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derpinathebrave · 1 year

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Finders Keepers - IceMav Spy Au Part 3 - Keeping

AMAZING BANNER ART BY @marauderofworlds

READ ON AO3

We are up to part 3. This was supposed to be the end. But the brainrot continues and I am having a blast! Who knows where it will end? ANYWAY!

SUMMARY: “Don’t get attached, Mitchell,” Ice said, mumbling soft enough that the kid wouldn’t hear but the words were piped through the earpiece to Mav.

Maverick gave him a look of mild disinterest before returning his attention to the kid. Just because Ice was a cold-hearted bastard, didn’t mean Maverick had to be. There was nothing wrong with being kind to a child that they had rescued from a house of traffickers. It wasn’t like he was about to adopt it…

TAGS: Tom “Iceman” Kazansky/Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, OC Child Character, Ron “Slider” Kerner, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, Bill “Cougar” Cortell, Mike “Viper” Metcalf, Rick “Jester” Heatherly, Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood, Penny Benjamin, Rick "Hollywood Neven, Leonard "Wolfman" Wolfe, Fluff, Family Fluff, Literally found family, MavDad, IcePops, SpyAU, Very Mild Violence, Spycraft innacuracies, Mild mentions of human trafficking, Selective Mutism, No Beta we die like goose.

WORDS: 9,764

PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 3

The domesticity only grew following dinner. The three of them washing and drying dishes in the kitchen together before Ice insisted Emma shower and get her pyjamas on.

Once again, she was incredibly reluctant to be separated from them. It was Ice’s turn to stand outside the bathroom door and talk to her as she showered. Mav finished cleaning the kitchen, unable to stop snickering as Ice explained in great detail the steps to a tactical clearing of a house. If nothing else they would come away from this with all of their basic spy-craft skills refreshed.

With her showered, teeth brushed and pyjamas on, Ice and Emma returned to sit on the couch with Mav. As she snuggled up in Ice’s lap, Mav slid across to close the distance. He had spent the rest of the time waiting for them by drawing up a polybius cipher grid.

She watched with solemn eyes as Mav explained how it worked and then how it could be made more complicated by shifting the letters or randomising them. She frowned, taking the pad and writing in the cipher for a long moment before handing it back.

How do you know where the letters go if its random?

“You have a big clue in your name, Emmie,” he said with a crooked smile. “Do you know what the most common letter in English is?”

She flashed a single finger followed by all five. Ice and Mav chuckled and nodded.

“Yes, clever pants, it’s E. If you can find E you can figure out most other letters from there,” Mav leaned in, letting his shoulder rest against Ice’s bicep as he took the pen from Emma and began giving a proper lesson on the pattern of language and code-breaking.

When he was finished, she was fully tucked into Ice with her feet in Maverick’s lap. He could see her eyelids were getting heavy and dropped the notepad onto the floor.

“Bedtime, kiddo,” he said and stood. With perfect synchronicity Mav bent to scoop her out of Ice’s arms as the other man shifted and lifted her to him.

She clung to Ice for one more moment with a hug before letting Mav take her.

“Night, Squeak,” Ice said with a false yawn.

She yawned back.

She was still too light in his arms but at least she looked like someone loved her in her unicorn-cross-kitten pyjamas. He carried her into one of the bedrooms and laid her in the bed.

“Try and get some sleep, honey,” he mumbled to her. “I’ll stay for a while. I’ll leave the door open. If you wake through the night just come and find us, OK?” He brushed her fringe from her forehead.

Face grave, she nodded and curled her fingers into his pocket. Mav let her, thinking she was just looking to hold on to him for a while but with a little fishing she brought out his butterfly knife.

“Don’t touch that, kiddo,” he said, the sternest he had been with her yet. “It’s really sharp and really dangerous.” Mav plucked the knife from her hand without hesitation. “You know Ice and I will let you have things to figure out how they work, but not knives or bullets. They’re dangerous.”

Emma was clutching the blanket, face stricken as he lectured her.

“Here,” Mav took one of her hands and ran her fingers over the ridge of scar that crossed three fingers on his right hand. “Feel that? I messed up a knife trick and almost lost the use of those fingers.”

She took his hand and ran her fingers over his slowly, mapping the scar herself this time.

“If Ice or I tell you not to do something, it’s always to keep you safe,” Mav said.

Emma nodded again. She tried to stifle a yawn.

“Sleep, kiddo,” he mumbled, hiding the knife in the other pocket. “We’ll still be here in the morning.”

He could tell she didn’t quite believe him. Rolling onto her side, Emma gripped his pants in her fist and fought the weight of her eyelids. Mav didn’t move. He simply laid a hand on her shoulder and waited.

Ice was still on the couch, scrolling on his phone with a serious look on his face. Maverick flopped down at the other end with a sigh. He was exhausted. His limbs pleasantly heavy and brain ready to stop for a while.

“She is asleep,” he said quietly.

“Good.”

Mav closed his eyes and pressed his head into the back of the couch.

“I’ve been reading the report of what Goose extracted from that drive.” Ice’s voice was pitched down in his attempt to stay quiet as well. “There is no reason why she should have been there, Mav. It wasn’t a drop-point or a storage facility. It was just a gang-house. It doesn’t make sense.”

With a concerted effort, Maverick kicked his brain back into tactical thinking once more. He didn’t bother opening his eyes as he spoke. “She was probably a hostage.”

“What?” Ice’s anger raised his voice and Maverick cracked an eye to glance back toward the bedrooms. When Emma didn’t appear, Ice continued speaking, quieter once more. “What do you mean a hostage?”

“She was probably being used to keep a rival gang in check, or to secure an alliance between two parties,” Mav said with a sigh. He turned his eyes back to Ice. “In all honesty, she might not even have been taken. She might have been given up.”

A cold fury lit Ice’s eyes, the blue chilling down to resemble glaciers. His jaw ticced as he ground his teeth together and Mav watched his fingers shift to press over his palms. He knew that feeling well, the urge to have a weapon in hand to exact justice. Maverick would be lying if he said he didn’t feel the same way. His own fury was muted beneath the weight of reality though.

“How do people live like that?” Ice hissed.

“Desperation.” Mav closed his eyes again and sank into the couch a little more. “Greed. Stupidity. No better options. Lots of reasons, Ice.”

There was a long silence.

“Sorry,” Ice mumbled.

It surprised him. Mav lifted his heavy eyelids once more and stared.

“Your… history. Sorry, I was probably insensitive.” Ice said with a wave of his hand.

Maverick snorted and closed his eyes again. “Don’t worry about it, Kazansky. I’ve got thicker skin than that.” He yawned before he could stop it.

“You’re also going to fall asleep if you don’t go to bed.” Ice’s voice was back to business once more.

“I am in bed.”

“Don’t be stupid, Mitchell, you aren’t sleeping on the couch.”

“What, you are? You’re too big to fit.” He dragged his eyes open again, frustration filtering in at the constant interruptions to his shut eye.

“There’s another bed in this house,” Ice said as though it were obvious. He stood, now towering over Mav on the couch.

“There is one other bed in this house,” Mav pointed out, stalling for time as he attempted to compose the fluttery reaction in his stomach.

“And I promise not to murder you in your sleep.” Ice shot him a snarky smile.

“Alright,” Mav said as he heaved himself to his feet. “I make no such promise in return.”

Ice’s chuckle was like dark chocolate, sweet and bitter at the same time. He led the way to the bedroom, flipping lights off as they went.

Mav took the side closest to the door, stretching out on his back with a sigh. He felt the mattress depress beside him, listened as Ice gave a sigh of his own and wriggled for a moment. Within record time, the other man’s breathing had evened out and he was asleep.

It took a little longer for Maverick. His heart didn’t want to settle down, it was too busy thudding loud enough to wake the dead in his ears. Once it finally receded to background noise once more, he lay there listening to Ice’s breathing and arguing with himself over their newfound companionship.

Somewhere around the third cycle in the same argument, Mav slipped into sleep.

Gasping, he surged awake and into an upright position. One hand searched beneath his pillow for his Beretta, he scanned the dark room.

Emma was cowering by the end of the bed. Mav deflated immediately.

“What is it?” Ice’s voice was thick with sleep.

“Sorry,” Mav said, working hard to calm his heartbeat. “Automatic reaction. Come here.”

For a horrifying second he feared she wouldn't. She was crouched, covering herself with her arms. He beckoned to her before patting the side of the bed beside him. Her body unfolded, the arms coming around her chest now and hugging at herself.

“You OK?” Ice mumbled.

“Go back to sleep, Kazansky, I got it.” Mav turned and patted Ice’s shoulder lightly.

The other man gave a sleepy sigh, rolled to face him and apparently dropped off once more.

“Come here, baby,” Mav said again, reaching out for Emma. “I’m sorry. I frightened you.”

She gave a nod, crossing the last of the distance between them and standing at the bedside.

“You have a nightmare?” He yawned.

Another nod. Now he could see the haunted look in her eyes.

“Climb up.” He pulled the blanket back for her. “Come sleep here.”

Without any hesitation this time, she climbed into the bed, over Mav, and settled between the two of them.

“Better?” He asked, laying back down beside her.

She nodded and reached out to take Maverick’s bicep in her hands. With her warm little hands clutching on to him it was weirdly easy to resettle himself back to sleep.

Two bony knees were digging into his back. Ice woke only as the pain reached a tipping point. He hadn’t dreamed for once. It was a pleasant surprise. An even more pleasant surprise was the heavy weight of Mav’s hand on his waist.

Ice shifted, rolling away from Emma’s jabbing knees and flattening out onto his back. He looked at the pair of them.

Emma was twisted in the middle, her legs against Ice and her torso flat on the bed. She was holding Mav’s forearm like a teddybear. Mav was rolled toward her, his other arm stretched out over her and still resting on Ice’s hip.

His first thought was dangerous; they were adorable. His second thought was even worse; he wanted to stay.

That was not a possibility. He couldn’t stay. Stay where? This was a safehouse. Temporary housing for a lost little girl. It was not a home.

But damn if he didn’t wish he could give her that.

Maverick’s words from the night before haunted him. The idea of anyone giving Emma up was repulsive. Especially for their own selfish gain. It made Ice want to commit murder. It made him want to track down her parents and enact war crimes.

Thinking those thoughts wouldn't get him anywhere. Ice sighed a little and rubbed his eyes. What he needed to do was get back to work today. That started with getting out of the warm, comfortable bed, and getting coffee.

He hesitated one more moment, tracing the soft expressions on Emma and Mav’s faces as they slept. Mav’s stubble was coming on strong now he hadn’t shaved for a few days, his hair a wild mess from sleep and flopping over his forehead a little. Even in sleep there was a small smile playing around his mouth.

Ice bit back a sigh. He shifted Mav’s hand off his hip and onto the mattress, letting his fingers linger, before he rolled up and out of bed properly.

With a coffee and his phone, Ice settled himself at the table on the patio. He was most of the way through the morning headlines when movement in his peripherals caught him. Emma was wandering the house.

“I’m out here,” he called. He couldn’t help the smile it caused as she made a bee-line for the back door. “Good morning.” Ice leaned back in his chair as she moved to him and climbed into his lap.

“Hi.” The word was a whisper.

Ice felt very accomplished that he didn’t choke on his coffee as she spoke. Instead he set his mug and phone down and pulled her into a tight hug. He pressed a kiss to the top of her messy hair, unable to contain the fireworks of happiness one little word set off in him.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he mumbled into the top of her head. “Thank you for speaking to me.”

She nodded back, pressing her cheek into his chest.

“Did you sleep OK?” Ice asked her, hopeful to get more words out.

Emma nodded again.

“Good. I did too,” he said, trying to mute his disappointment over her silence. One step at a time, he tried to remind himself. “Happy there? I’m going back to reading.”

She shifted, settling in properly as Ice picked his phone back up and continued reading. He alternated the phone and his coffee, unwilling to use the hand that was wrapped around Emma in a loose hug.

After watching him swap for the second time, Emma took up his phone and held it for him to read. Ice chuckled, placing another kiss on her hair in fondness.

“Thank you, Squeak,” he said.

Eventually Maverick appeared, coffee in hand and a bowl of cereal for Emma. He was showered and clean shaven once more, much to Ice’s disappointment.

“Morning,” Mav said, a bright smile hitting Ice’s chest full force. “Here, kiddo, come and eat.”

Mav placed the bowl down at an empty chair before taking the one across from Ice. Emma wriggled, getting her feet under her and planting them on Ice’s thighs. He got a second to react before she stood on him. An “oof” of effort snuck out of Ice as she leapt to the chair adjacent.

“Emma,” Ice chastised.

Maverick snorted into his coffee mug with poorly concealed laughter.

She shot him a look that was probably attempting to be guilty but her delight undermined it somewhat.

“Need to get this kid into rock climbing,” Ice commented drily. “Maybe she’ll stop using me as a jungle-gym.”

“It’s your own fault for being so tall and broad,” Mav replied in a just-too-breezy way.

Ice looked up from Emma, an eyebrow raised and a questioning look on his face.

Maverick simply smiled back and sipped his coffee.

He filed that away for later inspection.

“Alright, kiddo,” Maverick said, letting the moment pass. “Today we have to head back to the agency. You, me and Ice are all going, OK?”

Emma glared and, after a beat, rolled her eyes at him.

The both made strangled noises trying to stifle their laughter, Ice setting his coffee down and covering his mouth with his hand. Mav was the first to recover his composure.

“I know you don’t want to. But we have to. Ice and I need to see about a few things,” Mav said, dancing around the ugly truth.

Ice’s good humour died a violent death. They needed to “see about” where Emma was going to be placed and finding a permanent home for her. They needed to find out who her family was and why she had been in that house. It had been a delightful 36 hours of playing house, but reality had a way of seeping through the cracks. It was time to get back to the real world.

“Eat your cereal, we’ll get dressed and Mr Particular can drive us to work.” Mav shot her a smile but it was a weak imitation of his usual joyful expressions.

She delayed eating for as long as she could, letting her cereal go soggy and sad in the milk. Maverick and Ice let her get away with it, knowing she was stalling for time. When that was done, Emma milled around in her room, looking at all her clothes and making a show of picking them up and putting them down like she couldn’t decide.

In truth, Mav felt the same way. He didn’t particularly want to go to work. He loved his job, most of the time, he loved the agency and his co-workers, but he wasn’t ready to face the fact that Emma was going to be put into foster care. A place Maverick was very well acquainted with.

Not all of his memories were bad. Not all the homes he had were nightmares. But, he had still ended up as a member of an anarchist militia with malicious intent. It was a small miracle he had managed to get out in one piece. Mostly one piece anyway. He didn’t want that for her.

Emma finally settled on a pair of jeans, a simple white shirt with the Powerpuff girls on the front, and her boots. Mav gave her a double thumbs up and let her get dressed in private. Ice was standing in the kitchen packing a backpack with food and a waterbottle.

The ride to the agency was quiet. Mav sat in the back without Emma even asking him to. He didn’t particularly feel like being separated from her on what was probably their last day together.

“Alright, kiddo,” Mav said as they drew close to headquarters. “Ice and I probably can’t stay with you the whole time we’re here. We’ll have to go and do some work without you. But you’ll be safer here than anywhere else on Earth, I promise.”

Emma’s face told him she wasn’t entirely convinced, but she gave a small nod anyway.

“If you really need me,” Mav said, lowering his voice and leaning in like it was a secret between the two of them, “You can ask Goose to find me. I’ll introduce you to Goose when we get there.”

She nodded again, eyes still unconvinced.

They slowed to a stop in the underground carpark. Ice let out a short sigh. Maverick couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment of it. After a beat, he pushed all reluctance away and smiled at Emma.

“Let’s go, kiddo,” Mav said before climbing out and moving to her door. “Want a piggyback?” He turned to let her clamber on.

He could have argued that he was carrying her to help her nerves, keep her calm, but in truth it was a purely selfish deed. He wanted to carry her to help his own nerves.

As the three of them approached the elevator the doors opened. Charlie, clad in her usual leather bomber and black cap, stepped out with Penny on her heels. Penny had her nose to her phone and only looked up as Charlie came to an abrupt stop in front of her. They were clearly off on a mission as he recognised the slim bag over Charlie’s back as her favoured long-range rifle. Penny was her spotter and tech, they went almost everywhere together.

“Hey Mav, hey Ice,” Charlie said, interest heavy in her tone. “Is this the kid everyone is gossiping about?”

“Charlie, Penny,” Ice gave a nod and a friendly smile. “Emma, this is Charlie and Penny. They’re agents too.”

Emma’s arms tightened on Mav’s shoulders for a second. He gave her legs a small squeeze in reply.

“Nice to meet you, Emma,” Penny said with her bright smile.

“I still can’t believe Viper agreed to let you look after a child, Maverick,” Charlie said, her voice dry but her eyes laughing.

“Hey, I can be a responsible adult,” Mav shot back. “If I actually want to be. Which I don’t”

“Which he doesn’t” Ice said in the same moment.

The women laughed. Mav felt Emma’s tension soften out of her a little. He glanced over his shoulder to her with a smile.

“We need to get going, Charlie,” Penny said, back to business.

“Good hunting,” Ice said.

They exchanged nods and went their separate ways.

In the privacy of the elevator, Ice stepped closer and rubbed Emma’s back with one hand. She laid her head onto Mav’s shoulder with a small sigh.

“You’re doing great,” Ice mumbled to her. “You can do this.”

It took immense willpower to hold himself back from leaning them into Ice properly. All he wanted to do was make the half a step sideways that would have the pair of them pressed into Ice’s chest. He wanted to snuggle into Ice’s warmth and let those soft words wash over both of them.

The elevator doors opened and instead of indulging his stupid fantasy, Mav stepped out with Ice close behind. The hall was relatively busy, agents and techs marching here and there with serious faces. The sound of phones ringing and voices could be heard from the partitioned rooms off the hall. As they passed, a few people stopped to stare but several more carried on with their intense looks of concentration.

Emma’s arms tightened again and beneath the noise of the office, Mav heard her breathing coming in short sharp bursts.

“Easy, kiddo,” Mav mumbled to her. “Our office is quieter, I promise.”

She was trembling like a jackrabbit by the time they made it into their office.

It was a smallish space, dominated by their work desks in the middle. A bench ran the right wall, covered in tools and bits and pieces. The left wall held racks of shelves, covered in packs and equipment. Goose was already sitting at his desk, sipping coffee and typing faster than a machine gun. He glanced up with a distracted smile, fingers not missing a beat on the keys.

“You two are late,” Slider commented from the far wall where he was tinkering with something, the burnt smell of solder lingering a little.

“Bite me,” Mav said with a grin. He turned to look at Emma once again. Her eyes were flickering from Goose to Slider, wide and uncertain. “Emma, this is Goose.” Mav nodded at the man at the desk. “That’s Slider.”

“Be nice,” Ice said as Slider’s mouth opened to reply.

“What the fuck? I am nice,” Slider protested. “Just not to him.” He pointed the soldering iron at Mav with a grin.

“Feeling’s mutual, asshole,” Mav laughed. “What do you think, Em? Ready to get down?”

She tightened her arms.

“OK.” Mav shrugged and carried her over to his desk. He nudged his chair out of the way and crouched at the desk instead, core and thighs straining to keep him steady with her weight on his back.

He heard a small breath of laughter from her and a swell of victory rose in his chest. Even when she was scared and unsure, he could make her smile.

It took another fifteen minutes before she was ready to stand on her own. Mav didn’t let on that his feet had gone to sleep several minutes ago and he was intensely uncomfortable. He merely dragged his chair back over and sat down properly at his desk.

Emma lingered by his chair, her eyes continually straying to where Slider was still tinkering at the bench. Mav clicked through his emails, keeping tabs on her in his peripherals.

For the second time that morning, his willpower was tested. Emma slowly released her hold on the arm of his chair and inched across the office to get a better look at what Slider was doing. Mav knew if either he or Ice said anything or moved at all, it would spook her back to them immediately. He held perfectly still, pretending to read a report. He could almost feel Ice doing the same across the room.

She came to a stop about a metre from Slider’s elbow. The tall man glanced up, shot her a smile, and then returned to what he was doing.

She inched closer.

“Here,” Slider said, voice more gentle than Maverick could ever recall it being. He passed Emma a set of pointy-nosed pliers. “Hold that wire right there. Don’t move, OK?”

And just like that, she was by his elbow properly, head bent to the task and holding the wire in place.

“Wanna know what we’re making?” Slider said, as more acrid smoke rose into the air.

She nodded.

“A listening device.” He launched into an explanation of the inner-workings and where he was planning to put said device when he was finished.

Mav listened with half an ear as he skimmed the report from Goose, regarding the house they had found her in, a second time. He had avoided opening the emails that involved Emma while she was with him, he knew she was sharp enough to be reading over his shoulder.

The next one he opened was a summons to their version of an HR division for a meeting about Emma. It made his stomach sink and bile rise. He was being stupid, he knew that, but the closer the meeting got, the less he wanted to go.

“What do you think?” Slider asked as they finished it up, bringing Mav out of his pouty thoughts.

Emma flashed him her small smile.

“Not much of a talker, huh?” Slider joked. “That’s alright, means you wont have to worry about listening devices.”

The rest of them chuckled at his lame joke and Emma smiled again.

“Hey, kiddo,” Mav called to her as he stood from his desk. The meeting was in ten minutes time. “Can you come here a minute?”

She was back at his side in an instant. Mav’s heart warmed again and his stomach sank lower. He really didn’t want to go to this meeting.

He quickly scratched out a coded message, using a basic A1Z26 to save time. Emma gave him a mildly insulted look as he slid it across the desk to her.

E. I need to ask you some questions. I need your last name and your birthday. M.

She deciphered it swiftly, already half-memorising the important letters in the code and figuring it out without using a reference.

Maverick blinked. He knew she was smart but this was something else. She had her own reply written down after only a few small pauses to count on her fingers.

M. Emma Valeria Collins. Birthday K H. E

Mav blinked a second and then realised K H was actually 11-8. A November baby.

“Thank you,” Mav whispered to her and ruffled her hair. “Stay here with Goose and Slider, I have to go to a meeting.”

Her eyebrows pulled down and she glared at him.

“I know you want to come with me, Em,” Mav sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You can’t this time. Besides, you had fun with Slider, I know you did.”

She turned and glanced over to where Slider was at the other side of the room, now getting a pack together. Her eyes then moved to where Ice was standing and tucking his phone in his pocket.

All eyes turned back to her as she let out an indignant squeak.

“I know,” Ice said, stern and professional as he always was at work. “You’ll be fine here though. Mav and I will be back later.”

Emma clenched her fists and stomped a booted foot on the floor.

“Don’t give me attitude about it,” Ice replied before rounding his desk and coming over.

Mav rubbed her back a little in apology. He didn’t like the strict turn Ice was taking but he wasn’t about to argue about it. Not right then, anyway.

Ice sunk onto one knee in front of her and tilted his head a little. “Have I ever lied to you?” Ice said, voice serious.

Emma gave him a baleful stare.

“Have Mav or I ever said we’d do something and not done it?” Ice continued.

She didn’t respond at all.

Ice waited her out. His entire attention focused on her.

There was a minute shake of her head. Ice nodded slowly in reply, eyes still on her alone.

“See? There. We’ll be back. You’ll be safe.”

Emma let out a noisy sigh and pressed herself to Ice in a hug. He held her close, whispering in to her ear. Mav caught it, as he was less than a metre from them.

“I need you to try for me, sweetheart. If you get too upset Slider and Goose will bring you to us, OK?”

She gave a small noise of ascent.

“Good girl,” Mav mumbled. “We gotta go.”

Emma released Ice, turned on her heel and threw herself into Mav’s arms instead. He gave her a squeeze strong enough to force a much happier squeak out of her. He kissed her temple and released her once more.

As she stepped back from them, it felt a little like a piece of his own heart had gotten lodged in her and pulled out of his chest. Mav took a deep breath, trying to fight the uncomfortable pain it created.

They walked to the door, looking back once to give her a smile and a wave. Maverick frowned as they stepped into the hall. He rubbed at his breastbone, unable to stop himself. It truly felt like he was now missing something that he hadn’t even realised was there.

It was probably a minor miracle that Mav had never really had to spend much time in the HR offices. His paychecks were always prompt and, despite his penchant for chaos, he almost never endangered anyone but himself, so it was usually Jester or Viper chewing him out for a stupid stunt.

It was a small corner of a mid-level floor. The space had vast windows and a dusty fake plant but that was as far as they bothered with ambience. Three desks were lined up through the middle of the room, one an utter mess of papers, one neat and tidy and the third a mix of the two. Ice and Mav paused at the door, scanning the space for their assigned HR person. At the desk furthest from the door, closest to the windows, a hand was waving them over.

They were medium build, with hair that was bright, shocking red and half-shaved-half-long. A nose ring, two lip rings and a bar between the eyebrows glittered under the florescent lights. Maverick found himself instantly at ease. This was his type of person. He snuck a glance at Ice from the corner of his eye; the other man had his mild expression locked in place, making him impossible to read.

“Hi, I’m Kit. Please, take a seat, agents,” there was a softness to the consonants and as Mav sat he realised they were also wearing hearing aids.

“OK. I have worked through most of the paperwork to have the girl submitted to the foster system, I just need some more details,” Kit said, all business. “Do you have her first and last name?”

Maverick opened his mouth and nothing emerged. His chest still held a slight ache and the words “foster system” had felt like a knuckle driving straight into it. He could feel Ice watching him, he could feel the patient eyes of Kit the HR employee waiting for him. He tried again.

“Yeah, it’s Emma Valeria Collins. Hey, how do I go about getting registered to be her carer?”

Iceman made a strangled noise beside him. A noise that usually would have made Mav laugh for days. But right now all his attention was focused on Kit.

They blinked. After a pause to catch up, they shuffled the papers and gave a short sigh.

“Agent Mitchell—“

“Mav,” he corrected with a winning smile.

“Mav,” they gave another short sigh, “Emma is a ward of the state. The government won’t let just anyone have a child they found in a closet.”

“I know,” Mav said, “That’s why I want to know what I have to do to be allowed to keep her.”

He ignored the loud sigh Ice gave and the way he rubbed at his forehead. Kit appeared to be fighting a smile, their left lip ring sparkling a little more.

“OK.” Kit let the smile out. “You’re sure, agent Mitchell, Mav, that you want the responsibility of a ten year old?”

No, he was not sure. He had no idea what a ten year old needed beyond a stable home and someone to love them. He had no idea what a little girl needed. He had no idea what he needed to be a dad.

What he was sure of was that he never wanted her to be passed off to someone else ever again. He was sure that if anyone in the world could give her a steady place to rest, it could be him. He was sure that if he could avoid dropping her in the same chaotic childhood he’d had, he damn well would!

“Yes,” he said, cocky confidence shining through.

“Mav,” Ice spoke up for the first time. “What are you doing?”

He turned to face Ice head on. There was a conflicted twist to Ice’s eyebrows but otherwise he looked irritated as usual.

“Come on, Ice, you know how she is,” Mav said. “She isn’t going to last in a foster home. It’s going to be the worst thing possible for her. She knows us. She trusts us. How can we just give her up?”

“We’re not dads,” Ice rebuffed. “We’re not even a ‘we’.”

Well, that was a suckerpunch. Mav tried to ignore the sharp pain it added to the ache in his chest.

“We’re spies,” Ice was still talking. “We don’t raise kids.”

“Why not?” Mav argued back. “I’ll do it without you, I don’t care. I was only including you because I know you love her already. And she loves you, dumbass. And who says I can’t be a dad and a spy?”

“The government,” Kit interjected, their face caught between exasperated and amused. A look Maverick tended to inspire in people often. “Mav, the government will deem you unfit to foster or adopt. You need a… more appropriate job and a home that they deem fit for a child.”

“See,” Ice crossed his arms tight over his chest.

“OK, I can arrange that.” Mav turned away from Ice. “How do we apply?”

There was a beleaguered sigh from Ice but he didn’t speak.

“I’ll look into it for you.” Kit shuffled more papers. “If this is your plan, then I think this meeting is pretty much over. The only other thing I need is her date of birth.”

Mav rattled it off, a surreal sense of victory hitting him.

Holy shit, he was really going to do this.

“Thank you,” Mav said earnestly.

“You’re welcome,” a smile was tugging at Kit’s mouth again. “I’ll let you know when I know something. You’ll probably need to report this to Agent Heatherly.”

Mav gave a nod and stood. Ice followed him, presence looming ominously behind him all the way back to the elevators.

“Just say it, Ice,” Mav mumbled out the corner of his mouth.

There was a heavy sigh. Ice scrubbed at his face with his hands. They stepped into the elevator together and as the doors shut, Ice finally spoke.

“Mav, what the fuck?”

Maverick waited, a pleasant smile on his face. He knew it was the warm up for the tirade Ice was about to go on.

“What the fuck are you doing? You can’t keep her. You’re going to throw your career away to adopt a ten year old? It’s been 36 hours,” Ice said. His hands were making small punctuating gestures, betraying how worked up he was. “What happens when she throws a tantrum for real and you realise you can’t do this? What happens when she’s sick and it’s just you and you realise you can’t do this? You’re going to seriously fuck her up if you tell her you’re keeping her and then give her away again when she causes trouble. Because she will cause trouble, Mitchell, she’s a kid.”

He wanted to be hurt and angry and antagonistic, but somehow Ice’s words were just cementing his choice more and more. He wanted to be there when she hurt herself. He wanted to face down her tantrums and help fix them.

Fuck. He wanted to be a dad.

“Stop smiling!” Ice snapped. “This isn’t a joke.”

That caught in his craw.

“I’m not fucking joking,” Mav’s voice was so sharp Ice’s own mouth snapped shut. “I want to keep her. I want to be her dad. If anyone has no idea, its you.” Mav jabbed a finger at him. “You have no idea what the foster system is like. You have no idea what it means to be an orphan. And you have no idea how much fucking courage it takes to be her every single day now. So shut the fuck up, Iceman. Either help me or get out of my way.”

There was a benign ding and the elevator doors opened. They stayed in place, glaring each other down.

“Fine.” The word was spat like a curse from Ice’s lips. “Then don’t bitch me out when I tell you what I think you’re doing wrong. You’re going to need help because you’re barely more than a child yourself most days.”

“You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?” Mav shook his head. There was a bizarre cocktail of delight, irritation, fear and lust shaking around in his stomach. It made him feel light and airy with a side of nausea.

“Yeah, well, you’re stuck with me now,” Ice muttered.

They stalked back down the hall to their office.

"— no, watch. Are you watching?” Goose was half-laughing as he spoke. “Watch closer.”

Ice followed Maverick into their office to find Goose performing sleight of hand tricks for Emma and Slider.

If he wasn’t so caught up in the tumult of emotions ripping around his chest, Ice would have smiled. As it was, he couldn’t think of anything except the fiery passion in Maverick’s eyes as he told Ice to shut the fuck up. As he declared, loudly and proudly, that he wanted to be Emma’s dad.

It had felt like being punched. No, it had felt like being in free-fall at terminal velocity and having your chute pulled. He had been yanked to a sudden stop. He could still feel the bruises of it.

Maverick was dead serious too, he was willing to give up his place at the agency to be with Emma. He was willing to walk away from their petty rivalry to put this little girl first. It was shocking. But it also wasn’t. The tangled knot of things was both looser and tighter. He was a walking paradox.

Ice moved to his desk and sat down with practised care. He could feel Slider’s eyes on him, searching him for an answer, but Ice couldn’t look at him. He was busy looking inside himself.

Envy.

It was a deep, writhing, bruising envy.

He watched as Emma grabbed Goose’s hand and attempted to follow the coin he was hiding and revealing. He watched as Mav folded himself into a tailor seat beside her, laughing easily, always smiling.

Ice forced himself to look at it. Forced himself to resist the urge to get up and go to the gun range and shoot until he was unable to lift his arms.

He envied them. Both of them.

He wanted so desperately to be part of it. He wanted Emma to look at him with that unguarded trust she had for Mav. He wanted Maverick to gaze at him with the open adoration he had for Emma. He wanted to be the centre between the two of them. He didn’t want to be left behind.

And, fuck, Ice had pushed himself onto Maverick for just that reason. Claiming that he knew Mav would need help, would need him. In truth, Mav wouldn’t need him, he was better at this than Ice was. He had Mother Goose over there doing magic tricks and raising his own son to help him out. He had a far better grasp on the realities of being an orphan and how to help Emma through life.

What Ice wanted was for Mav to need him. Or rather, want him. So envy raged hard. A seed of delirious hope underneath it. Maybe, just maybe, if he pushed them a little, made himself indispensable in some way, they would need him too. And they would keep him.

Maybe they would even love him.

Small hands tugged at his arms, unfolding them from his chest. Ice had been so caught up in himself he hadn’t even noticed Emma approaching. He looked at her, concern overtaking everything else as she frowned up at him with sad eyes.

Ice glanced up to find the rest of the agents in the room had returned to their desks to get back to work. He could see Mav watching them from his peripherals every few moments.

Emma climbed into his lap and wrapped him in a tight hug. Ice returned it automatically. It wasn’t until she leaned back and stared into his face that he realised; this hug wasn’t for her, it was for him.

His throat closed over and he attempted a weak smile at her. Upon seeing it, Emma hugged him tightly again, her little cheek resting on his shoulder.

“Thanks, Squeaker,” Ice mumbled, voice thick. “I needed that.”

It made it infinitely easier for him to push down the uncomfortable emotions and get back to work himself. Emma stayed there, snug against his chest as he worked on planning for upcoming missions and following up on intel already gathered.

Around mid-afternoon an email pinged in from Goose. Ice automatically looked up with a frown. He found Goose watching him with a heavy expression. His eyes turned to find Maverick also looking solemn, his shoulders caved as he leaned on his desk.

Ice checked on Emma, finding she had dozed off at some stage and he hadn’t even noticed. He clicked the email open. It was a report on the status of Austin Collins and his wife Samantha. It was dated for the day before.

His eyes automatically found Mav’s. For once, the man wasn’t smiling.

He read the report, heart sinking with each line.

Emma’s parents had known ties to a small gang. Austin had an extensive rap sheet involving burglary, gun running, weapons charges and multiple incidences of assault against another man. Samantha had two weapons charges but was otherwise clean. There was an open kidnapping case for their daughter, Emma Collins. Yesterday morning, barely 15 hours after the report of kidnapping had been filed, the Collins’ had been found dead in their home.

Ice felt his face shift to the same haunted expression Mav and Goose were wearing.

The other two stood and moved to stand by Ice’s desk. After a beat, Slider joined them. It was abundantly clear they had all read the report, their eyes pitying as they looked at the sleeping girl.

“So,” Goose started when no one else said anything. “Stop me if this sounds too crazy. I can knock up an identity for Mav, slot him into the foster system as a registered home. Give him an office job and some respectable details. Then you call in that you’ve found her and we do a little magic to get her placed with you.” He waggled some jazz-hands at them and attempted a smile.

“That feels a little too convenient,” Slider said. He leaned his butt onto Ice’s desk and folded his arms. “The same guy that finds her is a foster carer? They might get suspicious that it’s all a way to keep her kidnapped.”

“Well, we have to report her found,” Goose said, his lips half-hitching in a mirthless smile. “If she’s found with us and we haven’t turned it in, we’ll be on the hook for the kidnapping.”

“How about just changing the status of her case? Could you just close it?” Mav asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hack the police database?” Goose chuckled. “I love your faith in my abilities, Mav, I really do. But that would take about 2 years with a supercomputer. They’re way over-funded.”

They fell silent. All of them frowning heavily as they tried to pull apart the puzzle.

Slider’s mouth opened and closed once. Twice. His eyes flicked to Maverick and he opened his mouth a third time.

“Spit it out, Sli,” Ice said, an ironic smile on his face. “What’s the crazy idea?”

The other two turned to Slider, hope clear in Mav’s eyes.

“Well…” Slider cleared his throat and raised his hands in a slowing motion. “Don’t overreact. But if we can’t change the case remotely, what if we change the status physically?”

Ice was already shaking his head with incredulity. Goose was simply staring, mouth half agape and eyes wide. Mav was grinning, all teeth and confidence.

“Yes,” Mav hissed. “You’re actually kind of good at this when you try, you know that?” He teased at Slider.

“Fuck you,” Slider chuckled back.

Goose waved them down with two hands. “Wait.” He turned from one to the other in quick movements. “Repeat that for me because I could have sworn you just suggested breaking into a police station and then into the casefiles and changing an active kidnapping to a closed case.”

“I mean,” Mav smirked, “it probably actually wont even be the hardest job we’ve ever done.”

“Yeah, compared to Minsk this will be a breeze,” Slider shrugged.

“One with less fires, I hope,” Ice said, allowing himself a small smile.

His heart did a funny little flippity as Mav shot him a wide smile and winked.

Emma stirred, Ice’s voice must have finally woken her. She looked up at them all with sleepy confusion.

“I’m hungry,” she said in a small, clear voice.

“Well then we better get you some food, huh?” Mav said, his smile growing impossibly wider.

She sat up on Ice’s lap before hopping down to the floor. He wanted to keep her there, hug her close and whisper how proud he was of her. But he wouldn’t hold her back if she wanted to go.

“You want cafeteria food, kiddo?” Mav asked, searching through the backpack Ice had packed and pulling out a muesli bar. He tossed it to her.

She shrugged, tearing into the bar.

“How hungry are you?” Mav asked.

Ice glanced at Slider and Goose, the pair of them were watching with amused expressions. They had yet to see MavDad in action the way Ice had. In fact, he had already grown so used to the paternal way Maverick was, it was more amusing to watch Slider and Goose’s reactions.

Emma shrugged again.

“Hey, shrugger,” Ice said, catching her attention. She looked at him, chewing vigorously. “Are you very hungry, or a little hungry?” He placed his palms wide apart for “very” and pulled them close for “a little”.

After swallowing she spread her hands wide. He grinned at her, melting as she grinned back with full cheeks from another bite.

“This kid is too cute,” Slider said, almost wistful. “I can see how she got you both wrapped around her finger.”

“Yeah, Mav, Carole and I are gonna ask you to babysit a lot more now, I hope you know that?” Goose said, his moustache twitching up in a smile.

Ice, who had been watching Emma the entire time, saw her glance sharply at Goose. She looked back over to Mav, a small line of concern between her brows.

“Food?” Ice suggested before Mav could reply.

The five of them filed into the hallway. Slider leading the way, Emma and Ice behind him, Goose and Mav bringing up the rear and muttering to one another in low voices. Ice could have heard them if he tried hard enough, but he tuned them out in favour of focusing on Emma.

Tension was crawling back over her shoulders as they passed agents going here and there. Ice placed a hand on her far shoulder, keeping her close to him as they walked. Slider, either naturally or with intent, was clearing a path for her through the busy people.

They reached the elevator, Emma managing to stay on her own two feet for the length of the hallway. She looked up at Ice.

“Going down, Squeaker. Push the button,” Slider said as he leaned on the wall by them.

With a tentative smile at him too, Emma reached out and hit the down button.

Ice had to crush a sigh as he looked at her. He couldn’t imagine his life without her anymore. It had been such a short time, but now she was under his guard, he wasn’t sure he could ever have her anywhere else. He had meant what he said to Maverick before. He had best get used to having Ice around now.

The five of them crammed into the elevator with four other agents that were waiting. The noise of distress was barely out of her before Ice had her swept up into his arms. Slider placed himself on the other side of her, making a very obvious barrier between her and everyone else.

Emma shook uncontrollably, clinging to Ice and hiding in his neck as the elevator descended.

“I got you, baby,” Ice mumbled to her. “I got you.”

Ice turned, keeping Slider as a barricade behind them but pressing Emma into Mav as he held her.

“Woh,” Mav was immediately close, his hands on her shaking shoulders. “We’re almost there, honey.”

“Too many people,” Ice sighed. He and Mav locked eyes, profound understanding passing between them. Ice leaned a little closer to him without even registering his movement.

Mav nodded in reply, now half pressed into Ice and Emma’s side.

The ding sounded and the elevator emptied slowly. The hallway beyond was a crush. Agents moving to and from the cafeteria, the armoury, the quartermaster. By the time they were barely in the hallway once more, Emma was sobbing.

“Stairs,” Ice said, voice tight.

With the expert efficiency years in the trade had given them, Ice and Mav moved down the hall toward the stairwell. Slider ranged in front, using his bulk again to clear a trail through the bustling corridor. Goose followed, his old field skills getting a work out after a few years of being at a desk.

Slider held the door to the stairs, ushering Ice and Mav through before he and Goose took a station outside in the corridor.

“Shh,” Ice soothed, the silence of the stairwell hitting them like a physical force. “Hey, you’re OK.”

Maverick was pressed close again, face pinched as he watched Emma cry.

“Do you want to go to Mav?” Ice asked her, voice quiet.

She couldn’t respond but Ice moved to pass her over anyway. Mav had his arms out, hooking one under her and moving to pull her away. There was a loud noise of distress and he froze. He shifted closer once more, leaving her clutching to Ice’s shoulder but now stuck with her other hand clutched onto his shirt as well. They were effectively Velcroed together by a sobbing ten year old.

Ice’s heart throbbed uncomfortably. He was desperate to comfort Emma, but the proximity of Mav was slightly intoxicating. Everything he had been raging against the last 24 hours rattled against his brain. The irresistible urge to be part of them rose and Ice gave a sharp sigh.

He reached the arm not holding Emma aloft around Maverick’s shoulder’s and pulled him close. After an awkward pause, Mav’s free arm settled around Ice’s waist. He bent his head to rest on Ice’s other shoulder, a mirror of the way Emma was.

Time stood still. Both Mav and Emma were warm and comfortable, they fit perfectly in his arms. Ice closed his eyes a moment and surrendered.

Something in the atmosphere shifted. Emma’s sobs slowed and settled out of her. The three of them stayed glued together anyway.

“You alright, honey?” Mav said, his voice a little strange.

Emma shook her head at him, sniffling.

“Too many people, huh?”

She nodded and gave a shudder.

“Take your time.” Mav rubbed at her back gently. “I don’t particularly like crowds either.”

Ice’s smile was a little sad. He gave Mav a squeeze automatically. The other man turned his head up with a smile in reply. They were nose to nose. Ice could see the detail in Mav’s green eyes, there were darker rings of brown around his pupil. There was a small, almost invisible scar above his right eyebrow.

A thrill ran through him, sizzling from his toes to his hairline. Ice felt his smile widen.

“What about you, Ice?” Mav asked, voice practically a whisper. “How do you feel about crowds?”

“Unfavourably.”

He felt they were having an entirely different conversation than the words coming out of their mouths. Maverick’s arm tightened around him and they pressed a little closer.

There was a low growl from Emma’s stomach and Mav spat a puff of laughter into Ice’s face. He laughed right back, scrunching his expression up in mock-distaste. Emma gave a soft huff of laughter herself and they turned to her with their smiles.

“Food?” Mav said.

She gave a slow nod.

“The cafeteria might be a little busy but we’ll make sure you’re tucked away from everyone, OK?” Ice said and released his arm from around Mav. His other arm was beginning to ache from the weight of her. “Go to Mav for a while, Squeak,” Ice said and passed her over.

She frowned at him but complied, clambering onto Mav’s back as she had that morning. Ice pressed a kiss to the side of her head and led the way back into the corridor.

Slider and Goose were leaning either side of the door, waiting patiently. They turned with concerned eyes as they appeared.

“Ready?” Goose said, smiling easily when he found Emma clinging to Mav’s back once more.

“Let’s eat.” Slider led the way to the cafeteria.

The room was large and echoey, a few nooks lining the walls with armchairs and low tables, several tables scattered through the middle of the room. There was a large group at one, laughing and cheering at something. Slider steered them all to the opposite side of the room, far from the service counters and the clamouring group.

Mav deposited Emma in a chair and sat down beside her. He glanced up at Goose with a cloying smile.

“Yes, dear,” Goose rolled his eyes with good humour. “And what does the munchkin want?”

“I’ll get hers,” Ice said and ruffled her hair a little. “I’ll be right back, Squeak.”

Once again her frown was heavy but she didn’t argue with him.

The three of them headed to the counters.

“Kid’s pretty attached to you already, Ice,” Goose remarked.

“I know,” Ice kept his tone even.

“Feeling’s mutual, huh?” Slider said, somewhere between earnest and teasing.

He didn’t bother with a reply. They knew. The situation couldn’t have been more complicated and more simple at the same time.

With their food collected, they returned to Mav and Emma only to find two more of the chairs at their table had been occupied. Wolfman, his cowboy hat tipped back on his blond hair and one long leg kicked out, was sitting at the end of the table. Beside him, Hollywood was leaning on an elbow, sipping a cup of coffee.

“Ice, Slider, Goose,” Wolf said in his drawl as they slid into seats at the table.

“Wolf,” they gave him a nod of greeting. “Wood.”

“We just dropped by to meet the kid,” Wood admitted with his Hollywood smile.

Emma had climbed into Mav’s lap at some stage but was staring at Wolf with wide eyes. She glanced at Ice as he sat down beside her and Mav. He placed her bowl of fried rice in front of her with a pointed look.

She took up a spoon and shoved a mouthful in before turning back to Wolf again.

“Now you’ve met her, you can leave,” Slider smirked.

“Suck my dick, Kerner,” Hollywood said as Wolf gave him the finger.

“Such language around small ears!” Goose protested in a soaring voice. “The profanity of you two.”

There was a low rumble of laughter from the group.

“Actually, we also came to talk shop,” Wolf said turning to Goose.

Ice tuned them out. Usually he would have listened and weighed in regardless of who they had come to get advice from. He took pride in his ability to offer solutions and angles they hadn’t seen yet.

Today, he couldn’t care less. Something had changed in the stairwell. Maverick was sitting close beside him, their thighs pressed tight together beneath the table. He had to school his face as Mav knocked the toe of his boot against Ice’s beneath the table. He was strangely giddy from the action.

Despite Ice and Mav acting like lovesick teens, Emma’s head was moving on a swivel. She was looking from Goose to Wolf and Wood as they discussed the finer points of a SCIF room and how to breach one.

“It’s just not going to happen, boys,” Goose shook his head at them again. “Your best bet is getting what you need brought out by a mule.”

“Keep eating, you,” Ice nudged her. Emma quickly stuffed another mouthful in but carried on listening closely as Wolfman and Hollywood laid out the skeleton of a mule-recruitment plan.

For the first time, it occurred to Ice that perhaps this was not the ideal place for a ten year old girl to spend her free time, and they possibly shouldn’t have encouraged her quite so much. In the future they would need to get her some healthier hobbies. At least until she was older.

He was about to mention it to Mav when reality burst back in at Mach 10.

There was no real future here. He had no idea whether they would even get to keep her. And Ice himself, not three hours ago had proclaimed there was no “we”. What did it matter that Mav had consented to be held by him? It was clearly to comfort Emma more than anything. He didn’t belong there.

After today Emma was going home with Maverick and that would be the end of it. He should be glad. He was getting his life back.

So why did it feel like it was being stolen instead?

#icemav #topgun #tom iceman kazansky #pete maverick mitchel #an oc child character #mavdad #icepops #spyau #found family #fluff #fanfiction

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derpinathebrave · 1 year

Text

Finders Keepers - IceMav SpyAu Part 4 - Loving

READ ON AO3

These chapters come out faster on AO3 just as an FYI. Sometimes it takes me a few days to get to post to Tumblr. Also This is now 40k in my writing doc. I will have to make a Masterpost I think. I'll put that on my to-do list...

SUMMARY: “Don’t get attached, Mitchell,” Ice said, mumbling soft enough that the kid wouldn’t hear but the words were piped through the earpiece to Mav.

WORDS: 7,069

PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 3 - PART 4

Mav had endured the reaming Jester had given him. It was an impressive forty minute tirade of why this was the stupidest choice he could possibly make and how he was throwing away his career. Mav stood at attention through the whole thing, mentally listing what needed to be done for Emma in his house.

They would need to head back to the safehouse, collect all her new clothes and the food from the fridge. It would be a pain in the ass seeing as he only had his bike here and there was no way Viper was going to let him have a company car again.

Maybe he could convince Ice to bring her in his car. Maybe he could convince Ice that Emma needed him to stay. Maybe he could convince Ice to hold him again. Maybe, if he really tried, he could convince Ice to kiss him soft and slow—

“Are you even listening to me, Maverick?” Jester interrupted his thoughts.

“Yes, sir. Irresponsible, career-wasting, talent-wasting choices, sir.”

Jester sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. “You’ve already made your decision then?”

“Yes, sir,” Mav couldn’t smother his smile in time.

“Then get out of my sight.” He turned back to his desk.

Mav never needed to be told twice. He headed for the door, pausing when Jester spoke again.

“Mitchell,” his voice was quieter now. “I get it. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t try and talk you out of it.”

With a truer smile this time, Mav turned back to face him. “I know, Jester. Thanks.”

“Keep me abreast of that… extracurricular you and the boys are cooking up, OK?” He gave Maverick a stern look.

How he had already heard about it, Mav wasn’t too sure. He gave Jester a solemn nod and headed out. As he rode the elevator down to his floor, Mav added “sweep office for bugs” to his to-do list.

It was after dark when they finally finished all their work. Goose had headed off an hour ago, promising that he would keep Carole from bringing baked goods to Mav’s house for at least 48 hours. Slider had headed out on his recon job, ruffling Emma’s hair as he took the kit from his bench where she was tinkering with cut pieces of wire. Ice worked steadily through along with Maverick. They only stopped because Emma asked them to go home.

She put a miniature wire sculpture of Ice’s Ruger on his desk along with an encoded note. He skimmed the numbers a few times before picking up a pen and working the code out on a pad before decoding the actual message.

Can we go home soon?

Ice smiled at her and stretched his arms overhead. His spine gave a sigh of relief.

“Sure, Squeak,” Ice said easily, his mouth working before his brain had a chance to catch up.

He mentally cursed. There was no home. There was no we.

“Hmm?” Mav asked, eyes distracted as he carried on working at his desk.

“Emma wants to go home,” Ice said, trying to put all his thoughts into his tone of voice.

“Sure, baby, give me one more second.”

Ice wanted to smack him. Instead he stood and glanced down at Emma. She was watching Ice closely, eyes slightly narrowed and a kink in her brow. He wanted to smack himself. She was the smartest kid he’d ever met, of course she would pick up on his subtext with ease.

He gave a short sigh and knelt down to level with her.

“Emma,” Ice started. A fresh, slicing pain cut through his heart. He didn’t want to do it.

“All done!” Mav interrupted and gave a clap of his hands. “Let’s go! I’m starving.”

It felt like a life-preserver. Ice knew he should refuse it and forge on telling Emma he wasn’t coming with them. But he clung on anyway, letting Mav drag him back in again.

She walked on her own. The later hour of the day meaning the halls were emptier of people. Mav held her hand as they rode the elevator and after a moment, Emma slid her fingers into Ice’s hand as well. He smiled down at her.

“Ice, you’re going to have to drive Emma,” Mav said, voice a little too easy. “I only have my bike and she has no gear.”

Ice turned his upper body, staring at Mav openly. The other man avoided looking back until the elevator gave its ding and they had to get out.

Blinking, head half tilted in confusion, Ice released Emma’s hand and followed along behind them through the garage. That had felt suspiciously like Maverick was trying to get him to stay. There couldn’t be a chance he actually wanted to keep Ice around, could there?

The memory of Mav’s thigh pressed against his in the cafeteria rose and fell. Maybe Maverick did want him around? Maybe Maverick liked having someone to help out with Emma. Maybe Emma was the real reason Mav was asking.

That had to be it.

As crushing as it was to his ego, Ice could accept hanging around because it helped Emma. He cared about her. He wanted to see her happy and was willing to push his own happiness aside to do so.

Mav slowed them to a stop by his neon green Kawasaki. He moved to the wall lockers and pulled his helmet and jacket out. Emma was staring, eyes wide and hungry, at the bike.

“You can’t ride with me today, kiddo,” Mav said, shrugging the jacket on. “Not until we get you some leathers and a helmet.”

“Not at all,” Ice cut in. The idea of her on the motorcycle sent his heart into palpitations.

Emma turned to him, scowling with her bottom lip in a huge pout.

“C’mon, Ice,” Mav wheedled. “I’m a very safe rider. I’ve been riding bikes for decades now. She’ll be OK as long as we have the proper gear.”

“We can talk about it later,” Ice said, deflecting the impossible task of saying ‘no’ when Emma looked so desperate. “Until then, you’re with me, Squeak. I’m a few rows down.”

She gazed longingly at the bike until Ice took her hand and physically towed her away.

“Look, I might not ride a bike, but we’ll have fun, I promise,” Ice said, flashing a smile at her.

Her expression was dubious as Ice clicked his car to unlock. Sure, it looked like an innocuous hatchback in a boring steel-grey, but it wasn’t about looks.

The engine of Mav’s bike echoed through the garage and Emma looked back for it.

“You want to ride up front?” Ice asked her, pulling the front passenger door open.

Mav pulled up at the back bumper, the visor of his helmet flipped up. “Nice car,” he called, voice muffled. “We’ll meet at the safe house.”

“Sure,” Ice nodded. “Don’t wreck yourself on that thing.”

“Worry wort!” Mav revved the engine with a laugh and zipped off toward the exit.

Ice bundled Emma into the front seat with her backpack at her feet and rounded the car to his side. He checked for her seatbelt and found she was still frowning a little. He chuckled.

The i30N growled to life, giving snaps and crackles as Ice backed out of the park and followed Mav’s path for the exit. As they passed through the boomgate, Ice glanced at Emma once more.

“Ready?” He grinned.

She gave him a confused look.

He stomped on the accelerator. The engine roared and the force of it pushed them back into their seats. Emma let out a giggle. Ice laughing along with her as he wove the car through the scant traffic and breezed through a very late yellow light.

“See,” Ice said, unable to stop smiling as they burned through the city in record time. “I told you we’d have fun.”

She was beaming from ear to ear, watching the scenery slip by out the window. Ice took a few corners with more pace than strictly necessary, inflicting the inertia on Emma and making her laugh again.

As they cruised along an arterial road, Maverick’s neon bike came into view. Ice, an overwhelming sensation of smugness filling his chest, pulled into the lane beside Mav’s idling bike at the next red light.

He revved the engine to get Mav’s attention and rolled his window down.

The pair of them laughed as Mav did a double take. He flipped his visor up once more, eyes shocked.

“Jesus, Kazansky, and you think I’m reckless!” He yelled over the noise of their engines.

“I had it all under control. We got a run of greens!” Ice called back with a smug grin.

“Just be careful!”

“You be careful!” Ice laughed and shot off as the light changed.

Within seconds Mav’s bike peeled past and cut into the lane ahead of them. Emma and Ice laughed again.

“He’s got us for acceleration, Squeak,” Ice said with mock-sorrow. “But we’d keep up even if he wasn’t driving like a grandma.”

She gave him a toothy grin that didn’t shift the rest of the drive to the safehouse.

With the practice of two people that had bugged out more than once, Ice and Mav had the safehouse back to the way they had found it within an hour. They had all of Emma’s new things and all of the perishable food loaded into Ice’s car.

Emma was still and silent through the whole thing, watching with haunted eyes. Ice wanted to pause and comfort her, but he figured the best comfort would be getting her to Mav’s house where she could actually settle for a long while.

“What’s the address?” Ice asked as he helped Emma back into the car again.

Mav rattled it off as he locked the door and picked up his bike helmet once more.

Ice blinked, blindsided for the second time that evening. “That’s in the middle of suburbia,” Ice scoffed.

“So?” Mav laughed a little, clearly knowing that it subverted all expectations. “Where else would I live?”

“I don’t know,” Ice said. “In an abandoned warehouse or a beat up trailer somewhere.”

Maverick gave a cackling laugh and shook his head. “You’re a real charmer, Ice. Thanks.”

“I’m just being honest,” Ice raised his hands in surrender, laughing a little himself.

“I’ll meet you two there.” Mav pulled his helmet on. “Try not to speed this time.”

“I will if you will.”

Ice folded himself into the car, still huffing with quiet laughter.

As he drove, he couldn’t help but realise that Mav made him happy. Their banter lately was much less antagonistic posturing and much more teasing fun. He hoped that even after he left him and Emma, they could carry on with this energy to their relationship. He didn’t want to go back to the prickly treatment of the last few years.

Mav’s house was in a quiet street off a main road. It was a single storey with the garage jutting out from the house and a small covered porch. A garden of low-maintenance shrubs, that had gone slightly wild, lined the porch but the lawn was trimmed and everything looked perfectly suburban. It sent a jagged sense of jealousy through Ice. Compared to his loft this was right out of a House and Garden magazine.

The garage door ground open as Mav turned into the driveway and ducked under the door on his bike with movement that was clearly second-nature. Ice pulled in behind him and turned the engine off.

“We’re here,” Ice said with a forced smile. “Let’s get you unpacked.”

Emma gave him a slightly dubious look but climbed out of the car.

Mav was hanging his jacket as they strolled into the open garage. Suddenly Ice understood why Mav lived in suburbia with a double garage. There was another bike already parked there, it was more laid back than the sport bike he usually saw Mav on, not quite a cruiser but something like it. Beside it was a vintage car. It was mostly blue with some large gaps in the paint and the hood open. The engine was in pieces across a drop cloth on the floor nearby.

As Ice was taking it all in, Emma was hovering at his elbow, eyes continually returning to the dismantled engine. Mav stepped over and ruffled her hair.

“Maybe tomorrow, kiddo,” he said. “Right now we have to get your stuff inside and get some dinner.”

She gave a soft sigh of disappointment.

“C’mon, I’ll give you a tour of the house.” Mav chuckled and waved them both in.

The door from the garage led into a tight hall. Ice couldn’t help but immediately begin a tactical analysis of the house. This was good so far, a choke point for the entry, it was narrow enough to keep insurgents coming in one at a time.

Mav tapped the tall cupboard doors in the western wall as they passed. “That’s the laundry,” he said.

The hall opened a little into a right angle. He gestured to the door immediately to the east in the wall.

“This will be your room, kiddo,” Mav said and pushed the door open.

It was a mess. Ice supposed under the absolute mountain of stuff crammed in the room, there was probably a bed. He didn’t like the look of the large bay window in the far wall of her room. It was incredibly exposed and easy to breach. He made a mental note as they carried on straight down the hall.

“Linen cupboard,” Mav knocked on a single door. “This one is my room.” He gestured to the half-open door at the end of the hall.

With a glance at Emma, Mav carried on into the room. Ice, an awkward reluctance biting at him, followed them in.

It was reasonably clean. A few discarded clothes here and there. What appeared to be a technical manual resting open on its pages on the floor by the bed and two coffee cups on the bedside table. The bed was a tangled mess of blankets, sheets and pillows. Ice pressed his lips together to suppress his smile. It was exactly what he expected Mav’s room to be.

“I also have a bathroom and wardrobe in here,” Mav said. “You can peek if you want, nothing to hide.”

Emma walked a slow circle around the room, opening the cupboards that lined the eastern wall, peering out the dark windows and glass door on the north wall. Ice assumed they overlooked the backyard. She ducked into the en suite and wardrobe on her own. Ice turned his eyes to Mav, both of them were unashamedly proud of her progress.

From Mav’s room he led them back down the hall and down the other arm of the right angle. There was a bathroom, a dining room with a four-seater table and a cabinet cluttered with stuff. The kitchen and living area opened off the hall. It was nicer than Ice expected. He once more thought of his own studio and winced internally. He liked to say it was minimalist, but now looking at Mav’s place he knew it was just stark.

Everything was a riot of colours. The armchairs and lounge didn’t match at all but it ended up cohesive anyway. His rugs were a mix of old and oriental with abstract and modern. None of it should be working but the chaos overflowed onto everything and made it all fit perfectly.

The fridge was papered with documents, invoices, ‘drawings’ made of colourful scribble with Bradley printed in the corner. The bench was cluttered with clean dishes waiting to be put away and a slowcooker was plugged in on the island that bisected the corner from the rest of the room.

It was cozy and homey and Ice couldn’t have chosen a better place for Emma to be.

Mav ground his teeth thinking of the nightmare his spare room was as they toted all of Emma’s things inside. He instructed them to set them down in the dining room for now. He hadn’t been expecting a guest. In fact he had resigned that room to be his Stuff room forever.

Now it would have to be emptied and he would probably have to cull his Stuff to fit Emma into his life. It might have been exasperating to someone else, but Mav couldn’t help but relish the idea. It was so worth it. The thing that irked him was making her feel unwelcome or, worse, like a burden to him.

She was still gazing around at his house, picking up on every little detail. As much as he loved how switched on she was, a deep seeded hope that this could be a place where she didn’t feel she had to be alert at all times sprouted within him. He wanted to give her comfort.

“Dinner,” Mav said and headed for the kitchen. “You staying, Ice? For dinner I mean.”

“Uh,” Ice sounded unsure. It was odd enough that Mav glanced back at him with raised eyebrows. Mr Iceman, unsure? He wasn’t aware it could even happen.

Emma abandoned her inspection of Mav’s trophy cabinet and crossed to where Ice stood in the doorway. She reached up in an obvious bid to be picked up. He complied without even thinking about it.

Mav smiled to himself and carried on to the kitchen without them. It was getting too late to cook anything elaborate. Mav settled for frying some chicken and chucking together a salad while Ice and Emma resumed staring into the cabinet in the dining room.

It was yet another place that needed a cull. Mav could admit he was a pack-rat. He liked to collect things, he liked to keep things ‘just in case’, he liked looking around his home and seeing things. He had spent the majority of his life owning nothing and living in temporary places. It was comforting to see his own things everywhere.

“Is this a vintage Colt?” Ice called.

Mav ducked his head around the door to look. Ice was pointing at the gun half hidden behind a box of nuts and bolts that probably shouldn't have been there. He gave a nod, smug delight filling him at the impressed look on Ice’s face.

“Does it fire?” Ice’s voice carried through the door again.

“Last I tried it did,” Mav called back, rapidly chopping vegetables. “It’s been a few years though.”

“And a Derringer?” There was awe clear in Ice’s voice now. “What the hell, Mitchell? How do you have these?”

Mav laughed a little. “I wanted them. I bought them.” He flipped the frying chicken and wandered back to lean on the door to the dining room. “What else am I supposed to use all that money for?”

Ice gave a bark of laughter and shook his head. Emma was tapping his shoulder insistently, pointing at something else in the cabinet.

“A bayonet?” Ice spluttered. “A 1940s bayonet?” He turned back to Mav.

“It was a surplus. Pretty cheap really.” Mav shrugged and wandered off to check on the food. “I have the rifle it attaches to too. They don’t fit in the cabinet together so it’s down near the bottom shelf.”

He couldn’t help humming under his breath as he finished cooking. The happiness in his entire being needed to get out somehow. It felt good to have people in his home. Especially people that got it.

Mav ferried all the food in to the dining room. He nudged the pile of papers and detritus that was scattered across the surface of the table down to one end and laid everything out. The other two, with slow reluctance, came and took their seats to eat.

“Thanks,” Ice said with his gorgeous smile lighting up his blue eyes.

“No problem.” Mav had to grip his fist against his thigh to stop himself from reaching out and linking it with Ice’s instead.

Emma looked from one to the other, a small smile curling at her lips.

After dinner, Ice insisted on washing dishes while Mav began the arduous task of emptying his spare room. He and Emma carried everything out into the living room, making a large island of Stuff in the middle of a rug. Ice finished just as they brought the last bag (full of car magazines from the early 90s) into the room and placed them at the edge of the pile.

Emma immediately climbed into the pile and dragged out a small but heavy looking box. Mav looked up from the bag he was hunting in to see what she was doing.

“You found my carburettor kit,” Mav said, catching her attention. “I’ve been looking for that.”

“You ever think of keeping it in the garage?” Ice said, voice dry. “Y’know, with the rest of the car?”

He was leaning on the side of the bench with his hip, arms folded loosely over his chest and an amused expression on his face. Mav couldn’t help but get a little lost looking at him. He looked perfect. He looked like he belonged in the house with all of Mav’s other loved things.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ice. Why would I do something like that?” Mav gave him a toothy smile and headed off to make the bed in Emma’s room.

Emma let out an irritated squeak and leapt up to follow him.

“Well I gotta make your bed, kid,” Mav called back to her. “Otherwise you’re gonna be on the couch.”

Ice appeared a moment after Emma, face politely mild.

The three of them made the bed, pulling down all the spare bedding Mav owned but coming up short of a quilt cover.

“Sorry, Em, you’ll just have to live with boring white until we get back to the shops.” Mav gave her a squeeze, pulling her into his hip. “Now, shower, teeth and bed.”

She gave a whiney noise of complaint and flung her arms around his body.

“No, no,” Mav shook his head. “Don’t argue with me about it. It’s been a huge day for you. It’s bed time.”

She tipped her head back, giving him wide brown pleading eyes.

“You can have fifteen minutes.” He compromised. “No more. And shower first.”

Emma’s lips pressed tight together. She gave a single nod.

“Good,” Mav carded his fingers through her hair. “Come shower in my bathroom, there’s nothing in the other one and Ice and I can sit in the bedroom while you do. OK?”

She gave another nod, a smile sneaking out this time.

“Let’s go,” Mav released her. She tightened her arms quickly and raced off for the dining room where her things were.

He probably should have been a little embarrassed about the state of his bedroom. But Mav found himself not even thinking about it as he and Ice on the edge of the bed while Emma showered in the en suite. Mav teased Ice over driving his Hyundai on a factory engine with no tuning. Ice teased him right back for owning two bikes and one ass. The two of them chattering away so Emma knew they were there.

They were side by side, about a foot of space between them. Mav longed to close the distance, to slot himself into the space beneath Ice’s arm that he proved to fit into perfectly that day. He could still feel the ghost of Ice’s arm around his shoulders. Sure, it had been to comfort Emma, but that didn’t mean Mav wasn’t allowed to savour the memory.

It had felt so right. It felt like clicking two jigsaw pieces together. It felt like slotting needle bearings together; all the pieces holding the other pieces in place and creating perfectly smooth unity.

Mav was laughing on the outside but his heart was dragging at him. He wanted Ice to stay. He had already manipulated him into coming home with them. He should probably feel guilty about it, but as Ice leaned back on his palms on the bed and talked engines with him, Mav didn’t fucking care. This was where they were supposed to be.

Emma emerged from the bathroom, the unicorn-kitty pyjamas almost as bright as her eyes. She made a beeline for them, climbing onto Ice’s lap.

“Hey, Squeak,” he said and pressed a kiss to her damp hair. “What do you want to do for your fifteen minutes?”

“Don’t know,” she said with a shrug.

Their smiles softened and Ice gave her another kiss on the head.

“You talk a bit more when you’re with Ice,” Mav observed, tilting his head in thought.

She shrugged again.

“Does he make you feel safe, kiddo?” Mav asked, reaching out and taking her hand.

“Yes,” her voice was quieter this time but still there. “You too.”

Mav smiled wide enough to reveal his teeth. Warm happiness seeped through his blood like golden wine. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I know I do, baby,” he told her. “Thank you for saying it though.”

She leaned her head into Ice’s shoulder, eyes still on Mav. His heart picked up speed. He still had so much to tell her. He had to break the news about her parents. He had to let her know he was going to hold on to her and never let her go.

“Do you want to stay here forever, Emma?” His pulse hammered as though he was mid-firefight. Minsk hadn’t been as terrifying as this. His fingers might actually be going a little numb.

“Yes.” It was a whisper.

His heart stumbled, leaving him feeling like he had missed a step on the stairs. Mav let out a breath of relief.

“You can stay, Emma,” Mav said, voice soft. “You can stay forever, OK?”

She gave a solemn nod. Her brown eyes were searching him, a sadness standing in them. His chest ached. His throat burned. He knew that sadness. He knew that look having seen it on his own face as a kid.

“I want to ask you a hard question,” Mav said. He knelt down on the floor in front of them, letting her be taller than him, letting her be snuggled in her safe-space that was Ice’s arms.

She gave another slow nod.

“Did your parents give you up?” The words were like jagged glass in his throat but he forced them out.

A flinch of profound pain crossed over her, spasming her whole body. She turned away, burying her face in Ice’s shoulder and giving a sob.

Mav closed his eyes and pressed his anger back. He knew it. He hadn’t wanted to believe it. But deep down he had known it. She never once asked about them. She never made any sort of attempt to get back to them.

A large hand came down on his shoulder, making him startle. He looked up into Ice’s eyes. The deep, pervading fury he felt was mirrored there. They stared at one another for a suspended second. An understanding passed between them and Mav took a slow, calming breath in. He held it. Closed his eyes. And let it out once more.

“I’m sorry, Emma,” Mav said when he could trust his voice to be calm. “They shouldn’t have done that to you. And I promise you, I will never let that happen again.”

He laid his hand on her back, making soothing circles as she shuddered and shook against Ice.

Her fifteen minutes came and went, none of them moved. At the half hour mark, Mav stood and settled onto the mattress beside Ice, bumping up against Emma lightly to let her know he was there.

It was another fifteen minutes beyond that when the shudders faded and she fell still.

“She’s asleep,” Ice whispered, looking over her head at Mav. They were nose to nose with her between them once again. Mav couldn’t help but give a small, sad smile.

“We’d better take her to bed.” He stood before he did something stupid, like kiss Ice’s perfect lips.

They padded down to Emma’s room, sliding her into the bed without waking her. Mav covered her with the coverless quilt as Ice dropped a light kiss to her forehead.

“I need to get a nightlight for the hall,” Mav mumbled as they headed back to the living area.

“She needs a stuffed toy too,” Ice replied, equally soft. “I can’t believe you forgot one the other day.”

Mav moved to the kitchen and filled the kettle. “She didn’t choose one,” he said.

“Kids don’t choose their own plushies, Mav,” Ice’s voice was a mixture of amused and surprised.

“What would I know about it.” Maverick shrugged and set the kettle to boil. “You want some tea?”

“Thanks,” Ice said.

There was silence between them. Mav set about getting the tea ready as the kettle boiled. When he turned to ask how Ice liked it, he stopped. The other man was frowning, brows low over his eyes and lips almost twisted. He noticed Mav watching him and the expression smoothed.

“What?” Mav huffed, half laughing.

“You really grew up rough,” Ice said.

Maverick stilled, searching the tone and words for pity. When he found none he gave a cavalier shrug. “My dad was KIA when I was pretty young. My mum went not long after. I went into the system younger than Emma is now,” Mav said and brought the tea mugs over to the island where Ice was sinking onto a stool. “It’s different. Some places are rough. Some kids are rough. I don’t know. I don’t really have anything to compare it to.”

“You’re so much better with her than me,” Ice’s frown returned, his voice laden with sadness.

Mav chuckled. He shook his head and flicked Ice’s ear lightly.

“Ow!”

“I’m not better with her than you are,” Mav said, holding Ice’s eyes with his own. “Sure, I get her on the orphan level. But you’re something else for her.”

“Like what?” Ice asked. Hope that Mav didn’t quite understand was flittering through Ice’s eyes.

“I don’t know,” he hummed. The kettle whistled and Mav whipped it off the stove before it could wake their sleeping girl. “I think you’re steady,” he said as he poured the tea.

Ice was staring expectantly.

His heart thumped. A new, yet unsurprising, realisation hit Mav. Another piece of the puzzle of Maverick’s affection slotted into place. Emma wasn’t the only one that desired something level headed and stable. Mav had always loved Ice’s cool, calm energy; he just showed affection by being an annoying shit. Until now.

“You just have this… steadiness about you,” Mav tried again. He nodded them over to the couches. “I think its the ice-cold thing. You’re… unshakeable. Its reassuring.”

The corners of Ice’s lips lifted and he stared into his tea.

“When everything is shifting; houses, parents, schools, all that shit that should be stable but isn’t. That’s when steady is the best thing in the world.” Mav gave a yawn and slumped back into the couch. “I think that’s why you can get her to talk so much. Stability.”

Ice settled into his end of the couch and let out a long exhale. A yawn followed it. “I hope so,” Ice said, voice oddly soft.

The urge to reassure Ice was almost overwhleming. Maverick clamped his tongue between his teeth and settled for a longing stare instead. Ice appeared to be lost in thought, eyes staring down into his mug.

“What was your childhood like?” Mav asked. He hesitated a beat before lifting his feet up onto the couch and stretching out properly. His toes brushed Ice’s legs.

“Normal, I guess,” Ice shrugged. He crossed his legs into a tailor seat, letting Mav’s feet press into his thigh. “Mum’s a dietitian, dad’s an aeronautical engineer. I have a sister, she’s a fashion designer.”

“How very nuclear of you,” Mav teased to cover the sting of jealousy in his throat. “You get along with them?”

Ice gave a mirthless chuckle and sipped his tea. “Not particularly. Sarah is OK. My parents… not so much.”

There were huge neon signs in Ice’s voice that told Mav to drop it, so he did. He sipped his own tea and wriggled his toes against Ice’s leg.

Just like that, the tense line in Ice’s shoulders fell away and he smiled again. Mav smiled back, triumphant.

They sat in a companionable silence, sipping their tea and enjoying the calm. Mav knew they would have to talk logistics soon. They would have to tell Emma just what had happened with her parents. They would have to break into a police station and alter files. They would have to probably bribe Kit, the HR employee, to turn a blind eye. They would have to make sure Emma didn’t have any other family tied to gangs—

Mav’s busy thoughts were interrupted as Ice set his empty mug down on the coffee table and stood. He blinked up at him from the couch, intensely confused for a few seconds until he remembered Ice didn’t live there.

“What are you doing?” Mav said, heart flailing and brain not much better.

Ice gave him a perplexed look. “Going home,” he checked his watch, “it’s 10pm.”

Maverick scrambled to his feet and clonked his mug onto the coffee table. “Stay,” he said before he chickened out. He stood straight and looked Ice in the eyes properly. “Stay,” he repeated.

A guarded look slid over Ice. “Why?”

“What if she wakes?” Mav cursed his cowardice.

Ice gave a single, slow blink. “She’s going to have to get used to being here with just you, may as well start now.”

There was a coldness to his tone that Maverick hadn’t heard in days. It burned like ice against his heart.

“After two panic attacks in one day?” Mav knew it was a low-blow, but he didn’t care. He wanted Ice to stay. His intuition was screaming that if he let Ice leave now, he would never come back. Not like they were now. Not to this place of quiet intimacy and trust. This place of mutual respect and understanding.

There was a noisy sigh. Ice ran a hand through his hair and turned toward the door.

“She has to learn,” Ice said, voice miserable.

Mav’s heart leapt into his mouth. It felt like it was trying to fight it’s way out. He took two steps toward Ice before he even knew what he was doing.

“Ice,” Mav said, body hammering as his pulse raced.

Ice turned to face him, expression unreadable but his blue eyes burning.

“Stay.”

“For Emma?” It was tinged with acid.

“For me.” Mav pressed his lips tight and took a deep breath. “Stay with me.”

He was probably supposed to be doing something.

His legs were stuck, locked in place as the words sunk in properly.

“Stay with me.”

Ice blinked. His chest burned, his heart crushing against his sternum as though it was trying to reach for Maverick. He swallowed, trying to snuff the feeling. It failed.

“What?” He said. He regretted it immediately.

Maverick’s green eyes, pleading a moment ago, shuttered over.

“No, Mav, wait,” Ice turned, forcing his legs to move until he was standing right there in front of Maverick. “Wait, not like that. You caught me by surprise,” Ice said, softening his voice as he did when Emma needed comfort.

“No, Kazansky, don’t— don’t worry about it. Forget it.” Mav tried to wave him away. His shoulders squared and the work persona that had been absent for days appeared again.

Ice winced. “I…” Ice bit his tongue hard, the pain shocking his brain back to rights. “I didn’t think you’d want me. I didn’t think you’d need me around.” He pushed the words out.

Maverick wasn’t looking at him any more, gaze fixed to something in the kitchen to Ice’s left.

“You have Emma,” Ice carried on. It felt like pulling his own tooth from his jaw, the pain excruciating. “You don’t need me. You two… get each other.”

He was sure his mouth was filling with blood. He wanted to be sick.

“Look,” Mav sighed. “Don’t force yourself. I can handle a rejection.”

“Rejection?” Ice said, voice pitching up with confusion.

Maverick glared up at him.

The air was too thick to breathe but Ice tried anyway. With one last effort, he forced himself to finish the thing properly.

“I want to stay,” he said. “I want to stay.”

Neither of them moved. Mav’s glare faded into confusion.

“I want to be here,” Ice gripped his fists and lifted them, desperate to push them into his own face until it hurt. Instead he released them and let his hands drop again. “I want to belong here. With Emma. And with you.”

“You do.” It was a whisper. Mav was frowning at him now, half a smile pulling at his lips. That damn indomitable smile. “You fucking idiot, you do belong with us.”

“Don’t call me a fucking idiot, you asshole,” Ice puffed with laughter.

Mav’s hand wrapped into the front of Ice’s shirt and he gave a gentle tug. He was smiling properly now, eyes twinkling again.

Ice stepped closer, closing the small distance between them until they were chest to chest. The hand in his shirt released, sliding up and over his shoulder instead. Heat, giddy and frothy, filled him. He wound his arms around Mav’s waist, securing them together. He had never noticed before the way Mav smelt like cloves, engine oil and something a little sweet.

Mav leaned up, still half-smiling. Ice, a small smile of his own, leaned down. They kissed, a soft press of their lips together.

“Stay,” Mav whispered as they parted a bare instant before Ice leaned in once more and took another kiss.

“OK,” he spoke the words against his lips.

“Forever. Stay forever.”

The arms around his neck tightened. Ice’s own arms tightened in response, pulling Mav closer.

“OK.” Ice nodded as much as their persistent kisses allowed.

Mav’s hands combed through his hair, tingling a path across Ice’s scalp as he did. Ice couldn’t help but feel like they fit together perfectly. The soft, pillowy feel of Mav’s lips against his was as though they had been made just for him.

When they could finally bare to stop for more than a moment, Mav leaned back with his usual smile. Ice smiled right back.

“I’m tired,” Mav said. “Let’s go to bed.”

A thrill of happiness hit him and Ice stole another kiss.

“How lewd,” Ice mumbled, smirking.

“To sleep,” Mav giggled a little. “At least until Emma is sleeping through the night.”

Ice softened at the mention of her. He nosed at Mav’s cheek a little and pressed a kiss there too.

“Of course. Let’s go. I promise not to jump you in your sleep,” Ice said.

“I make no such promise.” Mav grinned and kissed Ice long and languid.

When they broke apart once more, both of them were breathing a little harder and holding on a little tighter.

“Tease,” Ice grumbled and extracted himself from Maverick’s arms. His body complained, yearning to stay tucked in tight against the other man. “Come to bed.”

Mav’s nose twitched as he beamed and let Ice lead the way down to the bedroom.

Mav was sitting against the headboard, looking down at Ice. The other man was reclined on his side, head propped up on an elbow. The warm yellow light of the bedside lamp caught on Ice’s tanned skin, making him almost glow golden. Now and then Mav found himself staring at the play of light across Ice’s defined shoulders and down to his biceps.

They had snuck past Emma’s door and into Mav’s room before Ice had realised he needed something other than cargopants and a knit shirt to sleep in. He had quickly snuck back out to his car for his bug-out bag. Now they were both comfortable in tanktops and boxers, mumbling away to one another about past jobs.

Ice was staring at him, eyes sparkling, as Mav detailed what life in an anarchist group was like. He could almost feel the physical pressure of Ice’s gaze. It made his tongue catch on some words and a blush rise and fall over his cheeks now and then.

“You were in the Navy, you said?” Mav asked when he couldn’t stomach talking about himself any more.

“I was.” Ice nodded, a sad sort of look coming over him. “I was on the teams.”

“Figures,” Mav rolled his eyes and wriggled down to lay facing Ice in the same position.

“What does that mean?” Ice’s tone was sabotaged by his broad smile.

“You’ve got swimmers shoulders,” he said, eyes sliding over them once more. “And you’re too… good at your job to be anything except a SEAL.”

“What was that pause?” Ice chuckled, keeping his voice low so they didn’t wake Emma.

“What pause?” Mav played innocent.

“You paused. What were you really going to say?”

“Nothing.” Mav stifled a laugh as Ice glared at him without any real heat to it.

They both turned as the door pushed open. Emma padded to the bed, rubbing at her eyes and frowning.

“Hey, kiddo,” Mav said, heart softening at the sight of her. “Bad dreams again?”

She climbed straight onto the mattress, crawling over to wedge herself into the small space between them. Mav rubbed her shoulder gently and pressed a kiss to her messy hair.

“You wanna talk about it?” Ice asked her as she burrowed into his chest.

Silence was the answer.

“OK, honey,” Mav said and rolled to turn the lamp off. “Go back to sleep. You’re safe.”

He settled down into the mattress properly with a soft sigh. Emma was curled into a small C, her feet pressed against the side of his knee. Her toes gripped and released his skin a few times and Mav gave a breathy laugh.

“I’m right here, kiddo,” he mumbled to her.

Ice’s large, warm hand settled onto his waist and Mav closed his eyes with a smile. It took almost no time at all for them to drop off to sleep, the sheer contentment was soporific.

#icemav #topgun #tom iceman kazansky #pete maverick mitchel #an oc child character #mavdad #icepops #spy au #found family #fluff #fan fiction

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