A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry for not updating in a while. It hasn't been for lack of time, this time around, but it's been because I've been having a tough time getting out a chapter I'm actually happy with. For this chapter, I wanted to tackle an idea that actually related to Jake, and it took me a few attempts before I came up with this chapter. It is cute and it helped me get out of my rut, but for my chapter in 'Life of a Mercenary', I'm still not one-hundred percent on it. I've written and rewritten it at least twice before trying to combine my two ideas, which is marginally better, but not where I want it to be at, yet. But, I'm not going to keep any of you guys waiting, so I'll be working on it tomorrow morning and afternoon and hopefully it should be posted by tomorrow night. I need to just get past this part anyway. Well, enough of my babbling! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Expendables or the Losers, just my OC, Sky.

Growing Pains

New Orleans, Louisiana

July 24th, 1997

Jake was absolutely bored out of his skull. He hadn't been so bored in his life! He was stuck in the room he and his dad shared with nothing to do and no one to talk to. Sky was with Lee getting her enrolled for her first year in Kindergarten and his dad had gone to Jake's old school to get all his paperwork so he could transfer to the same elementary school Sky was going to be attending. Barney was out buying stuff for the 'ancient flying metal deathtrap of a plane' Lee talked about a lot. Tool was busy working downstairs in the shop, so Jake was pretty much all alone and extremely bored. And a bored Jake Jensen was a mischievous Jake Jensen.

He spent a few more minutes just staring at the ceiling before he got up from his bed and started walking down the stairs. He watched Tool greeting customers even as he worked on some guy's skull tattoo for a few seconds before he got bored. He walked into the kitchen and poked around, looking for anything he could snack on. After a few futile seconds of opening and closing the refrigerator—hoping his Pizza Lunchables would magically reappear despite the fact that he and Sky finished them yesterday—he gave up on a snack and instead kept wandering around.

Jake hated it when there was nothing to do. He could never sit still and he could never keep his mind on just one thing. He would buzz around from topic to topic in his head, never sure when one thought started and another stopped. It was one of the reasons why his dad always made sure he was around most times so that he could keep him engaged and let his babble out. And whenever he wasn't there—and he was stuck being babysat by Mrs. Jenkins—he'd always leave plenty of games, puzzles, and riddles for him to keep his mind occupied. But now he was just forced to keep himself busy, and with his body buzzing and his mind racing, he had to do something active before he went nuts.

"What to do…? I can't mess around in the garage," he muttered under his breath as he walked through the very room he was talking about. He knew better than to touch anything in there. He had gotten the 'rules' lecture just a few weeks ago and he had memorized it. Rule #6: Don't play in the garage or touch anything without an adult. And he wasn't going to get his dessert privileges taken away again. So he stayed away from all the heavy machinery.

Instead he wandered out towards the door that led to the alleyway between the two buildings Tool owned. He was allowed to play there as long as there was someone nearby and he went inside the second he saw a hint of trouble. So he pushed the door and stepped into the alley, looking back and forth for anything interesting he could do. It took him only a few seconds to realize that there was nothing to hold his interest—and why should he have thought any different? It was an alley after all.

Blowing out a puff of air he frowned and started to turn back when he heard a scratching noise. He whirled back around and listened carefully, trying to find out where the sound was coming from. "Who's there?" He asked, trying to sound brave, but even to his own ears it sounded more than a little lame. The scratching sound got louder and he could finally pinpoint the source to the row of garbage cans. He frowned and strained his eyes, trying to see what was making the noise before he saw a black puff appear from behind the cans. He blinked in surprise and took a step closer, finally making out the black puff as a small black kitten.

A large smile stretched across his lips. He had always wanted a kitten. He always thought they were so cool and ninja like. They would be awesome pets. So he moved closer to the small kitten, taking care to move as slowly as possible. "Hey there little guy… or girl… I guess since I don't know what you are, it's really rude to assume. So… hey you," Jake said.

The kitten immediately looked his way, its big green eyes locked onto his. Jake made sure he didn't move a muscle, trying not to frighten the small animal. "Hey buddy… you're really cute. You wanna come and play?" The kitten tilted its head to the side in what looked like curiosity. "Hm… maybe you're hungry…" the small blonde thought to himself. "Stay right there alright? I'll see if I can find some milk!" Jake backed away slowly and took off into the garage after the cat was out of sight. He ran over to the kitchen and opened up the fridge, grabbing the gallon of milk and yanking it out. He placed it onto the counter before dragging over a chair from the kitchen table to the cabinets. He climbed up onto the chair and onto the counter to open up one of the cabinets, reaching in for a dish.

"Jake, what in the world are you doing up there?"

Jake jumped and nearly toppled off the counter, but thankfully hands grabbed him before he fell. Once he was steadied on the counter he looked over his shoulder and saw Tool behind him with a raised eyebrow. "So kid, what are you up to?"

"Uh…" Jake muttered, trying to come up with a good excuse for what he was doing. He didn't want to tell Tool about the cat yet. Not until he got the cat to warm up to him. So he racked his brain, trying to come with some excuse before spewing out the first thing that came to mind. "I'm… making cereal…?"

"Making cereal?" Tool repeated with a raised eyebrow, clearly not convinced.

"Yup… making cereal," Jake replied plastering on a large smile that normally got him out of most situations.

Tool stared at him for a few seconds, and Jake felt panic fill him. He was going to get caught. Tool somehow already knew what was going on and what he was doing. There was no way he couldn't know. But before Jake knew it, Tool was pulling him off the counter and lowering him onto the ground. The tattoo artist reached into the cabinet and pulled out a dish and placed it on the counter. "Alright, enjoy your cereal. Next time, just remember to ask for help," the man advised as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. "My appointment is going to stretch on a little longer than usual. This guy is like a flower. Crying with every little thing. Be good until then or until your dad gets home, alright? He should be showing up soon."

"Yes sir!" Jake assured, bobbing his head enthusiastically.

"Alright, stay out of trouble," Tool ordered before heading into the shop again.

Jake sighed in relief, knowing he was in the clear for the moment, before he grabbed the milk and poured it into the dish. For a few horrifying seconds he felt like the gallon was going to slip from his hands, but thankfully nothing so drastic happened. A bit of milk splashed out of the dish, but it wasn't a large spill and he quickly capped it before waddling back to the fridge and placing the milk back inside.

He made a mental note to clean up the spill before he grabbed the dish carefully and made his way out to the alley again. The second he was past the door he slowed down and moved towards the garbage cans cautiously, hoping the small kitten was still there. Peering around the corner he saw the small black puff of fur still behind the cans, its green eyes peering at him intently. "Hey there buddy, I brought some milk for you. It's got calcium and other stuff that's good for you. Well... good for me. I'm not sure if the same things apply to cats," Jake babbled even as he put the dish down in front of the small kitten. The kitten tensed slightly seeing him reach forward, so Jake quickly backed away and sat down on the ground, watching the small fur ball. It took a few minutes of waiting before the kitten walked slowly over to the dish.

It sniffed the dish, its small nose twitching slightly before its pink tongue darted out, lapping at the milk hungrily. "Aw you were hungry, weren't you little buddy?" Jake smiled. He sat and watched the cat drinking up the milk, just studying the small creature. It was extremely cute with small paws and a tail twitching back and forth in content. He wasn't really sure how long he was sitting there, but eventually the kitten had finished off the dish of milk, licking its nose where some milk was matting its fur. Once cleaning itself, the small kitten looked up at Jake, prowling forward slightly.

Jake blinked in surprise as the small kitten started advancing towards him. "U-Uh… hey buddy. Why are ya walking towards me? Do you want more milk?"

The kitten continued to prowl towards him, its moves graceful and slow. When it was within reaching distance from Jake, he started to feel apprehensive. And at that moment, he remembered the superstition about black cats being bad luck. What if the kitten was going to give him bad luck? What if the small kitten was some sort of witch cat and he'd get spelled for taking it in? A wide range of wild scenarios filled his mind, none of them pleasant. Almost immediately he jumped to his feet and started backing up towards the door to the garage. The kitten, however, followed his every move. "Uh… good kitty. Stay kitty… don't curse nice Jake with bad luck…" he muttered, trying to maintain his cool. It would be okay. He would not get cursed by the kitten. It would be all good.

The kitten meowed.

Jake screamed and turned tail, running inside the garage and hoping that the small creature wasn't following him. He didn't bother to turn back around to check if he was being pursued, but he had his eyes clenched tightly, which in hindsight, probably wasn't smart when running through a garage. Before he could crash into any of the workbenches or equipment, he plowed into someone's legs. He went to open his eyes, but he was immediately lifted up by his arms and passed over to someone else. "Jake, what's going on?"

Jake blinked his eyes open and looked up to see his father standing in front of him defensively with Lee on his other side and Tool holding onto him while Sky was holding onto Tool's legs, peeking out in slight fear. "Who was chasing you?" Lee demanded, scanning the garage with his knife already out.

"Why'd you scream kid?" Tool asked worriedly.

Jake blinked, wondering when everyone had arrived in the garage, before he heard it; the low and threatening sound emanating from the vocal cords of the small beast. "T-That!" He shouted dramatically, pointing towards the ground where the small kitten was standing in front of the mercenaries, its head tilted to the side in confusion. It let out another meow and Jake tensed. Sky, on the other hand, beamed.

"A kitty!" She cheered, moving past the three men.

Jake's eyes widened in horror. She was moving towards the beast without any idea what sort of danger she was walking into. "Sky, no! The kitten will curse you with bad luck and tell its witch masters to cast a horrible spell on you!"

Had Jake not been so worried about the small brunette, he would've noticed the shared looks of exasperation from all three men in the garage.

"Nuh-uh!" Sky retorted as she crouched down by the kitten and reached forward to start scratching behind its ears. Almost immediately the kitten began purring and leaned into her hand. Sky beamed and scooped the kitten up gently and held it in her lap, petting the small creature before smiling up at the small blonde boy who was watching in surprise and slight embarrassment. "See? He just wants to be pet!"

Jake felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment as his father shot him a look.

"I'm gonna call him Midnight! Can we keep him daddy?" Sky asked looking up at her father with pleading brown eyes. She even held up the small kitten to her face, the creature licking her cheek, which just added to the cuteness factor. "See daddy? Midnight likes me! Please, can we keep him?"

Lee sighed and crouched down to his daughter's level. "I'm sorry sweetheart, we can't keep him." When she started pouting and quivering her lower lip, Lee gave a reassuring smile. "But, why don't you and I go down to see Mr. and Mrs. Thibodeaux? Mrs. Thibodeaux loves cats and I'm sure she'll be happy to have Midnight. And if you ask nicely, she might let you go and play with Midnight whenever you want."

Sky frowned and thought it over before she found the compromise acceptable. She nodded eagerly and got to her feet, still clutching Midnight in her hands. She looked up at Jake and held the small animal out to him with a grin on her face. "Do you wanna pet him, Jake?"

Jake narrowed his eyes at the small kitten. The small creature had caused him to look silly in front of his dad, Lee, and Tool. And that was after he had fed the kitten! He shook his head at Sky and she just shrugged before running off with her father. As soon as the two were out of the room, Gunnar turned around and looked at his son with a raised eyebrow. "So, what was all that about?"

"…I hate cats."