"Home?" Chase's face twists incredulously. "Our home?"

Licking her lips, Veronica grins. "No. I mean my home. Neptune."

Chase pauses, lifting his finger up to his lips, trying to grasp the full meaning of her words.

"But Neptune is in California. How are we going to do that? We're trapped in Seattle. You know…big wall…lots of U.S. armed forces with guns on the other side…"

"We're not trapped." Veronica looks down at Chase's hand in hers and begins softly tracing the lines along his knuckles. "There's a new Renegade running Mama Leone's business. She's the one who's going to get us out of here."

"What? A new Renegade? Since when?"

"Ummm…since about two weeks after you froze Mama Leone."

Leaning back against the wall of the van, Chase runs his free hand through his hair, groaning in aggravation. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Because, she's hasn't been doing nearly the volume of trafficking Mama Leone did by the time you caught her." Veronica stops her finger on the back of his hand, tapping it gently. "Plus, I may have used her services to run a human client who was desperate to get away from her abusive husband out of town last week."

"May or did?"

"Okay, did."

"Veronica!"

"Chase!"

"What?"

"Look…there is an entire way of zombie life out there on the streets that you have never seen or experienced and for better or worse, Mama Leone was a part of it." Dropping his hand into her lap, Veronica huffs. "Renegade fills a very important role in the community – she is not only smuggling people in, but she's getting people out as well. Now, they city's brain tube supply problems are fixed which means there are brains enough for all, and very shortly, Ravi will have a cure so all the people that Renegade brought in and turned into zombies will be completely cured of everything – including the terminal ailments they had before they were turned."

Closing his eyes, Chase presses his palms over them, momentarily seeing stars dance behind his lids. He hates this with every fiber in his being – the person bringing more zombies into New Seattle was the one who was ultimately going to save him. More zombies meant more food needed and more housing and more officers to make sure there was peace on the streets….

And then, suddenly, everything in Chase's brain just stops. Like a switch flicking off inside him, he realizes something profound in what was about to happen.

"I don't have to deal with this anymore."

"What?"

Dropping his hands into his lap, Chase chuckles. "I don't have to deal with this anymore. New zombies…that's Major's problem now. Feeding the entire city…nope…that's on Major. New Renegade…doesn't matter. I think the saying is 'not my monkeys, not my circus?'"

"Yes. Yes it is."

"Fine then. If there's a new Renegade in town, let Major deal with it."

Veronica wraps her arms around his bicep and gives him a squeeze. "That's the spirit. Besides, we're going to have enough to deal with ourselves."

"Very true. So, how is this all going down? What's the plan?"

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed, we're backpackers, travelling across the great state of Washington. When we reach the other side of the wall, there'll be a car waiting for us with camping gear. There's a campsite just outside of Portland that I've booked for two nights so we can sleep and regroup where no one will notice why we don't have a room service bill. It's a bit of a drive, but we need to get away from the greater Seattle area quickly and I thought this would give us some privacy. From there, we have about a week on the road, jumping from campsite to campsite before we are expected in Neptune. Mac and Wallace are going to put us up for a while until we can figure out our next move. Mac contacted an old friend who procured some brains for me last time I was in town – he promised her he'd have some fresh ones waiting for us when we get there. That should also give Major enough time to get things squared away up here and make sure no one has caught on to the fact that Ravi hasn't filed your death certificate with any of the proper authorities."

"So once again, I'm dead, but not really."

"Exactly. General Mills flies back tomorrow to D.C. and I've taken care of Dawson."

Veronica's lip twitches in such a way that makes Chase frown and he pulls away from her slightly so he can see her full expression.

"Uh, oh. What do you mean by 'taken care of Dawson?'"

"Tomorrow, Vanessa Dawson will be receiving an anonymous email from Mac regarding her husband. It seems that when Mac hacked into Robert Dawson's phone, she found four different numbers he had sent 'dick pics' to –" Veronica's eyebrow arches conspiratorially as she grins, pausing to watch the disgust cross Chase's face. "—including one to his secretary and another to a female board member of Fillmore Graves."

"Sweet Jesus."

"Oh, but that's not all…Mac found dates and times of hook-ups with several of these women and cross referenced it with his credit cards. In a little over an hour of work, Mac got enough evidence to make Dawson a very, unhappy man…and a very, distracted man. After he sees the video of pseudo-you in the guillotine and the death certificate from Ravi, I highly doubt he'll have time to give a shit about anything but how much his wife will get in the divorce."

"Wow." Shaking his head, Chase's eyes go wide as he blinks away the imaginary image of Robert Dawson's dick on a phone screen. "Mac did all of that – she's pretty diabolical, isn't she."

"Yes. And she also thanks you – or Fillmore Graves to be exact – for the $10,000 fee she charged the company for the service."

"Major's on top of that?"

"You bet he is."

Chase leans back against the van again, staring across the space. There's a delicious pleasure tickling his brain at the thought of Dawson getting his comeuppance for what he's put Chase through. Since he took over, Dawson has been nothing but a thorn in his side and now, finally, thanks to Veronica, there was some form of justice served. His laugh starts slowly in the back of his throat as a snicker before growing in intensity into a full roar.

"You really did it. You handled everything." He gasps between spasms of laughter. "It's all really over."

"Yes. I did." Veronica grins at him. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

Pivoting, he sweeps his hands under Veronica and she squeals as he lifts her, depositing her in his lap and kisses her, quick and hard – as if every emotion inside him needed to get out.

"I'm not laughing at you…I'm relieved! For the first time in years, it feels like the entire weight of the world is off my shoulders and I am abso-fucking-lutley relieved."

Grabbing his sweater, she keeps herself close to him as he returns to her lips, continuing their kiss. Shifting her slightly, bringing her even closer to him, their bodies finally relax into each other, a small collective sigh of relief released in a joined breath. They settle together, Chase playfully pulling his lips away from hers, making her follow him, urgent for more as his hands slip under her t-shirt, sliding up under the back of her bra and she gasps as he spreads his hand across her warm skin.

"Chase…" She murmurs his name in a thick lusty voice, and his cock grows hard, thinking of the last time she said his name this way, that night in his office.

Pressing his forehead to hers, he cradles her cheek in his palm, his eyes fixing on hers. "Veronica…"

Her lips pass his again, gently, before settling back against his. How does he tell her? How can he express his gratitude for what she has done for him? Before, he thought she had saved his life, just by her mere presence. Now, she physically saved his life when he thought all hope was lost, and he grasps for the words to tell her what it means to him.

"Goddamn…I love you, Veronica Mars."

Brushing her nose across his, Veronica smiles, her lids heavy as her eyes meet his.

"I love you too, Chase Graves."

He could hear her says those words all day. I love you. Knowing how hard they are for her to say – and knowing what it means that she has said them at all – fills him with a deep sense of satisfaction, knowing he could never take it for granted. Not after all this.

The sound of metal scraping metal jogs him out of his thoughts and they jerk away from each other in shock.

"Ewww….guys…come on." Major shakes his head at them through the opening between the cab and the back of the van. "Really?"

"I'm just thanking Veronica for saving my life." Chase grins, slipping his hand from Veronica's shirt and resting it on her hip.

"Really? That's how you're thanking us, huh? Are we all getting one of those then?" Major blows Chase a kiss, chuckling.

"Ummm…no…just the short, pretty blond ones."

Playfully slapping Chase's bicep, Veronica slides back off his lap onto the bench beside him. "Are we ready to go, Major?"

Nodding, Major starts the van and the vehicle begins to vibrate loudly. "Yep. Took a while to clean up things – I'm leaving Gladwell and Webb behind to finish the job – but Ravi has A.J.'s body. We're going to follow him out of the gates to make it look like an official escort, then we'll head to meet up with Renegade and get you both on your way."

"Alright. Thanks Major."

"No problem." Tossing them a quick wink, Major begins to close the window between them. "Just don't get too jiggy with things back there, okay?"

"Not making any promises!" Chase calls back as the metal door closes.

The van begins to rock and Veronica grabs onto Chase's arm, anchoring herself in place. Sliding from her grasp, he wraps his arm around her, kissing the top of her head as he lets out a slow breath.

Home. Veronica really was taking him home.

The sound of screeching brakes jars Chase from his sleep, jerking his head up from its resting point on top of Veronica's head. Two days of very little sleep caught up with him as the van rocked on the way to their location and he gives his head a small shake to clear out the sleep. Veronica must have been dozing too, because she rubs her eyes, blinking rapidly as she gathers her wits.

"Okay…must be time to go." Dropping to her knees in front of White Fang's carrier, she opens the door and he happily climbs out onto her lap. Reaching back inside, she extracts his leash and clips it to his collar. "You ready for an adventure, Fang?"

White Fang lets out a sharp woof and wags his tail, stepping into her chest to reach her chin, licking it happily.

"I have a collapsible dog bowl and some supplies for him in my backpack, but we'll have to pick up more food along our route to the campsite. Unfortunately, he can't eat brain tubes."

Chase nods, opening his mouth to speak when the back door opens and Major appears, his face serious. "Hey. We gotta move."

Handing Major the handle of White Fang's leash, Veronica nods back. "Okay. Take Fang to find a hydrant and we'll get our stuff together."

Rolling his eyes, Major quickly glances away from the van, looking to make sure the coast is clear before lifting the dog out.

"Come on, boy. Let's find you a tree or something."

Veronica grabs the large purple hiking pack and slides it towards the door, along with one of the small coolers. "This one's mine. The other one's yours."

Tossing her black leather purse over her shoulder, she shuffles towards the door. Major has backed into the parking spot and the only thing visible is a red brick wall. Jumping out, Veronica drops her purse back in as she exchanges it for the large pack – the size of which Chase is sure is only slightly smaller than she is – which she expertly slides it on, buckling the support straps across her chest and waist before picking up her purse in one hand and the cooler in the other. From where Chase sits, she looks like she could be a hiker, ready to spend several days in the back country.

As Chase slides himself outside, she moves out of the way, but stays close under the cover of the darkness behind the van. Tossing on the heavy backpack, he grins as he buckles the straps. "Guess all my years in the Boy Scouts are about to pay off."

"What about your military training?" Veronica wrinkles her nose at him, clearly not sure if he's teasing her or not.

"Yeah…my survival training with the Marines was different. It's more of an adventure when people aren't actively trying to kill you." He picks up the cooler in one hand before closing the van door with the other. "Although both didn't have the, shall we say, potential this one does."

"Potential for what?"

Leaning in for a quick kiss, Chase wiggles his eyebrows at her. "Sex in a tent."

She scoffs at him, rolling her eyes. "We're running for our lives, and you're thinking about sex."

"You're here. I'm always thinking about sex."

Letting out a deep sigh, she turns away from him just as Major comes around the corner with White Fang. He hands the leash past Veronica to Chase and jerks his head towards a doorway, illuminated by a soft yellow light.

"Heel, Fang." Obeying, White Fang comes to walk near his master's feet, wagging his tail and gazing up at him with adoration. "Glad you're coming with us, buddy."

"Come on." Major waves for them to follow him through the back door of the building. "They're waiting for us."

All conversation ends as they take in the gravity of the situation. They are officially leaving Seattle – something Chase never dreamed would be happening while he was still a zombie. But here they are, about to be ushered out by a renegade – the Renegade. Moving quickly through a dark, winding storage room filled with tall shelves of boxes, Major pauses near a giant refrigerator and glances down at the floor. Kneeling, he runs his fingers along the edge of the old plank flooring. It takes a moment of searching before he stops, pressing down on one of the nails and a latch opens, seemingly from nowhere. With a small groan of exertion, Major pulls open the hatch, allowing the lights from below to rise into the darkened room.

"Go ahead." Sweeping his hand towards the wooden stairs, Major nods to Veronica and she slowly begins to climb down, trying to keep her balance with the pack on her back and the objects in her hands.

White Fang follows, as does Chase as he bends and shifts, crouching to get himself and his tall pack into the narrowing space. Just as he hits the cobblestone ground, Major follows behind him, closing the hatch with a loud clicking of locks; Veronica is slightly ahead of them and he quickens his pace to catch up. As they continue, the space widens and he realizes it is connecting with the sewer system, causing him to wince at the powerful odor.

That's when he sees her step out of the shadows, along with two burly figures beside her. Renegade. Her head and face are covered by a dark hoodie but as they approach, she pushes it back, revealing her white bobbed hair and pale face, a smirk of satisfaction crossing her bright red lips.

"Liv Moore."

Major slaps him on the shoulder, gripping him as they walk faster. "Wouldn't have guessed that one, huh, General?"

Chase's mouth opens but he can't think of a witty come back. Liv Moore was the next Renegade. Liv Moore was the one to get them out of Seattle. Liv Moore, who he was sure, up until this point, hated his guts. If his brain had finally recovered from the shock of being rescued from the anvil, it would take days for him to fully recover from this new revelation. As Veronica approaches her, Liv smiles, stepping towards her and giving her a warm hug. Stepping back, Liv stretches her palm out and one of the men hands her a thin envelope; she grins as Chase comes to a halt beside Veronica.

"General Graves."

"Ms. Moore."

Ripping open the end of the envelope, Liv focuses on the task at hand. Shaking it, several pieces of what look like identification fall out along with some papers. Taking a second to organize them, Liv hands a small pile to Veronica.

"Congratulations on your marriage, Mrs. Victoria Gates."

"Thank you." Placing the cooler on the ground, she reaches for the papers and grins. "Nice work on the fake ID's. I'm impressed."

"Thank you. Having seen your handy work too, I take that as the highest compliment." Liv bows slightly at the waist before turning to a slightly dumbfounded Chase. "And you, Charlie Gates…you better be good to your new wife."

Glancing between the two women, Chase isn't sure what to say, and he becomes aware of the fact that his mouth is slightly agape. Veronica chuckles and takes his papers from Liv, placing them with hers and sliding them into her purse. Reaching around in her big leather bag for a second, Veronica extracts a Ziploc baggy and shakes it, the contents jingling slightly.

"I found a bunch of rings in your things when I was ransacking your room – I assume they once belonged to your parents', and Harrison and Vivian. Since, in my experience, heterosexual married white people usually don't attract that much attention, I figured our cover should be newlyweds on a backpacking honeymoon down the coast. Technically, we live in Santa Barbara, but we've been planning this trip for about six months, since the wedding – which is why I have my new married name on my license."

Adjusting her purse higher on her shoulder, Veronica opens the Ziploc bag and slips on the delicate diamond ring that was Chase's mother's – a tiny stone flanked by two small rubies in a white-gold setting – on her ring finger, followed by the thin white-gold matching band. At the sight of his mother's precious rings on her finger, a lump forms in Chase's throat and he swallows hard, trying to clear it before he speaks.

"They fit. Perfectly."

Holding up her hand, letting the dim light reflect and refract on the stones, Veronica smiles at the rings on her fingers.

"It's like they were waiting for me."

Catching her gaze, Chase's chest tightens as her blue eyes sparkle back at him. "Yeah. They were."

A coy smile twists across her lips, and she averts her eyes, glancing back down at the bag, she rifles around for a second before extracting a simple men's white platinum band.

"I thought this one would fit you. The other one seemed a bit small."

"That was Harrison's wedding ring – I'm pretty sure it will."

Stepping closer to him, she gently takes his hand, raising it with the leash up closer to her and he sticks out his ring finger. Slipping the ring around his finger, she pauses for a moment before bringing the band down over his knuckle, nestling it down in his skin. Looking back up at him, her expression is filled with the same softness he sees each morning when he wakes up with her next to him. For a second, there's silence as they linger in the moment.

"I really, really want to say you can kiss the bride now." Beside them, Major clears his throat, chuckling.

Dropping his head, Chase follows his orders, brushing a quick kiss across Veronica's lips, retreating as she blushes deeply.

"I had to." He shrugs, glancing around at the small group. "Not the most romantic setting, but I'll take it."

"Well, as much as I dreamed about getting married in a sewer…" Veronica tosses the bag of rings back in her purse and picks up the cooler, adjusting her load to balance again. "…we need to get going. Liv, thank you so much for everything you've done for us."

Nodding at them, Liv smiles warmly at the couple. "No need to thank me. Thanks to the money Chase gave Ravi to work on a cure, this whole nightmare will soon be over and we all can get back to the business of really living. If anything, I should be thanking you for everything you've done for Seattle. Major told me if it wasn't for you, things in New Seattle would be very different right now."

Stepping closer to his "wife", Chase smiles. "It would be. If it wasn't for Veronica, I honestly don't know where I would be either."

Blushing again, Veronica bows her head, avoiding everyone's gaze, but stays quiet. He knows she is not one for the spotlight – preferring to move quietly without detection – but for a second this is as close as he can come to publicly acknowledging everything she has done for them. Maybe one day everyone will know…

Chase notices as Liv's gaze moves past them towards Major and he glances over his shoulder, nodding at his friend.

Major nods back, reaching into his back pocket and extracting a cell. "One last thing…here's your new iPhone. There's only one number in it – mine. When it looks like the coast is clear, I'll let you know. Veronica has her final payment from Fillmore Graves – in cash – for $10,000. That money should last you guys a while, but when you figure out where you're going to settle, you can start accessing your personal off-shore accounts without worrying they'll be flagged by anyone."

Taking the phone, Chase slips it into his back pocket. "Thank you Major. For everything."

Stepping towards him, Major envelopes Chase in a hug, slapping his back in comradery. "No Chase…thank you." Releasing him, Major moves back, straightening his back and giving him a firm salute.

With a nod of appreciation, Chase turns back towards Liv.

"Well, now that we're done with the particulars…Ben and Curtis will take you through the tunnels to the other side of the wall." A wry smirk crosses her lips as she glances between Chase and Veronica. "Good luck to you, Mr. and Mrs. Gates. Hopefully the next time we see you both, we'll be carrying a cure with us."

Veronica tosses her ponytail back, reaching out to take Chase's hand, looping it through White Fang's leash with his. "Well Mr. Gates…are you ready for our new life together?"

"I am, Mrs. Gates. I am."