Well, it's been a long time coming, but I've finally got Chapter 2. As Chapter 1 stated, I do not own the rights to Gunslinger Girl, but that's okay. I'm quite content with writing fanfiction.

Chapter II: Field Testing

Light filtered through the windows in Lorenzo's office. Dr. Bianchi stood on the other side of the desk. "What are the results Bianchi?" Lorenzo asked the doctor.

"Everything seems to be going fine so far. Elsa doesn't seem to be showing any instability yet, but it seems that she may remember Henrietta."

Lorenzo nodded. "Okay, keep checking up on her and report your findings to me. I want to know any details no matter how small."

Bianchi nodded and turned to leave, but Lorenzo stopped him before he could get far. "Bianchi, am I correct in assuming you are still against this project?"

Bianchi sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. "Yes sir. You would be correct."

"I understand your opposition to the project. Truth be told, I'm not exactly sure what to think of it myself. And Jean isn't too happy about it either, but I chose to approve of this for the benefit of the others. There is much we could learn from this."

"But sir," Bianchi objected, "the consequences could outweigh the benefits. The results could be disastrous."

Lorenzo sighed. "Such things come with the job Bianchi. I know when you joined this job, you knew the consequences." After thinking things over for a minute, he addressed Bianchi. "I want you to release Elsa from the medical wing. The increase in stimuli may provoke a reaction in her."

"Yes sir," Bianchi replied in defeat.

Elsa was ecstatic. After a week of being kept in a hospital bed, she was being released. Even the weather reflected how happy she was. The sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing with joy. It was indeed a beautiful day.

"Okay Elsa, this is your room," Giovanni stated, opening up a door.

She peaked her head in before stepping into it fully. The room itself was sparsely furnished. A bunk bed rested against one wall, a table and four chairs sat in the middle, and on the wall opposite the bed was a moderately sized desk. A small box was sitting on the table.

"Wow," Elsa gasped, "this is for me?"

Giovanni smiled. "Yup, and maybe soon you'll have a roommate."

Elsa couldn't help but frown. "I don't want a roommate."

"Everyone needs friends Elsa. I've heard the other girls here are really nice."

A pout formed on Elsa's face. "But I don't need friends. I have you."

Giovanni frowned. He'd heard that the girls had a tendency to become overly attached to their handlers. "Look Elsa, I'm just a guy who happens to be over twice your age. A girl your age needs friends. You need to be able to gossip and have sleepovers and do other girlie things." Elsa's pout grew into a full-blown frown. "Look Elsa, just promise me you'll make a few friends. Okay?"

Elsa's shoulders sagged. "Fine," she sighed, "I'll make a friend."

"Great," Giovanni cheered. "Now I've got something to give you." He picked up the small box that was sitting on the table. "Here."

She accepted the box from him and opened it. Inside was another box, this one made of a hard polymer and colored grey. "What is it?" she asked curiously.

"Open it."

Doing as she was told, she opened the case. Inside was a small black pistol. "A gun?" She looked at Giovanni questioningly.

"It's a Czechoslovakian pistol known as a vz 82. Go on, hold it. See how it feels. You will need it for your job, so get to know it. Take it apart and put it back together until you are comfortable with it." A small smile graced his face. "But don't overdo it okay?"

Elsa nodded to her handler. "Okay."

It had been about a week since Elsa had left the confines of the Agency's hospital. She had pretty much kept to herself during that time, opting to stay in her room when she wasn't training or eating.

At the moment, she was been playing the oboe her handler had given her. She was amazed at how the instrument could make such beautiful sounds and help her with her dexterity at the same time.

There was a soft knock at the door. She set her instrument down to go answer it. She opened the door to find her handler on the other side. "Oh, Giovanni, come in," she said, stepping aside to allow her handler access into her room.

Giovanni stepped into the room. "How is the oboe practice going?" he asked sincerely.

"Its fine," she responded, placing the instrument back into its case. "I'm still not very good though."

Giovanni smiled at her. "Don't worry. As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. Speaking of which, right now, you need to get in some shooting practice."

Realization dawned on Elsa as she remembered that she was scheduled to go to the indoor shooting range today. She quickly picked up the case that held her vz 82 and walked over to her handler. "Okay, I'm ready," she stated, anxious to get in some more time with her handler.

Elsa loaded up another magazine after depleting the rounds into the target. She had been steadily improving her skills. At least all of the shots made it into the target this time. She thought, relieved that things were getting better. In fact, she added, most of them made it into the target's chest.

"You're doing great Elsa! If you keep this pace up, you'll be taking part in the big ops in no time!"

Elsa smiled at the compliment. She slid the 12th and last round into the magazine as she heard the door to the range open. Peaking her head out from the spot she was in, she caught sight of a tall dark haired man and a blonde haired girl with long hair. "Ah, Hilshire," Giovanni called over to the dark haired man, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Hilshire replied, "I'm just giving Triela some last minute target practice before she goes on a mission tomorrow. How is Elsa doing?"

"She's doing great. She just keeps getting better and better."

As the two men held their conversation, Elsa noticed a strange glance that she was receiving courtesy of Triela. "What is it?" she asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"I'm having the strangest feeling that we've met before," Triela spoke as she held her chin in her hand.

Elsa noticed the sense of familiarity that hung in the air. She's right. It does seem like we've met before.

Triela shrugged. "I guess it's no big deal." She held out her hand. "My name is Triela. It's nice to meet you." She extended her hand.

Elsa looked at her outstretched hand for a second before shaking it. "Elsa de Sica," she replied.

Dusk had fallen over Rome. Giovanni had been so impressed with Elsa's training that he had set up a bit of field training for her a few days ago.

"Okay Elsa," he whispered, "this park is a gathering for a group of street thugs. Don't worry; they won't pose much of a threat. This is just to get you familiar with the feel of live combat." He pointed to a secluded area in the park. "The thugs have a drug deal going down over there. I want you to eliminate all of them. I counted five in total."

Elsa nodded. She made a quick check on her vz 82 and took it off safety, placing it back in its holster on her hip. The park was fairly out in the open. There were a few places to hide between where Giovanni had parked and where the drug deal was going down, but the real help came from the lack of working lights in the park.

Elsa strolled nonchalantly through the park, making use of her innocent girl façade. The thugs could be heard laughing it up with the recipients of the deal.

She was within a stones throw from them by the time they actually noticed her. "Hey little girl, you look lost," one of them snickered.

"Yeah, this place isn't safe at night," another added, "especially in the company of people like us." The man pulled something out of his pocket, which soon revealed itself to be a knife when the blade flipped out from the handle.

Elsa stood her ground. Her eyes took on a hard edge as she pulled out her pistol and pumped two rounds into the man's torso. The other four stood stunned at the turn of events allowing her ample time to fix her sights on them.

Several gunshots later, all of the men were lying in a collective pool of their own blood. Elsa heard an audible clapping behind her. It was slow and rhythmic. "Bravo," a noticeably female voice spoke. "That was quite good for your first time Elsa."

She spun around and aimed the gun at the source of the voice, a small girl with flowing blonde hair and sharp green eyes. "Who are you and how do you know my name?" she asked harshly. "Are you a cyborg too?"

The girl laughed. "I know much about you." She shrugged her shoulders impassively. "As for my name, you may call me Elise, and I'm certainly not a cyborg." She narrowed her eyes, mirroring Elsa. "Now if you wouldn't mind pointing that gun in another direction..." Elsa lowered her gun, not very happy with the answers given to her by Elise. "That's better. You have no reason to fear me."

"I don't fear you," Elsa grunted.

"I didn't think you did Elsa. I'm just reassuring you that I'm quite harmless." She flipped a lock of her blonde hair over her shoulder. "I don't want you to keep your handler waiting, so I'll be taking my leave now. It was nice talking to you." She started to walk away. "I'll see you around Elsa."

She watched the strange girl disappear into the distance, before hurrying back to her handler. "I'm done."

"Good," he smiled. "I was kinda worried when I heard the shots stop and you didn't show up." He opened his car door and climbed in. "It's getting late. Let's go back to the agency."

Elsa nodded and rushed over to the passenger side door, all the while thinking of the strange girl known as Elise.