―

Hannah let out a small grunt as she woke up to the sound of a strangled cry next to her, "What is it?" She mumbled.

"It's Liam." Came Adam's tired voice on reply.

The girl shot up in a panic, "What?"

"No." Adam gently placed his hand on his girlfriend's arm to calm her nerves, "No, I think he's picked up how to fight, Gallagher style." He told her, adjusting the way he was sitting.

Hannah let out a chuckle as ran her hand over the top of her brother's head - the boy sat with Iris between the pair - and placed a kiss on his head, "I always say - go for the knees or the nads."

Adam chuckled and watched his girlfriend with a smile as she threw on one of his sweaters and the picked up her brother, resting him on her hip.

"Shall we go get you breakfast, bud?" She smiled, poking his nose.

The boy threw up his arms, "Yeah!"

"Yeah." Hannah chuckled, turning back to her boyfriend, seeing the look on his face, "Stop that."

Adam raised an amused eyebrow, "Stop what?"

"Stop planning our future together. You have to get ready for school." Hannah chucked his blazer at him, "Pick out our kitchen tile when you get home."

Adam laughed, "Yes, honey."

Hannah flipped him the bird with a grin before she left the basement with Liam.

―

Hannah took a sip of her coffee, eyes trained on her laptop as she worked on some schoolwork.

"Morning Gallaghers." Elodie called as she entered through the backdoor, gaining various responses. The girl passed her brother - who was now dressed and making silly faces with Carl and Liam - and sat herself down on one of the barstools, resting her chin on Hannah's shoulder, "Is that the Peruvian history essay?"

The redhead ran a tired hand over her face, "One of them. Why do they give us so many on one topic?"

"To amuse themselves, probably." Elodie hummed before reaching into her bag and handing her best friend the essay she took out of it, "Your George Orwell paper."

Hannah took the work from Elodie's hand, taking a look at the grade, "A+." She smiled down at the bright red ink, "I'm awesome."

Elodie chuckled as Debbie came into the kitchen, "Fiona coming down for breakfast?"

Lip shook his head as he made lunches, "She's not up yet."

Debbie nodded before walking over to her youngest brother with a smile and a full sippy sup, "Here's your Tang, Liam. Here you go, baby. Here." She placed it on the table before turning to Carl, "Make sure he drinks the whole thing. He needs his electrolytes."

Carl nodded as Iris lay down by his feet, "Okay."

"That's right, and from now on, nothing goes in your mouth unless we give it to you, buddy." Lip told Liam as he packed up lunches.

Liam nodded, "Okay."

Adam paused his feeding of Liam, eyebrows creased, "What's that smell?"

Everyone took a few moments to notice what he was talking about.

"Oh my God." Hannah groaned through gritted teeth.

"Guess!" Lip rolled his eyes before yelling up the stairs, "Frank! Stop smoking weed!"

"Carl, get Liam away from the stairs." Elodie told the boy, who complied and wheeled him over to the kitchen archway as Debbie used a towel to waft the smell away.

"Look, I'll take Liam to work today." Hannah told them, closing her laptop, "I'll grab us some dinner while I'm there."

"What about Coq Au Vin?" Carl asked, "Sheila made it once."

"Yeah, well, I hope you remember what it tasted like. It's probably the last time you're gonna have it in your life." Lip told him.

"We could order a pizza." The boy continued, "Fiona used to let us do that when she's working late."

"Carl." Hannah sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"No, it's too expensive. All right?" Lip said firmly, handing Carl his lunch, "We're back to generics from Food 4 Less, and dumpster diving."

"I could buy a few groceries." Sammi said as she and Chuckie walked into the kitchen.

Debbie levelled the woman with a glare, "Yeah, that'd be nice since we have two extra mouths to feed."

"Why don't you just tell Frank to lay off the weed?" Hannah told her tiredly as Adam moved to stand behind her.

"He's very sick." Sammi tried to appeal to them "Worse than ever."

"Yeah, well, we're very out on our asses." Lip told her.

"Worse than ever." Hannah added with a glare, Adam wrapping his arms around her.

"And if the social worker makes a surprise visit, and the place smells like Snoop Dogg, then we're all fucked." Lip said.

"Yeah, the only reason we're letting you stay here is to take care of Frank." Debbie said.

Sammi took a step forward, "I don't think you guys understand."

Debbie scoffed, "Understand?"

"We've lived with that narcissistic asshole our whole lives." Lip told her.

"Now you're trying to play big sis?" Debbie raised an eyebrow.

"You're lucky they haven't bounced you to the curb." Elodie said, crossing her arms.

"So if we say no more weed..." Lip sighed.

"We mean no more weed." Hannah said with a hard look.

Sammi nodded, "Okay. Fine."

Hannah leaned back against her boyfriend, "Good."

"Now listen, everybody, remember that when the social worker does show up-" Lip started.

"And this includes you too, Chuckie, so listen up." Debbie told him.

"You text both me and Hannah immediately. I'll hop on the L."

"What about Fiona?" Carl asked.

"We've got her covered, all right?" Lip said, gesturing between himself and Hannah, "I just need you to stall the social worker until I can get back."

"Are we understood?" Debbie glared at Sammi and Chuckie.

"Yeah."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

Debbie's cell phone went off, making the girl quickly grab it from the counter, "That's my ride." She said, making Hannah raise an eyebrow, "Got to stop by Sheila's to water her plants while she's out of town."

"Deb-"

"And I won't be home for dinner." The girl called after her as she left through the living room.

"Why? Where you going?" Lip asked.

"Friend's."

"What friend?" Hannah yelled, receiving no reply, "Debbie, what friend?"

Her only answer was the front door closing heavily.

Adam rubbed his girlfriend's shoulders as she sighed and turned to Carl, "You better go too, before you miss the bus."

The boy nodded, kissing his sister's cheek and leaving out the backdoor.

"Hey, Sammi, listen." Lip stopped his half-sister before she and Chuckie left, "We've been dumped into foster care way too many times because of that prick upstairs. There's no way I'm letting it happen again. Here you go."

Sammi smiled with a nod as Lip gave Chuckie his lunch and they left.

"Right." Hannah sighed, standing up, "I've gotta get ready for work."

"Yeah, and we have to get going." Elodie nodded, the girls and Hannah leaving the house and walking into the backyard.

"Have a good day, dear." Hannah said with a smile as she straightened Adam's tie.

"I expect dinner on the table when I get back." Adam mirrored her grin.

"Aw, go fuck yourself." Hannah smiled sweetly, kissing his cheek and hugging Elodie, "Later nerds!" She said as she went into the basement.

Adam turned to his sister, "I'm gonna marry that girl one day."

"You better," Elodie told him as they exited the yard, "Or I just might."

―

"How long you got before you need to leave?" Lip asked as he and Hannah pulled Liam's sweater over the boy's head.

"About twenty minutes."

The older Gallagher looked at Hannah's tired face, "You know what, I'll take him with me today."

The redhead shook her head as she smoothed down Liam's sweater, "I'll be fine with him."

"Han," Lip said, "You're exhausted. Let me take him and that way you have one less thing to stress you out, okay?"

The girl smiled, "Okay. Thanks."

Lip gave her nod and squeezed her arm as he got up, "Right, buddy, we're gonna leave the house so we need your hat and diapers." He said, moving to grab the diaper bag.

"Hat." Hannah muttered, standing up and rummaging through the chest of drawers for the item of clothing as the door to the bedroom gently swung open.

"Hey." Fiona greeted them gingerly.

Lip and Hannah turned to look at her, a frosty silence hanging in the air.

Lip barely nodded at her, "Hey."

"Hi, peanut." Fiona smiled moving to sit next to Liam and pulling the boy into her eyes, "Hey. It's okay. Come here. Come here, peanut. Come here. How are you? How are you feeling? Are you okay? Yeah?" She rambled, holding her youngest sibling close, her hand resting on his forehead.

Hannah watched with a vacant expression, handing Lip the hat as he packed Liam's toys.

"I'm so sorry. I would never do anything to hurt you. I would never do anything to hurt this face. This face." Fiona said, kissing Liam's face.

"Hey, Liam, come on." Lip said, crouching down next to them, "We're gonna be late. Come here, bud."

"Where you going?" Fiona wondered, her grip tightening on Liam.

"School."

"With Liam?"

"Yeah. Gonna give Hannah a break."

Fiona glanced up at her redheaded sister, "You're not at school." She noted.

Hannah only fixed her with a look as she leaned against the chest of drawers.

Fiona swallowed thickly under her gaze, turning back to Lip, "Well, I was gonna go meet with my lawyer, but I was gonna take Liam with me." She said hopefully.

Hannah let out a scoff as Lip shook his head, taking Liam from her arms, "No, thanks. Come on."

"Lip..." Fiona frowned.

"There you are."

"It was an accident." Fiona told him.

Hannah could only shake her head with a clenched jaw as she quickly left the room, going downstairs.

"We're gonna put your coat on downstairs. Is that okay? Yeah? Yeah?" Lip smiled at Liam as he walked out of the room, turning to Fiona before he left, "Sort your shit out. I'm not letting you fuck up her life because of this." He said, before following Hannah down the stairs.

"I'll try and bring some healthy stuff back tonight." Hannah told Lip as he entered the kitchen.

"Han?" Lip asked, watching her finish putting away the breakfast stuff.

"Yeah?"

"You gonna be okay?"

The girl sent him a tight smile, "I will be."

―

Hannah grabbed her jacket, bag and skateboard before looking around her bedroom, checking if she'd missed anything. Smile in satisfaction, she let out a whistle and Iris perked up from the girl's bed, jumping to stand by her owner, tail wagging. Hannah chuckled, putting on her lead before they walked up the basement stairs.

Opening the door, the redhead froze to Fiona standing gingerly outside, ready to knock.

"Hey." The older sister smiled warily.

Hannah eyed her for a moment before moving to close the door.

"I have my preliminary later a-and I was just wondering if maybe you have a sweater I could borrow?" Fiona asked, pulling the sleeves of her shirt over her hands and crossing her arms.

Hannah didn't answer as she locked the basement door.

"I-Is that a no?"

Hannah could only roll her eyes as she shrugged on her denim jacket and moved to walk past her sister.

Fiona reached out to gently grab her arm, "You know, you haven't talked to me since the ambulance." She said.

Hannah didn't move, staring vacantly ahead.

"I don't like you not being at school."

Hannah hands clenched into fists as she whipped around to face her. The glare on her face made Fiona flinch.

But Hannah only shook her head, ripping her hand out of Fiona's grasp.

Fiona watched as she opened the gate and left the yard with Iris, before hopping on her skateboard, leaving her sister behind.

―

Hannah followed Mark and Sally into the courtroom, looking around, her eyes eventually resting on Fiona - who sent her a small, hopeful smile. Hannah only looked away as she took a seat between the Cuthberts.

"You okay?" Mark whispered to the girl.

"We'll see." She muttered back, watching Veronica join Fiona and her lawyer.

"On Your Honor's preliminary hearing calendar, calling case S6974356. State of Illinois v. Fiona Gallagher. Craig Jeffries on behalf of the State of Illinois." The Clerk announced.

"Maria Vidal, on behalf of Fiona Gallagher, who's on my left." Fiona's lawyer said as she, Fiona and the ADA took their places.

"Good morning." The judge nodded, "Ms. Gallagher, at your arraignment, you entered a plea of 'not guilty'. Is that still your plea?"

Fiona nodded hastily, making Hannah bristle in her seat, "Absolutely, Your Honor."

"And, Mr. Jeffries, where does the government stand on this case?"

"Your Honor, we have enough evidence to proceed with possession and child endangerment." The ADA said.

"Mr. Jeffries, what evidence have you submitted at this point?" The judge asked.

"The police report from the arresting officer, which includes an admission of guilt from the defendant, the cocaine removed from the face and the hands of the victim and a toxicology report indicating the levels of the drug in the child's system when he was admitted to the ER." The ADA stated, making Sally let out a breath, "We'll be asking for a minimum of five years in state prison."

Hannah stilled.

"It is our hope, Your Honor," Maria started, "That the court will take into consideration that this is my client's first offense, and that the state granted her guardianship of her six siblings last year."

"Ms. Vidal, I urge you and the ADA to discuss this matter outside of my courtroom. Work something out. Come back with a plea bargain." The judge told them.

"Yes, Your Honor."

" Yes, Your Honor."

"You're dismissed."

―

Hannah watched as Fiona waited for her lawyer to get off the phone further down the corridor.

"Do you want to talk to her?" Mark asked.

Hannah shook her head, "I have nothing to say." She said, before turning and leaving the building, Sally and Mark following.

―

Adam poked his head into the hospital room, grinning when he saw Veronica, "Hey."

The woman looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "The hell you doing here?"

"Hannah told me that Kev couldn't come, so here I am." The boy shrugged, joining her side.

"What about school?" V asked.

"Half day. Ellie would've come too, but Mickey wanted her help with somethin." The boy explained, adjusting her pillow behind her head, "How did preliminary go?"

"As good as it could've gone, I guess." Veronica shrugged with a frown, "If she pleads guilty she would still have to do up to ninety days in jail."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Five years."

Adam nodded with a small hum, "And what about taking it to trial?"

"Her lawyer says there's no chance she'd win." V shook her head, before raising an eyebrow, "You don't seem to be on Hannah's side with this." She noted.

"I'm on Hannah's side with everything." Adam countered with a small chuckle, "Which is why I want Fiona to do as little jail time as possible."

Veronica cocked her head, "Why?"

Adam looked at her, "She can go to college, V."

Veronica nodded, "Obviously."

"Not if Fiona goes to jail." He shook his head, "She won't let herself. She'll spend the rest of her life being their mother. She has so much more that she can do."

Veronica could only nod as the door opened and Dr. Ma entered the examination room.

"Good afternoon. Sorry about the wait." The woman greeted, "Had to throw a stitch into a patient's cervix before her little critter slipped out too early."

"Yikes." V cringed.

"But we're all good. And it's time to look at your little critters." Dr. Ma smiled, looking over at Adam as she put the jelly on Veronica's stomach and set up her equipment, "What, no Kev?"

"Work." V told her, "This is Adam."

Dr. Ma nodded at the boy, before turning back to the mother-to-be, "And how have you been feeling lately?"

"Bloated and fat." V said as the doctor looked at the screen in confusion.

"Something wrong?" Adam asked.

"Well, I have the two. But I can't seem to find the other. Let's see." She studied the screen, "Sometimes they hide.

"Yeah, well, check behind my bladder because I've been peeing like fifty times a day." Veronica told her.

"Where are you?" Dr. Ma hummed as she moved the wand around before putting it back with a sigh, "Well, I think we might have a fetal resorption."

V's eyebrows shot up, "What the hell is that?"

"It happens with multiples." Dr. Ma explained as she cleaned up the jelly from Veronica's stomach, "When the fetus isn't strong enough to survive, the others sometimes absorb it."

"'Absorb it?'" Veronica asked, "As in eat it?"

"Not exactly. But yes." Dr. Ma nodded.

Veronica frowned, "One of my babies is gone?" She asked as Adam took her hand in his.

"But the other two look very healthy."

"Is it something that I did?" V wondered.

"Nope, just Mother Nature's way of selecting out the weaker baby." Dr. Ma shrugged as Adam rubbed V's shoulder.

―

"So, help me out here." Elodie said as she and Mickey walked into The White Swallow, "If you're not dating Ian, and you don't want to be dating Ian - then why are you all dressed up for him and why do you reek of hand soap?"

Mickey only looked over at her, "Shut up." He said, muttering, "Stupid lesbians with their insight."

"Looking fine." A large man called from next to them at the bar as he eyed Mickey.

Mickey glared at him, "Fuck off."

"I like them rough." The man grinned, "I'm Scott. You want to get out of here?"

"No, I don't want to-"

"Have you seen this guy?" Elodie cut Mickey off before he could get them kicked out, holding up a picture of Ian.

Scott looked between the photo and the two in front of him, "You like them skinny in a threesome? I could lose 30 pounds if you wanted."

"Thirty poun... Maybe in your ass, man." Mickey scoffed, "Where's the manager?" He asked, Scott begrudgingly pointing over to a hipster running the books.

"Underage and super gay." Elodie told Scott as they walked away.

 "Yo, you the manager?" Mickey asked as they approached the manager and leant against the bar.

The hipster didn't look up, "Who's asking?"

"Since you just saw me speaking, I'm gonna take a wild stab it was me." Mickey rolled his eyes, "You seen this kid?" He asked, taking the picture from Elodie and showing it to the guy, "His name is Ian."

The man barely glanced at the image, "Never saw him before."

"Why don't you take a look again?" Mickey suggested, "He used to work here so I'm pretty sure you have."

"I can't keep track of every twink who comes and goes in this place, all right?" The hipster rolled his eyes.

"Okay." Mickey's jaw clenched, "This twink went AWOL a couple days ago after your bouncer kicked two of his siblings and kid sister out into the street. You remember that?"

"Look, you little tweaker." The hipster turned to look at him.

"Oh dear." Elodie muttered as she shoved her hands into her coat pockets.

"You think you're the first one to come in here boo-hooing about some cocktail slut who jacked you off in the bathroom, told you it was true love, and then disappeared?" The hipster asked, "Trust me. You're not. So why don't you buy yourself a drink, and fall in love with somebody else?"

Mickey glared at him, "You calling me gay?"

The manager scoffed, "Please, honey. You make Justin Bieber look straight."

"Three, two, one." Elodie counted under her breath before Mickey grabbed the back of the manager's hair and slammed his face onto the bar.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Now, I know you know where he is, dick breath." Mickey spat, "So you're gonna tell me, or I'm gonna shut this come-hole down over possession, intent to sell, and prostitution. Okay?" He said, putting a police badge on top of the bar.

"He's at our other location." The man hurried out, "Fairy Tail in Boystown."

"Thank you. That so difficult?" Mickey let go of him and pocketed the badge before walking away, Elodie following.

"Where'd you get the badge from?" She asked as she jogged slightly to catch up with him.

Mickey looked down at her with a raised eyebrow, "You really wanna know?"

The girl thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, never mind."

―

Hannah let out a sigh as she sat in The Alibi, drinking her beer. With her mind being elsewhere with the Fiona stuff, Sally had let her go early - telling the girl she'd pay her for the rest of the day, despite Hannah's protests.

"All right, listen up." Kevin called out as he entered the bar, hands on hips, "Bar got robbed this morning."

"Yeah? What'd they take?" Tommy chuckled, "The cocktail napkins?"

The other patrons laughed along with him.

"Six hundred dollars for your information." Kev told them, effectively shutting them up, "So who stole it?"

Tommy shrugged, "I give up. Who?"

"Oh my God." Hannah muttered, rubbing her temples.

"No, not 'who stole it', like, 'guess who stole it'." Kevin shook his head, "Who stole it like which one of you fuckers stole my money?"

"Why do you think we stole your money?" Tommy asked.

"Because you knew where I hid it." Kevin said.

"Where?"

"In the damn keg!"

Tommy grinned, rubbing his hands together, "Ooh! We do now."

"I said, who stole my money?" Kevin repeated, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small pistol.

In response, everyone else pulled out a gun of their own.

Hannah looked around, "Damn." She muttered, "I need to talk to Mickey."

Kevin stared at everyone, "What, everyone has a gun?"

"Bible says we have the right to bear arms. So I bear arms." Tommy said.

"It's the constitution." Kermit added.

"No shit?"

"Well, I'm keeping my eye on all of you." Kevin said as everyone put their weapons away.

"Huh."

"Where should I put the money now, Mr. Kevin, if there's no keg?" Paco asked as Kev leant against the bar.

"Give it to me. I'm gonna put it where no one dares to touch." Kevin said, taking the money and putting it down his pants, "From now on, we trust no one, Paco. No one."

"Don't underestimate what people would touch for money." Hannah told him as Adam and Veronica entered the bar, the boy moving to greet his girlfriend with a kiss as he hugged her from behind.

"Hey, babe." V sighed as she walked behind the bar.

"Hey, baby. How was the appointment?" Kev asked.

"Well, we're down to two babies." Veronica frowned, putting the ultrasounds on the surface in front of her.

"What?" Hannah asked.

Kevin's smile dropped, "No. What happened?"

"Huey ate Dewey."

"Are you kidding me?" Kev asked.

"No, doc says it happens all the time with multiples." Veronica shrugged.

Adam nodded, "If one's not strong enough, they just go away."

"Poof." V added.

"Are the other two okay?" Hannah asked.

Veronica smiled, "Yeah."

"I don't know how to feel about this." Kevin frowned.

"No, me either." V agreed.

"It's a bit of a relief, right?"

"Sort of." V nodded, one hand resting on her stomach as Hannah reach out to squeeze the one resting on the bar, "I was getting used to the idea of having four babies."

"Yeah, me too."

"Probably a bad time to tell her the place got robbed." Tommy said from further down the bar.

Veronica and Adam's eyes widened comically, "What?"

"Tommy, shut up!" Hannah glared over at him.

"V, don't worry. No one's taking any more shit from me. My babies, my money. I'm battening down the hatches." Kevin cried, moving round the bar and holding up his gun, "I'm putting a force field around us now."

"Babe."

"Taking care of what's mine. Come here. Get in my force field." Kevin said, embracing his wife. He glanced over at Hannah, "You too." He told her, reaching out to hold her.

"I'll stay in your forcefield from over here." Hannah chuckled, taking his hand off of her head.

―

Hannah let out a sigh as she came into the house through the back door, heavily placing the grocery bags on the counter.

"Hey." Lip said as he came into the kitchen.

"Hey." Hannah sent him a tired smile, shrugging off her jacket and chucking it on the back of a chair as Iris excitedly greeted her, "Hi." Hannah chuckled, scratching her behind the ears.

"What did you get?" Lip asked, the pair starting to take the ingredients out of the bag.

"Stuff for pasta bake." Hannah shrugged, looking up at Lip, seeing the hesitant look on his face, "What?"

"Carl got into a fight at school today."

Hannah raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Some kids said something about Liam."

"Have you talked to him properly about it?" Hannah asked, folding up the empty grocery bags and putting them in the cupboard for later use.

"Not yet." Her brother shook his head, "Thought you might be better suited for it."

"Good call." Hannah nodded, moving to the stairs.

"I'll get started on dinner."

"Thanks." The redhead called over her shoulder as she jogged up the steps.

Walking up to the boys' bedroom, she leant against the doorframe, watching Carl sit on a chair.

"What're you doing?" Hannah quietly asked, making sure not to wake the sleeping toddler.

"Making sure he doesn't have a retarded spaz episode in his sleep."

Hannah nodded, "Okay, that reply I wasn't expecting." She muttered, moving to sit on the bed by the window, gazing over at Carl, "Is that what those kids at school called him? Retarded?"

Carl looked over at her, a guilty frown on his face, "Lip tell you."

"'Course he told me." Hannah muttered with a small smile, "So? Is that why beat them up?"

Carl nodded, looking down at his bruised knuckle.

"You go for the knees?"

He nodded again.

"Good job." She whispered, standing up and kissing his forehead, "Make sure you ice that." The girl told him before she left the room, leaving a grinning Carl.

In the hallway, Hannah froze. Fiona stood by her bedroom, sending her sister a small smile.

Hannah only looked away and walked downstairs.

―

Hannah let out a laugh, "Okay, now you're just wasting food." She told her brother, hitting him lightly with a tea towel as she passed him.

Lip shrugged, taking the breadsticks out of his mouth, "You laughed. I'd say it was worth it."

The girl only shook her head with a smile as she opened the garlic spread. Their laughter, however, died down as Fiona walked down the stairs, her hair still wet from the shower she'd just had.

"Smells good." She told them.

Lip nodded, going back to getting the plates out, "Yeah."

"Where'd you get all this stuff?" Fiona wondered, arms held close to her chest.

"Sally's letting Hannah take home the stuff that's about to expire." Lip told her as he checked the oven.

"Thanks." Fiona smiled slightly at Hannah, who didn't look at her as she focused on putting the spread on the bread rolls. Fiona sighed, sitting on one of the bar stools, "So, I had my prelim hearing."

"Yeah?" Lip hummed.

"Yeah, my lawyer's gonna try to get me probation if I plead guilty." Fiona told them.

"Okay."

"Might have to serve a little time, though." She added.

Hannah and Lip paused for a moment.

"Yeah? How long?" The boy asked.

"Ninety days or less."

The younger siblings shared a quick look.

Lip saw Hannah's face drop slowly, knowing what she was thinking, "All right. I suppose we'll manage." He sighed.

"Or I could go to trial." Fiona said.

Hannah scoffed, Lip asking, "Why would you want to do that?"

Fiona raised an eyebrow, "Why wouldn't I do that?"

"Because you'll get convicted." Lip told her.

"You don't know that."

Lip rolled his eyes, "Yes, I do."

"I made a mistake." Fiona told him, making Hannah scoff as she put the garlic bread in the oven, slamming the door closed and shaking her head as she wiped her hands with a tea towel.

Lip's gaze turned into a glare, "You're guilty."

"It was an accident." Fiona repeated.

"You almost killed Liam!" Lip cried.

Fiona stood up, pacing, head in her hands, "You don't think I know that? You don't think I'm blaming myself enough already so I need you to do it, too?"

Lip nodded, jaw clenched, "So how long are you in prison if you lose?"

"Five years."

Hannah let out another scoff.

"All right, so that makes me almost I twenty-five and Hannah twenty one. Still at home, taking care of the kids." Lip shook his head.

"I know I can win." Fiona said.

"Ghetto chick leaves her drug addict boyfriend's coke out for her three-year-old brother to eat." Lip scoffed, "Half a gram in the system. Yeah, you're right. You can totally win."

"I didn't do it on purpose."

"Yeah, but you did it!" Lip glared.

Fiona exhaled heavily, sitting down at the table with her hands in her head, "I turned my back, for, like, two seconds and now my life is ruined? How is that fair?"

"You're his guardian." Lip implored, "You signed up for this."

Fiona shook her head, "I can't go back to jail."

Lip's jaw clenched, "Of course, this is all about you."

"Yes, it's about me!" Fiona yelled, standing up, "Because it's never about me. And I'm finally making it about me!"

"For fuck sake, Fiona!" Hannah cried, slamming the cups in her hand down on the counter in front of her.

Both Fiona and Lip looked at her in shock. It was the first time she had spoken to her older sister since the ambulance.

"You wanted to be our guardian!" Hannah spat as she pointed at her, her glare full of venom, "You chose to put us before you. That's what it was all about! And now you just wanna take all back because you fucked up?" She scoffed, an angry tear rolling down her face, "If you take this to trial, you will lose. What would you rather these kids have: a felon as a guardian or another absent parent?"

Fiona curled in on herself as she listened to Hannah's words. The redhead now just stared at her, out of breath from her outburst.

"She's right." Lip nodded, "We're supposed to drop out of school while you do five years?"

"I'm not guilty!" Fiona screamed back at them.

"Liam almost died!" Lip bellowed, rounding the counter, pointing in Fiona's face and making her flinch, "And that was you! All fucking you! Your coke, your boyfriend, your fucked up life! It's not ours! All right?"

"You're seriously gonna make us throw away our futures because you want to protect your own sorry ass?" Hannah asked, arms crossed.

The tension in the air was palpable as they stared at each other. Not even a butcher's knife would be able to cut it.

But a panicked Carl sprinting down the stairs would.

"Frank's passed out up in the bathroom!" He panted out.

"Oh, fuck." Lip muttered, following Carl upstairs. Hannah followed quickly, slamming her shoulder into Fiona's as she passed.

"Shit." Lip covered his face as they reached the bathroom.

"Jesus." Hannah muttered, looking down at her father lying on the bathroom floor, shit leaking through his sweatpants and a band around his arm.

"He's shooting heroin now?" Lip cried as he assessed the man.

"Is he dead?" Carl asked.

Lip checked Frank's wrist, "No, unfortunately not."

"Damnit." Hannah muttered.

Fiona's eyes widened as she joined them, "My God."

"Carl, grab his legs." Lip told his brother, grabbing the upper half of Frank's body.

The boy cringed, "He shit himself."

"All right, use a fucking towel." Lip told him, Hannah moving to cover her father's shit-stained-self with one. "I got him. You got him?" Lip asked as Carl picked up Frank's legs.

"Where we taking him?" Carl asked as they carried him into the hallway.

"Where we always do." Lip said.

Hannah nodded, her face curled up in disgust, "Street."

They heard the front door open and close, Sammi's voice calling out, "What's going on?"

Lip sighed, dropping Frank - Carl doing the same.

"It smells up here." Chuckie complained as he and his mother entered the hallway.

"Good. You're home. You deal with him." Lip snapped, pointing at Frank.

"Daddy?" Sammi gasped, rushing to his side, "What happened?"

"'Daddy' is fucking unconscious." Hannah rolled her eyes.

"Must have had too many Oxy's." Sammi said, caressing the side of his face.

"Save it. All right?" Lip told her, taking the band off of Frank's arm and shoving it in her face before he chucked it on the floor, "Just get him the fuck out of the house."

Sammi's head shot up, "What?"

"We warned you." Hannah glared at her, "Now go!"

"Carl, come here. Get rid of any evidence in Frank's room, all right?" Lip told the boy, guiding him over to the room.

"He is too sick to leave the house." Sammi protested.

"Yeah, no shit!" Lip scoffed, "You just let him shoot a bunch of fucking H!"

"He was in pain!"

"Boo fucking hoo!" Hannah cried.

"What if the social worker had showed up right now?" Lip asked, getting in her face.

"But she didn't."

"These kids would've been taken away. And what do you care? You just want to make nicey-nicey with daddy. You-" Lip managed to hold himself back from hitting her, instead yelling, "Get the fuck out of my house!" And storming back downstairs.

Sammi looked helplessly over at Hannah.

"Out." The redhead glared, following her brother.

Walking back into the kitchen, Hannah let out a heavy sigh, seeing her seething brother pacing the kitchen.

"Lip." She whispered.

The boy paused his movements, turning to her as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

The pair could only sigh as they hugged each other.

"Is there any way we can even do this?" Hannah mumbled into her brother's sweater.

Lip hesitated before replying, "I don't know, Han. I really don't know."

They heard the front door open again, as well as Sammi blubbering to Debbie. The girl seemed to ignore them and run upstairs.

Hannah pulled away from the warm hug, "I'll go tell everyone dinner's ready."

"Yeah, I'll get it all out." Lip nodded, squeezing her hand before they separated.

Hannah ran a hand through her hair as she walked back upstairs, "Dinner's ready when you're done." She told Carl, ruffling his hair as he walked past her with a carrier bag - the boy nodding.

She passed Fiona's room, pausing when she saw her older sister sat on her bed, face tearstained. The pair stared at each other for a moment before Hannah moved on to Debbie's room.

"Hey Debs," Hannah said, knocking on the door and opening it, "Lip's getting dinner out of the ov-"

She froze as she saw her sister holding her arm in pain, a blade in her hand.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She rushed out, closing the door behind her.

"I-I dunno." Debbie stuttered out in shock as Hannah gently took the blade out of her hand, "M-Matty, he said we're still not boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. And this is what my friend did when her boyfriend broke up with her, but fuck it hurts."

"Yeah, no shit." Hannah said, taking Debbie's arm delicately in her hands, "Okay, it wasn't deep. You're lucky." She told her, reaching for the first aid kit Debbie kept in her room.

"I am not doing that again." Debbie shook her head, sitting on her bed as Hannah cleaned the cut.

"No way are you doing it again." Hannah told her firmly, looking her sister in the eye, "And if you ever feel like that again, you come to first. Okay?"

"Okay." Debbie nodded and they sat in silence for a few moments as Hannah finished tending to her arm, "You can say it."

"Hm?"

"About Matty."

Hannah shook her head, "I don't think there's any need." She said, gesturing to the girl's arm, "But we both know I'm petty, so: I mother fucking told you so."

―

"What's with that smug smile?" Mickey asked as he and Elodie approached the other club Ian was working at.

Elodie only shrugged, "I knew you cared about him."

Mickey only rolled his eyes before he spotted an obviously out of it Ian, with an older man's hand down his pants, licking his cheek. With a gritted teeth and a clenched jaw, Mickey grabbed the back of the rich guy's head, pulling him away from Ian.

"Why don't you molest someone your own age, you Geritol fuck?" Mickey spat, punching the guy in the gut.

"Oh, fuck!" The man grunted as Mickey held him tightly by his scarf, choking him slightly, "You're an animal."

"I'm not the one groping and licking on underage boys, am I?" Mickey asked.

"We're just having fun." The man choked out.

"Shut the fuck up." Mickey rolled his eyes, "Now, give Curtis some money before he calls the cops on you."

"Okay. Okay." The guy shakily nodded, taking out a wad of cash, "Here. Here take, here."

"Good, good. Thank you." Mickey nodded as Elodie took the money before he shoved the guy and literally kicked his ass away, "Get the fuck out of here. Get out of here!" He cried, the man floundering away, "And learn how to run like a dude!"

Elodie turned around to look at Ian, her face dropping, "Mickey."

Mickey turned to see Ian passed out in a pile of snow.

"Jesus Christ, Ian." He sighed, crouching down beside the boy trying to shake him awake, "Hey, hey." He sighed again when he didn't wake up and picked him up in a fireman's carry when a car pulled up beside them.

"You call for an Uber?" The driver asked in a foreign accent.

Elodie and Mickey looked around, the boy nodding when nobody else stepped forward, "Yeah, I called for an Yuber." He nodded, walking towards the car.

"And looks like the creep is paying for the Yuber." Elodie hummed to herself, flicking through the cash she had taken as they both got in the vehicle.

―

"Come on, buddy." Hannah muttered, picking Liam up and stopping him from banging the door against his head, "Sorry all the shouting woke you up." She whispered, kissing his cheek and noticing Carl watching from Franks room as he finished cleaning up what Frank left, "He's not retarded." She told him, plucking the joint from behind his ear and throwing it in the carrier bag in his hand that was full of trash.

Walking into the boys' room, she smiled as she put Liam back in his bed, "Back to bed, Champ." She told him, kissing his forehead, "I love you, okay?"

Liam nodded with a smile, "Love you, too."

"Good night." She blew him another kiss as she turned the light off and closed the door.

"Night night."

Running a hand through her hair, Hannah jogged downstairs to see Lip studying at the table, just as she had left him.

"He's down." She said as she sat with a heavy sigh.

Lip nodded, staring down at his schoolwork.

Hannah reached for her books that Elodie had brought back from her locker and started flicking through the pages, freezing as she landed on one of the pages.

"Fuck it." Lip whispered, closing his book - unable to focus - and looking over his sister, "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Hannah nodded, looking up and closing her textbook, "You're right. Fuck it." She said with a shaky breath, "Wanna watch a movie and drink beer."

"Anything to distract me." Lip nodded, standing up and getting the beer out of the fridge.

Hannah followed a few moments later, knowing that a movie and alcohol wouldn't be enough to distract her from the note she had found slipped into her textbook.

I know what you are

―

The next morning, Sally squeezed Hannah's hand as the girl sat between her and Mark in court - waiting for Fiona's hearing to begin.

"Ms. Vidal, Mr. Jeffries, I understand you've come up with a deal." The judge said.

"Yes, Your Honor, we have."

"Except for one point." Jefferies said, "We'd like to defer to you on this count."

"What have you worked out so far?" The judge asked.

"Your Honor, in exchange for a guilty plea of child endangerment and possession, the state is willing to offer Ms. Gallagher a three-year probation with mandatory random drug testing, as well as two hundred hours of both parenting classes, and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. The state would also recommend that Ms. Gallagher serve ninety days in the state penitentiary." The ADA stated, Hannah tensing at the mention of jail time.

"And I'm suggesting that since this is my client's first offense and she already has time served, that she only do thirty days." Fiona's lawyer said.

The judge nodded, "Is that everything?"

"Yes, Your Honor, it is."

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Mr. Jeffries, I will be reducing your request from two hundred hours of parenting and NA meetings to one hundred hours." The judge stated, "And since I do not believe justice will be served by additional jail time for Ms. Gallagher, I'll sign off on her completion of that part of the plea bargain."

"Yes, Your Honor."

"No jail." Sally said, squeezing a tense Hannah's hand.

"Ms. Gallagher, I wanna make sure you understand what's happening." The judge told Fiona, "With this plea agreement, you will be a felon. As such, you will serve three years probation, during which time you cannot leave the State of Illinois. You must meet with your probation officer once a week. You will not be able to get a government job, hold public office, vote. If you possess a passport, you must surrender it. You shall refrain from excessive use of alcohol. You shall not purchase, possess, use, distribute or administer any controlled substance. You shall not engage with any persons involved in criminal activity. You will be under house arrest until further notice."

Hannah let out a shaky breath at the ling list.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, Your Honor." Fiona nodded.

"Then how do you plead to possession and child endangerment?"

"I'm guilty."

Hannah watched as the electronic tag was placed around Fiona's leg, her sister turning to look at her with tears in her eyes.

As everyone involved in Fiona's hearing filed out of the courtroom, Fiona lightly grabbed Hannah's elbow.

"Hannah."

The redhead turned to her, the girl's face void of any emotion.

"I am so sorry." Fiona whispered, tears starting to fall.

"I know." Hannah muttered with a small nod, "But I don't forgive you." She told her, before turning around and following Mark and Sally out of the building.

this took ages, but i am very happy with it, ngl lmao