Title: Eight Words.

Disclaimer: Not mine, yadda, yadda. The words on this page are mine, well actually even they aren't because I did invent them (can you invent words?). But you get the drift.

Status: WIP

Couples/Ships: At current point I'm not looking to add any. Sure there may be hints of L/V, but I'm more so trying to go with the flow of the show.

Spoilers:Anything up to present episodes (which is 14 I believe). Any similarities to future events are by pure genius! (Oh ok, so it's coincidence).

Rating: PG-13

Chapter One: Love Token's are all the Rage.

Eight words, that was all. Eight simple words that on their own meant nothing, but put together meant everything. Eight words.

He paced back and forth reading those eight words over and over, waiting for her to come. He'd occasionally rake his fingers through his hair, hoping that the fuzz might disappear and that this would all start making sense, but when had his life ever made sense?

He glanced at his watch and looked to the door. Any moment she would come bursting in, brandishing another harsh comment that he would brush off with an equally stinging retort, never letting on that every word she said sliced through his insides with throbbing precision. If it was any other day he would have been happy to play their game, but today there were eight little words and there was no time to size one another up.

When Veronica Mars burst through the bathroom door and kicked the wedge into place, sealing them in for another of their private meetings, she let out a sigh. Logan Echolls looked directly into her frosty eyes, waiting for the bitch in her to speak.

"What is it?"

He wasn't surprised by her directness. It had been a long time since they had shared pleasantries in that bathroom and today was not going to be any different. He didn't say anything at first; he just looked down at the words, reading them over and over in his head. When he heard her clear her throat he finally snapped out of his daze.

"Eight." It was all he could say.

"Well I thought I would have been at least an 8.5, but I guess touching your lips has dragged my average down."

And there it was. A piss poor effect by his standards, perhaps she actually gave a shit this week.

"Eight what?" Her eyes grew wide and her brows raised and crinkled her forehead with confusion, but he stayed silent. "You've gotta give me something to go with here Logan."

He shifted out of his daze and handed her the piece of paper. "Eight words."

Still confused, she took the paper from him and skimmed over the printed text. When the words registered her eyes shot back to his, "Where did you get this?"

Logan shifted slightly, folded his arms across his chest and shrugged his shoulders. "It was in my locker."

The fact was that this wasn't the first time that Logan had received a note in his locker. Sure, there was the occasional love letter when he was younger, but since the Echolls Christmas debacle his locker had become somewhat of a post box for friendly little messages. Then as the events of his life continued to grow more colourful – family suicide, rape suspect, murder suspect, high profile homicidal father, murder suspect, arsonist, murder suspect – his locker became a deposit for all things spamerfic. Any normal human being would simple deposit the messages in the trash, but a three time murder suspect never throws out his trash. There could be treasure.

"And you have no idea who put it there?" Veronica's eyes were back on the page, moving over the words again and again.

"It's kinda the reason this bathroom became out of order again. I mean you'd really think they'd get someone in to look at it."

She ignored his attempt to lighten the mood and moved across the floor, resting against the sink next to him. She flipped the page over, looking for some kind of clue. "There's nothing distinctive about it. Whoever wrote it has used block lettering, standard notebook paper. Not a lot to go on."

"So what do we do?" He turned to her, hoping she wouldn't say-

"We wait. There's nothing else we can do." She shrugged as she said it, knowing it wasn't what he wanted to hear but also knowing it was all she had to give. She handed him back the paper and turned to leave.

"What that's it?" He held a hand out in protest, his voice laced with impatience.

Veronica turned around before reaching for the door, "It's just eight words at the moment Logan, I need at least …ten words to really move with it."

"Fine, then how about 'I know you are innocent. I have proof. Logan Rulz!'"

He air quoted as he spoke the ninth and tenth words. Veronica pulled the bathroom door open and paused for a moment. She looked back at Logan with a sly grin, "And that just took me down to a 7.9. You are no good for a girls reputation Logan Echolls."

And to think there was a time when their roles were reversed.

Seeing Veronica Mars exit a supposed 'Out of Order' bathroom isn't new to my eyes. I'd noticed it last year, when she started to give students dirt on their parents. Then of course it became her and Echolls' playground. I still don't understand how the others couldn't see it sooner. The shy 'I like you but I shouldn't' glances across the hallways, in class and at lunch. The accidental brushes in the parking lot and of course, the 'Out of Order' sign. But then again, the students of Neptune High have always been supremely stupid. That and the class status of Veronica Mars made her invisible to most of the gossip queens, particularly when it came to one of 'their boys'. But Echolls was slipping away from the 09er crowd and it was all because of her.

I watch as she scans the hallway before slipping out of the bathroom and down the hall. I've seen this so many times now that I know when I count to 23 Echolls will step out into the hallway and flip the sign over, leaving the ladies room vacant for, well ladies. I know that as always he will tug at the bottom of his shirt and wipe his hand over his mouth, so that by any chance he is caught, they will think that he was up to no good. I know that a satisfied grin will sit on his lips as he glides down the hall to what ever class he should be in.

But today there is no tug of shirt and no grin. All I see is a nervous hand move through his hair and a weary look in his eyes and I can feel my cheeks tighten as a smile stretches across my face.

Veronica checked around the halls before she moved to the glass cabinet across from Logan's locker. Ok, so she may not have been entirely forthcoming with the whole 'wait and see' scenario and she may have already known that Logan was getting a steady delivery of love letters in his locker and sure, she probably should have told him that she possibly already had a lead on who it may have been, but his ego was already such an issue. She could only imagine the torment she would have to endure if he knew she was already looking out for him. That she never stopped looking out for him.

She wasn't sure why she kept tabs on what was going on in Logan's life. Perhaps it was guilt or even shame, she didn't know. What she did know was that Logan was lost and there was nobody there for him, nobody but her and even she had to stand ten paces away. She'd always felt that she caused hurt in people's lives, that she brought pain and anguish to them. Logan was the first to bring it to her. Or maybe they brought it to each other, she wasn't sure. All she knew is that together they seemed to spell disaster, something that they had both had their fair share of.

Veronica shook herself away from her thoughts and back to the case at hand. She knelt in front of the class cabinet and began to jimmy the lock. She briefly wondered how many girls her age knew how to expertly pick a lock and a smile escaped one side of her mouth. The lock clicked open and she placed her tools on the floor. She saw the shadow before she heard the footsteps and her heart caught briefly in her throat. She slide the lock pick under her knapsack and spoke calmly.

"Mr Clemmons, sorry to be here so late. I was just checking the Journalism display as I had noticed some students pawing the glass today and there's nothing worse than grimy fingerprints." She clamped her eyes shut as she hoped he'd be a sucker one more time.

"Well Miss Mars, as your Principle I feel that you're in great need of a spanking."

Veronica's eyes shot open and she sprung to her feet. She inhaled a deep, calming breath as she turned to face Mr Clemmons' impostor. She crossed her arms before her and glared, "I didn't realise becoming Principle was on your wish list."

"Ah, but we all know having me spank you was on yours." Logan threw her a suggestive wink and bit down on his lip.

"I suggest you get what ever image you have in your head out right now."

"You first."

If she was a foot taller, Veronica would have swiped the cocky grin he was brandishing off his face, but instead she settled for smacking him across the arm. He cowered back and grasped at his bicep. "Geez, she may be tiny but there's venom in those claws."

Veronica rolled her eyes, "What are you doing here Logan?"

"Adding breaking and entering onto my list of skills. Do you think Harvard will be impressed? I thought there should be some kind of minor misdemeanour before jumping right into triple murder suspect. Although technically it's only double, but I'm sure someone else will die before applications are due."

"Yeah well, list all the times I've been dragged into Lamb's office for being a suspect of one thing or another and I'm pretty much right there with ya." They gave each other a small smile before Veronica turned around and grabbed her bag from the floor and started to rifle through it. "Of course I've never been stupid enough to actually get charged."

"How is the whole looming Accessory to Kidnapping going for you?" Logan buried his hands in his pockets and swayed playfully.

"Why? Are you planning on adding that to your list of skills too?" Veronica found the memory card and replacement battery she was looking for. She turned to face him again and continued before he could speak, "So why are you here Logan?"

He snorted an agitated breath and shook his head. Veronica Mars, forever a closed book. "Same reason you here."

Veronica took a small step closer, "And what's that?"

Logan also shifted closer so that he now towered over her small frame, "To see who's been leaving me love tokens today." He moved closer again, "Thank you for yours by the way." His hand moved to his heart and he faked a quivery voice, "I love you beary much. I can't believe you remembered."

Veronica shook her head in disgust and moved to the cabinet and slid open the door. "How long have you known?"

"Since the start of the year."

Veronica shot him a look as she knelt down to retrieve her camera.

"Don't be so surprised Veronica, I've been around you a lot. I pick things up...other than VD. How's the treatment by the way?"

Veronica looked up from the camera with a shocked expression, Logan stood silent. "It's gone. The memory card is gone."

I smile as I watch myself walk over to Echolls' locker and slip the note inside and I can't help but laugh when I turn around and wave at the camera.

Veronica Mars is not smarter than me.