Author's Note:I'm trying to push for 20 chapters, I know now when I want which things to happen when. I've got to say I'm super stoked that OC content is being well received, normally it's flogged. I made a few corrections to some of the other chapters, thanks to helpful ff.n commenters! Let me know if you see a mistake I made, usually I don't notice until after it's already up and I've reread my chapters like six times.
Chapter 14: Flying
"I can't believe you roped me into this," Mac looked accusingly at Veronica as she pulled her beach towel out of her back seat, "I could be sleeping right now."
Veronica crossed her arms, "This is an act. You're so excited to sit on the beach and watch some surfing." The two of them walked down to the shoreline and spread out their towels, Veronica pointed to Logan and he pointed back from across the water.
Dick paddled up alongside Logan and waved at them, "So they're just gonna sit there and watch us surf?"
Logan shrugged, "She wanted to. I may have plied her with the promise of tacos at that shady stand she likes."
"The one that looks like someone is gonna walk out Patient Zero? No dice, man. You're on your own there." Dick patted his shoulder.
Mac sighed and drew her knees up to her chest, "So we just sit here and watch them do their thing?"
Veronica nodded, "Yup, I said I would come and watch him surf. He asked me to. Plus I made him promise to take me to that taco place."
"Oh," Mac looked disgusted, "If the zombie outbreak starts in Neptune, I'm going to name you as the first patient."
Together they watched Logan and Dick surfing, Dick went under fast, Logan rode a few waves before deciding he had enough. Both of them paddled to shore and trudged out of the surf, sticking their boards into the sand. Logan sat down on Veronica's towel and shook his head at her, casting water droplets all over her.
Veronica shrieked and put up her hands, "You're the worst, no, stop it!"
Dick looked over at Mac, she smiled at him politely. He stared at his feet for a few moments before looking back at her, "You surf?"
Mac frowned and raised an eyebrow, "Is that a serious question?"
He shrugged, she shook her head, "Want to know how?"
"Not really. Something about balance and core strength that involves very little computer programming." Mac had meant it as a joke, but Dick looked a little disappointed.
"It's cool, it's not for everyone I guess." He leaned back on his hands, watching Veronica and Logan, "You two are seriously gross, dude."
"Are you jealous, one man lonely island?" Logan shot back.
"Of Veronica, yeah," Dick reached out and brushed his foot over Logan's, "You know how I get, boo."
Mac laughed and looked up at Dick's surf board again, part of her was curious and the other part was unbelievably repelled from surfing. She had never been an outdoors kind of person, much less anything to do with large, dark bodies of water. Despite herself, Mac got up and brushed herself off, "Fine, show me."
Dick broke into a smile and got to his feet, "Ok, well, come on." he plucked the board from the sand and led Mac over to a more open space on the beach.
Veronica watched them, Logan's arm around her shoulders, "How come you never taught me how to surf?"
"Because you cause enough trouble on land, I can't let you conquer the sea, too." He smiled down at her while she rolled her eyes at him, "How did you sleep last night?"
The question of the day. Everyone seemed to want to know how Veronica had been dealing with her nightmares. The truth of it was that they were still as bad as they had been, but she was talking about them now and trying to make sense of them, "Okay. Good not great."
"What was this one about?"
"Same one as last time," she reached up and laced her fingers through his absently, "I just have to remember it's a dream is all."
Mac stood on the board in the sand and spaced her feet out, she crouched down again and jumped back to her feet. She did this a few times before Dick clapped slightly, "See? You could totally get this down. This stuff is easy."
"You say that now and with the certainty of thirteen years on a surf board. I'm more confident on a rolling office chair," Mac stood, disheartened, on the board, "This is ridiculous and I'm never going to stand up in the water."
"It's good to know. In case of emergencies or whatever."
"Emergencies? Name one that requires a surfboard." she stepped off onto the stand next to him, "Thanks. I know more about standing on a stationary board than I did before I got here."
Dick patted her on the back and let his hand linger there, "Someday you'll regret not trying this on the water."
She smiled up at him and they stared at each other for a moment before she looked away, "I guess we're leaving." Veronica and Logan had stood up and were folding the towel they had been sitting on.
The four of them walked back to Logan's SUV and Mac's Genesis, Dick strapped the boards to the SUV, "So where to now, dude?"
Logan shrugged and wrapped an arm around Veronica's waist, kissing her gently, "I believe I promised my lady 'fish' tacos." He emphasized with air quotes.
"Uhg, disgusting. I'm not going there." Dick pulled a t-shirt over his head and tossed his hair to the side.
Mac frowned at Veronica, "Yeah, no, me neither. You're flying solo on shady taco place."
Veronica looked offended, "You guys are so closed minded, it's amazing and their food is the best. Just because it doesn't look so great on the outside-"
"Veronica, that taco shack was seen on a UNICEF ad." Dick interjected.
"That is totally not accurate and their food is the best. You don't have a choice anyway, you didn't drive." Veronica put her hands on her hips and looked at him, victorious.
He grimaced and looked at Mac for help, she shifted for a moment before coming to his rescue, "I'll drive you home."
"Done." Dick said, "Later, suckers. Enjoy your salmonella." He opened the passenger side door and climbed in.
Veronica shook her head and looked at Logan, "Are you sure it isn't too late for you to choose a different best friend? Maybe a human best friend this time?"
Logan sighed and shrugged, "But I really like this one. Oh well. I'll take him to the pound tomorrow."
They got into the SUV and headed down the road to Senor Cabeza, the run-down, ramshackle taco place Veronica had come to countless times with Keith. Mac drove Dick back towards the beach house, silent and unsure what to even say.
"I can't believe she eats there. Logan is going to bring some virus home with him," Dick offered staring out the window, "This is a pretty sweet car."
"Thanks. I decided I wanted something sporty. You know, to match my personality." Mac made it clear she was joking and he laughed slightly.
"Don't sell yourself short, you're a pretty cool girl. I get why Beav- Cassidy liked you." Dick caught himself using Cassidy's hated high school moniker.
Mac smiled politely, she hadn't thought about Cassidy in years. It was intentional, he wasn't exactly something she was proud of in her life. The psychiatrist told her it wasn't her fault and nothing she did would have changed what happened, but Mac felt stupid anyway. Cassidy had made an ass out of her, but she refused to let it dictate the rest of her life, "You're not such a bad guy, Dick. Cassidy always went off about what a bully you were, but everyone's a bully in high school."
Dick frowned, embarrassed, and changed the subject, "Did your brother say anything else when you guys left?"
She shrugged, "Not really, Ryan is like that though. He is pretty convinced you like me, I tried to tell him you just feel bad for me being the ex-girlfriend of a mass murderer. It's a connection, I don't think he gets it."
They pulled up to the house and Mac got out of the car with him, she wasn't sure why. Dick let her inside and grabbed both of them beers and a bag of chips, they both leaned against the counter, "So you're a beer drinker."
"Dick, I've never said no when you offer me one. Of course I am. I just don't party as hard as you," Mac sipped the drink and turned to look out the window, "I wish my condo had a view as awesome as this."
"Views are expensive, that's basically what we paid for. I mean, a house made of almost all windows? We didn't buy it for the security." Though it came with a gated driveway in an already gated community manned by an armed security guard.
Dick walked around and stood next to her, leaning against the counter. Mac sighed and drank again, watching the ocean roll in and out, the sun fixed high in the sky. She listened to the rush of the waves and the gulls crying, letting the salty air roll over her face when she closed her eyes. Something moved in front of her closed eyes and she went to open them, but was stopped when Dick leaned down and kissed her.
The last time he had tried this, it ended poorly and Mac had been mildly disgusted. This time? This time was different. She felt herself swelling with the rush of it all, the sounds of the ocean she had been listening to faded into the background and she closed her eyes again, wrapping her arms around his neck. Dick picked her up and sat her on the counter, hands tangled in her short hair, searching her neck, arms, shoulders.
Mac regained her senses and pushed him back, sliding off the counter, "Wait."
Dick stopped abruptly and backed away, letting her go. He ran a hand over his face, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. That was not cool." She wasn't sure if he was talking to her or himself.
"No, no. It's fine. I should go, probably." Mac's cheeks burned and she knew she was rushing out the door, but she couldn't stop herself. She clamored into her car and exhaled deeply, 'That was stupid, what are you even doing, Mac? Get a hold of yourself!'.
Dick watched her drive and ran a hand through his hair, letting out a loud, frustrated sound, "I'm such an asshole!" he said to himself, "That was probably the worst possible thing I could have done in that moment."
Logan and Veronica sat at one of the tables inside the shack, Veronica enthusiastically chowed into her food while Logan watched with a face of amusement. He reached out and brushed salsa off her face and she swatted his hand away.
"Okay, okay. I get it, don't touch," Logan threw up his hands in defeat and ate his own.
She felt her phone buzz and touched it gently, a message from Piz lit up her screen:
U see Piper today? Can't find her.
Veronica typed back slowly and carefully:
Nope. No word all day. Let u know if I c her.
A few seconds passed before it buzzed again:
Thx
Logan glanced at her phone and frowned, "Everything ok with Piz?" He still got defensive over the fact that Veronica had given him her number. Emergencies only, but still made him uncomfortable.
"Yeah, he asked if Piper was with us," she didn't seem phased or annoyed by it, so Logan convinced himself not to be either. They finished lunch and headed back to the Land Rover, back towards the beach house.
Veronica looked over at Logan slowly, almost forlornly, "Would you really leave Neptune if I went back to New York?"
"You say 'if' like there's a chance you could give up your FBI career," Logan noted to her, "And yes, I could."
"But, Logan, your whole life is here. Everyone you know, everyone you care about-"
"Is either dead or moved across the country. Dick is the only exception and I'm not sure I want to be his heterosexual life partner." Logan glanced back at her.
"Is uprooting your career worth doing for this? We've been together, what, two months?"
"Long enough for me to know what I want, that's how long," he looked at her seriously, "We have been together since the first time you kissed me, we have never stopped being together since that day. Distance, emotions, none of it has stopped the fact that we're always tied to one another."
Veronica looked at her hands, "You're so sure of this, anytime I bring it up. Why?"
"Because I know you, I know that having been without you was the worst part of my life." Logan was so sure because he had never been capable of seeing his future differently, his relationship differently. The inability to see his life without Veronica was what made him so sure.
She nodded slowly, understandingly, not wanting to talk about it anymore. Leaving in six weeks wasn't something she had wanted to discuss, not now and not when Rodney had called two nights ago. Veronica looked out the window and glanced down at her phone, rereading Piz's texts to her. It wasn't so weird to go without contacting Piper now, it wasn't so weird for Piz to be Piper's person, but it was so weird to have Piper's new person asking the old person where she was. That tugged on a string of worry in Veronica's mind.
Piper knocked on Keith's door and opened it at the same time, he was sitting at his desk with a stack of files next to him while he typed something on a laptop. He looked up and gave her a fatherly smile, "You got my message."
She nodded, taking only a single step inside the door. Her frosty blue eyes were hard as she watched him reach over and pick up the pile of folders. Keith handed it to Piper, but made her walk towards the desk to get it. She snatched it out of his hand, "Thank you. What do I owe you."
"Nothing," he shook his head, "I didn't solve the first case, so you can take these on me."
"The first case?" Piper picked up on his words.
Keith looked at her secretively, "Your sister's case. I was the Investigator who worked that case for your parents."
Piper stared at him, wide-eyed. Of course it would have been Keith. Piper was fifteen when the murder had been committed, Keith would have already been removed from his sheriff position by then and started working as a P.I. "You what?"
"You aren't the first one to think Angela didn't overdose," Keith searched her face for something else, "Whatever you're about to get involved in, Piper, just be careful. This rabbit hole is dark and terrible, anywhere Liam Fitzpatrick is winds up dark and terrible."
She nodded, "I've started to notice it's a theme with him." Without waiting for his reply, Piper left the office, stack of folders in hand. So, Keith Mars had been the one to investigate Angela's death. He hadn't been able to prove anything and was pawning the case off on her, but he had been to Harvy Oldman's place recently to obtain a recorded statement. Was Keith trying to help her, or hinder her?
At the Neptune Grand, Piper walked briskly across the lobby. She heard Piz call for her, but chose to ignore him. He must have known it was intentional, he only called out to her twice. Instead, Piper walked directly to the elevator and into her room, reminding herself she needed to stop letting herself get distracted while she leafed through the files.
Multiple deaths, all with the same false drug overdose, all teens found in strange places. Of course, all of them had been ruled accidental overdose deaths, and that made Piper smile cynically. Finally, she got to another folder. It wasn't related to the murders, it was related specifically to Angela. A list of names and phone numbers, all part of the police report who had identified themselves at Junipero High School as close friends of Angela's.
'So,' Piper thought, 'Keith hasn't dropped the case completely. Or maybe he's handing all his research over to me?' It didn't matter. Piper pulled her phone out of her purse and dialed the first number on the list.
Piz sat in the lobby after Piper had ignored him, it was obvious she had heard him and chose not to respond. He just didn't understand why. He tried to recall if he said anything or did anything the night she crashed on his couch to make her upset, since then she had barely spoken to him and had gone out of her way to avoid him. Piz should have been angry or hurt, but really he was just frustrated. He wished Piper would just tell him what he had done wrong.
'It isn't like she had a whole lot of places to go,' Piz drank the last of his water quickly and got to his feet. Five days Piper had ignored him, five days Piz had no idea what it was he did wrong. He made the decision to find out what was going on, 'Man up, don't be such a giant baby about it. Just talk to her. At the very least, she's your friend and she should tell you if you're not anymore.'
Piz got into the elevator and off at their floor, he walked straight to Piper's door and urged himself to stay on track and knock. So he did, hard, three times. Piper flung the door open, she didn't seem to believe in checking before she opened a door which Piz couldn't help but think was a really bad decision for an FBI Agent.
"Oh. Piz. What do you need?" Piper's expression seemed to be fighting itself, trying to be cold and distant when it wanted to be warm and close.
Piz had thought up an impromptu speech about friendship and apologizing for whatever he needed to apologize for, but something broke. Something had come undone inside him and he didn't say a word, instead Piz felt his body moving on its own. He grabbed Piper, gently and firmly, and pulled her towards him. His lips were on hers in a deep, powerful kiss he hadn't expected to come from his own body.
Piper hid a slight, surprised gasp, but didn't stop him. She touched his skin and felt like light trailed under her fingertips, everything about that few seconds was warmth and fire. It wasn't long, but it was enough to make her stop playing games with calling him 'just a friend'. Finally, Piz let her go and stepped back, nodding to himself. He cleared his throat and walked down the hallway to his room.
Piz sat on the couch in silence, staring at the door, 'What is wrong with me? What is going on? I leave in a week, I can't go around kissing girls I hardly know.' But Piper wasn't a girl he hardly knew, she was someone he had grown to know quite well in his few weeks stuck in Neptune.
Piper stared at the open space in front of her and touched her lips gently with her fingers, recalling the warm feeling that had chased them over Piz's arms, like touching Christmas lights. She closed the door slowly and sank down onto the couch, unable to focus on the files anymore.
What had started out as a trip for vengeance and supportive friendship had dissolved into something entirely different.