Dead Straight (Lee Christmas Romance)

Part 1

Lee POV

Lee really was not in the greatest of moods.

He had just come home from a successful mission and as always went to check up on his girlfriend Lacey. The girl who he thought he loved. WelI I guess she was his ex now since she had run off with some other man. To make matters worse she didn't even seem unhappy about it. She just didn't understand the danger that would come if he told her what he really was. That he was a killer. Lacey would probably never even look at him again.

It wasn't easy being a mercenary, similar to office jobs; life was always work work work. But dissimilar in the idea that office workers typically had a family to come home to. Lee had tried leaving the killing business a few times but always ended up coming back a month or two later.

Currently, Lee was with the closest thing he had to a friend who was a man named Barney Ross, an expert sharpshooter. He was the leader of their Mercenary team, The Expendables. The Expendables were a 6 man team first there was Lee the knife enthusiast. Yin Yang a martial arts expert. Hail Caesar a heavy weapons specialist. Toll Road, an interesting ex- wrestler with a love for demolitions, and a loose-cannon swede sniper named Gunnar.

Recently they had to let Gunnar go, he was becoming a threat to the team.

Barney and Lee walked into a large church where they were to meet up with a new CIA operative for a job offering. This would possibly be the first and last time Barney or Lee would ever even see this guy. All other transactions would most likely be over the phone.

As the pair entered the Church and walked down the aisle a bald man with a wrinkled forehead stood at the pew. His eyes were strangely predatory and almost alien. About ten yards away a smaller figure sat in the shadows of the church. Strange. " Hello Barney, Hello Lee" The man said in a false friendly way. He had the signature prickly demeanor that all CIA agents had. " Hi, let's keep things simple, we don't care where the job is as long as the money is right. Got it?" Barney asked keeping to the point. The bald man nodded " Let's get down to business, I know your real name isn't Barney and yours probably ain't Lee Christmas. And you don't need to know my name either. All you need to know is that the job is real and so is the money" Chruch explained. " And since we are in this nice place, well... just call me Mr.Church" he added.

" Ok Church, let's hear it then" Lee said ready to leave the country and go on the mission. It would be the perfect opportunity to get his mind off Lacey. " In a minute, still waiting on one more guy" Church told them. " Who?" Barney asked but before Church could replied, as if one cue the Church doors open and in walked a man named Trench. He was a tall man with a weathered face and fuzzy chestnut hair. Kind of like that guy you see on Mobile Strike advertisements.A man Barney used to work with but their relationship was a bit foggy . Lee had met him before but he didn't really like the guy. The again Lee didn't like many people.

"You know him?" Church asked reading their body language. " Yeah we used to be on the same team" Barney replied with a hint of a sour tone. " What's my oldest, worst friend doing here?" Barney asked. " All your names came to the top of the list" Church said blandly. Lee almost scoffed, to the CIA guys mercenaries were nothing more than pawns to a chess game. All replaceable and movable.

" Is there a problem?" Church asked with a tilt of his shaved head. " Yeah I should have shot him when I had the chance" Barney said back cooly.

" Well if it isn't big Barney Ross" Trench greeted with an opening of his arms as he removed the cigar from his mouth. " Bigger Trench Mouse" Barney replied with a small smirk causing Lee to scoff. " What are you two doing here? Praying for work?" Trench asked with enough sarcasm to fill a cup.

" Could be" Lee answered with a small grin. Trench stopped a foot behind Barney " You lost weight?" Trench asked. " Yeah well whatever weight I lost you found pall" Barney replied. It was like two old people bickering. Oh wait, that's exactly what it was.