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Veronica

Later that night, or I guess early moring, Logan and I were lying in bed just enjoying each other's presence. He was lying on his back with his arms around me, my chin resting on his chest, his fingers lightly stroking my back and I felt at peace for the first time in months.

I seemed to have forgotten the days events and that was fine with me, but Logan spoke suddenly, pulling me back to the present. "So I was thinking."

I smiled and in a false shocked tone I replied. "Oh my god, are you feeling ok? Should I call the doctor?" I sat up a little placing my hand on his forehead checking for a temperature.

He laughed, pulled my hand a way and kissed it before focusing on my naked body next to his, my new position gave him great access to my bare chest and he began to caress the newly exposed skin. "But really Ronnie, I was just thinking about everything that happened back then. Telling Dick the story brought back lots of memories."

It was always amazing to me that he could still be serious at times like this. Even I had a hard time accomplishing that, but I was curious as to what he meant. "Like what?"

"Well, I really thought I would never get you back. Mac and Meg kept telling me to hold on, that you'd come back someday, but I was beginning to lose hope."

"They told you that?" The shock was real this time.

He smiled and leaned in to kiss my neck. "Many times."

"Traitors." I replied jokingly. "But honestly Logan, I think they knew before I did, Meg practically bitched me out in the hospital that night you know."

"Really, what did she say?" He seemed intrigued by that.

"Well it was something like 'pull your head out of your ass Mars'."

Logan laughed. "No, really Veronica, what did she say?"

"A lot about regret, closure, doing stuff for me and only me, that I needed to stop running, etc. It took me awhile, but I finally realized she was right…..I'm sorry it took me so long."

He smiled again and pulled me closer. "Its ok, I was happy to wait, besides, you actually gave me some faith as well."

"I did? I was pretty terrible to you back then, I was confused and I thought that I was happy with Duncan. What could I have possibly done to give you faith that I would come back to you?"

"You said 'yet'."

"What?" I truly had no idea what he was talking about and began to worry that Dick was wearing off on him finally.

"That night, in the hospital, when I caught up to you and you told me you were proud of me. Do you remember that?"

"Well yeah, of course I remember that, but I also remember that I stopped you from talking and told you that nothing had changed."

"True, but its how you ended it. Your exact words were 'I may be proud of you but nothing has changed between us yet.' That 'yet' was all I needed, it meant things would change."

I'd completely forgotten that. "I did say that didn't I? Wow, see I told you everybody else knew, even before I did, apparently even my subconscious was on the bandwagon."

"That's why I waited for a chance, I knew that Meg and Mac were right after that...did you really know what I was going to say when you stopped me?"

"You were going to tell me you loved me." I hid my face feeling a little guilty, there were still times I felt guilty for stopping him, not allowing him to speak his true feelings. But at the time I just couldn't deal with it.

He brought my face back up so he could see me and smiled. "Yes, I was."

"I wasn't ready to hear it Logan, I needed time, time to think about what I wanted. What Meg said to me that day really stuck with me."

"You know, when I think back I feel like we were both just under so much pressure from everybody. Everybody wanted us to be something other than what we were or wanted to be. Meg and Mac wanted us back together so we would be happy, but the majority of people just expected us to be the way we were before we were together. It was kind of like that song by David Bowie, you know which one?"

"Yeah, Under Pressure? As in; 'pressure pushing down on me, pressing down on you.' Etc."

"Exactly, its like we just couldn't get our heads above water, the pressure from everyone around us just kept us down."

"So you're saying that it was like our love was under pressure."

"Exactly, we had too much outside influence to really see what was going on for so long. Your friends finally made me see it, I guess it just took longer for you to see it."

I just laid there for a few moments after that thinking about how hard it had been for me, for both of us. And he was right, the pressure was horrible back then, I was so conflicted all the time, I knew what I wanted but I'd refused to admit it to myself or anyone else.

I'd gotten better at it since then but I still wasn't completely open with myself, or anyone else for that matter. In that moment I decided that I didn't want to be that way anymore and it was time to apologize and begin to make some changes. "Logan, I'm sorry."

He looked surprised by my sudden apology and pulled me closer. "For what baby?"

I took a deep breath and just let it go. "For not letting you love me the way you wanted to and for me not loving you the way that you deserved."

He smiled as he brought his hand to my cheek pulling my face closer to his. "It's ok Ronnie, I knew you loved me then and I know you love me now, as long as I know that I'm fine."

"But that's just it Logan, how do you know? I've never told you." He tried to speak but I stopped him. "Wait, let me say this, Meg said something to me in the hospital about life being short, she said that you have to take chances….And I do, but never where you are concerned. I never go on faith, I'm always afraid to get in to deep. Maybe its because the thought of losing you is so horrific to me that if I keep you at arms length it won't hurt as much….but that's a lie because it would kill me and Meg was right about regret too, I would regret it for the rest of my life."

"What exactly would you regret?"

"Not being with you the way I want to be with you, not being completely honest with you."

He sat up then, pushed me back against the bed and leaned over me, his eyes staring straight into mine. "What are you trying to say Veronica?" He looked so happy, he knew what was coming, the look in his eyes said it all, it was like years of frustration and hope were welling up in anticipation of my next few words.

"What am I trying to say? I'm trying to say that I love you Logan Echolls, always have, always will and I am so sorry it took me so long to say it."

I swear I could actually see his heart swell and his eyes were threatening to tear up. "I love you too Veronica Mars, more than you will ever know." And then he kissed me. He pulled back after a few moments and just looked into my eyes for a second before leaning in again. "I love you, I love you, I love you." He just kept saying it over and over, kissing me in between each I love you.

"Not as much as I love you." I knew then that no matter what happened, I would never have any regrets again.

He just smiled and then after several minutes of kissing me senseless he stopped and a mischievous look spread across his face. "Well, now that you have finally admitted you love me, I guess my next endeavor is to convince you to marry me."

I laughed and swatted him on the chest lightly. "Don't push it Echolls."

He just smirked and pulled me in for another kiss, something told me that the topic would be making an appearance again soon and funnily enough, that didn't bug me as much as I thought it should.

Waking up in Logan's arms is on my list of top 5 favorites things ever.

When Logan holds me its like his entire body just molds to mine, its one of the few places I always feel safe.

When I woke up a little while later I pulled his hand up to my face and kissed it lightly, I heard him mumble something and my mind drifted to our actions from a few hours earlier.

Sex with Logan was like an out of body experience for me, it was like I had no control over what I was feeling or doing. It was probably one of the greatest feelings in the world, it definitely ranked as a top 5 favorite as well.

I was imagining his hands roaming my body when I was suddenly brought out of my daydreaming state as Logan rolled us over, placed himself on top off me and began to kiss his way down my body.

He looked up, smirked evilly at me, and when his lips met my inner thigh, I lost all train of thought…

Logan and I were awakened a few hours later by some very loud, very happy whistling coming from the next room. I pulled the pillow over my head in an attempt to block it out and Logan just laughed. "What is that?"

"That, would be Dick." He replied still chuckling.

"I know that, but why?"

"Well, I think it is safe to say that Dick did not behave himself last night."

"Ugh! That was T.M.I...I did not need to know that." Eww ewww ewwwwww.

He pulled the pillow away from my face and smiled down at me. "You know Ronnie, we didn't behave ourselves either."

"I know that." I paused and smiled a little. "I am extremely aware of how much we did not behave….But I'm not going to go out there and announce it to the world."

"Well if you're not. I will." And with that he jumped out of bed, threw his boxers on and ran into the other room. The next thing I heard was a much louder chorus of whistling, Dick's solo had turned into a duet and I just rolled over and started to laugh.

"They never grow up do they?" I looked over to the door where Mac was standing with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"No Q, I'm afraid they don't, but on the brightside, they're a constant source of entertainment."

She walked over and joined me on the bed. "So true Bond, so true."

The two of us just sat there listening to our men making asses out of themselves and Wallace yelling at them to shut the hell up.

I swear I hadn't eaten in like twelve hours, I think Logan was afraid I'd eat his arm if he didn't feed me soon, so as soon as he and Dick stopped their impromptu post-coital concert he ordered food for everybody. After we had all eaten and showered, we sat down to discuss the plan Logan and CW had put together.

"So here's the deal, CW doesn't know how much Duncan is aware of. We know that he's on to me obviously, but just to be safe we're gonna have to operate under the assumption that he suspects everyone. Well, everyone except for Dick and Veronica that is."

"Wait, why me and Ronnie?"

"Well Dick, it was pretty obvious to everybody that you were totally in the dark and I don't know if anyone else noticed it, but the way he was looking at Ronnie….well it was a good indicator that he's still in love with her. Plus, they had to break up because of Meg dying and him having to leave, its safe to assume he wouldn't believe she had played a part in their separation. There's that and then there is the fact that he is also aware of her past trust issues with me. He probably thinks her and I will implode when she finds out that I lied about Meg."

He'd made a really good point, but that also brought up a whole other issue. "Yeah, but what's he gonna think when that doesn't happen?"

"Nothing, because you're gonna be honest with him."

"Logan, I'm not going to tell him I was involved, if he thinks I'm in the dark about this it gives us a chance to find out exactly what he wants."

Logan went to speak but Mac interjected before he even got a word out. "I have to agree Logan, and its not just that, but I saw the way he looked at her too and honestly, it scared me a little. I think he's obsessed with her."

Logan sighed a little before responding. "Yes, I know Mac and I agree, but if you guys had let me finish…" Logan turned his attention back to me then. "You aren't going to tell him you were involved, you're just going to tell him that I told you the truth last night. You're going to tell him that Meg is alive."

And that was gonna help us how? I wasn't so sure I was liking the plan. "Ooook... why?"

"Because you're gonna negotiate with him, find out what he wants in exchange for him not outing everybody for fraud."

So now normally I'm the picture of calm, but I'll admit that I was very apprehensive about this plan and wasn't hiding it well. "So you want me to go talk to him then? Alone? What if he wants to know why I'm not mad at you?"

"Well you'll tell him the truth, you've changed, you've gotten over your trust issues and you need to make it clear that we are together….You did a good job of it last night, but you need to make sure there is no room for confusion. If he is still in love with you he might get upset and make a mistake, maybe say something he didn't mean to say while trying to convince you to leave me. Something that would give us a clue as to what he knows…..And no, you won't be going alone, Wallace is going with you. He's is your best friend and would be the least suspicious person to send with you." He turned to Wallace then. "If anything, and I mean anything goes wrong you get her out of there, lie, make an excuse, feign a heart attack, whatever, just find a way to leave. Ok?"

Wallace smirked and saluted Logan. "Got it, operation bodyguard is a go."

I reached over Logan and grabbed Wallace's hand squeezing it lightly. "Thanks bff."

He just smiled and squeezed back. "Hey, its what I do."

"So what do Mac and I do while those two are infiltrating camp Duncan.?" Asked and anxious Dick.

Mac looked over at him, surprise evident on her face. "What's with you and the expanded vocabulary lately? Don't get me wrong, I like it, but it's a little weird."

"I found your thesaurus a while back, thought it looked interesting." Wow my conversation with Dick a couple weeks ago makes a lot more sense now I thought.

Logan took advantage of the momentary silence and continued. "Well Dick, you're gonna take your new girlfriend on a little weekend getaway."

"Awesome! Where are we going and when are we leaving?"

"Miami, you leave in 3 hours."

"Cool, but how come we get to go on vaca and you guys are gonna be doing all the heavy lifting?"

Mac turned her attention to Dick again. "Because Meg is in Miami, Dick."

"Oh...wait, so you mean this is a work related vacation?" He looked at Mac and winked. "I better be getting paid over time then."

"We'll see." She smiled and blushed a little.

"That was a yes, right?"

Needing to finish up soon Logan tried to get the couple back on track. "CW is already there, he'll meet you at the airport and take you to Meg. I want you two to find out exactly what happened from her and why. Then the two of you are going to bring her back with you."

"Logan, are you sure that's smart?" I asked. "I mean that just brings her closer to Duncan, if he finds out he might hurt her."

"She's gonna stay at CW's for the time being, she should be safe there, and it's probably the last place he would ever think to look for her, even if he is on to CW, Duncan won't even know she is back."

"Ok, so you want Dick and I to go to Miami, get the info and deliver the contraband back to Neptune?"

"Yes."

"Ok, sounds like fun. You ok with this Dick?"

"Hell I'm just glad I get to help this time, I don't like being excluded." He stopped seemingly lost in thought for a second. "So if Ronnie and Wally are going to see Duncan, and Macalicious and I are going to Miami...what are you gonna do Logan?"

"I'm going to lay low for a few days. We don't really know what Duncan is capable of yet and CW is afraid he might do something drastic. He has the connections and finances to do a lot of damage if he sees fit and since he knows I'm at least partly responsible, I'm his main target right now. He may have said he isn't mad but I know better than that and from what I've heard, his temper has gotten worse since he left. I'm gonna try and figure out exactly what we're dealing with by having Duncan as an adversary."

"What do you mean by 'his temper has gotten worse' Logan?" I inquired nervously.

"I didn't want to worry you, but his fits of rage have become more constant and his triggers are more sensitive. He put three guys in the hospital a month ago just because they knocked his drink over at a bar. I don't think he's mentally stable anymore"

"Why didn't you tell me that Logan. Oh my god! Has he hurt Lilly?"

"No Ronnie, he's great with her, you just need to be careful with what you say and how you say it, Wallace is going with you for a reason."

"Ok, I understand, but I don't like it and I think we might need to consider the fact that Lilly isn't safe with him anymore."

"We will cross that bridge when we get there, but for the record, I agree with you. Does anyone have any other questions?"

"Nope." I said, Mac, Dick and Wallace all nodded in agreement.

"Ok. Well Dick, you and Mac need to head out, there are two tickets waiting for you at the American airlines ticket counter and Sugarpuss, you and Wallace need to get ready to pay Duncan a visit."

"Oh joy!" I exclaimed sarcastically, eliciting a nervous laugh from everyone in the room, I was not looking forward to this.

Duncan

Duncan sat in his hotel room.

He'd decided to stay at The Grand so he would be able to keep an eye on Logan and everyone else, but it also made him closer to Veronica, he knew she would be coming to talk to him soon and the close proximity would just make it happen faster.

Lilly was asleep in the bedroom and he was on his computer trying to dig up dirt on Logan and Mac, he had realized the night before that Mac had probably helped with the technical stuff, he still wasn't sure about everyone else though.

He was about 98% sure that CW was involved, the guest list was a big check in the conspirator column for him. But he still wasn't sure if Wallace or Dick were involved, although of the two, he figured Wallace was more likely to have helped. Him a Veronica were kind of on the outs at the time of Meg's 'death' so he easily could have been involved without her knowledge. Dick however….he highly doubted they would have trusted him back then and judging by his confusion the night before, he felt confident in his assumption.

Then there was Veronica. She seemed just as angry as everyone else was last night, but he chalked that up to her defense of Logan.

She was just defending her friends like always, Duncan knew she wouldn't have been involved with something like that. Besides, Logan's plan had led to his departure and their breakup and he knew she never would have agreed to that.

He turned back to his computer screen and decided to change his search objective, he quickly Googled Veronica Mars.

And boy was he surprised by what he found.

The first item to pop up was a video labeled 'Emission to Mars.' He clicked on it out of curiosity and quickly realized he was watching a sex tape starring Veronica and some guy he didn't know and she looked good, really really good. Now he couldn't wait to see her.

But at least now he had found something to keep him occupied until then.

What did you think? Review please!

Yes Duncan is a creeper, and he will only get worse