I am SO sorry about the ridiculously late update! I have had a... well, I've had a shit summer. I know it's no excuse, but I haven't got nother one. I honestly came close to taking this story down again, but I didn't want to fail in this as well, so here you have a chapter that I'm not entirely happy with, but it's something, and it's plot relevant.

Sorry about that.

Chapter 4 - Well nothing comes to mind

Beca cut the engine of her bike, silence and darkness engulfing the courtyard she had pulled into. Jesse copied her a few seconds later, gliding to a halt beside her. Together, they took their helmets off, and pulled up the hoods on their grey jackets. They had been Benji-fied, and now they covered their entire faces with shadow. After checking that all their weapons were secure, and that their earpieces worked, they left the parking lot.

Benji had been able to hack into the buildings CCTV footage, and he was back in the Den so as to help them do their job as quickly as possible. Every entrance was guarded by three bulky security men, armed with guns and an almost visible lack of brain cells. Still, stupidity can be dangerous, and the three agreed quietly that it would be better to find some other way in.

"Okay guys, this is a ten minute, in and out job. If you go to the west-facing side of the building, there's a fire-escape with no guards. It's in shocking condition, though so be careful." Taking Benji's advice, the two ran to the other sde of the building. Jesse's taller build meant he could jump up to the first level of the escape, and he pulled Beca up after him. She picked the lock of the door, and they were in.

"Ok. There isn't CCTV on the fourth floor, so I'm willing to bet that whatever's going on, it's happening there. Once, you're up there, I'm of no use to you. Be safe." Jesse whispered an affirmative as he and Beca made their way up the three flights of stairs. They only met one complication - a group of ten guards outside the door caused a momentary confusion, but Beca's tranq darts made short work of them. Twenty seconds later, one of the explosive darts opened the door, and the two grey-clad figures ran in.

Bumper was half-standing at his desk. Two men in cheap suits, one with blonde hair and one with black, were turned around in their chair, both reaching for guns inside their jackets. Another three men were already pointing M1911s at the pair. Jesse knocked one to the side with his tanto, using the same movement to sink the blade into the thug's chest. He moved to take out the other two men, but Beca had already but a cyanide dart in one, and had swung up onto the shoulders of the other, twisting his neck with her legs and successfully breaking it. Jesse winced. He was a little scared of the little DJ when he saw how ruthless she could be. He tried his best not to kill people, but she was more focused on getting a job done as quickly as possible.

Turning to face Bumper, the vigilantes came up against his two clients, who were pointing Uzis right at them.

"Don't move!" shouted the blonde. "If you so much as twitch, I won't think twice about pumping you full of lead!" He was trying to put as much threat into his voice as possible, but he quivered right at the end. Beca sighed. First-timers.

"Hey, it's cool. We're not here for you anyway." said Jesse. "I can see you don't wanna get hurt, so if you'd just put down the guns, we can take what we came for and leave."

The two clients faltered, clearly not sure of what they should do.

"Sure dudes, just put the guns down. I'll make sure you die the most painful death I can think of, and you can be sure I have a pretty twisted mind." said Bumper, grinning. The black haired man refocused his aim, but Beca and Jesse had already taken advantage of their uncertainty. Inching forward, Jesse executed a crescent kick, knocking the blonde's gun out of his hand, then spinning and popping his nose. He stumbled backwards, and Jesse changed legs, sweeping his leg in a circle to knock the man onto the ground. A quick punch to the side of the head rendered him unconscious, and the vigilante turned to check on Beca.

The DJ had also taken advantage of her opportunity. When the black haired man regained focus, Beca was already half-way through her move. She threw a quick hammer shot at the side of his head, stunning him. Then she grabbed his neck, pulling his head down to meet his knee. He hit the ground, out for the count at the same time as his friend. The two vigilantes were now against just one much less cocky criminal.

Jesse launched himself at his opponent, landing a straight kick firmly into his chest. Beca began rifling trough the desk looking for the file that Benji was describing through the ear piece, as Jesse pulled out the tanto blade and held it to the larger man's neck. Ten minutes later, the pair left the unfortunate chief tied to his desk chair and knocked out with a tranq dart while squad cars could be heard coming closer to the scene. Making a quick escape, the pair pulled off with their bikes.

They returned to the house and quickly got changed out of their dirty clothes. Benji turned on the local news station, where Bumper's arrest was already being reported as "the vigilante's latest in a series of gang take-downs." Beca smirked, as she walked past the front room. It was only ten o'clock, and her favourite diner didn't close until eleven.

She walked the short distance, reaching the café after about ten minutes. She opened, and the familiar bell announced her arrival. Chloe's shift was long over, so she just ordered her usual and took out her notebook to figure out some new song lyrics. She was considering releasing a solo album, with all original material after the Miley project. She did need something to cheer her up.

After half an hour spent chewing on the end of her pen and staring at a page that was more scribbles than words, Beca was happy with what she had written. It wasn't perfect, but it was at that stage here it needed to be set to instruments so that the right changes could be made. She drank the dregs of her now melted drink and left a generous tip for the waitress before leaving the café.

She shivered as she made her way back down the street. She only had a light black jacket on, which was no protection against the coldness which had dropped over the city. There wasn't a lot of people around. L.A. nightlife didn't really extend to this part of the area, and most people were in bed, or at least in their homes, by around half eleven. Beca tucked her hands into her pockets and reguated her breathing, in a practised effort to keep warm and relaxed. She tensed up immediately when she heard the familiar short scream from not to far ahead. She launched into a sprint, reaching back to grab a dart before realising she'd left everything at home. This was a job she'd have to do by hand.

She reached the end of a darkened alley, lit only by a single streetlight on the edge of the main road. The shadows of two figures were visible against an overflowing bright-green skip. A burly man was preventing a much smaller blonde girl from going anywhere, and it was clear to Beca that the girl was very afraid. She was huddled against the skip, and her eyes were darting from the man to the ends of the alley, looking for an escape. Something about her looked familiar to the DJ but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind.

"Hey dickhead! Get away from her!"

The man turned around, grinning at Beca and pushing his hand through his hair. It was long and dirty, and even from the 50-yard distance, it turned the brunettes stomach. She began walking toward the two, her hands swinging loosely by her sides.

"Hey babe, you probably don't wanna get involved in this right now." He said, moving his hand so that the DJ could see the knife he had in his fist.

"No, I'm pretty sure I do." Beca grabbed the man's knife-hand, using her other arm to slam her elbow into his forearm. The audible cracking of a broken arm was followed by a scream, but Beca wasn't quite finished yet. As he fell back to the ground, clutching his arm, the tiny brunette aimed a low razor kick at the side of his head, knocking him unconscious, before pulling out her phone to call Benji.

"Resident tech-nerd."

"Hey Benji, can you call LAPD? We've got an unconscious rapist in an alleyway."

"Uhuh. And I'm sure he was that way when you got there."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

She gave her location before turning to the blonde who was still huddled against the skip, staring at her.

"Uh... Well the cops are on their way now so... Do you want to give a statement or something? Or I can walk you home if you'd rather not... You look kinda pale, you're probably in shock, so..."

"No, I'm fine, really. I can get home myself. Nothing happened that I need to tell the police about."

The blonde pushed herself off the skip, shaking her head slightly and straightening out her jacket. It was then Beca recognised her - blonde hair tied back with an impossible neatness, blue eyes that were so piercing they felt like literal knives pressed into you, an expensively fitted blazer that made the wearer look incredibly professional... looked like Chloe wasn't the only one of Beca's old friends who'd turned up in LA.

The DJ stepped back a little, pulling up her hood so as to hide her face. Normally, she would never let a person walk home alone afterbeing attacked, but Aubrey Posen was the last person she wanted to know about her. Odds were she was still in contact with Chloe, and Beca wasn't sure she wanted her old friends aware of what she was up to.

"Well, if you're sure... just, go straight home. And make a strong drink... Yeah, that should take care of the shock. If you don't want to talk to the police, you should leave now."

"Yes, of course. Hey, do I know you from somewhere? You sound familiar."

-LemonyOrange-

Chapter Title from She's A Rebel by Greenday. Which was the inspiration for this fic, incidentally.