Author's Note: Well, the last chapter didn't work. Many ppl ignored it. LOL. I am surprised that everyone said that the last chapter was suspenseful. I was aiming for romantic, heheh. I understand that most ppl were confused, because it was a flashforward. Yes, it was Logan and Veronica in the future. I think I won't write anymore flashforward. It's already confusing enough that I write a non-linear fic, so I don't need to add more confusion. The experiment is over! By the way, I don't know if anyone noticed, but the last chapter actually mirrored chapter 4. The scene is similar; cabin vs. beach house. The difference is the situation. Thanks for the feedbacks, guys. I really appreciate that you read this fic. Thank you steenbeans for beta'ed this chapter!

Orion Suite

You'd think a decade was a long time- but it wasn't, actually. Time really flew by as you got older. Logan felt that he'd grown up so fast; he hadn't really had a childhood. He'd had his first drink when he was ten years old; courtesy of one of the many Hollywood parties he'd attended at the time. He'd seen that Trina was drinking, so he'd followed suit.

Logan had his first smoke when he was twelve; Lilly taught him how to smoke a cigarette – she taught him how to smoke sexily, by blowing smoke from the corner of her lips. It was sexy back then, but it was ridiculous now.

He'd lost his virginity when he was thirteen to an au pair from Germany named Liesl. She was sixteen and she'd lived with the Echolls. Logan now suspected that she'd slept with Aaron too; but at the time, he'd never paid attention to his father's liaisons.

At sixteen, his ex-girlfriend Lilly had been murdered by his father. At seventeen, he'd had an affair with a married woman, who happened to be his best friend's step-mother. When he was eighteen, said best friend's brother tried to kill him and his ex-girlfriend, Veronica. On his twenty-first birthday, he'd killed a faceless and nameless soldier. By the time he was twenty-three, he'd become a professional hitman.

He really didn't have a normal life.

So now he was twenty-eight years old, and he felt that the burden of the world was on his shoulders. Ex-girlfriend dead, parents dead, and classmates dead – and he killed for a living.

If Logan were normal, he would concentrate on his movies and become the best writer/director that he could. But he was anything but normal. He preferred killing bad people (at least, people who were bad in his eyes), and he justified his actions by telling himself that he was doing the world some good. At least one more scumbag won't live to ruin other people's lives, he convinced himself every time there was an assignment.

And yet, while he was out 'saving the world', his own friends had been helpless. He wasn't there to protect them. He wasn't there to help them.

Logan was watching Mac from the corner of the room. He was sitting on a comfy chair while she slept. He was pondering his own life as he watched her. The woman was still the same as she'd been back then- pretty. Logan couldn't blame Dick for falling in love with her. He wondered why he'd never paid attention to her before; she could have been his friend and ally. She'd always been loyal to her friends.

Flashback,

Last night at Veles Restaurant

Dinner was going well, although there was a lingering feeling of awkwardness for both of them- because they hadn't exactly been friends from the beginning. They were friends by association, through Dick, who hadn't been able to make it to dinner because he was with his father.

Dick had already sent five text messages to Logan; all of the messages were basically the same:

DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID LOGAN, OR I WILL CUT YOU. I MEAN IT, DUDE.

Logan read the text messages grimly. Asshole, he thought. There was no way he would hit on Mac. Mac was pretty, sure. But he would never do anything to jeopardize his friendship with Dick, especially now that they were trying to connect again.

Mac had also received a text message from Dick, which she'd smiled at when she read, because Dick was so sweet. He'd written:

GOOD LUCK, MACARONI! REMEMBER; CALL ME IF YOU NEED ANYTHING.

"I'm so sad that Dick isn't here," Mac commented.

"Well, I'm okay with it. This gives us a chance to be alone," Logan said, not realizing that his words were making her blush. "Dick has been… avoiding the subject of Veronica. I can understand that, but I'm hoping you'll tell me everything…"

Of course, she thought. It was always about Veronica… Strangely, Mac didn't feel jealous. She loved Veronica, and she understood that her life had been… well, not normal. Sometimes, as one of her best friends, Mac had an urge to protect Veronica from the evil in the world… Sadly, she couldn't do anything. The universe seemed to be against her. "Logan… can we have a decent dinner first? Then I promise I'll tell you about what happened in the last 10 years."

"Of course." Logan raised his glass and they clink their glasses together. "To friendship."

Both of them got silent as they drank their wine. Mac was looking around while Logan stared at her. He frowned when he saw her blush. Logan thought that maybe she was embarrassed to be seen with him, at this restaurant. He wondered if Mac was a bit uncomfortable about dining with a celebrity. There was nothing to worry about, as Logan was not THAT famous- not like his father Aaron. Aaron was a movie star, so his face had been plastered everywhere. But Logan was a film director, for independent movies, so he was more of a behind-the-scenes man. Casual fans wouldn't recognize him.

"I'm surprised you wanted to eat here," Mac began, while eating her Baklava dessert.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked. Mac shrugged and looked around. She didn't recognize anybody, so maybe the Sorokin's weren't around. "My manager recommended this place. So I thought… I mean, if you hate it…"

"No, no, no. It's not that," Mac said hurriedly. She leaned forward a bit. "It's just… you do know who owns this place, right?"

"No, I don't know," he lied. He knew, of course, that the place belonged to the Sorokin family. He'd thought that he could try to look around and gather some information, while he was there.

Mac grimaced a bit and stage whispered, "This restaurant belongs to Veronica's husband."

Logan drank his wine. "Really? Oh. Wow. Of all the places in Neptune…"

"Yeah…" Mac pursed her lips and looked around nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just… I feel outta my element," she shrugged.

Logan pondered something that had been bugging him, and he decided to ask her. "Listen, can I ask you something?"

"Uh oh."

"I promise, you can tell me everything after dinner. But I just wanna ask you about Veronica's husband."

"Shoot."

"Is he really… you know… connected?" Logan watched Mac nod slowly. "Somehow I can't believe that Veronica would marry someone like that," he said bitterly.

"Logan… Veronica had been through a lot. And I hate to say this, but… she became a different person after Lamb died… and after all of the bad things that happened… Gory was the one who supported her and loved her." Logan looked away, feeling guiltily. He was supposed to be that man. Not Gorya Sorokin. "But at the same time, he isolated her… He just wanted her for himself." Mac drank her wine. Her eyes were glimmering. "He loved her so much; we could see it. But he never allowed anyone else to be close to her." She swallowed. "Even her family and friends…"

Logan grabbed Mac's hand to comfort her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

She gulped the rest of her wine down and slammed the glass on the table. "Damn it, now I need another drink!"

Present

Mac stirred from her sleep and looked up. She realized that she was in her own room. Last night was a blur, but she remembered there was dinner, some drinking, and…

She immediately bolted upright with widened eyes. Oh, hell no.

Her bedroom door was open, and she could hear that someone was cooking. She cautiously climbed down from the bed and walked out of her room. She could see Logan, standing by the stove. He wore pants, but no shirt. His hair was wet; it seemed he'd just taken a shower.

Mac couldn't believe that she'd now seen Logan without his shirt on twice in her life.

She cleared her throat and Logan turned around. "Oh, hey. Good afternoon."

"What time is it?"

"It's almost 3PM. We slept through the night and day." He gestured at her with a knowing look. Mac caught sight of her reflection in the hallway mirror and gasped. Her hair was a mess and her lipstick was smeared. She looked at Logan with wide eyes.

Logan bit his lip but he didn't say anything.

"Did we… Did we…"

"If you're asking whether we slept together because we were drunk like skunks, then the answer is no," Logan answered the unspoken question. "But…"

"Please don't say BUT. Nothing happened, RIGHT?" Mac asked in a panic.

Logan paused for a bit. "If you say so." Mac's mouth dropped open. "NO. Nothing happened," he hurriedly said, to calm her down.

"Logan, I'm sorry… Sometimes I do things that I'm not proud of when I'm drunk," Mac said with a pleading tone.

Logan smirked a bit and turned off the stove. "So when you told me that you liked me, you were lying?" Mac cursed loudly and bolted to her room, slamming the door. Logan grinned; he couldn't help teasing her. "Come on, Mac. I know I'm good looking. OF COURSE you like me, who wouldn't?" he boasted. "You did kiss me a bit, but hey – it was a good kiss. I have nothing to complain about."

"You creep!"

Logan laughed and put some stir fry into a bowl. "Come on, Mac. I'm just teasing. Nothing really happened. I was a perfect gentleman with you the whole night." Mac didn't answer or make a sound. Logan sighed, walked to her bedroom door and knocked softly. "We were tense last night; so we got drunk and you confessed that you like me. Thank you, I really am flattered. I mean, you're a really pretty girl. Any guy would be lucky to have you…"

Mac leaned her forehead against the door. She was so embarrassed. She couldn't remember everything that had happened last night. But she did have a vague memory of kissing Logan, for just a tiny moment. Logan hadn't kissed her back; he'd only held her and smiled. "I'm sorry…"

Logan frowned. "Why are you saying sorry? You haven't done anything wrong."

"I kissed you…"

"Mac, if there is a person in this apartment who should say sorry, it's me. I'm sorry."

"Why are you saying sorry?"

"Because…" Because his best friend was in love with her, and there was a chance he would say something that would break her heart. That was why he'd been teasing her; to try and soften the blow. "I only think of you as a friend."

Of course Mac knew that Logan didn't have feelings for her. She knew it and she'd prepared for it. Especially after last night, when they'd been talking about Veronica and what had happened in the last 10 years. But still… it sucked to hear him say it. "Yeah… I know," she murmured. Surprisingly, she didn't feel that disappointed. It was only a crush, not love. But again… it still sucked hearing the guy you liked didn't actually like you back. "Stupid Cindy…"

Logan leaned his forehead against the door. "You're not stupid. I'm the stupid one…"

"So I guess we both agree that we're stupid," Mac muttered.

Logan chuckled. "Hey, under different circumstances – who knows?"

Fat chance, she thought. He would still be thinking about Veronica. And she would probably have a date with some billionaire nerd who would bore her to death. "Did you cook something for me?"

"I made stir-fry vegetables. Damn, Mac. Your fridge only has veggies and yogurts." He stepped back to let Mac out of her room. He smirked at her as she pouted. Then he pinched her cheek, and earned himself a playful punch in the arm.

They'd bonded last night, over dinner and wine. And maybe there'd been some pot involved. Then they'd gone to her suite. They'd talked about their lives. Logan, of course, hadn't told her all of the details; he'd only spoken about his persona as a movie director. Mac had told him about her life as CEO of Neptune Connection. And then Logan had asked about their lives in Neptune.

Mac had told him about how Dick had stayed with the Mars family during freshman year of college, and how he'd gone to rehab for drugs and alcohol after Cassidy's death. Mac, Veronica and Wallace had helped him get through the whole ordeal.

Mac had cried when she'd told him about Veronica.

She hadn't finished her story, because Logan couldn't stand to see her crying. So he'd hugged and consoled her instead. They'd ended up drunk and wasted, plus high, which made her confess that she liked him. And then she'd kissed him. Logan hadn't kissed her back, but he had smiled. He'd actually carried her to bed and held her while she cried, until both of them fell asleep. Logan decided that he wouldn't tell Dick that Mac had a crush on him.

Logan pulled Mac to the couch and they sat together. He put his arm around her. Neither of them said anything as they shared a comfortable silence. He rubbed her arm soothingly. It was funny that tragedies could make people closer friends. "Thank you," Mac mumbled.

"For what?"

"For not freaking out," she said. "About Veronica, Dick, and everything…"

"And there was this thing where you kissed me..." he smirked.

She elbowed him. "Are you going to throw that in my face forever?"

"Yes." He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "You're awesome, Mac."

Mac was going to retort when they heard someone clear his throat. They looked towards the door; Dick was staring at them with wide eyes. The door was open and Dick was holding a card key. He'd seen Logan, sans shirt, wrapping his arm around Mac. And he'd seen him kiss her. Logan kissed Mac. His Mac! Again! Dick thought about their kiss in his kitchen yesterday. What the hell? Dick bared his teeth and actually pulled his sleeves up. Mac frowned at the sight of her best friend looking so angry. Logan immediately pulled away from Mac and stood up. "Dick?" Mac asked in confusion.

"I've been calling since this morning, and no one answered. I sent text messages, and no one replied. I thought something bad happened to you two." Dick gritted his teeth. "Apparently, something did happen!"

"Dude, nothing happened." Logan could tell that Dick was going to charge, in a moment, based on his stance.

"You kissed her!" Dick yelled. "And I specifically told you not to do anything stupid!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mac asked, really confused. "He didn't kiss me, I kissed him."

Dick cracked his knuckles and jumped onto Logan. Mac shrieked when his fist hit Logan's jaw. For a minute they were wresting behind the couch. Logan was trying to pin his best friend to the ground, but Dick was like a wild dog and tried to hit him again. Logan, who was experienced in the battlefield, didn't want to hurt Dick. If he wanted to, he could kill him. He was a professional hitman who had been in many unthinkable situations. This situation however reminded him with Duncan, when he was still a jealous ex-boyfriend in high school. But Dick was a jealous quasi territorial boyfriend slash best friend and there was nothing he could do except being calm.

He didn't have to do anything because suddenly Mac was standing above them and yanked Dick and Logan's ears.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Mackie! What the hell?" Dick hollered in pain as Mac pulled his ear.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Cindy!" Logan also winced in pain as she boxed his ear. Both of them were forced to kneel down.

"CALM THE FUCK DOWN!" Mac bellowed. "What the hell is wrong with both of you?" Both men looked at each other but didn't say anything. Mac was always a shy girl and even as an adult woman, she was pretty much reserved. She observed first and thinks through any kind of action. But she had to do something to separate the men.

Both Logan and Dick closed their eyes. Oh, crap.

Sorokin Mansion

Veronica was walking very slowly with her head down in the foyer, as Gorya followed her. During their ride home, Veronica had cried in his arms; and then she'd gone silent. She'd hugged her husband tightly. He'd heard occasional sniffles, but she hadn't cried much after that.

Gorya watched his wife climb the stairs to the second floor. He called after her softly. "Veronica."

She stopped and looked behind her shoulder. Her eyes were red from crying, but she still looked beautiful. "Yeah?"

Gorya walked closer and took one step up the stairs. He looked up at her and circled his arms around her waist, pulled her closer. "I'm thinking 'The Big Lebowski' for our movie night, tonight."

Veronica smiled and circled her arms around his neck. "You hate 'The Big Lebowski'."

"Not true. I'm always fascinated with guys in bathrobes and slippers, who hang out at the bowling alley all the time." He brushed his nose against hers. "It's an upgrade from seeing naked fat men in my family sauna almost everyday," he added. Veronica chuckled, but her eyes were still full of sadness. Gorya knew that he was the cause of that sadness, but he would rather cut out his tongue than tell her that. Sometimes honesty was not the best policy. Veronica leaned on him and their foreheads touched.

"Thank you, Gory…" she whispered. Gorya's breath hitched. "I'm glad you're here…"

Gorya hugged her more tightly. "I love you," he whispered. She didn't reply; but he knew that Veronica would never say 'I love you' back. It wasn't in her nature. It was enough for him, as long she needed him. And she needed him more than ever, now that she thought that her family didn't want anything to do with her anymore. "And you need me…" he reminded her.

Veronica hugged her husband and rested her chin on his shoulder. "I always need you…" That statement always made him a bit misty-eyed.

Of course he remembered how Veronica had cried and called out his name- him, the son of a mobster-to help her when she was in trouble years ago. He remembered how his own family had almost disowned him for marrying her. But it didn't matter, because he loved Veronica. Damn everyone else. Damn them to hell.

He remembered Veronica back then… with blood all over her… pleading to him. "Help me…"

Gorya picked her up and carried her up the stairs to their room. She rested her head in the crook of his neck. "And I need ice cream," she said.

Gorya chuckled as he carried her. "You need to cut down on the ice cream. You're getting heavy." She pouted but didn't retort back. Veronica's legs were dangling from his arms, and Gorya made a show of having a hard time walking which made her giggle. Gorya would do anything to make her giggle like that.

She was his. She belonged to him. He needed her, and she needed him.

If anyone else messed with the slice of heaven he had, he'd make them regret it.

Neptune High

Darrell climbed out from Ryan Mackenzie's car and stood in the empty parking lot of their high school. He was glancing around, looking for someone. "Thanks, bro. I appreciate you helping me here."

"Yo, man. I don't want to get involved or anything." Ryan replied, looking up from his car window at the tall boy.

"You're not involved with anything, Ryan. Stop being such a pussy."

"Do you know what would happen if your dad, the Sheriff of Neptune, found out that I'm helping you with this dangerous case – the one he's specifically forbidden you to work on? He'd put my ass in jail. And then he'd tell my parents. And my parents would tell my sister. And then my sister would tell your sister. And then your sister would somehow put some juju shit on me."

"Pops and Veronica would never do that, Mackenzie. And this case isn't dangerous." Darrell checked his watch. Where the hell is he?

"Dude, your dad was SHOT by some gangsta, just yesterday." He looked around. "And you're going to meet an ex-con with a murder rep, your words not mine, to help you. Why can't you just let the authorities handle this, will ya? Clemmons is onto you, anyway."

"Ryan, I only asked you to drop me off here 'cause Pops wouldn't let me take my bike. If you wanna go home to your momma, go ahead."

"Not cool, Mars!" The blonde boy hit Darrell on his arm. Darrell winced and rubbed his arm. "You don't need me anyway; you're a tall black dude who can dunk like nobody's business. You can intimidate anyone with your…tallness."

"You're so lame."

They heard loud rap music and a Charger made its way into the parking lot. Eli parked his car next to Ryan's and turned the engine off. The music died, but Ryan's ears were still ringing. Eli climbed out of his car and glanced at the blonde boy, who seemed scared to see him. Eli slapped Darrell's back hard, which made him wince. "Wassup, kid?"

"Eli Navarro, this is Ryan McKenzie."

"Yeah, yeah. Mac's little bro, yeah? You need to have someone do a paint job, here. Call me." He pointed at Ryan's car. "Ready to go?" Without another word, he walked towards the school.

Ryan looked at his tall friend. "Charming fella."

Darrell fist-bumped Ryan and he followed Eli to the entrance of the school. The school was in the middle of cleaning up– there was yellow tape everywhere, buckets of paint, ladders, newspapers, mops, and cleaning stuff scattered around the hallway. The repairmen and the painters had already gone home for the day, and would finish the job tomorrow. That was why Eli and Darrell needed to work fast.

"So whadaya got?" Eli asked the tall boy, as they went straight to the boiler room.

"Well, CSI didn't dust for prints in the water system, since they were concentrating on the hallway that was covered in that fake blood. They're not investigating the other paint prank. I read the report. So much for Clemmons reporting the prank as a crime."

"Where did you get the report?"

"One of the deputies owed me, so he gave it to me." Darrell meant Deputy Leo, but Eli didn't need to know who it was.

Eli smirked. "He owed you? You Marses…"

Ignoring the comment, Darrell continued. "So we can check out the water system and hopefully we'll find something."

"Did you check who in the school is capable of tinkering around with the water system?"

Darrell nodded. "I made a list. Some of them are from the auto shop class. I figured anyone capable of doing this elaborate prank probably knew what they were doing." They'd arrived at the Boiler Room door. Eli was about to use his lock-picking skill when Darrell shook his head. He pulled out some duplicate keys and opened it.

"Veronica taught you well," Eli smirked. Darrell just grinned and walked into the Boiler Room. They immediately went to the water system that connected to the fire sprinkler system. "Someone has been tampering with the system, alright." He pointed to the empty barrels of paint that were connected with tubes to the pipes. "These are heavy valves. Someone must've used a wrench to rotate the valves and connect the tubes. And then, when the time came, they pulled the fire alarm and the paint automatically flowed into the pipes and came out of the sprinklers." He chuckled. "Neat."

Darrell pulled out some rubber gloves and gave them to Eli. Eli raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. Both of them put their rubber gloves on. "One person did all this?" Darrell commented.

"Somehow I doubt this is a one man job." Eli looked around and Darrell took pictures from his cell phone. Deputy Leo had already checked the place. He'd seen the barrels of paint, but he'd only taken the full barrels to the Sheriff's Department as evidence. He and other deputies had left the empty ones, because they didn't have room to put them anywhere. "The valves are very heavy. It would take more than one person to operate it." Eli pointed to another valve, which was a hand wheel one. "That one probably controls the main water flow." Darrell took another picture. "See, these valves have numbers. They probably go to places like the gym, classes, and the hallways…" Eli tried to moved the hand wheel valve but couldn't because it was too heavy. He grunted but gave up. "You can control which sprinklers to turn off by rotating these smaller valves, and control the water with the big valve."

"Which one is off?" Darrell asked. "All of valve sprinklers are turned on – that's standard procedure."

Eli checked the valves. "These little valves are turned to the right… It means they're on." His finger pointed one valve. "That one… is pointing to the left."

Darrell read the instruction manual on the wall. "Number 4 – that's the library. The only person who was in the library was Mrs. Lewinsky, our librarian," he commented.

"Yeah, I remember Mrs. Lewinsky. She's 90 years old," Eli said.

"She's 64 years old, actually. But I don't think she's capable of turning these valves." Darrell took some pictures of the ground. "There are shoe prints; probably from the deputies. But there are some tracks from sneakers."

"What else?" Eli asked, looking around the room for clues.

Darrell sighed. "Well, CSI haven't investigated where the paint came from. I mean, with the whole gangsta style shooting that happened yesterday, I don't think they've had any time. This is Neptune. We ain't Las Vegas." He was investigating the barrels. "These are regular barrels. Lemme get a closer look…" Darrell scratched the surface of one of the barrels. "There's something written here…" He squinted. "Something with the letter 'P' and the word 'RAIN'."

Eli frowned. "Purple Rain?"

"Somehow I doubt that Prince is responsible for the prank," Darrell deadpanned.

"No, pendejo. There's a paint store near the docks called 'Purple Rain'. Our garage sometimes buys paint from there." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. He waited for a while, and then someone answered the call. "Hola, Rocco. Got a minute?"

Darrell busied himself dusting the valves for prints while Eli talked on the phone. He carried detective knick-knacks in his backpack. Ryan once commented that it was weird to see a 6'3" black teen playing detective. To be truthful, Darrell had always wanted to be a cop. Maybe because Wallace's father was a Chicago policeman and his step-dad was a Sheriff, and then his step-sister had been a private detective when she was a teenager herself… He never knew his own dad; he'd died when Darrell was too young to remember, before they'd moved to Neptune. Wallace had never been interested in the whole sleuthing thing; he was an engineer, spending his time as a working stiff, and now as a family man. For Darrell, that wasn't challenging enough.

Keith had always supported him no matter what, and he seemed happy enough that his step-son wanted to follow in his footstep – despite his mother's disapproval. She'd seen what kind of life policemen and detectives could have. Her ex-husband had turned to drugs because of job pressure. Her current husband dealt with death almost everyday… Her step-daughter….

Well, that was another story.

Darrell finished dusting the valves and the pipes, while Eli finished talking on the phone. Darrell exhaled. "Well, so much for prints. There are none. I guess they're using gloves too."

"I checked with the guy who works at 'Purple Rain' and asked whether there was any purchase for huge quantities of paint. He said he'd get back to me tomorrow, after he checked the record."

"Thanks, man. I appreciate this."

"No problemo." Eli then muttered, "Anything for her."

Darrell wanted to ask what that meant, but he held his tongue. Eli might have a soft spot for Veronica, but that didn't mean that he'd talk to Darrell about it.

As they started to leave the boiler room, they heard something; it sounded like people talking. Both of them paused, and Eli gave a signal to Darrell not to move. He walked cautiously to the door and opened it. He took a peek out into the hall, but he couldn't see anyone. He jumped when Darrell suddenly spoke up behind him, "Do you think it's the janitor?"

Eli shot him an annoyed look. "Don't do that!" he seethed. He peeked again but still didn't see anyone. "The school should be empty."

"I question the lack of security in this place, especially after all the pranks," Darrell stage whispered.

"We should get outta here. I hate this place." Eli grunted uncomfortably. He walked out with Darrell in tow. They were walking quietly down the hallway when they heard some chanting. Eli and Darrell looked at each other, tipped-toeing to get closer to the source of the chant.

They were near the school library, and the door was open. When they peeked through the door, they were surprised.

A dozen people wearing robes were kneeling in the middle of the library and chanting. Darrell whipped out his cell phone and filmed the whole thing. A person with a green robe blew a conch shell and the chanting stopped. He bellowed, "TRITONS! I must compliment you with the jobs you have done! Yesterday, with the drive-by shooting, was amazing. Not only did you do an awesome job with City Hall, but you did an awesome job with the whole school. We will take down all of the corruption and dirty deeds that are being done by the officials of Neptune, just how a Triton should!"

Another person with a green robe was holding a picture frame of Cassidy Casablancas; he set it on the table. The original green-robed speaker bellowed again. "A decade ago, he succeeded in getting rid of the root of evil in Neptune. He got rid of the Mayor, and the filthy minions on that bus. This time, there will be no more childish pranks. We will crank up the volume!" The people who were wearing white robes were hooting and hollering, and they whipped out handguns from their robes. They were cheering.

Eli and Darrell looked at them in shock. Those weren't paint guns. Those were real guns. Darrell was a bit shaken at the scene in front of them. They needed to get out of this place.

Without a sound, he and Eli walked away carefully from the library and went straight to the parking lot. They were thankful that Eli's Charger was parked near the exit, so they could get away fast. It was already dark outside as they hurriedly climbed into the car. They didn't dare say anything as they drove away from the school.

"That shit just got real," Eli commented, like a cop from a movie. He wasn't being funny. The shit really had just gotten real. A bunch of people from a high school secret society were trying to take over Neptune? This was sick. Darrell didn't answer, merely nodding. "We need to warn your dad," Eli said. Darrell nodded again.

He was feeling scared as hell.

Mars Residence

Keith stared at the snicker-doodles box on the table sadly. Claudette and Alicia were sitting at the table with Keith, not saying anything. He picked up a snicker-doodle and bit into it. He smiled and nodded. "It's good."

Claudette sighed. "I'm glad you weren't here this afternoon. It was… brutal."

"How's Wallace doing now?" Keith asked his daughter-in-law.

Claudette sighed again. She had been doing this a lot. "He's still in the bedroom with Theo. He's so broken that he had to pretend that he hates Veronica."

"I can't blame him," Keith said, as he chewed on the snicker-doodle. He really missed his daughter.

They heard a car pulling into the driveway. "Darrell is here. He and Ryan are hanging out today." Alicia walked to the door to greet him. She was surprised to see Eli Navarro and her son climbing out of the car and walking towards the house. Darrell immediately hugged his mother, which surprised her. Darrell might be seventeen years old, but he was still a kid. His mom still made him sandwich and cut the crusts off the bread. "Darrell? What's wrong, son?" Alicia looked at Eli, who was standing uncomfortably on the porch. "Eli?"

"Mrs. Mars." He nodded and saw Keith approach them. "Sheriff."

"What's wrong, Eli?" Keith looked up at his tall son, who'd had to hunch down to hug his mother. "I thought you were with Ryan?"

"You better sit down, Sheriff. We got a whopper for you," Eli said. "And before you yell at us, especially at Darrell, you have to know that he's a good boy and only wanted to help."

Keith Mars looked at Eli and Darrell with a wary look.