DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters! Thank you Rob Thomas
A/N: I am sorry this took forever to update. I won't delay you any further...

Chapter 4: Mending and Blending

Veronica never imagined having to break into her old house, but apparently her father had moved the usual key spot since she'd left.

"Who wants ham salad?" she called into the place cheerfully as she set her suitcase on the ground.

Veronica soon discovered that her reunion with her father would have to wait. No one was home at the moment. Wonder what he's doing right now…

She pushed open the door to her room and smiled at the sight. Though the walls were a little more bare than they'd once been, it seemed his sarcastic promise to turn it into a showroom for all his achievements had been a false one.

She tossed her suitcase and bag aside and immediately collapsed onto her old bed. Her new one in D.C. may have had more fluff stuffed into it, but nothing could compare to snuggling up in the bed she'd grown up with.

A vibrating from her bag interrupted her feeling of nostalgia and effectively killed the moment. She grudgingly sat up to answer her cell phone. "Hello?"

"Have any evidence yet?"

"I've only just arrived!" she answered.

"I take it you haven't even started."

"I thought it more appropriate to do my investigation without lugging around a suitcase. Might look suspicious, draw the wrong attention, ruin my credibility."

"I didn't call to hear all the fabulous reasons why you haven't started. You're fine for now, but I better not hear any excuses the next time I call."

Veronica bit back the urge to defend herself and instead tried to finish the unpleasant phone call with as little argument as possible. "So why did you call, then? Miss me already?"

"Just wanted to remind you that there's a film in production right now."

"Is that a suggestion or an order?" Veronica replied. To be fair, she hadn't made up her mind yet about where to start on this one, but barging onto his current set didn't seem too bright an idea to her right now.

"I have complete faith in you on this one, Mars. But you can't take any shortcuts."

"Shortcuts?" Veronica repeated, not gathering what he meant by the statement.

"There's no need to break and enter. You may contact this number whenever you come to an obstacle."

Veronica frowned. I just got here and he's already questioning my methods? "Understood, sir. Is that all?"

"I'll be contacting you again in 24 hours' time and I expect a full report. I'll want a working plan typed up and sent to me by Thursday."

"Should I include a slideshow?" Veronica couldn't keep herself from saying.

"The clock is ticking, Mars."

Veronica frowned as a 'click' sounded in her ear. He's awfully pleasant today! Did Darius forget to show up to work again?

Veronica threw her head back in frustration. She knew that if she couldn't find something good to report back to him tomorrow, she'd lose her freedom on the case and end up being the Bureau's puppet on this one.

Where to begin…

She helped herself to a snack from the cupboard before setting herself in front her father's computer. Let's see what I'm dealing with…

The first name she searched for was Dick Casablancas, the last known BFF of Logan's. Her eyes quickly scanned the page. …Neptune High…yada yada… University of California Business School… 3.2 GPA? "This can't be the same person," Veronica commented in disbelief.

The blonde frat boy she'd gone to high school with had a one-track mind, and it certainly didn't include studying. Veronica knew he'd transferred after his first year at Hearst. Just like Logan. What she didn't realize was that he apparently got a brain transplant as well.

Like any good BFF, he'd followed in his friend's footsteps. Logan's film school was only an hour and a half drive away from the business school, so it wouldn't have been difficult to stay in touch.

The short blurb went on to say that he was currently living in Neptune now that he'd graduated. But are they still friends? Veronica frowned as she realized this was getting her nowhere. What I need is to talk to someone who knows the town gossip.

A smile spread across her face as it came to her- the one person who always knew the talk of the town. There were a couple moments in their past where Veronica had been forced to concede and accept that she didn't hear it first, although that usually only happened when it involved something she couldn't care less about anyway.

"Veronica Mars!" he said aloud after he'd released her from a hug. "Damn, I thought I was never gonna see you again."

"You never gave me a booty call!" she joked.

The look he gave her was priceless. "You realize you're still like a sister to me. And it ain't even like that. You changed your number after you graduated. FBI protocol?"

"No," Veronica admitted as she pushed down a twinge of guilt. "More like Veronica protocol." She wished she had some sort of explanation to give him. "I knew it was gonna be hard so I just…"

"Made it easy?" Wallace finished for her. He'd always had a way of telling her exactly how he felt in the simplest of ways. At least he wasn't too complicated to figure out. Unlike the subject of my case…

"Wallace, I'm sorry," she offered.

"Hey, it's cool. You don't need to explain it to me. I'm just glad you finally admitted to yourself that life without Wallace Fennel isn't worth living." He grinned confidently as he finished.

Veronica hated to push the knife deeper, but she didn't want to feed him some story to trick him into helping her. Besides, he was a smart guy and would figure it out anyway before long. "Actually, I'm here on a case. But that's top secret government information and I'll have to kill you if you tell anyone. You know they do make licenses to kill. You should see the picture on mine."

"Before you exploit me for information or ask me to go steal something for you, can we get some grub and pretend like you just came to visit for a little bit? Or better yet, treat me like one of your unsuspecting informants - butter me up before you take advantage of me."

Veronica hated how conniving he made her sound, but at least he wasn't giving her too hard a time about it. She decided to take his words easily and continued to try and keep things as light as possible despite how hurt he must have been feeling thanks to her near disappearing act. "You've got it. But are you sure your lady won't mind?"

"The number one lady in my life is my momma."

Veronica couldn't hide her surprise, but before she could comment, Wallace added, "Oh yeah, there is this other woman. No really, I'm crazy about her. She's an actress, can you believe that? Keep that on the low, though. I promised myself the only way I was gonna return to the spotlight was winning the championship."

"That's right! Basketball season starts in a couple weeks. How's the coaching going? Or, prepping, I guess? Since it isn't official yet." Veronica asked.

"Don't worry, I have plenty of stories. But I'm not sayin another word until I have a plate of grinders in front of me."

"Okay," Veronica agreed with a smile. "I'll pay, but you're gonna have to drive. I had to leave my baby in D.C."

"Sounds like a song, doesn't it?" Wallace mumbled quietly on his way to the car before coming up with his own original tune. "My baby! In D.C!"

Veronica rolled her eyes but was too grateful for the company to ruin his moment. Or is it silencing guilt? she asked herself. She'd always planned on giving him her new number and address. It just… never happened, and before she knew it, a year had passed without any contact whatsoever. Except for that one time…

FLASHBACK:

Veronica felt a churn in her stomach as her eyes rolled over the news. "Oh, my God…" she murmured as she read on.

"What is it?" Travis asked her, showing genuine concern. "That's not exactly morning coffee conversation."

"I think I need to go Neptune…" she blurted without thinking, her initial reaction to the news. She was flustered and rushing to read the rest of the article.

"Oh, yeah, you went to school with that guy, didn't you? Were you friends?" Travis asked.

"We were best friends," Veronica answered, not caring at the moment how immature it might sound to categorize.

"Well, he's in recovery at least," Travis commented, trying to make her feel better.

"But this says he might never play again. I can't believe this! Who would do such a thing? He could have died!" Veronica exclaimed.

"So, what exactly happened? I just heard that the new all-star rookie of the NBA was caught in a drive by right before playoffs."

"It says here that the police think the shooting was completely unrelated to the start of the playoffs," Veronica paraphrased the front page article.

"Wrong place, wrong time, huh?" Travis said, his face wincing at her friend's poor circumstance.

"They have no solid leads," Veronica finished the article, infuriated. "The bastard that did this is going to walk free while Wallace may never walk again!"

"Veronica, if you want, I can try to convince Clarion to let me handle the case by myself for a few days. We're still in the preliminary stages, anyway. I'm sure he'll agree that I don't need a partner for a couple days."

Veronica seriously considered it before reality came back to her. She couldn't leave the investigation, not now. And besides, how would that look to her boss? It was her first real case. She wasn't tackling the Bureau's leftovers on this one, and how would it look to try and take some vacation time now? There was a reason that the policy of taking time off on such short notice was only acceptable for an immediate family emergency.

She gave Travis an appreciative smile but couldn't accept the offer. "That's sweet of you, but what if you catch a break while I'm gone? Someone else who is completely out of the loop would have to try and cover and we'd probably end up with a botched up job. I can't find Wallace's shooter or fix what's happened to him. At least I can make sure that the guy we're chasing gets brought to justice."

"Okay," Travis accepted. "But in that case, why don't we get to work. Maybe it'll help take your mind off of things."

"Sure," Veronica agreed, setting the paper back down in its usual spot.

-------------------------------------------------------

Veronica wanted to wait for the numbness in her stomach to go away before making the call. But as the seconds turned into minutes passing, her anxiety only increased. She glanced at the clock for the fourth time and realized she had no more time left to stall. If she didn't do it now, she wouldn't get the chance to before her briefing at the office.

Just do it! she told herself and lifted the phone and dialed before she could put it off any longer. Please tell me he can talk right now, she hoped as she heard the ring-back.

"Cedars Hospital, how can I help you?" a female voice answered on the other end.

Veronica swallowed for a moment, too afraid of what she might find out to ask right away.

"Hello?" the woman asked after a pause.

"I was hoping to find out the current condition of Wallace Fennel," Veronica told her once she'd found her voice again.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry but I can't discuss that over the phone. There's going to be a press conference tomorrow morning outside the hospital with further details that you're more than welcome to attend."

It sounded like she was going to hang up, so Veronica quickly tried to stop her. "Wait! Can I speak with him?" she tried.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the Fennel family has asked for their privacy at this time."

"I'm an old friend of his," Veronica tried again before realizing how she sounded. This would be so much easier if he wasn't the hottest story in the press right now! "I'm not trying to scam you," Veronica continued, sounding more sincere and less urgent. "I went to Neptune High with him and he's a really good friend. Could you just mention the name Veronica Mars and see if they'll let me talk to him?"

The woman on the other end hesitated before offering, "Hold on just a moment and I'll see if I can help you out."

When she came back, she said, "Ms. Mars?"

"Yes, I'm still here," Veronica answered immediately.

"Mrs. Fennel told me to thank you for your concern and inform you that Wallace is going to be fine but he is resting right now."

"But is he going to walk again?" Veronica couldn't help asking as her emotions got the better of her.

"We have our doctors working around the clock to help him, and physical therapy has already been scheduled for the near future. There is a very good chance that he will be walking and even playing basketball again by next season."

"Thank God," Veronica breathed, truly relieved.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" the woman asked.

"Uh, no," Veronica answered after she'd thought about it. "Could you just let Wallace know that I called?"

"Of course," she said.

"Thank you."

-------------END FLASHBACK

A phone call may have seemed like enough at the time, but looking back, Veronica realized that the moment she'd known he was going to be okay, she'd stopped trying to keep in touch with Wallace all over again. Even though she could've called him whenever she pleased, she hadn't given him the same luxury. Once she'd changed her cell phone number, she'd never bothered giving it out to the people she used to call friends.

Even before his accident she hadn't been a good friend. Her big plan at the time was to finish her first real case with Travis and then take a vacation. She was planning on going to Wallace's next game just as soon as she'd nailed her case, and if his team had lost by then, she was going to tease him about it and force him to take her to an NBA game anyway to watch the team that had beat his.

Instead, she'd buried herself in her work and had forgotten to come up for air. She'd kept putting it off until the thought of Wallace nearly disappeared altogether. That is, until a top-selling front page article in the coffee room reminded her that she'd been abandoning her old friends.

And instead of learning her lesson, she'd put a band-aid over the gaping hole in her life and went on as though everything was fine.

What was possibly worse than the guilt of knowing she'd hurt him just as badly as she'd feared was the unwavering confidence she still had in her decision. Although it wasn't what was best for their friendship, she still believed that leaving at such a critical time in her career and case would have been a bad decision and she might not be where she was today because of it.

Veronica hadn't really planned a backup if the FBI didn't turn out like she'd been hoping. There were always going to be people who lied and cheated so there would always be a business for someone to expose them – a private investigator. Veronica knew she wouldn't be jobless without it, but it would have marked the end of her dreams if she hadn't made it to the FBI and so there never was a real Plan B.

Maybe I can make up for it now, she thought. But she knew she wasn't on vacation yet; she still had a case to solve. The decision to keep her friends out of her new life wasn't meant to be permanent, and maybe she was finally settled enough to try and make time for both a job and a personal life. As soon as this case is over, she vowed in her mind, I'm gonna do all the things I've been putting off for too long.

Wallace had successfully gotten Veronica caught up on all his life's affairs by the time dessert came.

"So you would really give up engineering?" Veronica asked. Wallace had told her all about his future plans, which specifically included coaching for the Hearst basketball team. Word was the coach had already announced his retirement plans to his colleagues, and Wallace was the number one pick for the job, assuming of course that he didn't fail miserably with Neptune High's team in the meanwhile.

"I don't know," Wallace answered honestly. He'd spent a summer on an internship for engineering, but he'd passed up the opportunity to continue the following summer when Hoops Dreams offered him a summer of training instead. "I love engineering, you know. I guess I'm a nerd like that. But don't tell the lady."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Veronica assured him with an amused smile.

"This coaching thing won't be forever for me. I'm just not ready to give it up yet, that's all."

Veronica nodded, "I guess we have to go after our dreams sometimes, even if it means saying no to something else."

"Are we still talkin' about basketball here?" Wallace asked.

Veronica came out of her wandering thoughts and gave him a smile. "We're talking about why you're letting your ice cream melt. I'd be happy to take it off your hands if you don't want it!"

"I got this!" Wallace insisted before digging in.

After a few bites, he came up with an idea. "I'll still take you to Dick's," he told her, "but since we don't know if that's gonna help at all, I got a backup plan."

"I already like the sounds of this!" Veronica encouraged him, "Do tell."

"So my girl-"

"Tracy," Veronica recalled.

"Yeah," Wallace continued. "Like I said, she's an actress. She's pretty down to earth, though. Not really into the Hollywood scene."

"Okay," Veronica said. "I told you, she sounds cool. You don't need to win me over!"

"No, I mean, she doesn't go, but she's always getting invited to the craze. I'm sure she could get you into Logan's parties."

Veronica didn't know what to say at first, and so let Wallace continue. "I bet he's not even there half the time. Probably preoccupied in his room, if you read the tabloids."

Veronica grinned at the plan. "So you're saying that I could get a free pass to the crime scene."

"Alleged," Wallace reminded her. "Don't get me wrong, I think he's a jerk, but it wouldn't be the first time he was wrongly accused."

"You're defending him," Veronica commented, a little surprised.

"I don't know what went down between the two of you," Wallace admitted, "But I do know that the boy saved your life."

Veronica looked down, not liking where the conversation was headed. "Whatever his actions in the past are, it doesn't excuse supplying illegal drugs and profiting off the suffering of others. He's allegedly supporting addiction."

"I'm just saying-"

"Can we not talk about this?" Veronica interrupted him. "Don't worry, I haven't convicted him yet. I'm just collecting evidence right now, and regardless of who is responsible, it's all happening at his properties. Do you know when the next one will be?"

Wallace shook his head, "Nah, Tracy never talks about that. But I'm positive she's invited. I'll ask her about it later."

A worry crossed Veronica's mind as she realized what it meant. "Wallace, you can't tell her the truth."

"Don't worry! I'm not gonna tell her that my friend is FBI!"

"Well, then, what are you going to tell her?" Veronica asked.

"The idea just came to me, I don't know," Wallace answered. Details of his high school days started to come back to him and he remembered that being Veronica's friend had always included a little lying. He and Tracy had a very open relationship and he didn't want to lie to her about this, but he knew it was the best thing for Veronica's safety. He thought that maybe it would be better if the dealer was Logan. No matter what the past few years had done to their relationship, Wallace truly believed that Logan was incapable of physically hurting Veronica. But if in fact Logan was innocent, it meant that someone else had a lot to lose if Veronica uncovered the truth, which meant she wasn't safe if her secret was let out.

"She knows about you," Wallace told her. "Not the FBI part, but that we were friends; that you were with Logan."

"We are friends," Veronica said softly. "And it's fine. Just tell her that I'm back in town and I really want to see Logan; that I've been wanting to see him for a while and I finally got the nerve to come here."

The look Wallace gave her showed Veronica it didn't sound very convincing. She tried harder, "Listen, Tracy, she's a typical female, right? In touch with her feelings?"

"I guess…" Wallace trailed, confused.

"So tell her I'm…" Veronica hesitated, surprised at how difficult it was to say. She was going to have to become more convincing by the time she met Tracy, which was probably going to happen very soon. "Tell her I'm in love and this is my last chance," she finished.

"So you want me to take advantage of my girlfriend's kindness and compassion," Wallace put it all into his own words.

Veronica frowned. "That's not what I meant. Just… do you have a better idea?"

"I'll think of something," Wallace answered.

"Wallace," Veronica protested.

"I said I'll think of something," Wallace repeated. "Look, my ice cream is done. You ready to head out?"

Veronica wasn't used to Wallace not wanting to discuss an argument, so it took her a moment to accept what had just happened. "I'm… done eating, if that's what you mean," Veronica said softly.

Wallace let out a sigh before opening up a little. "Veronica, I'm sorry, okay. I don't want to waste my first time seeing you in two years arguing. But I got a good thing going with Tracy. It's been a while since I did this detective stuff."

"Want a crash recover course?" Veronica offered with a smile. "There's a couple slices of pizza with your name on 'em!"

"I've got plans tonight with Tracy," Wallace told her.

"Oh, well, that's cool, too," Veronica replied. "I'm sure our next stop will give me loads to work on anyway!" It was partly sarcastic as she had absolutely no idea what was to be gained from a visit with Dick Casablancas other than a loss in her IQ.

"Tomorrow," Wallace offered. "I have pre-tryouts. A week of summer conditioning."

"AKA Camp Hell," Veronica joked, reminiscing about the commitment of high school sports.

"Yeah, I'ma get my team in shape," Wallace told her. "They'll be running the whole time, so why don't you come bring me some cookies. I know you're dyin' to bake me something!" he said with a grin.

Veronica laughed. "Okay. And what do I get in return for my offering?"

"Besides a little one on one time with Wallace Fennel?" Wallace commented. "I'll tell you when the party is."

"Awesome," Veronica said with a smile.

"So how 'bout we get outta here? For real, then we'll still have time to hit up your boy Dick before I gotta get back."

Veronica's good spirits faltered somewhat at the prospect of what lay ahead. "Do we have to?" she asked in a whiny voice.

"Or you could just tell your boss you were busy hanging with a superstar all day," Wallace joked.

The flash of Clarion's annoying scolding that entered Veronica's mind gave her the motivation to get up. "On second thought…" she said as she followed Wallace out the door.

A/N: thank you so much for reading! I love hearing your comments and feedback, and it really helps, too. I edited the last chapter (just a statistic about the square footage!) because of a comment that was completely right and now that blurb (in the magazine talking about Logan's house) doesn't sound so made up and is more in line with the facts from the show.

Okay, good news is I have already started the next chapter but even better news is I have a SUPER long flashback chapter already written and beta'd. Next up is Dick (as if you couldn't tell!) and I'm not sure how long till the flashback, but I can't wait to post it!!

Hope to be back soon! Doos