Chapter Text
King of Mars
A/N: Sorry to the people who were looking for other story/pairing alerts, but this is a LoVe story. This is extremely AU and is based off of why Lilly was really friends with Veronica as the jumping off point for a series of events that cover parts of the series and my own plot creations. It starts off at the end of the school year. Lilly is just about to finish tenth grade. Duncan and Logan are friends. Logan and Lilly are not together. The rest are finishing up ninth grade, except for Cassidy who is finishing up eighth grade.
Chapter 1
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Headmaster Richard Commons fought off the imminent headache threatening to overtake him. It was not his first meeting with Jake and Celeste Kane. Lilly had been in trouble various times before, and the meetings usually ended with a generous donation made to the school and all charges dropped. He spared a glance at the three figures in front of him. What he saw only supported his decision.
Lilly Kane would not be returning to Harvard-Westlake High School for her junior year.
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Lilly sat through the meeting with her arms and legs crossed. She kept her face impassive but her eyes were trained on her parents. They hadn't looked her way once.
From what she could see, her mother had a lovely shade of red creeping up past the neckline of her blouse. Her father only looked mildly disappointed, as if he expected this from her.
This was getting ridiculous. There was only so much stereotypical behavior Lilly could engage in to get some attention from her parents. Duncan's existence alone was enough to garner their attention, Lilly thought bitterly. It wasn't as if she didn't have fun acting unruly now or that she didn't enjoy seeing the way her mother's lips pursed and fists clenched when she misbehaved, because she did. But, somewhere along the line of pretending to act out to get her parent's behavior, Lilly stopped pretending and it came naturally to her.
She tuned in just enough to the adults' conversation to hear the Headmaster kick her out. Well. Fuck.
She focused on her parents once more to see their reaction. Still not one glance at her. Well. Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
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It was times like these that Celeste Kane couldn't help but blame Lianne Mars.
Logically, Lianne had no real part in her daughter choosing to screw the school's administrative worker, but Lianne was the catalyst that led them here.
Lianne was to blame for everything wrong in her life. For dating her husband, for screwing her husband, for playing the perfect suburban housewife to her husband. But most of all, for having a child with her husband. Oh, she knew about Lianne and Jake's affair. She'd known for years, long before Lilly was born. Business trips could only be a valid excuse for so long before Celeste hired a private investigator to tail hm.
Once she found out about the affair, Celeste began to keep tabs on Lianne, too. Keep your enemies close, after all.
Imagine her surprise when she found out that Lianne was pregnant. She just knew it was Jake's. She only suspected at first, but things were confirmed when Jake had become more absent. Right after Celeste herself had just given birth to Lilly.
Celeste bristled at the thought of Lilly. Lilly was a reminder of Celeste's mistake. It was early on in their marriage, and Celeste had just discovered her husband's affair. Lilly was the product of jealousy and spite. She had hoped that Lilly was Jake's child, but the golden tuft of hair on baby Lilly's hair confirmed her fears. She had to have been Cyrus O'Dell's. And though she had never told Cyrus, she had a feeling Cyrus had figured it out over the years.
Cyrus was not a stupid man. They ran in the same social groups, he had to have seen Lilly's golden hair and connected the dots. Luckily for Celeste, Cyrus never contested to Lilly's assumed paternity, and he and Celeste had never spoken since.
Jake was not a stupid man either. He was just blinded, Celeste figured. The morning before Celeste went into labor with Lilly, her private investigator informed her that Lianne was pregnant. Lianne must have told Jake that very day. Thus, Jake never paid any attention to the painfully obvious evidence of infidelity.
Celeste blamed Lianne Mars for everything.
She glared at the man who was currently trying to buy Lilly's way out of trouble.
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Jake Kane was not up to date in the world of science. He was more into technology. However, he couldn't help but weigh in on the nature vs. nurture debate.
To his side sat his daughter, Lilly, who had just been caught sleeping with a common white collared worker in exchange for passing grades. Yet somewhere in Neptune sat his other daughter, Veronica, who was receiving top marks and was in the running to be valedictorian.
Jake didn't think he was a bad father. He provided for his family. His wife and children had everything they could have ever wanted. More specifically, Lilly had everything she had ever asked for, but she turned out nothing like the child he and Lianne had together. From the many pictures Lianne showed him and the stories she told, Veronica was sweet and innocent, smart and sensible. Perfect, really.
Knowing what he knew, Jake knew genetics couldn't be at fault here. But perhaps he could blame the Los Angeles environment. It was bad for Lilly. Maybe he could persuade Celeste into letting them move back to his hometown. What was good for Veronica had to be good for Lilly, too.
Of course, it didn't hurt that he'd be closer to his lover.
He hoped that Duncan wouldn't mind the move. His preparations for Duncan's future in politics would be all for naught if he started rebelling now.
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A boy sat outside in the austere halls outside the Headmaster's office. The halls were designed and decorated to look centuries of years old, established. However, in reality, this building was erected only a mere decade ago when the school had become coed.
Duncan Kane was tense and furious. Lilly had been fucking someone in exchange for grades. Lilly had been fucking someone. Lilly had been fucking. Lilly. Fucking Lilly. Fuck.
Duncan knew that Lilly knew about her reputation among the boys and practically everyone who walked their school's hallowed halls.
She was known as a tease, a slut, a good time for all. Just give her a call. Hell, her phone number was written in quite a few bathroom stalls. And Lilly didn't care. She loved to have fun. To have sex. But Duncan cared. He cared all too much.
A few times, he had lost control of his anger. Once, he punched a cameraman at one of his soccer matches. It was a particularly trying day for Duncan, his mother had gotten rid of his beloved dog, Molly, without even blinking, and he recognized the guy behind the bleachers with Lilly before the start of the game. He couldn't wait to get his chance. The guy had gotten just close enough for him to use any excuse to punch him. It was satisfying to hear the sickening crunch of bones breaking.
This was what Lilly had reduced him to. Punching whoever touched her. She forced him to protect her from these people. But, if he were really honest with himself, he'd know that he should really protect her from himself.
His late night dreams had gotten progressively vivid over the past year. They weren't vague or abstract thoughts of the forbidden anymore. He and Lilly were actively engaged in sex, and he enjoyed it. He dreamt that she enjoyed it, laughing in delight like she always did. On more than a few occasions, he woke up to find his sheets stained.
He couldn't hear anything through the heavy wooden door, but that didn't mean that no punishment was being meted out. He was sure Lilly would be expelled this time. However, he didn't feel relieved by this. He didn't feel relieved at all. He didn't want to be free from his sister's suffocating yet intoxicating presence.
Resigned, he rested his head in his hands. He'll ask his parents later to let him to follow Lilly.
He groaned. He would always be chasing Lilly.
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Logan Echolls had heard about Lilly and the office worker through the grape vine from just about everyone. He felt disappointed in himself for letting it reach Duncan's ears, too.
Since they had become friends, Logan had desperately tried to keep the whispers away from Duncan because he knew Duncan was incredibly protective of Lilly. He himself didn't understand the reason to be so overprotective with his sister. But that was because Trina failed spectacularly at being a sister.
Logan remembered exactly how he and Duncan first became friends, and exactly when he started considering Duncan as someone who was good. A veritable White Knight. A foil to his own Dark Prince character.
The paparazzi had shown up to his soccer match to capture candid pictures of his father, Aaron Echolls. However, one of them had also been slinking around and distracting him from his soccer match by getting onto the sidelines of the field. During halftime, the guy had bombarded Logan with questions about his father's infidelity with a costar on the set of his most recent film. Logan was just about to snap when the cameraman had asked Logan if his mother, Lynn, had gotten plastic surgery because of Aaron's alleged affair; however, Duncan beat him to the punch. And what a magnificent punch it was.
Duncan came out of nowhere, slugged him across the face, and pummeled him to the ground. It took Logan and another teammate to pull Duncan off of the guy. For his troubles, Duncan was benched for the rest of the game. The Kane influence was evident.
After the match, Logan had asked Duncan why he beat up the other guy, and Duncan simply claimed that he had no business talking about those kinds of thing. Thus began their friendship.
And thus began Logan's regular beatings of anyone who dared talk about Lilly's extracurricular activities in front of Duncan. Logan figured that if mothers were off limits for Duncan, he must have felt the same way about sisters, too.
Logan sighed. He didn't think Lilly would get off with a suspension this time. If the other rumors were true, this wasn't the first time Lilly did this kind of thing. Money could only go so far when reputation was at stake. For an old and prestigious school like Harvard-Westlake, money was not in short supply. That meant no amount of money from 'Daddy dearest', as Lilly had referred to him, would get her out of being expelled.
What would it mean for Logan if Lilly was expelled? Duncan would surely follow his sister to protect her wherever she went.
He wasn't willing to let go of his only true friend.
He wondered if Aaron would let him follow the Kane siblings.
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Dick Casablancas and Veronica Mars had been studying for their geometry final for the past hour. Cassidy, or Beaver as some called him when not in vicinity of Veronica's wrath, was Dick's brother. He had been sitting on Veronica's right side and talking to her quietly as Dick attempted to determine the angles of multiple intersecting lines. This was a frequently observed scene in the Casablancas' household. Since third grade, Veronica had been Dick's tutor of sorts, helping him when she could so that he wouldn't have to repeat a grade or a class.
It began when Veronica had been elected third grade class monitor, and the seating arrangements had left Dick and Veronica paired up. It was then that Veronica finally noticed Dick's scores and apologize profusely for failing Dick as classroom monitor. Veronica then vowed that as long as she was there, she would help Dick with his academics. Being a girl of her word, Veronica had spent the next years tutoring Dick, and Dick was eternally grateful. Dick wasn't smart, but it didn't mean that he didn't care. It wasn't so unbelievable that the two became close friends.
"You like mysteries, right, Veronica?"
Veronica raised an eyebrow in response, anticipating his next words.
Dick continued, "Tell me exactly when I'm going to use all this because I can't figure it out." He gestured towards his geometry book.
Chuckling, she teasingly said, "Hopefully never. Because if we're lucky, you'll never be involved in the planning stages of building one of your dad's properties."
Dick was about to respond when a tune that sounded suspiciously like the music that announced Darth Vader's appearance sounded through the air.
"Hey, Maddie, babe. What's up?" A pause. "Nothing much, just studying." Another pause. "Yeah, really. With Cass." A short pause. "Just with Cass."
Veronica and Cassidy rolled their eyes. Madison, Dick's girlfriend, did not approve of Veronica. But Veronica didn't take it too personally. Madison didn't approve of any girls around Dick. Or any girls in general.
Cassidy started doing an impression of Madison, and Veronica held in her giggles. Dick shot them a glare, but he wasn't really mad. He was well aware of what they thought of Madison. He even thought that way about her himself, but he couldn't forget how Madison used to be when he first had a crush on her.
It was sixth grade, and twelve year old Dick was smitten with the kind, yet mischievous, Madison Sinclair. She was on par with Meg Manning levels of kindness, but she always laughed at and enjoyed his pranks. Sometimes she would even join in. She also often defended Dick when the other kids were laughing behind his back and mocking his stupidity.
And that was who Dick fell in love with. But Madison eventually changed, and Dick didn't let go of his memories of the old Madison. And when Madison asked him to be her boyfriend, Dick jumped at the chance to live out his boyhood dreams. Though, now it was Madison who took to mocking him.
And he was still looking for the Madison he fell in love with.
After half an hour on the phone with Madison, Veronica whispered to Dick to get off the phone so that he could study.
"Sorry, babe. Gotta get back to studying."
Veronica heard her screams while Dick hastily said goodbye.
"Good to know all that backstabbing hasn't hurt her throat."
"It's not like that, Ronnie."
"So you mean that piece of chewed gum really did just find its way into my hair that day? Huh. I guess I should get started on my strongly worded letter to Wrigley's."
"You look hotter with short hair anyway," he defended weakly. She quirked her eyebrow again and lifted a corner of her lips. Quick to change the subject, he said, "So, guess what Madison just told me."
"The person she thought was a hideous stalker was actually just her reflection?"
Cassidy snorted.
"Cute, Ronnie. No. She found that out weeks ago." They all laughed now. "Seriously though, do the names Kane or Echolls ring any bells?"
"Citizen Kane," suggested Veronica.
"Jake Kane, the software billionaire? And… Aaron Echolls, the movie star?" Cassidy supplied helpfully.
"Bingo, baby bro. Maddie just told me that Shelley told her that the Kanes and the Echollses… Echolls… Echollseses… No. Wait. One octopus. Two octopi. So, one Echolls. Two Echolli, right? Whatever. The point is, both families are moving here and they both have kids around our age."
"At least you're pretty," she said. She patted him on the head exaggeratedly to let him know she was joking.
"Be serious here," he pouted.
"Alright. They're coming here. So what? You want to give them a warm Neptune welcome? I always knew you were a big softie." Veronica smiled. "I'll get started on those friendship bracelets right away. You think those big city folk will like purple?"
Dick clamped his hand over her mouth. "Let me finish. Madison said Duncan Kane and Logan Echolls are going to be in our grade next year. And Lilly Kane is in the grade above us. And then she started bitching about how Lilly better not pull any shit on her, but I'll spare you two the details. You're welcome." He released Veronica's mouth. "Now can I get a 'Thank you, bestest friend and best big brother ever. Without you, I would never know what went on in my own school.'"
Instead he got, "Be still my beating heart. I can barely take it." She clutched her heart with one hand dramatically. "Does that work for you?"
"Come on, Ronnie. We haven't had a new kid in, like, forever."
"Untrue, Sean Friedrich moved here before high school. That was, 'like'—" she air quoted the word "—one year ago."
"Shh. Hold up. Hear that?" He looked around wildly.
Veronica looked from side to side, too. "Hear what?"
"I think I hear a murderer."
Veronica was on the defensive, "What?"
"Yeah. it's you. You're killing my buzz, woman."
Only slightly amused, she shook her head and said, "Back to work, boy."
"Slave driver."
"Not today. Forgot the whip."
When Dick looked down quickly after sticking his tongue out at her, Cassidy leaned over and whispered into Veronica's ear, "Ten bucks says Madison breaks up with Dick to hook up with either Duncan or Logan or both."
Veronica carefully took out her ID and showed it to Cassidy. Whispering back into Cassidy's ear, Veronica used her best naively perplexed voice and said, "Interesting, it says here I wasn't born yesterday. What do you make of that?"
Cassidy smiled back and ducked his head thinking that maybe she wasn't born yesterday, but he wouldn't have minded if Veronica was born even just a year earlier.
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Writing 'Madison Sinclair' on her geometry test, Madison thought and paused. Or was it 'Madison Mackenzie'? She scowled. She hated that name. She hated alliteration. Sinclair sounded so much nicer anyway. It was so much more upper class, much like herself. She smirked haughtily at the paper.
Madison's parents didn't think she knew, but she did. She stumbled upon their secret in sixth grade. She had immediately gone to her parent's room after the chauffeur picked her up from school and dropped her off to show her parents the perfect score she got on her math test. She had sensed something was off when she realized her parents were speaking with raised voices. They never did that unless they were fighting. Madison put her ear up to the door and listened even more intently. That was when she overheard them talking about Cindy Mackenzie.
At the time, Madison had been bringing her over to hang around with, and at first, Madison thought she was in trouble and her parents didn't like Cindy. Her confusion and worry grew when her father said it wasn't time for the girls to know yet. Know what, Madison wondered. And then it came, her mother had shouted that the girls were old enough to recognize that they looked nothing like the people who raised them. Her mother continued shouting in a panicked voice that if they kept hanging out with each other, they'd start noticing that they looked more like each others' parents. She said that she didn't want the girls to hate them for keeping it a secret. She said that she wanted to get to know her biological daughter, too. And, she said that they'd eventually realize or one of the parents would let it slip, that they were switched at birth.
Ironic.
Madison couldn't breathe and backed away from her parent's door after that. Her test was crumpled tightly in her small hands but was essentially forgotten. Madison's world had been shaken that day.
Her emotions went into overdrive. She was confused and unsure if what she heard was true. She was scared when she accepted that her mother had no reason to lie. She was sad when she asked herself what her real parents were thinking. Did they think about her? Where were they? They've had twelve years to talk to her.
She'd seen Cindy's parents, her biological parents, occasionally. She hadn't been to Cindy's house yet, but she'd met them a few times while she waited with Cindy for her parents to come pick her up. It was usually Cindy's mother who would warmly and excitedly wave Cindy over to hug her and help her into the car. Cindy's mother would smile goodbye to her. It was her mother who would smile goodbye to her. Just a smile before leaving with the daughter she had chosen while Madison walked over to her family chauffeur who greeted her professionally before opening the door to the car. She never received that kind of love that Cindy probably received constantly from either of her parents, real or fake. She became furious. As furious as any twelve year old could be handling a situation she didn't quite comprehend.
She threw a tantrum that day and was rewarded with a ruby red hair clip from Tiffany's. She didn't overhear any mention of Cindy again.
The day she felt that anger was the day she started her descent. She realized that she could get her way simply by pretending to throw fits or be mad at her parents. It was really too easy. But they hadn't been very good parents to start with. Not like the Mackenzies.
At school, she started to deal with her emotions irrationally and manipulatively, too. She asserted herself as the most popular and therefore most powerful girl in their class. Most of her peers responded favorably, from her point of view, to her assertion, especially when she paired herself with Dick. She had an inkling he had a crush on her and used that to exploit his popularity to support her own. Stupid as he may be, the boy was well liked by everyone. And rich. She then lashed out at Cindy and got others to join her. Even now, she never let up and never planned to.
She squinted and continued staring at the girl who was now shaking her head slightly. The girl was sitting two rows in front and one seat to the left of her, and Madison could see the striking resemblance to her own mother.
Madison sighed, returning to her test and recalling her talk with Dick last night. She sneered at the thought of Lilly Kane dethroning her and stealing her rightful position at the top of Neptune High's social ladder. Then again, it couldn't hurt to reinforce her claim to the throne. She supposed that she better pick a fight with him soon so that she'd be free to hit on both Duncan and Logan in the summer.
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Aware of the daggers being sent her way, Mac still breezed through her test. She wondered what she could have possibly done now to get Madison so riled up. It hadn't always been this way between her and Madison.
Madison had been so sweet before. In the sixth grade, Mac could remember dying her hair completely purple in a storm of pre-teen rebellion. Predictably, the other kids found it strange, and everyone started bullying her and teasing her except for Meg, Madison, and Veronica. However, Meg was too gentle to actually stop anyone. And Veronica shouldn't count because she was out sick with the flu. Madison was her savior that day. Madison told the other kids to shut up and had gone so far as to compliment her hair, saying that it was her favorite color. She then invited Mac over to hang out. Mac had been so happy; she had been on the verge of tears before Madison defended her.
They were friends for most of that year. Then, something happened. Mac didn't know what and never found out. Madison had suddenly started bullying her, and she got more kids to do it, too. And there was no new savior for Mac.
It saddened Mac to think about being friends with Madison so long ago. She shook her head to free her from her thoughts and refocused on the test before her.
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Keith Mars sat in his office poring over some new case files from that morning. Being a sheriff for a small town seemed like an easy job, but Neptune's shiny coat held cracks and shadows that only a few were privy to. It was his job as sheriff to keep the rest of the populace from knowing about the seedy underbelly of Neptune. And it was his job as a father to keep his daughter from finding out about it, too. If it were his choice, Veronica would never leave the house without him, if at all. His baby girl should live life unscathed and innocent.
He was already so proud of her for getting straight A's on her most recent report card and couldn't firmly say no when she attempted to con him into having ice cream sundaes for dinner that night to celebrate.
Her unexpected appearance at the station had greatly lifted his spirits, too. He had been in a dark mood since morning. He had caught Lianne talking to Jake on the phone again. Keith was furious that Lianne could be so careless about it. Veronica could have walked in on her at any moment and easily identify it as a conversation between a woman and her lover; a lover who was not her husband. She wasn't stupid. She knew about these types of sordid affairs, though he wished she didn't. She just hung around the station far too often. And as much as Keith didn't want her exposed to these things, he didn't really want her to be anywhere else either.
Keith honestly didn't care about Lianne's affair. He stopped caring years ago when Veronica was a baby, and he gave up hoping that his wife would someday love only him.
Of course, he was torn up about the affair at first, and Lianne had promised him it was over and said she was sorry. Variations of similar events somewhat hardened Keith.
After finding out Lianne was pregnant, Keith waited to secretly get a paternity test done as soon as possible. Keith cried out joyfully when he found out that Veronica really was his. And he was determined to take care of her as best he could. He wanted a perfect family for his perfect baby daughter. A month after Veronica was born, Keith confronted Lianne once more about the affair and told her to stop for Veronica's sake. He was relieved when she looked sincere in her apologies and promises to stop, but he had been fooled before.
Unfortunately, his suspicions proved true once more. Keith came home one day in between his shifts at the station. He wanted to pop in and play with Veronica before having to deal with the ever harsh realities of fighting crime.
Upon entering his house, Keith heard Veronica crying and discovered Lianne was nowhere to be found. Outraged, he picked up Veronica and grabbed her essentials. He then placed her in the care of Inga, the station's receptionist, and left in search of Lianne. He didn't have to look too hard. He knew where she would be and found her there, Room 207 at the Camelot Motel. He wasn't surprised to find Jake Kane there.
He simply warned Lianne never to leave Veronica alone again and said that he wouldn't divorce her. She could keep her affair for all he cared. He just needed her to be there for Veronica and consider her well being like he did.
For Veronica's sake, he would pretend to be a happy family unit. For Veronica's sake, maybe they would have ice cream for dinner tonight, her mother's requests to eat healthy foods be damned. Maybe he'll even get Veronica a puppy for her birthday, too. One that'll make so much of a mess, Lianne would have to spend all her time cleaning instead of her next meeting with Jake and the next hiding spot for her alcohol. Though, he wouldn't hold his breath.
For Veronica's sake, he would track down that killer targeting and strangling those poor young girls. He went back to focusing on the open case files in front of him, mindful of his teenage daughter conversing animatedly with his deputies.
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A/N: Not much Veronica in this chapter, but I wasn't really sure what to say from her perspective that would add to the story. At this point, there's not much depth to her. I'm really very excited about this story. I hope you guys are too. Feedback would be appreciated. I have a general idea about what I want to do with this, but things can be changed. I also may be updating this chapter occasionally, I'm not too sure I'm getting what I everything I want across.