"Good morning, Ms. Mars." The receptionist greeted when she came in.

"Di, you know you can call me Veronica, right?" The blonde told her with a half-smile.

"Oh please. You're one of the youngest people to win a Pulitzer Prize, plus you took down a corrupt, molesting college administrator. You're lucky I'm not calling you Queen Mars." Diana dished back with a full grin.

Veronica laughed as she entered her office and closed the door. She uploaded and clicked through the pictures on her computer from the night before, running through possible phrases and causes she could use in her story. She was still wondering what Cravinski and the Fitzpatricks were really up to when she found herself pausing on a photo with Logan's face tilted to the side.

It was so surreal, how they fell right back into their established roles, the parting jibes, the pointed remarks, just as if nothing had changed. It wasn't camaraderie exactly, but it was familiar routine in her shiny new life, and that carried a merit all of its own.

What was he doing? Cravinski had obviously threatened him, but what for? Money? Debts? Holding up his end of a bargain? She was nearly certain that Logan wasn't involved with the Fitzpatricks. Nearly.

A lifetime of hearing lies and watching heartbreak guaranteed she'd never trust anyone completely, but usually her gut instinct was right. Unless it was wrong.

She ran her hands through her hair. What was she doing? Following Logan into his house, snooping (she hated that her brain used his word) in his study. Even her dad didn't have every single story she'd ever written - not that he wasn't proud, but he didn't need meticulous documentation of her achievements. Why did Logan have them all? What did he want with them? What did he want with her?

His face appeared in her mind's eye, brows drawn, eyes steadily staring at her with a combination of hope and need and something else she could (dared) not name.

But it had been too long, the chasm between them too wide and full of betrayed trust and broken promises. In high school, it seemed that Logan Echolls wanted nothing more than to destroy himself and take any bystanders down with him - a fact Veronica had to reckon with when she noticed she was the closest one standing by.

But now, she knew from her questionably legal methods, he was a successful businessman, with an eye for integrating start-ups that filled technological niches no one had thought of. Granted, he had disappeared off the face of the earth for over a year after graduation, but from all recent, actual accounts (ignoring the photoshopped images and exaggerated stories the tabloids ran when news was slow), he was a mature, confident CEO who filled his life with work, perfectly happy to let everyone think his success stemmed from pure dumb luck.

What had changed? Did she even know him anymore? Did he know her?

"Ms. Mars?" Diana's voice brought her back to the present.

"Hmm?"

"Mr. Echolls is here to see you."

An instinctual fear ran through her. "Who?"

"Mr. Logan Echolls? He said you'd be expecting him." She let out a sigh of relief at the first name. "He also said that I could also expect him later on, if I had any interest." Di waggled her eyebrows as Veronica smiled. Clearly Logan hadn't changed that much.

"Ah, yes. The cream of the Silicon Valley crop. Go ahead and send him in."

"He's the son of the movie star, right?" Diana leaned forward conspiratorially. "Do you know him?"

After sorting through the various answers to that, Veronica went with a blithe smile. "Doesn't everyone?"

Diana shrugged, then gestured to the open door to someone out of sight. As Logan headed for her office, she could see Diana mouthing "He's hot!" over his shoulder, and Veronica had to resist rolling her eyes.

Logan shut the door behind him and flopped into the corner chair as if he owned the place. Which, if the rumors about his company's yearly earnings were to be believed, he could very easily do.

"Nice digs." He commented as he stretched his hands above his head, and Veronica couldn't help but notice how his casual cotton shirt rose up to show off his abs.

Damn. He had clearly gotten in serious shape since the last time she saw him. His lanky frame had filled out a bit, but if his abs were anything to go by, it was all muscle.

She glanced at his face a second too late, and realized he had noticed her staring. A very masculine grin slowly appeared, and he linked his hands together in preparation for another yawn.

"Didn't sleep much?" She commented, then winced at how easy of an opening that was.

And Logan Echolls loved taking easy shots. "Nope. This hot blonde kept me up most of the night." He smirked and affected a southern accent. "What about you? I see some dark circles under those cornflower blue eyes. You not get all your beauty rest?"

"You know, I did have trouble getting to sleep." Obvious glee blossomed over his face until she finished, "Some annoying bug kept droning on and on…"

That's right, Mars. Pretend that last night was a completely annoying, platonic discussion. Total denial has worked so well for you in the past.

When she looked up, she saw Logan walking around her office studiously, glancing at her degree, her pictures, a few of her favorite articles, the framed page of her Pulitzer-winning piece, and the prize itself sitting on top of her filing cabinet. If she wasn't surreptitiously watching his every movement, she would have missed the genuine smile that flashed across his face at the engraved medal.

"I think they like you here," he commented softly before glancing at her.

"Well, that's only because I send out daily reminders to worship the ground I walk on."

"Ah. I keep forgetting to send mine out. That's probably why no one likes me."

"You can automate them in your email now."

"Huh. Who knew?"

Lulled into the easy rhythm, she grinned at him in enjoyment, then remembered why she was avoiding direct eye contact. While his tone was light, his eyes still carried the intensity that had made her pulse race last night. And right now, come to think of it.

Breaking their gaze, Logan sat back down. "So, Veronica, how've you been?"

Her eyebrows shot up. "Really? We're doing the 'how've you been's now?"

Logan lifted his shoulders carelessly. "Why not? It's what normal people do, isn't it?"

Right. Normal. Since when were we ever normal people, Logan?

Shrugging, Veronica figured she might as well roll with it. "Alright. I've been good. A bit busy, as you can see." She indicated the stacks on her desk as well as the whole office.

"And your dad?"

Oh wow. Going all out with this normal thing, aren't we?

She gave a fond smile at the picture on her desk. "He's doing well. It's hard keeping him from field work, but between me and Eli, we do-"

"Eli? What's Weevil got to do with this?"

"Haven't you heard? Weevil's taken over Mars Investigations. Well, trying to, anyway, when Dad isn't stealing all the good cases."

Logan shook his head. "Who'd have guessed that Weevil would end up as a P.I.?"

Veronica smiled proudly. "He's really good at it. Once he figured out that you shouldn't beat up the abusive boyfriends until after the case is closed, he took to it like a fish to water."

"Well, it certainly pays to be your friend." He remarked dryly.

Frowning at the slight, she looked up to catch him wince, then say, "I mean, you… you look out for your friends."

She blinked in surprise. Did he just attempt to correct himself? And say something nice? Who was this person and why had they body-swapped with Logan?

"I try." She answered softly, uncertain of the steps involved in this new dance.

He gave her a long, measuring stare, then pulled out the manilla envelope from his pocket. He started fiddling with it as he spoke.

"Every few months, Trina's being asking for money. After a while, it became every week, and then nothing. Radio silence for about two weeks, then I get a call from your friend, Cravinski, saying to meet him out here if I want to know what happened to her. Last night, he tells me that she owes the Fitzpatricks money. A lot of it."

He tossed the envelope on her desk. "He says this is what they've done to her boyfriend, and if I don't pay up, what they will do to her."

Veronica opened the envelope and pulled out pictures of a man covered in blood and bruises.

"Oh my God," She murmured as she went through the collection. The last picture had the man holding a sign with "10 grand by next week. or else" scrawled across it.

"Well, their penmanship leaves a lot to be desired," she quipped, then saw Logan's face.

"Sorry. What did you want me to do?"

"I want you to find out if it's real."

Veronica glanced up. That was not the request she was expecting. "Any reason you think it isn't? Did she say something when you refused to lend her the money?"

"I didn't refuse."

Veronica eyed him sharply.

"I told her I'd happily give her the money on the condition that she take an all-expenses-paid trip to a rehab clinic." Logan examined the floor briefly before continuing, "I knew she wasn't doing great, and I figured that was the only real way to help her."

Putting that aside to process later, she asked, "You think it could be a set up? To get the money without going into rehab?"

"All I know is that Trina got pretty desperate those last couple weeks, and I've never really met her newest boyfriend. And while I'm sure thinking it disqualifies me from the Brother of the Year award, I've known her too long to discount it as a possibility. She is an Echolls, after all." His cynical smile made Veronica's heart hurt.

"Besides, if I'm wrong, we can all go out for ice cream and Disneyland. That's what real families do, right?"

"You know, I hear Harry Potter World is where it's really at. It's got a fire-breathing dragon and everything."

Logan shook his head. "I think you're forgetting, I've already met Celeste Kane."

Veronica burst into laughter as a shy grin appeared on Logan's face. Through the vertical window that framed her office door, she could see Diana lean back in her chair and raise a thoughtful eyebrow.

After a few moments, Logan asked quietly, "So, you'll help?"

Veronica nodded. "Of course. Gotta look out for my friends, right?"

He stared at her, all sarcasm gone, eyes intent on her face. "Is that what we are? Friends?"

Trying to ignore the sudden increase of her heartbeat, and the realization that she didn't actually know the answer to that, she swallowed.

"Yeah."

He looked away too quickly for Veronica to register his reaction, then turned back with a wide smile.

"Well, I don't know about you, friend, but I'm starving. Know any good lunch spots?" He asked lightly.

"Depends. Do you like burgers so big you have to unhinge your jaw to eat them?"

"Well, since I am part snake, that's usually how I prefer my food."

Grinning, Veronica grabbed her bag. "C'mon, snake-man. Let's go grab some grub."