Well, it looks like this chapter is on time! It was bound to happen soon. So for the court room scenes, I made up most of the lines only because I can't remember the direct quotes from the show. I hope that you all enjoy it!

Duncan's Gift

Chapter 10:

Courtrooms were deceiving. For Veronica, court rooms did not stand for justice, at least not in Neptune. She sat watching the circus that was the courtroom and waited for the biggest trial of her life. Today would be the day that a criminal would be put to justice, or a murder would be walking the streets once more. She had given up a lot to sit here and hear the verdict, mostly she was giving up her chance at the Kane scholarship. Honestly, this was worth it. If Aaron Echolls was found guilty, she would be at peace. She wouldn't have to worry about seeing him on the streets or fear getting into her car at night. She just hoped her testimony would help put him away.

3 days ago:

Veronica sat on the stand. She could feel the jury's eye bore into her. As comfortable as she felt, she knew that this was worth it. She was the last of the people to testify before the jury went and deliberated.

She felt a series of kicks and rolls from her daughter and tried not to smile, Aaron Echolls' defense attorney looked at her as if she had plans to ruin her life. Actually, she probably wasn't far off, a defense attorneys natural habitat was making innocent people sound evil and corrupted.

"Miss Mars, please explain what happened on the night of May 10, 2005?"

"I had remembered that Lilly had kept items hidden in the vents of the air ducts in her room. She would always hide things there when she didn't want anyone else to find out her secrets. I originally intended on finding a letter, so I went to the Kane house and went to her room. I was caught by Duncan Kane, and after I explained to him, he understood and helped me look in the vents of her room. We didn't find any letters, instead we found a series of tapes. We decided to play them, and thats when we found the videos of Aaron Echolls having sex with Lilly Kane. I immediately knew I had to get the tapes to my dad and that he'd turn them over to the authorities. Duncan offered to drive me, but I didn't want to leave my car. After I got into my car, I was driving for a couple of minutes, I looked in my rear view mirror and I saw Aaron Echolls' face in my mirror. He told me to keep driving, but I knew I had to stop him. I swerved my car into a bank to knock him out for a little while."

"On the night of May 10, 2005, is it true you told Mr. Echolls that you'd give him the tapes if he were to sleep with you?" The defense attorney asked.

"No. I never propositioned him. The only thing I wanted was justice for my friend who died way too soon."

Veronica saw the jury in her peripheral vision. She wasn't sure which side they were leaning towards, she only hoped that they would see the truth in her statement.

"Miss Mars, it says here that you were treated for Chlamydia in the month of February."

"I was, but I don't see how any of this has to do with the murder case." She replied.

She saw her Dad's shocked face. Of course she didn't tell her dad that she had contracted chlamydia, that means she'd have to go into the conversation of what happened at Shelly Pomroy's party.

After a few more questions from both sides, Veronica was free from the courtroom.

"Are you okay?" Keith asked his daughter once the courtroom had let out.

"Yeah. I expected the questions…" She began.

"No, I mean are you okay?" Keith reiterated.

'Oh, I know what he means." Veronica thought.

"I'm fine, I promise."

"Good." He gave her a hug and led her down the hall passing an agitated Don Lamb.

"Can I speak to you Mars?" He said.

"You gonna be okay?" Keith asked his daughter.

"Yeah. I'll see you at home."

Keith nodded and gave his daughter a kiss.

Veronica followed Lamb into an empty room.

"What do you want?" She sighed.

"Are you okay? I watched your testimony, and the things that they said…"

"Stop!" She shouted. "Why are you acting like you care?!"

"Three days ago you were in the hospital and you took just took the stand in a stressful court case. I just want to know if you're doing alright, I care about you." He reached out to cradle her chin in his hand.

She knocked his hand away before he could get close.

"You have no right to know how I'm doing. Just stop pretending! You don't care about me. Did you care when I walked into your office and wanted to report my rape?! Did you care when I was constantly being harassed and had my car and personal belongings vandalized?! A few weeks of you being nice to me because I'm knocked up does not makeup for the all hell you've put me through. You're not my friend deputy, so don't try and pretend that you care about me." She yelled in defense. "So Stop! Stop checking up on me, stop tailing me, stop trying to sneak your way into my life. You were a part of my life a long time ago, but you made your choice to leave."

She left him alone in the room to wallow in the misery he'd put her through. He knew she was right. He hadn't been the man he'd been raised to be. He had sold his soul when he came to his town and became greedy for power and money that Neptune held. His younger self would hate him too if he saw how he was now. Veronica Mars was right, he had no right to know what was going on in her life.

"Shit. I'm an ass." He said to himself.

The jury made it's way out to their seats.

"Have you made a decision?" The judge asked.

The foreman stood. "We have your honor. In the case of Aaron Echolls, we find the defendant not guilty of all charges."

Veronica's world came crashing down. A murderer was being set free, she had failed her best friend.

In a daze Veronica walked out of the courtroom. Not watching where she was going she ran into a hard body.

Looking up, she saw the face of Clarence Wiedman.

Wiedman gave her a once over, his eyes stopping at her belly. He knew.

"How far along?" He asked.

"29 weeks."

"Do the Kanes know?"

"No." She shook her head. "I have to go." She said moving past him. She wanted to avoid everyone after today. Her plan was now to go home and lay in bed until she stopped feeling miserable.

As she walked out of the courthouse she caught a glimpse of Lamb. He had avoided her at all costs after what happened a few days ago, and she was glad. He didn't deserve to know what was going on in her life anymore. She remembered when he used to come over for cookouts and the occasional Sunday dinners when Lilly was still alive. He was one of her best friends and she always thought that he would remain her friend, but that obviously changed.

When she arrived home she checked that mail. Most of it was bills, but two were addressed directly to her. The first was a large envelope with the Hearst College logo on the upper left corner and the second was a standard sized envelope with no return address taped to a parcel.

She opened the Hearst envelope and read that she had been accepted to Hearst for their Fall semester. She was proud, but she couldn't say she was enthused about missing out on her chance at Stanford. She walked in to her room placing the Hearst folder on her desk and went on to open the 2nd envelope. She pulled out a sheet of stationery paper with a neat scrawl on both sides.

From the Desk of Sheriff Don Lamb

Balboa County Sheriff's Department

Neptune, California

Dear Veronica,

You've probably read the header of this letter and are pretty close to crumpling it up and tossing it in the trash. I know that I am the last person you want to hear from. I've been a terrible person these past few years, and I've done some terrible things. I've hurt you so many times all because I was blinded with meaningless greed. I don't expect you to forgive me, in fact I'm not looking for forgiveness. However, I do want to apologize and make amends for all of the wrong things that I've done. The worst thing I've done is betraying your trust. I was supposed to be your friend and I was supposed to protect you, but I failed you. I still have nightmares to this day, I should've followed through and caught the coward who raped you. I don't know why I didn't help you, and I hate myself everyday for laughing in your face. I will never forgive myself for what happened that day and everything that has happened from that day forth. I saw you being harassed and I saw the marks on your car, the endless flat tires...I've been stupid, I've been cruel. Like I said in the beginning, I'm not looking for forgiveness. All I want is for you to know that I realize how terrible I've been, and I'm trying to be the man you once knew. I hope that one day we can start the path to becoming friends again.

You were right a few days ago. I have no right to know what's going on in your life. I lost that right a long time ago. I do want to say that I am happy for you. You will be a wonderful and amazing mother, and your daughter will be gorgeous along with a lot of trouble if she's anything like you. I wish you all of the best with graduating and motherhood, I know that you'll succeed further than everyone in this lousy town. If you ever need any help, I will move mountains to help you. I am making my amends and I am making myself a better person, not only for you, but for myself. Once again, I apologize for all that I've done. I wish you all of the best.

Sincerely,

Donald Lamb

After reading the letter twice over, she moved on to open the parcel that sat on her bed. Unwrapping the paper, she opened the box. Inside sat several baby items; clothing, bibs, shoes etc.

She smiled slightly, but wasn't sure how to feel. For the past few years, she'd felt nothing but rage and anger towards Don Lamb. Yes, recently he had made attempts at kindness to her, but she couldn't forget the many years of torment she'd faced at his hands. Reading the letter, she knew he was being sincere. She also saw that he wasn't expecting her forgiveness, he knew he had to work for that. Now the real question was, was she ready to take the high road and accept him? Was she ready to end the anger and find her path to happiness?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door open and close. Her dad was home, probably in the same mood that she was in when she'd left the courthouse.

"Veronica?" He called out.

"I'm in my room." She replied walking out into the kitchen. "I couldn't go back to school…"

"I know honey." He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

2 Days Later:

Her last two days had been spent wallowing, but today she had no option but to be happy. Today was her baby shower, the baby shower that Jill had worked so hard on. She didn't want to upset Jill by being unhappy, besides this was supposed to be a happy event.

After getting ready she made her way to the Hut which was closed specifically for a private event. She didn't know how Jill had managed to convince their big boss that closing the Hut for a baby shower was necessary, but she did admire Jill for her persistence.

She walked in to find the place completely decorated. Pink and green filled the room. There were tables filled with snacks and drinks and another table piled with gifts.

"You made it!" Jill cheered when she saw Veronica. "What do you think?"

"It's amazing. Thank you so much Jill."

Jill gave her a hug. "It was no problem."

"Have you ever thought of going into event planning? This is some amazing work."

"Maybe. I hadn't really thought about it before."

She looked around and spied a couple of nice classmates from Neptune as well as her coworkers. She honestly was worried that no one would show up, but she was pleasantly surprised after she saw everyone.

"Hi mommy!" She turned and saw Jackie. "How are you and baby girl doing?"

"We're doing good! Thanks for coming."

"Oh, I wouldn't miss this."

After mingling, eating, and playing a couple of games, it was now time to open presents. There were many boxes of all sizes waiting to be unwrapped. In no particular order, Veronica began opening gifts.

The first gift was from Inga. Inga had knitted her a couple of hats and mitts and also bought her the bath set on her registry. After Inga came Chelsea, her constant partner in her English class. Chelsea bought her special bottles and bibs.

She had received diapers, wipes, clothes, blankets, wraps, shoes and accessories. Along with those she received a swing from Jackie, a stroller from Gia, and a carseat from Logan. She was glad she'd agreed to the baby shower or else she would have never been prepared for her daughter.

After the baby shower was over, Veronica wanted to head straight home however, she was pulled to the direction of Mars Investigation. She wanted to pick up a few case files while her dad wasn't in the office looking over her shoulder. She honestly did understand why he was being protective, hell if it were her own daughter working a high profile murder case, she would be keeping her on a tight leash. However, this was something she needed to have her hands directly on. She needed to see all of the notes and all of the pictures so that maybe she could find something new. She was still following her dad's rule of desk work only, she hadn't seeked out any seedy criminals or been on a stakeout, so technically speaking she was still holding up her end of the bargain.

As soon as she was in the Mars Investigations office, she grabbed the files and left as quickly as she came in. She knew that if she was out for too long, her father would have the sheriff's department out looking for her, and she knew the uniformed man who would be the first to volunteer in that search.

She tried not to think of the letter he had sent her. She knew he was being sincere and she also knew he wasn't looking for her to forgive him, he had admitted his wrong doings and was trying to make a path towards friendship? acquaintances? People who don't goad each other at every encounter they have? Regardless, she wasn't ready to think about that yet.

That is about it for chapter 10! I'm very excited for the next few chapters. The rest of this story is going to take quite a turn from the original I wrote and I'm really pleased with how everything is turning out of my head. I hope you guys all stay tuned on to see what happens. Thanks for all of the support!