Summary: Starts at the end of 1.22 with Veronica opening the door. LoVe centric with full ensemble.

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Let My LoVe Open the Door

Veronica opened the door and smiled. "I was hoping it was you." She'd called him from the hospital after finding out her dad was going to be okay.

"Yeah, well, like I said before, we're always owin' each other favors." Weevil smirked back at her. "This one definitely pushes you into the owin' me column."

Veronica crossed her arms in front of her. "So, you found him?" She stepped out onto the walkway. The Xterra was easy to spot in the parking lot, especially surrounded by the PCHer's bikes. Relief flooded through her. "All these guys for one pretty-boy '09er? You losing your touch, Weevil?" Her usually cool exterior was broken after the events of the night, but relief allowed the joke to escape.

Weevil hesitated. "Something like that." He motioned towards his boys. As Veronica watched, they pulled a bound and gagged Logan out of the SUV. "I had a little trouble convincing him to come with me." As they carried him up the stairs Veronica realized Logan was not only tied up, he was unconscious and covered in bruises. She turned an accusatory face to Weevil. "Before you go off on me…" But he knew it was useless. He'd fucked up and he'd take his punishment like a man. "You know what? I'm not even gonna try. Me and the boys went lookin' for him earlier tonight. We sorta found him before you called."

Veronica opened the door wider so the guys could get Logan into the apartment, then followed them inside. "Put him on the couch." She turned her head to look at Weevil as she knelt down next to Logan. "And you beat him until he blacked out?" She took the gag out of his mouth, felt for the pulse at his throat. Still strong.

"Boys, I'll be down in a minute." Weevil's boys filed out, closing the door behind them. He didn't need witnesses to the smack down he knew she was going to give him. This would definitely put him back in the owing her column. "Look, I heard you on the phone earlier. You said he killed Lilly, so I went looking for him. We were in the middle of it when you called, but I stopped it right then." He watched Veronica smooth the hair back from Logan's forehead, but he noticed she hadn't moved to untie him. "After that, it was a little difficult to convince him to come with us peaceably." Weevil shuffled his feet, looking down at the ground. The next part came out as little more than a mumble. "He passed out when I popped his shoulder back into place."

"You dislocated his shoulder? What the hell were you thinking?" Now Veronica was advancing on him, murderous intent shining in her eyes. "He could have a concussion, or worse! Maybe internal bleeding. How long has he been out? I swear, anything happens to him…"

Weevil put his hands up in surrender. "Whoa there, Cujo. Your boy's fine. I've done enough beat downs; I know the damage I caused. We hadn't gotten to anything serious when you called. Just a little pain, nothing permanent. He's passed out 'cause he was already drunk off his ass when we found him. He was playin' on an overpass. Looked to me like he was thinking about jumping." Weevil relaxed a little when Veronica backed down. Truthfully, right now, he felt sorry for the guy. Logan would never be his favorite person. Hell, he still didn't want to be in the same room with him. Didn't have a clue what Veronica saw in him. But his own dad, killing his girlfriend? Weevil followed her into the small kitchen. "You okay, V? You look like you took a few punches tonight yourself."

Veronica wet down a kitchen towel. "I'm fine. My dad's worse than I am. He'll be in the hospital for a while, but the doctors say he's going to be fine too. Logan's dad… " She glanced back at Logan, wanting to make sure he was still out. She kept her voice low as she continued. "His head hit the windshield when I crashed the car. My dad beat the crap out of him. Backup tried to take a chunk out of his arm. Then he got hit by a delivery truck."

"He deserves worse." Weevil put a comforting hand on her arm. "You sure you're gonna be okay? I can stay if you need me. You might have some trouble with him when he wakes up."

Veronica's smile was weak, but it was there. "I can handle Logan. But I do need another favor?" Veronica's smile widened when Weevil rolled his eyes. "Hide his car? The police are probably looking for him, and I know reporters are going to be after him. I want to be the one to tell him what happened. I owe him that much."

Weevil shrugged. "I'll take it to my uncle's place. Let me know when you want it back." He walked with Veronica to the front door. "You need anything, you call me. You got it? Anything, V."

The concern in Weevil's voice almost broke her. When Lilly died, Veronica lost everyone in her life but her dad. She was an outcast in school, in her town. But over the past year, she'd made friends again. Probably better friends than she had before. She gave Weevil a quick hug and a nod, then wiped a tear from her cheek. "Thank you, Eli." She shut the door behind him, then turned to deal with Logan.

--- VVV

It was a little past seven when Logan began to stir on the couch. Veronica was sitting on the floor in front of him. She'd cleaned him the best she could without untying him. She dismissed the thought of taking off the ropes almost immediately. She had a better chance of Logan listening to her, of him staying in one place, if he couldn't get up to runaway. Weevil's speculation that Logan might have jumped off the overpass the night before only reaffirmed her decision. After everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours, she seriously doubted he would want to stay with her, but this would at least give her a chance to tell him the truth. And since Weevil had taken the SUV, Logan couldn't leave to do any damage in the car. Veronica scooted closer at the first moan. "Logan?"

Logan's entire body ached and his head was killing him. He opened his eyes for a second, shutting them almost immediately. Morning. He hated morning. He tried to raise his arm to block out the unwanted light, but couldn't lift it from his side. What the hell? This time he squinted and turned his head. "Veronica?" He couldn't think clearly. What was Veronica doing in his… bedroom? No, that wasn't right.

Veronica knelt next to him blocking the sunlight streaming in though the window. She'd shut the blinds, but light was peaking in from the sides. "Yeah, it's me. I heard you were pretty drunk last night." She pushed a few strands of hair back from his forehead, ran her fingers through the rest. "Probably have a hell of a hangover."

Logan closed his eyes, taking pleasure in Veronica's hand on his aching head. "Yeah, real drunk." Parts of the night before started to slide into place. He tried to sit up, but couldn't. "That fuckin' spic… "

Veronica placed a gentle kiss on his brow. "His name's Weevil. It was a… misunderstanding. He brought you to me, so I could take care of you."

Logan opened his eyes fully this time. All he could do was stare at her. Veronica smiling down at him. Veronica... Veronica... Veronica. "You think I killed Lilly."

She slowly shook her head. "No, I don't. I know who killed Lilly. I found out last night." She tried to smile again, tried to reassure me, but it wouldn't come. "Logan, we need to talk."

Pushing past the pain was easy. Logan lived with worse beatings than the one he got the night before from the bikers. But not being able to move, something was wrong with that. He finally glanced down. "If you're so sure I didn't kill Lilly, mind telling me why I'm tied up on your couch?"

Veronica ignored his question. She stood up, placing her hands gently on his shoulders. "Let's get you sitting up, okay?"

Logan let her help him; he didn't have a choice. "Answer me, Veronica." He could only watch as she walked away from him, down the small hall of the apartment. "Veronica! Tell me what's going on!"

She returned a minute later, a glass of water and two aspirin in her hands. She stopped in front of him. "You told me once you wanted me to trust you. I said I did, but… I know I don't have the right to ask, but I need you to trust me now."

Logan didn't answer her immediately. He took his time, searching for the truth of her words in her eyes. That's when he noticed the bruise on her forehead. Something bad had happened. His voice was quite, but deadly. "Did Duncan do that to you?" The surprise on Veronica's face was immediate. "You said you found out last night who killed Lilly. Was it Duncan?"

Veronica offered him the aspirin. After a moment he tilted his head back and opened his mouth. She dropped the pills in, then fed him the water to wash them down. She knelt back down in front of him, putting her hands on his knees. "I'm going to take the pill thing as a sign you're willing to trust me." Logan nodded. She'd explain slowly and thoroughly, knowing she was only going to get one shot. "I went to the Kane's house last night to search for the letter you wrote to Lilly. I figured if it wasn't in her car with the shot glass, she might have hidden it in the air vent. Just like you taught her."

Logan's voice was a whisper. "You believed me."

Veronica could only stare at him. His voice held a mix of awe and… forgiveness? Could he forgive her that quickly for turning him over to the police? For believing it was possible he could have killed Lilly? For not knowing him half as well as he seemed to know her? God, she stood in Lilly's room and told Duncan that Logan had killed his sister.

"Duncan caught me in her room. Together we found videotapes in the vent. We watched them." Veronica kept her eyes glued to his. He was willing to wait. To let her take him wherever she wanted to go. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "They were tapes of her having sex with… with another guy. I took the tapes. I was going to give them to my dad, but something happened as I was driving home. There was someone in the car. He was hiding in the back seat. I crashed the car, trying to get away from him. I got out, tried to run, go for help, but he followed me. I was able to hide the tapes before he caught up with me." She was speaking fast now, reliving all of it again. "He locked me in a freezer and he poured gasoline on it. He wanted the tapes. And then my dad found us. And they fought. And somehow, I don't even know what happened, but there was fire and then my dad opened the lid and I was out, but he had walked through the fire to get to me and he was burning." She tried to take a deep breath, but she was crying so hard.

Logan's voice was calm. "Untie me." She shook her head no. "Ronnie, I'm not going anywhere, but you've got to untie me. I'm not going to leave you. Trust me." Veronica's hands were shaking as she tried to untie the ropes. All she was able to do was loosen them, but it was enough. Logan freed his arms, and lifted her into his lap. "You're safe now, Veronica. It's going to be all right, I promise." He rocked her like a small child. "I'm here. No one's going to hurt you ever again. I'm here."

It took several minutes for Veronica to calm down, Logan whispering words of comfort to her the entire time. She had broken down in front of her dad, but she didn't realize how scared and violated she still felt until she tried to tell Logan what happened. "I need to tell you the rest."

Logan squeezed her to him. Pain shot through ever muscle in his body, but he ignored it. "I know, but can I get these ropes off first?" That, at least, caused her to smile. He picked her up, settling her on the couch so he could stand and shed his restraints. Another wave of pain. Fuck the pain! He'd lived through worse. Besides, Veronica needed him. He grabbed a box of tissues, handing them to her. "You're a mess, Mars." Again she smiled. When she was comfortably seated back on his lap, he questioned her. "Is your dad okay?"

Veronica nodded. "He's in the hospital, but the doctors say he's going to be fine." She waited for him to ask who'd done it. Who hurt her, her dad, killed Lilly, but Logan didn't ask. "While my dad was getting me out, the man tried to run. There was a car, a deliver van. He was hit. I found my dad's gun, held him at gunpoint while the kid in the van called nine-one-one."

Logan kissed her. A real kiss, not peppered kisses on her forehead, but the type of kiss they were so good at. Just like the first kiss at the Camelot. "Remind me never to piss off you or your dad again." And then he smirked. A patented Logan Echolls' smirk. He gently wiped tears off her face with his index finger. "What happened to Lilly?"

Veronica opened her mouth, but nothing would come out. She tried again, but she couldn't do it. Couldn't say the words. She had to tell him, but telling him might destroy him. Lilly, then his mom, now his dad. Could she take everything away from him like that? For all his bravado, the Logan she knew was fragile.

Logan placed his hands on either side of her face, gently forcing her to look him in the eye. "Veronica, what did Aaron do to Lilly?" Veronica's eyes widened in surprise, fear, amazement, and a few dozen other emotions Logan couldn't pin down, but he continued to look at her with complete calm. "You didn't tie me up to tell me the butler did it. You said you found the tapes in her room. Of the two of them? She threatened him, didn't she? Threatened to expose their relationship? That would have sent him completely over the edge."

Veronica was crying again, but this time she was crying for him. This time she hugged him, was offering her comfort to him. "He must have gone to the house to confront her. When she wouldn't give him the tapes…"

"He lost it and he hit her." Logan said it so matter of factly. "I don't think it's going to be a big surprise when I tell you he hits me, right? I mean, you saw what he did to Trina's boyfriend. You must have known it wasn't the first time. But he never hit Trina. Never hit my mom. I, I didn't think he'd hit a woman." Slowly now, Logan was breaking. He slid out from under Veronica and began to pace. "What was she thinking? She knew… Lilly knew what he was like! Knew what he was capable of! I could kill her myself for just being so fucking stupid!" His voice was getting louder, he was beginning to shake. "I told you before, Lilly loved guys, but to sleep with my dad? Was she out of her fucking mind? Other guys, maybe I could handle. Hell even Weevil, but this… She had to pick the one person that would hurt me the most. She could be such a complete bitch when she wanted to be. Damn it, Lilly! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! …"

Veronica could do nothing but watch as Logan stormed through her apartment. He was beating his fist on the walls, the door, the counter, but he wasn't hurting himself or her, wasn't destroying what little possessions she had, so she let it go. It was obvious he needed this. He needed to be mad at Lilly for sleeping with his dad, because when he was done, he'd have to deal with the fact that his dad had killed her. And he obviously wasn't ready to deal with that yet. She pulled her legs up to her chest and watched him have a complete meltdown. And when it was over, she'd be there.

---TBC