A/N: This is my 2014 Christmas Story. I hope you enjoy it. It has been a pleasure reading your stories and getting your feedback on my stories. As usual, I am just playing with the characters. Rob Thomas owns them.

Kane Enterprises vs. Veronica Mars

Chapter 1: Surprise Battle

The four young adults look up from their delicious meal when the petite blonde arrives in the doorway of the Casablancas' dining room. She is clearly upset or angry or worse yet, both. The uninvited visitor only knows three of the four sitting at the table and she quickly decides that the beautiful brunette is Logan's date. Taking a deep breath she starts, "Sorry to interrupt your dinner. Security and Mrs. Barnes let me in." Pausing a moment she adds, "I guess they still think we are friends."

Mac immediately sees that her best girlfriend knows. When Jake Kane had personally asked them to sign the vote to force Veronica to sell her shares in Kane Software, Mac had not felt right about it. After she signed the paper, she had been on pins and needles wondering when Veronica would find out. She didn't really understand why her boss would be so set against Veronica owning any shares of his company but he clearly was. Dick had understood it was a business decision but Mac had felt like she was betraying her friend when she signed. It seems Veronica feels the same way.

Dick, knowing that Veronica is upset, tries to defuse the situation by asking, "Have you eaten? I can ask Mrs. Barnes to set you a plate?"

Looking over at the blonde man she thought she had become friends with, she ignores his offer and pulls a paper out of her jacket pocket, "I was served that Kane Enterprises received the necessary votes to force me to sell my shares in the company." Looking up from the paper she meets Mac's gaze and adds, "I was surprised that a vote had already been taken since the three of you are major shareholders and I didn't know anything about it." She adds when Mac looks away from her gaze and no one seems to have anything to say, "Then I looked at the tally of the votes and I got my second surprise; all three of you voted to force sale."

Logan's girlfriend Misty pipes up, "I am also a shareholder so you will see my name there."

Veronica looks at her for a moment and then pointedly ignores her comment. She looks from Logan to Mac to Dick and asks, "Why?"

The tall blonde swallows a little seeing the hurt in her blue gaze and hearing the hurt in her voice. He had been able to justify his decision to sign the petition as being about business but looking at her now, it's hard to think of it in a business way. He never liked Veronica while she was dating Logan but has gotten to know her since he started dating and married Mac. They have become friends and she was Maid of Honor at their wedding. He clears his throat and tells her, "Jake Kane came to see us and asked us to support him."

The shocked young woman looks over at the tall brunette and he slightly nods letting her know that Jake Kane personally talked to him as well. Tired of being ignored and not liking the look between the little blonde and her new boyfriend, Misty interjects, "It's Jake Kane's company. He has the right not to be worried about what you plan to do to him."

Logan internally grimaces at his new girlfriend's words. He had not planned on telling Veronica what Jake told the shareholders. A little incredulous, Veronica parrots, "My plan?"

She looks over at Mac who is still not meeting her gaze and then Dick who shrugs and tells her, "You are known for your feud with the Kanes and you have shown that you can be manipulative." His voice trails off as Mac kicks him under the table.

To the group's surprise, Veronica Mars flinches like she has been hit and she bites her bottom lip. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly trying hard to get control of her emotions. Her voice a little choked she checks, "Jake Kane told the shareholders I had a plan to hurt the company I invested all my money with?"

Logan frowns as he thinks about Veronica's words. It really doesn't make sense that she would invest and then do something to hurt her investment. She is not wealthy and can't afford to lose the money her father left her. Mac, trying to defuse the situation, tries, "Q, this wasn't about siding with you or the Kanes. It was just about letting Jake have the shareholders he is most comfortable with. It is a critical time in the company right now. You can invest your dad's money with someone else." Her voice trails off at the look of pain that crosses her best friend's face.

Dick jumps in trying to support Mac and adds, "Ronnie this is just business; it's not personal."

Her mouth drops open and it is clear she can't believe what she is hearing. She looks at the paper and her eyes darken as she holds up the paper and says, "Look, it says Veronica Mars." To her humiliation, tears spring to her eyes. She quickly tells them before she starts to cry in earnest, "That seems personal to me."

Faced with the fact that the girl they rarely ever see cry, is tearing up, her three friends sit not knowing what to say. Embarrassed that she can't control her emotions better, she swipes her eyes and takes a deep breath before she tells them, "My nefarious plan was to invest Dad's life insurance. I was hoping to make enough money to pay off my student loans and perhaps give me a start wherever I end up taking a job." Looking at Dick she explains when she sees his puzzlement, "I don't know much about investing but Mac said you put a lot of money in Kane Enterprises. Plus they were smart enough to hire Mac and I just knew she would make a difference there."

Logan sees Mac visibly cringe at Veronica's belief in her. He turns his attention back to Veronica as she awkwardly continues, "Anyways, I wanted to give you the chance to explain even though you didn't talk to me before you voted..." There is a pause and she trails off, "So there's that..." Seemingly having nothing else to add, she abruptly turns and heads to the door of the room. In the entrance of the room, she stops and says while she remains facing the door, "Jake Kane was not worried about any power I yield as a shareholder. The two hundred thousand dollars my dad left me did not get me enough shares to be any danger to Kane Enterprises." Looking over her shoulder at them she throws back, "How did believing a Kane over a Mars work for you last time?" With that she is gone. They hear the door shutting quietly as she leaves.

There is a moments silence in the room. Misty breaks the silence saying, "She is a very rude person!" When they all look at her with various degrees of annoyance on their faces, she defends, "She interrupted our meal and then had the nerve to say that Jake Kane was lying and we should believe her over him."

Mac stands a little abruptly and quietly tells the group, "I will be right back." She quickly leaves the three of them sitting at the table as she heads down the hall towards the stairs to the master suite. Dick watches her leave and sighs. He knows that his wife was not sure about voting to force Veronica to sell her shares. He had persuaded her to let Jake Kane have his way. He had reasoned that as a business owner, it is best to be confident of all the shareholders. He didn't realize that Mr. Mars only left Veronica less than a quarter of a million dollars. He had assumed that she had enough shares to worry Jake. Now knowing the truth, Dick feels badly. Veronica is one of the strongest woman he knows. Seeing her trying not to cry, he thinks that they shouldn't have let her be broadsided by the vote.

Veronica's parting shot was a direct hit for Logan. He is not sure why he believed anything Jake Kane told him. Veronica doesn't have enough shares to hurt Kane Software. She doesn't even own enough to attend meetings. He promised to be a friend to Veronica after they broke up and her father was killed. It looks like he wasn't much of a friend; he unknowingly helped Jake Kane punish Veronica. This is a huge mess!

A week later Logan knocks on Wallace's apartment door. When the door opens, Logan merely says, "I am looking for Veronica."

Shaking his head Wallace informs him, "She is not here."

Sighing Logan asks, "Can we talk?"

Wallace steps aside and waves him in. He offers as he shuts the door, "Can I get you a beer?"

Logan nods and then sits at the island. Wallace hands him a beer and sits across from him as he opens the one he took for himself. He waits for his friend to talk to him. Immediately recognizing that Wallace is not going to start a conversation about his best friend, Logan tries, "Veronica's telephone number is disconnected and her landlord tells me that she has moved."

"Two weeks ago," Wallace supplies.

Looking disgruntled, Logan agrees, "That is what her landlord told me." Pausing he adds, "She didn't leave a forwarding address." Taking a sip of his beer, Wallace doesn't seem to have anything to say. Frustrated Logan tells him, "I just want to apologize."

Finally Wallace nods and quietly agrees, "You owe her a big one."

When the silence continues, Logan pushes, "Can you please tell me how to get a hold of her?"

Wallace sets his beer down and looks at his friend. He starts, "Veronica got called in to see the new Dean at Hearst. Apparently Hearst was revoking her admission and scholarship to law school." Logan is shocked and looks at Wallace in question. Wrapping both his hands around his bottle, Wallace fills in the blanks, "Jake Kane's fellow Castle member is the new Dean."

Understanding, Logan leans back and shakes his head. After a short pause he asks, "Why didn't she tell me?"

"She told me that you, Dick and Mac were all avoiding her calls," Wallace informs him, his voice a little sharp. Looking at Logan, Wallace is thankful he has the grace to look a little guilty instead of denying that he was ducking talking to Veronica that week. Wallace continues mildly, "Then she got served with the papers forcing her to sell her Kane Enterprises stock along with the list of shareholders who voted yes."

Grimacing Logan explains, "I didn't realize the extent of Jake's anger towards her."

"Duncan's coming back," Wallace baldly states. Leaning forward on his elbows, he tells him, "V thinks the loss of scholarship and the sale of the shares was Celeste and Jake's way of making sure she is not around when their son and heir comes back to Neptune."

Nonplussed, Logan asks, "How does she know that Duncan is coming back? Jake never said anything to me."

With fake indignation Wallace exclaims, "You mean Jake Kane was less than forthcoming with the truth?" At Logan's frown, Wallace relents and explains, "V got a post card with no return address that said, 'See you soon.'" After a short pause he carries on, "She recognized the handwriting."

"I can't believe she left if she knows DK is coming home," Logan tells him. "They were really still dating when he left."

After a short pause Wallace decides to tell Logan the rest of the story, "At this late date she was lucky to get accepted into law school with a partial scholarship at UCLA. She will have to take out more loans or use part of the money her dad left her to finish school." There is a pause and Wallace admits, "As to wanting to see Duncan, she told me that she is done with all the Kanes. She asked me to keep her new telephone number private from anyone that went to Neptune High with us."

Although he is surprised to hear that Veronica doesn't want to see Duncan, he asks what he is most concerned about, "She really doesn't want me to know her new number?"

Pausing as he thinks about how to word what he wants to say, Wallace says, "She came over to see me after talking to you guys about the petition to force her to sell her Kane Software shares. She was crying. She told me she would never have done that to any of you but she had to talk to you about it; had to give you the chance to explain." Meeting Logan's gaze he adds, "I guess your explanation didn't make her believe she is your friend."

Logan runs his hand through his hair and tells his friend. "I just need to talk to her. I didn't know what was really going on."

Sadly Wallace offers, "I will pass on a message for you but I have to be honest, I don't think she will listen. She has a very strong friendship code. She doesn't let very many people in. You guys made this about business when it was an attack on her."

Nodding Logan says sadly, "I know." He drains his beer and stands putting the empty beer on the island. Meeting Wallace's gaze he asks, "Please tell her I know I was wrong and I am really sorry."

Wallace nods and then watches as Logan leaves.

Upset Logan heads over to talk to Dick and Mac. Sitting in their living room, he tells them what Wallace told him. Mac and Dick are both horrified at how Jake and Celeste Kane systematically drove Veronica out of Neptune.

Upset, Dick tells the group, "I didn't even know she lost her place in law school or her scholarship."

Clearly remorseful, Mac admits, "I was ducking her calls. I knew she would be mad at me and I didn't know how to talk to her about it. She is so touchy about the Kanes."

Logan looks at them and sadly shares, "I doubt we will ever hear from her again. She has been fucked over by her friends before. She will only see that we aren't her true friends."

Shaking her head Mac points out, "I guess the Kane's plan worked." Tears spring to her eyes as she looks at Logan, "I asked Wallace for Veronica's new number and he wouldn't give it to me. I have been so busy at my new job that I didn't even realize she moved away."

Dick seeing Mac's upset, tries to make her feel better, "She has Wallace and she has a family now. She won't be alone."

When Logan looked puzzled, Dick and Mac tell Logan that Veronica has been unofficially adopted by the Garcia family. Mac explains that Veronica went with her to the Kane Christmas party when Dick couldn't make it. They were seated next to Miguel and Graciella Garcia. He was one of the best programmers at Kane but had been retired early because he had Parkinson's Disease. Swallowing, Mac adds, "They found out that Veronica was essentially alone in the world and they asked her over for Christmas Eve and New Year's Day dinner."

Her voice chokes a little as she tells Logan the rest of the story, "Veronica spent Christmas last year at the cemetery visiting her Dad and Lilly but she did go to New Years at the Garcia's' home. The family immediately loved her and she loved them."

Dick puts his arm around his wife and tells Logan that she has been going to family events since that time. Looking at his friend he says, "I know I fucked up and should have warned Ronnie about the vote. I could have paid for her tuition and helped her invest her money with other companies or something." Kissing the top of Mac's head, he points out, "Still she shouldn't just cut all of us out of her life like that."

Logan remembers that he went to his girlfriend at the time's house for Christmas and then Aspen that New Years. Wallace went to Chicago. Of course Mac and Dick went to see her family for Christmas and then met him at Aspen. He had been worried about Veronica being alone the first Christmas and New Years after her father died but there wasn't much he could do about it. He had called her a couple of times and she seemed OK. He feels a little lurch that she spent that Christmas alone at the cemetery.

Since they broke up in Sophomore year, he has been trying to make a life for himself. It is important to him that Veronica is part of his life; even if they are only just friends. He has been busy dating, finishing college and getting ready to graduate. He had not seen her much. She seemed busy with her last year of college, getting ready to graduate and getting ready for her internship at the FBI. She had been going every summer. He knew Graduation had been hard on her. Her dad hadn't lived to see her get her Criminology Degree. He had been killed in a car accident during Spring Break of their Junior Year. At Graduation, she looked like a ghost walking across the stage trying not to cry. He hasn't really seen her since she got back from her internship. He just thought she was busy getting ready for law school. Wallace got a job as an Assistant Basketball Coach at Hearst. Dick had another year of school left. Mac got a job at Kane Enterprises after interning there the last two summers and he had been busy working at the Real Estate Investing Company he and Dick started in July. He didn't know about her being alone on Christmas, he didn't know about her new family and he didn't know that she lost her scholarship. He has been fooling himself that they were friends. They haven't been telling each other anything important about their lives. Now that he knows she is gone though, it just feels wrong that he won't know what she is doing and she won't be even a small part of his life anymore.

Kane Enterprises 1 Veronica Mars 0