the artemis (expendables) (lee christmas x reader)

seven.

Barney couldn't stay in there anymore. He was looking at Lee over your head as he held onto you, or really, as you held onto him like he was the last physical thing you could hold onto in the world. He could tell that Lee blamed him for it all, and even though Barney knew that he'd eventually come to his senses, he felt a surprising amount of pain when he saw it in his eyes. He stood up and scratched at the back of his neck before he elected to follow Trench outside.

Lee rocked you silently and closed his eyes as Barney left. Your crying was beginning to weaken, the sobs fading into low strangled wails. He stroked your hair and breathed you in.

Trench was pacing outside on the tarmac, lost in his own stream of consciousness. He had trusted Barney, his old friend, to keep you safe from those sorts of things specifically. But then he'd gone and presented you on a silver platter to the damn thing he was afraid of. He only stopped pacing when he realized that Barney was standing there watching him with his arms crossed.

"You got a lot of nerve," Trench said, pausing for a second to look him up and down. Barney frowned in agreement and nodded. He wasn't gonna put up a fight.

"Yeah, well," he said eventually when Trench didn't continue. "I'm gonna end this now."

"Should've never started," Trench said, turning so that he was facing him, a few feet worth of distance between them. They were standing in the same position exactly, though Trench was a bit taller than Barney.

"What'd you emphasize to me that day you called?" Barney asked, allowing his eyes to flash away from Trench's for just a second as he gathered his courage.

"To keep my daughter safe."

"To keep my guys away from her," Barney said. "Tell 'em she was off limits."

Trench scoffed, "helluva job there, too, Ross."

Barney held up his hand and sighed. "I saw where it was going. The way her and Lee were then, they'd get somebody killed. Probably each other."

Barney winced at the memory of the knife sticking out of your side. He had been right. Of course he had been right. Sending you away had done nothing to prevent it from eventually happening, though.

"So you figured the CIA-"

"She would never go back to you," Barney said. "And who else was out there? Church had been starting to make his rounds on all of us anyway. None of us old dogs were gonna take orders from some suit."

"You're trying to tell me you sold my girl to the feds because I told you to keep your men away from her?"

"I'm telling you that I used my best judgement," Barney asserted, lifting his chin. "I didn't ship her off. I didn't sell her out. I gave her the option, because I could see what was happening and in my experience if she stayed it would only be a matter of time before-"

"Before what?" Trench grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "Before something happened to her? Did you even think-"

"I did all the research I could," Barney sighed. "You know I wouldn't send one of my people anywhere they could get hurt. I mean, if I had seen what it was from the start, I never would have even considered it."

"Yeah, I know, Ross," Trench said. "But I am angry with you."

"Yeah, well, so the fuck am I," Barney groaned. "I should've pushed harder when she kept not coming back. And when she did come back, looking like someone sucked the damn soul of her, I should've beat Church 'til he told me the truth."

"Church is an asshole."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have anything to do with this hit," Barney said.