Trying to post regularly has caused me to reach back into the vault for old stuff to finish. I wrote most of this bit back in 2015, as a counter piece to 'Managing Jake'. It was originally called 'Managing Veronica' to show the association, but when I went back to it, and ultimately decided how to bring it to a close, that didn't work anymore. I think maybe I had expected Keith to take a more involved role in getting Veronica out of her funk and deciding to go to Jake to help protect Logan from Gory, but that's not exactly what happened. Instead, it turned into Veronica figuring some things out for herself. Thus, the title switch-around.

Veronica Mars shook herself awake in a foul mood. This was not surprising since she'd gone to sleep in a foul mood and, if she allowed herself to think about the matter in too much depth, she would probably have to admit that she had been in the same foul mood for the last couple of weeks, maybe longer.

She'd found out about Logan and Madison and had broken up with him for what was supposed to be good, but she'd known all along probably wasn't. While she tried to stop obsessing about Logan making love to Madison, she'd finally agreed to date Piz, which was probably one of her stupider moves, but a boy fawning after you when you're trying to recover from having your heart shattered had seemed like a good idea at the time. Then, the 'sex' tape. It wasn't bad enough that she'd gotten caught topless and messing around with Piz on tape. No, she'd had to get caught role-playing dirty cheerleader and nearly everyone on Earth had probably seen it. It was humiliating. And Logan beating Piz to a pulp, in front of half of campus, just compounded the whole thing. If someone hadn't known about the tape before Logan went all Fight Club on Piz, they certainly heard about it after.

She'd cut Logan off after that and begun her investigation into who made the tape, which then led her to The Castle. And geez, things got exponentially worse after that. Wallace in a shock collar. Mac, committing felonies on Veronica's behalf to decode the hard drive. Yeah, the hard drive that Veronica only had because she'd committed a few felonies of her own to 'break and enter' the home of the most powerful man in Neptune, who already happened to hate her and her father. And Dad, poised to take back the job he deserved, cast back into humiliation because of her, possibly facing criminal charges of his own. Was it any wonder she was in a bad mood?

Now school was over for the semester and she was just biding her time until she was scheduled to leave for her FBI internship. Her only goal right now was to escape Neptune and pretend to be a normal high-achiever at Quantico. The problem with that was that every day that still loomed before the internship began carried the risk that she would end up arrested and she was pretty sure that would end her FBI dreams. She'd cut herself off completely from everyone since the day that Logan beat Gorya Sorokin in the food court. She was purposefully avoiding Mac and Wallace, dreading their disapproval over the damage she had caused them in her battle against The Castle. She'd cut Logan off a couple of weeks earlier and although their encounter before Gory interrupted them had been friendly, she had not actually laid eyes on Logan since he walked away from that fight. She didn't have to avoid Piz as he had taken the initiative there and had broken up with her about three hours after the Great Food Court Beatdown of 2007. For someone who'd spent the first semester pursuing her in a fairly active, albeit passive aggressive manner, while simultaneously ignoring the fact that she had a boyfriend, he had been extremely vocal about his displeasure with Logan's actions that day and with his perception of Veronica's response to them.

"Veronica, how can you think what Logan did was okay? He beat the crap out of someone again, just to try to get your attention."

"He wasn't trying to get my attention. He was defending me. It was Gory who posted that video of us online. Logan was making him pay for humiliating me."

"That's what he thought he was doing when he beat me to a bloody pulp. Defending you didn't make it okay."

"It wasn't okay that he beat you up because you didn't do anything. Although I do understand why he thought you were the guilty party."

"Are you serious? What would be wrong with just walking away, letting things go once in a while? And I've heard about that Gory guy. He's like married to the mob or something. Pissing him off is dangerous. Why couldn't either of you just walk away?"

"Hey, I was ready to. I told Logan to look out because of Gory's family connections. He just thought it was more important that we make him pay."

"And clearly you thought that too; I saw your face watching him walk away. You wanted to run after him. I've seen how you watch him, you obviously still want him. How am I supposed to take that?"

"I'm with you, not him. We just go way back and we have some stuff together that doesn't just go away."

"That stuff is that you're still hung up on him. And I'm not willing to stand next to you while all you see is him. I think we need to end this now, before one of us really gets hurt."

"Piz, that isn't what I want."

"But it's what I want, Veronica. I will always care about you but I've got to face facts. We don't belong together."

"Piz, no, I'm not trying to be with Logan."

"Take my advice, Veronica. Do try to be with Logan. Really try this time. It will probably be safer for all the rest of us."

As soon as his finals were completed, Piz was gone. Veronica didn't know if he'd gone home or straight to his own internship in New York. She knew that he'd told her his post-finals itinerary, probably a couple of times, but she just couldn't remember. And really? It didn't matter. They were broken up, he was gone, and she didn't really have any feelings about that one way or the other.

Now she was just in a holding pattern, avoiding the people she cared about and waiting for either her plane flight out of town or her incarceration, whichever came first. For a week after her father's loss of the sheriff's election, she had been fully expecting that incarceration would be coming her direction, and if not hers, then his. If they went for her dad, she knew she would dump the internship on her own. She would not abandon her father to face the music that she had orchestrated.

However, when no charges had been brought after a solid week of the Vinnie Van Lowe administration, she began to hope, tiny hopes, but hopes nonetheless, that the worst might have already occurred. She wasn't ready to bet on it though; she knew just how angry she'd made Jake Kane, and how angry Jake always was with her father. The irony of that made her want to gag. Jake was the guilty party between him and her father, always had been. He'd been the cause of her mother cheating on her father, for years, and had been the reason her parents' marriage had been unsuccessful. Then, he'd railroaded Keith out of the job he deserved, thinking he was covering up for Duncan. So where did the bastard get off being angry with Keith?

On the other hand, she did understand how Jake, with his twisted Kane logic, thought: if not for Keith, he could have kept Lianne indefinitely, whether they actually owned up to the relationship or Lianne was satisfied to be the piece on the side. The minor detail that he already had a wife was probably immaterial to Jake; Kanes get what Kanes want. Same with the whole investigation into Lilly's death. What's a man's life when your unstable, violent son needs protecting.

Thinking about Jake's train of thought carried Veronica to a place she didn't like to visit but was compelled to periodically contemplate. With Jake and Celeste split, and Lianne chronically single, her mom wouldn't have to stay in the shadows any longer. It seemed like it would have been logical to initiate an actual relationship. The dopes had managed to stay in love since high school; with both free of other encumbering relationships, why didn't they get together officially? This was a question that agitated her in the night when she couldn't sleep. They both trashed their marriages because they couldn't stay away from each other. Why had they suddenly developed the distance? She hated that this question haunted her; she would prefer to forget both of these people even existed.

"Arrgh!" Veronica stretched forward to crank the volume on her stereo in hope of drowning out her own thoughts. That motion brought her clock into sight and she jumped to her feet. It was nearly 5:00 PM and she needed to clear out of the apartment. Her avoidance of her friends was minor compared to her efforts to stay away from her father. While it would be uncomfortable while she avoided looking them in the eyes, they wouldn't press her for answers. Her father, on the other hand, was sure to be full of questions that she did not want to have to think about. She already felt guilty enough and if he started asking her questions about the recent chain of events, she was really afraid that she could give something away that she did not think he needed to hear. Specifically, she was still trying to keep him from learning about her sorta-sex tape with Piz. She knew it was stupid and selfish to keep that knowledge from him but as angry with her as she knew he should be, what she really couldn't bear was to see more disappointment in his eyes. So, she avoided him at every turn. These days, he tended to make it home by about 5:30 every afternoon, so she had been ensuring that she was out of the house before 5:00 PM every day and she stayed out until after midnight. Since she was avoiding everyone else she knew as well, it meant she was spending a lot of time driving around, or sitting at obscure beaches, or watching double-features at the dollar movies.

She gathered her belongings and headed for the door. Backup whined at her as she reached for the doorknob and she paused to rub his head.

"Dad will be home soon, buddy. He'll take you out then. I've got to get out of here."

She was sure she could see the reproach in his eyes. "You too, dude? What happened to being a girl's best friend?" She squatted down to look him in the eyes. "How about some fresh kibble? Will that get me back into your good graces at least?" She dropped her bag on the floor and followed her dog into the kitchen. She set him up with his dinner, scratched behind his ears, and moved back to the door. She had her bag back over her shoulder when she froze at the sound of a key in the lock. The knob was turning and the door pushing open when she turned and tried to bolt for her room.

"Veronica. Hey. I wasn't sure you still lived here."

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before turning towards the sound of her father's voice.

"Hey Pops, long time, no see. I'm running really late so I've got to go."

"Mmm, yeah, I see you're heading out but I need you to hang on for a few more minutes." He dropped his keys on the kitchen counter and turned back toward her. "I talked to Alicia today. She shared some things that have me concerned."

"Dad, you know how she is. She doesn't understand our lives." Veronica spread her hands, her gesture encompassing the room. "Remember when Wiedman told her about the bug in the plant? She's just too nice to understand. Now, I've really got to go; I'm meeting some people."

"Who, Veronica? Who are you meeting?"

"Mac. And Parker. And Wallace."

"Really. Wallace. That seems surprising in that what 'too nice' Alicia said was that you've been avoiding Wallace for weeks. That you never answer his calls. That he is worried sick about you."

Crap. This was unexpected. She hadn't expected Wallace to have this kind of reaction. She kinda thought her staying away would be a relief. "I'm sure she's just over-reacting. We haven't really had any time together but I'm not avoiding him. I'm trying to get out to meet him now, if you would just let me go."

"So, sometime between this morning and now, you've made plans with Wallace?" His hand went to his hip and it was clear he didn't believe her. She bluffed full speed ahead anyway.

"Yeah, sure. It's just informal, Mac wanted to get together before Parker heads home and before Wallace leaves for Africa."

He shook his head. "According to Alicia, Wallace is worried enough that he is actually thinking about calling off his trip."

"What? No, that's wrong." Veronica scrunched her eyebrows, worried at this revelation. "Look, this is just a misunderstanding. I'll talk to him. I will. He can't do that because of me."

"Why are you avoiding him? I know you're lying." He stepped toward her and clasped his hand around her upper arm. "Veronica, please. Just tell me what is going on with you."

For the first time in the conversation, she looked him in the eye. He looked at her with such sympathy that she could hardly stand it. "Look, that thing with Jake Kane. Before I knew what was going on, Wallace was helping me. It didn't go right. Wallace was okay but...I just shouldn't have involved him. I feel...bad for what he went through because of me. It's hard to be around him right now. He's better off without me."

"So, not really meeting Mac and Parker and Wallace, hmm?"

"No." She dropped her eyes as she finally told the truth.

"Logan?" Her gaze shot up to his again.

"Oh my god, no. I left him in worse shape than Wallace."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Don't. It's true. You always assume anything that goes wrong between us is his fault but that isn't true. It's me as much as it is him, sometimes even more so." She twisted out of his grasp. "You just always want to believe the best of me. You shouldn't."

"Sorry, I'm not going to stop. Everybody makes mistakes, Veronica. God knows that I have. No one expects you to be perfect."

"Perfect? That's funny. I'm pretty sure I haven't made a good decision in months. And look where we're at. I've hurt everyone I love. I just want to get away from here so everyone can get their lives back in order without me screwing them up anymore." Tears had begun to leak from her eyes and her voice was getting more unsteady with each word. She had to get out before she completely broke down. "Look Dad, please just tell Alicia to tell Wallace that I'm fine and he should go to Africa. I should be leaving for Virginia in five more days, so it's not even like I'll be here for him to see. I just need time to figure out how to make things right."

"I am very confident that Wallace doesn't need anything made right. He just needs to know you're okay."

"So tell him I'm okay. He doesn't need to worry. As long as neither of us end up arrested, I'll go to my internship and start learning about the FBI. Everybody's lives can get back to normal."

"Normal. That's a word I think we both give more credit than it deserves."

Veronica twisted back to him with a sharp look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It just seems like we look backwards a lot, back to what we had before it was just us, and call that normal. But really, Veronica, we've done pretty well, just us, and the people we've let into our lives since then. I'm not sure why we haven't been satisfied with the interesting lives we've made."

"Dad, I'm satisfied with my life. You've been great. I don't know any other dads who would have done as well when abandoned with a difficult teenaged daughter."

"Well, considering the dads you've known, that isn't saying much. And you've not been a difficult teenager. Top of your class, super-achiever..."

"Accused felon, frequent instigator of the things that ruin your life..."

"Tomato, tomahto."

For the first time in the conversation, they were both smiling.

"Please sit down with me, Veronica. We can do dinner. We just need to get on the same page. I think you're taking on more responsibility for life than you need to."

"Dad, you have no idea and the truth is, I don't want you to. Just don't worry about me and tell Alicia that Wallace should stop too. That guy. I'm trying to do him a favor by staying away. He should be relieved." She backed away toward the door.

"He's not," he answered in a flat voice. "Stop trying to manage how we all feel about you. We're gonna love you whether you want us to or not."

She sighed and looked down at her feet, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Thanks, Dad."

"So, are you gonna stay here and talk this through? Or are you running away?"

Veronica looked up, feeling his words like knives. "I'm taking responsibility for my actions, Dad. Not running away." She backed up another step and reached behind her for the doorknob.

"Funny, it looks an awful lot like running away to me." He crossed his arms and fixed her with a steady stare, his lips pressed together firmly. She sighed and opened the door.

"I love you, Dad," she said and slipped out.

Veronica sat on the beach, watching the dark water crash against the shore. She'd tried the dollar movies but she'd seen all of their choices too many times already so she'd crossed the street to the first-run theater and paid full nighttime price for 'Hot Fuzz'. It was worth every penny and she'd refilled her large popcorn before she left the theater, so she was feeling as good about life as she had in the last month.

As she munched on the kinda stale popcorn, her thoughts drifted away from Nick Angell, supercop, back to her father. He was more clearly aggravated with her this evening than she'd remembered him getting since she'd helped Duncan escape and he'd said he didn't think he could trust her again. That had lasted...did it even last the day? He couldn't stay mad at her even when she deserved it. She knew she'd used that to her advantage in the past, which made her feel even guiltier than she already did.

She was trying to take responsibility, right? Keep Mac and Wallace and Dad and Logan from being hurt by her again. That was the right thing to do, wasn't it? Dad made it sound like it wasn't. They were worried. They wanted her around. They thought she was running away.

Suddenly she realized, that was exactly what she was doing. She wasn't fixing anything; she was just hiding out and hoping things worked out. She hadn't considered there might be something else that she could do.

She thought back to when she returned the hard drive to Jake. He'd been almost gleeful when he told her it was too late. She'd thought that was all she could do, but was it really? Surely, the guy who loved her mother and Lilly was in there somewhere and could be persuaded to back off. It wouldn't hurt him to convince the DA to drop the charges against them. She'd made things right; she just needed to help him see that.

Plus, Jake could probably do something about Logan, and the probable threat looming over him. He'd put himself in a mobster's sights, to defend her. Maybe Jake had some pull with these mob guys in his secret club. If there was a way to get protection for Logan from Jake's questionable associations, she was ready to try. It was time to step up and start managing all the things she'd screwed up, and maybe by doing that, she'd get out from under the fear of arrest, for her or her dad, plus her fear that Logan was going to end up swimming with the fishies because he couldn't stop trying to protect her. and who knows, maybe that could polish up her reputation with Logan, at least a little.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened her contacts, hitting the W, then highlighting the first entry. "W, C". She hadn't called this number in more than two years, but she thought it was her best chance at starting a conversation with Jake. She took a deep breath, then poked the call button. After three rings, she was pretty sure this was not going to work, but then...

"Miss Mars, this is certainly a surprise."

The deep voice on the other end of the line didn't sound surprised, but she couldn't dwell on that.

"Clarence. Long time, no talk."

"Pity you didn't stop in to see me when you were touring Mr. Kane's new home." The calm, dry tone was aggravating and she harrumphed in derision. She was not going to let Clarence Wiedman intimidate her.

"You and Jake are roomies? I didn't realize that during the tour." She heard a sound that might have been him clearing his throat. Or it might have been him hiding a laugh. She could only hope.

"So. Did you call for a particular reason, Miss Mars?"

"Yes, actually, I did." She popped a single piece of popcorn in her mouth and pressed it against the roof of her mouth with her tongue, feeling it dissolve quickly while she considered her next words. "I made Jake whole again. I gave him back his stupid hard drive. Now I need him to show his appreciation and lay off my dad. None of this was his fault." She kept her voice steady and expectant. The best thing to do with the Clarence Wiedmans and Jake Kanes of this world was convince them you were bargaining from a position of strength.

"Your father made choices related to this event, Miss Mars. He is not an innocent bystander."

"You iced down my best friend's body as a result of Jake's choices, Clarence. No one we know is an innocent bystander. That doesn't mean people need to pay for things they didn't cause. I know you can't make this happen on your own, but I want the chance to talk to Jake and convince him to let this go. And, I need him to help Logan."

"Echolls?"

"Is there another one?" Truthfully, she hoped not. She could barely manage one. Although actually, maybe with multiples, when one made her mad (or vice versa), she would still have an available Logan. Something to think about.

"How is Mr. Kane able to help Mr. Echolls?"

"He's run afoul of one of Jake's Castle buddies. It's the least Jake can do for a kid he never tried to protect from his abusive father."

"Miss Mars—"

"Don't bother making excuses for him. Just please find a way for me to see him. I don't care what he does to me, but my dad and Logan don't deserve this. I really need your help here, Clarence." She didn't bother to hide the emotion bleeding into her voice this time. She'd grovel if she needed to in order to fix things for Dad and Logan. She owed them that.

"Look, I'm willing to help you with this, as much as I can. Unfortunately, that's probably only limited to arranging a meeting. Mr. Kane will be back at the Neptune house tomorrow; let me see what I can arrange."

"I appreciate that, Clarence. More than you know."

"Just do us both a favor and use the front door this time. Can we agree on that?"

Veronica chuckled. "I'll give that a try. Just for you."

"Thank you. I will speak with you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Clarence."

Veronica flipped her phone closed and dropped it beside her, then grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it in her mouth as she began to rehearse what she wanted to say to Jake. This was not the time to wing it. She'd always done pretty well on the fly, but this was too important to leave to change.

"So, Jake, errr...Mr. Kane. I really appreciate you giving me some of your time today..."