―

Hannah laughed into the walkie talkie that she held as she lay on her and Debbie's bed.

"No way." Adam's voice came from the device.

"Yes way." Hannah chuckled.

"Well what did Carl do after that?"

"I don't know," Hannah shrugged, "He hasn't said anything about it to me since-"

The lights above the girl flickering off stopped her midsentence.

"Carl" Fiona's voice echoed through the house.

"Hang on, I may be about to find out." Hannah said into the walkie, before rushing down the stairs, Fiona in tow.

"It's not me!" Carl shook his head as he saw his middle sibling enter the kitchen, "Hector's at the pole again!"

Hannah sighed, bringing the walkie talkie back up to her mouth, "Never mind, our power just got shut off again." She told Adam before she and the rest of her family rushed outside, running to the electricity pole.

"Hector!" Fiona called as she reached him, "Hey, Hector is there any way that you could-?"

"I can't this time, Fiona," Hector shook his head sadly, "It's the third red notice this year. I'm sorry."

"Not the first time we got shut off," Debbie commented, "Won't be the last."

"Is there any way that you can scrape the money together today?" Hector asked.

"We have it," Debbie crossed her arms, "She just forgot to pay it."

Hannah elbowed her youngest sister, "Watch it."

"I took an extra shift yesterday, and I just spaced it." Fiona frowned.

"Call my cell phone when you pay it. I'll swing back at the end of the day." Hector told the eldest Gallagher, handing her a notice from his clipboard.

"Thanks, Hector."

―

Hannah straightened up her blazer as she walked down the stairs, smirking when she saw Warren at the bottom of them.

"H-Hannah."

"Warren." Hannah winked at the boy as she slinked past him as there was another knock on the door, the redhead answering it.

"Morning." Elodie grinned, entering the house.

"Morning," Hannah nodded back, "No Adam today?"

"He went to school early," The brunette girl shrugged, "Wanted to use the music room before anyone got there."

"He's being real secretive about his music lately." Hannah noted.

"I've just stopped asking questions," Elodie shrugged, before holding out a pastel yellow winter coat, "Here."

Hannah stared at the coat in her hand, "The fuck is that?"

"A coat."

Hannah chuckled, "I can see that. Why are you holding it out to me?"

"Well, Adam told me that your power went out and since your coat is very holey, I thought-"

"That I'd take an expensive coat that you bought for me on your way here?"

"This is one of my old ones," Elodie shook her head, "Had it for years."

"Oh really?" Hannah raised an eyebrow, "Then why is the tag still on it."

"Hannah." Elodie groaned in frustration.

"No, El."

"You're almost as stubborn as Fiona." Elodie rolled her eyes.

"I won't take your charity."

"Oh, for fuck sake, Han," Elodie groaned, "Just let me be your friend and take the goddam coat."

Hannah stared at her friend, a smirk beginning to grow on her face, "Did you just say fuck?"

Elodie nodded, shocked herself, "Y-Yeah I did."

"Aw," Hannah cooed, bringing her into a hug, "My baby's first swear word." She grinned, hugging Elodie.

The brunette girl laughed, "Does that mean you'll take the coat."

"Only if you let me give you the money for half of it."

"Ugh, fine." Elodie groaned as they pulled away from the hug.

"And yellow?" Hannah added, taking the coat in her hands.

"Compliments your hair." Elodie nodded.

Hannah tried the coat on with a smirk, "I know."

―

Hannah and Lip jogged up the steps to Carl's school, where Fiona, Debbie and Carl were waiting for them.

"Hey, sorry we're late." Lip apologised.

"It's okay," Fiona told him, "I brought you a shirt. And Hannah, you're in your uniform. That's good."

"Okay."

"Okay, now, listen up. We are going to stand united and show them that we are a family that is thriving," Fiona hyped them up, "You got it?"

"Yep." They all nodded.

"Let's go."

―

Carl's teachers stared at Hannah, Lip and Fiona in front of them.

"This is it?"

"This is his brother." Fiona said. 

"Uh, Phillip. Very good to see you again, sir." Lip said.

"And this is his sister." Fiona added.

"Hannah, sir." The redhead introduced herself.

The man eyed her uniform, "Ackrington Academy?"

"English scholarship." Hannah nodded.

"Uh, Hannah is nearly 15, Phillip is 17, I'm 21, uh, and while we may not be the legal guardians of our brother, we do supply him-"

"I told you I wanted to see a parent." The head of school told her.

"We just opened the letter today." Fiona tried to explain.

"I gave Carl the letter last week." Carl's teacher said.

"So you're relying on a nine-year-old to deliver important correspondence?" Lip raised an eyebrow.

"You don't seem to have a home phone." The woman countered.

"Carl is taken care of at home by loving siblings." Fiona told them.

"This is not up for negotiation," The head stopped her, "Your brother is on the verge of being expelled, and unfortunately, there are steps the state requires to be taken before he can be bounced, and a meeting with his legal guardian is the next step."

"Please, you can't do this. I mean, he loves school." Fiona begged, making the teachers laughed.

"More potential victims here, I suppose." The woman said.

"No, all his friends are here." Lip said.

"He loves it here." Hannah added, ignoring him annoying Debbie out in the hall.

"He needs more structure, we know." Fiona admitted.

The man burst out laughing, "What Carl needs is medication, a near-death experience, or a lobotomy."

Hannah cocked her head, "You're not being particularly professional here, are you?"

―

"I'm sorry," The head said, "I'm placing a call to social services. A home without a legal guardian is a home we cannot condone."

The family frowned when they heard footsteps approach the room and Steve entered wearing a suit and holding a briefcase.

"Hello all," He grinned, "Uh, sorry I was late. I got held up at the office," He said, before standing behind Fiona and putting his hands on her shoulders, "So, now that Fiona and I are engaged, I've filed the paperwork so that we can become the legal guardians of the children."

The teachers shared a look.

"Do you realize Carl's report card has seven U's?" Carl's teacher asked.

"He has seven Us?" Hannah raised an eyebrow, "Maybe you need to rethink your teaching methods." She said, making Fiona kicked her leg.

"Uh, U's?" The eldest Gallagher sister asked.

"As in unsatisfactory." The woman replied.

"But," The man held up his hand, "Don't think of U as in unsatisfactory. Think of U as in F."

"As in failed?" Fiona asked.

"As in fucked," The head exclaimed, "I am not a religious man, but every now and then, a child comes along who makes me believe in the existence of Satan. Now, something drastic must be done, or he's going to slip down through the cracks, right up into a clock tower with a sniper rifle."

"Given our resources, he is beyond our ability to help." The woman said.

"It's just a phase," Fiona stammered, "And... now that we're aware of it..."

"Too late!" The man slammed his hands on the table, " This Norman Rockwell display might warm the cockles of some other fool who believes no fucking child - not even the budding psychotics - should be left behind. But the fact is, the sooner Carl is put in prison, the safer this world is gonna be."

"More of a Mickey Hart fan when it comes to paintings?" Steve said.

"The fuck?" Hannah whispered, looking up at him confused.

"What? What's that?" The man asked.

"More of a Mickey Hart fan than a Norman Rockwell fan." Steve gestured to the statue behind the man's desk.

"Mickey Hart's an all right painter for a drummer." The head shrugged.

"Could you all excuse us for a second?" Steve asked.

The man raised an eyebrow, "For what?"

"If we could just take a walk and talk in private?" Steve pressed, "Get a breath of fresh air?"

―

Carl was not going to be expelled. Steve saved the day.

The Gallaghers followed after Steve in shock.

"What the hell did you do?" Fiona asked with a smile.

"Saw an opening, made my move," Steve said, "Got lucky." He shrugged making them laugh.

"Daddy!" Debbie then grinned, her siblings then also spotting Frank with Karen.

"Debbie, we got to go." Fiona said.

"I want to say hi to Daddy. Daddy!" The girl waved at Frank, "Hi!"

Frank smiled, "Hello, pumpkin!"

"Karen, what's going on?" Lip asked his... girlfriend?

"Well, you said you never come to these, so, I thought that you weren't gonna come, and so, I asked Frank to stand in for my worthless father." Karen shrugged making Hannah roll her eyes.

"Did they expel Carl?" Frank asked, earning head shakes, "What I tell you? Drama and threats all for naught." Frank chuckled.

Frank's real children all looked at each other with tears in their eyes.

"Come on, guys," Fiona whispered, "Let's go."

"Bye, Daddy." Debbie frowned.

"Yeah. See ya." Frank called after them.

―

The Gallagher siblings sat on the couch in front of Carl - who was perched on the coffee table.

"Carl, we're serious," Fiona told him softly, "The stakes are really, really high. We love you, and we need you in this family. In this house. You need to stop biting and punching and hurting people."

"Well, how else do I make them cry?" Carl asked.

"Gossip and slander." Lip told him.

"You know, when I get really angry, I usually just count to ten." Steve said from the armchair, earning dry looks from the Gallagher siblings.

"Hey, little man," Lip got his brother's attention, "Tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna get you some pads and some skates. Get you out on the ice. You can take your frustrations out with a hockey stick."

"Yeah," Ian nodded, "You can come to karate with me. Remember when I broke Kyle Boozlee's leg? It took three pins to put it back together, huh?"

"You can't beat karate when it comes to regulated, sanctioned violence for children." Debbie nodded.

"And I'll talk to Jeff at the diner, see if you can get a job cleaning the floors or something," Hannah added, "Keep you busy and earn money, huh asswipe?" She asked, making Carl smile and lean into the redhead as she brought him into a hug, "And remember, if you do end up hitting someone, you go for the knees."

―

Later that night, Fiona and Steve were up in her room, Lip was telling people that their SAT scores were now invalid and the rest of the siblings were watching TV when there was a knock on the door.

"Hey," A guy in a letterman jacket greeted Debbie when she opened the door, "I'm here for Lip to pay him the balance for the S.A.T. test?"

Lip stood up, clearly scared when Debbie let him in.

"Tire."

"Lip, my man," Tire motioned to high-five him, which turned out to be a punch, which Lip dodged, "They invalidated my score!"

"Shit! I was gonna call you." Lip ran to the other side of the couch for protection.

"I'm gonna get, like, a six on this test!" Tire exclaimed.

"You get at least a couple hundred for spelling your name correctly," Lip tried to appeal to him, only to get chased further around the couch, "Shit! Wait! Wait! Wait! I can fix this, all right?"

"I won't be able to play ball in college!" Tire chased him up the stairs.

"Fuck, you'll go straight to the pros!"

Hearing loud bangs and things breaking, the remaining Gallaghers downstairs shot up the stairs after their brother.

"Lip!" Debbie cried, seeing Tire hanging her brother out of her, Hannah and Liam's bedroom window.

"Shit! Get him back inside!" Ian told him, pulling on Tire's shoulders.

"Back off, or I'll throw you out, too." Tire threatened, making Ian back up as Carl ran into the room.

"Let him go!" Carl cried, holding the bat ready.

"Get my brother back in the house, or the kid swings the bat." Ian told him.

"Okay, okay." Tire nodded.

"Now!" Hannah demanded.

"Keep your shit straight. I'll pull him in."

"Hey, now!" Ian told him.

"Come on!" Hannah hurried him up.

"What the hell is going on?" Fiona asked as she and Steve entered the bedroom, their clothes and hair a mess.

"Carl's got it covered." Ian told her.

Tire turned to the angry family, "I was just joking. Okay? Okay?"

Carl glanced down at Tire's leg, remembering his sister's advice and swinging the bat at his knee, hitting it with a loud crack, making his family shout and encase him in hugs, lifting him on their shoulders and through the house.

"Ooh!"

"Woah!" 

"He went for the knees!" Hannah cried.