*The house was quiet, and little Katie lay awake in her bed clutching a teddy bear. The tree outside the window was dragging against the glass like a witch's fingers. In a flash, Katie had her blankets jerked sharply over her head as her body started to twitch in fear.*

Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy! Dadddddddddddddddddddy!

*She waited for the reassuring sound of footsteps in the hallway, the light to flicker on, and a warm 'What is it, sweetie?', but all she heard was the dull scrape of wood against glass. Perhaps they hadn't heard her, that can be easily fixed. Katie breathed as deeply as her lungs would allow and shouted as loud as she could.*

Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy!! Daddddddddddddddddddddddddddy!! Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy!! Dadddddddddddddddddddddddddy!!

*Then, she waited, and still no one came. Why weren't they answering her? Had she been bad? Did they not love her anymore? Maybe they'd left the house, snuck out in the middle of the night while her brother and sister were off having sleepovers. The girl's eyes glistened with tears as she considered the horrible possibilities one after another. If her bear had been alive, she would have squeezed the poor thing's eyes right out of its head. Eventually, Katie could stand it no more, she -had- to know what happened. Still clutching her precious bear, she slid out of bed and toddled off down the hall to her parents' room.* *When she got there, the door was closed, and Katie could feel the breeze coming in from the window. She tried the doorknob, and the door swung open. Katie's parents were still in bed asleep, she could see them.*

Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!!

*They didn't move, so Katie grabbed the blankets covering her mom, and began pushing and pleading with her mom to get up.*

Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!

*But, Mommy didn't move. Maybe Mommy was sick. Katie put her hand against Mommy's forehead, like Mommy did when Katie was sick. It felt cool to the touch, but sticky somehow. Mommy also had a weird bump. When Katie wiped her hand on the blanket, it turned red. Katie's eyes grew wide and she ran to the other side of the bed, shaking her dad ferociously.*

Daddy!Daddy!Daddy! Help Mommy! Mommy's hurt! Daddy, wake up!!

*When Daddy didn't move, Katie felt sick. Her hand trembled as she reached out to touch her Daddy's forehead, sticky with a bump just like Mommy's. Her lower lip was shaking as she buried her face into her teddy*

Nooooooooooo, mommy.......daddy.......

*What was she going to do? Mommy and Daddy didn't want her leaving the house at night, but she had to get help. Suddenly, it came to her, the phone! Picking up the receiver, she banged on the keys until someone answered.*

~Operator. How may I help you?~

*Tears slid down Katie's cheeks as she tried to clear the lump in her throat* My mommy and daddy won't wake up. They're hurt and I'm scared..Help me, please...*Even as scared as she was, Katie knew it was important to say please and thank you like Mommy taught her.*

~What's your name, little girl?~

Katie, Katie Kincaid.

~You're DA Jack Kincaid's daughter?~

*Katie nodded, but of course the woman couldn't see that.* Yes, ma'am.

~Katie, are you at home?~

Yes, ma'am.

~We're sending someone over to take care of your mommy and daddy, sweetie, ok? You just stay on the phone with me until they get there, all right?~

Ok, ma'am.....*And Katie did. She was still clutching the phone in one bloodstained hand when the paramedics arrived. One of them, a blond girl with blue eyes, hugged Katie while she cried. Her parents had been shot in the head and killed instantly.*

*Katie was too young to understand what all the fuss was about. People kept telling her what a good girl she was, what a smart girl she was, how she'd done such a good job. Katie didn't feel good, or smart, or that she had done anything special. If she had, her Daddy would be tucking her in at night and her Mommy would still be able to play with her in the park. Instead, they just lay there in side-by-side caskets with their bumps gone just like they were sleeping. Katie couldn't believe it. Perhaps it had just been another nightmare, and all she had to do was wake them up. She tried to shake them awake just like she had that night. It didn't work, and someone had to drag the screaming crying child from the caskets in full tantrum mode..*

Let me go!! Mommy!! Daddy!! Wake up!! I'll be a good girl...I promise!! Mommy!! Daddy!!

*She went on like that until she was out of earshot, still clutching her teddy bear. In fact, she hadn't let go of it since the night they died. No one could make her. The death of her parents was the beginning of the end for the relationship she shared with her brother and sister. They didn't want to know what Katie had seen that night, and no matter how she tried, her little arms weren't strong enough to make them stay with her.*

*Katie's brother had turned to violence. A member of the Cobras filled his head full of nonsense about how the ones that iced his parents were members of the Alley Cats. Even Katie knew the story was bullshit, but he so badly -needed- to vent his anger, to strike back at the unfairness of it all, that it killed him. In a rage, he took a shotgun into Cat territory after them. The boy was shot before he could cross the street, but he took three Cats down with him. After he was buried, some Cats came by and knocked over his headstone. Every time it fell over, Katie put it back up.*

*In contrast, Katie's sister turned her pain inward. Unable to deal with the loss of her parents and brother in such close succession, she turned to drugs. She sold all her possessions one by one for the dark bite of the needle. When she ran out of possessions, she sold her innocence. The girl died on the inside long before she was found in an abandoned building, the needle still in her arm and a bloody foam at the edge of her mouth.*

*It also taught Katie that being weak was wrong. If she was weak, people could hurt her. If she was weak enough to care about people, they would be hurt, which would in turn hurt Katie. She didn't want to hurt anymore. It made it hard to get up and to sleep, hard to eat, to do just about anything. If it took the rest of her life, Katie would find and kill the person or persons who had destroyed her family so easily. At night, she would plot her revenge until she fell asleep, still holding on to her teddy bear like a scared ittle girl.*