Hello again!

It will be the last update for tonight.

Enjoy your reading,

Pavs.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Not So Dead Yet

[Tool]

He'd had no time to feel bad for not telling Barney and the guys about Woodsman. Doc was being moved back to a black site after an interrogation, and they needed to plan it. There would be no second chances.

[Barney]

Drummer might have liked to pretend that he was better than the others, but he was still being an asshole about that Victor Minns guy, and Barney had had no other choice than to do two missions back to back. He only hoped that Doc would be willing and in good shape after his rescue because they were down two men.

[Doc]

The only thing on his mind was to kill that fucking bastard. Hell, the fucker had even put his picture in front of every cell on this train. He would have laughed if he could've, but they'd strapped him so tight it was a wonder he could breathe at all. Turns out he still had it after eight long, long years.

Enough so to scare the man and the guards at least. He heard gunshots and rolled his eyes before he saw a bald man open his cell. He kept looking at the picture in front of him with hatred.

Oh yeah, his tags would sing.

Jing a ling, jing a ling, jing a ling…

.

The explosion was the one single most satisfying thing he'd seen in years. Well, it was also one of the only things he'd done in years. He laughed to himself while thinking that the guy certainly hadn't look as confident as he had in his picture while seeing that train coming at him. He wasn't about to feel sad for him either after all the shit he'd tortured him with. They had arrived at the plane when he finally talked to Barney.

''Whoa. You just gonna roll up on me, huh? After eight damn years?'' Doc asked, and Barney sighed. ''What's up with that?''

''You were in a black-ops prison that doesn't officially exist. Tool just got the location from a guy named Church, an agency spook, while we were looking for…'' Barney started before he stopped himself.

Doc frowned. Was Barney…emotional?

''Excuse me?'' Doc asked, confused.

''Agency official, relax,'' Barney said, trying to keep the conversation away from her memory.

''I think you're in a time warp, man. What a waste of life. You make one damn mistake!'' Doc exclaimed before Barney stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

''I know,'' was all he said with a serious expression that made Doc slightly uncomfortable. ''But it wasn't just one mistake, it was stupid. If you'd done that to me, I would have chopped you into pieces.''

''You would've tried,'' Doc laughed, and Barney scoffed.

''Hey, you wanna thank the guys?'' Barney asked, changing the subject.

''The guys?'' Doc asked, surprised. ''Where are our guys? Hammer? Woodsman?''

''Gone,'' Barney answered while pulling out the detonator from his pocket.

''Dead gone?'' Doc clarified.

''Yeah,'' Barney replied with a faraway look in his eyes seconds before he made the helicopter explode.

''Damn,'' Doc sighed before he followed him to the plane.

[Lee]

He had no idea what to think of Doc. The only thing he knew was that he didn't trust him. He heard the man thank them, and he snorted.

''Play nice, Christmas,'' Barney warned, and Lee nodded.

''Yeah, sure,'' he answered, and Barney sighed.

[Barney]

''Kids,'' Barney thought to himself before he felt a twinge in his heart.

He missed her, as always.

.

They went to join Hale on the dock and finalize the details. He was slightly irritated about Christmas's attitude toward Doc during their mission, but he was way too happy to have his old teammate back to let it ruin his spirits.

That was until he saw him.

Stonebanks.

[Toll]

Hale was screaming Barney's name while Toll was trying to put pressure on his friend's leg. He begged Doc to hurry up and save him. He couldn't lose another friend. He just couldn't.

Doc made sure Hale was stable enough, and they went to the plane. Toll sat close to his friend while tears of rage and helplessness rolled down his cheeks. He loved them all as brothers, but Hale was the one he was closest to except for…

He couldn't lose him too, and he prayed that Gabrielle was watching over him so that he would get better.

He couldn't bear another loss.

[Barney]

That fucker had done that to him to get revenge, and he knew it. Barney could hear Hale's laboured breathing, and he swore to himself that Stonebanks would pay for this. There would be no coming back this time.

He'd lost enough as it was; he wasn't letting anyone make him lose more.

[Tool's]

He'd just finish eating when Gunnar entered his shop covered in blood.

''Hard day at work?'' Tool asked, and Gunnar scoffed.

''You could fucking say that,'' Gunnar replied, and Tool frowned. '' Hale is in the ICU at Parish's Hospital because of a dead man that came back to life.''

''Woodsman was there?'' Tool asked without thinking.

''Who's that?'' Gunnar asked, and Tool swore. ''Tool, who the fuck is Woodsman?''

''Just tell me who was there; I'll answer that after,'' Tool sighed.

''A guy named Conrad Stonebanks,'' Gunnar said, and Tool felt the blood drain from his face. ''Tool?''

''Fuck,'' Tool whispered before he screamed, ''FUCK!''

Woodsman, Stonebanks…to say this was far from good was the understatement of the decade.

''Tool, look. I know you knew him. Barney told us a bit about what happened, but…'' Gunnar began before Tool took his vest and went out, leaving a confused and worried Gunnar behind.

[Barney]

He'd just come out of Hale's room when he saw Trench in the hallway. The man had offered his help, but Barney was done seeing his friends die or suffer for him. He needed to get to Stonebanks before it was too late, if it wasn't already.

He went past Drummer and his nonsense about him being old and drove to Tool's. Only, his friend wasn't there. He did found Gunnar sitting in the office with Tool's files.

''Who the fuck is Woodsman?'' Gunnar asked slowly, and Barney looked at him with a puzzled expression before Jensen got up his chair. ''I've been searching this whole office, our backups, and the hangar, and I couldn't find a single thing about either him or Stonebanks except their profile and death certificates. Why?''

''Why do you want to know that?'' Barney asked while feeling the tension rising.

''Because Tool assumed Woodsman was the one who got to Hale before I even heard that name, and if I thought he looked like he was about to be sick when he said that name, I was not prepared for his facial expression when I told him about Stonebanks,'' Gunnar said, clearly on edge. ''So, tell me Barney, what the fuck is going on?''

''Where's Tool?'' Barney asked while he tried to stay calm.

He could not panic.

''No fucking clue. The man got out before I could say anything else,'' Gunnar said, and Barney frowned.

''I see,'' Barney replied before he looked at his phone. ''Tell the others there'll be a meeting at Old Point tomorrow.''

''That doesn't answer my questions,'' Gunnar stated.

''Woodsman and Stonebanks both died, well, at least we thought they'd died, in two missions that were a complete fuckfest,'' Barney explained while he played with his lucky ring. ''Stonebanks turned on us to a point where we had to take a job against him and Woodsman…we tried to help him, but we couldn't get to him. Tool was there on both missions. Woodsman was his last mission up until last year when he joined us to help.''

''I am sorry,'' Gunnar said, and Barney let out a small, sad laugh.

''You don't have to…'' Barney started before Gunnar interrupted.

''No, I do. I am sorry,'' Gunnar said, and Barney understood what he meant.

He wasn't only sorry for Barney and Tool's losses, but for having putting them through a rough time as well.

''Don't worry about it, we're good,'' Barney replied, sincere.

''Thank you,'' Gunnar mumbled before he left the office, leaving Barney alone with his thoughts.

[Old Point]

''Tool, answer your damn phone!'' Barney exclaimed with a voice that would have passed for angry if he wasn't so worried.

''Still no news?'' Gunnar asked while sitting beside him

''No,'' Barney said, and Gunnar frowned.

''What's happening?'' Toll asked, joining them.

Barney didn't answer and waited for the rest of the team to join them instead.

''So, what's with you old man?'' Lee asked.

''You know, it's very hard for me to say this, but at one time, you guys were the best. Maybe you still are, but nothing last forever,'' Barney began while looking at the floor.

He couldn't look them in the eyes, and he somehow felt like Gabrielle would judge him for what he was about to do, for letting them go. But she would have understood it was to protect them, wouldn't she? Or maybe not. She was angry at them for not including her after all.

''Hard as it is to hear, we aren't the future anymore. Unfortunately for us, we're part of the past,'' Barney went on while still thinking about her.

She was in the past too, just like Billy, almost like Hale. He had to do this.

''You uh…going somewhere with this?'' Lee asked, not liking at all where this conversation was going.

''As I see it, if we keep this life up, the only way this thing ends, for all of us, is in a hole in the ground and no one giving a shit,'' Barney continued while fighting back his emotions. ''Now, if that's the way I'm supposed to go out, I can live with that. For me.''

''Barney, I know Hale's wounds brought back bad memories…'' Toll began.

''Don't,'' Barney said, his eyes begging him not to go there.

Lee looked at him and felt the pain too. They all did.

''What I can't live with,'' Barney said before he looked briefly at Toll. ''What I won't live with, is taking you with me.''

''What are you saying? That's our call,'' Toll said. ''Just like it was hers, whether we liked it or not.''

''I'm changing things now,'' Barney replied, and Toll scoffed.

''It won't bring her back, or Billy,'' Toll said, and Barney ignored him.

Because he knew if he didn't, he would care, and him caring was what had killed her, no matter what she'd thought.

''You. Me. All of us. It's over. We're done,'' Barney concluded.

''Done?'' Doc asked, trying to understand what was going on with his friend. ''You break me out to cut me loose?''

''You'll survive. You all will,'' Barney answered before he got up. ''Live your lives while you can.''

He then turned around, and while the others were still processing what was said, Lee was seeing red.

''Where're you going Barney?'' he shouted at him, and when the man didn't answer he ran after him.

''You think you just pull the plug and that's it!?'' Lee exclaimed, and Barney tried his best to ignore him.

''Just did,'' he muttered to himself.

''Yeah? Well it doesn't work that way!'' Lee screamed, and Barney turned to him.

''What?'' Barney asked, getting angry.

''You think that this is the way to go? Toll's right! It's not your call, and it won't bring them back, bring her back!'' Lee exclaimed before he added in a softer tone, ''We've been through the mud, the shit, and the blood. And I've saved your ass more times than I can count. You owe me a shot at this son of a bitch that took Caesar down, hell you at least owe that shot to Toll!''

''We're not doing that,'' Barney said while looking straight into Lee's eyes.

''When I joined, I joined for the whole ride,'' Lee said with a sad look on his face.

''I know you did,'' Barney said, sincere. ''Ride's over. I know it won't bring her back, no matter how much I want it to, but I know she would have protected you, just like I'm doing right now.''

Lee shook his head while sadness replaced his anger. He knew what this was, and he was worried for Barney's mental health. He went back to the bar and sat beside Gunnar.

''So, what happened out there?'' Toll asked.

''He's protecting us just like she would've,'' Lee said with a sarcastic voice before he finished his beer.

''Excuse me for my lack of understanding, but who was she?'' Doc asked. ''Because I've known the man for a while now, and I haven't seen him that sentimental for years, even less so for a woman.''

''She wasn't just a woman,'' Toll said with a sad smile on his face. ''She was his daughter, Gabrielle, and let me tell you that she was special.''

''I am sorry, I didn't know,'' Doc said, finally understanding what was really happening.

He'd have to make sure Barney was ok.

''She was kidnapped while we were on a mission, a trap really,'' Lee explained. ''A young recruit, Billy, died while trying to help her. They beat her up and kept her with other sex trafficking victims until she found a chance to escape, thanks to Booker.''

''Fucking hell,'' Doc commented.

''You could say that,'' Lee said, so lost in his memories of her that he didn't notice his hands were shaking a little. ''I found her on the side of the road. She was wounded and tired to death, but still she kept going.''

''What happened then?'' Doc asked.

''She sacrificed herself to save me,'' Gunnar said, and they could see the pain in his eyes. ''She put herself between me and a bullet. She was the love of my life, and she fucking killed herself so I could live.''

''I am so sorry,'' Doc said with a soft voice before looking at the others. ''I truly am.''

''Everyone is,'' Christmas said.

''Yeah, we all are,'' Toll agreed with an irritated tone, and they all looked at him. ''But what are we all doing about it? All our sorry, dumped arses are sitting here while she's gone. Fuck, if she was still here, she'd be halfway across the globe chasing Stonebanks so she could avenge Hale. She'd go to hell and back for us, just like she did on that mission.''

He finished his drink and sighed.

''I hate that she saw our world, and I hate what it did to her,'' Toll said while fighting his tears. ''And I miss her to death every fucking day. But if you think for one second that she would have let her father keep his head in his arse, or that she wouldn't have fought to her last breath to save or avenge one of us…then you didn't know her at all.''

Gunnar felt like he'd been punched in the face, twice. He remembered very well how mad he'd gotten over her fighting with them, how unaccepting of her changing he'd been. He had wanted her back so bad, but without the pain. But listening to Toll was keeping him from ignoring the fact that even if she'd have survived, he wouldn't have been able to save her. She'd gone through too much, and it pained him to realise that instead of supporting her, he'd abandoned her, more than once. He took a bottle of vodka from a waitress and drank from it.

''I would have married you,'' she'd said.

Suddenly, he wondered why. He ignored the worried look on Toll's face and got out the bar with the bottle in hand.

[Tool]

Booker had been surprisingly easy to find. When he'd thought about starting with his old house, he hadn't thought the man would actually be there. He'd be three hours away from town or almost in the middle of nowhere, if you'd asked Trench in the old days.

Even though Booker and him had an idea of what was in the syringe that John had found, they both wondered why. Of course, they'd gotten more answers now that they knew both Woodsman and Stonebanks were alive.

Tool didn't dare hope yet, and even if he did…that poison was…

He looked at Barney's name on his phone and sighed.

''You can't tell him,'' Booker stated. ''You heard his messages and read Christmas texts too. Trench already has his hands full trying to keep the man from committing suicide and wouldn't be as effective if he knew too.''

''Barney's not suicidal,'' Tool said while putting his phone on the small wooden kitchen table.

''Yes, he is. What else would you call someone going after Stonebanks on their own?'' Booker argued, and Tool had to admit the man had a point. ''And with Woodsman on the loose…that is no coincidence, and now you know it.''

''Fuck! He goes out there like he's the only one that's mad. Well I'm fucking pissed too! She was a daughter to me,'' Tool said as he got up his chair while fighting back tears. ''And he's my brother. He may not be by blood, but he is by heart, and I can't fucking lose him too.''

''I know,'' Booker said softly, and Tool sat back down, taking his head in his hands.

''So, what do we do now John?'' Tool asked without looking at him.

''We go and find her, and we hope to fuck that we do before Woodsman or Stonebanks get to Barns,'' Booker answered, and Tool sighed.

He couldn't talk to Barney yet, but he still could at least text Christmas to let them know he was alive. And well, Doc needed to know he was still welcome at the shop.

[Barney]

He was in her room, looking at her pictures and unfinished photo albums when he heard someone walking behind him.

''Not smart to try and sneak on a mercenary,'' Barney said, and he heard Doc chuckle.

''You're no faster than me, old man,'' Doc retorted back, and Barney smiled a little. ''She's beautiful.''

''Yeah, she is…was,'' Barney said, and Doc sat beside him.

''I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry,'' Doc said, and Barney felt a tear roll down is cheek.

''Me neither,'' he half-whispered, fighting against himself not to cry. He was so tired of it: the sadness, the pain, all of it.

''You don't have to stay here,'' Barney said after a while.

''I know,'' Doc nodded, and when he didn't move from the bed, Barney felt even more grateful to have him back in his life than he already was.

[Doc]

He'd waited until Barney was asleep before going back to Tool's. He knew the man wouldn't leave him in the street, which was further confirmed when Christmas had told him that Tool had left him the key to his loft.

The place hadn't changed at all. Well, except for a larger table in Tool's tattoo shop. Doc sighed. Barney had talked to him about his daughter and what she'd been to them. It couldn't have been easy to lose her. He looked at the dust on what must have been the girl's chair and felt a little worried for Tool.

He hadn't seen him yet, but from what he'd heard, Tool hadn't change much, and that meant him leaving his art alone was a very bad sign. He went to the elevator and ended up on the second floor. Gunnar looked at him from where he sat at the kitchen table, and Doc nodded at him before he went to join him.

''Toll left them for you, as per Tool's request,'' Jensen said while pointing at a bag, and Doc recognised his things. ''I went and retrieved your bike. It's in the backyard.''

''Thank you,'' Doc said, and Gunnar got up.

''Sure. Just don't open that door, it was hers…you know?'' said the giant while pointing at a door before he went to the stairs.

Doc looked at the room with an indescribable feeling, like something was bothering him, and he couldn't tell what. It wasn't like this had been his room, which Toll was occupying at the moment. It was something else.

He took his things and went to Tool's loft. He put his bags on the couch and went to make himself something to eat in the kitchen. It was only when he looked at Tool's pictures from his time in the military and his medals in his bookshelves that something clicked in Doc's mind.

It hadn't only been Gabrielle's room. It had been Conrad's too. He wondered if he and Barney had noticed it. He moved on to Tool's desk, thinking he might as well make up for lost time with what had happened in the world in his absence when he noticed a picture that had fallen under it.

He took it and was about to put it in a drawer when his eyes caught a detail that left him speechless, a detail that he knew the others weren't made aware of and that could be the only explanation as to why Tool wasn't here with him and Barney.

''Son of a bitch,'' were the first words that came out of his mouth after the shock had passed.

Tool had found her.