Northern Chicago

The two men looked around, checking for any problems.

They seemed oblivious to our presence; we were hidden in the shadows. We just needed to find out who or what they were. I had an idea...

"Jackal, Shadow – could you step out onto the sidewalk for a moment...?" I asked, knowing that I would get hell for it later on.

I watched as the unsuspecting Jackal appeared out of the store. The two men responded after a brief moment spent checking to see who had appeared out of the store. They sent a dozen rounds towards Jackal.

Jackal dived back into the store.

"Three comments. One; the natives are restless. Two; those bullets hurt. Three; Shadow you are dead meat!" Jackal announced.

I grinned inside my mask and looked over at Petra who was shaking her head. I watched as she pulled out a flash-bang grenade and threw it towards the two men where it exploded less than a foot away. Both fell to the ground, hands around their heads in agony. We both jumped up and ran forward.

The rear door of the centre Range Rover was still open so I threw in another flash-bang, incapacitating the driver and anybody else in the vehicle. The front vehicle started its engine and began to move, the rear Range Rover was empty. I ran forward and fired my P90 point-blank into the passenger side window, which crazed and started to give way under the onslaught of almost fifty rounds, but the vehicle accelerated away and escaped around a corner.

I instantly swapped out the magazine and advanced on the two men who were starting to regain consciousness. I seized their hands and secured them with plastic ties. Neither had any form of identification on them and neither did the driver. We kept watch in case anybody else turned up to cause trouble and to guard the evidence until Voight arrived.

..._...

Over the comms, I heard Kick-Ass updating Battle Guy.

The store was secure; the owners were safe and uninjured. It looked to have been a protection racket job gone wrong. Only these men were not Russian Mafia, or Sicilian Mafia; it was the wrong part of the City for either.

It all became clear when Voight arrived with his team. I nodded at Detective Erin Lindsay; I liked her. Olinsky looked pissed as he recognised one of the men.

"That bastard works for the Superintendent!" He growled.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"That, young Shadow, is one of the Superintendent's picked men; they are dirty and in this case, they are shaking down these people – that bastard should fucking hang!" Voight confirmed.

St Louis

It was time to return to Chicago.

I needed Dave's help; we could not find out what had happened to us alone – St Louis was getting too dangerous and our skills were now coming to the fore and those skills scared the hell out of both of us. I was also scared for Stephanie and I did not see that I would be able to give her the care that a girl her age needed.

There was still the problem that I was unsure who Dave was and where to find him, but my subconscious told me to go to Chicago, which would be dangerous as hell. My memories, the ones I needed, were still slow to return.

I had no choice – Chicago was it...

Chicago
Safehouse F

"You causing shit again?"

"As always, my love..."

I kissed my husband.

"Get a room; jeez!" Megan moaned as she headed for the armoury.

"She needs a release..." Jackal announced.

"Yeah – she needs Curtis!" Chloe grinned.

"Dirty fuckers!" Megan growled.

I studied my husband.

It was the first new combat suit that Kick-Ass had had in a while.

I had put extra work into it, with Fox. The suit was built up from a brand new form of composite armour, which could take heavy punishment and still be lightweight. It was also modular to allow it to be customised for different missions as operations dictated.

The basic combat suit was a two-piece: pants and a top. The colouring was a very dark grey that was almost, but not quite, black. The suit went from the top of Dave's neck, down to his ankles and wrists. The lower ten-inches of suit, beneath his knees were of a thinner material to allow for his boots, which were armoured and which locked together around his calves. They looked heavy but were remarkably light. The boots were the same dark grey, but with subdued green and yellow highlights running vertically upwards from the ankle on the outside of each boot.

The same thinner material existed on his lower arms, where conformal gauntlets pulled on like normal gloves, but were then secured around his lower arms with their embedded armour. Both gauntlets had integrated full HD, five-inch screens mounted beneath transparent armour on the back of each wrist. The screens were touch sensitive, but only to Kick-Ass' gauntlets and they were linked back to the Control Centre where images and data could be uploaded as required. The screens were impossible to see in their normal mode, unless Kick-Ass was wearing his face-mask/helmet.

The combat suit provided integrated armour for his knees, thighs, groin and chest, on the front. The rear of the suit provided heavier armour for the upper back, spine and pelvic areas. There was also protection for the elbows, shoulders and collarbones. The back armour had integrated mountings for Kick-Ass' batons and swords. On the thigh-plates were mount points for holsters and any other required equipment. The new communications equipment was integrated with the pelvic armour that ran around his waist and joined up with the groin armour. Additional equipment and ammunition pouches could be attached as required.

The overall look was dark grey, but the armour sections all had subdued green and yellow flashes to show his identity. There was one final piece to add to the basic combat suit, the face-mask/helmet.

It was more helmet than facemask.

It was full-face, but retained a removable lower section around the mouth. The lenses of the helmet were dark and they had a built in HUD that was connected to the wrist screens. The helmet was pulled on over the head and then secured around the neck. The anti-lift technology was included and would be standard for all new Fusion combat suits. On the sides of the helmet, above the ear-grills, were mounted two powerful multi-function LED lamps that could light up the area in front of Kick-Ass. The lamps were very slim-line and almost invisible.

If required, additional armour could be fitted to cover the chest and stomach, wrapping around the sides and enhancing the back armour. Extra armour sections could be clipped around the thighs, lower legs and upper arms as required. There were also additional mountings available to allow Kick-Ass to carry extra ammunition or other equipment should the need arise.

I had watched as Kick-Ass had tried out some moves in the new suit. His movements had not been restricted in any way.

"Very light – no heavier than what I wore before!" He had commented.

Then it was my turn!

The new combat suit used the same design as Wildcat's, although mine was predominantly dark grey with subdued purple flashes and highlights. I had selected two different masks; one was my standard design that came down to the bridge of my nose while the other one was full-face. I also had additional armour that could be attached to the suit if we were going to be doing any heavier than normal fighting.

I was physically bigger and stronger than Wildcat, so I would be able to handle the additional weight. Not that it weighed all that much, to be honest. I could carry all the usual equipment and weapons, in all the usual places, however I had a new toy – two actually!

In the knuckles of each gauntlet were a pair of electrodes. If desired, I could ram my fist into an assailant and trigger off a Taser blast. Each gauntlet was good for six stuns each before I would need to switch out the power cells. I would carry two spare power cells on my belt.

I retained the wig on my open mask, but not on the full-face one. The full-face mask was for serious combat where the mask and indeed the cape, would not be desired.

Did I also tell you about the trouble at home?

Grief has finally caught up to the twins. Danny? He was coping in his own way and he allowed Dave and me to talk to him about his feelings. As for Anne-Marie – she spent one Monday afternoon trashing her bedroom... She would ignore anything we said and was nasty to almost everybody; even the school was complaining about her behaviour.

I had no idea what to do. I knew what she was going through; however, I had been older, much older. She would not talk to Dave or me. I knew that she had to talk to somebody. After a week of major problems, I had one more card to play: Megan.

...+...

Megan had come home with us after school while Danny had gone to stay with Marcus and Paige for the night. Marcus had commented on it being an unfair exchange as we had ended up with Megan! However, Megan was a friend to the twins and Anne-Marie might open up to her, not to mention that Megan had her own way of manipulating people.

"Where is my brother?" Anne-Marie demanded.

"With Marcus and Paige," I replied.

"Why?"

"We need to talk, young lady –"

"No we don't and you are not my mother so I don't have to listen to you!" Anne-Marie retorted.

"No, I am not your mother, but..."

"So get off my damn back, Mindy!"

With that, the girl stormed off upstairs. I made to follow but Megan seized my wrist. Megan had fire in her eyes.

"Leave her to me," she growled.

I ran up the stairs and saw Anne-Marie vanishing into her bedroom.

I followed her, catching the door as it was slammed in my face.

"That was not nice!" I growled.

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk with you; we're friends, are we not?" I asked Anne-Marie.

"Yes, we are, but I need space to deal with this, err, stuff..." She replied slightly less malevolently.

"You need to talk, Anne-Marie, and we are all here to help you."

"I don't need any of you, least of all them!"

"You mean, Dave and Mindy."

"Yes, them – they, they – they are not our parents..."

"They are the closest thing you have to parents..."

"No – they can never replace my parents; they don't love us, they..."

"Don't you dare, say anything against Dave and Mindy. For your information, they do love you both and would do anything for you. Although right now I can't see any reason for anybody to love you! Okay, your Dad is dead; so is mine, so is Mindy's, so is Dave's, so is Josh's – get over it, talk about it – we are all here to help you, despite you causing so much crap!"

"I..."

"You ever upset Dave and Mindy, I will personally sort you out and I don't care how old you are! I owe Dave and Mindy everything – I will not see some stuck up seven-year-old fuck with my friends... Dave and Mindy have gone out of their way to give you and Danny a damn nice home. They even had you at their wedding – right there out front where everybody could see you. They were both real proud of you for what you both did for them. So why fuck them off?"

"I'm sorry..."

"It's not me that you need to apologise to – I couldn't give a fuck about what you think of me – even if it does hurt me inside."

"I miss Daddy; I miss him so much..."

Anne-Marie crumpled onto the bed and started sobbing. I had been the same as her when my Dad had died. I had made things so hard for my Mom, when she just needed me to be there for her, just as she was always there for me. I missed my Dad and always would; I still cried at night when I thought about him. Now, though, I had Marcus and I could move on with my life.

I hoped that Anne-Marie and Danny would be able to do the same.

...+...

I had had no idea what had gone on upstairs, but I had heard raised voices, although not what had been said. Nevertheless, an hour later a very apologetic Anne-Marie had appeared downstairs. Megan seemed to vanish, along with Sophia.

Anne-Marie, Dave and I had a long talk for almost two hours. Many tears were spilled, but finally we were back as a family. Anne-Marie had been grounded for a week for destroying her bedroom and she had had to help Dave repaint one of the walls as part of her punishment. Seeing her brother playing in the pool while she was stuck doing her homework or other chores sucked, and her behaviour changed for the good in short order.

I decided that we should have a change of scene and as the weather was still reasonable, we went to spend a day offshore.

Burnham Harbor Marina

"You own a boat!"

Anne-Marie and Danny were astounded at the sight of my pride and joy.

"What's a 'salty swallow'?" Danny asked innocently, looking at Dave.

Dave looked at me.

"Yes, Mindy – what does it mean?" Dave prompted grinning.

I felt myself going very red and decided that Marcus had been right about my choice of name!

"I forget – come back when you're both fifteen!" I said lamely.

"It's a bird that likes to fly out over the sea," Dave said with a big grin on his face.

"This place is awesome!" Danny exclaimed as he entered the main salon his eyes wide.

"It's enormous – Mindy, it's amazing."

Anne-Marie had changed completely and she was being civil and nice to everybody. I could see the guilt in her eyes – and the sorrow.

"Come on, girl, we need to get the lines while Dave and Danny start the engines."

The Salty Swallow

Two hours later, we were ten miles offshore.

Anne-Marie had lost both her dignity and her breakfast! Danny was fine with the motion and was having fun at his sister's expense.

"I'm okay – I think..." The pale looking girl said as she came back from the bathroom.

"Get up on deck and focus on the horizon; you'll be fine," Dave advised. "You'll get your sea-legs soon."

The afternoon was fun and we were all able to enjoy ourselves playing games. Anne-Marie was ravenous by the evening and was able to eat a large meal and keep it down, too. By the time we returned to the Marina, it was dark, so we decided to spend the night aboard.

"You decided to stop being so nasty?"

"Yes, Danny – I made a mistake okay."

"I'm glad you're back, though. They both care about us, you know that."

"I do, but I forgot for a moment. Losing Dad was bad and it took a while to sink in – but yes, I know we're both safe and we always will be as long as we are with Dave and Mindy."

"Finally something useful comes out of your mouth," Danny laughed. "Other than your breakfast!"

His sister glared at him.

"Come on you two – sleep!" Dave's voice called from outside the door.

"Night, Dave. Night, Mindy."

Back to the present
Sunday morning

Glenview

"That fucker is going down, Marcus. When I see evil I have to stop it..."

"I know, Mindy – I know!" Marcus replied.

"He's a senior Cop; we need to tread carefully – very carefully!" Jack warned.

"He needs to die – I won't stand for him in Chicago..." Hailee added vehemently.

"You can't kill him..." Vicky responded. "It would set a precedent and turn everybody against you."

"I know, dammit!" Mindy growled.

"Dave, can you keep these two under control?" Marcus asked, indicating Mindy and Hailee.

"I'll try!" I acceded.

"Sorry, I spoke out of turn," Hailee apologised. "We'll do this by the book."

"Yeah, I really don't want to have to move again!" Mindy added.