Logan ground fist into his palm and tried to bite back the urge to confront Dr Kinny. He had spent the majority of the lecture grinding his teeth and avoiding the curious side-glances from his classmates.

One of the brief highlights at college was much less of those he encountered knew his history or regarded him with that particular mix of pity or suspicion.

Sure his past made a brief resurgence after the interview when he outed his half brother on live air but the movie star connection it was no longer the first thing people associated with him. Unlike high school where everyone knew his father had murdered Lily Kane, or where most or his graduating class still half believed he had been responsible for the death of Felix Toomes, at Hearst Logan could get lost in a crowd. It had been a welcome relief, a breathe of fresh air where he could focus on healing and being free, on being with Veronica and living in the present.

A new start...

Now those who hadn't immediately made the family connection looked at him with interest.

The asshole professor had even suggested they use the towns recent murder of a Caitlin Ford to analyse media bias and witness reports until several female students objected, citing that two of them were her classmates from Senior year at Pam High.

"Logan?" Wallace asked with a gentle expression as he followed him into the hallway. The two hadn't ever been close despite the on/off nature of his relationship with Veronica but Logan couldn't deny that he was a decent guy and a loyal friend.

"It is a flesh wound!" Logan quipped lightly trying to brush off the concern in the other mans tone.

Wallace frowned at him in the same way Veronica declared drove her crazy. Logan could only hazard a guess at the other man's opinions on his besties on-again, off-again relationship with him over the last two years as they bantered back and forth, spewing insults at one another and then getting back together.

"It's fine! I survived trial by the Paprazzi, the Media and my peers.. the sins of my father are not my own. Dr Kinny can kiss my ass." Logan sighed reaching into his pocket for his phone. Veronica still had another lecture before meeting him for lunch.

He weighed up the time options taking into account traffic from campus to go visit Dick in hospital and the ride back to join his girlfriend for lunch.

Logan looked down and read an incoming text from his injured friend.

Dick: Dude... get Mac two cups and a string, train some carrier pigeons or that owl from Potter world. Or turn on her iPhone. I'm about to start sending Smoke signals.

This was exactly why Saved by the Bell never attempted a Juno plotline because just like Zack Morris, his BFF lacked the emotional maturity to deal with the situation.

Right now his friend needed to concentrate on healing and Mac needed space.

"Where is our intrepid Ms Mars?" Wallace asked.

"Learning the fine arts of murder most foul." Logan replied gratefully accepting the subject change as he slid the phone back into his pocket.

Wallace glanced in the direction of his dorm, Piz and Butters would most probably be there working on their podcast and he had no desire to listen to the nerd duet. Amira had only responded a quick 'See you at Lunch' to his message after his mother's interruption this morning.

The Hearst athletes were expected to participate in hosting the rival teams from San Diego State currently sharing space with some of the fraternity's over on Jock Row, although the Basketball team weren't competing this week, and the administration had suspended tonight's game due to the on-going murder investigation, it had been strongly encouraged that they extend a warm welcome until their guests were permitted to return home.

Perhaps he should check in with his new coach but the chance to spend some quiet one-on-one time with Logan to gauge the level of trouble ahead now that Dick Casablanca's was on the mend was too rare an occurrence for him to pass up.

Comparing notes would be especially useful to co-ordinate damage control before Veronica got the skinny from Cliff McCormack regarding that contract Dick's army of legal henchmen had sent to Mac. In all the excitement and gun-slinging most of her initial fury had been misdirected but soon there would be a reckoning.

It felt odd to observe Logan as a solo entity without Veronica... like seeing a video game character wandering around lost doing mundane things awaiting instructions, it was then he realised guiltily that in some ways, he was as responsible for his lack of Logan trivia as his bestie's need to compartmentalize the total separation of Boyfriend and Friends. Wallace was about to ask how Veronica was coping after Weevil's funeral when his resolve waivered seeing the distant look on Logan's face, most likely thinking about Neptune's recent headline, Caitlin Ford.

It was too easy to forget how much tragedy the other man had endured in the last 2 years. Wallace knew no one in the Mars camp would grieve over the loss of murderous movie star Aaron Echoll's, but Logan had still lost both of his parents within a year of one another and his sister Trina was never around.

How did Logan reconcile the conflict he must feel in that loss?

As awkward as the encounter with Amira and his mother had been this morning, he couldn't imagine how different life would be at college without that guidance and parental support.

Bile rose in his stomach.

It was convenient to dismiss someone else's experience when Neptune Induced prejudice occasionally coloured his perception, to only see the things which fit the underbelly of a safe narrative.

09er's didn't have problems that money couldn't fix... yet the things Logan had lost no amount of money couldn't ever replace.

In a sense, Veronica's close relationship with her father enveloped her world in a protective cotton wool, did she notice the pressure of that aloneness her boyfriend must carry? Her life had structure, expectations and Keith Mars was her personal cheerleader... How did anyone expect Logan to get his life together when there was no oversight to provide loving motivation? When there was no one left to expect better of him?

Wallace made a mental promise to make more of an effort with his former science partner regardless of any relationship status with his best friend. He was about to suggest they head to the gym and work out before the usual group lunch when his own phone rang and saw Parkers name flashing across the screen.

Sometimes it felt like his life was trying to decide which fire to put out first...