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derpinathebrave · 2 years

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Finders Keepers - IceMav SpyAu Part 2 - Minding

READ ON AO3

So I got the brain rot again! We were talking SpyAu and IceMav dads on the discord and now this. Don't take it too seriously, this is 100% just me dicking around and making myself happy.

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, 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: 8756

PART 1 - PART 2 -

Mav found them there. Ice’s graceful hands guiding the girl as she worked to get the barrel back onto the frame of his Ruger. He was stooped, leaning low over her skinny shoulder to place his face next to hers, and mumbling in his pleasant voice. Mav leaned against the doorframe, watching them work. It was a strange picture, seeing a ten year old girl assembling a pistol, seeing the Iceman looking so proud and happy. And yet Mav thought it was delightfully domestic.

They had both noticed him immediately, their situational awareness worked on a hair trigger, but neither bothered to stop what they were doing. Mav headed back to the kitchen and poured himself some coffee. He was relieved to hear that the kid didn’t set up a fuss about him being out of her sight. They were making progress faster than he had expected.

He returned with his coffee, sitting in the chair adjacent and watching as her little hands worked. Mav was pleased to see something other than fear and consternation on her little face.

As he sipped his coffee, a nagging thought caught back up to him. He couldn’t keep calling her “the kid” or “the girl”, it was beginning to feel oddly rude.

“Hey, kiddo,” Mav said keeping his tone light.

She glanced up at him, pausing what she was doing.

“What’s your name?”

He didn’t expect an answer really, but it was worth giving her opportunities to try.

Her frown returned, she opened her mouth a few times with no sound emerging. She dropped the pistol with a thud and crashed a small fist down onto the table. The same squeaking noise of distress came out, this time with a distinct anger to it.

Ice had her hands in his in record time. He held her close to his chest and began a rocking motion from side to side.

Mav watched, his heart breaking, as she all but screamed through a closed mouth. Her legs were kicking, her little body thrashing with uncontrolled anger. Ice simply backed them off from the table and gave her room to get down from his lap.

She did. She stomped her foot, the heart-wrenching sound of the smothered scream not stopping. They let her rage. They let her tip over a chair, the crash of the wood against the concrete loud in the early morning. With her shoulders heaving, she moved to the other vacant chair and shoved it over too. She gave it another hard push with her foot, tumbling it across the patio a few feet.

When she looked up, Mav could see tears pouring down her cheeks. He shifted to squat near her, arms open and face kind.

She threw herself into his chest, sobbing and shaking with tears. Mav cuddled her tight. He knew he still stank of smoke and sweat from the night before, but she didn’t seem to mind at all.

He had faced down some serious shit in his life. He had escaped from very precarious situations with little more than household cleaners and seven bullets for a six-shooter. He had killed, maimed, committed arson, stolen cars and crashed them on purpose. He had lived a year in deep cover with an unstable militia in an enemy state.

None of it came close to feeling as terrifying as having a ten year old girl sob her heart out against his chest.

Slowly, as his feet were going numb from squatting, Mav stood and carried her back to his chair. He arranged her in his lap but didn’t once let go.

Ice was watching, his face almost expressionless but there was pain clear in his blue eyes. Mav grimaced. Ice grimaced in reply.

The sky had turned from the pale of early morning to the true blue of daytime when she finally wore herself out of tears. Her body fell still and limp against Mav.

“It’s good to let it out,” Ice said, voice gentle. His eyes were locked onto the girl. “You’’ll feel better for letting it out.”

She gave a little sigh.

“It’s OK that you can’t talk, kiddo,” Mav said, taking Ice’s lead like it was a lifeline thrown into the ocean for him. “Ice and I have no trouble understanding you without words. I just wanted to know what I can call you. Do you mind ‘kiddo’?”

Her fingers fiddled with the small ember burn in Mav’s shirt. She shook her head a little.

“How about Squeak?” Ice suggested, his smile almost true. “Can I call you Squeak?”

There was a small line between her brows as she looked over at Iceman but after a pause she nodded.

“OK,” Mav said with his own nod. “You know, we can get you a pad and paper if you want to write?”

The only answer was a non-committal shrug so Mav left the idea alone. He had meant what he said. They had no trouble interpreting her so far, they didn’t really need to push for her to communicate if she didn’t want to.

“Kiddo,” Mav spoke again after a little while. “I really need a shower. Why don’t you and Ice finish assembling that Ruger and I’ll shower and get some breakfast?”

Her arm lifted to hold him around the middle, squeezing tight and gripping at his shirt.

Yeah, she had no problem communicating.

Mav chuckled and settled back in the chair again. “Alright, a little longer,” he said, a slinking happiness in his heart.

He was half asleep, dozing with her comfortable warmth and weight on him and the peaceful sound of the breeze in the hedges that lined the fences. There were birds calling somewhere nearby and now and then a squirrel would dart across the lawn.

Ice was sprawled in his own chair; legs kicked out to rest on one of the overturned chairs and hands behind his head. He looked as though he had nothing he’d be rather doing in the world than sitting on a dingy patio of a safehouse with Mav and a traumatised ten year old. He hadn’t even bothered to finish assembling the pistol.

Her movements were measured as she slithered down from Mav’s lap. He tried not to move but she had startled him back to full awareness. Her eyes found his, wide with worry. Mav gave her a smile in return and made a show of stretching and shifting.

After a beat, she walked back over to where she and Ice had been working on the gun. Ice took the hint and scooted himself back to the table.

“Do you remember what comes next, or do I need to show you again?” Ice said as though there hadn’t been a prolonged break for her to cry her eyes out.

Mav stood, stretching again and listening to his spine give a satisfying snap-crackle-pop. When he looked back at the pair they were staring at him with identical expressions of surprised disgust. Laughter bubbled out of him before he could stop it.

“I’m fine, it feels good,” he said with a laugh. “I’m going to have a shower and change.”

He ruffled her hair as he went by before pausing and flicking Ice’s ear for good measure.

“Ow!” Ice gave a sharp exhale. “What are you, twelve?”

Maverick didn’t bother to reply, he just laughed and carried on into the house.

The shower was like heaven. Mav scrubbed the smoky smell off as best he could and turned his face up into the spray. He let the hot water untangle his muscles and brain.

So. He had a kid now.

For now, he amended belatedly.

He racked his brain to make a list of Things a Kid Might Need. They definitely needed to get her some clothes, a toothbrush and shoes. And toys, right? Did ten year olds need toys? He’d been in a group home when he was ten. He remembered playing outside a lot, running with the other kids down to the creek that ran behind their house and catching tadpoles and guppies. He was the youngest in that home so he was always fighting to keep up with the other kids, to be just as big as them. Even if they had toys, he wouldn’t have been caught dead playing with them.

He gave a small sigh. It didn’t matter, she would let him know one way or another what she wanted. It made him smile to think about.

Washed and clothed in something that wasn’t peppered with burn-holes and grit, Mav wandered back out to the kitchen. Ice and the girl were still on the patio, working on the Ruger. What a pistol to start the kid on, the damn thing was so needlessly complicated. Ice was a snob about his firearms though and would argue the benefits of the pistol if you even dared say a word against it. Mav secretly agreed with most of Ice’s points, and he wouldn’t say the suppressed weapon hadn’t saved his life more than once in their two years of working for the agency. But still, he could have chosen Mav’s Beretta to start her on.

He hunted in the fridge, collecting the left over pizza and some milk. It was crappy long-life stuff, but it would have to do. She was so darn scrawny she needed all the calories she could get. He refused to let people think he was neglectful.

With the food warmed and a tall glass of milk in the other hand, Mav returned to the patio.

“Very good,” Ice was praising her as he helped her fold the catch back into the grip of the reassembled gun. “You’ll get better as your hands get stronger, but you did a great job.”

Mav set the plate and glass down beside the gun. “And you started with the world’s most complicated pistol so any others will be easy now,” he teased.

“It’s not that difficult.” Ice rose to the bait. “Is it, Squeak?”

She shrugged and sipped her milk. Mav chuckled as she made a displeased face at the taste.

“I know, kiddo, it’s long-life stuff. We can buy fresh milk when we go to the shop today.”

That elicited another displeased face.

“You need clothes, honey,” Mav explained, feeling guilty at having to drag her out of her safe place again so soon.

“And food that doesn’t come out of a box,” Ice muttered.

“I could leave you here with Ice while I go if you don’t want to come,” Mav said.

He had to stifle a laugh as her lips folded in and her brows crowded her eyes. She was the picture of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“Eat your food. You don’t have to answer straight away,” Ice prompted her.

With the pizza gone and the milk drunk past the halfway point of the glass, she pushed everything away from her and stood. Mav had spent the time breaking down and cleaning his Beretta. She had watched with fascination throughout the whole process. He was about to start putting it all back together when she scrambled into his lap.

“You want to do mine too?” He asked with a grin. “How about another trade, kid?”

She looked up him with suspicious eyes.

“You can put my Beretta back together, but then the three of us go shopping for clothes and food.”

There was an irritated noise in the back of her throat but she gave a short nod. Mav smiled and ruffled her hair.

“Good girl, now, you watched me pull it apart, think you remember how to put it back together?” He gestured to the spread pieces of gun on the table.

“You’re obsessive, you know that?” Mav complained with good humour from the backseat. He and the kid were holding hands but today she had relented to sit in her own seat.

“I’m not obsessive,” Ice argued back, his voice decidedly less humorous. “I just like what I like. And I like to drive.”

That Ice “liked to drive” was a gross understatement. Ice refused to let anyone else drive, ever. The previous evening had been the first time Mav had been allowed into the driving seat with Ice in their entire history of working together. Everyone in the agency knew that Iceman drove. The only person that ever bothered to argue the point was Maverick, and that was more out of his own twisted need to argue with Ice as much as possible than an actual desire to get his way.

“So you’re particular,” Mav shrugged. “It’s still a pain in the ass.”

“You’re a pain in the ass, but I manage to live with it,” Ice sniped.

“Literally at the moment.” He shot a cheeky grin to the kid. Her eyes were wide and flickering between the two of them. “Relax, kiddo, Ice and I are just kidding around.” Mav gave her little hand a squeeze.

“Don’t mind him, Squeak,” Ice said, voice calmer now. “He just likes to push my buttons. I’ve been putting up with it for two years and I haven’t killed him yet. He’s safe.”

Mav chuckled and shook his head. He winked at the girl with a smirk and was rewarded with the slightest curl to the corners of her mouth. It was enough to make Maverick feel giddy. Victory and love muddled together as he beamed at her, squeezing her hand in an effort to convey his emotions.

“Ugh, it’s busy today,” Ice commented completely oblivious to the victory Mav had just won.

They turned to look out the window and frowned. Who knew Walmart would be this busy on a Sunday? Mav supposed it made sense. But with the weird hours they usually kept, neither of them ever shopped before 9pm, the crowds were an unpleasant surprise.

They parked and there was a collective sigh of resignation in the car. Ice climbed out and opened the door where Squeak was sitting.

“OK,” Ice said his military efficiency kicking in. “I’ll get the food and supplies. You two head to the clothes and get that stuff. We’ll meet back near the front and check out. Stay in contact through text. We can do this.”

If Maverick didn’t feel so intimidated by the crowds he would have teased Ice until he was hoarse. Instead, it was comforting to have a game plan.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Just because it was comforting didn’t mean Mav couldn’t tease a little though. “You got that, cadet?” He asked the kid with a grin.

She nodded and snapped a messy salute in reply. Mav and Ice fell into raucous laughter, Mav straining on his seatbelt and gasping for air, while Ice clung to the door.

“Alright, Squeaker, that’s enough sass out of you,” Ice said, still chuckling a little as he pulled her out of the car and onto his hip.

Mav climbed out his side, pretending he didn’t see the very blatant affection standing in Ice’s blue eyes. While he was at it, he went on pretending it didn’t make his own heart do funny little dance moves in his chest.

“C’mere, kid,” Mav held his arms out. “You and me have a mission to complete.”

She threw her arms around Ice’s neck and gave him a squeeze before leaning away for Mav to take her. Mav all but melted into the pavement as he watched. He was completely gone for this kid.

He manoeuvred her onto his back, piggyback style, and the three of them set off for the store. As soon as they hit the crowds milling around the doors, Mav felt the little arms on his shoulders tighten.

“I got you, baby,” he mumbled to her, the pet name popping out of his mouth naturally. “I’ll be right here, OK?”

Ice stroked her hair lightly, his eyes tender. “I’ll be as quick as I can, Squeak. Call me if you need me,” he said with one more long look at the pair of them before he split off to head into the grocery section.

“Let’s find some clothes that are your size, huh?” Mav grabbed a basket and headed off in a vague direction, hoping for the best.

It took a little more hunting that he would have admitted to, but it wasn’t like he had ever needed the kids section before. As they wandered the girls clothing, his eyebrows slowly rose until they almost touched his hairline. Almost everything was frilly, pink and entirely impractical.

“What do you think?” He asked as they reached the end of the section and then doubled back. “See anything you want?”

She gave a wiggle and Mav set her down. She gripped his hand tight but there was a determination in her eyes.

“Point out what you want, we can try it on and see if it fits.”

Instead, she dragged Mav out of that section entirely and into a new aisle a few racks over. These clothes were bigger, still predominantly pink or purple, but with a wider selection of shorts and shirts.

“Won’t these be too big for you?” He asked, confused and beginning to feel more than a little lost.

She gave a short shake of her head.

“OK, I trust you.” He gave her a smile. “Direct me, kiddo, what do you want?”

She was slow to start but they were a good team. She would point and Mav would pull down a size that looked about right and then they would carry on down the aisle. He had a haul of shorts, shirts, a single dress, a thing that was like a dress but with shorts on the bottom, pyjamas, a warm sweatshirt and a few pairs of jeans, a multipack of socks and another of nickers. The basket was full to almost overflowing by the time they had scoured the section entirely.

“Shoes next,” he said, trying to keep the intimidation out of his voice. This was a bigger task than he could have imagined. He could do it. He could reassemble a sniper rifle in the pitch black from feel alone, this wasn’t hard. He could do this.

The shoes weren’t as bad as the clothes. Mav insisted on a set of boots for her, but let her choose a pair of sparkly blue slip-ons and some white sandals with small flowers across the toes.

“Done.” He smiled as she pressed her face into his hip for a moment. “Let’s get some toys and then go find Ice.”

They browsed the toys. She didn’t make a single move for any of them. Mav looked down at her in confusion.

“You can have whatever you want, kiddo,” he prompted her.

She stared back up at him with a blank expression.

“Anything. I promise.”

She pulled his hand, dragging him once more. They rounded the shelves of toys and into the books and puzzles. Mav smiled to himself a little. Of course she’d prefer this stuff.

“What a well behaved little girl you have!” A woman’s voice said from behind them.

Mav turned, drawing the girl into his side as he did.

An elderly woman, stooped and in a blue floral dress, was smiling at them from behind thick glasses.

“Your daughter is so polite and well behaved,” the woman said again.

“Oh, uh, thank you, ma’am,” Mav stammered out, his heart doing a wobbly sort of thing in his chest. “She is a very good girl.” He managed to get out, giving her a squeeze as she clung to him.

“You make a cute pair. Anyway, you have a good day.” The lady shuffled off toward the homewares.

Mav and his girl stood a little starstuck in the middle of the walkway. His chest was still making wobby movements, he felt a little like he had just dodged a bullet, but in the best way. A slow smile spread over his face and he mussed her hair a little.

“C’mon, pick some things to do and let’s go home,” he said.

With activity books, colouring books and markers all loaded into the too-full basket, Mav and his girl headed for the front of the store. His phone rang as they were making their way through kitcheware. He pulled them to a stop, setting the basket down so he could keep hold of her as he answered the phone.

“Yo?” he answered.

“Are you two finished?” Ice asked by way of greeting.

“Sure are. Where are you?” Mav bent and hoisted her onto his hip for the pure fact that he wanted to.

“I’m near register twelve. Did you get everything?”

“Yes,” Mav passed the phone to her and she immediately held it to his ear for him. He beamed a smile at her before bending to pick up the basket and carry on walking.

“Did you get shoes? Socks? Something warm?” Ice peppered the questions at him.

“Yes, Mother, I did.” Mav gave a theatrical roll of his eyes and shot her another grin. “You can check that everything is to your liking when we get there, drill sergeant.”

“Good. Then hurry up,” Ice said.

Mav scoffed but picked up his pace a little. His arms were straining with his cargo but Ice didn’t need to know that.

“Also, it was Lieutenant,” Ice added, a note in his voice that Mav couldn’t quite identify. “I was in the Navy, not the Army.”

“Military is military.” Mav broke from the clusters of shelving into the front of the store. He nodded at where he could see Ice waiting for them.

Ice pushed his relatively full trolley to meet them halfway. He plucked the girl from Mav’s arm and snuggled her into his own chest instead. She clung tight, hiding her face in his neck, one hand still holding Mav’s phone.

“You looked a little weighed down,” Ice rationalised a little too late.

“Sure I did.” Maverick was laughing silently. “Let’s get this thing finished.” He led the way to get in line for the registers.

As they waited he listened to Ice mumble a report of what his shopping trip had been like. He couldn’t stop the smile on his face and realised he didn’t particularly want to. The kid deserved all the love and affection she got.

“Oh, y’all just make the cutest lil’ family,” a woman said from the line behind them as Maverick was stacking everything on the belt.

“Oh, uh, thanks,” Ice said, looking surprised but happy.

“Can’t get her out of her Halloween costume either, huh?” The woman nodded the cut-down scrubs on their girl.

“Yeah,” Ice blustered a little.

“She’s just had a growth spurt too,” Mav came to his rescue. “Her old clothes still fit but they look just as crazy as the costume, so we thought, what’s the harm?”

The woman nodded, sympathy on her face. “I know just what you mean, I have two boys and they grow like weeds. Eat me out of house and home. They’re teenagers now, my grocery bill is just obscene.”

Mav gave the obligatory laugh and let the conversation lapse in favour of pushing the trolley through for the cashier to fill back up.

He paid the eyewatering price without so much as blinking, ignoring the shocked expression on the woman in line. Ice nodded goodbye to her and followed Mav as he pushed the trolley through the doors and into the hot afternoon.

They stopped at the back of the vehicle, loading in the bags. Squeak stood, watching them and holding onto the edge of Ice’s shirt. Mav shifted a little, bumping into the other man as they both reached into the trolley. His finger dipped into Ice’s pocket, snagging the keys and dropping them into his own in the same breath.

“My bad,” Mav said with an easy smile. He shuffled to the side and carried on packing the car. “Hey, Ice, how about I drive this time?” He asked as they swung the back shut.

“How about you bite me, Mitchell,” Ice said with a snarky smile.

“Nah, I am going to drive though.” He pulled the keys from his own pocket and swung them from a finger. His hand closing around them as Ice made a grab for them.

“Give me the keys, Mav,” Ice said, voice somewhere between amused and irritated.

“No.” Mav laughed and took a step back. “It’s my turn to drive.”

“Give, now,” Ice said, a nasty smile coming over him. He squared up.

“Come get ‘em,” Mav relaxed into his stance.

They stared at each other for a long moment, Mav’s eyes switching from Ice’s hips to his hands and back, waiting for the other man to strike.

It was fast. Almost too fast for him to dodge. Ice’s hand snapped out, aiming to grab Mav’s wrist.

He stepped back, lurching off balance for a bare instant before his feet got under him properly.

Ice was still coming though, the other hand coming up and under.

Mav spun off to one side, pushing the hand away as he did.

They both gave a huff of laughter. Mav circled around. Keeping his eyes on Ice as he moved.

His blood went cold as Ice’s face shifted from laughing to stricken. His eyes were fixed to something just behind Mav’s hip and suddenly he remembered their girl.

Mav turned, already stammering an apology.

He found her smiling a small, beautiful smile.

Arms closed around his neck and locked him into a headlock.

“You fucking cheater,” Mav spat, unable to help his laughter. He shifted, trying to get himself situated to throw Ice off.

“Give me the key’s, Mav,” Ice said into his ear.

A new reality crashed into him. They were pressed together from hip to shoulders, Ice’s broad body crowding him and face right beside his own. His heart set up its funky little dance from earlier that day.

And. Oh.

“No,” Mav said because what else was he supposed to say? “Yes, have them and get off me”? With his new-found realisation, he didn’t exactly want that.

Plus, their immature antics were making the kid smile.

“Give me the keys.” Ice shifted with Mav, keeping him trapped.

Just to be entirely contrary, Mav tossed the keys into the garden beside them and worked his hips back into Ice properly, lifting the other man for a moment and preparing to throw him.

“Don’t you dare,” Ice laughed and loosened his arms off.

Mav laughed as well. He let Ice go reluctantly, straightening out of their stalemate.

“Fine, Kazansky, drive the damn car,” Mav tried to sound exasperated but he was laughing a little too much. “I want to sit in the back with the kiddo anyway.” He stuck his tongue out for good measure.

Ice huffed a sigh and stepped into the garden to find the keys. Mav ducked down and picked his girl up. She was still smiling, only a little, but he would take it.

“What do you think, huh?” He said, feeling pretty pleased with himself. “I got him pretty good.”

She nodded. A flicker of uncertainty moved through her brown eyes and Mav tilted his head in a question.

She leaned in, ducking her head and placing her mouth near his ear.

Mav went still. He didn’t even breathe.

It was barely a puff of air. Only just enough to make a sound. If she had been any further away it would have been impossible to catch.

“Em.”

He stayed frozen in place, waiting just in case.

“Ah.”

“Em. Ah.” He repeated softly. “Emma?”

She nodded before pressing her face into his neck.

“Thank you, Emma,” he whispered and pressed a kiss into her hair.

When he looked up, Ice was staring at them, eyes wide.

“Ice, meet Emma,” Mav said as he fought the sudden urge to cry.

“Nice to meet you, Emma,” Ice mumbled and leaned down to press a kiss to the side of her head as well. “Let’s go home.”

Maverick smiled, his throat burning with emotion. He liked the sound of that.

Once they were home, the three of them carried everything inside. It took a few trips but none of them seemed to mind. Mav was still keyed up from the fact that he had done enough to earn her name.

Emma.

It suited her.

They were all crowded in the kitchen, Ice stacking food into the cupboards and fridge, Mav cutting the tags off Emma’s new clothes, Emma leafing through one of her new activity books, when Mav had a stark realisation.

“Hey, Emma,” he said, just for the novelty of using her name.

She looked up at him.

“I just realised something. You don’t know our actual names,” he said with a small chuckle. “Maverick is my callsign. I’m actually Pete. He’s actually Tom.” He tossed his head toward Ice as he spoke.

“Yeah,” Ice said with a shrug of his shoulders. “But you can call us whatever you want. When you’re ready.”

Emma’s eyes moved from one to the other slowly, the information sinking in. She gave a single nod and returned to her book.

Maverick smiled and shot a “I’ll take it” look to Ice. The other man shrugged again, a smile wrinkling his nose a little.

It was a terrible thing to realise you had a huge crush on your co-worker and rival. Maverick caught himself staring and turned back to his task. He had been worried about interacting with Ice outside of their job but he hadn’t been expecting this. Well, no, that wasn’t entirely true.

He knew Ice was hot. He was drop dead gorgeous. Whether he was dressed for espionage in disguises or for combat in his damn turtlenecks, Mav couldn’t not notice how hot Ice was. Hell, it was so obvious even Goose noticed him noticing. Mav was pretty sure even Slider noticed.

But there was a huge difference between appreciating the fit of cargo pants and having actual feelings of affection. At work Ice was a hardass. He could have a few jokes but often when Mav was around, they were gunning to beat each other so fiercely that there was little humour between them. What humour there was, was always edged with broken glass, sharp and unpredictable.

It was going to be impossible to maintain that now. Now that Mav had seem him melt over Emma. Now that he had seen that beneath the military rigidity, there was a man that loved fun and kids and teaching. How could Mav keep up the illusion that Ice was everything he had raged against as a young man when they were clearly more alike than they weren’t.

He sighed and dropped the last pair of shorts onto the pile he had made. He flicked the butterfly knife around his thumb, catching it again easily. He felt Emma perk up beside him but didn’t acknowledge it yet. He knew his knife tricks would be bribe material.

“Done!” Mav cried dramatically. “Now, just the shoes to go.”

“Don’t put them on the bench,” Ice said as Mav lifted them and spun the knife again to snip the ties.

“What? Why?” Maverick paused with the shoes in midair.

“It’s bad luck.” Ice gave a shrug as though that were obvious. “No new shoes on the table.”

“This is a bench,” Mav said, his heart choosing that moment to flutter stupidly. He glanced to Emma with a “is this guy for real” expression. Her eyes were entirely focused on his butterfly knife. Mav grinned.

“It still counts.” Ice walked over and took the shoes out of Mav’s hand. Their fingers brushing a little. “No new shoes on the bench.”

“Fine,” Mav gave an incredulous laugh. He flipped the knife closed with a flourish and passed it to Ice.

“Show off,” Ice muttered, opening the handle one side at a time.

Maverick turned to Emma, placing his hands on the bench and leaning toward her a little.

“You need to get into some real clothes and eat some lunch,” he told her.

Her eyes were still entranced by the knife despite Ice being utterly boring with it.

“Emma,” he spoke again to catch her attention. “You need clothes. And food. Then we can have fun, OK?”

She gave a sigh and a nod. With careful movement she set the book aside and began picking through the clothes. She stopped at the thing that was like a dress but with shorts. Mav tossed his head to the side, sending her to the bathroom to change.

There was another long hesitation.

“We’ll be right here, sweetheart,” Ice said, folding the knife away.

“Promise,” Mav added easily.

She slid off the stool.

They waited.

Emma didn’t move. Her little body went rigid, her jaw tensing and fists clenching on the clothes.

“Would you like me to go with you anyway?” Mav caved. He didn’t see a point to forcing her.

She nodded, her lower lip quivering.

“Oh, Squeaker,” Ice rounded the bench and lifted her into his arms. “It’s OK. You try and that’s all we really ask.” He turned to look at Mav over her head. “Right, Mav?”

“Of course,” the words burst out of him. “That’s how you do anything, really.” He frowned realising how stupid that had sounded.

Ice gave a bark of laughter but nodded in agreement.

“ I meant,” Mav attempted to salvage some dignity, “that we all start somewhere. And the more you try the more you’ll end up doing things. God, what the hell is wrong with me. Why can’t I get this out right?” He looked at Ice with a pained expression. “Help.”

Ice’s laughter redoubled in response, his whole body shaking so hard that he had to set Emma on the bench before he dropped her.

He might have protested at just how much Ice was laughing at him but it appeared to have resolved the quiver of Emma’s bottom lip, and that was all Mav really wanted anyway. He scratched the back of his neck and gave a short sigh.

“I dunno, kiddo,” he said, voice weary. “You’re doing fine.”

With a few lingering guffaws sneaking out, Ice nodded in agreement. “Its true,” he said, “you’re doing fine. Just keep trying when we ask you to do something and ask for help when you can’t. OK?”

She nodded, showing Ice a small smile.

His laughter dried up, a tender look coming over him instead.

Mav simply smiled as well.

“Alright,” Ice lifted her back down to the floor. “Get your clothes on and come back for some lunch.”

Mav trailed along to the bathroom with her, taking up a station outside the door. He noticed she left it slightly ajar and shifted to stand where she could see he was still there through the crack. He was distracted thinking about Ice and the way his nose scrunched up when he laughed properly, but not distracted enough to miss a small hand searching his right pocket.

He turned his head and looked down to find Emma withdrawing her hand and his phone. Mav cleared his throat. She froze.

“Whatcha doin there, kiddo?” He tried to snuff out the urge to laugh again.

She bit her lower lip and slid his phone back into his pocket. Emma hung her head, the picture of a kid caught doing the wrong thing.

Mav frowned. He turned to face her and squatted down.

“Emma, did you need my phone for something?” Mav asked, concern coming over him now. “Is there someone you want to call? Or something you need?”

She jerked her head from side to side. Her eyes were locked to the floor.

“If you want to call someone, you can, sweetheart.” A sudden fear that she felt like a prisoner with them hit him, his heart leaping into his throat and stomach clenching. “You know you don’t have to be here with us, if you have someone else that you know.”

That got her head back up, a different flavour of fear in her eyes. She shook her head vigorously and clamped a hand onto Mav’s shirt. It settled at least some of the horrid feeling in his stomach.

“You’re OK here with us?” He asked, voice gentle.

Emma nodded, not letting him go. There was a complicated mix of emotions on her face and for the first time since they had met, Mav was struggling to work it out.

“Do you have someone else to go to?” He asked, an unreasonable amount of dread following the question.

She shook her head before turning it down to stare at the floor again.

“OK.” Mav wasn’t sure if he felt better or worse. “Would you like a hug?”

Her reply was to press herself into his chest tightly, face tucked into his neck and hiding. With his arms tight around her, Mav plonked them both down onto the floor right outside the bathroom. Emma climbed into his lap proper, giving a sad sigh.

“I’m sorry I upset you,” Mav mumbled to her. “I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t been kidnapped a second time.”

She stiffened a little at the words but didn’t move otherwise.

Mav looked up to find Ice watching from the archway, his lips pressed together in a flat line. The best Mav could do was give him a sad smile in reply.

They sat on the floor for long enough that Maverick’s tailbone set up a constant ache and his feet went numb. It didn’t matter though. He stayed right where he was on the tiles until Emma was ready to move.

There was a tangled mess inside Ice’s brain. It felt like a mass of knitting yarn and every thread he pulled to try and unravel it only seemed to make the tangle worse. He stood at the bench tugging threads as he fixed a healthy lunch of vegetable sticks and hummus for Emma.

The first thread was Emma herself. Somehow Ice had gotten completely tangled up in her. He had been sure he could keep his distance and leave the morning after she was settled. And now he was making a healthy lunch because he was concerned at how much fast food she had been forced to eat lately.

He had worried the entire time he had been grocery shopping because he remembered the first time he went to a store after his first deployment and the PTSD suckerpunched him. All he could think about was that little girl having a panic attack without him there to help. He had felt something deep inside him unlock when she smiled at him, when she pulled him close for a hug or buried her face in his neck. She had hit him hard and fast, he hadn’t been given a moment to prepare any defences and now he was here.

That thread led inexorably to Maverick Mitchell. Ice liked the man well enough. Ice knew there was an unavoidable antipathy between them due to their backgrounds, his military, Mav’s anarchist, but they managed to work together with minimal friction. Well, minimal friction depending on how antagonistic Mav chose to be on a given day. He was an annoying shit at times. Incredibly talented, ballsy and honourable, but annoying.

That thread led into the undeniable physical attraction Ice held for Maverick. He was just Ice’s type. Sure, he had a great body, all lithe muscle and compact power, but it was his smile that snagged Ice. The way his eyes would dance, his crooked teeth showing with every grin, it was incredibly distracting. And he was always smiling. He was always on the edge of a smile spilling over, like life was some great joke that Ice just wasn’t getting.

It irritated him and drew him in in equal measures.

Ice had been able to fight and detatch through strict professionalism. They didn’t work together all that often, more often Ice worked with Slider and Mav with Merlin, but when they did they made a decent team.

Now they had spent almost 24 hours together, outside of work and caring for a kid, the tangle of all these threads was a mess. A slightly terrifying mess. Because Ice had a feeling if he followed all of them down into the middle of the knot, he would find a very uncomfortable realisation waiting for him.

He had a crush on Maverick Mitchell and watching him parent a kid wasn’t helping at all. In fact it was making it worse. It was making Ice think outrageous things like “I could just kiss him.” Or “I wish this was my actual life.” These thoughts were not acceptable. And Ice needed to get out of here.

He turned, trying to steel himself enough to admit it. But when he looked, he found Maverick and Emma on the floor, she was curled up in his arms the picture of dejection. All thoughts of leaving disappeared and all Ice could think was what she would need to feel better once more.

He pressed his lips together, hating himself just a little.

It took time and patience to get Emma up to the table to eat. She picked at the food but when Ice asked her if she didn’t like it she gave a shake of her head. As she ate, Mav stared hard at his phone. Ice watched, bemused as Maverick placed the phone on the table near Emma. She looked at the phone for a long time and then up at Mav’s face.

“You can take it,” Mav said.

Ice leaned on the bench, confusion building.

Her lips twisted up into a new expression. Ice could have sworn it was reluctance and frustration mixed together. Emma shook her head at Mav and pushed the phone back toward him.

Mav’s eyes narrowed, a small smile curling at the corner of one side of his mouth.

“So you didn’t want my phone,” he said, voice contemplative.

She shook her head.

“But you were trying to take it out of my pocket earlier?”

At this, Ice’s eyebrows rose. He glanced between the two of them before returning his face to mildly interested.

Emma looked cowed. She gave a guilty nod and folded her hands in her lap.

“I’m not mad, kiddo,” Maverick said earnestly. “You wouldn’t have been able to unlock it anyway. I’m just trying to work out what you wanted.”

Ice turned the information over in his head. Why, if she didn’t want to use the phone, was she attempting to get Mav’s phone? Did she want to make sure he didn’t have it? That seemed unreasonable. She was a ten year old, not a mafioso.

There was a strangled squeak of frustration and Ice realised that Emma was trying to force words out again. He stepped over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Stop,” Ice said in the same moment as Mav.

They shot each other a quick smile.

“Don’t force it,” Ice said. He dragged a chair over to hers and sat down. “Come here,” he beckoned her onto his knees and she slid over without hesitation. He produced his Ruger from the back holster and ejected the magazine and unloaded it. With it safe and empty he passed it to her. “Take it apart, Squeak, show me.”

Her hands were shaking a little as she began. He could hear her breathing shallow and fast. Ice wrapped an arm around her middle and kept his own breathing long and slow.

Mav got up and walked away, flashing them a smile as they both glanced up at him in unison.

“Good,” Ice said as she checked the gun was completely empty and kept it pointed away from them all. “What comes next?”

As Ice was helping her remove the barrel, her hands too weak for it, Maverick returned. He was holding a notepad with a scrawl of numbers on it.

“Excellent work,” Ice mumbled to her. Her breathing had calmed once more and the shake in her hands was gone. “You remembered everything from this morning.”

She turned her face up and smiled at him. He smiled right back.

“I think you’re an incredibly smart girl,” Mav said and placed the notepad beside her. He laid a pencil down with it, gave her a smile that could only be seen as a challenge, and then wandered away again.

Ice glanced over the numbers. It took him a long moment, longer than he wanted to admit. In his defence, he was used to breaking exceedingly difficult codes, and this was a simple number cipher. The simplest number cipher in the world; A1Z26.

“Put the pistol back together before you move on,” Ice told her, voice firm with discipline. “Finish one task before you start another.”

They worked together, Ice reminding her of how to overcome the more difficult parts until the Ruger was whole again. He kissed the top of her head and smiled.

“Done. Now you can crack the code.” He released her from his arms but she stayed there, obviously comfortable as she pulled the pad in front of her and picked up the pencil.

From the patio, Ice could hear Maverick working out. If he shifted them just a little to the left he would be able to watch. After a beat of hesitation, Ice dragged Emma, the chair and himself around the table to the left. She glanced up, seeing Mav outside and returning to her work. Ice left his own gaze on Mav as he worked his way through pushups. There was no harm in looking.

He was only just moving on to sit-ups when Squeak tore the notepad page away and scratched out the message from the code.

Ice checked her work.

Dear Emma, if you can break this code write back what you’d like for dinner. Mav

Underneath it was simply: spaghetti.

“Good work,” Ice said, smiling. “But I think Mav wanted an encoded note in reply.”

Emma took up the pencil again and worked slowly, noting down numbers on a fresh page. Ice watched her assemble it, decoding as she went.

Dear Mav. I would like spaghetti. Emma.

“Why don’t you take it out to him?” Ice suggested.

The afternoon passed like that. Maverick and Emma passing notes in the simple cipher. Ice would stop now and then to decode and read one. They were mostly talking about innocuous things like her favourite foods, her favourite colours, whether she liked animals.

In the late afternoon, when Ice was finishing up his own workout and was heading to the shower, Emma waved him over, brow furrowed.

She had decoded Maverick’s note but it was a jumble of gibberish.

“He’s changed the rules on you,” Ice said by way of a clue.

Her frown deepened and she glared down at the page. As he was closing the door to the shower a quiet “Ah-ha!” sounded. Ice grinned to himself. How was it that every victory she had, felt like a victory for him as well? Every time he watched her conquer something, a bloom of happiness opened inside him.

He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this genuine, innocent form of happiness. And it was turning out to be highly addictive.

Maverick was also experiencing an addictive form of happiness. He was talking to Emma. Or rather, she was talking to him. They had passed notes back and forth most of the afternoon. Her place at the table was scattered with pages and pages of notepad that she had run through deciphering and recreating messages. He had changed the cipher without warning and her Eureka moment had prompted an audible “Ah-ha!”

Now that she had the hang of this one, Mav chewed the end of his pen a little. He wrote out his note with only a small thud of trepidation.

E, what did you need my phone for today? I won’t be mad unless you lie to me. M.

He held his page aloft over the back of the couch and her small hand snatched it eagerly. Mav chuckled and heaved himself off the couch. Her first note had been a request for spaghetti, so he had better get on with it.

Ice appeared from his shower looking better than he had any right to in crappy safehouse clothes. He moved to check on Emma, smiling and ruffling her hair a little before he walked into the kitchen with Mav.

“Want help?” Ice asked, clapping his hands lightly together.

“Uh, sure.” Mav was pulling things from the cupboard. “You can chop the onions and garlic.”

He was given a nod in reply. They made an efficient team in the kitchen as much as they did on a mission. Mav found even in the small space they barely ran into each other.

When Emma passed over her reply to his note, Mav left Ice to the cooking and swiftly pulled the code apart in his head.

M. How did you get the keys? I wanted to try. E.

He couldn’t help the laughter that snuck out. His eyes flicked up to find Emma biting her lip nervously.

“Come here, kiddo,” Mav said with a wide smile.

With obvious reluctance, Emma stood from the table and shuffled into the kitchen. She came to a stop a few feet from where he was leaning against the bench with her note.

“Don’t listen, Ice,” Mav instructed, mock-stern.

Ice turned to raise a single eyebrow in reply before turning back to the stove.

“Alright, now,” Mav grinned once more. “The key to a good pick, is misdirection.”

Emma’s face shifted from nervous to excited in an instant. Maverick felt his face might split with how wide he was smiling but he didn’t care.

As Ice cooked he ran her through the basics of picking a pocket. Ice, to his credit, was a good sport about the whole thing and stood in as the mark for them. By the time the food was dished up she had the basics down but couldn’t quite get them working all together yet.

“Enough,” Ice called as she bumped into him on the way to the table. “I felt that and I almost dumped pasta on your head.”

She giggled.

They stilled. Maverick feared his chest might actually explode with this sensation. It was like a hot bath, like the perfect ratio of butter to popcorn, it was pure and unadulterated love.

Her laugh was high and sweet and matched her perfectly.

Ice plonked the bowls down and whisked her up into his arms. Mav could see from across the room that his eyes were a little more glittery than usual. With the way his own throat was burning, he had no judgement whatsoever. Mav crossed the room, without really thinking about it, he wrapped his arms around Emma as well.

It wasn’t until he glanced at Ice to share the victory again that he realised how close they were. They were basically nose to nose, only their height and Emma separating them as she looked from one to the other with a smile. Maverick’s stomach dropped out, his breath catching for a moment.

Ice didn’t seem to mind at all, a lazy smile on his lips. Mav was happy to take that as a win, he didn’t really want to alienate this… friend? Co-worker? Person that was babysitting with him?

“We should eat,” Mav said, voice quiet.

“Yeah,” Ice was equally quiet. “What do you think, Squeak?” He turned to Emma, releasing Mav’s heart from it’s deathgrip.

She nodded, still looking between them with a smile.

Maverick stepped back, surreptitiously wiping his sweaty palms down on his pants. They sat down around the table, Ice pushing the bowls into place in front of them all. It was another incredibly domestic moment. Mav knew it was silly, but he leaned into it.

When would he get a chance to do this again in the future? Tomorrow they would find a place for Emma to go, and he and Ice would get back to their day jobs. He hadn’t had a chance at a proper family as a kid, mostly growing up in group homes. And his job didn’t exactly leave him much time to date and settle down to have a family.

He almost laughed at that thought. Because his job kind of had handed him that, just not in the way he had ever expected.

#icemav #top gun #tom iceman kazansky #pete maverick mitchell #an oc child character #mavdad #icepops #spy au #found family #fluff #fanfiction

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