I hope you guys like the story so far. Happy reading!

Emily felt terrified still as they reached a hotel room. Lee let them in and shut and bolted the door behind him.

"Barney? I'm good," he said.

Emily couldn't hear Barney's response. She stood and hugged herself as Lee loosened his tie and tossed it onto the bed. She was taken aback at how casual he was behaving after what had just happened. Then again, she remembered he did this all the time. She shuddered.

"Want a drink?" he asked.

"No thanks."

Lee helped himself to one anyway. She watched.

"I know you're thinking I'm a bad guy," he started, noticing her gaze.

"No," she shook her head. "You saved my life. You were trying to stop a bad man from doing business with more bad men. I get it."

"Do you, though?" Lee asked, looking at her.

"All right, I'm not entirely convinced, but who am I to judge?" she replied.

"Think of me as the behind the scenes kind of guy who helps keep the world able to sleep at night," Lee told her.

"Okay," she agreed. She could try anyway. She'd never been around anyone like him before. She felt her phone vibrating.

"Oh, I should answer this," she said, seeing that it was Miranda. Lee grabbed her phone before she could, though, making her protest.

"Theron saw you with me. He's most likely going to come after you now."

"What?!"

"I'm sorry."

"But...but I'm not with you. I just happened to walk into the wrong place at the wrong time. You came and latched onto me! I don't know anything!" she insisted.

"Guys like Theron don't take chances," Lee said, looking at her. Her phone stopped ringing and then started to vibrate with text messages from someone named Miranda.

Where are you?

You just abandoned me here, how could you do that?!

Emily, this is serious. Nigel was shot.

Do you want to get fired?

Answer me!

"Whoa," Lee said, frowning as he read them. There were more texts coming in hot. Emily grabbed her phone back from him.

"Oh my God, Nigel," she gasped, reading.

"It could be a trick to get you to answer and tell her where you are," Lee warned.

"Thankfully, I am not as paranoid as you," she retorted.

"I call it being vigilant," Lee countered.

"I have to answer her," Emily insisted.

"Theron could be behind it..."

"I rather much doubt it. I'm just a lowly assistant."

"He knows you work for this Miranda woman?"

"I doubt it."

Emily ignored his warning and called Miranda, who answered screeching.

"Where are you?! It's been a complete nightmare, and I need you to help me get out of here!" she yelled.

"Is Nigel okay?" Emily asked.

"What? He's fine. He just got shot in the arm. Emily, where is my plane?"

"At the airport. I'll call and tell them you're coming."

Lee was stunned at how Emily's boss was talking to her. Did she not realize that Emily was involved in the same event, that she may have been hurt too?

"Do that," Miranda huffed.

Emily hung up the phone looking a bit grumpy. Why would she even bring up Nigel if she was only going to dismiss his injury as nothing? She never understood that woman at times.

"Did she even ask if you were going with her? How are you getting home anyway?" Lee asked.

"I flew with her. I guess she figures I will do my own thing," Emily shrugged. She felt anxious and annoyed and frustrated. Miranda was infuriating. Before Lee could say anything else, there was pounding on the door. Emily jumped in fright and hid behind Lee as he pulled out his gun and walked towards the door.

"When it all goes south?" Lee asked. Emily gave him a puzzled look. What?

"You'll be drivin' around on a John Deere tractor," came the reply. It was one of the Alabama songs they listened to, and it made for a great code phrase.

"What?" Emily asked out loud, not understanding. Lee opened the door, and Barney stood there with the others. They all piled into the room.

"That was close, man," Toll panted as he came in last.

"He got away," Barney said. "He'll be underground by now."

"He'll have a limp now, though," Gunner commented. "I got him in the leg in a bad spot."

"Yea, and you grazed a civilian's arm doing that," Caesar said. "Nice going."

"You shot Nigel?" Emily asked, making them all look at her. They all froze.

"Um, who's this?" Toll questioned, looking at Lee.

"She's the one who followed Theron to his meeting," Lee answered. There was a collective bunch of "ahs" and nods among the rest aside from Barney, who remembered he had told Lee to bring the witness with him. The others had missed that conversation over the comms amidst all the excitment it seemed.

"Does Theron know who you are?" Barney asked Emily. She felt very small and a bit afraid around these men. She suddenly recognized two of them from the hospital three years ago.

"Wait, you were the policemen," she said, pointing at Gunner and Toll.

"Yea, not so much," Toll shook his head.

"Does Theron know who you are or not?" Barney repeated.

"No," she shook her head. "That was my first time ever seeing him in person."

"He can do surveillance and figure out who she is," Yin pointed out. "Lots of cameras there. It'll be a matter of time."

"So what do we do for right now?" Lee asked.

"Excuse me, but do I get a say in any of this?" Emily demanded.

"No," both Barney and Lee answered. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and opened her mouth to object.

"Theron is going to find out who you are and come after you," Lee interrupted before she could say anything.

"Why? I don't understand," she spluttered.

"Because he thinks you are linked with us," Barney explained.

"But...I'm not..."

"It doesn't matter. Someone's gonna have to stay with you until this clears up."

Lee raised his brow in surprise. Someone was to stay with her? Barney didn't do undercover work or bodyguard work. What was going on here? He stared at his friend.

"Can I do it?" Yin asked.

"I'm better at it," Toll snorted.

"You're both gonna suck at it," Gunner said. "I'll do it."

"Hang on," Emily said, holding up her hand. "Someone is going to stay with me? Like, one of you guys?"

"Yea," Barney nodded.

"Oh no," Emily shook her head. "Absolutely not."

"Theron has a special way of killing people," Barney began, stepping closer to her. "He enjoys torturing them for hours on end, and even then he still doesn't just blow your head off and end it. No, he likes to make death happen slowly."

"Barney," Lee warned.

"No, no, she needs to hear this," Barney argued. He looked at Emily again, who was visibly scared now. "I could go on with the ways he kills slowly, but I don't think I need to. Is that what you want to happen to you? Because trust me, Theron will not hesitate to do that to you just because you're a woman."

"All right," Emily said quietly. "But if anyone is going to be staying with me, it's going to be Lee."

"Aw," Toll said, disappointed.

"Come on," Gunner groaned.

"I don't do that sort of thing," Lee said. Emily jutted out her chin at him defiantly.

"I don't have strangers babysit me, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do," she said.

"She's right," Barney agreed.

"Theron knows what I look like," Lee argued. "If he sees me with her, he'll know..."

"It doesn't matter if he knows what you look like. He's going to kill her if someone doesn't stay with her. You're doing it," Barney said with a note of finality. He went to pour himself a drink then, and Lee made a growling noise in his throat. He went over to Barney to have a quieter discussion about it.

"You're using her as bait," Lee said under his breath, having put it together. It wasn't the first time Barney had done this, and it wouldn't be the last. "Instead of being her bodyguard, we should be sending her somewhere off the radar until Theron is gone, like we've done before with witnesses."

"Theron will want to tidy this up, and I'm gonna be there when he tries to," Barney replied quietly. "If he can't find her, then he won't come after her. If he doesn't come after her, then I can't get him. Lee, it was made very clear to me how long it took just to figure out who Theron was as well as find him and how important it is to take him out. I have to smoke him out of hiding, and he won't come out if we don't do this."

"This is dangerous," Lee warned.

"I know, but you're the best, and you'll be with her to prevent any harm," Barney reasoned. "It'll be fine."

"I don't like it."

"I'm not changing my mind," Barney said. He moved away from Lee then to prevent further discussion about it.

"I'm not missing work either," Emily said then.

"I can't sit with you at work all day," Lee argued.

"Sit in a car outside then," she shrugged.

"Did Theron see any of you guys clearly?" Lee asked, looking at the rest of the team.

"Gunner gave himself away when he shot him," Caesar said.

"Are you still on that? You're just jealous that I had the clearer shot," Gunner commented. "Get over it."

"You clearly did not have a clear shot because you shot a civilian in the arm!" Caesar exploded.

"Go over there and argue about it," Lee ordered, pointing. "We're trying to have an adult conversation here." Neither of them moved, but they stopped talking.

"I don't think the rest of us were seen, but that doesn't mean he won't go looking through his footage to find out," Barney said. "Might take him a while, though." Toll raised his hand.

"I'll do it," he said.

"Damn it," Yang muttered. "Too slow."

"What are you doing?" Emily asked.

"There's your new security guard at the office," Lee answered, gesturing. Toll grinned.

"Uh uh. No way!" Emily cried. "He'll never get hired."

"I'm very persuasive," Toll winked.

"You let us worry about that," Barney said. "Load up, team. We're outta here."

"Wait, what about me?" Emily asked.

"You're coming with us," Lee answered.

...

Louis Theron was not happy. His arms deal had been butchered, and he was getting a bullet removed from his leg. He was advised he would need a cane for a while after, and he would never lose the limp. He cursed the man who had shot him.

"Who was the woman?" he demanded once he was in recovery after the bullet was taken out and his men came to see him.

"We don't know."

"Search the cameras. Find her, and find out where she lives, who she is."

"You got it."

"Find out about the man who shot me too, and the man who was with the woman. I want to know if they're all working together or separately."

"Yes, sir."

Louis leaned back in his hospital bed and thought hard. Where had the woman come from? Why had she wanted to speak with him? She hadn't seemed like the assassin type, but then again, not all of them did. The man who took her away was definitely an assassin, though. Why else would he have had a gun in his pants? He wasn't sure how many assassins were at this event who were after him, but he'd find out who they all were, and then it would be time to clean up the mess.

...

Emily bounced in the back of the plane with Toll, Gunner, Caesar, and Yang. She had arranged Miranda's flight out first because she knew she'd get fired otherwise. Miranda didn't even ask how Emily was getting home, which Emily was a bit offended by. Did Miranda assume that Emily had her own private jet? Well, she kind of did, but it wasn't hers. At least Barney was a decent pilot. She wished Lee had sat back with her. She felt uncomfortable, but at least the men weren't all staring at her. Toll was reading something, and Caesar was sharpening a knife. Yang was sleeping, but Gunner was looking at her. He grinned when she met his gaze. She looked away quickly.

"Fashion, huh?" Gunner asked.

"Yup," she nodded.

"Seems pointless."

"Contrary to what you think, you're wearing something that was designed by someone somewhere," Emily pointed out. Gunner looked down at his ripped vest curiously.

"Huh," he said.

Emily stood then, careful not to fall over from the turbulence. She made her way to the front where Lee and Barney were sitting. She was appalled to find Barney drinking.

"I'm pretty sure that's not legal," she said to him.

"Are you a cop?" he asked.

"No..."

"Then we're good," Barney cut her off. He stuck his cigar back into his mouth. Emily waved her hand in front of her face, coughing at the smoke. She turned to Lee, who was looking contemplative as he stared out the window.

"He's on Think Mode," Barney said, making her turn to look at him again.

"Excuse me?"

"He doesn't answer anyone when he's thinking unless it's an insult," Barney explained. He leaned over to look around her at Lee. "Then again, he might just be constipated. It's the same face, really."

"Shut up," Lee retorted. "I'm thinking."

"See? Think Mode," Barney told Emily, going back to his cigar and beer.

"How long until we're home?" Emily asked.

"Bit more yet," Barney answered. "Get comfortable. Blankets are in the bin. Pillows too."

Emily knew she was dismissed after that. She gave Lee one last look, but he was still in his own world. She reluctantly went back to the others and tried to get comfortable. She knew she wasn't going to sleep, though. She had too much adrenaline for that.

...

When they finally landed in a small airstrip in New York, Barney turned to look at Lee.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"Whatever for?" Lee asked sarcastically, looking back at him finally.

"Giving you babysitting duty."

"I can't imagine why I'd be mad at you for doing that."

"I'm a little confused myself actually," Barney admitted. "She's cute. Who wouldn't want to hang out with her?"

"Have you forgotten that I've been seeing someone for the last few months?" Lee asked.

"Lacy? Oh, I thought that was done."

"It's not done. It's been hard to date her when we've been around the world so much lately, but I like her."

"She's not your type," Barney shook his head.

"Oh really? And what is my type?" Lee challenged.

"Spicy, British women," Barney said, pointing his thumb backwards towards where Emily was sitting out of earshot.

"You know, British people don't have to stick to their own kind. We can date other people. It's called free will," Lee said, annoyed.

"Come on, Lee. It's only for a little bit. I'm sure Theron will find her fast enough. Then we can kill him and move on with our lives."

"After we find out who he's selling to," Lee reminded him.

"Of course," Barney nodded.

"And what am I supposed to tell Lacy? She thinks I'm going to be home tomorrow."

"That's on you," Barney shrugged, getting up finally to leave. Lee sat there for a few moments more feeling frustrated. Then he stood and moved to the back of the plane. Emily was waiting for him.

"I'm sorry," she said, seeing his face. "I don't want to do this either."

"Hopefully it won't be long," Lee said. "Come on."

She followed him out as he slung his bag over his shoulder. She could tell he was miffed about something. She just hoped he wasn't mad at her because after all, it wasn't her idea that she needed protection.

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