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 Kara and Michele are original to myself.

Chapter Three – The Streets of San Marco


"If Hillshire sees me in this outfit, I will die of embarrassment," Triela noted. She was wearing a white tank top that ended above her midriff with a red miniskirt, white leather belt and white leather high-heel t-strap sandals.

Petrushka's face had a look halfway between confusion and exasperation.

"Do you really think you look that horrible?" she asked.

"No. No," Triela said hastily, worried that she might have struck a nerve. "It's just that I have never worn anything like this before."

"Which is a sad thing, as you are a very pretty girl, yet you are always dressed like a man by your handler," Petrushka noted.

"Now wait a minute!" Triela huffed. "It's true Hillshire purchases my clothes, but I like what he has bought for me. It's my…style, Petrushka. I guess I am just not as fashionable as your or Kara."

"Pagani!" Petrushka sniffed. "That girl is a walking advertisement for Armani and Gucci. I know her handler is from Milan, but still… And even then, she gets it wrong. She has such nice legs, but she always hides them by wearing those tall boots. And her skirts and dresses are much too long—they all fall to the knee so when she wears boots, you can't see anything! I need to have a talk with her, I think.

"As for you, Triela, we are in Venice and it is summer. Even the men do not dress in suits and ties in this weather. And we want those men to notice us, but not because we are wearing strange clothes," Petrushka stated, dressed in a light green tank top that also revealed her midriff, cutoff jean shorts and red leather high-heel t-strap sandals.

"Anyway, we should be going," Petrushka noted. "It looks like our handlers have yet to sleep off their hangovers from last night, so I will leave them a note." She took out a pen and wrote a note on a piece of paper, which she then taped it to the door of their room.

Petrushka was joking about the hangover part, though Hillshire and Alessandro had been out very late having dinner with two ladies from the Venice office of the Tourism Promotion Agency. They were still sleeping, though it was past 09:00 and the sun had been up for almost three hours.

They checked their pistols and placed them in their purse and then exited the apartment they were renting on the Riva del Ferro fronting the Grand Canal in the sestieri of San Marco near the Rialto Bridge. They hired a water taxi to take them to the Piazza San Marco rather then try and navigate the warren of streets and bridges.

The two fratelli were in Venice not for vacation, but a mission. With the turmoil in Lombardy and Milan caused by the death of Christiano Savonarola, the PDF factions in other regions and cities were jockeying to improve their position. This was no different in the Veneto region, of which Venice was the capital city. Information was leaking to the moles and the intelligence agencies were picking up plenty of chatter and everything pointed to some high-level meetings amongst the PRF and their bankrollers in Venice.

One of the finest hotels in the city was the Hotel Danieli, a former palace of the Doge Andrea Dandolo and literally next door to the Piazza San Marco. To Alessandro, if any place would host the principals for such a meeting, this hotel would be it. That is why he had taken Hillshire and the two ladies to the Bar Dandolo in the hotel, but had not seen anyone on the "SWA most wanted", as he referred to the list of names and faces of known and suspected PRF leaders and financiers.

The girls stepped off the water taxi and Petrushka headed for the hotel lobby, Triela in tow.

"Fancy," Petrushka noted. The lobby area did indeed look like a palace, with woven rugs, glass chandeliers, marble columns, stained glass and gilded furniture.

To her surprise, Triela noticed that most of the young women visible were dressed in similar outfits, though their clothes and bags sported the trendiest designer labels. They climbed the steps to the rooftop Restaurant Terrazza Danieli where they had breakfast on the terrace overlooking the island of San Giorgio Maggiore and the church and monastery located upon it. However, they didn't notice anyone of interest at any of the tables so they finished their meal, paid the bill and went downstairs to the Bar Dandolo.

"Two mimosas, please," Petrushka said to the bartender as she entered, giving him a smile and a wink as she passed. She chose a table with a view of most of the bar area.

"A little early to be drinking, don't you think?" Triela asked.

"Mimosas are harmless," Petrushka replied. "And two pretty girls in a bar not drinking would draw attention."

"I would think two pretty girls in a bar would draw attention even if they were drinking," Triela deadpanned.

"You're learning," Petrushka said with a smile. A waitress came over and placed their drinks on the table and Petrushka slipped her a €20 note, telling her to split the difference with the bartender.

"Expensive breakfast, a 50% tip on two drinks. Alessandro must give you a nice allowance," Triela opinioned.

"I want them to both remember me," Petrushka replied. "That way, when I come back and ask them some questions about the people we are looking for later, they will not be so reticent to answer."

"Alessandro taught you this?"

Petrushka nodded. "He is very adept at getting information from people," she noted. She then thought of all the women he used to sleep with when he was working espionage and intelligence at Public Safety and her face took on a frightening countenance.

"Is something wrong?" Triela asked, taken aback by the sudden change.

"No," Petrushka said, draining her glass in a single gulp. "Come on, there is nobody here, either."

Triela quickly choked down her own drink and followed Petrushka out and back onto the Riva degli Schiavoni, which ran the length of the Venice Lagoon.

They turned right and crossed a small bridge next to the Doge's Palace. They walked past the palace and then turned into the square itself, stopping beside Saint Mark's Basilica. The plaza itself was filled with people so they grabbed two chairs and sat down.

"What are we doing?" Triela asked.

"Observing," Petrushka said, slightly lowering her sunglasses so she could look over them at the people passing by their location.

"Another thing Alessandro taught you?" Triela asked, and Petrushka nodded.


"Bingo," Petrushka said, suddenly straightening up.

"What?" Triela said. She'd been watching the pigeons, having quickly grown bored with their "stake-out".

"Coming out of the Basilica; three men in suit and tie. One is tall with white hair and glasses, one with long brown hair and sunglasses and the third bald, also with sunglasses."

"I see them," Triela acknowledged. "What about them?"

"What did I say about men wearing suits? It's 24° out. They have to be roasting," Petrushka noted. "But why are they exiting the Basilica?"

"Maybe they're tourists?"

"Notice how brownie and baldy are standing to either side of the white-haired guy," Petrushka said. "Notice how their heads don't move. Their eyes definitely are, however, behind those dark glasses. That's what brought them to my attention. They're definitely bodyguards."

"Damn, you're good," Triela said, impressed.

"Alessandro is a great mentor," Petrushka said. She rose and started towards the Basilica and the three men, who were now walking along the Doge's Palace back towards the Riva degli Schiavoni. As they approached, Petrushka's cellphone went off. Her ringtone was both unique and loud, and the two bodyguards head's immediately swung towards them.

"Shit!" Petrushka cursed, fumbling inside her purse for her phone. She pulled it out and flipped it open.

"Ciao!" she said, brightly, turning away.

"Petrushka, it's Sandro. Where are you?"

Petrushka killed the call and set the phone to vibrate. She used the camera phone to snap a few pictures of the trio. She and Triela tried to nonchalantly follow, but they both had to stay well back to as to not be seen by the two bodyguards, who scanned the crowds as they walked. They stepped into a private boat and pulled out into the lagoon.

"Dammit!" she swore. She dialed Alessandro and informed them of what had just transpired. He ordered them both back to the apartment immediately and they caught a water taxi.


"I'll send this back to headquarters and see what they make of it," Alessandro said as he examined the pictures he'd downloaded from Petrushka's phone.

"I'm sorry about losing them," Petrushka said. "I should have checked that my phone was on vibrate."

"It was a chance encounter," Alessandro stated. "And not like you could jump into a water taxi and yell 'follow that boat!' like in a spy movie," he added with a laugh, assuaging Petrushka's guilt and shame.

Triela sat on the couch, feeling a bit self-conscious after the look of surprise Hillshire had given her when she'd walked into the apartment. Alessandro, she noted, hadn't given Petrushka a second glance.

The report came back from Ferro an hour later. The person the girls had noticed was a wealthy financier with no known connections with the PRF. That position changed that evening, however. While the four of them had dinner at the Restaurant Terrazza Danieli, they saw him in the company of one of the suspected senior members of the Verona PRF faction. Petrushka followed them down to the bar and after slipping the bartender a €50 bill to pay for a €5 drink found that the gentleman often entertained guests at the hotel.

Alessandro and Petrushka followed him out of the hotel and they hired a water taxi to "show them around" the city, surreptitiously following their target back to what appeared to be a house on the canal near the Calle Malvasia. They motored on past and had the water taxi drop them off at the Rialto Bridge where they returned to the apartment.

Alessandro and Petrushka moved out and checked in to the Hotel Danieli so they could stake the place out without drawing attention. They also placed a small video camera across from the house, feeding back to the apartment.

Over the next two days, they recorded PRF principals from Venice, Padua and Trieste visiting the house and the Trieste delegation was taken to dinner at the Hotel Danieli.

It appeared that whether then having one central meeting of all the principals, instead many individual meetings were taking place. Since they could not hit everyone at once, they chose to hit none at all and instead compiled a report on all the meetings they could before heading back to Rome.


Later that summer, a decision was made to eliminate the financier and the Jean and Rico fratello were tasked to carry out the mission. They did so and also eliminated three PRF terrorists attempting to escape via the marina on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.