Hey everybody!

I am sorry for the wait, I had bad news from the doctors about my health and it took me some time to deal with it.

But hey! I am back. (Yes, this was a Terminator pun)

Enjoy your reading!

Pavs.

Chapter Eight: The Light on Your Scars

[Gabrielle]

Tool had fallen asleep quickly, but I kept looking at him for almost two hours to make sure he was still breathing. I then got up to take a glass of water when I noticed that the kitchen counter needed some cleaning. Before I knew it, I'd cleaned up his entire apartment, and I still couldn't get myself to try to sleep.

I went to the second floor and began to clean up the common kitchen as well. This place had been a bit neglected over the years and looked better once I was done with it. I was about to put the cleaning products back under the sink when I heard Gunnar at the door behind me.

''Gabrielle?'' he asked, and I turned to look at him. ''You cleaned up?''

''Yeah, I was done with Tool's place, and I thought that I could help here too,'' I answered, and he sighed.

''You know that if you needed to talk you could have just…'' he started, and I felt a wave of anger.

''You lied to me,'' I cut him off, and he tensed up.

''I know. Gabrielle I am so sorry. I shouldn't have listen to Barney,'' he said while getting closer to me. ''I fucked up. I know I gave you no reason to believe me, but you can still trust me.''

''I…I know,'' I said, surprising us both. ''I am just…scared.''

''I'd…we'd never hurt you,'' Gunnar promised, and he was so close to me that I could feel the heat coming off of his body.

''I am not scared of you. I am scared to lose you.''

[Gunnar]

He felt his heart stop. He simply couldn't believe it, but God did he wanted to. He took her in his arms and he felt her relax against him.

''You should come with me, try and get some sleep,'' he offered, and she looked at him with tears in her eyes.

''I…I need to make sure he's ok.'' He nodded and let her go before he went in his room to get her a blanket.

He knew she was still in shock, and if he wanted to be honest with himself, he was worried about his friend's state too.

''Don't forget to sleep. He wouldn't want you to exhaust yourself for him, and neither do I,'' Gunnar said before he added in a softer tone: ''You really are special, Gabrielle; I wonder what we've done to deserve someone like you.''

She obviously didn't know what to say, and he smiled at her reaction.

''Good night, princess,'' he said.

''Good night, Guns,'' she replied before she went back to Tool's loft, clutching the blanket tightly against her.

[Barney]

He'd stayed to talk with Toll and Yang for a while before they went to the second floor. It wasn't that late, but they were exhausted. Barney did have a weird feeling when Yang focused their conversation on anything but Gabrielle. The elevator stopped, and they stepped out. Yang looked at Barney with a worried expression on his face which didn't go unnoticed by him, Toll or Gunnar, who was currently sitting at the kitchen table.

''What is it, Happy Feet?'' Gunnar asked.

Yang turned to Barney, and the bad feeling he had became worse.

''Be careful when you go to bed, '' Yang warned, and Barney looked at him, clearly confused. ''She has been sleeping with a gun since she first went in the office.''

Barney felt the blood drain from his face. He went into her room and ripped off the covers and pillows to see Tool's handgun under them, the same one that had been kept in the first drawer of his desk. He didn't know what to think. Of course, her first reaction would have to be fear. He could understand that.

''It took her almost a week to stop pointing it at me at every turn,'' Yang explained. '' After that, she simply slept with it to feel safer, I think.''

''I didn't want her to be afraid,'' Barney said.

''She's not,'' Gunnar interrupted. ''She just told me so.''

Barney looked at Jensen, and he could see that he tried to convinced himself too.

''We've got to give her time,'' Toll said. ''There's nothing else to do."

Barney silently agreed, and they all went to sleep. Barney lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling for a while. Tool had almost died, and the rest of them were far from being in one piece. He vowed not to involve him again. His friend had made it very clear that he was done with the job, and Barney knew that he loved to stay here and teach Gabrielle.

And as much as he wanted to not think about it, Gabrielle would need someone in case something happened to him. He knew Tool wouldn't let her down. Especially not after what she'd done for him after they came back.

She may have felt like she owed him, but he knew Tool would never ask for anything in return, even going as far as feeling like he owed her one for taking care of him. He closed his eyes and heard music coming from above. He'd leave him alone; Tool deserved some peace and quiet.

[Tool's]

Lee arrived at Tool's and saw Toll and Hale sharing donuts while Gunnar and Barney were having a cup of coffee. The tension could be cut with a knife, and Lee was about to ask if they'd talked to Gabrielle when she came in from the stairs.

She wore one of Tool's shirts and training shorts and had a laundry basket in her hands full of bloody sheets and clothes. There was a moment of silence, and Gabrielle's attention turned to Lee and Hale.

''Hey, you two. I hope you're ok too?'' she asked, and they just nodded.

They had no idea what to say.

''Good, um…would someone know where I can find bleach? Tool is asleep again, and I feel like he'd like to try and save his clothes so…''she explained while stuttering a little.

Barney felt a twinge of sadness at her state. She was clearly lacking sleep, and he could see blood stains on her fingers. He also knew that she was referring to her own sheets after her panic attack. A quick look around him confirmed that he wasn't the only one to be worried.

''I can show you,'' Hale offered, and she followed him to the laundry room.

[Hale]

He watched her scrubbing the sheets with way more vigour than necessary. He leaned back against the wall and folded his arms.

''You must be pissed to be that hard on them,'' he commented, and she turned to him.

He said nothing more, so she went to open the washing machine to put the sheets in it.

''Not really no,'' she answered. ''Besides, what's done is done. You can only pray that everything's going to be ok.''

Hale's gaze softened.

''He loves you, Gabrielle. He didn't want to hurt you,'' he said before he saw the anger in her eyes.

''What if Tool had died?! What if your injuries had been worse? What if no one had been there to tell me what happened?'' she demanded, and he could see the panic all over her face.

''What if you'd gone and never came back? Stop acting like you don't matter for fuck's sake! Yes, I am mad as hell that you lied to me, but I get it. God freaking help me I do! What you gotta understand is that you guys have done more for me in the last month then my whole family has done for me in years! I don't even have the words to explain to you that I…you are my home, Hale,'' she said as the tears started to roll down her cheeks. ''I never had that in my life before or felt that way about anyone except my mom. You accept me for who I am, and I love you for who you are. I am not special, we are. And I'll be damned if I let anything take that away from us. We're a family, and I never give up on family.''

Hale looked at her wiping her tears, and he found himself trying not to cry with her. He'd never been that emotional, but this…

''I am sorry, it came out of nowhere,'' she said, and he gave her a big bear hug.

''Don't you dare apologize for that,'' he ordered. '' Plus, you can be mad all you want; you'll always be special to me.''

''Sure, sweetie,'' she said as he let go of her, and he laughed.

He then heard her stomach protest, and he smiled at her.

''What manners! You take care of us, and we don't even feed you. Come on, there must be donuts left. If not, I'll cook you breakfast.''

''You a good cook?'' she asked.

''The best!'' he answered, and she couldn't help but smile sincerely at him. ¸

''Well, I am definitely not. Would you mind teaching me?'' she asked, and Hale looked like a child in a candy shop.

[Tool's]

''I AM KIDNAPPING HER, THANK YOU!'' Hale screamed before he took her in his arms.

He walked past them, and Gabrielle saw the team laugh.

''Barney, check on Tool!'' she exclaimed while her father shook his head, an amused smile on his face.

''Got ya!'' Barney said in a loud voice.

Toll got up to follow after them, having something planned with Hale in the afternoon. Barney looked at Gunnar to see him smiling.

''Yeah, she's going to be fine,'' Lee said, and they finally felt the stress vanish for the first time in weeks