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RECAP

It was day outside the Gallagher house.

Kimberly was sitting on the porch steps of the house, one foot on the step next to her, her knee in the air as she put her arm against her knee, that hand holding a cigarette, which she took a hit of. "Our entire fucking family, and all of our friends, are falling apart, and you're telling me you're too fucking busy to read the last chapter of Worlds Colliding (Shameless)? Well, here you go, you morons."

Kimberly flicked her cigarette at the camera, flipping up her middle finger.

(Song:) Not Gonna Play By Your Rules - The Diner

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", at the food truck, Steve looked up at Fiona. "You would not be so pissed off if you didn't care."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the Gallagher house, Fiona and Veronica were sitting together.

"I saw the way you looked at Steve," Veronica told her. "Like  D-O-G in heat."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", outside the Gallagher house, Tony looked at Fiona. "My mom heard about us. She invited you to dinner."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the street, Fiona watched Tony and his mother go inside for dinner.

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the garage, Fiona walked up to Steve. "Hey."

Steve turned to face Fiona. 

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the park, Ian and Natalia were sitting on two swings.

Natalia got an idea. "I could pretend to be your girlfriend at school."

Ian nodded. "Yeah, Lia, I'd love to be a fake boyfriend to you."

They both smiled.

From 1.02 "Never Know the End of Chaos", in the street as the kids were trying to get to school.

Kimberly and JJ grabbed Debbie and ducked to the ground as they were protecting her and each other.

Lip, Ian and Natalia grabbed Zia and Carl and ducked to the ground as they were protecting the two kids and each other, behind Kimberly, JJ and Debbie.

Micah tried to duck, as Natalia tried to pull him down with then, but it wasn't fast enough, and Micah was too far away from her.

The men in the car were firing their automatics, destroying the glass windows in the building behind the intended targets, shattering the glass as all of it rained down in an avalanche right behind the kids, making them all gasp in shock, horror and fear, all of them frozen, not knowing what to do.

Since Natalia hadn't been close enough to Micah to pull him down into cover, Micah was also shot down, much to the shock of all the kids.

JJ put himself in front of the Gallaghers and Natalia protectively, nearly tilting to the side and falling, but keeping balance enough in front of them.

Zia knelt next to Micah, in utter shock and horror, denial, instantly starting to cry, sobbing, crying out in fear and horror to see Micah bleeding out in front of her.

Lip: (voice over from 1.03 The Aftermath Damage) "Zia's friend died. We were all almost gunned down in a damn drive by. JJ almost died."

Seeing this, it seemed to trigger something in Zia's mind, as shown even in her eyes, something seemed to break, as the look in her gaze faded as if they were far away, like she was no longer mentally right there, shutting down, dissociating in pure horrified trauma.

Natalia: (voice over from 1.03 The Aftermath Damage) "I know who did it. Tristan and Terry."

Lip held his arms around Zia tightly, holding her, pulling her away from Micah's body. 

Zia struggled, breaking down into sobs and tears, crying out, screaming.

JJ gasped, looking down at his stomach, lifting his jacket away from his side, revealing that his shirt was coated in blood. In the process of protecting the Gallaghers and Natalia, JJ had taken a bullet, falling to the ground.

Kimberly put her hands over JJ's wound, trying to slow the bleeding. "You're gonna be okay." JJ was struggling to try and stay awake. Kimberly cried out, her voice making Natalia, Ian and Lip, along with Zia, Carl and Debbie, flinch in pain and fear. "JJ!"

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", at Micah's wake, Malcolm and Zia were talking.

Malcolm was grieving heavily. "I miss Micah. My little brother."

Zia nodded in agreement. "I miss my best friend."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", on the Gallagher/Fisher-Ball street, Natalia and Ian were outside the Gallagher house.

Natalia looked next door, to the house in between the Gallagher house and the Fisher-Ball house. "Is someone finally moving in next door?"

Ian looked over to see for himself, as they saw Malcolm talking with the owner of the house.

"That's Malcolm Maxfield," Ian clarified.

Natalia's face fell. "Micah's brother."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", outside Malcolm's house, Natalia and Malcolm sat on the porch.

Malcolm gazed off at nothing. "Just wish I knew who it was. Who took my brother from me."

Natalia looked at him. "I might be able to help with something after all. I'm only telling you this because of Micah. Because you deserve to know. You gonna be okay?"

"I'll live," Malcolm answered. "And I'm not gonna do anything stupid. No matter how much I wish I could get back at Tristan and Terry somehow."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in JJ's hospital room, JJ was recovering.

Veronica and Kevin exchanged a look, smiling, before looking at JJ.

"We're adopting you," Veronica answered.

"So what do you say?" Kevin asked.

JJ couldn't help it when a tear shed, biting his lip, smiling. "I say hell yeah. I would love it."

Veronica squealed happily, wrapping her arms gently around JJ, who returned the embrace. Kevin laughed, wrapping an arm around both of them, all three of them smiling. When they pulled away, they were still smiling.

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the hallway of the Gallagher house, Kimberly placed a hand on Zia's shoulder. Finally, Zia snapped out of it due to the touch, turning to face Kimberly, startled and scared, her arm raising out of instinct with the knife.

Kimberly quickly caught Zia's wrist to prevent the knife from hurting either of them, concerned and confused, trying to keep her calm. "Why do you have a knife?"

Zia looked at the knife in her hand in fear. She let go of the knife quickly, and Kimberly took it away. "I don't... remember."

The next morning, the siblings saw that the wall had cuts in thin lines.

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the girls' room, Zia jolted up in her bed, screaming, curling into a ball, rocking back and forth, drenched in sweat, tears falling from her eyes at a constant rate. She gazed off at nothing, a foggy, glassed over and distant look in her eye as she cried, scratching at her arm. It was like Zia didn't hear anything, not even Liam's crying. She couldn't reply to them. It was like she wasn't there mentally, locked in her own mind. She couldn't even open her mouth, barely breathe, unblinking. Shut down, void of emotion, looking dead inside.

Lip: (voice over from 1.03 The Aftermath Damage) "Other than anger at this, and just dark, paranoid depression, she's completely fucking numb."

With the light turned on, the kids noticed that Zia was scratching badly in her arm, leaving a trail of red, raw skin, which started to split.

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", outside the elementary school, Zia had her episode where she saw Micah in her daydream/daze state.

Zia's lip trembled, her voice breaking. "You're dead."

"Yes, I am," Micah agreed. "That's how you feel inside now. Kinda makes you wonder if you do even exist."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in reality, Carl and Debbie snapped Zia out of her daze.

Zia looked around in paranoia, only to find that of course, Micah wasn't there. "Did you see?"

"See what?" Carl asked.

Zia swallowed, really scared about what was happening to her, unable to understand it. "Micah."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the Gallagher house, Debbie walked into the living room from the kitchen with a tray of food. "Aunt Ginger has to go back?" There were flashes of Ginger bonding with Zia and Debbie. "Don't make her go."

Fiona placed a hand to Debbie's chin to cup it. "She doesn't belong to us."

Zia looked at Ginger sadly. "I'll miss you too."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the nursing home, Ginger gave Zia and Debbie a hug and a kiss to either of their cheeks. "What pretty little girls they are."

Zia looked down numbly with sadness.

Debbie was very emotional, already in tears.

Fiona pulled Zia and Debbie toward her, holding an arm around either of them.

Fiona: (voice over from 1.03 The Aftermath Damage) "Gallaghers don't do therapy, and even if we did, we wouldn't be able to afford it."

Zia felt as if someone else was being ripped away from her all over again so soon after what happened with Micah, and nearly JJ, and the hell she had been going through since. She felt endless sadness and despair, the only constant thing she felt through the numb, starting to cry.

Kimberly: (voice over from 1.03 The Aftermath Damage) "Well, if we have to figure something out, Fiona, we have to. She could get seriously hurt. She's scared and she looks literally like the walking dead. She's six years old. She shouldn't have to be going through this."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the Fisher-Ball bathroom, JJ was taking a bath, slipping under the water, holding himself underwater, not moving, staying under for as long as he could. When he finally couldn't take anymore lack of oxygen, JJ sat up, gasping for breath, coughing slightly.

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the street, Tristan grabbed JJ, slamming him against the car, strangling him, making JJ gasp and struggle for breath. JJ gasped, punching Tristan in the stomach. Tristan slammed his fist into JJ's stomach, threatening to tear his stitches on his gunshot wound, making him yell in pain.

JJ just glared at him. "Come on, Tristan." He yelled in furious, devastated pain. "Kill me!" Tristan took out a tiny box, putting it into JJ's coat pocket. "What the fuck is that?'

"Consider it a late birthday present," Tristan told him. "Already gave you one on the day of, too. Happy sweet 16, JJ."

 From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the boys' room, JJ hesitantly opened the box, revealing a small necklace inside, with baby teeth on the necklace with letters.

The letters on the necklace spelled: "Dead kids can't smile".

JJ looked at the note inside the box, taking it out, opening the note, which read: "When teenagers disrespect adults, little kids pay the price."

JJ realized what this meant, absolutely horrified, dropping the necklace and note. "Oh, my fucking God."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in JJ's room, JJ looked in the mirror, his face unreadable as he looked at the sight of bruises forming around his neck from being strangled by his own father. He let out a sigh as he reached up to touch his neck, wincing as his hand made contact. He closed his eyes, a lone tear falling down his cheek as his hand fell down to his side.

Soon, JJ turned around, looking across the room, and started to rip down all of his Post-It notes from the walls, his reasons to live, slamming his hands against the wall repeatedly in fury and devastation. "Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

JJ slid down the wall to the floor, groaning heavily in pain. He lifted his shirt, seeing that there were spots of blood in the bandage over his wound, but he didn't seem to care at all. He looked around, his anger, his guilt and his despair overwhelming and crushing, never seeming to come to an end, but was too exhausted and in pain to continue to express it.

JJ: (voice over from 1.03 The Aftermath Damage) "Sometimes I need to do things that remind me that I'm in control. That I didn't lose complete control over my life because of Tristan."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the street, His anger uncontainable and already looking for a release exploded, as JJ grabbed the boy, throwing him against the car nearby, then slammed him to the ground, punching him over and over again. JJ had the boy in a chokehold, almost choking him out completely.

Lip: (voice over from 1.03 The Aftermath Damage) "I guess that's the kind of thing that happens when he realizes that his father is the one that almost killed him on his goddamn birthday."

 From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", at the swimming hole, JJ was drunk, needing to just get everything out of his head, all of the pain, anger, despair, betrayal, guilt. He took a deep breath, throwing his bottle, shattering it against a tree, making the glass pieces fall along with the contents.

Kimberly: (voice over in 1.03 The Aftermath Damage) "JJ thinks everybody leaves him, and we can't do that."

JJ looked down at the water below, which was of course covered in ice. He drunkenly slipped down from the rocks. He stood on the ice. Of course, at this point, he thought it was sturdy enough to hold his weight.

Until lines appeared in the ice, cracking and breaking, before the ice shattered into a circle big enough to make JJ fall through the ice into the water.

Lip got to the ice, kicking and punching the rest of the ice away to break it, reaching in to pull JJ up from the freezing water, who gasped for breath.

Kimberly and Lip pulled JJ to the rocks, placing him down.

JJ was gasping for breath. "It cracked. I didn't mean..." Kimberly took off her jacket in a hurry, wrapping it around JJ tightly, trying to warm him up, holding him in her arms, rocking back and forth very slightly, sobbing. JJ clung onto Kimberly's arms, breathing heavily, shakily in relief, tears falling from shock and horror of what nearly happened, all over again. He could only keep repeating. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Kimberly soothed JJ as much as she could, crying, running a hand over his hair. "It's okay. Shh."

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in the street, Veronica ran to embrace JJ in relief, having been so scared after what the kids told her on their way home. "JJ!"

JJ wrapped his arms around Veronica tightly. "I'm sorry, V."

Veronica shook her head, breathing shakily. "You are definitely seeing that fucking counselor from now on, you hear me?"

From 1.03 "The Aftermath Damage", in JJ's room, JJ stepped closer to Kimberly. "I'm fucked up! Everything that I'm close to, everything I have in my life, gets fucked up! Because of Tristan. He almost killed me. He killed Micah. Zia and I are so fucked up right now because of him. Debbie, Carl, Lip, Ian and Natalia could have died. You could have died." He realized how loud he got, how angry he got, not wanting to take this out on Kimberly, but unable to control anything he was feeling or doing, feeling so guilty. "I'm so sorry, Kimberly."

Kimberly looked at him emotionally, gently brushing a lock of his hair back. "It's not your fault. None of this is."

Kimberly wrapped her arms around him comfortingly. JJ melted into her hold, wrapping his arms around her tightly, both on the verge of breaking down into tears, but able to keep themselves together due to each other.

⫷⑅⫸ Worlds Colliding (Shameless) ⫷⑅⫸

Theme Song: The Luck You Got - The High Strung

In the Gallagher bathroom.

First segment, Frank was sleeping on the floor. Fiona walked in, trying to kick Frank awake, but when that didn't work, she dragged him out of the bathroom so that she could go pee, walking out of the room.

Second segment, Carl walked into the bathroom, climbing up the toilet to sit on the back of it, drinking a soda, before tossing the can down, jumping down to the floor, walking out of the room.

Third segment, Ian was using the bathroom, reading a gay magazine, when Kevin walked in to grab his plaid shirt on the floor. Ian hit his magazine between his legs, looking panicked, watching Kevin walked out of the room.

Fourth segment, Debbie walked into the bathroom, brushing her teeth, before walking out.

Fifth segment, Zia led Liam into the bathroom by his hands, kneeling next to him to wrap toilet paper all around Liam, as both were smiling.

Sixth segment, Kimberly helped an injured JJ into the bathroom, having him sit down on the floor, kneeling down to help him with a broken nose, snapping it back into place, which caused a lot of pain, and treating the rest of his wounds. They both stared at each other.

Seventh segment, Lip walked into the bathroom, looking for his cigarette pack, finding the pack and a lighter. Natalia walked in, sitting on the edge of the tub. Lip lit his cigarette, taking a hit. Natalia held out her hand, so Lip handed her the cigarette, so that Natalia could take a hit. They both walked out of the room.

Eighth segment, Kevin sat on a stool, tilting his head back because of a bleeding nose. Veronica sat next to him, using toilet paper to stuff into his nose to stop the bleeding.

Ninth segment, Debbie was going through Fiona's makeup bag.

Tenth segment, Carl pulled a stuffed animal out of the toilet.

Eleventh segment, Liam dipped his toothbrush into the toilet, brushing his teeth.

Twelfth segment, Lip was peeing into the toilet, while Ian was peeing into the sink.

Thirteenth segment, Zia sat on the floor, making pictures and drawings with a mess of belongings around her.

Fourteenth segment, Kimberly was looking into the mirror, putting makeup on.

Fifteenth segment, Steve backed Fiona into the bathroom, lifting her up to put her on the sink, as they started to have sex.

⫷⑅⫸ Worlds Colliding (Shameless) ⫷⑅⫸

Day One

Morning - Gallagher House - Outside

(Song:) Fun in the Daytime - The Diner

Debbie was sitting on the ground outside, dressing up a bag of potatoes like it was a baby complete with a hat due to the cold temperatures. "Sweet baby." She wrapped a scarf around the bag. "Put a scarf on."

Standing up, Debbie picked the bag up, placing it in a stroller, trying to push the stroller down the sidewalk.

Fiona stepped outside. "Debbie, come in and eat breakfast, okay? You're up next in the shower."

"I wanna play for a while," Debbie told her. "Ask Zia if she'll get in the stroller."

"She's upstairs in your room, having trouble getting out of bed," Fiona explained.

"Then ask Carl," Debbie told her.

"Last time you asked Carl to play, you were locked in the basement for a day," Fiona pointed out.

"That was on purpose," Debbie replied. "We were playing Loser Goes to Gitmo."

"Let's go," Fiona ordered. "And put that stroller back in the garbage."

Upset, Debbie pushed the stroller toward the porch, walking up the steps to go inside.

(Song Ends)

⫷⑅⫸ 

Inside - Girls' Room

Zia was laying down in bed, depressed, desolate, silent, looking unable to move.

Kimberly was trying to get her up. "Come on, you gotta get dressed. You gotta get up." When Zia didn't respond, Kimberly picked out her clothes. "How about this shirt? Look at this. Oh, this looks cute. Come on, you can do it." She laid the shirt over Zia. "Shirt goes on top. And pants, big surprise to everyone, go on bottom." She laid Zia's jeans over her legs. "Legs crossed, wear the jeans. Shoes. Gotta have shoes." She picked up the shoes, laying them at Zia's feet. "You know why? 'Cause we're going downstairs." Zia looked at Kimberly numbly. Kimberly took Zia by the hands, gently helping her sit up. "There we go. That's it. Come on."

Zia looked completely out of it mentally, eyes glazed over, clouded, as she looked around, void of emotion or reaction, looking like she was trying to feel anything at all.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Kitchen

Ian and Lip were trying to work on the water heater.

Fiona walked in with a cup of coffee, making breakfast.

"Oh, my God," Lip said. "Yeah, that's, uh, it's dead."

"You sure?" Fiona asked.

"Uh-huh," Lip answered. "The element's rusted out."

Debbie walked in from the living room. "Anyone wanna make some cookies with me?"

Kimberly and Carl walked down the stairs into the kitchen.

"How much to replace it?" Fiona asked.

Lip shrugged. "Uh... two bills used, four new."

"Shit," Fiona said.

"How about pie?" Debbie asked. "I can get started on the crust."

"Sounds good, Debbie," Kimberly told her.

Fiona gave Kimberly a look. "No, she needs to take her shower."

Debbie walked toward the counter, stepping on a footstool, reaching up for a pie pan. "I wanna make pie."

Ian and Carl walked toward the kitchen table to sit down and eat.

"You know what?" Lip asked. "Hand me the obits. Maybe, uh, we can scavenge a dead person's water heater." Kimberly picked up the newspaper, handing it to Lip. "Thank you. Oh, Mrs. Dombrowski."

Lip and Kimberly sat at the table.

"Oh, the, uh, shaky neck lady?" Ian asked. "I thought she drowned a couple years ago."

"No, Mrs. Goga had the shaky neck and drowned in her own vomit last Easter," Kimberly answered.

Fiona stopped Debbie from making the pie. "No pie. Get in the shower. I'm not saying it again." Carl walked over to get himself some coffee. Fiona tried to stop him. "Carl, no. I went to school with Kenny Dombrowski. Think he had a crush on me."

Kimberly gave Fiona a thumbs up.

"Shit," Lip said. "Wake's this morning. Let's go." He turned to Kimberly and Ian. "Up, up, up."

"Can I go with you?" Debbie asked.

"Uh, no, we got it," Lip answered.

Debbie was spinning around.

"Debbie, what is going on with you?" Fiona asked.

Debbie stopped. "Nothing."

Kimberly, Ian and Lip were about to leave.

Fiona held out her hands to stop them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait."

"What?" Ian asked.

"When's the last time you guys spoke to Zia?" Fiona asked.

"I was just talking to her up in our room," Kimberly answered.

"Why?" Lip asked. "What's this about?"

Fiona tilted her head. "Okay, well, more correctly, when's the last time she spoke to any of you? Did she say anything this morning?"

"Uh, no," Kimberly answered.

Ian frowned. "Come to think of it, I don't think Zia's said anything in a while."

Lip realized he was right. "Not since Ginger had to go back and JJ almost drowned."

"That's what I was worried about," Fiona said. "I got a call from her teacher. She said that she hasn't spoken in class for a couple days either."

"Where is Zia?" Carl asked.

Kimberly looked toward the stairs. "She was supposed to be right behind us."

Kimberly stood, instantly heading upstairs.

Lip and Ian followed.

Fiona pointed at Debbie and Carl. "You two stay down here."

"Okay," Carl said.

Fiona walked upstairs.

⫷⑅⫸

 Upstairs - Hallway

Zia was sitting in the hallway, gazing off at nothing, unblinking, her eyes lifeless. She was a million miles away in space, as if in a trance that she could not pull herself out of. Even when she wasn't in the trance, she seemed not to be able to tell what was going on. She pressed her fingers against her arm, but felt only pressure. She didn't feel anything else that indicated that this was reality. She couldn't tell if she was sleeping or awake. If she was in a dream or a nightmare or in reality.

Within her daze, in her daydream nightmare, Zia saw Micah by the wall, covered in blood, and water seeping across the floor, thick and viscous red, which in her head she knew wasn't real, but it felt and perceived very real, like reality and dreams and nightmares felt no different than each other anymore, which only made Zia more scared.

Kimberly, Ian, Lip and Fiona walked upstairs, still worried.

Ian walked closer, kneeling next to Zia, touching her shoulder, as they could tell by now that a touch could help her wake up from her states. "Hey, Zia?"

Zia jumped when she was brought out of her stupor, looking around, seeing that Micah was gone, and so was the watery blood on the floor. She looked up at her older siblings, fear evident in her eyes.

"You okay?" Kimberly asked worriedly.

Zia looked away silently.

Fiona walked closer, sitting down next to her. "Hey. So, I, um, I got a call from your teacher. She said that you've been refusing to speak in class lately. Did something else happen? Is everything okay?"

"Zia, what's going on?" Kimberly asked.

Zia looked like she wanted to speak, but like she couldn't form the words, or even open her mouth to say them, completely shut down.

"Zia, talk to us," Lip told her softly.

Zia just looked off at nothing in sadness.

Her siblings were worried and concerned, not knowing what to do.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Fisher-Ball House - Kitchen

JJ, Kevin and Veronica were sitting together, eating breakfast.

"Hey, JJ, can we talk?" Veronica asked.

"Sure, yeah," JJ answered.

"Okay," Kevin said. "Well, at you know, after the other day..."

"When I exploded, almost choked a guy out and almost died again," JJ said.

"Yeah," Veronica answered. "That's brought up a lot of concerns with the adoption process because of all that's happened."

"So I screwed up the adoption because of shit I went through and did?" JJ asked.

"Not necessarily," Kevin answered.

"Okay, so your social worker, Anya, let us take you home even without the adoption anywhere close to being done because as of right now, we're basically fostering you," Veronica explained. "She calls it kinship foster parents. This is basically like a trial run leading up to the adoption, making sure that you're okay, in this house, around all this, given the drive by and everything that's happened since."

JJ nodded barely. "Understood. So back in foster care, even if it's just living with you guys. You guys had the fucking time to become foster parents?"

Kevin and Veronica smiled, chuckling.

"Well, like we said, we've been working on this for a while," Kevin pointed out.

"Wait, so why didn't you mention the foster part while I was in the hospital?" JJ asked.

"Because you were in the fucking hospital," Veronica answered. "It's not like we wanted to overwhelm you with the details."

JJ shrugged, tilting his head. "Ah, good point. You said that Anya could get the adoption done for less than what it normally is?"

"Yeah, but we still have to raise enough money," Kevin answered. "Normal adoption can cost up to 43,000 dollars." JJ whistled at the high price. Kevin and Veronica nodded in agreement. "Yeah. But Anya thinks we can adopt you through the foster care system. Fostering adoption. It takes about six months to go through, especially with circumstances like yours, but it's the cheapest adoption option."

"Okay, and easiest, right?" JJ asked.

"Yeah," Veronica answered. "But until the adoption goes through, we'll still be legally able to take care of you."

"That's great," JJ said. "How much is the adoption through fostering?"

"Anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000," Kevin answered.

JJ scoffed. "Are you kidding me? On top of the medical bills, therapy and medication?"

"We know," Veronica told him. "But thanks to Anya and the foster system, since technically until the adoption, you are a foster child, we no longer have to worry about your medical bills. At least, not on our own."

"Are you saying that because I'm a foster kid, I have insurance?" JJ asked.

"That's exactly what we're saying," Kevin answered.

JJ smiled in amusement. "Wow."

"I mean, there is a co-pay and all that, which is still expensive, but nowhere near as bad as it would be on our own," Veronica explained.

JJ nodded. "Got you. So my medical shit is not gonna kill us after all."

Kevin and Veronica chuckled.

"No, it's not," Kevin agreed. "We can manage it."

"But can we manage that on top of the adoption cost?" JJ asked. "I mean, anywhere from a thousand dollars to five thousand?"

"We'll figure it out," Veronica assured. "We always do. Even if it means having to take in another foster kid and get paid a little extra each month to make things work."

"Wait, since you are fostering me, how much do you make for me each month?" JJ asked.

"Close to five hundred since you just turned 16," Kevin answered.

JJ was impressed. "Well, shit." Kevin and Veronica laughed lightly. "So what, like 480?"

"Yeah, there about," Veronica answered.

"So, 480, plus me working at the diner, and Kev working at the Alibi, and you at the nursing home and with your online shit..." JJ trailed off. "We still gotta worry about house bills, phone, electric and all that, and the medical co-pay and groceries though. You seriously wanna take in another foster kid in order to try and make ends meet to afford the adoption?"

"Yeah," Veronica answered. "We might have to."

"Okay," JJ agreed. "We can come up with other stuff to make up for the rest. Might take a while though."

"Well, Anya said that a payment plan works," Kevin admitted. "And I trust her, so..."

"Yeah," JJ agreed. "So, what else?"

"Well, before we can petition the court for adoption, we have to ask permission from Tristan," Veronica answered. "And you know that I hate asking that fucker for permission about anything."

"Meaning what, exactly?" JJ asked.

"Meaning that he has to sign away his parental rights," Kevin answered.

JJ swallowed, hating to even be talking about his father after knowing that he was the one that did the drive by and almost killed him on his birthday, and everything that his friends had been going through since then as well. "Right, well, Tristan already said that he couldn't care less that you're adopting me. He said that he's not gonna stop the adoption, so pretty sure once the courts send him the papers, he'll sign with no issue."

"But that also leaves Eliana," Veronica pointed out. "Who's still out there somewhere."

JJ was not happy with the reminder about his mother. "Yeah, well, good luck finding her."

Kevin nodded. "That's what we said."

JJ sighed. "I don't see why Eliana's a factor at all. She took off when I was two and hasn't tried to contact since."

"Well, legally, she's still your biological parent," Veronica answered.

"Okay," JJ said. "Tristan won't say no. We know that. But what happens if Eliana says no?"

"Then we will petition the court to take away her rights," Kevin answered. "But hopefully that won't be necessary."

"We just wanted to let you know, and make sure that it's all right if we asked them to let us be your parents," Veronica told him.

"Yeah, it's fine," JJ answered. "Do you have to ask them in person?"

"No, no," Kevin answered. "Anya said that the lawyer she got will do that."

JJ nodded. "Okay. That's all I need to know."

JJ was clearly more overwhelmed and on edge than he wanted to show Kevin and Veronica, since he didn't want them to worry.

Kimberly knocked on the backdoor. "Knock knock."

"Hey, Kimberly," Kevin told her.

JJ looked over in surprise.

"Hey, girl," Veronica greeted. "Come on in."

Kimberly stepped inside. "Hey."

"How's Zia and everything?" Kevin asked.

"Uh, not good," Kimberly answered. "Part of the reason why I came over."

Veronica nodded, confused. "Okay?"

Kimberly tried to make a lighthearted remark/joke to cover how upset and vulnerable and helpless she felt given the situations with Zia and JJ and how she couldn't really help them. "Looking good, JJ. Somebody's been eating their wheaties."

JJ smirked slightly, standing. "What's up?"

JJ and Kimberly both had an awkward, sad tension between them after everything that happened in 1.03, neither of them really able to meet the other's gaze right now.

"Um, I just wanted to check in," Kimberly answered. "You have your first real therapy session today, right? The foster adoption thing set it up."

JJ looked at Veronica and Kevin. "Do you two tell Kimberly everything before you tell me?"

Veronica and Kevin smiled sheepishly.

"It's not like we mean for it to happen like that," Kevin replied.

JJ looked at Kimberly. "But, yeah. My first session's today. Why?"

"Can we talk?" Kimberly asked.

"Yeah," JJ answered.

Kimberly and JJ left the room.

⫷⑅⫸

JJ's Room 

Kimberly and JJ walked into JJ's room.

Kimberly looked around, seeing that the room was mostly cleaned up after JJ destroyed it before, turning to face JJ. "I was hoping you could ask the doctor something for me."

"About Zia?" JJ asked.

"Yeah," Kimberly answered. "She's, uh... not talking, at all. Completely shut down. And we don't know what to do to help."

JJ nodded worriedly, concerned. "Yeah, I can ask. Not sure if he'll have an answer without seeing Zia herself though. But I'll try."

Kimberly nodded gratefully. "Thanks."

"Yeah," JJ agreed.

"What's wrong?" Kimberly asked. "You look like you're about to explode."

JJ sighed, looking away. "Thought I was hiding that well."

"Yeah, well, not to me," Kimberly answered. "Come on, talk to me, please."

JJ sighed, giving in, showing just how overwhelmed this was making him, without meaning to, truly looking like on top of everything else, it could make him lash out, which he was trying not to do. "Kev and V just told me that they can't adopt me officially. And after what happened the other day, I might not be able to get adopted by them period because I went fucking crazy." Kimberly frowned in worry and concern. "And I have to jump through all these fucking hoops with the counselor at school and an actual therapist to make sure that I don't go off the deep end again. But it still might not be enough. I have to get Tristan and Eliana to terminate their parental rights for it to work too. Tristan who tried to kill me on my birthday and killed Micah and almost killed all of us, and the reason why Zia's having her issues. And Eliana, who took off when I was two and hasn't contacted since. And we have to make enough money for us to even be able to afford adoption. It's... all of it is so fucking impossible."

"I'm so sorry," Kimberly whispered.

"Yeah," JJ agreed. "Me too. Because it's never gonna work out my way."

"You don't know that," Kimberly told him.

"Yes, I do," JJ replied. "I'm really sorry about everything, Kimberly."

Kimberly nodded, averting her gaze. "I know. You don't have to be." JJ bit his lip nervously, looking away. "It's okay. About what happened on the ice. You can tell me the truth."

"It was an accident," JJ told her. "I didn't mean..."

Kimberly tilted her head, not sure about that. "I know the dark moods you get in. How dark your mind gets. The remarks you make about how it might not be such a bad thing if you were never born, or if you were out of our lives."

JJ nodded in acknowledgement, trying not to get overwhelmed, but clearly after everything that happened, his emotions were not stable. "Okay, yeah. But that... sometimes I wanna die. And yeah, I think about ending it all. I mean, everybody thinks about it at some point."

Kimberly shook her head. "Not like that. And not so much."

JJ looked down, knowing that she was right, letting out a shaky breath. "See, once it's in your head, though, you become this... strange new breed. A life form that loves to fantasize about its own demise. Make a stupid remark, kill yourself. You like the movie, you live. You miss the train, kill yourself. I just... I don't really think I can do this anymore. Look, Kimberly, the world is fucked up, okay? I didn't want to fucking die thinking that maybe... maybe you could have liked me. Because no one ever fucking does. Nobody ever fucking stays."

Kimberly looked at him in extreme concern. "I will stay. I will always stay." JJ looked at Kimberly, their eyes finally meeting, both glassed over with tears. "Look... it's okay to admit that you're not okay."

"Mentally, physically or emotionally?" JJ asked.

"All of the above," Kimberly answered sadly. "You have every reason not to be okay in any of those categories. I just... I want you to be okay. And get better. We can't go through something like this again, JJ. None of us can."

JJ knew she was right, swallowing. "I'll go. To the session. I'll try and let them help. And I'll ask about Zia. It's just... I can't live with knowing that Tristan and Terry are still out there, and they can do this all over again. And we can't do a damn thing about it without putting us in a worse position. It destroys me. I bet they're really fucking happy now. I'm sorry I let you down."

"You didn't let me down," Kimberly told him. "None of this is your fault, okay? We don't blame you, so don't blame yourself."

JJ was getting worked up and angry again, shaking his head, turning away, slamming his hand on the wall, thrusting his arm out to knock something down from his dresser. "Well, now we know. We're never gonna get out of this. They're never gonna let us be happy! They're gonna keep destroying everything. I'm gonna destroy everything."

Kimberly shook her head, scared of what was happening to JJ, upset. "JJ, stop. This isn't because of you."

JJ was pacing. "Yes, it is. He told me that everything he's doing to all of you, to all that I love, is because he's trying to torture me. Destroy me. Tristan is gonna end up killing us all. He's gonna destroy everyone around me. So just run like the fucking wind, okay?"

Kimberly walked closer, trying to calm him down, shaking her head. "No."

JJ backed away. "Hey, you wanna fucking go."

Kimberly frowned. "No, I don't wanna go."

JJ took his arms out of her hold, backing away, freaking out, angry and ranting and not making much sense. "Sure you do. Sure you fucking do. They all do. I'll be fine. I'll be fucking fine." Kimberly was heartbroken, wrapping her arms around him, trying to calm him down. "You don't wanna fucking bother with this. Kimberly..."

JJ started to break down.

Kimberly held JJ in her arms, tears in her eyes, as they sank to the floor, kneeling in each other's arms. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay. I'm sorry."

JJ pulled out of Kimberly's hold, holding his head in pain and anguish, and in a lot of pain because of his wounds, laying down to try and stop the pain, his head in Kimberly's lap. Kimberly stroked JJ's head and hair in a desperate attempt to calm him down, to soothe and comfort him.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Malcolm's House - Outside

Natalia and Malcolm were sharing a cigarette.

"Thanks for hanging out with me," Malcolm said. "It's too boring and depressing to be alone right now. After everything."

Natalia nodded. "Yeah, believe me. I know. Least I could do after what happened. But if you don't want me around, I get it, Malcolm."

"Natalia, if I blamed you or JJ for what your fathers did, I wouldn't be living next door to JJ," Malcolm pointed out. "It's not either of your faults."

Natalia managed a small, broken smile. "Yeah." She sniffled. "Well, it feels like it is."

Malcolm shook his head. "You have anyplace to stay where you can be safe from your dad? I know Kevin and Veronica are trying to adopt JJ, so he'll be a little more safe, but you?"

"I've just been couch surfing or squatting in houses," Natalia admitted. Malcolm nodded in understanding. "Why?"

Malcolm took a hit from his cigarette, sighing.

Before he could reply, Ian and Lip walked outside, seeing Natalia over with Malcolm.

"Hey, Natalia," Ian called.

Natalia looked at Malcolm. "Oh, my boyfriend and guy best friend."

Malcolm chuckled. "Which one's which?"

Natalia shrugged, smirking slightly.

Ian and Lip walked closer.

"Hey, Malcolm," Lip told him.

"Hey, Lip," Malcolm replied, tossing his cigarette down, stomping it out. "Ian."

"You two doing okay?" Ian asked.

"As well as can be expected," Malcolm answered.

Ian and Lip nodded in understanding.

"Kimberly still over with JJ?" Ian asked. "She's asking him if he can ask his new social-services-ordered shrink about why Zia's not talking to anybody."

"Her complete shut down?" Natalia asked.

"Yeah," Lip answered. "It's gotten worse."

Natalia closed her eyes, worried.

"Shit," Malcolm whispered, concerned. "Micah... he had a huge crush on Zia."

"Yeah, well, that much was obvious," Ian agreed.

"I am sorry about Micah, Malcolm," Lip told him.

Malcolm nodded. "I know. I'm sorry about what Zia's going through."

Ian and Lip nodded.

"Zia's the one that told you about the house, huh?" Lip asked.

"Yeah, at the wake," Malcolm answered. "She knew I was still gonna lose my old place, so..."

"Right," Ian agreed. "She wanted to help."

"Yeah," Malcolm agreed.

Lip chuckled. "Yeah, even when she's shut down completely, she still just wants to help."

Natalia and Ian nodded in agreement.

"Kimberly and JJ okay?" Natalia asked. "After everything?"

"I don't know," Lip admitted. "The whole fucking thing was... intense as hell."

Natalia and Ian nodded sadly.

Malcolm bit his lip, looking down.

"Kimberly's gonna bring JJ over for studying later after his session so we can try and take our minds off everything," Ian explained. "You should come too, Natalia."

"Yeah, I could use the help," Natalia agreed. "Can't focus worth a shit."

"No, you usually need our help to focus even without all this shit going on," Lip pointed out.

Natalia shrugged in agreement. "Yeah, but shut your face."

Ian chuckled.

Malcolm smirked slightly.

Kimberly and JJ walked out of the Fisher-Ball house, after JJ had pulled himself back together, both of them shaken up.

Natalia, Malcolm, Ian and Lip looked over when they heard them.

"Hey, Kimberly," Lip called. "JJ."

Kimberly and JJ looked toward them, exchanging a look, walking over to the others.

"Hey," Ian told them. "You okay?"

"Define 'okay'," JJ said.

Kimberly, Natalia, Lip, Ian and Malcolm felt that more than they wanted to.

Kimberly looked at Malcolm. "Well, howdy, neighbor."

"Hi, Kimberly," Malcolm replied.

"You're in on the secret, huh?" JJ asked.

"Yeah, Natalia told me because of Micah," Malcolm answered. "I'm really sorry, JJ."

"I should be the one apologizing to you, Malcolm," JJ replied. "About Micah."

Malcolm shook his head. "Like I told her, it's not your fault."

"That's what we keep telling them, but they're stubborn asses," Kimberly said.

Ian and Lip nodded in agreement, gesturing to Kimberly in agreement, giving Natalia and JJ pointed looks.

Natalia and JJ smirked sarcastically. 

Ian looked at JJ. "You think your social services shrink has an answer that can help Zia's sudden vow of silence?"

"Maybe," JJ answered. "But for any real help, Zia would have to see someone herself."

"Yeah, good luck convincing Fiona that," Lip replied.

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "She's doing the whole 'Gallaghers don't do therapy' thing."

JJ shrugged. "To be fair, I'm only doing it because it's literally ordered by a social worker that could help Kev and V adopt me."

"And because you almost died," Kimberly replied.

JJ pursed his lips together, knowing that especially after moments before, things were tense between him and Kimberly, though it wasn't either of their faults or intentions. "But yeah, Fiona should get Zia some help. What the fuck are we gonna do about Tristan? I need to figure out where he's actually staying, since he's not at the house anymore."

"You went back there?" Malcolm asked.

JJ shrugged. "After he left me a fucking baby teeth necklace claiming that he did the drive by and killed Micah, yeah."

Malcolm looked down. "Shit."

"Sorry," JJ told him.

"Also after you almost died in the ice," Lip replied, giving JJ a look.

JJ tilted his head back, frustrated, trying not to get overwhelmed or worked up again.

"Seriously, JJ, don't be so reckless after all this, okay?" Ian asked. "We can't do this again."

"And even if we find out where Tristan is, you're just gonna try and make him pay," Natalia told him.

"Is it that obvious?" JJ asked sarcastically.

"Look, I know you're a little cuckoo right now, but you can't do anything stupid," Natalia told him. JJ gave her a look. "That's just gonna be giving them what they want."

"Blood?" JJ asked. "They've already got plenty of that."

"Yeah, and we're not taking that risk again," Natalia replied. "We almost lost you twice."

"That might not mean much to you right now given your little suicide mission, but it means plenty to us," Kimberly told him.

JJ let out a deep breath, looking very confused and overwhelmed, but regretful for what his thoughts and actions that he couldn't control were leading him to act and do. "Okay. Lip, Ian, can I just give you today's list of priorities? One, going to this bullshit therapy session because I want to get adopted, and to ask about Zia and how to help her. Two, trying to stop Tristan and Terry for good so that nothing like what happened with me and Micah and almost all of you, happens again. Three, convince Kimberly to accept heartfelt apologies for some recently dodgy behavior. Four... there is no four."

Kimberly gave JJ a look, tilting her head.

Natalia, Malcolm, Ian and Lip exchanged a look.

Ian patted JJ on the shoulder. "Okay, how about instead, you just go head to your session, and try to figure out what's going on with you and how to make it stop and get better, okay?"

"Yeah, unlike some people think, no shame in that," Natalia agreed. "Getting help to get better, I mean."

"Especially if it stops reckless dangerous behavior where you almost die," Lip pointed out.

"Just stop pretending that you're fine and deal with your shit," Natalia told him. "I'm sorry about all this, but you gotta work through it so that you don't have to go through worse. And so we don't lose you either."

JJ knew they were right, tilting his head back, frustrated with himself more than anything.

Kimberly looked at JJ sadly, just wanting him to be okay. "We'll be fine, okay? We just want you to be."

"We all deserve a fucking break," Malcolm sighed. They nodded in agreement. "It's no secret that we've taken our licks."

Natalia, wanting to lighten the mood with a joke, smirked. "Wanky."

Lip smirked in amusement, rolling his eyes. "Jesus, Lia."

Natalia shrugged.

JJ, Kimberly, Ian and Malcolm managed small chuckles.

Kimberly looked at Ian and Lip. "Besides, the three of us have to run out anyway."

"What are you doing?" Malcolm asked.

"Gotta get a water heater for the house," Lip answered.

"Mind if I lend a hand?" Natalia asked. "I'm fucking bored and could use something to do."

"Yeah, thanks," Ian answered.

JJ sighed heavily. "All right. See you guys later."

"Just hear him out and let him help, okay?" Kimberly asked. "You promised me, and Veronica and Kevin."

JJ nodded in agreement, walking away.

Kimberly, Natalia, Malcolm, Ian and Lip exchanged a look.

"You think he's gonna be okay?" Malcolm asked.

"Hope so," Natalia answered.

"You gonna be okay, Malcolm?" Kimberly asked.

"Not for a while," Malcolm answered. "But, uh, I think that's something we all got in common right now."

Kimberly, Natalia, Ian and Lip nodded in agreement, sadly, walking away together.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Jackson House - Hallway

Frank walked out of the bathroom into the hallway, just having taken a bath, wearing a bathrobe.

⫷⑅⫸

Sheila's Room 

Frank walked in, getting his clean clothes.

Hearing children playing outside, Frank looked outside the window, across the street toward where a child's birthday party was going on, opening the window, calling out. "Beautiful day for a party."

"It's for kids, Frank!" a man called over. "No booze!"

Frank pouted, closing the window.

⫷⑅⫸

Living Room

Dressed, Frank sat down at the table.

Sheila leaned in close to him. "How would you like your eggs, sweetie?"

"Fluffy," Frank answered.

Sheila gave Frank a kiss on the cheek. "Aw."

Sheila walked into the kitchen.

"They're having a party across the street," Frank explained.

"What, dear?" Sheila asked.

"Across the street," Frank answered. "Some sort of party for kids. No booze. What's the point?"

Karen walked downstairs, sitting at the counter between the living room and the kitchen.

(Song:) Build. Destroy. Rebuild - Hanni El Khatib

Frank and Karen both started to eat breakfast.

Eddie walked into the house with his suitcase and a box, not bothering to take off his shoes.

"Dad?" Karen asked in surprise. Without a word, Eddie walked into the laundry room, opening a door in the floor, turning on the light to the basement, walking into the basement with his suitcase and box. Karen was not happy at all. "What the hell is he doing here?"

(Song Ends)

⫷⑅⫸ 

Fisher-Ball House - Kev & V's Room

While JJ was gone at his appointment, Veronica and Kevin were having sex with the door wide open, laughing.

Kevin stopped laughing when he saw Debbie walk past the door in the hallway. "Debbie?"

"What?" Veronica asked.

"What?" Kevin asked.

Veronica put Kevin's hands over her breasts, still riding him. "Stay focused."

"Are the Gallaghers in our bathroom?" Kevin asked.

Veronica leaned down closer to him. "I know what you need."

"Huh?" Kevin asked. "Uh-huh." Veronica kissed down Kevin's body, going down on him. Kevin rested his head on his hands. "That's what I'm talking about. Ooh, right there."

Carl walked past their room on the way to the bathroom, but Veronica kicked the door closed, so Kevin didn't see him.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Jackson House - Living Room

Frank was eating breakfast at the table.

Karen was eating breakfast at the counter.

In the kitchen, Sheila was making her own breakfast, glaring over her shoulder at Eddie.

Eddie was pouring himself some coffee.

Everything was tense, awkward and silent.

Eddie walked over to the table, sitting down.

Karen looked over her shoulder at Frank and Eddie, glaring.

Sheila walked closer, placing more eggs down in front of Frank. "Fluffy, fluffy. Yummy."

Frank smiled, laughing lightly.

Sheila took the food that Eddie started to eat away from him, taking the plate to the kitchen.

Eddie licked his finger. "I went to see a lawyer. Yeah, it turns out I can't afford to live somewhere else and support you two." He glanced at Frank. "Three."

"Why can't you stay with Uncle Ray?" Karen snapped.

"He's got gangrene," Eddie replied. "You ever smell a rotting foot?" He held out his coffee mug. "Hey, why don't you get me a refill there, huh, Karen, honey?"

"Why, did you lose your fucking legs?" Karen asked.

Eddie stood, glaring. "That's your teenage diseased mind talking." He walked into the kitchen. "You know, you tasted penii and now you're just crazy."

Sheila coughed.

Eddie poured himself some coffee, going to sit back down, reading the newspaper.

(Song:) Hotter Sweeter - Miss TK & The Revenge

Karen got an idea as she looked at Frank, taking a bite of cereal, before licking the spoon over and over, trying to be seductive and sensual.

Frank realized what she was doing, looking uncomfortable.

(Song Ends)

⫷⑅⫸ 

Fisher-Ball House - Bathroom

Kevin, still naked, was taking a piss, before getting into the tub to take a shower, but immediately jumped back out with a squeal. "Holy shit! That's cold! What the hell? Veronica! There's no hot water." He looked around the bathroom to see a lot of the Gallagher kids' things. "What? Fucking Gallaghers."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Therapist's Office

JJ was sitting in therapy, looking like he wanted to be anywhere other than there, but knowing he made a promise, and he had to do this.

"Hi, JJ," the therapist told him. "I'm Dr. Rhodes. How are you doing?"

JJ shrugged. "I've been better."

Rhodes nodded. "Been better, yeah. I know from your social worker, Anya, that you've been through quite a lot within the last month or so." JJ sighed, nodding. "That you described dark moods where you have no control, sometimes blacking out. When your mood deteriorates, who do you usually go to for support? First thing."

JJ raised his eyebrows. "Jumping right into it, huh? Um, I don't really go to anyone. I tried... well, for a long time, I tried not to go to anyone."

"Why?" Rhodes asked.

"Because it's useless," JJ answered. "They can't help me, so why make them feel bad when they can't?"

Rhodes was not surprised by that. "Okay. You said for a long time. What about now? What's changed?"

JJ gazed off. "Kimberly. My best friend. She, uh, she saw my father beating me in the street. And my father threated our friend Natalia, so we had to tell her, and Lip and Ian. They've, uh..."

"Been trying to help you?" Rhodes finished.

"Yeah," JJ answered. "As much as they can. I still don't like going to them. Or to V and Kev, to be honest."

"Why not?" Rhodes asked.

"Because it's pointless," JJ replied. "It won't change anything. It won't change the emptiness or anger or depression. It won't make me any safer. Hell, it's put us all in more fucking danger. Besides, some other people wouldn't care. They've got their own stuff to deal with. And they should deal with their shit. Let me deal with mine."

Rhodes wrote this down, taking diligent notes. "Why don't you talk to anyone else? See if they can help?"

JJ shook his head. "Because they can't. And I can't trust anyone with this. I can't trust anybody. I couldn't trust anybody with this before, so why would now be any different? What can I actually fucking do? Not a goddamn thing. Same goes for everyone else. It doesn't matter anyway. In the end, I'll be on my own like I always am."

"You think that people always leave?" Rhodes asked.

JJ nodded. "They always do. It's the pattern. My father, my mother, all their different hookups and lovers. Even the ones that said they gave a damn about me. V and Kev are always doing their own thing. They're the best people to take care of me though, even when they do have their own things. But both of them, the Gallaghers, Natalia... after what happened, they've gotta realize that it would be better if they did leave me."

"Why would you think that?" Rhodes asked.

JJ scoffed. "Because it's what anyone else would do. It's what they'll do eventually when they realize just how bad it got. And they realize how fucked I am."

"Why do you think that people always leave?" Rhodes asked.

JJ shrugged. "They don't care. They don't give a shit. They never do. The ones that leave, they don't give a damn about anyone but themselves. Or maybe I'm the problem. Maybe I'm just a too fucked up, unlovable, worthless piece of shit. I've been told that growing up a lot, so... I think it's me."

"You don't seem to think a lot of yourself," Rhodes observed.

JJ shook his head. "No. Hard to after being torn down my whole life, and nearly killed on my birthday, and almost dying another day. Guess two near death experiences got to me. Especially with how people have been treating me since."

"Like what?" Rhodes asked.

"Like I'm breakable and I need to be taken care of and watched constantly, coddled all the damn time," JJ answered, annoyed, frustrated.

"Maybe they don't want to risk another moment like at the swimming hole," Rhodes pointed out. "You did put yourself in a lot of danger."

JJ was still in denial, even after his conversation with Kimberly earlier about this. "I didn't mean to. And just to be clear, I didn't try to kill myself. It was an accident. I got drunk and the ice cracked while my whole fucking world was being turned upside down. Sue me. It doesn't give them the right to treat me like that."

"Is there anything on your part that you could improve on with others?" Rhodes asked.

JJ tilted his head in thought, looking to the side. "No, I don't think so. I think it's everybody else that is treating me like this. Unless I find the right one who's gonna treat me right... I don't know what I'm gonna do."

"So the key to feeling better, getting better, is finding the right person?" Rhodes asked.

JJ shrugged. "Maybe."

Rhodes jotted something down in her notes, clearly already having a strong feeling about what was going on with JJ. "Do you think being alone the way you have has made you feel even worse than you would normally feel?"

JJ thought about it. "Yeah. I guess. It might help the emptiness. The anger. The sadness."

"Is there anyone that does help with that?" Rhodes asked.

JJ nodded. "Kimberly, mostly. But she wants to take care of me too. She's most scared about what could happen."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Rhodes asked.

JJ gave her an 'are you dumb' look. "No. I don't want her to be scared. I want her to be happy. The reason why I didn't tell her anything was because I wanted her to be happy. I wanted all of them to be happy. They have way too much shit going on to deal with mine too. Who could care in comparison? Especially since most of their shit they have to deal with lately is because of my father's shit. And now mine after the swimming hole. I just... I didn't want to put Kimberly through this. I didn't want to put anyone through this."

"And maybe you're holding them away at arms' length for the fear that they would leave instead?" Rhodes asked knowingly.

JJ looked down. "Yeah. I guess. I don't want them to leave. But I don't want them to stay and get hurt if they don't go."

"So do you think that your accident at the swimming hole could have solved that issue?" Rhodes asked. "In your mind."

JJ let out a deep breath. "I don't know. If I was gone, they wouldn't be in danger anymore. They wouldn't get hurt because they wouldn't want to leave. But I don't want to watch them leave if they do ending up leaving, so... maybe yeah. That could've solved it." He looked up defensively. "But I wasn't trying to kill myself."

Rhodes held up a hand harmlessly. "I believe you. Now, some of this, does it seem like you're out of control?"

JJ nodded expressively. "Yes. I feel like I can't control my actions. And that makes me mad. That makes me really angry. So does knowing that I can't control my dad's actions to make him stop. You know, that, what am I supposed to do? So I think acting out... is the only thing that makes me feel in control, I guess. Funny thing, so did going to the swimming hole before. But not anymore, obviously."

"Is there anyone else that you don't think you can trust, besides your father?" Rhodes asked.

"Natalia's father definitely," JJ answered instantly. "The Gallagher father. A lot of other people."

"Anyone close to you?" Rhodes asked.

JJ gazed off, paranoid, but trying not to be. "I hope not. I don't think so, anyway. I'm always looking for signs on if people close by wanna manipulate me or try to like, you know, screw me over, or whatever, so... it's hard to let me guard down now."

Rhodes nodded in understanding. "You're always suspicious."

"Yeah," JJ answered. "Hard not to be after all this shit. I just don't want anything else to happen to my friends. My family. I love them. Without them, I'd be completely alone."

"And does that scare you?" Rhodes asked.

JJ nodded. "Yeah. I guess it does. But not more than the thought that they could end up hurt or dead because of me. It's complicated."

Rhodes glanced over her notes. "I see."

JJ scoffed. "Well, I don't. It's fucking confusing as hell. I just... I hate myself already. I can't live myself if anything happened to them. I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I would do anything, anything, to make sure that nothing happens to them."

"So with all these things going on, all these negative feelings and negative self-image, take this week, today, what's your goal?" Rhodes asked. "What would you change?"

JJ tilted his head back. "I guess I would like to be able to trust people more. Not feel so fucking dark and depressed. Or desperate for all this shit to be over. I mean, that's... I don't know what to do. I don't know how to do that."

Rhodes nodded slightly. "So maybe one place we could start is to ensure that you're accurately assessing what's going on, like what your father's doing, so on. Such as, maybe you have suspicions with a situation where nothing's happening. Maybe before you feel like you reach a limit for your dark, dangerous moods, that maybe you could pause, take a deep breath and document what's going through your mind, and how to stop it, control it, to put yourself back in control."

JJ raised his head. "That's what I did with Post-It notes. That helped for a long time. Lately it wasn't really enough."

Rhodes nodded in acknowledgement. "Well, I would assume not after two near death experiences. Do you think maybe that you could go back to doing those Post-Its?"

JJ thought about it, nodding. "Yeah. I think so."

"So each time you want to confront someone, or you feel like lashing out, write down what you're thinking, and don't confront anyone, and try not to lash out," Rhodes advised. "So hold off on the behavior, focus your energy on writing down your thoughts."

JJ rolled his eyes. "I've been doing that for years. It's hard."

"It is hard, yeah," Rhodes agreed. "But you've proven that doing the difficult thing can help you with the most important things. Do you think that you doing that for years could have kept you stable enough to where you didn't lash out dangerously before?"

JJ sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess."

"So it would be a very good idea to go back to that," Rhodes pointed out. "I know that sometimes, it feels like the emotion kind of takes charge."

JJ snorted. "Understatement. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm doing. I just... I find myself lashing out or doing something stupid. Like 'what am I doing?' You know?"

Rhodes nodded. "Yeah, the emotions are powerful. However, I'd like to be able to get these thoughts. I think that you proved before there's a way to improve your mood if we can find out how these thoughts are working and maybe try to make some adjustments there. I know it's difficult and I know the emotions are hard to control for you. You think it's something you can start again with this week? So whenever you find yourself about to do something that's maybe going to be reckless and dangerous, write down at that point what you're thinking."

JJ thought about it for a moment. "Okay. I can do that."

Rhodes gave a small smile. "Maybe you can channel some energy there and not act out on that and it's also something we can take a look at in session next time and review those thoughts. See what we find. See if we find patterns. That helped you before, yes?"

"Did it a little differently, but yeah," JJ answered.

"Great then," Rhodes told him.

"Doc?" JJ asked. "What's wrong with me? You've been taking notes like crazy and you have this look like you know what's wrong."

"It's a theory," Rhodes admitted. "And I would like to continue talking for the rest of the hour, and I will share this theory with you at the end, to be sure that I am right beforehand. How does that sound?"

"That sounds... good," JJ answered.

Rhodes gave a small smile. "Good."

JJ tilted his head. "Though I do have a question. It's about Kimberly's little sister, Zia."

Rhodes looked at him in confusion.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - The Girls' Room

Zia was back in bed, trying to sleep, once again having another nightmare.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Zia's Nightmare

Night - Street

Zia knew that as soon as she appeared back on the street where the drive by happened, she was having a nightmare, sitting down on a bench, wrapping her arms around her knees, leaning her head against her arms, whispering to herself. "Go. Just go."

Micah walked closer. "I can't. I'm going to be with you forever, a constant reminder. So tell me, how do you feel now? Do you feel anything?" Zia looked up, nodding. "You're lying." Zia shook her head. "Yes, you are. You know that you can't feel a thing. And whenever you do, the feeling goes away as soon as it appears. And it all feels so faded and distant. Untouchable. Nothing like how it used to be. You think you can stay silent with me like with everyone else? You're not talking because you see me, asleep or awake. But you can't stay quiet forever, Zia. Tell the truth."

Zia, feeling a burst of sadness and desperation but anger, lashed out, unable to help it. "Fine! I can't feel anything. I don't know what's real! I just hurt. And feel nothing. Like you said. Dead inside. Are you happy?"

'I'm not happy, Zia," Micah told her. "I'm dead. No one can be happy with that. Not my brother Malcolm. No one else can be happy with what happened to you and your friends and family. Why did you just sit and watch me die?"

Zia shook her head, looking down. "Don't."

"I'm not going to stop, Zia," Micah told her. "Because deep down inside, you think that you let me die. And that maybe you deserve the same. At least then people would stop worrying about you. And you will stop feeling pain."

Zia shook her head with tears in her eyes, holding her head in her hands. "No. I'm not going to let you do this to me."

Micah shrugged. "Then get rid of me. Only one way to do that. If I deserved to die, then shouldn't you too?"

"You didn't deserve it," Zia whispered brokenly, crying.

"But you think you do," Micah replied.

Zia tried to wake herself up, rocking back and forth.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Reality

Day - Gallagher House - The Girls' Room

Zia gasped awake slightly. She was crying, in a cold sweat from her nightmare, but she wasn't as bad off as she was in 1.03 after her nightmare, since Micah hadn't "attacked" her in her nightmare, but she wasn't good by any means.

Zia looked around, seeing that she was alone in the room, standing, walking out of the room.

⫷⑅⫸

Hallway 

Zia walked toward the stairs that led to the kitchen, about to head down.

Debbie was in the foyer, about to head upstairs, but making sure that Zia was going downstairs before she did, making sure Zia didn't see her.

⫷⑅⫸

Kitchen 

Fiona was cleaning up the kitchen.

Steve made his way in through the backdoor with a cup of coffee.

"Well, look at you letting yourself into people's houses," Fiona remarked.

Steve held up the coffee. "Tall grande latte, two shots."

"Sugar?" Fiona asked.

"Absolutely," Steve answered. Fiona reached for the coffee, taking a drink. "Kids home?"

"Kimberly, Ian and Lip are getting a water heater with Natalia," Fiona answered. "Debbie's at the park. Carl's out looking for defenseless pets to torture, and Liam's down for a nap. Zia too." Steve frowned. Fiona nodded. "Yeah, she hasn't been sleeping well at all since Micah died, everything with JJ."

"I wouldn't be either," Steve pointed out.

"Yeah," Fiona agreed. "But, uh... it's more than that. You know most of what she was going through before, since you were here when we were talking about it, but, uh... now she's shut down, not talking. Maybe it's to do with JJ almost dying again. Hell, I saw Natalia talking to Micah's brother Malcolm who just moved in next door, and Malcolm could be a reminder about Micah and that's why Zia shut down? I have no clue."

Steve stood behind Fiona, resting his hands on her waist. "You need to relax. A break."

Fiona brushed Steve off, stepping away. "No. I'm up to my ass in housework."

"That's why I'm taking you to a long, deep, leisurely lunch," Steve told her.

"Lunch?" Fiona repeated skeptically.

Steve tilted his head. "It's a euphemism."

"How quaint," Fiona said sarcastically, going around cleaning.

"Or would you like a demon dog and a quick fuck over at the Sheridan?" Steve asked.

"What about Zia and Liam?" Fiona asked.

"Ask JJ or Natalia to watch them," Steve told her. "They're both usually around."

Fiona gave him a look. "Natalia's with..."

Steve remembered what she just told him. "Kimberly, Ian and Lip, right."

"And JJ's at therapy after he almost died again," Fiona explained. "It's part of his deal to try and get adopted by Kev and V instead of going to some random foster home."

"Uh, you said Micah's brother Malcolm just moved in next door," Steve suggested.

"Malcolm might be the reason why Z stopped talking," Fiona replied. "Not happening."

"Then get another sitter," Steve told her.

Fiona shook her head. "Costs too much."

"How much?" Steve asked.

"At least 50 bucks," Fiona answered. Steve took out 50 bucks, putting it on the counter. Fiona gave him a look, a hand on her hip. "You're not paying me to fuck you."

Steve shook his head. "No, I couldn't pay you enough."

They started to kiss.

Fiona pulled away when she heard a noise. "Did you hear that?"

"No," Steve answered.

"You didn't hear that?" Fiona asked.

"You trying to change the subject?" Steve asked. This time, they both heard footsteps. "Liam?"

Fiona shook his head. "He's too lazy to get out of his crib. He just yells."

Zia walked down the kitchen stairs after waking up.

Steve and Fiona looked toward her.

"Hi, Zia," Steve greeted. "How are you?"

Zia looked at Steve blankly, having no reaction to seeing him, walking past the sink, climbing up onto the footstool so that she could turn on the water, splashing her face.

Steve looked at Zia, then at Fiona.

Fiona shrugged. "I told you." In a brief, mini stupor, as Zia looked down, she saw blood in the sink, gasping, backing away, nearly falling off the footstool. Fiona steadied Zia. "Hey, hey, you're okay."

When Fiona touched Zia, Zia snapped out of it, and looked into the sink, of course only seeing water instead of her mini hallucination.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked.

Zia shook her head desperately, walking into the living room.

Fiona and Steve exchanged a confused, concerned look, following her.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Living Room

Zia sat down outside of Liam's playpen, who was asleep, looking at him sadly.

Steve and Fiona walked into the room.

"Zia, what was that?" Steve asked.

Zia looked at Liam.

Fiona brushed a hand over Zia's hair. "Hey, you okay?" Zia looked up at Fiona silently. Zia, Fiona and Steve all looked toward the stairs when they heard footsteps again. Fiona looked at Steve. "You stay with Zia and Liam."

"Wait, wait, wait," Steve told her.

(Song:) You Got It Wrong - Brendan McKinney & The 99 Brown Dogs

Zia stood, walking toward the stairs.

Fiona tried to stop her, but knowing that she wouldn't stop. "Hey, no."

Zia grabbed the bat off the wall, slowly stepping upstairs, paranoid.

Fiona followed, making her way in front of Zia protectively.

Steve followed while holding Liam, whispering to Zia. "Hey, hey, you take the baby, I'll take the bat."

Zia just glared at Steve, raising the bat, pointing the bat at Steve's crotch, reminding him of when she punched him there in 1.02.

Steve backed off.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Upstairs Hallway

Fiona, Zia and Steve made their way upstairs.

Fiona tried to take the bat from Zia.

Zia held the bat tightly in return, not willing to let go, like she needed to feel some form of control and safety after everything that happened.

Fiona took the hint and let go.

They made their way down the hallway toward where they heard the noises.

When the girls' door opened, Zia swung the bat, just as Debbie walked out of the room.

(Song Ends)

Fiona caught the bat before Zia could hit Debbie.

Debbie jumped.

Steve jumped. "Debbie, Jesus."

Zia frowned, since clearly she had not known that Debbie was back before this.

Fiona sighed in relief. "I thought you went to the park."

"I came back," Debbie replied.

"Are you okay?" Fiona asked.

Debbie looked down. "Katie Crasden's having a party."

Zia was still holding the bat close, tightly.

Fiona knelt next to Zia and Debbie to look them both in the eye, taking the bat from Zia, placing it down on the floor. "Katie Crasden?"

Debbie nodded. "Two streets over."

"And she didn't invite you?" Steve asked, kneeling down next to Fiona, Zia and Debbie with Liam in his arms still, placing him down on the floor.

Debbie shook her head. "She's only three."

"What happened?" Fiona asked.

"Well, I was just walking past and her dad, he..." Debbie trailed off.

Zia sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall, gazing off desolately.

"Her dad did what?" Fiona asked.

"He was laughing and playing with them," Debbie stated. "And it just... just wasn't fair."

Fiona and Steve both looked concerned, fearing something far worse than what Debbie was implying.

Fiona stood. "What wasn't fair? What?"

"Everything," Debbie answered. "So I, um..." Steve stood. "I stole something."

Fiona and Steve both sighed in relief.

Steve looked away. "Oh."

Fiona placed a hand on Debbie's shoulder. "So nobody touched you?"

Zia frowned in confusion.

Debbie pulled a face. "What?"

Fiona wrapped her arms around Debbie. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Liam could sense Zia's distress even if she couldn't tell what she was feeling herself, crawling closer to sit next to Zia, reaching out to her, saying gibberish.

The baby gibberish caused Debbie, Fiona and Steve to look at Zia and Liam, seeing Liam reaching out for Zia.

Zia looked up at Liam, managing the barest little smile, as she reached out for Liam, taking him in her arms, holding him close, leaning her head on Liam's, as Liam leaned his head on Zia's shoulder.

Fiona and Steve managed small smiles at that.

Debbie looked nervous, like she was about to be busted.

To Zia, Fiona and Steve's surprise, they heard the babbling of another child from inside the girls' room.

"Debbie?" Fiona asked. Debbie looked away. Fiona opened the girls' room door. Steve walked closer to look into the room. Zia crawled across the floor to look into the room. Inside the girls' room, a small baby boy was dressed up as a girl, sitting in one of Liam's baby holder toys. The baby grinned, giggling. Fiona looked at Debbie. "Who the hell is that?"

Zia looked up at Debbie in confusion.

Debbie looked away.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Jackson House - Outside

The house across the street from the Jackson house, the house that was holding the birthday party, was now a crime scene, as cops were here looking for the missing child.

Frank walked toward the Jackson house with a bottle of pills, having no idea what was going on, coming to a stop when he saw another police car pull up. "Oh, here we go. No traffic tickets to issue today? No one to pull over for swinging wide on a left hand turn? Or is this a supportive friend party for a cop who shot some poor fucker who wasn't even armed? Leave the people around here alone. They're good folks."

Tony walked up to the crowd of people outside at the party. "Who are the parents? Let's go, people. Out of the way. Your child's missing? I need your names and the name of the child."

"Uh, Beth and Gary Casden," the father answered.

"Mr. and Mrs. Casden, when was the last time you saw..." Tony trailed off.

"Uh, Casey," Beth answered.

"It's been about an hour ago," Gary answered.

Tony wrote this down. "Okay. Uh, what was he wearing?"

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - The Girls' Room

Zia was sitting next to Casey Casden.

Fiona, Steve and Debbie stood behind her.

"Debbie..." Fiona trailed off. "Why would you steal a little girl?" She took off the hat, realizing that it was actually a boy. "Why would you steal a little boy and dress him like a little girl?"

Casey was happily gibbering away, giggling.

Zia frowned.

"I wanted a girl, but there weren't any," Debbie admitted.

"Wha--" Fiona started. "Then back to my initial question. Why would you steal a baby at all?"

"I miss Ginger," Debbie replied.

"What?" Fiona asked.

"Who?" Steve asked.

Debbie glared at Fiona. "You took away Aunt Ginger."

Zia looked up at Debbie.

"Who is Aunt Ginger?" Steve asked.

Fiona ran a hand over her forehead, mouth open in shock. "Somebody we borrowed from V's nursing home."

"What?" Steve asked.

"She was my friend," Debbie said sadly. "She was Zia's friend too. Maybe part of the reason why Z stopped talking is because Ginger's gone. I mean, other than Micah." Zia looked down. Debbie sat next to Zia on the floor in front of Casey. "I know you've been seeing Micah in your dreams and dazes, so I thought maybe this could help distract you."

Zia looked at Debbie, frowning with a slight evident emotion of curiosity in her features.

Fiona looked between Zia and Debbie, completely stunned, but pointed at Casey. "We have to take him back right away, okay? Where are his boy clothes?"

Debbie looked up at Fiona. "I washed them."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Kitchen

Zia, Debbie, Fiona and Steve were now in the kitchen.

Fiona hurriedly took out Casey's Superman costume from the dryer. "Oh, my God. It shrunk. You put it in the dryer?"

"That's what you do after you wash something," Debbie told them.

"Um..." Steve trailed off. "We can put him in some of Liam's clothes."

Fiona gave him a look. "We can't bring a missing kid back wearing different clothes. I mean, people will say we did something to him. Something bad."

Fiona kicked the dryer closed, sighing, walking away.

Zia sat down at the table, gazing around numbly.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Rhodes' Office

JJ was finishing up his session with Dr. Rhodes.

"Borderline personality disorder," Rhodes explained. "It's not uncommon."

"What causes it?" JJ asked.

"We're not really sure," Rhodes admitted.

"Is it genetic?" JJ asked.

Rhodes nodded. "It is five times more common among those with a borderline parent, yes."

JJ frowned. "And, uh, what is borderline personality disorder exactly?"

"It's an instability of self-image, relationships and mood," Rhodes answered. "Uncertainty about goals, impulsive in activities that are self-damaging. Social contrariness and a generally pessimistic attitude are often observed. Suspicions about people around you, fear of abandonment, and severe anger issues can all be prime factors in the diagnosis."

JJ took that in, nodding. "Huh. That is me. Tell me something I don't know. Just to be clear though, I'm not gonna take any meds. I should just tell you that right now."

"You have to take medicine," Rhodes told him.

JJ shook his head. "No, I'm not gonna take any medicine. They make me foggy."

"JJ..." Rhodes trailed off.

"I don't want any meds," JJ told him. "Look, I am not the explosion guy, okay? My father is the explosion guy. I'm not that guy. I had one incident."

"One incident can change a lifetime," Rhodes pointed out.

"I almost died, okay?" JJ asked. "I was shot the fuck down on my birthday and almost died. My friends were shot at. Zia just lost her best friend to this shoot out. And I come back home and go to school and everyone's looking at me like I'm the freak, and one guy won't leave me alone about it. So yeah, I snapped. I almost beat him to death. Now I get fucking chastised for it? I'm parallel to my father? I don't think so."

"This isn't just about what happened with him," Rhodes pointed out. "You know what happened to you after."

JJ sighed, looking down. "So I took off and got drunk and fell through the ice."

"Because you were standing on the ice," Rhodes went on. "At a time when the ice would start to become weaker. Fell into freezing temperatures and almost drowned. You had to be saved by your friends."

JJ looked away. "Kimberly and Lip."

"You don't want your friends to go through something like that again, do you?" Rhodes asked.

JJ shook his head. "That won't happen again."

Rhodes sighed. "Let me at least write the prescription for you and let Veronica and Kevin know. Yes?"

JJ rolled his eyes, but nodded in agreement. "Oh, and, uh... thanks. For what you said about Zia."

"I can't give any official advice without seeing her myself," Rhodes pointed out. "And this time is to talk about your mental health."

"I know," JJ agreed. "I'll figure the rest out. But... thanks."

Rhodes nodded.

⫷⑅⫸

 On the Road

A cop car drove down the road.

Tony's partner spoke through a radio hand set that caused his voice to boom out through the speakers of the car. "Attention, this is the Chicago--attention, this is--"

Tony was trying to show him the controls since clearly he didn't know. "Push--"

"I know what to push," his partner replied. "Attention, this is--"

Tony pulled the radio piece away from him. "No, no."

"What are you doing?" his partner asked.

"We have to get the information out," Tony pointed out.

"Then let me drive," his partner told him.

"No," Tony replied.

"Look, I've been a cop a lot longer than you," his partner told him. "You don't get to drive and talk on the loudspeaker."

"What, are you gonna call your uncle?" Tony asked, using the loudspeaker. "Attention, this is the Chicago Police Department. We are looking for a missing two year old..."

⫷⑅⫸ 

House - Outside

Natalia, Lip, Kimberly and Ian were standing outside the house for the wake to get the water heater.

"So we're just gonna wait out here?" Natalia asked.

"He's a chain smoking pothead in a stress inducing situation," Lip remarked, seeing a guy letting people in for the wake. "He'll be out soon."

"What are we supposed to say?" Ian asked.

"I don't know," Kimberly admitted. "Just play it cool."

"Play what cool?" Ian asked.

Natalia, Lip and Kimberly looked at Ian.

"Things people play cool," Lip answered. "Jesus, Ian."

Natalia smirked, looking at the house, letting the smirk fade. "I've had enough of wakes for a while."

Kimberly, Lip and Ian nodded in agreement.

Kimberly swallowed, looking down.

"You okay, Kimberly?" Ian asked.

"Not really," Kimberly answered.

"JJ?" Ian asked. "Things look pretty tense between you two."

"Yeah," Kimberly agreed. "Well, uh... he's spiraling and lashing out and can't control it. He's snapped at me twice but immediately realized what was happening and felt so bad for it and won't stop apologizing for it. The whiplash is making me dizzy."

"Can't really blame him after everything that happened," Natalia pointed out. "Plus whatever else is going on with him."

"I'm not blaming him," Kimberly told them. "I just... I just want him to get better. I... almost seeing him die twice... it's just really..."

"Fucking with you," Ian finished.

Kimberly nodded.

"It's gonna be okay, Kimberly," Lip told her.

Kimberly let out a deep sigh. "Yeah. Hope so. Can't risk almost losing him again."

Natalia put a hand on Kimberly's arm. "You won't. We'll all make sure of it. And we'll make sure Zia gets better too. And hopefully none of this shit keeps happening."

Kimberly, Lip and Ian nodded sadly.

Natalia put an arm around Kimberly comfortingly, and Kimberly sighed, leaning her head against Natalia's shoulder.

Lip and Ian smiled slightly at that.

A cellphone rang, and Lip pulled it out.

"You got your own cell?" Ian asked.

"Nah, some kid left it in the cafeteria," Lip answered, causing the other three to smirk. Lip answered the phone, walking away from Natalia, Kimberly and Ian to talk. "Hey, Kar."

Natalia rolled her eyes. "Skanky meow mix."

Kimberly smirked slightly. "Looks like you also need to put away the claws."

"Yeah, I will when she does," Natalia replied.

Ian raised his eyebrows. "What happened?"

Natalia shook her head. "Nothing important."

A few feet away and not hearing what they said, Lip spoke into the phone. "I'm at some dead lady's house trying to see if I can score a water heater. Meet me after?"

Natalia and Kimberly rolled their eyes.

Ian smirked slightly at their reaction, shaking his head. "Be nice."

"He deserves better, that's all I'm saying," Kimberly said.

Natalia nodded. "Mm."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Malcolm's House - Outside

Malcolm was sitting alone outside.

JJ just got home, walking up toward his own home, when he saw Malcolm outside on his porch, walking over. "Don't you ever get fucking cold sitting out here all the time?"

"I don't sit out here all the time," Malcolm replied. "Only when I'm smoking."

"Which is 90 percent of the time," JJ replied.

Malcolm shrugged, putting out his cigarette. "Guilty as charged. Um, how'd it go?"

"About as well as can be expected," JJ answered.

"They give you anything helpful?" Malcolm asked.

"Maybe," JJ answered. "Not sure if it'll work though. Some diagnosis that I really don't wanna get into right now."

Malcolm nodded in understanding.

Fiona and Zia walked out of their house, across Malcolm's path toward the Fisher-Ball house on the other side.

Zia was holding Casey as they walked, who was wearing some of Liam's clothes.

"Hey, JJ, are Kev and V home?" Fiona asked.

"I think V is," JJ answered. "Not sure about Kev. Just got home."

"Okay, cool," Fiona replied, glancing at Malcolm uneasily, looking down at Zia.

Zia looked up at JJ and Malcolm, who both looked concerned when they saw her.

"Hey, Zia," Malcolm told her.

Zia nodded barely in acknowledgement.

"You doing okay?" JJ asked.

Zia shrugged barely, looking down at Casey in her arms.

"Who's the baby?" Malcolm asked.

"Uh, long story," Fiona replied. She looked at JJ. "We just need to talk to V."

Fiona took Casey from Zia, taking Zia's hand to lead her away, walking toward the Fisher-Ball house

Zia waved barely to Malcolm in bye with her other hand.

Malcolm waved back.

JJ walked with Zia, Fiona and Casey.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Fisher-Ball House - Living Room

JJ opened the front door, walking in, calling out. "Hey, V?"

Veronica called out. "I'm in the bathroom."

Fiona let go of Zia's hand as she walked into the bathroom with Casey. "Hey, I'm in a bit of a jam. Can you two watch him for 15 minutes?"

"Damn, Fi," Veronica said. "You see I'm in the middle of--"

Fiona didn't wait for a response. "Thanks."

Fiona walked out of the bathroom, pulling Zia with her.

Zia pulled her hand free from Fiona's for a second so that she could give Casey a kiss on the head, before leaving the bathroom with Fiona.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Okay, sure." She turned around, pulling up her hair. "Hey, Li--" She was confused when she saw Casey. "You're not Liam. Who the fuck are you?"

JJ and Veronica exchanged a confused look.

JJ held up a finger. "Uno momento."

⫷⑅⫸

 Living Room

JJ walked toward Fiona and Zia. "What the hell's going on?"

Zia looked up at Fiona.

Fiona shook her head. "Part of the long story I said to Malcolm."

"Uh, I'm not staying here watching a baby," JJ told her. "I gotta talk to you guys about what my shrink said about..."

JJ glanced at Zia.

Fiona frowned in confusion. "Shrink said about what?"

JJ realized that Kimberly didn't tell Fiona that she was asking JJ to ask Rhodes about Zia, frowning, pursing his lips. "Uh, long story. We'll swap stories. Come on."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Outside

Fiona, Zia and JJ walked out of the Fisher-Ball house.

Steve walked out of the Gallagher house, where Debbie was still inside watching Liam.

Tony drove his car up to them. "Hey, Fiona."

"Hey, Tony," Fiona replied.

Tony nodded to JJ. "JJ, nice to see you out and about."

"Yeah, thanks," JJ replied.

Tony glanced down at Zia. "Hi, Zia."

Zia just glared at the cops in the car, causing Tony and his partner to become uncomfortable.

JJ smirked slightly in amusement.

Steve was smug that he wasn't the only one that could be creeped out by Zia when she did that.

Fiona put a hand on Zia's back to get her to stop, gesturing to Steve. "You remember Steve."

Tony was not amused by Steve's presence. "Yeah. How's it going? Uh, hear about the missing boy?"

JJ frowned in confusion. "No. What happened?"

Fiona, Zia and Steve glanced at each other, acting confused.

"Got taken from a birthday party," Tony answered.

"Think he might have just wandered off?" Fiona asked.

Tony shook his head. "We got everybody out looking. Choppers, SWAT, couple extra units, Amber alerts."

Zia raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Wow, really?" Fiona asked, realizing how badly this was spiraling out of control.

"We're gonna catch the bastard that took Casey and chop his pedophile nuts off," Tony told them.

Zia's eyes widened slightly, looking down.

JJ placed a hand on Zia's shoulder. "Yeah, I think we get the picture. See ya, Tony."

Tony drove off with his partner.

Zia glared after the cop car, flipping it off.

Fiona pushed Zia's hand down lightly. "Now you show emotion? Really?"

Zia glanced at Fiona before looking away up at the sky, seeing the choppers in the sky like Tony said.

Fiona, Steve and JJ followed her gaze.

JJ turned to face Fiona, Steve and Zia. "Tell me that the little blonde boy that you guys left with V is not that missing kid."

Fiona and Steve exchanged a look, sighing.

Zia made a slight face, looking down sheepishly, still mostly numb.

"Uh..." Steve trailed off.

JJ rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me. What the hell?"

"Debbie," Fiona answered. "I'll explain later. For now, can you just watch Zia, Debbie and Liam at the house? Carl should be back soon too."

JJ shrugged. "I guess, yeah." He held out his hand toward Zia. "Come on, Z." Zia took JJ's hand, looking up at him with worry in her eyes given everything that happened. JJ knew why she had that look, assuring about both of them, and the situation. "Yeah, everything's gonna be okay."

JJ led Zia back to the house.

Fiona sighed heavily, looking at Steve.

Steve shook his head slightly.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Jackson House - Living Room

Frank was watching the news from a chair.

Woman: (on TV) "Less than two hours ago, a young boy only 2 years of age was abducted from his front yard."

Frank pointed at the TV. "You see this? This is what happens when the world goes crazy. People steal kids. And Rastafarians are allowed to roam free. I don't mean real Rastafarians. I mean Rastaman Goldbergs from Lake Forest with rich parents who get dropped off in town cars and then go beg for money on the streets. What a load of crap." Sheila was in the kitchen, making muffins. Eddie walked out of the basement, into the kitchen. "Obama-Care my ass! What the news people don't tell you, they love it when kids get stolen, or killed like Zia's friend. That drive by with my kids, JJ and Natalia? Whoo, the news had a hay day with that. They're just looking for a good story to saturate our airwaves with. And why are all the news ladies Chinese? They should stick to what they know. Railroads, sushi and dim sum."

Eddie walked into the living room with a small silver box.

Sheila walked in with a plate of muffins. "Frank. Guess what? I made muffins using a bunt cake batter. I didn't even need to add another egg." Karen walked in through the back door, holding a shopping bag. Sheila walked toward Karen. "Hi, sweetie."

"The shithead gone?" Karen asked.

"He just left for work," Sheila replied.

Eddie called from the foyer. "I'm still here." He peaked around the corner to look at them. "I'm just getting my coat."

"I just had some delicious penii," Karen told him mockingly.

"What?" Sheila asked.

Eddie just gave Karen a disgusted look, ducking back into the foyer, pulling on his jacket.

Frank was still watching the news. "Little Casey up the street. Gone missing right from his own backyard."

Karen clicked her tongue, not showing a reaction. "Hmm. That's terrible."

Karen walked toward the stairs, putting her bags down on the floor, kneeling down to sort through them, intentionally exposing her sparkly pink thong to Frank.

Frank looked over at Karen. "You missed--"

Frank came up short when he noticed what Karen was doing.

Karen looked over her shoulder at Frank with a smirk, slowly standing with a groan, extending her ass completely toward Frank as she did.

Frank looked away, not sure how to react to this, picking up a muffin to eat.

⫷⑅⫸ 

On the Road - Steve's Car

Steve was driving his car back toward the Gallagher house.

Fiona was looking at three different sizes of the costume that Casey had been in when Debbie took him. "I wasn't sure what size, so I bought three just in case." She looked out the window, seeing Kimberly, Natalia, Ian and Lip rolling the water heater down the street. "Oh, slow down."

"What?" Steve asked.

"Stop the car," Fiona told him. She called out to Kimberly, Natalia, Lip and Ian. "Hey! Hey."

Kimberly, Natalia, Lip and Ian looked over at them.

"Hey, almost new," Lip said.

"Debbie stole a baby," Fiona explained. "We have to return it."

Ian frowned, looking over his shoulder at Kimberly, Natalia and Lip, who were all just as confused and stunned.

"Debbie stole a baby?" Lip repeated.

"Yeah," Steve answered.

"Why?" Ian asked.

Fiona shrugged. "It's Debbie."

Natalia put a hand to her head, raising her eyebrows. "I did not see that coming."

"Um, can't we just give it back?" Kimberly asked.

"I wish we could," Steve told them. "It's too late now."

"Wow," Kimberly said.

"JJ's watching Zia, Debbie and Liam now," Fiona explained. "Find Carl and get home now."

"Yeah," Lip agreed.

Steve and Fiona drove off.

Kimberly, Natalia, Ian and Lip started to wheel the water heater faster, each one calling out. "Carl!"

⫷⑅⫸ 

Fisher-Ball House - Bathroom

Veronica was playing around with Casey.

Kevin walked in, about to take a piss.

Veronica reached out to stop him since Casey was right there. "Kev, stop."

Kevin glanced down at Casey, not seeing his head since his hoodie was up. "What's Liam doing here?"

Veronica lowered the hoodie down to show Kevin who it was. "It's not Liam."

"Who the hell is that?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know," Veronica admitted. "Fiona dropped him off. She asked JJ to watch Zia, Debbie, Carl and Liam while she had to deal with something, and Kimberly, Lip and Ian are out with Natalia getting a new water heater, so I don't know what the fuck's going on."

They heard Tony's voice in the distance, on the cop loudspeaker as he drove through the block. "Attention, all residents. There's a child still missing. Approximately 2 years of age and wearing a Superman costume."

Veronica and Kevin both realized, looking at each other in shock, incredulous.

Kevin was not amused in the least. "Fucking Gallaghers."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Jackson House - Outside

Frank was speaking to people outside. "When I was a kid, we could go to a birthday party." Sheila peaked her head out of the window of her house, holding out a tray of muffins. Frank grabbed the tray to hand out muffins tp a few officers. "And our parents wouldn't worry that we were gonna get stolen out of the front yard by some perv. Or when drive bys weren't just waved away when a kid dies on the street. Six of my kids were involved in that drive by, and three of there friends. One of the friends died, and are you guys doing anything about it? No. What happened to the time when America had values? Before Walmart, Dukakis, peanut butter and jelly in one jar." He pointed to one of the officers. "You know, you're too young to remember this, but there was a time when policemen were respected." Some other people took muffins. "When young men wanted to fight for their country. When you could go vote  twice for Mayor Daley down at the 11th Ward. Before some liberal pricks elected a Muslim who isn't even American."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - Kitchen

Now, all the Gallagher kids, JJ, Natalia, Fiona and Steve were in the kitchen.

Zia was in the living room with Liam.

Fiona gave Kimberly a look. "You told JJ to ask his shrink about Zia?"

"Yeah, because she's going through literal hell and we can't do anything to help her if you refuse to ask," Kimberly answered.

Ian held out a hand to prevent any arguing. "Okay. JJ, what did Rhodes say?"

"There's nothing physically wrong with her," JJ explained.

Lip sat down. "Okay, so why isn't she talking?"

"We're not sure," JJ admitted. "But she thinks it's something called selective mutism. It's a type of anxiety disorder."

"So she's choosing not to talk?" Carl asked.

JJ sighed. "It's not as simple as that. It's, um, it's more like it's a coping mechanism, with what happened in the drive by, and everything she's been going through since then."

"You mean the zone outs, episodes, seeing Micah in her nightmares and daydreams, acting like the walking dead, and not knowing what's real or not?" Ian asked. "Not shocking that this happened too."

They all knew that Ian was right.

"So what are we supposed to do then?" Debbie asked.

"Just be patient," JJ answered. "Do our best to keep her stress level down."

"You do realize it's called post-traumatic stress disorder for a reason, right?" Kimberly asked.

"And a lot of good trying to keep the stress down is gonna do when we're dealing with Debbie stealing a baby," Lip added.

Debbie frowned. "Is there anything Carl and I can do? To help Zia, I mean. Besides making sure the other kids don't make fun of her."

The others looked at Carl and Debbie, raising their eyebrows.

"Are they making fun of her?" Natalia asked.

"Not in front of us, not after I kicked Barry's ass when Liam was with us at school," Carl answered.

"But we are in different grades," Debbie pointed out. "And we can't be there all the time to help her. And I know for sure that other kids have been picking on her."

"They did it when Micah was alive, but he always shut them down, like he did with Barry," Carl explained. "But now that he's gone, and not in her class, and she's not standing up for herself right now..."

Fiona, Kimberly, Lip and Ian looked really worried, all of them upset.

Natalia and JJ exchanged a look, equally worried.

"I'm gonna deck some little bitches if they don't back off of her," Kimberly told them.

"Count me in for that," Natalia told her.

Ian and Lip raised their eyebrows. "Yeah."

JJ raised his hand in agreement. "I'm in."

Fiona gave Kimberly, Natalia, Ian, Lip and JJ a look. "No. Look, it's gonna be okay. I think we just need to give her some time to figure out all the stuff she's feeling inside."

"How can she figure it out if she can't feel anything?" Natalia asked.

No one knew the answer.

Fiona frowned. "What about Malcolm being next door, reminding her constantly of Micah? Could that be the reason why she's not talking?"

"I highly doubt that, since Zia's the one that told Malcolm about the house in the first place," Lip answered.

Fiona frowned in surprise.

"Wait, really?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, Zia told Malcolm at Micah's wake, hoping to help him," Natalia answered.

JJ gave Fiona a look. "Besides, did you not see Zia waving at Malcolm earlier? Malcolm's not the problem. And he just lost his brother. Give him some slack."

Fiona looked down.

Zia walked into the kitchen, holding Liam in her arms.

Carl noticed Zia first. "Uh..."

They all followed Carl's gaze to Zia and Liam.

"Hey, Zia," Ian told her. "We, uh, just..."

"So, uh..." Carl trailed off.

Zia watched as they were all struggling to find something else to talk about without overwhelming her.

Fiona gestured to the kids to talk about something else.

Ian was struggling for words. "You're more quiet than usual, Carl."

"Not as quiet as Zia," Carl said. They all gave Carl a look. Zia looked up. "I'm just kidding."

Zia lowered her gaze.

Kimberly reached over to cup Zia's chin. "I do miss your sweet, sweet voice." Zia managed a barely visible smile. Kimberly quickly turned to Debbie. "We need to get your story straight for the police, Debs. Why did you take the boy?"

"He was crying for his mom and his mom wasn't around," Debbie said.

"Did you try to find his mom?" Natalia asked.

"No, he was crying and nobody cared," Debbie replied. "So I took him."

"You can't say that," Fiona snapped incredulously. "What's wrong with you?"

Kimberly held a hand out, knowing that reaction wasn't helping anything. "Hey, Fi."

Zia looked down, at Liam down in her arms.

"Debs, was he inside or outside of the yard when you grabbed him?" Lip asked.

"Inside," Debbie answered.

"Okay, so how did you get him out?" Lip asked.

"I waved a Snickers bar at him," Debbie answered.

"Fuck me," JJ muttered under his breath, putting a hand to his head.

Kimberly glanced at JJ, running a hand back through her hair. "Oh, my God."

"Did anybody see you?" Ian asked.

"I don't think so," Debbie answered. "We just ran."

"That wasn't suspicious," Natalia remarked sarcastically.

"So you were running down the street?" Ian asked.

"I used a stroller," Debbie explained.

"What stroller?" Fiona asked.

"Liam's old one," Debbie answered.

"The one I told you to throw out?" Fiona asked.

Debbie gave a smile. "I fixed it. For emergencies."

Everyone was overwhelmed, knowing how screwed they were if they couldn't figure out a way to fix this.

When they heard a banging on the back door, they were even more anxious and paranoid, the sound making Zia jump.

Carl noticed Zia jumping. "It's okay."

They heard Veronica calling from outside. "Open up! Hurry!"

They all sighed in relief.

"Shit," Lip said.

JJ stood, walking toward the backdoor, opening the door.

Veronica and Kevin walked in with Casey, who was in a laundry basket, covered with a blanket.

"What the hell is going on?" Veronica asked.

"Is this that missing kid?" Kevin asked.

"Debbie stole him," Kimberly explained. "And now we have to figure out how to give him back without getting her in juvie."

Kevin put down the laundry basket, taking the blanket off of Casey.

"Why in the world would she steal--" Veronica started.

Fiona gave Veronica a look, so Veronica stopped.

Kevin walked toward the window, looking outside. "There must be a couple hundred cops out there."

"Nice to know they finally do something when it comes to kids," Natalia remarked, glancing at Zia.

Zia nodded barely in agreement, looking down sadly. Liam looked up at Zia. Zia kissed Liam's head.

JJ looked from Kevin to Veronica. "I know, I'm sorry. I didn't know about this until after we left the house, V."

"Debs, Zia, will you watch Liam and Casey for a second?" Ian asked.

Kimberly pointed to the living room. "Come with us."

The adults walked into the living room.

Debbie picked up Casey from the basket. "Casey, we're gonna play games, okay?"

Zia sat down with Liam. Liam was playing with Zia's hair, which helped keep her mind from zoning out and going into a daze again.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Living Room

The adults and teens walked into the living room.

"So Debbie stole a baby, and JJ's therapist calls about his borderline personality disorder and meds and that he asked why Zia's not talking," Veronica stated.

JJ tilted his head. "Seriously? V, I didn't have the chance to tell anyone about that yet."

"Like you were going to," Kevin replied. "You don't want people to worry, but we get to worry about you, okay?"

Kimberly turned to look at JJ in surprise, confusion and concern. "Borderline personality disorder?"

"What does that mean?" Natalia asked.

JJ sighed. "I'll explain later. Debbie and Zia are more of an issue right now."

Kevin and Veronica gave JJ a worried look.

Kimberly looked at JJ worriedly, while Lip, Natalia and Ian looked in concern.

"I'm not sure what's going on with them," Fiona stated.

"Oh, maybe it's 'cause your mom bailed, Frank's a big drunk, and they had to see Zia's friend die in front of them, and JJ almost died twice," Kevin answered. Veronica and JJ gave him a look. "Oh, what? I'm the asshole now? Debbie's the one that stole a baby."

Lip sat on the couch. "All right, look. She obviously planned it. I mean, she took the stroller out of the garbage and she fixed it."

"All right, hey," Steve said. "Debbie is still just a little kid. Especially if we explain to the cops that it's because of what happened to the kids with the whole... Micah thing... worst thing that happens is she gets some help."

"Help?" Lip repeated.

"What kind of help?" Ian asked.

"Debbie stole a baby," Steve told them.

"She's not crazy," Kimberly told him.

"She just sort of accidentally took a kid," JJ agreed.

"Not if she lured him out of the yard with a candy bar," Steve replied.

"What are you suggesting?" Natalia asked.

"Some kind of professional to help," Steve answered. "Maybe they can help Zia too, with her issues."

"What, you wanna send Zia and Debbie to a shrink too?" Ian asked. "No offense, JJ."

JJ shook his head.

"Gallaghers do not do therapy," Fiona reiterated.

"Clearly," JJ replied.

"Really" Natalia asked sarcastically. "We couldn't tell."

Kimberly tilted her head. "Admittedly, we probably need some, but..."

They heard Tony over the loudspeaker in the block. "Missing two year old boy, Casey Casden. He was last seen wearing a Superman costume. If you have any information, call 911."

Kimberly put her hands to her head, overwhelmed.

JJ looked down, shaking his head.

Lip put a hand over his mouth.

"Look, we need a plan to get that boy back to his family, or Family Services is gonna have a field day," Fiona told them.

Kimberly, Ian and Lip nodded in agreement.

"Family Services?" Steve repeated.

"If they find out Frank's moved, they'll take the kids, split them up," Fiona explained. "Remember what happened last time?"

"Shit," Lip said.

Kimberly sighed. "Exactly."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Moments Later

(Song:) Pride of Austin - Jon Butcher

Everyone was trying to come up with a plan.

Lip looked at Carl. "You know that payphone that's outside the Kash and Grab?"

"Yeah," Carl answered.

"I want you to get on your bike, go to the payphone and call the police," Lip explained. "Tell them that you saw a little boy walking down Southport Avenue at 2:45. Okay?"

Veronica was pouring some coffee.

"Why should I?" Carl asked.

"You wanna be in a children's home until you're 18?" Ian asked.

Carl shrugged. "Group home on Union has a climbing wall."

"Carl," Fiona warned.

Kimberly swatted Carl over the head lightly. "Carl, come on."

Carl sighed. "Ugh, I don't have a bike."

Natalia pulled out a pair of wire cutters from her bag, handing it to Carl. "Here, have fun."

Carl took the wire cutters, smiling.

Ian gave Natalia an amused look. "You just carry wire cutters in a bag?"

Natalia smirked, shrugging. "Never know when they might come in handy."

JJ, Kimberly and Lip smirked. Ian smiled.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Street

Carl used Natalia's wire cutters on a bike, running off, riding away.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - Living Room

Everyone was still planning.

"Kimberly, Fiona, you guys have to get Debs to take that kid back," Lip told them.

Kimberly shook her head. "I don't know that we can make that happen."

"Kimberly, you have to, or else we're all fucked," JJ pointed out.

Kimberly and Fiona nodded, sighing.

⫷⑅⫸ 

The Girls' Room

Zia and Debbie had moved Liam and Casey upstairs to watch them, mostly because the adults and teens were smoking downstairs.

Kimberly and Fiona came to talk to Debbie, trying to leave Zia as much out of it as they could.

"Why do I have to do it?" Debbie asked.

"Because we've already told the police we didn't know anything, and so did Z and JJ," Fiona answered.

Zia looked up at them.

"I'm not a good liar," Debbie complained.

"You can do this," Fiona told her.

"I'm not," Debbie insisted. "You always say so."

"All right, hey," Kimberly said. "You know what, Debs? It's been hours and Casey's parents are really worried about him."

"Remember that pie you wanted to make?" Fiona asked. "Let's do that tonight."

Debbie bit her lip. "What do I have to do?"

⫷⑅⫸ 

Street

Carl was on the payphone, checking a paper to make sure he was saying the right thing. "I saw a little boy walking down Southport Avenue at like 2:45."

A male cop was on the other line. "2:45?"

"Yeah, 2:45," Carl replied. "Asshole."

Carl hung up the phone, walking away.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Police Station

The cop that had just been on the phone with Carl turned to the rest of the station. "Got a sighting. A kid saw the boy walking down Southport."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - The Girls' Room

Kimberly and Fiona still sat with Debbie to talk her through what she was supposed to say.

Zia was sitting on the floor with Liam and Casey, almost zoned out from the stress of the entire situation on top of everything else, but Liam kept jiggling a toy at Zia, poking her with it, which kept her awake, even if she was extremely out of it. Zia gave Liam a small, sad smile, taking hold of Liam, as Liam continued to play with his toy and mess with Zia's hair.

Kimberly looked at Zia and Liam, biting her lip in worry, while Fiona was focused on Debbie and trying to get through this.

Debbie was practicing her lie. "I was walking up Southport Avenue when I saw little Casey."

"You didn't know his name," Kimberly interjected.

Debbie nodded. "A little boy."

"Yeah," Kimberly replied.

"All alone," Fiona told her.

"All alone," Debbie repeated. "And crying. I asked her where her mom was."

"Not her," Fiona corrected.

Debbie made a face. "Oh, um, I asked him where his mom was and he didn't know. He seemed upset, so I gave him some chocolate."

Kimberly nodded, wincing. "Good, Debs. You're doing great."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Living Room

Lip, Ian, JJ, Natalia, Kevin and Veronica were still in the living room.

Steve was in the kitchen, pacing.

"All right, Veronica, go to the cleaners, ask Mrs. Bergdoll to use the phone," Lip told her.

"That woman's a cold bitch," Veronica remarked.

Natalia nodded. "You're telling me."

JJ pointed at Veronica. "I've got something for that. Don't worry."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Cleaners

Veronica walked in. "Hey, Mrs. B. Can I use your phone really quick? I got some green bud for your glaucoma."

Moments later, Veronica was on the phone. "I saw a little boy with a Superman suit walking down Grand Avenue."

The same male cop that spoke to Carl was on the other line. "And what time was that?"

"About 15 minutes ago," Veronica replied. "And I thought maybe this is the boy everyone's talking about."

The cop was clearly testing Veronica. "I'm sorry, a Spider-Man suit?"

"I didn't say Spider-Man," Veronica told him. "I said Superman. He had a cape and he was walking with a girl."

"Can you describe--" the cop started.

Veronica hung up. "Asshole."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - Living Room

Kimberly, JJ, Natalia, Ian and Lip were still putting the plan together.

"So Debbie went to call the police on the phone outside of Connie's Pizza, but it was broken," Natalia stated.

Ian frowned. "That phone's not broken though. Is it?"

"Which is why JJ and I are gonna go break it," Kimberly replied.

JJ shrugged. "Never can go a day without a little vandalism. Why not?"

Lip waved a hand at them. "Go for it."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Connie's Pizza - Outside

JJ and Kimberly stood at the phone outside of the pizza place.

Kimberly looked around to make sure that no one was watching.

JJ slammed the phone down over and over, releasing pent up anger and frustration in order to break the phone.

Kimberly looked at JJ, raising an eyebrow in amusement, concerned. "Feel better?"

"Barely," JJ answered. "Come on."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - Kitchen

Zia was dressing Casey up in his Superman costume, putting on his shoes and cape.

⫷⑅⫸

Living Room

Natalia, Lip and Ian were finishing the plan, with Kevin and Steve listening.

"Debbie will say she tried asking people to use their phone, but no one would listen to her, come up with some bullshit," Ian went on. "Zia and Fiona will leave the house with Casey and Debbie. Natalia, you and Lip will take Liam, so that no one sees Debbie leaving the house with Casey."

"Natalia, Ian and I switch Liam and Casey around with Fiona and Zia, then Debs will walk Casey home," Lip finished.

Natalia nodded in agreement. "Everyone knows what they're doing?"

Kevin and Steve both looked impressed, since this plan was primarily set up by Kimberly, JJ, Lip, Ian and Natalia, sure that it was going to work.

(Song Ends)

⫷⑅⫸ 

Street

JJ and Kimberly were walking on the way back down the street.

"So what your shrink said, the not talking is a biproduct of the PTSD, because of anxiety and stress?" Kimberly asked.

"Yeah, that basically sums it up," JJ answered. "I mean, it's not like she's just not choosing to talk."

"I know," Kimberly agreed sadly. "There's something more going on, whatever is causing all these problems, and we're not gonna be able to figure it out if we stay stuck in the whole 'Gallaghers don't do therapy' bullshit."

JJ sighed. "A lot of awful shit has happened to all of us all our lives, especially recently. And with all that happened, Zia literally doesn't have control of what she does or how she feels. Maybe not talking is her way of feeling like she's finally in charge of something in her life. You know?"

Kimberly nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, or she's scarred for life and she'll never speak again."

JJ tilted his head. "I highly doubt that. We'll figure it out. Promise."

Kimberly looked at JJ in concern. "And you? I'm really sorry about your dad."

JJ shook his head. "Don't be. I don't care about it anymore."

Kimberly tilted her head, not convinced. "You put on a good show, JJ. I almost believe you. But I know you. You never stop caring even when all you want is to stop. At least schemes and plots and stealing and all that makes it easier to let go."

JJ shrugged slightly in agreement, looking down. "Yeah."

"And I just think that Tristan's jealous anyway," Kimberly told him. "He wants to torture you because he knows that you have something that he never will."

"What?" JJ asked.

"A family that will love you and never abandon you no matter what," Kimberly answered. "Because you are the kind of person that takes care of and protects everyone but themselves, and you love with everything you got. Which means we love you with everything we got too."

JJ managed a small smile at the words, looking down, swallowing. "I'm sorry for this morning. Me freaking out like that. I didn't mean what I said. About you wanting to leave and all that."

"I know that," Kimberly agreed. "I just... I know that you've been comparing yourself to Tristan since all this started, but believe me. You are nothing like your father. You're more of a man than he'll ever be." JJ smiled slightly. Kimberly hesitated, wanting to ask without intruding. "Borderline personality disorder?"

"We'll talk about this when we're not trying to fix a kidnapping," JJ replied.

"You can't keep brushing things away so we don't worry about you," Kimberly pointed out.

"I know," JJ agreed. "But I'm not the one you should be worried about right now, Kimberly."

"I can be worried for more than one person at a time," Kimberly replied. "I can be worried about many people at a time. I just.. whatever happens, promise me that you'll let us help you when it gets bad."

JJ looked at Kimberly, nodding slightly, whispering, not liking feeling so vulnerable, but feeling safe to at least with Kimberly after all that happened before. "Yeah."

Kimberly looked at JJ, nodding. "Thank you."

JJ sniffled. "The least I could do after putting you guys through all this. Even if you guys don't blame me for Tristan, the swimming hole... that was me."

"That was because of Tristan, and apparently your disorder," Kimberly replied. "Still not your fault. And I bet a lot of people, disorder or not, would've reacted the same way."

JJ nodded sadly. "Yeah. Maybe. But still."

Kimberly swallowed. "I just want a damn break for all of us. Is that too much to ask?"

"Apparently," JJ answered.

Kimberly sighed. "You're gonna get better, you know. And you're gonna get to be happy."

"So will Zia," JJ told her. "Promise." Kimberly nodded. JJ remembered something, chuckling. "You remember those games she always used to beg us to play when you had the Nintendo 64?"

Kimberly couldn't help but smile at the memories. "Yeah. She would beg and beg. It was so cute."

JJ got an idea, looking at Kimberly. "Wait."

Kimberly looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"I think I might know where to get one again," JJ answered.

Kimberly frowned curiously in confusion and intrigue.

JJ smiled, taking Kimberly by the arm, leading her away down the street. Kimberly couldn't help a smile in response, especially since she knew he had just gotten an idea that could potentially help her little sister.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - Kitchen

Zia was still sitting with Casey, finishing with dressing him in his costume and shoes.

Lip and Ian walked in, seeing Zia with Casey.

Ian frowned. "Hey. What're you doing?" Zia fixed Casey's cape, looking up at Lip and Ian. "Oh, got it. Did Fiona tell you to do that?" Zia shook her head. "You wanted to do it?"

Zia nodded.

Ian and Lip exchanged a look.

"Got it," Lip said.

Ian sat down next to Zia and Casey, looking at Zia. "You know, even with everything that's going on with you, I'm surprised that you're still so willingly taking care of Liam and Casey."

Lip knelt next to them. "Glad, though. They make you smile a little, yeah?" Zia looked up at Lip and Ian. "And taking care of them gives you something to do. You know, keep you busy."

Zia shrugged slightly, barely a reaction.

Ian brushed some of Zia's hair back from her face. "I'm really sorry that all this with Debbie is going on. I know it's overshadowing a lot. You know, helping you figure out what's going on with you, and how to help you."

Zia looked down.

Lip looked at Zia sadly, but reassuringly. "You know, you've always been so good. You always held it together. Been so strong. You never lost it. No matter what bad stuff happened to us because of Mom or Dad or foster care. I know that you think it's bad that you're breaking down now, but it's not. Okay? After what happened, you're due for a breakdown. It's okay. So don't let me or anyone else make you feel like you have to talk. Until you're ready."

"And definitely don't let anyone make you feel bad for what's going on inside your head," Ian added. "Okay? That's not your fault, and it's no one's business. You're still you, Zia. And you're still really strong. It's okay. All right?"

Zia looked at Ian and Lip, nodding slightly. Ian wrapped an arm around Zia comfortingly, as Zia leaned her head on Ian's shoulder. Lip rubbed Zia's arm, kissing her lightly on the head.

⫷⑅⫸

 Jackson House - Kitchen

Sheila had not stopped making muffins, as cooking sheets and pans were filled with muffins all around the kitchen. She pulled out another sheet, looking around anxiously for a place to put it, but there was no room left in the kitchen. "Okay, let's see."

⫷⑅⫸

Living Room 

Sheila walked into the living room.

Muffin plates, cookie sheets and pans were covering the table, the chairs and the other table pieces all around the room.

Sheila was once again left without a place to put the newly baked muffins. "Oh, Frank, what am I gonna do?"

Sitting in his chair, Frank looked over his shoulder at Sheila. "Stop?"

⫷⑅⫸ 

Bathroom

Frank walked into the bathroom to go pee.

Karen suddenly pulled aside the shower curtain, revealing that she was in the bath, of course completely naked, not caring that she was exposing herself to him, doing so intentionally. "Hi, Frank."

Frank jumped in shock. "Shit! Sorry, Karen." He pulled his jeans up and turned to walk out of the bathroom quickly. "I thought you were gone."

"Frank?" Karen asked. Frank paused. "Toss me a towel?" Frank took the towel off the wall, tossing it back toward the tub, but in doing so, made the towel land right in the water. Karen lifted the towel out of the water by her foot. "You got it all wet. A hand towel's fine. And don't throw it, please."

Frank kept his head turned away as much as he could, grabbing a hand towel from the rack next to him, holding it toward Karen.

Karen took the towel, smiling smugly.

Frank awkwardly turned away, walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

⫷⑅⫸

 Outside

Frank ran outside, shouting into the sky. "Casey!"

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - Living Room

Zia, Ian and Lip were now sitting in the living room with Kevin and Natalia.

Zia was holding Casey.

"Kev, what time do you go into work today?" Lip asked.

"Uh, I go in at six," Kevin answered.

Natalia nodded. "You're going in early. You go in, tell them you saw a little boy in a Superman costume walking down Grand Avenue."

⫷⑅⫸ 

The Alibi Room

Kevin walked into the Alibi.

Jess the bartender who was working before him looked at Kevin in confusion. "What are you doing? You're not on till six."

Kevin shrugged, walking behind the bar. "I'm here now, what's the harm? Gary, how you doing, man? Another Old Style?"

"Yup," Gary answered.

Kevin started to fill Gary's glass. "Gosh, you know what? I am feeling nostalgic today. Hear what I said? I said I was feeling nostalgic."

"What's 'nostalgic'?" a man asked.

"Well, I'm glad you asked," Kevin replied. "I was walking to work and I saw this cute little kid wearing a Superman costume. You know, with a cape and everything? Takes you back. He was a cute kid. Yeah, Superman costume. Cute little kid."

Jess walked closer. "A little kid in a Superman costume?"

Kevin nodded. "Superman costume, sandy hair."

"That's the little boy that's missing," Jess told him. "Where did you see him?"

"On Grand," Kevin replied. "I just passed him five minutes ago."

"Well, we have to call that in, Kev," Jess told him.

"Yes, we do," Kevin agreed. Jess walked away. Carol Fisher walked up to Kevin. "Hey, how's my favorite lady doing?"

"She'll be better when Veronica and JJ stop avoiding my calls," Carol answered. "Why the hell am I just now finding out my grandson nearly died twice when I just get back to town?"

Kevin winced, making a face. "Yeah, sorry about that, Carol. V and JJ just didn't wanna disrupt your trip with your friends." He set out drinks to pour. "Four vodka tonics?"

"Only three today," Carol answered. "Marilyn wants a virgin colada. She blacked out last night, so she a little nervous. Anyway, where the hell have you, JJ and V been? I went by your house after I heard what happened, and none of you were there."

"Yeah, we've been super busy today," Kevin explained. "I'll let them explain."

"Well, I know enough that you and Veronica are trying to adopt JJ because Tristan has completely lost it and doesn't care about what happened," Carol told him. "That's a big step."

"Yeah, we already basically take care of each other like a real family, so at least if we make it official, something like this doesn't happen again," Kevin explained. "I mean, JJ needs a guardian to help him with the medical stuff and a good home or he'll end up back in some foster home that doesn't care about him, like I was growing up."

"That's true," Carol agreed, about to take some money out from her wallet.

Kevin shook his head while pouring another drink. "No, no, no. If I can't buy my girlfriend's mom's drinks, what good am I?"

Carol smirked, putting the money back. "No damn good."

"That's right," Kevin said. "Can I get these for you?"

"No, I got them," Carol answered, picking up the glasses. "You better tell Veronica and JJ I am gonna see them tonight, and there will be hell to pay for them not telling me everything while I was gone."

Kevin nodded in understanding, smiling sheepishly.

Carol walked away toward her table.

Kevin walked toward another table where three ladies were sitting, grabbing their empty glasses. "Ladies, how you doing? I'm just gonna grab these glasses, okay?"

"You can grab anything of mine you like," a girl replied. "What's your name?"

"Kev," Kevin answered.

"Kev," the girl repeated. "Well, that's nice and short and easy to whisper. Like..." She smiled, whispering seductively. "Do it again, Kev."

The girls laughed.

Kevin chuckled nervously, only out of politeness, walking behind the bar.

Frank walked in. "Mr. Barkeep... a large boilermaker." Kevin poured Frank a drink. "And keep them coming."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - Kitchen

Fiona, Zia, Ian and Lip were in the kitchen.

Ian pointed to the backdoor. "Hey, did you bring in the water heater from the porch?"

"No," Lip answered.

"Well, it's not on the porch," Ian stated.

Lip stood, walking toward the backdoor. "Seriously?" He looked outside to see that indeed the water heater had been stolen. "Bunch of fucking animals."

Natalia walked into the kitchen, holding Casey, looking at Zia. "Hey. You okay?" Zia looked up at Natalia. Natalia grazed a hand over her hair. "You know, whenever you're ready to talk, you can tell me anything, okay? No matter how silly or crazy you think it is. All right? I'll always be here for you to talk to. And we'll figure everything out."

Zia nodded just a bit.

Fiona looked over her shoulder at Natalia and Zia, frowning.

Ian and Lip looked at Natalia and Zia, touched that Natalia was trying to help.

Debbie walked downstairs, holding Liam.

Lip picked up the basket that Kevin had brought Casey in, carrying it over to Natalia and Casey. "Natalia, here." Natalia put Casey into the basket, covering him up with the blanket. "Ian, Debbie, Liam, we gotta go. Fiona, Zia, you got Casey."

Steve helped Fiona put her jacket on. "I'll see you at Sheila's after. Hey, don't worry, she's gonna be great."

Fiona frowned. "She doesn't even seem sorry."

Steve nodded. "She is, she's just a kid."

Ian, Lip and Natalia left with Debbie and Liam.

Zia stood next to the basket with Casey.

Fiona walked toward Zia with a grocery bag. "She can't tell lies. She never could. We're all going to jail."

Fiona and Zia lifted up the basket with Casey inside, walking to the backdoor. Steve walked with them to help if he had to.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Street

Natalia, Lip, Ian and Debbie walked down the street.

Lip was holding Liam.

"Why can't I just take Casey back now?" Debbie asked.

"We can't let anybody see you with Casey leaving our house," Ian answered.

"Look, Zia and Fiona are gonna take Casey to the rendezvous spot," Lip explained. "They'll give him to you and you'll take him back to his house. Otherwise, the plan won't work."

"Plus, Zia and Fiona gotta stop by Sheila's to make sure they have an alibi," Natalia added.

"I don't think I can do this," Debbie said nervously.

"Yeah, you're gonna be great, Debs," Lip told her. "Just don't fuck it up."

Ian nodded sarcastically. "Great motivational speech, Lip."

Lip gave Ian a look.

Natalia smirked slightly, shaking her head. "Just relax. We got this."

⫷⑅⫸

 The Drop Location

Debbie was standing inside.

Natalia, Lip and Ian stood outside with Liam.

"Hey, Debs?" Natalia asked.

"Yeah?" Debbie asked.

"Do you know why doctors, lawyers and nurses are great liars?" Natalia asked.

"No," Debbie answered.

"Because they lie to help people," Natalia told her. "A doctor wouldn't tell a sick patient, 'too bad you're gonna die'. He would say, 'we're doing everything we can'. Wouldn't he?"

"Yeah," Debbie answered.

"So pretend you're being a doctor today, and tell a doctor's kind of lie," Natalia suggested. "Can you be a doctor for me?"

Debbie thought about it. "Can I be a nurse?"

Natalia chuckled. "That's our girl."

Lip looked at Natalia in amusement. "I don't know how you do that."

"Do what?" Natalia asked.

"Just get through to everybody," Lip answered. "Debbie now, you were talking to Zia earlier. You do that for everybody."

Natalia shrugged. "Well, I don't know. You're pretty hard headed. One of the only ones I can't get through."

Lip nodded sarcastically. "Oh, ha ha."

Natalia smiled slightly.

Lip chuckled.

Ian walked closer, standing with Lip and Natalia, looking between them nervously. "We got this?"

Natalia nodded.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Pawn Shop - Outside

JJ and Kimberly reached the truck outside the pawnshop.

JJ looked through the truck through the back.

"How did you know this was like this?" Kimberly asked.

"I used to work here, and I know the combo for the lock," JJ answered. "They're always getting used game systems, ones that still work though. And since the others don't need us anymore since the others got it handled, figured this could give us something to do while trying to help your sister, even if just for a nostalgia blast."

Kimberly smiled. "Thanks."

"Anytime, Kim," JJ replied, aching to get into some trouble, something he could never do without his partner in crime by his side, leaning his arm on the truck, presenting a cocky smile with his busted lip.

The sight of JJ's up-to-no-good smile made Kimberly's stomach do flips of excitement.

Kimberly couldn't help but smile. "Okay, the system in there?"

JJ pulled out the system they were looking for. "Yep. The two games we're looking for should be right inside. We'd have to snag them though."

Kimberly shrugged, smiling. "That I can do."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Inside

The bell above the pawn shop's glass door rang as JJ and Kimberly walked in, signaling their arrival to the guy behind the counter.

The guy was the usual cashier, a sweaty, horny 17 year old.

Kimberly spoke in a seductive tone, checking his name on the name tag. "Well, hi, Stew."

Kimberly pulled down her shirt just slightly for good measure.

Stew got very flustered, taking a few minutes to muster up the words to respond. "Hi."

JJ stood out of Stew's sight, as Stew's attention was fully focused on Kimberly, while JJ was looking through the games in the store, finding one that they were looking for, making sure that Stew was focused on Kimberly, slipping the game into his jacket pocket. 

Kimberly noticed this and slyly nodded toward the other shelf behind her.

JJ immediately took notice of what she was saying (after all, they had been shoplifting buddies for a while), and went over to the shelf.

Kimberly kept Stew nice and distracted, leaning forward against the counter, chatting him away.

JJ kept an eye on Kimberly and Stew, but had complete faith that Kim would keep Stew distracted, subtly grabbing the other game they were looking for, looking over his shoulder toward Kimberly, winking at her, walking closer to stand beside Kimberly, sticking the second game into the pocket of her jacket, behind her, and out of Stew's side, since Stew would have seen if JJ had tried to slip it into his own pocket.

Kimberly took that as the sign that they were done, smiling. "Okay, bye, Stew. Nice talking to you."

JJ smirked mockingly. "See ya, Stew."

Kimberly took JJ by the hand, as they both walked to the door calmly without giving anything away, but both looked at each other and shared a devilish smile, smirking, winking at the other.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Outside

Kimberly and JJ quickly walked outside, both laughing, as JJ went to pick up the game system from their hiding place, both feeling excitement from the adrenaline once again.

"God, I missed this," Kimberly remarked.

"Hasn't been that long," JJ replied.

Kimberly smiled. "I know. I just... everything going on. You know?"

JJ nodded, both breathing deeply. "Yeah, I know."

"Plus, this is to help a certain little sister of mine," Kimberly pointed out. "So thank you for that."

JJ gave a small smile, nodding. "Yeah, it's the least I could do."

Kimberly tilted her head, about to give the 'it's not your fault' lecture again, before she was interrupted.

Stew yelled out at them when he realized what they were doing. "Hey!"

Kimberly and JJ instantly started to run down the street, both unable to stop from laughing, taking off down the street and through the alleys, getting away clean without an issue, but ironically having a blast as they did, making it a game of chase or race as they did, having a well-needed good time after everything that happened, just being silly and fun for once.

⫷⑅⫸ 

The Alibi Room

The bar patrons were watching the news.

Woman: (on TV) "In a moment, we will take you live to the source of the crime, with our head correspondent, Charles Catino. But first, if you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Casey Casden, please, call the number at the bottom of your screen."

The three ladies that had been hitting on Kevin before were loud and rowdy, laughing and having a good time, getting attention from others in the bar, including Frank, who looked back at them over his shoulder.

"You are soaking wet," Girl 1 said, the one that was hitting on Kevin the most.

Frank looked away, reminded of Karen in the bath, trying to shake that out.

Eddie suddenly sat next to Frank.

Frank jumped. "Uh, so, fixing up the basement?"

Eddie nodded. "Gonna try. Sheetrock that corner space for my bed. The other half's already paneled, so I'm good there. Got a spot for the sink. Toilet's already in. So just run some cable for the flat screen and I'm all set."

Frank chuckled. "So, that Sheila, she's something, huh?"

"That's one way to put it," Eddie replied.

"Does your ass ever stop hurting?" Frank asked.

Eddie shook his head. "No. Advil's your best bet. It helps with the inflammation."

Girl 2 from the rowdy women walked up to the bar. "Hey, Kev. See my friend? I know she acts like she hits on everyone, but she doesn't. She likes you."

"Well, I'm flattered, but I can't," Kevin replied.

Frank slid his glass over for a refill. "Kev, you wanna get to it?"

"Oh, come on, what could one little drink hurt?" Girl 2 asked.

Kevin poured Frank another drink. "Um, you know. Really, no."

"Look, she doesn't care if you have a girlfriend," Girl 2 told him. "Neither do I. Can you handle two?"

Kevin frowned in confusion. "What, the both of you?" Girl 2 smiled, nodding. Kevin cleared his throat, putting Frank's drink down. "Uh, I can't, really. Actually, I'm getting married."

Frank looked up in surprise. "Wha--what's that, now? Married?"

Kevin tried to shut him up. "No, no, Frank, can I get you a shot?"

"Veronica?" Frank asked.

"Frank--" Kevin started.

"Hey, Jess, roll out the champagne," Frank called. "Our boy here's getting hitched!"

Girl 2 returned to her seat.

"What?" Jess asked.

"Kev is marrying Veronica," Frank cheered.

"Frank," Kevin warned.

Frank stood, walking toward Carol's table. "Carol! Carol, come here."

Jess squealed, spinning around her towel.

Kevin held out his hand. "No, Frank--"

"Carol," Frank repeated.

Kevin's eyes were wide. "No, no, no. No, no, no, Frank--"

"Carol," Frank called. Carol stood, walking closer, meeting Frank in the middle of the bar. "Kev's making an honest woman out of your daughter."

Carol got so excited and happy. "You what?"

"Yeah!" Frank cheered.

Kevin laughed nervously, realizing how far this was already spinning out of control, having a "what the fuck did I do" face.

Carol laughed. "Oh, my God! To think I was drinking, planning on yelling on Veronica and JJ for not telling me about the shit going on here in our family. Who gives a shit about that now? My daughter's getting married! I knew that you and Veronica were gonna adopt JJ to get him away from Tristan, Kev, but why the fuck wouldn't you tell me about getting married?"

Frank turned to look at Kevin in surprise. "You and V are adopting JJ?" Kevin nodded, still in shock. Frank laughed. "Even more reason to celebrate." Frank walked around drunkenly, spreading the word. "Kev's getting married to Veronica and they're adopting JJ!"

Jess brought over a bottle of champagne. "And I got the oldest bottle of Asti Spumante!"

Carol ran over to Kevin, throwing her arms around him in excitement, kissing him on the cheek. "You have made me the happiest woman in the world. I'm gonna go call Veronica."

Kevin shook his head. "Wait, wait, no. She'll wanna call you. You don't wanna ruin the surprise."

Carol pointed at Kevin, laughing.

Jess poured the champagne. "Okay, everybody, drinks on the house!" Everyone cheered happily. Jess brought a glass toward Carol. "Here we go. One for the mama. There you go." Jess handed another glass to Kevin. "All right, one for the big daddy. There we go."

Kevin drank his all in one sip, before pouring himself another drink. "Yeah!"

Kevin downed his glass, looking up.

⫷⑅⫸ 

The Drop Location

Fiona and Zia walked down the street with Liam's stroller, but Casey was in the stroller.

They reached the building with Debbie inside.

Debbie handed Liam to Zia, as Fiona handed Casey to Debbie, all being very careful and looking around to make sure no one noticed.

Zia placed Liam in the stroller, as she and Fiona walked away with Liam.

Debbie walked down the street with Casey after they were gone.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Tony's Cop Car

Tony and his partner had stopped to get Icees.

His partner was slurping loudly, moving the straw quickly so that it was squeaking, very annoyingly. "Fiona Gallagher?"

"Yeah," Tony answered. "Yeah, what about her?"

His partner rolled his eyes. "Nothing."

"Good," Tony replied.

His partner made the straw squeak, slurping some more. "You really wanna hook up with her? A lot of kids over there, man."

Tony scoffed. "You're kidding, right? Your marriage only lasted six weeks."

"Seven," his partner corrected.

"And she wound up with the house," Tony pointed out.

"My car's paid off!" his partner snapped.

Tony rolled his eyes. "You giving me advice is ridiculous."

His partner made the straw squeak, slurping some more.

Tony rolled down his window, snatching the cup from his partner, throwing it out his window in annoyance, taking a sip of his own.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Jackson House - Living Room

Fiona and Zia arrived with Liam, not wearing their shoes inside the house, and the wheels on Liam's stroller had plastic over them for now.

Sheila walked closer. "Fiona, what a pleasant surprise." She looked at the silent six year old girl. "Oh, and you must be Zia. I've heard so much about you, from Lip, and even Frank a lot today." Zia frowned, tilting her head in confusion, looking down numbly. Sheila glanced at Fiona. "Is she shy?"

"No, not really," Fiona answered. "She just hasn't been speaking... given recent events."

Sheila nodded in realization. "Oh, that I do understand."

Sheila sat down, turning her attention to the news about Casey.

"They haven't found him yet?" Fiona asked.

Sheila let out a distressed sigh. "I can't stop thinking about what his parents must be going through."

"I know," Fiona agreed.

Sheila looked to Zia. "I'm sorry to ask, but did Micah still have his parents?"

Zia shook her head.

"No, his parents passed away a little while ago," Fiona explained. "Micah and his brother Malcolm were in foster care before Malcolm turned 18 and tried to take Micah in on his own but they were losing their house before everything went down."

Sheila nodded in understanding. "Do you two want a drink?" She looked at Zia. "Juice?" Zia nodded. Sheila looked at Fiona. "And I've got a lot of booze. No mixers."

Fiona gave a smile. "Cup of coffee would be great." Sheila looked out of it, high. "Why don't I make them?"

Fiona walked away into the kitchen.

Sheila sat back in her chair. "Oh, don't mind me. I accidentally took three of my pills instead of one." Zia knelt in front of Liam to keep herself focused on Liam, and Liam smiled at Zia. Sheila looked around her chair at the two of them. "Hey, wait a second. Hi, mister. Hey, there." Sheila stood, walking closer, so Zia moved to the side a bit, so that Sheila could pick Liam up. "how about giving me a big hug?"

In the process of Sheila picking Liam up, she revealed Superman's cape in the stroller.

Zia's eyes widened slightly when she saw this, looking up at Sheila to make sure she didn't notice it, hurriedly grabbing the cape and wadding it up before Sheila could notice, running off to the kitchen.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Kitchen

Zia ran into the kitchen where Fiona was making the coffee and juice for them both.

"What is it?" Fiona asked. Zia showed Fiona the cape. Fiona was surprised that they still had it, but relieved that Zia got it out of sight before Sheila could see it. "Oh, my God."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Street

Debbie walked down the street while holding Casey's hand. "I'm gonna blush and then they'll know. I can't be a nurse. I'm not a patient, I hate bed pans. I can't walk in clogs, and let's face it, I'm too small."

Down the road, Katie Casden wearing an angel costume saw them, grinning, running to get Beth. "Mommy! Casey's back!"

Beth stared in shock. "I don't believe it. Is it him? It is. It is!" Beth and Gary ran toward Katie and Casey. Zia and Fiona ran outside, while Zia was still holding the cape, wadded up in her hand. "My baby, my baby." Zia ran over to Debbie, secretly handing her the cape, as they watched the Casdens reunite emotionally with Casey. "Where have you been? We've been worried sick about you?" Beth looked at Debbie. "Where did you find him?"

Fiona walked over to Zia and Debbie, glancing behind them toward where Ian, Lip and Natalia were standing, as Carl, Kimberly and JJ walked closer to stand next to them, all watching the scene.

Debbie acted like she pulled out the cape from her jacket pocket. "He was walking all by himself. I didn't know where he lived."

Debbie handed the cape to Gary.

"Thank you," Beth said. "You're an angel."

Gary stammered nervously in relief. "I don't--I don't know--I don't know how to thank you. Uh, here, just, um..." He pulled out his wallet, handing Debbie all of his cash. "Here, take all--take it. Take all of it. Just take everything. Thank you, thank you."

To the shock of the Gallaghers, JJ and Natalia, many other people in the crowd took out their cash and threw it out for Debbie to take.

Frank walked closer with two men. "I told you we'd find him. My Debbie found him. A Gallagher saved the day. You bunch of losers."

Frank was picking up the money.

Ian, Lip and Kimberly walked over to their excuse of a father.

"That's Debbie's," Lip told him.

"No, I'm just helping her," Frank lied. Ian put his foot on Frank's hand to stop him from picking up anymore, making Frank grunt in pain. "You're on my hand, you--" Lip put his foot on his other hand. "All right, I am your father."

Kimberly rolled her eyes, picking up Frank's beer from the ground. "Yeah, sadly you are."

Kimberly turned the bottle over to pour the remainder of the beer over Frank's head, causing Ian, Lip and Kimberly to laugh as Frank groaned.

Carl, Zia, Debbie and Fiona saw this and couldn't help but smile.

JJ and Natalia smirked.

Tony walked over to Debbie, Zia and Fiona, taking off his police hat, smiling. "Hey, Deb. Good job." Zia glared at Tony and the cops behind him. "Fiona, you wanna come with us?"

"Where?" Fiona asked.

"We need to take Deb to the station," Tony answered.

"What for?" Fiona asked.

"We need to take a statement," Tony answered.

Fiona looked at Debbie. "She found him. I mean, isn't that enough?"

"We need a statement," Tony repeated. "You can stay with her."

Debbie nodded, smiling, looking over at Natalia. "Nurse Debbie can handle it."

Natalia smiled slightly.

JJ frowned in confused amusement. "Nurse?"

Natalia chuckled. "Explain later."

⫷⑅⫸ 

The Alibi Room

Kevin and Carol were sitting at a table, decently buzzed from drinking.

"What I'm trying to tell you is..." Carol trailed off. "That I have never seen her love anybody, I mean, anybody.."

Kevin chuckled. "Come on."

"No," Carol said. "Anybody as much as she loves you."

"For real?" Kevin asked.

"For real," Carol answered, picking up her drink, taking a sip. "Including her daddy. Mm-hmm."

Kevin shook his head. "No. Come on."

"Ooh, and honey, she love him like..." Carol trailed off. "Ooh." She leaned back. "Veronica deserves someone like you. And JJ deserves to be in a family with you two. Tristan's never been right. He's always been bad. He corrupted Marty back when. V didn't put Tristan's shit though. I just want you three to be happy."

Kevin smiled slightly, nodding, pouring himself another drink.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Fisher-Ball House - Outside

(Song:) Get Excited - Saturn Missiles

Kevin walked up to his house, much more buzzed, almost wasted. "V! V! V! V!" Inside, Veronica walked toward the window, looking outside in confusion. "You hear me? I need to speak to Veronica Fisher."

"What the hell?" Veronica asked.

"Would you shut up out there?" a man called in complaint.

Veronica walked outside. "What are you doing?"

Kevin walked up to the porch, steadying himself on the railing. "I'm here to tell you something. I mean, I'm here to ask you something."

Veronica smiled in amusement, a hand on her hip. "How did you get so drunk in the middle of the afternoon?"

Kevin flipped his hair back, kneeling down, taking a knee on the ground, reaching his hand out toward her. "Veronica Fisher, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

Veronica broke out into an excited grin, running down the stairs instantly. "Yes! Yeah, yeah! Yes."

Veronica jumped into Kevin's arms as Kevin stood, catching her in his arms, both clinging onto the other tightly, happily.

Kevin circled them around. "I love you, baby."

Veronica wrapped her arms around Kevin's neck, holding his head, throwing her head back in excited laughter, looking at him with nothing but love, squealing, kissing him.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Police Station - Interview Room

Debbie was lying to the cops no problem, confident. "I first saw him on Southport. He caught my eye because my baby brother Liam loves Superman. After I noticed he was alone, I took his hand. He's a good walker. Very well-mannered for a toddler. I thought for sure someone would let me use their phone." She shook her head as if in disappointment. "I'm just so shocked at the lack of humanity. Yes, I'd love a cookie. I remembered Grand Avenue from my Aunt Ginger." Fiona was watching Debbie from behind the two way mirror. "Do they require you to wear a jacket and tie, or is that your choice? I find it very sexy."

Fiona raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Zia was standing next to Fiona, looking up at her.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Street

Steve was waiting by his car, checking his watch, looking behind him, noticing a kids store across the street, getting an idea.

⫷⑅⫸

 On the Road - Tony's Car

Tony was driving his car.

Zia, Fiona and Debbie were in the backseat. Zia and Debbie had both fallen asleep on either side of Fiona, and Fiona had her arms wrapped around them to hold them.

(Song Ends)

"Big day," Tony remarked.

Fiona nodded. "Yeah."

"Happy ending," Tony went on.

Fiona smiled. "Yep."

"You missed a good pot roast at dinner," Tony told her. "My mom really, uh, pulled out all the stops."

"Yeah," Fiona said. "Sorry about that."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Street

Lip and Karen were walking down the street.

"That's so great about Debbie finding that little Casey," Karen told him.

Lip nodded. "Yeah, I know. He's lucky it was her and not some crazy fucker." Karen chuckled. "Like your new jeans."

Karen looked down. "Oh, thanks. They didn't cheer me up as much as I'd hoped. My house is so fucking weird. I wish I'd been kidnapped."

Lip was not amused by the remark, sighing. "Is it that bad?"

Karen nodded. "Yeah. You should have seen them at breakfast. I can't imagine what dinners are gonna be like."

⫷⑅⫸

Flash

Night - Jackson House - Living Room

(Song:) Temptation Sensation - Extreme Music 

Frank and Sheila were having dinner and drinking wine.

Frank was rambling. "I look back and there are all these people behind us." They clinked their glasses. "And I start yelling, 'go back, go back!'"

"Why?" Sheila asked.

Across the table, Eddie was eating cereal alone, moping.

"Because he stepped off of the thing and just stopped there, and there are all of these people..." Frank trailed off when Sheila gave him another plate. "Oh, thank you."

(Song Ends)

⫷⑅⫸

Reality

Day - Street 

Lip and Karen were walking.

"You know, your house is Frank's wet dream," Lip told her. "Never gonna get him out."

"Wanna sneak into my backyard and do it on the tire swing?" Karen asked. Lip inhaled. "Lip."

"Wait, I'm thinking," Lip replied. "I should probably head back home. My family's been extra crazy lately."

"Seriously?" Karen asked. "You put everything on hold because of your family."

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when the shit that we've been going through goes down," Lip replied. "Sorry if that cuts into hanging out time."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - Living Room

Fiona, Zia, Debbie, Kimberly, Ian and Carl were home, watching the news.

JJ and Natalia sat by the window.

Woman: (on TV) "Well, I guess sometimes there are happy endings. Casey Casden, the little boy who disappeared from his own front yard earlier today has been delivered home, safe and sound."

Lip walked in.

Fiona looked at Zia next to her, speaking softly. "I know that what happened is scary. And that you just want to shut down and keep things away because you're scared that it can destroy you. And break you. There's nothing you can say that will make us love you any less. But you have to talk to me. And to the people who love you. You can't shut us out. It's selfish. And you're not selfish."

Zia looked at Fiona, slightly hurt.

Lip, Kimberly and Ian gave Fiona a look.

"What the hell?" Ian whispered.

"What?" Fiona asked. "Nothing else is working."

Lip scoffed.

Kimberly shook her head.

Steve was in the kitchen, calling over. "Fiona."

(Song:) The Usual Chords - Slow Runner

Fiona looked over.

Steve nodded for her to come into the kitchen.

⫷⑅⫸

Kitchen 

Fiona walked into the kitchen. "What's up?"

Steve gestured to something he got. "For Debbie and Zia."

Fiona smiled, nodding. "Okay."

⫷⑅⫸ 

Living Room

Steve wheeled in a stroller with a baby doll in it for Debbie.

Fiona carried in an art kit for Zia. "Hey, Z, Debs, look what Steve bought."

Debbie stood excitedly, running over to the baby doll. "Oh, my God, for me?"

"Absolutely," Steve answered. Zia looked up at the art kit, standing. Kimberly and Ian couldn't help small smiles. "For you two doing such a great job today, despite everything."

"Thank you," Debbie told him.

"What are you gonna name her?" Kimberly asked.

Debbie was absolutely thrilled, laughing. "Gin-Gin. After Aunt Ginger. Let's go up to my room. We can play." The others watched as Debbie walked upstairs as she laughed. "Oh, Gin-Gin, you're so funny." Natalia and Lip exchanged a weird look. "Oh, Gin-Gin, you're so much fun."

Zia took the art kit and sat down to open it.

"Already diving in, huh?" Ian asked, trying to get a reaction.

Zia was surprised to see paint inside the art kit too, and grabbed a piece of paper to start painting with the gel like substance.

JJ and Kimberly exchanged a look, smiling slightly, nodding to each other.

"Well, luckily for you, Zia, that's not the only surprise you get, and this surprise coming up works well for Debbie and Carl too," JJ told her.

Zia looked up in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Carl asked.

Kimberly sat on the arm of the couch, next to Zia at the table, while patting the space next to her for Carl to slide closer.

Carl slid closer.

Kimberly gave a slight smile. "Remember when we got that Nintendo 64, and we had Donkey Kong and Mario Party 2?"

Ian smiled. "Oh, God. Zia couldn't stop playing those games."

Lip and Fiona smiled in remembrance.

Lip nodded, looking at Zia. "You absolutely loved it. Asked us to play Mario Party with you all the time."

Carl grinned. "Debbie and I always played with her."

"That's right, you did," JJ agreed. "She begged all of us to play with her at one point or another."

Natalia looked at Zia. "I remember you got so upset when the system crashed. But we kept trying to find another one that didn't cost that much, because it was your favorite thing to do before drawing."

Kimberly nodded. "Every time you won a mini game, you did that crazy dance. It was hilarious." Zia had a slight curl of the corner of her lips. "Yeah."

JJ took out a bag with the system and the two games inside. "Guess what Kimberly and I got this afternoon after we broke the phone booth?"

Zia looked at them in shock.

Lip, Fiona, Ian and Natalia smiled in surprise, but happy that they managed to do that, so hoping that it could help.

Steve smiled slightly.

Carl grinned. "No way!"

Zia and Carl stood quickly to go over to see into the bag that JJ brought over.

Carl was thrilled to see the game system and the two games they used to play.

Zia finally looked even a little bit content, happy, nostalgic, even if it was a faded, distant feeling compared to how it used to feel, but still better than the endless numb void she had already gotten too used to feeling. She felt so relieved when she felt something other than the dark, depressing feelings, lighting up just a bit, but enough to show a difference.

Kimberly and JJ grinned happily at how this worked, as all of them were smiling in relief to see Zia light up again, even if only briefly.

"There's the reaction we were hoping for," JJ said.

Carl looked at Zia, smiling. "You wanna play?"

Zia nodded, lips parting just slightly, finally able to open up a little bit. "Y..." Her voice was shaky after not speaking for so long, clearing her throat, as the others looked at her in surprise and relief. "Yes."

They all started to smile.

Kimberly wrapped her arms around Zia, who returned the embrace just as tightly.

Carl gave Zia a big hug. "Let's play."

Zia chuckled lightly, nervously, but contently, nodding.

⫷⑅⫸ 

Fisher-Ball House - Kev and V's Room

Kevin woke up hungover, looking around in confusion to see Veronica on there.

Veronica called from outside the room. "Kev, babe, wake up. It's time to get drunk again."

(Song Ends)

⫷⑅⫸ 

Gallagher House - The Girls' Room

Debbie had Gin-Gin laying in her bed on her pillow with her baby doll bottle, while she was counting out the money that people had been throwing at her earlier. "690, 700, 710, 715 exactly."

Debbie wrote that down, and looked through the phone book, using the family phone to make a call.

⫷⑅⫸

 Outside - Porch

Natalia was sitting on the porch.

Lip walked outside to smoke, seeing Natalia. "Hey."

"Hey," Natalia replied.

Lip sighed, sitting down. "Sorry about today."

Natalia shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"Well, by now, you should be," Lip replied. "It's way too late to make your grand escape from the Gallaghers."

Natalia smiled. "Oh, I'm in too deep, fore sure."

Lip nodded with a smirk. "Mm-hmm."

"Where'd you just get back from?" Natalia asked.

"Out with Karen," Lip answered.

Natalia resisted the urge to roll her eyes, sighing. "You guys officially a thing yet?"

Lip shook his head. "We're just friends."

"Yeah, okay, Phillip," Natalia replied. "I think you mean fuck buddies, but whatever." Lip shrugged. "I'm gonna be honest with you for one second, and you can't hate me for it, okay?"

Lip frowned, looking over at Natalia. "What? You don't like her?"

"I don't," Natalia answered. "But that's not it. It's just... it's just that she doesn't seem like the loyal type, and I don't want you to get hurt."

Lip had a small smile. "I'll be fine. We're just friends, remember? Or 'fuck buddies' as you called it."

Natalia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but when the baby is born and it's not yours, don't come whining to me about it."

Natalia laughed, meaning she was joking around with him and not being serious.

Lip laughed. "Screw you, Natalia."

"In your dreams, Phillip," Natalia replied, winking.

Lip chuckled. "What about you and Ian? You're gonna do this fake dating thing for real to keep people off both your backs?"

"Yeah," Natalia answered. "Best way to keep what happened before happen again, for both of us."

"You don't just mean Mandy and Mickey, do you?" Lip asked. "Your other brothers?"

"I mean mostly that, but yeah, not just that," Natalia answered. "Just gotta warn off some guys, or girls, of my own. Or anything in between. The types I don't like. Just don't need the drama of some fuck up trying to get involved like before, and with everything going on, don't need the drama of a relationship either."

Lip nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I get that. Guess that's a main reason why I didn't want to get serious with Karen."

"Good," Natalia said. "Because I don't think any of us are in the right head space for a real relationship after all this shit."

Lip tilted his head in acknowledgement. "You wanna head inside and get some studying done with Kimberly, Ian and JJ like we said we would this morning?"

"Sure," Natalia answered.

Natalia and Lip stood, walking inside.

⫷⑅⫸

Inside - Living Room

Zia and Carl were already playing on the Nintendo 64, playing Mario Party 2, while Zia was Princess Peach and Carl was Donkey Kong.

Kimberly and JJ were sitting on the couch with their school stuff, watching Zia and Carl play, smiling slightly, so glad that their idea worked, even a little bit.

Natalia and Lip walked in, smiling at Zia and Carl already playing, chuckling.

JJ looked over his shoulder at Natalia and Lip. "Uh, Ian's getting drinks and snacks for studying."

Lip nodded. "I'll help."

Lip walked into the kitchen.

Kimberly and JJ looked at Natalia.

"What?" Natalia asked.

"'Dating' Ian and talking to Lip about Karen?" Kimberly asked.

"Oh, wow, two points for the eavesdroppers," Natalia told them sarcastically.

They chuckled.

"Didn't really mean to," JJ replied.

Natalia sat down next to Kimberly and JJ, whispering. "Well, part of the plan is that 'dating' Ian will slowly ween him away from Kash, and for us to show Lip that he can do so much better than Karen, like you said, Kimberly."

Kimberly grinned. "You're a genius."

Natalia smirked, nodding. "I know."

Kimberly laughed. "Your ego pisses me off."

"Your face pisses me off," Natalia joked right back.

Kimberly pushed Natalia slightly. "Whore."

Natalia pushed Kimberly slightly. "Slut."

Kimberly and Natalia smiled.

JJ shook his head in amusement, smirking. "I'm sure those will go great."

Ian and Lip brought over drinks and food for studying, and for Zia and Carl to share with them while they were playing their game.

JJ sat on the couch, while Kimberly sat on the floor in between his legs, looking up at him with a grin, which JJ couldn't help but return.

Lip and Ian sat on the couch next to JJ.

Natalia sat on the arm of the couch next to Ian, propping her feet up over Lip and Ian's laps to lounge back, leaning against the back of the couch.

Lip and Ian gave Natalia an amused look. "Really?"

Natalia smirked, shrugging.

Kimberly and JJ smirked, shaking their heads.

While studying, Kimberly looked up at JJ. "Oh, for geography, don't forget about our wander project."

JJ nodded. "Right, right. Two wanders. Or more. For the project."

"Yeah, if we end up loving it," Kimberly agreed.

"I won't," JJ told her.

Kimberly chuckled. "Okay. We'll see. Look, I just think that this could be a good distraction, for both of us."

JJ nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah, maybe."

As the teens were studying, Lip was mostly looking at JJ and Kimberly knowingly, and looking at Ian and Natalia in amusement, smirking, shaking his head, before going back to his work.

Natalia lost focus in studying, doodling something on Ian's forehead, which caused Ian to smile.

"I swear, if you drew anything bad..." Ian trailed off.

Kimberly, JJ and Lip looked up.

Zia and Carl glanced back from playing their game.

"No, not bad," Carl answered. "Kinda cool though."

"Just a triple spiral," Natalia explained.

Ian chuckled. "Got it."

Lip pushed Natalia's leg lightly that was still across both his and Ian's laps. "Hey, focus."

Natalia groaned. "For fuck's sake. Goddamn it."

Kimberly, JJ, Lip and Ian smirked at Natalia's predictable response.

Kimberly ate some of the snacks that Lip and Ian brought out. "We need to actually get some real food."

Zia glanced back. "Like chicken nuggets and hot Cheetos?"

The teens smiled slightly at this, missing this Zia.

"Yeah, like chicken nuggets and hot Cheetos," Lip replied.

"We'll get some hot Cheetos soon, okay, Z?" Ian asked.

Zia nodded.

"I want some too," Carl claimed.

"You got it, bud," Lip told him.

Zia and Carl went back to the game, as Kimberly, JJ, Lip, Ian and Natalia smiled slightly.

⫷⑅⫸

Fiona's Room

Fiona and Steve were laying in Fiona's bed.

"Thanks for buying Debbie that doll," Fiona thanked. "And Zia that art kit."

Steve nodded. "Not a problem."

"You know what would feel great right now?" Fiona asked. "A long, hot shower."

"I'll wash your back," Steve offered.

Fiona remembered that they still didn't have a water heater. "Shit. No hot water."

Steve was just looking at her. "You really are beautiful."

Fiona looked at Steve, chuckling, looking away, returning serious, frowning worriedly. "I hope I'm not fucking up the kids."

They heard Veronica call from downstairs. "Fiona! Fiona, where are you?"

⫷⑅⫸

Kitchen

Now, Kevin and Veronica were here, and taking out drinks to hand out to Kimberly, JJ, Lip, Ian and Natalia, putting more drinks into the fridge.

Veronica called out. "Fiona!"

Ian put a stereo on the kitchen table.

Carol walked in. "Hey, hey."

Veronica grinned. "Mommy."

JJ smiled. "Hey, Grandma."

Carol brought over two more cases of drinks, chuckling, but returned serious as she gave JJ and Veronica a look. "Don't think that 'Mommy' and 'Grandma'-ing me will get you two out of the trouble you both are in from not telling me exactly what the hell was going on while I was gone."

Veronica tilted her head. "Mom, take it easy."

JJ looked more sheepish, since the teens knew more than the others did, but they didn't know what to do about it without putting anyone else in danger.

Fiona and Steve walked downstairs.

"What the hell?" Fiona asked. "Champagne?"

Veronica grinned. "I'm getting married."

JJ and Natalia smiled in shock.

Kimberly ad Ian's jaws dropped in shock and happiness.

Fiona immediately threw her arms around Veronica, exclaiming. "Oh, my God!"

Lip laughed.

Veronica and Fiona pulled away.

As soon as they did, JJ stepped in and wrapped his arms around Veronica. Veronica smiled, pulling Kevin in with her other arm, as the three embraced.

Everyone else cheered and celebrated for them, for Veronica and Kevin's engagement and JJ's pending adoption.

They all knew that they desperately needed this.

(Song:) Bright Side - Nada Surf

Music was blaring for the party at the Gallagher house.

Steve and Fiona kissed.

Veronica was dancing with Ian. "Bitches, start planning the bachelorette party."

Ian laughed. "Congratulations."

Ian spun Veronica around.

Natalia and Kimberly danced with Veronica a bit, all laughing.

Lip and JJ smiled, laughing lightly.

Kevin was watching from the sink, drinking, smiling a little.

Steve walked over to the fridge.

JJ pointed at Kevin and Veronica with either hand. "I'm just happy you two are finally fucking getting married."

There was a lot of laughter in agreement.

Steve stood next to Kevin, patting him on the shoulder. "Veronica's great. And JJ's an awesome kid."

"Yeah, man," Kevin agreed. "They're good. They deserve it."

"Yes, but do they deserve you, you bastard?" Steve asked.

Kevin chuckled dryly. "No. Nobody does."

Steve walked away.

Kevin raised his drink, taking a sip.

Kimberly and JJ were dancing, drinking. JJ twirled Kimberly around, the two of them dancing around dramatically. The alcohol had definitely kicked in, because they were completely breathless, too much giggling to be sober. JJ brought Kimberly into a spin, and the duo lost balance, both of them topping over to the floor.

Zia looked up from drawing at the table. "You guys okay?"

Kimberly moved her head so she was looking at JJ, the two making eye contact before bursting into laughter again, causing everyone around them to burst into laughter too.

Veronica walked over to Zia, wrapping her arm around her. "Aw, look at you. Talking and all." Zia looked up, nodding. "Come on, dance with us, Zia."

Zia shook her head. "No."

"Come on," Ian replied.

The siblings chanted her name to convince her to join. "Zia, Zia, Zia."

Zia groaned, tilting her head, unable to help a small smile.

"Yeah, come on!" Natalia cheered to lighten her up, taking Zia's hand, pulling her up, spinning her around, giving Zia to dance with them.

Carl did a little crazy dance. "Oh, hey, do the crazy dance!"

Zia shook her head, laughing a little.

They all continued to dance and have fun, laughing and celebrating.

Zia felt distant as usual, but not locked away in her own mind for the night like she had been since what happened, actually able to enjoy this.

(Song Ends)

⫷⑅⫸

Jackson House - Hallway

Frank was brushing his teeth.

Eddie was waiting outside of the bathroom, seeing Sheila in her room with her box of toys.

Frank walked out of the bathroom.

"Take the Advil now," Eddie advised. "You wanna stay ahead of the pain."

Frank nodded, sighing, walking into the bedroom.

⫷⑅⫸

Gallagher House - Living Room

(Song:) Wait Up (Boots of Danger) - Tokyo Police Club

The celebration was still going on.

Fiona looked over at Kevin, noticing he was not as into the party as everyone else, walking closer, plopping down next to him. "Penny for your thoughts."

"Really, Grandma?" Kevin asked, resting his arm on the couch behind her.

Fiona laughed. "I know. I'm a 60 year old lady with the vaj of a newborn." As Fiona took Kevin's cigarette out of his both, they both burst into laughter. Kevin smiled, shaking his head, taking a drink. "You know I love you guys, right, Kev? I couldn't raise these kids without you and V, and JJ. Hell, even Natalia's always helping out when she can. And I know they borrow your shit all the time. I'm sorry. I know it's lame. But thanks." Fiona kissed Kevin's cheek. "I don't know how I'd do it without you guys. I love you so much. I'm just so happy for you both."

Kevin chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. You know that Jagermeister really makes you chatty, right?" Fiona burst into giggles, as Kevin laughed. "You know that?"

Fiona nodded, giggling, looking into the kitchen where Veronica and JJ were smiling and being happy while talking with Carol and having fun with the other kids. "Look at V and JJ. They look so happy right now. Marriage, adoption. They totally deserve it."

"Yeah," Kevin agreed, looking guilty. "They sure do."

Kevin took a drink.

They heard a truck beeping from outside.

Zia frowned. "What the hell is that?"

(Song Ends)

⫷⑅⫸

Outside

Everyone walked outside.

Debbie was sighing for a delivery by the truck.

"Debbie?" Zia asked.

Debbie turned to her family excitedly. "It's our new water heater. I got it on sale."

The Gallaghers smiled and laughed in relief.

"All right, Debs," Lip cheered.

"And free delivery," Debbie added.

Kimberly gave Debbie a big hug. "Oh, thank you, Debs. Literal lifesaver right now."

Debbie grinned. "Funny you say that, Kimberly, because they said it's because I'm a hero."

"That you are, my girl," Veronica told her.

"Oh, man," Ian said.

"Yeah!" Carl cheered.

They watched as the truck delivery men took down the water heater from the truck.

"You're gonna go to the back and make a sharp left and install it in the kitchen," Debbie explained.

"Right on back," JJ explained.

The delivery men pointed for confirmation.

Natalia pointed to confirm. "Yeah, straight down."

"By the way, I call the first hot shower," Debbie claimed.

"Well, after getting us the water heater, you deserve it," Kimberly replied.

"How much did that set you back?" Ian asked.

Everyone but Kevin and Fiona walked around the house to watch the delivery men with the water heater.

Zia walked a little distance away from everyone.

Kimberly turned back toward Zia, walking toward her.

Zia put a hand to her head, running her hand back through her hair, already seeming to be becoming more distant from everything again, fighting to not shut down again.

Kimberly looked at her in concern. "What's wrong? Monkey..."

Zia looked up, whispering in a barely audible voice. "I'm scared." Kimberly nodded sadly, knowingly. "Everything hurts."

Kimberly looked at Zia in sadness, kneeling next to her, wrapping her arms around her tightly, comfortingly. "Did tonight help?"

Zia returned the embrace for dear life, nodding a bit. "It still hurt. But... not as much."

Kimberly brushed down Zia's hair. "If we found a way to get you in to see someone like JJ has to see... would you talk to them? Let them figure out what's going on? And how to help you?"

Zia frowned. "I... think so. But Fiona doesn't want that."

Kimberly got Zia to look at her. "All of us just want you to be okay, all right? For all of us to be okay. That's all that matters. Let me talk to Fi, okay?"

Zia nodded, looking upset again. "Was I being selfish?"

Kimberly shook her head. "No. Not even a little bit. Not after everything that happened. I promise you, Z. You are the furthest thing from selfish." Zia looked down in thought, exhausted, which Kimberly noticed. "Come on. Let's go get you some sleep." Zia looked scared because of her nightmares and daze states where she saw Micah. Kimberly wrapped her arm around Zia. "Shh. It's gonna be okay. I promise."

Kimberly led Zia inside.

Kevin and Fiona stood by the front of the house, watching Kimberly and Zia walk inside, but they hadn't heard them.

Fiona shrugged. "That was something, huh?"

"Yeah," Kevin answered.

"You know, for a guy that just got engaged, you don't seem very happy to be getting married," Fiona pointed out.

Kevin sighed. "It's because I'm already married."

(Song:) New Revolution - The Waking Hours

Kevin walked away.

Fiona looked after him in shock.

⫷⑅⫸

Day Two

Morning - Gallagher House - Kitchen

The Gallaghers were having breakfast.

Everyone was ready but Debbie.

Debbie walked in, still in her pajamas and with ratted hair, just getting some toast and peanut butter.

"Debs, you have to get ready for school," Fiona told her.

"I can't go to school," Debbie replied.

"Why not?" Ian asked.

Zia and Kimberly rolled their eyes.

"She said that Gin-Gin had diarrhea, keeping us up half the night to 'take care of it'," Kimberly answered.

Ian, Lip, Ian and Fiona all looked at Debbie, confused and stunned, before looking at Zia and Kimberly.

Kimberly shrugged.

Zia stood, walking toward the bat, picking it up.

"What do you need that for?" Lip asked.

"Barry's still messing with her at school," Carl replied.

Fiona took the bat from Zia, handing it to Kimberly. "Hide this. Don't let her have it."

Zia pouted, disappointed. "But I..."

Kimberly, Fiona, Ian and Lip all shook their heads. "No!"

Zia crossed her arms, frowning.

⫷⑅⫸ ⫷⑅⫸