Chapter VIII | Revenge Brought Us Here

"Kier—"

Brendan stumbled as he pulled himself up from the ground, Ste following after him quickly.

"Kieran!"

He shouted against as he moved towards the burning building, barely managing to stumble over his feet. A mix of grief and shock flowing through his veins.

Arms wrapped around the Irishman's waist and yanked him back away from the blaze. "Bren no— he's gone…" He whispered as he weakly pulled the larger man back a few feet.

But it didn't stop Brendan and he tried to go forward again, trying weakly to pull out of Steven's arms.

"No—Let me go—Let me try to get him—Steven he could still be alive, please—!"

He took a few steps forward again before they both crumbled to the ground.

"He shouldn't be dead Steven, Kier was a good person he didn't deserve to die like t'at!" He shouted and attempted to push the younger man away, but Ste didn't let go.

He needed to hold onto Brendan as much as Brendan needed to be held right now. "I know he didn't Bren… I know. But listen to me." He replied as he moved to take the brunet's hand in his face.

"He did this for us, you understand? So we all didn't die. We need to get out of here Brendan, run away, so he just— He'll never stop. We know he'll never stop. Why stay here?"

Brendan stared at the ground for a while before he felt hands on his face. He lifted his blue eyes to look up at him.

"Please Brendan. Let's just run." Steven's face was soft as he watched Brendan's face harden.

The sociopath that he had feared for so many years was slowly awakening again.

The look alone was enough to make the younger man release the Irishman all together.

He watched as Brendan stood, his left hand moving from his forehead to the middle of his chest, then to the right and left of it before lifting his cross and pressing a kiss to it. It was his way of honoring Kieran. Thanking him for what he had done.

But Ste could already tell it wasn't going to end there.

"T'is will never be over until one of us is dead. Really dead. Dead for good. I'm not letting him go again. I'm not running away." He looked down at Steven as the young man slowly pulled himself upwards.

"I've been running my whole life. Hiding my whole life. No more hiding, Steven. T'is ends now. For good." Brendan took a step back and turned away starting to walk away from Steven.

"Brendan! Wait—!" He ran after him and grabbed his wrist to stop him from walking so they could speak.

"What are you going to do? Last time you kicked him in front of a fucking train and it didn't kill him!"

"I'm gonna be t'e old me Steven." He replied as he pulled his arm away from him. "One way or anot'er, he's dead this time. I will make sure he stays dead even if it fucking kills me."

He started to walk away from him again, leaving Ste standing there, the blaze still burning madly behind.

"I'm endin' t'is now!"

Ste swallowed hard as he watched Brendan walk away. He was determined to kill Walker.

Even if it fucking kills me.

"I'm not letting you die on me again." He mumbled to himself, turning for one last look at the burning warehouse. "I won't let him kill himself Kieran. Promise."

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Brendan limped back up to the flat, growling as he ripped off his cast and tossed it away. He had all but set them back into place on his own; he didn't need the stupid cast.

The Irishman looked around the flat for his phone, "I know I left it here, but where—" He mumbled to himself until he finally caught sight of it. Walker still had Steven's phone, so that was the number he would call.

Pressing the send button Brendan pressed the phone to his ear and waited for an answer to come.

Which he knew it would.

It had to, because they weren't done playing this little game of his.

The line clicked when Walker finally answered. There was a silence for what seemed like hours but was in reality just a few moments.

"So you aren't dead. That's disappointing. Which one died? Which one did you choose? The little Irish nurse or your sweet little addiction?"

"I'm gonna kill you. Really kill you t'is time."

"Oooh, taking it personally. Sweet addiction it was. But then again it's always him isn't it? It will always be him. "Until the day I'm in my grave, you'll be in my head." You're so sentimental sometimes Brendan, it's a little sickening. Still— that boy was only twenty-four years old Brendan, not much older than your Steven, and you let him die. What's a little more blood on a murderer's hands?"

Brendan felt his jaw clench and the familiar pain from the night before came flooding back. "I'm gonna kill ya."

"Like I haven't heard that before. You're like a bloody broken record. Alright. You wanna kill me, fine. Come and get me Brendan. I'm in the club. Familiarity is nice isn't it? That's where you're life ended last time, blood stains are still on the balcony. So what are you waiting for? Come and get me Bren—"

He was overly satisfied with hanging up on the mad man. Brendan looked around the flat for some kind of weapon. He didn't think there was a gun here so he would have to go with something else for now. Sliding his hand under the couch, he grabbed the metal bat, gripping it firmly in his hands.

He was going to end that psycho once and for all.

Walking out of the flat, Brendan moved down the stairs with the bat in his hand. Stopping outside the front of the club and staring up at it, he died here once before but it wasn't as nerve wracking as he thought it was going to be as he looked it over.

It was almost comforting.

They had had so many good times here; this was where he had met Steve, where they drank and fought and fucked. All the good times with Cheryl and Anne. Where he had finally stood up to his father and then watched him die. Where he had done the most selfless thing of his life when he stood out on that balcony and took that bullet for his sister.

Even though it meant giving up his happy ending.

Villains don't get happy endings.

He would always be the villain because no matter how hard he tried to escape the ghosts of his past, they always came back. Always. He'd never be free until he was dead.

Exhaling, Brendan finally reached up and grabbed the door, pulling it open. He slipped into the club, looking around instinctively, not only for Walker but to see what had changed while he was away. But it looked as if no one had really owned the place after him. There was a small sense of relief knowing that. This place had been his, he made it his. He never wanted to see someone else own it.

"Well, well, there he is. Finally."

Brendan's eyes moved forward, the grip on the bat tightening so much that his hand hurt. A small smirk crossed his face as he looked over Walker. His hair much longer than before, face covered in hair much like his own. He looked like a homeless war veteran.

"You look like shit."

Walker tilted his head at Brendan's works before starting to laugh. The sound was unnatural, manic. "Oh, I could say the same about you! Look at that hair, Jesus, I thought you were hairy before."

He didn't know why but the words brought a smile to his face. "At least I don't look homeless."

"Haven't looked in a mirror just yet have you?" He sighed and pulled himself away from the counter, staring at Brendan's face as he limped closer to him. "Oh Brendan. Are you ready to finish this?"

The Irishman lifted his metal bat and placed it on his shoulder, looking over Walker before nodding his head. He didn't bother answering him and grabbed the bat with both hands and swung it hard. But he hit nothing but air.

Even with the prosthetic leg he was quick. Walker was lanky so it was easy for him to move fast enough to get out of the way of Brendan's swings. But that didn't stop him from trying.

Intense blue eyes watched as Walker moved, this time he jabbed the bat forward. He hit flesh and Simon double over with a groan, gripping at the bat with one hand as his elbow came up and slammed into the Irishman's chin, gaining a gasp.

Brendan stumbled back a little and yanked the bat, trying to get it back. Walker let go and Brendan tumbled to the floor, head smacking hard against it. He was dazed for a moment, vision swimming in and out at he stared at the ceiling.

Walking over, he grabbed the bat and looked over at Brendan with a manic grin. "I'm going to so enjoy bashing you're fucking head in."

The Irishman's lip curled as he growled at him, reaching his hand out and grabbing the prosthetic leg, pulling it out from under him. Simon hit the ground with a yelp and Brendan hurried himself to straddle the man, wrapping his hands around his throat.

Brendan's shoulders curled as he slouched over, putting more pressure to Walker's neck. "You killed Kieran. He didn't deserve to die, he was young, he had so much more he could have done with his life, but you always have to come back and destroy everyt'ing! Why won't you just stay dead ?!"

A sharp blow to his head, made Brendan's vision go black. When he opened his eyes he was laying on the floor, looking up at Walker who was gripping the bloodied bat.

"Because you didn't stay dead Brendan. If you would have manned up and just killed yourself instead of bringing person after person into your life, they would stop dying." He raised the bat and brought it down hard on the Irishman's ribs. Bren could feel them shatter and the pain alone was enough to make him scream.

Ste ran as fast as he could, almost tripping over his shoes as he slammed into the side of Brendan's car. He yanked on the door handle but it was locked. "Argh! Fucking open!" He screamed, kicking and slamming himself into the door, but it didn't budge.

Pulling himself away, he took a moment to breath and looked around for something he could break the window with. Finally he found a good sized rock. Picking it up, he slammed it in to the passenger window. Once, twice and until it finally shattered.

"Yes!" Steven tossed the rock away and reached in, hitting the button for the locks on the door. Yanking it open he moved inside, ignoring the glass that was digging into his palms and knees as he reached under the seat as far as he could, wrapping the gun.

Sitting up he checked the clip for bullets before slamming it back in. Now he just had to find them.

Making sure the safety was on; Ste put the gun in the waist of his pants and covered it with his shirt. He turned quickly and ran back towards the flat, hoping Brendan would still be there. That he would have enough time to stop him.

"Brendan!"

He looked around the flat. It was dark; the only light shining was from Brendan's phone that was lying face up on the table. Ste walked over, staring at the screen saver for a moment. Ste, Kieran and Brendan with all smiling faces stared back at him. He sighed a little and clicked the screen so he could read the message that was flashing on the screen.

[To : Brendan

The club. ]

Steven stared at it for a moment. "What?" He mumbled until the sound of shouting from across the street made his head turn. It was a message from Walker, telling him where Brendan was.

The air in his chest hitched before he bolted out the door and down the stairs. He had to get in there, but there was so way he would be able to take Walker head on and Brendan could very well get in the way.

Hearing more shouts from the first floor of the club, Steven ran to the balcony stairs and climbed them as quick as he could. Stepping onto the landing, the young man walked over to the door, trying to ignore the blood stain on the concrete.

Very gently he pulled the handle of the door and stepped in; making sure it shut quiet behind him. He didn't want to bring any attention to himself. Ste could hear Brendan screaming and it was making his chest hurt, his heart was racing so fast.

Walking onto the stairs, Ste peeked around the corner to try and see where they were. Both men were over by the front door, Walker's back to where Ste would have been when he climbed off the stairs.

The bat came down again on Brendan's side and he could see blood coming from his mouth. He was going to die if he didn't do something now. The younger man ran down the stairs the rest of the way and grabbed the gun from his waist band and held it up with both hands, flicking off the safety.

"Drop the bat and step away, now!"

Walker stopped mid-swing and turned to see who was in there. "Oooh. Look at you Steven. Being all manly, that's a new role for you isn't it?"

Ste growled and pulled back the hammers. "Shut up and drop the bat. I will shoot you."

"No you won't. You're more of a coward than he is! Trying to kill yourself after he went away? You should have taken the chance and moved on. How many times have you told this man he's poison? He's cancerous? He ruins everything he touches! His children, his sister, you, even poor little Kieran—" Simon smirked over at him as Ste's hand faltered a little.

"He'd still be alive if it wasn't for Brendan, so what do you say? Let me bash his head in and we'll be done. You can move on, I can move on," He turned and looked down at Brendan with a glare, voice going sharp, "And you can finally fucking die."

Brendan looked over at Walker and then his eyes flicked to Steven, he swallowed hard as he watched him. But the next move surprised him.

"I don't want him dead Walker, I want you dead. You're the reason we all keep suffering. You, because you won't say dead." The gun lifted again and Ste pointed it at Simon's head. "I'll make sure you're dead this time, even if it means I kill you myself."

They stared at each other for a long moment before Walker growled and raised the bat over Brendan with a yell, the Irishman flinched and Ste cried out. Then there was the sound of the gun going off.

It echoed around the room, making everyone deaf for a moment.

Brendan could only see a little of what was going on, but part of Walker's head was missing now. The bat clattered to the floor as Brendan slid himself away from the man as he thudded to the ground.

Steven was breathing hard as he walked over and looked at him, firing another bullet into his head. The action was cold, but Brendan could see that Ste was shaking hard.

"W-Wipe the gun off—" He whispered and Steven did as he was told, wiping the gun off on his shirt and dropping it to the ground. He took a step back and walked over to Brendan, leaning down to look him over.

"Can we please run away now?"

Bren looked him over and nodded a little. "Yes."