She felt the bag start to break before she could react and stop it.

"Dammit!"

Sighing, she continued the rest of the block to their apartment building. She'd just have to go back for them in a minute here. After unlocking the door, she slid the bags up onto the counter and grabbed the few cold things to put away. When she was done she walked out the door and closed it behind her without locking it. She'd have her hands full when she got back. And she didn't want to screw with unlocking the door again.

Running down to the alleyway with an unbroken bag in hand, she reached down and started tossing the dented cans in. "At least the eggs weren't in here."

She didn't feel the presence behind her until it was too late. An arm grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. Pain radiated through her temple as it hit the rough brick. She heard the sound of shoes hitting the pavement behind her, running past. There was a cold metal pressure on the back of her neck.

"Remember, those who snoop don't live long." The deep voice whispered in her ear. A sharp pain sliced the side of her neck. Katie felt the fist hitting the back of her head before falling into the blackness.

It was dark when she woke up on the floor of the alley. Moving slowly, she got to her feet. God, her entire body ached. Spitting, she tried to get the taste of blood from her mouth. She didn't even remember biting her tongue. Looking around the alley, her eyes fell on the bag of cans near the wall and remembered why she'd come out there in the first place.

She had to get back home.

The apartment was dark and still unlocked when she reached it. The guys still weren't home. She gasped as she turned on the light and saw the overturned chairs and broken furniture. She froze and listened for sounds. The apartment was completely silent. Grabbing a frying pan, she moved silently down the hallway towards their bedrooms. About halfway down she heard voices and footsteps moving closer. She crept back down and kept her back to the wall, out of sight.

"Get 'im to the table." the command came from Da.

"What the fuck happened here?"

"Someone fucking broke in."

"Shite. Katie? Katie!" Murphy's yell echoed down the hallway toward her.

She breathed a sigh of relief and rounded the corner. Her eyes fell on Connor's bloodied arm first and she gasped. She ignored the other comments as she moved quickly in to the kitchen.

"What happened?" She demanded while grabbing a hand down and handed it to Connor. "Press down."

"He's shot. What the fuck happened here?"

"I don't know." She grabbed the first aid kit and set it on the table. Reaching in, she pulled out gauze and rubbing alcohol. "Why didn't you take him to a hospital?"

"Not an option. Just do what you can, lass." Da's deep voice rumbled across the kitchen. Katie looked up finally and saw he was setting an iron on one of the larger burners. Shaking her head, she turned back to Connor. He just gave her a small grin.

"Don't worry. This is nothing."

"Nothing, huh? I don't want to see what something is to you all than."

"They fuckin' found us already." Murphy's voice called down the hall and Connor moved to get up. Katie sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sit. I need to clean this out. Is the bullet still in there? Nevermind." She answered her own question as she lifted the towel to see that it was just a deep furrow in his forearm.

"Aye, I told ya it was nothing. Murph, what did ye find?" Connor yelled back finally. Murphy walked back into the kitchen.

"Is anyone else hurt?" Katie asked meeting Murphy's eyes. He shook his head. '

"Only me idiot brother."

"What did you find?" Connor demanded again. Murphy turned his head towards him. He ran a hand through his hair.

"They fucking left us a message. In red paint. SAINTS BEWARE."

"What the fuck? Who do ya think it was?"

"I don't fuckin' know." Murphy answered and then cringed as his brother winced. Katie had started using the rubbing alcohol on the wound.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"He better be able to handle that, otherwise he's going to have a tough next few minutes." Murphy responded to her quietly. She frowned up at him.

"Why?"

"We've still got to close up the wound."

Katie moved her eyes to Connor, who nodded once. He didn't look too happy about it. Da moved into her view, holding the hot iron in his hand. Her eyes widened.

"What the fuck are you going to do with that?"

"Katie, go sit out in the living room."

"No, what are you going to do with the iron?"

"Go sit in the living room." Murphy told her again, grabbing her arm this time. She let him pull her out of the kitchen. He pointed at a chair. "Sit. We don't need you in there right now."

"What the fuck is going on?"

"Just stay the fuck there."

She could hear the quiet words and then the sizzling of heat meeting flesh. A muffled scream followed. She covered her mouth with her hand and then moved her hands to cover her ears. Her head hurt more now. The ache spreading from her temple down to the back of her neck. She knew now what they were doing. She'd heard about it from the hit men and the Mafioso over the last few years. But she'd never imagined it was this bad.

A warm hand covered her knee and she opened her eyes to see Murphy crouched in front of the chair, a blank look on his face. She saw the sweat at his hairline and knew this couldn't have been any easier on him than it had been for her to hear it. He'd probably held Connor down for the whole thing. Dropping her hands down from her ears, she sighed.

Da walked past them and gave her a small smile before walking out the door.

She was being a baby about this. If they could handle it, so could she. Moving Murphy's hand she tried to stand up, but was surprised to find the world spinning slowly. Hands pulled her back down and pressed her head between her knees.

"Slow now." His voice was soft. "Take a few deep breaths. You're too pale."

His hand rubbed slowly down her back and up again. There was a sharp pain when his hand reached her neck. Katie pushed him again and got up quickly. The world didn't spin so much this time. She saw Murphy staring at the reddened tips of his fingers before he looked back at her.

"What the fuck? You're fucking hurt."

She shook her head and moved quickly into the kitchen, not even giving a glance to Connor who watched this curiously. Murphy stepped into the kitchen behind her and held up with hand for Connor to see.

"She's fucking bleeding."

"Where are you hurt?" Connor asked sounding confused. Murphy moved forward and tried to grab Katie's arm. She moved away from him again and turned to unload the groceries. She remembered the knife now. She didn't want to think about it.

"Just leave me alone."

Arms wrapped around her from behind. She pushed on them, hitting and elbowing. She was somewhat satisfied when she heard the grunt.

"Let me go."

"Hold her still, Murph." Connor's voice was just to her left. Katie began to struggle more and she felt her hair being lifted up.

"Let me the fuck out of here."

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph. What the fuck happened to your fucking neck?"

"Nothing. God, just let me go." She heard Murphy sigh before releasing her. He moved around to face her and put his hand under her chin. His eyes roamed her face and hair before stopping at her right temple.

"You've got a nice bruise here too. What happened to ya?"

Katie was silent, not knowing where to start.

"You hurt anywhere else?"

She started to shake her head but then just shrugged. "I don't think so. Don't worry about me. Worry about Connor. He's the one who just got fucking shot."

"I'm fine. My arm has been taken care of."

"If that's what you call that." She shot back, not caring how it sounded.

"I'll be fine. Now what happened to you?"

Katie stared down, concentrating on not letting the tears go that were suddenly so close to the surface.

Murphy let go of her chin and grabbed her hands. He turned her arms over and then back over, satisfied to see there wasn't any obvious damage. He then maneuvered her to the chair next to Connor. "We need to get this cleaned up."

She nodded and kept her eyes on the table.

"So what happened to ya?" Connor's voice was quiet and Katie could hear the water running from behind her. She winced when Murphy pressed the wet towel down against her neck.

"Sorry." He mumbled and tried to rub the dried blood away with less pressure. She rubbed her hands over her face and then leaned her chin on them.

"How bad is it?" She finally asked, closing her eyes against the growing pain.

"A nice straight cut. It's not bleeding anymore. It'll probably leave a nice scar. My guess, it was a knife. So what the fuck happened?"

"I came home with the groceries and a bag broke out in the alley. I went out to grab the stuff and he grabbed me from behind and held a knife to the back of my neck." She felt the wet towel in Murphy's hand stop for a second before it continued moving. She raised her eyes to see Connor looking up at Murphy. After a second, he looked back down at her.

"What happened after that?" His voice was harder

"He…he said that those who snoop don't live long. That's really the last thing I remember. Until I woke up and it was dark."

They were silent for a moment. Connor leaned forward, careful to keep the weight off his bad arm.

"Did he do anything else to you?"

"What do you mean?" she sighed, and noticed her headache was coming back. She rubbed a hand over her forehead.

"Did he hurt you anywhere else?"

"Didn't we already go over this?" Frustration was apparent in her voice. "I don't really know. It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does."

She felt the wet towel leave her neck and a hand was on her knee again. Looking away from her hands, she found herself looking straight into Murphy's face. He looked into her eyes for a moment and she could see the concern there.

"What he's trying to say is…did he violate you or anything?"

"Violate me?" She repeated, her mind slowly grasping the concept. She glanced over at Connor who was watching her just as intently with a frown. She found herself staring down at Murphy again before answering. "No, I mean, I don't know, but I think I would know. Right?"

Murphy watched her for another minute before nodding slowly. "Aye, I think you'd know."

She felt the tension in the room dissipate a little as he stood up again. The towel ran softly over her neck again once more.

"I've got to use the rubbing alcohol now. It might sting a little here."

She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. A hand grabbed her own and she squeezed tightly. The sting lasted for a moment before she felt a warm air being blown on the back of her neck. Goosebumps broke out all over her body and she felt a shiver race up her spine.

"Can I have my hand back now?" Connor's voice broke through her thoughts and she opened her eyes to look at him again.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

Murphy's fingers were warm on her neck as he taped a gauze pad over the back of her neck.

"You know that you are taping my hair down, right?"

He laughed softly. "Yeah, but unless you want a nice bowtie, I'm not sure how to cover it up."

"Thanks." Her voice was quiet as she reached up and covered his hand which was on her shoulder.

"So, were you going ta tell us?"

"Honestly, I hadn't thought that far."

"What time did ye get home with the groceries?"

"Six, why?

"Well, we got here at what…a quarter til?"

"Roughly forty-five minutes, that's more than enough to do what little damage is actually done here. Was the paint still wet, Murph?"

He shook his head. "They painted first. That's what they were here for. The rest of just a fucking bonus."

"Coincidence?"

"Not fucking likely."

Katie held up a hand to stop them. "Okay, no more twinspeak or whatever. English, please."

"The guy who did that to you was involved in what happened in here." Murphy leaned back and sighed.

"Okay, that makes sense."

"Ye don't see too bothered by that."

"Why would I be?" She sighed and stood up. Grabbing two glasses, she filled them with water and set one in front of Connor and the other at her seat. Reaching to the top of the fridge, she pulled the large bottle of Tylenol down.

"They were targeting us, and got you instead." Connor eyed the water glass. "What's that for?"

She shook the Tylenol and then winced. "If that hurts even a fraction of what my head hurts, you need some of this." After taking two she passed the bottle to Connor and leaned back with her eyes closed.

"They might not necessarily be after you. Well, at least not after you for what you think they are after you for."

"Now I'm gonna have to ask you to speak English. What?" Murphy sat up and put his elbows on the table.

Katie was silent for a moment before sitting up and opening her eyes. "I haven't told you guys everything."

Two sets of blue eyes focused on her and after a moment she realized they were waiting for her to go on. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Murphy, then at Connor and finally down at her hands.

"I had been kidnapped, that all was true. That's why I broke my cover and ruined virtually a year of work."

"Your cover?" Murphy's voice was colder than she'd ever heard it. She looked up quickly and shook her head.

"No, I'm not with the police or anything." She could see them both relax a little. They still watched her warily and she knew they were waiting for an explanation.

"It was more of a personal matter. I'd worked my way up with the family in New York. Something happened about a month ago with them. I never figured out what it was. But I was with one of the girls, a daughter of a major higher up. An under boss, I believe. I'd never meet Janie before. They pulled us out of the back of the limo and the next thing I knew we were at that warehouse where you found us."

"There wasn't another girl there, Katie. After you collapsed, we checked to make sure."

"I know, Connor. They moved her just a few hours before that. I don't know what happened to her. I couldn't find out."

"Now I wish we could have taken out more of them." Murphy muttered. She gave him a small smile before rubbing a hand against her forehead. He exchanged a look with Connor before moving his eyes back to her.

"What did they do to you?"

Katie sighed and dropped her hand away from her face. She kept her eyes on the table. "I suppose you have the right to know."

"No, we don't have the right. But ye can tell us if ye'd like." Connor's voice was slightly softer than Murphy's had been. She looked up and saw they were both still watching her.

"No, you do have the right." Sighing again, she got to her feet and began pulling things out of the bags. Murphy got up and reached into the bags with her

"Go sit down. Me head hurts just watching ye."

"Put the groceries away, I'm just going to get supper going."

"Let Murph do it, he's got ta earn his keep somehow."

"Trust him to cook, ha!" Katie laughed, shaking her head. "I'm just making something simple. Is your Da going to be back, ya think?"

"No, he tends to go off for a while if you haven't noticed by now. Enjoys time alone and all."

Murphy moved over to stand beside her. "What are ye making then?"

"Pizza. Are you going to hover for a while or what?"

"I can do it. Just tell me what to do."

"Okay. First step, sit down and let me fucking make it on my own."

Murphy backed away slightly with his hands up. "Okay, okay."

"Katie."

"Connor, if I'm going to tell you guys everything, than I may as well be productive while I do it. And we need supper anyhow."

She ignored the fact that Murphy was still hovering, now just a few safer feet away. Pulling out the large pizza crust, she opened the jar of sauce and took a deep breath.

"Like I said it was personal. When I was sixteen, they killed my parents." She only paused for a moment before going on. She didn't want the pity or the apologies she knew they were ready to give her. "And for the first two months of going undercover, that what I thought it was all about. But then I realized that as much as I missed my parents and as much as I hated those men who killed them, I didn't need vengeance for them."

"What was it about then?" Murphy's voice came from only a few feet away. She spooned the pizza sauce on the crust and started spreading it around, forcing her hands not to shake.

"My older brother was after vengeance. They got him to kill others and then they killed him. Those bastards took him away from us. And I will finish what he started."

They all kept silent as she finished putting the cheese and toppings on. After she opened the over door and slid it in, Katie remained facing it, not knowing if she was ready to turn around.

"Us?"

"Hummm?" She turned and rubbed her forehead again without realizing it. Murphy put his hand on her shoulders and gently led her to the chair.

"Now you sit."

"Who's us, Katie?" Connor asked again. She frowned at him.

"Us?"

"Yeah, you said they took him away from 'us'."

"Oh. I have a younger brother too. He's the one I haven't spoken to in almost two years. Since Brett died."

"We're sorry, Katie." Murphy's voice was so light that she barely heard it. She glanced up and saw both of the twins were watching her still. Choking back something that was half between a laugh and a sob, she nodded.

"So am I. But I don't want pity. Pity doesn't help."

"Vengeance doesn't either."

"You two are hardly in a place to lecture me." She glared at Murphy.

"That's a discussion for another time." Connor broke in. The timer on the oven went off and Murphy opened the door.

"That look done?"

Katie nodded. "Take it out. Potholder, Murph!" She looked back at Connor. "So what are we going to do?"

"Well, I don't think it matters who they are after. They know who we are. And I think you're right. They know who you are too."

Murphy leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "I certainly didn't expect this trouble already."

"Already?"

"Yeah, we just got back here. We haven't been back since…"

"Since Rocco." Connor finished quietly. He and Murphy shared a long look. Katie remained silent for a moment. She'd read the article about Rocco's death, too.

"Why did you come back now?"

"Well," Connor shrugged. "It's been over a year…"

"It was time to come home." Murphy finished this time with a casual looking shrug. He turned around after a moment and grabbed a knife to cut the pizza. Connor leaned back and opened the fridge from his chair. He grabbed two beers, set them on the table and went after a third. Sighing, Katie stood up and went to the cupboard from plates.

Murphy reached out and blocked her path with a fork. He pointed at her chair. "Sit."

"Murph."

"Sit."

"If Connor can grab beer with his good arm, I can certainly grab plates." She pushed past the fork and grabbed the stack of foam plates and tossed them to the table. "So are you guys going to be moving now?"

"Depends. We gotta talk to Da first."

"And it also depends on whether Smecker could even find us another place."

"Smecker?"

Connor smiled at the tone of her question. "Yeah. He's FBI."

"What?" She gaped at them. "Why are you working with an FBI agent?"

"He supports what we do. Or, well, at least helps us stay away from those looking for us."

"He also finds us our jobs for the most part." Murphy set the pizza in the middle of the table. "He's kind of like our own personal 'Charlie'."

Katie grabbed a slice and raised an eyebrow. "Charlie?"

"Yeah. You know, Charlie's Angels." Connor attempted to explain. She nodded.

"We're kind of like Smecker's Saints." Murphy grinned and opened his beer. Katie just laughed and shook her head.

"Okay, that was a pretty good one."

"Don't encourage his jokes, Katie."

"Like yours are any better, Charlie."

"Wait, I thought Smecker was Charlie."

"No, Connor here thinks he's Charlie Bronson."

"Who?"

"Nevermind." They both said in unison.