I do not own the Boondock Saints.

"Hey," a familiar voice said over the phone. " Meet you at the Café Mondego at five o'clock." There was a slight pause, and then the message ended. Grace set down the phone and grinned wide. She knew Audrey would be furious with her for giving their new number to someone without asking her first, but Audrey would have to understand.

Grace showed up at the Café Mondego right on time. He met her on the way in. She grinned when she saw him. "After you, Miss Smecker," he said, opening the door for her.

"Uncle Paul!" she ignored the open door and just hugged him.

"Come on," he said, leading her in.

"This place is awesome," she replied as they sat down at a table. "Watch me score a free cup of coffee."

A waiter came up, smiling. "Want a question?" Grace nodded.

"Bring it!"

"What is Mercedes's maiden name?" the waiter asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Herera," she said with certainty. It was fake. She wasn't sure, but if the wait staff knew you weren't sure, they 'd always say you were wrong.

The waiter sighed. "True. One cup of coffee, free of charge. Would you like anything else?" Grace nodded. "And a plain bagel please." The waiter nodded and turned to Uncle Paul.

"Would you like a question?" he asked. Uncle Paul shook his head.

"No thank you, just a café latte and an onion bagel with cream cheese," he said. When the waiter left, he turned to his niece and raised an eyebrow. "Monte Cristo trivia?"

She smiled. "I love this place," she said. "So what are you doing on this side of town? Just visiting me?"

"A case," replied her uncle. "I'm not supposed to discuss it with you."

She pouted. "That's never stopped you before."

They stopped talking momentarily when the waiter came back with their food. When he left, her uncle started talking again. "Well, since it's already solved…" he said, and Grace grinned. "Yesterday, Boston PD found two bodies in the alley, crushed to death. They had bandages, one had bandages around his head, one on his a-butt," he knew his niece's low tolerance for bad language."Well, it turns out they were Russian mob" he stopped, suddenly noticing his niece was white as a sheet. "What's wrong?"

"Russian mob?" she asked. How many Russian guys could have been wandering around with bandages on their buttocks?

Uncle Paul was peering at her. "Spill," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"It was self defense," she said firmly.

"I know that," her uncle said, a little exasperated with her. "I want to know how you know it."

"I helped Audrey patch the guys up," she said.

Uncle Paul raised an eyebrow. "Which ones? The Russians or the Irish boys?"

Grace bit her lip. "Both," she said, shrugging. "You know how Audrey is." Uncle Paul nodded. He knew. "We were at the bar on St. Patrick's Day, and then Murphy and Connor came to the clinic we're volunteering at the next morning."

"Why were you at McGinty's on St. Patrick's day?" Uncle Paul asked.

Grace relaxed and made sure to look him in the eye. She shrugged. "They invited Audrey, who brought me along. Audrey made them some cake." She smiled mischievously. "I think she and Connor should get together."

Uncle Paul sat back in his chair and smiled. "Really?" he asked. "I thought the other one was more her type." They were both grinning.

Grace sighed. "I want to play some Much Ado About Nothing on them," she said wistfully.

He chuckled. "I don't think Murphy's the Don Pedro type."

She sniffed. "Then I'll get Rochester to help me." Uncle Paul laughed out loud at that.

"So what's with the new number," he asked. "Why'd you guys move?"

Again she made sure to seem relaxed and looked him in the eye. "The freelance writer thing isn't being very lucrative lately, and Audrey was too busy with her school work to help out."

He frowned. "What about your parents' money?"

She shook her head. "No. That's for emergencies only, you know that."

"And this doesn't qualify because…"

"Because there's another option," Grace said, arms crossed over her chest. The money her parents had left for her was off limits. That was the way it was, the way it had always been since… that day. Grace had promised, and she would not break that promise.

"Grace," Uncle Paul said, rubbing his temples, "you know that promise… it's not..."

"I've heard your opinions about it. I know what you're going to say," she said. Then sighed. "Look at me, fighting with you. Ugh, and I promised myself I wouldn't turn into Dad."

Uncle Paul looked up and smiled. "Don't worry. You've got all the best parts. What about Audrey's parents? Aren't they concerned?"

Grace raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Audrey's parents? Audrey's parents are the same as ever. Invisible. I still have not met them, or heard them call. She doesn't even mention them!"

Uncle shrugged and looked sympathetic. "It's a different family."

She looked at him, eyes narrowed. "You say that like you know." Audrey had been welcomed into the Smecker family like Grace's twin sister. The same could not be said for the Owens family. After more than twenty years of friendship, it had become something of a mystery.

Paul shook his head. "Just guessing. I'm good at that."

She continued to look at him. "I've always suspected you knew something."

"I don't know anything. If you want some answers, why don't you ask Audrey?"

Grace looked down and bit her lip. "I'm afraid to. I love her like a sister, and I know she loves me the same way but… I'm afraid asking that question will ruin everything. She'll tell me when she's ready."

Uncle Paul looked at his niece. "Well, tell her I send my best wishes. She's a good person."

Grace shook her head. "I want to ask you just one question."

Paul took a sip of coffee. "Shoot."

"Do you know about Audrey's family because of your job, or because you've been poking your nose into where it doesn't belong."

Paul set down his cup, grinning, and stood. "No comment." He threw some money on the table, enough to cover their food and leave a generous tip. "I've got to go. I've got a date tonight."

She sighed and stood. "A real date, or a… date?" she asked. Sometimes Uncle Paul said he had a date when he really meant he was working a case.

"A real one," her uncle replied.

She grinned. "Really? Good for you!" Poor guy was a workaholic.

Paul grinned at her and cupped her chin. "Until next time," he said, kissing her on the forehead.

"Until next time!" she said, grinning as her favorite uncle walked away. But he paused and turned around. "Did you know the MacManus boys speak Latin?"

Grace raised an eyebrow. "Really? Are they as good as me?" Paul laughed but nodded. She grinned. "No, but they know Audrey and I speak it. They each have Latin words tattooed on their hands."

"I noticed," Paul said. "Did you get a chance to read them?" She nodded. "What do they say?"

"Why?" She asked.

Her uncle shrugged. "Just curious."

"Veritas means truth, and aequitas means justice," she said.

Paul frowned and then continued to walk away. "Truth and Justice?" he called over his shoulder.

Grace nodded. "Truth and Justice."

I hinted at it before, but now it's all out there, blatant truth. Grace is Agent Smecker's niece.

Yeah, just so you know, everyone is somehow related to everyone in this fic. Not necessarily a blood relation, but they are all connected somehow. I'm not going to just throw random OCs in here. (Though I've been known to do that in the past.) It's a lot more fun this way.

My apologizes, but this chapter is totally a filler. All it does is give some background and make me happy. I really wish I knew of a cafe that gave me free coffee for knowing book trivia. Oh, and by the way, I actually haven't read the Count of Monte Cristo, so if I got Mercedes maiden name wrong, my sincere apologies. I know I should have gone with a book I've read, but I love the name Mondego. It just sounds awesome. I realize that Count Mondego is the bad guy, but his name is so much fun to say! Mondego... It's a lot more fun to say than Dantes.

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