Thanks to Kathie2808 for the fastest support service around!
I don´t own any of the Expendables characters, Amber and Letty only.
Amber reached drowsily for her cell phone, trying to read the name it showed on the display.
She hurried to accept the call the moment she finally managed to do so.
„It´s me, Barney!"
Barney´s voice sounded tense.
„What´s wrong? " she asked.
Barney was not the guy to call in the middle of the night. Actually, he wasn't the guy to call at all.
„Sorry to wake you, but we´ve got a situation here", he said. „I need you to take care of a friend."
Amber sat up, groaning slightly.
„Where are you? You know it will take me about an hour to get over to your place. And what´s that damn noise ?"
Barney flipped some switches and kept an eye on the displays in front of him, preparing for the landing.
„We´ll come to you", he answered lightly. „Could you come out to the eastern fields and bring your medical bag ?"
„To the..."
She interrupted herself, hurrying out of her bed and over to the window. The noise to be heard out there sounded suspiciously similar to the one coming to her over the phone.
The darkly painted plane was barely visible against the lead-gray sky. If it hadn´t been for the regularly blinking navigation lights, she wouldn´t have discovered it at all.
„I´m on my way", she said, hanging up.
When she arrived at the outer fields of the ranch, Barney was already waiting for her, flanked by two other men, all of them wearing black battle outfits. She hurried out of the car, grabbing her bag.
A large dog jumped down from the truck bed, barking aggressively at the strangers on his ground.
„Baxter, here!" she called, but the dog had already reached the arrivals.
„Hey, Baxter, sh!"
Barney padded the dog´s side for a moment. The aggressive barking changed into a friendlier one.
Ceasar and Christmas left and right to Barney exchanged an irritated look.
Barney looked up and right at Amber who had finally reached them as well by now.
She eyed him up for a second and relaxed a little, having herself assured that he was still in one piece.
„Where´s that friend of yours ?" she asked, nodding briefly to the other two men.
„Inside", he said. „Come on, I´ll help you in."
Amber climbed to the plane and looked around.
„Over here", an Asian guy said helpfully, gesturing to the man down at a cot.
„So what can I do?" she asked.
Barney went past her and uncovered the man´s leg, causing him to groan. Someone had already cut open what was left of the black military trousers. A long gash lead from his knee up to his groin.
„I need some light", she said, half turning to Barney. Someone handed them a flashlight.
„Shit!" she said, throwing Barney a dark look.
Amber returned her look to the man in front of her and eyed it up again, then got up.
„Could I talk to you for a second ?"
Barney nodded to the rest of his men.
„Give us a second", he said and they left.
„I need you to patch him up."
„You know that this is not exactly my expertise !" she told him in a hushed voice.
„You can do it, can´t you?"
„There might be damage to the vasculature."
„Come on. It´s not deep, but this needs to be done now. You did a good job on me back then and he´s a no friend of hospitals."
She stared for a moment at him, then shook her head and sighed.
„He might prefer a medic doing this !" she argued.
Her patient moved right next to them.
„Do it, lady!" he demanded lowly, gritting his teeth for a second. „Doesn´t need to be pretty! Just get it done."
She looked down at him and back to Barney.
„Please", the man said.
„Alright", she said after a moment, turning back to the injured. „We need to take you over to the house."
„I thought you...", Barney started, but she interrupted him with a short gesture.
„Forget about it! If I am going to do this, then somewhere clean and with proper light, not on a filthy plane! Get some of your friends. I brought the big car."
Barney raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, then turned, calling out for two of his men.
„Good", Amber said. „What about him ?"
She pointed at the young man on the cot at the opposite side. „Is he just asleep or ... ?"
„Asleep", Barney assured here. „Fever is high. Some kind of infection. He´s just exhausted."
„Alright."
With Gunnar and Christmas hurrying in again to help, Barney looked at the woman in front of him for a moment. She looked a little tired and her brown, slightly curled hair was a mess, but he could tell that she was not very upset.
A small grin found the way on his face.
Well, he hadn´t expected her to be so anyway.
At least not as upset as anybody else would most likely have been after a bunch of mercenaries had just landed their plane in the middle of their potato field in the dead of night.
„Will be a bit cramped", Amber mused, watching the men climbing onto the truck bed, putting Toll Road down there slowly while one of them was busy holding young Billy upright in his spot.
„Will do for ten minutes", Barney replied.
„Alright, then let´s drive."
„Get in there", Barney said, gesturing towards the passenger side. „I´ll drive."
Amber didn´t argue and got into the car, followed by Christmas.
„I hope you don´t have Bobby sleeping over", Barney said on the short drive over to the old ranch house.
Amber shook her head.
„No, not in the middle of the week. And you don´t think Baxter would have come with me with the boy around!"
„Good", Barney commented quietly.
„Though he´s gonna regret that I took him home yesterday evening. Sparks gave birth to her foal around two this morning."
Christmas, in the seat right next to her, listened silently to their casual conversation, flabbergasted. He wondered if this woman would turn out to be equally phlegmatic as his teammate.
„So I didn´t wake you?" Barney asked.
„You did wake me", she stated with a small smile.
Amber opened the door and put the lights on.
„Well, get in!" she said, stepping to the side. „Take him over there."
She gestured to the kitchen.
„The kitchen?" Barney argued promptly.
„I need proper light and a large table - what else do you suggest ?"
Barney shrugged while they followed the men supporting their injured teammate.
„Has anyone of you a first aid training?" she asked, only to earn a round of staggered and indignant looks.
„I do", one of them said.
„Great. I need you to assist me. You can wash your hands over there. Stand back, gentlemen."
Amber hurried from shelf to cupboard to gather everything she would need. Then she turned, looking at the group of men filling her kitchen.
„Why don´t you take the rest of your friends over to the living room", she told Barney who understood the polite version of ´Get this bunch of ugly brutes out of my way` as clearly as everybody else around.
„Come on, we got to get you out of these clothes", she told her patient.
„Gonna need another one to help?" Barney asked.
„Don´t think so", Amber said, already concentrating of the task at hand.
„Alright."
Barney turned.
„Hey, Barn´", she called, her eyes still on the injured man´s wound.
„What?"
„Don´t you forget to offer them a drink", she told him drily.
Amber threw her assistant a short look and handed him a pair of latex gloves.
You´re Lee, I take it?"
Lee nodded to the slender woman at the opposite side of the table. The messy brown hair framed an equally slender face with finely chiseled features, high cheekbones and light brown eyes. She looked a little tense by now, but regarding the fact that they had just invaded her place in the middle of the night and that she was about to stitch up a blood soaked stranger on her kitchen table, still more relaxed than he would have expected her to do. Having witnessed her and Barney´s conversation at the car before, he felt more than puzzled.
„How comes that you know my name but I don´t know yours", he asked back with a half grin.
„Barney told me that you´re from Britain. So that was easy. And it´s Amberly."
„Wish I could say the same about you", Christmas answered sardonically.
Amber ignored his comment and addressed her patient.
„What´s your name ?"
„Toll Road", he answered.
„You didn't recognize him by the ear ?" Christmas asked. „Woud have bet Barney had told you about that as well."
Amber smiled.
„The wrestler, right? How´s the pain?"
„Better", Toll Road answered. „Spot´s numb", he answered.
She nodded contentedly. The painkillers working was a good thing to start with.
„So, Toll Road, tell me something about you", she suggested, carefully cleaning the wound.
„You know, you don´t need to try and distract me", he answered, sounding strained.
Amber bit her lower lip while carefully cleaning the wound.
„Do me the favour", she said, adding ´Cause I could do with some distraction!` mentally. „What happened to your ear ?"
Christmas groaned.
„Bad choice", he told her with a grin.
After taking care of Toll Road´s injuries, Amber watched Gunnar and Hale Ceasar help him over to the guestroom down the hall.
„Good job", Barney told her.
„Thanks", she said. „Same goes for you", she nodded to Christmas.
„So, you got anyone else you want me to have a look at - besides yourself ?"
„I´m fine", he mumbled. „We´ve already taken care of the rest, I guess."
„Well, no one´s taken care of me so far", Christmas complained, contented to see Barney´s expression darken.
Amber took her gloves off, eyeing both men up and perking a brow. Christmas found that her features were a little bit too distinct to be called exactly pretty, but had to admit that it didn´t lessen her attractiveness.
„You know, you guys could really do with a shower", she said. „All of you."
She smiled at Christmas.
„Afterwards, I´ll have a look at anything you want me to look at", she offered.
„Sissy!" Barney said.
„You can go first, of course", Christmas retorted. „Age before beauty."
Amber listened to them for a moment, then shrugged.
„I´m gonna get you some towels", she suggested.
„Thank you", Barney said. „Why don´t you take the pick up outside and get us some spare clothes from the plane ?" he asked Christmas.
„Me ? Why me again ?"
Amber left them to their quarreling, softly shaking her head.
The moment she had disappeared around the corner, Christmas became serious.
„Alright, spill it - who the hell is she ?"
Barney leant back against the counter behind him, rolling his shoulders to get some of the tension out of his muscles.
„She´s a friend."
„A friend", Christmas repeated, obviously not believing him. „Are you kidding ?"
„It´s like I said."
„Damn, are you laying her ?" Christmas inquired. „And if you do, what I strongly suspect, for how long has this been going on ?!"
„She´s a friend."
„Yeah, keep telling me that, you traitor! You know the woman, you even know the name of that stupid dog!"
„So ?"
„When you asked her where to take Billy to get some sleep, she said, and allow me to quote ´Take him to the guestroom right next to the bedroom.`- and you didn´t ask for directions!"
Barney grinned tiredly.
„It´s better if we postpone our official return to town a little bit anyway. The place is perfect."
„You don´t say!" Christmas retorted, sounding seriously resentful by now. „And you knew it all accidentally that good that you landed here in the middle of the night!"
Now Barney chuckled.
„Tell me, my friend, why the hell should I tell you anything, huh ?" he said, putting a heavy hand down to Christmas´ shoulder. „If it´s so much more entertaining to watch you pouting!"
„Amber ?"
Upstairs, Barney knocked one knuckle softly against the half open bedroom door.
„Come in", she answered lowly, trying to avoid waking the exhausted young man sleeping at the other side of the wall.
He entered the room where she had just set a pile of towels down to the bed.
„I´m really sorry for..."
She interrupted him by stepping in on him to kiss him, giving the door a good shove to hide them from anyone´s looks.
„You know, you should really let me have this shower first", he said.
„Oh I don´t care!" she said. „You got to be a crazy bastard to land out there in the darkness! Die somewhere else if you have to!"
He could tell that she wasn´t really angry. Simply a little worried. It made him sardonically wonder if there was anything he could do that would upset her.
„So that´s the gang down there", she said.
He nodded.
She reached out and tugged at his shirt.
„You´re really alright under that stuff ?"
He nodded while she shook her head again.
„What did you tell them about me ?"
Barney hesitated. It caused Amber to smile brightly.
„Let me guess - zip."
He watched her, unsure what to say.
„Is it a problem ?" he asked.
„No", she said. „I was just surprised how surprised they were."
So he had kept it kind of a secret.
„See, I just didn´t..."
„Hey!" she interrupted him. „I don´t blame you."
There was a pause while he simply stood, looking at her. He brought one hand up to her cheek, then bent his head a little to let his forehead rest against hers for a moment. After a moment, she moved a little, just enough to kiss him again.
It had been three years since she they had met for the first time. Two since they had started seeing each other from time to time. One since they had started to see each other regularly and had stopped pretending that they kept running into each other accidentally again and again.
She had no doubt that if he had chosen to keep it from his friends, he had had his reasons.
He felt that there was probably no way to explain to her why he hadn´t told anyone, not even Christmas, about her. There had been times when he had thought about it. But for some reason he couldn´t name, it had felt better to keep this to his own. Maybe he had only feared that one of his friends would tell him something about her he wouldn´t like to hear. Maybe he had feared that it would have broken the spell if he did.
At dawn, with Amber just back from the stables where she had checked on mare Sparks and her filly, she found herself provided with a cup of coffee by Christmas. She followed him over to the living room, but stopped in the doorframe.
There they were, gathered in the old fashioned living room. The tall blond guy from Sweden. The heavily muscled dark skinned guy. The slender Asian. She had heard about every single one of them. With all of them having had a shower by now and after changing into spare clothes Lee had picked up at the plane, they looked a little less intimidating. Still, the pile of black battle outfits at the hall, right next to the crate containing the small arms, knives and other weaponry they had been carrying with them, left her with mixed feelings.
Barney joined her silently, his hair still damp from showering. He forced her softly to take a step back to the hall and out of the other´s sight.
„I swear I´ll make this up to you", he told her quietly.
„You just managed to ruin half my crop, turned my kitchen into a field hospital and my living room into a locker room", she summed up in the same quiet tone. „You will! And now tell me - have you any rules of conduct you´d want me to follow?"
Before Barney could answer, the old heavy entrance door was shoved open. A young woman slipped in, obviously of Hispanic origin by her looks.
„Damn, what´s so important that you wake me in the middle of the night!" she complained along the hall, nodding briefly to Barney.
„Come on! Getting up early once in your life won´t kill you", Amber answered.
„You called Letty?" Barney asked her, watching Letty kicking her boots from her feet and getting out of her jacket right next to the door.
„How am I supposed to handle all this alone?" Amber asked.
„Look who it is", Letty said, grinning at Barney while drawing closer. „The old man."
„Look who it is", Barney answered casually. „The stray."
The new voice chiming in had the men in the living room interrupt their conversation.
Letty had crossed the hall by now and snatched the coffee mug out of Amber´s hand.
„Say, have I been hallucinating on my way over here or did some lunatic crash-land an overlarge tin can in your potato field ?" she asked before taking a sip.
„Don´t worry", Amber answered lightly. „It´s Barney´s tin can."
They both watched the younger woman choke on her first sip of coffee. Amber took the mug out of her hand again.
„And when you´re done choking, say hello to the rest", Amber suggested.