Disclaimer: Any recognizable things in this fic are not mine. I'm not making any money off of this, so please don't sue.
AN: Okay, so just a little thought that came to me after an episode of Cold Case. Bear in mind that I have only seen up to about episode 13 or 14 of season 3, so if anything in this contradicts what is established in episodes after this, I apologize.
Pretty pretty please review!! This is only my second VM fic, so any criticism is welcome. Plus, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. No flames though- only constructive criticism.
Jaded.
Veronica knows she's been in the biz too long when she starts considering the possibility that her Mother may have murdered her little sister.
Yes- Veronica Mars had a little sister. It was a barely remembered fact in Neptune, and an even more barely mentioned fact in the Mars Household. Veronica was three when Melanie was born and four when she died. SIDS, she knows now. She can hardly remember Melanie- it's mainly just vague visions of a crib in the corner; a pink blanket in the wash. There is only one remaining photo of the little girl in their house, which Veronica managed to hide beneath her mattress one night when her mother went on a drunken photo-burning spree. It's the photo of a very small blonde girl sitting on an ugly brown couch, holding a fluffy pink bundle in her arms, and grinning like it was her birthday. You can't see Melanie's face, and that's the one thing that Veronica hates about it. It's all very well remembering that there was once another child in the house, but Veronica can't even remember what Melanie actually looked like.
Veronica also can't remember when her mother actually started drinking, but she does know that she can't remember a time when she wasn't. And that was the thought that scared her.
After all the things Veronica has seen and learned over the years- the Manning's locking their child in a closet, Logan's father beating the crap out of his own son, Woody Goodman touching other people's kids- it tends to make her suspicious of people. Veronica finds herself wondering about every mother and child she passes in the street; is she abusive? Does he get drunk every night? Do they lock their children in closets? And most of all, Veronica wonders about Melanie.
It was after a child abuse case that Veronica really started thinking. A man hired Keith to gain proof that his ex-wife was hitting their daughter. Veronica tailed her, calling the police when she witnessed what was going beneath that roof. They arrived just in time- the little girl was hurt, but not dead. The things that that woman did to her child… Veronica never knew anyone was capable of harming a child in that way. But the simple fact that they were… well that was what got Veronica to thinking about what her won mother was capable of.
Maybe they got it wrong. The police, the coroner, her father… Maybe they misjudged Leanne's character, and just assumed SIDS. Maybe her mother was drunk one night when her father was at work and wanted Melanie to stop crying. Maybe she was trying to bathe Melanie while intoxicated, and held her under water too long. Maybe she looked at her second child and wondered if someone would find out she belonged to Jake Kane (Veronica had peeked at her dad's service records- he was out of town the week that Melanie would have been conceived).
She knows that it's a terrible thought. She wonders how she could suspect her own mother of murdering her sister. Her father doesn't think she's that jaded; but surely the fact that she's having these thoughts show that maybe the last few years have affected her more than even she realises.
Maybe.
Too many maybe's in this story.
What if Melanie had lived?
Maybe Veronica wouldn't have become friends with Lilly. Maybe their mom's alcoholism would have improved. Maybe their dad wouldn't have gone after the wrong man in Lilly's murder case. Maybe their family would have stayed together.
Maybe's don't do anyone any good. They're just hopes and hope not's. They don't matter in the grand scheme of things.
'Yep' Veronica thinks to herself. 'I've definitely been in the biz too long.'