Work Text:
He's been out nearly a year. El has been a great friend letting him crash at her place, and getting him a job at her dads garage. Living in the north side is weird, not having to do jobs like back in the south side is hard to get used to. Sometimes he thinks it's all just a dream. He's still back in prison sleeping in his cell.
He met El in prison. She was volunteering for some fucking reason. Whatever, she was helping some of the inmates with studying to get their GED. She would come and tutor Mickey everyday. They didn't get close until the last time Gallagher came to visit. She caught him crying in his cell like a little bitch scratching at his chest. She didn't do anything really, she just sat there next to him on his bunk. The only thing she said was "I don't know what to say. I'm not the best with words but I know you don't belong here, and I'm gonna do whatever I can to get you out." And she did, she called her dads- Yeah she had two dads, big fucking surprise was that her dad was the cop who let him go when they arrested Terry. Her other dad? A fucking lawyer who would have thought.
The thought of Terry makes him sick. Then again wouldn't you be if your dad beat you to the brink of death? The incident helped El and her dads with getting him released. He had a couple months to heal up. He's got a lot of scars now. Way more than he cared for, but at least some were starting to fade with that stupid ass cream they make him put on.
El took him in. Her brother moved out of their apartment so she had the room. She took care of him. And yeah they fought. A lot. But she grew to be his best friend. She hasn't left his side ever since he got out. Yeah sometimes she could act like an overbearing mother, but he's never had that before. It's not so bad sometimes. To know that someone genuinely cares about you. He thought he found that with a certain someone, and yet unsurprisingly Mickey Milkovich was once again wrong.
At least he got his GED.
It's 7 in the morning and the alarm goes off. He's got to get to work in an hour so he turns it off and heads to the shower. The water pressure feels fantastic. It's one of the things he'll never get over. By the time he gets out its 7:15, and the alarm in El's room goes off. He heads to her door and bangs on it. "Get the fuck up it’s time for work!" He opens the door and sees El frowning at him.
"Why can't I just go back to sleep?" She groggily asked sitting up on the bed and wiping some drool from her face.
"Because I gotta open up the fucking garage and I can't be doing that shit alone. It's boring as fuck."
"Ungh. Fine Mick but your making me pancakes." She gets out of the bed to shoo him out of the room. "Go getting to stepping." She smacks his ass and walks away.
"Perv!" He calls out walking away. He's awarded with her usual response "You fucking love it Milkovich"
He hears the shower turn on which means he's got 20 minutes before she gets out. He heads to the kitchen and gets out the pan and puts it on the stove. And then heads to the fridge to grab the milk and butter, and then the cabinet to grab the buttermilk pancake mix. And gets to mixing them together and making the pancakes. When he's done he sets them on two plates and puts all the dishes in the sink and heads to his room to put on his coveralls and boots for work. He'll never tire of seeing his name stitched in red on them. Unfortunately, he also remembers the name tattooed right under it.
When he heads back the the kitchen he already sees El inhaling her pancakes. "Yo Mick hurry up and eat your pancakes we're gonna be late."
"It's fucking 7:45 and it's a five minute walk to the garage relax."
"Fuck off and eat your pancakes." She told him while flipping him off.
Despite what he said he did quickly eat his pancakes. This is the first time he's opening up the shop. After months of hard work they finally trust him enough to open up shop. El's just gonna inspect how well he did the job. If it goes well he could start doing it on his own. El grabs their dishes and throws them in the dishwasher. Yeah that’s a fucking thing he has now. Mickey grabs their keys and wallets by the door. Which is fucking stupid cause if someone wanted to break in they could just take their shit and leave. "Alright brat lets go." He says while handing El her wallet and keys.
"Aw you love me" She grabs his face with both her hands and smacks a big overdramatic kiss to his cheek. "Alright let's go tough guy we don't want to be late for your first day opening up shop."
The "walk" only took 2 and a half minutes because they decided to race to see who got there first. They opened up the front and garage doors. Then when to the computer to login and set up. Checked their logs on the cars in their current possession to see what has to be done with them. And most importantly, turned on the coffee machine.
"Ah yes there's nothing like your morning dosage of caffeine." El said while sitting on the couch next to Mickey.
"God before everything got so fucked up I would have needed to drink something with alcohol first thing to get through the day. Now it's coffee, what the fuck have you done to me you El." He laughed.
"Nah Mick that change is all you, be proud and most importantly be caffeinated." She clapped his leg and put her empty coffee cup in the sink and headed to work on the 2007 Jeep Wrangler in the garage. She's the best mechanic, her and her uncle taught me everything I knew. She’s bias towards Jeeps though specifically Wranglers. It might have something to do with the fact that she owns one. It makes him think of Mandy. He’ll have to remember to call her later.
When he gets downstairs he sees that the lady with the ugly ass red convertible is picking up her car. It was way too early for people to be coming in for business. Even though they were open most people weren’t awake yet.
He walked towards the door to the garage, and yep that's El flirting. Oh did he mention she was bisexual? God girls are gross. He heads over to the black 2006 Dodge Caravan and gets to work. He only leaves the car alone when he finished its repairs about an hour later. He’s walking through the door to the waiting room when he hears El say "I'm sorry, but I have the right to refuse customers. I can get you a tow to another garage free of charge." And that's when he heard it, the voice that has been haunting his dreams.
"Did I do something to upset you? My boyfriend told me this was the best garage in the north side and I really need my car fixed." What. The. Fuck?
He didn't give El a chance to respond. When he walked in with false nonchalance. Wiping his hands of the oils on a towel not looking at the red head. "Hey El I finished that dodge. You think you can call the owner and let her know?"
"Yeah sure Mick. I'll get right on that." She hesitated before she walked to the front desk to call the car owner.
"Mick?" He couldn't avoid it anymore, he looked up and blue eyes met green.
"Gallagher." He nodded stiffly
"I didn't know you got out." Of course he didn’t know. I made sure no one told him.
"Yeah been out almost a year."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Why the fuck is this so awkward. "Listen I uh got to get back to work but when El finishes her call just tell her what's wrong with your car and that we'll have no problem fixing it."
"Okay." Huh figures that's all he's got to say. He turns around and opens the door connecting the garage to the waiting area. Before the door closes behind him he's hears the whispered thanks.
-----
God when he went to go get his car fixed this was the last thing he would've expected to see. He stands there for another 5 minutes looking at the the door where Mickey left. Until he hears someone clear their throat and sees the woman from before.
"Uh hi."
"Sorry about being that before, it's just I'm really...I'm sorry. What did Mick say?" The nickname set a heavy feeling in his chest.
"He said to tell you what's wrong with my car and that you'd apparently have no problem fixing it." He repeated numbly.
"Ah okay well then I guess this where you show me the car."
"Right. Sorry." He shook his head.
She looked at him with pity. It a made him wonder how much she knew. She didn't say anything, she grabbed a clipboard and headed outside. With one last look at the door separating him from Mickey he went and followed her out the front door.
A half an hour later saw Ian at the Cafe across the street from the garage. Dialing someone he hasn't spoken to in awhile.
"Hello?" The woman spoke
"Did you know he got out?" Was the first thing that came out of his mouth.
"Who? Ex-Husband? Yes he visit Yevgeny."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"He said not to tell. Who am I to tell?
"You should have told me Lana."
"Why would I tell when I had to pay you to visit?"
"Lana-"
"No you listen, he does better with you not around. He is here for Yevgeny he supports our son. He has job. Friends. He has a home now."
"He had one before. With us."
"No that was no home. You have boyfriend now so you should not care."
"I know"
"Leave him alone he does well now."
"You mean he's better without all my crazy."
"No I mean he better with no reminder of heartbreak." And with that she hung up.
Leave Mickey alone. He could do that, he's been doing it for the past year. Where was Trevor? He's supposed to be here by now. He hears the bell on cafe door jingle and looks up to see Mickey heading inside to order desk. He can't hear the order just knows that the bag is pretty big when he pays for it. He passes by Ian when he's leaving. Ian watches as Mickey walks out. This is going to be a lot harder than he thought. He was pulled from his own thoughts when a body slides into the booth across from him.
"Alright what's got you down Gallagher." His head snaps up quickly he swears he got whiplash.
"Mickey.. Hi." Ian said breathlessly.
"Yeah hi what's got you down?"
"I'm fine Mickey. You don't have to worry I'm on my meds. Have been for awhile."
"I know and I'm not worried I just want to know what's wrong." Ian freezes
"You know?"
"I'm still friends with another red headed Gallagher who likes to talk."
"Debs." Of course they still talk.
"Yup."
"I'm fine Mick." He sees Mickey flinch at the nickname. He heard the woman before say it and he didn't flinch like he did just now. He feels sick right now.
"Alright well then I better head back to the garage." Mickey said while getting up.
"Wait!" Ian grabbed onto Mickey's arm to get him to sit back down. He did.
"What Gallagher?" Impatient as ever.
"How have you been?" Ian asked
"Do you even care?" Okay that hurt.
"Of course I do. I've always cared. Why would you think I didn't care?"
"Cause you weren't there when I got my GED or when I enrolled into community college. Or sat by me when I cried myself to sleep at night. God you should have seen El's face and the rest of her family when I told them I passed the test and when I told them I was gonna start taking classes at the community college. They were no they are proud of me everyday. And they actually give a crap about me. They don't run away when shit hits the fan." This is the most he’s spoken to Mickey for a long time and every word he says is another jab to Ian’s heart. He wasn’t there.
"How do you know El?" Ian said hoping to change the subject.
Mickey laughs not too kindly. "She got me out of prison. Used to volunteer in there helping inmates to get their GED. She was my tutor."
"That's it?"
"She got me out of prison. Well technically I guess it was her lawyer father that did. Whatever the outcome is still the fucking same. They got me out."
"And the garage, is it a legitimate job or a cover up for something else?"
"Yes it's fucking legitimate and fuck you for thinking otherwise you fucking prick."
"I'm sorry! It's just I don't really know what to say so I just keep spitting out words and I only end up making it worse."
"Yeah well you got that right."
"I'm sorry can we just start over?" Ian knows he has a hopeful expression on his face.
"I'll think about it." Mickey gets up and leave the cafe. And Ian sinks into his chair. God he screwed everything up.
A minute later he sees Mickey sliding back into the booth extending his hand out to Ian.
"Hey I’m Mickey Milkovich" Ian grabs his hand smiling and shakes it. "I’m Ian Gallagher, nice to meet you."
They were interrupted by Trevor walking in. And Ian quickly let go of Mickey's hand.
"Hey babe sorry I'm so late I got caught up at the center and I got out as quick as I could. Did you get any of my messages?" He quickly said, kissing Ian on the lips and then sitting down beside him. “Who's this?"
"I'm Mickey, Gallagher here used to be best friends with my sister." Mickey extended his hand to Caleb to shake.
"Oh really? Who’s your sister?" He said grabbing the extended hand and shaking it.
Mickey looked shocked for a moment before he replied “Mandy. Mandy Milkovich. They were close in high school before she moved.”
Ian didn’t hear what Trevor said next too busy wallowing in the guilt for not keeping in touch with Mandy. That’s why Mickey was so surprised. God he was such an asshole. He was startled when Mickey said “Oh I work at the garage across the street and Ian stopped by there to get his car checked out. And uh then I saw him in here while grabbing some bagels for the staff and we started talking. I'm sorry to intrude on your..date? I'll just be heading back to work... I’m sorry I didn't catch your name."
"Oh it's Trevor, pleasure to meet you."
"Right. Well nice meeting you." He started walking away. And gave Ian a one finger salute. "Later Gallagher!"
Chuckling Ian turned to Trevor.
"Hey."
"Hey, he seemed really nice."
"Yeah. It's freaky. He's never been nice before. Like to anyone. He's Mickey Milkovich you know? He's south side like the rest of us but he's the worst of us. Drug dealing thug with an even more fucked up dad to boot"
"Well people can change"
"Yeah but not that drastically.."
"Well whatever it was you should be thankful."
"Thankful?"
"Yeah because if he was as bad as you think, and that's him now. You gotta believe in some type of miracles."
Huh I guess you can believe in some miracles.