"Mickey!"
Mandy fell into Mickey's arms as he entered the forgotten Milkovich home. Mickey caught his sister with his heart aching in his chest as he hugged her close, her being the only sibling of his safe so far. Mandy pulled back and smiled up at Mickey, before noticing Emri and giving a confused look. "Oh, is this-"
"Emri, this is your sister Mandy, Mandy this is your sister Emri," Mickey introduced them to one another, awkwardly standing between them. Emri smiled as did Mandy. Another girl, they both thought. Thank God.
"Mandy, where did you last see Ian?" Mickey asked, grabbing Mandy's shoulders.
"I heard them break into the house and I went upstairs from the basement, just getting an eye of Terry as he went up the stairs. I grabbed Fiona and told her to get Liam, thank god Debs and Carl weren't home, but I could already hear Ian's shouts and I knew it was too late. I didn't know what to do so I sent Fi and Liam to Veronica's house, where they are now, and watched them drag Ian into a car and take him away. I don't know where."
"What did the car look like?" Lip asked.
"It was pretty run-down, black Honda or something," Mandy pulled her phone out. "I got a pic of the license plate but it's pretty blurry."
Emri took the phone and zoomed in on the picture. "If the car has a GPS system installed, we could track it."
"That old piece of shit? I doubt it has a fuckin' GPS in it," Mickey replied.
"It can even just be a drug store GPS plugged into the car," Emri added. "The thing is I don't know anybody who can track a GPS in the south."
"Yeah well, only Ian had that many fuckin' contacts," Mickey mumbled exasperatedly, rubbing his forehead.
"We can go though his phone, try to find the number?" Mandy suggested.
"We don't even know the guy's name or who the hell the guy is either," Lip butted. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and tapped it nervously against his cheek. Suddenly he looked up, narrowing his eyes at Mandy. "Where's Maria?"
"I don't know, wasn't here when I got in," she shrugged. "The door was unlocked."
"Did we just..." Emri looked around, voice quieting. "Walk into a trap?"
The four stayed dead silent, all looking around shakily. After a minute, Mickey let out a long breath and shook his head. "No, we're not in a fucking trap."
"How do you know?"
"Nothing's happened, smart-ass."
"Let's just get out of here," Mandy quivered.
"We need a fucking plan or som-"
A loud rustle came from a room, echoing throughout the walls of the small house. All four froze again, listening quietly. They heard something that sounded like a window shutting. Absentmindedly, Mandy grabbed onto Lip, using him as a cover. Mickey grabbed Emri's arm, halting her behind him and covering her. He slowly took the gun out from his waistband and cocked it without making a sound, before starting to inch towards the door. Lip opened his mouth to say something, even moved forward to stop Mickey, but Emri grabbed his arm and shook her head. Mickey turned his head back to give a reassuring look to the three, before pushing open the door to his old bedroom. The three watched as he aimed the gun, moving it in all different directions before backing away. He shook his head. He moved towards the next door, pressing his ear against it. Mandy's leg began to shake nervously. Mickey gripped the handle, twisting it silently, before pushing the door open and aiming. The three watched as his facial expression turned from protective, to confusion, to relief, to happiness. A second later Jamie fell into Mickey's arms, hugging him tightly.
"Shit, Jamie!" Mandy screamed, running towards her brother, pulling him into a hug.
"Jesus Christ, guys," Jamie sighed, Mandy in his arms. "You have no idea what the fuck I've been through the last hour."
"Where's the rest of them?" Mickey asked.
"I'll take you to them, let me just-" Jamie caught sight of Emri and he smiled, moving forward to grab her into a hug. "Shit, you okay, A?"
"It's Emri, and yeah," Emri smiled. "I'm OK. What about you? Your... your eye?"
"It's healing," Jamie swallowed nervously and sighed, itching his head. "Okay guys, what the fuck is going on?"
"You tell us," Mickey said. "Terry kidnapped Ian and you show up without Colin or Iggy."
"I got out of there," explained Jamie. "Saw my chance and took it. They're down by the lake. They were at the hospital and used Colin and Iggy to check me out before I realized it was all a trick, and when I did it was too late. They had me in the car, with Iggy in the trunk, probably knocked out, and Colin right in the front seat with a gun to the back of his head. Right when the car stopped at the lake and they were pulling us out I got free and ran."
Mickey was starting to become nervous. A gun to the back of Colin's head? Terry wasn't going easy on them. By any chance Colin was probably already dead and dumped into the lake. Same goes for Iggy. And Ian? Jesus, if Colin's dead then Ian's already six feet under.
"Wait," Lip laughed tensely, standing up. "They just let you get away? Just like that? No way man, they wanted you to get away. Don't you see it? This is all planned. You were supposed to come here, they purposefully let you get away just so you could-"
"Lead them here," Emri finished for Lip, eyes wide as she looked at Jamie. "So... does that mean they're..."
Mickey walked towards the window and pulled the curtain without a second thought, showing that there was nobody there. He turned back to the group. "I don't think so. Maybe he wanted Jamie to take us straight there."
"Which do we do?" Mandy asked.
"You and Emri go to V's house," Mickey instructed. "I'll take care of this with Jamie and Lip."
"No, fuck no," Emri butted in. "I'm taking part in this shit."
"Me too," Mandy agreed.
Mickey snorted, "no you're not."
"Why? Because I'm a girl? I'm too young? You told me that you've gone through this shit all your life. That means when you were my age you were scared everyday because you feared this day. The day where you would have to fight back. I want to fight back. Believe it or not, Mickey, I care too. I want to be there in case something goes wrong. This means something to me too."
Everybody exchanged looks. A proud smile tugged at Jamie's lips as Mickey slumped his shoulders, sighing exaggeratedly. He pulled out a cigarette and lighter. "Well the fuck are we waiting for then, MLK? Let's go."
"Wait," said Lip, snapping his fingers suddenly. "I have a plan."
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Mickey stared at the caution tape circled around the store, glass surrounding the floors, and the stains of blood around the visible counter. He swallowed the lump in his throat when he saw Linda talking on the phone inside the store near the back.
"You alright?" Jamie asked Mickey softy. Mickey cleared his throat and absentmindedly ghosted his hand over the scar on his abdomen.
"I'm fine. Let's just get this over with."
Lip was first to get Linda's attention. Linda's eyes were cold and she looked more stressed than ever from where she stood. A minute later she hung up on the phone, pulled her sweater tighter around her small body and walked towards the group, not even bothering to step around the glass. She stopped when the caution tape was between them. "What do you want?"
"We know who did this, Linda," Lip said calmly, trying to keep the situation tranquil. "We want to help you."
"You think I don't know who did this?" She laughed, eying them all angrily but Mickey especially. "That bastard Terry. It isn't easy filing a fucking lawsuit in the south side."
The boys mumbled agreements. "Terry's guys who did this will go to jail if you show us the camera tapes from the day of the shooting."
"You of all people should know what Terry is capable of," Linda replied to Mickey. "He'll kill me and my family."
"We will take care of Terry, we promise. We just need to get his bitches out of the way," Mickey said bitterly. He gave a pleading look to Linda. "Please. We just- we don't have a lot of time."
Linda furrowed her eyebrows, but she knew better than to ask questions. Instead she sighed and asked, "How's Ian?"
"Not good. Is it a yes or no?" Jamie hurried.
Linda exhaled.
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Ian breathed in, not wanting to open his eyes as he struggled to keep his years in. He whimpered when he heard Iggy let out yet another toe-curling scream, followed by Colin's shouts of protests. Ian looked up at the ceiling of the dark shed and tugged at his restraints around his wrists and ankles, keeping him from moving. The bandana stuffed in his mouth was drenched in saliva and his previous tears. He finally broke down at another scream from Iggy and he began to sob with the side of his face pressed against the cold wooden floor.
"Please hurry, Mickey," he whispered, and though it sounded incomprehensible to him, he hoped somewhere that Mickey was close and on his way. "Please hurry."
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Mickey wiped at his forehead, feeling it pound painfully as he listened to the dial tone on the other end of the phone. His palm was starting to gather so much sweat that the card in his hand was beginning to drench itself.
"Hello?" Finally.
"Yo, Larkin," Mickey coughed awkwardly, crumpling the card in his hand. "It's Mickey. Uh, Milkovich. I need your help with something."
"With what? Does it have to do with the stabbing?"
"No. It has to do with the shooting that happened at Kash 'N Grab a few days ago."
There was a pause. "Listen, we're still looking for the suspects-"
"Yeah? Well, I found them. Plus I've got a kidnapping on the side, so are you gonna get your buddies and fucking help me or not?"
"Well?" Lip asked when Mickey returned.
"They're on their way here," Mickey said. He glanced up and saw the looks everyone was giving him. "What? They don't trust me. They wanna see if this is legit or not."
"God, I hope this works," Jamie breathed nervously.
Mickey saw Ian's name scribbled onto the counter, something he must've been while he was bored at work. Mickey's bottom lip trembled as he smiled, running his hand over the name. "Me too."