Veronica Versus The Undercover Lover
TW: Implied mention of suicidal intention within the beginning flashback scenes.
One Year Ago:
"Come on, Zoe. It's not like World War III is about to happen," Evan said to his girlfriend, wanting to leave the restaurant that they were in.
Zoe Murphy was an intern for her father's photography company. He had wanted pictures of this new Mexican restaurant that had opened. Zoe decided to bring Evan along because they hadn't been on a date in a while. Two birds, one stone.
"I just need a few more pictures," she said, while moving to her next position. "How 'bout you go wait out in the car, Sugar Bear? That way, you're not just standing here."
"Okey dokey," Evan simply said, before leaving.
Five minutes later, Evan was getting impatient. Seriously, what's tak-
And that was when his world changed.
A big boom was heard as the restaurant went up in flames.
Evan got out of his car and dashed into what was left of the restaurant. He fought the flames as best as he could to find her. Then, he found a clue: Zoe's NIKON D3500 camera, with a splash of blood across the lens.
Zoe would never let anyone touch that thing.
Evan crumbled to his knees and sobbed harder than he ever had before. He didn't care if that the flames might take him away. He just wanted to be with Zoe.
The last thing he saw before passing out was a man in a black suit coming towards him.
Present Day
"Evan? Hey, Evan? You ok, there pal?" Veronica asked, knocking Evan out of his daydream.
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm totally fine," Evan replied nervously. "It's just that I haven't seen a camera like this," he said, holding up a NIKON D3500, "since a, um, loved one passed away last year."
"I'm so sorry," Veronica said sympathetically. "If you want, I can just give it to Jer-"
"No, it's not an issue at all! Plus, he and I will be working on this old computer over the weekend, so now's a good time for us to focus on this too."
"Oh, is it some kind of swanky government work?"
"Nope, just fixing it for Mr. Tucker," Evan said, referring to his boss at the 7/11. "He's known about some of my computer skills for a while and wanted to see if I could fix his old one."
"Oh, so you and Jeremy don't just hibernate in Castle together?" Veronica asked, jokingly.
Evan chuckled at that. "Don't pretend that we didn't know what we were doing before the government got involved."
That's right, Evan and Jeremy knew each other years before being recruited. But fake emails made with a super-computer pill certainly have a way of getting the government's attention.
Needless to say, it was kind of awkward when they got recruited by two separate agencies. The two kept in touch with each other, but not as much. Team Sawyer changed that thankfully.
"But, uh, yeah, your camera should be a quick fix for us," Evan said. "Besides, it'll be a nice distraction from the computer when needed."
"How old is that thing?" Veronica asked, wondering about why it would take a whole weekend to fix a computer.
"Believe it or not, it's a Macintosh 128k," Evan said. "The original Apple computer," he added once he noticed her confused expression.
"Shut up," Veronica said, playfully throwing a magazine at him. "There's no way."
"Says the girl with the most powerful database in her head," Evan sportively replied.
"Touché."
"Don't believe me? You can check Mr. Tucker's office for yourself," Evan said, happily passing some keys to her. "He's at Subway right now."
"At 7:30am?"
"The man loves his Subway."
Veronica walked into Mr. Tucker's office and unsurprisingly saw a Macintosh 128k lying on his desk.
"Evan wasn't kidding about this," she said to herself while walking towards the computer. As she got closer, Veronica noticed a handwritten list entitled "Hotel Room Phone Numbers – Private Party Edition."
The first name, Dmitry Siljak, triggered a flash.
"Dmitry Siljak, known alias of black-market arms dealer specializing in former Soviet-"
And then, Veronica just barely glanced at another name on the list: Yuri Gorrsky.
Veronica grabbed a pen and some paper nearby, writing down the names and descriptions from the Intersect. She looked at every name on the list, getting flashes from all of them.
"Oh, I'm so gonna have a headache later," Veronica groaned, before realizing that she forgot to look at one name on the list: Zoe Murphy.
And as expected, her brain flashed.
However, she was surprised to see Evan in those flashes, along with the name "Sugar Bear."
"Zoe Murphy. Photographer. Rumored lover of undercover NSA agent. Whereabouts unknown," Veronica said, as she repeated the information from the Intersect to herself.
"Sugar Bear," she said, thinking about Evan. "Sugar Bear's girlfriend's in town."
"There you are, Ronnie. I was starting to get worried," Evan said once he saw Veronica approaching him.
"I just had the mother lode of all bad-guy flashes," Veronica said, rubbing her forehead.
"Who are they?" Evan said, suddenly serious.
"Mostly Russian. All traveling under aliases, fake passports. They're arms dealers, money launderers, black-market smugglers. They're all having a convention at the hotel tonight."
"Ok, I'll run it up the flagpole, see what Command wants," Evan said, walking to his locker.
"There's one more thing, actually," Veronica said, stopping Evan, before pulling out her list. "I left one name off of this."
Evan scanned the document and was confused about why Veronica would leave one off. "What are you talking about, Ronnie?"
"Does the name Zoe Murphy mean anything to you?"
"The hotel's bar has been booked for a private party this evening," General Beckham told the agents. "You're all going undercover to gain some intel. See what you can flash on, Ms. Sawyer, and uh, good luck," he said before logging off.
"Alright, you heard the man, we've got a mission at the Grand Seville tonight. Be there or be square," Alex said, as the team started to disembark. Veronica stayed behind for Evan though.
"You ok?" She asked.
"Y-yeah, w-why wouldn-n't I be?" Evan responded. "I mean, it-t's per-perfectly f-fine that Zoe t-turned out to be a-alive and is an en-enemy ag-agent."
"If it's any consolation, the Intersect had no incriminating evidence on her," Veronica said. "Just love letters between the two of you."
"Sorry you had to see that," Evan said sheepishly.
"No, it's ok, Sugar Bear," Veronica said semi-jokingly. She dropped the act once she saw the serious look Evan was giving her. "Look, the point is, I don't think she's an enemy. The Intersect probably just gave me a flash because of her connection to you."
"And what about the mafia wannabes?"
"Well, she never knew about your spy life, right?" Veronica asked, to which Evan nodded. "Then, maybe she doesn't know the truth behind those guys."
The team entered the Grand Seville hotel later that evening and split up to investigate.
"Recognize anyone, Ronnie?" Lydia asked over her earpiece.
"Let's see, uh, there's Dmitry Siljak, black market arms dealer. Sergei "Noodles" Romanov, freelance hit man."
"Sasha! Is that you, my sweet Sasha?" A loud, Russian, manly voice asked Veronica, before grabbing and turning her around so that his friends could see. "Everybody, meet fourth cousin on my mother's side!" He said before letting go of Veronica. "Come and give your cousin big hug!" The man said before hugging Veronica tightly.
Meanwhile, Veronica was trying to discreetly scan the dance floor for any of her teammates.
"Sasha wants to dance!" The man yelled to his friends.
"Oh, no, no, no," Veronica said gently as she was dragged onto the dance floor.
Veronica continued to look for her teammates as she danced with the Russians. Eventually, she set her eyes on Jeremy and was hoping that he would see receive her signals.
Unfortunately, the man from earlier also noticed this. "Sasha, you like scrawny boy?"
Before Veronica could respond, the man walked up to Jeremy, before dragging him to her. "He's all yours, Sasha," he said before walking away.
"What just happened?" Jeremy asked, confused.
"That dude thinks I'm a relative of his, and I couldn't back out of it so easily," Veronica simply explained. "Any intel?"
"Nothing so far," he replied. Then, he noticed a peculiar across the room, looking back at him. "Until right now," Jeremy said. Veronica turned to see what he was looking at, and sure enough, Zoe Murphy was standing across the room, before walking away.
"Our cover's been compromised. Requesting extraction," Jeremy said over his earpiece.
"We're on it," Alex replied as he and Evan began to make their towards the dance floor.
Until they came across a certain Zoe Murphy.
"Zoe," Evan said, breathlessly. "H-How-"
"I'll give you two a moment," Alex said before leaving.
"I'm so sorry," Zoe said once Alex was out of earshot.
"Why are you sorry?" Evan asked, genuinely curious.
"All I remember is waking up in a hospital two weeks after the blast. Couldn't see, couldn't hear. It took me two months to remember my own name," Zoe said as she walked closer to Evan. "But I never forgot your face," she said before kissing him.
And it was honestly one of the best moments in Evan Hansen's life.
Meanwhile, Veronica was still dancing with Jeremy when her brain flashed on another man.
"Jeremy, I think I know what brought all the baddies together," Veronica said, before turning her head towards the direction that the man came in from. "Him. Victor Federov, a Russian oligarch with ties to everything from the Mob to a plot to overthrow Parliament."
Federov then got the music to stop and tapped his spoon against a glass of champagne. "Attention, attention!" He said, getting everybody to calm down. "I would like to thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate the imminent union between me and my fiancée, Zoe Murphy!"
"Something seems fishy here," Lydia said later at Castle. "There's no way that a 17-year-old girl would willingly marry a 35-year-old dude, right?"
"Exactly, exactly!" Evan replied, frantically. He'd really been a hot mess since hearing about the engagement. "I mean, Zoe never knew that I was a spy. Maybe the same applies to Victor too?"
"What are you saying exactly?" Alex asked.
"I'm gonna fight for her."
"Good thing I was finally able to crack the surveillance for this place," Jeremy said as the team got ready for their mission.
"Remember your roles, people. Ladies, you plant the bug in the Bridal Suite, while the rest of us monitor the surveillance. I'll come in if you need backup," Alex said.
"With any luck, we'll get enough dirt off the wire, and take the target down on U.S. soil," Lydia said, before getting out of the van.
"Have fun," Alex remarked sarcastically as the girls walked away.
"Ah, look who's hitting the bar tonight," Jeremy said to Evan once he noticed Zoe through the security cameras. He then noticed how depressed she looked. "Now, does that look like a woman who's thrilled about marriage?"
"No," Evan replied.
"This is your chance, buddy. Just look at her. She's sitting there, waiting for you.
"Why would she be waiting for me at a bar? We're both underage."
"You're scared, aren't you?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Go to her, Hansen," Alex said. "You don't wanna spend the rest of your life hating yourself for what you didn't have the guts to do tonight. Believe me, I know," he said, as if he was reliving a memory from a different life.
In the end, Evan knew what he needed to do.
"Got it," Lydia whispered as her hairpin unlocked the door to the Bridal Suite.
Lydia and Veronica entered the room as quietly as possible. While Lydia planted the bug, Veronica noticed a briefcase lying under Zoe's bed. Curious, she picked it up and was surprised to see that it was unlocked. She scanned through the files, until Zoe's came up.
And that's when the Intersect showed her that Zoe is a dangerous spy.
"Evan, are you there?" Veronica asked over her earpiece.
"Uh, no, he's at the bar. Did you just flash?" Jeremy asked.
"Yeah," Veronica replied. "And it wasn't good."
"I missed you so much, Zoe," Evan admitted at the bar, where the two of them sat alone.
"I missed you too, Sugar Bear."
Their sweet time together was interrupted by a pair of footsteps approaching them.
"Veronica? What are you doing here?" Evan asked.
"I'm really sorry. I know that this is really awkward, but Zoe is a bad girl."
Then, Zoe pulled a gun on Veronica.
"See? She's a very bad girl," Veronica said with her hands up.
Evan pointed his gun at Zoe. "Mind telling me what a girl like you is doing with a gun?"
"Same thing as you, Agent Hansen."
"See? I tried to warn you," Veronica said.
"Who do you work for?" Evan asked Zoe.
"Ask your friend. She's seen my files."
Evan looked at Veronica. "She's French Secret Service."
Evan looked back at Zoe. "So there's a chance we're all on the same side here?"
"Not exactly."
"You lied to me."
"So did you."
"What about the bomb? That whole 'I never forgot your face' garbage?"
"Oh, that bomb. You see-"
Suddenly, there was a heavier pair of footsteps approaching them.
"Quick, hide," Zoe said to Evan and Veronica, who were both hesitant to do so. "You just have to trust me." Evan and Veronica looked at each other, silently agreeing to trust her, before hiding.
A very drunk Federov entered the room. "Zoe, baby, I can't wait any longer. How 'bout we start our honeymoon now?" He asked before pressing multiple kisses down her neck.
"Oh, Victor, Victor," Zoe said romantically before he passed out.
Evan and Veronica came out of hiding. "You guys better get out of here before he wakes up."
"Hey, Evan, we need to talk," Veronica said as she entered 7/11 the next day.
"If this is about last night, then I don't wanna talk about it. Zoe is dead to me for real this time."
"Well, in that case, there's a dead girl here to see you," Veronica said before Zoe entered.
"How'd you find me?" Evan asked Zoe.
"You told me you worked here last night, remember?"
Ah, yes. Evan told her about his job at 7/11 while he was on a bit of a buzz. He'd forgotten about that until now.
"Then, I saw your friend walking in here, and she told me that you were working now."
"So, what do you want?" Evan asked.
"I didn't wanna leave things the way we left them."
"With you getting plowed by a drunk Russian crime boss?"
That was a low blow. "Look, the French Secret Service has been investigating Federov since 2015. They've tried everything to take him down, but his organization is airtight. Totally legit from the outside. The only way we could take him down-"
"Was by plowing him? Huh, how French of you. That is, if you are French."
"Evan, please-"
"All I have to do is make one phone call and you, Victor and half the Grand Seville are shipped off to the detention center of my choice."
"You're not gonna do that."
"Why not?"
"Because that's not you!" Zoe yelled, before regaining her composure. "Look, a friend told me that Victor was alive and I had to take care of it. In order to do so, I had to disappear," she said before handing him a necklace with a circle of the Eiffel Tower. "It's something to remember ne by," Zoe said as Evan took it. "Goodbye, Evan."
Veronica was surprised to come home to the smell of alcohol and the sound of the Beatles coming from her room.
She was even more surprised to see Evan in there, singing along to the lyrics.
"Bright are the stars that shine
Dark is the sky
I know this love of mine
Will never die
And I love her"
"A little Beatles and a lot of Scotch, I see," Veronica said. "Everything ok, pal?"
"Just enjoying a little R and R, hehe."
"It's a good thing my parents are working late tonight."
"Wanna drink?" Evan asked, passing her a bottle.
"No, no," Veronica said, turning it down. "I appreciate it, though."
"But your house has the good stuff!"
"Yeah, well if you think that's good, then you should JD's house."
"Ugh, all I hear is JD! JD! JD! When's it gonna be Everonica's turn?"
Ok, that was the first time Veronica heard him talk about their "romance" since the kiss four months ago.
But still, Evan was drunk, so he couldn't have been serious.
Right?
"Oh, maybe someday, pal," Veronica said, deciding to amuse him.
"Well, you can hold on to this until then," Evan said, passing Zoe's necklace to her.
Veronica's thumb happened to push down on the circle, and it opened to reveal what looked like a spy bug.
"That's an RX 77 Long-Range Audio Transmitter," Evan said, suddenly intrigued.
"Someone was listening in on Zoe?"
"With a Russian-made bug."
"That means-"
"I know," Evan said. "Victor knows Zoe's a spy," he said before quickly walking out of the room.
"Hey, Evan, where do you think you're going?"
"To stop a wedding."
"Oh no you're not." Evan stopped and looked at Veronica. "Scotch and driving, very, very bad combo. Also illegal."
"Great, so you drive then."
Evan and Veronica quickly but quietly made their way over to Zoe's hotel room. Evan used his room key from his last disguise as a bellhop and it worked. They both entered the room, only to see Federov there with two henchmen.
"I assume you are here with the bride's party?" Federov asked as his men searched the two for any weapons.
Before they knew it, Veronica and Evan were tied back-to-back.
"Where's Zoe?" Evan asked Federov.
"Oh, she's on her way to the ceremony. Quite a woman, huh? I'm gonna miss her. Oh, well. At least we get to have our wedding night."
"Leave her out of this!"
"What if I told you I have another idea?" Federov asked Evan. "You see, I was so moved by listening to you and Zoe say goodbye, that I decided to offer you the chance to take her on my honeymoon."
"I love that idea. I don't even have to go," Veronica said.
"You mean let me die in your place?" Evan asked. "What do you have in mind, Victor? A plane crash over the Atlantic? A fiery wreck that leaves nothing behind but our two charred corpses?"
"Three corpses," Federov said. "Your friend will play the role of a pilot."
"What?!" Veronica asked.
Federov ignored her. "Now if you excuse me, my associates have come to see me get married."
"Evan, I don't wanna die as a fake pilot," Veronica nervously said to him.
"Relax, I think I see a scenario where we both get out of here with acceptable losses," he whispered to her.
"And what exactly is your version of acceptable?"
"Terrible injuries, but still alive," he whispered back, before speaking up for the henchmen watching them.
"Hey comrades, where'd you learn to tie people up, a Looney Toons cartoon?"
"I don't think you're helping right now," Veronica whispered, but Evan ignored her.
"No wonder you lost the Cold War. I know girl scouts who can tie better knots than you."
"Evan, what are you-"
"I'm sticking to my strengths," he whispered.
Needless to say, the henchmen threw them out of the window and into the pool several stories below.
Evan and Veronica swam to the surface, despite how hard it was while being tied up to each other.
Luckily, the wedding happened to be outside.
"Hope I'm too late to object to this union," Evan said.
"Take these two to my plane and strangle them," Federov said to some of his henchmen.
"Not so fast," Alex said, walking in with his gun pointed at Federov's head. Lydia and Jeremy followed suit, but from different angles.
Suddenly, every guest at the party stood up and pointed guns at least one of the three agents.
"Evan, this is unacceptable!" Veronica yelled loudly, making all of the enemy guns turn on her.
"Shut up, Veronica!" Evan said, not realizing that this was part of her plan.
Lydia used this opportunity to toss her gun to Zoe, who was standing at the altar with Federov. She caught it and held the gun to his head.
"You look good with a gun," Evan said.
"You're pretty skilled," Zoe admitted to Evan at 7/11 the next day.
"You too," Evan replied.
There was a comfortable moment of silence before Zoe spoke up again. "Well, I gotta go. Victor's waiting at the airport in a holding cell. His extraction papers just came in."
"Well, I hope you lovebirds have a safe flight. Sorry I had to blow your cover," Evan said. "I'm gonna miss you."
"I'm gonna miss you too," Zoe said. "But you'll find somebody one day. In fact, that Veronica girl might be a good one for ya."
"What?!" Evan asked, gob smacked.
"Oh come on, do you really think she would come over here at 7:30am just for a Slurpee?"
"Maybe you're right," Evan admitted. "Goodbye, Zoe."
"Goodbye, Evan."
A/N: *Just TBC, I don't endorse underage drinking or alcoholism.*
Thoughts? Any constructive criticism is welcome!
