Disclaimer- Own nothing, etc.

AN- I'm going to say this flat out, this was not the best chapter ever. However...I changed the direction of the chapter halfway through writing it. Opps. My bad. :/

"What the fuck was that?" I muttered, staring at the phone in disbelief. Annie, the latest addition to the ER staff, looked up at me, chomping on a thick wad of gum.

"What's up, sug?" she asked in a southern accent that was thicker than molasses. The tall and twiggy redhead was born and bred in the heart of Louisiana- How she wound up in Boston was a mystery to me, and she would probably never let me in the whole story. "Let's just say it's a very long and tedious story not worth talking about." She'd say with a wink anytime I tried to pry it out of her.

Which was just as well- it meant I had no obligation to tell her my whole backstory, or anything about the twin's for that matter. Upon meeting Connor and Murphy in passing, she would not leave me alone about them- Murph in particular. "Where are they from? What do they do? Is the one named Murphy seeing anyone?" she asked impatiently. "Because he seems like such a bad boy, and well, I can't resist those kinds of boys."

I promptly held my hands over my ears, refusing to let her scar me any further. "Lalala! Can't hear you! Can't friggen hear you!"

"Oh c'mon!" she whined, pulling my hands away from my ears. "You've had to at least thought about it!"

"Murph? Think of Murphy in a sexual 'hey I wanna bang you' sense? That's so fucking…wrong." I shuddered, not even allowing myself to consider the thought. "The guy is like my brother. Just….no. Fucking no."

"Fucking yes, is what I think you mean." She had said, giving me her trademark smile and wink.

Now, she looked at me intense blue eyes, eyebrow raised in wide arches. "Sug?"

I looked up from the phone and frowned. "I don't know. Connor hung up on me mid sentence." I left out the part where I could hear Rocco bellowing in the background and the general 'oh shit' of the situation. It didn't bode well for me, not at all.

"That's weird." Annie agreed. "Don't worry about it though, you can ask him later. Now," she appraised the charts in her hands. "Do you want the projectile vomiting guy or the moron who stuck quarters up his nose?" I snorted, reaching out for one of the charts at random.

"Shit. I got the vomiting guy. Damnit" I whined. "I guarantee he's gonna puke on my shoes, happens every time I get a barfer!" Annie cringed sympathetically. "Round of shots on me later." She promised, walking off to the waiting room to grab her next patient.

I looked at the clock, wising fervently that the next eight hours would pass by quickly. They didn't, much to my chagrin. For once the ER was void of patients and the night dragged on. I sat at the front desk, reading the newspaper without much interest, counting down the last two hours of my shift and getting antsyer by the second.

"Tráthnóna mo aingeal." Said a familiar voice. I looked up to see Connor slouched over the counter. I grinned up at him, glad to see that whatever had happened on the phone hadn't been serious, therefore forgetting that I was slightly peeved at him.

"Hey babe! What are you doing here, I thought we were meeting up later?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish; I saw that he was wearing his rosary. Not a good sign. "Well…. I just came by to tell you girls are on your own tonight. Something's come up." He said, not quite looking me in the eyes. I squinted at him, vaguely wondering why he hadn't just called.

"Like…." I let my voice trail off, waiting for him to elaborate. He raised his eyebrows at me, looking me dead in the eyes as if to say Use your brain, we're in public, I can't tell you.

Oh. That kind of something.

I nodded, knowing I would get the gory details from Connor later even if I had to beat them out of him. "Kommen in einem Stück zurück." I said testily before turning back to my newspaper. Come back in one piece.

He reached across the desk and cupped my chin. "Gewiβ." Of course. He kissed my forehead before turning on his heel and walking away from the desk. Annie walked right past him, grinning from ear to ear and totally oblivious to my sudden sour mood. "Guess who I just saw?"

"Uh…. Murphy?" I guessed, figuring if one MacManus was here, the other wasn't far behind. She squeaked, confirming my theory. "I've got a feeling I'm gonna regret letting you two meet." I muttered. She tutted at me.

"Ah, come on now. We're grown adults. I'm not looking to marry the guy or anything like that. Just looking to have a good time with a nice gentleman."

I put my hand up to silence her. "Need to know basis. This is soo not a need to know situation." I did breathe a sigh of relief that they seemed to be one the same wavelength- talk, hangout, and no-strings-attached casual sex at the most. That was one less thing to worry about. I could handle the boys on their bad days, that I was sure of. But could I handle a heartbroken, lovesick Murphy? Not likely.

I'd probably kill the poor guy. Though I might have to kill Annie too, if she keeps talking like that. Girl is gonna scar me for life.

I spent the rest of my shift trying to figure out what shit the boys had gotten themselves into this time. Coming up with nothing, I shrugged it off as I left the hospital with Annie, walking in the direction of my apartment.

"So… did he say why they couldn't make it?" Asked Annie, pouting slightly. "Murphy didn't say why." I shook my head. "Nope. Not a damn clue." Which was only half the truth; They were off doing Saintly things. Connor wouldn't have had his rosary or the extreme look of concentration on his face. What exactly they were doing (or who they were killing, to be blunt) I had no idea.

We walked into my apartment building and up the rickety stairs that creaked under our feet. The building itself had an old, woody smell that was oddly comforting. I smiled to myself as a I dug around my purse for my keys. Annie looked around the hallway, appraising a large crack in the ceiling. "I hope you don't take offense to this, but this place is kinda dumpy."

"Aye. But, it's home." I said wisely, in a faux Irish accent. She snorted at me.

"Aye? What are you? An Irish native?"

"Nope. But I'm dating one. They sort of rub off on you after a while. Aha!" I finally extracted my keys from my mess of a handbag, holding them up in triumph. She rolled her eyes at me as I dropped my bag, contents spilling onto the floor. She grabbed my keys from me and unlocked the door, walking in like she owned the place. I had to chuckle. She was one of the ballsiest and most self assured women I had ever met, and I was certain that I'd never want to cross her. Sudden shouts and curses greeted my ears as soon as Annie disappeared around the doorframe. What the hell…?

"Who the fuck is this?"

"NO, Roc!"

"What the fuck?"

"Whoa! Take it easy, boys!"

I groaned aloud, pulling my gun out of my bag and walking in on a rather amusing sight. Roc stood in the middle of the kitchen with a gun pointed at Annie, who had a gun pointed right back at him. Off to the side was an amused looking Murphy and an annoyed Connor, who both had their guns in hand, though neither of them had them raised.

"Well, Ericka, your place is a lot nicer than I thought it would be- you've done a lovely job decorating. However the three men with guns is a slight drawback; it makes your whole apartment seem, I don't know, less inviting maybe?" Annie spat at me, not taking her eyes off Roc.

I shook my head at them. "Roc, put the gun down." I said, waving mine around. Connor furrowed his brow at me. "I didn't know you had a gun, Ericka."

"Of course I have a gun! Who doesn't own a gun?"

Murph stepped in, addressing the situation. "Everyone, just put your damn guns down and let's talk this out civilly."

Annie laughed with mirth. "Alright, fine. We can talk civilly after you explain why in the fuck your friend here is trying to kill me!"

Murph and Connor glanced at each other for the briefest moment. "We, uh-"

Annie waved her gun in the air. "Know what? Nevermind. I don't want to know." She turned on her heel and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. Murph stood staring at the door. Connor ran a hand-the one holding his Beretta- through his hair.

"Ya gonna go after her?" he asked, looking apologetic. Murph pursed his lips and then shook his head. "No. Fuck it. We'll be outta here in a week or two anyway…." He threw his gun down on the table and walked to the fridge, pulling out a beer.

Silence fell throughout the room. Roc sat down at the table awkwardly, taking care to set the safety on his gun. Murph stood in the corner sipping his beer and brooding. Connor crossed the space between us and pulled me into a hug.

"Sorry about that…"

I shrugged, trying hard to be indifferent about the whole thing. "It's whatever." Murph was right. We only had a weeks left until we were all leaving- They hadn't given me specifics, but they advised me to have my shit together and money for a plane ticket at the ready. What's the point in friends? I pulled out of his hug and grabbed my own beer out of the fridge. "So, you gonna tell me what you boys were up to tonight?"I asked in between drinks.

"Taking out the guy who sold Rocco out." Said Connor simply, rubbing his tattooed hands over his face. He looked exhausted.

I, however, was fucking wired. "So, any other people you're going to kill between now and whenever you guys do Papa Joe?" The words tumbled out of my mouth with a reckless abandon. "Just curious is all."

"Ericka, chill the fuck out-"

"No, fuck you Murph!" I shot back heatedly. "Thought you said you guys were done!"

"Well, Rocco here shot up the fuckin' Lakeview, and now he's on vengeful quest to kill everyone connected to the mafia."

"Roc! What they fuck?"

"You guys agreed to do it!" Shouted Roc. Connor pounded his fist on the table, making everyone in the room jump. "Everyone, shut the hell up for a minute. For God's sakes, there isn't a need to be at each other throats; we're all on the same side." He sank into a chair. Murph and I sat down in between him and Roc. I stared at the table, tracing the grain pattern with my eyes while I let the tense silence wash over us.

Murph was the one to finally speak. "Alright, Roc. Is there anyone else you can think of that you want to take out? I mean, aside from Papa Joe."

Roc looked thoughtful, pensive actually. "There's this one guy that I was paid to transport back a year or two ago. Picked him and drove for an hour, and he didn't say a word the entire time. Not a throat clear, not a sigh, nothing. We get to the house, guy goes in and takes out an entire family like he's ordering a fucking pizza." He shuddered, eyes distant. "Worst night of my life, man."

Connor nodded at him. "Don't worry, Roc. You'll feel a lot better after you do him properly." He turned to me. "What bout you Ericka? Do you have anyone you want to take care of?" Murph and Roc shot a mutual 'what the fuck?' look at Connor. He waved them off and looked me in the eyes. "Well?"

I shook my head. "Aside from the guys that killed my brothers, well, I've got no one on my list. Can't really do anything about those people anyway."

Roc frowned. "Well, why the fuck not?"

"One of them is somewhere in Iraq, the other one is in prison. You do the math." I said stiffly.

Connor suddenly leaned forward, eyes burning. "You want to come with us on a job? I think you'd be great at it honestly."

"Nope."

"Ericka." He said, a note of some emotion surfacing in his voice. "We could use you when we take down Papa Joe."

"He's right." Said Murph, catching onto his logic instantly. "You know how to handle yourself with or without a gun. It's guaranteed that Papa Joe has his best guns living in his house, because he's waiting for someone to come after him."

"Not someone." Said Roc slowly, voice hoarse. "He's waiting for the Saints to come after him."

They all looked at me with different expressions. Roc's face was grim behind all the facial hair, eyes dark. Murph tapped his fingers on the table, looking wary. Conn looked the calmest of anyone in the room. His face was blank, but his eyes gave him away completely. The note in his voice had been one of desperation- He was afraid. He was asking me to me to be there. Just in case. I sighed as the phrase that had come to mind when Murphy pulled his stunt at the Russian bar rolled around in my head. I looked around at all of them. These three dysfunctional men had become my family; Murphy and Roc like my brothers and Connor, my lover. I thought back briefly to Erick and Phillip- my own brothers, the ones that I shared DNA with and the ones that were dead- I hadn't been around to help or save them. This time, I had a chance to do something. I felt something spark within me.

"Well?" asked Roc impatiently.

"Alright, guys." I locked eyes with Connor. "I'm in."