Seamus and Dermot Flynn; Somewhere in Boston; Tuesday.
Dermot Flynn was sweating bullets. The night had gone sour sometime after the third shot of whiskey and the third hand -- poker had always been his strong game, but not tonight. The men he was playing with had been betting higher, too. Getting better cards. And something was up with them, their fuckin' squinty eyes and smelly cigars -- their laughter and nudge-nudging when they thought he wasn't looking.
"So, where's your brother?" That was Big Leo, who chucked in another couple chips, the diamond on his pinky flashing. "Why don't he ever play the game wit us?"
"Seamus doesn't like cards." Dermot blinked, trying to focus.
Fuck. Not only was he drunker than he ought to have been, all things fucking considered, since he'd had hardly anything a'tall, but he was losing, too.
Seamus made his way down to the game, not surprised to see it still going. He knew Dermot would drag it out as long as he needed. He smiled at the other men, all charm, though inside he was laughing. Bunch a fuckin' bigshot pricks, thinking their shit didn't stink. Dermot took their money and he fucked their wives, and they loved every fuckin' second of it.
"Gentlemen," he said as he moved in, then took in the situation with the chips. Dermot was losing. Big time. What the fuck?
He moved to Dermot and looked at his hand, brow furrowed. "You doin' okay, brother?"
"Jus' one more hand," Dermot said and shook his head to clear his vision a bit. He looked suspiciously at his empty glass of lager. It *had* tasted a bit funny. "Your deal, Fat Leo."
Dead silence.
"Big Leo," he said, knowing how much the man hated being called fat. But fuck, he was one one fat fucker, wasn't he? Fat and squinty eyed and smelly.
"Maybe we should just call it an evenin'," he said, looking from his brother to the other men. They looked like a bunch of big, fat fuckin' lions waiting for the kill and his brother looked like he was ready to fall apart.
"Jus' another hand, Shamey," Dermot said. "I'm down. Gotta get at least a bit of it back, yeah?"
Big Leo looked at Seamus with a smile that was more like a sneer, and it took everything in him to not sneer back. Big Leo's wife was one of his favorites. She told Seamus she liked being with him just because she didn't have to be on top or use a fork lift to look for his dick.
"I dunno," he said and looked at the way his brother's eyes refused to focus. "Might be best to just cut your losses now. How far are we in the hole?"
"Ten," Dermot said.
Seamus swore. "What the fuck are ya thinkin'?" he said, looking back and forth between his brother and the other men. "Ya don't have ten fuckin' thousand! How fuckin' drunk are you?!"
Across the table one of the men snickered, and Seamus went still, then cold all over. He was a fuckin' great lay and always took his time, but Dermot wasn't a lightweight and he hadn't had anything to drink before they'd gotten here. He hadn't been gone long enough for him to be *that* drunk.
"What the fuck did ya give my brother?" he asked in a dark voice. Seamus could put up with a lot, but he wouldn't have anyone messin' with his little brother.
Dermot shook his head again, hard, the world spinning just a little. He glared 'round the table and threw down the cards. "Ya buncha fat fucks!"
"What the fuck?" Seamus said, feeling his temper rise to a dangerous point when he saw a card protruding from the sleeve of one man's jackets. "Oh, so you're all such a bunch of fuckin' nancies that ya gotta cheat and drug my brother to fuckin' win?" He grabbed Dermot's shirt and pulled him up beside him. "We're fuckin' walkin' out of here, and you're gonna let it happen because the Flynns don't hand over their goddamn money to fuckin' pussy cheats."
"Fat buncha fuckin'...bollocks," Dermot muttered. "Wankers..." He roused himself and managed to give the beautiful double eagle, two birds, one from each hand, right at them all. "Cheaters!"
Seamus moved to steady his brother, wrapping an arm around his waist and glaring at the men one more time before moving to go. He was half way to the door when a man stepped in front of them, as broad as Seamus and Dermot put together, and a head taller. "You owe boss some money."
Seamus' swallowed, but met the man's gaze squarely. "Best be movin' outta the way, buddy."
The guy laughed, moving to unbutton his cuffs as he looked down at him. "Or what?"
"Or I'll have to kick ya goddamn ass, that's what."
There was laughter throughout the room, but Seamus was entirely serious.
Dermot straightened, getting his legs under him. He looked the fella right in the face. "Down five hundred? Maybe. A grand, sure, on a bad night. But ten grand? Ten fuckin' grand? Cheaters, you lot! Fucking buncha cheats."
The man reached past Seamus to Dermot, grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him so they were nose to nose. "Boss ain't a liar. Now you come up with ten grand or I'm going to take it out of your ass."
Beside him, Seamus tensed. "You'd better get your fuckin' sweaty fat hands off my brother. I'm tellin' you one last time. I'd tell you to pick on someone your own size, but the only thing around here bigger'n you has to be ya fuckin' waterbeast mother, ya big smelly fuck."
Dermot swiped at the guy, knocking his hands away, his own going up into fists. "I don't pay cheaters."
The guy took a fighting stance and swiped at Dermot with one big fist, connecting with his jaw. At the sight of someone hitting his brother, hurting him, Seamus saw red.
He spun the guy, kicking at his knee to take him down to his level and crushing his nose with his elbow. He would've done more, but in the corner of his eye he saw Big Leo move to grab his brother and press his gun to his temple. That stopped Seamus, just for that moment. He couldn't let anything hurt his brother ever again.
"Ah fuck," Dermot said, pissed off but not willing to get his brains blown out by this beshited arsehole. He put his hands up, stayed still. "Put the gun down."
"Now let's be rational here, fellas," Seamus said, both hands up as he looked from the man on the floor to his brother, and finally Big Leo. He wasn't giving up yet, he was looking for a way out. "No need for a gun."
"Al, get the fuck out of here. I'll handle this," Big Leo sneered to the man with the crushed nose on the floor. The man cupped his nose and hobbled out, and when he was gone Leo sneered. "You think I don't know about you boys? I fuckin' know. Fuckin' my wife and taking my money every goddamn week."
"Now we can work this out," Seamus said, slowly circling around the bigger man, heart pounding. "Just put the gun down and..." He made eye contact with Dermot. "Duck and cover."
Dermot didn't have to think twice -- it was an old trick and one they'd practiced well. Duck. Down. Cover (his head) -- and a leg sweep to knock Big Leo off balance.
The big man went down with a loud thump and Seamus moved quickly, kicking the gun out of his hand and picking it up for himself. He turned the gun on Big Leo and held it steady.
"Now we're gonna walk outta here, an I don't ever wanna hear from you again," he said, breathing hard but not shaking. "You threaten my brother one more time and I'll fuckin' kill ya. I promise ya that." He looked to Dermot. "You okay?"
Dermot spat to the side. "Yeah, fine. Nothing bruised but my fuckin' pride, yeah?" He nudged at Big Leo with the toe of one battered work boot. "I knew I wasn't losing, for real."
"Well what the fuck were ya thinkin' anyway?" Seamus bellowed, looking away from Leo. "I fuckin' tell ya all the goddamn time, ya don't bet more than you can stand to lose."
"They were pullin' out double or nuttin'," Dermot protested. "Throwin' around cash like it grew on a fuckin' money bush, Seamus! They were cheatin', too, how did I know I wouldn't win? I had great cards!"
"Never fuckin' think. You never fuckin' think!" Seamus said and heard the soft sound of the safety clicking on a gun. He looked to where Leo lay on the floor, a gun so small he could barely see it around the other man's big hand, but there was no question it was pointed straight at Dermot. One beefy finger moved to the trigger and Seamus didn't even think, because it wasn't a decision that required thought. His brother came before anyone else, even himself, and his trigger finger was much faster. There was an explosion of sound and suddenly there was a neat red hole, right between Leo's eyes. The man's big body slumped lifeless to the floor, and Seamus' eyes widened. "Fuck me."
"Ah," Dermot said. One single sound. He swiped his hand over his face, just for a moment. "You...shot him."
He wanted to drop the gun and almost did, but he knew leaving the murder weapon at the scene of a crime wasn't the smartest idea. "Fuck!" Seamus exhaled. "Well he was about to fuckin' shoot you. Ya want me to just stand back and let that happen?"
"Ah, Shamey," Dermot said miserably, pointing. "Ya fuckin' shot Big Leo..."
No shouts came from the other room. No pounding of feet. Leo's cronies would've thought the bullet had gone into Dermot's brain. They'd be yuck-yucking it up right now, thinking they'd pulled one over on those two micks who didn't know shit from shinola. Cheaters and thieves, the lot of 'em.
Dermot looked at his brother with a wide, slightly manic grin. "I think he's dead."
It occured to Seamus as he stood looking at the fattest fuckin' corpse he'd ever seen that this was a bad situation. Not just in the sense that he could go to jail for the rest of his life, but that he'd just fuckin' shot Big Leo in the head. Even if he did escape the police, he was a dead man and so was his brother.
"We gotta get the fuck out of here. Now," he said and tucked the gun into the back of his pants. "Get your shit. We gotta get the hell outta dodge."
Dermot was already moving, head as clear as it was gonna get tonight, at least. Big Leo, dead. Fuckin' dead -- and Seamus had done it. Didn't matter if the police found out, that would be the best thing to happen. Because if they didn't get their lily white arses out of this town, Big Leo's people would make sure the Brothers Flynn never went anywhere ever again.
Seamus opened the door and left as quietly as he could, knowing his brother was right behind him. He went to his car, but didn't fire it up. He knew the 1970 Mustang would roar loud enough to draw some attention, so he put it in neutral and made Dermot help him push it half way up the street before they climbed in and he fired it up. It was like they were kids again sneaking out to go to a pub, but their situation now wasn't near that simple or fun.
"We gotta leave town," he said simply as he drove back to their apartment, already thinking of what he needed and what he could live without. "We go home, pack our shit, and get the fuck out before they have time to come after us."
"Ah, Jaysus," Dermot said suddenly, thinking about the brand new flat screen TV and PS 3 that would never fit in the trunk of this car. "Where will we go, d'ya think?"
"Christ. Somewhere fuckin' far," Seamus said, rubbing at his temple and attempting to think. Where could they go? "We could, ah... Hell. Portland? Seattle?" They didn't know anyone there, but it was clear on the other side of the country.
"Christ, it fuckin' rains all the time there," Dermot said.
Seamus threw up his hands in frustration. "Well excuse me, princess. I dunno where the fuckin' train is to Never Never Land, so where would ya like to go? Over the fuckin' rainbow? Christ."
Dermot thought about punching Seamus in the face, but it seemed like a twattish thing to do when Seamus had just saved his life. "I dunno, someplace closer, at least, until we can figure it out. Lay low, even. Someplace where you can still get a good fuckin' pint."
Seamus struggled to think, rubbing at the bridge of his nose as he drove. "What about where Kara is?" he said finally. "She's got that loft or whatever above the Lamb. I bet she'd let us crash."
"Yeah, yeah, The City. We can go to The City," Dermot said. "And she'll put us up, good ole Kara, she'll make sure we have a place to stay, yeah!"
"We can NOT fuckin' tell her about this," Seamus said, looking Dermot in the eye. "I don't fuckin' care what she says, she doesn't hear about this. Got it? She's as bad as fuckin' mum."
"Worse," Dermot said with a shudder. "What'll we tell her, then? She'll fucking suss it out of us, you know she will."
"We tell her that we got in trouble with a woman or somethin'. She'll believe that. But we do NOT fuckin' tell her the truth."
Dermot nodded. Trouble with a woman Kara would certainly believe. He spit into his hand and held it out to his brother. "Spit shine on it, brother."
Seamus spit in his own hand and grasped his brother's. "This stays between us. No matter what."