Expendables- Devil's Ax

Chapter 16

"Sorry I haven't been around much kid," Tool said as he reached for his beer and leaned back in the chair. His gaze was directed towards the wall as he took a drink and placed the bottle on the table again. "Barney's been busy and he's really the only reason why I come around here anymore. The bitch never told me you were back."

Rose sat up in the bed and felt a cold rag fall from her forehead. She tossed it to the side and leaned against the wall. Her body was still shaking from her dreams. "Did he send you?" She asked in a low voice. 

"Barney?" Toll raised an eyebrow. "Surprisingly no, it was that bastard Gunner." Rose looked over at Tool a little surprised but then pulled her knees to her chest and hid her smile behind them. "He sounded worried about you..." Tool said raising an eyebrow at her again. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. "Don't tell me... Are you two...?"

Rose looked up at him then quickly away at the floor. "I see," Tool said shaking his head a little. "Just be careful with that idiot."

Rose and Tool had made their way downstairs and sat on the couch in the lounge area. Rose sat with her knees to her chest again and Tool had grabbed another beer from the fridge and sat down next to her. Wrapping an arm around her, Tool puled her in and she rested her head in his shoulder. "It's been a while since I saw you last," He said taking a drink. He pulled her in tighter and rested his head on top of her's. He took in a deep breath and sighed. "Barney told me about what happened to you," Tool's voice was low and raspy. "I'm sorry."

Turning his head a little to the side, he kissed her on the forehead and snuggled in as close as he could. "He also told me about how pissed you were that you couldn't go with him."

"I should have gone..."

"I'm a little hurt," Tool said with a chuckle. "If you had gone then we couldn't be here right now," Tool said with a little loving cue in his voice. "But I have to agree with him. You're in no shape to be out there."

Rose was about to protest, but Tool put his hand up. "If I were you, I'd take this time to show him he's wrong. Like you used to always do," he said with a smile as he gazed down at her. "Get them muscles back up, and little more meat on your bones. If I can pick you up from the floor, you're not healthy."   

Rose had forgotten what it was like to throw a few punches. But as soon as her hand hit the heavy bag, and pain shot through her body, she quickly remembered.
"Ya call that a punch?" Tool said from the lawn chair he had grabbed. The two were now in the garage. Tool had hung up the punching bag when Rose kept telling him that she was fine. He told her to punch the bag five times and then try to do a push up. Within the third punch, Rose's arms burned and felt like nothing but water.
"See it now?" Tool asked from behind a cigar. "No way you could beat Rocky in that condition," he pointed out with a sarcastic chuckle.
With a low sigh, Rose looked down at the floor in silence. She waited for her heartrate to slow down before moving again. Tool looked up at her from his chair as she made her way over to the work bench and leaned forward on it, taking in a deep breath. She could feel her body becoming jittery and knew what was about to happen. With a grunt, Tool got up from his chair and walked over to her. Her head hung low to avert his eyes.
"You alright?" He asked in a low voice. He glaced down at her hands and saw her knuckles turning white from her grip on the wood. "That bad huh?"
Without thinking, Tool placed a hand on Rose's shoulder. With a surprised gasp, Rose flinched away and looked Tool directly in the eyes. Her eyes were clouded by fear and darkness. She looked like a fearful animal pushed up into a corner. But as soon as it hit, it vanished. Rose snapped back into the present and looked around her.

Barney let out a long sigh as he leaned back against the old stone wall of an abandoned building that the group had turned into a hid out. The sky had turned to a menacing black as the night moved on. Everyone was asleep. He looked down at his watched and then back up at the sky through a hole in the roof. The fire they had lit had gone out long ago, and was nothing but a few burning embers. The smell of cigar smoke filled the air around Barney as he sat in silence. The silence that he hated. The silence that always seemed to find him. The silence that consumed him.
He took in a puff of his cigar and placed it on the ground next to him. The cold night air tingled his skin as he pulled his jacket up over his arms. He continued to look up at the sky, waiting for the clouds to reveal some kind of light. But they never did. He slowly closed his eyes and could think about nothing but Rose.