Risk It All

*The next morning*

The sound of Ruby's crying had made Nolee's slowly flutter open, signaling the baby was awake. She exhaled a sigh before reaching a hand out.

"Morning babe." she whispered routinely each morning but her eyebrows had furrowed when she realized the spot next to her was empty. Seeing no sign of Murphy made her slightly confused, but perhaps he had passed out on the couch or something. Getting up from the bed and walking over to the crib she softly shushed the fussy newborn.

"It's okay sweetie pie, mama's here." she cooed picking up Ruby before changing her diaper and expertly pulled one side of her shirt down to allow Ruby to feed. Cradling her small body Nolee gingerly walked to the living room in search of the brothers. Her face had frowned discovering they weren't in the living room either. Did they even come home last night? Scanning around the apartment to see most of their items untouched, there seemed to be no sign they had.

"They probably passed out at Rocco's knowing them. I'll give him a call just to make sure." she whispered aloud making her way over the phone and dialing the Italian's number. A frustrated sigh left her lips as she of course only heard ringing from the other end. A part of her had been put on edge at the thought of something happening but she tried to be rational.

'It was St. Patrick's Day after all, the men probably got hammered. I'm sure they'll come home soon.' she reasoned and let Ruby finish eating, wincing when she felt little gums clamp down harshly.

"Relax little booby monster. You get hangry in the morning just like your uncle Connor."

_____

*Earlier that morning*

"Those motherfuckers." Murphy panted attempting to catch his breath after what happened just taken place.

"Damn Russians are out of control." Connor replied equally panting looking back to make sure they had gotten far enough away from the bodies that were left in the alley. Last night had gone unexpected to say the least. The twins had never expected to get themselves in a quarrel with the Russians, but after they threatened to close the bar down and attempt to make everyone leave, most importantly assaulting Rocco; the twins had got caught up in the moment. Before they knew it a brawl had ensued and every man in the bar seemed to be defending the brothers from the Russians. Sure Rocco made a joke about Ivan's mother sucking a lot of dick that her face looked like an egg, and Connor may or may not have tied Ivan down to the bar literally lighting his ass on fire; but did they really have to come back seeking vengeance against the two?

"Fuckin' pussies, it was just a bar fight." Murphy growled in annoyance observing the injuries they seemed to have sustained when Ivan and his posse surprised attacked them both the morning after they had passed out in the apartment above McGinty's. A place Doc let them use on their occasional stupors. Blood had dripped down Connor's forehead where he had been pistol whipped by Ivan, who then handcuffed him to the toilet before attempting to take Murphy hostage, threatening to shoot him. A small shiver ran through his body as he recalled moments ago being forced to sit execution style as Ivan and the other man each held a gun to his head.

Connor managing to free himself in time by lifting the entire toilet out its foundation had carried it out to the balcony as Ivan prepared to pull the trigger. Connor had dropped the toilet from the balcony and watched it land on top of Ivan's head and when Ivan was eliminated, Connor jumped out the window. With the grace of god he managed to land on the other man holding a gun however indirectly caused himself to become unconscious when he landed. Murphy panicked as he got up and checked on his brother making sure he still had a pulse before his hands had grabbed the toilet lid and finished off the man on the floor. They would indeed owe Doc a new toilet some later in the future.

Carrying Connor over his shoulder Murphy fled the scene as quickly as he could, carrying his twin until Connor became conscious again. The boys were still in fight or flight mode trying to process everything. Murphy looked down at the bag in his hand that contained valuables of the Russians. This whole thing had gotten fucked all the way up. His mind immediately felt guilty when Nolee had come into his head. She surely wouldn't be too happy with if she knew about this.

"What ta fuck do we do now?" Murphy questioned lost.

"We have ta go down ta police station and tell them what happened, tell em' it was self defense. But first, maybe we should get ourselves looked at." Connor reasoned wincing as he touched the wound on his forehead. Murphy pondered the idea hesitation at first but ending up agreeing with his twin.

"Okay, let's go."

_______

By the time the afternoon hit Nolee had become increasingly worried. There still had been no call or anything from the brothers. It was not like them to go MIA like this, they were always good about checking in. She already had tried calling Rocco several more times but no answer. The anxiety was slowing building up as she began to question if it was mistake to let Murphy go out last night. He wasn't in any danger...was he?

"Where is your Da?" she whispered to a sleeping Ruby nervously fidgeting her hands. As if the universe heard her a loud knock erupted from the door. Practically running towards it she opened it swiftly to reveal Rocco.

"Rocco! Where the hell is Murphy and Connor?" she demanded to the Italian who nervously shuffled on his feet.

"Umm well you see Nolee..."

"Rocco...what happened last night?" she demanded once more as she pointed a finger at the taller man who's eyes widened upon seeing the small girl become increasingly angry.

"Connor and Murphy are okay, but something...something happened last night. There was an altercation with a couple russians last night at the bar. We sort of ended up in a brawl with them."

"A brawl?!" Nolee screeched as Rocco winced.

"T-they came in threatening to close Doc's bar down last night and before we knew it things just got out of hand. I came here to pick some extra clothes up for the boys because well they..."

"Where are they?" she seethed while Rocco bit his lip.

"They're at the police station..."

"WHAT!"

_______

"Fuckin' hell Con, pick up ta pace, I can't keep draggin' ye fat ass." Murphy huffed as he helped Connor up the stairs of the police station.

"Fuck you Murph!" Connor retorted unable to help his limping caused by the jump as they manage to

make it to the entrance of the station, luckily the injuries they sustained hadn't been too severe. At least Doc had come by to look after the bag containing the Russian's valuables for them until they got out. Little did they know in the time theyhad spent getting checked out at the emergency room, the Boston PD had quickly got wind of what had taken place in the alleyway and were already investigating the crime scene. Upon entering the doors they could hear the various officers talking about possible scenarios of who caused the crime against the Russians. It appeared as if the police concluded expert criminals had committed the crime instead of two average Irish brothers. Apparently the events of the attack had seem to spark curiosity, the details of the crime seemingly unique to the police.

"These guys are miles away by now. But if you wanna beat your head against the wall, then here's what your lookin' for. They're scared like two bunny rabbits and anything a blue uniform or flashing blue lights is gonna spook 'em okay? So the only thing we can do is put a potato on a string and drag it through South Boston. Thanks for coming out." a tall lanky man with dark spiky hair concluded as the station erupted in laughter unaware of the brothers standing by the doorway.

"You'd probably have better luck with a beer." Murphy chimed in as all the heads of the officers had glanced at the door in a mix of shock and curiosity.

"Ye ya would." Connor smirked as they had only watched some of the officers' jaws drop, their eyes focusing on an astonished Agent Smecker staring back at them. After explaining their side of the story of what led up to the events this morning to Agent Smecker with the Russians, he had ultimately concluded the boys had also qualified for self defense. Agent Smecker had found himself infatuated upon getting to know the brothers better and the power of persuasion they seemed to be gifted with when it came to getting out of sticky situations.

"Uh, Agent Smecker? The press is everywhere, they seemed to be going in a frenzy over this whole thing. I don't know what you want to do?" a nervous officer had appeared at the door. Agent Smecker turned his gaze back to Connor and Murphy while giving a light shrug.

"You're not being charged. It's up to you if you want to talk to them." he told the brothers referring to the impatient media waiting outside.

"Absolutely not." Connor protested as Murphy nodded in agreement.

"No pictures either. Is there any way that we could stay here for ta night?" Murphy requested figuring it was best if they didn't leave the station just yet not wanting to attract anymore attention in case more of the Russians would still be seeking them out in retaliation.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem. I will be addressing the media momentarily to let them know there will be no interviews. I have to say though Mr. MacManus I'm surprised to see you be the one responsible for all this considering what occurred with Miss Wade. How is she and the baby doing by the way?" Agent Smecker asked curiously remembering the small girl.

"They're doing very well." Murphy answered softly feeling more guilt at the mention of Nolee.

"Glad to hear it." Agent Smecker smiled lightly as a nervous Murphy twitched in his seat at being reminded of his significant other.

"Uhh t'at reminds me...can I make a call?"

_____

"I'm gonna kill them both." Nolee huffed as she gathered a change of clothes for both boys to give to Rocco including their rosaries.

"Don't freak out Nolee okay? From what Connor and Murphy told me they're not being charged with anything." Rocco assured taking the pile of clothes.

"Oh that makes me feel so much better Rocco. How about they not get into trouble in the first place!" she shouted in frustration.

"It's going to be okay Nolee-cannoli. They're just choosing to lay low for a while until the media calms down. Murphy told me to tell you he will call you later."

"Oh he better." Nolee demanded before exhaling another sigh. "Just go give them their clothes, and thanks for letting me know what's going on Rocco."

"If I hear anything else I'll let you know ASAP." Rocco assured as she gave him a nod before watching him exit the apartment.

"Their irish asses are in so much trouble when they get home."

Nolee shook her head recalling the previous conversation with Rocco as she fed Ruby unable to believe the brothers had got themselves into this situation. As her annoyance built back up her thoughts were distracted by the phone ringing.

"Hello?!" she yelled into the phone.

"Hello ta sunshine of me life, my sweet flower, ta beautiful mother of me-"

"Cut the shit Murphy!" Nolee interjected annoyed. "What happened last night?!"

"Aye, please don't freak out okay love? Some things got a little crazy last night." Murphy explained softly.

"Yeah, Rocco told me. Apparently you pissed off some Russians!"

"They came in threatenin' ta shut down Doc, we tried ta be civil at first honest. But Roc of course had ta shoot his fuckin' mouth off and insult one of them. From then on Ivan had assaulted Rocco and I don't know...we got caught up in ta moment and ended up fightin' with them. I'm very sorry baby, we got carried away over Roc."

"Hmm...funny how Rocco conveniently left that part out when he came to pick up your clothes." she replied shifting her anger to the Italian now.

"Well t'ats Roc for ye. Anyways Con and I ended up passing out in ta apartment Doc lets us use above ta bar. The Russians came back wanting revenge and tried ta assault Con and I again...but we handled it. We came ta police station ta tell our side of ta story, and now they know ta truth. We're cleared of any charges so don't worry." Murphy explained opting to leave out the part of being held at gunpoint while Connor jumped out a window with a literal toilet.

"Well...I'm just glad you're okay, even though I'm mad at you for not keeping your promise." Nolee replied frowning hearing him sigh on the other end.

"You're right I didn't and I'm sorry for that baby. But I do promise we weren't seekin' out ta trouble, ye know Con and I wouldn't do t'at. We were actually havin' a good time before ta fuckin' Russians ruined it."

"Well is there any reason you're still having to be at the station if you're cleared?"

"Uhh...apparently ta media is gettin' a kick out of this whole thing and wanted ta interview us. Of course Con and I said no, we don't want ta attract anymore attention. We're just stayin' overnight until the press goes away. We'll be home in ta mornin' I swear."

"Fine."

"I will make it up ta ye when I get home okay?"

"You better."

"Ye have full permission ta beat me ass if I don't." Murphy replied sincerely as she begrudgingly smiled.

"Okay. Just...no more bar fights though okay?" she pleaded.

"No more bar fights." he assured. "I'll see ye tomorrow and give Ruby a goodnight kiss for me. I love ye, a lot."

"I love you too Murphy." she responded gently.

"Roc just got here I'll talk to ye later lass." Murphy had told her before she heard the line go dead. Hanging the phone back on the receiver a deep sigh escaped her mouth as she looked out the window.

"I'm beating his ass regardless."

_____

*Later that night*

Thunder had clapped loudly outside of the station as rain began to pour heavily. The brothers had been fast asleep in the two small rusty beds of the holding cell. Both brothers body twitched as their minds began to dream simultaneously.

'Indifference of good men.' the familiar voice of the monsignor had entered their minds. Another clap of thunder roared as both brothers woke up gasping for air as another voice intercepted.

'Whosoever shed man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God may deem a man.' Connor felt something strange go through him as he only sat up still panting and turned to his twin, who also had sat up, something clearly awakening in both of them. An unmistakable calling was reaching out to them.

"Destroy all which is evil." he whispered gently as Murphy only turned his head to his brother.

"...so that which is good may flourish."