A/N: Thank you to those whe reviewed: Jade Opal, wolfchick11, IrishSaints. Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoy this one. xx IFHD

vvv

Chapter 18: The Kill

The rain poured down mercilessly upon her head, the soft pitter-patter of water droplets sounding on the pavement around her. Shutting her eyes, Lourdes felt the rivulets of water trickling down her face as she began to walk away from her vehicle with determined strides. The beauty of Boston Harbour was forgotten then, the lit skyline in the distance having no importance to her at the moment. She squinted her eyes as she surveyed the dimly lit dock, wondering if this was the particular warehouse that she was instructed to be at. Allowing all self-doubt to wash away with the rain, she placed her hands in her coat pockets, willing the cold to disappear.

She was afraid, and she knew it; but she would never unmask her fear in front of the motherfucker.

"Malley!" It unnerved her to realize how much effort it took for her to keep her voice calm and steady as she yelled at the grey building. "I'm here, just like you asked. Now show yourself!"

No reply.

In a fit of anger, she began to kick at the warehouse door, repeatedly shouting for Craig to open it. After a few moments of her screaming and kicking, someone had finally heard her. Suddenly, a buzzing noise sounded, signaling the opening of the garage door in front of her. It rose, ever so slowly, as if purposely mocking her growing impatience. Dim light shone through, gradually shining upon Lourdes' body, higher and higher as the door continued to rise. As it finally reached its peak, Lourdes could see inside the almost empty warehouse.

In the middle of the room stood a lone figure: Craig Malley.

"Glad ye could come at such short notice, boss. I was wondering if ye were goin' to show!" He had greeted her so cordially that it made Lourdes' blood boil.

"This isn't a dinner party, Malley." She retorted angrily, her mask slightly becoming undone by his cockiness. Taking a few steps forward, she kept her hard, unyielding gaze on his form. She held out her hands to her sides. "I'm here, just like you wanted. Now where's Braden and Isolde? I want them here, now."

Craig threw his head back as if truly amused by what she had said, bellowing out a laugh. "Do ye really think that it's that simple? Do ye think that I went through all that fuckin' trouble just to hand 'em over to ye just like that?" he snapped his fingers once in emphasis, taking a few strides towards her. "Ye give me what I want, and I'll give ye back yer agents in one piece."

"Malley, wait."

A voice suddenly pierced through the shadows, instantly gaining both of their attentions. To Lourdes' surprise and relief, Craig took a few steps back from her being, head still twisted towards the dark figure behind him. As the figure took a few steps forward, stepping into the light, a look of recognition finally appeared on Lourdes' face.

"S-Sean?" she barely croaked out, taking a step back, obviously bewildered by his appearance. She continuously shook her head as she questioned, "W-what does this mean? What are you doing here with him?"

Attired in an all-black suit, Sean Flannagan fully stepped out of the shadows, hands loosely clasped behind his back. With his winsome smirk plastered on his face, he made his way beside Craig, fully facing Lourdes when he stopped. "I think, Agent Villamor, it's rather obvious what I'm doin' 'ere."

"I trusted you!" Tears began to form in Lourdes' eyes as she pointed a guilty finger at him. "How could you betray me like this? Fuck you, Sean!"

In a fit of rage, Sean took a few quick strides, reaching her side in an instant. Roughly tugging at her hair, he pulled her head back ruthlessly, then pushed himself upon her. "If ye ever talk to me like that again, ye little bitch," hungrily, he pressed his lips upon hers, giving her a lingering kiss, "I'll fuckin' kill ye meself."

Lourdes held onto his wrists, gritting her teeth as he kept tugging on her hair. In an instant, Sean had retrieved his gun from his side pocket. Before Lourdes could blink, he had shot her leg, simultaneously releasing her. Crying out, Lourdes fell violently onto the ground, crimson liquid surrounding her. "Fuck!" she cried, holding her leg in her hands as tears ran down her face. "Fuck you, you motherfucker!"

"Don't kill her yet, Flannagan." Craig joined his side, both men now looking menacingly down upon Lourdes as she continually writhed upon the dirty ground. "I still need her. Take her and bring her to the back."

"I'll make sure she's got no weapons on her." Bending on his knees, Sean began to pat Lourdes down, from her arms, to her sides, to her legs. At this moment, they met gazes. Lourdes said nothing, her face still as hard as marble, face streaked with tears. There was a tiny glint in Sean's blue-green eyes as he gave her a small smirk. Then, tugging at her arm, he pulled her up roughly, barking, "Get up!"

Following Craig's path, Sean dragged Lourdes unceremoniously behind him. She refused to follow them the entire journey as she kicked, squirmed and screamed, crimson liquid marking her trail. "Let me go!" Her shriek echoed through the large warehouse, falling on deaf ears. Pushing as hard as she could upon Sean's back, she continued, "Motherfucker, let me go!"

Zigzagging through several corridors, they entered through an adjacent room, not far from the middle of the warehouse. Looking up upon their entrance, Lourdes spotted Isolde and Braden, both blindfolded, gagged and tied to chairs in the corner of the room. "Oh my God." She breathed out, feeling a moment of relief upon seeing them alive. "Isolde, Braden, everything's going to be alright!" She called out, trying her best to console her agents as they weakly turned towards the sound of her voice. She continued, "Are you hurt? Did they – "

"Shut the fuck up!" Craig shouted in annoyance, slamming his fist upon a wooden table. His blazing gaze ripped through Lourdes as he pointed at an empty chair. "Now sit the fuck down!"

Pushing her down harshly upon a nearby metal chair, Sean cocked a gun to his side, holding it up to Lourdes' head. "Ye better talk, ye little fuck. Or all three o' ye are dead."

"Now that we've got that settled," Craig placed his hands behind his back as he began to pace languidly in front of her. "Tell me where your father is."

Visibly confused at this unexpected question, Lourdes furrowed her brows. She squeaked, "My father? W-what do you want with my father?" She began to sway on the chair, keeping her hand on her soaked leg.

"Now that is none of yer concern, boss." He spat mockingly, patience draining from his face. He continued louder, "Now tell me where the fucker is, or I'll kill these two in front of yer eyes right before I kill ye!"

Blood rushed to her head at the thought. Dizziness began to take hold of her. "I don't know where he is!" she replied truthfully, a hint of panic evident in her voice as Craig's hand reached for his gun. When he obviously didn't believe her, she tried once more, "Craig, I'm telling the truth! I haven't spoken with my father in months!"

"Ye know," one by one, Craig began to take out the bullets from his pocket, placing them into his pistol. He gritted his teeth in pure abhorrence, "I would've thought that ye'd cooperate. After losing yer beloved Colin, I was certain that ye'd do yer best to save yer other agents…"

"Leave Colin out of this!" Lourdes spat in retaliation, feeling a rush of painful memories course through her mind.

"Do ye want to know how Colin McDougall really died, hmm?"

Lourdes' heart leapt at this, closing her eyes momentarily. She wanted to know, dear God, she wanted her pain to end.

"Do ye want to know exactly how his cover was blown?" At this point, Craig let out a triumphant laugh, igniting blinding rage within Lourdes. She could only grit her teeth in pure hatred as he continued his speech. "After all these years of working with ye, I think I might've forgotten to mention one particular thing." He paused, striding his way over to Lourdes. Bending down in front of her so that they were face to face, he looked her straight in the eyes and confessed, "I personally ended that pathetic man's career."

Jerking from her chair, though being fiercely restrained by Sean, Lourdes felt as though she couldn't breathe. She was suffocating, drowning, choked by his words. "Lies!" she shrieked bitterly. In the background, muffled curses came from both Isolde and Braden upon this new revelation, the two attempting to escape from their bonds.

"Why the bloody fuck would I lie to ye, Lourdes?" He gave her a smug smile, content that his mere words were affecting her so easily. "Do ye know how I did it? How exactly I ratted out yer pathetic little operation?"

It took every bone in her body to restrain herself from lunging out at the bastard, eyes blurry with tears. Though, she knew that if she did, things would not end well for any of them. Looking up at Isolde and Braden, who were listening to every word of their conversation, she managed to control herself, chest heavy, weighted down by rage and grief. Dear God, please help me.

"Mr. Colin McDougall comes along, fresh from the academy," Craig straightened his back, lightly reciting the take in a mocking manner. "The little fuck works a few cases here and there. He does a good job. Alright, I admit that." As he reminisced about the past, Craig seemed to be conversing more with himself than with Lourdes, angered eyes becoming distant. "I come on this team, with nearly seven years of experience, and what do I get? I get placed under the cocksucker." He gave out a sardonic laugh, shaking his head. "Malley works the small cases, getting' shot at almost daily, putting his life on the line while McDougall gets the big, easy cases, livin' like a fuckin' king. And then…I finally realized why he got it so good." Craig's bitter gaze landed on Lourdes, lips pressing into a thin line. "Because he was fuckin' the boss."

"You know that was never the case!" Lourdes shouted, face scrunched in pure hatred. "He was a good agent, a good man, and he worked hard for what he had!"

Craig raised an eyebrow at this. "Worked ye pretty good, then?"

"Fuck you!" Lourdes shrieked, tears now cascading down her face in rivulets. "Was it all because of this? You killed Colin, ratted us out, and now, are doing all of this, because of your jealousy? You're fucked in the head, Craig, do you know that? I treated you as my equal, always made sure you were safe. You're never going to gain anything from helping O'Sullivan! He'll kill you before he pays you!"

"Oh, and you're so sure about that?" Craig raised his eyebrows with mock interest, sitting on the table once more.

Before Lourdes could answer, several faint gun shots sounded from the dock, catching everyone's attention.

"I'll go see what that was." Sean cocked his gun once more, holding it to his side as he spoke with Craig. He motioned his head towards Lourdes, Isolde and Braden. "You take care of them."

With a nod of agreement, Craig stalked towards the window, trying to see what the commotion was. "Brought some of yer friends with ye?" He twisted his dark gaze back to Lourdes, who quickly shook her head. He snorted. "Am I supposed to actually believe that? What did I tell you about bringing backup?"

In wide strides, Craig stalked back towards the desk, retrieving all the guns and bullets from his pockets. As his back was slightly turned away from Lourdes, she tilted her head slowly to the side. Ever so carefully, she slid a pistol from the sleeves of her coat, careful not to make a sound. Her eyes landing on Craig once more, she stated, "You will pay for what you've done in this life and the next."

As he turned around, Craig saw her gun pointing steadily at his head.

Though, Lourdes' eyes widened as she perceived Craig holding a loaded gun as well, pointing straight at her.

vvv

A/N: Uh oh. What'd you guys think? xx IFHD