Babysitter's Club

[catchacold]

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[catchacold]

I'll pick you up from the hospital, Hartley can tuck Teddy in.

God, Mick, you could have gotten much more hurt. You know they have firemen for a reason? They got protective gear. You don't.

[boilover]

No one was coming and I thought it was a fucking kid, okay?If that was Teddy, fuck fireman, I'd want whoever the hell could get in there to just fucking get in there and save him. And if I hadn't of done it, they'd be dead. That's what the cop told me. It wasn't like I was thinking at the time, I heard a noise and I ran.

I need to go to the vets before we go home.

[catchacold]

It's great that you saved them, you're brave and what not, but you got a son, you got me, I'm just worried. Got that?

Going out on a limb and I'm assuming you mean veterinarian, not veterans. Why?

[boilover]

I get that. I wasn't gonna die, I had time. I know fire, I know how long I got and I didn't get all hooked on it cause I thought of Teddy instead.

Wanna see the pup.

[catchacold]

I'm burying my face in my hands, just fyi.

I'm glad you didn't get hooked on the fire, Mick. We can see the pup and then I'm taking you home.

[boilover]

You're so dramatic, everything worked out.

How much money did you have for the house again?

[catchacold]

I'm dramatic? You're the one who stormed into a burning building.

Enough for the down payment of that last place we looked at that you like.

[boilover]

Not dramatic, just quick thinking.

Right, I'm gonna need about a third of that. Just over. Thanks.

[catchacold]

...right.

I know you're a hero today, but I ain't giving you 20,000 dollars just because you ask nicely.

[boilover]

It's not for me.

It's for Teddy's new puppy. He needs surgery and I gotta get the money there before six.

[catchacold]

I'm not...

Shit, Mick. We're discussing this in person.

[boilover]

Fine, get here, I'm signing myself out and I'll be outside in five.

[catchacold]

I'm waiting.

Leaning against the car, looking at his phone with an unhappy expression, but definitely waiting.

[boilover]

Mick came out and it took a few because, to further Leonard's pain today, Mick was on crutches. He moved slowly along to the car and fumbled around to get into it. He tossed the stupid things on the back seat and huffed. He had the worst of his burns concealed but his hand was clearly bandaged up and his face was pretty scrapped too.

"What you sitting here staring at me for? Drive, idiot. Like I said, before six. It's almost five, we gotta get a move on."

[catchacold]

Leonard got into the car, wishing he had time to properly inspect Mick's injuries, but apparently they had to do this right now. He sighed as he put the seat belt on and waited for Mick to do the same.

"I haven't been saving for months so that we could drop it all on some tiny dog, Mick. We need somewhere decent to live. We got three kids and a baby." However that had happened, he was fuzzy on the details sometimes.

[boilover]

"Hartley and Axel need a bed? So fine, the living room will be their bedroom, we'll get a fold out couch and start saving again. Big deal." Mick shrugged his shoulders as he moved in his seat and swiftly winced as he brushed his arm against the chair accidentally. Oh boy, he and Teddy were going to have a hard time, he was going to have to make sure he didn't touch his burns. "I get it, you wanted a house. I wanted one too."

He really did. A nice garden, some rooms for them to all stay in, not having to avoid stepping on Axel in the morning because right now he was crashing on the floor in a sleeping bag. It'd be nice for Teddy to have somewhere less crowded but. "A kid needs a dog. This dog."

[catchacold]

"What about Lisa? Christ, Mick." Leonard backed out of the parking spot and hit the road, only glancing at Mick, because he saw him wince. "I've no idea when I can free up more assets. It could be a damn long while before we have enough again." It wasn't as if he could just freely use whatever he had. This was legal money, all washed and clean and they had been ready, damn it. He'd planned it for once.

[boilover]

"Lisa can sleep here. She's a girl, I get that, she can have our bed. I'll sleep in the kitchen, you can have the couch and we'll get Hart a sleeping bag." Mick organised in his head like it was an ideal solution. "Or all three can share a bed. As long as Lisa is in the middle. I mean they're all queer, they ain't gonna make a move." Mick huffed in annoyance and he knew this was gonna piss Snart off but that dog was gonna die. He saved the damn puppy and he held it in his arms until the fire trucks and ambulance came and he was just supposed to let it die.

Mick growled and slammed his good hand on the glove box. "It's not the dogs fault his owner was an idiot! He didn't deserve to die in there and he doesn't deserve to die now but he's fucking going to." He would have died. Trapped in that house, burning around him. Like his parents. Mick felt something tight in his throat and hissed. "No one else is gonna give a shit, don't you get it?"

[catchacold]

Great. Mick was close to tears and Leonard knew he wouldn't have a choice. A headache in the making. He'd have to come up with a new plan. For now he apparently had to spend a ridiculous amount of money to save a puppy, because he had to make Mick happy. He let out a slow sigh and turned at the next light, since he knew where the nearest vet was and he assumed that would be where the puppy was. "I'll write a check."

[boilover]

"Thanks." Mick huffed and looked down, knowing he was so stupid but he had to save that puppy. He just had to. "I'm sorry, okay? I know you didn't plan for this but we can get more money. I can get you more money. I'll pay you back, I just need a job." He supposed he could drop education for a while and get a factory job. He could pull twelve hour shifts while Hartley and Axel watch Teddy. He wouldn't see his boy much for a while but if he meant they had a place, he guessed it was worth. "I gotta do it. No choice. I need to save him."

[catchacold]

"You're not paying me back. Don't worry about the money, that's my job." Mick had to finish whatever courses he was taking and Leonard didn't want to mess with that. Besides, he wanted him to have the time with Teddy, even if wording it quite that way was dangerous. He didn't want Mick to feel like a wife in the Fifties.

This just meant that Lisa would have to live at home for a while longer, unless he could think of another solution.

[boilover]

"I'm gonna worry about the money too. Look, we can either aim for something cheaper that'll still be bigger and save later or we can give it a little while. We'll get it sorted. I got you." Mick knew he was a drain right now but he was going to help Leonard, this was important. He had to do the right thing. "He's tiny and he's just a baby, he got a crap lot of a luck when it came to who was supposed to take care of him. He's like us. We don't leave anyone behind." Even a puppy.

[catchacold]

"Yeah, yeah. We're going to save your puppy." Apparently. Damn it. Leonard got it, he understood the circumstances, but he was still pissed. He hated plans not working out and in this case there had been rather a lot riding on it. He would have to find a way to get that money back, as soon as possible. "As long as you don't need me to pay the meth addicts bills too."

[boilover]

"Nah, fuck that idiot, he's going to the slammer anyway. See, that's what pisses me off. This dude gets a puppy and that puppy, it's skinny as hell and it's a proper baby. It's a month or two at most, so this fucker just got it and he did that to it." Neglectful asshole. Mick was furious, it was clear how much this riled him up. Once they pulled up out of the vets, Mick took a few to get out of the car, nearly fell on his face but mostly pulled it off. He limped ahead to the front door, ready to insure that pup was gonna live.

[catchacold]

Leonard grabbed the crutches and followed behind Mick until he could hand them to him. He pushed them into Micks hands and then held the door open for him, patting himself down so he could make sure he had his check book on him. Great. Now a puppy on top of everything. But it was important to Mick and so it wasn't as if he really had a choice. Mick wouldn't have forgiven him. "Your puppy got a name?"