Thank you to the people who are reading this, and those who have reviewed
Chapter Four
Veronica sat down on the familiar couch and took a deep breath. This was the first time that she had been back in the home that she and Logan had shared throughout the course of their married life since his murder. Before her road trip, she had stayed in motel rooms, trying to avoid the memories her house struck in her.
"Logan let go!" Veronica shrieked as the man in question threw her over his shoulder, carrying her through the house as though she weighed nothing.
"Not going to happen Ronnie," he smirked as he carried her out of the backdoor towards the pool. It was the first really hot day of the summer and Veronica had mistakenly told Logan that she was too hot to do anything. "You wanted to cool down after all."
"Logan the pool hasn't been treated yet this summer!" she laughed as he tickled her sides.
"Guess, we'll have to take the risk then!" He grinned as he slipped her from his shoulder into his arms, bridal style. She looked up at his mischievous face.
"Logan no!" she screamed as he started to run towards the pool. He took a leap into the air and sent the two of them crashing into the deep water at the end of the pool, submerging them both. Veronica emerged from the water, spluttering as her lightweight clothes dragged in the water.
"I'm going to kill you Logan Mars!" she screamed as she lunged towards him. He laughed, and took off down the pool.
Veronica took another deep shuddering breath, and pushed back the tears which were threatening to spill from her eyes. She remembered clearly the day that Logan had told her he was going to take her name.
"Echolls is a name which I don't want to be associated with. I'd rather your name any day of the week," he smiled softly as he took her hand. "I'd be delighted to be Mr. Veronica Mars. The name does have a certain ring to it after all!"
Knocking at the door roused Veronica from the memory she was immersed in. She got up slowly and went to answer. At the door was a tall man, wearing a black suit and blue tie. His hair was blonde and was cut short against his head. He smiled impishly at her, as she scrutinised him suspiciously. How had Dean Winchester found her so quickly after she had got home from Harvelle's? She had only given Jo her first name, and had planned on calling the hunter after having a few days to relax. The time on the road hard worn Veronica thin, and she needed some time to pull together everything she had learnt.
"Agent Plant from the FBI, can I talk to you for a moment Mrs Mars?" The man at the door smiled winningly, and went to flash a badge in her face. Veronica snatched it from his hand and investigated it thoroughly, almost laughing at the choice of name. She realised then that he was there to investigate what had happened with her husband. Oh the irony of it all.
"Funny, I don't recall a Robert Plant stationed in DC, and I think I would recall who had replaced me on this case, Of course, you've obviously come a long way from your Led Zeppelin days, I'd say. Looking good for your age though." Veronica saw the man's face fall, caution replacing the easygoing expression he previously sported.
"I'm FBI you fool. Agent Mars. You should really do research before you go barrelling in to interview someone." She snarked as she cocked an eyebrow at his foolish mistake and stepped back away from the door.
"I thought you were a stay at home wife. Couldn't find any record of employment." Dean said defensibly, clearly annoyed at Veronica's reaction. He clearly expected a teary wife mourning her husband in the most obvious way possible.
"Alright, Inspector Clouseau. Come on in," Veronica said as she indicated the entrance way to her home. He walked in slowly, and she closed the door behind him. Veronica and Dean looked at each other for one long moment. Veronica wondered idly how he had known that she was back in DC when she had only arrived back in town the night before. She had spent the night at Harvelle's at Jo's insistence when she had discovered Veronica's intention to drive until she got home. Veronica had set off early in the morning after a quick cup of coffee and a bagel, driving until she got home. She had collapsed into her bed late that night, trying desperately to ignore the scent of Logan which still managed to pervade the house even weeks after his death.
"How did you know that I was home?" Veronica asked Dean as they stood in the foyer of her house. He continued to look her up and down for a few moments before answering.
"Since I started to look into this case I've been coming by the house every couple of days. Just happened by today and saw the car." He looked suspiciously at her. "How come you knew who I was?"
"Jo didn't call you?"
"Jo said a Veronica Fennel was lookin' for me. Not Veronica Mars. Threw me a little darlin'" his eyes pierced her, accusing her of misleading someone who was clearly important to him.
"Like you haven't used a fake name, Mr Plant," she said pointedly. A roguish smile appeared on his face.
"Wouldn't have figured a girl like you to be into Zeppelin,"
"My husband loved classic rock" and there they were back to the original topic.
"Gotta be honest darlin' you don't look old enough to be married"
"I'm twenty five," Veronica said shortly. Dean laughed.
"See when I first saw you I had you pegged for jail bait."
"You are not very good at this interrogation stuff you know. You've gone completely off topic." Dean looked a little off putted by her forthrightedness. Then he grinned again.
"You think that I might've been trying to gain your trust?"
"Good luck with that one bud," Veronica said darkly Even I know that I have trust issues she thought darkly.
"So you wanna tell me why you went to Nebraska to find little ole me, Agent Mars," Dean asked
"Well, the FBI does have interests in wanted fugitives, specifically ones which are meant to be dead" she said darkly.
"Are you threatening me?" Dean suddenly went serious, his flirtatious demeanour dropped in an instant. He was suddenly serious. Veronica understood in that instant why Agent Hendrickson was so desperate to catch the Winchester brothers. Dean Winchester was inherently dangerous.
"No, I'm not. Let's just stop playing games and lay all of our cards on the table," she suggested as she indicated the door to the dining room. Dean walked through and took a seat opposite her, scrutinising Veronica as he did so. She grabbed her file out of her bag, with all of the information about Dean and Sam.
"I just have to get another file," she said as she walked towards her study at the back of the house.
"How do I know that you aren't just calling your buddies at the FBI," Dean asked suspicious once more.
"I guess you'll just have to trust me," Veronica said tiredly as she exited the room.
Chloe and Sam stepped off the Queen Industries jet in Metropolis International Airport. Chloe was once more grateful for the resources that Oliver bought to their team. Her face furrowed as she noted that Oliver was waiting on the runway, walking quickly over to where they were unloading. He was frowning and worry marred his usually handsome face. Chloe sped her walk to meet him halfway across the asphalt. Oliver opened his arms to her, and Chloe went unhesitatingly to him.
She had missed her best friend during the course of her investigation into Mia's condition. Normally he would be her partner during this sort of mission, playing the Bond to her Q. She breathed in deeply the characteristic smell of Oliver.
"I've missed you Chlo," Oliver said into her ear as he held her close to him. "The team was a mess while you were away."
Chloe pulled back to look at his face, startled by the fear in his voice. She noted out of the corner of her eye Sam standing awkwardly a small distance away from them.
"Oliver, what's happened?" Chloe asked.
"Mia's gone missing. Bart said that she was acting strangely when he was watching her, that she had taken on a completely new personality and that she just disappeared," Oliver explained.
"Possession," Sam said calmly. The two vigilantes looked at him. "She's been possessed by a demon. We need to find her and I can exorcise it."
"Bart, Victor and AC are looking for her now. Even Clark is on the lookout, as are all of the other team members in all our other locations. But Chlo, who the hell is this?" Chloe took a step back from Oliver and motioned to Sam.
"Ollie this is Sam. He has a lot of experience with this sort of issue." Sam looked startled to be introduced and turned towards them reluctantly. Oliver looked him up and down and silence pervaded the area for a few moments. Finally Oliver spoke.
"I hope you know what you are doing," he said critically. "No offense, but you look like you just finished college, not like a demon hunter."
"Appearances can be deceiving," Sam said mildly. Chloe saw a dark glint in his eye and for the first time wondered what had happened to harden Sam so much.
Veronica and Dean both sat at the table, with all of the information they had both gathered over the course of their investigations. Each had their respective information in front of themselves, looking at the other, still cautious.
"Oh this is ridiculous," Veronica huffed, and chucked her files across to Dean. He caught them dexterously, and started to grin at her outburst. He passed her his journal, flipped open to the page that he had written all the information about the murders. Veronica looked at the page, before looking up.
"Let's just go over what we both know," Dean said, leaning back in his chair, indicating for her to speak first.
"So far 8 people have been murdered, all from different states, different backgrounds, in the same way. Each died from blood loss after having similar symbols..."
"Enochian, but its perverted, or corrupted," Dean interrupted, and Veronica looked at him pointedly. He grinned and gestured for her to continue.
"Perverted Enochian symbols carved into their bodies. No traces of an attacked have been found at the murder sites," Dean raised his hand and waved at her like a desperate school child. Veronica looked slightly exasperated. "Yes Dean."
"Traces of sulphur were also around each of the sites which I have been able to visit," He lowered his hand and grinned slightly at her. Veronica took a deep breath and continued.
"The only similarities there were between victims is that each are men and have significant positions of prominence within America, except possibly victim 7," She said with considerable difficulty. "While Logan was well known he did not have the same influence as the others."
"He was a contributor to a lot of charities, wasn't he? And he knew a lot of contributors." Dean offered as a connection.
"Okay, so the majority had political influence. When I was heading the case for the FBI I had a lot of difficulties getting access to the bodies of the dead, and more than one went missing during the course of the investigation. Only two remain in the central FBI morgue at this point,"
"Which bodies went missing?" Dean asked, curious. "I've only been on this case since victim 6, cause I saw a news report and recognised the symbols, and because of the involvement of the Fed's it's been difficult getting any kind of access to the bodies."
"I don't even want to know how you would normally get access to the bodies of the deceased," Veronica commented as she pulled out several pieces of paper, each with a shot of the victims before death, and some of the crime scene photographs while the bodies were present. She stood up and blue tacked the first piece to her wall.
"Victim 1: Gordon Yaxley. 27. Sherriff in Delaware Ohio." After mentioning each victim she tacked up the paper including their photographs.
"Victim 2: Fredrick Goyle. 30. DA in Chicago."
"Victim 3: Darren Dohring. 23. Intern in the Governor of California's office."
"Victim 4: Oliver Wood. 19. Prominent NFL player. His body is still in the FBI morgue, or was when I was last there."
"Victim 5: David Thorman. 24. Son of Billionaire Graeme Thorman, heavily involved in his father's company."
"Victim 6: Jacob Keynes. 45. Minority member of the United states Senate."
"Victim 7: Logan Mars. 25. Charitable contributor and son of film stars." Veronica managed to say through the lump in her throat. She didn't need to look at the photos. She knew his face intimately, and could not scrub the image of his dead body from her head. She tacked up the last piece of paper.
"And finally victim 8: Christopher Norris. 36. Works in the office of a representative in the Mississippi House of Representatives. The second body which remains in the morgue."
Dean stood up to look at all of the pictures closely.
"It's been more difficult to get access to these sorts of things since the FBI is actively involved and I don't have a partner to help with distractions." Dean commented as he scrutinised the pictures in depth. Veronica looked at his journal for a few moments, before something occurred to her.
"Why aren't you working with Sam anymore?" she asked idly as she continued to look through his journal. "Wasn't he the Dastardly to your Mutley?"
"Sam died last year," Dean said shortly.
"Maybe I was mistaken, but I was sure that I saw him exiting Harvelle's as I entered. He was with a petite blonde woman." Dean cursed and stood up abruptly.
"Son of a bitch! I need to go make a call," he snarled. Veronica nodded, wondering what had happened for Dean to think that Sam was dead while his friends harboured him in their bar. She listened as Dean's voice rose sharply, clearly he was shouting at someone on the other end of the phone.
"And you didn't think that it would be a good idea to let me know that my damn brother was alive? Damnit Jo, I trusted you... Well he's got a lot to answer for to... where is he now?... don't you dare warn him Joanna Beth Harvelle... don't give me that crap, I deserved to know... I don't care if he wasn't ready to talk... that's it. I'm done talking." She heard Dean slam his phone angrily closed and busied herself with the journal as he returned to the room. He sat down heavily at the table, and Veronica could see him fuming out of the corner of her eye. She rose slowly, trying not to draw his attention to her and walked over to the sofa in the next room. She grabbed the television remote and flicked the television on channel hopping randomly as she waited for Dean to calm down a little. Her attention was caught on a news channel as the image of a body bag was shown. People were carrying the bag on a gurney and loading it into a coroners van. She stopped channel hopping and turned the volume up.
"Another body had been found mutilated late last night in Kansas, in circumstances which appear to be similar to that of an ongoing FBI investigation. Police sources say that this looks like the work of one killer who picks their victims at random, one of them being the son of celebrated actors Aaron and Lynn Echolls, Logan Mars. A spokesperson for the FBI spoke at a press conference today." Veronica repressed a snarl as Agent John Berkley appeared on the screen.
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation is deeply saddened at the recent developments within this case, and I wish to assure you that my team is doing its upmost to investigate and have no doubt that we will bring this monster to justice. We ask that the public cooperate with all and every member of the Bureau and anyone with information pertaining the case to come forward. However, I would like to add that we will not be releasing any details at this time as it could impair our investigation. Rest assured, America, my team will do all they can to bring the killer to justice."Berkley smiled in what Veronica assumed was meant to be a charming way, and told the audience that he would take any questions which he was able to answer. Veronica listened to the man's oily voice and internally cursed. She knew that Berkley would take advantage of the case to get his five minutes in the spotlight. David would have been better off leaving her on the case.
"This is our case isn't it," Dean's voice came calmly from behind her.
"Yes,"
"Where have the bodies been found?" she turned to look at him and noted that he looked calmer than before.
"Metropolis in Kansas," Veronica said as she stood up.
"Funny coincidence that. That's where Sam is. I owe my brother a swift kick in the ass, and I can do it while continuing the case." Dean stared to walk to the table.
"I'm coming with you." Veronica insisted. Dean turned to look her up and down.
"I don't know that that's such a good idea darlin'," He said gently.
"I have accepted that I can't solve this case on my own. Can you do the same and acknowledge that you need my contacts," Veronica stated a little angrily.
"Alright then, we'll go together."
"Off to see the wizard." Veronica said cheerily and Dean let out a burst of laughter.
"Cyborg and Impulse have found Mia," Chloe said to Oliver as she turned in her seat in Watchtower to see the fully suited up Green Arrow. "Cyborg has managed to knock her out, and is bringing her back here."
She looked to where Sam was meticulously replicating the symbols which had been in the room where Mia had become possessed on the floor of Watchtower, although thankfully without using blood.
"Are you sure that this will work?" Oliver asked. Sam looked up him contemptuously. The two men had been less than cordial to each other during the course of trying to find Mia, and Chloe couldn't understand the instant animosity they had felt for each other. From where she stood they were very similar, with hero complexes which could even rival that of Clark Kent's.
"Just get it here and you'll see," Sam said grumpily.
"It?" Oliver took offense to Sam referring to Mia as a thing.
"Yes. It. The demon will be in control, not your friend. You should remember that," he said emotionlessly. Oliver snorted and stood back.
"Incoming!" Cyborg's voice sounded over the computer's sound system. Sam made the last brush stroke on the floor and grabbed a chair to go in the middle of the symbols.
Bart came whizzing into the room, still in his Impulse gear. Victor followed him in soon after, carrying Mia.
"She's waking up," he warned as he put her on the chair. Bart whizzed around tying her securely to the chair. The rest of them stood back as Mia lifted her head, a snarl twisting her delicate features.
"Oh a tea party!" she said gleefully in a voice too low for her petite female frame. Chloe was forcibly reminded of the man that had attacked Mia in the room. According to Sam he had been possessed by the same demon as Mia and had possessed Mia when he had kissed her. "Can I play the Mad Hatter and pour the tea?"
"What is your name?" Sam said sternly, standing just outside the circle of symbols. Mia turned to him.
"Little Sammy Winchester, don't you know it's rude to ask a demon's name!" She mocked outrage. "It's sure a surprise to see you here, deary!"
"You're not going to be around for much longer demon," Sam said grimy as he started to chant in Latin.
Mia laughed in the unusually deep voice that sent chills down Chloe's spine.
"You really don't know how much bigger than me this all is!" She started to scream as the room shook and wind whipped around. Sam continued with the exorcism, determined not to get distracted. Oliver gripped Chloe's shoulder as they watched Mia begin to shake and writhe in the chair. It's not Mia; she reminded herself it's a demon in her body. We are rescuing Mia. The room continued to shake. The demon got louder, pain evident in it's voice. It screamed and screamed. Chloe resisted the urge to plug her ears. Mia threw her head back and black smoke exploded uncontrollably from her mouth. Sam said the last few lines of the exorcism and smiled grimly. Mia lifted her head up and looked around the room confusedly.
"Chloe, Oliver, what the hell happened to me?" she said weakly. Both Chloe and Oliver looked towards him for some kind of indication of what they could do. He nodded slowly and Oliver rushed forward to the side of his protégée. Chloe meanwhile surprised herself by collapsing into Sam's arms. He pulled her close into him and sat down slowly onto the floor. He stroked her head slowly as she started crying.
"It's okay," he whispered, trying to calm her. He recognised the shock Chloe was going through. She had had to be calm and composed for the rest of her team, and had not had the time to freak out herself. Now that it was over, she had allowed herself to breakdown. It surprised Sam and warmed his heart in equal measures that she had found some modicum of comfort in him. He continued to stroke her hair as she cried. "Mia's okay now, Chloe."
Oliver and the rest of the team had taken Mia to see Emil, while Sam and Chloe had returned to Watchtower to try and make sense of everything that had happened over the course of Mia's possession. Sam pulled out his phone to check for messages from Jo or Ellen, while Chloe went through all of the records that Watchtower had of the time that Mia had been possessed. Sam was surprised to see a familiar number on the screen, and his heart sunk as he played the message.
"Samuel Winchester you better answer your god damn phone! Jo happened to just tell me that you're not dead! Thanks for letting me know that bro. You're a true angel! I'm in Metropolis. You better call me back, because you don't want me to be any more pissed than I am already!" Dean snarled into Sam's ear. Sam took a deep breath and turned to Chloe.
"I need somewhere to meet my brother. Can I let him know where we are?" He asked.
"Okay," Chloe said after a moment. "I'll give you the address to give him, tell him to come in the back."
Sam dialled Dean's number into his phone. The phone rang for a few moments, before it was picked up.
"Where are you?" Dean asked gruffly. Sam gave him the address.
"We're on our way." He said before he hung up the phone. Sam was left wondering who exactly we were.
Veronica and Dean looked up at the tall building above them, and looked again at the instructions that Sam had meticulously given them.
"I guess this is the place. Sam really said to go around the back?" Veronica asked Dean. He only nodded, and she walked forward to what seemed to be a disused entrance. She pulled open the door, and waited as Dean slowly made his way to her side. They both stepped in and the door sprang shut behind them. Veronica felt a familiar whooping sensation in her stomach as the floor started moving them upwards. They were plunged into darkness in the journey and Veronica automatically sought out Dean's hand. He didn't push her away and held on to her hand as they moved upwards rapidly.
"This is beyond weird," Veronica muttered. The lift came to a stop and a door opened in front of them. They stepped cautiously forward, their hands still linked.
"Agent Veronica Mars of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Dean Winchester, previously presumed dead have entered the building Miss Sullivan," an artificial voice said from above them. Another door opened and Veronica could see a woman standing in front of a computer monitor and Sam Winchester standing awkwardly beside her. Dean strode angrily forward, pulling his hand back. He punched Sam in the face. Hard. Sam stood still. Dean punched him again, and the two women gasped. Dean then grabbed his brother by the shoulders and pulled him into him, hugging him closely to him.
"Don't you fucking do anything like that to me again, Sammy," Dean growled into Sam's ear. Sam nodded his assent. The two brothers held each other for a few moments. They stepped back slowly.
"Son of a bitch Sammy, what are you doing here?" Dean asked him gruffly.
"Here as in inside this building? Helping Chloe with a JLA case that went beyond meta's. Here on earth? I have no fucking clue." Dean looked a little put out by his brother swearing.
"Sammy, you're not meant to curse. I'm the one who curses," he said, sounding offended. Sam chuckled.
"You going to sue me for trademark infringement?" he asked jokingly.
"Wait a second," Veronica said, startled by what she had just figured out. She had been standing there in silence while the brother's interacted, but was struck by the reference to the JLA. She looked around herself at all of the computers and hardware in the room. This was the headquarters of the JLA? Watchtower? That meant that the woman in front of her had to be the elusive master of Watchtower. "The JLA? As in the Justice League of America? The vigilante group that is wanted by the FBI. You're Watchtower?"
"Crap, Chloe I'm sorry," Sam looked contrite. Chloe looked exasperated.
"Yes. But I think you can understand why we need to exist now, don't you, Agent Mars. Normal officers couldn't deal with this kind of crap. We do what is necessary to deal with what is out there." Veronica looked at her for a second, before nodding.
"I understand. But I should turn you in, Oath and all that," Veronica shrugged.
"Yes, I do. But I honestly have to say you keeping your oath as a member of the FBI is hardly on my list of priorities at the moment," Chloe snapped back. Sam and Dean stood back and watched, amused as the two petite blonde spitfires argued.
"I said that I should. I didn't say that I would," Veronica said with a slight smile. Chloe smiled a little at that bit of wordplay. "And please, call me Veronica. I don't think that I'm going to be an agent for much longer if I carry on the way that I am going."
Chloe was about to respond when Oliver walked into the room. Chloe could have smacked herself on the head. Had she realised that Dean was keeping company with an FBI agent she would not have let Sam use Watchtower to meet his brother. Now Veronica would know that Oliver was involved in the Justice League. It was bad enough that she had figured out that Chloe herself was Watchtower, now she could ruin Oliver as well if she went to the FBI with the information she had gleaned. Since one of their more high profile attacks on a 33.1 facility the FBI had assigned a team to try and discover the identities of the Justice League and bring them in.
"Chlo, who are these people?" Oliver asked as he walked over to stand protectively by her side.
"Dean Winchester," Dean said gruffly.
"Veronica Mars," Veronica said, slightly startled by this revelation. She had met Oliver Queen briefly at one of Logan's fundraisers two years ago. Oliver was contributing a lot of money to the charity and Logan had wanted to thank him in person. Oliver looked a little struck by the name, as if trying to make the connection. If Veronica recalled correctly, Queen had sent her flowers when Logan's death had be unceremoniously revealed by the media. The card appeared to convey true emotions, not just the empty platitudes of a donor.
"Mars..." he said thoughtfully. Then his face lit up. "You were Logan Mars' wife."
"Yes." Veronica said simply
"Was?" Sam asked.
"He was murdered," Dean answered for Veronica. "That's kind of why we are in town..."
Veronica and Dean had filled Chloe, Oliver and Sam in on the case that they were following, and were stunned to know that the official who they had dubbed Victim number 9 was a judge, and had been killed by the possessed Mia. They all stood together, processing all of the information that they had each learnt in the short space of time. Chloe was typing rapidly on Watchtower's central computer as the other's scanned news broadcasts on the big screens.
"Guys," Sam said tentatively. "I think you might want to look at this." Chloe, Oliver, Dean and Veronica turned to the screen that Sam gestured to. Chloe sent that feed to the television and one by one the makeshift team filed to the sofa's and sat down.
They all sat in front of the television screen, awestruck by what they were seeing. Gordon Yaxley, David Thorman, Jacob Keynes and Darren Dohring all stood together doing a press conference. Yaxley was talking to the combined press in front of them all.
"We were kept in one room together, and were tortured by our captors for the time we were there. David, Jacob, Darren and I were let go a few days ago, although we have no idea why this happened, or even if where we were kept. We have found out from the FBI investigators that the bodies that they found were lookalikes, and that they were left in order to distract the investigators from looking for us. We will take questions now." Chloe pressed the mute button on the remote and looked to Dean and Veronica.
"What does this mean then?" she asked quietly.
"This can't be right," Veronica frowned. "I saw their bodies. They were not lookalikes. They were dead."
"So what the hell happened then?" Sam asked, sounding his own doubts aloud.
"Some freaky shit has gone down," Dean declared. "I guess we just have to investigate."
A sign flashed across the screen declaring: Breaking News! Chloe pressed the button to unmute the television.
"We have just been informed that Logan Mars has just been found alive!" The newscaster said excitedly. A short clip of film was showed. Logan was ushered from a car and escorted across to an unmarked building. Veronica's face dropped in surprise. The others in the room turned to her wordlessly.
"That's not my husband," Veronica said emotionlessly. "I saw his body. I know that it was not a doppelganger."
"Are you sure," Chloe said softly.
"It may look like him, but Logan is dead. We need to find out what the fuck is going on," Veronica said firmly.
"Let's get to work," Oliver said as the group stood up in unison.
"Well that was certainly melodramatic," Veronica sighed as she followed Chloe towards the computers. Chloe laughed and turned to the other blonde. The men in the group had left Watchtower, Oliver to see what he would be able to dig up from his corporate contacts, and Sam and Dean had left to investigate the latest crime scene to see if there were any similarities with the previous cases. Veronica and Chloe had opted to stay at Watchtower, claiming that they would be of better use doing research. Both women realised the two brothers need to be close to each other.
"Well I know that Oliver gets the tendency towards the melodramatic from being part of a team with Batman and the like," Chloe and Oliver had had a hasty discussion a couple of minutes earlier about what they should reveal to the newcomers, and had concluded that as a member of the FBI Veronica already probably knew a lot about the JLA, and if she was going to be working with them on this case then it was unlikely that she would be sharing any trade secrets. Chloe indicated a computer and turned to Veronica.
"I may have access to all of the databases that you have access to, but I was an investigative journalist. I can make patterns and investigate the supernatural side to this story, but I can guess that you have a greater understanding of criminal psychology. This computer has access to all of the databases that you might need," she said with a smile. Veronica smiled in return and sat down at the chair directly in front of the computer. Chloe stood at the table nearby, pulling streams of information from one screen to another, pausing occasionally to have a closer look at the data. The two women worked in companionable silence until Chloe looked up at Veronica.
"My husband died two years ago," Chloe said simply, shocking Veronica out of her research zone.
"What?" Veronica said softly, slightly confused by the other blonde's left field remark.
"He died in this room, after he was murdered. I know how you feel Veronica. And I can bet that right now its still so raw, specially with this lookalike turning up out of the blue, so I won't patronise you by telling you that it'll get better, or asking if you want to talk about it. But I am here," Chloe finished simply, her green eyes showing an empathy which could only have been gained through experience. Veronica looked at the other woman for a few long silent moments, feeling a sudden kinship arise between the two of them.
"Thank you," Veronica said quietly and the two women went back to their work.
"Veronica Mars and Chloe Sullivan?" a male voice asked, scaring Veronica and Chloe, as they had not heard anyone come into the room, and had not been warned by Watchtower. They turned to see a tall dark haired, attractive man in a suit and a trench coat standing in the middle of Watchtower. Chloe grasped a gun from a draw in the desk in front of her, while Veronica pulled hers from the holster she was carrying on her waist. They both held the guns up facing the man, who made no indication that they had startled him, or that he feared them shooting.
"I am Castiel," the man said stiffly. "Dean asked me to assist you."
"So how can you help us Castiel?" Veronica asked bluntly.
"I am an angel of the lord. I can read your enochian symbols."
And thats the first part of the Skies on Fire series. I'm in the process of writing the sequel, and you find out about my progress, and see all of the awesome artwork that sarah_jones did for me on Livejournal (the link is in my profile) - its definitely worth a look! any reviews are very much appreciated!