Chapter 3

When Cleo's alarm went off at 7:15, she didn't groan this time. She had had a good night sleep and hadn't been plagued with weird dreams again. This morning was also running morning, which she actually enjoyed getting up for. She jumped out of bed, threw on her running gear, took a few bites of an energy bar and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she brushed her teeth there was no noise coming from her dad's room meaning he was in a coma like sleep. Normally he snored like a foghorn going off but when he was exhausted he didn't snore.

As she finished in the bathroom, she headed downstairs but when she walked into the kitchen she was in for a surprise.

"Dad." Cleo said shocked to see him at the breakfast bar.

"Morning sleepyhead." Gunner replied as he stood stretching his legs.

"You weren't bluffing then last night." Cleo said as she started stretching as well.

"Hell no." Gunner smiled back. "Retirement means a new me which starts with running with my little girl."

Cleo couldn't decided if she was happy or not at his new lease of life. When she first moved back to New Orleans, she had wanted him there with her, seeing all the different activities she did. Now that is was actually happening it was kind of suffocating but she knew in a few days the novelty would wear off him and things would go back to normal.

"I'm impressed." Cleo smiled back as she finished stretching. "You ready?"

"I was born ready." Gunner chuckled back.

"Let's go then." Cleo replied rolling her eyes at him.

They headed to the front door, got on their running shoes and left the house.

Five minutes later

"Dad!" Cleo asked as she stood with her arms folded.

Gunner didn't reply as he was bent over trying to catch his breath.

"You ok?" Cleo asked trying not to be smirk.

Gunner didn't answer but waved his hand up at her as he was still bent over trying to breathe. After a minute he was able to breathe again and stood up to see Cleo smirking at him.

"Wipe that smirk off your face." Gunner grunted at her. "I'm used to a different kind of running at a much slower pace."

"Dad." Cleo replied trying not to smirk again. "I can still see the house."

Once they had left the house, they began running a steady pace but after five minutes Gunner was bent over breathless whereas Cleo hadn't even broken a sweat. Either he had drunk more than he thought yesterday or maybe retirement had come at the right time.

"I thought a mercenary had to be fast?" Cleo asked as she sneakily got her phone out to take a picture of Gunner as he was bent over again.

"Not about being fast Cle." Gunner said as he stood up again. "As long as you can run twenty meters quickly, find something to hide behind and hit harder than the other guy, you're fine."

"Maybe I should become one if that's all it takes." Cleo laughed as she slipped her phone back in its holder.

"Over my dead body." Gunner grunted thinking if he kept running that might happen sooner rather than later. "Why don't you go the rest of the way yourself and I'll have breakfast ready for when you come home."

"Sounds good." Cleo laughed as Gunner had already turned around and headed back to their house.

Cleo turned back in the direction that they had started to head in and took off running again. Thirty minutes and three miles later, she was back at the house but this time, she had broken a sweat. She did her post run stretches, then headed inside where she was greeted by a plate of sausage, hash browns and toast.

"Thanks daddy." Cleo greeted Gunner as she sat at the kitchen table.

"Anything for my princess." Gunner smiled back at her as he sat down beside her with a plate of breakfast for himself. "What else you got planned for today?"

"Meeting Emily at the mall later." Cleo said taking a mouthful of food.

"I'll drive you. I need a few things myself." Gunner smiled at her.

"Sounds good to me. Think we're meeting at twelve." Cleo replied as she kept eating.

Gunner gave her a smile as a reply as his mouth was full of food and they went back to a comfortable silence as they finished their breakfast. Once they had finished, Cleo went upstairs to shower and get ready whilst Gunner did the dishes before going upstairs to shower to.

Once they were both ready, they headed out to the mall in Gunner's truck.

"Where should I meet you later?" Cleo asked as she jumped out the truck in the mall parking lot.

"Next to the outdoor shop." Gunner said as he jumped out as well.

"Which one?" Cleo asked trying to catch him out.

"You know." Gunner stuttered. "The one next to thee..huh the one. You know where it is."

"Dad." Cleo replied knowing what he had done. "You don't need anything from the mall. You just wanted out of the house didn't you?"

"You know me to well." Gunner laughed knowing he was caught. "Don't worry I won't stay with you girls all the time."

"Ok. I'll meet you at the cell phone store outside the exit of the parking lot." Cleo said as she walked towards the exit.

"No worries. Just gonna pay for parking." Gunner replied as he headed in the opposite direction.

Cleo gave him a thumbs up as she headed out the parking lot and to the cell phone shop where she had arranged to meet Emily. She needed to give her a heads up what there was now a plus one on their mall trip. As she got down the steps and walked down the tunnel to the mall, she seen Emily sat on the bench waiting for her.

"Hey Em." Cleo said to get her attention.

"Hey CJ." Emily replied when she turned and saw her.

"Listen I need to give you a heads up." Cleo almost shouted knowing she didn't have much time.

"Don't tell me." Emily sighed. "You have a dad that's latched onto you as."

"How'd you know?" Cleo asked with a sigh.

"Cause I got one to." Emily grunted as she stood up.

Just as Emily stood up, Toll Road came out of the restroom and walked back over to the girls.

"Hey Cleo." Toll greeted her as he joined them.

"Hey Uncle Toll." Cleo smiled back at him.

"Hope you don't mind me tagging a long. I needed a few things myself." Toll replied to Cleo trying to make an excuse.

"No it's fine, my dad's here to. He's just parking the car." Cleo smiled hoping that the two of them would go their own way in the mall.

"Hey Toll." Gunner's voice sounded from behind Cleo as he joined them.

"Hey brother." Toll replied giving Gunner a one armed hug.

"You bored to?" Gunner asked as he stood back next to Cleo.

"Yeah." Gunner grunted. "Can't believe it's only been one day."

"I hear that." Toll sighed back.

"Well as you two are bored why don't you go look around the mall and we'll catch up with you's later." Emily said wanting to get away from the doom and gloom talk.

"Sounds good." Gunner smiled. "Think there's a bar somewhere."

"Let's go." Toll almost shrieked with excitement. "Sounds better than being dragged around all the clothes shops."

They both laughed in relief as they headed in the direction of the bar.

"You're a genius." Cleo smiled as their dads walked off.

"You're welcome." Emily said before turning serious again. "Remember though, I'm not going in the lacy laundry shop with you."

"Good cause only Jason gets to see what I buy in there." Cleo smirked as she walked in the direction of the shop leaving Emily grimacing at the image she had given her.

Cleo headed for the lacy shop and bought a new bra and panty set to surprise Jason with when he came back to town. Once she was done she met Emily outside and they heading around a few other shops and bought some other things they needed, including another store bag for Cleo to conceal her first purchase in. As they both weren't into shopping unless they needed something, they headed for the food court for a much needed snack.

"When's Jason coming back anyway?" Emily asked as they sat down at a table.

"About two weeks." Cleo said taking a bite of her hotdog. "He's staying for a week to."

"Does that mean I won't see you for a whole week?" Emily asked with a half smirk, half sad look on her face.

"We've only got one day planned so far." Cleo sighed knowing Emily was still being a pain about this. "Alex is coming back as well so the four of us could do something together."

"Yeah that would be fun." Emily smiled as she took a bite of her corndog. "Of course if we still have our dad's latched onto us, the six of us will have a good time."

"Hopefully not." Cleo shuddered at the thought of her dad gate crashing her and Jason's time together.

"How much longer you think it'll last?" Emily asked.

"Maybe a couple of weeks." Cleo sighed taking a drink of soda. "Probably doesn't help that we're not in school now either."

"True that. I love my dad but it's suffocating now that he's following me around." Emily groaned.

"I know. I'm the same with my dad but we can hope that they snap out of it soon." Cleo said taking another bite of her hotdog.

"Let's hope that trip to the bar did it cause here they come." Emily groaned as she seen there dad's coming towards them.

"Let's hope so." Cleo sighed as she turned round to greet her dad and uncle Toll.

Two weeks Later

Cleo got home after a practice match with her teammates and headed for the shower to get ready for a spontaneous family night at Tool's. For the past two weeks Gunner had taken every opportunity to spend time with her that he could but luckily she had spent the last week helping at a soccer camp for kids. When he wasn't with her, Gunner had scrubbed the entire house and rearranged all the cabinets in the house to relieve his boredom. Caesar was still in the same condition so she and Emily had barely seen Sam but had text her to let her know they were there for her. The team hadn't had a family night in a long time and she was looking forward to it.

Jason was due back to New Orleans in a few days and as much as Cleo was excited to see him, she had a feeling he might not make it. He hadn't spoken to her in the last two days and the last time that happened, there was too much work to be done and Jason was forced to cancel his vacation time.

Just as she got out the shower, her phone rang and she was nervous about answering it.

"Hello." Cleo answered as she sat on the edge of her bed.

"Hey baby." Jason answered her back. "You ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine. You?" Cleo asked hoping he wasn't going to give her bad news.

"Yeah I'm fine babe. You sure you're ok. You don't sound it." Jason said knowing her to well.

"Just hoping your not gonna tell you need to cancel your visit down here cause work's to busy." Cleo sigh hoping he wouldn't say it.

"Hell no baby." Jason smiled down the phone. "The day before was manic and I crashed for like 14 hours after it, then the strangest thing happened yesterday."

"What happened?" Cleo asked intrigued.

"Got finished work early and my dad calls me to say he's passing through and wants to have dinner with me but when I met him, his old buddy Bonaparte was with him." Jason replied.

"Ok." Cleo said confused. "Why is that strange?"

"You didn't tell me the team was back together. Dad's heading out tonight." Jason said.

"Sorry babe just forgot." Cleo said wondering if tonight's party was actually a reunite party. "Well if the teams heading out, that gives us more alone time."

"That was my thinking to baby. Just me and you." Jason purred down the phone as his briefs tightened slightly.

"I may have also bought a new lacy underwear set for you." Cleo purred back wanting to be the tease.

"Oh I can't wait to see that." Jason groaned back trying to stop his briefs tightening more. "You know that shit is waste of money sometimes cause I'm just gonna tear it off you."

"I know but it gives you a nice view. If it's a waste of money I'll return it." Cleo smirked teasing him for once.

"I didn't say that." Jason replied not wanting her to.

"Fine I guess I'll keep it for you to see first." Cleo smirked back deciding to tease him. "Maybe you'd prefer to know what I'm wearing right now?"

"Tell me first and I'll decide." Jason purred as his briefs tightened even more.

"I'm sitting on the edge of my bed." Cleo said seductively down the phone to him. "Wrapped in a towel with nothing underneath it and still slightly wet from my shower."

"Aww." Jason moaned. "Well if I had walked in on you like that, I'd kiss you softly as I pushed you onto the bed, ripped the towel off you and fuck you senseless."

"That a threat?" Cleo asked getting hot herself thinking about.

"It's a promise baby." Jason moaned again wanting to go take a cold shower.

"It better be cowboy." Cleo smirked as she seen what time it was. "Hey I gotta go but I'll see you in a few days."

"Oh yes you will. Have a good night baby. If the party's boring you know I'll be waiting for you. Bye." Jason said knowing he would see her in a few days.

"I will. Bye." Cleo replied as she hung up.

She finished drying off, got changed and locked up the house before heading to Tool's in her dad's truck, looking forward to the celebration party. All of the team would be in good spirits at getting back to work but for her and Emily it meant going back to worrying about them. The last two weeks had been good with Gunner around all the time but she had just stopped worrying about him now it was going to start all over again. She knew she couldn't stop him going away again but after 17 years she was used to it by now.

She pulled into Tool's parking lot and headed inside but it wasn't the atmosphere she was expecting. Everyone was sat in the back room but no one was laughing, there was no music, no knife throwing and no duffel bags thrown in the corner. It was more a depressing going away party.

"Hey." Cleo greeted everyone as she walked into the back room.

"Hey." A chorus of voices greeted her.

"What's with the mood?" Cleo asked as she sat down beside Lee.

"Nothing Cle." Gunner smiled at her. "Just not in the party mood."

"Is the job that bad?" Cleo asked. "Where's all your guys stuff? In the plane already?

All of the team looked at her knowing that she knew something more than they did.

"Cleo what are you talking about?" Tool asked wanting to know the truth.

"Barney's heading out tonight." Cleo said wondering why they didn't know.

"Cleo this isn't funny." Toll replied not wanting to believe her.

"I'm not. I'm being serious." Cleo replied getting frustrated at them.

"Cleo." Gunner asked in his dad tone. "What's going on?"

"Jason called before I left the house." Cleo aid not realising what she was about to do. "We were talking and he said Barney was passing through his town last night and wanted to have dinner with him. They met for dinner with some guy called Bonaparte and Barney told Jason he was heading out tonight for another job. I thought tonight was a pre job party like we used to have."

All of the expendables shared a look between them but Cleo knew she had screwed up. Without saying a word, the team got up from their chairs, jumped on their bikes and sped off out of the shop.

"I screwed up didn't I?" Cleo asked out loud

"Duh." Emily said wondering what was going on.

"No sugarplum." Tool sighed as he placed his hands on Cleo's shoulders. "You didn't screw up. Barney has."

"You wanna tell us what's going on?" Emily asked as she moved seats to sit next to Cleo.

"Bonaparte is an old friend of Barney's who used to be part of the expendables originally." Tool said as she sat down to face them. "Now he works as a recruiter for mercenary's."

"So he's found new team members for Barney and that's who he's heading out with tonight?" Cleo asked.

"That's right darling." Tool replied. "The guys have gone to the hanger to find out what the hell Barney's up to."

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault." Cleo said chocking back a tear.

"Hell no." Tool said as he moved to sit beside her and wrapped his arm around her. "This is not your fault. It's not Jason's either. Sounds like Barney didn't give him the full story either. If it's anyone's fault it's Barney's. He shut down the team the wrong way then goes and sets up a new team without telling them. You don't do that to your brothers."

"I guess so." Cleo sighed as she leaned into Tool.

"Normally it's me that puts my foot in it so I'm glad it wasn't me this time." Emily smirked at them.

Both Tool and Cleo shot a look that would have killed on the spot.

"To early for joking about it?" Emily asked as they kept staring at her. "Ok definitely yes."

"What do we do now then?" Cleo asking not in a party mood either now.

"Lee's gonna call me when they know what's going on so you ladies can hang with me just now." Tool smiled at them.

"Ok." Emily and Cleo said.

"Who's up for practicing their knife throwing skills?" Tool asked them.

"I am." Both girls shouted in excitement as their dads didn't let them practice.

"I thought that would cheer you ladies up." Tool laughed as he stood up. "I'll go get the gear. Emily go get me a beer."

"Why me?" Emily asked at the hard task.

"Cause you got the biggest mouth." Tool smirked back. He could have asked Cleo but he knew she'd want to phone Jason.

"Fair enough." Emily nodded as she headed to the kitchen. "CJ you want a soda?"

"Yeah." Cleo said as she stood up. "I'll be back a minute."

Cleo didn't wait for Emily's response as she headed up the stairs to the second apartment and closed the door. Once the door was locked, she dialled Jason's number hoping she hadn't screwed things up with him as well.

"Hey babe." Jason answered. "Party must be really boring. You can only have been there for like ten minutes."

"Jason I fucked up." Cleo trembled down the phone as a tear threatened to fall.

"What happened? Are you ok?" Jason asked knowing by her voice she wasn't.

"When I went to Tool's everyone was in a shit mood so I asked why when we should be celebrating that the team is back together." Cleo sighed down the phone.

"Ok." Jason replied.

"Turns out the team isn't back together. They asked me what I knew so I told them what you told me. Bonaparte wasn't finding someone to replace Caesar. He and Barney were putting together a whole new team that no one knew about. The team left to go confront Barney at the hangar." Cleo sighed as a tear fell down her face.

"Shit." Jason sighed.

"Jason I'm so sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut." Cleo trembled down the phone to him.

"Baby this isn't your fault." Jason said to reassure her. "The way dad was talking about it, it sounded like the old team was back together. If he didn't want the old team to know he shouldn't have told me cause he knows I tell you everything."

"I'm sorry Jase." Cleo sighed wishing he was here now.

"Baby I'm not mad at you." Jason said wishing he was with her.

"Your not?" Cleo asked wiping away a tear.

"No I'm mad at my dad. You don't set up a new team while the old team is still wanting to be out there. If he didn't want me to tell you then he should have said to me not to tell anyone. The team would have found out eventually as well babe." Jason said to her trying to reassure her as best he could.

"I guess your right." Cleo smiled knowing he always knew the right thing to say.

"When am I ever wrong?" Jason smirked at her.

"You want that listed by number or date?" Cleo asked laughing at him.

"Careful baby." Jason purred to her. "That kind of sass earns a spanking."

"Add it to the promise that you gave me earlier." Cleo purred back.

"Deal." Jason laughed back.

"I can't wait for the next two days to pass." Cleo said.

"Me to baby but now I gotta go hit the hay. Last day of work to get through tomorrow." Jason replied knowing the sooner he slept the quicker he could see her.

"Ok. I love you." Cleo said back.

"I love you to. Night." Jason said as he hung up the phone and went to bed.

As he hung up, Cleo headed back downstairs feeling better after speaking to him knowing he always knew the right thing to say to make her feel better.

Now it was time to show Emily and Tool how to really throw a knife.

TO BE CONTINUED.