interest.

The girl didn't answer.

She didn't have a chance.

"Okay, I got some more snacks! The vending machines are stripped with all these refugees…" The blonde boy trailed off, realizing the new presence in the room. "Hello," The boy said, suddenly very awkward.

"Hello," The older man replied, eying the teen distrustfully. This boy was a villain, he knew that. Then why was he bringing his daughters food? Was it poisoned? "Can we help you?"

"Um," The boy laughed, slightly nervous under the eye of the father. "Three Musketeer, sir?" The boy asked, holding out the bar as if it were a peace offering.

The blonde girl with light blue eyes was forgotten. The worry about her distant attitude was forgotten. And as the four other occupants of the room talked, she stared back down at her hands, silent and resigned.

And very, very upset.

---

"The redhead will be alright," The doctor said to a nurse. In truth they should be helping other patients but its not everyday three superhuman girls come for medical care. The opportunity to gossip was too intense to ignore. "She just suffered a few bruises and an electric shock but her powers helped her almost immediately recover. She'll just have a headache for a while."

"Did you see her pink eyes?" The nurse asked, her tone hushed as if it were a huge secret. "I've never seen such things."

"The girl…the one with the green eyes," The doctor continued, ignoring the nurse's comment and stumbling to describe the patient he was referring to. Having not ever visited Townsville (and obviously not being able to in the future) the man had never taken time to learn which superhero was which.

The nurse nodded to show she knew who he was talking about. "Has an attitude, that one." She nodded sagely.

"She's going to take a while to get her powers back. She was constantly submitted to the chemical, that way it'll take longer for her to recover then the other two." He said in hushed tones as well.

"But she will get her powers back?" The nurse asked, surprised.

"Yep, that chemical was faulty," The doctor informed her. "It'll wear off eventually. A few weeks in that green-eyed girl's case."

"But their father made that chemical. He's a man of science."

"Obviously not a good one," The doctor responded and the nurse tittered at his comment.

"What about that blonde one?" The nurse asked. "She's the only one who was physically stable when she came in. The other two were being carried."

"That one doesn't have powers either," The doctor said with a nod. "She'll probably have them back in a few days." He diagnosed.

"She's a bit quiet don't you think?"

"Most of the people around here are quiet today," The doctor laughed, indicating the many people in the hallway of the hospital. "They've seen their own houses burn. Not much to say after that."

"But that girl…"The nurse trailed of, rapping her nails against her teeth. "It's a different kind of quiet. Like her hearts hurtin' or something like that. And her eyes…she's never really looking at you. It's like she's trying to see someone else."

The doctor just shook his head. He didn't care what was wrong with the blonde girl's eyes or heart. The nurse before him always tried to figure people out when there wasn't a need. He just sighed and said his goodbyes, leaving the nurse to her contemplations.

Who cared about a blonde girl who is quiet like her heart's hurting?

----

"I want to hold the baby now!" The spoiled teen's voice was shrill and she put her hands on her hips. Her poofy red hair fell over one of her pale shoulders and she glared at the pink-eyed girl before her.

"Tough-luck," The other girl snapped, her red hair much tamer then the spoiled girl's before her. "It's my turn!"

The woman, tall and pretty, watched the girl's argument, her eyes wide. In her arms her baby laughed at the scene, his red-eyes dancing with mirth and a toothless smile spreading on his face.

"You already held the baby!" The spoiled girl argued, stepping around the kitchen chair to get the baby.

"You're just going to drop him!" The pink-eyed girl challenged. It was habit for these two girls to fight, no matter what their fights were over.

It seems no matter what, some things don't change.

The two continued to bicker, much to the dismay of the mom and the amusement of a green-eyed girl who sat in a chair watching and laughing. A man in a lab coat walked in, having heard the noise from his lab.

"Girls!" The man reprimanded, eying the spoiled girl with a bit of distrust, seeing as she was a criminal and she was in his kitchen. "Don't fight in front of the baby, you'll teach him bad habits."

No one mentioned the fact that, with the baby's bloodline in consideration, the young infant probably already had a future of fighting ahead of him.

"It's alright," The mother said, tall and pretty. "I'm used to it." She laughed softy.

The three younger girls promptly began to bicker, the two redheads each wanting a chance to hold the baby and the green-eyed girl just wanting a chance to fight. She'd been too weak to even stand for days and she was thankful to be down with the rest of the commotion.

"We're so glad you can stay with us," The man addressed the mother, ignoring the fighting girls this time. "We're sorry your house was ruined."

"That's alright," The woman assured him. "I'm grateful to be here." In truth she was very lucky to be there, but she had wanted to stay somewhere else. But that somewhere else seemed to be off limits still, the man she loved still refusing to put her in danger by being near him.

The mother didn't care though. She'd face the worst dangers if it meant being near him.

"So, you're a school teacher?" The man in the lab coat asked.

"Yes," She laughed. "First grade teacher. I love it and have even had the opportunity to teach a few older kids to read as well."

The mother smiled at that memory.

The man she loved was patient enough with her as she had taught him to read.

But it was his brothers that got frustrated with it all.

One thing was certain, criminals were almost as hard to teach as a brick wall.

----

"I just don't understand it," The man said, his lab coat replaced by a nice sweater. "Why him?"

"I don't know," The pink-eyed girl sighed. She didn't understand her sister's choice either.

"He's a gang leader," The man said desperately, referring to the green-skinned man that was presently visiting his daughter in the other room. "Why him? Couldn't she have picked…a football player or something?"

"I don't get it either," The red-haired girl sighed, her pink eyes distant. "But she must see something in him that we don't. And even if we don't trust him, I trust her." She derived.

In the corner a blonde girl looked quietly out the window, her blue eyes distant, only half-listening to the conversation around her.

"I guess," The man sighed. "I just…worry."

"I know," The redhead affirmed. "So do I, but we have to learn to trust her I guess."

"But…" The man trailed off miserably. "Why him?"

"Love is love," The pink-eyed girl said. "Love doesn't make sense. Besides, we can't tear them apart."

Neither of them noticed the blonde girl as she stood and left the room, disappearing up the steps. She was quiet and aloof and had been like a ghost around the house for the past few days.

"Yes," The man mumbled. "I suppose if it is love…we can't tear them apart. That is the worst thing we could do."

The door upstairs shut, blocking out everyone and locking the blonde girl inside. Alone and quiet.

And very upset.

----

"Where is he?" The blonde boy asked his red-eyed brother.

"Gone." The boy said simply, laying on his bed, the fire warming him and the wooden walls a familiar scene.

"Dead?" The blonde asked.

"Maybe, now." The red-eyed boy answered.

"You found him, didn't you?" The blonde asked, his tone angry. "You found him that day you went back to town."

The brothers never had secrets and the blonde wanted to know.

"Yes, I found him." The boy, the leader, sighed.

"Well, was he dead?" The blonde boy felt childishly scared to hear the answer, his mind not wishing to imagine the details.

"Yes," The boy said, his tone defensive. Hurt. "But I helped him…and he breathed."

"So he's okay?!" The blonde was suddenly very relieved, albeit a bit confused. It he was alive, why wasn't he here with them? If he was alive why hadn't his brother said anything?

"I don't know," The leader replied. "He left to find that bastard responsible for this mess."

"Do you think he'll kill that ass-hole?" The blonde asked, secretly thrilled at the news of his brother's life.

"If he can, yes. But he's probably going to die too," It was a fact. "He was too hurt when I found him to win." The red-eyed boy hesitated. "Should I have gone with him to help? I could've helped him fight."

"You had your kid to worry about," The blonde said. Personally, he would have went to help. But that was just him and he never judged his brothers or thought wrong of them for their choices. "So…he's probably dead then?" The blonde tried to confirm.

"Yeah," The leader sighed, turning away from his blonde brother, feeling suddenly ashamed. "But if he's not dead…he'll be picking gravel out of his hair for the next ten years."

Both of the boys laughed…although neither of them felt very happy.

----

The blonde girl sat in her room, the curtains open and the afternoon sun streaming in. Her posture was stiff and her hands gripped the edge of her bed, her knuckles white from the hold. Her eyes stared unseeingly at the wall across from her, her breathing steady and her heart heavy.

It had been about a week since she'd gotten back from the hospital. It had been about two weeks since the day Townsville had been destroyed.

She sighed and looked down at her hands, which she drew up into her lap to examine.

She was gaining her powers back. Slowly but surely. The process was slow but she'd been getting stronger as of late. While helping clear the city she'd been able to start lifting larger objects and if she really tried she could melt things with her eyes. Small things, but she melted them none the less.

Yes, her powers were returning. And soon her green-eyed sister would be getting back her strength as well. All was returning to a new, weird version of normal.

She brought her hand up to touch beneath her eyes, just to see, but there were no tears and she felt strangely…okay.

Which was wrong, because she wasn't supposed to be okay. She wasn't.

Why couldn't she cry?

Why couldn't she collapse and throw a fit, screaming at God for the wrongness of everything?

She wanted to, she did, but she felt no tear reach her.

Instead she just felt….nothing. No sadness. Nothing. Only a bit of loneliness.

Denial. It must be denial.

Denial to the fact that Townsville was gone.

Denial to the fact that she'd let the culprit get away.

Denial to the fact that he was gone. Forever. Gone.

Her brain told her this, over and over again. It replayed the tragic moment every time she closed her eyes. When she slept she saw him fall, she heard herself break.

But her heart…it told her that she was wrong. That he was still out there. It said that if she was in love, he'd be alright. Because love wouldn't let him die.

'No, love isn't that simple. Nothing is that simple.'

The girl hung her head, feeling defeated.

Denial, that was it.

She was in denial.

He wasn't coming back.

He was dead.

And once she accepted it…maybe she then she'd feel lost. Maybe then she'd feel broken. Maybe once she faced the facts she'd be able to cry. But until then…until then she'd just do what she'd been doing ever since she reached the hospital.

Wait.

Wait quietly and calmly for him to come back.

Wait until the world ended and her body turned to dust.

Yes, until she accepted the truth that was all she could do.

Wait for him as if he were still okay. Wait defiantly.

Denial, for now, was okay.

Denial kept her sane.

Denial kept him with her, no matter where he truly was.

----

"Did you see them?" A citizen asked, whipping the dust from his forehead.

"I've never heard of such things," Another said, stopping as she pushed a wheelbarrow full of rocks towards a dumping area.

"The mayor had them made almost immediately," A third citizen said, coming up from where he had been working on his hands and knees to pick up glass. "Even before he began the clean-up project."

"I think they're nice," The first man said, shrugging slightly.

"I think they're ridiculous," The woman contoured.

"I think it doesn't matter," The third laughed. "I think it's just interesting, that's all."

"I've never heard of such things," The woman repeated.

"You've never heard of memorial statues?" The first man snapped, aggravated and sarcastic.

"Yes, I've heard of them," The woman huffed, insulted. "But I've never heard of making a memorial statue for a villain!" She said indignantly. "And yet our mayor gets two! Two memorials for villains."

"The lesser of the evils that day," The third first man defended. "It's a nice gesture."

"It's laughable," The woman said with another huff. "They were villains."

"You weren't complaining when they loaded your ass onto that bus," The first man reminded her. The woman just looked away, ashamed. "Thought so."

"It's just interesting," The third man repeated, dropping his handful of glass into the woman's wheelbarrow. He clapped his gloves together and dust clouded around them. "Very interesting."

The three homeless citizens turned to stare at the statue a few yards down the road from them. It showed a monkey, stone cape carved to appear to be flowing, his metal head covering etched with deep indentions.

They sighed, looking away.

There wasn't much wrong with the statue, per say, but the woman still looked disheartened to have it. She knew, also, that another statue stood a few streets away, carved to look like another villain. She shook her head.

Maybe she could get used to the idea of a statue for a villain…but did the monkey have to be on her old street? She'd much prefer the statue of the young man, at least he could be mistaken as a hero from afar, with his good looks and all.

She remembered watching with a crowed of people as the statue was raised.

She remembered the teen girls tittering as the gazed at it, suddenly not minding the effort it would take them to help build their home again as long as it meant they'd look out and see the stone boy. She remembered the young boys, nearly six, looking up at it with admiration. Admiration there parents were slightly fearful of.

'In memory of Butch'

The plaque had read.

'A hero and a villain

A brother and a thief

We are indebted

We are in grief.'

The woman shook her head again. "Very interesting indeed," She muttered before pushing her wheelbarrow back down the road.

----

The room was dark and empty. Empty except for two people.

A boy stood in the shadows, his green eyes looking down at the bed in front of him. A nightlight cast a soft glow on the face of a sleeping girl. Her blonde hair was at a disarray and she breathed slowly and rhythmically.

He watched, entranced and feeling suddenly very awkward and clumsy.

Should he wake her?

Did she want to see him?

Did her want her to see him?

He sighed, feeling incredibly dumb. He shoved his hands in his pockets and continued to stare at her. If he were a romantic he'd say he could stare at her forever. But he wasn't a romantic and in truth he could stare at her for a long time…but then he'd most likely stop that in order to kiss her and he enjoyed that just as much.

He had planned on coming here, a night where he knew she'd be alone. Her sisters were both gone to various outings and her guest had fallen asleep the moment her baby had. And so he'd planned to come and see her. He planned to fly through her window, wake her, and never let her out of his sight again.

But now he wasn't so sure.

He knew she liked him, he did. But…she shouldn't like him. And if he stayed with her then she'd be in danger. She might get hurt. There was always new dangers, lurking everywhere.

He had defeated her last attacker. It had taken a while, but he did it.

No, there was no death involved, although he had deeply wished to kill the bastard. But instead they had fought. Hard. He had still been greatly injured and powerless and without the use of his right arm…but he'd fought. Fought harder then he'd ever fought before.

And then he left the bastard, bloody and hurt. If he died, then good. If he didn't…well, there wasn't really a chance of him living after the beating he received…so basically the bastard was doomed.

After the battle the green-eyed boy went and passed out somewhere, the injuries finally catching up to him. It took a while but soon he had begun to heal, slowly. And to the boy's amazement, he had begun to get his powers back as well.

And so, feeling better, the boy returned to the fallen city.

Returned to her.

But now as he stood there, watching her, he felt nervous. He had cuts and bruises still all over his body, would that revolt her? He had severely beaten a man, would that sicken her? He had left her for weeks to believe he was dead, would that anger her?

He loved her, would that scare her?

He groaned softly. He was usually such a confident person, what was his problem? This was just a girl; he should damn well have the nerve to wake her up. But he didn't. He couldn't bring himself to do it.

He'd never feared her rejection before. Their relationship had always been kind of predetermined. He'd be with her for as long as time permitted, she'd realize that the whole world hated him, and then she leave. That was it, that was how he saw their relationship going. He wasn't very happy with it…hell, he was livid with the idea of her ever moving on to someone else. But he'd let her go, reluctantly, and he'd resign himself to protecting her from a distance. He would, if she ever asked him to.

But now…now the dynamics of life had changed. There was a chance the world could accept new things. Accept new kinds of bonds. Accept him.

The city was being rebuilt, and with it, so was life. Things were changing.

Come on, there was a damn statue of him in the streets.

And that meant…that meant the world didn't necessarily hate him. The world just might let him have her. The chance that they could be together was actually valid.

Which was why he was nervous. Because he'd always assumed the law or society would tear them apart…but now that was out of the way and he could have her. She was there and she was attainable.

Except…what if she didn't want him? What if she was the one who eventually hated him? Could he handle that?

He sighed, mad at himself. He was being a pussy. Every part of him was screaming to wake the girl and show her exactly what he'd been wanting to do since the moment he first kissed her. But still he refrained. Still he held himself back.

He'd cheated death, beat the bad guy, got a statue, and he deserved the girl, damn it!

He sighed. He needed to leave.

The blonde girl shifted in her sleep, curling into a tight ball, bringing her knees to her chest. She suddenly grimaced. He raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was having a nightmare and felt foolish for wanting her to stop looking so afraid in her sleep.

He needed to leave.

He did.

He shouldn't have come in the first place. And now that he had he was just wasting time.

She was gorgeous. She was sweet. She would never be his. She deserved better.

He needed to leave.

She didn't want him. She'd never be safe with him. Never be happy.

He moved to leave, looking over her one last time. He took in her blonde hair, incandescent and tangled from sleep. He scanned her pale skin, her closed eyes, and her dark eyelashes. He watched her mouth form a slight frown, the corner of her lips edging down. And then he allowed his adolescent male side to scan the rest of her, taking in every curve and every piece of skin her baggy clothes allowed him to see.

He froze when his eyes caught sight of something.

Her hand was gripping something tightly. Her knuckles where white and whatever she held was hidden in her small hand. He was surprised she hadn't broken it with her strong grip.

He frowned, curious.

He needed to leave. She didn't want him.

But he reached down instead, moving to pry her thin finger away from whatever it was they were grasping. He was gentle, careful not to wake her, as he finally removed her grasp and her fingers fell open.

And then he smiled. A real smile, the kind he only showed for her.

A cell phone. His cell phone. The one he'd given to her weeks ago.

Now what was she doing holding that cell phone as she slept?

Something warm spread through him, doing odd things to his stomach and making him want to kiss the sleeping girl even more. He stared down at the small cell phone in his hand, shaking his head slightly.

Was that a hint? A sign? He didn't know.

He placed the small electronic on her bedside table.

He had to leave.

He leaned down quickly, her scent making him a bit lustful and entirely too comfortable, and kissed her warm cheek tenderly. He straitened up and turned to leave, walking to the window and letting himself fly out to the yard bellow.

Inside the room the girl's eyes shot open, her hand moving to touch her cheek. She frowned, not sure what had woken her. She sat up, sleepy and sluggish, her blue eyes bleary. Tiredly, she ran a hand through her tangled blonde hair and quickly froze, panicked.

Where was it?

She looked around her sheets, on the floor, beneath her bed. Where was it? It was gone! It couldn't be gone, it couldn't. It was the last thing she had of him. It couldn't be gone.

For the first time since the tragic day a lump formed in her throat and her eyes burned.

It couldn't be gone.

And then she saw it, the small cell phone, lying on her nightstand.

She frowned; sure she had fallen asleep holding it like always. It had become a habit of hers. She snatched it and held it tightly, still shaking with the thought of losing it so easily.

She flipped it open and pressed a button. This had become a habit too.

Every night she'd call the number. The only number in the phone. His number.

She knew no one would answer, but she called anyway.

And as she hit the button she held her breath, like always.

And then…a phone rang in her front yard.

She heard the tone and froze, sucking in a breath.

And suddenly she wasn't waiting anymore.

And she wasn't in denial.

And the smile that spread across her face could light up the dark.

And she was finally, and once and for all, okay.

Because the city was being rebuilt, and with it so was life. A new life. One where miracles could happen, where love could be found in the most unlikely people, and where out of the ashes hope could arise.

And where a boy stood in her front yard, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone.

"Hello?" His voice was the same, low and perfect.

"Hi." She replied, and her voice cracked a bit

And it was the shortest phone conversation ever.

But the kiss he gave her after she went outside and effectively tackled him wasn't.

----

One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
that word is love.

----

Umm…the end!

Okay, I know you probably hated it, and probably are confused beyond reason.

But…I just had to write this chapter in a different P.O.V. or else it would've all been Bubbles explaining what had happened to each individual person. And let's face it, that girl was kind of too out of it for that, so I had to change it a bit.

I hope it's not too bad, and sorry for the extremely corny ending. After killing Butch last chapter (I never intended to keep him dead, half of last chapter was cut off when I decided to make it up to you guys) I wanted to leave you with a happy ending.

I left some things for you to decide, such as:

Did Dayton die?

Will Brick ever let Ana be with him?

What will become of Townsville?

And most important: What will happen to Butch and Bubbles? Happily ever after?

So yeah, all for you to decide. I really hope you like it. Try not to flame if you didn't, but if you must go ahead.

And thank you for following me on this amazing journey between two star-crossed lovers….okay not really but you get what I mean.

THANKS!!!

---

Bubbles: It's not fair! I'm just as tough and strong and mean as Buttercup and Blossom, but they just don't believe me. They all treat me like a baby. I'll show them. I'll prove that I can be... hard-core!

Sorry that's just a quote from Bubbles that I thought was soooo cute. And it fit with one of the themes of me story…so yeah.