One Week Matchmakers
Author: Krys Yuy
Summary: Post-Summer School Blues. Casey and Derek team up for one more week of summer camp. With six little scheming matchmakers only causing more trouble, how are they ever going to find time to see how they really feel about each other?
Pairing/Characters: Derek Venturi/Casey MacDonald
Warning: Spoilers for latest Life with Derek episodes.
Rating: K
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters used.
Author's Note: Inspired by the latest LwD episode, "Summer School Blues". Pure Dasey, folks. Be sure to tune in. For those who haven't seen the episode yet, the quick back story is that "Derek sneaks out of summer school to inject some fun into Casey's dull camp curriculum". And well, it works. This chapter begins at the end of the episode as Derek passes his physics exam. We really only get glimpses of the camp kids, so their personalities are all created from my mind from the hints we get in the episode. Other than that, it's all me, so I take creative freedom when writing them. This story will have at least seven chapters, just fyi. I don't know how often I'll update as I'm studying abroad – so things might be a little shaky in the beginning, but once I get settled down in my dorms over in Japan, it shouldn't be a problem. I have another multi-chapter Dasey fic coming out soon, so be sure to check that out too (see my FFdotNet profile for title)! Happy reading!
Chapter 01 – Friday: Operation Matchmaker
Casey smiled nervously as she tried to think of how to ask him to stay. "Uh, Derek, the kids and I were wondering if, maybe, you wanted… to stay in summer camp?" she requested hopefully, clasping her hands together and looking up at him.
Derek tilted his head as if he were thinking about it, blowing out a breath of air.
"One more week! One more week! One more week!" the camp kids cried, jumping up and down in excitement. "One more week! One more week!"
The smile he was holding in escaped as he answered, "Ah, I guess I could do something." His tone was reluctant but his grin gave him away as he picked Marti up in his arms and stood in the center as the kids cheered around him. He shrugged sheepishly at Casey, who was clapping. "What can I say? Kids dig me!"
Marti hugged him tighter, overjoyed that her big brother had decided to stay. "Best summer ever!" she exclaimed, and her friends shouted in agreement.
Casey smiled fondly at the picture of Derek holding his little sister while surrounded by happy children. Derek noticed her smile and grinned at her, winking, and her heart warmed unexpectedly. She attributed it to the fact that this was one of the rare times she saw Derek less like his jerk self, and more like the good guy she knew was there… somewhere.
Unbeknownst to either teenager, Marti looked between the two of them, grinning as an absolutely fabulous idea formed in her head.
–
"All right, the Alpha Force headquarters have been invaded by extremely strong aliens. So strong that only the captain –" Derek pointed to himself and then at Casey. "– and the lieutenant can fight them off. You've been ordered to hide out until either I or Lieutenant MacDonald find you, so you'll know it's safe."
"You have five minutes before the ship hull is breached," Casey interjected, surprising Derek. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and grinned. "So be sure to find a good hiding place, and remember to bring your ammo –" She held up a few paper balls. "– with you."
"Oh, and the aliens have the power to shape-shift." Derek bit back a grin as the children gasped. "So you have to be careful when you see us approach because it might be an enemy in disguise," he said ominously. The kids started whispering to each other excitedly. "Remember to ask for the secret password as a form of authentic identification, so you'll know it's us."
A hand shot up and Derek pointed at him. "What's the password?" Jack, a boy with brown hair, asked curiously.
"I'm so glad you asked that. It's –" He winked at Casey. "'King Derek'."
Casey rolled her eyes. Figures.
"Smerek! That's the lamest password ever!" Marti exclaimed, crossing her arms and glaring at him. She nudged the blonde girl next to her, who was wearing a colorful baseball cap backwards. "Right, Brooke?"
"I don't know," the pigtailed girl replied shyly, looking up at Derek with starry eyes. "I think it's cool."
"I agree with Marti – lame!" shouted Carlos, an African-American boy with dreadlocks. He was the tallest boy in Casey's day camp group, though Nathan was a close match.
"Yeah Captain. Couldn't you come up with something else?" the Asian boy asked with a disappointed sigh. He turned to his younger brother. "What do you think, Nick?"
For once, the brothers didn't have a difference in opinion. "The lieutenant needs to come up with a new password!" he declared, pointing at Casey.
A chorus of agreements came from all the children then, even from Brooke, though in reluctance as she looked at Derek shyly. Casey had to hide a smile behind a cough as Derek pretended to pout.
"What's this? A mutiny?" Derek asked, frowning. His stern look wavered as they just nodded in response. "What insubordination!"
The kids only gave him puzzled looks then and he sighed. "All right, forget that. What do you want the password to be?"
Casey was surprised when he turned to give her a pointed look, crossing his arms expectantly. "You want me to pick?"
Derek made a grand sweeping gesture towards the kids, who were now staring at her. "The Alpha Force has spoken," he stated solemnly.
"Umm… well then." Casey's hands wrung nervously behind her back. She didn't want to disappoint them by giving another boring password. "How about…" She thought of what Derek had said during the Ultimate Space Obstacle Challenge. "… 'lightspeed matrix'?" She held her breath.
After a pause, the kids all started talking animatedly amongst themselves with bright grins. She exhaled slowly, relief coloring her features.
"How's that better than 'King Derek'?" her counseling partner said with a huff, shaking his head.
Casey patted his shoulder in mock sympathy. "Let it go, Captain Venturi." She gestured to their charges, who were practically bouncing on the balls of their feet. "Your troop awaits your orders."
Derek coughed, trying to regain a bit of his lost pride as he straightened his back. "Let's see… everyone line up!"
They immediately stopped whispering and scrambled to stand side by side.
"Does anyone need to be re-briefed on the mission statement?" he asked, walking back and forth from one end of the line to the other. He looked down at each of them as if he was inspecting their 'uniforms'. They shook their heads and he nodded. "And what's the…" He sighed as if it was terribly difficult for him to say what he was about to say. "… password?"
"Lightspeed matrix!" they all chimed enthusiastically.
Casey moved next to him, smiling at the kids, as she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "You just wanted to hear them call you 'king', didn't you?"
He shrugged. "It's just as good, if not better, then 'captain'," he replied nonchalantly.
Casey gave him an exasperated smile before clapping her hands once to get the kids' attention. Breaking character, she kneeled and looked at them from their eye-level. "Remember that you can only hide inside the high school. Outside is off-limits," she instructed firmly. "We'll have an hour to find you, and if we haven't found everybody by then, we'll sound the school bell so you guys know to come back. All right?"
They nodded obediently, but didn't say anything.
"Did you hear her, star troopers?" Derek barked in an authoritative tone, making the kids jump.
They straightened their backs as best they could. "Aye, aye, captain!"
"We're in space, not on a pirate ship, but good," he replied, nodding, a twinkle in his eye. He checked his watch and lifted his hand in the air. "The aliens are currently breaching the ship hull, and you've been ordered to hide in five…"
The kids tensed and their eyes darted all around as they tried to figure out where they wanted to hide. Casey found it difficult not to laugh aloud, knowing it was hard for them not to fidget so much, but they wanted to please their captain.
"Four... three... two…"
They all poised on the tips of their feet, ready to bolt when he said the word.
"One!" Derek brought his hand down swiftly. "Go, go, go!"
They each shot off like rockets, turning and running for the exit as they scrambled to find a good hiding spot. Marti skidded to a stop near the door and memorized each direction that her friends had gone off to. She turned to find Derek and Casey watching her curiously.
"No peeking!" she said in mock indignation, making a 'turn around' motion with her index finger.
"Sorry," Casey said sheepishly. Derek only shrugged, but both teenagers turned to face the back of the room as ordered.
Marti pursed her lips and stared at them hard, making sure they wouldn't turn around. Then she ran into the hallway and towards the stairs, deciding that she would talk to Nick and Nathan first. Get two birds with one stone. Whatever that meant.
Derek and Casey turned back around as they heard Marti's footsteps leave the room. They exchanged a puzzled look.
"What was that about?" Casey wondered, crossing her arms.
Derek shrugged again, clearly labeling it as typical Marti behavior. "I don't know, but we have five minutes to kill before we look for them." His eyes suddenly gleamed mischievously as he turned to her with an arched eyebrow. "I bet I can beat your time in the Alpha Force Course." He gestured to the obstacle course they hadn't yet taken down.
"Please, Derek." She rolled her eyes. "The kids aren't here, so there's no way I'm doing it again. It's not my thing."
"Well, you looked like you were having plenty of fun yesterday," Derek retorted with a knowing grin. "Or are you afraid I'm that much better than you?"
Casey froze and her eyes narrowed. "Oh, it's on." She uncrossed her arms and put her hands on her hips. "Terms?"
"Whoever gets the fastest time wins. Loser has to do the winner's chores for a week," he said, smirking.
She bit her lip, thinking about it before nodding. "Deal." She stuck out her hand and Derek shook it in amusement.
He made a sweeping motion with his hand toward the starting line. "Ladies first."
–
Nick and Nathan were fighting over who was going to hide in the janitor's closet when Marti came running up to them excitedly. Nathan pushed away his little brother and stood in front of the door defiantly. "Marti! You should find another hiding place," he said. "This one's taken."
"I'm not here to take your hiding spot," she retorted. "I have another idea I want to talk to you guys about!"
"What is it?" Nick asked curiously, ignoring the warning glares his brother was sending him.
"It's great! I just want to talk to everyone at the same time though." She looked at them expectantly. "Can you help me find them?"
"Are you crazy? No way!" Nathan exclaimed at the same time his brother chirped, "Sure!"
Marti chose to ignore Nick's older brother. "Thanks guys! I'll find Brooke. You guys can find Carlos and Jack. We can meet in that super huge library we passed by in the hallway."
"Okay!" Nick agreed, dragging his brother in the opposite direction. All Nathan could do was scowl.
Marti shrugged before remembering that Brooke had headed in the direction of the bathrooms. She took off, determined to get her friends' cooperation if that meant her family could be happier.
–
Awhile later, the entire Alpha Force could be found hiding under a conference table in the library, their heads bent together to discuss Marti's idea. They had somehow managed to evade detection by Casey and Derek, and they were making sure to keep their voices down to low whispers. One: so they wouldn't be heard. Two: well, they were in a library after all.
"So what's the deal with all this, Marti?" Carlos asked, scratching his head. "I had such a perfect hiding spot!"
"You were in the garbage can!" Nick exclaimed, and everyone shushed him. "Well, he was," he muttered.
The others scrunched up their noses in disgust and gave Carlos wary looks.
"It was empty," he said in his defense. "Well, there were banana peels, but –"
"Forget that – I want to know why we were all dragged here in the first place," Nathan stated. He sat Indian-style on the ground, like the others, but he propped his elbow up so he could lean against the palm of his hand. "This better be good."
Marti looked at each of her camp friends seriously. "It has to do with the captain and lieutenant…"
"Something's wrong with Captain Venturi?" Brooke cried in dismay, placing her hands on her baseball cap.
"No, nothing's wrong with Smerek," Marti said in exasperation. "Just listen." Her eyes darted around, making sure that the coast was clear, and leaned forward. Her friends followed suit so they could hear her better. "I want to match-make them!"
"What!"
"Girl cooties!" Carlos shuddered and inched back a little, even though Brooke and Marti were across from.
"That's why you brought us all here? For some lovey-dovey gooey reason?" Nathan asked, rolling his eyes. "Lame."
"Come on, guys! This could be a secret mission!" Marti whispered enthusiastically, not letting her friends' hesitancy deter her. "All of us could be in on it, and we can't tell them or it's a mission failure. And the Alpha Force doesn't fail, right?"
"I guess…" Carlos replied hesitantly. He had scooted closer again once the thought of girl cooties faded.
Nick had an intense look of concentration on his face before he nodded. "I think it'll be kinda fun," he piped up. "We'll have to be all invisible and stuff, and make sure they don't know what we're up to. We can see if we can fool our commanders!"
Nathan's eyes gleamed at the thought of a challenge. "Well, if you put it that way… I have always wanted to test out my spy skills ever since I saw that one movie."
Brooke raised her hand and Marti pointed at her. "How… how do you know they even want to be together?" she asked. "'Cause they didn't seem to get along very well in the beginning…"
"They just don't know it yet!" Marti answered with such confidence that the others were nearly convinced. She noticed their indecision and tilted her head to the side. "Don't you want to make the captain and lieutenant happy?"
"They are pretty cool," Nathan said with a shrug, "but they already seem happy."
"Trust me," Marti replied, a secret smile playing on her lips. "They'll be a lot happier together."
"I agree with whatever Marti wants to do!" Jack said, sending her a nervous grin.
Marti grinned back, though she was a bit mystified when he turned red. "So… is everyone in?" she asked. She placed her hand in the middle of their somewhat sloppy circle and looked at each of them expectantly, expression bright and hopeful.
Jack immediately placed his hand on top of hers, though he wouldn't really look her in the eye. Brooke sighed, adjusted her cap, and put her hand in. Carlos was about to put his hand in when he noticed it was Brooke's right below his. He snatched his hand back and only added it to the group's after Nick added his. Soon, everyone had turned their heads to stare at Nathan.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm in." He waved his hand dismissively, but kept his arms stubbornly crossed.
"Nathan," Nick hissed at his brother. "Come on!"
He sighed and slowly added his hand to the group's pile. Marti smiled brightly at each of them and they returned it, her sincere enthusiasm trickling into them. They did a small little group cheer before drawing their hands back.
"So, how is this going to work?" Nathan asked out of pure curiosity.
Marti immediately answered and it was clear that she had been thinking about the same thing. "We don't really have enough time right now. We all just have to come up with some plans this weekend, and talk about it on Monday." They all nodded in agreement and Marti grinned, clapping her hands. "Operation Matchmaker is a go!" she declared, but kept her voice low.
"I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the Alpha Force."
The kids all jumped, startled, and let out groans of pain when their heads hit the table. They turned to see two pairs of legs and grimaced. They crawled out from under their hiding spot, pushing back chairs, and looked up at Derek, who was watching them with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. Casey, on the other hand, only seemed amused as the children glanced at each other guiltily.
"You're all hiding in the same spot! How are the aliens not going to find you?" Derek shook his head with a sigh. "What were you doing anyway?"
They all looked at each other before Nathan pointed at the two teenagers. "Shape-shifters! Get 'em!!" he exclaimed.
Casey and Derek brought their hands up defensively as a shower of paper balls came straight at them. "Hey you guys!" Casey yelled, but she couldn't stop laughing.
"King Derek! King Derek!" Derek said before he scratched his head. "Wait – why does that not sound right?"
Casey nudged him in the ribs. "Lightspeed matrix!"
The paper balls immediately stopped and the Alpha Force had magically lined up in a neat row, awaiting orders.
"Well then." Derek straightened and brushed off imaginary dirt from his jeans. "Aside from you all being in the same place, I'd say it was a rather successful hide-out mission." He nodded. "The hour is almost up and we looked everywhere for you. Very good stealth skills, boys."
Marti and Casey cleared their throats at the same time.
"… and girls, of course," he added with a wink for his little sister. He clapped his hands together once. "Now – who wants to race back to headquarters?"
Everyone's hands shot up and before Casey could say something about safety, Derek blew his whistle. Or rather, the whistle he had stolen from her. The kids darted around them and ran for the library exit. Casey gave Derek an exasperated look as he jogged backwards, giving her a little wave.
He grinned as he turned back around to follow them. "The Alpha Force sure is energetic today, aren't they?"
–
Later on, after all the kids were picked up by their parents, Casey and Derek walked home with Marti in-between them. She held their hands and every so often, they would lift her off the ground and swing her before putting her back down. Her giggles brought a smile to both their faces. They were almost home when a thought occurred to Derek.
"Hey Smarti, what were you whispering about with the rest of the Alpha Force when you were under that table?"
Marti was quick to answer. "Just kid stuff, Smerek." She shrugged and skipped ahead of them, letting go of their hands.
Derek eyed his sister speculatively. "Those kids are planning something," he finally said, nodding firmly.
Casey scoffed. "You're paranoid."
"No, I'm a cautious, all-knowing older brother." He adjusted the straps of his backpack and narrowed his eyes. "I know my little sister. And she's up to no good."
Casey laughed. "Out of everybody, I thought you'd be the last one to think of Marti doing anything remotely bad."
"Hey, I adore her but I know what she's capable of." He sent her his patented smirk. "Besides, she has Venturi blood, doesn't she?"
To be continued in Chapter 02 – Weekend: The Recruits
Well, here's my inspiration from Summer School Blues! Please review because that lets me know people are actually reading this and liking it. It gives me encouragement to continue. Thanks for reading!