Ava woke up feeling rested, which was rare. She'd slept through the night, mostly. One nightmare still clung to her mind, though. The one where she helplessly watched Duke as he was tossed into the lake. Of course, she hadn't been there in real life, but the video Simon had sent her made her feel she had been. She might as well have been. If Duke had just told her what was going on, she could have confronted Simon with him. Duke might still be alive.
She sat up, feeling the blood rush to her head and leaving her slightly dizzy. She sat still until the feeling passed, and she slid out of bed and stretched. Her legs craved for a run, but she didn't feel like running in sweat pants. She made a mental note to shop for some clothes today.
"It's no big deal," Tool was saying as she came down the stairs.
"No big deal? Of course it's a big deal!" Barney exclaimed. "How could you ever think it wasn't?!" He caught sight of her standing on the stairs and stopped talking. She felt a little bit curious as to what was going on, but she reminded herself not to care. She couldn't afford to care.
"Mornin'," Tool said to her with a nod.
"Morning," she replied, coming down the last of the steps and looking back and forth between Tool and Barney. "Where does one get good grub around here?"
"That would be the Tru Tone," Tool answered.
"Got it," Ava said with a nod.
"Are you saying my grub is lousy?" Barney asked Tool, raising a brow. Tool snorted.
"Come on, brother," he said. "Don't try to convince us otherwise."
"I could go in there right now and whip you up something delicious," Barney argued.
"Run," Tool said to Ava, "before he tries to force what he thinks are scrambled eggs down your throat."
"Okay," Ava said with a slight chuckle. Their banter was contagious. She almost felt like a part of the team already, but she reminded herself again that she wasn't there for that. She was a lone wolf. She fingered her cash in her pocket. She only had so much to get her through before she'd have to access her account again. If she was being watched, she didn't want to show herself right away.
She left the two men and stepped outside, looking up and down the street. She took a step back when a man approached her, giving her a funny look.
"What's your business here?" he demanded. Ava didn't even hesitate. She saw his hand move, and she had him up against the building with his face pressed into the siding tightly.
"Who sent you?" she demanded. "Simon? You won't get paid cos he's dead."
"Bloody hell," the man growled, moving to escape her grip but not succeeding. "Get off me." Barney and Tool poked their heads out after hearing the commotion, and both burst into raucous laughter.
"Barney!" the man shouted. Ava looked over at him, and Barney gave a nod. She released the man who yanked away from her, straightening his jacket fiercely and glaring at her.
"Ava," Barney said. "Meet Lee Christmas."
"Hi," Ava said with the sweetest smile she could muster. It made her very happy to see how burned up he was over getting jumped. She enjoyed crushing male ego sometimes.
"I'm only gonna ask one more time," Lee said, looking at Barney. "Who is she and why is she here?"
"I'm nobody who is here for a recharge," Ava answered, making him look back at her. "And you better address me when you're speaking about me. Pretend I don't exist again, and what I did to you just now will look like a walk in the park."
Lee scoffed at her, but he inched farther away from her all the same. She turned away from them all, heading down the street looking for Tru Tone and a shopping center.
...
Gunner was eating breakfast heartily as everyone else bustled around him. He looked up briefly when a woman entered wearing men's clothes. He wondered who she was and what had happened to her face.
She sat down two stools over and ordered something to eat. Gunner looked away when she looked at him. He felt his cheeks blush. She was very pretty. He sniffed hard and wiped his face with the back of his hand. For some reason, he was thinking about the last time he'd used or had a drink. He was going on two years. Some days were harder than others, but he was getting used to it more and more. Being sober was better for his job. He was pretty sure Barney would agree.
He looked over at the woman again and watched her eat. He could tell her jaw was sore by the way her face winced with every bite. She looked tough, which made him wonder if she was military or perhaps a mercenary like he was. It would explain the wounds on her face.
"What?" she asked, catching him staring now. He blinked, taken aback at the sharpness of her tone.
"Nothing," he answered. "Sorry. I was thinking."
She tilted her head up slightly in a half nod before resuming eating. Gunner dug for his wallet, pulled out some bills, and set them on the bar top. The owner's half-brother, Jimmy, scooped it up and flashed Gunner a grin, which Gunner returned. He always enjoyed Dwayne Pride's food and music. Pretty much everyone in the Tru Tone knew who Gunner was.
He pulled on his jean jacket and walked towards the door, passing the woman on his way by. She gave him a sideways look as he passed. He worked to not stare back at her. The one cut on her cheek looked really deep.
He almost expected her to say something to him, something smart or cutting, but she didn't. When he looked back while going through the door, she was looking down at her plate with an expression he recognized.
Despair.
In that moment, he wanted to go back and ask her what was wrong. He wanted to know if he could help her. He wanted to tell her things could be okay again.
"Watch it, man," someone said as they bumped into him. Gunner shifted to the side away from them, refraining from reaching out and shoving the man into the door. The man hit him. He should be apologizing.
Gunner quickly checked his pockets, knowing it was a trick people did to steal a wallet. His was still there, and he sighed in relief. He really didn't want to go back in there and make a scene. He liked eating there. He headed for his bike and sat on it, cranking it to life. Then he drove towards Tool's.
...
"She's crazy," Lee was saying. He was pacing like a caged animal while Barney did his best to pretend he blended in with the walls. It wasn't working. He'd already listened to Christmas rant about Ava almost an hour ago. Apparently, he wanted to come back and flog that dead horse once more.
"So she beats your ass...that makes her crazy?" Barney challenged.
"She just attacked me for no reason!"
"I'm sure you provoked her in some way," Barney reasoned. Lee stared at him.
"Whose side are you on?!"
"Look, she's here for a few days, and then she'll be gone. Don't worry your pretty little head about it," Barney said, making Lee glare at him.
"Who is Simon?" he asked.
"I don't know," Barney answered roughly. "Step off before I shoot you in the foot." Lee gave a grunt, but he eventually stormed off to do whatever it was he did when he was pouting, which probably involved a Barney voodoo doll. A slight twinge in his back a few moments later made him look at the doorway again before he dismissed the thought. He looked over at Tool, who was working on a tattoo design at his work table. He felt the worry rise up in his chest again, but he forced it back down. He went to the gun room to be alone and to distract himself. Gunner found him there eventually.
"Any work?" he asked, moving to stand a few feet from Barney, his hands resting on the table.
"Not yet."
"I'm bored," Gunner offered. Barney raised a brow and looked at him, gun in hand.
"And?" he asked.
"Just saying," Gunner said. He went to sharpen his knives when movement in the doorway made him look up. Barney did too. Ava was standing there, and from the look on Gunner's face, one would think he'd been struck dumb.
"Hey, Ava," Barney said casually, noticing Gunner look at him with that same look too. "Good breakfast?"
"Very," she answered. She had a shopping bag in her hand. Gunner cleared his throat loudly, intentionally. Barney gave him a look.
"What?" he asked.
"You gonna introduce me?" Gunner countered.
"What are you, five?" Barney was incredulous.
"I'm Ava," she offered, giving Gunner a tight smile.
"Gunner," he said back. Barney watched Gunner's face. Something was happening there. It was very obvious. It seemed to be obvious to Ava too as she turned away and left them there. Gunner swung to face Barney again.
"Who is she?" he asked. "When did she get here?"
"Last night, and she is Ava. She just told you," Barney answered, annoyed.
"But how do you know her?"
"I don't."
Gunner was confused; Barney could tell. He didn't offer anything else, and thankfully, Gunner stopped asking questions. He soon left, and Barney reveled in the silence finally until Tool showed up with that look in his eye that meant a job was on the table.
...
Ava pulled her navy hoodie over her dark green t-shirt and tugged her hair out afterwards. She laced up her new running shoes, running a hand up the leg of her black skinny jeans. Her knife was tucked in around her shin as usual. She tucked her gun into the back of her pants, pulling her hoodie over it to conceal it. She didn't trust anyone still.
She made her way downstairs again. She wasn't sure why other than it was better than sitting alone in her room and imagining what it'd be like to drink a lot of alcohol to drown her sorrows. She had no idea what her next move was going to be. She couldn't stop thinking about Michael, her sister, and her mother. Were they safe? Had they left? She hoped so.
She paused on the stairwell, listening to the voices.
"I don't think we should touch it with a ten foot pole," a voice was saying. The Brit. He still sounded angry. This made her smile. She sat on the steps, eavesdropping some more.
"I'm with Lee," a second voice said. The Swede. She preferred his accent to the Brit's, if she was honest. She also liked his blue eyes. They seemed like they were hiding pain, just like hers. Lee and Gunner. She wondered who else she would meet today.
"How else do we pay the bills?" Barney asked.
"Doing jobs that don't involve a high death rate so we can come back and actually pay the damn bills," Lee commented.
"Say we got in there," Gunner went on. "How the hell do we get out? They'd pick us off like flies."
"All right, all right," Barney huffed. "I'll say no."
"Who the hell are you?"
Ava jumped, startled. Somehow, she had become immersed in the conversation and missed the man before her coming inside and approaching her. He had a gun aimed at her, his brows furrowed.
"I'm Ava," she answered.
"Barney!" the man called, and steps could be heard coming towards them. Barney appeared ten seconds later. "Who is she and why is she eavesdropping?"
"At ease," Barney said, putting his hand on the gun and lowering it. "Ava, meet Toll Road."
"How many more of your guys am I going to meet today?" she asked after giving Toll a nod. He still looked uncertain.
"Well, there's Caesar, Doc, Galgo, Luna, Mars, Thorn, and John," Barney rhymed off. Ava's eyebrows went up.
"That's a big team," she commented.
"We're more like a family," Barney replied. Ava swallowed the lump forming in her throat at this. Duke had been like family to her. Barney reminded her of him a little bit, actually.
"You gonna join us? Or do you prefer to hide in stairwells and eavesdrop on what people are talking about?" Barney asked when she didn't say anything.
Ava got to her feet in response and came down the remaining steps. Toll moved back slightly as she walked past him. She found Lee and Gunner looking at her when she entered the room. Lee was scowling at her.
"So, are you guys assassins too?" she asked, plopping down onto the nearest empty chair. Her tone was casual.
"Is that what you are?" Lee challenged. Ava gave a slight snort.
"Please," she said. "I'm a ghost."
"You shoulda seen how she pinned Lee against the wall earlier," Barney said to Toll, chuckling. Toll started to laugh too until the look Lee gave him stopped him cold.
"It makes sense now why Duke sent me here," Ava went on.
"Who is Duke?" Lee demanded, snapping up this new tidbit of information. He looked at Barney as if the man had known and hadn't told him, which was true.
"A long time ago, he saved my life," Barney answered. "I owed him. Now that he's dead, he wants me to pay that debt with Ava. Am I right in guessing something bad went down recently?" He looked at Ava seriously. She nodded.
"You could say that."
"Duke was killed."
"Yes."
"Did you get his killer?"
"I did. His name was Simon."
"So you're on the run," Lee said, getting it finally.
"You think someone's coming after you for killing Simon?" Barney asked her, ignoring Lee.
"I expect so," she answered. "I just need to figure out where I'm going next, and it was hard to do that while looking over my shoulder all the time."
"So she brought trouble here," Lee said.
"What did I tell you about referring to me in the third person to my face?" Ava asked. Toll guffawed a little at the sight of Lee's face after that. Even Gunner was smirking.
"Did you bring trouble here, Ava?" Barney asked.
"No, sir," Ava answered, focusing on him and only him now. "I dodged my tail and ensured I was clean before approaching you."
"Good."
"You didn't answer my question," she pointed out. "Are you all assassins?"
"Mercenaries," Barney replied.
"Potato, potahto," Ava dismissed.
"She could help us," Gunner said suddenly.
"No," Barney said quickly.
"But she could, though!" Gunner insisted. Ava looked back and forth between them all. She wasn't about to join this dysfunctional family.
"I'm good, thanks," she said flatly. "I'm not here for that."
Gunner appeared disappointed, which made Ava feel slightly intrigued as to why. She shifted in her seat, watching the rest of the men carefully.
"Yes or no?" Tool called, sticking his head through the doorway. "I gotta call and let 'em know."
"She could go in there with Luna," Gunner tried again. "Nobody would suspect it at all."
This gave Barney a pause, and Ava met his eyes. The man was seriously considering this. She held up her hands quickly.
"I'm out," she said strongly. "I'm not a part of this team. I'm not looking for work. The answer is no."
"It's a lot of money, Ava," Gunner told her, looking straight at her now.
"I don't need it."
"The job is in Brazil," Barney said to her. "We fly in on our own plane. No one knows you've left the country. Fresh start after the job is done. I can drop you off wherever you want to go. Might help with your situation."
Now this, this was very tempting. Ava thought hard. She was very good at her job. She could help them and then use them to disappear. What was her alternative? Hide in the States? Get caught flying on a commercial plane? The more she thought about it, the more she realized this was her new plan, and it had been basically dropped in her lap.
"Okay," she agreed. "I'll do it."
Lee walked out at this point, huffing and snorting while throwing up his hands and muttering something nonsensical. Gunner looked excited. Toll seemed indifferent. Barney was pleased. He gave Tool a nod.
"Tell 'em yes," he instructed, and Tool nodded before disappearing again.
"Welcome aboard," Gunner said to Ava, and she smiled just a little bit.
So much for not getting attached.
...
He knew Barney was putting on a brave face for the others. After telling him the news, Barney had gotten upset. Tool had tried to downplay it, but it didn't work. Thankfully, the new girl had interrupted and stopped him from full out freaking out.
Ava.
She seemed lost and wounded. Then again, they all did. He knew she'd fit right in. He didn't know if that's what she wanted, though. He had a feeling she was going to just disappear one day and never come back.
She had prevented further drilling from Barney about what they had been talking about, though, and that had been appreciated. Tool had avoided Barney ever since until the phone call came about the job. At least the others were around, so Barney couldn't corner him and ask more questions. The effort to tell him the news itself had been exhausting. Tool wasn't ready to answer all the questions just yet.
But he knew he couldn't avoid them forever.