Disclaimer: Still not mine

Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter isn't up to par with the rest of my writing. I'm writing from my friend's computer, since I can't go home due to the termite tenting, so it's a miracle there's a chapter at all, and I'm just hoping that the lack of spell check and the foreign computer hasn't affected my writing in a negative way. Anyway, enjoy!

Author's Note 2: Huge points to anyone who can name the book that I got the names Harvey and Lulu from. If it helps, the last name of Bombeck is from another book by the same author.

Dedication: To Kelly, and to all my readers, and especially to my reviewers. You're the best people ever, seriously.

Witness Protection 13

When she heard the knock at her door, just after five in the afternoon, Mac had to close her eyes, practice her deep breathing, and steel herself for the days ahead. It would be hard, spending days in a confined space with Dick Casablancas, even if the memory of Cassidy didn't still haunt her, five years after the fact.

Another knock startled her out of her reverie. She shook her head and went to open the door.

"Hey, Macaroni!" Dick exclaimed, doofy grin firmly in place.

Mac rolled her eyes and slammed her CD case into his chest. He grabbed it as she picked up her suitcase. "If I'm behind the wheel, music is my choice. If you're behind the wheel, I get the right to veto if I hate it."

Dick chuckled. "I won't play Kanye West if you won't play Ani DiFranco."

"Fine. Also, no country, no rap," she said simply.

"Agreed."

Mac almost added, 'And Cassidy is not a subject,' but something made the words stick in her throat. And now that the music issue was out of the way, she was left with an interesting choice: be nice and try to keep the ride pleasant, or be as bitchy as she wanted to be.

"Can I carry your suitcase for you? It looks heavy."

With a sigh, she handed over her bag, though she kept her laptop case on her. "Thanks, Dick."

Apparently, she was going with nice.

"Molly Fitzpatrick?" Veronica repeated blankly.

"Molly Fitzpatrick?!" Logan yelled. "Are you kidding? How the hell did we get her on our side?"

She was fairly sure she could hear Weevil grinding his teeth. "Tell Echolls that he can be damn sure it was nothing he ever did. Anyway, Molly's still pissed about Felix, and that makes two of us. She wasn't too broken up to see old Liam in prison, and she appreciates that it was you who put him there, V. Add that to the unusually hard time they've been having with the law since you left, and she thinks she might be able to get the price off your head."

"Dad's making life harder for them, huh?" Veronica asked.

"At least one raid a week on every business associated with the Fitzpatrick name. More, during a slow week. Nearly every member of the Fitzpatrick clan has been arrested and held while the cops try to find something to charge them with, and three of them have joined Liam in prison. It's costing them more to keep you away from Neptune than most think it's worth."

"So Molly's looking to take over?"

Logan looked worried. "So if this works, we won't really be eradicating the crime, so much as working with it?"

Veronica repeated his question to Weevil. "There's always gonna be crime, V. You can't take down the Fitzpatricks, not really. There's too damn many of them, and you know that if you somehow do manage it, someone worse will take their place. If you get Molly behind the wheel, you've got a chance of them sticking to petty crime instead of felonies."

She sighed. She'd long ago realized that the world wasn't black and white, but she hated the idea of working with the criminal element. But then, she never had a problem working with Weevil, even when he was the leader of the PCHers. "Alright, if you talk to Molly, let her know we're behind her all the way. And thank her for us. But make sure she knows that, whether we're working with her or not, Agent Michaels is going down."

"Understood. Just try to stay alive while we deal with this, alright?"

"Yeah, you too. Later, Weevil."

"Later."

After she'd hung up, she looked at Logan. "Am I compromising too much?"

"Molly's not a bad person, Veronica. This may be the best compromise you've ever made. You get your life back, and your dad stops arresting them for bullshit reasons." Logan shook his head. "On another note, you do know that we can't actually stay in another hotel until I get my fake I.D., right?"

"I hadn't thought about that. But you're right, now that we know they know about Emily Belmont. Unless there's a place that doesn't demand a name and valid I.D.," she said, thinking of the Camelot, the motel that had started this wild ride she and Logan had been on for years. "Otherwise, we'll be driving straight to Montana or sleeping in the car."

"How long a drive is it?" he asked.

She pulled out a map and studied it for a few minutes. "If we take the I-90 all the way, it should be about eight or nine hours, judging by the distance. We can just drive it straight through, switch off halfway. I should call Harvey, let him know we're coming."

Logan snorted. "His name is Harvey?"

Veronica smiled. "If you think that name is funny, I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that his wife's name is Lulu," she said as she started to dial.

An hour into the drive, Mac was surprised to find that she didn't feel the slightest urge to kill her companion. For music, they'd settled on Jimmy Eat World, one of the few bands, along with Green Day and Queen, that they agreed on. And, while Dick's driving did make her fear for her life a little, she was getting used to it.

"So, you excited to see Ronnie?" Dick asked.

"You know she hates being called that, right?"

"She lets Logan call her that."

"Yeah, but only very occasionally. Also, I think she'd let Logan call her a hundred names based on pastries, if he asked nicely enough." Mac chuckled. "Logan also gets to compensate her in ways that I'm sure he'd castrate you for trying."

Dick laughed. "Fair enough. I'll try to find another nickname."

"You could just call her Veronica."

"And I could just call you Cindy."

With yet another roll of her eyes, she said, "A lot of people call her V. Other than that, most nicknames you might come up with for her risk all of your parts, but I'll let you decide."

"You mind Macaroni?" Dick asked, genuinely curious.

"Not really. I prefer Mac Attack, or just Mac, but as far as nicknames go, I guess you could have come up with worse." And it's definitely better than Ghost World.

"Yeah, but those are other people's nicknames for you. This one's all mine."

Somehow, that made Mac mind it less.

The drive to Montana flew by for Logan and Veronica, and they got into town a little after eleven, thanks to the time difference. Since they knew they were coming, Harvey and Lulu were still up when they got there.

When she rang the doorbell, the door was wrenched open a few seconds later by a man who was at least a head taller than Logan, with one of the friendliest faces he'd ever seen. In fact, Logan wouldn't have been surprised if the man dressed up as Santa Claus and worked the mall circuit during Christmas.

"My, my, that couldn't possibly be little Veronica!" the man said, a large grin on his face. "And hardly an inch taller than ten years ago!"

Veronica faked indignation and argued, "Hey, I've grown at least six inches since then!"

The man laughed and wrapped Veronica in a bear hug, which almost completely obscured her from Logan's sight. When they parted, he looked Logan up and down and said, "And who's this strapping fellow?"

"This would be my fiancé, Logan Echolls. Logan, this is Harvey Bombeck."

Logan stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, sir."

Harvey shook his hand firmly. "None of that 'sir' crap. My name's Harvey, and I like it enough to go by it. And when you meet the missus, if you call her 'ma'am,' she'll probably hit you in the head with her handbag. Makes her feel old."

He nodded. He already liked this guy. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Harvey."

"Come on in out of the cold now. I assume I won't be telling your pop about you two sharing a room?" Harvey asked.

"That would be appreciated," Veronica said. "He probably knows, but there's really no need to piss him off even more."

They made their way to the kitchen, where Harvey's wife was making hot chocolate. At the sound of their footsteps, she looked up and caught a glimpse of Veronica. "Veronica! How is it you managed to remain so tiny?"

As far as hellos went, Logan seemed to find that one particularly amusing. He could barely stifle his laughter. Veronica glared at him. "Ancient Chinese secret," she said as she hugged Lulu. "Lulu, Logan Echolls. Logan, Lulu Bombeck. It seems like you two are going to get along just fine."

After her shift behind the wheel, and long before they were ready to admit that they'd have to get a hotel for the night, Mac tilted the passenger seat back, turned on her side to face the door, and promptly fell asleep.

An hour after that, Dick asked quietly, "Mac?"

She was a light sleeper. She woke up, but pretended to still be asleep. People tended to say the most interesting things when they thought no one was listening.

As for Dick, he had no idea that she was awake. Her breathing was still deep and even, and he finally saw an opportunity to say what he had wanted to for years. He'd tried before, but he'd never been brave enough to be sincere, and when he was, he was too drunk for it to mean anything, or to even be sure he'd actually said it.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I think what happened…with Cassidy...I think it was my fault. I'll have to live with that forever. But I'm sorry he hurt you, and I'm sorry that I didn't see how much he was hurting. I'm just…sorry."

Mac closed her eyes, and a tear trickled down her cheek. She wished she knew how to respond, but since she didn't, she decided to continue to pretend she was asleep, and deal with it the next day.