Okay I tried something a little different here. My OC, Avery, was involved with one of the MacManus twins but I don't specify which one. It's my hope that you can read it with whoever you think it might be.

*Psalm 91:7

Her Saint Was A Mockingbird

"Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." -Harper Lee

Once upon a time…

The snow fell from the sky with such grace it was almost enough to make her forget it all. It had this uncanny way of sweeping in, blanketing the town, and bringing with it a sense of calm that Boston wasn't used to seeing nonetheless feeling. It had been over an hour since the last plow made its way down the empty street and fresh snow had already covered its tracks. The occasional footprint in the snow along the sidewalk was the only indication she wasn't as alone as she felt.

It would be okay with her if she was. Avery had never been the kind of woman who needed a man to complete her. She was strong willed with a heart of gold that just happened to catch the eye of a lucky Irishman. It was the mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes and the devilish smirk that pulled at the corner of his lips that initially drew her in but she ended up staying because of the spirit of the man he kept hidden beneath the pea coat and tattoos.

She welcomed the snow, the cold flakes as they hit her flushed cheeks and easily melted mixing with the silent tears. She couldn't tell you how long she had been standing outside only that she felt like she couldn't breathe while inside. He was every where she looked. He was the snubbed out cigarette in the ashtray, the unmade bed in the corner of the room, and the half empty bottle of whiskey on the counter. His accent filled her ears while his touch roamed her skin. She could taste his lips, still sweet from the lollipop he had been eating, and see the lopsided smile he gave her before leaving. The hinge of the door creaked as it was opened and she took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as his brother, his twin, came up behind her.

"Goin' to catch cold."

His voice was soft, concern lacing every word, but she felt the true anguish behind every syllable. She was supposed to be the strong one. She should have been the one inside making sure he was eating, that he had a shoulder to cry on, or even talk him out of any crazy plans he might come up with but yet here he was worrying about her. It was hard to think about one of them without thinking about the other. Truth be told, she had been avoiding him, not strong enough to be able to see him without carving a deeper hole into her heart. They were a definitive duo that effortlessly complimented one another. It had only been three days but she found herself staring at the door waiting for him to come in at any second. He was supposed to burst through the door and tell her it was all some cruel joke except that he never did. Avery knew what the MacManus brothers did. She never questioned their beliefs or begged him to stay behind she only ever made him promise to come home to her. A promise that he had made and kept up until this point.

"Avery," he tried again, this time a bit louder than the last but with more emotion.

She couldn't turn around and face him. How was she supposed to look at him without thinking about his brother? How was she supposed to see those baby blues so lifeless, a mirror image of her own? She had lost her a part of her heart but he had lost a part of his soul. They were both broken, both affected by his death in different ways, and although not alone they were as lonely as they had ever been.

The heavy pea coat was draped over her shoulders when she hadn't responded and the familiar scent of gunpowder and cigarette smoke was enough to lose any control on her emotions. Her legs buckled underneath her, the weight of the coat more than she could bare, his arms barely able to wrap around her before she hit the ground as uncontrollable sobs broke through the crisp night air. His comfort was welcomed and hated all in the same ragged breath. He shouldn't have to be there holding her, quieting her cries, because his brother should have come home. He should have kept his promise like he had any other time not only for her but for the one keeping her together. She wanted to be that strong woman people claimed she was but she was lost. Lost as easily as a leaf on a windy day that drifted through the air without meaning or a purpose.

Everyone from friends to strangers on the street had their own version of the story. How the bullets had flown and while the MacManus brothers were precise and thorough they weren't immortal. The twins had been named the Saints and rightly so but that didn't mean they were wrapped in armor safe from harm. The newspaper wrote about their indiscretions while the reporters on the television spoke about their heroism. The brothers never once thought about the repercussions of what their actions might do to themselves because they were simply following their calling. They rid the city of the pure evil without letting it change the men that they were. They were protectors, they were caring and considerate, and the most childish grown men you would ever meet but in their heart of hearts they wanted what was best for mankind. They wanted the city to be able to flourish in riches instead of weep in the transgressions of others.

The coward that killed her Saint was a murderer, a killer, unlike the MacManus brothers. To take away something that was so authentic was nothing less than the greatest of sins. A single bullet was all it took. One bullet. The brothers had fired hundreds over their lifetimes whether for sport or in the name of the Lord but all it took was one. A small piece of metal filled with gunpowder intended to destroy all that which was good in the world and when pointed in the direction of her Saint there wasn't a prayer in the world that would have been able to save him.

Avery couldn't do anything but stare at the twin in front of her when he came through the front door with bloody rosary beads wrapped around his knuckles. She knew before he even muttered a word what had happened. He had taken off his own beads, hanging them on the nail beside the door and the cross swung from side to side as if it was a pendulum running out of time. Seeing the bare nail on the wall was like a punch in the gut for Avery, leaving her breathless and in pain.

Snow continued to fall from the sky as the two huddled on the sidewalk trying to pull strength from each other; strength to even be able to take another breath in a world where his brother didn't exist anymore. He would have given anything for his brother to have kept his promise to the woman in his arms. He would have given anything to have traded places with him. There wasn't a day that went by that his twin wasn't at his side sharing in the triumphs and grief of whatever came their way. As one inhaled the other exhaled, as one stepped with their right the other stepped with their left, and as one died the other would struggle to survive.

"He was supposed to come home," she whispered into his shoulder. She thought that he might have missed what she said but in that moment Avery didn't care. God had sent them on a mission and she was furious that He hadn't protected the ones doing his deed. "A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.*" That was His words, the words He sent down to mankind about protection but like the deadbeat father He was he wasn't there. God had sent him into the world on a mission without being there when he needed him the most. Avery had been a woman of faith up until that point but now what was the use. His brother's hold tightened around her and she pushed away from him, scrambling to her feet, ignoring her snow covered pants and mascara stained cheeks. "He was supposed to come home!"

He had no comforting words for her, no notion that everything would be okay in time, because he felt the same way only worse. He wasn't just dealing with the death of his brother but the guilt that plagued his every thought. His brother had been an arm's length away from him and there wasn't a single thing he could do to save him. The only thing he was thankful for was that Avery didn't have to see the life leave his eyes. She didn't see the way his mouth hung slightly open, a heartbreaking revelation that his last attempted breath had been formed around his twin's name.

Avery pulled his blood stained rosary beads out from under her shirt, unable to clean away the last bit of him that she had. "He promised me!" Her broken cry bounced off the brick buildings. His brother nodded, having heard the words every time before they left for a job but not knowing how to fix this, how to fix her especially when he wasn't able to fix himself. She took a few breaths and with trembling lips she locked eyes with him. "I need you to promise me something. Please."

"Anything, lass."

"Don't leave."

Avery knew there were true evils in this world and while she didn't see herself as a soldier in a never ending war she hoped that she was making a difference. Even if it was just a smile to a stranger on a rainy day she wanted to make a difference. Because that was what it was all about in the end, wasn't it? Leaving a mark on the world and hoping that during your time here that you succeeded in saving someone even if you weren't able to save yourself. She had no idea if she would ever be remembered, if her time here would amount to anything, but she knew without a doubt that he had made a difference. He had gotten out of bed, laced up his boots, and changed even the smallest parts of the world.

Endings were hard though. Stories didn't come in pretty packages with a perfect bow, they came in everything you ever wanted them to be, and there would always be someone wishing it had ended differently. There could be tears or smiles, heartache or happiness, and on the rarest of occasions- the really special stories that carved out a special place in your heart- you got both. Avery would like to be able to say that her story was straight out of a fairy tale. That they had fallen madly in love at first sight, he swept her off her feet- saving her from the terrors that hid in the shadows, and that their story never truly ended. She would have liked to have said all that and more but all she could really say was that she loved him. She loved him in every way a woman could love a man so much so that she wasn't sure she could even describe it.

Avery had fallen in love with a Saint, a coveted Mockingbird, that was taken away from her far too soon.

…and they didn't live happily ever after but it was the end.