Author's Note: It has been exactly one year since I started this fic (a year and few weeks, give or take). Many thanks to everyone who favorited, subscribed, and reviewed this fic; your support means a lot to me. I am sorry if the story is so slow. I have been experience many things in my life. I had been undergoing surgeries for this couple of weeks, so I've been in recovery right now. I apologize for the lateness, but I am writing right now. Hopefully I can post new chapters soon. I also forgot to mention about something; a year ago, I mentioned that a friend of family was missing in Japan after the tsunami. Well, they found him. I know! He wasn't missing, as he joined a rescue mission to other secluded area in Japan. Without getting into more details, we found out about his whereabouts. Your prayers and well wishes worked, so I humbly say thank you. He is fine, and even visited me before my operations. He is an old friend of the family, my late father's friend in Japan. He actually encouraged me to continue working on my novel and my fanfics. So yes, I will continue with this fic and my other stories. Thank you, layoung13 who have been supportive all the way. Thanks!

Neptune Connection

Logan watched the view from Mac's office window. He could see how the town he left behind years ago had change and yet still the same. He had a glass of scotch in his hand and he was staring at the tall building in the middle of the city.

The Titan Tower.

It was the silent witness of the changes that had happened in this corrupt city. And maybe the biggest proof of many twisted things that happened after all this time: The Kane family. Logan was a part of that family, until it was ruined and only left some trails of bitterness. If Lilly never was killed… The whole thing started with Lilly Kane. If Lilly never had an affair with Aaron, then she would never be killed… And their lives would be different.

Veronica's life, his life, Mac's life, Dick's life…

Maybe he would never fall in love with Veronica Mars.

Logan shook his head with the idea. No, somewhere along the line, he would fall in love with Veronica Mars. There was no doubt about it. But would Veronica ever love him?

The thought scared him for a moment.

Flashback

Logan was doing push up in the rain with his fellow soldiers. His drill sergeant was hurling expletives towards them. Logan was soaking wet and muddy and he couldn't hear the sergeant was mocking him until he heard Aaron's name: "Echolls! What the fuck are you doing? You call that a push up? Your daddy fucked and killed your girlfriend, and he got away with it! Don't think you'd get away with not able to do push up because I'M GONNA MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL!"

It was routine for him, being yelled at, and told off by his sergeant. It was nothing, really. Aaron's punishment and abuse were far worse that this. But being a rich kid all of his life, made him realize that he needed discipline. The first few weeks after joining the Army, he wanted to quit – they shaved off his hair, he had to share the bathroom with everyone, he had to clean the floor with a toothbrush, he had to wake up before sunrise, he had to deal with everyone looking at him funny, he had to endure the mocking about being a movie star's son, his mother's suicide, and everything else.

He had no friends in the army. He always ate alone in the dining facility, cleaned up, and then went to have a moment alone behind the barracks to write in his journal.

For the first time in his life, he felt alone. He missed everyone back home in Neptune, as much he hated that town. He missed Dick, he missed Duncan, and he missed Veronica…

The only thing that kept him sane during his tenure in the army was Veronica in his mind.

Veronica… Veronica… Veronica…

Each push up he counted, he breathed Veronica's name. Each heartbeat he felt, he breathed her name. Even when the sergeant put his foot on his back and pushed him to the mud, he kept thinking about Veronica. She kept him alive and sane. His mind sometimes wandered whether Veronica was with someone else, and his heart ached – but then he reminded himself that he left and he wanted her to be happy.

The sergeant told them to take a shower and go to bed. Everyone was too tired to even say anything to each other. Logan could see one of the infantrymen was crying in the shower, but everyone ignored him, because they were too tired themselves. When the lights were off in the barrack, it took a while until Logan could sleep. Logan could hear someone sobbing in the dark – whether it was the same guy who cried in the shower or someone else, nobody knew.

Everyone had their reasons to enter the Army. Logan heard their stories whenever they were in the sacred circle, pouring out their feelings and emotions with an Army psychiatrist. Whenever it was his turn, he managed to lie and said that he was fine.

Logan was involved with many fights and lost few times. He got beat up, sometimes being ambushed out of nowhere, just because he was a loner and a celebrity.

The fact was nobody cares that he was a celebrity. In here, he was a faceless soldier who had to follow orders.

The reason why he joined the Army so he could forget about his life back in Neptune. After several months, sometimes he forgot that he was from Neptune. But there was one thing he would never forget…. That blonde girl who liked to tilt her head and being sarcastic but a wonderful kisser named Veronica Mars.

She kept him alive.

Present

The door was opened and Mac walked into the office. "Oh, hey. I was thinking about having lunch at that vegan restaurant if you're interested to come. Are you still full from brunch?"

Logan smiled, "I never turned down food."

"Good, I already made reservation." She noted the glass of scotch in Logan's hand. "Isn't it too early for drinking?"

"It's dinner time somewhere in other side of the world." He gulped his drink and put the glass on Mac's table, but Mac hurriedly grabbed it.

"No, don't put it there. It's a computer, remember?"

"Oh, sorry." He watched as Mac wiped the wet ring from the computer table. "This is too futuristic for me!" He chuckled. "I mean, a super computer? I only see this in James Bond's movies!" He saw the computer screen on the surface of the desk while Mac was using her fingers to mouse over the files and turn it off.

Mac laughed, "Yeah. I saw the movie and I decided to have one." She tapped the surface of the computer. "This baby can do anything." Logan smiled but didn't reply for the comment. He helped Mac putting on her jacket and then as she walked to the door, he discreetly put a bug device under the computer, just like he put on Oliver's computer.

Both of them walked out from the office, followed by the gaze of Mac's employees and interns. Oliver hurriedly caught up with them. "Are you leaving somewhere?"

"None of your business, Ollie." Mac brushed him off, and walked faster. Logan had to walk faster too, which amused him.

"Mark Zuckerberg called again. What should I tell him?" Oliver walked backwards in front of her. Mac just sighed and immediately went inside the elevator and pushed the button several times to the lobby. "Should I tell him that you're on a date?"

"NO!"

The elevator door closed with a ding, and Oliver exhaled loudly outside the elevator. Logan sighed inside the elevator and chuckled a bit. "Your assistant is an interesting guy."

"He does always want to know my business because he's a busybody."

"But do you trust him?"

"Yeah…" Mac just shrugged. "My life is boring. What could possibly happen?"

The seconds they arrived at the lobby and walked out the building, a dozen of paparazzi suddenly were on their faces and asked questions, "Mr. Echolls! Welcome back to Neptune! Is this your new girlfriend? The CEO of Neptune Connection, Ms. Mackenzie?"

"Logan Echolls, how's Neptune been treating you?"

"Mr. Echolls! Are you planning to make a movie here?"

"Logan! Is there going to be a sequel for Neptune Noir?"

"Ms. Cindy Mackenzie! How long you and Logan Echolls have been dating?"

"Is it true that you've been dating Mark Zuckerberg?"

"Will there be any merger between Facebook and Neptune Connection?"

"Were you both high school sweethearts?"

"Logan Echolls, how does it feel to be back in Neptune?"

Mac was so surprised to see people suddenly shoving cameras and microphones in front of her and she was confused with everything, especially when in broad daylight the paparazzi bombarded her with many questions. She was pushed and pulled, and she almost fell but Logan suddenly grabbed her hand and yanked her towards his car that was parked in front of the building. She immediately climbed into the car and shut the door. She witnessed in awe to see the chaos outside the car where the paparazzi pressed their cameras and faces to the car windows. Logan climbed into the car, slammed the door, gritted his teeth, and immediately drove away.

Cygnus Club

It was only 3 PM in Monday afternoon, but people were already filled the dance floor. Men and women with daze eyes were dancing wildly following the beat of the trance music. Cygnus Club belonged to Valentin Sorokin, and it was open 24 hours. Valentin always wanted a club that resembled clubs in Europe, where they opened all day and all night. He also owned the strip club next room, which provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was an exclusive establishment, unlike those seedy places near the 02er area where the gangbangers hung out.

Gorya walked behind his enforcer slash bodyguard, Boris, who opened the way through the crowds and walked straight to the back office. Without knocking, he opened the office door, and saw Valentin went down on Lizzie Manning on the couch. They sprung apart and Valentin stood up. "What the hell? Don't you knock?"

Gorya watched Lizzie looked at him awkwardly. "Get out." He ordered her. She didn't waste her time, immediately walked out from the office. "Roman asked me to come here. Where is he?"

"Not here yet." Valentin sighed, wiped his mouth, and plopped himself back to the couch. "Roman wants to talk about the shipment."

"Why he needs me for? He can take care of it himself – being a commandant and all." Gorya bitterly said. Valentin smirked discreetly; it was apparent that Gorya was annoyed with the fact that Roman was the leader of the family now. Gorya might be the head of the company, but Roman was the head of the family.

"Because I need you to take care of something." Roman suddenly walked into the office and closed the door. He sat next to Valentin, while Gorya didn't even bother to sit.

"You need me to take care of something." Gorya repeated.

"Yes, you're not deaf apparently." Roman deadpanned. Valentin just sniggered, while Gorya looked at his brothers in a heated glare. "The cargo shipping contains some of our drugs are going to be late. There are some problems with the lab."

Gorya sat on the desk facing them. "What kind of problem?"

"I don't know. I want you to rough the tech geeks up and make them hurry before our deal with the El Fuego gang commence next week." Roman pulled out a piece of paper from his suit. "You need to press on them. They need to cut the drugs quickly before we have our meet and greet."

"What's this?" Gorya pointed the piece of paper.

"We got information that the reason why we are late with the cutting is because someone is stealing from us. Few blocks of pure cocaine are missing. This is bad. If they end up in public, it could get trace to us." Roman pointed to the piece of paper. "There's a strong possibility it's the youngest Fitzpatrick, Kieran." He looked at Gorya. "Find him and kill him if he's not returning the drugs."

"I'm not doing that! Tell one of your goons to do it." Gorya protested. "Kill him? Are you nuts? You want the Fitzpatricks in our asses?"

"I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. Kill him when necessary – if he returns the drugs, you're okay. Which I doubt." Roman stared hard to his brother. "After the official announcement, everyone will know who's in charge here. And as my brother, I need you to set an example. They will know that the Sorokin brothers are not fooling around. Nobody steals from us."

"Valentin is busy?" Gorya threw a dagger stare to both of his brothers. "It's funny that every time I see him, he has his mouth sucking a clam."

Valentin was going to stand up, but Roman held his arm. "Sit down!" He shook his head. "I need Valentin to take care of other thing. We're gonna branch out our business – Valentin is going to LA and meet this lawyer from the Four Pillars family. We want to branch out the drugs with that family because they have relation with the Triads."

"Roman, you're supposed to send ME. Not him!" Gorya pointed to Valentin. "I'm the businessman around here, and if you wanna do businesses, especially with a lawyer, at least send Domonick!"

"I need you to take care of this Fitzpatrick business and the shipment." Roman set his jaws. "Just do it, Gory."

His decision was final, and there was nothing Gorya could do. In one day, he was being blackballed by his own family; first his uncle, and now his brothers. Roman gave him the piece of paper containing information, which Gorya snatched it roughly.

"Do you want me to shine your shoes while I'm at it?" Gorya spat.

"One more thing," Roman ignored his brother. "This is about your wife." Gorya stood up abruptly and went tense. If Roman made fun of Veronica again, he would kill him. "I want your wife to come to our gathering. I know you never take her to our family gatherings, but this weekend is important as they're announcing my official leadership. I want you and your wife to stand beside me and Zena." He looked at Gorya, expecting him to say no.

Gorya sat again on the desk and seemed to ponder. "Why?"

"Why? No reason beside that she's part of our family." Roman smoothly said.

Gorya snorted. "You know what I think?"

Roman looked at Gorya tiredly. "What?"

"You just want to look good in front of other Bratvas, that you have the perfect family." Gorya sneered. "I'm not subjecting Veronica in this matter, especially to prop you up."

"Well, you don't have any choice. Infact, this should look bad for you if you don't show up with your wife." Roman calmly said. He already expects Gorya to react like that. "It will show that you are incompetent family man. They won't look pass your business… skills," Roman mocked. "They will see you that you can't even bring your own wife to the gathering like this. And that will reflect on you, instead of us. I am the commandant; of course, they will see me and Zena with our children. Valentin is still a bachelor, so nobody will bat an eye. But you…" Roman smirked. "Personally I don't give a fuck if your wife is not coming to the gathering."

Once again, Gorya couldn't say no. He wanted so bad to say 'go fuck yourself' to his brother. But in this family, he had to follow whatever orders the higher ranking given to him. That was the way it was in the family, and there was nothing he could do… yet.

Gorya buttoned his suit, and walked out from the office without any word. Roman watched as his brother slammed the door shut. Valentin stood up and lolled his head, "How rude."

Gorya climbed into his limo and shut the door. Boris was driving and saw from the mirror that his boss was furious. Meetings with his uncle and brothers were really stressed him out. Boris saw Gorya loosened his tie in frustration. "Take me to River Styx, Boris. And call the others, will you? Tell them to meet us there. I don't want to go to that place without backup." Boris nodded and drove away from the parking lot. Gorya cursed and threw his tie carelessly.

Mars Residence

Backup yawned widely from under the coffee table. The dog was very old now, and he barely lifted his head when Darrell opened the door and walked into the house. Backup wanted to greet his master, but he was tired so he just stared at Darrell.

"Hey, old boy. Mom is not here, right?" Darrell reached under the table and pet Backup's head. Backup closed his eyes, laid his head, and slept again. Darrell's house was empty; his pops was probably at the Sheriff Department, and his mom was at the office. Wallace could drop by with Theodore from time to time as Claudette was busy doing charity work, but he didn't have to worry about it right now.

Darrell walked into his room. His room was small but comfortable. There were photographs of people on the wall from the cases he investigated. He got his camera as a birthday present from Veronica. She knew that Darrell loved solving cases, and sometimes he took pictures of people who were having affairs. He would have stakeouts with Ryan, because Ryan had a car. Sometimes he used his motorcycle – Darrell was good of taking pictures while riding his bike. His mother didn't like the idea of his youngest son 'snooping' around for cases but she held back because her husband seemed okay about it, and infact, seemed proud. In the corner, there was a brand new computer. Gorya bought it for him. Knowing that his parents and Wallace wouldn't approve, he said that it was a gift from Veronica.

Gorya seemed fond of Darrell. Maybe because Darrell never said anything or tried to persuade Veronica to leave her husband. Darrell never spent much time with Gorya, but when they met, usually Gorya would give him something – money, present, anything. They hardly talked, but Darrell knew why Gorya was being nice to him: it made Veronica happy.

One time, Gorya gave him brand new basketball shoes for his birthday. He was going to say no for the gift, but Gorya wouldn't hear it. Darrell was torn between hating him and liking the gifts. He was only a boy, and his parents would probably be angry if they find out that he accepted his gifts.

Darrell sat in front of his computer and ran the names from the list he'd stolen from Eli's office into the Private Investigator Database. There were about 6 names on the list that bought the paints and most of them were coming from cars or housing companies. Only one came from a private owner: Lindsay Benedict.

"Well, hello Lindsay. Why the hell did you buy gallons of green paints?" He typed Lindsay Benedict's name into the database. Darrell knew Lindsay. She sat next to him in English class. A typical blonde bimbo 09ers who liked to looked down to others. Darrell definitely wasn't in her inner circle. But on several occasions, he saw Lindsay steal glances over at the jocks table in the quad – in this case, Darrell's table. Lindsay always wanted to date members of the basketball team, just to prove herself as the popular girl, even though she already dated Billy Drake, the tool bag 09er – his father owned Yachts Company.

Darrell saw from the database that Lindsay had enormous unpaid speeding tickets and her debit card was stolen. He pursed his lips; this didn't mean that Lindsay bought the paints. It could mean someone else stole the debit card and bought the paints. He remembered what his Pops and Veronica said about motive: Find the motive, and you'd find the culprit. This means he needed to interview some students. And where he should start?

He clicked a file in his computer. Darrell made a list of several students from the auto shop class – he figured that at least people with any engineering skill would have done the prank. He looked at the names and sighed. There were at least a dozen students who joined the auto shop class. It would be a pain in the ass interviewing them.

But Darrell got an idea.

He dialed his phone and called Ryan.

"Yo." Ryan answered his phone. He was playing a video game and his phone was tucked under his neck.

"Dude, I need a favor."

"Nu-uh."

"You haven't heard what I'm about to say!"

Ryan was cursing when he was losing the game. "Fuck, Mars. I'm not gonna help you again. You almost got me in trouble the last time!"

"This won't cost you anything. You're the editor of the school magazine, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you need a photographer?"

Sheriff Department

Keith sighed after he checked the Private Investigate Database. After he crosschecked the list that Eli gave, he found out that a name stood out – a student named Lindsay Benedict, whose debit card was stolen. So he was back to square one. He wondered whether Darrell had any luck with the case. Keith knew his stepson would probably investigate the case by himself. He was pretty resourceful so he would probably investigate the prank. Although he was worried for his safety, he asked Eli to keep an eye on Darrell.

He called out his deputy, "Leo!" Leo walked into his office, eating a doughnut. "Leo. You're so stereotype."

"They ran out Bear Claws!" Leo exclaimed. He offered a box of doughnuts to Keith.

Keith rolled his eyes but took one doughnut. "How's the investigation for the school prank and mayor shootout?"

"CSI San Diego contacted me with the lab results from the school. There were no fingerprints but there were some DNA, but none matched their CODIS database."

"Well, the culprits are high school students, so they're probably do not have any prior crime conviction."

"In Neptune?" Leo snarked.

Keith grimaced in agreement. "Yeah, I don't believe that either. Did you check with the local gun stores about any recent purchase of weapons?" He cleaned his desk from papers. "And did you check the paintball minigun they were using?" Keith pursed his lips – when someone unleashed a hail of bullets using a minigun, even when they were using paints, it was scary no matter what. His arms were still sore after being hit by hundreds of paintball pellets.

"Paint guns and minigun could be bought online; we have no knowledge of who bought it. As for the real guns, I went to several local gun stores here, and they said that none are being purchased by high school students – because it's illegal." Leo explained. "The only logical thing is to buy them off the street from arms dealer."

"Do you know any arms dealer?"

Leo shook his head. "Sheriff, I'm only a Deputy. They see a pale Italian Deputy in a uniform; they'd back out. And no, I don't know any arms dealer."

"I guess I'd be calling Eli again." Keith sighed.

"Well, he's your C.I." Leo brushed some sugar off his uniform. "There's a new Paintball game just opened a month ago near the boardwalk. I can check it out with Sacks."

Keith gave him a look. "Are you going to play some paintballs?"

"What? Nooo…." Leo trailed off. "But if we're going to play incognito…."

"I almost got killed, and you're planning to play some paintballs!"

"You were shot by paintballs! Don't be such a drama queen."

"Get out." Keith pointed to the door, and Leo walked out with a huff. "No game!" Keith shouted, and then smirked. He liked Leo; considered him his friend. When Lamb had to fire him during Aaron Echolls' trial, it was one of the hardest decisions Keith had to make because Leo stole the sex tapes of Aaron Echolls and Lily Kane, which resulted Aaron being acquitted because of the lack of proof of statutory rape. But when Mercer kidnapped Veronica, Leo offered his help. Then he hired him back again as one of his deputies after Lamb lost the Sheriff election. Since then, Leo had become his confidant.

As for this case, the mayor only gave him three days to investigate who shot the Neptune officials. The mayor was obviously the target based on the Tritons' video, and he would leak the video to the press after that. Leo, Eli, and Darrell would investigate this. As much as he hated the idea of his stepson involved with the investigation, but nobody qualified more of talking to the students beside Darrell. High school students would not cooperate if someone from the Sheriff Department or even an ex-gangbanger asked them.

Keith called Eli. When he answered, Keith had to put the receiver far away from his ear because he could hear the music blaring very loudly. "Sorry, sorry." Eli turned off the music in his car.

"We agreed that you would keep an eye on Darrell in discreet. How's that music help?" Keith scolded Eli.

"I'm on my way to your house, Sheriff. Don't worry, he won't suspect a thing."

"Good. I do need your information though; I need some info about local arms dealer."

Eli snorted, "You might wanna talk to The Fitzpatrick."

"Shit. I thought so too. I doubt they'd cooperate." Keith shook his head. He hated the Fitzpatrick. When Veronica just started college, Kendall Casablancas a.k.a Priscilla Banks asked Keith to reunite her with Cormac Fitzpatrick, her lover, who was just got released from prison. She needed to run away from Liam Fitzpatrick who was looking for $8 million from Cassidy's Phoenix Land Trust share. Cormac brutally murdered her with Keith's gun and almost killed Keith in the process when he actually worked with his brother, Liam. Liam Fitzpatrick, who was looking for the money, killed Cormac instead when he didn't know where the money whereabouts. Keith couldn't prove Liam killed his brother, as there was no dead body. They only found Kendall's body in the shack in the middle of dessert. The money was actually in a form of Van Gogh painting; Keith donated the painting to the museum, with the sale from the proceeds donated to the Neptune Food Bank.

Ever since, Liam and his family had been in his case for years. They were trying to find Kendall's money and they had been threatened Keith and Veronica. They had been clashing for years.

"I can check it out, Sheriff."

"No, you keep an eye on Darrell. I don't want him to get into trouble." Keith said to Eli. "But tell me his progress of investigating the case. And if you can, help him."

"I'm on it, you know that."

"Eli… I really appreciate what you do."

Eli didn't answer first, but then he quietly answered, "No problem, Sheriff."

Keith then hung up the phone. He knew that Eli loved his daughter – he may never mention it or even trying to pursue her, but he knew that the reason why Eli was always been very helpful was because his loyalty and love towards Veronica. Keith would never use his loyalty, but the ex-gang member was always eager to help. When Veronica was missing a decade ago, Eli was the one who turned Neptune upside down looking for her. He beat and roughed people up for information. He didn't care that he'd just been released from prison, as long he could find Veronica. He was becoming a family friend for the Mars family. Wallace mentioned that Eli was a bully towards him and others, but like many bad boys in Veronica's life, they were reformed.

Veronica sometimes could bring the best out of people… and sometimes could bring the worst of people. Keith wondered whether she also had the same charm over Lamb and Gorya. Both men loved her, even though they were antagonistic towards her before.

Everyone loves Veronica… Keith mournfully thought. And sometimes it could lead into something terrible. It was a gift and a curse at the same time for Veronica.

Keith knew that Eli would be able to protect Darrell. He didn't want to jeopardize Darrell's safety, but he also didn't want to over-protective over him. Darrell was a smart boy, and he had great intuition and wits to solve cases. Darrell really made him proud. Keith was proud to all of his children. Wallace was a great father; Darrell was a great student and a detective, and Veronica… He would always proud of her, no matter what. All he need was a chance to have her back from her obsessive husband.

Keith turned on the Tritons video clip that Darrell had taken from the school. He watched the video carefully looking for clues. He couldn't figure out why someone was trying to ruin the mayor and the school, especially being inspired by a dead mass murderer like Cassidy Casablancas. Keith wondered whether Alphonse Gonzales was a corrupt mayor like Woody back then…

He shook his head. Alphonse was a good man – he wasn't born with privilege like Woody. He struggled from the beginning until he was elected as Balboa County Supervisor. He wasn't born with silver spoon in his mouth. Alphonse was a good hardworking every man…. Or was he?

Keith decided that he would investigate the mayor. He just hoped he wouldn't find anything. In the meantime, he needed to pay a visit to a certain Irish bar.

River Styx

One golden rule in the Fitzpatrick clan: never ever cross Liam in any form whatsoever. It would be wise not to speak to him directly. The man was always in a hyper mood and angry all the time. It wasn't particularly helpful that he was a crime lord and head of the Irish mafia Fighting Fitzpatrick in Neptune. Ever since Cormac died ten years ago, Liam immediately took over the leadership. He was always the leader anyway because Cormac was really laid back, and Patrick, his other older brother became a priest. They had a fall out when Liam killed Cormac. Patrick knew he killed Cormac, but didn't have any proof. Ever since, he cut ties with his family. Liam was still holding grudge against Sheriff Mars, as he believed that Keith stole Kendall's money. But as time went by, he didn't see Keith spending any. So he stepped back and waited whether Keith actually had done something. When that Mercer kid kidnapped Veronica, Liam thought it was a good payback for Keith. He realized though that Keith probably didn't have the money, because he watched on the news that Keith never offered any money to find his daughter. He watched that Jake Kane, and many other rich boyfriends of hers were the one who offered rewards.

Since then, they begrudgingly had some sort of standoffish relationship; Liam was careful in taking care of his business, and Sheriff Mars would not bother him.

But this time, Liam was pissed that his youngest brother Kieran screwed up big time. Apparently, he took few blocks of cocaine from The Sorokin Brothers, a Russian family mob. Liam never wanted to deal with the Russian. They had their own territory, and so was he. The Sorokin was richer and more influential than his family; the FBI was more interested with their family. Getting involved with the Russian means the FBI would sniffing around his family – not to mention Keith Mars, the Sheriff. And his daughter happened to married with Gorya Sorokin.

Kieran apparently worked at the cocaine lab belonged to the Sorokin because he needed money and didn't like the idea of working with Liam. Liam usually ordered him around to do some errands. Liam treated Danny Boyd, their cousin; better – although Liam always verbally abused him. But then again Danny was an idiot. Kieran always ran out money and drugs – he liked to live high in life: eating in fancy restaurants, gambling, and taking care of his hobby: collecting stamps. Liam always thought that his youngest brother's hobby as a philatelist was stupid. But Kieran loved his stamp collection; he even put it into a safe in his house. His partying ways didn't help. Liam busted his party and managed to find the remains of the cocaine. He went berserk when he found out that his own brother had been working with The Sorokin brothers and then managed to steal something from them. The last thing Liam needed was a mafia wars between his own gang and the Russians… and attracting Sheriff Mars plus the FBI. Kieran really screwed up this time, Liam didn't have a qualm of killing his own brother. But he didn't need to attract more attention.

Right now, he was slapping Kieran few times with the back of his hand. This was Liam being nice towards his brother. If he wanted to kill Kieran, he could.

"You stupid fuck. Maybe I should just give you to The Sorokin. I don't know which brother they would send, but my bet is gonna be Roman or Gory. You'd better hope it's not Gory, because I seriously don't want to handle a pissed off Russki whose in-law is the sheriff of this town!" Liam slapped Kieran across the cheek.

Kieran's nose was bleeding, but he didn't dare to wipe it. Liam was really abusive and out of control. He managed to gather his courage and spat, "Liam, I screwed up. I'm sorry. But stop hitting me."

Liam guffawed when he heard Kieran was pleading at him. "Did you hear that, boys? He wants me to stop." Danny and the rest of the crew were snickering. The bar was closed at the moment, because Liam didn't want to attract any attention that he was basically manhandling his own brother. "Fucking ass wipes. You know, you're always the crybaby in the family. You were still sucking on mom's tits until you grew a pair."

"Better than what you suck."

Before Liam could kick him in the balls, Danny interrupted him. "Liam."

"WHAT!" He spun around, wanted to kick Danny.

"We've got company." Danny motioned the door. Liam saw cars were pulling up on the driveway – mostly expensive black cars. The Russian had arrived and probably already lock and load.

"Motherfuckers." Liam cursed. He grabbed his little brother' hair and threw him to the back door. "Get out. Go to your girlfriend's place, I don't care. I'll take care of this, you stupid shit."

Kieran didn't wait for Liam's bark anymore, so he bolted right away. Danny gave Liam a questionable look, "Why we let him go? Why don't just give him to the Russki?"

"Because I hate the Russian more than my stupid little brother." He paused. "And I'm giving him a head start before I kick the shit out of him." Liam sat on the bar stool and poured himself a shot of whiskey. "Who's that coming?"

Danny looked outside from the window, "Gory."

Liam sniggered and gulped his whiskey. "This should be fun."

Boris walked into the bar. The tall and bulky enforcer looked dangerous. First impression when someone meets him in a dark alley was to run to the other direction. He looked menacing especially when he was 7 foot-tall Russian who had a brown belt of Judo. Danny took a step back when Boris walked into the bar. Even Liam raised his eyebrow when he saw Boris' reflection from the bar mirror. "Shit, is that Ivan Drago?" Danny made a nervous joke. Some of the cronies chuckled nervously.

Gorya walked into the bar, followed by several men. He scanned the area and noticed some blood on the floor. He pursed his lips and looked at the man who sat on the barstool.

"We're closed!" Liam said while pouring another shot of whiskey. "And we don't accept any potato heads here!"

Gorya cocked his head to the side and smirked. "Now, Liam. Is that how you greet your customer? No wonder business is down." He walked towards Liam and sat next to him on a barstool. "And I really need a drink. Today is pretty tough. Family stuff, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Liam smirked annoyingly and poured a glass of whiskey to Gorya. "They're pain in the ass."

Gorya took a sip of the whiskey and then put the glass on the table. "So let's get down to it. Where's Kieran? I know you've been…" He gestured the blood on the floor. "- Roughed him up." He took a sip again. "He stole from us. And we want our stuff back."

"Don't know, don't care." Liam looked at Gorya from the corner of his eye. "I kicked that little shit out to the curb a long time ago."

"Well, then we have a problem." Gorya smiled. Liam hated that smile – he always thought that Gorya was a snake who would smile before he went for a kill. Compare to Liam, Gorya didn't look like a thug. He looked like a businessman with expensive clothes. But Liam knew his temper.

This was why he preferred to let Kieran go rather than give him up to Gorya; he didn't want anyone to feel like he surrendered.

"I don't see any problem here, comrade." Liam said with a smirk.

"Well, either you give him up or you give back the stuff he stole; all 5 kilos of the shit." Gorya stood up. "You have 24 hours. And this is me being generous."

"You've gone soft, Gory." Liam said. "Roman would go straight to the jugular."

Gorya shrugged. "What can I say? I'm not like him." He clicked his tongue and stood up. "Thanks for the drink."

Liam watched as Gorya walked away from him. He knew that he would pay for this, but he was rather tipsy. "How's your little wife of yours?"

Boris closed his eyes. Fuck, he cursed to himself. What an idiot.

Gorya smiled and turned around. "She's fine. Thanks."

"You can say that again. She is mighty fine. I remember when I used to fuck her on this pool table." Liam walked to the pool table and smoothed the surface of table. "I mean, she was a wild thing that wife of yours – tiny but feisty. She looooved it whenever I fucked her and everyone was watching. She would scream, 'OH! LIAM, HARDER! HARDER! FUCK ME HARDER! LI –"

Liam didn't see a fist coming towards his face, although he expected Gorya to act after being provoked. In fact, he knew that Gorya would kill him by mentioning his wife – but Liam needed to buy some time so Kieran could run. Say what you want about Kieran; but he was still his brother. The only person who could kill his brother was Liam himself. There was no way he would let his rival kill a member of his family.

Gorya was on top of Liam; his fists were making contact to Liam's face few times. Everyone could hear a cracked as Gorya broke Liam's nose. Danny made a quick move and grabbed a pool stick – he swung it towards Gorya's head but Boris grabbed it and kicked Danny in the shin. Danny yelled in pain because the tip of Boris' shoe had a pointy metal. Boris circled his arm around Danny for a bear hug, and then slammed him to the floor. Liam managed to block another hit from Gorya, so he kicked Gorya in the stomach. Gorya fell down and rolled over quickly when Liam almost stomped him – he was aiming to the crotch.

Then all hell broke loose.

The Fitzpatrick goons started to jump on Gorya's men, so there was a full-blown brawl in the bar.

Boris, who was the tallest man in the room started to grab the goons and threw them to the floor. Danny was dizzy but he tried to get up and grabbed a chair nearby – he then smashed it to Boris' back. Boris didn't expect to be smashed by a chair from the back, so he went down. Danny was about to finish him off by lifting another chair up high and aimed it to Boris' head, when suddenly Boris rolled over and swept Danny's feet. Danny fell and the chair fell on him. The bar was trashed with broken furniture and broken glasses. People were punching and kicking at each other. Gorya and Liam were still at it – they were throwing punches and kicks. Gorya was actually a very good at Sambo, a Russian martial art. He used to be a member of high school wrestling team and Sambo team. But his mind went blank when he heard Liam make fun of Veronica, then he went crazy and forgot about the Sambo technique.

Finally, Boris was able to handle the situation as the Fitzpatrick goons were lying down on the floor and Gorya's men were able to avoid major injuries. Boris walked towards the two brawling men, and grabbed their collars. He threw Gorya to one of the bodyguards and pushed Liam away from them. Liam managed to land on a chair. He was breathing hard and bloody all over his face. He also broke a tooth. Boris looked at his boss, who was being held by two bodyguards.

"Get him to the car." Boris ordered the bodyguards.

"FUCK! Let me go!" Gorya struggled from his bodyguards. "I wanna kill this sonofabitch!"

"You used to be so cool, Gory." Liam laughed and coughed. He then spit some blood and wiped it with a back of his hand. "That lady of yours really turned you upside down. No wonder your brothers hate you and your wife." He looked around to his trashed bar, and saw Danny was lying on the floor, thankfully, alive. "You won't get Kieran. There's no way I would give you the satisfaction."

"24 hours, Liam! Or I will burn this place down!"

"I won't give you Kieran!"

Boris grabbed a pool stick that Danny dropped and hit Liam's leg. Liam roared in pain and cursed loudly. "You fucking Frankenstein! I'm gonna fuck you up so hard –" Boris pulled out a gun from his suit, and cocked it to Liam's face.

"Can I just shoot him, boss?" Boris asked Gorya.

"Yes." Gorya gritted his teeth. Screw Kieran and the missing cocaine. This was personal.

"WAIT, WAIT!" Everyone looked at Danny, who was wobbling towards them. "I'll tell you where he is, just don't kill him."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, Danny!" Liam yelled at him, but Boris pistol-whipped him.

Danny scribbled something on a piece of paper from the cashier and gave it to Gorya. "He's probably staying at his girlfriend's place."

Gorya read the piece of paper and nodded towards Boris. Boris put away his gun and backed away from Liam. "If he's not there…" Gorya threatened.

"We wouldn't know where he is then. I doubt that he's at his own place. But his girlfriend is a safe bet." Danny raised his hands dejectedly.

Gorya smoothed his suit and hair. His face already covered with cut and bruises. He gave the piece of paper to Boris, and then gave Liam one last look. "So long, flat foot." He walked out from the bar followed by his limping bodyguards and Boris. After a while, everyone could hear their cars pulled away from the parking lot.

Liam opened a bottle of whiskey and drank it straight from the bottle. "Fuck, Danny. I wanted to hurt Kieran myself."

"That robot was going to shoot you in the head. I'm not going to clean it up." Danny limped towards the closet to grab some brooms. The rest of the goons were groaning and moaning in pain. Danny looked out the window and groaned again. "Fuck, Liam. We got another company." He watched several cars pulled up to the parking lot.

"Who is it?"

"It's the Sheriff." Danny saw Keith Mars climbed out from the car, followed by several deputies.

"Fuck." Liam cursed. "Can someone give me a raw steak for my eye?"

Downtown Neptune

Logan ended up at Mac's apartment after the whole encounter with the paparazzi. They ended up ordering Chinese food for lunch and watching some TV. Mac couldn't believe how aggressive the paparazzi were towards them, and she couldn't believe how Logan had been dealing with this for all of his life. She couldn't imagine living being chased by reporters in daily basis – no wonder Logan was being a jackass during high school.

Logan mentioned that he got used to it. In some level, without the paparazzi or tabloids, his movies wouldn't even be recognized. He hated the whole concept of celebrity, which was why he never used Twitter, Facebook, or any social media. Trina, on the other hand, couldn't live without paparazzi. He understood that Trina needed more recognition to keep her career intact.

They watched the news and saw them being mobbed by the paparazzi. The headlines were about them; whether they were an item or having a casual relationship. Mac watched the news with her mouth open – she saw pictures of them holding hands, and then Logan whisked her away from the paparazzi. They even had pictures of them meshed together and what their baby would look like. Mac covered her face with her hands, as she was embarrassed to see the news. Logan just grimaced looking at their 'baby' picture.

Mac was too tired to comprehend the whole day, so Logan took a pity and left. She needed her rest, and after all, he got what he needed. Mac had already told him about Veronica.

Veronica and Lamb got married, and then he died when he was trying to save Lizzie and Gracie. That whole incident made Veronica… out of her mind, and she spent a long time in a mental facility. When she was released, she was trying to rebuild her life again… and Gorya Sorokin entered her life. Nobody knew what happened – what made her marry the notorious mob? Moreover, it seemed Veronica genuinely cared about her mafia husband. It was something that no one could understand.

And the fact that Gorya banned her family for seeing her… He was obsessive towards his wife. One wrong look from others towards his wife, they'd be sorry. Mac told him how Gorya was very much in love with Veronica… and it seemed Veronica loved Gorya too. But whenever someone asked her whether she loved Gorya, she would change the subject.

Logan wouldn't know what happened. After he left Neptune, he expected Veronica to be happy with someone. Maybe had a family with dogs and they would live near the beach. If that were the case, Logan would be happy too. He would visit her and her family and they would remember the old times….

But no.

Logan had to found out that Veronica was an assassin and a mobster's wife. What kind of life did she have? What made her an assassin? Who hired her? Did her husband know that his wife was an assassin?

Logan was driving around downtown when he spotted Veronica's gallery, Aphrodite. He parked the car and watched the building. He saw through the window, there was a woman sitting in the reception desk. It wasn't Veronica, maybe her assistant. Logan made a decision, climbed down his car, and walked into the gallery.

The gallery was modern with minimalist design. There was a jazz music in the background and the wall was white. Logan felt like he was in a futuristic world.

"Can I help you?" A blonde woman approached her with a cold smile. Logan thought she looked like ice queen or something.

"Yes, I'm a friend of Veronica. I'm here to see her." Logan threw her a smile; his million dollar smile that usually worked whenever he wanted something. Apparently, it didn't work for her.

"I'm sorry sir; Ms. Mars is not available at the moment. She's out of town for work related." She gave him a look. "And you didn't have any appointment. Should I make you one for a future visit?"

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that she's not here. She told me to come by anytime." Logan shrugged. "Is it okay if I look around?"

Larissa, Veronica's assistant was familiar with any potential buyer – rich buyers that wanted to buy Veronica's artworks. This man seemed rich, so she didn't have any problem. She gave him a smile and gestured towards a room. "Please, right this way. This is a small gallery but very exclusive. Usually guests can just walk in to view the artworks." She led him to another room where the artworks were placed. "As you can see, these are her amazing artworks."

"I bought her photograph few years back when I went to one of her exhibitions." Logan said.

"Oh? I am sure she would be very pleased to hear that."

"Yeah…" Logan looked around at the gallery. Many photographs were displayed in the room. It was an excellent collection, and Logan felt a sense of pride to see Veronica's artwork.

"May I ask your name, sir?"

"My name is Logan Echolls." Larissa didn't react. It seemed she didn't recognize his name. It wasn't as if Logan was a mega celebrity – but then again, Larissa wasn't from around Neptune.

"My name is Larissa and if you need anything just holler." She then walked away and gave Logan some privacy. Logan watched the assistant – she was pretty, but definitely bitchy. He wondered how Veronica worked with this kind of person.

Logan walked around and inspected the artworks. Veronica was truly talented – there were photographs of models, non-models, children, old people, young people, babies, adults, animals, plants, even food. Any photographer could take pictures and make them beautiful or even alive.

But Veronica's photographs… they had souls. They had emotions. They had spirits. She managed to capture the essence of living itself, and not just taking a picture.

It was truly different and unique and definitely worthy of appraisal.

Logan walked again and he saw something that piqued his interest: it was a picture of Keith Mars.

He saw Keith Mars sitting on a beach with Backup by his side. It seemed Keith didn't realize that he was being photographed. Veronica must've had use a long lens. Keith was hugging Backup and looking at the sunset or sunrise. For others, it was just a picture of a man sitting with his dog. But for Logan… suddenly his eyes were watery. He could feel the loneliness coming from both Keith and from the photographer, which was Veronica. It was like watching your loved one from afar and there was nothing you could do to make the object of your affection realizing your existence.

So… this was it. Veronica missed her father, and her father missed her… but they couldn't speak to each other. She could only watch him for afar with longing looks. It was as if they were so close and they couldn't even touch.

Logan felt ache in his heart. Veronica and Keith were the most loving family he ever met. Now they were separated like this… and somehow Logan blamed himself.

He touched the picture frame on the wall and stroked it.

"You know, if you break it, you have to buy it."

Logan turned around slowly and saw the most beautiful woman in the world.

Veronica looked at him with her blue eyes and a smile that could make him weak every time he laid eyes on her.

"Well, I am thinking about buying it anyway. But I'm afraid I can't afford it." Logan smiled back to see her. Veronica tilted her head to the side, and Logan's smile became wider. How beautiful she looked whenever she tilts her head like that.

"Mr. Logan Echolls, the famous director couldn't afford my photograph? Get out of here." She said, and Logan grinned. "No, seriously – you need to get out from my gallery. I don't accept poor people." Veronica made a joke and grinned. Logan chuckled and happily looked at her.

"I don't think I can afford this one." Logan gestured to the picture behind him. "I think this is priceless."

Veronica saw the picture of her dad and Backup, and nodded. "Something like that. It's not for sale, anyway." She didn't elaborate why, but Logan didn't ask. "It's so good to see you again, Logan."

"Yeah…"

Both of them were staring at each other for eternity, and Logan made a move. He approached her and hugged her tightly. Veronica closed her eyes and buried her face to his chest. It had been forever since they properly meet again.

"It's been a while, Logan…" Veronica whispered.

"Yeah…" Logan put his chin on top of her head. Being a professional assassin, he immediately knew that there was something wrong with her – he could smell her perfume and a hint of gunpowder. He closed his eyes. This means, Veronica just got back from firing a weapon. And he hated the idea that Veronica just killed a person. "I miss you, Veronica."

Veronica wanted to cry, "I miss you too, Logan."