Monday night
Safehouse F
By the time that Kick-Ass and I had returned to the Safehouse, everybody was waiting.
"Job done! The bastard is no more..." Dave commented as he pulled off his mask.
There was lots of applause and cheering from those present in the Safehouse. We had accomplished something big and something so important to the City that we were sworn to protect. I was pleased, very pleased.
We spent the next hour catching up on the events of the night. I was impressed with Curtis – he had saved his cousin from a grenade, which might have killed her. I was pleased to see that the event had pushed the two cousins closer than they had ever been, but concerned that the event had taken place at all.
Chloe was also bruised from the attack on the big-rig. I had to admit that it was funny, even though Chloe threatened enormous pain on anybody who laughed. Apparently, she was badly bruised in places that meant she and Josh would not be having carnal relations for a while!
Even Megan had admitted to receiving more bruises, which was a step in the right direction for the girl.
We had accomplished a lot out of such a small piece of intelligence.
Three days earlier
Friday evening
Chicago Police Department
District 21
"I'm saying nothing without my lawyer and Department Rep..."
"I don't think you understand your position..." Sergeant Voight continued. "You speak to me, or you speak to my friend..."
"Who...?"
The man looked beyond the cage in which he was being held and out into the large open space. The far door opened and the soon-to-be-ex-Police Officer went white, moving as far back in the cage as he could at the sight of what walked in the door.
"It's me or the vigilante..." Voight elaborated with an evil grin.
"You know who I am?" The electronically enhanced voice growled without preamble.
"Of – of course..."
The man was in a state of barely controlled panic as the vigilante, clad from head to toe in dark grey body armour with purple highlights, leant casually against the wall. In her right hand, Hit Girl expertly flicked a razor sharp Balisong knife.
"I hope I'm not intimidating you..." She growled.
"No – yes – I'm fine."
He very obviously was not!
"You know things – now I want to know things," Voight said calmly. "I think you know who we're talking about."
"I talk – I die..."
"You don't talk – you die – eventually!" Hit Girl interrupted.
Voight opened the door to the cage and she walked straight in, ignoring the panicked screams.
...forty-two seconds later...
"He has a warehouse; it's the central hub of his shipping network... You have to believe me..."
"I don't – but I will... However, if you are lying to me..."
Five days after the Superintendent's downfall
Thursday morning
Safehouse F (lower level)
I watched from the bottom of the steel steps.
The two girls, each with their blonde hair tied back, were exercising together. Their movements were both co-ordinated and precise. They had been at it for almost an hour and sweat patches were visible on their clothes.
I pushed open the glass door and entered the room, walking around to face the two girls. Mindy looked as hot as ever in nothing but a sports bra and skin-tight shorts. She was dripping with sweat, which to me, only made her look so much more attractive. Beside her was Stephanie, in a t-shirt and shorts, and she too was dripping with sweat.
I was concerned that Mindy was pushing Steph a bit fast, but the young girl looked to be handling herself well. Mindy was putting Steph through her paces, so that we could work out what the girl could do, what she was capable of doing and what she was not capable of doing.
"So – what can Psyche do?" I asked with a friendly smile for the nine-year-old.
Mindy grabbed a cold bottle of water from the fridge, passing another to Stephanie.
"The bitch ain't bad – she has some basic skills which we can build on. I want her at D-JAK, at least three times a week. Right now, she can put somebody down, but not effectively and she will struggle with anybody bigger than Megan is. Not her fault; we just need to complete her training."
"I'd take that as a compliment, Steph – it's the best you're gonna get!" I explained.
"Thanks, Mindy."
"I am impressed, Steph; you did well for a nine-year-old. You need to rest – I will not have you doing too much until you are properly healed. Get upstairs, take a shower and get yourself cleaned up."
The girl ran off and I grinned at Mindy.
"What?"
"You're having fun, ain't ya?"
"Just a bit – she's a great girl and she'll do well..."
"But..." I could tell from Mindy's expression that there was a 'but'.
"She has a lot of demons inside her – she has to come to terms with who she is before she can move on and that won't be easy. I don't know what it is, but there is something really big bugging that girl."
"Hopefully Doc Bennett will find it."
Safehouse F (upper level)
As I dressed after my shower, I felt pleased with how the morning had gone.
I had been able to keep up with Mindy, kind of, but it had been painful. I was pleased that Mindy thought I had done well.
"You did well, I understand," Miranda commented as she came into the bedroom.
"It was good, if tiring. How are you doing?"
"Not bad, I've just got back from seeing Dr Bennett. I've brought over the rest of your kit – but you'll need to sort it out before you take it to Mindy's as there is a lot of shit in there that she won't want her kids seeing."
"Thanks, Miranda."
Central Intelligence Agency
Langley, Virginia
The operator at the computer terminal looked up as his terminal beeped, indicating an incoming message.
The operator opened the message, read it and after checking for the messages ultimate destination in an online directory, he forwarded it on. He then made a note in another file called: 'TREADSTONE', acknowledging receipt of the message and the message's originator: 'ECHELON'.
The operator had no idea what sort of trouble and consternation that single message was about to cause as it triggered another beep on another terminal several floors above him.
Safehouse F
It was just the three of us girls.
Megan and Stephanie sat across from me in the briefing room. There was nobody else at the Safehouse.
"Megan, as we discussed earlier, you are the closest in age to Stephanie, I want you to help and guide Stephanie through her Fusion training. You two will become a team; you will train together, spar together and operate together.
"Stephanie. I want you to see Megan as your partner and as an equal. Trust her, confide in her and listen to her. She may only be eleven and a scrawny, gobby little bitch, but she has learnt the hard way about being a young vigilante and you could learn something from her. Anything you say to her will be kept between the two of you, unless Megan deems it prejudicial to safety or secrecy, in which case she will talk to Dave or me.
"Anything that comes from her, about you, will also be kept in the strictest confidence by me and Dave, with the same caveat. We will both respect your privacy as an individual, but we will both be here to help you. Megan has been around the block, and she knows the 'lay of the land' in Fusion. She knows my rules, too and what happens when she breaks them! Megan will train you at D-JAK and bring you up to speed, reporting back to me, your progress."
Stephanie sat there for a few minutes taking in all that I had said and processing it.
"Thank you, Mindy, and you Megan. I trust you both and I am happy for anything that I say to be made known between you two and Dave, unless I say otherwise."
"Megan is not allowed to discipline you; that is for myself and Dave, only – and we will come down on you hard if we need to. However, if you are putting yourself, or somebody else for that matter, in danger then and only then, will she be allowed to act against you – okay?"
"That's fair," Stephanie admitted, smiling at Megan.
Two days later
Saturday
D-JAK
Stephanie's wounds were healed enough for her to start training properly.
I had warned Megan to take it easy; however, we were talking about Megan! I watched as Stephanie was kicked to the floor for the fourth time. Megan was smirking and Stephanie was in pain, but the young girl never lifted a finger to protect herself. I ran over before Megan could put Stephanie down again.
"What are you playing at, Megan?"
"I can handle her, Mindy!" Stephanie said, despite breathing heavily.
I could see tears in the girl's eyes. What was she doing? Then just as Megan was about to attack Stephanie again, it clicked. I turned and yelled out a warning to Megan, but not fast enough, as Stephanie caught Megan's ankle as it came towards her face and she viciously twisted Megan over and sent her crashing onto the mat.
Megan screamed and then looked up in surprise. I grinned.
"You were trying to control your emotions and prevent yourself from reacting...?"
"Yes..."
Stephanie sank to the floor as Megan jumped up and came over, her face full of concern.
"I am so, so sorry Steph – I got carried away!" Megan exclaimed.
"No pain, no gain," Steph replied.
"Don't push yourself too hard or you'll never heal," I warned.
"Message received!"
The following morning
Sunday
The Farm
I was doing everything that I could to distract Stephanie from her former life and to inject some fun into her new life.
Often there was giggling well into the night between Stephanie and Anne-Marie. I had also noticed the same between Stephanie and Megan, which was also good. Cathy had commented on Stephanie's emotional state, which seemed to have changed – for the better. The contact with other kids, be it Anne-Marie, Megan or Josh, had had an effect upon her – a good effect.
"Here!" I announced passing the girl a helmet.
"I see – that explains giving me back my boots, black jeans and leather jacket."
"Until I get you some proper motorcycle leathers..."
I wanted to see what the girl could do on two wheels. I had questioned her and Stephanie had hinted that she could ride a motorcycle. Therefore, while the twins were roaring around the field on the quadbikes under the watchful eyes of Dave and Superintendent Bay, I would concentrate on Stephanie.
Chloe had wanted to come up too. However, Sunday was also the anniversary of Curtis becoming an orphan. I remembered that day well and I hated it. Chloe and Cathy were spending the day with Curtis to help him get through the day.
I watched as Stephanie pulled on the helmet and then followed her movements as she checked out the motorcycle before climbing on and starting the engine. I was impressed! The girl knew her way around a motorcycle. I jumped onto my BMW and followed Stephanie out of the barn and towards the field.
..._...
Not surprisingly, Anne-Marie's quadbike was on its side. It looked like she had taken the corner too fast – again! However, she was on her feet while Dave righted the quadbike before picking up and dumping the girl on the saddle – none too gently either.
"Little bitch!" I heard over the comms as Dave saw us approaching.
Stephanie kept her speed down as she turned into the field keeping the motorcycle under control. She managed to, avoiding Danny with a quick skid, which she controlled nicely. She knew what she was doing... I rode up beside her and waved her to a stop.
"Let's go for a ride," I suggested.
Dave waved at us as we rode out of the field and behind the farm, following the same track where Dave and I had taken Chloe and Josh, months before. We paralleled the river for a while, heading south before we found ourselves at the County Forest Preserve. I stopped almost exactly, where Josh had made his last stand, that night when Jack and Natalie had been shot.
"Joshua almost died, in that ditch. He fought off almost a dozen men, single handed and was shot himself. I was unable to get to him, but he used his training and survived."
I knelt down and stood back up with an empty P90 cartridge case in my hand. Not all of them had been recovered. I passed it to Stephanie.
"P90 or Five-seveN – 5.7-millimetre," she offered.
"P90..."
"They all mean a lot to you, I can see that. Thank you for helping me, Mindy – I know you care."
"That's part of my problem. I never used to care..."
"Like me. I was trained to think about me – and me only. The mission came first, second and third!" Stephanie said quietly.
"It sucks to be us..." I agreed.
That night
Morton Grove
"Since when do you knock?"
"Just trying to be polite, Doc!"
"No problem, Megan."
I laughed and led Megan through the living room where Chloe and Curtis sat.
"I see!" Chloe said with an evil grin. "Curtis – time for you to have some fun..."
"Excuse me!" Megan scowled.
"I know why you are here," Chloe continued. "Mom, I think Curtis and Megan should go upstairs for a while – you know, get some alone time!"
I rolled my eyes and grinned.
"Curtis..." Megan suggested.
The boy blushed and grinned, but followed Megan upstairs.
"What are you doing here?"
"Dumb question, Curtis!"
"Dumb or not, it still stands."
"I'm here to offer you a distraction..."
"Like what?"
"Like this..." I growled, pulling off my jacket, shirt, shoes, pants and socks.
Curtis' eyes almost bugged out.
I pushed him backwards onto the bed and started to undo his pants – he did not interfere or try to stop me. I left his shorts on, to spare him any blushes. It was all just a bit of innocent fun; while I had hit puberty, as far as I could tell, Curtis had not – so nothing was going to happen, even if I had wanted it to... Despite his shortcomings, he was definitely distracted from his other problems, I noticed, looking at his shorts where something was moving...
Okay, I was a tease – but as far as I was concerned, I was Curtis' for as long as he wanted me and he could do what he wanted - it wasn't like he had never seen me naked before... I allowed Curtis to fiddle with my bra, eventually releasing the catch and it fell to the bed. I slid off my remaining article of clothing and surprisingly, he did the same.
I lay down beside him and gave him a kiss.
An hour later
"They're very quiet - unlike you!"
"Thanks, Mom, I really needed to hear that!"
I felt myself blushing.
"You and Dad aren't much better... Ewww, I can't believe I said that."
I could hear movement upstairs and then footsteps on the stairs. Megan was wrapped in a towel while Curtis was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at Curtis. My cousin blushed but smiled back at me. Megan as usual was looking as innocent as ever.
"Had fun, Megan?" Mom asked.
"Yes, thank you, I was well satisfied."
"Well done, Curtis!" I commented with a grin which made my cousin blush even redder.
Three days later
Wednesday Night
Paige lay in a pool of blood, her dress soaked.
Marcus lowered his pistol, gun smoke still swirling from the end of the barrel. He looked at me as I lowered my borrowed weapon, conscious of the two dead bodies a dozen yards away. Behind us were more injured people. I ripped the bottom off my expensive cocktail dress and used it to stem the flow of blood in Paige's chest.
I could hear sirens as Paramedics approached. Superintendent Bay arrived at my side, resting his hand on my shoulder, his own weapon in evidence at his side. I looked up at Jack and we exchanged glances. Somebody was going to die – at my hand.
Dave reached me just as I started to shake with shock and anger. Why did things have to happen to my family, the people that I loved?