Fusion and Iron

7. Reunion

Niles' arms limped at his sides as he stared in disbelief. It was hard to hold in the amount of mixed emotions he had, witnessing their playful banter. He stopped in the doorway abruptly, darting his eyes between the two holding it together. His arms slightly inched but not a word was spoken as he cleared his throat.

"Uh, yeah. Two said I could find you up here," he replied, looking between the two of them with a softened smile.

Oh how he missed them.

"That so?" Blossom quipped. "He'd be right. Whatcha need?"

Niles stood for a second in silence, thinking about what to say. "I, uh, was on a mission. I just got back from the jungle outpost and I found something you're going to want to see."

Even as he spoke up about his mission, his sentence softened as he blinked. His eyes darted to the floor for a moment, an enveloped feeling of joy overtaking him as he looked back up and interrupted himself. "It's good to meet you, finally."

The girl nodded back, Buttercup raising an eyebrow at his reaction and spoke formally. "Good to meet you; who are we speaking to?"

"Agent Arachnid number four nine dash twelve," He perked up and made his way forward. "But you can call me Niles."

They shook hands, exchanging looks between each other. "I know you're Blossom and Buttercup; I admire your work.. a lot."

Blossom's eyes glowed a little at his compliment and she chuckled, "Well, thank you! It's not every day we get compliments for our work; some of these soldiers are ungrateful when we're on the battlefield, so I appreciate that!"

The other sister chuckled, taking a seat on one of the desks, and swayed her legs back and forth. She smiled at him, "Ain't no sweat, rookie. I do this thing every day ya know."

"Have I met you before, Niles?" Blossom asked, tilting her head and scratching her chin.

He shook his head as a small grin crept up on his face, breathing in and admitted the truth. "Yeah, I uh.. was the recruit who spilled that cloffee on you a couple of weeks ago. I'm really sorry about that, again."

Blossom squinted at him for a good second, then lit up a little and she waved a hand up. "Oh, it's you! For some reason, you look a little bit.. older than I remember, no offense. It's okay, I was able to get the stains out really quick."

She turned to look at her sister and gestured with a hand, her grin widening. "Buttercup, this is Niles; he's an assistant at the Dexlabs."

She crossed her arms again, puffing a little bit of hair out of her face and tilted her head. "Sup?"

"Oh, this is partially what I came here for. I switched guides and joined the team. Thus the colors-"

Blossom watched as he gestured toward the suit, raising an eyebrow and dropping her grin.

"Bad idea, pal. She'll work you straight to death!" Buttercup snickered.

"Welcome to the team," Blossom nodded. "If Dexter is fine with it, I'm sure it's okay. I appreciate the colors." She said, doing her best to appreciate his gesture at the suit. "Despite what my sister says, no I don't 'work you to death' but I certainly ensure everyone puts in enough effort so we succeed. We're a team, after all; it's important to remember that!"

Her sister tilted her head the other way and snorted, "Basically, everyone works to death."

While Blossom gave her a playful glare, Niles chuckled and crossed his arms. "I also heard you were decent with engineering, that Dexter taught you a couple of things?"

A devilish grin formed on Buttercup's face as she stared right back at her sister.

Blossom looked over at Niles. "Yes, he did. I know a thing or two, why?"

The young man motioned toward his armor and gave it a smack. "My suit got roughed up during a fight over at Mount Blackhead; I could use some repairs and was hoping I could get some help. Hoagie said he'd get to the rocket boots whenever he had time, hopefully tonight."

She nodded, taking a couple of steps closer, and inspected some of the bent and fractured pieces of titanium plate. "Yes, I could take a look at it for you. Do you have blueprints I could get a look at? Maybe I could ask Dexter since he-"

"No no!" Niles held his hands up anxiously, slightly waving them with a creak. He chuckled nervously, "He's gonna be busy with Computress. I personally wouldn't wanna bother him, at least tonight-"

Blossom hesitated, giving Niles a look. Buttercup raised an eyebrow at his response but didn't say a word.

"Well, I guess I won't then? He's always busy with something," She sighed.

Buttercup grinned widely, "Miss him already?"

She stared daggers at her response, a hue of pink on her face. "I'll be free soon but likely not tonight; we're in between missions, so I've got some downtime." Blossom huffed and turned to look at Niles. "Please ignore my sister; she loves to start trouble if ever given the opportunity."

Niles paused, looking at her for a second. Her eyes were already on his, that same grin not leaving for a second while she swayed her legs. "You're looking at the best Powerpuff Girl, at least on the field that is. I can take on any kinda fusion, no sweat!" Buttercup poked a thumb into her chest, then cruised her hand.