A/N – Sorry that I've gotten a bit busy and am a little behind on writing. I don't really think I'm going to catch up anytime soon, so updates may be a little slower than before. Also sorry Logan's not in this chapter, but he'll be back in the next one. There are quite a few characters sprinkled through out this one though. Thanks again to everyone who reads all my stories and a special thanks to those of you who take the time to leave reviews. I really do appreciate everyone!

Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Chapter 21

Veronica woke up Wednesday morning to the smell of bacon, which put a smile on her face although the memory of what she'd learned the prior day wasn't far from her mind. That ache she'd had in her heart for Logan after hearing the little snippets of what has transpired between him and Dick quickly came back to her. At least knowing more about what Dick had said to Logan might help her in trying to repair their own relationship. And now that she was back, she wouldn't be one of the people who abandoned him again. She slowly stretched and climbed out of bed and shuffled down the hall, following the delicious scent to the kitchen.

She smiled as she saw the happy look on her dad's face. "Got your guy?" she asked playfully as she headed to the cabinet for a coffee mug, scratching Backup's head as she walked by him.

"You betcha," Keith replied as he transferred the bacon to a plate. He grabbed a second plate with French toast and headed over to the table where he'd already put out plates and silverware for them.

She carried her filled mug over to the table and took a seat, staring balefully at the stack of French toast. Of course it immediately brought back thoughts of having French toast on Logan's yacht Sunday morning.

"Do I need to dial 911? Since when do you not immediately attack my French toast?" Keith asked with light hearted concern on his face.

"Sorry," she said softly as she reached out to take a piece. "It just reminded me of something." She kept her gaze on her plate and heard him let out an audible sigh.

"Is this the same 'something' that had you bothered at Alicia's Sunday night?" Keith asked as he raised his eyebrow at her.

"You weren't supposed to notice that," she replied with a small pout on her lips.

Keith rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly. "You've been gone too long if you really think I wouldn't notice. I'm guessing your case probably wouldn't make you flinch at the sight of French toast, so it must be a guy?"

Veronica shrugged and drowned her French toast in syrup.

"Sebastian?" Keith asked as Veronica reached out for some of the bacon.

She shook her head and bit off a bite of one of the bacon strips.

"The fireman?" He asked next and she shook her head again.

Keith let out a deep sigh. "Logan?"

She shrugged and ran the piece of bacon she was still holding through the syrup on her plate.

"Is it not going so well working with him?"

She shook her head in response. "No, we actually work together really well. He was amazingly helpful on my embezzlement case. He really seems to be a good deputy. It's outside of work that we seem to have issues."

"Are you two... together again?"

Veronica laughed a little bitterly and shook her head adamantly. "Oh no. He has a girlfriend."

"Yeah... you mentioned that before..." he replied hesitantly, clearly holding back what he really wanted to say.

She glanced up from her plate to see that he had his disapproving father look on his face. "What?" she asked with a slightly annoyed tone to her voice.

"Maybe you need to stick to just being strictly professional..." Keith replied a bit hesitantly. "It's not always possible for exes to figure out how to just be friends."

"Thanks Doctor Phil..." She grumbled as she took a large bite of the maple drenched toast.

Keith looked amused and chuckled. "Yeah, you should have been here when I grew a moustache... constantly mistaken for him, so I shaved it off."

She rolled her eyes and went back to focusing on her food. Even if he's right I don't want to give up on Logan. I want him in my life again so badly because I missed him so much. I want to fix him and make him believe in love again. Of course nothing I ever want is easy.

Apparently her response or expression were enough to give him the hint that she didn't want to discuss it with him, and he went back to eating his breakfast as well.

Keith told her that she was invited to have dinner at Alicia's that evening if she didn't have other plans. Wallace had been out of town for a few days for work and was coming back that afternoon. She thought that sounded like a great idea since she really hadn't spent much time with him since coming back to Neptune with both of them working, and then she'd bailed out early on Sunday night.

When she made it to the station she found out that, as expected, Logan was still in LA for the trial and Leo didn't think he'd be back until probably Friday. She spent part of the day with Norris at McCade to give Tom and his attorneys an update on the case. They were extremely happy that they had enough information to press charges and terminate Belinda for embezzling from the company. They'd sent another set of deputies to formally arrest and charge her, while Veronica and Norris were handling the wrap up with Tom's attorneys and someone the DA's office had sent over. Veronica was a little concerned about potential awkwardness with Todd if Sebastian had told him what happened between them, so she was relieved he didn't seem to be around when they were there.

They also worked more on Benjamin's case and were finally able to meet with his lawyer. The prenup he'd put in place with Bethany was pretty standard and he had changed his will to include her even though they'd actually only been married for a few months. They had a few more things to check into, but were still leaning toward it just being an accidental drowning. Benjamin's parents were finally reached on Tuesday afternoon, so Leo had made a press release about the tragedy, asking anyone who may have any information to help the investigation to contact the Sheriff's department.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful and she was off work in plenty of time to head home and change clothes to go over to Alicia's for dinner. Her dad was still working when she arrived at Alicia's with Backup, but Wallace was there already and the two of them grabbed a couple of beers and headed out on the back patio.

"So how's it going being back in town?" Wallace asked as they took a seat next to each other on the porch.

Veronica smiled and shrugged. "It's going okay I guess."

Wallace gave her a suspicious look. "Hmm… that wasn't quite the reaction I expected. Mac said you seemed to have a pretty good time with Brandon the other night when you bailed on family dinner night."

"Traitor," she grumbled under her breath. "Yeah… sorry about that."

Wallace laughed and shook his head. "I get it… I would have been a fifth wheel."

Veronica gave him an apologetic smile. "I should have asked if you wanted to come along, but I knew you had to catch an early morning flight."

"It's fine Supafly, I was just kidding," He studied her for a moment before he continued. "So why the less than enthusiastic response? Not liking your new job?"

"No… It's good. It's just… complicated," she said staring at her beer bottle.

Wallace bumped his shoulder into hers. "Hey, don't forget who you're talkin' too. We may not have been able to see each other much over the last four years, but I'm always here for you if ya need a friend."

She looked up at him with a grateful smile and bumped her shoulder back into his. "Thanks, Papa Bear," she said softly.

"Let me guess…. Echolls?" Wallace asked with a quirked brow.

Veronica let out a sigh and nodded. "Yeah… he's definitely been the main complication." She saw the disapproving expression forming on Wallace's face. "Though it's not entirely his fault at all. I'm just as much to blame."

Wallace looked skeptically at her. "If I had to guess, I'd say 90% his fault, 10% your fault."

Veronica gave him a smug smile. "That's just cuz you love me." She let out a sigh and became a bit more serious. "I think 50-50 is more appropriate though. We're just having a hard time figuring out how to be friends again. I think we both have some unresolved feelings that are getting in the way."

"It's got to be tough working with him then," Wallace said thoughtfully.

Veronica shrugged. "Actually that seems to be the one area we haven't had any issues. I actually really like working with him. I guess that's one of the reasons why I'm so frustrated that we can't figure out how to make things work away from our jobs too."

Wallace shook his head. "I've never been a huge fan of the guy, but I do want you to be happy. Hopefully you'll figure it out. I mean if you went from him bashing in your headlights to being madly in love once, I'm sure you'll figure out how to at least be friends again, right?"

Veronica let out a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah… I'm sure we will." She definitely wanted that, but still wasn't sure how exactly to make it happen. She wished he was back in town so they could at least try talking again.

Her dad arrived shortly after and Veronica savored every minute of their relaxing family dinner. When they were finished Wallace asked if she wanted to drive over to see his new place since she still hadn't made it there yet. She followed him in her car to the loft apartment that was actually fairly close to the bar she'd gone to with Mac, Norris and Brandon. She parked her car next to his and they took the elevator up to his 3rd floor apartment. He unlocked the door and swung it open for her to enter and then practically bumped into her when she froze in her tracks right after walking inside.

Amira was stretched out naked on the sectional couch with candles lit on the table in front of her. She let out a shriek as she reached for a robe that was on the end of the couch. Veronica covered her eyes and let out an awkward laugh.

"Oh shit," she heard Wallace say from behind her. "I thought you weren't getting back until tomorrow."

"Surprise…" Amira said with a frustrated tone. "You can uncover your eyes now, Veronica," she added sounding even more irritated.

"Sorry," Veronica said as she cringed and tried to smile. "I um… I should probably go."

"Yes, that would probably be best," Amira replied crisply, clearly not wanting Veronica to be there.

"Mira…" Wallace said in a soothing voice as he stepped around to the side of Veronica. "She could stay for a little while. She just got here."

Amira's eyes opened wide in disbelief as she looked at Wallace.

"It's fine Wallace. Nice place… I really should get going. Nice to see you Amira," Veronica said as she turned and headed back toward the door. She heard Wallace let out a frustrated grunt before he followed her out the door.

"Sorry V…" he looked at her closely. "You don't seem all that surprised though. I take it Mac told you about the two of us?"

Veronica nodded. "Yeah… she mentioned it."

He nodded and blew out a breath. "I should have told you though. I know the two of you haven't always gotten along."

"At least it's not Madison Sinclair," Veronica said with a smirk and patted him on the cheek. "Have fun in there Wally," she said with a sly grin before she turned and headed back to the elevator. She heard Wallace chuckle before she heard his door open and close again.

When she made it back to her car she sat staring at the steering wheel for a few minutes. Her dad was probably staying over at Alicia's or at least staying until late in the evening. She'd left Backup there with him, so she'd be heading home to an absolutely empty house. She decided to see what Mac was doing since she hadn't seen her since Sunday night either and wasn't really in the mood for sitting home alone.

"Hey Bond," Mac said in a chipper tone when she answered the phone. "What's up with you?"

Veronica laughed before she answered. "Trying to get the image of a naked Amira stretched out on Wallace's couch out of my mind actually."

Mac laughed hysterically as Veronica had expected. "Oh no, that's terrible."

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me!"

"I um… I'm at Norris's actually. We were just about to watch a movie if you want to come hang out with us. I promise there aren't any naked women lying around."

Veronica laughed. "Sure… that sounds great. See you soon." She'd originally hoped to just catch Mac by herself, but hanging out with Norris and Brandon as well sounded pretty good too. She suddenly realized she'd just assumed Brandon was there too, although Mac hadn't actually said that. On the drive over, she really hoped she wasn't going to end up being a third wheel to the two of them. While it wouldn't be as bad as the scene at Wallace's, that still would be a bit awkward. She worked on a good exit strategy on the short drive there so she would be prepared if she needed to flee.

She hesitantly rang the bell and was relieved when Brandon opened the door.

"Hey," he said with a warm smile on his face. "I um..." He glanced over his shoulder for a minute before turning back to her. "Want to go on a non-date date?" As she squished up her face in confusion he gestured with his head in the direction of the main room. "I was actually planning my escape when you called Mac... thought they might prefer the house to themselves," he explained with a wink. She smirked back and nodded. "It might be tougher to come up with a legitimate excuse now though," he added with a concerned look on his face.

"Leave that to me," she said with a mischievous smile. He waved his arm in a sweeping motion indicating she should go in and then he followed behind her.

After a quick greeting Veronica used poor Backup as an excuse again, telling Mac and Norris that her dad had called her right as she was parking and asked if she could go and take him for a run since he was tied up for the evening and Brandon had volunteered to go along. Neither one acted like they suspected a thing and so a few minutes later, Veronica and Brandon were standing out by her car.

"You're very convincing," Brandon said with an impressed expression on his face. "Do we really need to take him for a run?"

Veronica laughed and shook her head. "No. So what should we do?" Brandon shrugged and shook his head. "Ice cream on the boardwalk?" she asked with a hopeful expression. Even though she'd had a small slice of pie at Alicia's, she knew she'd still have room for ice cream.

Brandon smirked at her and nodded. They climbed into her car and a short while later they were walking out of Amy's with double scoop waffle cones. They walked along the boardwalk for a while until they found an empty bench that faced the ocean. They hadn't said much on the drive there, and she was wondering if he was being cautious because of her melt down the day before. While she certainly wasn't one of those people that had to fill every moment with noise, the silence was starting to get to her.

"So what were you studying at college before you became a firefighter," she finally asked to break the silence.

"Communications," he said with a laugh as he looked up at her. "I decided saving people's lives was more rewarding though."

She nodded in understanding. She shared her failed attempt at working for the student newspaper at Hearst with him as they continued eating their cones and then he talked about a few classes he'd enjoyed before he left college. They were definitely keeping it much lighter than the day before. No mention of Logan, or what had happened the day before.

It was getting close to sunset and she saw him glance at his watch. "Need to get back?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah... I should. I've got the early shift tomorrow. You're coming bowling tomorrow night right?"

She'd sort of forgotten about the Thursday night bowling tradition already and couldn't help but think back to how Logan had been so great to her that night. She shrugged not really sure if she wanted to go again.

"You should definitely come. It will keep your mind off other things," he said knowingly.

"Maybe," she said as she stood up from the bench and playfully held out her hand to pull him up. She couldn't help but notice how much distance he'd kept between them all night. He smiled and took her hand before standing up and gave it a little squeeze before dropping it.

The ride back was about as quiet as the ride there. She gave him a warm smile when they parked in front of his condo.

"Thanks for being my partner in crime tonight," he said with an amused smile. "I'm sure Norris would thank you too if he knew."

She chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, maybe he'll buy me lunch tomorrow," she said jokingly.

"Well you deserve it, that's for sure," he replied with a smile. "He sure does have it bad for Mac."

Veronica laughed and nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty obvious. Their big Japanese art show thing at Hearst is this weekend right?"

Brandon nodded. "Yep, he's been looking forward to that since he first brought it up to her. I'll be out on Catalina all day again, so at least I won't have to be an awkward third wheel around here that day."

Veronica laughed at that. "Any time you need an escape, you can always use me as your excuse."

"I'll remember that," he said as he reached across and squeezed her hand that was resting on the center console. "Thanks for the walk and ice cream."

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, of course."

He gave her a slightly more intense look. "I hope you come bowling tomorrow night. I really think it'll be fun."

She nodded again. "Maybe I will."

"Well, goodnight," he said with a tender smile as he picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. "Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow then."

She nodded again and said good night as well before he climbed out of the car and headed up to the door. She still found it a bit puzzling that at times he seemed to give her such a strong signal that he was interested in her and then other times, it seemed that he was really trying to keep his distance. She appreciated that he was still trying to be her friend at least even with the awkward situation they all seemed to be in at the moment.

Veronica and Norris were also scheduled to start a little earlier than normal on Thursday, which she thought he may have previously arranged because of bowling night. They had taken several morning calls and hadn't had a lot of time to work on Benjamin's case, but they still hadn't discovered anything to rule it more than just accidental either. There also hadn't been anyone calling in with any information about it after the press release. Brandon had called Norris shortly before lunch time to see if he could pick up deli sandwiches for them all for lunch. The three of them, as well as Doug, were sitting around Norris's desk finishing their food when Veronica heard the front door open and close. She glanced over to see who had come in and was surprised to see it was Carmen Ruiz.

"Carmen?" Veronica said, certainly not expecting to see her walk into the station. Carmen was dressed impeccably in a very professional looking pant suit with her long dark hair expertly pulled back in a refined twist.

"Hey Veronica," Carman replied with a friendly smile. "Logan said you were back in town. I was hoping I'd bump into you at some point."

"You're friends with Logan?" Veronica asked a little confounded by that. She never really considered them friends when they were in high school.

"Yeah… well we work together a lot. I'm the director at a foundation that works with victims of domestic violence and Logan recently joined the board of directors. We've worked together on legal cases too involving some of the people that we help through the foundation."

Veronica was even more surprised by that, but given his past, she knew she shouldn't be. She was more surprised that no one had mentioned it to her in the time that she'd been back. Veronica realized she hadn't made sure that Carmen knew the other guys at the desk as she glanced over at them.

"Do you know everyone?" she asked turning to look at Carmen again.

She shook her head. "No... well of course I know Norris," she said giving him a quick smile. Norris nodded and smiled back.

"This is Doug," Veronica said as she pointed at Doug. "And this is Brandon." She couldn't help but notice both guys seemed quite taken by her given the expressions on their faces and she couldn't really blame them. Carmen had been pretty in high school and she certainly had gotten even more beautiful now.

"Nice to meet you," they both said at the same time, causing Carmen to giggle in amusement at them.

"Yeah, likewise," she replied with a coy smile. She turned her attention back to Veronica, although Veronica couldn't help but notice her gaze lingered on Brandon for just a few moments longer than Doug. "I just came by to drop off a report for Leo," she said as she held up a folder. "I do need to get back for a meeting, but it was really good seeing you. We should… I don't know… get together for drinks or something and hang out sometime."

"You should come bowling with us tonight," Doug blurted out quickly.

Veronica laughed and shook her head slightly. "Yeah, you're welcome to come join us. Brandon will of course be on the opposing Fire Department team, but you could come and cheer for the rest of us," she replied with a teasing look at Brandon.

"Oh… sure… I don't actually have any plans tonight. Logan's mentioned it a few times and it does sound fun," Carmen replied and Veronica noticed that she glanced in Brandon's direction again. If I didn't know better I'd say someone is a bit smitten by the strapping blonde fireman.

Veronica took the file to deliver to Leo from her and let Carmen know the time to be at the bowling alley before she said a quick goodbye to her and all the guys and left. Veronica laughed at the guys and shook her head. "You're all shameless aren't you? Well not Norris, he at least kept his eyeballs in his head."

"Come on Veronica," Doug said in defense. "She's gorgeous… and obviously successful… and charming… and…"

"I get it," Veronica interrupted and shook her head looking at Brandon as well. He just gave her a sheepish grin and shrugged. I suppose I could be a good wingman since I'm not willing to stake my own claim on him.

They stayed pretty busy the rest of the afternoon with several calls that they had to go out for. They were a little busier than they had been the day before, especially with Logan still gone and no specific person called in to cover for him. Leo had been out of the office all afternoon, working on a case with the D.A., although he had said if they got too backed up to call him. She found some time in between going out on calls to type up the rest of the information they had on the Donaldson case so they could go over it in the morning with Leo.

Once their shift was over, she headed home to change and grab a bite to eat before she headed to the bowling alley. She'd already heard from Norris that Mac was planning to join them as well, and the two of them were grabbing some dinner before they went so Veronica didn't want to interfere with that. She arrived at the bowling alley at the same time as Carmen and the two walked in together. Carmen had also changed into more casual clothes, though she still looked stunningly beautiful with her long dark hair falling in a cascade of curls over her shoulders. Veronica suggested that she should get shoes and she could bowl on which ever team was short on bowlers. Brandon happened to walk in when Veronica was trying to convince her to bowl and when Carmen said she really wasn't a very good bowler, Brandon gave her an encouraging smile and said she shouldn't worry about it and that he'd be happy to give her some pointers.

"Brandon's a great teacher," Veronica said with a reassuring smile. "Trust me, you'll be in great hands with him showing you what to do."

Carmen hesitantly agreed and Veronica couldn't help but notice the small glances she kept giving Brandon. Since they were a little early Brandon said they could bowl a few frames and he'd give her a quick lesson while they waited for more of the group to arrive. Veronica sat, watching them, and gave Carmen supportive comments as she threw her ball. Much like when Brandon had given her pool tips, he was pretty hands on and helped correct the way Carmen was holding the ball, standing and lining up her aim. It was pretty obvious Carmen was enjoying all the one-on-one attention. Veronica did catch Brandon giving her a few quick glances, which she guessed were to be sure she wasn't upset that he was helping Carmen. At one point Carmen had walked over to try to find a lighter ball, so Veronica took the opportunity to try to set Brandon's mind at ease, though she also didn't want to be too overt.

"Carmen's really great isn't she?" Veronica asked as she gave him a comfortable smile. He nodded and looked a bit tentative. "We went to high school together and she definitely proved to me that she was a much better person than I could ever be." He gave her a questioning look before she continued. "A story for another time perhaps," she said with a sly smile right before Carmen appeared next to Brandon with a broad grin on her face.

As it turned out they did have more people there for the Sheriff's department than the fire department, so it made the most sense for Carmen to bowl on Brandon's team. Mac and Norris had arrived shortly after Brandon, and Veronica noticed Mac giving her questioning glances a few times as they were watching Brandon coach Carmen. When Veronica and Mac walked over to pick out their own balls, Mac took advantage of the alone time to ask what was going on.

"What's up with you playing match maker to Brandon and Carmen? I thought you liked Brandon?" she asked as she watched Veronica carefully.

"Was I that obvious," Veronica asked in reply with a sly grin. She knew she'd never get anything by Mac, and she wasn't actually even trying to be all that stealthy about it.

Mac rolled her eyes at Veronica. "Yeah, the cupid's quiver, bow and arrow gave you away," she replied sarcastically. "What gives?"

Veronica let out a deep sigh and looked a bit more seriously at her. "I like Brandon… he's really nice… but…"

"But he's not fettuccine?" Mac asked with a knowing smile.

Veronica laughed and nodded her head and then gave Mac a somber look. "No he's not… and since I still seem to be craving fettuccine, it's just not fair to lead him on."

Mac sighed and nodded. "Hopefully the fettuccine pulls his head out of his ass soon and realizes what he really wants too. I heard about Catalina you know?"

Veronica nodded slowly. "I sort of figured you might… yeah, that was a little intense... and they didn't even see our little showdown later in the middle of the sidewalk." Mac gave her a questioning look. "We should get back… maybe I'll tell you about it later… it wasn't that big of a deal really… just one more little bump in the road," Veronica added as she tried to give her a more convincing smile.

"Alright… let's go play cupid then," Mac said as she threw her arm around Veronica's shoulders and they headed back with their bowling balls to join the rest of the group.