A/N: Case all but closed on the 'Who beat up Dick?' case, which leaves us with Mac & Dick's relationship to figure out, right? ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 21

"Missy really had a chip on her shoulder when it came to Dick Casablancas. Seems he was willing to sleep his way through the entire 09er, staff and clientele alike, but he never touched Missy. Man, did she ever want him to. So she's mad at him for wanting everyone but her and Darryl's pissed at Lucy for sleeping with the same guy. They get their revenge sex on, and the next thing you know Lucy announces she's pregnant. Before long, Darryl and Missy are hatching their plan to beat the living crap out of the rich dude."

Keith clicked off the recording with a look of distaste. He slowly shook his head and looked across at Veronica who was making a face just the same. It was never fun hearing people confess to crimes or just explaining how something went down, not with that much glee in their voice. It was enough to make people like the Mars family want to throw up.

"This kid is something else," said Keith with a look. "A little too quick to talk too. I'm glad he's no friend of mine," he said, dumping the recorder on the table.

"He's not just a fan of screwing over his friends," said Veronica, looking thoughtfully at the voice recorder herself. "The very next thing out of his mouth is his own confession."

She picked up the recorder and clicked play again, so Keith could hear Adam admitting to concocting the substance that knocked out Dick Casablancas, making it that much easier for Darryl and Missy to exact their revenge. Again her father winced. Years in law enforcement ought to have made him immune to this stuff but it never entirely desensitised a person.

Veronica herself had seen friends and acquaintances killed right in front of her, but hearing people talk so joyfully about hurting others still made her feel queasy. Nobody should take that much pleasure in the pain of others, even if the person in question was less than righteous. Dick Casablancas was a lot of unpleasant things, and Veronica had more reasons than most to be pissed at him for the past, but he hadn't deserved those injuries he got at the hands of Darryl Marone.

"Technically speaking, he didn't even steal another man's girlfriend," she said of Dick when the recording of Adam ended. "Lucy and Darryl were broken up when she slept with Dick, and Darryl didn't care at all until he found out there was a pregnancy."

Keith's hand ran over his face as he considered what he had heard and what it meant. Veronica was pretty sure that wasn't all he was thinking of. Once upon a time, she had been the baby whose paternity was in question after Lianne's affair with Jake Kane was revealed. It was why these kind of stories and cases were always a sore point in the Mars household.

"Hey, Pops?" she prompted, tapping his arm and smiling when he met her eyes. "You okay?"

Keith knew what she was asking, and why she had referred to him in such a way.

"I'm fine," he promised, a hand over hers on the table. "And you did good getting the confession, honey, but I don't know what good it really does for the Casablancas kid."

Veronica smiled a little at the way her father continued to refer to both her and those she knew in high school as 'kids' even now they were all plenty grown. A ten year high school reunion ought to have proven that, and yet.

"The audio isn't all we have," she told him. "There's some circumstantial stuff from the internet, and I have that device Missy used to knock out Dick. Still, tying it all together and making it stick? It wouldn't be easy."

"And that's assuming you can even get the sheriff to take you seriously."

"The chances of which are next to zero," said Veronica. She sighed, rubbing her aching forehead with her free hand. "Even if I could get Darryl and Missy arrested, they could talk their way out of this. Best case, they pin the whole thing on Adam, which wouldn't be hard with this confession," she noted, looking at the recorder on the table. "He did wrong, but I don't want to see the guy go down for the whole crime. His part was more stupid than it was anything else."

"Veronica." Keith shook his head. "But for the fact Adam Durante made that stuff, there's a good chance Darryl Marone wouldn't have gotten the chance to do as much damage to Dick Casablancas as he did, or at the very least Dick would be able to identify his assailant and have the law deal with him immediately."

"I know," she agreed. "But I'm still not okay with Durante taking the fall for everybody. I was hoping Mac could find something incriminating on the private side of social media but nada. I'm just not convinced we have enough to take down Darryl and Missy too."

Keith sighed. He saw her point. All three people involved in this crime should be punished, there was no point in doing this half way. Even if Adam would squeal on the other two, there was so little real hard evidence of what happened, especially with Dick still remembering nothing concrete about the incident. He might never be able to recall anything more than he knew now, and that was practically nothing.

"I guess the only thing you can do is go to the victim with what you have and let him choose how to deal with the perps?" said Keith eventually.

"I guess so," his daughter agreed. "But it'll wait for now. It's late, and tomorrow Mac has to take Dick back to the hospital. They have enough going on, and a couple of days isn't going to make any difference."

She was yawning before she had hardly finished speaking. Keith eased himself up from the stool with no little amount of aches and pains still. He moved around the counter and pulled his daughter close, kissing her temple.

"You did good, kid," he promised her. "I'm gonna turn in. Don't be too long before you do the same, okay?"

"Sure thing, Dad," she said, nodding her head.

When he was gone, Veronica let out a huge sigh, eyes fixed on the recorder in her hand again now. She wanted Dick to know what happened to him. For all that he was, he deserved that much. Mac would want to know too. Those two sure had gotten close the past month and more. Thinking about it, Veronica was pretty sure Mac had said this was probably going to be the last check up, because it was six weeks since the attack and Dick was probably going to be found to be healed. He was moving around more easily, feeling better.

Mac sounded almost sad when she talked about Dick not needing her much longer. Veronica supposed she could understand that. It was nice to be wanted, and perhaps even more so to be needed sometimes. Dick Casablancas was never a guy that Veronica could imagine liking much, though she tried at times for Logan's sake. He was better these days, mostly since the attack. It was like maturity finally caught up to him, like coming that close to losing everything made him re-evaluate life in a new way. Some of it had to be Mac's influence too, Veronica was sure on that.

Another yawn overtook her, and for once Veronica decided to take her father's advice about getting to bed at a decent hour. Tired as she was, sleep should come pretty easily, and dreams usually conjured up Logan's face. If only every dream ended happily ever after, she might not mind so much.

"Well, I am happy to say that you've made excellent progress, Richard," said the doctor when he got done looking Dick over.

The binding had been taken off his ribs and the bones deemed to be healed. Dick had no pain in his chest or abdomen anymore and his breathing was normal. He admitted that he had started to try and put a little weight on his ankle and it hadn't been bothering him as much. The doctor discussed it with both him and Mac and eventually decided that he could probably cope without having it strapped around the house, but if he went outside at all, he might still need some support. As to his wrist, the doctor was confident enough in Dick's ability to heal that he removed the cast without a second thought. Mac was smiling as she watched Dick flex his arm as if it were brand new.

"How's it feel?" she asked.

"You tell me, babe," he said with a wink, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her closer.

"Dick!" she protested, pushing him off, knowing she couldn't make too much fuss because it would blow their cover.

Mac was ninety percent sure that was why Dick did it. They were an engaged couple for as long as they were at the hospital, which gave Dick licence to say and do things he wouldn't dare elsewhere. He knew Mac couldn't say much or slap his face or whatever. Not that she was likely to anyway. They were so comfortable around each other these days, nothing he said or did really phased her. So long as they never spoke of that one time she kissed him and what that meant, they were just fine.

"I'm sure it's been tough enough on the two of you these past few weeks," said the doctor with a significant look at the 'couple'. "Lucky all this happened long before the big day."

Mac's eyes widened a little as he realised the doctor seemed to be thinking more of the wedding night than the event itself. She tried her best not to colour at the implication, but Dick sure didn't help much.

"No problem, Doc. My Macky Mac gets what she needs from her man, right, babe?" he said, winking at her again as he slapped her on the rear.

Mac tried to look shocked but it was impossible not to laugh at the stupid grin on Dick's face and how brazen he was being. It was what led her to doing something that was probably the stupidest idea in the world.

"I'm just glad you're all healed up, sweetheart," she said, taking Dick's face in her hands.

Before he had a chance to wonder on it, Mac had her lips on his own in a more than well-acted passionate kiss. Even the doctor was looking embarrassed when she pulled away, more proud of herself than she ever been. It took a lot to silence Dick Casablancas, but he was quiet for fully five minutes until the appointment was over and they were deemed free to go.

"What the hell, Mac?" he asked as they left the room.

"Not here," she told him. "We're engaged, remember? We'll talk at home."

That shut him up again in a second as the two exited the hospital and got into the waiting cab. The whole way home, Mac faced the passenger window on her side of the cab and Dick did the same on his side. They were not talking about this until they got home, Mac had made that clear and Dick knew better than to argue. Still, his mind was spinning with possibilities.

It had happened twice now. Twice Mac had laid one on him and she never really had a reason the first time, at least not one she was willing to tell him. As he once told her, Dick knew it meant something. He was the kind to run around putting the moves on chicks just because. Mac was different. If she was putting the moves on a guy, it had to mean something. Sure, they were play-acting at being involved when they were at the hospital, but she had no real reason to kiss him the way she had.

On the other side of the back-seat, Mac fought for some reasonable explanation for what she had done. She knew there was only one answer, one thing she could say that was the whole truth, but admitting it scared the living daylights out of her. By the time the cab pulled up outside of Dick's house, she had maybe one sentence strung together that was truthful and actually made sense. It wasn't enough, but it was all she had.

Dick wobbled a little as he got out the car. It was instinct for Mac to move to help him. Of course, his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist felt a little too strange in the circumstances. He flinched at her touch and shook his head.

"I got it," he told her. "The driver needs paying."

Mac did that, more because she had to than because he said it. A few moments later, she made her way into the house and found Dick sat at the bottom of the stairs. He looked different, not just because his arm was out of the cast and his ankle wasn't so thoroughly strapped, not even because he looked happy about being more able-bodied, since the smile from the hospital was long gone. Mac supposed he looked different because he was being entirely serious right now. So serious she had to remind herself to breathe.

"You, er... You need help getting upstairs?" she asked.

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "We have to talk, Mac, and trust me, that's not something I said to a whole lot of chicks before."

She nodded that she did know that, because she did understand how serious this was. A part of her itched to go sit next to him, but Mac never actually moved. Maybe they were better off with the width of the entranceway between them for now.

"Dick, I... I'm sorry. I don't really know what's wrong with me, except that... Well, you and me have got to be friends, and that's cool. It's just that..."

"It's just that you kissed me," he said for her when her voice trailed away. "Twice now, and both times leave me wondering what the hell, Mac?"

"I know. I know," she repeated, running a hand back through her hair. "Dick, all I can tell you is that in the time I've been living here I've got to know you better, the real you, and I don't know if this guy was always underneath or if he's developed in the past six weeks, but... I like him," she admitted at last. "I like you, a lot, and I have no idea what that means or how to deal with it, okay?"

Mac couldn't look directly at Dick when she made her confession or for several moments afterwards. When she eventually made herself glance up, she found him staring intently back at her, with a look that stuck her to the spot and took her breath away all in one. She watched him make a deal of getting to his feet with one arm that was under-used and an ankle that still wasn't quite ready to take his weight. Mac never moved to help, she had a feeling Dick wouldn't appreciate it right now as he walked over to her and just stood there a second or two.

Just when she was about to open her mouth and ask what was happening, Dick took Mac's face in his hands and leaned down until their lips were almost touching. Mac swallowed her hard and managed to get a decent breath in before he finally kissed her.

It was debatable who was holding who up after a minute or two, but that didn't matter. With their arms around each other, both Mac and Dick got lost in a moment that was totally worth drowning in. He was a hell of a kisser when given the chance, and Mac never really expected anything else. Maybe she was a fool for starting this or for letting it happen, but she couldn't help herself. This felt too good.

When they finally parted, Dick looked more shocked than anything else, despite the fact he was the one who strode over there all purposefully and kissed her like that. Mac gazed up at him and fought to get her bearings.

"Okay," she said at last. "So..."

"So," he echoed when it was all she seemed able to say, a smile playing at his lips. "If it wasn't totally clear already, I like you too, Mac," he admitted. "I don't know, I'm not the guy who uses the L word, but if I was? I don't know, Mac Attack. Somethin' is going on here though, right?"

"Something is," she agreed, nodding her head. "Kinda scary."

"Oh yeah," Dick told her definitely. "But I think I can handle it."

"Me too," she said with a smile that she caught from him.

When he leaned in even a little, Mac pulled his head down and ensured another kiss was imminent. Maybe they were crazy. After all, she used to date his brother who was long dead and had caused enough problems to screw up a great many people, plus he had been pretty mean to her in the past, screwed things up for her friends, and lest they forget, dated the girl Mac was switched at birth with. That was before they got to the fact he might have fathered a child fairly recently. It was kind of a train-wreck before they even began, but in this moment neither Mac nor Dick could find the time to care.

"Okay," he said, suddenly pulling away from her. "This is the longest I've been standing up in a while and... yeah," he staggered a little as he came over light-headed and Mac struggled to keep him steady.

"Sorry," she apologised, guiding him carefully to the living room so they could sit down on the couch. "I'm supposed to be helping you get better. I don't think causing you to pass out is classed as help."

"Yeah, but what a way to go," he leered, pulling her close as he could get her and going in for another kiss.

Mac was laughing right up until he captured her lips with his own.

They needed to talk, they really did. For all the serious stuff they had covered before, there was more to be dealt with, especially if this was going to be a real relationship that went anywhere. For now, Mac's mind was clearing of all that serious stuff and she didn't mind at all.

To Be Continued...