Who: Veronica Mars and The Geek Squad Stiles Stilinski What: Tech Support When: Waaaay back in 2014 #tbt Where: Veronica’s apt (via phone call) Rating/Warnings: Gen Status: Complete
Veronica couldn’t believe she was actually calling this number. For all she knew this guy could be some creep pretending to be able to help people with computers. Or even worse he could be one of the nutso dream people. But the blonde was desperate. She had work to get done. She did not want to be at the office all night. So she might as well give this guy a chance.
She punched the Laguna number into her cellphone, tapping her fingers on the desk while she waited for whoever the hell she was calling to answer. She probably should have gotten his name. Oh well. Not important. What was important was getting her laptop fixed.
“Geek Squad, Stiles speaking,” came the reply over the line, the nasal, male-voice practically dripping with sarcasm.
Well clearly he was expecting her call. “It’s Veronica. From Valarnet.” she was sure he already knew that by the way he answered the phone but still. “So what do I do?” she asked impatiently, beyond frustrated with the situation she was in.
“Well, first, you tell me what kind of laptop you got,” Stiles replied, and there was the sound of clicking keys. Yes, he had been expecting her call, and though he may sound like a sarcastic dick, his desire to help her was genuine, though how successfully that came across was questionable. “Make, model...you know the drill.”
“It’s a Dell Inspirion. Model number 184V-546F-487A” Veronica replied. Sure that was important information to know, but she still didn’t see how this guy was going to help her over the phone.
“Ah, the Sean Connery,” Stiles replied, falling into a fairly reschpectable brogue. “That makesh it eashy.” There was the sound of Stiles’ fingers hitting keys at a ridiculous speed, and then he spoke again. “Okay. I know this is going to sound crazy? But I need you to take out the battery. Do you know how to pop it out?”
What kind of idiot did this guy think she was. Of course she knew how to take out the battery. “Yeah,” she replied not bothering to hide the annoyance and frustration in her tone. The blonde shut her laptop, turning it over and removing the battery. “Done.”
Stiles was going to overlook that, and focus on working his magic. “Good. Now this is the part that’s going to sound even more crazy. You’re going to do a hold down the power button, and control, alt, delete, and hold them all down for twelve seconds. Got it?”
“Got it.” Veronica replied before doing what she was told. She held down the buttons and counted in her head to twelve. “Okay now what?”
“Now, put the battery back in and boot it up. It should have reset whatever changes were made the most recently to the system--like, if a trojan installed itself, or whatever.” There was the sound of crunching, as Stiles munched on popcorn. “You should probably upgrade your antivirus and firewall protection.”
Once again Veronica did as she was told. To her surprise it actually worked. Maybe this guy wasn’t as big of an idiot as she thought. “I’ll be sure to do that,” she replied without any sarcasm in her voice. “Looks like it is working now,” she added since he couldn’t actually see that for himself.
“Yay,” Stiles replied, not at all ironically. “That’s what I like to hear. So, where should I send the bill?”
Veronica did not remember anything about him actually charging her. “I don’t recall that part of our discussion,” she replied although she supposed it was fair. As long as he didn’t charge her an arm and a leg. “[Address].”
There was silence, and then:
“...I was actually kidding,” Stiles replied, awkwardly. “I was trying to find out more about you in a clever way? But that totally backfired and I’m kinda looking like a dick right now, so.”
She had a feeling he might have been kidding, but still it did seem fair to repay him in some way. “How about this, I’ll buy you a coffee sometime. Then you can attempt to find out more about me,” not that he would really find out much. She was a bit of a closed book. “But I can’t promise that I won’t think you are a dick.”
Stiles’ eyes narrowed though she couldn’t see them, and he wondered where she learned the art of negotiation. He laughed a little, and then smirked. “You’re either a lawyer, or some kind of professional mediator,” he guessed. “And no, like--I might be a dick, but I’m not the kind of dick you have to placate because you’re afraid they’ll become a stalker or something. I didn’t mean ‘get to know you’ like a date, though I’m sure you’re attractive and nice and all. I actually have a boyfriend, so….”
“Lawyer,” she was a bit impressed that he had guessed it. And had fixed her computer. Maybe he wasn’t as big of an idiot as she originally thought. Oh wait, thinking she would consider a date with a however old he was? Younger than her clearly. That wasn’t too bright. “Wasn’t even thinking that. Thanks for putting ideas of stalkers in my head.”
“Hey, you gotta be careful,” Stiles’ voice was warm, teasing. “You never know what kind of people you’re going to meet on the internet.”
“Touche,” okay maybe this kid wasn’t as bad as she originally thought. “Well thanks for helping with my laptop.”
Stiles’ smirk was audible. “Anytime. Geek Squad is a rip off.”