Chapter 12!

Warning: Rough Topics.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Enjoy! Sorry about the early post? I'm in Tokyo and we're like...13 hours ahead of the East Coast!

The Mercenary's Daughter

Chapter 12

Strength

"Mister Manoso, you're very silent tonight," Stephanie said, walking into the man's home office, watching him look through his paperwork, "Is there anything I can do?"

Carlos shrugged his shoulders and looked over to Stephanie. It was well past midnight and Heidi was fast asleep. Stephanie stood in the doorway, dressed in a pair of terry cloth pajamas bottoms and a tank top. She had a towel wrapped around her head and was eating a cup of yogurt. She gave him a smile and said, "Well, If I can be of any help, tell me."

"Wait, there is something you can do," Carlos said, putting his papers down, "Can you just sit here, I could use the company...I had a rough conversation with Brittany."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Stephanie asked, sitting down in the soft chair across from Carlos's desk, "Sometimes, it's best to get it out your system...after you left the condo, I went to find Brittany but she wasn't in the backyard. It was like she jumped the fence or something."

"Something indeed," Carlos said, rubbing his face and then he said, "I found out that Brittany is Heidi's last living relative, her aunt, if you could believe that."

"What?" Stephanie yelped, tucking her feet underneath her, "I knew I wasn't crazy, when you put Heidi and Brittany together, they look almost like mother and daughter, but there is a difference there."

"She made a promise to her sister, to watch over Heidi and I," Carlos said, shutting down his laptop and looking over to Stephanie, "She's been fulfilling that wish for over a year now, and...I'm glad she told me, it's nice to know that I still have some sort of connection to her sister, besides my child."

"Did you love her, Heidi's mother?" Stephanie asked, leaning back in the chair she sat in, "You don't have to answer, if you don't want to..."

"I loved her, deeply, at first, it wasn't love, but it turned into love and I wanted it to last for a long time," Carlos said, with a soft smile, looking over to Stephanie, "But, things happen and though it hurt my heart that she died, I can and will move on to find someone else, she wouldn't want me to be alone and said, raising our child."

"Of course she wouldn't, besides, you're not alone, you have friends and family around you and you have the best damn nanny around, now, if we can get Heidi to sleep a solid 6 hours in the night, we'll be good to go," Stephanie said with a smile, spooning up some blueberry yogurt and saying, "I'm going to have to teach you how to shop for food, Diesel demands sweets and you have none, how am I supposed to appease the adventurer with granola and yogurt?"

"Oh yeah, the adventurer, well, I'll leave my card, so the nanny can make sure the adventurer gets his treasures," Carlos said, leaning back in his chair, "Are you his unofficial nanny?"

"More like official, his father came to me the other day and offer to pay me to take care of Diesel during the day, since he's here all the time," Stephanie said with a shrug, "To think, three months ago, you would have never seen me with children, let alone a baby and a toddler, but now, I don't know what I would do without Heidi and Diesel, I love them too much."

"And they love you too," Carlos said, earning a blush from Stephanie, "I mean it, Babe, they love you, and you're a natural with them. Though, the nanny is allowed to have some time off away from the baby, would you like to go out with me, this weekend? I bought tickets to a Broadway play, okay, Ella bought the tickets, and they would be wasted on me, unless you want to go with me to see Mamma Mia on Saturday?"

"Oh," Stephanie said, looking at the tickets Carlos produced from his desk, "I do like Mamma Mia, but who will look after Heidi?"

"She has a dozen uncles who would fight for the chance to look after her," Carlos said with a smile, placing the tickets back in his desk, "So, we leave at 9 in the morning, we'll spend a day in NYC and then go see the play. Pack an evening dress, we're wining and dining after the play."

"Oh, I better go out and buy a dress," Stephanie said, getting up from the chair and making her way out the office, "I'm going to make a bottle, just in case the Princess wakes up, she usually does at one in the morning, have a good night, Mister. Manoso."

"Babe, call me Carlos, Mister Manoso is my father," Carlos winked at Stephanie, earning a blush from the woman, "Have a good night, Stephanie."

Stephanie gave Carlos a smile and then left his office. Carlos got up from his desk and turned off the lights, leaving the office and heading up the stairs to his room. He could hear Stephanie in the kitchen, making Heidi's bottle and cleaning up any mess that was left there. She was a good nanny, and even though she sometimes made the baby powder explode or put too much bubble bath soap in Heidi's tub, she was the perfect nanny for his child.

Carlos laid down in his bed, looking over at the picture of Heidi he had on his nightstand. Stephanie had taken the picture of the baby sleeping in her favorite bouncer. She was innocent and pure in this dirty world and Carlos promised that he would see to it that she remain that way for as long as he could watch over her. He thought back to earlier in the day, when Brittany told him all she knew about Roxanna and what happened to her after she left Xavier's compound.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I bet, while you two were shacking up at Xavier's compound, she told you all about how our father tried to rape her and beat her, right?" Brittany asked, turning to out into the small grassy backyard.

"How do you know about Xavier?" Carlos asked, earning a shrug from Brittany

"He's made a lot of enemies, and I'm one of them, and not for the reason he kidnapped Roxanna and held her prisoner for a year, she choose to get kidnapped," Brittany said with a snort, "Anyways, those stories, about our father were true, he did try to beat and rape her, but not before he finished with me. Our father, he wanted Roxanna, she looked so much like our mother, it hurt, and our father...well, he didn't take to our mother's passing so well, drug overdose, our parents weren't the cleanest of people. Roxanna and my other younger sister fought back, they had the strength to do so, even if they were potential Unmentionables, they could tap into that power and they used it. I wasn't so lucky, my powers laid with knowledge and manipulation, I was a smart child, I used to place my hands on books and the knowledge would seep up into my fingertips, I didn't need to study at school and pretty much I was labeled the gifted child. The weak gifted child and my father saw an opportunity there. He threatened me, he told me that if I didn't sleep with him, he would kill us all in our sleep, I was the only thing standing in between our deaths from our father. I was 7 when he started to rape me and it lasted until I was 18, when he sold us all to the government."

Carlos sat down beside Brittany and asked, "Were you the coward she always talked about?"

"Yeah, she and my other sister...when they found out about me and my father, they called me a coward and asked why I didn't fight back. I couldn't tell them about the threats, and so...I lied, I told them that I was sleeping with him so he wouldn't beat me, he would only beat them. I didn't mean to make them hate me, I was only protecting them, I couldn't let them go through what I was going through. I was their older sister, I'd do anything to make sure they were safe, I did everything I could. They hated me with a passion, couldn't stand the sight of me. My father was no better, he hated me because I wasn't Roxanna, or our mother, he'd beat me and rape me and then leave me there to bleed. I endured it because I knew, if I could manipulate him long enough until we were all old enough, Roxanna and my other sister would have a chance to escape."

Brittany looked over to Carlos's blank face and said, "My sister, with all her perfect qualities, was just as flawed as me, but she didn't know it. I knew I was flawed, I grew up quick and learned everything the hard way. At least Roxanna and my other sister didn't feel the pain I did, that's what older siblings do, protect their younger siblings and that's what I did, I did everything for them."

Carlos stood up and then said, "Why did you never tell her the truth, you could have told her, she would have understood the situation."

"She wouldn't, she was egotistical, Carlos," Brittany said, crossing her arms and looking at the man, "It was always about Roxanna, Roxanna's way or the highway, if I had told her about the threats, she would have called me a liar and turned it into something about her. I kept quiet about it, because I didn't want to burden her and my other sister and I didn't want Roxanna to find something else to blame me for. Sometimes it got bad, and I mean really bad to the point of suicide. I was so happy when our father sold us, so fucking happy, I didn't care who bought us, as long as were away from that man, I was happy."

"She told me about the experiments, about what the government did you and your sisters," Carlos said, earning a shrug from Brittany, "She said only two of you survived, that meant your other sister died in the experiments."

"She did, and Roxanna hated me for it, too, told me that I was the cause of all this," Brittany said, leaning back in her seat, "When were sent out on our first mission, I helped Roxanna with it and then I fled, I didn't want to be a burden to her anymore, she could handle herself and had plenty of money. I went back to the states, got a new alias, went to school and became a lawyer. She sent me a warning not to find her or else she'd slit my throat and frankly I didn't want to find her. I built my life up and it was fine up until a little over two years ago, when Roxanna appeared in my home, talking about you and how I owed her. I didn't owe her shit, and I told her so, I finally told her everything, I told her about our father, I told her the truth, I wasn't a damn coward, like she and my sister used to call me, I was looking out for them both, I had to do what I could to protect them. Roxanna didn't believe me, at first and she and I had a yelling match before she left. She came back, when she left Heidi with you, she asked me to watch over you both, and for me to help her end her life so both you and Heidi wouldn't be in danger. She asked to stop being a coward and to do this one last thing for her and I did. I killed my sister and kept my promise to watch over you and now Heidi."

Carlos looked over to Brittany and saw that she had tears in her eyes and her head was shaking. She let out a hiccup and whispered, "I couldn't save them, no matter what I did, I couldn't save them, they were right, I was too cowardly, I am a coward…."

Carlos got up and hugged Brittany to him, saying, "You are not a coward, from what you told me, you're a person full of strength and love. Roxanna may not have saw it back then, but she saw it before she died, she had to have seen it. She probably hid her true feelings, we'll never know, Brittany, but know this, you're not a coward, you are a good friend and you are a good aunt, I want you to be in Heidi's life and I want you to be in my life."

Brittany wrapped her arms around Carlos and said, "Good, cause I wasn't going to leave you to your own devices, anyways, you're hopeless without me, Carlos."

"Don't I know it, Bella," Carlos chuckled, kissing the top of Brittany's head, "Now, call Lester and tell him your fine and that you want him to take you out tonight."

"Kay, and you take Stephanie out this weekend, enjoy yourselves, Lester and I will take Heidi, and go deal with Rachel and Julie, it's not too late to be in Julie's life, don't shut her out, don't do what I did with my sisters," Brittany said, looking up at Carlos, "I'll worry about the legal aspects, you go be a father, and take Heidi with you, when you go see her, she's her sister, she deserves to see her."

"Yes ma'am," Carlos said, as he let go of Brittany, "Alright, I need to go get things done, are you going to be fine by yourself."

"Hell yeah, I will, I'm going into Court, and taking back my cases and winning them all," Brittany said, sticking her tongue out at Carlos, "Gotta go talk to Lester, first, he is my boyfriend, after all."

Carlos turned to look at the door that led back into the kitchen, saying, "Okay, Brittany, I don't want to hear about-" Carlos said, turning to Brittany, only to find that the woman was gone, "Just like her sister…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Carlos did what Brittany wanted him to do, he called Rachel, who kicked up a fuss, but let him talk to his child, who seemed happy to talk to him. She told him about school and what she was doing, she sounded like she was living a good life. Julie asked him to come visit her soon, and he promised her that he would go and see her, but he would be bringing a few people with him who would love to meet her. The arranged the visit at the end of April, and they would be staying at the house Carlos had in Miami. He was pretty excited to see his girl and I knew she would be excited to see Heidi and Stephanie. There was no way in hell he was going to Miami without Heidi's sexy nanny, he couldn't wait to see her in a bikni, he would make sure that they would spend some time at the beach.

Carlos smiled and settled back in his bed to go to sleep. In a few days, they'll be in beautiful New York city, enjoying time together and Carlos would show Stephanie how a man was supposed to treat a woman. Carlos would be fooling himself if he said he wasn't attracted to Stephanie and her unique ways.

And Carlos wasn't one to play the fool.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"It was foolish to tell him that, Brittany," A man sighed, earning a huff from said woman, "Letting him know other secrets, It's dangerous! You'll put him and the baby in danger."

"He saw me on camera, what was I supposed to do, wipe that out of his memory? No, I promised Roxanna that I would watch him, did you take care of those nosey people?"

"I did," The man said, with a sigh, rubbing his tired eyes, "Look, I trust your judgement, Brittany, this man seems good, he wants Xavier dead too, tell you what, just keep watching over him and I'll watch you both from the shadows, got it?"

"Got it," Brittany said, before she smiled and said, "I gotta go, I have a hot date with a man name Lester, okay, more like a nightcap, but you know what I mean."

The man shook his head and said, "Get out my sight, Brittany! You naughty woman!"

Brittany smiled and walked over to the door, but not before ruffling a head of blond hair saying, "Diesel, go to bed, it's way past your bedtime, I'll come hang out with you on Saturday, when I have Heidi, okay?"

"'Kay," Diesel said, rubbing his eyes and leaning against the leg of the man that Brittany was talking to, "Night Brittany…"

Brittany gave the child a wink and left in a puff of floral scented clouds. Diesel looked up to the man and asked, "When will I learn how to that, Deda?"

Ivan Maxim smiled down at his son and said, "When you're older, now remember what I told you about Heidi and her father, right?"

"Right, I gotta watch over them, and if trouble comes, I give you the warning," Diesel said, his small face serious, "What about Miss. Stephanie, I like her and Carlos likes her too, what about her?"

"We'll watch out for her too, Xavier is not a nice man, he'll kill her if she stands in his way, remember, you're a big boy now, and I'm giving you a big responsibility, you have to watch over Heidi."

"I got it, Deda," Diesel said with a smile, as his father picked him up, "Deda, I think Heidi is very powerful, sometimes, when she looks at me...nevermind... I can just tell, I like her…I'm going to marry her when we get older."

"Don't say that, kid," Ivan said, carrying Diesel up to his room, "Now, what does this big bad Director have to do to get his spawn to sleep?"

"I need to put more stickers on my helmet!" Diesel said as his father carried him into his bed, "Adventurer ahoy!"

TBC…..

Oh Boy! Stephanie and Carlos are going out on a date! What's Diesel talking about and how important is his father? He knows Brittany so...very important, I supposed...please review!