Nicholas: Hope you enjoy this chapter. It took me a while, but it's all done now.

Couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but it sounded like a chant. Some kind of recitation that snuck up through the cool, damp darkness of the San Bernardino back alley. Who was saying it? Malise couldn't see very well for a while. It was as if she'd just woken up after being knocked unconscious. Two black, tall figures, men by the tone of their voices. They were the same height and had similar accents. "Murphy?" she muttered on a whim.

One of the men turned around and when he moved out of the way, she saw another person sitting on his knees beneath the twins. "Oh, dear. Don't watch," Connor pleaded, hiding his pistol behind his leg even though she'd already seen it.

Malise couldn't see the face of whoever they wanted to kill—and somehow she knew that they wanted to kill him. She pushed herself up on her arms and stared wide-eyed at them, but didn't make any attempt to scream in the horror of the situation or tell them to stop. Carefully, she got to her feet and stepped back uncertainly. "I…what's going on?"

Murphy walked up to her and took her arm gently. "The will of god, Malise, so I'm gonna need ya ta look away. Ya don' need ta see this."

The pleading in his eyes was enough to make her acquiesce. It was the most vivid thing that she could see at the moment. The blueness of his irises and the crinkle in his brow. It was concern—the same concern that he'd shown when he stormed out of the motel at seeing her all beat up. Malise nodded sharply and turned around. Clacking footsteps moved away from her and the chant started up again. As Malise tried to distract herself from what she knew was going to happen. There wasn't much to see, the alleyway was dank and misty like early morning.

The sound of a gunshot made Malise start awake. It was just past three according to the digital clock on the night stand between the two beds. Through groggy eyes, she saw movement in the window silhouetted by the light of the hall lamps. It looked like…something from a romance movie. A shadow of the kiss in the moonlight.

The air was bitingly cold inside the diner. Murphy thought it looked more like a bar than anything else. He walked up and sat down in one of the burlap seats at the counter. "So this is the Mug," he muttered as he looked around at the racecar and football paraphernalia along with the many signs advertising different beers. "My kinda place." Usually he would've have smiles, but right now he felt like shit.

"So where'd ya hear from us from?" He looked up quizzically to see a very large, female bartender smiling warmly at him. "We don't see many strangers here."

"Ah…Me brother told me there's nice people here, so I thought I'd see fer meself. I don't see many nice people these days." And that was the sad truth.

"Are you the other twin, then?" The purely astounded and confused look made her laugh so hard that the only other customer in the place actually looked up to make sure everything was okay. "Malise came by about a week ago and introduced me to an Irishman who she said had a twin. Now what was his name?...I just remember that he had very good manners."

"That'd be Connor," Murphy said with a nod. "Yeah, he's me brother."

"You don't sound very happy about that." She raised an eyebrow. "Are you mad at him?"

The Irishman looked up at her awkwardly. He didn't like that question and he didn't want to answer. "Can I get a beer, please?" he changed the subject.

"As soon as you stop moping all over my counter."

After maybe ten minutes it was decided that since Murphy had no designated driver, Shelley wouldn't allow him to have more than three bottles of Heineken. He wasn't actually sure he wanted any at all, but being that he couldn't think of anything better to do, he took the first gratefully.

"So who's that guy sittin' in the booth by the window?" he asked at length.

Thinking that Murphy was making an attempt to keep his mind off of some fight he'd had with his brother or something, Shelley was willing to offer all of the information she could. "He's a regular. The folks 'round here call him Lou, but I'm not sure if that's his actual name. I don't talk to him other than taking his order."
"Lou?"

"Yeah, but that's beside the point, when are you going to make up with your brother?"

Murphy sighed and gave her a look that told her that she was definitely butting in on what she shouldn't have been. He didn't feel like making up just yet because he wanted to be mad for a little bit and damn her that she couldn't see that.

Connor was barely uncertain when he went to the front desk to see that cute little girl name Jenifer who ran the night shift. Girl was almost a perfect description, because she looked like she didn't belong out in the work place at all. Don't get me wrong. Given the right inclination, she could probably do some serious damage. Still, she was a nice girl (and she had a crush on Connor and he knew it).

"Hey there, Jen," he addressed her with a smile. "How's the night owl traffic?"

"Oh, I've just had some of the usual creeps come in and go out. Nothing serious…nothing I had to press the silent alarm for." She smiled and leaned forward on her elbows as he approached the counter. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if I could convince ya ta swindle something like an early breakfast outta ya. I kinda suddenly acquired another mouth ta feed." Jen gave him a weird look. "That sounds weird, but that's basically how it happened."

"Tell me it's not an infant."

"Ah, yeah…about a fifteen-year-old infant, sure. I wanted to get her some breakfast before she went to sleep. If not, I'll go out and get fast food er somethin'."

"Nah, don't worry about it, I'll get you something."

Once early breakfast had been squared away into Styrofoam boxes and bags and handed over the counter, Connor waved her good bye (good morning) with a charming smile. "I'll see ya later. And thank ya much. I will make it up ta ya, dear."

"Don't worry about it."

As he was walking down the hall, he used one hand to try and fish his key out of his pocket. It brought a smile to his face to remember the time that Malise had bought him lunch and 

he'd almost lost the food. This time he had a bag to keep the thing on his arm. It was a strange thing to think about when he was walking to his room. Then he looked up and saw someone coming toward him.

Out of impulse, he stopped and tensed, and almost automatically the other stopped and looked up. They stared at each other for a moment before Connor finally continued with careful, contemplating steps. Murphy stayed still right by the window watching his brother. "Hey there, Murph," Connor muttered, "Ya…ya okay?"

He nodded slowly and took a deep breath. The pause he took sounded considering and tired. "I'm sorry…" he said, "I shouldn't've pushed ya. An' I didn't mean ta yell in front o' Malise."

"S'okay, dear." The blond put an arm around his brother and pulled him into a half-hug—impeded only by the fact that Connor had a bag on his other arm. Immediately, Murphy hugged him back. "You were just angry, there's nothin' ta apologize about."

Both arms clasped tightly on Connor's waist and Murphy laid his head on his shoulder. "I'm such an ass sometimes."

"Aye, I know."

Murphy then, without any warning whatsoever, brought one hand up to lay at the back of his twin's neck and kissed his lips deeply. Connor swayed slightly being pulled forward, but stayed on his feet in his brother's embrace and he returned the kiss, parting his lips passively. His hand tensed and then relaxed in its grip on the plastic bag.

"Love ya, Conn," Murphy muttered against the other's mouth. "m'sorry."

"S'alright." The blond felt a hand sneak into his pocket and knew it wasn't his own. "Ya better be reachin' fer keys in there."

"That among other things."

The gunshot sounded and Malise stiffened abruptly. She understood immediately that this signified that whoever was on the ground was now dead. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, the girl opened her eyes without being aware that she'd closed them and saw something startling. A boy from her school named Matthew Rogers was walking towards her, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the two men and the body behind her. She turned around.

Matt clapped his hands together and Connor and Murphy raised their eyebrows simultaneously. Suddenly a crowd of people came out of nowhere and began to give applause for the Saints of San Bernardino. Without knowing why, Malise started to laugh. The body had disappeared and nothing seemed serious about it anymore. The look on the twins' faces was absolutely hilarious.