DISCLAIMER: Characters of Veronica Mars, any recognizable dialogue, and the canon events of their storyline belong to Rob Thomas.

A/N:

Recently found this in my "Ideas" folder.

I imagine this happening between #2.11 "Donut Run" (Duncan leaving town) and #2.12 "Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle" (Weevil out of PCH Bike Club).

Veronica had gone to follow up on a lead. Her father wouldn't have wanted her to take the case – if he had known. But he didn't know. Not about the case or where she was right now.

She had lost count of the number of times she had put herself in dangerous situations. When she was officially working on a case for Mars Investigations, her dad usually knew where she was. However, much of the time, nobody knew where she was. Occasionally, she'd tell Wallace or Mac. But if she went missing, there would be very little to go on.

Once in a while, it crossed her mind that she should make sure that someone always knew what she was working on – you know, just in case. But she hadn't put the plan into action. In fact, she'd gone out tonight to follow a lead on a case no one even knew she was working on.

She parked a block away from the warehouse she wanted to check out. After a few minutes in a dark alley, she found a side door that had been propped open. There were cigarette butts on the ground nearby. Fortunately for her, someone had gotten careless after their smoking break.

Quietly, she found her way through a large open area with shelving. In dim light and shadows, she headed for what looked like an office. She was a few feet from the door when she heard voices coming toward her from the front section of the warehouse.

Ducking behind one of the shelves, she began to look around for a better place to hide. Back near the door she had come in, there was a dark corner. Not an ideal location if someone turned on all the lights, but right now, it would give her cover.

She backed into the corner, keeping her eyes in the direction of the voices and footsteps. Just as she stepped into the shadow, someone grabbed her from behind. One arm went firmly around her torso and the other hand covered her mouth.

Warm breath and soft lips tickled her ear as the voice whispered, "Shhh."

Not a minute later, two men walked past them, within 20 feet of their location. They retrieved something and then went into the office that Veronica had wanted to check out.

She was frustrated by the complication, but with the immediate danger gone, she found herself thinking about the person who had a hold of her.

Whoever it is didn't want the other guys to discover me here. But is this person trying to help me or hurt me?

None of her inner sirens were going off, but she did not exactly feel safe either.

Several minutes later, the men exited the office and walked toward the front entrance of the warehouse. After the sound of a heavy door closing, the building became eerily quiet. By all indications, they were now alone.

The unknown someone whispered in her ear, "Gonna take my hand away now. Don't scream."

She knew that voice.

The hand on her mouth relaxed its hold as did the arm on her torso, though the arm still encircled her waist.

Turning around to face him, she said, "What are you doing here?"

"Following a lead … which turned into saving your ass."

"My ass did not need saving."

"Well, if you'd have gotten here a little earlier, you would have seen their arsenal. You're not foolish enough to think you could take them on by yourself." He paused to let her absorb that. "I thought it would be better if the hero lived long enough to fight another day."

"You weren't just trying to cop a feel?"

With a smirk and a raised eyebrow, he said, "Come on, V. No reason I can't do both."

The two of them were nearly nose to nose.

She made an unconvincing attempt to free herself from his loose embrace. "We're wasting time."

Pulling her to his chest, he said, "I don't consider this a waste of time. Looking into the eyes of a hot chick while I hold her tight against me – definitely not a waste of time."

"At the moment, the bad guys are getting away – and possibly getting away with something. So, you're definitely wasting my time." She pushed away from him and turned to go.

He followed closely behind her. "Can I at least get a raincheck?"

She turned on a dime and he slammed into her. "Weevil, what exactly do you think was about to happen back there?"

"Well, we were all close and cozy in the dark. And you didn't seem to mind that I was holding you. Then, we were gazing into each other's eyes … and you didn't immediately run away." He leaned into her as he said, "A guy can hope, can't he?"

"We don't have time for this."

"Oh, you want more than a quickie, then?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Not what I meant. We don't have time to have this discussion … and wherever it may lead."

"You agree this is leading somewhere?"

"Again ... not what I meant."

"About that raincheck ..."

She didn't reply, but her expression softened, as he turned on the charm.

"If I'm a good boy?"

"Setting the bar a bit high, aren't you?"

"True. But when I'm bad, I'm even better." He raised her hand to his mouth as if to kiss the back of it. Then, he turned it so that her palm faced him. As he held her gaze, he kissed the inside of her wrist with such tenderness that her insides turned to pudding … and then flambé.

"Definitely don't have time for this."

"Later then?"

At a literal loss for words, she replied, "Mm-hmm." It took a moment for her head to clear. Removing her hand from his grasp, she asked, "What are you even doing here?"

"Not sure what case you're working on, but it seems we have a common enemy right now."

She proceeded to briefly explain why she was there. Then, he explained what this warehouse had to do with the PCH Bike Club.

"Guess we'd better team up on this one."

"Working closely with you? Don't mind that at all, V."

A/N:

At this point, I have no plan to continue this. I have too many WIP here plus original projects. So, the many fanfic story ideas sitting in my "Ideas" folder will likely start showing up as one-shots in various fandoms.

If you haven't read my six other VMars fics, please check them out: a WeeVer series that will be five parts (Stall and its sequel Process), a WeeVer one-shot (Just One Night), a Weevil/OC one-shot (Making Friends and Influencing New Principals), an M-rated WeeVer fic set pre-Season1 (Pleasure Principle), and a WeeVer fic set one year before movie (We Used to Trade Favors).

Thanks for reading! Until next time …

~Jen