The Boondock Saints: Angel of Death, Angel of Love
By: Raven in Red
"And so the Angel came down, and swiftly bestowed the blow of Death upon him. And from that moment on, she was the Angel of Death." After her parents' murder and a fateful St. Patty's Day introduction to the MacManus brothers, Grace Reilly receives a calling from God to be the Saints' guardian angel, and she takes her job quite seriously.
Chapter 14: The Final Showdown
My fingers did not shake as I pulled the trigger, spraying both bullets and blood all over the dingy walls. Ten more men being sent to their Judgment by the Angel of Death.
As I bent down to check the bodies, I noticed that there was an eleventh. It was a woman. Wait, that wasn't right. There were only the ten men. Believe me, I'd counted and re-counted when I burst through that door. Sure enough, this mystery woman was lying on the floor in front of me, her blood spilling onto the concrete.
"Grace Reilly, do you know what you've just done?"
The voice came from nowhere, and it was the exact same voice that had sent me my Calling.
"What have I done?" I asked, craning my head to the heavens.
"You've taken an innocent life," the voice said.
"What?" I protested. "No! I wouldn't do that!"
"Look at her," the voice said. "That woman was an innocent. She had a husband and two beautiful little twin girls."
"No, that's not possible!" I insisted, trying to push away the biting frustration in my heart. "It's just not possible!"
"You took an innocent life… and you will be punished."
I bolted upright, instantly awake. My eyes were flooded with distressed tears for what seemed like the millionth time. Every night since the incident with Pappa Joe, I had been having the most dreadful nightmares. Every time, I took an innocent life without intending to. Every time, I was jolted awake with my breathing heavy and a cold sweat covering me from head to toe. I had taken to sharing Connor's bed – with nothing more intimate than him holding me in his arms – purely for comfort, but it was doing nothing to quiet my growing fear.
Was I someday going to take an innocent life?
Would I someday be responsible for leaving a young child without their mommy or daddy?
"What's the matter, love?" Connor's groggy voice met my ears. "Was it another nightmare?" I could only nod in response. Despite it being maybe the thirtieth time this had happened, he was concerned nonetheless.
"What am I supposed to do?" I wondered, leaning forward and pulling my knees to my chest. "I can't go on like this forever."
"I'll always be here to comfort ya," Connor said, pressing a delicate kiss to the side of my forehead, "but you're really startin' to wear down."
"I know," I said, leaning a little further into him. "I'm different from what I was a couple months ago."
"Very," Connor continued. "You're obviously not sleepin' the same, and you just seem to carry yourself different. You just don't seem as happy as you once were."
"It's a big burden to carry," I said with a sigh. "It's hard carrying those men's lives on my conscience. I feel like I'm reliving it every day."
"You don't have to do this with us," Connor whispered, kissing my cheek. "You don't have to be a part of this."
"It's not just about the Calling anymore, Connor," I protested, pulling back just enough to look into his eyes. "It's about standing beside the man I love and protecting him at all costs."
"You really do love me?" Connor asked, holding my chin in his tattooed hand.
"I really do love you," I said, my lips spreading into a smile.
"I love you, too," Connor said just before leaning in for a kiss.
Despite Connor's constant reassurance, I didn't seem to get any better. The nightmares kept coming back, night after night, no matter what I did to stop them. I wanted to just stop completely and simply live a normal life, but the Saints and the Angel were not finished… at least not in Boston. We had one more mission to complete.
After Pappa Joe fled his house, he had gone into hiding, but he had been captured and now, three months later, he was finally standing trial. Unfortunately, we knew how charismatic he was whenever the justice system was concerned, so there was no way the court would land a conviction. He was going to walk.
And we were not going to stand for it.
"This could be the last job I'm doing with you guys," I announced as all six of us stood together in the living room back at my house. Since the police still had no idea that my mom and I were involved with any of our recent crimes, my house was a perfectly safe place for us to be. Immediately after our last hit, I had felt nervous about allowing everyone to stay there, but now things had calmed down.
For the assault in the courthouse, we were divided into two groups. The Saints (Noah, Connor, and Murphy) would do most of the work, including speaking their mission to the trial's audience. The Angels (Ellie, Mom, and I) would serve more for emphasis and putting three shots in Pappa Joe's black heart.
"Why is that, darlin'?" Connor asked. All of our bags were packed and we were all dressed. Now, it was only a matter of load-and-go.
"I think the Angels need a rest," Ellie spoke up.
"Exactly," said Mom. "My little girl and I need some time to heal."
"And I want just a little more peace and quiet in my life," I added.
"We understand," said Murphy. "Well, then, let's make this the biggest and baddest showdown of your entire career!"
The six of us made our way out to the streets, where – to my horror – an FBI van was parked on the curb, waiting for us. Did we seriously make it this far just to get caught?
"Oh, shit!" The words escaped my lips in a scared whisper.
"Fuck," Murphy said. "Connor must not have told ya."
"Yeah, a few members of the FBI 'ave been backin' us for the last few months," Connor said, earning himself a death glare from me. Before I could give him my worst of earfuls, my name was called.
"Grace Reilly!"
I snapped my head to the side to see the gloating face of Special Agent Paul Smecker. "So, I see you've found your mommy again," he teased, looking back and forth between Mom and me.
"Cut the crap," I snapped at him. "I still don't like how you treated me right before my interrogation."
"Sweetheart, let's just let bygones be bygones and get our asses in the van," Ellie suggested bluntly.
"Yeah, we've got some shit to take care of," said Murphy. "So get yer skinny ass in the van!"
When we pulled up to the rear entrance of the courthouse, we moved almost like robots. We exited the van, entered through the back door, and tossed our weapons over the metal detector so they wouldn't be flagged as we made our way through.
All six of us strode purposefully in the direction of our chosen courtroom. We walked in a single-file horizontal line: Murphy, Noah, Connor, me, Mom, and Ellie. We were on our way to take out a bastard that had spilled too much blood over recent years, including Rocco's and that of my precious Irishmen.
"On three," Murphy directed as we reached the courtroom door. My heart immediately began to pound as Murphy and Connor drew their Desert Eagles and Mom and Ellie and I drew our revolvers.
"One…" Murphy began.
"Two…" Connor added.
"Three!" The boys finished together.
The Saints burst through the door in one fluidic motion.
Panic.
Connor jumped into the press booth to get the cameras shut off, Murphy dragged Pappa Joe out of the defendant's bench and put him on his knees on the floor, and Noah stood between the defendant's and prosecutor's tables, staring down the crowd with a menacing glare.
"Drop the fucking camera!" Noah screamed at the scattered news reporters, waving his gun as his eyes flared with rage.
"Up top; drop your guns!" Connor shouted, pointing his Desert Eagles at the security guards up in the balcony. "One at a time – now!" Meanwhile, Noah was dragging the frightened judge from his booth and tossing him in the back of the room. When both boys finally took their positions behind a frightened Pappa Joe, the Angels knew it was time for their march.
We entered the room, walking in a steady pace, united as the Angels of Death. Mom, our chosen leader, wore all black: a menacing black trench coat and combat boots, along with black jeans and a black t-shirt - and her revolvers gleamed as she crossed them over her chest. Ellie and I matched in clothing – our signature blue jeans and black leather vests over white t-shirts and black high-heeled boots – and our weapons were held down by our sides.
Everyone stared at us with a mixture of awe and fear. 'What the hell is happening?' is exactly what each and every frightened pair of eyes was asking me. I kept my gaze locked straight ahead, completely unwilling to give these people the slightest shred of an answer.
I jumped on the prosecutor's table, Ellie leapt onto the defendant's table, and Mom took her place in the aisle, exactly ten feet in front of Pappa Joe.
"You people," Noah began, looking into the eyes of each frightened member of the crowd, "have been chosen… to reveal our existence to the world! You will witness what happens here today… and you will tell of it later! All eyes to the front."
"Now's a good time to fucking-" Pappa Joe attempted to cut in, but Murphy cut him off.
"Shut your fuckin' mouth!" he screamed, kicking the man to the floor and immediately yanking him back up.
After a long moment of silence, the fire alarm began to go off, signaling our next move. Noah took his place behind our victim while Connor and Murphy joined Ellie and me, respectively, on top of the two tables. It was time for the boys to make their fateful speech.
"Now you will receive us!" Connor began, his voice spewing forth the fury that boiled within his heart.
"We do not ask for your poor or your hungry!" shouted Murphy.
"We do not want your tired and sick!" Connor screamed.
"It is your corrupt we claim!" Murphy declared.
"It is your evil that will be sought by us!" shouted Connor. My heart began to flutter with admiration.
"With every breath, we shall hunt them down!" shouted Murphy.
"Each day, we will spill their blood 'til it rains down from the skies!" The ferocity of Connor's words brought a slight pang of fear to my heart.
"Do not kill, do not rape, do not steal," Murphy continued. "These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace!"
"These are not polite suggestions!" Connor shouted. "These are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost!"
"There are varying degrees of evil," Murphy called out. "We urge you lesser forms of filth not to push the bounds and cross over… into true corruption… into our domain!"
"For if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see We Three, and our Angels of Death!" At Connor's last three words, Ellie and I cocked our six-shooters, jumped down from the tables, and proudly came up at either side of our proud leader. "And on that day," Connor continued, "you will reap it!"
"And we will send you to whatever god you wish," Murphy concluded. He and Connor once more took their positions behind our now-trembling victim.
The Angels raised their weapons to the sky, looked straight into the eyes of our victim, and recited our death greeting.
"And so the Angel came down,
and swiftly bestowed the blow of Death upon him.
And from that moment on,
she was the Angel of Death."
When we finished, we re-aimed our guns in the direction of Pappa Joe's heart, signaling the Three that they could say their beloved family prayer.
"And shepherds we shall be
For thee, my Lord, for thee
Power hath descended forth from Thy Hand
That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy Command
And we shall flow a River forth to Thee
And teeming with souls shall it ever be."
"In nomini Patri," Noah spoke.
"Et Filii," Connor added.
"Spiritus Sancti." Murphy's words were the last sound anyone heard before six gunshots simultaneously rang out in the courtroom. The shots of the Three were so heavy that Pappa Joe's head blew into several large, bloody pieces right before our very eyes. We didn't even have time to avert our gazes.
The courtroom was empty in seconds, save for the six of us. My trembling hands dropped my six-shooter to the floor, and my weary eyes began to fill with tears. I looked to my side, and my teary eyes confirmed that Ellie was also in shock.
"We…" she struggled to get the words out. "We did it!"
"Yes…" I said slowly. "Yes we did." Just as the two of us started to collapse, I was caught in the arms of my precious Connor while Murphy caught Ellie's falling form. As we cried in our saviors' arms, Connor's gentle whisper reached my ears.
"Shh, shh," he cooed. "It's all over now. It's all over. You were very brave."
As the Saints and their Angel sat in a dimly-lit motel room that night, a strange silence had filled their hearts. Noah and I sat in chairs by the window, with Noah smoking a wonderfully-smelling cigar while the boys lay back in bed. Connor lay flat, stared aimlessly at the ceiling, while Murphy was curled up on his side. Both seemed to be deep in thought.
"How far are we gonna take this, Da?" Connor finally asked. It was one of the very few times I had seen a look of fear on his beautiful face.
"The question is not how far," Noah said after a moment of thought and a puff of his cigar. "The question is: do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?"
"I'll follow you three to the ends of the Earth and back," I said, my voice just above a whisper.
"And we'll all be glad to have ya," Noah said, sending me a very fatherly smile.
"It really is amazin' to have a woman be a part o' this," Murphy said.
"Oh? Why is that?" I was curious.
"You're showin' the world that you're not weak or helpless," said Connor.
"You're showin' the world that a woman can do anythin'," Murphy added.
"That's a nice way of explaining it," I said, basking in their pride. "I've never been one to be weak or submissive. I always took the bull by the horns and led the course of my own life. A lot of people actually saw that as intimidating."
"Anyone who ever had a problem with ya is really missin' out," Murphy said with a smirk. "You're all ours now."
"I really love you guys," I said, smiling to each member of my new family. "I really, really do."