The following day
Wednesday evening

Safehouse F

The time had come.

We were ready to depart for Gotham, with two stops on the way to refuel and rest.

Paige and Cathy, along with Tony Morgan were there to say goodbye and to 'lock-up' once we were on our way. For all, it was a very tearful goodbye, especially for the younger ones, not to mention their parents. Paige and Cathy were doing their best to steel themselves and not cry, as that would have made it worse for their charges.

Safehouse D

I eased the eighteen-wheeler, out of the warehouse and onto the streets

On our way out of the City, we were met by the temporary keeper of the peace for Chicago. Petra roared past on her motorcycle and escorted us clear of Chicago, before she waved and returned to the City that was our home.

I would miss Chicago.

Southern Chicago

It was a daunting thought.

I was protecting Chicago, on my own. I alone knew that Fusion had just left the City, for a destination unknown. I knew it was only temporary, as Dave and Mindy had explained to me. I knew the reason, though: Marcus.

My Mom was beside herself with worry over her boss. The revelations about who was who in the City had thrown me, totally. Mindy and Dave had trusted me with their secret and I was not going to let them down. I wished that I could tell Mom, but I could not do that. For now, Mom knew about me, but she had no idea that her boss was the father of Chicago's biggest vigilante and the one, which they were supposed to be hunting down.

Mindy had made me promise not to do anything stupid and not to take risks. If there was any real trouble then I had sealed orders; cool huh! Only certain people knew that I was Petra and currently none of them was in the City. I was a little concerned about Fusion, as they had taken a lot of heavy equipment with them, which indicated to me that they were obviously headed into harm's way.

It was my job to show that vigilantes were still active in the City, so I had to maintain a low profile, while still putting the cunts down.

That evening

Chicago PD, District 21
Organised Crime Taskforce

Being there was depressing.

I sat at my desk and looked through the glass partition, at the empty desk of Lieutenant Marcus Williams. I was temporarily in command of what was a notoriously unpopular department of the Chicago PD.

Our primary role was hunting down vigilantes. However, the Chicago PD loved vigilantes, at least unofficially! I was dreading the day that my boss would find out that I was not only harbouring a vigilante, but that the vigilante in question was my own, rather rebellious, teenaged daughter. It had been her father's idea. Paul had been a scientist and had made quite a name for himself with several inventions, not to mention some good money. Paul's parents had been killed in New York City by some bastard called The Motherfucker. That event had sent Paul on a crazed mission of vengeance. He had taken our then fifteen-year-old daughter, who was already highly skilled at martial arts and he had proceeded to turn her into a vigilante. He provided her with equipment and weapons. I hated the idea, but Hailee loved it and I was fed up with criminals that got away, due to evidence issues and the like.

I firmly believed in what our colleague across the corridor in Intelligence was rumoured to do with the worst scum. My main reason for joining OCT had been to both gain intelligence and protect my only daughter. Hailee had told me that she had met up with Fusion and their leaders, Kick-Ass and Hit Girl. I was also aware that Hailee was desperate to join up with Hit Girl and her team. I agreed; there was only so much Hailee could do on her own before something went badly wrong and she was killed.

Leading a double life had been a struggle for Hailee and several times, I had needed to fudge an alibi for her. She struggled to keep boyfriends as they often clashed with her nocturnal activities. In a way, I was happier with her current nocturnal activities rather than those other nocturnal activities teenagers normally engaged in!

My daughter would be eighteen in a few more months and then out of my control. I was proud of her and of her upholding the legacy of my husband after he was killed in a car-crash only eight months previously.

..._...

I knew that Marcus had a daughter and that he was due to get married to a woman who had a daughter, too. I just prayed that Marcus' daughters had more sense than to prance about dressed up in armoured suits!

There was a knock on my door and business beckoned.

"Boss, that Petra has been sighted, she's put down three criminals so far and they have been picked up by uniform," Detective Jim Halsay said.

"Get the first criminal set up in interrogation and give me a call."

"Yes, sergeant!"

I would now get to see what my daughter had been getting up to, from the criminals.

District 21
Interrogation Suite B

The man looked like he had been beaten.

"What happened to you, then?" I asked, grinning.

"No self-respecting criminal can walk the streets safely anymore; it's disgusting!"

The man had a sense of humour, anyway.

"So tell me about whatever caught you..."

"Biker chick! Wore a blue/grey armoured suit, my bullets seemed to bounce off! She was vicious and she battered me senseless. When I came too, I was cuffed and in the back of a damn Cop car!"

I smirked, but also felt concern, knowing that my daughter had been shot, several times, apparently.

Indian Knoll Road

The drive home had been long, as usual and had taken almost an hour.

I hated the long drive. However, I loved the house we owned, some thirty or so miles due west of Chicago. I parked the car in the garage and rushed into the house.

"Hailee!"

"Up here, Mom!"

I ran up the stairs and found my daughter in the bathroom. She was not a shy girl and sat there topless, examining the welts on her chest.

"I heard that some idiot shot you."

"Yeah, slight miscalculation on my part!" Hailee grimaced as she pulled on her bra.

"You're staying out longer, Hailee; what's up?"

"Nothing, Mom, just juggling my schedule is all."

"Yeah! You eaten yet?"

"No, Mom; I'm, starving!"

"Thought so."

Hailee hated cooking for herself. Given a choice, she always left it to me. Ultimately, I was very pleased that another day had gone past with my daughter still alive.

I headed to the kitchen to make dinner.

The following morning
Thursday

Mom was already gone for work by the time I hauled myself out of bed.

I really needed to find a boyfriend. I was actually considering that kid who worked down at D-JAK; he was cute, very cute. Although, as I understood it I was two and a half years older than him, but who cared! We had spoken several times and I had heard from another source that he fancied me.

First things first, breakfast!

D-JAK

"Hey, Mrs Wilson!"

"Oh, hello, Hailee. How you doing, this morning?"

"Good, very good, thanks. Err, is Kyle about?"

"Storage room..."

"Thanks!"

I headed over to the storage room and found Kyle stacking some mats.

"Hi, Kyle."

"Hi, Hailee."

"You free lunchtime?" I asked brazenly.

"Hell, yeah, pizza?" Kyle replied, looking excited.

"At the Mall?"

"See you there about one?" Kyle suggested.

"It's a date!"

The Mall

The place was heaving with people, which was fine.

Crowds were anonymous and I liked anonymous. At five minutes to one, I took a seat in the pizza place. I was joined, a few minutes later, by a grinning Kyle. We ordered and then chatted until the pizza arrived. Kyle was a nice guy who did not take advantage of people and I enjoyed his conversation.

"So how did you get involved at D-JAK?" I asked.

"Long story, but I was going out with a girl called Chloe, when I met Dave and Mindy. They run the place. Mindy was training me before they started D-JAK," Kyle replied.

My heart almost skipped a beat at the mention of Chloe and then Dave and Mindy.

"Cool!" I replied. "You like Dave and Mindy, then?"

"Of course! They are the best. There is nobody kinder in the city. Mindy is a lovely person to know."

That matched.

"They seem like nice people."

The conversation then moved away to other subjects and after finishing our pizza, we wandered around the Mall, before we went to see a movie, which while entertaining was not enough to distract us from each other.

Halfway through the film, we began kissing.

Safe House Petra

That evening I geared up, ready for another night on the town.

My graphite black, Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade was my most prized possession and one of the last things that my father had bought for me. I treasured it like nothing else; I loved the adrenalin rush from the speed and acceleration. I pulled on my grey, full-face helmet over my mask and double-checked my equipment.

I checked my Beretta Px4 Storm Compact pistols, my spare ammunition, my communications and finally, my twin Tactical Katana swords. I was ready. I started the engine and felt the throb of the powerful machine course through me. I kicked the machine into gear and gently eased the throttle open and moved out into the night.

Petra was at large!