AN: It's been a while since I've posted something to this site, but I hope you enjoy. I don't usually ship girls (I'm ship boyxboy usually) but the hint of a relationship between Marceline and Bubblegum in 'What Was Missing' made me intrigued. I haven't been watching the show as often as of late though and I don't remember everything that's happened in past episodes, so sorry if there's inaccurate stuff...

Disclaimer: I don't own Adventure Time.

"Hey Bonnibel."

Princess Bubblegum rolled her eyes, recognizing the voice immediately. She turned to the Vampire Queen, a scowl on her pretty face.

"Marceline," she replied curtly. Marceline gave a familiar cackle before floating down next to her and peeking over her shoulder.

"Sooo, watcha doin'?" Marceline asked casually. Bubblegum gave her an annoyed look through her goggles as she readjusted her lab coat.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm compiling data and continuing experimentation to further help the Candy Kingdom!" she stated irritably before ignoring Marceline and going back to her work. The Vampire Queen watched her work for a few moments before quickly becoming bored.

"Can't you stop being boring for like, 2 seconds and have some fun with me?" Marceline pleaded slightly. Bubblegum tensed in irritation, placing down her tools and taking off her goggles to give Marceline a look that showed just how annoyed she truly was.

"Why are you here Marceline?" Bubblegum growled. Marceline put up two hands in mock surrender before her face took on a sadistic look.

"I should've known you wouldn't want me around. You never do. You seem to be able to make time for everyone but me nowadays," she offered coldly. Bubblegum flinched slightly at the bite in her tone before giving the older girl a firm look.

"Marceline, you know it's not like that…"

"Oh, do I?" Marceline snapped back sarcastically, her voice filled with malice "Because it sure seems that way. How about we just pretend I never bothered you so you can keep going along with all your little precious research? I know where to go to have some real fun anyway."

The Vampire Queen paid no heed to the disgruntled and frustrated call of her name from the sugary princess. To say she was upset was an understatement. Bubblegum always did this to her.

She knew they were opposites, but opposites were supposed to attract, weren't they? All Marceline wanted to do was get the princess to lighten up, have some fun, and live on the wild side every once in a while, but clearly Bubblegum wasn't interested in such things. That was okay though, because Marceline knew someone who was.

She floated over towards Finn and Jake's house while trying not to think of her recent interaction with the princess, only to be shocked when she saw someone with them who she certainly wasn't expecting. An amused smirk stretched across her face as she settled down next to an oblivious Jake.

"So what's up with Finn and his new lady friend?" she asked suddenly in a casual tone.

Now it was a known fact that though Jake was scared of vampires, being around Finn and in turn being around Marceline made him less fearful of the creatures of the night. But there was still a bit of fear there, so it shouldn't have been very surprising when Jake jumped a bit at the sound of her voice and looked over with panicked eyes. He hadn't even heard the her approach.

Marceline took in the expression with ample amusement and found herself heaving a loud, boisterous laugh. It was nice to laugh, especially when one was trying to get over what was starting to become an all-too-familiar routine of being rejected.

"Oh, Marceline! Geez, don't scare me like that…" Jake huffed, glaring lightly at the still-chuckling girl as he put a hand over his chest to calm his rapidly beating heart. Marceline rolled her eyes in response before finally settling her gaze on Finn and his guest.

"Riiiight. Anyway, wassup with the chick?" she asked dismissively. Jake glanced over at his best friend and the girl, a look of happiness and pride in his eyes that made Marceline even more curious.

"That's Flame Princess, Finn's girlfriend," he stated proudly. Marceline raised an eyebrow in interest, a small smile starting to make its way to her face.

"His girlfriend? Looks like our little Finny is growing up. Who would've known he'd be into evil chicks though…" she trailed off thoughtfully. Jake laughed as he finally started to get comfortable in the grass again.

"Yeah, especially considering his obvious crush on Bubblegum!"

With the mention of the name, Marceline's eyes quickly darkened. Jake's laughing came to a halt as he stared at her wide-eyed. It was quite obvious that he was getting scared again.

"Do me a favor Jake and don't mention princess know-it-all while I'm still here," she requested stiffly. Jake nodded quickly in understanding before focusing his attention on his friend once more, his expression turning to mush.

"Aren't they cute together?" he sighed dreamily. Marceline cackled, clearly entertained by Jake's codling.

"Yeah, they're givin' me cavities over here. I think it's time I broke up this love fest. Hey FINN!" she yelled suddenly, quickly gaining the attention of both Finn and his girlfriend. Immediately recognizing the voice, Finn beamed and ran over to the other girl, Flame Princess flowing cautiously behind him.

"Oh my glob, it's been so long since I've seen you Marceline! What's cookin' good-lookin'?" he greeted happily. Flame Princess gazed at the scene with an unreadable expression. Marceline noticed the look and decided she was in the mood for a little mischief.

"Nothing much, hot stuff. I was just thinking about you and thought I'd come pay my favorite human a visit," she stated charmingly. She took a step closer to Finn and enveloped him in an unexpected hug. Everyone seemed surprised by her actions, though Flame Princess seemed particularly upset.

"M-Marceline? You feelin' alright, sugar?" he asked nervously, not daring to move out of her hold. She cackled a bit, her laughter carrying lightly through the cool air.

"I'm feeling a lot better now that I've finally seen you~"

"Excuse me, but are you trying to flirt with my boyfriend right in front of my face?" Flame Princess demanded angrily. Finn blushed slightly from being called her boyfriend. Marceline wanted to laugh at the young boy's innocence but restrained herself.

"I mean, it's bad enough that I have to keep that pink thing away- Finn, how many girls like you!?" she demanded angrily as she turned her attention to him, her arms crossed in waiting. A bit of sweat trailed down his brow as he looked nervously from side to side while trying to decide what to say.

"N-not too many…"

"Not too many!? Just how many are there!?"

She was clearly outraged. Marceline frowned. The princess of fire wasn't supposed to get this mad- just enough to be jealous.

"Hey now, don't get so mad at Finn, okay? I was just playing around- I'm not interested in him like that. He's way too young for me," the Vampire Queen provided helpfully. Flame frowned, her eyes becoming more infuriated as she gazed at Marceline.

"I've heard of you: Marceline the Vampire Queen. Always wanting to stir up trouble. Don't you have underlings to mess with or something? Why are you messing with me and my boyfriend?" she demanded once more. Marceline's frown deepened, her eyebrows furrowing slightly as she floated closer to the fiery entity.

"Look, it was just a joke. Get over it. It only lasted for like a minute anyway."

"You should find better things to do than trying to manipulate people's relationships. Why don't you try getting one of your own? Maybe then you'd see why what you just did wasn't very funny," Flame growled. Finn took a step closer to her, his expression filled with concern.

"Calm down, honey. Marcie was just messin' around. She didn't mean it, see? How bout we all just cool down and pretend it didn't even happen?"

Finn's plea went ignored as Marceline placed her hands on her hips and grinned mockingly.

"I've had more relationships and experience than you'll ever have. You'd best stay in your place before I put you in your place."

"Ladies, ladies! Calm down! Things are getting a little out of hand!" came Jake's reasonable voice as he placed a slightly trembling hand on Marceline's ice-cold shoulder. The vampire hissed and glared at him, causing the dog to remove his hand from her shoulder run behind Finn.

"If you're so experienced, why are you still playing with 13 year old boys?" Flame snapped back irritably. Marceline scoffed and crossed her arms in agitation.

"Clearly you don't know what a joke is. I should've known better. This is you after all."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?" Finn asked in an offended tone that everyone seemed to ignore.

"If you know me so well, you should've known not to mess with me," Flame stated threateningly, her fire sparking a bit. Marceline looked a bit wary now.

It wasn't that she was scared of fire, but this was Flame Princess. This chick had the potential to turn into a huge, flaming…thing, and though Marceline wasn't scared of that either, too much fire was like the sun, and the Vampire Queen couldn't handle the sun very well.

"Ugh, people need to learn to lighten up. I'm sorry, okay? Didn't think you'd get so mad. I actually think you and Finn are pretty cute together," she responded in a bored yet truthful tone. Suddenly Flame Princess's wild fire was tame and what seemed to be a blush stained her cheeks. Finn wasn't faring much better.

"Y-you do?" Flame asked timidly, her stance less sure and more vulnerable. Marceline could've barfed at the display. Where had all the fire gone? No pun intended.

"Sure. I wouldn't have thought you two would get along considering you're pure evil and Finn's pure good, but opposites attract, right?"

Just like they should.

Fuck Princess Bubblegum.

"I guess…" Finn stated in a small, cute voice as he reached out to hold his girlfriend's hand. He winced as his hand was burnt but still gave the princess a reassuring smile which she beamed at. Jake once again had that dreamy look on his face.

"I heard you knocked up Rainicorn. That true?" Marceline asked suddenly. Jake's face soon looked embarrassed whereas Finn and Flame just seemed confused.

"Knocked…up? What is that? Is Lady Rainicorn also a door?" Flame Princess asked innocently. Jake flushed and Marceline just laughed loudly. Ahhh, the innocence of youth.

"Wanna tell 'em what it means, Jakey-boy?" the Vampire Queen chirped happily. Jake's eyes widened as he shook his head frantically from side to side, his eyes pleading with her not to taint them with the explanation. Marceline sighed. What a buzz kill.

"I'll tell you guys when you're older, alright?" she promised in her same bored tone from before. Jake sighed in relief whereas Finn and Flame still seemed confused and curious.

"Curiosity killed the cat, you two. I would know; it's my middle name," she laughed in good humor, quickly sobering up when she noticed the two youths didn't understand her joke. She groaned and shook her head. She couldn't deal with this obliviousness anymore. There was only so much a girl could take.

"Okaaaay…nevermind. Anyways Jake, didja?" she asked, turning all her attention to Jake. He nodded quickly in response, hoping they could drop the subject ASAP. Marceline nodded in understanding before patting him lightly on the back.

"You sly dog you…lookin' forward to seein' the little snots. In any case," she started, finally shifting her attention so it was once again on all of them "I've gotta go. Places to see, ya know? I'll catch ya on the flip side, Finn. Good luck with your little girlfriend."

Once again Finn and Flame looked bashful and Marceline had to force herself not to gag.

But now that she was away from them, what was she going to do? She supposed she could've called up some of her ghost friends, but she wasn't really in the mood to see them at the moment. She could take a trip to the Nightosphere, but she wasn't sure she was in the mood to see her father at the moment. In all honesty, there were tons of things she could do, tons of things she usually did, but she wasn't in the mood for any of it right now.

She sighed a bit as she floated down to the base of a tree and took out her prized red ax, strumming a few chords.

"I'm just your proooblem…I'm just your proooooblem…" she murmured sadly, a few stray tears absentmindedly falling from her eyes. When she noticed, she quickly wiped them away, shrieking at her own display of weakness.

"ARG! What am I doing crying over that sugary goody-two-shoes bitch!?"

"That's not a very nice thing to say," came an unexpected voice. Marceline looked up to see none other than-

"Simon?" she asked in surprise. He grinned before taking a seat down next to her.

"You know, I still don't know why you insist on calling me that, but 's cool. So watcha doin' here all by yourself lookin' so sad for, Marcie?" the Ice King cooed. Marceline sighed and wiped at her face again just in case she missed any of the wetness on her cheeks. The Ice King looked over at her in concern.

"Were you…crying, Marceline?" he asked in concern. She looked at him angrily before quickly turning away.

"O-of course not! Why would I be crying?" she insisted, though she was unable to keep her voice from wavering. She silently cursed herself for being so weak. It was so unlike her.

"I don't know. That's why I asked you," the Ice King stated with an oblivious shrug which Marceline couldn't help but laugh at. Leave it up to Simon to make her feel better even if he wasn't in his right mind. The Ice King grinned at her happily.

"See, isn't smiling a lot better than frowning and being sad?"

"Yeah…I guess it is…" Marceline murmured softly with a small grin.

"So what had ya so down girlfriend?" he responded easily. Marceline shook her head in defiance.

"Nothing…"

"Awwww, come on now, it had to be SOMETHING. Marceline the Vampire Queen doesn't get upset over nothing," he urged, tipping her gently from side to side as he pushed and pulled on her shoulder. She smacked the hand away before sighing once more and thumping her head against the tree.

"That stupid bitch never has any time for me…" she growled. The Ice King gave her a knowing look.

"Now, now Marceline; I highly doubt you'd want to spend time with a 'bitch.' Whoever this person is must be very important to you for you to get so upset," he urged knowingly. Marceline groaned and slid roughly down the tree until her back was laying on the grass.

"I wish I didn't though. I want to hate her- I want to hate her so much, like she obviously hates me…" she mumbled irritably.

"Are you sure she hates you?" he asked calmly. Marceline frowned deeply, her eyebrows furrowed angrily.

"Of course she does! Why else would she avoid me all the time? Always turn down spending time with me? Always criticizing me…" she trailed off angrily, her blood starting to boil from her thoughts alone. The Ice King frowned as well while staring off into the distance as if trying to come up with an answer to give her.

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"How can I!?" the Vampire Queen shrieked as she sat up to give him an incredulous look "Every time I come around, she makes up an excuse to get away from me!"

"So she's never offered you any kind of explanation?" he continued inquisitively. Marceline huffed and curled up, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"She just tells me she's busy all the time."

"So you think she really isn't and she's lying? Is that the problem?" he asked curiously.

"…Maybe…but…well, I mean, she can't be busy all the time, right? That's impossible!" she cried in outrage. The Ice King simply shrugged in response.

"Hey, I dunno. I didn't even take the time to ask you who we're even talking about. Don't worry though I've already figured it out," he stated excitedly while waving his hand to dismiss any name Marceline may've been willing to give him. Marceline cracked a grin now; his idiocy was the small beam of light in her all-consuming darkness right now. Not that she was a fan of light, mind you.

"My suggestion is to try talking to her again and not talking 'no' for an answer. Lumpy Space Princess is a tough cookie, but you make be able to crack her," he continued assuredly. Marceline threw her hands up to her mouth to muffle her laughter.

"Lumpy Space Princess? You think I'm all bent out of shape over LSP?" she asked after finally gaining control over herself. The Ice King looked distraught.

"You mean it isn't her? But she's always telling me how busy she is and how that's why she won't go on a date with me…" he murmured. Marceline had to stifle her laugher again.

"Riiiight. Well good luck with that. Thanks for the talk, Ice King," she said with a grin. The Ice King nodded happily and gave her a thumbs up. They both stood and Marceline quickly gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek. He moved his hand to the spot in awe.

"Did I just get kissed by a hottie? I've gotta go tell Gunter and then write this in my diary!" he squealed before taking off. Marceline simply rolled her eyes. That guy was such a creep sometimes.

And yet here she was, yet again, in front of the castle and about to take advice from a creep who had no chance with women. Just how low had she sunk? She shouldn't have to be the one to do this! She wasn't cut out for his sentimental crap. She couldn't do this. She wouldn't do this.

Just as she turned around to head somewhere else, she heard a light, frantic voice calling her name. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Bubblegum.

"Marceline! I'm so glad I caught up with you!" she panted happily. The Vampire Queen felt the small beginnings of hope start to conjure inside of her.

"I've been inventing this new substance and I was hoping you would be willing to be my test subject."

Any hope Marceline had was quickly washed away. That was all Bubblegum wanted her for? To be a test subject? She'd seriously had enough.

"No I won't be your test subject!" she shrieked angrily, finally turning around. She could now see the surprised and slightly hurt look in the princesses eyes.

It was really too bad she didn't care.

"I hate you so much, you know that? You just- I wish you could just be honest with me! You're the one who's supposed to be the good one, yet you're always the one leading me astray! Just what the fuck am I to you?" she screeched.

She took in the silent and withdrawn form of the princess who didn't even part her lips to speak mutter a sound. And it made Marceline angry- angrier than she'd ever been in her entire life. And she hated that it was this spoiled brat of a princess that made her feel this way.

She could feel her body changing and starting to contort into something demonic as a result of her fury. She wasn't sure if she would be able to control herself and not go on a rampage, killing anyone in site. But she wasn't her father and killing people wasn't really her thing, so if she was going to control this, she was going to need to get away from Bubblegum with her lack of emotions and lack of caring.

Why did Marceline ever give a shit about someone like her?

'Oh, that's right,' she thought bitterly as her mind became more consumed with rage 'Because opposites attract.'

That was her last thought before she disappeared into a black void and into the Nightosphere.

It was a good month until she showed her face again in the land of Ooo. And when she had, she acted as if she'd been there the whole time with only one exception; she gave Princess Bubblegum absolutely none of her attention. She didn't go to visit her, didn't talk about her to anyone- it was as if the princess was erased from her mind completely.

She seemed extremely happy – as happy as someone like Marceline could seem – and Finn found the need to constantly comment on it. Of course he was glad that his friend seemed happy, but she didn't seem content and that confused him. How could she seem to be one without the other? So he decided to ask some people about it.

The first person he asked had been Jake. Jake had simply told him he was over-thinking the situation and that things were fine. He'd also told him not to make a mountain out of a molehill, or something like that; Finn wasn't great at remembering all the sayings his best friend came up with.

After Jake, he asked the person he trusted the second-most: Princess Bubblegum. He had no idea what possessed him to ask her given the two's obviously strained relationship, but she was still the princess and really smart so he figured she may know something anyway.

"She's seemed really happy, but I think she's secretly in a deep funk," he stated in concern. He noticed how sad the princess's eyes had gotten and frowned slightly. What was that about? Did Marceline's unhappiness make her unhappy too?

"Hey princess, are you alright?" he asked, shifting the topic of conversation a bit.

"W-what? I'm sorry, did you say something Finn? I've been really sleepy lately working on these experiments, so I've been dazing in and out," she offered tiredly. Finn took in her drooped shoulders and the dark bags under her eyes as evidence of her claim, yet he couldn't resist the feeling in his gut telling him there was more to the situation than it seemed.

"I can see that…but…are you sure that's all that's wrong? I mean…I'm here to talk to if you need a listening ear…" he stated shyly. Despite the fact that he had a girlfriend and didn't want to like Bubblegum anymore, it was obvious there were still some feelings there. Princess Bubblegum gazed at him gratefully.

"Awww, thank you Finn. But I promise you, I'm alright. What is it you asked me? Something about Marceline?" she asked again. There was a foreboding sadness to her tone that made Finn feel wary.

"Yeah; she seems happy, but I don't think she really is. Kinda like how I know you're sleepy, but I think you're sad too and you just won't tell me," he continued thoughtfully. Bubblegum shook her head from side to side solemnly.

"I won't lie to you Finn; I'm not okay. And Marceline probably isn't either. I…hurt her really badly about a month ago and I have yet to apologize."

Finn's eyes widened as he ran up to the princess in a panic and shook her frantically back and forth by the sides of her arms.

"Then you've gotta apologize! For the both of you! I can't take this…this...suffocating sadness around the both of you all the time!"

Bubblegum sighed, her gaze dropping towards the ground.

"It's not that simple, Finn..."

Finn gave her a confused look.

"You hurt her, so you apologize. It doesn't seem that complicated. It seems like you're making a hill out of an anthill," he stated with a small chuckled while trying to remember what Jake had said to him.

Bubblegum's eyes flashed with anger from Finn's response as she pulled away harshly out of his hold.

"You're just a little kid, Finn. There's no way you could understand. This isn't like just waving a sword around all day; this is dealing with people's emotions," she ended snidely, an irritated look on her face.

Finn stood there blankly, his hands laying motionlessly at his sides.

"I see. So whenever I go around saving the kingdom, it's nothing but 'little boy' stuff to you. I guess you could get just any Plain Joe to wave a sword around for you, huh? No wonder you never took me seriously," he stated grimly before making his way out the door. He paid no mind to Jake's fussing over him and asking him if he was alright.

Bubblegum turned away from her so no one would walk in at any moment and see her crying. She picked up her discarded goggles and went back to work with science; anything for the Candy Kingdom after all.

Merely a few days later, there was an attack on the kingdom.

Villagers ran and screamed, fearing for their lives. Princess Bubblegum watched the entire thing, slowing dying inside. Everything she'd worked so hard for was all coming crumbling down in front of her. Her soldiers, as usual, had been practically useless against the foe.

She needed Finn, but she knew Finn wouldn't come. There was no reason for him to- not after what she'd said. He probably figured she had some hero on call when he wasn't around to save everyone. And even if he didn't think that, he'd probably forced himself to believe it.

"Princess! Princess! That guy out there - Seau de L'eau or whatever - he's got Finn!"

Panic rose within the princess once more as she gazed at Jake urgently as he burst in through the doors.

"What do you mean 'he has Finn'?"

"I mean, Seau de L'eau has Finn! We were-"

"We? You mean, he came with you!?" she gasped. She couldn't believe it. Despite everything, he still came to the kingdom's rescue. On top of that, she somehow hadn't even noticed. She was a horrible princess.

Jake gave her a confused look and nodded slowly.

"Of course he did. Why wouldn't he? The land of Ooo is his home and he'll do anything to protect every part of it," he stated confidently. Princess Bubblegum seriously wanted to cry.

"A-and he has Finn? You couldn't...you couldn't save him?" she asked, her voice raspy and laced with the urge to cry. Jake's eyes drooped and a large frown appeared on his face. He looked miserable.

"No...This guy's really powerful, Princess..."

Bubblegum choked back a sob as she tried to think of other options. She would love to use one of her experiments, but they hadn't been tested yet and she had no idea what the effect would be; she didn't dare risk the villagers' lives so recklessly. But as she sat here doing nothing, she put more and more people in danger.

"What do I do, Jake? What do I do!?" she cried hysterically.

"I-I don't know, that's why I came to you. Flame Princess can't help since she's made of water and we don't really know who else to call. You really don't have any ideas?" Jake responded restlessly. Bubblegum shook her head no and Jake grimaced before his face took on a look of pure determination.

"I can't give up like this! Finn wouldn't give up, so neither can I! I've gotta save him and the kingdom!"

"If you're trying to save an entire kingdom, you're going to need some help."

Two sets of eyes widened and glanced quickly over to see non-other than the Vampire Queen herself.

"Marceline!" they both shouted in shock. Marceline pointedly looked only at Jake, giving him a crooked, humorless smile.

"Finn's in trouble, right? So stop standing around here like some useless debutante and let's go save him!"

Jake nodded in agreement and the two took off out the window. The princess ran up to watch and saw Jake run up to the foe while the Vampire Queen morphed into something the princess had never seen before. Without almost any effort, she managed to create a void that quickly sucked the monster up, triggering one of the quickest battles ever. Jake quickly caught the falling and unconscious Finn while blinking in amazement at Marceline.

"What? I was in the Nightosphere for a month, so my dad taught me some junk. No big deal," she stated dismissively. Jake rested his little buddy on the ground and turned to her enthusiastically.

"That's was TOTALY a big deal! You were amazing, Marceline! You took that thing out with one move when Finn and I were toast for sure!" he gushed. Marceline grinned at him before offering him a coy wink.

"He's right, Marceline; that was amazing," came a quiet voice from behind her. Marceline didn't even bother to turn around. Her posture stiffened along with her mannerisms as she regarded Jake.

"Glad I could help, but I really need to split. Lemme know how Finn turns out, alright?" she requested. Once receiving a nod from Jake, she morphed into a bat and flew away, completely ignoring the soft cries behind her.

"Princess...?" Jake asked in confusion while gazing upon an extremely distraught Princess Bubblegum. She didn't answer him and instead walked quietly back to her castle in order to make preparations for hospital management and reconstruction and the like.

The pattern continued for a few more months: Bubblegum would attempt to track Marceline down only to come up short every time. She'd managed to make amends with Finn not long after the attack and she'd wanted to make amends with the Vampire Queen as well. Finn said he would help, but so far he wasn't having much luck either. That is, until he got her dad involved.

"Ugh, what could you possibly have to show me here in the Candy Kingdom, dad?" Marceline groaned as she floated alongside her father, landing in front of a particularly suspicious-looking house. It didn't make Marceline suspicious though; she would've been more wary if the house looked normal.

"I told you, I know a guy!" he repeated dismissively before opening the door and pushing her in. She stumbled slightly and turned around to yell at him, only to watch through one of the windows as he danced away. She stomped her foot loudly and shrieked. What crazy thing did he have planned for her now?

"I'm glad you could finally find some time in your busy schedule to finally talk to me," snapped an all-too-familiar voice angrily. Marceline froze and tried to open the door, not even a little surprised to find it locked. She tried some of her powers and wasn't too surprised when they didn't work either- her dad involved in this after all, and he was a pro at putting her in miserable situations.

"What do you want with me Princess?" she responded back coolly, not even bothering to add one of her nicknames for the pink girl.

"What I want is for you to stop acting like some spoiled little child and actually face me!" the princess demanded sourly. Marceline wanted to snap her in half.

"Oh, doesn't that sound familiar you hypocrite!" Marceline growled back angrily "See how it feels now? How do you like it?"

"This isn't the same thing at all! I was busy, doing what I could for my kingdom. You only bothered me because I was bored! You, on the other hand, are only avoiding me as some kind of revenge and all I want to do is apologize!" the princess huffed.

"Bother you? I came to see you because I knew all you did was science stuff for this stupid kingdom of yours, and I thought you could use a break for once! The intention was for you to benefit, not me! But I wouldn't really expect you to see that since you have that tiara shoved so far up your ass!" Marceline bit back icily. Bubblegum swallowed her next words, not quite expecting the ones that were just said, but soon recovered.

"Don't try to twist this so you're the one in the right!"

"Did you really want me here to apologize, or did you just wanna bitch at me all day? Because I've been living my life well enough without that," Marceline asked in frustration. The princess quickly sobered up, her expression no longer enraged.

"…Despite everything, you helped me that day," Bubblegum stated seriously. It was a sudden shift in the conversation and certainly not one Marceline was expecting. She furrowed her brow, scoffing a bit.

"Excuse me? I wasn't helping you, I was helping F-"

"You could've saved Finn and still left that monster there. But you didn't," Bubblegum continued confidently.

"Don't think you're something special, Princess. I only did it that way because it was more convenient."

"This is exactly why I say you only came to bother me all those times!" Bubblegum cried suddenly. Marceline only gave her a mocking look.

"Is that so? Then why the hell are you questioning me about the reason I chose to save Finn the way I did?" she asked smartly. She relished in the fed-up look she managed to garner from the pink young lady.

"You...! Yooouuuu...! UGH! Why must you make this so difficult to do? All I wanted to say was that I'm sorry that I kept casting you away. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you. Yet somehow you still get my blood to boil, and you're one of the only people able to do that on a consistent basis!" Princess Bubblegum finally managed to admit, huffing heavily by the end. Marceline didn't look the least bit impressed, however.

"Whoopty-fucking-doo. I managed to make the princess mad; someone give me an award," she drawled in a lazy, uncaring manner.

"Okay then, I will: I'll give you an award for being the most sweet, loving, and caring evil person that I've ever met," Bubblegum said calmly, a soft smile on her face. She was completely calm now, to the point where it actually made Marceline wary.

"What?"

"I know you care about me, Marceline. I believed you when you said you only bothered me because you wanted me to take a break every once in a while. I just made it seem like I didn't because I wanted to hear you admit to more of the things you did for me. But I suppose that was too selfish of me, so I apologize for that as well. Let me show you the full extent of my apology."

The princess leaned forward and placed a sparkling necklace around the vampire's neck. Marceline looked down at it curiously, picking it up in her fingers and spinning the little red gem at the end.

"It's…something I invented. It's a charm that always has a constant amount of red in it. I figured that maybe sometimes you wouldn't have any red available when you were hungry so…s-so I made you that…" the princess admitted bashfully. Marceline smirked and placed a tooth at the sparkling red gem, sucking the red out of it. She watched as it turned gray before turning red once again.

"Well color me impressed. I definitely wasn't expecting-"

Marceline didn't even get the chance to finish her statement before the flavor of bubblegum became the most prominent taste on her lips. It tasted really sweet, too. She didn't usually go for anything other than red, but she could make an exception for that.

It was only when the taste had gone away that she'd realized she'd even closed her eyes, and opened them to find a blushing princess standing in front of her looking timid and uncertain.

"What was that?" Marceline asked softly. She hadn't spoken in such a soft manner in a long time.

"A kiss?" the princess offered weakly. Marceline simply glared.

"Don't answer my question with a question! Especially when you're the one who initiated it!"

"You're the Vampire Queen who's been around for hundreds of years! You should know what that was!" Bubblegum yelled back in embarrassment, her cheeks even redder than before.

"You're extremely lame, Bonnibel, not even able to tell me you kissed me," Marceline stated with a roll of the eyes. Bubblegum could've squealed, she was so happy to hear the name from the Vampire Queen's mouth after not hearing it in so long. She'd never tell Marceline, but she secretly rather enjoyed when she called her that.

"Not as lame as the girl who actually believed that her father was taking her somewhere legit by bringing her to this place," Bubblegum replied mischievously. Her expression wavered slightly when she noticed the still serious expression on the other's face.

"Clearly you haven't been to the other places my father has called 'legit,'" she stated blandly. The princess shivered at the thought; a place like this was obviously not legit. Marceline's father had problems.

"Hey, have you guys made up yet? Can we come out?" came Finn's familiar whining. Marceline narrowed her eyes at a sheepishly grinning Bubblegum.

"You brought these losers here too!?"

"Well I wasn't sure if your father would really lock you in here, so I brought them just in case..." the princess trailed off nervously. Marceline grinned, one of her fangs from the toothy smile glinting from the light.

"Conniving...I like it..." she stated appreciatively. She especially loved the way the princess blushed afterwards. It was very tempting to drink the red from her pretty pink face.

"It wasn't conniving, it was just-"

"Yeah, you guys can come out now. If you don't, I may just knock the dirty little princess here up," the Vampire Queen stated with a smirk. Bubblegum seemed unable to decide between scowling and looking embarrassed. She ended up with an expression in-between which seemed completely mortified.

"What the glob does that even mean, and why does Marceline keep saying it, Jake? Is it something I can do with Flame Princess?" Finn asked innocently as he climbed out of his hiding space.

"Suuuuure it is, Finn. All you've gotta do is-" Marceline started, only to be promptly silenced by the princess's hand on her mouth, which was quickly moved as soon as Marceline licked at it suggestively.

"NO FINN. YOU CANNOT KNOCK UP FLAME PRINCESS. Not until you're older anyway... But is that even possible? I mean..." Jake stated urgently, making sure to only mumble the last parts. Finn seemed upset but decided to try to focus his attention on something else.

"So what exactly were ya'll dames dukin' it out over anyway?"

"Eh, nothing much," Marceline stated with a shrug "Bonnibel here just couldn't accept the fact that opposites attract."

End

AN: Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are greatly appreciated :)