Here's hoping this story attracts a few more readers! For the sake of this story, Caesar is not married with kids. Enjoy!
The shocked silences that followed Lee's statement echoed off the walls. Lee gave her one last disapproving look before going to join Barney, who was now fuming in his seat.
"Big surprise huh?" Lee commented, sitting down. Barney made a noise in his throat that was half scoff, half growl. "What are you gonna do?"
"Not a damn thing," Barney snapped. He stuck his cigar into his mouth fiercely, scraping his teeth with it.
"So, you're just not gonna talk to her at all?"
"Nope."
"That's healthy."
"Shut up, Christmas," Barney warned.
"What? They say a good marriage is based on good communication," Lee pointed out.
"And she sure did one hell of a fine job, didn't she?" Barney scowled. The plane jolted, and the tags jingled again. Barney's skin crawled. Hers was on there, and he wanted to rip it off right now. He was beyond angry. He was enraged.
"Barney?" her voice sounded by his ear. He bit down on his cigar, tasting the tobacco.
"He's not speaking to you," Lee advised her. Helena crossed her arms.
"Real mature, Barney," she huffed. He didn't respond.
"I imagine if he were talking to you, he'd say something along the lines of f*** off," Lee told her. She glared at him.
"How about you shut it?" she asked. Lee shrugged and turned back to look out the window.
"Barney?" she tried again. "Look, I know you're upset."
"Huh!" Barney said loudly. Upset didn't begin to describe anything.
"The CIA found me and took me on board with them. I wasn't allowed to tell you." Helena shifted her feet while Barney gripped the handles tightly. She waited for him to talk, but he refused.
"It's not your fault," she said softly. "I told you to leave me behind. I didn't think I was going to live. I was practically half dead when they found me." It was getting harder and harder for Barney to not say something, and she knew it.
"They wanted me to track down Chang," she went on. Lee froze then.
"Not Wei Chang," he growled. Helena looked at him.
"You know him?"
"Do I?" Lee asked, incredulous.
"I don't know, do you? I just asked," she said, messing with him. She remembered that he got incredibly annoyed with her for that.
"The bastard murdered my-" Lee stopped himself. It wasn't something he shared. Barney was the only one who knew.
"Anyway," Helena went on, noticing Lee wasn't going to continue. "I was undercover trying to locate him, and I almost did. Well, you saw." She gave a small chuckle. "It didn't end well. He got away."
"What does the CIA want Chang for?" Lee asked.
"That's classified," she replied.
"Of course it is," Lee grumbled. Barney wanted her to go away. He couldn't stand her being so close to him.
"I guess if you're not going to talk to me, I should go sit down," she said after a while. Barney waited for her to be gone before speaking.
"Do you buy that?" he asked Lee.
"Which part?"
"The CIA finding her part?"
"What do I know?"
"I just assumed."
"Well, you assumed wrong," Lee scoffed.
"I bet Church was in on it," Barney growled. Trust the man to send him on a mission that involved his dead wife popping up. He could picture the smarmy grin now.
"Let me know when we're almost home," Lee said, pulling his hat down over his eyes and leaning back. Barney didn't respond. His mind was racing. Despite being angry at her, he couldn't help but feel love towards her still. She had been an amazing woman, and he had been devastated when she'd made him leave her behind. He couldn't help but think the whole thing had been staged. Trying not to think about her sitting back there, Barney flew on into the night. They'd be home by morning.
Toll Road
It had been a strained flight home. Toll was glad to be off on his way. He felt sorry for Barney, and he hoped the two of them would work it out. He had joined the team after her "death," so he hadn't known her. Neither had Caesar. He tossed his bag into his beat up truck and hopped inside. He smiled to himself as he anticipated visiting his sister. She always cheered him up, especially after missions. When he arrived at the resident's home, he stretched his legs and covered up the scrape he'd acquired on this trip. She didn't exactly know what he did for a living. The lady at the front desk, Beth, nodded at him as he passed. He'd taken her on a date once, and he'd been afraid to ask her out again since she had been so intrigued by his mystery job. He wasn't sure she bought that he was a pilot like he'd told his sister, and he didn't want her to find out. He rounded the corner and saw his sister playing cards with one of her friends.
"Tooobeeee!" she cried gleefully. Toll smiled. She was the only one who called him by his real name, Toby. She stood and ran over to him in that crazy way of hers. She flung her arms around his middle and rocked side to side. She looked up at him with her slanted eyes. He smiled at her.
"Lindsay, baby, how are ya?" he asked. She giggled.
"I'm good."
"Keeping busy?"
"Uh huh. Lots of puzzles."
"That's my girl."
Lindsay tugged at his arm and led him over to the table she had been sitting at.
"I'm learning Solitaire!"
"Cool!" Toll exclaimed. The guy at the table waved at him.
"This is Mack," Lindsay explained. "He's new." Toll felt bad that his sister lived in a resident home instead of with him somewhere, but with his job, he couldn't leave her alone. She was very good with most things, but she had almost set his house on fire trying to cook one time, and that made his decision. She had been happy about it. There were more friends for her here. His whole life he'd been looking after her. He remembered his father's displeasure at having a child with Down Syndrome. Their mother had done her best, but when she died from breast cancer, their father wanted nothing to do with Lindsay, which meant Toll wanted nothing to do with their father. They had gone out on their own for a while, but then Toll got the job with the Expendables, and he couldn't let her be by herself for so many days in a row.
"Where did you fly to this time?" Lindsay asked, clapping her hands.
"All the way to Italy," Toll lied. As far as she knew, he was a pilot. It was the best way to describe his job and why he was gone for periods at a time.
"Wow!"
"You're a pilot?" Mack asked, impressed.
"Sure am," Toll answered. Lindsay and Mack put their heads together and whispered excitedly.
"Excuse me," a lady interrupted. "Toby, can I speak with you?"
"Sure," he agreed, stepping away from Lindsay. She was still talking to Mack anyway. "What's wrong?"
"Your sister has been showing some signs of heart burn. We took her to see a doctor while you were away," she explained.
"Is she on something for it now?"
"Yes. The doctor did express some concern about her heart, though. She's been out of breath a lot lately."
"I see," Toll said. His stomach clenched with fear.
"They just want to do some tests," she went on. "We've been trying to keep her exercising, but she refuses to join in on walks most of the time. She might just be out of shape."
"I'll talk to her," Toll promised. "And keep me posted."
"We try, Toby, but it's hard to reach you," she said, smiling grimly.
"And you are?" Toll asked, ignoring that comment.
"Oh, forgive me. I'm Nancy. I'm new," she said, holding out her hand. He shook it. "I love your sister. She's so friendly and fun. She misses you a lot, though."
"I know. I am looking to take a vacation here soon," Toll smiled.
"I'll leave you be. I just wanted to give you an update," Nancy said.
"Thank you, Nancy," he nodded.
"Tooobeee," Lindsay called. "Come play!"
"All right, but I'm warning you, I'm pretty good at cards," Toll said, moving to sit across from her. She giggled and clapped.
"You're on!"
Hale Caesar
"Terry!" the little girl shouted with glee. She leaped into his open arms.
"Hey, baby!" he cried, swinging her around. "You plumb dang grew another inch on me!"
"Noooo," she giggled. He set her down and held his hand on top of her head.
"You have!" he exclaimed. "You were here last time!" He put his hand a foot lower to show her. She laughed more.
"No I wasn't! I was this tall," she said, gesturing to herself. He gave her a scrutinized look.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" she cried, still giggling.
"Is that you, Terry?" a woman called. Caesar looked to see the woman of his dreams sticking her head out the back door. She smiled at him.
"Mom! Can Terry stay for dinner?" the girl asked.
"Sure thing, Hayley," the woman answered.
"How've you been, Stacy?" Caesar asked, moving forward. Hayley raced ahead.
"Good, thanks," she replied. Caesar wished she had let him love her. She had warned him that his job would be the death of their relationship, and he recklessly believed that she had been bluffing. They didn't speak for a while until she called and told him she was pregnant, alone, and scared. He decided to help. That was five years ago now. Caesar had no idea who the father was. Stacy wouldn't tell him. He didn't want to assume the worst.
"Terry, did you bring me something?" Hayley asked hopefully. Caesar pretended to be deep in thought.
"I think...well, I'm sure I did...hang on..." he said, dragging it out.
"Terry!" she giggled.
"Oh!" he gasped. "I did!" He pulled out a chocolate bar that he'd purchased during the mission. He held it out to her, and she grabbed it eagerly.
"Not before dinner!" Stacy warned as Hayley bounded off.
"I miss the days where we were so full of energy," Caesar laughed.
"Me too."
"So how are you really?"
"Really? I'm tired. That's not new, though."
"I missed you."
"Don't, Terry. Don't do that." She looked at him hard.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. She looked away and kept chopping carrots. Caesar picked up a knife and started helping. He lived for moments like these, simple ones that didn't involve being shot at.
Barney
He tried not to think about Helena being in a motel by herself. He didn't want to start feeling bad for her. She'd chosen to remain a secret from him, so he was letting her be alone.
"Hey, Knuckles," he said, opening the door to find his calico cat waiting for him. He bent to scoop up the cat, who was now eight years old. He was just a kitten when Helena picked him out. Then she'd died. He kept the cat as a reminder of her. Now, he tried not to feel irritated.
"Guess what?" he said as he moved to the bedroom to drop his bag off. "Mommy's alive!" The cat meowed and twisted to look up at him.
"I know. I was shocked too," he said. He set Knuckles down and went to get some cat food for him. He pulled out a frozen pizza for himself. He wasn't in the mood to get fancy. As he waited, he sat at the table and pressed his fingers together. He was meeting Church later, and he knew it could get messy. Knuckles wound around his legs.
"I missed you too," he said, rubbing the cat's belly with his foot. He didn't know what to do about Helena. He guessed only time would tell.
Lee Christmas
He paced his apartment. So Wei Chang was wanted by the CIA. Big surprise. Lee cracked his knuckles. He wanted to hurt that man so badly. Fifteen years ago, Lee had arrived home to find his parents and sister dead. It had been a gruesome sight. Chang had left his designated mark behind so Lee knew exactly who'd done it. It was revenge for a job Lee had done. Now, it looked like Lee was finally going to get his revenge.
Gunner
His home was quiet as it always was. Gunner set down his bag and sighed. He missed his brother. Things hadn't been the same since he'd found Randy on the floor dead from an overdose the year before. Gunner had taken to drinking a bit more than usual and dipping into his brother's drug stash occasionally. It had gotten him in a bit of trouble before with Barney, and it resulted in him getting shot for trying to hurt Yin Yang. It was then that he decided to smarten up a little. He walked over to the neighbor's to retrieve his dog.
"Hey, Ripper," he said as the dog leaped up onto him excitedly. "Yes, yes, I'm home."
"He missed you," Grace said, smiling. Gunner smiled back. He liked Grace. A lot.
"Thanks for watching him," Gunner responded. As always, he didn't know what to say to Grace without looking like an idiot. He and Ripper walked back to his house, and Gunner prepared dinner for them both. It was going to be another quiet night.
