Chapter Text
Mickey blinked his eyes open, reaching a hand up to block the sunlight filtering in through the hole in the blinds. They really needed to get new ones; they’d broken a couple slats off when Mickey crashed Ian’s shoulder hard into the window last week. He grinned at the memory, remembering what came next. Now the light filtering in woke him every morning before his alarm had a chance to go off, but it had been worth it.
Sighing, he glanced down to see Ian in his usual place, splayed out half on top of him with his face buried in his neck, pinning his arm underneath his bigger body. The light never woke him, probably because he was smart enough to keep his eyes pressed into Mickey’s skin. The summer heat didn’t stop Ian’s need to be on him all the time; Mickey nearly always woke to his heavy weight pressing him into the bed, skin stuck together with sweat in every place they touched.
Mickey smiled, stroking his free hand over Ian’s hair. He couldn’t say he minded. Pressing a kiss to Ian’s temple, he made an attempt to rouse him.
“Ian.”
He snuffled, pressing his face in closer and wrapping his arm tighter around Mickey’s waist.
“Ian,” Mickey tried again. “Move the fuck over, my arm’s asleep.”
Ian groaned, raising his head slowly to place a series of soft kisses along his neck. “Not like you need it.”
Mickey laughed, stroking his hand down Ian’s back slowly, watching him stretch to follow the heat as it moved down his spine. “Kind of like having two arms, actually.”
Ian sighed, shifting so he was fully on top of Mickey and releasing his arm. “I guess they do have their uses.”
Mickey shook out the pinpricks as Ian settled again, tangling their legs together and moving to connect their lips. Mickey reared back slightly, raising a brow.
“Think you’re just diving in, morning breath and all, huh?”
Huffing, Ian held Mickey’s face still with his big hands. “Like you care.”
Mickey smiled as Ian pressed their lips together again, opening his mouth to let his tongue inside to wrestle with his. The taste was a little sour, but Ian was right-he didn’t really give a fuck. He’d take Ian any way he could, anytime.
Mickey pulled back a couple minutes later, grabbing Ian’s hips to still his movements where he was rubbing against him.
“What?” Ian asked breathlessly.
“Pills,” Mickey said.
Ian frowned, pushing up onto his elbows. “You’re thinking about my meds right now?”
Mickey reached up to peck his lips, trying to bring the smile back. “Not really, but you gotta take ‘em in a minute anyway, just go now and we can get back to it.”
“You haven’t even looked at the time, how do you-” Ian was cut off by the shriek of Mickey’s phone alarm.
Mickey quirked a brow. “Guess my internal clock is better than yours.”
Ian scowled, sitting up and grabbing his sweatpants from the ground. “You don’t have to remind me every morning. I can handle it myself.”
“I know,” Mickey agreed quickly, wanting to side-step the familiar argument. “Just hurry up so you can come back and get on me.”
Ian’s lips quirked at that, and Mickey felt his shoulders loosen in relief. He hated that fight-no one ever came out the winner.
“You’re so needy, Mick.”
“Uh huh, says the guy who’s been on top of me all night.”
Ian smiled, leaning down to run a hand over Mickey’s face and give him a firm kiss. “Guess we both are. Be right back.”
Mickey relaxed back into the pillows as he waited. It was getting a little easier every day, talking to Ian about this stuff. He’d finally hit on a combination of meds that worked for him, and things had been nice and steady for the last couple months. Mickey knew it wouldn’t last forever, but he wanted to enjoy it while they could.
His thoughts were interrupted when Ian came to stand in the door, glass of water in one hand. The other was empty, Ian's expression betraying his alarm.
“What?” Mickey asked, sitting up.
“They’re gone,” Ian replied, face twisted in confusion. He waved his hand toward the bathroom. “My pills. They’re not in there.”
“The fuck,” Mickey muttered, rising and grabbing a pair of boxers from the floor. He put them on quickly, darting into the bathroom to look for himself. Sure enough, there was an empty row in the medicine cabinet where the pills should be.
“Mandy!” he yelled, grabbing Ian’s hand and pulling him down the hall behind him. He pounded twice on her bedroom door. “Mandy, wake the fuck up.”
She opened it a moment later, pulling a t shirt on over her head and glaring at him. “What the fuck, Mickey?”
“You seen Ian’s pills?” he asked urgently. He looked back over his shoulder at Ian. His expression was unreadable.
“You think I did something with them?” Mandy scoffed, offended. “They were in the cabinet when I got home from work, just like always.”
“Well they’re not there now,” Mickey continued. “You got home late, right?”
“Yeah, like 3,” Mandy said, rubbing her eyes as she glanced down at her phone. “It’s only 8 now, where the fuck could they have gone in a few hours?”
They all turned as another door opened, Svetlana walking out of her room, bouncing Yevgeny on her hip. “What is this noise? Too fucking early.”
“Did you move my pills, Lana?” Ian asked. “They’re not in the bathroom.”
Svetlana looked at him blankly. “Orange bottles? No, I did not move. Why?”
“They’re gone,” Mickey said. “And we know they were there last night.”
Svetlana’s eyes widened. “Maybe bum took them.”
“Bum?” Mickey, Ian and Mandy asked simultaneously.
“What are you talking about?” Ian continued.
“I catch bum in bathroom a few hours ago,” she told them in a sing-song voice, making a face at Yevgeny and smiling when he babbled in response. “He says he need to use toilet, but I threaten him with hammer to make him leave.”
“And you didn’t check to make sure he didn’t take anything?” Mickey growled, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
Svetlana glowered at him, heading to the kitchen to put Yevgeny in his high chair. “Was middle of night, I was tired.”
“Oh, that’s fucking great,” Mickey groaned. “You got any idea how expensive those pills are? And Ian needs them now.”
“I can run over to Fiona’s, they have backups at the house,” Ian reminded him.
“Okay, good,” Mickey sighed. “Meanwhile, we need to track down this fucking stranger who took your shit.”
“Was not stranger,” Svetlana said, grabbing a jar of Yevgeny’s food from the cupboard. “I recognize him from Alibi.”
Mandy snorted. “Someone we know was dumb enough to steal from us?”
“Who would have the fucking balls?” Mickey asked incredulously.
“Small, dirty man with long hair,” Svetlana described. “The one who is always at bar making speeches.”
Mickey’s eyes widened in disbelief while Ian cursed. “Frank?”
Svetlana shrugged. “I do not know his name.”
“That’s Ian’s dad, Lana,” Mandy explained, shaking her head. “He definitely came here for those pills.”
Svetlana raised her eyebrows, holding a spoon full of applesauce out for Yevgeny. “Figures. Never met a father who wasn’t piece of shit.”
Mickey pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolling to Fiona’s name and hitting the call button. She picked up almost immediately.
“Hey Mickey, what’s up?” she asked. He could hear the sound of water running and dishes banging around. “Pretty early for a call.”
“Frank stole Ian’s meds,” he said, cutting quickly to the chase.
“Shit,” Fiona yelped. “How did he manage that? Thought you had a whole arsenal over there to keep people out.”
“Not important right now,” Mickey said, clenching his fist at his side. “He’s got them and we don’t know where he is. Need you to get your ass over here with Ian’s backup meds, and then we gotta track him down.”
Fiona sighed. “There goes my day off. KIDS!”
Mickey pulled the phone away from his ear, glaring at the screen. He fucking hated when she did that.
“Mickey?” he heard her ask a moment later.
“Yeah, you done screaming now?”
“We’re comin’ over,” she replied. “Lucky you caught us just after breakfast, everyone’s home. Don’t worry-we know how to find him. We’ve played this game a million times before.”
“He better hope he still has every single pill when we track him down,” Mickey warned her, locking eyes with Ian. “I’ll beat his ass down, I don’t care how old or out of it he is.”
“No arguments here,” Fiona said. “See you in a few.”
“Mick,” Ian started when Mickey ended the call and set his phone down. “It’s not that big a-”
“Don’t, Ian,” Mickey interrupted. “You know you need those, why aren’t you pissed?”
“I am pissed,” Ian said irritably. “But you beating the shit out of Frank doesn’t get us anywhere.”
“Might make him think twice about pulling this shit again,” Mickey argued.
“Alright, whatever,” Mandy interjected. “We can figure that out later. First we need to find him.”
Ian shrugged. “We know where to check, shouldn’t take long.”
Mickey shot him a skeptical look. “You sure he’d be stupid enough to go to his usual spots?”
“It’s Frank,” Ian said, shrugging. “Thinks he can get away with anything. Probably because he always does.”
“Lana, did he say anything?” Mandy asked. “Any hint about where he might be going?”
Svetlana shook her head, eyes still on Yevgeny as she watched him eat. “I do not listen to his drunken ramblings, I just tell him to get out.”
Mickey grunted in disbelief. Was he the only one who understood how fucking serious this was? He opened his mouth to vent his frustration, but stopped when Ian grabbed his arm and dragged him into the living room.
“Would you chill?” he scolded. “It’s not her fault.”
“She let him waltz out of here with all your shit!” Mickey exclaimed. “Why you actin' so zen about this?”
Ian rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s not like the world’s gonna end if I miss a couple pills, Mickey. You think I’m gonna fall apart because of this?”
Mickey looked at him searchingly. “Ian, you know that’s not what-”
“Okay,” Fiona called, bursting into the house with Liam’s hand in hers, Debbie, Carl and Lip following behind. She tossed a plastic bag of pill bottles at Ian before settling Liam on the couch. “Looks like it’s time for another round of Find the Frank. Who saw him last?”
"Yeah," Lip cut in, smirking at Mickey. "You wanna explain how you let him get outta here with Ian's shit?"
Mickey flipped him off, turning to Fiona. He pointed her to Svetlana, who was watching them with narrowed eyes from the kitchen.
“Wife drove him out of the house with her favorite hammer early this morning. You can go ahead and direct your questions her way.”
Mickey watched in satisfaction as all the Gallaghers turned to look at Svetlana expectantly.