As promised, here is my sequel to The Devil's Assistant is Expendable!

Trigger warning for a violent-like scene.

Happy reading!

2011

Lee stood in the hangar, spinning his knife in his hand over and over. He was anxious, and everyone knew he was anxious. Gunner was avoiding him, Yin was practising his fighting moves, Caesar was sharpening his knife, and Toll was helping Barney finish loading the plane.

"He all right?" Toll asked Barney.

"Yea. Nervous I imagine," Barney answered.

"I would be too," Toll agreed. He watched Lee stare into space, the knife swinging hypnotically on his finger. Barney finished with the last box and stood in the doorway of his plane.

"All right, saddle up!" he called. Everyone made their way over to get into the plane. Lee was last.

"You ready?" Barney asked him.

"I've been ready for this for years," Lee answered.

"We'll get him," Barney promised. He clapped Lee's shoulder as he passed, and Barney shut the door. Lee settled into his seat beside Barney in the front and did his best to still his shaking hands. He had been after Kazimir for five years. He had been dead for five years. It was time to come alive again.

"Here we go," Barney said, falling into his seat and turning the plane on. Lee didn't answer. All these years he had waited. For the billionth time, he thought about Emily. Had she moved on? Was she still in New York? Did she miss him? Did she even still think of him? Was she okay?

"Hoo ya," Toll called from the back, getting a response from everyone but Lee. The hoo ya had been taken out of him the day he had died. Well, obviously he wasn't dead, but to the world he was. Barney had made the call over five years ago to claim Lee was dead in order to save Emily from being killed by Kazimir. The man had come to her office with the intent of killing her and then Lee in order to finish his revenge. It failed, though, ending with Lee getting shot and Kazimir surviving the bullets Lee had put into him in return. Lee knew Barney had meant well, but sometimes he got angry about the choice Barney had made for him without consulting him.

"You gonna go to New York when this is over?" Barney asked.

"I haven't decided," Lee answered. A huge part of him wanted to, but a small part of him feared Emily's reaction, and if she had moved on, who was he to come waltzing back into her life?

Barney didn't answer as he lit his cigar. Whatever Lee decided, he hoped it was the right choice.

New York

Emily shut the door to her son's room and went to the living room, collapsing onto the couch.

"That was fast," Eric commented, coming to join her. She gave a small smile. Ever since Lee had died and she gave birth to her son, Eddie Lee, she stayed with Eric, and he helped her as best as he could.

"He's getting better," Emily sighed. The night terrors weren't as frequent. She felt bad for her little boy. The dream world was a place she couldn't protect him from. It bothered her. She knew how it felt to be tormented by horrible dreams. She blinked away the image of Lee lying on the floor, dead.

"I still can't get over how much he looks like him," Eric commented.

"I know."

Emily wrung her fingers together. Her son was also Lee's son. She had found out she was pregnant not long after Lee's death. It had been the hardest time in her life, knowing she was alone and that Lee was missing his son grow up.

"I'm sure he's watching somewhere," Eric said, squeezing her hand with his. He avoided looking at her, though. The guilt inside of him was enormous.

"I hope so," she whispered. She missed Lee every day still. She knew she'd never love someone else the way she had loved him.

Brazil

The team walked through brush for what seemed like hours. Lee was beginning to think they'd never get there.

"He hid himself well," Caesar noted, chopping at some brush with his machete.

"Not well enough," Barney commented. It had taken a long time, but one of Barney's contacts had come through and told him the good news, that Kazimir had settled down where he thought he was safe. When they finally saw the building structure appear before them, they stopped.

"You have the layout right?" Toll asked Barney.

"Yea. My guy gave it to me."

"Then let's go."

They split up and went towards the building carefully and quietly. They took out the guards as they went, their guns silenced. Once inside, Lee surged forward to find Kazimir while the others kept silencing the guards. He approached the bedroom where he knew Kazimir would be sleeping. He had studied the layout well. He went to stand over Kazimir in his bed, and he cocked his gun, making Kazimir leap awake. At first, Kazimir didn't know what he was looking at until the light came on. Barney was standing by the door, watching.

"No way," Kazimir said. "You're dead."

"I guess you don't believe in ghosts then," Lee commented.

"I will end you," Kazimir threatened.

"I'm the one standing here with a gun to your head," Lee snorted. "I think the time for you to threaten me has passed."

"So shoot me already," Kazimir sneered.

"First, who sent you to kill my parents?" Lee demanded.

"I'll never tell you anything."

"Who sent you?!" Lee shouted. Kazimir started to laugh.

"Lee, he's not going to talk," Barney said. "Don't waste time." He was worried Kazimir would get away.

"A ghost sent me," Kazimir said after he stopped laughing. "Now, put that bullet in me and get it over with."

"With pleasure," Lee replied. He pulled the trigger over and over again. When he ran out of bullets, he lowered the gun.

"Did you get him?" Barney asked, his tone a touch sarcastic.

"Yea," Lee nodded. "I got him." This time, there was no mistake. This time, Kazimir wouldn't get up and flee and cause Lee to lose the most important person in his life.

"I bet that felt good."

"Let's just go," Lee ordered, walking past Barney. He was anxious to move on with his life, to get his old life back. His only regret was not getting an answer about who ordered his parents' deaths, but some things you had to let go of in order to move forward.

New York

"I've been thinking," Eric said as Emily flicked through the TV stations for something good to watch.

"What's that?"

"You really need to get out more."

"I'm fine, Eric."

"I'm serious. It's been five years, Em. You gotta at least go out and have some fun."

Emily almost threw the remote at Eric's head. What was he thinking?!

"I know, right? How dare I suggest fun when you're a single mother whose former boyfriend died," Eric sighed. "I'm out of my mind."

"I'm just not ready."

"Serena would love to take you out."

"I haven't talked to her in a while."

"Oookay, so what about anyone else from your work?"

"I'm not going to hang out with my staff after work," Emily said, wrinkling her nose. After leaving Miranda, Emily had gotten a different job at a different magazine and had climbed her way to the top. She was now the editor in chief of Miranda's competing magazine: Illuminate. It was a feat to be so high rank so young, but Emily was ambitious and never gave up. She was much more lenient with her staff, too. She would never behave like Miranda Priestly. She had hated the woman ever since Miranda revealed she thought Lee was bad for her, that she'd known Lee's father to be a bad man and that genes indicated Lee was bad too.

"You should really consider it."

"Drop it, Eric."

Eric didn't push the conversation any further. His guilt was humming in his ears, though, for Eric had a secret, and the secret Eric had was a big one. And if Emily ever found out, she'd probably never speak to him again.

Days Later

"You're a free man," Barney said as they drank at Tool's tattoo parlor. "What are you gonna do?"

Lee thought hard. His first instinct was to get to New York, but he still didn't want to impose on Emily after all this time. She'd be furious with him. He was debating just leaving his memory as it was with her instead of showing her he had lied to her.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully.

"I can do some recon if you want," Barney offered.

"No."

Barney sipped his beer, not telling Lee that he had periodically checked in on Emily over the years despite Lee telling him not to. He'd never approached her, but he had watched her from afar. She was doing well, and she was still single, that much he knew. One time she met his gaze, and he was pretty sure she recognized him, but she never said anything to him or let on she recognized him.

"If it were me," Toll said. "I'd go to her."

"You must like getting slapped in the face," Caesar laughed.

"No, seriously," Toll went on, looking at Lee. "I think she'd understand. I would."

"She might kill him," Gunner pointed out. "Then he'd really be dead."

"Maybe he should go with back up," Yin suggested.

"I could tattoo her name on your arm," Tool offered. "Ladies find that hot sometimes. It might make her forget you did her wrong."

"Stop it, all of you," Lee ordered, scowling. The knuckleheads were not helping. He stood and walked outside for some air. Barney eventually joined him.

"What does your heart say?" he asked.

"What are you, my fairy godmother?"

"I'm not playing around," Barney said. "I mean it. What do you want to do?"

Lee wanted to go to her and hold her in his arms and never let her go, but he was too afraid.

"I don't know, Barney," he lied. "I don't know."

...

William Pearce was a man who got things done. Granted, he got some resistance here and there, but he usually got what he wanted in the end. Case in point, he was still pursuing a woman he'd met at an old job, Emily Charlton, but she was playing very hard to get. His cousin, James, had warned him of that. Will knew that James didn't have it in him to be aggressive, though. James was all bark and no bite, unlike Will. The bonus of knowing Emily was knowing she had a brother who owned his own bar. He felt this would benefit his business if Eric would let him entertain his guests there every so often. He could also use a low key place to store his things and make deals. Will, you see, was not just a police officer. He was into some things that some would say was more dangerous than police work, but Will liked danger. He considered it his middle name. He looked at his watch and smiled. It was time to go pay Eric Charlton a visit and see if his offer had been reconsidered.

...

Eric was standing and holding the rag in his hands, lost in thought. It was something he thought about almost every day, and almost every day he told Emily about it. Something kept him from doing it, though, or rather someone. His mind flashed back:

"What are you doing?" Eric asked, seeing a rugged, beat up looking older man following a team of nurses who were pushing a hospital bed down the hall.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Eric. Is that Lee?"

"No," the man said, stepping in front of Eric to block his view as the nurse pulled the sheet over Lee's head to hide him.

"What are you doing? They told Emily he was dead. My sister is devastated. Is that him? Where are you taking him?" Eric demanded. He took in this man before him, the tattoos, the smell of a cigar, and the holster on his hip with the pistol sitting in it.

"You're Barney, aren't you?" Eric asked, realizing.

"Depends who's asking."

"Where are you taking him?" he repeated.

"Look, your sister is not safe if Lee's alive."

"So, he's alive?" Eric asked, stunned.

"Yea."

"But..."

"This stays between you and me," Barney said fiercely. "If you want your sister to stay breathing, you'll keep this to yourself. We have to catch the guy who tried to kill her and Lee, and the only way to keep her safe is to pretend that Lee is dead. Do you understand me?"

Eric heard the words, and he knew Barney was right, but he still felt angry.

"This will kill her when she finds out."

"Don't think I haven't already thought of that," Barney said, holding up his hand. "When the time comes, she can take it out on me. I'm to blame for this, not him."

"And when she finds out that I knew too?"

"I'll tell her I threatened to cut out your vocal cords," Barney shrugged. Eric swallowed. He glanced at the unconscious form of Lee on the bed, and he wondered how his friend was going to react when he found out what Barney had done.

"Look, we gotta go. I'll check in on her from time to time, see how she's doing," Barney promised. "Make sure she's safe."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Eric said, feeling sick inside. This secret would almost kill him.

"I do," Barney nodded. Then they were gone, and Eric was left standing in the hallway wondering how long he could keep this secret before he cracked.

The noise of the door opening made Eric come back to the present moment. William Pearce and two of his boys strolled in. The bar was empty since it was near closing time. Eric wasn't exactly a fan of Will. The man was no good, and he was expecting Eric to let him be no good in his bar. He'd seen Will in there acting shady, and he didn't like it.

"Beer me," Will said, chuckling. Eric slid one over to him. The two guys didn't order anything.

"Why are you here?" Eric asked. "My answer is still no."

"I thought with some time you'd change your mind."

"Nope."

"Think about your sister and your nephew. You'd be helping them."

"I am not a criminal, Will."

Will sipped his beer, a small smile on his lips.

"Who said anything about being a criminal?"

Eric knew now that he should have told Emily that he'd been approached by this guy. He knew Will had worked with Emily in the past briefly, but that was the extent to which he knew him. The guy had been trying to date his sister for a while now, but Emily wouldn't have it. Eric knew he shouldn't have let Will away with what he'd done so far. Now he was in a dilemma, a very bad dilemma. When it came down to loyalty to his sister, though, he chose his sister every time. She needed to know who Will really was, and he'd tell her as soon as he got home.

"This really is the opportunity of a lifetime," Will insisted. "All you have to do is say yes."

"I refuse," Eric said. "And don't think I won't tell my sister what you're all about either." He pulled out a block of drugs then, setting it on the counter. He'd taken it from the crate Will had asked to store there. He was glad he had done so because that crate was long gone now.

"I found this in my back room," Eric went on. "I know you put it there. I saw the footage. I'm not a storage locker for your shit. I will tell the police."

Will gave him a look. It said it all, really.

"Oh, buddy," he sighed. "I am the police." With one gesture, his men jumped Eric. When it was all over, Eric was on the ground looking most definitely dead. Will tossed some cash onto the bar top for his drink, picked up his drugs, and walked out with his two men behind him.

...

When Eric didn't come home by his usual time, Emily grew concerned. She asked their neighbor to watch her son while she went to check in on Eric. When she got to the bar, she immediately took in the mess. She froze, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Eric?" she called. There was no response. She stepped around the broken glass and broken stools to look behind the bar. She screamed. There was her brother lying in his own blood, not moving. She fumbled for her phone to call for help. As she dialed, she hurried over to her brother, feeling for a pulse.

"911 what is your emergency?"

"I think my brother is dead," she answered.

"Your brother is dead? Where are you, miss?"

"The Charlton Bar," Emily answered as she pressed her fingers into her brother's neck, blood spilling over her hand. "Please hurry. I...I think I've found a pulse."

"Help is on the way, ma'am."

...

Emily stood beside her brother as the machine pushed air into his lungs and let it hiss out again. He was lucky to be alive, they told her. If any of the blows had been an inch in the other direction, he'd be dead.

Emily wanted to know who had done this to her brother. He looked so small and defenseless lying there. The investigating police officer, Jimmy, had come and taken her statement. Another officer, Gordon, was posted outside Eric's door in case his attacker decided to come back and finish the job. This is what scared Emily the most, but they both assured her that only they and the police captain knew Eric was alive and no news team was going to announce Eric had survived. The hospital brought back all sorts of memories for her, though. Most of them she hated. The one she hated the least was of her and Lee falling asleep in her hospital bed after he'd come back to her after she'd been hit by the car. It just made her sad.

"Miss Charlton?"

She turned to see the doctor standing there.

"Yes?"

"You've probably deduced that Eric is in a coma," the doctor said. He was Dr. Goodwin according to his name tag.

"I have."

"I regret to say that we don't know if he'll ever come out of it," Dr. Goodwin said apologetically. Emily felt herself crashing on the inside. If she lost Eric too, she would definitely lose her mind.

"You're telling me I am going to have to eventually pull the plug," Emily stated.

"Possibly."

Emily didn't say anything else as she turned and fled from the room. She needed air. She needed to get her feet back onto firm ground. She needed to stop flying and spinning around out of control. She burst out of the hospital doors, gasping. First her father, then Lee, now Eric. She couldn't take it anymore. She hugged herself as she cried big, heaving sobs. She thought of her son and what he was going to say when she told him his uncle might never come home. He'd be devastated. She had no idea how to even begin trying to explain to him what happened. No clue at all.

...

It was on the news. Lee stopped short when he saw the story flash across the screen. He stared at the TV, looking at Eric's bar being shown from all angles. It was a disaster. What had happened there?

"...chaos tonight as violence rocks this small, New York bar," the reporter was saying. "What we don't know is, was it a robbery gone bad? Or was it a hit?"

Lee felt the room shrink. What had happened at Eric's bar? His gut told him the victim was Eric, and his heart broke for Emily. She didn't need to lose anyone else in her life. It didn't take long for him to make up his mind. It was time to go home.

Things get worse before they get better. I'm sorry for the grim first chapter. Stay tuned!