A/N : As ever I am totally grateful for al the reviews, and am so glad you're all enjoying the fic so much :-) Now, it's time Veronica started cracking a case of some kind...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 16 - Ain't That A Kick In The Head

"Woah" Logan reacted to the sight of Duncan as the Kane boy came over to his locker, located right beside his, "Don't tell me, you walked into a door?" he guessed, though the look on his face told Duncan it wasn't a genuine idea.

Logan knew what kind of marks were left when someone was hit, kicked, or generally beat up on. He'd had a fair few wounds in his time, of his own fathers infliction. There was no doubt in his mind that the nasty bruising and cut on his friend's face was from an attack of some kind from a person, rather than accidental bumping into a random object. Duncan knew the excuse Logan offered him was one of his own that he'd used to cover for the bruises and, on occasion, broken bones his father had caused.

'I walked into a door', 'I tripped on the stairs', 'I was stupid...' that was maybe the best one, Logan recalled, since it was at least partly true. His father only ever beat on him when he'd apparently done something stupid. More often than not Logan wasn't overly sure what the something was, but he was always assured he'd done it. Still, he couldn't think that Jake Kane was the type to lash out at his kids the way Aaron did, but then, who would ever have suspected him of it either?

"It's nothing" Duncan muttered as he opened his locker and rifled through the contents.

"Yeah" Logan nodded once, a disbelieving look on his face as he moved to stand right next to his friend, leaning back against the lockers, "You do remember who you're talking to, right, man?" he checked.

"Look, it really is nothing" Duncan repeated, sounding aggravated, "I got a little drunk, slipped and fell, and banged my head on the table" he lied like a pro, just like he always had to.

Lilly, his parents, even the hired help had learnt the same story of how he'd sustained his injury. The real truth was to remain hidden by Lilly, the alternate version by his parents. Though Duncan was sure Logan wasn't buying what he said at all, there was little he could say in the way of an argument, at least he hoped that was true.

"Whatever you say, D-man" his friend said, much to his relief, though the look on his face suggested he was quite disappointed at being lied to.

After all, Logan had gone through quite enough of that with Lilly, as well as his father. The Echolls boy figured that was why he liked Veronica so much, or at least it was one of the many reasons. She always told him the truth, whether it was what he wanted to hear or not, and that meant a lot.

As he walked away from his so-called best friend, whom he barely thought of as such these days as they spent very little time together, Logan headed outside, on the look-out for his girlfriend who was very much on his mind. It was amazing to him how much things had changed but he wouldn't alter anything. Sure, it was tough, the way things had been going these past few weeks, but all the badness that had found it's way into his life and Veronica's own had led to at least one good thing. They had realised feelings for each other that were so strong. They made each other happy, so far anyway, and Logan only hoped this relationship would be more successful than his last. With no Kanes involved this time around, it really couldn't be any worse, that was for sure.

Logan spotted Veronica across the quad and called to her, though she didn't react at first. He had no idea what she was staring at or why, and frankly he didn't much care.

What the little blonde had seen surprised her greatly. Lilly fussed over Weevil, who was just now relating some tale of a fight to his friends, at least that was what Veronica guessed as he gestured emphatically with moves that suggested punching and kicking. A fight would certainly explain how Weevil had got the nasty black eye he was sporting, but there were two things that puzzled the Sheriff's daughter greatly. Firstly, who would have the guts to take on a guy like Weevil unless they were sure they could bring him down, and how were his biker gang not involved. Secondly, not counting some seriously insane good luck, how would anybody ever manage to land such a blow in the face of a practised fighter like the young Mr Navarro. He wasn't head of the toughest gang in Neptune for nothing, his reputation proceeded him.

None of it made sense, and that was why, when Logan came jogging over to Veronica saying her name for the third time, she was frowning and hardly even noticed he was there.

"Geez, Veronica" he rolled his eyes, "What does it take to get your attention today?"

"Logan, hey" she smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry I was a little... distracted" she admitted, glancing over at Weevil one more time, only to look away again just as fast when he caught her staring and looked her way.

"By other guys?" Logan put his hand to his heart and feigned deep hurt, "Wow, that went in deep, Veronica" he told her and she rolled her eyes.

"You know I'm not interested in anybody else" she assured him, "I'm not..." she stopped short when she realised how bitchy and uncalled for it would be to finish her sentence as she was going to, by saying she was nothing like Lilly, ergo she would not cheat.

"I know you're not like her" Logan assured her with a nod, as his hand went to her hair, and he leaned in to kiss her lips.

Of course that got the expected reaction from the few students around that caught sight of the public display of affection. Though it had been rumoured that the two were a real couple for a while now, they'd just made it official for the entire student body, something both Veronica and Logan were proud of doing. They had nothing to hide. Unlike some, they were not cheating or playing anybody, a novel situation, they were sure, to most of those that realised it.

"So this is what being the third wheel feels like, huh?" Wallace commented as he approached them, and the couple split apart.

"Hey, Wallace" Veronica went a little pink when she realised she and Logan may have got a little carried away.

"Hey yourself" her friend responded with a smile, "I'm guessing you two had more fun together this weekend than I did with my folks"

"It was pretty good" the blonde agreed, as Logan put an arm around her shoulders, staring down a couple of his old friends who glared their way, whispering about Neptune High's latest couple, "Y'know Wallace, me and Logan getting closer doesn't change the fact that we're friends. You know that, right?"

"Girl, you worry too much" he told her, looking over at Logan who had just returned his attention to the conversation, "She really thinks I got all these little girly feelings that are gonna get crushed, just cos you two are macking on each other?"

"What can I say?" Logan shrugged, "She's just adorable"

"If you two are going to make fun of me, I don't have to hang out with either of you" Veronica told them smartly, as she slipped out from under Logan's arm and proceeded to walk away, feigning a bad mood.

Her two guys were soon either side of her apologising for a bad joke and offering to buy her lunch. She smiled as she realised life was good right now, especially as she caught the attention of her ex best friend. Lilly glared a little at the sight of Veronica getting along just fine without her. She had a new best friend and a boyfriend it would seem, and no need for Miss Kane in her life. If Lilly had enough of a heart she might be hurt by that.

"Not that I want to make your head swell any more than it already does" Veronica said to her boyfriend as they sat down together at a lunch table along with Wallace, "I was kind of worried that you might have managed to get yourself into trouble between last period and here"

"Aaw, you were worried about me?" Logan joked, just happy to feel able to do that after too much tragedy of late, "Seriously though, I just got talking to Duncan" he explained, "He said he got drunk on the weekend"

"Drunk?" Veronica echoed, "Duncan was drunk?" she checked, not looking exactly convinced.

Lilly loved to drink, and Logan had been known to get pretty wasted, but Veronica and Duncan had been the more sober of the two couples. They drank sometimes, but not to excess, at least not usually.

"It's what the man said" her boyfriend nodded, "That was his wonderful excuse for the smack on the head he has, getting drunk and falling down"

"But you don't think he did?" Wallace asked, as the couple looked at each other oddly.

"It's possible, I guess" Veronica considered, "but not exactly likely, and the weirdest thing is I just saw Lilly and Weevil... he had a black eye"

"Oh come on, Veronica" Logan chuckled, "You seriously think Duncan is crazy enough to pick a fight with that psycho, especially whilst he's dating Lilly?" he asked her, "And if he did, D-man's not exactly a fighting machine, Weevil would never let him get in such an easy punch"

"I guess not" the blonde sighed as Logan flipped open his cell and called Cho's pizza to order some lunch.

"Oh, I know that look" Wallace frowned, "That's a dangerous amount of thinking you're doing there, Veronica Mars" he told her with a smirk, "You're gonna hurt yourself, y'know"

"Maybe" she said absently, "but if what I'm thinking is right... something doesn't add up here" she shook her head as she got up from the table and walked off at speed.

Wallace yelled after her but to no avail, and was forced just to watch as she hurried away, catching up to Lilly who had also headed off from her own group of friends. The two girls disappeared back into the school building one right behind the other.

"Lilly" Veronica said, as she reached out and caught hold of her arm.

"Hey, V" the Kane girl gave her a fake smile, "Wow, look at you, all talking to me like we're friends again, and here was me thinking I was something you stepped in these days" she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"I'm not denying that I don't think of you as my best friend anymore" Veronica admitted, "You did a lot of damage, Lilly, to a lot of people, and you know I can't stand your complete lack of guilt about the whole thing" she said, and Lilly opened her mouth to interrupt but was not permitted to as Veronica continued, "But that's not the point right now. Lilly, what happened to Duncan?" she asked, and something very slight shifted in her ex-best friends features before she spoke.

"The idiot drank too much" she shrugged, a light laughter in her voice too suggesting none of this even mattered, "It was no big deal, I guess he and Meg must've fought or something, I dunno. He drank, he fell, and bam, bruised head" she explained.

"And that's really what happened?" Veronica checked, really not buying this story anymore from Lilly than she had when Logan said that was what Duncan had told him.

The Kane siblings were lying about this, hiding something, maybe something important and Veronica wanted to know what that something was.

"Yes, Sheriff, that's exactly what happened" Lilly rolled her eyes, holding up her hands in mock-surrender, "God, Veronica, you get more like your Dad everyday"

Just as the blonde opened her mouth to answer, Weevil appeared through the door and approached them.

"Hey, baby" he said, going over to Lilly and putting an arm around her waist, "You been gone a long time"

"I told you I was going to the bathroom" she rolled her eyes once again, "I just got talking to Veronica along the way" she explained.

"I was worried about, Duncan" the other girl said when Weevil gave her a questioning look, after all the two blondes hadn't exactly been friendly to each other these past weeks, "But it looks like you had a little accident of the head bruising variety yourself" she said, as she stared right back at him, not at all bothered by his gaze upon her.

"Somebody landed a lucky punch" Weevil smirked, "What can I say, V? Ain't one among us perfect, but the idiot that dared to do this to me, believe me he came off worse"

She nodded that she certainly believed that, even if she wasn't sure yet that she was getting the whole truth here. Surely Duncan and Weevil hadn't really gotten into a fight, and if they had, it seemed likely the Kane boy would have been in a much worse state today.

"Okay, as fun as it is standing around talking about bruises" Lilly said sarcastically, "I still have to go to the bathroom" she stated, kissing Weevil on the cheek before turning to go.

He gave her a slap on the behind as she went off down the hall, grinning until he turned back and realised Veronica was still there, glaring at him with arms folded across her chest.

"What's the deal, chica?" he asked her, expression half way between amused by the her balls and annoyed by her bothering him, "You think I was pounding on your ex-honey?"

"I don't know what I think right now" Veronica admitted, "but I think it's very weird that a tough guy like you got himself a black eye, and on the same day that your girlfriend's brother comes into school with a nasty head wound and a lame excuse about getting drunk and falling down" she told him, even more convinced of something extra weird going on when Weevil looked away and wouldn't meet her eyes, "Oh come on, Eli" she used his real name just to bug him that little bit more, "Spill already, you know you want to" she urged him, head tilted as she tried to catch his eye when he glanced back at her.

"Look at you, standing there thinkin' you're all tough and smart" he shook his head, "The Sheriff's daughter, in your grown up clothes, fighting off the bad guys and goin' against the grain in school" he rambled on, "but suddenly you want info out of a guy like me and it's sweet little smiles, using my name, and tilting that cute little head of yours"

She smirked at his words, but neither agreed they were true or denied it.

"We use what we can to get by" she told him simply, "To get to the truth when it matters to us the most" she said, with a serious look.

Letting out a breath, Weevil checked left and right down the hall, and then, finding no-one present, he leaned in closer to Veronica and told her the information which he had been sworn to withhold.

To Be Continued...