For the second time, Connor felt the world freeze and his decision was made without much thought to it. He couldn't do that to Murphy. He couldn't make him choose. He'd sworn to himself he'd never make him choose.

With one large step to his right, he took away Murphy's choice. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stared down Leon from his place directly in front of Katie.

The sound of his name being said barely touched his ears as he kept his focus on the man holding the gun. On the man who killed Katie's parents. On the man he knew would pull the trigger without hesitation. Connor breathed deeply and waited.

Hands brushed against his shirt and he put his weight onto his heels to keep Katie from pushing him away. Her fingers dug into his sides and then stopped. Connor felt his shirt being lifted slightly in the back and hoped he was the only one who heard Katie's gasp.

The handle of the gun stuck out of Connor's jeans and she breathed in deeply. The sound of yelling floated around her, Murphy's voice, Sara's voice and Leon's voice argued back and forth.

Her hand brushed the skin of his back as she pulled the gun out and her heart pounded in her ears as she stared down at it. Katie wanted nothing more than to be rid of the thing, to toss the gun away, to get it out of her sight. But she knew she couldn't do that. She knew that gun was their way out of this situation.

Steeling her mind to do it, Murphy's words came back to her, repeating in her mind again. Metal and plastic, Katie. Just plastic and metal. Her hands shook but she steadied them. The sound of words around her beat against her ears and she fought to understand them, to figure out what was going on. But only one sound finally made it through the haze, stopping her cold.

She knew the sound of a hammer clicking back. It'd echoed through her dreams and through the closet door that morning years ago. Not again. She wasn't going to let it happen again. And despite the icy fear running through her, she made her decision and Katie quietly clicked the safety off. She breathed in slowly to prepare herself but the sound of the front door opening froze the air in her lungs.

"McManus?" Peter's voice echoed in the moment before he stepped from behind the safety of the door. Leon's gun whirled to point his way and Katie stepped from behind Connor, pulling the trigger without so much as a pause. Both guns went off, one after the other and Katie heard her own scream as both Peter and Leon went down.

"Peter!" She was halfway across the room before anyone else could move, throwing the gun as far from her as possible.

The blood spreading down his arm was dark, staining his shirt and the wood floor around him and she fell on her knees beside him, only slightly aware of the sobs choking her. Sara appeared on Peter's other side, her hands pressed against the bloodied arm. With a grunt of pain, Peter opened his eyes at them.

"What the fuck are you two doing here?" His words came from behind gritted teeth and his hand clamped down on Katie's arm. She could only stare down at him through the tears in her eyes. His eyes found hers and he let out a ragged breath. "You okay?"

She just nodded as another sob came out and he squeezed her hand in response. "I'm okay. I'll be fine."

"It's just an arm wound, Katie. The bullet just grazed him." Connor voice was soft as he kneeled down beside Sara and lifted her hand from the wound. Pressing a towel down against it, he nodded at Peter's hiss of pain. "Gotta stop the bleedin'."

"I know." Peter muttered, his eyes closing.

Sara's eyes were on the blood covering her hands but before she could react, Connor pulled her hands down to press against the towel. His lips met her temple for a moment. "Just keep puttin' pressure on it."

His gaze moved to Katie and she waited, dazedly wondering what he'd say to her. But his eyes moved away and the hands touched her shoulder before she even realized Murphy was behind her. The hands pulled her up to stand and she stared up into his face.

"Murph? He…is he?" She glanced around quickly, her eyes finding Leon's still body before Murphy could stop her. But he shifted her gaze away with his hand.

"Shh…he's gone." Murphy's eyes were searching her face but his arms didn't go around her like she hoped. "Katie? Look at me." She raised her eyes back to him, her mind still swirling. He only looked away as Connor held out another towel to him. Katie pushed his hand away as he tried to pull up her shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"Ye're bleedin', Katie. Ye've ripped yer fuckin' stitches or somethin'." And the pain of the pressure brought her back to the surface, back to reality. Gasping, she raised her eyes to see the pain in Murphy's face. "Sorry."

His eyes closed then as he took a shuddering breath and she glanced around her then, realizing all that had happened. Peter was sitting up now, Sara still holding the towel against his arm looking only slightly less pale than before. Connor paced a few feet away on the phone and he managed to smile slightly as he caught her gaze.

And Murphy had his hand pressed over her wound and his eyes were still tightly closed, his eyelashes dark slashes against his now colorless face. She could feel her heart racing, against the pain and the emotion and in response, she raised her hand to Murphy's cheek. His eyes opened to look up at her.

"Would it be easier if I lie down?"

A forced laugh followed the curt shake of his head and he breathed out slowly. "I don't think I could take ye lyin' down with a bloodied shirt right now. Not again." His forehead met her shoulder and she felt him taking another shuddering breath.

"Murph." She whispered into his shoulder as she slid her arms around him. His free arm held her tightly against him, his hand balled in a fist against her back.

"Smecker's less than five minutes away." Connor's voice was soft and she felt Murphy nod his head in response.

The sound of footsteps against the wood floor came toward them, and Katie looked up as she heard her brother. "So much for keeping her in Ireland, McManus."

There was a pause before Murphy responded, sounding almost normal. "Christ, Peter. Ye know yer sister. Ye can't expect me ta do the impossible."

"I can be very persuasive." She loosened her hold on Murphy to shoot another glance at her brother. His smile was real but he studied her closely.

"You mean you can be a pain in the ass."

Katie felt Murphy slip her hand under his against the towel and he kissed her gently as she looked up at him. He then pushed her slightly toward her brother.

Peter pulled her into a tight one-armed hug. "Pain in the ass." His whisper made her smile slightly before her eye caught the body less then two feet away from them.

"He killed our parents."

"I know."

"You know? How-?" She stopped short as Peter released her to look down at her. He closed his eyes for a moment.

"I've known for a little while. But that was after I found out how dangerous he was. I didn't know until yesterday that he knew that you were the witness. He's the one who hired Tommy, Katie. He's known who you were for a while now."

The sound of the door opening again made everyone stop what they were doing and Katie found herself shoved behind Peter. Smecker strolled in and stopped as he saw the guns pointed at him.

"What a nice New York welcome. Lower your fricken guns." He stepped forward, his eyes on Peter. "You okay, Shafer?"

"Fine."

Smecker's eyes wandered the room for a moment, his expression concerned as he put together what happened. "You should see the dossier I have on this man. He's dangerous."

"Katie took care o' that." She thought she heard pride in Murphy's voice but his eyes were on Smecker who grinned.

"Nice shot. We might have a use for you yet."

"Whatever it is, forget it." Katie stepped out from behind Peter and saw Smecker's eyebrows rise as he saw the bloodied towel against her side. He paused only for a moment before clapping his hands together.

"Okay, folks, here's the plan. Peter, I'm taking you to the nearest hospital east of here. Murphy, there's another hospital just north of here. Take Katie there. I'll get this marked and taken over as an FBI matter. Connor, Sara, take everybody's bags. We'll all meet up later."

"We'll meet at St. Patrick's. They know us there." Connor nodded, his eyes meeting Murphy's.

"Let's go, Peter. Lock the door and bring the key for me, Connor." Smecker's words drove them into action. Katie found herself wrapped in Murphy's coat as he steered her out the door. She could feel the anxiety in him wearing off but she knew it wouldn't disappear until they were all out of the hospital and on their way home again.

The candle stand in the church drew Sara to it the moment they entered and she left Connor with the pizzas and the bags as she moved toward it. Nearly half of the lights flickered as she watched and she felt rather than heard Connor approach, his warmth at her side surrounding her.

His hand slipped into hers. "Ye okay?"

Surprisingly, she found she was. Despite having a gun pointed at her head and watching Peter gunned down, she was okay. "Yes. Even if my heart stopped as you stepped front of Katie. I'm fine now."

"I had ta-"

She turned to look up at him, placing her finger on his lips. "I know."

His arms pulled her to him and all the edgy adrenaline she still felt began to fade as she relaxed against him. Resting her chin on his chest, she looked up at him again. "You okay?"

His smile was warm. "Even if I wasn't, just holdin' ye makes it better. Ye always make it better."

The door of the church opened and the echo of arguing greeted them. Sara laughed. "Murphy and Katie are here."

They moved toward them as a unit, and Sara was pulled into a hug by Murphy. "How ye doin'?"

"Wonderful. You?"

"Not so bad now. Now that we're all fuckin' safe." His words were punctuated by a sigh as he let her go. Sara wanted to respond to that, to thank him for shielding her after Leon had shoved her aside. She wanted to tell him that she was so glad he was Connor's brother and that he'd be her brother soon, too.

But her chance was cut off as he and Connor both exchanged a long look. Connor released Katie from his embrace, touching them both on the shoulder before following Murphy to the back of the church. And together they knelt, their heads bowed in prayer.

Sara turned her gaze to Katie whose eyes had found the candles and she put her arms around her friend. "What no bed rest?"

"Fuck." She just laughed in response, pulling away and walking with Sara to the pew at the front. "I didn't give them the chance to admit me. I want to go back when you guys go back."

"You do realize we were only there for 24 hours, right?"

"Then why does it feel like home?" Katie smiled at her, relaxing fully into the pew and turning to face her. "You doing okay?"

"I'm doing fine. You?"

"Fine. Starved. Do I smell pizza?"

Sara grabbed one of the pizza boxes and spread it across their laps. They ate in silence, their eyes wandering the church together, returning to where the brothers still kneeled after a few minutes.

"You think you'll miss it here?" She asked finally, slowing down on her second piece and catching the shake of Katie's head as she finished her slice.

"It was never home. It was just a means to figuring things out."

"And now?"

"Christ, Sar. Now I want a home. I want a family. I want a job I can be done with by five every evening."

"Sounds nice. Think we can do it?"

Katie grinned, her eyes back on the boys again. "I don't think we'll have a choice in it."

And Sara just smiled in agreement, her eyes following Katie's gaze. She was right, she knew, about the path already being set for them. From the moment they met the McManuses, their plans for life began to change. Even here, even in this moment fresh from the blood and the violence, Sara knew that things were going to be okay.

She knew they'd take a flight back the next morning and she knew they'd convince Peter to come with them. And she knew they'd get back and as soon as they were done celebrating this being over, they'd start to plan a wedding. And a life together. And she knew without a doubt she'd be happy. Happier than she thought she could be.

Peter paused at the entrance of the church and faced Smecker, his mind focused again on what faced them inside. His sister was safe. Despite all the attempts to keep her away, she'd taken care of that herself. And her hands were no longer clean of blood. She was just like the rest of them.

And his fear was that it would just continue. That the McManuses would continue to find crimes worth their punishment, and that those who slipped through their fingers would continue to find them. And his sister would be in the middle of it. Again and again.

But as Smecker waited with an eyebrow raised for him to speak, Peter didn't know how to say it. He didn't know how to put it into words the fears that he had. And he was afraid that it would come down to what it had come down to every time since he'd found her again. The McManuses were dangerous. And nobody with them was safe.

"Smecker, I thought they were done."

Smecker took a final drag of his cigarette, grinding the ash into the cement beneath his heel before answering, his eyes finding their way back to Peter's after a long moment of silence.

"The Saints are dead. The McManuses only came back on your call."

"No, I called Murphy to tell him to call you. I had no intention of them coming back here. I had no intention of them bringing the girls…" He trailed off, sighing his frustration and ignoring the headache the throbbed in time with his arm. "They came back because I called."

"Fuck, Shafer. They came back because they care. I don't know why it's so frickin' hard for you ta accept, but you're their family now."

"I'm Katie's family. Sara's family."

"And so are they. Which makes you all one big happy fucking family." Smecker opened the door of the church and nodded for Peter to go in first. "You can either accept that or you can't. It's not all black and white, son. Stick on the force long enough and you'll figure that out. Sometimes you just need to find your particular shade of gray."

Peter entered the church without another word, feeling Smecker brush past him as he paused in the doorway to the sanctuary. He could see the brothers' heads bowed behind the last pew at the back of the church and that image alone conflicted even more with what he knew about the twins. They were killers, yet they were devout. They took the law into their own hands and yet they followed the lead of an FBI agent. They were wanted for the deaths of nearly a hundred men and yet he'd never seen anyone so caring, so concerned about his family.

He'd lived his life with the sense of the world divided into two parts: right and wrong, black and white. And yet he wanted to be okay with this. But it wasn't that easy, and he could only hope that time would help him find his balance, his gray.

Connor lifted his head from prayer followed instantly by his twin but neither of them got to their feet. The voices of the others echoed through the church but Connor was still hesitant to join them. It couldn't be over, but it was. And he was afraid to move to shatter what might only be a cruel dream.

"Peter's not too sure o' us." Murphy's whisper was low and Connor followed his line of vision to where Katie's brother hovered just beyond the doorway. Wrinkling his brow, he glanced at Murphy.

"What do ye think that's about?"

"We just offered 'is fuckin' sister up as bait. What do ye expect it ta be about?"

"Murph, ye know that's not what happened."

"But ye know that's what he thinks happened. I knew I should've fuckin' made her stay home."

Connor snorted out a half laugh as he raised his eyebrows at his brother. "And what made ye think ye'd be able ta do that?"

"She's small. And ye'd've been there ta help me."

"Fuck, I'd've helped her, Murphy. She had a right ta come and don't be lettin' anything convince ye otherwise. She had a right ta come just like Sara did. And if you and her brother can't figure that out, than maybe she would be best off without ye."

"Fuck, Connor. What the fuck do ye mean by that?" Murphy glared at him and Connor had to force back a sigh. Sometimes his brother just didn't get it. If he thought before he reacted, he'd save himself a world of trouble, Connor knew. But that just wasn't Murphy. And that's why, he supposed, God had made them twins. Someone had to keep him in line.

"I mean that ye better keep thoughts like that ta yerself. You and her brother ought ta keep it in mind that yer Katie's just as capable as either o' us. And I think she proved that today."

"That she did." Murphy's eyes found the topic of their conversation and his thumb found his way to his mouth. Laughing softly, Connor knocked his hand away, ducking Murphy's reaction smack.

"Look, even Peter's finally come out ta play. Let's go join 'em."

But his brother paused again, his eyes back on his hands. "It's over. Isn't it?"

"Aye, that it finally fuckin' is."

"Didn't know if it'd ever come, ye know."

"I know. But it's here. So let's go enjoy it." Connor stood up then, smiling slightly when Murphy joined him instantly. But before he stepped forward, he noticed that his brother was chewing on his thumb again. "Knock it off."

"Conn…I-. Thanks." Murphy's eyes met his finally and he was surprised to find the fresh emotion there again. And Connor knew where his thoughts were, knew they'd been there the whole time. He'd hoped they could just let it go, just let the memory of his choice fade. Let the pain of the moment stay in that apartment. But as his twin swallowed hard, he knew the moment was still with him. Was still haunting him.

"Murph, it's…I. It just happened. I'm sorry. But I couldn't let him fuckin' do that to ye." The tightness filled his lungs now and he shook his head to push it away. Dammit, Murph.

"I love ye, Conn." His voice was quiet, his eyes elsewhere, wandering and finally looking back up at him after a short pause.

Connor just smiled, forcing a laugh past the lump in his throat and pulling his brother into a one armed hug. "Christ, Murph. I love ye, too." He paused, squeezing his hand on Murphy's neck before pushing him forward. "Now let's get some fuckin' pizza. I'm starved."

Their plane was just a short ways from Ireland when Murphy found the metal in his pocket again, his fingertips brushing against the delicate chain. Katie was sleeping as he put the necklace on her, his fingers only fumbling slightly to connect the clasp in the dark. Her eyes opened as he slipped the necklace beneath her shirt and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"I got it fixed. Just forgot ta give it to ye."

"I gave Sara Connor's." She mumbled through her yawn but then opened her eyes wider and reached beneath her shirt to pull the cross out. "Oh, Murph."

"When did ye give it ta her?"

"She…she was afraid to fly. I thought it would make things easier. Besides, it's rightly hers now." Her eyes met his again. "Sorry, Murph. I didn't know-"

"I figured as much. Hold on ta this one. It's officially yers." He pressed his lips to the cross before kissing her.

Smiling slightly, her hand found his. "Thanks."

"I know ye think it didn't work, Katie, but it did." Closing his eyes, Murphy leaned his head back against the seat. "It just didn't work for you."

The silence from Katie made him open his eyes again, and he followed her gaze to the next row over where Sara lay sleeping against Connor's shoulder. She met his smile with her own and pointed out the window.

"Look, Murph. Ireland. We're home."

Warmth spread through his body as her words made sense to him. They were home. They were safe. Murphy glanced over and saw Connor's eyes had opened. They shared a grin and he turned his head to gaze out the window again. They were home.

The End (for now...)

A/N: I couldn't wait. I'll have the one shot epilogue up in just a few days at most! Happy Holidays! (And now I'm going to rush to work on the sequel...)