Sell The Life (Dick/Mac) PG-13
Title: Sell The Life
Fandom: Veronica Mars
Characters: Dick/Mac, Mac/Bronson, Veronica, Parker, mentions of Logan and Keith
Prompt: 032. Deception
Word Count: 4,928
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Mac and Dick get roped into helping Veronica with a case.
Author's Notes: As usual, you can pretty much blame 15north for encouraging me. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
"Names?"
Mac wasn't entirely sure how Veronica had managed to talk her into this.
Oh wait. It was all coming back to her... a new external hard drive and two tickets to Sufjan Stevens in LA. She really hoped Bronson liked folk-acoustic.
"Hey, names," Dick nudged her in the side. Mac stood up straight and crossed her arms - the universal 'don't touch me' stance.
"Dick and..." she hesitated, "Cindy Casablancas." It sounded more like a porn name to her. And stay tuned for the enticing Cindy Casablancas next on the Playboy Channel!
"Of course, you're right here," the woman pointed to their names on a list. "You're to see Dr. Peterson. He's a genius, trust me," she smiled at Mac all secret-like. "He's all about experimental methods - none of that painful 'daily shot' stuff. Fill out these, please," she passed Dick two clipboards. "Come back to me when you're done and Dr. Peterson can see you in a few moments." Mac grabbed one of the clipboards from Dick and went to go sit down.
Dick sat down next to her. "What's our backstory again?" he whispered.
"Didn't I just explain it to you?" Mac asked.
Dick and Cindy Casablancas. Twenty-five years of age, happily married since 2002, been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby since 2004 - which is why Dick and Cindy Casablancas (who, yes, own their own home and have a dog named Veronika) are considering alternative methods.
Of course, in reality they were still Dick Casablancas and Cindy Mackenzie, nineteen years of age, who wouldn't dare think of having a baby (much less with each other) until they were well into their thirties and were just doing this as a favor for their so-called "friends" - including one Veronica Mars whose father was investigating a fertility clinic that was evidently conducting illegal (and much faster) adoptions to wealthy barren wannabe parents.
"Just let me do the talking, all right?" Mac asked. Dick nodded and turned back to his clipboard.
"Mr. and Mrs. Casablancas?" the receptionist called. "The doctor will see you now."
~*~
"Right in here," Dr. Peterson guided them into his office. "Take a seat." He took his own seat in the large leather chair behind his desk and immediately took on the 'doctor' face and crossed his legs. "You two are... very young."
"T - "
"Twenty five," Mac interrupted Dick. "Why, is age a problem?"
"No," the doctor took a note in his book. "It's just very rare to see twenty five-year-olds seeking assistance in conception."
"Well - "
"My family's Roman Catholic," Mac said. "So, we're kind of in a rush, you know? Mom wants all the grandkids in the world - right, Dick?" Dick glared at her, but settled for nodding.
"Okay," Dr. Peterson nodded and took another note. "So, do you two have any ideas about what might be preventing you from having children?" Mac looked at Dick.
"Fertility's really never been a problem on my side of the family, so..." she shrugged. Dick's eyes widened.
"Oh, nuh-uh!" he shook his head. "If there's a problem, it's you. You're, like, barren - it's like playing a game of Halo 2, only you keep killing my soldiers." Mac's jaw dropped.
Did he just turn their non-existant fertility issues into a video game?
The doctor was silent for a moment, just staring at the two of them. "We'll... run some tests. For now, I want to focus on one aspect that might be affecting what's... happening." He frowned. "Mrs. Casablancas, you said that your mother wants grandchildren very badly?" Mac nodded.
"She won't stop talking about it," Mac said. "It's all babies, babies, babies to her." The doctor turned to Dick.
"Dick, do you feel like you're getting a lot of pressure from your wife's family? Do you feel like this is affecting the way that you see yourself and any future children?" Dick was silent for a moment. Mac assumed he was just trying to process having two questions at once in his brain.
"Uhhh, yeah," he finally said. "I mean, sometimes her family says things that really hurt me but I don't want to tell her because they're... her family. For example," oh lord, "last Christmas, I went over to their place, and her uncle kept on calling me 'Few Fishes'. That hurt." Mac didn't have an uncle... "And I thought that telling her would make her see me as..." Dick looked into Mac's eyes, very sappily, "less of a man."
"Oh my god!" Mac exclaimed, throwing her hands up. At the doctor's off look, she softened her voice and placed a hand on Dick's forearm. "You really think I would see you as less of a man... sweetie?" He bit his lip and looked down at his lap.
This was almost more painful than the shots the receptionist had mentioned.
"And sometimes, you," he drew a shaky breath, "you say things to me that... they hurt too. When you ask me why I can't 'do it', and tell me that I should try harder." Wheezy breath. Was he going to cry? "I just feel that you don't respect me and sometimes I think that I wouldn't want our children to see us in this kind of relationship. I want them to have a happy life, not one where their parents are always fighting."
"How do you respond to this, Mrs. Casablancas?" Mac smiled humorlessly.
"Well, in all honesty, Dr. Peterson, we didn't really come here for a therapy session, we came to have kids."
"You see?" Dick asked. Tears. There were tears in his eyes. "You're always thinking about the big picture! I want you here in the now. With me. I want us to be secure within our relationship before we can move on to the next step but you're always pulling us back, Cindy."
Mac was speechless.
~*~
"You're compromising our research," Mac told Dick as they exited the building.
"I'm selling the part. You saw the doc, he was totally convinced," Dick corrected. "More convinced than me by you, actually."
"How'd you learn how to do that?" Mac asked. "Improv?" Dick shrugged.
"Drama. Eighth grade. I scored Hamlet and five chicks." He walked away, once again leaving Mac staring after him as he got into his truck.
~*~
"How'd it go?" Veronica asked over the phone.
"It went well," Mac admitted. "Dick 'sold the part'. The doctor thinks we're desperate. It might take time to get what you need, though."
"Just get it fast, okay?" Veronica pleaded. "Dad found out today that they're not just kids, Mac. They're illegal immigrants. They're shut up in a boat for weeks and sent over here from Eastern Europe." A knock at the door caught Mac's attention.
"I've got to go, all right?" Mac said. "I'll call you tomorrow. Our next appointment is at twelve." She snapped her cell phone shut and opened the door with a relieved smile. "Hey, Bronson. Let me get my jacket. You will not believe the day I've had."
~*~
Mac came home at eleven, to the whoops and cheers of her one-woman cheer squad, Parker.
"How was it?" Parker asked. Mac shrugged.
"A date. I got nacho cheese on my favorite jacket," she handed Parker the jacket.
"Ew," Parker frowned, inspecting the damage. "You got a note," she pointed to Mac's desk. Mac walked over to her desk and picked up the note to read it.
"Appointment's been changed," she read to herself. "Be there at five."
"What appointment?" Parker asked, looking up from her homework. Mac shook her head.
"It's nothing."
Nothing but interrupting her third date with Bronson.
~*~
"Hey, Bronson? It's Mac." Mac paused as he greeted her. "Um, listen, I won't be able to make it tonight. I've got something to... do. There's this essay that I've been putting off for forever, and... how about tomorrow?" She grinned. "Well, if today was five at Friday's, then I think we should do six at the Sizzler tomorrow." So, maybe Veronica was right. She was a little twitterpated. "Six on Saturday at the Sizzler. I'll see you there."
She turned around to find herself face to face with her fake-husband.
"I didn't know you were there," she said, lowering her head as she walked by.
"Six on Saturday at the Sizzler? Those are dating words."
"It's none of your business, all right?" Mac asked. "Let's just go in."
"Hey, when you go down on him, make sure to do the little swirl thing with the tip of your tongue. It's awesome. He'll stay with you for at least another three days, guarunteed." Mac just walked away.
~*~
"So, what do you have today for us, doc?" Dick asked. "Little blue pills? Little red pills? A combo of the two?"
"We talked about maybe adopting last night," Mac said, not looking Dick in the eye. "I really think that a baby or an older child could help us connect more."
"Adopting, yeah," Dick glanced at Mac. "I thought about names last night. I like Bronson..."
"Dick!" Mac hissed.
"Ma-ac," Dick sang in a ridiculously high-pitched voice.
"Hold on, hold on you two," Dr. Peterson held up his hand. "You two only had a major breakthrough yesterday, we still need to figure some things out."
"You know, maybe we should name him Bronson," Mac said vehemently to Dick, standing up from her seat. "And I think we should have a kid right now. Maybe having someone else who needs attention will finally make you grow up!"
"Fine, you wanna do it?" Dick asked, jumping up as well. "You wanna have a kid right now?"
"Yeah! Who knows, you'll finally realize that not everyone in the world is supposed to baby you!" she shouted.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" The doctor stood up. "I have seen you two do nothing but fight today and yesterday. Are you sure you even love each other?" Mac stared at the doctor blankly, her mouth slightly open. "Mrs. Casablancas, do you love your husband?"
She looked at the floor before answering. "Yeah, I... do."
"Tell him that," the doctor pointed to Dick. "Not the floor. You should be open with your feelings towards your husband." Mac sighed and looked up at Dick.
"I love you," she said quietly.
"Louder, make him feel it," the doctor impressed.
"I love you," Mac repeated, louder. This hurt.
"I gotta say, I'm not feeling it," Dick told her. "I don't think you love me as much as you say you do," he looked off to the side.
"I love you, all right?" Mac repeated again. "I love you, I love you, I love you. I didn't know what love was until I met you. I thought it was just something that emo kids cry over, but I loved you and I still do. No matter who I date or who I kiss, I could never stop loving you. I wish I could tell you that forever, but I can't!" Dick's face was blank and Mac felt the bile start to rise in her throat.
"Dick, do you love your wife?" the doctor's voice felt far away. Dick held out his hand to Mac and, against her better judgement, she took it and he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.
His voice was in her ear and she wanted to cry.
I loved him too.
~*~
"Hey, Bronson, I need to cancel for tonight," Mac fake-coughed into the phone. "I caught something last night while I was walking back from the library." She laughed. "Yeah, I will. Hey, it can be Sunday at six at the Sizzler, right?" her smile dropped. "Oh. Uhh... well, you have fun or something, okay? Make lots of people PHAT."
Lame joke, she knew, but she wasn't feeling up to using her left lobe and coming up with anything wittier.
She shut the phone and laid back in bed.
"Are you all right?" Parker asked, offering a concerned look from her side of the room. Mac nodded and coughed again.
"I just... I need to sleep."
~*~
"Tell me how they're doing this," Mac asked. Veronica looked up from her lasagna lunch special.
"Hmm?"
Mac shrugged. "I want to know. I'm involved in this as much as you are, and we're both going to jail if you're wrong. Tell me how they're kidnapping kids and selling them to rich parents and I'll be able to help you more - maybe get you access to the place a little better."
"Most of it's technical, Mac. I mean, it's just air schedules and client lists and crappy blueprints. There's nothing really concrete until we get your stories..."
"Well, could I see the blueprints?" Mac said. "I could say I'm going to the bathroom and then, you know, sneak off to the attic where they're hiding twenty-seven Ukraines." She attempted a half smile, then went back to her pita. Veronica simply took another bite of her lasagna. She grabbed her bag off of the chair next to her and placed a file on the table.
"Here's the case file. Two anonymous tips - " she pointed out the call-ins on a piece of paper. "Not so anonymous actually - they were from a couple downtown that didn't have enough money to buy their own Shiloh. Here are the blueprints," Veronica flipped to another piece of paper in the file, "Dad got into the place once and didn't really see enough, but he knows that the kids aren't in the basement. Dr. Peterson's office is here, I assume you walk in here and there's the receptionist's desk..."
"Yeah," Mac nodded. "What about this part? What's here?" she pointed to a blank piece on the paper. Veronica frowned.
"I think Dad mentioned a wing out of order. You might want to check that out first. Here," Veronica handed Mac the piece of paper. "I'll try to get some better quality, but until then you can use this as your map around there. It's a new place, so I doubt they have all of the security up yet. It should be pretty easy."
Pretty easy was always a relative term when it came to Veronica Mars.
~*~
"We'll get started on some of the more physical testing today," the doctor placed a cup in front of Dick. "I suppose you know what to do with this, take as much time as you need. If there are any problems, I'll be in my office."
"Do I..." Mac turned around as the doctor began to exit the room. "I don't... stay, right?"
The doctor shrugged. "Most wives do. That's up to you." Mac grabbed her purse.
"Bye, Dick. Tell me when you're done."
~*~
She managed to make it to the end of the hallway before getting completely lost. Veronica's map wasn't drawn to scale and she was having a hard time figuring out why the front door was only a few feet away from the place she should go.
"You know where the doc is?" Mac turned around quickly to see her 'husband' behind her waving around the capped cup he'd been given. "I'm supposed to give this to him, right?"
"Ew, get that away from me," Mac said, pushing his hand away. "Have you tried his office?"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to find the place!" At Dick's blank look, she elaborated. "The place they're keeping the stolen kids. Remember? Why we're here?"
"Oh, right," Dick nodded. "So, where are you headed?" Mac turned the map a little to the right.
"That way," she pointed East. "That's where the deserted wing seems to be."
"Deserted wing? That's a little ominous."
"Stolen kids are a little ominous, Dick. You waving around a cup of your own special sauce is ominous - our lives are ominous," Mac hissed under her breath as she approached a staircase. "Here, up here. That might be why these doors are overlapping." She placed her hand on the knob and turned it quietly. "It's locked. Do you have a hairpin?"
Dick pursed his lips. "I must have left all of that crap in my other pants. Why don't you have one? You knew you'd be breaking and entering - you should have come prepared!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry I can't seem to live up to your high Casablancas standards, Dick," Mac sneered, opening her purse to see if she had a hairpin. "A-ha," she produced a paper clip. "This should work," she pulled the paper clip apart and jammed it into the lock.
"I should have known you could do that," Dick whispered. "Life of crime and all."
"Veronica taught me," Mac lied, finally hearing the door click. She wouldn't tell him that his brother taught her and they practiced on his door over Christmas break. "Ha," she heard the lock click. "Get in," she pushed the door open.
"What? This is your felony, not mine. I'm going back and giving the doc my fishies so he can figure out that you're the barren one and we can go home - "
"Get in, Dick!"
"Fine!" Dick walked past her into the room and Mac followed and closed the door behind her. "I don't know, dude," Dick touched a desk with his finger and showed her the dust. "I don't see any stolen kids."
"It's not that simple!" Mac said. "They could be in a secret room!"
"'They could be in a secret room'," Dick mimicked. "'I'm going to save the world with my vegan boyfriend and a bunch of paper cuts!'"
"Dick, shut up!"
"'Right after I have hot lesbian sex with Veronica Mars and she tells me the mission parameters -'"
"Dick!" Mac frowned. "You really think I'd have sex with Veronica?" Dick shrugged.
"You guys hang out a lot, don't you?"
Mac thought about it for a moment. "But that's so... cliche. I mean, girl-friends becoming girlfriends - do guys really think like that?" Dick nodded. "Well, Veronica's not really... my type."
"You have a type?" Dick wrinkled his nose.
"All chicks have a type," Mac informed him.
"But... so you're a lesbian?" he asked. "But I thought you were dating that dude... that Bronson guy?"
"I'm not a lesbian!" Mac exclaimed. "And we've gotten off topic! I'm not going to have sex with Veronica!"
"What about Parker?" Dick raised an eyebrow.
"That's off topic, too," Mac told him.
"Well, say you're both single and kind of drunk and it's a hot summer evening... although, having sex doesn't make it any less hot - trust me." This conversation had taken a definite turn for the worse.
"I think I hear something," Mac held up her hand. Yes, the specific sound of footsteps on the stairway they'd just climbed. "There's someone!" she pointed to the closed door.
"What do we do?" Dick asked. Mac wrung her hands.
"Desk! Get under the desk!"
"It's dusty under there!" Dick complained. "I've got an idea - get on the desk."
"I'm not getting on the desk," Mac shook her head. "I totally know where you're going with this idea and I'm not getting on that desk." Outside of the door, she heard the intruder drop their keys - more time to quarrel, wonderful.
"Get on the desk," Dick repeated, beginning to take off his shirt.
"No. Put your shirt back on. We're not doing that."
"Hey, it's your fault we're up here," Dick reminded her. "I'm not getting arrested. Get your ass on the desk." Mac groaned and rolled her eyes. She hopped on the desk and spread her legs. "You should probably get your jeans off too." She glared at Dick and he shrugged. "Make it realistic."
"I didn't shave," she told him truthfully. Dick made a face.
"Keep them on," he positioned himself between her legs.
"Do I do anything else? Moan, groan, ask when it's going to end?" Mac asked. Dick grinned.
"You could scream."
The receptionist opened the door just as Mac wrapped her arms around Dick's neck and let him kiss her.
~*~
"That was so embarassing," Mac whined as they exited the clinic. "I'm never letting you come up with excuses as to why we're making out in deserted wings ever again. 'The little lady can't go without getting it regular', oh god," she groaned and put a hand to her head.
"Hey, they totally fell for it, though, right?" Dick pointed out. "Everything's fine."
"Yeah, but now they think I'm a nymphomaniac!" Mac exclaimed. "In what world is this all right?"
Dick stopped at his car. "In my world, nymphomaniacs are always all right," he said with a self-satisfied smile. Mac scoffed. "The next appointment's for Wednesday at six."
"Can't we do it earlier?" Mac asked. "I have a date then."
"So, let me get this straight," Dick placed his forearms on the top of his car. "You want those poor Russian kids in a closet to reschedule their kidnappings so that you can get sweaty with your special friend?"
"We were actually going to go to a concert," Mac mumbled. How could Dick Casablancas of all people pull the guilt card on her? He had no right.
"I hope he's not paying," Dick sneered. "Guys don't pay for gay concerts unless they expect something in return. Not all of them can be my little brother."
"He's not like him," Mac said as Dick opened his door and slid into the front seat. She was a few feet away, but she knew he heard her. "He doesn't ruin lives."
~*~
"How've you been?" Mac looked up from her vegan lasagna. She nodded.
"I've been good," she told him. "I've been... swamped with... homework." Homework was always good excuse. She'd been cancelling Bronson's dates for almost a month, they'd missed a concert, five dinners, three lunch dates and a "family" thing that she was supposed to attend with him.
"It's just that, I haven't seen you too much," Bronson half-smiled. "You've got broccoli on your face," he wiped at his own face to show her. Mac grabbed a napkin and wiped the broccoli off. "I mean, even at PHAT things..."
"We've both been really busy," Mac reiterated. They sat in silence for a few moments before the scraping of a chair next to Mac caught her attention.
"Veronica's late," Dick said, placing his tray down on the table in front of him. "Doesn't she know that these little meetings that she makes us come to are supposed to be attended on time? You want some? It's not exactly the Wish Burger but you could probably scrape the meat off or something..."
Bronson sent Mac a defeated look over the top of Dick's four-patty burger.
"Me and Dick and Veronica are doing a, um, project," Mac told Bronson. "For... geology."
"Dude, you got the last brownie?" Dick stared at her plate with his mouth hanging open slightly. "No way, you gotta go half. I'll give you, like, a lettuce or something."
"I think I'm getting the bat signal from one of my associates," Bronson said waving at someone across the hall. "Maybe we can do movies? This Thursday? I happen to know that they're showing the Rocky Horror Picture Show and I happen to have tickets."
"Thursday's - "
"Don't you have that lab on Thursdays?" Dick asked, grabbing the salt from the middle of the table and pouring it generously over his fries. "I mean, you always tell me that Thursday nights are off limits..."
"I do," Mac sighed. "I do have a lab. Sorry, Bronson. Maybe we can do something else over the weekend?" Bronson nodded before getting up and walked away. Mac stabbed at her lasagna and stared at his empty seat.
"Dude, the brownie?" Dick's voice invaded her thoughts. Mac stabbed the brownie with her fork and placed it on his plate. "Awesome."
~*~
"I mean, it just feels like maybe there are, like, cracks in our relationship that are impossible to fill. There are times when I'm off that he's not off and when he's off, I've got class," Mac rambled. "It's just not a healthy environment for... a baby." Her voice fell on the last word. She totally didn't want a baby. She hated babies. They were small and dependent and easily ruined.
And she was an easy ruiner.
"Is this the first time you've heard this, Mr. Casablancas?" Mac slumped more into her seat.
"Well, I don't really know... I'm not..." Dick struggled for words. "Maybe you could... drop a class?"
"I'm not dropping classes for a guy," Mac said bitterly. "And you shouldn't have to drop your... meetings. I mean, your work is very important. You're saving animals and stuff. That's important!"
"Animals aren't as important as you, though, are they?" Dick asked.
"That's not even a good comparison to make," Mac told him.
"So, what you're telling me is that you don't want a baby?" Dr. Peterson asked. Mac looked up at him.
"I don't think we want a baby," she said, beginning to wring her hands again. Veronica was going to kill her. "There's nothing here that we need."
~*~
"How do you know?" Dick asked as they walked down the hall.
"We've searched every room in this place," Mac whispered. "I researched the backgrounds of every person in this office - squeaky clean. Everything's official. I think Veronica's looking in the wrong place."
"You're sure about this?"
"Positive. There's nothing here," Mac said.
"Mac, I don't think you're understanding the point of a secret operation..." The receptionist stood up as they entered the waiting room.
"Are you ready to schedule your next appointment?"
"Actually, we won't be coming back again," Mac said. "We're kind of... finished." The receptionist beamed.
"Pregnant?"
"Actually no," Mac shrugged. "We decided we're not ready yet for this kind of responsibility and we're going to hold off for a few more years." She felt Dick's arm around her shoulders.
"Aw, honey, you don't have to be ashamed," he said sweetly - loudly enough so that the receptionist could hear. "It's not your fault that you have that scar tissue. I'm sure there's an operation out there for you."
"Oh, there's an operation I'm going to perform on you when we get out to the car," Mac smiled fakely and leaned into his embrace.
"Have you considered adopting?" the receptionist asked. "I mean... have you considered it?"
"We - " she heard the bell on the door ring, interrupting her sentence, but then Dick's arm was pulling her closer to him and his lips were pressing against hers insistently. She fell limp in his arms for a second before the shock wore off and she was running her hands through his hair and pulling him closer. His teeth were nipping sharply at her bottom lip and her mouth fell open for him to explore.
This was a kiss.
"Mac?" Mac broke away from the kiss quickly and spun around to see Bronson standing in the doorway of the clinic.
Crap.
~*~
Bronson picked a bench out for them and they just sat for a few moments, watching the waves crash against the cliff below the fertility clinic.
"So, this looks a little weird?" Mac asked, filling the open silence.
"This is so beyond weird," Bronson said. It was, it was. He didn't even know the other half of the story either.
"How'd you know I'd be here?" Mac inquired.
"Parker told me," Bronson smiled and looked down at his hands. "I stopped by your apartment, I thought I'd surprise you since you couldn't go out to dinner because you were studying - I'd take dinner to you. Parker gave me the address of where you were at." Oh, so he was being completely sweet. That just made this worse. "If I leave..." Bronson turned to look at her. "Are you just going to go back to him?"
Mac couldn't answer.
~*~
When Dick came out of the fertility clinic, Mac was waiting for him just outside of the door. Dick stopped and groaned, reaching his arms up to touch the edge of the sign.
"Wanna get some ice cream?" he asked, smiling almost smugly at her.
"Dairy products are off limits," Mac reminded him.
"We could get that Soy Dream crap and go back to Logan's place," he held up a small business card, "now that I know where the stolen kids are being held." Mac gasped and grabbed the card from him.
"How'd you get them to give you this?" she asked, examining the name of the front company.
"We totally sold it, that's how," Dick smirked, grabbing her arm and walking her off in the direction of his car. "Let's celebrate. Or are you going somewhere else with your boyfriend?"
Mac pocketed the card and contented to be dragged off. "He's not in the picture anymore."
"They can't all understand," Dick told her. "Most guys won't be as fucked up as you are."
"Are you?" she settled for the simple two words.
He shrugged. "Totally."
Fandom: Veronica Mars
Characters: Dick/Mac, Mac/Bronson, Veronica, Parker, mentions of Logan and Keith
Prompt: 032. Deception
Word Count: 4,928
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Mac and Dick get roped into helping Veronica with a case.
Author's Notes: As usual, you can pretty much blame 15north for encouraging me. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
"Names?"
Mac wasn't entirely sure how Veronica had managed to talk her into this.
Oh wait. It was all coming back to her... a new external hard drive and two tickets to Sufjan Stevens in LA. She really hoped Bronson liked folk-acoustic.
"Hey, names," Dick nudged her in the side. Mac stood up straight and crossed her arms - the universal 'don't touch me' stance.
"Dick and..." she hesitated, "Cindy Casablancas." It sounded more like a porn name to her. And stay tuned for the enticing Cindy Casablancas next on the Playboy Channel!
"Of course, you're right here," the woman pointed to their names on a list. "You're to see Dr. Peterson. He's a genius, trust me," she smiled at Mac all secret-like. "He's all about experimental methods - none of that painful 'daily shot' stuff. Fill out these, please," she passed Dick two clipboards. "Come back to me when you're done and Dr. Peterson can see you in a few moments." Mac grabbed one of the clipboards from Dick and went to go sit down.
Dick sat down next to her. "What's our backstory again?" he whispered.
"Didn't I just explain it to you?" Mac asked.
Dick and Cindy Casablancas. Twenty-five years of age, happily married since 2002, been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby since 2004 - which is why Dick and Cindy Casablancas (who, yes, own their own home and have a dog named Veronika) are considering alternative methods.
Of course, in reality they were still Dick Casablancas and Cindy Mackenzie, nineteen years of age, who wouldn't dare think of having a baby (much less with each other) until they were well into their thirties and were just doing this as a favor for their so-called "friends" - including one Veronica Mars whose father was investigating a fertility clinic that was evidently conducting illegal (and much faster) adoptions to wealthy barren wannabe parents.
"Just let me do the talking, all right?" Mac asked. Dick nodded and turned back to his clipboard.
"Mr. and Mrs. Casablancas?" the receptionist called. "The doctor will see you now."
~*~
"Right in here," Dr. Peterson guided them into his office. "Take a seat." He took his own seat in the large leather chair behind his desk and immediately took on the 'doctor' face and crossed his legs. "You two are... very young."
"T - "
"Twenty five," Mac interrupted Dick. "Why, is age a problem?"
"No," the doctor took a note in his book. "It's just very rare to see twenty five-year-olds seeking assistance in conception."
"Well - "
"My family's Roman Catholic," Mac said. "So, we're kind of in a rush, you know? Mom wants all the grandkids in the world - right, Dick?" Dick glared at her, but settled for nodding.
"Okay," Dr. Peterson nodded and took another note. "So, do you two have any ideas about what might be preventing you from having children?" Mac looked at Dick.
"Fertility's really never been a problem on my side of the family, so..." she shrugged. Dick's eyes widened.
"Oh, nuh-uh!" he shook his head. "If there's a problem, it's you. You're, like, barren - it's like playing a game of Halo 2, only you keep killing my soldiers." Mac's jaw dropped.
Did he just turn their non-existant fertility issues into a video game?
The doctor was silent for a moment, just staring at the two of them. "We'll... run some tests. For now, I want to focus on one aspect that might be affecting what's... happening." He frowned. "Mrs. Casablancas, you said that your mother wants grandchildren very badly?" Mac nodded.
"She won't stop talking about it," Mac said. "It's all babies, babies, babies to her." The doctor turned to Dick.
"Dick, do you feel like you're getting a lot of pressure from your wife's family? Do you feel like this is affecting the way that you see yourself and any future children?" Dick was silent for a moment. Mac assumed he was just trying to process having two questions at once in his brain.
"Uhhh, yeah," he finally said. "I mean, sometimes her family says things that really hurt me but I don't want to tell her because they're... her family. For example," oh lord, "last Christmas, I went over to their place, and her uncle kept on calling me 'Few Fishes'. That hurt." Mac didn't have an uncle... "And I thought that telling her would make her see me as..." Dick looked into Mac's eyes, very sappily, "less of a man."
"Oh my god!" Mac exclaimed, throwing her hands up. At the doctor's off look, she softened her voice and placed a hand on Dick's forearm. "You really think I would see you as less of a man... sweetie?" He bit his lip and looked down at his lap.
This was almost more painful than the shots the receptionist had mentioned.
"And sometimes, you," he drew a shaky breath, "you say things to me that... they hurt too. When you ask me why I can't 'do it', and tell me that I should try harder." Wheezy breath. Was he going to cry? "I just feel that you don't respect me and sometimes I think that I wouldn't want our children to see us in this kind of relationship. I want them to have a happy life, not one where their parents are always fighting."
"How do you respond to this, Mrs. Casablancas?" Mac smiled humorlessly.
"Well, in all honesty, Dr. Peterson, we didn't really come here for a therapy session, we came to have kids."
"You see?" Dick asked. Tears. There were tears in his eyes. "You're always thinking about the big picture! I want you here in the now. With me. I want us to be secure within our relationship before we can move on to the next step but you're always pulling us back, Cindy."
Mac was speechless.
~*~
"You're compromising our research," Mac told Dick as they exited the building.
"I'm selling the part. You saw the doc, he was totally convinced," Dick corrected. "More convinced than me by you, actually."
"How'd you learn how to do that?" Mac asked. "Improv?" Dick shrugged.
"Drama. Eighth grade. I scored Hamlet and five chicks." He walked away, once again leaving Mac staring after him as he got into his truck.
~*~
"How'd it go?" Veronica asked over the phone.
"It went well," Mac admitted. "Dick 'sold the part'. The doctor thinks we're desperate. It might take time to get what you need, though."
"Just get it fast, okay?" Veronica pleaded. "Dad found out today that they're not just kids, Mac. They're illegal immigrants. They're shut up in a boat for weeks and sent over here from Eastern Europe." A knock at the door caught Mac's attention.
"I've got to go, all right?" Mac said. "I'll call you tomorrow. Our next appointment is at twelve." She snapped her cell phone shut and opened the door with a relieved smile. "Hey, Bronson. Let me get my jacket. You will not believe the day I've had."
~*~
Mac came home at eleven, to the whoops and cheers of her one-woman cheer squad, Parker.
"How was it?" Parker asked. Mac shrugged.
"A date. I got nacho cheese on my favorite jacket," she handed Parker the jacket.
"Ew," Parker frowned, inspecting the damage. "You got a note," she pointed to Mac's desk. Mac walked over to her desk and picked up the note to read it.
"Appointment's been changed," she read to herself. "Be there at five."
"What appointment?" Parker asked, looking up from her homework. Mac shook her head.
"It's nothing."
Nothing but interrupting her third date with Bronson.
~*~
"Hey, Bronson? It's Mac." Mac paused as he greeted her. "Um, listen, I won't be able to make it tonight. I've got something to... do. There's this essay that I've been putting off for forever, and... how about tomorrow?" She grinned. "Well, if today was five at Friday's, then I think we should do six at the Sizzler tomorrow." So, maybe Veronica was right. She was a little twitterpated. "Six on Saturday at the Sizzler. I'll see you there."
She turned around to find herself face to face with her fake-husband.
"I didn't know you were there," she said, lowering her head as she walked by.
"Six on Saturday at the Sizzler? Those are dating words."
"It's none of your business, all right?" Mac asked. "Let's just go in."
"Hey, when you go down on him, make sure to do the little swirl thing with the tip of your tongue. It's awesome. He'll stay with you for at least another three days, guarunteed." Mac just walked away.
~*~
"So, what do you have today for us, doc?" Dick asked. "Little blue pills? Little red pills? A combo of the two?"
"We talked about maybe adopting last night," Mac said, not looking Dick in the eye. "I really think that a baby or an older child could help us connect more."
"Adopting, yeah," Dick glanced at Mac. "I thought about names last night. I like Bronson..."
"Dick!" Mac hissed.
"Ma-ac," Dick sang in a ridiculously high-pitched voice.
"Hold on, hold on you two," Dr. Peterson held up his hand. "You two only had a major breakthrough yesterday, we still need to figure some things out."
"You know, maybe we should name him Bronson," Mac said vehemently to Dick, standing up from her seat. "And I think we should have a kid right now. Maybe having someone else who needs attention will finally make you grow up!"
"Fine, you wanna do it?" Dick asked, jumping up as well. "You wanna have a kid right now?"
"Yeah! Who knows, you'll finally realize that not everyone in the world is supposed to baby you!" she shouted.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" The doctor stood up. "I have seen you two do nothing but fight today and yesterday. Are you sure you even love each other?" Mac stared at the doctor blankly, her mouth slightly open. "Mrs. Casablancas, do you love your husband?"
She looked at the floor before answering. "Yeah, I... do."
"Tell him that," the doctor pointed to Dick. "Not the floor. You should be open with your feelings towards your husband." Mac sighed and looked up at Dick.
"I love you," she said quietly.
"Louder, make him feel it," the doctor impressed.
"I love you," Mac repeated, louder. This hurt.
"I gotta say, I'm not feeling it," Dick told her. "I don't think you love me as much as you say you do," he looked off to the side.
"I love you, all right?" Mac repeated again. "I love you, I love you, I love you. I didn't know what love was until I met you. I thought it was just something that emo kids cry over, but I loved you and I still do. No matter who I date or who I kiss, I could never stop loving you. I wish I could tell you that forever, but I can't!" Dick's face was blank and Mac felt the bile start to rise in her throat.
"Dick, do you love your wife?" the doctor's voice felt far away. Dick held out his hand to Mac and, against her better judgement, she took it and he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.
His voice was in her ear and she wanted to cry.
I loved him too.
~*~
"Hey, Bronson, I need to cancel for tonight," Mac fake-coughed into the phone. "I caught something last night while I was walking back from the library." She laughed. "Yeah, I will. Hey, it can be Sunday at six at the Sizzler, right?" her smile dropped. "Oh. Uhh... well, you have fun or something, okay? Make lots of people PHAT."
Lame joke, she knew, but she wasn't feeling up to using her left lobe and coming up with anything wittier.
She shut the phone and laid back in bed.
"Are you all right?" Parker asked, offering a concerned look from her side of the room. Mac nodded and coughed again.
"I just... I need to sleep."
~*~
"Tell me how they're doing this," Mac asked. Veronica looked up from her lasagna lunch special.
"Hmm?"
Mac shrugged. "I want to know. I'm involved in this as much as you are, and we're both going to jail if you're wrong. Tell me how they're kidnapping kids and selling them to rich parents and I'll be able to help you more - maybe get you access to the place a little better."
"Most of it's technical, Mac. I mean, it's just air schedules and client lists and crappy blueprints. There's nothing really concrete until we get your stories..."
"Well, could I see the blueprints?" Mac said. "I could say I'm going to the bathroom and then, you know, sneak off to the attic where they're hiding twenty-seven Ukraines." She attempted a half smile, then went back to her pita. Veronica simply took another bite of her lasagna. She grabbed her bag off of the chair next to her and placed a file on the table.
"Here's the case file. Two anonymous tips - " she pointed out the call-ins on a piece of paper. "Not so anonymous actually - they were from a couple downtown that didn't have enough money to buy their own Shiloh. Here are the blueprints," Veronica flipped to another piece of paper in the file, "Dad got into the place once and didn't really see enough, but he knows that the kids aren't in the basement. Dr. Peterson's office is here, I assume you walk in here and there's the receptionist's desk..."
"Yeah," Mac nodded. "What about this part? What's here?" she pointed to a blank piece on the paper. Veronica frowned.
"I think Dad mentioned a wing out of order. You might want to check that out first. Here," Veronica handed Mac the piece of paper. "I'll try to get some better quality, but until then you can use this as your map around there. It's a new place, so I doubt they have all of the security up yet. It should be pretty easy."
Pretty easy was always a relative term when it came to Veronica Mars.
~*~
"We'll get started on some of the more physical testing today," the doctor placed a cup in front of Dick. "I suppose you know what to do with this, take as much time as you need. If there are any problems, I'll be in my office."
"Do I..." Mac turned around as the doctor began to exit the room. "I don't... stay, right?"
The doctor shrugged. "Most wives do. That's up to you." Mac grabbed her purse.
"Bye, Dick. Tell me when you're done."
~*~
She managed to make it to the end of the hallway before getting completely lost. Veronica's map wasn't drawn to scale and she was having a hard time figuring out why the front door was only a few feet away from the place she should go.
"You know where the doc is?" Mac turned around quickly to see her 'husband' behind her waving around the capped cup he'd been given. "I'm supposed to give this to him, right?"
"Ew, get that away from me," Mac said, pushing his hand away. "Have you tried his office?"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to find the place!" At Dick's blank look, she elaborated. "The place they're keeping the stolen kids. Remember? Why we're here?"
"Oh, right," Dick nodded. "So, where are you headed?" Mac turned the map a little to the right.
"That way," she pointed East. "That's where the deserted wing seems to be."
"Deserted wing? That's a little ominous."
"Stolen kids are a little ominous, Dick. You waving around a cup of your own special sauce is ominous - our lives are ominous," Mac hissed under her breath as she approached a staircase. "Here, up here. That might be why these doors are overlapping." She placed her hand on the knob and turned it quietly. "It's locked. Do you have a hairpin?"
Dick pursed his lips. "I must have left all of that crap in my other pants. Why don't you have one? You knew you'd be breaking and entering - you should have come prepared!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry I can't seem to live up to your high Casablancas standards, Dick," Mac sneered, opening her purse to see if she had a hairpin. "A-ha," she produced a paper clip. "This should work," she pulled the paper clip apart and jammed it into the lock.
"I should have known you could do that," Dick whispered. "Life of crime and all."
"Veronica taught me," Mac lied, finally hearing the door click. She wouldn't tell him that his brother taught her and they practiced on his door over Christmas break. "Ha," she heard the lock click. "Get in," she pushed the door open.
"What? This is your felony, not mine. I'm going back and giving the doc my fishies so he can figure out that you're the barren one and we can go home - "
"Get in, Dick!"
"Fine!" Dick walked past her into the room and Mac followed and closed the door behind her. "I don't know, dude," Dick touched a desk with his finger and showed her the dust. "I don't see any stolen kids."
"It's not that simple!" Mac said. "They could be in a secret room!"
"'They could be in a secret room'," Dick mimicked. "'I'm going to save the world with my vegan boyfriend and a bunch of paper cuts!'"
"Dick, shut up!"
"'Right after I have hot lesbian sex with Veronica Mars and she tells me the mission parameters -'"
"Dick!" Mac frowned. "You really think I'd have sex with Veronica?" Dick shrugged.
"You guys hang out a lot, don't you?"
Mac thought about it for a moment. "But that's so... cliche. I mean, girl-friends becoming girlfriends - do guys really think like that?" Dick nodded. "Well, Veronica's not really... my type."
"You have a type?" Dick wrinkled his nose.
"All chicks have a type," Mac informed him.
"But... so you're a lesbian?" he asked. "But I thought you were dating that dude... that Bronson guy?"
"I'm not a lesbian!" Mac exclaimed. "And we've gotten off topic! I'm not going to have sex with Veronica!"
"What about Parker?" Dick raised an eyebrow.
"That's off topic, too," Mac told him.
"Well, say you're both single and kind of drunk and it's a hot summer evening... although, having sex doesn't make it any less hot - trust me." This conversation had taken a definite turn for the worse.
"I think I hear something," Mac held up her hand. Yes, the specific sound of footsteps on the stairway they'd just climbed. "There's someone!" she pointed to the closed door.
"What do we do?" Dick asked. Mac wrung her hands.
"Desk! Get under the desk!"
"It's dusty under there!" Dick complained. "I've got an idea - get on the desk."
"I'm not getting on the desk," Mac shook her head. "I totally know where you're going with this idea and I'm not getting on that desk." Outside of the door, she heard the intruder drop their keys - more time to quarrel, wonderful.
"Get on the desk," Dick repeated, beginning to take off his shirt.
"No. Put your shirt back on. We're not doing that."
"Hey, it's your fault we're up here," Dick reminded her. "I'm not getting arrested. Get your ass on the desk." Mac groaned and rolled her eyes. She hopped on the desk and spread her legs. "You should probably get your jeans off too." She glared at Dick and he shrugged. "Make it realistic."
"I didn't shave," she told him truthfully. Dick made a face.
"Keep them on," he positioned himself between her legs.
"Do I do anything else? Moan, groan, ask when it's going to end?" Mac asked. Dick grinned.
"You could scream."
The receptionist opened the door just as Mac wrapped her arms around Dick's neck and let him kiss her.
~*~
"That was so embarassing," Mac whined as they exited the clinic. "I'm never letting you come up with excuses as to why we're making out in deserted wings ever again. 'The little lady can't go without getting it regular', oh god," she groaned and put a hand to her head.
"Hey, they totally fell for it, though, right?" Dick pointed out. "Everything's fine."
"Yeah, but now they think I'm a nymphomaniac!" Mac exclaimed. "In what world is this all right?"
Dick stopped at his car. "In my world, nymphomaniacs are always all right," he said with a self-satisfied smile. Mac scoffed. "The next appointment's for Wednesday at six."
"Can't we do it earlier?" Mac asked. "I have a date then."
"So, let me get this straight," Dick placed his forearms on the top of his car. "You want those poor Russian kids in a closet to reschedule their kidnappings so that you can get sweaty with your special friend?"
"We were actually going to go to a concert," Mac mumbled. How could Dick Casablancas of all people pull the guilt card on her? He had no right.
"I hope he's not paying," Dick sneered. "Guys don't pay for gay concerts unless they expect something in return. Not all of them can be my little brother."
"He's not like him," Mac said as Dick opened his door and slid into the front seat. She was a few feet away, but she knew he heard her. "He doesn't ruin lives."
~*~
"How've you been?" Mac looked up from her vegan lasagna. She nodded.
"I've been good," she told him. "I've been... swamped with... homework." Homework was always good excuse. She'd been cancelling Bronson's dates for almost a month, they'd missed a concert, five dinners, three lunch dates and a "family" thing that she was supposed to attend with him.
"It's just that, I haven't seen you too much," Bronson half-smiled. "You've got broccoli on your face," he wiped at his own face to show her. Mac grabbed a napkin and wiped the broccoli off. "I mean, even at PHAT things..."
"We've both been really busy," Mac reiterated. They sat in silence for a few moments before the scraping of a chair next to Mac caught her attention.
"Veronica's late," Dick said, placing his tray down on the table in front of him. "Doesn't she know that these little meetings that she makes us come to are supposed to be attended on time? You want some? It's not exactly the Wish Burger but you could probably scrape the meat off or something..."
Bronson sent Mac a defeated look over the top of Dick's four-patty burger.
"Me and Dick and Veronica are doing a, um, project," Mac told Bronson. "For... geology."
"Dude, you got the last brownie?" Dick stared at her plate with his mouth hanging open slightly. "No way, you gotta go half. I'll give you, like, a lettuce or something."
"I think I'm getting the bat signal from one of my associates," Bronson said waving at someone across the hall. "Maybe we can do movies? This Thursday? I happen to know that they're showing the Rocky Horror Picture Show and I happen to have tickets."
"Thursday's - "
"Don't you have that lab on Thursdays?" Dick asked, grabbing the salt from the middle of the table and pouring it generously over his fries. "I mean, you always tell me that Thursday nights are off limits..."
"I do," Mac sighed. "I do have a lab. Sorry, Bronson. Maybe we can do something else over the weekend?" Bronson nodded before getting up and walked away. Mac stabbed at her lasagna and stared at his empty seat.
"Dude, the brownie?" Dick's voice invaded her thoughts. Mac stabbed the brownie with her fork and placed it on his plate. "Awesome."
~*~
"I mean, it just feels like maybe there are, like, cracks in our relationship that are impossible to fill. There are times when I'm off that he's not off and when he's off, I've got class," Mac rambled. "It's just not a healthy environment for... a baby." Her voice fell on the last word. She totally didn't want a baby. She hated babies. They were small and dependent and easily ruined.
And she was an easy ruiner.
"Is this the first time you've heard this, Mr. Casablancas?" Mac slumped more into her seat.
"Well, I don't really know... I'm not..." Dick struggled for words. "Maybe you could... drop a class?"
"I'm not dropping classes for a guy," Mac said bitterly. "And you shouldn't have to drop your... meetings. I mean, your work is very important. You're saving animals and stuff. That's important!"
"Animals aren't as important as you, though, are they?" Dick asked.
"That's not even a good comparison to make," Mac told him.
"So, what you're telling me is that you don't want a baby?" Dr. Peterson asked. Mac looked up at him.
"I don't think we want a baby," she said, beginning to wring her hands again. Veronica was going to kill her. "There's nothing here that we need."
~*~
"How do you know?" Dick asked as they walked down the hall.
"We've searched every room in this place," Mac whispered. "I researched the backgrounds of every person in this office - squeaky clean. Everything's official. I think Veronica's looking in the wrong place."
"You're sure about this?"
"Positive. There's nothing here," Mac said.
"Mac, I don't think you're understanding the point of a secret operation..." The receptionist stood up as they entered the waiting room.
"Are you ready to schedule your next appointment?"
"Actually, we won't be coming back again," Mac said. "We're kind of... finished." The receptionist beamed.
"Pregnant?"
"Actually no," Mac shrugged. "We decided we're not ready yet for this kind of responsibility and we're going to hold off for a few more years." She felt Dick's arm around her shoulders.
"Aw, honey, you don't have to be ashamed," he said sweetly - loudly enough so that the receptionist could hear. "It's not your fault that you have that scar tissue. I'm sure there's an operation out there for you."
"Oh, there's an operation I'm going to perform on you when we get out to the car," Mac smiled fakely and leaned into his embrace.
"Have you considered adopting?" the receptionist asked. "I mean... have you considered it?"
"We - " she heard the bell on the door ring, interrupting her sentence, but then Dick's arm was pulling her closer to him and his lips were pressing against hers insistently. She fell limp in his arms for a second before the shock wore off and she was running her hands through his hair and pulling him closer. His teeth were nipping sharply at her bottom lip and her mouth fell open for him to explore.
This was a kiss.
"Mac?" Mac broke away from the kiss quickly and spun around to see Bronson standing in the doorway of the clinic.
Crap.
~*~
Bronson picked a bench out for them and they just sat for a few moments, watching the waves crash against the cliff below the fertility clinic.
"So, this looks a little weird?" Mac asked, filling the open silence.
"This is so beyond weird," Bronson said. It was, it was. He didn't even know the other half of the story either.
"How'd you know I'd be here?" Mac inquired.
"Parker told me," Bronson smiled and looked down at his hands. "I stopped by your apartment, I thought I'd surprise you since you couldn't go out to dinner because you were studying - I'd take dinner to you. Parker gave me the address of where you were at." Oh, so he was being completely sweet. That just made this worse. "If I leave..." Bronson turned to look at her. "Are you just going to go back to him?"
Mac couldn't answer.
~*~
When Dick came out of the fertility clinic, Mac was waiting for him just outside of the door. Dick stopped and groaned, reaching his arms up to touch the edge of the sign.
"Wanna get some ice cream?" he asked, smiling almost smugly at her.
"Dairy products are off limits," Mac reminded him.
"We could get that Soy Dream crap and go back to Logan's place," he held up a small business card, "now that I know where the stolen kids are being held." Mac gasped and grabbed the card from him.
"How'd you get them to give you this?" she asked, examining the name of the front company.
"We totally sold it, that's how," Dick smirked, grabbing her arm and walking her off in the direction of his car. "Let's celebrate. Or are you going somewhere else with your boyfriend?"
Mac pocketed the card and contented to be dragged off. "He's not in the picture anymore."
"They can't all understand," Dick told her. "Most guys won't be as fucked up as you are."
"Are you?" she settled for the simple two words.
He shrugged. "Totally."