"We, the jury, find the defendant, Cecil Abbot, guilty of the serial kidnappings, rapes, and murders of Petra Santos, Brigid Spearing, Susana Favager, Delilah Scrivens, Sandra Roth, and Jenifer Dreyer."
Amidst the thunderous applause, shouts of satisfaction, and sobs of relief that rang out through the courtroom, the short blonde woman sitting in the stands breathed a sigh of relief. After almost three months of continuous investigation, sleepless nights, stress headaches, and copious amounts of coffee, the case was finally over.
"Finally," FBI Special Agent Klaus Orlov murmured to her. "That was a hell of a case, if I do say so myself."
"Damn straight," Special Agent Veronica Mars replied, leaning back in her chair as the rest of the courtroom streamed out, having been dismissed by the judge. "What a nightmare."
And a nightmare the case indeed had been. Veronica had stopped keeping track of how many nights her sleep was interrupted by nightmares, induced by the bloody, mangled bodies of the rape and murder victims. The nights that she dared to sleep, anyway.
"Hey Mars," her partner Klaus said, nudging her. "Wanna go for a beer? To celebrate another successful case. The rest of the guys from the office are gonna be there."
Veronica slowly let her chair settle back onto all four legs, and slowly rose. "Nah," she said, stretching her spine with a groan. A long day of sitting in the courtroom watching over the trial had taken its toll on her body. "You go ahead and enjoy yourself. I'm going to go home and sleep. God knows I need it."
Klaus watched her with concern. "You okay, Mars? You look…"
"Like shit, yes," Veronica replied, a small smirk of amusement crossing her tired face. "It's okay, I'll be fine. Just haven't been sleeping much lately. Hopefully now that this case is over I'll be able to get some shuteye."
"Might wanna see a shrink if it's that bad," Klaus called over his shoulder as he left the room. "The boss might order it anyway."
Veronica sighed again. She knew without the doubt that the director would, in fact, order a psychiatric evaluation for her. In fact, the way she had reacted to this particular case might even merit a temporary suspension while she mentally recovered from the trauma.
True to form, the evening saw Special Agent Veronica Mars, one of the most decorated members of the New York City district of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, trudging out of the director's office with orders to take a leave of absence for at least two months, along with mandatory sessions with an FBI-approved psychiatrist.
Walking along the busy New York sidewalk toward her one-person apartment, Veronica mentally ran through her options for the next two months. There was little reason for her to stay in New York; she was under orders not to do her job, her boyfriend Stosh "Piz" Piznarski had broken up with her only two weeks prior because he couldn't handle the stress her job was placing on him, and she no longer had any interest in the entertainment possibilities the City That Never Sleeps had to offer her. She had ceased being that sort of girl a long time ago, and after five years in the FBI, few things could keep her interest other than her job.
A sudden thought struck the tired detective, and she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring the protests and irritated comments of the people around her whose walking was disrupted by the interrupted traffic flow. Why not return home? Not to the shabby apartment that she was living in, but rather the town that she grew up in: Neptune, California.
Veronica frowned. She hadn't visited Neptune since she had left, nine years ago, to pursue the FBI internship offered to her during her first year at Hearst College. She never looked back, choosing instead to pursue her career elsewhere. Upon completion of the six-month internship, she had been admitted to Columbia University under a full academic scholarship. She had graduated magna cum laude with dual degrees in forensic science and criminal psychology, and was immediately recruited by the FBI. Following the standard 20-week training course at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, her illustrious career as an FBI Special Agent had begun.
She could count on one hand the number of times she had made contact with the people of her past: her father Keith, twice, Wallace, once, Mac, once, and oddly enough, her mother Lianne, once.
She had written two letters to her father, once when she graduated, and once when she completed her FBI training. He hadn't responded to either of them.
Her meeting with Wallace and Mac had been complete coincidence. She had been out on a case with Klaus, and simply ran into her two old friends. The few words that had been exchanged were abrupt and – had she only imagined it? – cold. A pang of regret shot through her at the thought that she had almost completely ignored her best friends. The last she heard, the two of them still were living and working in Neptune. This might be the perfect time to make amends with them.
Veronica had encountered her mother, Lianne Tanner – she had since remarried – in a case that Veronica and Klaus had worked alongside the DEA in. She didn't want to revisit that memory, nor did she want to see the expression on her mother's face as she was led away in handcuffs for possession of illegal substances.
The thought of Neptune and her old life also cause painful thoughts of Logan Echolls to mind. Her relationship with her ex-boyfriend at the time of her departure from Neptune had been rocky at best, and she had tried her best not to think about him since. Memories of their time together surfaced unbidden, and she pushed them away, unwilling to re-experience the pain they brought with them.
It was decided, then. She would visit Neptune for the two months that she had on leave, attend sessions with the FBI psychiatrist in Los Angeles in the meantime, and attempt to fix the bridges that she had burned so thoroughly in the past. She expected drama, emotions, and shouting matches, but after five years in the FBI, Veronica had learned to accept the inevitable. If she wanted to fix the mistakes of her past, she would have to suffer through the pain. Besides, she could deal with it, right? She was Veronica Mars after all, FBI Special Agent, former high school private investigator, with the no-bullshit reputation that had served her well in high school and beyond. She'd be fine.
Little did she know that trouble, more trouble than she would ever have imagined, would follow her all the way across the country, turning what was supposed to be a semi-relaxing, therapeutic vacation into a living hell for both the blonde investigator and those whom she, even after all this time, held dear.
