A/N: Begins in 3.14. To play it safe, spoilers though the end of Season 3.

When her criminology was interrupted for the second time in as many days she didn't react. She didn't turn around to see a visibly upset Sheriff Lamb frantically scanning the room for the daughter of his mentor.

In fact, Veronica didn't acknowledge the polyester-clad presence until Professor Landry issued a not so warm welcome, "What can we do for you today Sheriff? It's not that I don't enjoy sharing examples of the criminal justice system with my class but once a week is more than enough to get the point across."

She rolled her eyes as she turned to meet the gaze of the sheriff who was now taking the stairs two at a time to reach Veronica's aisle seat.

"You need to come with me. Now." Lamb said to Veronica as he reached to clear her desk.

There was something in his voice, and the look in his eyes that prevented Veronica from objecting. She'd seen that look before, and heard that tone. It had been years since she'd felt that sincerity from her once favorite deputy. She'd seen that look in his eyes when he'd released her and Duncan outside of the Manning house over a year ago. That was the voice he'd used to console her once when she was younger and Leanne was on a drinking binge and Veronica was waiting outside her dad's office.

She finished shoving her notes into her bag and allowed the sheriff to escort her from her seat. Something conveyed in the urgency of the situation prevented her from feeling embarrassed about being escorted from class for the second time that week. She didn't even glance around the lecture hall to see the confusion resulting from Veronica's second police escort. If her classmates didn't know her by this point in the semester, she certainly had a reputation now.

As they exited the lecture hall and made their way toward the building exit Veronica finally asked "What's going on, Lamb?"

2 hours earlier

"112 Delmar Circle" breaks through the static on the radio on Lamb's shoulder. Keith, in the right place at the right time dropping off evidence related to Coach Barry's murder immediately recognizes the address.

"Did something happen at the O'Dell's?" Keith is racking his brain thinking about why Mindy would need police assistance.

"Yeah, another breaking and entering call." Lamb replied, to which Keith recognized as Mindy's former husband.

"It's Batando" Keith voiced his realization to the sheriff and Deputy Sacks.

"That's what I'm hoping" Lamb replied as he checked his weapons and readied himself to go into the field.

Keith knew the situation with Batando and recognized that his presence might help the situation. Assuming his offer was going to be denied, and already mentally calculating the quickest route to the house in question Keith offered his assistance to the sheriff "Want me to come along? I've dealt with him before and the guy's a little unhinged."

Lamb started to shoot down Keith's request, but ultimately he knew his once-mentor better. Lamb knew that if Keith didn't accompany him to the scene, he would go on his own. At least this way Lamb could remain in charge of the situation. "Fine, Keith. But you're following my lead. I swear to god Keith if you interfere I'll have you arrested for obstruction before you can say 'I want a lawyer.'"

Keith agreed, surprised at the young sheriff's compliance with his request and followed Lamb and Sacks out of the department.

As they pulled into the driveway at the O'Dell house, Lamb began issuing orders. "Keith, you're with me. Follow my lead and stay back. Sacks, make sure he does't slip out the back."

Keith silently followed Lamb into the house, looking and listening for any evidence of the reported crime.

Botando's voice echoed from upstairs, shouting a threat "You better hide you crazy bitch." Without words Lamb and Keith ascended the stairs, Keith continuing to back Lamb up as they began to clear bedrooms.

Lamb started at the end of the hallway, he opened the first door and ensuring the room was clear signaled to Keith to check the next room. As Keith opened the door to the second room, Lamb heard a shot ring out. He immediately recognized the former sheriff was still standing and it looked like he had just been spooked. Both men lowered their weapons temporarily as Lamb moved toward the doorway. In that split second, everything changed.

Seemingly out of nowhere Botando appeared, swinging a baseball bat. He made contact with the back of Keith's head, knocking the older man to the ground. Before he'd lowered the back, Lamb had fired his weapon - bullets entering Botando's chest and sending him to the ground next to Keith. As blood began to pool around Keith's head, Lamb heard a whispered "Veronica."

Lamb barely recognized Sacks' appearance on the scene as he radioed for help "Ambulance needed at 112 Delmar Circle, repeat: officer down, immediate medical assistance needed at 112 Delmar Circle."

In what felt like the longest 4 minute and 38 second response time ever, Lamb and Sacks tried - without much success - to stop Keith's bleeding, Sacks checked the assailant for signs of life and finding none returned his efforts to Keith, managing to locate a weak pulse.

The emergency medical personnel finally arrived, accompanied by additional deputies who had heard Lamb's request for assistance over the radio. "Ride with Keith," Lamb ordered Sacks then turned to two of the deputies on the scene, "find Mrs. O'Dell and get a statement," then gesturing to Botando's deceased body, "get another bus for him. I'll work on the paperwork later."

With that, he followed two EMTs, Keith traveling by stretcher and a visibly shaken Deputy Sacks out the door. "I need to track Veronica down, I'll meet you at the hospital." Sacks nodded in agreement and joined Keith and an EMT in the back of the ambulance.

Checking his watch, and briefly recognizing the presence of a higher being (albeit one who was probably out to get him) Lamb recognized that Veronica should be in the same lecture hall she was in last time he visited her in class.

Back at Hearst, outside Veronica's lecture

"What's going on, Lamb?" Veronica stopped walking and forced the officer to turn and face her.

"It's Keith. He's in the hospital and we need to go. Now." Veronica simply nodded and joined Lamb in a jog to his cruiser, still running with lights flashing.

The ride to the hospital was silent, Veronica couldn't process what was happening enough to formulate any questions. Had she been able to think straight, she likely would have asked: What happened to dad? Where was he and where was Lamb? Why does Lamb care so much? Meanwhile, Lamb didn't know what to say. He'd been in enough of these situations to know better than to offer any medical prognosis without input from the doctor. He didn't want to give Veronica false hope and at the same time, he wanted to hold onto the hope that he hadn't witnessed the murder of his first mentor and one-time friend.

Veronica, lost in her thoughts finally managed a word as they pulled into the emergency department "blood" was all she said, pointing to Lamb's right sleeve.

"We tried to stop the bleeding" was all Lamb said as he very much illegally parked his cruiser and jumped out with Veronica to enter the building. Seconds after entering the hospital, Lamb located Sacks pacing and holding a clipboard and what was presumably Keith's wallet…even in times like this the paperwork was overwhelming.

"They took him straight into surgery," Sacks said by way of greeting, though it wasn't clear if he was talking to his boss or his former boss's daughter. "He flatlined on the way in, EMT said it wasn't looking good." Veronica's head snapped up and she looked straight at Sacks, as if he'd delivered the potentially deadly blow himself.

"Thanks, Jerry," Lamb said, realizing Sacks was plenty shaken up and his presence was not going to help the situation. "Give me that," he said gesturing to the intake paperwork, "my cruiser is out front - can you sort out a more appropriate parking arrangement for it?"

Sure, he might be a jackass for sending his most trusted deputy to park his car but he knew Sacks better than he knew anyone - and what that man needs in stressful situations is a task to focus on, some fresh air wouldn't hurt either.

If Veronica noticed his treatment of the deputy, she didn't say anything. If he'd needed a sign that Veronica was shaken, her lack of retort about Sacks' valet abilities was certainly one.

"What happened?" Veronica finally asked once Lamb escorted her to a pair of chairs in a more secluded area of the waiting room.

It was the question Lamb was dreading, how do you tell someone that her father, a civilian, was doing the job of the sheriff and very likely took a blow that could have easily been taken by said sheriff?

"Your father was at the station when a breaking and entering call came in. He recognized it as Mindy O'Dell's house and offered to come along in case Steve Batando was there and unhinged." Lamb started his explanation, keeping his eyes on the floor, not baring to watch Veronica's reaction "I let him come along. He had some history with the situation and wanted to help. In the house Batando came out of nowhere with a baseball bat. I was too late to stop him. He swung before I could fire my weapon."

At this point, Veronica was silently crying for the first time all day. She'd made it through the car ride and Sacks' not so delicate update with dry eyes, but Lamb's recount of the afternoon was all too real. Someone had attacked her father and now he was fighting for his life in an operating room.

Lamb sat next to Veronica, silently replaying the events over in his head and thinking about what he could have done differently. Minutes went by though it felt like hours, Don was afraid to move and knew there was nothing he could say. At some point Sacks returned from the parking lot and took a seat across from his boss, remaining silent and waiting for something to happen. Finally, a doctor clad in scrubs stepped through the double doors that separated the waiting room from the patient areas.

"Family of Keith Mars" the doctor called and Veronica immediately shot up from her seat, taking a few steps to meet him in the middle of the room - still within earshot of the sheriff and his trusted deputy. After identifying herself as Keith's daughter and next of kin, actually, only living relative, Veronica listened as the doctor gave a grim update. "Your father's injuries are serious, he's been in surgery for nearly two hours. The brain damage is severe and we're still not able to get the bleeding under control. We will not give up on him but it's time to start thinking about next steps."

The doctor returned to surgery, leaving Veronica standing silently in the waiting room. After a pulse, Sacks, who was closer to Veronica's standing position approached her and lead her back to the seat she once occupied next to Lamb. Sacks gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile and announced that he was going to go find a few cups of coffee.

"Is there someone I can call?" Lamb asked, "What about Leanne?" Veronica just shook her head. Lamb knew Keith and Leanne had finally divorced and he was aware of Leanne's history of alcoholism but he didn't know how completely severed her relationship with Veronica was.

After a beat Veronica finally spoke, "He's all I have, he can't leave me." Until this point, Lamb had given Veronica space, sure he was physically near her but hadn't made a move to touch her until now. He gently squeezed her hand and when she didn't flinch from his touch he decided not to let go.

Sacks returned with a tray of hospital grade coffees that went untouched, he was a little surprised to see Lamb's hand wrapped around Veronica's (actually, his surprise was that she allowed it).

After another hour of waiting with no update, Lamb decided he needed to stretch his legs and make some calls to determine what was going on at the department he was supposed to be running. His first call was to Inga who pressed for an update on Keith before he could finish greeting her. "He's still in surgery," Lamb answered, "Veronica is at the hospital and Sacks and I are planning to stay put until he pulls through." Inga asked Lamb how Veronica was holding up and if there was anything she could do for her; he knew if given the chance, Inga would pick the Mars family over him - hell, half the department probably would.

Inga's request to help gave Lamb an idea, "Can you pull the visitor log from the last couple of days? Veronica's friend that came to visit her in lock up, can you send me his phone number?" Lamb could almost hear Inga's eyes roll at the mention of Veronica in lock-up, she was very clear with her view that Veronica should not have been held for her role in Josh Barry's escape.

"Of course," Inga replied, "and Don," Lamb knew Inga was serious because she never addressed him by his first name, it was always 'Sheriff' or 'Lamb', "Veronica needs a friend. If you can't be that, you should leave her alone." Don didn't know how to respond to that, which was fine because Inga ended the call.

Within a minute, Lamb had the phone number for Wallace Fennel, he'd had maybe two conversations with the young man and assumed he'd be received with some hostility.

"Hello?" Wallace answered almost immediately, not recognizing the phone number.

"This is Don Lamb, uh, the sheriff." Lamb greeted and quickly, not sure if the recipient of his call had any idea who he was, "Keith Mars was involved in an incident earlier today and he's receiving treatment at Neptune General."

"Shit man," Wallace was clearly upset by the news, "Does Veronica know? Do I need to track her down?"

"That's why I'm calling, she's at the hospital now and I think she could use a friend. There are still a lot of unknowns but she shouldn't feel alone."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," Wallace replied, grabbing his keys and running out the door of his dorm room without even mentioning the situation to Piz.

Lamb ended the call without adding any additional information. He didn't want to overshare any of the Mars' family's personal business and he wasn't even sure if Veronica wanted him there. He gave Wallace the same amount of information he'd give the press in the same circumstance.

Dammit. The press. Lamb knew the press was going to be all over this. Cyrus O'Dell's death was fairly high-profile, even by Neptune's standards, and there was still some coverage of the dearly departed dean. Additionally, Keith was well-known and even well-loved by many, once word of his condition leaked the press would be all over. Lamb was pretty sure Cliff moonlighted as the Mars family attorney, and decided one more phone call to Cliff to make him aware of the situation was appropriate.

Back inside the Waiting Room

Lamb returned and briefly considered sitting next to Sacks but opted to return to the seat he'd previously occupied next to Veronica. He figured he would relinquish it when her friend arrived. He tried not to react when she reached for his hand, instead just squeezing it lightly as he had before getting up to call in reinforcements.

Wallace arrived in minutes and Don didn't want to think about the traffic laws he'd broken in driving across town to get to his friend's side. Don quickly got up from his seat next to Veronica with one final squeeze of her fingers and moved to occupy the seat next to his deputy. Wallace filled the newly emptied seat and put his arm around Veronica's shoulders, not saying anything.

Wallace didn't know much about what happened, but given Veronica's obviously tear-streaked face and the sheriff's presence and attitude (or lack thereof) he knew Keith's condition was serious.

Veronica finally spoke and greeted Wallace with "You didn't have to come, you should be studying."

Wallace just shook his head and said "If you're here, I'm here."

The foursome sat silently for another hour until a doctor emerged from the surgical wing with a grim look on her face. Eying Veronica, she approached and confirmed that she was speaking with the family of Keith Mars. Before the doctor continued, Veronica knew what she was going to say. "Your father's injuries were severe. I'm sorry to inform you that, despite our best efforts, we were not able to overcome his injuries. Keith Mars passed away in surgery."

A/N - I know, I'm the worst. I love Keith, really, I do! But I HAD to do it.