A/N: This story doesn't really have very much further to go, but hopefully y'all will continue to enjoy it as it enters the wrapping up stages :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 23

Mac wasn't sure how she felt about a trip to Darryl Marone's home address. It was a Saturday so there was a better chance of him being home than on a regular day. She had said as much as she drove Dick over there, though Mac was a little unsure as to whether she wanted to find Darryl at home or not. She was a little bemused by Dick's need to come here at all. As far as she was concerned, this guy ought to pay for what he did. Dick seemed kind of apathetic to the whole thing, and it hurt Mac to realise it. The worst of it was, she kind of understood his reasoning. He had done so much wrong to Darryl, or at least, he could see why the guy would think so. Dick understood best of anyone why he took a beating and he wasn't angry or sad anymore, he had made his peace with it, for lack of a better term.

"I don't remember what he looks like," said Dick as Mac pulled the car up outside the correct house. "I know I saw him around school. He was only a couple of years older. Betina loved her big bro."

Mac looked down at her hands in her lap and tried to think of anything to say that might help. Nothing came to mind for a long moment. Then she realised Dick wasn't moving at all, just staring across at a small house with little in the way of distinguishing features. It was an ordinary place and she supposed Darryl Marone was an ordinary guy, for the most part. The thing was, he had done something very wrong, and he ought to know how bad it really was.

"You sure you wanna-?"

"Yes," said Dick so suddenly, not just interrupting Mac but getting out of the car before she even had a chance to get her seat-belt undone.

She scrambled to go after him, and thanks to traffic didn't catch up until Dick was already on the doorstep ringing the bell. Mac wanted to ask what he was going to do or even say, but she never got the chance. The door came open pretty fast and there he was, Darryl Marone. Mac hadn't known what to expect, but she did know this was the guy, the way he was staring at Dick with anger over-ridden by confusion proved it.

"What are you doin' here?" he asked eventually.

"Dude, you know why we're here," said Dick, steely-eyed and serious as Mac had ever seen him. "Y'know, a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't have come here. I had a busted arm, busted ribs. See the ankle? Still not cool, man," he said, gesturing to the strapping around his lower leg and foot.

Darryl opened his mouth to speak, but Mac didn't give him the chance.

"And don't even try asking why you should care, or how it happened," she told him firmly. "We know it was you."

Darryl shook his head, then moved his eyes back to Dick. It was clear he was considering his options, whether to close the door in their faces, deny everything, or just laugh and say they could never prove anything. Before he could finish his mental debate, Dick made a choice for him.

"I'm not here to threaten you, man. You did what you did, I'm not denyin' that maybe I had it comin'," he admitted, ignoring Mac when she tried to tell him 'no', "but, dude, you went too far. You coulda killed me, and we both know that's mostly because Lucy had a kid and you think it could be mine."

"You never should've touched her," said Darryl, pointing a threatening finger. "And after what you did to my sister..."

Mac squeezed Dick's hand that had found it's way around hers sometime in the last couple of minutes. His fingers squeezed back a little, and then his free hand reached out to the door jamb and took hold.

"He can't stand around on the porch, unless you want him to pass out all over the place and make a real scene," said Mac to Darryl.

He narrowed his eyes, wary of being played, she supposed. Maybe he thought they wanted to come inside so Dick could suddenly flip and rip him a new one. She was about to assure him there was no nefarious plan in play when a voice behind him spoke up.

"Let him in," said Lucy, coming into view. "C'mon, Darryl, just... just let 'em in."

Mac helped Dick into the house and then turned to Lucy. "You know what he did and you're back with him?" she asked of Darryl.

"Hey, look at who you're with," she said, tilting her head at a pale looking Dick sprawled on the couch now. "Don't you dare come to my house and judge me."

She had a point, Mac knew that much. She buttoned her lip and sat down next to Dick, checking he was okay.

"I'm good, babe. No big," he promised her. "Look, I didn't come here to make trouble," he told Darryl and Lucy as they sat down opposite. "Truth is, I don't want any revenge on you for what you did. Like I said, I probably had it coming, but you gotta know how bad that could've been. You coulda killed me, man. For real."

Darryl had the grace to look ashamed of himself, eyes on the carpet for a few seconds.

"It wasn't supposed to go that far," he admitted. "I just wanted to... I don't know, make you hurt like I was hurting, I guess. When Missy said she could help make sure you pay, I had no idea it was goin' to be that serious. You were practically out cold when she shot you with that stuff, but I was kinda drunk and I went a little crazy... I'm not proud of it, okay?"

"Wow, that makes it all better," said Mac coldly.

Dick squeezed her hand, gave her a look and shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate her being on his side, but he told these two he didn't come for a fight and that was true. He wanted this over. Everybody needed to know where they stood, then they all parted ways and this could be done for good.

"Darryl's been through a lot," said Lucy, her hand on her man's shoulder. "I'm not saying what he did to you was justified. I did the wrong thing too," she told Dick what he already knew. "But it's been tough on everybody."

"You seem to have come out pretty unscathed," said Mac with a look.

Lucy snorted with laughter. "You're kidding, right? You think it's been easy? Knowing how much I hurt the man I love? Knowing what I drove him to do to somebody else? Carrying a kid, not knowing who the father was? Still not knowing. Yeah, I know, my own fault, but that doesn't stop it being hard. All I wanted was to fix things with Darryl, but after what he did to Dick... We've all done wrong."

"'Cept for Macky," Dick noted. "She saved my life that night."

"By the seem of things, not just that night," said Lucy, her eyes narrowing a little as she spotted their joined hands. "The Dick Casablancas I knew before, he wasn't the type to come sit down for a good old grown up talk about everything."

"The Dick Casablancas you knew was kind of dumb," he admitted with a smile he couldn't help. "I'm not sayin' I'm suddenly the smartest guy in the world, I'm not, but bein' messed up so bad... Point is, you needed to know what you did," he told Darryl then. "And we all need to find out who made a kid."

"Granted." Darryl nodded his head. "So, you're not going to the Sheriff about me?"

"Nope." Dick shook his head. "Wouldn't help me any. Body's almost healed, you know you made the wrong call, or at least, that you went too far. Some ways you probably did me a favour anyway."

Darryl looked confused by that, but Lucy was wearing a knowing smile. It wasn't that she agreed with what he boyfriend did to Dick, but maybe it had been good for him in the long term. He finally seemed to have grown up some, and him and this girl he called Macky, they seemed pretty close. Maybe this was how it was all supposed to work out. Of course, there was still the matter of the baby. Remembering her daughter asleep in the next room made Lucy's smile slip.

"Er, you wanna...? You wanna meet Becca?" she offered Dick, knowing he had a right, technically speaking, because he could be her father.

Dick squirmed. Looked at Mac then back to Lucy.

"No, thanks," he told her eventually. "I'll pay for the DNA, and then if... if she's mine, then we'll figure something out."

Lucy nodded that she understood. They were all on the same page here. It would be better for everyone present if Becca turned out to be Darryl's daughter. Dick wasn't ready for a kid, in spite of how he had clearly grown over the past month or two. If he ever were in a position to play Daddy, Lucy knew there was a much better candidate for Mommy than her.

Mac and Dick left soon after, leaving his number with Lucy and Darryl, a promise between them that the DNA test be carried out just as soon as possible. It was unfair on Becca, as well as everyone else, to leave things up in the air.

They were back in the car before Mac spoke again. This was just one more bizarre day in a string of similarly odd occasions. She supposed she ought to be used to it by now.

"Okay, let's get you home," she said with a forced smile as she looked over at Dick.

"No," he told her, clicking his seatbelt into place, wincing some as he found a comfortable position in the seat. "One more stop first. Mars Investigations," he told Mac.

She looked understandably confused. "Really? Well, it's Saturday, I don't even know if Veronica will be at the office..." she considered, starting the engine, "except she's a workaholic and Logan is still gone, so yeah, that's exactly where she'll be."

Veronica looked up when she heard the door. It was a surprise to find Mac with Dick in tow entering the office.

"Hey, guys," she greeted them from the other side of the Reception desk, papers in her hands. "Everything okay?"

"We went to see Darryl Marone," said Mac when Dick remained silent and awkward, despite the fact it had been his idea to come here.

"Oh." Veronica reacted with surprise. "Wow, okay," she said, ushering them into her office since she had no idea what would be said next or who could walk in in the meantime. "What happened?" she asked, taking her seat.

Mac dropped down into a chair on the other side of the desk but Dick stayed standing.

"He's sorry, whatever that means," Mac said of Darryl. "And there's going to be a DNA. Lucy's baby," she explained.

Veronica nodded in understanding, just a little confused by how serious Dick looked and why he seemed unwilling to sit down.

"That's not why we're here," he said eventually, almost as if he knew Veronica was looking for him to explain himself. "Here."

She looked up at his arm out-stretched in her direction, a familiar shaped piece of paper in his hand. Trying not to frown, Veronica took what he offered her, turning it over to read the letters and figures on the cheque. Her eyes went so wide they nearly rolled clean out of her head.

"Wow, that's a lot of zeroes!" she declared. "Dick, what is this?"

"Payment," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I know you took on the whole 'Who Beat Up Dick?' case because of Mac, or for Logan, whatever. Doesn't matter," he said, literally waving it away. "You're not like me, Ronnie. You work for your money. The work is done, so..."

It took a lot for Veronica to tear her eyes away from the substantial amount of money in her hands, but she made a point of meeting Dick's gaze before he was done speaking. He meant what he said, and the shock on Mac's face proved she had no idea why they had come here. She wasn't the reason Dick wrote the cheque and brought it over. He figured out for himself what the right thing to do was and then did it. 'Miracles do happen', Veronica thought.

"Well, thank you, Dick," she said, knowing anything else would be unfair in such a moment.

He nodded once and then realised a little too suddenly he really did ought to sit. He dropped down into the seat beside Mac, but his eyes stayed on Veronica.

"Y'know, I get why you don't like me," he told her. "I royally screwed up with you when we were kids and all. I totally get it, but things are different now. For what it's worth, I'm sorry, Veronica. For everything."

It took a minute for all of that to register with Miss Mars. He meant it, she really believed that, and Veronica had dealt with enough practised liars to know the difference. When Dick said he was sorry for everything, he really did mean for it all, every last thing that she could hate him for. It wasn't quite the epic list she would like to pretend sometimes, but there were one or two crimes that were not easily forgiven. Perhaps she could find the capacity to let them go, now that Dick actually seemed to be feeling guilty and looking for peace here.

"Thanks, Dick," she said at last, finding a hint of a smile came weirdly easily right now. "And for what it's worth to you, I'm glad you and Mac have this thing going on. I think it might just be the best thing for both of you."

Dick smiled too.

"Thanks, Ronnie."

They were home again before Mac really dare talk to Dick about what had happened today. She couldn't keep the wonder or strangely giddy laughter out of her voice when she spoke to him.

"You are just full of surprises," she said, staring up at him with something akin to real wonder in her eyes.

He didn't get a chance to say anything back when she kissed him. Not that Dick minded much. Kissing on his Macky was pretty much his favourite thing to do anyway. She was in his lap, their arms wound around each other, when suddenly she pulled away and looked too serious.

"What?"

"I love you," said Mac, suddenly going from serious to laughter in point five of a second, and Dick looked as confused as he clearly felt. "I'm sorry," Mac told him, waving her hand around as she tried to calm down. "I am, it just... it feels so weird to say that to anybody. I never really looked a guy in the eye and said... what I just said," she admitted, suddenly too embarrassed to meet his eyes. "I really don't want to freak you out, Dick, it's just... Well, you've changed a lot. All the parts of you I already liked are still there, plus a whole lot more, and a lot less of the moronic crappy parts," she said with a look that proved she was at least half-joking.

Dick didn't look amused, but then he wasn't mad either. Mac had to hope he understood where she was coming from. When she met his eyes again, she knew she was right.

"Y'know, I always had a thing for you," he said almost too seriously.

"No, you did not," she told him, shoving him in the shoulder but his grip on her body remained firm.

"C'mon! Why'd you think I was always giving you such a hard time?" he asked her. "I knew I couldn't have you, so I was an ass to you. I know it's dumb," he admitted, shaking his head.

"No," said Mac, her hands on the sides of his head, fingers messing his hair as she got him to look at her again. "It's not dumb," she promised, leaning in until their foreheads touched and then kissing his lips gently. "Y'know I was very proud of you for today. I don't know when you found your inner adult, but that guy's pretty cool."

"Yeah?" he checked. "Honestly, I have no idea either," he admitted, kissing her. "I'm just glad you were there... here... whatever," he told her. "I'm always glad you're around, Macky."

"Where else would I be?" she asked, the last thing said before they got lost in kissing each other once again.

To Be Continued...