Greetings, dear readers.

Again, sorry for the delays in between postings of this fic. However, I find writing this to be rather mentally intensive, so it takes a little more time than my other fics.

People were asking how Todd finds out their secret identities in this story. So, this is my author's response to that.

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. It is a little shorter than usual. I'm trying to Makokam the chapters to get them up faster.

I do so hope everyone reviews. :-D

And awayyy we go...


"Come on Todd, two more." Dave said from his spotting position behind the bench.

Todd Haynes grunted and painfully complied, lowering the barbell to his chest and pressing it off his pectorals two more times. The last time, Dave caught it and guided it back onto the rack.

"Good job." Dave commented as Todd lifted himself off of the bench.

"Thanks" Todd said in a very tired tone of voice as he grabbed his towel.

"Tired?"

"Very"

"Be glad it wasn't Mindy. You'd be out cold now." Dave said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I know." Todd said as he recalled the times the group of them went running together in the summer. Mindy seemed to think that if you still had enough energy to moan, you weren't trying. He looked at himself in the mirror. He had definitely improved from where he'd been in terms of his physique. Of course, he wasn't anywhere close to Dave; but Dave –to put it frankly- had a whole different set of needs. He maintained, improved and –sometimes- built equipment for Dave and Mindy, in addition to his skill set behind a rifle scope. Dave got into streetfights with thugs on a near daily basis. As a result, Dave's need for extensive physical conditioning far surpassed his own. Todd was content just to be in decent shape and look good.

"Want to hit Atomic tonight?" Dave asked.

"Sure" Todd replied. "No patrol tonight?"

"Jessi's back in town, so Mindy and Angela are going out with her. So, you know the rule."

"Yeah" Todd said in reference to the fact that one of Dave and Mindy's hardcore rules was that, unless it was an extreme emergency situation, they didn't operate alone. If one of them couldn't be in costume for whatever reason, the other stayed home too. Todd could completely see the logic in that. The two were a team and were used to watching each other's back. If Todd was a regular field operative, he certainly wouldn't want to be out there on his own. He knew that the majority of Justice Forever shared that opinion. They regularly paired off for patrols. Some, like the Bronx Bomber and Babe Ruthless, were an established team upon joining the group. Others –who were lone operatives- joined up with another solo act depending on who was working that night and in what area. In fact, one of the jobs Angela did was organize duty rosters and set up patrol teams. Dave and Mindy would occasionally allow a third costumed hero to join them on patrol –usually it was either a newcomer to Justice Forever, who was being critiqued by the team's two most respected members, or sometimes just a member whose assigned partner for the night had to bail and simply wanted to patrol with others.

"Let's call Marty." Todd said. "Maybe he'll want to come along. They don't have Atomic Comics down in D.C."

"They have a lot of crime though." Dave said in reference to the nation's capitol where Marty went to school at George Washington University.

"Yeah…Has Marty told you that he's dusted off Battle Guy?"

"Are you shitting me?" Dave asked with concern. Marty, he knew, was a good guy and had a lot of brains. However, he simply was not physically cut out for crimefighting. His previous sojourn as Battle Guy had nearly gotten him killed.

"No, I'm afraid not. But from what he said, it sounds like he's doing it more like a neighbourhood watch. He goes out and calls it in to the police."

"That's good." Dave said with relief.

"It's funny, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"Well, remember that time in Atomic, when you asked how come nobody's ever tried to be a superhero? Marty and I both thought that anyone would be crazy to try it…and now look at us."

Dave had to smile at the memory. "I sort of think that every one of us out there spent a lot of time in comic book stores as a kid. I guess it just took someone to take that first step."

Todd nodded in acknowledgement. "Have you ever thought about how much good everyone has done the last few years, and it's all because of you starting it? If you hadn't taken that first step, nobody else would have."

Dave shook his head dismissively. "No, Mindy and her dad were already doing it before I even ordered my first outfit. Hell, Mindy had been training for it since she was five."

"Yeah, but they weren't public about it. From what you've said, it was all about her dad wanting revenge. They didn't want people knowing about them."

"Yeah, you're right. They had a point you know. I never thought that operating publically could put a target on my back." Dave said as he thought about how naïve he was when he embarked on what would become his life's calling. He also thought, with more than a little guilt, about that party entertainer who was murdered while wearing a Kick-Ass costume. It was generally thought that whoever killed him thought it was the real Kick-Ass. (The crime was officially still unsolved; but Dave and Mindy suspected that Frank D'Amico was behind it, even if they had no way to prove it with D'Amico and almost all his organization dead.)

"I think I would have shit myself and died if I'd woken up to see Mindy and her dad standing in my room like that." Todd said with a laugh as he recalled what Dave had told him of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl's first visit to the Lizewski house.

"Fuck, don't think I didn't come close to it." Dave laughed. It was indeed a nerve rattling experience. Of course, he himself had now terrified countless lowlifes who'd awakened to find that Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl had tracked them down. "You had a pretty epic freak-out yourself, when you found out about us."

"I can't deny that." Todd chuckled as he thought back to almost two years ago….

Two Years Before

"Hey Todd, come on in." Mindy said as she opened the door for Todd.

"Todd…You all set to lose in a big way?" Dave called from the den where he was setting up Mindy's Wii.

"No way, man. You're going down." Todd replied as he hung up his jacket.

"Aw dude, are you two going to get all homo-erotically aggressive here?" Mindy joked. It was a Saturday afternoon, the first full day of spring break. Dave and Mindy, after a patrol the night before, had decided to celebrate the start of vacation –Dave's last prior to his graduating from Millard Fillmore High School- by inviting their friends over to Mindy's to play come computer games. So far, Todd was the only one to arrive.

"Thanks for having me over." Todd said.

"Anytime" Mindy replied.

Todd spared Mindy a brief glance as the two walked to the den. He enjoyed hanging out with her, there was no question. She was smart and really funny…not to mention that after she'd put two large bullies in the hospital on her first day of school almost two years before, nobody ever messed with him anymore once the word got around they were friends. Still, Todd couldn't help but wonder about her relationship with Dave. It was like Mindy had appeared out of nowhere. Dave had never mentioned her to either him or Marty ever before. Then, she just showed up with Dave one at Atomic Comics. Both he and Marty had thought that really weird. The three of them had been friends since kindergarten and had always shared the same –very small- social circle. Then, all of a sudden, Dave is friends with this little girl who was maybe eleven or twelve. And if that wasn't surprising enough, it was just HOW close they were as friends. Dave and Mindy were almost never seen apart. They hung out together. They ate lunch together whenever their schedules permitted. They seemed to have a connection that neither Todd or Marty could decipher. Of course, once they got to know Mindy, Todd and Marty could understand just why Dave would be friends with her. She was –despite her young age- the coolest person any of them knew. It still didn't explain just how she and Dave met –neither of them had ever really revealed that- or just what made them inseparable best friends. (Both he and Marty had come to the conclusion that it was Mindy who'd prevented Dave from having a complete meltdown when Katie moved away three months before.) Todd was aware enough to know that Dave seemed to let Mindy into a part of his life that nobody else was allowed into. Just what that was though, remained a complete blank to him. Todd decided not to dwell on it and just enjoy the afternoon.

It was a half-hour later when it happened. Todd and Mindy had the Wii controls and were playing a first-person shooter game. Todd usually excelled at those because he seemed to have incredibly good aiming abilities. Mindy, however, was more than able to give him a run for his money.

The game was growing intense. (Mindy would later decide she'd gotten so into it, she'd allowed her vigilance to lapse.) A target loomed onto the screen. Eliminating it would gain her victory. Mindy raised her right arm up to aim her controller and growled out words that had been ingrained in Todd's mind for a very long time…

"Show's over, motherfuckers!" Mindy said as she fired her controller, dropping her electronic foe. She turned to Todd, to gloat over her victory…only to see him staring at her slack-jawed, with his Wii controller dropping from his hand.

" 'Show's over…'?" Todd repeated to himself as wheels began to turn and his eyes went wide. "You…It's you…" He stammered.

"What do you mean?" Mindy asked as she tried to force herself to remain casual. As soon as she saw Todd's reaction, she'd realized her lapse and had correctly discerned what Todd was thinking. She cursed herself for being careless. Around anyone else, she might have been able to get away with that. However, she knew –from what Marty had told her- that Todd had studied that one bit of internet footage very closely. He'd clearly recognized both her voice, her demeanour… even her body language. This was not good.

"You…You were in that video….Holy shit…YOU'RE HIT-GIRL!" Todd yelled as the realization fully hit him. Just then, he felt Dave's strong grip on his shoulder as he was spun around.

"Todd…Shut up!" Dave hissed. He was afraid that if Todd didn't calm down, the neighbours might overhear.

Todd meanwhile, was starting to make more connections. The way Dave had spent all that time in the hospital…His newfound confidant bearings and attitude…The fact that he seemed to be spending an inordinate amount of time in the gym and greatly muscled up. Those facts alone didn't mean too much. But, if he was best friends with Mindy…and Mindy was Hit-Girl…and Hit-Girl always worked with Kick-Ass….That could only mean…

"Kick-Ass?" Todd whispered cautiously. He wondered again just how Dave could have become one of the city's two best crimefighters without him or Marty EVER suspecting.

Dave and Mindy looked at each other and sighed. The jig was up and they both knew it. They sat down on the couch together and pulled the stunned Todd down between them.

"Yeah Todd….That's right." Dave said. "You've figured it out. You know what it means if anyone else learns about it?" Dave said seriously as the ramifications dawned on Todd that he'd just fallen into what had to be a very small circle of confidence.

A short time later, after he'd given his word that he'd never reveal their secrets to anyone, Todd was splashing some cold water on his face. As he exited the bathroom, Mindy was standing outside waiting for him. He gulped silently as he now realized just what she was capable of doing to people.

"You ok?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I…I guess. I'm just trying to wrap my head around it." Todd admitted honestly.

"I can see that. I guess playing shooter games wasn't the smartest thing to do." Mindy said with a small smile.

"If I hadn't heard you say it, just like in that video…I never would have guessed." Todd said.

"I should've remembered. Marty told me how much you've watched it." Mindy said as Todd's face got even paler than it had already been.

"Marty told you….everything?" Todd squeaked.

"Oh, hell yeah." Mindy said. "Ah, now that we're on the subject…Do you mind if I ask…?" She started to say. She really hoped Todd didn't still harbour a crush on Hit-Girl…on her…It would make the situation even more awkward than it already was. She would hate to have to give him the infamous speech about her not liking him like that. (Although it was a cliché, it was true: Mindy like Todd immensely…but not in any romantic way.) It would be a further complication since she'd realized that her feelings for Dave ran far beyond friendship.

"Oh…I guess I really shouldn't have talked about that with Marty." Todd tried to laugh, before sighing. "No, I don't really feel anything like that about you. I mean, I guess I had this crush on Hit-Girl when she was still some mysterious person on the internet. She was someone so cool that I knew she'd never look at me, so it was safe for me to think about her. But you…You're one of my best friends, Mindy." Todd said with complete honesty. "And that's really what I could ever feel for you…just friendship. Hit-Girl, I guess, can't be a fantasy any longer. She's a reality. She's you." Todd said. He didn't add that he could tell –after factoring everything in- that even if he had felt that way about Mindy –which he definitely didn't- he could see that Mindy and Dave were simply too tight. It was all too clear now. That was why Dave had survived Katie's leaving…He had Mindy now. It was all too clear to Todd that even if he'd had romantic feelings for Mindy, she belonged to Dave and vice versa.

"I'm sorry if finding out, took away your fantasy." Mindy said with sympathy. In her opinion, having fantasies like that didn't have to be a bad thing. The world could be a shitty place. Hence, it was good to have a fantasy to fall back on.

"It's alright. I guess I've spent too much of my time hanging out at Atomic already. I need to get more into reality. And, I think –once I can get used to the idea- that being best friends with Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl is way better than any dreams about someone on the internet." Todd said.

"You know Todd…I think you're way smarter than most people give you credit for." Mindy said as she gave him a quick hug. "And let me tell you…You are a really good guy. Do not let anyone tell you anything different EVER, or they'll answer to me." She said with a smile.

"Thanks…Say, can I ask a favour?" Todd asked sheepishly.

"What is it?"

"Can I…see your costume?"

Mindy laughed. "I'll show it to you before you leave."

Just then, the two of them heard voices from the other room. Angela then appeared at the end of the hallway, having finally made it over.

"Hey…Dave told me what happened."

"You know?" Todd gasped.

"I kind of found out by necessity back in January." Angela said. "You're handling it better than I did." She said with a helpful smile.

Mindy took that opportunity to slip away back to the other room. She wanted to talk about this with Dave, while they got some snacks for everyone from the kitchen. Besides, she figured Todd and Angela now had a lot more in common than they did just a few hours ago…

"I just can't believe it…" Todd said.

"I know. I mean, I know I've only known the two of them for a few months, but still…"

"Hey, I've known Dave since kindergarten and today, I found out that he's been Kick-Ass this whole time." Todd said with a disbelieving shake of his head.

"Look at it this way: we're now in probably the smallest and coolest clique at school…Your best friend and my best friend, are superheroes." Angela said as her emerald green eyes sparkled.

The Present

Who'd have thought, Todd thought to himself, that an afternoon of playing Wii could change his life so much? He was now a part of the team. He'd finally found a real purpose in his life. And best of all…It had allowed him to get close to Angela. He'd liked Mindy's red-headed friend from the first time they'd met. And the close circle they'd formed around Dave and Mindy had allowed them to get really close. He could hardly wait for the Justice Forever party tomorrow evening, their first actual date.

"So, that sounds like a plan. We hook up with Marty, go for pizza or burgers and then hit Atomic Comics…Just like the old days." Dave said as he remembered a far simply –but not as enjoyable- time.

"Just like the old days…" Todd mused. "Say, did you ever think, in all those times we spent reading superhero comics that one day the three of us would be doing it –in some way- for real?"

"No. I didn't think we could ever be that cool or that lucky." Dave replied as they opened some cans of protein shakes following their workout.

As Todd drank his, he thought about how he and Dave had changed from the hapless geeks who had practically lived at Atomic Comics when they were in high school. Then, he thought about the work they know did, and especially Mindy and Angela. Todd freely admitted to himself that he was head over heels for Angela. As for Dave and Mindy…It was painfully clear to him how they felt about each other. What was holding them back, he didn't know. He did know that trying to do anything about that was a pretty bad idea. He just hoped, for his friends' sakes that they came to their senses sooner or later. "I know what you mean." He replied simply as he downed his own protein drink.