A/N: Hello to all I am back with the next chapter of "Second Chance". Here, we pick up where the last chapter left off.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gunslinger Girl
Elsa was lying on the top bunk of her bed starring at the ceiling above her. She yawned due to the incredible lack of sleep she got after her dream. Suddenly, a knock came on the door. When Elsa didn't answer, Henrietta opened the door and entered the room.
"Hello Elsa." said the brunette.
"Good morning." yawned Elsa.
"Did you sleep well?" asked Henrietta.
"No." answered Elsa.
"Why?" asked Henrietta.
"I...wasn't able to." answered Elsa.
"Elsa, it seems like we'll be working together." noted Henrietta.
Elsa starred at the ceiling without answering.
"This is just like last time." said Henrietta to herself.
"Where are we going?" asked Elsa, sitting up.
"We're assassinating a top mafia member in Matera." answered Henrietta.
"No problem Henrietta." replied Elsa, climbing down.
"We're going out later this afternoon." noted Henrietta.
"That sounds fine." said Elsa.
"She does seem different." thought Henrietta.
"Henrietta, have you heard about Angelica?" asked Elsa.
"Yes I have." answered Henrietta.
"How are you handling it?" asked Elsa.
" I'm fine." answered Henrietta.
"I see." said Elsa.
"Are you bothered by it?" asked Henrietta.
"Sort of." answered Elsa.
"Most of the girls seem not too bothered."noted Henrietta.
"Really." replied a surprised Elsa, "Henrietta, you and your handler love star gazing."
"Of course." said Henrietta.
"I was wondering if you've taken an interest in other...matters." said Elsa, choosing her wording carefully.
"I don't know what you mean." replied Henrietta.
"Something like...interrupting dreams." said Elsa.
"What dreams?" asked Henrietta.
"Dreams of killing somebody." answered Elsa.
"But Elsa, we do that all the time." noted Henrietta, "Is Elsa talking about Lauro?"
"I mean somebody who you didn't know." said Elsa.
"No." said Henrietta.
"I guess I'm just dreaming about missions." said Elsa, with chuckle
"I guess so.' said Henrietta smiling.
"Why are you smiling?" asked Elsa.
"You never used to smile or laugh at all. I'm really happy to see you doing this." explained Henrietta.
"Henrietta, can I tell you something?" asked Elsa, swallowing deeply.
"Sure." answered Henrietta.
"Last night I had this dream where..." began Elsa.
"Girls! Time to go!" called Jose.
"Coming Jose!" called Henrietta, "You can tell me later."
"Okay." sighed Elsa.
The two cyborgs headed off with their weapons. As they headed down the hallway of the Social Welfare Agency, Henrietta walked right next to Jose while a lone Elsa walked silently behind them. Peering back, Henrietta couldn't help but look at her handler as they reached James. Elsa walked over to her handler as him.
"Hey Elsa,the trunk is full so put your bag in the back seat." said James, as the blonde girl reached him.
"Right sir." said Elsa.
Elsa reached up and placed her bag in the back seat. As she did, James saw she was still wearing the bracelet he gave her.
"I'm so glad you like that bracelet." said James.
"I'll never forget the beautiful gift you've given me." said Elsa.
"I can't believe you would remember something like that." replied Lauro
"I'll never forget the beautiful gift you gave me." said Elsa.
"Is something wrong?" asked James.
"No sir." answered Elsa.
"Elsa, please don't lie to me." said James.
"Everything is fine sir." replied Elsa guilty.
"This is really unusual. I won't force Elsa to tell me." thought James.
"I hate to interrupt but, we need to get going." noted Jose.
"Right." said James, "I'll have to deal with this when we return."
The four got in their cars and left. They then departed the SWA and headed down to Southern Italy toward their destination. As they drove down the highway, Jose decided now was the perfect time.
"Henrietta, what's wrong?" asked Jose.
"Nothing sir." answered Henrietta.
"I know something is wrong. You haven't stopped looking at me, more then normal." said Jose.
"I..." stammered Henrietta.
"Please tell me." requested Jose.
"It's Elsa." said Henrietta in defeat.
"What's about her?" asked Jose.
"She might be remembering Lauro." answered Henrietta.
Jose winced at that name, remembering the how said man treated Elsa.
"Tell me why you think that." requested Jose.
"She's talking about remembering our mission together in Tuscany and she has been determined to discover the identity of this him." explained Henrietta.
"Give me a second." said Jose.
Jose began mulling this over deciding what to do. After a minute, he came to his decision.
"Keep to yourself for now. I'll handle this when we get back." said Jose.
"Yes sir." replied Henrietta.
"I'm going to have to tell Jean." thought Jose.
The SWA operatives continued going and finally reached their destination passing ruins as they did. They drove into Matera and stopped near a wine club in the center of the city.
"Jose, what were those ruins we passed by?" asked Henrietta.
"I'm not honestly sure." answered Jose.
"Those were the ruins of Craco. It was a commune with tombs dating back to the Eight Century and passed through multiple countries until the Unification of Italy. It was abandoned last century due to immigration to America, a landslide, floods and an earthquake." explained James.
"That's interesting." said Henrietta.
James turned around facing Elsa, who was loading her gun.
"What do you think?" asked James.
"It's okay sir." answered Elsa.
"This is unlike here." noted James.
"Sir, are we near our target?" asked Henrietta.
"That wine bar is our target. You two are going to sneak in and head to the apartment right above it. That s where the target lives. If any of his associates are there, killed them." explained Jose.
"Yes sir." replied Henrietta.
"Understood." added Elsa.
With that the girl left with the handlers awaiting their return.
"James, I know you noticed Elsa acting weirdly." said Jose.
"I don't know why but, it really troubles me." replied James.
"Any idea why she won't tell you?" asked Jose.
"No. Usually she has no problem opening up about things." answered James.
"Probably Lauro." thought Jose, "Why not recondition here?"
"I won't force Elsa. I can't do that." answered James.
"Well, I respect that." replied Jose.
"Milena, I don't know what to do." said James to himself.
Meanwhile, the two cyborg girls had managed to sneak up to the back door of the pub with Elsa brandishing her SIG P229 pistol while Henrietta brandished her FN P90. The saw a lone guard smoking cigarette and flipping through a lingerie magazine. This distraction allowed Elsa to sneak up and quickly snap his neck before the man knew what hit him. The two cyborgs slipped inside and headed upstairs to where they believed the their target was.
"What do we do?" asked Henrietta.
"We go in." answered Elsa.
"But, that seems reckless." replied Henrietta.
"The two of us have the element of surprise on our side." said Elsa.
"Okay. Let's go." said Henrietta.
The two cyborgs went over to the door with guns drawn. Elsa then kicked the down in.
"What the hell?!" exclaimed one of the mafia men.
The two cyborgs opened fire quickly cutting down the men. Some were able to get a few shots off but, they were very in accurate. By the time the cyborgs stopped, the room was littered with dead bodies.
"That's all of them." noted Henrietta.
"Quickly search for our target." said Elsa.
The two cyborgs began looking for their target while reloading their guns.
"He's not here." said Henrietta.
"That's fine." replied Elsa.
"I don't follow." said Henrietta.
"People have obviously heard the gun shots. We'll just hide and when they come here we'll ambush them." explained Elsa.
"What if they call the police?" asked Henrietta.
"They're mafia, they won't do that." answered Elsa.
"They could lie about their identities." said Henrietta.
"They won't take a risk." said Elsa.
"I'll trust you." said Henrietta.
The two girls hid behind a bullet ridden couch with a dead corpse on it. They crouched down and waited for several minutes before the sounds of footsteps could be heard. the footsteps grew louder until they finally reached the door.
"Looks like a damn massacre." came a voice.
"My Lord." replied another voice in horror.
Looking over a mirror hanging on the wall, Elsa could see the former sentence came from their target. He was six feet tall, with tan skin, black hair and in an expensive suit. Affirming this, Elsa turned to face Henrietta.
"That's him." whispered the blonde girl.
Henrietta nodded in affirmation then the two cyborgs jumped out from their hiding place.
"Fuck!" screamed the mafia boss.
The two cyborgs opened fire cutting down the bodyguards while the target used them as human shields. The bodyguards fired back but, the cyborgs cut them all down. As they last few bodyguards began falling, the boss ran off.
"He's running." said Henrietta.
"There's a few left. If you can give me an opening, then I'll go after him." answered James.
"Understood." said Henrietta.
Henrietta turned to her left and fired in the same place and Elsa. The two quickly mowed down a large number of guards while thir target ran off. Henrietta turned back to where was originally firing and opened fire again. Elsa took the opportunity to run off.
"Stop her!" cried a mafia bodyguard.
The bodyguard and a few others tried running off after Elsa but, they were immediately cut down by Henrietta.
Meanwhile, the mafia boss took running down the stairs to the wine bar. He sat down and grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass to have a drink. He sat down at the bar and uncorked the bottle but, as he went to pour it, the bottle suddenly exploded in his hands. The mafia boss was so caught off guard, he fell on the ground. He looked over and saw Elsa on the stairs while holding her smoking gun.
"Just give it up." said Elsa.
"A freaking girl. This has to be a nightmare." said the mafia boss.
"This is real. If you try to run, then I'll kill you." replied Elsa.
"Why the hell are you doing this?" asked the mafia boss.
"It's my job." answered Elsa.
Elsa went to pull the trigger but, suddenly had a flashback to Lauro. Seeing that, the mafia boss darted off running outside. Elsa quickly regrouped and chased him. The mafia boss saw a man smoking a cigarette and ran to him for help.
"Please, this will sounds nuts but, a little girl is trying to kill me." explained the mafia boss.
"That does sound crazy." said the man.
"Freeze!" cried Elsa, "Um...hello sir."
"Oh shit." said the mafia boss in horror.
Elsa pulled the trigger and shot the mafia boss in the heart which killed him. Henrietta came down a shortly after having successfully killed the bodyguards. The cleanup crew was called in and the agents returned to their base.
This time, it was James who seemed distant on the trip. Once they got back, James and Elsa were headed down one of the Agency corridors when, he pulled Elsa aside.
"Elsa, I need to know why you let the target escape." said James.
"But sir-" began Elsa.
"I know you hesitated. Otherwise, he wouldn't have escaped." explained James.
"I..." stammered Elsa.
"Is it because of Angelica?" asked James.
"No." answered Elsa matter-of-fact.
"Look, I know losing her must be depressing but, you cannot allow it consume you." said James.
"Sir, I am not bothered by Angelica's death." replied Elsa.
"But, Angelica was your sister." noted James, "Her death must have effected you."
"We all knew that this was coming. We are made to be killing machines and that is our sole purpose. All of us know our bodies limit our life span and we accept that. Death is inevitable, especially for us. There is no point in mourning." explained Elsa.
James was shaken by this and took a step back. His lip quivered as he tried to form a response to this. Finally, James took a deep gulp and spoke.
"You're dismissed." stated the ex-CIA agent.
"Yes sir.' said Elsa.
Elsa headed off while James stood stoic. He still until he was certain that she was gone. After looking around, James clenched his fists.
"Fuck!" cried James, punching the wall.
A/N: There is chapter twenty-five done. I know the action might be dull but, this was more centered around character development. Next time, James and Elsa continue their hunt which was kind off lost here. Sorry about that. Please review.