A/N: Hey, anybody remember me? Or more to the point, do you remember this fic? I know, its been ages, and honestly, even I didn't expect to be gone this long, but I'm back now and normal service should be resuming itself from here on out. Mac, Dick, Veronica, et al are here for your continued entertainment purposes. Ready? Okay! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 7

Mac was concentrating on her work when she thought she heard a sound. At first she dismissed it as something outside or maybe just her imagination, but then she heard it again, a little louder. Somebody was yelling. That somebody was Dick.

"Damn it," Mac muttered, putting her laptop down carefully and hopping off the bed.

She hurried down the hall to Dick's room and pushed open the door. Though his eyes were still closed, it was evident that it was him who was calling in his sleep. Mac wasn't sure if he was having a nightmare or a full on flashback. If he were suddenly remembering what happened the night of the attack, it might be a mistake to wake him, but Mac had to think of Dick's health above all else. He was throwing himself around some as he yelled, his uninjured arm flinging out so suddenly that Mac was glad she hadn't gotten any closer yet or she might have been struck.

"Dick?" she called uncertainly. "Hey, Dick!" she tried again, a little louder this time.

On some level, he had to have heard her because he stopped with the flailing and moaning for a few moments. Mac moved in closer, from the left side since that arm was less likely to start waving again in its injured and secured state. She never really had to deal with this before. Nobody she knew had crazy nightmares and the like, and for the life of her Mac wasn't sure whether waking Dick was the right thing to do or not. She didn't want him to hurt himself, but at the same time waking someone from a nightmare could be dangerous, or so Mac thought. Certainly waking suddenly from sleep walking could do damage, she wasn't absolutely sure about bad dreams.

Another moan emitted from Dick and he threw his body away from her. Mac just couldn't risk letting this go on any longer. Carefully, she approached Dick's back and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Dick, wake up!" she told him loudly. "It's just a dream, wake up!"

He came to very suddenly, flipping onto his back with his eyes open very wide. Mac pulled her hand back instantly and just stared down into those wide eyes that stared back at her. She didn't want to say anything. Honestly, Mac just didn't know what the right words were. After a long moment that was probably no more than thirty seconds but felt like thirty minutes at least, Dick's uninjured arm came up, his hands running over his face.

"What the hell happened?" he asked.

Though Mac wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or her, she replied anyway.

"You seemed to be having a nightmare," she told him, noting the sweat on his face and neck now. "Or maybe a flashback?"

Dick frowned hard, glancing at Mac again. Her words made sense and yet he wasn't sure what to make of them. A flashback. She had to mean to the night he was attacked. He tried to remember the dream that he had been having, the nightmare, he was pretty sure it had been a nightmare, and yet as much fear and panic as it conjured inside him, as fast as his heart was beating because of it, he could remember no details whatsoever.

"I don't know", he admitted. "I was... Maybe it was a flashback," he admitted, "but if it was, it's gone now."

Mac let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. Whether it was relief or disappointment that made her sigh like that, she wasn't sure herself. Mostly she was just glad the nightmare was over, and that Dick hadn't hurt himself too badly. Momentum carried her down until she sat on the edge of the bed, and instinct made her straighten the covers, checking he was comfortable.

"I'm sorry," he muttered so quietly she almost didn't hear.

"What for?" asked Mac, wondering at the oddly timed apology.

Dick shook his head.

"I don't know," he admitted. "You shouldn't have to deal with all my crap."

Mac didn't know how to tell him that she didn't mind, because that made the kind of sense that's not. Maybe his nightmare hadn't been about the attack, maybe it was something else. She had to swallow hard when she realised that perhaps it went back much further in his consciousness than that, to the days of his childhood and Cassidy being a part of his life. Maybe to the night his little brother had died. Mac didn't have the words to ask something like that, or the right ones to tell him that she had nightmares too, given the nature of some of those.

"Um, it's time for your pills," she said suddenly, getting up fast from the bed and heading for the door. "You need to eat with those. You want me to make something? Or we could order in?"

Dick was still staring out of the window for a while and then suddenly he looked at her again, patented Dick Casablancas smile in place as he replied to her question.

"Pizza's always good."

"Now that's something we more than agree on," she told him, finding a smile of her own. "I'm guessing Meat Lover's Deluxe?"

"Dude, how'd you know that?"

"Lucky guess." Mac chuckled, rolling her eyes. "I'll be back."

Dick watched her go, the door almost closing behind her, and then he breathed. It was tough being a guy sometimes. He knew there was that song that started with 'sometimes it's hard to be a woman' and he guessed maybe that was true, but honestly, dudes had it tough too. Trying to be cool in front of a chick so she didn't freak out on you was hard when you felt so messed up. Not that Mackenzie seemed like the kind to freak over somebody else's nightmare, but Dick couldn't deal with telling her how shook up he felt anyway. That would be way too weird.

By the time she ordered pizza and it got delivered, Mac would never know how scared Dick had been by whatever his own mind had conjured. Hopefully that wouldn't happen again for a good long while, though he wasn't so sure. Nightmares were pretty regular for him, and worse when he couldn't self-medicate as he would like. Maybe having Mac move in here was a really dumb idea, but it was only temporary. He could handle it for a week or two and then she would be gone. Dick wasn't sure why he felt weird about the part where she left when they hadn't even been living together for a whole day yet. For now, he would blame the drugs and the nightmare. Later, he would worry about the real reasons.

Veronica felt just a little weird about hanging around outside a primary school's gates when she had no kid of her own to collect. It was a couple of hours after the school day proper ended, but after school club would be done in just a few minutes. Veronica looked down at her phone, bringing up the photographs of Stephanie Masters and Missy Stone, two women who both bartended at the 09er and also had kids who attended this particular club. There was every chance they wouldn't talk to her, maybe because their boss had told them not to, maybe just because they didn't want to. If they talked, Veronica knew they may know little or nothing about the attack on Dick a few nights ago, but she had to try. This was the only lead she had right now, and damn if she didn't know already that she was clutching at straws.

"When did that ever stop me before?" she muttered to herself, stepping closer to the gates as the kids began to file out.

Veronica lowered her sunglasses and scanned the selection of parent types greeting their little ones. Spotting one of the moms she was looking for led to her finding both as they talked together, their little ones running around playing within a few feet of them.

"Yahtzee!" said Veronica to herself as she strolled on over.

She hoped rather than believed that Stephanie and Missy would be forthcoming. In front of their kids, she would have to be careful what she asked, but if she could just arrange to meet with them some other time for some proper questioning, it was all she needed.

"Ms Masters? Ms Stone?" she said as she approached them.

"Can we help you?" asked the first, a shorter blonde with a scowl that seemed to come naturally.

"I've seen you before," said Missy, tall and statuesque with long dark hair, and a fast fading smile now she saw Veronica. "You were at the 09er, asking a whole lot of questions."

"Guilty as charged," declared Veronica, holding up her hands in mock surrender. "But nobody is in trouble, it's nothing sinister that I'm trying to do here," she promised, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her badge. "I'm a private investigator, my name is Veronica Mars, and I'm just trying to get some details about what happened to a client of mine. He was attacked in the alley out back of the club last Friday night."

"You're not a cop, so we don't have to tell you anything," said Missy, folding her arms across her ample chest. "Portia, let's go!" she called to her daughter and was soon storming away at a pace.

"Sorry about her," said Stephanie, blowing her bangs off her forehead. "Strangers around the school grounds make everybody antsy these days, but it's not like you're a weirdo or anything," she said, nodding towards the badge still grasped in Veronica's hand. "Last Friday night you said? I heard somebody took a beating, but I didn't see anything, sorry," she admitted as her son came rushing to her side and she absently ruffled his hair.

He was blond and cute as a button. Veronica hadn't known Dick at that age, but she would bet he looked like that once. Thinking such things only made her feel more sympathy for what happened to him. He was an ass these days but he was still a person, and for once, Veronica was pretty sure the guy had not deserved his fate.

"If you do think of anything that might be useful, could you please give me a call?" she asked of Stephanie, handing her a card. "Or maybe if you have any co-workers from that night who might be willing to talk to me?"

"I don't know about asking the other bartenders," she said, even as she took the card and pocketed it. "It sucks some guy got beat down, but he's not dead or anything, right? He'll live through a few bruises. I got a son to raise on little enough funds already without angering the boss man, y'know?"

"I understand," Veronica nodded. "Thanks anyway."

Stephanie Masters and her little boy walked away then and Veronica let out a weary sigh. It had been a long shot from the get go, and she was walking away from this place hardly any further forward than when she arrived. That said, Missy's need to get away from her might mean something. Could just be like her boss, a dislike for any kind of authority figure, or she could have something to hide. Veronica would keep that in mind as she continued her investigation.

Heading for the gates, she was looking in her purse for her keys more than where she was going. Suddenly she heard her name and glanced up suddenly to find a familiar face right in front of her.

"Hey, Jade," she greeted her happily, immediately crouching down to the height of the little girl at her side. "Hey, Valentina. Wow, I swear you've grown another inch since I saw you last."

"No, I didn't, silly," she giggled.

"Well, it won't take you long to catch up to my height, that's for sure," said Veronica, standing up to her full height and still feeling short beside Weevil's statuesque wife. "How are things going with you guys?"

"They're going," said Jade with a look that Veronica understood a little too well. She knew Weevil was back running with the biker gang and how his wife felt about it. Veronica opted to stay clear of the cross fire. She well understood why a woman would not want her husband mixed up in all of that. At the same time, she was well aware of Weevil's reasons for behaving the way he was of late. Thankfully, both halves of the couple let her stand outside of their disagreements and just be a friend of the whole family, which Veronica much appreciated.

"Well, I should get going. I was just here to interview a couple of witnesses, but honestly? Neither of them were all that forthcoming," she explained with a sigh.

"I did think this was a weird place for you to be hanging out" Jade noted with a smile. "But I'm glad I ran into you. Eli was just saying last night that he really wanted to catch up with you sometime soon, and that maybe we could invite you to dinner. How are you fixed for tonight?"

"Oh, that'd be great, but I really can't tonight," said Veronica awkwardly.

"Please, Veronica!" said Valentina, bouncing at her mother's side. "Come to our house! You can see my dolls and my new computer game and we can play!"

Veronica smiled at the little girls enthusiasm, marvelling one more time that this was the daughter of Eli 'Weevil' Navarro, hardened leader of the PCH biker gang. At such a young age, she already had that girlish smile and ability to twist just about anyone around her little finger inside thirty seconds. Veronica had to respect that.

"Well, maybe Friday, if that's good for you?" she asked Jade more than Valentina.

"Friday is great," she said with a wide smile. "Seven o'clock, okay?"

"Seven it is, thanks," Veronica agreed, before the women parted ways.

She was smiling genuinely as she headed back to her car. It was quite a while since she had dinner with anyone but her dad, and most of the time they barely managed to get a meal together that wasn't rushed or full of shop talk. It would actually be kind of nice to catch up with Weevil and his family, to talk about other things and eat a meal that wasn't ordered in or made by her own hand. Maybe this trip hadn't been a total bust after all.

"Oh my... You are so dead!" Mac laughed heartily as she hit the combo on her controller and her character blew Dick's avatar all to hell.

"Dude, that is so not fair!" he declared, watching the screen as his character all but imploded before his eyes.

Still it was hard not to be impressed. Mac had supreme skills at video games, and that he had never really expected. He knew she could hack and all that geek stuff, but he never thought for a second she would be up on her Call of Duty and Assassins Creed. Hours had passed since they began duking it out with complimentary pizza and soda. Dick was laid out on his bed, propped against the headboard, whilst Mac sat further down towards the foot of the bed, supported by a stack of pillows. They blew their way through battle after battle, game after game, digging into the classics now. Mac's latest triumph was beating the crap out of Dick at Mortal Kombat. She was winning almost everything and though he complained about it, Mac noticed that he hadn't stopped grinning yet. She liked that.

"There is no way you can be this good at so many games," he told her.

"Why, because I'm a woman?" asked Mac with a look, though she was trying not to laugh all the same.

"Well, yeah," he considered honestly, "but mostly because... well, you're smart. You should've been way too busy with homework and then actual work to have time to get really good at this stuff."

"All natural talent, baby," she declared, stifling a yawn. "Wow, when it did get this late?" she asked then, noticing that beyond the window the sky was mostly dark and the moon was in view already.

"No idea," said Dick, yawning himself as he dropped the controller onto the bed, shifting his body a little amongst the blankets.

He looked uncomfortable when Mac glanced back at him, though she wasn't sure why. Could have been his injuries or maybe he wanted to use the bathroom again. Mac was okay with helping him to the door of the en suite and thankfully Dick could cope alone from there, so it wasn't an issue. She opened her mouth to ask Dick what was up when he spoke first.

"Am I supposed to get some painkillers or something?" he asked, wincing a little as he shifted on the bed.
"Er, yeah," said Mac, checking her watch and then reached into the drawer of the nightstand to retrieve the correct pill bottle.

Dick was duly handed his dose and a soda to wash them down with, whilst Mac cleared away the empty pizza boxes and straightened up the bed.

"So, I should probably..." she said, hiking her thumb over her shoulder towards her own room. "Sleep would be good, right?"

"I don't know." Dick squirmed some. "If you're tired, you go. I'm not done here."

Mac watched him reach painfully for the controller and try to start up the game again. He was tired, she knew he was, and yet Dick didn't want to sleep. The nightmares from before had clearly shaken him up, whether they were from the recent past or much further back. It wasn't all that late yet and it wasn't as if Mac had anywhere to be early tomorrow.

"Hey, I'm not letting you get in extra practice just so you can kick my butt next time!" she declared, resuming her place on the bed. "Throw me those pillows, Casablancas, and prepare for total domination!"

"Hey, I got nothing against dominant chicks," he said with a saucy grin.

Mac would've thrown one of the pillows right back at him if she didn't have to worry about aggravating an injury. Instead she just shot him the severest look she could manage through the laughter that threatened and then turned her attention back to the screen.

"And y'know, you're only beating me so easy because I'm not up to my usual physical standard," Dick continued, as Mac flipped through the menu screens of the game. "I get over all this crap, and your ass is mine, Mackenzie."

Mac decided not to comment or even think too much on the connotations of that remark. She stayed facing the screen and concentrated purely on beating Dick's character into the ground one more time. He didn't seem to mind all that much, he just wanted to be doing something that wasn't sleeping. Mac was okay with that. They could both catch up on rest tomorrow, and hopefully without any more nightmares to disturb either of them. For now they were just having fun, and that was something Mac never expected when she agreed to move in here, especially not on the first day.

To Be Continued...