Title: For the Sins of Others
Author: StarCrossdSparrow
Pairing/Characters: Logan/Veronica, ensemble
Rating: R for naughty language
Chapter: 3/4
Word Count: 5,154
Disclaimer: RT is the master of all things Veronica Mars. I'll put everyone back when I'm done, so please don't sue. Also, I don't own The Little Rascals movie, either.
Spoilers: 1.22 "Leave it to Beaver"
Summary: AU from the events of 1.05 "You Think You Know Somebody." Veronica asks Logan for the details of the Tijuana trip and snark ensues.
Author's Note: If you hate when authors butcher canon for their own personal gain, don't read this, 'cause I've been cleaning my knife for weeks. BIG thanks to LJ user erin2326 for putting up with me and for her marvelous beta skills.
XxXxXxX
The poker game was a disaster. Stripped down to his (matching) boxers by a gang member (Weevs stopped being the pool boy when he was the only one in the room fully dressed) and out five grand. He'd turned over the entire pool house looking for the cash with no luck.
He'd planned on asking Veronica's help as soon as he ran into her at school. He had to admit, working another "case" together thrilled him a lot more than it should have. A lot more than five grand worth.
However, Duncan got to her first. Logan rounded the corner and saw them together. Veronica was scowling up at Duncan, who was doing his best to ignore the universal laws of personal space. He couldn't help but feel a little glee at the Donut's discomfort, so this time, he ignored his gut instinct to press himself against a wall and watch, opting instead to approach them with the pretext of talking to his friend.
"Let's just say, I was... prolific," Duncan said before turning and walking away. He brushed past Logan with a perfunctory nod.
"What was that all about?" Logan asked Veronica.
She glanced up at him, dismayed. "Your poker party and the fallout. You really know how to celebrate the holidays, huh?"
Logan shrugged and slouched against the row of lockers as she fiddled with the combination on her own. "What can I say? Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. So, you're on the case of the missing cash?"
"More like, the case of the missing laptop."
Confusion crossed Logan's features until he put the puzzle together. Weevil had stolen his mother's Faberge egg and now it appeared as though he'd also nicked DK's computer. "Ah, well, when you've cracked that one wide open, and here's a clue, it was Weevil, I was hoping you'd help me find the cash."
Veronica closed her locker and tilted her head up at him. "Hmm, well, you were my number one suspect. I guess that narrows it down to the other two guys at the party. But, wasted cash and spoiled playboys aside, my dad wants me to follow upon something involving your dad's stalker. I was wondering if you'd like to tag along."
Logan tapped a thoughtful finger against his lips and followed her when she started making her way to class. "What badge do I get for this one? The seedy motel one? 'Cause that's my favorite."
Veronica smiled. "Well, I was thinking the surveillance one. It has the nifty camera on it, remember? But, if we get to storm the castle, you might earn two badges tonight."
"So, the Camelot, then? Classy. What should I bring? My Hazmat suit?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of something home-baked. Surveillance always gives me the munchies."
"Well, you probably shouldn't be smoking up. Doesn't that make the pictures come out funny?"
"Only when I get distracted by shiny objects and the meaning of the universe," Veronica answered with a giggle. An honest-to-God giggle.
Logan smiled down at her. "Cookies it is then. Anything else? I think you mentioned something about i Playboy /i earlier?"
Veronica shook her head with a grin. "Just bring the cookies. Magazine reading is strictly i verboten. /i "
"Oh, are we adopting accents for this trip, too? I'm nixing the cookies for strudel if we're going to be German."
Veronica laughed and stopped in front of her classroom door. "I don't discriminate, so any type of pastry will be great. I'll pick you up at nine?"
"You're driving?" Logan asked skeptically.
"Yeah, we don't want your sunshine-mobile exposing too many of Neptune's secrets." She grinned once more and stepped into the room.
Logan glanced around as the late bell sounded. He needed to be upstairs and on the other side of the building. Damn but she was good at distracting him from classes that they didn't even share. He started jogging toward his class, grinning foolishly even if he probably had another detention waiting for him.
XxXxXxX
At sixteen minutes past nine, Logan was pacing in his foyer. He'd been there since twelve minutes before nine. At first, he felt like some nervous freshman going on his first date. But, with every minute that passed, his worry increased until he was a bundle of nerves and untapped energy.
Finally, he glanced outside to see Veronica's ugly old car roll up his driveway. He let out a breath he hadn't even been aware he was holding. He really was turning into a woman. And he still hadn't enacted Project Get Laid. He made a mental note to call Dick and schedule something for the following day.
He opened his door, going for nonchalant as he loped down the steps to her car. He knew something was wrong the instant he saw her through the driver's side window. She was chewing her bottom lip and staring fixedly ahead.
He opened the passenger door and waved a bag of pastries at her. "I brought sustenance, so you can quit eating your lip."
Her head snapped up and she looked wholly surprised to see him there.
"You okay, Mars? You look like you've just been visited upon by a ghost."
Veronica shook her head to indicate that she wasn't alright. "I got another little present." She inclined her head toward the backseat.
Logan turned to look. There was a small black gift bag on the seat.
"Go ahead, look inside. I don't really want to touch it." She piloted the car back onto the street and headed toward downtown Neptune.
He reached for the bag and moved the crumpled black tissue paper aside. There was a black jeweler's box at the bottom. Veronica stayed his hand when he reached for it. He looked at her in surprise.
She snatched her hand away and shifted her attention back to the road. "Use the tissue paper to touch the box. If I have to turn this over to the sheriff's department, I want anything my new friend might have left in tact."
Logan nodded and grasped the box with the paper. Carefully, he opened the cheap, velour-covered box. Displayed in the cardboard insert was a delicate silver ring, set with a tiny blue gem.
"Lilly," Logan breathed, recognizing the item on sight.
He saw Veronica nod out of the corner of his eye. "She rarely took it off. But, it wasn't on her hand that day." Logan didn't need clarification of which day, so Veronica continued. "I mentioned it to my dad then, but I always figured she lost it during the car wash. I honestly can't remember seeing it at all that day."
Logan nodded and snapped the box shut. "Any note?"
Veronica shook her head to indicate the negative. "I found it beside my car door. I was parked across the street from the office, and I was only in there for about fifteen minutes." Veronica shook her head again, as if trying to clear it or to remember something. "I know I wasn't being followed. I just don't know what to think. First at school, now this?"
Logan put the bag back where he'd found it. "You think it's Wiedman?"
"I don't know. Doesn't seem like something a pro would do. After all, those pictures he took were for my mom and I doubt I was ever supposed to find them. This personal stuff is something else entirely." She slid the car into a space across from the Camelot and turned the car off before assembling the telephoto lens on her camera and placing it in her lap.
Logan searched the windows of the motel. There were only three lit from within. It was a slow night for debauchery, apparently. "What are we looking for exactly?"
She handed an eight-by-ten over. It showed three women, dressed in costume. One was wearing a blue evening gown, a curly blonde wig, and enough ice to turn the tide on global warming, another was a grinning Bo Peep, complete with a stuffed sheep, and the last one was a chesty Demi-lookalike dressed as a super hero. "Any of these three girls. One of them, dad doesn't know who, is probably the stalker."
Logan tapped the brunette in spandex. "Doesn't this ring any bells?"
Veronica stole another glance at the photo. "You're childhood dreams of marrying Polaris?"
"Wonder Woman!"
"No, I definitely remember you wanting to marry Polaris from X-Men. I remember you and Duncan fighting about whether or not she was evil."
"Stay on task, Mars. Karen Bay used to dress as Wonder Woman back in her youth. And, here's a girl dressed like her, running in Jake Kane's circle. Coincidence? Think maybe this is our girl Bay?"
Veronica shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I mean, we're not looking for her, are we? But, at least that limits our list of... wait!" She pulled her phone from its place in the cup holder and keyed in speed dial number two, lifting the device to her ear. "Dad? Yeah, we're here. Hey, how did you narrow the possible stalkers down to these three?" She waited a beat before nodding. "'Kay. That's sort of what I figured you'd say. Thanks. Gotta go." She hung up with her dad and fixed Logan with a wary glance.
"Well? How? What is it, super sleuth? Your Spidey sense tingling?"
"He told me that your dad narrowed the list down because these women..." she trailed off and glanced at the photo once more before meeting Logan's eyes. But, Logan was already paying attention to something over Veronica's shoulder.
A very drunk man was walking up to the second floor, barely able to support his own weight, stumbling along behind a statuesque brunette. The drunk lifted his face to say something to the girl. It was Aaron.
Veronica looked back at Logan. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw was clenched.
"Logan, I'm sorry. I didn't... one of the girl's credit cards came up as used here the other night. It wasn't Karen Bay, though."
"Take a picture, Ronnie. I think I'm going to want to savor this Kodak moment for a long time," he spat out, never taking his eyes from the couple, now fumbling a key into a lock and grasping at one another's clothing like horny teenagers.
She didn't act immediately and he snapped, "Take the damn picture!"
Veronica lifted the camera and took a few shots in rapid succession.
Logan couldn't see the brunette clearly, but he guessed that it was Wonder Woman. So, that narrowed things down a bit. The first was a definite: he finally had hard evidence of his father's philandering. He and his mom could leave. The second, well, there were a whole new array of possibilities. Aaron was either having sex with an acquaintance, or he was having sex with a stalker. And, she was either his stalker or Veronica's. It was Logan's own little version of "Match Game." Did you hear about that girl Aaron Echolls was sleeping with? She was totally guilty of blank!
"Logan?" Veronica asked, tentatively.
"Let's just go." He saw her nod and start the car. Her face was pinched, probably torn between wanting to ask questions and just leave it alone. So, he made the decision for her. "It's not something I didn't already know, Veronica. So don't look like you just kicked my puppy."
He saw her face relax and she glanced at him. "I'm sorry."
He wasn't sure if she was apologizing for catching Aaron red handed or for the sin itself. It didn't much matter either way; it wasn't her fault. He shrugged it off. "At least this way, my mom has proof. She can take Aaron for everything he has and everything he'll make for the rest of life."
She nodded. "You want to go home?" She paused, then rushed on, "Or... we could go somewhere else. Whatever."
"Somewhere else? That sounds good." He nodded and repeated, "Somewhere else."
Veronica drove him to the only place in Neptune where people could be alone in public: the beach. She pulled into a space at the far end of a lot and with a cursory glance in his direction, she got out of the car.
Logan followed suit and found himself walking next to her as the surf pounded the silent beach. They ended up sitting on the end of a fishing pier that reeked of brine and sun dried kelp; it was a comforting sea smell. It was dark ahead of them and neither could see much beyond the occasional white cap rolling in. With his legs dangling next to hers, Logan was reminded of their youth when they used to sit the same way on the diving board at Duncan's. He mentioned it.
"I can't believe you remember that I used to sit out there!" she laughed. It wasn't an angry snort or a mirthless chuckle. It was one of those pristine Veronica giggles. If he didn't know she was sitting next to him, wearing butch boots and cropped hair, he'd have sworn she was that thirteen-year-old girl in a soccer uniform who thought boys were dumb and that they should have rocks thrown at them.
"Oh, I remember. I used to bother you for advice." A shared history was a safer subject than his father's extramarital endeavors. Of course, he used to ask advice about Lilly, and any stories involving her were even more dangerous waters, so he veered away from the conversation entirely. "I heard about what you did for Casey. Are you turning over a new leaf? Did I miss the memo?"
It might have been Logan's imagination, but he could have sworn Veronica deflated a little bit at the shift in topic. Or was it that old sarcasm creeping back into his voice that put her off? When she made her reply, the soccer uniform voice was completely gone. "Yeah, I posted it under my old ad in the boy's locker room. You know, the one about my mom and I?"
He'd wanted familiar territory, and he'd certainly gotten it in the form of her icy tone and a biting remark. So, he gave her the same voice back, minus his normal sneer. "Yeah, well, I haven't been reading the graffiti much of late. Or writing it."
Her tone eased up slightly. "Well, considering Casey was living in a commune, I didn't consider him one of your kind. He was fair game."
"What does that make me? Aren't you going to have your membership in the She-Man Man Haters Club revoked for being seen with me?"
She raised her shoulder in a half-shrug. "Well, there's no one around, so I shouldn't be blackballed." She bumped him with her shoulder, playfully. "Even if I do hate your stinking guts."
Logan shook his head and chuckled. "I feel better now that I know where I stand."
They exchanged a long look and Logan was painfully aware of the warm length of her thigh pressed against his. Veronica broke eye contact first and glanced back out toward the sea. "In other news, I think I figured out who stole the poker money."
"Who?"
"And ruin the surprise? Nevah!" She grinned at him. "How about you arranging another party, invite the usual suspects, er, I mean, your friends, and I'll reveal all then."
"Why wait? I'd sort of like to know."
"Because, I want you to buy me into the game so I can kick your ass and take your money the fun way," Veronica answered, glancing back toward him.
Logan considered her for a moment before smiling. "You're on. I have to see this to believe it."
Veronica grinned and turned her attention to the sea. There was a long pause, filled only with the roar and splash of the waves under their feet. The tide was coming in and Logan could taste the salt spray on his lips.
Veronica piped up again, suddenly, "Who do you think has been leaving me these little presents? I mean, why be so obvious? As soon as I find him, and I will, he'll lead me right to the murderer. He must know I'm looking."
Logan was sure she wasn't talking to him anymore, but when she didn't continue with her soliloquy, he answered, "I don't have any idea. If it is that Bay chick, my only guess is that she's either working for someone, or she never used her credit card in the first place. Did you check her husband out?"
Veronica nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't get a thing. He doesn't have a record, other than usual financial stuff. You know, defaulted on a few loans after college. But, he's fine now. Has been for years. In fact, he's better than fine, your dad has made him a wealthy man."
Logan snorted a harsh laugh. "Too bad he's also boning his wife."
"Maybe Jason will get away with all of her stuff, too," Veronica suggested softly.
Logan stared out at the ocean before laying back on the dry, creaking boards of the pier. To his surprise, Veronica laid down next to him and said, "I'm sorry."
This time, Logan was sure she was apologizing for the entire evening. He sighed. "You have to quit being so nice to me, Mars. People are going to wonder about us."
"Shut the hell up, Logan. You make me vomit, and you're the scum between my toes." She found his hand between them and clasped it gently.
Logan smiled and they didn't talk again until she said goodnight to him outside of his house.
XxXxXxX
The next day was a Saturday, so it was easier for Logan to physically avoid Veronica. However, she refused to vacate her place in his thoughts. Of course, the harder he tried to shove her out, the further she burrowed in, much like a tick. A very beautiful tick with a cute laugh. Logan threw himself onto the bed in the pool house with a groan.
"I'll admit, that's not the best reaction I've ever gotten to an entrance," Veronica's voice came from the door and Logan sat up hurriedly. She stood there, dressed in a grey fur-lined jacket with a criss-cross of straps. She looked like a Christmas present just begging to be unwrapped. He stood and removed himself to the opposite side of the room.
She held out a file folder. "The pictures from last night," she explained.
Logan took them and flipped through, tamping down the sudden urge to retch. He'd known for a long time that Aaron was a horrible person, a horrible father, and a horrible husband, but he was still his father. He snapped the folder shut. "My mom will probably cancel her Christmas party tonight."
Veronica nodded. "I figured as much."
Logan shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Are we still on for the big poker whodunnit?"
"Of course. Should I wear the cape and the fake mustache, or are you going to be playing the part of the villain?"
Logan quirked an eyebrow. "Who said anything about villainy? I thought I'd play the part of the wronged mistress."
Veronica smiled. "You're just dying to wear your mom's red sequined party dress, aren't you?"
"Well, if you're going to be a lesbian, I'll have to dress accordingly." The words were out of his mouth before he could think about them.
Veronica's face registered mild surprise, but she didn't comment.
Logan hurried on, desperate to cover his mistake. "Care to stay for the show?" He wiggled the folder. "Because when I show these to my mom, you might just get to witness a live-action murder."
"No, I want to be out of the way when the fireworks fly. I find they're best watched from afar. But, I'll be back later."
Logan nodded and shuffled his feet, half-hoping she'd just leave and half-wishing she'd crawl across the mattress between them and... he gulped down a breath of air.
If Veronica noticed his discomfort, she gave no hint. Instead she just dipped her chin as a goodbye and turned on her heel, making for her vehicle as if her life depended on it.
He exhaled and shook his head, mentally berating himself for his continued stupidity in Veronica's presence. He'd degenerated from holding his own with her verbally to doing everything except beg for sex. As soon as tonight was over, he was hauling Dick and the Donut off to the first college sorority that would let them in. And then, he'd ensconce himself in some tall brunette and forget all about Veronica Mars and her damn laugh.
Plan set in his mind, he went in search of his mother.
XxXxXxX
Despite having thrown her husband out with nothing, save his toothbrush and a duffel bag full of underwear and the other odd items Aaron had managed to pack, Lynn decided that canceling the annual Christmas fiesta would more trouble than it was worth. And, besides, she'd told Logan, they had full bar at their disposal.
By the time all of the poker players had arrived, he was well on his way to to blissful intoxication. For once, though, he wasn't trying to drink his sorrows away; he was celebrating seeing his father ripped limb from limb by the pack of paparazzi already chasing him all over town.
When Veronica showed, he handed her a gin martini and tapped his own against it. "Cheers, Detective Mars!"
She lifted an eyebrow and accepted the glass, though she didn't sip from it. Instead, she set it down on the green felt and told the story of how she'd found out Sean Friedrich's little secret.
Once she'd finished, Logan toasted Sean and the rest of his friends, before clinking Veronica's glass once more. "To Veronica, who always gets the bad guy."
Veronica grinned at him and sipped her martini, twisting her mouth into a grimace as she swallowed. "Ugh, it tastes like pine needles." Instead of pushing it away, she raised it aloft. "To Logan, my benefactor in this little game."
Logan was surprised, but he held his drink up without sloshing it everywhere. Weevil, Connor, and Duncan followed suit, though Logan noticed Duncan was scowling. He hadn't looked too pleased when Veronica had exposed his whiskey as iced tea, but now he was shooting daggers at Logan. Somehow, it only made Logan smile even wider.
After a dozen hands, Veronica had a pile of chips and an empty martini glass. Duncan was livid, Connor had gone, Weevil was low on chips, but still smiling about the roll of five grand in his pocket, and Logan was laughing at everything and losing terribly.
Finally, Duncan tossed his cards down. "Why don't we go inside for some food? I could use a real drink."
Veronica agreed and before Logan could get to her, Weevil was at her arm, making her laugh. Logan made his way through the crowd, ignoring the calls from his parents' friends, and found the bar.
Duncan joined him. "What's going on with you tonight, man?"
Logan raised his martini merrily. "Just having fun at Christmas, DK. How about you?"
"I meant with Veronica. What's up with buying her in?" he spat back a little too vehemently.
Logan shrugged and tasted his drink. "Nothing. She got me the pictures of my dad attached to some chick's lips. I'm just repaying the kindness. You know me."
"Oh, yeah, you're really known for your generosity," Duncan snorted derisively.
Logan was about to reply when he heard a familiar baritone boom over the crowd. His father was pushing through the crowd toward his mother, ranting drunkenly about Christmas and togetherness. Logan pushed his drink into Duncan's hand and started to weave his way through the crowd.
Keith Mars got to her before Logan could. Logan saw Mr. Mars knock something out of Aaron's hand, sending it skittering onto the floor. It was a small handgun, the sort easily concealed in a hip pocket. The crowd had quieted and were pushing away from the scene even as they stared on, greedily digesting the scene.
His mother was backed into a piano, her hand at her throat. Logan could tell she was acting. She wasn't afraid of Aaron at all in that moment; she was daring him to try something in a room full of people. Logan suddenly wanted to hug his mom.
He glanced at Aaron just as he smashed his fist into Keith's jaw. Veronica's dad went down just as she reached the scene. Logan didn't have time to pay attention to her because he'd already stepped between his mother and father.
"Don't touch her," he spat at Aaron, glad the adrenaline pumping through him was making his vision less hazy.
Aaron grinned lazily and hauled off, landing a shaky punch on Logan's chin. Logan stumbled backward, but the piano saved him from falling. He righted himself and grinned, touching the blood oozing from where he'd bitten his lip. "Thanks."
He grabbed Aaron's shirt and pulled his fist back. As he was about to strike, he felt a small, but strong pair of hands on his upper arm; he turned to see Veronica there, her jaw set and her lips pressed into a firm line. She stepped in front of him and faced Aaron.
"You little bitch. This is all your fault," Aaron hissed.
Veronica grinned. "Actually, I think it's yours."
Logan laid his hand on her shoulder and tried to push her behind him as Aaron snarled and made to shove her out the way. Keith stopped him, grabbing both of Aaron's arms and twisting them behind his back. The elder Mars pinned him against the piano with a strength Logan hadn't though him capable of. Obviously, Veronica brought out the very best in her father. Logan thought he knew the feeling.
Sheriff Don Lamb stepped through the crowd and urged Keith out of the way. He slapped handcuffs onto Aaron's wrists and began to recite the Miranda warning boastfully.
Aaron Echolls, of course, had to get the last word in. Before the crowd swallowed him and he was reduced to gossip spat back forth between his "friends," Aaron whirled, straining against the Sheriff's force. His neck was corded and anger flashing in his eyes as he trained his sight on Veronica. "You're just like her, you little bitch. You can't keep your nose from where it doesn't belong and you'll go down for it, I'll see to it! I'll get you!"
Veronica smiled, almost delicately, and responded in a dulcet voice, "And my little dog, too?"
Aaron writhed terribly against his bonds, trying to force his way back to the blonde. Lamb held fast, however, and pushed him roughly the rest of the way to the waiting squad cars.
By the time Logan had traversed the small distance between him and Veronica, her father was already trying to coddle her. Duncan popped up, seemingly from nowhere, and positioned himself at her elbow as if he expected her to swoon. She'd have none of it, though, and she broke free of their murmured questions and worried frowns.
She grabbed Logan by the sleeve and gestured that he follow her. She led him into his father's den and closed the door. When she turned to face him, he could see that all the color had gone from her face.
He advanced on her and placed one hand on either cheek, searching her eyes. "Veronica? What's wrong?"
Her voice was trembling slightly when she replied, "Did you hear him? Your- Aaron? What he said?"
Logan pulled her into an embrace. She was shaking. "It doesn't matter what he-"
She pushed him away and stalked across the room. "No, at the end! He said I was just like her! Her, Logan!"
Logan cocked an eyebrow. "Who, Veronica? He could mean anyone. He was pretty loaded. He wouldn't have come-"
"Lilly!" She was pacing in front of him, her eyes down to the carpet, but focused elsewhere.
Once again, Logan wasn't sure if she was really talking to him or if he was just an audience to her brainstorm.
She continued on, "She must have found something out about him! Maybe that's why I've been getting these clues! He must have been sending them. I mean, it makes sense. He could have used Karen Bay's credit card or had her use it to by the flowers. And the ring..." She stopped and fixed him with a stare. Logan felt a chill skip down the back of his neck at the sudden ferocity in her blue eyes. "Maybe he killed her."
Logan blinked. He shook his head and blinked again. She couldn't have just said that. Could she have?
She was pacing again. Logan relaxed slightly, freed from her pinning stare. "Maybe Lilly was over here one day looking for you, and she caught him with another woman. She told me she had a big secret. If she was holding it over Aaron's head, maybe he got scared or tired of it." She tuned again and looked at him, almost pleadingly. "Was he violent? Did he ever hit your Mom?" She shook her head in answer to her own question. "No, he wouldn't have, would he? Lynn's looks made money, too." She resumed her pacing.
Logan let go a long breath, once again off the hook from Veronica's questions. He was very glad he wasn't guilty. He would not want to be caught by Veronica Mars. But, he did have a secret or two and he was almost afraid to share his real whereabouts at the time of his girlfriend's murder. What if she accused him? Not to mention how close she'd come to uncovering the real reason for him to be celebrating Aaron being gone from the house. He couldn't stand the thought. So, he held mum.
Finally, she turned to look at him once more. He wasn't sure if she'd asked a question of him, and he was very nervous that she'd been reading his mind. His fears dissipated when she strode to him and stood on her toes to brush her lips against the corner of his mouth.
When she settled back onto her heels, she looked a little startled, but tried to cover it with her quick grin and a light squeeze of his forearms. "I have to go. My dad'll be wondering where... I'll keep in touch." She pushed past him and exited.
Logan just stared after her, completely bewildered by the little tornado that was Veronica Mars. She'd just managed to accuse his father of murder and kiss him in a matter of minutes. He wasn't sure which pleased him more.
XxXxXxX
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