NOTE: Ah, finally. A little bit of Ringo/Connor lovin'. Not too much, because we all know Connor can keep himself in check much better than his brother can. Also, more Murphy/Ringo cuteness, because they complement each other so well. Meant to be, those two. Review please! It makes me pound out chapters quicker. Promise!
The three would be political assassins sat at the small kitchen table, the manila folder from Smecker sitting between then, taunting.
"This is some heavy shit." Ringo muttered, shuffling some papers around, trying to make sense of it all.
"You sound like Rome." Murphy mumbled back. He was visibly uncertain. The contents of the folder did not help his confidence level. Connor, being the only one who had read everything in the folder on the plane, glanced between his brother and the blond girl,
"It's really not that bad-" he began. He stopped after seeing the looks Murphy and Ringo were giving him. "Perhaps it is."
"This is going to be a fucking disaster." Ringo moaned. Murphy was getting twitchy next to her, confirming the fact that the three had been sitting at the table far too long. He chewed on his thumb nail nervously, his eyes shifting between Connor and Ringo. "We've been sitting here for almost two hours and we aren't any closer to figuring out what we're going to do."
"Aye, Ringo's right Connor. You don't even have a 'genius plan.'"
"I've got a few ideas!" Connor protested. When Ringo and Murphy both rolled their eyes, he gave up.
"We already decided that we're not pulling any movie shit, Conn." Murphy huffed.
"It's too risky to attempt anything at his office…too many people around." Ringo started.
"Fuck, I'm not going into another house fucking blind." Connor began.
"Where the fuck else are we supposed to find him?" Murphy argued.
"Fucking DISASTER."
"Ringo."
"This isn't my shit, guys. I don't do this. This is waaaay above my head-"
"Ringo."
"Right. Sorry." Ringo stood from the table and began to pace around the living room. Murphy's eyes followed her every step while he devoured the rest of his finger nails. Connor mumbled something about needing more information, which they obviously didn't have. Ringo knew that Smecker couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't expect them to pull this off without properly preparing them. If he expected the boys to kill Jarvis Whittaker and get out alive, something had to give.
Day turned to night as the three still had nothing to work with. It was getting late when a knock at the door startled Connor, Ringo and Murphy out of their daze.
"Who the fuck-"
"Shh, Ringo. Quiet!" Connor commanded. He stood and pulled a gun from his holster. Ringo and Murphy stood and Ringo made to go towards the door, but Connor put an arm out to stop her. He didn't even look at her as she was pushed behind him. He glanced at Murphy who nodded and pulled out his own gun. He too pushed Ringo behind him and she realized the reason she was being pushed around was because her gun was in her bedroom. The girl suddenly felt afraid. There was no telling who was behind that door and Ringo hadn't quite prepared herself for a gunfight just yet.
Connor threw open the door and Ringo exhaled the breath she was holding as she realized who their unannounced guest was.
"Boys! Guns down please." Smecker asked, pushing past Connor and into the cottage. The twins replaced the guns to their holsters and looked at Smecker expectantly. "You three didn't think I'd send you in there with just your good intentions did you?"
"Aye, we'd hoped not." Murphy offered.
"I brought you some more information. Eunice should have given it to you, but she forgot it."
"She's slipping, Smeck. Maybe it's time to put your faithful lap dog down." Ringo muttered from across the room. Murphy turned to look at her, but Connor ignored her statement, taking the roll of paper from Smecker.
"Now, now, Ringo. Don't start. You're both pretty." At this Ringo rolled her eyes and huffed, stealing the cigarette that Murphy always kept behind his ear. Murphy tried to smack her hand away, but she was too quick. She captured it with a triumphant grin and put it to her lips.
"Need this?" Murphy asked, shaking his lighter in front of her. Ringo patted her pockets, realizing she in fact, did need his lighter. He held it high above her head and made her jump for it, but her attempts were futile. Murphy stuck his tongue out at her and kept the lighter just out of her reach. Ringo glared and looked around the room to locate her own device.
"Here, Ringo." Connor called softly, taking his attention away from Smecker for a moment to toss her his lighter. She smiled at him, but he simply turned back to Smecker. Murphy glared at his brother for ruining his fun.
"Ringo, if you and Murphy would like pay attention, " Smecker chastised, "you'll notice that Connor is holding blue prints to Jarvis Whittaker's home in downtown London. I don't think I need to explain why said documents are important."
"Where the fuck was this five hours ago when I was pounding my head the goddamn wall?" Ringo demanded. Smecker dismissed her with a roll of his eyes.
"I've scouted this out, boys. All you need to worry about is the security system, but because I'm so wonderful, I've even provided you with that. Good news Ringo, all you have to do is drive."
"Paul, exactly how did you get all of this?" Ringo questioned with a smirk.
"Whittaker's home is historic, so the blue prints are public domain." He replied, glancing at her.
"And the security codes?" she pressed. Murphy and Connor looked thoughtful for a moment, before tilting their heads awaiting Smecker's reply.
"That's not important."
"Paul, you tart! You slept with the enemy!" Ringo shouted, laughing.
"I did no such thing, Miss Carson. That I can assure you. Whittaker is married." Smecker thought this would suffice, but Ringo wasn't letting it die that easily.
"Fuck! You seduced his wife! How was that for you, Paul? I'm sure it's been a while since you've had to deal with-"
"Ringo, shut the fuck up." Connor didn't want to hear the rest. Smecker rolled his eyes and made to leave the cottage, nodding to both brothers.
"Why the hell do you always do this, Smecker! Show up for five minutes and then disappear for a week?" Ringo growled at him. She didn't appreciate his coming and going, especially when he left her to deal with such a volatile situation.
"You'll get over it, Ringo. Here, this is the address I want you to bring the boys to after the job is done."
"We're not coming back here?" Murphy asked.
"Too risky. Plus, this is just the beginning. No time to waste. Lots of killing to do."
"Do you make sense? Ever?" Ringo shouted to Smecker's retreating form.
Ringo sat cross-legged on the couch, a bottle of whiskey between her small hands. The girl took a drink and cringed as the liquid burned the whole way down her throat. The boys were somewhere, doing something. She really didn't give a fuck. By this time it had become clear to the girl that worrying about the MacManus brothers was about as useless as trying to pick your favorite of the two. Her gun laid next to her on the couch, 'just in case' as Connor had put it. Ringo sighed and took another swig of the whiskey, finding that the more she drank, the less it burned. The front door burst open and the boys trampled in, laughing. They stopped when they saw the barrel of Ringo's gun pointed at them.
"Ever heard of knocking, dickheads?" she roared, lowering her gun. Murphy smirked at her and walked over to grab the gun out of her hands. He checked the chamber and rolled his eyes, tossing it to his brother.
"Not even loaded. What the fuck were you gonna do, Ringy?" Murphy asked, ripping the bottle of whisky from her hands, ignoring her whine of protest.
"Throw it at your fucking face." She muttered, grabbing for the bottle. Murphy held it out of her grasp and handed it to Connor. Ringo knew she wasn't going to get the whiskey back, so she got up and walked towards her room, pulling her jacket off as she went. "I'm going to bed."
Murphy mumbled a goodnight in her general direction and lit a cigarette. Connor watched her retreating figure disappear into the dark room. He looked at his brother who nodded to him and smirked before offering a 'go for it, my dear brother.' Connor tossed the whiskey back to his brother and followed after Ringo. Once inside the room, he closed the door and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Ringo was under the blanket, facing the wall. She opened her eyes at the sound of the door closing, but couldn't bring herself to turn over just yet. Ringo was exhausted. It didn't help that Murphy had kept her up the night before, but the gravity of the situation she was about to place herself in had hit her while the twins were out. Sure, worrying about it didn't help, because there was no convincing them not to do it. Ringo felt the bed sink under the weight of the man, and instantly she knew it was Connor.
"Help you, Connor?"
"How'd you know it was me?" he laughed.
"Magic." She offered sadly. Connor noticed the lack of emotion in her voice and sighed. He ran a hand over his face and struggled for the words to say.
"Murph and I talked it over. We've got a pretty good plan."
"You gonna enlighten me, Conn?"
"You really want to know?"
"No."
"Didn't think so. Look, I promise we'll be o-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know. You'll be fucking fine. I've resigned myself to the fact that worrying about you two is a waste of time."
"Then why're you so sad?" his voice was softer than it had ever been while speaking to her.
"Because it doesn't change the fact that I can't help but to worry."
"Ringo."
"You know, you and your brother both do that! You say my name as if I'm supposed to be able to fucking understand your goddamn mind by just hearing my name. Well I can't, Connor. I don't have the fucking twin telepathy. You're going to have to spell it out for me!" It came out a little bit harsher than Ringo had intended, but once again, the girl didn't give a fuck.
"Look at me, Ringo."
"No."
"Stop being a child for five fuckin' minutes and look at me!"
Ringo rolled over and even in the darkness she could see Connor's face. He was glaring at her, but not like he usually did. He was worried about her. She could tell he didn't trust that she was able to keep it together. He lifted a hand and rested it on the side of her face, sighing deeply.
"I'm looking at you Connor, now speak or get the fuck out so I can sleep."
"Enough talk." Connor mumbled, pushing her a bit so that he could lie down next to her. He had removed his pea coat and threw it on her floor when he came in and Ringo knew he'd get cold soon enough. She held the blanket up so that he could get underneath it.
"Connor-"
"I said, enough. Now get some rest. Tomorrow is a big fucking day."
"Whatev-" she tried. Connor was obviously tired of asking her to be quiet, so he placed his hand over her mouth. When she finally stopped mumbling, he kissed the back of his hand and removed it. "Pussy."
"What was that, Ringo?"
"You heard me."
"Right."
"Guess Murph didn't say it was okay." Ringo thought. Or at least, she thought she had only thought it. Connor's hand on the back of her neck proved to her that she had actually said it out loud.
"Ringo…"
"Fuck this shit." Ringo whispered. Then the girl pulled Connor's face to hers and kissed him gently; apprehensive and ready to recoil at the slightest hesitation from the Irishman. Connor stiffened for a moment and Ringo made to pull away from him and crawl into a hole and die. Before she could, Connor relaxed into her, his hand tightening its grip on her neck. He tasted altogether different than Murphy, but the same cigarette and whiskey taste remained. Connor pulled away from Ringo and kissed her forehead gently, smiling against her skin. He then pulled her closer to him and whispered into her ear.
"Sleep now."
