Title: Call Collect
Author: Batdz Angel
Disclaimer: I don't own this fabulous, wonderful show although I do wish I owned Weevil. Can I? Please? Oh well, I tried...
Pairing/Character: WeeVer, mentions of Lilly/Weevil, LoVe, Duncan/Veronica
Rating: R/M for mentions of sexual intimacy.
Archive: Just drop me an e-mail or message on my Livejournal and let me know where. I'm always up for sites dedicated to my OTP.
Summary: He dialed her apartment with numb fingers. When she picked up, he didn't know what to say until she whispered, "Come home."
Spoilers: Anything goes.
Author's Note: I wanted some angst for the pairing of WeeVer. So I wrote some.

--

It's urgent, this feeling between them. It's close to consuming them because they can barely keep their hands off one another these days and it's so hard for her to concentrate when he isn't touching her and it's so hard for him to remember how his life used to be before she came into it, all attitude and sarcasm.

She pulls off his shirt, running a hand over his chest, over his flat copper nipples and he sighs against her mouth as he fumbles with her bra. They laugh over the nervousness because they shouldn't be nervous since they'd been sleeping together for months now but still isn't nervousness a good thing? The knowledge that no matter how many times they've seen each other naked, that it's still new to them both and isn't that the thing they want?

And then he's rocking up into her and she's gasping and saying his name, "Eli, Eli, Eli..." like a chant, and he's saying "Love you, love you, so much..." and she laughs as she remembers how when they first started this he had said that most girls didn't call him Eli but Weevil and she had answered, "What's the difference?" making him kiss her senseless with a smile on his dark features.

And then they come down, both sedate and numb with happiness. He kisses her sweaty brow and she nuzzles his neck as she murmurs, "Love you..." as they drift off to sleep.

The sounds of banging and shouting awakens them both and they scramble for their clothing. She is just pulling on her shirt when Sheriff Lamb throws open her door, saying that Weevil is under arrest and when she asks why, he sneers and says, "For the murder of Lilly Kane."

Horror fills her and she spins to face Weevil, who stares at Lamb with shock and disbelief written on his features. He'd protested even as he was handcuffed and she had cried as he shouted at her, "Don't you fucking believe 'em V. Don't, you hear me? I didn't kill her, you know I didn't. I loved her, I loved Lilly..."

And when her father comes home, she is sitting in her room, rocking on her bed that still smells like the two of them, holding Weevil's leather jacket in her arms. Keith merely looks at her and says that he's gone, he ran off as soon as the police let him go, they don't know where he is and if he doesn't come home soon, they'll put a bounty on his head.

"Honey, are you listening?" he asks and she jerks away from his touch as she cries bitterly for Eli and Lilly and herself.

--

It had been exactly four days, two hours, twenty-five minutes, and forty seconds when the phone rang. Veronica Mars practically threw herself over the couch, scrambling for it as her friends Logan Echoll's and Duncan Kane watched with her father, Keith, and her best friend Wallace Fennell. She accidentally kneed Logan in the thigh, causing him to squeak in pain as he got out of her way with a disgruntled, "Jesus Ronnie!"

"Sorry," she managed as she brought the phone to her lips. "Hello? Eli?"

"You have a collect call from Mexicali, Baja. Will you accept the charges?"

"Yes."

Silence, the sound of cars passing by and people laughing and talking. Veronica chewed on her lips as she settled herself down, saying, "Eli? Is that you?"

She looked up at the others and smiled gratefully as they dispersed; Logan, Duncan, and Wallace going outside of the apartment while her dad went to his room. She hunched foward and whispered, "How are you?"

Silence again and she tried with, "Are you still close by at least?"

The sound of his breath over the phone had her closing her eyes. She knew how he breathed, knew how he sighed when he was happy about something. Hadn't she been the cause of his sighs before? Leaning back against the sofa, she curled her legs beneath her body and said, "They found out you're innocent. That you didn't kill Lilly. But they still don't know who it is exactly, just that you're not the one."

A sound, perhaps a laugh? She wasn't sure.

"I told them that I didn't think you did it," she said confidently. "That you loved her and that you wouldn't hurt her. Lamb says that I'm blinded by my relationship with you but I asked if they'd even done a polygraph and he couldn't answer."

A tired sigh over the phone and she closed her eyes tightly as she whispered, "How long am I going to have to wait?"

A cough and she added, "Not that it matters. I'll wait forever if I have too."

A quiet chortle and she smiled through her tears as she said, "Your grandmother misses you. She said to tell you to come home..."

A tear slid down her face, her voice cracking with emotion: "Come home."

The dial tone had her hanging up the phone and she curled up on the sofa, soft sobs tearing from her chest. She clutched the cross around her neck and closed her eyes tightly.

A clatter startles her and she watches as a figure appears outside of her window. Scrambling out of her bed and opening the latch, she throws her arms around Eli's neck, peppering his face with kisses as she murmurs, "Oh, you're okay..."

"Veronica," he pushes her away with a moan and she stares at him with dawning shock as he says, "I can't stay baby. I need to get out of town till this blows over. I love you V, you know that right?"

"Eli?"

"I love you," he says fiercely as he kisses her and presses something cold and heavy into her hands. "I love you."

And then he is gone, leaving her full of confusion and clutching his cross so tightly that her palms bleed.

--

He'd been living in a hotel room in Mexicali, killing roaches during the night and drinking cheap beer. Tired and drained, he'd found a job selling sodas on the border and was making enough to keep him from starving to death. At night, he stayed in his room, listening to the sounds of people outside and screaming of hookers being beaten in other rooms. He'd found a payphone near the entrance to the border and bought himself two months worth of pre-paid calling cards.

He dreamt of Veronica when he didn't drink enough and dreamt of Lilly when he drank too much. The dreams with Veronica were soft and sweet while Lilly's were harsh and painful to the point he'd wake up gasping for the air that he thought he was losing.

He'd made the way to the phone before, had stood in front of it with Veronica's number flashing in his mind's eye. But every time he tried to call, he'd hear Lilly's voice in his head, laughing as she said, "You really think she cares Weevil? She doesn't really. She's just out for a good time like I was..."

And he'd put the phone back on the hook to go and hide in his little roach-infested room. He'd have nightmares of coming home and finding Echolls or Kane in his girl's bed, and hearing Veronica's sweet voice laugh and say scathingly, "What you thought I meant it? God, Lilly was right, you are gullible..."

And he'd wake up sweating and Veronica's name a scream on his lips. After some time, he was propositioned during the afternoons he'd come back from selling sodas, and each time he'd decline but take one of the girls out to eat some tacos or something. They'd be grateful and insist to repay him but something in his face would have them smiling as they said knowingly, "Ah, tíenes una novía? Yo entíendo."

Oh, you got a girlfriend? I understand.

But it had been weeks since he had heard her voice and he'd stumbled to the phone late one night, dialing her number with shaking fingers. She'd answered, her voice sleepy and incoherent, "Hello?" and he'd held his breath as she listened before murmuring, "Eli? That you?"

He'd hung up and passed out on the floor of his room with tear tracks staining his cheeks. He couldn't go back until he proved he hadn't killed Lilly, couldn't see his precious girl until she found out the truth...

She wiggles beneath him, her body pliant beneath his hands and mouth. She mewls with pleasure as he sucks a pink nipple into his lips and he laughs against her as she drifts her hands over his sides. An impish gleam enters her blue eyes as she digs her fingers into his sides and soon he is laughing as he kisses her again, wet and moist kisses that leave them both gasping. She opens up her knees and he settles himself between them, causing her to sigh with pleasure. Later, she murmurs drowsily, "I love you," as they lay together, spooning. He props his head up on one arm and says quietly, "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she mumbles as she rolls over to face him, tossing her leg over his hip. She smiles up at him, eyes full of contentment and happiness as he lifts her hand and kisses her palm softly...

He finally decided to call her one night and as he stood in front of the phone, staring at it without any idea of what he'd say, he realized that he was being watched by the night guards. One of them nodded to him, sympathy written in his eyes, and he sighed before picking up the phone. He dialed her apartment with numb fingers. When she picked up, he didn't know what to say until she whispered, "Come home."

He hung up and darted back to the hotel, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Scrambling for his meager possessions, he was walking towards the border by dawn and was back in the United States before lunch. Finding a bus depot, he climbed onto the first bus that was going towards Los Angels.

'I'm coming home baby,' he thought as he sat down, staring out the window. 'Fuck those idiots who can't see what's right in front of them...'

He drifts off and sleeps in fits, waking up every few hours. When he sees the sign stating that Los Angeles is only a hundred miles away, his adrenaline rushes back to him and he fidgets in his seat, fingers drumming on the window anxiously. He gets to Los Angeles and finds a bus headed towards Neptune which has the ticket vendor giving him a funny look, as if to say What the hell you going there for?

He gets back onto a bus and dozes not wanting to miss his chance to get home. To get to Veronica...

When he gets to Neptune, the sun has already set and there's a light sheen of summer rain falling. He merely heads straight to her apartment, ignoring anything else in his path. Finally, he stands at the front door and lifted his fist to knock.

--

He's tracing a pattern on her bare skin and she smiles as she mumbles, "What are you writing?"

"I'm writing," Eli answers matter-of-factly. "This here body belongs to one Eli Navarro. No one may touch but said Eli Navarro."

"Neanderthal."

"When it comes to you baby, I'm a goddamn caveman," He illustrates by nipping playfully at the back of her neck. She screeches into her pillow and giggles as his fingers dig into her sides. Rolling onto her back, she smiles up at him as he pulls the covers over their heads, cocooning them in a warm haven. He kisses her gently on the mouth, lips tracing a line from her jaw to her neck. She sighs, arms wrapping around him as she presses her body against his and smiles as he lets out a moan of pleasure.

Veronica purred sleepily as she felt something brush against her face. She frowned deeply and waved a hand at the air, a chortle of amusement causing her to mumble irritably. She curled her body into itself and mumbled, "Five minutes Dad..."

"I know you didn't just call me Dad."

The deep voice had her eyes snapping open and she scrambled to sit up. Warm brown eyes laughed at her as she stared at him with wide blue orbs before letting out a scream of happiness. Throwing herself into his arms, Veronica sobbed, "You're home..." as he peppered her face with kisses.

"Are you real?" she demanded as she pulled away to frame his face with her hands. "I'm not dreaming, right?"

"No, baby," he smiled at her. "I'm home."

She sobbed again and kissed himfiercely, and he groaned against her mouth, fingers tangling themselves into her golden hair, and they fall on the bed with their arms and legs tangled together. Desperation and fear has Veronica clawing at his clothing, and as his bare skin touched hers, she groaned at the familiar feeling.

"Eli..."

Eli kissed her savagely, cupping her face with his hands, tongue delving into her mouth and twisting with hers. He kissed her jaw and then her eyes, murmuring, "I went crazy without you V, so crazy and I didn't know what to do or how to survive, I missed you so much girl, so damn much..."

And then he's inside of her and they're rocking together, Veronica staring up into Eli's beautifully dark face and she thought, 'He didn't kill Lilly, I know he didn't, he couldn't have killed her because he loved her almost as much as he does me and Eli would never kill someone he loves...'

And then they both shuddered and Veronica wrapped her arms around him tightly, tears spilling down her face as she murmured, "I love you Eli. I love you, I love you, I love you..."

Eli closed his eyes and let the tears come. He clung to her, soft sobs spilling out of his throat and Veronica merely kept his head pillowed on her breasts as he cried.

--

"I never knew you were such a masochist, Veronica Mars."

Veronica stiffens and turns to look at Lilly. She stares at her dead friend and asks, "Why are you here Lilly? What could I possibly have done to you now?"

"Oh, c'mon Veronica," Lilly smirks from where she stands by the bed, watching her and Weevil. "I mean, really. Do you really think he can make you happy?"

"Yeah, I do," Veronica says harshly. "Because unlike you Lilly, he moved on from whatever it was that you two had. He let you go. He let you rest in peace." She tilts her chin up challengingly. "Why don't you do the same?"

She awoke with a start and blinked blearily at the sunshine coming through her window. Looking at the form sleeping beside her, a smile crossed Veronica's features and she murmured, "Not a dream. Oh."

Weevil stirred sleepily, one chocolate-colored orb opening slowly. A happy smile crossed his features and he murmured, "Hey baby..." as he pulled Veronica down for a sleepy kiss. Veronica smiled against him and sighed as she wrapped one leg around his hip. Weevil wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her hair.

"Do you love me more than you did Lilly?"

The quiet question took him by surprise and Veronica closed her eyes as she listened to his silence. She kept her eyes trained on his bare skin, tracing a pattern with her nail. Weevil frowned deeply and said, his voice a rumble beneath her cheek, "Where would you get that idea?"

"Logan and I," she said after a moment. "He was trying to find her again, you know? And I was so lonely and scared of being alone that I just tried to forget what a jerk he was to me for a year. And Duncan couldn't look at me without fear in his eyes..."

Weevil kept a firm grip on her as she wiggled around to lay fully on top of him. Veronica swallowed as she looked down at his face and said, "Is that what this is? I'm a replacement for Lilly?"

"No," he said without hesitation. "Believe me, no one would ever replace you Veronica. There isn't anyone else like you out there. I've looked."

"Eli..."

"Let me finish," he sat up, pulling her into his arms. "Lilly and me, yeah, we had a fling. And that's all it was V, a fling. I thought it meant more but it didn't. It's like when you want that one piece of cake and you get it but it doesn't taste as good as it looked, you know? Lilly was a wild girl but she wasn't the girl for me. You are."

"You said you could've loved her," she whispered and Weevil sighed as he tilted her chin up. "I said I could've," he said quietly. "And maybe if she hadn't been so fucked, she could've loved me too. But I know that I would've always been lookin' at her and wonderin' when she'd leave me for someone else. 'Cause Lilly wasn't mine; she never let herself fall that deep."

"And I have?"

"V, I look at you," he whispered. "And I see a life for me that I want. Not the life I've been dealt or the one everyone in this damn town expects, but the life I want. With a decent job and two little girls with your eyes, and hell, Backup with a litter of puppies."

She laughed as the tears in her eyes slid down her cheek. Weevil kissed her quietly and said, "I ran 'cause I was scared you'd believe them. That you'd think I'd killed her. I'm sorry for that baby..."

"I know," she whispered. "I know that I didn't defend you when it counted and I'm so sorry for that..."

"V..."

"No, Weevil," she took a deep breath. "I love you. I love you so much it scares me sometimes you know? And I know it would be so much easier to date Duncan or Logan or anyone else because I wouldn't let myself fall that deep with them. But you look at me and it's like I can see that I'm not broken like I thought. That I matter to somebody and I love you so much for that."

They kissed languidly and started as knock sounded. Keith Mars's voice came from the other side of the door, saying, "Honey? Would you and Eli please come out for breakfast? Dressed?"

Veronica laughed out loud and called, "Okay Dad!"

"And I really don't need to know anything you've discussed," Keith called. "In fact, why don't I just go outside while the two of you get dressed? You know, put on something decent. That covers lots of skin."

"Dad!" came the shriek from Veronica as Weevil snorted in embarrassment, a blush spreading from his cheeks to his ears. Veronica cooed at the sight as she kissed him soundly on the mouth with a loud smack.

"I heard that!" Keith called amused from the other side of the door as he walked away.

Giggling, Veronica turned to Weevil who smiled up at her. They took turns showering and dressed in her room. When she was done finishing her makeup, Weevil took her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. She smiled and let out a gasp, reaching for the chain around her neck, saying, "Here..."

"Keep it," Weevil interrupted with a fond smile. "It looks better on you anyways." He kissed her gently and she smiled against his mouth. As they pressed their foreheads together, she said quietly, "So, we're going to finish solving this mystery?"

"The biker and his girl detective?" Weevil grinned at her. "You bet your ass."

"You make me sound like Nancy Drew," Veronica complained as he led her out of her bedroom. Weevil snorted and said, "Baby, what do you think everyone calls you at school?" causing Veronica to let out a gasp of mock outrage. "Does that make you a Hardy Boy?" she asked innocently and Weevil looked at her with horror on his features.

"Don't push it woman," he growled and Veronica kissed him with a laugh as he lifted her up into the air with his arms, contentment and happiness pouring from them both

Finis