Gunner

He felt worried about leaving this time; he didn't know why. He was sitting next to Victoria on the docks, their feet dangling over the edge and touching the surface of the water. This was their first official date, and he felt it was going well so far. He'd taken her flowers when he picked her up, gotten reservations at a nice restaurant, and gone for a nice walk along the docks with her afterwards. They hadn't run out of things to talk about, and she kept reaching to hold his hand. He took that to be a good sign.

He thought about what Norah said about telling Victoria what had happened to him. He wasn't sure if he could, but he knew if they were going to have an honest relationship, he would eventually have to.

"I bet a lot of people don't know what kind of gentle giant you really are," Victoria commented, making him look at her.

"They don't."

"You okay?" she asked, noticing his worry lines. "You worried about the job?"

"A little," Gunner admitted.

"Where are you going this time?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. He didn't usually ask. He just showed up.

"Well," she said, patting his hand lightly. "I'm sure it'll be all right. You boys seem to pull yourselves out of very messy situations easily enough."

"That's luck," Gunner pointed out.

"I think it's because you're good at what you do," she insisted, smiling. He smiled back. Then she rested her head on his shoulder, and he felt warm inside. The two of them just seemed to fit together, and he liked it.

He wasn't ready to lose it just yet.

Norah

Her head was pounding still, even after taking pain killers. She had sat out back on the porch while Lee was gone, and when he came back, he found her there still.

"Feeling any better?" he asked, sitting down beside her. She turned her head to look at him.

"Not really," she answered truthfully. He leaned towards her, reaching with his hand to run his fingers along the side of her head. It surprised her at first, but the tingling feeling was replaced with pain when he located the bump on her skull.

"Ow," she hissed, wincing.

"Sorry," he apologized, taking his hand back. "That feels quite nasty."

"Ugh," she said, closing her eyes and turning her head away from him. She wanted to sleep again. Badly. A part of her was slightly afraid to, though. Lee wasn't saying anything, and she was wondering what he was thinking.

"When do you leave?" she asked, remembering.

"Two days."

"How long are you gone?"

"Not sure."

She looked at him again and could see in his eyes that he did not want her to ask him what he did when he was away. The rebellious part of herself wanted to anyway, even though she'd told him she didn't care to know, but she held herself in check. There was one thing she did want to know, though, and she figured it would be okay to ask.

"Do you keep people safe?" she questioned. Something flickered across his face, but he nodded slowly after a moment.

"Yea," he said. "I do."

"Good." She got to her feet and stood still for a moment, working through the little bit of dizziness she had. Lee stood as well, hovering in front of her and ready to catch her should she topple over.

"I'm okay," she said. As much as she liked being looked after, she also needed to be independent. She went inside and down to her room. She crawled into bed and fell asleep.

Joe

"Norah what?" he asked, looking at Rose, who was reading her phone.

"Has a slight concussion," she repeated. "Work accident."

"Is she all right?"

"I think so."

"Good," Joe said, relieved. He didn't think he could handle two broken daughters at the same time. He hadn't been able to years ago after Marcy died, much to his shame. He watched Rose continue to dry the dishes, and he felt bad again that she'd lost the baby. At least she was up and walking again. He'd been worried she was never going to get out of bed again.

"I'm fine, Dad," she said without looking at him.

"I don't believe you, but I'll let it slide for now," he said. She smiled a little. Joe knew she had a ways to go before she was back to herself again. If she got there again. He worried about that.

"Are you okay to watch Oscar if I go out with Winston tomorrow night?" she asked after a few moments, hanging up the tea towel to dry.

"Sure," he answered. It was a good sign that she wanted to go out, especially with Winston. He knew that much.

"Thanks, Dad," she said, going over to kiss his cheek and then head to bed. Joe made his way to bed himself, but sleep did not come easy for him. There were times he worried he'd lose his daughters the same way he lost Marcy, but they never seemed to show signs of this that he could see. The one he worried about the most was Norah. She was a bit more impulsive.

"I wish you were here, Marcy," he murmured. He stretched out his hand to rest on the pillow next to him out of habit. He imagined her there, and it gave him a little bit of comfort.

Enough to fall asleep anyway.

Lee

He went down the stairs quietly, approaching Norah's sleeping form slowly. He hated to do this, but he needed to be sure she was all right. He turned on his flashlight and reached for her shoulder, shaking her awake. When she woke easily enough, he released the breath he'd been holding.

"You suck," she murmured.

"How's your headache?" he asked. "Better? Worse?"

"Bit better," she mumbled, trying to bury her head under her pillow to get away from the light.

"Okay," he said. "See you in two hours."

Her growling response made him chuckle as he went back up the stairs. Rupert was confused by this late night game but followed him back to bed all the same. Lee groaned as he crawled back under his covers. His own fatigue was high, but he was used to waking up a lot during the night if he had to, and in this case, he felt he had to. He felt that Norah was his responsibility since she lived under his roof, not to mention he'd given her the concussion to begin with.

Two hours later, he woke her again. Two hours after that, he woke her once more. He was exhausted, which he knew she would be too.

"I'm fine," she said grouchily. "Go away."

"I agree that you're fine," he said back. "I'll be back, though. I'm not taking any chances." She didn't respond, just tucked her head against her arm and sighed. When he started to leave, she called him back.

"What's wrong?" he asked, feeling a bit worried. Was her headache worse? He should have taken her to the hospital. Why did he let her talk him out of it? He waited as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Save yourself the trip," she told him, moving her left hand to pat the spot next to her. "I don't bite."

She was inviting him to sleep next to her again. The part of him that wanted to was bigger than the part of him that was afraid of her. Suddenly, his bed seemed so far away, and he was tired. Without a word, he moved to the other side and got in. He was surprised when she scooted over to be against him, but regardless of the surprise, his arm still went around her waist out of reflex. His brain was too fuzzy with sleep to understand what he was doing. He set his phone alarm for two hours away before falling into the darkness of sleep.

When his alarm went off, Norah woke up with it.

"I'm okay," she said before he could even ask. "Headache is gone."

"Good," he replied.

"Can you stop now? I want to sleep until noon undisturbed," she said.

"I think you're fine, so yea, I'll leave you alone," he promised, moving to leave. She grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"I didn't say leave," she said. "Just stop waking me up."

"Oh." Lee was surprised. "Okay."

"Unless you don't want to. No pressure here," Norah said. "Well, maybe a little. You seem to keep my nightmares at bay, so the selfish part of me wants you to stay so I can continue to have a dreamless sleep."

Oddly enough, she did the same for him. He didn't tell her this, though.

"I can stay," he said quietly.

"Thanks," she said back, getting comfortable again. After she fell back to sleep, Lee moved to press his lips against her shoulder for less than ten seconds. He wasn't sure why he did it. He was relieved she didn't wake up. He chastised himself for doing something so reckless.

He couldn't afford to be reckless with her, for now he knew that losing her would be devastating, and that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Toll

He had been sleeping when Victoria got home from her date with Gunner. He didn't even know if he should ask about it. The only thing he really wanted to know was if Gunner was treating her like a gentleman.

"Relax," Victoria said as she walked past him to pour a cup of coffee. Toll looked up from his mug, hands holding it tightly.

"I didn't say anything," he argued.

"You were thinking it," she said, smiling as she sat across from him. "Gun's a gentleman."

"Good."

"What were you gonna do if he wasn't? Beat him up?" she asked.

"He'd find himself up to his neck in a hole with only chopsticks to dig himself out," Toll said seriously.

"Okay, Chon Wang," Victoria commented, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Roy O'Bannon got with his sister too," Toll said, jabbing his finger in the air. "Nearly cost them their friendship."

"But it didn't in the end," she insisted. "So lighten up."

"Gunner's even got Roy's hair," Toll muttered, thinking about it.

"I hear you guys are leaving in two days," she said, changing the subject. She leaned back in her chair, resting one hand behind her head.

"Yea," he confirmed.

"How do you feel about it?"

"Trying not to stress about it," Toll answered honestly. She gave him a sympathetic look.

"Is it another rescue mission?"

"I don't think so."

"Good, so you can just shoot 'em all up and release some of that anger," she said, a slight twinkle in her eye.

"Ha ha," he said sarcastically. Then he leaned forward and rubbed his hands over his head. "I honestly don't know what I'm doing anymore, Vic."

"You want to stop?"

"I don't know."

"No shame in quitting," she pointed out.

"I know, but what else am I gonna do? I ain't flipping burgers," he said.

"That's a very honorable job," she chastised him. "And I was a very good burger flipper, I might add."

"I know, I know. I didn't mean that. I just...I don't want to do something that doesn't stimulate my brain," he explained.

"Who says it's not stimulating?" she asked, teasing him now. "You gotta flip it just right without letting it hit the floor or the ceiling."

"Enough with that," Toll said, putting out his hand. He did have a slight smile on his lips, though. He couldn't help but imagine his sister in her mid to late teens/early twenties flipping burgers with precision, that look of serious concentration on her face. He gave anyone massive credit who could do fast food work. He knew he had no patience for it.

"Just take it one day at a time," Victoria suggested. "Listen to your gut. It's usually always right." She stood up and took her coffee to the balcony now, leaving him alone to stew with his thoughts.

Two Days Later

Norah

They had tiptoed around each other again the last two days. The only time they didn't was at night. She'd gone to him the first night, slipping in next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. She'd woken up in the morning with his arm around her again. The second night (last night), he'd come to her. Nothing happened between them; they just slept, but Norah was feeling like something was going to happen, that they were seconds away from bursting into flame. She was discovering her desire for him each time he was pressed against her and didn't know what to do with it. When she'd woken up this morning, though, he'd been gone. He'd avoided her all day every since.

She sat on the kitchen counter watching him finish packing up food for his trip. Rupert was laying by the door, watching too. Lee zipped his bag shut and gave it a solid pat before catching her gaze.

"Have a good business trip," she offered.

"Norah," he started before faltering.

"It's okay," she cut him off. "I don't really need to know." She was sticking to this mindset. Whatever he did while he was gone (and she had some ideas), she imagined things could be intense and scary, and she suddenly didn't want to know that he could very well die on her. She preferred to pretend he really did just go away for a business trip.

"Okay," he agreed, looking relieved.

"Just...be safe, okay?" she ordered. He nodded.

"I'll try."

"There is no try," she reminded him, raising a brow. He chuckled.

"Right."

Norah watched him lift his bags and head for the door. He stopped to give Rupert one last pat before turning to look at her. She wasn't entirely sure what she saw in his eyes as he looked at her, but it almost looked like deep caring. She wondered if he was going to hug her, but he stayed standing still. She noticed the disappointment hit her, that she had wanted him to hug her goodbye.

"See you later," he said.

"Bye."

Then he was gone. Norah hugged herself as she stared at the empty doorway where he'd been standing. She already missed him, which surprised her a little. How had she gotten so attached to him in such a short time? He was nothing like Randy, which was a bonus. She didn't miss Randy at all. She hadn't come here looking for a relationship, though. She and Lee definitely had their quirks and got on each other's nerves more often than not, but seeing that side of Lee, the caregiving side, it had made her see him differently. Having him hold her at night was making her have feelings for him.

She just hoped he came back so she could get to know him further. She wasn't sure she could (or should) act on her feelings, but she could at least still be his friend.

Barney

He bounced with the turbulence. The mood was somber from the men in the back, and Barney knew why. No one was over their last mission yet, and he was pretty sure they never would be. He was surprised to see Caesar, but he knew that none of them wanted the last mission to stop them from saving others in the future.

He looked over at Lee, who had his eyes shut, but Barney knew he was fake sleeping. It was Classic Christmas Avoidance Syndrome. Barney was onto it. He didn't say anything, though. He was fine with a little silence himself.

Norah kept popping into his head. He still thought he was doing the right thing by keeping his identity from her. He knew she had an older sister. Rose.

He thought back to the last time he'd seen both those girls. They'd been small. Norah had maybe been three. He'd seen it then in his sister's eyes. Marcy always wore her feelings there, and what she was showing the world was her pain and sadness. He wished he had paid more attention and said something. Maybe then she wouldn't have taken her own life barely a year later.

Joe had been so angry. He'd never liked Barney. When Marcy died, he told Barney to not come around anymore. He didn't want the girls exposed to whatever trouble Barney was getting himself into, and it was a lot at that time. Barney didn't blame him. He was protecting his family. He'd have done the same thing. He thought of those girls often enough. Over the years, he'd run into a few different young women that would make him stop and wonder if they were his nieces. Then, one practically falls into his lap. What were the odds? He should have realized it was her by the name. There weren't too many Norahs that he knew of. Marcy had named her after their grandmother.

He regretted walking away from them. They were his last link to his sister. It just added to the pile of guilt he already carried. If he had paid attention, he could have saved their mother. If he had saved their mother, he'd still have been in their lives. Or maybe not. Maybe Marcy would have told him to bugger off. Maybe she would have feared he'd turn one of the girls into a black hearted mercenary too. He'd never know. The past was the past. There was no going back.

Rose

She was walking beside Winston, listening to him talk about his day. She hugged herself against the wind. Every so often she would burst into tears, and she was feeling like one of those times was about to happen.

"Are you all right?" Winston asked her, noticing her face change.

"Mmhmm," she lied, smiling a little too forcefully. He stopped walking, making her go a few steps past him before noticing and stopping herself. She turned to look at him.

"Rose," he said seriously. "You can be honest with me. It takes a lot to scare me off, just so you know." She shuffled her feet, unsure what to tell him. It all seemed so big suddenly.

"I don't think I can say it," she whispered. His face fell slightly.

"You don't want to see me anymore," he said. "I get it."

"No!" she burst out. "That's not it at all!"

"Then what is it?" he pressed. She rubbed her face a bit hard. There was no point in lying to him. She was just afraid this really would scare him off.

"I'm worried it will make you leave," she told him truthfully.

"How about you let me decide that?" he offered. She looked down. "Rose, I really like you. Whatever it is, it won't make me leave."

"You say that now..."

"Rose, I know about Mac," Winston said gently. She was surprised at this.

"How?"

"Overheard one of his buddies talking about it."

"I'm not proud of it," she said quickly.

"I get it. You were sweethearts, and he picked somebody else but couldn't leave you behind."

"I was part of it too."

"I know, but we all make mistakes, right?"

"Yes..."

"We can all be forgiven for those mistakes too," he said softly.

"I got pregnant," she blurted out, unable to keep it in any longer. She needed him to understand how horrible of a person she was. He didn't say anything, just waited for her to continue, so she did. "I...I just lost the baby recently, and I keep thinking...I keep thinking it was the consequence of what we'd done, you know?"

"Oh, Rose," Winston said, reaching for her and pulling her in close. She clung to him.

"I'm so messed up," she whispered into his shoulder.

"So am I," he reminded her.

"You deserve somebody better than this," Rose insisted, pulling back. He reached to wipe at her tears with his fingers and smiled at her.

"Don't tell me what I do and don't deserve," he said. "I know that already." He gave her another smile, and she gave him a watery one back.

"I'm sorry you lost the baby," he added after a moment. "I love babies."

"You would have been okay with it?"

"Of course," he answered. "Because I care about you, remember?"

"I don't deserve you," Rose said now.

"You gotta be kinder to yourself, Rose," Winston said. "Because you do deserve that." He took her hand and kissed it softly, making her feel so warm inside. Then they started walking again, and Rose felt like maybe, just maybe, things would be all right after all.

A Week Later

Tool's Place

Tool was not surprised to see Norah. She always came when the boys were away. He knew how it felt to be alone and to hate that feeling. If she hadn't shown up, he would have called her over anyway. He sucked on his pipe while beating on chicken breasts on the counter. She hopped up on the stool across from him.

"Watcha making?" she asked, resting her chin on her arms.

"Chicken Parmesan," he answered.

"I didn't know you cooked fancy," she said.

"Where do you think Caesar learned half of what he knows?" Tool asked, a sparkle in his eyes.

"I assumed his wife..."

"Oh! I'm hurt," Tool said, clutching his chest with his hand and wincing.

"Sorry," Norah said with a smile. She moved her chin to rest on her hand, which was propped up by her elbow. Tool finished pounding the meat and started dressing it with the ingredients Chicken Parmesan required. Norah wished she could cook better than she did. She wondered if Lee had noticed yet that she mostly ate out or had very easy meals.

"You still getting along with Mr. Christmas?" Tool asked after putting the chicken into the frying pan. The hissing and popping was loud, so Norah had to raise her voice a little.

"So far," she answered loudly.

"Don't take his moods personally," Tool offered. "He's always been like that."

"I noticed."

"Hey, Tool," a voice called, making Norah turn to see Char coming. She was stuffing her keys into her purse. "Sorry I'm late."

"You're right on time," Tool assured her.

"Hi, Norah," Char said with a smile, sitting down on the stool beside her.

"Hey," Norah said back, a little surprised.

"We're having a girls' night plus one guy," Tool told her. "We do it when the boys are gone a little longer than usual...makes us feel supported."

"Oh. That's cool," Norah said.

"Mmm, Tool, Chicken Parmesan? You spoil me," Char said, folding her hands and grinning at him. "By the way, thank you for showing Hale how to do a proper roast."

"Anytime," Tool replied.

"I love that my man loves to cook," Char went on, looking at Norah happily. "We take turns. Sometimes we cook together. Hale is slowly trying to get Will interested, and thankfully he is. He'll make a wife so happy some day."

"I can't cook," Norah confessed. "Not very well."

"I can soon change that," Tool promised.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure, darlin'," Tool replied with a chuckle. "Just say the word."

"Word," Norah said quickly, making both Char and Tool laugh.

"Pay attention, then," Tool said, and Norah leaned in closer to watch him prepare dinner better. Char was looking at her phone when footsteps approached. Norah turned her head to see Victoria.

"Hello, all," Victoria said with a smile. "Something smells incredible, Mickey."

"Mickey?" Norah asked Tool, raising a brow.

"As in Mouse," Tool answered.

"So where's Minnie?" Char asked, a twinkle in her eye.

"Out in a bar somewhere waiting for me to pick her up," Tool replied with a grin. Char rolled her eyes and shook her head, chuckling. Victoria was sitting on Norah's left, putting her in the middle of the two women. She liked it. She felt like she belonged. Growing up, she'd watched Rose be the popular one in school, leaving her to feel awkward and alone most of the time. She was not used to being a part of a group.

"So, Norah," Victoria said, resting her cheek on her left hand and looking at Norah with a bit of a cheeky smile. "How's Lee?" Without intending to, Norah blushed. This earned her a nudge from Char, who saw it too.

"Ooohhh! I smell romance!" she said.

"No," Norah said, trying to get back some control in this situation. "No romance."

"Oh, come on," Victoria scoffed. "Have you seen him?"

"If I didn't have Hale..." Char trailed off.

"I've heard Englishmen are very good," Victoria added.

"I know this is a gal's night and all, but I feel like I have to save the man's dignity a little here since he can't defend himself," Tool chimed in. "He ain't a piece of meat, ladies. Pull your tongues back in and get your mind out of the gutter."

"I know he's not," Norah said strongly. "And I don't like him that way." It was such a lie. She'd gone and stolen one of his hoodies to sleep with, just to have his smell around her at night. In fact, she was wearing it now. She saw Victoria eyeing it up as if she recognized it. Norah cleared her throat.

"Well, my brother is interested in you, so if you don't like Lee, you can always go for him instead," Victoria offered. Norah felt like her face was going to burst from embarrassment.

"He's not...he isn't," Norah tried.

"Oh, sweetie," Victoria chuckled. "Nick lights up whenever you're around, and I've seen the way he looks at you. He's interested."

Norah had no words as Char reached to pat her back lightly. Even Tool had a slight smirk for her. She didn't like it. She wanted the attention off of her, right now.

"How's Gunner?" she asked Victoria.

"Deflecting. That's cute," Victoria laughed. "All right, I'll indulge. He's very good."

"You two started dating?" Char asked, having not heard.

"Yes. He finally asked me out," Victoria answered, nodding. "We had a nice evening on our first date."

Norah exhaled slowly, feeling a bit more relaxed again. The heat was off for now. She kept watching Tool as he put his chicken into a pan and started pouring sauce and shredding mozzarella cheese over them. Her stomach growled.

"You think he's the one?" Char asked.

"I don't know," Victoria answered thoughtfully. "We'll have to see."

"Don't let another one get away, Tori," Char told her.

"Spaghetti okay with the chicken?" Tool interrupted, looking back and forth between all of them.

"Sounds perfect," Char answered. Norah and Victoria nodded in agreement. Tool started to busy himself preparing it while Char and Victoria continued to talk about Gunner. Norah tuned them out. Her mind went to thinking about Lee, whether she wanted it to or not. She hoped he was safe. She was dreading sleeping alone, but at least she had a part of him with her, even if it was just a piece of clothing. She also had Rupert, so she wasn't entirely alone.

It just wasn't the same.

Lee

They'd hiked for hours. His back was aching from carrying everything. Once they set up camp for the night, he leaned against a log and watched the fire. He could tell everybody was dwelling on something. There was a very somber aura around them. He noticed Yang and Gunner kept exchanging glances when they thought no one was watching, and he wondered what was going on there. He watched Caesar and Toll conversing next, their heads leaning towards each other. He wasn't sure where Barney was. Probably off brooding somewhere with that black heart of his.

Then his mind shifted to Norah. It didn't seem to matter how many times he pushed it away from those thoughts, they always came back. Was she okay home alone? Had she gone through his things? Was she looking after Rupert? Did she miss him? Why did he miss her? What was happening to him?

"Where you been?" Gunner asked when Barney returned suddenly.

"Scouting," Barney answered.

"Alone? Not very smart," Yang retorted.

"There are about six guards," Barney said, ignoring him. "Easy enough."

"Better put that lucky ring on," Lee said with a snort.

"Yea, don't wait until it's too late this time," Toll chimed in. Barney shot them both a look, but he reached into his pocket and pulled the ring out all the same, sliding it onto his finger.

"Happy now?" he asked sarcastically.

"Much better," Lee replied. "It gives me such peace of mind that a piece of jewelry is gonna save my ass."

"Watch what happens when I take it off," Barney threatened.

"You don't scare me," Lee snorted.

"You should be scared of me..."

"So what is the plan?" Caesar interrupted before things got out of hand.

"I don't know. I think Lee has a better idea of what to do," Barney replied, hostile.

"No, you're mistaken. The ring knows," Lee shot back.

"So just go blow shit up then," Caesar said, looking at Barney. "That's what I'm hearing."

"Go nuts," Barney told him. "In the morning."

"Fine."

"Fine."

The somber mood was replaced with a cranky one. Lee knew he'd taken out his frustration about his thoughts of Norah on Barney, but he wasn't about to admit it. He went over in his mind the reason he'd gone to her last night and crawled in behind her. It had been pure loneliness and emptiness along with want and need to feel her next to him. There had been very few women in his life since his last relationship, and he never spent more than one night with them. With Norah, he kept going back, and they weren't even doing anything. He felt so confused. He felt like he was drifting without an anchor and that she was the anchor he desperately wanted to hold onto. He was just afraid to.

Tired of his thoughts, he went to his sleeping bag and curled up in it, missing Norah's body next to his.