Since no one wished for anything, I decided to upload "Cerberus".

Disclaimer:I own nothing and nothing do I own.

Many thanks to lemondrizzlecake for beta reading and reviewing.

Cerberus

(Ian & Lip)

Lip has always been good at making up stories.

When they were younger, Ian always imagined Lip's brain as a carnival, with something stunning to be found at every other corner and a firework every now and then.

To be honest, Ian was a little jealous, 'cause his brain would barely hold up to Lip's, and sometimes it even seemed to be stuck and not working at all and it would be intimidating to stand next to his brother.

Most of the time, however, Ian would benefit from Lip's brain, especially from his stories and the games he'd invent, so Ian shrugged the jealousy off.

His favorite was the story of Cerberus.

He was about seven or eight and Lip somewhere about nine, and Fiona had taken the younger kids out. He was sitting on his bed, trying to do his homework, when Lip popped down next to him.

"You wanna go on an adventure?" he'd asked.

Ian looked up. "Where to?"

"The underworld," Lip said with a vicious smile on his face, and even though Ian had no idea what he meant his heart hammered in his chest.

"Why?" he wondered.

"To get the treasure," Lip answered, like it was the stupidest question in the world.

"What treasure?"

Lip simply took his hand and led him to the staircase in the living room. There, the two of them sat down on the stairs and peered through the handrail.

"So where's this treasure?" , Ian asked, impatient.

Lip pointed his fingers to the room downstairs. "In the cupboard under the TV, but Cerberus is watching it. He will eat us when he finds out that we want to steal it!"

"Cere- what?"

"The three-headed hound, that watches the gates of the underworld," Lip had lowered his voice, able to sound threatening and creepy, and it sentd a chill down Ian´s spine. "If we wake him, he'll eat us alive!"

"Where is he?" Ian's voice had gone smaller and smaller.

"Don't you see him? He's lying right there, next to the couch."

Ian stretched himself to have a better look. His heart kept hammering in his chest. And then he saw what Lip meant and all the excitement was gone in a second.

"That's just Frank," he said, disappointed.

But Lip shook his head. "It's Cerberus. He's sleeping right now, so we've got to be really quiet. Here -" he had put a quarter into Ian's hand,"You´ll need it to cross the river that leads to the underworld. Don't lose it or you'll be doomed. And don't touch the water, it's deadly."

And so they made their way through the underworld, hopping from one pillow to the other, never allowed to touch the ground, trying their best not to wake the sleeping hound. Ian's hands were sweaty and his knees were shaking from excitement. One step at a time, helping each other with the biggest distances. Finally, they'd managed to drop pillows in front of Fra- Cerberus and jumped over him without waking him up.

"We did it," Lip whispered.

Ian's heart was beating as fast as if he'd run a mile. "Can we get the treasure now?"

So Lip opened the cupboard and there it was, a bottle of golden liquid. "It's pure gold", Lip whispered, taking the bottle out of the cupboard. "You still have your coin?" Ian nodded.

"Then let's get out of here."

Ten minutes later they were back in their room again, holding the treasure in their hands.

"That was an awesome adventure, wasn't it?" Ian said.

Lip didn't answered. He held the bottle and his eyes glimmered. Then, he opened it.

"What are you doing?"

"Tasting it."

Ian did not want to do that. It was what made Frank turn loud and aggressive and forget about their little league training, but Lip had already put the bottle to his lips and taken a sip. Then he coughed.

"How is it?" asked Ian.

Lip didn't answer and instead shoved the bottle into Ian's hands. So Ian took a sip, too.

It burned like hell and he almost spat it out again.

"That's disgusting. Why does he like it so much?"

Ian was overcome by a coughing fit, then, and he barely realized that Lip had taken another shot already.

~break~

The memory stuck and in the next couple of years Cerberus became a metaphor for any huge obstacle to overcome. When Lip lashed out and wasn't allowed to participate in his physics club in school anymore, it was Cerberus. When Ian broke his arm and couldn't join ROTC, Cerberus again. When Monica sold their school books for drug money, once more, Cerberus.

But like most things you held dear in your childhood, it slowly started fading into the background until one day it was completely forgotten. Stored neatly somewhere in the back of their heads, right next to eating vegetables and a favorite movie. It got dusty and barely recognizable.

~break~

Years later, Ian lies awake in the psych ward. They say he might be bipolar, but he knows he's not, because he's not like Monica. From all the things in the world he might be, he's definitely not her.

His mind's racing, and he feels restless. Shadows are lurking on the wall, giant beasts that could eat him at every time. That's when he sees it. One of the beasts looks like a hound with three heads. Cerberus. It takes him a while to sort his thoughts and remember how the hell he knows that name, but then he knows: Cerberus. A giant obstacle to overcome, beastly, scary, aggressive. But not insurmuntable. Ian smiles, and he instantly grows calmer.

~break~

About a year later he's standing at a bridge throwing Frank into the river with his family and friends. Some part of his mind tells him that he should feel remorse over that kind of action, but he doesn't. Frank deserves it. Later they celebrate – Gallagher style, try to forget an other awful moment of their life – and that's when it hits him that Lip's not there.

It is Debbie who sits down on the stairs with him. She hands him over Franny and takes a sip from her soda. "He'll get help," is all she says, and there is no need for further explanation.

When he goes to bed, however, he reaches for his phone and opens the chat with Lip. He doesn't even know if phones are allowed in rehab, but he knows it will help him sleep to think he has at least tried to let Lip know he's there. He thinks for a moment how he should sum up all his feelings, types a mile long message and deletes it all. Tries again and doesn't even finish the first sentence. He lays down and looks at the ceiling for a moment until he´s finally gets it. He smiles, looks back at the phone and types one single word.

Cerberus.

~shameless~

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You can also vote which story I'll update next:
Truth (Liam & Fiona) or
Bulletproof (Debbie & Carl)