Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Chapter 2

Unfortunately a downside of 9 hours alone in a car and letting her mind wander to things she normally tried to avoid meant she had some dreams that weren't the normal variety. Veronica knew as soon as she had crashed on the bed in her dad's guest room, with those thoughts of Logan still on her mind that she was probably in for trouble. Although whether it was good trouble or bad trouble was debatable. She dreamt about nights in his hotel room, in his car, on the beach. She also thought she'd set her phone to wake her up after an hour, but either the overly vivid dreams made her just not hear it, or she actually hadn't set it correctly. Regardless of which it was, she was awoken in the middle of one very explicit dream of a night they'd snuck down to the beach by the doorbell ringing.

Damn it! She stumbled to the door, realizing it was much later than she expected, to a very happy-to-see-her duo of friends. "Wallace! Mac!"

They both enthusiastically said hello and came in the house, giving her a big hug at the same time.

Wallace was the first to give her a scolding look. "Did you seriously just wake up or something?" He shook his head in a playful way.

Veronica gave them both a sheepish grin, "Yeah, my alarm didn't work. Just let me change into something a little nicer and fix my hair."

"Don't take forever, V," Wallace yelled as she began to retreat down the hall. "I'm famished! You don't want to have to explain to your dad why I died in his living room do ya?"

Veronica glanced over her shoulder to stick her tongue out at Wallace and saw Mac shake her head and roll her eyes at him. "You're fine Veronica. We're not in a huge rush and they'll hold the reservation for a while."

Twenty minutes later they were selecting their seats at the restaurant Mac had chosen for them. It was a newer restaurant that had a great selection of vegan offerings, as well as some great Italian dishes and even some steak and seafood. They'd been making small talk for most of the time so far, with Veronica telling them about working and living in San Francisco. The other two shared what they had been up to since she last saw them, which was also mostly just working.

Mac had graduated from Hearst and gone to work for a new start-up technology company that was in direct competition with Kane Software in a number of markets. Veronica had been excited to hear that the company Mac was working for was actually beating them in several of those markets. Wallace had gotten a job working for an engineering firm that had offices along the west coast. He ended up having to travel a bit for work, but seemed to be enjoying it since they subcontracted with lots of different types of companies to provide engineering services.

They'd ordered their meals and were enjoying a round of drinks when Veronica finally decided to bring up her idea of moving back. "So…" she started off a bit hesitantly. "I was thinking I might actually move back to Neptune."

"Seriously?" Mac said first, almost with an excited squeal in her tone. "That would be fantastic!"

"Yeah, V. It would be great to have you back here, but what are you thinking of doing for work?" Wallace seemed a bit more reluctant to jump on the excited train until he heard more about her plans.

"Well…." Veronica drew the word out for a bit before she continued. Wallace had taken another drink of his beer as she was delaying her answer. "I'm thinking of getting a job at the Sheriff's Department."

Veronica was glad that she was seated across from Mac and not from Wallace as the mouthful of beer he'd just taken mostly sprayed out all over in front of him. Veronica gave him a 'what the hell was that about' look and then looked over at Mac who seemed unusually nervous.

"Won't that be a bit awkward with your ex-boyfriend being a deputy there?" Wallace finally asked after wiping his mouth off.

Veronica gave him a look that clearly communicated she thought he was being ridiculous or an idiot, or just a ridiculous idiot. "First, Leo and I barely even dated. We only went out a couple of times. And he's actually the Sheriff now and not a deputy anymore. I also thought I heard he was engaged or married or something, not that it really matters anyway."

Wallace gave Mac a disbelieving look and his voice came out slightly louder. "You never told her?"

Veronica looked between the two of them and when neither said another word she finally spoke in a slightly annoyed voice. "Told me what?"

Mac looked at her and then at Wallace and back to Veronica, "Well we don't usually talk about Leo's fiancé because it's a sore subject for Wallace."

Wallace looked at Mac with an even more shocked look. "Really Mackenzie? That's what you're going with?"

Mac gave him a slightly apologetic look and leaned toward Veronica, "Leo's fiancé is Jane."

Veronica sat back in her chair with a surprised look on her face. "Wallace's Jane?" She asked in almost a whisper, as if trying to not let Wallace hear her, though he clearly could. Mac nodded and Wallace blew out a frustrated breath.

"Seriously!" Wallace yelled, causing a few tables near them to stop talking and stare at them.

Mac shrugged and gave him an innocent look. Wallace shook his head in frustration and finally just blurted out what Mac didn't seem to want to tell Veronica. "Logan's a deputy there Veronica."

"Wait, what?" Veronica replied, completely confused by the words Wallace had just said.

"Logan Echolls is a deputy with the Neptune Sheriff's Department," Wallace repeated in a slower voice, emphasizing the key words to make sure she understood this time.

Veronica looked at him for a moment with her mouth open, then at Mac who sheepishly nodded at her before she looked back at Wallace again.

"Logan Echolls?" She asked still not quite believing she heard him right. "The Logan Echolls that I used to date? That Logan Echolls works for the Neptune Sheriff's Department? He's a deputy?"

"Yes," Wallace replied with an exasperated tone.

Well I guess that answers part of the 'what has Logan been doing with himself' question. Although now there's a bigger 'why the hell' question to be answered. Veronica sat quietly for a few minutes trying to process what she'd just learned.

"Soooo…" Wallace finally continued, breaking the silence. "Don't you think that might be a little awkward?"

Veronica shrugged and tried to seem nonchalant. "We're both mature adults now. I'm sure we could work at the same place and it wouldn't be an issue."

Wallace's eyes about bugged out of his head and Mac just gave her a small smile. "I'm sure you're right Veronica. It will be perfectly fine," Mac said supportively while Wallace just shook his head with a disbelieving look on his face.

The topics of moving back, the sheriff's department and Logan were completely avoided throughout the rest of their dinner and drive home. When she finally crawled into bed to go to sleep, she'd been trying to actually picture Logan as a deputy. Bad idea Veronica, now you know what kind of dreams you're sure to have. Logan in uniform, sometimes the tear-away kind, and usually with handcuffs somehow made it into several of the dreams she had that night.

A/N – While you're down here by the comment box, be kind and drop me a quick note to let me know what you think of it so far! I've realized that I like writing about Logan in different occupations (mayor, race car driver, and now deputy). I loved this one because he'll have more seniority at the department than she will, so can't wait for all the fun that's going to lead to!