The legalities: I do not own any of the Expendables franchise (characters, places, and objects especially) and this is mostly au.Rated M just to be on the safe side.

Also, please don't be afraid to write reviews. I would love to hear from you all!

Hope you enjoy!

Prompt: "On a scale from one to ten, how bad do you think it would be if – "

"At least a twenty."

"Hey, sister."

Jacoba looked up from her book to see Thorn standing in front of her, hands hidden behind his back and a wide smile on his face. Sighing and rolling her eyes, she looked back down and her book. "What did you do now, brother?"

"What makes you think that I did anything at all?"

"Other than the fact that you are standing in front of me attempting to look innocent while hiding your hand behind your back? Your expression is the same one as the cat who caught the canary. So, I'll ask again, what did you do?"

"Well, nothing yet."

This caused Jacoba to actually grab her bookmark and close her book around it. If Thorn hadn't actually taken someone's equipment to upgrade it yet (and that was a big if), then she had a chance to actually talk him out of it. It was a slim chance, but a chance all the same. Turning her full attention to the young man in front of her, she narrowed her eyes at the man who had practically become her brother. "That sounds foreboding, to say the least. So, let me rephrase my earlier query. What scheme of yours are you planning to put into effect?"

Thorn's face split into a very wide smile before moving his hands, and the object he held in them, around for Jacoba to see. This caused her to sigh heavily and shake her head. In his hands, Thorn held some sort of computer-like device that looked like it would go into an airplane. "So, I designed a new autopilot feature for Barney's plane. On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you think it would be if I were to – "

"At least a twenty."

Thorn furrowed his brow at the (extremely) unamused look that he was getting from Jacoba. "But you didn't even let me finish my sentence!"

"Doesn't matter, little brother. Anyone touching Barney's plane, for any reason, without his express permission, is a recipe for disaster. And I will not take any part in it. So, you need to set it aside, with a note on it, to ask Barney about it in a few days. Do I make myself clear?"

"But…"

"Thorn."

"Yes, you made yourself clear. I'll just put this in the Hub."

Jacoba rolled her eyes at Thorn's child-like behavior before a thought occurred to her and she smirked. "How about after you do that, we grab Luna and head to my place? That female cat that we'd found on our front step just had her litter and Stig is strutting around like the proud adoptive father that he is. Maybe you guys could help me name them and maybe adopt one or two?"

"Oh, you're on. Luna!" Jacoba began to laugh as Thorn was now running away to find Luna. Child-like indeed.