Hello again!
It is going to be the last one published today, but the other chapters should be coming soon.
A big thank you to my beta FictionWriter91 for all of your hard work.
And a another big thank you to all of my readers. If y'all have any question/suggestion, feel free to leave a review or to pm me.
Enjoy your reading!
Pavs.
Chapter Ten: Little Do You Know
[Barney]
As much as he didn't like her spending that much time with Gunnar in the last few days, he had taken it as an opportunity to plan Gabrielle's birthday without her knowing. At least she'd spent some sober time with Hale and Toll too, not to mention her taking care of Tool as if she was his mother.
Tool hadn't complained yet, anyway. The man had a special surprise for her, and Barney knew it would mean a lot to her. He'd gone out of his way himself. It was her first birthday with them, and he wanted it to be perfect. He smiled, thinking that he might have become a bit sentimental as well.
[Tool's]
''I hope she'll like it! It did take me a while to find the perfect cake,'' Hale said, and Yang laughed.
''Yeah, poor Caesar, forced to taste everything,'' Yin Yang mocked, and Toll smiled.
''You should have seen him, a real torture session,'' Road added, and Hale rolled his eyes.
Barney arrived at Tool's, and they looked at him.
''She's not with you?'' Tool asked, and Barney went to take a beer from the fridge.
Tool sighed. She probably was with Gunn…. He frowned. Gunnar had just come in alone. He looked at Barney, who seemed just as confused as him.
[Gabrielle]
I'd been shopping for hours now without finding anything. Barney had insisted on a birthday dinner, and I thought it was a good idea to make an effort to look better than usual. He'd kindly dropped me off at the mall. I hadn't counted on my scars when I decided to go for a dress, but it'd been a while since I had anything to celebrate, and a real family dinner was something I looked forward to.
I bought a short gold silk dress with black lace details over the silk. It was long sleeved so it would hide my arms and just long enough to cover my thighs. I bought black heels to go with it, and when I saw that it was almost five o'clock, I decided to change and find a place to do my hair and makeup as well.
It was almost six when I got to a jewelry shop in the mall. I was looking at a gold chain with a moon charm on it. I did have the money, but I somehow hesitated since I rarely made this kind of purchase.
''It would look nice on you,'' a voice said behind me, and I turned to face Lee.
I offered him a shy smile, and he returned it before he went to the counter to talk to the sales lady.
[Lee]
He'd been looking for a small gift for Gabrielle. He wanted it to be both an apology and a thank-you gift for listening to him, a peace offering if you would. He was about to give up when he saw her.
She looked beautiful, even he couldn't ignore it. He got closer and saw her look at a necklace. It would be perfect. He complimented her and the look she gave him stirred something inside of him, which he ignored unconsciously for his own sake.
He bought the necklace and turned to her to give her the box.
'' You didn't have to…'' she began, and he smiled.
''Happy birthday,'' he interrupted her, and she sighed, her smile slowly getting bigger and more sincere.
'' In that case would you mind?'' she asked while she turned her back to him.
He opened the box to take the necklace and got closer to help her put it on.
She looked at it in the mirror and turned back to him.
''So, unless you got something else to buy or you decided not to come to my birthday, shall we?'' she asked, and he offered her his arm.
[Gabrielle]
Trying to hide my ass on Christmas's bike was one of the most ridiculously difficult things I had to do. It was a good thing that I had let my hair loose too because the helmet was nowhere near fashion friendly. It made me laugh at all those scenes in action movies when the girl removes the helmet looking like a top model.
We got to Tool's, and I managed to get of the bike. Lee took my things and the helmet and we went inside.
[Tool's]
They heard Lee coming in with his bike before he turned off the engine. Barney was about to go and ask him if he'd seen Gabrielle when he heard her laugh.
''Your bike is not passenger friendly!'' she laughed, and they heard Lee's soft laughter in return.
''You're the one wearing a dress,'' Christmas stated while they were approaching them.
Gabrielle slapped his shoulder, and Lee's smile grew bigger before he saw the guys looking at them with a puzzled look on their face.
''Well this smells amazing,'' Gabrielle said, not noticing the tension.
''I know right?'' Hale asked, clearly pleased with himself.
Toll rolled his eyes, and Tool shook his head. Some things never changed.
'' That's a great looking necklace,'' Gunnar said, and Gabrielle smiled.
''Thank you,'' she said before looking briefly at Lee. '' It was a gift.''
Gunnar stared at Lee, and she started to feel uncomfortable. Barney noticed and got closer to hug her.
''Happy birthday. You look stunning,'' he said.
''Thank you, I hope it's not too much,'' she replied, and he smiled.
''It's perfect. Come, the food's gonna get cold,'' Barney said, and she went to sit with them.
They ate in silence. The food was amazing after all. She felt like she was about to explode by the time the cake made its way on the table. Hale started to sing Happy Birthday, and Toll laughed, saying it was like karaoke night all over again.
[Gabrielle]
''All right, speaking of good memories, it's time for our gifts!'' Hale exclaimed, and both he and Toll looked at me with a mischievous smile.
They gave me two package each with numbers on them. I took the ones that had 1 written on them and opened them. The one from Hale was a flask, and Toll's was a tank toy. I started laughing and flipped them off.
''Awe come on you know you love us!'' Hale cried, shaking with laughter.
''It was epic,'' Toll said with a wicked smile. ''Worth the trouble that came after.''
We all looked at Barney, who couldn't hide the fact that it was indeed hilarious. I then opened the second ones. Hale had gotten me an old expensive Whiskey bottle, and Toll had somehow found an old intact copy of Sherlock Holmes. I got up and hugged them both.
''Thank you so much,'' I said, and they smiled at me.
Gunnar then cleared his throat, and I turned to face him. He gave me a package, and I opened it to reveal a camera. It was already charged and ready to take pictures.
''I know you don't have a lot of memories here, so I though you would like to make some,'' Gunnar explained, and my vision became blurry with tears.
''Thank you,'' I said, my voice almost shaking.
I then got closer to him and took a selfie of us both. He was still looking at me, but when I looked at the picture it took my breath away. My smile was sincere and his eyes...I started hoping that maybe I wasn't the only one who felt something.
Lee got up and my attention turned to him. He got closer, kissed me on the cheek and offered me a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
''I have to go, love, but I hope you'll have a happy birthday,'' he said, and I put a hand on his arm to stop him.
''Can I have a picture before you go?'' I asked while getting up, and he took the camera, passed an arm around my waist and kissed me on top of my head. I closed my eyes by reflex and heard the flash going off.
''Take care,'' he said before he gave me the camera back and got to his bike.
[Tool's]
No one missed the look of anger on Gunnar's face. Tool kept looking at the door and frowned. He hadn't seen that coming and knew that he needed to have a chat with both Gabrielle and Christmas.
''I feel like I should talk to him…'' Gabrielle tried, and Yang cut her off.
''Not now, open,'' he said, and Gabrielle looked at the present in his hand with questions in her eyes.
She proceeded to open it and saw a gold bracelet. Yang took it and put it on her wrist. Gabrielle looked at it and smiled. It was a beautiful Chinese golden dragon with a diamond in its mouth.
''It's got a chip that will help us find you in case of an emergency. If you break the gold and get the diamond out, it will send us an alert with your last known position,'' Yang explained.
''So, no more wandering at night?'' she asked, and Gunnar smiled.
Hale winked at her, and she laughed. Tool got up to get something from his table and took a seat beside her, the same one Lee had taken before he left. It was a beautiful painted wooden chest. She could see that the art work on it had Tool's special touch. She opened it and saw everything she needed to learn to make tattoos and the keys to the shop and office. This time she couldn't stop a tear from rolling down her cheek.
''Tool, it's…'' she said before she seemed to be at a loss of words.
''You did tell me you loved to learn and share my passion. I want to teach you everything that I know so when the time comes, I can rely on you to keep this place running. I know it seems fast, but you are family, and I know that it's the right decision. You mean a whole damn lot more to me then what you think. Thank you for being there,'' he said, and she was full on crying by then.
''You are family too. Thank you, Dada,'' she said, and he took her in his arms.
Barney had taken the camera to record them and felt his hands shaking a bit. This, this was everything. Tool had never had a family except his friends, and they'd lost a lot of them. Gabrielle had found a home with them.
Tool let her go eventually and Barney put down the camera. He could see that Hale, Yang, Gunnar and Toll were just as moved as him. He got up and got his present, anticipating her reaction to it.
''I um, got two of them. This is the first one,'' he said as he gave it to her.
He'd thought long and hard before getting it for her, but he did want Gabrielle to feel safe. She got rid of the wrapping paper and opened the small metal box to reveal a small handgun with bullets. She looked at him dead in the eyes while carefully putting it back on the table.
''I'll show you how to use it. I…I kinda need the one in your room in the office in case there's a …I mean better safe than sorry…'' Barney tried to explain, and Gabrielle took it in her hand.
It was still empty, but it felt way heavier than it really was. But he was offering her a way to defend herself. She did appreciate that.
''Thank you, I mean it,'' she finally told him while still looking at it.
It had her initials on the canon and delicate flowers on the handle. Gunnar looked at her and felt like he was about to be sick. Gabrielle was too pure for that. This was wrong on so many levels. He cleared his throat, and they all looked at him.
''So, what about this last gift?'' he asked, and Barney smiled.
''We're going to have to go out for that,'' he said, and they followed him to the outdoor garage in the backyard.
Barney looked at his daughter and raised an eyebrow.
''So, I hear you loved motorcycles?'' he asked before he opened the garage door.
''Holy mother of fuck!'' Gabrielle exclaimed as she saw the beautiful black costumed bike with the Expendables sign on it.
She ran to give him a hug, thanking him non-stop, and he laughed.
''Welcome home Gabrielle,'' Barney said, and she felt like she might have finally found her peace.