March 2013 – The Past
People started noticing "Dave's little tutor" more as his Junior year progressed. Dave & Mindy had expanded their 'lunch dates' to two or even three a week, though they were more often than not ones that also included either Marty or Todd or even Katie (or all three), so it was more like a group of friends getting together than anything odd…except for the fact that Mindy still hadn't seemed to show much interest in too many other students her own age. There was also the fact that she had started developing a keen interest in comics and somehow managed to find herself visiting Atomic Comics more and more often - surprisingly enough generally when Marty & Todd happened not to be there with Dave.
Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass were also making the news more and more often. They had taken it as a rule of thumb that they should follow Big Daddy's original dictum that their work be done silently in the shadows as opposed to the online media frenzy of Kick-Ass' original debut. For the most part they were successful, but the fact that their existence was already known, and that it was nearly impossible to remain completely hidden from view, meant that rumours were constantly being leaked to the media and it was getting harder and harder to do their jobs unseen.
Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl sightings became a common news segment...there was a column dedicated to them on page 6. There were even rumours about their 'superhero romance' once it was established that they were a team and Mindy had gotten noticeably older - something that made Mindy smile mockingly at Dave and made him distinctly uncomfortable. Katie even confronted him about it one day and he had to pledge on his mother's grave that the stories were totally fabricated and that his relationship with Hit-Girl was purely professional. She seemed to believe him, but her vindictive comments about the "little Nazi super-slut" were expressed more and more often, frequently at lunch time while Mindy sat across from her and had a hard time keeping herself from bursting out into guffaws as Dave clenched his jaw in frustration and worry, glaring at Mindy in the hopes that she'd stop it. Of course that just made her get in on the act.
"You know what I heard?" she asked Katie innocently one day as they ate lunch with the rest of the group.
"What's that?" replied Katie with little interest as she toyed with her food. She still didn't quite understand how this freshman had become a part of their group. Of course she was still trying to understand how *she* had ended up at the comic geek table when it would normally be expected for her to spend lunch with the cheerleading squad.
"I saw on the news last night that Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass were totally making out after they busted up a mugging attempt. They must get pretty worked up with all that adrenaline I guess."
Katie's fork dropped onto her tray. "They what…?!"
Dave jumped into the conversation, his face flushed and a wild glare directed at Mindy. "That's total bullshit Mindy, you shouldn't spread those rumours! Everyone knows that Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl are just partners."
Of course Marty chose this moment to get involved. "I dunno Dave. They do say that excitement and danger can be the greatest aphrodisiac. I mean if *I* was out there busting heads with a cute little number like Hit-Girl I imagine we'd be lip-locked all the time!"
"Oh you do, do you?" said Mindy, sparing a scathing glance for Marty as she raised her eyebrow dubiously.
"Sure. You think she'd be able to resist all this?"
Mindy rolled her eyes. "Oh no, she'd obviously have a really hard time controlling herself around you. Fuck, you are so full of shit Marty."
He shrugged. "Hey you never know. A guy can dream, can't he?"
Katie glared at everyone else at the table, saving her most searing look for Dave. "Can we get back to the issue at hand, please? Has anyone else heard about this? Dave?!"
He shook his head furiously. "No! It's total bullshit. Look Mindy's probably just trying to be funny…or else she's just following some stupid tabloid report. You know what they're like." He looked plaintively at Mindy who apparently decided to relent.
"Well, okay I heard it fourth hand from a fairly unreliable source. I'm just throwing it out there for conversation…what's the big deal?"
"Yeah Katie, what do you care what Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl do?" asked Marty as he prodded his lunch with his fork.
"I uh….I don't." She said as she spared a quick glance for Dave. "I just think it's pretty shameful how they try and turn everything into a sex story. I mean she's still gotta be a little kid, right? It's gross."
Marty shrugged. "Whatever gets the audience right? It doesn't matter if it's true…it matters that we *want* it to be true."
"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Katie angrily.
"C'mon: two young superheroes keeping the streets safe for everyone? Who doesn't want to believe they're making time with each other? I mean, even if she's young we don't know how old she really is…and it's not like she still looks like she's eleven years old anymore. I saw one picture, admittedly it was fuzzy, but Hit-Girl is looking pretty bang-worthy these days!"
Dave covered his face with his hands and groaned. "Fuck…"
Mindy looked at Marty with her head cocked to the side. "You think so?"
He nodded vigorously. "Hey, *I'd* bang her."
Dave groaned again and Mindy sneered. "Yeah well, I think we all know you'd bang just about anything with a pulse if it showed the least bit of interest in you Marty."
Katie stood up, her chair screeching across the floor. "Well, I have something I have to do." Without waiting for a reply she turned and stalked off, after sparing a withering glance for Dave.
After a moment Marty and Todd stood up as well. "That's our cue I guess. Unlike some people we don't have a free period next. Ta ta!"
When they had left Dave dropped his hands from his face and glared at Mindy. If looks could kill she'd be lying on the floor bleeding out like the gang-banger she'd knifed the previous night.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"Mindy, I know you think this is funny, but it's my life!"
"Oh come on Dave, she'll get over it."
"No…she won't! Do you know how jealous she is of you?"
"Of me?"
"Of Hit-Girl."
"Jealous of what? It's all just bullshit rumours."
"You know that and I know that, but Katie's started to really get worried about it."
"Why?" asked Mindy, as she directed a pointed glance at Dave.
"Why? Because she's a fucking girl, what do you think?!"
"Oh please…that's pretty sexist."
"Have you ever dated a teenage girl?"
"Well…no, but…"
"But nothing! Even though I'm a loser with no other prospects she's always second guessing everything I do. *Especially* since I'm out on the streets most nights with a young female partner that apparently everyone thinks is 'bang-worthy'!"
"What do you think?" asked Mindy.
"I…uh, fuck Mindy stop joking around…this is serious!"
"Right, sorry," she said with a frown.
"Look, Katie is already starting to ask some uncomfortable questions…like why I haven't ever introduced her to Hit-Girl, and you poking and prodding her with shit like this is not helping! Whatever happened to the sanctity of the secret identity? Do you really need to make this so fucking hard for me?! If you keep this up then she's going to figure out who you are pretty damn soon."
Mindy shrugged. "If she's always giving you such a hard time…if you really think she thinks you're a loser… why are you still with her? Shit, shouldn't she, I dunno, *trust* you?"
Dave shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look relationships are not that simple Mindy. You'll see one of these days. It's not all black and white. You have to compromise, and you have to accept the fact that there is no perfect match out there that'll just magically work out. You have to work at it…and I don't need you trying to fuck things up for me just for shits and giggles all right?"
Mindy looked away for a moment then back at him before nodding. "Yeah, okay Dave. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make things hard for you just…" she shrugged, "I dunno, just trying to yank your chain I guess."
Dave stood up and directed a sad look at her. "Well please stop yanking. It's starting to get painful and someone's going to end up getting hurt in the end."
Mindy watched him walk out of the cafeteria in the direction Katie had taken and then sighed. "Yeah, I guess someone will."
May 2014 – the Present
I come to only to discover that my arms and legs are chained to a wall and I'm hanging about three feet from the floor. I can't remember anything since the house, but the throbbing in my head tells me that one of Chris' goons must have hit me pretty good with something. Wait…home! Dad! I look around wildly causing pain to lance through my head, but I don't see any sign of my dad. What the fuck happened to him? Did Chris bring him? Is he at home? Is he dead? Fuck! I am going to kill that fucking cocksucker! And Mindy! Shit…if he found me then…
I take a deep breath. It's time to slow down. The last thing I need is to panic. I've been in worse situations than this.
Ok…that's a lie, but I've been in some pretty tight spots and managed to come out the other side.
Of course I had Hit-Girl backing me up then. Fuck!
I test the restraints, but they're strong. What the fuck is this anyway? Who the hell has goddamn manacles bolted to the wall? Fucking psychos like Chris D'Amico I guess. I take a minute to assess my condition, but other than the throbbing pain in my head I seem to still be in one piece and uninjured. My mind goes back to Chris' surprise entrance and I try to push away the thought of my dad lying on the floor…I have to try and think now, not get lost in anger and fear.
Despite knowing this my thoughts keep running around and around in my head, but one is definitely coming to the fore: how the hell did Chris find out who I was? And secondly why did he pick *now* to come after me? Given what little I know about Chris' impulsive nature I'd say he wouldn't wait long once he found out my secret to come after me. That means he only found out recently.
Had I been sloppy? In my forays out alone had I done something that could have compromised my identity? Then it hits me like a ton of bricks: I've only done one supremely stupid thing in the past few days and it was probably enough to drive the one person who could have done it to reveal my identity…assuming he found out what happened.
The rage I feel nearly chokes out coherent thought, but it becomes ice cold when I finally get a grip on myself. It *has* to be him….what other possible explanation is there? I can only hope that Trevor wasn't enough of a fucking cocksucker to compromise Mindy in any way. Of course I'll still flay him alive…if I get out of this.
The door to my cell suddenly opens and Chris waltzes in as if he's checking on a guest in the living room. "Oh, hey there Dave! Comfortable? No I guess not, but I'm afraid this was the only room we had available for arch-nemeses."
I manage to roll my eyes and scoff. "Please Chris…you barely rate major nuisance in my books."
He actually grins up at me. "See? This is what I like about you! You know how to play the whole nonchalant superhero thing and get into the banter…I appreciate that! I mean if you're going to invest in something as crazy as being a superhero you better be prepared to engage in it fully, am I right? Have fun with it, otherwise what's the point?" His face gets serious for a minute. "After all, you'll be dead soon. Might as well play it up while you can."
"You like throwing around threats don't you Chris?"
"Oh I think I do more than that Dave, I had the stones to put a hole in your old man's stomach after all."
I heave against the restraints and get a tiny bit of satisfaction when he cringes back automatically.
"That's right pussy! Let me down and then we'll see who the big man is here!"
"Yeah, a fist fight is not exactly what I intended here."
"Oh I'm flexible I'll find something else to beat you to a pulp with!"
Chris nods with a grin. "I like the pluck Kick-Ass, but I had other plans. I think I'll just eviscerate you…after I finish examining your partner's insides in front of you with something nice and sharp."
I feel myself go cold and I know my face has fallen by the way Chris' grin widens.
"Don't you fucking touch her!" I heave against the restraints and feel my muscles strain, but it's no good. I'm not going anywhere in the next hundred years or so. I fall back exhausted and the throbbing in my head seems to be getting worse.
"Shit, man! Do you have it bad or what? I admit that she's a hot little number, but is she really that good a piece of ass?!"
I glare at him. "I will fucking end you Chris, I promise you that."
He shakes his head. "Man, I've seen guys who had it bad for pussy, but you take the cake. You were mad when I mentioned your dad, but even imply that I want to make lamp shades out of Hit-Girl's skin and you positively lose it!" He looks at me with mournful eyes. "I really hoped for more from you Kick-Ass." He looks away for a minute then back up at me with a grin. "Ah, who am I kidding?! This is *exactly* the response I was hoping for!"
"You're nothing but second-rate mobster spawn D'Amico. Hit-Girl will fucking end you before you even get near her. You think you're even going to find her? Good luck!"
"Oh I don't need luck," he says as he polishes his fingers on his shirt and looks at his nails. "I know exactly what it'll take to get her to come straight to me. In fact I imagine she's already on her way."
June 2013 – the Past
They were all over the headlines this time not just in the regular 'hero' segment on page 6.
Every major paper and news station in the city, and most of them across the country, were reporting on the daring take-down of the Morgeti crime family by none other than New York's own superheroic duo: Kick-Ass & Hit-Girl. The Morgeti's might have been a smaller organization, nowhere near as large as the D'Amico's (even after Frank's demise) or other major families on the council, but it was still a significant blow against organized crime.
Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass were now seen as something more than minor irritants to the criminal underworld of New York. They had proven themselves major players and a threat to be reckoned with. Dave and Mindy were still running on the high as they sat in the school cafeteria re-hashing the action.
"*This* is what I've been waiting for Dave! It's this kind of thing that makes what we do: all the sweat, tears and grunt work worth it! Am I right?"
Dave couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. "I have to admit, if I knew I'd feel like this way one day I would have tried even harder to get where we are now. Somehow it feels even better than taking down Frank D'Amico."
"I know!" Mindy enthused. "It's because we did this one on our own, and it wasn't just retaliation, we took them down from top to bottom and they didn't even know we were coming! Fuck, I feel amazing!"
Dave grinned at Mindy, he couldn't believe how dazzling her smile was, he'd almost say that she glowed if he was so inclined. She held out her hand to him.
"Look at me, I'm still shaking! I don't think I've ever felt like that before. Shit Dave that was even better than my first time! I have to tell you: you were *amazing*! I am so…"
"What. The. Fuck?!"
Both Mindy and Dave turned to see where Katie stood next to the table, holding her lunch tray and looking at them in horror. Dave's grin fell from his face immediately as he realized what Katie had heard. Mindy's smile got smaller, but still held a bit of an edge to it.
"Katie, hi we were just…"
"I fucking heard what you were saying! Is this why you're never around? Is this why I can barely get a word in edgewise around you anymore? Are you actually fucking this…this…child?!"
Dave's eyes bugged out as he realized she'd only heard the last bit of their conversation and he stood up jerkily. "What?! No! Fuck, c'mon Katie don't…"
Katie slammed down her tray and screamed at Dave. "You fucking cocksucker! Don't you make excuses to me…it all makes sense now!"
Dave looked awkwardly around at the cafeteria and noticed that everyone was now staring at them…most of them with smiles on their faces.
"Your tutor, huh? Fuck, as if! I knew that even *you* weren't so stupid that you needed a kid two grades below you to tutor you! Everyone told me! 'Something's up with those two' they said, but did I listen? No! Of course not!"
"Katie, shit c'mon! Let's talk about this somewhere private you're totally…"
"Shut the fuck up Dave Lizewski! I thought you were fucked up to need a kid to tutor you, but now I see it's even worse…you needed this fucking child to screw you! What is it? Will she do things I won't do you goddam perv?!"
"Shut the fuck up Katie, you have no idea what you're talking about!" shouted Mindy as Dave just stood there in dumbfounded silence. Mindy looked at him worriedly, he appeared to be in shock, before turning back to Katie.
Katie put her hands on her hips. "Oh, so now the child whore speaks does she?"
"I'll let you get away with that one because you're upset, but you misunderstood Katie. We're not sleeping with each other!"
Katie narrowed her eyes. "Oh really?! So what was that about then, huh? What was 'better than your first time'? How was Dave 'amazing'?" She shook her head in disgust. "Do you think I'm a fucking moron?!"
Mindy was about to reply to that when Dave cut her off. "No Katie! C'mon I would never do that to you…you know that!"
Katie stopped for a moment. She seemed to be considering that. "Then what is it? What the fuck were you talking about? *Why* are you so close with her?"
Dave looked at Mindy and saw the trepidation there.
"Is this…is this one of those…'after school' things?" Katie asked and he could hear the hope in her voice. Suddenly Katie took in a breath. "Holy fuck! Wait a sec is she…?"
Dave swung his gaze to Katie and immediately shook his head. "No! No Katie…Mindy's not…that."
Katie's eyes narrowed. "Right…so the other option is that she's your fucking bed-mate?! She has to be Hit…"
"No!" said Dave. "Katie if that were true, if she were…her, don't you think I'd admit it…even make it up just to get out of this?"
He could see Mindy visibly relax in the corner of his eye, but he couldn't take his gaze away from Katie who turned her eyes towards him. They were half pleading and half outraged. She waited a moment, thinking, and looked between Mindy and Dave, then her face hardened again.
"Then. What. The. Fuck. Is. She?!"
Dave spread his hands out in front of him. "We're just friends Katie…really!"
Katie's eyes hardened. "Right. You know what Dave Lizewski? You can go fuck yourself…and your little under-aged whore you goddam pedophile! All my friends were right about you: you're a fucking waste of time you shit faced loser!"
With that she turned and stalked out of the cafeteria. The rest of the student body was dead silent for a full minute before they suddenly erupted into a chorus of harsh whispers and giggles. Dave ignored everything as he fell down into his chair and gazed unseeingly at the door Katie had used.
"Dave? Shit, I'm…I'm really sorry," said Mindy from where she stood across the table from him but Dave didn't respond.
Dave was sitting outside the school, his back propped up against the wall and his arms wrapped around his knees, pulling them up against his chest. He stared blindly into the distance, but he still knew when Mindy came up beside him. She stood without talking for a minute, shuffling from foot to foot before she slid down beside him.
"You ok?"
"What do you think?"
"Yeah rough day, huh?"
"Let's see: I lost my girlfriend, the school thinks I'm sleeping with my much younger best friend, and I am now considered even more of a pariah than I was before. Yeah…kind of a rough day I guess."
"I'm…fuck...I'm sorry Dave. Thanks for covering for me, you're a good friend."
"Yeah, just a shitty boyfriend."
"Fuck that! You are not Dave. Just because Katie jumped to conclusions…"
"Totally valid ones based on the info she had available to her."
"Yeah well….it's her loss."
Dave's head fell onto his knees. "Yeah…right…whoppee. I get to be right, even though no one believes it and to top it all off I've already managed to achieve the label pedophile at the ripe old age of 18. Lucky fucking me."
"I'm not *that* young," murmured Mindy.
Dave looked at her. "You're young enough."
"Seniors date Freshmen all the time!"
"No that often really…and are we really talking about this? Making the rumours true wouldn't help either of us."
Mindy looked at him for a minute then turned away. "That was just Katie being a bitch. No one else…"
Dave whipped his head around to glare at Mindy. "Everyone else! Everyone Mindy. Do you think I can't hear the whispers? God, it only happened an hour ago and it's already spread all over the school. They even managed to vandalize my locker."
"At least it's almost the end of the year. The summer's just around the corner."
"Yeah great, the rumours get to stew all summer before I come back to have the best senior year ever! Fuck."
"I…I don't know what to say Dave. I'm really sorry this happened."
"Yeah, me too." He took a deep breath. "Maybe…maybe we should get some space from each other…at school anyway."
"What?! But you'll just be playing into their assumptions! We can't just cave and make it look like they were right!"
"Mindy, they're gonna believe they're right no matter what we do. The last thing we need is to feed the fire with more rumours. I want to protect you as much as myself. How hard is it going to be for you if everyone thinks you're some underage slut because you're always hanging out with me? At least I've only got one more year here…you've got another three years in this hell hole."
"So what…we're not friends anymore? All because of that jealous bitch?"
"No, I didn't say that Mindy. We just need some space ok...at school. You're still my tutor…my friend. Shit you're my partner, but I think we need to keep a bit of distance around here, ok?"
She looked at him and saw the pleading look in his eyes. "Yeah, ok." She stood up and walked away without saying anything else.
Dave dropped his face on his knees again. "Fuck!"