…..

Getting four kids to school in the morning was hard enough, especially when you have a baby and an excessively drunk, good for nothing father who only seems to come and go when he needs something. Fiona was struggling to make lunches, feed Liam and usher everyone off to school on time. It wasn't helping that they wouldn't leave because they were all waiting for the e-mail of their next assignment. They'd recently taken down a secret drug ring than was connected to underground clubs around the country and were waiting in nervous anticipation for what they were doing next. Usually Lip would make bets with their next door neighbor Kevin, Lip won and he got free drinks at the Alibi Room for the rest of that week. Kevin won and well… they didn't like to talk about it.

"Just five more minutes and then you're gonna have to go whether the e-mail comes or not" Fiona looked around at all her kids scattered in the kitchen, mentally checking off her 'get the kids to school' checklist.

"If it doesn't come you'll text one of us won't you?" Debbie asked anxiously.

"Of course, Lip will keep an eye on his phone and tell all of you".

"Will do" Lip muttered through his breakfast.

Fiona had taken to staring at her laptop and refreshing her e-mail every few seconds, tapping her fingers impatiently against the counter top.

"Hey, it's here" Ian jumped up, sitting on the counter as the other Gallaghers came to gather around the laptop.

"Ready?" Fiona smirked, hand paused over the mouse.

"Open it!".

"Ok, ok" Fiona laughed, opening the e-mail.

Fiona skimmed the e-mail as the others waited for her to tell them what it was.

"What is it?" Carl asked impatiently.

"We have to keep an eye on the Milkovichs for a while".

"The Milkovichs? Those stupid thugs up the road?" Lip grimaced.

"Yeah, that's what it says, says they're suspected of doing some crazy shit or something".

"How are we gonna do that, its' not like anyone pays attention to them" Ian added.

"They have two kids at your school" Debbie looked at her brothers.

"Oh yeah" Lip muttered "Mandy and that jerk, Mickey or some shit".

"Time to make some new friends Gallaghers" Fiona shut the laptop. "Alright now off to school, all of you before you're all late".

The Gallaghers all grabbed their lunches, throwing them into their bags and leaving the kitchen quickly. They had an image to uphold.

"Hey" Fiona smiled, picking up her youngest sibling. "This is gonna be interesting".

The door crashed open and Fiona's best friend and crazy ghetto nurse of a next door neighbor came barging in. "So" she smiled "what's your next crazy ass mission?".

"You should really keep your voice down Vee, don't want the whole street to know do we?" Fiona smirked, placing Liam down again. "The Milkovichs" she answered the question.

"The Milkovichs? Oh, girl, those bitches are crazy".

"Yeah I know".

"This is gonna be fun for you".

…..

The Gallaghers weren't just a family, they were a team. A tight team that lived together, worked together and got shit done. They each held a unique skill that they contributed to the team. Except for Frank, their father who was somehow completely oblivious to what happened to his family, probably because he was always either too drunk or high to really register what was going on. Fiona was the team's leader, she kept everyone in line and focused, making sure that everyone knew what they were doing and nothing went wrong. Her clear headed approach to situations kept them out of trouble and had saved their asses more than once, also she was one hell of a negotiator. Lip was their very own biomechanics expert. He could build a robot pretty much from scratch that did whatever he wanted. It was really helpful when they needed to break into somewhere, they always had a guinea pig to send in first. Ian was their hacker, he could hack into anything, government sites, people's networks it was great really. He was also in army training so he was their man power and designated sniper if they ever needed one. Debbie was their researcher. She knew how to get information and where to get it from, quickly. She also knew people, she could tell when anyone was lying even by just the sound of their voice. Truly impressive for a thirteen year old. Carl… loved to blow up things. His knowledge in pyrotechnics was incredibly useful, especially when they needed to build a bomb or something that would create a distraction. Liam wasn't really old enough to be an expert in anything yet, but he was cute which could be used to manipulate people emotionally, and sometimes that helped to. Together they were the greatest team to grace the Earth. They could do anything, take down anyone, and they were relatively undefeatable.

….

Debbie did her research while she was stuck in one of the classes she hated and discovered that Mandy Milkovich was in three of Ian's classes, she promptly texted him with this information. Ian nudged Lip as they leaned against the wall outside the back of the school buildings.

"Debbie just texted me" he stated, taking the light that his brother offered him.

"What did she say?" Lip lit up his own smoke.

"I'm in three of the classes of the Milkovich girl".

"Good, easy access".

"Time to make some new friends" Ian smirked, taking a long drag.

"Try not to fuck her or anything, yeah" Lip winked.

"You're fucked" he laughed.

…..

Ian spun the pen between his fingers and gazed across the room at the girl who he now knew was Mandy Milkovich. He was accessing how to best approach her when the teacher announced that they had to pair up for group projects. This was just too easy. Ian got up and walked over, leaning against her desk casually.

"Mind if we partner up?" he asked.

"Sure, whatever" she shrugged.

"You're Mandy right?".

"Yeah".

"Ian" he introduced himself.

"Yeah".

Strangely enough after a period of talking to her, Ian discovered that he actually liked Mandy. She must have been a good actress because he could've even tell that she was, apparently, in the most wanted family at the moment. To an extent at least. She had a knowing look about her. He could tell that she'd seen some things, and probably done some things that she couldn't erase from her mind.

"We should get to know each other better" Ian smiled at her, genuinely.

"That's one hell of a pick-up line" she smirked.

"No, I mean, like as friends, I mean, we're gonna be stuck in this class together for a while so might as well" Ian shrugged it off, she wasn't really his type anyway.

"Alright".

"Cool".

…..

"How'd it go" Lip offered him another smoke as they made their way out of the school gates and down the road to meet up with their other siblings.

"Good. She's actually a pretty cool person" Ian accepted.

"Should be easy then".

"Yeah. There's another one though right, she has a brother".

"Yeah, Debs said he doesn't really go to school anymore though".

"Sounds like trouble" Ian exhaled some smoke.

"Yeah" Lip laughed.

…..

"Ian, did you get my text?" Debbie asked as she hugged her brother.

"Yup, already started befriending her".

"Good".

Lip ruffled Carl's hair, laughing as he grimaced at him.

"Fuck off" he muttered.

"Watch your language around children, you fucker" Lip smirked, looking around at the other kids.

"Alright, let's go home then" Ian laughed.

….

"How was school Gallaghers?" Fiona asked upon their return.

"Shit, how was work?" Carl walked through to the fridge to stare into it for a while.

"Keeps you guys alive right?".

"You know, Fiona we do have a lot of money" Debbie reminded.

"Which is in saving bonds that you can't access until you're eighteen ok Debs".

"Still can't we use it to buy actual food?" Carl half slammed the fridge closed.

"We have to keep up appearances ok, think of it as being undercover" Fiona reminded him.

"Yeah whatever" he rolled his eyes, walking towards the stairs.

….

Ian spent the next few days getting to know Mandy Milkovich. He learnt a lot about her, she seemed to trust him in a way most people didn't and told him pretty much everything about her. He figured that she'd never had many friends before. In fact, she told him that. She mainly just fucked guys, she never really befriended them. He learnt that he dad was a son of bitch much like his own. He spent his time drinking and not giving a fuck, hitting his kids from time to time. Not her though, her brother Mickey kept her out of all of that stuff. Ian thought that maybe Mickey wasn't that bad a person if he did that. Mandy's mum had walked out what seemed like forever ago and left her five kids, four boys and Mandy, with their good for nothing dad. A few years later they got word that she'd been found in some drug house… dead. Over dosed on cocaine or some shit like that. Mandy wasn't really sure. Her three oldest brothers fucked off as soon as they could. She didn't really know where they went just that they weren't around anymore. So it was just her and Mickey, and their dad. She told him that she didn't hate Mickey, that he was the nicest out of her brothers, the only one that seemed to give a shit about her. And she appreciated that. She told him that she wasn't used to anyone giving a shit about her, so even though he did it in his own ways, it actually meant a lot to her, at least Ian could tell that it did. They shared a few smokes and Mandy told him that she drank a fair bit as well, and she got high sometimes but that's what everyone around here did so it didn't really matter.

So even though he was supposed to be investigating this girl, technically anyway, Ian was sitting on the swing set of the park with a girl that he respected and was slowly becoming his friend. He wasn't really used to friends too much. He had Lip and that was all he felt he needed, but Mandy was nice and he thought that maybe it was a good thing that he'd found her. Even under the circumstances.

"So what about you?" Mandy asked, swinging her legs absently. Ian was suddenly reminded that Mandy hadn't had too much of a childhood.

"Me?" he asked.

"Yeah" Mandy smiled "what's your story?".

"I'm a Gallagher" Ian shrugged, "that automatically makes me fucked up so….".

Mandy laughed, genuinely "I don't think you're fucked up. Everything else is fucked up, we're just tryna to deal with it all".

"That's a good way of looking at it".

"Yeah, I mean, how else are we gonna deal with everything?".

Ian nodded in agreement and respect. "Well" he started, "there is something".

"What is it? Do you have some deep dark secret that you've never shared with anyone? Wait, let me guess… you're a werewolf aren't you?".

Ian laughed, shaking his head. "Not a werewolf but I'm trusting you with this, Mandy".

"Oh, you really do have a secret" Mandy leaned forward slightly, her legs stopped swinging beneath her.

"It's not really a big deal, well it is in this shit hole but you can't tell anyone ok?".

"Promise".

Ian shrugged slightly, "I'm gay" he said.

"Really?" Mandy smiled "I mean, I thought you were, a straight guy would've tried to fuck me by now" she shrugged absently.

"Yeah well you're not really my type" he shrugged.

"What is your type then?".

"I don't really know yet, I guess I haven't really found anyone" he shrugged.

"Well, you'll find someone to fuck eventually" Mandy shrugged.

"Yeah I guess".

"I won't tell anyone" she looked at him.

"Thanks Mandy".

"Does anyone else know?".

"Just my family, that's it" he shrugged.

"How do you know?".

"I'm just not really attracted to girls, you know?".

"Yeah, I guess".

…

"Any e-mails?" Lip asked, helping Fiona make lunches one morning.

"Not yet, any new intel?" she replied.

"Nah, I mean, Ian's been spending a lot of time with Mandy so maybe he knows a lot of shit, you should ask him".

Ian jogged down the stairs and towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Fiona called.

"I gotta meet Mandy before school" he shrugged.

"You two friends".

"Yeah, she's cool".

"Just remember the mission alright?".

"Sure" he left quickly as Debbie came down the stairs, slowly followed by Carl a few minutes later.

"Morning Debs" Fiona smiled.

"Any new e-mails?" she replied, grabbing her lunch and throwing it in her bag quickly.

"Nope, just keep working the way we are. Now, off to school you three" she moved to hug her kids before ushering them out the door.

….

"The fuck are you hanging around with a Gallagher for?" Mickey greeted his sister when she arrived home from school.

"Since when do you care who the fuck I hang around with?" she replied, dumping her bag and heading towards the kitchen to grab a beer, she threw one to her brother. "How do you know that anyway?".

"I know a lot of things" Mickey replied, catching the beer thrown his way effortlessly.

"Not enough to keep you in school".

"Hey, I paid one of those Gallaghers to do my fucking papers for me, it's not my fault the school doesn't accept that shit".

Mandy rolled her eyes, leaning against the counter. "Dad home?" she asked.

"Nah he's gone to a bar or some shit. Which one is it?" he pressed.

"Fuck off" she started to walk away.

"It's not that Lip kid is it?".

"The one you paid? No it's his brother".

"The red headed one?".

"Yeah, the red headed one" Mandy stopped, turning to face Mickey again "his name's Ian".

"You fucking him?".

"No and why would you care who I'm fucking anyway?".

"Cause I can fucking hear that shit from my room".

"Well don't fucking listen then" she walked off, frustrated.

Mickey stared after her, not really sure why he cared but knowing that he'd bash the faggot's face in if he hurt her. Cause that's what he did. And they never came crawling back.

….

"So he just went off at you?" Ian asked, lighting up a smoke and offering one to Mandy.

"Yeah, wanted to know if we were fucking" she accepted.

"And what did you tell him?".

"I told him we weren't, don't know if he believed me though".

"Pretty sure everyone thinks we're fucking" Ian shrugged.

"Well, we spend a lot of time together".

"And that must mean that we're fucking" Mandy smirked.

"Obviously".

…

"Ian!" Fiona caught her brother trying to sneak up the stairs.

"Hey Fiona" he smiled nonchalantly.

"Any new insight into the assignment?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure Mandy's clean, not sure about her brother or dad though".

"Maybe you could start using Mandy to get to her brother" Lip entered the room, heading straight to the fridge.

"Yeah, I guess. We have to work on this stupid project so maybe we could do that at her house. Her family sound like fuckwits though".

"That's what families are" Lip smirked, earning a half-hearted slap from Fiona.

….

"Hey Mandy" Ian caught the girl in the hallway between his first two periods.

"Hey Ian" she smiled.

"I was thinking maybe we could start working on that project today".

"Sure" she shrugged.

"Your house cool?".

"Sure, pretty sure my dad's gone on another bender so it should be cool".

"Your brother gonna be there?".

"Why, you plan on fucking me and you don't want anyone to hear?" she smirked.

Ian winked and continued down the hallway.

….

Ian followed Mandy to her house that afternoon. They kept up conversation about pretty much everything for most of the time and there was only comfortable silence between them. The sign of a real friendship and something neither of them had really experienced. Mandy pushed open the front door and called out to see if anyone was home.

"Looks like we're all alone" she turned to smirk at him.

"Fuck off" he laughed.

Mandy smiled and pulled him inside and into her bedroom.

Ian dropped down on Mandy's bed, making some offhand comment about the state of her room as he pulled some books out of his bag when they heard someone come crashing through the front door.

"Shit" Mandy muttered, and Ian had never seen her so nervous.

"Mandy!" a male voice called out.

Mandy seemed to breathe easier as she called out "what the fuck do you want?".

"Your brother?" Ian questioned.

"Yeah".

"You fucking someone in there?".

"Well you'd hear it wouldn't you!" she called back.

Ian snorted slightly, covering it by coughing.

They heard footsteps in the hallway and then Mickey was right outside Mandy's door. "That Gallagher kid's with you isn't he?".

"His name's Ian" she shot back.

"I don't care what his name is why is he here?".

"We're working on some shitty project for school".

"I thought you said you weren't fucking him?".

"She's not" Ian replied.

It was quiet for a minute before they heard Mickey's retreating footsteps back down the hallway.

"He seems charming" Ian smirked.

"He's really not that bad" Mandy shrugged. "You haven't met my other brothers".

"And I don't think I want to".

"No, you don't, trust me. You want a beer?" she asked politely.

"Yeah if you want" Ian stood up and followed her to the kitchen.

Mickey was standing in the kitchen leaving against the counter, taking a drag with a beer in his other hand. He glared at Ian as he followed Mandy to the fridge.

"I'll be right back ok" she smiled, throwing Mickey a 'play nice' look as she ran back up towards room.

Ian stood for a minute, waiting to see if he should say something.

Mickey continued to glare at him for a bit before speaking first. "If you're fucking my sister I'll bash your head in".

"I'm not fucking your sister. She's not my type" Ian shrugged calmly. "I won't hurt her either" he continued, "we're friends".

"She doesn't have friends" Mickey retorted.

"She does now".

"Fuck her up and I'll kill you" Mickey replied before leaving the kitchen just as Mandy walked back in.

"Ok, you ready to do this stupid fucking project?" she smiled.

"Sure".

…

"Any new intel?" Lip asked from his bed as Ian entered his bedroom that night.

"Her brother's kind of a prick but in a protective way so I respect that" Ian replied, striping off his shirt.

"So you met her brother?".

"Yeah, his name's Mickey and he could fuck some people up if he wanted".

"Maybe he's in on it then" Carl added from across the room.

"What are we investigating again? A drug ring or some shit?",

"Something like that" Lip shrugged.

"Their house is kinda big, maybe they're growing some shit in the basement" Ian sat down on his bed, untying his shoes.

"Like we used to do before Aunt Ginger" Lip nodded. "You'll have to keep checking everything out. You're on the inside now".

….

After Ian had left Mandy had wandered down to the kitchen again to find her brother sitting at the table, another beer in his hands. She didn't acknowledge him as she made her way to the fridge.

"I don't like the fucking Gallagher kid" Mickey broke the silence.

"You don't have to fucking like him" Mandy replied, grabbing her beer and leaning against the counter. "And his name's Ian".

"I don't care".

"Why are you getting so uptight about this anyway?" she asked.

"There's just something about him" Mickey grunted.

"Well too fucking bad Mickey, he's probably gonna be hanging around a lot more so you'll have to get used to him".

Mickey rolled his eyes as Mandy stormed off back to her room. There was just something about the kid. He seemed too smug, like he knew he was the smartest person in the room. And that irked him.

….

Ian spent most afternoons over at Mandy's now, if her dad wasn't there. And if he was they would hang out under the train bridge with some beer and just talk for a while. They found some kind of release in one another. Mandy complains about her problems at home and whatever and Ian listened, occasionally giving advice when he thought he could. She told him that Mickey didn't like him, that there was something about him that irked him and he panicked a little because maybe he underestimated Mickey and he can actually sense that Ian's a spy, of sorts. Mickey was usually at home whenever Ian was there with Mandy so he got used to him. Used to the glares and the calculating glances. Sometimes it was like Mickey was studying him, he thought maybe it was his protective instinct over Mandy but maybe it was something more than that. Over the past few weeks they'd seemed to have formed this agreement between them. Mickey didn't glare at him anymore and sometimes Ian gave him a few smokes or a beer when he was getting one for Mandy. It was a silent agreement but it was better than nothing. It was something unspoken between them, and if their glances lasted longer than they should of, well no one noticed.

Ian tried not to think that Mickey's calculating glances were his way of checking him out. He tried not to think there was anything between them but for some reason he could feel tension. Sometimes crazy tension. And Mandy would only smirk knowingly, but not say anything, which he was grateful for. And she never brought it up in conversation. Which he was even more grateful for. He couldn't let anyone know, especially his family, that he was somehow developing a thing for Mickey Milkovich.

Ian was sitting under the bridge with Mandy one day, passing a smoke back and forth, because they weren't bothered to light another one and it didn't really matter anyway, when she finally brought it up.

"There seems to be something between you and Mickey". There it was, plain, simple and matter of fact.

Ian hesitated when he knew he shouldn't have, causing Mandy to smirk. "I… um… don't know what you mean?" he tried.

"Do you like him?".

"What?".

"Do you like Mickey?".

"I…." Ian sighed and looked away from her, into the distance instead. "I don't know, it's weird, it's like there's this weird thing between us but at the same time it's like he doesn't give a fuck".

"He's like that. He doesn't really give a fuck about most things. He stopped asking me about you a few weeks ago. Must mean he doesn't mind you being around anymore".

"We have an unspoken agreement" Ian shrugged.

"Do you wanna fuck him?".

"What? Mandy I….".

Mandy looked at Ian steadily.

"Maybe" he admitted.

Mandy laughed loudly.

"I don't… would he be into that… I… Fuck, Mandy".

Mandy couldn't hold back her laughter, covering her face with her hands to try and stifle it.

"Does he even like me like that?".

"He'll probably fuck you but I don't know what would happen after that" she shrugged.

"I'm so fucked" Ian muttered.

"Guess you have a type now".

"Fuck" he rubbed his hands over his face "fuck why did it have to be Mickey fucking Milkovich?".

"He's not that bad is he?".

"No it's not that it's…. something else don't worry about it".

"Ok?".

"It's just… my family would fucking kill me" he tried to explain.

Mandy shrugged "I'd say talk to Mickey about it but I honestly don't think he'd be into that".

"Whatever. It's getting late, we should get back anyway".

….

Mandy stared at her brother across the kitchen. He was the picture of ease, casually sitting down, sipping at a beer and having a smoke. She leaned against the counter and waited for him to notice her there. She'd been standing for almost ten minutes and it was only a matter of time until…

"What the fuck do you want?" he asked, not even looking at her.

"Ian Gallagher" she replied.

"What?".

"Ian Gallagher" repeated.

"Why are you telling me the name of that red headed freak for?".

"Do you like him?".

"The fuck Mandy?".

"Mickey, I'm asking you if you like Ian" she stared at him steadily. It was the only time she'd seen her brother looked so taken a back. He opened his mouth but closed it again a second later, hoping she wouldn't notice. "Would you fuck him?" she continued.

"I'm not a fucking faggot".

"He wants to fuck you".

"What?".

"Ian, he's into you".

Mickey squinted at her "ok what the fuck kinda drugs are you on, Mandy?".

"Mickey, I'm serious. And if you use him, or hurt him I will beat the shit out of you" Mandy picked up her beer and left her brother in his shock and hopeful self-evaluation.

…..

Lip had noticed Ian getting a little distant. He spent a lot of time with Mandy but even when he wasn't with her he seemed lost, almost lost to himself. And Lip wanted to know why. He tried confronting him about it but Ian would always insist that nothing was wrong. That he was fine. He knew Ian wasn't fucking Mandy, because of course he wouldn't. Ian was gay, for fuck's sake and he had no idea what was causing this. So he decided that he was going to find out.

They were leaning against the back wall of the school having a smoke like they always did and Lip decided that he'd bring it up.

"You know man" he started, "you've been kind of distant lately".

Ian just shrugged in response, taking another drag and blowing it out.

"Something wrong?" Lip pressed.

"Nah, man" Ian shrugged again.

"Is it Mandy?".

"Nah, she's cool".

"Well, what is it then?".

"Lip" Ian sighed, "just don't:".

"Why not?".

"Lip, please".

"No. Why the fuck won't you tell me what's wrong?" Lip pushed off the wall and moved closer to his brother.

Ian looked over at Lip with sad eyes. "You'll fucking kill me if I told you" he muttered.

"Alright" he rolled up his sleeves "who's face am I bashing in?".

"It's not… Lip… it's…" Ian hesitated, locking eyes with his brother once more before looking away. Fuck it, he thought, it's just Lip. "It's a guy" he said finally.

"Oh".

"Happy now?".

"Who is it?" Lip leaned back against the wall.

"You'll kill me if I told you".

Lip leaned over and ruffled, Ian's hair, causing him to start slightly. "Come on, Ian, who is he?".

Ian's eyes darted around, looking to see if anyone was in ear shot, when he already knew there wouldn't be. "Fuck, it's Mickey Milkovich ok, just don't tell anyone".

"Mandy's brother?" Lip asked, shocked.

"Yes, Lip if you tell anyone I swear".

"Have you two fucked or…?".

"No, we, I don't even think he wants to… fuck… just leave it alone ok" Ian muttered, pushing away from the wall and running off in the direction of the school.

Lip stared after him for a moment. "Mickey fucking Milkovich" he laughed, shaking his head as he put the cigarette back in his mouth.

…..

Ian tried to avoid his family as much as possible, Lip especially because of what he now knew. He spent more time with Mandy, sometimes trying to avoid going to her house in an effort to avoid Mickey. They hadn't really spoken but sometimes they still shared smokes with each other. Their unspoken agreement continued. Mandy often smirked when she entered the kitchen and saw Ian handing Mickey a smoke or beer, but she'd cover it quickly it an attempt to look oblivious.

Another week or two passed and Ian and Mandy finally finished their stupid project. Mandy's dad never seemed to be around so they often locked themselves in Mandy's room whenever they weren't down under the bridge or wandering around the place, avoiding people. They didn't talk about Mickey, not often anyway. Sometimes Mandy would bring him up but Ian would just shrug and ignore what she was implying. Eventually, though it all got a little much for him, especially with Lip giving him strange looks whenever he was around, and he found himself outside the Milkovich house one day waiting for someone to answer the door. He rocked back and forth on his heels impatiently and was accessing the fact that maybe no one was actually home when the door was wrenched open and Mickey was standing in the doorway.

"Mandy's not here" he said immediately.

"I'm not looking for Mandy" Ian replied.

Mickey looked around quickly, making sure no one was around and watching them, before ushering Ian inside.

Ian looked around the house, trying to avoid looking at Mickey while waiting for him to say something. He only looked up at him when he heard Mickey sigh as he ran a finger over his eyebrow nervously.

"Here's what gonna fucking happen" he said finally. "You kiss me and I'll kill you, no fucking prissy hand holding crap, we fuck and that's it".

"That's all I'm asking" Ian replied immediately, locking eyes with the other boy.

"Bedroom, now".

…..

"You're a good fuck, Gallagher". They were sitting around in Mickey's room having a smoke afterwards. Ian was kinda surprised that Mickey hadn't kicked him out right away. He thought that Mickey would probably want to forget it after it happened, but that wasn't the case.

"Thanks" he muttered.

…...

It happened like that for a few more weeks. Ian pretty much forgot the reason that he was even around the Milkovichs and just enjoyed hanging with Mandy and fucking Mickey. Mandy pretended not to notice and ignore them when she caught them a few times, she was good like it. She knew that it was happening but she didn't really care that much. Everyone still thought Ian was fucking her anyway. Ian felt like he had everything.

New e-mails were slowly coming in about their assignment. Fiona was slowly getting new information. Turns out that the Milkovichs had done all kinds of shit. They had drug rings set up around the country and were somehow sustaining some kind of human trafficking network without anyone noticing, until now. She wondered if that was the real reason why Terry Milkovich was never around. Basically the only way to stop all of that was to take out the source. Fiona realized what that meant at spared a thought for Ian when she found out. For a few days she toyed with how to tell everyone, not really knowing how they would take it. Especially Ian. She finally decided to just tell everyone and see what happened. That day when the kids came home from school she announced that there was a new e-mail regarding their assignment. There'd been silence for a while as everyone looked around at each other, Lip glancing at Ian a few times to calculate his reaction.

"What is it?" Debbie asked finally.

"They've done some bad shit, Debs" she replied.

"So what do we have to do?" Lip asked.

Fiona stayed quiet for a few minutes, weighing the words before she said them. "It's an assassination assignment" she said finally.

Ian felt the world drop from underneath him. "Why?" he asked.

"They have a drug ring and they're trafficking girls all around the country without anyone noticing, they've done a lot of shit, Ian" she read from the e-mail.

"So we have to kill all of them? What if they have nothing to do with it?".

Fiona shrugged, "crime by association".

"Fuck" he muttered, running up the stairs to his room.

"What's wrong with Ian?" Carl asked, breaking the silence that had ensured.

"He's just really good friends with Mandy" Lip shrugged, walking off as well.

…

"Ian" Lip called when he entered the room.

"It's a fucking assignation assignment" Ian laughed bitterly, trying to hide the fact that he was crying, he couldn't fool Lip though.

"Hey, you knew coming into this shit that they were fucking around".

"They have nothing to do with it, they're clean. Mandy would've told me by now" Ian got up and started pacing the small floor space of the room.

"And risk her dad beating the shit out of her? I don't think so, Ian".

"This is bullshit" Ian muttered, "it's all bullshit".

"Ian".

"It's their dad doing all that shit, not them".

"Ian".

"We should get social services to pull them out of there".

"Ian" Lip grabbed his brother's shoulders tightly.

"I'm fucking Mickey" he managed.

Lip let go and dropped on his bed. "Ian, for fuck's sake…".

"But it's more than that, it's not just fucking, Lip it's something…".

"You can't kill him because you love, yeah Ian I fucking know what you mean".

Ian looked up at his brother helplessly and realized what he was referring to. "Lip, Karen was a different thing all together".

"And now she's dead so it doesn't matter ok".

There was silence between the two boys for a minute before Ian said, defiantly, "I'll get them out of there. Tell them to leave, if they run away then we won't have to chase them".

"Ian, it's not worth it".

Ian pounced and grabbed Lip by the shoulders. "Don't you fucking tell me it's not worth it!" he all but growled.

Lip grabbed Ian's hands and pulled them off his shoulders easily. "They'll want to know why Ian, it's never that easy" he sighed.

"I'll fucking convince them".

"Give yourself a few days, maybe it'll sink in" Lip tried.

"No! I'll fucking convince them and you can't stop me".

…..

Ian spent the next few days trying to think of ways to convince Mickey and Mandy to get the fuck out of town. While he was doing that everyone else was planning how to successfully assassinate them without bringing attention to themselves. Sitting through sessions like that made Ian feel sick. He didn't want them to die. He loved Mickey, even if he didn't feel the same way, and he loved Mandy like a sister. She was his best friend. And he couldn't deal with the thought of losing them, either of them. He tried to not to act suspicious, tried to not to act like he knew something they didn't when he was around Mandy and Mickey. Mandy pretending that she didn't realize that there was something wrong. That's what people did, you never let them see your weaknesses. Sometimes he wished that she would mention something though. That she would realize that it had something to do with her.

The two of them were sitting under the bridge, a beer and a smoke each when Ian decided to do his best to try and bring it up. "Do you ever think about leaving this place?" he asked.

Mandy laughed at the suggestion. "We're never going to get out of this place Ian, don't you see that".

"Why not? We could run away".

"To where, fuck Ian, it's never gonna happen".

"I think you should leave" Ian looked at her.

"Fuck off".

"Mandy" he leaned forward, trying to show her how serious he was, "something bad is gonna happen if you don't leave".

Mandy looked at him, "ok, what the fuck is wrong with you?".

"You just have to trust me, ok?".

"I can't just leave Ian, it's not like that".

And that was the last time he brought it up with Mandy.

…..

Lip walked the streets alone, hands deep in pockets and smoke hanging out of his mouth. He was looking for Ian, he hadn't come home yet and it was getting really late and Fiona was starting to get worried. She'd realized that he'd been distant lately, and that he was upset about how they would have to kill his friend, but she still didn't want him to ignore their assignment. He was vital part of the team.

When Lip heard the voices of his brother and Mandy under the bridge he went to sit with them. He noticed that Ian was ignoring him, that Mandy had realized this, though she was staring at Lip with curiosity.

"I'm Lip, Ian's brother" he introduced himself.

"Mandy" she replied.

"Yeah, I know. Fiona wants you to get your ass home" Lip looked over at Ian.

Ian sighed and nodded, looking at Mandy sympathetically.

"I should probably go home as well" Mandy stood up, pulling her skirt down a little. "See you later Ian. Lip" she added.

"Pleasure" Lip muttered, eyes locked on Ian.

"Alright, I'm fucking coming" Ian followed his brother towards their house.

"It's gonna happen Ian, you can't stop it" Lip offered Ian a smoke, which he declined.

"Just because of what happened with Karen, doesn't mean you can tell me what I can and can't do" Ian retorted.

"Karen's dead".

"You didn't kill her though, you think I'm gonna walk into that house and kill Mandy and Mickey then you're wrong".

"I did kill her" Lip gritted his teeth.

"No. You didn't, just drop it ok".

…

Ian spent a lot of his time with Mickey just looking at him, when they weren't fucking of course. He registered everything about Mickey. All the little quirks that he had. He knew that Mickey noticed, he gave him a look sometime that said "what the fuck are you looking at?" but he couldn't help himself. He loved Mickey, he knew he did and he wasn't going to let him die.

"You're fucking staring at me again" Mickey stated around a smoke without looking at Ian.

"Yeah" Ian replied.

"The fuck are you looking at anyway?".

Ian shrugged "can't I just look at you?".

"No that's sappy shit, Gallagher".

"Sorry" Ian apologized, looking down at his hands instead.

Mickey sighed and killed his smoke. "Alright" he started "what's wrong with you?".

"I'm fine".

"Don't fucking lie to me, Gallagher".

Ian looked over at him, all apologetic but knowing that he couldn't tell him why. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

Mickey just rolled his eyes in response.

"You and Mandy need to leave" he said simply.

"What?".

"Just… you need to leave or something bad is gonna happen".

Mickey raised his eyebrows and looked and Ian for a moment before walking closer to the boy and sitting next to him. "You sound fucking crazy, you know that?" he asked.

"I'm serious".

"That's why you sound fucking crazy". Mickey stopped for a minute before asking "why do you need us to leave for?".

Ian looked at Mickey for a moment and considered telling him everything. That his mum had been murdered and somehow he and his siblings had ended up as some special ops team that did whatever was required of them. That their current assignment was to assassinate Mickey and his family. He considered it before replying "I can't tell you".

Mickey just looked at him before laughing and looking away again. "Course you can't".

…

Mickey knew there was something wrong with Ian. He'd never seen the guy so jumpy. And he always looked at him like it might the last time they saw each other, as fucking sappy as that was. His urgency for Mickey to take Mandy and just fuck off somewhere worried him, even though he'd never admit it. There was something going on and Ian wouldn't tell him what. So he was gonna find out. And it was with that attitude that Mickey found himself walking down the street to the Gallagher house one afternoon. He paused at the door and wondering why the fuck he was doing this anyway. It's not like he fucking cared about Ian Gallagher anyway. At least, he thought he might not… sort of.

Mickey knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer, probably the most polite thing he'd ever done in his life. When the door opened a little girl was standing there holding a baby in her arms. Sometimes he forgot just how many fucking Gallagher kids there were.

"I'm looking for Ian" he replied to her questioning look.

"IAN! THERE'S A MILKOVICH HERE TO SEE YOU!" she yelled into the house before holding the door open long enough for Mickey to enter and walking off towards another room, still holding the baby.

Mickey wasn't even going to ask how she knew who he was. He heard footsteps on the stairs and saw Ian appear, shock making its way onto his face when he saw Mickey standing there.

"Mickey, what the fuck are you doing here?" Ian asked, staring incredulously at the boy in front of him.

"Came to see you" Mickey shrugged.

"You can't be here" Ian muttered, pushing Mickey back out the door and standing on the porch with him. "What do you want?".

"What I can't just fucking come and see you?" Mickey asked, suspicious now as to what was going on.

"Not at my house. My family's fucking crazy, they'll…" Ian cut himself short, the words 'they'll kill you' running through his head over and over.

"I wanna know what you're hiding from me" Mickey looked away, rubbing his eyebrow with his finger as he waited for Ian to answer.

"Why do you even care? I thought you only wanted to fuck".

Mickey was quiet for a moment, not knowing how reply to that. That's what he'd wanted, originally, now he just wanted to know why Ian was so uptight. He shrugged to cover his mind blank.

"Mickey, it's complicated ok, and you can't be here".

Mickey stood his ground and waited for Ian to give in, certain that he would. Ian always seemed to give in to him.

Ian sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. If he could tell Mickey everything he would, but he couldn't and even though that was complete bullshit he had to deal with it. "You should go" he said finally.

Mickey looked at him for another moment, with that calculating look again, before he just shook his head and walked off down the stairs. He called out "Fuck you, Gallagher" before disappearing from sight. Ian slammed his hand against the wall before walking back inside.

"Who was that?" Fiona asked, pulling clothes out of the dryer.

"Mickey fucking Milkovich" Ian replied through gritted teeth, disappearing up the stairs before she could ask him anything else.

Fiona stared after him for a moment, wondering what had gotten into her brother.

…..

Ian spent the next few days avoiding pretty much everyone and almost successful moping in his room. He wouldn't even talk to Lip which was pretty much unheard of in the Gallagher house. Whenever Ian was dealing with something he would always tell Lip, then everyone else, eventually. But this time it was different. He was hardly speaking at all. Fiona was getting worried in a way that only she could, it was like a motherly instinct, one of her kids were hurting and she didn't know why. They still planned the assignment though, the best way to kill everyone without drawing attention to themselves or leaving any clues. Ian didn't really show up for their session so they did a lot of the work without him. Which was unusual and kinda difficult because he was their expert in that field.

They were toying with a date, whether to do this now or whether to wait awhile. No one thought it would really make too much of a difference what happened as long as the ring got taken down. Debbie often questioned how the authorities could be so oblivious when stuff like this happened and Carl just shrugged and said it was cause they were "fucking stupid". Even though they worked for and with the cops to an extent, they all knew that the police were stupid. They were sort of the reason that they'd ended up as this team, even though that was really only a good thing. They'd never go back to being the oblivious people they were before. Not after they knew what could really go on in this country. Lip had tried to bring up the idea that the Milkovich kids might actually be innocent and would it be worth it killing them when they could just walk away from it all? Fiona wanted to make sure that the ring wouldn't be started up again so it was sort of unanimous that they all had to die. If Ian was present at this point he would either go quiet and not talk to anyone or just walk out. No one questioned it, they just sort of accepted it. They weren't even that happy with assassination assignments anyway.

It got the point where they just had to do it. They set a date for two days later and when Lip returned to him room and looked at Ian sadly Ian completely lost it. He'd thought about maybe just talking to Fiona about everything but the way she'd been in meetings… well he thought there was no way that he'd be able to talk her out of it. He pushed passed Lip, bolting out of the house and over to the Milkovichs. He had one last chance at this and if he could convince them to leave, then he could convince Fiona that they weren't worth chasing. He slammed continuously on the door until someone wrenched it open and then half fell into the house because he'd been sort of leaning against it.

"What the fuck, Gallagher?" Mickey asked, noting the distressed state that Ian was in.

"If you feel anything for me at all, Mickey. If you actually fucking care you'll get Mandy and you'll leave right now" Ian manager, tears welling in his eyes.

Mickey tried to pretend that he hadn't noticed and that it wasn't affecting him at all that Ian was crying. He processed the words slowly and then said "ok, Gallagher you're telling me what the fuck is going on".

Ian surged forward, grabbing Mickey by his shirt and crashing their lips together. "They'll make me kill you" he half gasped as he pulled away, still grasping at the shirt.

Mickey grabbed Ian's arms, gentler than he expected, and half dragged him to the kitchen. "Sit" he indicated the kitchen table and Ian dropped into one of the chairs. "Mandy! Get your slutty ass over here!" he called into the house, taking the seat closest to Ian's.

When Mandy appeared she dropped into one of the other side of Ian and looked at the two of them expectantly.

"Talk" Mickey nodded at Ian.

Ian took a deep breath, locking eyes with the both of them before staring at the table and starting to talk. "A few years ago my mum, Monica, got murdered when she was visiting us. She came to try and scab some money off us or something I don't fucking know but she was murdered and then the cops came and everything and had to do all that shit that you see on TV and Fiona started fucking one of them I don't even know why but then she tried to break up with him but he wouldn't let her go. Her said she had to work for him or some shit to make up for the fact that she'd been a big whore so we kinda worked together as this team. I don't even remember how it happened anymore but we're all this big team, we're like fucking special ops or something and we take care of shit. Like, we're all good at shit. So like, Fiona can manipulate people and Lip can build robots and I can hack into shit and stuff and Debbie's really good at just knowing people and Carl knows how to blow up stuff and Liam's too young to know what the fuck is going on but some people have a real soft spot for babies. They get us to do stuff, take down drug rings and hack into sites and… kill people. All that and a few months ago we got our next assignment and it was you, we had to keep an eye on your family but we didn't know why so I befriend you, Mandy. But then we became really good friends and I didn't think you knew anything but we got the rest of the assignment and…. They're gonna make me kill you and I don't want to" Ian finished, tears running freely down his face now. Somehow his fingers had ended up intertwined with Mickey's and he hadn't even pulled away. "I know you probably don't believe me but I'm fucking telling you the truth".

"What do they think we've done?" Mandy asked.

"Your family owns some massive drug ring and they're trafficking girls and selling them prostitution" Ian wiped his eyes with his free hand.

"That's fucked up" Mickey said finally.

"I know" Ian locked eyes with him.

"But we didn't know any of that shit" Mandy defended. "How can they kill us if we didn't know anything".

"Fiona said something about crime by association but I don't really know" Ian muttered.

"Fuck".

It was quiet for a minute while everyone took everything in and Mickey finally moved his hand away from Ian, even if he didn't really want to.

"I'm not gonna let them kill you. I'll talk to Fiona. She'll figure something out, she always does" Ian stood up and tried to leave.

"Gallagher you've got one fucked up family" Mickey called before he could leave.

Ian walked back over to him, a serious look in his eyes. "I'm gonna have to tell her".

"Yeah" he looked away.

"Mickey…".

Mickey reached up and grabbed Ian's face, pulling him down to his level and crashing their lips together in the same way Ian had. Mandy may or may not have let out a strangled squeal. When Mickey pulled away he locked eyes with Ian before saying "fuck off, Gallagher" and giving him a slight push towards the door.

….

Ian crashed through the front door and called out for his sister. "Fiona!" he called. "We need to talk!'".

"Oh, so now you're talking to us, aye?" Fiona appeared at the other side of the kitchen.

"We need to talk" Ian repeated walking over to his sister.

Fiona crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at her brother expectantly.

"You can't kill Mandy and Mickey" he looked her dead in the eye "I won't do it and I won't let you do it".

Fiona looked sympathetic for a moment before she sighed and said, "Ian, I know Mandy's your friend but…".

"It's not just Mandy".

"Ian".

"I won't let you ok. They have nothing to do with anything and you can't kill innocent people Fiona, it doesn't work like that" he stood his ground.

Fiona sighed again and Ian saw Lip around the corner looking at him and shaking his head.

"Fiona, please" Ian's voice went quiet.

Fiona pulled her brother into a hug and held him there for a moment, pretending not to notice that he'd started crying just slightly. "What is it?" she asked him.

"I've been fucking Mickey" he muttered, pulling away.

"Ian".

"It's more than just fucking there's something there Fiona, don't rob me of that. They know ok, they know what we do and what their family does but they have nothing to do with it. They wouldn't lie to me".

Fiona crossed her arms again "I'll see what I can do Ian, but if that doesn't work…".

"I know, Fiona, thank you".

…

The next day Fiona did the best negotiating work that the Gallaghers had ever seen. Debbie found out that Ian had been fucking Mickey and went over to the Milkovich house to try and befriend Mandy because she guessed they'd both be around her a while. Lucky for her, it kinda worked. Carl kept asking Ian what it was like to have sex with another guy and got excessively pissed off when Ian didn't tell him anything. Lip gave Ian a hug and apologized for not being a better help. Ian said it was nothing, said he would've been like that too if he'd had lose someone the way Lip lost Karen. Things were slowly turning back to the way they used to be. Mickey showed up at the Gallaghers sometime in the afternoon and when Ian opened the door he was a little surprised when the first thing Mickey did was kiss him. They stood there awkwardly for a moment and Mickey's eyes immediately scanned the surrounding area to make sure no one had seen before Ian pulled him inside and up to his room.

When they returned back downstairs Carl was looking at them strangely enough that it was making Mickey uncomfortable. He wasn't really used to the whole family thing. Especially one as tight knit as this one.

Fiona sighed and closed her laptop, she smiled across at Ian and Ian thought that he might faint or something, he grabbed Mickey's wrist absently and smiled brighter when he didn't pull away.

Debbie entered through the kitchen, Mandy trailing behind her in excited conversation. She bounded over when she realized that Fiona had finished her negotiating. Lip and Carl made their way around the corner and soon all of the Gallaghers were present.

Fiona looked directly at Mickey and smiled faintly. "I'm sorry Mickey but we're gonna have to kill your dad" she said simply.

Mickey shrugged "about fucking time that bastard died anyway".

Ian choked up a little, covering his mouth with his hand. Mickey looked over at him briefly, sliding his hand up so he was holding Ian's and squeezing gently.

Mandy came up behind them and threw an arm over them both. "Guess who's finally getting out" she smiled.

"Fuck" Mickey breathed. "How are you gonna do it?".

"Whatever's most painful" Ian laughed.

"Just shoot him, isn't that quicker?".

"Guess".

…..

The assassination went smoothly. There were no glitches and having Mickey and Mandy around helped them get access to the house pretty easy. It also helped that Terry Milkovich was drunk as fuck when they found him and half passed out. Ian didn't feel bad about killing him. He'd fucked up enough as it was and he'd fucked up his kid's lives as well. Mickey knew where his brothers were holding up and told Fiona, she passed the message on and they soon got word that they'd all been taken out as well. They were the only Milkovich kids that knew, Mandy realized that's why they'd fucked off so quickly and never returned.

It was probably the happiest atmosphere that they'd ever had post-kill. The Gallaghers all gathered around in their sort of tiny living room, holding drinks up in a toast to a successful assignment. The Milkovichs had tagged along and Mickey was standing next to Ian, glancing at him every few seconds and sometimes catching his sister's eye, ignoring her shit eating smirk. Kevin and Vee had heard there was a party and come over as well. None of them mentioned the fact that there were two Milkovich kids there. Especially with the way Ian was looking on top of the world.

"Another successful assignment, Gallaghers" Fiona smiled, holding her drink up.

"Any word on the next one?" Debbie asked.

"I'll tell you the second there is, Debs" she ruffled her sister's hair.

"So are you like, fucking spies or something?" Mickey looked over at Ian again.

"Ian shrugged "we're kind of a bit of everything. That cool with you?".

"Fuck off"

….