FBI Headquarters
Eunice sat at her desk as she looked at the reports about what happened at the Golden Cactus Ranch. The FBI agents and the driver had been released from the hospital, but were placed on leave until further notice. She had been thinking about what they had said about what happened to them and the idea of them being taken over by ghost or heavenly beings seemed like something out of a horror movie.
"Hmmm," she said with a sigh then looked up when someone knocked on the door. She got up as she walked to the door and she opened the door. The man with white hair peppered with gray and brown hair and hard blue eyes stood in the hallway and she saw he had some file folders in his hands. "Hello, Sir."
"Hello," the man with white hair peppered with gray and brown hair and hard blue eyes said.
"How may I help you?"
"I have news on Agent Smecker and the Saints."
She stood back to let him into her office and the man with white hair peppered with gray and brown hair and hard blue eyes walked to the desk. He sat down in the chair in front of the desk and Eunice closed the door. She walked to the desk when she sat in the high back chair and he looked at her.
"How is Agent Smecker?" Eunice asked.
"He's holding his own," the man with white hair peppered with gray and brown hair and hard blue eyes said as he slid the top file folder to her. Eunice picked up the file folder as she opened the file folder and read the information.
"It says here that he is in a mild coma."
"Yes. Doctor Hendricks isn't sure when he will wake up."
Eunice read the rest of the file then she closed the file folder and she looked at the next file folder after he slid the file folder to her.
"This is the Sam Warren file," Eunice said.
"Yes. We officially closed the case," the man with white hair peppered with gray and brown hair and hard blue eyes said.
She looked at the next file folders when she opened the file folders after he had slid them to her and she looked at the photographs of Connor and Murphy.
"These are the files on the Saints," Eunice said.
"Yes. We officially close their case as well," the man with white hair peppered with gray and brown hair and hard blue eyes said. "It's a shame, though. I think they would have made great additions to the team."
Eunice smiled when she handed him back the file folders and the man with white hair peppered with gray and brown hair and hard blue eyes stood up. He headed for the door when he opened the door and she watched him leave the room. She reached for her purse then opened her purse and she removed her other cellphone. She turned the high back chair to prevent the security camera from seeing what she was doing and she typed on the keyboard.
Can you talk?
She waited when a soft beeping sound filled the air and she looked at the screen.
Hey, Blondie.
Hey, Deadman.
What do you want?
Just wanted to update you on Smecker's condition.
Is he dead?
No. He's in a coma.
Do they know if he'll wake up?
No.
She thought Diego had ended the call when the soft beeping sound filled the air and she looked at the screen.
Who told you he was in a coma?
Who is this?
The one who likes Connor.
"Oh. Miss Paranoid," Eunice whispered.
My boss told me.
It wasn't his doctor then?
No. Why? You think he lied?
What do you think?
Look. You heard the doctor. Smecker was in rough shape. He couldn't just up and heal overnight.
Eunice waited when the soft buzzing sound happened again and she looked at the screen.
I need to know something. How are we going to pay for our hospital stay.
Who is this?
Connor.
Like I told your girlfriend. I got it covered.
Do you mean the FBI is going to pay for everything?
Am I still talking to Connor?
No. Murphy.
Yes. The FBI is paying for it. And, no, you don't have to pay us back or owe us anything. Though my boss did think you two would have made great additions to the team.
He wanted to recruit us?
Am I still talking to Murphy?
Connor.
That's what he told me.
Don't put any ideas into their heads.
Who am I talking to now?
Their sister.
Eunice smiled as she softly laughed and she lightly shook her head.
We weren't going to say yes.
Are you talking to me or her?
Her.
Sorry. We're passing the phone around.
Now who am I talking to?
The one who likes Murphy.
Then I need all of you to believe me when I tell you this. The files on the Saints are closed.
You mean we can do whatever we want?
Connor?
Murphy.
Within reason.
We can go after people?
Connor?
Aye.
You're retired!
Who's got the phone now?
Their sister.
I agree. You two are retired.
Like me.
Yeah, Deadman. Like you.
You better not be playing us.
"And we're back to Miss Paranoid," she whispered.
I'm not.
Are you going to keep us informed if and when Smecker wakes up? This is the one who likes Murphy.
Yes.
He still could try to get hold of us.
Connor?
Aye.
I don't think so. He can't move.
He can still talk.
Will you knock it off?!
Why did you type that?!
Give me back the phone!
"Why am I picturing a fight right now?" Eunice whispered and the soft binging sound filled the air.
Sorry about that, Blondie.
That's ok. Are they alright?
Once we got them apart.
Tell them I'll contact you once I find out what's going to happen to Smecker if or when he wakes up.
Will do.
She watched the screen go black as she deleted the texts and she placed the cellphone back in her purse. She sat back in the high back chair as she softly laughed then she went back to reading the reports about what happened at the Golden Cactus Ranch.
The Golden Cactus Ranch
Diego cleared the texts as he turned off the cellphone and he looked at Connor, Lisa, Darcy and Murphy sitting on the floor. Neither Connor or Murphy were bleeding, but they looked angry and they leaned back against Lisa and Darcy. They placed their arms around Connor and Murphy and the twins glared at each other.
"Say you're sorry," Annie said with a stern look on her face.
"Sorry," the twins said at the same time then they started laughing.
"Do you believe her?" she asked, looking at Diego.
"Yeah. I do," Diego said.
"How about you? Do you believe her?" Connor asked as he looked back at Lisa.
"I guess I'll have to," Lisa said.
"I'm just glad it's over," Darcy said and Murphy smiled back at her.
"Guess I better call Ma," Annie said and Connor and Murphy gave her stunned looks.
"Why?!" Connor asked.
"We said we were sorry!" Murphy said.
"I mean to tell her we decided on a wedding date," Annie said as she rolled her eyes then she picked up the phone receiver. She pushed the buttons then placed the phone receiver to her right ear and waited.
"Hullo?" Annabelle's voice asked as a soft crackling sound filled Annie's ear.
"Hey, Ma."
"What happened!? Are you an' yer brudders alright?!" she demanded and Annie moved the phone receiver from her ear.
"Aye, Ma. We're fine," Annie said then she told Annabelle what happened.
"Sounds like th'bastard got what he deserved. Anythin' else you wanna tell me?"
"Diego and I decided on a wedding date."
"Finally! So….? When is it?"
"We decided on Saint Patrick's Day."
"That's perfect! I'll call th'church…."
"Uh… Ma? We can't be married in Ireland."
"Why not?!"
"We're not sure if Connor an' Murphy will be able t'leave th'country."
"Can we?" Murphy whispered after Diego sat down next to him.
"Dunno," Diego whispered.
"Where are you two gonna get married then?" Annabelle's voice asked.
"Um….," Annie said when Lisa got up off the floor and she walked to Annie. "Hold on."
Annie got up off the couch as she and Lisa walked to one side of the room and she wondered what Lisa wanted to say.
"Ok…," Lisa said with a smile. "Seeing as we don't know if your brothers can leave the country. I think you guys should get married here."
"Here?!"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! I'm sure!" she said and Annie hugged her.
"I think we just solved where you're gettin' married," Connor said as he got off the floor and headed for the couch. He picked up the phone receiver and sat down. "Ma?"
"Connor!? What is goin' on!? Where's Annie!?" Annabelle's voice asked.
"Lisa jus' told her she an' Diego can get married here."
"Where?"
"At the ranch."
"Did she say she wanted t'do that?"
"Aye."
"Good. Where is that loser of a brudder of yers?"
"Hang on," he said then looked at Murphy. "Ma wants t'talk with you."
Murphy crawled to the couch while Connor handed him the phone receiver and Murphy sat against the couch. Connor sat next to him on the floor and Murphy held the phone receiver out so he could hear.
"Hey, Ma," Murphy said.
"I jus' wanna tell you that I am angry with what you two did. But…. Seein' how you did it t'save yer sister an' two of God's creatures… I forgive you. You also wanted t'have final words with that asshole. Jus' promise me this is th'final time an' you'll never do it again," Annabelle's voice said and they smiled at each other.
"We promise," Connor said.
"We promise," Murphy repeated and they heard her laughing.
"Good. Oh… I also want you t'remember that both of you are my little angels. I love you so much," Annabelle's voice said.
"We love you, too," Connor said.
"Aye. Love you, Ma," Murphy said.
"Give th'phone back t'yer sister," Annabelle's voice said.
"I think she wants t'talk t'you about th'weddin'," Connor said and Annie walked to him, taking the phone receiver from him. Connor and Murphy got to their feet as they left the room and Diego went to follow them. They sat on the bottom step of the staircase and Diego leaned against the wall.
"What's wrong?" Diego asked.
"Our little sister's gettin' married," Murphy said.
"An' we're here t'see it,' Connor said.
"Yeah. You are. So?" Diego asked.
"See… We resolved ourselves t'the fact that we were gonna be livin' on that fuckin' sheep ranch fer the rest of our lives," Murphy said.
"Which means we'd miss out on a lot of shit," Connor said.
"Shit like Annie finally meetin' th'right guy. Fallin' in love with him. Them gettin' into fights an' shit. Them gettin' married. Havin' kids."
"We woulda missed all of it."
"But that didn't happen," Diego said.
"That's because our priest got killed an' we went back t'work," Connor said.
"Which ended with us in prison," Murphy said.
"An' we woulda ended up either spendin' th'rest of our lives in prison or we'd get th'death penalty fer killing those FBI agents."
"That didn't happen either," Diego said.
"Only because of Bloom, Uncle an' Smecker broke us outta prison," Murphy said.
Diego watched Connor placing his right arm around his brother's shoulders and Murphy leaned into Connor. Diego sighed as he lightly kicked off the wall and he walked to stand in front of them.
"Wanna know something?" Diego asked and they nodded. "I am the oldest of six kids. Me and five sisters. Never really got along with them. Not like you and Annie. Hell. They even blamed me when our mother died."
"How did she die?" Connor asked.
"It was a drunk driver. Never caught the asshole."
Connor and Murphy saw the sadness in his eyes and Diego sighed.
"I didn't mind being the only guy in the house next to my dad, but I did want brothers. I thought I finally got 'em when my sisters got married. Problem was those guys were assholes. Never got along with them. Fought like cats and dogs. Got to the point where I wasn't welcome to their houses. Hell. I don't even know what my nieces and nephews look like. Could walk right by 'em and not know it. What I am trying to say is I'm glad I finally got my brothers," Diego said with a grin.
"Even with us nearly gettin' you killed?" Connor asked.
"Yeah."
"Uh… Didn't we want a brother when Ma was pregnant with Annie?" Murphy asked.
"Aye. We did," Connor said.
"Then it's a good thing she had her. We finally got a brudder."
They softly laughed then became silent and Diego crossed his arms over his chest.
"Wanna go get something to eat?" Diego asked and they looked up at him.
"Can we go get some of those spicy chicken wings at th'Wild Bull?" Murphy asked as he sat up.
"I wouldn't mind some wings," Connor said and they rose to their feet. They headed for the front door while Annie walked down the hallway and Diego opened the door.
"Hey! Where are you going!?" Annie asked then stopped in front of Diego.
"We're going to get something to eat," Diego said. She looked from him to her brothers and she saw the sadness in their eyes.
"Lisa said we were going to that new family pizza place. "
"Is that th'one with those cool games?" Connor asked with a grin.
"Yeah. She and Darcy went to get the kids."
The sound of rushed footsteps came from the staircase as the kids appeared and Lisa and Darcy were behind them.
"Let's go!" Chandler said.
"Yeah! I'm starving!" Peter said.
"Connor, Annie, Murphy and Diego need to get their coats on," Lisa said with a laugh.
"Did someone feed Ebony or Devil?" Diego asked.
"We'll do it," Connor said and he and Murphy headed down the hallway. Annie had seen the happy looks on their faces and Diego slid his arms around her waist.
"You really know how to cheer them up, don't you?" Diego whispered and Annie nodded.
A few minutes later, they got in the cars and the cars headed down the drive after Diego, Connor and Murphy started the engine.
Houston - Cosmic Pizza
The cars pulled into the parking lot as the doors opened and the kids got out of the cars. Darcy, Annie and Lisa followed them to the door after getting out of the car and Annie looked back at the cars. Diego, Connor and Murphy got out of the cars as they closed the doors and walked to Annie, Lisa, Darcy.
"Before we go inside," Lisa said as she held up her right index finger and locked eyes with Connor. "You are not to turn this into a competition. We're here to have fun."
"We know, Mom," Chandler said with a small eyeroll.
"I was talking to them," she said and the kids looked at Connor and Murphy. The kids smiled as Connor leaned close enough to touch the tip of Lisa's nose with the tip of his nose and she arched an eyebrow. She snorted a laugh and he lightly kissed her lips.
"Let's go," Diego said and they headed for the door. Diego opened the door as they walked inside and the laughter of children, voices and loud music filled the air.
"Are you all together?" the hostess asked with a grin.
"Yes, Ma'me," Diego said with a nod. They received the hand stamps and colored, paper bracelets and the hostess told them where to go order their food and drinks. The boys eyed the prize counter when they boys saw a box with water blasters on the top shelf and their eyes widened.
"Hey," Connor said as the boys turned to look at him. "See how many tickets it takes t'get that?"
"Yeah," Chandler said with a sigh.
"It would take forever to get that many tickets," Peter grumbled.
"Which is why it's a good idea t'check out th'other stuff," Connor explained and they nodded.
They headed for the counter where people ordered their food and drinks and they told the cashiers what they wanted to eat. They found two booths and a table for two as they sat down and Murphy noticed the family sitting in the booth behind Mark and Nichole. Something about the family caused red flags to appear in Murphy's head and he frowned.
"Are you ok?" Darcy asked and he nodded.
"Papa? Can we go play games now?" Mark asked.
"Can we?" Murphy asked, softly.
"Yeah. That's why they gave us this," Darcy said as she pointed to the small cone with a number on it. "This will tell the waiter where we're sitting. I'll keep an eye out for when he brings our food."
"I see some guys from school. Can I hang out with them?" Mark asked.
"Yeah. But come back here when I call you."
Murphy watched Mark pick up the plastic cup with the game tokens in it then run off to see his friends and Murphy picked up Nichole. They headed for the games for younger guests and he held onto Darcy's left hand.
After the food arrived, Murphy glanced at the family from time-to-time and Darcy lightly tapped the back of his left hand.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Not sure," he whispered then took a long drink of soda. He looked at the plastic bag with the tickets Nichole had won and he noticed there were more tickets than before they sat down to eat. "How did she get all those tickets?"
"I… I had been putting some of mine in her bag."
"Oh. I thought I was th'only one doin' that."
"You're such a good papa," Darcy said and he ducked his head down as a small blush moved across his cheeks.
"Papa?" made him look at Mark and Mark was looking into the plastic token cup. "I'm running outta tokens."
"You can use some of mine," Murphy said as he reached for the plastic token cup and poured some of the tokens into the plastic token cup.
"Thanks."
"Do you need any more tokens, Sweetie?" Darcy asked Nichole.
"Nope," Nichole said and poured her tokens into Mark's plastic token cup. "I'm done playing games."
"You sure?" Mark asked and she nodded.
Murphy noticed how the mother was looking at them then at her own kids and he noticed the angry and disgusted look on her face.
"Hey, Murphy!" Connor called out and Murphy looked at his twin. "Diego an' I wanna go hit the skee ball. Wanna join us?"
Murphy looked at Darcy as she leaned closer and they touched foreheads.
"Remember. It's not a competition. Just go and have fun. And no fighting," she softly warned and he nodded his head then he lightly kissed her lips which made the kids giggle. He got up as he glanced at the father and mother as they glared at him and he walked to Diego and Connor.
"What's wrong?" Diego asked as he glanced at the family sitting in the booth behind Mark and Nichole.
"Not sure," Murphy said with a sigh. "All I know is they have th'rudest kids I've ever seen,"
"I did notice that," Connor said as he glanced at the family.
"Let's go," Diego said and they headed off toward the skee ball games.
A short time later, Murphy picked up the plastic bags with the prize tickets inside when he noticed the father was stuffing napkins and scraps of food into the plastic bags with his kids' prize tickets. The father then covered the napkins and scraps of food with the prize tickets and Murphy frowned. Murphy walked toward the prize counter when he handed the plastic bags to Darcy then picked up Nichole.
"Papa! Look! Alien dolls!" Nichole said as she pointed to the plush alien dolls. Murphy noticed they came in different colors and they looked like they might fit in the toy spaceship Nichole had at home.
"Maybe you have enough tickets to get one," Darcy said and Nichole tried to decide which one she wanted.
"Looks like you guys have a lot of tickets," Diego said and the boys looked at the plastic bags.
"Not sure if we have enough to get those water blasters," Chandler said as he frowned.
Murphy looked behind him when he noticed the mother, father and their kids and the father was grumbling about having to wait in line.
"It's our turn," Darcy said and Murphy nodded.
"Hey," the prize counter girl said with a smile.
"Hi!" Nichole said.
"Hand her your tickets," Darcy said and Nichole handed the prize counter girl the plastic bag. The prize counter girl placed the plastic bag in the bowl on the scale and they looked at the numbers. "Nikki! You got enough tickets for all of the alien dolls!"
"Wow!" Nichole said with wide eyes.
"Do you want one of each color or six of the same color?" the prize counter girl asked.
"One of each color, please."
"Ok," she said and the prize counter girl removed six, different plush alien dolls off the shelf. She placed the plush alien dolls on the prize counter then looked at the numbers on the scale. "You have enough for one more thing."
Nichole looked at the prizes in the prize case and Murphy pointed to where she could pick a prize.
"I want a butterfly ring, please," Nichole said as she pointed and the prize counter girl removed the plastic butterfly ring from the prize case.
"There you go," she said and Nichole smiled.
"Thank you."
"Would you put the dolls and the ring in her bag, please?" Darcy asked and the prize counter girl nodded then placed the plush alien dolls and the plastic butterfly ring in the plastic bag then handed the plastic bag to Nichole.
"Ok, guys. It's your turn," Lisa said and the boys walked to the prize counter. They handed the prize counter girl the plastic bags and she placed the plastic bags in the bowl after she removed Nichole's tickets. She looked at the numbers as the boys saw they didn't have enough for the water blasters and the boys frowned. "Hold on."
Lisa handed the prize counter girl her plastic bag and the prize counter girl placed the plastic bag in the bowl. Connor handed her his plastic bag and the prize counter girl placed the plastic bag into the bowl.
"That's still not enough," Peter grumbled.
"Here," Diego said and he and Annie handed her their plastic bags.
"Are all of you together?" the prize girl asked.
"Yep," Peter said as he looked at Lisa, Diego, Annie and Connor.
The prize counter girl placed the plastic bags into the bowl then looked at the numbers.
"Still not enough," Mark grumbled.
"We're with them, too," Darcy said and she handed the prize counter girl her plastic bag then Murphy handed her his plastic bag. He had seen other families combining their tickets and the prize counter girl placed the plastic bags into the bowl.
"We're two tickets short," Chandler said with a frown.
Nichole looked at the two prize tickets she had in her hand. She had forgotten to put them in her plastic bag and she smiled.
"Here!" Nichole said as she held out the prize tickets.
"Are you sure?" Darcy asked and Nichole nodded.
The prize counter girl smiled as she took the prize tickets from Nichole, placed the prize tickets in the bowl and the boys cheered.
"Alright. Calm down," Connor said and some of the parents were softly laughing.
"Say thank you to Nichole," Lisa said.
"Thank you," the boys said at the same time.
"You're welcome," Nichole said and Murphy gave her a small hug.
"Ok. Which one do you want? The blue ones or the red one?" the prize girl asked while looking up at the water blasters.
"The blue one, please," Mark said and the prize girl used the small stepladder to get the box with the water blasters. She carefully climbed down the small stepladder when she handed the box to Lisa and the boys thanked her. They headed for the door when Murphy and Connor heard shouting coming from behind them and they turned to see the father yelling at the prize counter girl.
"Wonder what that's all about," Connor said as two security guards and someone Connor thought was the manager headed for the prize counter.
"Saw him stuffing napkins and food into his kids' bags an' pilin' th'tickets around an' on top of 'em," Murphy said.
"Why did he do that?"
"Guess he wanted t'make th'bags heavier so his kids would get better prizes."
"Looks like he got caught."
"Aye. Proves cheaters never win."
"No. They don't," Connor said and they headed for the exit. They walked outside then headed for the cars and Lisa was placing the box with the water blasters on the trunk. They got in the cars when Diego, Connor and Murphy started the engines and the cars left the parking lot a few seconds later.