Jinny stared at him for a long moment. Then she started to pace back and forth. She did this often when she was thinking about something very hard, or trying to solve a problem. “I thought you would tell me I was bad because of my dreams. I didn’t think you would accept me.” There was a tiny little smile on her face, but it faded fast.

Did she really want to do this? Go deeper into the world she didn’t know she’d been born into? Her parents had not been ordinary people. Her mother had been infamous enough to attract attention. Her father, while being “Just” a police officer, had been decorated and praised. So who was to say that she couldn’t follow in their footsteps?

A thought occurred to her then, and she stopped midstep. “I’ll be right back. Don’t leave.” 

She dashed out of the training room, her footsteps echoing around the empty house. She went to her own room, grabbed a particular object, and came rushing back down.

“You said, people purchase your skills, right? I want to do that.” She held out the bright pink piggy bank that had been a birthday gift when she was 6 years old. It currently held about $20 in various coins, along with some international coinage that she’d been given as gifts. “I want to hire you to help me.” She stared him right in the eyes. “I want you to help me track down the people that killed my parents. I want to take from them what they took from me. I want to be strong enough so that no one takes anyone from me, ever again.” 

“If you can do that...” She was looking up at him with a strange mixture of a child’s eager hope, and an adult’s level of determination. “If you think [i]I[/i] can do that. Then I want to do it.” 

She understood what she was getting into. She understood that it could very well kill her in the process. Maybe that should have been a scary thought, but she found it oddly soothing. No matter the risk, she could not go on pretending to be normal anymore.