Hello everybody!
So, there is only one chapter left after this one. I truly hope that you enjoyed this story.
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Pavs.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Complex Art of Being
[Trench]
He watched Gabrielle sleep while caressing her hair. He wasn't on patrol tonight since they'd switched shifts. With Gabrielle now on speaking terms with Toll, it made their planning a whole lot easier. They'd been here for ten days now, and even though they all liked each other very much, he knew by experience that things would go downhill soon if they didn't move quickly. He thought about Booker's visit and Church's shitty plan. They weren't that much in a hurry either…
''I can hear you thinking,'' Gabrielle said right before she took his hand in hers.
She then pulled it closer to her mouth and kissed his fingers, then his arm before he shifted his position so he could kiss her on the mouth. They began to undress each other and were naked by the time the door to their room opened.
''Hey, Gabrielle, could you…I'M SORRY!'' Yang exclaimed as he covered his eyes while backing into the hallway, effectively stopping Smilee from going down the stairs.
''What the…'' Smilee asked before he saw Gabrielle and Trench almost naked on the bed. Then he laughed. ''Dude, when are you two NOT having sex!?''
Trench sighed, and he didn't even bother to cover himself before he began to get dressed. Gabrielle took his shirt from his hands and put it on quickly before she descended the stairs all the way to the basement while a shocked Trench looked at her barely covered ass. It took the three of them about a second before they followed her.
[Safe House]
''So, that's everything we've got on them so far?'' Lee asked before the door to the basement opened loudly seconds before a half-naked Gabrielle showed up in front of him, Barney, Tool, Booker, Church, and Drummer.
''Just give me the fucking file!'' she demanded, and Church obliged with a highly amused expression on his face.
He almost laughed when he saw Trench following her with only his pants on. Drummer gave Trench an amused once over as Booker looked like he was about to laugh any second now. Gabrielle ignored them as she wrote a ton of notes on the pages of the files before she closed it up and gave it back to Barney.
''There. It's a shitty plan, but now it's an informed shitty plan, which could actually work if you follow these complementary suggestions. Now,'' she said as she turned to Smilee, then to Yang. ''I will go back to my bedroom, at night, alone with my man. Where it is perfectly ok to have sex because nobody should enter without knocking first unless it's a REAL emergency! Unless, of course, either of you wanted to join, in which case I am sorry to inform you that I do not, in fact, like to share,'' Gabrielle clarified as Booker began to laugh while seeing Barney's expression at the mention of his daughter having sex with Trench.
Trench looked at her with loving eyes as he fought against himself not to smile too much in front of Barney. ''Well damn, he hadn't been the only one annoyed then,'' he thought to himself.
''Bedroom. Now, if you please?'' Gabrielle said to Trench before she took some headphones and put them in her father's hands. ''Here, for your stroke. Good night, Dad.''
She turned around and began to go back up the stairs as Trench followed her while laughing a little.
''Wow,'' Lee said with a mix of shock and amusement on his face before he turned to Yang. ''How close was she when you surprised them?''
''You know what, I'm putting them on right the fuck now,'' Barney said, snapping the headphones over his ears as they all started laughing.
[Barney]
He was sitting on his bed while re-reading Gabrielle's notes. As annoyed as she had been, her intel did help a lot. He actually found himself laughing a little at the whole situation in the basement.
''Do you ever sleep?'' Tool said as he entered the room, and Barney offered him a tired smile.
''Sometimes,'' Barney replied as Tool took a seat on his own bed.
There was a moment of silence before Barney looked at Tool.
''Do you think I'll ever catch up with her?'' Barney asked, and Tool frowned. ''I mean I didn't see it coming at all!''
''Nobody did Barns, not even them. Don't beat yourself up over it. Besides, they are happy. How that happened is way less important than the happiness they got going on now,'' Tool said with a smile.
''Yeah, I know. You're right,'' Barney said, and Tool sighed.
''But?'' Tool insisted.
''I don't know. My whole life requires to be at least ten steps ahead with a plan B. How the hell does she manage to get right past me every time?'' Barney asked, and Tool laughed a little.
''She's your daughter, Barns. It's what she's supposed to do,'' Tool answered, and Barney smiled at that. ''So, how fast do you think he'll ask you for her hand?''
Barney laughed a little before he remembered what Gabrielle had told him about Gunnar.
''Maybe he won't ask me. Jensen didn't,'' Barney said with a heavy heart. Tool looked at him with sadness in his eyes.
''I miss him too, Barns,'' Tool said with emotion in his voice. ''Every time we make teams for patrols or count the rations and ammos, I keep counting him in, even though he's not here. Part of me still can't believe he's gone.''
''I know. It happens to me too,'' Barney said before he sighed. ''I didn't push Gabrielle to talk to Toll because I agreed with her. Gunnar shouldn't have had to die for her to survive. But I still understand why Toll did it. I can't be mad at him for saving my daughter. I did the same to Stonebanks to save us back then.''
Tool got closer to Barney as the man began to play with his lucky ring. The young ones didn't know it, but that ring actually was a gift from Stonebanks after their first mission as the Expendables. They heard a knock and looked at the door to see Maggie in the doorway.
''I'm sorry, but it's your turn now,'' Maggie said, and Barney nodded before he got up with Tool.
.
''Hey there,'' Gabrielle greeted them with a tired smile.
''So, you're done with the warm up?'' Lee asked as Tool and Barney shook their heads in amusement.
''At least I do warm up,'' Gabrielle retorted back, and Tool laughed at the offended face Christmas made.
''Wow, she's even got your stare,'' Trench commented to Barney while joining them in front of the door.
''You're flirting with him?'' Lee mocked, and Trench scoffed.
''He wishes,'' Trench replied, and Lee laughed.
''Alright, that's enough,'' Barney interrupted them with a smile. ''Gabrielle, I'm going to need you up on that hill. You're still good at shooting?''
''You do know she's the one who saved you from Stonebanks's men when you had a rocket up your ass?'' Trench asked, and Barney looked at Gabrielle with surprise written all over his face.
''I thought…'' Barney began before he found himself at a loss for words.
''You were the first one I came to,'' Gabrielle confirmed with a sad smile before she laughed a little. ''Good thing I did too, because you were in deep.''
Barney hugged her briefly before he let her go.
''Alright then. Lee will still be teaming up with you to watch your back,'' Barney stated. ''Tool stay close to the house. I'll take north, Trench you'll go south.''
''I love it when you talk dirty to me.'' joked Trench, and Gabrielle laughed.
''Are you flirting with him?'' she asked Trench, and they all laughed before going to their assigned positions around the safe house.
[Lee]
They'd almost reached out their destination when Lee spoke up.
''How are you?'' he asked softly.
''I feel like I'll be sad and feel guilty for trying to be happy for the rest of my life,'' admitted Gabrielle, and Lee looked at her with sad eyes.
''You won't,'' Lee tried to reassure her. ''If the way you look at Trench is any indication of the future.''
Gabrielle smiled a little at that before she frowned.
''How are you?'' she asked him, and Lee felt suddenly very tired.
''I am sad,'' Lee admitted as Gabrielle looked at him with a worried expression. ''About a couple of things…but mostly about Gunnar. Yang is upset he died that way. I am too. We all are. It's always awful to watch a friend die.''
He wasn't about to tell her that a part of him still struggled to keep up with all the changes they'd gone through in the past couple of weeks. She'd been through it too. He did suspect that she needed to talk about Gunnar, and he needed it too, to be honest.
''You tried to save him too, didn't you?'' Gabrielle half-whispered, and Lee nodded.
''But there was nothing left to do,'' Lee concluded, and they signaled to the others that they were ready.
''I realize that now. And I am so sorry I didn't check in on you. Fuck, I feel like a really shit friend as of late,'' Gabrielle said as a tear rolled down her cheek.
''You're not,'' Lee said sincerely, and she instinctively touched her moon pendant. ''You always do that.''
Gabrielle looked at him briefly, and he could see the pain in her eyes.
''You watched the videos, didn't you?'' Gabrielle asked and Lee felt his heart lurch. ''I'm not mad, Lee. I wish you never had to see it…but then again, I wish I never had to go through it.''
''Gabrielle, I am so sorry,'' Lee said as Gabrielle fought back her tears. She needed to see what she was doing after all.
''You have nothing to be sorry for. I chose to save you. All of you. I love you so much. You are my home, my family…'' Gabrielle explained with emotion in her voice. ''We promised each other we would always be there for one another. I will keep that promise until my very last breath. No matter what… No matter how.''
Lee felt himself becoming emotional as Gabrielle's words went straight to his heart.
''Lee, I may have missed my chance to be with you, but never doubt how much I do love you. And if I have to go through hell just to hear your splendid accent again…'' Gabrielle continued as they both laughed a little. ''I would do it again and again just to be sure that you are safe. So yeah, I always touch the moon when I am feeling overwhelmed. Because no matter how far apart we are, we all see the same moon in the sky to light up our way, and the same stars to guide us back home.''
Lee felt a tear rolling down his cheek as Gabrielle quickly wiped her eyes.
''I love you too. Thank you,'' Lee said as he looked at her, then at the night sky above them.
''You're wel…'' Gabrielle started before she suddenly stopped talking and fired her weapon.
[Church]
They had loaded the plane as fast as they could. They barely had the time to set foot in Russia before they'd been discovered and followed. Booker had been the only reason Church was still alive, a fact that he didn't really enjoy, but it was still better than being dead.
Yang had frantically called in every favor he had for Bohai to be hidden as he remembered too well how close of a call it had been back when the child had lost his adoptive parents.
They had tried to reach the others to no avail, and that worried Booker a lot more then he'd let on. They'd switched to a chopper along the way and paled at what they saw on the ground.
''What the fuck?'' Drummer called as Booker frowned.
This was a warzone, or at least it had been. There were bodies everywhere. Smoke was rising from the house, and the place was eerily quiet. Drummer landed the chopper, and Booker, Church, and Yang got out.
They'd walked for about two minutes before they saw a body they did recognize, and Yang felt the bile rise up as Booker felt his heart drop.
''Fucking hell,'' Booker whispered before he heard a scream.
''PLEASE!'' Gabrielle screamed, and they ran to her.
[Safe House]
She armed her rifle so fast Lee almost didn't register what she was doing until she fired. He saw Trench turning to face the man that was about to kill him from behind. Gabrielle shot two more as both Barney and Mauser begun to fight the others.
''We're under attack! We need cover!'' Lee shouted in the radio, hoping the others would be fast.
''Go help them!'' Gabrielle shouted, and Lee wanted to protest but thought otherwise as Gabrielle shot him a dark look.
.
Hale was putting back the rest of his lunch in the fridge when they heard the first shot. He dropped the food on the floor as Toll and Doc got up.
They heard two more before Thorn came from the basement with Maggie, Galgo, and Luna while Smilee and Mars ran from upstairs. Thorn turned on their mobile communication devises and the radio came to life.
''Bloody fucking hell! They're coming from every-fucking-where!'' Christmas shouted as he was heading towards Tool to help.
''Good thing she's shooting them all on sight,'' Trench said, and they all grabbed everything they could.
Hale was the first one out, and he stopped right before a body dropped to the ground in front of him and then another, who was about to shoot him from the tree line. Then another.
''Fuck she IS killing them all!'' Mars shouted as he went past Caesar to go to the side of the house. A man jumped in front of him, another one behind. Both of them ended up dead with one bullet as they all looked at Mars with a flabbergasted impression.
''Try not to waste my bullets by doing something as stupid as going to a place I can't cover your ass,'' Gabrielle snarled, and they heard Lee laugh.
''Wow, she really looks just like you,'' Trench mocked Barney as they finally were able to get closer to the others.
''Stop sucking each other's dicks and focus on getting us the fuck out of here!'' Luna called before Gabrielle swore.
''Gabrielle?'' Barney asked before signaling to Maggie to follow him towards the hill when she didn't answer.
They hadn't walked for two minutes before they had to take cover.
''She's fine. She's fine. She's fine,'' he repeated to himself while trying to focus on the situation at hand.
He had to trust her; she was a member of the team. He knew this could happen.
Trench and Tool kept walking towards the road as they fought themselves not to follow Barney. They could hear the man praying over his coms, and they knew if he hadn't been able to go through, they wouldn't either. So, they focused on killing as many of Isaacs's men as they could.
[Barney]
Barney was about to go deaf from the sheer noise. This was worse than Stonebanks for so many reasons. Maggie got closer to him, and they both shared a look. This might be goodbye. Barney kissed her suddenly, and Maggie kissed him back while a tear was rolling down her cheek.
Then they had to take cover as they heard Trench scream out of sheer rage. Galgo had been shot to death while trying to reach him and Tool.
''You fucking assholes!'' Mauser said right before he threw a grenade. Then they heard him say with a broken voice. ''Galgo's dead.''
[Gabrielle]
I was running through the trees, swearing because of the snow that made for a harder escape. I was almost where Trench had been before I heard a shot and fell on the ground. So much for bullet proof vests, this hurt like a mother fucker.
''FUCK!'' I screamed seconds before I was shot at again.
I emptied my magazine on the men surrounding me before I reached for my emergency medical kit.
''Need help here?'' Doc asked not too far from me, and I was about to answer him before a blast send us both flying.
Then I fell into darkness.
.
I woke up again to the smells of smoke and death. It was dark, really fucking dark. I could taste blood in my mouth, and I let out a noise of pain. My whole body hurt. I turned my head to see if Doc was ok, but I didn't saw him anywhere. I had a bad feeling about this.
I forced myself to get up and began walking through the trees and the bodies. I threw up three times before I even reached one of the trails to the safe house.
This was a blood bath, and I dreaded to see one of us being…
''LEE!'' I screamed as I got closer to his unmoving body. I began crying as I desperately searched for a pulse.
''You're ok. You're ok! PLEASE! Lee, wake up!'' I begged as I kept looking for a sign of life.
He couldn't be dead. I couldn't lose him. I searched for my emergency medical kit before I realized that I didn't have it on my anymore. I felt the pain rushing through my entire body as I completely lost control of myself.
''Lee, you promised! Come back! I need you! PLEASE HELP! PLEASE!'' I screamed through my tears, and it was so loud that I heard myself echoing.
''Gabrielle!'' I heard Yang shout as he, Church, and Booker finally arrived.
''HERE!'' I screamed back seconds before I finally saw him.
''No!'' Yang shouted as Booker and Church joined us.
''He's not dead, not yet,'' Church said after about a minute before he turned to me. ''Can you walk?''
I nodded as I got back up, only to feel myself getting dizzy.
''I got her!'' Booker said before he took me in his arms bridal style while both Yang and Church were taking care of Lee.
We'd almost reached the chopper before I saw Galgo on the ground. I looked at Booker only to see his somber expression, and I started to cry again.
''The others?'' I asked in a half whisper, and Booker looked at me with sad eyes.
''We don't know where they are, sweetheart,'' Booker replied, and I started sobbing. ''We'll look from the sky, alright?''
I was crying too much to answer, so I let him put me down in the chopper right next to Lee. I held Christmas's hand like my life depended on it, and I felt my heart break for Galgo, for Lee, for my family...for my love.
''I'm sorry,'' I cried until my body gave up once again and I fell unconscious too.