Chapter 27 Meeting Mum

Note: I imagine Lee's mom as the same one in Fast and Furious 8 "The Fate of the Furious" Magdalene Shaw. The actress is badass and the way she can get Deckard and Owen to do her bidding with a few fake tears is adorable. Who wouldn't do anything for their mum?

Next Day

Early in the morning Lee received a text from his mother. Her plane had just landed and she was slowly making her way through customs and security. He kissed Ava's forehead, waking her up.

"I have to go pick someone up from the airport," he whispered loudly.

"Who?" she asked curious as she rubbed her eyes.

"It's a bit of a surprise," he said chuckling.

She pouted at him and then waved him away to do what he needed to do. He dressed quickly, but nicely before heading to Barney's truck. He'd thrown the keys at him before him and Ava had headed off to bed. His reasoning was that she'd have luggage… which wouldn't fit on his motorcycle no matter how badass his mother was. Lee had simply smirked and nodded before pocketing the keys.

He drove as fast as he could in the morning traffic and soon pulled up in front of the doors of the airport. His mother stood outside with a smirk and a few bags sitting next to her.

"Didn't take you too long Darling," she stated.

He shook his head, kissed her cheek, and smirked just like her before loading her cases in the back. He secured them so they didn't jump around and opened the passenger door for his mother. Once both were inside the truck, she pulled a small box from her inner jacket pocket and handed it to him. He smiled softly at the small box, carefully opened it, and stared at the family ring. He had more than enough money to go out and buy her a new one, but if there was anything she'd appreciate more it'd be something old that meant something to him. The white gold shined to perfection from a fresh polish and sat three medium sized gemstones into it. The center was a white diamond with the other two being smaller stones of jade. He noticed Ava liked to wear green a lot. It'd suit her well.

"Well," his mother snarked fondly, "Do I get to meet the woman or are we going to sit outside the airport all day?"

He let out a low chuckle as he turned the truck on. He shook his head in mild exasperation and large amusement before pulling out and heading home. Home. Wherever Ava was felt like home. His mother snuck a look at her smiling son and found herself doing the same. This woman must be something special if her son was smiling like this. Everyone in her family seemed to fall fast and hard, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

Barney's

Ava stared at the ceiling for a moment or two after Lee left and puffed out breath from her mouth making her hair fly out of her face. She kicked the covers off and sat up before gathering up some clean clothes so she could take a shower.

Once she was squeaky clean and dressed for her shop she snickered at the irony. She'd cleaned up to get dirty. She ate a quick breakfast once she realized it was too early for most to come in to plan. She started the coffee for the others and crunched into a slice of jam covered toast on her way to her Candyland.

Lacy's

Lacy winced as she made herself breakfast. Her bruises were darker and more numerous. She found herself regretting opening the door to Mike. He had her in more positions she thought possible and not all of them were easy on her. He was rough and breathed really loudly in her ear all the time making her feel more than a little creeped out more and more. He had some glint in his eye that boded trouble for her.

Thankfully he'd left the house to do some 'research' he'd said. She hoped he at least took care of Ava so she could plead to Lee about his treatment of her. They may not be together right now, but Lee took abuse of any sort seriously. Surely he'd stop Mike before he truly hurt her?

She ate in silence as her thoughts hopped from topic to topic. He had asked a few questions about Lee, but mostly where she'd seen Ava. She'd told him everything she could, including what bar the guys liked to hang out in. She had never been told where their headquarters was. She knew they were mercenaries, but didn't know if their group had a name or symbol. She'd never really looked closely at the tattoos Lee had. She knew one was a skull, but she'd never thought it was significant in any way. She shrugged and finished her breakfast before cleaning up the kitchen. Mike didn't like a mess.

Barney's

Lee pulled up to the Ross residence and parked Barney's truck back where it was. He opened his mother's door and helped her out since it was a bit high up. He grabbed her luggage before following her to the door. He entered his code and let her enter first before following behind and reactivating the security.

"Pretty nice security for a hangar," his mother mentioned curiously.

"We had it installed to ease Ava's mind," he said setting down her luggage, "And Barney's."

"How is the old bugger?" she asked in amusement.

Lee smirked and looked over at his mother, "Ava's his daughter."

His mother's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She looked like she was trying to form words before she snapped her jaw shut and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I thought he didn't have children?"

Lee sighed and had her sit down. Once they were both comfortable, he took the time to fill her in on all the events leading up to his mother's arrival. When he finally caught her up to speed, she sat back in her chair shaking her head.

"That poor girl," she whispered, "I can't imagine losing a child."

Humming was heard from nearby making them both turn towards the sound. A lovely woman with dark red hair up in a braid wearing dirty overalls entered the room. She didn't notice them at first and continued to hum. She swatted a stray hair away and looked up. Her eyes widened a bit seeing two people in the room. Once it registered that one was Lee, Ava smiled widely and hurried over to him. She went to hug him and stopped before looking down and sighing loudly.

"You are dressed much too nicely for me to pounce on you," she said pouting up at him.

He chuckled deeply and pulled her against him. She made an 'eep' sound making him laugh louder. He kissed her forehead and looked over to see his mother stand. The large smile she sent him made him relax.

"Love," he said pulling back a bit, "This is my mum."

He gestured to the woman with platinum blonde hair to her jaw. She was wearing a mustard colored skirt and a white blouse with a mustard colored vest on top. She wore a classic pearl necklace with matching earrings.

"Um," Ava said suddenly nervous, "I had no idea you were coming."

His mother chuffed a laugh and smirked, "Of course not. I kind of sprung it on him."

"I'm Ava," she said, "It's a pleasure to meet the woman who's kept Lee in line so long."

A loud laugh came from his mother, "Oh I like her."

She turned to Ava, "You can call me Maggie or mum dear."

Ava blushed at the implication and cleared her throat. She looked up at Lee to see matching smirks between mother and son.

"You two are absolutely precious," Maggie said clasping her hands together, "Now where can I get a good cuppa?"

"Ava has quite the tea collection in the kitchen," Lee said motioning that way.

His mother nodded and they all went to the kitchen. They chatted over tea and coffee for awhile before the others started arriving. Barney clomped down the stairs and groaned when he saw Maggie sitting at the table sipping on her tea. Lee chuckled and Ava filled a mug with coffee before setting it at the fourth place setting. Barney grunted in appreciation and sat down heavily. Maggie shook her head and rolled her eyes at the man.

"So one big happy family," Maggie murmured with a small smile making Barney narrow his eyes at her, "Oh hush you big brute. Can we not forgive and forget?"

Ava raised a brow, "You two know each other?"

"We might have been attached to the same mission on separate teams. There was a bit of a fight."

"You knocked me over the head with a cast iron frying pan," Barney growled from behind his mug.

"Well a woman has got to use what they can," she said shrugging, "How was I to know you were on our side. Communication back then was horrible."

Ava tried not to snicker, "You know dad. A pan does pack a lot of punch. Maybe I should keep one in the shop."

He narrowed his eyes at his daughter, "Our luck you'd whack Lee with it."

She stared at the table in consideration, "True, very true. Lets not then."

He nodded in satisfaction before draining his mug and refilling it.

Over the course of the next week, amusing barbs flew between Barney and Maggie. She offered a new perspective to their planning. Ava upgraded Doc's special tactical vest he'd mentioned and felt better that her guys were protected once she'd double checked their gear. By the end of the week, the crew was broken into teams and ready to go to New York with the agencies they were assigned to. Maggie was staying behind with Connie, Ava, Sarah, Dixie, and the babies. She'd gone all mushy and googoo over the babies. She was always holding one of them which Dixie thought was great since it freed up an arm. Dixie giggled at Ava and Lee frequently when Maggie's eyes settled on them while holding a baby. She was anything but subtle in her desire for grandchildren to spoil.

The end of the week also saw Blake and Luna grow close. The two women tested each other in the gym and gave each other advice. They were assigned to the same team to watch each other's backs.

Lee kissed Ava thoroughly before leaving with the team. She handed him a knife holder confusing him.

"I made it," she said, "You twist your wrist and whichever knife you put into it jumps into your hand."

He kissed her again in appreciation, "I love you."

"I love you too," she said as he laid his forehead against hers.

He sighed heavily and pulled away to follow the others. She wrung her hands watching him go until Maggie put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," she said raising a brow, "He learned from the best."

Ava smiled a bit and nodded before heading back inside with the others. They'd decided to all stay at Barney's. Safety in numbers.

Lacy's

To say Mike was pissed was an understatement. The bar he'd gone to had been tight lipped about it's customers and none of the information Lacy had given him had panned out. He'd hit her when he returned making her cry.

He held her throat lightly while he pushed her against a wall, "The people at the bar have seen you with Lee right?"

She nodded slightly in fear.

"I want you to go there and convince them you need to talk to one of Lee's friends," he said squeezing lightly, "I think you'll be able to convince them you're in trouble with that bruise forming nicely on your cheek."

The implication of what would happen if she failed went unspoken.

New York

The teams split up after confirming their communications. The Expendables double checked their watches and the trackers to see if the teams were in place. Once the time neared, each team busted into the twenty three areas housing stolen women and children.

Surprisingly all of the busts save one went smoothly. Turns out one of them was also a sweatshop. They hadn't anticipated the extra guards near an inner room and Tool had taken a bullet in his left leg.

Church made sure Tool was taken care of medically and started on all of the paperwork he had to do. He may have grumbled, but he was happy the Spears Family were losing a large source of cash.

The Expendables were all together when Church received a call. They'd all turned to him as he glared at the papers in front of him the more the person talked. He snapped out a reply and closed his phone. He rubbed his forehead and looked over at Barney.

"I called in a favor since you said you couldn't find Mike Spears either."

The whole team stiffened. Those sitting stood up looking ready for another fight.

"His private plane is in New Orleans," he said, "Camera at the airport caught his face."

The whole team looked at Barney and Lee before grabbing up their stuff as quickly as possible. Galgo, Barney, Lee, Gunnar, and Toll all whipped out their phones. Lee knew Barney was calling Ava so he called his mother. Once everyone was warned of Mike's location, they headed off quickly. No one would be able to relax until Mike was found.