September rolled around and the routine Logan, Veronica, and Hunter managed to get even more comfortable with the daily routine. Hunter went to school, Veronica worked, and Logan made the commute to and from San Diego. The second week of September Logan received orders that her would be deploying for four weeks. He would be testing different planes and maneuvers while participating in Naval War games, which means no contact with the outside world.
Sunday night Logan said goodbye to Veronica and Hunter. Monday morning he was incommunicado somewhere in the southern Pacific Ocean. Veronica kept to her normal routine, get hunter to school work some cases, pick up Hunter spend the rest of the day with Hunter. At night, when Logan was home at least she would go on stakeouts. With Logan gone, however she couldn't leave Hunter alone in the house. So she stayed in and did research on this or that for different cases.
After the longest four weeks, at least in Veronica's eyes, Logan came home. Hunter couldn't wait to see Logan either. Since the Tiger Cruise all Hunter wanted to talk about were planes and boats. The four weeks Logan was gone he came up with five pages of questions and wanted to know the answers.
Logan got back around nine in the evening. He opened the door and the house was quiet. He heard the low grumble of the T.V.
The room on the right was turned into a greeting area filled with a love seat and two arm chairs. One of the paintings his mother left him that survived the fire was now hanging on the wall.
Logan moved towards the left and headed towards the kitchen. He left his bags in front of the stairs and went in search of the sound of the T.V. He stopped at the fridge to grab two beers and then he walked past the dining area and turning right towards the family room. He found veronica curled up holding a very tired looking Hunter watching Toy Story. Veronica looked up at the sound of movement and smiled seeing Logan watching them. Logan began to speak but Veronica quickly held up her finger to silence him. She then pointed to Hunter to show that he was sleeping. Logan quietly moved to stand between Veronica and the T.V. He bent over and gently scooped Hunter up without waking him.
"He tried to wait up for you but he didn't make it. I think school is just too tiring for the kid." Veronica whispered.
"I can't blame him school used to wipe my butt too."
"Ya know one of the requirements for school to 'wipe your butt' is to actually go to school. I don't remember you doing that too often."
"Ha Ha very funny."
"I thought it was." Veronica followed Logan up the stairs grabbing Logan's bag on the way. They continued in silence. Reaching Hunter's room Veronica opened the door and Logan lowered him in to bed. Veronica tucked him in and turned out the lights.
She left the room after Logan, who now had possession of his duffle bag. They went into their bedroom just down the hall and turned on the lights. Their room was big but not huge. A king sized bed sat in the middle of the room. A walk in closet was on the left and the bathroom was on the right. Logan walked to his side of the bed and set his bag down in the corner.
"So did you get into any crazy fun while I was away?" Logan inquired.
"Loads. I took Hunter to school, did all the research for my dad's cases, took afternoons off so that Hunter wouldn't be alone and then I got to sit alone with the T.V. on after he went to bed. It was the best four weeks of my life." Veronica replied sarcasm dripping out of her the more she talked.
"I'm glad you got to enjoy yourself. Maybe I should just leave. Ya know, so you can keep enjoying yourself. I don't want to interrupt your alone time." He moved to the door.
He didn't make it very far before he felt two hands firmly grab his arm puling him back to the bed. "Don't you dare. I was bored and missed you and you know it. Don't get me wrong, I love Hunter and I love spending time with him, but it is so much easier and fun when you are here with us. Cause then I can have adult conversations too. So what about you sailor, did ya miss me?"
"Not really." He leaned down to kiss her opposing the words he spoke. "I had a big plane, the open sea, a tiny bed instead of a big bed with a tiny person next to me. It was pretty great." He kissed her more passionately this time. Before either of them knew it they were lying next to each other panting and more relaxed than they have been for four weeks. Soon after that they were asleep.
That night Logan didn't sleep as well as he had hoped he would upon returning home. Instead he had the same dream he had been having for two weeks. It started the same way most of his dreams, that weren't about Veronica, did, he was flying his plane. There was something about flying, he knew part of it was the adrenalin but it was also more than that. He was in control but at the same time anything could happen. It was thrilling soring through the air at Mach 1 in a tiny pressurized two-person fighter jet. So normally these dreams were welcomed. Recently, however, these dreams started to take a turn for the worse. In the middle of flying there was a mechanical error and the plane began to fall, spiraling out of control, plummeting towards the earth. Every second that passed was a second closer to being obliterated, burned to a crisp, death. The next thing he knows he's lying in a hospital bed with Veronica sitting next to his bed, crying. This is the main reason he knows he is going to retire when his time is up.
This dream is not completely unwarranted. Everyone has them at some point. The difference this time is that during this four-week deployment, Logan watched this exact scenario happen to his wingman and friend. So that's what Logan was dreaming of at four in the morning, helplessly lying in a hospital bed, hurting the one person he never wants to hurt again. Suddenly he hears a loud ringing coming and going and he thinks he's literally watching himself die in the dream, then he's being pushed and someone is saying his name.
He opens his eyes and realizes he's back in his room at home holding Veronica who is quietly mumbling something incomprehensible. He hears the ringing he heard in his dream and realizes that it was his cell phone. Groggily he answered the phone.
"Hello."
"Hi. I'm sorry I know it's late but…" the voice wavered out in a body shaking sob.
This prompted Logan to actually look at the caller ID. "Hey Nancy it's ok. What's going on?" He asked sitting up.
He waited for a few minutes until the person on the other end was able to talk again. By now Veronica was up looking curiously back at Logan, turning the bedroom lights on low and walking to the bathroom putting a shirt on. "It's um, it's Alex. Two CNO's just left my house, he didn't make it. He died this morning and I…I don't know what to do."
Logan let out a pained kind of moaning sound and started crying. Veronica had only seen Logan cry a few times and she hated it. "Logan what's wro-."
Logan cut her off. "I'm so sorry. Do you want me to come get you and A.J. Can I do anything?"
"Uh no. It's okay. I just… You're like family and I knew he would want you to know. Maybe you could come over tomorrow. I know A.J. would love to see you. And bring Veronica I've heard so much about this woman that stole your heart from Alex and yourself, I would love to meet her."
"Yeah no problem. What time do you want us to come? Sometime between 11 and 12?"
"That's fine. I'm sorry. I really appreciate it."
"I'm sorry I'll see you tomorrow. Oh and one more thing is it all right if Veronica's little brother comes, he's around A.J.'s age?"
"That's even better A.J. will have some one to play with while we talk."
"Alright I'll see you tomorrow." Logan finished pulling the phone away and waiting for the call to disconnect. His head hung low not meeting Veronica's gaze. "There was an accident." He began. "My wingman had to punch out on one of the training missions we ran over the past four weeks. His WSO made it safely to the ground but by the time he was ejected the plane was too low to the ground. His chute was barely open before he hit the ground. He's been in the hospital in San Fransisco for the past two weeks. That was his wife on the phone. She called to tell me that he died this morning." He moved his head up and finally made eye contact with Veronica. His eyes were red with tears threatening to explode from his eyes.
"Logan." That was the only thing she could get out before he stood up and wrapped his arms around her. He started to cry laying his head on top of hers. Somehow she managed to get him to the bed and lay down with his head in her lap. They laid there for a while in silence. Every once in a while a shuddering cry would escape from Logan's mouth. Eventually Veronica spoke up. "Is there anything I can do for you or that we can do for his wife?"
Logan was silent for a few more minutes. "She asked if I could come over tomorrow, she wanted me to bring you. Is that ok?" Veronica just shook her head. "She has a son the same age as Hunter so I thought we could take him." She shook her head again. "You heard all of this because you were standing right there when we talked about it." Again she shook her head rubbing circles on his arm as they now laid on their sides facing each other. "I didn't tell you before because well at first I wasn't supposed to talk about it and then I didn't want to worry you. Alex, that was his name, he has been my wingman since flight school. There was a time that I lived with him. I was there when his son was born. Aside from Dick and you he is-was my best friend."
"I'm so sorry Logan. I wish I could have met him."
"You would have loved him. He was a no nonsense type of person just like you. He helped me become the man I am today."
Veronica didn't know what to say. She wished that she could take his pain away but she was also happy that it wasn't Logan. She decided to go with, "I love you Logan, and I'm sorry that your friend died." She paused for a moment contemplating her thoughts. "I'm glad it wasn't you" she finished in a barely audible whisper."
"Me too Veronica. Me too." He pulled her into a sort of hug sort of cuddling position. They laid there for a while eventually drifting off to sleep again. That's how Hunter found them the next morning around eight. The lights were still on in the bedroom and they were on top of the covers clutching onto each other as if their lives depended on it.