Hi all. I started writing this back in August while spending weekends at my family cottage, and I'm just now deciding to share it. There will be scenes of violence (T rated), mentioning of potentially triggering topics, drama and angst, humor, action, romance, and suspense, so if that's not something you're into, then this story isn't for you.

I might take a bit updating due to other stories I'm writing or personal stuff I've got going on right now, but please know that it will be completed. If I can't finish it, I'll delete it as I don't like leaving unfinished stories out there.

I typically use online research to help write different topics (i.e. accents in this case for starters), so if it's wrong, please direct me to where I can find the right information.

The first two quotes from the Part I cover are from Bing/Google search (online dictionary? Not sure what it's called), and the last quote is from the song "Diamond Eyes" by Shinedown.

I don't normally post more than one chapter at a time, but I wanted to get the plotline moving, so this is an exception to the rule. I hope you guys enjoy!

Full Summary:

To help with grief over losing Billy, the Expendables try a month vacation at Barney's family cottage. While there, Barney struggles with past memories, Gunner and Toll are trying to out-fish each other, Caesar is trying to save his marriage, and Lee meets Emily Charlton and her daughter Maya, which leads to a possible answer to his dream of leaving blood work behind him. Then, Barney discovers a stash of guns, and the team begins to realize that there is an arms dealer in their midst.

July 2013

The wind felt good on his face. Barney Ross nudged his sunglasses back up as he looked across the water. The dock beneath his feet rocked side to side from the motion of the boys behind him hauling stuff from the cars.

"I can't feel my feet," Hale Caesar was complaining.

"That's because you were folded up like an accordion in that clown car," Toll Road replied with a snicker. "I told you to get the SUV."

"This is better on mileage," Caesar insisted.

"Then stop complaining," Toll retorted. Caesar's wife, Tia, gave a snort and reached to grab their son, Louis, before he tripped and fell off the dock into the water. Her shoulder length black hair was in a twist off to the right side, her brown eyes taking everything in.

"Easy, little man," Lee Christmas said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder and steering him towards the boat tied to the dock.

"You can see the island!" Louis called excitedly. His black hair was curled tight against his head, and his limbs were a bit gangly looking. He would soon grow into them and fill out. His brown eyes matched his mother's.

"It's gonna be a long month," Caesar sighed. Tia swatted him, and he gave her a sheepish look in return. Gunner Jensen chuckled as he heaved the cooler onto the boat with a bang. Barney listened to it all in the background as he focused on the waves. It was almost a year after Billy the Kid had died. Barney couldn't keep going the way he was. Tool had been saying it since they'd returned in pieces, but Barney had been stubborn and thought they could plow through it. Turns out no one could this time.

Hence the month long vacation they were embarking on.

"Hey," Christmas said, nudging Barney with his elbow as he came up beside him. "Where the hell are we again?"

"Somewhere in the middle of nowhere."

"Vague, just like you," Christmas commented.

"Yea," Barney said with a small smile. "Sure is."

"Think anyone is actually gonna relax?" Christmas asked him. They both turned to watch the procession behind them. They were almost finished loading the boat. It was an older pontoon, but Barney felt confident it would hold them all.

"I don't know," he replied. "Maybe, maybe not."

"Trouble always finds you," Christmas noted, turning to go back and help the others. Barney chuckled under his breath.

He was very much right about that.

...

Lee opened the door with his boot, kicking it a little harder than he intended to. It swung in and banged off the closet door behind it a bit violently.

"Whoops," he said. Then the screen door came flying into him, jarring his elbow. "Argh!"

"What the hell are you doing up there?" Barney asked. "Breaking the place already?"

"Just trying to get in the damn door," Lee replied, finally getting over the doorstep and standing inside. It smelled a bit musty. The drapes were shut, and the only thing running was the fridge. He moved to hold the screen door open for Gunner to come through. Barney was next. Caesar, Tia, Louis, and Toll were in the cottage next to them. It was set back farther up the hill; it could be seen from the back door. Lee could hear Louis exclaiming about everything that excited him. He tried to remember if he ever felt excited like that as a kid. He didn't really remember his childhood much.

"Who goes where?" Gunner asked, looking around.

"I'm over there," Barney said, gesturing to the far end of the cottage.

"Oh great," Lee said sarcastically. "You left me within earshot of the snuffleuffagus."

"I got those strips for my nose," Gunner told him, moving towards the first bedroom to the left. "The air just whistles through the nostrils now." Lee rolled his eyes and went to the bedroom next to it. He set his bag down and surveyed the dresser and queen size bed. There was only one small table on the left side of the bed. A mirror hung on the wall over the dresser. He heard some serious creaking of a mattress as Gunner flopped down onto his bed in the other room.

"Ohhhhh yea," Gunner groaned in delight.

Lee moved to pull the drapes further open and slid the window open. He could see Caesar's cottage up the small hill through the trees. He went back out into the common room and took in the two couches on opposite walls, the rocking chair in the corner by the lamp, the recliner in the middle of the room facing the TV, and the wooden picnic table right in front of him. He rested his hand on it. It looked homemade.

He moved to the small kitchen and looked out the back door to see Barney unlocking the shed and stepping inside. Seconds later, he heard a pump starting. He looked to see a modern stove and an old woodstove next to it. A small table with three chairs was behind him.

"How do you know about this place again?" Lee asked when Barney came back inside. The door creaked open, and the door stop clicked against it when it shut.

"It was my uncle's," Barney replied. He fished out a garbage bag and put it in the garbage can behind the steel door. Then he started to put the food away from the cooler. He was thinking about Tool, who had declined joining them at this time. He mentioned maybe coming along a bit later, though.

"Lots of notes," Lee commented, seeing them and reading what the one on the fridge said. "'Don't let the glass bottles touch as water freezes and they'll shatter?'"

"My aunt was a bit worried about things," Barney said. He finished and put the ice packs in the freezer, taking the cooler to the closet by the front door and pushing it inside.

"If your water is freezing in the fridge, then I think your fridge is running too high."

"I know." Barney started plugging things in next.

"'We have small ants running on cupboards. Please do not leave food, crumbs, or sticky stuff on cupboard,'" Lee kept reading. "'Please wipe the water behind the taps.'"

"Like I said, she worried a lot," Barney repeated, dusting off his hands.

"Ants in the fridge?" Lee asked, pointing at the second note on the fridge. "How the hell would they even get in there?"

"It says there may be ants if there's crumbs in the fridge," Barney corrected. "Read it properly, Christmas."

Lee pulled his lips up to the right and rolled his eyes again. He went to sit down, eliciting a pile of dust as he did so. He coughed.

"I'm going fishing," Barney said. "Who's with me?"

The resounding snore from Gunner's room made them both look in its direction. So much for the strips working.

"I guess I am," Lee said, standing back up. He wiped the dust off his pants.

"I'll vacuum later," Barney told him, pushing the screen open and letting him out. They walked down to the boathouse together. Lee walked down the stone steps leading to the dock while Barney walked down the dirt path adjacent to it, stepping over roots as he went. The docks were a square U shape with a ladder at the end of the right one. The waves were rolling by from the east.

"Looks like rain," Lee noted.

"You're probably right," Barney agreed, unlocking the boathouse door and revealing an older style boat inside. It was a light green and white striped fibreglass boat with a grungy looking windshield and white and blue seats. A 20 horse motor was on the back. Caesar kept the pontoon, so Lee was relieved to see they had their own mode of transportation that was a bit faster.

Barney rolled open the boathouse door while Lee jumped into the boat, primed it, and turned the key. It started first try.

"When was your uncle here?" Lee asked.

"He's been gone a long time," Barney said. "My cousin was here last week."

"I see."

Lee reached to unhook the back two clips while Barney did the two in the front and the one at the nose. He pushed it backwards a bit before hopping into it.

"Steel wire, eh?" Lee said, picking up the rod from beside the seat.

"Yea. Works good."

"We'll see."

Barney was finally smiling again as he pushed the throttle down and they headed out for open water.

...

"Can I go swimming?" Louis asked. "Pleeeeeeaaaase?!"

"Lower it down a notch," Caesar said, wincing. "Every dog on the lake can hear you." He was unpacking the food now. Tia was getting their bedroom at the end of the hall to the left set up. Toll was in the bedroom on the right in the middle. There was an extra bedroom after his. Louis was standing by the glass sliding doors and looking eagerly towards the water. It was a bit hard to see from where they were since they were hidden amongst all the trees. They could see Barney's cottage, though.

"Why have we never come here again?" Toll asked, coming out of his room. "This is amazing."

"I get the feeling it brings back a lot of memories for Barney," Caesar said.

"Uncle Toll," Louis said, going to grab his hand. "Let's go down to the lake!"

"You read my mind, buddy," Toll said, holding Louis's hand as he was led towards the door. Caesar knew Louis could swim very well. They were past the stage of making him wear a lifejacket when he was around water unless they were on a boat.

Tia came out of their room and slid her arms around behind him and pressed into his back.

"Hi," she said. He felt her smile into his spine.

"Hi, baby."

"This is just what we needed," she said as he turned around to face her and hold her close.

"I know. I'm sorry I've been so...moody."

"That's one way of putting it," Tia said wryly. Then she grew serious. "I know losing Billy was so hard on all of you..."

"It was, but let's not talk about that right now," Caesar said, walking her backwards and guiding her to their bedroom. "Cos we got ourselves a free babysitter for ten minutes."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm sure. I know it's been a while..."

"It has."

"I'd like to rectify that, if you'll let me," he said.

"We can try," she agreed slowly. She'd missed him so much, and if he was feeling good, she didn't want to ruin it by saying no. Hell, she didn't want to say no. He was giving her his full attention, and she melted in it. Caesar shut the door behind them, and then his focus was solely on his wife.

...

Toll smiled as Louis tried to creep up on a bullfrog. He looked up the hill towards the cottage and just knew that Caesar would take advantage of the free babysitting. He didn't mind. Louis was pretty much his nephew even though they weren't bonded by blood.

"Dang it!" Louis sighed loudly. "Almost had it."

"Hey, look here," Toll said, seeing a bunch of little bass swimming near the surface. Louis came to look, and he lowered himself onto his stomach on the dock to get closer. He rested his chin on his arms, eyes going back and forth as the fish darted this way and that. Toll took the chance to look around. The dock stretched out along the shore of the cove with a bigger, circular piece on the left side, which was where they were. The boathouse was up on land with a track leading into the water, and an older speed boat sat there looking as though it hadn't been used in years. There was a trail leading up alongside the shore to the next cottage, which was on the point. It looked unoccupied. There wasn't a boat tied to the smaller dock sticking out the point.

"The water is warm," Louis said, bringing Toll's attention back to him.

"Yea?"

"Hey, is that Uncle Barney and Uncle Lee fishing?" he asked, looking out at the water. Toll shaded his eyes and saw them. Lee was pulling a rod back and forth rhythmically while Barney was getting a down rigger set up.

"Looks that way," Toll agreed.

"Where's Uncle Gunner?"

"Probably napping." If he listened hard enough, he could hear the man's snores coming through the air.

"Yea, he was tired," Louis said with a laugh. He pushed himself up onto his knees and scanned the water in the cove. "Is this trip gonna make my dad feel better?"

The question took Toll off guard, but he knew where it was coming from. They'd all been struggling the last while after losing Billy. They all felt responsible even though there was nothing they could have done.

"I hope so, buddy," he finally answered.

"I hear him and Mom yell," Louis went on.

"They're just a bit stressed, buddy. They'll be alright."

"Okay."

Toll hated that Louis was worrying about this stuff. He made a note to talk to Caesar about it. He heard footsteps approaching and looked to see Gunner coming their way.

"'sup?" Toll asked.

"I dozed off," Gunner replied, sitting down in the wooden chair behind them. It was two chairs connected with a table in the middle.

"No kidding, and here I thought someone was running a chain saw."

"Boys go fishing?" Gunner asked, squinting and ignoring the dig. The sun was peeking out around the clouds, but Toll could tell a storm was coming.

"Yea."

"Look, Uncle Gunner," Louis said, tugging on his hand. "Bass!" Gunner made a groaning sound as he got back to his feet and went to look, his joints popping as he did so. Toll sat down and crossed his ankles, folding his hands on his lap. He wished he'd brought down one of his books. Tia had joked that he'd brought more to read than to wear. She wasn't wrong.

"I'm gonna go get my swimsuit on," Louis said, heading back up the path.

"Make lots of noise!" Toll called after Gunner, who followed. He heard Gunner start whistling a jaunty tune and clapping his hands to the beat of it as he went. He hoped that gave Caesar enough of a warning.

...

She was trying to get a photo of a water lily when the boat came. She lifted her head to see two men with fishing rods coming into the smaller lake. She never understood why this lake had a different name when it was connected to the other one.

She could hear the one man telling the other that he hadn't given steel rod fishing an honest enough try, and the second man scoffed that he was done with catching bottom every second yank. From the sound of their bickering, she could tell they were best friends. Her lips twitched a little as the dark haired man told the closely shaved one to stop being a baby and drop a damn line in the water for God's sake or else he was swimming home.

She looked at her watch. It was time to get back. She didn't like leaving for long.

Not when he was there.

She pulled the motor to start it, giving up on the water lily for now. As she passed the two men, the closely shaved one turned his head to look at her briefly, not really giving her his full attention. From where she was, she could tell he was good looking in that rugged sort of way. He was back bickering with his friend in moments, and she looked away and opened the throttle wide open. The wind tore at her hair, and she reached to gather it in her fingers and hold it in place.

She saw him standing on the end of the dock, waiting for her. The look in his eyes made her feel slightly afraid. She swallowed.

The other two men were soon forgotten.