Friday, November 3rd, 2017

Glenview, Chicago
United States of America

Stephanie figured that she was on borrowed time.

Her life was at extreme risk of being snuffed out without a by or leave. While that was not all that unusual for the eleven-year-old – many wanted her dead – in this instance, it was her adoptive mother who wanted to do her harm to the point where she would no longer be breathing. What had caused this obsession with the youngster's death? Mindy Lizewski nee Macready had just turned twenty and one single comment made by her about being 'old' had set Stephanie off on an innocent rampage of taking the piss out of the birthday girl. The final straw which had actually been several straws ago – had been the walking stick offered up just as Dave and Mindy had left that evening for a restaurant – just the pair of them, leaving the kids at home.

Dave figured that Mindy had set herself up for the entire piss take. Indeed, he had enjoyed watching his wife seethe and endure their daughter's antics, not to mention seeing Stephanie suffer as she expected Mindy to rip off her head at any moment. The walking stick was a marvellous joke, Dave figured, although it had pushed Mindy almost over the edge. But Stephanie had had a very valid point to make – despite going too far . . . as usual.

Mindy had embarked on a dangerous life – not by choice; but Hit Girl was her life and always would be until the day she died – and that was the point. Mindy considered every birthday a massive milestone and considering she had spent the previous fifteen years – three quarters of her life – as a vigilante, actively putting her life at risk, it was a miracle she was still alive and remarkable that she was still in one piece and, barring several scars, growing more beautiful every day.

Mindy had other ideas, but Dave was smitten, permanently.

..._...

Dave smiled at his wife.

"You calmed down, yet?"

Mindy grinned as they stepped into the restaurant, savouring the warmth – it was in single digits Celsius with a stiff breeze blowing up the Chicago River to where they were on North LaSalle.

"Mrs Lizewski!" the maître d' exclaimed as he took her coat while an underling took Dave's coat. "I have your table ready for you, and your starters are just a minute away."

It was their eighteenth visit to the steakhouse – one of the, if not the, best steakhouse in the city. Mindy, naturally, enjoyed red meat and despite her stature, she could pile away significant portions. Once seated at their table, their Lobstercargot appeared in seconds, and both dug in without a conscious thought.

"Yes, I have calmed down," Mindy responded. "That little bitch just gets under my skin – although I did deserve it, I think.

Mindy laughed as she considered the jokes played on her and she knew it was all out of love and if she could not take a minor hazing then she should just hang up her costume and retire.

"I know you'll get her back; just try not to go over the top," Dave chuckled.

"I'll be good," Mindy grinned nastily.

Their main course was of course, steak – Dave's was an eighty-dollar bone-in-prime rib which was gigantic. Mindy settled with a seventy—five-dollar rib eye.

"Damn," Dave said, partway through his steak. "The only thing that tastes better and has more juices is you, honey."

Mindy, having just taken a drink from her wine glass, almost choked as she dropped her fork in surprise while her face went the same colour as the centre of her medium-rare piece of cow.

"Everything alright, Mrs Lizewski?" the maître d' enquired.

"Yes...," was all the embarrassed Mindy could manage.

The rest of the meal passed without serious incident, and they took a cab to Lake Michigan for their nighttime accommodation.

The Salty Swallow

The sixty-five-foot Sea Ray L650 Fly yacht was moored alongside the dock, stern in.

With it being winter, the exterior canvas covers were on the vessel, enclosing the usually open after cockpit and flying bridge. Someone, Dave knew it was Tony, had already been aboard to bring the vessel alive and turn on the heating so that the vessel was toasty warm as the pair slide open the doors leading into the main salon, closing and securing the doors behind them.

Mindy shrugged off her coat, allowing the garment to drop to the deck. Knowing what was ahead and that they were very much alone, was causing Mindy to flush. Dave took his time to remove his own coat, laying the coat upon the nearest seat before he pulled off his jumper. Mindy had already kicked off her shoes and she grinned up at Dave as she pulled several clips from her hair allowing the blonde mane to spill across her shoulders. Dave kissed his wife on the lips and felt her shudder at his touch. Carefully, he reached behind her back and began to unzip her expensive dress. Mindy shuddered as his fingers touched her back and the dress slithered to the deck to reveal her perfect body encased in just skimpy purple panties, a matching purple bra, and purple stockings. Underwear was the only frilly item Mindy went in for, the only item which could be deemed as feminine.

Mindy kissed Dave as her hands pulled at his shirt, unbuttoning as fast as her fingers could move. Then she groaned as she finally gained access to his chest, rubbing her hands amidst the hair, running down across his stomach to his belted trousers where she stopped and groaned loudly. Dave picked Mindy up and dumped her roughly on the dining table. Mindy laughed, enjoying the rough treatment as she always did. Dave swiftly disposed of the purple bra which he randomly flung away. Mindy's breathing increased steadily as her breasts were exposed and the deep red nipples hardened in anticipation of her husband's touch. But the bastard simply stared at the breasts displayed so openly and temptingly. He kissed Mindy on the lips, his tongue penetrating deep, so deep. Mindy was struggling to remain in control as her charged nipples begged for attention. Then she felt his hands on her stomach and her sides. She placed both hands onto the tabletop and lifted up her butt so Dave could remove her panties and stockings. Being completely naked before her husband was exhilarating and her chest heaved making her breasts bob up and down in a perverse kind of manner. Then Mindy grinned as she pushed Dave back and she dropped off the table to her knees. She could see the bulge in his trousers as something fought to get out.

Swiftly, she fought at his belt, wishing he wouldn't wear one, but the extra delay just added to the moistness between her thighs. Then she found the next layer of defences – a simple button with a zip. She fought with the button and then the zip, pulling down the offending trousers, her tongue licking her lips as she found the bulge waiting for her. She groaned bitterly as she felt wetter than if she had just peed herself. Her right hand briefly caressed the rock hard ruby red nipple of her left breast before she removed that final item of clothing keeping her from several inches and more of meat. It was hard, hard as it ever got, and pointed straight up towards her. The end glistened attractively and then she could hold back no more. Her mouth opened and then a considerable amount of her husband's manhood vanished inside her surprisingly capacious and flexible mouth.

Dave grimaced as he felt Mindy's tongue caressing his tip and he enjoyed every movement as Mindy knew exactly where to play and her tongue could caress just as well as it could cuss. Before Mindy went too far, Dave gently eased her mouth off his member and pulled her to her feet. Mindy was grinning happily as she looked up at Dave who grabbed her around the buttocks and lifted her bodily off the ground and hugged her to him as he then let her slip down onto him. Mindy yelped as she took him in and gripped him tightly, wrapping her long legs around his waist. Mindy yelled out in pain and exhilaration as Dave thrust her up against the bulkhead and thrust deep inside her. Again and again, he thrusted as Mindy yelped and screamed all while grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat as she was shoved roughly against the vessel's bulkhead. Her back would be bruised but Mindy did not care, every bit of pain simply enhanced her enjoyment of the sexual activity. In her disturbed mind nothing was better than sex. She would gladly exchange the latest and greatest gunpowder-based or bladed weapon for the sensation of a monstrously orgasmic orgasm. Even killing took a firm second place when it came to her husband's cock.

Dave could play his wife like a musical instrument. He knew every button, every intimate spot and erogenous zone that she possessed, inside and out. Right at that moment, he was enjoying her responses as he worked his cock over her inner erogenous zones while his fingers teased her more supple external zones. Mindy purred and she groaned as he manipulated a nipple here, her lips there, with a good few thrusts along the way. Then her groans and moans began to crescendo into semi-muted screams as her body began to tense up as her orgasm built. Then Mindy trembled and squealed, her arms and legs locking Dave against her and ensuring that he did not pullout before she was damned-well good and ready for him to pullout. However, her body would often betray her and throw in the towel way too early as the orgasm hit with the force of a tsunami; sweeping over her and causing her joints to seize up.

Dave hugged Mindy tightly as she seized up and for several moments, stopped breathing entirely. Then she sagged in his arms, breathing heavily while she attempted to move her limbs and she moaned as Dave slipped out of her. Dave kissed her lips as he gently laid her down on a couch beside the small galley and he himself took a moment to compose himself. Mindy laid on the couch, her eyes closed, her chest heaving as she recovered from the orgasm which had all but shattered her lithe body into more than a million gratified fragments. Gradually, sensation began to return, amongst which she felt the tingling in her nipples closely followed by the deep-seated desire for much, much more. As she opened her eyes, she spied her husband in the galley making drinks and she tried to move her legs, but her thighs tingled, and she found her snatch to be very sensitive and she was certain that the wrong move might set off another orgasm and she was not ready for that feeling so soon after the first. Gingerly, she placed her bare feet on the carpeted deck and pushed herself to a standing position. Just moving her legs was difficult as her muscles refused to cooperate and her muscles spasmed.

Dave grinned as he felt arms wrap around his stomach and the weight of Mindy as she sagged against him.

..._...

Mindy sighed as she smelt the strong scent of chocolate.

The scent brought on so many stimulations and emotions. She released Dave and she sagged back onto the couch. Dave turned and handed her a mug of steaming hot chocolate, careful not to dribble any of the hot liquid onto Mindy's naked body.

"Marshmallows?"

Mindy growled impatiently and Dave laughed as he dropped a handful of the small white and pink spongy objects into the steaming liquid where they began to melt.

"Was madam satisfactorily penetrated?" Dave asked as he sat down beside his wife with his own mug of hot chocolate.

Mindy simply squeaked as she sipped from her mug, her left thigh shuddering as it came in contact with Dave's own. For several minutes, both simply sipped their hot chocolate and marshmallows, savouring each other's company. Mindy smiled as she considered how wonderful her life was, especially when you removed the daughter who could not stay away from being inches from death, her brother who could not stay out of trouble, the twins who were fucked up in their dear little heads, the zoo of four-legged mutts, and the psychotic ginger puss, from the equation. But she would never give any one of them up – they were her family, and she loved each and every one for who and what they were. Who wanted a normal family anyway? Boring bastards, that was who! Mindy giggled as she finished her hot chocolate and final marshmallow.

Dave hugged his naked wife against his own naked body, before he was shoved away and Mindy leapt up, a look of longing on her beautiful features. Dave laughed as he watched his wife's antics and considered that he had to be the happiest man alive, even with the fucked up purple vigilante who was his wife, the daughter who could not stay away from being inches from death, her brother who could not stay out of trouble, the twins who were fucked up in their dear little heads, the zoo of four-legged mutts, and the psychotic ginger puss. But he would never give any one of them up – they were his family, and he loved each and every one of them for who and what they were, and not just that, he had to protect them from harm and often from one another, and even from themselves.

What was a normal family compared to what he had?

..._...

Dave ran after his wife, dropping down a deck as they both headed forward to where their cabin awaited their arrival.

Mindy threw herself onto the queen-sized bed and parted her legs in a decidedly sluttish manner which ensured that Dave was at full mast and ready to send said mast where no other had ever gone before. To say that Mindy was well lubricated would be a major understatement and Dave found himself easily pushing to depths which caused the naked woman beneath him to squirm and squeal at each thrust in and out, in and out. The squeals rapidly turned into animalistic yelps and then Dave himself growled as ten sharp nails dug deeply into his upper back as his wife locked herself in place and pulled him close. Any lesser person may have been crushed by Mindy's hug but not the supremely muscular Dave who just took the sensation in his stride as he showed his wife just how much he loved her with each and every thrust of his groin.

Mindy's yelps became full on screams and Dave's growls increased in volume as the pain in his back drew him closer to Mindy and made him thrust all the harder. Then Mindy began to do more than squirm as a nuclear-powered orgasm began to build at a hitherto unknown rate of velocity. All of her senses were overwhelmed from her groin to her brain and even to her toes. She was paralysed by the sexual intensity which all but tore her limb from limb as she screamed loudly and shrilly, hurting Dave's ears as she trembled beneath his own body, he himself having reached the point of no return and then Mindy sighed as she felt hot liquid pulsating deep inside and her arms fell away to either side as she passed out and Dave rolled off to the side, his member pulsating as it began to shrink alongside a sliver of seminal effluent.

Both fell asleep, exhausted but satisfied.

The next morning...

Saturday, November 4th

Dave awoke first.

The cabin was cool, in keeping with the November morning. He looked to his right where the pillow was covered in a mass of blonde hair which belonged to arguably the most dangerous woman on the planet. However, the purple beast was sleeping off the previous evening's activities and recharging for the second day of her twentieth year of life. Dave sniffed the air which stank of sex and bodily odours, including his own. He slid off the bed, looking down at his wife, her ruby red nipples just begging for attention, but waking the purple beast from her slumbers was never a good idea if one wanted to enjoy a long life.

Instead, he headed for the bathroom in search of a pee and a shower – in that order.

..._...

Two hours later, Mindy was finishing off her eighth pancake, liberally soaked in maple syrup.

Dave was constantly amazed by how much food was stuffed into his wife's mouth - most of which was decidedly American, i.e. unhealthy – but she never put on weight. Her body was perfect with curves to die for and a chest which just begged for attention. Mindy knew all of this, of course, and she loved her husband's attention. She giggled as several drops of maple syrup ran down her chin to be caught be her napkin which she threw down once the last morsal of pancake had vanished from her plate which had been scrapped clean. Swiftly, Dave washed up and the pair of them pulled on jackets for a walk along the lake.

Neither was in any hurry to return to the madhouse full of children and animals.

..._...

There was a stiff breeze coming in from Lake Michigan which ensured that they were both fully awake as they strolled.

"I want to go after Mannheim. The cunt has to be somewhere."

Dave knew that Deiter Mannheim was very high on his wife's shit list – briefly sharing the position with Stephanie the previous day. Everybody wanted the bastard to suffer for what he had wrought. His actions had left so many dead, wounded, and traumatised. Many needed closure, and that could only come with that bastard's violent death. Dave was about to comment when they were approached by two youths who had been sitting on a bench, 'talking'. It was a classic mugging, Dave mused to himself. Indeed, Mindy was unperturbed as she watched the two youths with contempt in her expression but there was also a sly grin growing on her lips. Dave groaned as the taller youth pulled a flick knife out of his jean pocket. The blade deployed and Mindy actually chuckled.

"Look, while I would like nothing more than to rip your motherfucking head off and shove it up your thieving shithole, my husband fucked me stupid last night and I'm not in any state to fuck you up. Now, fuck off!"

The knife did not move a millimetre.

"Are you fucking thick or fucking what!?" Mindy demanded.

"I've got a knife, bitch!"

Mindy laughed.

"If that gay knife is like your shit-stabbing cock, then I pity your bitch boyfriend."

"You fucking whore!"

Dave cringed as 'Miss Political Correctness' continued to berate and then batter the unfortunate muggers before he shook his head forlornly and pulled out his cell. He thumbed the '9' key and then a '1' and another '1'.

"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?"

"Er, Burnham Harbor, south of Dock E. I've found two badly hurt muggers who seem to have met their match. They could do with an ambulance."

Dave cancelled the call and smiled at the two men, then he waved his wife forward.

One week later...

Sunday, November 12th

Glenview

Kiara lay stretched out on the living room floor at the feet of ten-year-old Jamie who had his nose buried in one of Mindy's many gun magazines.

The German Shepherd was tired having just returned from a lengthy walk with her brother, Razor, who lay on his back a few feet away while nine-year-old Annie-Marie was busy rubbing his tummy as he whined noisily. For just a few seconds, the Lizewski house was tranquil...

"You little fuck!"

"I didn't do it!"

"You lying little fuck!"

"I swear on Anne-Marie's life!"

"Huh!" Anne-Marie complained as she heard her name being taken in vain.

"I think our brother has trespassed," Jamie chuckled.

"He's toast!" Anne-Marie agreed as she concentrated on Razor.

There followed the sound of seemingly many feet as an unfortunate boy, the nine-year-old Danny, pounded down the stairs with a look of fear etched into his young features. Just a few feet behind came the reason for his fear; he was being pursued by a killer. Admittedly, a killer under five feet in height and a few months short of her twelfth birthday but a killer, nonetheless. Stephanie had personal issues and she had space issues and when either were violated, let alone both, . . . well, Danny was learning the hard way – as usual!

Dave had no desire to mop up any blood or to visit the Emergency Room, so he grabbed Danny as the boy tried to bolt past. Stephanie grinned deviously as she slid to a halt on the marble floor, but Dave had other ideas. With a spare hand, he grasped hold of a surprised Stephanie, and he marched both children into the living room where he forced both to sit on the floor.

"Danny, stay out of your sister's stuff. Stephanie, get over it!"

Dave then turned away as Horatio appeared to add his own choice meows to the lecture, his sleep having been disturbed by Danny's yelling.

..._...

While much was the same, it was also different.

Mindy had hated learning of all the injuries endured by those under her direct or indirect command. Anne-Marie and Danny had suffered severe bruising which had taken weeks to fade and heal. Danny had also had to fight a concussion which had been very concerning for all involved. There were lacerations, broken bones, and plenty of bruises for all, not to mention the unseen by products of fighting a war. Many suffered from various forms of PTSD which ranged from minor to quite severe. Nightmares were common and not everyone was trained to file away bad feelings and pretend that nothing had happened. All had killed and that tore at a person's psyche, even if the kills had been justified and, in many cases, essential.

Then there had been the dead.

Sunday, November 26th

Memorial Park Cemetery
Chicago

Four were to be buried that bitterly cold day.

Or at least their ashes were.

Every Predator was there who was able, especially as all four deceased were Predators who had died in action. They would not be alone as the four plots were located beside a relatively new plot. That plot was marked by a small marble stone:

LUCAS
CHARLTON

NEVER FORGOTTEN

b. 10th May 2002
d. 11th December 2016

He would no longer be alone in his corner of the cemetery.

..._...

Unlike the funeral which had caused Mindy to end up in Chicago in the first place, a ring of steel had been placed around the area by the Chicago PD under the direct orders of Marcus.

Not just Predators were there – others were also affected. Juno stood with Guinivere and Nicholas. Behind them stood Erika, Chrissy, Sky, Maddy, Connor, James, and Kieran. The Travers family were present to say goodbye to their two boys. It was a morbid day for all, and despite being dressed up for the fallen, everybody felt like crap. Mindy was doing her utmost not to allow the tears to fall but they did despite her attempts to be strong for all. With her were Jamie and Anne-Marie while Stephanie and Danny stood with Dave. Also present were the other adult members of Fusion.

To permanently protect those who had lost their lives and those they loved, each body had been cremated and each 60cm-by-90cm plot had a small marble tomb set into the ground before the headstone. A 60cm-by-60cm slab of solid marble would permanently seal the tomb for all eternity. Into each marble tomb would be placed a polished oaken box which in turn contained the ashes of the deceased. Each would be interred individually by the relevant family member or representative. Despite Dave's concerns, Mindy had insisted that she be the one to vocalise the deceased.

As she turned to face the assembled hoard, she felt a weird emotion she had never felt before and the primal urge to run. The four polished oaken boxes sat on a wooden table covered in a white tablecloth. Each oaken box bore a brass plate affixed to the top on which the name of the deceased, the date of death, and the age at which they died. Mindy stood behind the first box, and she spoke clearly to be heard by all.

"Logan Dark. Logan died 30th June 2017, aged fourteen. Juno, if you would please inter his ashes."

Juno stepped forwards with Guinivere and Nichola and she nodded to Mindy as she took hold of the oaken box with trembling hands. She followed Dave's guidance as she took the eighteen steps – she counted each and every one – before she knelt down before the headstone, she herself had written the inscription for:

LOGAN
DARK

LOVED FOR
ALL ETERNITY

b. 21st April 2003
d. 30th June 2017

As tears fell uncontrolled down her cheeks, she laid the oaken box which was surprisingly heavy to her into its marble tomb. Then she all but broke down as the thought of leaving logan filled her with anguish. She was helped away by Nicholas who guided the distraught girl to an available chair. Mindy bit her lip, knowing that the hardest part was next as she locked into the eyes of the Travers family.

"Leo Graves. Young Leo died 21st July 2017, aged just eleven..." Mindy faltered as she looked to the three youngsters. "Sabrina..."

The small nine-year-old girl had been rudderless since the deaths of her cousins. She had quite literally worshipped the ground they walked upon, and especially the ground Hunter walked upon. She wiped tears from her face as she stepped forwards to take hold of the oaken box containing the ashes of what had once been Leo Graves' physical form. Sabrina was assisted by her twin brothers: Samuel and Simon. Together, they placed Leo's ashes into his tomb before the triplets turned back to Mindy who began again.

"Hunter Graves. Hunter died 3rd September 2017, aged fourteen. He was in a coma for several weeks before he died."

Again, Sabrina led her siblings as they carried Hunter's ashes to his tomb. There, Sabrina said a few words for her deceased cousins.

"I miss you both. I barely got to know you."

Sabrina all but ran back to her mother where she hugged her tightly as she sobbed. Mindy was very glad that there was just one more interment remaining. It was a special one, too.

"Sarah Hampton. Sarah gave her own life to prevent the deaths of probably millions. She showed everyone her bravery and courage even when all was all but lost. Sarah died 21st July 2017, aged sixteen. She will not be forgotten. None of those who gave their lives will ever be forgotten. Willow."

Willow stepped forwards and she picked up the oaken box which contained the ashes of what could be recovered after the grenade had detonated. The box was lighter than the others but no less important. Tenderly, Willow placed the box into the remaining tomb, ignoring the tears which fell down her face. Five of their number had fallen: Lucas, Logan, Hunter, Leo, and Sarah. The Predator was becoming an endangered species. But then she not noticed something for the first time. There was a sixth tomb, sealed up, the marble cover fitted in place. There was no headstone, but the marble tomb cover bore an inscription in gold lettering.

FOR THOSE WHO
HAVE NO GRAVE

THEY WILL NEVER
BE FORGOTTEN

Below the gold lettering was a horizontal representation of the commando dagger which in turn represented Urban Predator and was the symbol worn by all who had graduated. Willow was stunned as she understood what the simple marble marker represented for her kind. She turned towards Mindy, but Dave suggested she wait a few moments.

Though secrecy prevented anything more overt, at dead on one o'clock that afternoon, a rising thunder could be heard approaching from the east, out over Lake Michigan. As everyone looked to the clear blue skies above, a flight of four black-painted F-22 Raptors approached the cemetery in a finger-four formation. As the lead aircraft at the apex of the formation reached the boundary of the cemetery, the third aircraft from the left suddenly left the formation and flew straight upwards with the remaining three aircraft flying straight on, the obvious gap visible in the formation which had become the missing-man formation.

The formation, Mindy knew, had been on the direct order of the President of the United States.

..._...

As the roar of jet engines faded over the city, Willow looked for Mindy, but she had vanished from sight like the ninja she was.

"She's over there," Lucy said to Willow who moved over to where Mindy was lurking behind a large gravestone.

"My 'friends' nominated me to come and thank you," Willow said. "I know I was bitchy about Lucas, but we are all really grateful for what you have done for us all, and especially for looking after our dead. I saw the sixth tomb. Thank you for remembering all those who died, many of whom don't even have a name for us to remember."

"We still don't have a number," Mindy said quietly. "The records were corrupted so we will never know how many children were taken and how many died – murdered before their time."

"There is evil out there and we must do what we can to keep it at bay and protect those who cannot protect themselves. We all have skills we can use, and we will use them."

Mindy smiled.

"You doing speeches now, Willow?"

Willow felt her cheeks redden slightly but she grinned back.

With the immediate aftermath of past events coming to a close, it was time to refocus and look after their own backyards.

Though there was a manhunt underway for Dieter and what remained of his family, there was also a manhunt underway for the missing Jake. Both tasks were very high on the agenda and the successful conclusion of both was deeply desired by all. While laying the dead to rest had been essential, the physical trauma had to be attended to which had left many scarred to varying degrees and the rehabilitation for some had taken many weeks. Those physical scars were fading as time went by, but the mental scars were not.

Almost every night, Mindy was woken by screaming. While screaming was not entirely unknown in the Lizewski household, it was usually as the result of one attempting to kill another. However, each night, many relived their darkest hours in increasingly vivid nightmares.

For Stephanie, it was drowning in freezing water below the ice. She would be trapped, unable to find the hole down which she had dropped, and she would drown as she beat the unrelenting ice above her. Up to three times a night she would drown in freezing cold water. Some mornings the youngster was barely capable of eating her breakfast she would be so mentally and physically exhausted.

Anne-Marie (and young Kaitlin over in Scotland), relived killing two children in cold blood while fighting in the Genovese Sicilian bunker. It had been unavoidable, but it had happened when the two children had been used as human shields by their great grandmother, Anna Genovese. Anne-Marie had vividly described the faces of the Genovese children as they had died, and she had felt the guilt and the shame of taking an innocent life. Mindy knew that when you took a life, it took a toll on your very being and though you may forget many things in life, the faces of those whose lives you took would always remain with you in vivid detail. Some were taught how to manipulate memories to hide those faces although in many cases, the faces could be seen as trophies as they were in Mindy's case. Some people deserved to die but there were always innocents who became collateral damage.

There were many others who had witnessed horrific violence and death. All were changed to some degree. Some were reconsidering their choices, but none regretted their actions in riding the world of some deeply undesirable people. A few members of Fusion and Vengeance and chosen to step back from frontline service while they recuperated and spent time with their families. Mindy hoped that after a few months, the memories and horrors of the fateful months during 2017 would start to fade.

But they would never vanish entirely.

The nuclear threat and near Armageddon were not being officially reported and all Governments involved were refusing to confirm or to deny the rumours that the fighting in London, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Toronto (among other cities worldwide) was related to a worldwide nuclear threat which had only narrowly been put down.

However, the rumour mill was operating at full output and 'unnamed senior sources' within various Governments which included the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Russia, and Australia – to name but a few – all spoke of nuclear devices being present in cities across the globe but that the combined forces of Fusion, Vengeance, Honneur, and Concord with the assistance of several Governments had seen to the complete destruction of the nuclear horror before it could be brought to completion. Indeed, the single nuclear detonation in an isolated corner of Mali had been a welcome relief when it was considered what the alternative outcome may have been.

There was clamour for blood but the same 'unnamed senior sources' explained that those responsible were 'no longer fit to see trial' followed by the usual 'no comment' responses.

The following week...

Wednesday, November 29th

Safehouse D

It was payday.

While there was relatively little that the various governments could do to repay Fusion for what they had done (and what they had lost) the United States Government was not about to be seen as being ungrateful and the Government of the United Kingdom likewise. At dead on eight o'clock that night, two innocuous-looking trucks entered the cavernous warehouse and began to unload exactly forty standard pallets of four-feet per side and two single pallets each of which was four-foot wide but some seventeen-feet in length. Thirty of the pallets were flagged as coming from the United States and were labelled as containing either wastepaper or scrap metals. The remaining ten were flagged as coming from the United Kingdom and marked as containing wastepaper or perishables. Once the trucks had left, Mindy, Dave, Stephanie, Jamie, Chloe, Joshua, Becky, and Abby ran their eyes over the neatly stacked pallets.

"Let's begin, shall we," Dave suggested as he produced a box cutter and sliced through the outer wrappings of the first pallet.

"I've died and gone to heaven," Jamie announced as his eyes took in tight stacks of used bills. "There must be a million bucks!"

"We have seven pallets containing cash," Dave commented as he reviewed an emailed list. "Five contain ninety million dollars each in used one-hundred-dollar bills. The remaining two contain forty million dollars each in used fifty-dollar bills."

"Five hundred and thirty million dollars!" Stephanie blurted out in astonishment. "I want a new laptop, and I want..."

"Calm down, Steph!" Joshua laughed. "We used up a lot of our cash reserves fighting across the planet, and we've consumed resources without thought of replacement."

"You little fucks are expensive!" Mindy growled as she set to work on another pallet marked scrap metals.

Stephanie watched as Mindy pulled away a load of cardboard before she stopped dead. Chloe moved closer and then her jaw dropped as Mindy began to pass out box after box to Stephanie and Jamie. It took forty minutes to clear that pallet and start on the next. By midnight, they appeared to have the entire contents of the SIG Sauer military catalogue scattered around them. Brand new virgin weapons fresh from the factory. Mindy inhaled the smell of fresh gun oil and Dave laughed as he had never seen his wife happier.

"This will take an age to catalogue and store," Chloe complained as she studied the boxed and crated pistols, assault rifles, suppressors, and boxes of new magazines.

Everything the world's greatest gun nut could ever want was arrayed around them in crude piles.

..._...

Way over the other side of the warehouse.

"What are these?" Abby called out.

"Huh?" Mindy responded as she turned to see where Abby and Becky had been attacking the two long pallets.

"We were curious," Becky exclaimed.

"I bet you were," Mindy grinned, although admittedly, she was just as curious.

After the three of them had attacked the cardboard and plywood, they found themselves looking at a massive fibreglass packing case. Becky read the writing on the packing case lid.

"What is a Spearfish?" she asked.

Abby groaned as Mindy's face exploded into a broad grin as she, at least, figured out what the packages may contain. Furiously, Mindy ran around the closest of the two packing cases and she began unclipping almost thirty steel spring-bound clips securing the two sections of fibreglass packing case together.

"Christ!" Joshua exclaimed as he and Dave shifted the very heavy upper casing to the side with the help of an overhead winch. "It's a fucking torpedo!"

Mindy seemed to dance a jig as she stared down at what was apparently the complete structure of a Royal Navy Spearfish Mod 0 torpedo. The massive weapon was complete with logbooks which also detailed that the warhead had been removed along with the sonar, guidance systems, and majority of the propulsion and fuel system. But Mindy did not care – she had a pair of submarine launched heavyweight torpedoes.

"Now what the hell are you going to do with those things?" Stephanie demanded.

"So many ideas...," Mindy muttered as if in a trance.

"Oh, shit," Abby moaned as she wondered what hairbrained scheme Mindy would come up with next. "Don't they know she's fucking deranged?"

"Looks like Mindy's request back on the sub was approved," Dave chuckled.

"Fuck this, I want to see what's in the other packages," Stephanie announced as she ran off. "Jamie, heel!"

"Woof!" Jamie responded with a laugh as he ran after his sister.

Dave nudged Mindy who seemed to have been turned into a grinning idiot incapable of movement or speech.

..._...

Across the warehouse, Stephanie was starting on her latest diatribe.

"A bloody great torpedo, I ask you! Not even one sodding torpedo: no, she has to have a fucking pair! And what is she going to do with five metres of seventy knot naval weaponry? Well, Jamie? Hmm, got an answer, have you? Of course not! For all your foibles, you do still retain a modicum of sanity, so you would never request a fucking torpedo designed to be fired through a twenty-one-inch diameter torpedo tube which she does not possess, nor a sodding great nuclear-powered submarine within which to mount said sodding torpedo tube. Oh, God, maybe she's gone and bought a fucking submarine! She has gone over the fucking edge, my boy! Ooh...!"

Jamie was trying to figure out how his name had somehow been drawn into his sister's diatribe, but he simply shrugged it off and tried to block out most of what was being said: it was like a never-ending river of diarrhoea; best avoided at all costs. But then she had stopped dead and paused her rant.

'What could possibly be more exciting than her own personal ranting session?' Jamie asked himself.

Jamie laughed as he found his sister on the far side of a gigantic pallet, the contents of which appeared to have collapsed like an avalanche and his sister was knee deep in used Bank of England fivers and tenners. Stephanie's grin was one of pure pleasure as she all but swam in the mounds of cash. Jamie grabbed up a handful of ten-pound notes and checked them in the lights above – they were genuine.

"As I understand it," Dave said as he sauntered over, "there's four-hundred and fifty million pounds sterling in these pallets."

"No, seems more like four-hundred and forty-nine million quid," Stephanie said as she stuffed wads of cash into the pockets of her jeans and down the front of her top.

"I'm surrounded by fucking nutters!" Jamie growled as he hustled off to find another pallet to unpack.

Dave knew he should agree with his son.

..._...

Mindy was not amused when she spotted Stephanie wallowing in cash.

"Fucking hussy! Gonna buy a pole for your dancing with all that cash? Bet Tommy would enjoy stuffing cash down your knickers as you flash your stuff!"

"Not funny!" Stephanie growled as she returned a fair amount of the pilfered cash to the pallet. "I think Jamie has found something."

"Don't change the subject," Mindy growled. "I'm not that easily distracted."

Stephanie grinned as she peered past Mindy.

"Jamie has bullets."

"Oooh!" Mindy grinned as she forgot about Stephanie and headed over towards where Dave and Jamie were riffling through cardboard boxes.

"So transparent," Stephanie chuckled as she climbed out of her pile of folding money and ran after Mindy.

Mindy found Jamie riffling through hundreds of loose 5.56-millimetre assault rifle rounds while Dave was looking through canvas packs of 7.62-millimetre belt ammunition. It was all super shiny knew and fresh from the production line, courtesy of Her Majesty's Government.

"You think they want us ready to fight another war?" Stephanie asked darkly.

"The thought did cross my mind," Mindy admitted as her grin faded.

"A lot of death here," Jamie mused.

"If people put themselves in our sights and they deserve a bullet then so be it," Stephanie stated, "we give 'em one... or two."

Jamie grinned at his sister's meaningful expression which also gave him a satisfying chill for all its coldness.

..._...

Overall, Mindy was very pleased that they had received some recognition for all they had risked and accomplished on behalf of both governments – and many others. It was her understanding that the European governments had chipped in for something very special, but no one was letting on what it was, at least not to Mindy.

Restocking the armoury (and those around the world) was always expensive and the arms market worked on the basis of supply and demand – see the movie Lord of War – which often pushed prices through the roof at certain times of world instability. On a positive note, many of those who practiced survivalism had locked themselves into their underground bunkers which ridded the world of hundreds, if not thousands, of nutcases. Who, Mindy considered, was enough of a nutcase to have their very own nuclear bunker, of all things! However, she now had more important things to consider, such as how to make her two stripped down Spearfish torpedoes into warshots.

Dave, on the other hand, figured he now had to control his wife before she used the cash to buy a purple SSN to fire her newly acquired torpedoes. As a general rule he would not put anything past his wife who could afford to buy just about anything for sale on the planet – especially if it came in purple or was simply outrageous by design. Mindy would scan every catalogue she received from her various arms merchants as well as the military sales offered by the world's defence forces for redundant equipment. Left with Mindy, she would buy tanks, jets, helicopters, frigates, and destroyers – none of which she would ever actually require to make use of in their daily lives.

As for Stephanie, her only worries were school, Tommy, her friends, Tommy, going out as Psyche, and also Tommy. As far as the almost twelve-year-old was concerned, she was all but an adult, echoing Mindy's beliefs at a similar age – an age which still haunted the memories of Dave and Marcus. Her outlook on life was marginally better and she took the good with the bad knowing that she really did not have any other choice. She was what she was and considering what she had, she would never change anything about her life.

"Come on, Jamie, these bullets ain't gonna take themselves to the armoury," Stephanie announced.

"You just want to pilfer more of Mindy's shit," Jamie responded.

"That is not the only reason..."

Jamie sighed as he considered the trouble his sister was seemingly unable to avoid despite so many opportunities.