DO NOT OWN. Thank you for reviews! Makes me happy and encourages me to write more! Sorry I abandoned this story for so long. I know you guys like it and I hope you liked chapter 8!

*In chapter 8 there was one of these - * There are more in this chapter, ***FIND OUT WHY!***

(In chapter 10, sorry!) R&R for revealed secrets…..

CHAPTER 9: Meegan, LOCATION: Meegan's Room

NARRATOR

Meegan hung up the phone hastily and started putting on her shoes, nice ones. Connor, feeling her haste, tried to remember where he put his boots last night. She noticed.

"Over there," she pointed next to the armoire with a piece of her raven hair falling in her face. She was kind of fluffy and out of place. In a strange way it reminded him of Rocco. It had endeared Rocco to everyone probably the same way it endeared Meegan to her friends. She tripped over the area rug under the bed and her heel got caught in clothes on the floor. As she reached down to unhook herself Connor looked at her butt in those skin tight jeans she had been wearing yesterday.

"We gotta go," she said snapping him out of his trance.

"Alright," he agreed, grabbing his coat from the bedpost he put it on last night. Feeling the cigarettes in his pocket he realized how damn hungry he was and how much he wanted a smoke. It was amazing how Meegan could distract him.

Once they got outside Connor thought they would be walking all the way into the city until Meegan pulled keys from her jacket pocket.

"What kind of car?"

"No car, but it's a Honda."

"A motorcycle? It's fucking cold for that shit if ya ask me."

"It's our only option right now." She tossed him a helmet. "If you can't handle it," she said straddling the bike, "Call a taxi." He smiled at her and shook his head. She was a handful. How did her dad handle a daughter like her?

He climbed on the bike behind her. She started the bike and soon they were flying through Boston. The dark visor on the helmet made Connor relax for the first time in years in the city. Meegan took off pretty quick from one of the red lights and he reflexively grabbed onto her solid waist. And he remembered something from years back.

Meegan had gotten him thinking by saying that they knew each other from before. He remembered a little girl with bright blue eyes just staring at the ocean. That couldn't have been Meegan… No way was that little girl this woman. That would make her seven when he was seventeen. Kind of pervy…

As they zipped through Boston Connor was back in Ireland when it was dangerous just to be alive.

The sun was gold and the sky was blue as the ocean. The green hills rolled like bubbles in their mother's rabbit stew as Murphy and Connor were hanging laundry out in the sweet breeze coming up from the sea. Murphy rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck. Doing chores was actually a nice change from reading all of his language books. In their room Connor and Murphy could hear kids laughing from the field over the hill behind their house. The breeze carried voices so menacingly. It was driving the twins crazy that other people were enjoying themselves on a Sunday afternoon when they weren't allowed.

After hanging all the laundry they went inside the small house, eyes slowly adjusting to the light. Their mother kissed their cheeks and sent them back to their rooms to practice the last language they were learning, Russian. She had insisted that it would be important someday.

They ate dinner at the dining table as the sun fell below the plateau of the island.

"You boys done with your studies?" Asked the boys' mother.

"Yes, ma."

"That's why we're dead on our feet."

"After dishes you can go out-"

"Alright!"

"Thank you Jesus!" They said at the same time.

"I was not finished." Both the boys' faces fell. There was going to be some time limit, some errand they were going to have to do for her. "You have to stop over the hill at Annie's house and give her that dessert. She has her brother and his children over from America."

The boys gave each other a look like they were getting away with murder. A quick stop at Ada Annie's would be fine. Then they could pick up the rest of the boys at the church and go to the bar. It was supposed to a nice night, so even if they got kicked out of the bar (they usually did) the party didn't have to end.

As Connor did dishes Murphy made calls to all their friends. It only took a few minutes to get everything together. Going to Ada Annie's was the last thing to do. The boys walked over the hill and field that the kids had played on all day. The green grass was tall and the ground was damp from rain earlier in the week. They spoke to each other in Russian as they took their usual path to Annie's. They jumped down onto the road from the retaining wall of the field. Ada Annie's was right there across the narrow dirt road. The house glowed politely in the near dark, surrounded by trees.

"Boys!" Annie exclaimed as she hugged them in the doorway. "You boys remember my brother, Tom."

"Yeah," said Connor remembering vaguely now that he could see Tom's face as he sat at the kitchen table. "How ya doing Tom?"

"Doing fine. You boys are big now. Yer ma keeping ya in line?" He said sternly.

"Yes, sir." They said in unison. Tom and Annie laughed.

"Alright, what'd yer ma make fer us?" Annie asked, letting them move past the door.

"Looks like a pie. Feels like a pie." Murphy said as Annie opened it. "It's a pie!" He exclaimed. Annie shook her head and laughed.

"Girls! Time for dessert!" Tom called. In seconds there were three girls zipping around the living room yelling and laughing. "Bridget, come here. Meet Connor and Murphy."

The biggest girls jumped onto her father's lap. Her huge blue eyes looked up shyly through matted red hair. The littlest one with dark hair ran up and pushed Bridget off her dad's lap before she could say anything.

"I'm Meegan," she yelled waving her tiny hands at them. Bridget had crawled under the table and the third little one was only interested in pie.

"Hi, Meegan. I'm Connor. I hear you're from the states." She made a face and nodded.

"Do you wanna play French revolution with us?" She asked wide-eyed.

"Uh," said Murphy making a confused face. Who played French revolution as a child? "We have to be going. We have friends we already made a play date with."

"Just one game!" Squeaked Bridget, poking her head from under the table. Murphy's face softened. He used to be a lot like her.

"Alright, just one game." Connor agreed, grabbing Meegan from her *dad*. They walked outside into the crisp night with Meegan and Bridget leading the way, but they didn't run to the field. They ran up the road toward town. Maybe they could stop by the church to tell the guys they would be late.

The girls were about to run past the church when Connor caught up with them and picked one up in each arm. "Did you two traitors think you would escape? The aristocracy has you now!" He growled at them as he walked back to the church were Murphy, John, Danny and Phin were waiting.

"Connor! What are ye doing!" Laughed Danny.

"Capturing rebel scum!" The girls laughed.

"Look," Murphy said lowly, "the faster we play this game the longer we get to drink. Help us out will ya?" The boys agreed.

"Wait, are we playing?" Asked John as they followed the girls across the road to an abandoned property with a low fence made of bricks.

"French revolution." Murphy smiled.

"Smart kids," said John.

"Okay, we're here," said Meegan climbing the wall, taking on the personality of a military commander. "I will pick the rev'lutioners and Bridget picks aris'tokacy. I pick Connor." Connor walked to the wall. "You're the best." She whispered to him. On the wall she just reached his ear.

Bridget pointed to Danny after she climbed up on the wall too. He was the biggest. "Really, ya didn' pick me? I'm hurt," said Murphy crossing his arms. Bridget laughed. She had a mean streak, Murphy could tell. Meegan was whispering to Connor again.

"I pick Phinneas." The fair haired, rail-thin boy walked to Meegan's side.

"Really?" Murphy yelled.

"Kids don't like you," said Connor as a matter of fact.

Bridget pointed to John. Murphy couldn't believe it.

"Murphy, you get the best job. You are exe'cu… ex'cue…"

"Executioner," said Bridget darkly.

"Alright! … What does that mean?"

"You stand by the guillotine and when me or Meegan bring you a prisoner; you kill him." Bridget explained that one of the posts for the laundry line was the guillotine and those who were to die, laid down under it, had their head 'chopped off' and 'died'. Good acting during a death won points. Whoever had one live member at the end won.

"Usually Meegan wins; she runs relentless campaigns." Bridget explained to her team as they ran into the woods. The rebels counted to give the aristocrats time to hide. It was easy to play after that; it was complicated hide-and-go-seek.

Phinnaes was caught first, but he had a spectacular death that had Bridget laughing so Murphy gave the rebels extra points. John tried to bring in Connor. Then Meegan reminded him only team captain could bring in prisoners. So she and Connor brought him in instead.

Meegan ran ahead yelling to Murphy. "Cit'zen Murphy, ready the gilly'tine for this foppish dog."

"Okay, that's really insulting," said John as Connor and Meegan made sure he was killed. John was too peeved to have a good death; no extra points. He sat on the wall next to Phinneas. Danny and Bridget were still out there somewhere and to win Connor and Meegan had to go into the woods to try and find them without getting caught themselves.

Meegan was in the woods for a minute before Bridget came out and captured her.

"No!" She yelled as Bridget held Meegan's hands behind her back, like she was being arrested. There was no sign of Connor at the guillotine but Danny was there waiting for his small teammate.

Bridget laid Meegan under the guillotine. "Do I have to kill her?" He asked Bridget.

"Yes, citizen. You must kill the rebel leader," said Bridget too serious for a ten-year-old. Then Connor came up over the wall.

"No! You canne' kill her!" Meegan sat up like a shot. Everyone watched as Connor walked down to the guillotine to save his leader.

"Connor, you can't save her," said John. Murphy couldn't believe how serious everyone was. This was a game, a really cool, badass game, but a game nonetheless.

"I can take her place. It happened in the real revolution. It can happen in the game. Right, Bridget?" Bridget nodded. Connor helped Meegan up and laid down where she had been.

"Murphy, wait," she said, kneeling beside him. "Connor, your sac'ifice will always be remembered." He nodded. Meegan got up and stood as a free member of her own team.

"It's a far better thing I do than I have ever done!" Yelled Connor in his Irish brogue before Murphy pulled the imaginary lever.

"I will avenge you Connor!" Meegan screamed to the sky.

Then it happened. A huge explosion went off behind them. Bridget screamed. Meegan froze. The boys scrambled.

"Meegan! Bridget! Come on!" Bridget ran to Murphy as debris started to fall. What the fuck had blown up? Murphy took her to the other side of the little abandoned house. Murphy used his body to cover her as she struggled to run away. "No, Bridget! Stay with me. You can't move, alright?" She started drying, but stopped trying to run away.

"My ears hurt," she sobbed.

"Me too," he said, fearing more explosions were coming. John, Danny and Phin were gone. Connor and Meegan were nowhere to be seen. "Just pray for everyone." She closed her eyes and started praying. Murphy did too.

Connor had Meegan tucked into the corner of the wall, covering her protectively. He looked up over the wall and tried to see what had exploded. It was the church. Of course it was. He sat back down on the ground, holding Meegan to his side. She hadn't said anything and she didn't appear scared at all. That was creepy.

"You alright?" He asked, startling himself with his own question. She might be quiet because she was hurt. He couldn't see that she was hurt anywhere.

"Are people dead?" Was all she wanted to know.

"In all likelihood, yes, people are dead." He didn't want to lie to her. She grabbed him around the middle and buried her face in his shirt. She didn't cry, but she held on so tight. "We should pray." She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut tight and sent prayers up to the sky.

"We're here, Connor." Meegan said in the parking garage of Bridget's building, bringing him back from that night.