She Knows Now
Author: calmvisage
Rating: T (some language)
Genre: Drama/romance
Setting: Season 1, AU
Spoilers: Starts at 1.10 Echolls Family Christmas then warps around through season 1
Status: Complete
Summary: Veronica doesn't destroy the DNA results and doesn't pass up the chance to find out why Duncan broke up with her.
Note: I don't own Veronica Mars. I'm just a big fan.
This is it. Veronica grabbed the nondescript manila envelope from the mailbox. To anyone else, it could contain anything. But she knows it's the key to her true parentage. She quickly unlocked the front door to her quiet apartment and sat heavily on the couch. She knew her father was working on the Aaron Echolls case so she has some time alone. Should I open it? What if it says he isn't my father? What would that mean for our family? She chewed on her thumbnail, staring wordlessly out at their apartment. Building up courage, she quickly ripped into the envelope and shuddered out a sob when she saw "DNA MATCH." Keith is her father. She is truly a Mars. She folded the paper and moved silently to her bedroom, hiding the results behind a picture frame of her and her dad at the San Diego Zoo.
The next day at school, Veronica and Wallace are interrupted by Duncan storming through the hallway after Weevil.
"I want my laptop. Now." Duncan growled.
Smirking, Weevil replies, "How does it feel to want?"
The confrontation continued and when Duncan grabbed Weevil's shirt, Veronica knew she had to step in before the four big motorcycle guys behind them got involved. Weevil shoved Duncan and coolly walked away.
"Why did he steal your laptop?" Veronica asked Duncan.
"We had a poker game last night and someone took his winnings. He searched us all last night but didn't find the money so he's taking our belongings until the money shows up. Will you look into it?" Duncan sighed and hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder.
Leaning against her locker, Veronica considered. "What's in it for me?"
"I kept a journal while we were dating. It's on my laptop and it's pretty… explicit. I don't think you'd want that to get out."
"Well hell, Duncan. Why don't you keep your diary locked with a key like every other six-year-old girl I know?"
"Very funny. So will you help or not?"
"Yeah, I'll look into it. I don't make any promises though."
The rest of the day passed smoothly. She found Weevil with his buddies and got a more detailed picture of what happened last night. Weevil heard about the $1,000 buy in to the poker game and thought it would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Or money from a bunch of '09ers. He finagled an invite from Logan Echolls. When he got to the game, he was surprised to see famous actor Connor Larkin there, along with Logan, Duncan, and Sean. They played for a few hours, ordered pizzas, watched Connor go to the bathroom every 10 minutes, and when Weevil finally won the pot, the money was gone. He made them all strip while he searched but couldn't find the rolled up cash. Veronica convinced Weevil to give her Duncan's laptop if she took on this case. He agreed and told her he'd meet her at Dog Beach that night with it.
Veronica did her own sleuthing then. After school, she went to Logan's house with paperwork from her dad and to get an idea of what happened from Logan's perspective. He had obviously tore the pool house apart looking for the cash. He explained that Weevil had taken a Fabrege egg from his house and he was keen to get it back before his dad noticed it was missing. As usual, he was snarky but oddly helpful when he set up a meeting with Connor Larkin for her.
"Just remember, they paint his abs on for photo shoots," Logan said while flopping back down on the couch in the pool house.
"So what you're saying is not everyone can be as naturally handsome as you?" Veronica replied sarcastically.
"Oh, you think I'm hot? My life is now fulfilled!"
"You wish I thought you were hot. I'll let you know what I find out from Connor." Veronica saluted Logan while walking through the door.
"I wish you thought of me at all," Logan said quietly while watching the blonde walk through the yard and into the main house.
Returning home, she clipped Backup's leash on and walked down to the beach. She was still mentally churning the results of her DNA test and pondering what Duncan would have written about her in his journal. They had never had sex so she wasn't worried about those details getting out. She wondered though how explicit he had gotten or if he wrote about why he broke up with her.
Hearing the motorcycles pull into the parking lot, Veronica walked over to where Weevil was dismounting his bike. He pulled the laptop bag out of his cargo box but didn't hand it over. Veronica lifted an eyebrow in question.
"Did you do some detective work today, PI?" Weevil asked.
"Yes. I met with Logan and he set me up to see Connor Larkin tomorrow." Weevil nodded and handed the bag over. She crossed the strap to the bag over her body and started to walk away.
"Make sure you figure this out quick, V. We wouldn't want more things to go missing." He got on his bike and started the engine. Veronica nodded and walked back down the beach towards her apartment building.
Returning home, she found her dad in the kitchen making dinner.
"Honey, I'm home!" she called out while she set the laptop bag down and unclipped the leash from her dog's collar.
"I was about to send out a search party. How was your day?" her father asked.
"You know, same stuff, different day. Kicking butt and taking names." Veronica walked into her room while talking and set the laptop bag on her desk. Returning to the kitchen, she eyed her dad warily while he cursed and removed a sheet of blackened chicken from the oven.
"So… chicken for dinner?" she asked cautiously.
"I uh, guess I left it in too long."
"We can always have icecream for dinner," Veronica asked optimistically.
Keith laughed at her hopeful expression and said, "One day, CPS is going to come and take you away."
"And I'd tell them that we most definitely had pot roast and vegetables for dinner that night."
After cleaning up the dishes from dinner, Veronica told her dad she had homework and went into her room. She opened Duncan's laptop and stared at the screen. Am I really going to do this? She laughed out loud when she realized Duncan didn't require a password or have any security measure in place. For the son of a technology millionaire, he sure didn't learn how to keep his stuff private. She quickly found his journal and clicked back through the entries to the beginning of October last year.
It's so hard to see her at school. I wish we could still be together and I wish I could tell her why we can't, but it's impossible. If she knew her mom had an affair with my dad and she could be my sister, she'd flip. She loves her dad more than anything. So I haven't said anything. I ignored her and ignored the look on her face when she's teased by '09ers for being dumped. Logan asked me why I did it but I couldn't tell him. I know he's always had a soft spot for Veronica and I don't want him to think she did anything wrong, but it's too hard.
He broke up with me because he thinks I'm his sister and didn't even think to tell me? Veronica sighed and looked over to the picture of her and her dad at the zoo. I've got to tell Duncan it's not true. She clicked through a few more entries when her eyes caught Shelley Pomeroy's name.
I saw Veronica at Shelley Pomeroy's party and my heart tripped. She looked so beautiful and I was so sick of hurting and being alone. She was my last link to Lilly and all I wanted to do was talk to her and tell her I missed her. I heard the other '09ers whispering about her and when she was passed out by the pool, I brought her into the house. She looked so beautiful laying in that bed and even though I knew it was wrong, I kissed her. We made love that night and it was more than I could have ever imagined. I was so ashamed when I woke up that I left her there. I don't know if she's going to say anything to me but I can't talk to her about it. She doesn't know why we broke up and I'd rather kill myself than hurt her again.
Veronica sat stiffly at her desk, staring at the computer screen. Jesus. It was Duncan. All along, it was him. Her mind flashed back to waking up alone, her dress torn and her thighs smeared with blood. To Sheriff Lamb telling her to go see the Wizard, not believing she was raped. To her blonde hair falling into the sink while she brutally chopped at it with scissors. I definitely need to talk to him about this. She shut the laptop and took in a big breath.
The next day, her Veronica's mind was still reeling over what she had read in Duncan's journal. Wallace found her at her locker and tried to get her attention.
"Earth to Mars! What do you have going on in that big brain of yours?" he said when she finally looked at him.
"Sorry papa bear, I was thinking about my new case. Say, do you know anything about Sean Friedrich?" Veronica pulled books out of her bag and switched them with ones from her locker.
"Besides the fact that he's an '09er and a complete ass, no. Why do you ask?"
"He was at Logan's for a poker game and some money was stolen. I need to pay him a visit. Can you get his address from the attendance office for me?" She tilted her head and fluttered her eyelashes coyly at her best friend.
Sighing, he agreed and said "But you owe me, little girl. I expect some sort of baked good tomorrow." She nodded and they walked to their first class past Logan who had watched their interaction intently. Something seems different about her today, Logan thought as he pushed away from the locker and walked down opposite side of the hall.
After school, Veronica went to the movie set to meet with Connor Larkin. He flirted with and teased her, but she knew that he hadn't taken the money. He was pretty to look at though. When she got back to Neptune, she drove to Sean Friedrich's house and knocked on the door. It was answered by Sean's father who, wearing a full suit, told her that Sean wasn't available. Veronica glanced at her watch, noticing it was 3:00pm, and returned home.
Grabbing Backup's leash, she clipped it on his collar and walked out to the beach. She was looking out at the ocean while walking when she tripped over someone in the sand. She fell unattractively into a heap and looked up into Logan's laughing eyes.
"I always knew you would fall for me," Logan said, smirking but remaining seated.
"Yeah, I bet. What are you doing here?" she replied, wiping sand off of her chest and legs.
"Looking to see how the other side of wealth lives."
She narrowed her eyes at him and scowled. "So it's an informative mission, is it? We lowly peasants lead such different lives than you holier '09ers. We drive cars worth less than your monthly allowance, clip coupons for the grocery store, and some even have basic cable tv." She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, watching Backup while he ran in circles.
"Fascinating. Someone should make a documentary. Really though, I was here to see how it went with Connor today." He didn't look at her, instead staring out at the ocean.
"All right, I guess. He didn't take the money." She sat down next to him, still keeping an eye on her dog.
"How do you know that?" he looked at her now, noticing the way her hair fell over her eyes and the dark circles under them. She'd obviously had a sleepless night.
"I'm pretty sure who did it. Plus Connor is mega rich. He doesn't need to steal money from some high school kids."
"So who took it?"
"I'm not ready to divulge that information just yet. I want you to throw another poker night. If I correctly guess who took the money, I get to sit at the table."
"It's a thousand dollar buy in. Are you willing to lose that sort of cash?" Logan looked incredulous now.
"Oh, I won't be losing. Just invite the guys and I'll be there. Sooner the better. Weevil mentioned something about more items going missing."
Logan sighed. "I guess we could do it tomorrow. My mom is throwing a big Christmas party and we could hole up in the pool house again."
"Sure, that works for me." Still watching her dog, Veronica sat next to her old friend turned enemy and thought of other times they had sat on the beach. Apparently Logan had thought of the same things.
"Where did our friendship go wrong?" he asked quietly.
She whipped her eyes to his face and saw that he was serious. A biting comment was on the tip of her tongue but she reined it in, opting to gentle her words. "I'm not sure Logan. After Lilly died, everything changed."
He nodded solemnly. "I miss the way it was, you know. With the four of us."
"I miss it sometimes too. Sometimes something happens and I go to call Lilly to tell her and remember I can't."
"Yeah, me too. More often than you know."
"So why did you do it Logan? Alienate me and push me out?" She didn't expect an answer but a sudden rush of anger made her ask. He stayed quiet for a long time and she sighed, standing up to leave. She started to whistle to Backup when he grabbed her wrist.
"I blamed you… at first. Then I realized I blamed myself. Then I realized that was stupid. If you hadn't told her about that stupid kiss with Yolanda, she wouldn't have broken up with me and I would have been with her the day she died. I felt so bad that I didn't protect the woman I loved. But I knew, you know? I knew it was over between us. She had been so distant and I knew she was seeing someone else behind my back. I knew she didn't love me as much as I loved her and while I was busy blaming, I took it out on you."
Veronica sat back down next to him and folded her hands in her lap. She didn't really know what to say. "I felt bad about the Yolanda thing but I was trying to be a good friend. You would have done the same thing with Duncan or I."
He nodded and looked down at her hands. "Yeah, I probably would have. Did she say anything to you about seeing someone else?"
"No. She usually bragged about that sort of stuff but we had argued about it right after Duncan broke up with me. I told her that she shouldn't lead you on so much, that you didn't deserve it."
Logan looked up to Veronica's face and saw the truth in her eyes. "Thanks for that, even though it didn't do much."
"Did he..." she took a deep breath. "Did Duncan ever tell you why he broke up with me?"
"I asked. More times than I probably should have. He never told me why. I didn't know what to think but bros before hoes and all that. I had to take his side even if he wouldn't tell me why."
"I get that. I found out why yesterday." She fidgeted with her hands, remembering what else she found out in Duncan's journal.
"Why? How?" He looked at her expectantly.
"I'm, uh, not ready to go into that yet. I need to talk to him first."
"Not surprising. Miss Veronica Mars, keeper of all the secrets." He chuckled softly but his mind was churning with this new development. Is that why she looks different today? he thought.
Veronica stood up suddenly. "Well, this has been fun. I need to go home now. Don't forget to tell the boys about your poker night tomorrow."
"All right, but for the record, I'm not exactly thrilled to have Weevil in my house again."
"Duly noted. See you tomorrow and bring your game face." He watched as she clipped the leash on her dog's collar and walked down the beach towards the road and to her apartment building, thinking of the conversation they just had.
The next day, Veronica got to school early and quickly picked the lock to Duncan's locker. She needed to return his laptop but wasn't keen to talk to him just yet. She had spent all night thinking about what Logan had said about Duncan shutting down. She knew that Duncan hated confrontation and had resigned herself to never getting an answer about their break up. Now that she had it, as well as the details about the burden she'd carried all year, she didn't know what to think. She shoved the laptop bag into his locker, shut the door, and quickly walked away. Weevil came out of an empty classroom and caught her attention.
"So we're on for tonight? You figured it out?" he asked.
"Yes and yes. I am fantastic after all."
He laughed, and eying her speculatively, asked, "You okay, V? You've been a little off."
She narrowed her eyes at him and switched into a valley girl accent. "I'm like, totally awesome!"
"All right, all right. Just wondering." He shook his head at her and walked away.
The morning passed by quickly. She ate lunch with Wallace and presented him with banana bread she had baked last night. He had shoved a huge piece in his mouth and almost began choking.
Hitting him on the back, Veronica said, "Let me go find a cute girl to give you mouth to mouth. 'Cause you know, I'm just not into you like that."
Wallace smirked and took a long drink of his water. "Like you can resist this bod. I know someone who'd like to give you mouth to mouth though." She eyed him warily. He shrugged, looking over at the '09er table where Logan was staring at Veronica.
"Oh no. He's probably just thinking of clever things to write about me on the bathroom wall."
"I don't think so. He's definitely got a certain vibe going on."
She looked back at Logan, still staring at her, and smiled briefly. "He's probably worried about how light his wallet is going to be after I clean them out in poker tonight."
"I expect dinner in my future with your winnings." Wallace shoved another piece of banana bread in his mouth.
"It's always food with you." She looked down at her lunch tray and imagined how much Italian food she could buy with $5,000 won at a poker table. Probably should save it for college. But lasagna sounds really good right now.
"Nope, sometimes it's girls. Cute girls. And basketball. But mostly girls."
"Where do I fit in this, as your BFF?"
"Well, you're cute and all, but I'm just not into you like that." He smirked and got up from the table. "Good luck tonight, V."
"No luck necessary but thank you. I'll let you know how it goes." Wallace walked away and she glanced up, catching eyes with Logan again. Just what is going on there?
After school, Veronica returned home and found her dad working at the kitchen island.
"Hiya pops. What's shakin'?" She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and hopped up on the counter to look at her dad.
He shuffled some papers around and sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this Aaron Echolls case. Someone sent him a pumpkin with a knife stabbed in it. I warned them that they should cancel the party but I know they won't listen."
"Huh. Well, I'm going to a poker game in their pool house tonight. Want me to keep an eye on things?"
"No. I don't want you going inside that house. Who knows what craziness will happen. Building up your college fund?" He stood up and made his way to the fridge, grabbing himself a bottle of water.
"Italian food fund. I'll stay out of the house but if I hear anything, I'll let you know."
"Okay honey. Be safe tonight. I'm going back to the office to work on this some more. Don't forget your old man when you're rolling in the dough." He pressed his lips to her temple and gathered his briefcase.
"Like I could ever forget you. I'd need you to help me out of tax evasion charges." She blew him a kiss while he walked out of the apartment's door.
She went into her bedroom and stared at the picture she had hidden the DNA results behind. She knew she needed to talk to Duncan tonight but she was dreading it. Having changed into a fresh outfit, she locked up the apartment and drove to Logan's house for a night of debauchery.
Veronica walked into the pool house to find Connor Larkin texting on his cell phone, Duncan staring sullenly at a bottle of Jack Daniels, Sean fidgeting with the buttons on his shirt and Weevil wearing sunglasses with his feet propped up on the poker table.
"Where's Logan?" she asked, looking around.
"His dad called him into the house. He should be back soon," Duncan answered, finally looking at her. She nodded and sat down in the empty chair next to him.
"We need to talk later," she said quietly to him. His eyes opened wide but he nodded. Logan entered the pool house and saw her in his seat. He smiled big and bowed graciously.
"My lady detective, do you bring forth good news?"
Veronica rolled her eyes and stood. "Yes indeed. So, here's what I think went down." While circling the pool table, she explained that Duncan wasn't really drunk but was drinking iced tea from a JD bottle to make it seem he was. "Clever, my boy. Very clever." Then she rounded on Connor. "When is your photo shoot again?" He looked sheepishly at her and she explained that his bathroom trips were due to the diuretic he was using to lose weight before his shoot.
"This leaves Logan and Sean. We can rule Logan out-"
Weevil interrupted, "How do you figure, blondie?"
"Because this place was ransacked when I got here the other day. If he had taken the money, he wouldn't have had to search the place like the FBI to find it. Now if you'll let me return to my tale."
At this point, Sean was looking nervous while everyone else was relaxed. Veronica was smug. "Have any of you ever been to Sean's house?" Everyone shook their head no. "I went yesterday and funny thing was, his dad answered the door at 3pm in a full suit. Now, I thought, maybe he just came home from work early and hadn't changed his clothes. But then I realized, what if his dad WAS at work?" Sean gulped loudly. "Your dad is a butler, isn't he Sean? That's why you stole the money… so you could keep up '09er appearances."
Weevil grabbed Sean by the shirt and shook him none too gently. "I have the money! I'll give it back. All of it!" Sean gasped out.
"Damn right you will. Now if you'll excuse me a moment, this poser and I need to have a talk outside." Weevil dragged Sean from table and out to the pool where a loud splash was heard.
Veronica sat down at the table where Sean had sat and took off her jacket, revealing a tshirt that said 'Blondes do it better.' Logan snorted and Duncan stared at her wordlessly. Connor continued texting. Weevil came back in and sat down gracelessly. "Let's get this game started then."
Logan shuffled the cards, dealt, and the game began. It was soon realized that Veronica meant business and took no prisoners. In the end, Veronica and Logan were the only ones left at the table.
"Do you forfeit yet?" she asked, keeping her face masked.
"No way in hell," he replied while moving the cards around in his hands.
She laid down a winning hand and Logan groaned loudly as he realized he lost. "Sorry snookums. I told you I wouldn't be losing." She grabbed the money in the pot and shoved it into her jean pocket. Logan mumbled under his breath and got up from the table, walking into the next room to get a drink. Connor and Weevil had already left when they knew there was no chance of winning against Veronica. She caught Duncan's eye and he motioned to the couch. She nodded and sat down beside him.
She looked at her ex-boyfriend and took a deep breath. "I know why you broke up with me."
He looked at her wide-eyed, mouth partly open. "How?"
"I'm not proud of it, but I read your journal on your laptop. I had to know." Logan had walked back into the room but noticed the tension in the air. He stepped back into the shadows and listened.
He looked angrily at her. "You had no right."
"Yeah, well you had no right telling me I could be your sister."
His eyes softened and he put his hand over hers. "I know. I just… I didn't know how to tell you and it was too hard to be around you when I still loved you so much."
"That's no excuse Duncan. You could have found the words. I was so confused and then Lilly died and I was so alone."
He nodded and looked out the window to the pool. "I'm sorry for that."
"I also know what happened at Shelley Pomeroy's party."
He whipped his eyes to hers, wide and frantic. "I thought we weren't going to talk about that."
"What do you mean? Talk about the fact that I was drugged and don't remember anything from that night? That I woke up alone, scared and hurt? That for a whole fucking year I thought I was raped?" Logan gasped quietly and his hand tightened on the door frame.
"Veronica… I… I thought you knew!" Duncan sputtered.
"Obviously not. What the hell Duncan? Even if I were totally sober, you thought I was your sister! How could you have done that?"
"I don't know. I just loved you so much." His breaths were coming in shallow now.
"I got a DNA test done." She said quietly.
"When? How did you know to test?" Duncan was flabbergasted.
"That's not important. What is important is that Keith Mars is my biological father."
Duncan sagged against the couch in relief. "So what we did wasn't wrong. We can be together again."
"Don't you get it? It wasn't consensual Duncan. I wasn't in my right mind and you took advantage of me. Even if I could get past that, you let me be treated like shit for the last year! Even if you thought I was your sister, how could you let them spread rumors about me without saying a word?"
"You don't understand. I didn't know how to act or what to say."
"That's bullshit and you know it."
"Veronica, come on… I still love you." Duncan dropped to his knees in front of her.
"It's not enough Duncan. I don't…. I can't love you like that anymore." Tears filled her eyes and she looked at him pleadingly. "Just… just go home Duncan. I can't take any more of this tonight." He nodded and quietly picked up his jacket, slipping out of the pool house into the night.
Veronica sat on the couch and cried silently. The cushion dipped next to her and she remembered that Logan was still there. "Did you hear any of that?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, most of it. God, Ronnie. I don't know what to say." He shook his head and looked down at her bowed head.
"Me either." She took a shuddering breath and looked up into his eyes.
"I wish I had been there for you. I wish I hadn't been such an asshole and could have protected you. I never wanted you to get hurt." He took her hands in his and rubbed his thumb over her palm.
"Honestly, I don't think you could have been there for me. I shut everyone out just as much as they shut me out." He nodded and wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he pulled her in close.
"I still wish it, V," he murmured into her hair. Her tears slowed and she became aware of the hard chest she was pressed up against.
"Logan…"
He tilted her chin up and looked solemnly into her eyes. He bent his head down and lightly touched his lips to hers. Breathing in her smell, he ran his tongue over her lips and she parted them slightly. He gently ran his tongue over hers and she gasped slightly. He deepened the kiss and pulled her closer to his body. They kissed for minutes or hours or weeks, neither knew how long. Breaking apart, Logan gently ran his thumb over her swollen lips. She gave him a small smile.
From outside the pool house, they could hear yelling. A woman screeched loudly, "The way you flirt is shameful." And then someone screamed and an ambulance was called and Aaron Echolls lay bleeding near the pool, with a knife in his belly. They looked at each other wordlessly, unsure what to do.