He drove his ford ranger with Joseline asleep in it. He stopped at a red light,waiting for it to turn green when something caught his attention. There was a bruise around her neck, almost as if she had been choked. He was angry at Joseline's father and aunt for doing all those things to her.

"Hey. Wake up, sleeping beauty." Joseline woke up and saw a small house with and unkempt garden and lawn. There was an old black 1967 black Impala and a 1967 skyblue ford under a tree.

"I'm sorry the place looks like this." He apologized as she looked at the property.

"It's better than where i live." She noticed a wooden ramp on the front of the house.

"I liver with my dad." He pulled out his house keys from his pockets.

"Is he on a wheelchair or.....?"

"Wheelchair. He had a fall and broke his back and didn't recover."

"I'm sorry." She didn't know what to say.

"Yeah. Yeah. Don't mind it. If he asks who are you just tell him you are my daughter." She stopped walking, confused.

"Why would I do that?" He glanced at the house.

"He wants grandchildren. I can't have any and i'm adopting you because after all you don't have a single living relative." He smiled.

"What do you mean by no living relative?" He shrugged and kept on walking with Joseline following behind.

"Do you want to go back to your apartment for your things?"

"Yeah." When he opened the door she noticed that the house wasn't attended the way a woman would.

" Is that you, Victor?" An old man seating on a wheelchair asked.

"Stay here." Victor instructed Joseline as he hid her down the entrance hall.

"Present in the flesh." victor answered.

"Better be you or i'll make you shit bullets out your skull"

"It's me old man." Victor chuckled as he sat on the couch next to the old man.

Remember when we used to watch those superhero movies when you were young?" Victor rested his head on the old man's shoulder.

"Yeah."

"I used to be your hero." The old man chuckled.

"You still are, old, but still my superhero." The two of them laughed.

"What's next? We'll share feelings while crying?" The old man asked.

"Actually, yes." Victor got up and made his way towards Joseline.

"Dad. Meet my daughter." Victor held Joseline's shoulders as he guided her towards the old man. The old man had thin, white hair and brown eyes. At the sight of Joseline he revealed one of the happiest smile that reached his eyes.

"A granddaughter? " He reached for her but he couldn't get up from his wheelchair.

"Meet my daughter Danny." Danny looked over at Victor before kneeling on the floor and letting the old man hug her.

"Danny. He's your grandpa, Solomon."

"Please, child, call me pops." Pops was happy to finally have a grandchild.

"Ok.Pops." Danny smiled.

"Is she staying with us?" Pops asked as excited as a little child on a christmas morning.

"Not until next week." The look on Pops eyes shattered Danny's heart. "But." Victor continued. "She can stay here for tonight and tomorrow."

"Has she eaten yet?" Victor shook his head as he smiled to his father's happy mood.

"I'll make something for her then." He said as he made his way towards the kitchen in his wheelchair but Danny stopped him.

"It's ok, you don't have to worry about me, pops." She smiled nervously to the idea of someone showing feelings of sincere affection. Something that she had always craved while in her dark moments.

"Did you eat breakfast?" She didn't answer him because she was trying to remember if she had eaten something.

"You will eat whatever i put in that plate of yours child and if you don't i'll make sure to spoon feed you the last crumb." He wheeled his way towards the kitchen and grabbed a wooden spoon. Danny was going to help Pops in the kitchen but as she made her way towards the kitchen Victor stopped her.

"Just let him pamper you. After all you're his granddaughter." He guided her towards the living room and gave her the tv remote.

"Wait." She tried to say something in her defence but Victor interrupted her by saying.

"Hold up, old man." And sprinted towards the kitchen and started arguing with Pops over whether he had put enough salt to the food.

"Why didn't you tell me about her before?" Pops asked after an extensive argument of "It was your fault the dog died, you left the door open and ran it over."

"I didn't know about her."

"Didn't her mom tell you?"

"No. She thought it was someone else's child."

"Is she?"

"No." Danny heard their conversation over the tv noise. She wondered why Victor was lying to Pops that she was his daughter.

"What happened to her mother?" Pops asked as he chopped some lettuce.

"Died in a car accident."

"When?"

"Years ago."

"Who had she been staying with?"

"Her step parents" Danny heard a creak outside the window and a click on the door. She got up and made her way towards the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Victor asked, noticing she was cautious about making noise on the wooden floor.

"Nothing." She answered as she slipped a knife under her long sleeves without anyone noticing.

"Why do you need that?" Victor asked as he approached her when he heard a creak on the hallway.

"Damn it. I forgot the ketchup." As Victor said ketchup he turned his hand into a fist. His pointer and middle fingers straight and his thumb moved down like the hammer of a gun.

"I think you left it in the room." Victor pushed Danny towards Pops, who grabbed her hand and wheeled towards a bedroom.

"Do you know who is it?" Pops asked as he pulled out a .45 caliber gun.

"No but he picked the lock and has a gun."

"Areal one?"

"Looked like it."

"Get in the closet." Pops ordered her.

"But what about you?" She asked as Pops glared at her.

"Don't worry about me child." She crawled into the closet and closed the door. The two of them could hear a ruckus outside of the room which died down as soon as it had started.

"Clear." Victor shouted as he burst into the room with a .38 caliber gun.

"Clear." Pops confirmed.

"Danny?" Victor asked as he opened the closet and found her. "Thank god." He muttered under his breath and helped her on her feet.

"Are you ok?" She nodded as she looked at the gun in his hand.

"What are you?" She asked as she shoved him away from her, the window glass shattered, a bullet hole appeared in the wall. Victor unlocked his gun, aimed it out the window and pulled the trigger.

"We're going someplace safe for the two of you." Victor knelt on the floor, took the floor boards out and pulled out a duffel bag.

"Go.Go.Go." Victor urged Danny and Pops out of the house. once they were in his ford ranger, he opened the trunk to stuff his duffel bag in it and drove off.

"Do you still have that knife?" Victor drove past a red light.

"Yeah?" She answered as she remembered that she still had it hidden under her sleeve.

"Show it to me." She held it out, a small silver ridged knife.

"Have you ever held a gun?" Victor almost runned over a man.

"No." He frowned before reaching down and pulled out a knife from under the seat.

"Take this. Always keep it with you and use it only when you have to." Danny looked at the knife handle.

"I....." She didn't know what to do or what to say but Victor placed it on her lap before steering the car to the right.

"Shotgun to the left." Pops unlocked his .30 caliber, placing the barrel on the windowsill, he shoot. The grey car that drove next to them had the windows down with 2 men aiming at Victor. Before they had pulled the trigger of their .38 caliber guns, victor snatched the kitchen knife and threw it at the man driving shotgun. The knife ended inside the man's throat. Pops shot the passenger, putting a bullet in his chest.

"Interrogation?" Pops asked.

"At it." Victor agreed as he slowed the car even more as Pops shot the front tire making the car veer and crash. The car stopped and out came Victor with his .38 caliber gun hidden under his jacket while wearing a gas mask. When the driver saw him walk towards him he tried to get out of the car but Victor kicked the door close.

"Who are you working for?" Victor asked.

"For jimmy." The driver stuttered.

"What for?" He aimed his gun at the man's head.

"He just told us to kill you."

"Why?" Victor pressed the gun against the man's forehead.

"I don't know."

Pops watched as Danny pressed her fingers along the edge of the knife.

"Do you know what type of knife that is?" Pops asked her.

"No. Do you know?" She asked in return as she deliberately prickled her thumb.

"It's called a wasp Knife. Known to inject poison into the victim's body, creating a basketball seize air pocket. Also freezes the organs around the wound." A gunshot went off right outside of the car but Danny didn't flinch.

"Have you ever shot a gun?" She shook her head as she watched Victor make his way towards the car.

"They're out to get me. Pops, you're staying in a hotel room and Danny, you're going back to that place." Danny didn't say anything, she sat in silence until Victor had dropped off Pops in a hotel.

"Why are they out to get you?" She asked.

"I don't know."

"It's either you are a wanted criminal or something and that's why they want you."

"Sort of." Victor drove through an alley.

"Meaning?" She noticed a car following them.

"We got a tail, eh." She whispered as she looked around to see if they were surrounded. "Fuck."

"What?" He asked.

"We have a car up ahead and one behind us."

"Are you a criminal?" Victor turned right.

"No."

"A mercenary?"

"No?"The word mercenary confused her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Victor parked the car.

"Stay here. I'll be here in case something goes wrong." He opened the trunk to get his sniping rifle with a silencer."No matter what? You're safe." He pulled down the ladder of a building and climbed all the way to the roof while wearing the gas mask. Danny wrapped her sweater around her seat before moving to the driver's seat. Two cars, a black honda and a silver BMW blocked Danny's path from the front and back. 2 men, 1 from each vehicle, came out with guns hidden under their shirts.

"Hello." Danny smiled as the men knocked on her window.

"Where's the mercenary?" One of them asked.

"Mmm. i don't know anyone by that name or a what." A phone inside Victor's car started ringing. She searched for the phone but she couldn't find it even though the noise was coming from under her seat. She felt for the phone under her seat, her fingertips brushed something cold. She wrapped her fingers around its handle.

"Can you move away from the door. I need to answer the call." They both stepped away from the car, letting Danny get out. She was bending over in front of the two men, pretending to search for phone when in truth she was loading a gun.

"Damn it." The phone rang again, she turned around and hopped back into the car as she shot one of the men in the chest. As she shot the second man in the left eye, Victor had already snipped him down with a silent shot to the head. She pulled out the phone from between the seats and answered the call.

"So you're a mercenary." She stated as she watched the men's blood pool around their dead bodies.

"Yes."

"Were you thinking of telling me?"

"Not for a while." Victor took the gun from her hand.

"Why do they want you?" Victor shrugged while inspecting the bodies.

"Who taught you how to shoot?"

"Nobody." She answered as she watched Victor pull out the dead driver from the black Honda, got in it and moved it out of the way.

"Then how did you know how to put in the bullets and unlock it?"

"I saw you do it." She remembered as Victor reloaded his gun and unlocked it before leaving the house.

"How fast can you learn?" Victor asked as he drove the car.

"Depends if i'm interested or not."

"What if it depends on your survival?"

"I don't know." She shrugged.

"Have you ever shot a gun?"

"Not until those guys." Victor to look at her.

"Those shots were too perfect for a first time. You knew the force of the impact on the gun, how to take of the safety lock and safely load it under 30 seconds. So don't tell me that bullshit."Danny sighed.

"My step mom brought a guy home while dad and Vivian were out. She forced me to watch her have sex in front of me until that day that she decided to make the man have sex with me. I tried to escape but it was just me against two sadists. The man almost raped until i pulled out a gun from his clothes on the floor and it simply went off." Victor suddenly stepped on the brakes, coming to an abrupt stop.

"What happened to him?" Cars blared their horns at them until he kept on driving.

"He's still alive but can't use the right side of his body."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"No."

"Do you hate him?"

"Sort of but he got what he deserves."

"So you are happy with what happened to him?" Danny nodded.

"Are you going to adopt me?" She didn't want to get her hopes high.

"Yeah."

"Why?" She asked confused.

"I'll explain tomorrow." He ruffled Danny's hair as he drove near her building.

"Why did you become a mercenary?"

Victor thought about his answer for a long while that Danny thought he was not going to answer her.

"I grew up without a mother figure, just with Pops working 3 to 4 jobs. When i turned 17 i went and joined the army but after 4 years in it i was deployed."

"Why?" Danny asked.

"I was accused of a crime i didn't commit and sentenced 5 years in jail while he became lieutenant."

"Why?"

"I don't know, honestly."

"Is he still alive?"

"No." He smiled pleased with himself.

"Did you kill for revenge or were you hired?"

"I did it for revenge. As soon as i had killed him, a client had hired a mercenary to kill the man but he saw me do it. He gave me $7,000.00"

"Did you go for that afterwards?"

"No but he started to recommended me to people."

"Why did you get in this?" He searched for a place to park his car and let Danny go.

"I wouldn't have if the hospital bills weren't asking me to sell my limbs and internal organs to pay them off. And not counting the 6 months or mortgage overdue." He parked his car and looked at danny. "If anything happens. Just call me." he handed her the phone she had been searching under the driving seat.

"I..." Victor stuffed the phone in her sweater pocket.

"Give me the wasp knife." She pulled it out of her waistband and handed it to him. He took the knife but gave her a butterfly knife. "Just if anything happens." Victor said as he looked at her confused expression. "Go to your apartment, I'll call when i'm going to come and pick you up." Danny nodded as she got out of the car.

"Are you sure you want to adopt me?" He nodded as he drove away.

Danny didn't want to go back to her apartment. She took the train towards manhattan and made her way towards central park. She sat on the grass for hours until she got cold and decided to make her way home.

She opened the door to the apartment, she walked in she saw Gabriel sitting on the couch. she tried to avoid him by walking fast past him. She was so close to her room, close to

her safe haven that she got startled when Gabriel threw a beer bottle at her. The bottle almost hit her head but it didn't even after the glass flew everywhere when it broke.

"Where the fuck were you, whore?" He asked as he got on his feet and started to undo his belt.

"I was outside." Danny felt like her feet were glued to the floor.

"I be you were fucking like a fucking whore." Danny tried to walk towards her room because if she ran he would get even angry at her, he shoved her against the wall. She broke the window with her elbow when she was shoved.

"You useless piece of shit." Danny tried to run towards her room but Vivian was inside and had locked the door. Gabriel then bashed Danny's face against the door frame. She could taste the metallic taste of blood.

She tried to run out of the apartment but he yanked her hair and kept on bashing her face against the wall before wrapping his belt around her neck. She clawed her own neck, trying to rip the belt but Gabriel tightened it to the point that Danny couldn't breathe and felt light headed. He then kicked her as he let go of the belt. She fell on her back, gasping for air, he started hitting her with the belt as hard as he could.

"Die already. You stupid bitch." Gabriel grunted as he made her get up by pulling her hair and shoved her against the window.

"Or i'll kill you myself." He threw a punch at her eye, knocking her to the floor.

"Useless fat bitch." Gabriel went to the kitchen to get a beer. Danny made her way towards the bathroom, she was about to go into the bathroom when Gabriel shoved her in, she hit her forehead against the sink.

"Useless bitch." He muttered under his breath as he made his way towards the couch.

She locked the door and hugged her knees while sitting against the door. She had had enough. She accepted the name Danny as a symbol of starting over but the life of Joseline was never going to leave her alone. She searched for something inside of the cabinets, anything that could help her. She found a pair of scissors and decided to cut her wrists. The wound wasn't friendly it was lethal. She laid on the cold shower floor, chilled to the bone. She wrapped her sweater tighter around her when she felt a weird shape on her body, it was the that Victor gave her. She searched in the contacts and found his phone number and dialed him.

"Hello?" Victor answered after the fourth ring.

"Victor?" She asked weakly.

"Speaking." He sounded annoyed and angry. "What is it that you want?"

"I wanted to tell you that you don't have to come and look for me." Even though she was laying down the room spinned all around her.

"Why? Why not, Danny?" She could hear his concerns over the phone.

"Tell Pops that i'm sorry for what i just did to myself. No one will see me again. I'm sorry." Danny closed her eyes and cried because she had enough. Soon the darkness around her indulged her, dropping her deeper and deeper into the cold and darkness.