The same afternoon
Sunday
Safehouse A

"Damn!"

"What was that Josh?" Dave asked, curiously.

I was in the Land Rover Discovery, they call it an LR4 SUV over here. Dave was taking me to their main safehouse.

"I walked right through this area a couple of times, when I was in Chicago looking for you guys!" I explained. "I walked past several buildings and thought that any one of them could be a safehouse and I was right!"

I watched as we approached a generic looking factory unit and Dave pressed a button, mounted on the dashboard of the SUV. A wire mesh gate slid to one side, allowing us entry and closed behind us, the door to the building then slid open and Dave drove inside.

..._...

Dave stopped inside the darkened interior and I watched as the door closed behind us, then lights came on, illuminating an amazing sight.

I actually had trouble taking it all in!

In front of me was a very large mat, of the sort used for martial arts training. Beside us was parked the black SUV, that I had seen previously. I got out and my eyes went wide, when I saw a pair of hyper-cool motorcycles. The purple Ducati was obviously Hit Girl's and I assumed the green and yellow Harley to belong to Kick-Ass.

"Damn, those are cool!" I exclaimed.

Dave was actually laughing at me!

"Your face, Josh; talk about changing expressions!" Dave said, then pointed at the SUV. "That is Beast, which is currently down to replace some damaged glass."

I could see the bullet holes on the left side, plus the damaged glass. Close up I could see the armoured glass and bodywork. I went for a closer look at the two motorcycles. They were just awesome! Dave had to pull me away from them and over towards a two story brick structure, built within the main building.

"This building has accommodation, the Armoury and our Command Centre and Briefing room," Dave explained and he took me on a tour of the upstairs first.

There was a kitchen with a large table for eating and a corridor led off to a bathroom and three bedrooms. One was obviously for Dave and Mindy, with it's own bathroom. The other two rooms each had two beds and one room was obviously for females.

Downstairs, Dave showed me the Armoury.

"Damn!" Was all I could say, when I saw the weapons, swords and the combat suits arrayed all around me!

..._...

"Like what you see?" Dave asked, grinning.

"Bloody hell! You have everything in here!" I replied.

I just couldn't take it all in, my brain was overloading! I could see pistols, assault rifles, a machine gun. There was also over a dozen Katana swords. My attention was drawn to the original Hit Girl and Kick-Ass costumes and then to the newer combat suits. I recognised Hit Girl's and Shadow's, but hadn't seen Kick-Ass' up close. I spent a couple of minutes with Chloe's combat suit and reached out to touch the wrecked right shoulder, where she had been shot.

I felt Dave put his hand on my shoulder and I looked up at him.

"You okay, Josh?"

"Yes. Just seeing the damage brought back memories, mixed memories."

"You need to talk, we're all here to listen. We've all been through hell at one stage or another and can relate," Dave offered.

"Thanks," I replied.

Next we headed into the Briefing room and Command Centre. Again, I was amazed by the sophistication of the equipment on display. Enormous computer screens and several computers were at one end of the room. The other end, had comfortable couches and a large table.

..._...

Dave sat down on a couch and indicated for me to sit down opposite him.

I was starting to feel nervous.

"Time for a chat, Josh," Dave said, as I sat down across from him.

"Go ahead," I said, apprehensively.

"This is the same shit I told Chloe, so don't feel singled out. We want you to join the team, but we have rules," Dave started.

"Now, Little Miss Assassin tries to bend and sometimes break the rules and when she does, I come down on her like a fucking ton of bricks. Being a teenaged Hero, sucks. I know from personal experience and both Chloe and Mindy bitch about being a teenager, almost every other day. However, you will have responsibilities, Mindy always thought she knew everything about life and that her age was irrelevant, but she has learnt the hard way, the very hard way in some cases, that she is not invincible and despite her impressive physical and mental skills, she is still a sixteen year-old girl. You will fuck up, just like Mindy did and I will jump down your throat, or kick your fucking ass, to bring you back in line. That is for both your safety and ours. Understood?" Dave lectured and I nodded my agreement.

"You will be part of a team where you will be an equal partner. Yes, Mindy and I are the senior partners and Chloe is number three, but we are all equal. Basically, what that means is that if any of us fuck up, we expect the others to tell us we fucked up. When you fuck up, and you will, we'll tell you that you fucked up and we will tell you why and teach you how to avoid making that mistake again. I've fucked up more times than I care to think about and the famous Hit Girl has made her own fair share of fuck ups, most of them due to her age and lack of worldly experience. So, if one of us says you fucked up, don't take it to heart, learn from it. If you fuck up badly I'll tell you that you fucked up badly and if necessary stop you coming out with us and get Jack to ground you. Chloe actually stood up to Mindy, in New York the other week and put her in her place," Dave continued.

So that was what the slap across Chloe's face was all about!

"I'm used to being kicked, punched and sworn at; Mindy has tried everything, but when she acts like a stupid little teenaged girl, I tell her that and she tries to look cute and wriggle her way out of it, but that doesn't work with me any more, nor do her threats of bodily harm. While on that subject, Mindy will never intentionally hurt you, she may threaten to dismember or castrate you, but that's just her way; don't get me wrong, she is perfectly capable of carrying out her threats. She will hurt you during sparring sessions, but you get used to that and just learn to avoid her kicks and punches. Chloe actually cracked two of Mindy's ribs a few months ago, when she failed to avoid her kick. Injuries are a part of our lives. Now, we have all suffered a lot of damage to our bodies, but we're still here!" Dave finished. "So, Jackal, you still want in?"

"Hell yes. Thanks Dave. I promise to do my best, I know I'm young and I haven't a damn clue about what I'm doing, but I'll listen and I'll learn," I said, with a big grin on my face.

I actually meant it too. Chloe was right, I could trust Dave and Mindy, they would support me for as long as I wanted the support. This was everything I wanted, I knew it was going to be hard work. I had to finish my recovery and then get my body back into shape again!

But for all that Dave had just shown me, it would be worth it!

That evening
The Farm

Dave had dropped me off, back 'home'.

Natalie had an enormous meal waiting for me. The three of us sat down to eat and I told Jack and Natalie about what had happened since I had left yesterday.

I now had a 'secure' cell phone, which Dave had given me, so I could be contacted and could call Chloe, whenever I wanted! I gave this number to Jack and Natalie.

I went to bed that evening, feeling very happy with my 'new' life.

That same evening
West Ridge

"Did Josh enjoy himself?" Mindy asked.

"Just a bit! I thought his eyes were gonna pop out of his sockets, when he saw the safehouse!" I laughed, then went serious. "He kinda spaced out a bit, when he saw Chloe's combat suit, though."

"I'm not surprised!" Mindy replied.

Later that same evening
Morton Grove

My phone chirped with a text message.

I saw who it was and started to bite my lip, subconsciously and as I read the message, I could feel my cheeks getting warm.

Damn, that boy had a dirty mind, but I liked it!