Hello everybody!

Here's another one.

Enjoy your reading,

Pavs.


Chapter seven:


Tool caressed her hairs as she was resting against him. He could feel her naked body against his and closed his eyes in contempt as his mind finally shut the fuck up.

It had been an uneventful week. They had barely got out of Tool's bed, only checking on Gunnar once in a while. Well, Tool had. The man still needed him after his relapse and he liked to consider himself a reliable friend.

June had been awfully quiet around Jensen and Tool had yet to fully understand why. He knew that Gunnar took it more personally than he was willing to admit. Gunnar may have gone ape shit, but he still had been a part of the team for a couple of years and had been a fierce ally.

That was the reason why it had hurt them all so much to see him go dark. Barney and himself had seen it happen way too often, the first time had been especially painful too.

"I can hear you think, but I can't listen from where I am. Your mind is too far." June said and Tool sighed.

"Old memories." Tool replied and June frowned before she let go.

She couldn't really blame him. She was the first one to keep her feelings to herself. Not about Tool though. Her heart had made sure that she couldn't ignore how each and every bit of their broken souls seemed to match each other's perfectly.

She didn't know why, and didn't care about understanding it, but Tool was feeling more and more like he was her new gravity.

She was wondering if it was because their world had collapsed into each other as he saved her. He was wondering if she was his last hope of saving himself.

Then their arms had become their home, their whispers had turned into a peace of mind and their pain had slowly turned every tear into a rain of love and comfort.

They hadn't had a safe place, so they had made one and it was built from their soul bonding and untold feelings that caressed their skin at night.

June kissed Tool softly on the lips and the man sighed in relief as he tasted her. The more time he spends with her, the more he was wondering why he'd accept anything less than what he was feeling when he was with her. Then again he doubt very much that he would have met anybody else like her.

They were interrupted by a loud noise below them and they both got up the bed and hurried to grab some clothes and weapons. Right until they heard Gunnar swear about a 'Fucking oven older than Barney himself."

June frowned as Tool chuckled.

"That giant can cook?" June asked and Tool looked at her with a smile.

"I think that noise alone should be an answer to that question." Tool replied and June rolled her eyes. "By the way, you're very fucking sexy with your bare ass, my shirt and a desert eagle."

June laughed a little as she put her weapon safely back where she'd found it.

"Drop your pistol, we ain't going back to bed." She replied and Tool laughed as he got her reference to his half-hard dick.

"Fuck!" They heard Gunnar swear and they both got dressed enough to go and see what was happening without giving Jensen a show.

.

Gunnar had been tired of the tension, so he'd try and follow his dumbass therapist advice and decided to make a gesture. Apparently, he was shit at cooking regardless of whether he was high or not.

"What's happening here Guns?" Tool asked him as Gunnar sighed while putting the burned lasagna in the trash.

"Trying to make dinner?" Gunnar replied a bit irritated as June looked at the setting of the still running oven.

"You didn't put it on the right mode." June commented and Gunnar looked at her with a frown.

"Never seem to get it right." Gunnar grumbled and Tool shot a worried look at both June and Gunnar.

"What does that really mean?" Tool asked.

"She knows what I mean!" Gunnar exclaimed with a sarcastic tone that didn't quite hide the hurt in his voice. "She barely even looks at me! I am a part of this team too! My respect doesn't count princess?"

June looked at him with a heavy heart as she understood what Gunnar was truly offended about.

"Gunnar, it isn't. . ." June tried to explain and Gunnar scoffed.

"Don't even fucking tell me that it's not me, it's you!" Gunnar growled and June felt the bile rising as she pictured her brother.

Gunnar noticed how pale she became and calmed himself down. For a woman who'd been in the job for ten years, he found that he scared her way too easily about. . .

"It's my brother." She finally told him while looking at him straight in the eyes. "Gunnar it has nothing to do with you and I am sorry. It has everything to do with the fact that my brother would still be alive if I'd been there for him like the Expendables were for you. I know it's unfair to you, and I do apologize, but looking at you remind me of my biggest regrets and I am not ready to face myself."

He could see the pain and guilt in her eyes as he realized that she wasn't scared of him or judging him as he thought she'd been. He'd found her file and read it too.

"I am not him. I couldn't be saved until I wanted to be. From what I read you did what you could, for all that's worth anyway." Gunnar said and June offered him a sad smile.

"Thanks Gunnar, I'm glad you're feeling better." She said as she briefly put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll go get some air, I'll be back."

She turned and left as both the men looked at her go with a heavy heart for very different stayed like that for a moment before Gunnar noticed the worry in Tool's eyes.

"What is she to you?" Gunnar asked and Tool smiled a little.

Jensen wasn't known to beat around the bush.

"I honestly don't know how to describe it." Tool admitted. "I only know that I couldn't let her die then and now my mind only shut up when she's around."

"So you love her then?" Gunnar asked as he noticed the way his Tool was looking at the door with longing in his eyes.

He'd been around Tool long enough to know that while there had been a lot of women coming and going from the shop, not once his friend had looked at them like that.

"I am, aren't I?" Tool said in a sigh and Gunnar nodded. "I don't get it, we just met. In the worst possible circumstances too."

"Doesn't have to make sense. Our whole lives don't mean shit and yet we are still here. You got something to hang on to, hold tight and enjoy." Gunnar said with sadness in his eyes.

Drugs had a special way to make everything vanish, good or bad. It was lonely. He'd fucking kill not to feel like that again.

"I'll make sure she's alright." Tool said while putting a hand on his friend's shoulder and Gunnar offered him a sad smile.

.

Barney was fed up with Church's bullshit. This had been, yet again, a fuck-fest. They were getting too old for this. Not that it would stop them, but still.

"I know the man's a mess, but we could've used Gunnar's craziness back there." Lee stated from the copilot seat and Barney sighed yet again.

"I know." Barney replied.

"Maybe we could get back up? You know, fresh blood." Hale suggested from the back of the plane and Barney felt his chest tighten.

How many times had he heard that?

"About the same amount as the number of loose tags dangling in front of the plane." He thought to himself. "One more now with Booker."

Lee noticed the tension and looked at Ross as if he was a ticking bomb. Barney's face was set in stone, but his eyes betrayed his tiredness and pain.

"We could." Toll commented and Barney looked at the sky with a heavy heart.

"We could." He half-whispered as he was trying to make peace with the fact that he'd have to call Bonaparte.

"What about June?" Hale asked and Lee turned in his seat to face the back of the plane.

"You mean the one who went to kill herself, then tried to have us kill her? That one." Lee dead-paned and Hale raised his hands in surrender.

"When you say it like that. . . Well, she was in shock. Maybe once she's better. . ." Hale begun before Toll send him a pointed look and Caesar scoffed. "Y'all know damn well her credentials. The woman spends ten years being trained by the Lone Wolf himself and working jobs the devil himself wouldn't do, don't tell me she ain't qualified! We damn good, the bests in what we do, but human trafficking and concentration camps are another type of shit that takes balls bigger than Barney's ego. Stop judging me for proposing!"

"Hey, leave my ego out of this!" Barney shouted from the front of the plane as Lee send him an amused look.

Barney flipped him off and Christmas laughed.

"I'll talk to her." Barney finally said and Hale looked at Toll with a satisfied smirk.

"We don't know her!" Lee half-whispered with a slightly shocked expression.

"We'll get to it." Barney concluded and Lee rolled his eyes. "I'll still check in with Bonaparte."

.

Tool was trying his damn best not to panic. June hadn't been back for hours and wasn't answering her phone. He was walking in circles like a caged lion, as per Gunnar's observation, when Barney made an appearance in the shop.

"You don't look so good." Barney commented from the doorway as Lee scoffed behind him.

"His girlfriend went to take a breather five minutes ago." Gunnar replied with a mocking tone and Tool send him a dark look while Barney frowned.

"It was an hour and a half ago." Tool replied and Lee raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know." Gunnar commented as he shook his head a little.

"I have to trust her." Tool insisted and Barney wondered who he was trying to convince.

"Did you look in the park? Or the apartment?" Christmas asked as Tool send him a dark look.

"She ain't a child, she's fine." Tool retorted back as he was trying his best not to picture her dead again.

"Yeah, I am." June said as she entered the parlor with two grocery bags and a bottle of whiskey.

They turned to her and she offered them a shy smile as Tool finally calmed down. June put the bags and bottle on his work table and turned to him as he placed his hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry doll, you weren't in the best mood when you left and you didn't answer your phone. I'm not a fucked up control freak I was just worried." Tool told her and June kissed him softly on the lips as a warm feeling spread throughout her entire body.

She was loved, she realized, and she liked it. A lot. She liked him. Loved him. He smiled at her and she smiled back. She was falling hard for him.

"I know, thank you." She said softly and Tool kissed her forehead before June went to retrieve her bags. "Gunnar, mind to give me a hand?"

They all looked at her with various expressions on their faces, ranging from surprise to curiosity. Gunnar nodded and took the bags upstairs nonetheless and she followed him, leaving Tool, Barney and Lee to their business.

.

"Well, that looked a tad bit friendly." Lee pointed out and Barney chuckled.

"Yeah, that's some way to put it." Barney added with an amused expression.

Tool rolled his eyes and sighed, but they all could see the shadow of a smile on his lips.

"What can I say brother? Did you see her?" Tool retorted back and Barney nodded.

"She's good-looking, in a more natural way than your usual." Barney complimented and Tool sat on his bench before he took out his tobacco and pipe.

"I was talking about her soul, but that too. She's not my usual." Tool said softly.

"She's more, isn't she?" Barney asked and Tool nodded as he finished putting the tobacco in.

He lit it up with a match and turned to his friends who were looking at him with an honest smile.

"I'm glad you're finally settling. You're past due." Barney commented and Tool laughed.

"Past due?" Lee mocked. "He's like a bloody century late."

Tool flipped him off and Christmas laughed. For all the shit he was giving him—and well to be fair everybody—about June, he was glad that she was making Tool happy.

"We'll get to it." He thought to himself, remembering his conversation with Barney earlier. Then he heard Gunnar's laughter, for the first time in forever and smiled a little. "Maybe it could work out."

.

"What's that?" Gunnar asked and June smiled.

"Everything we need to make a fresh lasagna."June said and Gunnar frowned. "Would you wash the vegetables? I'll grab the rest."

Gunnar executed himself and once everything was in place, she proceeded to show him how to cook it step by step. Her voice was soft, her movements smooth and she looked a lot calmer as she was focusing on teaching him. It was calming him as well.

They finally finished the preparation and Gunnar put it in the oven for the final step as she turned to him. She didn't see him move towards her and she spilled the sauce on herself while trying to step back from him, making Gunnar laugh loudly.

"This should be ready in time for supper." June said after a moment and Gunnar nodded as he heard the sudden sadness in her voice.

She was thinking about her brother again, he could tell.

"Thank you, for showing me." Gunnar said and she looked at him straight in the eyes.

"I wanted to be there." She said as her voice started shaking.

"You couldn't. Not if you wanted to save his life." Gunnar stated and she fought back her tears.

"That file is pretty detailed, isn't it?" June said and Gunnar looked at the floor. "It's fine, part of the job, right?"

"I guess." Gunnar agreed and she exhaled loudly.

"Anyway, thank you. I'll go change. Tell the others they're welcome to join us, yeah?" she finally said and Gunnar agreed silently before she went to Tool's apartment.

.

Gunnar was setting up the table as the others were joining him in the kitchen. He'd send a message to Hale, Toll and Yang, knowing that they'd made more than enough for everybody.

He kept smiling softly as he got the plates. He was sincerely touched by June's gesture. He would have been fine with just her apologies and explanations, but she'd gone above and beyond to include him more.

He wondered to himself if she'd let him learn more. His therapist had told him that a hobby could help and cooking required both skills and precision that could easily distract him, with the bonus of having more food to eat afterwards.

They were all looking at Jensen practically glowing with optimism and Tool smiled while Barney and Lee shared a knowing look. They heard voices from the shop that told them Toll, Hale and Yang had arrived while June was finally joining them in the kitchen, wearing one of Tool's shirts and her jean shorts.

"You keep stealing my shirts." Tool commented with a smile and she laughed before she kissed him on the cheek.

"Did you mean our shirts?" She joked playfully and Tool's smile grew bigger as he felt his heart beat faster.

"Our" He thought to himself, "I like the sound of that."

"You wear them better anyway." He complimented softly and she sat beside him before she put her hand on his arm.

June then rolled her eyes and Tool chuckled as he spotted Hale and Toll handing money to Yang while they were still in the elevator.

"Alright, homemade it is!" Hale exclaimed as he took place at the table. "What's the occasion? You talked to June about work?"

"Work?" June asked Hale with a raised eyebrow while both Lee and Barney were sending the man a dark look.

"Well done." Mocked Toll in a sigh and Tool looked at Barney with a sinking feeling to his stomach.

"We talked about needing more manpower." Barney finally explained and Tool felt his anger rising.

He couldn't let her run to her death. Never again.

"What about me?" Gunnar asked and Barney turned to him.

"You'll be on probation once your shoulder's good." Barney replied before he looked at June.

She was looking at the wall in front of her with a faraway look in her eyes.

"June, you ready?" Booker asked her with a smile that turned into laughter at the overjoyed expression she made.

"You want me to come with you?" She asked with so much hope in her voice that John felt his heart melt.

"Of course, I always want you to come with me. We're a team, family. I can't leave you behind." Booker replied and she ran to get her stuff ready.

"So, what do you say?" Hale asked carefully and she turned to Tool.

She could see the worry, sadness, anger in his eyes. He could see the pain, the sadness, the hope in her tore his heart in a half. He knew who she was, and yet he didn't want to risk losing her. More than that, he couldn't.

June saw the fear increasing in Tool's eyes while the others felt the tension rising from the exchange in front of them. She remembered the look on Tool's face all too well.

It had been the same one Booker had had after their first mission together. She had been hurt again. She'd wanted to go back regardless and she'd fought for it mission after mission.

She'd wanted to be there for John as much as she could in case she would lose him. She'd still ended up running from him, and regardless of whether John himself had asked her to do it or not, it still was one of her biggest regrets.

She caressed Tool's arm with the tip of her fingers as the man closed his eyes in resignation.

"I'm sorry." She began and Tool opened his mouth to say that he understood that he would be waiting for her right where he was, that it was the job after all . . . but then she continued. "I would love to help, but I ran without thinking twice and l lost two people I care deeply about. I'll need to sort myself out and talk about it with Tool. You can call me for a real emergency, but otherwise I'll stay here until then, if it's ok with you."

Tool couldn't help the shocked expression on his face as he barely kept himself from crying suddenly.

She was with him, for him.

"I love you." He couldn't help but whisper and she kissed him softly as the sudden fear of being too much was being replaced by a comforting warmth.

"And I you." She said with a smile before she got up to take the dishes to the sink.

Tool followed her with his eyes, not seeing the small, sincere smile Barney was giving them both.