Disclaimer: I have never nor will ever own any of the characters. They belong to Rob Thomas. If I did own them, I would never have done what he did.

Chapter Six

Logan's POV

One Year Ago,

As I walk towards the car to move it to avoid a ticket for being parked in the way of the street sweeper, I can't help but smile. I never thought that I could love a woman so much and I never thought that I would be lucky enough to marry her.

After everything that we have been through over the last almost twenty years, it still seems surreal to me that an hour ago she became my wife.

As I reach the car and start to climb in, she yells something out about the time in Arizona, but I'm distracted by the oncoming car that I'm sure is there to give her the ticket.

I turn and smile and start to climb in. I hear her yell "Logan?" and notice the tone of her voice sounds scared. Before I have a second to even think about why she would sound scared, I am being yanked back across the street while a bomb is going off in the car.

My Navy training kicks in as I start to try and fight off my attackers. Easier said than done when it is one against ten. Whoever they are, they came prepared. I might have been able to take on all ten of them, but before I know it, they are placing a black bag over my head and I feel a sharp pain in my arm, and I don't remember anything else.

They must have dosed me with something to make me pass out because when I wake up, I've been moved to a new location that I've never seen before.

I start looking around the room trying to find the easiest escape route. I'm surprised that I'm not tied up and left to roam around the room. I've clearly been underestimated. I don't have much time to form a plan however because the door is soon opened and in walks a man that I recognize right away.

He enters and the words "stand down soldier" are heard coming from the mouth of my commanding officer. I stand at attention, even though internally my brain is screaming at me to figure out what the hell is going on, I still can't disobey a direct order coming from my CO.

My CO orders me at ease and I instantly ask, "permission to speak freely, sir?" He grants permission and I boldly state "With all due respect sir, but could somebody please tell me what the fuck just happened?"

The adrenaline rush and the fear for my wife taking over my body and overriding my fear that I will be reprimanded for my harsh words. "I'm really trying to keep my cool, but someone needs to tell me if my wife is ok right now!" I inform them.

"Lieutenant Echolls you wife is unharmed." I'm shown a video feed from a local hospital where Veronica looks shell shocked and silent tears slowly fall down her cheeks. "If she is unharmed then why is she sitting in the hospital crying?" I ask. There's a brief pause, as if they are preparing for my reaction, when I am told that her tears are because she thinks I am dead.

I reach for my phone intending on rectifying the situation immediately by calling to inform her that I am fine, but my phone is nowhere to be found. After that everything goes by in a blur.

I'm told that it is imperative that Veronica think that I was a casualty of the explosion from the Neptune bomber. I don't take this information calmly and lash out telling them that they can't do that to her. They can't allow her to suffer and think that I am dead.

I'm told that it is crucial that the world thinks that I am dead and the best way to do that is for Veronica to not have a chance to give away the fact that I am still alive. They assure me that once the funeral is over and the press coverage has ended, they will inform her of my survival, but nothing else, as the rest of my mission is Top Secret.

I don't even want to think about what this must be doing to her right now because it would tear me apart. I am briefed on my mission and informed that due to the sensitive nature and the deep cover that I will be under, I will not be allowed to communicate with anyone in the outside world, other than the people standing in this room.

It is a matter of national security that I infiltrate my target's base and eliminate the threat no matter how long it takes. So, I will have no contact with Veronica until my mission is completed.

I spend the next two months studying everything I need to learn about my target. This mission is way out of the realm of my normal duties of a fighter pilot, but the Navy wants to take full advantage of the fact that the world all thinks that I am dead. The next four months are spent making the contact needed to infiltrate the target's base. Once inside it takes me another four months to be trusted enough to be allowed the opportunity to take out my target. After my mission is completed it takes another two months to get me safely out of the country and home.

I agonize about not being able to see or speak to Veronica. Even over my longest deployments, I have always had the comfort of knowing that at some point I would at least get to skype her to see her beautiful face and hear her voice and reassure her that I am fine. However, I don't have that luxury this time and the mission seems to never end.

If it could go wrong, it did, and I'm lucky to have escaped with my life. My only comfort is the promise that Veronica was informed that I was ok and while I know that she is worrying like she always does, at least she no longer thinks that I am dead.

That is however crushed the second that I see her and realize that she was never informed. I don't know what happened or how she wasn't told, but none of that matters as much as comforting her right now.

So here I sit with her cuddled in my lap while she sobs. Eventually I hear her breathing even out and the tight grip that she has around my neck loosens and I realize she is sleeping. Once I am sure that she is completely asleep, I lift her and carry her into our bedroom. I lay her down and climb in behind her, pulling her close, while I drape my arm across her hips.

As I lay there snuggled up against her, the enormity of the last year finally hits me and I break down. Everything that I saw and did in order to complete my mission weighs heavy on my heart and mind, but what breaks my heart the most is the knowledge that the woman that lies cuddled up against me has suffered over the last year thinking that I was gone. I pull her closer, and as I am staring at her tear stained face, I run my fingers through her hair and cry myself to sleep.