WARNING: Rated M for rape, violence, language, and sexual content. These things will all come into play around chapter 5 or 6, so don't think they aren't there if you only read the early chapters. Please don't read this if you are easily disturbed. My goal is not to offend or disturb.
DEFINITELY NOT SUITABLE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES!

Buttercup sat sprawled out on the couch of the Powerpuff Girls' home, physically and mentally exhausted after a fighting a long, particularly harrowing battle against Him the night before. Using his demonic sorcery, Him had been able to conjure up traps that prevented Blossom and Bubbles from fighting or doing anything. Buttercup had been left to fight Him and his minions single-handedly to rescue Blossom and Bubbles from certain death. Not only was she extremely tired today, but she was finding herself feeling anxious and worried after last night's ordeal.

Buttercup felt her spirit lift a bit as Bubbles popped into the living room with her for the first time that day and turned on the TV. It lightened the mood a bit and took away from some of the anxiety she had been feeling.

"Gee, Buttercup, you still look tired," Bubbles remarked caringly.

"Last night," Buttercup paused, groaning and pinching the bridge of her nose, "was probably one of the roughest battles of my life."

"Well, you were amazing! It was one of your best performances I've ever seen in combat!" Bubbles exclaimed encouragingly.

"Thanks, Bubbles," Buttercup replied in a somewhat mumbling manner, "I just did what I had to do while you two were captured."

"That's understandable and you did great, Buttercup," Blossom said, passing through the living room. She must have been listening in on their conversation. "We all have to look out for each other and save each other from danger at times," she added, "It's just basic teamwork, together we can overcome any evil.

Buttercup sighed internally at the benign morale-building statement of the commander and leader. She and Bubbles seemed almost oblivious to the fact that the two of them had nearly died last night. Sure, there were many times where one or two of the sisters were rendered incapacitated and the remaining two or one had to save them, but rarely was death as imminent as it had been last night. Buttercup couldn't shake the image of that horrible… thing. It was certainly part machine. And the rest was part demonic beast? Either way, it was the most fearsome creation of Him's that Buttercup had ever seen. Only through absolute, anger-driven determination had she been able to free Blossom and Bubbles from its grasp and stop Him from laying waste to one of the most populous cities on Earth.

"Blossom and I had lunch together this morning," Bubbles said, continuing her casual conversation with Buttercup, "We figured we'd let you stay home and rest. It was eleven o'clock and you were still in bed. Hope you're not mad we went without you."

"No, Bubbles, I'm not mad," Buttercup smiled weakly, "I hope you enjoyed yourselves. I'm not that hungry, but I might make myself a PB & J in the kitchen then or something."

"Well, actually, we brought you something back from the pizza place we were at," Bubbles handed Buttercup a Styrofoam box with four slices of pizza in it.

"Ah, you know I can't say no to you," she grinned widely at Bubbles, sitting up and straightening herself, ready to eat the pizza.

"Hold on," Bubbles dashed into the kitchen and the next thing Buttercup knew, her pizza was neatly organized on a tray in front of her and she had a can of her favorite kind of soda on the table next to her on the side of the couch that she was sitting on.

"I'm not that tired Bubbles, I could've gotten up and got this stuff myself," Buttercup remarked.

"We owe you one after last night, you can just do the same for me when I save your butt next time!" Bubbles exclaimed playfully. She gave Buttercup a loving little kiss on the cheek.

Buttercup felt her heart lift for a second with pure happiness. This was one of the things she had truly grown to love and appreciate most about Bubbles as the two of them had grown into adulthood. When Blossom or Buttercup wasn't feeling well or were even just tired after a long day of fighting crime, Bubbles would act in a way that was almost motherly, bringing her sister or sisters their meals or bringing them pillows and blankets to make them warm and comfortable. And she would be kind and joyful the entire time and just make you happy that she was there, Buttercup thought.

"Where's Blossom?" Buttercup asked, taking a bite into her pizza.

"Working," Bubbles answered, "It's her turn to monitor the hotlines today and make sure none of our enemies are up to anything at the moment."

As the girls had grown older, their jurisdiction had grown larger. No longer were they just in charge of defending Townsville, their enemies were commonly found to be at large all over the United States and sometimes even halfway around the world. Thus there were now many Powerpuff hotlines and the girls had to work in shifts to keep an eye and an ear on them and prioritize the most powerful threats over the ones that police or military could deal with without the girls' help.

"Oh right," Buttercup said, "Hey can I talk to you about something serious for a moment, Bubbles?"

"Of course," Bubbles replied, "What's on your mind?"

"Yesterday…" Buttercup began, "It was just too close of a call. You guys… that thing had you trapped… I can't get it out of my head."

"We go through a lot of tough situations Buttercup," Bubbles replied, "Since when are you afraid of any monster we've fought?"

"It's not the monster itself, it's the fact that it almost killed you!" Buttercup snapped. There was silence for a moment and an upset look on Bubbles's face before she continued, "Even during the most tranquil times, we risk our lives at least twice a week! How much longer can we keep this up before one or more of us doesn't make it back? I'm not worried for my own safety much, but how could I live without my sisters, especially…" Her voice trailed off before she could continue. She was about to say 'especially you Bubbles!'

But why would she favor one of her sisters over the other? Deep down she knew, but she had always pushed that thought as far from her consciousness as she could. There were many reasons to keep a feeling like that buried. However, seeing Bubbles in such grave danger last night had brought it closer to the surface than ever before. And Buttercup didn't know if that feeling could stay suppressed now.