A/N: Hey there everyone! Finals week is finally here so I've officially finished all my assignments and projects! The only thing I have left to do is to cram for finals and pack for my upcoming vacation. While I was writing this chapter I got a few new ideas that can be used as different Losers/Expendables crossover. One of which would crossover with a different movie, but both of these new ideas would be told in two parts. I'm not really sure about these ideas yet, so I wanted to get your opinions! They're both pretty different from each other, and one of them would really challenge my writing skills while the other would just be a lot of humor which I love writing. I would, of course, only begin working on these ideas after I finish this story and the other stories that are supposed to go into this series. But if you want to know more about what I'm talking about just PM me or write something in a review so I can let you guys know and gauge your opinions. Anyway, this is the second part of level two and after this we get into level three. So the second level has been broken up into two chapters! And based on how it's been going so far, I can guess the same is gonna happen with the third level. Level three might be broken up into two chapters or be one massive chapter, depending on how I think it should go, but after that there will only be one to two more chapters before this story is over! Thanks so much for everyone who continue to read and review this! 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 24th, 2013
"Shit."
Roque looked over to his partner even as he tried to catch his breath. Since ditching Jensen and Cougar, he and Sky had been running for around two hours straight with only small breaks in between to regroup before they started running again. Sky had suggested they take another small break and slowed their pace to a walk. They had been walking along for less than a minute before he heard her curse.
"What's wrong?" He questioned.
"We're at the Trap Circle," she replied, breathing heavily as she crouched on the ground, refusing to move an inch, prompting Roque to stop and walk back to her.
"Trap Circle?"
Gesturing vaguely to the trees surrounding them, she shook her head. "It's what Jake and I call it. Damn… I should've realized where we were heading sooner. This is gonna be a pain in the ass."
Roque still didn't see the point. "What's the Trap Circle?"
An amused smile spread across Sky's lips as she continued to stare off into the trees just in front of them. For a few seconds she didn't say anything, seeming to be lost in thought before she pried her eyes away from the trees and looked at her partner. "Remember how I told you Barney was a bloodhound? Well, he also loves to set traps. And he's damn good at it too. There are traps set up all throughout these woods, but his masterpiece was the Trap Circle: hundreds of traps, snares, nets, trip-wire, pit-falls, and anything else that he could come up with in that horrifyingly creative mind of his, all spread out within a three mile radius. They're hidden so well that Barney even puts a red flag when you enter the Trap Circle," she laughed, pointing towards a red flag tied up on a branch in one of the trees, flapping proudly in the wind. "It's a taunt, just daring us to try and get through."
The demolitions specialist was tempted to throw his arms up in the air and just say to hell with it all. Three mile radius full of traps? The Expendables were crazy and had way too much time on their hands. And not only that, but they managed to corrupt Jensen and Sky to believe this sort of behavior was normal. Instead of voicing his opinion, however, he just turned around. "So all we gotta do is back up until we're out of range, right?"
"Won't do any good," the brunette commented. "Back the way we came are Jake and Cougar. And with the stunt I pulled, I don't think they'd be above a little friendly fire. Besides, if you go straight through the Trap Circle heading West, then it's a straight shot to the hangar; just a two mile hike. It's one of the few landmarks I know, so if we get to the center of the circle, I can figure out which way to go to head back."
"So you're saying we have to go through the trap infested area?"
"That's what I'm saying."
"Perfect."
Sky laughed and gestured up to the top branches of the trees. "Just make sure you don't make yourself look too bad. I'm sure the others are already watching with bowls of popcorn by now."
Roque frowned, looking up but not seeing anything. "What do you mean the others are watching us?"
"There are cameras set up all throughout these woods that feed back to a live stream that the others can watch on the monitors back at the hangar."
"You people record this?" He asked in shock.
"Don't be so surprised," she shrugged. "We had to run this while we were kids. And as much as I love them, Caesar and Toll weren't the best at navigating these woods, so they set up the camera system so they can find us easily in case one of us got lost out here. When we got older, it became more for entertainment and less for security though. Now I think they place bets while we're out here. But don't worry, Barney, my dad, Gunnar, and Yin can't watch the recording. I don't think they even head back to the hangar after they drop us off. They just sort of wait for us out here."
"Well, that's a relief," Roque muttered sarcastically.
Pushing herself up to a standing position she smiled. "Let's keep moving. Keep your eyes open, watch where you step, and make sure you have your knife easily accessible. You're going to need it."
Cougar wasn't sure he'd ever seen Jensen so focused outside of a mission. Ever since the sniper had managed to get their knives and free their hands, the blonde had been adamant about hunting down Sky and Roque, intent on retribution. Cougar hadn't argued since he was sincerely hoping he'd get a few shots on Roque. But now he was beginning to worry about the malicious threats Jensen was muttering under his breath. "I swear the second I see her I'm going to empty out the entire magazine into her chest and laugh maniacally while doing it."
Thankfully he was just talking about paintball guns.
"And then I'm gonna tie them up and leave them for my dad and Yin and—oh shit."
Cougar looked towards his left only to see that Jensen had stopped abruptly and was staring with wide eyes to the wooded area in front of them. He followed his gaze and saw nothing that looked out of place—with the exception of a red flag in the trees—so he turned back to look at the blonde, who still hadn't moved. "There's no way she could be that stupid. No way."
Cougar frowned, not at all sure what it was the blonde was going on about. He quirked up an eyebrow in question, prompting the hacker to explain. "She went through the Trap Circle! The circular arena of death by snares and pitfalls! It's like a minefield for a three mile radius, and that flag up there is a sign not to go further!"
"There are traps?" The Spaniard questioned.
"Yeah, Barney set them up. There is absolutely no way to get through there without getting caught multiple times. Last time I was in the pit for three hours until I was caught."
Cougar's frown deepened as he looked back towards the flag, and the area Sky and Roque had gone through. Why would they risk going through there if it was that bad? Almost as if he'd read his thoughts, Jensen continued speaking. "There is no reason for them to go through there unless… oh."
"Oh, what?"
"Sky's probably going to try and get to the center so she could find her way back to the hangar. You've just got to go two miles West, but you can only figure it out if you head to the center of the trap circle," Jensen frowned. "But still, why risk it? The deeper they go the more traps there will be."
"Do we follow them?" Cougar questioned.
"Of course not, we'll be—" Abruptly Jensen cut himself off and a positively evil smile spread across his face as he cackled like a mad genius. "Oh, we're following them." When the sniper arched an eyebrow, Jensen smiled wider, his teeth gleaming. "If we follow their footsteps, they'll take care of all the traps in our way. And then we'll have them trapped and vulnerable. Oh they won't know what hit them. Sky will rue the day she betrayed me! I shall have my vengeance!"
"I told you to watch your footing."
Had Roque not been hanging ten feet above the ground, upside down, by his left ankle, he would've started cursing the brunette out. But since his blood was rushing to his head and she was currently climbing the nearest tree to try and cut him down, he decided it would be better just to keep his mouth shut. Sky hadn't been lying when she said that the Trap Circle was riddled with tripwires and traps of all kinds waiting for them. When they had first gotten into the Trap Circle three hours ago Roque had gotten caught in a cargo net, and two snares around his ankle. It had gone downhill from there. Sky had been a bit luckier, only managing to fall into a pit, get hit in the shins by a branch twice, and get caught in a trap similar to the one Roque was currently in. Unlike him, however, she was able to just use her abs to sit-up, cut her own rope, and drop down where Roque had been positioned to catch her.
Since he was heavier, they couldn't exactly go with that plan. Which was why she was now shimmying her way out onto the branch attached to the rope wrapped around his ankle, her knife clutched tightly in her hand and both of their paintball guns strapped across her chest.
"Alright Roque, move on up to grab your rope and climb up here so I can cut you loose."
Clenching his teeth, Roque tightened his abs and bent his knees so he could curl himself up and grab onto the rope just above his ankle. It took an awkward shuffle of climbing with just his arms, while keeping his knees tucked up so he didn't get tangled in the excess rope, but he finally made it up to the branch. The second he grabbed on to the branch, Sky leaned down to cut the rope, freeing him up to climb the rest of the way onto the branch and shimmy up next to her. "This is fucking ridiculous," Roque muttered, straddling the branch as he reached down to untie the rope from his ankle and coil it around his torso.
"I told you it wasn't going to be easy," Sky reminded him as she started sliding backwards awkwardly after placing her knife back into her thigh holster. She was starting to head back towards the trunk of the tree and motioned for him to follow her lead. "This place is no-man's land. We're just stupid enough to try to get through."
"How many miles in are we anyway?" Roque questioned, motioning vaguely to let Sky know she was about to hit her back on the trunk.
She nodded her understanding and grabbed a branch above her to stand up and step onto a branch near her so that Roque could stand up as well. He batted in annoyance at the multi-colored leaves now in his face and glared at the amused look on the mercenary's face before she unstrapped his gun from around her chest and handed it to him. He quickly strapped it over the coiled up rope on his chest before she responded to his question. "Based on the area and the amount of traps, I'd say we're almost to the two mile point or we just crossed over. From here it gets worse."
"Worse than this shit?"
"Much worse."
"Fucking perfect. This was a stupid plan."
Sky chose not to comment on his harsh criticism of her plan and instead looked through the thick orange, yellow, and red autumn leaves up to the sky before checking her watch. "We've wasted around five hours already. That means we've got five more hours before we have Gunnar and Yin on our asses. And I'm starting to get really hungry. I think we should take time to eat something and rethink our strategy so far."
The thought of food got Roque's stomach growling loudly. "Man, I could go for a—"
"We should be closing in on them Cougs!"
At the familiar voice of the comms tech, Roque cut himself off mid-sentence and Sky immediately tensed, gesturing for him to keep quiet and get closer to the trunk, letting the leaves cover them from view.
"There was supposed to be another trap here, I think! We must be close to them this time!"
"Damn it… why would they have followed us?" Sky whispered in annoyance, peeking out through the leaves.
Immediately her eyes widened and she mouthed a string of expletives that had Roque curious as to what she was cursing at. He peeked through the leaves and saw that Cougar was crouched on the ground, standing by a set of what appeared to be their boot tracks, scanning the area intently. The sniper said something that he couldn't quite catch—seeing as he was much quieter than the blonde hacker—before both of them were on their feet, their guns raised. They started aiming towards the trunks of trees, scanning around their perimeter. When Jensen's gun started aiming up in his direction he leaned back away from view and held his breath hoping they didn't spot him.
Tossing a quick look towards Sky, he could see that she was doing the same, not daring to move a single muscle.
"Are you sure they're here, Cougs?" Jensen asked skeptically.
"Their tracks end here."
"Maybe they just covered em up? Cause I'm not seeing anything. And the only way for them to have disappeared would to have been like air-walking or using wires or climbing the trees and those first two aren't possible and Sky's afraid of heights so she wouldn't be climbing and—"
A paintball being shot right in between where Roque and Sky were standing cut off the comms tech and caused both of the two in the tree to flinch. Two birds flew out from the very seem tree from Sky's left, squawking loudly.
"Cougs! You probably just killed a bird! C'mon, they're probably somewhere ahead of us."
The sniper didn't look convinced, but still followed behind the hacker as they made their way out of their direct line of sight and further into the woods. Even after they were gone, Sky and Roque refused to move until at least half an hour passed.
"He's a fucking ninja. How the hell did he know we were up here?" Sky demanded, looking toward Roque with wide eyes as she finally broke the silence.
"He does that. Freaked your brother out the entire first year he was on the team. You'll have to get used to it if you're gonna start dating him," the knife thrower shrugged.
"Good to know," she muttered, slouching against the trunk of the tree and plopping down to sit.
Roque mirrored her posture before he started thinking about what Jensen had said. "Hey, why are you up in a tree if you're afraid of heights?"
"It's really sick and twisted, but I absolutely love climbing. Hate heights, but love climbing. I'm good at it too as long as I don't look down," she admitted with a grin. "Toll says I've got some issues, because of that, but we've all got to have issues with the lives we lead, huh? Besides, you needed my help. Expendables don't leave a man behind."
Roque was tempted to agree with his fellow demolitions expert, but decided not to even respond to her statement. He just shook his head. He already knew the Expendables were all bat-shit crazy.
"Hey."
Roque looked over to see a large smirk on Sky's face as she looked his way and he was immediately put on edge. She reminded him of Clay whenever he was planning something stupid.
"This just gave me an idea…"
For the next five hours, Jensen and Cougar had been searching the Trap Circle, trying to find any sign of Sky and Roque. It took two hours—and several traps later—before Jensen admitted that Cougar might have been right about them being in the trees. And the following three hours had been spent trying to figure out which way they had come from to try and backtrack out of the Trap Circle with whatever time they had left. Sky might have been willing to put all her hope into navigating out of the Trap Circle, but Jensen sure as hell wasn't. They had taken half an hour break in order to eat, before trudging on through their task of trying to get out of the woods.
The second their five hours were up however, with each step that they took, Jensen was babbling on about the fact that the Expendables were now able to hunt them down.
"Did you hear that?" Jensen asked for the umpteenth time within the last half an hour, his gun raised and a panicked expression on his face.
Cougar gave up on explaining that it was him stepping on a branch each and every time there.
"Aw man, Cougs this isn't good," the blonde muttered worriedly, looking all around them as if he expected Barney and Lee to materialize out of the trees. "It's been what? Forty-five minutes since the ten hour mark? Barney has probably already found our tracks by now and is hunting us down as we speak! We haven't gotten that far because we had to double back, and we walked in circles for like two hours and—"
"Jensen, calm down," Cougar interrupted.
"Calm down? How can I calm down? They're going to kill us! Well… mainly you, come to think of it… They're going to kill you!" The hacker exclaimed. "How aren't you freaking out yet?"
The Spaniard merely shrugged. He was obviously concerned with the fact that the two leaders of the mercenary group were going to be hunting them in the forest—especially knowing that one of them would be gunning for him specifically—but they had a ten hour lead. And despite what Jensen said, they had made it about seven miles away from their original starting point. They made it a fair distance, so they should still have some breathing room. "We're far out, we should be fine."
Jensen raised an eyebrow. "You do realize they get to use the truck, right?"
The comment came just seconds before the sound of a truck engine roared through the air. Within a split second Cougar had taken off—fight of flight instincts kicking into high gear as he heard the shouts coming from the Brit and the Italian. There was a terrified man-shriek coming from the blonde hacker, before Jensen fell into step beside him. They both took shelter behind the nearest trees before Cougar lifted his rifle and took aim. He only had a few seconds to line up the shot he was aiming in Barney's direction, before he pulled the trigger. It flew forwards, on a collision course for the open window, but at the last second, Barney adjusted his course, allowing the paintball to splatter against the side of the driver's door. The car skidded to a stop before both Lee and Barney jumped out, firing paintball guns too fast for the two Losers.
Jensen leaned out from his hiding spot and fired a spray of his ammo haphazardly, prompting the two mercenaries to duck behind the end of the truck for cover. Cougar quickly followed his lead before he noticed the blonde trying to get his attention. "Split up!" Jensen hissed. "We'll have a better chance if we get them alone!"
Cougar didn't waste a second in following through with the plan. He took off towards his left while Jensen took off to the right. He sprinted over fallen tree branches and roots, adrenaline pumping through his body. He vaguely heard Barney and Lee shouting as they decided who would chase who, before a red paintball whizzed by his face and splattered against a nearby tree. He took a second to whirl around and fire his rifle only to see Lee duck behind a tree just in time to avoid getting splattered by the paint. He turned and started running again, when one of the paintballs hit his leg, right in his calf. His leg immediately cramped up at the impact and he dropped to the ground as he lost his footing. He cursed and tried to turn around to get some sort of offense going, but before he knew it, Lee was right in front of him, yanking him to his feet and tossing him into a tree roughly. The air was knocked out of the sniper's lungs and before he got a chance to regain his breathing, Lee had him pinned against the tree and a knife under his neck, causing his blood to freeze.
"Let's you and I have a little chat," Lee growled out, his eyes narrowed dangerously and a scowl forming on his lips. He looked so sadistic and murderous in that one moment that for the first time since he'd arrived at New Orleans Cougar genuinely feared for his life. And it did not help that this was the father of the woman he'd been flirting and making out with relentlessly over the past few weeks.
Almost as if Lee could feel the sniper's fear, his scowl turned into a predatory smirk. "You've been making quite a few mistakes, friend. The first one was getting involved with my daughter. The second one was challenging me. And the third… was thinking I wouldn't do a damn thing about it. You see… Sky is my baby girl; the single most important thing in my life. Absolutely no one will ever be good enough for her; will ever deserve her. So what the hell makes you think that you can just waltz into her life and not have to deal with me?" The way he snarled the last sentence and pressed the knife against his throat harder made Cougar flinch back, but he wouldn't break gazes with the man. Lee's stare was unyielding and absolutely piercing as he searched the sniper's face for something. What it was, the Spaniard didn't know, but eventually the Brit seemed to find it.
Somewhere off in the distance he heard Jensen scream in absolute terror.
Lee didn't even seem to acknowledge the sound of the hacker. "You and your team got my daughter injured, you have been far too hands-y with her, and you swung on me of all people. I could kill you right now. I've killed people for less. All I'd have to do is slit your throat and toss your body into one of the pitfalls Barney dug out in the Trap Circle. Your body would rot and decompose and no one would know where to find you. And I promise you I would do it without hesitation and with a smile on my face." Cougar had to keep his hands clenched at his side to prevent showing any of the fear that was overwhelming him. He had seen killers before; hell he was one. And he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Lee would carry through with his threat. "However, for some reason my daughter seems to like you. And Jake says you're his best friend and swears that you're a good guy. So, do yourself a favor and start trying to prove them right. Learn your place, and learn the pecking order. Smarten up real quick, because if you ever hurt my daughter in any way, or if I hear a rumor that you're aren't treating her like a princess like she deserves… I'll torture you first, slowly and painfully, and then I'll kill you."
"Christmas, don't kill the kid!" Barney's voice called out.
Cougar briefly looked over Lee's shoulder to see Barney standing just a few yards behind the knife thrower, looking exasperated with the former British SAS. Standing right beside him was Jensen. His camo was completely splattered in red paint, with a few splotches of red somehow getting splattered onto his chin and cheek. He was stripped of all weapons and his backpack and had his hands behind his head, not moving a muscle lest he get shot again. The blonde had a worried look on his face as he looked towards the area where Cougar was being threatened. "C'mon, Lee just shoot him and get it over with. I want to get back in time for dinner."
"Understood," Lee responded maliciously, lowering his knife to slip it back into his holster, before backing up to shoot Cougar twice. Once in the chest and once in the balls. Blinding pain filled his system and Cougar crumpled like a sack of bricks, clutching onto his crotch and rolling around on the ground, cursing in just about all the languages he knew.
"Ouch," Jensen winced.
Barney cringed. "That was completely unnecessary."
"Probably," Lee shrugged, looking down at the Spaniard, rolling around in pain. A large grin spread across his face as he looked back up to the Italian. "But it made me feel a hell of a lot better."
"Damn it, why the hell couldn't we get Jake and the sniper?"
Yin didn't respond at all to Gunnar's comment. After all, he'd been saying the same thing for the past four hours. Three hours ago, just an hour after they'd given the all clear to hunt down the kids, Barney and Lee had radioed them saying they already caught Jake and Cougar. It wasn't all that surprising seeing as Barney knew the woods like the back of his hand and Jake was consistently the easiest one to hunt down, but still it was annoying knowing that while they were back at the hangar eating and relaxing, he and Gunnar were still trudging the woods, looking for his protégé and the demolitions specialist of the Losers.
It didn't help that the only sign of the brunette and her partner seemed to travel straight through the Trap Circle. While Barney could navigate that area with the greatest of ease, he was the only one to do so. Meaning that he and Gunnar had to ditch the truck and go at a snail's pace in order to insure they didn't get caught up in any of the traps; hence the reason they were still out in the woods after four hours had passed.
"And since when does Baby-Face travel this deep into the Trap Circle?" Gunnar asked with a huff, stepping over yet another trip wire. "She is never more than two miles in, but now it looks like she went the entire three miles."
Yin once again didn't comment and instead kept his eyes on the ground, watching for both boot tracks and tripwires. He had to start straining his eyes in order to see the trip wires as the sun was sinking lower and lower in the sky. He checked his watch and saw that it was close to seven o'clock. They would only have around twenty more minutes before the sun was completely gone. "We need to hurry," he spoke up, fliting his eyes briefly to the sky.
Gunnar frowned. "Aw shit. Did you remember to bring a flashlight, Happy-Feet?"
Yin was about ready to curse out his partner before he heard a piercing scream that could only come from his protégé.
"That came from just north of here," the martial artist pointed out.
Gunnar immediately switched his direction and nodded. "Probably got herself caught in a trap. We can get her while she's vulnerable and then pick off that partner of hers." Yin just nodded his agreement and followed behind his partner. The further north they went, the louder the sounds of struggling and shouting got courtesy of the brunette infiltration specialist. After around ten minutes of walking, the screaming abruptly stopped. Both men stopped moving, Gunnar frowning in confusion while Yin tensed. "Where the hell did she go?" The blonde frowned.
Yin narrowed his eyes, the gears in his mind turning as a sinking feeling settled into his stomach. Sky was smart, that he knew. If she was in trouble, she would've flagged herself as dead into one of the nearest cameras and had the others radio into them to say that the level was over and to just go get them. But she hadn't done that. And if she was trapped in a snare or pitfall or any of the other dangers lurking in the Trap Circle, she would've tried to be as silent as possible, knowing that they were already out hunting for her and Roque. The only reason she would've been actively screaming would be if—
"Ambush!" Yin shouted just a split second before purple paintballs started raining down onto them from the tops of the trees, seeming to completely surround them. Gunnar was almost immediately hit multiple times in the chest, legs, and back, while using his gun to shield his face. Yin dropped to the ground beside the Viking, using him as a meat shield and firing off a few paintballs into the tree before he was pegged in the chest and shoulder, automatically 'killing him', but still the paintballs didn't stop flying. They exploded on his body, the balls sending sticky paint splattering everywhere and hitting his cheek and parts of his hair.
"Alright, alright, enough! We're dead, already!" Gunnar shouted.
There were a few whoops of triumph as the paintball onslaught mercifully came to a stop. Reluctantly, the two mercenaries lowered their weapons to the ground and put their hands behind their heads before Roque and Sky appeared from the tree-tops on opposite sides of each other, slowly making their way down to the ground. "The hell where you doing up there Baby-Face?" Gunnar asked, spitting out some stray paint that had somehow made it into his mouth.
"Winning!" The brunette smirked triumphantly as she moved forward to fist-bump the grinning Loser.
"Can't believe that plan worked," he smirked, moving forward to take the paintball guns from the ground.
Sky shrugged. "Hey, sometimes it's the simplest plans that are the most effective."
"Good work," Yin replied a tad begrudgingly. He was upset that he and Gunnar couldn't take down Sky and Roque, but he was proud that his protégé had managed to get the drop on him with a very effective plan. It showed she was learning.
"Thanks! Now let's head back to the hangar, I'm starving!"
Cougar was ready to murder someone.
Ever since he and Jensen had gotten back to the hangar hours ago after getting caught, they had been mocked mercilessly; Cougar in particular with the splotch of red pain on his crotch. No one brought up the threat Lee had issued, though the others would shoot him knowing or slightly sympathetic looks from time to time making it apparent that everyone had seen it. Instead of mentioning it though they mocked the fact that he had been shot in the balls.
Lee seemed to be extremely proud of this fact.
Pooch had been the only one other than Jensen who was sympathetic to his plight, giving him ice packs and refraining from the pointing and snickering that the others were partaking in. He and Jensen would be the only ones safe if he decided to lash out.
So far he had managed to rein in his murderous urges and watched the rest of the second level, listening to Pooch, Clay, Aisha, Caesar, Toll, and Tool all calling out bets. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw Sky and Roque ambush and capture Gunnar and Yin—especially when it resulted in Clay and Aisha losing their bets to Pooch. It served them right.
All the Expendables had grumbled and forked over money to put into Sky's jaw before Caesar and Barney began cooking for when the other four arrived. "We're gonna carb up tonight. So bring your appetites," Caesar called out, looking over the pot of pasta he was making with the Italian's assistance.
"Toll Road, when Ying Yang comes back with Sky and you're done eating, go through your plan for her and Jake," Barney ordered from his spot at the makeshift stove that Caesar had somehow constructed.
Toll merely nodded as he looked to his protégé—who was sprawled out dramatically on the ground. "You heard him Jake?"
"Powwow after Sky and Yin grace us with their presence. Got it."
"You're still not mad about Baby-Face chucking your knifes, are you kid?" Tool asked in amusement.
Jensen grumbled something unintelligible.
"Hey, you deserved it," Caesar laughed.
"You were the one to throw an oxygen tank on her," Pooch pointed out.
"That was so she didn't float to the top!" Jensen whined, sitting up and pouting at everyone.
Lee raised an eyebrow. "And stealing her food?"
"Um… okay, you got me there."
"Hey, look on the Brightside. At least you didn't get shot in the balls," Aisha smirked, earning laughs from the mercenaries.
Cougar tossed his fiercest glare her way. She would be the first to go.
A car horn blaring caught their attention. The entire group turned just in time to see the second truck pulling into the hangar, Gunnar and Yin sitting in the back while Roque drove and Sky was beaming triumphantly. Roque drove it over towards the back where the other truck was parked and cut the engine off, hopping out just as Gunnar and Yin climbed off the back, both men grumbling in annoyance. "The Champs have arrived!" Sky taunted as she walked alongside the other three men, joining the group of soldiers and mercenaries. She held her hands up and grinned. "Please, hold your applause."
"Good work, kid," Tool commented with a grin. "Nice strategy."
"You guys look like shit," Barney pointed out as he looked to the Viking and the Asian. Both men promptly flipped him the bird before stalking off towards the bathroom to get showered and changed. The Italian rolled his eyes at their behavior before zeroing in on the Losers' demolitions expert and the infiltration specialist. "Not bad, you two. At least you didn't get caught in the first hour."
"One hour?" Roque frowned looking towards a pouting Jensen and a glaring Cougar. "You guys didn't even last an hour?"
"Yeah, because of a heartless sister who shall remain nameless," the blonde hacker muttered, glaring at the brunette.
"Seriously?" Sky crossed her arms over her chest. "That diversion probably took at most twenty minutes of your time. It's not my fault you guys tried hunting us down instead of hauling ass out of the woods. You should've just—um… why does Cougar have an ice pack on his crotch?"
Cougar's cheeks colored the slightest bit as the others started laughing again, while Sky and Roque just continued to look at him in confusion. He hadn't thought his embarrassment could get worse, but apparently it could. All it took was one look from the brunette infiltration specialist. Before he could explain what happened, Jensen just shrugged as if it were no big deal. "Lee shot him in the balls."
Roque let out a loud laugh before he had tried to covertly mask the noise by 'coughing' into his fist to no avail. Sky's eyes widened and for the slightest second her lips seemed to twitch up, but as soon as it came, it was replaced by annoyance and exasperation as she turned to look at her father. She clenched her jaw slightly. "Dad, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Ooh…" Pooch, Tool and Caesar chorused before a glare from the knife thrower shut the three of them up.
The former British SAS studied his daughters face for a few seconds before he nodded and followed her towards the corner of the room by the plane, walking in silence beside her. As soon as they were far enough away from the others, Sky immediately rounded on him and glared. "Really? You just had to shoot him in the balls? What is it with you and injuring every guy I bring home?"
Lee frowned and shook his head. "I do not."
"Yes you do! Remember what happened with Alec?"
"He was asking for it."
"You game him a concussion."
"Well he deserved it. It turned out that he was cheating on you."
Sky didn't argue that point. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest and continued. "Well than what about Billy?"
"What about Billy? I never hurt Billy."
"Not at first," she retorted. "They second you heard he was dating me you nearly broke his wrist."
Lee rolled his eyes. "We were sparing."
"It looked more like a lion mauling a gazelle."
"He should've kept his hands up."
Lee could tell that his daughter wasn't amused in the slightest. Instead she just clenched and unclenched her jaw, exhaling loudly through her nose as she looked up to the ceiling, obviously gathering her thoughts. The Brit just watched and waited, giving her time to figure out what it was she wanted to say. He knew that if he tried to push her to continue the conversation before she was ready Sky would just start saying whatever came to mind first and most of it would end up being sarcastic remarks; not what was really going through that mind of hers. It took just a few seconds of waiting before she finally spoke up again.
"Cougar swung on you, and I get that you would want to shoot him for that; retribution and all. But I know this is less about him hitting you and more about him hitting on me." Lee couldn't argue that point. "And I know you worry and you want the best for me, but can you please not scare Cougar off or injure him anymore? I actually like him and that's kind of a big deal after what happened with Billy."
The knife thrower let out a noise of annoyance at the fact that Sky had brought up the first sniper that she had dated. He certainly remembered the months after Billy's death. Sky had been distant and aloof, not at all wanting to get out and date again. Half the time she was annoyed by the opposite sex that weren't her family and while Lee knew it hadn't been healthy, he had been secretly glad he didn't have to worry about his daughter dating. But then news came in about Jake and his team 'dying' and she had completely unraveled. He remembered the dead and almost lifeless look in his daughter's eyes and it made him sick every time he remembered it.
But now as he looked at his daughter's face he saw her eyes, bright and alive. They were full of the emotions she felt and her face was back to being expressive. She looked better than she did before he'd left for their latest mission and it was obvious the change had a lot to do with finding Jake, and maybe some of it could be attributed to the Spaniard as well. Whatever it was, now she was using her eyes to look up at him with a kicked puppy pout that made him putty in her hands. He exhaled loudly and shook his head. "I will try not to hurt him and be… open-minded. I can't guarantee anything."
"That's the best I'm gonna get from you, isn't it?"
"Yup."
"Then I'll take it," Sky smiled, her entire face lighting up.
Lee couldn't stop himself from smiling with her, reaching forward to pull her into a hug and pet her hair slightly. They stayed that way for a while, him just holding onto her and remembering back to a time where the flu and school projects had been the only thing he had to worry about when it came to his daughter.
"Dinner's ready!"
At the promise of food, Sky immediately snapped her head up to look at her father, a wide grin on her face. The Brit laughed and shifted his arms so he had one hanging loosely around her shoulders. "Alright, let's get you some food. Then you're gonna have to take a shower and get with Yin, Toll, and Jake in order to plan out your preparations for tomorrow."
"Finally, the fun part of the Gauntlet," the brunette grinned wickedly.
"And finally the part where we get to see just what those Losers are made of."