Summary: Yet another finale aftermath fic.
A/N: I got very little feedback on the last chapter, leading me to believe that it wasn't quite up to my best. Apologies. :) However, I woke up this morning inspired(or maybe it was the Fritos, I dunno) and this chapter just wrote itself. I had originally intended to end the story with this particular scene, until something I wanted to work in occurred to me while I was writing. Therefore, the story is not quite done yet, all though it should finish up after a few more chapters. As always, many thanks to my muses lex8 and forcedmovement. As always, italics are VMVO and feedback is a lovely, lovely thing. :)
"Gee, Logan. You seem surprised to see me." Veronica said, strolling coolly into Logan's hospital room. He didn't reply, just narrowed his eyes when she sat her bag on the edge of his bed. "We need to talk." She told him. He regarded her silently for a moment, from his spot near the window. Veronica hid it well, but secretly she was relieved to see him out of bed and dressed in normal clothes.
"What have I done this time, Nancy Drew?" Logan finally spoke. She gave him a cheery smile.
"Why don't we start with what happened to you the other night?" Veronica asked, ignoring his question.
"Oh, I dunno, Veronica. My girlfriend had betrayed me, my father had betrayed me, and honestly, a swim sounded really nice." Logan snarked, leaning back against the wall. "The humidity, and all."
"Actually, I was referring to what you did before you bungee jumped with out a cord." Veronica shot back, settling herself on the edge of his bed.
"Well, clearly, you already know. Why don't you tell me?" He replied, his smiled just as false as hers.
"I think..." She began, getting up and walking towards him. "That once you heard the news about your father, and tore an inch of tread off your tires as you left Weevil and his boys in your dust, you headed straight for a certain crime scene." She continued.
"Is that what you think?" Logan asked, his tone implying that she was clearly stupid for doing so.
"It is." Veronica answered. "In fact, you were so upset when you arrived, that you snuck past the police barriers, into the back yard of the house, and stumbled across something that you couldn't help but pick up." She being sarcastic, obviously angry at him.
"Golly, detective." Logan said. His demeanor changed abruptly and he turned so he stood facing out the window. "I'm sorry if I was concerned about you."
Don't let him get to you, Veronica.
"That's when you headed back to the Coronado bridge." She told him, watching as his back stiffened up. "Where you intended to jump." Her voice took on a shaky quality, despite her efforts to keep everything bottled in.
"And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you and that dog." Logan replied, anger in his voice.
"There's just one little detail in this who story that bugged me." Veronica said with a sigh.
"Oh, and what's that?" Logan couldn't help but asking.
"How you ended up on Dog Beach, miles up river from the Coronado, unconscious." Veronica watched as his fingers clenched into fists, and knew she was getting to him. He remained silent. "In fact, I was so curious, I went back to that house and looked around, trying to figure out what had really happened." He turned around to face her, shocked that she would return to the scene of a crime where she had nearly died.
Yet another one surprised by my brilliance. Will they never learn? You should know me by now, Logan.
"And I found this." Veronica held out Logan's cell phone, the one item the police had not recovered from his car. "At first, I was a little confused." She let some softness enter her voice. "I considered that maybe Aaron had gotten to you before the party at the Kane's." She tapped the phone against her palm, her confidence growing. "So I checked your incoming and missed calls lists." Logan met her gaze silently. "I found it very interesting to see that you had missed my calls, Duncan's calls, and even one from the sheriff's department, but you had managed to answer one from a number I didn't recognize long after your father had been arrested."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Logan finally spoke.
"I was intrigued." Veronica said, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you weren't answering calls from me or Duncan, you certainly weren't going to answer a call from a number you didn't recognize...so you must have known who was calling you." She was almost gleeful. "The question was...how did your car end up on the Coronado bridge, but you end up unconscious on the shores of Dog Beach?" She informed him. He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I suppose you know the answer?" Logan asked, trying to hide how impressed he was.
"Clearly, someone must have picked you up and driven you to Dog Beach, and then once they were there, attacked you somehow. I mean, if you weren't unconscious from swallowing too much water, as we all thought, then you must have been hit on the head."
"Maybe I cracked my head on a rock, Veronica." Logan was definitely upset now. "I don't see what this has to do with anything."
Wow, Logan, is that actual sweat I see forming on your brow?
"I considered that too, at first." Veronica answered. "So this morning I snuck a peek at your chart since your doctor wasn't talking." She moved closer to him. "Imagine my amazement when I saw that not only had you not swallowed any seawater, but that you'd been given a nasty blow to the head."
"Imagine that." Logan repeated.
"I wondered, why would Logan not report an attack, especially if he knew who did it?" She rested her chin on her hand in the classic thinker's pose. "Unless, you wanted to cover for who you were with that night, and the only way to do that was to pretend you'd taken a swan dive."
"What's your point, Veronica?" He asked, sounding defeated.
"Well, really, Logan, I just have a question." She gave him a cheeky grin.
"Fire away, Mars." He gestured with his hands.
"How long have you known your mother was alive?" She asked.