Boondock Saints: In A Child's Eyes, Part 2
Disclaimer: I don't own The Boondock Saints as much as I wish I did.

"Are you sure you want to wait in the car again, Da?" Connor asked. He leaned in the car window while Murphy walked over to the door. Murphy was certainly more eager to return to Annie's apartment. If she hadn't found out anything, they were only going to take those children back into their custody. That was, unless Murphy could convince Annie to keep them a little longer.

"Hurry up," his father told him. Connor gave a curt nod and went after Murphy. He was standing next to the elevator doors.

"He hasn't even met the girl, and he doesn't intend to, and he's decided he doesn't like her," Murphy stated, tilting his head in the general direction of the car. Connor peered at him. When Murphy realized his brother was staring, he frowned. "You'd better put that out before we get up there." Connor picked the cigarette out from between his lips and made a show of looking around for a place to toss it.

"What do you need his approval for, Murph?" Connor asked. He meant no disrespect towards his father and Murphy knew that. "She's a nice girl. Anyone who meets Annie is bound to like her." He simply dropped his cigarette and stepped on it as the elevator arrived, let the apartment manager worry about it. They moved inside and Murphy pushed the button for the seventh floor.

"Aye," Murphy replied. "But that's the problem, who am I to ruin this nice girl's life by insisting on being a part of it? I just wanted to look out for her, sometimes Annie needs that."

"She looks out for you too, you know," Connor said. "Telling you not to drink and smoke and curse."

"She never told me not to drink."

"It doesn't seem like she thinks you're ruinin' her life," Connor continued, ignoring the comment. "Let it be. We've got to lie low for a while anyway." The elevator stopped shortly and they made their way to Annie's door. Connor raised his hand to knock, but Murphy stopped him.

"I always knock the same way," Murphy told him.

"Is that right?" Connor smirked. Murphy ignored him and knocked as he usually did, rocking back onto his heels to wait. They both expected the chain to slide out of place, like always, but when it didn't, they both frowned. Connor rolled up his sleeve and checked his watched. They weren't early, nor were they late. Murphy decided to try again. He repeated the knock, but when he finished, he flipped back his coat, going for his gun.

"I think something's wrong," Murphy said. His voice was quiet and uneasy. Connor didn't reply, his own hand already going for his gun, identical to Murphy's,

"Try the doorknob first," Connor advised.

"It's never unlocked," Murphy replied. Nevertheless, Murphy's hand fell to the doorknob and his fingers curled around it. He slowly started to turn it and to his surprise and anxiety, it turned in his grasp, clearly unlocked. With one more look to Connor, he pushed it open. The door swung a few inches and suddenly met with the resistance of the chain. "I'm going to kick it in."

"Aye," Connor said. Murphy stepped back and let the door have it. They were both prepared for someone to meet them and had their guns up and ready. However, no one was there. Murphy went in first, Connor close on his heels. He almost abandoned all caution when he got inside the actual room and past the entryway. Murphy did have enough sense not to lower his weapon until Connor had him covered. Then he knelt next to Annie. She blinked back at him. He pulled the gag off her mouth carefully.

"Murphy, it's a trap," Annie croaked out. Just then, Connor yelled and fired down the hall. Murphy spun but Connor was holding his own. Stupidly, the men who had set the trap were in the hall where there was only room for one to come at them.

"Get her off that chair, Murphy!" Connor ordered. Murphy did as he was told. Annie was cuffed to the chair. He pulled her hands away from her and angled his gun away, blasting the chain apart. Next moment, he was with Connor. Annie shrunk down to the floor, covering her head with her arms. With the last shot, Connor waited a second, then walked slowly into the hallway. Murphy grabbed Annie's arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Are you hurt?" Murphy asked her. When she shook her head, he continued. "Go over to the door, just wait a minute."

Annie moved to where he'd said. Murphy turned back to watch out for Connor. His brother was checking out Annie's bedroom for someone else lurking and came out when he was satisfied it was clear. There was still one room left though. Connor moved to the bathroom. Annie's bathroom was odd, also holding a washing machine and a dryer that took up most of the space. The room was likely to have been renovated, enlarged. There was no one in it. Connor turned back to Murphy.

"What happened to the kids?" he asked. Annie was peering around the corner ever so slightly.

"They took the girl with them…but they couldn't find Declan…"Annie said, just soft enough for Connor to have to strain his ears.

"What?" Murphy questioned. "Then where's the boy?"

"I don't know," Annie whispered. Her eyes were brimming with tears. "We came back, because I took the two for a nice dinner and a change of clothes…And right after…someone knocked. I hadn't had time…the chain…" Murphy walked over to her and cupped her cheeks in his hands. He brushed a tear from her face with his thumb.

"Hush, Annie, it's all right now," Murphy murmured. She sniffed.

"Wait," Connor interjected. He was sure he'd heard something as he'd watched them. He spun around and raised his gun a bit, back to the bathroom. His eyes fell on the dryer. He grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. Curled in a ball was the boy they had left with Annie the night before. He blinked at Connor, a startling calm amidst the chaos. "Well…hello there, come on out," Connor said to him, offering his hand.

The boy grasped his hand and Connor extracted him from the dryer. It stuck Connor that it was amazing the men had missed him. Then again, he recalled, the boy hadn't made a sound while in their care. There was no way to open the dryer from inside. Only someone outside could. He'd probably recognized the voices. Connor was ready and willing to give him credit for that.

"Murph, take this boy over there," Connor said. His brother stepped over the bodies and took the kid in his arms. He was halfway across the room when a shot shattered the window and buried itself in his leg. Murphy stumbled and Connor plowed out to him. The boy landed about on his feet and skittered to Annie. Connor was grateful for that. He gripped Murphy and supported him.

"Go, out the door!" Connor yelled. They went fast, Annie carrying the boy. In the hall, she ran ahead and pushed the call button for the elevator. Connor was just out the door with Murphy when they heard the distinct firing of a shotgun. They exchanged a look but kept going. Into the elevator they went. Once inside, Connor covered Murphy's wound with his hand, trying to slow the bleeding. Murphy winced and leaned heavily against the wall.

"What was that?" Murphy got out, between clenched teeth.

"There must have been a fucking shooter across the way!" Connor growled, angry. His voice was protective. He looked over at Annie in the corner. She held the boy and he clung to her like they had known each other for years.

"Language around a child, Connor," Murphy reprimanded. He changed the subject then. "That was Da."

"I know that," Connor replied. The elevator seemed to be moving excruciatingly slow.

"What are we going to do?" Annie asked suddenly. Her eyes darted from one to the other and she wore her fear plainly. "He needs to get to a hospital."

"Ah, what this?" Murphy said. "Just a flesh wound, Annie…" Connor shook his head. He didn't get a good look at Murphy's leg.

"Did the bullet go through?" Connor put in. Murphy frowned and give him a look that said, 'How the fuck should I know?' Connor eased his arm off his shoulder and worked his other hand in. "Annie…you've got to help me here." She nodded and set the boy down, but he wrapped his arms around her leg.

"Declan, it's all right, just a moment," Annie told him. She shifted over to Connor and Murphy.

"Don't do this now, Connor," Murphy grumbled. His brother didn't listen.

"I'm going to move my hand," Connor explained. "I've got a pressure hold here, but still…I just need you to cover where my hand is now." She nodded again. Connor moved his hand away and Annie's shot in quickly. He moved his hand around and felt through the blood soaked material of his brother's jeans, a second tear. There was another trickle of blood there too. "Murphy, you bastard, managed to get yourself into this," he muttered. "All right, Annie, let go." She moved her hand and he put his back, returning to the position he'd had before.

"Annie…" Murphy began, but she shook her head at him. Finally, the elevator came to a stop. The doors opened and they were met with their father, his gun at the ready. He lowered it as he recognized them.

"The stairs would had been quicker," Il Duce told them. Then his eyes fell on Murphy and his brow furrowed. "Come on then." They went out the front door and straight to the car. Connor shoved Murphy in the back seat and then waited for Annie to get in. He closed the door behind them and climbed in the front seat. Their father hit the gas before he had his door closed.

"What happened out here, Da?" Connor asked. He dug around under his seat and came up with a first aid kit.

"Man got out of the car parked two ahead of me with a case and went into the empty building, the on right next door," was the reply. "So I followed. What happened up there?"

"It was a trap, someone must have followed us yesterday," Connor answered. "We killed them all, it was the shooter that got Murphy."

"Well he's dead. Where's the other kid, the girl?"

"They took her before we got there," Connor said. He pivoted in his seat and passed Murphy some gauze bandages. Annie shifted in her seat, moving the boy off her lap and took them away. When she pressed the gauze on his leg, he flinched but didn't say anything. "The boy was hidden in her dryer, all curled up. Must not have made a sound until he heard us come in."

"His name is Declan," Annie cut in. "We left my laptop, but I was looking into the disappearances. Declan and Phiala were reported missing just yesterday, an article is due in today's paper. I had trouble though. Declan was reported as Devlyn, because that's what they call him in his group home. The point though, is that their names are the names of saints."