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Disclaimer: I only own CJ , Carl, and Roy.

Chapter 11

On a particular Friday afternoon, Ross, Gunnar, and Hale found themselves at the local gym lifting weights. It had been a good month or so since Lacy had left the states and in between that time the Expendables hadn't gotten any jobs. That was odd for them to go so long without anyone proposing a mission for them. In that case they all had to stay in shape, that way when a new challenge arose they were all prepared for it. Besides, these three had the biggest bodies out of the group and all needed to maintain their muscles.

On the other hand, this little down time was good. It allowed them to pursue seemingly normal lives for the time being. To just have friends, hang out, and not be worried if their heads were going to be blown off. Sooner or later if jobs didn't come to them, they would have to start looking for jobs; seeing as it was their source of income and the only life any of them had ever known. Ross couldn't imagine any of them working a 9-5 desk job without someone flinging a keyboard through a window.

"Is it just me," Hale breathed in between reps, "But, does all this seem suspicious to you?"

Gunnar was now in the process of lifting a very large weight, his biceps pulsing, "What do you mean?"

"I mean…it seems odd…not to be crawling through some wasteland with guns in our hands. Instead we're at a clean gym having a chat."

Ross made eye contact with his friend, letting out a sigh, "We should appreciate this time for what it is."

Hale nodded, "I know, I know. But, c'mon. You all know this doesn't feel right."

Setting the huge barbell down, the tallest one cracked his shoulder and admitted, "He's right, Ross. I have a bad feeling."

"We've gone through this amount of time without a mission before."

"Yea, but not without the proposal of one."

The oldest man didn't know what to tell the others. All business proposals went through him and Lee and so far there wasn't even a stupid little gang proposal. It seemed that at that current moment in time that the world…their world at least, was completely at peace. Why did that feel so weird to them? Were they so use to killing others for a living that they couldn't appreciate life? This time should have been used to make other human connections; instead it was spent being suspicious.

That night the boys ended up at Carl's bar. They were really the only human beings any of them knew and it was important that between missions they remained tight. They had even convinced Tool to come, convincing him that he'd be able to pick up hot girls at the bar. So far he would have no such luck, taking a swig of his beer, "This bar is a complete sausage fest."

Toll snickered while also taking a swig, "Would it kill ya not to be scoutin' all the time?"

"See, that's why you're always pissed off," Tool smirked wildly, watching his face scrunch up, "Maybe you should be scouting."

At that moment a young blonde strolled by their table, all their eyes following her. Deep down, they were all men, "See, that's what I'm talkin' bout, go ahead, Toll. I'll let that one pass."

Toll rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "Nah, I'm good. That's all you, buddy."

The eccentric man grinned like a kid in a candy shop, finishing his beer before going over to the bar where the young blonde was perched. This particular Friday night, Carl's was more crowded than Gunnar had ever seen. With tunes from the jukebox playing, people were chatting it up at the bar, the tables, the pool tables, and the at the dart board. The place was practically filled with an array of people he had never seen inhabit this bar before.

Not too long after did Tool come back to the table, a wild grin on his face, "You could all learn something from me." He stated triumphantly, showing them all his cell phone which now had a new phone number from "hot bar girl".

Ross rolled his eyes while bringing his beer to his lips, "She doesn't even look eighteen."

"Believe me, I can tell."

"Just make sure she doesn't pin you for statutory rape." Lee forewarned.

"You're all such wet napkins," He then looked at the Englishman, "You need to get laid."

The rest of the guys bust out in laughter at the stern face on the Brit, ordering another beer. Deciding to make amends, Tool pulled Lee over to the dart board to challenge him at a game. Since they were out in public they couldn't play with knives, substituting the weapons for darts. While the two bickered about who was better, the rest ordered another beer.

"Hey! Fancy seeing you guys here!"

Gunnar turned around, chuckling to see a wide grinned CJ in front of them. She had her red hair pulled back with a little poof on top, dangling silver earrings, a black tank top, and a pair of white short shorts. She had a beer in her hand, looking over to Ross and patting his shoulder, "Hey, I haven't seen you in a while."

The leader of the Expendables smiled warmly, "Hello, CJ, I never expected to see you here."

At that comment, Gunnar raised his eyebrow with a satisfied smirk; the female rolling her eyes and waving him off. She then panned around to see Tool and Lee throwing darts, pointing, "They look quite serious."

"They've been at that for years," Hale chuckled, "It'll never end. Maybe you should go there and kick their asses."

She laughed whole heartedly, "Oh please, I'd wind up throwing a dart into someone's eye."

The boys then invited her to sit down and stay for a while, a proposal she happily accepted. If possible the bar filled even more as the night went by. CJ had went over to the jukebox to throw in a couple of quarters, flipping through to finally come to the conclusion that some Led Zeppelin was in order. Gunnar gave a warm smile as he watched her plop back down next to him, now in the middle of a card game with Ross.

Out of the corner of his eyes he watched the weapon's creator pan the area, stopping cold. He could feel her body tense and her eyes open wide. He raised his own eyebrow as she cleared her throat, "I-I…I'm gonna…y'know go outside-smoke!"

Ross and Gunnar looked at each other, suspicious that something was wrong. By now Toll, Hale, and Yin were at the pool table, Tool was hitting on some girl, and Lee was making his way back to the table. He could see the serious expression on their faces, nodding while following them outside. There they found CJ blowing smoking out into the cool night air, "CJ, you ok?"

She slowly turned around, a very fake smile on her face, "Yea, just dandy. Needed some fresh air, it was becoming so stuffy in there."

The dark haired man wasn't buying it, about to say something as he heard the door for the outside open once again, "Yo, anyone got a smoke?"

All but CJ turned around to see who had just addressed them. He looked about 30, a tall skinny man with very pale skin. He wasn't skinny in a wimpy way; he had a lean figure with broad shoulders that showed out of the white ginnie-T he was wearing. The tall man had brown eyes and a bald head with tattoos covering his entire arms. Gunnar took time the notice the large scar on the side of his neck and the painfully obvious track marks on his arms. This gave him time to observe a tattoo that caught his attention; right under one of the track marks on his forearm it wrote Crystal James.

The other three men shook their heads, Lee tucking his hands in his pockets, "Nah, mate, we don't smoke."

Nodding, his brown eyes then bore down on the girl, "Ey, what about you, CJ?"

Without looking his way, she took a cigarette out of her pack and handed one to him, "Thanks."

"No, problem, Roy."

Gunnar took in the one called Roy. He looked like the epitome of a drug addict, probably looking worse than he had before he had quit. The two didn't say another word to each other as Roy lit up, CJ marching back into the bar. Roy and Gunnar connected gazes as the three Expendables walked back in as well. Although now she wasn't waiting at the table, rather sitting at the bar. She was drinking water, determined not to let her encounter with her ex ruin the last six years.

As CJ sipped on her water, she felt a presence behind her, "What? You don't know me anymore?"

Blue eyes looking up, she shook her head, "No, I don't. I don't even know who she was."

"She was my girlfriend," Roy sneered and then pointed at the scar on his neck, "And the bitch who gave me this."

"And I can't have fucking children because of you."

"You know it was all your fucking fault."

CJ took a moment to calm down, breathing in, "Roy…it was the drugs. Can't you accept that? I'm trying as hard as possible to push that part of my life away."

Roy gripped her arm to pull her attention towards him, a stern look on his face, "It's been six years, Crystal. You just dropped off the face of the planet. Don't you think enough time has gone by for you to even give me a call?"

"You're still the same person," She then yanked her arm away from him angrily, gripping his arm to point to the marks on them, "You haven't changed at all."

"So you think you're better because you got clean? Bullshit!" He spat.

Fuming, the tan female clenched her fists, "Roy, please go. We're wrong for each other."

"Is there someone else? Huh!"

"What the fuck!" She screamed, "I haven't seen you in six fucking years. You stab me and rid me of my ability of having children and when I came back for my shit you had burned it all. The only thing you ever did good for me was for making me realize I didn't want drugs anymore."

Roy scoffed, folding his arms, "You came after me, fucking accusing and shit. You know I never cheated on you."

Her blue eyes calmed, touching his hand gently, "No, you never did. And for that, you're a great man. But, you and I both know it wasn't the first time we've used our fists."

Before the lean man was able to say anything, CJ stood up and walked away from the bar. She thought it best not to continue on with the conversation. That was a part of her life she wanted to forget, only using it as a foundation for a better life. This was her new life. She smile while walking back to the table, being brought back from her flashback from the past. The way life had been going for the past three years were wonderful and she wanted to keep it that way. And in order to do that she had to leave people like Roy behind.

Standing next to Gunnar, she grinned, "So, what did I miss?"

He looked at her sternly, "Are you ok?"

"Yea…just…personal shit."

The men looked at each other. They had all seen what was going on, deciding to not make a scene and get involved. That was her business and they all knew she could handle it. Gunnar wanted to help his friend out, knowing though if he had walked over there it would have insulted her. She was a woman who could take care of herself and she needed to handle shit with her ex-boyfriend on her own.

"Fucking bitch!"

Roy had lashed out, attempting to connect his fist with her cheek. Before that could even happen, CJ gripped his arm and flung him over her shoulder to land hard on the table, glass breaking. In a shift movement, she pulled out a small hand gun, pointing it to his temple, "You even come near me again, Roy, I'll fucking kill you!"

Even with a gun near his forehead, the junkie seethed with anger. Gunnar then reached over to yank him to his feet by his collar, "I think the lady has made her point."

After Roy had yanked himself away from the big man, he marched away sneering. When he was finally out of eyesight, CJ cracked her neck and put the gun away before anyone could see. She then took a look around her to see all the men of the Expendables were looking at her. She then sighed, "Can we not make a big deal out of this?"