FIC: The Year of Living Dangerously, Part II (Veronica/Logan, Ensemble) (24/?) (WIP) (NC-17)

[vanessagalore]

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




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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Sleazy Does It
Mac upgrades the Pi Sig computer security;
Veronica bumps into Keith, learns some
disturbing information and has a revelation.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Keith: Enrico
Colantoni. Mac: Tina Majorino. Dick: Ryan
Hansen. Dr. Frazier: Chris Sarandon.
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: "SLEAZY DOES IT"

Wed. 2/4/09: Hearst College, Neptune, CA

Dick opens the door to the Pi Sig frat house. When he sees Mac, he calls out to Chip Diller, "It's just another chick who can't stay away from me."

"Hilarious," Mac comments, brushing past Dick into the foyer. "How are your computers behaving?"

"Well, you know, I can't really say I've put my laptop through a full workout, but I've been making up for lost time downloading porn. It's like Christmas all over again."

Mac looks at him quizzically.

"You know...ho, ho, ho," he explains, making a lecherous face.

Despite herself, she laughs.

"You do miss me, admit it," he prods her. "I always made you laugh, Mac."

"Except for that one time, when you made me cry," she replies drily. "Take me to your computer, earthling."

Dick shuts up for once and escorts Mac to his room. She seats herself at his desk and opens the laptop to be assaulted by a picture of three generously-endowed models servicing a man. "It burns!" she cries sarcastically, pretending to cover her eyes.

"Whoops, my bad, let me get rid of that," Dick says. He taps a few keys, then tells her, "Okay, it's safe for impressionable children now."

Mac looks at the screen which is refreshingly blank, showing only a few icons. She performs a system profile and searches the computer drive for any malicious intrusions. "So far, so good." She takes a cd out of her bag and installs an application.

"I thought you said it was fixed before," Dick comments, pulling his chair closer to try to rub against Mac's leg.

She moves her chair slightly, frowning at him, and replies, "That was just a temporary fix to get you guys up and running, you know, just in case one of you wanted to do some schoolwork–"

"Not likely," Dick interrupts.

"Well, this is a more powerful security protocol. It uses a rotating encrypted password scheme that kicks in whenever a remote server asks permission to download a program, no matter how innocuous it seems. You're going to have to start up the password generator before you run your browser; now when a flirt-bot tries to initiate itself, the browser will ask for the correct password in order to continue, and the flirt-bot will not initiate. For now. This is only going to work until the flirt-bot programmers figure out a way around it. You will have to set a master password, and you'll still have to watch for any unusual behavior and let me know right away if anything seems weird."

"You are Mackalicious! Master password, huh? I'm thinking...TrouserSnake."

Mac chuckles. "All right. Look, here's how to change it." She goes through the steps slowly several times. "You should probably change it every day, if you're going to continue engaging in such risky behavior. Think of it as a condom for your computer."

"How d'you come up with this anyways?" Dick asks, impressed.

"I had a couple consultants helping me," Mac explains. "I'm actually glad you brought this to my attention; it had infected our website as well."

"Always happy to serve you, mistress," he replies. As he escorts her out of the frat house, he surprises her by suddenly grabbing her in a hug and whispering in her ear, "I really do miss you, babe."

~ • ~

Wed. 2/4/09: Neptune Medical Associates, Neptune, CA

Veronica waits in her car as the psychiatrist enters the medical building. She is considering her disguise options in case the shrink remembers her from the restaurant when she suddenly sees her father exiting the building. Dad? What are you doing here? Could this be your secret project? Her dad had said that he wanted her to take the lead on the trust attorney case for now. She scooches down in her seat, hoping that her Saturn is a common enough vehicle that her dad won't notice her. I'm being ridiculous! He knows I'm working on this case. Still she stays concealed until Keith's car is out of the parking lot. He looked upset about something, she thinks.

She makes up her mind. In her back seat, she finds a brown wig, glasses, and a colorful sweater, and puts them on. She walks into the lobby of the medical center and looks at the directory of offices. There is a physical therapist taking up the entire first floor; a general practitioner and Gordon Wilks, M.D., the psychiatrist, on the third floor; and on the second floor, a gynecologist and Robert Frazier, M.F.C.C. Uncertain what M.F.C.C. stands for, she pulls out her iPhone and runs a search on the initials, learning it's a social worker qualification: 'Marriage, Family and Child Counselor'.

She climbs the stairs to the second floor and enters a door marked 'Robert Frazier, M.F.C.C. Family Therapy and Educational Consultant'. There is no one in the waiting room, but Veronica sees some brochures in a display on the wall. She peruses them quickly, stopping short when she sees a brochure for Briar Hill Academy. Recognizing the name as the school where Hannah was sent, she skims the pamphlet. Her skin crawls; something about the brochure seems totally off to her. The quotes of the successful graduates are a little too perfect.

"May I help you?" a man says.

Veronica jumps in surprise. "Um, I was just looking at this information."

"Would you like to come and talk for a moment? Is something bothering you?" the man says. "I'm Dr. Frazier."

Veronica thinks, according to my google search, you're not really a doctor at all. "Okay," she replies. She follows the 'doctor' into his office and sits across from him in a comfortable chair.

"Let's start with your name," Frazier suggests.

"Vicky Warshawski," Veronica says.

"Vicky, tell me what's going on in your life." Frazier leans forward in his chair, appearing attentive and concerned.

"Well, uh, Dr. Frazier," Veronica says, stalling while she thinks about the phrases she just read on the brochure, "I'm not getting along too well with my parents. I'm thinking I need a change."

"Give me an example, Vicky," the counselor says. He stands up and moves to a chair next to Veronica and leans in, effectively closing off her personal space.

"Well, they found some pot in my room, and, like, they grounded me for a month. Then I snuck out to see my boyfriend, and my mom got totally hyper and said I was going to get pregnant if I didn't watch out. I said I wanted to get pregnant, and she went ballistic." Veronica starts to get into her role a little. "I don't really want to get pregnant. I just, I don't know, I act out because they're so ridiculous. It's just a little weed. They don't remember what it's like to be a teenager. Then there's the internet thing. They checked my browser history and went nuts because I was reading some blogs on livejournal. Shit, it's just stories about TV shows. Ooh, sorry, I mean, 'shoot'. What's the BFD?"

"Let's see, Vicky. The big deal is that your parents are very worried about you, and rightly so. It's a different world today. And the rules are changing every day, and your parents are having a hard time keeping up and trying to keep you safe. You might be right about needing a change. The school you have there" he motions to the brochure in Veronica's hand "is a very strict school. But students come to appreciate the rigorous discipline. And at the beginning, there's no contact with the family while you work on your program."

"That sounds great; they're making me crazy," Veronica says.

"There's intensive group therapy, and the school itself is very good. Once you get away from your friends who are doing drugs and putting pressure on you to have sex, you might find that you enjoy your school work more and will apply yourself to your studies in a new way."

"Discipline sounds tough, though. I'm not good at following the rules."

"Well, Vicky, I hate to tell you, but you sound like the perfect candidate for this school. It's the rules in life that ultimately give you freedom. When you are confronted with the craziness of an unregulated world, you have too many choices, and you end up struggling. In a disciplined environment, you actually have the freedom to explore your inner self and discover the real you."

What a load of crap, Veronica thinks. Is this guy an educational consultant or a reeducation mind-control consultant? "You might be right," she says, pretending to be rueful. "What if I decide I don't like the school? Can I quit?"

"No, Vicky. We ask our students and their parents to sign a contract committing to a six-month residency. Without a commitment, there's no possibility of improvement and achievement," Frazier responds.

"That sounds scary. And what about the security guards? That doesn't sound good."

"The security guards are just for the students' own protection," Frazier answers smoothly. "Some students have trouble with the transition at first, but you'd be surprised how many students actually end up applying for positions as counselors after graduation. And of the students who graduate Briar Hill successfully, over 90% go on to college. Most say that they wouldn't have made it through high school without the support system at Briar Hill. It's really quite a successful program."

For your bank account, she thinks sarcastically. "Is it expensive? It sounds good, but my parents don't have a lot of money."

"How expensive would a criminal defense attorney be if you got into serious trouble? How much is your parents' peace of mind worth? I bet they'd be willing to spend a lot of money to ensure your happiness and safety," Frazier replies. "Vicky, here's an inquiry form. I'd like you to fill it out, and someone will contact your parents. How did you hear about me, by the way?"

Veronica thinks fast. "Oh, I was across the hall at the gyno, and they're running really behind, and when I saw 'educational consultant' on your door, I just thought, 'I wonder what that's about.'" She reaches for the inquiry form and fills it out 'Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Warshawski, 23 Emperor Court, Neptune, CA 90909' "Thanks for talking to me today; I feel better just knowing there's another option." She waggles her fingers and gets out fast, feeling sick to her stomach that Hannah had to go to a school like that. Hannah wasn't my friend, but she didn't deserve to go to some gulag like that. No wonder she ran away.

When Veronica gets down to the lobby, she sees a therapist working with a patient learning to use a cane through the large window of the physical therapy offices. She flashes on Logan, learning to use his cane after he got his cast off. The last day I saw him happy, she thinks. She watches for a second, ruefully thinking that Logan should be concentrating on rehab instead of running away and blotting out the pain of Hannah's death with drinking and carousing.

Suddenly, she realizes what's wrong with the Madeira video. In the video, Logan's not using the cane the way the therapist taught him. I remember the therapist said, 'Don't use it on the same side as the injury.' Logan joked back, 'What about "House"? That's how he does it.' The therapist replied, 'TV shows get it wrong all the time. Use it on the opposite side; it'll take the weight off your bad leg.' She realizes she barely saw him use the cane before he took off, but still she berates herself harshly for not noticing the discrepancy before now.

It's not Logan in Madeira. It's not Logan in Madeira. Veronica can't breathe. She leans against the wall in the lobby until someone stops and asks her if she's okay. She nods and pushes herself off the wall. After retrieving her bug from the restaurant, she plans to head back to Mars Investigations. There's no way I'm going back to classes at Hearst today; I'm going to investigate Logan's disappearance again, now that I know he's not really in Madeira. Shit, Madeira. I can't believe I didn't know it was a ruse right away.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Comments

[vanessagalore.livejournal.com]

Before you flame me about why didn't Veronica notice the cane right away: remember that in my timeline, it's only been three days, and she was understandably upset about seeing 'Logan' acting out her worst nightmare. The video is supposed to be good–it fools everyone; remember Logan has vast financial resources. Okay, now you can flame me.

[sobertears.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, I won't. I'm quite excited about the developments 8-). Can't wait for more!

[vanessagalore.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness! Now of course Veronica has a new lead to figure out where Logan's hiding, so that will move the story along a bit. And we are also getting closer to Veronica's undercover op (**spoiler**). How 'bout that Keith? Veronica's a lucky girl to have a dad like that.