Hello everbody!

I have to issue a warning for a major character death here. A death that broke my heart and shattered my soul for so many reasons.

You've been warned.

Enjoy your reading,

Pavs.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Between You and the Bullet

[Gabrielle]

I woke up with a start as my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. It was the fifth time in a row I had nightmares about Gunnar being dead because of me. I steadied my breaths and wiped up the tears with my sleeve. It was a wonder I hadn't screamed.

I could hear the others snoring in the small beds beside me. I quietly got out of the room and went to the kitchen. The light to the communication room, aka the office, was open, as was the door.

I frowned, convinced that it wasn't like them to leave something like that open. I went back to my bed, pulled out my gun from under my pillow, and began to inspect the rooms one by one, making sure to point my gun straight ahead. Eventually, I got to the communication room.

''You should put it away. It's no use to you,'' Drummer said, and I lowered my weapon before joining him at the desk. I swore under my breath and then frowned.

''Aren't you supposed to be with the others?'' I asked, and he closed the door silently behind me.

''I told them I was delayed,'' Drummer admitted, pointing the screens behind him. ''We need to talk. The fact that we didn't alert the others might prove convenient.''

I saw my file under the name of Gabrielle Stonebanks and froze. Drummer sighed.

''I know, this is bullshit. And don't worry, the right people know what to believe. But Isaacs is after you and he is hell bent on it,'' Drummer explained.

''Why?'' I asked, still a little in shock.

''Because Stonebanks went too far in his plans to make you believe you were his daughter. I don't think he would ever have let you go,'' Drummer said with a somber expression. ''Gabrielle, for all people in Russia's organized crime and some people in the trafficking industries know, you are Stonebanks's heir.''

I let myself fall into one of the chairs, and Drummer sat beside me.

''This is insane. It's just not possible!" I exclaimed through my teeth, not forgetting the others were still asleep.

''I almost got nothing. Thanks to Isaacs and Stonebanks, nobody wants anything to do with it. Whether it be one of ours or... hired personnel,'' Drummer said.

I felt a memory pushing through the front of my mind and gasped.

''How about someone who's got nothing to lose and a shit ton of reasons to be mad?'' I asked, and Drummer looked at me with a resigned look on his face.

''He'll never shut up about it after that. Go wake the others,'' Drummer said before I looked at him with a raised brow. ''Or not.''

''Or not,'' I replied.

This was even more dangerous than I thought, and there was no way in hell I would put them more at risk than they already were. I went to pack my stuff and followed Drummer to his car, taking care of locking from the outside.

[Bunker]

They heard the main door open and close and Trench jumped out his bed.

''Where's Gabrielle?!'' he exclaimed as they all felt like they'd been woken up by a bucket of cold water.

Toll ran to the door as Hale went to the com's office. Tool and Trench made a tour of the other rooms. They all reassembled in the kitchen.

''The door's been locked from the outside,'' Toll said.

''Coms office is a no go,'' Hale added.

''Weapons and ammo are missing,'' concluded Tool as they all realized what had happened.

Trench took out his cell and called Yang's burner phone. No signal.

''FUCK!'' he screamed before they all sat down in silence.

They could only wait.

[Black site]

He couldn't remember the last time he had seen the sunlight. He heard the door to his cell open, and a guard with her face covered came to get him. He walked through more doors and corridors than he had when he went to the interrogation room and frowned. They came to a garage where armored vehicles lined up, and he felt a knife being slipped into his hand.

''Clean and discreet,'' he heard a familiar female voice whisper. He tried to figure out where he'd heard it before and wanted to ask, but there was no time for idle chit chat.

They took care of the two guards quickly and silently, taking the time to hide the bodies. The woman indicated to him to follow in one of the vehicles, and they were outside in no time. She stopped near a ditch and motioned for him to get out, and once they were away, she blew up the truck. He saw a helicopter approaching, and she motioned for him to get in. Once inside, the woman took off her mask, and he did not hide his surprise when he recognized Gabrielle, Barney's daughter.

''I cannot believe that worked,'' said Max Drummer with a smile while he brought them towards the bunker.

''I know you're impressed,'' Gabrielle scoffed, and Church smirked back.

''I see that you did not change,'' Church replied before going to the front with Drummer.

They made sure they weren't being followed before they finally came back to the bunker. Gabrielle saw multiples cars and was about to draw her gun when she heard her father.

[Bunker]

''WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GONE!?'' Barney screamed as the rest of the team stood off to the side and looked bewildered/concerned.

He was so fucking tired of this bullshit.

''Gabrielle,'' said Lee, and Barney was about to tell him that of course he was talking about her when he noticed Christmas's expression.

''Well, I see this is not a good time. I'll just come back later,'' Gabrielle said, and she was about to turn when Trench spoke.

''Don't,'' he said as she looked straight in his eyes. He'd been scared. She felt her heart drop.

''Mein liebling, es tut mir leid (My love, I am sorry),'' she told him softly while Lee frowned at her tone.

Something was off, he could tell. Barney didn't give him time to wonder though.

''What were you thinking?'' Barney continued, still angry. ''You went out, risking your life and Drummer's for Church?''

''Well, that hurts my feelings,'' Church muttered, and Barney sent him a dark look.

Both Church and Drummer went to the office with Thorn and Maggie.

''I needed him,'' Gabrielle said.

''Don't you mean we?'' Lee pitched in.

''I mean I,'' Gabrielle confirmed, and Barney felt his anger spike up.

''So, what, we were just supposed to wait until you either finished the job or died?!'' Barney exclaimed, outraged, until he saw Gabrielle's facial expression.

''You set us a trap,'' Yang said. ''This is why my code couldn't open the office door.''

''Why?'' Barney asked as Gabrielle felt like she was losing her grip on her emotions real fast.

''You're in danger,'' she replied. ''You didn't have to be.''

''Wait what?'' asked Smilee, and Gabrielle sighed.

''I understood your need to go after Stonebanks, I really did. And I get that Gunnar is one of us, that he's in danger…'' Gabrielle said with a shaking voice. ''But this isn't your fight anymore. Stonebanks is dead!''

''Gabrielle, don't,'' Barney said with a softer voice, and she felt like crying.

''Then don't listen to argue. Listen to understand,'' she begged, and he nodded. ''This is all my fault. Stonebanks was never going to let me go. Drummer came alone to tell me he'd created me a whole new identity: Gabrielle Stonebanks. And it wouldn't have been relevant anymore if he'd not been obsessed by me to the point where Isaacs is not the head of his part of the Russian weapon empire anymore.''

''No,'' Tool whispered with a horrified expression.

''Gabrielle Stonebanks is Conrad Stonebanks's only child and heir,'' Gabrielle continued as a wave of shock passed through the team, and she began to cry. ''Which means… Gunnar was kidnapped because of me. Just like anyone who would try to avenge or protect me.''

''Gabrielle it's not your fault,'' Barney said.

''Isn't it?'' she asked him with a heartbroken expression, and Trench looked at her with tears in his eyes. ''Did Gunnar not disappear after he went to avenge me? Did James Woodsman not die to protect me?''

Then she looked at Hale as her whole body was shaking from the effort of not breaking down in tears.

''Did you not get shot the day I tried to escape Isaacs's men?'' she added before she looked at her father again. ''Did Billy not die because I couldn't defend myself? Or did Tool and Trench not put themselves in danger for the same reason?''

''Gabrielle this is not…'' tried Galgo, and she turned to him. ''I lost my entire team, I get it. But you can't do that on your own. Why do you think I wanted friends so badly?''

''Exactly, this is my point! I don't want to lose any of you! This has nothing to do with any of you. Fuck, it isn't even job related. I could have lived with that, painfully, but we are mercenaries. I get it,'' Gabrielle said as the old members of the team felt their heart drop at the "we" of "we are mercenaries" piece of that sentence. ''There are hundreds of people looking to kill me, both in Russia and all over the world. I fought too long and too hard to protect you. I broke and shattered myself so you wouldn't have a scratch, and if I have to die alone in a hole because I fucked up, I can live with that, but not if that happens to you!''

Barney just looked at her. It was as if they were back at Tool's parlor when Trench had made her admit she'd been followed and as if he was letting his team go at Old Point at the same time. He felt like someone was ripping his heart out of his chest.

''I believe these were almost the exact same words I used right before I let Lee, Doc, Gunnar, and Toll go. And I do remember Lee chasing me to try and knock the nonsense out of me. And I wish I'd listened to him when you scolded me for abandoning our family,'' Barney said with a voice full of emotion. ''You say that there are hundreds of people looking forward to ending you? Well, we will end them, together. Because we are family.''

''Billy and James's death weren't on you,'' added Hale. ''Just like my wounds aren't and neither were Trench's and Tool's.''

''And if you believe for even one second that you are the only stubborn person here, then I am afraid you are sorely mistaken,'' Lee said before he shot a wink at Barney. ''I signed up for the whole ride.''

''We all did,'' Toll said. ''Gunnar too.''

''Do you think it's too late to save him? Do you think he'll forgive me?'' Gabrielle asked Toll, and Barney took her in his arms, oblivious to the hidden meaning of her second question.

''Everything will be ok. I am right here, I got you,'' Barney said as she hugged him back like her life depended on it. ''We'll help you. You are not alone anymore. You never will be.''

[Lee]

Somehow, he couldn't shake the feeling that something big had changed. He looked at the kids talking in the sitting area with Tool, Hale and Toll. Doc was setting up his things. Church, Yang, and Drummer had gone on a recon mission for possibly more information. Then he looked at the office where he knew Barney and Maggie were. He smiled a little, having noticed how they still looked at each other. He frowned. He hadn't learned German as much as Gabrielle had while she'd been with Mauser, but didn't Mein liebling mean my love?

''I guess I should ask that to Mauser instead. He seemed very close to you from what I've seen since you been back, Gabrielle,'' Stonebanks mocked while playing with his watch. ''Is that why you couldn't stand kissing your old boyfriend? Well, one of them?''

Do you think he'll forgive me?'' Gabrielle had asked Toll just now.

Trench and Gabrielle were upstairs. The door leading to the cabin was still slightly open. Would it make a difference if he was right? Gunnar had left her, told her to be happy elsewhere, and he'd made peace with the friend zone, hadn't he?

He knew he probably shouldn't, but he had to know. He walked quietly up the stairs, thinking to himself that this was nonsense, there was no way that Trench and Gabrielle would…

He froze.

[Gabrielle]

I looked at the forest, wondering if Gunnar would get to see it too. I missed him just as much as I feared seeing him again. How the hell had things got so different so fast?

Or slow?

I couldn't help but think about the conversation I had with Toll, Tool, and Hale in Trench's plane. It hurt to think that I would have said no to Gunnar had I not been dying. Or in denial.

I felt the anger rise. How dare had he broken up via letter? And if he'd had to lie, why hadn't he simply talked to me about it? If he was so sure he had to go, why didn't he at least look me in the eyes?

''I can't lie to you.'' His words echoed as I fought back the tears.

But I could almost sleep with Trench the day after. How had that happened? I still looked at him in wonder anytime I could do so. He was still the same, and yet…I had fallen so slowly. I felt the guilt rising again as I pictured Gunnar's face. I had fallen for him so fast…

God, it hurt. How could something make so little sense and hurt so much at the same time? How could I let Gunnar run to his own death…?

I felt the sudden need to cut myself again, to let go of the pain. I was good for bleeding, Isaacs told me. I was about to take out my emergency knife when I heard steps behind me.

[Cabin]

Gabrielle was looking outside when Trench had come to join her.

''You shouldn't be alone,'' he told her with a soft voice.

''Are you mad?'' she asked him, and he slipped his arms around her waist.

''A little. You scared me, Mein Schatz,'' he said before he pulled her close. ''Don't do it again. No matter how good your intentions are, know that if given the choice, I'll always choose to be with you.''

Gabrielle kissed him softly, and he passed a hand through her hair while deepening the kiss. She felt the rush of emotions hitting her like a wave again as Trench felt any notion of his surroundings flying out the windows. At this moment, as far as they knew, they were alone in the world, and it felt perfect.

.

''Where's Christmas?'' asked Barney as he got out of the office with Maggie.

''Upstairs, I think. Gabrielle and Trench are there too,'' Mars answered as Tool, Hale, and Toll exchange a panicked look.

''What the fuck!? You're KISSING her!?'' They all heard Christmas say loudly seconds before Barney was about to comment on his friends' worries.

''I guess we'll need popcorn after all,'' Mars commented as Barney moved upstairs followed quickly by Tool.

Hale and Toll glared at Mars while Doc was joining them to see what's going on.

''You'll need more ice, probably stitches,'' commented Toll as they heard something crash upstairs.

.

Both Gabrielle and Trench jumped out of their skins when they heard Lee. Gabrielle could see the hurt look on his face and felt her heart lurch.

''Look I can explain…'' Gabrielle said before she saw her dad looking at them both with a confused expression on his face.

Right up until he realised what Lee had said and that his daughter had swollen lips.

''WHAT?!'' Barney asked in a furious tone while looking straight at Trench. He pointed a finger at him. "You're dead."

''Dad, please. Do NOT kill him!'' Gabrielle pleaded while Tool barely managed to stop Barney from charging at Trench.

Gabrielle put herself between Trench and Barney, making a chair fall on her way, while Lee was still trying to comprehend the chaos before him.

''You're right. I'll make him suffer first,'' Barney replied.

''Told you!'' Tool shouted to Trench, and Barney turned to him.

''You knew about this?!'' Barney exclaimed.

''Well, this is getting better,'' Luna commented, clearly amused, from the couch downstairs.

''That's easy to say when you haven't caught them half-naked on the bed. I'll have nightmares for months!'' Hale replied, not knowing he could be heard from upstairs.

Lee turned to Gabrielle at a neck breaking speed.

''You slept with him?'' he asked dumbfounded. ''Wait was that the Nothing-relevant-to-the-situation-at-hand reference that made you not answer your phone?''

''Well, um…'' began Gabrielle before Lee started to laugh, hysterically.

He didn't know why, he just did. Or maybe it was because this was insane and so out of the blue that his brain couldn't keep up with him anymore.

''Fuck, we broke him,'' Gabrielle told Trench while they all looked at Christmas crying from laughing.

''It's alright love, give him time,'' Trench replied, and Barney looked at them.

More specifically, he looked at the way they looked at each other. Something had shifted from caring to…love? When had that happened? He noticed her relax almost instantly as Trench talked to her and the way she unconsciously reached to touch him. He felt his anger fade as Lee stopped laughing. Tool felt the mood change and let go of his friend. Trench was safe for her.

Gabrielle noticed the way both her father and Lee were looking at them now and got closer to them.

''I am sorry if it hurt your feelings,'' Gabrielle said.

''But not for being close to him,'' Lee finished for her.

''No, I am not,'' she said, and Lee felt his chest tighten.

''Does he make you happy?'' he asked, and Gabrielle smiled sincerely without even thinking about it. ''You're beautiful when you smile. I missed that.''

Gabrielle hugged him, and Lee fought the tears as he held her against him.

''That's not how I meant to tell you,'' she said as she took a step back and looked at her father. ''Either of you.''

''Well, I probably wouldn't have believed you anyway,'' Lee replied as he really thought about it.

Wouldn't he have? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Only why Trench and not him. He noticed the dark look Trench was sending him and blanched as he realized, he'd thought out loud.

''You loved the idea of me and fell in love with me for it,'' Gabrielle answered him softly. ''I do believe he loves me for me, no matter what that means at the moment.''

Nobody had missed the possessiveness then the softness of Trench's look before and after Gabrielle replied, and Lee found himself agreeing with her.

''It doesn't mean I don't love you,'' he said, remembering their discussion before her death.

''I know, it's ok,'' she replied, knowing why he was saying it.

''And Gabrielle?'' Lee asked as he remembered her question to Toll. ''I was there when Gunnar wasn't and Trench couldn't. I remember your pain at being left broken on the floor as if it happened yesterday. I saw the look on your face when Gunnar spoke to you last. I saw you barely able to let him touch you and heard your tears through the phone.''

Gabrielle looked at him with tears in her eyes.

''He could have had you forever. He chose not to. You fought so hard to love him while he fought to escape what you were going through. Don't let your pain of losing him or the guilt of him being in danger blind you from Trench like you did with me,'' Lee said before he looked at Mauser straight in the eyes. ''I have the feeling that he won't give up on you. Be happy. It's the only thing I ask; it's what Gunnar said he wanted. It's all we all want.''

Barney listened to his friend and felt his heart break a little for him. He was right, though. He still had to talk to Trench later.

''And if it traumatizes Hale, Tool, and Toll or if it makes both me and your father almost have a stroke, then so be it. I love you too much to prevent you from finally having a shot at happiness,'' Lee concluded, and Barney found himself chuckling along with Tool and Trench.

''I want you to be happy too,'' Gabrielle told him, and Lee kissed her on the cheek.

''I got you in my life, that's a good reason to be if you ask me,'' Lee said, and they both smiled before Lee had to leave to get some air.

''What about you?'' Gabrielle asked Barney.

''I'm good,'' her father finally said.

''Really?'' Gabrielle, Trench, and Tool asked at the same time.

''Yeah, because I know I get to kill him if he hurts you,'' Barney said as Tool started to laugh.

"Get in line," Tool commented after.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

''I'm serious,'' Barney added, although she could see a small smile at the corner of his lips. ''And if I ever, and I mean EVER catch you both having…sex…or anything close to it, know that I will have a stroke and die and it will be your fault.''

Gabrielle burst out laughing, and Barney smiled.

God he'd missed that sound. They all had.

[Gunnar]

He let out a laugh that sent shivers down Isaacs's men's bodies from their head to their toes.

''Trench! Trench? Really?'' Gunnar mocked. ''You aren't even gonna smooth it out with Christmas?''

Isaacs looked at Gunnar with a sadistic smile while Gunnar could feel the meth in his system. The poison wasn't doing what it was supposed to. He'd toughened up on meth and coke for years, too long for that kind of torture to work well on him.

The irony.

Isaacs had decided to get him high instead and wait for a mistake. Gunnar wouldn't give him the pleasure. Certainly not now that he knew for sure that Gabrielle had got the team to safety.

Gabrielle.

Gabrielle with Trench.

Gunnar knew she would be mad, but Trench? That was farfetched. It would piss off Christmas, Tool, and Barney too. He felt the pain of losing her coming back and tried to repress it. The meth really wasn't helping.

It wasn't known for its help with mood swings or paranoia, to say the least.

Isaacs shouted something in Russian, and the door opened on a soldier with files.

''There it is,'' Isaacs said while looking at some pictures inside them.

The man took them out and put a first one on the ground. Gunnar recognised Gabrielle's combat outfit as she was hugging Trench in a place he didn't know about. He spotted Santa in the back ground and assumed it would be the moment Gabrielle came back to him. He laughed.

''That's it?'' Gunnar asked before he saw a picture of Trench and Gabrielle holding hands on a road covered with snow.

He frowned. Gabrielle and Trench didn't tend to be tactile. Besides, she was still traumatised and wasn't inclined to touch when he'd seen her last. Or had it just been with him? Then again, he'd been the only one trying to kiss her…

She hadn't been able to let him touch her. Or was it because she hadn't wanted to? Isaacs put another picture on the ground, and Gunnar was thrown back to when he'd wrote her the letter before he let it at Booker's for Gabrielle to read in the morning. He'd watched her sleep through the window, just like she was looking outside, with a heartbreaking sadness in her eyes.

Then Isaacs put another picture on the ground and Gunnar felt his blood freeze in his veins. Trench and Gabrielle were kissing passionately. Then another, where they had taken their clothes off. Then another which made Gunnar close his eyes.

He felt the air leaving his lungs. He had lost her. He'd left her one more time and it had been too much. He wanted to be mad at her. He really did, but he could only hear her asking him if she was broken, calling Christmas's name instead of his in his room, Barney telling him she was letting herself die because of him, her silence when he'd asked to marry her.

He'd begun to lose her long before that picture was taken, and he realized that with so much clarity that it almost blinded him with pain. And yet she was still in danger because of him. Or maybe not.

''I am ready to kill her.'' Gunnar said with so much pain in his voice that even he would have no doubts of his honesty, and Isaacs laughed.

''Good,'' the man said before he removed Gunnar's chains. ''One more thing…''

Gunnar felt a needle and then the blood in his veins turning into liquid fire, then ice.

''What the fuck was that?!'' he shouted in pain, hearing only Isaacs laughing at his stupidity before he passed out.

[Cabin]

Barney couldn't sleep. Hale, Galgo, Toll, and the kids had gone to bed. Church, Drummer, and Maggie were on patrol while Tool, Trench, Lee, Yang, Gabrielle, and Doc were in the common area. He decided to go see if there was anything else to do. He entered the kitchen and saw both Tool and Doc whispering at the counter while Lee and Yang where listening. He frowned, and Tool pointed to one of the couches. Barney had to admit that the sight was weirdly heart warming. Gabrielle was asleep on an equally sleeping Trench, both of them covered by a blanket.

''I know, I almost couldn't believe it eitherm'' Yang said as Barney turned to him.

''They do look very peaceful, though,'' Doc whispered, and Lee smiled a little.

''I think the most pertinent point here is that she isn't having nightmares,'' Lee pointed out, and Barney looked at Trench and his daughter again.

Even though they were mostly covered by the blanket, he could see that Trench's arms were wrapped around her and that she was hugging him under the covers.

''He is safe, isn't he?'' commented Barney, and Tool smiled.

''Seems like it,'' Tool replied.

''It's still so weird,'' Yang added, and Barney snorted.

''Yes, it is,'' Gunnar's voice said loudly as Gabrielle's knife whistle past Jensen face, only to end up in the wall behind him.

She was now wide awake and ready to attack. Trench had gotten up as well, years of combat still keeping him on high alert. The others turned to the door and saw a bloodied Jensen barely standing in the door frame.

''Gunnar,'' Gabrielle said, horrified as she rushed to him.

''Hey there, princess,'' he replied to her as she helped him walk to the bunker. ''Sorry to come unannounced, Maggie and Drummer are making sure I wasn't followed. Church is still outside.''

Gabrielle froze and they heard the cock of a gun. Gunnar laughed.

''How did you find us?'' she asked with a cool tone.

Barney tensed as he realized that Gabrielle had a gun pointed at Gunnar's temple. The man let himself fall on the knees.

''Not only are you pretty, you are intelligent too. Is that how you managed to cheat on me with that Austrian little bitch?'' Gunnar asked.

''I didn't cheat on you, you left me,'' Gabrielle replied. ''Now, answer the question!''

Tool looked at the hallway and saw Toll and Hale both armed and ready. They were all on high alert. Gunnar looked at Trench.

''You know, I couldn't believe it at first. I mean… Lee, I could see why, but you?'' added Gunnar, and Gabrielle felt both her anxiety and anger rise.

Then she realized…

''You're high as a kite, are you?'' she asked, and Gunnar laughed again.

''Yeah, Isaacs knows the good stuff,'' Jensen said as he suddenly got up and managed to take Gabrielle's gun to point it at her head while he held her against him.

''So, I am supposed to bring you back to him. Or kill you. Or both,'' Gunnar said while Trench felt his heart skip a couple of beats.

He wasn't the only one. Barney, Yang, and Tool remembered way too well how exactly Gunnar could be in that state, and it was far from pretty. Lee, Hale, and Toll were all seeing red but could do nothing about it. Then Gabrielle laughed.

''So, you really are a coward,'' she told him seconds before Gunnar choked her a bit more with his arm. ''You were there for what, three days? Try six months. But then, of course, you abandoned me without the torture. I shouldn't be surprised.''

''Gabrielle don't play that game with him!'' warned Yang, remembering way too well how close to death he'd been the last time he saw Gunnar like this.

Gunnar laughed and turned his face to Yang.

''You don't like this game, Happy Feet?'' Jensen mocked.

''That's because he doesn't know the rules,'' Gabrielle said before they all saw the shame in her eyes while she confidently said. ''I do.''

Gunnar laughed again as Barney felt shivers run down his spine. The last time he'd put the man down was by pure luck, and he knew it. He didn't care about what Gabrielle thought she was doing, he simply wanted her far away from Gunnar as fast as he could.

''Oh really, because of all the bad weed you took behind your daddy's back?'' Gunnar said clearly amused. ''Or maybe the alcohol?''

''More like LSD, cocaine, speed, and even your beloved meth,'' mocked Gabrielle while they all looked at her in shock, including Gunnar.

Gabrielle had never told them it had been that bad, but there was a reason she'd been cutting herself that much. She probably would never have told them if the circumstances hadn't required it. She knew her father, Tool, Toll, Hale, Yang, and Lee had dealt with Gunnar before, but then again, they'd never been addicts. Knowing it probably had been a couple of hours since Gunnar's last hit, she knew where his vulnerable spot was.

''It had been a while since you'd allowed yourself to get high, it must have been such a rush,'' Gabrielle continued while Gunnar started to rock back and forth while sweating. ''I mean the level of adrenaline mixed with the peace and quiet. You have to miss that when the high runs low and you realize how shit your life really is.''

''Gabrielle for the love of God, stop!'' Tool begged as he saw a flash of rage in Gunnar's eyes.

They could lose her, and he was made even more aware of that when Gunnar hit her in the face with the gun. Gabrielle had to blink multiple times to be able to see again. Trench took a step forward as he saw blood running down her cheek before he stopped as Gunnar pushed against her temple with the cannon. He began to panic as he realised that Jensen's nose was bleeding. Gunnar had been poisoned like Gabrielle and she was trying to trigger it. Hale and Toll couldn't get a clear shot and it was scaring the fuck out of them.

[Gabrielle]

I could feel my heart beating in my temples as I saw Trench looking at Doc for confirmation. He was probably bleeding from somewhere at this point because I saw the others coming to the same conclusion.

I felt the fear rising inside me.

This was not Gunnar and his beautiful loving eyes. This was Crankenstein, the one they'd all warned me about. I had to bring him back. If anything, a memory would trigger the poison, and he'd pass out on his own. It had to be something powerful, meaningful.

''Never thought I'd see the day you would choke me without my consent,'' I said, and he laughed as I saw pure fear into Trench eyes.

Not the way to go then.

''Did you scream like me, Guns?'' I asked as I felt him move his fingers as if he was hesitating between opening and closing his hand.

Now that was somewhere I didn't want to go, where nobody wanted to go, but he had reacted.

''Stop,'' he growled as I saw my father's begging look.

''Did he make you bleed like me?'' I continued as I fought against my rising anxiety.

I could almost see Isaacs smiling behind Hale and Toll as they both tensed.

''I said stop!'' Gunnar exclaimed as he choked me to the point where I could barely talk or breathe.

I could see Lee reaching out of one of his knives with an angry look on his face.

''I'm not yours to control at your will. Not anymore. You're not him,'' I said looking at Trench before I felt myself being lifted off the ground.

I couldn't breathe anymore.

''No!'' screamed Trench.

''YOU'RE MINE!'' Gunnar screamed as I heard the echo of Stonebanks's voice in my ears.

I'd never fought against myself as hard as I did then not to panic, but it was my only chance, and I took it.

[Bunker]

Trench had screamed as soon as he realised that Gunnar was actually going to kill her. Lee was about to throw his knife when Gabrielle managed to kick him in the knee before she used Jensen's own weight against him to flip him over and disarm him. Gunnar might have been strong, but he was high and she was quick.

Trench was about to pull her against him when she saw Gunnar take out his desert eagle. Gabrielle tackled him instead as Lee's knife flew out of his hand and a shot was fired.

Then they all felt the blood freeze in their veins as Gabrielle let out a blood curling scream with a look of pure agony on her face.

[Gabrielle]

I felt like my throat was on fire as I heard myself scream. Gunnar was lying on the ground with a knife planted in his arm and a shocked look on his face as blood was pouring out of his chest. I ran to him as fast as I could, not even noticing Doc doing the same. I was drowning in pain as I saw the life slowly draining out of him.

''Gabrielle…I am…sorry,'' Gunnar managed to say as tears were rolling down my cheeks.

''It's ok. It wasn't your fault, I got you,'' I replied to him with a broken voice, and he managed to caress my face with his finger. ''I love you; it's going to be ok. You have to be ok. I am so sorry. I love you!''

''There is nothing to forgive…Be happy. Jag älskar dig Gabrielle, för alltid. Min kärlek...Älskling…(I love you Gabrielle, forever. My love...)'' Gunnar said before his eyes closed, and I kissed him on the lips.

I felt his last breath against my lips, and I screamed in pain as I tried to hold him against me.

[Bunker]

Gabrielle's screams shattered their hearts right down to their very souls. She simply couldn't stop, it hurt too much. Barney felt the tears rolling down his cheeks, not wanting to prevent her for holding Gunnar as long as she could and wanting to hold her in his arms. He looked at Gunnar's lifeless body and felt bile rising up. Tool was looking at the scene in silent shock while Lee was looking short of breath. Yang was as still as a statue, and Trench had let himself fall on the back of a couch, looking completely devastated.

Gabrielle's hoarse voice was still echoing through the walls as Maggie appeared with Drummer and Church.

''Oh my God!'' Maggie whispered with a horrified expression on her face before she hurried Doc to follow her to the medic room.

They needed to move, and for that they had to calm her down. Hale followed Maggie and Doc with his eyes, as did Gabrielle until her eyes stopped on Toll. The silence that followed was somehow much worse than the screams.

''Get out,'' Gabrielle told him as Toll was dropping his weapon on the ground.

His hands were shaking.

''Get out because I swear to fuck, I may love you, but I am going to kill you,'' Gabrielle told him as Toll began to silently cry.

''Gabrielle, you know I had to…" Toll tried to explain as her eyes became two black pools of cold hatred.

Yang rushed to stop her only to fall flat on his arse as she sent him flying, taking Lee's knife from Gunnar's arm while Lee rushed to disarm her. Seeing Lee missing his shot, Hale put himself between Gabrielle and Toll while shouting at his friend to take the emergency exit.

Barney, Trench, and Tool had to combine their efforts just to tackle her to the ground and keep her there as she kept screaming and crying. Doc ran to them with a needle ready and shot its contents into her.

''Gabrielle, love, please calm down,'' Lee begged as he saw his friends' heartbroken expressions.

He was too.

Toll had had to kill Gunnar and that had sent her over the edge. After all the lies, the torture, the pain and death, her best friend had killed her first love. A member of their team, their family. Because of the man who'd tortured her almost to insanity.

Tool begged out loud for God to spare her soul as she struggled less and less under the influence of whatever Doc had given her. She finally passed out, and the kids helped them load everything…everyone… into the trucks before they got to the plane.