Disclaimer Don't own, so pleeee-heeeeea-ssssssssssss-cough and takes a breath—sssseeeee don't sue me!


A/N Longest chapter yet – remember there's still one chapter left. So don't hunt me down after this ending.


Chapter 29 Final showdown and unheard words

Veronica and Logan sat next to each other on her father's couch and looked around the softly lit living room area with saddened eyes.

Keith Mars stood by his stove and was seemingly trying to cook something as a way to create a more normal feeling in the apartment, although Veronica knew it probably had more to do with him wanting to do something with his hands.

Wallace Fennel was sitting on one of the kitchen stools with a worried look on his face and was fiddling with a basketball – probably his way of keeping his hands busy, Veronica thought with a warm feeling towards her best friend.

Weevil Navarro had draped himself onto one of the armchairs and had planted a foot on the sofa table. It said something to Veronica about her dad's state of mind that he didn't even flinch at that. Weevil's dark all seeing eyes were firmly planted on Keith as though his movements were the most intriguing thing in the world.

Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie sat on the other armchair in the room and had streams of tears down her face. In her shaking hands she held a phone – the phone from Veronica's talk with Cassidy. Every now and again her eyes darted up to look at Logan and then Veronica, before returning to stare down at the cell phone.

The last person in the room was Dick Cassablancas. He didn't even look alive at that moment. His big sky-blue eyes, which usually didn't lack any mischievous emotions, were now completely dark and empty in their grief. His lips, which almost never wavered from their goofy grin were now thin as his jaw clenched tight together in a vain attempt not to display any of his personnel feelings.

Veronica sighed inwardly and desperately wished she had a way to make things better for everyone.

It had been three days since Cassidy's suicide and they'd all attended his funeral that day. As the only ones sadly enough. The press had haunted them and the Neptune Grande was overrun with news hungering reporters, who were just dying to know if Dick and the rest of them were "dealing". As a result all of them had ended up at the Mars residence and were now each trying to cope with losing a family member, a friend, a boyfriend and the whole time travelling duo was also a big issue. At least to Mac, who had been the last to find out. Her logic just didn't allow her to believe the whole thing, until Logan in Veronica's body had gotten up and kissed Mac in a totally not girlish way, to which the broken brunette simply replied

"Okay, so maybe I was wrong."

Veronica looked over at Logan, who sat and looked worriedly at his best friend. Dick hadn't said a word since they'd met him at the hospital after Cassidy's body had been brought in. Woody Goodman had been taken into custody by her father and once Cassidy's recording of him confessing to the rapes Woody had been locked away and should have gone to trial shortly after. Except the man had written a long sappy "I'm so sorry," letter, delivered it to his attorney and had then proceeded to go hang himself in his cell.

Whooping freaking doo for justice.

Veronica sighed as her eyes took in the form of herself sitting beside her. She knew that look, had seen it often enough in the mirror over the years. Logan was devastated and tired and close to losing his usual spirit.

Slowly she reached out to him and gently took hold of his hand and intertwined his fingers with hers as her silent way of comforting him.

Logan froze and looked down at their interwoven hands. Then he looked up into her eyes and that burst of emotion that met her, did something to Veronica. Made her believe that maybe, just maybe not everything was lost between the two of them.

Finally Veronica couldn't take the silence anymore and asked tiredly

"Can't we just go to bed and act as though this never happened – just for a little while?"

Dick looked up at her and spoke for the first time – in such a cutting way, that Veronica wished he'd kept his mouth shut just for a little while longer

"Yeah…let's all go to bed and act as though we had nothing to do with my brother blowing his brains out shall we…let's play a game of monopoly to make this day even better. What'd ya say Ronnie? Let's act like all of us don't give a shit…"

"Hey man, chill!"

Logan had leaned forward and was now staring the broken Dick in the eyes with a warning shining in his own eyes. Dick looked at their hands and laughed haughtily.

"Well, glad to see that your little adventure turned out all right. So who gives a shit about the rest of us…?"

Veronica let go of Logan's hand, but to her surprise he promptly grabbed it again and said coolly to his best friend

"I know you're hurting man, so I'm gonna let that one slide. Go lie down on Veronica's bed and try to get some rest. I'll be right in, okay?"

Dick hesitated a moment and glanced at the open door into Veronica's bedroom, but then he straightened up and said as he got to his feet.

"I don't need rest dude; I need a fucking party to get this day out of my head. Who's with me?"

Nobody in the room reacted to his question and Dick shook his head with a parody of his old goofy grin

"Suit yourselves – that just means there's more for me. Later dudes…"

The front door closed after him with a bang and they all sat back with a feeling, that Dick's way of dealing wasn't the best way to handle it.

The silence stretched on for a few minutes and Veronica didn't know how to reboot the conversation again, so she just sat there for once silenced.

Eventually Logan sighed and said

"Look this suck fest has gotta stop. I'm gonna go find Dick, but seeing as Neptune is a breeding ground for parties I think I could use some help. So what'd ya say we split up and go search for our blonde friend before he gets his ass in more trouble?"

Weevil almost jumped to his feet and raced towards the door. "Beats just hanging around here. I'm taking the Goodman's house- Maybe he'll try to get Gia with him on his little grieving spree."

Wallace nodded and ran after the hastily disappearing shape of Weevil. "I'm with him tonight. Don't think Gia or her mom's gonna appreciate his blunt manner's. Later."

Mac still hadn't moved a muscle and Veronica looked over at her dad, who immediately understood her silent plea.

"Mackie's gonna stay put with me, in case he shows up here again. I'm too old to be wandering around the town at night like a slayerette. Mac'll stay here and try to convince me to become a vegetarian, aint that right Mac?"

Mac nodded mutely and kept staring at the cell phone in her hands. Veronica sighed and looked over at Logan.

"Where do we go?" she asked.

Logan lifted her hand to his mouth and shocked Veronica by placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

"I think the Grande sounds like a good place to start, don't ya?"

Veronica nodded and got up from the couch, kissed her dads cheek and headed out the front door and said with a laugh over her shoulder

"First one to the Baron gets to drive."


--

Logan laughed briefly and looked over at Keith, who still stood by the stove.

"I'm gonna be careful, sir. She's not gonna get harmed I promise."

Keith then shocked the younger "male" by saying gently

"She's not the only one who needs to be careful Logan…"

Logan nodded and left the apartment and walked down to the parking lot and what he saw when he reached it made his blood run cold.

His own body lay unconscious on the pavement and on the hood of Veronica's car sat the one person in the world that had ever truly managed to scare Logan Echolls.

His own Dad, Aaron Echolls.

"Well hello there, fancy meeting you here," he said and got off Veronica's car and as he stepped into the vague light that the apartment buildings gave off, Logan noticed that the older man had a gun in his hands.

Logan allowed himself the luxury of briefly closing his eyes in a silent prayer. Please let Veronica get away without getting hurt," he prayed and then he opened his eyes and locked eyes with his father for the first time in ages.

"What are you doing here?" Logan silently asked as he slowly made his way over to Veronica's limp body. He would jump in front of any bullet to save his wife from getting hurt again.

"I'd have thought that would've been quite obvious, little girl. Let me give you a hint," Aaron said as he copied Logan's' movements and moved closer to his "son" on the ground.

Aaron cleared his throat in a mocking way and then asked "what do you think I enjoy more than banging slutty teenage girls?"

Logan stiffened at the mention of Lilly and as though she'd heard the insult she and his mother materialized behind Aaron. But neither of them said or did anything and Logan already knew why. This was this timeline's way to trying to fix itself and they couldn't interfere.

"Hey, sweetie, mind guessing for me here, seeing as I made this little riddle up just for your sake?"

Aaron's teasing voice brought Logan back into reality and he once again locked eyes with his dad.

"I don't know, cheating on your wife and driving her insane?" Logan said.

Aaron sneered, but quickly regained his control and he said with an evil chuckle

"No little one. The thing I enjoy more than screwing tiny blondes is killing them!"

Then to Logan's horror he watched in slow-motion as Aaron lifted the gun and pointed it towards him. One quick look assured Logan that Veronica was still out cold. "At least she doesn't get to see this," he thought right before the gunshot sounded and a bullet hit him straight in the chest.

Logan fell to his knees instantly, but although the blood immediately began pouring out of the wound and down to the ground, he couldn't feel a thing. He used some of his remaining strength to say mockingly

"Good one dad, I'll be seeing you in hell. Stay away from V…Logan or else I'll…" Logan couldn't finish his threat and then things began to blur. As he watched his father turn to flee, Logan thought sadly

"I can't believe I was kissing Veronica's hand not thirty minutes ago and she let me… and now this…a guy just can't catch a break."


"Veronica! Wake up God damn it! Lynne do something!"

Veronica heard the familiar voice, but the fierce throbbing in her head made her want to jump right back into unconsciousness.

Then she heard another familiar voice say in-between sobs

"I can't believe he did that…my little boy…sshh, mommy's here…just breathe…"

Veronica forced her eyelids open and in a flash she'd reached the limp body on the ground next to her.

"Logan!" she screamed and gently took his head in her lab. To her shock she saw that her fingers were now covered in blood and she took in the sight of herself bleeding to death after a gunshot wound to the chest.

Lynne sat on the other side of her son and was sobbing uncontrollably and Veronica's strength in crisis came to her rescue.

"Lynne, stop that right now and get my dad. Lilly," Veronica caught her dead friends shocked eyes, "follow Aaron and somehow I don't care how, make him pay for this!"

Lilly's shocked eyes turned determined and she disappeared without another word. Lynne had disappeared too and only she and Logan were left.

"Logan," Veronica whispered as she felt his eyes flutter. "Don't leave…not now, not when we were gonna talk things through…we have to get back, remember?"

Logan's eyes opened and Veronica stopped talking. He took a shuttering breath and coughed hollowly before saying in a hoarse whisper

"I'm gonna say this before it's too late. I love you, it's always been you Ronnie…Madison was a stupid mistake and there never was a second time, I swear…I…"

Veronica fought back her tears as she heard running footsteps from afar. Deciding that she had to make him fight, she said

"Let's talk about this when you're all better honey. Just please don't leave me. I can't do this without you…"

Logan smiled and reached out a shaking hand to caress her cheek

"Sometimes talk isn't enough, sugarpuss. I love you, more than you'll ever know…and…is it getting colder?"

Veronica screamed as Logan's eyes closed and it took her dad and Mac to rip her away from him, when the paramedics came to drive him to the hospital.


Keith stood next to his daughter and desperately tried to erase the memory of seeing her bleeding body on the pavement. He knew that it wasn't Veronica, but the image would still remain burned into his memory until his death.

He and Mac had been cooking when the door suddenly flew open and they heard a voice telling them to go outside. They'd done it without thinking and Keith sighed as he again saw Veronica's unmoving body before him.

He looked over at his child, who was standing in front of the operating rooms doors and was watching the surgeons fight a losing battle to save Logan. "Veronica looks dead herself," Keith thought as he looked at his child. Streaks of blood were on her cheeks and her eyes looked even deader than Dick's did.

Speaking of Dick, Keith turned and looked over his shoulder. Dick sat next to Mac with her head on his shoulder. Weevil had been right and he and Wallace had stopped him from doing something he might regret at the Goodman's house.

Now they all sat and waited – hoping desperately for a good end to this horrible day.

Suddenly their waiting was interrupted by a ground shaking roar.

"NO, GET OF ME YOU CRAZY PEOPLE!"

They all recognized the voice and soon after they saw Aaron Echolls come towards them. He still held the gun in his hands and hospital personnel were fast on his heels. obviously caught off guard by the newly freed actor's wild appearance.

Keith recognized the wild look in his eyes and said to the people chasing the infamous actor

"It's okay, I'll handle this."

Somehow they listened to him and disappeared. Keith watched in silent rage as the murderer walked up to stand next to Veronica and look in at the ongoing operation.

Veronica didn't react at first, but then she heard Lilly's voice say from out of nowhere

"I made him see that he'd actually shot his own kid…thought that'd be a good punishment."

"Yeah, good punishment," Veronica thought and t hen looked over at her husband's father.

"Are you happy now?" she asked quietly and Aaron looked over at her.

"Happy, that I killed my own kid?" he asked hoarsely, "no…if I could take it back I would…" he continued and returned his gaze to the operation.

"If he dies," Veronica continued to say in that quiet tone, that made everyone's hair stand up, "you die…Okay?"

Aaron didn't blink and said "If he dies, I deserve to die…"

They didn't speak again and suddenly they heard Logan flat line.

They watched in horror as the doctors tried to resurrect him and Veronica finally began to cry violently as she watched the love of her life slip away from her.

"Bring him back, don't take him away from me," Veronica sobbed. Aaron Echolls didn't cry – he turned away from the son he'd killed, looked at Keith and said

"I'm gonna run now and I'm making sure they'll make me pay this time…"

Keith nodded and went over to his devastated child, who was already surrounded by her friends. Within a minute they all heard gunshots and knew that finally Aaron Echolls couldn't inflict more pain to his surroundings.

Veronica hardly noticed in her despair. Her eyes were locked on the heart monitor next to Logan. The line was still flat and she knew she'd never be able to reunite with her lover and she regretted all those times she hadn't trusted him.

"I trust you," she whispered between sobs but all she heard in response was the chilling sound from the machines, telling her that he didn't live long enough to hear those much wanted words.

"Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiib….!"


A/N2 don't hate me… this is the scene I had in mind when I started this story, hope I did it justice. There's one more chapter and hopefully all your questions will be answered. It'll be up as soon as I can, maybe next week or so. Review Review Review, that's an order!!

Thanks to firebirdgirl (CW was about to make an appearance, but I just loved Kendall, so she deserved a chapter I think. And I like Aaron suffering the knowledge that he killed his own kid, so lol. I really don't like that man!) Maiqu (love ya!), Rory Ace Huntzberger (hope this length is more to your liking;)), christykq (thanks, what did you think about C's death? Hopefully you liked my twist on this too…), cosmiclove (lol Kendall and Aaron 21th century's Bonnie and Clyde, lol, you should write that! Did you like this too or was the emotionpart too rushed?), I.-heart-.Logan (Cordy was a big inspiration so glad you noticed! Hope you're not confused about this chapter though, if you are please blame …err, someone else lol. Hope you like and don't hate me for this ending – please…).