Empty Building

[Philip Murphy]

What Luke said got Murphy's wheels spinning. Why were all these children appearing out of the woodwork so suddenly? Was it all just pure coincidence and nothing more? Couldn't be that simple. They all couldn't have just decided to come back to town all at the same time, could they? I mean, that might be what happened in a few cases, but not all of them. It made him wonder.

Murphy listened to Luke speak about their different lives and it made him smile, cigar still between his teeth. It probably wasn't too brilliant sitting there with all these lit up tables of weapons just lying about around them, but he didn't care. Who was gonna come by that they couldn't kill within moments of seeing them, especially thanks to the surrounding tools. He leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the table in front of them. "Interesting yes," he said with a contented tone to his voice. He looked over at his friend. "You were hoping for something a little more stable in your world?"

If it was true, that Luke had been hoping for something a little more close to average, it wouldn't be the first time he'd heard it. Even those who had it all occasionally didn't want it. Many people who were stuck in a situation didn't want that either. No one was ever happy being who they were and doing what they did all the time. Though, for Murphy, it was more of a rare occasion that he found himself unhappy with his life. But, Luke did seem like the type who would hope and possibly even strive for a normal middle class American life. If he didn't, no bother to Murphy, but if he did, he wouldn't judge his friend for it. Sometimes being extraordinary wasn't all it was cracked up to be, this was very true, especially in their cases. And of course, all of the 5 points members were extraordinary ladies and gentlemen, in different and unusual ways.

[Luke Gallagher]

"Far from it," Luke said, shaking his head when Murphy asked if he had wanted something stable and perhaps normal in his life. It had never crossed Luke's mind really, the sort of settling down and marrying that he was sure had been expected of him as a lad running the hills of Ireland. But settling wasn't in either his or Finn's blood and Luke was more than happy with the way things were, the gang gave him purpose and he liked his work - he was good at it. "Not sure stable is in the Gallagher vocabulary," Luke added with a laugh that grew into a grin as he looked over at his friends. "Don't really know if it's in any of our vocabularies."

It was true, they had all come to the Five Points through different avenues and different ways. Everyone had a story and together they made a powerful force that was near unstoppable once they got all their pieces in place - and in order for it all to work the way that it should they all had to be half mad. Madness was there strength though and Luke knew that they all embraced the bits and pieces of it that they had. "I think life has Finn and I exactly where we should be," Luke said, drumming his fingers on the chair and musing the fact that an alternative had never crossed his mind.

"What about you Murphy? Ever think about a pretty lass to come home to and a parcel of little ones?" Luke chuckled as he tried to picture the image in his mind. Murphy wrangling energetic youths with a pretty wife in the kitchen and not a sword, gun or knife in sight.

[Philip Murphy]

There was no stifling that laugh, not that he had tried mind you. It was the good kind of laugh that you hear as you walk by Brooklyn's Irish pubs late into Friday nights (never saturdays, they all had church the next day). The kind of laugh that could fill up this empty building and make everyone stop and turn. And why shouldn't it? The imagery was so absurd. Murphy? with a Mrs. Murphy? And two or three little Murphy's running around an apartment. Him in a normal life? It just couldn't be.

He finally caught a breath and smiled at his friend. "Good one," he said quietly chuckling to himself still as he slipped the cigar back into this mouth. "I'd have to fully agree with you," he said taking a drag from the cigar and blowing out grey smoke in little rings before he said, "that kinda life is not for me... and I don't think I could handle it." He shook his head good naturedly. "Stability? Naw... I think we know the word better than you think we do," he mused as he looked upwards into the ceiling. "I think we're all a lot more stable than we're willing to admit these days. Steady businesses going, steady people around us... hell we're almost our own messed up little family anymore!" He smirked. And he'd joined the family late, and still hadn't been turned away, ever. "Ya know," he said as he looked back to his friend, "I think I'm where I oughta be too. If I weren't here I think I'd be havin' a pretty rough time out there," he said nodding towards the door. Life wasn't easy being a lone conman. But you make it conmen, and suddenly the sun came out and it was easy livin'... so long as you could split the winnings fairly.

"So," he said looking at his friend with an overly amused expression on his face, "if not a pretty young girl that you'd make your life with, then what?" he took a small drag of the cigar and then spoke as smoke came out of his mouth. In the light it made him look like a living demon, "what would you do, if you weren't in the situation you're in now?" He smiled, mouth closed, curiously as the rest of the smoke drained from his nostrils.

[Luke Gallagher]

A family - perhaps that is what they had become - however ill fitting the word might be to describe a motley bunch of Irishmen with a litany of backgrounds and personalities. Most would classify them as high class criminals, some would say hooligans and Luke supposed they all would be partially right. But Murphy was the most right, because the more Luke thought about it the more he agreed that they were a family. Sure he and Finn had the blood and there was no doubt that ran thick and his older brother would always have his first loyalty, but there was a kinship with the rest of the members as well and Luke knew he could count on them when he needed too. That was what family was about...right?

"What would I do?" Luke mused, never having seriously considered the question. His life had been more or less laid out for him since he had lit out after Finn and been attached to his hip. His life was what it was and he dare say it had never occurred to him that it wouldn't be - a glib and rather foolish thought he supposed, but an honest one. "Never thought about it, though I suppose it's rather in my blood to run a joint like we got going at the Racs," Luke considered the thought for a moment and then smiled, seemingly lighting on an idea that struck his fancy. "Big bar always ready with pints for weary irishmen and pretty irish lasses, music to get your feet tapping and a game or two should it strike your fancy. And a little bit of trouble if that was what you were after," Luke said with an easy grin, because trouble was something he enjoyed and it had a way of worming into his life anyhow.

"What do you suppose Finn would make of that?" Luke mused, more to himself than to Murphy, laughing a little as he considered the idea. It wasn't something he'd do, couldn't imagine settling for that sort of life when he had this one to embrace - but it was something to think about wasn't it? Something indeed.

[Philip Murphy]

Murphy sat listening to Luke describing his place of business, if he had not been currently occupied with his current position. It made him smile to picture it. A band in the corner, a group of good friends around a table playing poker screaming in accents at one another and cursing as their friends took their money. He loved that kind of atmosphere, and if anyone had the capability to deliver it, out of all of them, it was Luke. The man had a future outside of the gang, should anything ever happen, that was for sure.

What would Finn think? He smiled at the question. "Well, if he weren't otherwise involved I think he'd be all for the innocent looking cover, but I'm not sure that Finn could ever give up his particular kind of life." Murphy shrugged. Some people like Luke, and maybe Nick in this group would be able to find a steady job, possibly make it in a fairly normal society position. Others, like Murphy and Finn, would probably be destined to live this life of crime forever, or for as long as they could mange before passing the torch on to the next generation and becoming a sort of mafia boss themselves. Which struck him as sort of funny.

"But it sounds like a reasonable choice for you," he said with a nod. "Should you ever have to conform to normal society, you, unlike most of us, could probably pull it off," he said nodding to his friend with a smile. "You're just that suave." He pulled the cigar from his mouth and tossed it to the ground where he promptly attacked it with the heel of his boot, snuffing out the spark. "But, you could always count on me to be around to cause a little trouble, should you need it," he said with a smile to the younger. "Whether you like it or not, you might be stuck as my friend forever." Something told him Luke wouldn't mind.

[Luke Gallagher]

"Don't know if normal society is to my liking, Murphy," Luke said with an easy grin, chuckling a little as he considered the possibility. A normal life? One outside of the gang and away from the violence and danger and well...adventure that he had come to know and love. He couldn't quite imagine it and unless Finn suddenly took a distaste for having him around, then Luke didn't think the scenario he had just laid out for Murphy had any likelihood to happen. Luke was what he was and he had gotten square with that a long time ago - normal society and the rest of it all be damned.

"Suave am I?" Luke said, pretending to preen a little under Murphy's compliment. He wasn't a fool, nor was he especially modest: Luke knew that he had a skill when it came to a quick smile and easy words, that his silver tongue was his greatest asset. He'd just never considered how useful that might be outside what he did with the gang. In reality he wouldn't have need of such skills for anything other than the netting of information - and the charming of women into his bed - because the gang and this life was where Luke intended to remain.

"Philip Murphy at my back, how could I go wrong?" Luke mused aloud, sending his friend a wide smile. It was a good thing to know that you had people that you could count on in life, especially in their line of work, the truly trustworthy people were rare and Luke was adept at sorting out the bad eggs. Murphy was the best kind of man to have at your back, his obvious resources aside, he had a strong sense of loyalty that Luke considered a requirement in those he called friend. "You know that goes both ways, stuck...the both of us."

[Philip Murphy]

This was all getting awfully personal and touchy-feely for Murphy. Playing the "what if" game, and if they weren't all working together what would they do, and would there be family and all that. Sure it was fun guess and all, and true, he had been the one to start it. All the same... he wouldn't mind being the one to finish it.

"Well, don't think any of us, given a choice, would be the first to choose normal society. But there would be some who could survive better than others," and as Murphy previously stated, Luke was one of those. "And is there a better word for your ability to sweet talk information out of almost anyone, and get yourself out of nearly any situation?" Not in Murphy's mind there wasn't, unless he could dig up a way to accurately describe a cat in one word.

It was a mere shrug when Luke explained that the two of them were stuck. "Honestly? I'm alright with that," he nodded slowly with a small smirk. "Stuck ain't a bad way ta be." Especially if you were stuck with the right people, but once again, still a little too personal for him. He shrugged it off. He had always been more than a listener than a talker anyway.

He glanced around the building and the thought occurred to him again that he needed to find out who owned this place so that it could be his. "How much ya think an old broken down warehouse is goin' for these days?" he asked as he smiled to his friend and tipped back slightly on his chair. He could get used to spending some time here.

[Luke Gallagher]

"Depends," Luke said relieved to be moving on from the lighter topics as well, the personal nature of the conversation while not minded, had run it's course and Luke felt better moving on to safer topics, such as business. He typically left the thinking of such matters to Finn or Derek who had the minds and the patience for it, but he'd tagged along on enough endeavors with Finn to know that there was an art to it as there was to most anything. "A great many things could affect the cost, once you find out who owns it, should be easy enough to form a plan of attack." He smirked and took another puff from his cigar, watching the smoke curl in the dim light. "There is enough merit in the building I can see the others willing to back the investment and should a little persuasion be needed when it comes to the seller, well that can be arranged as well."

The hour was growing late and the truth was that if Luke had any hope of netting any sort of information that day he should be moving on. Murphy's services were well appreciated and the knife that now weighted his pocket well worth the trip to Manhattan and the same could be said of the conversation with a friend. But Luke knew as the hours lingered, time passed that could be spent on the things that he had been set out to do. So it was with regret that he pushed himself to standing, placing his cigar in his mouth and holding out his hand, "As always, your association is appreciated and I trust, profitable to us both."

[Philip Murphy]

As close as all these people were, it was a rarity for them to get into such heavy discussion about how they all relate to one another. So allowing the conversation to move on was something neither of them had an issue with. Murphy's next move was to figure out just who this building belonged to. Something told him it wouldn't be too difficult, and if it was in such disrepair and ruin, anyone would be silly to try and keep it since it wasn't being profitable. Murphy would be more than happy to pay the man for the deed, and should he need the money, he was glad in the assurance that Luke believed that the gang of them would assist him financially. "I will bring it up to someone," he said with a nod. "And in the mean time do my homework, and figure out who owns the joint."

At Luke's farewell Murphy couldn't help but smile, and he did nothing but nod. "Enjoy that," he said meaning the knife. "And let me know if it should break, or need to be replaced." He could easily fix a broken hinge or screw without much thought, or just give him a new one if he should want it. Murphy stood up after this and turned off the light above the table that they had been seated at. "I'll walk you out," he insisted. Besides, that way he could turn off lights as he went, and then go and see what else he could accomplish today. Though he'd already been more than profitable, why stop at greatness when you can strive for more? As Murphy and Luke headed towards the doors, Murphy would pull the strings on the lights turning them off as they went, leaving the blackness of the warehouse behind them.