A/N: This is where Dani's story intertwines with the movie. That said, I do not claim ownership over any of the lines that I took straight from the movie. Troy Duffy is a god, and I would never try to take credit for his work. Thanks for all the love you guys have been giving! 3
A week passed. Dani had gotten the job, much to her surprise, and started immediately. David and the MacManuses had taken up residence on her living room floor, one on the couch, one in a chair, one on the floor. She'd offered half of her queen-sized bed to David; but he refused, sheepishly admitting it'd feel too weird to be sleeping with his baby sister. When she joked with him that she'd offer the extra bed space to Murphy then, he gave her a look that told her he wasn't amused. She dropped the topic. She had, however, been successful in convincing David that it probably wouldn't be a good idea for them to go to work with her every day. It would look too out of the ordinary. She had her own car, they had theirs. He couldn't argue, so he laid down the rule that work was the only place she was to go without them. She agreed.
She came back to her apartment after work one day and stopped in her tracks as she raised her key to the lock. There was a red stain on the painted door frame. It looked like blood. Her racing heart rose to her throat, and her hand was shaking almost too hard to get the key into the lock. She finally got the door open and first smelled a faint burning scent, like burnt meat. She started towards the living room, but stopped in the dining room instead. There sat Murphy, Connor, and David, all watching the small tv on the counter. None of them looked up at her as she entered. "What happened?" she asked, her legs threatening to collapse with relief that they were all alive. As she moved closer to them, she saw that the tabletop was covered with smudges of blood. "What...happened?" Her voice was quavering this time.
"Aw...Dani," David stood up; and she fell into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Dani, it's okay. We're okay," he whispered over and over.
She pulled back slightly, just enough to look up at him. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes betrayed that something was bothering him. She looked at the other two men at the table, only now noticing that Murphy's shirt had a hole torn out of the left arm. A bandage went around his bicep, blood soaking through it. "Oh my god...oh my god, what happened to you guys?" she asked, pulling away from David and going over to Murphy, lightly touching his arm. On this side of the table, she could see that Connor had his right leg propped up on a chair, a hole torn in the fabric of his jeans revealing a similar bandage around his thigh.
"It's okay, love," Murphy whispered, raising his right hand to her cheek and giving her a soft smile. His smile didn't carry to his eyes, however, like it normally did; it only confirmed to her that something was definitely wrong. Connor kept staring straight ahead at the tv.
"But what happened?" Dani's voice was getting higher pitched with worry.
"The less you know, the better, sweetheart," Connor said without looking at her. His face was like stone. "We're okay."
"Okay? O-fucking-kay?!"
"Oh, would you calm the fuck down, Daniela?" Connor yelled at her, finally turning in her direction, his eyes cold. "We did a job, we ran into a little trouble, we got out. That's all you need to know."
Dani looked from him to David, to Murphy. The latter two looked almost apologetic, but she knew she wasn't going to get any better of an explanation. She sighed, trying to convince herself that she should just be happy they were alive. Murphy put a cigarette into his mouth and scooted his chair away from the table a little. He gently pulled her down onto his knee, wrapping his injured arm around her waist. She leaned against him heavily, grateful for the support, both physical and emotional. Her head rested against his; and she closed her eyes, allowing herself to just breathe him in. She'd gotten more comfortable around him and grown almost used to his little bits of flirting and compliments, but this was the first time he'd actually shown any physical affection towards her. She didn't know if it was just because he could see how worried she was or if there was something more, but she didn't care at the moment.
"Christ," she heard David mutter under his breath, but she didn't look up. She knew her liking of one of his friends annoyed him, but he'd get over it. He always did. She heard the volume of the tv go up; local news was on.
"...I'm confident that their investigation will end in the apprehension of the suspects." Dani looked up. It seemed to be a law enforcement big-wig, talking about the recent murders in the area. Murders in which she knew her brother had been a player, in one way or another. David turned off the tv with the remote and turned to her and the MacManus brothers.
"Fuckin' hell..." she heard Connor mutter. Murphy glanced at him, then dropped his head to light his cigarette.
"What? What, that guy?" David said, gesturing at the blank tv screen.
"That's the guy that got us off the hook with the Chekov thing," Murphy said.
"He's one smart man," Connor added.
David shook his head. "They got nothin'..."
"This guy's very sharp," Connor said pointedly. "If he hasn't figured us out yet, he will."
Murphy chuckled, his fingers nervously tapping against Dani's thigh. "You bet your ass he will."
David leaned forward slightly. "Well, I'd say that makes him a lia-fuckin'-bility." Dani's eyes shifted over to her brother nervously. The three men had always been careful to not talk about their work in front of her. Something must have gone very wrong for them to do so now. Was it just because of the man who'd been on tv?
"He isn't to be touched," Connor said with a shake of his head.
"He's a good man," Murphy stated.
David sighed and rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Okay. Whatever." He raised a bottle of beer to his lips, obviously not convinced.
Dani's mouth fell open when she finally saw her brother's whole left hand was wrapped in bandages. "What happened to your hand?" she asked.
"What-- What happened to my hand?" David looked at her, his eyes wild. "What happened to my fuckin' hand? How 'bout you take a look at my fuckin' hand and see if you can figure it out for yourself? You're a smart girl! Here! Look! Look at my fuckin' hand!" He shoved it in her face, making her jerk away from his outburst. Murphy shoved his hand away but not before she noticed that David was missing his little finger. The blood left her face, and she felt suddenly ill. She jumped up and went to the sink to vomit. Hot tears streaked her face, but she didn't notice them until her stomach began to calm. She felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, baby girl," David said softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean--" She stepped away from him and wiped her mouth on a dishrag. He looked at her apologetically.
Dani stared back at her brother for a couple minutes before speaking softly and slowly. "Just...whatever happened out there, please...don't let it happen again. I can't lose you." She looked behind at the brothers sitting at the table. "Any of you." She glanced at Murphy but let her eyes rest on Connor to let him know she meant him too. She hadn't grown close to him; but she did feel a connection, perhaps because he was Murphy's twin.
Murphy and Connor glanced at each other. Murphy cleared his throat. "We can't promise that," he said softly.
"Why?" The word came as a whisper. Her voice had left her.
"Because we weren't expecting it to happen," Connor said. "There was no way we could have expected it."
David put his hand on her shoulder again. "It was no different than any other job. Was gonna be in and out. But someone else knew we were there and tried to kill us."
"A cop?" she asked, knowing otherwise as she looked at the linoleum floor.
"No."
"One of Poppa Joe's?"
"No."
Her brother's answer surprised her, and her head shot up. "Then who?"
"We don't know," Murphy said. "That's why we couldn't have planned for it."
David's arms wrapped around her neck from behind, and she reached up to grab his forearms. "We'll be as careful as we can, Dani," he said softly, "but we can't really plan for this shit. We gotta just deal as it comes." She nodded slowly, stepping out of her brother's embrace. Without a word, she left the dining area. "Hey...where you goin'?" David called.
"To lie down," she replied from the hallway. She went into her bedroom and lay on the bed face down, hoping her exhausted emotions would push her to sleep. She could hear voices down the hallway, and brought up her head to try to make out what they were saying.
"...MY sister."
"...know that, but..."
"...doesn't even KNOW you guys..."
"Roc, listen..."
"...Murph, if you..."
Murphy and David. They were arguing, and it sounded like it was about her. As much as she strained she couldn't make out their words anymore. She didn't know if she was just tired or if they'd moved further away. She wasn't sure she cared. She just wanted sleep. At least then, she could pretend she'd been transported to another world for a while, even if it was just blackness. She turned onto her side, but her eyes wouldn't close. Her mind was still swirling with the information that she'd just gotten. Her brother and the MacManuses were on the run, and someone was close to figuring them out if Connor and Murphy were right. She felt her throat begin to be choked with tears at the thought of her brother being locked away again. This wasn't like last time. This wasn't like some petty crime that'd let him be out in a matter of months. This was murder. Multiple murders. And without Poppa Joe on his side to negotiate a release, the chance of seeing him again would be slim.
There was a knock on the door frame since she'd left the door open. She swiped a hand over her eyes to get rid of the tears. "Yeah?"
David came in and sat on the side of her bed. "You okay?" he asked. She looked at him and felt her chin begin to quiver. She just shook her head and hid her face in her pillow, crying quietly. She could hear him sigh and felt him rubbing her back. He touched her hair lightly, then kissed her head before getting up and leaving.
His exit made her cry harder. She felt like it was her last chance to see him, and she'd turned away. She didn't notice a presence beside her until she felt a light touch to her hair. She turned and saw Murphy kneeling next to her bed, his expression worried. She reached up and took his hand in hers, holding tightly as she cried into her pillow again. The bed shifted slightly as he sat on the edge, then she felt him pulling his hand away from her. No, not away, trying to pull her up to him. She sat up, but leaned against him. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly as she cried, not trying to shush her or calm her.
Finally her sobs subsided a little. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist. "What...what am...I gonna do...if you...you guys get caught?" she stammered, sniffling.
Murphy smiled at her and kissed her temple. "You'll be fine. You're a strong girl. And besides, we won't be."
"But...you and Connor said..."
He shushed her gently. "Agent Smecker's sharp, but we're probably not going to be in town much longer."
She pulled back to look at him, surprise and horror in her eyes. His smile faded as he saw her reaction. "You...you're just...leaving?"
"We have to, love," he said, stroking her hot cheek with the back of his hand His skin felt cool to her, soothing. "It's getting too hot here."
She raised a hand to his, holding it against her skin. She turned her face and lightly kissed his hand. "Take me with you?" she asked, her voice small.
He seemed surprised by her question. "That's not my decision, love," he said, his expression turning sad. "Maybe if Rocco agrees, but I don't expect him to. Hell, I don't expect Connor to, either. It's too dangerous." Dani's eyes fell. She knew that, but she had to ask. "It's not like we'll never be back," Murphy said, moving his hand under her chin to make her look up at him. "We'll see you again."
The first hint of a smile touched her lips, making Murphy relax. "Promise?" she asked.
He nodded, leaning forward and touching his lips to hers for the briefest moment, surprising her and making her heart leap. "I promise," he whispered, looking straight into her eyes.
Dani smiled fully and gave a short nod. Murphy stood, still holding her hand; but she stayed on the bed. "I think I really am going to try to nap," she said, slipping her hand from his. He nodded and smiled at her, watching her as she lay down. He knelt next to the bed and brushed stray hair off her face, slowly stroking her cheek. As she stared into his eyes, Dani could feel her eyelids growing heavy. When her eyes closed, she felt Murphy's lips on hers again, a longer kiss this time, but just as soft as before. When he pulled away, she was smiling and on her way to sleep.