Tuesday night
I was having difficulty getting my mind in order.
I was in the enormous Jaguar that Mindy drove and we were on our way back to her place. My mind reeled with the events that had closed off the most horrific part of my life.
"It feels weird doesn't it?"
"Huh?"
"Your purpose for being who you are – that purpose is taken away from you once you complete your mission."
"You been there?" I asked.
"I became Hit Girl to avenge the death of my Mom. Then my Daddy was killed and I almost died avenging him. But, with help, I killed that bastard who had fucked up my life. Then I had a void; my reason for being was gone. I stopped being Hit Girl for a while and looking back, I regret that now."
"I only became Raven because of what happened to me – now it is in the past, maybe I can stop being Raven now..."
"Is that what you want?"
"I don't know..."
"Talk to Stephanie and Saoirse, they are in a similar position – their reason for being is gone too."
"Thanks, Mindy, and thank you for putting up with my shit. I owe you, big time."
"Anytime, Morgan."
The following afternoon
Safehouse F
I picked up Stephanie and Saoirse from school and took them directly to the Safehouse.
There was plenty to do, as I wanted to talk with Morgan among other things. The past few days had been hectic. I had almost lost Stephanie and SD to the CIA, yet again. At least Morgan had some closure; I knew what that was like.
While I went to see Morgan, I sent Saoirse with Stephanie who would show her new friend, Foxtail's new combat suit.
Once in the bedroom, I turned to SD.
"Strip!"
SD smirked at me.
"I never knew you were like that, Stephanie!"
I scowled and glared, feeling my face warming up.
"Do you want a slap?" I demanded. "Because I will slap you, so hard... Strip to your underwear – now!"
SD started to laugh.
"What's so fucking funny, Foxtail?"
"I've never known so much attitude come from such a small package..."
"I prefer: compact, if you don't mind..."
"Whatever!" I laughed as I began to pull off my clothes.
I felt strange when I pulled on the combat suit, piece by piece, as Stephanie handed the items to me.
The suit was comfortable and not as heavy as I had thought that it might be. I quite liked the colour scheme too, not to mention the weapons. Normally, when I had fought, I only wore a Kevlar vest and maybe a mask, but nothing as hi-tech as the combat suit that I was now pulling on. The suit also gave me a sense of belonging – I was to be part of something.
"I've been advised by those with tits that wearing a comfortable sports bra and a t-shirt is best."
I smirked and laughed at Stephanie's expression as she spoke.
"Sorry, Steph – couldn't resist!"
"Cheap shot, Foxy..."
"Stop calling me that..."
"Whatever you say . . . Foxy!"
"Little brat, I ought a..."
"Yeah, yeah – I can handle a bitch like you..."
"One day, we'll have a proper fight, just you and me..."
"Bring it on, Foxy...!"
The little bitch bolted out the door.
I heard giggling and I turned to see Stephanie running out of the bedroom.
I laughed – what had she done? My question was answered very quickly.
"I'll fucking kill you!" Foxtail yelled after the rapidly retreating Psyche.
"What's up, Foxtail?" I asked.
"She has a big mouth and I want to shut it . . . firmly!"
"You'll have to take a ticket on that one... How does it feel?"
"Awesome – very comfortable and my swords sit perfectly – I like the pistols, too, thanks."
"Thought you might – you seemed like a Beretta kind of girl."
I had bought the girl a pair of Beretta Px4 Storm Compact Type G pistols in .40-calibre Smith & Wesson. I had seen her shooting with .40-calibre rounds in a Glock and she was very good; she could also handle the extra fire-power too.
One of the nice things about being a vigilante and having your older daughter being a vigilante, was that you could kick her fucking arse!
It was not often that we sparred together – physically at least. There was a nine-year age gap for a start, not to mention more than a few inches and pounds! However, she was a trained assassin, so I did not pull my punches as she most definitely did not pull hers!
Joshua was taking bets on how long the fight would last.
The times on the board varied from ten seconds to eight minutes – I'd bet on under two... They were good, but eight minutes? Fuck off!
"Vigilantes – standby!" Dave shouted.
I was standing in the centre of the mat facing the briefing room and I was enjoying all the attention. At the far end of the mat to my left, stood Psyche in her full combat suit. At the opposite end of the mat, to my right, stood Foxtail, in her new combat suit. The dark browns and light orange highlights looked good on her slim teenage figure.
"Jackal – standby on the clock!" Dave continued.
I allowed my body to steady itself . . . I closed my eyes and listened for my two eager opponents.
"Three – two – one..."
A whistle blew and I heard the pounding of two pairs of boots and then silence. It was very obvious that they had both taken off, flying in for a kick – I took a deep breath, measuring the distances and then I back flipped out of the way, leaving the two younger vigilantes to collide on the mat.
"Thirty seconds gone!"
I didn't rest or pause, nor did I give either of them a chance to recover. I reached out and seized both vigilantes by the arms and flipped them over. Psyche caught herself and landed lightly but Foxtail lost her footing and she sprawled onto the mat in a very undignified manner. I kicked her hard in the stomach, causing her to double up in pain. Psyche yelled out angrily and I caught her leg as it flew in towards my head and I proceeded to dump her on top of her former enemy, face down. To keep her down, I drove a fist into her kidney followed up by a foot between her legs – she screamed out in pain.
"Stop the clock!" I yelled and then looked up at Joshua.
"Ninety-seven seconds – Hit Girl wins!"
The next afternoon
Thursday
Glenview
"Hi, Morgan – come in."
"Thanks, Mindy – is Saoirse about?"
"Upstairs," Stephanie cut in as she came down the stairs and then headed into the kitchen.
I headed up the stairs, turned left to follow the passageway and then turned right into 'The British Sector' – I loved the sign! I could hear music playing – Meat Loaf: Modern Girl; I liked Meat Loaf. I pushed open the door and was shocked to find Saoirse on the bed, sobbing her heart out into a pillow. Maybe she hated Meat Loaf... I walked closer and she looked up at me.
"Go away . . . please..."
That was not the usual, eat shit and die, Foxtail – it was just a normal, very upset, fourteen-year-old girl.
"What's going on, SD?"
"Leave me..."
"Not happening – we're friends, aren't we?" I asked, pulling the girl up into a sitting position and hugging her tightly.
"I remember them..."
Huh?
"Who?"
"I killed them both... Then I forgot about them..."
"What are you talking about, girl – you ain't making sense."
"I killed my parents – I remember now, a bullet in each head – an easy shot, simple, just a gentle squeeze of the trigger – once, twice..."
"Oh, fuck!" Came a voice from the door – it was Stephanie.
"She's rambling – I found her sobbing into her pillow..."
"She's remembering shit from soon after she was taken – she went through eight years of conditioning... I've been remembering horrible shit over the past several weeks and she has a lot more crap to remember than I do," Stephanie explained with a pained expression on her face.
"It was their favourite song..."
Stephanie looked up at me and scowled.
"The fucking song – it triggered a buried memory... Look after her; I need to tell Mindy."
"Go – I'll keep her safe."
"Mindy!"
I turned as I heard footsteps pounding down the stairs – she may have been compact, but she had a heavy foot fall.
"Mindy – it's SD..."
I ran past Stephanie and up the stairs, going straight to the bedroom. There I found Saoirse in tears, being cuddled by Morgan.
"The music set her off," Stephanie said as she caught up.
"I'm sorry," Saoirse apologised. "It was the memories; they were a shock to me – I had completely blanked out their murder."
"It's okay – the same thing happened to Stephanie one night; she had total recall of the event and it really scared her too – Anne-Marie too as she witnessed it."
"You are not alone, SD – you have friends now; friends that care for you," Stephanie said and I saw Saoirse smile.
"I'll help you, SD – I have demons in my life too, all of which resurfaced over the past few weeks as I hunted that bastard. I can relate and . . ."
". . . I know you're needing a home, SD – would you come live with me?" I asked slowly.
"You don't want me – I'm..."
"... A killer? Damaged?" I laughed. "That makes two of us..."
"I..."
"We can help each other and you'd have to put up with a very bossy older sister..."
Saoirse smiled for a moment.
"You'd have to put up with a pretty annoying younger sister."
"I could always kick your fucking ass!"
"You could always try!"
Friday night
Safehouse F
Command Centre
"What is this?"
"Mindy! Just in time for the first viewing of something very special..."
I was not buying it!
"Will I want to kill you after I have watched it?"
Marty considered the question for a moment before smirking.
"Probably..."
He reached over and pressed a button. The enormous screen flickered and an image appeared – it was in black and white, but otherwise it was good quality. I recognised it instantly and Dave's eyes went wide. Both our memories flew back six years, five months and eight days . . . not that I was counting... There was no sound, which made it all the creepier – but I could remember every damn word...
...+...
"You okay sweetheart?"
"I, err, I lost my mommy and daddy..."
"She lost her mommy and daddy... You want to use my cell phone...mmm? Now, can you remember the number?"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Four men were dead – well almost – Bang!
...+...
"Fucking hell!" Chloe exclaimed for most present. "You put down four men with three bullets!"
"You cold fucking bitch!" Josh added in awe.
"She's really cute!" Erika commented.
"Really?" Abby retorted. "Four men dead with four shots and you think she's cute?"
"I like the kilt, what can I say?"
All eyes turned to me and Dave. I said nothing, but I felt really uncomfortable.
"With no power comes no responsibility – except that wasn't true..." Dave muttered. "Kick-Ass came into his own that night..."
The screen flickered and changed just as the younger Mindy swiped a card in the elevator. Then she started to strip...
"Wow!" Curtis commented as first the kilt dropped to the floor revealing my rather plain pink knickers.
I began to blush and considered getting Marty to stop the video when I remembered something...
On the video, I stopped unbuttoning my blouse and I stared up at the camera. I was seen to scowl and then pick up my pistol and put a bullet into the camera.
Curtis looked very annoyed...
..._...
The screen flickered and changed; it was another lobby – an elevator in the centre of the wall and two men. The doors slid open and...
"Bloody hell!" Stephanie said in awe as the rope dart flew.
It was over in just seconds and three men lay on the floor, very dead.
"Fuck she could move..." Chloe commented unnecessarily.
"She still can, Shadow!" I growled.
The camera view was not good, but you could just make out the eleven-year-old Hit Girl as she took cover behind the stand, hiding from the approaching men, her pistols raised. Then she burst out, firing the first pistol and she vanished from sight.
"My God that girl is hot!" Curtis said.
"Hey!" Megan growled.
"Thanks, Curtis!" My face was burning with what, pride?
"Stay away, kid – she's mine!" Dave quipped.
I was unhappy about the video – I thought it had all been wiped. There was very little evidence of Hit Girl's existence before that night, except for many corpses of course, but that video showed me unmasked and killing...
"The pigtails make you look so sweet, Mindy..." Josh chuckled.
"I had a thing for them, back then..." I replied quietly.
"She may look cute, but Mindy back then – well, she was wild!" Dave cautioned.
"Hey, Megan – how about you in pigtails and a sexy kilt?"
"Curtis... Maybe, we'll see..." Megan replied with a grin.
I groaned.
"Where the fuck did you get it?" I demanded, turning back to Marty.
"Short version – Damon's online backup expired and I grabbed the data before it was dumped. There's more... The NYPD disposed of some old evidence and luckily for us, this was sent to Marcus and he passed it onto me..."
"A teddy bear?" Chloe enquired.
"Not that thing?" Dave groaned.