A/N: I know, this story seems to just fall by the wayside sometimes... especially lately, but I am going to do something about that. Just need to get my plans for the next few chapters more firmly settled. Lately, all my attention has been on Eliot & Parker's roadtrip and Nico getting shot (other stories for other fandoms, if you didn't know), but I will try to put more focus on this one from now on, I really will. Dear readers/reviewers, please do not forsake me!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 25

Teresa Jane D'Amata was pretty sure she had never been this nervous in the whole of her life. She had never spent so long picking out an outfit either, and still she felt as if she looked ridiculous. In a few minutes time, she was going to have to stand up in front of a room full of people with cameras and microphones, her face and voice beamed all around the world as she was introduced as Logan Echolls secret daughter. It was crazy, in fact it was beyond crazy. She was just this ordinary girl, daughter of a P.I. and a Sheriff in a small town in California. She wasn't anybody really, and yet she was about to be somebody, recognised by anyone who knew anything about movies or entertainment.

"T.J.?" said Veronica as she watched her daughter turn green. "Honey, are you...?"

"I'm gonna throw up!" she said fast as she dived into the next room, just getting her head over the toilet in time.

Amy had been coming back in just at that moment and winced at the sound of her employer's daughter losing her lunch.

"Poor thing," she said sympathetically. "This must be rough on her."

Veronica glared daggers at the younger woman, taking her words as a slight on her for her behaviour. It was probably irrational, but she couldn't help it. The next words out of her mouth had to be defensive and snarky, she wouldn't be Veronica Mars if they weren't. Fortunately, just as soon as she tried to speak the door opened wider and from behind Amy, Leo appeared.

"Hey," he said without expression or tone.

"Leo," Veronica was up off her seat, moving to hug him instantly. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here," she said definitely. "I almost called you but I didn't know if this would be too awkward and weird..."

"She's my daughter, Veronica," her ex-husband told her. "Maybe not by blood, but I love her enough. Of course I wanted to be here. I actually don't appreciate that I had to get the heads up about this press conference from your ex's assistant," he said, as Veronica's eyes returned to Amy.

The younger blonde was getting away as fast as she could now, closing the door behind her. Veronica didn't bother to ask all the questions in her head. At any other time, they all would have come spilling out without a moments pause, but there was T.J to think about right now. She was most important, as always.

"Daddy," she smiled when she saw Leo, though her eyes were full of tears.

"Hey, baby," he greeted her, hugging her tight. "Big day, huh?"

"The biggest," she admitted, her voice shaking. "I didn't know how you'd take all this. It's why I didn't call or anything."

"It's okay, I get it," he assured her, even though it had stung not to have either his ex-wife or the daughter he had raised let him know what was happening.

It was good of Amy to inform him. She seemed really decent and kind, an odd choice then for Logan's companion, though she had made it pretty clear they were strictly business.

Leo put that particular woman out of his head right now and concentrated on the situation at hand.

"I don't know how to do this, y'know?" Teresa said then, wiping her cheeks dry from tears with the backs of her hands. "I'm not the American Idol, Fame Academy, wannabe type. I'm just me, and I was happy with that," she told them, fighting so hard not to cry anymore and yet failing miserably.

At sixteen, this was way too much to take in, but right now there was no choice in the matter. Veronica felt horrible. At least if Logan had known the truth from the start, they could have introduced T.J. to fame from a young age. It probably would've become second nature. Now she didn't just have to adjust to her life being a lie, but also to a life in which she was centre stage whether she liked it or not. Thank Heaven for small mercies, at least with this press conference this afternoon, they were getting the real truth out before the media made it up for them.

A tap on the door then was followed by Logan's head appearing around the edge. He looked good, too good, Veronica couldn't help but notice, even though now was really not the time.

"Hey," he said, looking to his daughter only. "You ready, T.J.?"

"I don't think I'll ever be ready exactly," she admitted, wiping at her face again and taking a deep breath. "But yeah, let's do this," she said bravely, taking the hand he offered her and letting herself be led away.

"We're right here, honey," her mother promised. "You don't have to worry."

Teresa Jane nodded her understanding and then just put all her concentration into walking forward and breathing deeply. Logan let his arm go around her shoulders for a brief moment, a hug of comfort and stregth perhaps. He didn't think she would mind and she didn't seem to, so that was something.

"Okay, you stay here with Amy," he told his daughter as they reached the door to the main hall where all the press were waiting. "I'll explain, introduce you, then you can come in, okay?"

"Yeah, I got it," T.J. nodded once, unable to keep herself from shaking all over.

"Hey," Logan said then, making her meet his eyes. "T.J. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. I swear to God, I never would. You don't have to say or do anything you don't want to, okay? Just breathe, smile if you can," he advised her. "It'll be cool."

"I know," she smiled as best she could. "So long as they get my good side, it's all cool," she tried for a joke but it didn't quite come off - Logan appreciated the effort.

"Hey, you're the product of me and Veronica," he reminded her of the obvious. "You only have good sides, kid," he winked before taking a deep breath himself and ploughing on through the door to his press conference.

T.J. reminded herself to breathe for the seventh time in thirty seconds, but it still didn't come easy!

Antonio had the T.V. on but he wasn't really seeing the screen. He was supposed to be working on his bike with Weevil this afternoon, but after nearly cutting his hand open twice, his almost-step-father had declared him useless and sent him inside. There was no malice in his words since the ex-biker knew what the kid's problem was. He had come home late last night, grinning like an idiot, with smudges of some chick's lipstick on his face. Weevil was sure, without ever asking, that it was T.J. D'Amata he'd been getting up close and personal with. Veronica wouldn't mind at all, she was the decent type, but Logan was going to go crazy, and that made this whole thing even more fun.

Having tidied up the tools in the garage, Weevil had followed Antonio inside to talk to him, in a man to man kind of way. For a few moments he watched him aimlessly flip channels, his focus off to the far left and not even on the T.V. Clearly this girl meant something to him. He wouldn't look like a man with too much on his mind if he was just looking for an easy lay.

"You fell pretty hard and fast for this one, huh?" he said without introduction, as he came into the living room and dropped down into the armchair.

"Oh, yeah," Antonio replied without thinking, startled when he realised what he'd done. "I mean, uh,... What're you talkin' about, man?"

"Don't play the tough guy routine with me, kid. I invented it," Weevil rolled his eyes. "Y'know, you can be all macho with your friends, talk about all the girls you think you could get, but I'm tellin' you, you find a decent girl like T.J. and she actually likes you, you don't screw that up, okay?" he told him sagely. "Not for your friends, not for any other chick, not for nothin', you got that?"

"I got it," Antonio nodded definitely. "I don't know what it is about her, man, she's just... She's different," he explained badly.

"Product of Mars and Echolls was always gonna be somethin' special," Weevil admitted. "Huh, talk of the devil," he said then, gesturing towards the T.V. on which Logan had since appeared.

Antonio paid attention then, upping the volume to hear what his friend's father might be saying at what seemed to be press conference. There was a twist in his gut as a thought occurred to him that this just might have something to do with T.J.

"... and that's just part of the reason why I'm glad to be back in Neptune," Logan was saying too seriously. "The other is going to be a surprise for all of you, I'm sure. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, and all the other folks here to make a quick buck off my private life," he smiled too wide, his enduring sarcastic humour still very much present. "I'd like to introduce you to somebody very important. My daughter, Teresa Jane."

"Holy mother..." Weevil gasped with shock as he sat forward in his seat, watching wide-eyed as T.J. appeared from a side door and walked up onto the stand with her Dad.

T.J. could've sworn she went temporarily blind when all the cameras started flashing in her face. She looked back towards the door through which she had come, but it had closed on the apprehensive faces of her Mom and the man she still called Dad. She was alone out here in a sea of people, and not just people, but photographers, journalists, reporters. Well, not completely alone, Logan's arm had crept around her shoulders and it was oddly comforting considering the fact she barely knew him yet. Maybe genetics just made you comfortable around a person, but she doubted it somehow.

"Teresa!" several of the reporters called.

"It's okay," Logan said softly near her ear. "You can answer if you want, but you don't have to."

"I, er... I actually prefer T.J.," she said nervously into the mic.

Nobody laughed or seemed affronted, they just started calling the alternative name she gave them. She knew what answers she could and couldn't give, so she was safe to take questions, but the idea that anybody even cared about who she was or what she liked or anything was so ridiculously overwhelming.

"T.J., have you seen any of your Dad's movies?" asked one overly smiley man on the front row.

"Um, a couple, yeah," she answered shyly. "He's a good actor."

"Do you have aspirations to be an actress yourself, T.J.?" a female reporter asked this time.

"Really not," she laughed at the very idea, feeling a little more relaxed when some of the crowd joined in.

Maybe it wasn't so bad up here, but T.J. could still feel herself shaking, even as Logan leaned in to tell her she was doing fine. It was the craziest feeling, as other reporters asked their questions - what music T.J. was into, if she liked living in Neptune, how she felt about Logan being a star. She handled it all pretty well, she thought, and her biological father seemed to agree, until the killer question came.

"T.J., who's your mother?" called a voice from the back, so far into the crowd of journalists, T.J. wasn't even sure who had spoken.

It wasn't as if she didn't know the answer, and they all knew the question was bound to come up. She was allowed to answer, she knew that. After all, if they didn't get the truth out at the press conference, it would only come out later when the residents of Neptune who knew would reveal all an in their own version. Still, T.J. floundered, feeling awkward outing her Mom that way. Seeing her struggling, Logan stepped into the breach.

"Some of you might remember a young lady I used to date named Veronica Mars," he told the assembled masses. "Go back in those archives, people, look her up. As well as being the only woman in my life I was ever truly in love with, I'm happy to say she also T.J.'s mother," he smiled. "What you couldn't tell from how beautiful she is?"

Whilst the crowd of journalists and assistants smiled and chuckled in appreciation for the movie-stars words, there were a couple of people present at the Echolls house today that took his comments so very differently. Leo wasn't dumb, he knew Logan still loved Veronica, that he always would. She was just one of those women, once you fell it seemed there really was no way back. Leo himself had learnt that the hard way, and it was all the more difficult to stand here next to his ex and hear the real father of the child they raised together declare his own deep and never-ending affection.

Next to Leo, Veronica looked completely dumb-struck, and that almost never happened. There were tears in her eyes as she bit her lip and fought the urge to bawl like a child. It wasn't crazy enough to think Logan was just saying those things to please the crowd, even to hurt her by making her feel even more guilty for keeping him out of her life the way she had. Veronica didn't believe any of these reasons. She believed that Logan meant every word he said about her, and that probably caused more pain than anything, because she knew now as much as ever that she could never, ever deserve him again.

To Be Continued...