A/N: Hey there everyone! I recently re-watched the Expendables in preparation for the newest movie to come out, before I watched the Losers for the first time ever immediately afterwards after my friend suggested it to me. I loved the Expendables already, but upon seeing the Losers I fell in love with that movie as well! And as I was watching it, I couldn't help but notice that there was a 'Jensen' in each movie: Gunnar Jensen, the unstable giant blonde of the Expendables and Jake Jensen, the hyperactive blonde hacker of the Losers. And of course my mind started going, wondering how interesting it would be if Jake was the son of Gunnar. After all they're both blonde, with blue eyes and they're both tall. So I searched for crossovers of these two and didn't find many, so I decided to make my own! This story is going to be a crossover of both the Losers and the Expendables, as Jake grows up and it'll have a very key OC that's related to one of the Expendables members! I hope you like it!
Full Summary: Being surrounded by guns and knives in their home would frighten most children. Having family that killed for a living would be horrifying to most children. Knowing that there was a possibility that your family might not make it back on their mission would lead most children to depression. Jake Jensen and Sky Christmas weren't most children. They're two badass kids raised in a world of harsh reality and an unknown future. There were days when it was hard and days when they wanted a different life, but together, they made it through. They weren't most children, they weren't normal; and they were perfectly okay with that.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Expendables or the Losers, just my OC, Sky.
The Kids Are Alright
Suffolk County, New York
November 13th, 1996
It was cold. It was so cold. The cold winter breeze hit her skin, making the blood on her arm feel even colder than it already was. Her thin t-shirt and pajama pants did nothing to shield her tiny body from the harsh winter. Her toes were cold and numb and her teeth chattered as she sat on the front porch of the suburban home, clutching the phone in her hands as if it were her only anchor to the world. Another wind blew through, ruffling her short curly dark brown hair that just barely dusted her shoulders. She shook again as she fought off another round of tears. She knew the tears would just make her colder. Sitting on the darkened porch, the little girl looked up into the night sky, seeing the silhouettes of trees missing their leaves. They looked like monster claws moving in the wind ready to snatch up little girls. And the stars were covered by dark clouds, the only light coming from a yellow street lamp across the street.
The little girl had been sitting there in that same position for over an hour. The needle men had left just before she had taken her mommy's phone. She hated the needle men. They always stuck pointy needles into their arms and hit her when she asked why. It hurt. And she hated her mommy's friends. They always made fun of her. Sometimes when they had too much grown-up drinks they'd hit her and her mommy would just watch on the couch. Whenever her friends came over, her mommy wouldn't care about her. That was another reason she hated them. But tonight was different. Her mommy let the needle men take some of her blood and take some pictures of her, talking about 'clients'. She didn't know what they meant, but she knew it was bad. It felt like something bad was happening and she didn't like it. So when the needle men left and her mommy's friends stopped hitting her, she went to her mommy's room and took her phone.
She remembered her mommy taking her on vacation once to meet her daddy. They went somewhere where everyone talked real funny, and her daddy talked funny too, but different than the other people. Her daddy was really nice. She liked him. He didn't let his friends hit her. He gave her presents and read her stories. And he told her to call him if she ever wanted to see him or if she needed anything. So she took her mommy's phone and tried to find her daddy's phone number. It took a while for her fumbling fingers to find her daddy's name. She remembered it because she liked his name.
Lee Christmas.
The little girl called her daddy and talked to him for a few minutes, just listening to his voice. But when she heard her mommy's friends laughing loudly from behind the door she started crying. She told him what happened, what's been happening, in broken up childish words, begging him to come and get her because she was scared. It hadn't taken two seconds for him to quickly assure her that he would be there to get her before someone else could lay their hand on her. He told her to wait somewhere safe and to keep the phone so she could call him if something happened. So she sat on the porch, clutching the phone, too afraid to go back into the house and at least find warmer clothes to wait in.
Another cold wind blew past her and she started rocking back and forth, trying to keep warm. The tears she tried to hold back flowed from her big brown eyes, making warm tracks down her cheeks before the wind blew by, cooling it along her skin. She wanted to go inside so badly. She was so cold, so tired. But she was scared. She couldn't go inside. Her mommy's friends were still there, laughing loudly. She could still hear them. She wanted to be gone. She wanted to be anywhere but there. She remembered one time her mommy took her to church once. The man at the front had said that Heaven was nice, that God would protect everyone even little kids like her. She wished she could be with God. She was sure he'd be nicer to her than her mommy, and she bet it was warm in Heaven.
Lights down the street made her stop rocking. She looked at the street and saw a car. She frowned. She'd seen a lot of cars drive past the road. None of them stopped. None of the drivers looked her way. None of them cared. She started rocking again, ducking her head down to rest it on her knees so she could cry without the wind hitting her face.
"Skylar."
Sky looked up in surprise and saw that the car she'd seen had stopped. And the two men standing outside the car, just at the edge of the street were both ones she recognized. The big man with dark hair and dark eyes with tattoos on his arms; that was Barney. She remembered his name because it was the name of Barney the dinosaur and that was the only movie her mommy ever bought her to watch. And the slightly shorter man with a shaved head and hazel eyes, she remembered. It was her daddy. More tears filled her eyes as she looked at her father.
"D-Daddy…"
"Jesus Christ," he muttered, rushing up the steps of the porch to gather her up into his arms. She pressed her face against his chest, feeling warm for the first time in what seemed like hours. Her tiny hands grabbed onto his shirt, trying to seek more warmth and he started rubbing his hands up and down her arms. "Skylar, baby girl, you're freezing."
"Skylar, honey," the other man, Barney, spoke up, petting her hair softly. He looked at her like he was scared and she didn't know why. "Why is there blood on your arm?"
"T-The n-n-needle m-men," she managed to say.
"Barney, take her back to the car," her daddy said. "Get her warm and make sure she's safe. I'll take care of things here."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"D-Daddy?" Sky stuttered, looking up at him.
He looked down at her and pushed some hair out of her eyes. "Yes love, what is it?"
"C-Can I live with you? I d-don't want to go back in there."
"That's what I'm here for sweetheart," he assured, kissing her forehead. "I'll go get your stuff. You'll be living with me from now on, okay?"
"O-Okay."
"Now I'm going to leave you with you Godfather, Barney, okay? He's going to make sure you're all warm while I talk with your mother."
Sky nodded once before her father passed her over to Barney. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hid her face in his chest as he placed his arm under her bottom and his hand on the back of his head, walking her back to the car. He opened the doors and they got in before he turned on the car and warm air hit her skin. She turned toward the warmth and nearly pressed her face against the vents. "Not too close," Barney said, lifting her up to sit her down on the seat just next to his. He turned to look at her before he took her tiny little feet in his hands, warming them up instantly as he rubbed them. "Where are your shoes?"
"I-I forgot to get them," Sky muttered sadly, ducking her head down. She was finally warm and could feel her toes again.
"That's alright, kiddo, you're dad's getting them." Sky's attention was drawn by the house, worry filling her. Was her daddy okay? Would her mommy's friends hurt him? "Sky, how long has it been since we've seen each other?"
Sky turned back to look at Barney and poked her lips out before looking up in thought. "Um… I think during Thanksgiving last year!"
"Really? It was that long ago?" He asked. "So how old does that make you now, four?"
"I'm five years old!"
"Five? That can't be," Barney smiled, still warming her feet before he started tickling them, causing her to laugh and try to jerk her feet away. "You're getting so big!" Sky smiled up at him and was going to tell him that she was going to be an adult soon when she opened her mouth and let out a loud yawn. She felt her eyes water slightly and when she looked back at her Godfather he was looking at her with a knowing smile on his face. "Why don't you take a nap? We're going to have a big plane ride ahead."
"I'm going on a plane?" Sky asked, her eyes shining with delight. "I've never been on a plane."
"We're going to be on a very special plane," Barney assured with a smile on his face before lifting Sky up so she was on his lap, resting against his chest. "Tell you what, if you take a nap, I'll wake you when we're on the plane. It'll take some time for your dad to get your stuff so you get some sleep okay?"
Sky wanted to stay up. She wanted to make sure her daddy was okay. She wanted to make sure that her daddy wasn't being hurt by her mommy's friends, but she was so sleepy. And Barney was really warm and comfy. She leaned on his chest and let her eyes start to close, nodding slightly and mumbling to him about waking her up when they were on the plane. That was the last thing she remembered before she finally fell asleep.
Lee Christmas was absolutely seething as he walked into Michelle's house. He hadn't expected it to be quite as bad as it was. There were beer cans everywhere, absolutely littering the floor, open pizza boxes, drunken bodies laid out on the floor. There were around seven men and four women, not including Michelle, who was sprawled out on the couch with a half-filled bottle in her hands. His blood boiled, but he kept his mind as clear as he could. He pulled out his phone and started taking pictures, walking through the house. He found another three men, all awake and drunk, in the kitchen and the dining room. He snapped pictures of all of them, one of which who had no clothes on.
It took every ounce of self-control in his body not to kill each and every person in the house. His hands itched to take his knives, but he couldn't do it. He had to get his daughter's stuff first then he had to get her out of the state. He walked through the home, ducking into a room to see a couple having sex on the bed. He snapped another picture, rolling his eyes and walked to the next room. This one was much smaller than the one he'd been in previously; it looked more like a closet than a bedroom, and his anger surged once again when he saw that the room was filled a small bed, a tiny closet off to the side and a small dresser. There was one teddy bear on the bed, with a baby blanket—both which he recognized as items he bought for his daughter. Other than that, there seemed to be no other personal effects.
Lee sucked in a deep breath before walking over to the closet door, opening it up and looking around for a bag. After rifling through the largely empty closet, he spotted a black duffel bag at the back and wasted no time in opening it up and gathering all her clothes. There were only a few shirts and pants in the closet, and going through the dresser he saw just around the same amount of clothing. He cleared both areas out before grabbing the teddy and baby blanket. He zipped up the bag before walking out of the room and out of the house without anyone even realizing he'd ever been there. He took the porch steps two at a time and didn't slow down until he tossed the duffel bag into the back seat. He slipped into the passenger seat and saw Sky asleep on Barney's chest. He motioned for her and the large Italian passed her over without hesitation.
"Drive," Lee ordered as soon as his daughter was in his arms.
Barney did so and didn't ask questions. For that Lee was grateful. He made sure he kept a firm grasp on his daughter, letting his hand rest against her small back. The half an hour drive to the airstrip they landed on was done in absolute silence. They returned their rental car and made their way to their plane, Barney carrying the duffel bag while Lee carried Sky. Only after they had finished the flight procedures and started down the runway did Barney finally speak. "Are those people still alive?"
"They're breathing."
"How bad was it?"
"I'm going to get full-custody of Sky, no questions asked when I show a CPS agent the pictures I took," Lee responded immediately, his voice tight, trying to contain his anger.
Barney nodded once. "So looks like we're going to have a little girl running around."
"Looks like it," the knife thrower said, looking down at his daughter in his arms. "I'm not letting her go back to her mother, so I'm the only one she has left. But what if—"
"We can deal with the 'what if's' when they come," Barney cut his friend off just as they took off, heading into the air. "Right now, she needs you. That's what matters."
Lee sucked in a breath and nodded before leaning down to kiss Sky's forehead, a small smile on his face. "She is beautiful, isn't she?"
"She's gorgeous. But, do me a favor and wake her up before we land. I promised her she got to be awake for her first time in a plane."
Lee looked down at his daughter and pushed a strand of hair away from her face as she let out a huff of breath. She adjusted herself on his chest and let out another little sigh before her breathing evened out, her little chest rising and falling. His fingers ghosted over the blood stains on her arm and his anger skyrocketed again. Whoever did this to his daughter—whoever these needle men were—he'd find them and make sure they'd pay. And he would keep his daughter with him. He would always be with her to make sure that he'd be able to protect her. He would protect his daughter no matter what.
"She's been through hell, hasn't she?"
Barney nodded gravely towards Tool, watching as the former mercenary and current liaison grabbed one of Sky's little hands, rubbing his thumb across the back of it. Lee didn't move so that she didn't wake up in his arms while Tool looked her over. The two men had arrived back in New Orleans within an hour and Lee had woken Sky up for the trip. She was a extremely hesitant about being on a plane, and it took no time at all for her father to figure out that she was afraid of heights. So he persuaded her to fall asleep again. She'd been asleep for the entire trip, even when they showed up at Tool's tattoo shop, their current base of operations and living quarters until they found a more permanent solution. Tool had taken the news about a child staying with them quite well and he'd actually been happy with the little girl in the former British SAS soldier's arms. She was cute, but with the blood on her arm and the story that Lee told him, he was worried for the little thing.
"She'll be staying with me in my room," Lee spoke up without responding to the question. "I'm going to wake her up and give her a shower first. In the morning we'll have to explain some things to her and discuss how much of what we do she'll know. See you in the morning."
With that, Lee walked away from the others and towards the lift of the tattoo shop going up to the floor that their rooms were located. Barney and Tool watched him go with his daughter in hand. Tool turned back to Barney with a small smile on her face. "The kid's cute."
"Yeah, she is."
"It might actually be good having her here. A little bit of light and hope with a bunch of guys like us."
"I think you might be right."