For the Best
By Misha
Disclaimer- I don't own anything to do with "Veronica Mars", I really wish I did, but I don't. It belongs to Rob Thomas and the UPN. I'm not making any money off of this, so please don't sue me.
Author's Notes- This is just a short, kind of twisted story. It's definitely an AU. Jake Kane makes a decision and it changes Duncan and Veronica's lives forever. As I said, definitely an AU. It kind of hints at incest, or at least the possibility, and it definitely weird, but I think I did an okay job. Well, that's all, enjoy!
Pairing- Duncan/Veronica.
Summery- AU. Jake Kane tells his wife one more lie and changes the future drastically.
Spoilers- Whole first season, I guess.
Rating- PG-13
Jake lied to Celeste.
This was not the first time, nor would it the last, but maybe it was the most damaging lie. He told her that he'd had tests done, that Lianne's child was definitely not his.
He did it for Duncan.
He watched Duncan and Veronica and how happy they were and wondered how he could take it away from them.
So he wouldn't. After all, he didn't know anything for certain. A part of him wondered at what he was doing, the chance he was taking.
But as he watched Duncan and Veronica curl together on a lawn chair, safe in each other's arms, he ignored that part.
He was doing what was best for Duncan.
He was the first to admit that at times he had been a terrible father, that he had been selfish and put his own needs before his children.
Not this time. This time he'd put Duncan's happiness first, no matter the cost.
Lilly was dead.
Jake hadn't been able to save her.
All he could do was protect Duncan.
And in the aftermath, he comes to the conclusion that he was right about keeping Veronica's possible parentage a secret. She was what Duncan needed to help him recover and he was what she needed.
They were never far from each other's sides these days.
Jake watched them sometimes: Veronica's hand held tightly in Duncan's, they're arms wrapped around one another.
Jake knew that things weren't perfect, he'd heard them arguing a couple days after Keith Mars had brought him in questioning.
"Veronica, he's my father! How can you even think he could--"
"I didn't say I did!"
"But you won't say your father was wrong."
"He's my father, Duncan, just like Jake is yours. Why is it right for you to stand behind your father 100, but wrong for me to do the same?"
Jake listened and couldn't help the thoughts that went through him, after all Duncan's father might be hers as well. In the end, Keith Mars lost his job, but Duncan and Veronica remained together--still fairly solid.
They were sleeping together.
Jake was sure of it.
He watched his son and Veronica, the way they touched, and knew that they had become lovers. A part of him was sickened by the idea and wondered if he should come clean.
But a stronger part of him wouldn't allow that.
No, he wouldn't do that to Duncan or to Veronica. They had both been through too much already, he wouldn't take them away from each other.
They needed each other.
He had been right to lie to Celeste, to keep the truth from Duncan and Veronica. All any good parent wanted was for their child to be happy and Jake was willing to make sure that happened.
No matter the cost.
Veronica made a beautiful bride, no surprise there.
She walked down the aisle to Duncan, a vision in white lace, on Keith Mars' arm.
Jake watched the entire thing and wondered if he was going to Hell for letting it happen. He was letting his son marry a girl who might be his sister. Who was probably his sister.
But it was too late to back out now.
He had gotten in this deep, kept the secret so long that there was no point in sharing it now. All it would do was ruin Duncan's life and Veronica's too.
They were in love and nothing would change that.
So, Jake kept silent and watched his son bind himself in a union which could very well be based in sin.
Finally, Jake had to know.
He couldn't fight with himself any longer, he needed to know one way or another.
He needed to know if he had done something truly awful or not. So, he grabbed Veronica's hairbrush and had her DNA tested, along with his own. He needed to know.
But before he could find out, fate threw him a curve ball.
The day he got the results back, Duncan and Veronica came over for dinner. They announced, smiling, that Veronica was pregnant.
Jake offered them congratulations that to his own ears sounded hollow and escaped as soon as he could.
He held the envelope in his hand, the one that contained the truth.
What good would the truth do now? It was much, much too late. Veronica and Duncan were married, there was a child on the way.
He had waited too long.
Finally, Jake put the envelope in the paper shredder.
The truth wouldn't set anyone free, not now, anyway. Truth be told, he didn't want to know.
He wanted to believe his own lies--because it really was better that way. This way everyone was happy and the truth would only ruin lives.
No, Jake would just have to find away to live with what he had done.
It really was for the best.
- End