I haven't any idea what Darcy actually did once he found Wickham, so this is just a wild guess. Happy times are coming soon...
85
They had made some headway with tracking the company contacts, but there was still no trace of Wickham, which was a problem if he still had any copies of the tape. In addition, legal action or at least the threat of it would be useful in deterring Wickham from any similar acts in the future – and also required that they find out where he was hiding. Every dead end brought them closer to the deadline, and still no success.
Monday brought more dead ends, and another argument with Gigi. Not that he disputed her knowledge of Wickham; it gave a far more pointed direction to the search. He only feared what it had cost her to dredge up those memories.
It was nearly midnight by the time he gave up his search for the day and booked a room at one of the many hotels in Newport Beach. He fought off his exhaustion just long enough to get through Lizzie's video.
He hoped Gigi hadn't watched this. It was hard enough for him, seeing the agony in Lydia's face that was so familiar and yet worse, a deeper and more vicious betrayal.
She had absolutely not consented. That was useful information.
86
Lizzie blamed herself. He wanted to reach through the screen and assure her, over and over, that it was not her fault, that she was doing all she could and no one could expect more from her. But if she wanted his comfort, she could have called him. She had his phone number. No, Jane was a far more appropriate comforter, and far better at it.
The aftereffects of Wickham's wrongdoing continued to ripple through the entire Bennet family. First Lizzie had been compelled to cut short her shadowing, and now Jane had lost her position at work. Their father suffered the pain of being unable to help his daughter with his limited resources. Lydia's suffering was, of course, unfathomable. He could not repair all of these wrongs, or even most of them. As for the one thing he might be able to do for them – he would not rest until he had exhausted every resource to take down that website.
Jane recommended that Lizzie watch Lydia's videos, and Darcy suddenly realized that the recommendation could apply to him as well. They could tell him something about Wickham. If there was any chance of gathering more hints about his whereabouts, Darcy had to take it, no matter how unpleasant it would be.
Finding the time to watch Lydia's videos in one and two-minute snatches wasn't too difficult. Getting through them was another matter. And in the end they told him nothing about where Wickham may have fled. They did reveal just how artfully and ruthlessly he had manipulated Lydia, made her dependent upon him and abandoned her without a word.
87-88
He was on the road before dawn on Monday, making inquiries at every motel and resort he hadn't already visited. It was a long, fruitless morning, and the afternoon wasn't any better. Until he received a notification that changed everything.
He called Gigi on his way to Wickham's location. His urgency made his greeting harsher than he intended, and he had to assure her he wasn't angry. Certainly not at her. He had plenty of anger stored up for the one who deserved it.
Gigi seemed shaken, but not to the point of devastation. He had underestimated her. When all of this was over, they would need to have another talk, this time with more apologies on his side.
It wasn't over, though. The hardest part was yet to come.
Darcy took no pleasure in coming face to face with his adversary. From the moment Wickham unwittingly opened the door to him and backed away with stammering protests till the moment their business was done, Darcy felt nothing but a blistering fury and disgust and nausea.
"H-hey, Darcy….you don't understand…I didn't…."
"Hello, George," Darcy cut in grimly. "I understand you've been distributing certain materials without a certain participant's consent. My team of lawyers is on hand to prosecute." He pushed into the room, forcing Wickham to back up further. "You realize what will happen when they are successful. And they will be successful."
Wickham's face twisted up as if he were preparing to fight, but then he went limp, deflated, and put up his hands. "What do you want from me?"
"All of the contact information for Novelty Exposures. And all of the copies of that tape."
Wickham swore up and down that he had given his only copy away, but Darcy insisted on searching the entire dingy apartment where he was staying. Ironic that he had exploited Lydia's trust for money, only to be forced to hide out in such unpleasant accommodations. Presumably he was waiting for his full cut of profits from the company so he could afford to flee somewhere more removed and comfortable. Darcy had found him not a moment too soon. No, Gigi had found him.
He found only one suspect item, but it turned out to be an innocuous recording of an amateur band playing their instruments very badly. Darcy was relieved for multiple reasons. He had no wish to catch even a glimpse of Lydia's private moment.
Thankfully, by early evening one of Darcy's lawyers arrived, armed with the affidavits Wickham would be expected to sign if he wished to avoid a lawsuit. Darcy was free to go. He could not get out of there fast enough.
He spent Tuesday buried in the metaphorical paperwork of company acquisition, and Wednesday finalizing the deal. He could not find the words to express his satisfaction as the site was pulled down and replaced with a harmless placeholder.
No time to sit back and rejoice. Acquiring companies was usually the work of weeks or months, not mere days. The site was down; the tape was destroyed, but there were thousands of loose ends to tie up, not the least of which was smoothing over the inappropriateness of Pemberley acquiring a company like Novelty Exposures.
He managed to spare just half an hour on Thursday morning to catch up with Lizzie's videos.
Selfishly, he was glad he hadn't seen the first video on Monday before finding Wickham. His inability to offer any sort of relief at that point would have tortured him. As it was, he could see that taking down the site was only the beginning of what Lydia needed.
And there was only one way he could contribute to the process of Lydia's healing – staying away from the Bennet family.
He was alarmed and saddened by the extremes to which Wickham had distorted her perception of herself and those around her. Deeply grieved at how she blamed herself when it was clear she had no blame in the matter. Who in the world had accused her of ruining Lizzie's happiness by taking her away from Pemberley? How could they possibly imagine such a thing after watching all of Lizzie's videos? Who could doubt that, however Lizzie and Lydia argued and taunted each other as siblings often did, Lizzie cared for her sister intensely, that she had chosen to drop everything and come home to her as soon as she realized Lydia was in trouble?
With just a few words and a desperate hug, Lizzie did more for Lydia than Darcy had done with all his lawyers and business acquisitions.
He feared that even by the next video they might not have realized the site was down, but Lydia allayed his fears. He didn't need their thanks; he just needed to know they knew. They knew. And Lydia was being cared for by the right people. Lizzie had her doubts about whether she could help her sister. Darcy had none.
He had to wonder if Gigi were watching the same videos he was when she actually suggested, during her last Domino demo, that he contact Lizzie. How could she possibly think that appropriate? Did she not see what an unpleasant shadow he had cast upon the lives of the Bennets? He would make amends, yes. But he would do it from a distance.
89
Bing gave Darcy a call about an hour after Lizzie's video went up.
"It's good to hear from you, Bing," Darcy said with half his mind still on Lizzie's vague, ambivalent, Nice about her time at Pemberley. "How are your classes?"
"Uh, okay. I'm kind of on hiatus." Before Darcy had much time to reflect on the oddness of a medical school hiatus in the middle of February, Bing went on hurriedly, "Listen, Darcy. I watched Lizzie's videos. I mean, not all of them. Enough to get the picture."
Bing's rambling trailed off. Darcy knew he ought to say something to fill the silence, but he simply could not find the words.
"Um. Are you still there?"
"Yes. I apologize." Darcy cleared his throat. "I suppose I need to apologize for a great number of things."
"No, it's okay. I mean, maybe it's not. But, you know. I can let it go."
"You were never one for holding grudges," Darcy said quietly.
"So anyway," Bing went on, his voice shaking just a little, "after that last video, I started thinking. Maybe I should go see Jane."
"Are you asking my advice?" Darcy said guardedly. He appreciated his friend's respect for his judgment, but he could not in good conscience have any further involvement in this.
Bing gave a nervous laugh. "No. No. I'm going to see her. She deserves an apology from me – a real apology. I've already pretty much decided. I just thought you should know. Since I know you're watching Lizzie's videos. If I show up there, she might mention it at some point."
Darcy paused, then had to ask, "Why do you assume I'm watching –?"
"Come on, Darcy."
Darcy didn't answer.
"You know, if you want, you could come with me."
"Absolutely not," Darcy said swiftly, then softened his tone. "Thank you for the offer, however."
"I don't think that Jane will, uh, take me back." Bing didn't try to hide his glumness. "But she seemed confused, or something, when Lizzie mentioned me, so I thought I should at least talk to her in person. Work out what happened. What went wrong."
"Bing," Darcy broke in, "there's no need to justify it to me. I wish you all the luck in the world."
"Thanks," Bing said, brightening ever so slightly. "You too, Darcy. Talk to you later."
It wasn't until that afternoon, when Darcy indulged in a re-watch of a bleary-eyed Lizzie in pajamas, that he realized the meaning of Bing's You too. For what reason was Bing wishing him luck?