Disclaimer: I do not own PPG or any of its affiliates.

Author's Notes: So I've been watching the show a lot more because of its appearance on Boomerang and thought of a couple writings from my favorite, albiet odd coupling.

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I still couldn't stop thinking about him. When my sisters would be happy snoring and dreaming of whatever they did, I'd stay in my bed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling and reliving the feelings he made me feel that night. My fingers would clutch my comforter and my heart would pound, relishing the electricity that ran through my body when he would cross my mind.

I once tried to talk to someone about this, but really, who can you tell. Bubbles is so much of a fucking airhead, I bet she's never even had a real crush on anyone, except for maybe one of Mojo's boys. And Blossom...hell, what the fuck am I supposed to tell her? She's so self-rightous and uppity about this crap. Doesn't believe in anything more than a polite kiss, no sex until marriage, GOD. It's so...pretentious to me. Professor's been preoccupied with his experiments and doesn't exactly want to have a "talk" with me. He starts getting sweaty and stuttering, then says he has stuff to do.

So, night after night, here I am, laying here with a hand pawing at my waistband and the other longing to be laced in his. I can't keep doing this. I'm getting nowhere and he probably doesn't even really care about me anymore, if he ever really did in the first place. But...fuck, I want to know.

I NEED to know.

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"Hey boss, what's eating yousss?" I heard Snake ask over my shoulder.

"Nothing, go back to whatever you was doing." I told him. As much as I hung around the boys, I didn't feel like being around them much. Somethin' was buggin' me and nothing really seemed entertaining. Plus the music seemed way too fucking loud and my head was pounding like it wanted to explode. Maybe a walk would set me right and get me out of this stupid mood...

When I opened the door, I felt myself hit a smaller body and tumble, smashing my face into the ground. What the fuck, who's in the junkyard tonight?! Probably one of Snake's bitches. If my glasses are scuffed, I'm gonna...

Oh.

When I first got eyes on her, I thought to myself, 'Shit, what did we do this time?' But she didn't have the other two with her. And...she was in pajamas. What the hell was this about?

Then I saw blood dripping down her cheek. I had apparently knocked her into a sharp piece of metal. Aww, crap...Somethin' told me this was gonna be a long night.

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"Shit, what the hell, Buttercup? It's like 3 in the morning." Ace helped her up and shut the door behind him from the small hovel he lived in with the rest of the boys. "So what did we do this time to merit you kicking the shit out of us in your pajamas?"

"No, no...you didn't do anything..." Her eyes dropped to look at her feet as Ace cocked an eyebrow.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Why?" He watched as her face flushed.

"I just did, ok!?" She said, frustration in her voice as she grasped for a reason.

"Ok, ok...Well, uh, I was just gonna take a walk and...you can come with, if ya want." He said awkwardly, looking over the girl who kicked his ass on a bi-weekly basis, who nodded and walked beside him.

The air felt thick with tension as they walked through the junkyard, Ace trying to figure out why in the world the Powerpuff girl had wanted to talk to him at all without a beating following talking. Her cheek still had a droplet of blood on it and he wiped it away. At the touch of his hand, her face reddened and she nearly tripped over her own feet.

Neither said anything else as they walked, ending up in Townsville Park, where nothing but fireflies and the occasionaly cat wandered in the darkness. The summer was in full swing and the warm winds twisted in and out of the trees and against the two's faces. You could hear small whispers of a car engine, shuffles of feet, or even the drop of a glass from some night owl's apartment.

Ace finally found a spot and flopped down on the grass, looking up at the green-eyed girl, who seemed much more awkward than he'd ever seen her.

"So, what did you wanna talk about?" Ace asked her as he stretched out on the cool grass, watching her sit near him and begin pulling out pieces of grass.

"I...I, uh..." Buttercup stuttered, not able to look him in the eye, or his dark glasses anyway. Her hands pulled up more pieces of grass, trying to find words.

"Well, when you find whatever you wanted to talk about, wake me up." Ace laid back against the tree, closing his eyes as he savored the quiet of the night opposed to the loudness of the shack he spent most of his time in.

Ace found himself a bit suprised at how relaxed he was, despite being in the presense of his enemy. Just being away from his group was a welcome moment since they had been getting on his case about his change in attitude, having been in a funk for weeks that made him seemingly useless, at least to his friends. He barely knew what caused the strange mood, but it seemed to happen right as the summer started, waking up one morning and considering what his life would be like without his gang, without being in Townsville, moving onto somewhere else where no one knew him for the hooligan he was. Starting over again...

His eyes shot open as he felt fingers pulling at his vest and found himself face to face with Buttercup, who was staring at him with bigger eyes than normal, looking lost.

"Ok, talk to me, what's the deal, Buttercup?" He looked to her, confused beyond reason of her actions.

"I. Miss. You." She said through gritted teeth, choking on the words as her fingers near ripped his vest in pieces. Ace looked at the near crying girl and took off his glasses, setting them aside as he sat up.

"Hold up, Buttercup. What are you talkin' about?" Buttercup looked up into his eyes, which had a tint of concern under the obvious confusion and shock.

"I miss you! What we had all those years ago! Even if then it wasn't real, it felt real to me! And it still does." She looked away, ashamed of speaking.

"Buttercup, I'm over ten years older than you. You were in kindergarten when that happened!"

"But I never forgot it! You meant something to me, and you...still do." The words came like glass shards in her mouth, painful and stabbing.

"But I don't mean a thing to you, do I?" She sighed and stood up, turning away from the elder man. "I'm your enemy and that's all I'm supposed to be. Who the fuck am I kidding..." Her fists clenched as she began to realize the futility of her sitation. "Who wants a kid following on their footsteps?"

"Hey, hey, that ain't true, Buttercup." Ace said as he scrambled to get up, hardly realizing what he was saying. "You ain't just a kid to me."

"Don't lie, you jackass!" Her eyes burned, both with anger and tears. "You're 28! I'm 16. What the fuck is supposed to come out of that?! Not to mention, we're supposed to hate one another! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!" She started pounding on his chest, flailing, making him wince with her overpowered blows.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He grabbed her hands and held them away from his chest to prevent further bruising. 'Stop that, you want cops to come?! Jesus."

She looked up at him, raging at her own stupidity and found herself lowering her hands and leaning into him, sobbing.

Ace sighed as he sat back down, holding the crying girl in his arms, listening to her wailing sobs slowly dying into whimpers, then into sniffles, finally soothed into soft breathing as she dozed. He looked down at the girl, who he had met at age 18 all those years ago. Her tiny body had changed much over the years, blossoming into a woman's figure. Her face smoothed out from a child baby face to soft and and defined. Yet, it was still the same. He was still a hooligan and she was still a superhero. Nothing could change that.

'Jesus fucking christ, what am I going to do?' Ace thought as she clung to him in her sleep, fingers never letting go of his shirt.

This was definintely going to be a long night.