Author's note: I don't own 'em, I just take them out to play a little ;) Murphy's Law (known as 'Sod's Law' in the UK) states "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" and this does seem to be the case for the Reagan family quite often ;)

So poor Jamie has stumbled into the middle of a world of hurt... what will he do now?

2. Stepping Up

Jamie Reagan stared at the woman in front of him in shocked horror, a feeling of dread threatening to overwhelm him as the full situation dawned on him. He had just inadvertently rescued the niece of one of the most violent and elusive mob bosses in New York. The Moran family had their fingers in different pies all over the globe and were probably one of the largest crime families in the world. They controlled drug operations, trafficking, prostitution and intimidation in multiple US cities as well as the entire UK and large swathes of Europe. Joseph Moran had controlled the European side of the operation while his little brother controlled the US side of the business. After Joseph's death in Manchester by British police in the late 1990's, his wife and young daughter had disappeared, presumed either dead or returned to the family in New York. And yet, here stood the daughter, all grown up, with a strong British accent and covered in blood after a beating from her Uncle's goons.

"Why is your uncle trying to kill you?" Jamie asked, his mind trying to comprehend everything that was happening.

"He's not. Those two idiots thought I was skimming the tills at the new bar, McLearey's, and decided to take matters into their own hands," she snorted, wiping blood from her eyes as the cuts to her forehead continued to bleed.

"So what'll happen when he finds out about this?"

"Well, he'll almost certainly have the two idiots killed for daring to lay a hand on me," she confessed, her tone a mixture of vindictive righteousness and overwhelming sadness. "The bigger problem is what he'll do when they tell him what they think is currently happening to me..."

"Because they think that right now I'm probably raping you in this very alleyway," he groaned, wondering how the hell he was going to get himself out of this mess.

"But there's the thing. I'll tell him you pretended to want to rape and murder me to save me from those idiots as you knew I wasn't skimming the profits," she told him, swaying from side to side as she tried not to faint.

"First things first, we need to get you to a hospital," he said, gently grabbing hold of her arms to stop her from falling.

"My apartment is just a block away, I'll be fine if you can just help me get there?" she suggested, knowing full we that hospital was a bad idea.

"I'll help you get there but I'm calling Eoin as well," he told her, his tone brooking no argument.

"Fine, you can do it at my place," she acquiesced with a sigh. Looping his arm around her waist, Jamie helped support Eleanor as they made their way slowly towards her apartment, trying to keep his mind off the probable consequences of his actions.

)()()()()()()()()(

Jamie opened the door of the apartment and helped manoeuvre Eleanor through it, kicking the door closed behind him. He helped her into the small living room, easing her down onto the couch before he moved into the kitchen and grabbed a towel from the sideboard. Soaking it under the tap, he wrung it out and headed back to find she hadn't moved a muscle and her eyes were closed. His pulse quickened as he knelt beside her, pressing his fingers against her throat and sighing as he felt a strong pulse. He shook his head slightly as he leant back to start cleaning her wounds and saw the half smile that was tugging at her lips.

"Thank you," she murmured, keeping her eyes closed and staying still as he cleaned the blood from her face.

"I still think you should go to the hospital, some of these could do with stitches," he told her, trying to be stern and failing.

"Hospital would be a bad idea, they'd be asking questions and my particular family are not overly welcome with the authorities," she reminded him, wincing as Jamie wiped the blood from her neck to reveal large bruises, beginning to turn purple, where at least one of the men had wrapped his hand around her throat.

"And you think that someone would do something to hurt you?" he queried.

"Yes, I know they would. Thing is, they'd be more likely to do something to me to get to Uncle Owen," she confirmed his suspicions.

"Well, I'm calling your uncle to let him know you're ok," he told her, brooking no arguments and mildly surprised when she just nodded slightly and relaxed back onto the couch.

)()()()()()()()()(

Jamie settled himself on the couch next to Eleanor and fished his cell out of his pocket. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he went through the phone book on his phone until he found the number for Eoin Moran. Steeling himself for what might happen he dialled the number, his heart beating harder with each ring until a deep voice answered.

"Eoin, it's Jackson," he began, unsure how to tell Eleanor's uncle about what had happened.

"Jackson, is something wrong?" the older man asked calmly.

"Yea, it's about Eleanor," he said, keeping his tone even.

"What's happened?" he demanded, a razor sharp edge to his tone.

"She's been attacked," he advised, trying to keep the anger out of his voice and only partially succeeding.

"Tell me exactly what happened," Eoin repeated, deliberately slow and precise.

"I was takin' a run, down near McLearey's, an I heard a scream so I went to take a look. Saw Donnie Banks and Frankie James beatin' on someone," he told him, his anger obvious in his voice now.

"Go on," Eoin encouraged.

"Well, I pretended to not have seen 'em and ended up interrupting them and then they told me bout Eleanor and I pretended I'd take care of it."

"Donnie and Frankie hurt my little girl?" he asked carefully. "What exactly did they think you were going to do to her?"

"Yeah," Jamie confirmed. "They accused her of skimming from McLearey's and thought they'd take care of it themselves."

"And...?"

"And they thought I was gonna have some fun with her before I killed her," he confessed, sounding a little sick at the thought.

"They thought you were gonna rape and kill my little girl?" the older man demanded, his voice ice cold.

"Yea."

"And how did they react to this?"

"They were laughin' as they walked away," Jamie told him, knowing the consequences of what he was doing and hating himself for doing it.

"Are you there with her now?" Eoin wanted to know.

"Yea, I've cleaned her up and she's restin' now," the young Reagan told him.

"Good. I want you to stay with her for a little while, until I can get over there to see her, you hear me?" the older man stated, making it clear he expected his order to be followed.

"No problem," Jamie confirmed and terminated the call, heart pounding as he leant back against the couch and tried to relax.

)()()()()()()()()(

Jamie closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, wondering how he had managed to get so far over his head in such a short period of time. He knew that if he stayed put, there was a very real chance he'd be dead before sunset; as soon as Eleanor told her uncle he was a cop, he'd be finding his way to the bottom of the river with blocks tied to his ankles. He also knew that if he didn't stay, his undercover operation was blown and he'd probably end up with a price on his head.

"Don't worry, Uncle Own won't hurt you," the woman beside his murmured, drawing him from his gloomy thoughts. He opened his eyes and looked at her seriously, wondering what she meant.

"You sure about that?" he demanded, the adredaline finally wearing off.

"Yes, because your secret is safe with me," she replied, drawing in a ragged breath.

"Really?

"Yes. You have no cause to worry, Jameson Reagan. I'm not about to tell that son of a bitch uncle of mine who and what you are," she promised, snorting ironically at his stunned expression.