New Orleans, LA. 1972.

He sipped his coffee and looked down at the thick skull-shaped ring on his hand. No amount of caffeine seemed to make the exhaustion go away; he was tired deep within his broken-down soul, way down passed his bones. He avoided sleep like the plague because most nights he would dream of her face. Sometimes those dreams were good; she would be smiling at him from across the fire, or maybe glancing his way from across the medical tent. No matter where she was in those dreams, he could never touch her. There were some, however, where he was holding her. He would have her in his arms at the cost of the light in her eyes. Sometimes he would roll her over and she would be a skeleton turning to dust, and sometimes she would be slipping out of his grasp because there was just too much blood.

There was a small TV on behind the bar tuned into some news channel or other, which Barney tended not to pay attention to because of the near constant imagery of the war, but the volume was turned up and there weren't that many other people around. He spun his mug in his fingers and sighed, looked up to see what was happening.

"The streets of San Francisco are busy today as thousands of people gather to silently march in favor of ending the Vietnam War," the man on the television said. Barney tightened his jaw and worked his teeth together, tasting the stale old aftertaste of cigar smoke and coffee. "With the election around the corner, there's been an uptick in conversation about ending the war, even among many veterans…"

The man behind the bar stood silently and dried off a cup with a rag from his apron pocket. He glanced towards Barney briefly, assessed him, and then looked back to the TV.

"No glory like old glory, right?" The man said.

Barney glanced up at him and took him in. He was older, his eyes sunken into his wrinkled skin and lips folding over onto themselves. His knuckles were thick and crooked from arthritis and his joints poked through his skin. He was lanky, his greying hair cut short and combed to the side of his head. He was clean-shaven, though there was the hint of a shadow along his cheek and lower jaw. His skin looked soft and smooth, his eyes wrinkled from laughter and lips turned upwards from the pull of a happy life. Barney looked down at his own knuckles, calloused and heavy from fighting and years in the mud. His eyebrows weighed heavily over his eyes, drooping from the exertion of war and emotion. He cleared his throat and pushed his coffee away from himself, suddenly turned off by the bitter taste.

"Right," he said, pulling out some cash and slipping it across the bar.

The man behind the counter flipped through the television channels for a few minutes and offered Barney a practiced smile while he left. He couldn't help the rage and pain that surged in his chest suddenly, and he wanted to turn back and grab the man by the collar and tell him that he didn't know a damn thing, that the war had taken the best people- the best person- from the world and damned everyone right to hell. But he didn't. The door opened with a muted ding and he let himself out into the humid, breezy autumn air. It was still early and the sun hand't reached its high point, so the wind was blowing a chill over the streets and Barney ran his hands over his jacket for a moment as he adjusted.

Across the street from the diner he saw a young woman walking along with a light scarf blowing behind her. For a second, he swore it was her- it was like there was a path of light left behind her with every step she took. His mouth fell open and he watched, entranced, as she made her way to the crosswalk leading to the next block over and didn't even look in his direction. He knew it wasn't her, but just a second of letting himself believe it could be made the pain dwindle down to nothing, snuffed by the rising tidal wave of hope. For an instant, the bricks of the buildings behind her turned to the bark of tall trees, and the lights from the cars turned to flashlights and lasers, and the bushes turned to dense foliage covering the enemy. He kept watching until someone knocked into him from the side, sending him stumbling a few steps before he caught himself and realized where he was- a concrete jungle and not a real one. He grunted and turned around, looking for whoever it was that had caught him.

"Hey, watch it," he grunted, holding his arms out and eyeing the man that was beside him.

"Sorry man, don't just stand there next time," the guy said.

Barney bit down on the inside of his cheek and took a step forwards. His fists tightened and his nails dug into the palms of his hands.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going," Barney said, holding a finger up and pointing it at his chest. "Next time," he added.

The man looked Barney up and down and made a face. "What are you, some kind of dork? I said sorry."

Barney took another step forward so that he was face to face with the man. He kept his eyes locked on his, his jaw clenching as he chewed on his response.

"Woah, woah!"

Conrad wrapped an arm around Barney's shoulders and gave his chest a pat. He pulled him back and looked between Barney and the younger guy, who seemed a bit nervous from the whole situation.

"Nothing really to see here, huh, boys?" Conrad said, giving Barney a shake and offering the guy a smile. "Sorry for the confusion. Have a nice day."

He waved and watched as the man awkwardly turned and walked away, shaking his head. Then he turned to Barney and sighed, squeezing his hands on his shoulders to pull him back down to reality.

"Barney, my man, what're you playing at?"

Barney swallowed and finally turned his attention to Conrad. His face loosened and he sighed, gripping the bridge of his nose and pulling away from his friend.

"Got distracted," he said.

"Right," Conrad tried, tucking his hands into his pocket. "Look, let's head back to my place and chill out for a second. I came looking for you last night at the apartment but I couldn't find you."

Barney rolled his eyes and turned to start walking beside Conrad. He sniffed and looked around.

"Was at the bar," Barney said with a shrug. "Then I went for a walk."

"A walk?" Conrad asked, almost laughing. "Sounds like one helluva trek to me. What'd you do, a twenty mile ruck?"

Barney looked down at his watch and sighed. "I just couldn't sleep."

Conrad studied his friend for a moment and then sighed.

"Barney, look, I-" he started, shaking his head and looking down at the sidewalk as it passed by under his feet, "I miss her too. I know it's different for you, but… we all lost people. We gotta get our shit together and get this business going and make some money so we don't end up in some sort of new age Hooverville by the end of the month."

"Fine," Barney said, turning his attention up to the cloudy sky. "Did you find that guy you were talking about?"

"Yeah, he's meeting me at my place. We're gonna talk cash," Conrad said. "Private security jobs and whatnot. Whatever we can really get our hands on."

"Right," Barney said, looking across the road. He didn't do it on purpose, but no matter where he was, he searched for her face in everyone. Nobody seemed to match her light or smile the way that she did. Nobody seemed as downright passionate for life as she did. There were a lot of beautiful people, but none of them felt right to him. They were too human where Lucie had been so much more.

"Come on," Conrad said. "Let's get there and make sure we catch this guy. He knows what he's doing. He works with a lot of soldiers, too, so he can get us connected to more help."

Barney didn't say anything else and just followed along towards Conrad's small apartment. It was hard to find work after they got back, but it didn't matter much since Conrad seemed to have a plan. Barney didn't really care what he did. He'd already done the worst things, so what could go wrong? Where could he end up that was worse than where he already was?

The wind blew over them and sent his hair back along his scalp. Even the weather felt different now that she was gone, especially the rain. The water felt like the jungle, and the jungle felt like her. She was in everything. The color green, the steam from his shower, the stars he could see through the busy city light pollution. Everything.

—-

Present Day

Sammy couldn't help but wonder how the Expendables were doing, and if they had found her notes yet. More importantly, she couldn't help but wonder how angry and upset Lee would be with her once he knew what she had done. It was too late to take any of it back, and she knew that she didn't regret it- Bee didn't deserve to be dragged into this life if it wasn't what she chose. If the Major wanted Sammy, then fine- he could have her. She would find Bee even if it meant losing herself. Losing everything.

The day was dragging on. Cap was doing a lot of research into where Bee could have been stationed and what could have happened to her, or where she might have gone. Bones and Angel were mostly quiet, keeping to themselves except for a few moments when they would pop in to see how everything was going and if there was a plan yet. Sammy wondered what Angel would do when they left, but somewhere inside of herself- in the part that was just like Angel- knew that staying back was never an option. She'd make it work somehow.

Sammy stood from her spot at the table and wandered over to the window. It was dirty, fogged up from months of not being properly cleaned as well as the humidity outside. Maybe there was a storm coming.

"They made their decision, Gogh," Cap said without looking up from her computer. Sammy didn't bother looking back at her. She just looked out at the city and sighed. Her breath was wet on the glass. There were a few people moving by below the building, entirely unaware of the business unfolding above them. Sammy wondered if she was signing her own death certificate by doing this. Maybe she was. She didn't know how to feel about it, especially now that she knew she wanted to live- now that she had something to live for. But she was willing to go through whatever waited ahead for Bee. She cracked her knuckles and looked down at her hands, calloused and dry from years of doing art and her more recent training with knives and guns. They had been her hands her entire life, but they felt foreign to her in that moment. Like they were somebody else's, or like she was in someone else's body.

"Have you found anything?" Sammy asked, leaning on the windowsill and turning her attention to Cap sitting at the table with her face buried in her laptop.

"I have a contact that originally connected me with the major. If there was any interest in Bee for her skillset, he would know about it. He tends to know a lot of things about a lot of people, even if they don't want to exist."

Sammy nodded and more thoughts of Lee invaded her mind. He had never wanted her to get dragged into this life, but she hadn't been dragged- she'd walked right through that hellish gate herself. Maybe she would've seen it for what it was if she wasn't so blinded by grief and love, but that gate didn't lead to another world or a way out- it just lead to a cage with nowhere to hide. That's what it felt like, at least. Exposed. Stagnant. She was bouncing around in her own little hell and she couldn't see a clear way out. Not that she wanted a way out- she really just wanted everybody she loved to be safe. She didn't want to go through the torture of loss again, and maybe it was selfish, but she'd stop at nothing to not feel that pain, even if that meant that other people might feel it in her place.

"Is he around?" Sammy asked.

"He's always around, and never around, and annoying as hell to reach. He's got some different aliases, but if what I'm finding is right, he's still around here. We can go pay him a visit."

"Sounds better than sitting around," Sammy said, pulling herself up from the wall. Angel and Bones came in then, Angel standing firm on her prosthetic with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I say it's about damn time we left this apartment," Bones said, raising her brows and smiling as she glanced between Cap and Sammy.

"I don't know if we need everyone to go," Cap said, closing her laptop and standing up. Angel frowned.

"We're all going, Cap," she said. "We're a team, and we're doing this together. You can't kick me out yet. We're not in the field."

"It could still be dangerous," Cap said.

"Good thing I don't need my leg to shoot, then," Angel said, turning from the room and leaving. Sammy couldn't help the smile that rose on her face. Cap looked back at her for support but she shrugged, too amused to fight it.

Cap sighed and mumbled quietly to herself while she packed up her laptop and stood. Bones looked between Cap and Angel, scratching at the back of her neck. Her eyes lingered on the space where Angel had moved passed her and she swallowed. Her jaw tightened and she cleared her throat. Sammy tried to catch her eyes, but she looked away and hesitated before hurrying out in the same direction as Angel.

Cap shook her head and clicked her tongue.

"Those two will be the death of me," she muttered, glancing up at Sammy. She checked the magazine on her handgun before she snapped it back together and tucked it into the back of her pants. "But hey, at least I'm willing to die for them."

—-

Sammy was in the front passenger seat of Cap's beat up old Toyota, the city buzzing and blurring by. She was looking out the window, her brows knitted tight on her forehead while she sat in the quiet. Cap was driving, a pair of sunglasses low over her eyes, and Angel and Bones were in the backseat, occasionally whispering to each other about the mission or things Sammy couldn't make out. The city looked different than she ever remembered it. She wondered if it was her that had changed, or if that was just the nature of things to always be in motion, to never stop. The sidewalks were bright and dry from the sun beating down on them, reflecting mirages up into the world over the curve of every hill. She thought back to the still puddles that would remain on her driveway after a heavy storm and the way they reflected the sky up from the pavement. Little puddles of heaven, she had called them.

She shifted in her seat and looked forward through the windshield. They were heading out of the city a ways, and Sammy couldn't help but feel like that was it- like she was taking the final step to leaving yet another life behind. Would she want to come back after learning the truth? Would they even accept her back after leaving them with hardly a goodbye? She swallowed over her doubt and tried to remind herself that she was doing the right thing. She was trying to help somebody. She was trying to end a problem she had started and been a part of before anybody else could get hurt from it.

Cap glanced her way and forced an empty smile onto her face when their eyes met. She was hidden behind her sunglasses, comfortable in her own little dimmed world of mystery. She was ready to leave New Orleans in her rear view, but every time she looked back, she'd catch the reflection of Bones and Angel sitting in the backseat. Maybe they could be done with this life- maybe they could be happy. Where would that leave her? Without a team, a family? She thought maybe she'd've had a chance with the Expendables, but Sammy didn't seem to confident in them lately. Maybe Sammy could be her family. She'd just have to stay alive long enough to take on the role.

Cap was afraid to be alone. She was brave, and she could take on a lot, but being alone terrified her. She glanced at the rear view mirror again and saw Bones and Angel whispering to each other, the city fading away just over their heads.

"I'm gonna need a burner. I threw my phone out the window on my drive to you," Sammy said suddenly, not bothering to look away from the windshield.

"We'll sort it out," Cap said. "You ready for this?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

Cap sighed and tightened her grip on the wheel. "That's not what I meant. Are you ready for what we might find?"

Sammy settled back further in her seat and closed her eyes. Maybe all of this would be for nothing- maybe she would be too late for Bee, and maybe she would lose the family she had made in the last year. But maybe it would all work out. Maybe it would be okay.

"I will be," she said.

Cap nodded and chewed on the inside of her cheek.

"You'll have to be," Cap added, knocking on her turn signal and starting to slow. "Because there's no turning back once we do this."

"There was never any turning back," Sammy said, finally turning her head and studying Cap. "The second I met Lee, there was never going to be any turning back."

"Right," Cap said, glancing sidelong at her. "Well, here we go then."

She put the car in park and knocked a few stray curls out of her face. Sammy looked out the window at the old abandoned building and furrowed her brows.

"Here?" She asked.

Bones was already opening the back door and was waiting patiently for Angel to scoot out. Cap nodded and clicked open her door.

"Here," she said.

The building was older and more industrial than other parts of New Orleans. It was some type of forgotten remnant of a time passing through, and not many people seemed to be paying much attention to it outside of Sammy. There were a few windows near the top that were broken and never repaired, just bleak black holes looking in on nothing. The windows that were still there were greyed out from the reflection of the daylight- that, or they were just dusty and silver and showing their age. The bricks on the building were an old dark red, though parts of them were peeling and were more pale and run down. There was an old rickety door off to the side, propped open with a crusty cinder block that barely peeked out onto the sidewalk. There weren't a lot of people around, but the sounds of the city were still faintly there- a reminder of normalcy, or life, or of time moving on while this building had stayed stagnant in its own era.

Cap was tossing her backpack over her shoulder and patting her waistband under her shirt, something Sammy noticed she did often when she didn't have a holster for her gun. Bones and Angel seemed less bothered, mostly because they were too bothered with each other; Bones was watching Angel to make sure she was alright, and Angel was pointedly ignoring Bones's attention. Cap came to a stop next to Sammy and looked up at the building, squinting against the blue afternoon sky as she did.

"Looks about right to me," she said.

"Who even is this guy?" Sammy asked, still not sparing Cap a glance.

"Annoying," Angel grunted, limping up to Sammy and dropping her sunglasses over her eyes. Her hair was pin-straight and fell to her shoulders, light and thin enough to catch the breeze and bounce around.

"Good at his job," Cap corrected, walking a few strides in front of the three of them.

"Both are possible," Bones said, patting Sammy's shoulder and forcing a goofy grin. "And both are usually true. Like that guy from your little gang- what's his name- big, beefy, kind of like a yeti? Talks like a Munster?"

"Gunner," Sammy said, a smile breaking through her stiffened cheeks. "And yeah, he can be annoying. But he is good at his job."

"Fitting name for a sniper," Bones added, stuffing her hands into her pockets and meandering forward after Cap and Angel. Sammy followed last, slipping in through the rusty propped open door and letting it bounce partly closed again behind her. It was dark inside, though sunlight leaked in through the tall windows, raining down spotlights on the big, empty cement floor.

"Alright, alright," Cap said, her voice a low scratch though it still carried and echoed. Their footsteps would've given them away well before their voices did, though. The patter of their boots bounced off of every wall and became a steady beat around them.

Cap came to a stop near the center of the room and cleared her throat. Angel and Bones stopped too, leaving Sammy to find her place at the back of their formation like she was used to. She looked around, but the place seemed empty and grody. Maybe some homeless people would set up there on bad nights, or maybe kids would gather there to hang out away from the watchful eyes of a busy big city- it hardly seemed like a place they'd be able to collect information about Bee at. Then again, what did Sammy know? Even in the world of killers, she was privileged. She had Tool who, despite her anger towards him, was good at what he did and even better at doing the dirty work for her. Then she had Barney, who always made sure to be a few steps ahead of everyone else at all times, including Sammy. Then there was Lee, who would just as quickly throw his body in front of a bullet for her as he would wrap her up in his arms. Her thoughts lingered on him for a second, cold and stiff, until a new set of echoing footsteps broke through the silence and drew her back from her mind. She looked around, befuddled, but kept her posture strong and her hands clasped tightly behind her back like a good soldier.

From the shadows, a man with greying hair and a mostly well-kempt beard emerged, holding an old hat in his hands that he shook out before placing atop his head. He was wearing a patterned button-up shirt, the top few buttons left undone, with a baggy cargo vest overtop of it. He tucked his hands into the front pocket after sparing a glance down at his watch and let out a breathy sigh. He looked over the four of them standing in the middle of the room and sucked on his teeth before shrugging himself forward a few more paces and allowing a grin to spread snakelike over his squared jawline.

"Well I'll be damned," he said, flicking a hand up to scratch at his beard before promptly returning it to weigh down his front vest pocket. "If it isn't good ol' Captain- should we even still be calling you that? How long has it been since you served, anyway?"

Cap rolled her eyes and adjusted her shoulders. Sammy was trying to read her body language, but she was stiff from behind. Even her curls were still, refraining from their usual bouncing and springing. The light from the tall windows caught all the dust in the room, and Sammy could see bits of it floating around Cap's head.

"What's in a name?" Cap asked, a sarcastic edge to her voice. The two stared at each other for a long moment before the man broke first, a genuine smile and laugh exploding from his mouth.

"A rose by any other would smell as sweet, yeah- I know the one," he said through his laugh, taking a few more short steps forward. "And this would be Angel and Bones, correct?"

"Sure is," Bones said, tilting her head up just enough that the ray of light caught the top of her fuzzy buzzcut.

"And back there, that's Gogh, isn't it?"

Sammy furrowed her brows and swallowed. She studied the man for another second, searching his face for anything familiar, but there wasn't much there. He was just another older white guy, a little bit goofy, a little bit hardened from life, the only difference being that he knew who she was.

"Sorry, sorry, my bad," he said quickly, shaking off his earlier words with a polite smile. "You don't know who I am, but I know who you are. It's my job to know these things, see. I deal in names."

Sammy blinked and waited for him to continue while the other three watched on, amused. Bones was biting back a smirk and Angel had a full blown grin across her face.

"It's a pleasure to put a face to the name, anyway," he said, closing the distance between them and stretching out his hand.

Sammy considered him for a few more seconds before she took his outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake. He seemed impressed enough, since he glanced back at Cap and smiled contentedly. He didn't look unkind, Sammy noted- just a bit out of touch with the rest of the world, maybe. A bit eccentric. Not too different from Barney or Tool, really. Just less bedazzled.

"Forgive me, I forgot- I know your name but you must not know mine. I go by Bonaparte."

Sammy tried to search her mind for any mention of him from anyone over the last year but she came up empty. She pressed a stiff smile to her face and collected herself while he backed up to find Cap again.

"You found my little office here, so I'm assuming there's something you need from me," he said matter-of-factly, looking Cap up and down. "I don't think I need to remind you of our arrangement from last time."

Cap was quiet for a moment and Sammy was intrigued. She couldn't imagine Cap being head-to-head with anyone but Barney, yet this man- Bonaparte- seemed to have her in a bit of a vice grip immediately.

"I think that deal went belly-up when the man you lead us to ended up going AWOL," she sniped, her words sharp and pointed though her body stayed still and relaxed.

"A deal's a deal, you know. I think there's enough trust between us that you can believe me when I say I knew nothing about his plans," Bonaparte said. The dust flitted in front of his face and the ray of light lit up his milky skin. Sammy sniffed and listened.

"You're a funny guy, I'll give you that," Cap said. "But let's cut the bullshit. We need to find somebody, and if you have any information on them, we're gonna need it."

Bonaparte grinned and looked over the small team of mercenaries before him. "It's my job to know everything about everybody. Like you, for instance- Captain Parker, isn't it?"

Sammy could see Cap visibly tense as he spoke the word aloud. Bones and Angel stiffened as well, though not as critically as Cap had. Sammy tried not to react, but she couldn't help the racing of her thoughts as she tried to piece together the information.

"Sell your soul to the devil and you might as well become him," Cap said, crossing her arms protectively in front of herself. "Somebody told me that once. Or maybe it was embroidered on one of your pillows somewhere, I can never remember."

Bonaparte smiled again and nodded, clearly pleased.

"Relax, relax," he said, waving her off. "Major James has been a thorn in everyone's side since he disappeared, not just yours. If you wanna know where he is, I couldn't tell you. He's good at covering his tracks and doesn't leave any footprints behind- physically or digitally. I have some educated guesses on where he might be, but-"

"We're not here for him," Cap interrupted. Bonaparte raised his eyebrows and looked over the team again. Sammy held onto her straight face and tried to read him again. He seemed a bit more flustered than before- his eyes were a little wider, and he shifted his weight between his feet a little bit quicker than before.

"Then who?" He asked.

"Goes by the name Bee. Olivia Taylor, attended basic training with Gogh here, and we've got reason to believe she's being used as leverage. We need to track her down, and finding her might lead to the Major if we're right."

Bonaparte watched her thoughtfully for a minute before he nodded. All sense of joking or teasing fell from his face and he cleared his throat.

"I might have what you need," he said, pointing out a finger and wagging it slightly. "Bee. Bee."

The name echoed in Sammy's head and she drew in a breath through barred teeth. If this man knew about Sammy- and if he knew about Bee- then that meant there really was more going on with what the Major had been planning than what anyone originally believed. Then again, maybe it was just good business to know a little bit of everything about everyone. Either way, Bee wasn't a mercenary. She wasn't associated with mercenaries. Her name didn't need to be known. Sammy chewed on her cheek and waited.

"It's an interesting call-name, I'll give you that," he said. And then, after a beat: "alright boys, the coast is clear. Let's let these ladies in."

Sammy heard a few clicks and her ears twitched around. From the shadows around the open floor emerged more men, built, armored, and armed. Bones smirked to herself and Angel rolled her eyes.

"Just a precaution, yes?" Bonaparte said with a smile. "Just like that thing under your belt, Captain."

Cap smiled back at him and nodded as she started walking towards him. She stopped beside him, facing the opposite direction of him, and turned her head so she was talking into his ear.

"By the way, don't call us ladies. That's not who we are."

Cap made her way by Bonaparte and Bones and Angel followed behind her. Sammy hesitated before she followed along, Bonaparte watching the entire time.

"Right, not ladies," he said, his eyes still trained on Sammy. "I'm an old-fashioned man. You'll have to excuse me."