Expendables- Devil's Ax

Chapter 9

Upon her arrival at the tattoo shop, Rose had been greeted by Caesar and Lee. Caesar had taken it upon himself to make a cake and a giant meal for everyone as a welcome home party for Rose. even though the meal was just four different kinds of pizza, Chinese take out, beer, and chicken wings, Rose was happy either way. It felt strange to be surrounded by people like the Expendables and be taken in like she had. But she knew that she was safe, and that put her mind at ease. It wasn't until she disappeared from the party and walked into the upstairs kitchen of the tattoo shop when she realized her heart had been beating way too fast for comfort.

Leaning against the sink she felt her stomach turn, realizing she had eaten too much. Opening her mouth, she allowed spin to drip from her lips as she took in deep breaths to try and calm down.

Within moments, every sound began to fade away as her heart beat filled her ears. She stared at the shining metal of the faucet in the sink and began to slip away from everything else. Her heart beat grew louder and louder with every passing second. Suddenly, the door to the kitchen opened and Gunner walked in, trying not to be noticed. Without realizing that Rose was there, he looked up with surprise when Rose jumped and spun around to look at him. Her eyes wide with surprise she breathed heavily and leaned against the counter and looked down at the floor.

"You ok?" Gunner asked looking at her. "Ya know, you're party is out there." He said pointing back at the door.

"Yeah." Rose said with a low voice. Standing up and walking to the door, images of the small cell that had kept her and Gunner captive for several days rushed into her mind. It was embarrassing to her, for him to see her after what had taken place. The night when she had been raped once again, that cold night when he had held her as she cried and shook. She couldn't stand it.

Pushing open the door, she left the kitchen without another word and walked down the dark hallway to the stairs. Stopping at the top of the stairs she grabbed her left shoulder and held it tight. A deep pain from within tore its way out of her and she let out a gasp of pain. Leaning against the wall, she bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain.

"I had the guys make sure the room was at least ready for you to move in tonight. It's livable." Barney said as he opened the door to the apartment. He reached down and picked up the large dark green military grade bag that belonged to Rose and walked into the room and Rose followed. Walking down a small hallway into an open living room, with a couch and one folding chair, Rose turned to the right to see a small one person kitchen and another hallway. The hallway to her right had three different doors; two on the left, one on the right.

"I'll show you your room." He said walking down the hallway. He opened the door on the right and walked in. Rose followed and was greeted by a rather large bedroom with a queen sized bed that had already been 'made' on the left side of the room against the back wall. The sheets had sort of been thrown on, it looked like someone had at least tried. On the far right of the room was another door leading into the closet. She smiled at the warm feeling of the room.

"I think that's everything. Across the hall is is the bathroom and closet. That's about it." Barney said looking at her. She looked around her room, a soft smile on her face.

"Thank you. For everything."" Rose said looking at the floor.

"No problem. Your family." He said in return and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Well, goodnight." Before he left the room, he turned around to say one last thing. "Tomorrow morning, Caesar's wife Lora is coming over to take you out shopping for some new clothes." And with that, Barney left the room. A few seconds later, the door to the apartment opened and then shut, leaving Rose is silence.

The next day Rose had spent the all afternoon with Lora, picking out new clothes to last her months. To Lora. money was no figure.

Rose had returned home to her apartment that evening, bags of clothes and boxes of shoes filled her room. There was too much stuff. If she had just looked at something, Lora would buy it for her. Sitting down on her bed, Rose held her head in her hands when she thought about the bill of her clothes and where she was going to put it all. Lora kept telling Rose not to worry about paying her back.

Rose let out a sigh and squeezed her eyes shut, the silence of the apartment felt heavy. The night before Rose had not slept at all for the silence was too great. Now that Lora had bought her a phone and downloaded music for her, Rose had something to help her through the night. Looking up at the wall, Rose sighed and leaned back on her forearms. Exhaustion took over her body and she closed her eyes again.

Suddenly, a knock rang out from the apartment door. Walking to the door, Rose opened it and saw Lee standing by the doorway with a paper bag and something inside of it.

"Lee!" Rose said surprised.

"Hey. Can I come it for a bit?" Lee asked nodding his head to the doorway.

"Yeah. Sure. Come in." Rose said as she pushed the door open and stood to the side. Lee walked in a nodded his head to her as he passed by her and walked into the living room.

It looked exactly the same as it had when he and Caesar made it up.

"Love what ya did with the place." He said looking around. Everything was the same.

Rose replied with a smile. "Have a seat seat." She said as she walked into the kitchen. "You want something to drink?"

"Just some water is fine." He said. Sitting down on the couch, he heard something rattle from underneath him. Moving to the side and grabbed an orange pill bottle from under him and looked at. The pills inside were small and white, and the label had Rose's name across the top of it. Lee sat the bottle down on the edge of the couch after reading the rest of the label. Pills for PTSD.

He looked back over to the kitchen and saw Rose coming back with two glasses of water. She sat down in the folding chair and smiled before taking a sip of water.

"How have you been coping with the new apartment?" Lee asked.

"Fine, I guess. It's just really quiet." Rose said setting her glass down on the floor in between her feet.

"I got somethin for ya." Lee said reaching into the paper bag and pulling out a thick flannel shirt and fleece blanket. "It can sometimes get cold in here at night." He handed the two items to her and leaned back in the couch.

"Thank you." Rose said smiling. Lee knew they weren't the best gifts to give someone, but he felt like he had to give her something. Rose sat the blanket down in her lap and immediately put the flannel on when she saw the look in Lee's eyes. She leaned back in her chair and let out a giggle. "I was actually a little cold." She said with a smile.

Lee grinned and looked at the window that lead out to the street. Her apartment was on the fourth floor of the building, his was on the fifth.

"Thank you." He said looking out the window still.

"For what?" Rose asked grabbing her glass.

"What you did for me." His voice was low.

Rose's hand brushed over her left shoulder as she looked down at the floor. "I should be the one thanking you." Her voice was low but still had a sweet tone to it. Lee looked over at her and saw the sadness in her eyes. "If you hadn't helped me, I don't think I would still be alive. You and the others were there." She said tightening her grip on the glass. "For the first time in a long time, I actually felt..." Her voice shook a little as she tried to talk. "Safe."

Lee only looked at her puzzled. "I haven't felt that way for a very long time." Rose said looking up at him. "You guys are doing so much for and I have no idea what to do in return. I feel rather useless compared to you guys." She smiled and chuckled at her words.

"You're not useless. You saved me and Gunner." Lee said. "You've gone through more than most people and can still stand up on your own." He said to her, trying to catch her gaze, but she only looked down at the floor. She still look sick and skinny. Her bones were still visible and her body look exhausted. Her eyelids hung low with fatigue and skin still a little pale. "You mean a lot to all of us now." Lee said. "Don't ever think you're useless."

Finally Rose looked up at him her dark green eyes and she smiled. "Thank you." She said.

"Well, I should get going." Lee said standing up. "If you ever need anything, I'm only one floor up." He pointed to the ceiling with a grin. Rose smiled back and stood up and lead him back to the door. "Goodnight." Lee said to her before leaving her apartment and shutting the door behind. With a picture of Rose with an overly large flannel shirt and jeans imprinted into his mind, Lee smiled as he made his way to the stairs.