Wednesday Night
Safehouse D
The large door slid shut behind us as we followed the two motorcycles into the darkness.
For a moment, I felt panic rising, but I pushed the feeling down – I trusted Josh explicitly. After a short pause, the lights came up and I immediately recognised the enormous bulk of Titan and several other vehicles including a big-rig and a trailer. I also recognised two people standing beside another armoured vehicle – neither were wearing body armour, but they were both very familiar. I climbed down from Raven Nest and walked forward, conscious of the enormous form of Kick-Ass standing off to one side, a wicked looking assault rifle in his hands.
"Hello, Mindy – good to see you again," I said receiving a smile in return before turning to the man beside her. "You too, Mr Williams."
"Call me Marcus, Morgan."
"Christ!" Uncle John said as he walked over to his friend. "This kind of explains a few things..."
"A lot to take in, John – you too, Emily."
"Thank you for protecting our wayward girl," Aunt Em said.
"Oh, I'm used to wayward girls!" Marcus chuckled and I saw Mindy scowl.
Kick-Ass lowered his rifle and he removed his mask.
"Dave, Dave Lizewski," he said as he held out his hand. "Otherwise known as Kick-Ass!"
I saw Mindy roll her eyes and mutter, "Dumbass".
"Morgan, Morgan Hella – otherwise known as Red Raven."
I took his hand and shook it.
I found myself being led down a long corridor.
My Aunt and Uncle were back with Marcus and I was following Mindy, Dave, Josh and Chloe. I had no idea where I was going, but I had been told to bring my mask. Finally, we emerged into a corridor beside an elevator.
"Welcome to Safehouse F, Morgan!" Josh said as a door released and we passed into a glass enclosure.
"Oh, wow..." Was all I could say.
Chloe placed her hand against a glass panel and a glass door clicked opened. I walked through into a large area that had been literally cut from the rock beneath Chicago. I took in everything I could but struggled with information overload. Then I found Mindy in my face; the smile was gone – she looked pissed.
"Now the touchy-feely happy moment is over, I want to kick your fucking ass!"
With that, Mindy seized my arm and all but dragged me up some steel stairs. It never occurred to me to struggle, or to reach for my weapons.
Mindy was Hit Girl – I had no defence against her!
..._...
I was pulled along a catwalk and thrown onto a couch in a large open room.
"Where the fuck, do you get off killing in my city?"
It was not quite a yell, but it was still scary – especially as I was being yelled at my somebody with no obvious weapons on show, while I was fully armed and in body armour.
"I held out a hand of friendship to you, but then your tore up Chicago and shot a man dead!"
"He refused to answer my questions..."
"You mean you lost control of the situation?" Mindy asked, calming down slightly.
"Yeah..."
"You could have killed yourself, too. How's your arm – I saw you collide with that bus?"
"Bruised – I've not had a chance to check it yet..."
"There's a bathroom over there, go check yourself out and then we can talk about that cunt you were chasing."
"Did you get him?" I asked excitedly.
"Go sort yourself out and then I'll bring you up to date..."
..._...
When I emerged from the bathroom, I found Chloe waiting for me.
"You okay?" She asked with a tone of genuine concern.
"Just some wicked bruising, but I've had worse!"
"Hit Girl wants us down below..." Chloe advised ominously as she pulled on her mask.
I did the same and followed her, noticing for the first time a very young girl, maybe eight or nine, watching me. What was a little girl doing in the Safehouse? I also noticed that the girl had a small pistol in a holster clipped to the belt of her jeans. I was watched all the way down the first set of stairs and then again as we went down another set of stairs.
"Don't mind her – she's British!" Shadow commented as if it explained everything...
We passed a large glazed in exercise area and then passed through a door with an ominous sign: 'Interrogation and Holding'.
Raven went for the door handle, but I caught her and waved her to the side.
"No weapons inside – leave it all in a locker," I advised, pointing at several large lockers mounted outside the door.
I stowed my own weapons, as Raven stowed hers. Next, I placed my hand on the adjacent scanner, the door released and I waved Raven inside.
..._...
Raven stopped dead as I closed the door behind her.
"You got him!" She growled.
On the far side of the room was a small six-foot by ten-foot cell. The cell had a concrete bed built into the wall on one side, a steel toilet and a steel sink. The front of the cell was formed by steel bars, with a door to the left which was locked. The door could only be released from the Control Centre.
"Oh, great, it's the little girl!" The man growled from the other side of the bars.
"Shut the fuck up, cunt!" Hit Girl growled and the man went silent.
"Raven – meet Harry Stewart."
"I don't wanna meet him – I wanna kill him..." Raven hissed.
"All in good time, my dear Raven," Hit Girl replied. "All in good time..."
"Let's start things right," Hit Girl began. "You are going to answer some questions..."
"Fuck you, bitches!" Stewart growled "That is precisely what I am gonna do to each and every one of you three – I'm gonna fuck you till you fucking eyes pop out and then..."
"Original, very original..." Hit Girl drawled, cutting him off.
Then Stewart spa through the bars, his effluent landing on Hit Girl's armoured chest. Hit Girl just looked up at the camera, nodded, and there was a dull click from the door to the cell, which slid open soundlessly.
..._...
Before the man could react, Hit Girl reached in and using her considerable strength, she dragged the man out and smacked his head down hard on the top of the wooden table outside of the cell. The unfortunate man yelled out in pain. Hit Girl leant down so her mouth was only inches from his left ear.
"You listen and you listen good. Answer the questions, and I won't kill you. Don't answer the questions..."
Harry Stewart screamed as Hit Girl drove a small throwing knife through the back of his hand into the top of the table.
"Let me tell you a story..." Shadow began. "There was a twelve-year-old-girl and she was tucked up safely in her bed at home. That night, some bad men broke in and they attacked her parents before trying to rape that little girl. However, that little girl was very, very brave and she fought back..."
I felt a little embarrassed by Shadow's comments, but I was pleased that she approved of what I had done all those years previously. I hated recalling that night, but I could understand Shadow's reasons for bringing it up.
"... She killed a man, but two others escaped – do you want to stand in the way of that girl's revenge for her dead parents?"
The man thought through his pain and I saw fear in his eyes. I had recognised it the moment Shadow had mentioned the two that had escaped – he was the second man.
I moved towards the man and he flinched.
The following morning
Thursday
North Park Elementary School
"Miss Lizewski!"
Huh, what?
"Miss Lizewski, are you on the same planet as the rest of us?"
There were giggles from some of the other fourth-grade girls and I could see some exaggerated eye-rolling from the boys.
"Err, yes, miss."
I scowled at the boys – they irked me! I also felt myself blushing in response to the giggling.
"I hope I am not boring you, young lady..."
"Steph, is not a lady, miss," a boy called out with a snigger, triggering some general laughter.
"Thank you, Mister Evans!"
"Yes – thanks, Jackson!" I growled.
Later that day, I sat down in the lunch room just as I had done at noon each day for the previous six weeks, since I had started at the school.
Fourth grade was boring, at least I thought so, which meant that my mind tended to drift off and it tried to fill itself with something much more exciting. I preferred to run through the intricacies of taking a Glock pistol to pieces rather than the Distributive Property of Multiplication in Maths – I, like Joshua, refused to call it 'Math'!
I was soon joined by four other kids – they seemed to have gravitated toward me over the past couple of weeks, no idea why. Each was in my grade and I quickly saw them as my friends.
I glared at Jackson Evans; a slim ten-year-old brown-haired boy.
"I can be a lady, thank you very much, Jackson!"
"I was only kidding, Steph..."
"We're still trying to figure you out, girl," nine-year-old Alison 'Ali' Johns commented.
"Figure what out?" I enquired.
"You're a British kid in an American city – you're an oddity," Ali explained.
"Okay... Oh, hi Megan," I called out as Megan walked past with her friends – she nodded and smiled at me.
"You know her?" Craig James asked.
"She's my Aunt," I explained to the blond-haired kid.
"Wow – she's violent; you know that, don't you?" Katherine 'Katy' Evans asked.
"Yes – I do," I laughed. "But, what can I say..."
"I've seen you with that girl, the one in second grade who keeps getting into fights – what's her name?" Ali asked.
I laughed.
"That would be Anne-Marie – she's my little sister and she has a twin – Danny."
"You're nice, Steph – just a little strange!" Jackson commented and I smiled.
"Jeez – just tell him you fancy him, Steph..."
"What?" I growled at Anne-Marie as she walked past. "Second graders are not allowed in this part of the lunch room – so get!"
Anne-Marie smirked as she walked away.
"She says your name in her sleep, Jackson!" She called out as she then ran back to her table.
Safehouse D
Raven Nest
I paced backwards and forwards and I had done since I had woken up that morning.
"Problem?"
I turned to see Mindy coming towards me from the direction of the tunnel that led to Safehouse F. I was alone – my Aunt and Uncle were with Marcus and a guy called Jack Bay. My mind was troubled – between my information and that of Mindy, I had captured the second man and we knew where the killer of my parents was.
I wanted to kill them both, but a part of me said that I should hand them both over to Special Agent Gibbs.
"What do I do, Mindy – my heart says kill them both..."
"I know this one – your brain says hand them over to justice; a difficult choice and one that I have fought with many times over the years."
"So...?"
Mindy sighed.
"I can't make the decision for you, Morgan – that is for you to decide... I know, it's a lot for a sixteen-year-old girl to cope with," Mindy replied after a minute's thought. "I had to make these decisions on my own, after my Daddy died; I had nobody else – at least until Dave appeared on the scene."
"Thanks for nothing!" I groused with a forced smile.
The following morning
Friday
Glenview
"You sure about this, Steph?"
"Yeah, Mum – I want to fit in..."
"If you say so – it's up to you."
"Oh – this is good..." Anne-Marie laughed as she entered the kitchen. "What are you wearing?"
"A skirt – what about it?" I responded, feeling a little shy. "I'm a girl..."
I was wearing a navy blue skirt that fell to just below my knees, plus tights of the same colour.
"I keep forgetting that..." Anne-Marie commented. "It's only when I see you in the shower that I notice you are, in fact, a girl!"
"Get back to your cereal, you terrible tike!" Mindy laughed as I blushed.
Anne-Marie did just that.
"I bet Jackson will like the skirt..." Danny cut in and I felt my face explode into flames and I tried to hide my face from Dave and Mindy.
"Tell us more, Stephanie," Dave chuckled.
I scowled.
"He's a boy in my class – and we are just friends..."
"So were Mindy and I..." Dave chuckled.
"I will kick your little bottom so hard, Anne-Marie!"
Safehouse F
"Where's Marty?"
"He's in the Data Core, next door," Abby commented.
I headed through to Safehouse E and meandered through the corridors and then down two levels until I reached a steel door. I placed the palm of my right hand onto an adjacent scanner and the door released. I found myself facing a glass door beyond which was a mass of flickering lights and my master technology expert. He released the lock on the glass door and I entered the Fusion Data Core.
On my left were several racks, all loaded with servers and storage devices. This was the Primary Data Core – we had three others. The Secondary Data Core was in New York, the Tertiary Data Core was in Gotham, while the fourth was in the UK. Marty and Abby called them, Alfa, Bravo, Charlie and Delta respectively.
To the right, Marty had a large work area. All around him were new servers and a multitude of spare parts, including some items awaiting repair. However, directly ahead lay a steel cage, within which Marty was currently working. You entered via a mesh 'air lock'. The cage was designed to prevent all signals from any devices getting out to the outside world. That would be very difficult as we were over a hundred feet below tonnes of rock, steel and concrete, but we took no chance's!
"Having fun?" I asked.
"Rebuilding the RAID array was not easy, but the hard drives we seized from the CIA Safehouse should provide us with some decent intelligence – once decrypted of course."
That evening
Glenview
"I hate her!"
"Hate who, honey?" Dave asked.
"Her!"
I turned to see Stephanie pointing at Anne-Marie who froze, her eyes wide at Stephanie's expression of loathing. Anne-Marie looked like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights. What could the girl have done to her sister?
"The bitch humiliated me – in front of my friends. I am never wearing this damn skirt again!"
"If you hate her so much, kill her..." I suggested, smirking at Dave who just shook his head slowly.
"What!" Anne-Marie exclaimed as she dropped her school bag and bolted for the stairs.
Stephanie calmed down and looked up at me. She smiled before she spoke.
"That was nasty – you know that I would never hurt that girl..." she began then stopped. "... Oh very good – love the psychology there..."
"Just scare her a bit – but don't go too far... The skirt suits you; don't let the little scamp get to you," I advised.
..._...
I found her in her bedroom.
"What are you going to do to me?"
"What do you think I should do to you?"
Anne-Marie was squirming and looked worried.
"I'm sorry – I couldn't help it... You know I have a cruel streak and I saw you blushing when Jackson commented on how he liked your skirt..."
"You will be very sorry," I replied, doing my best to supress a smile.
Now, the girl looked scared – I could not do it...
"Just fucking with you... I know you didn't mean it and I know that you know I would never hurt you."
"You do look good in the skirt, Steph – I mean that."
"But you still have to pay for humiliating me..."
By the time I reached the top of the stairs, I heard laughter.
I found Anne-Marie being tickled by her big sister and Stephanie was relentless. Danny had been attracted by the noise and he was laughing as his twin wriggled and screamed on the floor. He did not have his twin sister's cruel streak, but he enjoyed seeing her suffering in ways that would not hurt her.
Life in the Lizewski household was never dull!