Influence
by Your Undoing
Summary: Veronica runs into Logan after she casts her vote. Post-finale. Alternative to "In The End".
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Veronica turned her face to the sky with a smile. The drizzling rain had vanished-- leaving behind a cloudless spring day, complete with sunbeams.
"Well this is peachy!" Veronica exclaimed to no one in particular. Her bad mood seemed to have vanished along with the rain, and she breathed deeply, closing her eyes and smiling.
Sometimes all it takes is a little sunshine, she thought with a grin.
She strolled down the sidewalk, greeting passersby with a "Vote for Keith!" and a smile. Most of them just avoided her gaze and continued to scurry by, but occasionally someone would reply with a "sure will!" or "darn straight!". Veronica knew that Keith's chances for re-election were depressingly slim, but she found it hard to be too concerned. With Keith back at the Mars Detection Agency, she wouldn't have to worry about him so much.
She was so busy being carefree that she didn't notice she was walking straight Logan until her face was buried in his damp sweater. She sneezed, stumbling backwards as he grinned.
"Why hello there, detective Mars!" he said, raising two fingers in a salute. "I see that you, as is so common with you female-types, are unable to resist the magnetism of a man in pink."
Veronica wrinkled her nose, and noticed with amusement that Logan was indeed wearing a salmon-pink pullover sweater.
"You caught me," she replied, shaking her fist at the heavens.
"So what brings you here, Ronnie?" Logan asked, cocking an eyebrow and pressing his fingers together in the shape of a steeple.
"Didn't you know? That corner right there is my favorite panhandling spot. I can hassle the most people with the least amount of effort."
Logan pursed his lips with a sly little grin, rolling his eyes. "Touché!"
"I was voting," Veronica admitted.
"For shame, Veronica!" Logan exclaimed. "Don't you know? It's always better to rest your fate in the hands of the largely incompetent and uninformed public. There's no need to take matters into your own hands."
Veronica smirked, hooking her thumbs in the belt loops on her jeans.
"I voted for Keith," Logan offered after a moment of silence.
"But Van-Lowe is every frat-boy's dream come true!" Veronica said, raising her hands and wiggling her spirit-fingers.
"Enough said."
Veronica shook her head with a laugh. "What a world."
"I guess you forgive me for beating up Gory?" Logan said softly, his sarcastic smile gone.
Veronica merely shrugged. "Maybe I do. Maybe I don't."
"Well can I get you a cup of coffee while the jury's still out?" Logan asked with a gleam in his eye.
Veronica smiled. "Well golly gee son, are you trying to influence the judge?"
"Maybe I am," he said slyly. "But the judge likes coffee."
"She sure does," Veronica said, shaking her head with a laugh.
"Well now that that's that," Logan said, smiling wide, "prepare to be influenced."
Veronica allowed him to lead her down the street to his Jeep. Perhaps it wasn't the best decision she'd made all day, but she couldn't help but smile as Logan opened the passenger-side door with a small bow.
She had been 100 percent prepared to call Logan as soon as she got home. To tell him he'd finally crossed the line when he beat up Gory, after she explicitly asked him not to. To tell him he was a horrible influence, and not someone she wanted to be associated with. To tell him she was done.
...But one more chance couldn't hurt.