A/N: I have returned from my four month hiatus bearing gifts; three new chapters of this work. I'm going to renovate my original ideas so some of what I said would be included in this work won't be. This chapters stars of favorite ballerina Petra and her handler Alessandro. The title is the name of a song by 70s rock group Foreigner.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gunslinger Girl or the Twilight Zone. I don't own the song Double Vision either. Just a formality.
It was a dark and snowy night in Tuscany as a car tied desperately to maneuver the dangerous roads. Alessandro and Petra had gone to the region to assassinate a Padania terrorist responsible for a bombing in Florence and while the succeeded the trip home had become hazardous due to conditions that only worsened.
"Man, this weather really sucks." growled Alessandro as he fought the weather driving.
"Sandro, we need to stop. We'll be dead at this rate." said Petra as the wind whipped her face.
"I know what I'm doing Petra!" replied Alessandro.
"Reckless son of a-" mumbled Petra until the side-effect of her conditioning kicked in and she vomited making sure to puke outside the car.
"Careful." said Alessandro holding back her hair but, this momentary distraction nearly led to their car turning over.
"Look whose talking!" snapped Petra as a building came into sight.
"A hostel. We can stay there." said Alessandro managing to safely arrive at the building.
"Thank God. I'm freezing." said Petra as they exited the car.
The two grabbed their belongings and quickly darted into the building. As they headed inside they didn't notice the ghost of Enrica Croce by the door.
"A stormy night and a stop-over in a quiet hostel for shelter. That is the situation Alessandro Ricci and his cyborg Petrushka seemed to have found themselves in. Little do they know, a bus will stop her for the night including one particular passenger familiar to the redheaded cyborg." said the ghost girl
The duo quickly headed inside to escape the cold. The lobby was small with peach colored wallpaper. A clock sat on the wall as did several duplicates of Renaissance paintings. The desk was small with a large umber of door keys on the wall behind it. An elderly lady was the only person behind the desk.
"Good evening to you two." said the woman smiling.
"Same to you ma'am. The two of us were traveling but, the conditions have become too treacherous to continue. We'd like a room for the night." replied Alessandro.
"No problem sir. That'll be 15 euro." said the woman.
"Sure thing." said Alessandro paying the woman and taking the key.
Alessandro and Petra then took their belongings and headed to their bedroom. As they left another bus pulled up outside and it's inhabitants entered the hostel also seeking shelter.
"Okay. Yes sir. We'll be back tomorrow. Goodbye sir." said Alessandro hanging up the phone.
"So, how did Signore Jean take the news we won't be back to tomorrow?" asked Petra as she finished unpacking.
"Annoyed but, understanding." answered Alessandro knowing Jean's short temper.
"If he got pissed he'd just take it out on Rico." replied Petra unnerved.
"Yeah I know." sighed Alessandro.
"Speaking of piss. I gotta use the bathroom. I'll be right back." said the cyborg jumping up and running for the door.
The redhead headed to the hostels communal bathroom. Running down the the hallway she didn't see the two girls headed her way until it was too late to stop. The three girls collided and fall to the floor.
"I'm so sorry. I just really had to go to the bathroom." said Petra feeling stupid as the three got up.
"It's no problem but, uncharacteristic of you." replied the first girl who then got a good look at Petra, "Miss Petrov is gonna kill you when she sees what you've done."
"Anastasia is right. That dye and piercings are against school code. You could get suspended for this." added the second girl.
"I have no clue what either of you is talking about." replied a confused Petra.
"Look, Ivana and I are only trying to help you as your friends." said Anastasia.
"My Friends." replied Petra now confused.
"Exactly. You're going to get into a lot of trouble. Besides, Natasha would never let us hear the end of it if she got the lead from you." said Ivana.
"Look, you must have me confused for someone else." said Petra, "I have to go so I can get back to Sandro and-"
"Whose Sandro?" asked Ivana.
"My fratello." answered Petra.
"You don't have any Italian relatives." said Anastasia as both of girls had now become thoroughly confused themselves.
"He's not related to me by blood. He's more my guardian." explained Petra.
"Oh I see. I never figured you to get into that type of relationship." said Ivana grinning.
"It's not like that!" cried Petra.
"I hope not. Alexei is still waiting for you in Moscow." replied Anastasia.
"Who?" asked Petra familiar with the name but, unable to put a face together.
"He's your boyfriend." answered Anastasia.
"Look, you must have me mistaken. I don't know either of you and I don't have a boyfriend." said Petra before leaving to the bathroom.
"She's acting weird." noted Ivana.
Still shaking her encounter off Petra managed to make it to the bathroom in time. As she finished she heard the door open and someone else enter. The cyborg exited the stall and found another girl her age at the mirror. Upon seeing Petrushka, the girl laughed.
"Your friends told me you'd changed your appearance." laughed the girl.
"I guess you met those two." replied Petra scratching the back of her head.
"Well, I don't really mind. You you get suspend I'll take over the lead." said the girl.
"You must be Natasha then." said the redhead as she washed her hands.
"You know exactly who I am." said Natasha.
"Actually I don't. I think you guys are confusing me for somebody else." replied Petra.
"I'd know you anywhere. We've been rivals for years and you got lucky winning the lead role in "The Nutcracker" this Christmastime." huffed Natasha before adding with a grin, "Of course, now I should have no problem taking over the lead role."
"Congrats on that." said Petra before trying to leave.
"That's it?" asked Natasha grabbing the arm of the redhead, "You're just letting me have the lead?"
"Yeah. If you want it so bad you got it." answered Petra pulling her arm free.
"Something is seriously wrong with you." said Natasha.
"I'm fine. I just need to figure out what's wrong with you guys." said Petra before leaving.
"Something's different about her." noted Natasha to herself.
While Petra was gone, Sandro had finished unpacking and waiting had gone in search of the redhead. The man walked down the hallways looking for Petra but, instead found a tall woman walking opposite of him. She was over five feet tall and wearing a white dress.
"Hello ma'am." said Alessandro.
"To you to sir." replied the woman in Russian.
"Thank you." said Sandro also in Russian.
"You're Russian is flawless." said the woman stopping, "Miss Petrov. I'm a teacher at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography."
"Alessandro Ricci. I'm a civil servant." replied Alessandro shaking the woman's hand, "May I ask, what are you ladies doing her?"
"We're putting on a performance of "The Nutcracker." We've been touring Northern Italy and now we're headed towards Rome but, the weather is delaying us." answered Petrov.
"Hell, I'm headed back to Rome. I'll try to catch your show." replied Sandro.
"That would be nice." said Petrov before becoming grim, "I'll admit I was unsure about coming here."
"Why is that if I may?" asked Sandro.
"One of my top students came here for treatment." answered Petrov.
"I'm afraid to ask what for." said Sandro.
"Cancer treatment." replied Petrov.
"I'm so sorry." said Sandro.
"No, it's okay. She had it in her leg. It was too late for chemotherapy and the only thing we could have done was amputate. Poor girl was distraught at her dream of being a ballerina end so we sent her here for treatment in hopes of saving her leg." explained Petrov.
"That sounds a hell of a lot like Petra." thought Sandro to himself.
"We were all worried sick about the girl. Of course all we could do was the pray the good Lord watched over her." said Petrov.
"Well sometimes that helps." said Sandro.
"Oh, that is so true." said Petrov.
"So, what exactly happened to the girl?" asked Sandro.
"Well-" began Petrov answering the question when a loud scream could be heard.
"Petra!" cried Alessandro recognizing the girl anywhere.
The SWA agent ran down the hall searching for his girl in the wake of this cry. After running for several minutes he finally found Petra curled up in a ball on the floor.
"Petra! Petra! Speak to me dammit!" cried Alessandro as he found no physical injuries on her.
"It's... her." replied Petra shaking.
"Who?!" asked Alessandro holding Petra tightly.
"The girl." answered the redhead as if in another world.
"Petra, you need to be a hell of a lot more specific." said Sandro.
"I don't get it. She's not real. She's only a dream." mumbled the cyborg aloud.
"You need to give me more details here. I don't have much to work with right now." replied Alessandro.
"This shouldn't be possible." said Petra too preoccupied to care.
"I swear this better not be a freaking game." said Sandro.
"That girl." said Petra as her handler could feel goosebumps on her arm.
"Oh God, you're serious." sighed Alessandro not exactly certain what to do as he picked the girl up.
Alessandro put his arm around the shoulder of Petra and took her back to their room. Once they arrived he sat her on the bed and gave her a lit cigarette to help calm her nerves.
"Okay Petra, you need to be calm and tell me exactly what happened." said Alessandro sitting across from the cyborg.
"It first started when I headed to the bathroom. I met two girls named Anastasia and Ivana who were here from Russia." began the cyborg.
"Yeah, I met their teacher." noted Alessandro.
"They claim to know me saying I had a boyfriend. Then when I got to the bathroom and there was another girl there from the same school named Natasha and she also claimed to know me saying we were rivals." explained Petra.
"A simple case of mistaken identity." said Alessandro.
"That's exactly what I thought but, then I saw her." replied Petra.
"How is she?" asked Alessandro.
"I can't. This is too much weird shit right now. I have no clue why, but for some reason I'm just really overcome with emotion right now." replied Petra.
"Then they must have been classmates of hers in Russia." thought Alessandro to himself before addressing the redhead, "Let's just get a good night sleep and we'll deal with this tomorrow when you've had time to rest and soak it in."
"Yes sir." said Petra.
The duo soon checked into bed but, Petra couldn't get a wink of sleep. Petra kept thinking about the girl she had seen so, in the middle of the night she quietly grabbed her Taurus PT92 pistol.
"I'm going to get answers." said the redhead as she left.
"Dammit Petra." said Sandro grabbing his gun as he had just awoke to see the girl leave and now had to go after her.
The redhead made her way down the hallway uncertain as to exactly where she was going. As she wandered down the hallway she heard footsteps and knew she was on the right path.
"I've got you know." snarled Petra.
The girl kept going following her target. Meanwhile, Alessandro was looking for her not aided by the dimly light hallway.
"When I find that girl she's gonna get it." growled Sandro.
The agent kept wandering down the hall keeping his hand on the wall next to him so he didn't bump around. As he turned a corner he heard a familiar voice.
"Got you!" cried Petra causing Sandro to run in he direction of the voice until he found her.
"Petrushka." said Alessandro seeing Petra on the ground.
"She got away and I tripped in the dark." said Petra picking herself up, "I'm going after her."
"The hell you are! I'm ordering you to stay here!" snapped Alessandro knowing her conditioning would make her obey.
"You bastard!" cried Petra before vomiting thanks to her side-effect.
"I have no clue what's gotten into you but, I'm having Dr. Bianchi look at you once we get back to the Agency." said Sandro.
"She's right there. Down the hallway." replied Petra.
"If I prove there's no girl here then will you drop this?" asked Sandro exasperated.
"Fine but, I know there will be." answered Petra.
The two began walking down the hallway but, they couldn't find anyone else around. Finally they heard footsteps coming there way.
"I freaking told you." said Petra readying her gun but, her handler took the gun quickly and hide it behind his back.
"My, I'm surprised anyone is still awake." said the elderly lady from the front desk.
"I could say the same about you." said Sandro as the two shared a laugh.
"I'm just up making sure everyone is set for the evening. You're the only two I've found up." replied the woman.
"Well we were just talking. We'll be back to bed now." said Sandro who grabbed Petra by the arm and quickly whisked her away.
"I guess you were right Alessandro." said Petra as the two returned to their room, "I don't know what came over me."
"It's fine Petra. We're leaving tomorrow anyway." replied Alessandro, "Good night."
"Good night to you sir." replied Petra.
The two agents slept the rest of the night and awoke the next morning. They The weather had cleared and they ate breakfast and packed their things to go. Outside they found the Russian ballerinas getting on their bus to depart. While Petra was inside grabbing the last of her bags her handler talked to the teacher of the ballerinas.
"So, good to see you're headed out. I hated it if you ladies missed your performance." said Sandro as she took a smoke.
"Agreed. Luckily, I called ahead and they understood." replied Ms. Petrov.
"Good to hear it." said Sandro smiling.
"Yes. If we missed this then the entire rest of our trip would have been disorganized and we would have been late getting home." said Petrov.
"Ma'am. We don't have enough room for for everything!" called Ivana trying to cram a suitcase into the luggage department of the bus.
"I'm be right there." said Petrov who went to help the girl just as Petra came out.
"I'm ready sir." said Petra.
"Good." replied Sandro but, as the two took off the redhead saw someone familiar leaving the hostel.
"It's her!" cried Petra but, by that time it was too late.
"Oh, there you are." said Anastasia smiling as the blonde exited the hostel.
"You've changed back." noted Ivana.
"What do you mean?" asked the blonde.
"You dyed your hair red and had your ears pierced." answered Anastasia.
"Oh, I know who you're talking about. That girl attacked me last night. I think she's a stalker." replied the blonde, "I heard someone following me so I hid but, luckily it turned out to be the babushka who ran the hostel."
"Well, she just left. The man she was with seemed nice. She might not have been all there though." proposed Petrov, "Anyway, you're our lead so I'm glad you didn't do anything too radical."
"Yes. That's be terrible." said Natasha bitterly as she stormed onto the bus.
"I'm glad too." said Anastasia.
"Come on. Let's sit next to each other Eliza." said Ivana.
The girls got onto the bus and it they were ready to leave. As they bus left the hostel the ghost of Enrica appeared on outside the hostel watching the bus leave.
"Alessandro and Petra, two agents of the Social Welfare Agency forced to stop at a hostel due to difficult weather conditions. However, they could not have encountered meeting a group of ballerinas in Italy on tour including a mirror image of one certain cyborg. A bus that traveled across a parallel plan; through to the Twilight Zone."
A/N: There we go with my return. The episode this was based on was "Mirror Image" though I did take liberties with the episode. I hope you stick around as the next chapter will come out but, it'll be six weeks. Anyway, until then I'm also sticking with "Second Chance" and please review.