Meeting secretly ever since that night, Dave and Mindy had arranged to be visiting either a sick friend, doing community service, or be shopping/hanging out, but somehow if one could track that, one one learn that all of those activities led them to one place. Now either that was one hell of a mall, or they were lying to everyone. Sure, Mindy was having an even harder time of it after it came to Marcus' attention that she had sent three girls home from school, but since this didn't have anything to do with her promise about not being Hit Girl, she only felt so bad for it. It didn't hurt any that whatever she couldn't forgive herself for, Dave was able to help her forget, even if only for a short while...

It was on their way to and from these trysts that they kept seeing the same woman, always pacing outside of the same building, always looking over her shoulder as if she were being followed by someone. Dave wanted to try to help her, but Mindy insisted that if she kept hanging around outside an abortion clinic, there was only so much they could do. As much as she wanted to get involved, Mindy had to resist the temptation, lest this one moment of random kindness lead her back into being Hit Girl.

For whatever it was worth, it was probably for the best that they didn't interfere, because what they didn't know from observation alone was that this woman was not only an enemy, but was fucking Dave's archenemy. And the shadows she kept jumping at? That was the security hounding her every step so she couldn't run from her boyfriend, but that inevitably was what was keeping her from ever going inside, lest they ever catch on that the path of her daily walk was her trying something else.

But even if he did know that, Dave still would have wanted to help her if he could - no one deserved to be as miserable and confused as she obviously was. He desired to try to talk to the girl, so he had planed to one day arrive a little early, however the death of his father had rendered him in a shocked state, so he had no idea why he found himself waiting at the bus-stop outside of the clinic, let alone on the day of his father's funeral. He wasn't even right inside his own mind, so what the fuck good could he possibly do this woman? These days, he wasn't even sure how he managed to take care of himself...

It was drizzling, but sporadically, so there was little point in an umbrella. The weather was probably going to clear up, at least he hoped so for his father's sake. Emily, for the first time, was alone, which she found somewhat strange after last night, but given that today was the day that was going to end everything, it made sense that all hands would be full with relevant jobs. She wasn't going to leave Chris, she just wasn't strong enough to, so all of his efforts to keep her were just a waste of perfectly good manpower. Besides, after last night, he wasn't very worried about her, not when the capture of Kick-Ass was only hours away.

"Hey!" Head bent as he watched her walking across his line of sight, Dave shouted out at her. He had no idea what he was going to say to her.

Looking around the otherwise barren area (too bad her womb couldn't say it was in the same state), Emily realized that the guy sitting over at the bus stop must have been talking to her, so she cautiously approached him, standing a safe distance from the bench. He looked harmless enough, but then again, so did Chris. "What do you want, boy I don't know?" She was armed, but she really hoped that it wouldn't come to that.

Leaning back for a moment as he stretched his legs out, Dave looked at her more closely. "You're not going in there, are you?" He pointed at the building across the street. "Your situation can't be that bad, can it?"

Oh, it could. And it was. "What does it matter to you?"

Dave frowned, "Nothing, but I don't think that you should be here, not today." He found himself explaining, "My dad's funeral is today. He was killed by some asshole in a mask."

Having no idea who she was talking to, it didn't cross her mind that this was Kick-Ass. All she could think of was how they had that in common. "Me too."

Patting the space next to himself, Dave spoke as if he weren't a boy going out in costume at night, trying to do something good in the world. "You think that you have all the time in the world to make up, but suddenly then you find out that you don't, that your dad was killed by some dick trying to play something more than a human, caught up in a world of delusions... I always loved heroes, but now, I have to wonder what the point is..."

Having sat down very soon after hearing just how much they had in common, Emily nodded in sympathy, "My father disowned me, and I never got the chance to make it up to him, to be his daughter. I know that defeats the purpose of being disowned, but I always had hoped that we could make amends... But I never got that chance. Heroes were all that me and my boyfriend would breath, but now that they're real, everything has changed, and nothing is how it's supposed to be! It's driving my boyfriend up the wall, and he's so far gone, I can't even tell him that I'm pregnant..." She pursed her lips, not meaning to divulge so much to a complete stranger. But that was probably what made it so easy, as Emily had scarcely even thought the word in her head, let alone said it out loud.

"My girlfriend," Dave wasn't entirely sure what he and Mindy were at the moment, but since this girl was a total stranger, it didn't hurt to make assumptions, "and I saw you. You've been here almost every day this week."

Inclining her head, Emily looked at the cracks in the pavement. "I've been so scared, ever since I found out that I was with child, and he wasn't there. He hasn't been there a lot, especially lately. I haven't been able to talk to anyone about it, and honestly, I'm afraid that he's going to find out any day now." She had threatened to kill the bodyguard outside of her room that day if he said anything to The Mother Fucker, but that could only hold up for so long. "I don't want him to know that I am pregnant, but up until now, I never had the opportunity to actually go inside."

Sounded like there were more factors to this than she was admitting to. "You should tell him. Even if you still end up coming here, he has a right to know."

Of course Chris had that right, but did she really have to tell him before getting rid of the baby? Couldn't she just go inside, get it done, and then if it ever did come up, tell him then? "If I tell him now, then I worry that he'll make me keep it." Emily thought of Chris and of how he had been with his own father, of how John had once spoken to her in confidence about the possibility of her helping to carry on the Genovese name. "We both lost our fathers, and I'm afraid that this will affect him in ways I can't guess. Don't get me wrong - I love my boyfriend, more than anything, but we're not ready for that kind of responsibility."

Really? Because even though he had only known her for a handful of moments now, Dave had the impression that she was a rather put-together kind of girl, even sitting outside of an abortion clinic. But maybe she wasn't. "Not everyone is ready for what comes their way, but you deal with it the best you can." That was something had dad had tried to teach him...

"..." Emily looked over at Dave, "I really do have to tell him, don't I?"

The mask of Kick-Ass nodded. "You should."

Sighing, Emily glanced over at Dave, "Somehow, I think this really helped me. I don't know how," Or even how she was going to survive this, "But you're right. I've committed too much to my boyfriend to risk it all now..." Dave gave her a funny little look, some distant part of his mind thinking that she had missed his point entirely, but she didn't notice. "Whoever you are, you're alright."

"Dave Lizewski." He extended his hand, taking hers in his own. Shaking it firmly, he noticed vaguely that she had a tattoo of a white lily snaking up her wrist, blood dripping down the petals.

She smiled half-heartedly. Somehow, that name was ringing a bell, as if she had heard it recently . "Emily. Emily Vela. It's nice to meet you, Dave."

"You too."

Shaking hands once more, Emily stood up, and they parted ways, expecting to never see each other again. Sadly, that would not be the case...

Did you see that coming? Dave and Emily meet, and what's more, they actually get along! Wonder what'll happen next... I know (this time in a general sense), but I'm trying to get you guys pumped for the next chapter. Did it work?!

Tell me and review!

Kick-Ass is the property of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Emily Vela is mine. Knight, and all minors too.