Two weeks later

While I stayed with non-physical training, Mindy kicked the crap out of Chloe.

Mindy seemed a lot happier and much less moody, now that she had a human punch bag. Chloe, though, quite understandably, she was not so happy... Chloe had shown me some of her bruises one night and I had to admit that they looked very painful. Chloe, in general, was a very brave girl and she had plenty of courage; she was not outwardly scared of Mindy, but she was becoming wary and I did advise Mindy to go easy on Chloe before she actually manged to break a part of the young girl.

I liked Chloe. I had not known her as long as Mindy had, but she was nice and she had a wicked sense of humour and she could swear almost as badly as Mindy could – at least when her Mom was well out of earshot. Chloe, at nine-years-old, was outwardly determined not to be outdone by an eight-year-old – she said it was embarrassing. However, Mindy had been very well trained and she may only have been short and eight, but she was lethal and sometimes she got carried away and more than once she had left Chloe in tears of pain.

Mindy, for her part, hated it when she hurt Chloe, but she was very good at hiding her emotions and while I could see a hint of concern, Mindy pretended not to be concerned whenever Chloe took a beating and was left crying. Mindy was also a bitch! I had always known that – ever since that day when we had first met. She would pick up on the tiniest mistake and rub it in and there were some days that I resented her, but all in all, I really liked Mindy and Chloe.

..._...

Mindy and I had been given a new chance at a life where somebody cared for us. Dr Bennett was always there to talk to and she enjoyed having three kids in the house. She had bought Mindy and I some new clothes and she had spoilt us – but she had spoilt Chloe too, so all was fair. We had yet to meet her husband, Commander Ryan Bennett USN – he was away at sea and he would be for another month or two.

Despite Mindy enjoying her new role, that of training us delinquents, I could tell that she was desperate to get back out on the streets. I had called her out on it, but she had denied it; however, I knew different, I was figuring out her moods, her expressions, and her mannerisms. The young girl was hurting and I hated to see that.

She had a need to kill – at least, I thought so.

I would wake up at night and take a serious look at what I was doing.

I had taken on two kids, one of whom was a mass murderer, and another who was fresh out of a coma after having been in a life-threatening stabbing and car accident. I skipped over the fact that the girl I had taken on was the one that had actually stabbed the boy!

Ryan and I had talked on the phone and he had agreed with taking the two kids in – I had not been able to go into much detail about anything more than that the girl was eight and the boy was ten. I definitely could not discuss Mindy's extra-curricular activities over a satellite link. It would have to wait until Ryan returned – I was not looking forward to that conversation...

For now, I turned a blind eye to Mindy training my daughter to kill people – I looked at the training as teaching Chloe to defend herself. Who was I kidding? Aiding and abetting – twenty to life... Oh, well, it could be worse, I suppose.

Just how, exactly, could it be worse!

Despite the pain, and bruises in places I never knew I even had, I was having the time of my life!

I was learning to fight – and to defend myself which was a bonus. Mainly, I wanted to fight... I wanted to shoot a gun, but my little sister who seemed to own hundreds and hundreds of guns would not let me even touch one! I was one year, one month and twenty-seven days older than that little bitch – that should at least count for something...

I had mastered falling down, being thrown down, being tripped, being kicked and also being punched – I decided that it was time to move onto something else; I was getting fed up with Little Miss Bossy Boots!

The downtrodden fly was about to turn on the spider...

Dave had told me to go easy on the girl – I was Hit Girl; I went easy on no one!

I had to admit, it was fun – Chloe was like a spring-loaded mannequin; every time I knocked her down, she would spring straight back up again for more. Somebody really needed to teach the girl how to stay down!

Okay, I was being a bitch – so fucking what! Maybe I was getting complacent, maybe it was the weeks with no proper action – no killing. Dave said I was like a vampire with no blood – nevertheless, I should have seen it coming; I was behaving like a fucking amateur and Daddy was probably spinning in his grave!

Chloe was flat on the mat – as usual; only, this time, she did not spring straight back up again for Mindy to pounce on.

Maybe she was learning – no; I could see a smirk on her lips. Mindy was behind her and was looking at Chloe's ass, so she had no idea that something was about to happen.

"Get up!" Mindy yelled and I saw Chloe shut her eyes tightly.

Mindy strode forwards and came up Chloe's left side and reached down to grab her pants – that was when Chloe moved. I noticed that her arms were close into her sides, her elbows dug in. Chloe rolled to her left and kept rolling – Mindy's feet were swept out from beneath her and she crashed to the mat where quick as a flash, Chloe jumped up and rammed both of her fists into Mindy's stomach.

Mindy doubled over and emptied her lungs in a scream of pain. Chloe, was not done – she grabbed Mindy by the neck of her t-shirt and dragged her across the mat. Did I say that Chloe was quite strong? Well she was, and Mindy was relatively light and therefore easy to move. Mindy was not vanquished, not by a long shot...

She unravelled, yanked the bigger girl down to the mat and pinned her with an arm across her throat.

"Gotcha!" Mindy exclaimed, as she then released her hold.

I saw Chloe move fast and plant a kiss on Mindy's lips – the smirk vanished as Mindy threw herself backwards and landed in an undignified heap on the mat and glowered at Chloe while she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

After a minute, Mindy got to her feet and she smiled. She held out a hand and pulled Chloe to her feet.

"Well done!" Mindy said, somewhat incredulously. "Unorthodox, and a bit creepy, but nonetheless, it was effective!"

Chloe was red in the face from the exertion, but I was sure there was some pink too.

Well, that was both creepy and humiliating, but that girl could not shock me any further!

I savoured the hot water as it cascaded over me and removed the last of the sweat from my skin. I had just started on my hair when I heard a voice.

"Hi, Mindy, can I join you?"

I turned to see Chloe who was just as naked as I was.

"I am going to say this just once – so listen good," I growled. I had considered pushing her up against the wall of the shower but I decided that that would give the wrong impression. "I am not interested in girls; I am not a lesbian – so kissing and sharing a shower cannot lead to anything!"

Chloe shrugged.

"Never crossed my mind – you're my sister and sisters kiss and share stuff, so get used to it, bitch," she replied as she grabbed the bottle of shampoo from my hand. "I so kicked your skinny butt!"

I felt so relieved...

"Yes, Chloe, you did – but never again..."