Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Sinus infection has had me feeling very drained. We are, here, building up to a climax, but we're not there yet.

I also know some things that are going to happen in this story -- but parts of it are being constructed on the fly. Xander does have a specific reason for disliking Veronica. Angel will make an appearance after the rape investigation is over. Etc.

Disclaimer: Veronica Mars belongs to Rob Thomas, Buffy to Joss Whedon. This merger is mine.

X X X X X

I saw Cordelia at lunch, but knew better than to approach her then for anything short of "The school's on fire" or "your pantyhose has a run."

On second thought, scratch "the school's on fire." Cordelia does have her priorities, after all.

So I sat with Sheila and we chatted about the things we hated about Sunnydale High (pretty much everything) until Logan walked up, to my great surprise. "I thought you might want to know something, Mars."

"I might want to know a lot of things, Logan," I said. "Why don't you tell me and I'll figure out if this is one of them?"

"My father wants to invite you over for dinner."

There are very few things in the world guaranteed to render me speechless. "Aaron Echolls wants you to come to dinner" is one of them. "Why?" I asked.

"Not just you. Both of you. For what you did in the school back when 'the gang' attacked." Yes, I could hear the quotes.

"What? You mean hiding in the corner while he heroically rescued us?" I said. At least, that was the way he'd told it to the public.

"I know better, you know better, Kelly knows better," Logan said. "Honestly, that's all that important. If Daddy Dearest hadn't tried to hog all of the glory for himself, I think you and I would have keeled over in twin heart attacks." Then he looked at Sheila. "Not so sure about yon Kelly, though. If I recall, she thinks my dad is," air quotes, "Hot as hell."

"Still do," Sheila said. "Now I think he's an asshole as well. Like father, like son."

Logan stiffened at that. I realized what a nasty insult that was. "Oh, come on, Sheila," I said. "Logan's not quite as bad as his father."

Frowning, Logan looked at me as though he couldn't decide whether that had been an insult or compliment. I figured, at this stage of our relationship, I wouldn't be enlightening him, so I didn't. Eventually he said, "Understatement of the year there, Mars. Anyway, he's planning to invite you guys over this weekend. I'm giving you fair warning so you can come up with a previous engagement. Or possibly just get wasted."

"Woulda been true a couple weeks ago, Echolls," Sheila said. "Not true any more thanks to the manhunter here. You know why."

"Yeah. I've been following your rules about that. People are wondering why I've suddenly found religion."

"Let 'em wonder," I said.

"Always my motto," Logan said. "Anyway. You've got your warning, What you do with it is entirely up to you." He mock-saluted and left.

"I'm feeling a pressing need to be out of town this Saturday," I said. "Care to join me?"

"Road trip? 'scool. Where?"

"In the words of Buffy Summers, anywhere but here."

X X X X X

In the meantime, there was Cordelia Chase.

I caught her after school.

She was dragging Buffy to a car to talk to a couple of college guys.

That's right; we had now entered the land of Reptile Boy.

Another episode I wasn't planning on getting involved in. But it did mean Cordelia was going to be kind of out of circulation for a couple of days, so if I wanted to catch her, I'd have to catch her now.

Or at least, I'd have to wait until she was done with the boys from the frat house.

Unfortunately, Xander noticed me noticing. Fixing me with a glare, he said, "What are you looking at?"

"I have to talk to Cordelia about something," I said. "Not that it's really any of your business."

He nodded as though it was all making sense now. "Ah. You and Cordelia together."

"I know, I know," I said. "Throw in some stomach flu and it's your best day ever."

He stiffened. "Don't tell me what I'm thinking, manhunter. You of all people have no right to." He turned around and left.

Keeping one eye on Cordelia, I asked Willow, "What was that about?"

Nervously, Willow said, "You'd have to ask him."

"I think if I tried he'd throw something at me," I said. "Look. Until now I was willing to dismiss this as just him not liking me because I used to be one of the in crowd. I never thought I was badly behaved towards the out crowd, but I'm willing to stipulate to mild guilt there. But I have no idea what I did to have him hate me the way he does."

Willow said, "Well, you're not going to find out by doing an end run through me."

I suspected I was facing a trial version of the resolve face. I'm not so sure I could stand up to the later incarnations, but right now, I'd faced worse. "I'm not trying to do an end run, Willow. I'm honestly trying to find out. Because I have no clue, and I'd like to think that if I ticked someone off that badly, I'd know why. But I don't. He's not going to tell me because he can barely stand to be in the same room as me, and you're not going to tell me because you think it'd be betraying him. Fine. I can live with it. If I knew what I did, I could apologize for it, or explain why it's not really my fault, or something. But it's not worth the effort."

Willow said, "He blames you for something."

"What?"

"You're the detective. You can figure it out from there."

I was going to have to; Giles had called to Buffy from behind me. Willow handed her her bag as she sprinted past. I had a vague recollection of this going differently in the regular Buffyverse, but I couldn't remember how.

As Buffy left, the frathouse guys said goodbye to Cordelia and drove off. She started walking towards the parking lot; I raced after her.

She whirled when I was within a few feet. "Please! It's bad enough I might have to have Buffy dogging my heels but there's no way you're coming. Not with your track record at parties."

Every once in a while the gods hand you perfect openings. You refrain from taking advantage of them at your peril. "My track record?" I said innocently. Of course, there was no way I was going to the party, and that wasn't even taking into account the giant snake.

Sad that a giant snake possibly eating me isn't the main reason I wouldn't go to a party. Sad, but, alas, true.

"My track record?" I said innocently.

"You should know, the way you trashed my Christmas party. I knew I should have retracted my invitation. Damn Miss Manners."

"I don't know if it makes any difference to you," I said, "But I don't remember most of it."

"As drunk as you were --"

"Cordelia, we may never have been friends, but you know me well enough to know I don't act like that." I figured I'd try leveling with her. "I wasn't drunk. Someone drugged me. And I'm trying to figure out who."

"Drugged?" she said.

"Drugged. As in, someone took some GHB and dosed my drink with it. And that's why I have about ten hours of my life I'm never going to get back, from about a half an hour in to when I woke up in your back bedroom."

"You spent the night in my house?"

"Focus, Cordelia," I said. "Yes, I did. Now, I'm trying to figure out two things. One, who drugged me? And two, did I do anything besides make a fool of myself? And more importantly, did anyone do something to me?" I knew about Duncan by this point, of course. And I had my suspicions about Warren. But I didn't know what Cordelia knew.

Cordelia laughed, but it wasn't a laugh that meant she thought something was funny. "It may have been my party, Veronica, but I'm probably the last person you want to talk to about what you did to ruin it."

"Still pissed?"

"Oh yeah. But if someone really did drug you --" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously as though she thought I might be lying about that.

Well, I'd done worse. "I'm not saying I always tell the truth like you do," I said. "But I usually don't waste my time on revenge. And anyway, you're the one of the few people who treated me the same before and after my downfall. You didn't like me when I was Lilly's friend, you didn't like me after she was murdered, and you never hid it. In an odd way it gave me a kind of continuity when everyone else around me was turning on me."

"That's who I am," Cordelia said.

"I know. And I appreciate it." After a second, "How did Warren Mears get in?"

Cordelia snorted. "Yeah, I guess he's even below you, isn't he? Trust me, most nights Warren or anyone like him wouldn't have gotten past the front door without large sums of cash and proof that all of his shots were up to date. But he did the football team a favor."

"What?"

Shrugging, she said, "How the hell should I know? Probably did all their math homework or something. Anyway, if you want someone to tell you what or who you did that night I'm the wrong gal to talk to. I only saw you for a few minutes-- I think they were trying to keep me from noticing the way you were acting. 'cause I would have thrown you out on your ass, you know."

"I know," I said. "What did you see?"

"Nothing, really. It's not like we would have had any long conversations or anything anyway. I gave you a soda, you said thanks, and that was it."

"You gave me a soda?"

"Yeah."

It had to be. "Did Percy West give you the soda?"

"Yeah. Like I would have drunk it! I mean, hello! Not diet!"

"You didn't spit in it first or anything, did you?"

"Eww!" she said. "No! You really are a freak."

"And proud of it," I said. "Anyway. Thanks. You've helped." I'd long held a grudge against Madison Sinclair for doing this in my universe. But she'd given me the "trip to the dentist" first, even if she hadn't known there was GHB in the drink.

Cordelia hadn't been malicious.

So I wouldn't be holding any grudges against her.

"Whatever. And you still can't come to the party."

"After my experience at your Christmas party, trust me, that's not the punishment you think it is." She nodded once and left.

Okay. Reptile Boy in progress. I had a pro forma confrontation with Duncan to deal with, and a possibly major one with Warren.

What the hell. Duncan first.

I'm on a TV show, after all. I might as well work my way up to the climax.