Hello there,

So, for any of you still with me, this is the second to last chapter. We're so fuckin' close! :) I want to have the end up by October. So, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy, and drop a review if you can.

I don't own, etc, etc, etc.

"MA!" Not looking up from her paper, Stripes called again over the ringing of the doorbell on the Friday before Mothering Sunday, "MA, the door!"

As the bell started on its sixth ring, she sighed and pushed herself up from her little nook in the corner of the kitchen table. With far more teasing than actual annoyance, she shouted toward the stairs, up which Ma was undoubtedly being silent by design, "Dammit, Ma! It's yer door."

"Aye and it's likely yer fuckin' package!" her housemate finally yelled back.

Laughing with a shake of her head, Stripes pulled the sleeves of her sweater down further over her hands and opened the front door to let the cold in and reveal the mailman. Undoubtedly hearing their exchange, he greeted her with a smile, "Hope ye're having a good day, Chloe."

"I always do, Marcus. Thank ye," she grinned in reply as he handed her the box.

"I'll wager it'll be even better once ye two tear into that thing. It must be a Mothering Sunday present from her boys. It's postmarked Boston."

"Really?!"

Chuckling as her face lit up with elation, the older man nodded, "Aye. Have a good weekend, love."

"Ye, too!" Stripes nodded absently, staring at the label addressed to Ma as she let the door swing lazily shut. It was scratched and torn, obviously not having had the best trip over the Atlantic. Still, the word Boston made her smile. The box wasn't necessarily large, about the size of a shoe box. Contemplating whether or not to open it that second, Stripes was knocked from her thoughts.

"Fuckin' hell, lass, ye're letting all the fuckin' cold in!"

Proffering the box with an exuberant smile, she declared excitedly, losing her accent for a second, "You got a Mother's Day present!"

Freezing where she stood on the stairs, Ma could only stare for a long moment. "I what?" she finally breathed quietly.

"A present, ye deaf old woman. Come on, open it!" Stripes shouted, rushing to her and pulling her to sit on the couch.

Though she was too anxious to give her a minute, she understood why Ma was being slow to the punch. Though neither of them really talked about it much, the worry about Conn, Murph and Da never went away. Always silently, they perused the Boston news websites religiously every Sunday night, searching for anything that might mean they were hurt or in trouble. The two women ached to know something, anything, but nothing was always better than something bad. Her present undoubtedly meant that they were okay enough to send it. Ma couldn't help but be a tad bit overcome by relief.

Finally swatting off Stripes' excitement, Ma growled with exasperation, "Calm the fuck down, would ye, lass? For fuck's sake…" Slowly, she opened the box to reveal a haphazardly wrapped gift, with the words 'Love ye, Ma' in large letters on the top. Snorting at it, she shook her head, "Those two haven't fuckin' changed a bit."

Within the box was a brand new Bible with a red cover and her name. Unable to keep the smile off her face, Ma just continued to shake her head, "I've been needing a new one since before they left…sneaky little bastards." Finding a letter tucked inside the front cover, Ma fell silent reading.

Feeling suddenly torn between incredibly sad and incredibly relieved, Stripes stared at the empty box. While she knew they had about as much idea of where she was as she did of them, the fact that there was nothing for her made her stomach twist. Admonishing herself in her thoughts, she tried to fight it back.

She was being fuckin' ridiculous. Why would they send anything to her if they didn't fuckin' know she was there?!

Still trying to convince herself to snap out of it, Ma knocked Stripes from her thoughts. "Here, there's a part about ye. Murphy spent almost a paragraph makin' fun of his brother mopin' about, so I'm guessing he's pining for ye as much as ye are." Grinning as the younger woman snatched the paper from her hands, she continued, "Murph and Da say that if ye ever found me, they miss ye. Conn says he loves ye, and hopes ye forgot all about him and found somebody else to make ye happy."

Rolling her eyes as she read it, Stripes snorted, "Not fuckin' likely, silly boy. He's fuckin' stuck with me."

Giving her a one-armed hug, Ma nodded, "Damn right, lass."

TBS TBS

Sitting down to their task that Sunday evening with far less anxiety than normal, Stripes and Ma watched as the laptop screen before them lit up to life. Ma had yet to receive her phone call, but given the time difference of five hours, neither was too worried.

Clicking the well-known way to the news station website, Stripes was almost too relaxed to take in the large red words when they appeared. It took her a full second to realize that on the screen before her, a large 'Breaking News' banner was flashing, the headline below it declaring 'Saints Car Fished from River; Bodies Not Found.'

Quickly clicking the article, she read in rising horror about the by then routine attack upon the mob by the Saints that had erupted into a car chase across the city involving ten police cars, five driven by mobsters then incarcerated, and one crappy black vehicle driven by three men with Irish accents that easily resembled the men wanted for the public execution of Papa Joe Yakavetta. It had come to an end only, after blowing out a tire, the alleged Saints' vehicle had careened off of Harvard Bridge, sinking into the frigid water with no survivors, despite police efforts and the divers dispatched before the sun had risen that very morning. Given the water temperature and velocity of the vehicle on impact, the forensics people did not expect bodies to be found initially. Likely, they would float back to the surface in a few weeks. Survivors were out of the question.

The only thing Stripes could hear above the blood pounding in her ears was the pounding of her heart. Everything was deathly, eerie silent for a long moment as the laptop sat upon the table. It immediately reminded Stripes of the silence associated with death. The silence following the men she'd killed was always different than normal silence. It was heavier.

This was threatening to crush her as it suddenly became very hard to breathe. Breathing raggedly through her nose, she fought the rebellious turns of her stomach as Ma reached out and clamped her hand in a shuddering vice grip.

As Ma began muttering a shock-jumbled mixture of the Lord's Prayer and 'Hail Mary's, Stripes upturned her face to the ceiling, screaming to the heavens as every piece of herself seemed to just collapse.

"We had a fuckin' deal! You were supposed to keep them safe..."