Mickey's Free

Ian is like watered down kool-aid

Three days after the funeral Mickey sat above the Alibi which at one stage had been the Rub n Tug. Svet had turned it into an office and from what he can tell by the paperwork on the desk the Alibi was actually starting to make a small profit. He'd taken his GED during his time in prison and found that he also had a knack for business. Over the last week he had wheedled more assistance from English in order to solve another problem he didn't have resources for. English had passed on his query to a man named Peyton Garic and now Svet was a free women. As Svet took a seat on the opposite side of the desk she scowled at him. "You sitting in my seat" she said.
He grinned at her "Ah, but I come baring gifts"
He slid two envelopes on the desk over to her followed by a bottle of vodka. " This is paperwork showing you are an American Citizen. We've kept the name Svetlana Milkovich just to keep it simple. There is also a passport and drivers licence. This is all legal by the way, anyone checks this it should all clear" He watched as Svet went through all the documents and looked up at him in wonder.
"How?" she asked seeming dazed.
"Apparently I've made a friend". Mickey replied. Mickey wished he could be there to see English's expression when his old kitchen table would be delivered. When he had his brothers throw away all the old furniture in the house he had asked that they keep the kitchen table and have it carefully wrapped and shipped to Devon addressed to a Sir Nikolas Mikelson.
"It's time we all make a change. Your whole life you have been taught that you have to find a man to look after you. That's bullshit" The larger of the two envelopes was thick and bulged with the contents of half a million dollars.
He looked at her "This is for you, it should be enough that you don't have to rely on the Alibi or the goodwill of V and Kev. My house is also now in your name, you can live in there, rent it out or burn it to the ground".
"You are going somewhere?" Svet asked.
Mickey nodded. When he saw Svet's eyes water he squirmed in his seat. From his experience, women and tears were never any fun. "Hey, no crying. Let's celebrate, I hear Russians love Vodka" with that he opened a bottle of Vodka, took a big swig and handed it over to her.
Mickey and Svet both stood up when they heard yelling downstairs. Before they both could make it to the door it swung open and Fiona Gallagher stood in the doorway with Carl behind her.
"Mickey, have you seen Ian? We've looked everywhere for him" she asked. Mickey took in her appearance, for being the eldest of the Gallagher's she looked far from having it together. Her hair looked like a rats nest and her eyes where all swollen red. "Lip told me what happened at the funeral. Lip took him home after and he went to bed, but when we went to check up on him he wasn't there. It's been three days..." She trailed off looking around the room as if she was hoping Mickey had been hiding Ian above the Alibi.
V then came up the stairs then stopping short of colliding into Carl "Sorry Mickey, Fiona's been crying they've been looking for Ian...I caved and told her you were here".
Mickey looked between V, Carl and Fiona.
He turned to Carl "Where have you searched?"
"We've checked everywhere, parks, hospitals and clubs. Even Mandy told us a few places we should check" Carl replied. "Is he having an episode?"
"How the fuck would I know!" Mickey shouted. He hadn't seen Ian in a long time and the last time a few days ago didn't count.
"I know the past few months have been better but I told him he sometimes acted like a robot" Carl looked stricken. "He told me that he could feeling things just that they felt watered down and he hates it. Like when you have a glass of Kool-Aid with too much water. It's still sweet, but not as sweet as it could be?" He ended his explanation like it was a question.
Mickey checked the time on his watch. He was meant to be gone already, Mandy would be at the airport waiting for him with his brothers and cousins.He glanced back up to have four pairs of eyes regarding him.
"Call Lip, tell him to check the abandoned building three blocks over" Mickey said to Fiona before picking up a duffel bag and pushed his between V and Carl towards the stairs.
"Wait, where are you going?" Fiona cried. Mickey turned to her incredulously.
"Ian's not my brother, he's not my boyfriend and he is definitely not my problem. You're his legal guardian, you look after him" With that he stormed down the stairs and got into a cab.
He gave directions for the driver to drop him at the airport and sat back in the seat his heart beating so fast he thought he was going to explode. His mobile rang 15 minutes into the ride, he let it go to voicemail three times before picking it up the firth call. It was Lips' voice and it was broken. "Mickey, can you come to the hospital. I found him where you said to look" Mickey heard Lip sob before continuing "I think he's been there a few days. He's breathing, but he's... he's not responding".