Chapter 17 Hope Helps Me Cope

Note: Sorry for such a late delay. My father in law passed away and we've been trying to get all of that in order. I'm hoping to have this story wrapped up before the end of May since planting season starts. We have a hobby farm with chickens and bunnies to take care of too.

Barney's Two Weeks Later

Ava clipped wires and sautered chips on a small flat board. Tool was doing something on his tablet in the kitchen while she worked. They'd gone back and forth between his place and Barney's for the nights. During the day he usually left her to do what she felt she needed. With the new security system she felt much better about being alone, but it was still too quiet with everyone gone.

She sighed heavily. The job was taking longer than the minimum they'd estimated and she hoped they'd finish soon. She'd had a few steamy dreams of Lee since he'd left. She spent a bit of time with Dixie and Connie, but Dixie and the babies did an awful lot of sleeping.

Ava felt a burning on her finger and yelped as she realized she'd been distracted enough to solder the edge of her finger. She flicked off the small bit of metal and sucked the injured finger into her mouth.

Tool chuckled from the doorway with his arms crossed and his small glasses sitting on his nose.

"What?"

"You miss him," he said smirking.

"I miss all of them," she mumbled, "It's way too quiet around here."

Tool roared with laughter, "Of course it is. Takes some getting used to doesn't it?"

"Well at least I have plenty of time to make more doodads for the team."

"What are you working on now?" Tool asked curiously as he came closer to inspect her work sprawled out across the whole of the table.

She sighed heavily, "I'm working on a knife holder that flicks the knife into your hand with a certain twist of your wrist. I'm also sautering for a weapon targeting system for dad's plane. If he'll ever let me touch it."

Tool smirked, "Not likely, but then again you're family."

A beep from Tool's phone indicated a text message. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and swiped the screen before typing in a passcode. He read the message and stilled for a moment. Ava looked over at him with a hopeful look on her face. He frowned at the phone before typing a response back. He put away his phone and looked up at Ava as his glasses slipped down balancing precariously on the edge of his nose.

"Sounds like they'll be heading back soon. Might be leaving tomorrow if there aren't any complications," he said quietly.

"One of them is hurt," she stated as she saw him frown again.

He sighed heavily, "One of them always comes home hurt Darlin."

"Is it dad?" she asked quietly while she stared at the circuits in front of her.

He shook his head no, "Lee took a good whack to the head. He's unconscious. Job's done, but they don't want to move him just yet."

"But he'll be okay?" she asked wide eyed with a warbly voice.

Tool nodded, "Should be. Worse things have knocked him out before. He should bounce back in a matter of time."

She nodded in agreement and then tried to return her focus to her work. He leaned against the doorframe again and watched as she burned herself again. She turned off the sauter gun with a heavy sigh before rubbing her temples with her eyes closed.

"You need pizza," he said out of the blue.

She raised her eyes up to his with her fingers still at her temples. She rose a brow.

"You need to relax and we haven't been out to eat the whole time they've been gone. You have cabin fever."

She snorted as a song popped in her head.

"What?" he asked giving her a confused look.

"We've got cabin fever, we're flipping our bandanas. We've been at sea so long that we have simply gone bananas!" she sang out.

His eyebrows rose up and he looked at her strangely, "Um, what?"

"It's part of a song in Muppet Treasure Island. I used to watch it with my mom," she said smiling with a fond look on her face.

He chuckled, "Okay, I'll trust you on that one. So… pizza?"

He clapped his hands together once and rubbed them together as he made an exaggerated expression on his face. Right on cue her stomach rumbled as she remembered not eating breakfast. It was fast approaching evening. She nodded with a smirk as he chuckled and waved her ahead of him.

They took his motorcycle with her wearing dark sunglasses and a baseball cap. Apparently they made good disguises...who knew?

They ordered a pizza each and he was surprised she actually ate it all. She gave him a 'what?' look and they both chuckled before paying. They headed back to the Ross's and she returned to work with a clear mind.

After a few hours, he beckoned her into the kitchen for a late dinner. She tapped the table in frustration as she thought about the Expendables again. Tool simply shook his head with a cheesy grin as he tried to get her to laugh. He could tell she was worried for more than Lee.

Morning

Ava woke the next morning relieved that she'd actually slept. The bags under her eyes would've been horrible and she wanted to look her best when the team came back. She was hoping to at least make Lee smile… after she smothered him with kisses. An onlooking father was not going to deter her.

Around two in the afternoon she heard the distinct sound of a plane engine. Her smile brightened and she hopped off her stool before bouncing out of Candyland. She rushed to stand beside Tool who waited for the plane to land and make its way into the now open hangar. She bounced on her heels making Tool laugh jovially. He tucked his hands in his front pockets as the plane slowly powered down and moved the last few feet inside. Tool continued to wait as the back doors opened slowly. Ava's eyes scanned every face and body that came out of the plane searching for injuries. Tool waved over Barney when he came out looking grim. Blood oozed from a bandage on his shoulder.

"Just a bullet graze," he told an obviously worried Ava.

She wrung her hands in front of her and bit her lower lip as she tried to look around her father for Lee.

Barney sighed heavily and ran a hand over his tired, dirty face, "He's awake but he's a little confused."

Ava looked at her father and straightened. She tilted her head and looked to him for an explanation.

He put his hands on his hips and leaned a bit to one side, "He doesn't remember the last six weeks. He thinks he's still with Lacy."

Ava felt like her stomach had dropped through the floor. One of her hands wrapped around her stomach protectively as her thoughts spun and her eyes widened. Tool and Barney looked at each other with small scowls. They knew this was going to be hard. Tool was hoping Lee's memory was just a temporary thing. Ava deserved to have something good happen to her for once.

Gunnar and Toll helped Lee out of the plane and set his arse down on one of the spare, battered stools. Lee shook his head a bit as if trying to realign something. He looked up and spotted Ava next to Barney and Tool. Spots flashed in his eyes a bit and he had to close them. He frowned as he cracked his neck.

Ava looked good and he couldn't figure out why that thought felt right. He should've been feeling guilt when his thoughts strayed from Lacy. He remembered she'd picked up smoking again. He hadn't texted her as far as he could remember. He pulled out his phone and sent off a text to Lacy saying he was back. He explained his messed up head so she'd understand if he forgot any of their plans if they had any. She texted she'd come get him. He didn't know that Lacy had suddenly gone from worried to pure glee. She had her Lee back and nothing was going to get in her way.

When his head stopped spinning, he stood and slowly made his way over to Barney, Tool, and Ava. He didn't miss the emotional look on her face. He was confused. Barney wasn't hurt that bad. Maybe she was one of those that overreacted at the sight of another's blood? He gave her a smirk to try and cheer her up.

"So what have you been working on while we've been away?" he asked Ava in his thick, British accent.

Ava's lip trembled a bit as she looked up at Lee. She cleared her suddenly groggy throat and tried to speak.

"Actually I was working on something for dad's plane," she said softly before ducking her eyes down to look at her feet.

Lee frowned in confusion at her sudden shyness not realizing she'd had to look away or her tears would fall. She finally had something going in her life and it blows up in her face. He wouldn't even remember the friendship they'd built up.

"Anything happen while we were away?" Barney asked as he crossed his arms across his chest and took the attention away from Ava.

Tool shook his head, "Not a thing. We went shopping a bit yesterday after your text so the pantry is full again. We just kept busy. Took turns staying at either place."

Barney nodded in understanding as Gunnar approached.

"How's Dixie?" Gunnar asked as gentle as he could.

He knew the news of Lee would've given her a jolt so he tried to steer her away from thinking down that particular path.

"Missing you," she said as she turned to Gunnar, "The babies are adorable. She wanted to wait until you were home to finalize their names. So you better scoot out of here and head home to that woman of yours."

Gunnar grinned widely as she made shooing motions. He held up his hands in surrender and backed away before grabbing his bag. He headed out and headed home. Barney smirked slightly as the light came back into her eyes for a bit. His smirk dropped as he looked at Lee. He just hoped this wouldn't be what finally broke her.

A horn beeped outside a few minutes later causing most of the team to stiffen. Toll took Lee's bag and helped him outside to Lacy's car. Ava let the tears make trails down her cheeks once Lee had left the room. The arm not around her stomach reached up and rubbed at the skin above her heart. It hurt. It hurt bad. Her eyes widened as she came to a realization. She was head over heels in love with Lee Christmas.

Note: Please don't hate me for this chapter… it gets better I promise….*chuckles evilly* er… um…*cough cough*