Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017
City of Gotham
United States of America
Wayne Tower
Deep beneath the tower, Bruce Wayne strolled around the, admittedly intriguing and presumably lethal, inventions as he made for Lucius Fox, about twenty yards distant.
"Ooh!" Selina Kyle commented as she stopped at a table and she reached out to examine a shiny knife.
"Don't touch that!" Fox bellowed, and fifteen-year-old Selina's hand snapped back.
"How many times do I have to tell you!" fourteen-year-old Bruce called out as he grinned, and Selina scowled back.
"What's that, Lucius?" Selina asked when they reached Fox.
The man staring down at something laid out on a table.
"Is something wrong, Lucius?" Bruce enquired as he saw the expression on the man's face.
"That is the armour of a Vengeance vigilante. The girl wearing it almost died. My armour failed."
Two days later
Thursday, January 5th
Blairhoy-le, Scotland
The doorbell rang, the shrill peeling echoing around the property.
"I'll get it!" Charlotte called out, a little too loudly.
Alexandra chuckled as the twelve-year-old girl bolted out of the orangery. Cassie simply offered up a smile, not feeling all that up to being happy as she sat cuddled up with Andrew. Charlotte slowed up as she approached the door, seeing a girl standing on the other side along with a woman. For a moment, the girl, who appeared to be about thirteen maybe fourteen, seemed familiar, but Charlotte pushed the ridiculous thought out of her mind. Then, she pulled open the door, and . . .
"Holy, fuck!" Charlotte blurted out.
Despite the rundown look of torn jeans, trainers, and a leather jacket, Charlotte easily recognised HRH Princess Mary.
"Hello, it's Charlotte, right?" the Princess asked. "May I come in?"
Charlotte just stood there, open-mouthed, as Mary walked past.
"Mary!"
Charlotte stared in astonishment as Electra appeared out of nowhere and embraced the Princess. Electra noticed Charlotte's amazement and she decided to be nice.
"Charlotte, this is Mary and her protection officer, Ginny. Mary and I go to the same school. We're best friends"
"Hi," Charlotte managed with a little wave.
Mary simply rolled her eyes – she was used to awestruck people when they first met a Royal Princess.
"I want to know about Naomi," Mary said, bringing things back to the reason for her visit.
"She's still sedated and on a ventilator in intensive care," Electra told her friend. "But, she'll be okay . . . although she still has a long way to go."
Mary sighed with relief.
"Thank goodness," Mary stated. "Gran was really worried."
"By 'Gran', you mean...?" Charlotte inquired incredulously.
"Long story," Electra assured the older girl.
That night
Charlotte was still struggling to cope with having Royalty in her home.
She had barely spoken all through dinner as she had tried to understand how literally everybody was on first name terms with HRH Princess Mary. Indeed, Mary also knew everybody – even her! Jake was handling things a little better, and the boy was fast asleep on the floor beside her bed. Even more surprising than having the Princess turning up with zero fanfare was the fact that she was also sleeping on the floor, in the other bedroom, with Kaitlin and Electra.
Her life was taking some weird turns – there was simply no way that it could get any weirder!
The following morning
Friday, January 6th
The kitchen
"Okay, I've had enough!" Charlotte exclaimed.
"What's up, honey?" Alexandra asked.
"Your Royal Highness. . ."
"Mary, please."
"Okay – Mary – why are you so . . . normal?" Charlotte demanded.
"I used to have so-called Royal Airs and I would think that I was better than everyone else," Mary replied before she grimaced. "Then I met Electra and Craig – they both kicked the shit out of me on the mat and taught me some much-needed humility during a rather bad time for your friends, Charlotte."
"Your protection officer allowed that?" Charlotte asked incredulously.
"Oh, yeah!" Mary growled as she glared up at the grinning Ginny. "Ginny likes to remind me of my fall from grace . . . every now and then."
"When she gets moody and uppity," Ginny confirmed. "Which is pretty much every damn day!"
Everybody laughed as Mary's cheeks turned a deep shade of red.
..._...
After a light lunch of sandwiches and soup, Charlotte and Jake were sent upstairs 'while the adults prepared some activities for the afternoon'.
That was a point of concern as Kaitlin, Electra, and the Princess had seemingly vanished, directly after lunch. Both Predators smelt a rat. Their keen senses long attuned to self-preservation ran riot as they were joined upstairs by the other ex-Marauders: Dakota, Kate, and Euan. Neither of them was able to shed any more light on the situation as they had been told nothing by their respective guardians. Dakota was a little unnerved about everything and her mind began to run wild.
"Maybe they're sending us all back," Dakota said.
"Never," Kate responded. "Only you two silly bitches have been causing shit – not the rest of us."
"You have to admit," Charlotte threw in. "It is rare for us all to be together at the same time, and we are rarely left alone for long."
"They don't have much reason to trust us, I will admit," Euan admitted.
"We did do some really bad things," Kate conceded.
They were all left to stew for about forty minutes, before Cassie and Sinead appeared.
"Come on, downstairs," Sinead directed.
"Don't look so worried," Cassie grinned. "You're going to like the first part."
"What about the second part?" Charlotte asked, grasping the caged warning.
"Oh, that you are not going to like!" Sinead chuckled.
"As for the third part – that will blow your mind, Charlie," Cassie grinned.
Five confused – and still worried – youngsters headed downstairs and were directed into the library with its plaid carpet. They were each directed to stand in order of age before the fireplace, facing outwards. Kate stood on the left with Dakota beside her, then came Ewan and Charlotte with Jake at the very end.
"I feel like we're about to face the firing squad," Dakota quipped.
"Feeling guilty about something, are we, 'kota?" Sinead asked her ward.
"No, ma'am."
"Dakota and Charlotte, you have both been here the longest, with the rest of you following on a little later," Cassie lectured. "There have been a few ups and downs, but I think we have put all that behind us."
Dakota and Charlotte grimaced as they looked down at the plaid carpet at their feet.
"You have all integrated into your new families and I understand that all of you are happy where you are," Cassie continued. "Do any of you want to change where you are living?"
There were five looks of surprise and all shook their heads.
"You have each left an indelible mark on your families," Cassie went on. "As such, we have all got together and we would like to move things along to the next level."
Sinead handed each of the youngsters a large A4 white envelope.
"You can open them," Sinead prompted.
None of the youngsters had the faintest idea what they were opening and all five hesitated at the thought of what might be inside the envelopes. Charlotte turned her envelope over and she looked at the front. There were four words typed neatly in the very centre: Miss Charlotte Lorna Perrin. That confused the girl even more and her expression was matched by those of the others. Finally, Charlotte went ahead, and she gently opened the envelope which was not sealed. Inside, there was a single piece of A4 paper. Charlotte noticed that it was an official document and her name was there, neatly typed. Then her eyes focused on section 6 and her legs went very weak at the knees. A single word jumped out at her: 'adoption'. Her eyes moved back up the document. It appeared to say that Charlotte Lorna was female – good; that was nothing new! It also stated that her parents were Richard and Alexandra Perrin of Blairhoyle, Port of Menteith, Stirling. The date of adoption was 28th December 2016.
When Charlotte began to cry, Jake quickly opened his own envelope. As he read the document inside, his mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. He was stunned and for one of the very few times in his life, he was totally speechless. He looked back up at his friend and he realised that she held the exact same document. The document declared him to be Jake Christian Perrin and that his parents were Andrew and Cassie. Dakota and Ewan had opened their own envelopes, and Dakota had swiftly dissolved into tears of her own on finding out that she was Dakota Siobhan McFadden, daughter of Sinead McFadden. Ewan was as dumbfounded as Jake as he found out that he was Ewan Lai, son of Trevor and Kensi Lai.
"You have got to be kidding!" Kate exclaimed. "What the hell could be so bad?"
She opened her own envelope which was addressed to: Miss Kate Florence Montgomery. Her left hand went to her mouth and she began to shake. It was something totally unexpected and she soon realised why the others were so struck. Dakota was the first to move and she ran at Sinead, wrapping her arms around her new mother. Jake and Charlotte hugged each other, both realising that they were now cousins.
All five were grinning, and the earlier concerned expressions had completely vanished.
..._..
As the noise level rose, the other parents slipped into the room.
David and Amy Montgomery made directly for Kate and they hugged, tightly. Charlotte pulled away from Jake the moment she saw Alexandra while Jake ran for Cassie. Both youngsters hugged their respective mothers.
"I thought. . ." Charlotte began.
"You've had a bad time, honey. We knew that you were struggling, so we made sure that you had something to aim at. Ryan couldn't be here, but he is just as proud to gain another daughter. The first two girls were both wayward, so why not another wayward girl?" Alexandra said and ignored the good-natured scowl which she received from Cassie.
Ewan was less for the hugging as he sat with Trevor and Kensi. All in all, it had been a very happy start to the afternoon.
..._...
Once the relevant adoption certificates had been returned to their envelopes and left in the custody of the respective parent, the five Predators were directed outside.
It was very cold and all five shivered as they were led away from the house by Cassie and Sinead. They exchanged confused looks as they had no idea where they were going – all except for Jake and Cassie. Both knew that there was a building in the direction they were headed, but neither had ever gone there before.
"Inside, quickly," Cassie said.
"It's cold out here," Sinead added as she waved them through the open door into a small, plushily-equipped reception area. "Take a seat, and we will be with you shortly."
Charlotte scowled as both Sinead and Cassie vanished through a heavy-looking door, leaving the five of them to sit there for a few minutes before, one-by-one, they began to feel drowsy and then each one of them passed out.
Somewhere dark and cold
Sixteen-year-old Kate regained consciousness to find herself lying on a bare concrete floor.
As she looked around, she found that she was in a room with concrete walls. She was confused. She struggled to remember where she was or how she had got there. Then she heard a sound and she saw fourteen-year-old Dakota struggling to clear her own foggy mind as she looked around.
"What happened?" Dakota asked.
"No idea," Kate replied.
Both girls got to their feet and they checked out their 'cell' which was about six feet by four feet in size. The steel door was ajar. Carefully, both girls edged forward, their tactical skills coming to the fore and taking over. They pushed open the door to find themselves in a dimly lit, open area. They had been in the second of three cells, each with a steel door. They checked both – they were empty.
"Over there!" Dakota hissed as she ran forward.
Dakota sank to her knees beside a prone form on the ground – it was Charlotte . . . and her right hand was clutching an automatic pistol. 'What the fuck?' both girls thought. Dakota took the pistol and she checked the weapon – it was very real and the Glock 19 Gen4 was loaded with fifteen rounds of nine-millimetre ammunition.
"Charlie!" Kate hissed at her friend, rolling her onto her back and slapping her cheeks gently.
"What. . .?" Charlotte muttered.
"Wake the fuck up!" Kate ordered, and Charlotte's eyes snapped open and she sat up.
"Why did you have this?" Dakota asked, indicating the loaded pistol.
"I didn't," the confused Charlotte responded.
"I took it from your own hand, Charlie – it's loaded."
"Where the fuck are we?" Charlotte wanted to know.
"Not figured that out yet," Kate admitted.
"We only just woke up," Dakota added.
Then, out of nowhere, an eerie-sounding voice called out to them.
"We are coming to get you, little Predators!"
Then the lights went out.
..._...
The three girls all sprang to life, moving towards the nearest wall, keeping their backs to it as they allowed their eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness.
Limited illumination came from some very small lights arranged about eight inches from the ground and set into the concrete walls. Their senses went on alert, listening for movement of any kind. Their finely-tuned fighting skills were forefront in their mind as they tried to figure out what was going on and how they might get out of whatever their current situation was. They had one firearm between the three of them, but they were each a deadly weapon, so that was not a major problem. As they each focused on the darkness and their environment, they each sensed something coming closer. Kate's eyes bored into the darkness, scanning. Then, in her peripheral vision, she caught movement and as she turned, she received the fright of her life as a pair of luminous green eyes looked back at her. They were about the same height off the ground as her own eyes, indicating that the owner was probably of a similar height to herself and possibly an even match. Kate instinctively brought up her left arm, meeting the incoming blow. Her left arm exploded with pain as it came in contact – her attacker was wearing body armour. That was not a problem; she would just adjust her style of fighting. There was a warning growl from Charlotte as she felt movement and looked up to see a pair of bright red beads staring down at her. Instantly, Charlotte ducked, kicking out with her right leg and encountering her perceived attacker. She sensed that her attacker was wearing body armour, much like whatever Kate was fighting. For one moment, she had thought that it was all some trick and it was some of their new friends, but neither of their attackers fit the bill – they were definitely not Predators, a fact which she could tell from their fighting style. Dakota was attempting to assist her friends when she came under attacker herself. In response, she fired off four rounds into the attacker who fell backwards with barely a sound.
As Dakota moved towards the fallen attacker, she almost missed a slight movement in the darkness beside her.
The boys regained consciousness in what appeared to be a corridor.
They looked around to see no sign of the girls, but as their heads cleared and their senses came into play, they could hear the sounds of fighting, closely followed by a volley of gunshots which appeared to echo around the facility where they were. The sound came from somewhere below them.
"Over there!" Jake said, pointing towards where a set of steel steps led downwards adjacent to a set which led upwards.
As they moved toward the steps, Ewan froze as he sensed movement. He spun around, only to be kicked in the stomach for his trouble. Jake heard his friend's exclamation of surprise and then his grunt of pain as he sagged away from his attacker. Just as Jake saw another person joining the first, the lights went out before he could make out much detail of the two attackers. He did, however, see enough to know that they were both short and possibly female, not that that really helped any. Jake attacked, defending Ewan until the older boy was able to re-enter the fight. Their attackers were a team and they fought well. To Jake they might have been Predators as they had very similar fighting skills to Jake's own. Both boys fought as a team, too. They knew that they had better chances of survival by fighting together, despite their training which had encouraged selflessly defending oneself first. Ewan had a size advantage over the two attackers who wore body armour of an advanced design. He could also punch very hard – a fact that Jake was very familiar with from when he tended to annoy Ewan.
Ewan was angry – he hated being blindsided – and he wanted revenge. He struck out, sending one of the attackers flying back down the corridor with a hefty punch to the chest. Jake advanced behind Ewan, catching the second attacker before they could flank Ewan. He was just as angry as Ewan, but for different reasons. He hated to see his friends being hurt and he was also worried about Charlotte and he needed to find her. Together, they attacked the second armour-clad individual and Jake was able to catch an arm and flip the surprisingly light individual over and down to the concrete. He heard a loud explosion of air as the impact emptied the person's lungs. With a quick swipe, Jake seized a small pistol from a holster on the person's right hip. He squeezed the trigger putting two rounds into the obviously armoured chest. It was not a kill shot, but Jake was no longer a killer and neither did he know who or what was attacking them. Nonetheless, the two rounds caused a scream of pain and the attacker scrambled for safety.
Jake turned, running for the steps down with Ewan close behind.
Dakota turned to shot whatever was making for her, but she was not fast enough.
She caught the fist just under her left breast and she screamed out in pain. A knee struck her in the left thigh, giving her a dead leg. She fell to the ground, bringing the pistol around and firing off an unaimed shot before it was kicked out of her hand and Dakota could hear the weapon skidding off across the concrete floor. Her attacker did not relent as they shoved Dakota down to the concrete. Then, before anything else could happen three pistol shots could be heard echoing around the enclosed area and Dakota's attacker fell back under the concentrated gunfire.
"Move!" Jake bellowed as he yanked Dakota to her feet and putting himself between her and the fallen attacker.
Ewan helped Dakota to walk, taking her away from the fighting, while Jake made for Charlotte who was fighting a larger form who momentarily glanced towards Jake with piercing red eyes which freaked Jake out until he turned away, ignoring Jake completely. Charlotte was fighting hard, intercepting a good percentage of the inbound strikes. The girl used her speed and agility to counter the added size and strength of her male attacker. Jake heard Charlotte scream as she was flipped over onto her back before rolling onto her side, in obvious pain. Beyond Charlotte, Kate was overpowering her green-eyed attacker, putting her down hard.
"Here!" Jake shouted as he threw his pistol to Kate.
Kate easily caught the weapon and she placed the muzzle of the weapon against the head of the female attacker who wore a full cowl type mask with what appeared to be cat-like ears on the top of her head. Having just put Charlotte down, her attacker advanced on Kate but paused for a moment, taking in the sight of his neutralised partner.
"Kate!" Charlotte yelled as a blur of yellow was caught in the meagre lighting and Kate was shoved against the wall.
Kate tried to bring the pistol around, but she was quickly disarmed and pinned to the ground by the new arrival.
Charlotte was in pain and she struggled to move her body which ached all over.
Her eyes caught sight of something and she grinned – it was a pistol. She scrambled for the weapon, taking advantage of the commotion over near Kate. With a smooth movement, Charlotte swept up the pistol and she fired it at two forms which appeared from a set of steel steps, dropping one with two shots. The other pulled out two of her own pistols, putting two rounds into a very surprised Charlotte's chest who then fell onto her back. The pain was immense, and she could feel the wetness on her hands as she felt the ripped clothing.
Ewan saw Kate go down, followed by Charlotte who was crying out in pain. He looked over at Jake who nodded, and both boys raised their hands. Jake moved over toward Charlotte, his face cringing in horror at what he could make out in the limited light. He could see dark stains on his friend's hands and he knew that their fight was over. Ewan made to cover Dakota while Jake covered Charlotte. It took only a minute for Kate, Ewan, Dakota, and Jake to be lined up, all on the knees, as Charlotte lay before them, breathing through the pain.
Then the lights came up.
Vengeance Training Facility Wolf
Sub-Level Three
All five Predators blinked under the harsh white lights
Then they heard clapping and they saw several people all appear at once.
"Get up, Charlotte," Cassie said. "You're fine."
"What the hell just happened?" Kate demanded as she saw a grinning Craig hand her a bottle of water.
A broadly grinning Kaitlin handed out bottles of water to each of the sweating Predators. More bottles of water were handed out to the armour-clad individuals who were emerging from beneath their masks.
"Bruce Wayne."
Charlotte grasped the outstretched hand and she was hauled to her feet by somebody she immediately recognised as wearing the combat suit of Batman.
Kate looked up at a tall girl who grinned, "Selina Kyle – call me Cat."
"That really hurt," Aiden Maxwell grinned. "Hi, Charlotte – good to see you; it's been a long time."
"Aiden?" an astounded Charlotte exclaimed. "You're Nightwing?"
"I live in Gotham with Batman and Catwoman," Aiden explained to his friend.
"Where's that fucking brat and the bitch?" a familiar voice growled.
Charlotte's expression brightened considerably as she saw Abigail scowling at her and Jake.
"You both fucking shot me!" Abigail exclaimed as she rubbed her armoured chest.
"You don't have any tits to get hurt, so quit your moaning," Stephanie said. "Well done, guys."
"It was all a setup?" Dakota demanded.
"A damn good one!" Jake commented dryly.
"Did we pass?" Ewan asked shrewdly.
"Oh, yeah!" Sinead said.
"Who got me in the end?" Kate asked.
"That would be Belle," Electra said proudly.
"Holy shit!" Kate exclaimed as she came face-to-face with somebody she had only ever seen on TV.
"You get over it," Charlotte admitted. "She's cool."
The showers
Everybody who had been fighting retired to the changing areas and after dumping their combat suits and other clothing, headed for the showers.
The girls and the boys separated to their own showers – at least at first.
"Aren't you in the wrong showers?" Charlotte asked as she noticed a naked Jake standing at the entrance, taking in the sights. "You're not a girl."
"I could say the same thing about you, Charlie," Jake grinned.
Charlotte scowled at the boy. Jake looked around – Dakota looked good, although Kate was better . . . more up top, he thought. Abigail did not have a great deal to show for herself – actually nothing, to be brutally honest. Stephanie, though...
"You look hot, Stephanie!" Jake called out.
Stephanie slunk deeper into the steam and simply glared back at the boy. She had no idea what it was, but she hated exposing her body to others, especially when it wasn't her doing the exposing by choice. The others did not seem to mind, especially Abigail, but then Abigail was fucking nuts! The shower was full of naked girls, so Stephanie was able to hide near the back with one other girl who preferred privacy when naked, Mary.
"What you looking at?" a voice asked Jake.
"Checkin' out the bush," Jake grinned.
"Dirty little bastard!" Kate yelled.
"Looking good, Katie!" Craig grinned.
Kate stuck up her middle finger in the general direction of the older boy. Abigail looked over at Jake and then down at his groin. She frowned at the nerve of the boy who stood there with a blatant erection – small though it was. Jake's eyes eventually moved upwards and focussed on Charlotte's limited chest and the marks left from the Simunition rounds.
"Wow – those look like they must have hurt."
"They did, and they still do," Charlotte commented as she gingerly checked out the two wounds.
"Sorry," Stephanie said as she emerged from behind Dakota.
"Don't be," Charlotte grinned. "I enjoyed the skirmish."
"As for you, you little fuck!" Abigail growled as she dragged Jake into the shower and shoved him up against a wall. "I owe you for the two rounds you fired at me!" Abigail then grabbed Charlotte and she pushed the older girl up against the wall beside Jake. "I owe you, too, bitch!"
"You were attacking me," Charlotte reasoned.
"Just kidding!" Abigail laughed.
"Honestly!" Stephanie exclaimed as she slipped past Jake and Charlotte before she grabbed a towel and wrapped it tightly around her body. "I really don't know how you put up with him, Charlie. Shame about the tiny dick."
Jake's face exploded into colour as Charlotte burst out laughing.
"Laugh it up, pancake chest!"
Charlotte's face coloured up as Jake vanished, laughing.
"Take no notice of him, Charlotte," Selina chuckled. "You have a good body, enjoy it."
Vengeance Training Facility Wolf
Sub-Level One: Dining Room
Cameron and Natasha smiled as everybody gathered around the tables where sandwiches and hot drinks awaited the now clean and tidy youngsters.
"Did you all have fun?" Cameron asked.
"Yes!" came a resounding yell which threatened to lift the hefty concrete structure above their heads.
"You five Predators have had a busy day, culminating in each one of you finding a family," Natasha said.
"I've got a big sister!" Craig grinned as he hugged a cringing Kate.
"Is it too late to change my mind?" Kate asked.
Everybody laughed. Kaitlin sat with Jake and leaned against the boy.
"I've got little sisters – ewww!" Jake groaned as Kaitlin grinned.
"The skirmish you have just endured was a small test so that we could see how you fight," Natasha continued. "We were very surprised by what we witnessed when we dropped you all into a situation without any forewarning or planning. You are all highly skilled and while you are all bruised and banged about a bit..."
"I got shot!" Abigail called out.
"Suck it up!" Cameron replied as Abigail sank back into her chair.
"We were very impressed by how you operated as a team, digging into your training and using it to help and guide you. I very much liked how the boys rallied around the girls to protect them, putting yourselves at risk of harm to protect them. Well done!"
Ewan and Jake cringed as there was applause for their behaviour.
"We brought in some fighters from outside to keep you guessing," Natasha explained. "Now, as well as gaining new lives, you have a choice. We know that none of you want to fight again and none of you want to be put into a position where you are forced to kill again. However, you are Predators, and you all have needs. You have already begun your journey into the secretive world of the vigilante. You are in our training centre known as 'Wolf'. Everybody here is a vigilante of sorts. Stephanie and Abigail represent Fusion, back in Chicago. In fact, some of you may not be fully aware that Stephanie's mother is Hit Girl, and for tonight, Stephanie is here representing her mother. Bruce and Selina are from Gotham, and they represent the fight against crime in that godforsaken hellhole which, for some reason, they call home. As for the rest of us, we are Vengeance. Mary is here as a direct representative of Her Majesty's Government and her Grandmother."
There were murmurs amongst the five youngsters for whom it was all a major eyeopener.
"Even you?" Jake asked Kaitlin.
"I may only be a little girl, but I can fuck you over with both hands tied behind my back, doofus!"
More laughter rang out as Jake wisely decided to keep quiet.
"Not everyone here has suffered as you Predators have," Cassie began. "While the commanders of Vengeance are relatively normal people, our senior operators are both Predators: Harper and Craig. Electra started out as a Yellow, but she was promoted after meeting Stephanie and Abigail in Virginia some years ago. Some, like Olivia, Jeremy, Christopher, and Jessica were forced into this life during a run on Vengeance, last year. Even our resident princess has earned her spurs, just like everyone else."
Stephanie stepped forward.
"As some of you have seen, I am trying to change some of what Urban Predator made me into. I don't like nudity very much and I am reclaiming my body for myself."
"And Tommy!" Abigail called out. "Ow!"
"Thank you, Olivia," Stephanie growled as Abigail rubbed her aching arm. "Each one of you has the chance to change your lives for the better. I know I was cruel to many of you, back in Chicago, but I hated what you were, although looking back, I think I helped you all turn your lives around."
There were several nods from the five Marauders turned Predators.
"I am proud to say that you have all shed your Marauder past and have become children that people want to have in their families. The next few years are going to be rough; we are not normal children, and we will never be normal, but there are lots of people around to help you and guide you. I know that Charlotte has had a rough time, recently, but she sought solace in talking to gobby bitch over there. Don't any of you think you have to go through life on your own. Any of you feel alone or you find yourself struggling, you had better ask for help. You have your lives back and you can do what the fuck you want with them. You want to be a normal child, then we will do our damnedest to help you with that. As you five noticed, you each have amazing skills which others would like to plunder. In this case, Vengeance wants those skills, only, they will simply ask, not take. You want to put your skills to use for good, then we can help you with that. If you want nothing to do with it, then we can help you there, too. There are also jobs within Vengeance that do not involve fighting. The decision is yours and nobody will think worse of you should you just want to live a quiet life."
Stephanie was a little out of breath by the time she finished speaking and she sat down with relief and she eagerly took the drink which Electra passed her.
Twenty minutes later
Blairhoyle
"So, you all had fun?" Natasha asked the five youngsters once they were seated in the living room.
"It was okay," Dakota admitted.
"None of us have fought like that in a while," Kate replied.
"It was something different," Jake said.
"Got the adrenaline flowing," Charlotte grinned.
"I enjoyed the workout," Ewan concluded.
"I have brought you here, just the five of you, to answer any questions which you may have."
"I'd like to be part of something good," Jake said. "It scares me that I have taken lives, considering how young I am."
"My sentiments, exactly," Charlotte admitted.
"Those two twelve-year-olds are the youngest here – they were born just four days apart," Kate said quietly. "They were always close, both throughout their training and when we were with FEAR. Next month will mark five years for them both since they were taken. They deserve to have a fresh start at life. I am almost seventeen, and the other two are almost fifteen. The horrors run deep for us all and we all want redemption. Complete strangers have helped us understand that what we chose was wrong. Each of us will be eternally thankful to Hit Girl and to young Stephanie."
"I will always remember her scathing remarks towards the sixteen of us. That hurt me, and I was determined to turn my life around," Dakota continued. "As Firebrand, I did some horrible things which I can never fully atone for. We are all intelligent and we were all brought up to know right from wrong, but somehow, we allowed ourselves to stray and follow the dark road with FEAR. We cannot change the past, but we can look to the future. We have people who care about us, now. That has been a big surprise. Some of us, who should remain nameless – Charlotte – have struggled to integrate. The both of us have been in hack for our misdeeds, and I am ashamed about my behaviour."
"Me too," Charlotte added. "I reacted without conscious thought, and that scares me – I am a loaded weapon with a hair-trigger. Thankfully, I have people who really care about me for the first time in five years. I can't promise that I won't get into more trouble, but I am going to do all I can to be a good daughter to my new parents."
"It has been a struggle," Jake admitted.
"I don't think I want to fight," Ewan said. "I am happy to do what I can to assist Vengeance, but I don't want to be in a position where I might have to kill. I will help to train and provide support, but that is as far as I want to go, right now. That might change, and probably will, but for now, I want to keep things simple."
"That is your prerogative, Ewan," Natasha replied. "That applies to you all. You make your own decisions about you, your bodies, and your life."
"Now we are 'in the know'," Jake asked. "Can somebody tell us what really happened to Naomi?"
Natasha grimaced.
"Naomi was injured on New Year's Eve. Vengeance was protecting the celebrations when we were targeted by an old adversary: Robert Bowman. Naomi, as Prowl, killed his sister, a few weeks back. That appears to have ignited a blood-feud. As far as we can tell, Bowman tried to take down Vengeance on New Year's Eve. He targeted one of our vehicles with heavy weapon's fire, but the armour held. He drew us into a fight with heavies and during that fight, a javelin-type weapon was thrown at Glide – Kaitlin – but Prowl shoved Glide out of the way and the weapon entered her back and continued through her body to emerge out the front. Naomi is currently under heavy sedation in intensive care at a hospital in Glasgow. Her injuries are severe, but they are not life-threatening at this point."
Jake looked appalled and very near to tears. They all looked appalled. They were now all part of the close-knit family which included Naomi. Jake struggled with the thought of Kaitlin getting hurt. He loved the little girl and he could never consider her getting hurt. He felt the same about Naomi. He was the big brother to both girls and his job was to help protect them from harm, even if they were both Predators.
"Hopefully, you will all get to visit next week, when we hope that Naomi will be awake."
"Thank you for telling us the truth," Kate said.
"You are now part of our wide family – the Vengeance family," Natasha replied.
That night
Dubiously, the decision had been made to have all the children spend the night – a kind of bonding for the newcomers, considering their new knowledge.
Amazingly, even Kaitlin was well behaved. After an orderly – yeah, right – dinner, the nineteen children sat down to talk amongst themselves. For five of them, the conversation was very different. Knowing who everybody was allowed for some better conversations and the other children had no need to be careful about what they said. For the first hour, the full story concerning the first cruise of Caledonia was told with no details left out. That story was hard for several people, namely: Harper, Scarlett, and Olivia. Craig handled the part about Olivia's treachery, including her stripping. Scarlett told the story about Harper's capture and imprisonment while Electra covered much of the combined assault and recovery of Harper. Diana insisted on telling her own part of the story which left Harper and Scarlett rolling their eyes as Diana inserted her own comments where she saw fit. Mary's story came out, including her fall from grace, her getting shot, and Electra's sacrifice. Some of that story was totally new for Stephanie and Abigail, so they were both riveted, as was the Gotham contingent.
For the second hour, Cassie insisted that they all got into their pyjamas which was a mad scramble and involved a lot of shouting, jostling, and crude comments as nineteen excited youngsters changed into their night things and scrambled to make use of the toilet before returning to the cosy living room with the roaring fire. Dakota had already been told off for attempting to play with the naked flames.
"Okay, I'm not Firebrand anymore, so no fire," Dakota had conceded.
The duvets all found their way down to the living room and a large soft bed was created for all sixteen youngsters to lie down on while they chatted until Cassie put a movie on. The Running Man was probably not the best choice, but there were yells of joy, each time somebody died – the more spectacular the death, the louder the cheering.
"Damn animals!" Cassie scowled as she too enjoyed the movie.
After ninety minutes of blood-thirsty killing, the movie ended, and the happy youngsters began to doze off. Stephanie was curled up beside Abigail who lay beside Charlotte who, in turn, lay beside Jake. Kaitlin cuddled up to Jake, leaving the older kids scattered around the duvets. Mary lay with Olivia and Electra. Craig was with his new sister, Kate, leaving Dakota to lie with Ewan. Naturally, Selina lay with Bruce, off to one side, with Aiden close by.
"I miss anything?" Alfred Pennyworth asked as he peeked into the living room.
"No, Alfred," Cassie replied. "They tired themselves out."
"It's good to see young Master Bruce and young Miss Selina having a bit of fun. Master Aiden appeared to find some friends from his past, that was good. I need some shuteye, if I may."
"Good night, Alfred."
"Good night, Miss Cassie, sleep tight."
The following morning
Saturday, January 7th
Blairhoyle
They appeared one by one.
Bleary-eyed and stumbling as they dragged their feet.
Cassie and Alfred simply grinned as they drank their tea, watching the troop of tired youngsters emerge from their slumber.
"You know, I was a mite surprised to see you 'ad a Princess amongst your brood," Alfred commented. "She fits in remarkably well; I has to admit."
"Yes, she does," Cassie agreed.
"I'm tired," the youngest complained as she slunk into the kitchen.
"Tell me about it!" her big brother moaned.
"I'd better pours the tea before they burns themselves," Alfred decided. "Wouldn't do, that wouldn't, eh, Master Bruce?"
"Huh?"
"Not the brightest crayon in the box, this early, is that one!" Alfred chuckled. "This one, though, is truly nocturnal."
Selina scowled at Alfred as she passed and otherwise ignored the butler.
"Bloody hell!" Alfred continued as he berated the youngsters. "You look a right Charlie and no mistake!"
Charlotte was not amused as she dragged a reluctant Abigail into the Kitchen followed by a scowling Stephanie.
"Cutting edge, these Predators; couldn't hit the floor if they bloody fell on it, eh, Master Aiden."
It took a while for the nineteen youngsters to build up a head of steam as Cassie and Alfred produced piles of bacon butties and lashings of hot tea.
..._...
"I heard that Sergeant Barlow was very pleased that you didn't damage his BMW," Cassie chuckled.
"I'm not an animal," Charlotte responded in between bites of her bacon butty.
"You sayin' that I am?" Kaitlin demanded from across the table.
"If the shoe fits," Charlotte teased.
"I was little," Kaitlin tried.
"You still are, honey," Cassie pointed out.
"Give it up, Kaitlin," Alexandra chuckled as she saw the little girl bristle with indignation.
"Thank you for everything, Mum," Charlotte said to Alexandra. "I promise to behave and not to cause you any more trouble."
Alexandra grinned broadly at Charlotte's use of the word 'mum' and she gently ruffled the youngster's hair.
"Don't make promises that you can't keep, honey," Alexandra warned. "Besides, you've done nothing nearly as bad as what Cassie and Sarah got up to."
"Such as?" Charlotte prompted as she gave Cassie an evil glance.
"Not one word, Mother!" Cassie ordered.
"Oh, there's plenty of time, Charlotte, plenty of time."