Hello everybody!
One more chapter for tonight. I hope you'll like it.
Enjoy your reading,
Pavs.
Chapter nine
Tool was looking at June singing and dancing with an amused smile on his face and a warm feeling in his chest. It was so rare seeing her like that. Not that she never smiled, but she always seemed to be holding back somehow, no matter how much of a good time she was having with him or one of the boys.
She'd kept cooking with Gunnar twice a week, which had helped the giant a lot in many ways. Jensen had even sat out one more mission than necessary, stating that he wanted to be sure that he was ok. They all thought that he wanted to spend more time with June too, but nobody said a thing, worried that they would spoil the growing, healthy friendship he had with June.
And Tool had noticed that it helped her deal with the loss of her brother a whole lot better. It had not taken long for Hale to join them once they'd accidentally shared that they were out of ideas for new things to try.
The others had also pitched in, knowing full well that they would eat whatever was prepared at the movie and games night that June had started with Lee and Toll after John's birthday. It wasn't intended to be repeated, but it had somehow become a habit that just happened to be on the same nights that followed June, Gunnar and Hale's cooking. The weekends had seen Tool, Barney and June at Old Point, before slowly but surely, the guys had followed, wondering where they'd been.
June had smiled more often until she somewhat managed not to look like the world was ending every second. Tool had felt his heart hurt less as he replaced his grief and fear by love and affection. Even then, ever so often, he could still feel the pain in both their hearts. Especially when the guys went on jobs, no matter how small. Being in their line of work was always a danger hazard, they knew it way too well.
So, seeing her having so much fun while cleaning their kitchen was the highlight of his day so far. Hell, it was the best thing that had happened to him in weeks. She truly was getting better, slowly but surely. John's birthday had been harsh for both of them and for Barney too.
Once the guys had been mostly drunk or too tired to deal with that many emotions, they'd been on their way, leaving them three behind in the shop. Most to Tool's surprise, it had been Barney who suggested that they go out and get loose. It was a weekend after all, and the town was still very much alive with music and food even at a late hour.
They'd taken their bikes, June sitting behind Tool, and had gone downtown to a little place that had made both the men smile sadly.
''Where are we?" June had asked as she noticed the sadness in their eyes.
''All those conversations about us and you still don't know where we are?" Barney asked with a gentle push on her shoulder.
June had narrowed her eyes before she opened her mouth in silent shock. They were at Old Point, where John had told her it all truly began. Where Barney had somehow avoided going with his newer team members after the Stonebanks debacle, preferring Tool's shop instead. He'd changed his mind, not quite able to help June moving on with life with so many of his own ghosts holding him into the past.
''Oh my god you scared the living shit out of me!" June exclaimed after she turned to the door suddenly, not registering the fact that she'd thrown a knife exactly where Tool's face had been one millisecond before.
She'd seen a reflection in the glass she'd been washing and had dropped it to throw a kitchen knife at the intruder, that was now looking at her with a mix of fear and awe as she was feeling the guilt making its way to her heart. Tool noticed the change and went to take her in his arms.
"'It's ok, love. I should have known better." Tool whispered in her ear as she held him as much as she could against her.
"'I am so, so fucking sorry. I almost killed you." She said as she was shaking like a leaf. ''I am so fucking sorry!"
"'I am still here, sweetheart. I'll always be right beside you, no matter how." Tool told her before he kissed her softly on the lips. ''I promise."
''Ok." June accepted with a trembling voice. '' I am still sorry."
''I know, I forgive you." Tool replied, thinking that even though he didn't think she had to be forgiven, she might need to hear it still.
She stayed in his arms for a little bit longer as the music kept playing on the radio. Tool recognized one of his favorite songs and moved his hands so that he could dance with her. She followed his moves and looked at him with so much love in her eyes that he thought his heart would burst.
He loved her so much. She loved him so much.
They both were so focused on smiling at each other that neither of them noticed Barney looking at them with a big smile on his face and his phone in his hand, filming them as best as he could with the low-quality camera.
He'd taken quite a few pictures of them too, as well as pictures of his team and the views he encountered on missions. It had been awhile since his cameras had served another purpose than simply collecting info on targets and he rather preferred using it as a hobby.
And no matter how black Lee claimed his heart was, he loved keeping memories. He laughed a bit to himself as he closed his phone while the song his friends were dancing to was coming to an end, thinking that Trench probably would call antiques what he called souvenirs. He'd like June too though, that he was sure of it.
Barney knocked softly on the doorway and they both turned to him.
''Hey Barns, what's up?" June asked and Barney smiled at the nickname she insisted on giving him after Tool had told her that they'd always been calling him that back in the days.
''Could ask you the same thing, July." Barney replied and both the men laughed as she sighed loudly while rolling their eyes.
''Keep it up with the dad jokes, and I'll start calling you Pops or Grandpa, seeing as you are in charge of the devil's kids down there." June retorted back with affection in her eyes and a smirk on her face.
Barney sends her a dark look while Tool laughed loudly.
''Speaking of Kids, Billy as arrived." Barney continued with a small amused smile. ''I was wondering if you wanted to meet him for training before the guys join us."
''Why, Barney, you're doing me the honor?" June replied with a sincere smile.
''I thought you'd tell me about your first impressions, since they tend to be quite . . . accurate." Barney commented, remembering way too well what it was like not to listen to her.
''I don't like this at all." June had stated as she joined them in the meeting room.
Barney had raised an eyebrow, looking annoyed as hell after having planned the whole thing for the past forty-eight hours.
''And why should we question the plan now?" Lee had inquired condescendingly and June looked at him straight in the eyes.
''It's too easy." She'd replied as the others looked at her like she was crazy.
''You call that easy?" Toll had commented, speaking slowly.
"'The location is off. This is supposed to be a hostage situation, but it's straight in the middle of nowhere with a shitty escape route at best. Kidnappers would have thought of that before. Which leads me to timing. There was no real emergency for taking those people at the time they did it. So, the location was planned. If you're in the middle of nowhere and you're that confident, there's no way in hell that you're under prepared. This is a cartel, an undercover operation or trafficking." June stated.
"'Yang looked up all the info Church threw at us. He knows we don't do this kind of job anyway." Lee retorted back.
"'I know. This is my kind of job." June said with a warning tone. "'I recognize it when I see it. You may fly with Santa but you're way too old to believe that it flies because of reindeers, Christmas."
She'd left shortly after that, missing the worried look Barney had sent her while Hale was trying to hide his laughter at June's comment. The mission had turned out to be exactly the type of job she used to take while she was working with Booker, with the added bonus of rescuing Trench on the way.
At least he hadn't been the only one to fuck up, and they had the Kid with them since they'd picked him up; he'd needed a lift to New Orleans. Still, no matter how good Billy had been, Barney wanted to do a basic skills assessment for himself.
If it happened to make him assess June's skills too, he wouldn't be complaining either.
"'Huh, huh. So, I'm guessing we'll both dress to impress then." June commented and Tool chuckled at Barney's shocked face. ''You may be good, but you're not me."
''Wow, you really did spend ten years with Booker." Tool said, highly amused as June rolled her eyes.
''Alright boys, let's do this." June said before they went to the training room next to the office down stairs.
.
Tool looked at June with a satisfied smile as she exited their bedroom in her training outfit. She'd braided her hairs and had put on a sports bra, high waist leggings and running shoes that she was currently putting on. Tool's smile grew bigger as he stared at her arse.
''You're hopeless." Barney commented with an amused smile and Tool chuckled.
''You're jealous." Tool replied as June finished with her shoes and stretched her arms and back.
''I could have that if I wanted to." Barney replied and Tool raised an eyebrow.
''Could you?" Tool challenged and June rolled her eyes before she sent Tool a dark look.
"'He's your friend. You're supposed to cheer him up." June commented with an annoyed tone before she smiled at Barney. ''And he's handsome, loyal, strong, he has a shit ton of charisma and a nice butt so I don't see why not."
''A nice butt!?" Tool replied in shock while June winked at Barney, making him laugh with her.
''You have a nicer one sweetheart." June mocked before she kissed Tool on the lips.
''Damn right I do." Tool whispered against her lips before he slapped her butt, making her moan and laugh at the same time. ''Do that again and I'll kick him out."
Barney chuckled before they heard a knock at the door.
''Come in." Tool called before they saw Billy enter.
''Sorry Sir, I was wondering if we were still doing the training today since no one was there." Billy said politely before acknowledging June's presence with a respectful nod of his head.
'' Sorry about that, I made them late." June told him with a genuine smile that somewhat put Barney at ease.
He liked the Kid, they all did, but June had proven to be an amazing judge of character and had one hell of an instinct. So, it did reassure him to see her welcome him like that.
"'No problem at all, Madame. Am I to assume that you'll be my partner?" Billy asked and June extended her hand.
"'Please, don't call me Madame. I'm probably the same age as you if not younger. Do call Barney and Tool Sir, though. It's kind of funny thinking of them as actual functioning adults." June replied as Billy tried not to laugh at both the men offended faces while he shook her hand.
''Alright, let's go downstairs, kids." Barney replied with the shadow of a smile despite his serious tone as he walked past them to the exit.
''Right on Pops." June called and Tool laughed out loud at the face Barney made before the man himself chuckled.
They arrived at the training room shortly after. The guys were already there and had put down training mats on the floor.
''What took you so long?" Hale asked and June smiled while Barney was sending her a warning look.
''Alright, let's see what you got." Barney said, not giving June any room to reply.
''As you want pops." June retorted back as Christmas choked on his water.
He then looked at Barney who sent him a warning look, knowing it was already too late.
''Hey. . ." Gunnar began to say with a grin and Barney pointed a finger at him.
''If you, or any of you call me that, they're gonna die." Barney warned and Tool laughed.
"'Why? It's a mark of affection. If she gets to do it, why not us?" Tool remarked and Barney looked at him straight in the eyes.
''She's the only one who complemented my nice butt." He deadpanned before they all laughed out loud.
June went to prepare for combat, as did Billy before the reunited on the mats.
"' All right, don't kill or seriously injure each other. Let's go." Barney stated.
''Wait, that's it. . ." Billy asked while turning to Barney.
He didn't see June move until he found himself face down on the ground.
''Always be prepared." June stated as the guys looked at Billy with a mix of worry and amusement.
Barney smiled at the warning, as it reminded him of John. Tool whistled at June and she winked at him before helping Billy back up.
''Ok, let's do this." Billy said with an air of determination before he went to hit June . . . only to miss and find himself sitting on the floor.
"'I admire your will to not hurt me, but you are losing here my friend. Your target won't always look like Gunnar, your principles will get you killed." June warned with a coldness in her voice that made them uneasy. ''Give it a real go, I can take it."
Billy felt the pain behind her words and wondered what had happened to her. Still, he knew that she would get mad if he didn't cooperate. Not to mention that he was being watched by his new team. June sensed his hesitation and frowned. She knew the conflict he was having with himself. There wasn't a lot of women in either their world of the army, but she knew that they were deadly and efficient.
It was never easy to get past this, she knew by experience. She turned to Gunnar and looked at him straight in the eyes.
''Don't. . ." Tool said as Gunnar joined her while Billy stepped back.
''He needs to learn." June said and Tool closed his mouth while his heart was begging for her not to do this.
But he also knew why she was doing it and couldn't argue against it. The Kid needed to learn to be more alert and less trusting, as awful as it sounded. Tool looked at the Kid and he could see the gears spinning in his head. One look at Barney and they both knew that the kid wouldn't last with them long.
His heart was too pure.
''Good for him." They both thought.
''All right, show me what you got!" Gunnar laughed before June launched at him with way more strength than what he was expecting, making him almost fall on his arse while giving her the upper hand.
''Damn." Toll said with an impressed look on his face.
''Shit." Hale added as Gunnar lifted her up in the air to throw her on the floor as she managed to spin to kick him in the sternum before using her legs to make him fall on the floor.
''Fucking hell. . ." Half-whispered Christmas as Tool and Barney looked at her with a mix of shock and curiosity.
Gunnar started laughing.
''Well, that was something." Gunnar said before he got up and turned to look at Barney. ''Should've shown that one to Yang!"
Barney raised an eyebrow and Gunnar looked at the floor while scratching the back of his head.
''Yeah, a bit too soon for that one, my bad." Gunnar added and Barney smiled a little.
'' It's all right." Barney replied before he turned to Billy. ''Your turn now."
Tool saw at the determined look on Billy's face as he walked toward June just as well as he saw the rush of adrenaline that took over her. He felt his heart drop.
Billy's heart was pure, but June's heart was addicted.
No matter how bad he wanted her to be safe by his side, he knew deep down that she would go back to work sooner than he would ever be ready for her to. Gunnar saw Tool sad look and felt a pang of sympathy for his friend. Then he saw June smile as she sent Billy to the floor once again and the way the guys kept looking at her.
He had the feeling that she would join them on the field soon. He thought of all the time they spend together in the kitchen, in the parlor, even in the night as she joined him while his addiction battled his sleep. She'd been there for two months now, and it had been enough for him to see her as family.
For Toll, Hale and Lee to see her as a best friend.
For Barney to see her as a daughter.
For Tool to fall helplessly in love with her.
''I'll keep her safe." Gunnar said while looking at June as he thought of the way both June and Tool loved each other. ''I promise."
Tool and Barney turned to him and just knew instinctively that Gunnar was going to make it happen even if it meant dying for her. And while they both wanted to see Gunnar safe, they were glad that they had him to back them up if need be.
