"Who the fuck are you, you fucking asshole?!" I screamed. "REVEAL YOURSELF!"

"I am your worst nightmare." Answered the voice. "I'd prefer to be hidden, masked away in outer the reaches of the world, but if you insist…" said the voice, as the mysterious man took off his mask. "Remember me?". What I saw next shocked me. I couldn't believe it. I had to look at his face again before I realized that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. It really, truly was him. I thought it was someone else, but it was actually him.

It was Marcus.

"Marcus?" I asked.

"Yes, that is correct. It is me, Mindy. Sergeant Marcus Williams, aka your caretaker" he said, with a devilish smile on his face.

"How could you?" I asked "Why did you betray us like this?" I asked.

"Except in order to have betrayed you, I would've had to be on your side at one point" said Marcus. "I never was on your side" he added.

"So you were with the D'Amicos all along…" I said, in a partial whisper. "If that's the case, how did you get to know my dad? How did you become my caretaker?"

"Good question" said Marcus. "And just for you, I have a long and detailed answer. It's the least I owe you for showing such a pathetically weak resistance to me". I just sneered at that last comment.

"You see, I first met your father five years ago, when I was given an order by the D'Amicos to come in as a crooked cop. Your father was a justice fighter, and all his other friends were also wannabes who wanted to be just like Damon, and who had the same principles as Damon. I needed to befriend them to gain their trust. I let Damon run about because it fit right into my plans. About 2 years later, we became very good friends. Now, the mission was to kill both Damon and you, but I couldn't be found red-handed, so we did it in an alternate way. I knew that in order to get to you, the more lethal threat, we had to go through Damon first. I figured that the only way you would stop fighting is if your dad told you to stop. That's when I hatched the plan to kill your father. Just one problem: I wasn't in his will, a fellow vigilante was in the will, and his instructions were for the vigilante to continue to train you like he would've if he were still alive. You had to be stopped from fighting, so the plan could succeed. I hacked into his computer and changed his will, giving custody of you to me and giving instructions for you to obey me. My assumptions were correct, since you listened to me because your father would've wanted you to, according to the fake will I made up."

"So, you stopped me from fighting so I wouldn't go after the D'Amico family again?" I asked, getting more and more angry.

"That is correct" said Marcus. "However, it came to a point where you just had plain too strong a will to keep fighting, so I had to let that go as soon as the attack at the funeral happened" he said. "However, it wasn't over, I was still determined." he added. "Once Chris was crippled, we had to come up with a new plan, and I knew just how." he added. "You remember a fellow by the name of Richard Weiss?" he asked. I racked my brain trying to think of that name.

Then I remembered, it was that goon that was working for D'Amico that we got all that info out of in our first patrol together back in Boston. Next thing I knew, I flashed back to that moment.

"Beware of Ralph, for he is coming to avenge his losses" said the mugger. Dave and I were stunned. He was working for the D'Amico Empire? "Go on" I told him.

"After Chris was maimed beyond recognition, Ralph swore his revenge on you two for ruining his life. He was trying to be stealthier with his attacks, so he moved out to Toronto so he could attack from a more secretive location. Given the fact that crime rates had gone up and there was a shady drug business going on there, a lot of people knew he moved his empire to Toronto. A few days ago, he got a hint from a crooked cop who had stalked Dave that you guys were in Boston. So he sent out me and about 5 other people to not only confirm your appearance but to kill you. And the way to confirm your appearance? Cause trouble. That's why you've probably seen so much crime tonight".

Dave was stunned. "A cop stalked me back in New York?" he uttered. He was pissed and was about to lunge forward, but I restrained him. "Dude, we need as much info as we can get from this guy!" I told him. "Yeah, I guess you're right" said Dave in resignation. "Answer the question" I told the mugger as I still had the gun to his head.

"Yes. Ralph knew that you and Mindy were really close friends and that she would've stopped at nothing to save you. I should mention that he isn't the only crooked cop in New York, several of the higher ups are also on Ralph's payroll. When he saw you living a normal life, he couldn't let you do that, so he made up those charges that you were indicted on and leaked them to the press, so that Mindy would have no choice but to come see you."

"So I'm not in any trouble whatsoever? It was all a fake?" asked Dave. "Yes. He followed you guys out here to Boston. He tipped off Ralph where you guys are located, so that's why me and the others are here. That's all I have to say." finished the mugger.

"Good enough for me. You mentioned 5 others and we found 4… where's the 5th?" I asked him. "That would be the crooked cop. He's now part of the police force here, so beware of him getting too much power. He also brought another cop with him here to Boston, but as far as I know, that 2nd cop is clean" said the mugger. "Can do." I said, as me and Dave walked away and let him lie there handcuffed.

"Yes…" I replied. "He told me that there was a dirty cop going around and stalking Dave, until he pressed fake charges in a news outlet so that I would be forced to come back and save his ass. He also told me there was a partner of his that was a gullible good cop." I said.

"That's what we told him to say. That's what we told everyone to say if they were ambushed. That's why we sent out several people doing different types of crimes, to see which one would to be spared for info. It was 99% true. Just one problem… there was no 2nd cop." Marcus said.

I was stunned upon hearing that. "Wait, so if there was no 2nd cop…" I said as I just realized "YOU were the one that stalked Dave. YOU were the one that pressed fake charges. YOU were the one that drove Dave out and forced me back into his life and into the D'Amico's world" I started shouting as my anger was increasing. "But… if you wanted us dead, why'd you save us in Houston? More importantly, how did you know we were there?" I asked.

"Oh please, airline info and flights are easy to trace in terms of what flights people took. I knew you were in Houston because of that, so I drove down there." he said. "As to why I saved you…" he started. "You hadn't suffered enough, killing you instantly would be a favor. We wanted to see you guys suffer like Chris has to now. Paralyzed… helpless... alone." he said, starting to flash an evil grin. "Oh, this is perfect, you motherfucking bitch" said Marcus into my ear in a very seductive way.

Marcus was a traitor, a turncoat, and a backstabber, but he was right about the last part. I was completely helpless. The worst part, I was alone. No friends, no one I could trust. No Dave.

Dave… I know you can't read my mind… but please… help me.

Dave's POV

I spent the next 20 minutes driving northbound on the freeway. That motherfucker was going to pay. I wasn't going to let him just kill my precious like that. If he wanted her, he'd have to go through me. I had a flap down TV in the car that was on MTV, which was playing Nirvana songs on loop. It fit the mood perfectly. Anger, depression, hating the world, all in one. Perfect.

Next thing I knew, I saw a breaking news story come on as I flipped to another channel "We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin. It appears as if superhero Hit-Girl is having a special live retirement announcement. We now take you to coverage of the announcement" the news anchor said as Marcus came up on the screen.

"Hello folks, this is Sergeant Marcus Williams. It is with my great pleasure, that I introduce you to Hit-Girl" he said as the camera panned to Mindy. I was shocked at what I saw. She was tied to a chair. Then it hit me, if Marcus was there, that means… Oh God, no.

Marcus was a traitor. He was a D'Amico all along. I got suspicious when he tried to keep Mindy from fighting, citing it's what her father would've wanted, but I knew that he would still want her to continue on the path that she was on. Then I realized that maybe it was Marcus disobeying Damon's orders and making her stop fighting to make things easy for Chris. It all makes sense now…

Next thing I knew, I saw a Déjà vu experience. Mindy was getting beaten around live, punched and electrocuted. It reminded me of when me and Damon were in the situation. She was in big trouble, and the roles were reversed this time around. Just before they cut back to the news anchor declaring a kidnapping and state of emergency I heard Mindy say "Help me, Dave" in as sad and as desperate a tone as I'd ever heard her talk in.

"I'm coming, Mindy" I said as I choked up and started crying. I increased my speed from about 80 mph to about 100. I was really getting serious now. "You will pay for this dearly, Marcus…"