A/N: So this is why the first chapter had a lot of unanswered questions. It's really long and I wanted to do a Dave POV. Let you guys in on his side of the story. After this though, the updates will not be nearly as frequent. Anyway, read and enjoy, reviews are always welcome.

I can't believe I did that. I lost complete control. I couldn't help it. The fuckers were asking for it. But when it comes to Mindy I can't think straight. It's hard to explain, Mindy was one of my best friends, really, one of my only friends. But we were close, once. Then things happened and everything kind of went to shit. We stopped seeing each other, I admit I played a vital part in what tore us apart. But she never forgave me, even when I tried to make amends. I guess the wounds were too tender, and wounds like the ones I gave her will never fully heal. It's not like I meant to jeopardise our friendship, or her father's life. I mean, I don't blame her for how she acted, if anything I knew she was right. On some level I knew, I got her father killed.

Two years had passed since the day Mr M. started to train me. I was getting fairly good. Mindy still kicked my ass every day at 4pm then afterwards she'd train with her father. I could tell she was taking it easy on me, but I wasn't complaining. I had enough bruises already without asking her to take it up a notch.

Things were good. I was content with my life. I wasn't exactly what you'd call popular at school. There wasn't anything wrong with me, I just wasn't exceptional at anything. Except when I was with Mindy. At school I was myself, but with Mindy I was the best version of myself. I was happy with Mindy beating the shit out of me, because it meant I got to spend more time with her. But I was never going to tell her that. She'd probably kill me.

But then, as most people will tell you, all good things must come to an end. That's how I found myself, standing in Mindy's basement, I had just gone over to start our daily training routine. But instead of finding Mindy and her father warming up I found Mindy in costume as Hit-Girl and Damon in costume as Big Daddy.

I couldn't believe it, they promised. A while ago they let me in on their little secret. "Dave, we'll only put the suits on when we have to, only when we need them" said Damon reassuringly. "Tell your father that you, him and your mother are more than welcome to join us for thanksgiving this year. James has been telling me all about tradition and such. It'll be mine and Mindy's first thanksgiving, and I can't think of better people to spend it with". Damon didn't really have a relationship at all with my mother, she was a doctor at the local hospital, so she was on call all the time, I hardly got to see her.

My father was not able to make it that night. He works night shifts at the local Wal-Mart restocking shelves. He starts at 5pm and usually doesn't get home until midnight. It doesn't pay well, that's why he also has a casual day job as a security guard for the complex where Wal-Mart is. So yeah, Damon was practically my second father, considering I barely ever saw my father or my mother. Don't get me wrong, I loved them, I just resented the fact that I never saw them. And then I walked in on Damon and Mindy dressed in their suits. And I knew what they were about to do was dangerous, I couldn't lose Damon. I couldn't lose Mindy, life without them wouldn't be life, just some purgatory. If I lost them I would be alone in this world.

My father was friends with Mr. M, but he had no idea what we got up to in his basement. But anyway, after I found them I didn't know how to feel. I just stood there in the doorway.

Damon was the first to speak "Dave, we need your help" he said

I was taken aback "You…you need my help?" I asked, I had completely forgotten about the costumes and what they meant, they meant danger.

"Yes" said Damon. I was only 12 at the time, so I couldn't figure out what Damon would need with a 12 year old boy. "You see, I've been going out some nights, and we've had a little…problem" he said

"A problem?" I asked, taking a stride forwards "What kind?" You may ask why I would be so brazen, even though I knew they were both far better at me than nearly everything in this world. But I was 12, and I had a certain crush on the girl next door, and I was eager to impress her. So like an idiot, I jumped headlong into something that was frankly, way over my head

Damon grinned "We've come across a superhero, calls himself 'Red Mist'" he said

"Cool" I say "What does that have to do with me?"

"Well…" started Damon, he looked like he was having second thoughts about letting Dave do this. "You see, he's just a kid" he said "He only looks like he's a couple years older than you. So I thought it'd be a good idea for you to meet him" my face lit up "Strictly as reconnaissance, I want you to meet him and don't worry, we'll be watching" he held up a small fabric cloth that looked about the size of a penny. "This is a microphone, it'll record everything"

"Why me?" I asked "Why not Mindy? Or you? You guys are trained for this stuff" I said, doubt creeping into my voice, why was I going to spy on a superhero for them

"We have gotten careless. Red Mist wants to meet Big Daddy and Hit Girl. But if you were to show up and act as a kind of 'middle-man' and record the information we need…" he trailed off

"You're using me as bait" I said, it wasn't a question

Mindy at least had the courtesy to look ashamed "Look, Dave, if there were another way, we'd do it. We don't want to put you in harm's way. But we need to get a measure of this guy. If he's cool we'll meet up with him, and I don't know, have our own little superhero club" she finished hopefully

Damon shook his head "I'm sorry Dave, but I can't put Mindy in danger, I'm sure you understand that" he said

I was, again, being an idiot. For I was in the presence of a girl that I thought was the prettiest girl in the world. So, like an idiot, I agreed. They told me it wasn't going to be dangerous, just a meet and greet, then I'd be done, that it shouldn't take more than an hour. They even gave me my own costume. Well, it wasn't really a costume, it was just a trench coat and a ski mask. But still, I felt like a hero, like I could do anything, and the way Mindy was looking at me only did more to inflate my ego. She looked proud, like she couldn't believe that I'd agree.

Everything seemed perfect, I had gained Mindy's and Damon's respect. Now I just had to try and muster up the courage to ask Mindy to the movies this weekend, and then everything would be perfect. But life isn't perfect, it's not sunshine and daisies, the world is a dark, cruel place. And I happen to know from experience, unfortunately.

We had arrived at the address Red Mist had given us. Damon wanted to scout the area but like a complete amateur I said "Why?"

"Because, this Red Mist guy could be dangerous, dumbass" said Mindy

And since I didn't want to look scared in front of the girl I had a crush on, in true 'Dave' fashion, I do something stupid

"That guy, I could easily take him out if he cause trouble" I said in a macho tone

Damon looked at his watch. "We're already late" he sighed and gripped the bridge of his nose "Alright, Darkness" Darkness was the codename they gave me "This is all you, Hit-Girl and I are gonna take overwatch on that building there" he pointed to a small apartment building. The address Red Mist gave us was at the entrance of some wharf, there were small buildings lining the road opposite the wharf so Big Daddy and Hit Girl headed over to the building and climbed the fire escape.

Alright, show time. The entrance of the wharf was covered by a boom-gate, sitting on the boom-gate as though he didn't have a care in the world has who I presumed to be Red Mist.

"Red Mist" I called

He jumped and fell off of the boom gate and landed on his ass. "Shit" he said, standing up. "Yes?" he queried, trying to sound dignified.

"Hit-Girl and Big Daddy sent me" we had gone over this on the way over, somehow Red Mist had found out their codenames.

He looked around, as if scanning the area for them "I don't see them" he said

"They're not here" I piped up, walking towards Red Mist. Big Daddy was right, he looked about 15 or so. Even though I was only 12 I was at eye level with him, and had more muscle.

"What?" he said, he sounded frustrated. He calmed himself. "Sorry, it's just, they're super cool, and I wanted to meet them"

"You might, but first, they sent me to talk with you"

"Okay" he said, closing the distance between us. "First I gotta check you for bugs though. It's kind of my policy, I don't even know if Hit-Girl and Big Daddy sent you, you could just be working with some corrupt cops to get a confession out of me, considering vigilantism is illegal"

I nodded. I don't know why I did it, but I did. I ripped off the fabric cloth that Big Daddy had sewn to my trench coat. What can I say? I was a fucking idiot, I just wanted to impress Mindy. Show her that I could do things on my own. I tore the fabric in half and Red Mist smiled.

"Well, thank you. But I'm still gonna check, just in case" he swiped some small looking hand held device over my body twice. "Alright, you're clean. Let's talk"

"Okay" I said

And we talked, at first it was about what he did. To be honest it kinda sounded like I was interviewing him for a job, he was telling me about all his strengths and things he'd done for the community. And as a fucking naïve 12 year old, I believed him.

Then we started talking about comics, a subject I was keenly interested in, and still am, if I'm being honest. I grew complacent the more we talked. We moved onto one of the shipping containers in the loading yard and sat with our feet dangling over the edge.

"So" he said after around half an hour "How'd I do?" he asked. If I had been paying attention I would have noticed the anxious tone of his voice, the nervous twitch in his wrist, and the bead of sweat running down his check. But I, like I've said a lot, was an idiot.

"You did good, I reckon Hit-Girl and Big-Daddy would like to meet you" I said.

He let out a sigh "Thanks"

"Just give me a sec, just to call them and let them know to come out" I said

"Wait…They've been here the whole time?" he asked

"Yeah" I said, reaching into my trench coat and pulling out my phone. I dialled Big Daddy's number.

"Darkness?" asked Big Daddy

"Affirmative, Big Daddy"

He sighed "Thank god you're ok, what's going on down there?" he asked

"It's all clear, I can vouch for Red Mist"

"Ok. We're on our way. Big Daddy out" he hung up and I grinned. I thought I'd done well, this wasn't so hard after all.

So now you're thinking 'good job Dave you dumbass, you just handed over your friends to a psychopath' and you'd be right.

Big Daddy and Hit-Girl joined us a minute later. They clambered up the ladder and onto the shipping container. The shipping container we were on was side by side with a stack of shipping containers, at least four stacked on top of each other.

"Red Mist" said Big Daddy, extending his hand

Red Mist took it "Pleased to meet you, Big Daddy" He gestured to the ladder that lead to the higher stack of shipping crates. "Come on" he said "This'll be awesome, like in the comics when the heroes look over at the sunset from some high place" I followed Red Mist immediately. Big Daddy hesitated

I started up the ladder "Come on, he's cool, trust me"

Big Daddy nodded begrudgingly and followed us up the ladder. Hit-Girl started up the ladder as well but Big Daddy looked at her and said "Stay here, I have a bad feeling about this" Mindy nodded and sat on the edge of the lower shipping container. Once the three of us had made it to the top Big Daddy looked expectantly at Red Mist.

"So?" he said "What did you want to discuss?"

"Oh, you know, stuff" he said nervously. And then it happened. One of the loudest cracks I've ever heard went off and something hit Big Daddy in the chest and sent him barrelling over the edge of the shipping container. Big Daddy had a lot of armour on so I doubt the shot could have done any damage. He landed on the lower shipping container near Mindy. She looked at us in alarm and was immediately hit by two handgun shots in the chest.

I screamed, I knew Mindy had Kevlar on, she was sent from the lower crate over the edge and landed with a thud on the cement floor.

I turned back to Red Mist "We have to help them" I screamed

"I'm sorry" he whispered, and he punched me in the gut. When he withdrew his hand a saw the handle of a knife sticking out of my stomach

"Why?" I said, stumbling, trying to catch my footing. I fell over the edge, I didn't land on the shipping container with Big Daddy. Instead I landed on the cold, hard cement flooring of the wharf. The pain I felt was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. I turned my head and saw an unconscious Mindy and men emerging from the crate we had been seated on. I saw them haul off Big Daddy. One of the men made a beeline for us.

Red Mist shouted "No, leave her, and him. They're not leaving here alive" the man continued towards us. As I started to lose consciousness I heard Red Mist yell again "Come on, they're dead, lets go"

I heard footsteps receding, a car door slamming, tyres squealing and then silence.

So that's what happened, how I completely fucked up my life, and Mindy's life. Basically, I woke up in the hospital the next day. Mindy, who had only been knocked unconscious woke up and called an ambulance. She stripped me of my trench coat and ski mask and left me there. She went back to the car and drove home.

I woke up to the sight of my father asleep on the couch. The next few months were hard. The night that I was out, my mother died of a brain aneurism. We had already been struggling to make ends meet. My mother was in mountains of debt from her days at medical school, that's the reason my dad had two jobs. She had only been a doctor for 4 months. So her weekly pay went towards paying off the debt and my college fund. And my father's pay went towards feeding us and putting clothes on our backs.

Anyway, I told the doctors I didn't remember what I was doing at the wharf, or how I ended up there. But my shitty day was about to get shittier. A couple of hours after I woke up they televised Damon's torture and execution. It was all my fault, I had vouched for that motherfucker, I had told them I could do it, but no, I got Damon killed. I had gone from three adult role-models to one. My body was broken from the fall, my nerve endings were fucked up and had to have metal plates screwed into my bones to realign them and keep them stable. I was basically Wolverine.

The next six months of physical rehabilitation was hell. But I worked hard and made a recovery in four months. I still wasn't in top shape, it took me around another six months to get back to the level of training I was doing with Mindy and her father. But Mindy avoided me. I would wheel my wheelchair over to her house, only to be met by a black man named 'Marcus' that told me Mindy didn't want to see me right now.

I knew how she felt, I wouldn't want to see me either. But then I went back to school.

I ran up to Mindy "Hey" I said "Listen"

"Shut up, Dave. I don't care, I don't have time for your shit right now. I'm busy" she rushed down the hallway to her next class.

She didn't speak to me for two months. And then one day she started speaking to me again, only this time I didn't want to hear it. She would tell me it wasn't my fault, that there was nothing I could've done. Marcus had moved into her old house because they thought it'd be good for her to be around familiar places, around people she knew.

In truth, I don't know why I shunned her. On the day she started talking to me I snapped "FUCK OFF MINDY" I said loudly, the entire cafeteria went silent. And she did, she had made no attempt to me since that day, and I haven't really tried to talk to her. I still share classes with her, and train on my own. But I never really see her, which is why I am now suddenly nervous about Marcus's proposal.

"Listen, Dave. I know things between you two are rough"

"Marcus I…" I started

"No, shut up, and listen" so I shut up "Mindy might think she's invincible and can't get hurt but I know better. Alright, she has like two friends" he said

"I don't see what any of this has to do with me" I said

"I want you to hang out with her" he said

"What?"

"Listen, I'm going away for a week, and I know you two have a history. All I'm asking is you talk to her and resolve your weird issues. Because I'm sick of watching the two of you act like children. And don't think I don't know the real reason you beat up those kids today" I just stared at him "The principle called, she told me what the other kids said those boys were saying, about Mindy's father"

"That's not…" I tried to say

"Save it Dave, I know, alright. I don't condone you using violence like that, but honestly, I think you should a tremendous amount of restraint. They deserved what they got, and more"

"But why me?" I asked

He scoffed "I have these things called eyes Dave, and I know you have been avoiding each other for the past five years. I've tried to ignore it, but I can't. She may not be my blood, but she's my daughter, and don't think I don't know how she feels, how the both of you feel"

"And what is that exactly?" I asked, trying to sound like I was mocking him

"She needs you, and you need her. There's a part of the both of you that you can't share with anyone else but each other. The…" he leaned in "Vigilante part"

"So you want me to what, go over and do what exactly?"

"I don't know and I don't care" he said before rephrasing "Actually, I do care. Don't kill anyone, and don't you even think" he pointed at me "about touching her, or taking advantage of her"

It was my turn to scoff "You really think she'd let me do that, and live?" I asked

"I guess not" he said "I'm asking you Dave, please? She needs a friend. It's Damon's birthday today" I nodded, I knew it was Damon's birthday. Every year I would bake a tray of cupcakes, put candles in them, light them, and have a little birthday celebration for Damon in my living room. It was just a way I had of paying my respects, after all, Mindy was right. I did get her father killed, and its eating me up from the inside.

So here I am, knocking on her door just after Marcus left, holding a tray of cupcakes, praying to god that she wouldn't kill me. She opened the door dressed only in a tank top and a pair of boxers, and let's just say tonight was a little bit chilly.

"You cold?" I asked her

She looked down at her chest, noticed the problem, and slammed the door in my face.

"Mindy, come on, I'm sorry, I'm a jackass. Just open the door and let me explain"

She opened it again, her arms folded across her chest. "You have 20 seconds before you either leave or I get physical"

"I might like that" I quipped, she snarled "Sorry" I said

"15 seconds" she reminded me

"It's you dads birthday" I said, holding up the cupcakes "I thought we could light some candles and have some cake" I said

She stood, staring at the outstretched cupcakes, her mouth agape. She kinda looked pretty like that, with a slightly shocked and confused look on her face.

"You want to celebrate my dad's birthday?" she asked, I nodded "Why now? After five years, why now?"

"I do it every year, it's just this year, I don't feel like celebrating alone"

She looked at my hands "You didn't have to beat them up, you know?" she said

"I know, I guess they just picked the wrong day to start talking shit about Damon, and you" I said

"I thought you hated me"

"I don't hate you Mindy. It's just…" it was hard to find the words, in truth he hated himself and he was a coward. He knew he got her father killed, and looking at her reminded him of that. It also reminded him that he had never, ever got the courage to ask her to the movies when they were 12. He also didn't have the courage to admit he was wrong, and try and start talking to her again, it just seemed easier to ignore her. But now, he had a chance, to make amends "I was ashamed" I bowed my head in shame, after five years I had said it.

"Ok" she said

"Ok?" I replied, confused as fuck

"Ok" she said again "Come in, those cupcakes better be double choc-chip, from when we were little" She opened the door further and walked inside. It had been five years since I stepped foot in the house, something I never imagined doing again.

"Of course" I replied, stepping through the threshold.

A/N: so there we have it, the reason behind their little break-up and the beginning of their friendship once more. Some of you might be wondering why Mindy would forgive him so easily, it's because she knew she played a role in their friendship falling apart. If you read the first chapter you would have seen that Mindy felt guilty about ignoring Dave, especially after his mother died.