Love and the Assassin Ch. 03-04

"First of all, it's not all kiss, kiss bang, bang kiddo. There are things you will have to learn before you get to even shoot a gun or try to blow something up. The most important thing that needs to be done, since this is the life that you are choosing, we need to get you to the doc and get that arm checked and if it needs to be reset, then get it done. You won't be able to hold a gun or shoot it if you can't use your arm." Ike said trying not to sound like a downer.

"Whatever. I'll do whatever it takes to do this. Oh my God, this is so wow, yeah I so need to do this." She sighed.

Ike and Justin looked at each other, Twist was holding back something. "Look Twist, I know you must have some skeletons in your closet but when you do what we do, you have to leave that behind, unless you get lucky enough to get who ever hurt you as a target. You get that right?" Justin asked softly.

Tears welled in Twist eyes. "Fine; whatever." She pulled her mp3 player out of her pocket and placed the ear buds into her ears, she was finished listening to what they had to say.

Ike looked at Justin and pointed to her room. Something was very wrong when it came to Twist and what happened to her. Ike wasn't sure she wanted to know what happened to her, maybe it was better left for the doctor's to handle and maybe letting her pick up a gun wasn't in her best interests.

Ike closed the door to her room and sat down on her bed with a sigh. "Something is off about this whole situation, and I feel like this kid's out of control. She was too eager to pick up a gun and use it. Some how I don't think this is the right decision for her at this time." Ike draped her arm across her face.

"I think maybe all of the abuse she has suffered is making her want revenge, may be some justice too. I can not tell you what to do with her, but I think in some ways this is the best place for her. She can learn discipline and control, not let her emotion get the better of her. Let's give her some time to adjust, get her health and take it from there." Justin was always the calm and rational person in their relationship.

"On one condition, if you see this isn't going to work out and I'm not here to pull her back, you take her out. You pack her up and send her to a school somewhere. I don't want her getting hurt anymore then she has already been hurt." Ike said lying back on her tiny twin bed.

"Deal." Justin said. "Now why don't you go and lie down in my room on my bed, hell it would be better then this little thing."

Ike smirked. "Yeah I bet lying down is what would be going on in your room. I'm not as dumb as you think I am."

Justin palm landed on his chest right over his heart with a thwack. "You wound me my love. I would never think to do such things to you." He smiled.

Ike chuckled, "I know you better then what you think, lover boy."

"Harsh." He laughed. "I get it; I'm not your type. Fine, I can deal." Justin walked out of the room with a smile on his face and a dent in his ego. It was worth a shot, he thought as he walked back into the kitchen hopefully to find Twist still sitting at the table.

Her hair was down covering her face; her cast held one side of her sketch book as her right hand drew harsh lines and shaded in spots. His breath caught when she looked up at him. Her innocence poured like liquid heat from her violet eyes. Given a couple of more years; she would be a heart stopper. I am seriously in trouble with this one, he thought looking back at her.

"What are you drawing?" He asked her as he sat back down.

"Nothing really. I mean, I'm not that good, especially with this thing on." She held her cast up.

"If that's not any good, then I want to know what good means to you. Look if you really want to draw something, I have a creak not far from the house that you could sit by and draw. Or I could take you to some Hopi lands I know and you can draw from there too, whatever you want." He said smiling.

"I think I would like that, but does that mean I can't learn to shoot a gun?" She asked.

"No, it means I think you are a really talented drawer and I was just thinking you would like to get out and do something, since you have been inside for a long time. Plus, you really can't do anything until that cast of yours comes off."

"Okay, let's go find me a place where I can draw." She said gathering up her things.

"You want to go now?" He asked.

"Sure, I mean, like you said I have been cooped up too long, and I would like to get out and do something. Its better then sitting here knowing there are guns around and I can't use them."

"Alright, let me go tell Ike where she can find us and we'll be all set." Justin said getting up from the table. ***

Ike woke two hours later from her nap; a note sat on the night stand next to her bed. She hadn't meant to fall asleep but she was still trying to catch up and yeah, who cared. She was on vacation temporarily and with nothing better to do with her time, sleep sounded like a good plan.

Ike sat up and opened the note card. Ike, I took Twist out to the reservation for a little down time, we should be back soon. Justin. Something about the letter didn't surprise her, it wasn't like the girl wasn't exactly his type; "damsel in distress," she should have seen it coming.

She walked back out into the kitchen; the sun was beginning to touch the red clay mountains of Sonoma, damn, she thought reaching in the refrigerator. There was nothing in the refrigerator, only what little food they had cooked for breakfast, and now she was hungry again, someone was definitely buying take out and it wasn't her.

She wondered back into the living room, nothing had changed only a few books here and there, more contemporary literature then Sigmund Fraud, then again a little naughty erotica wasn't half bad given the right mood. She picked up a book she had wanted to read the last time she was there, but didn't get the chance to. Dead Girls Are Easy by Terri Geary; nothing said relaxation like a paranormal romance. Ike sat on the plush leather cow hide couch and opened up the book, it was weird for her to just sit there and have nothing to do.

Ike was getting to the good part of her book; the mambo was mixing a spell for protection, when Ike heard the crunch of tires on gravel. She marked her page and closed the book. She was not used to waiting on someone and it made her nervous, so she got up from where she was sitting and walked to the front door opening it for them.

Justin was out first, in his hand was a brown paper bag, Twist followed, the clothes she had been wearing when they left had been replaced with shorts and a tank top, even though it was only April it was still plenty hot, so it was a no brainer that they had gone to the mall.

"What's for dinner?" She called out from the door.

"Chinese, I hope you don't mind, Twist picked it out." Justin said smiling.

"Not a problem." She said holding the door wide for them.

There was a smile on Twist face, something that Ike had never really seen before, it made her happy to see her that way, especially after all that she had been through. "Did you have a good time?" Ike asked as they walked into the house.

"It was so fucking cool. I got to feed a buffalo." Twist smiled even more.

"Let me guess you took her over to Lou's place, huh?" She asked Justin.

"Yep, I thought she would like it there."

Ike nodded, this was what Twist needed, some time to be a kid and enjoy the little things in life. "Awesome," she said. "I'm guessing you would like to go back, then?"

"You know it." She said, "One of the buffalo is getting ready to have a baby, Lou said he would call Justin as soon as it was born so I could meet him or her first. I can't wait!" Twist was full of excitement.

"Sweet."

"I know, right?" Twist began to take out the container from the brown paper bag. "I have had an outrageous day, I don't think I have ever had this much fun, ever, to tell you the truth. Someone pinch me and tell me I'm not dreaming."

Ike moved to her side, mischief filled her eyes. She lifted her hand to teasingly pinch her, when out of no where Twist crouched into a fighting pose. "Whoa wait a minute chica, I don't know what you think you're going to do, but I was just messing around with you." Ike said raising her hands in surrender.

"I don't like to be touched." Twist said.

"So you say?" Ike said cocking her brow.

Twist looked over at Justin and then down at herself, "sorry, habit." She said standing back up, "so, who wants chow mein?" She went back to setting out dinner like nothing had happened.

Ike pointed to Justin and then to her room, they walked into her room leaving Twist to finish setting out dinner. "What the hell was that about?" Ike asked as Justin closed the door behind them.

"I don't know, she didn't act that way when we were on the Reservation." He said bewildered.

"Truly makes you wonder what really happened to this little girl, and I feel sorry for them if they ever cross my path." Ike said, anger laced through her words.

Justin smiled, he knew she liked the kid; he just wasn't sure how much, now he knew. "I feel the same way."

They walked back into the kitchen, Twist was sitting at the table, her plate pilled with food, her hands were neatly folded as she waited for them to sit and serve themselves. For the first time Ike actually looked at her, sure she had seen her picture, sat next to her on the plane, but she never really looked at her. Her hair was a beautiful brown with natural red highlights, or could it be fake; she looked closer and saw streaks of reds and pinks.

"What's with the hair?" She asked.

"Huh?" Twist asked confused by the question.

"Your hair, what's with the colors?"

"Oh," she smiled and took one of the clipped in colors out of her hair. "You, like?"

Ike smiled. "Cute."

"Very." She smiled, picked up her chop sticks and began to eat.

Justin sat back in his chair and smiled to himself. Never in his life did he ever believe he would find two women in his life that were so identical. It was amazing. It was as if he woke up one morning and found out he had a twin.

The rest of the evening went by smoothly, Ike sat in her favorite chair reading, Justin in his chair cleaning his guns and Twist sat on the couch with her sketch book and color pencils. If anyone was to look in the window at that moment they would see one happy family. No one would suspect a thing.