A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for taking so long with the updates. I had everything up to the Losers/Expendables meeting planned out in my head, but everything past it is really making it up as I go along and going with the flow of the story. But I do have certain key things that I know I want to happen so I'm working them all in as I go. Anyway, I'm still undecided as to what I want to be the plot for the A-Team/Loser/Expendable crossover, but I've got a few ideas to toy around with that may work, but it's still in the planning stage for now! And the one-shot series is going to be going up sometime this week God-willing! Anyway, I hope you guys 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

Sky was trying to make herself look as small as possible even as Tool poked and prodded at her injury. She had her sparring mouth guard on to bite down whenever she was in pain—which was most of the time that Tool was checking over her shoulder—and she was squeezing her father's hand for all she was worth. The group was back in the tattoo portion of the shop looking over the wounds of their two youngest. Jensen had been checked out and cleared by the tattoo artist and it was her turn to get cleared. Another wave of agonizing pain shot through her, making the room spin, but she bit down hard on the mouth guard and squeezed her father's hand tighter to orient herself and try to fight off the pain.

"Sorry Baby-Face," he apologized, finishing his check of the entry wound before looking towards the exit wound. "Nasty looking shot you took here, kiddo, but the stitches look good and the wounds are clean. We're gonna have to break out your sling again to keep your arm stabilized while it heals. And you're gonna have a badass looking scar, but you're good. Your little friend did a good job."

"Thanks," Sky mumbled through her mouth guard before popping it out and handing it over to her father as Tool started bandaging up the wounds.

In exchange for the mouth guard her father handed her back two tablets of ibuprofen and she didn't hesitate to pop them into her mouth and drink from the water bottle he handed her. "I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but no strong pain meds for you until morning. We need to get some food in your stomach before we give you anything stronger. You know how bad you get even with food." Sky grimaced slightly and nodded. She knew exactly how bad she got. It wasn't something she liked feeling or even thinking about.

Once making sure she was okay and that Tool was done with the bandaging, her father moved away from her seat in the tattoo chair and instead motioned for Jensen to go stand near her. The comms tech looked reluctant to move and shuffled forward slowly before leaning on the table next to his sister's seat. The two kids shared a look of resignation before turning back to the mercenaries in front of them. They didn't say anything for a while. Only when Caesar and Toll made it back from getting the other Losers settled in did they finally start. "Have you two completely lost your minds?!" Lee demanded, his tone rising loudly and causing the two kids to wince. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

When Jensen started opening his mouth, his dad glared his way. "Jacob Jensen, don't you dare respond to his rhetorical question or this'll be worse for you."

Jensen promptly shut his mouth.

"Has any of the things we taught you as children seeped into your brains?!" Lee shouted again.

"What was so difficult about picking up a phone and calling one of us to make sure you two were okay?" Barney asked without a hint of amusement in his tone. "Why couldn't you two just swallow your pride and ask us for help?"

"Clay was worried we'd get tracked and—"

"Do not feed us that excuse," Gunnar hissed, cutting his son off. "How long does it take to trace a call?"

"Around forty-seven seconds."

"And how long would it take to pick up the phone, say that you're alive and safe, and then hang up?"

Jensen shrunk down a bit. "Less time."

"Exactly. You chose not to call us in. You made us think you were dead for four months Jake! You had us so messed up that we were taking mission after mission to try and cope and we had to bench Baby-Face because she was so torn up! She went AWOL because you didn't bother to call your family and let us know you were okay!"

"Don't make excuses for Sky," Lee cut in, turning a narrowed stare to his daughter. "She knows better. She chose not to call us either."

"I didn't want to give you all false hope if I was wrong," the brunette argued.

"No excuse," Yin piped up for the first time, moving forward to flick her nose. "You're not alone. Your actions hurt us too."

"You could have died in Bolivia and we would never have known," Caesar pointed out. "Then we would've lost both of you."

"And don't think that we're going to forget about you neglecting to tell us that Church sent you a get out of jail free card," Barney added on, crossing his arms over his chest and staring seriously at the young brunette who was shrinking in her chair and trying to keep her eyes down. "I know what happened in Albania was hard on you, but that's absolutely no excuse for not telling us. Church is CIA. He's a spook who's only out for his own ass. You have to remember that and you need to tell us the next time something like this happens. Understood?"

"Yes sir," she mumbled.

"And you find a way to call us no matter what and let us know you're alive," Toll ordered, glaring at his protégé.

Jensen nodded. "Yes sir."

It was silent for a few seconds as the two kids kept their heads down and tried to keep their cheeks from turning red in embarrassment before Gunnar smiled and let out a heavy sigh, reaching forward to grab the back of Jensen's neck so he could pull his son into a hug. Jensen let out a squeak of surprise while Lee moved over to his daughter's side, grabbing onto her left hand and leaning down to kiss her forehead. "But, putting all that aside, we're just happy you two are back, safe and sound," Gunnar piped up, kissing Jensen's forehead before releasing his hold slightly so he just had his arm slung around the shorter blonde's shoulders.

"Don't scare us like that again," Lee said softly, squeezing his daughter's hand lightly.

"We won't," Jensen and Sky chorused, small smiles gracing their features. Jensen gave a lopsided smile. "Next time something catastrophic goes on, you will all be the first to know."

"Good deal," Toll laughed, clasping a hand on the hacker's shoulder and giving it a shake.

"So…" Tool spoke up, pulling off his rubber gloves and tossing them into the garbage. He turned to look at the young brunette with a smirk on his face. "An alley?"

Immediately Sky's face exploded in a blush.

It just took a few seconds for Caesar and Toll to start laughing and taunting her. "Oh, I know the real reason Baby-Face didn't call us in," Caesar grinned mischievously. "She didn't call us in because she was too busy trying to get her some."

Sky's cheeks darkened.

"And with another sniper," Toll added on, grinning just as broadly as the heavy weapons specialist. "I think it's obvious that our infiltration specialist likes the bigger guns. Hey so did Cougar infiltrate—"

"Alright, that's enough," Lee piped up, obviously not wanting to hear anymore sexual jokes about his daughter. Sky looked absolutely mortified and was trying to make herself look as small as possible in the tattoo chair. So he decided not to hound her and instead turned to Jensen, remembering what she had said regarding the blonde throwing her and the sniper together whenever he could. "Now explain why you were tossing your sister together with Cougar."

Jensen immediately beamed. "Alright so here's my master pan. Sky and Cougar are totally compatible and totally into each other, so they're a perfect couple! And they're both total badasses, so it's even more perfect. And if they ever got married—"

"That's a big if," Lee cut in with a narrowed stare.

"—then I'd have my best friend as my brother-in-law, there'd be no awkward time period, they'd both have to take my side on arguments whenever they're not the ones arguing with me, and it'll be convenient to visit them. It's really a win-win for everyone," Jensen continued on with a broad smile on his face. "It's perfect!"

"Your logic makes no sense," Yin pointed out.

"It so does!" Jensen whined. "Don't try and ruin Skougar for me. They're my OTP."

"What the hell is a Skougar?" Toll asked with a raised eyebrow.

"And what is an OTP?" Gunnar asked, looking to his son as if he grew a second head.

"Nothing!"

Barney eyed the younger blonde before shaking his head and chuckling lightly. "Sometimes I wonder who's crazier, you or your father."

"Probably me," both of the blondes said in unison before sharing a smile.

"I don't like him," Lee muttered darkly, glaring out towards the lift as if the sniper was right there.

"I don't know, I kinda like him," Caesar grinned.

Toll nodded. "He seems like a good kid."

"We don't know much about him," Barney put in, skeptical of the new sniper who seemed to take a liking to his Goddaughter.

"Barney's got a point," Gunnar agreed.

Lee nodded vigorously. "We don't know his real name, age, birthday, place of birth, social security number, criminal record, psychological profile—"

"Combat skills," Yin supplied.

"—combat skills, banking information, list of former partners…" the knife thrower trailed off.

"Oh, is that all?" Sky asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes at her father. "Why don't you just interrogate him?" The excited looks that Lee, Barney, Gunnar, and Yin gave her made her roll her eyes again. "I was kidding!"

"Then how do you propose we find out about him?" Lee challenged.

"Oh, I've got this!" Jensen piped up with an excited grin. "I can totally answer any questions you have on Cougar! I'm like an expert by now."

"Good," Lee said before moving away from Sky and towards the front desk. He reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a worn out notebook that had the words 'Potential Threats' written on the front in black blocky letters. He grabbed a pen before walking back over to the group and taking the seat just beside her, looking as if he was about to take notes.

"Seriously? This is ridiculous," Sky muttered and shook her head. "You never did this with Billy." The looks she was receiving from all the men in the room made her second guess herself. "Wait, you didn't right?" Instead of answering the men either cleared their throats or shifted on their feet. Sky's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to question them further, but her father beat her to it.

"Jake whenever you're ready."

"Ready," Jensen piped up, moving to stand behind his sister's chair with Gunnar moving to take the seat next to Sky's seat so he was by his son.

"Full name and rank."

"Sgt. Carlos Alvarez."

"Why the nickname 'Cougar'?"

"Um… you know I still don't know why he went with Cougar. When I first got on the team I knew him by Cougar. You'd have to ask him about that one," Jensen replied as the knife thrower scribbled notes down in the book while the other Expendables—Sky included—listened intently to the information being rattled off about the sniper.

"Age?"

"He's turning twenty-six in a couple weeks."

"Twenty-six?" Tool echoed in surprise.

"That's four years older than you," Yin pointed out immediately.

"Four years isn't a big difference," Sky argued with a half shrug. Her comment prompted her father to look up at her before making another note in the book. Before she could ask what he wrote down he quickly started asking questions again.

"Date of birth?"

"October 28th."

"Place of birth?"

"Arizona."

"Wait, I thought he was from Spain?" Sky asked curiously.

Jensen shook his head. "His parents were born and raised in Spain. They moved over here just before he was born."

Lee cleared his throat to catch the attention of the two kids again. Once they were looking his way he zeroed in on the blonde. "Relatives?"

"Not really sure aside from the mom and dad. He doesn't really talk about his family much. He's pretty private about his life."

"Huh… we'll have to look up his background," Gunnar spoke up.

Sky frowned. "Since when do you do that?" It was the subtle shift of his eyes up to her brother that caused realization to hit. She spun around in her chair and stared at her brother who was purposely avoiding her gaze. "Jake! Have you being doing background checks for them?"

"I only did it for Billy… and all the other guys you talked to."

"Guys I talk to?!" She repeated in shock before looking back towards the other guys, who suddenly found the floors and ceilings very interesting to look at. "You guys creeped on guys I talked to?! Where's the trust in that?"

"We trust you, Baby-Face," Barney assured. "We just didn't trust them. We know how guys think so we took necessary precautions."

Sky geared up for an argument before she started to think about it. In all honesty she really shouldn't have been surprised. She was the only girl raised in a house full of male mercenaries for her entire life. Caesar didn't get married to Jenny until a year after he first joined up with the Expendables, so the only female other than her came in when she was around seventeen. And it was only then that Jenny managed to get them to relax their rules and treat her more like a girl. She was lucky she had been allowed to date at all. "Well, I guess I should just be grateful you guys didn't stalk me whenever I was on dates at least." At the guilty and shifty looks she received her mouth spilled open. "You stalked—"

"Moving on," her father cut into her statement, clearing his throat and looking down into his notebook. "Jake, I expect a standard write-up about Cougar."

Sky looked at the men as if they were aliens. "There's a write-up?!"

"Um… I'm not sure I feel comfortable doing that," Jensen muttered, ignoring his sister's small outburst. "Cougs is my best friend. Whatever he tells me, he tells me because he trusts me. I don't wanna betray that."

"Good on you kid," Toll smiled at the hacker.

Lee scribbled down more notes before nodding. "I respect that. And I take it that means you won't be giving any banking, criminal, psychological, or social security information. So an interrogation is definitely in order." Normally, Sky would've started arguing with her father, trying to sway him out of attempting an interrogation with the sniper, but the pain in her shoulder was flaring up—the ibuprofen doing little to dull the pain—and taking over her senses. So instead she just shared a worried look with Jensen at the slightly malicious tone her father had adopted when discussing interrogations. "But, one more question. How many women has he been with since you've known him?"

Almost immediately Jensen looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Um…" Jensen trailed off, desperately trying to come up with an answer that didn't complete set his friend up to be killed. Saying Cougar was a ladies man was an understatement. Women just threw themselves at him and even some men took a swing his way once in a blue moon. So women were never really in short supply. That wasn't to say that Cougar was a player or a man whore. His one-night stands weren't nearly as frequent as Clay's or Roque's and he always treated each woman respectfully and with care. But he was pretty sure that the Expendables weren't going to see it that way. "Not too many…"

"How many?" Lee repeated with a raised eyebrow as all the men adopted serious looks. Sky looked curiously up at him, making him even more nervous.

"Er… I'd rather not say."

Lee immediately began scribbling down notes while Yin shook his head and started muttering under his breath, moving behind the knife thrower to start pointing to certain portions in the notebook. Soon enough Barney and Gunnar both joined the two pouring over the book while Caesar and Toll started telling them not to start freaking out, all of the mercenaries ignoring the two kids who were looking at them argue. After Barney told Yin that he'd need to get 'the stuff', Sky shared a look with her brother before frowning. "Seriously, how many times have they done this?"

"You really don't want to know," Jensen replied with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Well, they're going to be at it for a good while," Tool piped up with a smirk on his face, gesturing for the two kids as he started heading towards the lift. "C'mon kiddos, let's get you two settled in for the night. You both look exhausted."

"We are," the blonde spoke up for him and his sister as he helped her off the chair and over to the tattoo artist who was waiting for them to go up to the second floor. None of the others even noticed their departure. They were too busy debating whether or not nterrogation via food and sleep deprivation was excessive. Jensen winced slightly, hoping they weren't actually serious about interrogating Cougar.

"Whenever I'm not in pain and can think without feeling so tired I'm going to ask about this again," the brunette assured as Tool flipped the switch so they started going up.

"I'm sure you will, but for right now, let's just get you to bed," Tool replied as they made it up to the second floor. They walked past their individual rooms—since they knew that Aisha and Clay had gotten their bedrooms—and started heading towards their parents rooms. "No sling tonight, Baby-Face. But if you want I can get some of your PJ's and help you change."

"I'm good in this, thanks Tool."

"Same here," Jensen assured with a loud yawn, gesturing to his jeans, boots, and t-shirt. "I'm just gonna strip down and sleep for at least a week straight."

"Well, you two deserve a rest," Tool smiled as they made it to Gunnar's room. Keeping true to his promise, Jensen walked in and immediately started stripping off his clothes, not even pausing long enough to shut the door. Sky rolled her eyes while Tool reached forward to shut the door for the blonde. Shaking his head, he ushered Sky two doors down to where Lee's room was. "Kid's got no shame. You know I remember when he used to run around naked anytime he forgot his clothes or a towel."

"Yeah, so do I," Sky laughed lightly as Tool opened the door for her and ushered her in.

"You need any help with anything?" The tattoo artist asked even as he walked forward and started turning down the bed sheets for her.

"I just need help taking out my contacts," she piped up reluctantly. She loved the support of her family, but she hated when she couldn't do things herself.

"Alright Baby-Face, stay put and I'll go get your cases from your duffel." With that the tattoo-artist walked out.

With Tool gone, Sky let out a groan of pain and hugged her arm closer to her torso. Now that she was home and safe there wasn't anything to occupy her mind. She didn't have men shooting at her. She didn't have to plan any rescue missions. And she didn't have to worry about how her family would react to everything since they already knew. So she had nothing to distract her from the pain. With each beat of her heart she could feel pain radiating from her shoulder. And with even the slightest movement of her neck or arm it shot dizzying pain through her system.

It was starting to become overwhelming and a wave of nausea and lightheadedness overtook her each time there was just small movement. She tried to maintain a brave face in front of the others, because shot or not she was an Expendable. She was a member of one of the best mercenary teams around. She was the Baby-Face Assassin. She'd be damned before she started crying and whining about her pain. She'd just keep her emotions in check, put on a brave face, and then she'd lick her wounds when she was alone. She sucked in a deep breath and slowly moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Another wave of pain shot through her and she had to grab onto the mattress with her left arm to stop the room from spinning. She felt her stomach turn and she had to bite down on her lip to prevent heaving. She closed her eyes, trying to compose herself before she heard heavy footfalls in the hall.

Quickly she composed herself and opened her eyes just before Tool walked in carrying her glasses and contact cases in one hand with a damp balled up paper towel in the other. "I've got your glasses, but I'm just going to leave them on the bedside table," he said as he put the cases down. He started opening up the contact case before turning to face her with a smile. "Alright, I washed my hands, so let's get these lenses out of those gorgeous eyes of yours."

Sky smiled slightly and tilted her head up—trying not to visibly react to the excruciating pain the movement caused. She looked up at the tattoo artist who moved closer and started pulling open her left eye carefully. As she looked at him, completely focused on his task she couldn't help but feel a wave of guilt fill her again. Ever since she got back Tool had been taking care of her and catering to her, making sure she was okay. He had immediately forgiven her for not calling and letting him know where she was. He had checked out her shoulder without hesitation. And here he was, helping her get into bed and taking out her contacts for her without any complaints.

He managed to get her contact out of her left eye and placed it in her case while she closed her eye and looked up at him with her right eye. "I'm so sorry Tool."

"For what kiddo?" He asked, capping the left eye case before turning back around to her.

She smiled sadly and shook her head. "I'm sorry I didn't call you. I'm sorry I made you so worried. I'm so sorry I didn't consider how much I was hurting you."

Tool paused in the middle of opening her right eye further and pulled back to look at her. He stared at her for a few seconds before letting a large smile form on his face. He leaned forward to pull out her contact and place it in the case—making everything look fuzzy to the brunette—before he turned back around, grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "It's alright Sky. I forgive you. You did what you had to and brought Jake back. I was worried and upset at first, but you two are back here safe and sound. That's all that matters. I'm proud of you."

Sky beamed up at him and nodded—pushing the pain out of her mind. "Thanks Tool."

"Anytime kiddo," he assured before motioning to the bed. "I'll let Lee know not to wake you when he gets in here. Do you need any help lying down?"

"No, I've got it, thanks Tool. I appreciate it," she smiled.

"Alright, get some sleep. You'll have chores for the next couple weeks until you run the Gauntlet, and I'm going to make full use of you and Jake in the shop." Sky groaned dramatically and Tool laughed before he kissed her cheek again and walked towards the door. "Goodnight Baby-Face. Love you."

"Love you too," she replied with a smile.

Tool walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving Sky alone in the room. She exhaled shakily, trying to keep her composure again. She sucked in quick breaths and swung her legs up so they were on the bed. She hissed at the slight pain she felt, but it wasn't anything too major. But trying to lie down was a different story. Every time she tried to lower herself down slowly, she had to hunch her shoulders slightly, which was a big no-no. After several attempts at the same strategy she realized it wasn't going to happen. So instead she just flopped down. It still shot a large wave of pain through her—and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out—but it wasn't nearly as bad as the pulling of stitches and torn muscle that occurred each time she tried a slower approach.

After a few seconds she got comfortable and her exhaustion hit her full force. The bed and pillow were so comfortable and her eyes started stinging and closing slowly. She smiled slightly as she looked up at the ceiling. She was in a real bed. She and the others were safe. And she and Jake were home. With that thought in her mind, Sky let her eyes close and drifted off to sleep.

"Sky, please! Please don't let me die!"

Sky's eyes flew open. She scanned her surroundings as her adrenaline coursed through her body and her heart pounded in her chest. She felt something warm against her back and she tensed, prepared to fight before she finally noticed where she was. She was in her father's room. And he must've come in sometime while she was sleeping and gotten into bed beside her. She looked over her shoulder and saw her father sleeping peacefully for a split second before white hot pain filled her senses. She felt her stomach turn and she couldn't even think right. Without hesitation she shot up from bed and started walking for the door on unsteady legs, not wanting to throw up on the floor if it came to that. "What's wrong?"

Sky turned back—this time turning her entire torso and not just her neck to prevent any more pain—and saw that her father was now awake and rubbing at his eyes as he looked towards her. That was something she was going to have to get used to again. While Jake could sleep through her nightmares and her frequent departures from rooms, the Expendables weren't like that at all. They were all light sleepers—even Gunnar despite his loud snoring. If someone were sneaking up on them, or sneaking out, they'd be up and aware of it in seconds.

The young brunette forced a small smile on her face despite the way the room was still swaying slightly. "I had to pee."

"Do you want me to—"

"I think I can handle that," Sky cut him off with a pointed look, opening up the door and disappearing into the hallway before he had time to argue. She quickly walked down to the hall and stood outside the bathroom door, leaning against the wall and trying to get control of her breathing and her composure. That was one of the things she hated about sharing a room with one of the other guys. Her room was the only one with a bathroom directly attached to it since she was the only girl. It was for her privacy and she loved it. But whenever she stayed in one of the other rooms, she'd be forced to use the hallway bathroom. And with her a few seconds away from hugging the bowl and emptying whatever was in her stomach, she'd rather have privacy so the other Expendables didn't hear and swarm her.

Sky sucked in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, repeating her actions a few times before she managed to feel a bit better. Once all threats of throwing up were gone she sighed in relief and decided to get a bottle of water. Just as she was about to turn and walk down the hall she noticed an open doorway. Her heart jumped a bit realizing that it was Billy's old room. It took her a second to calm herself before she walked towards the open doorway. She poked her head in and her heart jolted again upon spotting Cougar lying out on the bed, dressed only in a pair of sweatpants and his hat covering his face. His arms were crossed over his muscled torso and his chest was rising and falling rhythmically, looking at ease. She watched him for a few seconds, a small smile on her face before she decided to head downstairs to get water. She reached into the room and grabbed the doorknob to close it for the sniper, but the door made a creaking noise.

Sky winced and stopped pulling the door forward, hoping she didn't end up waking the sniper. She let go of the door and turned slowly and carefully—trying not to move her neck or shoulder at all—to look back at the Spaniard. She jumped slightly at the fact that Cougar was wide awake, sitting up on the bed and looking at her from underneath the brim of his hat, a small smile tugging at his lips. She grinned sheepishly and walked farther into the room so she could see him better. "Sorry for waking you. I was just going to close the door so you could get some rest."

"Necesitas descansar tambien," he said softly, before gesturing to her bandaged shoulder. "How's your arm?"

Agonizingly painful, mind-numbing, and unbearable were all words that popped into her head, but she managed to filter her thoughts before she actually showed how much pain she was really in. So instead she just smiled as reassuringly as possible. "It's not too bad." The sniper didn't look convinced so she kept talking before he could try to call her out on her lie. "I'm sorry about what my dad said earlier. You know, about your name and all. He didn't mean it, he gets like that with anyone I—"

"Find attractive?" Cougar cut in with a devilish smirk on his face.

Almost immediately she felt her face heat up and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling in embarrassment. She made a mental note to kill Jensen whenever she had full use of her right arm. "Yeah, that's a way to put it."

The Spaniard pushed himself off the bed and walked over to her, stopping when he was right in front of her, just a foot of space between them. Sky's heart skipped a beat immediately and looked up into the dark eyes of the sniper, trying not to focus on the warmth radiating from his body and the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt. "What Jensen said… era verdad?"

Sky's cheeks got a bit darker as she thought about everything that Jensen had blurted out in front of everyone. Everything he said had been true for the most part. She tilted her head down slightly in embarrassment, breaking eye contact before fingers grasped at her chin. Cougar tilted her head back up gently so her eyes were back on his and she felt her heart pounding in her chest at the intensity of his gaze. He just stared back at her with his dark brown eyes, patiently waiting for her answer. She bit her lip lightly. "What Jake said… it was all true."

Cougar's lips curved up into a smile and he stepped closer, well within her personal space so that they were nearly chest to chest. He moved his hand from her chin to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbones delicately. "And the Spanish amor?" He questioned in a teasing tone.

Despite the obvious jest in his question, she could safely say hearing Cougar say 'amor' in his thick accented voice did things to Sky that it really shouldn't have.

"That too," she replied with a small smile. His smile was beautiful and dazzling as he looked down at her and she couldn't help but think about how much she'd love to see him wear that expression on his face more often. "What about you? Where do you stand on this whole thing?" She asked.

Instead of answering with words, Cougar leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. Her heart started beating faster and harder in her chest. Just as she was about to deepen the kiss he pulled back and looked at her with a smirk. "I stand with you."

"Ahem."

Sky whipped around to look at the door—immediately regretting her actions as overwhelming pain filled her senses and she swayed slightly. Cougar's hand on her cheek disappeared and instead was wrapped around her waist to steady her slightly and even through the haze in her mind she could see the sniper tossing her a look that meant he knew she was in a lot of pain. She gave him a sheepish look before turning towards the doorway. It took a few seconds of blinking and straining her eyes before she made out the shape of her father standing in the doorway, twirling a knife in his hand. The blood drained from her face and she had a huge urge to jump away from the Spaniard beside her. But since he was still keeping her upright—and since his grip had tightened—she couldn't move.

"Dad, what are you doing up?" Sky asked cutting into the thick tension that had fallen around them.

"I wanted to make sure you got to the bathroom okay. But apparently you've been gone too long, because you don't seem to remember where the bathroom is anymore."

It didn't take a genius to see what the knife thrower was insinuating.

"Um… I was just—"

"Going back to bed," Lee cut in without any room for arguments. "Now."

Sky winced and nodded, starting to move forward before Cougar's arm tightened around her. She was about to question him before he pulled her closer and leaned down to press a kiss onto her lips. Sky's heart stopped for the briefest of seconds at the feel of the sniper's lips on hers and at the fact that Cougar was kissing her in front of her father. He pulled back after a few seconds and smirked down at her, tossing her a wink before he let go of her waist. Part of her wanted to yell at Cougar for challenging her father like that—because he would not hesitate to harm the sniper. But part of her found the fact that he was purposely messing with her father extremely sexy.

Deciding that for now she should probably do what her dad wanted to make sure the sniper stayed in one piece she smiled slightly in Cougar's direction before walking out of the room. As soon as she got closer to her dad he grabbed her left arm and started pulling her down the hall towards his room. She had the presence of mind to be completely silent as they made it into the room. When Lee closed the door behind him he stabbed the knife into the wall beside the door and worked the muscles in his jaw. After about a minute of silence he looked to his daughter. "Your little friend is going to get himself killed."

"Please no murdering. I actually like him."

"I can't guarantee anything. Now go to sleep. And no more late night visits to anyone that isn't an Expendable or your brother. Got it?"

"Yes sir."