Storming out of the kitchen to the living room with a new bottle of vodka,Eric muttered and cursed under his breath. ''Children. Both of you.''

Horatio and Jay were sitting on the couch staring at Eric. Neither of them seemed to think that there was anything wrong with an old fashioned brawl. They were both equally sore and shared the same number of bruises.

Handing both males a shot glass of the vodka to kill the obvious pain they were in,Eric examined the condition of the house.

''At least the blood is in the kitchen. I should be able to get it off the floor.''

Horatio grunted in response;he didn't care. Tilting his head back,he gulped all of the alcohol in his glass down.

Jay was staring at the contents of his glass. ''How strong is this stuff?''

''It's 40% alcohol. Drink it,''Eric replied.

''Uh...I don't know if my body can handle this stuff.''

Horatio handed his glass back to Eric and grabbed Jay's hair,pulling his head back. He took the younger male's glass away and forced the vodka into the Angel's mouth.

''Swallow,''the redhead ordered.

Jay broke into a coughing fit when he felt the alcohol burn its way down his throat. Struggling to his feet,Jay staggered out to the kitchen and turned on the sink faucet.

'To hell with a cup,that shit is strong!' Jay,having decided against filling a cup with water,stuck his head under the faucet to rinse the taste of the vodka out.

The water ran for a few minutes,and Horatio chuckled softly at the sounds of the young Angel gargling water.

''Another shot,Eric?'' The Cuban smirked and filled the glass a second time. Jay ignored the man as he held his head under the cold running water,desperate to rinse out the flavor.

Horatio took the glass the moment it was presented to him,filled to the brim. ''Don't go anywhere with that bottle.''

Eric smiled and set it down on the coffee table. Both of them heard when the sink was turned off,and Jay appeared in the kitchen doorway.

''Don't drink much,do you?''Horatio asked as he downed his glass and filled it back up.

''Not really... No,''the Angel gulped.

Jay shook his head,and that was when he felt the alcohol take affect. His vision blurred and he shook his head again,which didn't do much,but he did notice that his body suddenly stopped aching.

''Wow,''Jay slurred,sliding down the wall to sit on the floor,''So that's what vodka does.''

Horatio laughed. ''You'll get used to it.''

''Uh...?'' The Angel blinked and saw through his hazy vision that he was being handed a coffee mug full to the brim with the alcohol.

''Are you insane?! Half a bottle of beer knocks me on my ass! You want me drinkin' a whole mug o' this? Are you tryin' ta kill me?''Jay blurted.

Horatio sat down on the floor next to him and smiled. ''Shut up n' drink. By the time you finish that,you won't know what pain is. ... Course,if you don't want it,I'll drink it.''

Jay stared at the cup that was spinning and swirling in his vision for a few seconds,''I think I already forgot what pain is,''he muttered before he brought it to his lips and slowly chugged it down.

''You know,I didn't think you would actually fly up here,Athos.''

Said blond smiled. ''Well,Jake,I did promise ten grand if you put a bullet in Genesis Caine,and you did as I asked.''

''It was a lot easier than I thought it would be,too. He was just standing on the sidewalk. He didn't even see it comin'.''

Athos held out a stack of hundred dollar bills held together with rubber bands. ''That's exactly how I like my targets.''

Jake smiled and took the money. Slipping his fingers between the bills,he counted carefully.

''Ten grand. You kept your word.''

''Of course. Did you think I would lie to you?''Athos asked,pretending to feel offended.

''No. It's just that not many people pony up the cash when it's time.''

Athos shrugged. ''You did what I asked,so you get paid.''

Jake chuckled softly. ''Pleasure doing business with ya.''

Athos nodded,and grinned insanely when the ambulance bolted by. ''The pleasure's mine.'' The Angel waited until Jake was gone before he dug out a photo of Genesis' eldest child that had boxing around the edges from being in his pocket.

''Now to shatter the family.''

He walked calmly towards the scene where he knew he'd find two crying children and a few squad cars. He saw the New York CSI team dealing with the mess,and outside of the yellow tape were Mac and Danny. Dorian and Aidan had been locked in a car to keep them from damaging anything.

The younger of the two was staring out the window,wanting out. Aidan was leaning against the opposite door,eyes closed and exhausted.

''Oh,this is just too easy.'' Over all of the commotion and noise,Dorian failed to notice that his brother's door was being opened. Aidan jumped the moment the door jerked,and a hand was slapped over his mouth. Aidan struggled slightly,but only to turn and stare into Athos' eyes

The blond had to stop and follow suit,staring into young blue orbs. He could see a thought was crawling into his mind. It was strange,but for the smallest moment,it seemed to Athos that Aidan was challenging him.

''Aren't you gonna fight?''the blond asked. Aidan's eyebrows narrowed,but he didn't struggle;not even as he was being dragged to a car and being bound with duct tape.

When Athos threw him into the back of his car,he watched the boy shiver ever so slightly out of fear,but he didn't get up and move.

Sighing and trusting the feeling in his gut,he got into the driver's seat and locked the car doors. Aidan watched him turn the key in the ignition,watched his eyes,and watched his hands. He was studying him. When the car started to take off towards the highway,Aidan jerked uncomfortably and sat up.

Looking out the windows,he saw that they were headed for the airport. He waited until they were actually on the highway before he pushed himself up against a locked car door and narrowed his eyes at the opposite window.

Taking a deep breath,he shut his blue orbs...and forced himself towards the window with every bit of strength in his body.

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