Chapter 1:

People usually take one look at me and write me off. I have a thin muscular build, average height at about 5 feet four inches, long dark hair and eyes to match. One glance and I'm deemed as 'delicate' but they don't know who my father is. I'm twenty-one years old and nineteen of those years were spent doing rigorous training in mixed martial arts and weapons. It was the only way my father knew I would be safe when he was away.

Of course, the common misconception of my lack of skills and fighting abilities was done on purpose, but that doesn't mean I liked it. I wasn't allowed to tell people who my father was, let alone my family background. I wasn't allowed to show or use any of my skills unless it was an emergency and since my father was good at keeping my identity hidden from his enemies, the situation never arose.

I often spent my time training while my father was away because I wanted to follow in his footsteps. We had many arguments about it because he didn't want me anywhere near the kind of work he does but he should have thought that one through before putting me through all that training. I was ready and I was going, with or without him and by the things he told me about his last mission, it was without him because Barney Ross, the leader of the Expendables, disbanded the team.

I knew the Expendables pretty well; they have become my family over the years. So when I was told that Caesar was shot and in a coma, I went to the hospital right away. I've lost quite a bit of family through the Expendables over the course of my twenty-one years and I didn't want to lose anymore.

So that is why I found myself in the hanger that served as the Expendables home base. I was waiting for Barney to show up because I heard through a couple of my sources that he was putting together a new team; I wanted to be on it. As I waited, I was attacking a dummy rigorously. I wore black cargo pants and combat boots, and a white tank, making it easier for me to move around. I was punching and kicking in a rapid sequence that almost looked like I was dancing with it, until I did a round house kick and took off one of the pegs sticking out.

"What are you doing here Everly?" I heard Barney call from the entrance of the hanger.

I turned toward him and saw his new crew standing behind him. I placed my hands on my hips and smirked, "What do you think?"

I frowned when he rolled his eyes with a sigh, "No, you're not coming."

I dropped my hands, "Why?! You know I'm good for it! I'm young, fast, agile, willing to take a bullet but smart enough not to need to. That fits your criteria doesn't it?" I asked, walking over to Barney, completely ignoring the people behind him for the moment.

"Why? Because your father would kill me, that's why." He said and walked over to my duffle bag, throwing it to me, "Go home."

I let the duffle fall to the floor, "No. I'm going and you can't stop me."

"Don't make me call him Ever."

I rolled my eyes this time and crossed my arms, calling his bluff, "Do it then but then he'll know about this new team you have going on and you don't want that do you?"

"You think he doesn't already know? You found out, what makes you think he didn't?" Barney was getting annoyed, I could tell but I refused to stand down. At my defiance he shook his head, "Do what you want, I don't care."

I knew he didn't mean it. He was going to try and find away to leave me behind but it was a small victory for the time being and I was going to take it. I turned back towards the new Expendables and just sized them up as I'm sure they were doing to me as well. They all looked to be in their late twenties, seemed pretty built and formidable. They had to be because Barney wouldn't accept anything less.

"So are we going to introduce or go on like strangers?" I asked, putting my weight onto one leg, "You already know me as Everly. Call me Ever though." I pointed at the only other girl in the hanger, "And you are?"

"Luna." She replied, stepping forward to shake my hand. She was a good four inches taller than me, "Saw you with the dummy. You have some serious skill."

I smirked, "That was child's play." I turned toward a tall guy with a shaved head, "And you? You look like an adrenaline junky….well more so than the rest of them anyway."

"You can call me Thorn and you would be right." He said, shaking my hand, "Maybe we can go rock climbing sometime?" His smile was charming but not really my type.

"Or maybe you can find someone else to go with." I said with a shrug of my shoulders, "Just a suggestion."

"Oh, you just got burned man." A Mexican guy said and shook my hand, "I'm Mars. Gotta say, I love the attitude." He winked and I laughed.

"Nice to meet you Mars." I said and turned to the last guy, "And who might you be?"

He was definitely the most attractive of the bunch. He had dark hair, blue eyes, scruff, and drool worthy arms. He was wearing a grey muscle shirt and black cargo pants and his whole look just suited him. He didn't look like the type to follow orders very well though.

"John Smilee." He said, not bothering to shake my hand like the others did.

I smirked, "I was wondering if any of you would have a full name. So what's your story?" I asked as I bent down to pick up my duffle, "Ex-marine? You look the part."

"Well aren't you good at reading people." He said as he walked past me to the lockers.

I followed him with my eyes before turning back to the others, "What's stuck up his ass?"

Thorn laughed, "Beats me. We all just met too." He walked to the table and set his stuff down, taking out a few things to see if they were in working order for the mission.

The others did the same so I thought I would follow suit. I went over to my locker and opened it up. It was filled with a few glocks – military grade – and a bunch of knives. As knives were my fathers favourite, they naturally became my best weapon as well. As I dug through my locker I noticed that my knife holster wasn't there and sighed. It must be in the office area, so I went to look.

It wasn't in the office though and it wasn't anywhere around the area either. I let out another sigh as I walked back out into the main hanger.

"Why don't you do us all a favour and get the hell out of here?" I heard Barney say and couldn't help but laugh at which newbie might be getting in trouble.

"Hey Barney, do you know where my…" I stopped short when I saw the people who Barney was talking to and it wasn't a newbie.

"Everly?! What are you doing here?" Lee Christmas, my dad, shouted, "Get your stuff, we're leaving."

I looked to Barney as he walked passed me, all he did was shrug and I glared. I obviously wasn't going to get any help from him. I turned back to my dad and narrowed my eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere except on that plane when it leaves."

"The hell you are!"

"Looks like another father daughter fight." Toll Road said before going with Gunner and Doc over to the newbies, most likely to heckle them.

"I am and there is nothing you can do about it." I said, crossing my arms.

"This is a suicide mission Ever. You know that don't you? Your mother would never want you doing this!"

"Well she's dead isn't she!" I snapped and immediately regretted it. I looked to the side so he would see the guilt flash through them but he knew me well enough to know it was there.

"Hey!" John shouted, gaining everyone's attention. He was changed now, into a green shirt and realtree pants. He was wearing a hat now too, "It's just a job."

I turned back to my dad, "You trained me well dad. I'll be fine." I said and walked closer to him, "Please let me go. You have to let me grow up." My last words were quiet but they seemed to speak the loudest to him.

"If anything happens to you, you know I'm going to kill him." He one hundred percent meant it too. It wasn't one of those joking empty threats that people usually say.

"You wouldn't be my dad otherwise." He hugged me tight.

He let me go after a moment and reached into his pocket. He took out a knife and with speed and precision, through it right by Mars' head and it embedded into a locker, "you guys can keep that. You'll need it."

My dad looked to me but didn't say anything more. It was just like when he left for a mission, no goodbyes were said because it was a silent promise that we would see each other again. This time though, the roles were reversed and I knew that he was feeling now, the anxiety that I always felt when he left.

"Let's go guys." He said and the four seasoned Expendables left the hanger.

"That was your father?" Thorn asked as I walked past him, Luna, and Mars to the lockers.

I locked eyes with John, as I pulled my fathers switch blade from the locker, "Yes." Was all I said as I turned to head deeper into the hanger to begin my search for my holster again.

I stopped when I saw Trench, leaning up against the aviation fuel. He was holding up my holster and I went and grabbed it from him.

"I'm surprised Barney didn't mention anything about you smoking next to the aviation fuel. You know its flammable right?"

He chuckled, "What makes you so sure he didn't?"

"And why are you coming along?" I asked as I strapped the holster to my hip.

"As a favour. Why are you?" He asked, taking a puff of his cigar.

I shrugged, "To make a difference."

"You could have joined the Marines for that."

I smirked and crossed my arms, "You know I'm not so good with following strict regimented orders. I would be kicked out just out of principle."

"Right." He said just as Barney was coming back into the hanger.

"Wheels up. Get your stuff and get on the plane."

I went back to my locker, grabbed all the knives that would fit in my holster and as back up, grabbed two guns as well. I got onto the plane with all the others and found a cot right underneath the dog tags of the lost expendables. John took the cot across from me, Thorn the one next to me, Luna across from him, and Mars at the end. Barney and Trench went directly to the cockpit.

It wasn't long before it got dark and everyone decided to get some sleep. Everyone but John, that is. When I lay down, I looked over at him to see he was still sitting up, arms resting on his knees. He was looking straight ahead toward the end of the plane. I watched him for a bit, not wanting to break the peaceful silence that took over the plane. This was probably the last bit of peace we would all have for a bit.

A half hour later, I was still watching him, sleep escaping me. There were shadows in his eyes and I couldn't help but wonder where they came from. There were shadows in all the eyes of the Expendables, my father being no exception but I knew what they came from. Lost comrades, lost family, lost friends, guilt at not being able to do anything about it.

I finally sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the cot so they rested on the floor. My shifting caused John to look at me and we locked eyes. We just looked at each other, not saying anything for a moment or two before I decided to break it.

"Why did you decide to accept this job?" I asked quietly, not wanting to wake the others.

"Why did you demand to be on this job?" He asked instead of answering.

I knew he expected me not to answer and could tell I surprised him when I did, "My whole life I felt like I was being trained for this. I needed this and I need to make a difference."

He was silent for awhile, "How do you know you're going to make a difference?"

I shrugged but smiled a little, "Because I'll be one of the good guys."

"That's enough for you?" He asked, leaning his head back against the wall.

Before I could answer, Barney came out of the cockpit with a clipboard. He glanced at me briefly before flipping through the papers attached the board in his hands. I'm not sure what was on it but I suppose it didn't really matter.

"Do you got a minute?" John asked Barney.

Barney looked at me before looking over his shoulder at John, "What do you need?"

"Tell me more about this guy we're going after." John didn't ask and I had to give him kudos for being so bold toward someone as intimidating as Barney.

Barney leaned against the wall at the foot of my cot, looking through the clipboard, "It doesn't matter. You were hired to do a job."

I knew from the stories dad told me that sometimes they went into a mission with next to no information and were expected not to ask any questions. It made missions hard but that was just the way it was, or so I've been told. However, that didn't mean I wasn't curious so I left the questions up to John and listened closely.

John swung his feet on to the floor and looked up at Barney, "Okay, how about answering why we're on this mission."

Barney dropped the clipboard and turned toward John, annoyed, "I owe you a salary. That's it. Why don't you ask Ever how this thing usually goes."

John stood up and levelled his gaze at Barney, "Tell me why we're going after Stonebanks."

Even though John was a little taller than Barney, Barney wasn't intimidated, "You have a tough time following orders don't you."

"If I don't know what they are, yeah." John looked around at everyone, briefly looking at me before turning back to Barney, "I know you don't give a damn about us…except maybe her…" He pointed behind Barney at me, "I get that. Just tell me why you want to take out these guys so bad."

Barney seemed to consider his words for a moment before turning and picking up a folder. He slapped it on John's chest, waiting for him to take it before walking back into the cockpit. John sat back down on his cot, looking at the folder in his hands and I went over to sit beside him.

He started flipping through. The first page showed us a picture of Stonebanks and after that there were a bunch of pictures of mutilated bodies from various parts of the world.

"How can someone be so cruel?" I whispered, softly running my hand down one of the pages. The sight made me queasy and I had to look away.

"It's the world we live in. You're going to have to move past this if you don't want to die." John said as he flipped through more pictures.

Finally he came to one of the last pictures, this one featuring Stonebanks with a very familiar tattoo on his arm. It was the same tattoo Barney had, the same one dad had. Conrad Stonebanks was an Expendable. I stood up and immediately started pacing. He was an Expendable which means he was just as skilled, just as deadly as the rest of them are. Only he's a bad guy which makes him all the more ruthless.

I didn't see John close the folder and stand up until he placed a hand on either side of my biceps, effectively stopping my pacing. I looked up at him and he must have seen the panic in my eyes because he ducked down to look into them.

"You need to calm down and clear your head. If there is one thing I learned in the Marines, it's that panic and a clouded mind will get you killed." He said quietly.

I nodded and took a deep breath, "Okay. I'm calm and I'm ready." I sat down on his cot again and flipped through the file, my eyes narrowing the more I looked through it, "We'll catch him."