King of Mars
A/N: In other news, I'm back. Sorry for the (much needed) hiatus. On to the story! (Edit: Goshdarnit. This site chose a terrible time to go down. All the changes I made were erased before I could save it. Urgh.)
Chapter 10
.
Dick's buxom avatar successfully decapitated Logan's, and Dick was pronounced the winner.
The two were successfully wasting away their Saturday night with an assortment of two-player fighting games.
"This is stupid," Logan said sourly. That was the fourth time in a row that Dick had beaten him. Usually he wouldn't be losing quite so badly, but the stinging pain of reopened wounds on his back distracted him. It seemed he shouldn't have gone surfing that morning since, while the school had chosen not to suspend him for fighting on school grounds, Aaron took it upon himself to punish Logan in its stead.
Taking a calming breath, he said, "We need refreshments."
Dick tossed the controller at Logan. "Thought you'd never ask, dude."
Like the previous times when Dick wanted to have a serious, and potentially unpleasant, conversation with Logan, he waited until Logan had a few drinks in him first in order to get honest answers.
Once Dick could spot the glazed over appearance of his eyes, he tactlessly asked, "Has Veronica been touching you lately?"
Logan uncharacteristically spluttered, "What?"
Dick realized how badly worded his question was and quickly rephrased it. "I mean. Like, does she punch you and hit you and stuff like before?"
Logan sighed. He should've known Dick was up to something when he had the bottle of vodka readily available. He always did this, taking advantage of his more drunken and open state of mind. Helpless against the effect that the alcohol had on his internal filter, Logan honestly answered, "Yeah, I guess. She tries to keep away half the time though. "
"And she lets you touch her?"
"Not like how you're thinking, you ass. But, it's more like she doesn't stop me… for the most part."
"You don't think that's weird?"
Logan swayed slightly and resigned himself to laying flat on the floor. "Why would it be weird?"
"You really don't know?"
"I'm not drunk enough for riddles, Dick." He took a swig straight from the handle of vodka. With a more noticeably slurred speech, he said, "Not long now, though."
"Look, she may act normal—," he paused, "—normal for her now anyway, around you, but I'm still worried about her. I know we promised to drop it after the eighth time she caught us, but…"
Logan groaned. "Spit it out while I'm still conscious, man."
"I noticed some things before. Remember when she first kinda came back into the real world? She was really jumpy and tense... around everyone. She freaked out when I snuck up on her in the halls to say hi. She froze up kinda like a deer when I tried hugging her to apologize. She even threatened to taser some guy for sitting too close to her in class. That last one may have been a rumor, but it sounds like something she would do, right? I mean, she's a lot less jumpy, with everything now, but it's weird, right? She barely let us within a foot of her… it's like she's afraid of catching something from us or something."
Or maybe she's just afraid, Logan thought. It's not like Logan didn't notice Veronica's acquired distaste for the touch of others. He just didn't care as much as he should because Veronica seemed to make an exception for him.
But now, Dick forced him to really think about her peculiar behavior. And it reminded him exactly why he didn't want to think about it. When Aaron was being more of a despicable bastard than usual, his mother usually bore the brunt of his anger, and for the days or weeks following his outburst, his mother would act like how Dick described Veronica.
However, Logan knew instinctively that Veronica wasn't being abused. Keith was too good of a parent, a man, to do that; he loved her too much. And, if Veronica's mother was even that type of person, Keith would, no doubt, protect Veronica at the first sign of trouble. No, Veronica's trauma must have stemmed from something else.
"And, she wasn't like that before that thing… Shelly's thing… the party thing." Logan was developing a splitting headache. He had never felt so frustrated about a party before now.
"She still hasn't told you what happened yet?"
The room was spinning around him. Slowly, he answered, tripping over his words. "Nope. But it's okay. She likes me so she'll tell me eventually. Hey, is it wrong that I like that she's only okay with me touching her and want to keep it that way?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it is," Dick said, amused. There was a moment of silence before Dick asked, "What do you… do you think something bad happened to her?"
When he got no response, Dick looked over at Logan. He was out cold. Maybe he should find a better way to talk openly with Logan.
.
"Hey, Veronica. Were you at The Wellington last Friday?"
Veronica slowed down to allow Meg to catch up with her. The students behind her in the hall didn't appreciate the deceleration and grumbled around her, not that she cared.
"No? I was spending time with my dad at home," she lied easily.
"Are you sure? Duncan and I thought we saw you with Logan. If it wasn't you two, then I guess we left for no reason."
"What do you mean?"
Meg grinned, "Duncan was just being so sweet. He saw you two first and said he didn't want you guys to feel uncomfortable in case you spotted us, so we left to give you guys some privacy. But, I guess if it really wasn't you two…"
"It really wasn't."
"If you say so," Meg singsonged.
Before Veronica could insist that she wasn't there, Logan came up on her other side and hip checked her.
He saluted, "Mars."
"Echolls."
"Hey, Logan."
"Hello to you, Snow White."
Ignoring his nick name for her, Meg innocently said, "So, Logan…"
Logan cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "…Yes?"
"Did you drive Veronica to The Wellington Friday? Or did your driver take you guys?"
Puzzled as to why Meg would want to know, he answered, "I drove us."
"Yeah…" Meg grinned wider. "That's what I thought."
"Amateur. Even Snow White's sneakier than you," Veronica groaned, ushering him away from them. "Let's go, Meg. Who knows what else he'll confess to."
In another corridor and out of Logan's sight, Meg conspiratorially pulled Veronica closer.
Suspicious about Meg's odd behavior, Veronica asked, "What's going on with you, Meg?"
Biting her lip, Meg blurted out, "Do you think I'd look better with longer hair? Should I start curling it? And are my skirts too short? Should I wear pink more? What about my lip gloss?"
Not expecting to hear the odd inquiries, Veronica panicked, debating on whether to run for it or to see if she could take down the blonde who was about three inches taller than her.
Seeing her in fight or flight mode, Meg explained, "It's just. Duncan's been hinting at these things. And I wasn't sure what to do."
At the sight of Meg's distraught countenance, Veronica exhaled deeply. "You're fine, Meg. Super fine. A ten. I'm sure he was just being your typical, insensitive guy. He probably didn't mean anything."
"You think so?"
"I know so. He liked you before you thought about all that stuff, right?"
"Right. I'm just being crazy." Meg released her hold on Veronica, and they walked each other to class.
Veronica was really getting better at these girl talks. Unfortunately.
.
Wallace and Veronica sat alone at their regular lunch table. Following her line of sight to the 09er lunch tables, Wallace teased, "You're a marshmallow, Veronica Mars. A twinkie."
"Not a Mars Bar?" Veronica replied offhandedly before focusing her attention on him.
"Not soft enough."
She folded her arms across her chest. "Quoi?"
"You've been staring at Meg for a while now. Don't think I didn't notice you."
Veronica arched an eyebrow. "She's very attractive."
"See, I was guessing it was you being overprotective now that she's getting familiar with Duncan Kane."
"Now why would I think ever be suspicious of someone from the Kane family?"
Logan came up to their table and sat down, amused by the snippets of conversation he caught. Wallace nodded his head in acknowledgement of Logan's arrival, and Veronica moved to give herself more room away from him.
Wallace snorted. "You know. I heard about you helping that girl find her dog and rescuing all those other dogs, too."
"Now that was on accident. I didn't really expect to find her dog."
"You didn't have to help her to begin with."
"Her puppy didn't have to look so cute."
Fluttering his eyelashes prettily at her, Logan interjected, "It was the big brown eyes that got you, wasn't it? They reminded you of someone?"
Veronica wrinkled her nose and smiled at him. "Yeah. But he wasn't quite so needy."
"Aren't cats the needy ones?"
"I wasn't referring to the dog."
"You won't get any lunch with that attitude."
"Ooh. You brought lunch today? Gimme, gimme."
"Don't act like you didn't text me this morning demanding I get you sushi for lunch."
Wallace looked incredulously at him and shook his head in disbelief. "Man, she got you running out to get food for her? You are whipped."
"Can't a guy do something nice for his gal without being called whipped?"
Keeping his eyes on him, he said, "Nope."
Veronica rolled her eyes. She felt like she had repeated it so many times at this point, but still insisted, "And, I'm not 'your gal'."
"Of course not," Wallace and Logan said simultaneously.
Wallace mimed cracking a whip.
Veronica ignored them as they talked about the upcoming basketball season for the rest of the lunch period.
She contemplated Wallace's words in her head. Should she be sad that people didn't see her as someone not to be messed with? Disappointed that it was harder to completely cut ties from who she was before? Or angry because she was reminded of her lack of progress with finding out who raped her? Though, to be honest, for the sake of her sanity, she had recently developed the habit of keeping most thoughts involving her rape in the very far back recesses of her mind.
.
Veronica wanted to tell her parents what she was doing after school now that soccer season was over—current reigning county champions, thank you very much—and rearranged her schedule to help out during the weekends at the station instead, but it would just add extra strain onto their marriage.
When they heard about her involvement with the dognapping ring, neither were very pleased with how she came to solving it. However, while her father was angry at her for putting herself in a potentially dangerous situation, he did say he was proud of her and her investigative skills.
Her mother, on the other hand, was just angry. She demanded that Veronica stop acting so recklessly and just be a normal teenage girl. When her father defended her desire to do the right thing and to help, it sparked a string of hushed arguments and cold shoulders.
No, it would be best to keep her side business to herself. Instead, she told them that she would be doing schoolwork with Logan most days after school since they had all their classes together. Veronica suspected there was a bit of schmoozing involved to make that happen but never asked Logan.
Sitting at the Echolls family's kitchen counter, Veronica started compiling a file on Jackson Douglas' parents. She wasn't too keen on helping someone rebel against their parents, but for two hundred dollars, she was willing to do a small favor for a 'friend'.
Across from her, Logan diligently pretended to work on his chemistry homework. In actuality, he was analyzing her appearance, as if her secrets were written on her skin somewhere. When he woke up on the floor of Dick's room, there was dread in the pit of his stomach and it took a few moments to realize that not all of it was due to the alcohol. How does one go about determining whether or not the girl they liked was sexually assaulted?
He wracked his mind trying to figure out how he should act around her, too, until he rationalized that she wouldn't be around him if she wasn't okay with how he usually acted. So, he acted as if he hadn't had that disturbing revelation of what could have happened to her. And while that rationalization comforted him, it brought him no closer to figuring out what really happened to her. Was he right? Or, he hoped, was he wrong?
Since her father was the Sheriff, something should have been done if she was raped. But, since her father was the Sheriff, she might not have reported it.
He lifted his gaze from her hands to her face and finally noticed that she was looking at him.
Caught, Logan casually said, "So I was thinking of throwing a poker game with some of the guys."
"And you want me to teach you how to play?"
"What do you know about poker?"
She spun the pencil in her hand nonchalantly. "A few things."
"I'll keep that in mind when I decide to play strip poker."
"I'd have you down to your skivvies," she said confidently.
"Would that be before or after we play strip poker?"
She threw the pencil at his head and returned to compiling the dossier.
.
A few days later at school, Weevil had cornered Veronica at her locker to ask her to help him get into Logan's poker game.
"Why do you even want to play poker with them? I'm sure your buddies can play just as well."
"It's a thousand dollar buy in. Winner takes all. With those guys? Easy money."
Veronica let out a low whistle. "Money is so wasted on the rich. Why should I help?"
"I seem to recall you needing me as backup for that dog thing."
She snapped her fingers in mock disappointment. "Curse my inability to look like a tough guy."
"Well. I was kinda banking on you using your feminine wiles to get him to let me in anyway."
Veronica blanched. "Please, stop. If you promise never to say 'feminine wiles' ever again, I'll ask him now."
.
She tapped him on his shoulder in chemistry.
"Can you do a favor for me?"
"Alright. But I insist we play poker normally first before strip poker to at least set up some pretense of propriety."
"I didn't know they let pigs on airplanes now."
Leaning towards her, he spoke in a suggestive voice, "Ask away."
"What would it take for you to put Weevil into your poker game? He has the buy in money. All he wants is to win all of yours, too."
"Is that so? Well, then... from you, Miss Mars?... I would like a kiss."
Veronica choked. "Excuse me?"
Logan couldn't help laughing. The look on her face was priceless. "Stop. I was joking. You don't have to do anything. Dick dropped out and I was looking for a replacement anyway. And as long as no one sees him coming into my house without a pool skimmer, we're all winners."
"Oh, great then," she said, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.
Speaking low so only she could hear, he said, "Or maybe, I'll take that kiss at a later date."
Sitting back in his chair, he gave her an appraising look.
Wanting to hide from his scrutiny, she went to her seat and directed her attention to the teacher preparing the board.
.
Thanks to her flat tires, courtesy of Lilly, no doubt, and lack of enough spare tires, Veronica had to have her father drop her off at Logan's under the guise of working on a health class project together. Truthfully, she just needed a place to work on digging up dirt on her classmates' parents away from Keith or Lianne's eyes.
"I don't see why you have to walk me in."
"I just want to know if Logan's parents are home."
"I told you his mother is usually home in the afternoons."
"I want to make sure."
"But why?"
She was practically cringing with embarrassment now. She could only think of one reason why her father would show up at Logan's in his Sheriff's uniform.
"I'm a concerned father of a pretty teenage daughter. No matter how smart she is, I can't, in good conscience, allow her to be alone in a house with a teenage boy without supervision."
Yep. That would be it.
Keith knocked on the door. "You're just lucky I didn't check up on this arrangement earlier."
The door swung open and Keith had to force himself to keep from laughing at the way Logan's face visibly fell when he saw Keith.
"Hi, Sheriff..."
"Dad," Veronica piped up from behind her father, "Stop smiling at him like that. It's creepy."
Logan relaxed slightly. "Please, come in. Welcome to our humble abode." He stepped aside and bowed dramatically at the two of them. "What can I do for you, Sheriff?"
"Nothing really. I just thought I'd check out the place my daughter's been going to everyday after school instead of her own home. As a father, it's my duty to make sure my daughter and her male friend were properly supervised. And that she's properly embarrassed."
"Dad!" Veronica groaned.
He nodded while chuckling good naturedly. "It's fine, Veronica. I'll get my mom for you."
.
"Hello, Keith. This is certainly a surprise."
"Hi, Lynn."
"Logan's not in any trouble is he?"
"No. This is a purely personal visit. I wanted to make sure either you or Aaron were home while Veronica was over. She hasn't been giving you any trouble has she?"
"Oh, no. Veronica's a darling. While you're here, would you like to have a drink with me?"
"No, thank you. I should go back on duty soon."
Keith watched as Lynn busied herself with filling a glass with a deep amber liquid. At three in the afternoon.
"How have you been, Lynn?"
"I'm busy, mostly, preparing for my Christmas party. Aaron's home for the holidays, so that's nice, and Logan is doing well in school. We're so proud of him." She paused, hesitating. Though she did wish he would do a better job of staying out of trouble. "Everything's just so fantastic and alive during this season, don't you think?"
Keith nodded along. "But how are you?"
Lynn took a seat on the couch, and Keith followed her.
"I'm not sure what you mean," she laughed uneasily.
"Is there anything you needed to talk with someone about? All the cons tell me I can be a very good listener."
"Whatever gave you that idea?"
"I'm pretty good at reading people. And you look tired around the edges. Still beautiful, of course," he assured. "But, tired nonetheless."
She was silent for a long time, but Keith patiently waited for her.
Internally, she debated whether or not to tell the friendly town Sheriff about her troubles. She already knew she couldn't talk about this to any of her other friends. The gossip would spread like herpes.
But, he seemed so earnest and genuine.
Finding her resolve, she admitted, "I think Aaron is having an affair."
"You think he's cheating on you?"
Lynn flinched. Her phrasing sounded so much better and a lot kinder to her ears. She took a long sip from her drink. "It's not the first time, trust me."
"Pardon me for being so blunt here, but if you know that, why do you care this time?"
"I'm considering a divorce," she said shortly. "And, I need some sort of evidence to prove that he violated our prenup. I was thinking about hiring an investigator to follow him. But there's no one I can trust. That Van Lowe person was the worst out of all of them."
Keith grimaced. "Yeah, that's Vinnie for you. You were smart not to hire him."
"It's just… I don't know what to do now. I need to get away from him, Keith. But everything's under his name, so I can't just leave without that evidence. I'd be ruined."
"If you're serious about this…"
"I really am. This time, I am," she said, seemingly to convince herself more than for Keith's benefit. "Things have to change."
Hesitantly, he stated, "I think I have someone who can help you then. I guarantee they'll be very discreet."
"Do you really? And you're sure they won't say anything?"
"I do, and I'm sure."
Lynn finally put down her drink and grasped both of Keith's hands in appreciation. "Thank you so much. I had no idea what to do." She looked panicked for a moment. "But he really can't find out, Keith. I don't know what he'd—" She swallowed her words and shook her head. "He just can't find out."
"He won't, Lynn. Not from my guy. I promise."
"Thank you…"
"I'll see myself out now unless there was something else?..."
"No." She smiled thinly. "No, that's it."
Keith got in the squad car, wondering if he should have gotten Lynn to talk about the rest of what was bothering her. But, for now, he was happy he could at least try to help her with one of her current predicaments.
Veronica didn't think he knew that she was learning from and working with Vinnie, but he did. Vinnie had gone to him and confessed after Veronica had gotten scraped up over the summer. He didn't even know she was hurt. But when Vinnie told him, he had been blinded with anger. He was angry at Vinnie for not protecting her better, at Veronica for putting herself in dangerous situations, and at himself for not noticing that she had been sneaking out at night.
If he hadn't been working late nights at the station to avoid coming home to argue with Lianne, he might have been able to stop her the first time she even tried it. However, after a very long and silent moment, accompanied by thoughts about how he had gotten to where he was, he calmed enough to think about things rationally.
Veronica was a young girl, but she was smart and independent. She was taking tae kwon do lessons, and now he knew why, too. She was capable, and he trusted her. Whatever she was doing with Vinnie had to be something she needed to do. What else would be the reason for her sudden interest in PI work? And as smarmy as Vinnie was, Keith knew he was very capable at his job. So, Keith decided to let her be, but ordered Vinnie to keep an eye on her at all times, never allow her to work solo missions, and to report back to him every time.
From Vinnie's reports, Keith was proud of what she had been able to accomplish, outside of the sleazy stakeouts—which Keith had subsequently taken off the list of things Vinnie could let her do—and he was impressed with her obvious talent for the job.
That was his little girl: sneaky, resourceful. And God, he hoped he wouldn't regret letting her have her independence.
But now, it seemed, it was time to let the cat out of the bag.
Though it was a little ironic that he'd want her for the type of job that he'd forbidden Vinnie to give her, Veronica would be the perfect person to help Lynn.
.
"Sorry about that," Veronica apologized as they sat up in his room—with the door open, as stipulated by Keith.
"It's really fine, Veronica. It's nice to see a father who cares."
"But completely embarrassing," she replied easily but still having the decency to look slightly ashamed at her faux pas. Her father was a saint compared to his, and she was complaining about him wanting to make sure she was safe. A 'insert foot in mouth' situation if there were ever any.
Seemingly unaffected, Logan slyly said, "Well. If it makes either of you feel better, I completely understand why he's concerned. I wouldn't leave you alone with me either."
"But last time turned out so well."
At his silence and raised eyebrows, she realized what she said.
She futilely said, "Shut up." She'd need both feet in her mouth at this point.
Logan lifted his hands in surrender but kept the smile on his face.
.
Oh, God. Oh, God. She couldn't believe she was following Aaron Echolls home... after spending hours following him to see if he would meet up with a hussy.
More so, she couldn't believe her father had known about what she was doing at night and didn't stop her. Okay, it was kinda believable that he'd find out. But, the fact that he didn't ground her or tie her down to the house until she was forty was mind blowing.
Certain that Aaron wasn't leaving again for the night, Veronica unsuccessfully called it quits for the day. Remembering that Logan's poker party was today, Veronica made her way to the pool house to see if she could teach the boys that fools and their money parted quickly.
Entering through the glass doors, Veronica looked around the pool house in confusion. It was in complete. Thinking about all the possible reasons for the pool house being trashed, she wasn't ready to be surprised by Logan.
In her ear, Logan whispered, "Boo."
Veronica jumped. "Damnit, Logan."
He chuckled to himself.
Her shock from being snuck up on was nothing compared to the shock she received from seeing Logan standing unabashedly in what appeared to be reindeer boxers.
He snapped his fingers to get her attention. "My eyes are up here, Veronica."
Covering up her embarrassment with words, Veronica sighed in mock disappointment. "The pretty ones are always so high maintenance."
"Why are you doing here? It's late... not that I would mind a certain late night call of sorts from you."
"Just thought I'd partake in the late night debauchery. But, I take it you guys definitely finished that part already…"
"Ha. Not exactly… No."
"What happened? Where are the guys... and your clothes for that matter?"
"In short, someone stole the money."
"And the long version?"
"Weevil decided that one of us had to have stolen the money."
"Wait, Weevil? Did Weevil win?"
He smiled wryly. "It was… a miscalculation on my part."
Laughing openly, she asked, "Who was playing?"
"It was me, your buddy Weevil, Sean, Connor, and Duncan."
"Connor?"
"Larkin."
"Connor Larkin," she repeated.
Noticing her the awed inflection in her voice, he quickly said, "He's a mortal, believe me. They just draw his abs on. Mine, on the other hand, you can touch and see for yourself."
Veronica ignored his invitation, but she couldn't say she wasn't tempted. Damn. Bad Veronica. "Is he doing another movie with Aaron?"
"Yeah, but they're on break for the holidays. And, he was going to stay in town still they started filming again, so I invited him."
Veronica tilted her head in consideration. "You invited Sean and Duncan, too… I didn't realize we were making nice with them."
He hung his head slightly and explained, "Sean wouldn't shut up about how I was afraid to play him. And Meg begged me to invite Duncan."
"Meg?" Veronica asked. "I don't suppose you asked her for a kiss, too."
"Jealous?"
"Of you."
When Logan didn't respond, Veronica clapped her hands. "Hey, focus. Whatever you were thinking about just now? Never happening."
"Never say never, bobcat." He grinned mischievously. "Anyway, I didn't ask her for anything, but she did seem to think very highly of him and thought we could make up and be friends again."
"She's really, really…"
"Optimistic? Naïve?"
She didn't answer.
Logan smiled tersely. "In her defense, she did say that Duncan was 'really sorry'."
"Aren't they all?" She motioned for him to continue his story, not wanting Logan to dwell on his lost friendship with Duncan for too long.
"Weevil had us strip to prove that we didn't have it."
"Lucky boy. He got to see all this and didn't want to stick around?"
"They just don't appreciate works of art like they used to."
She rolled her eyes snorted unprettily. "And the mess?"
"If it wasn't on any of them, it had to be somewhere in the room, right?"
"And… no luck, I'm guessing?"
"You got it."
Switching to business mode, Veronica said, "Okay. You're going to tell me everything you remember. Don't leave out anything, especially the parts where anyone left the table."
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"What good are my super powers if I don't help the little people?"
Logan told her about everything from Duncan's singing, the pizza delivery, to the rest of them inappropriately ogling his mother, to Weevil proclaiming he'd take something from each of them as collateral until the money showed up, and finally to him tearing the place apart for the five grand.
.
The next day at school, Veronica was treated to the sight of Duncan shoving Weevil up against a row of lockers.
"I want my laptop back!" He barked.
Weevil easily shoved him back, but before he could do any damage in retaliation, Veronica got in between the two of them.
"Cool it, both of you!"
"This isn't your problem, chica."
"Think again, Eli. I'm going to figure this out and get you your money back, but you can't go around beating people up in retaliation, especially when they were only acting like that because you stole something from them."
"Stole from them? Nah. Their items must have just disappeared."
"You have my laptop," Duncan asserted, glaring at him and breathing heavily.
"It'll show up when my money does."
"Walk away, Duncan. You'll get your laptop back eventually, but for now, I don't think your parents would like hearing about you getting into a fight."
Eying Veronica in what Veronica guessed was confused anger, he left without another word.
"Tell me everything."
Weevil sighed, but acquiesced, figuring that it was quicker to just go along with her than to refuse until she wore him down. He preferred to at least make it look like he was doing it on his terms.
Weevil basically gave her the same story that Logan did. He didn't say what he took from each boy, but Veronica had already figured that that wasn't important for the time being. Though, her interest piqued when he smirked at her after saying that he saw some very interesting things in Logan's locker when he happened to have the chance to look inside, for safety reasons, he claimed. Unfortunately, he pleaded the fifth when she asked him what he was getting at, probably not for the first time in his life, claiming that the guy code just wouldn't let him do it, causing her to narrow her eyes in suspicion at him.
Clearly, everyone chose today to act crazy.
Readjusting her bag's shoulder strap, she went in search of the remaining players of the poker game to get their version of events, getting Logan to help her question Connor Larkin, whose muscles were not nearly as nice as Logan's, not that she noticed, when the other boys' stories weren't quite enough.
.
Hector stared in disbelief at Weevil as he walked to the benches where a group of other bikers sat.
"Hey, Weevil. What the hell was that?"
Weevil took his seat as the head of the PCHers. "It was nothing. I've got better things to do than waste my time teaching that gringo a lesson."
"So you're just going to let him walk?"
Weevil locked eyes with Hector and menacingly growled, "Are you questioning me?" He would not tolerate insubordination in his gang, and it was best to dispel any notions.
Flustered by Weevil's suddenly agitated state, Hector submitted quickly. "No, Weevil... Nah, man. It was just... it just wasn't like you to let him go, you know? It might've looked bad for us, too. And, you've been going on hanging around with that Sheriff's kid a lot… people have been saying some things. And, I was just thinkin'—"
"Well, don't. It's not your job to think," Weevil interjected. "I got this, alright?"
It was true that he had been interacting with Veronica a lot more than he ever thought he would, but he was mostly just giving her information and providing some muscle to help with her cases in the name of their quid pro quo relationship. However, it was because he had been hanging around Veronica so often that he picked up a few things, too. And, the most important thing he learned while watching her work was that everyone had something to hide.
Judging by that Kane boy's reaction to having his laptop stolen, he was definitely hiding something on there. Hopefully, something that Weevil could sell to the highest bidder.
.
Veronica entered the pool house, waving her hands with a flourish. "Well aren't we cozy?"
The guys were seated at the poker table, eager to find out what happened with the money.
"Blondie, you wanna hurry it up? It's almost Christmas, and spending it with these guys ain't exactly at the top of my list."
"Please, half those knuckleheads aren't even on the list for me. But first, a little bit of a deal. I give you guys your thief, and I get to take his seat at the table. Unless you guys still want to play with him."
Sean squirmed in his chair and crossed his arms, remembering the last time he saw her. "You even know how to play?"
Batting her eye lashes and speaking cutely, she said, "It can't be too hard if you know how."
Logan wiggled his fingers at her, "Cute. But, it's a deal. Go, Nancy Drew. Amaze us."
"Prepare to be dazzled, Jake." Veronica winked, leaving the other boys in confusion. "For my first trick, I'm going to need a drink."
Weevil was losing patience with her theatrics. "What. You want a sodey-pop or somethin'?"
He spent a lot of late nights in the past couple of days combing through Duncan's laptop and was highly irritable in his sleep deprived state. Unfortunately for him, Duncan's laptop was mostly filled with crap for school, X-rated porn, and G-rated family pictures. He was hoping something better would show up and finally stumbled onto Duncan's online diary. After laughing with his little niece and grandmother about how a teenage boy kept a diary, he began to read it. He was already a quarter of the way through his journal now, and he had to say, that boy had some serious issues. But, it was potentially good blackmail material.
Veronica declined and suggested, "Maybe something with a little more kick?"
She grabbed Duncan's liquor bottle from the table and held it up to examine it.
"Hey, no," he protested too late.
"If you all would be so kind as to taste the contents?"
Certain of her reasoning, but still wizened from experience, she handed the bottle to the boys. Each boy took a drink and passed it along until the bottle had made it around the table, their faces showing their growing confusion.
Connor finally said, "Was that iced tea?"
"Oh, Connor. I don't care what they say. You are smarter than you look."
"Thanks. My sister says the same thing," Connor smiled sincerely at the table, to which Logan responded with a smile that someone would generally reserve for a child while shaking his head.
"Yeah…" Duncan said, resigned.
"How very musical theater of you." Veronica explained, "Duncan can't remember the alphabet when he drinks, let alone figure out twenty percent of the pizza bill. But, he didn't play drunk to steal your money; he played drunk to win your money. To no avail it seems."
Walking around the table to stand behind Connor, Veronica continued, "Oh, and Connor isn't a drug addict. I know, the constant bathroom visits. He wasn't going for a fix. He was going because of the Sun Tea."
She pointed to his current cup of tea. "It's that diuretic wrestlers down when they need to make weight or that actors use before they're half naked on the cover of 'Vanity Fair'."
Sean, Weevil, and Logan tried to stifle their laughter, and Connor shrugged.
She then rounded the table again to stand next to Logan. "Then there's my assistant. He certainly had the access. Looks like an evildoer, smells like an evildoer—"
"I'm flattered by your intimate knowledge of my scent."
She ignored his interruption. "—but surprisingly... not so much. Weevil cleared him. Weevil told me he searched the room but didn't go through it as much as he wanted. When I visited, it looked like it had been raided by the FBI, and he couldn't have known I was coming by so soon after."
Tapping his chin, Weevil said, "Yeah. When exactly did you visit? My grandmother goes to work for them pretty early in the morning."
"Please hold questions until the end of the show," she said in a rush before continuing with her demonstration. "If Logan took the money and hid it, he wouldn't have had to tear the room apart looking for it. So, two left. The boy from the wrong side of the tracks and the boy who lives in the most expensive house in the 09er zip."
Veronica placed her hands on the back of Sean's chair and leaned forward. "So, do you want to hear how Sean did it? Yes, he's a crafty little bugger."
Sean looked worriedly at Weevil whose expression grew grim.
"Sean didn't bring the Big Mouth Joes because he's cheap. He knew he couldn't leave without the money, so he didn't. What happens to garbage in the 09er zip? He just waited for the recycling to go out the next day and did a little garbage picking."
"Sean? What? The guy has a chauffeur drive him to school every day. Why would he need to steal?"
"Seriously? Questions? At the end. As I was saying, when I went to Sean's, I couldn't help but wonder what was his dad doing at home, three in the afternoon, dressed in a suit instead of being at work… unless he was at work." Veronica straightened her stance. "I have to say, I was a bit miffed. I was this close to being able to say the butler did it. But no, it was the butler's son."
Grasping at straws, Sean declared, "That doesn't prove anything."
"Well, that proves that you're a liar, and the background check I ran on you proves that you've got a shoplifting problem. You are really bad at it."
"That's enough for me." Weevil stood from his seat and headed for Sean, pulling him up as well.
"I can totally pay you," he stammered. "I have the money, I can get it now."
"Oh, we'll get to that. Why don't we take a walk so we can discuss a few things first, huh?"
"But you see, I can pay you, see, there's really no need for physical violence."
"Whoa. Who said anything about physical violence? I just wanted to talk."
With that, Veronica sat herself down in Sean's vacated seat.
Grabbing the deck of cards, she shuffled them expertly and cheekily asked, "Mind if I deal first?"
.
By the end of the night, Weevil pocketed his original roll of cash that he had recollected from Sean, minus the thousand dollars for most recent game.
Duncan and Connor had long since lost and left, and Weevil was on his way out, leaving Veronica and Logan to play for the grand prize. However, before he could leave, Logan caught him at the door and told him he wanted his item back. Adjusting his leather jacket and sizing him up, Weevil glanced back at Veronica who was busy trying to look like she wasn't watching the two of them and pulled something out of the pocket to hand off to him.
Satisfied that his item wasn't improperly treated, Logan bade him goodbye and stowed it away in another room. He then returned to his seat at the table as if the exchange hadn't just happened.
Stacking her chips into neat piles, Veronica stated, "I'm going to figure out what he took from you that was oh so top secret eventually."
"You don't mind if I wait for the good cop, bad cop role play, do you?"
"It's your turn to deal, Echolls."
"You know, it's just you and me now. This would be the perfect time to get started on that game of strip poker."
"Let it go, Logan."
"See. This is just a waste," Logan muttered petulantly.
Veronica ended up winning the pot and tossed her jacket at him as a consolation prize, in lieu of actually playing strip poker with him.
.
When she opened her door, she hadn't been expecting anyone in particular. Nevertheless, she still hadn't been expecting to see Weevil standing at her doorstep ever either.
"Hey, V."
The biker was uncharacteristically humble and soft spoken. He kept his eyes to the ground and hands clasped together, holding a laptop. And when she opened the door wider, he hugged her. This was just too weird.
"Hey, Weevil," she said, frozen with her face in his jacket. "It's nice to see you too. What brings you to my neck of the woods? Please let me go."
He finally let her go when she started actively pushing against him and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I, uh, I came to give you this."
"What, no gift wrap?" She wrapped her arms across her chest protectively.
"It's not a gift. It's Duncan Kane's."
"Oh," she uttered simply. "Why don't you just give it back to him yourself?"
"I thought. I don't know what I thought." Getting antsier by the second, he shoved the laptop into her hands and said, "You should just take a look at what's on it. No. You need to. I don't know. Look at it. You'll know what I mean when you see it," he urged. "And you need me for anything, I'll be there. Just tell me how you wanna handle it. No questions asked." He quickly hugged her again before leaving and mumbling, "Merry Christmas, V."
"Thanks," she slowly replied, bewildered by his odd demeanor. "Merry Christmas, Eli."
In the middle of hastily wrapping presents for her family and the few people she felt she could perhaps call close friends before the Christmas Eve deadline a mere few hours away, Veronica set the laptop aside and decided to just copy the contents of his laptop onto an external hard drive for another time. She'd give the laptop to Meg to give to Duncan tomorrow, feeling it best to avoid direct contact with either one of the Kane siblings.
Indirect contact was another story. She was still following Lilly. And to her eternal displeasure, if there ever was an understatement, her following Lilly and her following Aaron had turned into her occasionally following Lilly and Aaron at the same time as they met at the Neptune Grande for what she could tell were two-hour long afternoon trysts.
Unfortunately, there was no real money shot due to the hotel's discretion, and she was very reluctant to hand anything over to her father to give to Lynn until she had something definitive. It was important that the facts were straight and irrefutably damning if she wanted to help Lynn.
.
Christmas dinner with the Mars was once a pleasant affair; Veronica was sure of it. But maybe it was because she had been naïve back then.
Luckily, the door bell rang and she jumped from her seat to save herself from the tense sounds of people cutting into their food and not much else.
Logan leaned against her door frame, clutching a two plainly wrapped presents. "Merry Christmas, Veronica Mars."
"And a Merry Christmas to you, Logan Echolls. Don't you have a boat to catch or something?"
"I doubt my parents would leave without their only son, but then again, you've seen my parents, so you know that doubt isn't very founded. Either way, I couldn't leave without giving you your present."
"Ooh, presents? Why didn't you say so before?
They got to exchanging gifts when Veronica returned from her room with Logan's gift, which was wrapped in a reindeer wrapping paper that looked suspiciously like the pair of boxers she had found him in after the first poker game. He knew she couldn't resist looking.
Sitting back at the table, her mother asked, "Who was it, sweetie?"
"Just Logan. He wanted to give me my present before he left for Cabo."
"That's nice of him," Lianne awkwardly replied.
The family then diligently returned to cutting their food into increasingly smaller pieces.
Finding her meal difficult to enjoy, Veronica suggested they finish up soon and start opening presents.
Things definitely seemed better when she was more naïve.
.
Veronica tore herself away from the TV after hearing a knock at her door. She had been watching the delayed coverage of the ball drop from Times Square with her mother and father until they turned themselves in an hour ago. She noted, however, that her father went to sleep in the guest room.
Though, when she was sitting between her parents and watching the television with them in silence, she couldn't help but wish that she had taken either Wallace or Mac up on their offers to spend New Year's with one of them. But, not wanting to choose and potentially slight the person that she didn't choose, Veronica diplomatically claimed it was tradition that she spend that time with her parents. Which, it kinda was, unfortunately. And, Veronica neglected to mention that her parents usually went to sleep early, and she typically followed suit not long after.
Making her way to the door and opening it, she remarked, "My parents are asleep."
Undeterred, Logan stepped through the doorway, "And?"
"My father keeps a gun under his pillow."
"You don't think he'd appreciate me checking up on you for him then?"
"You? Definitely not."
"But he's not up…"
"No…"
"Excellent. Just making sure." He sauntered down the familiar hallway to the living room and sat down next to where he guessed Veronica was sitting. "Did you like my present?"
She sat back down in her seat, which Logan had correctly guessed, and made herself comfortable once more. "Yep. Both of them. I think Backup appreciated your jacket a lot more than I did, though."
"He has good taste, doesn't he?" Logan responded affectionately.
"I guess that means I won't be getting mine back?"
"You threw it at me, and finders, keepers."
"Fine. Anyway, I personally liked the nifty stun gun a lot better."
"I thought you'd appreciate a more compact version."
"Oh, I do. My future victims?" She tented her fingers deviously. "Probably not so much. Thank you, though. Really. Did you open mine yet?"
"Yes. They're currently in my bedroom in an appropriate place of worship. Of course, you realize I'm forced to wear them every time we watch the movie, right?"
She was relieved that he'd liked them. Veronica had no idea what to get for someone who had everything, so when her father had mentioned his friend had given him a remake of the brief case from Pulp Fiction, she immediately thought of Billy's sunglasses from Easy Rider. Billy was Logan's favorite character from the movie, and she remembered Logan telling her that he liked Billy's sunglasses because it was hard for anyone to read him when he had them on. And, of course, because it made him look cooler.
Unfortunately, Veronica's search for the authentic sunglasses had led her to a dead end, the sunglasses Dennis Hopper wore had been misplaced and were lost. However, the stage hand she had talked to was able to give her the brand and style of the exact pair of sunglasses he wore. And for their price, she was thankful she won the poker game.
"I'm just lucky you aren't planning to grow a hippie 'stache. I'm glad you liked them, though. I didn't know what to get."
"I'm a relatively easy man to please, Veronica."
"I guess next time you're just getting something shiny. Then I won't have to anguish over what to get you again."
"Something shiny? Ooh, you've been reading my diary."
"With my super secret spy camera," she mock confessed. "So what're you doing here? You're not still celebrating with your parents in Cabo?"
"Mom wanted to go home early because she couldn't stand staying on the boat anymore. I personally believe that it was because she couldn't stand Aaron, but what can you do."
"But, Dick and Cassidy are throwing a party, and I'm sure you were invited. So I have to ask again, what are you doing here?"
"Ringing in the New Year with you instead."
"You would miss out on girls that may quite possibly be even easier than you claim to be to stay at home with me?"
"Yes. Feel free to swoon in appreciation any time you want."
"Ever the gentleman."
As the pair watched the flashes of color burst across the screen, Logan casually asked, "You said you never stayed up til midnight for New Year's, right?"
"Yeah. This'll be the first time for me. It technically wouldn't even be the first if you didn't come by, actually. I was planning to sleep at eleven."
"Well I guess I'll just have to make your first time memorable, won't I?"
"You'll spoil me," she said, her voice thick. She would not think of the other first time that was taken away from her. Not now. Not while Logan was with her.
"Maybe I just want to bring you down to my level... Do you know about any traditions that happen at midnight?"
Looking at him and tilting her head, she replied, "Other than the start of many doomed New Year's resolutions involving losing weight?"
"Yeah. Other than that."
"Nope. Do you?"
"Yeah. Just one though. I'll show you later," he said, taking advantage of her heightened curiosity and lowered guard to wrap an arm around her and bring her closer to him.
Seeking solace from her troubled thoughts, Veronica didn't resist and rested her head in the crook of his neck. "Okay."
.
A/N: Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations.
Timeline overview: First week of December. Veronica helps with the dognapping case. Veronica fortuitously starts her business of digging up information on the other students' parents. Second week of December. Veronica starts following Aaron. Third week of December. Logan throws his poker game. Fourth week of December. Logan throws the second poker game. Fifth week of December. Winter break officially begins. Weevil gives Duncan's laptop to Veronica. First week of January. Logan surprises Veronica on New Year's.
There was sooo much I wanted to do with the Logan and Veronica, but I thought it was still too early for Veronica since the issue of her rape still hasn't been resolved yet and she still feels insecure. Some of you may have noticed I tweaked the ending a little. Just thought they deserved a little bit of a break.
To JeniLyn2000: I don't suppose you see what Duncan's up to? Definitely still disturbed. To alisosia: It's almost here. Mac will be featured a lot more in the next chapter! To guest1: I hope you caught the message I left for everyone, including you, in the reviews! And I'm glad you feel sorry for Lilly. I really wanted to make her into a more sympathetic character. To calypso: Sorry. I was, unfortunately, serious about that hiatus. To guest2: Ta da. To spoilerlover: Cassidy is not going to be a sociopath, and Mac's relationship status is a secret. ^^ I still haven't put much thought into giving Wallace some lovin', but I'm really keen on that idea, so it's a definite possibility.
Fun fact: I went a little crazy while studying/writing my essays and almost spammed my lovely reviewers with snippets of random LoVe scenes and ideas for new stories. You guys just barely dodged a bullet. Barely. Funny thing though. Couldn't remember how to write a proper essay for my test. Still can't. Also, it's either very early in the morning or very late at night as I write this. So, mistakes, inconsistencies, or general weirdness? Feel free to point them out.
Possible spoilers for the next chapter: Mac.
Also, if I missed personally replying to or thanking anyone. I'm sorry. It's been stressful for the past few weeks. But it's five a.m.; I've been working on it since I finished my test Wednesday, and I'm posting it now because I feel guilty. Consider this a rough cut. Or the final version, depending on how I feel in a few hours when I wake up again. I was super determined to get this chapter out by the end of the week, so it may be a bit choppy and undetailed, but. Ta da. Hope you all enjoyed it. Now that school's starting and I still have apps (with a looming deadline) to do, I can't update like I used to, but at least the gaps between updates will be (hopefully) a lot shorter. Thank you for taking the time to read these crazy author's notes (and the story), by the way. ^^
I'm somewhat sorry for the people who read my chapters right after I post them, though, because I keep finding mistakes or better ways to write certain events only after the fact. So yeah. Sorry… you guys should probably check for updated versions of the chapter. Or not, they're not particularly big changes. ._.
/Rambling over.