Disclaimer: I don't own the Expendables or the Losers, just my OC, Sky.

The Kids Are Alright

New Orleans, Louisiana

June 29th, 1997

"Daddy, daddy!"

Lee immediately set down the cup of coffee in his hands and turned away from the conversation he was having with Barney and Tool to look to the stairs in the back corner of the room. Sky was running down toward them, forgoing the lift, with a sheet of paper in her hands and a large smile on her face. He opened his arms up for her to jump into and he smiled, lifting her up into his lap and kissing her cheek. "There's my girl. What have you got there?"

"I drew you all a picture!" Sky announced, practically beaming with pride, waving it around like a flag.

"You did?" Lee asked with his own smile widening. "Now, let's see it."

Lee took the paper and spread it across the desk he'd been leaning on while Barney and Tool got up from their seats to look at the illustration. The picture was of the four of them, standing in front of an unevenly drawn image of Tool's shop. Barney had a cigar in his mouth, Tool had his hat, and Lee had knives in his hands. Just next to the image of her father was what he assumed was Sky, holding onto her father's hand that didn't have the knives in it. "Wow, that's just beautiful. You even got my eyes just right," Barney commented with a smile, ruffling her hair slightly, causing her to laugh.

"And you've got my shop in there too," Tool added on, patting her head.

"Look daddy I even drew your knives!" She announced, pointing to the grey lines on the picture.

"That you did," he smiled, kissing her temple. It had been a little over seven months since he'd taken Sky back with him to Louisiana. The same week he brought her back, he'd called CPS, and gave them all the information he'd collected and even brought Sky in to tell her what happened. He filed for full-custody, and was granted it just as he predicted. He'd received threatening calls from Michelle saying that she would get Sky back no matter what, but he didn't put much stock in it. He was a former soldier and a current mercenary. She wouldn't get Sky back. And his daughter had adjusted fairly quickly to her new life. She got along well with Tool—who absolutely spoiled her rotten—and with Barney who wasn't much better than Tool, though he was very responsible. She did have nights where she had nightmares or days where she didn't want to talk too much, but other than that she was like any normal little girl who had just had her sixth birthday just a few weeks ago.

The only little hiccup in her living with them so far happened three months into her stay. Lee, Barney, and Tool had all been awake and in the back portion of the tattoo shop, cleaning their guns in preparation for an upcoming job. Tool had been giving them all the details when Sky had walked in, rubbing her eyes and holding her teddy bear. Lee had immediately dropped what he was doing and tried to grab his daughter before she saw anything, while Barney and Tool tried hiding the guns. But she saw it, despite their best efforts and when he father picked her up she had immediately pointed at the table, asking questions at a rapid pace.

Knowing they couldn't hide it from her anymore, the three men all sat down with her and explained to her what exactly they did. They explained that they were all former soldiers and that they were now 'soldiers that go where people need them' called mercenaries. She actually took the conversation rather well and only asked childlike questions about what they did, instead of being afraid that they were going to have lots of guns around. And whenever they left for missions she would make them wear 'good luck charms' so they could stay safe. The good luck charms were really some item of hers like a plastic ring or a small toy on a string that she had dubbed lucky that they had to wear around their necks at all times. It melted their hearts each and every time she ran out to the front door to give them their charms before they left.

"You know, if all goes well you might have to add another person onto that picture," Lee reminded, gently wrapping his arms around her waist.

Sky's eyes lit up in realization before she looked up at Barney and Tool, seeing as she couldn't see her father's face. "Is the new soldier coming today?"

"That he is," Tool answered, walking back over to his tattoo station to grab a file he'd been looking through regarding the newest person looking to join their team. For the last year, they had been limited in the types of jobs they could take because of the fact that it was only Barney and Lee on the team. Since their job is something that can't exactly be advertised in a newspaper or craigslist they had to wait until someone showed interest or one of Tool's contacts sent someone his way. And only recently had word gotten to them that there was a man looking to join them. Normally Barney and Lee would've immediately brought the man in and meet with him, but because of the fact that Sky was now with them, they had run background check after background check, compiling a detailed file on their potential recruit. "He should be showing up sometime this afternoon."

"Do you think he'll be nice?" Sky asked, starting to play with her father's fingers on her stomach, causing him to smile and start ticklin her stomach. She giggled lightly before turning to Barney to answer her question.

"I'm sure he'll be nice," Barney assured with a shrug.

"But daddy's got to get ready to meet him, alright?" Lee said, bouncing her on his knee. "So what do you want for lunch?"

"Cookies!"

Tool started walking towards the small kitchen in the back. "I've got some Oreos still—"

"Cookies aren't lunch," Lee cut in, tossing the older man a look. If he didn't watch their liaison, he would end up spoiling his daughter. Tool just shrugged sheepishly before the knife-thrower turned his attention back to his pouting daughter in his lap. "What else would you want?"

Sky made a big show of tapping her chin and looking up in thought, before she smiled widely and turned her torso so she was looking directly at her father. "I want chicken nuggets!"

"We don't have any chicken nuggets, sweetheart," Barney answered with a frown. "You ate the last of it yesterday."

The little girl poked her lips out into a pout, her brown eyes widened in her most pitiful looking puppy dog pout. It was the very same look she used to completely control every one of the men, without her even knowing it. Immediately Lee kissed her cheek and hugged her tighter. "Tell you what, how about I get you some chicken nuggets from the Burger King down the street."

She immediately beamed. "Yes, please!"

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit. Barney is in charge until I get back."

"Okay!"

Heat hit the back of his neck and his arms, making his already annoyed mood worsen as Gunnar Jensen walked down the streets of New Orleans, heading for Tool's Tattoo Shop. The six-foot five blonde man had a scowl plastered on his features, his blue eyes narrowed as he stalked down the street towards the large sign hanging just at the end of the block, signaling his intended stop. Ever since dropping out of MIT to be a bouncer, Gunnar had been stuck in a vicious circle. He only made enough money to pay his rent, bills and food before the next month came and all his money went back to expenses. And when the very girl he had dropped out of MIT for showed up on his doorstep with a three month old baby boy and dumped him on the Sweden, he knew that he couldn't keep living the way he was. They'd survived on his salary as a Bouncer for seven years, but it wasn't enough anymore. Taxes were higher, food more expensive, and he wanted to send Jake to a different school. He needed a change, a different job that paid more and preferably had fewer hours, but finding a job like that was like winning the lottery.

He heard about Tool through some guys at the club, and he decided to check it out. That was the whole reason he was walking through this shady part of New Orleans. He could see a group of wannabe gangsters on the street opposite him, talking and shouting loudly about whatever it was that they found entertaining. There were some women standing on the corners, smiling flirtatiously at anyone and everyone that passed by. If there was any place for a mercenary headquarters to be, he honestly couldn't think of anywhere more fitting.

Gunnar pulled open the door to the tattoo shop and a bell dinged above him. He scanned the area with a practiced ease. There was a couch on the wall to his right with a table in front of it, books of tattoo work on the top. The walls were full of sample works over the blue and black walls. There was a billiards table just a few feet away from the couch. On his left against the wall was a big oak desk with a bell, and a variety of papers thrown haphazardly on top of it. Just in front of him he could see individual tattoo stations that weren't currently being used and three motorcycles parked in an entrance that looked specifically made for that purpose. There was a hallway past the stations that looked like it led to an attached garage and a set of metal stairs and a lift that led up to what looked like more rooms, but other than that it looked like a normal tattoo shop.

Normal except for the little girl who had suddenly popped up from behind the desk next to him.

The little girl had short curly dark brown hair that barely dusted his shoulders and big brown eyes that were turned in his direction. She smiled widely at him, her entire face lighting up and she quickly shuffled a bunch of the papers on the desk in front of her, tapping them on the edge of the desk to organize them. She pushed them to the side and grabbed a big red crayon in a cup from the desk and looked back up at him again, her smile never wavering. "Hi! Are you here for a tattoo?" She looked up in thought for a second almost as if she was trying to make sure she said it right, before she looked back at him.

To say the kid threw him for a loop was an understatement. This was the seediest part of town, and there was a little girl around his son's age sitting behind the front desk of a tattoo shop looking like she was some sort of secretary. "Nah, not here for a tattoo," Gunnar replied easily, walking towards her so he was resting his forearms on the desk, lowering himself to her eye level.

"Are you here for a…" She trailed off before looking down at the desk, opening up a leather book on the table underneath a pile of papers to look for a specific word. "A… piercing?" She asked, batting her long eyelashes at him.

Gunnar narrowed his eyes slightly. His curiosity was now peaked. "How old are you kid?"

"Me? I just turned six!" She announced proudly, positively beaming. Before Gunnar could voice his next question—which was why the hell someone would leave a six year old in charge of the front desk of a tattoo shop—she tilted her head to the side, her smile falling off her face to be replaced with a frown. The change made Gunnar frown as well. He watched as she studied his face, and it took only a few seconds for him to realize she was looking at his scar. "What happened to your face?" She asked with sadness and concern in her voice.

The amount of emotion in her voice and the sadness in her expression confused him for a second. He simply shrugged. "I got hit." He was going to go back to asking his original question before he saw it. He saw the pale, faded scar that travelled just starting underneath the little girl's bottom lip and travelling past the middle of her chin. It was a small little scar, probably around an inch or so, and it was thin. It was practically unnoticeable to someone who wasn't looking for it. But Gunnar was much more observant. He clenched his jaw, having a sneaking suspicion as to what the cause was, but he couldn't help but ask. "What happened to your face?"

Her face grew even more sullen and she looked down at her hands, playing around with the crayon in between her fingers. "I got hit too," she mumbled out, barely above a whisper, but the blonde man still caught it. His mood took a nose dive, making it even worse than what he was feeling before he walked in. Someone had been hitting the poor kid. Someone had been hitting this poor little girl who was just a year younger than his own son. Immediately he felt an urge to protect the little thing and to make the person who hurt her pay.

"Sky!"

Gunnar immediately tensed and shifted his eyes to the right, spotting a large Italian looking man walking towards them. He noticed that the little girl jumped slightly and turned to look at the approaching man with a smile. The blonde didn't shift his position of leaning on the desk by the little girl, and instead watched as the Italian shot him appraising look before zeroing in on the small girl. "Sky, what are you doing at the desk?" The man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Greeting a customer!" The little girl, Sky, replied with a large smile.

"What have we told you about sitting at the desk?" The man asked, walking over, shooting his arms out towards the girl. Gunnar clenched his fists and tensed his muscles, ready to lash out if the little kid was hit, before the man scooped her up into his arms to rest her against his hip. The look he was being shot told Gunnar that the man saw his reaction and knew exactly what he planned to do. "And talking to strangers."

Gunnar raised an eyebrow, not at all missing the fact that he was now being judged by the Italian. "But Barney, Tool said I can color at the desk!" Sky whined her little arms wrapped around his neck. She looked at Gunnar before she turned her attention back to Barney and tried to whisper, but failed miserably. "And he seems nice."

"No exceptions, kiddo."

The bell above the door chimed again, catching the attention of the three by the front desk. Gunnar noticed a man with a shaved head walking through the door, holding a Kid's Meal bag and soda from the Burger King four blocks away. Despite the bag with little crowns all over it, the man still looked intimidating, particularly in the way his eyes cut to Gunnar's without two seconds passing. It appeared as if he was sized up within a grand total of five seconds before the man's attention was on the little girl.

"Daddy!"

"Hey baby girl," he spoke up in a British accent, making his way past the desk—shooting a look towards Gunnar as he passed—before placing the bag and soda on the desk. He reached out and took the little girl from Barney's arms, lifting her into the air before kissing her cheek gently. He rested her against his hip like the Italian was holding her just seconds earlier and he grabbed the bag again with his free hand. "I made sure to get you some extra chicken nuggets and fries. And I think there's a toy in here for you."

Sky immediately beamed and said her thanks before kissing her father's cheek.

"Why don't you go on upstairs and eat while we talk to our new friend here, hm? And do me a big favor, go find Tool and tell him someone's here to see him." The man suggested tossing another look towards Gunnar that made it obvious he wanted his daughter as far away from the blonde as possible. She bobbed her head enthusiastically and he lowered her to the ground and passed her the soda before she shot off, running for the stairs. "Don't make a mess!"

"Uh-huh!"

As soon as the little girl was out of sight, the two men rounded on Gunnar. In response he stood up, straightening himself to his full height and squared his shoulders, looking down at the two men with a narrowed stare. "What happened to the kid's chin?" Gunnar asked, not at all beating around the bush. If these men were the cause of what happened to that little girl, there would be no way in hell he'd join up with them. He wouldn't be able to sit back and watch her get hit, especially when he had his own little boy who would no doubt be mixed in along with them.

Almost immediately the man with the shaved head sent him a deadly stare, his entire body tensing. "You've got no business asking me that, friend," he hissed out. Barney nudged the man who was glaring daggers at Gunnar. The man didn't even turn, but it seemed that he got the message without needing to turn around to see his expression. "Her mother's to blame," his said through clenched teeth. Gunnar could see the anger and guilt behind the man's eyes and he decided that he was telling the truth.

"You Gunnar Jensen?" Barney took over, seeing as his friend didn't appear to be in the talking mood. At Gunnar's nod, Barney walked forward and extended his hand. "Barney Ross," he said shaking the Swedish man's hand. Barney jerked a thumb over his shoulder to the man who appeared to be Sky's father. "That's Lee Christmas, Sky's dad. She wasn't in a good place before we got her and she still isn't over it. Don't bring it up in front of her."

"Got it," Gunnar nodded, though a pit formed in his chest thinking about what happened to the little girl. He'd be furious if Jake's mother had ever laid a hand on him, so he knew Lee Christmas was probably more than a little livid at what happened to his daughter. And having someone else bring it up and accuse him of hurting her was probably not helping his feelings on the subject. "I've got a brat of my own," Gunnar spoke up, more out of an attempt to show Lee that he meant no harm in his question. Lee looked to him in question, an eyebrow raised and his eyes still narrowed. "He's a year older than yours and a handful. I know I wouldn't want anything to happen to him, so I can imagine what you must feel like."

"You've got a son?" Lee asked, his posture relaxing slightly thought he still had his hardened expression. "What's his name?"

"Jacob, but I just call him Jake."

Lee frowned before turning to look at Barney. "That wasn't in the file."

Gunnar tensed, his eyes narrowing. "You checked up on me?"

"Can't be too careful," another voice cut in. The three men turned to see a man with a straight hair that touched his shoulders, with hits of white and grey mixing in with the black. Gunnar immediately guessed that this man was 'Tool' the person that Sky was sent off to get. "We've got a little one running around here, so we can't just have anyone walk in, you understand? Her safety comes first."

"I can understand that."

Tool grinned. "Perfect. Now, why don't you come back to our office? We've got a lot to discuss."