It Takes One to Raise One

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Chris had Dave. In my mind, that's somehow written in 1000 point font. I mean I knew in my heart that was what had happened. No way would he'd have made the demands that he made if he'd only had Marty. And let's be honest, Dave was probably already dead. But I was going to assume he wasn't until I knew for sure. Because if I didn't, I wasn't sure I could go on.

Death was too good for that cocksucker. My mind began to generate elaborate plans on how I could make him hurt and make him pay for all the lives he'd damaged. Torture devices, burning, pulling out entrails; they all swam before my mind. I didn't even realize that I was saying all that shit out loud until Miranda walked up and slapped me. My eyes focused back on reality and I stared straight at her.

She stared right back. "It doesn't matter how Chris dies. So stop wasting time with this dramatic bullshit. That's his game. And if there is anything that I've learned from you, it's that you never let the other guy set the rules."

"But Dave's already dead. I know he is!" I wailed.

"Why" asked Miranda. I stared at her again baffled. "Why do you think Dave is already dead? Chris said if you surrendered, he'd let Dave go."

"Why?" I screamed. "Dave's already dead because any intelligent person would have already…"

Marcus interrupted me. "At what point has Chris ever been intelligent?" I blinked. He continued. "Mindy – stop thinking with your heart. If you can't focus on this, if you can't let go of the crazy, then I'm just going to call in the SWAT teams. At least there would be a chance Dave would get out of there alive.

I took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'll keep it under control. OK – back to the plan. Marcus – equipment. Miranda - take Bethany and disappear." I looked over at Dr. Gravity. "And as soon as we're out of site, call an ambulance for Marty. I think he could use the rest."

I started walking away and then turned back toward them. "Some fucking vacation, huh?"

Bethany chased after my and tried to tackle me to the ground. She doesn't weigh more than 50 lbs soaking wet so it didn't make that much impact on me. But I stopped and wrapped my arms around her as the tears started to fall from both of us.

"Bring him back!" Bethany managed to choke out. "And even if you can't, please, you come back, OK? Promise?" I could see her eyes begging me to say yes. And I wanted to. I really did. But I figured that another broken promise just might shatter her. So I gave her the truth.

"Like I said, I'm going to do my best." I said shakily. "And my best is pretty fucking good. But I have to admit that I don't know for sure if I'll be able to pull it off. Miranda will take care of you in case…. Marcus can help…" I trailed off looking into her eyes. I'd already told her these things. There was more that she wanted to hear from me that somehow was really hard for me to say right now. Probably because saying it right now when she might never see me again was somehow more intense. "Bethany? I love you. I love you like you were my own little girl. I want to be your mommy forever. And Dave… He loves you too and wants to always be there for you. But we don't always get what we want. If the worst happens, and I know you've seen the worst before, don't ever forget how much we love you, OK? I'll always be with you. Just like your first mommy. You can still feel her in your heart, right? Watching over you?" I asked. She nodded with tears continuing to trickle down her face. "Good." I gave her one final fierce hug and then Miranda, who had silently joined us, took Bethany's hand and led her away.

I blinked a few times and used the back of my hands to push the tears away. Hit-Girl didn't cry. She didn't have time for it. She was too strong, too brave, for this weakness shit. But then I remembered crying some with Big Daddy while he was dying. And all the other times when pain and grief – all of these weak emotions had pushed their way past my defenses and overwhelmed me. I remembered how I'd felt when I thought I'd never recover from the bullet to the head.

There was strength in those feelings. Power in caring. Dave had pulled me out of my downward spiral. He'd taught me what being loved and cherished felt like. He'd opened himself up to save me and it was only though his gift that I'd been able to open myself up to Bethany. And now Dave was under Chris's power. There was no way I was going to let that stand.

The tears were gone, replaced by a resolution to find some way to pull of the impossible. As in the past, it was time to stop being Mindy and start being Hit-Girl. It was time to be the hero. So I held my head high and started walking.

I walked a couple hundred yards from the park and for once, the luck gods smiled at me. A taxi tried to shoot past me, saw me waving, and managed to skid to a halt not too much past me. He even put it in reverse and came back to pick me up instead of making me walk the rest of the way to him. I climbed in and had him take me to the nearest place that rented Mopeds.

Yes. A Moped. Because who the fuck would ever expect Hit-Girl to be riding a fucking moped. It was time to play my game.

My phone served double duty as a GPS as it gave me directions to Imperial Tower. I stopped along the way for a pair of sunglasses and a kind of fluffy hat. It wasn't much of a disguise but I didn't have time for shipping in shit with Amazon Prime or anything. I had to go with whatever was handy. So then I put-putted that stupid fucking scooter around the Imperial Tower, noting that it was 9 stories tall and had several taller buildings nearby that I might be able to infiltrate. It also had a big courtyard in front with an absolute fuckload of thugs in white clothing trying to look like they weren't thugs. Epic fail on that score. Chris had himself a storm trooper legion to defend himself. No way was I getting through those doors, regardless of any disguise.

I mean, I got into D'Amico's building the first time dressed as a schoolgirl, but I was old enough now that the best I'd manage was 'Slutty Schoolgirl' and that would probably just get me raped out behind the building. Or in front of the building. These guys didn't look shy or subtle.

Hopefully I'd still get a chance to play Slutty Schoolgirl for Dave someday. I'd always been meaning to surprise him with it. Shit. Wasted opportunities. Damn it, I needed to focus on could do now instead of what I should have done in the past.

I parked at a nearby coffee shop and got something to eat while I mulled over how to get in without getting Dave killed instantly. I also picked up a pack of Tums because that heart burn would not go away. Ugg. Always fun to feel sick before a job. I shoved that thought back down because I didn't have time for it. I needed a plan. I looked at the table across from me. A girl about my height and build was sitting there reading a script. Didn't look much like me otherwise. For the first time since that first phone call, I smiled. And then I got up and joined her at her table.

Marcus called about an hour later letting me know where the hotel room was with my gear. I told him to hold tight and then Peg (the girl at the table) and I grabbed a cab and headed to meet him. I actually considered for a moment that I was forgetting to return the moped, but, hey, fuck it. I'd paid extra for the insurance.

When we got to the room, I left Peg alone for a few minutes and explained my plan to Marcus. He went batshit. "Min? The girl doesn't look a thing like you! She's a brunette and her face is mostly freckles. How the hell is this supposed to fool Chris?

I pushed his objections aside. "Put her in a wig and mask and it'll be close enough. She's my size at least. Look, I don't have a better plan and unless you do, we're going with this. Marcus blathered on for a few more minutes and then had to admit he didn't have a better idea. So we went back into the room and explained to Peg that it was her lucky day. She had just been cast as Hit-Girl in "Kick Ass – the Movie!"

I'd wanted it to be "Hit-Girl, the movie!", but I'd had to agree with Marcus during our little argument that Kick Ass was more famous then I was.

I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about Dave being more famous than I am.

Regardless of the movie name, Peg bought it. Seriously bought it. Started gushing about how she'd come to Hollywood in the hope of being discovered and that being found on the street was exactly like it had happened to some favorite actress of hers. I mean, this girl was so fucking dumb that I was considering setting her up on a date with Todd once this was all over. Two people that stupid deserved each other.

I even resisted telling her that she was technically in Anaheim and not in Hollywood. And that was really tough because the look of disappointment on her face would have been fucking priceless.

You might think I'm being a bit callous by thinking such silly things while Dave was probably either very injured or very dead. But if I spent any real time thinking about how unlikely this was to work, I was going to totally fucking lose it.

Anyway, Marcus and I continued our bullshit story about how we were trying to get some buzz going about the movie and that as part of it, we'd set up a fake press conference at the local police station. Hit-Girl was going to turn herself in and we'd use the footage as part of the trailer. Peg loved the idea and was even more thrilled when I gave her my spare purple jacket, mask, and wig that I'd packed with my gear. Marcus made a few calls to the local new stations while I called a limo company to come pick him and Peg up. Hit-Girl had to arrive in style, right?

By this time it was getting dark, which was just as I'd planned. They left in the limo and I geared up. Marcus's rental car got me within a few blocks of Imperial Tower and then I broke into the building behind it. They weren't looking for me so it was easy. Then I went up the roof and pulled out my cell phone. I called Marcus and then three way called Chris so Marcus could listen in.

My voice sounded like crap. All teary and weepy and broken up. Partially because I was acting and mostly because I'd managed to throw up on the way up the fucking stairs in the building. God damn jalapeno nachos. I'm never eating those again.

"I… I… Please, Chris, please don't hurt Dave. Please? I mean, he was almost your friend once."

Chris just growled at me. "And then he killed my dad."

"And your dad killed mine. And you killed Dave's. Doesn't that sort of wipe the slate clean? Look… please. I'm turning myself in. Turn on the news – I'm sure I'll be on it in a minute."

I hung up and opened the news app on my phone. It didn't take long for the live broadcast of "Hit-Girl" confessing her crimes to the media began to play. Marcus stood behind Peg while she said her lines to the very real reporters and managed to look both stern and sad. Peg in my extra purple wig, mask, and jacket, hammed up the part tremendously and looked to be having the time of her life. I suppose she didn't look that much like me to start with, but the wig and mask made her similar enough that if you expected it to be me, then that's what you would see. Shit. Maybe I should have found a better actress but I didn't have a lot of time to plan. Too late now. Finally, the police came out of the station and took her inside, where we'd already told her to explain it was all a publicity stunt and that she hoped they'd all come see the movie when it was done. Marcus just faded into the background.

I waited 20 minutes and then called Chris back from a burner cell phone. I didn't even let him say hello, just jumped into conversation.

"OK! I did it! I fucking did it! And you're getting my one fucking phone call from jail." I worked up a bit of weeping and then continued. "Let him go. Please?"

He just laughed. "You stupid bitch. You thing that's it? I'm going to let him go because you walked into the station? I've seen you escape from much worse. What I'm going to do is wait until the trial is over and you're convicted. Then I'll release your precious Dave. But if they give you anything less than the death penalty, then I'll cut something important off before I let him loose. No conjugal visits for you!" Jeez this guy didn't know when to quit.

"Just prove to me he's alive! Or I'll be out of this building before this call ends!" I fake cried while talking. Inside, I was tense instead of sad. This had to work.

"Fuck. OK. Fine. Just a minute." I peered closely into my binoculars at Imperial Tower and saw a light turn on in one of the offices." Gotcha. I thought. I knew you'd have him in a dark room. You are so fucking predictable. Then I heard Dave's voice and suddenly I was fighting off real tears.

"Mindy? Hon?" Dave managed. I could tell from his voice that he was in pain. I managed some sort of noise that must have sounded like me because he continued. "Sweetie? Don't give in! Don't do what he says! It's a tra…." I heard the sound of a fist striking flesh and then after a few thumps, Chris was back on the line.

"You know what to do. He stays alive until you die." Chris hung up.

I blinked away the tears again and reached into my bag of gear. It was Hit-Girl time.

I was ready.