A/N: I am back again with chapter eleven of "Second Chance". Here, Elsa talks to Rico and Henrietta as well as try to get to the bottom of her vision from last time.
Thanks to my pre-reader Chronic Guardian
Disclaimer: I don't own Gunslinger Girl
It was a Spring day and the SWA was busy at work. Marco and Angelica had returned from action not to long ago and were rebuilding their relationship. However, a recent encounter with a Padania named Leonardo and Marco's ex-girlfriend Patricia had shaken them slightly. Meanwhile, the rest of Section 2 was protecting the chairwoman of the agency overseeing the Straits of Messina Bridge project. At the Agency, James and Elsa were finishing up with some target practice.
"Your aim is impeccable Elsa." said James as the two headed back to the main Agency campus from the shooting range.
"Thank you sir." replied Elsa smiling.
"Have you gotten the chance to talk to Henrietta and Rico yet?" asked James.
"Not yet, sir. The two of them got into a fight recently." answered Elsa, "Trying to make peace with them at a time like that didn't seem like a smart move."
"Oh yes I heard. Rico accidentally broke Henrietta's kaleidoscope." noted James.
"It's weird, at one point I would have felt fighting over something like that is stupid." replied Elsa as she placed her hand over her heart, "But, now I feel bad for Henrietta since the kaleidoscope was a gift from her handler. I know Rico didn't mean to break it but, losing a gift from your handler must be difficult."
"You're showing real empathy Elsa. That's very good. You've come along way since we first meet." said James patting her on the head.
"Thank you sir." said the blonde blushing slightly as she stared at her bracelet.
"I've heard that Henrietta and Rico have made up now so, if you wanted to talk to them, now could be a good time." said James.
"I'll go now." said Elsa before taking off, "I also need to ask Henrietta about that vision."
Elsa headed inside looking for Rico and Henrietta but, was initially unable to find either of them. Asking around, she then discovered they were currently on missions. Thus, she decided to wait for their return.
"This might be difficult." sighed Elsa as she waited.
"You did a great job Henrietta." came the voice of Jose, complementing his girl for another successful mission.
"Signore Jose, Henrietta." Elsa greeted as she approached the duo.
"Hello Elsa." said Jose.
"Sorry Elsa." said Jose gently pushing Elsa aside and taking over her sniper rifle.
"What was that?" asked Elsa to herself confused by the vision she'd just seen.
"Elsa, are you okay?" asked Jose noticing the girl seemed to be staring off into space.
"Yes sir. I am fine." answered Elsa promptly before turning her attention to her fellow cyborg, "Henrietta, I need to speak to you and Rico."
"This is part of James' wanting you to get along with the other girls." guessed Jose.
"Correct. I have made amends with all of the other girls except Henrietta and Rico." replied Elsa.
"I know Rico was out earlier on a mission but, I think they might be done now. If they are, Rico should be in our room." said Henrietta.
"Good, then can we talk there?" asked Elsa.
"Sure." answered Henrietta smiling, "I can go, right Jose?"
"Of course you can. You two go." answered Jose.
"Okay sir." replied Henrietta before she and Elsa left.
As they two walked to Rico's/Henrietta's bedroom, the blonde cyborg felt something was off. She honestly felt as if there was something that happened between them but, she couldn't figure out what it could be. She had disliked Henrietta previous but, she never knew why. As she walked, Elsa realized she was feeling light-headed.
"Elsa, are you okay?" asked Henrietta noticing the girl seemed to be stumbling.
"I'm okay. Just thinking." answered Elsa who then had another vision.
She was in her room with her SIG P550 rifle in her hand. It was nighttime and she was facing her door. She didn't understand why but, this had a familiar feel to it. The door then opened revealing Henrietta.
"What do you want?" asked Elsa clearly unhappy by her visitor.
"I thought...I thought that maybe we could talk." answered Henrietta softly.
Henrietta then entered the room and stood only a short distance from Elsa. The blonde was none the less pleased by Henrietta's presence in her room. Whatever this was about, she wanted to waste as little time as possible.
"We have nothing to talk about." said Elsa not even facing her "sister".
"But, it sounds like we might be working together someday soon." replied Henrietta as Elsa sat back down.
"Well then I'll warn you now, if you even think about getting in...way, you'll regret it." said Elsa sternly.
"Elsa, why do you push us all away?" asked Henrietta saddened.
"Tell me, who's more important to you, your handler or the other cyborgs?" asked Elsa who continued speaking though Elsa couldn't hear anymore of her own words.
"That's not...You know that's not true." said Henrietta shaking, "I like Jose. I like him a lot. But, there's gotta be more for us than just that."
"Well, I don't think there's anything left to talk about." replied Elsa as she returned to cleaning her gun, "Would you just leave."
With that Henrietta left the room leaving Elsa alone again. Elsa kept cleaning her gun and at one point she stared over at a nearby picture. The image was too blurry for her to make it out.
"Elsa, are you sure you're okay?" asked Henrietta snapping Elsa back to reality.
"Yeah, I'm fine Henrietta. Don't worry about me." answered the blonde.
"I think you should see Dr. Bianchi." said Henrietta clearly concerned.
"No, I'm fine. Really I am." replied Elsa.
"Okay then." said Henrietta not totally convinced.
"Another one. When I was warning Henrietta in that vision, I told her not to get in someone's way but, the name was audible then that happened again when I asked her who was more important to her. The there was the blurry picture at the end. I need to figure out what's up with these weird visions." said Elsa to herself.
Elsa and Henrietta made it to the room the latter shared with Rico. When they opened the door they found said blonde lying on her bed and resting after a mission. Both Henrietta and Elsa entered the room.
"Hello Henrietta. Hello Elsa." said Rico sitting up in her bed, "What's going on?"
"Elsa said she wanted to talk to us." answered Henrietta.
"Yes. It's something my handler wanted me to do and you two are the last girls I need to make amends with." added Elsa, "I need to talk more to Henrietta so, I should make amends with Rico first."
"Angelica, Triela and Claes told us about this. I think it's really nice." said Rico.
"Rico, I am sorry for the times I was mean or cold to you." said Elsa getting used to apologizing by now.
"I don't think you were every cold to me." replied Rico.
"The whole reason that Signore James had me do this is because you and I had an argument. That...and a few other instances." said Elsa.
"I don't remember that." said Rico shaking her head.
"You and I bumped into each other and I wouldn't accept your apology. Signore James broke up our fight and made me apologize." explained Elsa.
"I don't remember that at all." said Rico surprised.
"Jean must have had her reconditioned." said Elsa to herself.
"If that did happen then I'm sure it's all in the past." said Rico with a smile.
"It's not just that incident, I want to apologize for all the times that I've been like that. All the times I was harsh and pushed you away." said Elsa.
"It's fine Elsa. I don't hold anything against you. I forgive you." said Rico still smiling.
"Thank you Rico." replied Elsa.
"It's no problem." said Rico.
"That's good." sighed Elsa.
"I'm glad too see you becoming more friendly." said Henrietta.
"Thanks. Signore James thinks so too and to be honest, I'm actually enjoying myself." replied Elsa, "I don't know why I was so cold to all of you."
"Probably because of your loyalty to-" began Rico before seeing Henrietta motioning for her to stop.
"Loyalty to who?" asked Elsa.
"Nobody Elsa." answered Henrietta before grabbing her diary and writing a message.
"Writing a message to Jose huh." said Elsa, "But, why now?"
"No. It's for Rico." corrected Henrietta smoothly before handing the piece of paper to her roommate
Rico, Signore Jean told us not to tell Elsa about Lauro remember. You can't mention him.
"Oh, I think I remember that now." replied Rico.
"What's the paper say?" asked Elsa curious.
"Nothing." answered Rico.
"It's a surprise. If we told you, it'd be ruined." added Henrietta seeing Elsa wasn't accepting Rico's answer.
"Well...okay then." said Elsa still skeptical but, brushing it aside.
"Good." sighed Henrietta.
"Anyway, Henrietta I need to apologize to you as well." said Elsa.
"It's like Rico said, I don't hold anything against you and I forgive you." replied Henrietta.
"Thank you." said Elsa.
"I'm sure your handler will be happy you've apologized to everyone." said Rico.
"True. I'm glad that he made me do this. We only get one fratello and I'm glad Signore James is the one I'm paired with." said Elsa smiling.
"Yup, only one fratello." said Henrietta slightly nervous.
"Hey Henrietta, have you and I ever been on a mission together?" asked Elsa catching the roommates by surprise.
"No." answered Henrietta decisively, trying to end this conversation there.
"It's weird but, I've been having these crazy visions lately." replied Elsa.
"What visions?" asked Rico, not helping the matter.
"It first began in Modena, I had a vision of you and I on a bell tower aiming sniper rifles when Signore Jose pushed me aside while apologizing. Then we you and Jose arrived here earlier I had the same vision of him apologizing to me and pushing me aside from a sniper rifle again. Finally, as we walked here I had a vision of us in my room talking and you saying it looked like you and I might be working together soon." explained Elsa.
"Elsa is having memories of Lauro and her past." noted Henrietta to herself before saying aloud,"That's weird, you should talk to Dr. Bianchi about it. Maybe he'll know what it means."
"No!" cried Elsa, "If I tell any adult about this, especially Dr. Bianchi, then I might be reconditioned. I don't want that."
"I get reconditioned all the time. It's really not that bad." said Rico.
"But, your memories are effected when you're reconditioned. I don't want to forget any memories of Signore James." replied Elsa.
"I understand." said Henrietta sympathetic, "We won't tell anyone."
"Thank you." said Elsa "I'm glad we got to talk like this."
After Elsa left, both Henrietta and Rico focused on the revelation she dropped. They both realized what this could mean.
"Signore Jean told us to never mention Lauro to Elsa. But, if she remembers him herself-" began Henrietta as she sat down at the table in the middle of their room.
"This could be bad." finished Rico.
"I told Elsa that we wouldn't tell anyone." noted the brunette.
"Signore Jean never did tell us to report anything." replied Rico.
"But, what if one of our handlers asks us about it?" asked Henrietta,
"Then, I'd have to tell him. I can't disobey Signore Jean." answered Rico.
"I couldn't lie to Signore Jose either." replied Henrietta knowing her sister would be punished more severely.
"Then we'll keep it to ourselves." decided Rico.
"Okay." agreed Henrietta.
In the hallway, Elsa was proud of herself. She'd made her peace with Henrietta and Rico which meant she'd done so with all her sisters. However, she still felt like something was wrong.
"Damn, if I've never been on a mission with Henrietta before, what is with those freaky visions?" asked Elsa to herself.
"There you are." came the familiar voice of James.
"Hello Signore James. You will be happy to know that I have made amends with all the girls here." reported Elsa proudly.
"I know you could do it." replied James patting the girl on her head.
"Th-Thank you." said Elsa blushing.
"For what?" asked James.
"For making me make amends with the others. I was hesitant at first but, I'm glad that I did know." answered Elsa.
"I'm glad to hear you say that." said James.
"I might even go to their next little tea party. Claes' food is amazing." said Elsa as they began to walk.
"Sounds great Elsa." said James.
"Of course, we will eliminate the remainder of the Red Guard first." replied Elsa confident.
"Exactly. Speaking of which, we have the location of the next workers' council we're going after." said James.
"Which one is it sir?" asked Elsa.
"The workers' council in Reggio." answered James, "After this they'll only be two left. Luckily, their security isn't pretty poor so information was easy to come by."
"I won't fail you sir." replied Elsa.
"I know you won't." said James.
"There is no way I will fail. I have to push those visions aside for now." said Elsa to herself.
"You and I make a good team. I'm glad we got paired up." quipped James.
"So am I sir." said Elsa, "If I've never been on a mission with Henrietta then I wonder if those could be visions of the future. No, that's just stupid."
"Are you alright?" asked James, "You seem...distracted."
"I'm fine sir." answered Elsa firmly, "Nothing will come between us."
A/N: There is chapter eleven and I hope you enjoyed this interesting one. Anyway, this is by no means the last we see of Elsa's visions as they will come on more frequent and more detailed. Next time, Elsa and James move against the next workers' council and the next installment of the history lesson. However, I should say I might be taking a hiatus from this to focus on my other fanfic "GSG: The Twilight Zone" due to Chronic Guardian being unavailable for the next few months. Please review.