2010

"I think it's a sign," Barney Ross commented. Lee Christmas was sitting beside him, running his fingers along his chin back and forth. He was still thinking about the woman he'd rescued earlier. There was something about her that was sticking with him; he couldn't explain it.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"You catch Lacy cheating on you and break up, and now you meet this woman. It's fate."

"Pfft," Lee snorted. "Fate has nothing to do with it."

"I disagree."

"What are we talking about?" Tool asked, coming in to join them. His pipe was hanging off his lips.

"Lee met a woman."

"Already?"

"I stopped her from getting hit by a car. That was it," Lee retorted.

"And he felt a spark," Barney added with a smile. Lee rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance. He regretted saying anything now. He knew better.

"Don't you have a job to look into?" he asked.

"Yea. I'm going in ten minutes."

Lee said nothing else as he watched Tool and Barney start discussing something unrelated. He honestly was thinking about the woman. He couldn't help it. He wondered if he would ever see her again.

...

Sara was still staring at the man, who looked greatly annoyed.

"You're late," he said impatiently, standing up slowly.

"I...I'm sorry."

"Do you know what a Looper is?"

"Yes," she said faintly.

"Good. At least they weren't bullshitting me," the man said, exhaling loudly. "Alright. We got work to do then."

"You," Sara whispered tightly, still stuck on it. She clenched her fists.

"Me?" the man asked, confused. "Do I know you?"

He didn't recognize her. She then realized that perhaps this version of himself hadn't met her, hadn't tried to kill her son, and hadn't shot her inches from her heart. She did not fully understand Loopers.

"Do you remember anything?" she asked. He was still giving her a puzzled look, and she knew then for sure that he hadn't been the one to shoot her. A different version had.

"No," he said, sounding annoyed now. "Are you a Looper or not? Don't mess with me right now. I have a lot at stake."

"So do I," she shot back. "And yes, I am a version of a Looper."

"Okay, so you're going to be meeting with the Expendable team...once I convince them to take the job."

"What job?"

"You weren't told anything before they sent you?" he asked, huffing.

"No, not specifics."

"Damn it," he muttered. "Do you know my name?"

"No," she lied. She wanted to know if he'd tell her his real name. Obviously "Mr. Church" was a fake.

"Joe," he said. "I'm Joe."

"I'm Sara."

"Around here, though, I'm known as Church."

"Okay."

"I have to admit," Joe said, scratching his head. "I'm surprised they sent you."

"Because I'm a woman?" Sara asked, bristling a little.

"Well...yea," Joe answered honestly. "This business is brutal. I've never known a female Looper before. I'm just surprised for the change. I'm not against it, let's be clear. I don't doubt you can raise hell."

Sara wondered if he could tell she'd never killed anyone. She wasn't sure how she was going to do these "jobs" with no experience in that department. Ironically, the person she'd envisioned killing repeatedly in her mind was standing right in front of her.

"What are the jobs?" she asked.

"Jobs? I only got one right now," Joe said.

"I have three to do. I was told 2010, 2012, and 2016," Sara rhymed off.

"Well, I only know of this one so far," Joe told her. "I get sent the information closer to the date."

"Fine. Tell me about this job then," she said. He sighed.

"Well, it's a rogue CIA agent who is trying to take over a place called Vilena," Joe explained. "He has to go."

"I take it his impact in the future is very bad if he is left alive?"

"Why else would you be here doing this?" Joe challenged.

"Right."

"Come on," Joe said, gesturing. "I've got Barney Ross from the Expendable team coming to hear about it. I got his so-called arch nemesis Trench Mauser coming too, which will make sure he'll take it. He can't stand letting that guy take a job from him."

"Then I'm to join his team?" Sara asked.

"Yea."

"Okay."

"So I told you that the CIA agent has to die, but I'm telling them it's the general of the island," Joe added, looking at her. "Go with it. He won't do it otherwise, but he will once he finds out on his own."

"You sound very confident about that."

"What's the alternative?"

"Fair enough."

She followed Joe as he got to his feet and went to stand at the front of the church. Sara stood off to the left behind him, waiting.

She suddenly felt nervous.

...

Barney showed up to find a man standing at the front of the church with a woman standing off to the side behind him. He approached cautiously, wondering what he was getting into.

"Barney Ross?" the man asked.

"That's me. Who are you?"

"Call me Church," he answered, making Barney scoff.

"Alright. Are we gonna get down to business or what?"

"I'm just waiting for one more."

Barney felt a bit disgruntled, but then he turned to see Trench Mauser waltz in with that swagger of his. Barney rolled his eyes and stifled his groan.

"Good afternoon," Trench said, eyeing Barney up with distaste.

"You two have issues or something?" Church asked.

"Just history," Barney answered. "Get to the job. Or is there even a job?"

"Oh there's a job. It's real, and the money is real," Church answered. "You ever heard of Vilena?"

"Of course," Trench said smugly.

"No," Barney admitted.

"It's an island in the Gulf. My people want the general there, Garza, dead. He's a fanatic. He's causing some issues. You just need a little army to get it done."

"Only a moron would take this job," Trench said, shaking his head. "I'm busy anyway, so you can give it to my jungle running friend over here."

"Ha, ha," Barney said sarcastically.

"You still do that shit, right?"

"Right."

"Okay," Church said as Trench turned and started to walk away. "So, are you in?"

"I need to recon this island first."

"Done. I have a contact there you can meet up with."

"Okay."

"One more thing," Church said, gesturing, and the woman stepped forward. Barney had a bad feeling suddenly. "She goes with you."

"Um, no," Barney said with a chuckle. "I have a team."

"I know that, and this is non-negotiable. She has skills, and she's going with you."

Barney breathed slowly as he looked her up and down. She looked strong. Her blue eyes showed anger and pain. Her blonde hair was pinned up on her head.

"You let her die, and you'll wish you were never born," Church threatened.

"Non-negotiable, huh?" Barney asked. "What can she do?"

"She can do lots," the woman answered. Barney smiled at the attitude. Lee was going to love that.

"Alright. Well, you show us what you got, and we'll go from there."

"Good luck," Church said with almost a sarcastic tone behind the words. The woman shot him a look over her shoulder as she followed Barney out to his truck. Once inside, he turned to face her.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Sara."

"Well, Sara, I know he said non-negotiable, but I still need to know if you can handle yourself."

"Okay."

He started the truck, and she tapped his arm, making him look at her again.

"I have a stop to make first," she said. "If you want to see my full potential."

"Alright."

...

Lee almost fell off his stool when Barney walked in with the woman he'd done nothing but daydream about since he'd met her an hour ago behind him. He stared. How had Barney known?!

"Hey," Barney said. "This is Sara. She comes with the job apparently."

"What?" Lee asked, finally finding his voice. He saw that Sara was now looking at him with recognition too. She didn't say anything, though. Lee couldn't understand what the hell was happening.

"My contact made it very clear that she's to come with us and can't get hurt," Barney explained. "She claims she has skills, so we're going to check that out. You're coming too."

"No," Lee blurted out. "She can't be on our team."

"Why not?" Sara challenged, jutting out her chin defiantly. Something about this gesture made Lee feel something inside, and he knew that if it was a different circumstance, if they'd been dating, he'd have gripped that chin and kissed her hard. Now, he didn't know what to feel about her. He hadn't picked up on the vibe that she was a mercenary. He still didn't.

"We have enough players on this team," Lee said finally. "We don't need to babysit you."

"You won't have to."

"Prove it."

"That's what we're trying to do," Barney said, exasperated. "Can you settle down for a moment and just meet us there?"

"Fine."

Sara didn't look at him again as she followed Barney back out. Lee grabbed his helmet and went out to his bike. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.

...

Sara felt very self-conscious as both Barney and Lee stood with crossed arms and watched her. They were standing in a small field with targets laid out in front of her. She put all her focus on the targets in front of her, knowing she had to pass this test. If she didn't, then she'd lose her chance to get Cid back, for she knew Barney would keep his word and not let her accompany him regardless of what Joe said. She shivered to think that Abe would leave her in this timeline and not even bring her back as punishment for failing.

She fired in rapid succession, hitting all the bottles and then the bull's eye on the board at the end. She turned her head to see Barney's left brow lifted, impressed. Lee's face showed no difference. She knew he wasn't thrilled about her joining the team; he'd made that very clear.

She did another round just to prove herself. She'd spent hours practising, so this was easy for her. She pulled out her compound bow next and hit all targets with her arrows too. She was glad Abe had given her cash and that Barney had indulged in letting her pick it up on the way there. She'd spent a lot of hours using it in the woods growing up; it had a mixture of good and bad memories associated with it...memories she worked hard to forget.

"I think she's got you beat at something," Barney said to Lee, who just clenched his jaw a bit tighter in response. Sara figured that he must not like being second place; it gave her a feeling of satisfaction to have made him feel annoyed since he was being a grouch.

"Alright," Barney said, coming forward with a shotgun and handing it to her. "Try this." He nodded to Lee, who put a clay disc into the thing he was holding, and she shouldered the gun and waited. He threw the disc, and she shattered it. She had to admit, she'd come a long way with her aim over the years considering how she'd first started. There were times, though, where she had intentionally aimed badly to make people think she couldn't shoot them in order to give a false sense of security.

"I've seen enough," Barney said when she was done. She rolled her shoulder back, feeling a bit of pain from the recoil. Lee took the shotgun from her without making eye contact. She wondered what it would take to impress him. She wondered why she even cared or why she still felt a drop in her stomach at the sight of him.

"How are you with knives?" Barney asked.

"I...I haven't really practised with those," she admitted. She felt nervous. Was that going to fail her right there?

"That's fine. I think one knife specialist is good enough," Barney said, giving Lee a look. He still said nothing.

"So...am I on the team?" she asked, looking back and forth between them.

"What do you think, Lee?" Barney questioned, looking at him.

"You know how I feel about it," Lee replied finally. He looked at Sara now, and she bristled inside. Hadn't she made it clear she could hold her own?

"Well, I'm the boss, so I'm calling it," Barney said. "We're a man down anyway. Welcome aboard, Sara."

"Thank you," she said, feeling huge relief. Lee gave a grunt and turned to walk away.

"Don't worry about him," Barney told her as she handed him his pistol back too. "He's crusty on the outside but soft on the inside. He'll come around eventually."

"So, when do we go to work?" Sara asked.

"Lee and I are shipping out to check out Vilena in the morning. You'd help our cover. You in?"

"Yes."

"Good. Wheels up at 0500."

"Okay."

She watched him nod and turn to walk away. She picked up her bow and collected her arrows, zipping them up into their bag. She was glad she had picked one up before her test today. She felt that anything extra she was good at helped her case. She tried not to think about the aggravated expression on Lee's face.

...

Barney was driving to Tool's after dropping Sara off and running some errands. He was trying not to worry about Gunner, who he'd had to let go recently due to his addiction flaring up and putting them all at risk by going off the rails on their last job. He hadn't felt good about it, but he stood by his decision. He looked out the window and saw Sara walking alone with her compound bow bag over her shoulder. He frowned. Did she not have a place to stay? Or any belongings? He pulled into a spot next to the sidewalk and watched, fingers on his lips. She looked lost and sad, which made him feel intrigued.

After a few minutes of the blatant concept that she was homeless, he honked the horn and made her jump and spin to see him. He waved his hand, and she started to walk towards him.

"You lost?" he asked when she got to his window.

"I'm still new here," she answered. "I don't exactly have a place to stay yet."

"Hop in," Barney said, gesturing.

"Y-You sure?"

"Yea."

She gave a nod and went around to climb into the passenger side after setting her bag in the box of the truck. Barney pulled back out into traffic and continued towards Tool's. His friend had some extra rooms she could stay in for now. Sara didn't say much as they drove, and Barney was left feeling even more curious about her.

When they arrived at the parlor, Barney groaned inwardly at the sight of Lee's bike out front. He didn't think he could take much more of the grumpy Englishman today. Sara seemed to read his mind.

"I can just figure it out," she said.

"No," he cut her off. "You're one of us, so you're gonna meet the rest of the team and crash here until you're settled. Don't worry about him. I'll handle it."

"Okay."

She followed him inside hesitantly, and they were met with a raucous round of laughter from the boys and smoke from Tool's pipe.

"Oh, hey," Caesar said, seeing him first and then Sara. "Who's this?"

"Come on," Lee muttered, just loud enough to be heard. He slid off his stool and stormed off, leaving his beer behind. Tool raised a brow at Barney questioningly, and Barney gave a look back that indicated he'd talk later.

"This is Sara," Barney said to them. "Sara, that's Toll, Caesar, Yang, and Tool."

"Nice to meet you," Sara said with a very small smile.

"Likewise," Toll said with a grin. Barney shot him a warning look, which Toll promptly ignored.

"What do you like to drink?" Caesar asked.

"Water," Sara answered, and she was met with questions and smiles as she made her way to go join them. She'd looked at Barney for permission first, which he found kind of cute as he nodded back.

"Alright," Tool said once they were alone in Tool's office. "Spill. Who is she? Where did you find her? And why is she here?"

"She's Sara," Barney answered logically. "She was at the meet today with the contact, and she's here because it was insisted that she join our team for this mission. I tested her. She's got skills."

"She seems...meek," Tool commented.

"I think underneath that is the true version of herself," Barney replied. "She's new, and we're new to her, so she's getting used to it all."

"Well, hopefully she's not a mole," Tool said, sticking his pipe back into his mouth. Barney lit up a cigar then.

"Nah," he said. "I don't sense that from her. She's not all cool and collected like some kind of agent. There is a hardness about her, though. There's a story behind her, and I'm gonna eventually find out what that is. We're down a man anyway since I cut Gunner loose. We could use the help."

"Let's hope she doesn't break some hearts first," Tool chuckled.

"If anyone is gonna fall for her, it'll be Lee," Barney noted.

"Really? He seemed pissed to see her."

"I know him. He won't be able to help himself."

"I don't know, Barns..."

"Trust me," Barney said with a smile around his cigar. "I give it a week."

"Two," Tool said.

"You're on."

...

Lee was out back throwing knives into a board when she found him. He paused, knife in his fingers, and looked over at her.

"Why do you hate me?" she asked him.

"I don't hate you," he replied.

"It sure looks like you do," she retorted, crossing her arms. "You're looking at me very differently than you did earlier today."

Lee felt something shift inside, knowing she was right. Earlier, she'd been this woman on the street that he'd stopped from getting hit by a car, a woman who had looked at him and made him feel like he suddenly could have a future outside of this life. Now, he looked at her and saw a woman who was just like him that would tie him to this job forever.

"I didn't know," he said.

"Oh, so if you had, you'd have let me get hit by that car?" she challenged.

"No..."

"So what that I'm one of you? So what that I'm not whatever version of a woman you thought I was? I'm not a damsel in distress, I can take care of myself, and I don't need you to like me in order to feel good about myself," she railed on. He was slightly taken aback. "This is me. This is what you get. I'm sorry if you're not happy about it." She turned to leave when he reached to catch her arm. She stopped and glared at him.

"You come from out of nowhere and suddenly need to be on this team," he started. "Put yourself in my shoes. You'd be suspicious too."

"Well, I'm here, so get used to it," she said sharply, yanking out of his grip.

"We'll see," he replied. She walked away, and he was left standing there feeling a different range of emotions inside.

...

Sara needed personal items. She cursed herself for leaving her phone next to her instead of in her pocket or thinking to have a bag packed of clothes to hang onto before turning on the device. She still had some cash left over from Abe, so she went out to the nearest store she could find and got the simplest of things to get her by for a bit. She hoped this job they did would pay something so she could avoid being asked why she had no money.

She got back and heard the men laughing downstairs. She crept by them all, not up for anymore conversation tonight. She got to her room and put her things in the dresser drawer. With the discarded roll left on top of the dresser, she taped the time travel device to the bottom of one of the drawers, hoping no one would find it. She also hoped Barney didn't pay attention to the fact she had no personal belongings, but he had to wonder because all she had was her bow that she'd gotten when she was with him. She figured she could lie and say she lost everything in a fire or something. She'd wait to be asked and hoped he never would.

She heard Lee's bike take off a bit later, and she tried not to feel irritated by his attitude towards her. She didn't need his approval. Whatever his problem was, it wasn't for her to figure out or fix.

She curled into bed and tried not to cry from thinking about Cid. She had to survive here for six years before she could see him again, but she could do it. She was strong.

She'd survived a lot worse anyway.

...

Joe gripped the sink of his hotel room and stared at himself in the mirror. He'd already vomited earlier. He still couldn't believe it.

It was her.

What was she doing here? He'd lied, of course, and pretended he didn't know her, but he knew her. She was the woman he'd almost killed, the person he'd spent years drowning in alcohol and suffocating with drugs over because of the guilt of what he'd done to her. Granted, it had been the other version of himself that had done it; he'd gotten there too late to stop him, so all he could do was watch and witness the horror. He still had nightmares about watching that woman get shot and fall to the ground. He'd seen a boy disappear into the cane with his older version chasing after him, and it had been a choice of what to do: go after him and stop him or save the woman. He'd chosen the latter and taken her to the hospital, hoping that the boy would escape being so small and in all that tall cane. He'd been there when she woke up, but when he'd asked Abe about her a few days later, he'd told him she was dead, and he'd fallen apart with guilt and shame.

So how was it possible that she was here?

He wished he knew, but there was no way of knowing. He couldn't talk to Abe. He was here to work, and he only had so much time before he could leave this timeline. He was here because he'd made a deal to do this to spare his wife. If he failed, she was dead.

He couldn't fail her too, so his burning curiosity about Sara would just have to wait.