A/N: Thanks so much for all the kind reviews! This is the first story I've written and I'm having a blast with it. Season 1 AU is my favorite and I have so many ideas of where I want to take this.
Note: I don't own Veronica Mars. Just a big fan.
Veronica's last class of the day was study hall and she used her charm to get a pass to the computer lab so she could work on Mac's problem. No one was in the lab so she put her MP3 player head phones in and began investigating the rest of the people on the list.
Two names stuck out. Jon Schultz and Jeff Kirkland were both divorced, owed child support, had credit card debt, and opportunity to steal money. Jon was a daytime manager who had worked at the store for three years. Jeff was the bookkeeper for the store. Veronica then researched Mac's father Sam and found an interesting medical settlement made out to him and his wife in the early 90's. Veronica jotted down some notes and realizing the school day had been over for nearly fifteen minutes, she shut down the computer and walked out to the parking lot towards her car.
She stopped short of her trusty LeBaron and frowned when she saw the front tire was deflated. Fortunately the '09ers had stopped slashing her tires, instead only removing the cap and letting the air escape. She had gotten very good at changing her tires. Maybe I can go to school to be a mechanic, she thought wryly. It took her another fifteen minutes to change the tire and start on her way home. While she was driving, her cell phone rang and she let it go to voicemail. She parked in her apartment building's lot and made her way to her apartment. She leafed through the mail while she unlocked her door and entered.
"Where have you been?" a frustrated voice called out. Veronica jumped, startled that someone else was in the room. She knew her dad was at work and instinctively reached for the mace she kept on her keychain. It took her a few moments to figure out it was Logan sitting on her couch looking pissed off and worried. She relaxed enough to put the mace down but kept her defenses up.
"At school. Where have you been?" she asked while walking to the fridge to get a bottle of water.
"Here! Waiting for you!" he cried, standing up and crossing the room in three long steps.
"Here I am. Let me change real quick and we can go." She started towards her bedroom before he grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him.
"Dammit Veronica. I was worried! You were late getting here and you didn't answer your cell phone." He ran his fingers roughly through his hair, his body exuding tension. She finally realized just how upset he was.
"I'm sorry Logan. I'm not used to anyone looking out for me or waiting for me. My dad does, obviously, but he works a lot and I'm usually on my own."
"We had plans, V. And I couldn't find you at school so I came here and couldn't find you here either."
"I know, I know. I got caught up on a project and didn't hear the bell ring. Then when I went to leave, I had a flat tire. I'm sorry." She really did feel bad but it was weird to know that someone else besides her dad and Wallace cared about her.
Logan stiffened. "Your tire was flat?"
"Yep. I'm getting good at changing tires. Thinking about going into the tire business." She squeezed his hand and made her way into her bedroom, pulling out a dresser drawer to find a new shirt. The one she was wearing now had grease and dirt on it and she wanted to look nice when they saw Lynn today. Logan followed her into her room and sat on her bed, watching her. She stood awkwardly for a moment, wondering if she should go into the bathroom to change or ask him to step out of the room. He seemed to sense her quandary and raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. She shrugged and pulled her dirty top off, tossing it into the hamper, and putting the new one on. Logan gaped when he saw her pale green lace bra.
He coughed quietly to clear his throat. "Right, so. Your tire."
"Yes, my tire. Are you okay?"
"Perfectly wonderful. I'll talk to the guys; tell them to quit messing around with your stuff."
"Don't worry about it. I'm used to it." She grabbed a sweater from her closet and went to the mirror above her dresser. She fluffed her hair and added some colored lip gloss on her lips. Logan watched as she pursed her lips into the mirror. He came up behind her, wrapped his hands around her middle, and kissed her neck gently.
"I want to worry about it and I don't want you to be used to it. God, Veronica. You smell so good." He pressed his nose to her hair, inhaling her scent deeply. He grabbed her hips and flipped her around to face him, kissing under her ear and down her neck. She sighed in pleasure and rested her hands on his chest. She moved her head so he had more access and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his soft lips. "I missed you today," he whispered into her neck.
"Had a case to work on," she said breathlessly. Her fingers clutched his shirt as he sucked on a particularly sensitive spot. He continued his ministrations for a few more minutes before reluctantly pulling away, kissing her lightly on the lips.
"We should get going. I told my mom we'd meet her at the new house." Veronica shook herself out of a pleasure induced haze and nodded.
"Right, of course. Let me grab my bag and… hey, how did you get in my house?"
"Your dad let me in." She stopped at that and looked at him curiously. "Seriously. My mom had told him earlier today that we were going shopping right after school. He stopped home to let Backup out and I was already here. He needed to get back so he said I could wait inside. Nothing nefarious went down." She rolled her eyes.
"I guess I'll believe you this time." They made their way out of the apartment and down to his monstrosity of a car. Veronica was surprised when he opened her door for her and helped her step up into the SUV. He noticed her surprise and gave her a shy smile.
"I can be a gentleman. I just choose not to most of the time," he said while climbing into the driver's seat.
"What ever did I do to deserve such chivalrous treatment?" she asked playfully.
"Nothing yet, but I'm sure you'll make it up to me," he said with a naughty grin.
She laughed and pulled out her cell phone to text Mac: 'Got some solid leads on your dad's case. Will work on it more tonight.' Mac texted back almost immediately: 'You're a goddess among humans.' Veronica snickered again and put her phone back into her bag.
"Who were you texting?" Logan asked, curious and mildly jealous that someone else had made her laugh.
"Rico. I met him at the biker bar near the train tracks. Nice guy." She flashed him a wicked smile. He scowled and she snorted. "It was just Mac. I'm working on a case for her. Wanted to give her an update."
"What kind of case?" Logan knew that Veronica worked at her dad's PI firm and he had heard rumors that she solved cases at school.
"Someone is stealing money at her dad's work. He's getting framed for it. She gave me a list of employees and two of the guys look fishy. I was planning on doing some surveillance tonight and maybe tomorrow, see if I can spot them doing something suspicious."
"I'll go with you."
"You don't have to. It's going to be boring."
"I want to see you in your element. And I want to see how far you'll let me go in the backseat of your car." He wiggled his eyebrows and she rolled her eyes.
"Whatever floats your boat, Captain."
"My first pet name! If I'm Captain, you'll have to be Black Widow."
She stared hard at him. "What?"
"From the Avengers? Captain America, Black Widow. Ooh, we can get you some black leather to wear and some handguns, but maybe it's not a good idea to give you a weapon…" He glanced at her stony face and chuckled. He pulled into the driveway of his new house and saw his mom open the door. She held up a finger to signal she'd be right there.
"No leather. Or cutesy pet names. And you are such a geek." Veronica unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed into the backseat.
Logan looked inquiringly at her in the rearview mirror. "Testing out the backseat without me?"
"Yes. Very spacious."
Before Logan could answer, Lynn opened the passenger door and climbed into the SUV. She turned back to smile brightly at Veronica and gave her son a peck on the cheek. "Hello you two. Ready to get some shopping done?" The both agreed and Logan pulled out of the driveway, making his way to the first store.
Four hours later, they had shopped until they dropped. Almost literally. Veronica's stomach was growling so loud, Logan asked if she required medical assistance. They stopped for dinner at a little café near the beach. Veronica watched the interaction between Logan and his mom. She felt a small ache when she noticed that Lynn asked for water instead of wine with dinner. After Logan's confession that his mom drank instead of stopping Aaron's abuse, she was glad to see that Lynn was avoiding alcohol. Logically she knew that her mother being an alcoholic and leaving was not her fault. She still felt like her mom had purposely chosen not to get help or stop her addiction and she couldn't help but feel inadequate.
Over dinner, they all talked, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company. Veronica wasn't sure how much help she provided in the furniture stores but it was fun to pick out things she'd never be able to afford. They had picked out enough items to completely furnish their new house. Veronica was looking forward to helping decorate and getting things set up over Christmas break. After dinner, they dropped Lynn off at home and Logan accompanied Veronica into her apartment.
"So what's the plan for the stake out tonight? Should I have changed into all black clothes or something?" Logan asked while flopping down on her bed.
Veronica rolled her eyes. "I have the addresses of the two guys. We're going to drive by their house, park outside and take pictures of anything suspicious. This will be different than my other cases because I'm usually trying to get the money shot of a cheating spouse. I'm not really sure what I'll find tonight that's suspicious but it doesn't hurt to look around."
"If one of them is stealing money, we might see a new car they normally couldn't afford or maybe they gamble a lot."
"Good point. Let me just check my email and stuff real quick and we can head out." Veronica opened her laptop and Logan walked around the room, looking at her pictures and souvenirs. He turned when he heard Veronica make an odd sound and quickly stepped towards her when he saw her stricken face.
"What is it? Veronica baby, what happened?" She stared at the computer screen before suddenly standing up, pacing around the room. Logan looked down at the screen and saw the headline "WOMAN KILLED IN ACCIDENT IDENTIFIED." Logan's brow furrowed while he read the story, his eyes landing on the name Lianne Mars.