One Step At A Time [Ongoing]

Really?! You Must Be Joking!

A/N: Story owned by naruchan. I'm just helping her upload it here. Original story at A03 under the same title and naruchan's user.

EDIT: This chapter has some added plot changes to it by the author. The chapter has also been edited by me with the permission of the author herself (grammer, punctuation, word choice, etc.).

It was very crowded. Not at all what someone would expect from getting shot in the heart. Everything was smashed and tight. She could barely even breath, really. And she could not see a thing for the life of her.

This could not be heaven, could it? The last thing she remembered was beating a man who was about to shoot a mother and her child. She had been walking home from school when she heard a scream coming from an alleyway up ahead. As soon as she heard it, she ran ahead without thinking, dropping her backpack. She noticed that other people on the street had heard it as well, but no one made any move to go in the direction of the street. She didn't get it, why was no one trying to help, or at least call the police? But she continued her pace either way. There was no way she could just ignore a cry that obviously pointed to someone in danger.

As soon as she got there, she was shocked to see a bulky man with a black ski mask over his head. In front of him was a women and her child kneeling on the floor and the man clearly towered over them; the two on the floor didn't stand a chance.

The women was sobbing and shielding her son with her own body, pleading with a tear-stricken face.

"Please", she begged, "please let us go! Don't hurt my baby!" She clutched the little boy closer to her. The man with the ski mask had had a gun cocked at them, his head tilted. In his other hand was a purse. There was no reason to hurt them, he had what he wanted. But that did not matter.

"Hmm...no. I don't plan on going to jail." he had replied softly, and clicked the safety off, getting ready to shoot, his finger on the trigger.

Throughout the ordeal, Kathrine had been frozen with fear, her heart pounding, not sure what to do, but when she heard what the man said, her body moved. In that instant, it did not matter that she was just a kid herself, that she should let others handle the situation. But then, if they died, what would that make her? So she ran, her feet pounding on the pavement as fast as they could before she launched herself at the robber, crashing into his large form, and catching him off guard.

Her momentum gave her an advantage and they both tumbled to the floor, with Kathrine landing on top of his back. She had desperately clawed at his arm, the one holding his gun, and tried to grab the gun away, making the thief snarl in anger as he moved to get her off him. He swung at her, but barely missed.

"You fucking brat!!! Get off! I'll kill you, too!" He tried to pull the gun away hoping to just shoot her and be done with it. Just as he lifted the gun in the air, Kathrine sank her teeth straight into his shoulder, drawing blood and causing him to screech in pain. This time, his movements were more erratic and Kathrine was flung backwards. As she landed hard on the floor, she frantically looked around, hoping to find anything that could help her. As her eyes rapidly scanned the area, her eyes interlocked with the woman's eyes. Her eyes were wide with fear. Fear for the three of them. It actually made the fear Kathrine was feeling simmer down. If she didn't do something fast, they would all be dead.

"HELP!!" She screamed, hoping to attract some attention. In an instant, the robber whipped his head around, clunching his bloody shoulder, his eyes brimming with rage.

"You little fucking bitch!" The man was seething. Kathrine's heart dropped she saw him point the gun at her.

*BANG*