The following week
Tuesday, West Ridge

Chloe did not turn up this evening.

It was just Kyle.

Apparently, Chloe was grounded for the next twenty years!

Kyle explained that Chloe had gotten into a fight at school, which had put another girl and two boys down hard. The girl had a concussion and of the two boys, one had a broken arm and the other had two broken ribs.

I inquired about Chloe.

Chloe had a black eye, bruised jaw and bruising to her chest and stomach.

I asked who had started the fight.

It was the other girl. It was something to with the fact that Chloe was more interested in athletic activities, rather than fitting in socially. The girl smacked Chloe across the face, but Chloe didn't react. So the two boys joined in, one of whom gave Chloe the bruised jaw when he slapped her, very hard.

Chloe then fought back.

I was worried and tried to call Chloe, but her cell was turned off. I decided I would visit Chloe at home later, when I was finished with Kyle.

Morton Grove

I pulled up outside Chloe's home, got out and went up to the door.

I knocked and Dr Bennett answered the door.

"Mindy!" Dr Bennett said, waving me in and closing the door. "I wondered if you might appear."

"I heard about Chloe and was worried!" I said.

"Thank you for your concern, Mindy," Dr Bennett said. "She's upstairs, second door on the right."

I went upstairs and knocked on the the relevant door.

"What!" Chloe called, angrily.

..._...

I pushed open the door and went in.

"You don't sound very happy!" I said, smirking.

"Mindy!" Chloe yelled excitedly, getting up off her bed and giving me a hug.

"Careful," I said, seeing Chloe grimace, as she hugged me.

"I keep forgetting about the bruises," Chloe complained. "I can't even wear a bra, for God's sake!"

"Bet Kyle'll enjoy that!" I teased.

"That is not funny, Mindy!" Chloe said, glaring, but blushing anyway.

"Sorry, couldn't resist!" I apologised. "How are you feeling?"

"Very sore and very annoyed for letting my guard down and getting into that fight," Chloe explained. "I'm grounded till I'm twenty-one, too!"

"What did the school say?" I asked.

"They said that although I had acted in self defence, I used 'excessive force'!" Chloe said, with an exasperated tone. "I'm also suspended! For three days!"

"It could be worse!" I said. "You don't look too bad."

"The bruised jaw makes it sore to eat, but my chest makes it sore to breathe!" Chloe explained and showed me her bruised chest and stomach. The whole of her front, from just below the neck, down to just above her waist, was bruised.

"No broken ribs?" I asked.

"None, thankfully!" Chloe said.

"Will your Mom let you come over on Saturday?" I asked.

"I hope so, you can ask. Slight problem from Sunday. The little cunt is back for eight weeks; most of Summer Break! With these bruises I can't kick the shit outta him!" Chloe said.

"It looks like the bruises will heal, soon." I said. "I'll talk with your Mom and hopefully see you on Saturday. Just you, not Kyle, okay?"

"Okay?" Chloe asked, looking confused.

"See ya!" I said and headed back downstairs.

I managed to persuade Dr Bennett to let Chloe come over on Saturday and to let her stay the night.

Four days later
Saturday
The safehouse

I had received all the new equipment that I had ordered and was sorting it out, down at the safehouse.

I'd driven down in Speedy and Dave would follow with Marty and Chloe, once Chloe arrived at West Ridge.

Dave had his new armour which, according to The Armourer, was tougher and should absorb more of the shock, causing less bruising. My new combat suit top was a good fit and had a little more give around my chest, which seemed to have expanded! Dave had noticed that I had bought new bras and said that he thought things were slightly bigger! I actually felt quite pleased, as I always felt a little self-conscious around women with larger breasts. The items I had ordered for Chloe and Marty were also here. Chloe would be the first to receive her new gifts. I was secretly looking forward to handing these over, as it would allow me to reconnect with my past. I hadn't told Dave about the gifts for Chloe and Marty, so that they would be a surprise and I knew Dave would have a bit of fun at my expense, too!

I heard the garage door go up and the SUV pull in and park.

"Hi, Chloe! How you feeling?" I asked.

"Not so sore," Chloe replied.

"Able to wear a bra now?" I asked, with an evil grin.

"Yes... I'm wearing a bra!" Chloe replied sharply, blushing slightly.

"Sorry, couldn't resist!" I said. "Chloe go sit over on the mat, I'll be over in a minute."

Chloe looked a little confused, but went over and sat down in our 'chatting corner'.

I took Dave to one side and explained that I had presents for Chloe. Dave nodded and we both went over to sit down with Chloe, who looked a little apprehensive. Marty headed into the briefing room and his computers.

"Don't worry Chloe!" I said, sitting down. "You've coped with worse!"

Chloe grinned, still looking apprehensive.

"Okay... You've proved that you are a capable member of the team. You've proved that you can be trusted. You've proved that you can follow orders, at least, most of the time! But we've all lapsed there, at some stage or another!" I said.

"Some more than others!" Dave said, looking directly at me.

"Funny, Ass-Kick!" I growled.

"We've decided, that you have now earned yourself a permanent position, on the team. You are now the the third most senior 'operator' in Fusion. By 'operator' we mean those who go out and fight. Marty and Abby are not operators, they are our technical support," I said.

Chloe looked a little stunned.

"Thanks, Mindy," Chloe said slowly.

I got up and went into the briefing room, where I picked up Chloe's presents and returned to the mat.

"I have some presents for you; look at them as are your graduation presents, " I said, before looking at Dave. "And no smart-ass, wise cracks, from you!"

I passed the first present over to Chloe.

"Wow!" Chloe said, sounding a little overwhelmed.

"That is a bō-staff. I used to use one, before I got my Katana blades," I explained and saw Dave wincing.

I had bought a custom made bō-staff, very similar to mine. It was made from a reinforced composite material, which would resist a strike from a Katana. The twin blades, at each end of the bō-staff, were made from a reinforced steel, similar to a Katana blade and were a foot long, with extremely sharp, pointed, blades. The entire bō-staff was almost five feet in length and the main section was a dark blue. I showed Chloe how the bō-staff separated in the middle and became two swords.

Chloe was speechless, but looked very excited! Dave just looked a little worried.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"It's cool, I'll need a lot of practice to learn how to use it, without cutting myself in half!" Chloe replied.

"Now, you won't be able to use it properly until those bruises are healed on your stomach," I said. "But until that happens, you can learn to use these."

I passed over a small wooden box, which Chloe opened, slowly.

"Wow!"

"Those are a pair of custom Butterfly Knives or Balisongs, to use the proper name," I said and Dave groaned.

"I am starting to get some very nasty flashbacks!" Dave complained.

I ignored him!

The knives were very similar to my own that I had received for my eleventh birthday, all those years ago. The overall length of the weapon was 9.4-inches, with a 4.2-inch blade. The handle was made from titanium, with the blade being made from strengthened steel. The two knives were identical in every way.

"So that you can train without losing most of your fingers, you can use a training balisong," I said, passing over a training balisong.

"I really don't know what to say, Mindy! I'm overwhelmed," Chloe stammered.

"Dave and I... We just want you to feel part of the team and we want to thank you for all your help," I explained. "Including what you did at Chris's headquarters."

"I agree!" Dave acknowledged.

I then showed Chloe the basic movements to use when flipping the balisong. I flipped both blades, very fast, one in each hand. Chloe looked mesmerised, but Dave looked pained!

"Problem Dave?" I asked, smirking, as I knew what the problem was.

"You know full well what the problem is!" Dave said, smirking.

"Am I allowed to know this big problem?" Chloe asked, curiously.

I looked at Dave, but he waved me on.

"Okay... Dave first met me when I was eleven and I was a bit of a show-off. I saw what I did as a kind of 'game'. Dave, or rather a very inexperienced Kick-Ass, got himself into a bit of a situation and was about to be killed, so I stepped in to help him. For some reason, I thought he had potential and I kinda had a minor crush on him, although it was almost a year later before I actually realised it was a crush. When I was eleven, I didn't understand those feelings, but I still wanted to get to know him," I explained.

"Anyway... I was shitting myself and then suddenly Rasul, the owner of the apartment stopped advancing on me; he had a blade sticking out of his chest! The blade was removed, Rasul fell and I saw Hit Girl for the very first time - a very short Hit Girl! You wanna say it?" I asked.

"Why not... I stared down at Kick-Ass and the people in the apartment, before saying: 'Okay you cunts... Let's see what you can do now'," I growled, trying to sound younger.

"Creepy!" Dave admitted. "Then, Little Miss Assassin proceeded to slaughter everybody there, about six or seven people, using her bō-staff and a balisong: 'Hey, I got one of those'!"

I laughed at Dave's impression of me.

"Yeah... The little bitch smiled her way through the entire slaughter. She was like a damn Angry Bird, bouncing around the apartment, killing everything in sight and all the time showing off to me! Then her perfect plan went wrong and she almost got killed, while commenting on my choice of taser, except Big Daddy used his sniper rifle to kill the last man and then she got a mini lecture from Daddy!" Dave said, smirking at me. "'Now Hit Girl, we always keep our backs where'?"

"'To the wall Daddy, I know. Um, it... it won't happen again. Nice shot, by the way'," I said slowly, thinking back.

"Sorry, if I brought back old memories," Dave said, quietly.

"Not to worry, they were parts of my life, when Daddy was still alive and I like remembering them. In this case they were also the time that I first met the man I love," I replied. "Sorry, Chloe. I'm getting all soppy, not very Hit Girl!"

"You have nothing to apologise for, Mindy. It just feels good to know that you both trust me enough, to talk about such personal and private events, right in front of me!" Chloe said, biting her lower lip and looking uncomfortable.

"You are a part of our little family, our inner-circle, if you like. We trust you one hundred percent and I only trust three other people as much; Marcus, Dave and Marty. We five are the inner-circle. Nobody else knows this intimate information, about Hit Girl's life. To tell you the truth, even Marcus doesn't know everything, but that's only because he doesn't want to know!" I explained, smiling at Chloe. "Plus we know you won't tell anybody else."

"Thank you, both of you," Chloe said, bursting into tears. I got up and hugged her tightly.

Next I gave Dave his new armour, which he was really impressed with.

"You trying to keep me alive or something?" Dave asked, facetiously.

"Asshole!" I replied.

"Marty, I have some kit for you!" I said, ignoring Dave's hurt look.

"For me?" Marty asked.

"Yes, Marty," I replied. "You, I definitely do want to keep alive!"

I handed Marty a mask, similar to Dave's original mask, in that it covered the entire head except for around the mouth. It was black, but with a large blue strip running around at eye level. The eyes were covered in impact resistant lenses, that replicated Marty's eye requirements. This meant that he wouldn't require his glasses, when in costume. The mask even had Battle Guy's white, five pointed star in the centre above the eyes.

"Fucking wow!" Marty said.

"That is awesome!" Chloe exclaimed

I handed over the rest of Marty's kit. It was a complete SWAT outfit, except that the suit was made out of the same, composite material as the combat suits. I had also bought a slightly non-standard, set of body armour for Marty to wear over the suit.

"That should make you safer when you are out with us. Once you are trained, we can customise the suit further," I said.

"Thanks, Mindy. It is really cool!" Marty commented.

Two days later
Monday afternoon
West Ridge

Curtis came around.

"Hi Mindy! Hi Dave!" Curtis said, smiling.

"Hi Curtis!" Mindy and I, both said.

Chloe looked none to happy about Curtis being here, but apparently Chloe was supposed to be keeping an eye on him! Curtis was still not a big fan of Sophia, who kept following him around and staring at him!

"Remember Sophia, no eating Curtis!" Chloe said and laughing at Curtis' discomfort.

Chloe can be a nasty bitch when she wants to be! But, I suppose that makes two of them!