Chapter 27: No Pleasure Without the Pain

Veronica blinked her eyes. Everything was so bright. So had no idea where she was or what had happened. The pain hit her. Then she remembered...

Her head hurt so badly it was hard to think. She felt like she'd been run over by a truck. That's pretty much what happened. The lights were so bright she couldn't hold her eyes open. She closed them again and tried to forget for a moment.

...

"Where is my daughter, Agent?" Keith asked frantically.

"She is recovering and resting. As soon as we debrief her, you'll be allowed to see her," Special Agent Fuller responded.

"I still want to know how you let her get into this mess," Keith huffed.

"Mr Mars, let us not pretend that this is the first time your daughter has been in a precarious situation. And also we won't deny that this isn't the first time she was put in that situation by her own hand- or yours. Shall we discuss the incident with Aaron Echolls? Or the runaway billionaire..."

"Ok, Ok, I get it. My daughter has a habit of getting herself mixed up in some sticky situations."

Special Agent Fuller smiled.

"Sticky doesn't quite cover it, but..."

"We want to see Veronica, Agent Fuller."

"I understand, Mr Echolls. Just as soon as she is debriefed you can..."

"You don't understand, Agent. I NEED to see her. I need to know she's okay."

"She is going to be fine. The doctors have checked her out thoroughly. She has a concussion and some bumps and bruises,
but she'll rest and recover fully. She's been through an ordeal. She needs her rest anyway. Just be patient."

"You've read my file. Patience is not one of my virtues," Logan practically growled.

Special Agent Fuller smiled again.

"You know. It really will be be a headache dealing with the two of you over the next few years. When she's working for me full time, there's no telling what sort of "sticky situations" to borrow your phrase, Mr Mars, Veronica is going to be in from time-to-time. I suspect I'll be having this conversation with you again someday soon."

Fuller turned and reached for the door handle.

"You two try to have a good day. And I would suggest benzodiazepine prescriptions with routine refills for the future," he smiled.

Neither man was amused.

...

"Well, hells bells, Veronica. Reckon' you took a bad enough beatin'?" Agent Ford chuckled as he walked into the room.

"You see this face?" Veronica said, circling her face with her hands. "This is my, 'Not-in-the-mood face'. "

Ford laughed.

"I really don't think she's joking, Cowboy. I mean-she looks like hell," Agent Nacombe offered.

"Oh, gee, Nacobme, thanks. I was afraid you wouldn't notice. And to think I got all made up like this just for you," Veronica smirked.

"Well, I see the concussion didn't affect your since of humor, Mars," Nacombe retorted.

"That's enough of that. Let's get down to business. We are here to debrief Ms Mars," Agent Fuller said.

"Of course. Let's get down to business. Certainly let's not pretend you gave a damn about whether or not the poor girl lived or died, Cecille." Nacombe said, rolling his eyes at Agent Fuller.

"Fine, fine. I'm glad you're ok, Veronica."

Veronica gave a slight smile. "Thanks. But she's right. The sooner I get done with you three, the sooner I can get the hell out of here."

"Oh, if only we could be done with you so easily," Nacombe laughed.

After what seemed like forever, the three agents had finished their task and left Veronica to herself. She heard knock at the door and just assumed it was another agent coming to ask even more questions.

"Veronica?"

That voice. It was better than morphine to make the pain go away.

"Logan?"

Logan rushed to her side. The sight of her was almost too much for him to take.

"It looks a lot worse than it is," she laughed, seeing the torment in his eyes.

"What did that scumbag do to you? I'm going to kill him," Logan seethed.

"No you're not. He's going to rot in a jail for a while and he'll end up somebody's bitch if he doesn't get shived first. Besides, you should see what I did to him," she joked.

"Honey, you got some splainin' to do..."

"Hi, Dad. Have you had your checked your blood pressure lately? You look a little red-faced."

"I'm in a hospital. I can be revived," Keith answered, not smiling.

Veronica laughed.

"Oww. Don't make me laugh. It hurts."

"I wasn't trying to. I'm being serious here," Keith said, but the anger in his voice faded as soon as he took in the sight of his daughter in her hospital bed.

"Honey, really are you okay?" he asked.

"If they'll let me out of here I will be," Veronica smiled.

"Why don't I see when you're being released. Agent Fuller said you were free to go as soon as the doctor said it was okay."

"Thanks, Dad."

She stared at Logan. She could see so much in his eyes. Worry. Regret. Anger. Relief. Love...

"I'm so sorry, Veronica. This is all my fault. If I hadn't gotten involved..."

"Logan, it's fine. It was all part of the plan. I was always going to have to get abducted by Russian thugs. It just happened a little sooner than we had hoped, but it's okay. I'm going to be okay. They wouldn't have let him really hurt me."

"But he did hurt you," Logan choked out, almost in a whisper.

"Nothing that won't heal soon enough," she said, reaching to touch his face with her hand. "But what exactly do you mean by "getting involved" ," she feigned ignorance. The truth was, Veronica had been told all about Logan's "involvement". She wasn't at all mad. In fact, she was pretty proud that Logan had been smart enough to keep her in the dark about it for so long. She actually felt pretty stupid for not uncovering it herself sooner.

"Well, about that..." Logan began. He lowered his eyes, unable to look at Veronica. He felt like a complete idiot. He was such a screw-up even when he tried to do the right thing.

"Logan," Veronica said softly, gently lifting his chin, "it's ok. The three agents of the apocalypse have already told me everything. I was only teasing. I'm sorry. I should have realized you would be beating yourself up about this."

"I should be, Veronica. I was stupid. I was..."

"...trying to protect me. Because you love me, Logan. That isn't stupid."

"But if I hadn't been involved..."

"..then something else would've happened. This was never going to end without a few bruises, Logan. I mean...isn't that a given with epic love stories? You can't have the pleasure without the pain."

"You do realize how completely f*cked up that sounds, right? In no known epic love story I know does the heroine get the sh!t beat out of her for love's sake," Logan smirked.

"That's what makes ours so unique, pumpkin," Veronica retorted.

"What am I going to do with you, Veronica Mars?"

A small speck of humor started to return to Logan.

"And, look, this won't be the last time I'm in harms way. Hopefully, I will actually be able to make a career out of this sort of stuff."

"Haven't you sort of done that already? You do remember high school, right?"

Veronica smiled.

She looked up at the man that stared down at her now. She could see all the love in his eyes. She knew that life had a lot of bumps in the road ahead. She also knew they could handle it. Together.

"Logan...I love you."

There was no way he'd ever get tired of hearing those words come out of her lips.

"I love you, too, Veronica."

Gently, he pressed his lips to hers, careful not to put any pressure on her.

"Always," he whispered.