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Chapter 7
Barney's POV
Later that night Melanie showed up around eight, dressed in her regular attire; black jeans and a dark red t-shirt with her black leather jacket.
"Hey Mel!" I called to her as she shrugged out of her jacket.
She smiled, "Hey Barney, pass me a beer would you."she said as she came to sit with me, the others hadn't arrived yet.
I went to the fridge and pulled a couple beers for us, I popped off the caps and passed hers to her as I sat down myself.
"I want to talk to you about your position on the team."I told her taking a swig.
She nodded and gave me her full attention, she set her beer on the table after barely taking a sip of it.
"Well, the truth is Mel you're a great asset to this team and we all miss you. Though for you to remain on the team I need you to be in top form. You aren't right now, answer me this; are you going to be?"
I explained to her the best I could, hoping she understood.
Melanie was quiet at first and had some more beer before she replied,
"I will be Barney, I need some time."she paused and looked into my eyes, clearly trying to decide whether to tell me something or not, she nodded to herself and spoke again.
"I'm seeing Taylor for weekly sessions, once everything is figured out and we agree I can come back to work, I'll come to you and you get the final say if I'm fit to work or not."she confessed.
'Looks like Lee's choice was worth it.'I thought as I let it sink in. Melanie was getting help under her own conditions and she was getting better already since she agreed to see everybody and came as promised.
"How long will it take? I need to know how long we'll be short a team member."I said, knowing our missions and planning would be different without her. Mel was like a piece of each of us put into one person, she had good planning skills too.
"A month, two at most."she replied rather quickly, I raised my eyebrows questioningly.
"Alright, I'm not sure how long it'll take but I figure that's an accurate guess."she told me, I nodded as the door opened and the guys came in.
"Hey guys, look who's here."I said aloud as Mel and I got up and turned to look at the guys a big smile on her face; it wasn't forced either.
"Melanie!"they all half shouted and came over giving her a hug or high five, Mel and I chuckled in amusement.
Toll went to the fridge and pulled out the case of beer bringing the whole thing over and put it on the coffee table. They each grabbed one and we settled down a little as we waited for Lee to show up.
"How've you been Mel?"Toll asked her, though he probably had an idea already he wanted her to answer him so he could get a feel for how she really was.
"Alright, it gets a little better each day. How about all of you?"she replied, I could tell she was telling the truth.
"Missed you like crazy!"Hale answered loudly and Gunnar added,
"Lee almost drove us crazy."he said we all heard clear as day.
"I heard that!"Lee called to him from the doorway and we all laughed out loud.
I grinned as Lee sat down between Hale and Toll, looking to Melanie;she was happy. I didn't blame her the team was whole again and happy together.
"You ready Melanie?"Lee asked, his eyes showed eagerness to get going with the knife throwing contest.
"I'm always ready, ready to beat you."she replied taunting him as she got up and headed over to the knife board; we all followed.
"In your dreams Cole, how are we doing this?"he retorted, their contests were different than others.
Melanie didn't answer at first thinking on it,
"Come on Mel, we need to know where to enjoy our beer."Hale said urging her to hurry up.
"Sit at the tables guys, we're going to do a PDS contest."she said grinning.
I grinned, "This ought to be good."I said taking my chair and sitting to the side of the board. PDS meant place, distance and a called shot; three missed shots and you lose. I knew Melanie was better at this, she won no matter what Lee did and it got to be pretty funny sometimes.
"Fine, ladies first. Side of the pool table, at the back, bottom of the board."Lee told her.
It wasn't a bad place for the first shot, the pool table was about fifteen feet away. She'd make it, no problem.
Melanie moved to the spot, eyed her target and threw her knife. It landed in the middle on the lower end of the board, I clapped along with the others.
"Your turn, Bud Light beer sign, front of it, left side of the board."she said smiling.
Lee made his shot, and they continued on.
"Barney, Melanie's doing alright man. She's going to be fine." Toll commented to me.
I nodded as Mel another shot much to Lee's shock, she laughed. My phone rang and I went outside to take it.
"Barney Ross."Church answered after I said hello.
"What do you want Church? We don't owe you anymore." I told him.
"You're right, but an old buddy of yours does and he contacted me to get you and your little friends on it."he told me.
"Who?"I asked.
"Remember Micheal Kross?"he asked in reply, Kross stuck out to me and I pictured him in my mind.
"Yeah I remember Kross, what does he need us to do?"I said, not coming up with a reason ,myself.
"Ask him yourself, you're going to meet him at Rosewood Park tomorrow morning, eight sharp. See ya Ross."he told me and hung up.
I pocketed my phone and went back inside,
"It's impossible Melanie, just give up."Lee said and I saw Melanie standing in the corner and the board was on the same wall.
I leaned against the wall to watch before I told them about the call and Kross.
Melanie held her knife in her left hand away from her body and stretched towards the ground, I knew what she would do but it was risky.
She flicked her wrist and the knife hit the left side of the board, the guys cheered and I smiled.
'She's good.'I thought impressed.
"Barney, what's up?"Melanie asked me, I cracked a smile.
"Got a meeting with a client tomorrow morning."I replied.
"Finally, no more sitting around house."Yang commented, we all chuckled.
"Your shot Lee, doorway, top of the board."Mel spoke up.
"Don't miss."I told him as he took his position.
"Yeah."he muttered lining up his shot.
He threw his knife and it looked good but it hit the bottom of the board instead of the top.
"Mel wins!"Hale shouted, Lee frowned.
Melanie was smiling happily, as Toll gave her a celebratory hug and spun her around.
"Damn."Lee muttered, I looked to him confused, he wasn't usually a sore loser.
"What?"I asked stepping next to him.
He ran a hand over his face, "I bet Melanie in our last contest if I lost again, I'd do anything she wanted for an entire day."he replied not sounding too happy about it.
"Does she remember that?"I asked, he shrugged and walked away to grab his knife.
Lee's POV
I took my knife out of the board and put it away,
"Good job Mel."I told her,
"You too."she said and punched my arm playfully.
I went back to the sitting area and grabbed another beer, the others joined me, except Melanie.
"Sorry guys but I need to get home, good luck with the mission. See ya later."she told us and waved good bye.
We all waved back,
"See ya Mel, be good while we're gone."Toll told her, she nodded and went out the door.
Not long after I got a text, "Christmas, I didn't forget our last bet, pay me back when you can."
I sighed inwardly since things were kind of awkward between us right now, and drank half my beer.
Barney's POV
I guess Mel made sure to tell Lee she remembered the bet too, considering he didn't look happy after reading the text.
"Tough break."I told him,
"You're not helping."he snapped at me, but I didn't mind.
"Oh really? Mel seemed to think so."I told him, he looked at me with interest.
I couldn't tell him exactly what Melanie said but I could tell him one thing.
"You made the right choice."I told him, he smiled and nodded connecting the dots.
"Who's the client?"he asked.
"An old friend of mine, Micheal Kross."I replied,
"Are you serious?"Toll demanded.
"Yep, he's our client. You got a problem Toll?"I replied, needing to know if there would be conflict between the two.
"No, I have to go."he said and hurried out, his bike roared down the street in Melanie's direction.
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