FIC: The Year of Living Dangerously, Part II (Veronica/Logan, Ensemble) (21/?) (WIP) (NC-17)

[vanessagalore]

Previous chapters: Ch.1-3 | Ch.4-7 | Ch.8-10 | Ch.11-13 | Ch.14-17 | Ch.18-20

Previously on The Year of Living Dangerously Part II [Spoilers for chapters 1-20]


Veronica has been restrained for an entire day, wrists and ankles handcuffed to a chair in a dark room. Every six hours, she is released and led to the bathroom, where she uses the facilities while her companion watches closely through the doorway. Even though Veronica knew this would be the situation, she feels degraded and humiliated by the constant scrutiny. Only the oldest residents are allowed any bathroom privacy, and they use their privileged positions to mock the newcomers.

Every muscle in Veronica's body aches from the unrelenting position she is forced to maintain by the restraints. She seethes inside, but forces herself to relax. She starts by concentrating on relaxing her toes, willing them to release their tension, moves up her legs to her torso, arms, neck, imagining each muscle becoming fluid and flexible; then she starts the process over again, keeping her breathing steady and slow.

When she has done the relaxation exercise ten times, she begins doing arithmetic in her head. She subtracts 8 repeatedly from 100. She adds 21 repeatedly until she reaches 840. She tries to remember all the squares, 1, 4, 9, 16...until she blanks on 15x15 and shakes her head. Then she tries to remember the name of every person in her kindergarten class. The mental exercises help pass the time; she thinks they are not going to drive me insane. She whispers, I'm okay, I'm okay.

The guard looks up and says, "Shut up, Connie, this is punishment. If you don't straighten up, you're going to be doing this a lot."

If I have anything to say about it, no girls are going to be locked up like this again, she vows.

Six weeks earlier...

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Revenge of the Coma-Baby
Veronica gets help for Duncan;
Leo finds new evidence in the desert;
Logan obsesses.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Keith: Enrico
Colantoni. Duncan 2.0: Chris Carmack
Cliff: Daran Norris. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Leo: Max Greenfield. Special Guest Star:
Katherine Heigl as the Blonde Woman.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: "REVENGE OF THE COMA-BABY"

Mon. 2/2/09: Neptune Grand Hotel, Neptune, CA

Veronica rocks Duncan in her arms for a few minutes, thinking how they should proceed. She comes to a decision and stands up. She goes to the phone and calls room service, ordering two pots of coffee and a couple burgers. Then she calls her dad and Cliff and asks them to come over, saying it's an emergency. After she hangs up, she finds the scotch bottle that Duncan has been drinking from, and she grimly pours it down the drain. Duncan protests feebly, and Veronica says matter-of-factly, "Booze is not going to help you with this. I want to hear what my dad and Cliff have to say."

When the room service arrives, she gets Duncan to drink a cup of coffee, then pushes him into the bathroom, telling him to take a shower. He emerges ten minutes later, considerably more sober, and Veronica convinces him to eat a burger and drink another cup of coffee along with copious amounts of water and some ibuprofen she finds in her purse.

By the time Cliff and her dad arrive, Duncan is morose but coherent. Veronica explains the situation. She concludes by saying, "I want to know what the legal situation is here. Duncan, give Cliff a dollar."

Duncan finds his wallet and gives Cliff the money. Veronica says, "Okay, Cliff, you're hired. What's your opinion here?"

"Well, I think you summarized it pretty well. We can't apply for custody without knowing who the father actually is. You say Duncan's attorneys haven't notified the district attorney of the results of the paternity test?" Veronica nods, and Cliff continues, "So, fortunately, the amnesty deal for the babynapping is still on the table. Speaking as your low-rent attorney: no matter what else you do, Duncan, you have to accept that amnesty. Don't be a fool; this is a one-time offer."

"But I have to surrender custody of Lilly at the same time," Duncan protests. "I'm not going to do that if there's a chance I'll lose her."

Keith breaks in, "If Duncan's not the father, who is? Duncan, did you know of anyone else who was sleeping with Meg?"

"She led me to believe that the one time we had sex was...her first time, and there was nothing about it that led me to believe she was lying," Duncan responds.

"You're telling me you believed you were unlucky enough to get a girl pregnant the very first time?" Cliff says incredulously.

"It happens, and the condom broke," he replies defensively.

"Who provided the condom?" Cliff says.

"I don't know...I don't remember. It was almost four years ago."

Cliff looks at Keith. Keith says, "Duncan, is it possible she purposely brought a defective condom to make you think you could be the father of her child?"

"Dad, that doesn't sound like Meg. She wasn't a devious person," Veronica protests. "She must have just hoped that Duncan was the father."

"Veronica, one of the nurses at the hospital told me that she suspected Meg had awakened from her coma long before anyone realized. I think Meg was capable of being more devious than we thought," Keith says. "Duncan, when you spoke to Meg after she woke up, what was her plan?"

"She wanted to get married, at least long enough to make her baby 'legitimate'. She said she would sign any pre-nup I wanted and would agree to minimal child support from me," Duncan explains.

"It sounds like Meg wanted to conceal the true parentage of her child. When the birth certificate is filled out, the husband is presumed to be the father, unless the mother declares otherwise," Cliff says.

"For what reason would Meg want to hide the father of her baby?" Veronica asks. Cliff and Keith stay silent, and Veronica bursts out, "No, I don't believe it. You think Stewart Manning is the father. Why would she protect him like that?"

Keith sighs, "She might not have been protecting her father. She might have been protecting her mother."

"It's possible," Duncan chimes in. "Meg always defended her mother. She said her father bullied her, threatened her if she argued against his rules or punishments."

"What about someone else? Someone that was sleeping with Meg?" Veronica says, still shaken by the idea that Stewart Manning could have been this evil. "She was going out with Cole before she started seeing you, Duncan. Maybe they hooked up again and weren't careful. Or that creep she was baby-sitting for, the one who came on to me?"

"What?" Duncan and Keith ask simultaneously.

"Mr. Fuller, he invited me to come to his boat and smoke a 'jay'" Veronica adds air-quotes "and fool around. Maybe he invited Meg too, and she took him up on it." Keith looks pissed and begins to pace around the room.

"Meg smoking pot? I don't think so," Duncan says positively.

"We're not worried about Meg getting high, Duncan," Veronica says with frustration. "We're trying to find out who knocked her up."

"Jesus Christ, Veronica, do you have to say it like that?" Duncan protests. "Have some respect for the dead, will you?"

"Duncan, she played you for a fool. And both of us jeopardized our futures because of her lies," Veronica says angrily. "Saint Meg didn't tell you everything."

Cliff clears his throat. "This is all very dramatic, but you're missing the point. Would Meg have lied to protect Mr. Fuller or Cole? I can't really see a reason why she would. But protect her mother? That's a pretty powerful reason to take such drastic action. Don't forget, if Mr. Manning was committing incest with his daughter, Mrs. Manning might even be criminally liable for allowing it to happen."

"But by protecting her father, she was allowing her sister Grace's abuse to continue," Duncan says.

"Maybe not," Veronica realizes. "Maybe that's why she was trying to have the Child Protection Services investigate Grace. Have Grace taken away from the family, or at least put under close supervision by CPS, but not expose the family to a horrific incest case that might put her father and mother in jail. Lizzie is old enough that Meg might have thought she'd be okay."

Keith says quietly, "You have to remember that the victim sometimes refuses to prosecute their abuser. On half of the domestic abuse calls we got when I was sheriff, the wife would refuse to press charges against her husband. When it's a family situation, logic has nothing to do with people's actions and reactions."

"Dad, that's horrible. That means...that means that Meg might have been being abused when...." Veronica can't finish, and instead walks over to her dad, who puts his arm around her.

"Duncan, is it possible?" Keith asks.

"Mr. Manning was creepy. He controlled every moment of Meg's life. When we went out, Meg had a strict curfew, and she had to phone home at several points during the evening. It was several months before we were allowed to go somewhere without an adult chaperone."

I'm surprised Meg was able to get you alone long enough to glaze the donut, Veronica thinks. Aloud, she says, "Duncan, if there's even a chance that Stewart Manning was molesting his daughter, I'm not going to allow you to run again. You have to stay and expose him."

"Allow me? You think you're going to stop me?" Duncan retorts angrily.

"Duncan! You have to do this. He can't get away with this." She turns to Keith and asks him, "Dad, what can we do? Can we compel Stewart Manning to take a paternity test?"

Cliff chimes in, "If Duncan's not the father, he has no legal standing to request a paternity test. You would need sufficient cause, some other evidence, to ask the court to order the test. But...there is such a thing as a sibling DNA test. If you can get Lizzie Manning to agree to provide a sample, we can have a test done to see if she and Lilly are siblings."

"And if the test shows that they are?" Veronica asks.

"The police would use the positive sibling DNA test as reasonable cause to investigate and charge Stewart Manning with child abuse. He would be compelled to provide a DNA sample, and if it proved that he was the father, he would be charged. Lizzie can act as an interested party on Lilly's behalf and request that Stewart Mannings' parental rights be terminated due to child abuse. Duncan could request custody at that time."

"And Rose Manning? Would she be prosecuted? Could she try to retain custody of Lilly?" Veronica asks.

Cliff replies, "I don't know. I guess it would depend on whether the courts felt she was aware of the situation. If Lizzie knew what was going on, she might be able to provide some information, and then we'd know how to proceed."

~ • ~

Mon. 2/2/09: Ranchita, CA

In Ranchita, California, near the Anza-Borrego Desert, Leo consults with the fire marshal. The fire marshal points to a distinctive burn pattern and says, "They definitely used an accelerant, probably gasoline. But what's unusual was the amount of care used to destroy the vehicle itself. My best guess would be a General Motors or Ford car from the early seventies. All combustible material was burned away in the fire."

Leo and the fire marshal walk over to the remains of the car. Leo peers at the burnt metal and asks, "Do you think you can get any vehicle information off this?"

"Maybe your crime scene techs can find something, but I've found all I can here." The fire marshal signs his report and hands it to Leo. "You know, it's weird. The owner hasn't responded to our attempts to contact them. Usually people are freaking out about their insurance claims."

As Leo returns to his car, he sees something in the dirt near his car's tire. He dons a pair of latex gloves. Leo carefully digs up the item and seals it in an evidence bag, marking it into his evidence log. He peers at it through the plastic bag and decides it's some sort of small electronic device, but the item has been crushed beyond recognition, probably by one of the official vehicles that have been investigating the arson.

~ • ~

Late Mon. 2/2/09: Somewhere in the United States

Logan decides to avoids the newspapers. He doesn't want to know the details of Hannah's murder, which at first occupied vast front-page real estate and have now begun to disappear into interior sections as the reading public yearns for the next big scandal. He refuses to turn on the television in his economy motel room; he even unplugs it so that the extra step may dissuade him if he weakens in his resolve.

His thoughts wander to Veronica more than he would like; he's determined to stay out of her life, to keep her safe from him, but she refuses to leave his memories. He imagines Veronica's comments on his voluminous Hannah stories: "Aww, that's so sweet"; "God, Logan, you're such a girl"; and "How could she have stayed away". He tries to push judgmental Veronica out of his head; hopelessly he realizes that Veronica has always been his audience, that he desperately needs her approval. She will always be the one who matters the most.

~ • ~

Late Mon. 2/2/09: Neptune Grand Hotel, Neptune, CA

Cliff and Keith discuss the custody issue with Duncan and Veronica for several hours. Cliff admits that there are few precedents in a case like this. "If Meg had been able to marry you and had fraudulently named you as the father, it would have been a different situation entirely. There is a wealth of case law that could be applied from the days before DNA testing made paternity an exact science."

Keith thinks, Dammit! it would have been preferable if Duncan had merely let this play out at the time, and says aloud, "Duncan, I'm sure it will all work out. If Stewart Manning is the father, you will be regarded as a hero who saved a child without even knowing for certain that she was your biological daughter."

Duncan regards Keith bleakly. "In what world are you living? In the Neptune I know, you can kill a girl with an ashtray and be acquitted."

Keith purses his lips and privately agrees.

Duncan continues, "She's my daughter. I can't live without her."

Keith says, "Cliff and I will talk to Lizzie. Let's see if she'll agree to do the sibling DNA test before we even think about any other plan of action."

When Cliff leaves the room to use the bathroom, Veronica pulls Keith aside. "Um, Dad? There's something you need to know about Lizzie." She steals a glance at Duncan, then continues, "Duncan offered her a half-million dollars in return for testifying against her father. She receives the funds when Duncan is awarded custody."

"Oh, Veronica, that was really not the smartest move. Bribing a witness?" Keith asks incredulously.

"Compensating her for the loss of her father's support when she testifies against him is more accurate," Veronica replies defensively. "How can Lizzie be impartial when she is dependent on her father for support? I'm sure she wants to have a college education at least as much as I do, and, in her case, that's her best chance to get away from her family eventually."

Cliff walks back in, saying, "You rich kids and your lavish lifestyle. Your bathroom's bigger than my apartment, Duncan. Ah, to be young and wealthy in Neptune."

"I'll take care of it," Keith says to Veronica. Another cover-up, he thinks.

As Keith and Cliff leave, Duncan begs Veronica to stay for awhile. "I'm going to move in here. I can't deal with my mother and think about this. I'll call Astrid and ask her to pack a bag for Jane and bring her here. Please stay until they get here. I need you, Veronica."

Veronica and Duncan sit together on the couch for a long time, both of them remembering the simplicity of their time there in the past before they knew Meg was pregnant. Duncan holds onto Veronica as if she is a lifeline to normalcy. When Astrid arrives with a sleepy Jane, Veronica stands up to go, and Duncan hugs her tightly. He whispers in her ear, "I need you, Veronica. I still love you. I've thought about you every day since I left Neptune."

Veronica stiffens, but whispers back, "I'm here for you, Duncan. It's going to be okay."

As she leaves the Neptune Grand lobby, Veronica notices a beautiful woman with blonde hair checking in. Something about her seems familiar, but even though Veronica stares at her profile for a long minute, she can't place her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Comments

[sobertears.livejournal.com]

That better not be who I think it is poking their nose in. Although I think it may be someone else too. Ah mystery!

[vanessagalore.livejournal.com]

All I'll say is that Katherine Heigl is rocking the part. She saunters through the Neptune Grand Hotel lobby like nobody's business. And after the "Gizzie" debacle, she was psyched to come work for Galore Productions.

[poniesforall.livejournal.com]

*heeheehee*

[vanessagalore.livejournal.com]

Shhh, beta-reader with access to casting sides!!

[poniesforall.livejournal.com]

Still cannot stop laughing about this title. Every time I think about it, I break down in fits of giggles. Yeah, thanks for that! Everyone thinks I'm mentally challenged.

[vanessagalore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I hear you laughing all the way across the country. It scared my cat!! I couldn't figure out the coding to do your request for the chapter title though (to make it fluorescent and flashing).

I'm glad you like my chapter titles. Sometimes that's the only humor I can eke out of these very angsty sections. I really amuse myself with them, especially that anagram which made me giggle. I'm a dork.