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I don't own Veronica Mars or any other show or personality mentioned in this fic.

Mac

"What the hell Mac?"

"Calm down Dick, I will explain, but in all fairness you can't really be mad at me, we just got together, and it wasn't my secret to tell."

"I know but I'm still pissed that I was left out of this. I figured you knew…I didn't think you had actually been involved."

"Well I was, but I wasn't thrilled about it at the time and if it makes you feel any better I hung up on Logan three times before I finally let him talk."

"Strangely it does." Dick said with that smirk I was beginning to love.

"Are you ready to hear how I got involved?"

"Ready...and willing Mackie?" He smirked again suggestively causing me to blush slightly.

"Ok, here goes…So I was sitting in my room working on my computer when my phone rang. I was expecting a call from Veronica so I grabbed my phone and just answered it without looking at the caller ID. You can imagine my surprise when instead of being greeted by Veronica, I was greeted by Logan…."

December 2005

Why won't he stop calling me?

He hasn't said two words to me in the 6 years we've gone to school together, why would he start now?

And good lord is he ever persistent, I think I know how V feels now.

The first time he called I hung up as soon as he told me who he was. The second time he asked me to give him 10 seconds, I just said nope and hung up. The third time, he offered me $1000 just for a chance to speak and I told him I didn't care and hung up again.

I know its harsh to just hang up, but its not like he's my friend, he's V's friend, which means I should probably be civil, but come to think of it I'm not even sure if he's her friend anymore. I'll have to check with her on that later.

"Cindy!"

"What mom?"

"You have a phone call!"

Aw shit! He really isn't going to give up is he? I left my room and grabbed the phone from my mom, he must really be desperate if he tracked down my parents number too.

"What do you want Logan?"

"How did you know it was me?"

"Um, maybe because you already called my cell three times and none of my friends call me at this number."

"Oh, good point. Well, thanks for not hanging up this time, I was beginning to think I'd have to track down your address next and make a personal appearance on your front porch."

"If you still want to I could alert the media. Which would you prefer, Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood?... But seriously Logan, you have 30 seconds, make it snap, crackle and pop or my attention will get soggy, I don't have all day."

"Oh…ok…Well.."

"20 seconds."

"Shit! Fine…I need your help."

"You're kidding right? Why would I help you? Am I being Punk'd? Is Ashton Kutcher hiding in my kitchen? Cuz that would be awesome. "

"Well, first of all you're not being Punk'd and second, you know they paint his abs on, right? Just like they do for Conner Larkin. And third, it wouldn't actually be me you'd be helping."

"I'm not helping you get Veronica back Logan, that wouldn't be helping her."

"I don't want you to help me get Ronnie back…?" He really is a terrible liar, I could practically hear his thoughts and they were telling him that he is a douchebag and that was exactly what he wanted. It may not have been the reason he was calling, but it was definitely one of his goals. "This actually has nothing to do with Ronnie."

"Nothing to do with her huh? Well now I'm intrigued." This is a bunch of bullshit, everything Logan does leads back to V eventually. Of course if I help him with whatever scheme he has cooked up I could warn her ahead of time...this might be worth it… "Still waiting."

"It's for Meg"

"Meg? As in Meg 'soon to be a mommy' Manning?" Well now I didn't see that coming.

"The one and the same."

I sat there for a second just thinking. I don't know Meg very well, but her and Veronica are really good friends, or at least they were. V cares about her and she was always nice to me, one of the few 09'ers that was. Veronica would be more than happy to help Meg out with a problem if she had one and Logan knows that, so why is he calling me? Unless it's something that V either doesn't know about or isn't supposed know about...My train of thought was abruptly interrupted by Logan asking if I was still there.

"Yeah, I'm here. Tell me what's going on and I might be willing to help."

"Thanks Mac, I really appreciate it and I know Meg will too."

"I didn't say I'd help Logan, I said I might help, so are you going to fill me in or what?"

"Actually, I don't feel comfortable saying it over the phone, would you be willing to meet somewhere?"

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?…..Fine, I'll meet you. When and where?"

"Dog Beach, in 20 minutes?"

"Fine, I'll be there."

As I pulled up to Dog Beach I saw Logan sitting in his yellow monstrosity waiting for me, I pulled up next to him and got out of my car as he got out of his and walked towards me.

"Hey, thanks for coming Mac, I really appreciate you giving me a chance."

"Logan, I just want to make it clear that if I do help, I'm doing it for Meg, not for you."

"Hey, I completely understand, look, I know we've never really spoken…When I was with Ronnie I never took the time to get to know her friends….I regret that now….There is actually a lot of stuff I regret now..."

Oh so not going there, I didn't do girl talk with V and there was no way I was doing it with Logan concerning V. "Logan, I didn't come here to attend your pity party over losing Veronica. I came here so you could tell me what Meg needs."

"I know, I'm sorry, well I guess I'll start from the beginning…"

As I listened to Logan tell me what needed to be done and why, I started to have a strange realization; I was beginning to see why V had fallen for him. Sure, he was …what did she call him? Oh yeah, an obligatory psychotic jackass, but he was a obligatory psychotic jackass with a heart. Who knew? It was obvious that when it came to someone he cared about he would move mountains and as he continued I realized that was exactly what he was expecting us to do. This was not going to be easy.

"Logan, you do realize how much work this is going to take right? And how much money this is going to cost you."

"I'm fully aware of it and I'm not worried about the cost, I have plenty of money and Meg has some savings that she has offered to contribute."

"Ok, well...I'm going to help, but on one condition."

"What's the condition?"

"If this goes badly…and there is a good chance it will...I was not involved, my name is never to be mentioned and that goes for anyone else that we have to involve as well. You and only you, will take the fall."

"Agreed. But for the record…it would have been that way even if you hadn't mentioned it."

"Well, we need to make a list of what needs to be done. Then we need to figure out if we are going to have to involve anyone else. We have the money covered, I can set up an account for Meg, I'll just need her password for her current account so I can transfer funds. But we need to give her a new identity, I can find a reason to get into the office at Mars Investigations and make her new ID's, but we still need a name. Did she have any ideas?"

"No, but I do. She will be going by the name Lianne Lester from now on."

Interesting…"Can I ask why?"

"Because she's making the choice to walk away from her child. I know that she has her reasons and she feels it's the only way….But my mom and Ronnie's mom did the same thing, and although their reasons weren't quite so noble….I just want her to be reminded of the choice she has made. Kind of a constant reminder of what she has given up and why."

"Well it seems a little harsh Logan."

"I don't mean it that way, I really don't. I'm just hoping that having that reminder will keep her from making mistakes later, mistakes that could effect everyone involved."

"Lianne Lester it is then. Since we're going to fake her death you'll probably have to bribe a few doctors and nurses, I can do a lot on the computer, but you're going to need a doctor for the death certificate, and you won't want the nurses getting suspicious or walking into the room when she's making her great escape."

"I'm already on it. Her doctor will be retiring to somewhere sunny and tropical in a few weeks and there are 3 nurses that will never have to worry about paying for their offspring's education, or anything else ever again for that matter."

"Ok, but we do have one more problem."

"What's that?"

"There won't be a body."

He chuckled a little before responding. "Oh, yeah, well…I've got an idea about that."

"Oh this should be good." I couldn't wait to hear this idea.

"Well I saw this really bad horror movie on TV once, I think it was on the USA channel. It had that guy from 'The Breakfast Club' in it and he was a writer slash serial killer that would kidnap these girls, hold them hostage for a few days and then he would drop them in the lake by his house to drown them. He would weigh them down and leave them there at the bottom of the lake. He called it his "garden" and then every few days he would scuba dive down to the bodies to visit, almost like he was "tending" to them. Anyways, when he tossed one of the girls into the lake she was found before she could sink to the bottom and drown. Since he didn't know she wasn't dead they took her to these people who made latex body doubles for movies and made a double of her. They put it in the water with the other bodies and set a trap."

"Ok, first of all, that's creepy, but I think I get what you're saying. You want to make a latex body double of Meg?"

"Exactly, I already made a call to an old friend of my dad's, I guess his contacts are worth something after all. We won't even need to take her to them, they just need measurements and a good picture. They'll do the rest."

"Logan, I have to admit that I am really impressed. This is a good thing you're doing here and you seem to be putting your all in to it. It's too bad Veronica isn't here to see this, she would be proud of you."

"You think?" That made him smile.

"Yeah, I do." And I really did and that says something.

"So Mac, speaking of Ronnie…" And of course he had to take that as an invitation.

"Logan, I already told you that I'm not getting involved with what's going on between the two of you."

"No, I know. It's just...well I was just wondering…."

"What?"

"Is she happy? I'd ask her myself but she wouldn't tell me the truth. I do care about her you know and her happiness means alot to me."

"I know Logan, believe me it's obvious how you feel about her, even though you try to hide it. But as far as her being happy…I think she wants people to think that she is happy."

"So you don't think she is?"

"No, I don't. I think she wanted so badly to feel normal again that she forgot how great it felt to actually be herself."

"Do you think she loves him? I mean if this all works Duncan is going to have to leave with his daughter. Do you think she'll be ok?"

"I think she'll be fine. Maybe upset at first, but she's Veronica, she survives, its her thing. As far as her loving him I can't really answer that. But in my opinion I think she just thinks she loves him. He was her first love, but she's not the person she was when she loved him before."

"Thanks Mac, that makes me feel a little better about this."

I sat there for a second with Logan as he stared out at the water seemingly lost in thought and I stared at him. I'd never noticed it before but it was so apparent, he really does love her. He'd walk through fire for her, he already had in some ways. Then it occurred to me that V would be upset about Meg's death and Duncan's departure and she would need some moral support.

"Logan, I think we need to bring Wallace into this."

"Wallace? Isn't he in Chicago? Besides, he would be harder for me to convince then you were. He hates me on a whole other level."

"Wallace doesn't hate you, you just hurt his friend and he's protecting her by treating you like a leper. V is going to need him if this works, plus he could help with a distraction to get Meg out of the hospital. You and I can't do everything you know."

"You're right, as much as I hate to admit it, you are. I guess I'll call him after we leave."

"Actually, why don't I call him, I would be a little better received I think. I'm gonna tell him you're paying for his ticket home though, ok?"

"It's the least I can do if he's willing to help."

"Well we better get out of here, I'll call Wallace when I get home. You'll call Meg and let her know we have a plan in the works?"

"Yeah, we should meet again tomorrow to finalize the accounts and everything. Why don't we meet at Meg's hospital room around 10AM, her parents won't be there."

"Ok, I'll see you then."

June 2007

I sat back and melted into the couch cushions a little tired from my story telling and I smiled at Dick. "So that's how I got involved."

"I see. Honestly guys, its starting to sound a lot like a bad teen mystery movie." He admitted.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. But hey, it obviously worked didn't it? Logan would you mind picking it back up from here and telling Dick about Wallace's involvement? I'm tired of talking. Unless Wallace would like to tell his side that is." I said as I glanced at Wallace.

"Nah man, take over the reins, I'd prefer to just sit back and relax." Offered Wallace.

Logan smiled and nodded. "Ok, I guess I can pick it up from there then."

"Wait." Dick stopped Logan before he could start. "When do I get to hear Ronnie's side? She's been sitting here the entire time and I haven't heard from her yet?"

Veronica just smiled and spoke to him like he was a 4 year old. "Don't worry Dick, it's my turn next and I get to tell you about two sides of the story."

Logan smirked as he interrupted. "Can I start now?"

Dick just smiled and nodded, it was pretty obvious that he was having fun….

So what did you think? Review please!

If you are curious:

The bad horror movie I was referring to is called "cabin by the lake" it has Judd Nelson in it. I know that the idea of a latex body double is a little far fetched, but oh well, that's why this is fiction. Besides Logan grew up around the movie business so I thought it would be a good throwback to his upbringing.

Well that's all for now. Thanks!