Summary:

Having a rich family didn't automatically make your existence an easy one. Meg Manning knew that fact better than anyone. Between her parent's psychological abuse and overbearing presence, the former cheerleader's home life was pretty terrible.

The nightmare should have stopped when Meg's heart did, but with one girl's sweet release comes another's imprisonment. Confident that their "tough love" style of parenting is best, Mr. and Mrs. Manning exercise all their money and power to get their claws on Meg's newborn baby.

Meg's desire for her daughter's freedom seems lost until two of California's best intervene. The young mother's dying wish just might be fulfilled with a little help from her friend… and a certain psychic detective.

Veronica Mars/Psych crossover.

Set in season six of Psych and season two of Veronica Mars.

Story Note:

I'm not gonna lie; this started out as a Veronica Mars fanfic, fueled by my love for the show, but my dislike of how 'Meg's Baby' arch played out (or is playing out, I'm only 2/3 through the second season). I started drawing up plans for an alternate ending, but I realized there was something missing in the story. I needed another player, another character, and a new setting. My mind wandered to Psych (as it often did) and BAM, I had my first crossover fic planned. ^^

I tried to make it so fans of either show could understand and enjoy this, so bear with me if I go all 1-800-CONTACTS on you and include some "over explanatory explanations." ;)

Chapter Note:

How stupid am I to start another fic when I have three works already in progress? The answer is very. But I'm stuck without my work on the other fanfictions with the laptop containing said writing became currently out of commission. Hopefully it'll be up and running soon, but until then I'm letting my imagination go crazy.

I've decided to write Veronica's bits in first person, simply because the show is narrated by her, and writing that way feels more natural. But if it's too confusing, or makes the story feel less cohesive, please let me know. :)

Thanks,

PR

0-0-0

Even the smallest actions came with consequences. If you offer a mouse a cookie, he'd eat you out of house and home. If you ever dare award a pig a pancake, well you'd better have syrup and stock. And if you gave Burton Guster a newspaper, you had best free up your afternoon.

Most people just skimmed through the paper, searching for articles that pertained to them, but Gus was different. Not only did the pharmaceutical rep read the newsprint cover to cover, he also felt the need to comment on everything he read.

Shawn always did his best to avoid his friend on "News Day", but now that he had a stable job, that was nearly impossible.

He'd groaned when he'd spotted Gus walk into the Psych office that morning, newspaper in hand. It was way too early for intellectual discussion.

"Dude, how did you get here before me?" Gus demanded.

Shawn grinned, thankful for the chance to gloat. He might as well get some bragging in before he was inevitably upstaged by his co-worker's frightening knowledge of current events. "Psychic abilities," he teased, placing his fingertips on the sides of his head.

"That doesn't even make sense," Gus pointed out. "Seriously though, isn't waking up on time against your religion or something?"

Shawn rolled his eyes. "I came in early. We have an important client coming in today," he replied. "And for your information, Shawnism isn't against anything besides handsome Australian copycats."

"No really," Gus probed. As seriously as Shawn took his cases, he wouldn't pass up an extra hour of sleep just for a consultation appointment.

"Fine," Shawn conceded, "I spent the night at Juliet's, so I had her drop me off on her way to the station."

That was all? Gus couldn't believe that that was something Shawn would be reluctant to admit. He was already well aware that his two friends were in the "he gets a toothbrush, she gets a drawer" stage in their relationship. "You woke up that early just to get a ride? Couldn't you have taken your bike?"

"I could, but… I just… I showed up late to a movie date last week, and-" Shawn paused, looking slightly embarrassed- a rare emotion for someone normally so shameless. "I wanted to prove to her that I could be… punctual."

"Punctual?" Gus repeated, trying his very best not to burst out laughing.

"Yeah, uh…" Shawn cleared his throat. "So," he began, motioning to Gus' newspaper. "Anything interesting in the paper today?"

Gus recognized Shawn's lame attempt to change the subject, but his weakness for the scandal sheet stopped him from saying anything. "Actually, yes. You remember that actor in that action movie we used to like as kids, The Long Haul?"

"Aaron Echolls?" Shawn remembered. "Yeah. Why? Is he doing another movie?"

"Not unless they shoot films in prison," Gus answered grimly. He unfolded the paper, presenting the article to Shawn. "He was arrested for the murder of son's girlfriend."

Shawn blinked, unsure of how to respond. It was always tough to learn that your idol wasn't perfect, and overwhelming to discover they were a killer. "He… what? ... Why?"

"To protect his reputation, of all things," Gus said sadly. "Didn't seem to do much good. In fact, there are rumors that tapes of them together were stolen from the Neptune police station. There's been bidding wars going all over the internet."

Shawn shook his head in disgust. "After all that's happened to that family," he practically fumed. "Money's wasted on the rich."

"That's what I keep saying."

-000-

I'd failed the baby doll project. I'd found out on Friday when I got my final grade for health. Turns out my trick of stuffing a cloth in junior's mouth whenever it cried back fired. I'd seen the look Ms. Hauser had given me after I'd turned in the doll; the, "I pray to god you'll never really be a parent," look.

Whoops, too late.

For the past few days I had been Veronica Mars- formula mixing, diaper changing, baby burping guardian extraordinaire. Okay, so that had mostly been Duncan, but I was rocking at lullabies.

What I wasn't really rocking the no sleep thing. Don't get me wrong, Lilly was pretty easy as far babies go. It was more the issue of her guardianship that kept me up at night. As her father, Duncan had been awarded custody of the baby, but the Manning's were doing everything in their power to take her away from him. It seemed as all of Neptune's legal system had their eyes on my boyfriend; and with his condition it was only a matter of time before he lost his daughter.

My only chance of stopping this lay in incriminating Meg's parents. I had to make a severely epileptic, and consequentially bipolar teenage boy seem like a better candidate for guardianship than the baby's charitable, "god fearin'" grandparents.

My inability to do so alone was what landed me where I was now- one hundred miles from home, and way out of my comfort zone. I'd never trusted anyone who called them a psychic, especially after my incident on live television. Adding 'private detective' to the title only seemed to insult the profession. Even with my personal reservations, I didn't hesitate stepping into small white "Psych" building. Duncan, Lilly, and Meg mattered much more than any old grudges I might harbor.

"Money's wasted on the rich," I heard as I stepped through the door.

I couldn't help but comment. "That's what I keep saying." I smiled politely at the two men before extending my hand to who looked to be the boss. "I'm Veronica," I introduced, "I have an eight o'clock appointment with Mr. Spencer."

The bald man smiled back, but it was the other one that answered. "Shawn Spencer, psychic detective." He smiled at me too, but more goofily, and motioned for me to sit in a nearby chair. "You're from Neptune, right?" He didn't wait for me to respond- I suppose he was trying to prove he was psychic or something, but I wasn't convinced. I did know that the man had a way of knowing things others didn't, and that was all I needed. "What brings you all the way out here?"

I opened my mouth to speak, knowing what I would have to say, but aware how foreign the words would feel on my tongue. "I need your help."

0-0-0

End Note:

Whether I continue this story will depend on the response it gets, simply because I have too many stories going on to continue one that's not being read. Sorry if that seems too harsh, but I'm trying to be practical for once in my life. Lol