Carter, Lee and Barney got weaker and weaker with each day that passed. Would any of the three of them admit to it thought? Of course not. The three of them all had too much pride to even begin to admit to even one ounce of pain, or even the slightest headache or discomfort. Barney, Lee, Caesar, Gunnar, Carter, Lauren, Krista and Maria were the ones who would usually never admit to anything like that.

Being brutally honest, Carter was in the worst shape out of the three of them. Even with Barney in his late fifties- in a year or two he'd be sixty- and Lee being in his early forties: Carter was still a girl. If she wasn't a girl, she would've been able to heal faster while they waited for everyone to come and get them. The reason she would've been able to heal quicker is that she was younger than her father and her "uncle". She was in her twenties, which meant that her body was in better shape that the two older men. But being held hostage, there was one problem in being a girl: she was treated worse than Barney and Lee. Both the Nighthawks and the Expendables had noticed this over the years, that for some odd reason, girls being held hostage were treated worse than guys.

Other than worries about how much longer they would be stuck there, when the Expendables and the Nighthawks would get there, whether Lauren got back to New Orleans yet or not- which was a major concern to Lee- Carter's well being was the main worry of the two middle aged mercenaries. Carter knew it too, so she tried to hide her discomfort, but she felt she was failing miserably.

-/-/-

"She still hasn't picked up any of my calls."

Carmen Ambrosio was with members of both mercenary teams, trying to get in contact with her friend Rosalinda who was supposedly dating the man who was in charge of the underground human trafficking along with drug dealing. Carmen had kept calling and each time there was no answer, along with no response to her text messages.

"How many times have you tried calling her?" Kai asked her.

Carmen shrugged and let out a sigh, "I don't know… about ten times or something like that. Plus I've sent about fifteen text messages and left voice messages with every call."

"Why don't we just go then? No offense, Carmen- but for now, we should just forget Rosalinda. We gotta get my dad, Barney and Carter back," Lauren sighed.

"You're right."

"Ok, so the Expendables are handling all the weapons and such, we've all already gone over the plan and what we're gonna do to get in to the tunnel. You'll be with Caesar and Maria the whole time."

Maria spoke up, "We figured you'd probably feel uncomfortable being alone with a guy you barely know. We thought maybe you would feel more comfortable with a girl along with you. Sure, you don't know me too well, but we just figured it'd be better if one of us was there with ya. Caesar agreed… we were right?"

Carmen gave a weak smile and nodded. "Yeah, you were…"

"So it's settled," Lauren said, "We'll go to the forest tomorrow night and the tunnel. There are ten of us in total. We'll all be separated into a few little groups, that way we can go in different directions of the tunnel and can cover up more ground. Like I said, it'll be Carmen, Caesar and Maria. Then Julia and Kai. Raina, you're will Toll. I'll be with Gunnar and Yang. Everyone clear?" Everyone nodded at her.

-/-/-

Krista laid down on the couch and bent her arm over her eyes and forehead and let out a sigh. Her eyes were shut to try and relax.

To say she felt miserable was and understatement- or at least for now it was. She knew that in the next half hour, at most, it'd be like nothing had ever even happened. It had been like that for about two months now, and if Krista was being honest, it was getting better. She knew that would happen, at least that's what the books she had read said would happen. Supposedly, it was normal.

Jonathan sat on the other end of the couch and Krista placed her head on his lap. He took Krista's hand and rested their hands on her shoulder as he laced his fingers with hers and began to softly rub his thumb over her hand. "You doin' any better?" he asked her quietly.

Krista sighed, "I guess so… I know I'll be fine in a half hour." She let out a slight chuckle.

Jonathan chuckled and placed his free hand on the top of her stomach. "As long as it's supposed to be happening and it's normal."

Krista nodded. "According to books, websites and the doctor- it's normal."

Jonathan and Krista had decided that they wouldn't have a big wedding. They arranged the whole thing in a week and a half. They found a priest in a small church in town where he was willing to do the wedding for them. It was just the two of them and a few other people they invited: Gunnar of course, Ellie, Hannah, Ray, Jackson and Rob- one of Jonathan's friends. Jonathan wore black dress pants and a cream colored button up shirt and a light brown tie. Krista wore a cream colored dress that ended right above her knees and resembled a dress like the ones that Debbie Reynolds wore as Kathy in her 1952 film with Donald O'Connor and Gene Kelly, Singin' in the Rain. It was loose to some extent so it fit perfectly, yet both of them knew that the priest and people signing their marriage papers and license and such thought they were having a shot gun wedding, but they tried to ignore it since they both knew it wasn't true and so did Gunnar and their friends.

Krista would've liked to have had Carter, Lauren, Maria, Raina and Kai there along with their dads- but with everything going on, it wasn't the best idea. Sure, she had talked to all of them except Carter, but either way, they were all probably in Mexico by then. Plus, it was already said and done, and Jonathan and her were already legally married.

"You gonna go to the library today?" Jonathan asked.

Krista shook her head as she sat up; she already felt better. "No… I still have some things to do, like getting my name on my license and stuff changed to have the last Williams instead of Jensen."

"Want me to come with you?"

"It's fine don't worry. I'll be fine on my own."

"You sure?"

Krista chuckled. "I think I'll be fine, babe. I used to be a mercernary, ya know."

Jonathan chuckled. "True… think you'll ever go back to doing that with them?"

Krista shrugged, "I don't know… unfortunately, I doubt it. Maybe in thirty years though I might. Like when I'm middle aged like my dad," she chuckled.

Jonathan chuckled again. "Do you miss it at all?"

"Well of course I do. But you and me both know I would've had to stop soon anyway. Even if Carter wasn't mad at me right now, I would've been a complete dumbass to go to Cancun with them."

"You've been watching too much That 70s Show lately, you sounded like Red Forman." Both of them laughed at that.

Would Krista have liked to go with the Nighthawks to Cancun? Of course she would've. But even in if she wasn't in her current position or condition, Carter would've cut her anyway with how she was acting. Though, technically, it was her condition that made her act so crazy and so hostile and everything, but she wouldn't give that up just to be a mercenary again.

-/-/-

Rob's shift at the bar was nearly over. He had decided to try and call Carter again. If she didn't pick up, maybe one f her friends would if he called them. When he got outside at the end of his shift to his motorcycle, he pulled out his phone from his pocket.

How about, I'll have her call you or I'll call you when she's back, depending on situation.

That phrase started playing over and over in his head. Rob remembered the conversation he had on the phone with Carter's British friend, Lauren. To be brutally honest, the whole conversation confused to nearly no end. What did she mean by depending on situation? Was something wherever the hell they were in the world? He figured there must've been something wrong with Carter, just by the way that Lauren's tone changed at the sudden mention of Carter. It just worried him. It was almost like she disappeared like wind in the fall.

Rob continued to look through his contacts and stopped when he saw his childhood best friend's name pop up- who he still had contact with regularly- Jonathan Williams. He didn't have too many friends to call, but he always knew and trusted Jonathan. Plus he needed woman help and Jonathan was his only close friend that had a meaningful relationship. The guy was married and having a kid with his wife for crying out loud.

HE clicked the call button and waited till the ringing stopped. "Hello? Rob?" he heard in Jonathan's voice.

"Yeah, hey man. What's up?" he asked, trying to start conversation.

"Nothing, really. I'm here with Krista… oh, she says hi."

"Hey Krista."

"So what's up?"

Rob felt slightly awkward even though he knew Jonathan nearly all of his life. "I, uh… I gotta ask you some things. Can we meet up somewhere or something?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Come here would ya? I don't wanna leave Krista alone for now."

"Yeah, course."

"Alright," Jonathan agreed, "See you in a few." With that, Rob hung up.

I know it feels like forever since I've updated! Sorry! I'm better emotionally (I think so, I'm pretty sure I am) so there's that. But nearly this whole week, I've been having my two best friends over, plus I finished reading the last book in the North and South trilogy by John Jakes and I watched the three episodes with my mom (I didn't like the show- the first show was better and more accurate with the book) plus I bought Rumble Fish and That Was Then, This is now and finished Rumble Fish in a day and a half- it was amazerful by the way, I love S. E. Hinton and John Jakes, they're my favorite authors EVER… and I've read a lot of books.

Right now, I'm watching Jonah by the Big Idea prodcutions agency (which is Veggietales) and I have no shame, especially when the "Second Chances" song started up and I was smiling and laughing like I would when I would watch this when I was little and here I am, sixteen in a little less than two months- I have no shame.

By the way, for those on fanfiction. Net- you probably noticed my username changed here to 1980s-popito. I chose that with the help of my two best friends cause we all randomly started going on about a character named Popito from some anime I believe but we spell it with o instead of e, and I like people and movies mostly from the 1980s so there ya go.

Anyway, hope you liked the chapter! Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=