Hello everybody!

Here's another chapter.

Enjoy your reading!

Pavs.

Chapter Twenty-Six: We're the Only Ones Crazy Enough…

[Barney]

The whole team was silent, waiting for Barney to say something. Conrad was restrained and seated at the back of the van with Smilee, Thorn and him to prevent his escape, while Luna and Mars were at the front. Barney still had a bad feeling about this. It had been too fast, too easy. He felt the kids staring, and he looked at them.

''Nice job, kids,'' he said before he took out his radio to reach Mauser. ''Trench, do you copy?''

[Trench]

''Fucking hell, Barney! I've been waiting, trying to reach you,'' started Mauser, and Barney interrupted him.

''Package secure,'' Barney said, and Trench was about to tell him about Stonebanks when he got a text from Yang.

''She's coming your way. Be prepared.'' it read, and Trench felt his heart skip a beat.

How did he know? For how long? Why? What about Tool and Booker? What the fuck did he mean by 'be prepared'? He heard a click in his radio and swore. He'd lost connection with Ross.

And he waited, again.

[Barney]

He couldn't stop looking at Stonebanks. His thoughts were all over the place, and they were dark, almost pitch black. The man groaned, and Barney kept staring.

''Why don't you just put a bullet in his head and be done with it?'' asked Smilee, and Barney repressed the urge to snap back at the kid.

It wasn't his fault; he didn't know better. Then Smilee removed the duck tape from Conrad's mouth, and Barney sighed, barely managing to not roll his eyes too. You don't just threaten men like Stonebanks and give them an opportunity to talk after. He hoped the kid lived long enough to learn that.

Conrad looked at him straight in the eyes, and Barney lost it. He punched him square in the face.

''Hey! Hey! Hey! You said we were taking him in,'' warned Thorn while he pushed Ross back in his seat.

''Woah!'' Stonebanks said between coughs. ''Good mornin'!''

Conrad looked around him, and while it looked like the man was simply confused, Barney knew better. Stonebanks was assessing the situation.

''Are these your students?'' Stonebanks asked sarcastically. ''Hey, kids. What'd you learn tonight, hum? Yeah, what happened with the old crew?''

Stonebanks was looking at him while asking this, knowing full well just how much damage he'd done, and Barney felt like he was about to lose his shit.

''Oh, that's right. They stuck their noses into other people's worlds and got fatally injured,'' Stonebanks added, and they all could feel the anger rising from both Barney and him. ''Now they're the Deletables. Hey! You hear that kids? Take note, cause that's what you're doing right now.''

''Can we shut his mouth?'' asked Smilee, and Barney wished he could say yes.

But he knew that Stonebanks had more going on than it appeared. He could feel it. He had worked with the man, known him for too long not to notice it. And he knew from his files that the man in front of him had gone even darker than what Barney had feared when he'd shot him all those years ago.

''You're talking pretty tough to a guy who's incapacitated, which is good for you,'' said Stonebanks, mocking the kid.

''Is it?'' replied Smilee, looking unimpressed.

Barney almost wished he could knock him unconscious just so he would stop provoking Stonebanks. He could barely deal with himself as it was; he did not need to babysit too.

''Why don't you cut me loose? I'll open your meat shirt and show you your own heart,'' threatened Conrad, and Barney felt his blood boil. ''Hey, Barns, why don't the two of us just end this?''

Barney cross his arms over his chest, forcing himself to look at Stonebanks with a neutral, almost bored expression.

''What do you say? Mix it up…Either you snapping my spine or me snapping yours. You know, make it snappy,'' said Conrad before he heard Smilee laugh. ''He thinks I'm joking. I am not joking. You should see me when I'm angry. You'd be very impressed, then very dead.''

Thorn looked at the three of them, and Barney could tell he was wondering what the hell was really going on, as opposed to Smilee, who seemed like he was stuck in a dick length contest.

''So, come on, pal. Anything you wanna get off your chest?'' asked Stonebanks, and when nobody answered he added, ''Come on, lay it out. I'm a good listener. You gonna take me back to the has-been crew? Carve me up around a fire? Very tribal.''

Barney felt a rush of anger, and he got closer.

''When we stop, I'm gonna break every bone in your body and drop what's left at the Hague,'' said Barney, almost growling.

''Ah! The Hague. I finally made it, big time!'' laughed Conrad. ''I'm a war criminal.''

''Keep laughing,'' replied Barney, mentally counting down the seconds before he could get rid of the man.

''Do you think that you can just deliver me like a package?'' asked Conrad before he shook his head. ''We were close once. See, we started this whole Expendables thing together. See? Look, I've got the mark.''

Thorn looked at Barney in shock, then at Smilee and wondered why the fuck nobody had told the rest of them.

''A bit faded, but we had a falling out,'' continued Stonebanks.

''You went dark,'' said Barney, his voice almost shaking with anger.

''It's a dark business, Barney. Don't pretend you're not in it. The baddest survive, those are the rules. I didn't make them up,'' replied Stonebanks. ''You see, Barney here was content to work for the small-end money as an employee. Now being boss is more lucrative, but that's a concept that somehow eluded you. Plus, you've got that pesky moral conscience. God that stuff gets in the way. He thinks he's the good guy.''

''Keep talkin while you can,'' interrupted Barney,

He was sick and tired of Conrad's bullshit. He was fed up with how much all this shit reminded him of his failures. He hated that Stonebanks was making him feel as tortured and betrayed as the day Trench, Tool and him had discovered what the man was really doing in his spare time.

''Sure. You got a conscience, that makes you weak. Success, real success, is being willing to do the things that other people are not,'' said Stonebanks, and Barney almost felt like he was about to throw up.

''Not everyone's as sick as you,'' countered Barney, and Conrad smiled.

''Oh, but you are,'' he retorted back. ''Did you kill anyone today, Barn? Blow any shit up? How about you, kids? Kill anyone? Before you all start grabbing bricks to stone me at The Hague, you might wanna check your own hands for blood.''

There was a moment of silence, and Conrad sighed.

''But I digress. Where was I? Yes, business is booming, right? A chopper here, a missile there. Guns, whatever. When suddenly, a competitor, if you can call Uncle Sam a competitor, hires my own team, Barney and the whole gang to whack me,'' explained Stonebanks, while his voice kept rising in anger.

Thorn and Smilee were speechless. They knew that Stonebanks was messed up, but they hadn't known what Barney's part had been in this. It was unsettling, to say the least.

''Things got ugly real fast, and a lot of people got dead. Three former brothers-in-arms,'' Stonebanks said, getting angrier by the second.

''Shut your mouth,'' warned Barney, but Stonebanks had been waiting too long for this.

''Three Expendables, our brothers. Men we ate with, fought with, bled with. Dead. He puts three slugs into my chest. Thank God for body armor, Even I thought I was dead! And then he boogies out with the casualties. All dead, because you couldn't stay out of my business!'' screamed Stonebanks, and Barney got up before he pointed his gun at him.

''SHUT YOUR MOUTH!'' Barney screamed as Conrad kept provoking him, and it was so loud that Luna and Mars were wondering what the hell was going on while both Thorn and Smilee were trying to calm their boss down.

''It's what he wants,'' said Thorn, effectively calming Barney down.

There was a long pause before Stonebanks let out a small, cold laugh.

''Oh, it's hard to fathom. I can't believe you forgot,'' said Stonebanks.

''What?'' asked Barney, clearly still pissed off.

''That it's hard to beat an enemy when he's living inside your own head. See, you tie me up like an animal, lead me to the slaughter. You humiliate me, disgrace me. Now when the times come to kill you, and it will, I will not use a weapon, I will use my hands,'' said Conrad in a low voice that gave them shivers running down their spine. ''And I will have an even greater time killing you, knowing that I made sure Gabrielle Ross felt the same way that I do, forever, before I take your life.''

Barney felt his blood freeze in his veins as a high pitch ringing noise sounded in his hears.

''Gabrielle.'' He heard himself think seconds before he totally lost control of himself.

''You got bored?'' Barney asked with a small smile, and she nodded.

''I got two hours to spare until I go to Tool's. What are you doing exactly?'' Gabrielle asked, and his smile grew bigger before he explained what was the problem with the engine.

''BARNEY?!'' screamed Thorn as he saw the flashing light of the tracker device while Smilee was trying to get Barney to stop trying to strangle Stonebanks.

But he wasn't responsive. He was lost in his mind.

''Hey, Dad! I missed you…'' Gabrielle tried, but he just stared at her before he put the flask on the table.

''Would you mind telling me why my tank is stuck in the mud canon first behind the hangar?'' Barney asked, looking pissed off, while he was trying as hard as he could not to laugh.

It was hilarious after all.

''It's a GPS Tracker!'' screamed Thorn.

''How about that!?'' mocked Stonebanks, but Barney was blind with rage and memories.

''You too?'' she'd joked, and Barney smiled.

''We'd never leave without saying goodbye,'' he'd said before he hugged her.

''I love you, please come back,'' she said.

''I'll do my best,'' Barney offered, and he could see the tears forming in her eyes.

It wasn't until the van was thrown in the air because of a rocket missile that he came back to himself. He saw that they were on a bridge and that he didn't have time to check on the kids. So, he did the only thing he could.

He jumped off the bridge.

[Stonebanks]

He saw his men lining up the kids and frowned. What the hell would he do with them? Oh well, Barney was predictable after all, so was his daughter. Maybe he could just kill two birds with one stone. He rolled his eyes; he didn't need them. He had Gabrielle.

''Sir, I am afraid I've got bad news,'' one of his men said.

''What?'' sighed Conrad, already annoyed.

''It's the girl. She's gone,'' he replied, and Stonebanks shot him as soon as he finished his sentence.

''Find the girl! NOW!'' he ordered to no one in particular before he turned to the kids.

''Hold it! We may need them after all. I need a body. Find him too,'' said Stonebanks, knowing full well that Barney was harder to kill than a fucking cockroach.

He had enjoyed working with him in the old days for that specific reason after all.

[Barney]

He woke up with half his body still in laying in the river and a splitting headache. He heard men coming to him and groaned. Of course, Stonebanks would make sure he really was dead. He tried to get up, only to have one of them push him back down.

They were in the process of taking his weapons when they all dropped dead. Barney waited before he got up and looked at the bodies, then at where he thought the bullets had come from.

If that person wanted him dead, he would've been. He took his weapons and placed them back in their holsters before he started walking. Everything was hurting like a motherfucker, so much in fact that he had to stop walking after a while. He was getting dizzier by the second and had actually fallen to his knees when he heard what seemed to be a car approaching.

''Fuck,'' he mumbled seconds before the darkness took him.

.

He woke up to the sound of his name, and it took him a longer time than he cared to admit to recognize Trench's voice.

''I am here,'' Barney mumbled, and Trench sighed.

''You fucking bastard! I was worried,'' Trench exclaimed.

''You were?'' asked Barney, and Trench rolled his eyes.

''Shut up,'' Trench retorted back, and Barney couldn't stop a small smile from forming on his lips. ''Can you get up?''

Barney nodded before he noticed the bandages.

''Don't look at me. Someone dropped you off, and you were already taken care of,'' Trench said, and Barney frowned.

''Alright, well we got to find more info on Conrad. He is definitely linked to Gabrielle's death…'' Ross began before he saw Trench's face. ''What?''

Barney felt his heart skip a beat. There was something wrong, very, very wrong. Trench began talking, and he just looked at him with a neutral expression, each and every word making him more and more speechless. By the time Mauser had told him about Yang's text message, Barney was frozen in place with an unreadable look in his eyes.

Then he felt all his emotions rising at the same time, and he screamed before he took whatever he could reach to throw it at the walls. He was enraged. His daughter was alive, and that motherfucker had tortured her. He didn't give a fuck about Tool's piss poor attempt at protecting him. This was his fault. Stonebanks had used her against him. His daughter was missing, and he NEEDED to find her.

Trench kept looking at him without saying anything, and Barney turned to him.

''What?!'' Barney exclaimed.

''There's something else…this came for you,'' said Mauser, and Barney felt the blood drain from his face as he watched Stonebanks giving him 48 hours to save his recruits.

[Barney's hangar]

He'd been listening to Galgo for about two hours now, and he knew that this man could drive anyone insane with his babbling. Still, it was better than being stuck in his own head, and he did have his doubts has to why the Spanish man was talking so much.

They finally finished the plane checkups and the packing, and Barney took the plane out of the hangar only to see Tool, Booker, Gunnar, Doc, Toll and Lee standing in his way. He opened the small plane window and bellowed, ''What the hell are you doing here?!'' Lee smiled.

''You were stupid enough to get yourself into this mess! We're the only ones crazy enough to get you out of it!'' Lee bellowed back, and Barney found himself smiling sincerely for the first time in a while.

''Come on. We're late for a war!'' Barney called before he made the back door of the plane open for them.

Then he turned to Galgo.

''Galgo, you might wanna get out of that seat. Christmas is coming,'' he said, and Galgo looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.

''But it's June,'' the man replied, and Barney sighed.

''Galgo, get the hell out!'' Ross exclaimed, and Galgo did as he was asked.

''Wow,'' Barney then whispered to himself.

Galgo really did seem like a nice guy, but he did talk a lot.

It took only a few minutes for the guys to get in the plane and close the door behind them. It felt almost strange to have Tool, Booker and Doc with him to go on a mission again, but it was definitely not unwelcomed, especially not with Stonebanks and Gabrielle.

He closed his eyes for only a moment only to have his memories coming back to him like a punch in the face. He could see both Gabrielle and Stonebanks lying on the floor, not moving. He was responsible for them both, and he'd failed them.

''Since when did suicide become your hobby?'' asked Christmas, effectively bringing him back to reality.

''I got a will,'' replied Barney, and Lee frowned.

He didn't like the way his friend had answered, just like he hadn't liked the way Barney had spoken to him after ditching them at the bar.

''You know, you are not alone,'' Lee said, and Barney looked at him. ''And I'm probably the only friend you've got.''

''I've got lots of friends,'' said Barney, thinking about the guys at the back of the plane.

''You walk into a room; people jump under tables,'' Lee replied, and Barney laughed.

''I missed you, Christmas,'' said Ross with more emotions in his voice than what he had intended.

''I missed you too, you demented bastard,'' replied Lee with a small smile.

There was a short moment of silence between them before they heard Galgo saying that he never slept on planes.

Barney couldn't help but laugh with Christmas, and they heard steps behind them.

''Well, I don't know where you found him, but he is quite something,'' Tool said, and Lee snorted.

''Yeah, how long before someone kills him back there?'' Lee asked before he saw both Barney and Tool's serious expressions. ''Guess I better go make sure there isn't blood to wash on the plane then.''

Tool waited for Christmas to get out, and he closed the door behind him. Barney motioned for him to take a seat, and Tool did so before he turned to his friend.

''Look, Barns, I know there are no good excuses for me not telling you she's alive sooner,'' Tool began, and Barney knew from his voice that his old friend was struggling to find the right words to say what he had to. ''But you have to know that I did what I thought best for you. I know we don't talk about this stuff near as much as we should, but you were going to a dark place, brother.''

Barney closed his eyes and sighed. He knew deep down that Tool wanted to protect him. Trench, Yang and Booker too.

''How long have you known?'' Barney asked, and Tool sighed.

''A couple of weeks. Even though Yang wasn't going on missions with you, he always kept an eye open. He was the one to find a picture of her and Woodsman,'' Tool explained while giving him the picture. ''I knew Booker wasn't far, so I called him to go investigate. We lost contact with Yang, but not before he was able to send us enough info to know what role Stonebanks was playing in all of this. And I wanted to tell you straight away, but being in the state you were, and with Trench barely able to keep you from doing something stupid, we just…''

Tool passed a hand in his hair, and Barney looked at him.

''You scared the fuck out of us, because we could see you going dark. All of us. And I couldn't live with you either pulling a Stonebanks or a Woodsman on us. You don't get to turn dark, and you don't get to kill yourself either. I won't let you; we won't let you. And you can be sure that I'd rather have you mad at us than dead,'' Tool finished, and Barney put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

They both looked at each other, barely containing their tears.

''Thank you, I love you too,'' Barney said, and Tool nodded.

''And I you; we're brothers. That will never change,'' replied Tool. ''Now get us there. We got to get the kids and save our girl.''

Barney smiled at him and looked at the sky in front of them.

It was time to bring Gabrielle home.

[Trench]

He heard a car coming from afar and took out his pistol. Yang still hadn't returned his phone calls, and for all he knew, Tool had yet to arrive in New Orleans. Barney still hadn't contacted him either, so someone coming to see him was not likely to be friendly. He heard the screeching of tires close to him and sighed.

He could hear a door open then close but nothing else. He frowned before he tried to see if there was someone standing by what appeared to be an old car. A car that looked way too familiar to him…

''Gabrielle…''

This wasn't making any sense. It couldn't be…then again…

''This day is only getting better,'' he whispered to himself.

''Good to know I am not the only one thinking that,'' said a voice that made his heart skip a beat, then he heard her whisper, ''Hey, Trench.''

He dropped his pistol while he turned around, and she offered him a small smile.

''Gabrielle,'' he replied with a trembling voice, while the tears were rolling down his cheeks.

She got closer to him, and he took her in his arms, hugging her as hard as he could. Gabrielle let out a huge sigh of relief, and Trench found himself unable to stop crying. She could feel her own tears coming too.

''I missed you so much,'' Trench said.

''God, it's so good to see you,'' she said at the same time.

They laughed a little while she took a step back. Then he looked at her. Her long dark brown hair had been cut to shoulder length and was now black, making her look even more like her dad. She was much thinner, although she did seem to have gained some muscles. She had a scar on her right eye that seemed to be only weeks old and another one, older, that went under her chin and down her neck. He frowned. She was wearing a turtle neck vest, body armor, pants, high boots and gloves, so he couldn't see if she had any more injuries.

''Look, not that I am not happy to see you, but Yang and a friend are waiting for us, and we really need to get going,'' Gabrielle said after a minute of silence.

Trench went with her to go get his plane ready before they took off.

[Plane]

Trench couldn't stop himself from looking at her in the cockpit mirror. She was making sure that every weapon was accounted for. He felt his heart ache. She shouldn't have had to come back to this. Fuck, she shouldn't have died in first place. He could still feel the denial, then the pain that came after. He kept watching her getting ready for God only knew what at this point when he heard his phone's notification ringtone. Tool and Booker were back in town.

Gabrielle walked up to the cockpit and sat in the co-pilot seat, thinking of Christmas as she did so. She felt pain, longing…fear. She could remember clear as day her last moments before she'd been taken from them. Gunnar proposing, her hesitation…She wondered how things would be once she would see them again.

She brushed her moon pendant with the tip of her fingers and closed her eyes. She could still picture him giving it to her, her holding onto it while she screamed... Gabrielle opened her eyes while trying not to panic. She was in Trench's plane with him, she was fine, and Trench too…

Or maybe not. She saw his somber expression, and she looked at his phone screen to see Barney mentioning Stonebanks and the forty-eight hours he had given him to go and rescue his new recruits.

''We're going,'' she said, and Trench looked at her straight in the eyes, and before he could say anything she added, ''It is NOT negotiable.''

Trench wanted to argue. He wanted to convince her not to. Fuck, bringing her to Stonebanks was the very last fucking thing he wanted to do, but this look in her eyes…

''What did he do to you?'' he asked with a soft tone and could see her tense.

And the pain, and the fear. He could see all of it and he fucking hated it. Just like he did when he realised back then that she'd been kidnapped by Vilain and what he'd fear the man had done to her. If only he'd known that Vilain was the least of their worries…

He'd have try to protect her better.

''We'll get them, then we'll take care of him,'' she replied, and he nodded before looking at the sky in front of them.

''Listen Gabrielle, I understand that you want to help, but Stonebanks is…'' Trench paused, and she looked angry.

''I know exactly who Conrad Stonebanks really is,'' she said in a cold tone that made his heart drop. ''And that is why I am coming with you, no matter what you'll have to say about it. That is why I made Yang promise that…''

She stopped talking and looked in front of her. But he knew her well. Too well. It had been a while since he'd let himself care about someone that much. And even though the world had tainted her soul, she'd survived it and was still herself as much as she could. And that facial expression told him something very wrong would happen.

''Promise what? How did he know about you?'' asked Trench, worried.

''If Stonebanks is to take me with him again and he…you… can't stop him, you have to promise to kill me,'' said Gabrielle with a trembling voice.

''Gabrielle!'' exclaimed Trench with a shocked expression on his face and fear in his voice. ''There is no way I am doing this! There is no FUCKING WAY any of us will agree to this! I don't know how you got Yang lying to you, but we won't…'''

''Yang did not lie!'' interrupted Gabrielle. ''I asked him as a life debt!''

Trench felt his anger rise. Not again. NEVER again.

''WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!'' he screamed. ''You can't force him to kill you! Or either one of us! Do you have any idea what it was like to lose you?! Do you know how painful it was to see you lying dead on the floor, to know that we had failed to save you?! I LOVE you, Gabrielle. I know I never told you but I DO.''

He tried to take a deep breath, and he could see the tears rolling down her cheeks. How ironic was it that she was the first one to hear about how he truly felt about her and her death. But Barney had needed him, Tool too. The feelings were overwhelming and he found himself almost crying.

''I've never met anyone like you, mein Schatz. You are everything, and you mean everything to us, to me. From the moment I saw you in your hospital room at Parish, ready to fight from your hospital bed, to the moment I almost fell to my knees while seeing what I thought was your dead body: I loved you. I am not your father or Tool. I am not Gunnar either, but I do love you in my own way. You are a very dear friend of mine... and it broke my heart to lose you,'' Trench said, his voice shaking, seconds before Gabrielle threw herself into his arms.

She was fighting the tears as he held her against him as much as he could, managing somehow to caress her hair while still steering the plane.

''I love you too.'' She whispered against his ear and Trench held her a bit tighter.

They always talked about everything and anything. But this was more…raw, vulnerable… sincere. She trusted him, cared for him. And he did too.

''I don't know what he did to you, and you don't have to tell me, but I need you to understand that I will never let you do that to yourself and that I will never let Stonebanks hurt you again either,'' Trench whispered, and she let go of him.

She dried her tears, looked at the back of the plane, took her seat, and sighed. It was time for her to speak. Besides, she would have to if she didn't want their next stop to end up in a blood bath.