A week later, Mac was visiting Veronica, who was still recuperating from her latest brush with danger. Her plaster-covered leg was propped up on a pillow on the coffee table, and the bandage that wrapped all the way around her head had been replaced with a smaller dressing, although it still made Mac wince to look at it.

"And then he said that he really hated looking at me when I'm laid up like this, so I'm concentrating on getting better through sheer force of will," Veronica was explaining. "I tried to explain all of this to the doctors, but they wouldn't take the bandages off early, even though I had a note."

"A note you wrote?" Mac asked.

"No," Veronica said scornfully. "It was from my lawyer."

Mac shook her head. "And I thought the days of Cliff's Notes were behind us." She bit her lip and considered her friend. "You do you know that Logan is bothered by the thought of you being in danger, not because you have a goofy white thing stuck to your forehead, right?"

"I know," Veronica said with a sigh. "I promised him I won't rush into danger anymore, but I don't think he believes me."

Mac gave her a sad smile, and Veronica shook her head as if to clear it.

"Anyway, what's new with you?" she asked.

Mac shrugged. "Not a lot. Starting to study for finals. And surprisingly, Dick's not hindering the process."

"Do tell," Veronica said.

"He's very dedicated to passing his macro final," Mac said, hearing the hint of pride in her voice and hoping Veronica didn't.

"Well, good for him," her friend said sincerely. Mac waited for another comment or joke, but none came. She looked at Veronica for a moment, trying to read what she was really thinking, but the blonde was giving nothing away.

"Well, that reminds me," Mac said finally. "He sent this over," she said, producing a handheld video game from her bag. "For the boredom."

Veronica took the game and stared at it for a minute, then she smiled widely. "Tell him I said thank you very much."

Mac smiled back. "I will. And I should get going, let you get some practice on that thing. You know Dick will want to know what level you can get to."

Veronica gave her a salute and Mac waved and headed out the front door.

When she got home ten minutes later, she found Dick studying at the dining room table. It was a common sight by now, but she still smiled every time she saw how determined he was to stay in school (unlike some people she could mention).

Dick waved at her, barely glancing away from the book in front of him. He only looked up at her when she got two sodas out of the fridge and sat down across the table from him, sliding one of the drinks over to him and opening up a thick textbook of her own. He smiled and Mac winked at him before she flipped to the right page and started reading.

This was not good. Dick was trying to concentrate on the page in front of him, he really was. But Mac was being very distracting. He was pretty sure she wasn't doing it on purpose, but the way she frowned down at her book was totally engrossing, not to mention the way she was all twisted into a pretzel on her chair. Her hair had gotten really long, and when she leaned over her book it pooled in pretty swirls on the table. And then there was that wink. Why, why did she have to wink at him?

This was not good at all.

Next chapter: Logan Knows Best