Hello again!

Here's another one.

Enjoy your reading!

Pavs.

Chapter Fourteen: Broken

[Plane]

Church had been able to get them and had somehow saved good old Santa too. They were tired, they were hurt, and they just couldn't wait to get the fuck home. The men keeping them were now dead, but Barney had the feeling that there was more to it.

And it scared him because he was in no condition to fight. Apart from Toll, Yang and maybe Gunnar, they all were way too malnourished and had taken too many beatings to be as efficient as they could be, even if they had water, meds, and at least five hours of sleep. But they were going home, and that was something at least.

[Tool's]

Gabrielle hadn't stopped shaking all the way to Tool's and had thrown up again in the garage when they arrived.

''Take her upstairs, I'll take care of it,'' Tool said, and Trench nodded.

She followed him to Tool's apartment and ran to the toilet. Trench went to get her a glass of water and some meds to help her nausea. He was worried. He'd seen it before and he knew all too well just how bad it could get. She took the meds and went to change into Tool's clothes, not bothering to hide from him, not that Trench gave a fuck anyway. He just hadn't seen her like this and knew that she was way too much in shock to care about things like that.

No, what made him stop and stare was Tool's phone ringing behind her and Barney's name on the small screen. He didn't answer, he just couldn't. And right there and then, with Gabrielle looking at the phone too, he knew that he wasn't the only one afraid to answer.

''I missed him, but I can't…'' Gabrielle started with a broken voice while she turned to him. ''I can't tell him that I…''

''Of course, you can,'' Trench interrupted without hesitation.. ''Just like you can talk to me. Or Tool, or any of the guys, really.''

''What if he hates me?'' she asked while crying.

''Why on earth would he hate you?'' Tool asked while coming into the apartment.

''Because I killed someone,'' she answered while holding back a sob.

''We did too, and you still love us now don't you?'' Tool questioned, and Gabrielle looked offended.

''Of course, I do!'' she exclaimed. The phone started ringing again, showing Christmas's name.

''Why would it be different for us then?'' Trench asked.

''Because I…because I already…'' Gabrielle tried to say before she let herself fall onto the bed. ''Because I already fucking hate myself, and I don't know how to stop it. And I have no fucking clue as to why you even bothered in the first place. How is it suppose to get better now?! How the fuck does that make me more deserving of living than them?! I should be fucking dead!''

She'd went from a broken voice to a scream ,and Tool felt his heart shatter with every word. Trench tried to reach for her, and he stopped when she looked at him.

''I feel like I should be dead,'' she told him while looking straight into his eyes.

''NO, YOU DON'T!'' Tool exclaimed with an almost desperate tone. ''You don't deserve to be dead, you hear me? You saved us. You fucking saved us even before you knew it. You saved us as soon as Barney received that call to come and find you. And we both fucking love you. We all love you. I made mistakes, Gabrielle, mistakes that I won't make twice by letting you jump off a fucking bridge. You are a part of what makes me good. I will never give up on you, so don't you dare give up on me by hating yourself!''

Gabrielle started sobbing again, and Tool sat on the bed with her. She tried to hug him, and he made them both more comfortable by lying down. She cried until she fell asleep from exhaustion, but Tool stayed wide awake, crying silently.

They heard Trench's cell phone going off, and he took it upon himself to answer.

''Barney, I fucked up,'' were the first word coming out of his mouth.

[Hangar]

''What the hell is taking them so long?!'' Gunnar exclaimed after the third time.

Barney shot him a look that made him stay quiet for a bit. They had caught a man waiting for them, and Church had taken it upon himself to take care of it. Then he had called them back minutes later to tell them that Trench's hangar was a blood bath. Now they were all preparing to go to Tool's to see if they were there.

Barney was about to give up when he decided to call Trench on his cell phone. It rang once, and then he heard someone pick up, so he put his phone on speaker.

''Barney, I fucked up,'' Trench said, making his blood freeze in his veins.

''Is she hurt?'' Gunnar asked, not daring to ask if she was dead.

''No, she has no wounds, but you and Barney should come to Tool's. Something happened.'' Trench explained.

''They got to him?'' Christmas asked.

''No,'' Tool said, but none of them were relieved.

Something was going on.

[Tool's]

They all went to Tool's after they were given the all clear. They all were wearing combat clothes, not having anything else in the hangar. At least now they were clean. The first thing Barney noticed was a bucket of water and soap half emptied on the garage floor.

And it was quiet, way too quiet.

They got upstairs to see Trench waiting for them in the second-floor kitchen. He was covered with blood. Barney looked around him, but he could see or hear neither Tool or Gabrielle.

''They are in Tool's apartment. She's finally asleep from the meds I gave her. She couldn't stop being sick,'' Trench explained with a sad expression that unnerved Barney.

''Why was she sick?'' Barney inquired.

''Was it her wound?'' Toll asked a second later.

''She healed form the accident very well,'' Trench said before he took a deep breath. ''I know this because we thought it was safer if she stayed with me.''

''No,'' Barney whispered while Gunnar felt his heart stop.

''Tool came to help, but we didn't have any ammo left. They kept her from going outside and were about to kill her but…'' Trench faltered as the others started to understand why she was sick. ''They found us instead of her and were about to shoot us. But they didn't…''

Trench could see Barney's expression, and he felt bad for him, but he had to say it.

''She was faster than them, Barns,'' Tool said from the staircase as Trench closed his eyes. ''We're sorry.''

There was a moment of silence, then Gunnar took a chair and sent it flying across the room. Then he screamed.

''FUCKERS! Those mother fuckers broke her!'' he screamed at the top of his lungs.

[Gabrielle]

I woke up from hearing a bang downstairs and jumped out of bed to find myself alone in Tool's apartment. I ran out and was almost on the second floor, in fact, I could see them in the kitchen when I heard Gunnar screaming. I froze.

Broken?

''Is that what I am to you?'' I said out loud without noticing.

''Gabrielle,'' Gunnar said while turning to me.

I could see that he regretted his words, but it hurt. Everything hurt. I turned to Trench.

''You said I could talk to them,'' I said with a broken voice.

I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks.

''Gabrielle,'' Gunnar tried again, but I could barely breathe.

''You said I could trust you,'' I then managed to say to Gunnar. ''Am I only broken to you?''

[Tool's]

Gunnar felt like he'd been slapped in the face. He'd fucked up too, and at the worst time possible. He didn't know what to say because of course he was mad at the fuckers who made her do this. Of course she would never be the same. But no, of fucking course not, she wasn't only broken to him. She was everything to him. And he was about to tell her when he saw something shift in her eyes. He'd taken too much time.

''I'll go back to bed. I am glad you're all ok,'' she said with no emotion whatsoever on her usually very expressive face.

Gunnar went back to his room and slammed the door behind him.