a/n: Sorry this chapter isn't my favorite, I don't really like it all that much. Still - it needed to be written because it's actually quite important.

Also, just a reminder - they are not solving the case the exact same way as in the show. It just doesn't work like that. It doesn't fit as well without basically doing a rewrite of season one.

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She's trying to discreetly collect her and Logan's items from her room and bring it out to Logan's car (where he's waiting) because she doesn't really want to talk to her Dad anymore. She doesn't want to see the hurt in his eyes – the hurt she's caused.

"Going somewhere?" her Dad asks from the doorway, and Veronica wheels around like she's still sixteen and was just caught with a boy in her room.

"You tell me," she bites back, and shoves Logan's fallen shirt into her bag.

"So you're working for Logan Echolls," her Dad says, leaning against the doorframe.

"Yes I am," Veronica sounds defensive, even though she's pretty sure her Dad hasn't actually said anything against Logan yet.

"Look Veronica, I think his head is in the right spot, but there's a darkness to that kid."

"There's a darkness to me too," Veronica says honestly, zipping up her backpack with perhaps a bit too much force.

"When did that happen?" Keith asks sadly, his eyes far away. "You used to be the girl who liked boy bands and singing using a hairbrush as a microphone. Now you're solving murder cases for bad boys."

"I changed," Veronica shrugs, "It's something that people do. And Logan has helped me change some, yes – but not in a bad way."

Logan has shown me who I really am, she wants to say, he understands what it's like to feel so much pain for something that's happened in the past. He understands what it's like to have a mother abandon you.

"I'll take your word for it," Keith says amicably, and Veronica looks up at him in surprise. She doesn't expect him to just go along with what she's saying – simply because that's not how they've worked in the past. They've never really fought, but when they do they always get so angry and refuse to hear reason. I guess we've both changed.

"Then can you help us?" Veronica asks, her voice warbling slightly. "Dad you know as well as I do that the real killer needs to be caught for this and apprehended."

"I don't like the fact that you're doing this. Do you remember the last time you worked on a case like this?"

"You know I'll never forget it," Veronica says softly, "And that has nothing to do with this. Don't bring it up again."

"Are you sure you want to go through with this? There's something not good about this Veronica, and I need you to be entirely sure."

"I'm sure," Veronica smiles, "You're being awfully chill about this, even for you."

"You're a grown woman now," Keith tries for a halfhearted smile but it rather fails and more looks like a grimace. "I can't stop you if I wanted to. I may as well give you what I know so you can figure it out in a safer way."

"Have you figured it out?" Veronica asks, suddenly very interested.

"Not yet," Keith shakes his head, "I think I was on the brink of something, but they wanted me out of town because I accused Jake Kane too early. You may be able to figure it out."

"Let me grab Logan," Veronica says quickly, and then practically runs to Logan's car.

"Did your Dad kick you out or something?" he asks curiously as she stops, panting for breath.

"He's going to help us!" she gasps, her eyes bright and wide. "C'mon!"

Logan looks shocked, but doesn't waste time as he jumps out of the car and follows her back into the house. Keith is sitting at the dining room table, his hands folded on top of the Lily Kane murder file. Logan sits down next to Veronica, and she can feel him practically quivering with nerves and excitement underneath the table.

She reaches out and takes his hand form underneath the table; mostly for her own needs then his own. She almost expects him to pull away, but he holds her hand tighter and his nervous trembling stops.

"So what's first?" Veronica asks, her eyes meeting her Dad's.

"Well assuming you've watched my interrogation of the suspects," Keith flips open the file, "You'll know why it seems fishy that Duncan can't remember anything and Celeste and Jake's alibi's seem made up."

"Do we know why Duncan can't remember anything?" Veronica asks eagerly, "Is there a medical reason why?"

"He has a diagnosed medical disorder that means parts of his memory get's blocked out when he goes into a undeniable rage. It is a possibility that he was the one who killed Lily and just couldn't remember afterwards, but of course we have no evidence attaining to that fact."

"But why would Jake and Celeste lie about their alibi's?" Logan asks, "And why would Abel Koontz confess?"

"He could've been paid off," Veronica says, "But if someone is going to die, then why would money work?"

"If the money was being sent to someone else," Logan says, "Because we know he's innocent. But if let's say, the Kane's promised his children money or something – I could see a decent person wanting that."

"But not a decent person," Veronica decides firmly, "Do we have any money records of Kane industries paying off someone?"

"It would be nearly impossible to track," Keith shakes his head, "I do know he has a daughter though…she could know something?"

"Is this what we should be focusing on though?" Veronica asks seriously, "I mean, Abel Koontz is already dead. Didn't he die in prison before he was put to death by lethal injection anyways?"

"I think the papers said he had a rare type of stomach cancer," Logan says, and Veronica shoots up out of her chair, does a little twirl and laughs.

"That's it!" she claps her hands and points to Logan, "If he was already dying, and wanted some money for his daughter – of course he would accept the pay off from the Kane's! It only makes sense, in fact it probably would have given him a shorter death if the trial wasn't pulled out for so long."

"So the Kane's are behind this?" Logan asks, and something inside his eyes flickers. "But why would they cover up their daughter's murder? What motive do they have for that?"

"Duncan," Keith and Veronica say at the same time, and then Veronica elaborates. "If Duncan got angry and had one of his episodes, then killed her – the Kane's wouldn't want that getting out. So they cover her murder, preventing the real killer from being apprehended."

"So Duncan was the one that killed Lily?" Logan sounds lost, and Veronica wonders why. Wasn't this what he wanted? Didn't he want her real killer caught?

"I mean we don't have any real evidence to prove that yet," Veronica shakes her head, "But right now it's looking likely. We should still see if Abel Koontz's daughter will tell us anything."

Logan shakes his head and pushes back from the table. "I need some air," he mutters. He pushes his way out of the house and Veronica looks back, meeting eyes with her Father.

"I'm going to go after him," she tells him, and darts out after Logan. He's sitting on the porch steps, his head held in his hands, rocking back and forth slightly as if trying to regain his calm.

"Hey," she whispers softly, sitting next to him.

"Hey," he says back, "Sorry, it's just a lot. I mean, Duncan and I haven't been friends for years, but it's just hard to believe that he could possibly kill Lily. I mean we were the awesome threesome – foursome when Meg came along and he loved her. He loved Lily like we all did, and I can't imagine him killing her."

"Listen," Veronica sets her hand on his knee, "We don't have any real evidence yet, and this could be just a theory, and it could be proven wrong. Either way, I think the Kane's covered it up. They could have just assumed it was Duncan and covered it up when it was someone else."

"We aren't going to just leave it here?" he looks up at her hopefully and she shakes her head.

"Of course not," she says, "We still need evidence, and we also need to see the real killer put behind bars. Until then, we won't stop until we both are ground into ashes."

"Thank you Veronica," he tells her, his voice ringing with truth.

"It's really no problem," she says, and before she can stop herself she leans forward and kisses his cheek. "I'm happy to help." Then she darts back inside before anything else can come of it.

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They decide to take a break from discussing the case and are eating dinner when Logan's phone rings.

"It's Madison," he says, frowning.

"Pick it up," Veronica says around a mouthful of lasagna. "Just remember to mention your girlfriend." Logan winks at her, and accepts the call.

"Hey Maddy…You do?" he steps up and away from the table, frowning slightly as he goes. Veronica looks worriedly after him, despite all – he's becoming one of her best friends. (Especially since Piz is acting like a total asshole.)

"Any idea what that could mean?" Keith asks, his eyes flickering between her and Logan. "And I thought the boyfriend thing was just an act to get into my safe."

"It is," Veronica says quickly, "But we also wanted to get this one girl to give us answers and Logan didn't really want to sit through her trying to get into is pants the whole time." Keith nods like he understands, and an awkward silence presses down on them. She hates this, hates the walls that have suddenly sprung up between them—the walls that are there in part, because of Kyle.

Logan is walking back towards the table now, a strange look on his face, like he's found something sour resting on the edge of his tongue.

"Madison told me something else she remembered about Lily's last days," he says, and she can see his knuckles turn white as he clutches his phone even tighter.

"What is it?" Veronica asks, abandoning her dinner completely and turning to look at Logan.

"She said that before Lily told her about the secret," Logan took a deep breath like it pained him, "That she had said she was just back from visiting a lover."

"A lover that I'm assuming wasn't you?" Keith asks, and although he doesn't sound like he's trying to hurt Logan, it looks a hurricane passes over his face, turning it from shocked to hurt to anger.

"No it wasn't me," he spits, "But I was thinking that if Duncan found Lily having sex with someone else he might have gone crazy and attacked her."

"Or…" Veronica trails off, "She could have been killed by the lover himself," she finishes the unspoken thought Logan is having.

"Or maybe it's nothing," Keith adds unhelpfully, but Veronica's eyes are still fixed on Logan – who looks like he's collapsing in on himself, his eyes distant and sad.

"I don't know," Logan suddenly mumbles, and for the second time that night he exits out the front door, his body shaking and she can see the tears in his eyes, and for the second time, Veronica follows him out the door.

"Logan!" she calls, stepping down the steps, approaching him like one might approach a wounded animal.

"It's okay Veronica," he laughs, a sound that somehow feels worse than if he was crying, "It's not like she didn't flaunt it in my face at every opportunity."

"You didn't really believe it before now though," Veronica says, shaking her head. She takes a step forward, but Logan just shakes his head.

"It's okay Ronnie, it really is," he repeats, a terrifying smile filling his face, "I can stop feeling guilty. I can stop feeling terrible about even looking another girl in the eyes. LILY KANE FUCKED ME OVER AGAIN!" he suddenly yells, his eyes turned skywards, "I BET YOU'RE GETTING A GOOD LAUGH, AREN'T YOU LIL?"

Veronica knows she should tell him to stop, but she doesn't really think that would help anything, because how does it make any sense? It would just fuel his fire. So instead she throws her head back and yells too at the sky.

"IF THE LESSON YOU'RE TRYING TO TEACH US LILY IS THAT LIFE IS A BITCH UNTIL YOU DIE, THEN YOU'RE DOING A FUCKING GOOD JOB AT THAT."

They yell various insults at everyone – Duncan Kane, Piz, Veronica's Mom, Logan's Mom, anyone that's really made them angry or been rude or anything. By the end all the neighbors are standing on their porches (Is that the Mars girl? Is she crazy?) and are staring but Veronica doesn't really care.

She feels closer to Logan then she's been to anyone since her Mom left, and it feels so good. It feels like she's opened up a part of her that only he understands, even if she's voiced all her thoughts for the whole world to see. All they see is a crazy person, but she knows Logan sees her. He sees Ronnie, the girl he's asked for help from and can't help but get close to, not Veronica – sweet little Veronica Mars who couldn't do anything wrong.

She sees him too.