Work Text:
Another Broken Nose:
The entire family was sitting in the living room when Frank stumbled in. Mickey had never really experienced Frank at his worst, and the Gallaghers rarely told stories, but his entire body filled with dread when everyone around him froze and stiffened.
“That whore!” Frank yelled.
Lip stood quickly, putting himself between Frank and Ian. “Get out of here, Frank.”
Ian stood slowly, staying behind Lip. He grabbed carl by the arm and shoved him towards the stairs. “Carl, Debs, take Liam and Frannie and go upstairs.”
“Fuck that,” Carl said, walking around the couch shoving Frank. “Get fucked, Frank!”
When Frank reared back to hit Carl, Ian shoved Lip aside and grabbed Carl. Frank punched him in the side of the face, and Ian didn’t flinch. He pushed Carl again. “Fucking go! Now!”
Ian turned again to be headbutted in the face. He staggered back, nearly falling. Lip tried to squeeze between Ian and the coffee table, but Frank lunged forward with a scream. He wrapped his hands around Ian’s throat, shoving him back. Ian started punching him in the face as hard as he could to get him to let go. Mickey rounded the couch, hitting Frank in the side of the face. Lip slammed his body against Frank’s elbow, getting him to let go. Frank screamed in pain as Lip grabbed him tightly, shoving him towards the door.
Frank turned, trying to pull free from Lip’s hold. “It’s always the cock sucking redhead.”
“Haven’t done this in a while, Frank. It’s been fun.” Ian said with a snarl.
Lip shoved Frank out the door, locking it behind him. Ian grabbed Carl by the arm and dragged him into the kitchen. Mickey had never seen him so angry; he looked rabid with a bloody nose and bruised eye. “When I say get out, I mean get out!” Ian spat.
“No!” Carl yelled. “You and Lip always try to deal with it alone, and you always get punched in the face. Or shoved through a wall. I am a fucking adult now, a fucking cop. I can fucking handle it.”
Ian scowled when Carl pulled from his grip. He crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s been a long time since Frank and I have got into it, but Carl, I can’t defend myself if I’m worried about you. Do you understand that? Do you understand that he wouldn’t have busted my nose if you had left when I told you to?”
“One of these days, he’s going to kill you. Do you understand that?” Carl said as he did his best to get into Ian’s face.
Lip cleared his throat from the doorway of the kitchen. “He was just drunk, Carl. You didn’t need to get involved.”
“Just fucking drop it,” Ian said, grabbing a beer.
Mickey plopped back down on the couch, propping his feet on the coffee table. “What the fuck was that, Gallagher?”
“Fucking Frank,” Ian muttered, running a long finger down his nose. “Fuck, Carl, go get Vee. I think he broke my nose. Again.”
Ian sat next to Mickey, rubbing his bruising face. Mickey raised an eyebrow leaning forward. He grabbed Ian’s chin and softly lifted his face. He traced his fingers over the now black bruises around his throat. The way everyone treated it as an everyday occurrence did not sit well with Mickey.
Who taught you how to steal a car:
After Mickey hot-wired the ambulance, he was reminded of the time Ian had hot-wired the car on the way to Mexico. After that day, Mickey hadn’t thought about it again, but it came rushing back. They were back at the house, sitting at the table nursing a beer when Mickey brought it up.
“Who taught you how to steal a car?”Mickey asked in genuine wonder.
“Oh! Fiona, I guess, but it was more trial and error, though. Not every car is the same.” Ian said, not looking up from his phone.
“What was she doing stealing cars?” He couldn’t see that princess breaking into a car and taking it as her own.
“Well, I wouldn’t say stealing; most of them came back in good condition.” Ian put down his phone, looking up at Mickey. “What’s this about? We’re south side, everyone steals around here.”
Mickey shrugged. “Just never thought your soft ass would be taking cars for joy rides.”
Ian sighed, “It wasn’t like that. Fi would have had our asses if we were taking cars for joy rides. She just about did kill us when we got arrested. Lip and I spent the night handcuffed to a bench.”
“Hmph.” Mickey emptied his beer setting the empty bottle down. “Was that the first time you got arrested?”
“It’s not on the books. Tony got us off because it was Jimmy-Steve’s car. We didn’t even steal it. We were just driving it.” Ian shrugged, leaning back in his chair. “We even had the keys.”
“He teach Fiona to hot-wire?”
Ian laughed, “God no. I think she learned from Frank when she was nine. Jimmy-Steve thought he was special because he had all those fancy tools. We didn’t need all that shit.”
Mickey was still confused. “Why were you sealing cars?”
“Oh, I thought you knew. We lived in cars, but Frank would take off in the one we were sleeping in, so we’d take another. Most of the time, we would park it in a dark alley miles away from where we took it. We’d have a home for a few days, then ditch it. The last one we took was the van out back.”
“You never said anything about living in a car.”
Ian shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, we moved here when I was eleven. We haven’t had to live in a car since then.”
Mickey’s family had always been shitty, but they had never lived out of a car. He had never had to steal a car so his family wouldn’t have to sleep on the streets. He didn’t say it, but he knew they weren’t always successful. Ian had said trial and error, which meant sometimes the kids had to sleep on the street.
Don’t make me say it:
Debbie and Lip were sitting at the table when Mickey got home. They had their heads bowed and were deep in conversation.
“We could just ask Ian,” Debbie said.
“Ask Ian what?” Mickey startled the siblings.
“Fuck off, Mickey.” Lip spat.
Mickey raised an eyebrow; Lip had not treated him with such hostility in a long time. “Was wondering what you needed from my husband. Maybe I can help you out.”
Debbie sighed, looking at Lip. “He could help.”
“One of Frank’s dealers is looking for payment. He cornered Liam after school.” Lip said.
Debbie looked at Mickey with a look he couldn’t place. “I’m not sure how, but Ian usually deals with it. When Frank or Monica’s dealers come around, Ian would disappear for a few hours. Then it’s not a problem anymore, but that was before he went to prison. We didn’t know if we should bring it up to him.”
“We could just go over there and bust some knees.” Mickey offered.
Debbie scoffed. “That doesn’t work. That just pisses them off more.”
Before Mickey could say anything, Ian walked through the door. “What’s going on in here?”
Lip and Debbie exchanged a look, but Mickey spoke up. “Some hopped-up dealer fucked with Liam.”
“Frank?” Ian asked.
Lip nodded. Ian’s face paled as he ran his fingers through his hair. “We’ll come up with something.”
“What was it that you used to do to get them off our backs?” Debbie asked, not noticing how uncomfortable Ian was.
“Oh, that, it was nothing. Just a trick Monica taught me.” Ian was stiff, and Mickey feared he was going to run.
“What was it? Maybe we can do it without you.”
“No.” Ian jerked, almost reaching out to stop her from moving. “Just drop it, Debs. It’s not something I’ll let you do.”
“But it was fine for you to do?” Lip asked in suspicion.
“No, it was not, and if I knew better back then,” Ian trailed off, shaking his head.
“Now you’ve got me curious, Gallagher.” Ian looked to Mickey with betrayal burning in his eyes.
“Let it go.” Ian pleaded with Mickey. “Please.”
Lip shifted, clearly not going to let it go. “It couldn’t hurt to tell us. Then we’ll know what not to do.”
Mickey could see tears threatening to fall from Ian’s dull green eyes. “Don’t make me say it.” He whispered.
“Okay,” Mickey said. He wouldn’t make Ian do something that obviously hurt him.
“No. What was it?” Lip demanded. “Because you’re making it seem like something that is going to get me arrested for killing someone.”
Ian sighed, and the tears started silently falling. “There is always something they want, and a mouth is a mouth.” Mickey reached out, grabbing his arm, trying to offer support. “So, like I said, that is not the answer.”
Mickey stood, pulling Ian with him upstairs. They were done for the night. It had been torture watching Ian fall apart, so when Ian laid his head on Mickey’s chest crying, Mickey let him. He ran a calming hand up and down his back as he plotted their demise. He would kill all the disgusting men that made him get on his knees to pay for Frank’s drugs.