A/N: Okay this chapter is massive! I didn't expect it to be over ten thousand words when I started writing it. I wanted to cut it in half, but the only place I could really cut it would make a really short chapter and then another sizable chapter, so I just decided to keep it together! I'm sorry it took so long to get this out! Also, another idea that my lovely reviewers Sensula and Ninjachipmunk gave me had to do with snippets from the childhood of the kids. I think it would be a fun series of one-shots to do while I work on the A-Team crossover and the original story, so if you guys have any requests for situations you want to see in the one-shot story, feel free to let me know! I should probably start it and have it up in about a week and I'll update whenever I get an interesting idea or whenever someone has a request for a chapter they want to see! And the A-Team story is in the planning phase right now (I'm still toying around with ideas of how the worlds should mesh) and should be started in the next few days. That won't be up until the end of this story however since I'll be putting it under a separate story and different title! I'll try and update when I can and answer any questions you guys have! Thanks so much for being awesome readers and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Expendables or the Losers, just my OC, Sky.
Life of a Mercenary
New Orleans, Louisiana
October 7th, 2013
It was a sudden light that woke Sky up. Her eyes snapped open and she immediately closed them as she was assaulted by the light. He snuggled farther into her pillow, trying to bury her face far from the light, before she realized that her pillow was very warm, smelt amazing, and was moving. It took a few seconds for her brain to catch up with her and it clicked in her mind that the awesome pillow she was using was Cougar. She opened her eyes again and blinked against the light before looking up and spotting the Spaniard looking down at her with a beautiful smile. He took her face in one of his hands and stroked her cheek, immediately causing her heart to skip a beat.
"Buenos dias," he whispered to her.
She smiled up at him and was about to respond before she felt someone hit her leg. She turned her head and saw that Jensen was sitting backwards in the driver's seat, slapping at her leg repeatedly, trying to catch her attention. She was horrified for a split second and was about to scream at her brother to turn around before she realized that they were thankfully parked. "Okay, I totally don't mean to interrupt this moment right here, but Sky, guess what?"
"What Jake?" She asked, groaning as she sat up properly and stretched her back slightly.
"All the others thought we were dating!"
Sky's face immediately screwed up into one of disgust. "Oh, ew!"
"That's what I said!"
"Why?" She asked, looking around to both Roque and Cougar. "He told you guys we were brother and sister, right?"
"Now he did," Roque replied with an amused smile.
Sky tossed her brother a look and he immediately whined. "Hey! They assumed we were dating! They never asked to know about you! But I informed them of their critical error! And I told Clay and Aisha over the comms so no worries about that mistake happening again."
She rolled her eyes before shaking her head. "Anyway, why are we parked?"
"We're here."
Sky paled immediately, looking out the window and spotting the 'Tool's' sign just a few yards ahead of them on the street. "Where are—"
"Clay and Aisha are parked behind us waiting for you to tell us what you want to do," Roque said before she could finish her question.
Jensen grinned at her. "Time to face the music, Sky."
"Shut up," she retorted, sucking in a deep breath as she felt her stomach turn into a maze of knots. She looked at the three men around her briefly before she exhaled loudly, pressing the button on the comms. "Alright, I'm going in. When I call you guys, please come in. And if you hear screaming and/or banging, please come in immediately," she said before letting go of the comms.
"Acknowledged," Aisha said for both her and Clay.
Sky looked towards her brother. "You had better be the first person to walk in. I'm counting on you and your dad to get me out of this."
"I will make no such promises."
"I'll smash your laptop."
Jensen gaped at her in horror. "You heathen! Is nothing sacred?"
"Just be ready to get in there," she hissed at him before climbing out of the car. She walked towards the building and immediately started to feel self-conscious. She was only wearing her sweatpants and Cougar's jacket which was obviously big on her. It wouldn't take them long to realize it was a male's jacket. That was immediately going to be a strike against her when she walked in. And the white makeshift sling would cause her to be swarmed also. She stopped a few feet away from the door, her panic starting to set in. She had never run away from a challenge before, but she was really considering turning tail and booking it down the street.
"C'mon Sky, don't punk out," Jensen piped up from the comms. She turned back to look at him and saw that he was sticking his head halfway out the car and was smiling at her and motioning for her to move forward. She bit her lip and nodded before sucking in a deep breath and grabbing the handle of the door. The second she opened it and walked in she was relieved to see that no one was in the front room of the tattoo shop. She heard the sounds of arguments and shouts coming from the garage and she pressed the comms on her neck.
"I'm in. The package is in the garage."
"Acknowledged. We'll be ready to move."
After a second to compose herself she started moving through the shop and towards the garage, walking as quietly as humanly possible. She poked her head around the corner and saw the Expendables all in the garage. Gunnar and Yin were standing around her father who was shouting and shoving at them, trying to make it to his bike that Toll, Caesar and Tool were resting on, making a human barricade so that the knife thrower wouldn't get out. Barney was leaning against the desk, shaking his head at Lee. "Calm down Christmas."
"What do you mean 'calm down'?!" Her dad exploded, glaring his way. "My daughter is out there, shot! You expect me to calm down?!"
"She's gonna be fine, Lee," the Italian replied as calmly as possible. "Baby-Face is a fighter. And she'll be here soon."
Building her courage she stepped out into the garage and cleared her throat. Almost immediately all the men looked her way and she grinned sheepishly. "I guess that's my cue."
Lee shoved past Gunnar and Yin and all but sprinted towards his daughter, pulling her into a hug but taking care not to hurt her shoulder. "Oh thank God," he muttered, pressing kisses to her forehead and running his hand through her hair. After a few seconds he pulled away and almost immediately she was swarmed by the other Expendables.
"Where the hell have you been, Baby-Face?" Caesar asked as he and Toll moved forward and hugged her tightly.
"Around," she muttered with a small smile before she was flicked in the noise. She whined before realizing it was Yin who had flicked her nose. She tensed slightly, preparing to get her ass handed to her by the martial artist—as he normally did whenever she got in trouble—but she was relieved when instead of attack her, he pulled her into a light hug. She was pretty sure the only reason she wasn't getting her ass kicked at that moment was because she was shot, but she wasn't complaining.
She felt a hand fall on her head and she looked back to see Gunnar ruffling her hair before leaning down to kiss her cheek and give her a quick side hug. Barney moved over next and raised an eyebrow in her direction. "You look tired kid," he muttered, moving forward to hug her slightly.
"I am tired," she said hugging him back before she caught sight of Tool from over his shoulder. He was looking at her with something suspiciously close to tears in his eyes and immediately she felt guilty. She pulled away from Barney and walked over to the tattoo artist so she could hug him. She felt worse when she heard his shaky inhale breath. "Hey Tool."
"You should've called," he muttered while hugging her tightly. "I was worried."
"I didn't mean to worry you," she replied, pulling away and smiling up at him before turning to look at the others. "I didn't mean to worry any of you."
"How's your arm?" Lee asked immediately, moving over to his daughter to examine the sling on her shoulder. His fingers ghosted over the area, but didn't touch the appendage, making sure he didn't hurt his daughter. "What happened?"
"I got shot in the shoulder and fell off a catwalk around fifty feet above a bay."
Sky was pretty sure she saw her father's eye twitch as he looked slowly up to her face, a raised eyebrow and a set jaw that showed he was not satisfied with her answer. She grinned sheepishly before he straightened and narrowed his eyes at her. "You had better have a damn good explanation as to where you've been. Anything short of 'saving the fucking world' is going to get you in more trouble than you can imagine."
"Whoa, wait a second, I have a very good explanation," Sky assured, backing away from her father slightly and walking backwards towards where the garage door was. She held up her good hand to the as the mercenaries started stalking towards her. "I was in Bolivia."
"You're already off to a bad start," Lee retorted, his eyes narrowing further.
"It gets worse," she admitted sheepishly, gnawing on her lower lip nervously.
"Who's jacket is that?" Tool asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Um..."
"What's around your neck?" Yin asked suddenly before she could answer, bringing everyone's attention to the comms around her neck.
Toll's eyes narrowed. "Are those comms?"
Barney raised an eyebrow. "Were you working with another team?"
"Yeah, sort of…" she trailed off, immediately earning a fierce glare from all the other men. Barney, Tool, and her father all seemed to be gearing up for an argument or a lecture—probably both—before she turned to look at the blonde Viking she'd known since childhood. His jaw was set slightly since the mention of Bolivia. "Gunnar, you've got to back me up here."
Gunnar blinked in surprise before he raised an eyebrow in her direction, crossing his arms over his chest. "You know with normal circumstances I would Baby-Face, but you've been gone for two weeks with no word and you come back shot. You gotta give me a reason to back you up."
"I do have a reason," she assured, smiling slightly in his direction. "I brought you back a present."
"What sort of present?" Gunnar asked, perking up the slightest bit. The others all shot him a glare and he cleared his throat and tried to screw his face up into a 'glare' to look at the brunette girl, but it failed largely and instead he ended up winking at her. "Did you find me some baby seal or whale ass?"
"Um… no," Sky muttered, shaking her head and wrinkling her nose in disgust. "But, it's something I know you'll appreciate much more," she assured, moving back towards the garage door in order to press the button so it raised up, letting the cool early morning air in. When she looked to the others and saw them looking at her in confusion she sucked in a deep breath and smiled, reaching her hand up to hold onto the comms. "You guys can come in now."
"Who did you just call in?" Barney asked, tensing.
Sky didn't answer and instead just smiled as she looked towards the blonde Viking who was looking absolutely confused as to what she was doing. She heard the sound of doors slamming shut and whispering voices before Jensen appeared in the open doorway, looking a bit like a lost puppy as he stood there, staring at the others.
Gunnar's heart stopped. His mouth spilled open and his eyes immediately began to water as he looked in front of him. There was no way he'd mistake the blonde hair, the bright blue eyes—his eyes—behind the glasses. There was no way he'd mistake the familiar build and the way his nostrils flared slightly as he tried not to cry. It was Jake. It was his son. But that wasn't possible. Jake was dead. It had to be a dream. He stared in disbelief, his heart pounding hard in his chest. "Hey dad... I'm home," Jensen muttered, his voice cracking slightly. Hearing his voice snapped Gunnar out of his state of shock.
"Jake," he whispered before rushing forward. The smaller blonde moved towards him and Gunnar reached out, grabbing the back of his son's head and pulling him into his chest. He felt his arms wrap around his torso and his face on his shoulder. He felt his son's hair in his fingers and he could feel his son's heartbeat from where his hand was around the back of his torso, above his heart. It wasn't a dream. Almost immediately the Viking broke down, clutching onto his son for all he was worth, scared he would disappear again as sobbed. All the emotions and heartbreak he'd felt over the four months came back full force, but the difference was he wasn't sad. He was happy. He was so damn happy. "Oh God, Jake, please tell me I'm not dreaming," Gunnar pleaded in between sobs.
"It's not a dream. I'm here dad," Jensen assured, as tears streamed down his own face.
"Jake!"
Almost immediately the two blondes found themselves being swarmed by the other Expendables. They were all talking and asking questions at once before taking turns hugging the younger blonde. When all the Expendables got a turn, Gunnar had quickly reclaimed a hold of his son wrapping his arms around his shoulders and pulling him so his chest was against Jensen's back. "So…" The mercenaries all turned to see Sky waiting by the garage door, where the other Losers were standing, watching the scene unfold before them. She had a hopeful smile on her face as she looked to her family. "I take it you like your present?"
Without speaking, Gunnar let go of his son and started moving towards the brunette. She looked at him in slight confusion before he reached down and grabbed her into a bear hug, practically crushing her and lifting her off the ground. She immediately yelped as agonizing pain flared in her shoulder, but the blonde didn't pay attention to it. He just continued to squeeze her in a hug. "Thank you, thank you," he muttered over and over again, kissing her cheek. "Thank you."
"Ow, ow, ow, Gunnar, my shoulder!"
"Oh shit, sorry," he apologized, remembering that the brunette had gotten shot, before dropping the woman to the ground. He was about to curse again realizing he just dropped her before someone grabbed her so she didn't fall awkwardly on her feet and started checking over her shoulder. It took him a few seconds to place the face underneath the cowboy hat before it clicked in his head. It was Yin, however, that beat him to the punch.
"You're Jake's team," the martial artist said, looking towards the Losers. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked towards Aisha. "You're new and the other man is missing."
"And you're the Expendables," Aisha fired back, eyeing them all critically.
"How do you know about us?" Toll demanded.
Clay cleared his throat. "I think we're going about this the wrong way."
"I agree," Barney put in, stepping into the middle of both teams and looking seriously at all of them. "Baby-Face, Jake, I think it's about time for some introductions and explanations."
After a brief round of introductions—which had been conducted with Jensen pointing to different people and saying their names—they had all moved further into the garage and closed the door. Barney, Caesar and Toll had dragged in chairs from the kitchen and the front of the shop to make a makeshift sitting area in the garage around the mats. And for whoever didn't have a chair they just sat on whatever they could. Aisha, Clay, Cougar, Roque, Tool, Barney, and Caesar all had chairs while Yin was leaning against one of the metal beams in the room, staring down the Losers critically—specifically honing in on Cougar who was doing the same to the martial artist—Toll was leaning on Barney's car, Lee was sitting on one side of the desk and Gunnar was sitting on the other, their two children sitting on the desk top which was the area the others were facing. Once everyone was situated, Barney turned to the two kids he'd known for years. "Alright you two, the floor is yours."
Almost immediately Sky nudged Jensen in the ribs causing him to glare down at her. When she just gestured to the others, he sighed and turned back to the group, smiling slightly. "Well… um, hello! I guess we should start the story from what happened in Bolivia. So, me and the guys—" Jensen paused to point towards the Losers, "—were on a mission in Bolivia. We had to take down some drug lord named Fadhil—who, by the way, is Aisha's dad. But we didn't meet her yet. Anyway, we were on the mission and we were lazing the target for an airstrike when Cougs saw children. We tried to radio it in and call off the mission when our CIA handler, Max, said that no matter what the compound was gonna go boom. So, me, being the heroic and courageous—"
"Jensen," Clay said, in a warning tone, tossing the blonde a look.
Jensen cleared his throat. "Ahem, anyway, we all went in to try and save the kids. We were taking on like fifty dudes with AK's and doing pretty well. We got the kids out and we all managed to get out of the blast zone without dying. When we got to the evac site the crew chief on our chopper said that he couldn't take all of us, so we decided to give the chopper to the kids. But Max thought we were on the chopper and shot it down."
"That's why all those poor kids died," Tool said in a sort of detached voice.
"Yeah," the blonde muttered with a sad expression gracing his features. "We realized that Max wanted us dead and that we'd be blamed for the whole thing, so we tossed our tags into the wreckage and pretended we were dead. We hiked into the nearest town and tried to stay under the radar; we got jobs and tried to get enough money to get clean passports to get back stateside."
"Jake was working in a doll factory," Sky piped up in amusement.
Caesar immediately started laughing and turned to look at the blonde, while the other Expendables tried not to smile imagining the rough and tough mercenary-raised hacker surrounded by frilly dolls. "It's not funny! They worked us like animals in there!" Jensen cried dramatically. "Back me up on this Cougs!" The mercenaries all turned to look at the Spaniard who blushed slightly and dipped his hat low on his face so they couldn't see the red tint spreading across his cheeks. Jensen pouted seeing that he was getting no help from the sniper and it made the mercenaries laugh harder. "Anyway," he spoke up, glaring briefly at Sky, "like I was saying, we were flying under the radar for four months before Clay met Aisha. Aisha told Clay that she had a way to get Max and get us stateside. The day we met with Aisha was the day that Sky showed up."
"I guess that means it's my turn," Sky muttered, sucking in a deep breath. "Well, when we got the word that Jake was 'KIA' we all started coping in different ways."
"Coping?" Toll asked with a raised eyebrow, looking her way. "You and Gunnar broke down and you attacked Victoria with your blade boots."
"What?" Jensen asked in surprise, whipping around to look at his sister. "When did you attack my birthgiver?"
"Birthgiver?" Aisha asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The term 'mother' is too kind and nurturing for her," he replied with missing a beat or looking away from his sister. "Now, explain."
Sky shrugged. "It was the day after we found out you were dead, she was yelling at Gunnar, and she slapped me in the face. I feel I was completely justified in my actions."
"You were going to kick her in the temple with the blade," Yin deadpanned.
"You and dad caught my leg before it connected," she pointed out, shrugging it off as if nearly murdering Jensen's mother wasn't a big deal. Clay, Aisha, Roque, and Cougar all shared looks at her nonchalant attitude towards attacking Jensen's mother and the fact that Jensen didn't seem to bothered by it either. They were going to have to talk with their comms tech and find out a bit more about his family. "So my actions were slightly excessive. You guys aren't exactly the poster boys for self-restraint and subtly.
"Baby-Face," Barney spoke up, tossing her a look. "You were saying?"
"Right, sorry. Anyway, we started coping in different ways. Gunnar and I spiraled and the others tried to keep us together by arranging missions. When I snapped I was benched and had all my weapons confiscated, so I started writing Jolene. We wrote back and forth to talk about everything and since she was so far along in her pregnancy I decided to visit when you guys went on mission to Bulgaria. It was just luck that Pooch called after I showed up."
"Who's Pooch?" Lee asked with a raised eyebrow and a slightly amused expression on his face at the name.
"He's our heavy weapons specialist and transpo guy," Jensen answered with a small grin. "He's like Caesar but not as massive."
Caesar smirked and flexed for the group.
"Interesting name," Lee replied before he smirked and eyed the Spaniard in the room. He had noticed the way the sniper had moved to help his daughter and the way he kept looking her way. So he was going to screw with him. "Though it's not nearly as bad as 'Cougar'." Almost immediately the sniper turned to look at the knife thrower with a narrowed stare. "I'd rather be considered a dog than a pussy cat." Cougar's glare intensified and Lee only smirked back.
"Dad!" Sky hissed.
"Cut it out, Lee," Barney said in exasperation. "Quit harassing their sniper."
"Just giving my opinion," Lee smirked again.
"Anyway," Sky cut in, tossing an annoyed look towards her dad. "Pooch had called while I was there, but he hung up. When we called back we figured out the calls were coming from payphones in Bolivia. It didn't take us long to realize that the Losers weren't on the chopper because there wasn't any room. We started searching and managed to narrow down the area to Creencia before I left for Bolivia."
"How exactly did you get to Bolivia?" Gunnar asked with a raised eyebrow.
"She called in Church," Jensen spoke up before she could side-step the question.
"You called Church?" Barney asked narrowing his eyes and adopting his 'Godfather' look. Sky winced, noticing how serious he looked. She quickly turned and glared at her brother. He just grinned in response.
"You brought up the doll factory."
Her glare intensified before she looked back to the others. Upon seeing the looks she was getting from her family she decided to just bite the bullet. "Just after we got back from the mission in Albania I got a package from Church. It was a phone and tablet with a note that said I could get in contact with him whenever I needed a favor since I saved his ass. When I figured out Jake was still alive I called him to get me to Bolivia."
"After Albania?" Barney repeated in disbelief. "And you tell us about this now?"
"I didn't think it was something I had to tell you guys about. I know how to handle myself. And I had other things on my mind at that time."
"You still should've told us," the Italian repeated before he dropped the issue for the time being. The look on his face—and the faces of the others—told her she was going to get an earful about it the second all the explanations were over.
Resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have a lecture in the near future she sighed and continued on with her part of the explanation. "I spent a few days wandering around Creencia before I found Jake and these guys. When I showed up I offered to call Church in so we could get them back without going after Max, but they wanted to take him down so I offered to help."
"After that we flew to Mexico in coffins—which is so not fun—and got over the border," Jensen took over. "From there we stole a chopper and raided a convoy in Miami that Aisha told us Max was travelling in. Turns out that instead of Max it was actually just a courier drive. So, we decided to break into Goliath to steal the algorithm to get onto the drive."
"And then Roque stabbed us in the back," Clay put in with a harsh tone, immediately making the atmosphere tense. Roque glared over in his direction while the Expendables all looked around in confusion.
"Someone care to explain?" Lee asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Our good for nothing second in command sold us out to Max," the colonel said immediately.
Roque stood up from his chair, the metal legs scrapping back loudly against the concrete floor and glared towards Clay. "You know, I'm getting really sick and tired of listening to this shit."
"And I'm sick and tired of seeing you still breathing."
"I could've killed you, but I didn't so why don't you show a little bit of gratitude?"
"I'm not going to show gratitude to the man who stabbed us in the back!"
"You know what—"
The sound of a gun safety being taken off caught their attention and they both turned to see Barney still casually sitting in his chair with his revolver out and resting on his thigh. His hand was curled around the handle and he was just tapping it lightly against his lap, his eyes fixated on the two arguing men. "Don't mind me, you two keep arguing," Barney said indifferently. "But fair warning, the second you start fighting and become a threat we will kill you. I don't care who you are."
Clay and Roque shared a look before they noticed the other Expendables. Somehow throughout their arguing Gunnar had pulled out a large bowie knife and was shining it nonchalantly, Caesar was opening and closing his large razor blade, Toll had brass knuckles on his fists, Yin had shuriken blades in between his fingers, and Tool and Lee were both twirling knives, acting for all the world as if everything was completely normal. Clay and Roque tensed realizing that they were completely serious and that they would carry through with their threat without hesitation. Cougar twitched slightly, reaching for his revolver in the waistband of his pants, while Aisha did the same. "Ah, ah," Lee cut in, pointing his knife in their direction. "That's a good way to get killed."
"Not that we don't trust you," Tool said with a smile. He stopped for a second before laughing. "No, actually, that's just it. We don't trust you. We just got the kiddos back with us," he said easily, pointing towards Jensen and Sky who were looking back and forth between the two groups with concern on their faces. They knew how fast the whole situation could escalate. "And we'll do anything—kill anyone—that we think might take them away from us again."
"So… you boys really do live up to your reputation," Aisha replied with an inkling of respect as she removed her hand from her gun and put them both back into plain view. Cougar wasn't nearly as cooperative, but after pleading looks from both Jensen and Sky, he complied, keeping his hands folded in his lap.
"So how exactly do you know us?" Toll asked.
"My father found out about Max's plan and wanted to stop him. We had started looking into the best teams around to take him down and your team popped up at the top. We called and offered you a job to gather information in India from the company Max was going to buy his weapons from. The day after we made the call was the day that they showed up and my father was killed," Aisha explained, motioning vaguely to Clay, Roque, Cougar, and Jensen.
"So, you were the one who called in the sketchy India job," Barney said with a nod before he looked back towards Clay and Roque, switching topics back to the matter at hand. "Now back to you boys, I want to know exactly what you two were talking about." Clay glared at Roque and was about to open his mouth before the Italian cut him off. "Not from you," he said. He pointed his finger at Roque. "From him."
Roque looked to the Italian in surprise before he grabbed his seat again and sucked in a breath, getting ready to explain. "After the Miami job, I wanted to kill Aisha. We had no reason to trust her. But Clay just kept buying into her bullshit and—"
"Don't you dare put this on me," Clay hissed.
"What do you want me to say? It's the truth!" The demolitions expert retorted angrily. "You were too busy screwing around with Aisha to see what was happening!"
"If you recall, I wasn't the one who sold them out to Max," Aisha pointed out coldly.
"No you're right, but you were the reason I called and cut a deal! I wasn't just going to let the others die because Clay had his head shoved so far up his own ass!"
This time it was Clay that jumped to his feet, hand balled up into fists and his eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. The Expendables all tensed. Cougar almost immediately jumped out of his seat and moved to intercept their CO. He stood in front of Clay and held his hands up, trying to push him back away from Roque. Clay's glare switched from Roque to Cougar, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're defending him?"
"He's defending you," Sky cut in. When Clay turned to look her way he saw that Barney had his revolver raised and aimed at his forehead while the others had all tightened the grip on their weapons. "They don't make empty threats, Colonel. You might want to take a seat."
It took a few seconds of looking around at the mercenaries—and Cougar's small nudges—before he backed over to his chair and sat down reluctantly. He still glared fiercely in Roque's direction, but he didn't move to start a fight. Seeing that everything was handled, Cougar took his seat again, but looked around warily, clearly uncomfortable and twitchy with the fact that the others all had weapons out and he couldn't grab his gun. "So," Lee started, going back to twirling his knife with a loose grip. "Tell me why you thought selling them out to this Max guy would save them."
Roque sighed. "The deal was that I turn over the drive and work with them and in exchange the others were supposed to be let go."
"Yeah, well that didn't happen," Clay muttered underneath his breath, though everyone could still hear it.
"Well, I gotta say that's a more noble reason than mine," Gunnar spoke up with a sheepish grin on his face, gesturing to the group of mercenaries with his knife. "I sold them out because I was so messed up in the head with meth. A bit of advice kiddos, stay away from the drugs."
"Thanks for that lovely public service announcement, Gunnar," Sky replied sarcastically.
Gunnar glared playfully in her direction.
"We'll deal with your internal issues later," Barney piped up, looking towards the Losers. "Right now, Jake, keep explaining."
"Oh right," the blonde piped up before clearing his throat. "So anyway, after Roque made the call and after we stole the algorithm from Goliath, we hacked onto the drive and saw that Max's 'base' was in the Port of Los Angeles. We drove over there to raid their computer network and try and get evidence to prove that Max orchestrated what happened in Bolivia. When we got there Aisha and Sky so cleverly got a boat by—"
Sky promptly punched her brother in the thigh, causing him to whine.
"By doing what?" Lee asked with a raised eyebrow, leveling a look at his daughter.
"I just used a bit of finesse," Sky replied easily, tossing her father a smile before looking back and glaring at her brother. "Please, continue Jake."
Jensen gulped slightly at the murderous expression on his sister's face and decided that selling her out to her father on anything else wouldn't be wise. He cleared his throat again and turned back to the group. "Well, they got a boat and we scouted the port for a way in. We got a plan in place and we were going to wait until morning to go through with it, but while I was trying to tie together a missing four million from Fadhil, we found out that Aisha was Fadhil's daughter. Clay and Aisha were… er… talking about the mission so we bust in to try and get Clay away from Aisha, before she shot me in the arm and—"
"She shot you in the arm?" Gunnar repeated, his lighthearted tone from earlier going far darker in an instant. There was a dangerous glint in his blue eyes as he looked to the Bolivian who tensed in her seat, looking like she was prepared to fight if she had to. "Which arm?" He asked, without taking his eyes off the woman.
"Uh… my left," Jensen muttered.
The elder blonde finally pried his eyes away from the Bolivian and turned to his son. Since he was sitting on Jake's left side anyway, all he had to do was reach up and lift his son's sleeve so he could see the white bandaging. The second his eyes landed on the thick bandage on his son's shoulder he clenched his jaw. "She shot you… tell me why she isn't dead already."
Aisha tensed.
"It was just a misunderstanding," Jensen started explaining quickly, knowing that if he didn't diffuse his father he'd kill Aisha the first chance he got. "After I got patched up we decided to move forward with the job ahead of schedule because we didn't think we could trust her. But because Roque had sold us out the Kryon and Max were waiting and captured us."
"Not all of us," Sky piped up with an amused smile.
Yin looked to the brunette and smiled. "You got away?"
"Of course," she replied with a grin. "I was with Jake when he got caught. He was inside one of the buildings and I was on the roof so they didn't see me. He told me to go to Cougar so I took off," she explained, gesturing towards the sniper. His lips curved up the slightest bit when she her eyes met his and she had to make a conscious effort not to smile back, especially with everyone looking at her. "By the time I got to him the Kryon just found him. Pooch and Clay were taken right before that and Roque was trying to get me to give myself in."
"Knowing you, you probably didn't," Toll said with a grin.
"You know me so well. I evaded them and hopped into the bay and hid underneath the dock. Idiots didn't even think to look under there. When they left I had to swim all the way to the boat we got for recon because there was no way I would try to go back through the Port. It was not fun. It was three miles of nonstop swimming and that water was freezing."
"Did you get hypothermia?" Lee asked immediately, looking at her in concern.
"No, I remembered the rules. I stripped down and went to go get some warmer clothes before I ran into Aisha," Sky explained before smiling at the Bolivian. "And we had a bit of an... altercation."
"What kind of an altercation?" Tool asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just a minor catfight."
"What?" Jensen whined, looking upset as he turned to his sister. "I missed a catfight?"
"I was only in my underwear," Aisha commented with a smirk on her face just to torment the hacker.
His whining increased while Sky rolled her eyes. She had half a mind to tell him that she was in her underwear too—just so she could shatter his little mental image—but apparently Caesar pieced things together faster than she could debate the merits of telling her brother. "Wait, so you both went at it in just your underwear?" There was a pause in Jensen's whining before he groaned in disgust and covered his eyes, muttering about mental images. "All you needed was a mud pit and you'd be set," the heavy weapons specialist laughed, causing Jensen to complain more.
"Yeah, it wasn't that type of catfight," Sky replied, narrowing her eyes playfully at the man. "It went more along the lines of a brawl and a short trip down the stairs."
"Trip?" Aisha repeated with a raised eyebrow and a smile on her face. "We didn't 'trip'. You sent us down the stairs."
"I was trying to tackle you into the metal railing. I misjudged the distance."
"So, you shot Jake and then you attacked my daughter," Lee piped up, narrowing his eyes dangerously at the Bolivian. "That's two strikes against you."
"Okay, in all fairness, I was the one who attacked Aisha," the young mercenary put in as soon as she saw the tension that filled Aisha and the deadly aura emanating from her father. "And after our little tiff I realized if I was going to get the others I would need her help. So we came to an understanding and got a plan in place to rescue our damsels." At the 'damsels' comment, she got a look from Clay, Jensen, and Cougar. She smiled slightly and ignored the looks she was being sent and continued. "Aisha and I snuck back into the Port pretty easily. Since the Kryon were all focusing on the boys, there weren't many people around the perimeter which worked to our advantage. Aisha climbed along the shipping containers and took position while I managed to take out a Kryon soldier, steal his uniform and blend in."
"I got a question about that," Roque spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest and looking pointedly at the woman. "How the hell were you able to blend in? You're clearly a woman. And you managed to merge into two groups of soldiers without being recognized."
"It's all about finding the people that won't be missed," she replied with a one shoulder shrug. "You have to watch and see who the low men on the totem pole are. More often than not, no one will really remember the name or face of a scrub."
"Then how were you barking out orders in Miami?" Clay asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Soldiers are predictable. You can always rely on soldiers to follow orders that don't interfere with their own moral values. And in the midst of chaos soldiers need orders. As long as you have confidence and give orders that make sense you'll have people listen to you," she explained before looking back to her family. "Anyway, after I blended in, I found where they were holding the others and hung around that area until they were moved so they could be executed. I radioed into Aisha the second we got the order and she got ready to give a distraction. But before Aisha was ready one of the men shot Pooch in both of his legs and started threatening to kill Cougar." She paused and looked apologetically towards her brother and the sniper. "I'm sorry I didn't do something sooner."
"Not your fault," Jensen assured, patting her knee lightly.
"No te preocupes, mi querida," Cougar replied with a small smile.
Almost immediately all of the Expendables shared a look while Sky's lips curved up involuntarily. Tool started chuckling to himself, while the others all looked to Lee. The knife thrower was working the muscles in his jaw and pursing his lips, trying to keep a neutral expression on his face. Part of being mercenaries meant they needed to go places all over the world. So because of that they all knew at least the basic phrases from a handful of different languages. Spanish was no different. And they all knew that 'mi querida' translated into 'my dear'. And based on the smirk that Cougar was sending Lee's way, he was well aware that the Expendables knew what he said. "Well, how about that," Barney muttered with a grin on his face, looking back and forth between the sniper and their mercenary.
"You and I are going to have a conversation later," Lee said, turning his attention to his daughter. Sky pouted and started trying to explain herself but he sent her a look that silenced her. "Right now, finish explaining."
"I got it!" Jensen assured, taking over. He noticed what was happening with Cougar and Lee and he thought it was smart to try and take the attention as far away from his sister and his OTP as possible before the knife thrower started tearing into them. "Anyway, after Aisha shot a rocket into a car port—which was way badass—Sky took off and started ripping the Kryon apart with those blade boots she has. On a side note, I'm highly upset that I don't have a pair of boots like hers. I'm starting to sense some favoritism here."
"The day I made them is the day we found out you 'died'," Tool retorted. "I didn't think you'd need a pair."
"Touché."
"Besides, you don't use kicks like she does. You use punches," Toll pointed out before gesturing to the brass knuckles on his fingers. "You'd be better off with maybe some bladed brass knuckles."
Jensen's eyes lit up at the suggestion and he turned from his trainer to the tattoo artist. Tool smiled and nodded. "I'll see what I can do. Baby-Face, how'd the boots hold up in combat?"
"I loved 'em," she assured with a large grin. "Absolutely no complaints."
"Good to hear."
"Jake," Gunnar piped up, nudging his son. "You were saying?"
"Oh right, sorry. So Sky helped cut us loose and we all regrouped. We tried patching up Pooch before we went back to the van and started going after Max. Clay went after Roque and the rest of us tried to keep down the Kryon. Pooch gave me cover and I took off after Max and ended up finding a snook. It's a next generation weapon that Max had been buying up. It was activated and I had no idea how to deactivate it. That was around the time Clay said we couldn't kill Roque and that they saw Max so I doubled back to go to the others. Pooch managed to find the prettiest canary yellow stretch hummer and we all piled in to head towards the area Clay, Roque, and Sky were."
"Why did you put Roque off limits if you wanted him dead?" Barney asked.
"I didn't want to," Clay retorted, gesturing vaguely to Sky.
The mercenary grinned sheepishly and started explaining. "I had broken off from the others and went to go help Clay. By the time I made it to him he was unconscious and Roque was about to shoot him, but he couldn't do it. So I ran over and knocked him away from Clay and got ready to kill him, but I couldn't help but think back to Gunnar and what happened during the Vilena job," she said, purposely leaving out the fact that she was also reminded of Billy. "So I gave him a way out and he took it."
"Sentimental…" Yin trailed off with a frown on his face. "You can't do that again."
"Yin's right," her father added on. "Roque could've killed you if he wanted because you let your emotions take over. Next time, you don't let your feelings get in the way. You get a shot and you take it, got it?"
"Yes sir," she nodded, clenching her jaw slightly.
"Now, go on."
"Wade—Max's right hand man—was heading our way, but thankfully Cougar had us covered and took him out. Clay, Roque, and I started to head back towards the others when we got word from Jake about the snook. That was when we saw Max trying to escape. We tried to catch him, so I told Clay to go up the stairs while I climbed up the scaffolding."
"You climbed up a scaffolding? Voluntarily?" Caesar grinned.
"It was adrenaline induced and I immediately regretted it afterwards," she retorted without missing a beat. "Roque was stationed at the stairs while we went up. By the time I made it to the top Max tried tossing the pressure detonator for the snook over the edge of the catwalk so I jumped over and caught it. Max shot me in the shoulder and I fell off. I'm guessing Clay jumped in after me, but I'm not sure. I blacked out when I hit the water. Roque showed up to help and the two of them got me to shore before we all took off towards the boat again so Cougar could patch up Pooch and I. After that I called in Church and you know the rest from there."
"What you did was completely and utterly stupid," Lee commented, looking seriously at his daughter. She winced and bit her lip before he smiled up at her and held her good hand in his. "But it was brave. And I'm so very proud of you for going after you brother and bringing him back home. You did what you had to."
It grew silent for a moment and Sky looked around at her family with a smile. "So… does that mean I'm off the hook?"
"Not a chance in Hell."
The smile promptly fell off of Sky's face and she started whining. "But I totally saved Jake's ass!"
"The end doesn't justify the means, Sky," her father retorted without hesitation, while the other Expendables were smiling and trying not to laugh at the scene of their youngest about to get chewed out. The Losers all had the decency to look embarrassed for her, while Cougar had to press his lips together to prevent a frown from spreading across his face at the scene. "We told you to stay put while we were gone. You managed to convince Tool to let you go and then you took advantage of his kindness and flew off to Bolivia without letting anyone know."
"Not even mentioning the whole Church thing, which we will be discussing later," Barney put in.
Sky pouted. "But Barney—"
"No 'but's' Skylar," Lee cut her off.
Jensen had to fight off a smile as he looked towards his sister. "Told you they wouldn't let you off the hook."
"And just what are you smiling for, Jake?" Gunnar asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked towards his son. "You're in just as much trouble as Baby-Face."
Jensen sobered immediately. "Wait, what?"
"You were alive for four months without a single call to let us know you were alive. You think you're just going to skirt past that without getting in trouble?"
"B-But… that wasn't my fault!" Jensen whined.
"Oh yes it was," his father retorted. "If your friend Pooch could call his wife then you sure as hell could've called us. We would've gotten you out of there within a week. You know that."
"So really it's all Jake's fault," Sky pointed out, earning a horrified look from her brother. She sent him an apologetic smile, but she didn't take back what she said. Getting in trouble when your family is full of mercenaries was not pleasant and if she could pawn off some of the blame—well most of the blame—onto her brother then she would do it. "I mean if he had just called then I wouldn't have had to go off by myself."
"Sky!" Jensen exclaimed, jumping off the table and looking to her with absolute dismay written across his features. She gave him a helpless 'what can you do?' sort of look. He noticed the eyes of the Expendables on him and he panicked. He really didn't want to get in trouble. So he did the first thing he could think of. Sell out his sister. "Sky knew you guys were calling her, but she chose not to answer the phone!"
"Oh this is gonna be good," Caesar chuckled, scrambling for his phone to pull it out and start recording the scene.
Sky's eyes popped open in horror and she jumped off the table to stalk towards her brother. "What are you doing?" She hissed through clenched teeth.
"It's every man for himself!" He whispered back before looking towards the others. "She was totally ignoring you guys! I told her not to, but she didn't listen!"
"Well, Jake had all his computers and tablets and phones with him and he chose not to call anyone to let them know he was alive!" Sky fired back, glaring up at her brother.
"Well…" Jensen scrambled, searching his mind for something to pin on his sister. He was so not going to be the only one going down for all of this. He couldn't think of anything really substantial except for one thing. And he internally apologized to his best friend, knowing it would throw him into the line of fire as well. "Sky's got a thing for Cougar!"
Sky whipped around to stare at her brother while Cougar's eyes widened slightly and a small smile crept across his face. Lee, however, didn't look nearly as content. "Jake!" She hissed his way, but he kept going.
"She's totally looking for some Spanish amor! She even told me so!"
"You liar!" Sky shouted at him, turning away from the others so she was facing off with her brother, poking an accusing finger his way. "You were the one who said that three years ago when I was messing with you saying you should set me up with someone from your team because I've been you wing-woman for so long! Should I bring up the fact that you referred to Clay as having 'psycho sex powers' because all his girlfriends ended up crazy?" Jensen paled at that one and looked back over his shoulder to see that his CO did not look amused. Aisha, however, did. "Or maybe that you called Roque 'the soul-eater'?" Jensen didn't even want to turn around to see the expression Roque was making. "Besides, you were the one throwing me together with Cougar whenever possible!"
"Oh admit it, you loved it!" Jensen retorted, not really having much other grounds to argue on.
Sky's cheeks colored slightly. "That's beside the point!"
"You ended up making out with Cougar in an alley!"
"Wait really?" Aisha asked in surprise, looking towards the grinning sniper. Cougar didn't bother to answer, but kept his eyes on the arguing siblings in front of him.
"An alley?" Tool asked with an amused grin on his face. "Baby-Face, I know I'm not the classiest, but even I wouldn't do that."
"It was necessary!" Sky shouted back in response before noticing the dangerous look on her father's face. She immediately turned his way and started rapidly explaining as if her life depended on it, because, in all honesty, it probably did. "I was made by Wade and I took off and Cougar was sent to cover me and we made it to an alley, but there was no way we could run because I had taken too much time getting out of my disguise and public displays of affection make people uncomfortable, so it was totally for survival!"
"Oh really?" Jensen asked, catching her attention again. "So was checking out Cougar's gun for survival?"
Sky's face exploded in a blush and her mouth spilled open in surprise and embarrassment that her brother had gone there. She whirled around to face him again and poked at his chest to emphasis her words. "I told you I was not checking out his crotch! I was checking out his ass and there's a difference!" Almost immediately after the statement was out of her mouth she regretted it. It was just digging herself farther into the hole she and Jensen were making. She was vaguely aware of Caesar's loud laughing and someone muttering something about a bucket of popcorn, but she was immediately aware of the eyes of a certain sniper and her father on her. She sucked in a deep breath and decided that while she was digging herself deeper she might as well keep going. "Cause you know what? He is very attractive! And I can check out whoever I want! Just like you've been checking out and flirting with Aisha even though Clay's clearly marked that territory!"
Jensen tensed and glared down at his sister, not bothering to turn around to see how his CO was looking at him this time. "Okay, one, I stopped that after she shot me! And two if you want to do Aisha you've got to be wearing Kevlar or something! And what does that have to do with anything?"
"You're the one who brought up me and Cougar!"
"You're the one who said all this was my fault!"
"And you're the one who was making fun of me when I was the only one getting in trouble!" She fired back with a glare. "I should've just left your ass in Bolivia!"
"Alright children, that's enough," Barney cut into the argument, catching the attention of the bickering duo. He clearly looked amused and he had a handful of Swedish fish in his hand from a bag that had been passed around the group sometime while they were arguing. "You two should be nice to each other. After all, you're probably going to end up with the same punishment anyway."
At the mention of the punishment Jensen and Sky shared a horrified look before turning to their fathers still seated near the desk. Lee looked like he was just barely managing to maintain his composed expression and Gunnar looked thoroughly amused by the entire situation. "As for punishment…" Lee trailed off, looking at both of the kids standing in front of them. "As soon as your gunshot wounds are all healed up you two will run the Gauntlet."
"Aw man, the Gauntlet?" Jensen whined, a pitiful look crossing his face.
Sky's expression mirrored her brother's. "But we haven't had to run the Gauntlet since we were kids!"
"Well you two are acting like children so it seems to fit," Lee replied to his daughter.
Jensen and Sky both blushed in embarrassment before the blonde sighed. "Which levels?"
Gunnar smirked. "All three."
"All three? That's not even fair!"
"And until you two run the Gauntlet you both are grounded," the Sweden continued, pushing himself to his feet just as Lee did on his other side. Clay was chuckling, Cougar bit his lip so he didn't smile, while Roque and Aisha were letting their smiles of amusement show at the sight. "That means no TV, no phones, no computers, no tablets," he listed off, looking pointedly as his son who looked more and more horrified at each item he listed.
Lee took over, looking at his daughter. "No guns, no knives, no car, no leaving unless supervised, and you have to complete all the chores and tasks we give you. Understood?"
"Yes sir," the two grumbled out reluctantly.
"Good, now turn over all your toys," Lee ordered, looking towards the two kids. When neither of them made a move to remove any of their weapons or gadgets he narrowed his eyes. "Do not make us search you in front of your friends."
Almost immediately the two started removing weapons and phones, grumbling the entire time. Jensen pulled out his PDA, his cell phone, his two handguns, and his boot knife before handing them over to his father. He pulled the comms off of his neck and out of his ear and handed them over too before he held his arms up. "That's all I've got. Everything else is in my bag." His dad gave him a skeptical look and turned his son around before giving him a pat down. "Aw c'mon dad! This isn't necessary! I gave you everything—" Jensen stopped arguing the second his father found his last knife tucked in his pants. Gunnar pulled it out and held it in front of his son's face with a raised eyebrow. Jensen grinned sheepishly. "Huh… now how did that get there?"
While Gunnar continued searching his son, Lee watched as Sky hopped up and down on one foot as she tried to untie the laces of her boots with one hand. Once she got both undone, she pulled off her socks with the boots and pushed them closer to him with her toes. After that she pulled her Beretta out from her waistband and placed it on the ground before pulling off the knife pouch—the one she had reattached the second she realized she didn't have any weapons on her when she woke up on the Triton—and tossed into the growing pile on the floor. She pulled out two remaining knives she had hidden in her sling and tossed it onto the floor. "There," she sighed before pulling out her two phones and handing it to her father.
"Sky, we said all your weapons," Lee reminded her.
"That is all my weapons. The rest are in my duffel."
"All of the weapons," her father repeated again in a no nonsense tone.
Sky flailed her good arm dramatically. "That's all I have on me!"
"Skylar Christmas, do not make me strip search you."
"I bet Cougar wouldn't mind," Jensen piped up, earning a kick in the ass from his sister.
Sky glared at the still grinning blonde before she sighed dramatically and looked back to her father. She could tell he was completely serious and he wouldn't hesitate to carry through with his threat regardless of who was present in the room. So instead she gestured to her sling and jacket. "Help me get these off." Lee moved forward and helped her get the two items off—apologizing when he heard her hiss in pain. Once the jacket was off she ignored the stares she was getting because of the bruises on her ribs and instead reached into the back part of her sports bra and pulled out a small sheathed knife. After she got that knife off she reached into her sweatpants and unclipped one of the knife holsters she had attached around her thigh and pulled it out through the top of her pants.
"Do we even want to know where that came from?" Tool asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Attached to my thigh, Tool," she retorted with an eye roll before handing it to her father and reaching for the second thigh holster she had on the other leg and doing the same. She then bent down, taking care to keep her arm tucked against her side before she reached down for the holsters she had strapped against her calf underneath the pants leg. She pulled it off and handed it to her father before taking out the one from her left leg. Once she handed it over she held her one good arm up in the air. "That's all I've got on me."
"Good," Barney said before standing up and gesturing towards the Losers. "You all can stay here with us for as long as you need to. Caesar and Toll can show you to the guest bedrooms and get you settled in. We're just going to look over Jake and Sky's injuries and have a little chat with them." Jensen and Sky looked like deer caught in headlights and they turned to the others with pleading looks on their faces, almost begging them not to go. Clay, however, was quick to jump to his feet—with Aisha and Roque following closely after—and moved towards Caesar and Toll who were already heading towards the door.
"Thank you very much for your hospitality. Try not to get to sleep too late, Jensen," he smirked at the comms tech. Jensen whimpered. Cougar, however, took his time getting up, sending a look towards Jensen and Sky that showed he wasn't entirely happy with leaving them alone. But he had no choice in the matter. They were their family. So he looked around the group of mercenaries and tipped his hat.
"Buenas noches."
"Buenas noches, Cougar," Sky replied out of habit, earning a smile from the sniper and looks from her family. The last thing Cougar saw as he walked out was Sky closing her eyes and exhaling loudly while Jensen was grinning and laughing beside her. He quickly caught up with Clay, Aisha, Roque, Caesar, and Toll and followed the group up into the lift and onto the second floor where there was a hallway full of doors a few feet away from one another.
"Knowing Gunnar and Lee, their kids are going to be spending the night with them, so Aisha you can take Sky's room and one of you boys can take Jake's room," Toll explained, gesturing to the two doors with the names of the two kids spray painted on the front in blocky black military letters. "There are three doors at the end of the hall that are all empty rooms, so the two of you that are left can pick one of those."
"So… what's going to happen to the two of them downstairs?" Aisha asked curiously as she moved towards Sky's door.
Caesar grinned maliciously. "Those two are going to get a lecture to end all lectures."