Drunk Logan
Chapter 28

A/N: Okay, so I did not address each review personally. I'm sorry about that, but I got 32 reviews and it probably would have taken me about an hour and a half to respond to each of them. I would like to say a big thank you to all of my regular reviewers...I love continuing our ongoing conversations. To the new reviewers. It is wonderful to hear from you, also. Chapter 27 must have really struck a chord since I heard from a lot of new people and I got such strong reactions from everyone. I really appreciate your feedback. Please keep reading, everyone. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Thx!

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"WHAT! WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" Troy screamed at her as her eyes flew open in time to see the fire reflected back in his.

Veronica knew that she must have said Logan's name aloud. She panicked momentarily before responding.

"I-I called you Lover. You don't like that name?" She was hoping that he would buy it, but was disappointed.

"No, you didn't," Troy said in a menacingly low voice. Veronica remembered that voice and prepared herself for the physical beating that was coming. At least this time she was expecting it and could fight back.

"You called me Logan, didn't you?" She was shaking her head, but it didn't calm him. "You called me Logan. YOU CALLED ME LOGAN!! YOU'RE MY WIFE, HOW DARE YOU CALL ME LOGAN!" He slapped her across the face and she screamed out in pain.

The pain was blinding, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to take this from him again. She caught him by surprise when she slammed both of her fists into his erection. Unfortunately, for her, it only served to make him collapse on top of her while he held himself.

She pushed at his shoulders and scooted him far enough to the side for her to get out from under him. She pushed herself off the bed, but Troy caught her wrist and yanked her back. He had her hands caught behind her back while he pinned her down by sitting on her stomach. He towered over her and was rearing back to strike her hard. She knew it was going to hurt, that he would probably kill her, eventually.

Knowing that she couldn't stop this blow, she flinched and closed her eyes. She heard the hit connect, but didn't feel the pain. She wondered if he had hit her so hard he'd knock her out. When her mind came back into focus she heard other voices and felt someone picking her up.

She opened her eyes and looked straight into an intensely brown heaven.

"Logan?" she whispered, sure that she must be dreaming and that Troy would make her pay after hearing her call him that again.
"Ronnie, oh, Ronnie, I'm so sorry. We're here now. You're safe now." Her eyes filled with tears and she broke into uncontrollable tears.

"Lo-gan?" she sobbed, still not convinced that it was truly him. When she looked up and saw that he was carrying her toward that ugly yellow thing he called a car, she began half-crying, half-laughing. She was never more glad to see any vehicle in her entire life.

When her dad had been Sheriff, every time she saw a patrol car she felt a little more safe. She knew the men and women behind the shields on the sides of the cars; and they knew her. They would protect the Sheriff's daughter no matter what. That feeling didn't hold a candle to the feeling she had at the sight of the pompous yellow SUV that stared back at her.

Logan set her down by the SUV, but her legs gave way and he caught her just before she hit the ground. He held her up and opened his back door. He sat her in the seat and then took off the button up shirt he was wearing over his t-shirt. He wrapped it around her and buttoned it up.

She had not let go of him except to put her arms through the sleeves. She was grasping his arms so tightly, he was sure he was going to be the one to end up with the bruises this time, but he didn't mind. He got into the back seat with her and she crawled into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her securely as she snuggled into his safety.

"We, who?" Veronica asked out of the blue.

"What, what was that?" Logan was caught off guard by her speaking at all.

"Earlier. You said, 'we're here.' Who's we?" She had lifted her eyes to look at Logan.

"Your dad. He's the one that got Troy off of you. He's in there with him now, waiting for the authorities to show up." He informed her.

"Dad? Oh," she sighed her relief. With her two favorite guys on the job, she knew she'd be safe.

"Veronica," he waited until she was looking at him again. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"He slapped me across the face again." She turned her head so he could see the red mark.

"Did he...do...anything else?" Logan didn't know how to ask her what he wanted to know.

"He didn't rape me, Logan. I'll be okay." She was shocked when he broke down crying.

"Logan?" He continued to cry as he hugged her. "Logan, I'm okay. I promise. You and dad saved me. You are my hero, again!" She chuckled a bit, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, Ronnie, you have no idea of how scared I was. I was so afraid of what he would do to you and that I'd lost you forever." He was talking through the streaming tears. All of the fear and stress he'd felt all day, was finally coming to the surface and he couldn't hold them back any longer. He was about to continue when he heard the sirens and soon they saw the Mexican police pull up.

The police went into the house and a couple of minutes later were coming out with a cuffed Troy. His eyes landed on Veronica immediately and he became enraged at seeing her in Logan's arms.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY FRIGGIN' WIFE!" He was screaming and bucking against the officers. Veronica was flinching and trying to crawl farther into the vehicle.

Keith rushed over to the vehicle. "Logan, get her out of here now! Drive her to a hotel somewhere and let me know where you're staying. Don't let her out of your sight and I'm not leaving Troy until he's in a cell."

"Honey, I love you and I'll see you soon. You'll be safe with Logan. Keith ran back toward the officers struggling with Troy, who was still yelling.

Logan nodded and tried to get out of the back seat to get into the driver's seat, but Veronica grabbed his arm and shook her head violently.

Logan grabbed her. "Look, we've got to get out of here, we'll go far away from Troy, okay?"

She nodded and he continued. "I need to get into the front seat. Do you want to come with me?" She nodded.

"Okay, let's go." They both got out and he let her into the driver's seat. She crawled over the console and he saw the thong and garter. "Oh, geez."

"What?" He just shook his head.

"We're going to have to get you out of those clothes." She laughed a little out of relief to hear something so normal coming from Logan. It was comforting.

"You have no idea how much I want to shed this outfit!" She wanted to rid herself of everything Troy.

Logan started up the car and they drove off quickly. They could still hear Troy yelling and Logan saw Veronica turn to watch him through the window.

"Hey, you're safe now. Not only are we leaving him in the dust, but you're father is going to make sure he gets into custody. And, to top it off, you'll be lucky if you get to go to the bathroom without me as an audience." She chuckled.

"You think I'm kidding." Logan wasn't kidding. He didn't know how he would justify it, but he didn't plan on taking his eyes or at least his ears off of her for a very long time.

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They drove in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts of what had happened and what could have happened. Both of them thankful for the other's presence.

Veronica was brought out of her thoughts when the SUV came to a stop. She looked up and saw that they were in a hotel parking lot. It wasn't fancy, but it wasn't a dive, either. It didn't matter anyway. She wasn't spending the night with Troy; that was all that counted.

Logan turned to her, "Wait here. I'll come around to your door, okay?" She nodded silently.

Logan walked around the vehicle, stopping at the door behind Veronica's and grabbing his bag. He opened her door and helped her out, leading her to the office. He paid for a room in cash and left false names, then they headed to their room.

They walked into the room and surveyed its contents. It only had one bed, but they were used to sharing a bed and neither of them wanted to be far away from the other, so neither mentioned it.

Logan locked and chained the door behind them and then walked into the bathroom and turned on the light. Veronica thought it was funny. He looked like he was checking for the bogeyman, but she was didn't mind. At that moment, she was a little afraid of the bogeyman.

"Well, looks like all is secure. You want to get some rest?" He motioned to the bed.

"Yeah, let me just go to the bathroom first and wash Troy off of my face and neck and..." she shuttered and didn't really want to continue.

"Well, I've got to get cleaned up, too. Why don't I go with you?" He started to head into the bathroom when she stopped him.

"As much as I appreciate it, I think I can do this on my own." She gave him an understanding look. She knew exactly why he was acting the way he was and she didn't blame him.

Logan hesitated, but then agreed. "Okay, but leave the door cracked." He wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Alright, Logan. I'll leave door cracked." She walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open a bit.

She began to unbutton Logan's shirt so she could get out of her wedding night attire. When she laid his shirt down, she looked into the mirror above the sink.

"Oh, no!" She cried out. Within seconds Logan was bursting through the bathroom door. Veronica spun around and saw the panic-stricken look on his face.

"What! What's wrong?" He was panting from the short sprint across the hotel room and the rush of adrenaline coursing through his body.

"He marked me," she said as she uncovered her neck and the hickey that was displayed there.

"Oh, Veronica. You scared the crap out of me." When he saw her cover it back up, he walked over to her, enveloping her in a hug.
"It's okay, Ronnie. It'll go away, it's just an outside mark. Like the marks last week, this will fade. He stepped back and looked down at her, getting his first real look at her attire.

"Hell, Ronnie! What are you wearing?!" His eyes were bugged out as he stared at her.

"Troy went honeymoon shopping for me, since he knew I didn't have much time to do it for myself." She scoffed. "Yeah, no time since I didn't know I was going on my honeymoon," she added sarcastically.

"I didn't think I looked that bad, Logan. Geez! Way to kick a girl when she's down!" She shook her head and laughed.

"No, I..." He began, but then a frown crossed his face as he realized what else she had said. "What do you mean, your honeymoon? And, what did Troy mean about you being his wife?" Logan had caught onto that earlier, but didn't have time to question her about it.

Veronica looked uncomfortable. She was ashamed, although, logically she knew she shouldn't be.

"Well, he's right. I'm his wife. We were married this afternoon." She held out her ring finger as proof. "You just broke up our wedding night." She looked stunned for a minute and then the color drained from her face.

"I married him. I didn't know what else to do. I'm married to Troy, Logan." She was beginning to feel sick and had to sit down on the side of the tub.

"I don't know if it's legal, though, but we did get married...in a church...with a priest."

"What do you mean? Why...?" He was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Logan, how's our girl doing?"

"Good, we just got checked into a hotel about a half an hour north of the villa."

"Oh, great. I'm going be joining you then. Troy is in custody and I will be going back in a few hours to transport him back to Neptune. They have no desire to deal with him. They just want him out of their country and I want him, so it's working out wonderfully." Keith chuckled. He didn't want to hand Troy over to anyone else and risk him escaping during transport. He'd make sure Troy got into the cell at the Neptune County Sheriff's Department.

"Oh, and tell Veronica that if she's up to it, I'd like to ask her some questions about today. If she's too exhausted, that's okay, but it would be really helpful. Plus, I'd like to have a minute to talk with my little girl, if possible."

"Will do, I think she can manage for a little bit." Logan gave him the name and directions to the hotel and then ended the call.
"Your dad is on his way. If you can stand to stay awake, he'd like to talk to you about today and just make sure you're okay. I think he just wants to hold his baby and know you're okay for himself." Logan noticed the odd look that crossed Veronica's face, but couldn't place it.

"Yeah, I'd like to see him, too," she said softly.

"Well, then. We'd better get you dressed before Daddy Mars sees us and gets the wrong impression, huh?" He chuckled as he pointed to her outfit. "Although, I don't mind it, he probably will."

"Yeah, I'd rather him not have the vision of me in lingerie in his head. It ranks at the top of my most humiliating moments list." She paused for a moment and then looked down at herself. "Actually, so does this."

She grabbed Logan's shirt again and wrapped it around her bottom half and then turned away from him.

"It'll be faster if you unhook the 20 or so hooks for me." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Me?" Logan's voice cracked like it had when he was going through puberty.

'Is she trying to kill me?' Then he remembered her words from earlier. She thought that he thought she looked ridiculous in the outfit and she was humiliated in front of him. He didn't want to make her feel exposed, but he certainly didn't want her to think that she was anything, but gorgeous. If he had his way, he'd definitely be the one helping her out of the lingerie...just with different intentions than what she was thinking.

"Yeah, you. Look, I've covered as much of me as possible. It took forever to get into this little getup and you could unhook the corset in a matter of seconds. Just hurry up, okay? I'm done with this outfit. Anything that makes me the reality of Troy's fantasies, is not something I want to wear." She shrugged.

He began opening the corset and tried to think of how to verbalize his thoughts.

"Just so you know, it's not just one of Troy's fantasies. You look hot, Ronnie." He used that cocky, playful voice, trying to downplay just how turned on he really was by her.

"Yeah, right," she reached behind her and smacked his hip. She really didn't know how big of an affect she had on him.

When he was done with the corset, he left the bathroom so she could finish undressing. He still left the door cracked open.

A few minutes later, she came out in his shirt and climbed under the blankets. When Logan saw her, he smirked.

'She would look just as good in nothing, but my shirt as she does decked out in hot lingerie. Of course, it could have something to do with knowing that my shirt is caressing her very bare skin. I may never wash that thing again.' He chuckled to himself.
He laid on top of the blankets, knowing he'd need to get up and answer the door when Keith arrived.

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About twenty minutes into watching all-Spanish tv, there was a knock at the door. Logan rose to let Keith into the room.

He watched as Keith nodded at him and dropped a sack by the door as he rushed straight for the bed to embrace Veronica. She began crying and he just squeezed her tighter while he rocked her. He eventually pulled back and looked at her face. He brushed her hair back with his hand and kissed her head.

"Are you alright?" He said reverently, like he was holding the most precious cargo in the world.

"Yeah, I'm just so glad you're here." She was wiping the remaining tears away.

"Me, too. I only got to see you for a second before you had to leave. You're okay, though, right?"
He needed to make sure.

"Yeah, I'm a little tired and it's been a tense day, but I'll be okay. Bet you need my statement, huh Sheriff?" She looked at him knowingly. She knew that he loved her and was concerned about her, but she also took after him. They both wanted to get to the facts and make sure that the 'bad guys' were brought to justice.

"Well, we don't have to, if you don't want. You are going to have to give a statement to Lamb tomorrow, anyway. It's up to you."

"No, it's okay. I trust you to do more with the information than he ever will. What do you want to know, Sheriff Mars." She nodded her head and wore a serious expression on her face, but snickered at his playfully stern look.

"Just tell me everything that happened today and I'll ask questions as we go along." He spoke softly, a practice he'd learned in order to put victims at ease during the interview phase.

Veronica began telling her father all of the details she could remember beginning when Wallace delivered the note to her in 3rd period. Her father feverishly scribbled notes and occasionally stopped her to ask her questions, in order to firm up timelines and witnesses. He tried to interrupt as little as possible so that she didn't lose her train of thought, another trait he'd learned.

She saw the scribbling subside when she recalled Troy 'helping' her dress in her wedding gown. She had been ashamed in front of Troy and she felt all that same shame when she had to recount the details of her humiliation to her father.

"I'm sorry, Dad." She was speaking quietly and couldn't bear to look at him. "I didn't want to undress in front of him, but I didn't know what he would do if he got mad. And, he didn't seem to be interested in doing anything else at that point. He thought it was really important for us to be married first."

"Veronica, listen very carefully. You did great. Don't you be ashamed of anything that happened today. You did what you needed to do, okay? I'm very proud of you. Do you understand?" She nodded silently. "Keep going, honey."

Veronica continued with the days events. She was subconsciously playing with the wedding set on her left hand when she spoke about the wedding and her eyes filled with tears as she remembered her feeling of hopelessness when the priest pronounced them husband and wife.

Her father stopped her. "I found this in the villa, Veronica." He handed her a copy of the marriage certificate.

"Yeah, I wondered what was in the folder the priest had handed Troy before we left. Obviously a memento from my big day." She sounded so dejected.

"Veronica, whose name is that?"

"What do you mean?"

"The signature reads Veronica E. Mars. Now, I may be getting older, but I seem to recall naming you and 'E' is not your middle initial." He shot her a proud smile.

"Yeah, I couldn't think of any other way to make it less real. I didn't know if that would invalidate it or if Troy would notice. He was standing over my shoulder, but apparently he thought that the 'E.' looked fine." She was smiling back at her dad, the first since beginning her statement.

"So, you just pulled a letter out of thin air, huh?"

"Uh...um, yeah, I guess so." If her father hadn't spent so many years studying people's behavior, he may not have noticed the hesitation and the way her eyes shifted quickly in the direction of Logan. Although she didn't actually look at the boy, it was enough to confirm Keith's suspicions. If his daughter didn't have romantic feelings for the boy, she at least called on the safety she felt when with him, to get through a tough situation.

She continued to tell her father of the special dinner arrangements and the attention he'd taken when drawing her bath for her. She pointed toward the lingerie, now laying on a chair across the room and described all of the details he'd seen to in the bedroom. Then, she stopped talking.

"Then what happened, honey?"

"Then...you guys were there and Logan was carrying me to the Xterra."

"Veronica, please tell me what happened from the point that you walked into the bedroom to when we found you." He knew it was difficult on her, but there were so many reasons he needed to know.
He needed to know in order to help her. She would have to tell these things to Lamb and to a prosecutor and judge and jury, etc, etc, etc. He wanted the first person she told about those events to be someone she knew and felt comfortable with. It may help her with future interviews.
He also needed to know all of the details he could about Troy, his fantasies, his actions and future plans. Anything that could help with the investigation, the prosecution and showing in a court of law that he should not gain freedom any time in the near future.

More selfishly, he needed to know for himself. He needed to hear Veronica tell him what she had been through that night. He would know by the way she responded whether she was hiding anything and he hoped to gain some insight into what she would be dealing with during her emotional recovery from this trauma.

"Dad." It was a plea for security, for reassurance that everything was okay.

"Veronica." He sighed. "Whatever you did to get through tonight is okay. You did everything right. The first thing that I have always told women in situations like this, is that they needed to do whatever they could to get out of the situation alive. You did that, Veronica."

"Do you understand me? If you hadn't gotten undressed in front of him, if you hadn't come into the bedroom when he called you out...we may have been too late. The rage that he was in when we came, is nothing you could have handled by yourself. You could have died tonight. You did the right thing. You are with us now because you complied with his wishes, as difficult as it was for you."

"You showed incredible strength tonight, all day. I am so proud of you. You showed strength, patience, restraint and the ability to keep cool under pressure. I couldn't be more proud."

She broke down in tears. "But, it was so hard, Dad!" She said through her tears.

"He was being so kind and thoughtful and romantic. I couldn't match up in my head the Troy I was with today and the Troy that attacked me last week." She was trying to catch her breath.

"I just kept thinking that if I could imagine myself in different circumstances that I could let him touch me...that my skin would stop crawling when he kissed his way up my body and when he whispered in my ear."

"Then he got so angry. I thought he was going to kill me and there was no way anyone would ever find me. I didn't think that Logan had gotten my message."

"He had my arms pinned behind my back and he was sitting on me." She had calmed down a bit and added in a whisper, "I didn't know what to do. I just shut my eyes and waited for the hit. The next thing I knew, I was being picked up and carried away."

"What did he get angry about?" He misinterpreted the look she shot him as misunderstanding of the question, so he rephrased it. "What made him turn from loving and romantic to rage-filled? It sounded like he was screaming Logan's name. Did it have something to do with him?"

Logan had been so quiet during the entire discussion between the Mars'. Veronica had almost forgotten that he was in the room listening to every word. That is, until her dad asked about Troy's anger and said Logan's name.

She looked at Logan for a minute and even though he was looking down toward his lap, she could tell that he was furious. His entire body was rigid, his fist was hitting his leg and she could see his clenched jaw. His face was red and the vein on the side of his forehead was strongly pronounced.

She wished she knew what he was thinking exactly. He had become very protective of her and she was sure he regretted not being able to protect her. Beyond that, though, she didn't have a clue as to what Logan was thinking with such focus and determination.

She turned to her father. "Is it okay if we talk alone for a minute?"

Although he hadn't moved or made a sound the entire time she had been speaking, she saw Logan's head whip up in surprise. She knew she needed to be strong.

"Logan, would you mind if I spoke to my dad alone for a minute?" She was looking at him with an expression that asked him to be understanding and agreeable.

Logan was floored. He had listened to her memories of every incensing detail of her ordeal. But now, when it sounded like Troy had gotten angry at her because of him, she wanted him to leave the room?

"Uh, sure," Logan cleared his throat.

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When Logan was out of the room, Keith turned back to Veronica. He didn't say anything, just waited for her to start speaking.

"I don't know how to tell you this without you looking at me differently, dad. I definitely didn't want to talk about this in front of Logan." Keith nodded.

"You can tell me anything, Veronica. I won't judge you." He knew that she was still confused by her role in everything that had happened. It was natural. Most victims take on some of the responsibility, in one way or another.

"Well, I told you about how I tried to picture myself in a different situation." He nodded again. "Well, I kind of used Logan to do that. I imagined that he was the one that had done all of those romantic things for me and that he was waiting for me on our wedding night."

"It's stupid, I know. And, I'm not saying that I want to marry him. I do have feelings for him, but he's not interested in me that way. I just thought that if I closed my eyes and pictured Logan, I could forget what was really happening and who I was really with."

"I was chanting Logan's name in my head because it was getting harder and harder to ignore Troy. I must have said his name aloud at one point because, that's when Troy got mad at me for calling him Logan. He said that I was his wife. How dare I call him Logan."
"Please don't say anything to Logan about this. I really don't want to have to explain my feelings to him, okay?" Keith patted her leg.

"Okay." He got up and walked toward the door.

"One thing, though. You may not want to count Logan out just yet. I've had several talks with him and I think you may be misreading him, Veronica."

"Well, I wish. He actually has a girlfriend, though."

"Alright." He opened the door and ushered Logan back into the room.

"Look, I'm going to hit the sack. I've got to be up in about 4 hours to head back to the police station. Then, I'll be driving Troy back to Neptune."

"Keep your cell on...oh, which reminds me. I brought a bag of your stuff, including the clothes you were wearing and your cell phone." He pointed at the bag by the door.

"Drive safe. Stay together. I love you sweetheart."

"I love you, too, Dad."

"Thank you, Logan."

"No problem."

Keith walked out the door and Logan and Veronica just stared at each other.

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