A/N: Rated mature for language.
Logan resists the urge to turn around and look back at her as he walks quickly through the crowds to catch up to Tosche and Schmidt. He's still in disbelief that they just met Veronica and he knows he'll get some shit from them as soon as they get a chance. Maybe they'll give him a break since he used their real names, but Schmidt, Mike, tends to be more proud than annoyed by his name. At least he probably cut back on Tosche's whining.
He's glad he was able to leave, but not that he had to leave her. God it was amazing to see her, to talk to her, to hear her voice again, and he won't think of what it was like to have her body next to his. He's got to be in the air shortly and that might threaten his own well honed concentration. But he'll be flying a jet, that she may see. He can't help but hope she will be impressed. Maybe Piz will be so stunned he'll faint.
That would be even better than hitting him, which he was totally wanting to do earlier. He was on edge the moment he heard his whiny bitch voice and then to see him yank on her arm like he did. He's just lucky he stopped when he did. Logan doesn't think he'd have really regretted it either, at least not unless he ended up hurt enough to be grounded or in trouble.
He's caught up to the guys but is still lost in his own world when Schmidt rams into his shoulder, momentarily making him lose his balance.
"What the fuck man."
"Come on, you woulda walked off the pier for as much attention as you were paying. You're not going to let some chick mess with your head so much you can't fly, are ya?"
He knows he's joking but he still finds himself unable to let it go, "Hey, she was not just some chick." He'd like to say that he wouldn't refer to a woman that way at all, but knows it's not true, he hasn't progressed that much. But Veronica is different, she deserving of more than just about anyone he's known. He doesn't let himself go down the road of what he would like to make up for, as again, he has to fly soon, and flying depressed is a bad plan.
Schmidt looks at him sympathetically, "Look man, no matter who it was, clear your head, you gotta focus."
"I know man, I will."
"Good, then we can just grill you later."
They keep heading through the crowds with occasional interruptions from the civilians there and he focuses on chatting about other topics. Tosche starts complaining that he's losing on his bet with another of their squad mates to get the most phone numbers and Logan is happy to point out that everyone is trying to get him to accept their numbers instead. They finally get to their ship to get ready and he gives himself time to think through his afternoon.
He's dreamed of seeing Veronica again and numerous versions of their next meeting have run through his head, from angry screams to sad and pitiful tears. He never envisioned a moment where he would, not completely ignore her, but not give her any indication that he was there. He spent years trying to get her attention, from being a clown to make her laugh, to teasing her with Lilly, seeing if he could make her blush, keeping her the focus of his anger and then, finally, falling completely in love with her to the point that it eclipsed his feelings for anyone before or since.
Never, in any of those dreams, did he include Piz in the equation. He can't pretend it didn't hurt to see her still with Piz, kissing Piz. He just assumed that when she said goodbye to Neptune that she said goodbye to most things associated with it, but apparently that was more about him than he initially wanted to think. Of course now that he thinks of it rationally, that wouldn't apply to her boyfriend, and he never heard of them breaking up. Apparently him learning to not make assumptions doesn't apply retroactively.
He's laid out in his rack and pauses a minute to do some muscle relaxation exercises. He's worked hard since joining the Navy to confront cognitive distortions and learn some relaxation techniques. His temper didn't disappear overnight and he never had anyone work with him before to handle conflict in a better way. He was actually surprised when he found people with similar issues and he was able to learn how to solve issues without his fists, or so he thought. He's relaxed now, but lets his mind drift to what he would have liked to do to Piz. He prides himself on his control now, but honestly, he was in control when he attacked Piz. And while his justification at the time wasn't correct, he doesn't deny that he liked the feel of Piz's skin and bone connecting with his fist. He never particularly liked the guy, but didn't consider him to be a threat to his relationship with Veronica until she spent the weekend with him. He knows she would never cheat, at least he does in his head, his heart didn't really care and was just hurt. It didn't help that they ended up going out later. He thinks it wouldn't have been so hard to see her move on had it been someone else.
That's a long time ago though, and what he had with her this afternoon is more than he ever expected to have with her again. He felt their connection from the moment he saw her, and while he would have regretted not approaching her if she had never seen him, he's thankful he stayed back. Having her make that effort meant more to him than probably anything that happened when they were actually together, and that in itself is probably saying something.
He remembers how angry she was with him after that first year of college, and while he knows it was his fault for going after Piz back then, a small part of him still blames the floppy haired asshole. He knows now that she truly chose Piz, and he'll come to terms with that one day, but for now he's going to put on the best show possible. He still knows her, and he knows that she wouldn't miss the chance to see this. Even if he never sees or hears from her again, he's going to let himself have this one.
Logan is in the cockpit of his plane and the picture of calm confidence. His mental exercises earlier did exactly what he needed and he's ready to launch. The sky is a clear blue and he reaches for the wisps of clouds after he's catapulted off the ship. He meets up at the rendezvous point with the squad and they begin their coordinated maneuvers. It's amazing to fly past the city buildings. With everything so compact it's racing past in a blur and he hardly has time to appreciate it. Too soon it's time to land but everything goes smoothly and he is yanked to a stop. The flyover was perfect and if he never sees Veronica again, this will be a good place to leave it. Despite that, he just feels that he hasn't heard the last of her.
He, Tosche, and Schmidt are out with some others getting a drink that evening and since their group is on duty early the next morning, they are planning to call it early and it's a lady free night. That doesn't keep them from pushing him about Veronica. Tosche starts in on him first, "Come on man, just give it up, that's the one who turns you all sappy isn't it?"
"Guys, do we really have to do this." He puts his head in his hands and groans.
"God, that was as whiny as Tosche, what the hell dude. Come on, you love the stories. So, obviously an ex, but is she Nancy Drew, or your childhood best friend?" Schmidt wiggles his eyebrows and rests his chin on his joined hands like he's settling in for gossip.
Logan knows it's not going to stop until he gives gen something, so he sucks it up and let's them in on the secret, "Both, it was always the same, I just didn't want to be so lame as to only have one girl to talk about." He raises his head and taps the table in a nervous gesture.
"Finally you fess up, but we kinda already knew." Logan glares at Tosche and he smiles. "You have the same expression whenever you talk about her. And when you went out with that popstar you knew from high school, you came back talking about Nancy Drew and how much you were thinking about her and the description was the same. So what gives, you gonna see her again?"
"No, don't plan on it, but I think she saw me fly today." He looks back down since he knows he has a sappy look on his face.
"Really, no plans to see the girl that puts that grin on your face? You're such a pussy."
"Yeah, no plans to see the girl that I still apparently can't get over, but who had no problems getting over me. Who was only at fleet week because her boyfriend had to go for work." He takes a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. "The fact that she came up to me, was great, but she said nothing of staying in touch, and after feeling like I was trailing after her forever, I need to accept things for what they are, not what I want. And I'm not going to go barging back into her life unless she specifically tells me that it's what she wants."
Logan looks at his buddies with a serious look on his face. Schmidt looks at him before grinning, "We should change your call sign to Queen since you're such a fucking drama queen" Logan rolls his eyes but grins with them after a moment, knowing that his friends just like teasing him. "You're just lucky you didn't have to bail me out after kicking Piz's ass this afternoon."
"What the fuck's a Piz."
"A Piz is her boyfriend, they must have been together for 6 years maybe." Logan scrunched his forehead trying to think of how many years it's actually been since that year at Hearst as he purposely doesn't keep track of how long it's been since people have left him. "I would have loved to given him a punch in the face and I know exactly how satisfying it would be."
"Why didn't you man, you probably wouldn't have many issues with one punch?" Schmidt always the pusher for finding loopholes, while Tosche tries to keep him in check. "No dude, really don't want the trouble. Besides, it's been years since you hit someone, don't ruin that."
"I know man, not many people inspire that much passion in me, but she always has. Besides it's not like she hasn't seen me punch a guy before."
"Right, and much better ways to impress your lady."
"Yeah, like flying my jet over the crowd, although she might argue with the lady label." Logan smiles thinking of how Veronica might glare at Tosche for calling her a lady. It's been a long time, but this afternoon it seemed like almost no time at all. "Alright guys, enough about my messed up history, let's get out of here." They say good bye to a few other guys from their ship that walked over with them, and head back to their ship, deciding to stay on board since they head out early the next day. He's going to miss being in the same city as her, but he's feeling confident that it'll happen again. It's just a matter of time.
A/N: I would love to know if anyone figures out where the call signs came from for Logan's friends. Let me know if you have a guess, one of them is probably more obvious than the other.