A/N: Hello, my lovely readers and reviewers! I hope you are all enjoying the story thus far. There is so much more to go, so no worries! I am currently compiling a soundtrack to go with the story, and I will post the list of songs in later chapters. For now I'm working diligently on the story, so I hope you all enjoy this next bit!

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Chapter 4: In Disguise

"So it was a drive-by shooting? And the car was a Black Mercedes?"

Once more, Lourdes found herself in Smecker's office, the two agents sitting face to face. Only this time, she was reporting a crime to him rather than solving one with him. Giving Paul further statements and information in addition to what she had already described to him over the phone, Lourdes couldn't fathom how exactly she was in this predicament. And Smecker – he found himself in the midst of another case, but this one, of course, involving all five of the agents from Ireland; which, in effect, meant that it was another international case.

Lourdes gave him a firm nod, her face emotionless. "Yes, that's what my team has informed me of. They fired shots in return, trying their best to defend themselves, taken by surprise by the shooters. They have no clue if they hit and killed anyone, only that they shattered some windows and hit a tire before the car drove off. I witnessed the black Mercedes leave the scene, and it was only that one vehicle."

At her description, Smecker pressed his clenched fists upon his chin thoughtfully. "And thankfully only one of your agents was shot?"

"Agent Sean Flannagan. He's in hospital right now in critical condition." Lourdes paused here, her face turning into stone. "After speaking with my team, we've come to the conclusion that those bullets were meant to kill all of them…of us."

"You mean you were a target as well?"

"Yes."

Wearing a blank expression, Smecker ran through all of the possibilities in his head. The Saints couldn't have been responsible for that attack…could they? If the Saints knew the identities of all of the Irish agents, they would definitely not have shot at the women. Of that, he was sure of. Replaying the conversation that he had had with Il Duce a few weeks prior, he did not seem at all bothered by the presence of Irish National Police Agents in Boston, or by the fact that they could possibly be on their tails. Though, Smecker didn't know this for sure. But there was only one way to find out.

Before either of them could speak, firm knocks came from Smecker's office door. Furrowing his brows in question, for he didn't expect any other visitors at that particular time, he said, "Yes, come in."

As the door creaked open slowly, Connor peeked into the room. Immediately attaining both Lourdes' and Smecker's attention, Smecker gave Connor a wide-eyed, questioning glance. Rather, he looked horrified at Connor's sudden, unexpected, and frankly, possibly problematic, appearance. Connor recognized the alarmed look and realized his own self-induced predicament, so quickly thinking on his feet, he began calmly, "Sorry, Agent Smecker, but I'm the Agent that you called for, Agent…Connolly." As Lourdes turned her head to face Smecker at this introduction, it was Connor's turn to give Paul a wide-eyed glance, tilting his head to the side.

Catching his motion to play along, Smecker cleared his throat, "Ah, yes, Agent Connolly. Good to have you here, finally. Why don't you give me five minutes with this young woman and then we'll talk about your duties?"

Connor found himself staring at Lourdes as Smecker spoke with him. She didn't smile nor frown at him, but her face was quite delicate. Her long, straight black hair was untied, let loose neatly upon her back. Connor's blue eyes languidly, yet indiscreetly, traced her form from head to toe. He was surprised to find her in civilian clothing, wearing a jean skirt (that nicely showed off her toned legs, in his opinion), flip flops, and a simple green halter top. He certainly found her a pleasure to look at. Though, he wasn't only observing her for his own selfish purposes. Subconsciously, Connor was trying to size her up, so to speak, trying to understand exactly who they were dealing with. Again, he found that Lourdes met his eyes, her gaze as equally perusing as his. She had an inscrutable expression on her countenance, almost as if she was trying to put a name to a face, though having neither happy nor ill thoughts towards him. Connor flashed her a brilliant smile, then brought his attention back to Smecker.

"Certainly, sir." With a nod and another smirk at Lourdes, Connor gingerly closed the door. As he did, he saw that Murphy was standing beside the entrance of the station, waiting impatiently. Finally catching his eye, Connor motioned for his brother to leave. When Murphy began to speak out of confusion and walk over to him, Connor's eyes widened, placing his index finger frantically upon his lips, trying to simultaneously shut up his brother and not draw any attention to themselves. When Murphy was finally at arm's length, Connor took his brother by the ear, leading him out of the station. "The agent's in there, ye dumb wop! Now shut up 'n leave before she sees ye!"

"Ah shit." Murphy winced in pain as his brother finally set him free. "I got up this early, walked all the way here in the freezin' fuckin' cold, and now I have to go all the way back home by myself?"

As Connor gave Murphy another warning look, he finally held up his hands in silent surrender. After this little exchange between the brothers, Murphy promptly left, making sure that Lourdes would not see him. As he watched his brother walk inconspicuously down the street, Connor breathed out a sigh of relief. We should've called, he berated himself mentally.

"You should've called."

Taken aback by Smecker's sudden appearance a few moments later, Connor was shaken from his thoughts. With a tilt of the agent's head, the two strode towards a private area of the station, walking into another empty office.

As the door closed behind them, Connor immediately began, "Look, we had no time to call. We heard of the shootings from Da, and…"

"And that those shootings involved our little Agent in there." Smecker finished succinctly, tilting his head towards his office. "So that must mean the Saints weren't behind that hit?"

"Definitely not!" Connor replied brusquely, adding, "I, personally, wouldn't want to shoot that pretty thing."

Smecker rolled his eyes at the latter comment. "So now that you're 'officially' a new recruit, thanks to your little theatre production back there," he heaved a sigh at the situation, massaging his temples, "the first thing you can do is drive her to the hospital, then to her new hotel."

Connor furrowed his brows at this. "Drive her to the hospital and then her hotel? Don't ye mean I get to work on this case?"

Smecker squinted his eyes, his patience obviously being tested. "What are you on about, MacManus?"

"We weren't behind that hit," Connor reiterated, earning an understanding nod from Paul, "but we do want to know who was. Whoever was out to kill these agents knows who they are and why they're here. Obviously they're affiliated with whoever was against those IRA attacks. So, whoever these sons of bitches are, well, they're now on our hitlist."

"What do you propose to do, then?"

"Da wants more information, so he sent me and Murph to do a little investigating of our own." Connor then motioned his head towards Smecker's office. "Since we all know that Murph can't really do much with her, I'm the one up for the job."

"So what, you're going to play undercover agent with an agent?"

Connor beamed. He snapped his fingers, then pointed at Smecker. "Precisely."

Smecker grumbled, "You're playing with fire, MacManus."

"It's a habit. I've tried to quit, just can't do it."

Smecker heaved a sigh, running his fingers through his wavy, dark-blonde hair. "What do you want out of it?"

"Names, addresses, phone numbers." Connor listed, counting on his fingers. "The more information we have, and the more help we have from her and her team, the better. That's what this station is supposed to be doing in the first place, right? Working together with them?" Connor beamed again, seeing that this brilliant plan was finally taking shape. "So I guess my shit-ass attempt to cover up for why I was here worked out beautifully after all."

Smecker began to understand the Saint's logic. After another few moments of deliberation, Smecker finally replied, "Fine. Just don't make things more complicated than they already are."

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Lourdes had been left alone with her thoughts as Agent Smecker excused himself for a moment. Momentarily setting the memories of the shooting aside, Lourdes' thoughts flickered back to Agent Connolly: Irish agent, handsome…

Incredibly handsome, Lourdes mused to herself, despite her situation. She couldn't think of a better distraction at this stressful moment than to admire a good-looking stranger. Though, her instincts told her that she recognized him from somewhere, but at that moment, she just couldn't exactly pinpoint it. Fatigued from her entire ordeal, especially the most recent one, she decided to leave it alone for the time being.

After a few minutes, her thoughts were interrupted as the door creaked open. Looking up, she saw the two men enter once more. Smecker cleared his throat as he sat down on his seat. Connor followed his lead, taking the empty seat beside Lourdes.

"Agent Villamor, let me properly introduce you to Agent Patrick Connolly. I handpicked him to work on this particular case of yours, now that, unfortunately, you do have a case here in Boston. I've told him some of the details that you've recounted to me." Smecker paused, searching for any indication of suspicion or refusal from Lourdes. When he currently received none, and only a nod, he continued, "Now, here is what I propose to do. Since your life as an agent may be in danger, I think it will be best if you lay low, undercover, for a while, until we reach a break in this case."

At this, Lourdes furrowed her brows, protest obviously reaching her lips. Though, Paul put up a hand, motioning that he would continue to explain. "Now, that does not mean that you stop with your own investigations. It only means that in public, you dress appropriately enough that your identity will be hard, even impossible, to distinguish. Your lodgings have already been changed to an undisclosed location to which only you, your agents, I and Agent Connolly will know the location of. Your belongings have already been taken there, including your vehicle, by your agents and me, personally. In other words, you'll fly under the radar, but you will still have your own in use." Smecker placed his hands together, leaning them on the table, finished with his proposition. "This is only a precaution. We will continue to work on the IRA case together. But for the safety of you and your team, I think this is the best solution. What do you think?"

Losing all pretense of formality, Lourdes replied with: "I think these sons of bitches are going down." Finally, she gave the two men a nod of approval. Her comment, though, earned a smirk of amusement from Connor. After a few moments, she continued, "And as for this side-operation, I agree with you. I will be best for the safety of me and my team."

Smecker mentally breathed out a sigh of relief, happy that he bypassed another ensuing headache. He externally grinned widely. "Good. Now that it is all settled, I'll have Agent Connolly drive you to the hospital to see your agent and then to your new hotel."

"Thank you, Agent Smecker." Lourdes gave him a firm handshake as she stood, with Connor following her lead. "I'll be in touch."

"So will I." Connor twisted his head to face Smecker, raising his eyebrows once as he smiled before they exited the room.

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A/N: Don't forget to review! I want to know what you all think!