The brisk night air whipped across Kelly's face as she made her way through the moonlit darkness. The young girl avoided the street lamps as best she could, especially at the rate she was running. Kelly's stride easily surpassed that of normal humans, but Kelly achieved it effortlessly. She slowed as she came upon her destination, house one-eighteen.

There were few lights on at the house, with the exception of one upstairs and the glow of a television filling a room downstairs. The curtains were all drawn, but Kelly assumed that the houses shared more than outside similarities between them, and that Megan's room would be on the top level.

Kelly quickly scaled one of the porch's columns and grappled the edge of the roof. She quickly pulled herself up and quietly made her way over to the lit room's window. Kelly sat down beside of it, careful to not be illuminated by the light coming from inside. As she listened closely, Kelly heard muffled sobs along with a female voice she assumed to be Megan's mother.

"but WHY mommy? WHY does daddy get so mad? What did I do wrong?"

"You did nothing wrong honey, you know how daddy gets when he drinks. He doesn't know what he is doing."

"Then why doesn't he stop drinking? I just want daddy to…"

"What are you two talking about?" A wave of aggression flew over Kelly as she heard the man's vicious tone.

"Megan, you need to shut up and go to bed! Linda, you come with me! I'll not have you two having little secrets!"

"We were just talking about her school and…" Kelly recoiled slightly at the sound of Megan's mother being slapped. The slap was immediately followed by the slamming of Megan's door and Charles' shouting as Kelly's friend continued to sob.

"God, please make daddy stop." With the wishful prayer Megan pulled her covers over her head and began trying to shake off her fear and go to sleep.

Kelly looked briefly at the star filled sky as a narrow cloud slithered its way past a full moon. The girl curiously cocked her head as she noticed the house next to the Aylesworth's had a light on, with a middle-aged man secretly pulling back the drapes. She quickly surmised that the man had heard the commotion at her friend's house, but appeared not to be concerned as the drapes fell back into place and the light was turned off.

Don't worry Megan, tonight you will get your wish…

---------------

Charles Aylesworth needed another drink. That was the only thing that would keep him out of his miserable environment. Fighting and winning on the battlefield was his only other happiness, and his family was just an inconvenience to be dealt with. He had dealt with them for the night, giving his wife another bruise for her to have to cover up. The people on the base made it so easy. No one questioned it. Why should they? Linda and Megan were always convincing liars, which only added to their worthlessness in his drunken mind.

Yes, another drink would lull him into sleep nicely. As Charles approached the kitchen, he could here the sound of liquid draining out of the sink. He turned the corner into the kitchen, and beheld the child standing at the sink. Her golden hair twirled as her head turned to look at him. A smile crept upon her face as their eyes made contact, and then she turned her attention back to her task. In her hand was a bottle of vodka, which was emptying out into the sink.

"What are you doing?" Charles ran over and grabbed the now empty bottle of vodka from Kelly's hand. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

"A guardian angel." Kelly declared without visually acknowledging Charles.

"Megan's angel to be exact." Kelly turned the water on and rinsed spilled alcohol from her hands.

"Is that so little girl? So what do you want?" Charles' words were slightly slurred, and Kelly could smell the reek of alcohol.

"What I want, Charles, is for you to stop hitting your wife and daughter. Since you seem to not be able to control yourself when drinking, I am relieving you of the burden."

"Listen here you little shit, you are risking taking a beating of your own. Leave my house before I…"

"I don't think you will want to strike me Mr. Aylesworth. It could be very bad for you to do so."

Having had enough, Charles drew a backhand and began to lash out at the young girl. To his surprise, however, the young girl caught his forearm in her grasp, stopping his hand inches from her face. She then began to squeeze.

"Do you know what your problem is, Mr. Aylesworth? You prey on the weak. That is one area where we are different. I protect the weak, and I am here to protect Megan. You are pathetic. Your wife and child love you yet you knock them around like dolls."

The pressure Kelly was applying to his forearm brought the soldier to his knees. His right hand was already numb and he was sure that his bones would crack at any moment. He let go of the vodka bottle that crashed to the floor as he tried to leverage his other hand free from Kelly's grasp. "I think it is time for you to get knocked around, Charles, to see if you are strong, or weak and can only stand up to those who cannot fight back. Do you still want to hit me, Charles?

In a desperate attempt to catch Kelly off guard, Charles kicked his leg out at the stool she was standing on. As if anticipating his move, Kelly let go of his arm and jumped backwards off the stool and landed in a three-point stance, looking as though she were a lineman getting ready to destroy the quarterback.

Charles scrambled to his feet, nursing his right forearm against his stomach as he reached for the now broken bottle on the floor. Grasping the neck of the now jagged piece of glass, Charles made threatening stabbing gestures at Kelly that she easily avoided.

"You're not making things easier on yourself, Charles. You can't beat me. None of the people I have fought, young or old, have ever beat me. They used to call me freak. No one will call me that any more."

"Charles, what's going on in there?" Megan's mom called from the bedroom, the sound of dread filled her voice, revealing she really didn't want to know.

Charles had turned his attention to the woman's voice, allowing Kelly to get close to him unnoticed. As he turned his attention away from Megan's mom, he was suddenly face to face with Kelly, who had climbed on top of the kitchen table. Charles stumbled in his thoughts as he wondered how the little girl could move so fast, so quietly.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as the little girl put a finger to her mouth, urging him to be quiet. "When you wake up, remember, you are never to hit them again, or I will come for you."

The words barely had time to register in Charles' mind as Kelly's fist connected with the side of his face and knocked him unconscious. He hit his face once more on the table's edge on the way down, splitting the skin and spilling blood onto the glass-littered floor.

"This is perfect." Kelly mused. The scene would never indicate she had been there. She would truly be an unseen Angel to Megan, granting her wishes and destroying the monsters in her life. Footsteps coming toward the kitchen alerted Kelly and she slipped out the side door and once again made her way into the night. As she stopped in front of the Aylesworth's home, she eyed the house next to it, one-seventeen. "You're next." Kelly made a gun gesture with her hand and pointed it in the house's direction, then quickly ran home.

---------------

Nyo'Tak looked at the monitor begrudgingly. It had been a while since his experiment had left her room, and the tracker he had assigned to her had been destroyed as Kelly darted from the house, but the girl never felt the impact. He had scanned all points in the house, momentarily watched as Kelly's adopted parents mated in their bed and then quickly focused the screen back on Kelly's room. The camera's all had advanced Yautja cloaking and sensors that would allow them to relocate should the need arise.

A sudden shadow was cast on a wall and Nyo'Tak directed the camera to pan past Kelly's bed and across her chest stuffed with human toys. The camera came to rest on the room's only window as it slowly slid open. Kelly's leg entered first as she maneuvered the rest of her body through the small window. The girl quickly changed into her night clothes, removed her decoy from the bed and slid into it.

Sleep seemed to be the last thing on Kelly's mind as the camera zoomed in. Nyo'Tak clicked his mandibles curiously at the girl's facial expression. She seemed happy. An infectious smile adorned her face and she mimed movements of what Nyo'Tak hopefully considered to be a fight of some kind. Had she gone on a hunt? The thought brought joy to the Yautja's being, that the youngling would be honing her skills.

It also saddened Nyo'Tak, that he would have to destroy his creation before she realized her full potential. It seemed almost laughable that the Council did not think a warrior such as himself could not defeat such a harmless looking creature.

The monitor displayed Kelly closing her eyes, and Nyo'tak glared back out into the vastness of space. He sat down heavily into the small craft's seat as the autopilot made minor course corrections. Flying in subspace was but a passing thought for the Yautja, who had been doing it for many cycles, but it was nice to allow the computer to handle the navigation affairs. Preparation would be needed in the days to come. If the Council was right, he would need all the time he had to get ready.


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