Spoilers: None.
Archive: Anywhere, just ask me first.
Disclaimer: Veronica, Weevil, Logan, Grandma Letti, and all characters mentioned here are the property of UPN, Rob Thomas, Stu Segall, and Silver Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don't sue. If you choose to ignore this and attempt to sue me anyway, be forewarned that you're only going to get about $45, some CD's, a few boxes of EZ-Mac, and and a pair of neon pink stilettos.
Author's notes: Another one for fifteenminuteficlets. I totally made up Weevil's backstory - I really hope that one day the show will address the real story.
Dual Duel
Eli and Weevil are not the same person.
Weevil is a badass - he rides a motorcycle, wears leather, has tattoos. He solves problems by beating people up, drinks far too much, and essentially wastes his life away maintaining his image. He barely remembers who Eli is sometimes.
Eli was a scrawny, gangly kid with a mop of dark curls and big soulful eyes who loved his parents and liked to stay up late at night and read. He chased seagulls on the beach, cuddled close to his mother's side in church as she sang along with the hymns, her voice rising clear and sweet above the deep organ music.
The drive-by happened when he was twelve. His dad was killed instantly, a bullet to the brain. Without a driver, the car sped into oncoming traffic, and his mom was crushed under a semi. After that, no one talked about them anymore. Eli was send to live with Grandma Letti and a brood of cousins and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews. Felix and Chardo took him under their wing, made him shave his head because he couldn't be intimidating with a head full of cherub curls.
He doesn't even remember who made up the name Weevil, or what it means - one day he simply ceased being Eli anymore. And he was okay with that - he liked Weevil. He learned to smoke, to drink, to shoplift, because that was all he knew. And Eli slowly slipped away from him, bit by bit.
Weevil is the one that's so drawn to Veronica, but only because she brings out Eli - she reminds him both of the boy he was and the man he could be. He sits by her at lunch, playfully shoves at her in the hallway, makes catcalls and lewd hand gestures when they pass each other on the street, and he lets himself believe that Eli may re-emerge someday. She has far too much strength for such a tiny girl, and he's more than happy to borrow some for his own, because when he's with her he feels like he can leave the petty theft and vandalism behind, graduate on time, go to college, do something productive with his life. She makes him feel like he doesn't have to be ashamed for wanting such things.
Weevil doesn't know why they balance each other out so well - why her little hand fits so well in his, why her arms are the perfect length to sling around his waist as they cruise around on his cycle. But he's always been of the belief that if you find something like this, so right, so perfect, you reach out to it and grab ahold for dear life. So that's what he does with Veronica. He doesn't make any promises, any demands - he just lets her know that he's there for the long haul.
Deep down, Weevil knows that he doesn't actually need Veronica in order to shed his nickname and all the trappings that go along with it. If he wanted to, he could to it all by himself, alone - like he's always done things in the past. But, see, that's the thing - he doesn't want to be alone anymore.