Private Eye, Public Face
Title: Private Eye, Public Face
Author: tafidadarling
Fandom: The Social Network which belongs to Columbia Pictures.
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Mark/Eduardo, Dustin, Sean
Rating: FRM for language and mention of sexual content.
Summary: Noir AU in which Mark is a private eye and Eduardo goes missing. Any anachronisms are my fault. Correct me if I'm so wrong it ruins the fic for you.
Notes: I'll be posting all my fics from the comment ficathon once I'm sure I won't be answering anymore.
Cross posted to mark_eduardo and socialnetwrkfic.
'It was a dark and dreary night.' What a cliche. Have you ever read a story seriously if it begins with that line? Who even wrote it first? I wonder if they could see what they started how they'd react. The sad part is it was a dark and dreary night when my story begins. I was in my office finishing some paperwork as the rain pounded on the roof.
I'm Mark Zuckerberg, private eye. I work exclusively in the Boston area, my office not far from the bay. That night you could hear the wind howling across the ocean. If you've ever been near the ocean during a storm, you know how its the eeriest sound you'll ever hear. Just as I'm about to leave, enter Eduardo Saverin.
Saverin could be best described with another cliche: tall, dark and handsome. Not like I notice these kind of things about my informants. Saverin was a business man of some sort with some big company... or something like that; I didn't bother myself with the details. He had helped me with a job a few years back , and we'd kept in touch. It seemed these days my only human interaction was with low lifes who traded what they knew for a nip or too, so I always appreciated a visit from my friend. I just wouldn't let him know that.
"Unless you got a case for me Eddie, make it short. I got a date with a lady named Black Bush." I nervously shuffled some papers desperate for something to do with my hands.
"I'd like to hire you to find my dignity," he said as straight forward as he could, but we both knew I had nowhere to go. He laid his coat over the chair in front of my desk but did not sit down. "Mark, my firm is holding a party, and I was wondering if you'd like to come."
A lawyer. That's right. Why didn't I hate him again? Saverin smiled as he waited for my answer, and I remembered. I would have loved to go. I should of gone.
"No can do Eddie," I said as I stood up placing my hat on firmly.
"Mark, you can't keep isolating yourself. When is the last time you left your house for something other than work."
I couldn't remember. A party came to mind, but then I realized I had been there to make sure some rich guy's dame wasn't kidnapped after being threatened repeatedly.
"Last Saturday," I lied. I walked out the door and Saverin followed suit. He sure had a nice suit on. It must be some shindig. Why would he invite me? The rain looked like it wouldn't be letting up any time soon. We were soaked seconds after leaving.
"Talk to me when you're done lying," he said as he waved down a taxi. "I'll see you later Mark."
I didn't see him for days after that.
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I was on a case when I needed Saverin. A man locked in a legal battle with an old partner had gone missing and I couldn't understand any of the legal mumbo jumbo in the documents I had, uh, "borrowed". We had a strict policy of never meeting at his office, and as I called him from a pay phone across and down the street some ways, I thought again why he would invite me to that party then. I got no answer.
I went to Sean Parker's estate. He's one of the low lifes I mentioned before. He's a rich one to boot, which is the worst, but he'd never let me down before. He poured us a drink and asked how was business.
"I need you to do a quick favor for me," I said. "I'll pay in cash."
"What's the job?" he asked.
"Eddie's not answering his phone. I need you to run in and ask to see him. I got to talk to him. Say it's about music rights if you have to." Parker was a producer. Told you he's a low life.
"I won't do it for less than ten," he said and I glared at him. "What? I need to get dressed. Effort is involved and I must be compensated."
"You're a bastard," I said but handed him the money. I had no other choice.
When Parker came out of the building, he looked genuinely upset. "They haven't seen Eddie in days. I'm sorry I couldn't help." He walked off.
The man I was investigating probably skipped off to Mexico so he didn't have to pay up. He could wait. Saverin was my top priority now. I walked back to my office, hands in pockets and head down. I'm sure I had a file on Saverin from that first case. A file that'd have an address.
Once the sun had set, I found myself somewhere I barely roamed - the nice side of town. Saverin's house was tall and built of red brick. I pulled a pin from my pocket and quietly let myself in. The inside was exactly what I was expecting. It was well organized and neat just like him, so when I saw a vase on the floor, I knew there'd been a minor struggle. I searched for a note or at least a trace of who had taken him, but there was nothing. Saverin was missing, no one seemed too concerned, and I had no clues. It was unsettling. I don't like being unsettled.
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"Eddie Saverin? Don't know'im," Dustin mumbled as we stood hunched in a back alley. He hated when I came to him because I was bad for business, but if Saverin was taken that night of the party, then Dustin might have been something. He set up business a block from the firm.
"Think Dustin," I said as I slipped a five into his over sized fur coat. "About 6'1". Dark hair. He would have been wearing a black suit, expensive."
"My friend Jackson might know," he said grinning slyly.
"You're pushing it."
"Did I say Jackson? I meant Lincoln." I gave him another bill, and he finally started talking. "Yeah, I know Eddie. Busted a couple of my johns. I hate city lawyers. What do you need to know?"
"He's missing. You see anything Friday night around eight?"
"He left the building. Looked wasted. Walked down Main. That's all I saw."
"Good man," I said and headed down Main, eyes on the ground looking for any trace of Saverin. I saw a black thread stuck in a gutter. It looked high quality. Had he stumbled on his way home? Maybe he knocked the vase over since there were no other signs of a struggle in his house. Then when and where was he taken?
I went back to my office, defeated, and looked over Saverin's file again. He was originally from Brazil and came to America in '47. He'd never been married and had worked at that firm since he moved here. The only way I could have seen him making enemies was through his job. I had enough time left to visit the firm before the world was bathed in sunlight again.
There was nothing in his office to personalize it. I began going through his filing cabinet. I was close to giving up by the time I got to the Z's when I saw one folder marked 'Zuckerberg, Mark". I pulled it out and was faced with a time line through newspaper articles of my accomplishments as a detective. Well, this was interesting. I slipped the folder into my coat and went home to have a drink. Sometimes I think better drunk. Too bad I blacked out that night.
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I woke up with one of the newspaper clippings stuck to my face and a headache. Grabbing some aspirin, I noticed the letters 'ZUCK' were imprinted on my face backward. I would have laughed if it wouldn't split my head. When I padded out of the bathroom, Saverin was sitting on my couch as if he belonged there.
"Eddie, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked.
"You're not the only one who can break into someones residence," he said. "Were you worried about me?"
"Well, yes." I absently ran my hand through my hair still uncombed. I was wearing only pajama pants while he was in his usual suit. Needless to say, I was uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry I scared you then." He sounded sincere. I decided it was safe to sit down. "I had to take a few days to think things over."
"Without telling anyone?"
"I was drunk," he said simply and without embarrassment. "I wasn't thinking clearly. You do know you have something on you face?"
"I know. Well, I'm glad you're okay Eddie. I have to get ready for work now."
"It's Saturday."
"Already? Well, mysteries won't solve themselves." I went to stand up, but he stopped me.
"Don't you want to know why I'd just leave?"
"That's your business."
"You. I had to think about how I feel about you, and how you feel about me. I was upset that you wouldn't come to the party with me."
"So you don't care about me being isolated?"
"I do. It's more than that Mark. I love you, and I've seen how you look at me. I can't help but think you feel something too."
"I don't know!" I said throwing my hands up. I was too hungover to deal with my friend's declaration of love. My very male friend. My friend I'd only been eying up since we met. "Maybe, okay?"
"That's enough for me," he said and leaned in and kissed me. I pulled him closer, gasping as his tie ghosted over my bare chest. I pushed his suit coat off and undid that tie. "This is more than maybe," he said smirking.
"Shut up." I leaned back in and forced my tongue into his mouth, tracing those teeth he always flashes when he smiled. "You're wearing too many clothes," I muttered. Then, "You were planning this all along, weren't you?" as I pulled his pants off. Lastly, "Oh my God."
Not much else was said after that. We managed to knock over more than just a vase, which I didn't own a vase anyway, as we rushed to my bedroom. I showed him how much I missed him while he was gone, and he showed how sorry he was.
I guess I can end my story with another cliche because after that we lived happily ever after. Well, for the most part.