This story uses characters and locations based on the Gunslinger Girl manga written by Yu Aida and published in monthly shōnen magazine Dengeki Daioh. The characters of Kumari/Kara and Michele are original to myself.

"Past Forward"

A Gunslinger Girl Original Story by Chris Wallace

The voice in her ear was insistent.

"Take the shot, Claes!" it kept demanding. "Take the shot!"

I can't. I promised I would never be mean.

"It's you or him, Claes! Don't let it be you! Take the shot!"

I cannot use a gun. You said you understood. How can you ask this of me?

"CLAES!"

"Perdonatemi!" Claes yelled, though her cry for forgiveness was not meant for the person who was now just steps away in front of her. She pulled the trigger and the Kimber M1911 compact pistol kicked in her hand, though her enhanced strength absorbed the recoil. The .45 ACP round slammed into the other person's forehead and blew out the back of his head between the junctures of the parietal and occipital bones. He fell backwards, the large knife in his hand clattering as it hit the cobblestones.

"Subject is terminated," Claes replied in a flat voice.

"Capito," the voice said, much more softly and with compassion.

The impact of the bullet had splashed blood forward onto her face and front. She raised the gun in her right hand, taking her finger off the trigger, while she removed her glasses with her left. Blood dripped from the bridge of her glasses and she followed a drop as it rolled down the bridge and then dropped, splashing in a larger pool collecting in front of her, flowing past her boots like a river around a sandbar.

"Step away, Claes," Michele gently ordered over her earpiece. She nodded and slowly walked over towards him where he leaned against a wall.

"Are you hurt?" Michele asked as she came up.

"No," Claes said, again in a flat voice.

Michele put out his gloved hand and Claes placed the pistol in it. He put it in his coat pocket and removed a handkerchief, which he first soaked in water from a spigot next to him before wiping the blood off her cheek. She just stood as still as a statue, a distant look in her eyes. Michele blotted what blood he could see on her clothes, then washed it out in the spigot again.

"Here. Clean your glasses and your hands," he said. Claes didn't answer, but she did put out her hand to accept the handkerchief.

An Iveco Daily panel van pulled up and Ferro, Amadeo and Giorgio exited the side. The two male agents proceeded to spool out crime scene tape and string it up around the entrance to the alley and farther down. Ferro got on her cellphone and contacted the Rome territorial command for the Carabinieri and informed them of the incident and to request a small presence to keep onlookers away.

"I need an evidence bag, please," Michele requested, holding out the gun. Ferro used a pen to support it from the trigger guard and went back to the truck to bag and tag it.

"Michele!" Elenora Gabrielli yelled as she came running over, Pietro Fermi right behind her. She looked down at Michele's left pant leg and saw a large wet patch around his thigh.

"Is it bad?" she asked.

"I'll hold till we can get back to the compound," Michele said. A Carabinieri BMW F650GS motorcycle appeared and Ferro went over to talk with him.

Michele hoisted himself into the van with some effort and reached for the first aid kit. He cut a patch in his trousers and did a basic cleaning of the surface of the wound before slapping a think gauze pad on it, followed by a cold compress and more gauze, which he then taped down. He reached into his pants pocket and removed the key to his F430, which he handed to Ferro when she returned.

"Take her back for me, will you? I can't bend my leg enough to get in," he said. Ferro nodded.

"Go with her Claes. You know where she's parked," Michele said. Claes nodded blankly and started off, forcing Ferro to follow.

Amadeo and Giorgio snapped pictures of the body and the scene and then unrolled a body bag and proceeded to place the suspect inside. They then drew out a hose connected to a 150-liter tank and started to wash away the blood pool. They finished cleaning-up and packed everything away and headed back to the compound.

"Okay, where's the transmission lever on this thing?" Ferro asked as she sat in Michele's Ferrari. She'd found the seat and mirror adjustment controls and the large red "Engine Start" button on the steering wheel was an obvious clue as to its function, but she could see nothing that looked like a gear change lever.

"Press the button marked 'Auto'", Claes informed her, pointing to the console running between the two seats. "That will put it in Automatic mode so you don't need to use the shift levers behind the steering wheel to change the gears."

"Don't tell me Michele has taught you how to drive this thing," Ferro said.

"I have observed him driving," she replied.

Ferro nodded, pushed "Auto" and pulled out into the street.

"You did well today," she said to Claes, who didn't reply, instead staring out the passenger window at the scenery, though she didn't really see it as her eyes, and thoughts, were unfocused.

Ferro took the hint and didn't try to strike up a conversation, instead concentrating on the traffic as they drove back to the compound.