Expendables- Devil's Ax

Chapter 11

Barney scratched the back of his head in annoyance. Leaning back in his chair he read through the email again and sighed. He didn't want to leave and head to DC on a drop of a pin, but by the looks of the situation he had too. Getting up from his chair he walked into the tattoo parlor and leaned against one of the desks. The smell of cigarette smoke and beer lingered in the air as he listened to Lee and Tool in a debate against which fighter would win in the upcoming kickboxing match. Looking over to the corner, he saw Caesar cleaning out a small pistol, and Gunnar not too far away doing what he always did, sharpen his over sized dagger.

"Listen up." Barney said. Silence fell over the room and everyone looked up at him. "I'm leaving tonight go and talk with Drummer about a new job for us. I'll be gone for a few days. I need someone to watch Rose while I'm gone." He stood up and walked to the center of the room. "Any takers."

"Not it!" Toll said loudly from over by his bike. "Got plans."

"Me too." Caesar said setting down his gun.

"I have some business out of town, or else I would." Lee said, disappointment in his voice.

"I can do it." Tool said with a devilish smirk.

"I'd rather you didn't." Barney said an image of Tool with his arm around Rose sent a shiver down his back. "Gunner?"

With a sigh, Gunner placed his knife down on the table to his side and shrugged his shoulders. "Why not?" He said leaning back in his chair. "But I've never babysat before."

"You just have to check up on her. Here." Barney said pulling out a twenty from his wallet. "Make sure she eats while I'm gone." Handing Gunner the money he made his way back to the desk to grab his phone.

"Has she not been eating?" Caesar asked.

"Not a thing." Barney replied as he grabbed a beer from the fridge and went back to the desk.

"How bad is it?" Lee asked.

After taking a swig from the bottle, Barney replied. "Bad enough. I'm half tempted to shove a tube down her throat and force feed her." He said annoyed.

Rose sat on the couch staring at the book that she had just read for the tenth time. Read it again, or sleep? Sighing, she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her arms. There wasn't really anything she could do. As the silence from the apartment seemed to go empty, a knock at the door made her jump. Standing up, Rose walked over to the door and opened it. Leaning against the wall was Gunner.

"Gunner." She said surprised.

"Get dressed." He said looking at her and noticing she was wearing her pajamas. "We're gonna go somewhere." The more he looked at her, the more he realized how bad her condition was. It had been two weeks since that night when he spent the night with her. Her cheekbones were more noticeable, and her hip bones seemed to be the only thing keeping her sweatpants up. The tank top she wore hugged her body close, allowing Gunner to see that her ribs were showing. Barney wasn't kidding.

After throwing on a flannel, skinny jeans, and her combat boots, they left. Having taken Gunner's bike, Rose found herself in a bar sitting across from Gunner who looked down at the wooden table. Rose had recognised the name of the bar right away. It was where the guys went all the time. Rose sat looking around at all the signs and other things hanging from the walls. The smell of cigarette smoke stung her nose but she was used to it. Gunner looked up at her a few times before leaning back in his chair and looking at the bar tender who was an older woman. With the wave of his hand, she came right out from behind the bar with a notepad in hand.

"What do you want?" Gunner asked Rose who looked at him confused. She had been too intrigued with the signs and pictures on the walls. "What do you want?" He asked again before the bartender got the table.

"Oh. I'm fine." Rose said. "Just a water." Looking away from the woman and Gunner, Rose tried to sink into her chair and not be seen by the countless people in the bar who looked over at her and Gunner every few minutes, laughed to themselves, then went back to drinking.

"I'll take a regular, bring out two baskets of the wings and fries too." Gunner said to the bar tender who smiled at him and then looked over at Rose who was looking down at the floor to the side of her.

"She's cute." The woman said. "Where'd ya pick her up from?" The older woman nudged Gunner with her elbow.

"That's Barney's niece." Gunner said.

"Oh. So this is the famous Rose that I've heard so much about."

Rose looked up the woman who winked at her and smiled. "Be careful around this one." The woman said pointing a thumb at Gunner and walked away. Rose stared at the woman as she walked away. Had Barney talked about her?

A few moments later, the woman came back and dropped off the drinks and a sheet of paper to Rose. "Barney said you might be interested in getting a job." She said. "You're more than welcome to apply here. there's not a whole lot of people workin' here so you can pick up quite a few hours."

"Thank you." Rose said looking down at the paper. It was true. Rose wanted to get a job as soon as possible, but nowhere would hire her because she had little experience.

"Experience not needed." She the woman said with a smile before walking away to finish up her duties at the bar.