(A Series of Scenes From Past to Present)

It had taken some time to get across the country. Time and the aid of many truckers that had only seemed to have one thing on their mind. Cosmina had naturally had to convince many of them that she wasn't that sort of teenage girl and that their pants had best stay zipped. She had half a million dollars and was heiress to a fortune that she probably wouldn't see. Truckers that would stoop to hitting on a girl that hadn't had even turned sixteen yet were way too low for her. After what had happened to her daddy there was no way she was going to let herself do anything for a man that wasn't rich enough to take care of her. Daddy's death had taught her that much.

Now she was in New York City and spent the next several days looking for a place to live. Eventually she settled on a warehouse near the water. Sure it was cliché and it wasn't anywhere near as fancy as she'd wanted but apparently half a million didn't go as far as she'd thought it would. Still, after she got it built out to her specs and furniture put in it would make a halfway decent place to live with the added benefit that she'd be much harder to find here. Who would think to look for a runaway here? Criminals and mafia types maybe but a runaway? Cosmina grinned a little to herself.

Now she wasn't the smartest girl but Cosmina surely wasn't stupid either. She'd need a job or something to pay the bills. The only problem with that was that not too many people would hire someone her age for anything legal. However she had already killed two people so maybe she could do that? Obviously she'd need help. There was no way a girl her age could overpower adults without guns and training. She'd have to go hunt down people to teach her to shoot and to fight and to do stealthy stuff. Sure she could just turn off the sound anytime she wanted to do something stealthy but what if she was seen? She needed to know how to not be seen as well. That would have to wait until tomorrow though. It was already very late and she was starting to yawn.

Basile was the sort of older man you didn't mess with. He'd been a lot younger when he'd immigrated to the United States and had made it perfectly clear to the hooligans that congregated near his studio that he wasn't to be messed with. That reputation had stayed with him over the years. He was very good at savate, having learned on the docks as a young man back in France. Once he'd arrived in the states he quickly realized that he could make a comfortable enough living by teaching others what he knew. Others did not usually include a sixteen year old girl who claimed to have no parents. That was what the young woman who was now admiring herself in the mirrors on the far wall of the studio had told him when he'd asked if her parents had consented to this. She seemed far too independent for her age. Truly independent and not the rebellious folly that most teenagers engaged in. Basile wondered if he ought to teach her just so he could keep an eye on her.

Cosmina for her part stayed busy by staring at herself in the mirrors. She'd offered the old french guy a fair amount of money to train her with no more questions asked. If he turned her down there were other people she could learn from. However this guy, Basile or whatever, was held by some to be one of the best. He'd also been known to take on the occasional unofficial student if they couldn't afford to pay or had other things standing in their way. To Cosmina this translated to a good possibility that he'd teach her if she paid him enough not to worry about parental permission and what not. Before she tried to kill anyone professionally she wanted to be able to hold her own against her opponents. After all she was young. As much suspicion as that might divert it wouldn't do her any good in a fight if she couldn't actually fight. Hand to hand training, or in this case perhaps foot to hand, would be necessary if she wanted to be any good at all. It was only the first step as well.

After she convinced the old man to teach her she'd need to find teachers for marksmanship and stealth. Guns were the quickest and easiest way to kill anyone these days and Cosmina wanted to be sure she could use them efficiently and correctly. Stealth was another matter. One could do without it. However stealth was something she already had an advantage in. It would be wise to capitalize on it. If she could learn to strike from the shadows without being seen then she could be truly invisible. Her power would deafen her opponents to their coming death and all she would have to do would be remain unseen until the opportunity presented itself. While she was contemplating her future career the old man beckoned her over.

“You're sure you want to do this?”

Mina snorted.

“Yes I'm sure old man. I wouldn't have asked otherwise. Now lets get to it. I've got a lot to do.”

Basile frowned at the young woman.

“Very well. I'll teach you.”

Cosmina grinned while the old man frowned again. She needed someone to keep an eye on her and the city would be rough on a girl without parents. Basile figured he could turn a profit and keep an eye on the brat from time to time. Cosmina was simply glad that step one in her plan had gone so smoothly.

Basile wrapped the brat's arm with gauze. How she'd gotten herself shot she wouldn't tell him but apparently she expected him to fix it, presumptuous little pest. Yet here he was bandaging her up as though he were her personal nurse or something.

"There." he said as he finished up and tied off the gauze, "You're all patched up, brat. Next time make sure the bullet hits something vital and save me the trouble."

He'd been teaching the girl for two months now. She took well to the training but she was still the same insufferable brat she was when she'd walked in. A mutant brat at that. Oh yes he'd found out about that one day during training when she got tired of his criticism. He'd simply grabbed her, turned her over his knee, and paddled her like the misbehaving toddler that she was acting like. She hadn't showed up for three days afterward. When she did she had a bullet hole in her arm, the very same that he'd just finished patching.

Mina squirmed under Basile's gaze. There was no way she was going to tell the old man that she'd been shot by a cop during a courier run for one of the local small time bosses. He'd give that unbelieving and disappointed stare. The same one she was under right now. Mina didn't like it at all. Besides, she still wasn't happy with him. He'd spanked her! She was 16 years old and he'd spanked her! So she'd decided that she didn't need his training and went and took a job. And she'd ended up shot. Mina was so close to pouting about how unfair it was. Basile cleared his throat and Mina looked at him balefully.

"Since you're here brat we might as well work on your kicks. They still aren't right. Now get up and go get changed."

Mina glared at Basile but complied while muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "Stupid old man.".

Mina was twenty and the days of her training were long behind her when she first met Derek. Their paths had crossed during different jobs for the same client. Mina's had been an assassination, since she was so good at them. Derek on the other hand tended to lean more toward intimidation. He was good at it and according to him you didn't have to kill anyone if you did it right. It sounded perfectly dull to Mina. Soon there after she and Derek were assigned to the same job. It went smoothly and while Mina respected the man for his abilities over all she found him a bit soft when it came to killing. Derek on the other hand seemed perfectly enchanted by her. This was nothing new to Cosmina. Men had been easily swayed by her looks before she'd even reached eighteen. That they still responded at twenty was no surprise to her.

After that first mission with Derek every mission she got from that employer was with Derek. He seemed utterly thrilled by this and devoted much of his mission time to trying to ensure that Mina was happy. As was her way Mina allowed this to progress to several dalliances with the man. That had the side effect of increase the frequency of those soft eyed stares of his that Mina found rather disgusting. She was merely enjoying herself. He was getting attached.

That attachment proved the undoing of their last assignment together. Mina had gotten into a bit of a jam. She'd been paying a bit too much attention to her sniper scope and her surroundings. As a result three of the target's bodyguards had succeeded in getting the drop on her. Derek had dropped his task of getting the target into position to help her, thereby alerting the target to what was happening. The target got away while Derek was fighting the bodyguards, much to Mina's chagrin.

Her next meeting with their boss after that disastrous mission was quick and to the point. Kill Derek Carnes without delay. It was a task that Mina was all too happy to take.