Chapter Text
Olivia dug her heels into the cemetery dirt, hardening her stance, stake in her hand as she prepared herself for the blow she was about to take. And sure enough, seconds later she felt Mickey’s body crash into hers sending her down to the ground. Her heart began to race as adrenaline pumped through her veins. She tried to raise her hand that gripped her stake but he grabbed her wrist, almost painfully. When she attempted to bring her legs up to knee him, Mickey used his own to hold her down. She was fucked, closing her eyes and wincing as his blunt teeth grazed her neck.
“Okay, so where did you fuck up?” Ian asked, perched on a nearby tombstone as Mickey pushed himself up off of the Slayer, grabbing Olivia’s hand to pull her up with him.
“Hesitated,” Olivia began before trying to excuse herself out of it. “I mean, it’s Mickey—”
“It doesn’t matter, Olivia,” Ian said. “I don’t care if it’s Mickey or Dracula or the Loch Ness Monster. See how quickly you become disarmed and unable to protect yourself? Don’t put a stake through his heart or anything but he can handle himself.”
Olivia sighed, she hated feeling as if she let Ian down. Mickey reset himself in his original position just as she did before giving the girl a wink. “It’s okay, kid. Let’s do this.” Then before another beat he was rushing her again to take her down.
“Carl and Debbie are passed out.” Ian chuckled once the trio got home and Ian started to pull containers out of the fridge to heat up leftovers for himself and Olivia.
“They’ve been working hard on getting the gym started.” Olivia tossed down her weapons before sitting at the kitchen table, being easy on the sprained wrist she was trying to hide from Ian and Mickey.
“They lucked out that Kev had that extra space, but they’re putting the work in.” Ian was impressed that his siblings were starting a new venture, a non-supernatural goal felt refreshing. As Ian tossed bowls of soup into the microwave, Mickey was under the cabinet digging out the first aid kit. He set the box on the counter before grabbing a wrist splint and tossing it to Olivia. She caught it and smiled softly towards Mickey.
Since Mickey had moved in things seemed to fit. Olivia adored him, Ian was unapologetically in love, Debbie and Carl tolerated it with a strict no killing policy. Mickey felt like he had a real family for the first time in his entire life. He hadn’t seen Iggy or any other brother apart from a demon bar sighting, and Mandy was still missing in action.
That night when the two waking humans were fed and happy and Olivia was snug in bed, Ian and Mickey laid together. Limbs intertwined, bodies touching at every point possible, lips and teeth on necks. Ian gripped the back of Mickey’s head as he drank from Ian, just enough to feel satiated, but not too much. It was routine at this point, each night Mickey took just enough to get by to the next day.
Ian didn’t mind it, fuck he liked it. A year ago this sort of thing would have made him sick, but now… now it made his toes curl, made him hard, made him feel like he was an integral part of Mickey. Their codependency had gotten worse as they lived together, spent every second Ian wasn’t in school together, and now Mickey’s life depended on Ian. While Dr. O’Hannigan warned this wasn’t the healthiest version of a relationship, he had to acknowledge how happy both men seemed. Ian was less miserable, Mickey wasn’t killing people, while Dr. O’Hannigan knew they’d eventually get to the dependency issues, a step forward was a step forward.
It was weekly now, talking to Dr. O’Hannigan, working through his depression and dissociation; attempting to work through the issues that made Ian so deeply unhappy. From his abandonment issues, his unconventional life, and his sister’s death. Things were good, things were progressing, and most importantly, Ian didn’t hide away behind ear buds anymore.
“A date?!” Carl exclaimed as the members of the Gallagher household, except for nocturnal Mickey, meandered around the kitchen in the afternoon making food and coffee.
“Yes, a date,” Olivia said firmly. “I am 17 years old.”
“You’re 16,” Ian corrected her.
“No, I’m 17. My birthday was three months ago, you made the cake!”
Ian groaned, she had a point. “You’re the Slayer. You don’t have time for—”
“Fun?” Olivia finished. “Come on. Debbie and Carl go out all the time.”
“Yeah for one fun night,” Debbie explained. “Dating… dating leads to questions, to familiarity, to eventual dumping when you have to leave mid-date to kill a hairy demon.”
“Ok yes but…” Olivia groaned exasperated. Mickey wasn’t even there to back her up, she should have told them this later. “I’m young, I’m a teenager, I should be allowed to go on a date.”
The three Gallaghers couldn’t really argue with that, they all had their experiences and she deserved hers as well. “Fine,” Carl eventually relented. “But if you’re not careful you’re going to end up with a demon living in the house, so use Ian as a cautionary tale.”
“Shut up, Mickey’s family.”
“Are you sure that you want to do this?” It was the fifth time Ian had asked Mickey so far in the hour-long car ride to Indianapolis.
“I’m sure, Slayerette,” Mickey assured him, yet again, that he wanted to go through with the De-vampyrification spell. They had spent months doing research through the Council’s records but there were still so many question marks involved. Would Mickey survive this? Would he start aging from 17 or would he accelerate to his chronological age? The magical world always had so much uncertainty.
Cooke had assured them that it was like a pause button, that because his body hadn’t been aging for all these decades it would have no reason to catch itself up, that all they were doing was removing the parasite and allowing the real Mickey back control over his own body.
“And you’re not doing this for me, right? You’re doing it because you want to do it?” Another question asked over and over again since they had found the spell in Mandy’s book in the warehouse. “Because if something happens or we break up I don’t want—”
“Ian.” Mickey reached over, grasping the man’s thigh. “I want to do this. Not because of you or anyone else. I want to do this,” he said again with more confidence. “I’m sick of forever, man.” Ian slid his hand over Mickey’s and held it the rest of the ride to Pierce’s cabin. They were both nervous, unsure of what this would mean for them, or how this would possibly change their futures.
Mickey couldn’t keep living what he had been living. Everything he ever valued or loved had been tainted or wrecked because of this life. His sister had turned into something he didn’t recognize. He felt vampire culture forced him over and over again to be nothing more than what his family always wanted him to be when he was human; cold, cruel, and calculating.
His hand squeezed Ian’s a little tighter. If he didnt take this chance, he knew he’d live forever stuck between two worlds where he did not fit, watching Ian grow old and die, leaving him in this same, old, stale world. Might it not work? Sure. But Mickey was desperate to no longer live forever.
When they parked in front of Pierce’s creepy cabin Ian took a deep breath before looking over to Mickey, who also was making no attempt to leave the car. Finally, leaning over, Ian kissed Mickey softly, his hand coming up to stroke the man’s cheek. “If at any point you decide you don’t want to do this, just say the word, okay?”
Mickey only nodded before exiting the car and once the two were standing in front of the cabin door it swung open and Pierce smiled. “Look at who we have here. Dead loverboy and the man all my dreams are made of.” Ian laughed and Mickey scowled, then as Ian stepped in Pierce just looked at Mickey, making a show of not asking him inside.
“Cooke,” Ian warned before the seer rolled his eyes.
“Dead loverboy, please come inside.”
When Mickey finally, with hesitation, stepped over the threshold, he saw that Cooke’s large wood dining table was outlined in candles. It was like some bizarre Frankenstein Practical Magic mashup that Mickey did not know if he wanted to participate in.
“Here’s the book.” Ian handed Pierce the old, leather bound book and his eyes widened slightly.
“And you said I could have this?” It was older than most of his inherited tomes and it was giving him a semi.
“That’s the deal, Mickey and I walk out of here alive and you get to keep the book.” Ian’s eyes met Mickey’s and he cocked his eyebrows.
“Or I can kill you both and keep it anyways.” Pierce laid the book down on the table and carefully began to flip through it.
“But you wouldn’t do that,” Ian clarified.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t,” Pierce agreed, in no way making Mickey any more comfortable. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road. Got any vampire things you have left to do?” Pierce asked, looking at Mickey. “Fangs, blood… whatever else you do?”
Mickey took a deep, unneeded breath and shook his head before looking at Ian. “I’m ready, let’s do this.”
The two men helped the vampire up onto the table and Mickey laid back, his nerves coursing through his body, his mind panicking. What if this didn’t work? What if something really bad happened? Then he felt Ian take his hand and he relaxed. Pierce picked up a bowl that looked like it contained a dark red, jellied item. Ian watched as he took it out of the bowl and nodded towards him.
“Open his shirt.” Ian did, hands shaking, he picked up a pair of scissors and gave Mickey’s shirt a snip before ripping it open to expose the vampire’s bare chest. Pierce placed the chicken’s heart at the center of Mickey’s chest before returning his attention to the book.
Pierce began to mumble, words coming out low and fast under his breath, the candles around them gaining height as the flames reached up higher towards the ceiling, Pierce’s voice becoming louder and faster until finally neither Mickey nor Ian could hear beyond the spiraling of words. Then, as they reached their crescendo, the candle flames went out as Ian felt Mickey’s hand go limp in his, plunging them all into darkness.
As Ian began to panic he felt Mickey’s hand twitch and the only noise they heard in the dark cabin in the woods was the gasp of air Mickey took in as his body lurched forward with life. The cabin then illuminated with light as Pierce walked over and flipped a switch and the light from a lamp filled the space.
Ian looked at Mickey, unsure of what to expect or do, but as Mickey took a few more needed breaths Ian smiled. “Holy shit.”
“Holy shit,” Pierce agreed.
Mickey looked at Ian, wide-eyed. “Holy shit.” Mickey brought his hand to his chest, wanting to feel the soft beating against his chest and when he felt it he smiled. “I’m alive.” Ian was quick to bring his hand up as well, feeling Mickey’s heart beat.
“Is this real?” he asked Pierce, knowing the number of times both he and Mickey felt Mickey’s heart beat only to learn it wasn’t actually happening.
Pierce nodded proudly. “It’s real.”
Olivia sat happily, her blue cap sitting next to her at the table of the family sports restaurant that the Gallaghers brought her to after her graduation ceremony. Ian, Debbie, and Carl had sat in the crowd cheering as she received her diploma with Mickey meeting them at the restaurant. While he had been human now for six months, decades of no sun had made him extremely sensitive to light and heat. While he was getting more tolerable, it wasn’t feasible for him to sit outside on bleachers quite yet.
“Sorry I missed it, kid.” Mickey gave Olivia’s shoulder a rub as he passed her to find his seat next to Ian.
“No, I’m just glad you’re here.” Olivia took a deep breath. “I actually have something to tell you all.”
Debbie, Carl, Ian, and Mickey’s eyes fell on the Slayer as she began to fidget with the edge of her graduation cab. “So uh….”
They watched her in silence, with Mickey taking the opportunity to take a sip from Ian’s beer. “This isn’t the easiest conversation I’ve ever had.” She was stalling.
Finally, she said it, “I’m pregnant.” Every eye at the table widened, with Debbie’s jaw dropping. “Now before you say anything, I’m not an idiot. I know the Slayer’s life isn’t exactly made for kids. I also know that whether I go through with this pregnancy isn’t just my choice…” They hadn’t ever hid the reality of the Slayer lifespan to Olivia, she knew she wouldn’t be around forever. “…if I go through with this it wouldn’t just be my commitment. So… can we talk about this?”
“No!”
Mickey struggled to keep the wiggling toddler in his grasp as they waited for Ian’s name to be called, but finally when the Dean announced “Ian Gallagher, Paramedics,” they all stood up and cheered, Mickey hoisting up one year old baby Fiona, finally allowing the little girl to clap like she had been promised she could all day. Ian walked across the stage, receiving his diploma. Between the word No and constantly fighting to escape whoever’s grasp she was in Fiona was keeping them all on their toes.
Ultimately they all agreed to support Olivia knowing that one day they’d have to take over raising the child, but when Debbie and Carl said neither of them saw a child in their futures it ended up coming down to Ian and Mickey. It took a few late nights in bed, speaking out into the darkness. Ian hadn’t thought about children, nor had Mickey. Neither of them had ever imagined that a possibility in their lives, but now, with the option in front of them, it was worth a discussion. Ian wanted some good to come out of their lives, Mickey, now human, felt intense guilt for all the blood on his hands. Both wanted to add some good into the world.
It had been a surprise to everyone when Olivia named the baby Fiona, saying she wanted a connection to the Slayer before her and that she felt indebted to Fiona for giving her a family. While the father wasn’t in the picture, it made it easier for all of them when Olivia put Ian’s name on the birth certificate, so that when her time came the family didn’t have to deal with the courts. Fiona Gallagher-Shea. The peace Olivia felt knowing that she could provide for her daughter the family she had longed for her entire life.
That time came sooner than any of them had hoped. Fiona was only 18 months old when Ian held her in his arms, soothing her cries for her mother. Mickey had been the one to find her in the cemetery. Her neck had been snapped and Ian’s cross from around her neck was missing. Mickey had scooped her up in his arms and carried her home to the Gallagher house and when Carl had opened the door Debbie called 911.
None of them would have thought it would be Ian’s unit to come to the house, but when Ian heard his own address over the dispatch he knew what it was. Three and a half years was a decent run for a Slayer’s activation. Two was average. Three was astounding. Fiona’s seven was almost unheard of. When he came through the door with their unit he couldn’t look at Olivia, instead he went upstairs to find Fiona, taking his daughter into his arms as she cried, sensing the change and tension in the air. The funeral was small and they had dug into their savings to make sure that Olivia was buried next to Fiona. Olivia wanted to be connected to the sisterhood she was a part of and they were going to do their best to give her that in one form or another.
The house was quiet for days after Olivia’s death, awaiting the inevitable Slayer’s Council visit. Just as before Debbie, Carl, Mickey, and Ian were offered a job to train the new Slayer. They were all given a counseling session, Ian talking with Dr. O’Hannigan in person as if they didn’t talk weekly on the phone. After it was all over Ian and Mickey declined the job while Debbie and Carl took it on.
Ian was tired. Tired of death, evil, heartbreak, and the never ending apocalypses. Dr. O’Hannigan actually backed up his decision, agreeing it was best if Ian removed himself from further Slayer Council responsibilities. Ian just wanted a simple life with the man he loved and the daughter that they adored. So that was what he did. With the money he had been putting away working as an EMT Ian managed to sign a lease on a small two bedroom, one bathroom house only blocks from Debbie and Carl. It wasn’t big, and the landlord seemed like a piece of shit, but Ian was ready for peace.
Ian was coming off of the night shift just as the sun was rising. He hated the night shifts as they reminded him too much of his former life, but Mickey had started to find a way to make them more enjoyable for the redheaded EMT. Ian opened the door to their home, pushing a pink Barbie dream car and a toy axe out of the way of his path with his foot.
“I’m home,” he called out and within seconds he heard the little footsteps of three year old Fiona running up to him, her gorgeous, dark curls a blur as she launched herself into his arms.
“Dada,” she said seriously as Ian picked her up, taking his face into her hands so that he would listen to her. “Papa made pancakes.”
“Did he now?” Ian asked as he carried Fiona into the kitchen in time to see Mickey pouring them cups of coffee, the early morning sun streaming in through the windows. “Good morning.” He’d never get sick of seeing Mickey alongside sunlight.
“Good morning, Mr. Gallagher.” Mickey handed him a cup of coffee before leaning in and kissing him briefly on the lips before taking Fiona from him and setting her down. “You left your bear in the bathroom. Go get him so he can have breakfast with us.” Her attachment to her blue bear recently had been that of tantrum legends. Once Fiona ran out of the room Mickey turned back to Ian, reaching up he did what he did every morning after a shift. He gingerly played with the lapels of Ian’s uniform before leaning in again, kissing him deeper and harder, a reminder of what they’d do after breakfast.
This routine had begun after Ian would come home from his late shifts anxious and upset. Seeing victims of vampire attacks and demons were hard on Ian, and Mickey had been determined to find some way to make it easier on his boyfriend. So each morning when Ian came home Mickey made a big breakfast, which had been a learning curve at first, full of Ian eating a lot of burnt food, along with a minimum of one orgasm before he went to sleep. While this didn’t lessen how hard it was for Ian to see what he saw each night, it did help him forget it as quickly as possible.
“Debbie is taking Fiona to the park after breakfast,” Mickey said with a flirty smirk, “Which means, if you’re up for it, we have plenty of time this morning.” Their sex lives hadn’t become any tamer once Mickey had turned human, instead they itched for ways to replicate the closeness they had felt when Mickey would feed off of Ian. They experimented, tested, and found ways to add pain and thrill to their pleasure.
Ian had blamed it on Mickey, when they were lying in bed, breaths heavy and skin sticky, fully satisfied he’d say Mickey had turned him into a monster, teasing the other man. However, Ian fucking loved it. Blood play, bondage, and edging became routine when they had time to indulge, but nothing ever truly beat just being close, eyes locked, skin touching as they rocked together.
“I picked up more lancets from the pharmacy,” Ian said, cocking his eyebrows.
“Alright, freak. Banana pancakes first.” Mickey grabbed his coffee before giving Ian a hard slap on the ass.
“Whatever, punk.”
“So, what do we say to anyone who pulls your hair or pushes you down?” Mickey asked as he helped five year old Fiona put on her backpack.
“I’ll kill you!”
Mickey nodded approvingly. “Perfect. If dad asks where you learned that say it was that stupid iPad, got it?”
“Got it,” Fiona agreed before picking up her lunch box.
“You know.” They heard Ian coming from the living room. “I can hear you, small house.” Mickey smiled innocently. “And it’s parent-teacher meeting night, she doesn’t need her backpack.”
“Ah, you see, Dad. We put her classroom supplies in there so she could practice wearing her brand new Captain Marvel backpack.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Ian grabbed his jacket before looking at his boyfriend and daughter. “We ready to go?”
Fiona’s new school was only a few blocks from the house, so Ian and Mickey held her hands as they walked towards the campus. Ian hadn’t wanted Fiona to go to school, worried about how much demons loved a campus, but when Mickey explained to him multiple times that he couldn’t use a computer to home school her the argument pretty much ended there. Instead they agreed to make sure she was always up to date on age appropriate self-defense techniques instead.
Walking into the classroom Ian smiled when he saw Joan talking to a few of the other parents, he had pulled a few strings to make sure Fiona ended up in her classroom, feeling a bit more secure if she was with someone they knew all day. Fiona immediately put her backpack down and ran over to where the other kids were looking for desks with their names while Mickey picked up a Parent Emergency Contact form before handing it to Ian.
They sat in chairs far too small for them and grabbed a pen to begin filling out the form. Fiona Gallagher-Shea. Her birthdate. No allergies. No special accommodations. Parents: Ian C Gallagher and Mikhailo A. Milkovich. It was at that point he began to put down their phone numbers when Mickey stopped him.
“I don’t have a phone,” Mickey mumbled when Ian began to scribble down a number.
“Yeah, about that…” Ian reached into his pocket to pull out the simplest smartphone he could find. “You’ve been fighting me on this, but you have got to learn how to use one of these. Fiona will no longer be in your line of sight 24/7. People need to be able to reach you.” Mickey took the phone and frowned. “I gave up not getting videos and photos while at work to your refusal to learn how to use technology but time’s up, Milkovich.”
Ian had a point but Mickey was still going to make this as difficult as possible on everyone. Last year his beeper stopped working and since then he refused to get anything to replace it. Mickey turned the phone over in his hands a few times before reaching for Ian’s thumb to unlock it. Ian had to do everything in his power to not laugh and to not kill his confidence.
“My thumb won’t work on this one, we’ll get it set up to work with your thumb tonight. But it’s just like mine. You can listen to music and everything, but I need to show you how to call and text.” Mickey rolled his eyes before shoving the phone into his pocket.
“Ian! Mickey!” Joan came over giving the two men hugs. “Look at Fiona.” They all saw the little girl sitting in a desk with her name chatting happily to the little girl next to her. “She’s going to do so well. Oh, I see you’re filling out the contact form, perfect.” She looked over, eyeing it. “You two have been together so long, when are you getting married?” Record scratch.
“Oh.” Ian began looking over to Mickey. “Uh—”
“Legal issue,” Mickey jumped in. Most people didn’t ask past that.
“Oh, okay.” Joan never could figure out why the two didn’t tie the knot. “Anyways, were you able to bring supplies?” She lowered her voice. “Some of these parents refuse on principle, assholes,” Joan grumbled before taking the backpack that was being handed to her by Mickey.
When Joan opened the bag she pulled out tissues, paper, pencils, crayons, and finally she got to the bottom and pulled out a small wooden stake and her eyes widened. “Ian,” she grumbled, shoving the thing into his hands. “I think you may have left this.”
Ian looked at the stake in his hand confused before looking at Joan. “It’s a small one, kid friendly.”
“Okay, so not kid friendly. Kind of a big no-no, Ian. No weapons at school.” She remembered he always seemed to have weird things on him, but now she was wondering if it was some sort of cultural thing she was unaware of. “Weapons never go to school.” Easy rule, she had thought.
“Oh.” Ian handed it to Mickey. “What if she needs to protect herself?”
“From?” Joan couldn’t help but ask.
“Mons— bad guys.” Ian shrugged.
“Oh you’ve been reading too much of that blog, none of that will happen here, I promise you, Ian. Fiona is perfectly safe here with us.” Ian took a deep breath, he wasn’t so sure. “ I won’t let anything bad happen to her, okay?” From the look on Ian’s face Joan knew they were going to have a very hard first day drop-off. Just then Joan was called away by another parent.
“We’ll put one of those giant pencils in her backpack,” Mickey rationalized. Ian seemed okay with that.
That night the three went home and while Fiona slept, excited for her first day of school, Ian stayed up all night teaching Mickey how to use his new phone. Their lives weren’t easy, or perfect, and they were far from the most stable family in the world, but they were happy. Finally.
The End