Disclaimer: I don't own the Expendables or the Losers, just my OC, Sky.
Life of a Mercenary
Gasak Mountains, Albania
January 10th, 2013
It was Gunnar's snoring that ended up waking Sky up the next morning. She hadn't heard a thing throughout the night, but when she started shifting around in her sleep she finally heard it. She blinked her eyes open and looked around to see she still had Gunnar's hand in hers and that all the others were up and going about different tasks. Toll was messing with the jukebox trying to get it to work, Caesar was drinking his coffee and Maggie and Barney were going over a map, laying out plans. She knew it was probably time she got up, but she just closed her eyes and tried to get some more sleep. The snoring thwarted her effort.
"I swear to God if he doesn't stop snoring, I'm gonna shot him," she heard Barney say loudly, followed up with an aggravated 'Gunnar!'
The blonde abruptly stopped and sat up slightly, blinking his eyes to see what it was that woke him up. "You rang?"
Sky laughed in amusement before Gunnar groaned and reached into his backpack for a breakfast cookie, opening it up and biting into it, immediately grimacing at the flavor. Instead of trying to fall asleep again, Sky just stayed on the ground and watched the group, knowing that the second she got up her entire right side would be sore or numb; probably both. "I know this is a dumb question," Toll started, pausing in his annoyed jabbing at the jukebox to look up at his partner. "Do you have any more of that coffee?"
"Pot only makes one cup."
"Yeah, I figured."
"Alright listen up," Barney said loudly, catching their attention. "The guy said the congregation of Sangs was probably in this area, concentrated east. So that's where we're going. We're out of here in ten minutes. Get ready, do what you gotta do."
Sky groaned and let go of Gunnar's hand for the first time, rolling onto her back and immediately wincing at the fact that her right shoulder, hip and ribs were all sore from lying out on the hard floor all night. She slowly sat up and made her way to a standing position, stretching her back and rolling her neck as Caesar walked out to take the final few sips of his coffee before dumping the rest. "I hate sleeping on the floor," Sky muttered.
"Houston, we have a problem," Caesar's voice caught their attention as he walked back in before diving onto the ground. "Down!"
Immediately Barney dove to the ground, tackling Maggie with her, and Toll and Sky dropped down to the floor as gunshots started ringing out, hitting the building, going through windows, thin doors and parts of the wall. One of the bullets hit the jukebox, springing it back to life as it played an upbeat song. Sky wanted to roll her eyes at the song playing during the shootout, but trying not to die was her number one priority at the moment. She looked up and saw her M-16 by hers and Gunnar's stuff. The man had scrambled up into a kneeling position with his back pressed to the column and an M-16 in his hands before he looked her way and waved her over.
A glass shattered just above her and she decided to move at that moment. She rolled like a log on the ground, hoping that she wouldn't get shot before she made it within arm's distance. He grabbed her leg and dragged her the rest of the way over, hoisting her up so she was covered behind the column and handed her weapon to her. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good!" She assured, dragging her bag over to grab her knives and shove them into her boots again.
"We gotta get outta here!" Barney shouted. "Separate exits! Sky stay with me!"
"Go! Go! Go!" Caesar ordered as he and Toll jumped up to start running for one of the side exits. Gunnar quickly shot up and cut in front of them, leading them out while Sky watched for Barney and Maggie. The second she saw them jump up and start running for the back door she took off towards them, making sure her weapon was prepared to fire at a moment's notice. Barney stepped out of the door first while the Sangs were distracted by the others, and he fired at the men while Sky moved past him so she was on the bottom step. She had a clear shot of them and sprayed her bullets at a small cluster, immediately causing the five men she was aiming at to hit the ground. But that still left a hell of a lot more. The Sangs turned their fire their way and quickly she felt Barney's arm on her shoulder, pushing her in the direction of a parked car right by the stairs, she ducked down and felt Maggie and Barney fall down beside her just as the bullets started pinging off the yellow vehicle.
Barney peered out and shot at a man who was approaching, followed closely by Maggie and Sky who both opened fire. "Save your ammo," he advised both women before he grabbed Maggie's hand and touched Sky's back with the butt of his gun lightly, gesturing forward to car parked across the street for them, since their current cover wasn't going to be much use for long. "Baby-Face, go!" Sky immediately shot off, turning forward and slowing her run to fire at the enemies at the end of the street as Barney and Maggie made it to the car before she sprinted over to them and ducked behind the car just as more bullets pinged their way.
A ringing sound caught Barney's attention as he scrambled for the walkie-talkie in his pocket as Maggie and Sky kept watch, making sure that no other soldiers approached. "Where the hell are you?" Barney immediately demanded as he grabbed the communications device.
"I'm almost there," Lee's voice came out of the small box before another few bullets flew their way. Sky ducked back down and tried to catch her breath, mentally trying to calculate how much ammo she had left. "What's going on? Are those shots?!"
"Yeah," Barney announced, lifting up slightly to shoot another man down before lowering back to cover.
"What's happening?"
"The Sangs have us pinned down," the Italian said as Sky stood up to start firing again at another cluster of men. Maggie stood up and shot a couple before both woman crouched back down, sharing a concerned look. There were way too many men.
"Can you hold them off?"
"Yeah, maybe with a tank!" Barney retorted.
The sound of a motor and crunching metal caught their attention before from around the corner of the street the Sangs had taken, a tank rolled into view, turning so it was driving towards the Expendables. Sky glared at her godfather. "You had to jinx it."
"Aw shit."
"What?"
"They got a tank," he muttered before looking to the two women at his side. "C'mon, let's move!" Barney stood up and immediately started firing while Sky and Maggie sprinted towards the closest car, the two women ducking down to fire to allow Barney to catch up with them before they ducked down again. The tank fired in the direction of the others and Sky's heart jumped into her throat. She hoped the others were okay. She didn't have much time to think about it, however, seeing as the tank was now swinging their way. "Run!" Barney shouted, grabbing Maggie's arm and yanking her to her feet while Sky just took off, knowing that with Barney's attention on Maggie—since he didn't know how she would react in a combat situation—she had to follow his orders to the letter. She heard an explosion and heat on her back before she ducked behind the corner of the closest building with Barney and Maggie ducking down beside her before another explosion sounded right behind them, shaking the structure they were using for cover.
"I'm out!" Maggie announced, looking at her gun.
Sky dropped her magazine to see how many bullets she had left. "I've got less than half a clip before I'm down to knives!"
"One left…" Barney muttered, sharing a look with his Goddaughter. She could immediately tell what he planned on doing by the expression on his face and she nodded. He nodded back before shrugging. "Why not?"
In unison the two shot up and stepped out of cover, firing the last of their ammo at the three men approaching. Even when they were empty, however, bullets kept firing and soon men started dropping like flies. Barney blinked before looking at his gun—seeing that he was out of ammo—before he looked to Sky, wondering if it was her. She, however, had a confused look on her face and was pulling at her trigger repeatedly, only to hear a click. Maggie stepped out from hiding and watched with surprise on her face, while Sky looked around, trying to find the source of the shooting. "Um… what's going on?" Sky asked in confusion, looking to her Godfather as the last of the Sangs dropped before a rocket was shot into the tank, destroying it. "Okay seriously what the hell?"
"Hey, who did that?!" Caesar's voice called out in confusion, from around the corner.
"I didn't do that shit!" Toll's voice followed.
"Not me, I'm out!" Gunnar shouted.
Knowing that they were safe for the moment, Barney, Maggie, and Sky walked down the street, surveying the damage as they met up with the others who were walking towards them, unharmed. "What just happened?" Caesar asked with his arms opened.
"Somebody got a little carried away," Barney shrugged, just as confused.
"Looks that way."
"Where are they shooters?" Gunnar asked.
Barney shook his head, looking around at the rooftops. "I don't know, but if they wanted us dead, we'd be dead."
"Barney," Maggie spoke up, catching the Italian's attention. She inclined her head to something behind them, before the whole group turned, spotting a single man walking towards them with weapons strapped to his body, a hat on his head, and sunglasses on his face.
"Small world, isn't it Barney?" The man asked as he took off his sunglasses, coming to a stop in front of the group.
"Booker?" Barney asked in surprise. He looked around the group to see that everyone else was just as surprised as he was before he looked back to Booker. "Rumor has it you were dead."
"Yeah, I heard that too," Booker replied nonchalantly. "So how's life treating ya?"
"Been better. You did all this?"
"I fly solo, I thought you knew that."
"Yeah, I heard it, but I didn't buy it."
"Well now you do," Booker replied before looking around at the other mercenaries behind the Italian. "This your team?"
"Yeah," Barney said before pointing to the others in turn. "Gunnar, Toll Road, Hale Caesar, Maggie, and—"
"Skylar Christmas, I remember when you were just as tall as my knee," Booker completed, smiling at the young woman who suddenly looked very surprised. "I met you when you were younger. You probably don't remember it. It was a brief visit but I never forget a face." Sky still looked surprised and made a mental note to ask her dad and Barney when Booker had met her when she was a kid.
"Booker," Gunnar spoke up, sizing up the man. "You're the one people call the 'Lone Wolf'?"
"I've been called that, but I have mellowed."
Barney looked around at the pile of dead bodies scattered across the streets, on the steps of buildings and the still smoking tank behind them. "Not that much," he said before turning back around to Booker. "I heard another rumor that you were bitten by a king cobra?"
"Yeah, I was. But after five days of agonizing pain… the cobra died."
It was silent for a moment before Booker started laughing. Soon the entire team was breaking down into chuckles, relieved seeing that the man wasn't really serious. Booker moved forward to hug Barney before the Italian suggested the others go back to collect their stuff from the pizza shop while he talked with Booker. They all quickly agreed.
"Who is that guy?" Sky asked the second they were away from the two men. "He seems a little off."
"Who cares? He saved our asses," Toll pointed out as they entered the pizzeria and began collecting their stuff. Sky frowned and dusted glass fragments off her bag before she tossed it over her shoulders. She replaced her empty magazine with a full one and felt infinitely better now that she had a loaded gun in her hands. Once she was done strapping her weapons back on—because until they were back state side she would not be sleeping without at least four weapons on her—she walked out of the shop with the others, her boots crunching over the glass littering the floor. They all walked over to the transpo truck and started to toss their stuff in—noticing that Booker was gone—before another truck drove into the area and quickly parked beside them, showing Lee at the wheel.
"What happened?" He demanded, looking up at Barney after he scanned the area to see Sky was alright.
"We're still alive."
"That's all a matter of opinion, what did I miss?" Lee demanded again.
"I'll tell you about it on the way," Barney assured before looking back at the others. "C'mon guys, let's unload these weapons."
Caesar shot Lee a look as he walked back towards the truck bed. "Looks like Christmas came way late this year."
"Yeah, love you too," the Brit said sarcastically.
"Well, I'm happy to see you," Maggie assured with a smile.
Lee grinned. "Finally somebody with class."
"But you could've been a bit faster," Sky piped up as she climbed onto the back of the truck to help pass them to the others.
"Don't you start, Sky."
Sky just smirked.
It had taken around twenty minutes for all the weapons to be loaded onto their truck before Barney, Maggie, and Lee climbed into the front, with the Italian letting the others know that they were going to be heading to a village Booker had told him about. Apparently the villagers there were against the Sangs, so they might be some help. Sky was sprawled out on the bench in the truck with one of her legs in Toll's lap, pulling down at the ski hat on her head so it was more secure.
"So, this 'walk in the park' Church gave us seems to be more of a 'clusterfuck' to me," she muttered, looking at the men around her.
"Clusterfuck sounds like a good way to put it," Caesar agreed.
Before anyone else could agree the sound of gunshots and bullets on metal caused them all to jump up, on high alert before the truck stopped and Barney shouted for them to get out. They all jumped down and took shelter behind the truck, their weapons ready before they noticed that the bullets weren't hitting their truck, but the side of the building above them, while some were completely off altogether. They all looked on in confusion for a second before Caesar smiled and gestured to the wall, and everyone else smiled, the tension easing from their shoulders.
"They're missing us by a mile," Barney said before peeking out from the front of the truck to see a row of women with rifles in their hands, aiming their way.
"Put down guns!" One of them shouted.
"Not happening," Lee retorted before one of them fired accidentally, hitting two feet away from where Barney was standing on the ground. Lee grinned and turned back to look at the others. "The safest place is in front of their guns."
"We will shoot you!" Another woman shouted.
"No! Wait!" Maggie shouted back, nudging Sky to follow her lead before the two walked out from behind the truck with their guns down and hands in the air. Sky had no idea what Maggie's plan was, but these women had no idea how to shoot and they were supposedly against the Sangs anyway. "These men are here to help," she assured as the Expendables all walked out from behind the truck.
Slowly but surely the women came out from their spots around their homes and walked into view. There were women who looked frail, old, young, and inexperienced all holding weapons around them. Caesar smirked and looked towards Toll and Gunnar. "Even you two rejects could get lucky around here."
"You think?" Gunnar replied, playing along.
"I doubt it," Toll added on.
"Do you mind?" Barney asked, looking at the three men. They all silenced before he looked back to the woman in the front of the pack who looked to be their leader.
"Who you are?" She asked.
"We're Americans."
"Since when?" Lee retorted, referring to the obvious diverse nature of their group.
"Swedish," Gunnar piped up for himself.
Caesar spoke next. "Blackfoot."
"Chinese," Maggie added on.
"British and Puerto Rican," Sky said with a smile.
"Retards," Toll muttered, shaking his head.
Barney looked back to his entire team, wondering how he was the only mature one of the group. "Are you all done?"
"What you want?" The woman asked again.
"We're here to take care of the Sangs," Barney assured.
The women all started shifting around, sharing looks with one another and whispering to each other before their leader nodded. "Okay… come inside."
The Expendables all followed the women as they walked inside, their leader motioning for them to go to the back of the room near a bookcase. They did as they were told before the woman pushed back the bookcase and revealed a hidden entrance to a cellar before she turned on the light. Huddled inside the narrow hallway were well over twenty teenage boys, and from the sound of it, there were smaller children down in the actual cellar. "This is what we think you come for," the woman admitted, looking to Barney. "This is what we will die for."
"Let's find somewhere to talk."
"At first they said that there'd be good jobs, good money," the woman, Eva, started explaining. The Expendables and a small group of the women from the village were all in a small church, having moved to the area so they could talk away from the children. "Some went, but nobody come back. They come back for more. They say as soon as our men go to job the others come home… my husband goes. For a long time nothing. Then the Sangs come and take all of the rest of the men; force them to work in the mines, same in the next village and the next. They take my sons. Now all that is left are the very young and they will be back for them too, I know this."
"We all know this," another woman piped up with a hardened expression on her face.
"So we hide them… and we wait."
"Why don't you just move on?" Lee asked.
"This is our home. Our lives will be the last thing they take. Tell us why you're here now."
"We're tracking them," Barney answered.
Eva looked to them all hopefully. "Can't you stay and help? You saw the children! Soon they kill them all!"
"We have our own business," Barney replied, causing Sky to whip her head around towards the Italian in shock as the women all looked down. "I'm sorry. Let's go."
"Whoa, wait a second," Sky interrupted running forward to match pace with her father and godfather as they all headed towards the door. "You can't seriously be considering leaving them to fend for themselves. They won't last here much longer."
"I think they know that."
"And we're not going to stay and help?" Sky asked in shock, looking to her father only to see there was tension in his jaw. She cut in front of the two and stopped walking, halting the procession just a few feet away from the door. "They're trying to protect their children. Caesar, Gunnar, dad, you of all people should understand that," she said looking seriously at the three fathers of the group before looking at the others. "And I know you're not heartless. Please, we've got to do something."
"Sky's right," Lee agreed immediately, turning around so he was standing next to his daughter, an arm around her shoulder. "So what are we gonna do?"
Barney closed his eyes and sighed before he looked up at the two knife throwers and smiled. "You know, I've got a plan. And with your ego, Christmas, I'm sure you'll love it."
"My ego?" Lee asked before the group started walking towards the truck again, this time with a plan in mind to help the villagers. "What do you mean my ego?"
"You've got a big ego."
"You check your ego out."
"Oh please, your ego is like the size of a dinosaurs'; it's huge."
For all intents and purposes, Barney's plan was a good plan. It was simple with a bit of the finesse that Sky had said that they needed to use more of. With an area as small as the village and the amount of people around, the plan should work without fail. Barney, Gunnar, Caesar and Toll were to be placed in strategic positions around the church, hidden from view until the fight started. Meanwhile, Lee and Maggie would be disguised as a priest and old woman respectively inside the church grounds to surprise the Sangs when they entered. And Sky's part of the plan was to lure all the Sangs into the church. She was to be disguised as one of the women of the village, which meant no gun, no M-16. It would be strictly knives and hand-to-hand if she got into any trouble.
Sky felt the small hand shaking in hers and she looked down to see the small boy she was walking around with. He had been the youngest son of one of the women who had bravely volunteered to help Sky, to be bait and help lure the Sangs in. They had a spot designated for him to run too—the safest spot in between Barney and Toll's areas—but he was just a small boy. He was scared. She crouched down in front of him—frowning at the awkward wrap dress she'd been forced into to make it look like she was a woman of the town—before she angled him so he was looking her way.
"Hey, everything's going to be alright, okay?" She said reassuringly smiling at the young boy. His lip quivered slightly and she held onto his shoulders, trying to figure out a way to comfort him. "What's your name?"
"Mateo," the boy said in a thick accent.
"Mateo? That's a nice name," she replied, looking into the boy's bright blue eyes. Her heart stopped for a second as Billy's face, his blue eyes, appeared in her mind. She closed her eyes to ward off the memory before she opened her eyes and smiled again at the boy. "I'll protect you, Mateo. I promise."
Mateo blinked a few times before he nodded and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a hug, obviously still scared. She hugged him back tightly and sucked in a deep breath. She needed to be able to protect this child, no matter what. The warning bell started to ring as shouts filled the air. She felt Mateo tense up in her arms before she pulled away and looked in his eyes seriously. "We're going to be okay. Let's go."
Sky grabbed his hand and started running in the direction of the church. She knew that the other women would point the Sangs in the direction of the church, saying that the kids were all there so she waited by the entrance to dirt path just fifty yards away from the church compound. Mateo's hand still shook in her hands and it grew worse the second that the Sangs came into view. Show time, Sky thought to herself before she screamed loudly at the top of her lungs and started running with the young boy, heading towards the church. She made sure to push him along as she screamed and nearly tripped—partly for effect and mostly because of the dress she was forced to wear—before she let go of Mateo's hand to let him run into the small door at the side of the church before she crawled in after him.
"Go, run," she urged the boy as she ran into the center of the courtyard and ripped the bottom portion of her dress off, thankful for some movement. The small boy ran to his hiding spot and she caught the eyes of Caesar and Barney from her spot as she dropped to one knee, her hands in the air as she screamed and pretended to sob the second the Sangs kicked in the locked wooden door and stormed into the courtyard.
One of the men walked forward, shouting at her, demanding to know where the children were. She continued her theatrics as she reached for the knife in her boot with one hand before the man was close enough. In a split second she shot to her feet and stabbed the man in the throat before removing the knife and whirling the man around, using him as a human shield before she grabbed his weapon and started firing at the group behind him. Three men dropped before she dropped her meat shield and tossed her knife, striking a fifth in the heart. She heard shooting before more men crashed to the ground and she knew that the others were starting their part of the plan. Two men still managed to break through and ran towards her, but she elbowed one in the face and kicked his leg out before she connected a spinning heel kick to the second one's face. As he hit the ground she pulled a knife out and dropped to her knee, stabbing him in the chest before she whirled around to the other man who was still on his knees before she reached around with her knife and stabbed him in the heart. Once he stopped struggling she pulled her knife out and pushed him to the ground.
She looked around to make sure everything was all clear before she walked over to the others who were surveying the area. She was about to tell them that she took out hers before Barney shouted 'one more!' Everyone whirled around and started firing at the sole member of the Sangs and Sky winced as the man crashed to the ground looking like Swiss cheese. "Rest in pieces!" Barney shouted.
"A bit of an overkill, but alright," Sky muttered, pulling off the borrowed jacket and ripping off the rest of the dress she'd been given before her dad radioed in saying he'd taken care the rest of the men inside of the church. "Mateo! Mateo, it's safe, you can come out now!" She shouted, looking around for the boy. It took a few seconds before the small boy ran out from his hiding space and made a beeline for her. She crouched down to catch him in a hug and lifted him up, supporting him and petting his hair slightly as she felt him shake in her arms. Sky bounced him slightly as he cried a bit before looking over the child's shoulder to her Godfather. "Now we go after Vilain?"
Barney nodded. "Now we go after Vilain."
