Friday evening

The House

We had dropped off the motorcycles and our equipment at the relevant Safehouse and made our way home.

Dave checked Alex over for injuries and apart from a mammoth bruise on his chest and a bloody nose – he was okay. Alex had barely said a word since getting back home. Dave suggested, strongly, that we all get some sleep and go over things in the morning.

I had only been in bed about an hour when I heard a gentle knocking on my door. It had to be Alex – Dave didn't usually knock!

"Come in Alex," I said quietly.

Alex pushed open the door and came in.

"Sorry to disturb you, Mindy. I couldn't sleep and I wanted to talk... If now isn't good I'll go..."

Alex had obviously been crying; his eyes were very red and he looked miserable. This was my fault, so I had to try to fix it. I waved Alex over to my bed and I sat up. I was only wearing my underwear and Alex would normally have made some sarcastic or obscene comment, but he didn't seem to notice, which showed that he was not kidding around.

"Alex, I'm sorry I put you in that position – I shouldn't have..."

"It's okay Mindy – I know what you were trying to do, but I wasn't up to your standards and I apologise for that," Alex replied.

"No Alex. You saw things tonight that no kid should see. I first saw things like that, when I was seven and it scared the shit out of me. Daddy eased me into the blood and guts thing – I just dropped you right in the middle of it, which to my mind would be a good laugh – but I didn't stop to think about the consequences of that. I mean, when Dave first saw me in action with my bō-staff he was shocked and stunned – just like you were, not to mention that I was showing off, just a little!"

"Yes – I noticed that you seemed to be enjoying yourself!" Alex said, dryly.

I actually felt a little embarrassed by that comment!

Alex looked directly at me before speaking again. "I wanted to shoot that man – I wanted to show you that I could do it... I let you down and I'm sorry!" Alex said.

"Alex – you have nothing to be sorry for. I..." I began.

"But..."

"Don't interrupt. I'm going to tell you something that nobody else knows, not even Dave. The first time that I was supposed to kill a man, I froze and that was from a distance, with a sniper rifle. The second time was right up close, face to face, but my hands shook so bad that Daddy finished the man off for me. I was devastated – I felt like I had let my Daddy down, twice! He gave me two more opportunities, but I fucked them up, too – I was scared that I would never become a superhero, like my Daddy!"

"I can't believe that Hit Girl froze!" Alex said.

"At that point I wasn't Hit Girl. I was just a silly little girl that was doing her best to please her Daddy – he turned it into a game; but I'm not going to make that mistake with you. I'm not going to sugar-coat it and make it look like being a vigilante is safe and fun!"

"I'm pleased you are doing it like that – it gives me a chance to think things through properly."

"Right, kid. It's time for us to get some sleep!" I announced and saw the expression on Alex's face.

He was scared to go to sleep, scared of the nightmares that he might have. I'd been there – more than once!

"You want to sleep here tonight?" I asked and saw relief on Alex's face.

Alex nodded.

"This is not an invitation to 'sleep with me', as in sex! So don't get any fucking ideas and if your hands wander – I'll cut them off!" I cautioned, trying to cheer the boy up a bit.

Unfortunately, my attempt failed; I got a weak smile in return, but that was that! I pulled back the duvet so Alex could climb in and then I turned over and drifted off to sleep.

The following morning
Saturday

When I awoke, it was almost lunchtime.

The first thing that I did was check on Alex, but his bed was empty. I went to see if Mindy was awake and was rather surprised by what I saw! Alex was in bed with Mindy, although they were both facing away from each other, with a good foot of space between them. I turned to leave, when I heard a voice.

"Make a snarky comment and I will fucking floor you!" Mindy growled.

"I wasn't gonna say a word!" I replied with a grin.

"No – we didn't fuck!" Mindy said, as she climbed out of the bed.

I raised both hands up, defensively. "I never said anything! I assume he slept badly in his own bed and wanted to talk."

"Yeah. It was my fault. I pushed him too far, last night and exposed him to stuff way too early – go on say it..." Mindy prompted.

"No Mindy, you did what you thought was right."

"You warned me that my plan might backfire on me – and it did! So you're supposed to say: I told you so!"

"Mindy, if I said that every time then I'd never get to say anything else!" I teased.

"Ass!" Mindy called as she headed for the bathroom.

I felt a little better when I woke up.

Mindy was gone and I had the bed to myself. I remembered the night before. Mindy had told me things that she had never told Dave – that meant she trusted me and I felt bad about what had happened in the alley.

I pushed back the duvet and looked down at my chest – it was black, blue, and still very sore. I got out of bed and went to get dressed.

"Hi Alex – you feeling better?" I asked.

"Thanks Dave, I do feel better – amazing what a night in bed with Hit Girl can achieve!" Alex quipped with a mischievous grin and a smug look at Mindy.

I watched as Mindy scowled, but smiled innocently. Alex seemed back to normal – at least his sense of humour was.

"So, is Mindy good in the sack then?" I teased and Mindy blushed – badly!

"She moves around a lot and tends to kick at times, but I survived!" Alex said.

"You two are fucking evil!" Mindy commented, going back to her cereal.

Okay, I admit it; I fucked up with Alex by taking him into that second alley.

If he had been killed or badly injured, I would have been devastated! Why had I been so goddamned stupid? I looked up as Dave came into the living room where I was sitting. He came over and sat beside me.

"You're beating yourself up about this, aren't you?" Dave enquired.

"Is there any point in trying to deny it?" I replied, forcing a smile.

"You made a mistake; you're only human, Mindy!"

"I know – but Hit Girl is not supposed to make mistakes and this mistake almost killed a thirteen year-old boy!"

"Mindy... I – you made a mistake and you've recognised that you made a mistake – so learn from it and move on, kid!"

"Thanks Dave!" I said and smiled properly this time.

"Plus, I'm sure Alex enjoyed the sack time!"

I felt myself blushing!

"Fucking asshole!"

We sat down, the three of us, and talked through each minute of the night before and discussed alternative strategies.

This finally put my mind at rest, but I swore to myself that I would not put anybody at risk in such a way again. Chloe, Marty and Erika would be trained without being put into a life-threatening situation like that.

I had to admit that Alex's behaviour had been better than I could have hoped. He was definitely brave and had the brains to think. Yes, he stood up and he was shot, but that was Alex doing his best to control his panic and the basic human instinct to run.

I thought that Alex would do fine!

I was actually glad that I had broken into that building all those weeks ago.

My life had improved immeasurably. Yes, I was living with a complete nutcase – Mindy and a geek, Dave. Nevertheless, it could be a lot worse and I could have died from the flu! Well, the flu didn't kill me and neither did Mindy's antics in the alleyway – what is it they say? What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!

Now, that night in bed with Mindy had been interesting – but I would much prefer to have been in bed with Chloe!