Title: Unexpected (2/?)

Author: Bex81385

Pairing: Logan/Veronica, LOVE

Rating: Somewhere between PG 13 and R

Spoilers: Everything up to Ruskie Business, after that goes completely AU

Summary: An unexpected event shakes Veronica to the core and threatens to bring Logan and Veronica back together.

Chapter Two

Logan watched silently as the sheriff's office infiltrated the Mars' family business, with a terrified Veronica attached to his side. He held her gently but firmly, making sure she knew he was there just like she had the night before. He visibly shuddered as the thought crossed his mind that now both of their most cherished parents were gone. He wanted to tell her that it would all be ok, but he knew for her, it wouldn't be. Keith was the only parent she had left and now he was gone. Veronica hadn't spoken a word since her strangled cry for her, and he was starting to worry.

Logan had called Lamb, who didn't really seem all that concerned with the fact that Keith Mars had been found stabbed to death, by his daughter. He simply kept repeating his questions to Veronica. What was he digging around in this time? Considering your father's lengthy list of enemies, any idea where we should start first? Logan had finally gotten fed up with his insensitive questions and pulled Veronica away stating she was in no condition to be verbally attacked right now. Lamb merely rolled his eyes and sent Leo over to try and talk to her.

She hadn't been pleased when Lamb had forced Logan to leave her with Leo so that Logan could answer his questions. Leo was trying to coax words out of her but he wasn't fairing much better than Lamb. Veronica simply didn't want to speak to them. The only person she wanted to speak to was the one person she never would again.

"Come on Veronica. You have to talk to me. Tell me what happened." Leo said softly. He knew she was suffering. He knew how much Keith meant to her. He didn't know why Logan Echolls was with her, but he seemed to be the only person Veronica wanted around. He was trying really hard not to feel offended, considering he was just on a date with her the night before.

Veronica looked at him her eyes bloodshot from the sobbing she had done before Lamb showed up, but she said nothing.

Logan looked over in her direction and for the second time today he felt the need to protect her. He had been trying to answer Lamb's questions but since all he knew was that Veronica walked in and found him that way, he was of little help. The only one who could tell Lamb about any cases Keith might have been working on was Veronica, and even then there were no real guarantees that he had told her anything. He grew tired of watching Leo try to coax answers from her and told Lamb he didn't know anything else. When Lamb sighed and sent him on his way he headed straight back over to her. "Ronnie?" he asked softly

Veronica turned to face him but said noting.

"It's ok. You don't have to talk to me." he said softly before pulling her back up against his side. He sighed softly as he felt Veronica lean into his embrace, her entire body shivering slightly.

"Hey, I know you." Leo said suddenly pulling Logan's attention away from Veronica. He wanted Logan to know he was still standing there. He didn't like the way Logan and Veronica were interacting.

Logan looked at him curiously. "Do you?" he asked since he didn't remember who this man was. He was pretty sure he'd never met him.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. I was at the dance with Veronica last night." he said stressing the with. "You made an ass out of yourself and Veronica talked me into ignoring your public drunkenness and the fact that you were underage." he said pointedly while fixing him with a glare.

Logan nodded unsure of why he was getting the disdainful look from the guy. "Well that was mighty nice of you." he said bored before turning back and looking at Veronica. He couldn't help but think that now was not the time to get into a pissing contest with Veronica's boyfriend or whatever this guy was to her. "She's awful persuasive isn't she?" he asked not really expecting an answer.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. I guess she is. She has just about everyone at the department wrapped around her finger. Except for the sheriff of course."

Logan sighed. "Yeah well, Lamb's a moron." he said annoyed. He felt Veronica move out of his embrace and looked to see her walking towards the office again, her eyes as wide as saucers. He followed her line of sight and saw what she had seen; an EMT rolling a body bag out of the office on a stretcher that contained Keith's body. He watched her shoulders hitch and he knew before she made a sound that she was going to break down.

Leo obviously saw the same thing because he got to her before Logan could and tried to wrap his arms around her. He hadn't expected her to shove him off of her before he could barely touch her. She shook her head furiously. Leo sighed. "Ok, ok I won't touch you. I'm sorry." he said in a soothing manner before backing off. He then looked at Logan. He didn't want to leave Veronica, the girl he'd come to think of as his, with Logan but he had to get back to work. "I have to go. Make sure she knows she can call me if she needs anything." he said regretfully before walking off.

Logan nodded, not caring the least bit what Leo had just said. "I think you might have hurt the Barney Fife wannabe's feelings." he said jokingly, "Not that it matters one bit. Your feelings are the only ones that matter right now." he added. He moved towards her hesitantly, not really wanting her to shove him away like she had done Leo. He touched her arm lightly and relaxed when she didn't pull away.

Lamb came up to them and looked at Veronica somewhat awkwardly. "We're taking him to the morgue now Veronica." he said bluntly

Logan balled his fists as he heard a sob rip past her closed lips. Logan looked at him angrily. "What can you tell her about what happened?" he sniped

Lamb looked at Logan curiously. The last time he checked Veronica wasn't even on the 09'ers radar, and now Logan was standing there looking like he wanted to pummel him. "I won't know anything until I get the coroner's report. Then I'll be sure to let her know what I find out."

Logan nodded and watched as Lamb walked off. He turned to Veronica quickly. "I'll be right back ok." he said. He waited until he thought he saw a nod and ran off after Lamb. "Lamb!" he called out causing the sheriff to stop

"Well, what it is?" Lamb snapped after Logan silently stared at him for a long moment.

Logan glared at him. "You know, she just lost her father you could show a little compassion." He was enraged at the amount of insensitivity that dripped from Lamb.

Lamb rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Mr. Echolls, did you need something else? Because if not, I could go start investigating Mr. Mars' death." Lamb snapped

Logan sighed. He didn't want to have ask Lamb this, but Veronica wasn't talking and he knew he needed some help with her. He didn't really know that much about Veronica's friends and who she called family these days. "Look, I'm not really friends with Ronnie anymore. Or I am now, but I don't know who to call or..."

Lamb sighed. "I already called Cliff McCormack. He was close to Veronica and her father. He'll know the answers to all of your questions. He'll be here any minute now." Lamb said for once showing some kind of gentleness towards the situation. He wasn't heartless. Veronica was the bane of his existence but he didn't wish something like this on anyone. He looked over in her direction and saw several reporters headed towards her. He cleared his throat, gaining Logan's attention once more and then pointed over towards Veronica. "She looks like she might need someone over there." he said before walking off

Logan looked over at Veronica and saw the reporters. She had helped him avoid the reporters and the photographers and he intended to do the same for her. He ran back over to her quickly. "Come on." he said holding his hand out to her

Veronica looked at him but didn't take his hand. She wanted to but she felt like she couldn't move a muscle.

"Come on Ronnie. I know you don't want your picture plastered all over the paper tomorrow." he said trying to pull her towards his Xterra.

Realizing he was right she quit fighting him and let him lead her away from the office and the crowds.

He held the door open for her and she wordlessly climbed in. "Lamb said he called Cliff McCormack. I assume you know who that is." he said. When she nodded he added, "He should be here any minute. Until then stay here. The windows are tinted and no one can see in them."

Veronica nodded and opened her mouth like she was going to say something but then thought better of it and closed it. She couldn't find the words she so desperately wanted to say to him.

Logan shut the door and smiled slightly when he heard her lock the doors behind him. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and bumped into someone. He looked up to see Weevil standing in front of him.

"Man what the hell is going on here?" Weevil asked worriedly

"You didn't hear?" Logan asked confused. "I thought for sure it would be all over the news by now. What are you doing here?"

"I went to V's house to drop off her car. It just needed to be jumped. But she wasn't there. So I thought I'd drop by and see if she was here. And when I get here there's all this crime scene tape and cops and reporters..." Weevil started but was interrupted by said reporters

"Logan Echolls! What can you tell us about what happened here today?" one of the reporters asked

"No comment." Logan said mechanically

"How was Keith Mars murdered?" another one yelled

"What!" Weevil yelled, shocked by the reporters claim. He quickly looked around for Veronica but didn't see her anywhere.

"Is it true that his daughter found the body?!"

"Enough!" Logan screamed "Back the hell off of me. I don't know anything! Go find Sheriff Lamb and ask him. And if I catch any of you near Veronica I'm suing you all for harassment!" he yelled storming off with Weevil hot on his trail.

"What the hell is going on?" Weevil snapped angrily "Where's Veronica?"

Logan sighed. "I dropped Veronica off here after the whole Duncan thing, about an hour ago. I hadn't even had a chance to leave the parking lot and I heard her scream. So I came running in here, worried about her, and found her standing in Keith's office. It took me a moment to take my eyes off of Veronica and when I did, all I saw was Keith lying in a pool of blood, with a knife sticking out of his back."

Weevil was stunned. "Someone killed Keith Mars?" he stuttered out when he was finally able to speak. "And Veronica found him?"

Logan nodded. He could see a million different emotions play out over the biker's face, and for the first time ever, he was sure they both agreed on one thing. Whoever did this, whoever took Keith away from Veronica, had to pay.

Weevil shook his head in disbelief. "Where's Veronica? How's she doing?"

"Bad. She's doing really bad." He admitted. "She hasn't said a word since she found him. She's in my car, hiding from the press and waiting on Cliff McCormack to get here." Logan said

"I want to see her." Weevil demanded

Logan nodded before leading Weevil over towards his car. He didn't like that Veronica was so involved with Weevil, but it was obvious that Weevil was actually her friend. He knew that if there was ever a time when she needed all the friends she could get it was now. He opened the door slowly but still succeeding in startling her. "Sorry Ronnie. Weevil wanted to see you."

Veronica turned to look at Weevil and then back at Logan. Her expression hollow.

One glance at Veronica and his heart felt like it was breaking. He instantly spotted the massive bruise on her arm and vowed to make sure Duncan paid for it, regardless of what she wanted. "Hey V. How ya holding up?" Weevil asked earning a groan from Logan, "I know I know. Stupid question." he said nervously. He hadn't seen her like this since Lilly died and everyone abandoned her. It was one of the reason's he'd made an effort to look out for her. That and he knew how much Lilly loved her, and he knew how much he loved Lilly. At a loss for what to say, he held out her keys which she took graciously. "It just needed to be jumped. It's running fine now."

Logan watched her simply nod and turned around when he heard someone asking one of the officers where he could find Veronica. The officer pointed over towards Logan and the guy began walking towards them. Logan assumed and hoped that this was Cliff, because aside from protecting her from media, he really had no clue what to do. He barely had time to move out of the way as Cliff brushed past him to get to Veronica.

"V!" he said worriedly before pulling her to him

Logan watched in shock as Veronica let him pull her out of the car and into his arms. Still she hadn't spoken to him, and she wasn't exactly returning the embrace.

Cliff couldn't believe it when Lamb called him. He didn't want to. Keith Mars couldn't be dead. Keith Mars was an unstoppable force who would never allow himself to die while Veronica was still alive and kicking. Then his thoughts turned solely to Veronica. He watched her struggle through Lilly's murder but he didn't know if she could survive this."I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..." he repeated over and over again for a few minutes before pulling back and looking at her closely.

Logan and Weevil stood silently beside the Xterra. Neither one knew what to say. Logan knew out of the two he was the most uncomfortable, since it appeared that Weevil knew Cliff. Plus Logan didn't exactly spend a lot of time with Veronica or on this side of town. Logan looked back over at Veronica who looked like she was struggling to remain upright. He was convinced if Cliff hadn't been holding her up she'd be on the ground.

"I'm sorry about your mom." Weevil said breaking Logan out of his thoughts. Surprisingly Weevil knew he meant it. When he had found out about those two kids with video evidence of Lynn Echolls jumping off the Coronado Bridge, he'd made it perfectly clear to the twerps that no one ever knew about it. Then he forced them to hand over all copies of the video. He'd offered them all to Veronica, unsure of what he should do with them. She'd taken one, for reason's unknown to him and most likely herself and then instructed him to burn the rest. Which he promptly did.

Logan turned to look at him closely. He could tell the sentiments were genuine. "Thanks."

"This really sucks. I mean first, your mom, now, V's dad..." Weevil said unsure of where the sentence had been going. He sighed sadly as he looked back over at Veronica. He knew this was merely the calm before the storm, that she was in shock. Soon it would all hit her, and he hoped she'd let someone help her, whether it be Wallace, or himself, or even if it was necessary Logan.

Logan simply nodded. It wasn't like the correlation between his mom and her dad was a new thought to him. An uncomfortable silence loomed between the two of them and Logan almost let out a breath of relief when his phone rang interrupting it. Almost, until he looked at the caller id. The last person he wanted to talk to was his father, the very man who'd driven his mother to kill herself. Still he knew that if he didn't answer the call, he wouldn't like the outcome when he finally got home. Aaron had never tolerated being ignored, and Logan knew better than to break that rule.

The phone continued to ring and Logan saw Veronica turn her attention towards him. He shot her an apologetic look before finally flipping it open. "Hello."

"What took you so long to answer?" Aaron bellowed

Logan sighed. "I was distracted. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." he said obediently. He ignored the weird look Weevil was giving him.

"It had better not, now get home. I want to talk to you."

Logan's eyes darted side to side as he frantically tried to figure out what it was he had done this time. The tone in his father's voice made it clear that he had every intention of punishing his son once he arrived home. He looked over at Veronica who was still watching him instead of listening to Cliff talk. He didn't want to leave her, but he knew he didn't have a choice. "Can it wait a little while longer? I'm actually kind of busy." he asked hopefully.

Aaron scoffed. "Are you kidding me?"

Logan sighed. "No sir, it's just I'm with Veronica and..."

"You think I care what you're doing or who you're with? I said get home." he snarled irately

Logan knew now that no matter how bad his father had intended his beating to be, it was going to be worse now. "Her dad died..."

"And what you want to hold her hand so the two of you can cry together?"

Logan's expression turned to ice. "I'll be home in ten minutes." he said before hanging up. Hanging up on his dad hadn't been smart but it was better than saying what he had been thinking. Telling Aaron Echolls to shut the hell up about his mother and Veronica's father would have only earned him a trip to the emergency room.

He reluctantly headed over to her knowing that despite what had happened today, she'd know something was wrong with him. He quickly plastered a look of indifference on his face before reaching out and touching her shoulder. She had enough to worry about, he didn't need to add himself to her list. "Veronica..." he said softly

She turned to look at him and sighed sadly. Despite his efforts she could still read him like a book. She pointed to a more secluded place and tried to smile slightly as he nodded and led them away from everyone else.

"I have to go." he told her grudgingly, "Dad wants me home. He says he needs to talk to me about something." he added bitterly

Try as she might, she couldn't stop Trina's words from the night before from flooding back into her memory. She was instantly worried about him, and for a brief moment she let her fear for him show on her face. She wanted to beg him to stay with her, but if there was any truth to Trina's words she knew she couldn't, because she knew he would. She didn't want to responsible for him getting hurt. She nodded, unsure of what to say.

"I hate to leave you here. I don't want to." he admitted "You refused to leave me last night until I made you, and I want to do the same for you. I don't want to leave you Veronica. At least when you left me last night I was talking, you haven't said a word in over an hour..."

Veronica reached out and grabbed his hand comfortingly. "I'll be ok." she said softly, her voice cracking the entire time.

Logan smiled slightly. He pulled her into a tight hug, making an effort not to put any pressure on her injured arm. Her arms wrapped tightly around him in return and it didn't seem like she was ever going to let go. He didn't want to admit how happy it made him that she had finally spoken, to him no less. "Promise me you'll call me if you need anything?" he demanded once she finally pulled away from the embrace.

She nodded and smiled at him slightly. She sighed as he reached out and wiped a few stray tears from her face. "Thank you." she said gently

"For what?"

She shrugged. "For helping me earlier today with Duncan. For being here now."

Logan nodded before looking back at his watch. There was no way he was going to be home on time and he found he didn't care as much. He was going to get the beating either way, he might as well stay and make sure she was really going to be ok.

Veronica saw him look at his watch and stepped back away from him. She mouthed bye before turning and walking back to Cliff who'd been joined by Weevil.

Logan nodded and walked back to his car. After getting in and driving off, he hoped that Cliff had the sense to get her inside soon and away from all the cameras.

xxxxxx

It wasn't long after Logan left that Cliff finally suggested they leave the office. She hadn't wanted to leave, but Cliff knew they had to. She hadn't spoken a word since Logan left, and he knew the longer they stayed here the longer her self-imposed silence would last.

Weevil stayed a little while longer, hoping to pry a word or two out of her. He didn't know why she had talked to Logan but he guessed that despite all the bad blood between Logan and Veronica, they both ultimately still cared about each other. He couldn't complain though, at least she had talked to someone. He finally realized she wasn't going to say anything else, that Logan's departure had shoved her further into herself, and decided to leave. He made sure she knew that if she needed him, she could call, and he'd be there in a heartbeat. When she smiled slightly, he smiled back and hugged her slightly, or as much as he could hug someone who wasn't making an effort to hug him back, and then left.

Cliff was still trying to convince her to leave when Wallace showed up. He ran over to her spouting out apologies for not being there sooner. When he threw his arms around her and she didn't reciprocate the motion he pulled back and looked at her curiously. He'd been expecting to find Veronica hysterical, with tears running down her face while she screamed at the Sheriff's department for not doing their jobs properly. He was prepared to deal with that Veronica, he didn't know how to handle a perfectly calm Veronica.

"She's in shock." Cliff explained

Wallace nodded, mentally slapping himself for not realizing that. Of course she was in shock, she'd been the one to find her father's dead body. Wallace looked back at Veronica and it was more than obvious to him that she wasn't even listening to them.

Veronica had, in fact, tuned them out. She was trying to remember what the last thing she'd said to her father had been. She hoped it had been 'I love you' but she was sure it wasn't. She'd gotten a phone call from her mother after returning home from the dance, and she'd made the mistake of telling him about it over breakfast. He hadn't been happy that she was still searching for Lianne and he hadn't wasted any time letting her know it. Finally she remembered her last words to him and she felt like the air was knocked out of her. She couldn't believe the last words she'd ever say to her father were, 'She's in trouble and you don't even care, what kind of person are you?'.

Shaking her head trying to make the voice in her head, that sounded suspiciously like herself, that screamed at her for being a horrible daughter, shut up. She tuned back into Cliff and Wallace and realized they were both still trying to convince her to leave. Deciding it was easier to just leave then continue fighting them she finally caved and let Cliff lead her to his car.

Once Cliff had shut the car door with Veronica safely locked inside, he turned back to Wallace. "Thanks." he said graciously. He was sure Wallace had something to do with her sudden agreement.

Wallace shrugged, knowing he really had nothing to do with it. "She can stay with me."

Cliff shook his head. He knew Wallace cared about Veronica but he had made a promise to Keith, and he wasn't going to back out of it now. "Thanks, but I promised Keith that if anything ever happened to him that I'd take care of Veronica. She's going to be staying with me for the time being." he said decisively, but then added, "but you're welcome to come with us and stay as long as you want or as long as she'll let you."

Wallace nodded, accepting the compromise. "It's just, I'm kind of the only friend she really has, you know."

Cliff shrugged. "What about Eli Navarro? Despite his criminal record he seems to care about her. I mean he was here, and at any other time she seems to really like him as well."

Wallace nodded and tried to ignore the pangs of regret he felt knowing that even Weevil had gotten here before him. "Yeah, but they're not really close. They just seem to get each other out of the other's messes frequently."

Cliff nodded, but then thought of Logan. "And what about Logan Echolls."

Wallace shook his head defiantly. "No, Logan and Veronica hate, no it's more like despise, each other." he said confused, "They both make it their personal mission to make the other's life hell. Why would you loop him in with a list of her friends?"

Cliff shrugged. He knew Veronica and Logan had their problems but it certainly seemed to him like all was forgiven. "It didn't seem like it earlier. I mean, he was with her when she discovered the body."

Wallace looked at him, his eyes widened, with something beyond confusion. "What? Why?"

"I don't know, but he just left right before you got here. He hadn't let her out of his sight since she found Keith. It certainly seemed like he cared about her." he told Wallace. The look on Wallace's face clearly said he didn't believe him. "And Veronica didn't seem to thrilled when Logan left either. He's the only one she's even spoken to."

Wallace took a deep breath. He was so confused. He couldn't figure out why Veronica would be with Logan at all, let alone why she'd talk to him when she was refusing to talk to anyone else. Even him, her best friend. He was pulled from his thoughts by Cliff once again. "Huh?"

Cliff pointed to the car. "I said are you coming with us or not?"

Wallace nodded. "Oh. Yeah. Thanks." he said before climbing into the back seat.

Cliff got in and looked at Veronica. "You ready?" He sighed inwardly when the only response he got was a simple shake of her head in the negative.