A/N: Thank you to IrishSaints, Effigy, Jade Opal and wolfchick11 for reviewing and thank you for reading! Hope you guys are really liking it so far. Again, if you get the chance, check out my other Boondock story, "Even in Heaven". I seem to be working more on that story than this one, so check it out and see if you like it. Enjoy this next installment! xx IFHD

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Chapter 14: Ally

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"Kiss My Irish Ass"

by: Flogging Molly

Oh the churchbells are ringin' in the schoolyard,
And we all went out those days
The bully said "Mick would you fancy a rumble?"
I said "Yes, it's time to play!"

Oh the nuns and the priests they grabbed their Rosaries
As they pulled our bodies apart
The bully said "Mick you lost the fight, but you've gained my respect!
You fight with so much heart!"

We're as stubborn as mules
With our blood on fire
When we ain't at Sunday mass
We'll look any man straight in his eyes and say
Kiss my Irish ass!
You better kiss my Irish ass!

Oh the husbands and wives, they had a neighborhood pack
They called the Mackeys white trash behind our backs (White Trash!)
I was way too young to understand that
But if I did, I'd given it right back

Oh me dad, he'd be drunk on the lawn,
Yelling and screaming like he do
But sometimes my old man felt what he was feeling,
Sometimes Mr. Mackey spoke the truth

Oh me grandpa passed through Ellis Island,
From the greatest of the Motherlands
For he worked, provided for his family
He was a dedicated welding man
And he knew right from wrong like day and night,
He could whip any fool in a bareknuckle fight
He talked of country like he preached of God,
One hell of an Irishman!

Oh, I'm of a distant relation to John Redman,
He was one of the greatest Irish Rebels of his day
One bastard to another, on down the line
And this is what my son will say:

You better kiss my Irish ass!

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"Last time we saw ye, ye were fat, short…" Connor casually counted with his fingers, lips pursed thoughtfully.

Murphy cleared his throat, adding with a snicker, "And kinda ugly."

Lourdes had to bite her bottom lip in order to refrain from laughing out loud as she sat in between the three men at the kitchen table. With a wary, mocking expression, Sean threw a handful of peanuts at both men in annoyance, and then pointed at them stiffly. "That was fuckin' years ago, ye bastards! But look how fuckin' good lookin' I am now, fuckers!" He puffed up his chest like a penguin, flexed his arm muscles, and held his chin upright to illustrate. "It's gotta make ye both jealous to look at me now, aye?"

The twins shared an amused glance as Lourdes looked on in mere delight. "We wouldn't take it that far, Flannagan." Connor took a huge swig of his beer, exhaling as he replaced the bottle upon the table.

"What've we got to be jealous of?" With a smirk, Murphy retaliated, resting his arms behind his head. "We're good lookin' fuckers, too. Ain't that right, Lourdes?"

"Um…"

Murphy immediately snapped his fingers, then pointed at her with a wagging fingers. "Ye see that? She completely agrees!"

With a snort, Sean leaned in further into the middle of the table, eyebrows raised high, playfully. "But Lourdes has the hots for me. Can either of ye bastards say that? I don't think so."

Connor's orbs flickered to Lourdes' form, as if waiting for her response. She had no idea that she was under such scrutiny at this moment. Flinging an empty pack of cigarettes at Sean, she retorted in good humour, "Maybe in your dreams, Flannagan."

The twins immediately burst out into laughter, simultaneously pointing at Sean and banging their hands on the table. Attempting to save his deflating pride, Sean slinked an arm around Lourdes' shoulders, saying, "Now, leannán, no need to be modest now!"

Shaking her head at the banter between the men, she questioned, "So what's your history? You never once mentioned you had family in Boston, Flannagan."

"Didn't think the twins were in town." He answered simply, retrieving his arm. "Last time I saw these boneheads was probably eight years ago, when we were all livin' in Dublin. When their Da got moved to Haog Maximum Security Prison, they packed their shit and left the country without tellin' the relatives where they were goin'." Sean received acceding nods from the brothers. "Never heard from 'em till, well, now."

Murphy pursed his lips, then raised an eyebrow. "So an agent for the An Garda Síochána, aye? How'd the fuck did that happen, Sean? Thought you were gonna be some kinda businessman or some shit like that."

"Interesting story, that is." Sean's eyes then flashed to Connor, his expression almost sour. "After Con here stole my girlfriend," at this statement, all eyes landed on Connor, who winced, "I needed an outlet for my suppressed anger, ye see. Thought I'd try law enforcement so I'll have the chance to kick the shit out of some criminals. Then, after a couple of years, I was assigned to Lourdes' team. Been workin' with her for three years now." As he finished, Sean found that the room had gone completely silent. Tilting his head in question, he twisted his head to face Connor. "Don't worry about Aileen, Con. The past's in the past. Blood's thicker than water."

"Still wasn't right." Connor's voice pierced through the silence, his eyes meeting Sean's. "Things got a little outta hand, and…"

"I said don't worry 'bout it! 'Twas a long time ago," chuckled Sean, patting Connor repeatedly on the back. Though, his forgiveness still didn't erase the guilt that Connor felt.

"Ye seein' her again, then? Heard she was here in Boston and has been here for a few months."

Connor's voice became noticeably softer as he said, "From time to time, but not recently."

Although keeping a calm exterior, Lourdes felt her heart lurch at this new revelation. Guess he wasn't telling the truth about his love life, she snorted to herself, feeling her heart constrict even more at the fact that Connor had even lied about that. She battled with herself. Why was this man's personal life of such importance to her? She knew that she was attracted to him, yes, but who wouldn't be? Did she really think that something was going to happen between her and Connor, especially being in this situation?

"Yer job must make it hard, then." Sean's deep voice brought Lourdes back to the present, her eyes finally focusing on the men around her. The agent took another drag of his cigarette. "The Saints of South Boston, huh? Nifty."

"Fuckin' right it is!" Murphy beamed proudly, crossing his arms. "How long have ye known?"

"Just for a couple of months. Surprised the shit out of me when I found out." It was then that he cleared his throat, looking at Lourdes sheepishly. "Boss, ye understand that I couldn't say anythin', aye? They obviously wouldn't kill us, but ye know…I just couldn't do it. Blood's more important than fuckin' protocol. Plus, I didn't know how ye would've handled it."

"I understand." Lourdes replied authoritatively, though thoughts still lingering on the previous subject about this 'Aileen'. She suddenly felt even more betrayed by Connor, even though she knew that most of what had transpired between them in the past month was a lie. Unable to understand these new feelings, she stood from the table, gaining the attention of the three men. She proclaimed, "Gonna go catch some air. I should leave you three to do some more catching up on your own." Without another word, she took her coat and disappeared into the backyard.

Connor's fingers tightened around his beer, his eyes following her form until she was out of sight. Only a few moments after she had left, he pushed his chair back, dashing after her. In the middle of a conversation, Murphy and Sean were both left in the kitchen, dumbfounded. They became so silent that crickets could be heard nearby.

"The fuck was that about?" Sean stared at the screen door, though seeing no signs of either Lourdes or Connor.

Murphy winced, taking a last gulp of his beer as he pointed his cigarette in their direction. "I think my bro has a thing for yer boss."

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"Hey."

Lourdes swirled around at the sudden sound of Connor's voice as she sat on a marble bench. Slightly startled by his unexpected appearance, she tucked her hair behind her ear, surveying him. She furrowed her brows, seeing the MacManus brother in mere jeans and a black t-shirt. "Where's your coat? You're going to catch your death out here."

Ignoring her statement, Connor promptly took a seat beside her, blue eyes boring into hers. "Look, Lourdes, I know it must be hard for ye right now," she crinkled her brows at this, though continued to listen intently, "but he gotta know that we lied to ye to protect ye. Yer findin' out all of these things, but it's…it's different now." She could see the frustration in Connor's eyes as he tried to explain is turbulent emotions, "I never meant for any of this to happen, for…"

"For what to happen?" Lourdes was now visibly confused, trying to understand exactly what Connor was saying.

It seemed as though the cat had caught Connor's tongue. He blurted out, "For ye to get hurt." Pushing at his knees, he then stood, running his fingers through his spiked hair. "Now Sean's here, and he's involved…"

"Sean can take care of himself," Lourdes reassured him, standing as well. "What we need to do is find out who the mole is, and that's the only thing we should be concentrating on." She seemed to have said this more to herself than to Connor. "Finding the mole will lead us to O'Sullivan, of that I'm sure of. We do more investigation, then we make some arrests. Case solved, and let that be the end of it."

"Ye make it sound so simple."

"I just don't want things to be more complicated than they already are!" Taken aback that she had actually raised her voice, she put the back of her hand to her lips, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Right now, I don't care about what's happening in my personal life. I just don't want to sit here and do nothing while these sons of bitches roam around Boston like they own the place."

"Then let's do something about it." With that statement, Connor turned on his heel and walked back inside the house.

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The four spent a few days meticulously planning their next move under the guidance of Il Duce. In the process, Sean was completely brought up-to-date on what was going on. Without a word of protest, he loyally helped the three with their next mission: to find and trap the mole. He and Lourdes would regularly visit the MacManus brothers at their apartment on McGowan Street, bringing the Saints more information about each of their agents and any leads on O'Sullivan and his followers. In a matter of days, they had managed to uncover indispensable information about O'Sullivan's camp and their routines.

"I got it!" Sean proclaimed out of the blue, instantaneously standing, causing his chair to topple over behind him. "Stakeout at Sin Bin for Keiran O'Sullivan and his bastard followers, lady and twins!" With a cry of gleeful triumph, he dropped the sheet of information that he had been holding upon the table, cracking his knuckles in victory.

"Sin Bin?" Lourdes' confused expression immediately informed the three men that she was unfamiliar with the name. "Is that in Boston?"

Sean had to blink a few times in order to register what she had just asked. Then, he animatedly hit his forehead with the palm of his hand, giving out a low groan. "Sin Bin? Boss, ye haven't heard of Sin Bin?" Sean exclaimed as though it were a…sin. As if motioning for much needed help, he gawked at the twins. "Please tell me yer familiar with this fine establishment!"

"Aye, we're familiar with it." Murphy replied as the brothers' eyes each other with a knowing smirk.

"But probably not in the way that yer thinkin' of." Connor added, shooting a glance at Sean. "If ye weren't our cousin, ye would probably be on our hitlist right now for goin' to that place."

"Riiiiight." Sean rolled his eyes in utter skepticism, obviously not believing that the brothers had never gone into the club for their own pleasure. "But anyway, it's an establishment where men enjoy…er…fine dancing."

"So it's a strip club." Lourdes crossed her arms, visibly unimpressed. "Why am I not surprised that you're so excited about a stakeout there?"

"It just so happens that O'Sullivan and his fucker followers make weekly visits there." Sean presented photographic evidence to the three. The twins glanced at every image, which brought back memories to when Rocco had asked for them to make a hit there. "I don't really know what we'll precisely do when we see them there, but I just thought that it was worth a shot to see who these men are and their numbers. We need to know who we're dealing with here, and how many of them there are."

"And yer gonna be professional about all of this?" It was Connor's turn to be skeptical as he pursed his lips at Sean in serious question.

"'Course I am, cuz. Professional is my middle name."

"Thought it was Fergus," interjected Murphy.

"It is," Sean flailed his hands in the air, "but ye know what I mean." With a beaming smile, he twisted his entire body to face Lourdes. "But since it is a predominantly male club…"

Judging from his animated expression and tone of his voice, Lourdes did not like the sound of this. "Y-yeah?" She answered cautiously, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"We'll need a mole to find the mole, so to speak. Someone who could, ye know…fit in with the exotic dancers."

At this statement, Lourdes' arms immediately shot up, then fell on the table. "Sean, you have got to be kidding me!"

Connor and Murphy merely eyed each other once more, unable to hide their pleased smiles at the thought of Lourdes dressing up – or dressing down – to pose as a stripper. They continued to observe the emphatic exchange between the two agents, finding it to be the greatest amusement of the day thus far.

In their silence, Lourdes then bolted out of her chair so quickly that it fell over, mimicking Sean's. She pointed a firm finger at each one of the men alternately. "You three are not serious. I'm not going to be a…a stripper!"

"I gotta admit, Sean does have a point, Agent Villamor." Murphy proclaimed as seriously and 'professionally' as he could muster without bursting into complete laughter. "Easiest way to be undetected. And to make quick money." He shrugged a shoulder, giving the notion a thought. "Besides, it can't be that bad, now could it?"

"And we," Sean extended his hands, gesturing to him and the twins emphatically, "will go as patrons, so that we will also be undetected."

"I'm going to fire you for this brash scheme of yours, Flannagan." Lourdes stated, though only half serious. "And you two, doesn't that go against what you stand for?" She countered, shooting an accusatory look at the MacManus brothers. At this assertion, the brothers' shoulders slumped identically as frowns appeared on their handsome faces. Wanting to knock the lights out of Sean for his outrageous idea, Lourdes tried to control herself by remaining quiet. Sean, though, mistakenly took her silence to be a sign of acquiesce. So, placing his hands behind his head, he proclaimed,

"Then that settles it! Yer going undercover as a stripper."

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A/N: So what'd you think of that? Do you like Sean? haha Don't forget to review! xx IFHD