Emily lifted her head when she heard the boat coming, and not the one Serena had left in. That meant Ethan was coming back. Shit.

"Lee," she said, nudging him. He was on his stomach with an arm shoved under the pillow, his face towards her. Both of them had been dozing on and off, talking when they were awake.

"Hrmph."

"You gotta go," she told him, and he pushed himself up slowly to move into a sitting position. She was already up and throwing her clothes back on. Ethan could not find Lee here. He just couldn't.

"I can handle him," Lee started, understanding what was happening.

"Please, no," Emily stopped him.

"I don't like leaving you here alone with him..."

"I'll go over in a bit. Just please...don't let him see you. It will make things worse."

"Em..."

"Lee, please," she said again, her voice begging.

"Alright," he caved, getting up and moving quickly. They were down the stairs as the boat came towards the dock. Emily pulled him to the back door, and he stepped outside.

"Promise me you'll be over in five minutes," he said.

"I promise."

"If you're not, I'm coming to get you," Lee insisted.

"Alright." She shut the door and hurried to the kitchen, busying herself with wiping the counter. Ethan walked inside a few minutes later, and she didn't turn to look at him until he was next to her.

"Oh, hi," she said. "How was town?"

"Fine."

"Where are Fred and Serena?"

"They decided to spend the night at a hotel," Ethan said, wrinkling his nose. "Can't imagine why." His tone was sarcastic and slightly teasing. Emily felt on edge. Something was wrong. It was in the way he was looking at her.

"And you came back here," she noted.

"I didn't want to leave you here all alone."

She studied him, and she knew something was off, but she couldn't put her finger on it. There was just something about his eyes that gave her chills.

"I'm not alone. I'm actually going back over to Tia's. I just came to get a sweater and decided to clean up for a second before I went back. Maya and Louis are camping tonight."

"I see."

She pressed her lips together and walked by him. She had this weird feeling he was going to reach out and grab her, but he didn't. She snagged her sweater from its place draped over the back of the chair in the living room and went to the door. Ethan didn't stop her, nor did he say anything. She went out and walked on wobbly legs down the steps and over to Barney's. She found Lee waiting at the property line, his jaw tight.

"I'm fine," she said when he saw her and relaxed. She reached for his hand, and he gave it to her. He put his arm around her shoulders as they walked towards the fire. Maya and Louis had been put to bed by Tia a while ago.

"Well, well, well," Barney said upon seeing them. "Look who decided to join us again."

"Yay!" Tia exclaimed, clapping her hands. Caesar just smiled at them.

"You owe me twenty bucks," Toll said to Gunner.

"You already won the fishing bet," Gunner complained. "Are you really going to take more money from me?"

"Of course."

Emily felt slightly outraged that the men had been making bets on her relationship with Lee, but her anxiety about Ethan's demeanor stopped her from commenting on it.

"What happened?" Lee asked her after they sat down. He ignored the others' banter.

"I don't know. Something just feels...off," she answered. "Fred and Serena are staying in town tonight apparently. I thought she was coming back."

"Stay with me tonight," Lee said instantly. "Don't go back there." She was going to say no, but then she realized she really didn't want to be alone with Ethan overnight.

"Okay," she agreed. He gripped her hand tighter, and she tried to smile and show she was fine. She didn't feel fine. She felt very worried that something was going on with Fred and Serena.

...

Fred went through Serena's phone as he sat in his SUV. He'd taken it after he left. He knew it was only a matter of time before housekeeping found her body, and he wanted to be far away from it when they did. He searched her contacts and found one that said "Church." He stared at it. He was pretty sure she wasn't the religious type. It had to be something important, so he clicked on it to call the number.

"I told you not to call me from anything but a sat phone," a gruff voice said. "Damn it, Serena, you're gonna blow this entire operation, and all our hard work is gonna be for nothing!"

"Sorry," Fred said. "Wrong number."

"Oh, fu-"

Fred hung up before Church could finish. He called Ethan next.

"Yea?"

"We're gonna have company."

"What?"

"We're being watched. We gotta move. Now."

"Okay. What about Emily?"

"Is she there?"

"No, she's with the Expendables. I don't think she'll come back here tonight. Maya's staying over with the other kid, and she doesn't like being alone with me."

"We can't leave her as a loose end..."

"I'll deal with it," Ethan promised, cutting him off.

"The team is on its way. Be careful."

"I will."

Fred hung up and exhaled roughly, gripping his hair. He called his team and gave them updated orders. Sergei was on standby. Thank God he was flexible.

It was gonna be a long night.

...

Ethan made sure his gun was loaded. He felt a bit bad about Emily and the kid, but Fred was right. There couldn't be any loose ends. Ethan wasn't sure why his sister had kept Emily around other than the fact she needed a girl to confide in at times. Ethan was pretty sure Serena had lied to Emily about a lot of things and put an act on when it came to thinking Ethan was amazing. Ethan knew his sister was not impressed with his behavior at times, so it puzzled him to see her be fake with Emily about it. He couldn't understand it, but he didn't have to anymore.

It was all going to end anyway.

...

Barney answered his phone, seeing that it was an unknown caller. He had an inkling of who it was going to be.

"Yea?" he said.

"Barney, shit's hit the fan," Church said. "Fred just called me from my agent's phone."

"Who was your agent?"

"Serena."

Barney felt his blood run cold. If Fred had Serena's phone, then that meant...

"I think she's dead," Church confirmed his thought. "We're f***ed. Fred's gonna move that shipment tonight now that he's spooked. You guys gotta act now."

"Alright," Barney said. "We're on it."

"I'll send back up."

"No need."

"I'm sending back up." Church hung up on him then, and Barney sighed. He looked over at Emily, who was leaning into Lee and looking on edge. She met his eyes, and he looked away, not wanting to reveal he was a bit stressed out. This was going to be a real shit show, like Church had said. He caught Toll's eye and gestured, and Toll excused himself and sauntered over to him before they both went somewhere private.

"What's up?"

"Bad news, Toll. Church called and said his agent is dead, and Fred is moving those guns tonight."

"What? How does he know that? Who is his agent?"

Barney hesitated. He knew Toll and Serena had something blossoming, and telling him she was most likely dead was not going to make him feel very good.

"Serena," he said finally, knowing he couldn't hide it forever.

"Serena," Toll echoed. "Wait, she...she's dead?! She was an agent?!"

"I'm sorry, Toll."

"No," Toll said, gripping his head and folding in on himself a little. His voice was devastated. "No. No!"

"I'm sorry," Barney said again, feeling terrible.

"I should have gone with her..."

"You didn't know."

"I should have gone with her!" Toll shouted. "I'm gonna kill him. He's going down..."

"Hang onto that rage," Barney stopped him. "We gotta deal with this now. Fred'll be here soon. Ethan's already over there."

Toll said nothing, the grief on his face very evident. Barney clasped a hand on Toll's shoulder and squeezed before going over to nudge Gunner. Lee met his eyes, and Barney silently told him they had to go to work by making the gesture of firing a gun with his hand at his hip. Lee nodded discreetly and moved to whisper in Emily's ear. She went a little red in the face but nodded, and she let Lee pull her to her feet and take her inside.

"What's going on, Barns?" Caesar asked. Tia looked anxious suddenly.

"We're gonna deal with Fred and Ethan tonight," Barney answered. "You stay here with Tia, Emily, and the kids."

"Alright."

Gunner got to his feet, faltering as he looked towards the cottage.

"What about Emily?" he asked, looking at Barney.

"Lee's handling it."

"Literally or figuratively?" Caesar asked.

"I don't wanna know," Barney answered, moving to go to the shed. "Come on. We better saddle up."

...

Lee tangled his fingers in Emily's hair as he kissed her once they were in his bedroom with the door shut. She sat on his bed and pulled him down slowly on top of her. He knew he didn't have time for this, that he'd suggested it to her only to remove her from outside, and he was about to stop and say he couldn't do it after all when she beat him to it.

"I can't," she said. "Not with everyone out there knowing this is exactly what we're doing."

"That's okay."

"I am tired, so I might just sleep," she added. He nodded and pushed himself up, moving to pull the curtains shut. He didn't want Ethan sniffing around and managing to find her.

"I just gotta discuss something with Barney first," he told her. "Then I'll be right here."

"Okay," she agreed. She was sitting up on the end of his bed now, and she looked down at her fingers in her lap.

"You alright?" he asked, and she looked at him again.

"Yes. I'm just worried about Serena."

"Want me to send one of the guys to check on her?"

"No. I mean, she's a grown woman, and she's spending the night in a hotel with her boyfriend. I shouldn't be worried," Emily reasoned, trying to brush it off.

"If you're worried, we can check on her," Lee promised. "Just say the word."

"Okay, I will. Thank you."

He cupped her face and bent down to kiss her softly. One of her hands reached to rest on top of his. He tried not to feel worried that something was going to happen to her in his absence.

"See you soon," he assured her after, and she nodded. He left her there, grabbed some of his weapons, and he hurried out to find Barney, Toll, and Gunner waiting for him. He was informed that Caesar was going to remain behind to look after the girls and kids.

"That's gotta be a new record," Barney commented.

"Shut up," Lee barked.

"Nah, he's too cranky," Gunner said. "He didn't do it."

Lee simply pointed one of his knives at Gunner's nose, and the big man stopped talking. Lee holstered it once he felt his point had been made. No one else added their two cents. Toll looked stricken and wasn't chiming in, which made him feel worried.

"What's up with you?" he asked him.

"Serena's dead," he answered, his voice low and anguished. Lee felt his blood run cold. He looked towards the cottage. No wonder Emily's alarm bells were going off. If Serena was dead, was she next?

"Caesar's staying to keep watch," Gunner reminded him, noticing. "She's safe." Lee nodded, still feeling unsure.

"I'm sorry, Toll," he said, knowing his friend was burning with grief and rage. Toll said nothing in return.

"Let's go," Barney said now. Together, they walked into the brush.

...

Emily just had a feeling something was up. She waited a few minutes after Lee left before sneaking out the back door and heading over to her cottage. She paused when she heard voices, and she caught sight of Fred and Ethan slipping down the trail behind the cottage in the dark. What was Fred doing there? He was supposed to be in town with Serena. How had he gotten there so quietly? Her stomach clenched, and she felt afraid for her friend suddenly. She was torn between trying to find her and following these two. She hesitated, and then she made her choice.

She followed them.

It was easy enough to track them without being seen. She stopped a few meters away when they crouched down to dig something up. She felt her heart pounding like crazy.

"We're not gonna make it," Ethan was saying.

"Shut up," Fred warned. "We have no choice. We have to do this now."

"And he was okay with that?"

"He has to be."

Emily was trying to see in the dark when a hand clamped over her mouth from behind and an arm wrapped around her waist to hold her securely.

"Shhh," a voice said. "It's me."

Lee.

She felt her fight or flight still skyrocketing as she let him pull her back deeper into cover and out of earshot from Fred and Ethan. When he let her go, she whirled to face him.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"I think the question is: what are you doing?" he countered.

"I'm trying to see what the hell my best friend's brother and boyfriend are doing," Emily answered roughly. "Because Fred is supposed to be with Serena, and he's clearly not, so I need to find out what's going on."

"Us too," Barney said, stepping from the shadows and making her jump. Toll and Gunner were behind him. Emily looked back and forth between them all, having another one of her feelings. She stepped into Lee and reached around behind his back, wrapping her fingers around the pistol he had tucked into the back of his pants before he could pull away. She didn't say a word, just stood there looking at him intensely.

"I'm still me, Emily," he said softly. "Just with a different job than you thought."

She still said nothing. She didn't know what to say.

"We don't have time for this," Barney said, interrupting. "Go back, Emily."

"I shouldn't have done this with you," she said to Lee.

"We can talk later," he promised.

"No, we're done here," she said, turning to walk away. She made it a couple of steps before he caught her and turned her back to face him.

"Would you still have fallen for me if you knew I was a mercenary?" he asked, holding her arms in his hands firmly. "Be honest."

She stared at him.

"I have nothing to say," she replied finally. What could she even say anyway?

"Emily..."

"Leave me alone," she ordered, pulling from his grip.

"Lee," Barney's low voice said.

"Just go back to our place," Lee said urgently. "Please."

She didn't answer as she hurried through the brush away from him. She was going to pack her bags and get the hell out of there tonight. She wanted to get away from all of them. Obviously something very wrong was happening, and she needed to keep Maya safe.

To hell with everything else.

...

Lee felt all kinds of emotions as he charged behind Barney on the trail. This was not how he wanted Emily to find out who he was. He couldn't get the expression on her face out of his head.

"You good?" Barney asked over his shoulder.

"Yea."

Barney held up his fist, making them all stop. Then he gestured for Toll and Gunner to split off, and they did. Lee followed Barney as they approached Fred and Ethan carrying the chest. There was a boat waiting at the dock of the abandoned cottage.

"Going somewhere?" Barney asked, aiming his gun at them. They both stopped, and Fred started to chuckle.

"I'm guessing Church called you?" he inquired.

"I've been watching you long before Church got involved."

"Well, I think you're mistaking me for someone else."

"I think not. Show me the case."

"I'm good."

"Do it now," Barney ordered. There was movement to Lee's right, and he grabbed Barney to yank him down just as bullets sprayed overhead. In the pandemonium, Ethan and Fred disappeared. Lee whirled, firing his gun and throwing some of his knives. He ran with Barney for cover, hoping and praying that Caesar would keep those kids, Tia, and Emily safe.

...

Ethan couldn't stand looking at Fred after knowing he'd killed Serena. Ethan was going to wait for all of this to be over before killing Fred himself. Yes, he was mad that Serena had betrayed him, but he also wasn't going to let Fred get away with killing her.

As he ran through the brush away from the gunfire, getting separated from Fred, he calculated just how he was going to pull that off.

...

Toll felt the burning hot rage in him as he fired his gun. He was going to rip Fred to shreds with his bare hands. He just knew that he'd been the one to kill Serena. He wanted to make him pay.

Then, he heard Caesar roaring and Tia screaming, and he signaled to Barney that he was going to assist.

He couldn't lose any more people tonight.

...

Tia saw them first. She screamed as Caesar jumped into action. There were too many, though, and desperate to save her husband, Tia leaped in front of him when one of the armed men aimed at him while he was reloading.

"NOOO!" Caesar roared as Tia took a bullet to the upper chest and hit the ground. He fired his guns, screaming in anger.

"HELP ME!" Maya was screaming as one man carried her off. Louis was nowhere to be found, and Caesar feared his son had been killed. He carried Tia to safety before taking out two of the men. The rest had dispersed. Caesar ran to Louis's tent and found his son crying and shaking. He hauled the boy out, half crying in relief himself, and ran back to Tia.

"Mom!" Louis exclaimed upon seeing her. He looked terrified at the blood.

"Hale," Tia managed to say. Caesar ripped off his outer shirt and crammed it into her wound.

"It's gonna be alright," he promised her. "Just hang on."

"What about Maya?" Louis asked tearfully. Caesar felt torn. He couldn't do both. Toll crashed through the bush then, and he saw them all instantly.

"Shit," he said. Then: "Where's Maya?!"

"They took her that way," Caesar pointed, and Toll ran.

...

Emily heard her daughter's scream, and she felt all the hair on her arms and neck stand up. She rushed to the door only to get grabbed from behind. She screamed herself, trying to get free from her attacker, whose arm was tightly around her throat. She stomped on their foot and elbowed them in the ribs, making them loosen their grip. She dropped low and then lurched forward, trying to get away. They were faster, though, and she screamed again when they landed on her back hard, crushing her under them when they hit the floor.

"No!" she gasped, feeling a rope go around her throat.

"Stop fighting it," a male voice said in her ear. She tried to fight him off, but he was strong. He yanked her to her feet, keeping the rope tight as he did so. She choked, trying to put her fingers in between the rope and her neck to give herself some air. She kicked and twisted, trying to get free as the man took her upstairs. She instantly knew what he was going to do with her. He was going to make it look like she'd killed herself. What were they going to do with Maya? She felt so scared for her little girl, whose scream was still echoing in her mind.

She dragged her feet and tried to slow him down, but it was futile, so she changed tactics. She rammed herself into him, the change in direction taking him off guard and making him lose his grip. She had just enough time to get the rope off her neck and run for the stairs. He launched himself at her and caught her ankle, making her trip and roll down the stairs. She gasped in pain and cried out when she hit the bottom. He was coming for her, and she had to get up. She had to keep fighting. She forced herself up through the pain and stumbled to the kitchen. She managed to grab a knife out of the block before he was on her again, shoving her to the floor. He knocked the knife out of her hand and tried to wrestle her arms behind her, but she rammed her elbow into his chest and neck and wriggled out from under him, managing to stand up. He grabbed her leg and pulled her down again, making her land on her back. Winded, she couldn't stop him from dragging her towards him. Her knife was just out of her reach, and she strained to get it, her fingers grazing the handle when he slid the rope around her neck again. He tightened it around her throat to subdue her, and she choked again. Her vision was getting blurry, and she knew she had to keep fighting. She still tried to scream and beat him off despite not having sufficient oxygen.

This was the end. It was honest to God the end. Emily would have cried if she hadn't been so scared and fighting for her life.

All she could think about was Maya.

...

Gunner found Caesar and Louis and felt scared at the sight of Tia. Louis was sobbing, as was Caesar just about.

"I can't," he said hoarsely, and Gunner knew what he meant. He couldn't stay and fight, not with Tia like this. Gunner understood.

"Come on," he urged, grabbing Louis and picking him up. "We gotta go."

"What about Uncle Barney and the others?" Louis asked through his tears.

"They want you guys to get out of here," Gunner answered. "All right?"

"Mama's really hurt," Louis whimpered. Caesar had her in his arms now and was running behind Gunner to the boat.

"We'll get her fixed right up," Gunner promised. "Okay? Stay strong, son." He got to the boat and set Louis down, ordering him to hide under the nose, which he did. Caesar sat with Tia in his lap. Gunner handed him more rags that he found under the seat, and he crammed them into Tia's wound.

"Stay with me, baby," Caesar kept saying. "Oh God, please stay with me." Gunner turned the key and started the boat. Then he tore out of there as fast as he could. He felt bad abandoning the others, but he couldn't let Tia die and knew Barney wouldn't want that either.

He wasn't about to stand by and let someone die again.

...

Ethan was now surrounded by Fred's team when they brought Maya to him. She was crying hysterically. Ethan knew that Fred was going to be dealing with Emily if the team had failed to do it. He was going to use Maya to get the Expendables off his back and let him go. He was still convinced that Maya was his daughter, so he planned to raise her.

"Where's my Mum?" Maya asked, still crying.

"You don't gotta worry about her anymore," Ethan said, and Maya whimpered. He felt a little bad, but he knew he could make it up to her later. If he could succeed in killing Fred and raise her well enough, then perhaps that would be his redemption.

...

Emily's brain was barely functioning, but she felt her fingers finally connect with the knife on the floor, and she brought it up and straight into the man's throat, turning her face away to avoid getting splattered in the face with the blood that was gushing out. He let her go and made gurgling noises as he slowly went limp and fell off her to the side. She let go of the knife, shoving him off all the way. She registered there was another knife in the man's upper back but couldn't understand how. She was shaking and crying, trying to get up when hands pulled her up and made her shriek in fright.

"Emily," Lee said, holding her shoulders tightly. "Can you hear me?"

"Y-Yea," she answered, seeing him properly now.

"Where's Maya?" Lee asked, giving her a shake.

"I...I don't know. They got her. I heard her scream..." Emily trailed off. Her heart was clenched so hard in fear. She'd failed her daughter. She had promised herself to never let that happen. She looked at the dead man on the floor and felt the sudden urge to vomit.

"I killed him," she said, slightly in shock. His blood was on her hand and arm. She didn't want to know if any was on her face.

"We gotta go," Lee said, pulling her to the door. She let him. A bullet went past their heads before they got there, though, making her scream again as Lee threw her down onto the floor while he covered her.

"Go," he ordered as he popped up to take a shot every so often. "I'll cover you. Get outside."

"Okay," she said. She crawled for the door as he covered her. She yanked it open and practically threw herself out. She made it down the steps when she got grabbed again.

"Not so fast," Fred said, clamping his fingers around her throat tightly and making her choke.

"Lee," she tried to say, but it came out like a squeak. Fred held her tight against him, resting a gun to her temple as he waited for Lee to join them.

...

What was taking so long? Ethan couldn't understand. He decided to move things along after getting the report that two of the Expendables had left with the wife and kid. That left only three of them on the island. He could handle that.

He grabbed Maya and went to find Lee. It was time to give the man a dilemma.

...

Gunner got to the landing to find Church there with a team. One of the members offered to drive Caesar, Tia, and Louis to the hospital, which Gunner let them do. He drove the team over to the island, and he hoped he wasn't going to find his friends' bodies scattered on the ground. He knew he wouldn't be able to move forward if he did.

...

"What do we do?" Toll asked Barney. They were slightly cornered and running out of ammo. They had no idea how many more men were left, and they didn't know where Fred or Ethan currently were. Barney knew at least one of them was going for Emily, which was why Lee had tore off like a bat out of hell once both had disappeared. Gunner had heard the screaming from Maya and went to investigate and help, but he hadn't come back, so Barney was assuming the worst.

They heard Maya shrieking again, and they looked at each other.

"Come on," Barney said, moving carefully. Toll hurried behind him, taking down another man as he went. They ran single file, trying to get to Maya before it was too late.