Three hours later
Saturday
Safehouse F
The three hours had given us all time to get out of our combat suits and grab a shower.
On the dot, we all gathered in the briefing room. I could see from some of the expressions that some people were not happy with the afternoon's results. Abby, Kim and Cathy passed around some food and drinks for everybody, before we began.
"Okay – that was a first," I commented glaring at Megan, who sat with Curtis, Brad, Cam and Tommy. She smirked back. "Now I know that some of you have questions and yes, I played a few dirty tricks – but hey, that's combat!"
..._...
"Let's start with Trojan!" Dave said, pointing to a screen that showed Trojan being attacked by Brad.
Brad was older and bigger than Curtis was, but he did well. Curtis, however was better trained and soon got the better of his attacker.
"Why did you tie Brad up?" Dave asked Curtis.
"Or has Megan got something to look forward to?" Chloe grinned, ignoring the not so friendly looks her comment had prompted from Curtis and Megan.
"So the asshole couldn't ambush me later on," Curtis said reasonably.
"Good plan – it hurt though!" Brad acknowledged, with a smirk at Curtis.
"We'll skip over the little bitch and move on to Shadow and her partner, Jackal!" I said, sending a scowl towards Megan who was smirking at me.
"You did well, Chloe," Dave said, as we watched her progress, right up to the point where she was struck in the chest. I watched Chloe absentmindedly rub her chest, which I understood was more than a little bruised! "To that point!"
"Yeah, who was that person with the goddamn bō-staff? I've never seen that combat suit before, nor do I know anybody who can wield a bō-staff like that," Chloe exclaimed, then looked at me. "Except for you, of course – oh mighty leader!"
I laughed.
"Thank you Chloe for that vote of confidence. Now, I know who was wearing that combat suit, but I have to admit that I was just as surprised as you, Chloe!" I admitted. "Care to explain yourself – Medic!"
Every head turned to stare at Doctor Cathy Bennett, sitting near the back of the room. I was pleased to see that Cathy actually blushed.
"That was Mom in that combat suit!" Chloe exclaimed incredulously.
"Awesome, Aunt Cathy!" Curtis cut in.
"When I ordered your replacement suit, Chloe, your mother asked for one and I've learnt not to argue with Doctor Cathy Bennett!"
"Mindy, Chloe – I used the Martial Arts to keep fit at Annapolis and while there, I learnt to use several different weapons; which included the bō-staff," Cathy admitted, still blushing slightly. "Besides, it was fun wiping the floor with Shadow and Jackal!"
"Great fun!" Josh said sardonically.
"You were awesome, Mom!" Chloe admitted.
"High praise from Shadow," Cathy said, smiling at her daughter.
"You were good, very good, Cathy – well done!" I said and received a nod from Cathy as thanks. "Now, Dave – want to mention Mist?"
"Funny bitch!" Dave growled. "Okay, Mist, you did very well, letting me come to you and then putting me down and seizing my weapons. Well done, Erika!"
Erika blushed wildly, as she sat next to Paige, Kim and Cathy.
"There is always an advantage to being able to choose your own field of battle. That can give you every advantage; however waiting can allow the enemy to build their forces or to get themselves acclimatized. Always a difficult decision to make," Dave explained before turning to me. "Now what about the youngest person here, eh, Mindy?"
I glowered at Dave, before staring at Megan.
..._...
"Wildcat!"
"Yes!" Megan replied defiantly.
"You had a varied afternoon. You found one of the hidden pistols – well done! I will have to return the privilege of you shooting me – six fucking times!" I growled and Megan grinned while everybody else laughed. "
"Paige would you like to let your wayward daughter into a little secret?" Dave prompted.
"Why not!" Paige said and laughed at Megan's curious expression. "It was I, dear daughter that shot you the first couple of times – after that it was Dave and Cameron."
"You'd shoot your own daughter?" Megan asked sounding very put out.
"Well, you have been more of a bitch than usual, the past week!" Paige chuckled and Megan looked a little shocked as everybody had a good laugh.
"I have a question!" Megan asked, as the laughter died down.
"Yes, little sister!" I growled.
"Who attacked me?" Megan demanded.
I could not help laughing.
"Would the mystery black ninja please show themselves," Dave asked, ignoring me.
Everybody looked around the room in expectation. Then young Tommy Morgan stood up, blushing shyly.
"You!" Megan exclaimed standing up astonished. Her expression was mirrored by many in the room.
"I – I learnt some things while I was in captivity. The third group of people I was with; they made me fight against other boys – for entertainment – I had no choice but to learn to fight. Mindy has been helping me build on those skills – in secret. Sorry Megan, you fought well!" Tommy said, lapsing into an embarrassed silence.
"I'm sorry for squishing your balls!" Megan announced, slightly embarrassed.
"They're fine – I checked!" Tommy replied, grinning.
..._...
Tommy Morgan had approached me a few months previously, at the end of January.
I had been alone at what was then Safehouse A.
Safehouse A
January 29th
At that moment, I had no idea that within a few days, I would be burning the place to the ground.
I was in the armoury when I heard a tone chime, as the side door opened. Being alone, I grabbed a pistol and a magazine, before heading out of the armoury.
"Morning, Mindy!"
"Tommy – what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"
"Yes – I should be at school, but I needed to talk to you."
The boy looked uncomfortable.
"Briefing Room," I suggested.
..._...
Once we were sitting down, Tommy started to talk.
"I owe you everything, Mindy –"
"No you don't," I interrupted.
"If you had not found me and rescued me – then I hate to think about what I would be doing right now. They used to make me fight, you know – I still have the wounds..."
"Why are you telling me this, Tommy?" I asked with concern.
"I want to help, but I know my parents would never let me. I'm also way too young, but I learnt to look after myself, during my years of captivity and like I said – I owe you and your team, Mindy. I want you to train me – I want you to help me put my past life behind me."
I shook my head.
"I don't like the idea of hiding things from your parents, Tommy. I will only train you, if your parents know. I'm happy to keep the training secret from everybody else, though – except for Dave, of course."
Tommy thought about that for a minute before replying.
"Thank you, Mindy."
Safehouse F
Dave and I had trained the boy – not that he had needed very much training.
He had picked up many good skills; he had also learnt to fight dirty, which I had found out to my cost during sparring. Tommy was strong for his age and had kept himself healthy during his captivity. I had also seen his wounds, which on an eleven-year-old boy were quite shocking. However, Tommy seemed proud of his wounds, which varied from small burns to badly healed welts on his chest, stomach and back. I had recognised the stab and slash wounds, having inflicted many myself on the enemy. He also proved to be very intelligent.
At the same time as I had obtained the new combat suits for Shadow and Medic, I had obtained a suit for Tommy.
The suit was black from head to toe and was made from a synthetic carbon-fibre material that was ultra-flexible, but provided padding and stab/slash protection. The feet were clad in custom boots with soft and flexible protected soles. The hands were enclosed in gloves that were slim and followed the contours of the hand, perfectly. His chest and back were protected with Type II armour, which was removable.
The mask was full face and covered the entire head. Voice altering technology was embedded into the mask as well. Around the waist was a utility belt that held some of the boy's weapons and equipment. In this case, a Walther P99C pistol on his right hip, spare magazines, his communications and four black titanium, throwing knives. On his back, he carried a pair of black, tactical machetes with eighteen-inch blades.
..._...
Returning to the present day.
"I suppose now is as good a time as any, to introduce our new vigilante. Fusion, please welcome: Splinter!" I announced to the room.
"Fucking cool!" Megan said, banging Tommy on the back.
There was a round of applause and calls of congratulations to Tommy. Overall, it had been a good day.
The following day
Sunday
West Ridge
Things changed in quite a major way that morning.
Josh and Chloe had gone to a movie and Dave was out with Sophia. I was on the mat with Tommy. Now his training was out in the open, it made life a lot easier! For the past few months, I had had to schedule Tommy's training to when the house was empty. No more secrecy was required, thankfully.
"Hey – not damn well fair!" Tommy complained as I dropped him onto the mat.
"You're not the only one who knows how to fight dirty, kid! I was fighting dirty before you learnt to walk!"
"I fight to win, otherwise what's the point?"
"Not bad, kid!"
I pulled Tommy back up and allowed him to start another attack. I had challenged the kid to come up with something new, each week. So far, he had not tricked me, as I had seen an awful lot in my decade or more as Hit Girl. Some of his moves would out fox Chloe and Josh, but probably not Dave.
Tommy had learnt to use the human body; he had learnt the hard way where the pressure points were in the body. When possible he would target these points and relatively easily incapacitate a larger opponent. As Megan had done with him, Tommy was not afraid to target the more delicate parts of the human body – anything that gave him the edge. Men hated certain parts being kicked and women had parts that they hated to be kicked, too.
Both Tommy and I had learnt to fight where anything went – there had been no rules! I felt sorry for him, being forced into that kind of life – needing to fight to survive. I had personal experience of being forced to fight for my life and I had not enjoyed it in my early years. Finally, after another hour of fighting off the brat from hell, I decided I needed food.
"Hungry?" I asked.
"Yeah!"
We got ourselves cleaned up and headed out in the SUV.
..._...
I drove down North Kedzie Avenue, chatting with Tommy. Just as we were approaching North Lincoln Avenue where we would turn left, I heard sirens – which was nothing out of the ordinary in Chicago, only I also heard gunfire. Coming up the avenue were a couple of CPD cars, which appeared to be pursuing a green, Jeep SUV, which was swerving all over the damn avenue.
"Oh fuck!" I yelled as the oncoming SUV strayed over onto our side of the avenue.
The other side of the Avenue was filled with the two CPD cars. I had nowhere else to go, then the car in front of me slammed on its damn brakes and skidded to a halt; I jerked the wheel to the right in an attempt to go around the stopped car. Something went wrong, a tyre dug in, and I felt the three and a quarter tonne Land Rover LR4 start to flip over.
"Hold on!" I yelled, as the world turned upside down.
The roof of the LR4 hit the blacktop and the windshield cracked. It may sound stupid, but everything seemed to slow down and there was very little sound. I saw the lights of the CPD cars as we rolled in front of them. One seemed to skid in an attempt to avoid us, but then its reinforced bumper hit us hard. The LR4 performed another roll; my head hit something hard and the last thing that I remembered was the sight of the dark green water of the Chicago River through the windshield, as I sank into blackness.