A/N: I'm still in shock at all the reviews, kudos, PMs… You all are the best!

Very special thanks go out to Bondopoulos and BryroseA for their amazing Beta-ness and discussions!

Chapter 3 - Shaking The Wings Of Their Terrible Youths

Veronica woke the next morning with her hand still wrapped in Logan's, and still feeling a bit jittery from Aaron's late night check-in. I've always thought he was creepy, but now…

"Hey you." Logan smiled at her with sleepy eyes and gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it to slip out of the bed. "You sleep all right? Well…after, anyway?" he asked as he headed for the bathroom.

"Yeah," she assured him as he shut the door. She got out of the warm bed and stretched while she waited for her turn in the bathroom. As she walked by the window she saw a very unexpected sight. "Logan, Logan! Hurry up, I think Dick's here." She ducked off to the side so that she wouldn't be visible from the driveway and checked again. Sure enough, there was Dick's silver truck.

"What are you yelling about?" Logan emerged from the bathroom with his toothbrush tucked into his cheek.

Veronica grabbed his hand and dragged him to the window, pointing out the most unwelcome arrival. "That, I'm yelling about that!"

"Shit…" he said harshly. "I'm guessing you are less then thrilled at the idea of Dick knowing you stayed the night with me." She nodded. "Okay, um…" He looked around his room for his car keys. "Here's what were going to do, I'm pretty sure he's here to go surfing since it's barely past 7:00 am. You're going to hide out in here until you see us leave, then you are going to take my truck and go home. Aaron won't be up for at least a few more hours, but I don't want you to wait. When we pull out you head straight home and then you text me when you get there."

"I guess… I'm not sure about taking your truck." I don't want him to get in more trouble than he already is; what would Aaron think if he found out I took it?

"Dick's not going to let me get away with saying no to surfing since I already ditched them last night. So the alternative is for us to walk downstairs together and to explain to Dick why you're here. I'm willing to do that. I meant it when I said I wanted to be friends again, but I can guess how Dick will react, and I'm not looking to get in a fight this early in the morning. "

"Will you get in trouble for letting me take the Xterra?"

"Not any more than I'm already in. Plus this way you'll have to see me later." He smirked at her.

There was a loud crash down the hall and he was sure his panicked expression was a mirror image of Veronica's. Dick must be coming up the stairs. Logan quickly hustled Veronica into the bathroom and tried to act as normal as possible. This just keeps getting better…Logan thought.

"Hey man, surf's up. Get your shit; we need to get out there!" Dick said, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Good morning to you, too. Give me a minute and I'll meet you down in the garage to grab my board. And keep it down, my dad's still asleep, Man."

"Sorry Dude, I'll be real quiet," Dick said, his enthusiasm momentarily dampened.

"Thanks. Now get the fuck out. I'll meet you downstairs." Logan tried to push him out the door.

"Dude, what's your problem? Come on…oh, I get it." Dick gave Logan a shit-eating grin. "You've got company, bowchickawowwow." Dick rolled his hips and pointed at Veronica's purse sitting in the chair where she'd left it last night.

"No man, I think that's Trina's, it's been sitting in here for a while…" Logan said lamely, hoping Dick would buy it.

"Whatever, see you downstairs." Much to Logan's relief, Dick headed out of his room. Logan waited until he heard his friend's padding down the stairs before he chanced calling out to Veronica.

"Veronica. He's gone," he stage whispered to the bathroom door, which swung open at his words. Her hair was tousled and he couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked.

"You need to get down there. I'll wait until I see you guys drive away." Logan started to open his mouth. "And yes, I will text you as soon as I'm back home, I promise."

"Okay, good." Before he could stop himself he had wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple. I can't believe I just did that. But it felt so natural, like old times. She's going to think I'm crazy. He quickly took a step back and began rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah…So I'll see you later," Veronica said, shifting her weight and fidgeting with the edge of the t-shirt she wore.

"I'll call when we're done surfing…I guess a few hours." Logan gathered his phone and wallet and rushed out the door.

Veronica waited until she saw Dick's truck turn out of the drive way and then, with Logan's keys in hand, she ran to the Xterra. She knew it probably wasn't necessary, but there was no way in hell she wanted to risk running into Aaron. She pressed the unlock button on the keys as she flew through the front door and practically leaped into the truck. She didn't relax until she was driving through the gate at the end of the driveway.

At a stop sign a few miles away, Veronica called Wallace as promised.

"Hey V… everything okay?" Wallace asked though a yawn.

"Everything's fine. I'm headed home, and I'm calling you as promised." She could hear Wallace fumbling around on his end.

"It's not even 8:00 am. I didn't expect to hear from you so early given all that work you had to do last night," he snarked at her.

"Hey, give me a break, Papa Bear. I am not my reputation. I really was helping him with something," she defended herself.

"It's not your reputation that is in question here…Anyway…" he stretched out the word, "now that I'm up at this ungodly hour on a Saturday, wanna grab some breakfast?"

They agreed to meet in an hour so she'd have time to take Backup out and to shower. Once home she texted Logan.

From Veronica Mars to Logan Echolls, 7:53am:
Made it home, call me later

He didn't text back, but she hadn't really expected him to.

Wallace met Veronica at her favorite diner, and the pair eagerly settled in to eat big stacks of pancakes and bacon.

"All right, V. Start talking. What happened to you last night? One minute you're strutting your way across the beach and the next I'm bringing your purse to Logan Echolls' place."

Veronica started explaining what had happened at the beach the previous night between bites of her breakfast.

"What do you mean Troy took off with your clothes? Why the hell were your clothes off to begin with?!" He was getting pretty agitated.

"Well, yeah, it's hard to skinny dip with your clothes on…" She snorted. Obviously.

"And Logan was skinny dipping with you?" This part was clearly confusing him.

"Logan was already at the beach, which I did not know. Apparently, he heard me yell out to Lilly, realized what I was doing and decided to join me."

"I think I'm missing a key part of this story. Why would he know what you were doing? I thought you guys hated each other. I mean, I know he was Lilly's boyfriend and you were her friend, but I just can't see you two having that kind of shared memory."

"I wasn't kidding when I said that Logan and I used to be friends, Wallace. We were best friends long before he ever dated Lilly and until she died. I was actually his first friend—well besides Duncan—when he moved here in the seventh grade."

"I can't believe it, V. It does not compute."

"Believe it BFF; we sat next to each other in Mrs. Nelson's class. Duncan had a different teacher, so Logan didn't know anyone except me. You may not believe it now but Logan is actually shy." Wallace gave her a look. "Okay, not shy in the normal sense. He could always command a crowd and did, but when it came to actually being himself…not so much."

FLASHBACK

"Thank god you're in this class too," Logan said to her as he dropped into the chair next to her. The classroom was setup with a bunch of small tables that sat two people. Veronica had chosen this table because it was on the side of the classroom with windows and near the front. She liked to be able to look outside when she was bored.

"Hey Logan." She smiled at him brightly. They had hung-out a few times now. First at a soccer tournament that both she and Duncan played in, and then later when she was over at the Kane's with Lilly. "You don't know anyone else yet?"

He shook his head. "Just you, Duncan, and Lilly. Not that she counts for much…"

"Oh come on, she's my best friend." Veronica stuck up for her less-than-easy to get along with BFF.

"And she's a royal bitch." Logan winked at her and they both laughed, earning them stares from their classmates who were busily staking out their seats for the year.

"You'll help me, right? I missed a bunch of school last year after a snowboarding accident and I'm kinda nervous," He said very quietly.

"Of course I will, 'stick with me kid and you'll go places.'" She quipped at him in an 'Old Hollywood' voice.

"Said the envelope to the stamp!" Logan quoted back at her, causing them to both laugh loudly again, and earning them more curious looks. "Promise you won't ditch me, Ronnie? I don't know any of these people and you've seen what it's like as soon as they figure out who I am. I don't want to have to listen to a list of Aaron's achievements on my first day of school."

"I promise," she told him sincerely. He reached out for her hand and squeezed it tightly for just a moment before releasing it.

END FLASHBACK

Veronica cringed as the memory washed over her. It had seemed so innocent at the time…a snowboarding accident. She had broken her wrist snowboarding so it hadn't seemed so farfetched at the time. But now—knowing what she did about Aaron—she was suspicious.

"Okay fine. So he was a nice kid at twelve; sixteen is clearly not going as well." Wallace brought her out of her thoughts.

"Can't argue with you there."

While they finished their breakfast, Veronica told Wallace a heavily edited version of the rest of her night.

"I maintain that you should avoid this guy at all costs. I don't care how nice he was in the seventh grade, V. He's still the psychotic jackass who made it clear to everyone that you were fair game for torment," Wallace said. Veronica knew she couldn't argue with that either, despite whatever truce she and Logan had made the previous night.

"That's why you're my BFF, Papa Bear. I'll take it under advisement."

When Veronica got home, she started some laundry and tidied up the apartment while solidifying her plan to return Logan's truck and extract herself as quickly as possible. Maybe they could maintain their truce, but rebuilding their friendship was not something she was going to jump back into right away.

Logan was silently pensive during the drive to the beach with Dick and Beaver. With everything that had happened the night before, he was finding it difficult to process how he felt about all this new information. His renewed friendship with Veronica had Logan both excited and a little terrified. When they were kids he'd had a major crush on her, but nothing had ever gone farther than flirtatious innuendo. She was his best friend, and, at the time, it hadn't been worth it to him to risk losing her; he had so few real friends. Just when he had started to think it might be worth it, he'd gotten caught in Hurricane Lilly. After all that had happened between he and Veronica over the past year, Logan knew he was lucky that she was even considering being his friends again. He could admit his crush had never truly gone away, but Logan had no doubt that his behavior after Lilly died had ruined any chance of them ever being more than friends. He huffed audibly.

"Dude, what's your damage? You haven't said two words and you keep making all these emo sounds," Dick's words pulled Logan out of his thoughts.

Not wanting to talk yet, Logan gave Dick the universal sign for 'fuck-off'.

"Wow, you're usually a lot more fun than this after you get laid," Beaver said, from the back seat, earning himself the same hand gesture.

Ignoring Logan, Dick and Beaver prattled on about the importance of a quality lay and how lame the dance had been last night. Logan tuned them out easily; it was a coping device he'd used for years. He was still confused about a lot of what had happened the previous night. Veronica had said she didn't like how Aaron had looked at him, but he wouldn't have thought that would be enough to instantaneously turn his worst enemy into his protector. But that was exactly what had happened. And then he had returned the favor. Some friend I am, exposing her to Aaron… But Logan was sure that he hadn't imagined their renewed bond while protecting each other from Aaron. The more he thought about it, the more he knew that he wanted to protect her. And not just from his dad, but also from anyone or anything that might hurt her. I am superbly fucked up… I destroyed her headlights less than a month ago and now I want to be her fucking knight in shining armor…tarnished armor more like. Logan laughed to himself. Dick gave him a strange look but, fortunately, kept his mouth shut for once.

Thinking about that day on the beach when he broke her head lights reminded him of that Wally kid's comment about having hurt her enough already. What did he mean? Sure, plenty of pranks had been pulled, but slashed tires and cruel rumors didn't equate to anyone actually hurting Veronica. He supposed he was with the right people to do some reconnaissance. Dick might not be the brightest crayon in the box, but he had a real head for gossip and knew everything that went on in Neptune. And Beaver was so unimposing that people said things in front of him without even meaning to, so he was often a fount of this type of information.

They arrived at the beach and were unloading their gear when a silver SUV pulled up next to them. As Duncan Kane and Casey Gant jumped out, Logan's phone played the Law & Order "Dun Dun", the sound he had assigned to text messages from Veronica.

From Nancy Drew To Logan Echolls, 7:53am:
Made it home, call me later

Dick looked over his shoulder. "Who's Nancy Drew? I knew you had a chick in your room; no way Trina would have a purse like that." Casey and Beaver both gave Logan a questioning look.

"Seriously, Fuck-off!" Logan snapped, pulling up his wetsuit.

"Dudes, we've got emo Logan today," Dick said, slapping Duncan on the back.

"I'm not emo. I'm just hungover," Logan informed them before anyone else could comment. He grabbed his board and headed toward the water. He was the first out and was glad to miss whatever conversation was going on back in the parking lot. They may have been his best friends, but sometimes he could barely tolerate them. Duncan used to be the exception, but zombie Duncan was hardly what Logan thought of as fun or even engaging. The fact that Duncan was out surfing this morning was a good sign, but Logan didn't want to get his hopes up.

Dick joined Logan a few minutes later, bobbing on the ocean waiting for a good set. "Look man, I was just busting your balls. Hair of the dog?" Dick asked, passing Logan the flask that he always had on him. Logan usually had one of his own, but he'd forgotten it in his rush to get Dick out of his house before he saw Veronica.

Logan took a fortifying sip. "Dick, do you know if anyone has…" he paused, feeling uncertain.

"Dude, you know Sean's the one to talk to about drugs. I just got a sweet little pipe the other day that we should totally christen together if you pick something up."

"No man, I don't want weed. Um…I was wondering if you had heard anything about anyone hurting Veronica?" He rushed to get the words out and didn't make eye contact with Dick.

"What do you care about that skank? You know we hurt her all the time. Hell, I slashed her tires myself just the other day," Dick said proudly as the other three boys finally joined them.

"That's not what I mean. I mean hurt her, like, physically." Logan tried to sound nonchalant but there was an edge to his voice he was pretty sure even Dick wouldn't miss.

"I don't know man; isn't she the one who does the hurting with that freaky-ass stun gun thingy?" Dick responded.

"She didn't used to be like that. Maybe if you hadn't been such assholes to her she wouldn't have gone all super-bitch," Casey directed his comment at Logan. Casey was an 09er, and sometimes an asshole in his own right, but Logan couldn't remember him ever participating in any of the cruel things they had done to Veronica. Or even saying anything bad about her.

"Tell us how you really feel Casey," Duncan joked. They all stared at him open mouthed. Duncan just laughed and started paddling to catch the next wave.

Duncan made a joke?

"Seriously though," Casey continued, "it started with that party at Shelly's last year. It's like she was a completely different person after that. Didn't you guys notice?" They all shook their heads.

Was that when she changed? Logan stared out at the incoming set thinking back to that party. He'd been a mess, drinking almost constantly, fucking anything with a pulse, and taking his anger—and my guilt if I'm honest with myself—out on Veronica.

"That girl was not Veronica Mars. She was making out with random people. Didn't you use her as a salt lick?" Casey looked at Logan, who nodded in confirmation. Casey turned his attention to Dick. "You and Sean were pouring shots down her throat until Duncan made you stop. What do you think Logan? That sound harmful to you?" Casey asked him with a smirk.

"Whatever. She's just some skank," Dick said and paddled for the next wave in the set.

Logan covered his face with his hands to try to hide the anguish he was sure was only too obvious. "I was spending most of my time in a bottle then. I wasn't thinking much of anything. Now…" He didn't know how to finish the sentence. "Look Casey, have you heard anything? I get what you're saying, all of that was hurtful, but I think someone might have actually hurt her. You know, like physically hurt her. Do you think it could have been that night?"

"I really don't know. But she was different after that party," Casey said with a sigh.

"She stayed the night there," Beaver said quietly, surprising Logan, who had forgotten that Dick's brother was even there.

Duncan paddled back up after his ride. "Who stayed the night where?" He asked, rejoining the conversation.

"Veronica, at Shelly Pomroy's last December. Madison told me about seeing her the next morning when she was writing 'slut' and 'Abel it should have been her' on Veronica's car. She said her dress was torn and that she was crying and limping," Beaver said, an impish grin on his face.

Logan felt sick to his stomach, and, from the look on Casey's face, he suspected Casey felt the same way. They both looked at Duncan who hadn't said anything yet, but his face had visibly paled.

"Who died?" Dick asked with a chuckle, having returned from his ride.

Without responding, Logan started paddling to catch the next wave. He needed to get away from them before he did something stupid, like punch Dick for being an asshat, throw-up, or both.

The now mostly somber group surfed the rest of the morning without further mention of Veronica or anything else. The lack of conversation continued once they lay on the beach, exhausted. Dick tried to get them going a couple of times and finally gave up. "God, you are all a bunch of emo fucks today! Come on Beav, let's get out of here."

"Dick, can you give Casey a ride? I need to talk to Duncan," Logan said.

"Fine dude, whatever. Coming Casey?" Wordlessly, Casey gathered his things and followed Dick up to his truck.

Once they had driven away, Logan looked at Duncan, "Come on DK, get your shit." Logan stood up and headed for the silver Mercedes SUV that had been Lilly's. He strapped his board to the top and then did the same to Duncan's. They stripped out of their wetsuits and climbed into the SUV. Duncan went to put the car in gear, but Logan stopped him. "You know what I'm going to ask you," Logan said, staring out at the waves.

"No, I have no clue Logan. What is your problem?" Duncan snapped.

"What happened to Veronica at that party? You 'rescued' her from me during the salt lick and led her away. And I may have been wasted but I haven't forgotten that you begged me for my dose of liquid-X that night. What happened?" Logan growled. He could feel his temper rising as he glared at Duncan. Then Logan watched as his friend's usually impassive expression transformed into one he had never seen before and couldn't quite place. But in a flash it was gone again, as quickly as it had come, replaced by Duncan's now customary mask of indifference.

"Nothing happened, Man. Nothing, I promise. She was really out of it, so I took her to one of the guest bedrooms and put her to bed. I was pretty upset to see her acting that way at the party, so I took the X myself and spent the rest of the night with Shelly."

"You left her passed-out alone? Fuck Man, what if she'd had alcohol poisoning?" I just let him walk away with her. God, I didn't even care. "What if something worse had happened to her? What is the matter with you?" What is the matter with me? I hooked-up with that freshman and didn't think about Veronica again that night.

"What's the matter with me? What the fuck is the matter with you? Since when do you care about Veronica? Last I remember, you, oh great King of the 09ers, were leading the charge against her," Duncan spoke the harsh words nonchalantly, as if he were discussing the weather. It completely creeped Logan out. Duncan shifted his gaze out toward the ocean, nodded his head once, started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

They didn't speak for the rest of the drive, and Logan was more than ready to be out of Duncan's car when they arrived at his house. Without a word to his friend, Logan quickly grabbed his things and unhooked his board. The second he had it off the roof, Duncan peeled out of Logan's driveway like there was a fire.

Logan dug out his phone and sent a text.

From Logan Echolls to Nancy Drew, 12:37pm:
Have lunch with me?

From Nancy Drew to Logan Echolls, 12:38pm:
Maybe, when?

From Logan Echolls to Nancy Drew, 12:38pm:
Pick me up in 45min - Italian or Thai

From Nancy Drew to Logan Echolls,12:39pm:
What do you think?

From Logan Echolls to Nancy Drew, 12:40pm:
Italian it is, see you soon

Logan was so focused on texting with Veronica that he didn't notice his father standing in the doorway of the house.

"What made you think it was okay to go play with your friends this morning?" Aaron's angry voice caused Logan to look up just as his father's fist connected with his cheek, knocking him off balance. Aaron then kicked Logan's legs out from under him, causing him to fall heavily onto the concrete floor of the garage and his phone to fly out of his hand. Logan took the moment his father needed to rebalance to pull his own knees to his chest and to cover his head with his arms. Bruised and broken legs and arms were easier to explain and, in the end, were less painful than ribs and jaws.

Veronica…He thought as Aaron landed a kick to his shins. Have to make sure this is over before she gets here…

Aaron kicked him twice more.

"Get to my study; we're not done."

Duncan's phone rang as he pulled out of the Echolls' driveway.

"Hello?" Duncan answered.

"Hey Duncan, it's Troy. Man, have I got some shit to tell you about. But first…what are you doing tonight?"

"Troy, dude, um… tonight nothing planned. What's up?" Duncan asked.

"Luke and I are making a little run to TJ. Booze, broads, and booze. You down?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, man. That sounds awesome. When are you headed out? I can be ready in like two hours." Duncan told him glancing at the in dash clock.

"I'll pick you up then. See you man." Troy ended the call.

This was the best news Duncan had gotten all day. Kicking the anti-depressants was no cakewalk, but dealing with Logan's bullshit had really put him in a foul mood. TJ was just what he needed.

A/N: Extra thanks and credit go to Bondopoulos for the Wallace & V dialogue in the diner! It was a skimpy descriptive paragraph that she turned into what I think is a great Wallace and Veronica moment :)