One week later
Monday
Safehouse F
My life sucked!
Mom was not happy with my behaviour, nor with my 'the end justifies the means' argument! I was only obtaining justice for my friend. Mom did remind me that most of my solo 'hare-brained' schemes tended to go awry, which in that case had left Kyle with a bruised cheek . . . I was mortified!
Anyway, Kyle had forgiven me, considering the situation, and his bruises were healing. As for Joshua... I was pulled out of my worries by Mindy.
"What's wrong Chloe?"
"I haven't had sex in a fucking week!"
"Oh?" I looked over at Josh who said nothing.
"Josh says that sex is a privilege and should be earned!" Chloe growled, glaring at her boyfriend.
I held up the first two fingers of my right hand.
"My fucking fingers just aren't cutting it!"
"That was more information than we needed!" Dave grinned. "Why?"
Chloe looked acutely embarrassed and shook her head.
"I'm not saying..."
"She needs to learn some responsibility!" Josh commented.
"How long?" I asked.
"Maybe six months..." Josh replied.
"SIX MONTHS!" Chloe yelled. "You said two weeks, you fucking bastard!"
I noticed Joshua's grin behind Chloe's back as she stalked off to the armoury and I laughed.
..._...
There was one more entry that closed off the Juno Grant incident. When Chloe, Lauren et al had left her, Juno Grant had been hurt, but conscious. Somehow, on her route to the nurse's office she had managed to pick up quite a few more bruises and lose consciousness. In my own personal, expert opinion, the bruises and loss of consciousness may have been related to her 'falling' the stairs. Nobody claimed ownership of her new injuries, but Lauren did report seeing a big smile on Brad Murphy's face...
On a lighter note, the pups were now eight-weeks-old and full of life.
The training was going well and they could all 'sit', 'lay down' and 'stay' as requested. Although there were some mutinies amongst the trainees. Kiara and Piper were on strike! They insisted on rolling onto their backs and whining every time that we asked them to do something. However, once their mother caught onto what they were doing, they were soon sulking after a major tongue lashing from Sophia.
Have you ever seen a German Shepherd puppy sulking after being told off by its mother? It is the sweetest goddamn thing ever and that was the hardest part of training them – their cuteness! We all had to be hard on them to teach them, but it was so difficult; however, their discipline would keep them alive when they were fully trained.
That Night
Safehouse F
"So, what's with the damn bear?"
"It's one of those Nanny-Cam things – just don't ask what Frank D'Amico had on it before what we're about to watch. I'm pretty certain that Mindy has never seen this," Marty explained. "She also refused to pre-watch it, so..."
"Okay, thanks," Megan said.
I was nervous – Marty had said that it showed Daddy in action... Dave was sitting beside me and he held my hand. Megan was on the other side of me, next to Chloe. Josh sat behind me with Marty and Abby.
...+...
The video began – six men were standing in a warehouse and weapons were evident. Then one man received a phone call and the other men moved off to take up positions. We were left watching the one man... Then I jumped – I recognised Big Daddy as he cut the man's throat before he turned and kicked another man off his feet. Big Daddy held his Beretta in his hand ready to fire.
Another man made to attack him, but he was put down very quickly and stabbed in the chest for his trouble. Daddy fired several shots at the other men, taking bullets on his armour but shrugging them off. He used another man as a shield before punching him in the face and throwing him aside and into another man with a shotgun.
Daddy blasted his way up the staircase and shot another man before smashing the glass on a door and throwing in a grenade. He took cover as the grenade exploded before jumping back down to the main floor, taking out another man in the process. He took the man's shotgun and proceeded to kill him. Then came the destruction as Daddy used grenades and flares to set fire to the warehouse.
...+...
Everybody was looking at me as the video stopped. I smiled, ignoring the tears that ran down my cheeks.
"Your Daddy was fucking awesome, Mindy!" Megan announced as she hugged me.
"I agree," Josh added.
"Yeah, definitely," Chloe agreed.
"Is there more?" Dave asked.
Marty hesitated.
"Marty!" Dave growled.
"I don't think we wanna see it – for Mindy's sake..."
"Marty, just fucking play it," I growled.
...+...
The video began again – I braced up as I recognised Frank D'Amico's office in his penthouse. There was the bastard himself. Then that big guy walked in with the bazooka.
"A bazooka...? Okay!"
"We had a deal, Dad, we had a fucking deal that I would get you the guy who did it and all I'm asking is that you let Kick-Ass go; he didn't do anything wrong..."
"Chris, you gotta look at this from my point of view, okay – I gotta send a public service message to the people out there that being a super-hero is bad for your health and the big motherfucker? Nobody knows who he is..."
"Yeah, but that's not fair..."
"Life's not fair, kid – get over it..."
"What are you going to do to them?"
"You really want to be a part of my business?"
"Yeah?"
"Then sit down, shut up and watch."
...+...
"I removed a lot of dead space and worthless shit," Marty advised before the video flickered back to life. "Thought the bazooka was important..."
...+...
We were back in his office – all seemed peaceful. Then there was a single gunshot and Frank D'Amico scrambled for a piece and hid behind his desk with his worthless son. The big guy was at the door, a pistol in his hand. I knew what was happening outside in the corridor...
There was the sound of many gunshots and then silence... Then came panicked voices...
"Holy fuck, everybody's dead!"
Then Frank D'Amico sent the big guy to see if I was dead – the guy went somewhat reluctantly. There was the sound of many more gunshots... Then the big guy reappeared.
"It's only me boss – everything's under control..."
There was more gunfire... The big guy moved towards the bazooka...
"Under... Under control?" Chris D'Amico exclaimed. "You're grabbing a fucking bazooka, you dumbass!"
The big guy left the office... Lots of gunfire...
...+...
"Only my girl could cause so much shit and carnage!" Dave quipped as he squeezed my hand.
I could vividly remember every moment as I scrambled to stay alive as bullet after bullet punched through the kitchen and showered me with glass and God knew what.
...+…
Then there was a moment's silence before I heard the very distinctive roar of miniguns... Kick-Ass was coming to my rescue... Then silence again...
"That is one weird sounding bazooka – Stu!"
The door burst open and I appeared... Frank D'Amico tried to shoot me, but I took the Beretta out of his hand...
"Fuck!"
Then Kick-Ass made his entrance.
...+...
"Awesome entrance, Kick-Ass!" Chloe exclaimed.
"Yeah – you two look really pissed..." Megan added.
"You look very short, Mindy..." Josh finished.
...+...
"Get him!" Frank D'Amico growled to his son.
Chris D'Amico seemed very reluctant to fight Kick-Ass, but he went anyway. As I watched, we moved closer together, Frank D'Amico and I.
"Playtimes over, kid!"
"I never, play..."
"Oh, really..."
He spun around and he kicked me...
...+...
"Holy fuck!" Megan exclaimed as I went down.
...+...
D'Amico went to stamp on my head, but he missed... I jumped up and then over the corner of his desk, D'Amico chasing after me. I ran up the wall and flipped over backwards landing on the floor behind Frank. I jumped at him as he turned and began to punch him in the face – I bit him and he flung me against the shelves... I smacked him with a whiskey decanter in the side of his face. He threw me and I landed on the floor where I grabbed a letter opener and stabbed D'Amico.
Then came my downfall as he swung me upwards and then back down onto his desk so hard that the legs that supported the desk collapsed, and the shock paralysed me for a moment. I could hear myself as I struggled in pain.
...+...
"Oh my God!" Chloe muttered, her hand over her mouth in shock. Megan said nothing, but a hand was over her mouth too and her eyes had gone very wide.
Dave was holding me tightly and I was shaking.
...+...
Then D'Amico started to punch me.
"Ruin my business, huh?"
Smack!
"Kill every fucking guy on my payroll?"
Smack!
Frank D'Amico walked around to get his Beretta.
...+...
"Oh, Mindy – I..." Megan was almost speechless.
"That fucking bastard..." Abby breathed as she spoke for the first time.
I could remember the pain; it had been intense and I had not been able to move – I had thought that I was about to die, that I had failed to avenge my Daddy.
...+...
D'Amico walked back around to me...
"God, I wish I had a son like you..."
He pulled back the slide on his Beretta and released it as he stood over me. He aimed right between my eyes...
"Time for a family reunion!"
...+...
There was a collective intake of breath from everybody present; except of course for me and Dave. It was fairly obvious that I was not going to die... However, we had been there – I smiled and looked up at Dave; I knew what was coming...
...+...
"Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
It was Kick-Ass – I felt myself sobbing as he spoke and levelled the fucking bazooka at Frank D'Amico. Then Kick-Ass pulled the trigger and Frank D'Amico was no more... I saw my attempts to sit up and I remembered the pain. Kick-Ass dumped the spent bazooka and went over to my prone form.
"You okay?"
I could just make out my reply.
"Yeah..."
"Time to go home..." Kick-Ass said as he picked me up and carried me out the window.
I heard the roar of the jetpack's exhaust and the video ended just as Chris D'Amico ran in holding a Katana in his hand.
...+...
"Fuck, Dave – you really know how to make a fucking entrance!" Marty exclaimed as I hugged my saviour tightly.
I looked over to see tears on the faces of Chloe, Megan and Abby; I was crying too.
Two days later
Wednesday Night
Safehouse F
It was time for two of our number to meet another.
There were people aware of Fusion, but who were not a part of Fusion, if that made any sense. Brad Murphy was one of them and I really wanted to know about Juno and her 'little accident'! Brad had no idea that Saoirse and Lauren were part of Fusion and neither were the girls aware that Brad was fully aware of Fusion and our secret identities.
Therefore, I had arranged for both girls to arrive at the Safehouse, about a half hour after Brad.
..._...
I brought both girls upstairs into the Briefing Room, where both froze on seeing who was sitting there, enjoying a can of Pepsi Max.
"Hi, Lauren. Hi, SD!"
"Brad?" Lauren demanded.
"Mindy?" Saoirse asked.
"It's okay, girls; Brad has been aware of Fusion for a while now. Brad, please meet Foxtail and Nightmare – girls, please meet Rapier..."
"Thank you for helping me the other day, Brad..." Lauren commented, blushing a cute shade of pink.
"I had a vibe that you knew something," Saoirse added.
"Hey, why are called, SD, SD?"
Saoirse laughed.
"My proper name is spelt like this..." Saoirse explained as she bragged a marker pen and wrote her name 'Saoirse Doherty' on the white board.
"Jeez," Brad commented. "How the bloody hell are you supposed to pronounce that!"
"Try it..." Saoirse challenged.
"Say-oh-err..."
Brad tailed off looking embarrassed as Lauren burst out laughing and Saoirse rolled her eyes.
"My friends decided a long time ago to call me 'SD' to make things simpler. It's pronounced Saoirse, as in 'sir-sha' – like 'inertia'."
"Can I call you SD?" Brad asked carefully.
"Of course."
"So, Brad," I asked. "What happened to Juno...?"
Brad tried to look innocent but I saw through it instantly.
"Nobody is gonna judge you," Saoirse prompted.
"I thought that Juno got off too easily – no offence, Nightmare, but I thought she needed a bigger reminder not to fuck with you... I was passing the west stairs as she was heading down them . . . I kind of nudged her..."
Lauren laughed and then looked a little tongue-tied as she sat down beside Brad. I looked pointedly at SD and indicated it was time to leave. She smirked and we both headed to the Galley.