A/N: The more I write of this, the more I realise it might be a fairly slow journey to the MaDi love, but that's the best way, right? Plus it might take a while for Veronica to solve the case as well. You guys are with me for the long haul, right? I hope so!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see Chapter 1)

Chapter 4

There wasn't much that Dick could tell Veronica about his suspected mugging. He barely remembered what happened inside of the nightclub never mind out in the alley or wherever else. She tried to ask him who he was with, if he recalled any shady characters hanging around. With the 09er being as exclusive as it was, she doubted anybody from inside would feel the need to rob Dick of his wallet and cell. Of course, that just made Veronica think more and more that maybe Mac's theory held water. Outside of Dick's room, she told her friend as much.

"It's hard to think where a mugger would've come from. I mean, sure, the other end of that alley comes out in a less high society neighbourhood, but you'd have to be pretty dumb to risk a crime almost literally on your doorstep."

"And like we said before, why do all that damage for a mugging?" said Mac, shaking her head. "He was so beat up, it doesn't make sense, unless there was another motive."

"Well, if there are any clues to be had, they don't live here," replied Veronica, putting her notebook and pen back into her bag. "I'm heading out to the crime scene, see what I can find there. It's light enough now..."

"Excuse me, Miss?"

A voice behind her made Veronica turn sharply, a young nurse smiling sweetly at her then. Immediately she put on her best look of innocence, just in case.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Oh, no, I was hoping to help you actually," she smiled. "You're Mr Casablancas' sister, right? I guess you're the person to talk to about his aftercare."

"Aftercare?" she echoed, sharing a look with Mac. "Well, er, yeah, I guess. Except me and my brother, we don't actually live together."

"Oh, okay," said the nurse thoughtfully. "Well, obviously he can't be allowed home if there's no-one there to help him. With his injuries he's going to need both supervision and assistance..."

"He lives with me," said Mac so suddenly, Veronica physically flinched. "I... I can take care of him."

It was the most unexpected thing she had ever heard, Veronica was certain, and the look on her face would've proved that if she didn't have to cover fast and seem happy about the fact Mac would be looking after her 'dearest brother'. She supposed somebody had to be there for Dick in his hour of need, but she kind of assumed he would be in the hospital for a bit and then maybe he'd hire a private nurse to work alongside his housekeeper and that would be that. Veronica certainly hadn't been prepeared for Mac to raise her hand and volunteer for the job.

"Fiancee, right?" the nurse checked with Mac who smiled and nodded.

"Cindy Mackenzie," she introduced herself. "If there's anything specific we need to know about Dick's conditions and injuries, please tell me. I just want to help him any way I can."

Veronica smiled a little then. Mac was smart enough to know that this way she would be getting all those useful details from nursey. Still, now she had said she lived with Dick she was probably going to have to follow through. Veronica felt a shudder run through her at the very idea of living in close quarters to that idiot. Sure, she felt bad that he got beat up, but that didn't mean she suddenly wanted to take care of him like a lost puppy. Veronica might actually feel more inclined to take in a lost puppy. It would probably be easier to house train.

"It's okay, V", said Mac then, a hand on her friend's arm. "You go. I know you have a lot to do. I can handle things here. I promise to take good care of your big bro," she smirked wickedly.

"Thanks, sis-to-be," she smiled right back, moving to hug Mac then. "You're maybe getting a little too good at this espionage thing, Q," she whispered in her ear,

"I learnt from the best, Bond," she whispered right back.

They parted then and Veronica headed off to the crime scene to see what else she could dig up. She didn't know yet what she expected to find, but then she rarely did know what the key piece of evidence would be until she stumbled upon it. If the day so far was anything to go by, she was likely to be surprised again yet!

"So really the only way to deal with the situation was to say you lived with Veronica or with me. Since you guys would probably kill each other within five minutes of co-habiting and I'm pretty darn sure you would not help Keith's recovery at all, I volunteered."

Mac explained things to Dick all in a rush. Honestly, she was fine with volunteering to be his live-in nurse, right up until she actually had to tell him she was going to. It was tough to know how he would take the news. He was Dick after all, and anything from a crass remark to all out tears was possible in his present state. Mostly in this moment he just looked confused, which was pretty normal, Mac thought.

"Why do I wanna live with you?" he asked, genuinely puzzled by the idea.

"Because you're going to need help right now," said Mac, looking mostly at her own hands in her lap, wondering why she had chosen to sit on the edge of the bed while she did this. "You won't be walking so well for a while, and your arm is messed up. You're probably going to feel pretty out of it for a few days, and the doctor thinks you're going to need a helping hand, just for a little while."

She wouldn't look at him. Dick thought that was weird, but then Mac had always been different to any other chick he had ever known. The fact she was here right now, actively offering to take care of him, that made no kind of sense. Of course he knew she was the nice type who wanted to help people out, but nobody ever helped Dick with anything. Well, there was Logan, but that was different. Mac and Dick certainly weren't buddies, not ever.

"Hey, so I get that you found me in the alley, you called 911 and all, because you're the good Samaritan type or whatever, but why'd you stay here? Why'd you wanna help me?"

Mac opened her mouth and closed it again. She couldn't explain it to Dick because she couldn't explain it to herself. At best, she would have to say she wanted to be there for him because nobody else was going to be, but that sounded mean or perhaps full of pity, neither of which sat well with Mac.

"Because," she said at last, glancing up to meet his eyes, "I'm too nice to condemn some other poor person to suffer having to be around you that much," she joked with a smile she couldn't help.

Though he tried to smile back, the expression looked somewhat painful. It wasn't surprising given all the cuts and bruises. Mac almost felt bad for even trying to be amusing now.

"Where'd you live anyway?" asked Dick.

"In an apartment, a couple of streets away from the 09er actually," she explained, pushing her hand back through her hair.

Mac didn't know why she was embarrassed to admit she lived on the less-awesome side of town. After all, it wasn't as if Dick didn't know she wasn't rich, and Mac wasn't ashamed not to be part of Neptune's elite. Still, it felt weird saying she was offering to take Dick in to her pokey little dive when he was used to so much better. When he made an unimpressed face, Mac knew she had lost him.

"You don't want to come stay with me," she said, a statement not a question because it was clear as anything from his expression.

"I just think maybe it would be easier if you moved in with me," he told her, immediately making a face. "Woah. That's the first time I said that to a woman."

Mac almost laughed at the way he said that. Honestly, just the idea of any kind of commitment to anyone had Dick running for the hills. Not that he was asking her to move in with him in that way. Not that he would be capable of running anywhere right now anyway.

"Since I'm pretty sure from the size of your pad that it has multiple spare rooms, I guess I could call one my own for a little while, as long as you need the help," she shrugged.

It felt almost as strange to Mac saying that as it did for Dick when he asked her to move in. At best she was offering to be his live-in help, which had implicatons Mac didn't like any more than the prospect of being a live-in lover at Chez Casablancas. Shaking her head almost imperceptibly, she put all those crazy thoughts out of her head. It was easy to do when she took a good look at Dick and relived the moment she found him in the alley, all blood and bruises. He was cleaned up now but still a real mess. He had been through so much.

"You do know if anybody finds out you're my temporary nurse, they'll laugh their asses off," he said then. "Hell, if I didn't think it'd kill me, I'd be laughing my ass off," he realised aloud. "Unless you wanna wear the hot outfit that nurses used to wear..."

That was as far as he got before Mac actually did bust up laughing, slapping him in the shoulder like a reflex for his atttude. She immediately regretted it when Dick winced terribly.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Mac quickly apologised. "I wasn't thinking, are you okay?"

"Some great nurse you are!" he told her sharply before the smirk broke through.

She probably had hurt him, but not half so much as Dick was pretending. It made her want to hit him again, but she didn't dare. It did make her laugh though, and as much as he could without hurting himself, Dick laughed too. His odd mood could at least be put down to the drugs. Mac really wasn't sure what was happening to her, unless it was lack of sleep.

"I must be crazy," she said more to herself than to him. "Seriously? I'm offering to move into Dick Casablancas' house as his own personal helper? You think they have a psych ward close by?" she asked with a smile that proved she was joking.

Dick didn't answer, didn't even smile anymore. His eyelids were dropping shut and a yawn soon escaped his lips. With the slightest shake of his head, he let out a long sigh.

"You're cool, Mackenzie," he said softly, and then he was asleep again.

Mac couldn't help but smile. "You're not all bad either, Casablancas."

Veronica could think of a hundred and one places she would rather be than a stinking alley behind a nightclub on a Saturday lunchtime. Unfortunately, this was the lot of a P.I.

"All those years of law school," she muttered to herself, though it was her decision alone to turn her back on that life.

Veronica shone a flashlight into the darkest corners of the alley, noting the blood splatters on the concrete with some distaste. It was different when you knew the victim, even if you didn't like the person all that much. There was a personal element and though Veronica was hardened to these things by now, having investigated even the murder of her own best friend, she could never fully shake the nasty feeling that gnawed at the pit of her stomach on these kinds of cases, involving people who had been a part of her life, however small or unwanted at times.

"What happened, Dick?" she said to herself, since obviously he was nowhere near.

With latex gloves covering her fingers and plastic baggies on hand, Veronica wasn't too worried about picking up any potential clues from the ground. A candy bar wrapper was more than likely just overspill from the dumpster at the other end of the alley, as was the wad of tissue, and the random pamphlet for a kids after-school club, but she grabbed each and every one just in case.

Taking one last look around, Veronica's flashlight glinted off something shiny quite close to where Dick had to have been left to bleed. There was actually a spatter of red on the small blue tube when Veornica picked it up in gloved hands and inspected it. The familiar size and shape of the cylinder gave it away as a woman's lipstick.

"Curiouser and curiouser," said Veronica, dropping her potential clue into a bag and sealing it shut.

She pulled the gloves off inside out and shoved them in yet another bag so they could be safely disposed of. Her work here was as done as it could be for now. Veronica planned to talk to both Dick and Mac again later, when he was less drugged up and she was less shocked. Then there were people at the club, the doorman, the other patrons. Somebody had to know something, but most of the people she needed were probay hungover or sleeping, certainly not ready for visitors right now. Besides, Veronica had other cases that needed her attention too, and she really needed to be home at a reasonable hour tonight. Veronica she was expecting a Skype call from Logan. The thought of her boyfriend made her smile, though talking to him today gave her a new problem. Telling him about what happened to Dick would make him worry, but concealing the truth was tantamount to lying, something she and Logan had sworn not to do this go around.

Veronica blew out a long breath as she exited the alley and put her sunglasses back over her eyes when the sun hit her full force in the face. One tough question at a time was enough.

To Be Continued...