Disclaimer: Veronica Mars and all recognizable characters are the intellectual property of Rob Thomas.
Fifteen:
His hand trembles as he opens the door to the roof. He takes in a deep breath as he steps out and the sun is setting in the distance. Liam Fitzpatrick, Weevil, Kendall, and Veronica follow him out. Cassidy walks along the roof, looking around it, and he remembers things about that night. He flinches when he looks at the spot where he had Veronica curled up and in pain while he turned her own taser against her.
He looks up and notices that Veronica is shivering and her eyes are on the same spot. She looks up and when their gazes lock they both turn as one and look toward the neon sign of the hotel, or more specifically at the ledge there, the ledge where Cassidy had stood and taken that final step. Only it hadn't been to his death, it had been to the window of the suite below, Aaron's suite.
They are shaken from their reverie as Liam calls out and asks where he should leave the bag. Cassidy points to a spot near one of the huge air vents, so that it's out of sight. Liam nods and drops the bag behind the vent.
A moment later Cassidy finds himself standing at the ledge where he stood on Graduation night. His knuckles are white from his grip on the concrete ledge as he looks down at the parking lot below. He takes in a deep breath, and blinks, tears sliding from the corners of his eyes. He will gladly take that leap if it would mean that Mac and the baby are safe and sound.
He closes his eyes and he prays that it doesn't come to that with Mac. He will take that step, this time for real, if it will spare her and their baby. He will take that step and every step in between.
Sitting demurely on the couch, Kendall smirks and shifts her gaze to where Logan and Veronica are sitting on a plush chair together, with Blondie looking at her cell phone every five seconds and she decides to spice up the conversation. "Hmmm… This suite, there are some good memories here," she says as she looks down at her perfectly manicured nails and smiles slyly at Veronica's snort. "It's a shame we never used this couch for anything. I mean it's just so comfy, not like that lumpy excuse that Big Dick would never let me replace."
Logan's arms tighten around Veronica, and Weevil and Liam look at Kendall, Danny is as oblivious as ever.
"So, Miss Priss, you got it on with a high school boy, that's kinda hot, baby. Think maybe later…" Liam says suggestively.
Kendall snorts. "Please, you hardly qualify. All your stamina goes toward violence and you wouldn't have half of the money you have without me. Try that line on someone in your league."
"Children, please get over yourselves," Weevil says and takes a seat on the floor as he rolls his eyes and wonders how he ended up in a room with Veronica, Logan, Kendall, Liam Fitzpatrick and Danny Boyd. This has got to be some crazy pipe dream.
Before another word can be said, the room phone rings and Veronica and Logan jump, as Logan swipes up the phone, gives a nod, and says, "Yeah, they're with me. Send 'em up."
"Looks like it's getting close to show time," Kendall replies, and Weevil notices as she wrings her hands for a moment, like she's nervous or something. It's weird, because he never would have expected her to be nervous. He looks at the clock on the VCR and realizes that it's ten minutes until eleven.
He's been pacing the length of the roof for the last hour, every now and then shifting his gaze to the neon sign right next to the ledge he'd been on nearly a year ago. He swallows thickly and continues his pacing. He glances nervously down at his watch. Five more minutes. This has been the longest hour of his life. His ears perk up at the sound of the hinges on the door to the roof squeaking, and then she's there, and two thugs are pushing her out ahead of them.
He starts to walk toward them, "Cindy, oh God, are you okay?"
He stops when the finely muscled, lean one with the dark hair and a bad eye draws her back against him and holds a knife to her throat. She whimpers, and Cassidy has to remind himself to breathe. It's as he starts breathing again that he notices the nine-millimeter in the large, brawny man's hands. The large man holds the gun on him, and the two men and Mac walk a little further out onto the roof, they're looking around, making sure no one is up there with them.
Mac swallows against the weight of the knife, her eyes closing reflectively, as she says, "I'm so sorry Cassidy."
"Cassidy?" says the man with the knife. "Who's this Cassidy? All I see is a little punk named Casey Banks. So you got a nose job and done something with your hair. It doesn't take much when your mommy's married to one of the elite. Not all of us are so lucky, Casey."
"Hey, if it's money you want fine, I can get cash or whatever, just, please let her go. She has nothing to do with this," he pleads.
The man with the shaved head and the gun snorts. "You hear that Tony. Tough as shit Casey begging for someone's life other than his own."
"Yeah, Bones, you make a point," Tony says, and then he looks around the roof one more time, because something is striking him as familiar. "And what's with the location. The seclusion I like, but why this roof?"
Tears are slipping down Mac's face at this point as it dawns on her that this is the place where Cassidy jumped on Graduation night, only he'd been pulled in through a window by his stepmother and another body had been tossed down the rest of the way.
"Cass, please, tell me you aren't thinking about…" before she can finish Tony pulls her tighter against him. "You would do best if you kept your fucking mouth shut."
"Well, if she's not allowed to talk, then how about me? A little story time never hurt anyone, but just pull the knife back a little bit, okay?" Cassidy says and both his hands are in his hair, as he struggles to keep his composure.
"So you think I'm just some little street thug that fucked you over in L.A. right? That's the gist of the story. What if I'm not? What if my real name is Cassidy Casablancas? You know it's funny, my brother and his buddies used to call me Beaver, you know to mess with my head. It took a couple of well placed bombs and a nice little swan dive to change their minds, to make them see that I was a person worth respecting. It was kind of easy too. Just push a little button and boom, no more bus. Eight kids, a journalism teacher, and a driver right over a cliff. Someone knew my secret though, so I ran him down and what do you know, right over a cliff. Everything was pretty smooth sailing after that, but good old Woody, he was a sly one. I heard about his little plane though. So I bided my time, knowing he'd run sooner or later with Keith Mars on the case, and what do you know, on graduation night his plane lit up like a firecracker, boom, bye-bye Mr. Goodwood," Cassidy says, and there is an insane bite and laughter bubbling up in his voice, and the two thugs are a little thrown by this, because maybe this kid isn't Casey, and the pregnant girl in Tony's arms is sobbing outright.
"You know, I feel terrible about the bus. I just wanted everything to stay a secret. I didn't want people knowing how fucked up I was because my little league coach thought he'd play a little one on one touch and go, but they didn't deserve to die. None of those people had ever really done anything to hurt anyone, and one press of a button and they were never given a chance. Sometimes I still wake up to their screams. Good old Curly Moran, he didn't have it coming either, but again he knew a secret. I feel a little guilty about him too. Now Woody, the little mayor of Neptune, Mr. Goodman, he's another story, he's burning in hell. Send him my regards when you meet him there, okay?" Cassidy says, and then he slips his hand in his pocket, and this is enough to lure Bones forward.
"My name is Cassidy!" he shouts as Bones finally moves into range.
Cassidy hits the speed dial, and then presses send on the phone in his pocket. A moment later the roof rocks with a solid explosion. Bones has been blown off the roof and Mac, Tony, and Cassidy have been knocked down from the force of the explosion.
Mac quickly rolls away from Tony before he can grab her and get leverage. Cassidy scrambles to his feet and makes his way toward Mac as he pushes another button on his speed dial and send, although he thinks the explosion will get the point across that he needs a little help about now.
"Are you okay?" Cassidy asks as he wraps his arms around her, and his hand rubs her swollen belly. "Both of you?"
She nods past her tears and clings to him, hiccupping now as she struggles to reign in her sobs. He watches as her eyes widen and her body trembles in fear. Cassidy turns around and sees Tony, gun in hand, the gun is pointed at Mac. He moves so that he's in front of her. If anyone has to die tonight, it's going to be him, not her.
His heart stills and she's screaming behind him as a gunshot fills the air.
The explosion rocks the building, and Veronica is on her feet in a minute. The bomb going off means there is trouble. A moment later her phone is ringing. She doesn't even look down at the ID to see Cassidy's number.
Liam, Danny, and Weevil are the first to the door. Liam is checking his gun, making sure it's ready for action. They run for the stairwell, with Veronica, Logan, and Kendall taking up the rear. Liam kicks the door and it bangs on the wall of the opening and he's the first through. He scans the rooftop, and he sees Tony Rawley with a gun trained on his cash crop and the knocked up girl, Mac or whatever they called her.
He doesn't hesitate as he takes aim, squeezes the trigger, and his arm doesn't sway or jump, because he knows the kick of a gun. It's a very familiar feeling to him. Danny and Weevil come up behind him, and Weevil gives a low whistle as he looks around the roof noticing the damage, and then Danny asks the obvious question.
"So where's Bones, cause Tony don't go nowhere without his backup?"
Cassidy lets out a hysterical laugh as he replies, "I blew him off the roof with the pipe bomb."
"That's one way to blow a fish out of water," Weevil says with a shrug.
And then an earsplitting scream erupts from Mac, and Cassidy pulls her against him, and brushes her sweat soaked hair back from her face. She's breathing hard, and her hands are anxiously running over her stomach.
"So is she pissing herself?" Danny asks, and Veronica shoves him aside as she tries to see what's going on with her friend.
"No you dumb ass! My water just broke! I've been having cramps all day, I didn't realize they were contractions!" Mac growls and then her hand is fisting into Cassidy's shirt, and she's glaring at him, "AND WHY DIDN'T YOU GIVE ME SOME KIND OF WARNING THAT YOU WERE GOING TO BLOW UP THE ROOF!"
Liam, Danny, and Logan take a step back, because they aren't really sure about what to do as far as the pregnant girl who's gone into labor is concerned. Guns, violence, fighting, snark, that is more their forte. Weevil draws close to them, looks at Mac and says, "Hey think you can manage to walk a little? Walking helps."
"I think…" she groans, and whimpers, as another contraction hits her and everything inside of her is screaming to push against it.
"Okay, too far gone. The cops are on the way because of the explosion, so has anyone had the foresight to call for an ambulance yet?" Weevil asks.
Kendall pipes up, "Well, it would seem that I'm the only with operative brains at the moment. They're on the way."
Veronica is just quiet, unsure of what to do. She's staring around at the mess that is the roof, at the body of Tony Rawley, and at Mac, panting and writhing in pain, with Cassidy holding her and trying to calm her. This is all just beyond her capability to take in right now, and that doesn't seem right, because she's always been take charge. She always knows what to do, only this time she doesn't, and she hates feeling useless.
Kendall raises an eyebrow as Weevil hands her a double mocha latte recently purchased from Java the Hut. She actually does a double take as she looks at the slightly balding man, the blonde woman, and the young, annoying little blonde boy.
"You're the computer geek's family? My God, no wonder she was so eager to move in with him," Kendall says.
"And you would be?" Samuel Mackenzie grinds out in Kendall's direction, and she's impressed with the show of hostility.
"I'm Kendall Casablancas," she replies, because it should be obvious.
"Wait, that boy that Mac is seeing," Samuel says, "The one that looks like the one she used to date."
"He's my son," Kendall bites out impatiently, taking a sip of her steaming coffee, and then she looks down at her nails.
"You're actually a mother," Natalie says before she can stop herself, and then Ryan says, "You're way to hot and young to be a mom, especially to someone as old as my sister's boyfriend."
Kendall snorts. "Thanks for that junior, but I started young."
A few minutes later Veronica, Logan and Dick walk into the waiting room, and Dick says, "So Dude, is the bun out of the oven yet? I mean it's kind of early."
Kendall rolls her eyes, and Veronica smacks him in the arm. He rubs his smarting bicep and says, "What? I want to see my brother's kid. And hey, where is the little shit, I owe him a huge apology and a big congrats."
"You mean stepbrother, don't you?" Samuel asks suspiciously, as it begins to dawn on him.
Dick tones down his smile and gives a nod, "Yeah, sure, so where is Cass?"
"He's in the delivery room with Mac," Kendall bites out.
"Oh, did he bring the camera like I told him to?" Dick asks eagerly.
Mac's parents look at him in shock, their mouths hanging open, Ryan is laughing, Logan is grinning, Veronica has her face in her hands, and Weevil is shaking his head at the fact that Dick really doesn't have a clue.
"Okay, surfer boy, let me explain something to you. We just got here after the roof of the Neptune Grand blew up while some of us were on top of it and the rest of us were below it. We didn't have time to swing by and get the camera because Mac was going into labor," Weevil says very slowly.
"Dude, how can a chick having a baby work?" Dick asks.
Weevil rolls his eyes and looks toward the ceiling for guidance before he just sits back in a chair and waits along with everyone else.
Cassidy winces at the pressure on his hand as Mac gives one last push, but he's careful about not saying anything, because out of everyone in the room he's received the most death threats in the last eight hours. And he's still shuddering at the thought of the last threat, which included a certain bit of his anatomy in a specimen jar.
Cassidy bends down and presses his lips to Mac's as he pushes the sweaty strands of her hair back from her face, and in his mind she's never looked more beautiful than in that moment, and then he turns at the sound of a healthy squalling cry and he's smiling as the doctor holds up the baby, who is the most beautiful thing Cassidy has ever laid eyes on, despite her needing to be cleaned.
He turns back to Mac and sees her smiling softly. He kisses her again and says, "Look at what we did. She's perfect. I love you so much, and she's amazing."
"I love you, too," she whispers and then her eyes drift shut, and suddenly the heart monitor that is hooked up to her starts slowing down.
Dr. Evenson looks ups, hands the baby off to a nurse and says, "Mr. Banks, I'm sorry, but you need to leave now."
Cassidy looks worriedly down at Mac, and then three men dressed in scrubs are pulling him out of the room as Dr. Evenson tells a nurse to call a code blue. Cassidy swallows thickly, and takes a deep breath. Mac is strong, whatever it is, she'll be fine. He then decides to do something worthwhile.
It doesn't take him long to find the nursery. He waits patiently, looking in the window at all of the babies, and then he sees the nurse putting her into an incubator marked Banks/Mackenzie baby. His fingers lightly stroke the glass, and he gives the door a knock.
A small, petite blonde comes to the door. He looks at her nametag and it reads, M. Chounette. She tells him to call her Marie.
Soon he's sitting in a rocking chair in his scrubs and Nurse Marie is bringing him the baby, showing him how to hold her, and then how to feed her, and she's impressed that he takes to it so naturally, as most first time fathers are a little scared to take on a baby.
Nurse Marie is surprised to see tears trailing the young father's face as he holds the baby, carefully feeding her, and whispering gently to her. It's a heartwarming sight, certainly not something one would expect from someone so young.
It's a wonder that no one has killed Dick or Ryan in the waiting room. Weevil left shortly after Dick started drumming against the back of a chair and Ryan followed his example. Kendall is sitting with her legs crossed, reading last week's Cosmo, and Mac's parents are having a quiet discussion with Logan and Veronica.
Everyone looks up and Dick and Ryan stop their drumming when a tall woman with long red hair and bright green eyes enters the room. She looks around the room at everyone who is staring at her expectantly (and in Dick and Ryan's case wantonly), and braces herself.
With a smile she says, "The baby is all cleaned up and perfectly healthy. In fact she's in the nursery, and I think her father is in there right now, feeding her as we speak," and it is there that she pauses abruptly, as everyone looks at her, expecting more.
"What about Cindy? What about my daughter?" Natalie Mackenzie asks.
And this is the part of the job that Dr. Jillian Evenson hates. She clears her throat and continues, "There were complications following the delivery. We believe that it may have resulted from recent trauma, and perhaps delayed shock. There was internal hemorrhaging, and she passed. We did everything medically possible. Mrs. Mackenzie, Mr. Mackenzie I'm sorry."
"Wait," Dick says and stands up, facing the woman. "You mean Mac is just gone? Have you told my brother? Does Cassidy know yet?"
"No, Mr. Casablancas, I haven't informed Cassidy yet," she replies, her voice suddenly stiff and formal.
Dick takes in a deep breath and looks toward the ceiling for a moment as Natalie Mackenzie sobs into the shoulder of her husband, and Veronica's short cries are muffled against Logan's chest. Dick returns his gaze to the doctor and says, "You shouldn't be the one to tell him. Take me to him, I'll do it."
Dr. Evenson lets out a short breath of relief and nods at the young blonde man. "Very well, Mr. Casablancas. He's in the nursery like I said earlier, feeding the baby. You can all go there to see the baby if you'd like through the window, though only the father, and grandparents are allowed in, two at a time."
As they follow Dr. Evenson out of the waiting room and down the hall, Veronica takes out her cell phone and sends a text message to Weevil. She's surprised when they reach the nursery and Weevil is already there, looking through the window, and her eyes widen as she follows his gaze and sees Cassidy, holding a small pink bundle in his arms. He's feeding the baby, and then the nurse, a petite little blonde thing, even shorter than Veronica, bends down and says something to Cassidy, and helps him to burp the baby.
She is amazed that he's so gentle and seems content holding and handling the baby. She never would have expected it. She looks up and sees Mac's parents, Logan, and Dick with similar expressions of surprise on their faces.
The nurse looks up and upon receiving a nod from Dr. Evenson, she says something to Cassidy and then takes the baby from his arms and returns her to the incubator. The nurse then goes to the door and looks out at the people.
"Dr. Evenson, are you going to tell him now?" she asks softly, and her eyes are tearing up a little bit.
"No," Dick says as he steps forward. "I'm going to tell him. So is their some kind of jumpsuit I'm supposed to put on before I can go in there? Cause dude, it's going to clash horribly with my hair."
The nurse looks at him in disbelief and then replies, "I'm sorry, but regulations state parents and grandparents only."
"It's okay, Marie, he's Cassidy's brother. Get him in some scrubs and let him in. He wants to be the one to tell Cassidy, and I think that might be for the best, okay?" Dr. Evenson says, and Marie gives a nod.
Dick is quickly outfitted in scrubs and then he's taken into the small room where Cassidy is sitting in the rocking chair and looking toward the area where the incubators are, a small smile on his face. He's surprised when he turns at the sound of a throat clearing and he's facing Dick.
"Dick? What are you doing in here?" he asks, and his eyes widen as he notices the solemn expression on Dick's face. "Hey, is something… What's wrong?"
Cassidy stands up and slowly approaches Dick, and Dick takes in a deep breath and says, "Cass, man, I'm so sorry. They did all they could, but I-tunes, Mac… She's gone, little bro, she's gone."
Cassidy's knees give beneath him and he falls to the floor, his palms slapping the tiles as he struggles to take in air, because it feels like he's been hit in the stomach by a raging bull. Dick kneels down and wraps his arms around his younger brother and slowly rocks him. Dick tries to say things that will help. Eventually he just settles for apologizing over and over again, for what he really doesn't know or care.
After a while, neither of them sure of how long really, Cassidy pulls back, and looks at his brother as he says, "It should have been me. I can't believe… But it's done now, and I've got a little girl to look after. Do you want to meet her? Her name is Mackenzie Cassandra Casablancas, after her mom and after me. She deserves to know everything about where she comes from, and I'm taking back my name, because it was the new name that got Cindy killed. I'll face whatever I have to, anything so that my little girl grows up safe and loved, and I'll be there for her, even though it should be Cindy here and not me."
Dick pulls his brother into another embrace and when he finally releases Cassidy he says, "It's okay, man. You'll do right by little Mac, I know you will. Now show me this amazing little girl that Uncle Dick is going to spoil rotten."
Meanwhile out in the hall, Cindy Mackenzie's parents, Kendall Casablancas, Veronica Mars, Logan Echolls, and Eli "Weevil" Navarro stand transfixed looking through the window as Cassidy takes in a deep breath, composing himself before their very eyes, and then he leads Dick to the incubator where the Banks/Mackenzie baby is dozing. They watch in surprise as Cassidy lowers his hand and gently strokes the soft, dark hair on the baby's head, and Dick stares in awe at the baby.
Cassidy looks up at his brother as the baby wakes up and opens up bright blue eyes, before she shakes her tiny fists in the air and lets everyone know that she is quite capable of getting attention. Cassidy scoops her up into his arms, mindful of her head and careful in how he holds her, because she is the single most precious thing in the world to him now. He bends down and kisses her lightly on the temple.
Dick can hardly believe that he's seeing his brother looking so natural with a baby in his arms, and he wants to ask to hold little Mac, but he's afraid he'll do something wrong, so instead he just watches, as Cassidy sways softly and the baby slowly stops crying, then Cassidy whispers, "Hey, Mackenzie, Daddy loves you, and Mommy loves you too, but she's gone to heaven for awhile, but Daddy will love you enough for the both of us. You're Daddy's little girl, yes, and Mommy is so proud. She's looking down on us right now, and smiling and laughing, because you're so pretty. You're pretty like her."
Dick can't help it as the tears come to his eyes, and for once he's not going to blame his non-existent allergies. No, he'll cry like a man, like the man he's becoming as he watches his brother hide his grief to be strong for the fragile little life tenderly held in his arms.
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