Chapter One
Pilot
Veronica was sitting at the lunch table when the kid she had cut down that morning walked up and set his tray down at her table. She was curious who he had pissed off enough to tape hime to the flag pole, naked, with snitch written across his chest.
There was only a few possibilities.
"You okay?" he asked.
"What?"
"You look, I don't know, hypnotized."
"Did I say you could sit here?" she knew that she was acting bitchy. Shit.
He started to pack up his stuff and it dawned on her that she was acting just like an 09er bitch.
"Wait a minute. Of course you can sit here. Sit, wherever you want."
He sat back down.
"That-that was cool, what you did, cutting me off of that pole."
"Well…" she began.
A heavily tattooed biker walked up behind Veronica. Weevil and PCHers, she should have known.
She would have thought he would have been here a lot sooner. She thought that she felt eyes on her ever since she cut the kid down this morning. Weevil headed straight for the new kid not even noticing that he was sitting with her.
"My bitch. Weren't you supposed to wait for me at the flagpole? I'm not sure I could have made that any clearer."
Weevil sat down right next to him, shit, she still hadn't learned his name. The rest of Weevil's gang crowded around, as well.
"Okay, I get it, a'right. Very funny."
"Yeah," Weevil replied.
The kid tried to laugh off the situation. "I guess we're even now. Right?"
Oh, dammit, this kid needed help.
"You get what boy? You get that you're a dead man walking, is that what you get?"
Oh this is so not happening right now. "Leave him alone."
Weevil turned his attention to her, moving to stand over her.
"Sister, the only time I care what a woman has to say is when she's riding my big old hog but even then it's not so much words, just a bunch of oohs and aahs, you know?"
Oh, give it up, vato. She grew up around cops and Dick Casablancas. This is nothing new to her.
"So it's big, huh?"
"Legendary."
"Well let's see it. I mean if it's as big as you say, I'll be your girlfriend." She acted just like Lilly would have when she flirted. "We could go to prom together."
Her refusal to be intimidated seemed to surprise him. He laughed and looked at his fellow bikers.
"What? What seems to be the problem? I'm on a schedule here, vato."
One of Weevil's boys, Felix, answered her, obviously offended on his leader's behalf. "Dude, Weevil. Don't let blondie talk to you like that!"
"Sounds like your buddy here wants to see it too."
"Ah, hell, I'll show you mine." Felix made as though to take off his pants and show off his equipment, but Weevil put out an arm to stop him. Oh, thank you I really don't need to see that.
At that moment, Vice Principal Clemmons walked up on the scene.
"Felix Toombs. What on God's green earth is going on here? All right gentlemen, move it along. Veronica, why does trouble follow you around?"
She gave the administrator a bland smile as he moved the bikers on, Felix aiming a dirty look at the new kid as he left.
Once again alone, Veronica asked her table mate, "So what did you do?"
"What?"
"Why are you a dead man walking?"
Wallace, finally telling her his name, proceeded to tell Veronica the previous night's tale of his shift at the Sac-n-Pac, which ultimately resulted in his incurring the lasting wrath of both the PCHers and the local sheriff's department.
As they headed off for their afternoon classes, Veronica looked over Wallace's schedule and told him what to expect from his teachers that year. As they headed their separate ways, Veronica wondered if she might have just made a friend and was surprised on how good it felt.
She ran home to take Backup out for a quick walk/run at Dog Beach. She was a little surprised to see Wallace there with a remote control airplane. They waved hi to each other before she had to head out.
After she dropped Backup at home, Veronica went into the office where she usually spent her afternoons.
She accepted a case from Cliff, her all-time favorite lawyer.
She watched her father meeting with Celeste Kane and decided to start tailing Jake as soon as her father got the call to chase down a bail jumper. Keith being the smart man and good dad that he was, was sure to tell her to take Backup with her when she tailed the billionaire.
Veronica took her father's advice and she picked up Backup from her apartment before heading to tail after Jake Kane.
She wasn't surprised at all when his car turned into the parking lot of the Camelot.
She was hoping to get a good photo when she heard the sounds of approaching motorcycles.
There was only one group that made such a racket in Neptune and they had undoubtedly been looking for her to discuss their meeting earlier in the day.
Weevil pulled up and gestured for her to roll down her window.
"Car trouble, miss?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact. I think it might be a loose belt. but if you wouldn't mind checking under the hood…"
One of the bikers, moved towards her car.
"Hey Weevil, who gets the first danc..."
Backup jumped out of the window from the back seat floor, jaws fastening onto the biker's arm and bringing him down.
The biker yelled, "Get him off me! Get him off me, get him off me!"
Felix came around from the front of the van, threatening, "Girl, you best call off your dog."
Veronica tasered him in the middle of his chest and Felix went down.
Weevil was not impressed with the state of his fighting force.
She called out, "Backup! Chill!" at which point Backup let go of the now-wiser biker.
To Weevil, she said, "I'll tell you what. We'll call it a draw."
"Baby, come on, it's too late for that," he scoffed.
She could compromise. "Here's the deal. Leave that kid at school alone for a week and I'll make sure your boys walk."
"Why you care so much for that skinny negro, anyway? Things I heard about you, he must really lay the pipe right, huh."
"Yeah, that's it." she replied with a smirk.
At that moment, Felix clawed his way back up to Veronica's open window and she reminded him of the charged taser.
Weevil broke up the impending rematch. "All right, all right, all right. Felix, we get it, you're a badass, okay. But for once don't be stupid."
Felix backed off, somewhat grateful.
"Not bad advice," Veronica commented.
"All right, one week. After that, we come for you, your boy and your little dog too."
Cute. If he wasn't out to get her new friend she would admit that he was really hot, too.
Backup growled and Veronica calmed him, "Backup, be cool."
Weevil, of course, had to get in the last word. "You get lonely out here remember, Weevil love you long time." If it gets to the point that I need to call on Weevil for a good time, my dad would lock me up in a convent.
Veronica sighed and scratched Backup's head as the biker gang drove off into the night.
"Good boy."
Having gotten the pictures that she needed prior to the PCHers arrival, she decided to head home.
She hated her so called rep.
Hell, she was still a virgin.
She still has no idea how she got to Dog Beach the night of Shelly's party. She knew that she had done something with someone but not what everyone else seemed to think she did. She had her suspects but for now she was concentrating at the task at hand.
As she looked up in surprise, she saw her new friend shaking his head.
"Girl, you should hear what people say about you."
She had thought that he would say that yesterday. The gossip mill was running a little slow this week.
"So then what are you doing sitting here?"
"I like this table."
"It's the same as every other table out here."
"Don't let the advertising fool you, this is by far the best one out here. What do you suppose this is made of? Oak?"
She sighed. "Look, if people are saying such awful things…"
He cut her off. "Well, I figure I've got a choice. I can either hang out with the punks who laughed at me, took pictures of me while I was taped to that flagpole, or I can hang out with the chick who cut me down."
She grinned.
"So you want to get the PCH Bike Club off your ass?"
He laughed and she smiled the first real smile in along time. She had a friend of her very own.
They went to art class and it took little to convince Corny to help.
As she sat in the her car across the street from the Seventh Veil.
Taking pictures of sleazy cops hitting up strippers for free services was not considered to be high-risk, so she had kept Backup at home.
She sat there watching for cop cars in front of the strip club.
And there was the money shot. Taking out her camera, she made sure to get the video perfectly.
Hmmm, one get out of jail free card.
She got Wallace out of class and dragged him towards the hallway near Logan's locker.
"Let's go," she urged her new friend.
"Hey, superfly, slow your ass down," he managed to get out as she pulled him along.
Veronica paused at the top of the stairs that led to the hall and held Wallace back to observe Logan, whose locker was about to be searched by Vice Principal Clemmons and a sheriff's deputy. Logan opened the locker and stepped back.
"There you go," he said. Trying to look like the innocent no one knew him to be.
Inside the locker, a bong in the form of a cherub was clearly visible. Clemmons reached for it.
"Well, what's this Logan? This would appear to be a device they use to smoke marijuana."
"That's exactly what it looks like," chimed in Deputy Sacks.
"Back to the office. Come on."
Students stared in amazement as they filled the hallway and witnessed Logan's arrest, who finally saw her standing at the corner of the hall with Wallace.
"It was you?" he demanded.
She affected a 'who me?' expression. Logan laughed and then his face turned serious.
"Listen, I know it was you. This isn't over, okay?"
She exaggerated a yawn.
Clemmons pulled Logan's attention back with, "Hey."
Logan grinned but was still pointing, now closer to Veronica and Wallace.
"You're so cute and innocent. Listen, I'll get you for this."
Clemmons pushed Logan along. "Let's go."
Logan ignored the vice principal as his eyes remained on Veronica. "I will."
Impatient and annoyed now, Clemmons said, "Come on, let's go."
Corny, who had made the bong for her, had been watching and as Logan headed down the hall, the stoner congratulated her.
"Eeee, solid." The student body at large did not care for Logan Echolls.
Wallace was impressed. "You're right, that was funny."
"Meet me at my car after school. Let's see if you've done your part." As fun as it was to mess with Logan, there was work to be done.
That afternoon, she had him help her destroy the bong in a fire, thereby enabling one of her dad's friends in the fire department to switch the incriminating Sac 'N Pac video with the one that she had made of the Seventh Veil paying for their liquor license.
After Wallace went home, Veronica went to court and watched Lamb have his ass handed to him on a platter when the video that he expected to show the delinquent PCHers stealing drinks instead showed his deputy getting serviced.
Veronica was working the controls of Wallace's model airplane when he motioned toward he car.
Logan had assumed a comfortable position on the hood of Veronica's LeBaron with a tire iron.
"Hey, Veronica Mars." He jumped off the car. "Do you know what your little joke cost me?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure you won't be getting your bong back."
Logan swung the crowbar at Veronica's car, taking out a headlight in the process. Veronica flinched. He grinned and twirled the crowbar.
"Wrong answer. Would you care to guess again?"
"Clearly your sense of humor."
He took out the other headlight.
"Nope. You're usually so good at pop quizzes. No, the correct answer is my car. That's right. My daddy took my T-Bird away. And you know what I won't be having? Fun, fun, fun."
The 09ers at his back were egging him on; Wallace looked horrified.
Smirking, he moved to stand directly in front of Veronica, the crowbar resting on the back of his neck.
Veronica could hear the motorcycles pulling up onto the scene.
"Um, Logan?" one of his usual followers said.
Logan turned around as Weevil and the PCHers got off of their bikes.
Logan headed for Weevil as the gang leader got off of his bike.
"What do we have here? Vandalism? No, no, no. Only vandalism that happens in this town goes through me."
"Listen man, I don't have a problem with you."
"That's where you're wrong."
They stared at each other and Weevil took the crowbar from Logan.
Everyone turned when Felix called out from the follower's car, "Hey, yo. Is this O-Town any good? I mean my little sister likes it but, you know, she likes ponies and juice boxes too."
The bikers laughed.
Veronica hide a small smile.
"I suddenly feel like I'm in a scene from 'The Outsiders'," said Wallace.
"Be cool, Sodapop."
Weevil headed for the SUV with Logan's crowbar.
"Hey that's not his car, that's my mom's car."
"She can bill me," deadpanned Weevil and with that the gang leader hit the SUV in the middle of the hood, hard.
Weevil continued, taking out a headlight and banging up the hood some more. Everyone present watched in silence, the 09ers in dread, the bikers in glee. She wasn't sure what she felt.
When he stopped, he said, "That's it."
He handed the crowbar back to one who said it was his mom's car, who had a look on his face that held more fear of his mother than it did of Weevil, and said, "Head for the hills. I'm not gonna say it twice."
The rest of the 09ers headed for the SUV as Weevil pointed to Logan and stopped him. "Except for you. You, say you're sorry."
Logan laughed. "Rub a lamp." He winked and smirked at the gang leader, who punched the 09er, sending him to his knees.
The biker continued. "I said, say you're sorry."
Logan got back up and faced the biker again.
"Kiss my ass."
In response, Weevil threw a punch to Logan's face, sending the taller boy down laughed, but Logan got up, blood coming from his nose.
"Now…" the biker began.
"Let him go."
"Are you sure? I could do this for a while." Weevil looked slightly disappointed.
"I don't want his apology," she assured him. He wouldn't mean it anyway.
She watched Logan wipe the blood from his nose and groan.
They all watched as he slithered away with his tail between his legs.
Weevil looked at the two of them.
"So, that surveillance tape just went... poof?"
"That's fortunate." she said with a grin. Not admitting a damn thing vato.
"My uncle has a body shop on the highway... If you come in, I'll make sure your body gets the full service treatment" he says this as his eyes roamed all over her body.
"Okay, now you apologize." Damn, stupid, hot... Veronica no..no thinking about taking the leader of a biker gang up on his obvious offer.
"I'm sorry was that too dirty." he said with a smirk.
"Not to me, vato. To him." she said motioning to Wallace standing beside her.
"Yeah, that's not happening." he said looking anywhere but at them.
"Okay but know that he has the only copy of that surveillance tape. Hmm, Wallace let's go think about what to do with it." she said about to turn and go back down onto the beach.
"Okay, wait. I'm sorry, man, that I taped you to the flag pole."
"Okay." Wallace said taking the apology.
"Can I have the tape now?"
"Nope." he laughed as he and veronica got into her car and left.
"Think that is a good idea. Letting him keep the video." Felix asked as they watched Veronica drive away.
"Yeah, staying one her good side sounds good right now. Who knows how many "Get out of Jail" cards she has up her sleeve." he said getting on his bike.
"Does this mean we can tell her..."
"No, we can be friendly with her maybe even become a friend to her but I don't think she would like knowing how much we looked out for her. That never comes out, got it?"