Fic: Undercover Angel, Part III (Ensemble), Rated: R
Title: Undercover Angel, Part III
Author: skk670
Pairing/Characters: Ensemble
Word Count: 1,915
Rating: R (Bad Language and Sexual Situations)
Summary: This season's mysteries began to unravel - and Veronica is at the center of it all.
Spoilers/Warnings: Season II to date
Authors Notes: My personal take on the season's mysteries.
Much thanks to my wonderful betas Ethereal_65, Fickledame and moire2, icon courtesy of merovin_iconic
Part I - The Conspiracy Unfolds
Part II - Snake Eyes
Undercover Angel
Part III - Talking to Ghosts
The hallway was quiet when Logan and Dick left the library. Students had gone to their classes and the boys moved silently down the hall. By now, seeing Dick’s purposeful lope and watchful eyes no longer surprised Logan.
They slipped into the dark, empty computer lab. Dick’s brows drew together in a frown and his mouth tightened. Irritation was clear on his face.
Logan looked down the rows of unmanned computers and a chill went down his spine. They looked like sentries guarding a world of secrets. A world that - up until today - he didn’t know existed. It made him feel small and insignificant.
Dick turned to leave and Logan was about to follow when a soft giggle caught his attention. He looked briefly at Dick then turned to the sound.
Cassidy and Mac were huddled together in a far back corner, looking at a computer screen. Their faces looked oddly demonic in the ghostly light. Their heads were pressed close together and they were whispering between themselves. Cassidy nuzzled her temple and Mac giggled again.
“Well, well,” Dick said loudly, adopting his jackass surfer-boy persona again, “if it isn’t my little bro and his little ho.”
Cassidy and Mac jumped apart and turned to look at Dick and Logan.
“Dick,” Cassidy observed, without enthusiasm. “What do you want?”
Logan and Dick crossed the room and Cassidy met them half way. Looking over his shoulder, Logan could see Mac deftly closing web pages on the computer. He leaned closer but Cassidy shifted, blocking Logan’s view of the computer screen.
“I want to know who you were talking to,” Dick demanded.
Cassidy rolled his eyes and looked annoyed. “For the last time, her name is Mac.”
“I’m not talking about your beard,” Dick snapped impatiently. “I want to know who you were talking to on the phone.”
“Be careful, Dick,” Cassidy advised softly. “Unlike the guys you hang out with, I don’t let anyone get away with talking trash about my girl.” He paused meaningfully. “Remember?” he added softly.
Cassidy and Dick locked gazes. Dick blinked first.
“I want to know who you were talking to,” Dick asked again, gruffly.
Cassidy continued to stare unblinkingly at his brother for a moment longer. Then he blinked and looked puzzled. “When?”
“Out in the parking lot,” Dick elaborated impatiently.
Logan had to hand it to Cassidy. For a new poker player, he was pretty good at bluffing. But he was no Veronica Mars, or Logan Echolls, for that matter. There was just the slightest tremor in his locked jaw that gave him away. Only an experienced player would have detected it - and Logan was an experienced player.
But Cassidy gamely ran the bluff. He stared blankly at his brother then shrugged. “I was talking to Mac. Why?”
Dick leaned into his little brother aggressively and Cassidy took a step back. Logan noticed that Cassidy was careful to still block Mac from their view. And the girl had not stopped working on the computer since Cassidy walked up to them.
Logan was willing to bet his entire trust fund that Mac was cleaning the computer. In minutes the junior hacker would erase all signs of their use, all web pages, all messages and all programs. It would be like they were never there.
It was a disconcerting thought that made the chill chase down his spine again. Logan shivered then returned his attention to Dick and Cassidy.
“What was that shit about Veronica and Kendall all about?” Dick demanded.
Cassidy looked innocently confused. “Veronica and Kendall?” He glanced briefly at Logan but looked away immediately, as though he couldn’t stand the sight of him. “What about Veronica and Kendall?”
It suddenly occurred to Logan that Cassidy had not spoken to him or even looked at him since… since the day he was almost caught banging Kendall before going target shooting with Dick and Dick Sr. But why would that matter? Cassidy himself had said that he knew about Logan and Kendall from the beginning. But it hadn’t bothered him until then?
“Yeah, that’s what I’m asking you.” Dick gave Cassidy a little shove that sent the younger boy back several paces. But Cassidy was still between them and Mac - and Mac’s fingers were still flying over the computer keyboard.
Now Cassidy was starting to look annoyed. “You need to give me a little more to go on here, Dick.”
“You said that you set up Kendall with Logan because Veronica ordered you to,” Dick snarled. “Why the hell did you do that?”
Cassidy snorted and shook his head disbelievingly. “You’re tripping, man.”
Mac came to join them. Logan looked over her shoulder. The computer screen was now dark.
Mac’s eyes were wide and shocked. “Your stepmother slept with Duncan and Logan?” She glared at Logan. “Poor Veronica. I can’t even imagine how much that must have hurt her.”
Logan took a step back under the force of that glare. The disgust and disappointment in Mac’s eyes was so familiar. He had seen that expression before - in Aaron’s eyes, before his old man ordered him to select a belt. It was just one more failure to add to the endless litany of mistakes that made up the life of Logan Echolls.
Dick grabbed Cassidy by his shirtfront and pulled the smaller boy close to his face. “I spoke to Kendall. She said you asked her to take care of Logan because Veronica was worried about him.”
Cassidy pulled his shirt free of Dick’s grip and stepped back. “Yeah, I did,” he snapped at his brother. “I asked her to take care of him like a friend or a sister, not like a whore.” Cassidy’s eyes slid towards Logan then skittered away almost instantly. “But it wasn’t all Kendall’s fault. I expected more from Logan, like loyalty,” he spat out. “My mistake.”
Cassidy turned away but Dick grabbed his arm. “What about the Phoenix Land Trust?”
Cassidy and Mac exchanged undecipherable glances as Cassidy yanked his arm free.
“Wasn’t that your school project a couple of months back?” Mac asked hesitantly.
Cassidy smiled gently at her and put his arm lightly around her shoulders. “Actually, it was for FBLA.”
Mac looked puzzled. “What’s that?”
“Future Business Leaders of America,” Cassidy explained.
“Oh,” Mac smiled and nodded. “Your lunch club.”
“Yeah, my lunch club.” Cassidy appeared to have forgotten Dick and Logan as he focused all his attention on Mac.
“Why did you make Kendall CEO?” Logan asked quietly.
Cassidy didn’t look at him. Instead, he stared at the space between Logan and Dick. “I thought if she had something to do - other than our friends - she’d stop fucking around and humiliating the shit out of our family.” He shifted his gaze to Logan and looked at him with pure loathing. “But that was expecting too much from her - and from our friends.” He spat out the last word as though it was coated with poison.
Cassidy, his mouth tight with disgust, turned away from Logan, as though he couldn’t stand to look at him one second more. Mac gently touched Cassidy’s shoulder and slid her other hand into his. Cassidy turned to look at her and his expression softened into a gentle smile.
Logan had to fight the urge to hang his head in shame. He felt a sick pang as he observed Mac comforting Cassidy. Veronica used to do that for him when they were together over the summer.
Funny, how he had forgotten her little kindnesses.
“Friends?” Dick boomed, focused - as usual - on his own purpose. “You mean Kendall’s been doing some of our other friends, too?” Dick demanded. “Shit! I bet it’s Reece and Enbom. They’ve been hanging around our place a lot lately and Enbom’s been given me shitty looks.” He shook his head indignantly. “Damn it, she puts out for every guy but me. And I’m family! I even bought her that super-hot French Maid’s outfit.”
Mac gasped and stared at Dick in open-mouthed disgust. She shrank away from him as though Dick carried some deadly and highly contagious disease. Cassidy tightened his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to his side.
“That’s it. We’re outta here,” Cassidy announced sharply.
Logan put his hand on Cassidy’s shoulder to stop him. Cassidy recoiled as though Logan’s touch was a burning hot poker.
Logan tried to ignore the younger boy’s repulsed reaction. “You also said ‘A couple if more weeks and this will be over’. What did you mean by that?” Logan asked, his voice gruff as it squeezed past the lump in his throat.
Cassidy didn’t bother to answer as he led Mac around them and hurried her out the door. Surprisingly, Dick didn’t say or do anything to stop his little brother.
Logan watched them leave and turned on Dick in frustration. “Why the hell did you start with that crap?” he demanded. “He didn’t tell us jack shit.”
Dick shrugged. “And he wasn’t going to. I know my little bro. I know when I can get the truth out of him and when I can’t.”
Suddenly Logan understood. “So, what’s Beaver got on you?” he asked wryly.
Dick looked annoyed for an instant then his expression turned grim. “Did you see what the little Microsoft muff was doing while my little bro was running interference?”
Logan shook his head. “No, Beaver was blocking her.”
Dick strode across the room to the computer Mac and Cassidy had recently vacated. “I saw,” he growled as he sat down and brought up the screen. “First they were at some game site. Then the she-freak started taking down the Phoenix Land Trust site.” Dick connected to the Internet and brought up the Phoenix website.
Logan bent over Dick’s shoulder. “It’s still there,” he observed.
“No, it’s not.” Dick maneuvered around on the page. “All the links are broken. Now it’s just a dead web page.”
Logan frowned and tried to think through what was going on. “Why would they break all the links?”
“Because they couldn’t take down the whole site without us getting suspicious,” Dick explained as he continued to manipulate the computer. “After we told them we knew about the company.”
“So what are you doing now?” Logan demanded.
“I’m trying to find a mirror site,” Dick explained.
“What’s a mirror site?” Logan was nearly mesmerized by the speed and ease with which Dick navigated around the web.
“A copy of a website,” Dick explained absently, focused on the screen. “Sometimes designers do it to control traffic or backup their data. Other times they do it so they can pull the main site and then recreate it easily.” Dick continued to surf but now his movements were jerkier, less controlled, as frustration set in. “Shit. I can’t find any traces of it. The Google geek was too fast.”
Dick pushed the keyboard away and stood up so suddenly that the chair toppled over. He didn’t notice as he turned and strode out of the dark room, no longer the slithering serpent, now more like a charging elephant.
Logan didn’t follow. He stood where he was, nearly speechless with shock. First Veronica was arrested for aiding and abetting in a kidnapping. Then he found out that Cassidy was running scams with Veronica. Now Dick had suddenly grown a brain, and a smart one at that.
Had the whole world gone crazy, or was it just him?
Author: skk670
Pairing/Characters: Ensemble
Word Count: 1,915
Rating: R (Bad Language and Sexual Situations)
Summary: This season's mysteries began to unravel - and Veronica is at the center of it all.
Spoilers/Warnings: Season II to date
Authors Notes: My personal take on the season's mysteries.
Much thanks to my wonderful betas Ethereal_65, Fickledame and moire2, icon courtesy of merovin_iconic
Part I - The Conspiracy Unfolds
Part II - Snake Eyes
Undercover Angel
Part III - Talking to Ghosts
The hallway was quiet when Logan and Dick left the library. Students had gone to their classes and the boys moved silently down the hall. By now, seeing Dick’s purposeful lope and watchful eyes no longer surprised Logan.
They slipped into the dark, empty computer lab. Dick’s brows drew together in a frown and his mouth tightened. Irritation was clear on his face.
Logan looked down the rows of unmanned computers and a chill went down his spine. They looked like sentries guarding a world of secrets. A world that - up until today - he didn’t know existed. It made him feel small and insignificant.
Dick turned to leave and Logan was about to follow when a soft giggle caught his attention. He looked briefly at Dick then turned to the sound.
Cassidy and Mac were huddled together in a far back corner, looking at a computer screen. Their faces looked oddly demonic in the ghostly light. Their heads were pressed close together and they were whispering between themselves. Cassidy nuzzled her temple and Mac giggled again.
“Well, well,” Dick said loudly, adopting his jackass surfer-boy persona again, “if it isn’t my little bro and his little ho.”
Cassidy and Mac jumped apart and turned to look at Dick and Logan.
“Dick,” Cassidy observed, without enthusiasm. “What do you want?”
Logan and Dick crossed the room and Cassidy met them half way. Looking over his shoulder, Logan could see Mac deftly closing web pages on the computer. He leaned closer but Cassidy shifted, blocking Logan’s view of the computer screen.
“I want to know who you were talking to,” Dick demanded.
Cassidy rolled his eyes and looked annoyed. “For the last time, her name is Mac.”
“I’m not talking about your beard,” Dick snapped impatiently. “I want to know who you were talking to on the phone.”
“Be careful, Dick,” Cassidy advised softly. “Unlike the guys you hang out with, I don’t let anyone get away with talking trash about my girl.” He paused meaningfully. “Remember?” he added softly.
Cassidy and Dick locked gazes. Dick blinked first.
“I want to know who you were talking to,” Dick asked again, gruffly.
Cassidy continued to stare unblinkingly at his brother for a moment longer. Then he blinked and looked puzzled. “When?”
“Out in the parking lot,” Dick elaborated impatiently.
Logan had to hand it to Cassidy. For a new poker player, he was pretty good at bluffing. But he was no Veronica Mars, or Logan Echolls, for that matter. There was just the slightest tremor in his locked jaw that gave him away. Only an experienced player would have detected it - and Logan was an experienced player.
But Cassidy gamely ran the bluff. He stared blankly at his brother then shrugged. “I was talking to Mac. Why?”
Dick leaned into his little brother aggressively and Cassidy took a step back. Logan noticed that Cassidy was careful to still block Mac from their view. And the girl had not stopped working on the computer since Cassidy walked up to them.
Logan was willing to bet his entire trust fund that Mac was cleaning the computer. In minutes the junior hacker would erase all signs of their use, all web pages, all messages and all programs. It would be like they were never there.
It was a disconcerting thought that made the chill chase down his spine again. Logan shivered then returned his attention to Dick and Cassidy.
“What was that shit about Veronica and Kendall all about?” Dick demanded.
Cassidy looked innocently confused. “Veronica and Kendall?” He glanced briefly at Logan but looked away immediately, as though he couldn’t stand the sight of him. “What about Veronica and Kendall?”
It suddenly occurred to Logan that Cassidy had not spoken to him or even looked at him since… since the day he was almost caught banging Kendall before going target shooting with Dick and Dick Sr. But why would that matter? Cassidy himself had said that he knew about Logan and Kendall from the beginning. But it hadn’t bothered him until then?
“Yeah, that’s what I’m asking you.” Dick gave Cassidy a little shove that sent the younger boy back several paces. But Cassidy was still between them and Mac - and Mac’s fingers were still flying over the computer keyboard.
Now Cassidy was starting to look annoyed. “You need to give me a little more to go on here, Dick.”
“You said that you set up Kendall with Logan because Veronica ordered you to,” Dick snarled. “Why the hell did you do that?”
Cassidy snorted and shook his head disbelievingly. “You’re tripping, man.”
Mac came to join them. Logan looked over her shoulder. The computer screen was now dark.
Mac’s eyes were wide and shocked. “Your stepmother slept with Duncan and Logan?” She glared at Logan. “Poor Veronica. I can’t even imagine how much that must have hurt her.”
Logan took a step back under the force of that glare. The disgust and disappointment in Mac’s eyes was so familiar. He had seen that expression before - in Aaron’s eyes, before his old man ordered him to select a belt. It was just one more failure to add to the endless litany of mistakes that made up the life of Logan Echolls.
Dick grabbed Cassidy by his shirtfront and pulled the smaller boy close to his face. “I spoke to Kendall. She said you asked her to take care of Logan because Veronica was worried about him.”
Cassidy pulled his shirt free of Dick’s grip and stepped back. “Yeah, I did,” he snapped at his brother. “I asked her to take care of him like a friend or a sister, not like a whore.” Cassidy’s eyes slid towards Logan then skittered away almost instantly. “But it wasn’t all Kendall’s fault. I expected more from Logan, like loyalty,” he spat out. “My mistake.”
Cassidy turned away but Dick grabbed his arm. “What about the Phoenix Land Trust?”
Cassidy and Mac exchanged undecipherable glances as Cassidy yanked his arm free.
“Wasn’t that your school project a couple of months back?” Mac asked hesitantly.
Cassidy smiled gently at her and put his arm lightly around her shoulders. “Actually, it was for FBLA.”
Mac looked puzzled. “What’s that?”
“Future Business Leaders of America,” Cassidy explained.
“Oh,” Mac smiled and nodded. “Your lunch club.”
“Yeah, my lunch club.” Cassidy appeared to have forgotten Dick and Logan as he focused all his attention on Mac.
“Why did you make Kendall CEO?” Logan asked quietly.
Cassidy didn’t look at him. Instead, he stared at the space between Logan and Dick. “I thought if she had something to do - other than our friends - she’d stop fucking around and humiliating the shit out of our family.” He shifted his gaze to Logan and looked at him with pure loathing. “But that was expecting too much from her - and from our friends.” He spat out the last word as though it was coated with poison.
Cassidy, his mouth tight with disgust, turned away from Logan, as though he couldn’t stand to look at him one second more. Mac gently touched Cassidy’s shoulder and slid her other hand into his. Cassidy turned to look at her and his expression softened into a gentle smile.
Logan had to fight the urge to hang his head in shame. He felt a sick pang as he observed Mac comforting Cassidy. Veronica used to do that for him when they were together over the summer.
Funny, how he had forgotten her little kindnesses.
“Friends?” Dick boomed, focused - as usual - on his own purpose. “You mean Kendall’s been doing some of our other friends, too?” Dick demanded. “Shit! I bet it’s Reece and Enbom. They’ve been hanging around our place a lot lately and Enbom’s been given me shitty looks.” He shook his head indignantly. “Damn it, she puts out for every guy but me. And I’m family! I even bought her that super-hot French Maid’s outfit.”
Mac gasped and stared at Dick in open-mouthed disgust. She shrank away from him as though Dick carried some deadly and highly contagious disease. Cassidy tightened his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to his side.
“That’s it. We’re outta here,” Cassidy announced sharply.
Logan put his hand on Cassidy’s shoulder to stop him. Cassidy recoiled as though Logan’s touch was a burning hot poker.
Logan tried to ignore the younger boy’s repulsed reaction. “You also said ‘A couple if more weeks and this will be over’. What did you mean by that?” Logan asked, his voice gruff as it squeezed past the lump in his throat.
Cassidy didn’t bother to answer as he led Mac around them and hurried her out the door. Surprisingly, Dick didn’t say or do anything to stop his little brother.
Logan watched them leave and turned on Dick in frustration. “Why the hell did you start with that crap?” he demanded. “He didn’t tell us jack shit.”
Dick shrugged. “And he wasn’t going to. I know my little bro. I know when I can get the truth out of him and when I can’t.”
Suddenly Logan understood. “So, what’s Beaver got on you?” he asked wryly.
Dick looked annoyed for an instant then his expression turned grim. “Did you see what the little Microsoft muff was doing while my little bro was running interference?”
Logan shook his head. “No, Beaver was blocking her.”
Dick strode across the room to the computer Mac and Cassidy had recently vacated. “I saw,” he growled as he sat down and brought up the screen. “First they were at some game site. Then the she-freak started taking down the Phoenix Land Trust site.” Dick connected to the Internet and brought up the Phoenix website.
Logan bent over Dick’s shoulder. “It’s still there,” he observed.
“No, it’s not.” Dick maneuvered around on the page. “All the links are broken. Now it’s just a dead web page.”
Logan frowned and tried to think through what was going on. “Why would they break all the links?”
“Because they couldn’t take down the whole site without us getting suspicious,” Dick explained as he continued to manipulate the computer. “After we told them we knew about the company.”
“So what are you doing now?” Logan demanded.
“I’m trying to find a mirror site,” Dick explained.
“What’s a mirror site?” Logan was nearly mesmerized by the speed and ease with which Dick navigated around the web.
“A copy of a website,” Dick explained absently, focused on the screen. “Sometimes designers do it to control traffic or backup their data. Other times they do it so they can pull the main site and then recreate it easily.” Dick continued to surf but now his movements were jerkier, less controlled, as frustration set in. “Shit. I can’t find any traces of it. The Google geek was too fast.”
Dick pushed the keyboard away and stood up so suddenly that the chair toppled over. He didn’t notice as he turned and strode out of the dark room, no longer the slithering serpent, now more like a charging elephant.
Logan didn’t follow. He stood where he was, nearly speechless with shock. First Veronica was arrested for aiding and abetting in a kidnapping. Then he found out that Cassidy was running scams with Veronica. Now Dick had suddenly grown a brain, and a smart one at that.
Had the whole world gone crazy, or was it just him?