Kate stood in front of her home, staring at her watch, the clock was nearing three o'clock and her new "bodyguards" still hadn't showed up yet. There was an important meeting she was supposed to be at in fifteen minutes and the traffic in Boston was never exactly friendly, especially if you're in a hurry. She tapped her high heel against the pavement rapidly feeling her nerves begin to rattle. Being a new politician was hard enough for her to deal with, now she was going to be late? Her hand nervously searched her large purse for her cell phone when a horn honked in the street. She peered up behind her eyeglasses to find a black town car had pulled up. The drivers inside gave a small wave in her direction. She pulled herself together while trying to make out the faces in the car, and approached the car with speed. Any amount of speed walking was going to help her in this situation, at least that's what she thought. As soon as her backside touched the seat, the men turned around to face her. "Oh, fuck," she cursed looking into the eyes of the infamous Jem and Doug.

"Oh, fuck, no," Jem repeated in a harsher tone. "The fuck is this, Doug?" he threw a finger back to her and pulled his sunglasses off. "Get tha fuck out," he barked, throwing another finger outside of the car. Kate balked at him with a smirk and slammed her purse down on the backseat. His anger grew out of control, Doug didn't mention that they were going to be guarding Kate. Jem knew he had purposefully left her name out to get him to accept the job. Two thousand dollars a week for each of them and a bonus of five hundred for each private event, anonymous hire, he recited in his head.

"I think I'm the brains behind this shit, Jem," Doug said calmly, pulling his sunglasses off. "Now fuckin' drive or I'll cut your goddamn pay in half." Jem's jaw locked and flexed as he looked his supposed best friend. He pulled slowly away from the curb, cussing under his breath, before he slammed on the gas pedal. Doug let out a long stretch of air before turning to face Kate as Jem drove. "Hi Kate," he stated with a big smile. His personality and demeanor took a complete 180 degree turn. "How are ya?" She smirked at him and straightened out her pencil skirt as they drifted around a corner.

"Just fine. How are you, Doug?" If she could ever be thankful for one thing, it was how noble Doug was and how much he tried to bring out the good in Jem regardless of the belligerent fireball he was.

"Pretty damn good. Your boyfriend called us an' said you were havin' some issues with tha people in Charlestown." Jem's knuckles turned white on the steering wheel.

"Fuckin' boyfriend?" he yelled, flashing another fierce glance to Doug. "You wanna have this conversation right fuckin' now, dumb shit, I am drivin' an' I am one pissed off Irish motha' fucka'."

"Jem!" yelled Doug loudly, inches from his face. "I'll deal with your dumb ass lata' now shut the fuck up an' drive." Jem's fists balled up tightly as he drove the wheel. Kate watched his neck turn a brilliant shade of red around his fighting Irish tattoo from the backseat as he drove quickly through the small streets of Boston. He swerved in and out of cars with the speed of an Indy car driver. His foot slammed on the brakes as they came to a stop at a stoplight, causing Doug to almost crash his head into the dashboard. "I'm gonna break your fuckin' face, Jem," Doug warned as he leaned back and put his seatbelt on. "The only action you'll be gettin' is with a paper bag on your head."

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," he mumbled as he popped a cigarette in his mouth, lighting it quickly.

"Oh, actually, I can't be around smokers before a speech," Kate piped up with a fake cheerleader smile. She was trying to get a rise out of him, just for sheer pleasure. It was twisted, but she wanted to make him feel the pain she had that night in the hospital. She wanted him to suffer. Doug eyed Kate then put his eyes on Jem.

"Jem, put that shit out, man."

"My fuckin' pleasure," he growled, cracking the window while he glowered at Kate. "You're a heartless bitch, ya know that?" he asked, tossing the cigarette out of the window. She shrugged her shoulders and leaned back in the seat. "You an' I, Doug, we are gonna have a very serious conversation about your fuckin' snake bullshit." Doug just nodded and stared out of the window, watching the buildings fly by as they took off again. They pulled up outside of the city county building in record time. Kate still had five minutes to make it up the stairs and get into the meeting. It blew her mind considering how late they had left her townhouse.

"Stay here," ordered Doug. He was annoyed with Jem's behavior. More annoyed than he usually was. This wasn't some fight on the street or some cheap little job to knock over a gas station, this was a real job. So many clients would be watching and Liam had hired them personally, he needed Jem to put his best foot forward. "Put tha four ways on an' wait 'til we're done."

"What-the-fuck-eva'," he snapped, turning the radio up in the car. Doug shut the door as quietly as his anger permitted him before tugging on his black blazer and opening the front door for Kate. She smiled and thanked him, side stepping him as she walked past him. In elevator, it was deathly quiet. Kate fidgeted with her watch a few times, catching a few side glances at Doug.

"He been okay?" she asked casually, looking up at him. She already knew the answer, but she needed something to calm her nerves in the middle of the silence. He raised his eyebrows, his mouth dropping into a frown.

"Nah, not really." He pulled his sunglasses off and looked at her. Doug's mind tried to process what to say to her. She raised her eyebrows, almost as if she was hoping he would say more, but he went against it. He had respect for her and didn't want her focused on Jem her entire meeting. "I won't tell ya anymore." He refocused his eyes on the shiny elevator door before them and crossed his arms in front of him.

"Thanks," she breathed in shock as the door opened. She had to put her game face on and quit worrying about Jem. He was acting like a child and as far as she was concerned, she could play that game, too. Her mind twisted in circles trying to remember if she ever told Liam about her relationship with the famous, rowdy Irish thug. She never recalled telling him or him asking about her tattoo. A woman greeted them as they stepped off of the elevator. Kate tried to push him as far out of her mind as possible as the woman shook her hand and led them to a long conference hall.

After an hour, the meeting had finally ended. It was a bunch of bullshit in Doug's opinion. He cursed himself a few times for not paying attention on social studies or any class for that matter. He felt like a major tool in the room, listening to them talk about ideas, numbers, and use big words like destitute and culpable. They left the meeting with Kate in a big cheery mood, smiling broadly as they walked towards the elevator. "The fuck was all that about?" Doug asked as the elevator closed on them. His brain was still spinning trying to make sense of everything.

"Just a quick meeting to summarize my next bill." She adjusted her purse and squinted up at him, trying to understand why he was so interested all of the sudden. It was no offense to Doug, but she had never taken him as the political type.

"Uh-huh and what's that? More shit ta cause everyone ta hate your ass more than they do?" he asked honestly. She knew the bills were causing some issues, but it was for the town's own good.

"This is a new bill regarding the sentencing of repeated convicts in Charlestown." He stared up at the digital numbers on the elevator as the descended. "It's going to increase jail time or make them undergo mandatory community service for a year." Doug scoffed and turned to face her.

"I gotta be honest with ya, Kate. Not one motha' fucka' in Charlestown is gonna do community service."

"They do it or they get more jail time. Plain and simple."

"I don' know…" The bell rang as the elevator car landed on the first floor. They walked out onto the main floor and looked at each other. "You eva' think that maybe you might be takin' this a little fah?" She looked over his face and he gestured back towards Jem. "I know you're tryin' to effect men like him. You think you can change him inta somethin' brilliant an' shit." She dropped her head down and stared at the tips of her shoes. Doug always had insight into everyone. It was almost too bad he wasn't smart enough to be a therapist. "Ya want him ta change. I do, too, Kate," he spoke calmly recounting all of the times he's stopped Jem or yelled at him for taking his anger to another level. "I wanna see him take charge an' have a normal life, ya know?"

"That's all I want, too, Doug." She looked up from her shoes and stared into his brown eyes. She prayed every night that he would change. She wanted a family life with him. She wanted everything to do with him, but she knew it would never happen with his attitude and job choice. "At least you've put him in a new line of work." They walked out the door together to the car to find Jem leaning against the town car smoking a cigarette. He flicked it out towards the street as they approached and started walking around to the driver's door.

"Jem," Doug barked. He froze in his tracks. Doug shook his head. "Open tha fuckin' door for Kate, Jem. Seriously? Who tha fuck raised you?" He turned on his heel, his face twisted with a new anger. It had finally subsided from his last explosion and now it was slowly returning.

"Fuckin' sure," he mumbled, opening the door with a huff. Kate nodded at him as he looked into her eyes. He only held eye contact with her for a second before looking away quickly and walking back off around the car.

"Thank you, Doug," she whispered. Doug patted her shoulder. He was going to turn them both around one way or another. The guilt from being the one who made the relationship fall apart was driving him to fix their relationship. Kate climbed into the car slowly, as Jem and Doug did. She sat silently for a few moments while Jem pulled out and lit another cigarette.

"Where the fuck are we headed now, Miss Daisy?" Jem asked, turning to face her.