Hi there! I'm back! As I said I was on vacation. Bad news: No new chapters for you guys. Good news: I wrote a shitload. That's the only way I can describe it. No Internet means no distraction and damn, I was creative! So I will totally make it up to you that I mssed out last week and upload two chapters.
Fits pretty well, because this is somewhat of a flashback chapter again. Since I know it's kinda hard to keep track of all the dates (I have a list for that, but I'm the author, I have to know my shit), here a reminder: While Enrico was rescuing Lisa in Romania, Heinkel was off to Germany to take care of some business. Now you finally get to know what happened (and a few more things about her as well). I wrote the beginning of this chapter when I was three chapters into the story (during physics class... and now I don't have school anymore. Scary.) and even after all the details that changed during the writing process of Renegade, I could keep it the way it was almost word for word. Do with that information what you want, I found it interesting.
If you have difficulties understanding some things, you might want to look at the bottom of the page, there's a transcript of a part I thought needed it.
Have fun!
Chapter 21: For whom the bell tolls
Outside Munich, August 24th, 2016
When Klaus Wagner woke up, it was very dark. His head was buzzing like he had drunken too much. He knew that feeling well, but he could have sworn he didn't go out drinking last night. He didn't want to start his life in freedom by forgetting who he was. He wanted to celebrate his freedom properly. Finally, after fifteen years. Maybe God really was on his side, like the bald little priest in jail had wanted to make him believe.
His shoulders hurt. After a moment he realized his hands were tied behind his back. There was some kind of grate behind him. No, not a grate. Pipes, like in some old factory. He even had an idea where he was. No. His fantasy was going overboard again. Something metallic banged against the pipes. Shackles. Maybe he really had been drinking and now the police had arrested him again.
And if that wasn't enough, tiny stones had dug into his jeans and his butt hurt like he had been riding on a fucking hedgehog.
"Where am I?", he asked aloud, in German. His voice echoed, so either the room was very large or completely empty.
"You're awake," a female voice said. It was dark, and a bit rough, but melodic. It seemed somewhat familiar. Just the kind of familiar you know you should recognize, but didn't quite. Whatever it was, his subconscious knew who she was. Without knowing why, the voice scared him.
"Who are you? Where am I? Was I in an accident?"
The woman laughed. "Oh yes, you were in an accident. The accident in the shop."
His head cleared gradually and he realized he must be blindfolded. "Are you one of the demonstrators? It was an accident! I did my time! I'm a free man!"
This time, her laugh sounded shaky. For a second he thought she might be crying. That would have been better. No, she was not crying. She was furious, but professional enough to not let it show too much. "Because the surveillance got lost," she said softly.
"Y-Yes." And it had been the best feeling in the world. Seeing the flustered judge and persecutor, that bitch who wanted him in custody for the rest of his life because he was "too dangerous".
Now the mysterious woman sounded almost amused. "What if I told you I arranged that?" Wagner gulped. What had been the luckiest day in his life... a scheme? The woman took off the scarf covering his eyes. He blinked into cold neon lights. The place hadn't gotten a dusting in months, possibly years. A factory, like he had thought.
Wagner could only see her slender shape towering over him. Her face was impossible to make out against the light stinging his eyes. But he saw her short, unruly hair, like a pale golden halo, and the holsters on her thighs. Big guns, at least .45. How did she get those in the first place? This was Germany, not some US province with a trigger-happy sheriff!
"Why would you do that?", he asked carefully. If he could free himself, he might be able to overpower her. The years in prison had helped to make him fit. You had to work out every day to retain your position. Guys who injured little girls were not exactly popular. His body felt a bit rusty, but if he could free his hands...
The woman kicked him in the guts. Wagner doubled over as far as the shackles allowed, unable to draw breath for several seconds. It felt as if his body turned itself inside out. He groaned.
"Why? Because prison is too good for you!" And still she sounded fairly calm, even serene. She's insane. He was in the hands of a maniac, Wagner realized. An angry one at that.
"Who are you?", he croaked. Her foot, clad in a heavy boot, hit his shoulder. He was thrown back against the pipes. It broke, freeing the shackles, and he sagged to the ground. Wagner rolled on his back, trying to get away from one of the sharp splinters threatening to dig into his arm. Her boot settled on his throat. "I think you know very well who I am."
Wagner didn't dare to move. There was dirt on her boots like on the hallway floor he lay on. These were expensive, made for the army or something. Kidnapping him, preparing this spot, without leaving a trace... This was not the work of an amateur. The weight pressed against his throat. He gasped, more than he actually needed to, and she resettled the boot on his chest, just below his neck.
"You're the girl," he whispered. "The girl that shot my friends."
She laughed. "Friends?" He didn't answer. He thought to see a grin. "You know my name."
Wagner was close to chocking. Tears welled in his eyes. But he couldn't hide hate and disgust in his voice. "Heinkel Wolfe."
She moved a little and for the first time, Klaus Wagner could see her face. She had grown up, but it was the same girl. The same androgynous features and blazing green eyes. The wounds had healed and left white scars running from the corners of her mouth. The surgeons had done quite a good job. The little beast had become an attractive woman. Only those scars were irritating. She had waited a long time for her revenge. Panic struck him.
"I did my time! I know I was wrong!", he almost shrieked.
"Sorry doesn't turn back the time, even if you really mean it." Her voice was shaking, just for a second. "I was twelve years old."
"Please!", he begged. Heinkel took away the foot and pulled him in a sitting position, looking him over. Wagner tried to look as harmless as possible.
She snorted. "Not so tough anymore, now that your opponent is not a little girl?"
"You shot them!", he defended himself, close to getting hysterical.
"That was your fault," she said, her voice flat. He stared at her, a deadly angel surrounded by burning white light. "Guess what, asshole. The little girl grew up, and she's pissed." She drew the right gun. It was huge. The muzzle looked about as big as the Euro-Tunnel.
"Please don't kill me!", Wagner begged. He had just gotten his freedom back. Fifteen years were enough. Heinkel laughed. People really didn't change. The same pathetic, miserable coward like fifteen years ago.
"I won't kill you, idiot. Not yet. But you will beg me to when we're done here."
"It was an accident!", he shrieked.
She waved her hand in an impatient gesture. "We're not in a court room and I'm not a judge. We both know what happened." She smiled. I was hard and cold and scared Wagner to death. How could anyone let her walk around freely? Everybody had to see she was dangerous.
Heinkel grabbed his collar and dragged him away from the wall. Wagner had to crawl, but so far, except for his aching shoulders and the hit to the head, he was unharmed. He could almost hope help was on the way. The persecutor had demanded him to be under surveillance. Wagner didn't know if the court had allowed it, though. She jerked him upright. Wagner was kneeling in the middle of the hallway. Maybe she would just shoot him. He had a vague feeling that was better than what else might happen. The Wolfe-girl (that's what he had always called her, as if her first name carried some horrible curse) stood behind his back, one hand on his shoulder to prevent him from running. His legs were shaking too bad for that anyway. "Say 'Aaaah'."
Wagner looked up at her. The same instant he realized what was going on. It was an exact repetition of the 'accident' fifteen years ago. She had only been a girl, tall for her age, but still a child. She had looked up at him with those huge smoke-green eyes full of fear, but also determination and anger. Maybe that was why he had chosen her. Breaking a true rebel was quite the temptation. Only that this particular rebel did not break. He asked her to fight back. And she did.
"Open your mouth as wide as you can. Or do you want to lose the complete jaw?" She was repeating the exact same words he had said. Wagner hesitated, then opened his mouth. "Go on!" Wagner opened his mouth as wide as he could. Maybe she would be satisfied with scaring him. He could at least prevent the damage. He would be able to live with scars like hers. He would even go back to jail if that meant to be safe. The muzzle of the gun was burning on his skin like ice.
"Please..." She hadn't begged. Maybe that had saved her. Pain flared in Wagner's mind.
The gunshot echoed through the corridor. Blood splashed, mixed with tissue and the fractures of teeth. Wagner howled and collapsed to the ground. The bullet had ripped through his cheeks, tearing them away with some of his molars. Heinkel watched him cringe and wail on the floor, his hands still bound by the shackles. Deep down she had a feeling this was not right. It was not what she had been taught. As a warrior of God she should stand over heretics like him.
But her doubts were drowned out in the overwhelming satisfaction she felt. He had almost ruined her life and definitely ruined her face. She had waited too long for this moment to back down now. She kicked him and he rolled on his back, writhing like a fish on land. His gray eyes were huge and frightened. He was crying from pain and fear. "Bleahse..." His words were muffled, like hers had been after the surgery. But in the pool of blood his hands had become slippery and he managed to get out of the left shackle. He tried to get up, hot liquid running over his face. She aimed the muzzle at his head. He froze. She wouldn't shoot him. Not yet. A moment later he regretted his body's reflex to obey. Death would have been better. He had hurt her and she would repay him a thousand times over.
"You're a joke. I was tougher than you when I was twelve," she spat. Then a grin crossed her features. "I won't give you an opportunity to strike back," she said. "I don't think you will, weak as you are, of course." She giggled and that was the scariest bit. "Even if, you couldn't beat me. This is just the first step, just so you know." Wagner nodded. Maybe he thought if he cooperated he would come off better. As if that would make a difference. He would suffer and then he would die like a heretic deserved.
The intro of Carry on wayward son echoed through the corridor. Heinkel took out her phone. She didn't bother to turn away or even go down the corridor to take the call. She didn't need to hide anything. The heathen would be dead after this anyway. The dead didn't give away any secrets. "Hello?"
Brenda was as cheerful as ever. "Hi, honey. Sorry to come at you out of the blue, but I heard you're in town. Want to get a coffee? I'd like to discuss something with you."
Heinkel smiled. She hadn't seen Brenda in an eternity, almost a year now. And those words stirred up an expectation she would rather leave buried until she knew more. It weren't the words she was waiting for so long, but almost. "No problem. Where?"
"I'm at the Marienplatz."
"I'll be there in half an hour. See ya." She turned back to Wagner. He hadn't even tried to call for help. Probably he thought it would make her even more angry. Self-preservation went strange ways sometimes. The human mind was so easy to trick. "I'll give you a break while I'm going to meet a friend." She hunkered down, pondering a moment if she should just chain him to the fragile pipes again. "The friend that fixed what you did to me."
"Bhell, fhe didn't do a phery good chob." Well, she didn't do a very good job. Maybe he could trick her if she was angry enough. Angry people made mistakes, even those with a military training. She had to be a professional. He saw it in the way she moved. His words were muffled and every movement hurt, but it also hurt if he didn't speak. But instead of getting angry, she smiled. She had a pretty smile. A pretty smile for a pretty girl. A pretty and deadly girl. She fixed the loose shackle around a pipe. One of his hands was still free. Maybe he could-
"High five." He automatically raised his hand. The bullet shattered two bones, ripped through the flesh, and slammed into the wall behind him right next to his head. Rusty metal rained down. Wagner stared at the hole where his palm should be. He could see the dusty floor, sprinkled with blood. It took a moment until the pain settled in. Wagner howled like a cornered animal, clutching the bleeding hand to his belly. "Pha-", he blubbered. "Phy?"
"So you don't get any funny ideas," she said. In a surge of pained rage he leaped at her. She pointed the gun at his leg and he fell back, whimpering. She hadn't even pulled the trigger.
"That's a good boy. Now, don't run away. Not that you'll get out of here in the shape you're in. Feel free to scream as much as you want. Nobody will hear you. Ciao~"
She holstered the gun and walked down the corridor, shutting off the lights. Wagner was drenched in darkness.
Heinkel climbed up a staircase and stuffed her greatcoat and guns in a bag. She would leave them here for now. She hated going unarmed, but in Germany it was next to impossible to carry a weapon, especially with the warm weather. People got nervous. She had a license for her weapons, but it would only cost her time and make people remember her.
She would go home to change, maybe shower, and then meet Brenda. Vicky was cruising the city with Alessia. The two had understood each other from the first minute. Both had already begged Heinkel to return on the first of October, when Vicky and her band "Thirty Pieces of Silver" would give their first big concert. Heinkel was already excited herself, even though she tried to play it cool. Of course they would come back. Maybe she even got Enrico to allow Yumie and Lisa to come, hell, maybe he and Anderson would even accompany them as well. Why bloody not? (Well, except the fact that some of the songs were based a bit too much on real events... and could easily be taken for criticism. Anderson might not be happy about it. Enrico would be really pissed about it.) They were under a lot of stress lately, she knew that. But she would be damned if Millennium ruined her little sister's big moment!
Half an hour later Heinkel wandered over the huge Marienplatz, looking for her friend. She had changed into short black pants and a top. It was not an appropriate outfit for a nun, of course, but Heinkel had never really seen herself as such. She was a paladin. A warrior of God. She didn't need to run around in a skirt for that. Yumie had her way and Heinkel had hers.
A waving coffee-colored hand caught her eye. She walked over and Brenda hugged her. Her hair was a bright red now and her eyes had their normal dark color. "So good to see you again," she beamed. They sat down on a table of a small cafe. Heinkel ordered a water and refused a snack.
"Mum kills me if I don't eat this evening."
Brenda laughed. "Fair enough. Never tempt a mother's wrath. Besides, I hear Alessia's band is finally going to start on the big stage?"
"Yup. First of October. I'll come here for that, of course."
"Good. I already got a ticket." For about fifteen minutes, they held the usual chit-chat. Who had gotten married with whom (more of that from Brenda than from Heinkel), and what had been going on at their places. Brenda asked about Heinkel's friends, most of whom she had never met personally, and told her about their common acquaintances at the martial arts school Brenda still visited. Heinkel had never let her friend know more than necessary about her work, as much as that hurt. Brenda was kind enough to accept Heinkel wanted a break from it when she came to visit. She probably thought Heinkel was part of some Swiss Guard like group. Maybe that was not so wrong.
"I ran into your sister earlier today. She was showing a girl around she said you brought. Victoria."
"Yeah, she's... kinda like my student. I thought she might like Munich."
"Looked like she did." Brenda's dark eyes never left her face and Heinkel didn't back down. Of all people she knew, maybe Brenda understood her best, even better than Yumie sometimes. And that without knowing any details. Eventually, Brenda looked away when their drinks and a piece of chocolate cake arrived for her. "I'm paying," she said immediately. Heinkel knew better than to protest. They waited until the waitress had gone back inside before they continued the conversation.
"Why did you want to talk to me?", Heinkel asked.
Brenda impaled a sliver of cake. "Can't I go out to chat with an old friend?" Heinkel said nothing. She waited until her friend had chewed and swallowed the first fork of cake. Brenda looked her over with a vague sadness in her face. Then she said, "I might have found a way. It's experimental laser technology and we are still waiting for the approval of a test series."
"When?"
"January, I suppose. It would take blocks of three days in between a recovery of about a week each. If it gets approved at all."
"Is it dangerous?" She was not scared. She had faced worse injuries and enemies alike. She was just curious. German regulations were strict. Sometimes a bit too strict for her taste.
"Only if an amateur does it. Darling, it's only a possibility. I don't know anything for sure."
"That's good enough for me."
Brenda sighed and pecked at her cake. "I'll call you the moment I know anything for sure. Just thought you should know."
Heinkel smiled. "Thank you."
"Will you visit him?" Heinkel nodded, a dark blanket setting over her. The blanket had been heavier before, a lot heavier, and next to black instead of the dull gray it was now, but it was enough to make her feel foreign and misplaced in the bright sun and crowds of loud, cheery people.
"Of course." Brenda took her hand and squeezed it. "Should I come with you?"
"No, I'm fine." Not fine, really, but used to it. Boiled down to the same thing. "Maybe I'll take Vicky with me."
"Did you tell her?"
"Not yet."
Brenda did her best to let the conversation move on. After a while she had finished the piece of cake. "You gonna come sparring this evening?"
"Nah. I've got something else to do. Sorry. Tomorrow, maybe? Vicky needs the exercise."
"Sure, why not? The others will be pumped to see you're back. Except those who still want to beat you. They won't be happy to find there's someone else as good as you now." She laughed. "How long are you staying?"
"Not long. We're flying back day after tomorrow early in the morning," Heinkel said. Damn shame, actually, but Section XIII was waiting for her. With all this fuss about the Nazi remnants, who knew if she would be needed soon. And she would be back on October 1st, no matter what.
They left the cafe and walked to the next metro. Heinkel felt a bit guilty for pretending to use it in front of her friend. She had a rental car, just for this day, on a fake passport with an English name. The perks of being a Vatican special agent traveling the world. She had spoken English with a slight Italian accent when she picked it up, to confuse whoever might follow the lead even more. Not that she planned to leave any trace of the heathen bastard.
They said goodbye and Brenda headed back to the clinic while Heinkel went down into the metro, got herself a newspaper, and exited at the other end of the station. Her Dad would be happy. He was always complaining he forgot to buy one on his way home from work. It was a miracle that was the only thing he regularly forgot.
She walked around aimlessly for a while and admired the city she had lived in for so long, the tall, old buildings and their modern interior. Incredible to think it had been in ruins seventy years ago. Even more incredible to think her teacher had already been alive then, had been a teenager, only a year younger than Vicky now. The Regenerator was older than her grandparents, if they would be still alive. Time was such a weird thing.
After a while, she headed for her car. She automatically checked if she was being followed, but of course that was ridiculous. Who would tail her here? She was not on some mission and had no enemies around. Heinkel drove back to the house in Neuhausen. When she walked to the front door, she was greeted by muffled rock music. Looked like Alessia had decided to show Vicky what she would perform soon. This particular song didn't seem familiar to Heinkel for some reason, though she had received a CD from her sister and copied the songs on her phone to listen to them on the road. She opened the door and was almost blasted off her feet by the bass. The walls were thicker than she remembered. She had been away for too long. The song was good, maybe even better than all the others. Alessia's voice was crystal clear, every tone part of the harmony.
When the song ended, Heinkel politely cleared her throat and two teenagers, one only barely older than the other, ran at her. "Man, teacher, why didn't you tell me you had a rock star in your family?"
Alessia blushed under her tan. "Don't be silly. I'm not- But seriously, sis, why didn't you bring Vicky here earlier?"
"I guess you are good with each other, then?"
"I didn't think I would hear that much giggling again after you moved out," Elena said, coming down the stairs. "And loud music, of course." She smiled down at the three girls. Heinkel was relieved to see everyone was good. The way her Mum smiled she had already taken Vicky in as a part of the family. That was good. Great, actually. Vicky could need that.
"Ah, besides, I met Brenda." There was a glimmer of worry in both her Mum's and Alessia's face. "Vicky, we're going to my old martial arts club tomorrow. Prepare to kick ass."
"Heinkel Elisabeth Wolfe!", Elena said and put her fists on her slender hips. "As long as you're in my house, you better watch your language, young lady!"
Vicky stared at Elena for a second before blushing a deep red from trying not to laugh. "Elisabeth?"
Heinkel sighed. It turned out as a growl. "Don't tell anyone. Stupid German laws."
Victoria made a zipper motion across her lips. "Is that still on your passport?"
"Only the German one," the paladin murmured. "Never mention it again." Vicky was smart enough to do so. Elena shook her head and wanted to say something when her husband came from the kitchen, accompanied by a cloud of hot steam. As if it was not already warm enough. He wiped his dark hair out of his eyes. "My favorite four lioness- I mean ladies. Feeding time draws near."
Heinkel had to grin. It felt good to be home for a while. Her "real" home was in Rome, sure, she had a flat there and all of her friends. But that couldn't replace her weird, funny parents and her equally weird, wild sister. Not that Heinkel had been an angel or anything. That seemed to be common with the ladies in this family.
They sat down while Damian went back into the kitchen to return with he probably saw as the most German food ever: Sauerkraut. Heinkel groaned. At least that was not a common sight in Italy. Then pasta and cordon bleu and bread and half a dozen other things... Damian had cooked for a dozen people again, not everything fitting together, like always when a guest was over. To Heinkel's horror, Vicky seemed to enjoy sauerkraut and took a second plate. Alessia ate barely anything, pointing out the new, tight clothes she had bought. Heinkel ruffled her hair. "Don't be silly. You'll need your strength if you are on stage. And just so you know, you're coming with us tomorrow." Alessia sighed, suppressing a smile, and got herself bread and herbed butter. "Whatever you say, sis."
For a while, the meal continued in munching silence until they were mostly done. There was a lot left. Lunch tomorrow would look pretty much the same then, Damian announced.
"Shall I make more sauerkraut?" Vicky nodded with enthusiasm. "God no!", Heinkel said at the same time. Her family erupted into laughter.
"Hey, teacher?", Vicky asked.
"Yeah?"
Alessia interrupted. "That's so weird, hearing somebody call you teacher."
Vicky blushed. "Just... a habit. It sounds right to me."
"Speaking of which, how are Father Anderson and the others? Yumie and the Maxwell kids," Elena asked. Vicky looked at her with big eyes. "Who...?"
"Except they're not kids anymore, Mum," Heinkel said, not for the first time. "Enrico's almost 30 and he's a bishop."
"I know, I know," her mother sighed. "Time passes so fast. Does he still have the long hair?"
Heinkel laughed. "I think you'd have to kill or knock him out to cut his hair."
They cleaned up the table while Damian went to get some sort of order in the chaos he had produced in the kitchen. "You better stay out of his way," Alessia advised Vicky.
"And Yumie and Yumiko, how are they?"
"Oh, they're good. We're kinda busy."
"So, you're here while the others are working?", Alessia said with a grin. Heinkel nudged her and she dodged it, giggling. She brushed the small table with the phone next to the kitchen door, and the newspaper Heinkel had bought finally lost its balance. God seemed to work miracles today, because the pages didn't get sprawled all over the floor. It just lay there, not really flat, but not really rolled up either. Heinkel picked it up.
"Oh, Dad, I brought you a newspaper, by the way," she said loudly, but without opening the kitchen door. She was a reckless paladin, not suicidal. Suicide missions were only an option if she could shoot back. There was a curse and a splash, then silence, until Damian poked his head out. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Newspaper," she repeated and waved the roll in front of his face.
"Oh, but I brought... wait, no, I didn't. Thanks." Heinkel placed the newspaper on the now clean table with a grin. Some things never changed. Some things should never change.
"Teacher?", Vicky asked. She had picked up a photo from the long line standing on the shelf of the small fireplace. The photo was encased in a glass frame. It was not quite the same Heinkel had at her place in Rome, but similar. Alessia shot her a nervous glance before she announced she would go and work on a new song.
"You had long hair once?", Vicky asked, astonished.
"Sure, why not?" It was getting dark already. She should get going.
"Was that your boyfriend?" She was looking at the back of the photo. In a neat, sharp handwriting, somebody had written "I love you".
Heinkel took the photo out of Vicky's hands. Against her will, she studied it again, despite knowing every detail. The "boy" had messy dark hair, bright blue eyes and wore a black Rise Against shirt and equally black jeans. Heinkel was in a similar dress and had a bag strapped over her shoulder. He was a real treat, the kind of man every girl turned around to look at. He had an arm around Heinkel's waist and both were grinning. Vicky had had to look twice to see the scars were there. Heinkel's green eyes were accentuated with black and the blond hair reached down to the middle of her back.
"Yes," she said softly, and put the frame back where it belonged. Automatically she touched the silver cross around her neck. "He was my boyfriend. Christoph. Everybody just called him Chris."
Vicky looked at her, feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden. She had obviously touched a topic her teacher didn't talk about much.
"I'll introduce you tomorrow," Heinkel said, in such a cheerful tone it had to be fake. She turned around and walked to the front door. Vicky followed.
"Hey, keep my sis busy, would you? Enrico said I should pick up stuff from some address around here." Vicky frowned. Heinkel stopped and shrugged her shoulders. "I could think of a better occupation too. Anyway, I'm sure Alessia's happy to have some company."
Vicky knew better than to start a discussion now. "Uh... teacher, I didn't want to ask before... is Alessia Italian?"
"Half Italian. Don't worry, she won't bite you." And with that, Heinkel marched out the door.
She had parked the car several streets away, where no one she knew would see it. Dawn was falling and it was late enough for most of the traffic to have subsided. Once she had left the official roads, Heinkel turned off the headlights. She parked the car near a small stretch of forest and went on by foot. It was about half a kilometer over a stretch of dusty path between trees and fields. The old factory was more than five floors high, plus two basement levels. She wouldn't dare to push her luck by going into the top floors, but the basement did just fine. Even if Wagner screamed his head off, nobody would hear him, even if the visitor was standing right next to the front door. And nobody would find him for a long time. Until this "modern" city, spreading continuously, decided to either absorb or simply destroy the wasteland of the factory. It had already been empty when Heinkel was a child. The owner had made sure that it remained untouched, until twenty years after his passing. It was private property and there was no urgent need the state could use to force the lawyers to give it up. So, here it was crumbling and would for quite a while, for whatever reason the owner had based his decision on.
Heinkel entered through the open door at the side and followed the dusty corridor. With a flashlight from the car, she found the bag, put on the coat and gloves and strapped her holsters around her thighs. Immediately, she felt a lot better, though technically there was nothing around able to hurt her. That kind of paranoia was part of her. The job did this to you.
Heinkel shut off the flashlight and found her way along the dark hallway to the staircase. She had explored the building yesterday after she had sent Vicky shopping with her Mum and Alessia. She had never been and would never be a fan of malls, a fact known to everyone, so at least nobody asked any questions. She heard the ruffling of clothes as her footsteps echoed on the concrete. Damn it, she thought. In her haste to get away before Vicky could ask any more questions, she had forgotten to pack her working clothes. She didn't want any blood on these and to make it even worse, she was wearing shorts. Skin meant evidence, however unlikely it was anyone came looking for Wagner here.
Her fingers found the light switch and she flicked it upwards. Wagner was gone. For a second, Heinkel could only gape at the spot he should have been. He was severely injured. She had shot through his hand. Foot would have been better, it seemed. He was a wimp. And still, somehow he had managed to rip off the pipe and get away. She wasn't sure if she should be angry about her own carelessness or astounded by his persistence on not dying in a ditch. It was better than the shock that had disturbed her normally perfect concentration, if only for a second.
"Not bad at all," she said aloud. "I'm impressed. You're not as weak as I thought." But no matter how strong, everybody bled. And there was an obvious trail leading along the dusty floor. It was still fresh. He couldn't have come far.
Heinkel followed the red drops to a corner, where the trail stopped. She frowned. The light bulbs had burned out and this part, like most of this concrete wasteland, was only pale light and vague shapes in the shadows. "He must have turned around," she said and did the same. A woosh of air behind her. Something heavy hit her. Somehow he had managed to put more force behind the blow than she had expected. He was heavy and pretty strong. Both went down. Heinkel could have easily knocked him out right there, or just kicked him in the balls, but where was the fun in that? She rolled around and slammed down, him under her back. Something gave way with several cracks and he gasped. She shook him off and punched him right in the face – it left red smudges on her gloves – and he fell back, panting. Now his nose was broken too. He tried to get up, but she easily twisted his arm until he screamed while she dragged him back to his rightful place.
"Nice try," she said, amused. "Really, not bad. But tell you what, you should have run or just hid. Try to get help."
"Are ve anyphere neah hanyhone hou hould help me?", he croaked. It wasn't even a real question. "And heven if, phouldn't hyou chust hill hem hoo?"
Heinkel pushed him against the wall and let go. His shoulder might have popped out, might also not. He gasped, for whatever reason. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not hurting innocents. The only one who's going to die is you."
"Nepher phought a little hirl could-" He coughed. Blood sprayed on the floor. The fight might have cracked a few ribs. He was hard to understand, even for her. Had she talked like that? The memory made her angry.
"Little girls grow up and become dangerous," Heinkel said. "Especially those who get hurt by sick bastards like you."
"Helieve me or no', hi'm phorry. It phouldn't haph happened. Doephn't make a dipherence anymohe, hight?" He laughed, which turned into another bloody cough. "Phat are hyou, anyphay? Phome hind of phigilanhde?"
Heinkel looked down at the pathetic creature that had almost ruined her life years ago. A vigilante? By far not. "Let's just say I belong to an organization that puts away with monsters and heathens like you."
"Heaphens, huh? Pho hyou're hone of phe 'ious hind. Shute. Phe're hyou praying phor his help phen I phot hyou? Phen hyou hay phere, shust a phimpehing, broken doll? Phere hyou, little girl?" The last two words he pressed out almost without blurring them.
For a second, there was a red film over her vision. Heinkel was close to just pulling out her gun and shooting him in the heart, but then she realized that was what he wanted. Instead, the bullet hit his leg. Wagner shrieked.
"God helps those who help themselves. We're only his weapons. The earthly agents of divine punishment, if you will."
"Really?" Heinkel spun at the voice behind her. Vicky looked from her to Wagner and then to her again. Her dark eyes were dull with terror and disappointment. She must have been standing there for quite a while.
"What are you doing here?", Heinkel snapped. "I thought you were with Alessia." Something else was more crucial, though. "How did you get here?"
"I followed you yesterday. Thought I'd train my tracking skills, like you said I should."
Well shit me sideways, she sure did. "Ah," Heinkel said, torn between anger and pride of her student. "Well, good job. I didn't notice you."
Vicky came a bit closer and looked down on Wagner. He looked at her and the hope in his eyes was replaced by a mixture of madness and desperation, one fueled by the other.
"Ho, hook, hyou phroughd hyour little phriend, doo. His phe anopher 'ashend of diphine bunishmend'?" He laughed.
"Shut up!", Heinkel said and pointed her gun at his other leg. Wagner obeyed. She didn't have to do anything, she realized. Every second hurt him. He was going to rot here even if she just left now.
"Teacher, what are you doing?", Vicky asked. Her voice was trembling badly. "What is this? Who is that?"
Heinkel laughed. Her voice was shrill with anger. "Isn't that obvious?" Vicky stared at the wounds her teacher had inflicted on this harmless-looking man and didn't want to ask anymore. Not harmless. Pathetic. Her teacher answered anyway. "That is the bastard who almost killed me fifteen years ago. He was in no immediate danger. I was just a scared twelve year old girl. And he tortured me just for the fun of it. Now tell me, Vicky, if he deserves to burn in hell."
Her throat felt dry. She nodded, slowly. Of course he did. "It's not ours to inflict punishment on sinners like this. We only hand them over to the eternal judgment. And we're going to hell for it anyway." She pressed her lips together and wiped her eyes. Like hell she would cry now.
Heinkel snorted. "Whatever. I'm going to turn him over soon, sure. But first I've got a few things to settle." She raised her gun again. Vicky's sudden appearance changed everything.
The girl grabbed her hand. The shot hit the floor and bounced off the wall. Heinkel spun, her green eyes blazing. Vicky was afraid, of what she was doing and what her teacher was doing, but she didn't back down. That never did anyone good. They were making a big mistake here. This was not how Iscariot was working. They killed in the name of God, not for some personal grudges, Father Renaldo had taught her.
"Stay out of this!", Heinkel growled.
"Is this what it means to be a paladin?" Vicky was shocked how bitter her own voice sounded. Her teacher didn't listen. She pushed a letter and a piece of paper in her hands. Vicky had the choice of either dropping it or taking it. She recognized Father Renaldo's handwriting and took it.
"Get out. Go to that address, give whoever is in charge the letter and collect what they want to give to us. Enrico said I should do that myself, but as you can see, I'm busy here." Enrico or Renaldo? She was constantly messing that up, Vicky noticed. Was it important?
Vicky's hands were trembling when she put away the letter and address. "Busy with torturing a... this man?" He was not innocent, no. Maybe not even a civilian.
"I said get out! Do what I say, at least this once, for fuck's sake!"
Vicky took a step back. "You told me revenge doesn't accomplish anything."
"I'm ridding the world of a heretic," she said wryly. "That is reason enough." Vicky shook her head, taking another step back.
"No, teacher. This is not the work of God. This is your own personal vendetta."
For a moment, she thought her teacher would actually come to her senses. Then she sighed, smiling. "Well, if so? The world's a cruel place. The bible says so. An eye for an eye."
"That's not-"
"I guess I still wanted you to have a childhood after all," Heinkel said without paying attention to her student. "Sorry to burst your bubble, sweetie, but it is like it is."
"So you can just go and have the revenge you always wanted, am I right?" Vicky clenched her hands into fists. "I see. Well if you can do that, I can as well." She turned around and started running, not caring what her teacher might call after her. If she did. So the adults were allowed to pay back what had been done to them? Very well. If this was the work of God, she would happily embrace it.
Munich airport, August 26th, 2016
A little boy dropped his ice cream and his stressed-out mother yelled at him until he started crying, then he got another ice cream as a sorry. A couple shared a teary goodbye. Vicky was sick of watching other people, but there was not much else to do. After what her teacher had told her, Vicky didn't really want to think about how hard it had to be for her to see couples, maybe even mothers with their family. It even was the same damned place, the very same spot they were standing now. Vicky almost wished she hadn't asked at all.
Since the visit to Chris they had barely talked. They had barely talked before that either. Their argument from the factory still lingered in the air, during the meals, the training. The whole family felt it and Vicky began thinking she shouldn't have come here in the first place. She hadn't asked what Heinkel had done with Wagner. She had come home soon after Vicky, around midnight, so she must have ended it soon after Vicky left. He deserved it anyway. Somehow, he deserved it. And now he was burning in hell. Like all the monsters she would hunt down. Especially those who had turned her parents into ghouls and made Iscariot destroy them.
"Flight IT-1507 to Rome is departing in twenty minutes. Passengers please check in their luggage and go on board."
"We gotta go," Heinkel said. Vicky jumped to her feet.
Elena hugged her daughter. "I wish you could stay longer."
"I know. But I can't let the others down. It's all so busy and I gotta bring them this." She pointed at the silver metal briefcase next to her feet. It didn't look very impressive, small as it was, with a red sticker on it. Vicky didn't know what it read, it was in German, and hadn't asked. "I'll be back for the first of October."
"Promise?", Alessia asked.
Heinkel ruffled her sister's dark curls. "Promise."
While Heinkel said goodbye to her father and sister, Elena hugged Vicky. The girl was completely flustered for a second. She was just not used to this.
"I don't know what you two have been fighting about, but please clear this up. It's heartbreaking to see you two being so cold to each other," Elena said in a low voice. "A family sticks together." Then, a bit louder: "You'll be there too, right?"
"S-Sure...", Vicky said.
"You better be!", Alessia grinned. "Otherwise I'll be really mad at you." She extended her fist and after a second's hesitation, Vicky bumped it. That was one hell of a family. It was The Wolf's family after all, it would have been surprised her if they were boring. She could really feel at home here.
They walked to the counter to check in their luggage. Vicky was not one hundred percent sure how Heinkel managed to slip her guns through safety, but there had to be some tricks an experienced agent knew, she assumed. The metal briefcase got through customs without a problem as well, after the man had looked at the sticker.
"What's in there, anyway?", Vicky asked after they were on the other side of the metal detectors.
Heinkel shrugged her shoulders. "Renaldo didn't tell me. He only said it was important, I should take good care of it and bring it to the medical section as soon as I arrived."
"We have a medical section?"
"Not really a section. They're not like Iscariot and the others. You know how much the chiefs are fighting for power, how much politics are involved?" Vicky nodded. She was glad her teacher was talking to her again, although the tension hadn't gone. She hated it. The Wolf was the only family Vicky had. Or... Maybe not anymore.
"Well, the medics are... different. Sure, their work is only one more little gear in this mess of conspiracies and greed. Politics, I mean." Heinkel paused for a second, amused by her own description. "But they're not associated with any Section in specific. The Sections borrow them from time to time. I'm pretty sure the Regenerator technology was developed by them as well, though Iscariot has the monopoly on that. I bet one of the chiefs somehow managed to grab all the documents and hide them away from the rest. Would fit us." She smiled, only a brief flash of white, but Vicky felt as if a weight the size of a factory had been lifted from her shoulders.
"What did that place you got it look like?", Heinkel asked. "And who was there?"
Vicky struggled on how to describe it. "It was a normal family home. Suburbs. Though I don't think a family lived there for quite a while," she said eventually. "That dude had taken out most of the inner walls as well. He was a priest, I think? I'm not sure."
Heinkel raised an eyebrow. "You're not sure?"
"He kinda behaved like one, but if so, he's retired. He was in his late sixties at least, more like mid seventies, I'd say. He was also a scientist. Bit chatty, you know? Wanted to keep me for tea and cookies, but I refused. He didn't say what this was all about."
"What did he take out the walls for?", Heinkel asked.
"For a laboratory, I think. Looked like something with biology to me. Not the kind with white mice in cages or anything, but that was what I thought. Don't look at me like that, how should I tell?"
Elena, Damian and Alessia were standing at the cord separating the passengers from everyone else and waved at them. "Come back soon!", Alessia shouted.
"We will!", Vicky shouted back and got a few annoyed and many amused glances. The paladin and her student waved at the family one last time before they approached the plane that would bring them home.
! I thought it might be difficult to figure out what Wagner is saying, so I made a transcript of what he says:
- Are we anywhere near anyone who could help me?
- And even if, wouldn't you just kill them too?
- Never thought a little girl could-
- Believe me or not, I'm sorry. It shouldn't have happened. Doesn't make a difference anymore, right? What are you, anyway? Some kind of vigilante?
- Heathens, huh? So you're one of the pious kind. Cute. Were you praying for his help when I shot you? When you lay there, just a whimpering, broken doll? Were you, little girl?
- Oh, look, you brought your little friend, too? Is she another 'agent of divine punishment'?
So, backstory for the Wolf. What do you think? About her, about her family? She's one of my favorite characters (you might have noticed), meaning she has one hell of a tragic life. I'm just that cruel. *hehe* (Also, I'm totally into Rise Against right now, so that's the reason Heinkel likes them too... We share a lot of preferences, not only in music.)
Additional info: In Germany you can't name your kid anything. At least you need a second name that makes clear the gender. 'Heinkel' is not really clear (in fact, it's originally a last name), so I gave her that "embarassing" second name. Nothing against Elizabeths... But that name sounds (like many) better in English for some reason.
Sauerkraut is probably THE German stereotype (like Bratwurst and Oktoberfest... no, not all of Germany is Bavaria, just like the US is not entirely Texas or New York, thanks a lot). Uh... back to Sauerkraut. I don't hate it, but I don't really like it either. I'll eat it if there's nothing else and I'm starving. *shiver*