Caught in the Crossfire (Veronica, Mac, Dick, Piz, Logan, Parker) PG-13
Title: Caught in the Crossfire 1/?
Author: miss_v_mars
Characters/Parings: Mac, Veronica, Dick, Piz, Logan, Parker (Slight Veronica/Piz possible future, Veronica/Logan)
Summary: Veronica debates about her future with Piz and gets a surprise when Dick seeks her out and asks for her help.
Total Word Count: 2,340
Rating: PG-13 for now.
Spoilers: To be safe all of season three.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with Veronica Mars. All characters and places belong to Rob Thomas.
Author's Note: This is just a girl bored writing whatever comes to mind. I don’t even know what I’m writing about till I read it later on. This is just a little fantasy version I guess of what my season 4 might have been like. I hope you like it, comments are always awesome. <3
She doesn’t know how to break it off with Piz. Sure she’s ‘dumped’ guys before but she had good reasons. “I’m still hung up on my ex” didn’t seem like a good enough reason to her. Piz wanted the relationship to get more serious. Like planning a future serious. Veronica didn’t normally have to plan ahead, she was usually one step in front of everyone anyway. She dwelled back on previous boyfriends and breakups to try and figure out the easiest way to let Piz down nicely. Duncan. Well the first time he broke up with her was because he thought she was his sister who he’d had sex with and the second time she helped him escape the country with his dead ex-girlfriends baby. So that breakup hardly fit under the category ‘normal’. But now she thought about it, none of her breakups did. Troy had lied to her and ran off to be with his loose cannon, drugged up girlfriend and she had broken it off with Leo only after kissing Logan (who incidentally she hated at the time). Ah, it all came back to fraken Logan in the end, didn’t it? She couldn’t count the number of times they’d broken up only to get back together. Each breakup worst than the last. She leaned back in her chair surprised. When she thought of Logan, Madison hadn’t been on top of him like she had every other time she’d though about him in the last couple of months. Which was more than she was willing to admit. No, thinking of him now she thought of the little things, like how when he was nervous he tugged on the bottom of his sleeves, how his hands knew every inch of her body, how she knew every scar on his and how it came to be there. How she kissed every single one, trying to sooth the bad memory. Him holding her, protecting her…..
She shook her head to erase the images playing in her head. Bad Veronica, she scolded herself. She wasn't breaking up with Piz because of Logan. She was breaking up with Piz, because she didn’t see a future with him. She felt like a bitch. Wallace’s words hurdling through the air and hitting her in the chest. “Don’t break his heart Veronica”. Why was it that everyone always blamed her for the heartbreaking? So what if she was a little closed off, she had a right to be. After how severely her heart had been broken before, she would be stupid not to.
Piz called and arranged to meet her in the Hearst Campus lunchroom. She searched through her draws looking for her favourite jacket, she could hear the howling of wind even from inside her dorm. Imagining how cold it would be outside made her shiver.
“Looking for this?” a voice asked.
She looked up stopping in mid-search.
“I surly am” Veronica replied walking over to Macs side of the room.
She was glad that she’d decided to get a dorm at Hearst. When Mac and Parker found out that she was looking into moving to on-house campus they’d insisted that they get a three bedroom dorm together. Apart from the sometimes feeling of no privacy, she loved it there. And anyway she could always escape to her dad’s apartment if she wanted. Her dad hadn’t been too fussed when she told him she was moving out. She guessed he realized it was going to happen sooner or later. With Alisha being there most of the time, it was feeling less like the home she remembered. She felt it was time to go, let the new Mars-Fennel family start well….. new.
Mac passed the jacket to Veronica.
“And what was it doing on your side of the room?” Veronica asked in a fake annoyed voice.
“Like I would wear anything of that colour tone, I'm more a peachy.”
Mac replied mocking the conversation the girls had had the other night.
Parker found out that she hadn’t been dressing right for her skin type, and was horrified that no one had told her before. She had held a bedroom meeting, insisting they all take the “How to dress to your skin colour” quiz.
Veronica laughed as Mac tried to flip her hair, failing miserably.
“Well excuse me, would you like to show me how it’s done oh great highness?” Mac challenged.
Veronica could flip her hair like the best of them. Didn’t Mac remember she been bestfriends with the “it girl” of Neptune High. Being friends with Lily made hair flipping a necessity.
“I would love to stay and chat Cindy” she drawled out, making Mac glare, “but I have to be meeting Piz.”
Flipping her hair she walked towards the door. She hadn’t flipped her hair in a long time, it felt strange doing it. Flipping your hair was like riding a bike, you never forgot how to do it.
“Well if I’m Cindy you’re Barbie!” she yelled after Veronica.
Veronica could see Piz as soon as she stepped into the dining room. He was sitting in their normal spot. Predictable. Not bothering to stop and get lunch she made her way over to Piz, she didn’t think she could stomach anything anyway. He smiled, almost sadly at her as she fell into the chair next to him.
“We need to talk” he said straightaway.
Her normal response would be ‘well hello to you to’. But she didn’t think Piz would appreciate her trying to humour the situation.
She nods her mouth suddenly dry.
“I think we should see other people”
So cliché she thinks to herself.
She doesn’t know what to do so she nods. This was not how she expected the night to turn out.
“I know you’re still hung up on Logan”
She makes a surprised noise and shakes her head.
“It’s not like that.”
He knows that she’s been distancing herself from him lately, ‘missing’ his calls, avoiding him at Hearst and once she rescheduled their date. He figures it’s over. He’s known since that time Logan beat up the guy who sent the video of him and Veronica getting ‘Adam and Eve’ style as she’d put it. He saw the look they’d shared. Even if she hadn’t forgiven Logan yet, he knew she would because those kinds of feelings he’d seen in her eyes don’t just go away. He should know.
“I saw the way you looked at him……… I..I can’t compete with that.”
Veronica was so shocked she couldn’t speak. She wanted to tell him he was wrong, reading into things that weren't there. But she’d be lying, and he was a good guy that didn’t deserve to be lied to.
He stood up her eyes following him.
“Goodbye Veronica, I hope we can be friends”
The thing that made tears spring to her eyes was that he was so sincere. And for a second she wished she’s could take it all back and stay with him. Safe, predictable Piz.
He lent down and kissed her cheek softly.
He walked away from her feeling the wetness of her tears on his hand. He didn’t know why he’d chosen the dining room as the place to end their relationship. In a way it was kind of cruel. To leave her there, upset. But he’d called her on whim, knowing if he didn’t end it now he wouldn’t be able to. And in the end he’d fall too far. Fall in love with her. And there was no way he wanted to be as screwed up as Logan Echolls.
She didn’t know how long she’d been sitting there or how much time had passed when Wallace joined her.
“Hey Miss Mars”
“Hey brutha, what’s tricks?”
He noted the difference in her voice and the small smile that didn’t quite crinkle her eyes.
“Vee…..” he started.
She sighed.
“It’s over between Piz and me”
“Oh” Wallace said, he couldn’t say he was completely surprised, “you or Piz?”
“Piz” she replied swiping a chip off his plate.
Wallace was taken a back. He’d thought Veronica would be the one to break it off. But he understood why Piz had done it. He’d wanted to keep himself in one piece, he couldn’t blame the guy.
“You can’t blame him though can you?”
“Excuse me?” she asked her nostrils flaring.
“Come on V, you know…..” she cut him off by standing abruptly, the look in her eyes said it all.
“You know me, do you seriously wonder why I am why I am? I think I have a right to be don’t you?”
She looks at him leaving the question in the air. When he doesn’t answer she shakes her head and grabs her bag, stalking out of the room.
“Veronica” he calls after to her, but it’s too late.
There was a knock at the door, Parker sprung up to get it. The door opened to reveal a devilish looking Dick Casablancas. Parkers face fell.
“Expecting someone else?” he leered.
“What do you want Dick?”
“Is Ronnie here?”
Parker turned to Veronica who was out of site, lying on the bed studying. She shook her head and went back to reading her book.
Parker turned back to Dick.
“She’s not here at the moment”
“So please leave a message after the beep” Dick mimicked.
Parker went to slam the door, but Dick stuck out his foot.
“Sorry” he said earnestly, “I just really need to talk to Veronica”.
Parker opened her mouth to reply.
“What do you want Dick” Veronica asked from inside the room.
“Ahh Ronnie, avoiding me are you?” He asked sliding past Parker and making his way into the room.
“Nope studying actually you should try it some time”
“I’ll pass”
Mac who was painting her toenails a ferocious shade of red looked up at Dick.
“So you are a girl” He said feigning surprise, “well you learn something new every day.”
“Learning new things comes with collage, didn’t they tell you that when you signed up for a Dickhead degree” Mac coolly replied.
“Dick, what do you want?” Veronica said raising her voice over Mac and Dicks bickering.
“ Hmm well since you ask….a strip tease would be good”
“Goodbye Dick, get out before I throw something at you, and trust me it won’t be my panties”
“Don’t get them in a knot”
She shot him what Parker called her most deadly bitch expression.
“Okay, okay I'm sorry. Can I just have 5 minutes?”
“Fine, I have class so you can walk with me”
“You been keeping outta trouble?”
“Um yeh I guess” Veronica replied distracted, punching numbers into her mobile.
“Oh yeh. I swear Mary Lamb and Ball Sacks have me and my frat brother’s names on a special “must get list”. They’ve been trying to bust us for partying, drugs and underage booze all in one week. But like I said we’re untouchable”
“So you wanted to talk to me so you could boast about your oh so impressive skills?”
Dick ignored her and carried on.
“So Mars what’s been happening. You and that Pies guy still doing the do?”
Veronica ignored him and kept walking.
“You wanna know what I think”
“Not really. But I’m guessing you’re going to tell me anyway”
“Damn straight. I think that you’re still in love with Logan”
Veronica stopped abruptly.
“Not that it’s any of your business but how can I be still in love with someone if I was never in love with them in the first place?”
It even sounded fake to her own ears.
“Ronnie, this is a safe space. Be completely honest, let it out”
“Okay I’m going”
Veronica strode up ahead of him.
“Wait” Dick yelled after her, jogging to keep up.
“Sorry it’s none of my business”
When she kept walking, he grabbed her arm.
“I need your help”
“Well it’s gonna cost you” she sneered back.
“I want to become friends with Mac”
Veronica stopped dead again. Her jaw dropped.
Dick lifted one finger and placed it on her chin and pushed up.
“Don’t look so surprised V, I do have something resembling a heart in my chest”
Veronica scoffed.
“There is no way I am helping you, get into my friends pants”
Walking away she laughed to herself, thinking about maybe opposite’s do attract.
“It’s not like that. I just want to be friends”
He said running to catching up to her again, man she could walk fast for such a short thing.
“You’re delusional if you think I'm going to let you anywhere near my friend.”
“Veronica please just hear me out.”
She stopped dead, Dick nearly running into the back of her. She whirled around and looked at him expectantly.
“Look, it’s just I was horrible to Mac, all that stuff with my brother…..” He leaves the sentence hanging, “I just want to make things right between us. She’s a cool chick and it sucks that she had to be pulled into all this life-ruining stuff. She didn’t deserve it. There’s already enough of us around here that have been fucked over by the people we loved. She got caught in the crossfire and for that I am truly sorry.”
Veronica was actually stunned into silence, for the first time she could remember she had no reply. Dick really did have a heart.
“I’ll think about it” she replied softly.
Dick who was now preoccupied with a kicking a pebble on the ground nodded slowly.
“That’s all I ask”
Veronica’s Voiceover: yes Mac was truly caught in the crossfire of the actions and consequences of Neptune’s rich, famous and morally disturbed. At least this time the guilty party wasn’t released back to his adoring fans only later to be shot in the head. Oh no he’s serving out a jail sentence in Neptune’s most supreme detainment facility. Justice was served. Dick’s right for once though, the people you love let you down, but I learnt that lesson a long time ago.…