The following afternoon
Saturday
West Ridge, Chicago
"Can't you two go anywhere, without destroying something?"
"Marcus, it was not our fault!" I complained as Cathy checked over my wounds.
"When you had not called in, I got worried and called Mackenzie in New York and suggested that he look for anything violent happening!" Marcus commented.
"I'm glad you did!" Dave replied. "It got really close!"
"Goddamn vigilantes!" Marcus moaned heading out the door.
"Did Mindy really stab you?" Chloe asked Dave.
"It was a fucking accident!" I growled. "Jeez!"
"I've learnt to put up with the abuse!" Dave quipped.
"I'll show you 'abuse', cunt!"
We had managed to return Brooke home, for the early hours.
It turned out that nobody had known she was missing as her parents had received a message, fake as it turned out, that Brooke was staying with a friend. Her parents were very concerned about what had happened and said that they would send Brooke to stay with relatives. Neither Hit Girl, nor Kick-Ass, were mentioned by anybody. We had said goodbye to Brooke and told her to look us up if she ever came to Chicago.
It had been a very strange visit to New York, but we had accomplished what we had gone there for in the first place, kind of!
The following week
Tuesday
West Ridge
The little rat was now eleven!
Curtis was very pleased to be eleven-years-old and I was proud of my cousin for how much he had grown and improved himself since his previous birthday. Curtis' happiness was tempered slightly by the fact of his parents not being with him. To counteract this, we all tried to keep his mind on happier things and that meant birthday presents!
I had personally dragged him out of bed and Mom had driven us over to see Dave and Mindy. There was something special, lined up for him.
..._...
I pushed a box into my cousin's hands.
It was quite a large box and heavy. Curtis looked a little overwhelmed by all the attention he was receiving. Megan was sitting next to Curtis, and she prodded him into action. Curtis carefully unwrapped the box and then sat staring at the wooden box that had appeared.
"Jeez! It'll be your twelfth birthday before you open the damn thing!" Megan growled.
Curtis laughed and opened the box carefully, and then he gasped.
..._...
Inside the box were a pair of matching Glock 19 Gen4 compact, nine-millimetre pistols. The frame of each pistol was a Dartmouth green colour, the same as that on Trojan's combat suit, while the slide was black with olive stripes, which formed a camouflage pattern. Mounted below the muzzle of each pistol on the accessory rail, was a GTL 22, combined tactical light and laser unit in the same Dartmouth green. Attached to the muzzle of each weapon was a short suppressor, in black.
"Cool, huh?" Chloe asked as she watched her cousin's face.
Curtis was slightly, speechless and he ran his hands over the perfectly finished weapons.
"They are from all of us," I said. "You've accomplished a lot and we decided that you should have some weapons of your own."
Megan actually looked a little Jealous, but her turn would come.
"Thanks, everybody, these are awesome," Curtis eventually managed to say.
..._...
"Come here, lad," Ryan said, pointing towards the garage.
Curtis placed the box containing his pistols down on the coffee table and followed Ryan with slight confusion on his face.
"Your father wanted you to have one of these when you were about thirteen, but Cathy and I decided that you needed to learn now."
Ryan led Curtis into the garage, followed by Chloe, Mindy and a curious Megan. It was Megan, who saw it first.
"Fuck me!" She gasped.
Parked in the garage where the SUV usually sat was a white and green, Honda CRF125FB motorcycle. Hanging on the handlebars was a black full-face helmet while draped over the saddle were dark grey motorcycle leathers and gauntlets and on the ground beside the machine was a pair of black, lightweight motorcycle boots.
I was certain that Curtis was very overwhelmed, so I dragged a reluctant and very jealous Megan, out of the garage, leaving Curtis alone with his uncle and cousin.
"I don't know what to say..."
"Think of it as a gift from your parents," Dad said gently.
I out my arm around Curtis' shoulders; the kid seemed close to tears.
"Thank you..."
Almost the moment that I came out of the garage, Megan dragged me outside to the deck.
"What...?" I tried.
"Don't talk..." Megan said placing a finger on my lips and pushing me up against the garage.
Her face was only inches from my own. I was not sure if the look on her face was one of shyness, or not. Megan was rarely shy about anything.
Then she kissed me.
The next morning
Wednesday
Safehouse F
Erika was now twenty-two-years-old.
"Damn that's old!" Megan exclaimed.
"Thanks, runt!" Erika laughed.
I was being constantly nagged by Curtis to teach him how to ride his new motorcycle. I had promised to take him riding on Saturday, just for some peace and quiet.
An hour later
I heard a yell from upstairs and when I got to the briefing room, I found Curtis on his ass, holding his hand to his rather puffed up cheek.
"What did you do?" Chloe asked accusingly coming up behind me.
Curtis looked a little unsure about his response.
"Well, err, Megan just started her second period and she said that she was trying to figure out a box of, err, thingys and well I – I asked Megan if she needed a hand with – her – err – it..."
I burst out laughing and so did Chloe, although Chloe continued to look at Curtis rather severely.
"You have so much to learn about girls, Curtis! Like: not mentioning their periods, or anything to do with them!" Chloe suggested sagely.
..._...
"In my own personal experience, girls become very dangerous when they start puberty and that goes on for many, many years and tends to get worse once they become teenagers!" Dave advised, appearing on the scene.
"By 'personal experience', I assume you mean me, asshole!"
"Mindy, you were a fucking nightmare from eleven to... Well, you still are; ask Marcus if you don't believe me!"
I punched Dave hard on his arm, which did not seem to do very much!
"Chloe wasn't exactly a little angel either – although..."
"Not one word, mother!" Chloe growled.
"She was over the moon, the day that she found her first few pubic hairs!" Cathy finished, ignoring her horrified daughter completely.
"Look! Nobody discusses my pubic hair except for me and Josh – he likes it – he thinks it's soft and sometimes moist!"
Chloe glowed bright red and muttered something unintelligible, before vanishing to the lower level as we all howled with laughter.
"Must be why some men decide that it's safer being gay!" Curtis commented.
Two days later
Friday
"Do I have to remember the shit that happened that night?"
"Yes, Mindy, you do!"
"But I almost got my ass kicked!"
"But you didn't; you won!" I replied. "And that bastard was finished – kind of!"
"True... I suppose!"
"Besides a hot, sweaty Hit Girl was one hell, of a turn on!"
"Dave!"
"It was the worst morning of my life, the next day..."
'You can't go. People need you.'
'They've got you now.'
'I'm not like you.'
I could remember it like it was yesterday and it still hurt.
"... 'You don't have to be a bad-ass to be a superhero, Dave... You just have to be brave'," I added.
"Some of my best words!" Mindy said, blushing slightly.
"The kiss was awesome!" I admitted.
"'That was my first kiss'," Mindy mused, remembering.
"'Be nice... Or I'll rip your ass out through your mouth', I think you said!" I laughed. "So very 'Hit Girl'!"
It was not only us remembering that fight, Marty remembered it too; it had been his first time in real action and he had not enjoyed it all that much! For me, that morning after the fight, had been the start of my searching for Mindy; the start of everything that we had now.
I could not believe that it had been two whole years, since Mindy had left New York.
The following morning
Saturday
The Farm
Megan screamed!
"Really?" I demanded covering my ears.
We had travelled up to The Farm so that Curtis could learn to ride. Although, I had decided to extend the training somewhat to include some other members of Fusion. In the barn were three, almost identical, motorcycles. One motorcycle belonged to Curtis and was white and green, the next one was white and pink, with a light-purple helmet hanging on the handlebars. The third motorcycle was white and grey, with a red helmet hanging on the handlebars.
I grabbed a pack from beside the pink motorcycle and threw it at Megan. Then another, identical pack from the grey motorcycle and threw it at Tommy.
"Get changed, both of you!"
Both kids ran off with enormous grins on their faces. I thought it would easier to train them all together, so both Megan and Tommy were getting early birthday presents! Chloe laughed at their excitement; Chloe was to be my assistant as Dave had been when she had learnt. Josh was also present to assist.
Thirty minutes later
The three kids stood uneasily in their leathers and boots, holding their gauntlets.
Mindy and I stood before them, in our own leathers. Josh slouched over to one side in his leathers.
"Okay, kiddies!" Mindy began. "Let's go over the ground rules, which apparently did not sink in, last time!"
Mindy glared at Josh.
"You're not going to forget that minor transgression, are you?" Josh moaned.
"None of you little midgets will ever ride these motorcycles unless you have had permission and somebody else is with you..."
"You bad boy, Joshua!" Megan said seriously.
"Megan the angel!" Josh growled back and Megan smirked smugly.
"I mean it; I let that idiot off because he was wounded and I went soft on him," Mindy explained. "No more free passes!"
The three kids nodded acceptance of the rules.
..._...
"Now, these machines are very basic, but also powerful and you can get hurt if you do not listen and follow instructions. These machines are off-road only, so don't have the usual clutter of indicators, lights and speedometer..."
"Not that Mindy knows what a speedometer actually is..." I quipped before shutting up as Mindy glared at me.
Mindy pulled out Megan's motorcycle to the grass and Josh braced it while Mindy took the kids through the basics of the machine and the controls: ignition switch, engine start button, clutch lever, front brake, throttle grip, engine stop button, rear brake pedal, gear shift lever, fuel valve and kickstarter.
Megan was told to climb onto the machine and shown how the clutch operated and the positions of the gear shift lever; horizontal for neutral, first gear, one notch down and then second to fourth gears above the neutral position.
"You're lucky with this bike, it has an electric start, so no dicking about with the kickstarter," Mindy explained, as she ensured that the gearshift lever was in neutral and then had Megan pull in the clutch lever and press the button to start the engine.
The engine jumped to life instantly and ticked over happily. Megan had an enormous smile on her face! I passed the girl her helmet and she pulled it on and strapped it securely. Mindy then had Megan kick the gearshift lever down, into first.
"Ready?" Mindy asked, smiling encouragingly.
"No – Yes..." Megan replied, sounding anything but positive!
"Let in the clutch gently. Remember, when you stop you must pull the clutch lever or you will stall. Ignore the front brake for now. Use the rear brake, the one down here. Twist the throttle backward, gently, to go faster, twist it forwards to go slower."
"Okay..."
"Don't look at the front tyre, try to look ahead and don't worry if you fall, okay?"
Megan nodded slowly, still very apprehensive.
"Apply a little gas, and then let in the clutch gently! Try and follow the course, keeping it slow!" I said, encouragingly.
We all watched as Megan twisted the throttle gently and let in the clutch... She moved and then the motorcycle stalled.
"Damn it!" We all heard over the concealed comms units that we all wore.
"Take your time, Megan!" Mindy said. "Back into neutral, clutch in, press the start button. Try again."
Megan restarted the engine, kicked the gearshift lever down into first, and then gently let in the clutch. She moved, jerkily, but she moved and kept moving; she managed a full, but shaky, circuit, before coming to a halt beside me, pulling in the clutch.
"You enjoy that?" I asked and Megan nodded enthusiastically.
"Well keep going then. Go around a couple more times and then we'll try second gear," Mindy said. "Just keep it slow!"
..._...
While Megan was riding in circles, Mindy went to see the two boys and get them moving while I kept an eye on Megan. She was doing well and was on her third go around when she seemed to slither a bit and then she over corrected and the motorcycle went one way and Megan went the other.
I ran towards her as she lay on the grass. Megan was on her side and was not moving, so I lifted her visor and peered in to see her eyes flickering open.
"That fucking hurt!" She growled.
"You okay?" I enquired.
Megan flexed her arms and legs then sat up.
"I think so!" Megan replied.
I could hear the boys starting their engines and Mindy taking them through the gears and moving off.
"Get up then, ass!" I said, helping her up and back onto her motorcycle.
..._...
After twenty minutes, we had all three kids riding around the course with a dozen or dozen yards between each other. Both Curtis and Tommy came off once each and Megan came off a second time, but generally, they were doing well.
We stopped for lunch; Curtis and Tommy were very hungry as was Megan. They were all very excited by what they had achieved.
I was now back on my Honda and it was an awesome feeling.
I managed to start it and move off, without any help. Now I just need to pull the clutch lever and flip the gear selector up two notches for second gear.
Cool!
I was instantly going faster, but I twisted the throttle forward, slowing down... Better. I managed a circuit in second gear, as did Megan and Tommy.
"You're all doing very well! Keep going, when you each get around the next corner, shift into third, one notch, up, okay?" Mindy said.
"Okay!" I replied.
"Okay!" Megan replied.
"Okay!" Tommy replied.
I turned around the next corner and pulled the clutch lever and flicked up the gear change lever, one notch, then let the clutch lever out, gently.
Cool... Third gear!
An hour later
The three kids were exhausted.
All three motorcycles were securely chained up in the barn and the kids had changed out of their leathers.
"You guys enjoy yourselves?" Jack asked with a big smile.
"Hell, yeah!" Megan replied for them all.