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

The Kids Are Alright

New Orleans, Louisiana

April 21st, 2011

It was eight at night when she got a call from her dad that said they were arriving at the hangar. Tool had gone out immediately to go help them all unload and to see how the mission went, but Sky had skipped out. She couldn't see her father yet. She didn't know what she was going to say to him knowing what she did about Lacy. So instead she'd stayed at the shop. The entire rest of the week after discovering Lacy cheating on her father she'd spent helping out Tool in the tattoo shop, making excuses for why she didn't want to leave. She'd even contemplated taking Tool up on his offer for a tattoo to try not to think about Lacy, but she knew that would end badly whenever her dad found out.

Sky had already tidied up her room and the shop, but she was still feeling antsy. She felt anxious knowing she'd have to tell her dad about Lacy. She didn't want to be the one to bring the news; she didn't want to be the one to break his heart. As it was she was already trying to deal with her own heartbreak. She trusted Lacy. She really thought Lacy cared for her and her father, but just like Michelle, Lacy didn't care. A stab of fear and panic flooded her mind as she thought back to her time in her mother's house. No matter how old she got, no matter how much training she got, no matter how experienced she got, anytime she thought back to the needle men, her mother's friends and Michelle, she always felt like a defenseless child. She hated feeling like that. Shaking her head, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and sighed. She tried her best to take her mind off of the conversation she would no doubt be having by hitting the mats to do some yoga. It was something she didn't think she would like when she first started, but she found that it helped clear her mind, especially when there was no one around to spar with.

The garage door opened just as she lifted up from Cobra and looked up, hearing the sound of motorcycles. She sucked in a deep breath and walked over towards the area where the boys parked their motorcycles, wiping her hands on her yoga pants. The second Caesar and Toll parked they were off of their bikes and moving towards her, looking like they wanted to be anywhere but there. They muttered a quick 'hi' before heading towards the stairwell to head up to the apartment. Yin followed quickly after them, muttering something in Chinese.

She frowned in confusion. What the hell was everyone's problem? Why did they all look like they were trying to get out of dodge?

"Go get cleaned up and we'll talk later."

Sky turned her attention back to the open garage door at Barney's voice only to see her father heading her way, grabbing her in a hug. She hugged him back as he kissed her hair and she took in a deep breath, trying to figure out a way to tell him about Lacy. She opened her eyes, hoping to figure something out when her eyes landed on Gunnar, walking in their direction. "Oh my God, Gunnar, what happened?" Sky asked, pulling away from her father to walk over to the blonde giant.

There was a cut through his left eyebrow that looked like it was going to need stitches to close up, with blood dripping down the side of his face. "Nothing," he grumbled, trying to move past her.

Sky grabbed his arm, causing him to stop in his tracks. "That's not 'nothing' Gunnar. What happened?" When he didn't answer she looked around to her father and Barney, hoping one of them would answer. Her dad just watched while Barney tried to make himself look busy. She frowned at them before she started tugging the blonde Viking towards the stairwell. "I'm going to help Gunnar get his eye patched up."

No one argued with her or tried to stop her.

Gunnar allowed her to tug him along up the stairs and to his room. He remained silent as she grabbed the medical kit that the Swedish man kept in his dresser drawer and he kept his head down as she walked back over to start patching him up. She pulled on gloves and took out a needle and thread after studying the injury on his face. "Head back and eyes closed," she ordered, opening up a bottle of peroxide and pulling out a cotton pad. He complied without argument and allowed her to clean the injury with only the slightest of winces. She started to stitch the area while he remained silent, wincing occasionally as she continued her work. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Nothing happened, Baby-Face."

"Gunnar, please don't lie to me right now. I've had about enough with lies as I can take this week," she muttered. At her comment, Gunnar opened one eye to look at her.

"Who lied to you?"

Sky clenched her jaw. "I'd rather not talk about it right now. Please Gunnar, just tell me what's wrong. Why is everyone acting so strange?"

"Yin kicked me in the face."

"He what?" She froze in the middle of a stitch. "Why would he do that?"

Gunnar closed the one eye he had open and she took that as the sign that she wouldn't be getting more answers. He mind whirled as she patched up the blonde man. Why would Yin kick Gunnar? They had their issues, and they fought, but never had they done so on a mission. Something had to be majorly wrong for that to have happened. Sky quickly finished up her work and took a seat on the couch when Gunnar grumbled about taking a shower and getting changed. She didn't move from her spot at all, hoping that if she waited long enough, Gunnar would tell her why Yin attacked him.

It took twenty minutes for him to come out wearing boots, jeans, a white wife beater and an opened blue shirt over it, his hair still slightly wet with a bag over his shoulder. When he spotted her still on the couch he frowned. "You didn't have to wait."

"I'm worried, Gunnar."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"That's what you said before you got back with a cut on your eyebrow," she reminded gently, looking at him with a pleading glance. "I can't help if you don't let me."

Gunnar stared at her for a few seconds, not moving or saying anything before he gave her a sad smile and a nod. "You're a good girl, Sky." She smiled in response. "I'm gonna go talk to Barney. You should go to your room."

"No way, I'm going with you," she said, standing up to fall into step beside him as he moved to the door.

Gunnar gave her another sad smile before he opened the door to his apartment. They didn't say anything as they walked back down, spotting Barney working on his car. The Italian looked up after hearing them enter and frowned as he spotted Sky. He didn't say anything however. He just waited until they walked over. Gunnar leaned against one of the large pieces of machinery in the 'mechanical' area of the garage, dumping his bag on the ground, while Sky sat near Barney, looking back and forth between the two men. There was a tension in the air and she had a bad feeling that something was about to happen that she wouldn't like.

"How's your eye?" Barney asked, breaking the silence.

"Baby-Face patched me up," Gunnar replied, motioning vaguely towards her while he kept his gaze solely on Barney. "Stings a bit."

"You know what I'm gonna say, Gunnar, and I'm sorry it's gotta be this way."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are," Gunnar replied with venom as he grabbed his duffel bag and started walking towards his motorcycle.

Sky looked back and forth between the two men, dread starting to fill her system. "What are you guys talking about? What's going on?"

"Barney just let me go Baby-Face."

Sky's heart plummeted into the pit of her stomach.

"You didn't give me a choice, Gunnar."

"Whoa wait a second," she cut in, jumping to her feet so she was looking at both men. "Whatever happened on this mission, you guys can talk through it. There's no need to make rash decisions."

Gunnar turned on his motorcycle without a word. The girl flinched as it roared to life. "Barney," the Swedish man called out, catching the attention of both other occupants in the room. "Watch out for her. She's a good kid." With that Gunnar pulled out of the garage and drove off, leaving them all behind.

Sky could only stare out the door, a numb feeling starting to envelop her. She felt like her world was slowly starting to flip upside down. Lacy was cheating on her father, Jake was gone in the Army, and now Gunnar was let go from the Expendables. She didn't know how long she was staring but after a while she turned to look at Barney, trying to grasp some semblance of composure. He just looked back at her, waiting and watching. "Barney, what the hell just happened?"

"Gunnar went crazy," Barney answered without any hesitation or any sugarcoating. "He moved without our order and if we hadn't been ready he could've cost us the lives of all the hostages. Then he tried to hang a dead pirate. And you know how Yang is. He attacked Gunnar to get him to stop so he pulled a knife on Yang and almost killed him. I pulled a gun on Gunnar and we tied up his hands, stripped him of his weapons and tossed him back on the plane. He didn't give me a choice."

"Psychosis," she muttered, closing her eyes and letting out a breath. "Gunnar went through a bad withdrawal again."

"You knew he started using?"

She nodded, running a hand through her hair. "Yeah, he was high the day you guys left. He said that was the only time and I believed him. It was stupid of me. I should've just told you guys."

"It's not your fault," he assured, reaching forward for her arm. She walked towards him and allowed him to pull her into a hug. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat as he stroked her hair gently. "I'll give him a couple of weeks; see if he can clean up his act. It'll all work out." She nodded once and tightened the grip she had around his waist. "If you want you can stay with me tonight. Your dad went over to Lacy's."

Sky froze and immediately felt sick.

"What's wrong?" Barney asked after feeling her tense up in his grasp, pulling away so he could look at her face.

"I went to see Lacy last week. She was cheating on dad."

Barney exhaled loudly and shook his head. "When it rains," he muttered under his breath. "C'mon, let's go wait for Tool in the shop. I need to get another few letters done on my back and I know he's hiding good liquor."

"I can't drink," Sky reminded.

"Yeah, but I can. And I'll drink enough for the two of us."

Sky was seated on the chair next to Barney's in Tool's shop as the older man tattooed more letters onto Barney's incomplete 'Expendables' tattoo. It was the same tattoo that she saw morph and change as she got older, and still it hadn't been completed. She had ignored Tool's girl of the week, Cheyenne, and she tuned out the conversation he and Barney were having about Gunnar's dismissal. She was just content with sitting there, listening to the hum of the machine, pretending that nothing was wrong for at least a few seconds.

A loud motor ripped through the air, pulling her from her peace.

"Christmas time," Barney muttered, looking over his shoulder towards the motorcycle entrance.

"Yeah, I can smell him," Tool laughed as he turned off the tattoo gun and laid it down.

Sure enough, Lee's red sports bike came into the building and halted just a few feet away from the three other occupants of the room.

"Mr. Christmas, how are you doing brother?" Tool asked, dapping some of the blood away from Barney's tattoo.

Lee turned off his bike and pulled off his helmet, moving over to kiss Sky's forehead before he looked to their liaison. "I'm good Tool."

"What do you think?" The tattoo artist asked, gesturing towards the tattoo on Barney's back.

"It still looks like a black chicken."

"Black chicken? It's a damn raven," Barney muttered, standing up from the chair to put his shirt back on. Tool went to go lean against his bike and looked towards Lee with a grin on his face.

"For you I got a great idea. Why don't you let me doodle like a… a Charlotte's Web on your head," Tool asked, immediately earning a laugh from Sky, who desperately needed a laugh, and a small smile from Lee. "You know something different, something exciting, because you've got one of those perfectly shaped dome muscular heads. I could put a web on the top of the head. Maybe a pregnant Charlotte peeking out of your ear, coming around to make sure bugs don't come inside; her long leg dangling down your neck." At that point Lee started laughing like his daughter while Barney was grinning. "Sexy right?"

"Very sexy," Barney encouraged, lighting a cigar.

"It'll give you mystery, a little more character."

Barney noticed that Lee's smile quickly wiped off of his face and he turned back to Tool. "He looks thrilled," he deadpanned.

"How about this, I'm feeling very lucky tonight, I'm feeling very accurate," Tool said, pantomiming throwing a knife.

Lee shook his head. "Another time."

"Aw c'mon, you can take him," Barney encouraged.

"Don't encourage him."

"C'mon Christmas, there's no shame in losing," Tool taunted.

Lee pulled out one of his knives and turned around, throwing his knife at the target on the wall in one fluid motion. The knife swung wide, hitting the outside of the wall, not even close to the bulls-eye. Barney and Tool looked at it in surprise before looking back at the man. Tool leaned down to grab a knife from his boot and tossed it towards the board, hitting just off-center. Barney looked at Lee in surprise that he'd been so off his game. The phone rang catching Tool's attention and prompting him to answer it.

"You saw Lacy, didn't you?" Sky asked, hugging her knees to her chest as she looked up at her father.

Lee looked back at her with hurt in his eyes and nodded once. "Explains your shit throw," Barney grumbled, reaching back to the tattoo station to grab a full beer bottle to offer it to Lee. The knife thrower took it and nodded his thanks, downing half of it in one go. "And I explained to Sky what happened on the mission."

Lee paused and looked to his daughter. "I'm sorry, Sky. I know you were close to Gunnar."

She nodded before leaning back in her seat. "I'm just wondering how things changed so much in the last week."

"That's the number one question, isn't it?" Lee said, moving over to lean against the station his daughter was at. He reached out with one hand and without a second passing she slipped her hand into his. He squeezed it and took a deep breath, trying to remember that he still had one beautiful girl in his life that loved him and that would always be there for him.

"Okay, I've got three pieces of work," Tool said, hanging up the phone to look at Barney and Lee. "Two are walk in the parks. And one's to hell and back."

"Make the meeting," Barney answered without hesitation, causing Tool to smirk.

"Do you guys want my help for this one? You're a man down," Sky suggested only to receive pointed looks from the three men in the room. She shrunk a bit in her seat at their stares and held her dad's hand a bit tighter. "It was just a suggestion."

Sky looked up at her ceiling, trying to sort out her thoughts and feelings. Ever since she went to bed after Tool offered them their latest job, things were starting to sink in rapidly. With all the other things going on in her life, the boys would be going out on a mission that was 'to hell and back' running with one man shy. When they left, it would be just her and Tool once again and knowing the liaison he'd have Cheyenne or the next girl to come along to occupy his time. She'd be alone with just her thoughts until their job was over.

And she would have to sort out her thoughts soon.

Just like her dad, she was off her game. She had gone to see Yin just after Tool gave her father and Barney the basic rundown of the job to see if he would spar with her and instead of holding her own like she normally did, she was unfocused and easily picked apart by the martial artist. He'd even stopped in the middle of her training to point it out. She couldn't let what was happening get to her. If she was twenty and a full member of the team, she'd have to learn to stow her emotions and power through or else she'd be nothing but dead weight.

A tentative knocking drew her attention as her father poked his head into the room. "Sky, you asleep?"

"No," she muttered once, sitting up in bed to watch as he walked in and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Can't sleep?"

"Too wired up to sleep."

Lee nodded once before placing a hand on his daughter's foot that was covered by her blanket. He held onto it before looking down at the appendage with a smile. "You know, I remember when you just had tiny little feet and toes. I could fit both of them in one hand. But now…" He looked up to Sky's face and smiled slightly, removing his hand from her foot to cup her cheek. "You're a beautiful young woman, and I'm so proud of you. You're the most important person in my life, you know that?"

"I know dad," she smiled sadly before placing her hand on top of his. "I'm sorry about Lacy."

Lee let out a forced laugh and shook his head, showing a bit of his hurt in his expression. "That's actually what I came over to tell you. I know you were close with her. And with what happened with your mother… I'm sorry sweetheart. But just know I'll always be here for you."

"Same here dad."

He leaned forward to kiss her forehead before he stood up, hitting her shoulder gently. "Alright, get some sleep okay?"

"Got it. Goodnight dad."

"Goodnight Sky."