I've been toying around with how I want this story to unfold for a while now, and I think I've finally settled on how I'm going to shake things up. I have absolutely no idea how long this will end up being, but I'm really excited to see what ends up happening as a result! Leave me a review when you've finished reading if you can!

Chapter Seven

Drummer's plan was simple enough. Each person knew what was required of them to make sure that everything ran as smoothly as possible until they could figure out where it was that they were going. They had packed up the weapons that they would need into the plane already, storing all of the necessarily equipment in the right spots to ensure that the team would be able to sit themselves in the cabin without complication until they reached their destination.

So of course, Barney had to shoot the plan to shit.

It was Gunnar who had woken shortly after one in the morning, his mind going over their plan too much to allow him to sleep the way some of the younger team members did. Perhaps it came from his personal ties to everything, he thought to himself. Even when he was having all of the drug issues that had once taken control of his life, there was always a little ray of sunshine in the odd time that Mikayla came into his life. Hell, he'd been there through the whole first bit of her life when Barney had first been struggling to choose the path of life that he would adopt on a more permanent basis. He'd watched her grow for at least the first five or six years of her life before things had changed.

That was when he had heard it – the sound of the car engine. Barney was clever enough to know that starting the engines of the plane would wake everyone and give him no opportunity to get out of the hangar before they were on his ass and attempting to open up some part of the plane, so he had opted to take the bike instead. As soon as he turned the engine over Gunnar was running in his direction, calling out to him in a feeble attempt to stop him before he did something stupid. But in true Barney Ross fashion, he simply gave Gunnar a look before he took off out the open door and into the darkness.

It hadn't taken long to rouse the others at that point. Though Barney hadn't taken the plane that had already been prepared, there had to be another one waiting for him somewhere else to use. Why else would he vanish so early in the morning before he was due to radio to Church? The trouble was, Doc had already called up a rather groggy Bonaparte to ask if he had aided Barney in some way with his escape and they had been rather disappointed with his answer. He had a backup plan, of this they were absolutely sure, but Bonaparte was not the other party who was involved.

"Damn it," Lee cursed to himself as he continued to pace back and forth across the floor of the hangar. "Why the hell would he go off like that when we had a plan?"

"This isn't just any other mission," Doc reminded him, scratching at the back of his neck. "If we were talking about rescuing some billionaire's daughter or something then things would be totally different. But this is Mickey we're talking about."

Smilee approached them, his arms folded tightly over his broad chest. "Drummer is on his way," he told the group that was slowly beginning to assemble at the bottom of the plane ramp. "I don't know what else we can do until he gets here."

Gunnar felt like punching something right about now. Everything had been planned out in a way that would likely have kept Church from knowing about their presence. Drummer was an expert on such things and he knew better than all of them how they were going to be able to avoid his radar. But now that Barney had fled, there was absolutely no way for the team to help with the rescue mission until they figured out where they were supposed to go. And if he hadn't gone to Bonaparte then who the hell had he called to help him?

The stress of having to wait around in order to decide their next move was evidently bothering some people more than others. Lee continued to pace back and forth across the floor so much that he threatened to start digging himself a groove with his constant movement, and the look on Gunnar's face warned anyone who might have approached him to reconsider their plan. Even Doc, who was normally fairly cool and collected in the tight situations that had become part of their daily lives was tense. The slamming that was coming from inside the plane could only be Caesar and Toll Road hard at work moving things around in an effort to occupy themselves from joining in the waiting game. But by the sounds of how loudly they were throwing the boxes, neither of them were pleased with the situation either.

Damn it!

If there had been somewhere nearby for Lee to punch out, he likely would have gone for it. What in the hell would make Barney so stupid as to think that he could handle this situation on his own? He was far too emotionally attached to this, more so than anything else he had ever come across since the two of them had started working together. He knew that he was going to be playing right into Church's hands and yet he went ahead anyway, fully away of the fact that in doing so he was leaving behind the only team in the world who had a shot in hell of bringing Mikayla back alive. Losing her to the likes of Church would be hard enough for them to handle, but the very thought of losing the two of them was enough to make even Lee's stomach churn violently. This was a personal mission, much like the one they had undertaken shortly after losing Billy. And he'd be damned if he allowed Church to get away with this.

"Where else could he have gone?" Luna asked them, standing with a hand on her hip as her eyes surveyed the group around her. "Think about it. Barney wouldn't have trusted too many people outside of this room to help him with something so personal. If he didn't call Bonaparte then he must have called someone else."

Lee nodded. "I would have thought Trench first off if he hadn't shown up with Drummer."

"But he did," Doc reminded him. "So who else have you guys been in contact with in the past few years?"

"Damn it, I don't know!" growled Christmas as he resumed his pacing.

Everyone fell silent as they began to feel the frustration and anger radiate off of the blade expert, uncertain of what they could say that might either calm him or help him to recall some distant name that he hadn't thought of in a long time. Obviously there was someone else. It was almost impossible for there not to be.

All of those who were standing around quickly jumped as they heard the violent clash of metal sound from behind them, turning sharply to find the source of the commotion at such an early hour. He hurried to kneel down and begin collecting the fallen objects, but Galgo offered them an apologetic smile and a nervous laugh when he saw all of the eyes that were suddenly upon him.

"I am sorry!" he said quickly, his hands hurrying to gather everything together again.

Rolling her eyes, Luna crossed the floor and knelt down to help him begin packing the box up again. How on earth it had come undone like that she would never know, since she was fairly certain that Thorn was the last person to use it and he was always very careful about fitting things back inside and locking it tightly. The empty clanging continued for a few more minutes until the last item had been set inside the box and the outside firmly latched once more. And as she rose to her feet, she handed the red metal box back to Galgo with a look.

"Next time, try not to make a mess of the tools, okay?"

"Son of a bitch…"

Luna turned back with a look of complete confusion written upon her face. That voice didn't belong to Lee, nor did it belong to Gunnar or Doc who both had turned themselves around to look away from Luna. Instead their eyes had fallen upon the person who stood halfway down the ramp of the plane, staring at Galgo as if he had just been struck by lightning. Toll Road just stared, his mouth slightly agape. His eyes were lit with recognition and yet his body remained completely immobile for what felt like an eternity before he bolted down the ramp and started running toward the phone that sat in the prep area near the back of the plan.

"What just happened?" Galgo asked, looking up at Luna for some kind of enlightenment.

"That's who he called!" Toll Road shouted.

He slammed his fingers against the phone repeatedly until the number was complete and he could bring the phone up to his ear. All it took was a nod from him and suddenly Caesar understood as well, joining in the cursing that still left everyone else completely oblivious to what the hell was happening.

"Would someone mind explaining what the-"

"Look at Galgo, man! What's he holding onto?"

All eyes once again turned to the Latino who clenched the red box to his chest as if he might drop it a second time under their gaze. "What?" he asked.

"Oh my God!"

"Son of a bitch!"

"I still don't get it!"

Lee resisted the urge to roll his eyes and simply turned to look at the younger recruits, knowing that they couldn't possibly know to whom they were currently referring. And how could they when they had only just joined the team a few months before? But now he understood, and everything was beginning to make perfect sense. Present company aside, there was only one other person aside from Bonaparte that Barney would have trusted enough to call for help in a situation like this because he knew that the older man would understand his situation with very few words being spoken.

"The bastard called Tool."

All at once the recognition settled over the older members of the group as they hurried to huddle around the phone that Toll Road held in his hand, hearing the ringer a little louder than before now that Caesar had joined him and prompted the use of the speaker phone button. Gunnar, Lee and Doc were all over there in a second, each showing their anxiety in a different manner as they waited for the phone to be answered on the other end. Of all the days when they needed to hear from Tool, this was perhaps the most important one.

Mars shook his head. "I still don't get it."

"Tool's an old friend, used to be part of the team," Caesar said shortly, his eyes never leaving the phone.

"He and Barney go way back," added Gunnar.

Lee looked up at the younger recruits. "And he might be the only other person Barney trusted enough to call."

The energy in the room shifted almost instantly. Every ear was tuned into the ringing of the phone as it continued, the only sound within the hangar as they all held their breath in anticipation. It sounded long and clear, followed by a few moments of silence. Then it repeated again. And again. By the fourth ring, no one was sure that there would be a response at all. The morale was once again beginning to fall. This might be their only shot.

"Toll Road, do you have any idea what time it is?"

A sigh of relief filtered through the room as Gunnar stepped up, bowing his head a little toward the mouthpiece of the phone. "Sorry to call so late, Tool but we've got an emergency."

"Has Barney contacted you recently?" Lee put in quickly.

A groan sounded on the other end as Tool struggled to wake his brain and fully enter the conversation. "Yeah, he called me up late last night. Said he needed to meet a girl and did I have a plane he could use? Truth be told I was a little confused about the girl-"

"Look man, we got an emergency," interrupted Doc.

"What happened?"

"Church wants Barney dead."

"Church?" he asked, suddenly a little more alert. "What in the hell has he got to do with this?"

Toll Road lifted the phone a little closer to his mouth. "Long story, man. Did Barney did you where he was going?"

Tool was quick to reply. "No, no – he didn't say anything about a location. Just that he needed it and didn't know when he'd be back. But you know me, I've got a GPS on that plane so that I can keep an eye on it at all times."

"We need to know where he's going," Lee said, signalling for the others to start boarding the plane in preparation.

Luna turned on her heel faster than the others and ran off to inform those who weren't present, leaving Smilee and Mars to nod in understanding to one another before they too began to move some of the things that had yet to be placed in the cargo hold. There was no time to waste at this point. As soon as Drummer arrived they would be in the air and headed to whatever location they were told. But they had to grab Thorn to make sure that the proper radio connection was set up, just so they could keep in contact with Tool about the coordinates of his plane. If they lost that, they'd be sunk.

"Christmas, what's the problem?"

Lee pressed his lips together tightly. "Church has Mickey."

Silence fell on the other end of the phone.

"I'm coming with you."

"No," Lee said quickly.

"Lee, I'm not going to just sit here while my girl is being held hostage," Tool insisted.

With an impatient wave of his hand, Lee took the phone from Toll Road, leaving him free to make his way over toward where Yang and Trench had appeared. Caesar followed closely behind, ready to fill in the details of what they had just learned. But as soon as his fingers wrapped around the outside of the phone, Lee removed the speaker and brought it up to his ear. With only Doc around now, he lowered his voice to a quieter level.

"We need you here," Lee told him, lifting his eyes to look at Doc who nodded silently in response. "We don't know what kind of shape anyone is going to be in when we get back…or who is even going to make it."

There needed to be no further explanation. This mission was suicidal for a number of reasons, not least of which was the fact that Church had intimate details about them all at his disposal. Even the younger team members who had only been around for a few months were no longer safe, as Lee knew that he couldn't guarantee what kind of information Church could have about them either. And while he appreciated the feelings that Tool was experiencing because they were not far removed from his own, he also knew that it had been several years since Tool had last taken a field job that had left him shaken beyond repair. Having him around would only put him in harm's way. No, he would absolutely hate it, but he would be better off waiting for them to return.

And evidently, Tool knew that himself.

"What do you need?"

Lee smirked. "First, I'm going to need the location of that plane."