A/N: It's been to years since I made a serious attempt at a multi-chapter Veronica Mars fic. I blame the movie - it tied things up too well and I can't compete with that. For now, my LoVe heart is sated. What does that mean for me and my VMars fic writing? Well, how about I try hooking up Mac and Dick post-movie? I'm not convinced anyone will care to read this, but hey, let's give it a shot and see what happens...

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Rob Thomas and other folks that aren't me.

Chapter 1

Mac hated being out this late. It wasn't that she was afraid exactly, even though she knew Neptune was becoming a more and more dangerous place of late. The way the new Sherriff Lamb operated and his deputies besides, it meant no self-respecting person should be walking the streets at night, not just for fear of being attacked by the less-nice folks of Neptune, but equally as much because you might just be arrested by the crooked members of Balboa County's law enforcement squad.

Armed with her Taser and her smarts, much of which she had gained in a long-term friendship with Veronica, Mac didn't worry too much about being out in the dark. She was just wary. Anybody with a brain in their head would be, which counted out all those falling from the nightclubs in a haze of sex and alcohol.

Mac rolled her eyes at the idiotic displays she witnessed, a woman pushed up against the cold brick of a building by a guy who had his tongue so far down her throat, Mac was wondering who would swallow who first. Around the next corner, a guy retched up everything he had consumed that day into the gutter. The so-called youth of today. Mac may still be the right side of thirty, but she had never had time for the more idiotic element even when she were much younger, she certainly didn't care for it now.

Checking her watch, she saw it was close to midnight. Mac quickened her pace and crossed the street before another car shot by at high speed, the top down and music blaring as if it were nothing but a stereo on wheels. The noise was deafening for a few moments and then just as quickly gone far into the distance.

"So many headaches in the morning," she muttered to herself as she walked on.

The hangovers and the loud music, not to mention the awful regret of waking up with the memories of who or what you might have had sex with. Maybe it was worse to wake up not knowing, but Mac couldn't be sure. She had never been that girl so it never mattered to her.

Cutting through alleys, Mac was never the woman who did that either. She knew all the risks and better than most after working closely with Veronica, sometimes just listening to the tales she told. Tonight it was the fastest way home. Mac's hand went into her bag to reach for the Taser, thumb hovering over the button as she had a short mental battle about going through that alleyway. It cut between the main street to the closest thing Neptune had to middle class housing. Honestly, it was just one up from the barrio, but Mac felt safe when she was locked in her own home, less so getting to it late at night. Curse her random decision to stay at the movie theatre for the entire Star Wars marathon and then get an engaged tone from both cab companies she tried, then voicemail when she rang Wallace.

"Okay," said Mac to herself, pushing the button on her Taser and watching the blue electric spark. "Head up, deep breath, just walk," she told herself, powering her way down the alley without another moment's pause.

She was half way down when she heard the noise. It ought to make her want to quicken her pace rather than dare to stop, but somehow the groaning was oddly familiar. That seemed like a crazy thought, and Mac knew it. Why would a groan from a guy in an alley ever be familiar to her? Mac couldn't make sense of that and instantly sparked up her Taser. The light from it made a face visible in the dark a moment, and that face was bloody and bruised. Still, as Mac let her feet stop walking and her eyes focus in the dim light, a frown marred her features. She knew that face. It wasn't usually in such a state, but she did recognise it.

"Dick?" she said softly.

"Wha..?" came the groan of a reply.

Mac kept the Taser armed in one hand but reached for her cell with the other, turning on the flashlight feature. Immediately, she knew she had been right. The blond hair and familiar face were without question Dick Casabancas, and Mac winced at the sight of him right now.

"Oh my God!" she said, fumbling with her cell to call 911. "We need an ambulance" she told the dispatcher the moment she got the chance. "The alley behind the 09er nightclub. It's, er... a friend of mine," she said, not knowing how else to put it right now and not much caring how inaccurate her descriptor for Dick might really be. "I don't know what happened, I just found him here. There's a lot of blood," she explained, wincing at the sight.

Mac swallowed hard as bile rose in her throat. She couldn't really say she had any deep and meaningful feelings for Dick, but seeing anybody so badly hurt, not knowing how it happened, save for the fact that somebody must have inflicted these injuries on purpose, it made her feel so sick.

"Yes, he's breathing, and at least semi-conscious," she replied after the dispatcher prompted her at least twice. "Okay, thanks."

She hung up on the promise of a paramedic coming as fast as they could, and heeded the warning for the need to keep the patient awake if at all possible but not to move him. It was hard to even see what she was doing in the dark, and all the time Mac felt the need to check both ends of the alley, just a little afraid that whoever did this might come back and finish the job.

"Mac?" groaned Dick, his arm suddenly reaching for her.

She took his hand on instinct and gave the guy her full attention.

"It's okay, Dick," she promised. "It's going to be okay. I called for help and they're coming, just... just try to stay awake, okay? Dick?" she prompted when no answer came.

Mac put on her cell phone flash light on again and shone it straight into Dick's face. His eyes squinted against the brightness but at least the wincing proved he was still awake. Mac kind of wished she couldn't see so much of his face then when bruising showed around one eye and too much blood streaked his blond hair. Moving the light down, she saw tears in his clothes, one area of chest clearly visibly and obviously bruising too. She feared for what other injuries he might have that she couldn't see, and had to swallow hard before she could speak again.

"What happened, Dick?" she asked.

"I... I was just walking," he said absently, head lolling from side to side against the wall. "She was..."

"She?" prompted Mac. "Who were you with, Dick?"

Somehow Mac doubted a woman did this to him. Not that she didn't think somebody of the female persuasion incapable of such an act, because she knew better than that, but it seemed less likely. Dick wasn't a small guy and he knew something about defending himself, she was sure. A lot of damage had been done here. Likely any woman involved was a distraction rather than the perpetrator of this crime.

"I don't know," he muttered then, free hand going to his head.

Pulling his fingers away he tried to see them through the fog that must be clouding both his mind and vision. Mac watched his eyes widen a little when he realised there was blood coming from his head.

"Don't move," she warned when he looked set to try. "Please, stay there until help comes."

Dick nodded just a little, his eyes starting to close again. Mac knew she couldn't let that happen, she just didn't know how to stop it. Shaking him awake could be dangerous, causing worse injuries than Dick had already sustained, but honestly, if he went to sleep and didn't wake up ever again, that had to be worse.

"Dick, please!" she urged him, squeezing the hand she still held. "Dick, you have to stay awake. I need you to stay with me."

His eyes came open slowly and a crooked smile took over his lips. He looked Mac right in the eyes, or seemed to, and then with a slur he spoke again.

"Always knew you wanted me, babe."

Mac wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Even after such an obvious and nasty attack, Dick was still acting like the player he had always been. It was a relief though, to have him awake and seeming so much like himself even now. The sound of sirens in the street brought further relief, and Mac scrambled back to her feet, letting go of Dick's hand. He grunted as his own arm fell back down to his side and Mac apologised.

"I'll be right back, Dick. I promise,"she swore, hurrying to the end of the alley to meet the paramedic.

As help finally came running, Mac pointed them to where Dick lay. Only as her voice cracked did she realise tears were trickling from her eyes. It had to be shock, she was sure, but now it was passing by. Help was here to look after Dick and get him to a hospital which he clearly very much needed. Mac's next instinct was to turn her attention back to her cell and make one more call.

"Somebody better be dead," said a grumpy voice on the other end of the line.

"Almost," she replied, knowing full well that Veronica would be immediately awake and panicked at the sound of such a response. "I just found Dick Casablancas in the alley behind the 09er. Somebody beat the ever-living crap out of him, Veronica. I know we all want to smack the guy in the mouth once in a while, but whoever did this really meant business."

There was a long silence and Mac knew the cogs in Veronica's mind were turning a mile a minute trying to figure this one out. It wasn't that neither of them could think of a hundred people that might be pissed at Dick, but to cause him this much damage, that was pretty serious. Besides, as much of a pain in the ass as the guy could be, both Mac and Veronica were highly aware that he was Logan's best friend. If he were here, he'd be asking that Veronica be on the case without a doubt, meaning she really didn't have the choice of ignoring what happened, even if she wanted to.

"You headed to a hospital?" she asked.

Veronica knew without question that Mac had called 911 first and probably wouldn't dare block her phone calling herself until help arrived.

"Yeah, I'm guessing Neptune General," replied Mac, watching from the mouth of the alley as the paramedics checked Dick over. "If it's anything more serious and he needs a specialist... well, I'll call again if that happens."

There seemed to be no question that Mac would accompany Dick to the hospital. He needed somebody and honestly Mac had no clue who else might want to be there for the guy. In the absence of Logan, there were no friends, and it had been a long time since there was family, Mac knew that better than anyone.

"I'll be there as fast as I can," said Veronica.

Mac could hear she was already out of bed and rifling through hangars with her free hand, hunting down clothes she could get dressed in fast. Mac replied and thanked her friend before hanging up, just in time to move out of the way when the paramedics brought Dick out of the alley on a stretcher. He was strapped down to keep his neck and back straight until he could be checked for spinal or internal injuries, she assumed. The tears came again, and Mac wiped them away fast, only noticing after that her fingers, and now probably her face too, were stained red, with Dick's blood.

To Be Continued...