A/N: Updated chapter 11 (6/6/06). Since Rynn pointed out a few things that were off, I decided to redo the chapter and resubmit it (Again, thanks so much Rynn!) So, the only real new stuff is that Green Day is no longer the CD of Brett's that Katie scratched (wasn't thinking when I used that band...forgot for a moment that this takes place a year after the movie, not today...) and I've added and changed a bit of the last scene with the 'gun school'. Hope this comes across as more realistic. Feel free to offer any suggestions! Thanks for all of the great reviews! As much fun as this is writing for myself, it's even better when others are enjoying it too! I hope to have the next chapter up soon! Any guesses where they're going:):):)

For the second morning in a row, Katie found herself dragged out of a peaceful sleep by Connor. Only this time, he was much less polite about it. She felt the covers being pulled down and a hand grabbed her wrist before she could react.

"Come on. Ye got ta get up."

"Fuck off, Connor. I'm sleeping in."

He pulled harder on her wrist. "It's important."

Katie opened her eyes then and sat up quickly. "Is someone hurt?"

"No, but it's still important."

She looked at his expression for a moment and saw little humor there. A chill went through her. What the fuck was going on? Nodding, she threw off the rest of her covers and allowed him to pull her out of her room and down the short hallway.

Murphy and Da were already seated and barely looked up as she came in. They were both staring at the television. Connor shoved her towards the middle of the couch and she found herself sitting next to Murphy who finally glanced at her. He didn't smile either. All three men's attention turned back to the television.

Sighing, she wrapped her arms across her chest, suddenly missing the warmth of her bed. She felt Murphy lean away from her suddenly and his arm came back up from the side of the couch with a blanket. He handed it to her without a word.

"Thanks, sunshine." She grinned but he didn't give her a smile back. She shivered again and unfolded the blanket quickly. The commercial ended and the news came back on. Katie rolled her eyes. "Please don't tell me you woke me up for the weather report."

"Shh. Watch."

She turned her eyes to the screen. In unison, the two brothers both tucked both ends of the blanket on either side of her, but Katie barely noticed as she stared at the face that had become so familiar to her only six weeks ago.

'Reports came out this morning that Janie Fertitta, relation of the infamous Fertitta family of New York, was found alive late last night here in Boston after being taken hostage from a New York alley nearly six weeks ago.' Katie stared and her eyes widened at the suddenly serious looking reporter. She gasped quietly when a pale but smiling Janie was shown on screen.

'You've been through a lot in the last six weeks, haven't you, Janie?'

'It was tough. I missed my family and I was terrified all the time.' There was a close-up on the now crying Janie.

'How were you treated? Were you alone or were there other hostages too?'

'I was alone, the whole time. They were rude but they never hurt me. About a week ago, they moved me from this old warehouse to a nice room in a mansion. Their treatment of me improved around then too. I can only guess they figured out how important I was then.'

The screen shot froze then and shrunk to become a small box over the anchor woman's right shoulder. 'Miss Fertitta is now resting comfortably at home after being held for observation overnight at St. Cecilia's Medical Center. The representative for the rest of the Fertitta family could not be reached for further comment.'

Katie watched in silence as the reporter smiled and moved on to other news. Her heart was racing and she clenched her fists, happy to be able to hide them under the blanket. She didn't want the guys to know how much she'd been affected by it. If they knew, she might be asked questions she didn't know answers to yet.

She ignored the three sets of eyes on her. Throwing the blanket off her, she got to her feet and moved quickly out to the kitchen. It was only after she'd poured herself a cup of coffee that she turned to face them. They all three looked away then and tried to pretend like they hadn't been watching her. She sighed and reached for the Tylenol on the top of the fridge.

"She was lying, wasn't she?" Connor took the lead on the questioning, as usual. Katie found some humor in that but still couldn't quite smile.

"I don't know. She might not remember me."

"That's not the only thing she lied about, was it Katie?" He turned his eyes back to her and she met his gaze straight on. Silent for a moment, she finally looked away. Taking a drink of her coffee, she shook her head. He sighed. "Okay. Did they ever hurt either of you two?"

She pursed her lips. "She wasn't lying about that. They never hurt her."

"What about you, Katie?" Murphy spoke up then and she felt her eyes drawn to him. He was staring down at his hands.

"Once." She sighed then held her hand up as all three of the men stiffened. Fucking Irish chivalry. "But kicking that guy in the balls was still worth it."

Connor and Da both gave her small grins but Murphy still stared down at his hands. Sighing, she moved back to the couch feeling more relaxed than she had five minutes ago. She sank into the cushions and pulled her knees to her chest.

"But she would have been hurt if I hadn't been there. That's the kicker of it. She couldn't keep her damn mouth shut. Fortunately for her, I'm fairly accomplished at talking down angry men."

"She'll get her day, Katie." Murphy reached over and squeezed his hand on her shoulder before standing up.

"Aye, that she will." Da added in a gruff tone. She gave him a small smile.

"We're leaving for Mass soon if ye want to join us." Murphy nodded at her and left the room before she could respond.

She found herself staring ahead at the now muted television. Connor leaned forward into her line of vision. "If yer gonna join us, ye better go get ready."

Moving her eyes to him, she shook her head slightly. "I don't think so. I think I might go back to bed." She leaned forward and set her now empty mug on the coffee table.

"I'm not leavin' ye behind if yer gonna mope, Katie." Da pointed his morning cigar at her. She gave him a small smile.

"Not, I'm not talented enough to mope and sleep at the same time. Sleep wins out this time." She reached up and ruffled Connor's hair as she passed. "Thanks for waking me up, again."

"My pleasure."

"I'm sure." She forced a smile and walked back to her bedroom. It was only after closing the door that she allowed to feel the emotions she'd been holding back.

That fucking Italian princess bitch! Katie clenched her fists. She forced herself to take a deep breath. She'd fucking risked her life for that girl. She'd gotten kidnapped because of that girl. I met the McManuses because of that girl. Taking another deep breath, Katie felt some of the anger fade away at that thought, leaving her feeling drained instead. Murphy was right. She'd get her day.

Stretching her mouth in yawn, Katie got back into her bed and huddled underneath the covers. The tiredness returned quickly and for once she was able to shut off her brain and fall asleep quickly.

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Three hours later, she woke up and wandered out to the living room to find both McManus brothers sitting at the kitchen table with their backs to her. She watched them for a moment, realizing how much sights like this cheered her up. They were talking quietly and completely unaware of her presence.

"Saints above, I found me two purified catholic boys. Why whatever shall I do?" Katie spoke from the doorway of the hall. Murphy and Connor looked back at her a little surprised. They both grinned and turned back to the table.

"Then yer eyes deceive ye. I hate to break it to ye, but we didn't confess this morning." Connor chuckled with his back to her.

"Damn, and that was such a good line. And now, it's wasted."

"Ye can try it again later. We'll pretend like we've never heard it." Murphy responded without turning around. She shook her head and walked towards them.

"Not nearly as fun. You won't be able to capture the same shock on your faces."

She moved to the kitchen and grabbed a mug from a high up cupboard. "Coffee?"

"No thanks. Are ye feeling better?" Connor asked a knowing tone in his voice. Katie just grinned.

"Yes, thanks Da."

Murphy choked on a laugh. "I thought I was the only one who thought of Conn that way."

"He asks for it with that behavior." Katie turned towards them with a smile but froze as she saw the guns lying on the table in front of them. They both looked up at her reaction. "What the fuck are you two doing?"

"Cleaning our guns, what does it look like?" Connor answered her, but she kept her eyes on the guns. He raised a hand and waved it in front of her face. She glanced up at him quickly but looked back down.

"Ye okay?" Murphy's voice was quiet. She tore her gaze away from the guns and moved past the boys to the couch.

"Can't you do that when I'm not here?" She sat down on the couch carefully, trying to avoid spilling her overly full coffee mug. Gripping the mug tighter, she tried to force her hands to stop shaking.

"Maybe we should teach ye how to use one." Connor turned fully toward her. She looked up but moved her eyes away again as she saw the gun sitting loosely in his palm.

"No."

"So ye are afraid of them, aren't ye?" Murphy spoke up. "It's normal to be afraid of guns. Good even, maybe. But ye won't be this fuckin' afraid if ye learn how to use it."

Katie looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. She realized then that they hadn't just been cleaning their guns randomly. They fucking planned this! Forcing herself not to get angry, she shook her head."Murphy, this isn't something you'll be able to fucking persuade me to do."

He got to his feet and took his gun with him. Setting it on the coffee table, he sat down next to her. Connor exchanged a look with him as they both realized she was staring at the gun on the table. Murphy put a hand on her knee.

"It's just metal and plastic, Katie. If ye learn how to control it, this fear won't control you."

"Give it up." Her voice was tight. "I'm not touching it."

"How about we just show ye how to clean it? Ye don't have to point it anywhere." Connor offered from his seat at the table. She shook her head slightly, her eyes moving side to side as she continued to stare at the gun.

"No."

Murphy reached out and put his hand beneath her chin, forcing her to turn her head and look at him. He leaned close to her and she knew he could feel that her pulse was racing. Fear did that to a person. "Katie. Guns don't kill people. People kill people."

"But I can only fucking remember the guns!" Her voice broke as yelled it. She yanked away from him and felt surprised at the sudden tears in her eyes. Slamming her mug down on the coffee table, she barely felt the hot coffee burn her at first as it jumped over the edge. The pain on the top of her hand finally made her look down and she got to her feet. The room was completely silent as she walked to the sink and ran her hand under the tap water.

She felt the warmth of a body beside her and without needing to look up, she knew it was Murphy. "What happened with the guns, Katie?"

She needed to get away. Turning off the tap, she shoved past him and walked out the front door, slamming it behind her.

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The room was silent as she left and Connor watched his brother for a reaction. For a moment there wasn't one. He watched as Murphy suddenly turned and threw his fist into the wood molding of the kitchen wall. Connor saw the crack spread across the dark wood and knew that it had to have hurt his fist. But except for laying his forehead against the wood, there was little reaction from his brother.

Sighing, Connor got to his feet and put his hand on Murphy's shoulder. Murphy didn't look up. "Take her coat when ye check on her. She's got ta be freezing in her pajamas." He moved away and walked back to their room without meeting Connor's eye.

Connor sighed, staring at the doorway where Murphy had disappeared. He was torn between going after Murphy and going after Katie. There was only one right choice. He knew his brother well enough to know he'd be fine. Murphy didn't like feeling helpless, but he'd get through it alone. He'd brood, he'd maybe even break something else, but he'd be fine.

Katie, on the other hand, was a different story. Grabbing her yellow coat from where it lay on Da's chair, he walked out the front door to find her.

She was sitting outside on the stoop closest to the alley, her back resting against the cold brick and her eyes closed. They opened as he sat down on the step right below her. She met his eye and he saw that she was miserable. Silently, he handed her the coat and she slipped it on. Then she leaned forward and reached into his coat pocket, drawing out his pack of cigarettes. He watched with slight humor as she put two in her mouth, lit them both and handed one to him.

"Since when do you smoke?"

"I used to. You two drive me to smoke again." She took a drag and closed her eyes to enjoy it. Than she directed her gaze back at him. "How's Murph?"

"He's Murph. He'll be fine."

"Connor."

"He cracked the wood frame of the kitchen wall."

She frowned. "Is he okay?"

Connor shrugged. "He wasn't exactly up for inspection. Don't worry. He drank a lot of milk as a kid. He'll be fine." The twisting feeling in the pit of his stomach lessened as she smiled slightly at him. She looked away then, but Connor kept his eyes on her, looking for a sign that she might open up and let him in. He took a drag and waited. She crossed an arm over her abdomen and leaned forward, putting her elbow on her knees.

"I was the only witness to my parents' murder." She started and looked upward quickly, forcing herself to take another breath. He could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes but made no movement toward her. If she needed him, she'd let him know.

"I was hiding from Brett in the closet beneath the stairs. I'd stolen his LL Cool J CD and scratched it. Man, he was fucking pissed. They came in through the front door quietly. I didn't…they were dead before I fully realized what was happening, even though I saw it all through the vents in the door." She fell silent again and raised a shaking hand up to put the cigarette in her mouth.

"What did ye see, Katie?"

"Guns. One black and one silver." She stared off over his shoulder. Her words came out slowly and almost as if she was in a daze, re-seeing it all over again. "I know there were people attached to them, but I can't remember them. The hands are the only things I can picture. One of them had long smooth fingers and the other hand had broken skin on the knuckles."

She held her hand that had the cigarette up and traced a finger over her knuckles. Sighing, she dropped her hand back down and took another drag. She made a face and searched around her for some place to put it out. Connor reached out and took it from her, dropping it to twist into the cement step under his boot. She smiled her thanks.

"So, what happened?"

"They got away. I couldn't identify them. Still can't even fucking see them now. They made me look through hundreds of mug shots. Nothing." She smiled, but this time it wasn't a good smile. "And the fucking kicker…I can't seem to get the image of those fucking guns out of my head."

"You said then were mafia hitmen. How did ye figure that out?"

"I didn't. Brett told me later. After he'd gotten into things."

Connor nodded silently. He took a final drag of his cigarette and scraped it underneath his boot. Steepleing his fingertips, he looked up at her. "Katie…if they were mafia hitmen…"

"They were."

"Then they probably would have gotten away with it anyway. It's how the system works. If the system was more likely to fuckin' put them away, we wouldn't be doing what we are doing. We wouldn't be the fuckin' Saints."

"But if I'd recognized them…" She started to argue. He put his hand over hers to stop her.

"You wouldn't be here. You'd be fuckin' dead by now."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"Would you have helped Janie if you'd know she was a Fertitta? If you'd known she was related to those who made the kill order on your parents?"

Katie was silent for a moment as she stared at him.

"Answer honestly, Katie."

She nodded. "Yes. She's my age. There is no way she was involved."

"And that's why ye'd be dead by now if ye'd known. You are able to fuckin' separate blood ties and negligence. They'd have used that humanity in you ta get to ye. They'd have fuckin' chewed ya up and spit ye out." He pointed a finger at her.

Katie nodded and Connor could see the tears were back in her eyes. That was he was surprised when she laughed. A few tears rolled down her cheeks with the movement. He found himself smiling despite seeing her tears.

"You just…" She took a deep breath. "God, you just remind me so much of Brett when you do that."

He sobered up a little. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No, no. It's good. Really. I miss him. And he'd be happy that you're here to be reasonable for me. God knows I need it sometimes."

"That's me job then. I'll add ye to me list."

"You've got a list?"

"Aye, I do. Well, it was just Murph. But ye can join him on it."

"She can join me on what?"

Connor glanced up and saw Murphy standing halfway through the door, an eyebrow raised. He moved out of the doorway and sat down next to Katie. Connor watched as she instantly reached over and lifted Murphy's hand up to inspect it. He grinned as his brother batted her hands away and moved his hand back to his knee.

"Dammit, Murph. Let me see it."

"It's fuckin' fine. What list is Katie joining me on?"

"The list of people I have ta be reasonable for."

"Aye…and it's just me on there?"

"Well, and Katie now."

"I see." He finally glanced over at Katie. She met his gaze directly. "Sorry for pushing. Ye okay now?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but I can't believe I'm doing this."

Connor saw Murphy look at him but he just shrugged. He had no idea what she meant either. "What are ye doing, Katie?"

Taking a deep breath, she look at Connor first and then at Murphy. "I sick of being afraid. Teach me about guns."

Murphy held up his hand. "Wait. Don't do this because we've fuckin' pushed ye. Ye need ta be fuckin' sure you want it."

"I'm never going to be fucking sure, Murph. But I'm willing to try."

Connor glanced at Murphy who met his gaze and nodded slowly. He nodded back and they both stood up together. "Let's go then."

Katie stood up and pulled her coat tighter around her pajamas. "Now?"

They both nodded. "Aye, no time like the present." Connor smiled at her. She gave him a half smile back.

"Aye." Katie mocked him half-heartedly. He gently cuffed the back of her head and walked past them inside.

Murphy pulled out a cigarette and lit it before looking at her. "Ye sure?"

"Yes." She waited for him to take a drag before she pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and walked inside with it. Putting it to her mouth, she inhaled it herself before handing it back to him.

"Since when do ye fuckin' smoke, Katie?"

"Since I can fucking steal them from you two. Smoking is expensive and I'm poor." She grinned and kept going. He just shook his head and followed her up to the apartment.

"Lunch first. Then I shower. Than we can start 'school'." Katie spoke up as soon as she got inside. She forced herself to not look down at the gun in front of Connor on the table. Connor looked behind her at Murphy before nodding.

"Fine."

"And Murphy's cooking." She grinned and sat down on the arm of one of the chairs. Murphy looked at her surprised.

"Okay." He said after a second. "Reheated pizza and beer it is."

Connor and Katie exchanged amused looks.

"You know, Murph. You have to learn how to actually cook sometime."

"Aye, but only one school a day. Gun school today, cooking school tomorrow."

She smiled at that. "Alright, but I'm holding you to that."

"So what do I get to learn?" Connor raised an eyebrow.

"Give me time, I'm sure I'll think of something." Katie just grinned back at him.

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Katie forced herself to take another deep breath. She'd had a beer, three cigarettes, a shower and now a lesson on gun cleaning so far today. Now, she actually held the gun in her sweaty hands. Her heart raced as she tried to concentrate on what Connor was saying without taking her eyes off the gun. The gun that seemed overly similar to the constant image in her head. Her pulse sped up more as she tried to force the image to disappear. Concentrate on the present. Just a gun. Just plastic and metal.

"Wait, wait, wait." Murphy's voice cut Connor off and Katie looked up at him in surprise. Forcing herself not to move her eyes back down to the gun, she focused on him. She felt she could breathe a little easier as Murphy met her gaze and gave her a small smile before he looked at Connor.

"What, Murph?" Connor asked him, annoyance clear in his voice. Katie couldn't help but grin. It was the third time Murphy had interrupted in that last five minutes. At some point, without speaking, they'd agreed that Connor would teach her and Murphy would just be there for support. But Murphy didn't seem to be completely content with that arrangement.

"She needs to be able to keep her eyes off the gun for longer than a fuckin' second. That needs to be done first before she can do anything of this other stuff yer teachin' her."

Katie automatically looked back down at the gun in her hands, having been reminded of its presence. Just metal and plastic. People kill people. Guns are just metal and plastic. Her hands shook more but she refused to grip the gun any tighter. They were all silent for a second before Connor nodded.

"Alright, ye got a fuckin' point. Katie, take yer eyes off the gun."

She raised her eyes to him but then looked down again with a small smile.

"Yer just fuckin' tryin' to prove him right, aren't ye?" Connor accused her, laughing. She shook her head, laughing a little herself.

"No, I'm not. I swear." To her own ears, her voice sounded a little unsteady but neither of the twins reacted to it. The metal was cold underneath her fingertips and the image came back. The long finger was pulling the trigger back…

Murphy reached out and spread his hand over the gun to block it from her vision. She jumped a little at the movement. Focus on now. Murphy's knuckles. Now. Staring down at the broken skin on his knuckles, she then raised an eyebrow at him. "So now you'll let me see your hand. I see how it is."

"Whatever works."

"We could just blindfold her." Connor grinned. She glared at him, her heart speeding up a little. That wouldn't work. She'd still be staring at the gun in her mind.

"You wouldn't dare."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, bad idea."

"Maybe ye just need time ta get used to it."

"Good idea." Katie nodded at Murphy, keeping her eyes back down on the gun. Connor reached over and took the gun from her gently, ignoring her sweaty hands. Her eyes followed the gun to his hands but she could feel a little of the tension leaving her body. His fingers didn't remind her of the fingers in her mind.

"Here, then I'll show ye how to sight. It'll give ye an excuse to stare at the gun." He grinned at her and she laughed softly.

"That I'll take."

"Okay." He pointed a finger to the metal piece that stuck off slight from the top. "See this. That's the sight. If ye look closely, it dips down in the center." He moved the gun closer to her slowly. She nodded and hesitated only slightly before she reached out to trace the indention. Watching Connor out of the corner of her eye, she saw him exchange a smile with Murphy.

"Now, when ye go to shoot it, ye use that to help you figure out where to aim. You line up yer target with it." He lowered the gun and held it out to her. "Wanna try?"

Katie eyed it carefully. Sighing, she reached out to take the gun.

"Relax, Katie."

Easy for you to say. She kept her eyes on the shiny metal. "The gun's empty, right?"

"Aye. Just as empty as it was when we told ye that five minutes ago." Murphy told her.

"And fifteen minutes before that." Connor muttered.

"And a half hour ago."

"Okay, okay. I get it." She looked down at it. "So, it's empty, right?" She laughed and ducked as Connor's hand came toward the back of her head. Holding the gun with her left hand, she shook out her right, hoping that would help her nerves. Just a gun. Not loaded. Control the gun. Just metal and plastic.

She had to admit it. It had gotten easier to hold the gun, but her hands were still shaking as she held it up in front of her and aimed. "What should I sight?"

"Ah…anything. How about the coffee can on the counter?"

Nodding, she leaned down and placed the coffee can between the metal points of the sight. The finger was pulling the trigger again. A tremor started up in her hands. They began shaking more and she wasn't able to hold the coffee can between the points. Murphy's hands came out and wrapped around the top and bottom of her grip on the gun.

"Take a deep breath, Katie."

He didn't offer any more advice. She did as he instructed and forced herself to will the nerves away. It worked a little. Glancing up at him quickly, she saw him watching her closely with a concerned look on his face.

I'm fine. I'll be fine. I have to be fine. He'd let me stop now. His hands gripped hers tighter as she started shaking again. I can't stop now. He'd let me chicken out. I have to do this. Taking another deep breath, she nodded at him and he took his hands away with a sigh. Lining up the sight, she found she was able to concentrate to keep her hands from shaking quite as much. Just metal and plastic. The coffee can moved between points but remained in between.

"Now pull the trigger."

The air caught in her throat. Staring at the coffee can, she concentrated and tried to. Her heart beat faster, filling her ears with the steadily growing rhythm. Her hands started shaking again. Long fingers pulling the trigger. Pull the trigger, Katie. Pull the trigger, dammit! Not loaded. Just metal and plastic. Long fingers… The coffee can began to wiggle out of the two points again. A hand reached out again, this time from her left. Connor took the gun from her and set it down on the coffee table.

"We'll leave that bit of the lesson for tomorrow."

"Okay." She nodded and laced her fingers together to stop them from shaking so much. The pounding was still in her ears and she felt a little light headed. Her eyes fell automatically on the gun lying on the coffee table.

Murphy's hand landed on her shoulder. "You deserve a lollypop."

She forced herself to raise her eyes to him. Concentrate on now. Again, she focused on Murphy's face. He grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile. "Nice try. You already owe me one, Murph."

"Fine, than you deserve a drink." Connor laughed from the other side. "That's better than a lollypop."

She glanced at him and then back down at the table. A newspaper now covered up the gun. Taking care of me again. She relaxed a little and leaned back on the couch. Looking at him again, she shook her head. "Conn, I don't work tonight."

"Exactly. We're goin' out tonight."

"Out? As in some place other than McGinty's or the diner?" Katie grinned as he nodded. "Woo hoo!"

"Ye act like we don't take ye anywhere. Ye were just at the Laundromat the other day…" Murphy moved away as she tried to hit him.

"My mama always said I'd find a man to take me to exotic places…" Katie joked with a horrible southern accent. She felt nearly giddy now that she'd gotten through the lesson. Connor and Murphy just looked at each other and laughed.

"Well, I don't know if it's exotic…"

"Is it an Irish bar?"

"Well, no…"

"Than it's exotic enough for me."

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