#i just feel like he would give franny anything she asked for

[pookiebearmick]

galladrabbles - please

paging @galladrabbles and sweet keely @thepupperino for a very last minute drabble this week! it's been a couple of months since i've done one and this is most certainly not my best but i've been constantly thinking about cute uncle mick being a SAP for his niece so here u go 💗 (editing to add: @atthedugouts who also did a little uncle drabble this week - ur the one who has me thinking about uncles so thank u)

“Please?” Franny asked her uncles with a smile, her two front teeth missing. She looked back and forth between her uncles but kept her eyes focused a little harder on Mickey. “Pretty please, Uncle Mickey?”

Ian knew right then that they were fucked. Mickey was absolutely going to cave. He knew that Mickey could never say no to Franny, and especially not when she was looking at him like that. This is exactly why Mickey was the favorite uncle.

Mickey tilted his head to the side and looked over at Ian. “Well, Red,” he started. “Hope you’re hungry for pizza.”

[wrinkly-fucking-qtip]

i am neutral towards galladads (more so...towards no), but every so often i tangle with my personal takes (or what i'd love to see) and i wanna share. strap in, it's long. pt. 1

Ian doesn't push the thought of kids. They had a conversation about it after s11x12, but it took some time, it wasn't immediate. Basically, I think Ian relished the idea of being an uncle for a while. After all, it's always Mickey before anything.

They took care of Franny, Freddie (+upcoming kiddo), and Liam when they were asked to as favors. It subconsciously became this mental practice for them. Some unspoken tension kept rising, cause they felt the other was thinking the same thing but went unmentioned. Partially cause Ian decided not to press, and doing so meant breaking that threshold.

I think Mickey brought it up one day probably, Ian felt somewhat defensive at first, but since he always reminds Mickey about the importance of "communication," it'd bite him in the ass, so he gave in and spoke his truth. They had another conversation about it that ended in an agreement to see a "shrink." They started going, it was a deconstruction of years of trauma, fears, repressed emotions, y'know the drill.

Considering that they were between 25-27 when the show ended, I think they engaged in "intense" therapy for like 5-7 years maybe. Trying to talk through the bulks of it, for the purpose of parenting in the near future.

Through that time, they first contacted Debbie, had thoroughly researched artificial insemination (pls mickey thinking he would have to bang Debbie makes me cry 💀), had a lengthy talk with her. I haven't reached shameless far enough to know Debbie's character, but I think she probably gives them informed advice, a lot of "you guys sure you wanna do this??" And I don't think it stems from a place of objection, more so worry. I like to think she eventually caves in and accepts to help them when they're ready. She loves Ian, Ian loves Franny and Debbie (fuck JW for making it seem like he doesn't in s11) and Mickey and Debbie are besties.

(this is a huge reach but I ponder nonetheless) After thinking of Debbie, I think maybe Ian thinks of Mandy. I fully believe (like many other people) that Ian kept in touch with Mandy from time to time ever since she left, and at some point encouraged her and Mickey to reconnect. It's a slow process, but he knows both of them needed it and yearned for it deep down.

He breaks the news to her that they're gonna be parents at some point, sort of fills her in on the process and the years of therapy, gets Mickey to tell her anecdotes too or whatever. The thing is, at some point in the conversation, he yaps about how he has always wanted two, a boy and a girl (because Ian is a dork like that). That Debbie is only gonna do this once for now because...well that was the agreement, ofc, and he just doesn't wanna overwhelm Mick with two kids of their own even though that's what they practically baby sit.

Jokingly (at first), Mandy offers herself as a surrogate in case they aim for another kid. Ian sheepishly declines, that he couldn't ask her after everything she's been through, but Mandy reassures him that shit is different now. Times have changed, and that even though it's a big deal, she'd comply. Ian says he'll think about it, talk with Mick in case shit does happen as to not spook him. It was a pleasant talk.

He talks to Mickey and at first he doesn't know how to handle the thought of two kids, one of them from Mandy, and he almost feels like all this time in therapy could crumble down at the thought of Mandy being a surrogate. They have a long ass talk.

At the end Mickey affirms that he is open to the responsibility of two kids. The whole thing goes like Ian telling him he doesn't have to do this, that he's fine with just one and that he doesn't have to comply just because Ian would love two kids, and Mickey being like "all these years and you still don't get it through your thick skull that you ain't making me do anything I don't want to" (affectionately ofc). He reassures Ian that if he's making these decisions with him it's because he wants to, and he admits he owes a lot of it to that "shrink" they go to he's come to appreciate. It was a lovely conversation tbh and many fears and goals were shared between them.

[1waveshortofashipwreck]

Hello could I get a ship pls. Names Crystal, She/Her, INFP-T, love languages are receiving gifts and acts of service, my hobbies include: crocheting (most of the time I hardly finish a project 💀), baking, and roller derby, some of my goals are to get into college to study environmental science, some of my interests are the paranormal, cryptids and Botany, what i look for in a partner is someone who is loyal, can help me out of my shell occasionally but also understands if the situation becomes to wild overwhelming they can pull back and protective, but also knows how to relax and have fun from time to time, i'm 5'1, and you can use any of the guys! I like the surprise. Thank you!

Hi friend!! Thank you so much for sending in a request!! Also thank you so much for your patience lmao 😅🩷 Also I saw that you like cryptids in your ask and got really excited🤣🤣 Anywho thank you again and hope you enjoy!!

I ship you with...

Babe Heffron!

A song from my playlist that reminds me of y’all’s relationship - I Was Made for Lovin’ You by KISS

How you met

You were investigating the forests of Bastogne looking for the Mahwot

You knew there was some fighting going on in the forest but you were being careful...mostly

You pull a Hinkel and drop into a Nazi foxhole

You try to pull yourself out but the soldier, not knowing you were just cryptid hunting, tries to grab you and take you back to their CP

All of a sudden you feel someone dragging you out of the foxhole and away from the German soldier

The two of you keep running for a bit before your mysterious hero stops you both

Between breaths you hear him say “Are you fucking nuts?! What’re you doing out here!?”

You look up at him with embarrassment in your eyes and

First off babe is just WOW

S T U N N E D by how gorgeous you are

“Um… I was just… looking for a creature…” you say quietly

“W-well you should’ve asked for help! You looking for the mahwot?” He puts on a charming smile but it fails to cover up the nerves he’s feeling

You’re super surprised he knows what that is but before you can say anything you hear a voice yell “Hey Heffron! Where’d you go!?”

He looks towards the voice with…disappointment? Did he want to talk to you more?

“I gotta go, but look me up when the war’s over ok? I’m Babe Heffron”

He gives you an adorable smile and wink before heading back

“And stay away from the foxholes!!”

How he knew he loves you

So it’s after the war and you got a job working for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Your current work assignment takes you to Philadelphia

After a hard but rewarding day you’re relaxing in a bar when you hear

“Hey! If it ain’t the mahwot hunter!”

You’d recognize that voice anywhere

You turn around and it’s none other than Babe Heffron taking the seat next to you

He buys you a drink and you banter and chat well into the night

It may have been only the second time he’s met you, but he knew then and there you were the one for him

He could tell you were rather reserved but opened up about the things you enjoy, like cryptids and nature and roller derby

You had this look on your face, it was so full of wonder and awe at the things you love and he was just SOLD

Plus you were so kind and sweet when he was sharing things about himself like he’s never felt so loved and accepted by anyone except Guarnere

Y’all were there until last call and the rest was history

A conflict that arose and how y’all solved it

So every other week you and Babe have a date night with Guarnere and Frannie

Y’all were at a nice restaurant just vibing and living your best life

The waiter was nicer than usual but it was nice, even though Babe seemed to get kinda tense whenever the waiter was around?

The tension grew all night until finally Babe just got up and left the restaurant

While you were asking Guarnere what was happening the waiter came back to your table and

“I have to ask, miss, was that man your date? Because, if not, I would be honored to take you to dinner sometime”

Suddenly everything made sense

You sprinted from the restaurant without answering the waiter or a word to Guarnere

Fortunately the restaurant was walking distance from y’all’s apartment so you briskly make your way back home and rush in through the door

Babe is pouting on the couch, arms folded

“Babe, darling, can we talk?”

“Wouldn’t you rather talk to your fucking waiter?”

That stung… Babe never got jealous, so this was new territory for both of you

You kneel beside him and place your hand gently on his knee, looking up at him with sincerity

“Babe, I had no idea he was trying to come onto me, otherwise I would’ve stopped it”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes

“Crystal, he was throwing compliment after compliment at you”

“I thought he was just being nice! He tried to ask me out after you left, that’s when it hit me…”

Babe’s eyes finally met yours, his expression softening

“So you really had no idea he was flirting?”

You shook your head no and saw Babe breathe a sigh of relief

“It felt like you were interested in him… like you wanted him over me”

The words were barely audible, Babe staring at his hands in his lap

Your heart just broke

You gently took Babe’s face in your hands and turned him to look at you

“Edward, there is NO ONE on this earth I would rather be with than you, you have brought more joy to my life than I’ve ever thought possible, I can’t imagine my life without you”

Both of you had tears welling up in your eyes before Babe closed the space between you with a gentle, loving kiss

“I love you babe” “I love you too doll”

You spend the rest of the night in comfy clothes and binging ghost-hunting shows

Guarnere showed up later angry that he got stuck with the bill but that’s another story for another day

Your happily ever after (what your relationship looks like!)

CRYPTID BUDDYYYYYY

The two of you go out all the time to look for cryptids

You also go to the Mothman festival every year

It’s honestly kind of adorable because during the day Babe is like so sweet and encouraging and gently pushing you out of your comfort zone but it always turns out okay because he’s there to help you and support and love you

But at night when you’re hunting cryptids he goes into protective mode

Like EVERY little noise causes him to pull you close and a little behind him, like he will fight Bigfoot if he has to and he’s not afraid to do it

Honestly y’all are just that couple that is so in love and has all of the inside jokes that you say together but no one but you two understand them

A silly headcannon about your relationship!

Ok so for your birthday he took y’all on a trip to Scotland to look for Nessie

Y’all were on a boat with other tourists and it was lots of fun but a little crowded

Babe being protective and adorable tried to use his body to shield you from the crowd but from all the bumping and pushing he just

He fell into the loch

The boat had to turn around to get him and it was a whole thing but also so stinking funny

He has never lived it down

Also Baby Boy SWEARS Nessie touched his foot and he will die on this hill

Thank you again for the request love!! hope you like your adventures with Babe 🥰💕

[kepnerandavery]

ppl seam to forget that Frannie was the one who wanted a baby she literally said it to Micheal when they're walking around after he comes back from India.

Also this is not related to anything but can people please stop spamming the Michael Stirling tag with Stuff about Michaela... like tag properly guys please... Especially since they all hate Michael so much how about they just stop talking about him altogether and simply talk about Michaela! make a tag for her and stick to it. It's also very much a way to keep discourse away from both sides!

Let us book readers have the Michael Stirling we enjoy and love and let us talk about him in the Michael Stirling tags.

And you all who love the changes and are excited for Michaela have her and talk about her in the Michaela Stirling tag.

This way if anyone wished to not see the other they can simply block the tag and save everyone a lot of drama and trouble.

You are so right anon! People act like Fran was a naive teenager that was so easily swayed by everything. She had more conviction and common sense than they give her credit for. And the same people make Michael out to be some predator that brainwashed Fran when she was the one who initiated their first kiss and gave him the green light to finally pursue his feelings for her after YEARS of respecting her marriage to John, her grief, privacy, and boundaries. This was a man who was desperately in love with her, wanted to marry her, and give her children which she deeply yearned for. He didn't do anything that she didn't want or was unaware of. And he wouldn't have even dreamed of those things if she wasn't clearly interested in him.

And you said exactly what I've been thinking about the back and forth arguments in the tag. This new instant Michaela fandom needs to conduct their celebrations in their own space and leave us alone to process our shock and grieve in peace. The Michael Stirling/franchael tag is now the book fan's space.

They can easily create a new ship name and leave us be. They keep trying to make everyone forget Michael and get on board with this change as if we are signing petitions to have this new character removed. Idk if others are, but I certainly am not going to those lengths to make the showrunner include Michael in the show when it's clear that they used him for a half arsed woke agenda. It's kinda clear this was the bare minimum the writers did for representation. If they truly cared about representation, they would have created an original female character to end up with Fran so that the people who asked to see that representation could enjoy that without all this drama.

It's so crystal clear that the creators of this show don't give a damn about its fans. So I'm quite relieved that Michael will not be in this show cause I've been kinda hoping that he wouldn't anyway because he will be ruined by these writers if he were. Now we can keep the untainted/idealistic book version of him forever cause some adaptations can't do justice to fictional men anyway.

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Sometimes an Evil Scientist Makes for a Good Employer

Summary: Rebecca gets an offer for a background singer job that she’s a little unsure about, but a few other girls calm her down about it.

Or, the fic where Doofenshmirtz is his background singers’ favorite employer.

...

“What are you looking at, honey?”

Rebecca glanced up to see Franny looking down at her, and relaxed a little bit.  Franny was one of the girls everyone said she could count on if she needed help.  She was known among them all as someone who never shied away from answering questions point-blank, never sugarcoated, said when a job was worth it, wasn’t worth it, was worth it if you were cautious.  Rebecca hadn’t had need of her help before now, but she was new, after all.  She’d always figured she would eventually.

Most of the dancers Rebecca knew frequented this café, and she had come here with an intention of getting someone’s help, but she was glad it had ended up being Franny.

“I got a job offer I’m a little worried about,” Rebecca said, sliding her phone down the counter so Franny could look at it.  “It says it’s gonna pay really well, but… the guy offering’s kinda weirding me out a little bit.”

“Well, who’s the guy?” Franny asked, taking the phone.  “Usually if you get a feeling I’d say trust— oh, take it,” she said as soon as she looked down, sliding the phone back.

“Wait, what?” Rebecca asked, giving her a baffled look.  “You barely even looked at it.”

“Honey, if you get a job offer from Heinz Doofenshmirtz, you take it.”

“But—”

“Wait, you got a Doofenshmirtz offer?” came a familiar voice, and Rebecca turned to see Amy, who she’d worked a few other shows with.  “Can I come?”

“Uh, sorry,” Rebecca said.  “It says he’s looking for brunettes this time.”

“Oh oh, ask him if I can come if I dye it!” Amy said, turning to the side to peer at her blonde hair.

“No way, it’s my turn,” came another voice, and a girl Rebecca hadn’t worked with before but she was pretty sure was named Samantha came forward, holding her brown hair up to Amy like it was a victory.  “And I don’t have to dye anything.”

“Oh please, you’ve had plenty of shows this month, I need a gig or I’m gonna be out of next month’s rent soon!”

“You don’t need a gig for that, you know you can just ask him and he’ll give you some of his alimony or threaten your landlord with his Shrinkinator—”

“No, wait, you don’t understand,” Rebecca said, waving her hands to cut them all off.  “It says he’s an evil scientist trying to take over the Tri-State Area!”

Franny, Amy, and Samantha all exchanged a look, and then all of them started laughing.

“What?” Rebecca asked, feeling very much like she was missing something.

“Honey, what he does for a day job is none of my business,” Franny said.  “He pays way too well for me to care.”

“What?  But—”

“Rebecca, he’s nice,” Amy said.  “He’s respectful, he gives mandatory breaks for all the dancers and singers during rehearsals, and he lets you stay and raid his kitchen if you need to recover after the main performance.”

Rebecca hesitated.  “But if it says he’s evil—”

“Honey, he’s only as evil as he wants to be,” Franny said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  “And that’s never evil enough to involve hurting anyone that he hires.”

“Besides, if you’re worried about the scheming part, the platypus will take care of it,” Samantha said with a shrug.  “He always does.”

“The— the platypus?”

“His nemesis,” Amy said.  “Yeah, I’ve stayed to see him fight a couple times.  Don’t worry, he always wins.”

Rebecca shook her head.  “But I don’t—”

“Look, will it make you feel better if I go with you?” Samantha asked, stepping forward a little.  “I promise you, it’s not nearly as bad as you’re thinking.  It’s actually a really good opportunity.”

Rebecca hesitated for a moment, then nodded.  Amy stalked off, muttering about brunette favoritism these days, and Samantha flipped her off over her shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it honey,”  Franny said, nudging Rebecca in the side.  “You’re gonna be just fine.”

[swiftfootedachilles]

achilles! pls talk to me about early gallavich with trans mickey and enby ian, your thoughts are always such a delight <3

YAAAAYYY SOMEBODY WHO CARES ABOUT T4T GALLAVICH!!!!!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

honestly - staying within canon as much as possible - i think nb ian would be essentially the same. he feels content enough with being considered a boy that he never considered any alternatives. he doesnt really learn about genders outside the binary until he dates trevor, and it takes a lot of dismantling internalized cisheteronormativity to fully realize himself

when he and mady start hanging out, he tries the whole "im gay on queer" facade for a few days but it falls apart pretty quickly when he and mandy get high and she convinces him to let her do his makeup. he loves baking with debbie no matter how many offensive things lip yells from the living room. he even kinda likes when fiona and vee and getting ready for a night out and they ask him what he thinks of their outfits

after he and mickey start banging and kinda becoming friends, he asks mickey questions about how he knew he was a guy, how be knew he was gay, etc. and its definitely eye-opening to him. he cant explain why, but it makes him super uncomfortable when transphobes say "youre fucking a trans guy so youre essentially straight" like being gay is just such a huge part of what makes ian ian. he doesnt figure it out for years, but its because being gay is inherent to his gender. being gay isnt just being a guy who fucks guys (though thats definitely the best part). its informs not just how be interacts with other men but how he views himself. his feelings are comparable to that of lesbians and dykes whose genders are simply "lesbian" or "dyke." theres a culture that surrounds it and complicates ones relationship with gender. hes a queer, a pansy, a fag. hes gay!!!

especially after dating trevor, ian sees gender as very performative and becomes somewhat gender-apathetic. he doesnt feel dysphoria and is still comfortable being viewed as a man and calling himself one. but he doesnt have strong ties to maleness like mickey does. mickey knows hes a man. he feels like his body is disconnected to his mind, he hates being viewed as anything other than male, he is very dedicated to the social performance of masculinity. where he gets upset about "not passing enough" if someone asks his pronouns, ian loves when someone asks him and doesnt immediately assume he primarily or only uses he/him. he loves dressing up nice to go to the gay bar (aka show off mickey) and people say "girl i love your outfit so much" "she is the moment!" it just makes him feel warm and sunny inside. he lets franny horribly paint his nails and get lipstick all over his face. he has deep philosophy conversations with liam about gender, sexuality, race, and societal expectations for all 3. he lets mickey introduce him as "spouse" to strangers. he gives mickey second hand embarrassment by referring to his dick in the third person as "she." ian is just vibing and living her best life!!!!

[projecthipster]

(500) Days of Summer

"It's these cards, and the movies and the pop songs, they're to blame for all the lies and the heartache, everything. We're responsible. I'M responsible. I think we do a bad thing here. People should be able to say how they feel, how they really feel, not some words that some stranger put in their mouth. Words like love, that don't mean anything. Sorry, I'm sorry, I quit. There's enough bullshit in the world without my help."

This is a hard movie for me to review because in order to acknowledge its goodness I have to confront my own most entrenched flaws. A lot, like a LOT of the stories in these lists of Hipster Things have to do with the flaws of pretentious men in various ways. Almost like that’s a theme, hmmm. Of course I mean pretension by the definition: an aspiration or intention that may or may not reach fulfillment. I tend to do a lot of aspiring and intending, and then real life, or my own usually psychological shortcomings, which are both extensive and multitudinous, get in the way. I do this with jobs, and trips, and just about everything that could be overplanned. And I do this with relationships, which gives me a desperate escape route out of the personal and back into (500) Days of Summer, which will still be part of my ongoing personal crisis of ambition, but more by proxy. Yeah, officially the title has parentheses.

Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt, of giraffe fame,) is a guy. He studied architecture (like me,) but he’s working as a writer for a greeting card company, selling the natural pithiness of all quirked up white boy indie protagonists as little marketable epithets of condensed pith (not quite like me, I get my pith out in guiding tours, plus I have Tumblr.) He’s desperate for some sort of romantic affection (same) and the meat of the story explains to us his tendency to project onto objects of his own affection and imagine great significance in relationships based on the smallest indications (do I even need to say it?) This movie is, the narrator tells us, a story about love, but not a love story. That’s good par moi. I don’t tend to like love stories. They’re full of artifice and only serve to make me feel lonely, which I don’t need any help with. The chronologically earlier and more love-story-esque portions of (500) Days are watchable because of the flash-forwards to more enjoyable post-breakup scenes of abject misery and self-loathing. That’s the good stuff! And since Tom's incurable romanticism is what hurts people around him and spells his own misery, I think that technically makes this an Aristotlean tragedy.

Opposite Tom is famous quirky girl and hipster darling Zooey Deschanel (Franny Deschanel unaccounted for) playing the role of Summer Finn, whom he immediately falls for after she shares and compliments his music taste. Understandable - wouldn’t we all? Summer insists that she doesn’t believe in love, but is happy enough to fool around. Tom wants her to completely fill the void in his heart, so he outright ignores this and imagines her as his forever soul mate. Again, mood. The crux of Tom’s development is him growing past this pretension, though it ends on a hanging note of asking whether he can ever really change. That makes it sound like a tense or dark cliffhanger, but it’s more of a tongue-clucking “oh, that man!” kind of joke.

And that brings us to why I like this movie despite my general disdain for romcoms. In the hands of another director, aiming for a more serious introspective tone, this whole more realistic plot could be depressing as all get-out. But instead, Marc Webb, who had until then directed music videos and would go on to direct some mediocre Spider-Man movies probably just because of his surname, honed the late-2000s quasi-indie halfway-to-a-music video style to a point. (500) Days of Summer isn’t afraid to be fun, to skirt reality with fourth wall breaks and flash mobs, or to drop for a minute into a parody of expressionist silent film. Mostly this stylistic flair is comedic. In one especially memorable and compulsively rewatchable sequence, playing Tom’s expectations of a party next to the reality, it’s wrenching and all too real, but most importantly it’s interesting. This is hardly an arthouse movie, but it outshines its genre in creativity and care for its characters and storytelling. The soundtrack helps here. Scattered throughout the movie are needle drops from the record collection of the coolest 2000s hipster you’ve never known: The Smiths get a whole scene, my Calgary homegirl Feist is here, along with the obligatory Simon and Garfunkel, a Pixies cover, and an improv dance number to Hall and Oates’ “You Make My Dreams.” Overall the movie rides a nice balance being too cutesy to tolerate and too grim to enjoy on a lazy evening.

I give this Hipster Movie four yearning glances out a train window out of five.

Project Hipster is a futile and disorganized attempt to dive into the world of things that the internet has at some point claimed "are hipster," mostly through ListChallenges search results.

This review comes from the tenth list, 80 Hipster Movies You Must See.

Stay deck.

Next up: one rather more violent movie or another, it depends on some circumstances.

[arrowflier]

Prompt for you my lovely 😊: Ian having a bad bipolar day/really depressed and Mickey taking care of him while they still live with the Gallagher’s, maybe outsiders perspective on the way Mickey can translate Ian when he’s nonverbal or that he tries to coax Ian into eating dinner by pulling him into his lap and sharing his plate, that sort of thing and maybe someone is about to tease them but Mickey gives that glare all protective like and then they shut up:) (also can Ian be wearing Mickey hoodie or some along those lines, he’s skinny it would fit)

Thank you for the prompt! Standard disclaimer that as much as I've been writing about bipolar disorder lately I still have a lot to learn, and always want to know if it makes anyone uncomfortable.💖

Content Warnings: bipolar disorder, depressive episode, food

It had been two days since Ian left the room he had Mickey had taken over once they were both out of jail. Two days of Debbie worrying, trying to talk Mickey into taking him somewhere (The fuck are they gonna do, Raggedy-Anne, sedate him? He’s already out like a light), sending Franny up with toast and coffee like they used to do for Monica (I don't like it when he's sad, mommy), and checking the bottles of meds on the bathroom sink that Mickey swore he doled out each morning.

And Debbie remembered what it was like, with their mom. It had been scary then, too. But Monica had never been stable, and Ian…

Well. It was a lot scarier when the person that wouldn’t get out of bed was the same person that had taken you to school, and been there to pick you up. Had taught you to swim, and to fight, and to never give up.

When the person who had shown you what strength was lost their own, what were you supposed to do?

So when Ian stumbled down the stairs that morning, thin and pale and dead-eyed, Debbie wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or force-feed him pancakes until he choked on them.

She went for none of the above, and hid her wet eyes by turning back to the stovetop instead.

Franny had no such compunctions, and was out of her chair and barreling into Ian’s legs before Debbie could even think to warn her.

“Uncle Ian!” she greeted excitedly. “Are you feeling better now?”

Debbie bit her lip, turning just enough to keep an eye on them from under her hair. She hated that she felt like she had to, but it was what it was.

And right now, what it was was her older brother letting his hand fall weakly onto Franny’s head, tangling in her red hair as she pressed her face into his leg.

“Hey, Fran,” he said, voice soft and scratchy from two days not speaking in anything but a whisper. He didn’t answer her question, but she didn’t seem to mind.

Franny pulled away, Ian’s hand falling limply back to his side until she grabbed it and tried to lead him to the table.

“You must be so hungry!” Franny was saying. “Mommy, can you make Uncle Ian breakfast too?”

Debbie looked at Ian, still standing there fidgeting as Franny swung their linked hands back and forth. His face was tucked down into a hoodie that didn’t look like it belonged to him—too loose in the chest and too short on his torso, barely even hanging to his hips—and he wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“I don’t know, Franny,” she hesitated. “Does Uncle Ian want breakfast today?”

No response. With a sigh, Debbie quietly added another egg to the bowl she had yet to whisk, and hoped for the best.

Franny had given up on getting Ian to the table, hugging him again before taking her own seat, and he was left standing there awkwardly and alone. Debbie wondered what she should do—Should she talk to him? Ask him to sit down? Tell him it was okay if he wanted to go back upstairs?—when the back door opened, Lip coming through with baby Fred in his arms.

“Hey Debs,” Lip greeted with a nod. “Got enough food for two more?”

Like he hadn’t just marched in after almost a week of not being home, off with Tami in their new place while Debbie took care of everyone and everything else. Still, she added another egg even as she rolled her eyes.

“Depends,” she asked dryly as she did it, “Got some money for me?”

“Nope,” Lip answered, then finally noticed Ian in the corner. “Morning bro,” he started, then did a double-take.

“Are you wearing Mickey’s shirt?” he asked, smirking. Knowing him, something rude was right on that comment’s heels, so Debbie threw an eggshell at the back of his head.

She widened her eyes at him when he turned to glare, trying to gesture without Ian noticing. But Lip didn’t seem to catch on, raising his hands like he needed an explanation, and Debbie wondered, not for the first time, how someone so smart could be so fucking stupid.

Thankfully, Ian didn’t seem to notice that the question was less than genuine, and just let his face pop out from the collar to whisper, “I like the way it smells.”

“Fuck yeah you do.”

Mickey was suddenly there on the stairs behind Ian, who seemed to relax a little more when he heard his voice.

“You keep fuckin’ stealin’ it when I’m not lookin’,” Mickey accused, coming up behind Ian to wrap an arm gently around his waist.

“Better watch out,” he warned, “or one of these days it ain’t even gonna smell like me anymore, you sap.”

Ian didn’t answer, but he did lean back just a little into Mickey’s hold. It was a far cry from the way he had pulled back from Debbie’s hand the last time she tried to check on him, and she wasn’t sure if she was relieved at the change or annoyed that once again, Mickey was the only one that could seem to influence him in this state.

She was glad Mickey was there for Ian, don’t get her wrong. But she wished that she was enough to help her brother without him, sometimes. They were family—she should be enough.

“Hey,” Mickey was whispering into Ian’s ear as he held him. “You wanna eat something for me?”

There was no spoken answer, and Debbie sighed, mentally recalculating the egg count yet again. Then she looked up just in time to see Ian nod, the slightest, slowest movement, and almost dropped the plate of bacon she was about to bring to the table.

“Alright,” Mickey said simply, “that’s good, Ian.”

He caught Debbie’s eye over Ian’s shoulder, and she nodded at him. Of course there was enough.

Mickey took the same hand that Franny had released minutes ago, and led Ian to the table. He glared at Lip until he got up and moved over a chair, finally having caught on to the fact that something was up, then sat down and pulled out the chair on his other side for Ian.

But Ian didn’t sit.

He stood there, hand still in Mickey’s, eyes wandering around the room like he wasn’t sure where he was. Franny waved at him from her seat when he looked past her, and his eyes caught on her smile, but moved on without returning it.

“Hey,” Mickey said softly. “C’mere.”

He tugged at their linked hands, raised his other one to clasp Ian’s elbow.

“Sit down, man,” he urged. “Come on, sit with me.”

Ian’s legs bent, and his body followed. And instead of sitting in the chair Mickey had chosen for him, he landed on Mickey’s lap, curling into his body like a child and tucking his head under Mickey’s chin.

It might have been comical, any other morning, Ian’s tall frame trying to hide within the confines of Mickey’s smaller form. It might have been sad, right now, the way he looked more like a scared little boy than the grown man they all knew he was.

Might have been, but wasn’t. Because Mickey just pressed his lips into Ian’s hair, stroked a hand down the back of the stolen hoodie Ian wore, and gestured to Debbie for a plate.

She didn’t try to speak to them when she brought it over, or when she returned with a second plate piled just as high. She didn’t try to argue when Mickey freed up his arms to grab a plate in one hand and a fork in the other, Ian still nestled in between, and dumped the entirety of Ian’s breakfast onto the same plate as his own.

And when Mickey got Ian to sit up enough to take a single bite from the fork he held to his mouth, held eye contact with Ian until he swallowed and went back for more, Debbie finally settled on something to feel.

Because Ian was alive, and out of bed, and eating. He was sitting at the table with them, at least sort of, and wiggled his fingers a little at Franny the next time she caught his eye.

Watching her daughter beam at her favorite uncles; watching her see what a real adult relationship was supposed to be like for maybe the first time; watching Lip and Fred too as they stared at Mickey taking care of Ian without concern for who might see…

Well. Mickey was there, and Mickey was family. Maybe they could be enough together.

[viscountessevie]

Do you think that the Peneloise break up could finally give us Francesca and Eloise in action? I can't believe how she's not shown to be close to at least one sibling. And I heard that in the books it was Eloise who she was the closest with. This could finally be the perfect opportunity to let her shine. What is your theory about this?

Ohmygod anon you read my mind - this is exactly what I want in S3!! Thank you for this ask - it's a much needed break from all the Pelican and racial thinkpieces. Let's get into some S3 headcanons with these two!

Before I do the HCs, you're absolutely right that Frannie and Eloise are the closest in the books because they are Irish twins! They have the same birthday a year apart. They also look scarily alike in the books that in TDAI Simon actually keeps mixing up the two at the Bridgerton family dinner. It was hilarious. It makes sense with their age and also being witty in their own ways that they are close. I've always found it funny that the most outspoken Bridgerton and the quietly witty one were the closest in the books.

The lack of Frannie in the show is really sad because along with Kate, she's my favourite character and fave Bridgerton sibling - like yes I adore Anthony but mainly because I relate to him shshhs whereas Frannie truly is the BEST Bridgerton imo.

She deserves to shine along with her siblings, I just hope Bridgerton and Lockwood & Co. Are a bit more accomdating of Ruby for S3's filming. She was supposed to have a bigger arc and storyline in S2 but she got cast and started filming for Lockwood & Co. Tbh I was a little sad we missed out on a Frannie story (God knows it would have been better than Cousin Jack's storyline 🙄) but I'm just happy Ruby is busy and getting booked! Especially now as the lead in L&C.

Anyways onto the S3 headcanons/predictions under the cut because Frannie deserves more screentime and Eloise needs better friends next season!

- Eloise storms in Frannie's room once she's back from her crime ring in Bath (I still cannot believe they didn't even bother to give Frannie an in-show excuse this season 😭 so we'll maintain she was running her crime ring in Bath.) and immediately tells her about LW because if anyone can keep shit to themselves it's Frannie.

- Frannie is just like "I know."

Eloise goes 👁👄👁 "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"You're smart El I thought you'd figure it out."

[Btw we were robbed of Fran and El looking for LW in S1 and then halfway through Frannie figures it out and keeps looking at Pen pointedly while El is being a total dumbass about the signs right in front of her.]

- They basically bicker for a bit about Fran not telling her and El being smarter than that but having Pen as a blindspot. Also I feel like while they essentially have no connection, Fran did write to Marina a couple times to check in on her because she's just so lovely like that.

- Fran totally would have exposed Pen as LW once the Marina thing happened if she wasn't so busy with her crime ring sigh. She's also just really glad that El finally saw sense and got away from Pen.

- It was hard watching the sister you're closest to be best friends with an insipid wallflower who relished in ruining people's lives and reputations.

- The Pen of it all aside, Fran will be debuting this season and while Fran has seen both her sisters go through their debuts and knows how she'll handle herself, with grace and class as always, she welcomes the advice from Daph and El. Kate also gives her tips on how to avoid men who make her uncomfortable and to dress down rude ones. 

- El is the first person she goes to when she meets the Stirlings. She gushes about John and then at the next ball El accidentally points out Michael, "Oh dear, he is gorgeous. You picked well, Fran." Ehehhe the foreshadowing of it all

- Fran can't do anything else but blush and be flustered because "El, that's John's cousin."

"Oh, my mistake." Then they go to formally introduce El to the cousins.

Stellar Additions from Trivia @hptriviachamp :

- All of that is a B/C plot of course and Bridgerton really needs to start using the sideplots to prop and support the main plot because CAN YOU IMAGINE EL AND FRAN TRYING TO GET BENOPHIE TGT??

- Like of course Francesca Bridgerton, the smartest sibling, figures out immediately that Sophie is the Lady in Silver and keeps dropping hints for Ben to realise it

- Eventually one by one everyone in the family figures it out and they all stand by watching in amusement at Ben's face blindness.

- El and Fran with their hints and shenanigans to leave Benophie in rooms alone together. Them recruiting Kate too who ends up becoming Sophie's bestie and helping her out.

- S3 I'm begging you to give me the El, Fran, Sophie and Kate fiercesome four sisters/sisters-in-law. El needs better women and friends in her life as do the other women and also more screentime for all! And especially our main couple next season Beneophie!!

This was such a fun ask to answer anon, thank you so much!! Now back to answering ships I'm not super into; Philoise/Marina/Theo Edition.

[depressedstressedlemonzest]

Hi! I’m sending this to a few of my favourite blogs bc i thought up a little game that i think could be a lot of fun! So how the game works: i found a bunch of the cast bts photos but lets say theyre all in canon. Make up a little story that would lead to why the photo got taken. Who took it, what was the event, etc etc…. you can make it as simple or elaborate as you want it to!

have fun! xoxo elle 🐱❤️

Picture prompts from @suchagallabitch ! I feel special that you like I’m in the running of favorite blogs  🥺 🥺

I love this.

Okay...

First picture of Svet, Tommy, and Kermit.

"So what she's going to be marrying some old fucker and leaving?" Tommy asked looking from Vee to Svetlana.

"Yep." Vee answered with a sad smile, as much of a pain in the ass Svet had been taking the bar from under her and Kev's noses, she still loved her.

"Well, if she's marrying some old guy, why not one of us?" Kermit asked gesturing between himself and Tommy.

"Rich old fuck." Svetlana clarified from the other end of the bar.

"Oh." Kermit said, he had gotten used to Svetlana being around, she could be nice when she wasn't being harsh and making them pay their tabs.

"Rich in what exactly? Because if it's experience we could marry you for that. Kermit knows about stocks and computers and IRS fraud, and I know about construction and auto mechanics." Tommy huffed as he took a sip of beer.

"You can just say you two shitheads will miss me." Svetlana pointed out with a smirk.

"Maybe after a couple more beers." Tommy muttered taking another sip of beer.

"Just admit to me that you and Kermy will miss me Tommy." Svet said sweetly resting her elbows on the bar counter and holding her chin in her hands.

Tommy gulped, "Fine, we'll miss you Svet," he paused looking at Kermit.

"Yeah we'll miss you, we're happy for you, but we'll miss you." Kermit added.

"And I'll miss you both also, but new husband has enough money to leave me when he croaks that me and Yevgeny won't have to worry about anything the rest of our lives, possibly be able to smuggle sisters over from Russia too." Svet said with a somewhat sad voice.

"Well, you'll have to come back and visit, I'm sure we won't be going anywhere." Kermit pointed out.

Svet grinned, "Here Veronica, will you take a picture of us?" She asked passing Vee as she walked around the bar to stand with Kermit and Tommy.

Svetlana snaked her long thin arms around the pair of men she grew to love as friends, wondering if a parting picture would be enough to remember them by.

Second picture Debs with baby doll

"This is so stupid, why do I have to carry around a fake baby for class when I have a real baby at home?" Debbie asked Lip as he drove her from school to Sheila's to pick up Franny.

"Lesson taught too late I guess. I thought you told me you were going to do the GED and test out?" He asked distractedly as he turned off the main road.

"I'm going to, but they said I have to wait until next week to do it officially." Debbie grumbled as she looked at the crummy used baby doll. It didn't even have proper clothes, and it's hair had previously had gum stuck in it which made it constantly stick up.

"So what's the point of doing this?" Lip asked furrowing his brows.

"Just keep me busy I guess, as if one crying infant wasn't bad enough." Debbie sighed wearily.

Lip looked at Debbie for a moment and felt a pang of guilt towards his younger sister. He hadn't been around as much lately what with going to college, and he felt like she could use a laugh or two.

He parked in front of Sheila's and held his hand out, "Gimme the doll." He said.

Debbie raised an eyebrow but handed the doll to her brother.

Lip grabbed the cigarette from behind his ear and slipped it into the baby's mouth, it would open enough for a fake bottle so it had no trouble fitting a cigarette into it.

Debbie started laughing which made Lip smile. For a moment they were young and carefree again like they had been only a few years before.

"Here give her to me I have an idea." Debbie grinned reaching for the doll.

Lip handed it back to her.

"take my picture." Debbie said eagerly.

Lip took out his phone and aimed it at Debbie as she held the doll, making sure the cigarette stayed in it's mouth, and flipped off the camera with a scowl.

"That's one to send to Ms. Bertram." Lip laughed and grabbed an empty beer bottle out of the back, "here take one with this too."

He said handing it to Debbie.

She laughed and acted like she was drinking out of the bottle while flipping off the camera and Lip snapped pictures, glad to see that his sister was having fun for once.

Picture three with Fiona!

"Oh Birthdaaaay Girl! Where aaaaaare yooou?"

Fiona could hear Vee's singsongy voice as she looked through the house for her. Really she was too old for sardines, but the younger kids wanted to play and she figured why the fuck not? She had had enough alcohol to make it sound like a good idea to crawl under the desk in the basement with heels on. None of the kids would look for her there. They were too scared of the basement.

Vee on the other hand...

"Ha, knew you'd be down here, say cheese!" Vee said snapping a picture of Fiona.

"Shhh, the kids will hear you." Fiona said grabbing at Vee to bring her down under the desk with her.

Vee laughed as she scrambled to the floor crawling under the desk with Fiona, wrapping her arms around her best friend.

"You having a good birthday?" She murmured playing with the plastic crown on Fiona's head.

"One of the best, Frank and Monica aren't here, Lip isn't trying my patience, Kev made a cake... It's been a great day." Fiona said leaning her head on Vee's shoulder.

"Good you deserve to have fun sometimes too you know." Vee reminded her with a nudge.

Fiona smiled and wrapped her arms around Vee, "How did I get so lucky to have you for my best friend?" She asked softly.

"You needed a lab partner and all the other bitches in seventh grade chemistry didn't like you because you had been mackin on their pimply little boyfriends." Vee answered with a laugh.

"Well whatever it was, I'm glad for it. I wouldn't be able to make it in this world without you Vee." Fiona said with a sniffle.

"Don't you dare cry, because then I'll cry. This is a birthday party it's cause for celebration not tears!" Vee scolded.

Fiona laughed and she hugged Vee tighter, they were playing sardines after all. Now they just needed to wait for the rest of the little kids to cram under the desk with them.

Picture #4 which is one of my FAVORITE BTS pictures.

"Uncle Mickey!" Franny cried running to Mickey as she and Debbie made their way around the Alibi, Debbie hunting for another drink.

"Little Red! C'mere kiddo!" Mickey shouted gleefully, giving Ian an elbow in the side as he opened his arms wide for Franny to jump in.

Debbie couldn't help but smile, thinking of Mickey from long ago, angry, dirty, foul mouthed, always beating up Lip or Ian, and now, married to Ian, just a little grumpy, still foul mouthed, and one of Franny's favorite people.

Mickey swung Franny around in circles until she squealed to be put down.

"Uncle Mickey look at my new scary face!" Franny shreiked.

"Show me what you got kid." Mickey grinned.

Franny growled and held her arms like a gorilla fists clenched at her sides,

"Wow that's pretty scary Fran." Ian chimed in from Mickey's side.

"You try it Uncle Mickey." Franny nudged Mickey with her hip.

Mickey smirked as he held his hands at his sides lamely.

"Grr." He said, sounding not the least bit intimidating.

"No Uncle Mickey, like this, GRRRR!" Franny growled loud and held her hands into fists, flexing her arms like a weight lifter.

"Grr!" Mickey grunted slightly louder his hands now in fists, but not flexed.

"Uncle Mickey like THIS!" Franny cried, "GRRRRRR!!!" She yowled demonstrating again.

Mickey followed her suit and growled right back at her.

Debbie snapped a picture on her phone as the pair growled at each other and flexed their arms until Franny exploded in giggles and wrapped her arms around Mickey's legs.

Debbie grinned, she was happy that Ian married Mickey, that they had each other and that Franny had them in her life.

Ian caught her looking at them smiling and he raised an eyebrow at her curiously.

She shook her head then raised her beer in a cheers motion.

Ian grinned back and turned his attention to Mickey and Franny who were now attempting to polka dance with the other dancers there that night.

[you-show-me-love]

How Tami Met Mickey

I really just wanted to write a headcanon of when Tami understood Mickey's existence since we were deprived of their interaction in the show okay bye

Tami was going to kill Lip. She was going to kill him and leave Fred on the dirty floor of the Gallagher house and she was going to disappear from their lives, head out west and hide out in a hair salon under a false identity, because Lip swore up and down Fred's teething ring was here somewhere and the kid was screaming his head off and had been for the last hour.

"Where the hell is it?" She whined, feeling like crying herself as she pushed aside random junk on the floor near where they sometimes set up the playpen. 

Mickey descended the stairs into the kitchen, still in his tank top and boxers even though it was well past noon. He grimaced at the sound of the crying baby. 

"Will you shut that kid up? Some of us are trying to sleep." 

Tami rolled her eyes, disrupting her search of the coffee table covered in crayons and paper. She loved Ian, she did, but she couldn't comprehend why the sweetest Gallagher had up and married this surly, foul mouthed convict. She chose to ignore him most of the time, especially after Lip told her he had been in for attempted murder of one of their family members.

"Believe me if I could I would but he's teething and I can't find his teething ring anywhere and Lip said it was here in this mess somewhere..." 

She was rambling, losing her sanity as Fred screamed louder and pulled a fist full of her blonde hair. Maybe Mickey could put her out of her misery since he apparently had no problem killing family members. Afraid to ask in case he took her seriously she shifted Fred to her other hip and pushed her fingers into the couch cushions, trying not to think of what they might come in contact with in the process.

Mickey watched the tall blonde with apathy as he chugged orange juice straight from the carton. He belched loudly and moved back out of sight, running some water and opening the refrigerator. A few more minutes of fruitless searching and Tami decided to give up. She turned to head to the backdoor only to find Mickey there, a wash cloth in hand. She watched, rapt, as Mickey pushed the chilled, damp cloth into Fred's open, wailing mouth, watched as her son clamped down immediately and began to suck. Her ears rang in the blissful silence and she stared at Mickey in awe. 

Mickey wasn't looking at her, he was cradling the back of Fred's head and running his thumb along his baby soft hair, a small almost sad smile on his face.

"How did you know to do that?" Tami couldn't help but ask. 

"My kid used to cry like that, had to keep this shit on standby for him, twenty-four seven."

Mickey seemed to come back to himself, dropping his hand from Fred's head and stepping back from mother and son. He was back up the stairs before Tami couldn't say anything.

==

Tami had stopped by too late to have breakfast with the Gallaghers, Lip giving her the extra hour of much needed sleep after Fred kept her up most of the night. She accepted Franny's hug around her knees and gave Fred a tickle and a kiss to the forehead. He smiled around his squishy teething ring and wiggled in the high chair. 

Debbie paused her cleaning to pull Tami's plate from the microwave and Tami decided to ask Debbie something that had been on her mind since yesterday.

"So, Mickey has a kid?"

Debbie looked up at her, face twisted in confusion, but she nodded. 

"Yeah, Yevgeny. Why?"

Tami didn't know how to answer that. Why did she want to know? Maybe it was because of the obvious.

"But…he's gay."

Debbie rolled her eyes.

"Gay people can have kids." She seethed, indicating to her own mini-me. She shoulder checked Tami on her way upstairs muttering bitch under her breath as she did so.

==

Fred had been just put down and Lip and Tami were laying in bed, trying to decide if they should use this opportunity to fuck or to sleep. Lip made the decision for them when he pulled off his shirt and rolled onto Tami.

They were kissing, hands roaming, but Tami's mind was on someone else entirely. The trail of kisses Lip was leaving down her body stopped as she asked him what had been on her mind.

"So, Mickey has a kid?" 

"Uhhh, yeah." Lip affirmed, looking up at Tami in confusion. "With a Russian hand-whore." He concluded with a light chuckle.

"What?!" Tami sat up, Lip further away from his destination. He sighed and joined her at the head of the bed. 

"You good Tamietti?" Lip asked as he watched his girlfriend's face pass through a range of emotions. She eventually shook her head. Lip licked his lips and leaned closer to her, keeping his voice low even though it was only the two of them.

"Look, it's a touchy subject for Ian and Mickey both. Broke Ian's heart to see him marry her. Then Ian stole the baby-"

"Wait wait wait." Tami interrupted, too loud considering their own sleeping baby was just one room over. "Mickey was married before? Ian stole a baby? What-"

"It's best if you don't know just...don't bring it up okay?"

Tami nodded, accepting a few more soft kisses from Lip before they both settled into bed and fell asleep while they had the chance.

==

Tami couldn't not bring it up, not when Ian was right there, bouncing Fred on his hip and making silly faces. Tami had to get to work but she could spare a moment to ask what had been eating away at her for a week now.

"Ian, can I ask you something about Mickey?"

Ian regarded her hesitantly but nodded. She let out a breath and resolved to satisfy her need to know once and for all.

"He has a kid. He's gay but he has a kid and used to be married to a woman? And you stole his baby? I mean, what is the story here?" She ended with a hysterical giggle, arms smacking against her thighs in exasperation.

Ian went paler than usual, his chin jutting out in a hard line. He stared at his nephew, watched his tiny fingers wrap around one of his own. Tami swallowed at the dark look on Ian's face, sudden regret for not following Lip's advice filling her.

"Back when we were kids Mickey's dad caught us. The homphobic prick beat Mickey bad and forced him to fuck a woman in front of me." Ian's voice was rough as sandpaper only making Tami feel worse.

"Mickey got her knocked up, married her, thought we could still bang in secret, but I took off. I came back and we tried to make it work but then I had a manic episode and took off with Yevgeny. I wanted him to be mine, be ours. My brain just ran away with the idea."

Tami's knees were weak and she backed herself into the nearest chair. She knew about Ian's disorder, but had never witnessed it, never heard them talk about it much at all, and she understood why looking at Ian now, seeing how much guilt and pain he internalized over what he did when he had no control. 

"Svetlana filed for divorce while Mickey was in prison, married some old rich bastard, and disappeared. Mickey's never tried to find them, don't think either of us deserve to at this point."

Ian sighed, finally looking Tami in the eye. She could only stare helplessly back in the wake of his words. Mickey wasn't just some convict Ian brought home after his stint in prison after all. Mouth dry she figured she had already dug herself this deep, what's a bit more.

"He really go to prison for trying to kill your sister?"

Ian made a face of knowing, standing taller and squaring his shoulders, jutting his chin even further in defence. 

"Yeah, he did." And with a bit of softening creeping into his hard features he whispered, "He did it for me. Because he loves me."

Tami left a few minutes later, assured by Ian he was fine to watch Fred until Lip came home. She totally cut a client's hair uneven as her mind drifted back to Mickey and what she now knew about the man before today. Turns out she knew jack shit.

Now she knew he was so much more. 

==

Tami threw open the front door of the Gallagher home, Fred crying in her ear after refusing to take his afternoon nap. Two heads turned at the commotion. Quickly Ian halfway off the couch to rescue his brother's girlfriend. Tami ignored him entirely and dropped Fred in Mickey's lap.

"He needs some more of that Mickey magic." Tami explained as the husbands stared wide-eyed between mother, crying son, and each other.

She left them to take a much needed bathroom break. After she was done she grabbed a beer and leaned against the doorway, watching the way Fred squirmed in Mickey's arms as he held him close and rubbed his back. Ian watched the pair with adoration before looking up at Tami and mouthing a simple thank you.

And that's how Tami Tamietti met the real Mickey Milkovich.

[gossip-girl-of-middleearth]

The Wrong Kind of Stardust (Legolas x Reader)

Synopsis: After taking Legolas, your partner, to visit your “Stardust” addict brother, things get a little chaotic.

A/N: I’ve been thinking about Legolas a lot lately, and one thought that’s recently crossed my mind is “what if Legolas got high on crack?” and my brain ran with the rest. Sometimes you just gotta write about an elf on cocaine.

Warnings: drug abuse, addiction, peer pressure, mentions of sex, a very crazy and over-the-top elf high on Stardust.

Dismounting your respective horses, both you and Legolas dropped to the pine needles below. You had finally arrived at your brother’s secluded cottage in the forest, away from the hustle and bustle of the cities.

“I can’t believe he actually managed to afford a place to live,” you scoffed, thinking of your brother.

He had suffered many years with addiction to “Stardust”—a white powder when once inhaled, made your body react faster and more impulsively than usual.

“Try to be optimistic,” Legolas soothed. He wrapped one arm around your shoulder and kissed your head. “Keep in mind how much you want your older brother at our wedding, and that’ll put things into perspective.”

“Yeah,” you sighed, supposing he was right. “This wouldn’t be the first time Franny lied about ‘being better’, though.”

“No,” Legolas agreed, walking you both forward towards the cottage, arm around your back. “But this is the first time he’s said so upon us getting married in a month.”

The grin he gave you was one brimming in lovesickness, as he studied your eyes.

You arched a brow up at him over his words, knowing exactly how elvish marriages were undertaken, and how you technically already were husband and wife.

Catching your expression, he cleared his throat sheepishly, and responded with, “Well…married formally, at least.”

You rolled your eyes away from him, but couldn’t fight the smile on your face. However, it soon ran away, as you both arrived at the closed front door.

You inhaled tightly, and spoke aloud. “Here we are, I suppose.”

Hearing the premature disappointment in your voice, Legolas looked down his side at you. Grabbing hold of both of your hands, he gazed into your eyes and reassured you.

“Hey,” he lulled, earning your full attention. “It’s all going to be fine, all right? You needn’t worry about your family embarrassing you in front of me, like you mentioned on the road. We’ve talked about this whole ‘prince and commoner’ thing at length. I wouldn’t have…married you if I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”

Your heart melted and your knees turned to mush, as you smiled up at him—bursting with love.

He returned the look and brought one hand up to cup your cheek. Running a thumb along your cheekbone, he began tilting your head upwards.

Still feeling your stomach flutter after all these years, you eyed him in excitement, before steadily closing your lids.

Right before his lips could brush against yours, however, the door to your brother’s cottage slammed opened.

Jolting away from one another, you both looked at Francis in shock. He looked every bit like you, but taller.

A broad grin was on Francis’ face, as he eyed his sister up.

“Y/n!” he exclaimed, rushing forwards to tackle you into a hug. “I’m so glad you made it! Oh! I haven’t seen you in years! And to think that you’re now getting married! Speaking of which—”

He pulled back from squeezing you blue, to size up Legolas instead. He strutted forwards with a low, manly laugh, and gripped a suddenly rigid and wide-eyed Legolas tight on the shoulders.

“My future brother-in-law!” he exclaimed, quickly pulling the protesting elf into a bear hug. “An elf, AND a prince! I can’t believe how well my sister scored!”

Laughing nervously, Legolas awkwardly wrapped his arms around Francis, patting him on the back. The only person he’d ever truly been skin-to-skin intimate with was you. Everyone else got a closed fist to the chest, or a shoulder clasp.

“It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Francis,” Legolas said, politely.

“Francis?” he exclaimed, pulling back and holding Legolas straight by the shoulders. “Who are you, my mother? Don’t be so formal, your highness! You can just call me ‘Franny’, like Y/n here does!”

He turned to you with a broad grin, and you returned it, though, in a lipped manner. Legolas offered a tight and confused grin back, unsure at the best of times on how to interact with humans. Francis was certainly the most bizarre one he’d met yet.

He almost regretted encouraging you to visit him, but the thought of your nearing wedding day ahead drove him forward, as well as one simple, repetitive thought.

Do it for Y/n.

Do it for Y/n.

Do it for Y/n.

“Well, don’t be strangers now!” Francis pressed on, ushering you both inside. “Can I get you anything to drink? Water? Tea? Moonshine?”

“Tea is fine, Franny,” you said in an almost scolding tone, knowing he shouldn’t drink at all.

As you stepped inside of the home, you inspected every nook and cranny with your eyes—expecting bags of Stardust to be lying around.

However, to your surprise, there were none.

“Tea coming right up!” Franny declared, whisking away to the kitchen. “Please! Make yourselves at home down at the table!”

Legolas thanked him with a smile, and sat you down in a gentlemanly manner, before taking his seat next to you.

Looking around the room, and pleasantly surprised with your brother, you voiced so aloud.

“Wow, Franny, this place actually looks amazing! I’m quite proud of you—it seems as though you’ve really cleaned up your act this time, as opposed to the last occasion.”

“I’m completely clean, sister!” his voice came from the kitchen. You could also hear the whistling of a kettle and the rattling of drawers.

You smiled up at Legolas with excitement in your eyes, as you truly believed your brother. He returned your smile, and offered a brighter one as you spoke.

“I think he’s really done it…should we invite him now?”

“Absolutely,” he encouraged. “Do you want to go get the invitation out of the saddle-bags?”

Nodding resolutely, you stood to your feet. You placed a peck against his lips, before leaving out the door again.

“Make friends with him,” you said, before leaving with a happy skip in your step.

He waved you goodbye, before Francis’ voice caught his attention.

“Y/n! Hey, do you think—oh, where’d she go?”

Legolas looked over his shoulder to find Francis’ head sticking out of the entranceway into the kitchen, as he looked left and right for his sister.

“She’s just stepped outside for a moment,” Legolas answered, politely.

“Oh, thank fuck,” Francis dropped his act, and his expression.

The change in demeanour chased the smile away from Legolas’ face, as he parted his lips in shock up at the man.

“I beg your pardon?” Legolas asked, already on the “what did you just say about my wife?” boat.

“She can be a real nagger sometimes,” Francis explained. He dropped to his knees and pulled a wooden plank out from the floorboards. Underneath, a brown bag of white powder lay.

He fetched it quickly, and came to sit on the couch next to Legolas, but a few feet away. Francis then began pouring a handful out, where he next went onto inhaling some.

“What are you doing?!” Legolas nearly squealed, jumping to his feet, as if a snake was just placed next to him.

“Elevating myself. What’s it look like, elf?” Francis sassed, quirking a brow up at Legolas.

“Are you insane?” the angry side of Legolas emerged. “Y/n just left to retrieve your wedding invitation, and you’re betraying her trust?”

“Relax, would you?” Francis complained, inhaling more of the dust from his hand. “What she doesn’t know won’t kill her.”

“Uh, I’m standing right here,” Legolas pointed out, gesturing to his body.

Looking his brother-in-law up and down, Francis replied, using a very monotonous voice. “Uh, yeah, I can see that. You’re a real stud of a stallion, so what?”

“No, that’s not what I—” Legolas went to defend himself. However, he bit his tongue and pressed both hands together in a praying motion. He brought said hands up to his face, and rested his forehead against them.

Closing his eyes, Legolas took a deep breath of his own.

“Wow, you look really stressed there, my friend,” Franny pointed out, holding the bag up next. “Would you like to try some?”

Jolted back into his senses, Legolas gaped down at the man for a minute in shock, before anger gave way again. “NO, FRANCIS! I WOULD NOT LIKE SOME OF YOUR DRUGS! Y/n will be devastated when she finds out you’re using again! And I encouraged her to give you another chance—I see why she was so against it now.”

The frown and glare of Legolas only deepened, as Franny rose to his feet, squaring up with the slightly taller elf.

“Hey, pal, you have no idea what I’m all about,” he growled, nodding his head in gesture of the elf. “And besides, who are you to judge? You’ve never even tried Stardust before!”

“Oh,” Legolas scoffed, rolling his eyes, “excuse me for having never done drugs before, what a horribly ignorant elf I am.”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Francis urged, holding up a handful to Legolas’ nose. “C’mon, just a little sniff! You’ll feel a lot calmer soon, I promise!”

“No!” Legolas rejected, swatting his hands. “Get that stuff away from me, Francis!”

“C’mon!” Francis drew out, trying to put it underneath Legolas’ dodging nose. “Just a little bit of Stardust won’t hurt you!”

“No, but it’ll hurt Y/n!” he protested, trying to move away from the adamant man.

“Just a little!” he urged again, chasing Legolas, as the elf was backed into a corner.

“No!”

“Yes!”

“NO!”

“YES!”

“I SAID NO!”

“Okay, you know what?” Francis rolled his eyes, now fully having the elf cornered. “Here!”

With one big puff of air, the entire handful of Stardust blew into Legolas’ face, entering his system almost immediately.

Legolas rapidly blinked his eyes open and shut, as he tried to get rid of the dust. The white powder danced between the man and elf in an equal amount, getting both high very quickly.

As the dust fluttered down to the floor, looking as though a bag of flour had just exploded, Legolas stared at his brother-in-law in shock.

“You…” he attempted to say, before he felt the pumping of his heart increase.

“Oh, yes, my friend,” Francis grinned, nodding his head. “You’re in for a good time…”

~

Outside, you had finally found the wedding invitation in your saddle-bag, now heading back on over towards the cottage.

You barely had time to announce your presence again, for the first thing you saw upon re-entering was your brother and husband kneeled on the floor, speaking fast and brooming up…flour?

“I feel like everything’s gonna work out, you know? Because I’m like clockwork!” your brother said, all in one go, to Legolas, as they quickly broomed everything up. “Look how fast I’m cleaning this mess up! Clockwork! I’m moving super-fast! Look at me go!”

Legolas nodded vehemently, and raised one finger to speak over the top of your brother, as they both continued vigorously cleaning the floor.

“Y-You know what’s funny? Can I speak? You know what’s funny?” he began, quick as a whip. “I feel like I should be panicking right now, and I am a little bit, but in a very, very good way—like a good kind of panic, because I feel like I want to die right now, but I also feel very, very good—”

“Hey!” you called, staring at them in confusion. “What on earth are you guys doing?”

“Y/n!” Legolas gasped, shooting to his feet.

Jumping over the couch in a way that made your eyes go wide, Legolas was instantly stood before you.

“I feel amazing!” he revealed, grabbing a chunk of blonde hair either side of his head, and pulling outwards. “LOOK HOW LONG MY HAIR IS! It’s growing out of my head right now—can you believe that? Isn’t that sort of disgusting? Ew, I’ve just made myself feel uncomfortable in my own body—”

Legolas gasped brightly, and met your eyes again. This was where you saw how dilated they were.

“CAN I BORROW YOUR BODY INSTEAD?” he asked, suddenly grabbing your waist. “THAT’S A BRILLIANT IDEA! And I know how to go inside, too, so it’ll all feel much better soon—”

“Are you high on…Stardust?!” you exclaimed, removing his hands from your waist.

Legolas blinked down at you rapidly for a few seconds, before slowly answering.

“No…?”

“I can’t believe it,” you seethed. Pushing past Legolas, you glared down at your laughing brother. “You’re absolutely deplorable, Francis! Don’t even THINK about showing up to the wedding!”

You tore up his invitation, and threw it down onto the ground below. You next began shoving a reluctant Legolas out of the house.

Fortunately, once he felt the pine needles on his feet (he was barefoot, for some reason), he gasped loudly and took off running.

“LOOK HOW GREEN IT IS!” he exclaimed. “HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED HOW GREEN IT IS? THE COLOURS ARE BURSTING RIGHT NOW ALL AROUND ME. I feel as though it’s sort of designed in my honour, you know? As in, nature really understands—SQUIRREL—what my name means.”

You rubbed your temples with a grinding of your teeth, as you watched your husband sprint off to climb a tree, where he beckoned you to join.

Growling, you spoke lowly under your breath.

“This is going to be a long ride home…”

Hearing a strangled yelp, you noticed that Legolas had already fallen out of the tree. You sighed, and began walking over—already knowing your words to be true.

[yeah-all-of-it]

I’ve had this headcanon for awhile now about Ian and Mickey starting a family and since I’m becoming more comfortable with writing, I thought I’d turn it into a fic. Enjoy!

A Life Changing Gift

“Debs, are you sure you understand what you’re offering right now?,” Ian questions, feeling a bit skeptical.

It is Debbie after all. Sometimes she’s perfectly pleasant and reasonable, other times she can be a raging bitch. But, she is his sister and he can’t imagine her offering something this monumental only to renege after they’ve gotten their hopes up. And she’s definitely mellowed out since they didn’t end up selling the house and she didn’t have to find a new place to live.

Ian and Debbie are sitting at the kitchen table in the Gallagher house. She had called him over to look at a cut Franny had gotten playing in the backyard. Wasn’t sure if it needed stitches and thought Ian could use his past medical training to check it out. In reality, it was barely a scratch. Ian should have known at that point Debbie was up to something, especially when she invited him to stay for coffee.

“Ian, I’ve been thinking a long time about this. Came up with the idea months ago but wanted to be completely sure before I said anything,” Debbie explains.

“Yeah, but, Debbie. This is fuckin’ huge. Think about how hard it’ll be on you-“

“I’ve already thought about all that shit, Ian. I’ve been through it before, you know. It’s really not that bad,” Debbie assures him.

Debbie seems sincere. Like she’s really considered every angle, every downside, upside, and in-between. He’s trying to keep his excitement reined in because he still has to convince Mickey that this is a good idea, which could be easier said than done.

“Listen,” Debbie says. “You don’t have to say anything now. Go home, talk it over with Mickey. You can even bring him over here and we can all talk about it if you want. No pressure.”

They both stand from the table and Ian goes to give her a hug.

“Wait, what the fuck are you doing?” Debbie jokes. “Thought you hated me and that we don’t do hugs anymore.” She laughs, and Ian knows she’s remembering how tense things were a year ago when she thought she’d be homeless and alone and she lashed out at all her siblings.

“Would you just fuckin’ come here?” Ian smiles warmly and holds his arms out.

She steps into his embrace and he just holds his little sister. Sometimes he still likes to imagine her as that sweet little girl that was always helping people. Always loving people, sometimes so much she would get hurt. It would kill him to see the tears in her eyes.

Sometimes, he sees glimpses of that caring little girl in the jaded woman she’s become. Like when she pretended to be the bride at his wedding; staying in the kitchen, missing the whole ceremony, just so he and Mickey could get married without any problems from the homophobes at the venue. And now, when she’s offering this selfless and life changing gift to them.

Ian whispers into her hair, hair that’s the same vibrant shade of red as his own, “I don’t even know what to say, Debs. Just… thank you.”

Debbie gives him one more big squeeze before pulling away. “You’re welcome. Now, go home and convince your husband to let me have his baby.”

———

“No fuckin’ way, NO fuckin’ way!” Mickey exclaims. “No way am I bangin’ your little sister.”

Mickey hops up on the counter, takes a long chug of the Old Style in his hand.

“Mick,” Ian sighs, leaning up against the opposite counter. “That’s not how it works. You would basically jerk off in a cup and she’d use a turkey baster, in the privacy of her own room,” he emphasizes,” to… place the sperm where they need to go.”

“Don’t you need like, a doctor or some shit to do that?” Mickey asks incredulously.

“Well, you can use a doctor but it’s expensive. This way is free,” Ian clarifies.

Mickey is clearly churning the idea around in his brain. Finally speaks.

“I thought we were just gonna like, find a fuckin’ kid that didn’t have parents or somethin’.”

“We can do that too, one day. Ya know, if we like the first one enough to do it again,” Ian says lightheartedly, slight grin, trying to calm Mickey.

Ian steps toward Mickey, placing his hips between Mickey’s knees, resting his hands on his thighs, rubbing softly.

Ian continues. “Think about it though, Mick. This baby would be us, you and me. It’s the closest we can get since we don’t exactly have the right stuff to do it on our own. He or she would have your DNA and, through Debbie, a little of mine too.”

Mickey beams at this, wraps his arms around his husband’s shoulders. “It would be kinda fun to have a little version of us runnin’ around,” Mickey admits. “You know a kid that’s part Milkovich and part Gallagher is bound to be a little shit though, right?” Mickey jokes, smiling at the thought.

“Oh, I’m counting on it,” Ian quips, leaning in and planting a sweet kiss on his smiling husband’s lips.

Ian pulls back from the kiss and asks seriously, “So. Do you wanna do this?”

“Yeah. Yeah I do. What about you?” Mickey questions.

“Fuck yeah, I do. Let’s call Debs right now.”

———

“I’ve done a lot of research about this. You guys know it might not work on the first try right? Don’t want you to be frustrated or disappointed if it doesn’t work this month. Doesn’t mean it won’t ever work, but it can take a little time,” Debbie explains.

They are sitting in the Gallagher living room the day they are making their first attempt at insemination.

“Yeah, we know, Debs. Don’t worry,” Ian replies. “We’re not in a hurry.”

“Okay, good. Keeping your expectations reasonable is good,” she says. “I’ve also been tracking my basal body temperature and took an ovulation test, so today is my most fertile da-“

Mickey interrupts, “Thanks, Dr. Gallagher, but we don’t need all the gory details. Now where do I jerk off? Hey Ian, you gonna gimme a hand, man?” Mickey clicks his tongue and bounces his eyebrows playfully.

“Ugh, no gory details, right? Let’s just keep all the personal shit to ourselves okay?” Debbie requests.

“Yeah, this is already awkward enough. Don’t need to make it weirder,” Ian agrees and eyes Mickey scoldingly.

Ian and Mickey are forced to go into the bathroom because Lip and Tami live there now and their old bedroom is now Fred and the baby’s room. They’re not home but it would be uncomfortable seeing Fred’s little toddler bed, his stuffed animal collection staring at them while Mickey gets off. So, bathroom it is.

“Listen, Mickey,” Ian explains. “I’ll help, but we are keeping this clinical. Short and sweet. We can fuck at home later for fun; this needs to be done with a purpose, a goal. Debbie’s waiting.”

“Ugh, Jesus, man, why you gotta bring up Debbie? Doesn’t exactly make this process easier to think of her waiting in her room to squir-“

“Okaaayy, focus Mick,” Ian interrupts before that sentence goes any further.

Ian yanks down Mickey’s pants and gets to work. He knows exactly how Mickey likes it to make him come quickly. It works and Mickey finishes into the bulb of the turkey baster in record time.

Ian wipes off the edges and walks it to Debbie’s room, knocking on the door. She opens it just enough to stick her arm out and Ian places the bulb in her hand. Ian hears her say, “Uh, you guys can go home. I’ll text you later,” and shuts the door.

On their way back to the Westside, Ian’s phone dings. He picks it up and reads the text from Debbie out loud. “Transfer is complete.”

“What now?” Mickey asks.

“We wait,” Ian answers.

———

“It should have worked by now, right?” Mickey asks, an edge of concern in his voice. “I mean, it’s been almost 4 months. What if like, my fuckin’ swimmers don’t work or somethin’?”

Ian tries to calm Mickey down, rubbing his arm that’s slung across Ian’s belly. It’s midnight and they really should be asleep but Mickey’s spiraling over the whole surrogacy thing.

“Mick, this is normal. We knew it could take awhile. There’s no need to freak out yet,” Ian assures. “What’s all this about, anyway? All the worry.”

“Just… I know it took a long time for me to even wanna have kids. Then you had to convince me to do this shit, to be okay with Debbie carrying my baby. Fuck, that still sounds creepy as hell. But anyway, I know I wasn’t on board with everything at first, but now? Ian, I’m so fuckin’ excited to have a baby with you. To be a dad with you. It’s just hard to wait, that’s all. And then I think… what if it doesn’t happen? What if this whole plan just fuckin’ fails? Then what?”

“Then, we come up with another plan,” Ian assures. “I wanna raise kids with you too, Mickey, so fuckin’ much. I wanna give them the childhood we never got to have. I wanna take them to the beach with you, I want us to play blocks on the living room floor, and read bedtime stories together. All that shit. It’ll happen, Mickey. One way or another, we’ll make it happen.”

Ian snuggles Mickey closer, kisses him on the top of the head, and they fall asleep in each other’s arms.

They are woken up by Ian’s obnoxious ringtone at 6:00 am, well before they have to be up for work.

“Who the fuck is calling this goddamn early? Better be fuckin’ important,” Mickey grumbles while rubbing his eyes.

It’s Debbie.

“Hey, Debs!” Ian says with fake cheerfulness, still half asleep. “What’s up?”

“There’s two lines!” she screams on the other end of the phone.

“Okay?” Ian replies.

“There’s TWO lines!” she repeats, emphasizing the word two.

“I don’t know what the fuck that means, Debs. Two lines where?” Ian questions.

“On the pregnancy test, dipshit! It’s positive! I’m pregnant!” she yells.

Ian bolts upright in bed. Mickey grumbles “what the fuck” under his breath, eyes still half closed.

“Holy fuck! It’s positive?” Ian exclaims. “It worked?

Mickey’s up now too. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“Debs! Thank you! I love you! I’ll call you back later!” Ian says, unable to hold in his excitement.

He hangs up the phone. Turns and looks at Mickey. “It worked. She’s pregnant,” Ian practically whispers, unable to believe it. Ian sees tears well up in Mickey’s eyes and, for only the second time Ian has ever witnessed, they spill out onto his cheeks.

———

“Damn, you look like a beached whale, Debbie,” Mickey observes.

Debbie gives him a dirty look but chooses to keep her mouth shut.

She’s a week past her due date so they are at the clinic today to make sure everything is good. Debbie is up on the table and Ian and Mickey are sitting in the two available chairs when the doctor comes in.

“Hi, Debbie! Hi, Dads!” she says cheerfully. “So we are going to measure your belly and do a quick ultrasound just to make sure your amniotic fluid looks good.” Mickey grimaces at the term “amniotic fluid”. “I’ll have her back in a jiffy, guys!” the doctor says as she whisks Debbie out of the room.

They spent the last 6 months getting everything they needed for their new baby. Tami even threw them a shower where they got clothes, bottles, a swing, a carseat, and about a billion diapers. They decorated the nursery in light gray bedding with tiny white stars. Gender neutral because they want to be surprised. They have everything ready, all they need is the baby who is taking its sweet time.

Around 20 minutes has passed when the doctor pokes her head in the door.

“Sooo, I have some news. Debbie’s water broke while we were doing her ultrasound and her contractions started coming really fast. From what I’ve been told, her first delivery was pretty quick so we’re transporting her to the hospital just down the road, just to be safe. You are welcome to head over there now. I will be delivering so I’ll see you guys there!” and her head pops out as quickly as it appeared.

Ian and Mickey just look at each other, stunned. Finally Mickey regains his senses and breaks the silence. “Well, let’s fuckin’ go!”

They finally make it to the OB floor after a couple wrong turns inside the hospital. A nurse points them to Debbie’s room and they walk in when she’s in the middle of a pretty intense contraction. Once it subsides, she greets them and informs the epidural is on its way.

Once it’s been administered and Debbie is blissfully pain free, she asks, “Do you guys want to be in the delivery room?”

They both look at each other. “I hadn’t really thought about it,” Ian replies.

“Fuck, no,” Mickey says. “I don’t wanna see that shit.”

“Mick, you don’t have to watch. We can stand up by her head. Hold her hand. Be supportive since she’s bringing our baby into this world.” Ian turns to Debbie. “Are you sure you don’t mind? We understand if you want to keep things private.”

“Ian. I gave birth to Franny on our kitchen table in front of… like, everyone. Kev saw my vagina. V saw my vagina. Fuckin’ Sean saw my vagina. Trust me, I don’t care if you two are in the room.”

Ian looks at Mickey. “Fuck… fine. We can be in there,” Mickey relents.

A nurse comes in to check Debbie and informs her she’s 100% effaced and 10cm dilated. It’s go time. Things move at a quick pace after that. More nurses come in, turning on extra lights, bringing in supplies, wheeling in the heated bassinet.

Ian and Mickey stand side by side to Debbie’s left, Ian holding her hand, while she pushes. It’s fast. She only pushes for ten minutes before they hear cries and the doctor’s holding the baby in her hands, declaring, “it’s a girl!”

The next thing they know, a nurse is throwing a clean blanket over Mickey’s chest, and another nurse walks over and places the baby, his daughter, in his arms, blood, vernix, and all. Ian expects him to be grossed out but Mickey just stares in awe at this beautiful baby. This baby that looks like him in the face, but has a head of red hair.

Ian steps up to Mickey and wraps an arm around his shoulders, placing his other under Mickey’s arms that are holding their daughter. There is not a dry eye in the room. Ian and Mickey are crying, Debbie is crying, even the doctor and nurses are crying.

The next hour or so is spent getting the baby, and Debbie, cleaned up and dressed. They take the baby and run the normal tests and give her a vitamin k shot.

Once Debbie is in a room, the nurse brings the baby in to her dads. Ian sits in the rocking chair snuggling her while she sleeps and Mickey is right next to them.

Debbie just gazes at this new little family from her spot in bed. “So,” she finally says. “What are you naming her?”

Ian and Mickey just smile at each other before Ian responds, “Debbie, meet Margaret Laura Gallagher-Milkovich. Maggie for short.”

Debbie’s eyes tear up. “You guys gave her my middle name?”

Mickey surprisingly fields this question. “We wanted her to be named after the person that’s responsible for her bein’ here. For helping’ create her for us. I know I give you a lotta shit, but I love ya, and I appreciate the fuck outta you, Debbie.”

“Aww, Mickey, I love yo-“ she begins before being interrupted.

“Don’t get fuckin’ used to it. I’m emotional today,” he snaps with feigned grumpiness. Then smiles at her.

They let Debbie snuggle her for a bit before being released by the pediatrician to take her home. Thankfully they had already installed the infant seat in their car so they were prepared.

They walk through the door of their apartment 30 minutes later. Ian sets the carrier down and picks the baby up out of it, snuggling her tiny body to his chest before passing her off to Mickey.

“I’m not sure what you were so worried about, you’re a natural, Mickey,” Ian says as he gazes at his handsome husband tenderly cradling their beautiful baby girl.

They walk over to the sofa and sit down, thinking about the whirlwind of a day. Not knowing when they got up this morning to take Debbie to the clinic that by evening, they’d be holding their daughter in their arms.

Ian wraps Mickey’s shoulders with his arm, places his hand on their swaddled baby and says, “Welcome home, Maggie Gallagher-Milkovich. Your dads love you so much.”

[magnoliabloomfield]

Afterlife 13

NOTE: I've had a hard time with my chronic illness lately, it's been affecting my cognitive functions and giving me blurry vision, so if there are typo's, missing words, incorrect words I apologize, sometimes I can read it three or four times and not be able to spot a mistake. I hate to seem like I'm asking you guys to be editors for me, but if you spot anything wonky please let me know and I'll fix it. I want to keep making quality content but health makes that a little unreliable. Thanks.

Gally noticed that now, whenever Madison’s eyes found him, she would smile. In the glade, the sight of him never made anyone smile. He wasn’t used it and doubted he ever would be, but he liked it more than he would admit.

Bit by bit he had tried to open up to her. One time they had been sitting on the roof, their backs against the warm bricks, and she had asked him to tell her all the good things about the glade. It hurt really bad, but he did it and, oddly enough, he felt better afterward, especially when her head came to rest on his shoulder.

She also shared some things he didn’t know about her. When she had gotten to the right arm and found they had books, she began devouring each one without discrimination. She explained that it was the best way to escape this world for a while, to experience new things in a way, and feel new feelings. She told him about her favorite stories with such enthusiasm he found himself smiling with ease. When she asked if he wanted to read any of them, which he wouldn’t have minded, he still told her he’d rather listen to her tell him about it just so he could sit back and watch her.

The roof had become their new spot and they regularly met up there in the evenings. He opened the door and saw her standing there, bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. She turned and smiled at him.

“Hey you,” she greeted. “How did you make it through today?”

That was something they asked each other, it was a lot better than ‘how was your day?’ or ‘how are you doing?’

“By thinking about how much cooler it would be by the time I got here,” he answered as he walked over to her. “It was really hot today and it was pissing me off.”

“That sucks,” she frowned like she would fight the sun for him. “Are you less pissed off now?”

“Yeah, much better now,” he said with a slight grin. “How about you?”

“Frannie threw up on me!” She said with a fake bright smile like it was great news. “So, it’s a hot day and then I got hit with hot vomit-“

“Oh god, please don’t,” Gally begged with something between a smile and a grimace.

“At least I got an extra bath day though,” she smiled and rubbed her hands on her arms. She loved being clean.

“Ah, so that’s where your stink went,” he teased her.

She gave him a look and then went to perch herself on the wall. Gally felt his guts hit the floor and he sidestepped quickly to be right in front of her. The only thing going through his mind was Newt limping through the glade. His brows furrowed severely.

“No, no. Get down,” he told her as he reached for her arms or her waist, anything that he could grab without knocking her over the edge.

“It’s ok, the ledge is wide,” she tried to tell him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“It makes me nervous!” he stepped forward, feeling her knees brush by his sides before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her off the wall.

He was now standing there holding her full weight, her thighs resting on his hips as her feet dangled in the air. She was holding onto his shoulders for balance and staring at him. She didn’t look confused or angry at him for manhandling her off the ledge. Her eyes just stared into him like she was really seeing him, she looked at him in a way that made him feel more real than he ever had before.

“You ok?” she finally asked him softly as her eyes briefly trailed down before meeting his again.

He would have to open the locked door to a dark place he hadn’t shown her yet to explain why he had just done what he did. She didn’t push away or make any sign of wanting to be put down.

“My friend,” he started, feeling a lump in his throat as he saw Newt in his mind. Gally didn’t feel worthy of calling himself Newt’s friend considering how things had gone down between them when Thomas had shown up, but he’d always liked Newt. “He, uh. He tried to…” this was harder than he expected.

As he tried to swallow and form a coherent sentence he felt her legs squeeze slightly as she crossed her ankles behind him, clearly not going anywhere. One of her hands moved to the curve where his neck met his shoulder.

“He jumped from the maze wall,” he said clearly as if her touch had coaxed it out of him.

Her tongue made a sad little tsk as she opened her mouth to speak. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she said, her thumb brushing against his skin.

He gave a slight nod, his head dipping down as he took a calming breath. After a moment he felt Madison shift a little and then her forehead gently pressed to his, getting him to look up at her.

“I promise I won’t do it again,” she told him with a gentle smile before she pulled back, resting her arms over his shoulders.

His brows unknit slightly. God she was close. She wasn’t heavy by any means, but he loved feeling the weight of her, and her warmth even though it was already hot out, but somehow he wasn’t satisfied with just that, there was something more he wanted. He felt greedy.

He was so caught up in looking at her and wondering if he could close the small distance between them that, if the explosion had been any smaller, he wouldn’t have registered it at all.

He tried to be quick and also gentle as he dropped down, shielding Madison under him. His hand rested in her short hair as he protected her head. They were both breathing heavy with adrenaline and she was gripping the front of his shirt tightly. They waited for a moment to see what would happen next.

“It was loud but there was no shockwave, I think it was far away,” Madison said quietly.

Right after that was another boom. It did sound a bit farther away than the first one had. Suddenly Madison looked up at him with realization written her face.

“Wicked.”

Carefully they got up to their knees, staying down behind the wall for cover just in case. There was a third boom and it definitely was coming from the direction of the city and wasn’t getting any closer. Carefully they peered over the top of the wall and saw smoke rising on the horizon.

“Do you think someone bombed the city?” She asked him.

It felt weird to wish that were true, but something was uneasy within him. “I don’t think so,” he answered, still gripping her shoulder in case he did need to protect her.

She turned and grabbed the binoculars she had stashed on the roof. She offered him one of the sights and she took the other, their cheeks brushing as they looked together.

“Can you see clear?” she asked as she adjusted the focus.

“Yeah,” he answered, feeling his pulse hammer in his throat.

They crouched there, pressed together and waited. The fourth boom came.

“Oh my god,” Madison whispered in horror as she pulled away and covered her mouth.

Gally took over the binoculars and got a better look for himself as Madison held his free arm. It was always something terrible with those jerks.

****************************************

“What? No,” Madison blurted with wide eyes when Gally told her he was going on a mission to the city.

He had actually gone before, but he hadn’t told her because he didn’t want her to worry. The only reason he was telling her now was because it was big news and she’d hear about it anyway, and this time it was riskier with the guns mounted on the city walls.

“Yes, I am,” he told her.

“Why you? Why do you have to go?” she was looking more and more panicked and it pulled at his heart.

“Because Lawrence said so.”

That got Madison to freeze. She never really cared for Lawrence. She hadn’t told Gally why but he could tell, mostly by the way she tried to never talk about him. Gally had earned his trust while Arthur was training him and he proved himself in multiple successful missions.

“No. No, no, no, no, no,” Madison shook her head. “Don’t go. Don’t go to that horrible place, please.” Tears were forming in her eyes and he knew she was remembering all the things they had done to her there.

“Madison-“

“What if they get you again?” she choked out.

With that he had no choice but to pull her to his chest. The trucks were loading up as they spoke and he didn’t care about who saw him being soft with her.

“Madison, I am coming back,” He told her with conviction. “And I’m also going to make sure that Wicked never hurts either of us ever again. I promise.” He ran his hand over her short hair and gave her an extra squeeze before he pulled away and got on one of the trucks before he lost his nerve.

*****************************************

Madison sat with Frannie as Fontain gave her a check up. In a post apocalyptic world without fancy medical technology available those check up were more regular. You had very limited ways of figuring out if anything was wrong, and you wanted to catch it soon if you could catch it at all.

“God, you look miserable,” Frannie commented, breaking Madison out of her living-nightmare-like thoughts.

Fontain looked at her sympathetically as he gently pressed on Frannie’s growing baby bump.

“He’s gonna come back just fine, you know,” Frannie said. “He made you a promise and he’s going to keep it, so stop looking so gloomy.”

Madison was a bit taken aback. Was Frannie being nice to her?

“Careful there Frannie,” Madison dusted off her sense of humor. “Or I might think you actually like me.”

Frannie chuckled before grimacing at whatever Fontain had just done to her. Madison tried to stay away from the dark thoughts of Gally trapped in one of their flat, white rooms. A strange part of her mind wondered what he would look like under the lights though. She knew if he ever was captured by Wicked there wouldn’t be a thing they could do to stop her from getting him back.

“Well now you look kind of pissed,” Frannie noted. “Who’re you mad at?”

“Wicked,” Madison answered her.

“Ain’t we all.”

Madison kept her post on the roof, watching for them to come back. She was sure glad she did when she saw a rising trail of dust making its way toward their shabby little city. She stayed posted, using her binoculars to watch them, making sure nothing happened to them until they were closer. She left only when they made it safely past the wall, racing down the stairs and flying down hallways, her heart pounding harder than it had in a long time.

Please, she thought, please please please.

She came careening around the corner and stopped only so she could get a clear look across the expanse, and there he was, even with his gas mask on she could tell. He was standing right there just about a hundred feet away. Her whole body was flooded with relief as she smiled at him. He took off the mask, but he wasn’t smiling when he glanced at her briefly. Her smile flickered in confusion as he turned away from her.

There was a pause, a moment that felt like a void to Madison and she worried that maybe she was cranking out despite knowing full well she was immune. That was how crazy it felt at least. And then Gally was gone, knocked down, revealing the face of an angry boy who disappeared as he descended on Gally to throw more punches. Her hands flew to her mouth for half a second before she got herself together and started running for him.

She could barely hear the commotion over her own breathing, but she saw more strangers. No one over there had noticed her yet and they never did as Fontain came out of nowhere and grabbed her around the waist holding her back. She saw Gally laying there on his back, waving off everyone who came forward to help him, his arms staying by his sides as he made no effort to defend himself.

Madison’s brows furrowed in confusion so profound she didn’t even fight against Fontain or call out to Gally. She just watched him as he lay there, these strangers standing over him, one poised to hit him again, and she could tell that Gally would let him. Why?

She looked at the boy holding the angry one back. He was tall and lean with messy blond hair and it set the back of Madison’s mind itching like she should know him.

They finally backed off of Gally and he got to his feet again, rubbing his jaw. She strained to hear them all clearly as they spoke and caught a few familiar words like ‘Minho’ one of the boys Gally knew back in the Glade.

Madison’s mouth dropped in shock when realization finally hit her. These must be boys from the glade! Her small blip of happiness at figuring that out was squashed in an instant as she remembered what Gally had confessed to her so long ago. Her heart felt heavy as she imagined what it must be like for Gally to face them again.

Gally turned and tried to lead them somewhere, but the angry boy still looked pissed, saying he wasn’t going anywhere with Gally. Madison now felt angry at him. Her Gally was trustworthy and kind, he didn’t deserve to be treated that way.

Finally they all started following him. When he turned he locked eyes with Madison again, his expression serious. It was a hello, but it was an order to wait as well. She was bursting with curiosity, she wanted to go with him, she wanted to make sure he was ok, she wanted to defend him against that angry boy. But she stayed rooted to her spot as he walked away from her, talking to the others like nothing was amiss.

She didn’t know what was going on, why Gally wouldn’t talk to her and seemed to want her to stay away. Did he not want her to meet these people, or them to meet her? She scurried off to follow them, shadowing at a distance just to see where they were going. She soon put it together.

Why would Gally take them to Lawrence? There was no way this would go over well. What was he doing? Everything was going sideways. First there was that moment up on the roof where it felt like something big could have happened- would have happened if Wicked hadn’t chosen that moment to fire on the poor and sick outside their walls.

Now all those heart fluttery, warm feelings were put on hold to deal with this. Figures.

*************************************************

Gally came out of Lawrence’s room, fuming that Thomas was still as reckless as he was when he came out of the box. He spotted Madison lingering down the hall, trying not to stand out. Of course he wanted to go to her, but didn’t feel like he could.

The last memory they had of him was him shooting Chuck, and Thomas in particular had absolutely no fond memories of him whatsoever. Gally knew he deserved that hit and more and he would have taken it, but he knew he had to show them somehow that he really was going to help them and they could trust him. You don’t earn trust by throwing punches in return.

But when it came to Madison… he didn’t want to think about what Thomas might do if he knew Gally cared about someone. Or worse, that someone cared about him, something he absolutely did not deserve. No, he couldn’t let them see he had anything good in this life. He couldn’t let his first life touch the one he had with her.

He led the others toward the place where they’d enter the city. His heart tightened as he passed by Madison, knowing she would absolutely freak out about him going into the city. He could smell soap as he passed her, and it reminded him of when he held her on the roof. That already felt so long ago.

She was following. Listening to his silent pleadings that she keep her distance, but just barely. He opened the door and ushered the others in, looking at Madison once they were all inside. He saw the terror of understanding on her face and it killed him.

“I just need to grab a few things, I’ll be right back,” he told them before closing the door between them.

Madison was by his side in an instant. “What’s going on?” she asked urgently as he moved her away from th door so they wouldn’t overhear. “You’re not going into the city, right? Tell me you’re not.”

He didn’t say anything, just looked down at her sadly and watched her eyes pool with tears.

“Why?” she whispered.

Gally looked away from her for a moment to compose himself. “Because it’s going to help us take down Wicked for good,” he said. “They’ll pay for everything they did to you… and to me, everyone.”

“I don’t want to make them pay if it costs your life,” she said as tears fell from her lashes and she grabbed the front of his vest.

“I’ll be ok,” he assured her as he took her hand in his and pressed it against his chest, right over his scar. “I’ve had worse. Besides, don’t you want to be able to live without looking for Wicked over your shoulder for the rest of your life?”

She just stared up at him, not seeming persuaded in the slightest. “No matter what I say, you’re going to go. Aren’t you?”

He felt like he was losing her, like a door was closing between them and that was the last thing he wanted. Time wasn’t on his side, he had to hurry, they were waiting on him. He avoided looking at her as he nodded.

He heard her take a sharp breath and let it out slowly. “Well, you better be careful.”

*********************************************

She hung out in the hall for as long as she could, nervously pacing, chewing all ten finger nails till there was nothing left to chew. After Gally had left she remembered something she told him a long time ago when they first met. She told him to live to his friends what they deserved, to give Wicked what they deserved. What if that’s what he was going to do? What if he didn’t plan on coming out of this whole thing alive?

She couldn’t stand being alone with those terrible thoughts anymore. She threw caution to the wind and opened the door, finding three people left behind, an older man, and a younger boy and girl. They all looked at her and she stared back, not knowing what to say to them now that she was in there.

“Hi,” is what she started with.

They kind of raised an eyebrow at her but said hello back.

“I’m Madison,” she told them before letting an anxious breath out.

“I’m Brenda,” the girl spoke before gesturing to the older man. “This is Jorge and Frypan.”

“Frypan,” Madison repeated with recognition making him furrow his brows curiously.

“Um, what are you… doing here?” Brenda asked her with an awkward smile.

“I’m…” she froze for a second, not sure what Gally would want her to say, but she just told the truth anyway. “Waiting for Gally to get back.”

“Why?” Frypan asked her, seeming more confused than ever.

She furrowed her brows at him now. “Because he’s my friend.”

That had him shook. He was staring at her with wide eyes and his mouth was hanging open.

“What? What’s wrong with that?” she asked a bit defensively, feeling a little nervous because he knew an older version of Gally and probably knew him longer than she had. She was willing to leave parts of his past in the past where they belonged, but that was easier when nothing was around to dredge it up so much.

“Nothing,” Frypan shook his head. “I just wasn’t expecting him to make friends with a girl, seeing how much he disliked the first one he met.”

That piqued her interest but she tried to hide the fact she knew nothing about this first girl. “Well, we get along fine,” she said before taking a seat on some rubble, ready to get to waiting for Gally.

Brenda and Jorge started having a hushed conversation between themselves, and after a moment Frypan made his way over to Madison, taking a seat near her as she watched the hole in the floor, her foot bouncing like mad.

“How… how has he been?” he asked her, clasping his hands together as he leaned forward on his knees.

Madison looked at him and decided he seemed genuine enough. “Lately he’s been doing really good,” she nodded. “It was a bit rough in the beginning, but he fit in here.”

“What did he tell you… about what happened-?” he tried to ask her carefully, looking closely at her face.

“I know,” she whispered. “I know what he did.”

“And you still care about him?”

“Don’t you?” she shot back in mild surprise. “Doesn’t everyone need someone to care about them?”

Frypan looked down, seemingly at a loss for words to that.

“He had Wicked’s poison in his veins and their voices in his head,” Madison told him. “Are you worried about him being some remorseless killer now? He’s not. He didn’t even want to be saved, said he didn’t deserve it because of what he had done. For weeks during his training he couldn’t even pull the trigger. You can depend on him. I have and he has never let me down.”

They sat in a silence for a while.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “Thank you for taking care of my friend.”

She felt her throat tighten up and wasn’t sure why exactly she felt like crying. Eventually the minutes started to stretch into hours so they all started talking more, especially when it got late and they were trying to keep each other awake.

They asked Madison about living here with the Right Arm and what they knew about Wicked. She heard about what happened to them after they had escaped the maze and made it to this point. She was pretty impressed with them.

“I’m sorry about Minho,” she said to Fry, leaving the ‘pan’ off at his request. “If we had known we would have done something to help. So much of our energy goes into just surviving, but we do try to stop Wicked as much as we can.”

The door opened and Frannie popped her head inside. “There you are!” she exclaimed when her eyes landed on Madison. “Fontain has been looking all over for you, someone told him you might be here but he didn’t believe them.”

“Is everything ok?” Madison asked, straightening up.

“Yeah, he’s just worrying about you like always,” Frannie waved her off. “Who are these people?” She asked as she finally seemed to notice the others.

“It’s a long story, but their names are Brenda, Jorge, and Fry,” Madison introduced.

“Are Brenda, Jorge, and Fry hungry?” Frannie asked, resting her fist against her hip, her baby bump protruding.

***********************************************

Gally was surprised to find the room empty when they got back. More than that though was the fact that Madison wasn’t even waiting in the hall for him either. But that could only mean one thing: she was probably doing something nice for them.

He had to assure Thomas that everything was ok as he led them to the cafeteria, praying that’s where they were. Thankfully he was right. He still didn’t interact with her much as Thomas and Newt grabbed some food and water and they all went off to discuss plans. She didn’t seem too angry or hurt, she just seemed to wait on him for some kind of sign or the right moment. He loved her for that but ached to assure her it was ok, that he would explain later.

Gally felt like the odd man out as they stood around the table discussing plans, but he tried not to let it show, tried to hold his own and show them he was capable. He had known the instant he saw Thomas that they’d finally be able to take down Wicked, it was the only way it would work. Teresa was in there and Gally finally had the one person who could persuade her to do something.

“No, there’s got to be another way in,” Thomas shook his head.

Gally immediately felt irritated. If there had been another way in they would have found it by now. They weren’t a bunch of boys stuck in a maze they couldn’t figure out; they had numbers, weapons, and intelligence. The connection between Thomas and Teresa was the only way to make this work.

“Like what?” Gally asked as his attitude got away from him for a second and he gave a dramatic shrug, his knuckles knocking against the table. “You’ve seen the building, she’s our only way in.”

“You really think she’s going to help us?” Thomas asked incredulously.

Gally gave him a look. He never expected her willing cooperation. “I don’t plan on asking for her permission.”

Thomas had taken a few steps back and was pacing a bit, his eyes and attention were not focused on their conversation anymore.

“Am I missing something here?” the girl, Brenda, piped up with a sass that reminded him of Frannie. “This is the same girl who betrayed us, correct? Same dick?”

Gally was so relieved to have someone thinking the same thing he was. Teresa didn’t deserve any care or worry after what she had done. He hadn’t even known the full extent of it, just knew that she was inside Wicked and not as a prisoner.

“I like her,” Gally commented. Then he was glad Madison wasn’t around to have heard it.

“What is going on?” Brenda asked Thomas seriously.

Gally watched him, waiting for his no doubt infuriating answer. He was surprised when Newt started in on him with an edge in his voice.

“What? Are you afraid your little girlfriend’s going to get hurt?” Newt asked him, taking a step toward him. “Hmm? This has obviously never been just about rescuing Minho.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Thomas was dumb, but he wasn’t that stupid and he was a pretty terrible liar.

“Teresa,” Newt spat her name out like a bad taste. “She’s the only reason that Minho’s even missing in the first place and now we finally have an opportunity to get him back and you-“ Newt’s voice hitched on an emotion as he backed Thomas toward the wall.

They didn’t seem as buddy-buddy as when they were in the glade teaming up against Gally on everything. It wasn’t normal for Newt to act like this though, but maybe he was finally getting tired of Thomas and his BS.

“And now you don’t want to because of her?” Newt went on. “Because deep down inside you still care about her, just admit it.”

“Newt, I-“ was all Thomas got out before Newt had grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed him against the wall.

“Don’t lie to me!” Newt yelled with more anger than Gally thought him capable of. He repeated himself once more, punctuating each word.

The room was filled with a heavy silence after that.

Newt let him go and backed away. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, like he didn’t know what came over him. He looked back at the others and apologized again before leaving the room.

“Give me a minute,” Thomas said before he went after Newt.

Gally was left with Fry and the two strangers. He wasn’t sure what to do with them, but the ache in his chest told him he should find Madison now. In fact, she might be able to help them. He had this feeling deep inside, like his bones were nauseous, he might be wrong about trying to leave Madison out of this.

He knew it was absolutely nuts; he didn’t want her anywhere near Wicked, he doubted she would even want to go either, and it would be dangerous. But something told him he needed to keep her close. As wrong as it seemed it felt right.

“I’ll be right back, I think I know someone who can help,” Gally told the others before he left.

He didn’t know how he was going to ask Madison to come help him now after he’d practically ignored her all day. She might be really mad at him and he couldn’t blame her if she was. Now this felt natural, having everyone mad at him. That’s what he was used to.

He found her in her cot curled up with that one black and white dog that had gotten him to safety after Dan took him beyond the wall to get him killed. The dog had one bandaged leg and was licking tears off Madison’s face as she sniffled. It broke his heart worse than anything.

“Mads?” he said softly as he came around to where she could see him.

Her red eyes widened a bit as she looked at him and then around to see if anyone was with him. “Yeah?” she tried to sound normal, like nothing was wrong, wiping her face as she sat up and sniffling once more as if she could seem like she hadn’t been crying.

Gally had no idea what to say and it irritated him. His fist clenched around his thumb. “Mads, could you… could you come help us?”

She stared up at him for a beat and he braced himself for it, knowing it would hurt a thousand times worse than Thomas’s punch. He hadn’t lied when he told her she could demolish him.

“Yeah. Sure,” she said in that same ‘nothing’s wrong’ tone, the ever helpful Mads.

She carefully got up, trying not to disturb the dog. “You stay right here, Nugget. Stay bed,” she said, the dog’s tail thumping against her cot as she kept her ears submissive. Madison held her face and kissed the top of her head before she straightened up, straightened out her clothes and looked at Gally like she was ready to go.

********************************************

Madison sat at the table looking at sketches, blue prints, photos, and notes she had never seen before and didn’t know existed. She listened to the overlapping voices of the strangers around her but could barely follow what they were going on about. There was some girl inside Wicked and she was important for something.

“Anything you’d like to add?”

A silence settled around the table long enough for Madison to notice and look up only to find all the strangers staring at her.

“Huh?-oh…” she squeezed her eyes shut for a second to try and refocus on the outside world. “So…” she sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. “You want to get into the city and find this girl. This girl who… ditched you and is working for Wicked, correct?”

It had been difficult to retain the crash course of information dumping they had given her in an effort to catch her up to speed. She was very tired.

“And you want to talk to her,” Madison tapped the table with a pen as she looked at all the papers on it again. “You don’t want to stay in the city to talk to her, you’ll be out of your element, she’ll be in hers. Gotta throw her off. Bring her outside the city.”

Some of them were nodding. She had to look up at Gally to see how he reacted to it since he was standing right beside her. His arms were crossed and he looked at the others too.

“How would we get her out?” Thomas asked.

Madison raised a brow at him before blowing a small raspberry as she shrugged. “Just kidnap her, geez. She’s experimenting on your friend and dozens- hundreds of other kids too, she’s not exactly a princess you get the Limo out for. Drug her, bop her on the head… take your pick, I dunno.”

She thought she saw Gally stifle a smile as Brenda piped up. “That’s what I’m saying.”

“We don’t want to hurt her, they’re going about it the wrong way but they are looking for a cure,” Thomas said and earned a withering look from Madison.

“Yeah, come talk to me when they’ve mangled the shit out of your reproductive organs and killed a nine year old in front of you,” she said as she tossed the pen onto the table. At least that shut Thomas up and turned his face red.

“Where should we take her?” Gally asked like the kidnapping part required no further scrutiny.

Madison thought for a moment and scratched her forehead between her eyes. “Uh… someplace outside the city, not here so Wicked doesn’t find us, um um um… Oh!!” Madison sat bolt upright and startled everyone with her sudden outburst and movement. “Far enough, but not too far from the city is a church. It’s perfect! All the windows are stained glass, she won’t be able to see anything that could tell her where she is. Plus, a house of worship… could be a good guilt trip.”

A laugh burst from Jorge. “Bring her to confessional, I like it.”

“He’s catholic,” Brenda whispered to her like that explained it. “Or used to be, I’m not sure anymore.”

Madison shook that off. “Ok, so what’s your goal in this interrogation?”

“Find out where Minho and the others are, find out how to get to them and then get them out, and get the serum,” Thomas answered.

“We’ll need disguises, weapons, and transportation,” Gally listed. “We’ll pick up the disguises and some of their weapons when we get Teresa, but we can’t exactly bring in transportation for all those kids.”

“They still got buses in the city?” Brenda asked.

“Same problem though,” Newt spoke up. “We couldn’t get it out of the city.”

“Mmm,” Madison hummed graduating up a few octaves as she did so. “You know what else they still have in the city from building their dumb-ass walls? Cranes.”

Madison was feeling more exhausted and let the others hammer out the details of it all. She tried to focus but realized there wasn’t much point since she wasn’t going. But Gally was and she wanted to know what he’d be doing, so she tried to pay attention.

“Brenda and Fry will be on transportation and escape, Jorge will stay here to help coordinate what we’re doing with the Right Arm coming in to take Wicked down once we get the kids and the serum out, and the four of us will be playing guards,” Gally listed off as Madison felt her eyes trying to close.

“Wait, who’s the fourth?” Thomas asked, bringing Madison back around.

She saw Gally look at her. Wait. Her?

“You want her to come?” Thomas asked a bit incredulously, almost as surprised as Madison herself. “No offense, but why?”

“Because she’s the best shot this side of their walls,” Gally said. He stood a little straighter like he was either proud of her or defending her, but she knew that was a flimsy reason.

“Alright,” Thomas sighed and ruffled his hair. “If we’re going to do this we need to get some sleep.”

“Agreed,” Brenda said as Fry yawned as if on cue.

“The infirmary has enough beds,” Madison yawned, catching it from Fry. “Probably will be the quietest place. I’ll take you.”

Madison gave Gally a look as she walked by him, it wasn’t angry or accusing at all, it was just a look like ‘what are you up to?’ She saw his eyes lower and his mouth tighten. She only hoped he would talk to her once she tucked his friends in.

She explained a few things to Fontain and got them settled in the infirmary. She almost wanted to tell Fontain what was going on, but it didn’t really make sense to talk to him before Gally could explain things. He was waiting at the end of the hall for her.

“Mads,” he said and then sighed. “I’m sorry.”

She just stared at him for a second wondering exactly what he was sorry for since there were a few things, or if it was a blanket apology. Meanwhile Gally looked like he was on the edge of cranking out, he was breathing more rapidly than normal and his hands were fidgeting.

“Go on,” Madison encouraged. Gally seemed even more agitated so she reached out and put her hand on his arm. “It’s ok, just talk to me.”

“I didn’t know how they’d react,” he breathed. “They hate me for what I did. I didn’t know what they’d do if they knew there was someone who actually gave a shuck about me.”

Madison still got caught off guard by some of the funny words he used. She had talked to Fry, and she had seen Newt come to Gally’s defense when Thomas attacked, so she assumed he was really just talking about Thomas. Suddenly his eyes shot up to hers.

“I should have told you- I should have asked you if you’d go with me- us,” he stammered out. “I don’t imagine you ever want to get near Wicked again, I just had this weird feeling… like we needed to stick together.”

He was right, she really didn’t want to get anywhere near that city, let alone that building, but she was surprised because she felt the same way about sticking together. If she couldn’t stop him she should at least go with him and make sure he got out ok.

“I’ll go,” she said quietly. “I’ll go with you.”

“Yeah?” he asked almost as quietly.

She nodded and he enveloped her in his arms.

“I mean, we kinda practiced the whole rescuing a kid thing and we managed to keep each other alive,” she slightly slurred as she rested her cheek against his chest. “You do plan to come through this alive, right?”

“Of course,” his voice rumbled in his chest.

“Good. I had to ask.”

Masterlist

@frequentlychangingfandoms @quackquackbi @poulterjonas @crazysheeplyca @pre-google @gladerscake @neilox @thesuitkovian @carp3d1em @cottoncandy-dreamxd @emilyhadenbaker @a-ravenclaw-into-tardis-221b @shardsofstarlight @piscesvancouverite @tooty-fruity

[clingymickey]

Back at ya with another franny and her favorite uncles fic. Inspired by this prompt by @ianandmickeygallavich. I honestly don't know where I was going with this but hope ya like it <33.

Soulmates...to me

"Uncle Ian, look at what I found."

They are babysitting Franny, again, not that it's a bad thing, in fact, Ian's not even complaining, he loves Franny, spending time with her, and he especially loves his niece and his husband bonding together. Franny definitely has a liking towards him, but not as much as she has for Ian though. Obviously.

"What'd you find, Fran?" he asks from the couch, where he's sitting with his husband – talking about their pick up's and renovating the ambulance.

"I found this magazine from mommy's old stuff," she says with a giant smile on her face. "And guess what it has a soulmate quiz." She shrieks excitedly, frantically waving the magazine – that looked like it had been through hell with torn pages, stains, and whatnot – in front of Ian's face.

"Mommy said your soulmate is the person you're meant to be with, you'll love them with all your heart, and they'll love you with all their heart too." She explained with her unfeigned innocence. "You and Uncle Mickey should take it – to see if your both soulmates"

Immediately, Mickey's head turns towards Ian, who he finds is already looking at him.

"What do you think?" the look says, "Wanna give it a go?"

"Why not" Mickey silently replies back with a shrug.

"Alright, lil red, we'll give it a go." Mickey now says loudly.

Franny hands the magazine to Ian, to read it out aloud since she can't read the big words yet.

"Okay" Ian drags out, "Let's do this shall we"

"First question, do you guys support each other's dreams?" Ian reads out, "I think so…yeah. What about you, mick."

"Oh yes for sure, remember that one dream you had about me being tied-"

"Mickey!" Ian loudly interrupts. "Not in front of Franny." Ian whispers through gritted teeth.

"Not what in front of me Uncle Ian? Did u have a dream about Uncle Mickey in a tie?" she says, as awkward as those questions are, the way she asks seems so endearing, Ian can't seem to lie to her. Somehow.

"Uhh…Y-yes I had a dream of Uncle Mickey in a tie." He stammers. Well, he's not wrong exactly.

"Anyways yes. I am definitely supportive of his dreams" Mickey continues, winking at Ian – who's currently giving him an unimpressed look.

"Okay read out the next question Uncle Ian" Franny says with excitement, jumping up and down on the armchair in front of them.

Ian gives Mickey a side-eye before he continues.

"What three things do you like about each other – actually why don't you go first, Mickey."

"Alright, well I can't say 2 out of 3 of the things I want to say because of you-know-who," Mickey says with a smirk on his face, his eyes wandering down from Ian's face towards his lap. Ian catches on immediately and rolls his eyes.

"So, I guess it's his looks, personality, and umm…our 'exercises' together." winking again at Ian.

Exercises? Ian thinks, whenever Ian calls him for a morning run or yoga, he always whines about how much he hates it. He thinks again on what he could possibly mean by exercises together – Ohhh. Those ones. The ones that they'll both (hopefully) never get tired of. While Ian was expecting and maybe wanted an answer of something sweeter, he guesses he can live with this, instead.

"Your turn Ian." Mickey says.

"Uh okay, I love our 'exercises' too mick, I love how you take care of me when I'm low and I love your looks as well", giving a beaming smile towards Mickey.

Okay now Mickey sort of thinks he should have given something better than what he said, but it's alright though, Ian already knows.

While Ian and Mickey are over there giving each other sly glances, Franny's sitting there with a confused look, wondering why her uncles' love would to exercise so much, were the fitness freaks? With them still staring at each other, Franny decides to break it apart before things get not child-friendly.

"Uncle Ian, read the other questions" she pleads with a cough, trying to divert their attention towards the long-forgotten magazine.

"Ah yes," Ian mumbles. "What's a secret you haven't told the other person yet?"

Immediately Mickey leans towards Ian and whispers something incoherent, for Franny to hear, to Ian's ear, resulting in Ian's eyes going wide and his cheeks and ears slowly turning the same shade as his hair.

Ian stands up quickly.

"Uhh…F-Franny, can we do this later, please? I just remembered Uncle Mickey and I need to go…exercise, like right now." Ian says abruptly, holding Mickey's hand in his, walking towards the stairs.

"No!" she yells out. "Please Uncle Ian, you guys told me you'd do it, you can exercise later if you want, please" she whines, tugging on both of their t-shirts.

Both Ian and Mickey look towards her bright eyes and the cute little pout that she's wearing.

"I guess our exercise can wait, right Ian?"

"Yeah, it can wait.", looking down at Franny, giving her a smile and ruffling her hair.

"Yay!"

They all go back to sit down at the couch, resuming the unfinished quiz. Quickly, Franny remembers something to tell her uncles.

"Oh yeah and one more thing Uncle Mickey, can you please do this seriously 'cause I really wanna see if you are really soulmates."

"Yeah, Mick, I'm with Franny on this one"

"Fine, sure thing kid" Mickey says, then looks towards Ian "Not even a little bit of teasing, though", with a pout on his face.

"Nope" Ian says with a pop, "not even a little"

They answer all the questions again, this time doing it properly. Finally, they reach the near end of the quiz.

"Did you say I love you to each other yet? If so, who said it first?" Ian says as he reads the last question.

"Oooh, I wanna know this one" Franny says cheerfully.

"Well yes, we already did say I love you to each other, and uh I'm actually not sure who said it first, to be honest." Ian says, then looking at Mickey – who's slowly turning red.

"What, you have something to say, Mick?" Ian prompts.

"I uhh… I actually said it first, don't know if you know but uh it was when you were…sick. I was calling you, trying to see where you were, but you didn't pick up, so it went to voicemail, and that's when I said I love, for the first time and you didn't hear it." Mickey said, looking at the interesting pattern on the pillow instead of Ian's face.

Franny was watching the whole thing, she saw Mickey's flush, that was spreading across his face to his ears, and Ian's eyes going wide, mouth opening then closing, trying to form a sentence.

"You" a pause. "You said you loved me then, how'd you know?"

With that Mickey finally turns his head to Ian, however his eyes not meeting Ian's.

"I don't know, I just knew I loved you, man" Mickey lets out with a sigh.

Ian instantly hugs him. "I love you, mickey" he whispers so faintly that only mickey hears it.

Franny might not understand the context behind it, but she understands the feeling, the warmth, the love, it's the same feeling she gets when her mom kisses her before going to bed, the same feeling she feels when sandy hugs her.

She also doesn't want to be left out, so she goes and hugs her uncles as well, earning a chuckle from both of them.

After all the sappiness – as mickey called it, they check the results of the sweet but awfully long quiz.

"That's bullshit" Mickey yells in frustration. "Not soulmates. Not soulmates, they better be fuckin' messing with us. Are you sure you did it right, Ian?" he says, pacing up and down the living room.

"Mickey, language" Ian retorts "And calm down it's a stupid, girly, pre-teen quiz, it doesn't even mean anything."

"Yeah, but how could they say that, what the f- hell do they know?"

Mickey then feels a tug at his t-shirt, then sees Franny looking at him with glassy eyes.

"I'm sorry Uncle Mickey, I didn't know it would end like this" Franny says with tears running down the side of her cheeks and words coming out rushed.'

"Hey, no, no, it wasn't your fault Franny, it was the stupid dumb magazine" Mickey says, trying to reassure her.

"Really? But I made you guys take the test."

"It doesn't matter what the test says, Fran, all that matters is that we love each other. And it definitely isn't your fault okay?" Ian says kneeling down, wrapping a hand around her back, comforting her.

"Okay" she says quietly.

"C'mon, let's go get some ice cream."

"Okay" her frown quickly turning into a bright smile.

As they head inside the house, with ice cream in their hands, Franny melts her uncles' heart by just saying one sentence.

"You're soulmates to me, Uncle Mickey" she says in between licking the sprinkles off her ice cream, then hugs them both and runs off to her room, leaving the two men shock.

"We're soulmates, Ian" Mickey croaks out, after minutes of just standing there, the ice cream dripping down on his hands.

"Huh, we are." He says with a laugh.

[bellafarella]

angst 17 and/or fluff 13 and/or misc 1

choices 😉

Thanks for sending me these!! I wrote for all 3; the angst one is a fic on it’s own, and the fluff & misc are in a fic together. 

The sentences came from this post 

You can also read both of these here: angst & fluff/misc

**********************************************

Put your arms around me

Angst #17: “If you don’t hug me right now I think I might fall apart.”

Ian and Mickey have been taking care of Franny for the past three months. Debbie took off with her loser, new girlfriend and she promises she’ll be back in another two months. She was going to take Franny with her but Mickey offered to let them watch her. Franny got all excited, begging her mom to let her stay with her favorite uncles. Debbie relented and took off the next day. Ian and Mickey have a second bedroom in their new apartment that they were going to convert into a guest room anyway so this became Franny’s room until Debbie comes back for her child. 

Ian picks Franny up from school, meeting her in front. She rips her mask off as she runs over to him, hugging his legs. “Hey Fran,” he greets her, tapping her back.

“Hi,” she says in her tiny voice. “No uncle Mickey?” she asks when she lets go, looking up at him and shrugging her shoulders. 

“Not today, he had something to do,” Ian tells her. “We’ll meet him back at home later.”

“Okay,” she says simply. She takes his hand when he offers it to her and the two walk off school grounds. He asks her how school was as they make their way to the ambulance parked down the street. Ian has Franny ride in the back, strapped in so that she stays safe as he drives them back home. 

They get inside the apartment, Ian locking the door behind them as Franny runs in. “Go wash your hands, Fran,” he yells after her.

“I know!” she yells back in her little voice. 

Ian walks to the kitchen sink to wash his own hands. As he dries them off, he feels his phone vibrating in his pocket. It’s from a private number so he picks up just in case, “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Ian Gallagher?” the person on the other end asks.

“Um, yes, who is this?” he asks, making his way back to the living room where Franny is now dumping her stuff from her school bag on the coffee table.

“I’m calling from South Shore Hospital. We have a Mikhailo Milkovich that was brought in today and -”

“What happened? Is Mickey okay? I’m his husband,” he says in a panic, realizing they must know he’s his husband since they called him.

“Yes, sir. Mikhailo was in an accident, he’s okay, but he’s asked us to call you,” the person tells him. 

“I’m on my way now,” he tells him before the person tells him where exactly he is and then he hangs up. “C’mon Franny, we gotta go get uncle Mickey.”

“Can I bring a toy?” Franny asks.

“Just one,” Ian tells her. 

Franny grabs one of her toys quickly from her room before the two are back out the door and in the ambulance. Ian doesn’t park too close, seeing as this is still a stolen ambulance, and the two walk the rest of the way to the hospital.

Ian finds the nurse’s station of who he spoke to on the phone before she leads him to Mickey’s room. Franny’s holding Ian’s hand as they make their way inside and see Mickey laying on the hospital bed with his leg in a cast. 

“Oh my God, Mick,” Ian says, tears threatening to fall already.

Franny lets go of Ian’s hand to run to Mickey’s side, she looks at him and he says, “Hey, kid.”

“Are you okay, uncle Mickey?” she asks so softly he barely hears it.

“I’m okay,” he tells her but he looks up at Ian, nodding his head softly, reassuringly.

Ian joins them closer to Mickey and leans down, kissing him softly on the lips. He pulls back and asks, “What the hell happened?”

“Some jackass wasn’t looking and hit me with his fuckin’ car,” Mickey tells him. “Fractured my leg. They said I’ll be in this cast for like six to eight weeks.”

Ian looks down at his leg in the cast and how this could have been so much worse. A fractured leg is nothing but had this car hit him harder or at a different angle and - 

Ian starts tearing up and Mickey says, “Hey, Ian, I’m okay,” his hand grabbing his where it’s resting on the bed beside him.

“If you don’t hug me right now I think I might fall apart,” Ian tells him, letting the tears slip down his cheeks.

“Come here,” Mickey mumbles, pulling him closer. Ian leans down and Mickey wraps his arms around Ian awkwardly seeing as he’s sitting up in bed and Ian’s crouching down.

Ian shoves his face in the crook of Mickey’s neck and lets the tears fall, breathing in his scent, and praying to whatever God there is that his husband is okay and here in his arms.

Ian feels Franny hugging his legs so he pulls back and lifts her up. Mickey pats the bed next to him, away from his broken leg, and Ian puts her down next to him. Ian sits in the chair, pulling it right up beside the bed and waits. The doctor comes in not much longer to explain to them both what Mickey can and cannot do for the first couple of weeks and how recovery will go, before they are free to go. 

Ian wheels Mickey out of the hospital in a wheelchair with Franny walking closely beside him. He brings Mickey all the way to their stolen ambulance in the wheelchair, helps him into the vehicle and tells them both to wait there before rushing back to return the wheelchair and running back to get them all home. 

That night while they’re lying in bed, Ian sleeping on the other side of his fractured leg, he snuggles close, resting his head on his chest. “I felt like my heart was going to drop out of my ass when I got a call from the hospital saying you were in an accident,” Ian whispers.

Mickey’s arm is wrapped around him and he’s soothingly running his fingers up and down Ian’s arm. “I’m okay,” he says softly. 

“It could have been so much worse though, Mick…”

“It wasn’t though. I’m right here,” Mickey reassures him.

“Uncle Mickey?” they hear from the open doorway. 

“C’mon in, Fran,” Mickey tells her. 

“Be careful of uncle Mickey’s leg,” Ian reminds her. 

Franny slowly climbs onto the bed, Ian moving over so she can get in the middle. She snuggles right up against Mickey like Ian just was and says, “I’m happy you’re okay.”

“Me too,” Mickey tells her, kissing her forehead. 

Ian snuggles up behind her, reaching his arm over so he can hold Mickey’s hand. Mickey squeezes his hand and the three of them fall asleep together, thankful that Mickey’s okay.

/////////////

A teenage crush 

Misc #1: “All I do is drink coffee and say bad words.” & Fluff #13: “Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?”

Ian hates his warehouse job. Well, he doesn’t hate one part about it, which is his very grumpy but very hot supervisor, who on his first day meeting him was told, “All I do is drink coffee and say bad words.” It immediately made Ian like him. 

Ian hasn’t had a legal job since he worked at the Kash’n’Grab when he was like fourteen. So much has happened in the last ten years. Most of it bad but also some good. He was able to finally get stable after being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder like his mother and he found himself this job. It’s been about six months that he’s working for Amazon and the only good part about coming to work every day is seeing his supervisor. 

Usually people don’t develop massive crushes on their superiors but not Ian. The first day he started and he met Mickey Milkovich, Ian thought his heart would jump out of his chest. He’s never felt this way before. He’s been with plenty of men in his short lifetime but there’s something about Mickey that - mmph. He makes Ian act like a teenager with a crush again. 

Mickey is abrasive. He has crude knuckle tattoos. He has the most fowl, dirty mouth Ian’s ever heard. He has piercing blue eyes and black hair. He’s been at the center of Ian’s dreams for the past six months. 

He has no idea what Mickey’s sexuality is. They don’t hang out. Mickey’s the warehouse supervisor, he’s his boss. They chat here and there but it’s never anything more than pleasantries. Mickey doesn’t do small talk and has told him multiple times to ‘shut the fuck up and get back to work, Gallagher’. But Ian has his suspicions. He’s noticed Mickey’s eyes wandering his body when he comes into work in tight shirts or if his jeans are a little more snug than he normally wears. 

Ian tries to get Mickey to notice him more than just his employee. He wants to spend time with him outside of work. He wants to bend him over and fuck him, give him the best dick he’s ever had. 

Ian snaps out of it, trying to get back to work. He continues going through the box, making sure the products aren’t expired. It’s not the most thrilling job Ian’s ever had but it’s a stable job, a stable paycheck - even if it’s minimum wage - so it’s giving him the security and stability he needs in his life right now. 

“Gallagher,” he hears and knows immediately it’s Mickey. He smiles to himself before turning around to see the shorter man making his way over with his trusty clipboard. He looks so good today. He looks good everyday but today he has on some dark blue jeans and a burgundy crewneck sweater that’s rolled up his forearms.

“Hey, Mick, what’s up?” Ian says, going for nonchalant and not like he was just checking his boss out.

Mickey rolls his eyes slightly like he always does when Ian says Mick. No one else calls him that but he doesn’t tell Ian to stop so he doesn’t, he likes the tiny smile he sometimes gets from him when he calls him that. “When you’re done with those, come see me in my office,” he tells him.

Ian gets a sudden wave of nausea and panic. Mickey must notice because he clicks his tongue and says, “Man, calm down, you’re fine. Just - come see me after, yeah?”

Ian nods, mutters out a, “Yeah,” before Mickey walks away. 

Ian works quickly, wanting this over with so he could see what Mickey wants. He said you’re fine so this can’t be a bad thing, he can’t be getting fired… right?!

Less than an hour later, Ian knocks on Mickey’s open door. He has a tiny office in the corner of the warehouse. It’s not much but it’s his own private space so that must be nice. “Hi,” he says softly when Mickey looks up.

“Come in, shut the door,” Mickey tells him.

Ian nervously steps inside, closing the door behind him before walking over to the chair on the other side of Mickey’s desk and sits down. Mickey says, “So I have a job opportunity for you.”

“What?” Ian asks a little louder than he expected.

Mickey smiles softly before it disappears. “Yeah, man, what did you think I was gonna fire your  ass?”

“Kind of,” Ian tells him honestly, making Mickey laugh.

Mickey clicks his tongue, “I told you you were fine, man.”

“How fine?” Ian tries to flirt.

It fails because Mickey’s eyebrows shoot up and he asks, “What?”

“Nothing, so a job opportunity?”

“Uh, yeah, so I’m leaving and they need a new warehouse supervisor and figured you should do it,” Mickey tells him.

“Wait - what? Where are you going?” 

“Another job opportunity elsewhere for more pay. So, you interested or not? You get a higher salary and benefits.”

“Why me? I’ve only been here six months,” Ian asks confused.

“It won’t be for another couple months or so but - look, you’re a hard worker, you don’t take any shit, you work quickly and efficiently and you’re always on time and never call in sick. I was told to choose a replacement and I chose you,” Mickey explains, shrugging a little right at the end, looking a little nervous.

Ian smiles softly. Hearing Mickey say these things about him - things he’s noticed about him, it makes him feel really good. “Fuck yeah - I - sorry, yes, I’m definitely interested in the job,” Ian stammers.

Mickey smiles at him and nods. “Good so there’s like paperwork and shit you’re gonna need to fill out. Do you have anywhere to be right after your shift or can we do that then?”

“That works,” Ian grins.

Mickey nods again before saying, “Cool, now get the fuck out of my office and get back to work, Gallagher.”

Ian can’t get rid of his grin as he stands and leaves his office. He’s getting a promotion and Mickey won’t be his boss soon so he needs to try and seal the deal soon. Spending some time together after work is exactly what Ian had been hoping for since he started this job.

Ian’s working late tonight, doing some overtime since a few people called out today so by the end of his shift it just seems to be him and Mickey left in the warehouse. He quickly uses the washroom, making sure he doesn’t look too much like shit before heading to Mickey’s office. Just like earlier, the door is open so he knocks on the side lightly and says, “Hey,” before walking in and going to sit across from him.

“Hey, did everyone else fuck off yet?” Mickey asks him.

Ian can’t help but chuckle lightly. “Yeah, just us.”

Mickey hums, eyeing Ian. Ian sees this look, appreciates it, and definitely wants to jump on it but before he can, Mickey looks down at his desk and grabs a stack of papers. “So, this is what you gotta fill out. Mostly stupid information shit we already know and just some other forms mostly for you to keep that shows proof of your increase in salary and the benefits you’ll get. Just need to make sure you sign the copies for us and the rest you keep,” he explains.

Ian takes it from Mickey’s offering and quickly glances through it. “Do you need this back right away?” he looks up to see Mickey watching him.

“Nah, just bring our copies back whenever,” Mickey tells him. He thumbs at his bottom lip gently and Ian just wants to bite it. “Don’t wanna keep you if you got somewhere to be or whatever.”

Ian smirks, “Are you flirting with me?”

Mickey smirks right back and says, “You finally noticed?”

This shocks Ian. “Sorry what?! When did you ever flirt with me before?” he asks.

Mickey rolls his eyes, “Maybe it ain’t obvious or whatever but I’m your boss, man… can’t just straight up tell you I want you to fuck me in my office.”

Ian’s heartbeat speeds up and blood rushes straight to his cock, it twitching in his jeans. “You - I -”

“Just get the fuck on me already,” Mickey says, putting him out of his misery.

Ian stands, pushing his chair back. He walks around the desk in time for Mickey to stand before  he’s grabbing his face in his hands and kissing him hard on the lips. Mickey moans into the kiss, his hands grabbing onto Ian’s waist and pulling him hard against him. Ian brings his right hand down Mickey’s side and to his thigh, lifting it slightly and pushing Mickey up against his desk before he hops up and sits on it, Ian getting in between his legs.

“Wanted this for so long,” Ian tells him as he kisses his way down his jaw and to his neck. 

“Mmm, me too,” Mickey says, running his fingers through Ian’s hair and keeping his head where it is, sucking on his neck.

Ian pulls back slightly, looking into those piercing blue eyes that he’s fantasized about looking back at him just this way. They hear a noise from outside of his office so Ian steps back. Mickey jumps off the desk and makes his way to the door. He looks out and turns back to Ian, “Just the cleaning crew. We should probably -”

“You wanna come over? Um, if you want to like pick up where we left off?” Ian asks hopefully, a small smile on his face.

“You live alone?” Mickey asks, eyebrow cocked.

“Um… no,” Ian says, sadness creeping in that his one shot with Mickey got ruined.

“I do. Grab your shit and let’s go back to my place, Red,” Mickey flirts.

Ian grins, doing exactly what he’s told before the two of  them rush out of there and Ian gets exactly what he’s wanted for the past six months, Mickey Milkovich, more than just his boss.

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