Retribution

A/N: Yeah, you know the drill, I dont own The BoonDock Saints...blah blah blah.


Retribution

Chapter One: Homecoming

The wind was blasting full force, the Boston winter closing in, a hit of ice hung in the November air. Two figures huddled threw the familiar streets, their coats pulled up close to their faces, to block the cold; they kept their faces down hoping no one would recognize them.

They hurried down the quickly darkening streets to an old rundown building. The faded sign said McInties. The windows were fogged, dim shadows moved with in, illuminated by golden lamps.

Connor opened the door, memories of years past washed over him as he entered the familiar pub, smells of stale beer and cigarette smoke assaulted his senses. His brother, Murphy entered behind them. There were perhaps five other people sitting in tables scattered throughout the room.

“Doc? Hey Doc?”

An unfamiliar voice floated from the back. “Out in a minute!”

They walked to the far side of the bar, and sat down setting their black gym bags next to the stools. Murphy’s hand kept trailing to the inside of his coat; he eyed the others in the bar suspiciously.

They had been on the run for so long. About three years since they had been forced to leave Boston, constantly running, they had fled to Europe. It was in Ireland that someone had finally caught them, and now…Connor shook his head, trying to forget the image of his father, bleeding on the floor, amidst the broken glass. Now they were back. Now they were hunting.

Those bastards are gonna pay, I swear it.

Murphy’s eyes suddenly looked beyond Connor’s shoulder; he reached over and nudged his brother, jerking him out of his thoughts. Connor looked up.

She was blond, tall, her eyes were brown and she wore a tight gray sweater over her curvy form. For a moment Connor forgot to breathe, he watched her as she moved over to them and leaned on the bar next to them.

“Names Emily, what can I get for you boys?”

There was something…important…don’t stare at her chest boyo. Focus. Wow.

Murphy was chuckling…Why was he chuckling?

“Hey, you guys gonna order or waste my time, I have other customers you know.” She looked annoyed and impatient.

“Um, we uh…you can, we….uh” He tried desperately to get his thoughts back in order.

“What my articulate brother is trying to say is we’re here to see Doc.”

Emily stood up, her eyes suddenly steely. “How do you know Doc?”

“We’re old friends, where is he?”

She turned away from them and picked up a bottle of Jack Daniels. “Some friends, Doc has been dead for over a year.”

This brought Conner crashing back. “Dead? What do you mean dead? What happened?”

She poured a glass, looked at the smooth, amber liquid before knocking it back. “He was sick; the doctor said he had it coming, old age.”

“Shit” We needed him; he was the only one we could trust. Damn.

“So who the fuck are you?” Murphy wasn’t showing any grief, Connor steeled himself.

“Excuse me? Look assholes, this is my bar. And unless you are going to buy a drink, I suggest that you leave before I have you thrown out”

It was only they that Connor noticed a large shape looming in the shadows. Fuck, I didn’t think they made bouncers that big.

“Common Murph, lets go.”

“Wait, Murphy? Murphy Macmanus?” She leaned in close, looking at them closely. “It is. And Connor right?”

Murphy’s hand was back inside his jacket, fingers twitching over the gun resting there.

“What’s it to you?” Connor itched to grab his gun, they couldn’t afford to be recognized, but then, they couldn’t afford to call attention to themselves. He stayed still. She’s just a girl, probably no older than 21.

“Grandpa told me a lot about you boys. But he didn’t really need to, everyone knows about the Saints.”

“Saints eh? You should be careful about slinging that word around. But we’re no saints, just to guys looking for an old friend.” Grandpa? Doc never said he had kids.

“Sure, whatever you say. I don’t believe the stories, just a bunch of hype anyway.” She looked down, polishing the glass in her hand with a clean rag.

Murphy was still tense, “Come on Conner, lets go.”

“Its cold, boyo, let’s just stay for one drink. We have time.” Connor ran his eyes over the woman behind the bar. Hmmm, her jeans are tight too...

Murphy scowled but stayed sitting.

Emily looked up. “Alright what’ll it be?”

“Couple a beers darlin”

They sat and drank; it felt good to be back there. Connor allowed himself to relax. I half expect Rocco to come though that door. But he’s gone, Doc’s gone, and Da. Things will never be the same. He watched Emily as she took care of her other customers, but as the time went by the place slowly began to empty.

Murphy leaned in close “What now? Doc was the only person that could tell us what’s happened while we were gone, now we’re running blind.”

“Obviously a lot has happened, the question is, what are we gonna do about the girl? She knows who we are.”

“Would you stop thinking about the girl for three seconds Connor! She doesn’t matter, we don’t know if the fucking Russians are back in power or the fucking Italians, we don’t know what the cops know, and we don’t even know who the fuck killed Da! Connor, they’re probably after us as well!”

“Calm down Murph, keep your voice quite. We’ll figure it out. Besides, whoever killed Da, couldn’t have gotten here faster than us, we have at least a few days to figure shit out, then we’ll nail the fuckers before they even know what hit them.” He took another swig of his beer.

His only warning that something was wrong was the sound of the door slamming inward, right before gunshots rang threw the air. The instincts of a hunted animal kicked in and Connor rolled off the stool, crouching low to the ground. A bullet whizzed over his head. His hand was already on his gun and he kicked off the safety as he pulled it out, swinging his body to face his attackers.

They were two strong arms, thugs, each with a gun in hand. One fired shots in their direction as the other looked around the room for other targets.

Shit, fuck, shit, FUCK!

Connor jumped over the bar as another shot landed were he had been crouched. Murphy was already there, he fired shots over the counter.

“Who the FUCK are these fucks?”

“How the hell should I know?!” He threw his arm over the bar and fired. “But I think they may be trying to kill us!”

“Gee! What gave you that idea?!” Murphy shot up and fired off two more shots, the cry surprise and finally the sound of a man hitting the floor greeted their ears.

“There’s still one more” Murphy looked around “I don’t see him”

There was the sound of a woman’s scream, it shattered the momentary silence, and another gun shot broke the air. Connor stood up, “The girl!”

They both ran to the back room, the second man stood between two shelves, his back too them. Before he could turn around Connor aimed a shot squarely between his shoulders, dropping him with one blow.

“Plenty of time eh? Nothing to worry about? Just have a beer? You fucking moron! What the fuck do you call that?”

“Would you shut the fuck up for a minute? Where’s the girl?”

Both Connor and Murphy looked around. The back room was torn apart, broken glass and spilled bear smeared the floor, mingling with the blood of the fallen gunman. It was dark and musty, but in the corner he heard something. Connor followed the noise, and found her. She was huddled in a corner, hands covered in blood; the bof tof the bouncer lies next to her, a crimson pool slowly seeping onto the floor.

“Shit” Connor walked up and knelt next to her. He carefully turned her body, looking for wounds. “Are you ok?” None of the blood was hers. Connor coaxed her to her feet, her body shook and her eyes remained wide. He walked her out of the room, back to the front, were Murphy was praying over the body of the first man.

He finished and looked up. “We have to get out of here Connor.”

Connor sat Emily down ostoostool, cradling her face in his hands. Emily finally looked up, her eyes focusing on his face.

“Who were those men?” Her voice quivered slightly.

Connor dropped his hands and stood, “I don’t know, but Murph’s right, we need to get away from here as soon as possible.”

The other man walked over, “We could go back to our old place…if there’s no one living in it now…”

Emily shook her head, “That place isn’t safe, if they know you’re in town whoever is after you will be all over it. I have an apartment, you can come there.”

Connor looked at her, “Are you sure? We aren’t the kind of people you should casually invite over; its dangerous having us around.”

“Yeah, I think I already noticed that. Common, let’s get out of here.”