(A/N: I gotta say, there are certain stories where there are chapters that I really, really look forward to writing. This is one of those chapters. A lot of stuff goes on in here and it is leading to a huge turning point in the story. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for being patient with my significantly less than consistent updates. You are much appreciated.)

Mindy knew what it was like to fly. She'd literally flown with Dave above New York. She'd felt the wind on her face, zooming through the air in a fucking jetpack. She knew what it was to flip gravity the finger. That's exactly how she felt as she woke up. She was just that ecstatically over the top happy. She wanted to spin around on top of the bed like a ballerina. She wanted to backflip over and over to see how many she could do. She wanted to play in monkey bars while sounding like an actual monkey. She wanted to sing karaoke. And not some badass song but some stupid pop song that would be stuck in her head all week.

Was she still a virgin? Sure. However, as muddy as her understanding of the base system was, she was pretty sure she'd jumped from barely first to straddling somewhere around third. Maybe second and a half… And that was completely acceptable for now. She could more than live with that. She looked at her hands, remembering what they'd been doing merely a few hours ago. She could feel her cheeks burning red. It did, however, remind her that there was another participant in those activities.

Mindy rolled over to hug Dave only to feel an empty bed. A jolt of fear went through her as she thought he might have left for some reason, until she heard him running on the treadmill in the other room. Oh, right… Training. He was supposed to try to get up before her. Not that she would have minded him sleeping in today. They could have done another kind of exercising instead. Mindy licked her lips. Truth be told there was a very good explanation for why he was actually able to wake up before her this morning. She'd definitely been the more…exhausted of the two last night. Her fingers were starting to do some naughty explorations the more she thought about it. Then she stopped. After all, maybe Dave would be willing to help.

Hopping out of the bed, Mindy literally skipped to the bathroom to freshen up. As she looked at herself in the mirror, even she thought she was smiling too much. She couldn't help it! There had been kissing! So, so much kissing, and then…all the extras… A happy shudder went through her body with a subsequent purr following it up. The fact that Dave was already working out only made it better. It meant he'd be all…sweaty…

As Mindy made her way towards him, Dave gave her a curious look but then flashed her a smile. "Morning." Mindy was able to get out without giggling, which for her was quite the achievement.

"Morning." Dave replied, stepping off the treadmill. "Check it." He motioned to treadmill's monitor.

Mindy's curiosity was officially piqued as she walked past him to look at it, her eyes bulging as she saw the readout. "How long have you been up?!"

"A while." Dave stated, confidently.

"Well look at you all not out of breath or anything." Mindy grinned. Maybe Dave was working so hard because he wanted a treat. She had just the thing.

"Ready for breakfast?" Dave asked, making his way to the kitchen.

Wait…did he just…? Mindy had tried to kiss him but she could have sworn he dodged it. She cocked her head to the side, feeling a little jilted. Maybe…it was her imagination. They'd gone pretty damn far past the point of no return. Dave couldn't be expecting her to act like nothing happened. He probably just didn't see it. That was all. He didn't want to be too pushy and pressure her into something she wasn't comfortable with. That's why he's being so nice. That had to be it.

Mindy smiled again as she went to the kitchen for morning kiss take two. When Dave saw her, he smiled again.

"You don't trust me?" He flashed her a wink. "You can go on ahead and get your morning run in. I'll be done in a bit."

Mindy fought back a skeptical look. It seemed an awful lot like he was rushing her out of the kitchen. Maybe he just didn't get the hint yet. "I just wanted to g-"

"It's cool." Dave interrupted, the smile still on his face. "I promise I'll let you know when I'm done if I finish up here before you do. I'm making pancakes."

You ever been on a really big high? Being ridiculously excited about something just to have the rug completely taken out from under you? A huge high followed by a sudden and equally huge low? As Mindy's smile finally faded, she felt this in spades. "Got it…" And she did get it. This is what they were going to do now. Just pretend last night hadn't happened. The look on Dave's face when he saw hers fall only confirmed it. Straight up guilt. He knew he was wrong and he was doing it anyway.

As Mindy left, the disappointment consumed her. She looked at the treadmill and wondered what she did wrong. Why was he acting like this? It was too painful. Mindy was useless again. Hit Girl on the other hand had the perfect way to cope as she got on the treadmill and started running faster and faster. Dave wanted to go back to square one? Fine! Square one it was! She let another emotion take over as she continued running. Her entire focus was on the activity to the extent that she was practically seeing red when Dave called her. She didn't hear it at first. When she did hear him, she stopped and flashed him a smile. "Coming!"

Dave looked like he saw a ghost. Good. Let him be scared. He should be. The two of them ate in silence. Mindy couldn't even taste the pancakes. She would randomly realize that her eyes felt kind of dry, like she wasn't blinking enough or something, not that she cared.

"How are the pancakes?" Dave's voice was slightly shaky. He obviously knew the score.

Mindy forced another wide smile. "They're absolutely motherfucking delicious, Dave! It's like a fucking orgasm in my mouth! Thank you so much!"

Once more he had a very odd look on his face. Mindy must have looked a lot scarier than she thought if it was getting that much of a reaction. This was all his fault anyway. If he thought breakfast would make up for what he was doing, then he was severely overestimating her love of pancakes. Dave coughed as he took the dishes.

"Ready for training?" Mindy asked, her voice almost eerily calm.

"Um…" Dave stammered. "We just ate, right? Don't we need to digest it a little first?"

"Sure. Let me know when you're ready. Don't make me wait too long." Mindy threatened as she took out her frustration on the punching bag. Her fury only got worse the longer she had to wait and hit that bag. Eventually Dave finally grew the set to face her.

"Hit me." Mindy ordered.

Dave visibly gulped, took a deep breath and went for it as much as he could. Mindy was relentless. However, even through her anger, she was almost fair. When Dave made a mistake, she verbally corrected him…after chopping him in the neck or choking him or driving the air out of him, or any number of things designed to cause a lot of pain but no lasting damage. She didn't want to kill or even maim Dave after all, she wanted him to feel what she felt. All consuming pain. And even with his nerve endings, he was definitely feeling that.

And to Dave's credit, he took the punishment. He knew at some level he deserved it and he could have handled the situation better, so when he slammed hard onto the floor, not the mat...the floor…and rolled over with a groan, he tried to force himself back up, just to get kicked down again.

"Get up! If you don't get up, you're dead! Get up, you fucking pussy!" Mindy roared, her next strike missing as Dave rolled away. "Good! Now get the fuck up!"

Dave forced himself up just to get punched hard in the nuts. Mindy kicked him again, assisting gravity in reintroducing him to the floor. He then received a moment of clarity that he should have put together well before now. Fucked up nerve endings be damned, Dave just physically couldn't handle Mindy's fury like this.

"Is that it?! A hit to the nuts and you're down for the count?! Get the fuck up!"

"Time… time out." Dave spat out.

Mindy cocked her head to the side, considered it, and then pounced on Dave, wrapping him in an armbar. "You want a break? Get free!"

The more pressure Mindy added to the hold, the less Dave could focus. He tried to tap out but Mindy wouldn't stop. She just kept yelling at him to get free.

"Mindy, please! We need to talk!"

"You don't want to talk! You made that very fucking clear! Get out of the fucking hold!"

"I can't! I'm an asshole, okay?! I'm an asshole and, FUCK IT HURTS!"

Mindy finally released the hold and gave Dave a few minutes to cradle his arm. She just silently scowled at him. Crouching down to his level, she waited for him to catch her gaze. "Well…what do you want to talk about?"

Dave panted a few times before answering. "Last night."

Mindy crossed her arms. "What happened last night? My memory's a bit foggy."

"We…made out…a lot." Dave answered.

"And then…?" Mindy pushed, the venom clear in her words.

"And then...you started...jerking me off."

"And then?"

"And then you tried to put my dick…somewhere…I wasn't going to let it go…and I stopped you."

Mindy almost smirked, but she was still too furious to enjoy the memory. "And then?"

"And then…you started stroking me again…"

"Until..?"

"Until you made me cum." Before Mindy could urge him again, Dave just kept going. "And then you fingered yourself over and over again next to me."

Mindy nodded. "How many times? Two? Three?"

Dave let out a painful snicker. "More like six or seven. I lost count. "

"Why are you so sure it wasn't two or three?"

Dave let out a long sigh. "Because…I watched…"

"Yeah, you did." Mindy growled. "You were watching the entire time. You even got hard again. I'd have tried to get on top of you again if I could move. Then you kissed me."

"Yeah…" Dave agreed, knowing the bomb was about to explode again. He could feel it building.

"Right." Mindy nodded. "It was really fun…so I guess…what I really want to know is…WHAT'S THE FUCKING PROBLEM?! WHY IS IT EVERY SINGLE TIME WE MAKE ANY PROGRESS YOU PUNISH ME FOR IT?!"

Dave groaned. "Mindy, I'm not punishing you…"

"YES YOU ARE!" Mindy shrieked as she punched Dave in his sore arm. "AND IT HURTS! IT HURTS SO…FUCKING…MUCH! YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT! AND YOU'RE DOING IT ANYWAY! WHY?!" Dave looked pained and not just from the punch. He didn't answer fast enough and now that the floodgates were officially open, Mindy couldn't control it. "Why…? Was I that bad?"

"Mindy, no…"

"You've had sex before! You're better than me with all of that, so teach me. You know I'm a quick learner…" Mindy couldn't hide the pleading edge to her voice.

"Mindy, it's not that…"

"Then what?! Is it my cherry? Because I'm sure that ship has sailed but I can make sure if it freaks you out that much..." Mindy grabbed the closest suitable thing nearby, which happened to be one of Dave's batons, and started heading towards the bathroom before Dave grabbed her arm.

"Mindy don't! That baton is filthy." The glare that Mindy shot Dave was completely unamused, so he continued, "And you know that's not the issue…"

Mindy looked at Dave, her eyes red with tears. Dave was right, she knew the answer and it was the one thing she couldn't really change. Experience, technique, her hymen, those were things she had a level of control over. Her expression suddenly went dark again, and she started to laugh. Dave's eyes bulged as he was sure he'd snapped the poor girl and driven her crazy.

"So it's my age, huh? That's really funny. You know why?" Mindy flashed Dave a disturbing grin. "It's because I'm…actually a little….older than I was last night… AND IT OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T FUCKING MATTER THEN! Stop making excuses! It's not that big of a fucking deal! So what if there's a law!"

"Fuck the law!" Dave finally protested. "Some things are just wrong!"

"SO WHAT?!" Mindy yelled back. "We fight crime! We literally spend our lives protecting people who can't protect themselves! We do so many things right! Why can't we do this one wrong thing, Dave?! Tell me why!" Once again, Dave didn't answer her fast enough and she shoved his sore arm. "SAY SOMETHING!"

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" Dave roared, causing Mindy to shrink back. "MY FRIENDS! MY GIRLFRIEND! MY FAMILY! MY JOB! MY FREEDOM! MY…LIFE! I'VE GIVEN IT ALL UP FOR YOU AND IT JUST ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU IS IT?! I CAN'T EVEN WALK DOWN THE FUCKING STREET NOW! YOU MAY BE USED TO THAT SHIT BUT IT'S NOT FUCKING EASY FOR ME! IT'S NOT EASY SPENDING ALMOST ALL MY TIME IN THIS FUCKING SAFEHOUSE! IT'S NOT EASY HAVING ONLY ONE SINGLE PERSON I CAN TALK TO EVER! BUT FINE! I TRY! BUT YOU JUST KEEP PUSHING AND PUSHING AND PUSHING! I NEVER GET A MOMENT TO ADJUST FROM ONE FUCKED UP THING TO ANOTHER MORE FUCKED THING! AND I'M SOOOOOOOO SORRY IT'S SUCH A MOTHERFUCKING INCONVENIENCE TO YOU BUT BEING ATTRACTED TO AN 11 YEAR OLD IS NOT A FUCKING EASY THING TO DEAL WITH! IT'S A GIGANTIC STEAMING LOAD OF MINDFUCK! AND-!" Dave stopped mid-rant when he actually looked into Mindy's face and saw the way she was looking back at him. It was then that it really sunk in and he stopped, taking a deep breath and pinching his nose. "Godammit…"

Mindy, meanwhile was choking on a big pile of be careful what you wish for. She had thought multiple times that Dave withdrawing and ignoring her was the worst that could happen, but actually having him yell in her face like that, she literally just wanted to curl into a ball and cry until she died. But she couldn't do that because that's what a kid would do. She needed to come up with a mature resolution. First off she needed to focus on what he'd actually said. There were some positive things said in all of there. She needed to focus on that.

"Mindy…Mindy, look. I'm really stressed out and sore and-"

"And you need some time to sort stuff out?" Mindy finished, doing her best to keep her voice level. It apparently worked since Dave suddenly looked dumbfounded. "Like you just want me to back off for a little and give you some space?"

Dave blinked. This was not what he was expecting. "Um…yeah…"

"That's okay. No big."

"No…big? You were just flipping your shit about this two minutes ago…" Dave stuttered.

"Yeah, and then you said you were attracted to me and you just needed to work it out. All you had to do was fucking say something!" Mindy gave Dave a soft punch on his other shoulder.

"…oh…okay…"

"You also owe me a hug for yelling at me like that." Mindy mumbled.

"You started yelling first!"

"Yeah. I know. I do that. You know this. You've never yelled at me like that though, so get those arms over here."

Dave rolled his eyes and wrapped Mindy in a tight embrace.

"If you'd just been honest with me this wouldn't have happened." Mindy mumbled into Dave's chest.

"That's up for debate. Also I'm not sure there's a part of me not in pain."

"Suck it up. Hug. These are your jobs right now." Mindy smirked as she felt Dave grumbling. "And be honest with me from now on."

"Okay."

"Promise me."

"I promise, alright? Cross my heart."

"Hope to die." Mindy smiled, nuzzling Dave slightly.

"…So…while we're on the subject of honesty…how the Hell was I supposed to get out of that hold?"

"Honestly? Beg and pray that I'm a merciful god."

"…I kinda hate you sometimes, you know that…?"

"I have a question…'while we're on the subject of honesty'…"

Dave raised an eyebrow, but still replied, "Shoot."

"Is your cum always that warm? And that consistency?"

"…"

"You promised."

"…"

"Who else am I going to ask?"

"It's called the internet." Dave let out a long sigh as he felt Mindy punch him again through the hug and answered the question. "Yes, more or less."

"Good to know. When…you're all sorted out…do I have to suck your dick?"

"Godammit, Mindy. This is the opposite of giving me space. Literally and figuratively."

"This is for informational purposes. I won't make a move until you do. And if you think giving you space means no Dave hugs then fuck you."

Dave sighed again. "Fine. You don't have to. It's not like I'm gonna force you or some shit."

"But you want me to."

"…"

"The tent you're pitching says yes."

"Annnnnnd…hug's over."

"Awww." Mindy complained as Dave let her go and crossed his arms. "Do I have to swallow?"

"Godammit, Mindy…"