A/N: Thank you to GoddessLaughs and wolfchick11 for reviewing. I hope everyone is enjoying the story thus far! Now comes my biggest update, since I'm not sure if I can update for a while. But I hope you guys enjoy this one. Don't forget to review! I want to know what you think.

Also, If you haven't already done so, check out my OC CHARACTER COLLAGE for this story. The link is on my profile. Tell me what you think of that, too! xx

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Chapter 8: False Pretense

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"False Pretense"

By: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Oh, it's time to let it go

The world's got a funny way of turning 'round on you
When a friend tries to stab you right in the face
Losing faith in everything I thought I hoped I knew
Don't sweat it, it was set on false pretense

Betrayed but not gonna be willing to change
And it doesn't seem likely to fade
Betrayed but not gonna be willing to change
Cause you know.

It's sacrifice
False pretense you'll hurt again
Stop pretending to deny
False pretense you'll hurt again

All along you know you thought you got the best of me
But you were wrong and I'm laughing right in your face
I cannot believe you claimed you were my family
Don't sweat it - it's set on false pretense

I can't seem to understand it how you turned out to be so cold
You tried but were caught red handed, are you happy with your role?
It's funny to me how you've turned into such a joke

So play the game until you run out
And play the game into my hand

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"…and then they just dropped their guns and left."

Lourdes had completed narrating her entire encounter with the Saints to her fellow agent as they lounged about in her hotel room, taking an essential break from their investigation. It seemed as though every gear in Lourdes' brain was rusting, wearing down, was in need of replacement. Tired, aching and weary, the two were overcome with relentless fatigue, their mental journey over the past two weeks finally taking its toll not only emotionally, but physically as well.

With an unflinching gaze plastered on her face, Isolde sat across from Lourdes, completely captivated by her tale. As she leant back on her chair, Isolde responsed, "This was just two days ago, aye?" Receiving a concurring nod from Lourdes, she then offered, "I may be wrong about this, boss, but maybe this killing is connected to the Unionist attacks. Maybe it was that next attack that they had been planning."

The thought had crossed Lourdes' mind, even before the crime had been committed. Though, after a few moments of silence, Lourdes shook her head in certain doubt, wincing as she did so. "I don't know, Isolde. It's difficult to say, because the victim had no ties to the IRA whatsoever. He was part of the Italian mob."

"Hey," A sympathetic smile appeared on Isolde's face. Placing a comforting hand on Lourdes' shoulder, she lightly squeezed it as she declared, "let's not think about it for now, alright? Give yerself a break. Ye deserve it, Lourdes."

God was certainly smiling upon them as he heard their conversation. As if on cue, several knocks on the door sounded, gaining their attention. With a light 'come in' from Lourdes, Connor carefully popped his head in, careful not to have interrupted anything as he gave the two women a dashing smile that reached his eyes.

"It's Valentine's Day, Agent Connolly." Isolde greeted the handsome Irishman perkily, a mischievous smile appearing on her face. She ensued to survey his hands, though in a mocking fashion. Quirking a brow, she questioned, "Howcome we don't see any flowers? Chocolates?"

"Flowers? Chocolates?" Connor repeated, almost incredulously, as he raised an eyebrow in return. He quickly recovered from her 'interrogation', answering, "I was thinkin' more along the lines of treatin' ye ladies to some pints. Ye can't really do much with flowers and chocolates, now can ye? A handful of pints will do the mind, body and spirit more good, aye?"

"Now see," Isolde wagged her finger in Connor's direction, a wide grin molded on her face at his statements, "that's how a real man thinks."

"Nicely put. Couldn't agree with you more." Replied Lourdes with a warm smile, giving Connor a quick once-over. He was attired in all black, a white tie loosely hanging from his neck. A white belt wrapped around his lower waist, his polo shirt half tucked in. A few buttons were undone from his shirt, though in its entirety, the outfit still exhibited much class and taste. As she prepared to leave, Lourdes kept her eyes on Connor, who stood right outside of the doorway, hands in pockets, waiting for her to follow. Flicking off her lights and subsequently locking the door behind her, she fell into step with him as they walked towards the parking lot.

The cool, crisp Boston air greeted their faces as they languidly walked towards Connor's car. The velvet sky was clear, thousands of diamonds almost visible within. It certainly suited the romantic mood the day was supposed to bring. Up ahead, Lourdes and Connor perceived Isolde stepping into a car with the two other agents, Craig Malley and Braden Falkland. Upon seeing this, Connor eyed Lourdes expectantly, but she consciously made no move to follow suit. Understanding her instantly, Connor opened the door of his car for her, receiving a breathless 'thank you' and a smirk in return.

Hopping into the car, Connor looked to which direction the agents were headed. Habitually observing his surroundings as he started his engine, he was relieved to find that nothing seemed to be amiss. Satisfied for now, he began to pull out of the parking lot, closely following the car-full of agents in front of him. Glancing at Lourdes from the corner of his eye, he lightly asked in curiosity, "Didn't make any plans with the boyfriend…or husband…," he quickly added as an afterthought, "…tonight?"

Back stiffening at this seemingly innocent question, Lourdes immediately shook her head. "With my job, romantic relationships are non-existent." This was only half true. What she purposely failed to mention was, of course, the story of her most recent boyfriend, Colin McDougall.

"I will not believe that someone such as yerself is single. Even if ye've been here in Boston for a short while, I would think that ye would've had someone already." Connor admitted truthfully, smiling eyes landing upon Lourdes once more.

"And what about you, Agent Connolly?" Lourdes piped up herself, trying her best to brush off his latter comments, "shouldn't you be with your girlfriend…or wife?"

"Girlfriends." Connor corrected and reiterated, his face almost looking insulted at her 'insinuation'. "Ye see, I have a complicated schedule with each of them. But the most recent one, I forget her name, I've scheduled to meet with her at midnight."

Lourdes didn't know whether to take him seriously or not, for his face did not reveal any sign of jest. As she looked away, seemingly disturbed at his statements, Connor let out a hearty laugh, shaking his head. "I was merely kiddin'." He paused briefly, and then with a shrug, "Let's just say my job doesn't allow for serious relationships either. I've tried, mind ye, but they just never seem to work out in the end. A lot of things get in the way."

"Maybe you should find yourself another job, Agent Connolly." Lourdes suggested in mock seriousness.

"Maybe ye should too." He countered light-heartedly.

After a moment of complete silence, the two burst out into laughter. Catching their breaths, they remained in comfortable silence as they admired the sea of lighted buildings outside. Lourdes peeked her head outside of the window as they drove over a bridge. She was sincerely breath-taken by Boston's beauty at nighttime, the sparkle of skyscrapers and its reflection upon the harbour making the city look almost magical.

Connor smiled at her awe, for she resembled a child. Though, as he looked ahead, he stiffened at the sight of their destination. Seeing that the agents had pulled up beside McGuinty's, he instantly prayed to God that Murphy wasn't in there tonight. Trying to act as naturally as possible as they exited the car, Connor placed a hand upon Lourdes' lower back, ushering her inside the busy establishment. As they entered, his eyes instantly darted around the crowded pub, looking for any sign of his brother. Excusing himself politely from Lourdes and the other agents, he strode purposely towards the bar, heading straight for Doc.

"Doc, is Murph here?" He questioned quietly as he reached the bar, eyes a dark shade of blue.

"N-no, boy," To Connor's great relief, the bar owner shook his head several time, "h-he left j-just a few hours a-ago…fuck! Ass!"

"Well, in that case," Connor's playful smirk returned, placing a bill upon the table, "three pints of Guinness, if ye will."

Near the back of the establishment, Lourdes and her team had taken up an entire booth, the one furthest away from the bar. They were all in good spirits, bobbing their heads to the Irish folk band that played merrily on the adjacent stage. Connor returned briefly, pint glasses in hand, sliding one to Lourdes and the other to Isolde. "That'll be the first of many." He remarked, earning a jovial laugh from the group.

As the night went on, pints continued to disappear down their throats. Empty glasses were hastily cleared away by the waitresses as even more pints were placed upon their table. Tenth pint down, along comes the eleventh. Now they all seemed to be having a good time.

Slyly slinking an arm around Lourdes' shoulder, Connor leaned his lips closer to her ear as he whispered, "How about a dance?"

Lourdes involuntarily shivered at the feeling of his warm breath on her neck. As she twisted her head to gaze upwards at him, she realized that their faces were mere inches apart. Flicking her eyes upwards to his in a flirtatious manner, their gazes met. Moving her face closer to his as if in motion to kiss him, she replied in a husky manner, "I'd love to."

Taking her hand in his, Connor lithely led Lourdes to the wood-covered floor in front of the band. To the upbeat traditional Irish music, the two began to do an Irish jig, much to the amusement of their comrades. Connor was impressed with Lourdes' skill, wondering how she had learned to dance like so. He admitted that he did struggle to keep up, but he had managed to do so, thankfully, clasping her hand in his as they hopped, kicked and bounced. Seeing how much fun the two were having, the rest of the agents had stood up after a while, joining Lourdes and Connor on the dance floor.

"I can't say I can remember the last time I did this!" Lourdes laughed mirthfully like a child as she kicked her legs forwards and backwards, twisting her body from side to side.

"Neither can I!" Connor couldn't believe that he was actually jigging! The last time he had done so was probably when he was six. Even though the many pints that he had obligingly necked beforehand influenced his actions, he knew that he was genuinely having a good time, even though he was certain that he was making a right fool of himself. Taking Lourdes' outstretched hand, he tugged her towards him, twirling her in the process. Reaching him, Lourdes placed her arms out upon his chest for support, breathing heavily. She swayed a little, though Connor held onto her firmly, pressing her body upon his so that she wouldn't fall. "Hey, ye alright there?" he questioned worriedly as he looked down upon her, furrowing his brows.

"I feel a little lightheaded." Lourdes groaned in response, placing her hand on her forehead, and then running her fingers through her long, raven hair. "Maybe I should sit."

With a nod of wholehearted agreement, Connor led her back towards the booth, where she immediately plopped down with a smile. But just as Connor released her, she began to sink down the leather seats…further…and further…down.

"Looks like the boss is rightly smashed." Braden nudged Isolde and Craig alternately, his face half-filled with worry, half amusement. Seeing Connor animatedly pulling her back up from underneath the table, he gave out a low whistle. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen her like this before!"

"Aye, she's always been good with her drink." Isolde commented with a frown, making her way towards Connor and Lourdes. Pressing her hand on Lourdes' burning cheek, she directed to Connor, "How is she?"

"I think I'll take her home." He replied curtly, head tilting towards the now half-sleeping Lourdes.

Isolde's expression filled with complete shock. She seemed to be preparing to knock the Saint out cold, hand reaching back behind her. At first, Connor raised his eyebrow in innocent confusion, and then finally realized that she had completely misconstrued his intentions. Holding out his arms in defense, almost flailing them in front of him, he reassured her, "No, no! Not like that!" When Isolde made no move to harm him, he explained, "I'll walk her home to make sure she gets there safely."

Even though she didn't seem completely reassured, Isolde eventually gave him a nod of acquiesce. "Alright, Connolly. Take care of her and make sure she drinks a lot of water."

"Aye." With a grunt, Connor pulled Lourdes up in his arms, throwing her limping arm around his shoulder.

As they exited the bar, Lourdes blinked repeatedly, observing her surroundings. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Connor flip his phone closed, along with the picturesque snowfall behind him. "Hey!" she screamed, yanking her arm away from Connor's grasp. "Where do you think you're taking me?"

"Home." Connor paused, and then cleared his throat as he reiterated, "Yer home. Gonna make sure ye get there safely."

"But I don't want…"

Before Lourdes could finish her sentence, she slipped on some black ice, causing her to flail her arms wildly in the air in order to keep her balance. Almost acting as though it were a reflex, Connor caught her halfway towards the ground, almost slipping and falling himself. Regaining his balance with a grunt, he gave out an exasperated sigh as he pulled her up slowly. At that moment, she felt so limp in his arms that he thought that she had fallen asleep.

He was wrong. As her head suddenly shot up, she proclaimed, "I can handle my drink!"

"Apparently." Connor retorted sarcastically, though still smiled in amusement.

The twenty minute walk back to Lourdes' hotel room was quite eventful. It included Lourdes running off, with Connor on her tail; Lourdes yelling random profanity at complete strangers, at which Connor cursed himself; and, of course, Lourdes slipping several other times, with Connor catching her in the process. But by the grace of God, the two finally made it to Lourdes' hotel room, somewhat unscathed after the little adventure.

As Lourdes opened the door and turned on her lights, she winced. "I really have to clean this dump."

She took a cursory glance around her mess of a hotel room, which was, after all this time, turned into her makeshift apartment and office. Picking up sheets of scattered paper off the floor and stacking them in as neat of a pile as possible on the office desk, Lourdes patted the bed, motioning for Connor to sit. Turning on her laptop, she continued to rummage through her belongings, clicking open her briefcase for even more paperwork and research – at least three piles' worth - to go through. At this, Connor gave a low whistle, staring at his own 'research', which he had left on her table: a yellow folder with no more than ten sheets of paper. I fuckin' suck at this job, Connor mused to himself.

"I've found some more information about Unionist members here in Boston." Lourdes began to slur, almost lying down on her chair. Typing a username and password into her computer, she continued what she was saying without even looking at Connor, sometimes even swaying on her seat. "Most of this information is classified, but I received clearance from my boss in Dublin to access these files just yesterday. I thought you might like to see them."

"Aye, definitely." Connor threw her a stiff nod, but winced in worry, "Ye sure ye want to go through all of this right now? Ye really don't seem to have much capability to…"

"I'm fine!" Lourdes gave him a reassuring smile, even patting him on the back for effect. "Look, you go through this, and I'll…"

As Lourdes tried to stand, she unceremoniously tripped on the leg of her chair roughly, causing her to curse out loud and to lose her balance. Faster than he himself could believe, especially at his state, Connor was upon his feet, catching the falling woman in his arms for probably the fifth time that night. "Whoa, alright there." He said with a chuckle, trying to get her to stand flatly on her two feet. "I think that was a clear indication that we'll be doin' no casework tonight."

"Fuck." Lourdes mumbled to herself, placing a hand on her head. "W-where's my bed?"

"Right behind ye."

"Oh. Right."

Holding onto Connor's arm, she took a few steps back. Finally feeling the edge of the bed, she happily plopped down, a contented smile appearing on her face. Connor placed his arms on his knees, slightly bending in order to look her eyes. "Ye sure ye'll be okay like this? Do ye want any water?" As he received a slow nod, then a slow shake of the head, he gave her a small smirk. "Alright, I'll probably see ye sometime after this week to talk about…"

Just as Connor was standing upright, Lourdes placed a delicate hand on his chest. "W-wait." She said softly, a small smile tugging upon her lips. Connor froze, his blue eyes tracing the hand that was still on his chest, up towards Lourdes' arm, and then finally halting at her twinkling dark-brown orbs. Lourdes didn't keep his penetrating gaze. Instead, she observed every inch of him in an excruciatingly slow manner, her lustful eyes then landing on his moist lips. Taking the rosary that was slightly dangling form his neck, she tugged softly, pulling Connor so closely that their faces were mere centimeters apart. Feeling his warm breath on her cheeks, Lourdes seemed to hesitate for a moment, completely frozen. Though, without another minute of deliberation, she lied down, pulling Connor right on top of her.

"Lourdes, wait, I…"

Not allowing him to finish his sentence, Lourdes took his burning lips in hers, kissing him hard. Wildly running her hands through his spiked hair, mussing it, she pulled him even closer to her, feeling every inch of his body upon hers. He propped himself upwards with his arms, which rested on either side of her head. Uncertainties leaving him, Connor felt himself quickly inflamed by her touch as her scorching kiss seemed to burn his lips. Aroused by the sensation of her writhing body under his, along with her wanton desire for him, he pinned her arms firmly upon the bed, kissing her more deeply. His tongue begged entrance into her mouth, teasing her, tasting her. She wholeheartedly complied with his request, their tongues now dancing in what seemed to be a never-ending kiss. He gave out a throaty groan as he felt her teasingly arching her hips to meet his, her fingernails simultaneously digging upon his shoulder blades, then running upon his back. He was falling further and further into an abyss, though finding himself unwilling to crawl out of it. This felt too good.

Breaking the kiss to only nibble at her neck, he ran his hands in a painfully slow manner down the sides of her arms, then tracing the sides of her body and eventually resting them upon her bucking hips. Connor was feverish now, covered in perspiration, though still fully clothed. The feelings that she had aroused in him were now incontrollable, her assault on his senses increasing as every moment passed by. After a few minutes, she rolled out from underneath him. In an instant, it was her turn to pin him upon the bed, sensually straddling him. She leant forward, unbuttoning his shirt from the top down, placing a trail of kisses down his muscular chest and hard abdomen. Connor let out a shaky breath as she teased to go lower, almost unable to take the pressure building up within him. With a feather-light touch, Lourdes slowly traced her fingers upon his torso, running them greedily upon his ribbed abdomen and all the way back up to his hard chest, pushing his polo shirt upwards in the process. As she nipped, bit and licked his lips, neck and torso, Connor was in pure ecstasy, shutting his eyes and giving out a low moan in complete pleasure.

Though, just as he opened his lust-covered eyes once more, he saw a flash of Lourdes swinging her arm towards his head, an object held firmly in her hand, followed by darkness.

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A/N: So what'd you guys think? Don't forget to review! xx Till next time!