CHAPTER 9

"Duncan" Veronica gasped out in surprise. She couldn't help but feel like an idiot for not expecting him to show up. She had been incommunicado for two days with her ex, his best friend. If he had done something like that she would have tracked him down and shot him.

"We need to talk Veronica" he said with his voice hard with anger. She looked briefly at his face and her heart fell. He was hurt; the anger didn't cover it as much as she would have hoped it to.

Veronica sighed and moved back to let Duncan walk inside. If he was going to shoot her, then she should probably keep it in the apartment.

"Jesus Christ" Logan swore loudly as he nearly fell down from the punch to his face. He lifted a hand to his mouth and looked down at it. There was blood on his fingers. The sight of it had his anger heating quickly. He had been looking for an excuse to beat the shit out of Weevil. "Look no further" he muttered underneath his breath as he advanced slowly.

"Stop right there Echolls" Weevil said menacingly.

Logan laughed lightly. "And why would I do that?" he asked lightly, still moving. The little man had about ten seconds to give a good explanation before Logan turned his face into ground beef.

"I came here to talk to you" Weevil answered, his words finally stopping Logan in his tracks.

"Talk?" he said incredulously. "You call this…" he gestured to his mouth. "…talking?"

Weevil looked down at his feet for a second with a sheepish smile. "I got carried away. I apologize" His eyes weren't apologizing though. Logan could see that Navarro was mad as hell at him. And he decided to wait to beat the crap out of him until he found out why.

"So talk" Logan said shortly, walking past Weevil for the few steps it would take him to reach his car. He leaned up against the driver's side door and looked at Weevil expectantly.

Weevil smiled briefly at the arrogance that Logan was showing. Logan answered the smile with a salute and continued to wait impatiently.

"I want you to stay away from Veronica" Weevil said finally. Logan straightened, his face losing all traces of humor. Weevil continued to talk, ignoring Logan's reaction. "I should have protected her from you a long time ago, but I assumed that Duncan would take care of it" he smirked. "I was obviously mistaken"

"And why exactly would you take this…responsibility on yourself?" Logan asked between gritted teeth. He couldn't believe the audacity of the man. Where the hell did Weevil get off telling him to stay away from Veronica? A rush of jealous anger poured through him; if Weevil felt…toward Veronica…Logan's fist's clenched and he had to stop himself from lashing out.

"Because I am the only one that sees that she needs someone to watch out for her" Weevil answered simply. "And if no one else is going to make sure that you don't fuck with her again, I will" he finished, giving Logan a look that meant business.

"Maybe she likes it when I…fuck with her" Logan retorted acidly.

Weevil laughed ruefully, glancing away and then looking back. He rubbed a hand over his bald head as began to speak. "See, that's exactly what I'm talking about" he said. "Veronica doesn't need your stupid comments; your little jokes. You have been attacking her since Lily's death, and she used to hold her own, but now you need to back off"

"What? You don't think that Veronica can hold her own?" Logan asked, unbelieving. "She has always given as good as she got" he repeated the words that he had thought to himself a month ago. But as he said it, he remembered how she had changed after they had broken up. No more snippy comments from her after that.

"That was before" Weevil said in exasperation. "Her mother is dead"

"I know that" Logan spat back. "I'm helping her through it" he defended himself. Logan suddenly felt like he was convincing himself along with Weevil. He knew that he wanted to be with Veronica more than anything; but he wasn't sure if that was what was best for Veronica.

"Helping her through it?" Weevil said, pronouncing each word slowly. "If I can remember correctly, your way of getting through it, is drinking until you forget your own name. Is that what you plan on getting Veronica to do?"

"No" Logan answered shortly. "I plan on holding her when she needs to cry, just like she did for me when my mother died" Logan said seriously.

Weevil's eyes widened in surprise. Logan smiled without humor. Weevil probably never saw that one coming; not the heartless Logan Echolls admitting that he has cried.

"If your worried because I took off with her, don't be" Logan continued. "She needed some space from everything that was happening, and I gave it to her. I would never have taken her if she hadn't asked me to" he finished.

Weevil obviously didn't know what to say to Logan after that. He opened his mouth, but closed it again without speaking. Logan laughed and took his keys out to unlock his car door. He didn't turn to look at Weevil until he had the door open and was about to get in.

"Oh, and you better avoid Veronica for a while" he said with a mischievous smile. "I plan on telling her about this…" he motioned to his mouth with his free hand. "…and she may be upset with you"

Weevil smirked at Logan as he got into the X-Terra. When Logan was settled and had rolled down his window, Weevil spoke. "Hiding behind your woman?" he snarked good naturedly.

Logan laughed again, happy to have people calling Veronica his woman. "When its Veronica I am" he answered back, starting up his SUV's engine and driving away. He looked in his rearview window and watched as Weevil moved to where his bike had been hidden from sight. His smile didn't fade until he saw Duncan's car in her parking lot.