Sunday night

10:28 P.M.

233 South Wacker Drive
Chicago

Psyche was kicked backwards by Anthony Genovese and she rolled towards the edge of the skyscraper.

I shot the final guard in the face and he dropped, before I could run towards the helicopter, I heard a scream and as I turned my heart actually skipped several beats. I saw the girl stumble over the rails for the window-cleaning robots. I saw what was about to happen and dropping my pistol, I dived for her as she fell backwards and I tried in vain to catch one of my legs on the same rails that had tripped Psyche over the edge. I grabbed hold of her utility belt as she fell, but her weight and that of her weapons pulled me over with her.

I started to lose my grip on the rails when I felt an intense pain below my waist as Shadow grabbed hold of both legs, pinning them in place. I looked below me and shook off the beginnings of vertigo. I took stock of our situation.

The nine-year-old vigilante hung ninety stories above the ground.

I was hanging at a bad angle, so I could not pull her up and the combined weight of my combat suit and weapons were threatening to pull me over the edge. Shadow was clinging to my legs and I could hear her frantically scrabbling for a better hold on the roof top.

"Shadow, you drop me and I'll fucking kill you!"

Psyche was on the verge of panic.

As she went over she had screamed in terror which had then given way to yells of desperation and violent struggling.

"Help me... Please help me... Don't drop me..."

I had to calm her down or she would take us both over the edge and to certain death – I wasted no time believing that we might survive the almost twelve-hundred-foot drop to the ground below us.

"Stop struggling, Psyche, I have you..."

She wasn't listening...

"Help... Help... I'm falling... Please..."

Considering that we were hanging in mid-air with nobody anywhere near us, I decided to break the rules.

"Stephanie!" I yelled.

She stopped moving and then I saw her looking up at me. Despite the mask I could see the fear in her eyes.

"Look at me – you are not going to die. You think you are going to die, then you are going to die! You are not going to die, Stephanie... Say it!"

I saw her mouth moving but heard nothing over the comms.

"Stephanie – fucking say it!"

"I... I am not... I am not going to die..."

"Again!"

"I am... I am not going to die..."

"Again!"

"I am not going to die..."

"Keep thinking that while I figure things out, okay?"

"I trust you, Hit Girl. My life is in your hands."

She was bang on too! Both of my hands were wrapped around the girl's utility belt.

"Damn, you had too many pancakes this morning!" I growled and the girl actually giggled.

"Well, well, well! Another fine mess for Hit Girl!" Kick-Ass mused over the comms.

That was all I needed, a wise-ass Kick-Ass; I had to admit, it was a different 'mess' than my usual ones. Three vigilantes trapped hanging off the fucking ninetieth floor of the Willis Tower – I would never live it down!

"We'll be back with you soon, Hit Girl, we won't leave you hanging around for long!" Kick-Ass laughed.

"Fuck you!" I growled back. "This little bitch ain't as skinny as she looks!"

..._...

"Well, kid, at least you're getting a good look at the view!" I commented.

"It's all fucking upside down!" Psyche complained bitterly.

"There's no pleasing you, is there?"

"Sorry!"

"I'm going off comms for a few minutes, but don't be scared, okay?"

There was a short hesitation before she replied.

"Yes..."

"Battle Guy, give you and me a secure channel."

"Go ahead, it's just us..."

"I want you to shut-off Psyche from all, but me. I don't want her hearing the discussions over her rescue. She will only hear my voice and only you and me will hear her voice, understand?"

"I do – anytime you want to talk without Psyche listening, just ask for a secure channel," Battle Guy acknowledged.

"Cut her back in, please."

"Done!"

"Hey, kid – I'm back!"

"I've not gone anywhere!" Psyche replied.

Her voice indicated how she felt and I was worried that was going to start panicking again.

"Help is on its way – you can do this – I am not leaving you."

A few minutes of silence passed.

"Hit Girl?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really scared..."

"I know you are, but I've got you..."

That was reasonably accurate for that moment. My arms were getting very sore and it took all of my willpower to lock my fingers around the girl's utility belt and keep them there. I worried about cramp; there was no way that I could let go with even one hand for a moment – she would plummet to her death if I tried...

The helicopter was gone by the time I arrived on the rooftop, I ignored the dead body and headed for where I could see Shadow lying prone on the edge of the roof.

As I got closer I could see the black and purple legs of Hit Girl – there was no sign of Psyche, but then there was no sign of Hit Girl's top half either! I yelled for Jackal to bring certain items from Sabre and I sent Wildcat down to guard our vehicles.

..._...

Jackal arrived a few minutes later and first things first, Jackal, Petra and I attached the ends of three lengths of rope to a safety support on the roof top. Next came Shadow.

"Sorry about this, Shadow!" I quipped as I reached between her legs for the carabiner that hung from a mount just below her utility belt. The carabiner was normally hidden under the utility belt.

"Never thought I would ever have Kick-Ass reaching up between my legs!" Shadow said with a chuckle.

"What!" Hit Girl growled.

"Yeah, what she said!" Jackal growled.

"You have a firm touch, Kick-Ass!" Shadow added with a giggle.

"I'll break his fucking fingers!" Jackal muttered.

"Yeah, what he said!" Hit Girl added.

"I'm coming between your legs next, gorgeous..." I said, placing a hand on my wife's left buttock.

"I wish..." Hit Girl moaned!

"Time and a place, people!" Battle Guy cut in.

"That's two secure!" I advised as I secured the second rope to Hit Girl's carabiner. "Jackal, take in the slack on Hit Girl. Petra, take in the slack on Shadow."

"Wow, Hit Girl – you need to lay off the marshmallows, you are heavy!" Jackal exclaimed.

"Would you care to repeat that..." Hit Girl growled.

"Ah, not really..." Jackal replied.

"Good..."

Once the ropes were hauled taut, Shadow let go of Hit Girl's legs and rolled to one side. She sat up and flexed her aching muscles. Her part was not over, though, not by a long shot.

Shadow was safe and Hit Girl was safely secured.

Next, we needed to secure the hanging Psyche.

I had felt the tension grow on my harness and I knew that I was safe – I would not die when I struck South Franklin Street at terminal velocity.

Shadow was gone from my legs, but now came the difficult part. I looked to my right as Shadow appeared, slowly moving down the vertical face of the building.

"Psyche, Shadow is going to clip a rope onto your carabiner and then I am going to let you go. You will swing a bit, but you will be safe..."

"No..." Came the frightened reply. "Don't let me go, please... You said that you would never let me go..."

"I will only let you go once I am certain that you are safe..."

I watched as Shadow carefully reached over and clipped a rope into the carabiner on Psyche's suit.

"Take in the slack, Kick-Ass!" Shadow called.

The slack was hauled in and as the rope went taught I tentatively let go with one hand and then the other. Thank God! Psyche swung a bit as her body sorted out its equilibrium. She screamed at the movement, but Shadow moved down so that she was looking directly into Psyche's eyes.

"Battle Guy! Enable Shadow into Psyche's comms!"

"Psyche, look at me, look at my face and nothing else..." Shadow said gently to the scared vigilante and I saw Psyche move her head and look directly at Shadow. "Keep looking at me, no matter what..."

All three of us were now moving upwards. I was never so happy to feel the rooftop beneath me and I grabbed Psyche the moment that she was over the roof edge and safe.

I hugged her tightly and I was not ashamed to admit that I was crying almost as much as she was.

Safehouse F

Everybody was very sombre as we returned to the Safehouse.

That had been very close, too close. I was very rattled by what had happened, which surprised the hell out of me and Stephanie hadn't stopped shaking since she had been hauled back onto the rooftop. I took the girl upstairs to my bedroom and helped her to remove the combat suit in private. Once the suit was off, Stephanie sat on the bed for a moment taking deep breaths before bolting for the bathroom and vomiting violently into the toilet.

I had expected it, hence the privacy.

It had also been the reason behind restricting the comms. I hadn't wanted her to be embarrassed later by anything that she said while hanging twelve-hundred-feet in the air. When Stephanie had finished retching, she started to sob as she sat down on the bathroom floor, hugging her knees to her chest. Her t-shirt was soaked with sweat and I managed to persuade her to take a shower, but I still had to help her up from the floor and then into the shower.

Dave appeared, having taken his own shower downstairs. He had two mugs of steaming hot chocolate, suitably laced with ample quantities of marshmallows. Dave knew exactly what Stephanie and I needed!

Once Stephanie had reappeared from the shower, wrapped in a towel, Dave sat with her while I went for my own shower.

"Dave?"

"Yeah, Steph."

"I am so sorry for screwing up... I put everybody at risk..."

I stared at the girl.

"Mindy does something to people who whine like a bitch, only I'm not like Mindy. You did nothing wrong – shit happens, live with it. Let me tell you a story... Quite a few years ago, long before I met the ten-year-old Mindy, I decided to try and become a superhero, only it did not quite go the way that I had planned it... Not many people know about Kick-Ass 1.0 – he sucked, big time and well he only lasted like five minutes!"

"What happened?"

"Well, I err, I tried to take on these two guys that were trying to break into a car, but it kinda went to shit and I was stabbed in the stomach," I explained. Stephanie lowered her mug and turned to me, her eyes wide in surprise. "I tried to get away, but then I was hit by a car..."

Stephanie just stared at me and then she burst out laughing. She quickly put the mug of hot chocolate down before she spilt it and burnt herself.

"Yes, it was so fucking funny!" I said sarcastically.

"I'm – sorry – it's just – so funny!" Stephanie admitted, in between fits of laughter.

"I'm glad I've cheered you up, little bitch!"

"Come on... It is rather funny!"

"If you stop laughing for a minute, I'll tell you the rest."

Stephanie forced herself to stop laughing, which seemed to be quite an effort for her. Finally, she stared up at me, but still smiling.

"Well, you see – I err, had to ask the ambulance guy to promise not to say anything and to dispose of the costume, so I was only in my shorts by the time I got to the hospital. Well, that got people talking and they thought that I had, well, that I had been... You know... Raped!"

I could tell that Stephanie was trying desperately, not to laugh!

"After I was fixed up, I spent a few months with people thinking that I was – well... Gay!"

That was way too much for Stephanie and she literally fell over laughing; tears were pouring down her face. After a couple of minutes, the laughter seemed contagious and I started to laugh too! It was funny and I knew that Mindy and Chloe loved the story and I would have laughed, if it had happened to somebody else!

The story, however, had had the desired effect.

When I returned to the bedroom, I found Stephanie sipping her hot chocolate and sitting on the bed with Dave – she was giggling.

"Feeling better?" I asked as I sipped my own hot chocolate.

"A little..." Stephanie admitted.

"I told her the story of Kick-Ass 1.0!" Dave chuckled.

I laughed.

"Dave, I'm staying here tonight, with Step. You get home to the twins; they'll have killed Erika by now – I'll be along in the morning."

"No problem. Chloe, Josh and Hailee are staying too."

The following morning

Stephanie began the night on the upper bunk in one of the bedrooms, with Hailee on the bottom.

However, later that night I found that I had a companion in my bed. I had expected it – the young girl had had a bad nightmare related to her experience and I had been awoken by a distraught Stephanie coming in my room. I hugged her until she fell asleep. Why did I care about the girl so much? Was it because I saw myself in her?

Only a few short years ago, I only cared about me and Daddy. Then it was me and Dave. Then it was many people, from Dave all the way through to the twins that were my children. Now I was caring about a nine-year-old assassin. The girl was all alone in the world – maybe I could do something about that; I would talk to Dave.

I had to do something.

When I awoke I was more than a little startled to find that I was not in the same bed that I had gone to sleep in!

I opened my eyes to find Mindy smiling at me from the other side of the bed. I briefly looked around me and found that I was in Mindy and Dave's room, in their bed; talk about embarrassing! I buried myself under the duvet as I felt my face exploding with the humiliation. I was not a scared five-year-old, so what was I doing in Mindy's bed? Moreover, why was she tolerating it? I was not used to having somebody caring for me, but I liked the feeling that it generated within me.

Since appearing on their doorstep – or rather being scooped up off the pavement by Kick-Ass – I had been accepted into their community. For the first time in quite a while, I had real friends who liked me for who I was. I had been with them for a month now and my wounds were fully healed, yes I had lost my former companion, Miranda, but I was not as alone as I thought I might be.

I had Joshua – I liked him; he was always nice to me and his accent from home, not to mention the Marmite, helped me cope with being in a foreign country and surround by foreigners. Chloe? She did not seem to like me, but she tried not to show it – maybe there were trust issues. Of everybody, apart from Josh, I seemed to feel closest to Dave. He always cared about me, as I knew Mindy did, but I just felt safe around Dave for some reason or other.

Oh, God, I was crying again! The previous night had been very traumatic and I had been scared out of my mind – without Mindy though, I would have lost it completely and fallen to my death. Chloe had been a rock, too. I would have to thank her later. I felt a hand reach over and then I was being hugged by Mindy.

The feeling of somebody comforting me just made me cry even more!

I had an idea of what the young girl was going through.

There had been times when I had felt so alone and I had also endured some very harrowing and traumatic experiences.

I was even more determined to find those people responsible for the way that girl was.